Sorry that this is late. I wanted to watch every show I could, but I ended up missing out on a few.

(Spoilers in this post) 

This post will aim to briefly describe my feelings about most of the all-girls / yuri shows that aired in 2016 by season. I’ll list the shows that I enjoyed, the shows that I felt were decent, and the shows that were a disappointment (like a gold, silver, and bronze setup, I guess).

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get to every show I wanted to watch. So this list doesn’t include

• Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Crystal Season III
• Brave Witches
• Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 3rei!!
• Idol Memories
• Izetta The Last Witch
• Keijo!!!!!!!!
• Mahou Shoujo Nante Mou Ii Desukara S2
• Pan de Peace
• Show by Rock Shorts
• Show by Rock!!#
• Soushin Shoujo Matoi
• Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge
• ViVid Strike

I’ll try to update accordingly as I work my way through these shows.

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WINTER 2016 ANIME

The Good

Ao no Kanata Four Rhythm

• Cool sci-fi setting where people fly with gravity boots and compete in Flying Circus, a sport that’s serious business
• Minimal amount of hetereosexual romance despite originally being a visual novel with male protagonist (who has been reduced to side character in this adaptation). There is a considerable amount of yuri subtext, but the series ultimately focuses on Flying Circus
• Fanservice isn’t too excessive and rather toned down, but there are a few stand-out moments…
• Animation is beautiful and the matches are fun to watch. The amount of detail that went into explana ions was about right. I would have liked to hear more, though.
• Many characters turning out to be FORGOTTEN CHILDHOOD FRIENDS OF FATE AND DESTINY might be slightly off-putting. I didn’t care for the main character being innately gifted, but aren’t most main characters? I still prefer the kind of main characters who have to work excessively hard to get anywhere, but I’m a fan of the underdog.
• The series review can be found here.

The Meh

Oshiete! Galko-chan

• An innocent gyaru, a teasing otaku, and an airheaded rich girl are friends who talk about body myths and rumors.
• We don’t actually get to learn their real names since they go by nicknames (Galko, Otako, and Ojou). Thankfully they’re not completely flat, but they’re not exactly complex, either. The other characters are hard to get attached to or even like given that they’re not really good people and they get much less screen time.
• Just as you might have expected, the humor and gags mostly revolve around sex. Expect to see weird questions such as, “Is the bushiness of your eyebrows indicative of the thickness of your pubic hair?”
• Minimal amount of yuri, but every guy in this series has a crush on Galko, it seems. Then again, Otako is quick to point out the size of Galko’s assets…
• Bottom line – it’s a “short anime” series where each episode is eight minutes long. A vapid show overall, but worth checking out if perverted jokes are your thing.
• Series review coming soon.

The Trashy

Koukaku No Pandora

• Lesbians in cyborg bodies aim for world peace while thwarting a boring villain’s plans.
• Humor is crude; it’s actually hard to take this series seriously at all. Would have liked a sci-fi yuri show that isn’t a comedy instead. Jokes are hit or miss.
• Animation alternates between being passable and being terrible. If there’s a character on-screen that isn’t a main character, expect to look like a scribble more often than not.
• At least the OP and the ED are catchy!
• The series review can be found here.

Mahou Shoujo Nante Mou Ii Desukara

• A normal middle school girl becomes a magical girl in a world where there are no enemies. However, her magical girl uniform is a swimsuit for some reason.
• Another “short anime” series where each episode is four minutes long. The studio behind this, Pine Jam, is really new to the studio scene, but they won’t become well known if they continue to make shows like this.
• I don’t really see anything enticing about this series besides the fact that the magical girl mascot gets punished regularly for his antics and sexual harrassment. I like to pretend it’s Kyubey or Fav getting burnt or drowned.
• The main character’s best friend definitely has the hots for her. Yay, yuri?
• The series review can be found here.

