Summer 2022 Anime Awards

Hey guys! The Summer 2022 Anime Season has officially come to a close this week and I have to say that this season was a bit rough cause I don't know if I really enjoyed any show more than a bit other than maybe one.

(Original) Anime Of The Season

Call Of The Night is my pick for the anime of the season. I really was shocked at how much I ended up enjoying this show cause honestly other than Case Study Of Vanitas, I haven't been all that fond of any vampire animes that I've watched recently. I went into this hoping that at least I'd get a cute-ish romance and luckily I got that and more. I love the way this show portrays the night and I love the relationship between our leads. The environment is something that can only exist in Japan given how dangerous it is in most other countries to be out and about in the middle of the night but it also plays with our fantasies of wanting to be vampires and live without any expectations. I love watched our leads go from strangers to friends to lovers!

Runner Up - The Yakuza's Guide To Babysitting

Hidden Gem 

My Isekai Life: I Gained A Second Character Class And Became The Strongest Sage In The World is my pick for hidden gem of the season and really I was torn between this one and a few more but since I'm isekai trash why not go with this one?? I know that this show and Black Summoner are basically the same show copy and pasted with a few changes here and there but something about this one spoke to me more than the other! I think if you're in comedy then this is the one for you cause I live for the voices that are given to the slimes and Proud Wolf. I also find it completely hilarious that our lead is somehow who does not care a bit about the world's politics or story and really only ever gets involved indirectly when it helps him find food or peace. 

Runner Up - Fuuto Pi

Best Sequel 

Made In Abyss Season 2 is definitely the best sequel of this season because I just find the world of this show so fascinating. I love that we have no idea why the world of this show is the way that it is or who our main characters even are or what keeps them alive physically. So many shows and movies feel a need to spoon feed us exposition but here we get piece by piece as the characters do. Each progressive episode and in turn season takes us to a darker and darker world as if the depth of the Abyss is pulling out more darkness inside. I am so emotionally attached to our main trio but the thing this show does so well on top of that is make you care about new characters that appear as well making you wish that they would join our journey south.

Runner Up - Overlord Season 4

Greatest Animation/Character Design

Call Of The Night had the best animation this season and really it's so competition. The color palette, art direction, character design, and sweeping backgrounds take your breath away as you watch and there is no way anyone who sees an image of this show wouldn't recognize it immediately which is another sign that the animation is special.

Runner Up - Yurei Deco

Best OP 

Daten by Creepy Nuts from Call Of The Night is the best OP of the season. It's upbeat and jazzy and totally makes you wanna dance like a vampire!

Runner Up - Hollow Hunger by OxT from Overlord Season 4

Protagonist(s) Of The Season

Momonga from Overlord Season 4 is my protagonist of the season cause I absolutely adore the fact that Momonga is so different from the typical isekai protagonist! We also hear about how good villains think they're the heroes of their story but this is the first time we actually see that on screen cause Momonga is truly the villain in this world! He does not care about humans or their lives outside of how they help or hinder him and he's ready to torture, kill, or manipulate them at a moment's notice. Despite that I also love that he has such a love for his old comrades and that he desperately looks for the day that he finds them again. It's also so fun that his subordinates are so loyal and that he's kind of a bumbling fool in terms of leading them but that he hides it so well that everyone he meets thinks he's playing 4D chess with them!

Runner Up - Chisato Nishikigi from Lycoris Recoil

Antagonist(s) Of The Season

The shadows from Summer Time Rendering are my antagonists of the season cause honestly there weren't that many villains for me to choose from. Having said that, I'm not saying that the shadows are nothing cause actually the shadows are totally terrifying in their own right and I loved watching our heroes slowly uncover what they were. The fact that their goal is to return home gives them a bit of complexity which prevents the audience from just seeing them as tools and I love how intelligent they are given that they have been planning this for decades and decades. Our heroes lost to them so many times and in so many different ways that it really shows how terrifying the shadows are!

Runner Up - Class C from Classroom Of The Elite Season 2

Ship Of The Season

Nanakusa Nazuna and Yamori Kou from Call Of The Night are my ship of the season cause I loved the way the two balanced each other out! I think the best couples in media are the ones that fit the opposites attract trope and that's what we get here. Kou is quiet and broody and so unsure of himself while Nazuna is outgoing and flighty when we first met them but after spending time together Kou was able to gain more confidence in himself while Nazuna was able to get more serious. I love that they are each other's first loves and that they learn not only to grow together but also what's important for themselves.

 

Runner Up - Kofune Ushio and Ajiro Shinpei from Summertime Rendering

And with that I'll see you all in the Fall 2022 Season!! Here's hoping that we get a better crop to choose from!

xoxo Allie