Anime Thigh Thread II

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Shinsaku Pokemon Horizons - Episode 6

Spoiler: 

Deus ex machina

lmao Roy's sealed ball contained a shiny rayquaza

Well, it's a good thing that Amerthio's Pokemon can use Ghost Dive to teleport, as that's the only way he's going to evade being one shotted.




Bringing Roy along with them while they are on a dangerous mission to bodyguard Liko who is being pursued by hostiles (who thus far the protagonists have been inept at combatting) is irresponsible. Also, didn't Friede say that they were short on money? Even if Roy isn't paid any wages, he's still eating their food, and also taking up limited cabin space that could be occupied by a more capable crewmember.

[Yunru]

Ai going strong:


Also checking a new season anime and that one may not look bad:

[paxen]

Oshi No Ko: I'm three episodes in thus far. Very strong first episode, I was hooked. However, with the mother dying at the end of the first episode, I fear that my enjoyment of this show will not remain as high. I found myself kinda bored with the male character trying to sabotage the girl's dream and most of the second episode. Third episode was more interesting with the other actor, but yeah... where's the investigation and stuff? First episode: 9/10. Since: 7/10 or so.

After 5 episodes the core of the show seems to be very much about a cynical look behind the scenes of the entertainment business, with the revenge plot as a background thread/motivation for Aqua

The bits from the pilot on the movie set and the politicking behind the scenes are probably the most representational of the series as a whole (I say as anime only, not reading the manga).

- - - Updated - - -

Holy shit Oshi no ko episode six was so great and so painful

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Shinsaku Pokemon Horizons - Episode 7

Spoiler: 

Really? Flashing your phone screen with pixels on it is proof of your membership? Not as romantic as having a pin or a badge or an armband.

I dislike the newbie guide/youtuber being retconned into being a crewmember. Makes the world feel smaller. Every character in the show is either onboard the airship or in the villain organization. She also makes no sense as a crewmember. She doesn't help maintain the ship, nor does she exist the ship to help with the mission. She doesn't even step outside to enjoy the places they visit. When the airship was being attacked... what? 2 or 3 times? She did absolutely nothing. She's a youtuber and could do that from her house. She does nothing on the airship but take up precious cabin space.




This is nonsense and an unearned momemnt. You've been with these people for a mere 6 episodes, maybe barely a week or two weeks, and now you are proclaiming them as your nakama you're going to die for? This is something a boy or young man is supposed to say, not a heroine.

Wait, they didn't have the barrier activated while the airship was flying high above the clouds? How were they standing on the deck without even a breeze wafting through their hair? In episode 2 when the barrier was destroyed, everyone struggled not to be blown off by the gale force.

So Liko is Ash 2.0, focused on "becoming stronger". The show has outted itself as another shounen battle series but with a genderflipped protagonist. Bleh.

[Pejo]

(Great Trigun Review)

I have to agree with everything you said. I watched it with my wife and biggest complaint for me seems to be that the story had to be rushed a bit and that the main story I would have liked to take the forefront vs being side effects from the side stories. I’ll probably change my mind the further I get away from it (just finished it two days ago) and tend to enjoy that build up more. Either way, it still was a fantastic watch and they are absolute gods of CG, especially the final few episodes.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Shinsaku Pokemon Horizons - episode 8

Spoiler: 

Liko got condemned to the hell that is online classes. What a gigantic waste of time. She would learn 10x as much in a fraction of the time if she just watched a Youtube playlist or read articles.




Oh wow, another exciting adventure to... more blocky concrete buildings!




Imagine living on an airship and travelling the world and visiting a new place every day... and the world is so boring and disinteresting that you would rather stay inside your room and watch Youtube. Goodness gracious!

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Scrapped Princess - 4/10 (Bad)

The first few episodes were fun. The show was made after the transistion to digital but the aesthetic was still good. Backgrounds and production quality was overall higher than most shows airing within the last 10 years. The show had that good adventure feel as the characters were travelling through a wide open and dangerous world. You felt there was a lot of possibility. If I were only rating those episodes then I'd give the show a 7/10. Then around episode 10, the protagonists get roped into a formulaic "save the world from the evil corrupt Church and their god-monsters" JRPG plot, and I started tuning out. The show also has some backwards monologues on how morals should dictate religion. The "good" Church guy fighting alongside the protagonists didn't even believe in the faith, so you're left with the impression that he only joined the Church as a machiavellian means to an end, and that was before the reveal. The speechifying how man's hope will overcome anything in the last episode was terrible. So overall I found the show to be bad. One thing I did find refreshing was how the antagonists were killed off. Within a couple seconds, they make a mistake, the heroes capitalize it. Boom, they're dead, just like that.

English dub was good.





Sing Yesterday For Me - 6/10 (Fine)

The show spent more time showing the romance between the MC and the false lead than it did showing time between the MC and the girl who wins in the end. Very strange. The show didn't convince me that the MC loved the winning girl than he loved the childhood friend.

In one of the latter episodes, there is a scene where they go to the supermarket and talk, and the backgrounds are literally just pictures of a real life supermarket, not drawn at all. Production value failure.





SSSS.Dynazenon - 7/10 (Good)

The characters reacting very nonchalantly was refreshing, though the little girl getting her own dragon to fly on but not being awed by that escapist fantasy was a stretch. Episode 10 annoyed me with how it tried to hard to be a serious, artsy psychological story. Overall good.

The mechas and kaiju are 3D CGI, which is a shame.

[Pendulous]

Sing Yesterday is 100% carried by Haru, but she did it well enough that I enjoyed it in the end.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Shinsaku Pokemon Horizons - Episode 9

Spoiler: 

Why didn't Friede report to Liko's father about the pursuers? "Hey sir, did you know that your daughter was nearly kidnapped four times? First three people tried grabbing her at her school, then they pursued us and boarded our airship. Then they planted a tracking device on our airship and followed us across international waters and attacked and tried capturing her two more times. Is that why you hired us to get her? Are you sure they're not going to come get her here at your house? Do you have a plan to protect her after we're gone? Will the locks on your doors and windows keep them out?"

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Shinsaku Pokemon Horizons - episode 10

Spoiler: 

Okay, let's recap.




At the beginning of the series, the Rising Volt Tacklers are introduced as some sort of freelancer team that does contract work. They were hired by Liko's father to rescue her. We also know that money and resources are an issue for the RVT. They were nearly out of money and wanted to deliver Liko to her father ASAP to get their pay, and they carefully track the resources being spent on the ship (food, medical supplies, airship parts, etc). So while Liko had a pleasant time with the RVT, their relationship is ultimately of a client and a service provider (whose service has been fulfilled), and the RVT's foremost priority is to do jobs to make money and stay afloat.

At the end of the last episode, the RVT delivered Liko to her father... and then she imposes and decides she wants to continue riding on their airship. She doesn't even hint at the idea of being hired to be a part of the crew and work to help keep the team afloat. She seems to just want to freeload on them, taking up valuable cabin space that could go to another member who actually does work, and eating their food too.




It's bizzare that the anime is treating gym leaders as if they are powerful trainers. They never were. Brock and Misty lost battles in Indigo League and struggled against Giovanni's Team Rocket. Roark struggled against Team Galactic in Galactic Battles. Cilan and Iris also lost battles in Best Wishes and struggled against Plasma. Clemont in XY lost battles and struggled against Flare. Being a gym leader ≠ being strong. It's more like being a league sanctioned proctor or tutor who tests trainers on basic knowledge and competency. If Nemo wants to hype up fearsome Pokemon League trainers, then she should be talking about the Elite Four. We never saw an E4 defeated until the Mega Evolution specials.

Overall mediocre episode. 2/3rds of the episode was people standing around while Colza talks about art and feeling down. Last 1/3rd has a battle Roy and Colza, but there isn't any tension here. There are no stakes. Roy isn't super invested in becoming a Pokemon champion like Ash was. Ash's first gym loss to Brock felt devastating, but here Roy losing to Colza is like whatever. He doesn't even walk away having learned a lesson like Ash did and realizing that he needs to acquire new skills and knowledge.

