Anime Round-Up First Half of 2025

The Apothecary Diaries

The Apothecary Diaries is a slow burn romance with a lot of mysteries thrown in. This one is great because of the main character, Maomao. Even without suspecting that there is a romance of some sort, the story just works well.

I Left my A-Rank Party to Help My Former Students Reach the Dungeon Depths

A fun anime about a hero who is overlooked because of his class. Of course turns out that he’s extremely powerful. It is a trope that works well and in this case, I think it’s done in a more entertaining way than most.

To Be Hero X

This one is pretty different. First off a lot of the animation is 3D and it looks amazing. Plus it’s vignettes around a whole lot of different heroes. What if you got your powers not through some accident or something like that, but because people trusted you? That’s the plot and it’s really interesting, this is a very good anime.

I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability

Honestly, this one is just okay. I find that it was solid background noise anime. Not an Isekai, the character is in the same world, but they come back and they are more powerful. Plus they keep on getting roped into things while trying to hide their power. It’s a very common trope now, the “I’m actually really powerful” trope.

The Shiunji Family Children

What would happen to a family if they found out they weren’t really related? That’s the premise of this romance anime, they find out that they aren’t related, and turns out that all the girls might figure out they kind of like one of their brothers. It sounds like a bad anime premise but the show is actually well done and a good romance anime.

Once Upon a Witch’s Death

A witch learns of their death, it’s going to happen no matter what in a year, unless they collect tears of joy. Well, that’s easier said than done, especially when you’re a teenage girl who has an attitude of a 30 year old man. It’s a heartfelt and fun show that uses humor around dealing with big events in a way I wouldn’t expect from an anime.

Witch Watch

An ogre is contracted to be a familiar for a witch. This witch, unknown to her, is slated to die in a year. Now that sounds pretty serious and very fantasy, well, an ogre is just a very powerful humanoid looking creature and it’s set in the “real world.” And the premise comes off more as a slice of life anime than anything else. This is a very cute and great show. Something that feels really different.

The Brilliant Healers New Life in the Shadows

I mentioned the super powerful trope, well here is another anime like that. The healer gets kicked out of the adventuring party her is in and sets up a clinic in the slums. But it turns out that he’s so ridiculously powerful that his life isn’t going to stay as normal as he hoped. It’s a classic trope at this point, but I like this anime as one that doesn’t fall too far down the trope path.

The Gorilla God’s Go To Gal

In a world where everyone gets a blessing our main character ends up with the blessing of the Gorilla God. It’s extremely rare but also makes her stand out and she doesn’t want to standout. This anime is another super powerful trope and is mixed with a nice romance/reverse harem without being a fan service anime. I really enjoy this anime as just a fun one to watch.

Yamada-Kun and the 7 Witches

Yamada-Kun is a tough guy, but when he accidentally switches bodies with the smartest girl in school hijinks, mystery, and romance occur. I think this anime is great because it does such a good job of blending everything. And it tells it’s story in just a short period of time.

Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie

I need to finish watching this one, but I paused because I think my wife will like it as well. But it’s a cute romance anime where the guy is a bad luck magnet and his awesome girlfriend is always there for him. It’s a wholesome romance and one that is just enjoyable to watch with low stakes.

Love Tyrant

Love Tyrant is a harem romance anime with a bunch of comedy in it. I found that there were times and characters who were fun, but overall it’s an anime that just repeats the same jokes over and over again. Love Tyrant is a background noise anime at best.

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai

I read the first manga/arc of this a while ago. And I was surprised with how much I liked it, then I dove into the anime and Rascal doesn’t disappoint. This anime surprised me with how genuinely good it is and how it dives into this world of mysteries in an interesting way with great romance. The title doesn’t help it, but check it out.

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom

What happens if you get Isekai’ed into an Otome game, but instead of being the hero you are the villainess? That’s the plot of this anime and it’s one that is fine. It’s all about the main character trying to avoid the “doom flags” for her character that will lead to a bad ending. Of course everything she does changes the plot more than she’d expect. It’s a fine romance/harem/reverse harem anime.

Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World Season 2

I already reviewed the first season at least shortly. This is an action romance anime and it works well. The second season is almost as strong as the first. It takes the classic Romeo and Juliet sort of thing and works with it. I like it for a romance anime that doesn’t try and do too much, plus has some fun fights.

The Unaware Atelier Meister

See the super powerful trope again. This one is probably the most tiring of them that I watched. I am not 100% sure why I watched it all. It’s not bad it’s just really derivative. I want it to add something knew and it doesn’t.

Campfire Cooking in Another World With My Absurd Skill

What would life be like in another world if you could buy stuff and have it show up from your local corner store? Turns out a whole lot more powerful than you’d think. This is just a fun anime. Is it kind of background noise, sure, but it is also different.

Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It My Life Had It Made

A loser to winner story where the main character is a nobody and accidentally eats what is known as a Fruit of Evolution in a new world. It’s what you expect from an anime like this. It isn’t bad but also isn’t good.

The Ossan Newbie Adventurer Trained To Death By The Most Powerful Party Became Invincible

This one was way more fun than I expected it’d be. It is still the super powerful trope, but now you take it with an older character who is just starting out as an adventurer. Instead of it being a hot young upstart, he has years and wisdom on his side. So he just takes everything in stride. I love this anime. It’s a lot of tropes, but also just a lot of fun.

