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Welcome to week 6 of “Up to Snuff*”. While our top 2 series have remained the same in every poll, remarkably enough they’ve swapped places pretty much every week. It’s going to be interesting to see who comes out on top after next week’s finales, which offer a stark contrast – an original series vs. an ongoing manga.
In the “Hidden Gem” department, Pankeeki steps up to the plate this week. And it’s definitely one with a few rough edges…
This week’s special poll asks the immortal question: which character would you like to have a beer with? And it’s a list dominated by the guys, I have to say (though I guess if Rimaru were in human form that’s not technically true).
Without further ado, let’s get to this week’s results:
* Name subject to change
Weekly Staff Poll
SSSS.Gridman – 18 (2 first-place votes)
Golden Kamuy – 14 points (2)
Tensei shitara Slime datta ken – 14 (1)
JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken: Ougon no Kaze – 6
Sword Art Online: Alicization – 5
Bonus Question: Which currently-airing anime character would you want to have a beer (or coffee for the underaged crowd) with?
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Lt. Tsurumi – Golden Kamuy – 10 (2)
High Elf Archer – Goblin Slayer – 9
Rimaru Tempest- Tensei shitara Slime datta ken – 8 (1)
Sugimoto Saichi – Golden Kamuy – 6
Phoenix Wright – Gyakuten Saiban S2 – 5 (1)
Pancakes’ Hidden Gem: RErideD: Tokigoe no Derrida
Whether down to my love of all things B-grade or a simple fascination with watching train wrecks in real time I cannot say, but Rerided wound up being my hidden gem this season. Yes I admit, it was terrible; the show fell apart at the seams, the ending was undeniably meh, and that stacked staff list wound up disappointing in almost every way, but I’ll be damned if I still didn’t like this show. No matter the faults, mixing the likes of Steins;Gate and the Terminator/Matrix makes it hard not to find a few things to love in the end, especially when Rerided featured one of the more intriguing takes on AI-human interaction of late with Dona. The inability of the show to capitalize on such aspects in its latter half may have been incredibly annoying, but for what we got and the entertainment provided I’d say the results were worth the ride. Rerided won’t be winning awards anytime soon, but if you’re in need of a bit of silly B-grade sci-fi give it a shot; you certainly won’t leave disappointed.
You guys are really tempting me to start watching the Slime one
It’s really not bad. Damning it with faint praise here, but it’s the best isekai LN adaptation I’ve seen in a very long time. The fact that I generally loathe both the genre and medium and kinda like Tenshura should give you a clue that it’s not a mass-produced model.
I’d say every year there’s only about two or three new Isekai anime adaptations that aren’t forgettable.
And I’d counter that’s being extremely kind in every respect!
I must thank you for the recommendation in the last Weekly Ranking. As a manga reader, it’s not that I didn’t know Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet, but I had only seen the first episode of the anime. Now I decided to go back and, yeah, that brings back memories. And hilarity.
Honestly, I should have seen it coming. While Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet seems to be way behind other series in terms of popularity, I noticed that in several anime popularity ranks Romio, Juliet and the Romio x Juliet ship have been climbing silently but surely to the top.
Like Bunny Girl Senpai, I think part of the appeal is having a couple that start going out right at the beginning instead of dragging it forever.
Great to hear – thanks for letting us know!
Wow, if I am reading this correctly SAO has the lowest points I really like this title too. No surprise on Tensei shitara Slime datta ken but I am impressed it’s not better than SSSS.Gridman.
Maybe we should say Gridmen cause there is another Gridman.
RErideD is a trainwreck that magically concludes with a “happy ending for (almost) everyone”. While Donna’s subplot was quite interesting, it felt a bit out of place in the series’ greater narrative, like it was tacked on just to reach the 12 episode count. While nowhere near as bad as some shows I’ve finished watching, it’s not a series I can recommend to most people.
I’ve read somewhere that the story is loosely inspired by Robert Heinlein’s “A Door into Summer”, which also features a robotics engineer main character, a precocious loli, cold sleep, and time travel.
Why would anyone want to have a sit down with Lt Tsurumi? His entire thing is polite, charming, conversation that inevitably leads to you doing something evil. Even if you go in knowing that, he’ll just work that into his plans.
He’s quite simply a sociopath. The last thing you should do is have a coffee with him. Sooner or later You’d wake up somewhere next to a corpse with blood on your hands and the police beating on the door…
Yeah, but that would be one hell of a fascinating conversation.
You can read any of my posts on GK (and yes, I was one of the ones who voted for him), including this week’s, to understand that I harbor no illusions about the fact that he’s an evil psychopath. But I think you’re taking this a bit too seriously – it’s a fantasy question about a fantasy scenario. And Tsurumi, whatever else you want to say about him, is a fascinating and compelling fellow. I just can’t imagine that shared drink wouldn’t be pretty damn memorable.