What am I Watching? (Anime Spring 2019)

One Punch Man (Second Season)

I'm pretty excited to see the second installment of OPM. A lot of people in the anime community seem to be hoping to see the production of this show fail because the bar was set so high by the first season, the animation studio changed, the director changed, and the content being covered is not as exciting; however, I think that especially for a series like OPM, it is possible to still enjoy it while accepting all of these points. Even if the production quality isn't that great (I mean, ONE's art is horrible), its humor and colorful cast of characters are what truly make this series unique. It's also been bothering me that some critics of the show call it boring because of Saitama's overwhelming power, however these critics should keep in mind that OPM is a parody and that this series is so successful precisely because of this fact. I really love the characters and the premise of the series so I'll be eagerly following the episodes every week. 

Dororo (Leftover) 

Hyakkimaru, cursed as a baby because of a pact that his father made with demons, travels with his companion Dororo slaying demons and gradually recovering his senses and body parts. I personally enjoy the type of storytelling where each episode is its own story with a greater plot goal hanging gently in the background akin to that of Samurai Champloo and Michiko to Hatchin. Although compared to those masterpieces Dororo lacks compelling characters, great production quality, stimulating storytelling and charm, I definitely want to see the series through to the end. One thing that I appreciate is that the audience discovers each plot device at the same time as the characters and important plot points are not obviously spoonfed to us.

Kimetsu no Yaiba 

One of my favorite mangas, Kimetsu no Yaiba follows the journey of Tanjirou and his demon sister, Netsuko as they search for a way to turn Netsuko back into a human. I think the story and character development of the series is very strong and I'm really looking forward to seeing how well these points are capitalized and expanded on. Based on what I've seen, the animation style looks unique and with high production quality; I have high hopes for this series.

Fruits Basket 

I have absolutely no idea what this series is about other than that it's a shoujo romance, but it's been pretty hyped and I remember it being quite popular with my friends from my high school days so I feel obligated to hop on the hype train for this one. Not really digging the art style but the production quality didn't look terrible from the few gifs I saw on tumblr.

Senryuu Shoujo 

A peaceful shoujo piece based on the 4-koma manga of the same name where the main character, Yukishiro Nanako, communicates solely through senryuu (a type of haiku with three lines composed of 5-7-5 syllables). The manga scanlators preserved this in their translations which I was really impressed by, and I hope to see the same dedication in the anime translation (sadly not to be however).

Carole & Tuesday

A new series directed by one of my favorite directors, Shinichiro Watanabe (Samurai Champloo, Space Dandy, Cowboy Bebop, Zankyo no Terror, Sakamichi no Apollon). That's enough to motivate me to watch it.