Tsukigakirei As The Moon, So Beautiful

Two quite kids fall in love. That is the basics of the plot. But there is more than that, and it’s just a fun time. It’s not really a slow burn romance too of will they won’t they which I really enjoyed.

How Not To Summon A Demon Lord

A person gets summoned to a game world when NPC’s in that world try and summon them. The spell bounces back on them, and now they are under the Demon Lord’s control. It’s not a great anime just one that I thought I should checkout. I think it is decent background noise.

Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything with Low-Level Spells

This one for some reason worked for me as a manga and as an anime. Again a weak to strong story where everyone abandons him but turns out his ability can be turned extremely powerful. I think it’s because he is a less jaded character than some in this sort of story. I this that Failure Frame is a fun anime.

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

Imagine getting stuck in a video game that you are making. That’s what happens to the main character, though it’s not like SAO (Sword Art Online) style of stuck, this is just a standard Isekai. I think that the anime is okay.

Isekai Cheat Magician

You get summoned to another world and you are very powerful. And your friend trying to save you from being summoned gets sent there too. This is a fun Isekai. I don’t know that I’d say seek it out, but I’d recommend it over some others on the list.

Wind Breaker

A tough guy wants to go to a tough school. Turns out that the tough school always has a heart and wants to protect their town. Wind Breaker is not an unexpected twist on what the main character expects but a nice one. I want to watch more of it, I just need to get back to it as Wind Breaker is a solid anime with good fights.

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki Season 2

You already know that I love the first season. So I love that we got a second season and it didn’t disappoint. Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki might be my favorite anime so of course I love it.

I May Be A Guild Receptionist, But I’ll Solo Any Boss To Clock Out On Time

Super powerful, check. But this one again just falls into that category where it is just fun. The premise is that she doesn’t want to be a hero. She wants a nice normal job as a guild receptionist but the adventurers can’t take out the boss monsters. So she keeps on getting roped into fighting just in the hopes of avoiding overtime. I think this anime is fun with a really fun premise.

Solo Leveling Season 2

For me, I think that Season 2 of Solo Leveling might top Season 1. I like Solo Leveling a lot, both as a Manhwa and as an anime. The arc from season 2 I think starts to really create more depth for the main character. I think Solo Leveling is great.

Dr Stone

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one. Dr Stone is half a science show and half an adventure/survival anime. There are great heartfelt moments in it and still a lot of conflict between groups. I wish that some characters stuck around longer as main characters but that’s my main knock. Dr Stone is a good anime.

Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister

I like a lot of romance anime. Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister is a very good romance anime. And it’s not just who will he marry of these shrine maidens. There are good supernatural elements to it as well and you get to learn a lot about all the characters and what motivates them.

Mashle: Magic and Muscles Season 2

Another season 2 on the list, Mashle is always just a fun time. I really like it for what it is which is a lot of punching and fighting and crazy powers with a little plot in there as well.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

Frieren is a masterpiece. I could stop at that. But the story of an elf who is beyond the main adventure and now is dealing with the mortality of the rest of her party and finding meaning in the world. I love it.

Masamune-Kun’s Revenge

Another not to hot anime. Though this one is a situation where the main character is maybe a bit wrong in what they are doing. After being betrayed for their feelings when they were younger, they wanted to get revenge by making that person fall for them later. It’s an entertaining anime that has a bit more plot than I expect it to. Not a stand-out but not bad.

The New Gate

I’ve read a lot of this manga. So for me this is a fun anime. The game world is over, you and logout now, aka SAO style world, but for the person who defeated the monster to end it all they are given a gate to a new world or so it might seem. It’s a fun but not all that unique anime.

In Another World with my Smartphone

Another Isekai but this time, what you had your smartphone? I heard a lot about this one I was underwhelmed by it. It’s not bad, it is just not all that exciting either.

2.5 Dimensional Seduction

This one surprised me in some ways. It tries to be a bit like My Dress-Up Darling that pulls off a lot of good conversation about cosplay and normalizing it. But this one is a bit more risque, somehow with a bit less plot to it. I think that 2.5 Dimensional Seduction is fun but not worth checking out over My Dress-Up Darling. Warning, lots of fan service.

Chained Soldier

Monsters in another world, a group of women to protect the real world from the monsters, and guys can’t get powers to do that unless they agree to basically become a slave. Doesn’t sound like a great premise, but somehow it turns into a harem anime with some fun fighting and more of a plot than I would expect. This one is fanservice forward like 2.5 Dimensional Seduction. But it’s a better story than I would expect.

From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman

The second old man but is actually really powerful anime. I’m not sure I like it as much as the Ossan Newbie Adventurer but it’s in that same line of anime. I really like the main character though, again it’s this wise, humble and kind hearted character that an older protagonist can give you. I enjoy this anime quite well.

Domestic Girlfriend

A romance anime where the guy sleeps with his step sister while being in love with the other step sister. Of course the sleeping with the step sister is before they are step siblings. And he doesn’t realize it’s the sister of his crush who happens to be his teacher. It’s a weird who is in love and what is acceptable anime story that apparently if it were to continue has an ending people don’t like. I thought at the anime was fine.

The Dreaming Boy is a Realist

One final one and it’s another romance. The main character professes his love to his love every day. And she always says no. After getting hit in the head by a ball and having an epiphany of what he’s doing he stops and just is focused on the main girls happiness. But it turns out that when he stops she finds that she might actually have feelings for him. So not it’s a will they won’t they. I think this one is fun and I like the weird premise for it.

