If the current global situation was the elephant in the room for the Season Preview post, this time around it’s the titanosaur in the broom closet.

I actually considered whether to even write a Check-in post for this season.  Well over half the schedule has either already been postponed or will be after its next episode (and summer seems likely to be even worse).  It’s a depressing situation no matter how you slice it.  When do we need anime as an escape more than when the world is a frightening place and most of us are housebound, with no sports or movies to take our mind off things?  In the end I decided it was less depressing to write a check-in for a bunch of series that may never be finished than to bag it altogether.

There’s also the fact that these posts are about looking backwards, unlike the season previews, so it makes sense to weigh in on what’s already aired.  On balance it’s been a season pretty close to what I expected – about average on the whole, though you always hope spring will be better than that given its usual heavy schedule.  Seinen adaptations have indeed provided the bulk of the worthwhile shows, as expected, though the top dog could hardly be more shounen.

Above and beyond that, it’s probably both unfair and impossible to try and assess the season as a whole quality-wise.  Too many series simply aren’t here – in addition to the ones in varying states of delay there are a bunch that were postponed before they every started airing.  A great unanswered question is what will happen to all these partially-aired and unaired series that have been delayed once the worst of the COVID-19 crisis has passed (whenever that is).  Will they be completed before the new series are slotted in, or will (as I suspect) many of them be abandoned altogether?  In a sense anime is struggling with the same decisions professional sports leagues are – what to do about the current season, especially as delays push it into the path of the next.

Spring 2020, then, will always be an asterisk season – and summer all the more, if it even manages to get content to the airwaves at all.  Each show that manages to complete its run can be judged on its own merits but as a group, I just don’t see much point in making many assessments.

 

Onward then to Spring 2020:

 

The Elite

None

 

Outstanding

Major 2nd Season 2
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: A-
Comments: Take a manga by one of sports shounen’s best creators and put it in the hands of one of anime’s best directors and you’re pretty much guaranteed a winner.  That was the formula that powered the first few seasons of the original Major (with Kasai Kenichi at the helm) and it’s working just as well with Major 2nd.  That this sequel and its young protagonist are so different to the original is a major (sorry) reason why it works as well as it does.  Major 2nd feels fresh because Daigo is absolutely nothing like Goro, and I adore both of them for different reasons.  I knew this show would deliver and it hasn’t disappointed – for me, great sports anime is comfort food of the highest order.  That’s why it hurt so much when its postponement was announced – though it was an announcement I was expecting.  Shaka, when the walls fell.

Yesterday o Utatte
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: A-
Comments: For me the clear winner (so far) amongst the wolfpack of seinen adaptations that comprised both this season’s greatest potential and greatest unknown.  Here’s how I know Yesterday o Utatte is a great series – it’s only after I reflect on an episode (which is a necessity when you’re an anime writer) that I realize how profound it was.  Yesterday seems a relic to me above and beyond its pre-social media and smartphone setting – stylistically it’s a drama rooted in another era in manga and anime.  There’s romance here but to me, it’s not the point – one reason why the series I see it compared to usually strike me as largely out of alignment.  I’m loving this series for its emotional realism and subtlety, and its getting a wonderful treatment from Doga Kobo.  Rumor has it the show is far enough ahead in production that it may even finish airing – perhaps because it’s scheduled to finish as an AbemaTV streaming exclusive.  I sure hope so.

 

Very Good

Kingdom 3
Episodes Watched: 3
Grade: B+
Comments: Kingdom is Kingdom.  Things don’t change all that much – this is a big, sweeping military epic with a nice human touch and generally strong writing.  If anything the visuals seem to have ticked up a bit for this third season (though they’re still nothing spectacular), which is certainly welcome even if that was a low bar.  A new staff and six years have done very little to alter the Kingdom experience – I still love this show and it always provided an engaging and evocative 22 minutes.  But sadly, just before this post went to press Kingdom got postponed too – the 4th episode will be the last for the foreseeable future.

Nami yo Kiite Kure
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: B
Comments: I don’t know exactly how close to the edge I was with Nami yo Kiite Kure, but it was pretty close.  I really disliked the A-part of the first episode (which was apparently anime-original) to the point where if the series didn’t have a pedigree I might bailed then.  But I’m very glad I didn’t, because this show has thoroughly won me over since then.  Like Yesterday o Utatte it’s a series mostly about young adults grappling with adult problems (though there are no adolescents in this cast), which is a plus in itself.  It’s also very good at it – funny a lot of the time, but deceptively serious about its subject matter.  The only off note for me is the series’ rather mean-spirited treatment of its one purportedly gay character.

Kami no Tou: Tower of God
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: B
Comments: I wouldn’t say Telecom Animation’s adaptation of SIU’s manhwa Tower of God is knocking it out of the park, but it’s a solid double to the gap.  Sano Takashi has a tough job here, because the only logical stopping point for the anime covers a lot more than 13 episodes worth of material, and as a result some of the subtler character details are being lost.  That’s a shame, because it’s later in the series when that sort of compression would actually do it some good, whereas what happens at this point is all pretty solid.  Still, I think the anime has been entertaining (the fourth episode was the best so far) and while not spectacular visually, better than I was worried it was going to be. Plus, Gator.

