esc27

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.

Reincarnated as a Slime - First ep was fine. a slice of life-ish recap to start the season makes sense for a longer running show. Next three were completely pointless. Maybe it gets better after that? I don’t know. This might be where I drop the series. Episodes 1-4. 2/5

Ascendance of a Bookworm - If you told me this season was based on a table of contents or AI summary of a few books, I’d believe you. Anime only and I can still tell that lots of content was missed, skipped, etc., at least I hope the source is more complete… Counting the recap, the MC jumps through three families in just the first episode. I should feel sad for her for being separated from her original family, but they are reunited (somewhat) almost immediately. In one later episode, they had to throw in a brief flashback because they apparently skipped a plot point needed for that episode to make sense. What’s there is good, but rougher than it should be. 3/5

Re: Zero - What’s to say. It’s ReZero. It continues with the same quality and fullness of episodes as in past seasons. It does get a bit much near the end and suffers from being just the first half without any of the resolution. 4/5

_An Observation Log of My Fiance Who Calls Herself a Villainess- Maybe the biggest surprise of the season. The plot is nothing spectacular, just fine. A few twists on the usual isekei villainess tropes. But what made it stand out was the characters. Both leads develop well through the episodes and make the final payoff worth it. Good mix of humor with some later romance. 4/5

Witch Hat Atelier - It is not Freiren, but the quality and care of adaptation is certainly there. The world is beautifully animated, the fantasy setting, style, etc. all solid. I get the impression there is a lot more to the world, its lore, magic, etc. but this first part felt like barely more than an intro. 4/5

My Ribdiculous Reincarnation - The other surprise of the season. It looks like nonsense, and sort of is… but its consistent and purposeful nonsense and that makes it work in a way where many seemingly similar shows fail. 4/5

The strongest job is apparently not a hero or a sage but an appraiser - The generic, popcorn isekei of the season. Looking back, I think maybe it was aimed at younger audiences. I like that it was consistent, did not take itself too seriously, and had a sort of saturday morning cartoon feel. 3/5

Always a Catch! - I really enjoyed it at first, but have not yet finished it. 3/5

Daemons of the Shadow Realm - I’m behind on this one as well but fully intend to finish. 4/5

No. They are going to make us wait 8 weeks.

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. 4/5

Soft 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. 3/5

Dropped:
- 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.