Final Thoughts

So let’s count. I think I got them all and I don’t think I watched any one Netflix, which is where I’d likely miss them from. I did skip over Summertime Render which is on Disney+/Hulu because I wrote a review on that one already. That’s just 41 anime. So if you want 5 that I’d recommend:

1. Frieren
2. Solo Leveling
3. Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki
4. The Ossan Newbie Adventurer Trained To Death By The Most Powerful Party Became Invincible
5. The Apothecary Diaries

They aren’t in order. And I could come up with more that I’d recommend from the list as well. Is there one of the anime that catches your eye?

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Monolith Revolution

Champions of Rokugan

This is going to be a game set in the L5R (Legends of the 5 Rings) universe. This is cool. It’s going to be a cooperative game. And I’m very interested in this game. I love the Japanese theming of the game with L5R. And one cool element is the idea of honor. This is important for the RPG, but it’s going to be important in the game as well. I’m super interested and the minis look great. I hope that this has a great rulebook. I’ll save that for the end, but Monolith isn’t known for the best rulebooks.

This is going to be a dice based game which is going to determine how you play different actions out there. This is going to feel a bit more like a miniatures game as well, which I think is interesting for me. I’m going to be curious about how it balances board game or miniature game.

Follow the campaign here.

Berserk: The Board Game

Oh man, this is an interesting one. I did watch the original anime of Berserk which is crazy and intense. But it’s a very dark manga and anime, so I’m kind of interested and kind of not. I want to know how it is going to work as a game.

This is going to be a cooperative game. You are playing out cards to with hand management is nice as well, and then attack dice for combat. It’s interesting because you’ll be able to play as a campaign game or as one off scenarios. That’s a nice element for the game as well. And the more cards you play, you lose fatigue, so it’s going to be a nice balancing act of pushing more actions at time or not.

Follow the campaign here.

Reichbusters Reloaded

This one is coming up on April 2nd. This one you can see some stuff around now. And it’s a game that you might know about. I actually owned this game when it was with Mythic Games. I’m curious to know what is going to be changed. They are trying to improve things with fewer keywords and the noise system is going to be better. It sounds like they have taken the feedback and improved things a lot.

Honestly, this might be the point where I dive back in. I love the idea of the weird world war setting. And who doesn’t want to go in and blast away or maybe sneak around. And the improvements really make it sound a ton easier to play. It’s still going to be a similar game but it’s going to be faster. Overall it sounds like it’ll be faster in almost every way from set-up to turns. And if you own the previous game you can grab upgrade packs.

Follow the campaign here.

Mythic Battles: The Roleplaying Game

This is going to be an RPG like it says. If you’re not familiar with what Mythic Battles is, this was originally a board game where you would play as gods and throw trees at each and basically have a big throwdown. It’s interesting that they are bringing in an RPG. For me this one is less interesting for me. I do enjoy running and playing an RPG, but I’m sticking with Dungeons and Dragons and the Marvel RPG system, which I still need to try. But if you want a different idea, I think this is going to be interesting.

Follow the campaign here.

Final Thoughts

Which one is the one that interests you the most? For me, Reichbusters is definitely the most interesting. The Reichbusters game was one that always interested me, but I made the mistake of getting too much to start. Now I want to get this new core box and play that game, keep it simple is my new theory for a lot of games.

Berserk and Champions of Rokugan interest me as well. Berserk though, I think that I’ll pass on it. Mainly because it’s such a dark setting, it’s amazing, but it’s so dark. I don’t love to steep myself in something that dark. For Champions of Rokugan, I want to know more about how the game plays. Is this a miniatures game, is this a board game, where does it land on that?

Send an Email
Message me on X at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

What’s the Plot of Dan Da Dan?

Well, the basis of what kicks off the story is there is a boy who believe in aliens. And a girl who believes in ghosts and spirits. The match made in heaven, right? Nope, both of them think that the other is crazy and decide that the other should go to a spot, alone at night, where these events are rumored to have occurred.

That’s the basics of the plot. You likely can guess what happens next for both of them. But that’s the fun of the story to see how that unfolds so I won’t go further into what happens.

The Anime Adaptation

So let’s start out by digging into if this is a good adaptation. I think that the visuals are some of the more enjoyable that I’ve seen in an anime in a while. It leans into elements that make sense to create a stark contrast around. So it is more than just your standard animation which I’m really enjoying. The aesthetic element works as well to demonstrate the plot elements of the story.

And I am watching the dub of it. Cruchyroll seems to be keeping up with it well, so I plan to keep going that way. But the dub works as well. The main two characters are really the voices you’ve heard through two episodes. And I think that they did a solid job finding voice talent for it. The plot and story aren’t going to give them the most room to stretch their voice acting chops, but it’s good voice acting.

Compared to the Manga

But let’s dive in a little bit further. How does it compare to the manga? Is it a faithful adaptation of what happens in the manga?

I think to both of those questions I can say yes thus far. The story for Dan Da Dan’s anime is very much what I remember from the manga. And they are sticking very true to it which I appreciate. There is some room to deviate from it, but not that much in terms of what the story is doing.

And I think because they went for unique visuals that element feels like the manga as well. I’m not sure that the manga as massively changes the tone, at least in the visual sense. But there is almost always a shift that happens. So I think the anime is faithful to what as well.

Should You Watch Dan Da Dan?

I haven’t talked much about the tone of the show. I like the supernatural elements of the story and I think that brings some of the fun. But it is more than just that in Dan Da Dan. There is an enjoyable story, good humor, and you do care about the characters.

