Spring 2023 Mid Season Check-In


Episode 53

Spring 2023 Mid Season Check-In

We're back to check-in with how the Spring 2023 anime season is tracking.  What are the heroes and what are the howlers?  Sam regrets misreading a synopsis of a show in the hype-up episode that ended up being terrible.  The big hitters are still hitting and the Rom-coms are at an all time high (much to Charlie's happiness).  There's also a highly controversial and popular show which stokes a very interesting discussion amongst the group in Oshi no Ko.    Listen to our mid season check-in now! 

FEATURING

Sam

Charlie

Graeme

ANIME REFERENCES

Hell's Paradise

Gabimaru reigns as the strongest and most ruthless assassin in his village. But now finds himself on death row—with only one way out: retrieve the Elixir of Life from a sinister island. Longing for freedom, he accepts the challenge. But with fellow convicts vying for the same prize and demonic beasts lurking, how will Gabimaru survive this harrowing quest?

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

It is the Taisho Period in Japan. Tanjiro, a kindhearted boy who sells charcoal for a living, finds his family slaughtered by a demon. To make matters worse, his younger sister Nezuko, the sole survivor, has been transformed into a demon herself. Though devastated by this grim reality, Tanjiro resolves to become a “demon slayer” so that he can turn his sister back into a human, and kill the demon that massacred his family.

MASHLE: MAGIC AND MUSCLES

This is a world of magic. This is a world in which magic is casually used by everyone. In a deep, dark forest in this world of magic, there is a boy who is singlemindedly working out. His name is Mash Burnedead, and he has a secret. He can’t use magic. All he wanted was to live a quiet life with his family, but people suddenly start trying to kill him one day and he somehow finds himself enrolled in Magic School. There, he sets his sights on becoming a “Divine Visionary,” the elite of the elite. Will his ripped muscles work against the best and brightest of the wizarding world? The curtain rises on this off-kilter magical fantasy in which the power of being jacked crushes any spell! (Source: Crunchyroll)

Dr. STONE

After five years of harboring unspoken feelings, high-schooler Taiju Ooki is finally ready to confess his love to Yuzuriha Ogawa. Just when Taiju begins his confession however, a blinding green light strikes the Earth and petrifies mankind around the world— turning every single human into stone. Several millennia later, Taiju awakens to find the modern world completely nonexistent, as nature has flourished in the years humanity stood still. Among a stone world of statues, Taiju encounters one other living human: his science-loving friend Senkuu, who has been active for a few months. Taiju learns that Senkuu has developed a grand scheme—to launch the complete revival of civilization with science. Taiju's brawn and Senkuu's brains combine to forge a formidable partnership, and they soon uncover a method to revive those petrified. However, Senkuu's master plan is threatened when his ideologies are challenged by those who awaken. All the while, the reason for mankind's petrification remains unknown. (Source: MAL Rewrite)

VINLAND SAGA

Thorfinn is son to one of the Vikings' greatest warriors, but when his father is killed in battle by the mercenary leader Askeladd, he swears to have his revenge. Thorfinn joins Askeladd's band in order to challenge him to a duel, and ends up caught in the middle of a war for the crown of England. (Source: Kodansha USA)

Dead Mount Death Play

As a legendary hero nears victory against a necromancer known as The Corpse God, things take an unexpected turn with the dark sorcerer’s final gambit—reincarnation magic. This last-ditch effort catches the brave fighter off guard, and now he’s a boy named Polka Shinoyama in a whole new world! The showdown between good and evil just got epic. (Source: Crunchyroll)

My Home Hero

After killing his daughter’s abusive yakuza boyfriend to save her, ordinary salaryman Tetsuo Tosu becomes embroiled in the dark criminal underworld. The wish for a simple life he and his wife Kasen had for their daughter has been reduced to a wish for survival. Though middle-aged and weak, he’ll put his life on the line using only his wits in order to protect his family. (Source: Crunchyroll)

Oshi No Ko

When a pregnant young starlet appears in Gorou Amemiya’s countryside medical clinic, the doctor takes it upon himself to safely (and secretly) deliver Ai Hoshino’s child so she can make a scandal-free return to the stage. But no good deed goes unpunished, and on the eve of her delivery, he finds himself slain at the hands of Ai’s deluded stalker — and subsequently reborn as Ai’s child, Aquamarine Hoshino! The glitz and glamor of showbiz hide the dark underbelly of the entertainment industry, threatening to dull the shine of his favorite star. Can he help his new mother rise to the top of the charts? And what will he do when unthinkable disaster strikes? (Source: HIDIVE) Note: Episode 1【推しの子】Mother and Children was pre-screened in advance in Japanese theaters on March 17, 2023. The regular TV broadcast began on April 12, 2023. The first episode has an extended runtime of ~82 minutes.

Skip and Loafer

This country girl is ready for the big city! Well, at least she thought she was. Mitsumi’s dream is to attend a prestigious school and make the world a better place. But when she finally gets to Tokyo, it turns out she isn’t exactly prepared for city life. Luckily, she runs into Shima, a sweet and handsome classmate who becomes her first friend! Can she make it in Tokyo with Shima by her side? (Source: Crunchyroll)

My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999

Akane Kinoshita, a female college student, faces the absolute worst situation when she ends up breaking up with her boyfriend after he has an affair with a woman he met playing an online game. While relieving her stress by rampaging through the open hunting grounds of an online game, Akane spills everything about her heartbreak to “Yamada”, a player she met by chance who happens to be in the same guild. “I don't care,” is his curt reply. But when Akane gets a makeover and joins an offline event to get back at her ex-boyfriend, she hears those dreadful words again. And that was Akane's fateful encounter with “Yamada”─! (Source: Crunchyroll)

Insomniacs after school

Ganta Nakami is a high school student who suffers from insomnia. One day, he meets Isaki Magari, a girl with the same condition. A strange, but special relationship forms as they share a secret and catch up on their sleep in their school’s abandoned observatory… (Source: HIDIVE)

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