Potential Girlfriend Number Three might be Best Girl.

The second season of Kanojo mo Kanojo (Girlfriend, Girlfriend) is currently airing. It's maybe not quite as absurd as its first season, but it's still pretty wild. It's definitely not a series the viewer is meant to take too seriously, but the characters are earnest. If a show about a two-timer forcing himself to keep potential girlfriends numbers three and four at bay isn't wacky enough, this season also includes the anime adaptation of Kimi no Koto ga Dai Dai Dai Dai Daisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo (The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You or Hyakkano for short).

Thanks to divine intervention, Potato-kun pulls chicks like none other.

Spoilers: There aren't really 100 girlfriends in 100 Girlfriends, at least not yet. I presume there eventually will be, but I don't believe the source material has gotten anywhere near that goal yet. I've read some of the manga, and it's reasonably funny, although not really my sort of thing. It's at least successful in running with its ridiculous premise. However, I didn't like the anime as much; I dropped it after only one episode. That's not to say you should avoid the series. Hyakkano seems pretty popular this season (more so than Kanojo mo Kanojo Season 2). I'm simply following too many other anime this season, so a lot of stuff I might watch at other times got cut.

I recognize this pose from clips I've seen of the game.

As part of the iM@S franchise, Million Live! has been around for more than 10 years. Considering how (relatively) quickly Cinderella Girls received an anime, I had been wondering when an adaptation for Million Live! might drop. There was a PV featuring the characters as superheroes, but that was more than six years ago now. Well, the anime-anime is finally here!

Despite what fan art may lead you to believe, Takane has a lower BMI than Hibiki.

I am, at best, only a secondary or tertiary fan of the franchise. Meaning, I don't really know anything about the characters or the game, so I can't claim to be particularly invested it. Nevertheless, learning that the anime was going to use 3DCG animation didn't exactly inspire a lot of optimism. True, there have already been quite a few shows I've been okay with even though they were entirely 3DCG, but being "okay" with them isn't the same thing as "preferring." Thankfully, the 3D animation used in the Million Live! anime doesn't look bad at all. Well, I do think Takane's face looks odd, but that has more to do with how her character design changed than it does the animation format. Besides, she's not one of the leads here.

I didn't need a name thingy for Miki. I recognized her from the couch.

Speaking of which, THERE ARE SO MANY IDOLS. I knew this going in, but it's especially apparent since the series is really trying to give everyone some screen time. In fact, the anime provides onscreen name placards as characters appear, and it seems it will continue to do so for the entire show. [Update: They stopped appearing for established characters after episode four.] Even I already knew the characters well enough to recognize them on sight and not get them confused with each other, but displaying the names is still probably the right decision. I could do without the constant emphasis about each idol's characteristic quirks, though. I feel like those sorts of cues are generally unhelpful. Rather than flushing out their personalities, I think it's reductive.

These are the four main characters.

Still, the Million Live! anime is not off to bad start. However, I do hope it gets more than one cours, if only to provide more time to better realize the characters who are most critical to the anime's plot. Both the original iM@S anime and main Cinderella Girls adaptation ran for two cours, so it would be a shame if Million Live! joined U149 in only getting one, particularly with such a large cast. Maybe it should have adopted the Love Live! Superstar!! approach by starting with only a core group and expanding during subsequent seasons. Or maybe I'm just being greedy now.

Delicious poison.

I started watching Kusuriya no Hitorigoto (The Apothecary Diaries) because I've heard its source material is good. It turns out the anime is good, too—good enough that I watched all three of its simultaneously released episodes (yeah, it's another one of those shows) in a row instead of spacing them out as I originally intended. It seems this is also going to be a two-cours series as well, although I haven't worked out if that means 24 episodes straight or if they'll be split.

This is a terrible hobby.

Not knowing anything about the source material, I sort of wonder if this is going to turn into a medical drama where various plants and herbs will offer marvelous healing properties (like the sort found in fantasy stories such as Akatsuki no Yona because they allow characters to get fucked up without being removed from the narrative for months as they recuperate). Through the first three episodes, The Apothecary Diaries instead seems to be a period piece that's more about identifying and avoiding poison than about finding cures for ailments.

I don't know where she can spend any of this.

