I know I say every season that I plan on being ruthless and dropping a lot if shows fail to impress me, but I guess I must have really meant it this time because holy crap I’ve dropped a ton. Fifteen shows originally went in to my weekly watch-list trials. Only five of them are still around. Ouch.

For the record, I already dropped Endride, Ace Attorney, Kuromukuro, and Shounen Maid right after the first episode and so I won’t be talking about them again here. They either bored or annoyed me enough that I had no inclination to watch any further, and since nobody else seems to be exactly raving about them either, I’m also not inclined to give any of them a retry. Moving on.

Mayoiga/The Lost Village
Original Score: 6/10
Current Score: 4/10 (Dropped)

I know some people are calling this the best comedy of the season, and since humour is entirely subjective I can’t really argue with that. My own personal feelings are that a) Mayoiga, while campy, probably isn’t intended as a comedy and b) even if it was, I still wasn’t laughing. At three episodes I’d like to think that I gave it a decent shot, but the scripting in particular just got so cringe-worthy that even with the possibility of the show turning into a cathartic bloodfest à la Battle Royale or Another, I just didn’t have the patience to wait and see. Sure, I would have probably derived at least some pleasure from watching these characters getting picked off one by one in increasingly grotesque ways, but since nearly every single member of the overlarge cast struck me as being either dumb as rocks or else mentally unhinged, it still wouldn’t have been worth it.

Kuma Miko
Original Score: 5/10
Current Score: 5/10 (Dropped)

Honestly, I don’t have all that much to add after last time. While I did give Kuma Miko a second episode to try and change my mind, it only ended up cementing my initial impressions; the jokes themselves were (mostly) fine, the timing was way off. I tend to enjoy whimsical, light-hearted little slice-of-life titles, especially when they involve an element of the supernatural and aren’t too heavy on the romance, and in that sense Kuma Miko should have checked a lot of boxes for me. However, the delivery was such that ‘politely bored’ was basically the best I could have ever hoped for, and that’s never enough for me to keep a show around.

12-Sai: Chicchana Mune no Tokimeki
Original Score: 6/10
Current Score: 5/10 (Dropped)

Again, after giving this a second episode I was left with little more to say. I think I probably would have enjoyed 12-Sai well enough if I was in fact a 12-year old girl, and I do applaud the fact that this isn’t the kind of series that sexualises any of its characters. As far as I can tell, it deals sincerely and thoughtfully with some pretty relevant topics that could definitely use a lot more discussion, both in fiction and in real life. That said, it’s just not my kind of show. Too sparkly, too cutesy, much too heavy in the ‘swoon-first-romance-d’aww’ department. I’m happy that titles like 12-Sai exist but I’m simply not the target audience for them.

Bungou Stray Dogs
Original Score: 5.5/10
Current Score: 5/10 (Dropped)

I wanted to like this show, I really, truly did. I gave it the obligatory three episodes despite not even subscribing to the three-episode rule and it only annoyed me more with every one of them. It’s not as though the series doesn’t have anything good going for it – the art direction in particular really appealed to me – but it whipped between comedy and seriousness so fast that it threw absolutely everything else off. Worse, its attempts to evoke an emotional response were not only way too obvious but also just plain cheap, and effectively ruined anyway by the one-note character routines and repetitive suicide jokes. In short, the glimmers of entertainment and occasional moments of decent storytelling were overshadowed by bad writing, plain and simple.

Sakamoto desu ga?/Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto
Original Score: 6.5/10
Current Score: 5/10 (Dropped)

This show frustrated me, because it’s the kind of anime that should be funny simply on the basis that its jokes are so stupid you have to laugh. Combined with the almost glacial pacing though, the delivery was constantly lacking in any kind of punch whatsoever; the absurdist humour was completely offset by the amount of time it took to get to the actual punchline. The only jokes that did end up working for me were the ones that took a swing at the fourth wall, and these were so brief and so far apart that I never felt they made any one episode worth my time. I should probably also mention that the second half of the third episode creeped me out – as in, I actually felt uncomfortable watching it. Seeing somebody’s mother literally throwing herself at her own son’s teenage classmate in an increasingly desperate, stalker-like, and eventually full-on psychotic manner does not constitute comedy for me.

Super Lovers
Original Score: 5/10
Current Score: 5/10

Why, you ask, am I still watching Super Lovers when I’ve already dropped titles that are of the same quality or better? That’s a good question. Morbid curiosity? Which probably makes it sound as though Super Lovers is a total train-wreck of a show, but it’s not – though it’s not a good show either. The random time-skips make the series feel really weirdly paced, but I welcome them anyway since they make the main relationship a lot less creepy than it otherwise would be. This still isn’t a pairing I’m particularly enjoying, mostly because none of the characters are that interesting or compelling to begin with, but we all know it could be far, far worse. And I’ll admit, I’m genuinely curious to see how all this is going to end. (Preferably with yet another time-skip, because while Ren is technically of age now and little more than a few brief kisses have taken place, the whole thing still makes me vaguely uncomfortable – especially with what went down in episode six.)