That is what I want to see continued in the anime. The groundwork has been laid for it. And they are being very faithful to the manga in the anime. So if they keep it up, it is going to be a fun show. Is it going to be the best anime of all time, certainly not. Is it going to be a bad anime, certainly not. But it has the potential to be a really fun show with really fun characters that is worth most people checking out. And I think that Dan Da Dan thus far has done a good job of not feeling just like another anime.

Are you watching Dan Da Dan?

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

What Is Unico About

I can tell you the whole plot of Unico if you want. But I won’t. Unico is a story originally created by Osamu Tezuka and published from 1976 to 1979. Tezuka’s name might be familiar as he also created and wrote Astro Boy. So he is one of the founders and creators of manga as we know it. Unico is a lesser known story. But Samuel Sattin (adaptor) and Gurihiru have adapted it into a new form.

The story follows that of a unicorn who with the goddess Psyche bring joy and beauty to the mortal world. But that makes the goddess Venus mad. She is beauty, not Unico and people should be adoring her, not Unico. So she captures the little unicorn and sends him across time with the West Wind so that he forgets who he was. He is to be left in that forgetful state, but the West Wind can’t do that. But her betrayal of Venus is going to cost her and put Unico back in danger.

Is It A Good Story?

So the first graphic novel or trade paperback just came out of this. I don’t think it is going purely to comics, but that means that only part of the story is ready to be read. But Unico: Awakening, the first graphic novel, is wonderful. You get a taste in the comic for free comic book day, but the rest of the story really shines as you dig into.

There is a surprising amount of depth to the story as you look into Unico, Chloe the cat, and what other characters, like the West Wind need to go through. It’s a kids story, but not a kids story for the faint of heart. And I think the story is better off because of it. But that is also a downside of it.

The comic book came with the kids bag of stories. And my five-year-old kid loves Unico. But now that we own and I read the story, is it the right thing for a kid that age. The start has some big things to it, just in the comic. But nothing too overtly scary. Unico: Awakening, that is going to contain more that might be scary for a kid.

Then Who Is It For?

Unico is for a slightly older kid and parents who like manga and comics. It is not a teenage story by any means. I think it is for middle grade kids though, not young kids. Venus is not nice, and Unico is adorable. I expect a lot of kids are not going to like that element of the story. And there is a monster that is not pleasant to look at. It’s the type of thing that might stick in a kids head and cause some nightmares.

Now, I also want to say that your mileage will vary. I still am trying to figure out what my kid is going to be able to handle or not. It might be fine it might not and the question always is, is it worth it. I think as he gets a little bit older, maybe not even to 9, the story won’t be too much for him. But at five now, it might be. So it’s probably more a screen it yourself to know for your kid.

Final Thoughts on Unico

I want to talk about it more. But I think, because it’s a classic manga adapted it’s worth just saying, go check it out. Most people should find it enjoyable. And while the focus is on a younger audience, adults will find it enjoyable as well. Samuel Sattin’s adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s work is very enjoyable. And the artwork by Gurihiru is great, as well.

When I read the story, I find it a lot of fun. And like a good comic or manga, I want to know what is coming in the next one. If I feel like I can just set it down and get back to it eventually, it is a miss. But when I read Unico, I want to read more of it. Now I need to wait until the next one comes out, which is a downside of reading a comic when it comes out. But I find Unico to be worth the read.

Send an Email
Message me on X at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Manga Round-up

Please Go Home, Miss Akutsu!

This one reminds me a lot of Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro but it’s even more sexualized. Not nudity, but more fan service as a degenerate sort of character, Miss Akutsu has descended on the main characters apartment. And, well, she’s made it her hangout spot which is driving the main character up the wall. He has no idea of what she’s going to do, and I’m not convinced that she does either. But either way, both of them kind of like the other or are growing to like the other.

You can see how that kind of matches up with Don’t Toy WIth Me, Miss Nagatoro. And it’s enjoyable to see it again. The stories are very short and vey slice of life as different things happen to both Miss Akutsu and the main character. But mainly, she just doesn’t want to leave his place and won’t no matter what he tries.

Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc.

Magilumiere Magical Girls is a new manga that I stumbled across. It’s a world of magic girls with magical powers who work at companies and defeat monsters for them. It’s kind of a business, though how the companies get paid, I don’t fully understand that.

Sakuragi is a recent college graduate who is failing at a job hunt. She over prepares and over thinks everything as she is looking for work. She helps a magical girl take out one of the monsters with her knowledges of the monsters. So the company that that magical girl works for recruits her.

The story is fun and different from my normal fantasy manga reading. The main character is a lot of fun. And the company that she goes to work for is a start-up magical girl company with an interesting cast of employees. It is more going to be about them, or at least it will be a lot of the time, than the magical girl fighting.

The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

Now we’re to fantasy manga and Isekai. Our main character is brought to a fantasy world and, well, he doesn’t get what is considered a cool power. Nope, instead he gets healing magic. Turns out, healing magic is pretty rare. But the top healer, she is a bit eccentric in her training of healers looking for someone like her.

What is like her? Well, the main character is basically broken down and learns how to use healing magic on himself. He is a tank, not for combat but for being able to heal on the front lines. The last time the demons attacked, the other healer is the only reason everyone survived. So she wants other healers like her to keep the demons at bay next time they attack.

