Tsugumomo Season 2

Now that Kiriha is a student at Kazuya Kagami's school they decide to make a troubleshooters club with the help of the student council president and Kazuya's friends. This way people will come to them with their problems and if anything supernatural happens they will know about it before things get chaotic. However, not all Amasogi are naturally occuring. An organization has their eye on the town of Kamioka, more specifically Kukuri. Word has spread about her rapid decrease in power as a goddess, making the enemy view her as an easy to kill target. Will she survive?

Tsugumomo Season 2 was a pretty interesting season. I really enjoyed the pace of the season, and the different creative environments created by the Amasogi. It reminded me a little of In/Spectre. I honestly wouldn't have minded if they had created another season or two. However, after reading comments on what happens in the manga it's clear why nothing has been announced. There isn't as much fan service as there was in season 1 and what fan service there is is censored very well. There are a multitude of bath scenes as well as hot springs scenes. You also see the characters undressed in the bedroom like in season 1. If you are someone who dislikes the ecchi genre you can feel free to skip this one. In/spectre might be a good one to try if the story sounds interesting though. 

Tsugumomo

While Kazuya Kagami doesn't remember much about his mother, he has always carried her Obi around with him because of how it calmed him. One day, after getting lectured for falling asleep in class by the Class Rep and his childhood friend Chisato Chikaishi, Kazuya heads to the roof of the school to get away. It is there that he sees what looks like a wig lying on the ground. While he walks away planning to ignore it, it comes alive and attacks him. He then hears a voice letting him know that it is an Amasogi. A supernatural creature that possesses an object when someone has a strong wish. Before Kazuya can react he is pushed off the roof by the Amasogi. Right before he is about to die he is saved from his fall. Then as cloth starts to flow around in an orb shape a girl appears. She smiles and says its been awhile. Unfortunately Kazuya has no memory of this girl. After she helps to fight off the Amasogi, he learns that this girl Kiriha is a Tsukumogami or object that has obtained sentience. Kiriha happens to be the Obi that Kazuya always carried around with him. Not long after both of them are summoned to the local shrine where they are met by a woman wearing a mask claiming to be the area's local goddess. She tells Kazuya that he attracts Amasogi and to deal with this she wants him to work with Kiriha to deal with them and make the city safer. While Kiriha is against it at first, they eventually agree after having a fight with Kukuri who uses her powers as a Water Goddess to attack them.   

Tsugumomo was an interesting anime. It was similar to Omamori Himari except instead of a cat like Himari, Kiriha is an Obi. If you are someone who tries to avoid the Ecchi genre then this is not for you. There is a bath scene in each episode, as well as multiple times where Kiriha sleeps in bed with Kazuya. This is good for people who don't like overpowered main characters though. In Tsugumomo you get to see Kazuya go from knowing nothing about fighting to holding himself against someone who has trained to fight Amasogi since childhood. If you think that this sounds interesting you can feel free to give it a try. I would suggest watching it in English Dub because the subtitles don't appear when the character speaks them. It only appears after they have talked so its hard to focus and understand what's going on. Another downside is that there is a lot of text that doesn't get translated. I had to take pictures of the text and put it into google translate to understand whats going on. 

Senpai is an Otokonoko

Saki Aoi is in her first year of high school, and out of all the people above her there is one girl she truly admires. So she confesses to Makoto Hanaoka, but she is turned down. When Saki ask's why Makoto reveals that he's actually a boy that enjoys cross dressing. Rather than being sad Saki gets even more excited that she can enjoy both the boy version and the girl version of Makoto. While she was turned down she is determined to not let that stop her and win her senpai's heart. Thinking that she isn't serious and just trying to make fun of him Makoto's best friend Ryuuji approaches Saki and tells her about all the bullying that Makoto has had to endure because of who he is. When Ryuuji finds out that Saki doesn't have any bad intentions, the three of them start to hang out. Saki gives Makoto opportunities to do things that he never could have done on his own. There is just one problem, Makoto has to hide who he really is from his mother because she won't accept him unless he acts like a boy.