Cybuster - episode 9

That was perhaps the most egregious instance of "as you know" exposition I've ever heard. Maybe I'm blanking out the instances of other anime that did this because I watched them subbed, but hearing this spoken in English is very jarring. I'm surprised the localizers didn't try to reword the exposition to make it feel more natural.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Shinsaku Pokemon Horizons - Episode 11

Spoiler: 

First half of the episode was boring. They go to a burnt out forest and mope. Liko and the doctor lady sit down on a log and talk about how they have no idea what they want to do with their lives... *snore*. This is supposed to be a fantasy adventure show!

Compositing issues. The hyperdetailed backgrounds don't gel with the simplified two tone shaded anime characters. I thought I was looking at a photograph at one point.

Contrived conflict over the whooper...

"Oh no Roy, you can't have Hogator defend us from the giant tree monster attacking us or else he will start another fire!" what is this? Ash and Brock had no issue whipping out Charmander and Vulpix and having them use their firebreathing attacks in the middle of the forest. Pokemon has become sissified.

[Yunru]

Black clover movie: Sword of the Wizard King --- Asta scream / 10
Man this is legit a movie with a lot of action.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Shinsaku Pokemon Horizons - Episode 12

Spoiler: 

*Long stills as the doctor drops exposition about a situation she could not possibly glean at a glance*

Liko: I will help! *Orders her Pokemon to gather fruits and berries from the immediate area, as if the wild Pokemon there would not have already extracted such easy resources already*
Not an exciting fantasy adventure. Boring filler.




These guys could be racing on their dragons, entering competitions, fighting powerful villain organizations, pursuing the mythical black Rayquaza, visiting exotic lands on their airship, but no. They are wasting away their visit sitting around the kitchen table bored out of their minds, staring at tablets, complaining about a lack of internet access.

So it seems the story is turning into One Piece. Our heroes are going to meet the Ancient Adventurer's four other Pokemon and then go to the paradise he found? Are the villains trying to find the paradise too to extract its resources or what?

Why are the Rising Volt Tacklers agreeing to chauffer Liko around to find the island? They're a for-profit business that have bills to pay and Liko doesn't have the money. What, is there an unspoken plan to try to profit off of the paradise if they reach it at the end? Claim it and sell or license the rights or something?

[Pejo]

So reaching the end of the season, here were the ones I ended up doing:

Demon Slayer S3: not as good as s2, but it was pretty good. Great animation, basiclsly more demon slayer. I’ll round up to 8/10.

Mashle: only one episode left so good enough. It started off stronger than it ended. Started off as a Harry Potter clone with some decent comedy, and I did like some of the character growth. But some others were really boring. I’ll go 6/10.

Yamada 99: It was pretty chill and I really enjoyed the ending. I won’t lie, the ending felt like a bit too much shift in Yamada’s personality but I preferred it. His scene with Tsubaki was very good. I’ll go 8/10.

Megumin: I really wanted this to be good because I love KonoSuba. Sadly, this was mostly boring. It had some good moments in each episode but a ton that wasn’t. If it wasn’t KonoSuba, I’d go 5-6/10 but I’ll raise it to 6-7 for KonoSuba fans.

Tonikawa: basically more Tonikawa…with added “lewd”. I like the chill factor of this show and seeing their relationship blossom. I’ll go 8/10

Isekai Cheat Skill: one episode left but I feel safe on this one. Holy fuck, this is the anime with the most wish fulfillment I’ve ever seen - it’s egregious. In the beginning, it was more fun watching how bad it can get but the last bit just dragged with added wish fulfillment. 6/10 because it was entertaining enough to start.

Skip to Loafer: this is a weird one for me because I looked forward to it every week, and it had its own level of enjoyment. But it is slow. Real slow. The interactions were cute and I did like seeing Mitsubishi grow (especially with her group of girls). But the whole conflict for Shima was meh. It probably would have hit harder if the climax of it was sooooo anti-climatic. If you like these kind of shows, I’d go for 8/10.

