I used to think that I was too busy, and then I went and had a kid. Now I truly know the meaning of not having the time I want to indulge in my various extracurriculars (right now my spouse is out with the baby so I can have some time to myself, and I still spent the first hour of this precious time taking care of house chores instead of settling down to write – I have problems). Along those same lines, the thought of trying to keep up with several seasonal anime series like I’ve done in the past is truly laughable, and I haven’t been current with very many anime series over the last several seasons at least. I’m sure some of you out there reading can share in my frustration.
Luckily, there’s good anime out there for people in our situation. While I definitely won’t be digging into anything of the magnitude of One Piece any time soon (or ever), I know of plenty of bite-sized anime treats to enjoy while carving out some precious free time in between other obligations. I’ll be sharing some of my favorites over several upcoming posts, to hopefully provide something of a lifeline for others just looking for a quick fix rather than something that would take half a lifetime to watch.
Please note: while I encourage folks to seek out official sources for these titles (I’ll be listing availability as appropriate) not everything may have an official US release. Unfortunately, this is simply the nature of being a long-time anime fan who’s watched various series become more and less available over time.
Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan
Episodes: 4
Availability: Streaming on Netflix and available on disc from VIZ in the US
While the primary Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure anime franchise currently sports a whopping 190 episodes over 6 parts, this episodic OVA series starring Rohan, a favorite character from part 4, Diamond is Unbreakable, retains some of the main series’ essential “Jojo-ness” while exploring various stand-alone stories outside the primary continuity. In the OVA series, Rohan, who is said to be something of a stand-in for manga series author Hirohiko Araki, travels the world searching for artistic inspiration, and while doing so encounters several unusual and occasionally spooky (or borderline horrific) situations.
I can imagine that individuals without any familiarity with the primary JoJo storyline might be hesitant to pick this up without that context, and I get that; what I’ll say is that my first encounter with the JoJo’s franchise (aside from many memes based on the older OVA adaptation of Part 3 – Stardust Crusaders) was the one-shot manga Rohan at the Louvre, which was part of a commissioned series involving international comic artists creating stories focused on the Louvre museum in France. Reading that outside of its broader context wasn’t particularly challenging, because Rohan’s character is so unique and striking that he can carry the narrative on his own. I also happened to show an episode of this to a friend who’d never seen any of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and he enjoyed it enough to want to watch the main series, so take that how you will.
Content Notes: These episodes tend to have an overall more serious tone that other JoJo’s anime series, which makes the violent aspects stand out more. In particular, there are some fairly bloody scenes that are worth being prepared for.
Planetarian
Episodes: 5 (of varying lengths less than a half-hour each)
Availability: Streaming on Crunchyroll and available on disc from Funimation/Crunchyroll
This series takes place in a bleak post-apocalyptic future and follows a man known only as “The Junker” whose job is mainly to search the destroyed bits of remaining civilization for scrap while dodging hostile robots. He happens to find an abandoned mall which houses a (now non-functional) planetarium, along with its android hostess, Yumemi, who continues to go through the motions of presenting her planetarium show. The Junker begins to feel an emotional connection to Yumemi and the memories of what the planetarium used to be before civilization fell, and so uses his expertise to fix the planetarium and allow Yumemi to fulfill her purpose before she finally expires.
This series features my favorite kind of post-apocalypse – one which is deeply melancholy but features moments of bittersweetness that cut through the bleakness and pessimism. I think it’s easy to look at some of the things going on in our world today, especially in regards to long term negative environmental impact and the unknown implications of where we’re headed with AI technology, and assume the worst of what’s to come. And heck, things might end up pretty bad at some point, who knows? But I also believe that humans are humans, and part of that humanity is based on our ability to emotionally-connect with each-other, as well as non-human entities, and I think that this series exemplifies that. There’s not really a “happy ending” here, so much as there’s a very satisfying emotional climax that speaks to this type of emotional connection.
Content Notes: This series contains some moments of violence between the human main character and hostile robots.
Tokyo Marble Chocolate
Episodes: 2
Availability: No official release in the US yet, but European distributor Anime Limited has announced a North American collectors edition release of this and other titles.
Love can be complicated, as exemplified by the relationship between the two main characters of this OVA, Chizuru and Yuudai. While the two of them most definitely have feelings for each-other, they’re both having a tough time actually expressing that sentiment out-loud and are also carrying around the baggage of past failed relationships. When their relationship reaches a crossroads, the situation is thrown into chaos by the presence of a mischievous mini-donkey.
This charming little two-part OVA tells the same comedy-of-errors love story twice, once from Chizuru’s point-of-view, and once from Yuudai’s. They’re best viewed in close succession to one-another, as there are several sight-gags that are funnier contextually from having seen them occur from the other perspective in the prior episode. What originally drew me to this OVA back when I first encountered it back in 2008-ish(!) was the dreamy visual style and great animation, provided by Production I.G. (this anime was a 20th anniversary project for the studio).
Content Notes: Nothing too extreme for this one, thankfully!
The Orbital Children
Episodes: 6
Availability: Streaming on Netflix
In the near future, when orbital space travel has become… perhaps not commonplace, at least common enough that it’s been mildly commercialized by this series’ version of Google, three children arrive to a newly-opened space hotel where two of their lunar-born counterparts currently live. Soon after their arrival, the orbiting station is threatened by a wayward comet that soon starts to demonstrate a will of its own.
AI is a hot topic at the moment. Though the artificial intelligence of our time seems mainly used to cobble together poorly-written school essays and artwork straight out of the uncanny valley, I personally have no doubt that at some point we may create some algorithm that gains sentience. What I like about The Orbital Children, from the same creator as Dennou Coil (my number one favorite anime series), is that its vision of what AI can be maintains a balance between threatening and inquisitive (at the very least, the “antagonist” of the series is only such due to its entirely alien way of thinking). I find that it can be easy to assume the worst of new technology (I do it all the time) and while I definitely have my apprehensions about what AI is being used for in our time, I like to think that ultimately the future is more Star Trek than it is Blade Runner.
This series also has some fun bonus Easter eggs for those of us who are fans of Dennou Coil (also available on Netflix), so definitely worth checking out if you’re already a fan.
Content Notes: Mild nudity, medical trauma
Gakuen Handsome
Episodes: 12 (3 minutes apiece) plus a 1-episode OVA
Availability: Streaming on Crunchyroll
Baramon Private Academy is an elite boys school where our nameless protagonist encounters a bevy of handsome classmates who show him the way of handsome, all while narrowly avoiding grave injury to one-another from their exceedingly sharp chins.
I always say that humor is one of the most difficult genres to get right, mostly because so much of what “hits” as a punchline is viewer-dependent. So of all the recommendations here, this one may be the most controversial, but I for one loved it. The series is a parody of BL dating sim games, though as the episodes progress it becomes more and more unhinged. It has a purposely “handmade” look to it (yes, those razor sharp chins and the homebrew animation style are completely by design) which only adds to the experience. Yes, this is total trash, but purposefully-so, so if you have a tolerance level for off-the-rails genre parody for its own sake, this might be good for some quick laughs.
Content Notes: Some of the humor is a bit sexual assault-y.