Senpai is an Otokonoko felt more serious than I was expecting. Usually when a guy is turned into a girl or cross dresses in anime it is brushed over and they are simply accepted for who they are. Examples of this are Himegoto, Onimai, komi can't communicate, etc. There are examples of people who won't like the character unless they are dressed as a girl such as date a live, and Kampfer. However, those felt different because the gender swap isn't a huge part of the plot. Something I noticed is that Senpai is an Otokonoko features multiple different types of relationships such as being gay, bi, and asexual. I was really hoping that Saki and Makoto would get together because Saki accepts Makoto right away, and her personality and attitude would make for a fun romantic comedy. A lot of romance anime's end without the main couple getting together, but I feel like since the first scene is a confession scene they could have become a couple at any point. But, they totally avoid it. So the anime was kind of a disappointment.  Also I thought I could hand BL after watching Kiss Him, Not Me but I know now that that is a genre of anime I'm not going to touch. Everybody dresses modestly and the language remains clean. If this sounds like something you would enjoy you can give it a try.

TenPuru: No Way, Why Is It So Big… / You Mustn’t Touch That

Yuzuki wakes up to find that she and Akemitsu have switched bodies. Not only that but everyone else has as well. Thinking that Akemitsu is still in his own body Kurage gets on top of him. However, it is actually Kagura that possesses Kurage's body and she hopes Akemitsu getting caught with an underage girl will get him kicked out of the temple. Kagura soon finds out that its actually Yuzuki she is assaulting. Next Kurage finds that she has been switched with Mia. Now that she has an adult body, she takes this opportunity to strip down to her underwear and film herself doing different poses. After the other girls walk in on her they find that kiki has traded bodies with Nyagosuke, the temples cat. Even after everyone all gathered together they still cant find Yuzuki's body. Will Everything work out?

Tenpuru Special episodes were pretty interesting. I was hoping that it would show us how Akemitsu ends up with, but of course thats not the case. However, I always appreciate a gender bender anime. If you are one of the people who doesn't like fan service, I would skip this one. It is partially censored using cats to cover up the inappropriate parts. Though fan service and specials kind of go hand in hand. That's how it is with most anime's. While I didn't get what I wanted, which was a clear conclusion to the series, it was still interesting to watch.

My Tiny Senpai

Takuma Shinozaki has his first full time job working at sunpick. He has a unique work environment, but the thing that stands out the most is his senpai Shiori Katase. She's small, cute, and resembles a cat in more ways than one. Despite working at the company for a few years its also her first time having someone work under her. Both Takuma and Shiori always try and look out for one another which causes them to get into romantic situations. However, neither one really knows how they feel about each other. Are they just regular co-workers or could there be something more?

My Tiny Senpai was a good anime. I don't watch a ton of adult romance anime but I thought it was better than The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague. It didn't end how I would have liked it to, but the story and the characters kept me engaged. There are a few scenes with fan service such as the hot springs episode. The language is clean as well. Overall, it's a cute and wholesome anime. If you are looking for a romance anime that doesn't take place in high school, you might enjoy this one. 

Henkei Shoujo

A girl with silver hair loses her hat and watches as it blows away into the sky. Seeing that she needs help a girl named Haru says that she will get it back to her. Haru then transforms into a plane and flies into the sky to go retrieve the hat. Next  a girl named Rin goes to the gas station and starts drinking from the gas machine. While the other customers look on in confusion Rin finishes and then transforms into a car and drives off.

I have mixed feelings about Henkei Shoujo. While I enjoyed it, it was over in about five minutes. I don't think the length of time per episode is a problem, but I do wish there were more episodes. There are some panty shots, but besides that it isn't really Ecchi. there isn't any swearing in it either. I think it is worth watching if you have five minutes of free time. 

Omamori Himari

Yuuto Amakawa has lived a fairly normal life. However, when an ayakashi with a sword shows up on his birthday as he is walking to school everything changes. He goes to school wondering who she was. Once lunch time hits Yuuto heads up to the roof with his friend Rinko Kuzaki. It is then that his friend Taizou appears possesd by what appears to be a giant grasshopper. As the grasshopper goes to attack Yuuto and Rinko the Ayakashi with a sword reappears and takes down the monster while preserving Taizou's life. She then tells Yuuto that she is an Ayakashi who has sworn loyalty to his family after one of them spared her life in the past. Yuuto then learns that he comes from a long line of ayakashi slayers and has the abilities to become one as well. However, due to a protective charm that was given to him by his grandparents Yuuto's memories of his childhood have been forgotten. Now that the charm is breaking it can no longer ward of ayakashi. So Himari promises to stay at his side and be the blade that protects him from harm.

