The ZONE Podcast: Nerdy News and Reviews

Anime Lightning #6 (Spring 2026): Hitmen & Villainesses

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Twelve shows. One Spring 2026 anime lineup. I’m moving fast, but I’m not hand-waving anything. I break down what each series is actually trying to do, what makes it click or fall flat, and the score I land on after weighing pacing, characters, comedy, action, and overall replay value.

We start with a villainess otome game twist that’s way smarter than it needs to be, especially because the story runs through the crown prince’s point of view and turns “scheming” into accidental charm. From there, I hit a creative drama about art, ambition, and messy choices, then jump into an otaku school comedy where two “gals” flip the usual stereotype on its head. If you’re hunting for Spring 2026 anime recommendations, I call out the shows that feel bingeable right away versus the ones that only work if you love the niche.

The season also gets wild: an elite assassin gets turned into a middle schooler, a detective literally respawns every time he dies, and a poison master ends up on the strangest mission possible: finding a wife. I also get into time travel regret stories, reincarnation power systems with darker themes, isekai utility builds, and a villainess-to-savior route that throws real political stakes into the mix. If you want quick guidance on what to watch next plus a few takes you can argue with, hit play, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review with your top pick for Spring 2026.

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- J.B.

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Welcome To Anime Lightning

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What up, gang? It's JB in the Zone Podcast back at it again with anime lightning. It is the spring 2026 lineup, and I got 12 entries this time. I am gonna try to get through them as quick as possible. So let's zone in.

Villainess Romance From The Prince

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Starting with an observation log of my fiance who calls herself a villainous. Uh Bertia is reincarnated to her favorite Otoman game, not as the heroine, but as the villainous engaged to the perfect Crown Prince Cecil. Fully aware that her role is to sabotage his future romance, she's determined to bloom as a wicked flower and wither away according to the story. But no matter how hard she tries to scheme, her evil plans only make her more endearing. Cecil, who is very intelligent but numb to emotions, becomes interested in his fiancee Tia. Thinking she is simply crazy at first, Cecil plays along until events that Tia foretold began happening as she said. Because of what appears to be psychic power, Cecil decides to take more interest in her and listen to Tia's quote-unquote ramblings. See, here's the funny thing. What made me want to watch this one is that while Tia is playing a role that she's given, this psychopathic prince is sitting there like, how can I reach her hard? What can I how can I better understand her as he tries really hard to ruin his life? See, Cecil is known as the android prince who suffers from a hereditary mental disorder that leaves him somewhat a psychopath, is not consistent with each generation but randomly manifests via optimism. His father told him that the only way to feel love is to find the right person who can interest him and bring joy. Ironically enough, it turns out to be Tia instead of the heroine due to her bizarre behavior. He was a popular love interest of the atonement game, uh, which is why Tia keeps trying to make herself look less appealing to him to get their engagement annulled. Though Cecil finds her new ideas interesting and chooses to stick with her. The story is shown from his point of view. And Tia's reason for continuing the role as a villainist that the original Bertia held is because in the original Tomate game, Heronia was the heroine who could choose between Cecil or his ace, which includes court gang, Charles, Nerd, or Bard, or in one special case, all five of them. In Cecil's route, he finds happiness being with Heronia. By contrast, any route that wasn't Cecil's ended with the country going to war or suffering the after-effects of war and Cecil being assassinated. Corkant's route uh going missing, which is Charles Root, running away, which is Sean's route, uh, being a recluse, which is nurse route, or become a warmonger, which is Bart's route. She believes that the country could be at peace and Cecil will find happiness only if he paired with Heronia. However, as a result, she is stubborn and at times inestly insensitive to Cecil's feelings towards her, especially as he is disgusting and wants nothing to do with the current Heronia, who is notably nothing like the kind, work, hardworking girl of the original Otoman game, as the current Heronia is also a reincarnator from Bertia's original world. Uh through Bertia's influence, uh, while she he fundamentally does not change to the person, he is kinder and much more considerate of those around him as he takes his duties as Crown Prince seriously. He also manages to care about his family and remain close to friends with all his aides, and uh he does care about their happiness as well. He also deeply loves Bertia, and while he worries about her impulse of actions, he resolves himself to let her do as she pleases while ensuring no one will harm her with the support of both her friends and family because of her antics never ceased to amuse him and bring color to his previously dull life. Now, uh man, there was like a lot of notes I had for this one, honestly. But uh honestly, I'm gonna try to get through him as fast as possible. Like I said, so Berthia, like I said, she was born as the villainous, and I pretty much covered her for the most part, and as her part of uh let me see if there's anything that I didn't mention about her. Mainly, she's like kind and a little clumsy, and that makes her a little endearing, and that caused it to have um some fans. She got this outgoing, straightforward nature that makes her popular. That she has a fan club that manages to garner fans outside the country. And despite her obliviousness, uh, she does have this natural talent of organizing information in books, which comes in handy for Cecil, who corrects future issues behind her back with said information. This talent later allows her to write popular tour guides and after her marriage, wedding magazines that are so popular that she gets acts to organize weddings for the royalty of other countries. Unknown to Tia, she has contracted a spirit of darkness, who she named Kuro, due to the fact magic wasn't in the original game. Doubling her ignorance is that her spear only appears in the form of a child due to Tia never staying awake along at night. Dark spirits are weak during the day, thus, Tia spending most of her time being active during the day indirectly prevents her spear from gathering power at night. So, yeah. That's something to know. Now, last character I'm gonna talk about is Haronia. Now, she's supposed to be heroin of the game, and while the original Heronia of the Otoma game was a kind soul and a hard worker, the current one is selfish and a fellow reincarnator who feels entitled to Cecil's and the others' uh capture target affections. She enacts the roots from the original game and remains delusional, not recognizing that the world and the people are real and the world has changed from the Oturn game. As a result, she frequently antagonizes Bertie and father Cecil and the other capture targets uh slash love interest of the original game. Her only true friend is Pichon, the light spirit who takes the form of a bird and helps her by using this ability to brainwash others. She's forced to realize the error of her ways when Pichon dies in his attempts at help Haronia. And after her actions are exposed and she was forced to become uh become a nun and go into a monastery, she chooses a dangerous one in the north as there is hope that she can resurrect Pichon, her one-known friend, if she goes there. So, yeah. Uh on a personal note, this anime has me chuckling and smiling from cheekbone to cheekbone with how hilarious the comedy is. It's also beautifully colored in design with a great English dub cast between Blade Matt Namara, uh Kelly Greenfield, and Tom Aguilio as Zeno, Cecil's spirit disguised as a butler. The drama is really good with the facial expressions accurately reflecting the emotions flaring. And also, there's magic in the series. The plot gets really interesting when Cecil, quote unquote, dies and begins to go through multiple routes of reincarnation, like a video game character dying and starting over again. This anime is greater than I expected. So I give it an 8.5 out of 10.

