As you may or may not have heard, Crunchyroll brought the Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple film over the states as part of their Movie Night series. I was lucky enough to check it out, and I wrote up a review of the film with my thoughts! It’s no Heartcatch Precure movie, but few franchise films are so I can’t knock it that bad for being visually stunning while kind of flat narratively.
At long last, it’s here! To be completely honest, I found myself a bit wearied at the prospect of embarking on the great voyage that creating these posts always is, but once I actually got to the writing of it I found myself swept away by the sheer fun of remembering how much I like each of the shows I talk about. That, my friends, is a sign of a good list.
To see how things shook out during the year, check out my final rankings posts for each season.
Winter 2016 | Spring 2016 | Summer 2016 | Fall 2016 (TBD)
And with that, let’s get to it! As per our tradition (three years strong now!) here’s the Best Girl of 2016 to kick things off!
I don’t think it’s burnout, per se. But at the height of my seasonal anime-watching prowess I am not. The grand total number of shows this season I’m actively keeping up with? Six.
On the absolute treat that was the Dazai backstory arc of Bungo Stray Dogs’ second season.
I like pretty pictures and I like season. Mostly because this season is completely packed full of pretty pictures of various kinds. That’s something that’s really exciting for me, so I spent some time this week talking briefly about the directors who are bringing these shows to us and the actual formal qualities of their work. To my great chagrin, I had originally meant to talk about Lostorage Incited WIXOSS in this article, but I forgot and wound up writing about Sangatsu no Lion instead. Oh well.
The season of fall premieres continues to plow forward. I’ll be glad when it’s over and I can settle in to my hoped-for schedule. I’m trying to take it easy, though! I no longer have the desire I once had to kill myself over watching absolutely everything. Thankfully.
If you missed part one, you can read that here!
Spring 2016 was ridiculous. It’s been a long time since I’ve watched 10+ shows in a season, but this season made me do it. In addition, the top level of shows this season were ridiculous. We had basically two competing AOTS shows (fortunately, only one actually ended this season). In short, I had a whole bunch of fun—my weekly schedule this season felt like coming home each time I started in on it.
In a real season of anime that isn’t as stupidly stacked as this one this, a lot more the premieres I check out that usually flop so I can leave them behind without feeling bad. This season, some of the cuts I’m making to my schedule feel like chopping down a sapling before seeing what kind of tree it will become.
Mage in a Barrel 