Hello everyone and welcome to our next challenge – the 30 Day Anime Challenge! WHAT’S THIS? DAY THIRTY-ONE? Yep, I’ve added a topic for the last day in July. Hope you guys enjoy 🙂 just sit back and relax because HERE WE GO!
Day Thirty-One: Shoutout to Some of my Recent Anime Favorites
So I wanted to do a special post featuring some of my recent favorites I’ve tuned in to see in the anime world. These are shows that I personally recently got to watch or complete in the last year or so…so some may be a little older than others 😛 Sorry I don’t get to tune into things immediately anymore. Plus I don’t have the patience to wait each week for a new episode haha. Hope you guys enjoy!
Goblin Slayer
Oh boy, this anime will take you on a bloody ride. It follows a party of adventurers from a guild who hunt the growing goblin population. Some key figures include the Goblin Slayer himself, the Priestess, the High Elf Archer, Dwarf Shaman, and Lizard Priest. Yeah, they don’t have names. That’s a cool feature of the show/manga. It’s pretty dark and bloody at times so if you’re not into gore you may want to avoid this show. I’m sitting her hoping we get a new season soon because it was so good! Ahhhh!
Recovery of an MMO Junkie
This is fun ride for sure, following the adventures of Moriko – a 30-year-old successful career woman who decides to quit her corporate job and become a NEET. She creates a male character in an online MMORPG and meets a girl character whom they join a guild together. Turns out Lily is the character of Yuta, a young businessman. Hilarity does ensue! I love all the characters featured in this series and I’m happy we got some sort of closure with it since the manga didn’t last long due to the artist’s failing health. Highly recommend!
Darling in the Franxx
This series is an interesting ride and at first I didn’t think I’d like it. However, I gave it a chance and the more I saw of it the more I fell for the characters and their story. It takes place in a dystopian future where adults live in technologically-advanced cities and are immortal while children are bred artificially and called parasites. The children are kept in isolation and are training to pilot mechas called Franxx. We follow Squad 13 who are known as an experimental team with custom designed Franxx suits. Each team consists of a boy and a girl who have to work together to pilot the Franxx. They have to be compatible for it to work. The Franxx are used to defeat Klaxosaurs that roam the planet attacking colonies.
There are two people of note in the series – Hiro and Zero Two. Zero Two has klaxosaur blood inside her and she has horns. Hiro is a boy who longs to synch with a partner in the Franxx when he meets Zero Two. The two of them have a past…and a future together. I don’t want to spoil much more of it so I say if you’re into Studio Trigger and CloverWorks definitely check this series out!
Fruits Basket
Guys, I really like the Fruits Basket manga. And yeah, I do like the first anime they did back in the day; however, they changed too much of the story and didn’t even get through a good chunk of the manga before it ended. So when they announced they would be remaking the series to closely follow the manga, I was really excited. And my god it’s beautiful! I’ve dared to watch it weekly and I hate myself for it because it’s hard not have another episode to fall back on.
Is It Wrong to Try and Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon
With it’s title, I thought for sure I would hate this series xD but I tuned in by a friend’s recommendation and I loved it. It follows an adventurer named Bell in the fictional city of Orario who takes on the Dungeon labyrinth in the hopes of growing stronger (and meeting girls – a very special girl named Ais). He joins a familia with the goddess Hestia, the only one of her children, and struggles to make ends meet. A lot of women apparently have developed feelings for him (exactly like Goblin Slayer btw – apparently girls flock to the adventurer types haha). He builds his own team to take on the dungeon and build his strength. So far we have one season completed and the second one just began. I’m going to try and not tune in every week so I can splurge this one because it tends to end its episodes at the worst time haha. I need to see the film too. SOMEDAY!
Kakuriyo -Bed and Breakfast for Spirits-
I think I’m a sucker for series where a girl or guy is whisked off into a mythical or fantasy world because we have this series where that happens! Aoi is a college student with a complicated past who’s grandfather recently passed away. She gives food to an ogre who is waiting for her at the torii shrine to keep him from hurting anyone but he then drags her back to the Hidden Realm where Ayakashi live. There she finds him to be called Odanna where he runs an inn and her grandfather was in debt to him. Her grandfather promised if he couldn’t pay back the debt that Aoi would become the ogre’s bride. It’s a fun, supernatural romance and I’ve just started watching the series and reading the manga. It’s very beautiful and I adore so many of the Ayakashi in it.
Beyond the Boundary
So this is one of those older anime series (I can’t believe I’m saying older haha – it’s from 2015) that I recently caught up with in my queue. I kept seeing some of the animation in AMVs and in art on tumblr so I really had no idea what the story was about. It follows high school student Akihito who sees his fellow schoolmate Mirai on the roof about to commit suicide. He runs up to save her and she suddenly stabs him with a sword formed from her blood. I was like WTF AM I WATCHING RIGHT NOW?! Turns out Akihito is an immortal “half-youmu” and Mirai is a Spirit Sword Warrior who protects humans from youmu. The story follows them as they combat supernatural creatures while trying to stop Mirai from killing Akihito as practice. I really enjoyed the series and want to dive into the light novels and the films at some point.