Dangers in my heart: I think this was my favorite anime of the season. The first couple episodes were a bit too “edgy” for me with the MC but man, it becomes really engaging past that. Yamada is amazing all around, and I love seeing a girl go hard. Ichi became more tolerable once he got out of his fantasies. 9/10 , highly recommend to anyone who likes romance.

Insomnia: 1 more episode and I feel, unless they fuck up the finale, safe on reviewing this one. I really enjoyed watching both Magari and Nakami grow towards each other. Seeing each of them reach across to help when the other struggled was fantastic. I’ll go 8.5/10

Raeliana: this one I actually read the manga for with the wife. It was a pretty good adaptation. It sped past the boring stuff, only spending 4 episodes on that (I don’t think they could have skipped more). I like that Raeliana has some backbone. I’ll go 8/10

[icedwarrior]

What the hell, I'll do mine, too.

Insomniacs After School: 7/10. One episode remains, but I'll remember this show as missed potential. When it started, I had the highest hopes for it of the season; as someone who's a night owl, I was hoping this would be Call of the Night, but lose the focus on the waifu and focus more on the night as well as a reflection of oneself, etc. Well... twelve episodes in, and I gotta ask: why is this called Insomniacs? I feel like there's perhaps five minutes devoted throughout the show of not being able to sleep. Meanwhile, I couldn't even count the amount of time devoted to taking pictures. I literally do not care about them taking pictures. It's completely whatever, a device to have something happen. The relationship between Magari and Nakami, however, is very good and single-handedly makes this show worth watching... I just wish things were changed a bit to make it better.

[Oshi No Ko]: 7/10. The other show with missed potential, in my opinion. The first episode started off very strong, and I was very excited to see where it would go. While I have yet to watch the final episode of this season, I am confused as to why there is such little focus on the investigation of Ai's murder and details surrounding it. I don't want to see Aqua collect a harem, I want to see a mystery unravel. Also, my bet is the stalker is the father, as fucked as that would be. In the middle, my interest started to wane, but the last few episodes have been good. Ai > Kana > meh. Oh. The Akane arc was dumb and bad and uninteresting. Call me callous, but I genuinely do not understand why someone would take such extreme comments (such as telling yourself to end yourself) to heart from strangers. I can definitely understand taking criticisms, but to go as far as suicide? I genuinely don't understand it. And of course Aqua was there at the perfect moment to save her... meh.I think this show is good, but not as good as the first episode... which is a real shame. I'll keep watching this and subsequent seasons, but I fear that they're going to drag this out and I'd much rather have had a short 12 episode season that concludes, rather than meandering with interpersonal relationships with characters he doesn't care about... that I don't care about, either.

KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World!: 5/10. Oof. To put it into context, I am a big KonoSuba fan. I would put it in my top five shows of all time in terms of enjoyment. This... is not worthy. There are some fun stuff - such as the Crimson Demons being so chuunibyou - but for every laugh, I felt like there were four jokes that didn't land at all. Towards the end, there are frequent appearances of Aqua, Kazuma, Darkness, and Chris that amounted to nothing but that they exist. It didn't add any additional context to any scenes, nor did it inject any humor into anything. Instead, it just felt like "hey, do you remember when this show was funny? Do you? Huh?!" I am very disappointed this missed the mark so hard, and also that my least favorite of the group gets a spinoff.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc:4/10. So, yeah... Demon Slayer. I feel like this might be a spicy opinion, but what the fuck happened here? When I look at the first season (which I loved and gave a 9 to), I remember inventive and interesting fights that involved exploding dodgeballs, projectile literal arrows that threw you around, and rotating rooms that constantly messed with your balance. This season had... another fight where there are multiple enemies that Tanjiro attempted to decapitate... but wait, that wasn't the real head! Gotta find it! Oh I did, but I can't chop this one off easily, I better struggle with it for another two episodes! Meh. Not to mention, at the start, Tanjiro kept going straight at a training dummy with zero thought or strategy. When that fails him... do it again! Yawn. I also "liked" it when they're fighting a harpy-type demon who can fly and attack at a distance... but instead of whittling Tanjiro down or enact any sort of strategy, said enemy decides he wants to consistently swoop down and try and claw him, thus opening himself up to a counterattack. Because reasons. And that last episode... let's talk about it. On paper, I like Tanjiro being paralyzed between the choices of saving his sister, or putting an end to a powerful demon who is about to slaughter 3 innocents. I do not like him being paralyzed with fear, monologuing to the audience for what felt like an eternity about he just couldn't bring himself to a decision, [I]especially[/I] when he just used a technique that would have enabled him to close the distance needed to put his sister into safety in perhaps 2 seconds, and then he could have used it again in another 2 seconds to end the enemy. You [I]just[/I] showed me that he has that capability, why is he not utilizing the tools at his disposal to trivialize it? To create drama, I guess. But the outcome... is nonsense. Maybe I just missed an explanation, but why is Nezuko immune to sunlight now? Because it was a literal deus ex machina at the time, and I hated it. She was fucking disintegrating, and then when the stakes are high, nah I'm fine lol. From there, we get more story about the antagonist. I don't mind it in theory, but I don't think he's a compelling character, and you're taking away the mystique of the big bad by giving such a detailed account of his origin in doing so. I'm told by manga readers that this will be the show's lowest point... and I sincerely hope that it is because this was bad.

