Took me quite a while to finally start making a 2019 list because I am currently on the process of finding a new place to stay at since my companion left me all alone on our old apartment so I either would have to search for someone to replace him, shoulder the rent on my own (which is seriously gonna hurt my budget) or find a different place to rent, which I believe is the most viable given the circumstances, so if I ever miss a week here then you know what is going on lol. Enough with my not so fortunate situation and let’s go ahead and talk about Winter 2019 anime season!
If we are going to talk about Winter 2019 you can’t go wrong by starting with this ending song because it is currently the most prominent mark that this season has made thus far, or maybe all throughout the history of anime at that, look at those movements man and that adorable voice and that dancing, my heart can only handle so much and this breaks the bar several folds. A-1 Pictures, you’ve got my full support from now on!
I lost my self there, pardon my passion coming out too strong and let’s just proceed with the series list for now, let’s roll!
1. Mob Psycho 100 II
Genres: Action, Slice of Life, Comedy, Supernatural
Studio: Bones
As much as I love that dancing sequence from Kaguya-sama: Love is War, it just won’t be right not to start the list with this one. Mob Psycho 100 is a series that initially gathered an audience because it was from the same guy that brought us One Punch Man so a lot of people came in expecting good things because who wouldn’t right? I mean it is the mind behind OPM so chances are this thing will demonstrate that same creativeness, quirkiness and cleverness that deviates from the norm. So did it meet expectations? You bet it did and with studio Bones animating the series I couldn’t ask for more but it seems like I was mistaken about one thing though, I believe that the ending of the first season is the best that the show could get but season two happened and the amount of emotion, developments, twists, actions and everything it offered skyrocketed to a higher plane of anime existence that describing it with my words may underwhelm what the show has attained so far and I can’t contain my excitement because I know that it can still go way above from there, we are only basically half way through the season so there’s still a lot to look forward to. And even though the show is called Mob Psycho 100, trust me when I say that it can go over 9000!
2. Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (The Rising of the Shield Hero)
Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Studio: Kinema Citrus
As much as I love that dancing sequence from Kaguya-sama: Love is War, it just …. Oh I am already at the second one and I already used that excuse earlier so sorry for that.
If there is a show that has been getting the hype before the season begun, it is this one and I can understand where all of those hype are coming from right after watching the pilot episode, it sweeps you away and makes you sympathize with the protagonist, it lays bare the basic instinct that is hatred and the desire to get back at those people who looked down and shunned you for their own satisfaction and benefits, that is the initial hook of the series but we all know that after Raphtalia’s introduction everyone’s reason for watching it became entirely different, or maybe that’s just me?
To be perfectly honest though, I love how the show started but currently I am getting a little bit concerned as to where the show is heading, I feel like it is slowly converging to the normal Isekai route and that is definitely not a good sign but as I am not someone who has read the source material, I will have to hold on to the hope that it won’t be the next victim of isekai generic syndrome. * Crosses fingers *
3. Dororo
Genres: Action, Adventure, Demons, Historical, Shounen, Supernatural
Studios: Tezuka Productions, MAPPA
Though uncommon, historical anime are shows that I always give a shot almost every time they pass by because they provide a great contrast to what one would usually pick up in a typical anime season like shounen, romance, comedy, slice of life to name a few. It is also good to see some good close quarters combat and sword fights every once in a while without much exaggeration and out of this world power ups and that is exactly what Dororo is all about, add the sick soundtrack to the fray and you’ve got a kickass package that will sate your appetite that seeks something different, in the good sense of the word of course.
Look at that man, Hyakkimaru is T-posing to assert his dominance despite having no limbs, is there anything more revolutionary and badass than that?
My only gripe about the series during the earlier episodes at least is that the character the show was named after talks way too much that it comes off as annoying to me at times, well he’s just a kid so I could let it slip by and the latter episodes already toned it down a bit so all is well that ends well I guess.
4. Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen (Kaguya-sama: Love is War)
Genres: Comedy, Psychological, Romance, School, Shounen, Seinen
Studio: A-1 Pictures
And we’ve finally arrived on this one, if I were to borrow the words of many (Gigguk to be more precise), this is what Death Note would have been had they chose to include a romance tag in its genre. The show explained the circumstance plain and simple (and a bit repetitive too), the first one to confess loses, that is what the show is all about, two cunning individuals that are head over heels to one another thinks of various ways to make the other party confess their love… sounds dumb right? I know it does sound dumb on paper but it is seriously entertaining and hilarious when you give it a try, but as the show was set to revolve about that battle of wits they had to prevent from having a winner at the early stage so they added an unpredictable variable in the name of Chika Fujiwara, this season’s most meme-able airhead character and the one that is dancing in the video I linked above. For meme’s sake just go and watch it man.
I mean, can you resist this adorable doofus? Can you?
Okay that's where I will be ending this part and as for the next one, please pray that I have settled down by then so I could deliver it by next week at least lol. Anyway this season is coming off on a good start, it maybe even better than last year's line up (taken collectively) and there are still a lot of good shows to look forward to in the coming seasons so we may have a repeat of last year's glorious anime year or maybe even better, well one can only hope but I am totally sayisfied with how things stand. Anyway that's all from me this time and I will be seeing you on the continuation of this list but for now it is time to say goodbye.
Ciao~