A middle-aged person with unusual hobbies reviews the Summer 2022 anime season [35 one-line impressions]

For the first time in 3 years, I have been following anime in real-time.

Since I am subscribed to Nico Nico Douga Premium and Amazon Prime,
I am limited to what I can watch there.

I finished 35 anime series from the Summer 2022 season!
I will add a one-line impression for each, so please use them as a reference.
Feel free to agree or disagree!

Also, I have compiled my impressions of just the beginning of the series here,
so it might be interesting to compare them.

Well then, let's go through them all at once.

(The ones used in the thumbnail are the 4 works I felt were particularly interesting.)
The stars indicate my satisfaction level.

Interesting

First, I will introduce the ones that I ultimately found interesting. In alphabetical order.

[Extreme Hearts]★★★★☆

Extreme idol activities, sports master edition—————!

It is so sports-oriented that you want to play it back with Atsuhiko Nakata's voice,
where they compete in all famous ball games, win, gain popularity,
and in the end, it is all an outrageous entertainment activity to stand on stage as idols.

At first, the motivation, purpose, and match developments were chaotic and full of things to nitpick but
if you watch until the end, the super-developments of the matches are actually straightforward and end on a high note.
The scene at the very end where the cheerful protagonist sheds tears for the first time was moving.

[Engage Kiss]★★★★☆

A love comedy war between main wives featuring flashy action against demons.

The sister with a brother complex tries to wipe out the tsundere, yandere, and stalker surrounding the loser protagonist,
and when it is all over,
it is just a lovers' quarrel on a national scale with weapons.

Nothing is really solved, so there is no real substance to the story,
but it is best to watch it as that kind of show from the start.
The animation quality did not drop until the end, making it a work to enjoy 4 mentally unstable beautiful girls.

[Overlord IV]★★★★★

A reincarnated dark fantasy that proceeds to national subversion through a series of misunderstandings.

The protagonist's faction boasts immense military power, but
this season was not about battles, but rathera conversational drama centered on secret maneuvers, schemes, and misunderstandings.
Of course, the high-impact battle scenes were a highlight, but
more than that, it was a production where you could fully enjoy the dialogue of characters with overly strong personalities.

I'm amazed they were able totranslate such a high-concept, intellectual plot into visuals...
It was, I think,a profound and meticulous composition. It is definitely interesting!

[Kami Kuzu☆Idol]★★★★★

A comedy about a trashy talent being reformed through idol spiritual therapy.

It started with the implication that a legendary female idol would possess a male idol who takes nothing seriously and
show him what it means to be an idol, but that element was fulfilled relatively early in the mid-season, and it seems the focus shifted instead to
the influence of an active senior idol (a semi-stalker).

The relationship with the fans looked like an ideal oneand I enjoyed it until the end. You should try watching it at least once, even if you think you're being tricked!

[The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting]★★★★☆

A home comedy about the mutual growth of a yakuza underboss and the boss's daughter.

A heartwarming work where an innocent little girl is just adorable. Anyway, this heroine is such a good girl. Super healing. If anything, it felt like

a story of the underboss's growth through interacting with her. Since it's about yakuza, there are of course some violent scenes, but that evil hand doesn't reach the heroine until the final episode, and even then, it doesn't end in a tragic way, so don't worry. The heroine is a true angel.

[Dropkick on My Devil! X]★★★☆☆

A cohabitation gag comedy about a wicked devil and the gothic lolita girl who keeps her.

—or so it was supposed to be, but from the middle onwards, it was just content about flying to Hokkaido and Kyushu as a reward for crowdfunding and enjoying the local gourmet food. Honestly,

I can't deny the mid-season slump, but it's boorish to look for substance in this show in the first place. The quality of the originalsource material parts at the beginning and end was satisfying
.

With the Hatsune Miku cameo and the project involving Nico Nico Douga, it never lacked buzz, so you could say they don't fall down without grabbing something.

[Shadows House 2nd Season]★★★★★

A rebellion story between humans and non-humans unfolding in a mysterious medieval mansion.

The stage is a large palace controlled by non-human beings called Shadows. This Shadow child and her partner, a young girl, are the dual protagonists, and

a resistance movement unfolds as they try to escape the control of generations.

