Anime Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion - January 11, 2026

Why in the world are we getting new shows at like 5am EAST now

[](#flustered)

Anyone still remember that whole mini SugoiLeaks x Gimai S2 drama moment?

anyways there's a new update from the [author (twitter link)](https://x.com/mikawaghost/status/2010278355493613901) mainly regarding the series as whole but tl;dr on the relevant sections:

\- Production info still hasn't reached him (been about a year since the initial leak I think?)

\- He thinks its very unlikely to happen (lists a few general reasons nothing specific to gimai beyond S2 never being planned during S1s production and thus staff being hard to gather)

\- He'll still try his best to make sure it \*could\* still happen. Has a new project in the works, probably not anime


so basically, probably not happening.

(they technically already mentioned a similar thing when the leak first dropped but considering its been a year since that whole debacle I think this renewal is still worth a mention)

**High School! Kimengumi (2026)** has been ~~saved~~ licensed. [Amazon Prime Video](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G5G46FRK).

Probably not going to bother as Noitamina block and the blocky faces just give me flashbacks to the Psycho-Pass episode that aired in an incomplete state. Serious answer, I bounced off the 80s version fairly early on (still hope REMOW finish subbing it, currently 65/86), I watched this episode on Jonu Play half understanding it and it felt like an abridged version of the 80s anime and one which skipped the only part I really enjoyed (the baseball episode). I acknowledge abridging it was the only thing they could do as like the 80s anime it started in 3rd year middle school (the manga did but when the characters graduated the title changed) to introduce the cast and they can't spend 6 episodes there.

If you were curious what Urusei Yatsura or Ranma ½ remakes would look like if Seven did it this is probably it. Seven you say? Recent works for that studio can summed up as hentai (mostly the kind MAL has to censor the keyart for) and [this stinker of a stand-alone sequel](https://myanimelist.net/anime/42321/Battle_Athletess_Daiundoukai_ReSTART). I just figured Seven is the weirdest studio choice you could go with because back in the 80s the manga creator instructed the staff to "absolutely not include any panty shots." (or maybe it's sensible as there would be no panties instead).

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=slmAemouUOg&pp=ygUIU2F5IHdoYXQ%3D

Get ready!!! Im so hyped regardless of the ending 😘

Anyone here watch To Love Ru, what even is To Love Ru Diary?

I did play down the complaints people had with the production values of **mayonaka** here this week, and while I don't necessarily think I was wrong, seeing what my beloved **Polar opposites** is getting in comparison...I do feel somewhat bad.

It's so...beautiful. It's so perfect.

Very difficult question: give me some anime where characters have visible noses (like Insomniacs After School for example).

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kybISdiZdto&pp=ygUMQW5pbWUgbWFzaHVw

Wanna get your nostalgia fix into the new year?? Genius mashup.

Want to move to Japan so badly hey 😭

Good Jigo day!

So far *Ippo* is reminding me of *Slam Dunk* so far. The matches are great. The in-between moments aren’t as much.

That’s not the worst crime a sports show can commit tbh, but become a little more noticeable when it is so easy to make *Ashita no Joe* comparisons.

Is there a reason why Masayoshi Oishi and Kana Hanazawa doesn’t participate in better productions?

KanaHana do a lot of shows but a lot of them are boring.

This question was prompted by watching the misanthropist teacher anime and the cute priestress in the hero party anime.

Another week and Crunchryoll still isn't displaying all their shows when sorting by new. Makes it really hard to find what's airing this season.

Shounen elitism is just kinda funny to me. Like if you’re gonna try gatekeeping people on the basis of what shows they like, at least go all in. No more of this “my super popular show from 10 years ago is infinitely better than your super popular show that’s currently airing”. If you’re not hitting me with “Shounen peaked with *Saint Seiya*” or “everything after the short films of 1950s and early 60s has been a bastardization of everything that makes this medium unique” then do you really have any right to gatekeep?

