52 Anime in 52 Weeks: July

My current anime challenge of watching 52 anime in 52 weeks has been an interesting journey so far. I have watched a good mix of genres and cleared a number of anime off of my to-watch list. So far it has been really fun taking this on. I have also been joined by a few other anime watchers. Reading their thoughts on the anime they have taken on for the challenge is pretty interesting too.

While fun, this anime challenge has proven to be deceptively simple with the aim of watching one anime from start to finish once each week. The goal of the challenge is not to watch 52 anime for the year, the goal is to watch an entire anime every week of the year. If the goal was to finish 52 anime, I would be done with it already. According to Anime-Planet (AP), where I record on and off the series I am watching, I have already watched 170 anime this year. Keeping in mind, that I have not logged everything I have watched and that AP logs each season as an anime entry.

For me, the week starts on Wednesday and ends on Tuesday. Here is how July, weeks 27 to 30, of my 52-week challenge, went for me.

Week 27: 6th July – 12th July

Claymore is one of those anime where I start and drop, start and drop, getting further into the anime each time I watch it. This time around, I committed myself to completing the series. However, it still took me a really long time to get through this – it took me starting early, during the previous week, and it took until the last day of the week for me to get to and through the final episode. I have gotten used to the brighter colour schemes of newer anime, so it took some time to adjust to the more monotoned colour scheme of Claymore. I also liked taking breaks between the fights to process what had happened. Most of my screenshots from this are of Claymore’s eyes. I am still undecided about whether I am a fan or not of the anime. I am just glad that I have finally completed this and that it is no longer on my anime to-watch list.

Week 28: 13th July – 19th July

Anime 1: Meng Qi Shi Shen [Cinderella Chef][Adorable Food Goddess]

Season three has recently started airing and I had only ever watched season one. I figured I would take on seasons one and two quickly to catch up and watch the weekly releases of season 3.  Watching the development of their relationship was really cute and fun, but I feel that a lot of moments were left out. I will need to find the source material so that I can see more of their time together with the bandits. Since their bond deepened a tad too quickly. I would skip past her transformation sequence after the first few times. I also noticed the transformation is different for each season. I do wonder why average people become such impressive food critics when they eat food in a show about cooking or if it has an element of cooking. They became so poetic. I enjoyed the antics in this and I am glad that I caught up on seasons one and two. I am now busy with Adorable Food Goddess season three as it releases each week.

Anime 2: The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt

I wondered how Tensai Ouji no Akaji Kokka Saisei Jutsu would go when my fiance told me about it. The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt is entertaining. I enjoyed the dynamics between all of the characters and seeing how Wein outmanoeuvres his opponents just to cause more trouble for himself. The season ends at a really good point, and I look forward to picking up the manga or, if possible, the light novel.

Week 29: 20th July – 26th July

I thought A Day Before Us was going to take longer to watch since it has three seasons. I went through it way too quickly. The episodes are so short and so sweet. I adored watching this. It was light, heartwarming, charming, and an absolute delight to watch. Season three, where it takes place in the past, was fun, but I do wish we had explored the couples’ lives as couples more. Although I enjoyed the season overall, seasons one and two are far superior in my own personal opinion.

Week 30: 27th July – 2nd August

My first movie submission for this anime challenge is Zutto Mae kara Suki deshita. Kokuhaku Jikkou Iinkai. After watching ‘A Day Before Us’ for week 29, I was in the mood for another romance title and that is when I stumbled upon “I’ve Always Liked You.” The animation is pretty and the characters are so vibrantly youthful with a mix of feelings and emotions. I thought the opening scene was a preview of a scene from further into the movie but the way it played out was brilliant. Chickening out of the confession that way is brutal but genius. I adore when anime include study scenes for teens, they are so cute to watch. The way the first spoken line in this movie is the name of the movie is magical. The characters are appropriately awkward and their bonds and interactions were a lot of fun to watch. Personally, I feel that this movie would have been better as a series. That way the playouts for each pairing would have been better put together and we could have experienced their journey better. I am still glad that I watched this though.

Musings on the 52 anime in 52 weeks anime challenge:

I have caught up! It has honestly taken me way too long to catch up on my challenge after the delay due to Anime March Madness. During July I completed five anime in four weeks for this challenge. I had not expected the romance genre to take over during the month but it was a fun takeover.

I am disappointed that it has taken me so long to get July’s challenge report up on the blog. Since I shall need to upload August’s soon. Thankfully I am getting it out before needing to do a double-up post again, like with April and May for my Detective Conan challenge.

I need to put together a plan for the anime I am planning to watch from September onwards since it is at this time of year when my schedule becomes insane without fail, every year. Although, this year has proven to have started the insane schedule early.

I am officially beyond the halfway point of this challenge and when I had come up with it I thought by this point the challenge would be abandoned or I would be tired of it. Surprisingly I am still going strong and I am still enjoying spending a week completing an anime. I am really looking forward to the weeks ahead and making some real progress on my never-ending anime list.

Are you joining me in my 52 anime 52 weeks challenge? How is it going for you? I am following the #52anime52 tag on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest and Gettr, if you would like to share your journey with me and others.

Completion: 30/52 (57.69% completed)