BEST Anime of Spring 2026

[00:02] for the anime history books, but spring is the season that will cement its place there for all time. You probably already have your hands full with all the hype sequels and Rent a Girlfriend that I spotlighted last week. But the very good

[00:17] bad news is there's a lot more out of the over 50 new anime that I watched so you don't have to this spring. My entire top 10 is nothing but nine and 10 on

[00:30] tens. The honorable mentions are packed with eights. And the bargain bin even has quite a few interesting sevens and sixes in that order, never the other way. It is kind of a weird structure, I admit, but I kind of just had to do it

[00:45] admit, but I kind of just had to do it that way since like 90% of all the new shows turned out to at least be decent. It's kind of crazy how cracked this season is, even compared to how cracked the last couple years have been. And I

[01:00] feathers with people who are like, "Jeff, you can't just recommend everything." Believe me, I don't want to. My throat hurts from how much anime I've had to talk about in the last few days. My life would be so much easier if

[01:16] less of these shows were good. But unfortunately for me, all of these anime deserve that level of love. Nothing I can do but power through. Clearly, we've both got a lot of anime to watch, so I'll make this as quick as I can. And

[01:31] all I ask is if I do help you find something cool you haven't heard of already, leave a like to say thanks before you go watch it. But first, as an anime enjoyer, you are going to want to hear about today's sponsor, Star Forge

[01:44] [music] Systems. Star Forge is a boutique PC builder that claims to make the best computers in the universe. And honestly, if you like anime, it's hard to disagree. They build these things beefy, and their spec to price ratio is

[01:59] very competitive. But where they really shine is with their designs, which I mean, just look at them. These machines are works of art, even the ones without any anime branding. And if you're a fan of Chainsaw Man, Jujutsu Kaizen, Hell's

[02:14] Paradise, Kaiju Number Eight, or Solo Leveling, your Star Forge system will legitimately be a highlight of your entire anime collection. [music] And if you're a freejoyer, you have two entirely different options to show off

[02:28] your elf love. either the classic cases pastoral [music] chilling with the squad vibe or this brand new stark white thing of beauty for those who live their lives on the what would him do principle. But the great thing about Star Forge is they

[02:44] give you the tools to make any setup your own with swappable light up back plates to spotlight your favorite characters in any rig and multiple options for matching wall art and desk mats to tie the gaming room or gooning

[02:57] cave around it together. And by the way, those last ones also make great playmats if you're more of an analog gamer. Click my link in the doobly-doo to get any of those and the anime PC of your dreams today. With that out of the way, my

[03:11] first recommendation of the day is Demons of the Shadow Realm.

[03:28] Bones have a new fantasy anime out directed by one of FMA's best storyboarders, no less, should have you very excited. But the fact that I didn't save it as the best for last should have you just as scared. With instantly

[03:44] delightful characters, masterfully composed action, and a quickly but brilliantly executed initial twist, the pilot episode had me riveted to the edge of my seat from start to finish. 10 out of 10. Cannot wait to see more. And yet,

[04:00] of 10. Cannot wait to see more. And yet, the season is so stacked, I can drop it right here and start us off with a bang with zero fear that I'm blowing my wad early. And it is a banger. Make no mistake. If you're looking for a

[04:13] thrilling shownen fantasy adventure, I don't want to spoil the first episode cuz one of the best things about Narakawa Joint is not knowing where she's taking the roller coaster next. But suffice to say, the goat has still

[04:27] got it. A slick power system, compelling atmosphere, a perfectly baited and cast narrative hook with implications for days. You do not want to miss this one. But speaking of stacked demons and blown wads, if you like romcoms, you don't

[04:43] want to miss Mistress Conan is devilishly easy either.

[04:57] is a demon with a problem. Despite having access to all the finest cuisine hell has to offer, nothing she eats satisfies her appetite anymore. She has heard young human souls are delicious, though. And so, she heads up to Earth

[05:12] with a devilish scheme to take over a school's disciplinary committee and use it to keep all them horny teenage souls pure and tasty until it's time to eat Moss. Before the plan gets properly rolling though, she decides to have a

[05:27] quick little snack on the brighteyed and bright sold freshman Yoji Kyogi, only to discover that he's far too much of a snack for her poor several hundredyear-old virgin heart to handle. This leads to that suddenly they're

[05:41] going out and somehow every time she tries to assert her dominance as a superior being over this measly mortal, she ends up all in a tizzy. Heck, even when she actually does manage to assert some dominance, she still ends up in a

[05:54] tizzy cuz it turns out Yoji Kun is into that. repetitive structure, but it really works at least so far because Kanan and

[06:10] Kyogi are just such characters. And with them being played by the eminence in Shadow and Kaguya Sama, respectively, aided by some equally impressive animated performances from Studio Kai, their every interaction had me howling.