The world-building is meticulous, and it feels like a battle of wits from start to finish, providing an
aha moment every time a difficult problem is solved. This is truly perverse and interesting...
It's also amazing that the shadow protagonist is cool, yet the heroine has absolutely no "face".

The sight of children struggling to break free from a stifling world is beautiful in any time or place.
If asked which work was the most interesting this season, I would answer this one.

[When Will Ayumu Make His Move?]★★★☆☆

A laid-back romantic comedy about a boy and girl in a shogi club..

Even as more characters are introduced, it remains a super wholesome romantic comedy where the vector of affection never wavers even a bit, making it a high-quality work that you can watch with a smile until the end.

The fact that all the main characters are naive also feels surprisingly rare these days.

Because [A Couple of Cuckoos] and [Rent-a-Girlfriend] were airing at the same time,
this anime was especially refreshing to watch for its pure interactions,
and the heroine's reactions are just so endearing and cute.

[Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? IV: Labyrinth Arc]
★★★★★

A classic high-fantasy hero's tale.

Now that it's reached its fourth season, it's almost like a title scam, making you want to ask,
where on earth did the element of trying to pick up girls go!? It shows a
hardcore dark fantasy progression.

While it's true that the main cast has a high ratio of women,
there are almost no romantic comedy elements in this serious, revenge-filled story,
and you can instead enjoy a high-purity battle fantasy in the old-school style.

[Teppen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]★★★★☆

A slapstick comedy about beautiful girls living in a dormitory for aspiring comedians.

This work
snatched the throne of the absurd gag anime that [Jashin-chan] couldn't fully utilize.
Despite the large cast of 15 characters (5 trios), each character stands out,
and it left the impression of having masterfully handled the subject of manzai, which is usually ill-suited for anime.

In the end, it wasn't about the jokes, but rather the protagonist gaining a reputation for having interesting conversations in their group, which was a brilliant way to end it, in a sense following the mold of modern comedians.

Don't underestimate it as just a gimmick. The level of satisfaction was high.

[Bucchigire!]★★★☆☆

An action fantasy bearing the name of the Shinsengumi.

A hot-blooded protagonist, a cool partner, a chubby guy, an eccentric, a pervert, a playboy, an old man, and a lone female.
The enemies also include a truly traditional character lineup with
a sense of security that comes from being packed with classic tropes.

Personally, I enjoyed it well enough, but it certainly didn't exceed my expectations.
There were no surprising developments, so it might not have stood out.
It's a shame that it ended up completely buried, partly because the final boss lacked any sense of urgency.

[Prima Doll]★★★☆☆

A Taisho-era opera romance featuring war-deciding weapons.

Like [Bucchigire!], this is another work that was a bit of a missed opportunity.
The setting is such that it wouldn't have been strange to call it a masterpiece a few years ago, but when you try to watch it as an emotional drama,
the realism is thin and it was
hard to empathize with a story centered entirely on beautiful girl robots.

Personally, I enjoyed it to some extent, and the characters were cute enough, so
I definitely don't think it's a bad work.
However, I do think it needed that sense of 'desperation' that Jun Maeda brings...

[Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun]★★★★★

An ultra-harsh dark fantasy specialized in originality.

It's supposed to be an adventure story, but this season was entirely focused on an ensemble drama set in a single location.
The village is full of monsters, and you're on edge with every move the protagonist makes, but
in the end, there are so many rapid developments that you forget all about that, making it
a perfect production that you can't take your eyes off of for even a second.

It fearlessly depicts the dark side of humanity, which is often omitted in fantasy works, and asks:
What do you wish for? What happens when you fulfill it?
Being shaken by the anguish of constant self-questioning and the catharsis you reach provides
the best viewing experience. Don't look away from this ending!

[YUREI DECO]★★★★☆

A near-future social network adventure (← official description)

What do you see in a world where life in a virtual cyberspace has become the norm?
I think we're already seeing signs of this today with the rise of social media,
and it's a structure that confronts the question of how to determine what is true within that.

The protagonist, who cannot accept the aesthetic of the status quo, and their reconciliation with their parents, as well as the bonds with their friends, are all depicted well, which I really liked.
I want to have the conviction not to be swayed by manipulated information.

[Classroom of the Elite 2nd Season]★★★★★

A brain-battle anime set in a high-level school life.