Flying Witch
Original Score: 6/10
Current Score: 6/10 (Dropped)

There’s nothing wrong with Flying Witch. Just thought I’d get that out of the way before saying anything else about the show – it looks great, the cast is perfectly lovely, there’s a marked lack of moe-style fanservice (or really just any kind of fanservice, for which I’m doubly thankful), and it’s just a very sweet, very warm title all round. So why didn’t it warm my heart? Honestly, I have no idea. I usually dig slice-of-life anime no matter how slow the pacing is and I have a huge soft spot for anime set in rural Japan as well, but this one simply didn’t do it for me. There was no real sense of connection there, no personal sense of charm despite Flying Witch being an obviously charming series. I gave it four episodes just to be totally sure of that but was forced to conclude that for whatever reason, it failed to captivate me.

Kiznaiver
Original Score: 6.5/10
Current Score: 6.5/10

Six episodes in like all the other new shows still on my list and I continue to be a bit on the fence about Kiznaiver. I’m happy to watch it all the way through before making any major judgment call though – there are both things I like about it and things I don’t, though I find the main idea interesting enough that the positives manage to outweigh the negatives. I think. Probably. Most of the negatives stem from the execution rather than the story itself or the characters; actually, the series is doing a pretty good job of the cast interactions. On their own, I doubt I’d much care about any of them but as a group, the dynamics make them all a lot more engaging. The biggest problem for me right now is more a lack of focus than anything else, to the point where it sometimes feels like even the creators aren’t quite sure where they want this thing to go. As a result Kiznaiver sometimes comes across as a bit messy and also badly paced, which weirdly enough might actually compliment Trigger’s general style but is still a little off-putting anyway. Guess I’ll just have to wait until the end to see whether or not the show was ultimately worth my time.

Joker Game
Original Score: 7/10
Current Score: 6.5/10

At this point I almost feel like the first two episodes of Joker Game were false advertising. This has now become a purely episodic series, each one presenting a different spy and a different setting (though all taking place within roughly the same time-frame) – which I actually quite like since I care more for the mini-mysteries themselves than I do for the actual characters or their ideals. I don’t think Joker Game is making any especially meaningful statements about politics, espionage, or the nature of war but then again, I don’t really get the impression that it’s trying to; so far this has been a slightly campy but pretty fun romp that’s half historical drama, half mystery/thriller. It’s not great but it’s competent, and the art direction is stylish enough to make up for the lack of overarching narrative, at least as far as I’m concerned.

Sailor Moon Crystal Season III
Original Score: 6.5/10
Current Score: 7/10

If you’re one of those viewers that watched the original Sailor Moon but were thoroughly let down by seasons one and/or two of Crystal, I highly recommend just trying to forget the latter (easier said than done, I know) and starting off fresh with Crystal’s current season. Watching it from the start will destroy your soul and ruin all of your childhood dreams, but I assure you that season three is better in every way. Much, much better. The pacing is good! The scripting is actually decent! The artwork no longer makes me want to weep! Praise the anime gods, for Sailor Moon is finally back on its feet and I suspect the majority of Uranus/Neptune fans are particularly relieved to hear it. It’s still not a perfect show by any means, and I question a couple of the decisions made in terms of the new voice actors as well as exactly how some of the characters are portrayed visually, but these are relatively minor complaints. Overall, this is a surprisingly solid addition to the franchise.

Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge/Tanaka-kun is Always Listless
Original Score: 8/10
Current Score: 8/10

Tanaka-kun is still easily my top pick of the bunch even if I can’t properly explain why. High school slice-of-life comedies are certainly nothing new and this one doesn’t do anything terribly innovative with the genre – and yet it’s a series that’s consistently funny without being mean, charming without being sickly-sweet, and just a really fun time all around. Despite the name, Tanaka-kun is far from listless; it’s fresh and bright and incredibly endearing, and all the characters are built to match. Tanaka and Ohta continue to steal the show for me though because while everyone else is equally adorable in their own way, these guys make for best bromance I’ve seen since Ore Monogatari – all the better for the fact that neither the cast nor the anime itself ever makes a big deal out of it. If you’re not watching, you’re missing out on one of the best shows this season has to offer.

Question of the post: Now that we’re at or over the halfway point for most shows this season, what are you general thoughts? Drastically changed your mind on anything since the premieres? Sound off in the comments!