[06:26] Trash connoisseurs are eating good this season. But if you prefer your romcoms a little higher brow and a lot lower on actual romance, you might enjoy Curio Fan Club, a rockus absurdist romp that I can only describe as the waiting for

[06:42] GDAU of anime love triangles. Best friends and rivals and Nami both have it bad for their classmate Ken Curio. He's all they ever talk about to the point I'm pretty sure the first episode doesn't even pass the Beckell test even

[06:57] though he barely has three lines in the whole thing and we never see his face. Not just in that episode, but the entire show. The closest we're given to a glimpse at his personality comes from the girls doing impressions of him as

[07:10] they practice to work up the courage to finally have a basic conversation with him. Not even ask him out, just like talk about the weather and [\h__\h] dreaming of the day that he'll maybe let one of them close enough to hear him

[07:24] fart. And from those impressions, at least Nami's actually good ones, it's hard to get a read on why anyone would like him at all.

[07:45] him, only that they do like him. and that doing so brings the two of them together to commiserate in mutual mental illness. The heart of the piece is their hilarious relationship. The way they talk about Curio, revealing more about

[08:00] their own absurd thoughts on life, the universe, and everything else than it ever does about him. It is the cleverest comedy of the season by far. Though, as for funniest, it does have some serious competition. Rounding out the romcom Rex

[08:16] competition. Rounding out the romcom Rex with some high octane assassin action is Marriage Toxin. The story of an insanely OP shownen edge lord badass forced to team up with a notorious criminal to tackle the only battlefield he's ever

[08:30] tackle the only battlefield he's ever truly feared. Love. Hikaru is a name that strikes fear even in the darkest depths of the criminal underworld. heir to an ancient clan of poison masters. His concoctions can kill in an instant

[08:43] or make you wish they did enhance the human body to absurd degrees and even melt through solid iron. The one thing they can't do is help him meet a woman, ancient clan of poison masters really

[08:58] wants some goddamn great grandchildren to pass their ancient secrets on to that happen, his sister's going to have to, which she'd rather not on account of being in a committed lesbian relationship. And Gar would never on his

[09:12] life let that happen because he's a woke edge lord with a heart of gold. Thankfully, even though it's not great for dating, assassinating does let you meet some very interesting people. And one of those is master marriage swindler

[09:26] May Kinosaki, who after Gar gets rid of some other assassins trying to get revenge for all that swindling, agrees to play matchmaker and wing person in his quest for Mrs. Wright. He is not

[09:39] his quest for Mrs. Wright. He is not going to make it easy, THOUGH. action, and surprisingly tender emotions, Marriage Toxin's long been one

[09:52] of the most talked about titles on Jump Plus, and Bones Film absolutely knocked this adaptation out of the park. It's not just how many people are talking about a manga, but who's talking about it. And when your subversive super robot

[10:07] comedy catches the eyes of Hideyakiano, Hideio Kojima, and the one and only one, you know you've got something really special on your hands. And one look at Snowball Earth's poster will tell you that everyone involved took Ano's praise

[10:22] in particular as the highest of compliments. It's not just in the pose, though. The first episode sprints headlong through an entire gunbusters worth of epic battles for the fate of humanity, starring one young Tetsuo,

[10:37] introverted son to a genius giant robot inventor who saves his dad's, for some reason sentient giant robot-shaped bomb delivery platform from actually having to go through with exploding by proving that he can simply use it to beat up the

[10:52] kaiju invading Earth instead. in the process making his first ever friend Snowman and also his only one even though they're both named humanity's saviors because Tetsuo is kind of a kaiju tier spaghetti Monster.

[11:31] how it happens cuz that would ruin a lot of really [\h__\h] good jokes. But the show is called Snowball Earth for a reason. After that final battle and another couple years of cold sleep, our boy wakes up to a frozen monster

[11:45] blighted wasteland and sets out on one last mission to find whatever is left of humanity so he can finally maybe make a second friend. Hopefully after coming up with a better icebreaker than, "Hey, sorry I doomed our whole species."

[11:58] Looking at the overall reception to Snowball Earth Online, it does seem like it's goofily dark sense of humor is hit or miss for a lot of people. But for me, it was a critical hit that split me right up the side. And coincidentally,

[12:11] that's how a lot of the kaiju in this thing die, which looks [\h__\h] awesome every time. What Studio Kai has delivered here is some of the most impressive 3D CG to ever come out of a studio not named Orange. And frankly,

[12:25] even if the comedy doesn't hit for you, I think the action will. For a less funny, more realistic take on the post-apocalypse though, I also recommend post-apocalypse though, I also recommend Nepon Son Goku.

[12:49] has collapsed into three [music] waring states and regressed to mostly maji era levels of technology and education. The series follows Alteru Misumi, a two humble civil servant with a sharp tongue and sharper mind as he sets out to

[13:04] reunite the nation armed with nothing but his wits and words. In a world where might makes right, his diplomatic mind is a rarity. But as his firecracker of a wife tells him time and again with a bit of courage, it might just be all he

[13:19] needs to change that world. [music] Per usual, the music of Kevin Pankin perfectly sets the stage for a thinking man's military drama, complimented by sharp direction and gorgeously detailed artwork. And the writing behind all that

[13:32] is just as impressive, painting characters with full lives and deep, intimate, meaningful relationships in a matter of moments. Since it's based on a technically call it Sanan. But if you've been craving some of that san good [\h__\h]

