Summer Anime 2022 (Good, Bad and Ugly)

I don’t know how many of my readers know this, but I’m a huge weeb! I have been attempting to follow anime seasons for years, but my ADHD forces me to put most of the many “My Anime List” entries on the back burner. And this season has quite a few more that will eventually meet the same fate.

I have decided to split this list up into the oh so original tiers of good, bad and ugly; the top tiers will be the meatiest entries as it’s unfair to force me to choose just one!

That said, let’s take care of the dumpster fire first; Lucifer and The Biscuit Hammer.

Yuuhi Amamiya is a young, misanthropic college student who one day wakes up to find a lizard on his bed. The lizard explains that Yuuhi has been chosen as a Beast Knight, a magical warrior destined to help a Princess defeat a Mage seeking to destroy the world with a giant mallet floating in space called the Biscuit Hammer. While Yuuhi initially is not interested in getting involved, he changes his mind when he meets the Princess, Samidare Asahina, who tells him her intent to defeat the mage and save the world so she can destroy the world herself instead.

Cool premise, right? Too friggin bad it has Ex-Arm levels of polish! I couldn’t even finish one whole episode, it’s SO UGLY that I can’t think of an inoffensive example to compare it to! Do yourself a favor and read the manga instead.

Okay so I lied about there only being one entry in this tier, cuz I won’t be the victim of schadenfreude in this article. Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World is not for isekai trash like myself, unless you like sleeping in port-a-potties for three months.

I will not go into detail about the premise because I don’t think my editor would approve (Ed. Note: I go into very slightly more detail on this anime in my Summer 2022 roundup, but not much), but let’s just say this is Redo of Healer lite. Run for the hills if this show is ever suggested on your feed. Last one on this tier (for this season), I promise.

Now for the more palatable garbage, if you are an otaku trash panda like myself.

Rent-a-Girlfriend is back and wowzers will I be eating good from this; I truly enjoyed the misadventures of captain incel (do not steal) in Season 1. I never got around to watching Love Hina, but from what I hear about it, Rent-a-Girlfriend is the same thing with extra steps. But I’ll just wait for the dub to finish and have it on in the background while I draw.

Now for the good stuff; I’m gonna start with one that hits me in a special way, Fuuto PI. If you’re a fan of tokusatsu like myself, especially Kamen Rider, you will definitely be in for a treat, as this is both a continuation of Kamen Rider W and an adaptation of the manga Fuuto Tantei. 

Shotaro Hidari, a private detective who works at Narumi Detective Agency, and his partner is Raito “Philip” Sonozaki, the sole survivor of the Sonozaki family who can access the Gaia Library. Together they transform into Kamen Rider W, who protects the city of Fuuto from Dopants, monsters created by Gaia Memories. They solve cases alongside their boss Akiko Terui, who often joins their investigations with her husband Ryu (a member of the police force who is also Kamen Rider Accel).

As of this writing there are only two episodes and much like the original series each conflict is spread out several episodes so as to break up the genre’s penchant for a monster of the week formula. And since the manga is ongoing there will be plenty of content.

Last but not least, fresh out of Netflix jail comes the 2022 adaptation of the dark fantasy Bastard!

The story starts four centuries prior to the main setting, when Earth suffered a cataclysm caused by the demon Anthrasax before she was slain by the Dragon Knight, plunging the world into a new dark age. In the present, the Kingdom of Metallicana is attacked by the Dark Rebel Army who seek to resurrect Anthrasax. This prompts the high priest to ask his daughter to awaken Dark Schneider, a dark wizard and founding leader of the Dark Rebel Army who reincarnated himself within the body of 14-year-old Luche Renren. In time, Dark Schneider’s allies learn of his true nature and ties to the calamity that befell the Old World.

This show is everything I dreamed of in a dark fantasy series, and I will be enjoying this one slowly as I don’t want to be without it too soon. 

As a disclaimer, DO NOT let your kids or any one with SA trauma near this series; it is filled to the brim with suggestive and offensive content. But this shonen series pushes the genre to its zenith and if this is your jam, check it out.

And this is my list. I hope you enjoyed the entries and I’ll see you in the fall. This is Byron D. Zero saying ja matta na!