Posted: 8/30/23
Last week, I did a run-through on the various isekai titles for the Summer 2023 season. Despite isekai tending to dominate the fantasy genre these days, this season still had numerous fantasy series that did not involve that trope; at least nine, in fact, and maybe more depending on how loosely you interpret “fantasy.” (I generally classify supernatural tales set in modern day or a real-life historical setting as being in the “supernatural” genre instead, so I am not including Ayakashi Triangle, My Happy Marriage, or Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari here by definition.) Like with isekai last week, I have not seen all of the titles in this category, but I am current on enough of them to make this exercise worthwhile.
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness and the Secret Hideout
Episodes So Far: 9
Got through two episodes of this one before it became a “too full viewing schedule” casualty. It’s a pleasant enough series, and its cheery, bright, simple-minded appeal would make for good stress-relief viewing. Vague hints of mysteries surrounding the backstory of the town Ryza lives in are just intriguing enough that I might go back and finish this one at some point. And no, the emphasis on Ryza’s thighs in episode 1 wasn’t a fluke!
Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War, part 2
Episodes So Far: 8
Rating: B-
Technically this one should probably be classified as a supernatural title, but since the entirety of this block of episodes takes place on other worlds, I’m counting it as a fantasy title for this purpose.
This part could be summed up in two words, for better or worse: “typical Bleach.” Nearly all of these eight episodes consist of the Quincies’ second assault on the Seireitei, and with that comes the predictable array of freaks with extreme powers going head-to-head with named Soul Reapers showing off their own new tricks and/or upgrades (or tricks that simply hadn’t been revealed to this point) in showy battles, while lesser Soul Reapers get wasted. Of those new tricks, the prettiest is undoubtedly Rukia’s new ice form, but the most intriguing development is Kenpachi Zaraki finally achieving the Shikai form of his zanpakuto and the very strong resulting implication that Yachiru may actually have been the spirit of his sword in human form. (Or at least I don’t see any other reasonable way to interpret Yachiru disappearing, with her clothes and equipment left behind, at the time the new form manifests.) Kenpachi seems unaware of this connection, too, but looking back at everything shown about their characters, this twist makes sense. In terms of interest factor, the development outshines even Ichigo’s dramatic return from his training and Chad and Orihime finally getting back into action after being sidelined most of the current arc.
The problem is that all of this has a decided “been there, done that” feel. It’s a good thing that this is the franchise’s last story arc because it is running out of ideas, though it still pulls off some visually impressive sequences from time to time.
Classroom for Heroes
Episodes So Far: 8
Rating: C+
Conceptually, this one reminds me a lot of the Winter ’23 season’s The Iceblade Sorcerer Shal Rule the World, but it uses a far more playful take on the same basic concept – i.e., that an ultra-powerful teenage hero-type has retired after his battles and is now attending school, where he finally gets to make friends and attend classes like any normal teenager. How OP he is despite being limited to 15% or less of his original power is the series’ biggest running joke, but hardly the only one; he already has a dragonling who regard him as her “parent,” is about to get a companion that is a robot guardian, has tamed the dual-personality (female) Demon Lord, and in general keeps getting in one ridiculous situation after another. Predictably, there’s a tsundere redhead who’s also a (literal) hothead and an Emotionless Girl who’s a leftover from an Artificial Hero program, and oh, yeah, the king is such a fun-loving idiot that you have to wonder how the kingdom gets by. Don’t expect much substance here and this might be a fun, simple-minded view, but it sets near the bottom end of my weekly viewing list.
Helck
Episodes So Far: 8
Rating: B-
The concept here is an amusing one: in the wake of the Demon Lord’s defeat at the hands of a human Hero, the Demon Empire must hold a contest to find a new Demon Lord. The problem is that a jovial, well-liked human is actually the front-runner for the title, and he’s so buff and awesome at everything that no amount of sabotage by the contest runners can thwart him. (That is, in fact, an early running joke.) This irritates Vermilio, who, despite her small stature, is possibly the most powerful (and certainly the most volatile!) of the surviving Demon Generals. She does everything she can to find out if Helck is engaged in some devious plot, including going undercover to spy on him. That results in them getting stuck on a remote isle for a few episodes while those back home have to deal with winged humans invading from the human realms.
On the plus side, the series does have some intriguing aspects, such as why Helck is now antagonistic towards his fellow humans, what the Human King is trying to accomplish, and Vermilio’s constant struggle to figure out if Helck is as genuinely good as he seems. (And also why Vermilio doesn’t just step up to be the next Demon Lord herself!) But despite a predominately light-hearted tone, there are darker elements in the background, including Helck being wanted for murder in the human realms and a warning to Vermilio that he may be seething with darker emotions under the surface. However, the sillier parts are sometimes just so ridiculous that they interfere with taking other parts seriously, and outside of Vermilio and Helck, the cast doesn’t amount to much. This is a series that I really want to like (especially for Vermilio), and it can be fun, but I am still finding it hard to get enthusiastic about it.
Reign of the Seven Spellblades
Episodes So Far: 8
Rating: B
Initially, this one looked like a Harry Potter clone, and even after eight episodes it still has not entirely escaped that impression despite largely eschewing the sense of wonder about magic prevalent in the first few Harry Potter novels/movies. However, the series has started to stake out some fresher territory by showing early on the depths of the scheming going on at the school, and that one of the protagonists was deeply enmeshed in that scheming before even coming to the magic academy. The sense of the story operating at two levels, with the protagonist not just stuck at the bottom level, makes this distinctly more compelling. Nanao being a character who’s plenty easy to like and root for is another plus, as do the generally good technical merits and some slick action scenes. The “reversi” concept used in episode 6 is also an interesting idea, and I did like that a magic school series actually bothered to bring up that certain types of magic might work differently for different sexes or posit that flying brooms are actual living creatures.
Not everything works here, especially how much of a drop-off there is in cast appeal beyond Nanao and (to a lesser extent) Oliver. However, there’s enough promise of a bigger developing picture that I can look forward to this one each week.
Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beast
Got through three episodes on this one before it became a viewing casualty, so I am not current enough on it to comment.
Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence
Only got through one episode on this one, so no coverage here beyond its Preview Guide entry.
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale
Only got through two episodes of the first season before it became a “too full schedule” casualty.
The Misfit at Demon King Academy
Episodes So Far: 2 new ones this season, 8 total
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)
The second season of Misfit was pretty convoluted in its plot and word-building to begin with, and taking two seasons off between the original airing of episode 6 and the airing of episode 7 did not help. I highly recommend at least skimming through the first six episodes before moving on with episodes 7 and 8, as there are all sorts of details spread across previous episodes which need to be held in mind for 7 and 8 to make any sense. The trip back in time is allowing the series to fill in some important swaths of backstory gaps without resorting to info dumping, but it has also reduced the spotlight shining on Anos, whose unshakable confidence and balance of arrogance and caring nature is the main reason to watch this one. Despite being hard to follow at times, the story is doing a reasonably good job of challenging the indomitable Anos while developing further the setting’s unusual take on the nature of Spirits and the complexity of millenia-spanning schemes.
Yohane the Parhelion – Sunshine in the Mirror
Even though I’m not a Love Live! fan, this alternate-setting story still looked mildly interesting. Alas, it was a casualty of a very full viewing roster for the season, so I can only offer Preview Guide coverage of it.
USA Anime 