In non-OP/ED stuff:

I realized late that I’d missed a few anime because (for whatever reason) I thought they were sequels/spinoffs that required prior knowledge:

• Hero Aca Vigilantes - turned out pretty good and fun, but I got really frustrated with how the whole franchise continues to be weird about women (and also I liked Shinsetsu Man when he was just helping people in mundane ways)
• Umamusume Cinderella Gray - It seemed like a decent sports girl anime, but I don’t really like sports girl anime lol
• Gundam GQuuuuuuX - (I thought it started with a movie but later learned that was just the first few episodes bundled together or something) This is definitely stylish, but I feel like the lore is a little dense for beginners, even if veterans keep telling me it’s fine. There was way too much jargon I did not understand at all
• To Be Hero X - Absolutely stunning visuals mixing 2d and 3d animation, and I’m hooked on the story, but I’m not confident it will be able to keep it up. It’s interesting that its premise is very similar to the central lore conceit of Hanako-kun (which was on my mind because the season just wrapped up)

After a lot of deliberation and some unfortunate cuts, I trimmed my list to show my friends down to: Apocalypse Hotel, Catch Me at the Ballpark, Gorilla God’s Go-To Girl, Ninja and Assassin Under One Roof, To Be Hero X, and Too-Perfect Saint. And after a lot of deliberation and some unfortunate cuts, we ended up with an overloaded schedule with: Apothecary Diaries S2, Wind Breaker S2, Apocalypse Hotel, and To Be Hero X (we usually try to stick to 3 shows)

This doesn’t really bode well for next season for us, since Dan Da Dan, Dress-Up Darling, Reborn as a Vending Machine, and Hanako-kun are all coming back, and To Be Hero X will be in its second cour.

Went through them all again and here are my favorites this time:

OPs

• Black Butler: Emerald Witch Arc - I love the storybook aesthetic and the overwhelming use of green. I have my issues with this series, but this OP hits a dark and oppressive tone that I think works very well.
• Hero Aca: Vigilantes - this show is a love letter to american superhero comics and the OP exemplifies that very well (and is also a bop)
• Shoushimin S2 - on the surface it’s got tons of impressive art style shifts, a fun song, and interesting visuals, but I’m sure that deeper in there are clues to the mysteries that i don’t have the context to decipher, lol.
• To Be Hero X - this shows off the show’s mix of animation styles and also its mix of superhero action with hints of darker mysteries
• Witch Watch - I love this OP so much and it makes me wish I liked the show more, lol. The characters are so expressive and them having fun is infectious

EDs

• Classic Stars - I really like the song they put together for this, and I think the boys’ singing goes well with the instrumentation.
• Gundam GQuuuuuuX - they made the interesting choice to have a bunch of shots with one camera angle and I think it worked really well. The backdrop is so detailed and we get to see a lot of really cute little scenes of their daily life (I like it when the cube falls down)
• Ninja and Assassin Under One Roof - fun and colorful, and gets extra points for heartlessly deleting characters from the ED after they die
• Rock is a Lady’s Modesty - while it’s mostly just pans across static images, the stylization and coloring really give a strong vibe
• To Be Hero X - very moody and emphasizes the way that becoming a hero often becomes a tragedy rather than a dream come true.

Mentions (honorable or otherwise)

• Normally I really like EDs with a rougher style like Ann Shirley’s, but the color flashes made this really hard for me to watch
• I wanted to like Fire Force S3’s ED, since the animation and rap parts are really good, but the autotune on the singing is just too much, it hurts to listen to.
• Himitsu no AiPri’s ED has some extremely scary live action versions of the main characters. No thank you.
• Miru’s ED features the robot character doing what looks like a tiktok dance ??
• Princession Orchestra’s OP’s melody strongly reminded me of D.N.Angel’s
• I think it’s funny that almost none of the characters in To Be Hero X’s OP or ED are in the first three episodes (I’m a bit behind) of the anime basically at all, lol. Nice gets some screen time in the OP, but I have no idea who anyone else is.

