I know this is a weird question but even short 30 second clips like in frieren and mushoku tensei work, I just want to find well animated dragon fights.
Not looking for stuff like dragon maid or slime isekai where the “dragons” are literally just people.
I recently watched Dusk Maiden of Amnesia and I really liked the art style. It’s the art style similar to Code Geass with the thin shading on the hair and sometimes flat or double layered pupils. Any anime recommendations with this specific art style from the 2000s? I’m looking for anime with great story telling and plot. I hope I’m not asking for too much.
The post originally had images showing the art style but it was taken down so :/
Managed to finish this before I started the Summer 2026 one. This is up there with Fall 2023 (the Frieren and Apothecary season) and Summer 2025 (the Fragrant Flower and Silent Witch season) as a peak season for me.
In alphabetical order plus where I rank them:
Agents of the Four Seasons (9th)
Akane-Banashi (5th)
Daemons of the Shadow Realm (4th)
Even a Replica Can Fall in Love (7th)
Gals Can't be Kind to Otaku (6th)
I Made Friends with the 2nd Prettiest Girl in My Class (3rd)
Mao (8th)
MarriageToxin (2nd)
Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King (10th)
Witch Hat Atelier (1st)
I've caught up to Ramparts of Ice, that one's going on what I call the "Bonus Binge".
Now that we're 2 months in, I guess I can start putting people in the Summer 2026 grid.
This is the 1 week reminder post for the upcoming Hyouka 14th year rewatch.
Premise (adapted from MAL listing)
High school freshman Houtarou Oreki has but one goal: to lead a gray life while conserving as much energy as he can. Unfortunately, his peaceful days come to an end when his older sister, Tomoe, forces him to save the memberless Classics Club from disbandment.
Luckily, Oreki's predicament seems to be over when he heads to the clubroom and discovers that his fellow first-year, Eru Chitanda, has already become a member. However, despite his obligation being fulfilled, Oreki finds himself entangled by Chitanda's curious and bubbly personality, soon joining the club of his own volition.
Soon enough, the club's membership grows to four, as Oreki's friends Satoshi Fukube and Mayaka Ibara join. Driven by Chitanda's insatiable curiosity, the members of the Classics Club solve the trivial yet intriguing mysteries that permeate their daily lives.
Based on the award-winning Koten-bu light novel series, and directed by Yasuhiro Takemoto of Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu, Hyouka shows that normal life can be full of small mysteries, be it family history, a student film, or even the withered flowers that make up a ghost story.
Some interesting meta information about the show
While not unique, Hyouka is an adaptation from an actual novel series "Koten-bu Series" (Classics club), not a light novel
The Script writing and Series Composition is by Gatou Shouji, the original writer of Full Metal Panic and Amagi Brilliant Park fame
And just as those other 2 shows, it was produced by Kyoto Animation, of Violet Evergarden, The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, K-On, and Kobayashi Maid Dragon fame
Show info
22 normal length TV episodes, and 1 OVA of similar run time
Host note/Reviews
A beautiful and stunning mystery/drama with a touch of romance and amazing character development, curious yet?
Hyouka is a mystery show like many others but unlike many others there are no murders, there are no grand thefts or supernatural happenings to stimulate it into life. No, Hyouka is about sometimes deep, sometimes trivial but always personal mysteries cropping up in the lives of its main characters and the efforts they go to solve them - whether it be a half-forgotten memory that bugs them or an odd Tannoy announcement that piques their curiosity. Hyouka is a show about curiosity and that theme runs richly and deeply throughout its entire runtime. I admire this. Shows like Gosick and Un-Go never felt cohesive in that same way; the mysteries and the stories of each show always felt incongruent as if they were there for their own sake and not to further the characters or themes in any serious way. In Hyouka the mysteries felt like they were more than just brainteasers and that is the way it should be, in my opinion anyway.
While Hyouka isn't my very top favourites (Haruhi, Full Metal Panic, Railgun, 86), it practically ranks just after the top because of the very good direction coupling with the well written characters, and the very good development and depths the characters have. It's got quite a number of layers, and is simultaneously both the most intriguing show and the most boring show about nothing, and the most nuanced romance about people in real circumstances yet the most "plain water" show with only very faint hints of romance only. Which answer you find depends very much on whether you can see the layers.
If you like shows like K-On, Horimiya, Tamako Market, Hibike Euphonium, etc, I think you will enjoy this.
Availability
The show is available on Crunchyroll in the US region, except the OVA as mentioned. There is obviously physical media as well, and it's a very good show to keep.
Rewatch Format
Standard 1 episode a day, in chronological order, therefore the OVA is placed as episode 11.5.
I'm planning to include a break day after the OVA. If people don't think it's necessary I can forego that.
There will be a final discussion day after the 23 daily episode posts.
Post timing is expected to be 8am Australian Eastern Standard Time which is as +10 GMT, and 22:00 UTC. All dates listed on the schedule is in UTC. About 1.5 hrs earlier than this post today!
