Ranma1/2 (2024)

The Tendo family who owns the Tendo Dojo consists of the Dad Soun Tendo and his three daughters Kasumi Tendo, Nabiki Tendo, and Akane Tendo. Word arrives from an old friend of Soun's that he and his son have been traveling the world to become the best fighters they can. without telling any of the kids Soun and his friend decided to have their children get engaged. Soun had never met Ranma though. So he is thoroughly surprised that rather than a boy and his dad approach the house, they are greeted by a girl being followed by a giant panda. They still allow them to stay at the house despite the confusion. Akane asks Ranma to fight her. When she is beaten she claims that she is happy that she was beaten by a girl, and that she never wants to lose to a guy. It isn't long after that she finds out Ranma's secret. How will things work out now?

I am always down for a gender bender anime, and Ranma1/2 did not disappoint me. It kind of reminded me of Ayakashi Triangle. I think the characters are fun to watch, and the concept of how people transform is pretty cool as well. There is quite a bit of fan service throughout it though. There are bath scenes, pool scenes, a hot spring scene, as well as many other scenes where you see Ranma shirtless both in his male form and his female form. If you don't mind some fan service and are a fan of action anime, Ranma1/2 might be for you. 

Bananya Around the World (Season 3)

On a blue planet out in space we find a cat residing in a banana known as bananya. While he is in the forest one day a glowing light appears in front of him which transforms into baby sweet. Baby sweet is a small bananya with a star on top of its head. Baby sweet has the ability to teleport around the world. Their first stop is a small island where it is eternally summer. There they meet Eternal Summer Bananya who shows them how to enjoy life on the island. Soon after, a fin appears in the ocean and we meet Shark Bananya who decides to become friends with the three. But just before they can really learn about each other, Baby Sweet and Bananya are teleported to another part of the planet. Where will they go next?

I think this is the season I have enjoyed the most in the Bananya series. It was a cool choice to show Baby Sweet and Bananya travel all over the world. You get to see them in a bunch of fun scenerios because of that. While they were all exciting I think my favorite was the murder mystery episode where Bananya and Baby Sweet teleport onto a train where it appears a certain bananya has died recently. If you enjoyed any of the previous seasons of Bananya I would definitely give this one a try. It doesn't take much time to watch and it is worth every minute. 

Squid Girl

One Day a little girl arrives at a beachside restaurant claiming she has come to take over the surface world. Her name is Squid Girl and she wants revenge on all those humans who have been dumping their garbage in the ocean. Rather than take her seriously Eiko Aizawa one of the restaurant's employees puts her to work passing out food to the customers. When Eiko sees squid girl struggling with helping serve people she asks how she intends to conquer the human race if she can't even handle thirty customers. However, when squid girl made her speech she had assumed that there were only a thousand humans on the earth rather than six billion. It seems that in order to conquer the world, she will first have to conquer customer service.

Squid Girl was a surprisingly fun anime. It has a really unique feel as the entire anime takes place on the beach. I really like the characters as well in this. I think the ones that stick out the most are the scientists who hang out at the beach in hopes of seeing aliens. I think I like the idea of being paid to hang out at the beach. Usually I report if there is a beach episode because you see girls in bikinis. But while every episode is a beach episode, Squid Girl has a much calmer feel than most beach episodes you see in anime. Probably because the intention isn't to have Squid Girl become an Ecchi anime like bikini warriors or Ao-chan can't study, but to just be a chill slice of life show. I would definitely suggest giving it a watch.

We Never Learn: BOKUBEN

Nariyuki Yuiga is trying to get his schools recommendation which allows somebody to attend college free of tuition. Although he may try his hardest their are geniuses at his school who far surpass him in math and literature. Rizu Ogata is known as the thumbelina supercomputer and can get the answer to equations just by looking at them. Fumino Furuhashi can write an essay that moves someone to tears without even trying. One day the principle calls in Nariyuki and tells him that he can get the recommendation. However, in order for him to do that he has to teach Fumino and Rizu in the subjects they aren't talented in. He is also given the task of teaching Uruka Takemoto who excels at sports but is seriously lacking in every academic subject. While he wants to reject the condition, he isn't willing to give up with the recommendation on the line.

