Winter 2019 Anime: Thoughts So Far

It’s more or less the middle of February, which means that it is also the halfway point of the winter season of anime. As usual, I shall be sharing my thoughts about each anime I have chosen to watch this season.BanG Dream! 2nd SeasonBy this point, each of the five main bands has had their turn in the spotlight, and they’ve been some fun episodes. Afterglow’s episode isn’t quite as good as everyone else’s, but there’s still plenty more to come from BanG Dream!. Hello, Happy World!’s episode was just insane, by the way.
Hearing the music I’ve become familiar with from the BanG Dream! mobile game has been pretty pleasing, too. All in all, an enjoyable watch so far.

The Price of SmilesThe Price of Smiles has been switching between the perspectives of Princess Yuki and Stella, showing us both sides of a war that is happening. That has been pretty effective at showing neither side is inherently evil, despite the conflict. Compared to how she was at the beginning of the season, it was nice to see Yuki actually step up and take charge in the most recent episode.J
I’m still waiting for Yuki’s inevitable encounter with Stella, considering they are the two most prominent characters in this show.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden WindWe’ve had some excellent Stand battles in Golden Wind so far, with the fight against Beach Boy and The Grateful Dead being particularly noteworthy. Giorno also had some time to shine with a fight against Baby Face, who may just qualify as the most disturbing Stand in the series.
Watching Bucciarati and his allies protect Trish as they attempt to deliver her to her father – the boss of the gang they are in – has been a pretty great experience so far. In fact, you could call it a Gold Experience.

Magical Girl Spec-Ops AsukaMagical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka has given us some harrowing torture scenes, though we’ve had some nice fights too – Rapture against two Russian magical mercenaries, and War Nurse vs. Abby, as seen above. Whilst it hasn’t been a complete 1:1 adaptation of the manga, the anime has been compelling stuff so far.

Ace Attorney Season 2The second season of the Ace Attorney anime has been adapting cases from the third game of the series, meaning we just got finished with Mia Fey/Chihiro Ayasato’s first case. It seems production values are a little better for this second season, though I still believe the best way to experience the Ace Attorney story is to play through the games.

Bermuda Triangle ~ Colorful PastoraleAs far as surprises go, Bermuda Triangle ~ Colorful Pastorale may just be the most pleasant one for this season. It’s a story about five mermaids who discover a cinema and work to get it back up and running again. It’s been a fun experience so far, and I suspect that will continue to be the case.

ENDRO!ENDRO! has been utterly fantastic. I was enjoying its mix of cute girls, comedy and RPG references before, but then it went and introduced Princess Rona and the show managed to get even better.

Katana Maidens ~ Mini TojiKatana Maidens ~ Mini Toji is a spinoff of Katana Maidens ~ Toji No Miko, giving us a more comedic look at its characters. It does what any good comedy should do: makes me laugh. It also ups the yuri that was present in the main series. Each episode may only be a couple of minutes long, but those couple of minutes manage to be a highlight each week.

Fairy Tail Final SeasonThe final battle approaches, with the Alvarez Empire invading Ishgar with their full might. We’ve had a couple of battles here and there, but now we are at the point were all the other guilds are rallying their forces to support Fairy Tail’s efforts to defend their homeland.
I’ve enjoyed what I have seen so far. Looking forward to seeing Wendy in action alongside Shelia once again, too.

One PieceThe end of the Whole Cake Island arc is in sight. The climactic fight between Luffy and Katakuri has concluded – it is an excellent fight, but the anime dragging it out the way it did really didn’t do it any favours. When it isn’t dragging things out, One Piece still manages to be pretty enjoyable.

BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONSAn arc that focused on Mitsuki in particular has concluded, so now we’re getting some slice of life stuff set around the Leaf Village. For now, it appears we’ll be getting some parent and child stuff, which I am fine with. The most recent episode in which Naruto spent time with Himawari was actually really sweet.

The Magnificent KOTOBUKII wasn’t entirely sold on The Magnificent KOTOBUKI with its first episode, but I am glad I stuck with it. Things picked up from its second episode onwards, and now we are getting a better idea about each of the characters. The dogfights we’ve seen so far have been pretty good, too.

MYSTERIA FriendsWhat a treat MYSTERIA Friends has been so far. Each episode may only be half the length of a regular episode of anime, but it has been using the time well. Anne and Grea’s relationship is such a beautiful thing, and of course that is what generally gets the most focus. Some side characters have managed to squeeze in some pretty notable moments, too.

Star ☆ Twinkle PreCureStar ☆ Twinkle PreCure may only be two episodes in, but those two episodes have been pretty good. We’ve been introduced to half the team so far: Cure Star and Cure Milky. It’s been a pretty great start, and I am very eager to meet the other two Cures. Also, Cure Milky is adorable.

Aikatsu Friends!Aikatsu Friends! has been great. I would say that it is almost over, but it is getting a second season so that wouldn’t be entirely correct. Aikatsu Friends! continues to be very enjoyable.

Mob Psycho 100 IIThe first season of Mob Psycho 100 was great, and the same is proving true of its second season, too. Mob has grown has a character, which as a result means that Reigen has to do the same too. Excellent stuff.

Pastel MemoriesGirls dive into the worlds of various anime/manga/light novels to protect them from viruses that cause people to forget about them. It’s been fairly fun so far, though I will say I enjoy this show most when I know the anime/manga/light novel they are diving into – I think the ‘Rosy Maidens’ episode has yet to be topped for that reason. When it comes down to it, I think of Pastel Memories as dumb fun.

Kemono Friends 2Kemono Friends 2 has been an enjoyable romp so far, with some pretty great new Friends being introduced – Bottlenose Dolphin being one I particularly like. Episode 5 also introduced what may just be my favourite version of Lucky Beast, who you can see above. More importantly, though, was the ending of said episode. I’m not going to give away what happened here, but it was something that pleased me a great deal.

WATATEN!: an Angel Flew Down to MeWataten: an Angel Flew Down to Me has actually been a lot better than I expected it to be. Miyako may have questionable tastes, but she is actually quite cute – just ask Koko. Honestly, all the characters have been pretty great so far, though Kanon and Koyori steal the show when they appear.
Episode 6 had me laughing a lot, particularly with Miyako getting a taste of her own medicine and Hinata, Hana and Noa being just being honest.

Kiratto Pri☆ChanFinally, I managed to more or less catch up with Kiratto Pri☆Chan. Unfortunately the only subs available were of dubious Google translate quality, but I powered through. I also started to enjoy the show a lot more when Mel Shido was introduced, and Anju Shiratori being more active helped too. I also find myself liking Aira Nanahoshi quite a bit, too.

Overall, a pretty good season so far. Most of the shows I am watching have either been living up to or surpassing my expectations. For me, the following shows have been real highlights: BanG Dream! 2nd Season, ENDRO!, Kemono Friends 2, Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka, and WATATEN! well, at least for full-length shows. ENDRO! is definitely making the strongest argument to be my favourite show of this season, though Kemono Friends 2 has put forth a very compelling argument too.
Katana Maidens ~ Mini Toji and MYSTERIA Friends, whilst having shorter episodes (3 and 15 minutes respectively) have been incredibly entertaining.