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.

Aww, I don’t think I’ve pointed it out, but I laugh each time. Thanks for putting in the effort.

Lighter season for me. Quite a lot I’d like to catch up on.

New:

• Frieren - my 2023 AOTY. This’ll be a must-watch.
• The Dangers in my Heart S2 - first season was so much better than I expected. Definitely check this out.
• Solo Leveling - know nothing about it, but there’s a lot of buzz, so I’ll try a couple episodes.

Catch-up:

• Apothecary Diaries - lots of buzz, but haven’t had time yet.
• Helck - almost finished. Enjoyed way more than I expected.
• The Eminence in Shadow S2 - stalled after a few episodes. Wasn’t in the right mood. Try again in winter.
• Pluto - only watched first episode. Good so far, but hasn’t captured me.
• 100 Girlfriends - almost finished. Didn’t like it as much as I expected, but I’m enjoying it more the wackier it gets.

Might finally find time for:

• Trigun (OG) - slowly tinkering through it.
• JJK - stalled somewhere in S1.
• Slime-san - somewhere in S2?
• Ancient Magus’ Bride

I had somewhat written SpyXFamily off after the second half of S1. I disliked several of the characters and it seemed to be going nowhere (especially a certain mini sports arc). But I’ve caught up with S2 now and it’s the most I’ve enjoyed the series since the first three episodes. Makes me way more optimistic for the future of the series.

Almost caught up with Helck and I didn’t think the extensive flashbacks were nearly as bad as I’d heard about. I thought it was pretty compelling and added a surprising depth to the world building. Still enjoying this one a lot.

I’m almost caught up with Girlfriend, Girlfriend and it’s not quite succeeding as much as the first season for me. The incredibly stupid moments of the beginning made up for the dumbness of the harem. I’m there for the dumb, and there’s only been a few moments I actually lol’d at. The sincere heartfelt moments don’t really work for me, since I think the concept of the harem is so ridiculous. Except maybe Shino. She’s so sincere and somewhat has a brain, so she feels like she might be an actual character.

I feel kinda similarly about 100 Girlfriends. I’m there for the ridiculousness, but they’ve been including several sincere moments that I struggle with. I’m pretty far behind here though. Maybe it gets better.

Ooooooh I didn’t know Frieren was continuing for next season! It’s really gonna get my aoty for 2 years in a row, isn’t it…

The others aren’t really jumping at me. Might be lighter for my tastes, so maybe I’ll catch up with all the stuff I missed from the current season.

Finally got some time to watch a bit:

• The Attack on Titan finale was great, imo. I think that pretty much secured it as my all time #1 for a completed series that’s more than 1 season. It’s not perfect, for sure, but it got so much right considering the weight of its story. Really liked it.
• Almost done with Castlevania Nocturne. I know many don’t really consider it anime, but it’s close enough I throw it in. I like it, but the stakes are harder to care about compared to the very engaging first season premise, and the characters aren’t quite as charming. Still a fun story and worth watching.
• Still keeping up with Frieren (phenomenal), and a bit behind in Helck, Eminence S2, Girlfriend Girlfriend, 100 Girlfriends, SpyXFamily. Enjoying them all.
• Tried first episode of Pluto and was imptessed. Throwing it on the to-watch mountain.
• Still need to get to Apothecary Diaries, Blue Eyed Samurai, and new Scott Pilgrim. This season has truly been ridiculous.

Oh and got a good lol from those examples of spicy takes. Almost spit out my coffee. Whew.

Been a very busy week so haven’t had a lot of time to watch.

I did manage to get HiDive working after the update, so caught up on Eminence in Shadow and enjoying the new season a lot.

Only a bit of progress on clearing my HBO Max catalog before sub ends. Only Yesterday was a really interesting look into what Japanese life looked like in 70s and 80s, with an enjoyable cast and story. I really liked the art style of the memory sections. Glad I made time for it.

I had been planning on continuing to catch up with Helck and try out the new Eminence in Shadow, but my Apple TV updated, and now the HiDive app won’t work. I’d say I hope they’ll fix it soon, but I have very little faith in the HiDive app team to do anything at all. Best bet is to figure out another device that can at least get it streaming…

Otherwise, I’m trying out new releases like Kanojo mo Kanojo, SpyXFamily, Frieren, and Shield Hero. I think I may finally drop Shield Hero though. That last arc was rough and I’m not blown away by the start of this one. Also watching the new Castlevania.

Oh I’m also trying to blast through the remaining anime on HBO Max because my sub expires later this month. Tried Ride Your Wave and The Secret World of Arrietty. Both were good, but not top tier classics. And Earwig and the Witch. It wasn’t as bad as some had made it out to be, but… that’s about the best I can say. I think I have 7 more I need to watch.

I’ll be honest: I thought Campfire Cooking looked like another generic low effort isekai anime, so I didn’t even give it a try. With your input, I’ll give it a shot. I’m looking for a lighter good feeling show to cap evenings, and this might be just right.

As others have said, I’d probably not post at all if there’s no automated post. I like them and lurk frequently, but also agree there’s too many with zero participation. Either a cutoff of 5-10 shows that are the highest popularity or simply cutting a show after 1-2 weeks of zero comments would simplify it well.

I’d also add another recommendation here that might help with participation. I’m frequently watching older shows or stuff that’s a few weeks behind. Would anybody be interested in a weekly general “what did you watch this week and what did you think of it” thread?