A work that is fun because it treats even the most frustrating developments as part of a strategy and calmly navigates through them.
It is a battle of wits on paper, a war of sophistry where one tries to outsmart the other's outsmarting.
Because of this, there are many frustrating moments, but in the final episode, finally
a satisfying development awaits where that slimy, insidious bastard gets beaten to a pulp.

How should I put it, it's a protagonist packed with the ideals of a middle-schooler and I'm sure there are many people who think, 'I used to have these kinds of delusions when I was a student...'
Ah, that felt good.

[Call of the Night]★★★★★

A late-night wandering romantic comedy about a vampire and an ordinary boy.

If I write that the protagonist is oblivious to romantic feelings, one might say that's common, but
the fact that he isn't really attracted to the opposite sex in the first place feels relatively fresh.
Therefore, it's a romantic comedy where he doesn't fall for the beautiful girls at all, which is likable.
In a sense, you could say it's modern, but
I feel there aren't many works that depict this properly.

The impression that this is a work that embodies the delusions I had as a teenager hasn't changed, but
frustratingly, there are many parts I can empathize with regarding the protagonist. The atmosphere is also good.
I can't imagine how this story will reach its conclusion.

[Lycoris Recoil]★★★★★

A buddy action work featuring girls with a strong yuri vibe.

The undisputed champion of this season. That is Lycoris Recoil.
It is packed with the kind of relationships one seeks in a beautiful girl anime,
the flow from being at odds to closing the distance and becoming dependent on each other is smooth,
while the other half carries a sad fate, so she doesn't let anyone get too close...

The balance between serious and anti-serious is also exquisite, and
the depiction that doesn't get too heavy is also brilliant.
Isn't it no exaggeration to call this a modern version of 'Abunai Deka'?
A second season will definitely be made, and I'm looking forward to it.

[RWBY: Ice Queendom]★★★☆☆

A near-future battle action series based on Grimm's fairy tales.

Boldly, it focused only on the heroine's internal conflict so
for viewers accustomed to the fast-paced developments of recent times,
it might have felt a bit redundant...

But other than that, it followed the original work, which specializes in action scenes and
personally, I am satisfied. Originally, there was no substance to begin with.
It's a work to enjoy the character designs of cute girls and super cool action.

[Luminous Witches]★★★☆☆

A non-combat beautiful girl musical fantasy set during wartime.

Looking at this work alone, it might seem like they are just leisurely singing, dancing, and flying, to the point where you wouldn't think they were in the middle of a war,
but having gone through Strike Brave World,

you feel that they are also carrying the burden of giving courage to the citizens. It does have a story that connects to past works, but I wonder if that came across.

Well, even without that, as I first thought,
it's best to just watch it as a work where you can simply consume cuteness.

Continuing, looking forward to the rest.

[Uncle from Another World]★★★★★

A cohabitation comedy about a middle-aged man who "returned" from another world and his nephew..

A controversial work that throws a stone at the isekai reincarnation fantasy genre that is overflowing these days.
It was very interesting, combined with the generation gap of SEGA supremacy and the unfortunate developments in the flashbacks to the other world,
but the production team was thwarted by the pandemic... It seems they will start over from the fall. High expectations.

[Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth]★★★★★

An ethnic epic fantasy where everyone except the protagonist is a demi-human, based on Ainu culture.

It's emotional when the heroine who left in the previous series joins back up, isn't it...
Due to the nature of the work, giant creatures appear, so the battle scenes aren't actually that important,
and since the clash of ideologies is the main focus, the conversation parts and the tactical maneuvering are the real appeal.
It's consistently interesting right now, so I hope they draw it out to the very end.

[Shine Post]★★★★★

An ensemble drama about idols on the verge of collapse rising to the top.

For some reason, half of the broadcast was taken up by a special program featuring the live-action voice actors,and it ended this season unfinished.. For now, it depicted the point where the five members gathered (or rather, re-gathered).

It's a story where they solve the past traumas each of them holds one by one,
allowing them to demonstrate the potential they originally had.
Honestly,this is the most I've enjoyed an idol anime I've ever seen.

Yeah, in the end, it's more about the relationships between the members leading to growth and success than the activities themselves...

[Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer]★★☆☆☆

A modern fantasy about saving or destroying the world.

