It’s a big season, just as it looked like on paper.  That means I’m busy – there are a lot of shows that pretty much had coverage guaranteed going in.  But that doesn’t necessarily mean the season itself is great.  I’ll take quality over quantity any day of the week (even if it didn’t make my blogging life a whole lot easier – though it does), though of course the very best seasons have both.  So – what about Fall 2022?

Well, it’s good.  Those “very best” examples – like Spring 2007 and Spring 2012 – are definitely on another level.  But especially in the context of how the past few anime years have trended, it’s well above-average.  I have my personal tentpoles at the top, and the schedule is loaded with big-name sequels, including some that are actually to my tastes.  On balance I don’t think the season ranks as highly in terms of artistic merit as  it does hype and commercial firepower, but obviously that comes down to personal taste.

One thing that does strike me is the feast-or-famine nature of the schedule.  Usually by this point in a season I have a definite bubble, with anywhere from three to five series in it (and sometimes even more).  Indeed, it was with that in mind that I decided to start a “Patron Pick” slot on the schedule, where LiA subscribers would vote on those bubble series and choose the one I covered.  But wouldn’t you know it, there’s hardly any bubble this season – almost every show is either a clear-cut yes or no for coverage.  So I may end up having to open it up to anything I’m not already covering (though that path is fraught with peril).

We’ll see how it all shakes out, but no question, Fall is going to contribute at least a couple of contenders for the year-end Top 10 – and the upper echelon of it, too.  And probably the 2023 list too, based on the multi-cour series which premiered this month.  That alone would make it a pretty strong season.

 

Onward, then, to Fall 2022:

The Elite

Mob Psycho 100 III
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: A
Comments: Pretty much any MP100 is great MP100.  Still, I very much like the mode we’re in now – quieter, character-driven material focused on Mob’s growth and his relationships with Reigen and Ekubo.  We haven’t had one of those all-time top 20 episodes this series is more than capable of delivering, but they’ve all been rock solid and razor sharp.  I know we’re eventually going to get into more action-driven material and that’s fine, Mob Psycho 100 is great at that too.  But I’m salivating at the possibility that in resolving the story this series can reach an even higher gear this final season.

Golden Kamuy 4th Season
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: A
Comments: Like Affirmed and Alydar at the quarter pole at the Belmont, I can’t split ‘em.  The two thoroughbreds at the head of the field are performing as expected – brilliantly – and for its part Golden Kamuy has seen no stumbles as it transitions from Geno Studio to Brain’s Base with a new director in tow.  In contrast with the third season’s very linear (uncharacteristically so) narrative, this one has swerved pretty wildly both in place and time – largely a result of material that was skipped to make that linear narrative being worked back in.  GK hasn’t suffered for it – it’s still great, relentlessly entertaining, hilarious, and unapologetically and unmistakably itself.  Thank goodness.

 

Outstanding

Boku no Hero Academia Season 6
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: A-
Comments: If you knew, you knew.  Boku no Hero Academia was always going to be “back” this season.  Back to its greatest anime heights, gloriously animated and directed, and consistently riveting.  This is a great arc in the manga, and for the first time since Season 3 it basically has Bones’ undivided attention.  I like some of the newer shounen blockbusters more than others, but for my money BnHA is still a more emotionally perceptive and subtle series than any of them.  As big as it is I feel like HeroAca isn’t properly appreciated in its own time, but it will be in hindsight.

Mairimashita! Iruma-kun 3rd Season
Episodes Watched: 3
Grade: A-
Comments: The other big shounen sequel in my world is likewise off to a strong start, if perhaps not as close to its peak game as HeroAca.  The first three eps of Mairimashita! Iruma-kun 3rd Season been rock solid without hitting any of the Himalayan heights this series is more than capable of (either with comedy or action).  This is another of those shows with a huge cast full of memorable characters, and inevitably apart from Iruma their prominence will wax and wane a bit by arc.  We haven’t had much Ameri, Azz, Clara, Sullivan or Opera so far and I kind of miss them.  And Bachiko is sort of a more annoying Biscuit Krueger, maybe not Iruma-kun’s best foot forward.  Still, this series is incapable of not being charming and remains fun to watch and easy to enjoy.

 

Very Good

Yowamushi Pedal: Limit Break
Episodes Watched: 3
Grade: B+
Comments: I may not be totally impartial with Yowapeda, as Watanabe Wataru’s vibe just clicks with me. It’s just really good to have this series back after four long years, and it’s going to be even better once the Tireless Terrier moves back into the spotlight (as he inevitably will). It can be easy to overlook Yowamushi Pedal, especially given how sports anime almost never make much impact in English, but this series hasn’t been a massive success for a long time without good reason.

Chainsaw Man
Episodes Watched: 3
Grade: B
Comments: It doesn’t come as a huge surprise to me that I’ve found the reaction to Chainsaw Man somewhat more interesting than the show itself.  I do like it, to be sure – it has style and wit.  On balance, though, as with most of these monster commercial shounen franchises I struggle to see just what all the hullabaloo is about.  I know the best material supposedly comes later, and so far I like it enough to stick around.  Fan reaction OTOH has been really fascinating if not entirely surprising – manga readers seem less enamored than newbies.  As for commercial success, CSM is definitely hitting big – back issues are all over the charts – though it’s probably not going to match Spy x Family in sheer numbers.