Art Ambition And Old Scars

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Next anime, we got Erin the Southpaw. Now, as high school reaches its midpoint, Koichi Asapura, who dreams of studying design at art school, has his plans shaken by explosive graffiti on a museum wall. The artist is Aaron Yamagishi, a left-handed girl who buried her talent after a past incident. Drawn together by art, Koichi pursues design as Eren returns to painting. But fear, ambition, but excuse me, but fear, ambition, and old scars right in their patents. Ah yes, another anime highlighting a skill that I admire. And this time I'm gonna make this one really quick. On a personal note, this anime is decent if you like shows that center around a certain workplace with some impressive character designs and insight on the art industry, while our protagonist is the typical insecure type that seems to go with the flow of the plot with our title character, Aaron, goes against the grain and inspires Yoichi to do better while serving as a phantom up to his inspiration. The craziest part is how to do was clearly being used by a woman, and he was acting clueless before and after both of them cheated on their partners. Even tried getting closer to her, but she kept shutting down his advances because she'd rather be a beautiful memory to someone than for them to get close and be disillusioned by the reality of her. Which doesn't surprise me when it comes to idols and celebrities. Actually, with a lot of people, honestly. There's just a reason why people say not to meet your heroes. And I do love the takeaway that you don't have to be anyone special as long as you do what you love, and the fruits of your labor would hopefully be something that you can look back on with pride. Yoichi is an average man trying to be exceptional, while Aaron is an exceptional woman that wanted to be normal, both inspiring each other when they least expect it. Also, the music is pretty good in the right moments. Yeah, I would say it's a 7.5. Yeah, 7.5 out of 10. It's more than passable. It's like it's good, it's good, it's pretty good. I really like this one. Excuse me. On this water.

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Okay.

Otaku Bonds With Two Gals

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Now, next anime, we got gals can't be Kacho Taku. Takuyoseo is a Kwayo Taku who keeps a low profile at school until two gals from his class start talking to him. The cool but scatterblane uh excuse me, scatterbrain K Amane and uh cheerful, energetic. I'm sorry, these names gonna have me tongue tie. Uh couldn't be more different, but the three soon bond over anime, games, and shared fandom. But one question remains do nice gals who hang out with otaku really exist? Okay, so first of all, this immediately reminds me of my first girlfriend is a gal, which I might review in the future after re-watching it because I did watch before. Where the protagonist is surprised that girls like him uh don't mind uh girl, uh, you know, girls that dress uh I mean let's try to stay. I'm gonna put it like it's like you know, popular girls, you know, girls that really stand out like in an outgoing way. That's what I meant. He's surprised that oh, girls like them don't mind associating with a guy like him. And that's why, bro, uh trust me, I learned that lesson at some point to where insecurity is a silent killer for sure. There's decent art style, animation, and music selection in this anime. The thing about Takuya here is that he likes anime that is marketed to girls, like magical girls. But my thing is he's in the right ballpark to make friends where girls wear niche like that. I mean, hell, I can say that because I'll be honest, I fuck with the following anime. Uh Sailor Moon, Car Captain Soccer, Madoka Magica, Grand Bell, Winx Club, uh, which, you know, W-I-T-C-H, it was I. Uh I'm gonna be watching Magic Knight Ray Earth, and I watched a lot of rom-coms and female-centric series. So, on a personal note, although I hate how on the note it is about his premise, it is fairly funny, and especially with the phrasings Amane has for things, and how uh Kotoko uh is the homie coming in and clutch from time to time. The pacing feels like it's two or three short episodes mashed together into one standard length episode where events progress a little faster than what you'd expect from a 12-episode season anime. I like both Amana and Ichiji. Uh excuse me, uh that's uh is E. Gigi. Yes, EGG. Uh I like both of them in both design and personality, which is why I can understand Tokue's hesitation to admit which one is more his type. You know, they were both teased and talking about uh so which one of us is more your type? And then I said I'm like, shit, not gonna lie, fam. I don't blame you. Cause like I can't understand, like they both have a certain style that's like attractive in its own right. As I keep watching, I find myself slightly more impressed by the show, which is why I'm giving it an 8 out of 10.