I enjoy this type of story. The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic is pretty standard in what is does. A fantasy world with demons attacking is what I expect from an isekai. It is just enough different and I haven’t gotten into the “let’s fight” portion of the manga that I’m enjoying it thus far.

I Want to End This Love Game

Now time for a cute manga. I really enjoy cute manga, and I Want To End This Love Game is a fun cute one. To me, I think of Kaguya-sama: Love is War as a comparison. Mainly it is two characters who love each other, but neither is going to fold to be the first two admit it.

How did we end up here? Yukiya and Miku make a bet as kids or more of a dare. They tell each other “I love you” and the first to have their heart flutter is the loser. Well, for both of them, the time of their heart fluttering has long past. They now love each other but neither of them dare admit it because that will mean that they lose the game.

The manga is the story of them trying to get the other to break. Because, once the other breaks, they now confess their love and their heart fluttering is fine. The story is just really cute and enjoyable.

Overgeared

Finally we have Overgeared. According to what I looked up, I haven’t written about this one. I thought maybe I had because I’m book three of this webtoon turned manga or manhwa. And it is back to fantasy with Overgeared.

At the moment he dies, our main character, in a video game, unlocks the secret new class of a master blacksmith. He rebuilds in the game from being a top character to now even a more powerful character, but one who has no idea of how it all works. It is less of a fantasy romp of fighting monsters and more of him figuring how to make it in his career as a blacksmith. And in real life how he is able to help support his family now through the video game. Though, half the battle is convincing his parents that is even possible.

It is a fun fantasy story. I like the ones with kind of an underdog character. I say kind of because he is powerful. But also I like the story of the unlikely skill being used to come up as a big time hero. Overgeared is that type of story, so I like that element.

Final Thoughts

I like all of these manga. Normally, I think there is one or two where I look at it and go, I won’t get more of them. In this batch, I want to read more of them. My investment with Overgeared is already there. The one that I think I might end up dropping is The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic but I want to read a little more of it first. Mainly that is the most generic of the manga in the group.

The one that I like best is easily I Want To End This Love Game. The premise is just so much fun, and the characters aren’t mean about it. They tease each other to get them flustered. But they both want the other character to get flustered and fall in love with them. So the idea of being too mean and antagonizing the other person is a real concern which means, they need to be sweet.

Have you read any new manga lately?

Send an Email
Message me on X at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

You Can’t Do All the Hobbies

Let’s not bury the lead and pretend either way for a little bit. But no you can’t do everything all at once. I want to find more time to dedicate to some hobbies. Mainly, I want to start painting minis. I wrote about Lego last week, I want to start my build for that. Then there are comics which I do read, but I want to read them faster than I do. And I’m sure that I have other hobbies that I’d like to do.

So, if you are like me and want to try a lot of things, the answer is, you can’t do all the hobbies at once, at the same time. But there is some good news out there. Because I think you don’t need to, as much as you want to.

Taking Turns

And this idea of taking turns is why I don’t think that you need to do them all at once. And it is the reason that hobbies can be balanced out. I own painting supplies, I will paint sometime. But when is that time going to be. Probably when something else goes on the back burner.

What is that going to be, I’m not sure. When is that going to be, I’m not sure. But when I look at my painting stuff, I still want to paint. I see it right now and I want to take the day and paint instead of going into work. But it is okay to rotate hobbies. I might wrap up my D&D campaign and not start another for a year. That is a year in which I could paint. It all depends on what works best for me.

Combining

Another great thing is that a lot of hobbies can be combined. And while it might not always be something that you think about naturally, let’s talk about some of them. And let’s start with Lego who has made it easy to start combing with Dungeons and Dragons.

Lego made a Dungeons and Dragons castle and scene. It is officially licensed Dungeons and Dragons. So much so that Dungeons and Dragons made a scenario for the castle. That means that you can sit down and start playing a game around what has been built. I hope this means that Lego is going to come out with more Dungeons and Dragons set. Maybe you want to build with Lego and make your own scenes, why not do that as your Dungeons and Dragons settings?

Or for me, once I finish up playing Baldur’s Gate 3, so this one is a bit of both combing and taking turns, I want to catch up on some anime. Well, that might be the time to combine some hobbies for me. I want to pay attention while I watch anime, but there are a number where I don’t need to pay complete attention. So I want to wrap up Quintessential Quintuplets, throw it on and start painting. If a key moment is happening, I pause painting, but I can do two things at once.

So combine your hobbies.

Finally, Enjoy Your Hobbies

Let’s wrap this up nicely. I started out with some bad news, you can’t do anything. But it is okay. Not everyone needs to do all the hobbies at once. In fact, if you work, it isn’t possible to all the hobbies at once. And if you don’t, you probably can’t afford all the hobbies at once.

That again is negative. But on the positive side of things, doing the hobbies that you can is great. I get to enjoy playing Dungeons and Dragons. I get to enjoy watching anime, playing Baldur’s Gate 3, and more as hobbies. Not doing a secondary hobby to it doesn’t make it worse. It just means that eventually I’ll have more to explore.

I think at times it is possible to get into the mindset of we must own it all. We must play it all. But instead, I want to think and spend my time enjoying what I am doing. I know I need to remind myself of that sometimes, but all the hobbies are great. And some day, I plan to explore more.

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Manga Round-up

Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything with Low-Level Spells

Let’s get through all the ones with a title that is way too long first. This is the most recent one that I’ve read and thus far I’ve just read volume one. I am on the fence if i am going to read more of it. Mainly because I enjoyed the first one, but it’s more of an edgelord storyline and I’m not into that as much.

