Back Street Girls: Gokudols (Back Street Girls: Gokudolls)

Imagine three hardened Yakuza gangsters being forced to get gender-reassignment surgery and debut as a female pop-idol group. Yes—that is the actual premise of this insane show.

Genre:
As a pure comedy, this show absolutely delivers. I found myself laughing uncontrollably during several episodes. Because the plot is completely predictable, it’s a really chill, low-stakes show to watch to pass the time. While it got heavily branded online as anti-LGBTQ+, I didn't really feel that vibe while watching. The gender change was explicitly used as an absurd yakuza punishment; the narrative never actually tries to circle around real transwomen issues.

Let's be real—the animation is objectively bad. The graphics look dirty and cheap. While I initially hated the art style, it eventually grew on me, but the visuals will definitely discourage a lot of viewers. If you’re going into this expecting a traditional, high-effort IDOL anime, nah—this isn't it. Morally speaking, the story is completely sh*tty, and the momentum eventually just runs its course.

Is it a masterpiece? Heck no. The animation is weak, the audio is questionable, and a lot of overly sensitive people will probably get offended by the premise. But hey, it is what it is. The anime worked because it was unhinged, sh*tty, and mature in its crass comedy. I still finished the whole thing anyway! LOL.

Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuu Kimama na Hanayome Seikatsu wo Mankitsu suru (7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!)

For starters, I don't know why she was called a villainess. She didn't do anything villainous at all. In fact, she was upright all throughout.

Genre:
Romance - It has a funny side to it. I feel giddy when something intimate is about to happen to the both of them. However, the season ended in a cold manner - nothing romantic.

The plot of having to live your 7th life after dying 6 times makes it very interesting. Her 7th life, hoping she won't die of war this time, primarily sets a goal to never allow her husband announce war in the future.

Here's why I don't like it. This is a realization after reading a comment from myanimelist that the smartness or wittiness of a character is based on the actual writer's intelligence and a character can never be smarter than them. There were two things Aerogun or Aerogunz (I forgot the actual spelling) stated that two ways of making a character more intelligent was (1) to create smart characters and make the MC outsmart them like "Death Note" or (2) surround the MC with incompetent characters, like "Classroom of the Elite". That's the same feeling I had with "How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom". Now, with 7th Loop, I felt the same. Everyone else was dumbed down to make her stand out as an intelligent person which eventually makes everyone else admire her. Instances include the fireworks and the negotiation with Aria Trading.

Another reason why I don't like it is because it's stagnant. It promises to be a romance anime but nada. Although the MCs love interest is interesting. His possessiveness is something I thought would make it amusing, but it tries to build that momentum then it easily dies down. It's confusing for me. It doesn't show depth.

What I enjoyed is the fact that she lived six lives (and kept the memories of all lifetimes) and experienced different struggles giving her 6 different exposures to skillsets - as a pharmacist, an alchemist, a maid, a trader, etc. Every time she goes back to that point in time, she tries to not repeat the same mistakes. If I was her, I'd do the same, but perhaps try not to get killed.

If you have time to kill, yes, this is a good option, I finished it overnight. Although stagnant, it wasn't dragging for me to make me lose interest. It was still enjoyable. Give it a watch.

Youkai Gakkou no Sensei Hajimemashita! (A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School!)

As an anime enthusiast, I had hoped that this would evoke the same impact to me as Assassination Classroom, but no. It diverged in different ways.

The narrative centers on a teacher who faced multiple rejections from schools. His last resort was a school which on day 1 made him want to quit. He realized it was a 'ghoul' or yokai school - Hyakki Academy. There was a reason why the principal decided to hire him despite his human status, and it was rooted in a pivotal secret that unfolds throughout the series.

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Genre:

Comedy, I laughed multiple times while watching it

Fantasy-Action, it wasn't heavy, but there was some action to it

Horror? Can't say, I don't find it frightening. There may be a light touch of horror.