Nurse Witch Komugi R

• A middle schooler who is a part-time idol in a small country town ends up becoming a magical girl.
• Apparently this series is a remake of an older series that aired in the early 2000s. Said series in turn was a parody spin-off of a more serious series called The SoulTaker where Komugi was a side character. Besides sharing some character names, Nurse Witch Komugi R has no relation with the other two series.
• Animation fluctuated between being decent or low-quality like Koukaku No Pandora.
• How Komugi became a magical girl was kind of lame. She as scared of a cockroach and turned to the seedy and sketchy mascot who offered his assistance as long as she promised to become a magical girl ? Why didn’t she just run away from the cockroach? Come onnnn
• I understand that this is supposed to be a parody of magical girl and idol shows like the original Nurse Witch Komugi, but the jokes weren’t funny to me. Even the possibility of her fellow magical girls wanting to get more intimate with Komugi (it’s the common trend of magical girls these days, after all!) isn’t a good enough incentive for me to endure this show. The ED is relatively catchy, though.
• To be fair, I only watched one episode. A bit hasty of me to draw conclusions after less than half an hour, but still…
• I’m not going to review this series within the near future. If I’m bored, then I might give this series another shot.
  

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SPRING 2016 ANIME

The Good

Sansha Sanyou

• A formerly rich girl, a black-hearted class representive, and a tomboyish glutton are unlikely friends at school (and outside of school)
• Minimal amount of yuri and fanservice (but I still ship the class rep with her nemesis since they have similiar tastes)
• There are, however, some elementary school students who I disliked since they brought in a silly unrequited love-triangle and they eat up screentime with their sideplots. There’s no way the young boy is ever going to win over a highschool girl’s heart, either, so…
• What makes this show stand out is how the funniest character is a male character (the formerly rich girl’s former butler who can’t help but worry about his ex-employer). That’s usually not the case in these sort of shows!
• The ending felt a bit lackluster, but I guess it couldn’t be helped since the series is still ongoing?
• The series review can be found here.

The Meh

Bakuon!!

• Some girls have fun in their school club, which happens to revolve around motorcycles. Yes, this is a cute girls riding motorcycles show.
• Most of the yuri subtext happens between Onsa and Rin as well as Raimu and the high school principal (don’t worry, Raimu is older than she looks, but it’s never really explained why she’s still in the club despite being at least in her mid-thirties…). Oh, and there’s that scene where their teacher goes on a stripping rampage while she’s drunk and upset over losing her boyfriend…
• There’s actually a lot of fanservice and I’m not sure if it looks good or not with the show’s artstyle.
• Ultimately, the show’s strongest point is the humor. I think the jokes were amazing during the first half, but when a new character was formally introduced the timing wasn’t quite as good. Which is a shame since I rather liked the new character.
• I found out after writing my series review that the anime adaption left out some things that were in the original source material. That’s too bad.
• The series review can be found here.

Hai-Furi!

• The spiritual successor to Girls und Panzer – a show about girls riding and operating big ships (with an incredibly large cast of characters, to boot).
• I think the girls were too quirky. I get that they were trying to make it so each girl would stand out, but still… the main character and her vice-captain actually annoyed me, too, so there’s that. Some of the characters can act pretty dumb sometimes, which is why it’s very tempting to like a few characters who can actually act competently.
• I couldn’t really get too emotionally invested in the series, which is a shame since that is what the show is attempting to do.
• The first episode is probably the biggest cliffhanger I’ve seen in a while, but then the cause is revealed to be pretty silly and unrealistic. Some physics are also ignored within the show in order for certain events and scenes to look cool, too.
• Maybe people who really like ships would appreciate this more than I did. I will admit the battles looked pretty cool.
• The series review can be found here.

