dr. b

Summer season links: MAL Summer 2026 page AniChart Summer 2026 page CrunchyRoll Summer 2026 lineup (still being announced) Not a ton of stuff that I'm looking forward to in the summer, I guess. But I'm open to trying a few new ones that maybe I wouldn't normally. We'll see how I feel when new stuff starts popping up on Crunchy. I will for sure continue watching You and I are Polar Opposites and The Elusive Samurai. Looking forward to both a lot. I am curious about Sayonara Lara, as I'm always on the lookout for new original anime. A good, original, complete story that can wrap up in ~13 episodes is my Holy Grail that I hope to find in every new season. It's been a minute since we got a really good new original anime. Kore Kaite Shine (Draw This, Then Die!) sounds like it could be amusing too. I'll give it a try if Crunchy licenses it. Last but not least, the GITS anime caught my attention... but AniChart says it will be streaming on Prime Video and I don't have that right now. I'll probably binge watch it at a later date when I get a month of Prime to buy something from Amazon. I should also go back and watch the Akane-banashi anime on Netflix when I find time for it this summer. I see a new season was announced for January 2027. I love this manga and I trust the anime will be good too. edit: Forgot that Daemons of the Shadow Realm continues in the summer. I'll keep watching it. I'll give Black Torch a try too. Might be good?

Dang, Hima-Ten! ended today I knew it was nearing the end, but this felt a bit too abrupt. The last several chapters honestly weren’t great, but it was still mostly a good series. Lots of very charming and likable characters

I thought the Jays were turning a corner. Then a six-game losing streak happened They could still add to it

This arc feels massive. I think there is a ton of story left. At Togashi’s pace, finishing it seems like a challenge… but I hope he can do it. Even if he has to cut stuff and speedrun to the end As long as it’s better than the end of Yu Yu Hakusho.

Hunter x Hunter is back this week!!! Who knows how long it will last, but I am mega hyped

And that's a wrap on the Dr. Stone anime. I think I liked the ending better in the manga. No matter which way you slice it, the way things are resolved with Why-man are anti-climactic IMHO... but it all felt a bit more epic in the manga In any case, I enjoyed seeing it animated. And it was the second half of the final episode -- the "Where are they now?" epilogue stuff -- that was the real good stuff, not the ending of the moon mission in the first half of the episode. Most of this final arc, from Suika being alone and saving everybody, to planning the moon mission, and finally making it happen, is all top shelf stuff in my books. Chrome and Suika really steal the show though, insisting on finding a way for the moon team to be able to return to Earth Sai is also one of my favourite characters in Dr. Stone and it was a treat to see him animated finally.

The Jays have played better lately. The win % is pretty solid in the last ~25 games. If they win tonight, it’s another series win—and they finally get back to .500. Winning series has to be the goal. Keep winning 2-of-3 whenever possible. They don’t seem like a team that will go on a long win streak at any point. They dig themselves into a hole to start the season, so winning the division is very unlikely, but they can certainly be a strong Wild Card team. And if they are healthy and hitting their stride at the right time in October, they could do some damage again. There are problems though. Lots of challenges on the pitching side. And Vlad isn’t right this year so far. Still solid and hitting for average, but the power is really lacking. Not sure why. Vlad needs to be more impactful for them to really make some noise. I don’t know what to make of the M’s. Happy to see them leading the division… but the competition is pretty bad Even the White Sox have a slightly better (just barely) win % than the M’s! The AL Central and West are really hurting this year. I expected better from Houston and Detroit. Cleveland is above .500 but who knows for how long.

Akane-banashi # 210 I'm up to # 180 in Black Clover. This arc has been nuts, so much action all over the place. The elves are tough customers! But the humans are proving to be pretty tough as well. Noelle's growth was awesome stuff in the chapters I just read last night Sakamoto # 263 This one was more of a build-up chapter. Do we get back to the main event next week?

If Skubal won’t re-sign in Detroit after this season then I guess they have to trade him. Otherwise it’s just poor asset management by the Tigers I’d love to see another team out-bid the Dodgers on the trade market though. The risk for some teams is what if he’s just a rental for half a season. Hard to trade a lot of prospects for that without some kind of handshake deal in place with Skubal for next offseason.

This week's Spy x Fam... Yor: "Sorry Yuri, right now I just want to cuddle with my husband." Yuri: I fuckin' died

Cool! Both games look fun. I only have a Mac and a Switch so I don't think I can play either of them. Can you put the soundtracks on Bandcamp? I'd totally buy the music

Yeah for sure, the "rough panel" look blends in better with certain art styles and would stick out like a sore thumb in other cases. Other stuff... Kagurabachi has continued to be really great lately. This one has been rapidly rising up my personal power rankings Miharu and Ban are in a bit of a bind in Witch Watch, and I'm very curious to see how they get out of it (Ban is so useless But maybe she'll miraculously do something good). This whole arc on the cruise ship has been really really good. I'm up to # 135 in Black Clover; they've just finished the Royal Knights competition and the squad is heading off to storm the Eye of the Midnight Sun's hideout. I'm really curious to learn more about Licht and the elves. Stuff has been alluded to but not really addressed directly/thoroughly. I want to know the history and backstory in a lot more detail!

Agreed on all points! I'm glad the author mentioned the fact that this was Akane's first chance in a long time to just do rakugo without some special condition. Never would have occurred to me The lack of polish in the last few pages of Sakamoto Days' most recent chapter was very noticeable but I didn't hate it either. I wonder if they decided to change some details at the last second, which required new pages to be created. Or some pages got lost to a technical snafu. Who knows. Maybe the author just didn't budget time correctly and this was the result. I've seen this phenomenon a handful of times in Kagurabachi, although it's been weeks and weeks since the last occurrence. Togashi was pretty notorious for submitting stuff looking like that to make the deadline back in the bad old days as well. I'd love to have some new HxH chapters someday...

Akane-banashi # 207 A very satisfying finish - and reaction - to Akane's God of Death. I loved this chapter. Problem is, Kaisei appears ready to take the stage and somehow outdo Akane Very curious to see his God of Death over the next few chapters. I hope his performance gets as much time as Akane's did and isn't just glossed over. Sakamoto Days # 260 No big comments, just want to give Shin some more props. You got this, buddy! Spy x Fam # 135 This situation that Loid's gotten himself into I love drunk Yor but Director Wilker has perhaps stolen the spotlight in this chapter. What a goofy old dude

You gotta get back on the Witch Watch train eventually. It's been great lately. I'm not super sure what will happen in Akane-banashi, but what you're thinking sounds very plausible. Kaisei's performance is going to be very good, I'm sure. But Akane has already piqued Issho's curiosity for sure. Totally agreed re: Shin in Sakamoto Days. His growth and character arc have been amazing throughout the series. Definitely a "student becomes the master" type of scenario. Starts as a sidekick and practically has become the main character at this point. Obviously Sakamoto is still the true MC, but Shin is trying his best to steal the show! I'm loving it. I'm up to # 83 now with Black Clover. Didn't read much over the weekend. They're just about to go to the Forest of Witches to try to find a fix for Asta's cursed arms. Curious to see how that plays out