Finally on the third part of my list and for those who want to read the previous ones you can find them here:
Spring 2019 Mid Season List - Part 1
Spring 2019 Mid Season List - Part 2
Okay, let's roll!
Shingeki no Kyojin Season 3 Part 2 (Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2)
Genres: Action, Military, Mystery, Super Power, Drama, Fantasy, Shounen
Studio: Wit Studio
Oh boy, oh boy this is by far the most hair raising season of Attack on Titan ever since its first season. This show has already been through a lot but were finally almost at the end game and one of the most historic battle is about to unfold, Titans vs humanity, who would win and at what cost?
The show started a bit late, about a month behind the other shows but that doesn’t make it any less exciting. The first episode alone more than made up for the lost time and made this show already better than majority of all the shows airing this season. What I really love about this show is that it is not just a battle of who has the strongest weapon in their arsenal, it has been employing military tactics, deception and last minute ditch strategy backed by the charisma of the Scout Legion’s leader Erwin Smith with a few sacrifices here and there. Most fans are charmed by humanity’s strongest individual, Levi Ackerman aka palmtop titan slayer but for me the most iconic character so far is Erwin, he is ambitious but knows full well that victory is not something achieved without taking risks, he has sent numerous soldiers to their death but he doesn’t break or cave in, he continuously moved forward and paved the path into where humanity stands to date. Well we are at a decisive battle so I am just giving props to the MVP of this show, don’t mind me.
I know that most people have seen this show already given its popularity so I have nothing more to say other than that it is still as good as it was before, if not, better.
One Punch Man 2
Genres: Action, Sci-Fi, Comedy, Parody, Super Power, Supernatural, Seinen
Studio: J.C. Staff
Waaaaaan Paaaaannnnnccch!!!!.....??...
If there is anything garnering more hype than the show mentioned above then that would be OPM. The show focusing on the bald caped hero for fun that has took the internet by storm when it was first released because of its entirely different approach to the hero genre and its over the top action scenes and unique humor.
So? I s the second season living up to the hype? Well for the most part I believe it is doing alright, it may not be as well as it was before when Madhouse was the one doing its animation but I believe people are stretching it out too far when they say that this season’s animation sucks. This show did not receive the Toaru Majutsu no Index III and Date A Live III treatment, those two are total wreck. I think J.C. Staff, in the least know that they have hell to deal with when they butcher this one show, it is one of the most popular series as of late after all. However, I would be lying if I say that I didn’t find this season a bit underwhelming compared to the first season, though the animation isn’t that far behind, the choreography is on entirely different level, the intensity, the rush, the thrill everything was just a level above when it was under the jurisdiction of Madhouse.
Anyway, the show is not as bad as most people made it out to be. It still got the humor pat down and the action though not as cool as they were back then still manages to be entertaining. It is just that the first season left a very big shoes to fill in is all but that doesn’t necessarily mean that this one is bad per se, it is still the same old story about the overpowered/ bored Saitama with his diligent disciple Genos and a bunch of new additions like the strongest man, King and the overboobied psychic Fubuki (Hot deym!). The villain they introduced, the hero hunter Garou is also interesting and seeing the other S Class heroes in action makes this one well worth the watch and the wait.
Bungou Stray Dogs 3
Genres: Action, Mystery, Super Power, Supernatural, Seinen
Studio: Bones
Well this is not that much hyped as far as I know compared to the other two but this one has a cult following, specifically fujos.
As for me, the reason I find this show interesting is because of their power system. We are all familiar with the mainstream shounen battle anime and their flashy powering system and this one is not like those shows. The power system here reminds me more of Hunter x Hunter where the users doesn’t just rely solely on the raw strength of their abilities, they hone their skills so that they could better use them and put those abilities into uses one would not ordinarily think of. Of course there are also those with plainly simple power mechanism like the MC himself that transforms into a weretiger which makes me wonder why do they always let the simple and less interesting characters take the lead, I mean they have a guy that can summon things he writes in his notebook given that it does not exceed the size of the notebook itself, yeah, that power doesn’t look powerful at all but that is where I am surprised at because the guy with that ability has been able to go toe to toe with the vampire boy who has dark matter sprouting at his back that he can control at will, a total mismatch power wise if I’d say so myself. They also have a suicidal maniac whose power is to nullify the ability of those he touches, a guy with no powers but has extreme deduction skills making people think that he is an ability user, a sadistic doctor that can only heal people if they are almost at death’s door, a guy that can see few seconds ahead into the future, a guy that gets stronger depending on his net worth (even this anime is P2W, da heck?), see? They have a pool of characters with unusual abilities yet they chose to give it to the weretiger boy, that is one of my biggest complaint about this show aside from the blatant BL brewing here and there.
Overall though, this show definitely is a good watch and the match up of ability users with powers that I rarely see in anime is a thing I would always be excited about, in fact there was this episode wherein someone was defeated because the guy think he has outwitted his opponent but as it turned out, it was actually going all according to the plan of the latter forcing the former to commit suicide in the process. This one is good aesthetically and story wise, it is a package topped with mind fuck at almost every ability user confrontation, the show has as much battle of wits as it has battle of abilities and I am liking it.
Fruits Basket (2019)
Genres: Slice of Life, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Fantasy, Shoujo
Studio: TMS Entertainment
Well it is rare for me to recommend a Shoujo series but this one must be included no matter what. I have heard of the title a lot of times in the past but unfortunately I was not able to check it out. Good thing I decided to give this remake a shot because it instantly clicked into me, to be precise it was the female lead that got me in this one, not because of the character design but because of her voice which I find really cute and soothing.
I don’t have much experience with Shoujo series but I can still remember that I used to watch a series called Yamato Nadeshiko: The Wallflower on my country’s free tv and it was one of our class’ most watched series that time. Why am I bringing that up? Well it is because I am getting the same vibe from this show and I am genuinely rooting for the female lead, Tohru to acquire her own share of happiness because she is a precious bundle of optimism and a beautiful soul that needs to be protected just like Sunako from Yamato Nadeshiko.
Just a reminder, this adaptation is going to fully adapt the whole manga series so there is much in store for us. Be prepared for occasional downpour of feels though during the course of its run as the fifth episode alone, already proved to be fatal.
Three down and 1 more to go to finally complete my Spring 2019 mid season list. Well then I would end this part for now so I will see you guys again next week.
Ciao~