Skip and Loafer: 8/10. This show was a delight. The cast of characters all have their moments which I really appreciate because groups of characters usually fall mostly flat for me. I would like Shima to be a bit better, but the group as a whole is fantastic. I do agree that his arc has been anti-climactic, but that's the worst I can say about the show. For someone who hasn't even watched a whole lot of slice of life shows, this one feels like a breath of fresh air. Mitsumi Iwakura in particular is a character I have grown to love; her naiveté must be protected at all costs. I especially loved the line about her crying about something relatively insignificant, and Shima questioning how she's going to be in politics if she's this upset over that. More Skip and Loafer, please.

The Dangers in My Heart: 8.5/10 (my favorite of the season). This turned out to be a delight. It starts off a bit edgy, but it quickly blossoms into a fantastic romance story. Yamada, in particular is cute and I appreciate how she behaves around Ichikawa. I immediately noticed the music of this show was very similar to Koe no Katachi, and yeah, same composer. It was also funny seeing literally Shouya Ishida in the classroom. If I had to complain about anything, it would be that the endings of the shows never end quite right with me; they'll often have a cute romantic moment, but then have to continue on for another 30 seconds and I feel it always hurt the scene for doing so. Still, this romance right here? More of this please. I eagerly await season two... or perhaps I should read the manga.

...


I wanted to watch The Ancient Magus' Bride Season 2 as well as Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage, but I felt like I bit off a bit more than I could chew with the above anime, so I dropped these two.

[Pendulous]

No idea what the show is, but more Mindaryn music is always good.

[Pendulous]

Well, there are some shows left to finish, but seeing everyone else doing it, I guess I can make my long ass post. First, I did go back and watch Campfire Cooking, and Mou Ippon. Campire Cooking was meh, pretty repetitive, and I wasn't a fan of the fenrir. Mou Ippon was really good, better than I expected. Just really enjoyed the character personality dynamics. And I like how they don't go too extreme one way or another with their talent and win/loss ratio. They're experienced, and it shows, but they also don't go overboard and make them some kind of unstoppable team. I would love to see a new season with Nagumo finally getting to compete.

Also watched season 4 part 2 of DanMachi (dub premier was this season). Probably the best season yet. Ryu's story was well-done. Integrating former story characters like Aisha, and the Xenos really helped out too. I'll need to see more, and hopefully we'll get to see Ryu's future. She's so obviously down bad for Bell now, the harem grows even more.