The Trashy

Anne Happy♪

• Five girls (and their classmates) end up in a special class where their bad luck is to be monitored and cured.
• That being said, the teacher doesn’t seem to be in a rush to help the students overcome their misfortune. She’s content to make them do silly games and activities instead.
• A lot of the gags really depend on how funny it is to be unlucky. But that in itself isn’t really a funny topic and so almost all the gags were not on-point. Even parodies of different shows weren’t going to save Anne Happy♪.
• The decent doses of yuri weren’t enough, either.
• The characters themselves are also very quirky and hard to relate to.
• At least the series was very colorful and the OP is catchy in a weird way, but that’s about it for me.
• Well, Timothy was also a shiny point of the series for me, but it’s not exactly a good thing when I’m turning to the mascot as a selling point, is it? Apparently they gave him extra scenes compared to what he got in the original source material, yet he never really appeared to be superfluous. Good job on that, at least!
• The series review can be found here.

SPRING 2016 ANIME

The Good

Amanchu!

• A shy, reserved girl is a transfer student who joins her new school’s diving club.
• The summary fails to capture just how introspective the series is. It’s a must-watch for anyone who suffers from depression as it’s rather uplifting and very relatable.
• The scenery, both above water and underwater, is very beautiful. As expected of a series that was originally written by Amano Kozue, the woman behind Aria.
• I can’t help but like every character. This is a strange sensation for me since I usually find minor reasons to outright hate one or two characters.
• The yuri subtext between Futaba and Hikari is mostly subtle, but just enough.
• My only point of contention is that the series is slow. I nonetheless enjoyed each and every episode, but I can understand how some people might not be able to sit through this.
• The series review can be found here.

Love Live! Sunshine!!

• SCHOOL IDOLS
• A common criticism is that the series shares too many plotlines with the original Love Live! series. However, I feel that this is fine since the girls acknowledge the similarity and they themselves, towards the end of the series, actively aim to break out from μ’s influence and become their own school idol group.
• These normal high school attempt to “shine” and standout. While this may lead people to think the series is too shiny and idealistic, Aqours actually experiences a lot of setbacks as a whole. Yet the girls kep trying and I’m a sucker for people who are determined to succeed.
• Some characters get a lot more focus than other characters, which results in a few characters seeming relatively flat. That being said, at least there was not as many instances of characters acting like morons compared to the original series (if you take offense to that, then I’m game to throw down)
• I have to say that the soundtrack is amazing. All the insert songs are at least decent (some are fantastic). I don’t think I ever skipped the OP and ED (especially not the ED since different Aqours members sung the ED for each episode).
• The yuri subtext is off the wall here, folks, which is great. There’s a hefty amount of fanservice, too, I must add.
• The series review can be found here.

New Game!

• Cute office girls work at a company where they develop and produce a popular video game.
• While what’s depicted in the show is alledgedly accurate in regards to the Japanese work place and work culture, some of the content has been slightly idealized.
• Some of the characters could be easy to dislike. I personally didn’t have a problem with any of them (another miracle!)
• They actually managed to seamlessly give Hazuki extra scenes (much like Timothy in Anne Happy♪). Which is good since she’s basically the embodiment of the viewers given how she likes cute girls. Hilarity typically ensued when she was on-screen.
• The yuri subtext is abundant here, too! Woo!
• Coming from someone who reads the original source material, I have to say that this adaptation was well-done!
• The series review can be found here.

The Meh

Ange Vierge

• Underdog lesbians fight their brainwashed lesbian senpai.
• Even though they were brainwashed and there were justifications, I still found it silly that the brainwashed senpai filed in one-by-one to get defeated. If they all stormed the crystals at once, then they would have easily won.
• In my review, I called this basically a shounen series since every female character ends up attracted to the main character. Unlike most battle series with harems, however, the main character is a girl. As such, the yuri subtext in Ange Vierge is also staggering in amount.
• The amount of fanservice is also amazing since the girls seem to only soak in hot springs if they’re not fighting. Expect lots of censoring.
• The main character is quite annoying at first, but at least she gets better.
• However, the amount of focus one particular character gets is incredible considering she is basically in a coma. Most of the flashbacks that happen in the show (there’s a lot) feature her!
• The series review can be found here.

