Welcome to Mono's Anime Rants! thanks for stopping by. This blog series contains episode reviews for several different anime series that aired in 2022. The series will most likely be at least 26 weeks, and will continue to spill into 2023. A few of the shorter series I chose only had 12 or 13 episodes, and I have finished covering them. (Sasaki and Miyano, The Devil is a Part-timer, and Tokyo 24th Ward.) I've filled some of those slots with two currently airing anime series: Mob Psycho 100 (season 3) and Chainsaw Man. Please enjoy my responses to the episodes as I try to catch up and stay current with 2022 anime.
Note: Since I fell behind on my blog for a month, I will be publishing weeks #14 and #15 within a day or two of each other to catch up to where I was before.
Shadows House: Season 2 Episode 1
The start of the new season, while not extremely exciting, was certainly satisfactory. I enjoyed hearing so many of Kate's thoughts and watching her calculate and consider options in a high-stress situation under constant surveillance. It's good to see all these characters again. The new theme song didn't immediately appeal to me, despite it being performed by ReoNa, a personal favorite singer of mine. Maybe the song will grow on me, though. The ending was pretty intense. I feel bad for Barbara going through so much pain. I hope Kate and the others don't have to do anything like that.
Spy X Family: Episode 14
(2nd Cour episode 2)
It was another unusually exciting episode of Spy X Family. There were several good action sequences and some serious suspense. I love the dog and his future-predicting capabilities. I was also very impressed with Anya finding a way to change the future without revealing her psychic powers.
While watching this episode, with its ferocious antagonist Keith, I thought about how scary indoctrination can be. Keith was probably indoctrinated into hatefulness, nationalism, and extremism. He's still just a college student, after all. It's also possible that he wasn't fiercely indoctrinated, but freely chose the path that led him to terrorism. Either way, nationalism and blind, worshipful loyalty are terrifying. It's interesting that such a cute and wholesome show as Spy X Family got its viewers thinking about such serious and relevant topics.
Summertime Render: Episode 14
This episode explored the friendship between Haine and Hizuru, ending in the tragic death of Ryunosuke. The episode also provided a weird fantasy explanation for the presence of Ryunosuke within Hizuru. I was honestly a little disappointed by that. Now, they made it so that Hizuru canonically does not have DID. I was hoping for a character who did have it. However, fantasy aside, it's still true that the creators of this anime coded a character as neurodivergent and wrote her as if she had DID. So that's good enough for me.
In the second half of the episode, the next loop began. It was going well, with Shinpei gathering his friends and allies to help him fight the shadows. Unfortunately, Shide and Haine shot him before he could start his plans. The next loop was activated. I'm very worried about how Shinpei will succeed when the enemy is basically spawn killing him every time. There's nothing to do but keep watching!
Hoshi no Samidare (Lucifer and The Biscuit Hammer): Episode 14
I'm tired of writing this, but Hoshi no Samidare isn't a good series. I don't hate this anime-- in fact I like several aspects of it-- but it's so terribly executed. It did a bad job developing the character of Tarou before his death. So when everyone is grieving for him, I couldn't feel even a hint of genuine emotion. The show is all-around bad with developing the characters in a way that isn't extremely clumsy.
Hanako has an interesting personality, but the writing and series planning can't really do it justice. I was able to empathize with Hanako and feel proud and inspired when she declared herself a warrior, but that's only because I am so empathetic I could project feelings onto a pencil. It wasn't due to good character writing. On a final note, the visuals sucked as usual. The flashback scenes with Tarou and Hanako looked like crap.
Mob Psycho 100: Season 3 Episode 7
This episode was good for developing side characters we already know (such as Tome Kurata) as well as introducing a cool new character (Takenaka from the tennis club). It was interesting to hear about Takenaka's experiences and problems related to his powers. I love characters who fall into this particular telepathist trope of not being able to tune out the noise of others' thoughts. As for Tome, I know she's usually pretty grumpy and bossy, but I still like her. I hope she gets to make some fun memories in the next episode. It's nice of Mob to help out, and Reigen too.
Chainsaw Man: Episode 2
Lately, I've been having even more trouble than usual with my attention span. I usually pause an anime episode about 3 times and work on something else for a few minutes before returning and continuing to watch. It's hard for me to pay attention, even when I truly enjoy something. But I noticed with episode 2 of Chainsaw Man that I only stopped and took a short break once. That means there's something about this anime that's riveting to me. It might be the visuals, since they are gorgeous. It might be that I'm already interested and invested in the characters. Maybe both.
Speaking of characters, I absolutely love Power. I like her as much as Makima, but in a different way. Also, Hayakawa is a cool and admirable person I want to see more of. Makima is fascinating and mysterious, still probably my favorite of the bunch.
About Denji, he's funny and honest, but I'm a little worried that the series will go overboard and make him into some kind of pervert. Right now, he's just a horny teenager. His antics and sexual thoughts are completely normal and understandable, if a little cringe. I just hope it stays at that level and they don't write him into sexually assaulting or harassing someone (and then playing it off as comical). I've seen this happen in way, way too many anime series. For now, I'll just have to hope that Denji continues respecting others' autonomy. As long as he does, then I don't mind him being a horndog.
Thanks for reading~