Forum - View topicThe Best and Worst Anime of Summer 2023
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db999
Posts: 304 |
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I don’t have a worst as I liked all of the shows I followed, but if I had to put something at the bottom it’d be Dark Gathering. Don’t get me wrong I like the show and think it’s horror is somewhat effective, I’m not really all that attached to the characters, and something about it, I think maybe the art style, just feels generic.
Best is easy Jujutsu Kaisen The Hidden Inventory arc was fantastic and I think the best the show has been so far, which is saying something as season 1 was either my 2nd or 3rd favorite show of 2020, and the Shibuya arc is looking to be just as good. My second place is a tie between Reign of the Seven Spellblades which was somewhat surprising to me as it’s pretty uneven with some storylines and characters being really interesting, but others being very average and generic, and Bleach which while I mostly enjoy it there were some really weak spots this season. I'm still waiting for both shows to end before I decide which one I liked better as Bleach has way higher highs, but Reign of the Seven Spellblades is more consistent This could change after I binge Undead Murder Farce though, it’s probably going to end up as either my favorite or second-favorite show of the season as everything I'm hearing about it makes it seem like it was made specifically with me in mind as it seems to have everything I want out of a mystery. |
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Snowcat
Posts: 190 |
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I'm surprised that "My Happy Marriage" didn't get more mentions.
Apparently the users top 8 was quite consistent during the season so I was expecting the 3 new licenses to get the most attention: My Happy Marriage, Undead Murder Farce and ZOM 100. Considering it was previsible that ZOM 100 with its cynical premise and production problems would crash and burn, it is surprising the 2 others show would finished so imbalanced in the mentions. I'm also surprised that Bungo Stray Dog didn't share some runner-up spots with Jujutsu Kaisen. |
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Saeryen
 Posts: 918 |
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After a lot of thought because I really liked everything I saw this season, I have to give my best to Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts. Runners up are My Happy Marriage and Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure. I also really enjoyed Horimiya: The Missing Pieces and The Most Heretical Lost Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior.
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kurichan69
 Posts: 114 Location: Seattle, WA |
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What I was most looking forward to: Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War and JJK. What I was most disappointed in: Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War and JJK.
What I knew nothing about: My Happy Marriage and Undead Murder Farce. The shows that were excellent every week: My Happy Marriage and Undead Murder Farce. As for Zom100: I was enjoying it even though I don't have a high tolerance for super goofy humor or unnecessary fan service. But the delays really killed the show for me and there's no way it can make up for that. Not every show can be like Nier: Automata and come back with a handful of excellent episodes. This one won't be worth waiting for, unfortunately. I guess the manga reader in my family said it best about Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War when he said that the first part was so good that he had forgotten how bad the chapters adapted in this part are. Most Saturdays I'm like "Why am I still watching this?" Really pleased to find out there will be another season of My Happy Marriage. As for JJK, there's no way the Shibuya Arc will live up to the ridiculous hype. Even with that in mind, I'm not really enjoying the episodes as much. The show just suffers too much from the tiresome power scale that all too many shonen titles succumb to. I stopped watching Horimiya: The Missing Pieces when I realized that the episodes weren't chronological. I wasn't actually that interested in watching but thought I'd give some episodes a try and they are uneven in quality and not really worth my time, especially as I've read the manga. Disappointing. I can only hope that other manga doesn't get the same treatment because this title deserved better than the rushed first season and the haphazard "missing pieces". |
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fathomlessblue
 Posts: 355 Location: Manchester, UK |
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This was sadly one of the worst seasons in my 14 years simulwatching anime, but I did find a few gems in Jujutsu Kaisen S2, Bang Dream MyGo, & to a lesser extent Undead Girl Murder Face (actual title).
