Various thoughts on a variety of topics.
Continuing along the road to Nationals, the Kitauji school band must overcome several new personal challenges that threaten to tear it apart from within.
Much like the first season this has a large amount of relationship drama lightened by comedic bursts arising from Kumiko’s personality. Which may be something of a shock if you’re coming into this straight from the movie version, which downplayed the characters’ personal issues.
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Wanting to be more like her mother, Kohana transfers into the Hoshinomori School of Magic Arts. There she meets six boys, each with their own artistic specialty, who all take an interest in her unusual talent for arrangement and cheerful smile.
A school life harem with a comedic style closer to that of a gag comedy. It doesn’t actually begin to focus on romance until around the eighth episode, instead mainly being concerned with resolving the characters’ personal issues and getting everyone together to organize a successful school festival. It’s also not much of a fantasy show; up until the twelfth episode the ‘magic’ on display only exists to visualize the artists’ skill level.
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Tamaki is overwhelmed on her first day of high school by the number and variety of available clubs to join. Not having any particular goal she wanders around and eventually stumbles on the SNS Club, which makes video games. After giving the idea some thought she decides to give it a try.
A schoolgirl slice of life comedy featuring a mix of reaction-based gags and everyday situations that’s a bit heavier on the latter.
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As a huge fujoshi, Kae loves nothing more than imagining romantic relationships between attractive boys. After receiving a massive shock one night while watching Anime, she holes up in her room for an entire week. The seclusion does wonders for her figure and she now find’s herself inundated with male attention… but she would prefer they direct it toward each other instead of her.
A romantic comedy with the twist being the girl would rather see the suitors paired up with each other. The romance is of the standard harem variety while the comedy is reaction-based and mostly centered on Kae’s otaku interests.
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The National Special-Level University Exam, a grueling test that anyone seeking happiness or success in this world must pass. Its existence has given rise to two types of people, those that try to pass through diligence and study and those that try to pass by cheating. Now Mu-Ming the cheater and Qiao Yi the learner have set out to take the exam and free Mu-Ming’s father from wrongful imprisonment.
A cartoon-like battle shounen fond of extreme over-exaggeration. Everything here from the setting, to the battles, to the character interactions is pushed well over the top.
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The long reining national middle school ping-pong champions are dethroned in a surprise 1st-round upset by an unknown newcomer, who goes on to win the title. Inspired by this unexpected turn of events, the girls of Suzumegahara aim to accomplish that same feat with the help of a skilled transfer student.
A combination of sports shounen and moe schoolgirl comedy. It has the competitive spirit of the former with the visuals and yuri subtext of the latter.
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On Tsukushi’s first day of high school he’s invited to a pickup game of soccer. Despite being awful, his burning determination is ignited and he soon joins the school’s soccer team.
A sports shounen that plays things straight and earnest. It does contain comedic segments, but the comedy primarily arises from the contrast between Tsukushi’s appearance/personality/ability and everyone else’s.
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Ichigo is the daughter of a lunch-shop owner and has no particular interest in idols. One day her friend Aoi, an idol otaku, takes her to a concert held by the current top idol Mizuki. The experience changes her life, and it’s not long before the two girls enter the idol-focused Starlight Academy to become idols themselves. Can Ichigo manage to reach the same heights as Mizuki?
Aikatsu! is a lengthy series that paints the idol industry in a persistently upbeat light. Win or lose the girls are nearly always cheerful, and there is never any resentment or envy shown toward anyone. Each new season (apart from the last) shakes the cast up; the second season introduces a rival school with its own set of characters and the third replaces the original main cast while almost completely ignoring the other school’s existence. It’s also worth mentioning that the show is designed to promote an arcade game and so will occasionally come across like an advertisement.
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Hachiman goes on a ‘date’ with Iroha to research date locations. Later on, Yukino and Yui go out with Hachiman to the same area.
This is a side-story for the parent series‘ second season. It’s primarily focused on reaction comedy though, so you may be able to watch it even if you haven’t seen that (to decide whether or not you want to).
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A young girl from the city transfers to a school in the countryside. The students there, most of whom are talking animals, suspect she may be related to a powerful wind spirit called Matasaburo.
A short fairy tale-like story presented with picturebook visuals set in the modern day.
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