How many does it make for this year? How many for this month ALONE? Every time you turn around, there is another isekai, staring at you from the shadows or behind a tree or underneath the floorboards. Much like the cooking shows craze of a couple of years ago, this is one genre that just does not seem to be able to run out of steam and it can get quite tiring. How much more can you do with this, without it looking like a retread or a rip-off of some other isekai, which was already a retread or a rip off of another isekai? You have to bring something new and/or different to the table, OK. Well, perhaps that has happened with the entry of “Skeleton Knight in Another World” (“Gaikotsu Kishi-sama, Tadaima Isekai e Odekake-chū”). (more…)

We have always viewed dragons as proud and dangerous creatures. They breathe fire. They crush people underfoot. They lay waste to those around them. They hoard gold. They can fly. I mean, THEY CAN FLY!!! You do not want to mess with them. Even the bravest of the brave have second thoughts when they have to go up against dragons, even if it is a ‘little’ dragon. (Hahahaha! You said ‘little’ like it makes a difference! Hahahahahaha!). Well, what if the dragon was as big of a doofus as the rest of us? What if instead of soaring through the skies, blotting out the sun and inspiring fear and trembling, they are just as hapless as mere mortals? Thus is the idea behind “Dragon Goes House-Hunting” (“Dragon, Ie o Kau” or ”Dragon, Buy a House”.) (more…)

So, what have we here? Really? Another isekai? Really? How many is that just this month? Really? And it’s the first of the month as well! And since this one is really similar to another one just like it, it gets hard to separate them. This particular one is (at least I think it is. I have to write better notes) is “Black Summoner” (“Kuro no Shōkanshi”). (more…)

Romantic comedy covers a huge amount of territory, but it usually is the same thought process: a guy really, really likes a girl, but doesn’t know how to say it or express it or convey it without looking like a fool doing so and, thus, tarnishing his image in her eyes (OK, I will be speaking from a guy-to-gal approach; I know it can happen in the opposite direction as well). Meanwhile, the object of their affection is (usually) well aware of their feelings, but they do not want to make it easy for them and saying it for them. YOU have to convey it, OK, as it commits you to the relationship. But what if death is part of the equation? That brings us to “The Duke of Death and His Maid” (“Shinigami Botchan to Kuro Meido”).

(more…)

At least this anime lets you know that it is taking place in another world, although about 20 seconds into the first episode, you would have been made well aware of this. It starts out telling the story, and then jumps into a massive flashback, so you learn how we came to be here in “Isekai Cheat Magician” (“Isekai Chīto Majutsushi”, “Fantasy World Cheat Magician”). (more…)

Are dragons back in vogue again? Were they ever out of vogue? Or even in “Vogue”? It’s just that I am seeing an uptick in dragon shows, or perhaps I am catching the end results of the wave. This was a show I caught on Netflix (I was able to upgrade my cable service; still no Anime Network, though. Nor hover boards) and I had a gap in the schedule, so there you go, and that is how I ended up watching “Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan” (“Hisone to Masotan”). (more…)

OK, we have been busily killing goblins, now it is time to take on demons. But these demons are of a harder, more pernicious nature and even the best of your skills may still come up short. I mean, you have morality; they have sharp claws. See where that gets you. But this is the driving force behind Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (“Kimetsu no Yaiba”, or “Demon-Slaying Blade”). (more…)

I knew this series was going to cause trouble, but I didn’t realize how controversial it would become, especially in the depiction of all the violence that befalls practically everyone in this series. Also, the caliber of it as well was unsettling to many, so it was just a large plate for all. This is “Goblin Slayer” (“Goburin Sureiyā”). (more…)

Yeah, this is a magical boy show. There are probably a lot of them out there, but this is more aligned with Harry Potter than Sailor Moon. And if we are doing the crossover, it would be a merging of Harry Potter and Perry Mason (OK, potentially closer to Judge Dredd, but without the Stallone Snarl and someone barking out “I AM the law!”) We are at “Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation” (“Muhyo to Rōjī no Mahōritsu Sōdan Jimusho”, also known as “Muhyo & Roji”). (more…)

This is another show that had a bad capsule description and that description made it a bit of a coin flip to want to watch. And since it was ANOTHER isekai, that made it doubly undesirable to want to catch. But it was a show that I could catch (I am having serious problems trying to track down my anime without getting the Red Box of Death), so, I did so. And we get to watch ”Ascendance of a Bookworm” (“Honzuki no Gekokujō: Shisho ni Naru Tame niwa Shudan o Erandeiraremasen” or “ Lover of Books: I Can’t Choose the Means to Become a Librarian”). (more…)