[13:48] been craving some of that san good [\h__\h] like Vinland Saga or Pluto, Nepon Son Goku is where you'll find it this season. Though, if you're looking for a web comic adaptation from the cuter side of Sanan, 100 scenes of Awajima is

[14:02] somehow even better. Which is not just my theater kid bias talking, even if it is a strong contender for the greatest theater kid anime of all time, thanks to its distinctively theatrical framing. From stage-like storyboarding to

[14:17] backgrounds that look like handpainted backdrops and the unique conceit of its storytelling. In keeping with its core premise of a theater school full of students competing for the spotlight, this is a rare anime with no main

[14:31] character. Rather than a linear narrative, it is exactly what it says on the tin, a collection of scenes connected [music] by theme, location, and motivation, showing the verdant old campus of Aajima from many different

[14:46] perspectives as the protagonist of one subplot fades into the background of the next or disappears altogether from another. scenes jumping around in time as much as they do around the campus, intimately exploring the friendships,

[15:02] rivalries, and other complicated relationships between these budding starlets. The school itself is a beautiful, warm, inviting place, but a harsh one, too, where jealousy and petty gossip abound. each girl struggling

[15:17] privately and with her friends to understand who she is, who she wants to be, and what she's willing to do to get there. The writing is psychologically dense and compellingly appropriately dramatic, even as it is typical dramatic

[15:33] structure, and the storyboarding that accompanies it is some of the best I've ever seen. As I expected when I saw the director of Chihayafuru and card captor Sakura would be adapting a manga from the creator of Wandering Sun. Only one

[15:49] other anime this spring comes close, let alone surpasses it in either regard, but we've still got a few shows to go before we get to that one. One of which is an almost equally compelling, though less dramatic character study. Technically,

[16:04] Ramparts of Ice is another romcom, actually. But it's such a slow burn that it hardly feels like one at this point, which is kind of surprising when you find out it's from the same mangaka as you and I are polar opposites. Though,

[16:18] not as surprising when you actually look at the two side by side, and not just because of the similar styles. Kocha Aasawa's greatest strength is her ability to write deeply human teenage characters. And Ramparts of Ice follows

[16:33] four especially complex ones as they struggle to figure out who exactly they really are and as a consequence how they really feel about each other. Miki and Kyuki have been best friends for years. But while the former became a popular

[16:48] people pleaser in high school, suppressing her own quirks to fit in, the latter does everything she can to avoid pleasing or indeed interacting with people at all. putting up the titular ice walls so that none of her

[17:03] classmates get close enough to trigger her social anxiety. That starts to change though when Koyuki catches the eye of Minato, a bright, observant, and outwardly friendly young man with a knack for getting others to open up that

[17:17] he uses paradoxically to avoid revealing too much about himself. Though, it's actually not him who makes that change happen. She is immediately put off by his old vibe. But all of them end up being pulled together anyway by Minato's

[17:33] friend and Miki's cram school buddy, Heino. An earnest strapping giraffe of a lad with his own impressive neck for seeing through to people's true feelings. That is when he remembers to wear his contacts and can see people at

[17:49] wear his contacts and can see people at all. Japan, boy howdy do I ever relate to that. Though between the four of them

[18:04] and the broader supporting cast, I'm pretty sure darn near anyone who watches this show will find someone to relate to. Such is Aasawa's talent. This being a slower, slightly more literary expression of that talent than Polar

[18:19] opposites broad comedy, I don't know if it's going to find quite as much success. But in my eyes, it certainly deserves to. But okay, after all that touchyfeythinky stuff, I know what you're all thinking at this point.

[18:32] Where's my battle shownen, bro? I need my fix over here, man. And worry not, my brothers, for the shownen gods have dained to grace us this spring with an adaptation of the single most exhilarating underdog story currently

[18:47] exhilarating underdog story currently running in Jump, Aane Bashi.

[19:03] storytelling art passed down from master to apprentice over the last three centuries where a raugoka recites one of around 500 classical stories using nothing but a folding fan and their own acting skills to set each scene and

[19:19] bring each character in the tale to life. Rakugo is also a battlefield where young upandcomers fight tooth and nail for the attention of the audience, the recognition of their masters, and a chance to advance to higher ranks,

[19:35] chance to advance to higher ranks, bigger venues, and better pay. Touaki, stage name Shinta Arakawa, is one such aspiring artist who spends each day honing his acting talents to both entertain and provide for his wife

[19:49] Masaki and their daughter Akane. But when the time comes for his rankup exam, not only does Isho, senior master of the Arakawa school, fail him, he expels the Arakawa school, fail him, he expels the entire group on the spot. Shinta dies

[20:04] that day, metaphorically, literally speaking, he just gets an office job, which in some ways is worse. But his Rakugo lives on through Akane, who vows to succeed where he failed, rise through the ranks, and show the world,

[20:17] especially that bastard Iso, why her dad is her hero. But with a master who's lost faith in himself standing behind her, a fiercely talented field of rivals all around her and the glass ceiling of a rigidly traditional art form towering

[20:33] above them all. That'll be much easier said than done. There aren't many anime about Raugo, but literally all of them are absolute bangers, and Akane Banashi is no exception. Aayumu Watanab's direction in the first episode, is

[20:49] fantastic, conveying all the subtleties of the art form, including Tou's strengths and weaknesses as a performer, even more effectively than the manga. Though I do wish he'd had time to let us enjoy the actual performance instead of

[21:03] all the characters we're going to meet later analyzing the performance from the seats dramatically that was the right choice for telling Akane's story in the time they had. But I think with an hour-ong premiere this could have been

[21:16] spellbinding rather than merely excellent. That said, having to cut purportedly several minutes of finished animation didn't prevent Watanab's other anime, Witch Hat Italier, from having spring's most enrapturing premiere.