There used to be an art to being an elitist prick, now it’s just posting memes virtue signaling that you watched like three episodes of *One Piece* and how it’s already writing laps around *Solo Leveling* and how you’re just such an intellectual with your big boy cartoons /s

In the Clear Moonlit Dusk coming out in the middle of the night for me means that I can watch it before I go to church (unlike my other Sunday seasonals), and yeah I am definitely digging it already. I like how forward the male lead is about his interest instead of just pussy-footing around the issue, and I like the female lead already too. Also it has the extremely elusive *OP* lead-in, which is a huge plus in my books. [](#delighted)

Eliminations for "Best Seiyuu of Fall 2025" have [started](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1qa01zr/fall_2025_best_seiyuu_of_the_season_eliminations/)!

I had a friend many years ago describe *Legend of the Galactic Heroes* as "the final boss of anime" and I'm still like 90% certain he was referencing someone, but now that I've actually tried looking for who first said it... maybe I've been wrong all along?

Regardless, if LotGH really is "the final boss of anime" then I guess I've been in the post-game for like... almost six years now. That's longer than I was in the main game. Since "beating the game" I have watched 3x as many series and who knows how many times more movies and the like then I had in "the main game".

Now that I can make this kind of reference, it feels more like that sensation of entering the Grand Line for the first time. Like they talk it up so much as being this almost endgame location, and then you've still got 1100+ episodes and multiple whole ass civilizations before you truly reach the end. Like you watch LotGH, look up, and still have Idol hell, Magical Girl hell, and Super Robot hell before you've really "seen it all" until eventually you've watched all of *Sazae-san* and are watching the new episodes weekly raw like its nothing.

Sorry Mario, your princess is in another space opera.

The more I think about the staff announcements for the next Precure, the more I wonder if it's even worth it for me to watch the first episode. Given the synopsis, the proceedings and developments of the season is likely to follow the trend of the scriptwriter's prior works, with the ending being as obvious as can be. Why spend the time going through ~45-50 episodes of a show if you can already foresee how it's going to end? I thought I was an old man yelling at clouds when *You and Idol* was announced, but I feel even worse now. How do people who've read the source material for manga/LN adaptions go in when watching an anime, knowing full well how it's all going to end? I'm honestly very curious.

Sunday romcoms starting off strong. Yes please!

Symbolism of a mushroom? They are found in *Tamon* and *Champignon*.

* Delicious
* Poison, esp. the recognizable fly agaric (this is the one in B-Side; there are many varieties in Champignon)

The shrooms in Tamon are a visual metaphor. What is the metaphor in words?

This has been bugging me for a while, but the niece in Ikoku Nikki reminds me of someone, and I finally figured it out. She looks a lot like Anna from When Marnie Was There, especially the hair and vibe.

Still catching up on fall.

Let's Play was frustrating. There's a decent story here, but it keeps getting overshadowed by the melodrama.

Conversely, we need to more Dark History. This was cringe-inducing, but in a good, meta, way. It only got better as the season progressed. The reaction faces alone kept me interested (and only competes with Yano-kun on prevalence).

Anyway, the plus side to being behind on seasonals: three straight episodes of Wandance to watch up next!

Second episodes are beginning to air, marking the first completed week of the season...

So here's my ranking/thoughts about the shows I'm keeping so far!

|#|Show|Expected score|Comment|
:-:|:-:|:-:|:--|
|1|Shiboyugi|10/10|90% sure this will be my AOTS.|
|2|Darwin's incident|9/10|Seems solid, love the writing (meaning, the thoughtful writing, not like the dumb bullies and stuff)|
|3|Watanare|9/10|Only on episode 2 so far, but solid like S1!|
|4|Roll over and die|9/10|Not sure about 2nd girl, but still quite hyped for it!|
|5|Mayonaka Heart Tune|8/10|Girls will make/break this one, so far I think 2 of them are pretty good!|
|6|Does it count if you lose Your Virginity to an Android?|8/10|I'm so horny|
|7|You Can't Be In a Rom-Com with Your Childhood Friends!|8/10|Hard to properly rate it before we see Tomboy, but decent enough|
|8|The Daily Life of a Part-time Torturer|7/10|Good enough, but it would be SO much higher if the torturers were girls.|
|9|Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife|7/10|Good enough, but it would be SO much higher if the woman was invisible. (But I'm still on the fence, they don't seem to give her much except "Blind", just generic sweet/kind)|
|10|Cute Girl in the Hero's Party, so I Tried Confessing to Her|6/10|It's an Isekai and I haven't dropped it yet... So it fared better than most Isekai, I suppose.|
|11|Dead Account|6/10|Good thing Ai Fairouz showed up... Hopefully she can carry this show on her ~~shoulders~~ voice!|
|12|Hell Mode|6/10|Sad thing is I would LOVE a true 'hell mode' anime... But I feel like the only thing "Hell'ish" is that it will take him 3 episodes to be broken OP, instead of 5 minutes like they usually do.|
|13|Dark Moon|5/10|It exists.|