The main character is brought into another world by a deity to be a hero. Turns out that while everyone else who he’s recruited with is a high level adventurer, he’s not. So like whenever the deity brings in someone who isn’t that good, she basically banishes them to a place where they’ll perish. But he uses his skills to get through and out of that part of the world. Definitely a bit edgier, but it isn’t like he’s gone full on bad guy yet. So I think I want to checkout more.

Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship!

Now another Isekai, this one is set in space though. So I’ve had my eye on Reborn as a Space Mercenary for a while because of that. I like Isekai, but most of them are in more of a fantasy setting. Even one of my favorites, Life is Tough for a Mob, where he’s trapped in a dating sim has fantasy and sci-fi elements to it.

This one definitely leans into the main character whose skills are above most other people. And in all fairness it’s just his piloting skill and his starship. When it comes to the world itself he’s needing to learn a lot. It definitely has a harem manga feel to it, where he’ll collect girls and we’ll see how that goes because it’s a tired trope, but thus far, the story is interesting enough that I picked up more to read soon.

Hazure Skill: The Guild Member with a Worthless Skill is Actually a Legendary Assassin

Another one with a long name and one that I already have more that I’ve read of it. Hazure Skill again is about that main character who is really good at something. But instead of leaning into it, after he “assassinates” the demon lord, he just wants to lead a normal life. The king offers him everything, but nope, he just wants to lead a normal boring life.

As the story unfolds, turns out that interesting things follow him. But also that he has no idea what a normal life is. Whenever something is said to be normal, he goes all in on that. On the downside, like Reborn as a Space Mercenary, it does have that harem element to it. Less so than Reborn a Space Mercenary, but definitely has some of those vibes to it.

Sign of Affection

Now for something completely different we have Sign of Affection. The romance story of a girl who is deaf and the boy who reaches out to her and into her world. It’s a very cute romance and one that I need to keep reading more of. Thus far I’ve only gotten through the first one and I really liked it. My wife is much further into it, and it might be done, I forget.

But I enjoy it for the lighter and fluffier side of manga. It really provides an enjoyable story and enjoyable characters. Plus the anime is just coming out, so I plan on checking that out soon as well.

[Oshi No Ko]

[Oshi No Ko] looks like another cutesy manga and anime title. And I think for the idol element of it, that’s what drew people in and made it a pretty talked about anime in 2023. I didn’t check it out then, but once I looked into the story more I checked it out.

[Oshi No Ko] is much more of a mystery, there are some weird elements to it that make it definitely manga, but there is a mystery element as well. Who kills the main pop star, that’s what her son wants to know. Now, her son is a reincarnated doctor who was supposed to deliver her twins but murdered. So now he’s on the case of who killed him and who killed his mom and of course he has all his memories as well.

Dandadan

Finally we’re going to wrap up with one that I started reading a while ago but has really hooked me. Dandadan is a goofy action and horror manga where the main characters are dealing with all sort of supernatural things and aliens. But let’s talk about the plot.

The basics are that two classmates, who don’t know each other besides being classmates, get into an argument. One believes that the supernatural is real and the other scoffs at it. The other believes that aliens are real and the the first one scoffs at that notion. Of course, that night they both find out that the other one is right. And the manga really takes off from there. Dandadan is getting an anime adaptation as well this year.

Final Thoughts

If I were to pick my favorites thus far out of the group, I think that I like Dandadan the best. [Oshi No Ko], Sign of Affection, and Hazure Skill all have me reading more and enjoying them. And the other two are surprisingly similar. I already bought more of Reborn a Space Mercenary, so I might skip out on the other. But both are fun, so I’m not sure about getting more of it, at least until I read through some other manga.

I’ve been reading some other books as well. And Marvel comics, so this, though I’m sure I’m missing something, is through about October that I read. Like I said, I’m sure that I’m missing something. And there are some that I’ve likely missed as well just because it’s been a while.

Have you been reading any good manga lately? What’s the favorite thing you’ve been checking out?

Send an Email
Message me on X at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

2023 Nerdy Goals

Go To GenCon

How is this even a goal? I don’t know, but I want to go to GenCon again. But I’m excited to go again this year, and I think that it might be a bigger group going who I know this year, which will be exciting if that’s the case. This is going to be my big shot to try a ton of new games like always. And it’s a chance to connect with some of the Man vs Meeple and Tablenauts crew and others potentially as well. And at this point in time, those evenings are as exciting as anything else to me.

Watch my Backlog

I said that there would be some things that feel like repeats. But this is about catching up on movies and TV shows that I need to catch up on. Mainly things like the latest season of Dragon Prince. Or movies like Sonic 2 before Sonic 3 comes out. There are others as well that I want to catch up on because there were a lot of good shows and not enough time. Wheel of Time and One Piece are two more. Of course, I mean the One Piece Netflix show, I’m not starting the 1000+ episodes of the anime, I’ll wait for the new one.

Plus, I know that there are a few new shows or seasons coming out that I want to see. Dragon Prince is having another season, and the live action Avatar: The Last Airbender are both exciting. And I talked about the anime that I want to watch. You can see those here.

Read More Comics

I did an okay job of this last year. I won’t say that I hit my goal, which I talked about on 10 Minute Marvel, of a comic a day. But I would guess that I ready 100+ comic issues. My goal is to keep on reading and improve upon that. I got a few trade paperbacks for Christmas, so that is a solid spot to start. I finished up King in Black yesterday, and Time Runs Out (I think that is it) in the past few days. But I already have a bit more that I know I want to read. Secret Wars, Ultimate Universe, and more as well.

