2022 has a fair crop of interesting prospects on tap (especially if everything that’s been announced premieres this year).  But that’s pretty much all on the horizon – Winter 2022 is altogether a pretty threadbare anime season.  Ousama Ranking almost certainly will be, but it wouldn’t surprise me if nothing else airing is in the final conversation for the year-end top 10 list.  Then again, a lot of that depends on those interesting prospects later in the year living up to their potential.

That’s for later, though.  As for Winter it tends to be one of the weaker seasons in any given year (and is always among the smallest), so hopefully the rest of 2022 bears that out.  I didn’t really have any major sleepers headed into the season so I can’t claim to be disappointed on that front, but on the whole there hasn’t been a lot that’s defied expectations in either direction (one show, perhaps).  I more or less knew what I was getting with Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san and Vanitas no Carte, so that leaves a big chunk of the season more or less hanging on how Sono Bisque Doll and Baraou no Souretsu turn out.

Without a lot of elite quality at the top or strength in numbers, well – you get a season like Winter 2022.  Appreciate the few gems that shine through, and look forward to what could be a somewhat better year than the last couple by the time it’s all said and done.  Onward, then, to Winter 2022:

The Elite

None

 

Outstanding

Karaki Jouzu no Takagi-san 3
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: A-
Comments: I’m probably being a tad generous here, but it was just too depressing to have nothing in either of the top two tiers.  And hey, this third season of Karakai Jouzu has certainly carried on the momentum generated by the second.  I really enjoyed the dream sequence and the silent chapter (which went over like a lead balloon with most of the audience, seemingly).  Overall this adaptation continues to improve on the source material in just about every way, and you sure as hell can’t ask for much more from an adaptation that that.

 

Very Good

Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: B
Comments: This is the biggest wild card of the season, and probably its most interesting series.  I still don’t quite know what I make of it, and overall I feel like it could go either way.  I always appreciate a perceptive look at the introvert-extrovert dynamic, and I think Sono Bisque Doll has at least the potential to be that.  What I don’t know is whether or not it has the will – there are a lot of tropey things here, and the fanservice – while artfully done – is pretty insistent.  After four eps this could wind up as the best non-Iso Matsuo show of the season, or an outright drop.

Vanitas no Carte Season 2 
Episodes Watched: 3
Grade: B
Comments: In truth this is one continuous season which had a cour break in the middle of it.  So far so good – the first three episodes have delivered pretty much as expected.  I haven’t seen the power-up from Vanitas no Carte that with this studio and mangaka you might hope is possible, but it’s still a solidly entertaining series.

Sabikui Bisco
Episodes Watched: 3
Grade: B
Comments: Another score that feels a trifle generous to me – this show was right on the line between this level and the one below.  But the first three eps have been consistently fun, with a ton of imagination and some of the best throwback visuals for a good while.  The LN thing hangs over Sabikui Bisco and you can’t help but worry at least a little, but so far this series plays much more like a manga adaptation.

 

Worthwhile

Baraou no Souretsu 
Episodes Watched: 3
Grade: B-
Comments: The pacing has been crazy fast with Requiem of the Rose King, and the animation has been distinctly low-rent for most of the first three episodes.  Nevertheless Richard III has been a staple of fiction and folklore for this long for a reason – his tale is full of juicy betrayal and savagery (as was his era).  This is a good story and Baraou has done a pretty good job telling it for the most part.  It almost feels as if the first three episodes acted more or less as the prologue – if indeed that’s true, it may allow for things to slow down a bit now.  I certainly hope so.

Ryman’s Club 
Episodes Watched: 1
Grade: B-
Comments: Ryman’s Club started so late that in truth I should be giving it an “incomplete”.  But I did like the first episode a fair bit, though that’s far too small a sample size to make any guesses about its long-term potential.  The other sports series this season have all disappointed (though my expectations of them were modest to begin with), so this story of a bunch of salaryman badminton players has a chance to carry the banner for the genre this season.  The cast is fantastic, if nothing else.

Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Yuukaku-hen 
Episodes Watched: 8
Grade: B-
Comments: Kimetsu holds down this slot for the second season in a row.  I feel a little bad ranking Yuukaku-hen the same as Mugen Train – I do think this has been the better arc.  But apart from the occasionally stunning visuals (as we saw in Episode 8), I still don’t see anything really exceptional going on here.  As long as Zenitsu remains asleep this cour has a chance to turn out pretty well.

 

Still Watching

Shingeki no Kyoujin: The Final Season (part 2) 
Episodes Watched: 3
Grade: C+
Comments: More of the same, I suppose – for all that implies where Shingeki no Kyoujin is concerned.  We seem to be segueing into a new phase of the story now that Eren’s master plan (ROFL) has been exposed, though – I’ll go into that with as open a mind as I can given all the water that’s flowed under this bridge.  I’m bound and determined to stick it out to the end and if it were just a matter of what’s on-screen, it honestly wouldn’t be that hard – the show is still fun most of the time if you view it in context.

Hakozume: Koban Joshi no Gyakushuu
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: C+
Comments: Pod Cops is pleasant enough, without doing anything to really grab you.  It doesn’t romanticize or whitewash the police experience too much, which is to its credit.  Mostly the focus here is on the daily indignities of the job, with somewhat mixed results in terms of entertainment value.  I see a smallish chance of an uptick here as the series goes deeper into the characters, so I’m not totally ruling out picking it up again at some point.

Sasaki to Miyano
Episodes Watched: 3
Grade: C+
Comments: I’ve kind of had the same experience with the S & M anime as the manga.  That is to say I like it well enough but find myself getting bored with it.  The difference is that the process has happened much faster this time – likely because I’ve already been through it once.  Miyano and Hirano are likeable enough characters and the series has potential as interesting example of genre-straddling, but for me at least it never quite seems to fulfill it.

 

Dropped:

Tokyo 24-ku, Koroshi Ai, Futsal Boys!!!!!, Tribe Nine, Orient

 

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

Monday:
Definitely Blogging: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Yuukau-hen, Shingeki no Kyoujin: The Final Season
Probably Blogging: Baraou no Souretsu
On the Respirator: Sasaki to Miyano

Tuesday:
Probably Blogging: Sabikui Bisco

Wednesday:
Definitely Blogging: None

Thursday:
On the Respirator: Hakozume: Koban Joshi no Gyakushu

Friday:
Definitely Blogging: Ousama Ranking

Saturday:
Definitely Blogging: Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 3, Vanitas no Carte

Sunday:
Definitely Blogging: Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi o Suru
On the Bubble: Ryman’s Club

Manga: Otoyomegatari, Hunter X Hunter (hiatus)

Watching For Now: Digimon Ghost Game

 

One more thing before I wrap.  Of course you’ve heard me say it before, but 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 (and you can now buy me a coffee – or sign on as a monthly subscriber – through Ko-Fi).  Patreon patrons, Paypal subscribers or one-time contributors  – you all have my everlasting gratitude.

Please check out the LiA YouTube channel for manga recommendations, from the vault anime, Japan journeys and more!