Macross Delta

• Pilots and idol groups and hypocrites, oh my! Yet another space drama under the flagship known as MACROSS.
• I’m not really sure I should be including this here (given that it was 2cour and that it wasn’t really yuri), but I’m pretty sure Makina and Reina are more than just close friends.
• The animation (when it’s not reused) is pretty amazing and the soundtrack is great. The insert songs in particular stand out. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about the instrumental songs.
• If you were to take a shot each time you heard the word, “wind,” you’d die of alcohol poisoning. Similarly, it seems like the only way the characters can solve a conflict is through singing. It got on my nerves towards the end of the show.
• The second half of the series, by the way, is plagued by pacing issues and poor scriptwriting. I want to know who wrote some of the spoken lines because I want to tell said person to never write anything ever again because the person clearly is a hack (he or she can sign checks and receipts if need be).
• The love triangle isn’t much of one since the unlucky girl never stood a chance in terms of screentime. What little characterization she was able to receive happened far too late.
• In my opinon: just watch until episode 13. It goes downhill from there.
• My thoughts on this series can be found here.

The Trashy

Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars

• Lolis and their onee-sans become one as mecha and pilots while trying to stop a villain wearing thigh highs.
• Animation during fights is actually good, but otherwise… expect many off-model faces.
• Lots are left unexplained, which is strange considering the tendency to drop loads of exposition.
• The villain’s motive is also pretty pathetic and not really worth causing all of this trouble.
• The yuri exists between Yui and Rena for sure with matching rings and dates despite being sisters. Actually, most girls seem to have a thing for Yui. But if you’re not a Sacred Gear or a handler (aka if you’re not a loli or a loli’s onee-san), the amount of screentime you receive isn’t worth a hill of beans.
• Seriously, don’t bother.
• The series review can be found here.

FALL 2016 ANIME

The Good

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku

• Magical girls fight to the death!
• It’s a simple story with a rather meaningful message buried under all the blood and gore. Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku doesn’t pretend to be something it isn’t. It says it’s a battle royale right in the description of the series. I mean, I guess if you’re the type to pick up a show just by looking at picture next to the title then you’d be surprised…
• That beings said, its simplicty also hurts it. There’s too many characters and they start dropping like flies a few episodes into the series. As a result, we just don’t get to know the characters before their untimely demises so it’s harder to care (I still cried over most of the deaths). Oh. Almost every girl has a bad family life. That might bother some viewers!
• Frequent flashbacks which not only eat up a lot of minutes every episode but also kind of make it obvious who’s going to kick the bucket for the first few episodes.
• However, the show does reward those who pay attention. No false leads here!
• They turned Snow White into an overly innocent and helpless girl. They also kind of dialed down her breakdowns, which is a crucial part of her character development.
• Still, they added some nice anime-original content which really fleshed out some other characters. Just not Snow White.
• Yuri content is definitely there. One canon couple for sure. If you’re a shipper like me, then you can find some lovely pairings (too bad a lot of these magical girls are nuts! Or is that a good thing?)
• The series review can be found here.

Girlish Number

• Chitose, an overconfident and aspiring voice actress, tries to make it big in the industry while failing to realize her own shortcomings.
• The show can be a frustrating one to watch since Chitose seems to never learn from her mistakes, but it’s a rewarding experience should you stick with it.
• I really ended up identifying with Chitose, actually. To me, the show was ultimately a message encouraging the average and untalented folk to try their best even if they are not special. What can I say? I’m a fan of the underdog.
• A few moments of subpar animation pop up but it’s usually decent. I also found the frequent blurring at the edges of the screen to be distracting, but I guess it kind of captures how a camera would view scenes?
• It was ultimately more idealistic than I thought, but I still loved it.
• Yuri subtext is there but nothing official. I still hold some ships close and dear to my heart, though.
• The series review can be found here.

Shakunetsu no Takkyuu Musume

• Middle school girls play ping pong.
• The pacing is slow, the animation is subpar, and the characters are relatively flat excluding a quirk or two.
• That being said, I was still excited to see every episode. They made ping pong exciting! And none of the players’ abilities were too unrealistic!
• In my opinion, this show had the funkiest instrumental OST out of all of the 2016 anime. Techno beats during ping pong rallies? Wow! The OP and the ED is catchy, too.
• The fanservice is a bit excessive. Lots of boing boing for middle school girls… same with the amount of sweaty girls.
• The series review can be found here.