Hopefully, regardless of the path the plot takes, the execution will remain good. I'm particularly pleased with the way Yuuki Aoi (this same Yuuki Aoi) is voicing the role. I'm enjoying the anime as a whole, so it's not as if she's carrying this series on her own, but her work as the lead is a significant factor in how much I'm liking it. While I'm on the subject, I did also notice that the narrator is credited as Shimamoto Sumi, Nausicaä's own bad self. That's mostly just a bit of trivia, but it is good to see she's still active.

SHE'S BACK!

It's been nearly 20 years since the first Pretty Cure episode, and more than 15 years since the last episode of Yes! Precure 5 GoGo! aired. I'm not entirely sure how much time is meant to have passed in Kibou no Chikara ~Otona Precure '23~ (Power of Hope ~Precure Full Bloom~), but it feels closer to 10 than it does to 15. In any case, I'm really glad to see these characters again as adults.

Did you end up marrying Mai's brother?

I'm even more pleased to see Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star is being included in this continuity. I admit I was dismissive of both Yes! and Splash Star in the past, but that was back during the Fresh Pretty Cure! era when the franchise was only four generations deep. I've long since come around on both of these iterations, making me a prime candidate for enjoying Otona Precure, although I guess it feels odd to say it.

You need to be a special sort of horrible to make Urara cry.

I don't know what demographics most of the viewers are from. Beyond the now ancient saw about First Pretty Cure only being watched by little girls and adult men, I have to believe there are a lot of twenty-something women with fond memories of watching Yes! as children who are now eager to nostalgically re-engage with with a series they potentially outgrew. Additionally, I would speculate there ought to be a fair number of new viewers who are only incidentally familiar (or entire unfamiliar) with these characters, but are curious about the whole "grown-up Pretty Cure" aspect.

Your identity is going to stay secret, right?

Through the first two episodes, Otona Precure has been very much about Nozomi, although I presume more attention will be given to the other characters in turn as the series progresses. I should also acknowledge this is the best version of Nozomi, ever. I've frequently opined that Nozomi is a ditz or a basket case, while concurrently acknowledging that Cure Dream is a full-time ass kicker and wrecking machine. Well, I can't really refer to Nozomi as a ditz anymore. As an adult, she's come a long way. She's still recognizable as the girl from before, but she's got her shit together at lot better now.

You made Cure Dream mad? Y'all so screwed.

However, Cure Dream is definitely still a full-time ass-kicking wrecking machine. That was never going to be in question, right? That fight in the second episode was incredible. I'm sure anyone with even passing interest in the series will have seen by now the many screenshots captured and shared in response. However, they really don't do justice to the dynamic intensity and violence of the relatively short sequence. I particularly appreciated the palpable sense of pent-up frustration released by someone who has longed for a simpler time when she could simply punch her problems away. I kid you not, I've never loved Cure Dream more.

What's in the bag? WHAT'S IN THE BAAAG?!

Regular readers of this blog may remember I listed Suki na Ko ga Megane wo Wasureta (The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses) as my top Summer 2023 show with only a few weeks remaining in the season. However, the word-of-mouth reputation of BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! (at least on the 𝕏-Twitter) convinced me to give it an eleventh-hour try despite my lack of interest in the franchise. (I dropped First BanG Dream! after eight episodes in 2017.)

Anon is so frustrated, she turned into a Force ghost.

The all-3DCG aspect of It's MyGO!!!!! also probably would have put me off a bit, were it not for Bubuki Buranki and Seikaisuru Kado (KADO: The Right Answer) getting me most of the way on board years ago. Honestly, though, it looks fine. My main issues with 3DCG in anime tend to involve scenes where it's combined with regular 2D animation while looking weirdly different in motion. No such problems here. But I digress.

Begging always works.

BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! is about girls being self-absorbed, inconsiderate, manipulative, and deceitful with each other. Sometimes they're outright cunts about it. So, yeah, it's pretty good. There are a few characters who care more about music and bands than starting shit or being mean for no reason, but I like them anyway, too. What I like most about It's MyGO!!!!! is that the series begins on a low point and mostly stays in downer mode throughout. This is a departure from the uplifting narrative arcs that I'm accustomed to seeing in anime about A Bunch of Girls Who Like a Thing.

I like Umiri even though she is not a cunt.

Viewers who form deeper emotional connections with the characters will likely enjoy the series even more than I did. However, don't expect things to get wrapped up in a tidy way by the end of the series. If you've heard about MyGo!!!!! before reading this, you've probably also heard about Ave Mujica (or have at least seen illustrations of their not-exactly impenetrable disguises). It seems that band is also getting its own anime, so we can expect more disastrous girl-band drama in the future, except gothic-chuuni flavored this time. I'm looking forward to it already.

