I looked through my list and realized that even if it’s a year with lockdowns, I barely have any titles to add here. So this year I will do something different and just comment on everything I started/finished this year.
Here goes!
Anime
Fariy Gone
Eh… promising plot with messy execution. Badass fairy designs but not so badass abilities. Season 2 is looking a lot better than season 1.
Burn the Witch
Bleach but London version. Quite good for a 3-episode anime. Great fight sequences, charming characters. The only thing that bugs me is Balco’s character… I mean, his trope should have died off the anime industry a long time ago. I understand why some people wanna kill him.
Escaflowne
If I were doing this post the usual way, this title would’ve gotten ‘Best Soundtrack’. It’s such a beautiful and sad movie (although I have no clue what’s going on half the time), and the soundtrack is just hands down amazing. Feels like a completely different story than the manga, but I like it a whole lot.
Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative
The only Gundam I’ve watched was Fighter G, so naturally I have no clue what’s going on in this movie or what a Psycho Frame even is. I did enjoy it a bit, but I felt like rather than showing the same flashback 10 times, they should’ve allocated more screen time to other aspect of the main character’s lives. Oh well. The animation and character design is great.
Ni no Kuni
Catchy ending song. I know nothing of the Ni no Kuni games aside from that Studio Ghibli did something on it, but this movie was a pretty good but very standard fantasy anime. I enjoyed it since I didn’t think too deep. The story is focused and streamlined, so it’s well-paced for a movie. I especially like that scene where Yuu couldn’t get to the sweets shop because he was on a wheelchair. That hit, man.
Noragami Aragoto
Finally I got around to finishing this since it was on Netflix. Man, I did not expect some of the stuff that happened. I like how we got to see more about Yato’s past and all that, and looking back, Yukine also grew up a lot. It was really good.
Manga
Jormundgand
Bought all the volumes in eBook format but haven’t finished them. So far, Jonah is best boi. I really like his interactions with Koko (plus how complex their relationship is) and the rest of the crew. It’s like he’s this dead-face ex-child soldier, but deep down he’s just a kid that dislikes science and just wanna chill somewhere nice. The tension in arms trade in this manga is enjoyable to read about. I like those kind of arcs better than straight up fighting. Koko is such a charming MC, too. I’d love to see where this manga will end.
Vampeerz
Oh my gosh, I don’t know why but I like this manga so much and I don’t even read Yuri that often. This manga is just straight up comedy and fluff, and even the part where you thought would be tension turned out to be funny and fluffy. Also, the author did a superb job with the art.
Yoru to Umi
Best art of the year. Haven’t gotten far, but concept looks promising. I love the metaphors going on in the artstyle.
Ani-Imo
WTF in general, WTF ending, WTF everything. If you think having sex with yourself while you’re in your step sister’s body isn’t weird, try this manga out. Though it jabs at the rigid gender roles and gender inequality, overall it’s just… WTF. I spent money on this WTF too. Glad it’s just an eBook though, I don’t want anyone to see this sitting in my house lol.
Deadman Wonderland
YOU HAVE TO TRY THE MANGA if you’re not satisfied with the anime. I had a discussion with my friend about the anime (she was asking me how the manga went) and I went on this long ramble about how good the series was while she looked at me like, ‘wait seriously I only heard shit about this series except for that Shiro’s design is iconic’
Obviously, DW is very shounen-y and so it sometimes doesn’t take serious scenes seriously, but overall it was good fun. Some stuff didn’t make much sense and I question Shiro’s character/action sometimes, but in the end it was alright. Not a masterpiece, but definitely enjoyable.
The manga had a good ending. Best ending you could ever hope for in this kind of gory manga. Boom. There.
And Toto… sheesh. Pain.
Hakamori to Ribbon
Short 1-volume manga. Cute and all. Pretty standard.
Haru x Kiyo
Finally finished this manga about a huge goofball and an aggressive midget. So cute and wholesome, these two. The pacing was weird sometimes but overall it was a relaxing manga amid all the serious stuff I read this year.