Omamori Himari was better than I was expecting. Though for some reason I always enjoy a story that involves Ayakashi like In/spectre and Ayakashi Triangle. The last few episodes kind of reminded me of Tayutama: Kiss On My Deity. It has a similar feel and setup. Though in my opinion Omamori Himari is better. It does have fan service, such as bath scenes, shower scenes, a beach episode, and numerous occurrences of girls lifting up their skirts and shirts for various reasons. There are also a few scenes where the girls clothes become see through after getting wet. Some might say that this feels like a replica of other action/harem anime's, but it is better than ones like Kampfer, infinite stratos, etc. I also feel like it doesn't try to be a romance anime. Also Yuuto isn't completely dense to everyone's feelings. He just prefers a life thats perfectly normal where he can live in harmony with both humans and ayakashi. Most of the people around him are able to accept that, which I really like. If you are fine with fan service and don't mind the harem genre I think Omamori Himari is worth giving a try. 

DearS

a year ago an alien spaceship crash landed on earth. This ship was full of aliens which the humans named DearS and accepted into their society. Takeya Ikuhara has been afraid of aliens since childhood and wants absolutely nothing to do with the DearS. However, after coming across one which he brings home because she had nowhere else to go, Takeya starts to acknowledge their existence. After hearing the DearS give an incredibly long name, Takeya names her Ren, which she accepts. However, despite the news saying that DearS are well educated to fit into society, Ren seems to be clueless about everything. Will Takeya be able to handle his new life with Ren?

DearS is an interesting anime. It resembles a lot of other anime that I have seen. Ren's emotionless attitude and desire to consistently call Takeya Master reminds me of Ikaros from Heaven's Lost Property. The way she looks up things with her mind reminds me of Mina from My Wife has No Emotion. The way Takeya always treats her with disrespect and gets angry all the time reminds me of the relationship between Tomonori and Rizel from Rizelmine. The way that the DearS are assigned to certain people and the way they act toward each other kind of reminds me of Akikan. I do realize that all of these have something in common. All these anime's contain abnormal relationships. A human and an alien, a human and a robot, a human and a soda can, a human and a girl who's age has been halted so she's always 12, and a human and an Angeloid. Not to mention that all of them except for My Wife Has No Emotion were made before 2010. Anyway DearS is not the best out of all I listed. If you want a cute romance watch My Wife Has No Emotion. If you want a comedy Heaven's Lost Property is a better choice than DearS. DearS has a lot of fan service. There are multiple bath scenes. In every episode Takeya and Ren's teacher wears highly revealing outfits and has the students read erotic books for their literature class. Also Takeya's attitude ticks me off. I prefer anime's where people are nice to each other. Overall, I guess you can give it a try, but I think there are always better anime. 

DearS: Is It A Golden Ball?

After being things at the market Miu gets her first raffle ticket. After spinning the wheel faster than anybody else and breaking the base of the machine she gets the first place prize. After getting a ticket to a nearby hot spring resort for up to four people Miu thinks first of her host family. Unfortunately they are going to be away the day of the trip, so Miu invites Takeya, Ren, and Nanako to go with her. Once they arrive they learn that the resort is much bigger than they expected. However, trouble arises when Nia follows them to capture Ren and their teacher Mitsuka Yoshimine puts her lack of morals on full display by intentionally using the mens bath instead of the women's. Will this truly be a relaxing break for Takeya?

DearS: Is It A Golden Ball? actually made me laugh. Rens innocence about the way things are in society make for some pretty funny situations. However, this episode is far more ecchi than your average hot springs episode. Mysterious mist can only do so much. So if you are the type to avoid anything ecchi I would suggest skipping over this one. 

Plus-Sized Elf Specials

Akiho takes Naoe and his otherworldly clients to a beach trip on a deserted island. Though what was supposed to be a relaxing getaway turns into a chaotic nightmare when a Kraken shows up. It starts with a few pranks like burying the girls up to their necks in the sand and flipping over the floating boards the elfs were using. After multiple failed attempts to get the group off the island it confronts them directly. While it is a challenge for the giants Oga & Hitome, it leaves after Gonda uses her dragon breath on it.

Plus-Sized Elf Specials were better than I was expecting. I think since the main series consists mostly of exercise sequences that is kind of what I thought would happen. However, there was absolutely no exercise in it. That made it probably better than the story of the main series. There is still fan service, but that is kind of expected for a beach episode. If you enjoyed the characters from the regular series I would definitely suggest giving the specials a try. 