I thought Sunghoo Park did a pretty excellent job with JJK S1, despite the overuse of digital compositing to portray mood. S2 still has some of that, but the elasticity of the cast & far more inventive shot placement makes the follow up feel much less mechanical or staged in its delivery. That said, I'm completely lost re: power system exposition regarding Gojo, so it hasn't removed all the issues. Bang Dream MyGo is the closest I've found in years to a classic activity-based melodramatic shoujo of the 70's/80's, such as Aim for the Ace or Glass Mask. I love it. Undead Girl Murder Face started off strong, but I could really do without the endless deluge of semi-fictional characters popping up to mug for the camera. Plus, it did my girl Fatima Doubledarts dirty. Winner of the year's silliest design. Everything else I eventually dropped. There seemed like there could be an interesting idea in Helck, but its completely shruggo production killed any sense of excitement or comic timing. Horimiya Pieces was an attempt to course-correct the misguided decision to abridge the anime adaption in a just as equally misguided way. Maybe fitted into a larger narrative a lot of these scenes would have worked better, but it just felt like sifting through the manga's chaff, alongside the least-interesting cast members. My Happy Marriage is what happens when a strong production accidentally helps shine a spotlight on a title's narrative shortcomings. Like, I know this was supposed to be a Cinderella story, but attempting to portray a sense of realism & depth to the cast, when most of them are complete cartoon-cutouts (particularly the antagonists), really does the show no favours. Also, while technically impressive, Reina Ueda's excessive brittle & weakened performance as Miya began to feel pretty affected after a while. It works well for emotional lows, but less so walking down the street with a smile on your face. That might just be a me problem. |
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Gem-Bug
 Posts: 1242 |
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I've pretty much only been watching JJK S2 this season. I tried Murder Farce, but couldn't get into it after the first couple of episodes(I found the setting of the first episode more interesting than the move to Victorian England, tbh).
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Woozy
Posts: 17 |
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The snippet about Am I the Strongest feels like the person just went into it negative and then the part after about isekai just confirmed it.
Shame, since it's a pretty funny show all around, of course depends on the person, but not as dire as it is made to be. It's just a classic case of misunderstanding and getting out of situation shows with MC sister trying to ruin everything for him because she think he's something he isnt. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11431 |
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I gotta give a third vote for Link Clink S2, because it really was the best thing I watched this season. It's also a series I think is maybe best binged, because the cliffhangers are killer and it's really easy to get lost from week to week, partly (for me at least) because of the unfamiliar names that sound a lot alike.
And yes, the fight choreography was just outstanding. The season wrapped with just enough threads left hanging for a third season, which I hope will be greenlit soon. As Funimation used to say, "You should be watching." JJK and Undead Murderface were also terrific, but I've got nothing to add to all the praises already heaped on them. I very much enjoyed Gene of Ai for its thought-provoking vignettes, and Duke of Death and his Maid was as delightful as ever, plus with more progress toward lifting his curse this season. 7 Spellblades was probably the worst of the decent series I watched, with Am I Actually the Worst Isekai? being the actual worst that I finished. Or maybe that was Horimiya Pieces. Run away, Miya, while you still can. It's really weird to watch a series where you're hoping the main romantic couple will break up. |
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b-dragon
Posts: 473 |
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I'll sing the praises of the otherwise fairly unsung Malevolent Spirits here. It was consistently engaging and enjoyable, in a season that struggled with both of those aspects. The production values aren't the best, but the show knows what it's about, and focuses on character dynamics and development to good effect.