[21:48] >> Kam Shiramama's manga is one of the most beautiful that I've ever beheld. A masterclass in the arts of illustration and layout alike that turns dead paper and layout alike that turns dead paper into a living, breathing world, blurring

[22:03] the line between manga and illuminated manuscript. The idea that drawing is magic is its narrative conceit and artistic ethos alike, baked into the very design of the panels themselves, to the point that I and many others

[22:19] believed the series to be fundamentally unadaptable in the same way as Berserk 20th [music] Century Boys and Chainsaw Man. Yet with playful storyboarding and plentiful stylistic flourishes, Watanabe and Bug films proved us all wrong.

[22:36] Translating iconic panels to equally iconic shots that still inevitably lose a little bit of that original magic. The anime will never be a substitute for one

[22:48] of those manga that you just absolutely need to read before you die. But it casts a new type of spell all its own with breathtaking effects work, immersive character performances, incredible textile animation, clever

[23:05] popup storybook transitions that make it feel like the manga's equal. An anime you need to watch before you die. Also, it goes without saying that basically every time I heard a character talk or saw them move, I said, "Oh my god, my

[23:21] precious baby. I missed you so much since I read this. I will protect you for the rest of my life. Especially Quiffrey. It is nothing short of a miracle. Instantly a contender for the greatest fantasy anime, not just of the

[23:35] modern era, but all time. And the only reason I'm saying contender right now is the season 1 finish line while maintaining at least half this level of quality and creativity to actually cement its place there. The story I know

[23:52] for a fact is good enough, posing some seriously challenging philosophical and moral quandies while still maintaining the fundamental atmosphere and character of a charming little fairy tale. And speaking of characters, they are some of

[24:07] the best and most complex in the medium right now. It's my front runner for anime of the year. And the only studio I think even has a chance at passing it is Science Saru. Though to be fair, they do have two chances. I am very excited for

[24:23] both Gits and Jadugar. That doesn't mean we're out of great anime to recommend though, just the ones I'd personally rate a nine or 10 out of 10, which generally the threshold for these lists is an eight, sometimes seven in a really

[24:36] light season. But since the top end all ended up above that line, I figured it would be helpful to separate it out. Also, because there is a lot of eights we've got to look at before we can even think about the bargain bin. Of those

[24:50] eights, the one that came closest to making the main list a top 11 was definitely Go For It Nakamura, a gorgeously animated diabetes sweet romantic comedy about a young gay lad struggling to find the courage to

[25:05] struggling to find the courage to befriend his classroom crush.

[25:22] of Kimagur Orange Road and Ronma, it feels in many ways like a lost classic that fell out of the Showa era into the modern age except in one way that kind

[25:34] of undermines the rest of the work for me. There's a certain edge about those older anime that is very much present in Nakamura's manga as well, but has basically been scrubbed out of the anime adaptation altogether. I do understand

[25:49] cutting Nakamura's tentacle fantasy about Hiroi from chapter 1 since the manga itself very quickly tones that stuff down and it kind of sets the wrong expectations for the rest of the show and its core relationship. But cutting

[26:02] things like Nakamura being bullied or apparently Hiro's crush on their teacher crosses the line into sanitizing the source material rather than just softening it for me. Sanding down some of the grit and texture that gives it

[26:17] of the grit and texture that gives it its character and makes it feel alive. Ultimately, that is a minor gripe about an otherwise brilliant adaptation. It's crazy that we're getting two BL anime that look this good in the space of one

[26:31] year, but in a season this stacked, those minor gripes can make all the difference. I mean, just look at Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring, Wit Studios heartbreakingly beautiful adaptation of the latest light novel

[26:44] series from Violet Evergarden creator Kana Akotssky. The animation is breathtaking, the storyboarding impeccable, the music makes my heart sing, and I am deeply intrigued to learn more about its unique urban fantasy

[26:59] setting and what fallible mortals having power over the seasons themselves might do to its politics and whatnot. I really like how it throws us into the deep end of that setting, seeing what 10 years without spring would do to that world

[27:15] and the kids growing up in it. And by the end of the first episode, I'd shed more than enough tears to heartily recommend it. However, the main recommend it. However, the main character is really annoying.