Cooking with Valkyries

Mei, Bronya, Kiana, Himeko, Theresa, and Hua all take turns cooking different meals for each other. While not everybody's tastes match one another, everybody can agree that cooking has a special place in their hearts. Kiana is reminded of days she spent with her father and replicates a dish they made together when she was younger. Theresa after hearing that Kiana missed class learns to make a dish suited to her taste to make her feel better. While cooking has a personal meaning it can also be a way to draw closer to others. Watch as the different characters create unique dishes as a sign of their friendship

Cooking with Valkyries was a pretty interesting show. What I thought was cool about this is not only does it show the characters making dishes, but it also provides you with the recipe for the dish they made. While I probably aren't many things I would make on here there are a few things i would like to try. the fruit punch, watermelon pizza, and pizza toast all looked simple to make and looked like it would taste good. Both the language and the visuals are clean in this short series. If you like cooking animes I would give this one a try.

TenPuru -No One Can Live on Loneliness-

Akemitsu Akagame was once told that its not good to live alone. However, rather than being devoted to one woman he decided to build his own harem and get with as many women as possible. Disgusted with this way of life Akamitsu decides that he will spend his life single. After seeing a girl and falling in love at first sight Akamitsu's morals drop and he starts going to party's where he can be with girls. He also stops doing his homework and is about to fail. with a new determination to fix his ways Akemitsu decides that his best choice is to become a monk and live away from women. However, after being directed to a temple the first person he meets there is the girl he fell in love with. Overcome with emotion he asks her to marry him. Taking a step back he apologizes and asks to live at the temple. little did he know that the temple had been turned into a nunnery and was full of beautiful girls. Will Akemitsu get the life that he strives for?

Tenpuru was better than I was expecting. If there is one thing I wish was different, it would be that Yuzuki and Akemitsu's relationship had gone further. While they do some romantic things together I would have liked to see them become an actual couple. There is a lot of fan service throughout the anime,  with things like a bath scene, a hot spring scene, and multiple occasions where the girls clothes get loose and happen to slip partially off. But the setting is unique compared to most harem anime's which I really enjoyed. If you are a fan of harem anime's I would give this one a try. However, if fan service bothers you, you won't be missing out if you skip it either.

OVERLORD: The Sacred Kingdom

After The Demon Emperor Jaldobaoth attacks the sacred kingdom, the soldiers learn that the only one that has stood up to him is the adamantite adventurer Momon of darkness. In hopes of aquiring his services the sacred kingdom's paladins walk into the sorcerer kingdom Ains Ooal Gown. When they meet with Ains Ooal Gown he tells them that Momon's presence is needed to keep the people calm, but he will go instead. While they are happy to have his help with the war, there are those in the city who would prefer him to die due to him being a monster. To keep an eye on him, the head paladin assigns her squire Neia Baraja to be his attendant. However, Neia Baraja quickly becomes Ains's biggest supporter, having total confidence in him and his words. Word quickly spreads of Ains Ooal Gown's powers and nature. The citizens even start calling him a hero despite him being an undead. Will everything work out for the Sacred Kingdom or will it fall into ruin like the Re-Estize Kingdom?

I really liked the movie. Though I think that my favorite part was when Neia teams up with Delta and starts calling her senpai. I also really liked this because only a few of the Pleiades are focused on during the series, and delta doesn't get all that much screen time. the language is clean as well as the visuals. If you liked the main series I would give the movie a try. 

Oshi no Ko Season 2

Akane, Kana, and Aqua have all been invited to participate in a stage play adaption of a popular manga known as Tokyo Blade. Meanwhile Ruby and Mem-cho do what they can to earn an income without having any concerts set up. While the actors have all been doing their best to bring the manga characters to life,  Akane feels like her character has been given a completely different personality than the one she envisioned while reading the manga. After a few days of rehearsing the author of the manga comes to see it acted out and tells the staff that she want the entire script rewritten, With only 20 days left until the play is brought to the public, will the staff be able to accommodate this request?