The Meh

Hibike! Euphonium S2

• The second season of high schooler brass band players with issues!
• I don’t think this season quite lived up to season one, but it was still good character drama.
• I think it comes down to whether or not you like Asuka since she kind of dominated the show with her problems. I, for one, didn’t like her so her arc was not fun for me.
• A lot of characters are also introduced in this season. Typical of second seasons, I know, but it proved to be a bit distracting.
• There’s also the matter of Reina pursuing her one-sided love for Taki-sensei. Some viewers will not enjoy this kind of potential relationship whatsoever!
• We didn’t get to see their nationals performance. What a bummer.
• The animation is beautiful. The OP and ED aren’t bad, but not quite as good as S1’s.
• Lastly, this is still yuri bait. But only if you focus on Reina x Kumiko. There’s plenty of other good ships!
• The series review can be found here.

Stella no Mahou

• High school girls make their own original video games!
• While the premisis makes the show sound similiar to New Game!, it really isn’t.
• The SNS Club pumped out two video games whereas most anime about making video games is about making a single video game. The pacing is quite fast in Stella no Mahou! That being said, the quick pace means a lot of small timeskips.
• The animation was pretty consistent. While I didn’t care much for the ED, the OP and the insert song was great!
• The series review can be found here.

Lostorage Incited WIXOSS

• Card games are serious business. The main chaacter finds out about this truth as she tries to patch things up with her estranged childood friend.
• This is a sequel to Selector Infected WIXOSS and Selector Spread WIXOSS, so I recommend watching those two series before tackling this one.
• At any rate, you watch this show to see many characters fall into despair. Expect all of them to fall prey to taunts, too, as if self-restraint was a foreign concept in this setting.
• Unlike in the original series, there’s no way of escaping the Selector battles unless you want to risk disappearing.
• As expected of a WIXOSS series, the rules are never properly explained. As such, we can’t really get too emotionally invested in Selector battles since we don’t know what’s going on!
• The animation is average-to-passable for the most part, but we get some very ugly off-model faces at times.
• The yuri subtext between Suzuko and Chinatsu is nothing to scoff at. The music as a whole, however, kind of is.
• I can’t believe this is getting a second season since most of the loose ends were already tied up.
• The series review can be found here.

The Trashy

Flip Flappers

• Cocona and Papika travel to strange worlds (known as Pure Illusion) to pick up fragments.
• The animation is fantastic – until the last two episodes. Then the quality drops by quite a bit. Still, the art is very beautiful from fight scenes to backgrounds while it lasts.
• Not only that, but the direction of the series also changes towards the end. Studio 3Hz was content to tease us with minimal amounts of information for most of the season. And then the exposition and flashbacks come in force and we’re left with a very bare narrative. And then it makes sense why a lot of things weren’t explained for so many episodes suddenly.
• That being said, the visuals are laden with a lot of symbolism and references to mythology and psychology. This only means conversations about the show is more rich than the show itself, however.
• If a character isn’t Cocona, Papika, or Yayaka, then the character will not receive much screentime at all. As a result, some characters just end up feeling pointless (I’m looking at you, NYULESSNESS).
• Yuri subtext is not subtle. Yes.
• The series review can be found here.

Long Riders!

• College girls ride bicycles.
• While some of the faces may look off-model, the bikes all look fantastic. What a great use of CG!
• The pacing of the story is quite slow.
• The same gags are used over and over, but hey. If it’s not broken, then don’t fix it.
• Yuri subtext isn’t just subtext!
• Overall the show doesn’t really have anything to offer compared to other cute girls series. Maybe things are different if you’re a bicycle buff.
• I can’t actually review the series since the last two episodes are going to blu-ray directly. That’s what happens when the show has two weekly delays and thus can’t finish in Fall 2016.