New anime I'm watching Winter 2023
Here's a few new anime, and other Asian shows, I've started watching this cour (quarter).
The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten
a.k.a. Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsunomanika Dame Ningen ni Sareteita Ken or お隣の天使様にいつの間にか駄目人間にされていた件
This is a cute show about two high schoolers who live on their own, next door to each other. Anime sure likes to show teenagers living on their own.
One of the characters is a guy who can barely take care of himself. His apartment is a mess and he eats a lot of junk food. But one day he shows some kindness to the other character.
She's a really popular girl at school. She gets really high grades and everyone wants to be her friend.
When he sees her sitting outside in the rain one day, he lends his umbrella, and walks off into the rain. When she goes to return it, she finds he's caught a cold, and nurses him back to health. Thus begins their strange relationship where she mothers him and teaches him to be more self-sufficient.
It's an amusing story and the characters are very likable.
Buddy Daddies
If you've seen the 80s sitcom "My Two Dads", the premise is similar. You've got two guys, good friends who are also roommates. Until one day one of them adopts a child. The other is unwittingly dragged into helping raise this new child.
The difference here is that "Daddy" is a spy and "Uncle" is an assassin. They work together on jobs where the spy does the covert ops while the assassin kills anybody who gets in the way.
Suddenly having a preschooler get in the way is challenging their work life.
This is a fun, cute, family show that also happens to have a lot of blood and violence. I'm enjoying it so far.
Giant Beats of Ars
a.k.a. Ars no Kyojuu or アルスの巨獣
I'm not sure how to describe this one, so I'll just quote the anidb synopsis:
The great beasts created the land, but humans stole it. Angered, the beasts began eating humans, who in turn called upon the gods to fight the beasts. In the age of the sword, heroes and mythology, giant beasts are hunted by humans for profit. Jiiro, who makes his living hunting beasts, encounters Kuumi, who is being chased by someone, and in that moment decides to save her. As rumors spread regarding humanity and a mysterious experiment, together they seek to discover the world's secrets.
To be honest, I fell asleep watching the first episode, so I was a bit confused while watching the second. It's entertaining enough, but I'm not certain I'll watch the whole season yet. I'll give it one more episode to decide.
Spy Classroom
a.k.a. Spy Kyoushitsu or スパイ教室
Another fun spy show. This one is about the "World's Greatest Spy" who is responsible for taking a handful of new spies, who were at the very bottom of their classes at spy academy, and training them to take on an impossible mission: one that got his mentor killed.
The Fire Hunter
a.k.a. Hikari no Ou or 火狩りの王
This is the newest one on the list, so I've only seen one episode so far. It's set in a world where fire beasts roam the forests. A young girl who lives in a small village in the forest, is saved from a fire beast attack by a fire hunter. He dies in the attack, and now his dog will only listen to her. She now has to travel alone to the capital to return the dog and his weapon to the hunter's family.
It's pretty interesting so far, particularly the visuals. Some of it seems nearly Ghibli-esque. The village appears to be at a feudal era level of technology, while the capital seems to be early industrial era.
I'll continue watching it, at least for the look of it.
Technoroid: Overmind
a.k.a. テクノロイド OVERMIND
This one is strange. It takes place in a future where androids are common, and some are indistinguishable from humans. Much of the world is flooded, presumably due to global warming. It follows four androids who are down on their luck and enter a singing competition to earn money to pay bills.
The Idol type competition takes place in a giant tower, built to the heavens, called Babel. I said it was weird, right?
The story is not that interesting, but the music is pretty decent.
The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague
a.k.a. Koori Zokusei Danshi to Cool na Douryou Joshi or 氷属性男子とクールな同僚女子
A workplace comedy in which the main characters are a main who is descended from an ice spirit and a woman who is very emotionally cool. The main unintentionally makes snow or ice when he gets emotional.
For example, if he's nervous about a new thing, his feet and lower legs become encased in ice (get it? cold feet). A snowstorm will pick up (even inside) if he's excited or scared.
The woman befriends him and tries to find ways to help him compensate for his powers and be more emotionally cool.
It's cute. It's a little like Angel that I've already discussed in that you've got a woman helping a clueless guy be less clueless.
It's not a great show, but good enough.
Kaina of the Great Snow Sea
a.k.a. Ooyuki Umi no Kaina or 大雪海のカイナ
This is another one that's a bit difficult to describe, so I'll let anidb handle it.
A world blanketed in an endless and ever-growing ocean of snow. The people eke out a living, either huddled around the roots of enormous trees dotting the surface, or high in the canopy, which spreads over the planet's atmosphere. A chance meeting between Kaina, a youth from the canopy, and Liliha, a young woman from the surface, sets off a chain of events that will change the fate of the world.
Since the story is a bit complicated, it's also a bit hard to follow. Kaina is the last young person in a dying village on the canopy. He takes care of his elders by hunting giant bugs. Liliha is some kind of princess that floated up to the canopy from the surface in some kind of balloon.
It's charming, in a way. I'm looking forward to see how it develops.
Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible
a.k.a. Kubo-san wa Mob o Yurusanai or 久保さんは僕を許さない
It's a school life story about a boy who goes completely unnoticed everywhere. He's so nondescript that people don't realize he's in the room. Except for his classmate Kubo. She's a cute girl who obviously has feelings for him, and embarrasses him but forcing him to be more visible, even though he's generally happy fading into the background.
It's a cute show. Kubo is supposed to be a charming, likable character, but I personally find her to be a bit of a bully, so I'm kind of mixed on my feelings about the show.
Ayakashi Triangle
a.k.a. あやかしトライアングル
A school ninja show. You've got two kids: a boy who is a ninja who hunts ghosts, and a girl who has some spiritual power that attracts ghosts to her. They're childhood friends, and he has dedicated himself to protecting her.
But now, strong evil spirits are to eat her.
It's no Naruto, but looks fun enough.
Midnight Motel
a.k.a. Aep Lap Rongraem Rak or แอปลับ โรงแรมรัก
Not an anime
This live-action Thai drama is pretty interesting, so far.
The story is about an underperforming smart guy named Mote who gets in debt to the mob, and meets a sex worker named Kat, who is indebted to her pimp, and wants to get out from under his thumb.
Together they come up with an idea for an underground Internet startup: an app that works like Uber for sex workers. Basically, Johns book through the app, and most of the money goes straight to the woman, removing the need for a pimp.
It's a pretty interesting story. One of the episodes gets into them trying to find investors, which is a challenge for an illegal app.
It's available to watch on YouTube.