Oshi no Ko Season 2 was really enjoyable for the majority of the season. The appeal of Oshi no Ko for me is its focus on the entertainment industry and the different types of occupations one could have. You also see Aqua start to accept himself which I was really happy with. However, at the very end, the anime suddenly turns super dark. I really enjoyed Ruby as a character, but her change in attitude and demeanor after being made aware of what happened after she died in her past life was disappointing to me. It was as if Aqua and her had simply switched places. Though its not surprising for someone to change after learning that someone they loved died. You could say the outcome should have been expected, but it still surprised me. Despite my disappointment with the ending I still love it enough that I'll watch season 3 when it comes out. There was a hot springs scene in the last episode but its censored with mysterious fog that comes out of nowhere. Anyway, if you liked season 1, I would definitely give this season a shot.

The Detective Is Already Dead

Kimihiko Kimizuka has always had a predisposition for running into trouble. He has stumbled into so many crime scenes that the police started to suspect him. So when one day he is asked to take a suspicious suitcase on board a plane he doesn't even question why. Once he gets on the plane and sits down a voice asks over the speaker if there happens to be a detective on board. The girl next to Kimihiko stands up and says that she is a detective. She then turns to Kimihiko and asks him to be her sidekick. Kimihiko decides to go along with her, even though he still had his questions regarding the situation. The girl says that kimihiko can call her by her code name, Siesta. As they walk away from all the passengers they learn that the plane has been hijacked by a mysterious man who uses the code name Bat. He tells Siesta and Kimihiko that he will let everyone go if they are able to guess the reason that he hijacked the plane. After talking about themselves Bat lets it slip that he has too much time on his hands. Siesta deduces that the reason he hijacked the plane is because he was bored. Bat admits that she guessed correctly but he still starts a fight. As kimihiko wonders what to do he rembers the case that he was asked to bring as a carry-on and throws it to Siesta who breaks it open and reveals a gun hidden inside. After the fight is over she tells kimihiko that it was no coincidence that they were on board together. She also admits that she was the one who arranged for him to bring the case onboard. After that Siesta asks for him to continue helping her. And thus begins their three year adventure together.

The Detective is Already Dead was more interesting than I thought it would be. While things don't happen in chronological order you still get an idea of what happened in the past with flashbacks. The majority of the season stays clean. There is a short shower scene in the last episode though. Overall, it wasn't my favorite mystery anime, but it was definitely worth the watch.

Dungeon People

Clay was raised by her dad who constantly raided dungeons. He taught her everything he believed she needed in order to survive a dungeon. However, one day he disappeared leaving only a note and a dagger for Clay to use. While Clay was raiding the Antomerg dungeon she runs into a minotaur who serves as the eighth floor's guardian. during their fight a wall breaks and the minotaur does something Clay never expected. He asks her to stop the fight because the dungeon administrator will be arriving due to the broken wall. After getting information on what happened the dungeon administrator Beilleheila Langdass pulls Clay aside and asks if she would be willing to work as part of the dungeon staff. Clay says that she'll do it if Beilleheila can beat her in a fight. Naturally, as the dungeons final boss, Belle defeats Clay in under a minute. And thus begins Clay's journey of learning what goes on behind the scenes of a dungeon.

While Dungeons may seem like an overdone trope of the fantasy anime genre, Dungeon People gives a truly unique take on it. I think what I enjoyed the most was learning about the monsters like Pekkomo, Teruru, and Binky. The language in the anime is clean, and the characters all dress modestly. It's honestly hard to find an anime to compare this to. I was reminded of delicious in dungeon a little bit because in delicious in dungeon they do talk about the mechanics of the dungeon they are exploring. If you are looking for a new dungeon themed anime I would definitely give this one a try.  

Plus-Sized Elf

Naoe is your average human who works at a health office. His day seemed to be going just like any other until a strange woman walks in. He learns her name is Elfuda and she has a habit of eating too many french fries. So he agrees to train her so that she can lose the excess weight she has gained. accidentally her hat covering her ears falls off and Naoe learns that Elfuda is a real elf that came here from another world. Will he be able to get her back in shape?

Plus-Sized Elf felt pretty similar to Anime de training at first. But then it turned into more of a story rather than just exercise videos. In my opinion this was a good change. It also has a similar feel to Peter Grill and the Philosophers Time. While the girls in this have better personalities, the ecchi elements felt similar. There was a bath scene, a sauna scene, a shower scene, and multiple scenes where the girls clothes rip due to them being overweight. If you try to stay away from the ecchi genre, I would skip this one. However, if you don't mind the ecchi elements its an interesting anime about different ways you can lose weight and work out which I thought was interesting.