I kind of liked how the first mid-season review shook out, so going to do it again. Not sure if this is quite mid-season, given the staggered start dates of some series and repeated delays of others, but whatever. Here’s a look at the summer anime lineup.
Highly Recommended
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (Sundays on Crunchyroll)
Let’s start with the series that ended up as the post image. So, wasn’t on my first list, but I’ve changed my mind. There are some pretty brutal moments (both physically and emotionally), as you’d expect from a zombie series, but it’s still pretty good.
Watashi no Shiawase no Kekkon (Wednesdays on Netflix)
Wanted to move this one up, so it didn’t get missed by anyone. My Happy Marriage is definitely one of my favorites this season. There’s countless emotional moments throughout. I think just about every episode so far has gotten me a bit teary-eyed, sometimes because it’s sad and sometimes because I’m happy. It’s a weird experience, but absolutely amazing. I can’t recommend this one enough.
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale, Part 2 (Fridays on Crunchyroll)
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale continues its excellence. Not much else I want to add. If you watched part 1, then continue it. If you haven’t, go watch that.
Mushoku Tensei II (Sundays on Crunchyroll)
Same as the previous entry. Still good. Still good animation and production. Go watch it if you like isekai. Okay, moving on.
Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid (Sundays on Crunchyroll)
The Duke of Death and His Maid continues to be cute as hell. Arguably, it’s even more so this season, but I won’t spoil things for you. Same thing I said before the season started: if you can deal with the CGI, the series is quite good. Don’t remember all these musical numbers either, but meh.
Suki na Ko ga Megane wo Wasureta (Tuesdays on Crunchyroll)
The animation for The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses is quite good, aside from some very awkward camera angles in the opening of the first episode. The series thus far is very cute, and I do love both of the leads. Highly recommended.
Jitsu wa Ore, Saikyou deshita? (Saturdays on Crunchyroll)
Yeah, I know. Should be mediocre, but hey, I enjoy it. It’s goofy, but I like the characters and some of the jokes. If you enjoy a non-serious isekai, I’d say you should give it a watch.
Dark Gathering (Sundays on HiDive)
I thought this might be a dark horse this season, and it seems I may be right. Also, didn’t realize it was getting two cours. There’s some dark stuff in this one (as the title may have given away), but it does a shockingly good job of mixing the dark atmosphere with the comedy. I can see this entering my Halloween anime list, and we’re only like five or six episodes in.
Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru (Fridays on Crunchyroll)
Heard it described as “a Harry Potter anime done right”. That basically sums it up. The fantasy world is really interesting, and the cast is cool. The animation looks good, and the fights are pretty epic (though sometimes the camera angles are a bit extreme). Overall, if you like fantasy anime, Reign of the Seven Spellblades is a good one to watch.
Uchi no Kaisha no Chiisai Senpai no Hanashi (Saturdays on Crunchyroll)
Several cute moments in My Tiny Senpai, as I expected. I hope to see some progress with our cast.
Shiro Seijyo to Kuro Bokushi (Wednesdays on Crunchyroll)
I really enjoy the silly, laid-back feel of Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence. There seems to be something going on with Lawrence, but they only hint at it still. Cecilia is precious, and the rest of the cast is fun also. Really fun series.
Yumemiru Danshi wa Genjitsushugisha (Mondays on HiDive)
The Dreaming Boy is a Realist was hard to place. It has a slice of life feel, with episodes kind of just meandering about while still having the underlying romance present. I want to see where this one goes, so I put it up in the highly recommended.
Temple (Saturdays on Crunchyroll)
For whatever reason, this almost slipped through the cracks for me, being listed as Tenpuru on Crunchyroll. Either way, it’s exactly as I said. Fun, old-school ecchi comedy. The cast works well together, and I like them all. Between that and the humor, I’d say it’s doing a good job.
Masamune-kun no Revenge R (Mondays on Crunchyroll)
I did make sure to watch the first season of Masamune-kun’s Revenge before starting this. Half way through, it truthfully feels like a better series than the first season. Based on how many volumes the first season covered, we might get a fully adapted series this season, so I look forward to the end of it.
Moderately Recommended
Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan (Thursdays on Crunchyroll)
Lot of heat around this one, given the situation with the creator. I try not to let stuff like that keep me from an entertaining story. As such, here it is.
Liar Liar (Saturdays on Crunchyroll)
Still kind of meh on game-focused anime, but this one’s decent. I like the cast and there’s occasionally a clever solution to whatever dilemma they’re confronting. Either way, putting it in moderate recommendation.
Higeki no Genkyou to Naru Saikyou Gedou Last Boss Joou wa Tami no Tame ni Tsukushimasu (Thursdays on HiDive)
I’m surprised at this one at the moment, as I expected more from it. Not to say it’s bad, but thus far the whole series feels like a prequel. There seems to be a lot of set up for the story without any actual story yet. I won’t write it off at this point, but still hoping for more.
Spy Kyoushitsu (Thursdays on HiDive)
Just like the first season, the second season is much the same. If you liked season 1, you’ll probably still like this.
Eiyuu Kyoushitsu (Sundays on Crunchyroll)
Classroom for Heroes is better than I expected, and much funnier too. The story is there, but it still feels like a lot of character introductions and set up. We’ll see how it closes out in the second half.
Take or Leave It
Level 1 dakedo Unique Skill de Saikyou desu (Saturdays on Crunchyroll)
About what I was expecting from this one. I didn’t expect it to be super good, but it’s a pretty chill isekai.
Hataraku Maou-sama!! 2nd Season (Thursdays on Crunchyroll)
The Devil is a Part-Timer! continues to be middling. There’s still bits of intrigue in the story, so it’s not awful, but I still hope for some more progression.
Ryza no Atelier (Saturdays on Crunchyroll)
Given that it’s based on a video game, I’m not surprised by how this one is turning out. It does have Ryza’s very nice thighs though (literally, the camera angles in this series are so obvious, but I’m a fan of fanservice).
Wrapping Up
So, there’s the list. I will say, some were excluded because I am not watching it (like Okashi no Tensei and Seija Musou) or because they were still airing from last season (like Niehime to Kemono no Ou, which is still really good).
A quick personal note before I wrap up. I know I haven’t been posting super often lately. I’ve mentioned it in a past post, but I’m working on another project that’s at a critical point in its development currently. When it’s done, I’ll be sure to mention it here.
Until then, you can follow me on Twitter (or X technically, but I refuse to call it that). I still comment there fairly frequently about seasonal anime.
Okay, that’s all I got for this one. Let me know if there’s a series that’s airing right now that I should check out. Catch you next time.