(If it's not on the list it's either dropped - 6 shows - or I haven't checked it out yet - 19 shows)

Firefly Wedding anime officially announced! And David Production is doing it! Is this what winning feels like?

[](#feelsgoodman)

Pleasantly surprised by '**You and I Are Polar Opposites**'. I'm aware that Lapin Track (the studio behind Shoshimin) also worked on this but still managed to be in awe by the production. Meanwhile on the writing side, it took only one episode to flip the expectation of a typical romcom.

The idea of creating a “definitive” list of the best anime of the 80s/90s is extremely tantalizing to me, but like maxxing out an account in *Runescape*, the closer you get to the end, the harder it gets.

A truly definitive list with 100% confidence obviously requires watching… a lot more than I can muster rn. I think reaching 90-95% is probably easier than that, but still requires like 10 or so shows I would absolutely need to consider that are all really long.

It’s like looking at MAL’s Top 100, realizing you’ve seen 90% of the titles there, but the remaining ones are *One Piece*, *Gintama*, and *Kingdom*. The juice isn’t worth the squeeze, at least for now.

If anyone can help me find a closing song, I’d be in your debt! I can’t remember much other than I watched it maybe about a year ago (time is difficult for me to remember though). It starts off slow and pretty, likely piano. Then goes into a metal soundtrack with rap vocals. I vaguely remember a YouTube video with a thumbnail of a yellow background.

I swear it was Hell’s Paradise, but I just rewatched the entire season and it wasn’t there… I went through my entire watched list and nothing pops out to me. I was so certain it was on that show..

Seeing Akino Fukuji tweet that she directed the ED for Trigun Stargaze made me think about how often Orange anime have artist like that involved. Even when the OP/ED isn't my favourite it's nice to see these artists pop up in anime. Like when I saw Fukuji's [Summer Time](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q9NwG79d60) I immediately became a fan of her colourful picturebook aesthetic. But you've also Yoko Kuno doing the ED for Houseki no Kuni after she made one of my go to student film recommendations with [Airy Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ5QvrGxTnQ). Watching it now again and man I'm still amazed by the sheer quality of the animation. The flow, the detail, the amount of movement. Legitimately one of the most impressive pieces of animation I’ve. Trigun Stampede had an ED from Honami Yano who immediately became one of the most exciting names in the shorts industry with her pointillism [Bite of Bone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XoSDIRlCGs) (that YT doesn’t do justice, but it's the only thing we've). Beastars with the ED that in turn introduced me to Kōhei Kadowaki who now has me excited with his upcoming movie [We Are Aliens](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wthJ_uLuPE). Or more Beastars with the Qootain group who also made one of the more interesting looking MVs from 2025 imo with KizunaAI’s [Kamone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03iKTXFKFFU).

Already had some 6-7 episodes from last week to catch up on and now in just a day, 4 or 5 more got added. 


At least I finally finished the last episode of MHA so I'm officially done with all my Fall shows (not counting Chiramune since that's continuing into Spring now). Should do one of those tier things late as it is.

So much anime to catch up on, been spending so much time on my dbz live action series

[It’s that penultimate time again](https://imgur.com/02z8B05). For the first time in a while, saturday isn’t the most stacked day for me. I still will be sitting my ass like 3-4 hours but its not the day I look forward to the most. Anyways:

* Budget Demi-chan - It p much was a budget Demi-chan huh. So there is this school that is only for demi-humans that teaches them how to be human so they can eventually become human with this social credit system or something. A really strange sounding process, d-does mean being a demihuman is inherently undesirable? Who cares, because for the most part this is episode about what you would expect from a ‘male teacher teaches at an all-girls school’ premise. The guy exists, the girls are fine. That said, many people around me are really into the source and I’m mildly curious why (besides a vtuber writing this). I was going to keep it anyways but so far its nothing outstanding.

