esc27
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- Comment on Summer Anime Season Wrap-up and Discussion Thread [2026, Week 40] 2 days ago:
- Re: ZERO - I feel like the amnesiac Subaru part went on a bit too long, but that just made his full return work all the better. This part is the perfect payoff for the setup from earlier. The show is very character driven and seeing each character get their moment and how well they all work together has been excellent. Each part needs the other to really work so 4/5 for this part, 5/5 for the season as a whole.
- Though I Am an Inept Villainess - Wow. I held off on this one until recently. I had a feeling it could be good, and was not disappointed. 5/5
- Hanaori-san Still Wants to Fight in the Next Life - Surprisingly one of my favorites. Started kind of mid, but the humor grew on me and it remained well consistent and became one I looked forward to each week. 4/5
- Oh Boy, Was I Wrong About Her - I really enjoyed this one. Good characters, decent plot, not too long, the lack of romantic progress seemed natural… I really like how Haruki was animated. How in public she presented properly but in private was completely relaxed and how that relaxed state started blending into her public life. 4/5
- Kaiju Girl Caramelise - My favorite first episode of the season and the season generally held up. I’ll never get tired of how they superimposed the girl and kaiju roars together. 4/5
- Mushoku Tensei - Just finished binging the new season. While I could still do without “certain aspects” of the series, the world building, character development, and plot progression all continue to be excellent. This cour had a good mix of call backs, send offs, and built up well to a new turning point. 4/5
- Daemons of the Shadow Realm - Paused this one for a bit then binged back to catch up. It remains solid. I’m not sure how the new faction will play out but I do like how neither of the original two factions are clearly in the right. 4/5
- Rich Girl Caretaker - This one was a lot of fun early but kind of lost some of that fun as it focused more on the harem character arcs. 4/5
- Goodbye, Lara - I appreciate the different style of the animation and the refreshed take on the little mermaid. Especially the fish out of water parts. But the ending was a let down. I was not even invested in the (non)romance. The story itself just sort of was done. The lore made no sense. nothing wrapped up cleanly. the last scene was almost completely out of context with the rest… 3/5
- Ascendance of a Bookworm - I’ve not read the source, but even I can tell something is off with the pacing. Plot elements seem to come from nowhere, 50 things happen all at once then it slows down for one event… etc. But somehow it still held up enough. 3/5
- Heroine? Saint? No, I’m an All-Works Maid (And Proud of It)! - A little disappointing. Some of the plot ordering was odd, and the overall animation was limited, but it was fun enough. 3/5
- Victoria of Many Faces - Short but I enjoyed it. Kind of felt like it was holding back like we never saw all of what the characters could do. But it told a story and finished at a good stopping point. 3/5
- The Duke’s Son Claims He Won’t Love Me, Yet Showers Me with Adoration - I’ve watched about half of it. Pleasantly basic. To the point I’ve watched there is no major conflict, no major drama. Kind of refreshing in a way. 3/5
- Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS Gun Blaze Vengeance - A fairly generic sci-fi super powered human battle series with Nanoha bolted in for some reason. It was not great but watchable, still not sure what the point of it was… 3/5
- The Insipid Prince’s Furtive Grab for The Throne - The least bad of the generic adventure series, and the only one I did not drop. It didn’t do anything to chase me away but didn’t really do anything special either. 3/5
- The Oblivious Saint Can’t Contain Her Power - Entirely forgettable. As in I forgot it existed multiple times though the season. Watchable but nothing special. 3/5
- Love Unseen Beneath the Clear Night Sky - Dropped. I watched one episode, looked it up to see if there was any critical discussion about how it handled blindness, saw where it was heading and dropped it immediately. Some shows seem to be designed to just wallow in sadness, and this one looked like that. 3/5
- From Overshadowed to Overpowered: Second Reincarnation of a Talentless Sage - Dropped. I expected trash but the first episode was surprisingly decent. Should have dropped it when the MC added a plot convenient slave girl to his party. Finally dropped it when there was a multi episode conflict with a grotesquely over exaggerated cartoon evil character… Then skipped forward through the last few eps. it’s meh. 3/5
- The Villager of Level 999 - Dropped. First story arc was mildly interesting as the characters were introduced. Then the second arc turned into some sort of pointless gold grind to unlock the next part of the plot. 3/5
- The World’s Strongest Rearguard - Dropped. another dropped adventure series. Started somewhat interesting but the harem bit was way to much and the story nonexistent. 2/5
- I Became a Legend After My 10 Year-Long Last Stand - Dropped. Another trash adventure story. I liked it at first. The general concept (mc becomes powerful after using a cheat skill to grind a demon lord boss wave) was interesting and I liked how he was actually supported and respected by the town authorities (rare for these stories) but then the story makes a throwaway magic chicken a critical plot point… and that was just more stupid than even I can handle. 2/5
- I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day - Finally dropped… The scenario, characters, and suggested plot were fine, it just didn’t do anything. About midway through, after an ocean of death flags, a side character dies, then the rest of the series is dominated by sad flashbacks. It was blatantly trying to be emotionally manipulative and failing at it. 2/5
- The Exiled Heavy Knight Knows How to Game the System - Dropped early. I found it literally unwatchable. To much recycled footage and panning. 1/5
- Comment on Anime Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion Thread [2026, Week 29] 2 months ago:
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS:…