We Never Learn: Bokuben was a lot better than I was expecting. While the High School setting may be overused, something about We Never Learn felt fresh and new. I think the concept of the relationship being tutor and student felt out of the ordinary. The characters are all fun, but I think my favorite is Uruka. She gives the anime the special feeling you get from romance anime. There is some fan service such as shower scenes, bath scenes, a sauna scene, as well as a scene where the girls show up to a lingerie store while Nariyuki is working there. But every episode is enjoyable. If you are a fan of slice of life anime and can handle a little fan service, I would definitely suggest giving it a try. 

SHY Season 2

All the heroes stay in their respective countries while Lady Black deals with a country that's been completely flooded. Thanks to Stardust's help she is able to get money and relief supplies. He even comes in person to save a man who was about to get crushed by a falling building. Meanwhile Century and Spirit deal with robberies, while Shy saves a girl that is about to get hit by a truck. A Reporter who has been asked to come up with her own story for her next project witnesses the act and asks to interview Shy. Though during her interview the reporter Asuka learns that Shy isn't all that different from your everyday citizen. This helps give a new perspective on her writing which she has told has been lacking. While the Heroes go about their day to day business, Stigma and Amarariruku's plans and goals remain a mystery. Will Shy and the other Heroes be able to stop him?

Shy Season 2 was fun to watch. It introduced some new characters named Mai and Ai. While at first glance the appearance of her plan seems the same as Tsveta's in Season 1 since both of them use their heart to trap part of the world. However, Mai's motivation is completely different as well as the depth of her plan. There is a shower scene but besides that there isn't any fan service in the series. There is also no swearing in it as well. If you enjoyed season 1, I would suggest giving season 2 a try as well.  

Recently, My Sister is Unusual OVA

When Moa finds a college student working at a cafe in town she decides to confess her feelings. However, her brother Shoutarou walks by in the middle of it and jumps to the conclusion that she messed up somehow. When Moa explains that she was going to go to the movies with him Shoutarou teases her about how a college student would never go out with someone like her. But he is proven wrong when she manages to set up the movie date over text. Worried over what will happen on the date, Shoutarou asks Yuuya to hang out with him on Sunday so he can follow his sister around on her date.

Recently, My Sister is Unusual OVA was interesting to watch. It had both the date scene for the first half of the episode as well as a Christmas episode for the second half of the episode. There were multiple panty shots, as well as girls in revealing Santa outfits. There is also a scene of mitsuki in her underwear talking to Hiyori about her plans for Christmas. I watched this because I thought it may continue the story, which it kind of does. But, you don't need to watch it.

The Testament of Sister New Devil: Tojo Basara's Hard, Sweet Daily Life

Maria is making breakfast one morning when she hears Mio talking in her sleep. After she hears Mio sleep talk about Basara, she believes that Mio might be having an erotic dream. Not willing to let this chance slip by, she sets up a camera that allows her to see what people are dreaming. Unfortunately she uses a spell that requires her to participate in the dream rather than just observe. So feeling like its her duty as a succubus to go through with it, she imitates what she has seen Basara do in real life. Unfortunately she is caught and reprimanded after Basara walks into the room. After that Maria decides to go back to making breakfast. 

The Testament of Sister New Devil Season 1 OVA was exactly what you would expect, had you seen season 1. A short story about their home life, a short story about school, as well as some fan service. There is a bath scene, as well as the girls getting undressed. So it follows the pattern of the main series. I wouldn't suggest watching it unless you really liked season 1. It's not important to the story. 

SHY

In the mid 21st century war throughout the world ceased to exist, and people with superpowers started to appear. They became known as heroes. Every country on earth has its own personal hero to save them. While war may be gone, there is no shortage of everyday problems that still happen. One day in a amusement park in Japan a rollercoaster malfunctioned and the car was stuck upside down in the air. Thankfully Japan's hero, Shy was there. She helped get every individual out one by one. But right before she could get to the last person the car flew off the rollercoaster. Shy was able to stop the car but ended up wounding the girl that was left, leaving her hospitalized. After this Shy disappeared having lost faith in her ability to do her job. Will she find the strength that she needs to help those around her?

I really enjoyed the first season of Shy. It has a different feel from other anime's that center around the characters having powers such as Charlotte or Darwins Game. It has a fun feeling to it. The characters all dress modestly. There are only a few times where the characters swear. If you enjoy anime where the characters have super powers I would definitely give it a try.