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The main character is timid but it changes whenever confronted with the need to exorcise a ghoul. The relationships between the teacher and each student is something I liked watching. It added depth and humor to the narrative. Although I personally find the main character annoying, the other characters made it work - creating a balanced dynamic. Overall, it seems to provide a lighthearted yet intriguing exploration of the supernatural within an educational setting, appealing to viewers who appreciate character-driven stories with a comedic twist.

Don't watch it if you are into intense action or if you are interested in traditional school romance or slice-of-life themes. Instead, it offers a unique blend of humor and fantasy, making it a distinctive anime addition to your list. It bears some resemblance to "Assassination Classroom," yet it lacks the meticulous construction that characterized the latter. While both explore the dynamics between a teacher and their students in unconventional settings, "AC" presents a more developed storyline and richer character transformations.

Devil May Cry

After arriving from the office, I thought ‘hey I can probably audit the trackers’. But I saw an anime series which piqued my interest.

The narrative is about a demon hunter who ended up to be half demon. It has 8 episodes and I know there will be more. (Hopefully)

Close friends know I hold AOT in that pedestal and this time, episodes 5 and 6 of Devil May Cry has stunned me to the core. A FullMetal Alchemist Nina and Alexander episode level of heartache and anguish and I tell you, this is a storyline that pains me seeing the antagonist get hurt (except the last episode). It’s both drama and bad-ass action and some subtle humor.

The main character isn’t the only one I’m favoring - weird but I love all of them. It’s worth binge watching. If you’re not into demon slaying or cursing, don’t. I’d like to try the video game. Let’s see.

Overall, I loved it. It was definitely fun to watch. This is different from the 2007 Devil May Cry.

Koori Zokusei Danshi to Cool na Douryou Joshi (The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague)

The first episode immediate shows the main characters' personalities which made it seem relatable - no let me change that term to 'familiar'. I had high hopes for the rest of the episodes as the animation was extremely good. The main characters include Himuro, a descendant of a snow woman spirit, and Fuyutsuki, a human.

The narrative centers on a build-up of a love story - specifically, the budding romance between the two main characters. But as the episodes end and start again, the progression of the storyline seemed slow.

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Genre:

Romance-Comedy, they're trying to make it funny but I could only count the number of times I let out a guffaw - twice. Mainly because of Himuro's sister.

Romantic, yes, but the characters were too timid that the only time I felt 'kilig' was the shrine scene. But I didn't feel giddy for the main pair, I felt it with the supporting characters. Although there was one particular scene which made my heart warm up to them, that was when he gifted her the pair of earrings, and it was in the last part of the series.

Supernatural, why would it not, well they had skills - cool skills. Unfortunately, the skills weren't featured in that manner. The story really just centered on the main characters.

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There are lessons you can learn but it's not something you don't know yet. It's really more of them realizing the changes in their lives; doing things they never thought they'd ever do. But it makes sense because they are now working adults.

The couple expressed light feelings, it didn't feel intense. What was weird was that they get overly stressed about cute things or actions. Well, it's what happens when you have crushes but it really didn't scream 'romance'. Some episodes were too boring to the point that I didn't want to finish it as it seemed predictable. As mentioned earlier, there was no build up in the story. Perhaps they wanted to keep it as a wholesome story but it was not enough to enchant me. It really fell flat.

If you are into laidback slow storylines, this is something you'll enjoy. There's no excessive drama. It's more of a feel-good watch. You'll probably want to watch this Josie series if you liked Komi Can't Communicate. Komi had better progression, I'd say.

Saijaku Tamer wa Gomi Hiroi no Tabi wo Hajimemashita (The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash)

When I saw the trailer, I got hooked with the slime and how enticing the colors were in the animation, I mean, it was appealing. I had hoped that this would be another great anime series I can add to my list of favorites, but no. Not to that extent.

