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The Anime I Watched in 2022

I really got into watching anime this year! Previously, I had been content to just use Funimation and Crunchyroll's free tiers and just wait a week for new episodes. But with the merger, and Crunchyroll's declaration that new shows would no longer be available at all to free users, I grit my teeth and got a premium subscription. (Hot tip, Crunchyroll - PROFILES. For the love of God, add separate profiles to an account. I share with my brother in law because he shares lots of streamers with us and it's the least we can do, but our tastes in anime are VERY different - he loves boxing/fighting/sports anime and I'm all like iyashikei/girls doin' stuff/idol anime lol.

ANYWAY. I have made great use of this paid account this year. According to my Anime Planet account, I watched 14 shows this year (ok actually 13 because it counts both cours/seasons of Spy x Family as separate shows) and I am going to reflect on each of them below.

Winter 2022

My Dress-Up Darling: Oh, this definitely belongs in the small group of shows I watched that fumbled the bag, that messed up their interesting concept somehow. In the case of Dress-Up, it's...you know. The fanservice. The blatant and inescapable male gaze on these characters, who are all minors. When they introduced the sisters, one of whom is very tall and large-chested and the other of whom is very short and small-chested, I almost tapped out then because I knew it just wasn't going to go well. And I was right! It didn't!

Here! Here's a great video by The Anime Tea that talks about this issue. It got age restricted a while ago, which should tell you everything you need to know about this show - even just criticism of it that shows clips from it is enough to make Youtube go "whoa, this is only for adults."

They almost tried to handle the idea of teenage sexuality well (I recall a scene of Marin on the train reflecting on Gojo's grandpa assuming they were going to have sex and she's like "Would it be so awful if we did?" Like, no, dear, it wouldn't! Not if you both know what you want, talk about it, consent, stay safe, all that good stuff) and then they did that love hotel episode instead. ROBLOX OOF DOT MP3 10 HOURS BASS BOOSTED

Also, I just kinda didn't like how it talked about cosplay. It's like hey you can do cosplay! Yeah! But only if you modify your body to look exactly like the character! Shave your eyebrows! Bind your chest! DO BLACKFACE oh god I had forgotten about the blackface I'm going to just go outside and yell for a minute

so uhhh yeahhhh that wasn't great

the ending song is fun tho

Spring 2022

This was when I got the paid subscription lol

Aharen-san wa Hakarenai: This is hands down my favorite anime of the year. The characters are just so silly and goofy and charming and relatable. I kinda wish they had localized the name of the show so it could be a bit easier to recommend, but once I learned that hakarenai literally means indecipherable, I see that was probably a creative decision BY the localizer(s) - gosh if only they weren't rendered anonymous by NDAs/a lack of crediting, I think it would be cool to follow them on social media and see if they did a like "behind the anime" where they talk about that - and I appreciate that.

There were a couple of random and unnecessary segments with dieting and weight gain/loss discussion that could have been left on the cutting room floor, but that's literally the only bad thing I can think of. (Okay, Momo-chan-sensei was kind of A Bit Much, lol.) There's even a lovely moment with Aharen's little brother wearing her clothes and worrying about if she might be angered by it, but she reassures him and welcomes it.

My husband started watching this with me because we do physically resemble Aharen and Raidou in that I am a foot shorter than him...and he loved it! Especially when the teacher takes everyone camping and just casually drifts the hell out of her Honda minivan, smiling while all the students scream in fear. The camping episodes were very sweet. It all worked out well in the end. I started playing claw games at Round1 because of this show. I'm actually kind of good at them - I won six plushies one time.

If nothing else, please just watch this one credits scene to get an idea of the vibe.

Spy x Family (also in Fall 2022): I mean, what's to say that hasn't already been said? It's great! I recall the first couple of episodes felt a bit off to me, tone-wise - like alternately too rushed and too slow? idk - but then it found its stride. I love Yor. I love Anya. I love the Cold War Germany setting. My husband likes to watch this show with me now, to the point that I'm still sitting on last week's episode so we can watch together. I've heard the German dub is really good but haven't checked it out yet.

Deaimon: A very pretty looking show that focuses on an ugly topic - trauma - with abandoned child finding and bonding with a new family while still pining for her old one. I learned a lot about wagashi from this show and I like how it didn't end with everything all tied up in a pretty little bow. That feels more realistic. Much as we may have wanted Itsuka to have a teary reunion with her dad and for everything to happily fade to black, that's not what real life is like.

Also I literally only just learned that Maaya Sakamoto did the opening theme?! How did I not notice that lol I was truly just going to the show's Anime News Network page to refresh my memory about how the season ended. Wow, a theme song by one of the GOATs of anison!

Healer Girl: A magical girl show that isn't grimdark!!! In fact, it's wholesome and uplifting! The idea of a world where singing can heal people, and is used alongside Western or Eastern medicine for patient care, just hooked me in from episode 1. I'm not a big musical person, but if you are, I think you will especially appreciate the times when, like, the girls all sing instead of just having a spoken conversation. The songs are very pretty. I love how it came full circle with Kana both being healed and doing healing on a plane. Just the perfect encapsulation of like, hey, you studied hard, you got licensed, you can do this thing now, and you do it, and you feel like you're on top of the world.

I definitely recommend this one too.

Heroines Run the Show: Oh look! Another show that fumbled the bag!! The concept sounded very fun, I liked the character of Hiyori so much, the two idol guys she worked with were annoying but in an "ugh will you two just kiss already" kind of way...and then they were like hey! What if we have a character so devoted and delusional that she blackmails her friend, and literally physically hurts her, because she is proximate to her faves? And what if we made the narrative decision that she was in the RIGHT to have done so? And what if all of that stuff is easily forgiven, wrapped up in a pretty little bow, like 1.5 episodes later? THAT was when I was like okay this sucks!

Love Live Nijigasaki Season 2: Niji is my absolute favorite iteration of Love Live, so of COURSE I was going to love this, and I very certainly did. I wish they could've given us a R3BIRTH song in the finale - instead we just got a pose that implies they have already formed and started performing but just offstage - but that's minor. I am glad they didn't just adapt the game's storyline exactly. Shioriko was definitely kind of a heel in the game lol.

The opening vibes feel perfect for this time of year, so hey why not just share it here!

Gosh, if only this could get a season 3 as well! (Sigh...more on that later.) But we will be getting a movie/OVA and a 4-koma style show next year, so I'll still be eatin' good. Oh, I just realized - could these two pieces of media feature a different voice actor for Setsuna? I was very sorry to hear that Tomori needed to step down, but I understand it fully and, if these shows will indeed feature someone new, I look forward to hearing her give life to Setsuna too.

Summer 2022

Love Live Superstar Season 2: This fumbled the bag for me as well. Something just felt super off about the pacing the whole time and the songs didn't really hit for me (except the ending song, which was nice and the animation for it was lovely). Either we were spending way too much damn time on training sequences or we were watching Sumire and Keke bicker. Meanwhile all Wien did was come in and say Kanon's name every so often, except at the very end when she's the one who hits us with the swerve about the canceled study abroad. (Nijigasaki handled/is going to handle the idea of a character doing study abroad so much better lol) Congrats on the unprecedented third season I guess (Sunshine would've been a much better candidate to get a third season that focuses on the six remaining members of Aqours as they navigate their new school, their new reality without the third years, etc - no the Yohane isekai fantasy show thingy coming out next year does not count as a third season, though I AM interested in it), maybe use that next block of episodes to try to flesh out these characters. Please give Kinako some flowers!

That was literally all I watched this season lol.

Fall 2022

Fall heard that summer was a blah season and was like CHECK THIS OUT and check it out I did

Bocchi the Rock: Love this show. So does everyone else, because it is GREAT! Yes, I relate to Bocchi very much, so that may have something to do with my enjoyment of it lol. But I also love seeing exactly what kind of unusual form of artistic expression the animators are going to use this week. From paper puppets to zoetropes, claymation to Evangelion-style regression, they were unafraid to try even the weirdest and most offbeat stuff - and it hit the mark every time.

Doesn't hurt that the music genuinely slaps, too. Even as an idol anime fan, I do like that this was more realistic - ticket quotas, song writers' block, indifferent audiences, the specter of alcohol abuse. It's also great to see how so many talented artists have drawn Kessoku Band in the style of famous real-life album covers.