 

Worthwhile

Spy x Family (2nd Cour)
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: B-
Comments: Simply put, I think the first four episodes of the season have showcased Spy x Family’s weaknesses more than its strengths. When it leans too heavily into the Anya moe pandering it really struggles.  And the school angle – which both offers strong side characters and presents Anya in a better light – has been largely absent so far.  I don’t think S x F is really ever great, but it can be a lot better than it’s been so far.  Not that it matters to the series’ humongous commercial success, which is driven by its virtually unmatched demographic crossover appeal.

Fumetsu no Anata e 2nd Season
Episodes Watched: 1
Grade: B-
Comments: That’s seven sequels in the first eight shows, if you’re keeping score at home (but we knew that about Fall 2022 going in).  The grade here really should be “Incomplete”, as we’ve only seen one episode, but based on that one I think this is where the series lies.  I think the core premise of the 40-year timeskip with Fushi living alone (mostly) on an island is interesting and has potential.  But an annoying new character and a callback to the dreadful Jananda arc (with an annoying old – in both senses – character) heralds a lot less promise.  To Your Eternity was always about as much of a wild card as it’s possible for a sequel to be, so I have no idea where this season will wind up ranking.

Koukyuu no Karasu
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: B-
Comments: Probably as close to a bubble series as this boom-bust season has on offer, Raven of the Inner Palace has been a mixed bag so far.  Even given my hard-won skepticism of LN adaptations, though, I like a lot of what this series is doing.  The heroine behaves way too much like a modern anime teen, but at least a likable one.  The music and backgrounds are quite nice, and the most recent episode – which started a deeper dive into the characters – was the best so far.  Mystery of the week series will always be servant to the quality of the individual stories to an extent, but so far, Koukyuu no Karasu is a good watch.

Cool Doji Danshi
Episodes Watched: 2
Grade: B-
Comments: Play it Cool, Guys was a late arrival at the party.  CR only started streaming it this week, and even in Japan it didn’t initially have a streamer.  It’s also a half-length series (with a full-length OP and ED at that) which limits its upside.  Nevertheless I quite liked the first two episodes.  They struck a good balance between affection and gentle mockery of the protagonists, and the humor as often as not clicked pretty well.  With two cours to work with I suspect Cool Doji Danshi will eventually dig quite a bit deeper with its titular bros, and my sense is that the writing has the chops to pull it off.

 

Still Watching

Tiger & Bunny 2 Second Season
Episodes Watched: 0
Grade: I
Comments: How can I show I’m not watching be a “Still Watching”?  Thing is, I will watch the second cour of Tiger & Bunny 2 – I liked the first just fine.  I just don’t know when, and the Netflix dump distribution tends to stick series on the back burner when I get busy.  Honestly I have no idea what my coverage for this will look like, even whether I’ll blog it episodically.  But I’ll get to it sooner or later.

Blue Lock
Episodes Watched: 3
Grade: C
Comments: I’m kind of fudging this listing too, as honestly compels me to report I didn’t make it through the third episode of Blue Lock.  But I’m going to give it one more try, in spite of the fact that I frankly think the whole premise is incredibly dumb.  I get the whole “it’s not really a soccer anime it’s a survival game anime” thing, but dammit – it keeps talking about soccer, invariably stupidly.  It also doesn’t help that I don’t like survival game anime in the first place.  But hey – it’s a hit, as expected.

 

Dropped:

Let me preface the “Dropped” category (for the first time ever) by saying that yes, DIY and Bocchi the Rock are probably the two most visually interesting shows this season after Mob Psycho 100.  I just find them both pretty boring, sadly. Akiba Maid Sensou, Do it Yourself, Bocchi the Rock, Urusei Yatsura 2022, Shinobi no Ittoki, Seiken Densetsu: Legend of Mana – The Teardrop Crystal, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

 

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

Monday:
Definitely Blogging: None

Tuesday:
Definitely Blogging: Golden Kamuy 4th Season

Wednesday:
Definitely Blogging: Chainsaw Man
On the Bubble: Cool Doji Danshi

Thursday:
Definitely Blogging: Mob Psycho 100 III

Friday:
Definitely Blogging: None

Saturday:
Definitely Blogging: Boku no Hero Academia Season 6, Mairimashita! Iruma-kun 3rd Season 

Sunday:
Definitely Blogging: Fumetsu no Anata e 2nd Season, Spy x Family 2nd Season, Yowamushi Pedal: Limit Break
On the Bubble: Koukyuu no Karasu

Manga: Otoyomegatari, Hunter X Hunter

Watching For Now: Digimon Ghost Game, Tiger & Bunny 2, Blue Lock

As to that patron pick vote, at this point I think it’s going to be Cool Doji Danshi and Koukyuu no Karasu, but I’d like to find at least one more to throw in there (and I really don’t want to be committed to covering Blue Lock).  Stay tuned.

 

One more thing before I wrap. Sincere thanks to everyone who stepped up to support LiA during our last-ditch fall pledge drive!  We managed to hit the minimum target and I’m eternally grateful, but the need for support is as strong as ever – links are in the sidebar as always if you want to help out.  The “LiA Bespoke” commissions program is officially open and off to a flying start, and I also have an Indiegogo campaign up and running – please check it out!

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