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?

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Top 50 Anime – 20 through 11

20. Steins;Gate

Like I said, this is one that was on the top of the list for me for a long time. I still love it and have fond memories of staying up late and binging it because it’s that good. It’s one of the best time travel shows I’ve ever seen and one of the best time travel things period. It’s up there with something like Primer in terms of time travel.

But to do it that well, you need part of it to be that time travel goes wrong. And it does in this show, and because it does, there are some heavier moments with it. One that I probably should watch again, it’s not that long, but it’s that good.

19. Kaguya-Sama: Love is War

Now for one of them that I watched the most recently, this one is amazing. It’s a super fast paced comedy that I love. I saw the first episode or maybe two, in Japanese a bit ago. And I thought it was great, but it’s a lot of reading. Well, turns out that he dubbed version is amazing as well. Ian Sinclair is able to overact in it as the narrator and it really sets the tone for this fast, smart, and absurd romance. The two characters who should fall in love and do love the other can’t admit it because it would be losing. So it becomes a battle to get the other to admit their feelings.

The reason it didn’t work for me in Japanese is that there is so much reading, like I said. This reminds me of witty slapstick comedies where it is a mile a minute dialog. Bringing up Baby is a great example of that. This is way more sarcastic and still as over the top. One that I really think will appeal to a lot of people, even if you don’t like romance anime.

18. Ghost Hunt

I like to find horror anime to watch, from time to time. You’ll notice not a ton on my list, though. Mainly because a lot of them are just okay. Ghost Hunt, however, really was a ton of fun. And I like how it worked as well. It didn’t do the thing where it was one massive horror/ghost hunt that happens. But it’s also not monster of the week. Each case that the team investigates takes a few episodes. That time to breath lets them build up the horror and build up the lore. Each case wraps up quickly enough though so it doesn’t drag.

17. Mashle

I expect Mashle to move higher over time. It’s an anime that doesn’t set itself apart as something that is completely unique. In fact, a lot of what Mashle does, the main character who is the chosen one to bring balance to a corrupt world that looks down on those who can’t cast magic, it’s pretty normal. It’s set in a school, also normal. But it then makes fun of those tropes.

The main character, Mash Deadburn is a moron, how he will bring balance who knows. He also is insanely strong, that’s how he makes up for not being able to do magic. But it’s not that he overpowers everyone, he has to use it to pretend to be doing magic because otherwise he’d be cast out from society. This is a good action and comedy anime storyline.

16. Bofuri

We’ll see were this one lands, I need to watch the second season of Bofuri. But the premise is a fun one. A girl takes up playing an RPG. But she’s afraid of dying and getting hurt in the RPG. It’s her first time playing one. So she maxes out her defense, that’s part of the long title. And as she does that, this sweet RPG player comes up against more powerful, more cutthroat players, but can she overcome them just with her defense? And will she lose her sweetness? That’s the biggest part of this pretty wholesome feeling anime.

15. Assassination Classroom

Assassination Classroom is another one that was higher on my list, and it’s dropped some. This is an absurd anime again. The main character is an “alien” who needs to be killed before they destroy the world. Well, they take up teaching a remedial class of students who need to learn but also are tasked with coming up with a creative way to take him out. Because he knows he needs to die, but he’s not going to make it easy.

The whole thing is really built around the emotional stories and growth of the students. But it’s done with one of the weirdest backdrops ever. Assassinate your alien teacher is not where you’d expect to get character development and growth stories from.

14. A Returners Magic Should Be Special

I’ve found a trope that I really like which A Returners Magic Should Be Special is one of. What do you do when you know how everything ends. You know that in the end, everything is for not because you fail. But now you’ve been sent back to where you started at, how do you do it differently. That’s the question that is being asked in this action and adventure anime. Where there are portals opening up and a dragon at the end of them destructs and destroys the world. The main character’s mind is thrown back into his body when he started out training. So what is he going to do different.

