The Day I Became a God

High schooler Youta Narukami is minding his own business when a girl in a ridiculous outfit shows up in front of him and announces she's the Norse god Odin, and that the world ends in 30 days. Youta's just trying to study for his college entrance exams, so naturally he thinks she's lost it. But then Hina Satou starts predicting things with eerie accuracy, and suddenly her deadline feels a lot less funny. This is a Jun Maeda original, and if that name means anything to you, you already know what you're signing up for. The first half plays out like a warm summer hangout: Hina moves in with Youta's family, they get into lighthearted misadventures, and there's a genuine sweetness to how this odd pair spend their dwindling days together. Hina acts like a bratty kid half the time, but there's something underneath it all that the show lets you feel before it tells you. Then the emotional weight starts landing, and it lands hard. P.A. Works handles the animation, so it looks gorgeous, and the soundtrack by Maeda and Manyo does a lot of heavy lifting in the quieter moments. If you liked Angel Beats or Charlotte, this is cut from the same cloth: comedy and slice-of-life warmth building toward something that wants to make you cry. If Clannad wrecked you, consider this fair warning. It's 12 episodes, so the commitment is small, but the ending will sit with you for a while.