Recently Watched 2026-05

A propos of nothing, here is a list of the animes I have watched this year so far. I usually watch one episode a day, during dinner.

The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity

Just finished watching this one. Sweet high school love story with very low stakes. The gimmick is that the two protagonists are from opposite schools that hate each other, but the real focus is on the internal emotional growth of the male protagonist. Nice, relaxing watch.

Ruri Rocks

Supposedly an anime about geology, but the first episode was 50% overlong explanations, 50% excessive fan service and bouncy physics, and no clear stakes for the story. So I decided to give it a pass.

Dandelion

There are angels that guide the dead to the next stage of their voyages. These angels are showa-era sarariman with airs of yakuza, and their "guidance" is shooting the ghosts on the head. This is a completely gonzo story that was really fun for me. Recommended if you don't worry too much about things making sense.

Gnosia

The Werewolf game on a spaceship. Apparently the anime is based on a game, and follows the story of that game pretty closely. Got a bit boring after a couple of episodes, so I didn't see it to the end.

Hell's Paradise

Your standard shounen anime with an extremely strong protagonist, his strong friends, and enemies that are just strong enough to give the protagonists pause for an episode or two. It is kinda cool that the enemies are plant based. The story is kinda confusing, but the anime is okay.

Oshi No Ko (Season 3)

The first season was really cool, but by now I'm watching out of inertia and to figure out how it is going to end. It is not bad, but not nearly as good as the first season.

Carmen Sandiego

Carmen Sandiego was a big part of my childhood, so I wanted to give this a try. Unfortunately, it is pretty boring, and I didn't make it past the first episode.

Beastars: Final Season

Beastars is a fun anime to think about. The characters are nice, and the world and the metaphors in the story are fun to juggle around in one's head. Unfortunately, in the later half of the season they tried to wrap-up everything really quickly, which gave me a rushed, unsatisfying feeling.

Frieren: Season 2

I like Frieren's premise, but I didn't like the first season at all (specially the magic school arc). Fortunately, the second season was much better, and fixed most of my problems with the first season. The anime is at its best when it focus on Frieren as a "Mother/Elder" overseen the next generation, rather than Frieren as a "Bad-ass Super Powerful Magician".

Love Through a Prism

A love story taking place in early 20th century England. The unique setting makes the story stand out. It was fun.

Gachiakuta

A standard shounen anime, with a super-powered young protagonist, different powered groups fighting each other, and a search across the world for the mac-guffin. It was fun, though, specially because of the setting - a world where rich people live on a floating island and throw their trash down, where the poor people scavenge for their living.

This Monster Wants to Eat Me

A young girl with suicidal ideation meets a sea monster who promises to eat her. This was a very unique an interesting story, specially the representation of the main character's psyche.

Tougen Anki

A warrior from an oni-fighting order gains the blood of the oni, and the ability to live forever. I always like when a story goes back and forth between generations. It was fun to see stories with similar characters at different stages of their life.

Stranger Things 5

It was okay. What I liked about the first season was the sense of mystery, and not knowing what the rules are. This one is more about the characters (and the audience) putting all the rules together to figure out how the characters will get to the end. Sure, I guess that is how late seasons go, but it made it feel like a different show for me.