I like the story, I like the overpowered nature. And I really appreciate that it is a fun character as well. This could be dark, and there are some elements or some ways where it feel like it is. But overall the story is handled pretty lightly, there are fun moments, and I want more of it.

13. Horimiya

This is one that we, both my wife and I, read first before watching. I think that helps build it up some as an anime and as a romance. The books are great, and the anime, while it bounces around and basically wraps up the whole story in a season, and then goes back, it’s weird. But the heart of the story is great. Two highschoolers fall for each other, but both of them kind of live a different life in and outside of school. It’s just a good heartfelt and funny romance anime.

12. Spy X Family

The biggest hit in the past few years. I mean, you can say Attack on Titan, but that had it’s start before the past few years. Spy X Family is about a spy who needs to set-up a family to get close to a political leader. Turns out, you can lie about that, and he creates a fake family. It has some spy stuff, it has some assassin stuff. But it’s really about that family element. How does the spy, and their fake spouse an assassin, keep their hidden lives hidden from each other? Plus, how do they actually act like a family?

11. Komi Can’t Communicate

This anime is just adorable. Komi Can’t Communicate is about Komi, a girl who has severe social anxiety and can’t communicate with anyone. She comes off as cold and aloof because of that. But when one of her classmates actually spends the time to reach out to her in a way that she can handle, they start to form a bond. And she doesn’t want to be cold and aloof, but wants to make 100 friends. So how can he help her do that when she can’t talk. The anime is adorable, and it’s a good romance, and there are a lot of funny moments. It’s one that is just easy watching in the best way possible.

Final Thoughts

There it is, the penultimate last. Next week, and I will remember to write it for next week, the Top 10 Anime for me. Don’t expect a ton of heavy hitters on the list, though a number of them are quite popular. I have my type of anime that I like, though I will watch most.

Based off of what I’ve written about thus far, which anime do you think will make the top of the list? And which anime do you think I should continue to checkout that maybe I haven’t. Let me know down in the comment section below.

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?

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Mashle – Synopsis

The basics are that Mash lives in a world where magic is everything and those without are seen as abominations. And of course Mash doesn’t have magic, but he’s been trained up and worked so hard that he is all muscle.

And, to go with that, Mash goes to a magic school. As part of the training of the world, everyone gets trained in magic. So the big question for the manga is how is Mash going to survive as a non-magic user? And how will Mash survive in a magic school?

Other Notes

I like to toss in this section mainly to call out fan service in the shows. It isn’t really part of the plot, but it is something that shows up a lot. So in this one, there really isn’t any. It is a very clean manga that way and that makes sense.

I think it is worth noting here, and I’ll talk about it more later, Mash is a little slow. Meaning he isn’t always catching onto everything that is going on. This, I believe, is an attempt to make him more of a meathead character. Whether or not that works, we’ll find out.

What Doesn’t Work?

Let’s just start out with Mash and how he is portrayed in this. It’s a little clunky. Now, I call out how he is thought of as slow or comes across that way in the book. That is the part that is clunky about it. I think that a lot of his focus and drive work well, but the slowness is clunky. The writer gives him good things to care about and reason for doing things. But at the same time writes him simply.

The manga also does fall into some things I’d consider more standard. Again, not a major knock on it. But the school idea, it works well. However, a magic school, that is an idea that is done a lot. It works well because it is relatable for everyone. Not because we go to magic schools, but because the concept of school and going to school is common. So the setting is familiar.

What Works?

Now, I just said that Mash isn’t always written the best. He is also a highlight for the humor of the manga. There is an earnestness to him that comes through. And I believe it because of how the world is set-up. He might be a meathead or slow, but his convictions are true. And while other characters are snobby and elite, Mash truly cares about everyone in his own way. Which now that I’m thinking about it might be backwoods or redneck in the writing attempt.

