Thanks for all the work y’all have put into this place. I’ve enjoyed participating here. I certainly post quite a bit more than I ever did on /r/anime. Hope to keep this place around.

I’m not following a ton weekly this season. Dandadan is the clear winner and is amazing, a real contender for AOTY imo. Also watching Ranma 1/2 and it finally clicked in episode 3 for me. I now think it’s vastly outperforming the OG, mostly because of the improved pacing and minimal padding.

I’m waiting for Re:Zero S3 to mostly wrap before jumping in. I’d rather watch it a little quicker than weekly.

Only watched a bit lately. Just keeping up with 3 so far:

• Dandadan - Holy crap this is a ride. Like others said elsewhere, the first episode threw some major flags for me, but apparently that kind of thing is extremely rare, so I’m strapped in for the rest. Also that OP is #1 for the year imo.
• Re:Zero S3 - That first 90 minute episode should have been more exciting, but I spent most of it trying to remember who everybody was or why I care about all these meetings and that somebody is being rude to somebody. The last 15 mins and the second episode finally got me hooked again.
• Ranma 1/2 - Heavy nostalgia for me. I’m not convinced this is better than the OG anime so far. I really love the old style (even after watching several comparisons) and miss the old OP. I’ll probably finish it just for curiosity if nothing else.

Oh nice. I’ve been verrrrrrry slowly watching OG Trigun over the last year. I think I’m also at episode 13. It hasn’t really clicked for me, hence the ultra slow watch. But I’d like to finish it and get to the new version. Maybe I’ll prioritize it a bit more since you’re watching and can bounce thoughts off of.

Last I remember, there was finally some character development exploring Vash’s motivations. But I just can’t shake the feeling of it being off brand Cowboy Bebop and not as cool or fun. And definitely agree on struggling with outdated norms of humor.

What do you mean? My kids have been playing my library using the new Family Sharing rules for a couple months on my LCD deck by opting into the beta.

And yes, the new Family Sharing is amazing. It’s made me want to buy exclusively into Steam ecosystem.

Finally had some time to catch up.

Completed:

• Cyberpunk Edgerunners - Absolutely phenomenal animation, music, storytelling and production. But also not really my thing. Super downer of a story (fitting the genre) and a world I find horrifyingly possible. It’s good, but I didn’t have a great time haha.
• Was Reincarnated As The 7th Prince… - My silly light hearted watch of the season. This was sooo much better than I expected. I struggled with some certain common tropes, but the rest was so fun that I could overlook it.
• Delicious in Dungeon S1C2 - Brilliant. Tied with Frieren for my anime of the year for this year. Animation, characters, story, humor, world building, everything are just top notch. Loved it.
• Carol and the End of the World - Yea, not really anime. It’s weird and different and evoked a lot of emotion out of me. Not nearly as downer as the premise made me expect. Much more of a metaphorical exploration of the value of life and experiences. The asteroid is coming for all of us, anyway, it’ll just hit at different times for each. How are you spending your remaining time? The show peaks at like episode 6 though, and the last few I think are skippable.

Watched part of:

• Oshi No Ko S2 - Caught up. I loved S1 (just missed my anime of the year because Frieren) so I was very psyched for S2. It’s started slow but really ramped up quick. The last couple episodes have been phenomenal. Really looking forward to where this is going.
• My Deer Friend Nokotan - 3 episodes. Very hit or miss, but I’ve literally lol’d multiple times. Probably keep watching when I’m in the mood for something dumb lol.
• Makeine - Caught up. Surprise hit of the season for me. Absolutely loving it. The animation and production quality are stunning, and I love all the characters. It sorta feels like it’s focusing on the three main female characters in each 4 episode chunk. The last episode had a new ED that suggested a different focus. Definitely finishing.
• Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings… - Almost caught up. Enjoying it but not loving it. The conceit feels a little forced and unrealistic, every time it happens. Yuki is my least favorite part, by far. Feels the most over-the-top ridiculous and kinda taking me out of my immersion for the rest. I like the other characters and it’s a fun lighter watch, so I’ll probably keep watching.
• Pseudo Harem - 4 episodes. Super cute main characters and pretty realistic setup. Enjoying a lot. Likely finish.
• Scavenger’s Reign - 9 episodes. Not really anime, but figured it’s worth a mention. I’m loving this. Most of the time, my mouth is slackjawed open in horror at whatever the hell is happening. Body horror, psych horror, great characters, striking animation and sound that feels so realistic I can believe these crazy things are really happening in this bizarre planet. Really loving it.
• Hell’s Paradise - 4 episodes. Incredible animation, but wow it’s gory. It’s a bit much for me. I’ll probably watch a few more at least.
• Dungeon People - 1 episode. Liked the start. Try more when I have time.
• I Parry Everything - 1 episode. Giving me Helck energy, which I liked a lot. Likely try more some time.
• Plus Sized Elf - 1 episode. Nah, not for me. Too much fan service.