[27:42] we're playing in here. Unfortunately, not all of my gripes get to be quite so petty. My Ridiculous Reincarnation has one of my favorite concepts of any show this year. A savage parody of the isekai formula set in a world between worlds

[27:58] where losers who wasted their lives on Earth have a chance to reincarnate as literally anything they want. with the only catch being that all of the popular options have weight times in the hundreds to thousands to hundreds of

[28:12] thousands of years. So, if our nameless protagonist wants to skip the line, he's going to have to choose something a little less conventional to be reborn little less conventional to be reborn as, like maybe a super OP hero with a

[28:25] as, like maybe a super OP hero with a massive horm babes is Rib or a hermit crab. It's a fantastic concept for a genre spoof that really puts paid to the type of protagonist we typically get and the uh bottom of the barrel scraping

[28:39] that a lot of the writers in the genre are doing right now. But the execution is the most genius thing about it. Every single world Pro Tag gets reincarnated into is depicted with a totally different style, ranging from strikingly

[28:53] stylized traditional animation to stop motion and even liveaction toku satu. As a man who loves this art [music] form as much as I do isekai, this experimental

[29:05] mixed media approach is a dream come true. The second I saw the trailer for this anime, I knew it was a hole made for me. But unfortunately, like that story, a closer look reveals some horrors waiting within, namely AI

[29:20] rotoscoping in at least one episode, which as a man who loves this art form is a bit of a nightmare. Not quite enough for me to dismiss the show entirely. It is still a gloriously experimental celebration of human

[29:35] creativity wrapped up in a parody of my favorite genre at least 90% of the time. But it is enough to bump it down here. It does find itself in good company down here though with a solid sendup of that other type of isekai. An observation log

[29:50] of my fiance who calls herself a villainess turns the otoé reincarnation subgenre on its head by putting us in the shoes of Prince Ceil. a super genius love interest character who's spent every day of his childhood so far, bored

[30:07] to tears by a world that's all too predictable and easily solved. That is until the day he meets his bride to be. And she informs him that that world is in fact the setting of her favorite video game in which she's supposed to be

[30:20] the villainess. But he doesn't have to worry cuz even though she's nice, she's going to work super hard to be the best villainess there ever was. so he and the heroine can totally crush her and live happily ever after one day cuz that's

[30:32] how much she loves him. For the first time in his life, Ceil finds himself with many questions he can't easily answer. Not the least of which being, "What the [\h__\h] is a video game?" And his initial instinct to dismiss the young

[30:46] lady Berta as an overimaginative child is quickly rebuffed by her uncannily accurate predictions of the future. Bertia does have one thing wrong, though. She might love the prince enough to let him go for the sake of his

[31:00] happiness, but he's never been happier than he is right now with her defying his expectations at every turn. It's a cute little twist on the genre with a lot of good jokes and a seriously gorgeous art style, though not the best

[31:16] animation that you'll see this year. I will say the other villaines type thing this season, always a catch, has it easily beat in that department with some very fun storyboarding choices and really great character acting that

[31:31] maximize the already huge personalities of its cast. The biggest of those by far is its lead, Mimi, a noble woman from a faraway land who was all set to inherit

[31:43] her father's estate/ martial arts dojo until one day he finally had a son and husband. To start the search, she decides to bunk up with her best buddy, Ida, who attends a school for nobility in another country, the crown prince of

[31:59] which just happens to be her fiance. Though he's been rather cold and distant to her lately, quite a bit more so than his brother, paying more attention to a certain stuckup, drill-haired snob who's not very nice to her. If you've seen one

[32:15] or more villaines type things before, you can probably guess where that's you can probably guess where that's going, and your guess would be wrong.

[32:44] stop there, though. The prince and most of the other characters are far more than meets the eye, even if some of those eyes might need a little checkup. I really don't want to spoil all the Nifty's twists in the second episode,

[32:56] though. So, I will just say if you're into shojo and otto type stuff, this one is really fun and will defy your expectations at every turn. If you are into that type of stuff, you might also find yourself relating to the titular

[33:11] otaku in Gals can't be kind to otaku, which as you can probably guess is one of them popular girls cozy up to a nerd type romances that are so in vogue these days, but with a few interesting wrinkles. Firstly, the otaku in question

[33:27] is more into anime for little girls than anything else. A sort of fusion between Pokemon and Pretty Cure, which one of his classmates, who happens to be a model, happens to secretly be even more obsessed with than he is, as it turns

[33:42] out. Secondly, that girl has a friend who isn't into nerdy stuff, but is into learning about things that her friends care about and genuinely just a super nice person who interestingly actually seems to have a bit more chemistry going

[33:59] with Protag than her friend who actually shares his interests. This forms the basis for a surprisingly solid love triangle. One that, as a rare treat, is built on good vibes and camaraderie rather than catty competition, which

[34:14] mixes up the otherwise genre standard character dynamics in some pretty neat ways. Add to that some phenomenal character acting with a vibrant and appealing animation style, and you've got an easy recommendation for anyone

[34:28] who loves love stories, especially the dudes out there. And it's not today's last easy recommendation for those folks either. I made friends with the second prettiest girl in my class is a tale of two trash goblins. One pretty and

[34:42] popular, the other quiet and lonely, who forge an unlikely friendship over a shared love of schllocky shark movies and violent video games. My people finding each other. We love to see it. But what really sets this one apart is

[34:58] how authentic that core friendship feels.