* Scum of the Brave - This really reminds me of Detectives are Crazy from two seasons ago. A high school girl wants to become the apprentice of some middle aged dude that dislikes her. Also the girl was good but everything else isn’t very good. And its two cour, so pass..

* Dark Moon - Vampire reverse harem that is…a reverse harem. It just felt very generic and dull, I really got nothing else.

* Part Time Torturer - I have a dream that one day, one of these male-cast shoujo will have good comedy, that day hasn’t come yet. In this world, killing is illegal (ignore that society hasn’t fallen apart somehow) and these guys do torture for a dime. T-that’s it, Ig I can say none of the guys were particularly good.

* Dragon isekai - Have you seen those reincarnation isekai where the protagonist starts by figuring out what he is and reading his own stat screen? If so, you too have seen this episode already. The dragon does look like a digimon tho.

* 29 year old fantasy - Straightforward, dude finds little girl, finds himself being her adoptive father, wholesome ensues. It was fine annnnnnnnnnd what tf, I don't know what to make of [the]>!succubus thing!<, interesting way to throw a wrench into what was a perfectly inoffensive story.

This season isn't fucking real what the fuck.

[](#waah)[](#waah)[](#waah)[](#waah)

First Ikoku Nikki was so enthralingly touching. Then Shiboyugi was casually one of the coolest watch experiences ever. Android Yuri is genuinely super charming and fun. Hana-kimi is here too sure. Now I sit down and watch You And I Are Polar Opposites and it's *amazing*? Just, fun and whimsy and style in every shot? Full of such vibrant colour and personality? So many fun visual ideas, such consistent fun sound design? An instantly iconic introvert social butterfly with a super cute dynamic and [Polar Opposites] >!A FANTASTIC CONFESSION SCENE DAY ONE?!!< Plus like, the instant best OP and ED of 2026?

[](#maxshock)

IT'S JANUARY 11TH PLEASE SLOW DOWN.

Still some shows to go (including 1 today) but I was bored so I made an [early tier list](https://i.imgur.com/R1rTIck.png).

/u/NormalGrinn are you still thinking about hosting a Figure 17 rewatch in Feb / March?

I ended up putting my next rewatch in Feb to avoid D.Gray Man. I'm looking at making my next interest thread for a March rewatch, unless you are running Figure 17 (because I would be joining that).

Reddit search is broken, but I've managed to determine that /u/ioxem and /u/retromorpher have seen this show, too.

When I'm on the fence about a new seasonal, I sometimes like to try to get more concrete opinions instead of just operating off of MAL score and vibes. So:

After Sentenced to Be a Hero turned out to not be a Saturday anime after all, I *could* have a spot open that day. So I may watch at most one of Misanthrope Class or Dead Account.
Apparently Crunchyroll decided to drop a same-day dub of Kaya-chan Isn't Scary with no warning whatsoever (it's not even showing up on the release list on the front page; you have to actually go to the calendar).

Anybody have any thoughts on how worth it any of those three are to watch?

I guess it's quite early (well, usually it wouldn't be if Frieren and Medalist wouldn't start airing so damn late into the season), but here's my first impression [tierlist](https://imgur.com/a/W24OYAA) of Winter 2026. For completion's sake I already included Frieren, Medalist and Tis Time for Torture with their expected rankings, and since they are all sequels I'm optimistic they won't just nosedive with their overall quality compared to their S1. Golden Kamuy I plan to start in a week or so, still have to catch up with the prior season.

Couple thoughts about some of the shows:

* **Ikoku Nikki** - still current AOTS frontrunner after ep2 - [thoughts here](https://old.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1q3m8lx/anime_questions_recommendations_and_discussion/nxnd6gl/)

* **Shiboyugi** - [thoughts here](https://old.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1q6cz42/anime_questions_recommendations_and_discussion/ny96jyy/)

* **Darwin Incident**

Like the style, like the premise, like Lucy and Charlie, no complaints so far. Ranks extremely high for me currently, but may drop if the plot does weird shit or the production tanks for whatever reason.