Read More Manga and Backlog

This one is a bit of both, I am really enjoying diving into manga. But I want to get through more of the backlog of manga and the ones that my wife has read but I haven’t. I really enjoy reading those as well, but make it a more intentional, read comic or manga right before bed versus fiddling on the phone. And I just got some new manga this past week, read two of them last night, so now I have more coming from one of the series thus far. We’ll see if I get more of the other one as well.

Get Into a Workout Routine

What does this have to do with being nerdy? Well, it’s when I can work through some of my backlog. I have weights, I have a stationary bike, let me use them. What shows or movies might my wife not be interested in, and then do a workout and watch something. It’s not that hard, I just need to get into the routine. And more of a routine the better because I’m a generally healthy nerdy person, but I want to do even better.

Final Thoughts

I’ll be touching on Malts and Meeples and the plans for that tomorrow. But these are the nerdy things that I want to do in 2024. And I think that a lot of them are attainable, I want to keep them small. So what are your reasonable and attainable nerdy resolutions? Let me know down in the comment section below.

And do you ever set your goals on a theme? Mine is to get through backlogs across the board. Instead of running towards whatever is new, always, to work through some of the things that I’ve been wanting to watch, read, play, whatever it might be. Obviously some are outliers from that, but more fall into that category.

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

Top 5 Anime of 2023

It’s worth noting before I get into some honorable mentions that these are anime I watched in 2023. It doesn’t mean that the anime had to air in 2023. It might be something I stumbled across for the first time.

Honorable Mention

A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special – This is one that I just started watching and it’s actively coming out or at least actively getting dubbed. It’s about a character who when the world ends gets sent back in time with his knowledge to try and save the world. It’s a fun trope that I enjoy in manga and anime recently.

Jujutsu Kaisen – Jujutsu Kaisen is probably one of the more talked about animes where sorcerers are fighting demons. The main character, well, he’s a bit of a special one with the cursed energy that he has and how much he cares. This is mainly an anime with an okay story and some cool fights.

My Love Story with Yamada-Kun and Lv999 – You’ll find a few romance anime on this list, and I like this one a lot. It’s a cute story of a girl who joins an RPG only to get dumped by her boyfriend who got her into the game. Swearing off gamer boys, she finds that she accidentally might be falling for one again.

I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in The Real World, Too – Ah, the classic long title. This is the story of the zero to hero over night. As the main character is a nobody in the real world, and then when inheriting a portal to another world from his grandfather, he levels up there and well, levels up in the real world too.

5. Mashle

To start the list we have Mashle. This is one that I already talked about on the manga list. In fact, you’ll find a few that overlap. A lot of that is that I’d stumble across something and then hear that it’s coming out as an anime later. Mashle though, I think maybe makes a better anime than a manga. And I really enjoy the manga.

The story is pretty simple, it’s a non-magic user in a magic users world. In fact the world leans so heavily on magic that it shuns and throws out of society anyone that can’t use magic. So how is Mashle able to survive in a school for magic users? Well, that’s where the action and comedy come in as this story parodies other anime and manga out there.

This is one for people who want a pretty simple plot but a lot of dumb fun action and a dumb fun character, Mash Burnedead. In fact, all of the characters could qualify as dumb and fun. It’s just a good time.

4. Rent-A-Girlfriend

Now onto another one of the romance anime that I watched this past year. Rent-A-Girlfriend is an anime and story that I’d heard about but never really drew me in as a concept. A guy is down on his luck having been dumped by his girlfriend, so as a way to gain confidence he goes on a Rent-A-Girlfriend app and has a date with a rental girlfriend.

And I think that Rent-A-Girlfriend gets much better as the seasons go on. The first season is a bit rough. You don’t feel that sad for the guy and the relationship between the rental girlfriend and him is odd. But eventually, through some decent writing and plot, the story really develops into something meaningful. The main character never fully wins you over, at least he didn’t for me, but the rest of the characters and heart of the story work well.

3. Shangri-La Frontier

Another one from the manga list, Shangri-La Frontier is just one that I really enjoy. The main character loves his trash games. Video games that are so bad that they are almost unplayable. His goal is to beat them all and he has beat most of them. When he goes in to commiserate with a video game store owner about the last bad game, she recommends a break to a great game, and a new game Shangri-La Frontier.

I like this show as just a fun romp of a game. The most interesting part is probably the world and the complexity of the world being created. The main character is very good at the game, he should be since he’s really good at bad games. But that doesn’t take away from the wild but deep world and make it less enjoyable. Instead, you get to appreciate him appreciating something that is actually good. And sometimes dipping into appreciating something that is bad as he plays other games.

2. Spy x Family

Now we have one of the bigger anime for 2022, I believe. I just didn’t get around to watching it until 2023. In fact both my #2 and #1 are 2022 titles that I watched this year. Spy x Family is the story of a spy who has to pretend like he has a family in order to infiltrate a school and get close to one of the enemy countries leaders.

That’s the plot, but it’s really about how a spy, an assassin (they don’t know each others jobs) and a psychic daughter that he adopts all can live together and they grow together. Is it just a job or are they starting to have feelings for each other? Well, the daughter definitely loves them both, but what’s going on. It’s a story with a lot of cute little stories in it and sometimes some action and adventure as plots are uncovered and stopped. But all of that has a family backdrop to it.