Assassin Reborn In Middle School

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Now, Kill Blue, this legendary assassin at 39, starting over as a middle schooler. Uh, Juiza Ogami is a legendary hitman who has never failed an assignment, no matter how impossible. His skill with a handgun has earned him the nickname uh Demon's Left Hand or uh Devil's Hand because it's not really just a left hand. Uh one day, after wiping out a powerful organization, he is stung by a mysterious wasp and collapses. When he wakes up, he turns into a 13-year-old boy. And before he can even process what happened, his boss delivers a new order that in that body, you got infiltrated middle school. What awaits him is an unexpected school life filled with helpful classmates, youthful chaos, and blooming danger. Can he ever return to his original form or will the assassins close it in on him in his second life before he even begins? Okay, so unlike Ibarra's teenage New Game Plus, which I'll talk about, this anime is for the fans that need that accent to grip their attention. It starts off with a bang as Juzo kills a gang of irredeemable men before he gets the Detective Conan treatment, so to speak. Initially not liking the idea of going back to middle school, Juzo soon comes to enjoy it, especially since he's still getting paid to be there. He may not like kids, but he does bleed. I do believe that the point of him making friends and having a chance to be human rather than just being a hired gun that's married to a job, which is a wild thing to say, considering that he works with his ex-wife in the same organization. The mission is to protect Norrin, who is his only lead, to find a cure for the wasp thing from men who'd want to kidnap her or try to marry her for the inheritance of the Mitsuoka pharmaceuticals. Juzo refuses this because of the age gap, but Norrin made him her quote unquote boyfriend to ward off other boys. Man. So we got Kotasu, Ogumi's partner. Although not Spears is Ogumi, he's good with technology. He's pretty much like the man in the chair for him. I create a big pair of glasses that Ogumi wears that acts as a camera and a radio for him. Uh Ari is Ogumi's ex-wife and the head of um Zoo's science department. Um, did I something like dang, like, I'm sorry, y'all. I completely forgot what Zeus stood for, but uh, that's the name of the organization. Uh ZOO. Uh Norrin is middle school student and daughter of the Misyoka pharmaceuticals founder who developed the wasp nest that caused Ogamy's transformation, like I said before. She's constantly hit on by other students by causing her to initially hate men before befriending Ogumi. Uh, she's helped out her uncle at his ramen shop with and wish to take it over when he retires. So that's kind of nice where she doesn't even want to uh want to be inherit the pharmaceutical company. She just wanna run a ramen shop. I'm like, I fuck with that. Shisato, a third-year middle school student who's the head of the home economics club, especially referred to as Capo, but the way she got this mafia style uh boss kind of vibe going for her. Uh Shin is an assassin associated with uh Yugong. He's a Chinese organization, uh, and who's Ogani and Nora's classmate. Due to his tendency of being nervous, he's often using a pacifier to calm himself down, which is wild. Kind of give me uh Kuima vibe, you know, Kuima from Yubi Hawkins, but not Koemma doesn't use a pacifier because he's nervous or whatnot. He just, you know, he just looks like a baby from time to time. I don't know. I I think he just likes to do one. I don't know. Now, Timma is a second-year uh student who's in a three who's a three-way athlete known as the triple threat. Like he wants to be like a unicorn, a superman, where he's uh trying to go for basketball, soccer, and baseball.

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Yeah.

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Cozuma, a black-ranged assassin associated with Jordan, he's skilled with hypnotism, and Ng Rindell is another Black Ranged assassin with Jordan, who's Cozuma's younger brother. He has a tremendous physical strength and is a skilled golfer. My Otohime is a first-year student who is a member of Unicorn, uh, due to her specializing in marine sports, known as The Mermaid Queen. Uh, she has a split personality that's what is when she sleeps. Now, on a personal note, it has a bangers opening thing song, fairly decent character designs, or at least they're not bland to look at. I do appreciate that this anime has an English dub to make it easier for me to retain my attention to it. I also appreciate how the show ironically puts emphasis and importance on home economics, such as cooking and cleaning, because it's an outdated mindset to be dependent on someone else doing the cooking, all the food for you, and cleaning up after you have becomes a little childish. But ultimately, crazy enough, I want to say it kind of reminds me, like the thing is I'm not trying to do comparison, I'm really trying to get out of the habit of trying to compare it to other anime too much. But crazy enough, like, I'm thinking it just reminded me of the Tetra Conan and well, is it because my main thing is I known it as Detective Conan, but I think for legal reasons they gotta call it the case closed nowadays. But uh between that anime and Sakamoto days, that's the vibe I was getting from Kill Blue, which is why I'm giving it an 8 out of 10. Now, on to the next anime killed again,