I also like the use of humor in this. The author, Hajime Komoto, does a very good job of blending in humor. And this is where some of the tropes come in, but also the interactions with Mash. No one understands Mash, which is something that makes sense. Mash is an outcast in the world, he can’t do magic. With that handicap, he is still exceedingly powerful. Of times he is more powerful than magic users because of the training and rigors he goes through.

Who Is It For?

This one is tougher to place. I do think that the writing isn’t up to the level I’d expect for some. However, Mashle is a manga that also has me laughing sometimes while reading it. So there is an element of humor that works well. I think it is best put as it’s a lighter, goofier manga. It is still very shonen in it’s style, so know that before you check it out.

Final Thoughts on Mashle

I enjoy Mashle a lot. I understand it’s flaws, but Mashle is like a good comfort food. Grabbing a book and reading it is like grabbing a bowl of popcorn and sitting down for a light movie. I expect that it is what the anime will be like as well. And when you get to laugh reading a book, I am enjoying it.

And also like I said, I think it might be a bit simple for some. I find it to balance that shonen background with some slice of life. Where yes, there is a storyline going through, but it is also feels like vignettes thrown in as well. So know that going in, if you check it out. The story is there, the story is fun, but it isn’t an amazing manga compared to other stories which run with more depth.

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Top 5 Most Anticipated Anime of 2023

5. The Devil is a Part-Timer Season 2 Sequel

I really enjoy The Devil is a Part-Timer and while it’s not always the most consistent show, the characters are a lot of fun. I’m curious to see how the story is going to build. The current storyline is just fine in my opinion and I hope that they can wrap it up in a good way. But I’ll still watch it gladly for the fun characters in there.

4. Eden Zero Season 2

This one I consider just to be a fun anime, it’s not the best, but there is just something fun about it. The main character and side characters are likeable. There is a good amount, meaning a lot, of fan service. But the whole show is just absurd and a lot of fun. It’s from the same manga creator who did Fairy Tale and you can tell. But there’s just something fun about what has been created. And I want to see where this story goes because it should be going somewhere weird again.

3. Mashle

This is one that I just picked up the first manga for. But it sounds entertaining to me. Mash is a magic-less guy who lives in a world of magic. That sucks for him, so he makes up for it just with strength. But of course magic is everything in the world, and that just sounds like it’s going to lead to some good action and some good comedy. It reminds of Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town. Mash is most likely going to be way more powerful than he expects.

2. Bofuri Season 2

This is just a fun premise for an anime with fun characters. The main character is new to video games, but she joins an MMORPG. She just doesn’t want to get hurt in it. So she grinds away until she maxes out her defensive stats. And now she’s exceedingly over powered in this world with a build that no one would think of. Plus she’s still herself who is someone who doesn’t always want to try crazy things or new things. A second season sounds like a good time.

1. Solo Leveling

This one I am so excited for. I picked up the five books that are out and it’s a ton of fun. Or is it five books and four out in English. A Korean story originally, it is getting an anime adaptation which I want to see what they do.

The world is basically being connected to another realm or something. Dungeons that open up, and Jinwoo he’s a weak hunter who goes into dungeons for the money to help his family. But when things go sideways, he, instead of getting killed in the dungeon, is given a new lease of life, though one that seems a lot like a video game. The story is fun, and while Jinwoo is a bit of an edge lord at times, it isn’t nearly as bad as something like say Overlord. So I am very excited for this one.

Honorable Mentions

It’s harder for me to do honorable mentions. For stuff like movies or TV shows, it’s one’s that I know a bit about that I just won’t seek out immediately. With anime, a lot of the time it’s whatever comes up or whatever sounds interesting to me. So Jujutsu Kaisen which I’m reading now will be one that I need to checkout season one and then watch season two. There are other ones that I just need to catch up as well. Spy x Family, Beast Tamer, and more make sense to put in the honorable mention even if they don’t have a new season this year.

What anime are you looking forward to in 2023?

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