As a trained journalist, I know this summer isn’t as terrible as it feels. In my graduate program, we learned the techniques the media uses to make current events seem very pressing for brief periods of time—the searchlight or spotlight method of journalism. Even so, every time I open up Twitter, I just want to retreat into a fantasy world.

Fortunately, the new anime season (and Pokémon Go!, I’ll admit,) are ready and waiting. Though I don’t usually watch more than one or two season premieres, this time I found myself watching a ton to keep my mind off of things! The better to be your anime oyster, sifting out the good stuff from the crap.

Here’s everything I watched so far and whether I think you should be watching it, too.

Amanchu!

You can see from this screenshot why some people are calling it “The Muppet Show.” Otherwise, it’s a pretty standard slice-of-life about two girls just starting high school. The story takes place in a seaside town, and Kohinata comes from a family of scuba divers, so there’s an ocean motif that follows the episode around, down to their mermaid-cut school uniforms. I love scuba diving so I’m excited for this show to exit the classroom and dive in.

B-PROJECT

Young everygirl Tsubasa lucks into a job managing not one, but three male idol groups! She doesn’t have any special talents, but her instincts are already winning over the idols—and I can see them falling for her in the future. This is an anime designed to pander to me, but I’m not sure how much more I can take. Between interchangeable pretty boys and Tsubasa always doing everything right, getting all of this fanservice is actually kind of boring.

Cheer Boys!!

Maybe it’s time to tone down the exclamation points, anime. From the beginning, Cheer Boys!! is not your average sports anime. For one thing, it takes place in college, when the characters are more independent and mature and (to adult viewers like me) relatable. The first episode starts slow as the boys begin to form their cheerleading squad, but I’ve already found my favorite character in the eccentric Wataru.

DAYS

Tsukishi has a smile I want to protect. This is a sports anime in the spirit of Yowamushi Pedal, starring a hapless nerd as a main character. Tsukishi is a soccer newbie, but he has enthusiasm in spades. It’s not soccer that he’s so crazy about, exactly, but being on a team and running toward a common goal with all of his new friends. Not a lot of innovation here, but the thoughtful character designs and sweet soccer moves are pretty cool.

Love Live Sunshine!!

I liked Love Live a lot, especially Nico. This is a high quality franchise with engaging characters and great music, and the sequel isn’t any different. As usual the best part is the character interaction—putting a dozen girls with totally different personalities in a room together and watching hijinks ensue. My favorite is Yoshiko, the chuunibyou idol who thinks she’s a demon. My one complaint so far is that Chika is very much like Love Live main Honoka. Perhaps there’s only one kind of personality that can unite this many disparate school idols together?

Orange

I read the manga to the end, so I’m already inclined to love Orange. It’s your run-of-the-mill shoujo anime… with TIME TRAVEL. And a little bit of wish fulfillment, since 16-year-old Naho is receiving letters from her 26-year-old self in order to assuage her past regrets. Already these characters seem full of life, and the world they live in is full of subtle beauty.

SERVAMP

A high school boy who hates troublesome things adopts a stray black cat… who turns out to be a vampire who also hates troublesome things. The two enter into a bloody contract (pictured) in which Mahiru can order his new “servamp” to fight other vampires on his behalf, like for example the first episode’s Grell reject who is threatening his friends for no reason. It’s a supernatural show with cute boys so I guess, the summer version of Bungo Stray Dogs? Either way I don’t feel the urge to watch beyond the first episode.

sweetness & lightning

Here’s a show for everyone who liked Usagi Drop minus the weird incest part. Kouhei’s wife died six months ago, and he’s left raising his adorable daughter, Tsumugi, by himself. However, the hapless high school professor has no idea how to feed the two of them healthy meals. Enter his student, Kotori, who works at a homestyle restaurant. This is all set up to be a heartwarming cooking show, where the characters’ apparent relish in eating should satisfy us, too.

This Art Club Has a Problem!

Why did I even watch this? Starring a dude obsessed with drawing his own waifus in the creepiest ways possible and the girl who loves him, this is everything I dislike about “meta” anime, that acts like its self-awareness forgives it for re-using the same tired tropes.

The Morose Mononokean

I’m a huge fan of Natsume’s Book of Friends, in which a high school boy hangs out with yokai only he and a select few can see. This is a clear knockoff, and as usual, it’s nowhere near as good as the original. Hanae’s self-deprecating everyman personality feels cookie cutter, and holier-than-thou Haruitsuki isn’t any more likeable. But hey—yokai hunting at school! It’s going to take more than a meh first episode to make this overall plot less appealing.

Thunderbolt Fantasy

You absolutely need to be watching this puppet show, is a phrase I didn’t think I’d be saying this season. When I saw everyone hyping this, I thought it must be hilariously bad or something. Nope. These puppets are stunning with painted faces and elaborate embellished outfits. The animated effects are gorgeous, and the voice acting and musical score makes you forget that the puppets’ mouths aren’t always moving. I’ve already watching episode one twice.

TSUKIUTA. The Animation

We’re definitely not hurting for idol anime this season! This one features just two male idol groups, instead of three like B-PROJECT, but definitely trades that quantity for increased quality (though not enough to make this a must-watch). I liked this storyline, in which three of the idols took a bored little kid on an adventure, because it gives the characters slightly more than the minimum of character development. Even so, that CG dancing has reached uncanny valley levels of discomfort. Once again, being pandered to is better in theory.

All this, and Mob Psycho 100 still hasn’t premiered yet! What are you watching this season?