* **Sentenced To Be A Hero** - [thoughts here](https://old.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1mh9cnr/anime_questions_recommendations_and_discussion/n6xcx4i/)

* **Polar Opposites**

Fantastic start. [Ep1]>!I somehow expected they's get together relatively fast, like maybe by ep 5 or so, but seeing it as early as Ep1 was pretty surprising. Not complaining though, it's great.!<. I think what I like most so far is the extended friend group of our 2 MCs, they have such a friendly and laid back vibe, it being a mix of boys and girls is the icing on the cake. The production values are extremely impressive as well. Lapin Track is truly building a reputation of being among the top tier studios of the industry. They are relatively new still, but all of their recent works (Murder Farce, Shoushimin, this) had stellar production qualities, back to back. Also WTF was that OP, absolute banger both in song and especially in the visual department. ED was almost as good too. Last but not least, Sayumi Suzushiro is doing a fucking amazing job as Miyu. Feel like she is somehow still kinda underappreciated on this sub at large, like a year ago or so there were people saying she's like a Chika Anzai at home, whereas now I dare say the opposite is more true (heresy around here, I know). This season alone she has 6 roles, which is impressive but not too special on its own, unless it kinda is if you consider that **5** of those roles are literally the main characters of their shows.

* **F/SF**

They really cooked with the animation and overall visual and sound design. Great start so far, could potentially become my new favorite Fate entry, but too early to tell for now.

* **Scum of the Brave**

Overall good first impression, liking the premise, the characters and especially their designs. Not much to say about how the story will really go, if it'll be more of an episodic villain of the week, or more of a real non-episodic plot. Would definitely prefer the latter. Only nitpick I have so far is the fact that apparently so many characters are using medieval weaponry like swords and shields in a modern world in the age of guns goes pretty hard against the rule of cool in my book.

* **Washing**

Really chill and cozy SoL, not much else to say.

* **Jigokuraku S2**

So the production quality does seem to have improved quite a bit during fight scenes, but in all others I didn't really notice much of a difference (which is fine). After S1 I switched to the manga, so knowing what will happen I can see this staying a good 7-8/10 until the end. Unfortunately this series now always leaves a tiny bit of a sour taste in my mouth, since in the later parts the author for a short time begins to entertain a certain plot development, which would have made the story to me personally infinitely more interesting, but in the end abandons that and concludes with an overall good, but also extremely safe ending. So while I'm overall still definitely a fan of the series, I'm also always thinking about the "what could have been" when thinking about it.

* **Misanthropic Teacher**

Nothing really special, but I really liked it. Very similar to Interviews with Monster Girls, which I also really liked. They also deliberately made clear from the get go that there will be no weird grooming shit going on, which is reassuring. Production is not amazing, but more than fine.

* **Mato Seihei no Slave**

It's like S1 with a way better look and since the look was the main fault of S1, this makes this an overall big improvement as a whole. They also start introducing the actual best girls of the series (Ren>Fubuki>Yakumo) so it's only up from here.

* **The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife**

I did not expect to like this, but I somehow did. Cute romance, not much else to say yet.

* **Holy Grail of Eris**

Villainess type shows usually do nothing for me, but this one was actually pretty interesting. Will keep for now.

* **Mayonaka Heart Tune** - [thoughts here](https://old.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1q5jf6v/mayonaka_heart_tune_tune_in_to_the_midnight_heart/ny0vlli/)

* **Kaya-chan isn't Scary**

Chill SoL with horror elements. Personally don't really care for the exorcism scenes, would honestly prefer this more as a Usagi Drop like show where the SoL with her Dad would be more of the focus and the horror stuff was just gravy, but it looks like it'll be the opposite unfortunately. Still, fine show.

* **Clear Moonlit Dusk**

So as I expected, I don't like the ML at all, since he feels like a character lab crafted for the sole intent of making the highest possible number teenage girl readers scream in the lowest possible number of minutes. Basically the male equivalent to FLs like Marin or Asuna who are pretty much the same except catered to a male audience (which I dislike just as much). So thanks to that the show basically started at a -3/10 disadvantage, but everything else about the show is like a 7 or 8. Not dropping it yet since there were a couple scenes that I actually enjoyed, but it's one of my likeliest candidates to get the axe after the 3 eps mark.