A Detective Who Keeps Dying

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Mr. Detective. No, seriously, that's the title of the anime. Sakya Osuki is the son of the legendary detective uh striving to follow in his father's footsteps with the help of his assistant uh Lilithia. I hope I pronounced that correctly. I'm just gonna call it Lily for short. This isn't your average high school sleuth, though, because he comes back to life every time he's killed. Being a little too familiar with death and always awakening at Lily's side, uh, with Lily by his side, uh Sokia's happy to take on low risk case. Surely. Investigating a movie producer's affair on a luxury cruise ship won't pose any real threat, right? But when the deal ends up entangled in a larger and bloodier situation, Sakya will have to get to the bottom of the mystery and die trying. Now, I'm gonna make this quick. On a personal note, honestly, I don't have a whole lot to say about this joint. It's lather, rinse, repeat with this plot. The main guy and main girl investigates a mystery with a cute female apprentice, uh, Yuriu. Then Sakya gets killed by the culprit, comes back to life with Lily um by him side, by his side, excuse me. And then they get down to business. And a little comedy in between to break up the tension. By the end of the season, it sets things up for a plausible second season, but we'll see. This anime just feels standard to me. Passable, but not that saucy with its premise. So I give it a 7 out of 10. Now, here's an anime that I was anticipating.

Poison Master Looking For A Wife

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Here is an anime where I believe that it should be a contender for anime of the year. Well, maybe even if even if it doesn't win anime of the year, I'm like, I wanted to at least get nominated for something. Marriage Toxin. For centuries, the deadly arts have been perfected by those known as the Masters. Among them, the Poison Masters of the Five Great Families hold the most fearsome power and influence. He has lived his entire life in the underworld, far removed from love or marriage. But when the Giro family head decrees that Hikaru's sister must bear an heir to preserve the bloodline, by force if necessary, Hikaru resolves to protect her at all costs. It is then that Hikaru encounters May Kinosaki, a brilliant marriage swindler who becomes the target of his way to job. Realizing that the only way to resolve the family secession problem and protecting his sister is through marriage, Hikaru impulsively asks May for help in finding a bride. And so, with the cunning marriage swindler May as his advisor, this elite assassin embarks on the most challenging mission of his life: finding a wife. Dare I say that this is one of my top five most anticipated and uh new series this season, based on the premise. Another anime with a banger themed song, character designs with great detail, and the accent is much better than I imagine. I'm even more impressed with Garrow because Bro makes being a poison master look like a badass superpower. The fucked up part is that Grandma, who's the current head of the family right now, wants Garrow's sister to conceive an heir to the clan with a dude she's not attracted to, but she's not even attracted to men. Or so to speak, because she has a girlfriend and everything. So I don't think she's even interested in men. But it's either that or Garrow reconsidering his stance on being the next leader of the poison masters, and he doesn't even care for being the next head. Now, despite being a cross-dressing marriage swindler, May actually have some great insights on relationship in general. And he makes a great wingman for a young Garrow who have zero experience with women. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that with May, like May is a dude, but dresses like a girl. I mean, he doesn't mind uh doing jobs that require him to like appear as a male, but you know, just something about dressing up as a woman just makes it more convincing, I guess. And crazy enough, there was a whole bunch of people trying to make like fan art of me, and it's like one of those trap characters, and like they don't care, the internet doesn't care. Now, on a personal note, like I said before, it got great action scenes, but it could be funny, charming, and enlightening to the right audience. Great cast of characters with a good selection of voice actors behind them. As I continue watching this, it felt more and more like a battle shown with the absurdity that competes with the likes of Jujutsu Kaisen and Kill A Kill. I would give it a 9 out of 10. Please tell me there's more seasons coming soon. Now, this next one, I did say I'm gonna review it.

