All of the anime shows that are currently airing this season have reached at least episode 6 by now (save a few late starters), which marks this week as the midway point (roughly) of the season. How do the shows I review on a weekly basis stand?

(Spoilers in this post)

Well, I think the seven shows I’m writing about every week are all currently at different places, so I couldn’t really summarize the entire season thus far with a single sentence. However, I did notice that several shows have had developments occur unexpectedly early, which makes for a nice surprise.

Before I jump into what I think of each show as of now, however, I want to point out that I couldn’t review several shows that I probably should be watching because I never got to watch their first season. Jumping straight to the second season would be doing the franchise a disservice. I’m talking about Show by Rock!! S2; Hibike! Euphonium S2; and Mahou Shoujo Nante Mou Ii Desukara S2 (short anime needs love, too). Rest assured, I will try to binge watch the original series of each and review the ones that aired this season before the end of this year.

The same probably can’t be said about Brave Witches and Vivid Strike. I have several seasons of several series to go through if I want to start from the top (and I do). I’ll get to them in due time.

I dropped the ball when it came to Shuumatsu no Izetta since I didn’t think to start watching the series until several weeks went by yet I didn’t want to write a post talking about several episode all at once. Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars was disappointing when it first aired (and then stopped) in Summer 2016, so I didn’t bother picking it back up when it returned this season. However, I’m actually curious about exactly how bad it is, so that’s on the binge list, too.  As for Keijo!!!!!!!! …a show which relies that much on fanservice isn’t my cup of tea. But I’ll have to force myself to watch it later.

And now, without further ado:

The Shows I’m Watching As Of Week 6

1. Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku

It definitely was a slow starter and initially seemed to be overshadowed by Puella Magi Madoka Magica, which  caused a lot of people to be turned off by episode 3 or so. However, it picking up steam shortly afterwards and now viewers are worrying about their favorite characters every week since they can die at any time.

Every in-story event happens for a reason, which makes for refined storytelling (as well as a lot of backtracking to previous episodes). Viewers who have read the original source material may complain that certain scenes or details have been cut in order to streamline the plot, but the studio has been been mostly faithful (while adding a few original scenes that only help the story). The battles are both bloody and uncensored. Several of the girls are also a bit slow since they have yet to fully realize that there’s an underlying plot, however. I look forward to watching this show the most every week.

2. Shakunetsu no Takkyuu Musume

The animation is subpar and the series has fallen into a two-episode rhythm starting from episode two (as in they use an episode to hype up a match and then deliever said match the following episode). But it isn’t lacking at all in the action, emotion, and funniness departments. The characterization isn’t actually deep, but no one is completely flat, either (as characters! Get your minds out of the gutter!) Probably the most underrated show that I’m currently watching.

3. Flip Flappers

We’re six episodes in and we’re still not getting answers about the big picture. Why is FlipFlap collecting fragments? What do the fragments exactly do? What is Pure Illusion? What do they mean when they say Yayaka and the twins are built differently? However, Studio 3Hz has deliberately choosen to make the show tell a story that heavily relies on imagery, colors, and flashiness. As a result, viewers are left confused yet amazed until they take a closer look. Regardless of your positon in regards to its storytelling (it’s unique vs it’s insubstantial), I think all viewers are waiting to see how Flip Flappers develops with bated breath.

4. Girlish Number

Chitose, our adorable yet cocky heroine, has firmly secured her position as queen of memefaces for this season. Yet she refuses to learn her lesson and hasn’t realized her own shortcomings as of yet, which may irk some viewers. The first season of the anime that’s discussed in the premesis (the one in which she’s a voice actress along with four other female co-workers) already ended by episode 6, which surprised me. I guess Chitose might come to understand her inability before (or even during) the voice recording sessions for the second season of said anime, which is also scheduled to air in-universe after a short break.

It’s an anime you watch if you want to see everything go wrong as the producers and the people with authority seen in this show are almost all terrible people. My only hang-up is the possibility of Chitose never wisening up. She’ll be no better than the oblivious male leads in harem rom-com shows if she keep this up, which would be even more frustrating than how she currently is.

5. Lostorage Incited WIXOSS

It’s a WIXOSS series, so expect the rules of the game to be thrown to the wayside (so new developments can happen in later episodes as needed!) while the show focuses on characterization. That being said, Suzuko hasn’t really done anything besides react or run away whereas her childhood friend, Chinatsu, seems to be trying very hard to treat Suzuko poorly in order to hide her own disgusting feelings. The jury is still out as to why Chinatsu is acting this way, however. Expect to see twisted people (the worst one isn’t even a Selector), desperate people, and suffering.

6. Stella no Mahou

The selling point of this show is the characters of the show – if you like one because you can relate to her (or because you think she’s cute hehehe), you’ll probably stick around. However, I can’t really say it’s done anything special to make it different from any other schoolgirl series. I will admit that I’m curious as to where the show will go from here now that the club finished the titular game, Stella no Mahou, and managed to sell some copies at a convention. More slice-of-life incoming? Are they going to make more games? Stay tuned!

7. Long Riders!

It’s even less noteworthy than Stella no Mahou. Granted, we’re only on episode 4 (episode 5 review should be out sooner but most probably later), but it really feels like most episodes are about biking and food. It’s kind of educational if you wanted to learn a bit about bikes, but is watching an anime what you’re really going to do in order to learn about a new pasttime you’re interested in?

I can’t really find any of the characters to be interesting aside for Hinako, either. Maybe things will pick up once they have enough members to do a five-member long-distance bicycle trip since that’s clearly what the series is going to end up revolving around.

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I guess that’s all for now, folks. What do you think about what I said for these shows? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section!