Undead Murder Farce is, yes, the best thing I watched, final episode pending. The dialogue was good, the action excellent, and it's a fun time. Mysteries I think, tend to be inherently uneven in terms of week-to-week enjoyment (for me, anyway,) and there are a few plotting issues/details not made clear. But those feel fairly minor in the face of what I liked. JJK is what it is. A bad habit of overexplaining, and I'm having trouble finding much pathos in the plot at this point...but man does it ooze style. I waffle back and forth on just how much I enjoy JJK, but I do enjoy it regardless. Mushoku Tensei...well, I've described shows as "love it or hate it" before. This is one that fits both. Enough has been typed about it elsewhere, so I'll leave it there. It would be inaccurate to call Spellblades "bad", though it is the worst thing I watched past 3 episodes. "Disappointing" fits better, I think. There's a lot of interesting ideas and concepts. I think there is a lot of potential in the plotlines and characters. But the execution left a lot to be desired. I kept waiting, hoping, for it to rise out of the light novel adaptation muck and mire. But it seemed to just take a half step out of that pit, and settle in. Ah well. Preexisting fans seemed to enjoy it, so it did that right regardless. And maybe it got better- I dropped around episode 8. |
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T3rmidor
Posts: 62 |
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Kinda of surprised how Undead Face takes the crown for most reviewers, but well deserved due to being a very solid show in a a dry season. Zom 100 production nigthmares drag the show down, a shame as it had good stuff in it. Sacrificial princess has also been pretty good, and not surprised MT didn't make it on the top nor the bottom. A bit unfair to have seven spellblades as worst when despite the lost potential it still has good moments. Personal worst? Helck, a pity since I enjoyed the manga quite a lot, but the anime didn't do it justice.
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NeverConvex
 Subscriber Posts: 2344 |
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I've really enjoyed Helck. The production quality is terrible, but a lot of the jokes have still landed for me, especially since Piwi's introduction. The mild injection of pathos recently even worked. I mean, I think that's mostly in spite of the adaptation (which seems quite weak) and due to what seems to be apparently strong source material, but it's still been a very fun ride for me.
Spellblades I can understand people dumpstering; watching it had the opposite effect -- if there was strength in the source material, I had to really struggle to find it through the adaptation, and could generally only see it at the level of, like, a cliffnotes world-building exercise. |
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Terraziel
Posts: 60 |
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Yeah, this was a crushingly average season overall.
Best show is definitely MyGo!!!!!! , which was a surprise to say the least, I enjoyed the other Bang Dream shows, but who knew they had that in them. I just don't get the love for for Farce, it's absolutely one of the better shows this season, but I can't help but feel that good directing and characters are papering over a largely uninteresting and uninspired setting and plot. Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon, I think just about avoided becoming misery porn. To be honest my biggest complaint is that, much as i love Ueda Reina, Miyo's voice was just way too quiet. I actually had difficulty hearing it, fine she is supposed to be meek, but there are limits. Lv1 Maou to One Room Yuusha turned out to be surprisingly good, i almost dropped it after the first episode, but the direction it went as a show redeemed it and more. Worst Show? It's honestly hard to pick, nothing stood out as particularly awful, the season was just a bland melange of mediocre adaptations. The sort of thing where both the best and worst thing you can say about them was that they exist. Gun to my head? Eiyuu Kyoushitsu. |
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quentntarantado
Posts: 12 |
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I might be ignorant of some issues, but aren't we worried that many production houses are putting pressure on artists to finish the anime on schedule? So I'm actually relieved that Zom 100 was delayed several times. Better that than have the staff die from too much pressure to finish on schedule.
I'm probably overlooking many things, like extra costs to studios for the delays, maybe additional pressure on the studio because a delay in one series means delay in the production of other anime. But I'm thinking, anime studios should look into this. WHAT is causing the delays? Is the production schedule too tight? Are demands on staff too unreasonable? If I completely misunderstood the situation, I apologize. However, I do have this mindset because above all, I'd like the staff to have better working conditions, even if my enjoyment of the anime gets postponed. |
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MiniMarps
 Posts: 70 |
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I am so happy that MyGO is getting love here. I feel like, at the start of the season, no one outside of Bang Dream's core fanbase was willing to give it a chance (which is totally normal and understandable), and then it went out and it EARNED its popularity.
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ThrowMeOut
Posts: 260 |
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Man, almost no one watched Level One Demon Lord and One-Room Hero, huh? That one was the surprise standout to me. I thought it was going to just be a string of raunchy jokes and butt shots, but instead you got a decent political drama and a sweet romance.
I liked Murder Face, but I doubt it would've swept the wins if it hadn't been the weakest season I've seen in years. I found the middle part where they shoved in like 20 19th century cameos kind of tedious. |
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