I think this might be a spin off of a spinoff that’s also partially a reboot? Double length opening episode was predictable, but fine. There is enough to hold my interest for now. I cannot remember the last time I watched anything in this universe, but it is weird how Nanoha does not seem to fit in the darker setting. I hope they do something with that contrast. (Bubble)Victoria of Many Faces
Description sounds a lot like Spy x Family. It is not. At most, it is that show played straight. More of a slice of life drama than comedy. The characters are pleasant, the setup is interesting enough. (Likely to finish)I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day
Honestly not sure if there is a plot here or if the whole thing is just an excuse for kissing scenes. The setting is interesting enough, but at this rate I’m likely to drop it. (Trending toward drop)Oh Boy, Was I Wrong About Her
This one’s been fun. I’m curious to see how the friendship turned romance works. That could make or break the series. I really love how they handle the contrast between Haruki’s public and private personas. Posture, facial expressions, tone, etc. change so well and in ways that are individually more subtle than some similar shows. (Likely to finish)Insipid Prince’s Furtive Grab for the Throne
Adventurer power fantasy mixed with political maneuvering and a girl added in to try and carry the show… Its watchable but I have low expectations. (Bubble)Rich Girl Caretaker
The perfect girl is secretly a lazy mess trope has been done better before but the rich girl angle is interesting, and it has been fun so far. (Likely to finish)The World’s Strongest Rearguard
I usually enjoy the isekai adventurer trash shows, at least at first. This one doesn’t seem to be anything special, but the world being composed largely if not entirely by reincarnated people could be interesting. (Bubble)Hanori-San Still Want’s to Fight in the Next Life
Seems a bit familiar… The comedy is there, but teacher+student+romance is concerning. (Bubble)I Became a Legend after my 10 Year Long Last Stand
Adventurer power fantasy. Kind of refreshing that MC is well liked and respected by peers in authority. Watchable, but somewhat forgettable. (Bubble)From Overshadowed to Overpowered
This one looked like trash. There’s a particular, subgenera where powerful characters reincarnate in a future setting and pick up two hanger on love interests that rarely holds up. So I had very low expectations, but it started a lot stronger than I was expecting. “Started”… last two episodes were more in line with my low expectations…. (Bubble)Kaiju Girl Caramelise
Wow. That first episode was essentially perfect. Everything about how it was put together, the movement of the plot, character expressions, etc. just worked smoothly and perfectly. Second ep did not quite live up to that standard, and added a few concerns… but still this could be good. (Plan to finish)The Villager of Level 999
Yet another fantasy power fantasy. Its fine. Watchable, nothing special. (Bubble)Heroine? Saint? No, I’m and All_Works Maid…
The source is great. This adaptation… its ok. Could be better but could certainly be worse. There are some pacing and scene order issues, but the maid magic chaos comes through and that’s what really matters. (Plan to finish)The Exiled Heavy Knight…
The plot seemed interesting, but the massive overuse of pointless panning and spinning filler scenes, massive reuse of footage from the only other episode, grotesquely over emphasized facial expressions, beyond comically evil characters, … No. Just no. Any of that is a problem. All at once… Dropped. - Comment on Anime Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion Thread [2025, Week 35] 1 year ago:
Watching:
- My Dress-Up Darling - I forgot how much I enjoyed this show. Second season continues right along with no noticeable drop off. 4/5+
- Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra - I like the dark fantasy aspect and how the world/game aspects are based on a strategy game instead of the usual RPG. But, there is not much of a plot yet, the characters have not been that interesting, and the world building is slowing down. 3/5 for now.
- Call of the Night - Another returning series that picked back up with the same energy as before. This season has a good plot driving some character and world building. 4/5
- Secrets of the Silent Witch - The first four episodes were nearly perfect, and I could tell the adoption was being handled with care, but the next four felt very rushed. The quality was still there and nothing specifically was wrong just it did not seem like enough time was allowed for one event or character to be established before it jumped to the next. 4/5
- Reborn as a Vending Machine - I enjoyed the original three light novels and the first season. But this season should never have been made. The pacing, plot, etc. are all really poor. My guess is they are now adopting the web novel and that lacks the polish and fleshing out a light novel would typically add. 2/5
- Cultural Exchange with a Game Center Girl - Its always weird to be a native English speaker watching a subtitled anime from Japan featuring an English speaking character. Sort of doubles the titular cultural exchange. So far its been interesting and fun enough. I worry a bit about the potential age gap relationship, but so far that's not developed into a real problem. 4/5Soft Dropped:
- Clevatess - The dark fantasy, high stakes, implied world building depth are all great. I just got really tired of the cliff hangers and constant amping up of drama. Seems like it would be better watched one arc at a time. So I may pick it back up later. 3/5Dropped:
- Scooped Up by an S-Rank Adventurer! - I know better than to have expected much from this. It was OK at first, but then I found myself "hate watching" it. I'm generally fine with and often enjoy the unaware, overpowered main character trope. But this one doubles down and makes the entire rest of the cast seem utterly stupid as well just so the MC seems smart in comparison. 2/5
- The Shy Hero and the Assassin Princesses - Eh, it seemed okish, just not of interest to me.To pick up:
- Dan da dan - I enjoyed the first part of the first season, then sort of fell out of watching it. Not sure why. Still intend to pick it back up.
- Kaiju No. 8 - I enjoyed binging this one when the first season aired so plan to do the same here.
- City the animation - Amazon's video service is trash. Other options... have their own complications, so I hope to catch it all at once later.