Time Travel To Fix High School

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Uh, it's High Bar's Teenage New Game Plus. But here's the thing I just not realizing that I added this onto the list like out of order. So, and that's why I should have already talked about it, but my bad, here I go. Now, Natsuki Highbar, a fourth-year university student, was planning for his life after graduation when he suddenly got transported back in taught. He finds himself seven years in the past to when he was a first-year high school student, as he has retained memories and skills from his university life. He may he aims to relive his high school days and deal with his past regrets, including becoming friends with his former crutch, Hikari Hoshimiya. Okay, I like the kind of time travel stories where if you could go back and fix the mistakes that you made, what would be different if you are moving differently? Now the series starts with Nanski reminiscing about all the mistakes he made in high school. Despite graduating university and getting a good job, he cannot get over his teenage regrets. So the next morning he awakens as a teenager again and realizes he can have his high school life over again while avoiding the same mistakes. He spends the month before the entry ceremony exercising and improving his appearance. His childhood friend Miori is amazed at the difference as he is as is he is she's used to him being like a excuse me. He used to be fat, she used to be a tomboy, but she's now dressed more feminine. Now, at the entrance ceremony, he encounters Hikari, his teenage crush, who rejected him, her friend Yunio, uh Yuio, Yuino, Yuino, and three other friends that he failed to make friends with the first time uh Reita, Tatsuya, and Uta. He is surprised to be included so easily in the group this time and that Ikari blushes when he speaks to her. Miyori is impressed Natsuki is making friends already and asks his help getting to know Reita, who is her type. A week later, everyone is good friends and decides to spend a Saturday night together. By monitoring uh Hikari's schedule, Nanski is able to invite her to walk home together on a day when everyone else is busy and instigate the creation of a friend's group chat, which Hikari named uh Natsuki Coon Family. After that, it's essentially a bunch of slice-of-life scenarios, sandwiching the emotionally tense moments, like strain of friendships, and this network of romantic relationships between the male and female cast. Natsuki likes Hikari, Tatsuya likes Uta, and Miori likes Reita. What complicates things is when we see Uta having a crush on Nasuki while friend zoning Tatsuya, giving him more reason to be jealous of Natsuki. On top of that, it is the implication that Miori might like Natsuki too. Especially between a dynamic the two of them have being as comfortable as they are around each other. So, on a personal note, in hindsight, it feels like an example of the Halo effect where it took a second chance at life and a consistent workout plan for Natsuki to gain friends and getting his crush to like him and overall improving his skills since losing the weight. The implication that he's perfect to a point of being somewhat unapproachable makes me low-key hate how it makes Noskey less endearing as a person and more so a character that we're obligated to support in his effort to try again at the most formidable years of his life. I guess what really bugs me is how the idea of being yourself and being perfect classes in an ironic and probably unintentional way in this series. But regardless of that, I'll give it a 7.5 out of 10. Now, uh

Reincarnation Powers And Dark Themes

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let's see. Now, next one is Pedals of Reincarnation. So I'm gonna say if you haven't watched the anime, be warned they got a take on uh self-harm and suicide, you know. Now, growing up constantly compared to his Jean's older brother, Toya Senji has a deep inferiority complex over his perceived lack of talent for Toya. His academic achievement is his final stronghold, but despite consistently ranking in the top 100 and national mock exams, he remains dissatisfied. One day, Toya witnesses his classmate Haito Luo Buffett engage in a battle with a serial killer. Uh afterwards, he finds out that the supernatural stem of reincarnation and that Haito is what's called a returner. In disbelief, Toya learns that with the power of the stem of reincarnation, you can return from self-inflicted death and thereby gain the talents of a past life. So, here's the thing about this anime. The story follows Toya, who joins the Force of the Great to fight against a rival organization, the sinners, who resurrect infamous and evil historical failures. The story explores identity, morality, and the struggle between embracing a past life and forging a new future. So imagine famous names such as Newton, Ice, Einstein, Darwin, and Picasa with corresponding superpowers versus bad guys based on characters like uh people like John Wayne Gacy, Caesar, and Hitler. Now, Toya's power, the right hand of the thief, is based on the famous bandit leader, Ichikawa Goema. It allows him to steal practically anything, even a junkie uh stamina, or worse. It makes sense for his character because Toya is the type of guy that wants power to no longer feel like he's living in his brother's shadow. He was willing to take any and all opportunities to prove himself, so tired of feeling like a loser that he had to become greedy in order to compete with the legacy of his deceased uh brother Saya. It's an interesting take on the old phrase, what doesn't kill you make you stronger. Except he has to offer himself in order to obtain more power. I say it's the premise of take your hitman reborn, but at least what you take your hitman and born uh is carried out in a more family-friendly way. Uh, I'll give it an 8.5 out of 10.

Fantasy Season Two Reality Check

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Oh boy, here we go again with this anime. The beginning after the end, season two. Arthur, now an adventurer, completes quest after quest alongside Jasmine honing his swordsmanship and mana. One day, Braud and double A ranked adventurer invites them to participate in a certain quest. The though Arthur and his companions wonder why they were chosen, Arthur decides to accept it as his final quest before entering the academy. However, an unimaginable, unimaginable tragedy awaits them. So yeah, here we go again with this slide show of an animation. But actually, this season is slightly better on that front, in my opinion. Of course, if you didn't hear how my take on beginning after the end, because I'm pretty sure I did that for the first anime lightning, maybe the first or second. But it's your typical Isakai fantasy adventure where Arthur and company slay monsters, get lost at sea. Well, this is mainly season two, and gets caught up in a plot brewed by some villains. Uh, I still kind of like the sound of Arthur's near inner voice, reminding me of his past as a lone wolf and conqueror. Shit goes south during the quest that took Brawl's life. Lucas betrayed Note, um, you know, because that's the code name that Arthur was going for, um, that's going by uh while he was wearing the mask. Uh Lucas betrays Note, which caused Arthur his admission to the academy, but it was part of Arthur's plan to investigate the Whites family. He did make a new friend in Elijah, and everything ends up working out by the end of the season. So, really, I want to say it's a seven out of ten this time around. Do I do I like this show now? Anyway, let's move

