As is currently tradition, the summer drought is here. Sort of, depending on who you are. There are a good bit of anime still airing if you are watching recurring series like Overlord or series that are still leftover from spring like Summer Time Rendering. However if you’re skipping out on those? God damn there’s a ton of trash to shift through. Thankfully that means my watchlist is rather low this time around and won’t take half a day to write up or for you all to read.

Rent A Girlfriend Season Two

Let me be abundantly clear, this is one of the worst anime of all time, at least in the writing department. I have never seen a MC so hateable combined with hateable love interests combined with a plot that moves at the pace of a dying snail traveling the deserts of Africa. This may well go down in my history book as a pinnacle of how bad anime can get before outright turning into something like Ex-Arm. The only reason I’m leaving impressions here is because Kinky and I are watching this together to make fun of it, and also to make sure Season Two didn’t somehow turn things around. Well so far it’s just as shit as before, possibly even more so as you watch these buffoons continue to dick around and not develop. Not recommended for anyone, at any time, at any place.

RWBY: Ice Queendom

Unfortunately I was only able to catch the first episode so far as this is another “watching with Kinky” series. However, I think the first episode did a good job of showcasing exactly what this franchise has always been. The fights? Captivating, brilliant, fluid, weighty, and overall a joy to behold now in the 2D format with some hype ass music playing in the background. The writing? Messy, paced weird, all over the place, and stilted. If I hadn’t already watched RWBY, I may have little to no clue what was happening in the first episode as it was often jumping around. Long story short, if you've been waiting to see some bussin’ ass writing transform the series and take it to the next level, this probably isn’t going to be it. However, if you’ve been in it for the action and always will be, so far this anime is delivering on that front. We’ll see how it keeps that up over the course of the season.

Bucchigire!

This anime has most things going for it. The setup is pretty interesting: a group of criminals are rounded up by the shogunate. They are given the choice to either join the shogunate and serve the country or be killed on the spot. The criminals join for different reasons and now must work together to serve the shogun’s wishes. God damn sign me up. Plus it has a unique little artstyle going on? Let’s fucking do this! Huh? Do you hear that? It sounds like…. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I’M GONNA BE THE BEST SAMURAI EVER! I WILL AVENGE MY FAMILY AND DEAL WITH MY TRAGIC PAST!!! IT’S ME, EVERY ANIME MC EVER WHO YELLS SUPER LOUD ALL THE TIME! So far there are two characters in this anime that are a disgrace. The MC is the classic loud, dumb, annoying idiot whose only goal is the one dimensional aspiration of being the best samurai and avenging their parents. I hate him, and he could die in the next episode and I’d be relieved. The other bland character is his rival, Sasuke, oh sorry I mean his rival, Edgy Emo Blue Haired Killer who contrasts the MC as his past is EVEN DARKER and that’s why he is an EDGY samurai, because the darkness is too strong to resist. Now when Naruto and Sasuke aren’t on screen bickering, I’m actually having a good time. The other criminal characters are much more interesting to watch work for the shogunate in their little unique ways. So far I’m planning on sticking with this anime as I’m interested to see where the story goes and I like the majority of the cast, it just sucks that the members of the cast I don’t like are seemingly the main two and thus on screen often.

Biscuit Hammer

To my understanding, despite the outlandish name, this manga series is one of the best ever made. A true classic that’s had a big impact on the industry. Well, someone must have not gotten the memo because this adaptation is pretty terrible so far. I’m not one to complain about animation most of the time. It’s rare that it’s so bad it completely detracts from the experience for me. But this? This is some truly horrible, lazy, bland ass animation on the table. The only saving grace of this adaptation is the characters and even then they can get pretty tiring as we’ve got our MC with a classic tragic past that’s so tragic it’s hard to relate to and the other female MC who wants to destroy the world. Yeah alright, the second one is a curveball and pretty much the sole reason I’ve managed to stick with the anime so far. This is one where I’m waiting for any excuse to come along so I can drop it once and for all. I sure hope it either improves soon or I grow a backbone and drop it, but sometimes it can be hard to let go of something that is supposed to resemble a classic because you keep thinking “maybe next week I’ll understand why this is highly regarded”.

Call of the Night

This anime is certainly… something. You better be able to tolerate slow pacing if you want to pick it up as after three episodes almost nothing has happened. The story is about a boy who needs to fall in love with a vampire so that he can become one himself and escape normal society. Somehow despite the snail pacing I’m not having a bad time with this anime, I’m just having an empty time. If this were a busier season for me I would have probably already dropped this alongside other anime I’ve picked up, but since it’s so bone dry it hasn’t been an issue keeping up with mediocre selections. I don’t really know what to say in order to share first impressions and help you determine whether to try it out or not. I guess if you have extra free time and want a calm anime where you can shut your brain off, then this perfectly fits the bill so far. Just don’t expect, well, anything of merit to happen for a while.

Lycoris Recoil

HOLY SHIT WAKE UP! A good anime has finally arrived! While I’m watching everything I previously mentioned, this is the only anime that I look forward to watching each week. The premise is basically a Gunslinger Girls anime that’s more lighthearted. The animation is clean, the fights while short are choreographed in interesting ways, the characters are ACTUALLY developing and changing over time. It’s like someone gave a shit or something. This show isn’t without danger however. In the latest episode, a new villain arrives whose vibe can only be described as a Walmart Joker and he’s scaring me very much that he’ll be the weak point of this series. Another mindless “HAHAHA LET ME SHOW THE WORLD THAT SOCIETY IS WACK BY MASS MURDER HAHAHAHAA WHY SO SERIOUS”. On the bright side it seems that other villains are at play too, one of whom seems way more cunning and with a grander purpose. Still, even with the threat of poorly written villians on the horizon this show is the most enjoyable watch for me this season and I’d recommend anyone interested to give it a try.

Well while everyone else enjoys The Devil Is A Part Timer, Overlord, and Classroom of the Elite, I guess I’ll be in my corner with Lycoris Recoil and the other lesser anime I’ve started. Man, sometimes it sucks getting into anime late. If I’d had more time on my hands I’d go catch up with those series and join in on the fun, but alas it’s not the case. What anime are you watching this summer? Which ones did you drop, and what did you stick with? Is there an anime I missed that’s awesome this season? Wipe off your sweat, stay hydrated, and say hello to summer anime 2022 in the comments below!