It's a story about a princess who wants to destroy the Earth and several knights who want to protect it
fighting against mysterious life forms, but
whether it's a lack of explanation or a lack of depiction, the full picture is hard to see.
The original work is highly rated so I have high hopes, but will this really get interesting...?

[Megaton Musashi]★★★★☆

Large-scale robot action against aliens.

Don't underestimate it just because it's for kids.
Both the human relationships and the battle scenes are depicted properly,
and as a giant robot show, it is very easy to watch, easy to understand, and excellent.
It's a good old-fashioned mecha anime that's even worthy of appearing in Super Robot Wars.

I finished it.

I finished it, but I couldn't say it was interesting. In alphabetical order.
Sorry for the harsh criticism.

[Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World]★☆☆☆☆

Contrary to the title,it's a mass-produced isekai reincarnation fantasy that barely has a harem.

Only one heroine appears until near the final episode, so
he's surprisingly devotedis what I ended up thinking.
Well, the protagonist's only goal is to get intimate, so
if you ask me if it was interesting, I can't nod. There aren't even any villains.
Maybe the only unique thing about it was that it was proactive with the erotic depictions...

[Isekai Yakkyoku] ★★★☆☆

An isekai reincarnation fantasy that makes full use of medicine.

The idea of a fantasy where problems are solved through pharmacology was fresh and interesting, but
since I had already seen a work called [Dr. STONE],
the fact that he can create miracle drugs without any struggle makes it no different from magic...
I felt a sense of disappointment.

However, I liked the protagonist's philosophy and his family's reactions.
I wish it were a world where people like them could thrive.

[A Couple of Cuckoos]★★☆☆☆

A common slightly erotic harem romantic comedy.

A child swapoccurs, and the protagonist is caught in a harem involving his fiancée from the other family,
his sister who isn't blood-related due to being from a different mother, and a classmate he fell in love with at first sight.

A dull protagonist and several beautiful girls with great figuresis
well, it's a romantic comedy I've seen a hundred times, so it's for people who like that sort of thing.
There are no serious developments at all.

[Rent-a-Girlfriend Season 2] ★☆☆☆☆

A harem romantic comedy about rental girlfriends.

While [A Couple of Cuckoos] features three heroines with similar attributes,
this one offers a wider range of choices: the orthodox type, the mean-spirited gal, the little sister type, and the shy type.
However,the protagonist is so incredibly patheticthat I honestly considered dropping it after the third episode of the first season.

But the heroines are all charming and it's hard to choose a favorite. You want to root for them.
Especially theorthodox main heroine. She's just too cute...!
Because of that, I can't understand for the life of me why the protagonist is so popular.
It wasn't just unfunny; every episode was actually kind of irritating.

[Vermeil in Gold: A Desperate Magician Barges Into the Magical World Alongside the Strongest Disaster] ★☆☆☆☆

A story about the struggles of a failing summoner.

I thought it would be a rom-com about being pushed around by a sexy familiar and a ditzy classmate,
but from the middle onwards, it takes a turn into serious territory.
However, because the villains are small-time, the setting feels forced, leaving a half-baked impression.

I think it would have been more interesting if they had just focused on one or the other.

[Black Summoner] ★★★☆☆

An isekai fantasy about a battle junkie who looks like a villain.

The protagonist's personality is quite a handful,
and since he acts based on how much he can enjoy the situation,
the show is characterized by him taking unnecessary detours.

It's a shame that it ended while still just giving the impression that it 'might get interesting'.I suppose the reason was that there were no worthy villains...

[The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious] ★★☆☆☆

A comedy about a boy and a naive maid with a sister-complex vibe.

It's a heartwarming anime where you enjoy watching her get flustered
when all her adult-like provocations are deflected by the boy's straightforward praise.
The content is so thin it could have been a 5-minute short, so you can watch it without thinking.

The highlight is getting to enjoy Saori Hayami's boyish voice and Rie Takahashi's maid voice.It's certainly true that all the characters are cute.

[My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World!]
★☆☆☆☆

An isekai reincarnation fantasy that feels like I've seen it 100 times before.

