Avid readers of my seasonal anime roundups (I love all 6 of you) know I have a “type” when it comes to what I watch. If it’s random happenings of everyday life or star-crossed lovers getting into the most mundane shenanigans before eventually reaching that milestone of confessing to one another, I’m fucking in. Be it absolute luck or maybe the hot weather promising the budding opportunities of a perfect summer day, this season has just about the heaviest lineup of potential bangers I’ve seen in years. I’m not even looking into other heavy hitters like Dan Da Dan, Sakamoto Days, Dr. Stone, and Kaiju No. 8 returning: if you’re like me and love a lot of Love in 22 minute sections, strap in buckaroo.
As always, everything is now hyperlinked to their respective MAL page. Click the images below for more info on the shows!
It’s been three long years since the first season introduced us to Gojou and Marin’s cosplaying endeavors and the manga has recently wrapped up production as well so now it’s all fronts forward for anime watchers to catch on up. Last seen, the internal love for Gojou was budding within Marin as a slept-over confession via phone call left her feelings floating abound but unheard. Now, more cosplay opportunities are ahead, a potential new career path for Marin is on the horizon, and maybe we get to see the Haniel arc this season? I’m very interested to see how far they march forward with this next season and I’m ready to relive every page I’ve read so far!
This may have come as a surprise to the general anime watching community because “vampire love story” can feel like a reheated trope, but when Season 1 was released in 2022 Call of the Night was by leaps and bounds one of the prettiest anime of that year. The world building of transforming the city Kou and Nazuna traversed into a calming, mysterious nightscape of introverted feelings of change, inner-respect, and the yearning of purpose reaches through your screen and pulls you in. Count me in for another nightly stroll.
What might be a dark horse for best anime this year and probably Romance and Slice of Life manga’s worst kept secret. If you’ve never heard of this I implore you to give this a shot; we’re about 150 chapters into the manga and it is by far one of the best written stories I’ve ever read. From the character development, to the intertwining stories, and the lovable cast of characters including the students, their parents, the teachers, the cake shop workers, and everyone in between, this story never fails to put struggles of internal school politics or self-doubt or the unknown embracing of the future right at eye level while showing how anything is possible with rational thinking, a solid core of friends, and the knowledge that things will be better. Every time a new chapter comes in I stop everything I’m doing and inhale the new content, so I’m gonna be just as excited to see it in anime form after all these years.
Hoooooo buddy, I’ve been waiting a while for this one. In 2018, what started as a secondhand interest in this new title with a funny name, Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, turned into a full on obsession. I have gone back and re-watched the first season on multiple occasions, something I almost never do (Only Season 1 of FLCL, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Cowboy Bebop, and Hanasaku Iroha share those credentials). The popularity of the anime, which has been sharing pieces from the Light Novels before it, has developed three movies: one in 2019 and two in 2023. While it’s a little harder to get in front of Anime movies nowadays, the first was an emotional triumph and the two in 2023…left a little to be desired. But the series finally is receiving a second season where we’re seeing an all-new cast of characters going through their own effects of the Puberty Syndrome and I’m abandoning all human contact for 22 minutes every week to see Mai and Sakuta back at it again. God yes I’m fucking ready for this.
Reviews as Fair as a Die Roll 