The 5/10 shows were all extremely underwhelming, but not quite bad enough to drop on the spot. If they don't improve by a lot within the next couple eps, they'll get dropped. The dropped shows were either extremely boring, bad, generic or a mix of the three.

I'm not really feeling what SI-VIS has been trying to do with Kyoya and his relationship with the rest of the group.

[](#thoughtful)

Normally I skip romcoms because it’s a genre that doesn’t do much for me. But put Polar Opposites on the PTW after seeing its PV since it was so colourful and full of life. Was a good decision. It's cute and all the characters seem fun. Thickish eyebrow best girl. Also amazing OP.

You know, I might actually like the character designs of A-1 Pictures for the Fate series better than Ufotable’s. For example: the eyes look so good!

Is this a controversial take?

Everyone's shilling Polar Opposites, so I want to put in a good word here for In the Clear Moonlit Dusk. A real fun premiere episode, good chemistry between the beautiful lead pair and good drawing quality. If you like shoujo romance, check it out.

Feeling super tired. Completely mentally drained after a busy weekend. Even playing games is too much effort.

Which is the perfect time for an episode of [This healer is annoying](https://myanimelist.net/anime/48742/Kono_Healer_Mendokusai), an anime I never finished because it's just not very interesting. But right now I'm in the perfect mood for a simple, dry, low energy, plotless comedy to turn my brain off to. Every few months I come back and just watch one or two episodes.

Did you know it's already 25 years since 2001?

[](#shatteredsaten)

Anyway, I'm [gauging interest for a 25th anniversary rewatch](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1qa9ota/hikaru_no_go_25th_anniversary_rewatch_interest/) of the best anime of 2001, **Hikaru no Go**, in case anyone is interested!

holy shit, I had a feeling about Polar Opposites but it blew even those expectations away, pure cinema

Shiboyugi time, fuck it

I should get back to Guardi- I mean, Legend of the Galactic Heroes. I miss having something to glaze it over every time I watched a new episode.

Does anybody have a good site for anime merch? I need some neck gaiters and I’ve spent two hours on google with no luck🙄

Apologies to Milly Thompson, but Roberto De Niro is just a better foil for Meryl Strife than Milly ever was.

Would Dr. Stone be a good starter anime? I wanna get my mom into anime, and want to start with Dr. Stone; but I wanna know what you all think. I personally love the anime, but my mom and I don't always share interests.

So, with all non-sequels already premiering as of today, what are your thoughts on this season's premiere?

anime tourist's favourite [destination](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/ff5ee1a1a49d.jpg)

I'm surprised that Part-Time torturer is doing so poorly (both here, and on MAL);

It's not exactly my type of shows, but I like it well enough!

Just in case people skipped it thinking it's gruesome or edgy or something:

It's a lot more 'wholesome slice-of-life-y workplace buddies' than 'torture-y'!

First episode of Polar Opposites has largely put my reservations to rest. Not only that, it's even got me interested in Ramparts of Ice next season as well as Shoushimin.

A pretty good start.

How to get back into anime?

I am currently rewatching Naruto, Bleach & My Hero Academia, and plan to watch One Piece.

I am a fan of shonen & slice of life anime. I am not a fan of Ecchi or any anime that has Ecchi fanservice in it. I don't mind anime that has referential fanservice in it.

Andddddd yep, checked out Hell's Paradise S2E1, and it's more or less what I feared after the rewatch. Animation and battles are still solid, but man could I not care less about a single one of these characters or their plotlines.

Finished Pass the Monster Meat, Milady and I miss them already 😭 I didn't get the impression that there's going to be a second season but a girl can dream. It would be nice!

Grieving soul is gunning for my fall aots spot

[](#bigthink)

... Thursday night has a showing for the Gundam IBO movie which I very much want to see... but it also includes a remaster of Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz which I haven't seen a single episode of...

Welp, time to no-life Gundam Wing. 50 episodes in 4 days while I still have work and other obligations and things I want to do is totally doable right?!

[Who let Butt-head into the dance contest](https://i.imgur.com/5Kd3eyX.jpeg)?

