It’s a bit of everything this fall season: something old, something new, something really old... and something really crazy.
The something old isn’t that old, really, but it’s been around now for eight seasons. Now in its final season, My Hero Academia is ending in a shonen supernova of fighting.
I’ve written before that - while I appreciate that shonen stories can only end in one way, i.e., the fight against the last boss - I do wish that they didn’t all have the same feel to them. As in: the team defeats the last boss only to find that he’s not the last boss; the big villain looks like he’s been killed (but he somehow springs back to life); the final boss that keeps morphing into even bigger and more spectacular forms until he seems totally impossible to defeat in any human terms, etc.
When you bet your climax on the biggest battle ever, it tends to run along the same lines as all the other shonen climax battles. While My Hero Academia is a quality show and there have been standout episodes here toward the end (the “Final Boss” episode, featuring Bakugo’s rescue of All Might, was absolutely killer), I find myself waiting for the big battle to be over so I can see how all the characters end up.
The something really old is, of course, Gintama. I didn’t even know they were doing a spinoff series, so the appearance of this one in the fall season lists surprised me.
Gintama ended years ago. It had a few concluding movies, and then it seemed like it would pass into anime history without any more iterations. As might be expected, this season’s Mr. Ginpachi’s Zany Class is a side story, or rather, a vignette-type series where the characters are school kids with Ginpachi himself as their teacher.
Naturally, I’ll watch anything Gintama, so I’m watching this one. It’s great hearing all the seiyuu in their roles again, and I love that they brought back Prince Hata, this time as the school principal.
Prince Hata is played by seiyuu Kouichi Sakaguchi, who gives the character just the most hysterically funny voice. He’s the perfect character to bring back in the principal’s role, as he delights in thwarting Ginpachi in various ways, while always failing (since he’s... not too smart).
There’s always at least one series each season that falls into the “when I have time to watch it” category, and this fall, it’s A Mangaka’s Weirdly Wonderful Workplace, my “something new” anime series.
I’m partial to stories about the manga publishing industry. My favorite remains Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi for its BL couples and intense love dynamics between Takano and Onodera, but I’ll watch literally any series if it’s set in the industry.
Here’s the description from MyAnimeList.net:
New shoujo manga artist Nana Futami works hard every day while being supported by Kaede Satou, her female editor who is older than her, and Mizuki Hazama, her assistant. According to the girl herself, she sometimes drums up intense daydream delusions of occupational illness! A working girls comedy set in the entertainment industry, brought to you by an author who always draws various girls.
And finally... I’m not even sure what category this last one fits into. Maybe it’s a new category of anime on its own? The only certainty is that it’s completely crazy.
From MyAnimeList.net:
In the middle of a ball, Scarlet's fiancé, Kyle, suddenly calls off their engagement. She's falsely accused of being a bully and people unfairly call her a "Villainess." The aristocrats and noble families all denounce her. For years, she had to put up with his abuse and idiocy, but she can't take any more of it! At her wit's end, she asks for one last favor; to give him a good fist in the face. So begins Scarlet's story of revenge against Kyle and his cronies! A fantasy about an elegant yet rebellious fighter, who doesn't let anyone take advantage of her!!
And... that’s it. That’s the whole plot of May I Ask for One Final Thing? Scarlet is wronged by various people, and then she goes and punches them out with her magic-enhanced fist.
According to Anime News Network, May I Ask for One Final Thing? is actually isekai. I haven’t gotten that far in the series yet, but that’s kind of interesting. Until that fact is revealed, I’m fine with Scarlet meting out her particular brand of justice to the deserving, for any reasons she chooses. ;-)
