There are plenty of recommendations already I can vouch for so instead of repeating them I’ll mention Land of the Lustrous. Don’t be fooled by the CGI, this is the anime that convinced me that CGI in anime often being bad is a budget/animation issue and it can look absolutely stunning when done well. It’s a story about Phosphophyllite, or Phos as they are known to friends, a young and very fragile Gem who dreams of helping their friends in the war effort against the Lunarians and their journey of self-discovery. Sadly the anime does not wrap up the whole story so you would have to read the manga to see the end (the manga is finished!) but it’s still a great watch, the animation and especially the colors add a lot to the story.

Edit: Fixed the pronouns, my dumb brain forgot all the Gems are non-binary.

Dread it, run from it. Padoru arrives all the same.

Even Volcanica the divine dragon recognized that Patrashe IS best girl. This season has been everything I love about Re:zero. I enjoyed season 3 but it was definitely not as strong as Season 2 for me, but season 4 was an absolute masterpiece from start to finish. And I can’t believe they leave us off with Rem being back, albeit with no memories. I guess poor Shaula waited 400 years for her master, I can manage to wait 2-4 years for the next season as well!

White Fox really went all out on this episode, this entire season has been incredible visually but the Ram vs Rye was something else! Emilia summoning an army of ice Subarus (iconic pose included!) only to have them shattered over and over as she creates more to help her reach her goal is an oddly apt metaphor for the real Subaru with his Return by Death.

So that’s how Reid was able to get out of his exam room across all the loops, he raised his Ego stat so high he can overpower others personality and very bodies just with his memories alone - what a legend! This entire season has been incredible but I think this might have been my favorite episode so far. The whole Shaula moment, Subaru facing death again and again and learning from every mistake as he keeps looping over and over, and the very human moment of trying to play things off but his body failing him as he finally breaks down from the trauma of seeing his friends die again and again. Peak isekai continues to deliver!

Who is Rem? --> Who is Emilia?

Absolutely brutal tease, I was ready for it to be the new meme but Satella mercifully spared us from that timeline with her interruption.

It’s finally back! This wait was killing me!

Average cat/dog owner experience

Neat! Seems the Brimmed Hats are likely to be more involved from now on based on the last two episodes so I might actually enjoy the second season more, who knows! They were pretty much the most interesting characters in this series for me, I’m a suckers for rebels and I like how they seem to skirt the line between being villains and just wanting to abolish the authoritarian chains of the Witches.

When they first announced this adaptation the hype levels for it were the same as for Frieren. While the latter definitively lived up to them I can’t say the same about this one. I wasn’t a big fan of the characters and how they almost seemed like caricatures of their character types at times. 7/10 overall, enjoyable enough watch, would likely watch a second season but won’t be overly sad is the story ends here.

Subaru broke down so hard this time Satella had to personally intervene with a hug and an “aishiteru” barrage only for Emilia to break in an steal her man back. The entire scene with Emilia listing out her core memories with Subaru was incredible, and it mirrors how Subaru usually experienced reality with Return by Death as well, having memories of moments with his friends that they don’t remember. And what a way to end the first cour, Subaru back at his amnesiac “starting point” again but this time with the resolve and trust in his allies to carry on! The painful 2 months long wait for the next part begins.

Book of the Dead - lets you experience the life and death of the person. Side effects may include: schizophrenia, desire for murder. Subaru has a new mind friend, how nice! With the usual cruelty of this series in mind I bet his checkpoint is after the strangulation incident and his newfound schizo friend sticks around for the next loops. It’s really morbid but surprisingly sharp of Subaru to consider murdering his friends just to read their Books to learn their shared backstory then presumably die and loop back with the knowledge. Fucked up for sure but deceptively clever for our usually quite dense protagonist! Shame he is completely unaware that among all of his victims he was lucky enough to pick the only one from this party that can’t completely eviscerate him in seconds so his chances with the rest are rather slim! That is, if Shaula doesn’t step in to help him out, she clearly knows something and is the likely culprit behind the body’s disappearance.

Patrasche continuing to assert her status as best girl! Subaru experiencing the “Trust no one, not even yourself” meme for real. So many questions! Why did the other Subaru murder Meili? Why did Shaula save him from the mabeast instead of killing him for breaking the rules? Why did he get teleported back to the tower upon touching that stone wall? Who possessed Rem and murdered everyone inside of the tower? Where were Emilia and Beatrice?

What an absolutely fucked up episode. I love it! Insane how quickly things went horribly wrong for our boy this time, second loop and he already died one of the worst deaths he’s ever had. That flashback to him leaving his home was just rubbing salt in the freshly opened wound. This is shaping up to be some of the worst despair Subaru has ever had to face. In his mind he got pulled from his completely normal life straight into this nightmare, is pretty much alone after witnessing his supposed allies plotting to abandon him and potentially even assassinating him, and has to deal with the knowledge that no matter how brutally he dies, he will just go back remembering everything about it while no one else does. That checkpoint spot is pure evil as well, it just creates a perpetuating loop of misery, with every death Subaru unravels more and more and trusts his allies less which just leads to them feeling more estranged from him as well. Can’t wait for next week, this season is absolute peak!

Yup, we’re on episode 7 right now! There is gonna be a 2 months long pause between episodes 11 and 12 as well as the season is split into two cours, that one might also get the poor bot confused so letting you know ahead.

So the bot didn’t fire off last week and now we seem to be an episode behind. I’ll presume most people posting here are caught up and discussing episode 7 doesn’t count as spoilers. Pinging wjs018@ani.social to take a look at what happened/catch us up next week.

We’re Re:zero’ing literally back to zero this time. Don’t know how you managed to mess it up this badly Subaru but here we are! If this actually sticks and isn’t just an absolutely cruel cliffhanger that means the victims of Gluttony might be perma erased. Poor Julius, he found out his idol was a giant jerk, his lady was a fake puppeted by an artificial spirit and now the one person who remembered him is gone, for once Subaru might not be the one suffering the most here! Foxidna might also make a wrong (or right? I don’t even know anymore!) conclusion after the discussion they had and the suspicions she harbored, with the evidence presented as-is it sure looks like Subaru WAS the Sage all along and lost his memory before as he did now. This is easily my most anticipated anime this season, next week can’t come soon enough!

I know right!? And the guy already has 2 girls waiting for him as soon as he awakens. I bet his life is this world is going to be easy and pleasant!

Jokes aside, Subaru sure fucked up badly this time, it’s one thing to die and go back in time a little (or a lot) and a whole another to loose ALL memories of his time spend in this world. Just what did you do this time?

So Shaula knows some English, is named after a star from our universe and the entire puzzle is also related to Earth’s astronomy. Whoever the original Flugel is they sure seem like they got isekaid into this world as well and wanted to ensure only someone with the knowledge of the other world could access the library.

The witch’s dunce cap vs the chad wizard hats

New outfits! Subaru finally let his poor wrecked tracksuit go for something more befitting a desert adventure, meanwhile Emilia literally switched into a skin-tight spandex with a cloak. I love the character arc Julius and Subaru had, from a bitter rival that humiliates and humbles you (which Subaru very much needed back then) to a diehard friend, “…the only man who knows me as well as I know myself”. Subaru’s first death this season was so fast he didn’t even have a chance to process he died, got sniped with a magical projectile from the stratosphere Fern-style. The second death makes up for it plenty though, Patrasche once again cementing she is indeed best girl as she heroically sacrifices herself to try and stop her master from dying - all in vein as poor Beako breaks down over loosing her first source of comfort and companionship in 400 years after barely a year spend together. What a strong start to the season, and with 17 episodes left I’m very excited for what’s coming!