I just signed up for their 2 year subscription deal, and always looked forward to getting my latest edition. Also listened to their podcast, which was great too. Super bummed about this.
Out of town and busy for a few weeks, so fell behind during the winter finish and spring start. This’ll be a catch up post for all of these. Would it be better to post in the respective threads, even though they’ve kinda passed on to obscurity? I dunno.
Winter anime roundup: really great season. I had low expectations going in, and it ended up being so much better.
Finished:
- Frieren - Excellent. This cour dragged a little in the first half, as it introduced so, so many new characters that each needed time to develop. But it finished strong and was super high quality throughout. May not be my AOTY, like the first cour was for 2023, but still phenomenal.
- Delicious in Dungeon - Excellent. Wow this show is really going somewhere. I love the characters, the animation, and the story is intriguing. This is my top recommendation lately for recent great anime. Must watch for Spring.
- Apothecary Diaries - Excellent. Not quite as engaging as cour 1, but still great. I felt like some of the reveals later on felt too much like a twist for the sake of it, and that we were mislead earlier on. Still very worth watching though.
- The Dangers in my Heart - Very good. I didn’t engage quite as much as the first season, mostly because the MC lost a lot of his personality and became more generic. But it’s still one of the best depictions of high school romance, for me. For anybody curious, yes, this show gets dramatically better than the first two episodes of season 1. MC is mostly an unlikeable edgelord at the very beginning, but becomes much more interesting quickly.
- Solo Leveling - Very good. I’m an easy sell for these types of shows, and this one is particularly good. Good characters, high stakes, great action, satisfying progression. Just wish more were out so I could binge more quickly. Feels like too little happens with one episode (or less…) per week.
Trying out based on end of season rankings and recommendations:
- Villainess Level 99 - A few episodes in and this is so, so much better than I would’ve expected. Genuinely funny yet heartfelt. Definitely finishing.
- 7th Time Loop - Couple episodes in and really like MC, the premise, and curious about where it’s going. Give it a couple more for sure. That first episode covered a ton of ground!
- A Sign of Affection - One episode in and probably give a couple more.
- Sasaki and Peeps - Pending.
- The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic - Pending.
Spring look forward: a few I’m interested in, but not many stand outs. A lot that I’d need to catch up on.
- Delicious in Dungeon S1C2 - Must watch. No idea where it’s going from here. Super good.
- Mushoku Tensei S2C2 - A mildly guilty pleasure, but we’re finally getting to the point that it’s a lot less difficult to defend. Rudy has grown a ton, we’re seeing a lot of payoff for years of toil, and I really like a lot of the characters. I’m hoping the adaptation keeps at the super high quality of the previous seasons.
- Spice and Wolf - Remake. I actually watched the first episode of the original recently and didn’t know this was coming. I’ll probably try this out instead.
- That Time I Reincarnated As A Slime S3 - I’m pretty behind, somewhere in S2. Might try to catch up.
- Konosuba S3 - I’m way back in S1. Not totally in, but probably give it another try to see if it clicks, since it’s apparently popular and they keep making it.
- Demon Slayer S? - Also behind. Might catch up, but already feeling too stacked.
- My Hero Academia S7 - Several seasons behind. Unlikely to catch up. It just felt so padded and unnecessary.
- X-men ‘97 - Yea, I know, not anime. But I’m still really excited about it. This is my childhood coming back, and the first 5 episodes have gone so hard. Very curious where it’s going.
While I’m glad Boy and Heron won the Oscar for more visibility for anime, I definitely would not have picked it. It wasn’t even my favorite anime of 2023 (that was Suzume) and certainly wasn’t my favorite of the nominees. I would have rather Nimona or Across the Spiderverse won. But I apparently don’t understand the Oscar judges, since I disagree with their choices frequently.
I’m actually all caught up with my current seasonal anime! Up to date with Frieren (excellent!), Apothecary Diaries (very good!), The Dangers In My Heart (good!), Delicious in Dungeon (excellent!), and Solo Leveling (good!). This season has turned out great. I’m sad we’ve only got a couple weeks left, but spring has a lot to look forward to as well.