It would be great to see these characters again in a season 2.

Gundam The Witch from Mercury: Congrats to G-Witch for bringing me back into the Gundam fold for the first time since Wing was on American TV in the late 90s/early 00s! Another universally loved show that has absolutely earned its adoration. I feel like episode 12 will just be the start of things, not the end, especially since Gundam shows usually get runs of about 50 episodes or so.

G-Witch gets a special award for not being super fatphobic too! There are multiple characters who have larger bodies and one of them is even a girl who is very popular with boys (Lilique, my sweet little cupcake. I hope to God nothing bad happens to you), which definitely is not the role usually inhabited by the fat girl. There is one scene where a guy makes a crack about another guy not being able to fit his belly into a pilot suit, but the guy literally floats down and shuts that shit down right away. The show also gets another special award for drawing Black characters in a way that does not feel uncomfortable (at least to me, and granted I am a white woman so I can only speak for my personal feelings, but still).

And the opening and ending songs are both bops too lol

I'm the Villainess So I'm Taming the Final Boss: This one kiiiinda fumbled the bag a bit what with its "what is the opposite of sakuga because that's what's going on here" animation style and its pedal-to-the-metal speedrun of the material. Plus I didn't super like the contrived memory loss plotline of the third segment. But I adore Aileen and Claude so much that I can't just say this one totally fumbled the bag. I DID buy the first 3 light novels and the first manga volume this year - now I need to dig in because from literally all accounts, everyone says those are much better.

Do It Yourself!!: Hey, it's the girls doin' stuff genre! A favorite of mine! Especially when it's also a hobby show - I was reminded of Let's Make a Mug Too, which I also enjoyed a lot. I did not super like that Purin is practically the definition of tsundere for 11.5 episodes (I was literally just yelling OH MY GOD JUST BE HONEST IT WON'T KILL YOU at my TV a few times...I don't like the concept of tsundere much lol) and they should have cast a voice actor for Jobko who was more fluent in English because frankly it was hard to comprehend her sometimes (I know Sally Amaki and Shu Uchida can't work every role, but surely they can't be the only working seiyuu with English fluency), but those were my only two issues and those are pretty minor really.

I especially liked how the club advisor got all the club alumni to pitch in and help build the treehouse when the materials were accidentally discarded - helping through the generations! While a second season would be nice here (I totally feel like the two girls who asked to tour the treehouse would've joined up, thus allowing the club to be at 5 members who actually go to Gatagata and 2 who don't), I don't think it's super necessary because the story wrapped up well.

The Little Lies We All Tell: If this had just aired in the weak summer season instead of the strong fall one, I think it would've caught on more. It's so goofy and funny (I laughed out loud at the Evangelion references) AND it managed to not do anything really gross with the concept of "This is Tsubasa, who is actually a boy pretending to be a girl because his identical twin sister wants to go to a boys' school to be near her favorite idols". Heck, there was even an episode where, due to alien magic, Tsubasa DOES temporarily lose uhh a certain body part and is like "hey this is pretty good actually, I was freaked out at first but now I'm alright".

The only "ugh, don't love this" thing was how Sekine using her psychic powers to their fullest potential temporarily gives her a large belly and she tries to avoid this at all costs. Damn, fatphobia really is literally everywhere, isn't it?

Also Chiemi Tanaka deserves the "she has the range" award for this show. Rikka usually has a very high-pitched cute girl voice, but her inner monologue often uses a deeper and more serious voice, and she effortlessly switches between the two at the drop of a hat. Look at Rina Tennoji's voice actor crushing it!

But overall, this is just a goofy little show that's kind of in the same vein as Azumanga Daioh, Nichijou, things like that, and I hate that it got overshadowed by literally everything else lol.

Woo! What a great year of anime - looking forward to 2023!

#my dress up darling #spy x family #aharen san wa hakarenai #deaimon #healer girl #heroines run the show #love live nijigasaki #love live superstar #bocchi the rock! #i'm the villainess so i'm taming the final boss #do it yourself!! #the little lies we all tell #gundam the witch from mercury