Villainess Queen Turns Savior

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on. The most heretical last boss queen from villainess to savior. Alright, I'm gonna have a whole lot to say about this one, not gonna lie, but I'm gonna try to blaze through it. Pride Royal Ivy is only eight years old, but she doesn't stay eight years old, like they eventually become teenagers when she realizes that she's been reincarnated to become the future wicked queen and final boss of an El Tome game. She's got it all in this new life. Uh razor sharp width, boss tier powers and influence over the kingdom as crown princess, determined to sow despair and destruction across the land. She wait, what kind of rotten feature is that? Like, so she decides to drop the maniacal villainous plan and protect the male love interest instead, uh, cheating her way to saving everyone she can. So, okay, cool. Another villainous anime. Uh, ever since, may I ask for one final thing? I love a good female lead that plays an ironically charming antagonist to a certain person or a group of people. Takes a different turn from uh my fiancé who calls herself a villainous, where this Otome game loving protagonist is going against the grain for the sake of love interest. So, like I said, she was reincarnated and she's like, because the original pride was like a monsterly, monstrously selfish woman, casual, callously abused everyone and being seen as a devil in human form, only to eventually meet her end at the hands of her younger sister. The current pride uses her memory of the original timeline to avert all that. And she possessed a cheat ability that makes her an incredibly strong fighter and ability to foresee the future. So cool, cool, cool, cool. Stale is the adopted brother and sister of pride and possessed the power of teleportation. The original pride was like really fucking him over, like uh had him under a magical contract to obey her and taking advantage of his inability to read and write anything other than his own name, and then ordered him to uh murder his birth mother, uh, leading him to swear of revenge, being healed by her younger sister Tiara, and becoming one of her love interests. The current Pride has treated him with great care and compassion, notably allowing him to communicate with his birth mother and still earning his loyalty and love. He is frenemies with Arthur though, and I'll talk about Arthur in just a moment, but let's talk about Tiara for just a quick minute, where she's the younger sister of Pride. In the original timeline, she's the one that killed Pride, but in the current timeline, instead she has a closer relationship with her sister and never fight at all. So great, great. Now let's talk about Arthur. The son of the knight captain Roderick, who possesses the power to improve the vitality of plants. In the original timeline, he watched as his father died in battle while the original pride mocked the fallen soldiers, leading him to swear vengeance against her to the point of not allowing the original TR to get close to him due to her relation to Py. To Pry, excuse me. He eventually opened up to Tiara, aided uh becoming one of her love interests, and aided her in bringing down her tyrannical sister in the current timeline. Pri used her skill to enter the battle herself, saving his father's life and earning Arthur's loyalty. And like I said, he's frenemies, but still. So because you know they're both love interests, so of course they're gone buttheads. We got Leon Adonis Coronara, who's the first prince of the anemone kingdom, and one of prize love interest in the original story. Uh, pride tortured him and broke his heart while making him kill his own people after he was turned over due to the machinations of his younger brothers, uh Edwin and Homer, uh, which I'm gonna talk about in just a moment, as part of a plot to seize the throne and ally with her. And this left him in a broken state until he was healed by Tiara, and you know, to deal with that. The current pride instead when he gets engaged with Tulia and does not torture him nor his people, and she also discovered his love for his people and saves him from his brother's uh machinations, you know, once again, trying to make sure to avoid all that. So, you know what? Unless something's different, like unless the character turns out to be an antagonist in the current timeline, just assume that in the current timeline, probably try to avoid what she would have done in the original timeline and be like, okay, let me step in, help out, and everybody's happy, right? Everybody's good, okay, cool, cool, cool. And yeah, like in a way, it's like she's taking Tiara's thunder because if she played her position originally, then it would be Tiara that's having all these love interests. But uh, now that pride is actually trying to be a good person, she's the one that's getting the harem. So uh Gregorio is the ruler of the anemone kingdom and the father of the three boys, Leon, Homer, and uh Erwin. He was just a stressed man who was marred by the false rumors spread by his oldest son and plagued by the corrupt actions of his two younger sons. In the original timeline, he died of an illness, which allowed his two younger sons to do what they pleased with the kingdom. In the current timeline, he reunited with Leon, crowns him the rightful heir after Edwin and Homer's machines are revealed, and things were better for it, like uh stripping the corrupt sons of their titles, power, positions, all that, got him in prison, and after shaking hands with Arthur, he is healed by the knight's special ability and still stands as king. Now, honestly, with between talking about Leon and Gregorio, I would say like with Irwin and Homer, let's just say they're just two conniving motherfuckers that just want to do whatever they want with the kingdom. But in the current timeline, nah, y'all don't get all that. Y'all get prison time. Prison time. Then we got the Lowells, and they'll be the last two characters. Uh Cedric is the second born prince of the Hanazuo kingdom and is a bit spoiled. In the original timeline, he fled his home when it was deceased by the corrupt Copelani. Uh Copelani Copelandi, excuse me. The Copelandi kingdom, and as he saw it. Oh, by the way, the Copalandi kingdom is the kingdom that pride them is from. Just in case I didn't mention that. Uh or was it Frisia? Uh Frisia. Because oh my god. Uh yeah, unbeknownst to him, Pride I already said. Okay, yeah, so Pride is from the Friesia kingdom, and Cobaland uh is a whole different kingdom. Uh as a result, she forced him to become her slave, but in the current timeline. Uh said to come to Frisia to request aid for uh fighting off the Copalandi. And this ultimately was successful, and it was a better move. And she become, he becomes so moved that pride and her friends are willing to aid him that even when they do not agree with his prior behavior. I'm uh yeah. And last we got Lance, uh Cedric's older brother and ruler of Cersei's, uh, who is disapproves of his bad behavior, of Cedric's bad behavior. In the original timeline, he went insane, which led to Cedric's uh Cersei's excuse me uh Cersei's escape. And in the current timeline, pride helps cure him and prevents the kingdom's collapse. So, on a personal note, things get dark and dramatic for a show center around a bunch of superpower kids from nobility, but this is based on a face and Ottoma game, so I guess I can't be surprised by how wild it can be. Crazy part is I'm reviewing Trapped in a Dating Simulator this year, and it's a clear subversion of Old Toma games. The characters do grow up, and there is some political elements involved as well, but they really threw me off. What really threw me off was caravan cars being pulled by magic-powered motorcycles. Because keep in mind, like I'm gonna review Trapped in the Daily Sim, but the thing is, it's based on an Otoma game, like it's a subversion of those tropes, but there's Mexim out of them. Okay, I'm giving last heretical boss uh an 8.5. Um was it last heretical? Hold on, let me go back because it was like a worse out of uh title. The most heretical last boss queen from Villainous the Savior. I'm giving it an 8.5 out of 10. No wonder why there's already two seasons. Now, we got the strongest job is apparently not a hero or a sage, but an appraiser provisional.