[35:19] each other that rides a very believable line between bros hanging out and bros sitting less than 5t apart in a hot tub. and the way that relationship develops, the choices that they both make with how to handle it in their friend group or

[35:34] lack thereof come off as organic and character motivated. The show definitely hits some tropes along the way, but it never feels like it's trying to follow a formula over just letting the characters inhabit their world and live their

[35:50] lives. And that's really impressive to see in something that delivers such obvious and effective wish fulfillment. Between this and those gals, the two shows deliver almost everything I love about My Dress Up Darling. So, if you're

[36:04] craving more of that, I highly recommend checking both of them out. Sadly, despite what its title implies, I want to end this Love Game is nowhere near as suitable a Kaguya sama substitute. Even if you mix in all the Bakaguya goodness

[36:19] that Mistress Conan is delivering this season, however, it is still a cute, sweet, pretty darn funny good time in its own right about two stubborn jackasses who in this case are actually willing to confess their feelings to

[36:33] each other literally every day for the last four years of their friendship as part of this game to see who will get embarrassed about it first. Kind of like gay chicken but straight. However, neither of them will admit that they

[36:47] actually mean it until the other one cracks. As you can probably intuit it, the show's not much for mind games, but it does have character and charm for it does have character and charm for days. Plus, Splatoon mention,

[37:07] it. The hit rate for high school romance this season is impressively high. But if you'd prefer something a little more adult, pardon the intrusion, I'm home asks the bold important question, what would you do if your neighbor got so

[37:22] pissed at you watching your second favorite anime that he busted through your godamn wall? And before you say call the cops, there's a twist here. He only did it because he's the creator of your favorite anime and he hates hearing

[37:36] you cheat on it. Also, he's really hot. Rinko Nakama's answer to that is to become his new assistant/personal chef and uh technically a live-in one cuz uh he kind of did those impromptu home renos while their other neighbor

[37:52] gets roped into pretending to be her boyfriend so she doesn't get murdered. Though he may have some kind of ulterior motive going there. I do personally love the kind of romcom where no one can just being normal and this definitely fits

[38:07] that bill. But there's more going on here as well with some really compelling commentary on otaku obsession and the importance of escapism in the modern rat importance of escapism in the modern rat race from a rare lady nerd perspective.

[38:21] If the first episode doesn't quite grab you, definitely check out the second one, cuz the first couple minutes were enough to elevate this one out of the bargain bin and into the honorable mentions. But just as those shows speak

[38:35] to the nerd in me, Aaron the Southpaw calls to my inner artist. The series follows this young aspiring illustrator with pretty reasonable ambitions. He doesn't want to set the art world on fire, just build himself a comfortable

[38:50] career as a graphic designer. Or so he keeps telling himself. But when a mysterious graffiti artist in his school's uniform starts tagging up the town with these breathtaking pieces, it ignites the spark of something like a

[39:05] shownen rivalry in him. In a lot of ways, this anime is rough around the edges, but it hits on something every creative type feels, no matter where life ends up taking them. Despite telling himself over and over that he's

[39:20] willing to settle for mediocrity and anonymity, deep down, Coochi wants to be something, to say something. He's just not sure what that something is yet.

[39:32] which is why the unshakable confidence of his classmate Aaron shakes him so deeply. It's a story about passion and talent and how those things don't always align, which is certainly a story that shown anime have told before in the

[39:48] arena of sports and whatnot, but I don't know, something about this one just grabs me by the heart. The classroom of a black cat and a witch, though, speaks to something far deeper. To my inner child, circa 2005, sitting up in bed on

[40:05] a late summer night, lit only by the electric shimmer of the CRT, as I binged the most unhinged anime smut I could find for 40 bucks a DVD at Indigo Books.

[40:18] A time when the waifuss were bubbly, their twin tails were pink, and their panties, which you'd see at least half a dozen times in the first episode or your money back, were as white as the driven snow. Speak of Virgo yearns to be a

[40:32] witch in training at the prestigious Diana Academy, where her personal hero, the wizard idol Claude Sirius, used to teach before mysteriously disappearing 2 years ago. but lacking the funds to actually take magic lessons. All she can

[40:48] really do about it is put a broom between her legs, hop off the roof, and dream on the way down. One day though, she meets a mysterious, adorable, and sassy talking cat with impressive magical abilities who agrees to mentor

[41:02] her in the mystic arts if she can reverse the sinister curse that has trapped a once mighty wizard in that feline form. You can probably make some educated guesses as to where that setup is going, but I promise you don't know

[41:17] the half of what you're getting into here. And neither does Spika when she says she'll do anything to learn magic. Buddy, you think Coco has it rough? They just don't make primo out there anime trash like this anymore. And with folks

[41:33] who've read the manga tossing the words bisexual reverse arum around, you know I am in it for the long haul. Rooster Fighter also feels like a blast from a pretty different part of the past. Think 1985 rather than 2005. An epic shownen

[41:50] martial arts quest for revenge and justice in the classic anime style of Fist of the North Star. only instead of a burly dude murderizing demons, leaving trails of blood and broken hearts in his wake, it's a burly rooster. Uh, as you

