Anime-Planet Secret Santa 2020

I'm really happy with my gift! I got anime and manga and everything looks interesting so I'll try to watch/read as much as I can.

Arte https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/arte
Poco's Udon World https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/pocos-udon-world
Children of the Whales https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/children-of-the-whales
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Kodocha https://www.anime-planet.com/manga/kodocha-sanas-stage
Heart no Kakurega https://www.anime-planet.com/manga/heart-no-kakurega
JK to Sutego no Akachan https://www.anime-planet.com/manga/jk-to-sutego-no-akachan

I'll probably start with Arte since I downloaded it a couple of weeks ago.
Thanks so much to my Secret Santa and NorthPole!

New update: I finished Kodocha and I loved it. I couldn't stop reading and that is something bad because I have to study for a final exam. It seems that my Santa really knows me and I have zero self-control so I'll stop watching/reading for a while.

About Kodocha: it had the right amount of funny moments and silly drama. I loved Sana and I loved her dynamics with Akito. If somebody has read it and liked it, I recommend Nekota no Koto ga Ki ni Natte Shikatanai (https://www.anime-planet.com/manga/nekota-no-koto-ga-ki-ni-natte-shikatanai).

Thanks a lot, Santa. I'll get on with the rest as soon as I can ♥
 
Hey Santa. Just giving you an update. I haven't started any of the picks other than the 1 manga I read already. As soon as I finish Hanasaku Iroha (Which is the long one I am currently watching) I will start My Love Story. Unfortunately it is the only one to fit on my current bingo card and the one that catches my attention the most. Not sure if I will have time to watch the other two but I will try!
 
Halfway through Tonkatsu DJ Agetarou, this is much more entertaining than I thought it would be

yeahbr.PNG
 
Hi santa!

I'm mad at you! :( You gave me such good recs but some are incomplete! Especially Me and the devil blues. I only found the raw ver of the last chapters so guess ill have to take a 5-year hiatus to learn Japanese and translate it. Sigh...

Regarding other things, I'm putting down for some time the other manga recs and focusing on finishing Popee the clown. Tbh when I first saw you recommended this I thought you got confused with another show because, it didn't seem what I asked for. Starting it I thought it was a wast of my time but I decide to push through and continue watching it. As crazy as it sounds to me, I'm on episode 22 and I kinda enjoy and look forward to watching it (???) This was one pleasant surprise! I'll probably finish it in a few days!

Thanks, Santa!
 
Halfway through Tonkatsu DJ Agetarou, this is much more entertaining than I thought it would be

yeahbr.PNG

Finished with this, it was short but sweet, as expected. I certainly didn't mind it, it was a nice series 9 minute episodes with a simple theme. Didn't overstay itself, and by the end I even found myself enjoying watching these characters be wacky DJ's. It had some chuckle-worthy moments like above too. And for a show like this I gotta say the MS paint esque artstyle didn't really take anything away from it.

6/10
 
Officially started, with Revolutionary Girl Utena. See, I find this simple art beautiful, in its own way, I can't really figure out the wording or reason to describe it though. Just nothing gets lost in each scene because it is easy to pick out each piece, comparable to how pixel games appeal. The character designs looked a bit odd at first, lol. The music so far is interesting, sounds good.

If I had to do a little guess work on this Santa, the anime was first on the list, and does seem like something girls would be far more likely to pick up than guys, although I like kinda girly stuff. Seeming to be familiar with retro stuff, I'd peg them around my age, or a few older.

I got word that the admission by the supposed first Santa may not be that person actually, so I'll do Asobi before Christmas.
 
From my Secret Santa i got Barakamon, Silver Spoon, Spice and Wolf (and Snow White with the Red Hair as a backup pick). December is going to be very busy for me but I will try my best to watch at least two of them (starting with Barakamon, which is also the only name on the list I knew beforehand). Thank you so much for your picks! I'm excited to watch them. Have a great month!!
ALRIGHT I finished Barakamon and I don't have anything bad to say about it XD. I laughed a lot while watching it and I loved the summer vibes. It was sweet and a lot of fun. And it had character development, unlike most feel-good animes. I really liked that. Thank you.
 