Masamune-Kun’s Revenge
This is another one that’s been out for awhile and I finally started watching it. I’m only a few episodes in but it’s so funny and I’m loving it. Masamune was a chubby kid that had a close relationship with wealthy girl Aki; however, she cruelly rejected him and gave him the name “Pig’s Foot.” After this tragic incident, Masamune loses all the weight and seeks revenge on Aki. He tries to get Aki to fall in love with him so he can then reject her like she did him…hilarity ensues.
Konosuba -God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World!
Another one that’s been out for awhile, Konosuba follows Kazuma who is a NEET. He suffers an untimely death trying to save someone when he goes out and he meets a goddess named Aqua. She offers to reincarnate him in a parallel world similar to the MMORPGs he plays. He is given the choice to gain a power to help him on his journey but he chooses to take Aqua instead much to her disagreement. The two then form of team of crazies to take on the monsters of the world. It’s pretty fun and I really like the dynamic of these crazy characters together.
My Hero Academia
I’m in love with My Hero Academia. It follows a boy who goes by Deku who is born in a world of superpowers but is quirkless. His biggest dream was to be a hero like All-Might, the top hero in the world. When a chance meeting leads him to All-Might and he discovers All-Might is losing his powers, Deku is given the chance to take All-Might’s place as the wielder of the power One for All and become the hero he’s always wanted. The story leads him to UA Academy where he wanted to be a student and learn under the top heroes. There’s a lot of story here but I want you to check it out for yourself 🙂
Little Witch Academia
This upbeat, coming-of-age story follows Akko as she trains at Luna Nova Magical Academy for witches. Akko struggles due to her non-magical background but she wants to be like her hero Chariot. She finds Chariot’s Shiny Rod and uses it to help her learn magic. Akko struggles with flying but learns how to be very successful at shapeshifting. She also never give sup and tries to help her friends whenever she can. There’s also a cute possible romance with a rich boy named Andrew who learns to develop a respect for magic with the help of Akko. It’s cute and it’s on Netflix along with its films so I highly recommend if you’re a fan of Trigger!
Aggretsuko
I know I’ve already gushed about it but I really like Aggretsuko on Netflix. There’s also some minisodes you can find on YouTube. This Sanrio series follows Retsuko, a red panda business woman who works by day and does heavy metal karaoke by night. Being almost 30 and being a working woman myself…I really relate to Retsuko’s struggles and journeys. I’m not married, I try to live life by the beat of my own drum, but there’s plenty of others who judge my way of life as not being fulfilled. So I really resonate with this red panda! And I hate that I finished the second season in one afternoon and now I’ll probably have to wait a year for more! AHHHHH!
Napping Princess
When I first saw previews for this film, I was VERY CONFUSED about it. I had no idea what it would be about. Was it some sort of Wonderland movie? I really liked the animation so I decided to jump in and I was pleasantly surprised. There’s two settings in the film: Japan and Heartland. Kokone has strange dreams of Heartland while taking naps where she is a princess being held in the King’s Castle. The castle and kingdom all revolves around cars and is a car factory. In the dreams, her name is Ancien and she has a magic tablet which gives life to machines. She has a blue toy bear named Joy and a motorcycle named Heart. We see her try to escape the stronghold and meets a subject named Peach who also drives a motorcycle. There’s a giant monster threat but then we wake up to Kokone. Turns out Peach looks exactly like her father Momotaro. Also he’s a single father because her mother died in an accident when she was younger. We move on.
Kokone is finishing up her school term and trying to figure out her college life while reconnecting with her old friend Morio who recently returned from his first year in college. Kokone is shocked when her father is arrested for stealing Shijima Motors’ secrets and she grabs the tablet, the blue bear, and runs away with Morai.
THAT’S ALL I’M SHARING! There’s a great device in blending these two worlds together and I really enjoyed it a lot. So if you’re interested in it definitely check it out.
Mary and the Witch’s Flower
This first film from Studio Ponoc is based on the story The Little Broomstick and follows a young red-headed girl named Mary who moves into a British estate of her Great-Aunt Charlotte ahead of her parents. She’s bored and friendless in this new environment and tries to her best to be useful but she keeps messing up. She meets local boy Peter who makes fun of her wild red hair she hates and the tow build this story of childish rivalry with each other.
Peter’s cats lead Mary to a mysterious glowing flower known as the Fly-By-Night. It is said that witches used the flower for its magical powers. One of the cats disappears one night and the other cat leads Mary into the woods where she finds a broomstick. She bursts the flower bulb on it and it comes to life. It flies her to a magical school called Endor College for witches where she pretends to be one as she is shown around campus.
Again, I don’t want to spoil too much but if you’re a fan of Studio Ghibli movies, this film holds the same magic and beautiful animation. I highly recommend!
And with that, we conclude the 30 Day Anime Challenge! Share with me some of your latest favorites in the comments below or in your own anime challenge! I’d love to hear about them and get some suggestions for what next to watch! My queue is forever growing haha. Tomorrow we’re starting with an all-new challenge! No spoilers on what it’s going to be 🙂 you’ll just have to stay tuned to find out! Thanks for reading 🙂
#30DayAnimeChallenge
*~Mae's Corner~* 