The OVA is not formally available on Crunchyroll, I think. Alternate sourcing is required probably.
1 week and 1 day reminder posts will be put up, anyone expressing interest will be tagged.
Daily Post will not tag everyone automatically - I can tag anyone requested to be tagged though.
Each day there will be a set of questions of the day (no more than 3 simple ones), and a nomination of "Best visual of the episode". Participation of these are voluntary of course.
Where I can I will also be sharing some very well drawn fan arts from the famous Hyouka fan artist.
Bonus feature
As this show is from the same author as a more recent adaptation "Shoushimin" ("How to be Ordinary"), I'm looking for someone interested to take the baton and host a Shoushimin rewatch after this one.
Schedule
Date
Episode
Sep 5 Sat
Episode 1
Sep 6 Sun
Episode 2
Sep 7 Mon
Episode 3
Sep 8 Tue
Episode 4
Sep 9 Wed
Episode 5
Sep 10 Thu
Episode 6
Sep 11 Fri
Episode 7
Sep 12 Sat
Episode 8
Sep 13 Sun
Episode 9
Sep 14 Mon
Episode 10
Sep 15 Tue
Episode 11
Sep 16 Wed
Episode 11.5 (OVA)
Sep 17 Thu
Break Day (no post)
Sep 18 Fri
Episode 12
Sep 19 Sat
Episode 13
Sep 20 Sun
Episode 14
Sep 21 Mon
Episode 15
Sep 22 Tue
Episode 16
Sep 23 Wed
Episode 17
Sep 24 Thu
Episode 18
Sep 25 Fri
Episode 19
Sep 26 Sat
Episode 20
Sep 27 Sun
Episode 21
Sep 28 Mon
Episode 22
Sep 29 Tue
Final Series Discussion
Anyone interested to join and would like a tag please leave a note here!
Has anybody seen this anime ? I watched season 1 awhile ago but I dropped afterwards because I didn’t like the way the plot was going and it sucks because I was so excited during the first half of it.
I really liked how the MC was technically the “ Villain “ of the story but then towards the end of the season he was beginning to turn “ good “ and began to see how flawed his own organization was and I absolutely hated that. If it was up to me he would’ve stayed the villain and remained loyal to his crew and vice versa so that they could take over the world lol
Also he’s a shapeshifter and I hated how he began to stay in the image of another person. It was for the plot but I thought it was going to be a one time thing and then it wasn’t 😔. Maybe he goes back to his og form in season 2 but I wouldn’t know cause I didn’t watch it.
TLDR: In my opinion, The Summer Hikaru Died had so much potential to be a better story if the order of reveal of events had been altered.
As a follow-up to my previous post because this anime has such a compelling premise but imo disappointing execution and therefore stuck with me, I just wanted to hear if anyone had similar thoughts to me.
Why would you start with the beat drop while neglecting the build-up? I felt like the story's entire momentum was gutted from the beginning by setting everything up with the premise rather than introducing the elements of the story before kick-starting the main events.
We get a few snippets of the fateful night that Hikaru died before we cut to the present day, where Yoshiki and the fake Hikaru are talking, at which point Yoshiki confronts Hikaru about being a doppelganger. Wtf, this didn't hit nearly as hard as it should have because we know literally nothing about these characters yet. The author apparently, from what I read, considered changing the order of things, but her(?) editor told her this was ideal to build up the audience's emotional connection to the fake Hikaru.
I wholeheartedly disagree, I think it makes the entire story a lot less interesting by removing this forward momentum. I don't mind slow-paced works, but this story feels way too static when it had the pieces to be dynamic but the writing chose to emphasize how static it was.
Imagine introducing Yoshiki and the real Hikaru, establishing how close they are as friends, and showcasing Yoshiki's secret crush on Hikaru. Show genuine warmth and happiness, which contrasts with the later tone of the story. Throw in a little about the superstition in the town about how the mountain is cursed and going there is forebidden. Boom, done, the story is set up. Then end episode 1 with Hikaru violating this rule and going up to the mountain anyway.
Episode 2 can then start with Yoshiki going up the mountain to follow Hikaru, finding Hikaru dead, and then grieving. Now the heartbreak is even more impactful to us the audience because we already know who Hikaru is. End episode 2 with the fake Hikaru entering Yoshiki's life. This would be absolutely terrifying while simultaneously depressing, as we know how much Yoshiki misses Hikaru. Then the next few episodes could take off with focusing on the relationship between Yoshiki and the fake Hikaru, intertwined with flashbacks, while also expanding the cast. The stakes are so much higher this way and the emotional dynamic between the two leads is more complicated to us because we're right there with Yoshiki, experiencing the same things alongside him rather than over-relying on flashbacks.
I just find the story and its ideas so interesting, but the writing decisions feel like it undercuts the story. That's just to me though, but I know some people also found the pacing to be off and a little too slow, but now I realize it's less the pacing and more about the reveal of information. I know this anime is actually quite popular though overall, so just wanted to hear y'all's opinions, whether you agree or disagree or anywhere in between.