Frieren really turned around the last couple episodes. They’ve been wild and exciting, but still feel so grounded and real.
I’m very curious where Apothecary Diaries is going to end S1. I’m anime only, so no idea where it’s going.
I’d prefer episode discussion here. I love seeing discussions about an episode I just finished. And it seems like this season we’re seeing a bit more activity? To me, this is the most important content I come here for. Perhaps it’d be okay to be separated, but it hardly feels spammy if it’s only for popular shows that most/many people are watching.
Comment bot seems not worth the effort compared to a google search.
Didn’t even know about the old Wiki. I just google that stuff.
Been busy, haven’t watched much. Only thing I really watched the last couple weeks is I finally finished Pluto. It was… fine. I was expecting more, based on the hype. There’s a lot I liked and a lot that should have been cut or changed from the source (in my opinion). The episodes are quite long, the pacing is all over the place, the story progression is flawed, and way too much happens to service the needs of the plot. Still, it was well produced. I liked the animation, style, music, characters, Japanese voice acting. I think it’s about as good as the source could allow. I think this opinion is kinda controversial, so hopefully not offending anybody too much.
As others have said, I’d probably not post at all if there’s no automated post. I like them and lurk frequently, but also agree there’s too many with zero participation. Either a cutoff of 5-10 shows that are the highest popularity or simply cutting a show after 1-2 weeks of zero comments would simplify it well.
I’d also add another recommendation here that might help with participation. I’m frequently watching older shows or stuff that’s a few weeks behind. Would anybody be interested in a weekly general “what did you watch this week and what did you think of it” thread?
I’m not even 100% sure if this is a joke… that’s how dumb the naming has been.
Most surprising to me is the overall karma totals. Seems really low this season. This mirrors my feelings for this season though. I’m really enjoying Mushoku Tensei S2 and that’s pretty much it.
I had hopes for Horimiya Pieces, but I lost interest halfway through. My Happy Marriage and Helck haven’t quite captured my attention either. I’m still in Jujutsu Kaisen S1, not sure when I’ll get to S2. No big new surprises. Oh well.
Ooo I love these summaries. Thanks for posting! It helps a lot to keep up with the new series releases and how they’re all doing.
I’ve only really been keeping up with Mushoku Tensei this season and it has been excellent.
Tried Atomic Heart for an hour or two and I think I’m done with it. I found the loot collecting tedious, the upgrades felt excessive and padded, the characters overbearing, and combat was just okay. I think this could’ve been massively improved by cutting 30-50% of the play length by streamlining loot and progression and cutting weaker content. But I’m almost always the one saying games are too long and could be dramatically improved by cutting.
Finished another storyline in Octopath Traveler (1). I’ve finished 4 of the 8 main stories now. I still enjoy it, but just a little bit at a time.
Put a bit of time into Jedi Fallen Order. I’ve enjoyed it a lot more after dropping difficulty to baby mode and just blasting through story. Something about the movement or progression or exploration feels tiring to me. Especially backtracking through worlds I’ve already visited once or twice. I’m maybe halfway through and debating just watching a YouTube video for the remainder of the story…
Still making progress in Tears of the Kingdom. Maybe 25-30 hours in. I’ve started using the official guide’s “companion” for sections I’ve personally completed already. I really like how they wrote it as spoiler free as possible, with suggestions of landmarks or quests to get to that make sense for each section you’ve done. I had completely missed a couple armor sets that will be very handy!
Current season definitely watching:
- Mushoku Tensei S2
- Horimiya - Pieces
Current season trying out:
- Vending Machine
- Helck
Trying to catch up to possibly watch this season:
- Jujutsu Kaisen
Finishing up from last season:
- The Dangers in my Heart
- Loving Yamada at Level 999
- Skip & Loafer
view more: next ›
SnowGator
joined 1 year ago
Looking ahead to next season, it’s a bit light for me. I’ve been watching a lot (for me), so might chill a bit and maybe catch up on other stuff. Or maybe I’ll follow the charts and try out whatever bubbles up. I dunno! But I’ll definitely be watching:
Current releases, following weekly (roughly organized by decreasing interest):
Watched part of, but not up to date: