I’m currently a couple group watches with two of my partners.
I’m doing Mayonaka Punch with both partners as a new series for all of us, while I’m going through Nana as my first rewatch of it in forever but the first time one of my partners is watching it. Unintentionally, they turned out to be really good contrasts. Both are totally gay for different reasons, but obviously make for good breaks for the other in tone.
Mayonaka Punch is so thoughly charming as an over the top comedy. The whole premise of a vampire helping out a desperate Youtuber in exchange for her blood is obviously a bit out there, but they do a lot of fun stuff with the Youtuber aspect. And Live and Masaki have some fantastic chemistry together. I love how cantankerous and singleminded Masaki can be and how utterly extra Live is while both can show their caring sides. Only a single cour show so far, easy to recommend.
On rewatch as an adult I’m definitely appreciating Nana more, and it might have become my favorite anime. However, I’ll try not to oversell. It’s first and foremost a tragedy about broken dreams, what you wish for with yourself and others. It’s largely a rather grounded drama focusing on fleshed out, and deeply flawed adult characters, peppered with the grandeur of a rock star story. A breath of fresh air from the usual high school stuff. Even if you’re someone who normally doesn’t care about romance, I think there’s still someone or something you can latch onto. And while my himejoshi ass is obviously obsessed with how it portrays that lesbian angst of falling in love with best friend the two titular gals have, most of the messy relationships are het and thus probably easier for most folks to connect with. My biggest caveat I’d have to give is that while I believe it handles the subject matter well, multiple thoroughly abusive relationships are central to the story, so it might be hard for some to stomach at times. It’s one of those stories that really hurts me. It leaves me devastated, regretful, and longing in all the right ways.
It’s really popular, so maybe it’s unnecessary, but I still can’t recommend it enough.
It’s ongoing right now every Wednesday
tis quite good
