I was always taught that lightning could not strike in the same place twice.
Mob Psycho 100's second season proved that to be incorrect by exceeding every expectation I have for the second season of an anime. It is no exaggeration to say this series is an absolute triumph in every way, not only just for Studio Bones/ director Yuzuru Tachikawa, but for the entire medium of anime.
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I have no idea when I watched Kuragehime for the first time. When I imported my anime list from MAL to AniList, I lost a good chunk of my start-stop dates. All I can remember from that period was that I was young, most likely 13 or 14, and that I absolutely loved it. I rated it a 10/10 and added Kuranosuke to my favorite character list. After that, I never revisited it outside of fanart and scrolling past it on my list. Shamefully, I didn't even pick up the manga to see where the anime left off. Re-watching this anime in 2018 just confirmed that I should have.
It's not every day that an idol anime kills its main character within the first two minutes of the show.
It's also not every day that MAPPA, a studio whose proclaimed purpose is literally to "achieve greater creative freedom to pursue projects that may be less obviously commercial", creates an anime that fits perfectly into the commercial mold like an idol anime. Zombieland Saga is more than just an idol anime, however. It is both a deconstruction and a love letter to the genre, showcasing some of the best and worst aspects of being an idol with a stylish flourish. Netflix had suggested Saiki K to the account I'd hijacked from my boyfriend who hijacked it from his father to me multiple times before, but I brushed it off due to its Mob Psycho 100 premise and main character's weird antennae.
I just didn't feel like it was an anime I would want to watch, and, barring that, would be too much like something I'd seen before. I finally picked up my controller and decided to gamble on Saiki K when I was intoxicated and out of every other anime I had the smallest interest in. I'm very glad that I did. Every now and then, an anime comes out centered around a niche and unique "gimmick" of sorts. I consider Kakegurui, an anime centered around a high school in which the students jostle for social position via a series of high stakes gambles, to be one such anime. I noticed that the title had made it to Netflix, and I recalled it had quite a bit of discussion surrounding it as it was airing in 2017. I had skipped it because I was wary of a particular scene with a gun and the excessive amount of fan service I had seen in gifs, but I decided it was finally time to take the plunge.
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AuthorI've been watching anime since I was 9 and I write about my thoughts sometimes. Archives
June 2019
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