What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga)

I've been busy moving to a new home this past month, so I haven't had much time to have a discussion here so I'll give an update on some recent things I've been partaking in:

Nichijou is a comedy that's basically the spiritual successor to Azumanga Daioh. I've been wanting to watch it for ages, but every time I do, something conspires to get in the way and I had never finished it until now. It's the show that has the famous deer suplex scene, it's one of my favorites from the series. It starts slow, with some disjointed bizarre comedy as it introduces the characters, but it's still good. By the time it hits mid-series, (~10 episodes in) it has built enough continuity to build off of the smaller, easier jokes it made in the series. In a wild snowball effect, I felt myself enjoying it more and more as it went on, when shows like this tend to overstay it's welcome. I'd put it up next to Azumanga as paragons of it's unique genre that few IPs have come close to rivaling.

Speaking of rivaling, My Deer Friend Noko-tan was really bizarre and fun out the gates, but either there's some really subtle wordplay in the Japanese that I'm missing or it's just not landing the way I hoped it would. It has a few good gags, but overall I felt wanting, especially after having just finished the enjoyable journey that was Nichijou. I may try to finish it later, but I've shelved it for now. Maybe I just need more time to separate from a better experience.

March Comes in Like a Lion has been an excellent drama that captures the life of a young professional shogi player as he pulls himself out of the depressive void that he had been existing in and learns to interact with the world and find meaning in what he does. Trying to avoid spoilers, but it's been a wonderful ride that I haven't had since shows like Your Lie in April or Barakamon. The character designs are so evocative, that even in the opening scene you quickly can read their emotions in a way that wants to use your emotions like a speedbag. If you want to a good character driven drama, you'll find this one more than enough to meet your needs.

While my wife and I wait for the Haikyu!! movie to finally come out somewhere we can watch it (legally) we still crave that quality sports anime. We stumbled on Yowamushi Pedal: Grande Road from 2013 which features this happy-go-lucky, first year highschooler, Onoda, who travels everywhere on his bike. He does so to save money so he can spend it on his anime stuff and this causes him to travel large distances. When he turns up to school one day, he goes up the more difficult, steeper back hill so he can sing his anime theme songs without judgement since nobody else is around. He's so good at it, he catches the eye of the cycling team and that's how we get an adorable little anime nerd pedaling with a whole host of talented young cyclists. The animation is simple, but what else do you expect when the major action is the repetitive motion of cycling. What sells it is the execution. Like Haikyu!!, you slowly grow to love and appreciate (most of) the characters, even if they are on rival teams. It's an excellent show to watch if you can't pay full attention, like cooking or doing chores, but still want something interesting to follow. Definitely a recommend from me.