So, while the forum was sleeping, one anime season ended and another arose.........
Eromanga Sensei was cute & hilarious, and every girl in it was incredible (not you Muramasa)! Kinda light on the plot & what there is was telegraphed from all the way back in Oreimo, but hey, sometimes you just want to have fun with your friends!
Alice to Zoroku landed somewhere comfortable between drama and slice of life, & made for a thoughtful watch without pulling the heart strings too hard.
Hinako Note gave me double diabetes. Yui Ogura is magical.
Zero Kara Hajimaru Maho no Sho delivered probably the most surprisingly enjoyable experience of the season - the plot was interesting & unpredictable, and not a bad character to be had, not even the furries!
Granblue Fantasy's anime was exactly what I expected - hyper-generic fantasy as beautifully animated and voiced as possible. I don't play the mobage, but enjoyed watching the series just for how much money Cygames dropped on A-1 to flog it - quite frankly, it looks and sounds gorgeous, more Final Fantasy than any Final Fantasy animated series or film. That alone was enough for me.
Armed Girls Machiavellianism was my guilty pleasure of the season, & despite being vapid as all get out had a lot more fun action than I expected and somewhat less fan service. Nomura Fudo wasn't even a jerk, which I kind of expected just from his character design & the show premise!
I don't know that I can seriously recommend Clockwork Planet, but I liked it in a sort of nostalgic 90's B-quality anime sort of way. The premise and gags were wild enough that I always enjoyed the next episode, and the quality never dropped off.
Frame Arms Girl flogged Fumikane Shimada model kits at me, & I liked it.
Dropped Boku no Hero Academia 2 when it started going full shonen tournament, & Sword Oratoria midway through when I realized I was just waiting for Bell & Hestia to show up and that Aiz Wallenwhatzit can't carry a story.
Recreators is still going strong, although I'm increasingly frustrated with how much of the plot could have been avoided if MC kun just would have manned up about knowing where Altair was from. At least its out now.
Still watching Sakura Quest for PA Works upselling rural Japan, geting what I want.
---------------------------------------------------------------
So far this season, my favorite is Studio 3Hz Princess Principal a steampunk spy noir story from the makers of Flip Flappers. I barfed rainbows and glitter all Winter last winter over Flip Flappers, and this series may not be quite that good, but is good enough to probably make Studio 3Hz my favorite anime studio when all is said & done - action is a blast, tone is just right, and the characters and setting are pushing all the right buttons!
Not on its heals is the highly anticipated return of New Game!!, which tragically was not titled New Game+. Dogakobo is godly at making adorable, colorful slice of life moe anime, & everything that made people adore the first season is back. They're also making a second season of Luck & Logic called Hina Logi which everyone else will probably ignore but which I will love for being a fusion of the candy-colored low-drama action anime of the first season and the cutesy slice of life Dogakobo does the rest of the time.
Also near the top is Knights & Magic, a little bit Zero no Tsukaima, a little bit Five Star Stories it's doing a lot of fun things both in terms of world-building & combat sequences.
The unassumingly named Gamers! has opened with the establishment of some really good and believable character dynamics, which stakes it out a spot just outside of the realm of wish fulfillment and more in the "rose-tinted reality" side of storytelling.
The world building animation in Made in Abyss is breathtaking, and them finding Mega Man Volnutt has only endeared me further.
I'm a sucker for the Ottoman aesthetic, but I think Altair: Record of Battles's story focus on espionage & diplomacy is at least as good if not better than the sharp visuals.
It's been a while since I've watched a straight-forward shojo drama, but for whatever reason the rather everyday premise of Convenience Store Boyfriend just clicked! So far, so good! (and NO, I didn't even know that Rie Kugimiya was in the cast before I started watching it, although that pretty much guarantees I'll finish it!)
For the first time in years, Studio GONZO is producing an original anime, 18if, & it's just as trippy Alice & Wonderland ****** as you'd expect! You can tell that they're being very frugal with their animation budget with their very minimalist designs. It's a shame, but understandable considering their much reduced role in the industry.
Action Heroine Cheer Fruits has been a real cute send-up to classic tokusatsu, complete with an extended Ultraman fight re-enactment!
Restaurant to Another World/Isekai Shokudo is hovering over my drop column because its nice but there's really nothing standing out about fantasy characters eating common Japanese food.
I enjoy a lot of rather run of the mill bishojo action series, but Battle Girl High School was so utterly forgettable I dropped it after the first episode.
I'd be watching Fate/Apocrypha but Netflix thinks they're too good for the anime industry's standards. Intend to watch Yokoso Jitsuryoku Shijo Shugi no Kyoushitsu e/Welcome to the Classroom of the Elite & The Reflection when they air.
Oh, and 90's gag anime classic, Mahoujin Guru Guru has been rebooted this season by Production IG! I loved it before, & I love it now! It's a shame Toei's 90's kids anime reboots couldn't be half as good as this!