The narrative centers on Femicia who was pushed out of her community because she had zero stars for her skills. Zero stars meant she would bring misfortune to everyone. Although she had the 'tamer skill', it was deemed useless as she had zero stars for it. Then in her escape, she set out on a journey. From what I thought of as a slice of life protagonist story, it was an Isekai - fantasy and adventure.

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Genre:

Adventure - she changed her name to Ivy and disguised herself as a boy. She found a broken slime which was rare and set on a journey with it. As mentioned, the broken slime, which she named Sora, has limited information and that is because they are fragile. Hence, no one has seen one evolve and grow. Following a map in hand, they ventured into different cities and even befriended an Adandala along with other characters in the story.

Fantasy - it really focused on this instead of action (taming monsters)

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The main character is lovable where you'll be supporting the protagonist all the way - you would want her to win in life. But that's because of how heavy her story was set. Though there were a lot of scenes which seemed like long periods of chit-chatting, there was a strong character development. I initially thought it would be a boring storyline as I found some scenes and instances lacking logical support. It was not flawless but it was inspiring.

One thing I don't understand well was that she seemed to be a reincarnation but this was not well explained while she was still Femicia. What I found disturbing was that I thought those weren't memories but rather a different personality since there were dialogues between her and her thoughts. The star system also didn't hold that much bearing as only a few characters got highlighted in the story. Because of how perfect things became, it was as if everyone protected her and it became flawless. I'm not saying it was bad but it was too much. She orchestrated a way to rid of the organization because of memories, but what was her previous identity. What made an 8-year-old so strategic beating the smarts of older and wiser men. Okay, they banked on the reincarnation but what was she then. It's a blur. By the end of the series, it seemed that they quickened the pace.

Don't watch it if you want things to always make sense. If you're a logical person, this will hurt your mind and question what you're watching. However, if the focus is how this 8-year-old kid survived and just wants a feel good series, this is it. There was no focus in action, no focus on the other characters, it was just Ivy and her adventure.

Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki (How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom)

I have divided feelings over this anime as there were misses but there is progression.

This is about a student who was summoned to another world as a hero to help them pay their debt from another kingdom in fighting the demon lord (who never showed up, by the way). Imagine getting summoned as means of payment. This started to be a cool plot but no, this character, Souma, didn't know how to use swords, didn't gain skills upon teleporting to a different world, and didn't show any expertise at all. Instead, with his knowledge of the modern day world (hmmmm), the story portrays how being a realist helped improve the status of the kingdom.

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Genre:

Action, it wasn't heavy, I would even say there's none. I was hoping I'd see fighting scenes. This may be a wrong genre tagging or the anime really just fell short from the expectations.

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I only saw the first season so I'll talk about that.

The main character was showcased as a smart guy but I felt like it lacked so much depth. The story almost seemed like that of Slime, where everything just falls into place for the king. At least Slime had action scenes that would awe you and the animation was good. For The Realist Hero, it didn't quite get there. Also, there were many female characters wanting to marry him but none had the chemistry with the character.

So a lot of issues were addressed, but it seems their means of providing solutions was with just how the MC explains things - just explanations or even statements that things were fixed. He's adored as super smart that even his Prime Minister was dumbed down. Conquering territories, fighting other kingdoms, yet there was no action, if they are showcasing this as a smart (uncommon) storyline, nahhh, there was not an episode you'd say that was brain stimulating. All characters seemed strong when he had the broadcast to look for the greatest talents, but eventually, again, dumbed down so the MC would look smart and the only one capable of deciding for two different kingdoms.

I personally didn't like it. There were so many things happening, some scenes were slow, and some scenes (like that portion where they walked in the slums) they had to quicken the pace. Like I get it, just to show they thought of all aspects of a nation, they had to add those scenes which didn't benefit the show - it only added to the "very smart student king" but not helpful. Don't watch it if you are into the traditional Isekai, where a summoned or reincarnated hero fights with swords. It was okay if you want to kill time. But, seriously, just not good enough for me to recommend to you guys.