1. My Dress-Up Darling

And my favorite anime of last year is My Dress-Up Darling. This one I really didn’t think I was going to like. I think my wife and I started watching it in 2022 and the 2nd episode is just tough to watch. It’s all of those cringy awkward things that I feel like you get in some comedies. It reminds me of Meet the Parents or 40-Year-Old Virgin awkward and kind of dumb writing.

But the show quickly moves on past that into a show still with some of that awkwardness, but not to the point where it’s the point of an episode. And it becomes more charming as you meet the characters more in depth and they grow. My Dress-Up Darling is really a great romance and story of characters growing together and bonding over cosplay. It’s also a dive into the world of cosplay and the people who go head over heals for it.

I know that it is a raunchy anime. There is a lot of fan service. And while I find that it doesn’t push itself too far, it definitely pushes itself a ways. That is going to be enough for some to skip it. But while it has all of that, it is, without doubt, the anime with the most heart that I’ve seen in a long while. It is just adorable and heart warming with how the characters interact.

Final Thoughts

This was a fun year of watching anime for me. There are some that I want to get back to and finish because I liked them, but it wasn’t the right time to watch.

Shy, a superhero anime, definitely interested me in what it was doing. As it felt like a different take, kind of, on superheroes, but it also hits some tropes.

Beast Tamer also almost made the list. A story of a character who seems underpowered or like his skills aren’t that great. But when the adventuring party doesn’t have him, well, maybe he’s worth more than they thought.

Didn’t I say to make my abilities average in the next life is another one that I kind of want to dabble in a bit more. An isekai, the main character wants to just be average and live a normal life in their next life. While, when they get dropped into the world, they are given the average of an ant (or something like that) and the most powerful ancient dragon. So they are on the high end of magic users and people in the world.

Plus a lot of fun ones are coming out in 2024. I’ll be doing a list looking forward soon. Which anime did you watch in 2023 that you really liked?

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here

The Plot

Shangri-La Frontier, while it looks odd from the images, is a VRMMORPG manga where the main character is known for one thing. He’s known for loving and beating the worst games out there. Then comes along a new game, Shangri-La Frontier. A game that is not horrible. But one that promises to be a great game, and Sunraku is created in that world.

As it turns out, being very good at bad games makes you much stronger or more adaptable in good games. And soon Sunraku is starting to explore mysteries of the game that weren’t meant to be found for a long time. Of course, there are some drawbacks as well when he gets cursed, but he’s used to having an uphill battle.

The World of Shangri-La Frontier

I think one thing that makes this manga stand out to me is the world that they are creating. It is fairly common for MMORPG’s in manga to be pretty generic. They all try and do something different, I won’t say that they don’t, but often times, it follows more of a predictable pattern.

Shangri-La Frontier does a good job of offering predictable patterns but also then unique things. One of the early unique things you’ll meet are the rabbits. This whole world within the world of Rabbituza and other creatures. It’s a twist done some for comedy but also it builds on the lore of the world.

And it is the depth of the world building as well. As you get further into the story, you see the progression of the world and story that it is trying to build. I think it’s interesting how, as part of the manga, this whole other world has been created as it’s own living entity in the game.

Sunraku

Now, Sunraku isn’t the most unique character out there. In fact, I think that there is a lot of overlap with him and Kirito from Sword Art Online. Both of them fall into a category of not playing too well with others but have a heart that is willing to help others.

That is a trope that I like. I am not a fan of when an anime or manga leans into edge lords, but on the other extreme, when the main character is overly emotional as well, Midoriya from My Hero Academia, that is annoying as well. So it’s a character who cares, but not to the point where it’s at a level that it holds back the character.

No An Isekai

Let’s also talk about that, this is going to feel a bit like an isekai to some because the characters spend almost all their time in the video game. We rarely see outside into the real world. But it’s like Bofuri and Sword Art Online that way. The real world and connection to the real world still exists.

I very much enjoy isekai, but right now there are a ton of them. I recently started one where someone was reincarnated as a vending machine. Or I’m reading one where someone came back as a sword. It’s definitely scraping towards the bottom of the barrel with them. Not to say that all of them are that rough, but I do think it’s worth noting that some of them are and the saturation point. By just making it an VRMMORPG it is different.

Who Is Shangri-La Frontier For?

I think that this is going to have a bit of a wider appeal than the normal fantasy manga storylines. The world building, like I talked about, is better, and I think the supporting cast is interesting. And I can’t speak for the anime, obviously, since that isn’t out yet, but the manga doesn’t lean into fan service. I’d say that it actually does a good job of just being normal, which I think will help with the audience as well.

My Final Thoughts on Shangri-La Frontier

I’m not sure I have a ton more to say about it. I very much enjoy it, and it’s one where I am going to keep on reading it. I will also be watching the anime when that comes out to see how it shows it off. I think the best comparisons are things like Sword Art Online and Bofuri which I really like both of them.

Honestly, some of why I like this genre as much as I do might be because I just enjoy the idea of playing in another world. It is probably why I like D&D and watch movies, or get invested into television shows. It’s fun to see a world, in the manga, where that exists. It’s the escapism element of it and imagining what a VRMMORPG will be like in real life when it happens.

But even without that, I think that the story is strong. I like the characters and I want to see what they get up to. And I think when you care about what the characters do next, that’s always a good sign for a story.

Have you read Shangri-La Frontier? Let me know your thoughts on it. Or is it one that now sounds interesting to you?

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here