Anime

[Meteo Xavier]

I have had an incredibly fucked up day that left my jaw hanging open at several occasions and emotionally worn out. Due to my autism and medication regiment, I have to "trick" myself with a distraction in order to dissuade its negative effects, so I'm going to use up some of that energy recommending anime I've been binge watching on Crunchyroll during marathon 10+ hour work days:

AHO-GIRL: This is a very short, screwball comedy series that crams like 3-6 short episodes of content into one. Lots of slapstick violence, particularly notable with a female lead, and some other dark implications of backstory, but is still pretty hilarious and never becomes really dark itself. I identify with the AHO-GIRL main character a lot more than is healthy.

Akagi: I didn't really enjoy this anime too much and unlikely to revisit it, but it's noteworthy for being, without question, THE most epic two games of Mahjong ever committed to fiction. Seriously.

Beyblade (All of it): I didn't catch this show when it was new, but holy ***damn mother****er in hell, this show is a real trip when you really think about it. This is a world where people literally solve each and every conflict with battle tops. I'm not kidding. There are no guns, no real martial arts to speak of, every person, security guard, soldier and dojo all have battle tops as the only weapon that exists in this world. They go to impossible lengths to achieve parts and win battle top tournaments. They walk the dessert and brave the jungles like some Kenshiro/Rocky Balboa mother****er to harden themselves for battle top battling. Also, only one ****ing character has any parents at all. These children literally wander the world with no family, no home or house to go to for battle tops and that is never explained. All that said, on its own merits, it's actually pretty ballsy, creative and riveting.

Black Butler: Book of Circus: If you don't know Black Butler, you're in the wrong topic. This was an incredible season arc that really left me guessing and awestruck to the end, but be warned, it's easily also the darkest Black Butler committed to video. Also, apparently Yasunori Mitsuda scored the BGM here? You'd never know just by listening to it. The man's got range.

Bungo Stray Dogs: Yet another high-concept convoluted story with ridiculous supernatural powers that have very specific strengths and weaknesses and themed after authors or something. I couldn't tell you much about what's going on here, but it had some riveting action and great music to go with it. I want to watch more of it.

Champion Joe: A much older anime and one that is (slightly) more realistic in its drama about some punk kid who accidentally killed his friend in a boxing match and goes to near-fatal lengths to continue his rise in the world boxing circuit. It feels a little bit like what a much less offensive and really seriously done anime version of PUNCH-OUT might be like.

Chi's Sweet Home: Pure ***damn saccharine and so lighthearted it's blinding, but it's also a collection of super-short episodes that nonetheless grow on you and get better after time. I thought this family was a little too ridiculous in their devotion to this kitten at first, having been converted into a cat guy has made me realize it's much closer to reality than it initially seems.

ClassicaLoid: A bunch of anime versions of classical music composers all share a house and have nutty adventures in another high-concept fantasy anime that meets a screwball comedy anime. Bonus points for genuinely being hilarious. having INCREDIBLE music and having said music done by FFX composer Masashi Hamauzu.

Cromartie High School: WTF is this show. The most surreal high school anime I've ever seen. That really says something.

Danganrompa: Never knew much about this series until I saw it. It's extremely high concept and mystery-solving but also extremely dark, tragic and hard to watch. Do not watch this depressed. Noteworthy for the antagonist being one of the more interested and genuinely different I've seen in a while.

DD Fist of the North Star: A ridiculous screwball parody of the original Fist of the North Star. Season 1 takes place with a convenience store. Season 2 takes place with a private acaedmy. Hilarity ensues. Definitely worth viewing.

Durararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararara: 60+ episodes of an anime that has like 17 storylines all going on and randomly switching between each other. Storylines include a sexy Dullahan, a cursed sword that can access the internet, a man who uses street signs for chopsticks, toilet paper and baseball, the only Black Russian man that has ever existed, gang wars, the mafia and a bunch of other crap. I almost couldn't handle this one, it was too much all at once.

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia: Not sure what it was about this anime, but the ghostly atmosphere and isolated, low-level conflict but still interesting story made me a fan pretty quick. A good watch for something when you've had too much action anime lately.

Elegant Yokai Apartments: Another arc-driven anime with a high concept fantasy atmosphere injected into modern society, starting to see a pattern here? This is nonetheless an easy watch. It has some serious storyline moments and drama, but moreover pretty lighthearted compared to others like this.

Eromanga Sensei: EVERY CHILD IN JAPAN IS SECRETLY A SAVANT LIGHT NOVEL AUTHOR OR ARTIST WHO GETS MILLIONS OF SALES LOLWUT

Evil or Live: Not a lot of people seem to like this one and is actually based on a Chinese manhua, but despite having some really hard to watch moments (it's a reform school/prison anime), it captured my attention and surprised me quite a bit. Kinda like Prison School except fewer boobs and DEFINITELY not comedy material.

LILY C.A.T.: An old anime movie and a very blatant cross between ALIEN and THE THING. Worth a watch because it's still pretty decent, but definitely not for the faint of heart.

Shiki: Another anime that is blatantly a ripoff of a better known horror story. This time it's basically "Salem's Lot" the anime, at least at first. It grows out of that after a while and gets more and more interesting as well as darker too. Wife and I enjoyed it. Soundtrack is worth having too.