Demon Lord, Retry! R (Season 2)

Hakuto Kunai takes the help offered by Yukikaze and Mikan and heads to Rookie. After he arrives he learns of the existence of heroes. He talks to one that had just arrived in the city to figure out what the hero's goal was. After learning that he wasn't a threat the demon lord decides to go into the prison dungeon to see if he can find items that protect against magic. However, all he finds is a mysterious gun. After defeating a number of monsters he decides to use the skill points he earned to summon another one of his aides. Once his new Aide Akane appears she asks him what he wants to do in this new world. Hakuto now has to reflect on what he'll do if going home isn't an option. 

Demon Lord, Retry Season 2 was better than I was expecting. It was hard to watch at the beginning due to the drastic change in animation. However, the story was great. My favorite arc is probably the one where Hakuto Kunai teams up with Organ and Mink to infiltrate demon country. Just like season 1 there was a bunch of hot springs scene, but since he basically runs a Hot Spring hotel it's inevitable. If you can overcome the weirdness with the animation change I would definitely suggest giving it a watch. While the Japanese voice actors changed the english voice actors stayed the same so that was a perk for me since I enjoy the english dub better.  

Joshiraku

Marii, Gankyou, Tetora, Kigurumi, and Kukuru all perform Rakugo at the same theater. When they're not performing they spend their time talking about random topics in the theater's dressing room. Some of these things are what shape do you see when you look at the moon, does the color blue make things seem colder, if they become delinquents will it make it so they get married earlier? They also visit various cities in Japan and talk about what those cities are known for.

Joshiraku is not the type of show that's easy to binge. However, that does not mean its a bad show. While I don't usually laugh at comedy anime, I found myself laughing multiple times throughout the season. Something to note as well is that the characters frequently break the fourth wall which can be pretty funny depending on the situation. For example, on one of their trips they decide to visit a place where they can see the building where their anime is being animated. It does have some fan service here and there, such as two bath scenes, a beach scene, a hot springs scene, and multiple times where more skin is exposed than necessary for comedic purposes. I would suggest giving it a try, but I should let you know that you may not find it funny at all depending on your sense of humor.

NAKAIMO - My Little Sister Is Among Them! OVA

Now that its come into the open that Shougo and Miyabi are siblings, Miyabi takes advantage of it and tries to be the only one around him. When Konoe and Rinka bring lunches for Shougo, Miyabi feeds them to Shougo and claims that she won't allow Shougo to date anyone she doesn't approve of. After she says that Ikusu Mizutani and Mei Sagara come out from the bushes and propose that all the girls go on a date with Shougo and Miyabi can decide who she feels is best for her brother.

The final episode of Nakaimo - My Little Sister Is Among Them! had a similar feeling to the Date A Live movie as well as the last episode of Date A Live season 3. I really liked that they did the format where he goes on dates with everybody. One thing that was disappointing was that Ikusu and Shougo's date got cut short because it was going too well. I honestly think that their the best couple and the fact that everybody has mistaken Ikusu for a boy makes it all the more hilarious. there is some fan service here and there. Like Sagara takes Shougo to a married couple cafe where the woman acting as the wife has a bunch of cleavage showing. You also see  a fantasy of Shougo's after Mana Tendo and Mei Sagara's date where they act inappropriately such as Mei lifting up her skirt and Mana allowing Shougo to grab her chest. Overall, it was kind of expected given how the regular show goes. If you liked the main series, I believe the OVA is worth watching.  

OniAi: He May Be My Brother, But It's Fine as Long as We're in Love

Akiko Himenokoji has waited six years to see the brother she loves. Now after all this time they will finally live together again. However, it won't be exactly the way she expected. Three members of the student council will live alongside Akiko and Akito as they all attend the same school. While this wouldn't usually be a problem, all three girls are determined to keep Akiko and Akito apart while also trying to get some of Akito's time for themselves. Will things work out for Akiko or will she be destined to only have family bonding time from afar?

OniAi is something else. While I typically enjoy the sibling romance genre, Akito was a bit annoying as a main character. Unlike other harem main characters he's not oblivious to the girls feelings, he just flatly refuses to be with anyone. This is a red flag for a romance anime. He kind of reminds me of the main character from Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included. While they both refuse to be with the women who like them, I think Shintaro annoys me more because the girls are much kinder in Studio Apartment. The girls in Oniai are typical harem personalities, but each one is very distinct from each other which I think is good. There is quite a bit of fan service, such as a swimsuit episode with a beach scene, mutiple bath scenes,  and multiple scenes of girls getting dressed.  While it didn't ruin it for me it did contribute to making it harder to binge alongside Akito being terrible and not pursuing anybody. If you like harems and don't mind fan service, this might be for you.