Kasane
I first heard about this manga from a program in NHK called Imagine-nation, and they interviewed somebody about the manga and sang praises about it. It looked like my cup of tea so I went in. Fast forward 6 years later.
*breathes* Okay, calm down, calm down… I’ve been waiting forever for the final volume to come out in Thailand, and when it finally did… *breathes* shit I can’t. I love this manga, I love the tension and the theatrics and the social commentary and everything, and why oh why even though I love it that much… *sighs* Okay, volume 14 was not bad, it’s just that the ending was too fitting of the story’s tone.
Spoilers for the ending ahead: So apparently Nogiku summoned Neena’s mother on Kasane and then she learned the permanent body swap out of nowhere, then Habuta probably would kill Kasane thinking she was Neena’s mom or kill Kasane anyway. I don’t know. It was so painful, though. It’s like the story is denying Kasane all sorts of happiness just because she’s ugly and went astray in order to piece her life together. I have a lot of things to say about Iku, but it’s not that relevant. The latter volumes were so focused on their moms and Kasane failing to get on stage over and over got sort of annoying after a while. I thought it would be satisfying to read about her going up on stage for Habuta’s play, but in the end, it wasn’t really the satisfying ending I’ve hoped for after waiting 6 years for its release.
Hey, if Kasane would’ve lived to 2020 she wouldn’t look so weird wearing a face mask anymore. Hurray.
Koi wa Ameagari no You ni
Laid-back manga, perfect for a rainy day. It’s about a girl and a restaurant manager finding their ways in life again because of each other. Some people may find this disturbing, but nothing out of sorts went on. I feel that it was a good manga, nothing gross, no fanservice, no grooming, no dumb clichés. They just supported each other on their own paths to life, and that’s that.
I got kind of triggered when one of the anime websites listed this as ‘a horrible romance anime’. Uh, I don’t think this manga/anime is romance. It’s slice of life.
Koneko Pancake
This manga was chopped. Too bad. I really liked Keyna. The author didn’t say too much through his Twitter either so I don’t think we’ll ever get the sequel.
Mahou Shoujo Site
Manga had a solid start but strayed into the shenanigans of Mahou Shoujo OTE at the end. There were inconsistencies here and there and the art was disturbing as usual. Too bad, this manga had so much potential but it grew too big. And oh, incest. I kinda regret starting this series, honestly.
Nagareboshi Lens
Wholesome. Just wholesome sweet first love between two people with no dumb drama. Touga and Risa are super cute together, and the fact that they’re sometimes really shy around each other makes it even more cute. Awwwwwwwwwww.
I started this manga when I was their age and finished the manga when I was the same age as them at the end of the story… so you could say I practically grew up with these people haha.
Saint Seiya the Lost Canvas Gaiden
SSLC has such solid characters and it’s great each person had their own volume to shine. Also adds a lot of flesh to the Saint Seiya universe. The best part was learning how OP 1400s Athena was.
My Saint Seiya posts are here: list
Sougiya Riddle
A hell lot of BL overtones. It wasn’t particularly memorable but it was a fun read. I basically got the whole series at 70% off so who am I to complain? (I already donated them, so please don’t ask me for detailed spoilers. I only vaguely remember what happened.)
Despite having a lot of good-looking men, my favorite characters ended up being the two sisters lol. The rest of them had good chemistry but some of it reminded me too much of Black Butler.
Suki desu Suzuki-kun
Oh my friggin god I finally found the last volume. After all that annoying amnesia and virginity shenanigan, (I almost dropped the manga because of that) Suzuki-kun is finally over and back to its cute, wholesome self. I’m thoroughly grateful to the editor for stopping the author from killing Hoshino Sayaka right at the end of the manga. That’s all I have to say.
There’s actually more things I’ve watched/read but I don’t have enough substance to comment on just yet. Wait and see on my list of 2021. See you next year.
bonutzuu 
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