Hey santa. Started and finished Orange Marmalade today and found it wonderful. I read it in almost one sitting, so it had a good balance of suspense and cheerful good stuff. My opinion might be a little skewed by the fact that it made me tearful but not too anxious and I appreciate that. I was really waiting for the main character to be honest, but the suspense didn't distress me, which is a recent reason I don't finish things. I probably could analyze it more and do some sort of review, but I do that so much for school already. Overall, a very enjoyable read and surprisingly right in my recent hit box. You did good for not being great with manga.
(I did want to go through Chibi Vampire today too, but I only got a little way in cuz we had a Christmas tree party.)
 
hiya Santa,
I've now watched Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms and am very happy to report that I only spent 80% of the movie uncontrollably sobbing.... the other 20% was me trying to hold back the tears.... it is a fantastic movie and am very very VERY glad that you recommended it for me. I maaaay have to spend a while with a few up beat titles to cheer me up but the characters are great, the world that's built is very interesting, the messages that they push really hit close to home for me.

and with those two picks I think I have finished the recommendations I am able to watch suuuuuper big thank you to my wonderful Santa
 
Alright so I started Kitchen Princess (a manga pick) yesterday and I'll be reading it in my spare time today. I read the first few chapters last night and so far I'm not that impressed. I have seen this all done before, especially in this older art style, and so far it doesn't look like much. The main character is bland and boring, and she goes to school with two brothers who like her right now just because she can make flan....alright. However, this manga has a tragedy tag for some reason, and I could have never guessed that as a tag for this manga, so I am interested in how the 'traedgy' part is supposed to come into play here so I'll keep reading for now. This manga hasn't really made me feel much of anything yet, but I can appreciate how the manga knows what it is supposed to be, at least it's self aware it's full of cliches. (Also, the cooking part of this manga is incorporated well so I can appreciate that too).
 
My Sister Momoko was a decent movie. I haven't seen many movies do well with this subject matter, so I gotta get it props for that.
I can't sat it had enough substance for the ending to be worth it though, but it did tug on my heartstrings a little when everyone started singing, as it tends to do.
6/10
 
My Secret Santa’s picks:
1) Kaguya-Sama: Love is War
2) Konosuba
3) Mob Psycho 100

I’ve watched all three so be ready for a doozy. I’ll keep my reviews short!

Kaguya-Sama. This was in my Want to Watch list. I think I might have been overhyped for this one because everyone else was obsessed with it. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed it, but it somehow fell short of my expectations. I was expecting it to be my new anime obsession but ehhhh hey at least I obtained my newest Waifu Chika-Chan.

Konosuba. I mean, I’d heard of it before and so I thought yeah sure let’s try it. It’s cliche but I like how they make fun of themselves for it! Also the whole “choose your weapon” turns into “I choose to bring the Goddess with me” but then this Goddess turns out practically useless. Won’t watch again but it provided a night of entertainment!

Mob Psycho 100. Now I was certain I was going to hate this. The art style is not what I’d choose to sit through. Somehow, though, the story made me look past the artwork. And then all of a sudden I really enjoyed it! Finished seasons 1 & 2. Although I accidentally had a head start on Season 2 because five episodes into watching this show I realized it wasn’t Season 1. Oof. How did this even happen to me lol. I really enjoyed it nonetheless!! Might rewatch soon. This was my favorite pick :)
 
Sad truth is there's like a 50/50 chance of the recipient actually responding. Even if you volunteered to make recs for like a dozen people whose Santas flake out most likely only half of those would respond and the rest might not even bother to watch their recs at all. It's a gamble, unfortunately.
This is why I would recommend not announcing it sitewide next year, that way only people who are active on the forums and more likely to actually participate will join.
 
Great Pretender: Still really awesome, but there are moments (that I won't say for spoiler reasons) that have made me go "What the heck? Was that really necessary? O_o "

Real Girl: I liked the first episode, but the second had a certain scene in it that made me almost drop it...
Now, I generally try to go by the "3 episode" rule, (unless something is EXTREMELY bad in my standards, or has one of my big anxiety triggers) so I pushed on to episode 3, and it got better a little bit. However, I'm not exactly sure what to think of it as a whole, so far. There are certain aspects that I like, but the MC's love interest is so frustrating to me. >_<
 
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