Oshi no Ko (6/10) - It almost wasn't fair to the show, because there was no way it was going to live up to the hype I heard before I started watching it. The extended first episode was a masterpiece. Yet I left it feeling confused. Not at the plot, but at how people really thought it was worth that much hype. It was very contrived, and as you go on past it for the rest of the series, mostly feels unnecessary. You could have Aqua being a jaded kid watching his mom die, and Ruby wanting to live up to her mom's passion, without having all the stuff about them being reincarnated into Ai's babies. Nothing I've seen even remotely justifies that plot point, making it just sound weird. The mystery aspect seems largely forgotten, but always lingering enough to make you wonder why it's there as well. I like the characters enough. I like Aqua, Ruby, Kana, and some of the supporting cast. I appreciate the fact this show is more interesting to me than, say Shirobako, as they both seem to depict realisms of the entertainment industry (although different parts of it). And a certain character reminds me of Higehiro, a show I recommend, but also has a few trigger warnings. It's clearly not a bad show. But it never came close to living up to its expectations.

The Dangers in My Heart (8/10) - I'm glad I watched the trailer for this (something I very rarely would say, thanks Gigguk?). That synopsis doesn't really tell you what kind of show it is. And the first couple episodes really go all out on the edginess. But once you get past that, it's such a heartwarming show with a couple of surprisingly deep leads. Supporting cast is meh, but it's almost not really needed. Season 2 announced already, let's go.

Dr. Stone New World (8/10) - Possibly the best season yet. A lot of emotional highs. The cast being well-established and getting to see them at their best. I'm not that big on the current arc, and with a second cour coming, it was a bit of a cliffhanger. So maybe season 3 overall will be great, but it'll take time to find out.

Skip and Loafer (8/10) - Just a lot of really solid shows this season. Every character a gem, many of them breaking stereotypes. Ending was pretty weak, leaving a big hole desiring for more. One thing I wish we got more show-not-tell of was Mika and Nao-chan's budding friendship. We got like a couple lines of them together, but that was it. It's a great idea to have the adult sort of calm down the flawed Mika and get her in a more chill mood. But we never really see it. I also think we got a bit shafted on not getting enough of Yuzuki. She might have been the best of the supporting cast, but we really only got one good scene late. But that's the thing. Being just as interesting in every character outside the two leads is what makes the show so interesting.

Insomniacs After School (8.5/10) - Might just be my show of the season. Both characters are very relatable. It has this slight hint of iyashikei feels. Which I think is just fitting enough to not go full into it, since the main plot is a bit more serious. But it also isn't too serious where it jumps into Your Lie in April territory. I'm a huge fan of Magari, and I love when a show puts the genki girl as the lead (see Interviews with Monster Girls). The other kids, the typical "friend group" in shows like this, felt a bit underwhelming. But it seems like it's setting up to have them have a bigger role moving on. In season 2. Which we're getting. So hyped. This is the kind of show that really wants me to go and read the manga. But I'll wait til season 2 ends.

The Ancient Magus' Bride season 2 (7/10) - I didn't think we could love Chise more, but having her awkwardness in a school setting really makes her even more endearing. I like a lot of the new cast, classmates and school staff. The plot is whatever. Not bad but also the show is typically at its best when it doesn't focus too hard on it. And while I do enjoy the school setting, part of the charm of the show is the aesthetics. Which you don't really get at a school. So, a bit weaker than season 1 so far. We get more of this show too, so we'll see.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury season 2 (4/10) - I'm sorry, but this show just went to shit pretty hard. The main plot gets mostly forgotten for so much uninteresting crap, I lose interest very quickly. I don't care about 90% of the massive cast, and our two leads are just frustrating. Their relationship is so cracked, they're just hanging off a cliff most of the time. Season 1 gave it promise. Season 2 failed hard.

Tonikawa season 2 (8/10) - I'm ahead in the manga, so it's easy to judge this. It's the kind of show that's pretty hard to adapt poorly. It's slowly paced and often doesn't have much going on, just fluff. At this point in the anime, it will take a season 3 (the ONA announced won't get there) to get to the big huge things. But also at this point, it's getting to where we really get to see a lot of the supporting cast starting to show out. I like how Kyuuma started as this really annoying random person, but now is just an instant funny gag each time. Nakiri seems like the one with the least going on, and I'd like to see more of her and what her deal is. Kaname continues to be the best one though. So pervy, but also often correct.

