Anime

Current season:

My Friend's Little Sister Has It In For Me is okay all in all, but the MMC is starting to grate on me, the rest of the characters are drably cliched and the story hasn't engaged me.

May I Ask for One Final Thing?, on the other hand is excellent, and at this rate I'm not going to be surprised if it ends up the hit of the season. Scarlet is a tremendous character, and Julius is every bit her match, the fight scenes are both glorious and hilarious (Scarlet spinning a corrupt noble around by his heel with a chamber orchestra playing in the background was a highlight, as was Scarlet punching out a dragon then making it her pet), and the plot looks poised to take off. I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

The only other thing of note I watched last week - because it happened to remind me that it existed at a moment when I had nothing else grabbing my attention and the time seemed right, I dipped back 20 or so years into my TBW and watched Paranoia Agent. And it was worth it. It was very early-2000s, with lots of symbolism and an only tenuous connection to reality, and it lagged a bit with a couple of filler episodes at about the 2/3 mark, but was otherwise engaging and stylish, and it ended strong.

If it doesn't have to be Japanese... Link Click goes so hard. (It has a Japanese dub if you prefer to watch in Japanese. It also has an English dub.) If you like wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey anime like Erased (BokuMachi) or Orange, or even your name. (君の名は。), it's gonna scratch that itch. In fact, there's an arc (three-parter) that is reminiscent of the latter. The one that starts with basketball.

It's crazy because the first season is really just setting you up for what these guys can do. The first episode or two (the one/s with Emma, the office worker) and the last few matter more, but it's all setup for the second season. And the second seasoning's opening, when the singer starts singing in reverse and the subtitles are flipped... you know you're in for a ride. Gotta mention the CW in the second season, domestic violence, and it's rough, but... so worth it. Then the third season is a prequel. They're setting up for something huge. I just hope it lives up to the hype.

If it does need to be Japanese... Tokyo 24th Ward is next on deck for us. Looks good.

This Season

Edit: Just watched an episode of Poketoon: Facing Tomorrow with Gardevoir.

It is very wholesome and cute. I enjoyed it.

Now I've got to check the rest of the episodes out.

Past Seasons

I completed The Promised Neverland last week.

Now that I have watched it, I totally get the high praises for it. It's without a doubt a 10 / 10.

Edit: To elaborate, what I like so much about this show is the interpersonal dynamics. I can't recall the exact saying but there's one that goes something like: "If you put three persons with competing interests in a room, you'd get politics". That's essentially what happens throughout the show. We saw how Prisoners' Dilemma play out multiple times.

With the above in mind, I love the ending.

I like how

Finally, not sure if that was the intention, but it felt like one of its messages is to stop eating meat.

I guess the next step is to pick up the manga?

I am also halfway through Yuru Camp.

Nothing is happening, but I am somehow still enjoying it. I guess it's because the girls - especially Nadeshiko - are cute.

To start things off, the shows I am looking forward to week to week has dwindled down to two at this point (but I will probably keep watching the third just because I am watching so few shows this season):

• Dusk Beyond the End of the World - I mentioned in this thread last week that I was worried that it was heading into the direction of Metallic Rouge. Well, my fears are coming to fruition. I have been really disappointed by the most recent couple episodes. Fingers crossed that it gets back on track.
• Touring After the Apocalypse - This show has been delivering exactly what I wanted. It is a great example of a lighthearted slice of life trek through the apocalypse with just enough touch of melancholy that hits just right. I've been enjoying it a lot.
• Campfire Cooking Season 2 - Stable performance again this week. Elrand is great, and I am looking forward to dungeon diving in the future.

Now...I was able to finish Haruhi this past week, including watching the movie. Some spoiler-free thoughts...it was fine. I do think that the movie was the best that Haruhi had to offer, but the whole show never really connected with me.