[42:07] probably would have guessed from the title, that's the joke. Pretty much the title, that's the joke. Pretty much the only joke, but luckily, it's a reallying good joke that only gets funnier the longer it goes on and the more tropes

[42:21] the show is able to roostery. From the naive but brave little chick who keeps following our hero into danger to the hen fatal who refuses to let her heart stay broken to the hero's signature cockadoodle hameha finisher. The spoof

[42:37] proves itself to be funnier and funnier at every turn with exactly the right level of absurdity to feel right at home on Adult Swim. And the action's nothing to sneeze at either. Frankly, it's a better Fist of the Northstar anime than

[42:52] the actual Fist of the Northstar anime that's currently on TV right now, too. Though, of course, nowhere near as good as the original classic. They just don't wobble cells like that anymore. Roomo Takahashi's Mal, on the other hand,

[43:07] might actually be an improvement over the shownen classic that it's so clearly inspired by, Takahashi's own Inuasha. The similarities are as plain as day. A seemingly ordinary high school girl accidentally stumbles through a portal

[43:22] to the distant past where she soon finds herself at the mercy of both horrifying demons and an irritatingly hot dude who happens to have his name in the title of the anime. Despite their personalities clashing, they end up teaming up to

[43:37] exercise those demons, eventually going on a quest to find an even scarier demon responsible for both of their supernatural predicaments. And of course, along the way, they start catching feelings for each other. But

[43:50] having read most of the manga, the differences are where this gets really interesting. For starters, despite his demonic name, Mao is actually the ordinary human in this interecies odd couple. While it turns out that Nanoka

[44:05] was secretly an Akashi all along. So, if you ever wished that Kyome had the super strength and agility to kick some demon ass on her own, you'll probably enjoy this one quite a bit. It's also got a much stronger horror vibe. So, despite

[44:20] the similar premise, it ends up feeling very different in its execution. Most importantly though, it seems like Takahashi learned from her mistakes on Inuasha. as both the central mystery and the central romance move at a much

[44:34] faster, more satisfying pace here that I think could make Mao a sleeper hit of the season. Speaking of classic manga though, not one but two of my podcast co-host Miles's favorite old Sanan have finally gotten adaptations of their own

[44:51] this spring. And of them, Liar Game turned out pretty dang good. The series follows a foolishly honest college student named now who finds herself roped into a mysterious highstakes game of deception with a million dollars of

[45:07] either prize money or debt on the line for the winner. When that overly honest nature predictably leads to her getting swindled, she turns to a famous con man for advice, and he agrees to help her stay in the game if she splits the prize

[45:21] money with him 50/50. I've heard a lot of people compare the original manga to Kaiji. And so far, I don't quite think the anime is on that level. If it was, it would be on the main list. But the first few episodes did give me a similar

[45:36] wonderful awful feeling in the pit of my stomach to watching Kaiji bumble his way through the opening hands of restricted rock paper scissors, which I've been craving anything remotely close to for years. So, suffice to say, I am locked

[45:53] in to see where this roller coaster takes me. Now, Miles, if you're watching this, which I know you are, unless you have betrayed me as a friend and you need to chill out after a white knuckle session of Liar Game, you are in luck,

[46:06] buddy. Cuz Bon Kamina fully blossoms while drunk is so far up your alley, it's in your garage. And as for the rest of you who aren't Miles, if a gourmet liquor tasting slice of college life Yuri anime sounds like a good time to

[46:23] you, I promise that this one is. It's soft art style and relaxing music create a refreshing inviting atmosphere where the girls distinct personalities and

[46:35] interests are captured with brilliant character acting from both the animators and the seu. The liquor also looks so good you can practically taste it. And I don't have to tell y'all how I feel about bubbly waifuss with pink

[46:49] twintails. [sighs] Though to be fair, all of these girls are the good [\h__\h] And for those of you

[47:03] who don't know what Yuri means, they're going to kiss each other eventually. Though that is a secondary selling point to the liquid food porn, fun facts about booze, and sublime vibes. In another

[47:16] timeline, Boton Kamina would have made a perfect pairing with Drops of God. The season's other Miles core san thing about this dude who's forced to dive into the world of competitive wine tasting in order to win the right to

[47:30] inherit his rich [\h__\h] dad's house. But unfortunately, in this timeline, that ends up making a perfect segue into the bargain bin, cuz the long- aaited Drops of God anime isn't great. It is still good, using some interesting

[47:46] sinthetic animation and sound design to emulate the taste and scent of wine. But the character animation is uh not up to snuff, to put it mildly. And the storyboarding also kind of sucks. If the story itself wasn't so darn interesting,

[48:01] it wouldn't be on here. But uh I do really want to read the manga or possibly watch the liveaction drama after just one episode of this thing. Really intriguing premise. The klutzy class monitor and the girl with the

[48:13] short skirt sounds like a setup for a really inappropriate joke that never not that accurate a translation of the title. The monitor in question mostly just says inappropriate things due to being a cop in a teenage body. And for

[48:27] some reason the ga is really into that. It's not all that romantic or comedic for that matter, but I do really like the direction and style of the animation. Conversely, the comedy and light hints of romance are just about

[48:39] the only things that are working for me in The Strongest Job is apparently not a hero or sage, but an appraiser provisional. a show about as generic as isekai gets and not much to look at either. But it's got this elf girl whose

[48:53] shirt buttons keep flying off due to reasons, who's actually a pretty darn entertaining character outside of that recurring gag. And so is the main character and most of the supporting cast. If those last two sound too sexy

[49:05] for you, the food diary of Missade represents the platonic ideal of anime food porn. With this somewhat ditsy maid who just moved to Japan, going around eating extremely detailed drawings of food and learning exactly one fun fact

[49:19] about each of her snacks per 5 minute segment of an episode, which is pretty relaxing. That's all there is to say, though. Ichigma Mitsu Gurashi is another low-key comedy about cute girls being cute. though in shall we say quite a bit

[49:34] less clothing overall than that one. The show is set in a manga cafe that serves double duty as the dorm room for a fancy girl school run by the Nepo baby fail of the family that owns that school where the other girls get to live for free in

[49:49] exchange for also working for [music] free which kind of sounds like a scam when you say it out loud but luckily the rich girl is too stupid to really take advantage of her friends so it ends up being pretty chill. I'll tell you more

[50:01] about this one at Shay Garbage next month. Needy Girl Overdose, on the other hand, is honestly way too much to explain in one paragraph, and that is what's cool about it, but also the potential problem. It clearly wants to

[50:14] be this super deep, pensive Aangelian lane type deal, but it just dives straight into the deep end of blasting you with avantguard imagery and yapping nonstop about its themes without really bothering to clarify what its story even

[50:29] is or why you should care first. Still, between the in-your-face direction and vapor wave vibes, there is definitely something here. And it's certainly an interesting approach to adapting such a nonlinear game script. If nothing else,

[50:43] it's definitely worth keeping an eye on if you enjoy experimental animation, but also definitely not a mustwatch in a season this ridiculous. Even a replica can fall in love would also take a lot of time to properly explain, but it

[50:58] doesn't really need the explanation. This girl can make a clone of herself to go to school and do chores in her place for some reason. And one day it starts falling in love with her classmate. That's kind of all you need to know. An

[51:10] interesting magical realist yarn to be sure with decent direction to boot. But so many things this season are so much more interesting that it struggles to stand out. Such is sadly also the fate of Kusuninoi's Garden of Gods, an Ishi K

[51:25] anime about a dude whose handwriting so good his shopping lists can purify evil, which ends up purifying the haunted house he inherits and turning it into a You'll find plenty of light-hearted laughs and chill vibes here, but not

[51:40] much else. Now, Kujima, why Sing When You Can Warble, offers something more like shrill vibes with the deeply irritating vocal performance of its irritating vocal performance of its titular weird Russian humanoid bird

[51:54] thing, but much like the overly nice Japanese family that ends up taking him in. I found the feathered foreign freak really growing on me as the episode went on, even as I too was seriously wondering if he was going to murder all

[52:10] comedy this season, but the surreal sense of humor did hit way harder than I expected. Especially the running gag of Kujima pretending he doesn't understand Japanese whenever someone points out that a thing he just did is illegal,

[52:25] such as scooping change out from under a vending machine to spend on oniri. Speaking of weird laws that don't make a lot of sense, though, my final recommendation of the day isn't really a good anime in the traditional sense.

[52:39] It's quite the opposite actually, but true so bad it's goodness is an exquisite rarity in this world. So when the writer director of Super H AOS, The the writer director of Super H AOS, The Legend of Mana anime, and Shiro Neco

[52:53] project Zero Chronicle ends up helming the original anime side of a big mixed media music project, you sit up and take notice. Or at least I do. Ghost Concert, The Missing Songs, imagines a world where man-made music has been made

[53:09] illegal. So illegal that if you hum a tune on accident, 50 drones will break into your house and shoot you dead. Not because of AI lobbying or anything like that, but because when you sing, the evil horny ghost of Cleopatra can steal

[53:25] your body and use it for stand battles. It's like Fate, Shaman King, Symphfoggeear, and Carolyn Tuesday all got together and had a baby somehow, then dropped it down a flight of stairs like a human slinky, hitting its head on

[53:39] every other step. Its only saving grace is the music, which is actually legitimately as good as the everything else is bad. And that works to make it a whole lot more watchable than it might otherwise be. One out of 10. Cannot

[53:54] recommend it enough. Thankfully though, that is enough recommendations for the both of us to finally be free of this video. If you need a refresher, here's my top 10 list. Here's [music] all of the honorable mentions, and then over

[54:08] there, you'll find the bargain bin, all with helpful little icons to help you figure out where to watch them. Thank you so much for watching this video all the way to the end. And of course, if you want to thank me, don't forget to

[54:20] hit that like button before you leave to [music] go watch all that good anime. I'm Jeff Thu, professional way too much anime watcher. And I'm not even gonna joke about passing out at the end of this one because I have way too much

[54:34] work left to do this season. Look forward to some witch hat videos coming forward to some witch hat videos coming soon. Bye.