My Clueless First Friend (7/10) - Like Dangers, another pleasant surprise. It's just super cute, must protect Akane. I thought the running gags would get old, but they manage to stay at least a little fresh. I'd like to see them abandon the Grim Reaper thing as it's the one that just got annoying. Maybe they'll get to middle school and it will fall off. Kids are mean, but man, how can you call that nugget a Grim Reaper? Just super wholesome good times. Her dad being an MVP.

Konosuba (7/10) - I actually like this? Yes it's not Konosuba, but the movie made me like Megumin. And we get to see even more Yunyun. Their relationship is weird, but it works and fits the oddness of this world. These damn cults though man. They're even more insane than I remember.

Dead Mount Death play (??) - Nine episodes in and I have no idea what to think still. It's kind of like a shounen show, where you just have to hold out until the story settles down. It's cool though, I like Polka and his crazy, hot, genki zombie partner. Just kind of not sure where it's heading.

In Another World with My Smartphone season 2 (8/10) - Season 1 was always my guilty pleasure show. Season 2 is fairly consistent. I had heard before it aired that season 2 was better than season 1 and we'd get to see the story at its best. I don't necessarily agree. The plot seemed to go from pretty slow to moving way too fast. I think what I like the most about it is how it's basically just a fantasy slice of life, and you can enjoy it as such. It doesn't really need overarching plots to be good. But I still enjoy it all the same.

Kuma Kuma Bear season 2 (8/10) - Unlike Smartphone, I will defend Kuma Kuma always as a legitimately good show. Yuna is still a great character, and you get to see how she's developed into someone who genuinely cares for others. She's also even funnier than she was before. More than once I remember hearing her monologue to herself like a shounen protagonist. I can watch all these bear puns forever.

I Got a Cheat Skill... (5/10) - This was my expected guilty pleasure isekai of the season. It had an idea that sounded interesting, but it just didn't execute it. I wanted to like the split perspective between the real world and the fantasy world. But at some point, the real world stuff just became cringy and uninteresting. The fantasy world is the only part that leaves some sort of enjoyment.

KamiKatsu (5/10) - Another interesting idea that just kind of went nowhere. The plot is a mess. And I get it's the very opposite of taking it seriously. But each episode I just end thinking "what the fuck did I just watch"? But hey. If you like a show where a lot of episodes turn into softcore porn, why not check it out.

Still to watch: The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses (hey it's getting a season 2, that one is unexpected)

Also in my recent trend of watching shows from the previous season in my spare time, I finally started In/Spectre season 2 after refreshing my memory of season 1. Only two episodes in, but so far it's been better than season 1. No specifics yet, but I got high hope for it.

It's a remake. But it has the same 2 main VAs and so on coming back for it.

I was referring to Shy. Which does look interesting. I am curious how a remake of Spice and Wolf will go. I'd prefer a bit of a quicker pace.

[unfilteredJW]

Still to watch: The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses (hey it's getting a season 2, that one is unexpected)

It's a Seo waifu battle. Second season was an easy sell I bet.

[Yunru]

Mashle -- Creampuff out of 10
Dead Mount Death Play -- 4/10 as not much happens, but it does get a new season so hopefully it gets better
Golden Kamuy 4 -- 8/10 ... points are down for waiting
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Bitch from Mercury Season 2 ... still meh .. 3/10 as story is predicteable

Oh, blackness shrouded in light, frenzied blaze clad in night…
In the name of the crimson demons, let the collapse of thine origin manifest.
Summon before me the root of thy power hidden within the lands of the kingdom of demise! EXPLOSION!!!/10 KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World!
Vinland Saga Season 2 -- 9/10 ... the farm part takes a while before it gets good
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch! -- 8/10 just a chill anime
My Home Hero 10/10 .. you simply dont know what will happen next
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc 7/10
Dr. Stone: New World 8/10

Still gota finish - Hell's Paradise and Edens zero season 2

For new anime this season - 1 episode try: Genjitsu no Yohane: Sunshine in the Mirror / Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout (Ryza games are fucking boring)

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Looks like it's yet another UC timeline spinoff.