I bet Frieren has a spell to stifle allergies.

The first four episodes of Sousou no Frieren (Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, alternatively, Frieren at the Funeral) released simultaneously. These sorts of drops (and extended-length first episodes) seem more common recently, but the first four Frieren episodes break at natural points in the story, so they should be digestible for busy viewers trying to find time to watch them all. I suppose that's appropriate, as Frieren is very much about how people use the time they have, after all.

That's nice luggage, but it's less convenient than a rucksack.

As an elf, Frieren measures time on an entirely different scale than her human companions. For her, the 10-year adventure her party completes at the start of the story disappeared in a flash, as did the subsequent decades. I've been enjoying the ongoing manga's portrayal of how Frieren forces herself to value moments that she would normally regard as ephemeral. Through four episodes, the anime captures this mood perfectly. It's also beautifully animated. Naturally, I'm looking forward to the rest of its planned two-cours (not even split cours!) run. Don't get a lot of those anymore.

Do your homework, Fern.

Fans of the Frieren manga have a lot to enjoy here, but what about newcomers unfamiliar with the source material? What can they expect? Aside from its different perspective on the otherwise familiar "defeat a demon lord" story, I also like its portrayal of magic as a discipline to be studied, taught, and improved upon from academic and engineering standpoints. At the same time, Frieren's hobby of collecting quirky (occasionally useless) spells is also endearing.

They fly now.

There's a recurring question in the series concerning the enjoyment of magic for its own sake. I appreciate that Sousou no Frieren includes this aspect alongside its depiction of magic as a vehicle for work, and as a weapon. Honestly, there's a lot to like in this series. I can't claim there's something for everyone, and perhaps not all viewers will enjoy it as much as I do, but I do recommend spending time with it.

Maybe Budoko gets more pleasant as the show progresses.

I started watched Akikan! (Empty Can!) as it aired during the Winter 2009 anime season, but I quit because I thought it was WORSE THAN COSPRAYERS. However, the irritating voice of a character introduced in the third episode did influence my decision to drop it then. As it turns out, this character's seiyuu was Yuuki Aoi, who has since gone on to have a successful career. She's rather popular, and I enjoy her work too, so I started second-guessing my 2009 self's opinions. Could it have really been that bad?

I admit Budoko's character design is amusing when she doesn't talk.

As it turns out, yes, it really was that bad. Budoko is a bratty, child-sized grape soda who speaks in a deliberately annoying voice. I think Yuuki Aoi was only 16 years old herself when she recorded the role, but I don't think being less experienced necessarily impaired her voice acting ability. If anything, she was probably too good at bringing a loathsome soda can to, err, life.

This scene is about erections.

I did actually try to watch further this time around, but I still only made it to episode four. Noto Mamiko voices a new can (a sports drink), but it's just not worth it. I don't know if the type of humor and tropes that saturate Akikan! are especially dated now. It's not as if I enjoyed humor of this variety in 2009 either. However, it also doesn't seem like the comedy styles found here are common in anime anymore. Possibly this is because I simply don't watch as many shows like this now, or maybe they're less common in general now that anime lineups are all isekai all the time. In any case, I suspect nobody besides boys discovering anime for the first time ever found the jokes in Akikan! funny either.

Enjoy your life.

I was impressed by the energy and style of the first episode of Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru Made ni Shitai 100 no Koto (Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead), but it was probably inevitable that I would lose interest so fast. I don't have much enthusiasm for zombie-type shows most of the time. In fact, I'll even go so far as to say I dislike zombie-related media in general. In that sense, it's a testament to the first episode that I liked it enough for me to watch three more.

Do more cardio.

I suppose part of why I kept with it even that far can also be attributed to the arrival of a mysterious, cool survivalist voiced by Kusunoki Tomori. I was hoping she'd stick around, but she disappeared entirely as the show turned its attention to expanding the cast. I presume she'll be featured prominently again soon enough once all the introductions are complete, but I don't feel like watching all of that. The source manga is still ongoing, so I'm taking that to mean I'll only have a non-ending ending to look forward to even if I do stick with the anime. For viewers who enjoy zombie stories, it's probably still an entertaining series, but I'm out.