It's amazing that such a mediocre work could be created.
The ending theme seems to be well-regarded, but
personally, it didn't resonate with me.
I've seen opinions saying it would have been better if the art style was closer to the manga, but
I feel like that wasn't the issue.
There's no heroine either, and, well,there's nothing worth mentioning...

[Hanabi-chan wa Okuregachi] ★★☆☆☆

A short comedy featuring personified pachislot machines.

It's nothing more or less than that, but
what kind of promotional anime was this, anyway?
There are about 6 different opening themes and they are all good songsand memorable.
I definitely want to collect the songs.

[Love Live! Superstar!! TV Anime Season 2] ★★☆☆☆

A national idol anime.

I watched it until the end, but the reason I didn't have any particular impressions might be
because I didn't follow the μ's or Aqours eras...?
I did watch [Love Live! Superstar!! TV Anime Season 1], but
how should I put it, it was just average...

[Smile of the Arsnotoria] ★☆☆☆☆

A slice-of-life anime about beautiful girls who are all laid-back and mysterious.

In the end, they didn't do anything until the very end!!!
Are they all just airheads?
Was this some kind of facility for the intellectually disabled?

I don't know her name, but the girl with black hair was super cute.
To think that after all that hinting, nothing happened...

I dropped it.

[Orient: Awaji Island Arc]
I didn't have an environment to watch the first cour, so I reluctantly started from the second cour, but
as expected, it's hard to get into the story that way.

[The 5 Billion Year Button]
It wasn't that it wasn't interesting, but I wasn't curious about what would happen next, so...

[Shoot! Goal to the Future]
I ended up giving up after 3 episodes.
I wish they would move their feet instead of just their mouths.

[Musashino!]
I watched up to about episode 5, but
once I missed one episode, I just thought, 'Oh well'.

I didn't end up watching them

[iii Icecrin 2] *Watched only episode 1
[Uchu Nanchara Kotetsu-kun 2] *Watched only episode 1
[My Stepmom's Daughter Is My Ex] *Didn't have the environment to watch it
[Obey Me! The Animation] *Didn't have the environment to watch it
[Cardfight!! Vanguard will+Dress] *Watched only episode 1
[Kakegurui Twin] *Didn't have the environment to watch it
[KJ File] *Watched only episode 1
[Summer Time Rendering] *Didn't have the environment to watch it
[Shadowverse F] *Didn't have the environment to watch it
[The Prince of Tennis II: U-17 WORLD CUP] *Watched only episode 1
[Shiba Inu at the End of the World]
[Chimimo] *Watched only episode 1
[Tokyo Mew Mew New] *Watched only episode 1
[D4DJ Double Mix] *Didn't have the environment to watch it
[Ninjala] *Watched only episode 1
[The Devil Is a Part-Timer!!] *Didn't have the environment to watch it
[BanG Dream! Morfonication] *Didn't have the environment to watch it
[Fuuto PI] *Didn't have the environment to watch it
[Mori no Kumasan, Touminchu.] *Watched only episode 1
[Yoru wa Neko to Issho]

General Review

I generally enjoy sequels, and I was particularly thrilled by [Overlord], [Made in Abyss], and [Classroom of the Elite].
I hadn't watched the previous seasons of [Shadows House] and [Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?], so I caught up on those first, and wow, they were also excellent.

Among the completely new titles, [Lycoris Recoil] was overwhelmingly interesting.
As for others, I had a good impression of the idol shows [Shine Post] and [Cue!].
In terms of characters, [Bucchigire!] was also good.

As for the ones I finished but didn't find interesting,
I think it's largely because it's off-putting when they try to do serious drama on top of poorly thought-out settings.
↑ [My Isekai Life] and [The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious] fall into this category.
In that sense, [Black Summoner] was a bit better, since it didn't try to be serious.
Same goes for [Alstromeria].

Shows like [Extreme Hearts], [Engage Kiss], and [Call of the Night] gave me the impression of
doing silly things on top of rock-solid settings, so my evaluation of them went up in the second half.
[Teppen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!] gave me that impression from the start, though.

Of course, it's best when they do serious drama on top of a solid setting.

Afterword

And that was my review of the Summer 2022 anime season.
Which ones did you find interesting this season?

Please let me hear your opinions and counterarguments!!

Next time, I'd like to pick out the voice actors who I personally think were active this summer season.
Updating on Friday, 11/7... I hope.