I've watched a few series since
Yuru Yuri but have been too lazy to write a few lines about them yet. Let's not break the tradition.
Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (Daily Lives of High School Boys) is exactly what it says on the tin. The characters are meh. The plot is your run-of-the-mill daily boring stuff sprinkled with some silly stuff. I was not impressed, 5/10.
I also rewatched
Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World and the two movies. It was almost just as good as I remembered. It is really relaxed with a great story but can still put on the edge of your seat. Some episodes are definitely commentaries of various aspects of the modern world such as wars, working, etc. It is a really distinct anime. I have yet to see another quite like it. I suppose it is dull in a way as there no obvious central plot or storyline and each episode is it's own little story in a greater whole. It is still very much enjoyable. Demian's Seal of Approval, 9/10.
Beck came out of the left field for me. I'm not sure what I was expecting going into it but man I was not ready for the ride. Believable and serious drama with a teenage cast in an anime categorized (among other things) comedy slice-of-life shounen anime? That is not easy to do but god damn Beck nails it. I loved it. It became one of my favorite animes.
I love how the show takes its time to build up the characters and setting, hell the titular band doesn't even exist until about a halfway into the series. I'm not really huge fan of drama anime (I mean I dropped Monster.) but I genuinely enjoyed this one. I know Beck isn't strictly categorized as drama and it was probably aimed at a teen audience, I really feel like it is more of a drama series centered around music and a group of friends. I suppose the show is rated R is because of a frames of almost-nudity and some blood. It's really PG-13 in my opinion. Be prepared for a lot of broken, but charming, English: 9/10
Barakamon is about a dude who writes calligraphy on a remote island community. Boring premise, very good execution. The main character meets some kids in the village and funny shenanigans happen. The anime isn't anything special but enjoyable nonetheless and worth watching just for this girl:
She's the cutest character I've seen in a long time.
Absolutely adorable. Definitely recommended, 8/10.
Chihayafuru is a hit or miss series. The anime is centered around a memory/reflex/card game about poetry. And the games get quite a bit of screen time and aren't that exciting to watch. You either find it very interesting or very boring. I fell into the latter category. I did not really like the games but kept watching the show for the drama. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. This is the type of anime where you really need to see the second season if you plan on even starting it. Nothing much gets resolved in the first season and they keep baiting you with Arata but he appears only a handful of times after the childhood arc.
The childhood arc itself is part of the problem with the series, it lasts for ~3.5 episodes but is absolutely necessary for the rest of the show and you can't judge the series based on just the first few episodes. I'd say if you plan on starting this anime you need to see at least 6-8 episodes before deciding whether you want to drop it. It took me quite a bit longer than that and then I was already too deep in to quit at the last few episodes so I reluctantly finished it. A large majority of the episodes are just more of the same with little plot (so much so that I accidentally skipped
two episodes and didn't notice until several episodes later...) and if you don't like the style of the show you're better off just dropping it after the initial ~6 episodes. I guess what I'm going at here is that the series is slow and not a whole lot happens. 6/10
Chobits, as recommended by
McTwist. Man I don't know. (lovey) Androids exist and they are really good at pleasing people because that what they were built for. That is really all the show has to offer. The first half of the show is just fan service and "dating" in a way. Things only get interesting in the second half and then the show just ends on a (spoilers)
bullstuff happily ever after -note. There isn't even a sequel. The lack of a continuation really makes the show not worth it. The characters are likable. The story is okay. Everything is just "okay". I suppose if you find the idea of dating robots interesting this could a show for you but I really felt they could have explored the themes further. 7/10.
Currently checking out Texhnolyze. The synopsis sounds interesting but I'm three episodes in and thoroughly unimpressed.
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