Isekai Appraiser With Comedy Energy

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And yes, that is the full title of the anime. We got Hibiki Manabe, uh, a high school student who finds himself in another world, being blinded by a flashlight on the way to his classroom, finding himself wandering in an open playing with no signs of his classmate. He finds himself using appraising skills when encountering creatures. He then meets Amaya Steinbart, an older elf woman who takes care of him. The two form a party and recruit new members while aiming to help Hibiki return home. Now, right out of the gate, we get some self-awareness, comedy, a jojo reference, and some fan service to grip the viewer's attention. Hibiki, like I said, 16-year-old got Isekai, became an appraiser and whatnot. He can analyze the skills and trace of monsters and people, obtained several high-ranked skills, including world map, medical book, perfect heal, contract, tutorial, expert eye, grimoire, there's a whole bunch of things that makes it easy for him to like get medical knowledge or uh be able to map out the area, can heal others and whatnot. So he's pretty much a strong utility character. I do like how, unlike the god that reincarnated Liam and evil Intergalactic Warlord, check it out by the way. I already did a review on it in Anime Lightning. The chief god in this series loves it when he gives him praise because the god in Intergalactic Warlord, he was like, Uh, stop praising me. Like, I'm supposed to be ruining your life. Now, Amalia is a 56-year-old elf woman. Keep that in mind because, like, even though she's 56, she looks 16. She can hear the voices of spirits which led her to hibiki. Her job is spirit archer, which lets her create arrows out of winds. Her shirt constantly pops open and reveals her cleavage because of her larger breast, much to her embarrassment. And yeah, like I said, don't let her age fool you. She's very young looking in a period, especially as expected of an L. We got Claude, a 26-year-old black wolf beastman, and Lillian's protector. He's a knight, but his current job is hero. He got main uh while protecting Lillian and his uh and his actions are restricted due to invisible curse chains. But after hiring him as a bodyguard, Yibiki heals Claude injuries with Lillian's help and uses the technical skill relief measure to partially lift his curse. He swears a loyalty owed to Yibiki and is aware of him being from another world. Lillian is a 10-year-old girl in uh the care of Quad. When she turns 15, her job is to be a sage. Uh, she was shunned by her family and soul for collateral due to her having the skill raging sanctuary. Uh, wait on raiding uh sanctuary, because not sanctuary, it's uh sanctuary, uh what which give her the uncontrollable magical power due to a trial put on by the god of magic. That's all there is to that, but she does end up becoming a sage early, like like early, like I won't say like early in the season, but in one season, she already became a sage, so there's that. Uh Vene is a small white cat connected to Hibiki's grimoire, uh, that was sent uh to him by the god of magic to help Lillian uh controlling her magic. Uh, though Hibiki skills some of the sacred beast, Veneca transformed into a giant monstrous cat for a short amount of time. Yvel is a female adventurer who initially traveled with Emalia to the Elven homeland for her own purposes. She was revealed to be working for someone with nefarious intentions and was responsible for severing Claw's limbs before he met Hibiki. Celia is an elf maid who is acquainted with Amalia. Well, more than acquainted. She has an unhealthy obsession with Amalia's boobs to a point where she gets really jealous of anyone capitalizing on Amalia's attention. Sapo Chan is an artificial voice attached to the tutorial skill that only Hibiki can hear. It provides him with an in-depth stats and knowledge about his skills and the world after appearing in uh Habrastia. He chooses to give it the name of Sapo Chan, which it gladly accepts. Uh Bales because it's called B-A-L-S, but uh, I don't want to say bald because a lot of the world like uh Bows or Bales uh is the guild master of the adventures guild, and while reliable at in his role at times, he tends to be enthusiastic about his muscles. Uh Jewel is a Beast Woman receptionist and vice guildmaster of the guild. She is composed, professional, and while operating the guild, when but when dealing with um, uh she is much more strict with his antics. So, on a personal note, it plays out like an Isikai comedy series with fantasy arc-g elements, jokes that has a lot of bite to them and coded with a lighthearted tone. There is also this Fox girl who's a thief and a trap expert that helps Hibiki's party on occasion. We'll refer to her as Fauna for now. The plot itself is paper thin, situational adventures, but if you enjoy shows such as Konosuba, you might like this one. I'll give it a 7.5 out of 10 personally.