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.

Can’t believe we’re in a new season already. Oshi No Ko is an obvious must-watch for me. Otherwise feels a little lighter, which is great. Might catch up on last season a bit.

Been a very light season for me. Tons of IRL commitments, little viewing. I’ll have a lot to catch up on eventually!

Watched all of:

• Mushoku Tensei S2C2 - Excellent adaptation. Really love how well it’s coming together.
• X-men ‘97 - Ya, not really anime, but I was excited about it. It peaked mid-season for me. Still good and worth watching, especially if you have nostalgia for the OG series.

Watched part of:

• I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince… - Most of the way through. Surprisingly good. It’s got some problematic content (way too much fan service for me, weird pedo-like obsession, etc) but the rest is very well done, so I’m overlooking those. The first few episodes are just unhinged and wild in a really fun way. Lloyd is a hilarious MC. Definitely plan to finish.
• Cyberpunk Edgerunners - About halfway. Really good. Not my typical interest, still enjoying a lot. Definitely plan to finish.
• Chillin’ in Another World… - A few episodes in. Fun and light. Enjoying more than expected. Probably finish.
• Spice and Wolf Remake - Only watched a bit. Interesting but hasn’t grabbed me yet. Probably watch a few more.
• Jellyfish Can’t Swim At Night - Good but haven’t been in the mood for this style lately. Probably watch a few more.
• Ojisaan to Obasaan - Yea, tried one episode. Not for me.
• Bartender of the Gods - Tried a bit. It’s okay. Probably pass.

Catch-up efforts:

• Konosuba S1 - Finished this season. It’s good but it’s kind of a lot. Probably try more S2 eventually.
• Slime-san S2 - Finally got over the hurdle of those meeting episodes and the rest was good. Didn’t realize quite how much catch up there is!
• Date A Live S1 - Tried the first bit because it was ranking so highly on Anime Corner. I dunno, I didn’t love the beginning. Maybe not for me.

Stuff to definitely watch later:

• Dungeon Meshi S1C2 - Must watch.
• Yuru Camp S3 - Must watch.

Interested in trying:

• Kaiju No 8
• Go Go Loser Ranger

Eventual catch-up:

• Konosuba S3
• Demon Slayer S?
• MHA S?

Finally had a bit of time to watch this week. I’m way behind for the season and barely watched anything.

I tried some Chillin Lvl 2 and some Jellyfish Can’t Swim. I think I’m 3 episodes into both. Enjoying both quite a bit.

Did Jellyfish fall off after the first few episodes? I thought it was ranking way higher earlier in the season, but now it’s not even top 10.

I find it interesting that this is titled Turning Point 3. The first two Turning Point episodes had a very obvious Major Event. This one seems much more subtle. Rudeus made a decision to do something directly against the advice of the Man-god, but nothing big has happened yet.

Finally got a bit of time to watch. Wrapped up a couple and making slow progress on a few.

Villainess Lvl 99: Finished. I really enjoyed this one. I think it peaked around halfway, and the ending isn’t quite as strong, but still a great chill and fun story.

