Winter season is upon us, and despite the Anime industries best efforts, this season is going to be the winter of our discontent, unless you are into some niche genre of Anime. We have two racing anime, three revenge fantasy anime, with one being a season three, some music anime and a couple of harem anime, but with the lewd turned down a little. BUT its not all doom and gloom, Bleach gave us a wild ride last season, and this season we have two pretty nice anime I am reviewing for you:
Hyakkano -or- The 100 Girlfriends who really, really really, really love you.
The only real gripe I have so far, two episodes in is that they had to cut some of the content from the source material, as it would not adapt well for the anime. The premise is simple but odd. The god of love fucked up this dude's life by accident. He asked out 100 girls, starting as a toddler. He was rejected by all of them, the last one hurt him deeply, despite him having all the qualities a girl would want in a boyfriend. But as she said "It makes me physically sick to think about dating you." Well the god tells him of his mistake, putting 100 in the soulmates category instead of one.
Apparently, having and meeting one uses up your life time worth of luck, so.....
Now he has to meet, date and keep happy 100 girls and women (he connects with a MILF, and Lolibaba(grandmother who looks incredibly young and maybe others as the manga is no where near finished.) or they will die if he rejects them. Since they will have used up their lifes luck. But he is not a play boy flirt, and he genuinely attends to their needs, and some how manages to keep his harem madly in love with him. toss in some playful goofiness and you have a good watch or read for those dreary days.
The art is pretty good, as the animators kept the shaped pupils true to the manga.
The story is an odd one. you would expect him to fail no matter what, but his herculean efforts actually makes it seem plausible. But I like that the girls do address the issue of faithfulness and fidelity, but the story doesn't just steamroll them into the relationship, and the girls do gain some personal growth and bonding with each other, which did not seem forced, like "I am only friends cause we share the same man." But you could feel the genuine care they have for each other almost to a sister like level. Unlike many harem anime where marriage is brought up, this one stays in its lane, since he and most of the group are first years in high school.
Now does it have naughty bits? Yes, but nothing that makes you feel bad for seeing it. I mean its anime, so panty shots are a thing. But its not the bodies, but the personality. There are plenty of adult jokes but the focus is the reactions, and not just that she said or did a thing that was adult.
So I would give it a solid 7/10 because while it is unique, its just so far left field that it breaks the normal harem concept, while refreshing, its not comfortably what I am used to in harem anime. Also his plan to give the first two girls his first kiss is a hilarious thing to watch.
Another interesting anime this season:
Seiken Gakuin no Makentsukai
The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy.
I love it, but not in love with it. I mean its another fantasy world school anime, the only difference is the plot. A demon lord who wrecked havoc a thousand years ago resurrects into the body of a ten year old boy. He gets found by two girls investigating a dungeon, that was his crypt. Well, ladies, I guess this is more for you who love the "young boy/teen, older girl/woman" genre. he is ten, and surrounded by girls who are in high school and of course ever girl around him thinks he is cute. I mean I would have given it a pass by if it wasn't for the underlying plot of him awakening wanting to take revenge on the world that betrayed him long ago, but now, the world is imperiled by a race of monsters called the void's and he cant exactly gather an army to conquer the world if the world is getting fucked over by monsters. But the character design is good, and the abilities are actually thought out, instead of every random person is OP, and they have to attend a school to learn to use their powers, instead of being let loose upon the world to wreck it as they learn and grow.
And while having tremendous power the MC is hobbled by his age and body, so hes not a walking nuke.
Overall I give it 6/10, its cookie cutter, but still interesting enough to watch if bored on a snowed in day.
Honorable mention but certainly not bad:
The Eminence in Shadow Season 2
Holy fuck did the show jump into the deep end. But in the best possible way ever. Last season seen our hero stop an assassination, while a friend of his was framed for a crime. This show's story should not work as well as it did. I stopped covering isekai, because there is soo much of it, that you cant watch a show without it popping up. The premise is a high school boy that was always training to fight and save people gets hit by a truck and dies, gets sent to another world as a low nobles son, where his delusions of shadowy evil groups turns out to be true, so he gathers women of all races and ages, and forms his own shadowy secret group the Garden of Shadows, to live in the shadows to hunt shadows. By day, he is the useless younger brother of the schools best fighter, by night he is a cloaked, powerful figure known as Shadow.
This season has him in a city devoid of law, ruled by three factions, each lead by a powerful monster, and of course there will be vampires and zombies.
So if you want a campy, fun watch, check out the first season, as season 2 is only two episodes in. 8/10 for the obvious male fantasy of it.