 

Worthwhile

Fugou Keiji Balance: Unlimited
Episodes Watched: 2
Grade: B-
Comments: Fugou Keiji is another series whose pedigree buys it a longer trial period than it’d otherwise have, though I was never that close to dropping it.  The premiere left me feeling pretty indifferent but things have improved markedly since then.  Unfortunately it’s going on hiatus, and as with all the other suspended series we have no way of knowing when it will return (July 16th has been announced, but that can only be a guess).  I’m not nuts about either main character at this point (for different reasons) but it’s a snappy production with a very strong staff, so whenever it does return (if it does) I’ll give it every chance to win me over for keeps.

BNA: Brand New Animal 
Episodes Watched: 6
Grade: B-
Comments: Given that BNA was already six episodes in when the season started, it’s generally assumed that production is pretty close to finished already (at least the first cour – the series’ length hasn’t been announced).  I rather like this show – it’s not too Trigger, and Nakashima Kazuki is injecting a bit of the social satire that’s been too often missing from his recent work.  Not that Brand New Animal is deep or anything – it mostly works because it’s silly and energetic and generally fun – but even if he rarely shows it, one can never totally forget what this writer is capable of.

Kitsutsuki Tanteidokoro
Episodes Watched: 2
Grade: B-
Comments: I actually liked the premiere of Kitsutsuki Tanteidokoro better than Fugou Keiji’s premiere, but that flipped in week 2.  I still have some hopes for this series, and not only because it hasn’t been postponed yet.  It has an interesting setting and premise and a very attractive visual style, but the tone of the second ep felt really off to me and while there may be a plot-based reason for that, it might just be what this show is.  We’ll see.

 

Still Watching

Tsugu Tsugumumo
Episodes Watched: 3
Grade: B-
Comments: If there were ever a classic anime guilty pleasure, I suppose Tsugu Tsugumomo would be it.  I fully recognize that it’s ecchi as hell and often rather lowbrow, but I quite like this show in spite of that. It’s smarter than you’d think, has a rather sophisticated mythology underpinning the plot, and the characters are mostly quite likeable.  To LOVE-Ru, Sora no Otoshimono, throw in your old-school ecchi comedy of choice here – that’s Tsugumomo’s niche, and I rather like that it exists to fill it.

Listeners
Episodes Watched: 4 
Grade: C+
Comments: Satou Dai’s Listeners is another series that rumor has it may be well ahead in production.  I wish I liked it more and not just because of that.  The Eureka Seven DNA is obvious here, but the magic – either in terms of the production values or the writing – less so.  The third ep was certainly the best – it had the feel of the Ray-Charles arc – but I’m going to need more to stick around.  Or rather, that’s what I’d say if it weren’t a season where only 3 or 4 shows I’m truly committed to are continuing to air.  Given that the things I dislike about Listeners are more about what it isn’t than what it is, it shouldn’t be too hard to stay with it.

Fruits Basket 2nd Season
Episodes Watched: 3
Grade: C+
Comments: Three episodes in – one terrible, one great, one mediocre.  That’s Fruits Basket in its native form, pretty much, and we can expect the rest of its run to follow that general pattern.  It’s an odd one for me in that I’m normally either very invested in an episode or totally checked out – there’s very little middle ground.  But if there’s an episode that focuses on the material that actually matters, I might write it up – I’ll play it by ear.

Appare-Ranman!
Episodes Watched: 3
Grade: C+
Comments: Another one that’s already been delayed – somewhat surprising given that the first two episodes had pre-airings.  I find the titular character supremely annoying, but P.A. Works’ visuals are at least interesting to look at and the hilariously inaccurate portrayal of early 20th century America is amusing.

Kakushigoto  
Episodes Watched: 3
Grade: C
Comments: Gag comedies don’t have a lot of weapons in arsenal.  If you don’t find them consistently funny there’s not much to fall back on, and I don’t find Kakushigoto that amusing so far.

Zashiki Warashi no Tatami-chan  
Episodes Watched: 3
Grade: C
Comments: A weird little anime written and directed(!) by Hi Score Girl mangaka Oshikiri Rensuke, this is the story of a small-town zashiki warashi who moves to the city.  It’s thin gruel but at four minutes, I enjoy it well enough for Oshikiri’s occasionally sharp comic jabs.

 

Dropped:

Arte, Gleipnir

 

Here, then, is this season’s truncated blogging prospectus:

Monday:
Definitely Blogging: Kingdom 3 (suspended)

Tuesday:
On the Bubble: Kitsutsuki Tanteidokoro
Intermittent: Fruits Basket 2nd Season

Wednesday:
Definitely Blogging: None

Thursday:
Definitely Blogging: Kami no Tou: Tower of God
Probably Blogging (eventually): BNA: Brand New Animal 

Friday:
Probably Blogging: Fugou Keiji Balance: Unlimited (suspended – announced re-start date July 16, but I’m skeptical)
On the Bubble: Listeners

Saturday:
Definitely Blogging: Nami yo Kiite Kure, Major 2nd Season 2 (suspended)
On the Bubble: Appare-Ranman!  (suspended)

Sunday:
Definitely Blogging: Yesterday o Utatte

Manga: Otoyomegatari, Hunter X Hunter (hiatus)

Watching For Now: Tsugu Tsugumomo, Kakushigoto, Zashiki Warashi no Tatami-chan

 

One more thing before I wrap.  As you know, the need for financial support for LiA is greater than ever. Everything has gotten more expensive again this year, and it gets more and more difficult to justify the time I have to put in to make the site one I feel proud of.  I know times are tough right now but if you’re inclined to consider helping out, please visit one of the links in the sidebar. Patreon patrons, Paypal subscribers or one-time contributors (and don’t forget the Amazon links, too!) – you all have my everlasting gratitude.

Stay strong and stay hopeful.