That’s rapunzel from Disney’s tangled

I don’t know if Suirei understands exactly how many powerful and capable people she’s bringing down on herself by kidnapping Maomao, but she’s about to find out, lol (and it’s more than usual with Luomen in the palace). Not sure if it’s related or just a simultaneous scheme, but Lakan’s taunting of Shishou was great - it’s clear he’s testing some theories (like with the juice) and setting up some bait to see if he’ll take it (I don’t believe for a second that the interrogation was botched).

Meanwhile, I’ve been suspicious for a while that Shisui has some connection with Loulan (they look too similar), but now we’ve got a more direct hint. My guess currently is that she’s Loulan’s alter ego she uses to run around the palace freely, but she may instead be her sister or some other relative or a backup/body-double or something.

I hope Himari sticks around in Mia’s half of the story for a while. I think she could use an ally and a character to play off of (and maybe a girlfriend? They did have a meet-cute, after all). Meanwhile Philia is getting more used to people being nice to her, and it’s very cute to see.

I suspect that the thing Osvalt was alluding to is that the first prince may have been in love with, or even engaged to, the previous saint who recently died. At least, that’s what I’m guessing from the shot of him staring at the vase of flowers.

No joke. This is orders of magnitude more sincere and touching than any of the generic isekai slop its title is parodying. I’m eager to see more of our best boy Boxxo.

Squirrel-senpai saying “I think I can see why you were chosen” is such a refreshing reaction to OP main character powers. Like, he isn’t complimenting the blessing, but her as a person and how she’s been using it. Unrelated, but the boy sure loves his nut-based desserts, lol.

I’ve been having fun trying to work out everyone’s powers, and this week was especially easy because their names were mostly just regular words, lol.

Trying to decide how awkward I think Jinshi is going to end up being around Luomen once he learns that’s Maomao’s father (if he doesn’t know already). Will he turn on the charm and be offputtingly sparkly? Or will he crumble to dust and be unable to function? We shall see, lol. I’m sure Luomen will recognize Jinshi instantly, considering their history, but he’ll also probably clock his crush on Maomao too, so it’ll be interesting to see them interact.

I was hoping for something a little more substantial than this, but I guess it’s the best we’re gonna get until the next season…

I like how they’re portraying Yu’s main flaw: that something preserved cannot wither, but also can’t grow. Meanwhile, Himari needs to do some maturing and realize she’ll never get what she wants if she never actually asks for it, and she can’t expect Yu to read her mind.

I thought this last time too, but Shinji is a really fun character. He clearly knows the girls very well and is having fun stirring the pot.

While I generally agree, I think it’s always worth keeping in mind that sexualizing every female character all of the time can make women and fem-presenting people feel unwelcome in our communities. It’s especially important to remember that when there’s a decent-sized group of cis/het men who consider that part of the point of fanservice - just look at the gamergate crowd.

… Was that Skinner hiding in plain sight at the homeless encampment? Doug, maybe look a little closer, buddy.

Jill has some good mama bear energy and I’m glad to see some trans rep that feels natural instead of mean-spirited.

Love to see my boy Choppy shine. I think his song was really well done and I’m looking forward to more from him.

I really like that this is flipping between Philia’s iyashikei-style romance and Mia’s spy thriller plotlines. They’re both being executed well and the contrast is quite funny.

I was thinking owner as well

I like that we’re continuing to add characters and side stories. This show is just so cozy!

Wasn’t quite sold on this last week, but this episode was SO GOOD. I loved that they didn’t try to explain what the alien was up to and just let them continue to be mysterious.

Very good updates. Thanks for the work you do!

Really depends on your taste. For me it was super boring, but I could see it being funny to someone else.

Now that (almost) all of the anime have premiered, I’m in the phase of cutting down my list to a manageable size and selecting my picks to present to my friends as a tasting menu for what to watch together this season. This time we’ve got two of our three (sometimes four) spots locked in already (Apothecary Diaries and Windbreaker), so the competition will be tough, lol. Currently, the new stuff I’m excited for is Gorilla God’s Go-To Girl, Ninja and Assassin Under One Roof and Too-Perfect Saint, but Moonrise is also looking promising (I’m not a binge watcher, so no spoilers!), and it’s good to have Shoshimin back.

And, as always, here’s my trash pile: