G-On Riders

Girls at Saint Hoshikawa School defend Earth from alien invaders using a secret weapon that sounds ridiculous until you see it in action: putting on glasses. That's the setup for G-On Riders, a 13-episode TV series from 2002 that leans fully into its absurd premise and never apologizes for it. Yuuki is the newest recruit, joining a team that includes a warrior nun and a shy priestess, all of them channeling special powers the moment their frames hit their noses. Meanwhile, a lovesick classmate named Ichiro keeps stumbling into their battles because he just really wants to confess his feelings to Yuuki. The alien invaders, for their part, are not exactly a terrifying existential threat — they're called Fancy Beasts, and the show treats them with about as much gravity as that name suggests. The tone is light and comedic throughout, with fan service layered in, so it helps to go in knowing what kind of show this is. If you enjoyed the breezy action-comedy energy of Strike Witches or the glasses-girl aesthetic taken to its logical extreme, this scratches a similar itch. It also has some DNA in common with Agent Aika in terms of its unapologetic ecchi comedy wrapped around a sci-fi action frame. It's a product of its era, made by a pre-Madoka Shaft, and it wears that proudly. Nothing here is particularly deep, but it's a short, unpretentious watch that commits completely to its own weird concept.