2023 Winter Anime Season Impressions: Volume 2 - Renegade Animation #95
Captain Kaye, The Animation Guru, and Teresa have some unfinished business to do, as they discuss the rest of Winter 2023's new anime offerings. These are the titles filed under Fantasy/Isekai and Miscellaneous.
What’s going on, everyone? This is your Captain speaking, and it’s time to talk about more anime! I’ve got good news, and bad news. The bad news is that, as you may have noticed in our previous episode, this season was overflowing with isekai. The good news is that they weren’t all terrible! In fact, I’d go as far as to call some of them genuinely great. Tune into the podcast to hear our full discussion, but keep reading if you want to see the panel’s collective top 5 recommendations from this batch (in alphabetical order)!
Buddy Daddies
So, imagine if someone put Big Daddy in a blender with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or other Shane Black action comedies, and that’s how I would describe Buddy Daddies. I know people are comparing this one to Spy x Family, and while I get the similarities on a surface level, they’re actually significantly different. Found family stories come with endless possibilities, but what they all have in common is that the end goal is for our main protagonists to undergo a change for the better.
Campfire Cooking in Another World with my Absurd Skill
Can you believe this is not only Mappa’s first isekai, but one that blows everything else out of the water? Well, there are a couple reasons for that. First, this show is appealing to just about anyone, but it feels especially targeted towards foodies like myself and the rest of the panel. Instead of this being your typical power fantasy with a generic black-haired protagonist, it’s a lot more subversive. Fair warning, I wouldn’t recommend watching this on an empty stomach, as you will definitely crave each deliciously animated meal that Mukohda cooks up!
Kaina of the Great Snow Sea
It shouldn’t feel this refreshing to have an original high fantasy anime that DOESN’T set its story in a vaguely European kingdom, yet here we are. I may not always be the biggest fan of Polygon Pictures, but they pulled out all the stops for this anime. It has great Ghibli-esque world building, an endearing ensemble cast of characters, and some of the best music I’ve heard all season composed by the ever awesome Kohta Yamamoto and Misaki Umase.
The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady
Isekai is not a derogatory word, it’s simply a subgenre of fantasy that happens to be very popular right now. And much like superhero movies, the only way to ensure its longevity is to continue pushing the envelope. That’s exactly what makes Magical Revolution so great, it pushes all sorts of envelopes, from its sapphic love story to all the political intrigue as a result of our protagonists studying magicology. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this anime going in, but now I can say with confidence that it belongs in the top 5!
Revenger
I can’t think of a version of this list that does NOT include Revenger! This is an anime that almost directly appeals to my taste. It’s a period piece action thriller about a group of mercenaries who “sell” revenge to those with the deepest desire, and it’s awesome! Because of the air of mystery surrounding certain characters, I probably shouldn’t say any more, and just let you experience this for yourselves.
That concludes this season’s anime impressions! Thank you for joining us, and stay tuned for our annual Renegade Animation awards coming soon!