7th Time Loop: Finished. Liked this one a lot too. Again, peaked about halfway. The ending felt a bit complicated and didn’t quite land as well as I’d hoped. But still fun and silly and felt like you knew everything was going to turn out fine, even if you didn’t see how.

Mushoku Tensei: Still great.

An episode or two of a bunch of stuff. Jellyfish Can’t Swim At Night, Whisper Me A Love Song, Spice and Wolf, Konosuba S1 (catch up), Slime-San S2 (catch up), Trigun OG (catch up), X-men 97.

Not sure about the hype for Date A Live. I haven’t watched any. Not sure it’s for me. Anybody got a sell for it?

I’m still mostly working my way through leftover winter season shows.

Villainess*2: Mostly through Villainess 99 and 7th Time Loop. Both really great and very much worth a watch. They’re my cozy before-bed shows right now. I love the humor, positivity, confidence, and essentially zero fan service. Super good. Also that Lvl 99 OP is great.

Grandma & Grandpa Young Again: Yeaaaa… I think one episode was enough. I get the humor and it’s fine, but the repeated incest joke was rough on the very first time, and it seemed like it was going nowhere at all.

Fluffy Paradise: 2-3 episodes in. Cute characters, silly story, fun overpowered MC from a slightly different angle. But I find the MC a little grating, especially since she apparently mostly forgot her previous life and is now actually a young child. There’s a background malice to the world that is an interesting contrast, but I don’t think I’ll stick around to see if it pans out.

Wrong Way to use Healing Magic: 3 episodes in. Silly, fun premise in an otherwise pretty generic isekai. I might watch the rest because I like the MC and Rose and it’s a pretty light watch.

Love it! Gives a great look into the season so far and what’s worth a look.

Looks like I really need to catch up with Slime-San and Konosuba to try the new season.

New ones that I’ll probably try out:

• Jellyfish
• Whisper Me
• Kaiju 8
• Spice & Wolf

Definite watch:

• Mushoku Tensei
• Delicious in Dungeon
• Yuru Camp

Oh yea, I saw some of the twitter follower charts and wondered what kind of data that was showing. Like, is popularity the same as quality? I’m sure there’s some correlation there, and maybe the difference isn’t meaningful for our purpose of highlighting current anime for discussion.

I don’t want to add more work for you, since you’re already doing so much. But, as an idea, is there a way to aggregate those in the weekly “what are you watching posts”? I think that’d be a neat point to get more discussion on how they’re doing and what you’re watching at the same time.

It’s a shame the other two charts you listed don’t make a nice shareable jpg per week.

AC definitely has a certain taste. Which is helpful, when I’m looking for, let’s say, what were the popular romance anime of a season.

I don’t remember what other relatively easy to track Top 10’s there are. Does MAL have an easy one to snag? It’d be nice to have a contrasting one to AC.

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.

Only one I haven’t seen mentioned in other responses that I plan to follow is Mushoku Tensei Season 2 Cour 2.

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.

Meta updates sound good to me. Good compromise between the different responses you were getting. Hope the bots aren’t too much work to make and maintain.

Been a good couple weeks. Up to date with Frieren, Apothecary Diaries. Smidge behind on Dangers in my Heart and Delicious in Dungeon. All been really good though.

Saw The Boy and the Heron in theaters. It was good, but I don’t love it as much as some seem to. I personally prefer the more clear narrative and themes of Kiki’s Delivery Service, Spirited Away, and Howl’s Moving Castle. Too much happens in the movie that I felt like was included because it looks cool then hand waived into the plot or world, with zero explanation. Also, a lot of the meta themes and symbolism are too opaque to follow. I heard some interesting discussions afterward, which raised my opinion a few notches, but without that outside knowledge, the movie just doesn’t stand as well on its own. Too spoilery to discuss in detail. Personally, I enjoyed Suzume quite a lot more and would’ve preferred if it’d gotten the Best Animated nomination instead of Boy and Heron. A lot of general American audiences will think “oh this is the best anime of the year, I’ll check it out” and end up thinking “wtf did I just watch”, whereas Suzume would’ve been a better pick.