Misunderstood Teacher And Fan Service

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And we got the last entry for anime lightning, and I'm gonna make this one super quick. A high school homeroom teacher, Hiori Himo, Hioromura. Sorry, sometimes it's more like I just try to speak too fast and I need to like slow down because I'm gonna stumble on my words. She's known as the scary teacher, and if you offend her, she'll put a curse on you, or so what all the students believe. She's secretly a total softie who's deeply misunderstood. And once you see her sweet side, she'll put a different kind of spell on you. Unfortunately, one of her students, Akihito Abikura, has accidentally discovered her secret. What can I say? I gotta have at least one fan service anime slip. At least one purely fan service anime slips through the cracks. The premise is based on a misunderstanding where Miss Himarora first started with teaching and she showed up with blood running down her head, looking like a ghost as a first impression. In actuality, she's just a shy clutch with a tendency to unbutton her shirt, revealing her huge bust for anxiety relief, because you know she's like new to teaching and she gets like staged right bad. So, like when she's like got some time on her own, she's like kind of uh opens up her chest and kind of like need that extra breathing because she got like big boobs and shit, big titties and whatnot. But on a personal note, outside of that, imagine awkward pervy schoolyard shenanigans, but at least the character designs and visual effects were good enough, and the details really show in the money shots if you catch my drill. I'm giving this one a 7.5 out of 10. It's not bad for anime jumper. So, yeah, that is it for anime lightning.

Honorable Mentions And Future Reviews

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I do have some honorable mentions, such as Wistoria One and Sword, which by now it should be already up on YouTube, uh, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, whatever. Wherever you listen to your podcast. Uh we got classroom of a black hat and a witch, since that was like a two-core anime, then that's just gonna be added on to the next anime and lightning. Uh farming life in another world. I'm gonna do that with Tuck, which had uh Atelier. We already did that. Uh Liar Game is Anime Lightning, Classroom of the Leak season four. I'm gonna we're gonna do all four seasons at some point. Uh Dr. Stone Science Future, that's gonna be like a whole extreme review right there. That time I got reincarnated as a slime season four. Once again, extreme review right there. Rooster Fighter, I might get around to at some point. Like, I might show it to the gang and see how they like it and give their take on it. Like, I just didn't get around to it because I just didn't feel like subscribing to who at the moment that's uh Cat's one show. The drops of God once again, two core anime. That's gonna be on the next anime lightning. Snowball Earth is gonna be for Meta Monday at some point. Attendance of a book warm. That got three to four seasons now. So, extreme review, yes, extreme review, or at least just talk about all three seasons and like a full review. Welcome to D in the school Iruma Kun season four. I'm gonna do that with uh Kokugasu at some point, but at this point, I wanna say that I like um calling by uh Kuro now because he also goes by Kurogasu. So don't be surprised if I start calling him Kuro from now on. Uh we got Mal. I'm gonna do a full review on that. Same with uh Demons of the Shadow Realm. Uh ReZero season four. I'm gonna do that with Mirajane at some point. Reborn as a vending machine. I'm gonna do that solo at some point. Same thing with Ren and Girlfriend as much as I fucking hate that fucking crap. It got it's getting six seasons now. It's getting six seasons now. Oh my god. I was getting seasons. And last, if there's some of the brave. I was gonna do this one for this anime lightning, but since it's got mafia in it and me and Kuro were like kind of like mafia anime. I'm just gonna do a full review of that with

Final Ratings And Sign Off

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him. So, with that being said, go ahead and have yourself a good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good night. But ultimately, do take care of yourself and remember to stay nerdy and that great things are coming. I am zoning out of here, but I'm gonna do that.

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