Shows I'm sticking with this season:

* [Journal with Witch](https://myanimelist.net/anime/58788/Ikoku_Nikki) is my favorite of the season. It keeps scenes of dialogue visually interesting with effective metaphors and strong storyboarding. The dialogue itself flows really well and the characters are wonderful to watch. It tends to get a bit more somber than the CGDCT series I usually watch and it's listed as a drama, but it still has significant periods of downtime that have an iyashikei feel like \[episode 2's\]>!cooking segment!<.
* [Champignon Witch](https://myanimelist.net/anime/60509/Champignon_no_Majo) has an uncommon aesthetic, an unusual world, and a misunderstood witch protagonist. It's not a show for everyone, but it is a show for me.
* The [Gentle Noble](https://myanimelist.net/anime/60071/Odayaka_Kizoku_no_Kyuuka_no_Susume) is actually a noble and has a super smug aura. He's also skilled at manipulating people and just generally a really fun protagonist. I'd watch him regardless of what the plot is.
* I'm not super into the Fate franchise, but [strange Fake](https://myanimelist.net/anime/55830/Fate_strange_Fake) being based on an April Fool's idea means it's inherently wacky, Narita is great at writing ensemble casts, and A1 has done a great job with the animation. It is sure to be fun and so far it has been. For anyone worried about watch order, it's meant to be enjoyable on its own and while there are a ton of references to the vast Nasu multiverse any pertinent details can be gathered just by watching.
* While [Bean Counter](https://myanimelist.net/anime/60226/Isekai_no_Sata_wa_Shachiku_Shidai)'s protagonist was caught up in someone else's summoning, he wasn't a bystander. He actively tried to help the woman who was pulled in to be the saint. He is a very respectable, hard working man. While this is a BL series so far the dynamic between the leads doesn't resemble what's typical for fujoshi bait. The apparent plot seems standard for a saintess series, but the show has some key points of appeal that make it worth watching.
* Generally speaking [Roll Over and Die](https://myanimelist.net/anime/61587/Omae_Gotoki_ga_Maou_ni_Kateru_to_Omouna_to_Yuusha_Party_wo_Tsuihou_sareta_node_Outo_de_Kimama_ni_Kurashitai) is yet another edgy kicked from the hero's party story, but it also dabbles in horror which are the bits that really shine, or at least they do in the book. The protagonist acquires a healing factor similar to Wolverine's, so the fight scenes involve a lot of gore which may also be a selling point depending on your interests.
* When I hear "death game" I think Danganronpa, but [Shiboyugi](https://myanimelist.net/anime/59711/Shibou_Yuugi_de_Meshi_wo_Kuu)'s first episode is more of an escape room. That still aligns with my interests, so I'm sticking with it.
* Unlike other villainess stories [The Holy Grail of Eris](https://myanimelist.net/anime/60151/Eris_no_Seihai) is first and foremost a mystery series, and not of the episodic variety. For those that complain about the lack of villainy in their "villainess" series, Scarlet is as arrogant as they come and has the charisma and social skills to get away with it. However, the whole being dead thing has prevented her from getting her revenge on whoever framed her, and so she has to work with the only person who can see her, the meek Constance Grail.
* While I'm not super into romance, [Invisible Man](https://myanimelist.net/anime/60395/Toumei_Otoko_to_Ningen_Onna__Sonouchi_Fuufu_ni_Naru_Futari) has enough gimmicks to keep me interested. Putting his invisibility to use and being a private detective is clever. Not being able to ascertain the extent of his wounds due to being invisible is a nice touch. While I'm primarily enjoying it as a well thought out slice of life series, the main couple do have good chemistry together.
* I enjoy slice of life series about people pursuing their passions and [Wash it All Away](https://myanimelist.net/anime/61782/Kirei_ni_Shitemoraemasu_ka) is just that. The passion happens to be laundry which is a bit odd, but it's still valid and Kinme's competence is impressive to watch.

Territory Defense and Cute Girl in the Hero's Party both had setup episodes for their premieres, so I'll need to see more before committing or dropping them. I also feel like I need to see more Misanthrope Teacher and Clear Moonlit Dusk before making a decision on those.

Did I really give a show about a dance club a 9?


Yes, yes I did.


Kabo and Wanda are such a great duo. I wish the romance had progressed a bit more, but they had such wonderful chemistry otherwise I didn't mind too much. On and Iori are like the angel and devil sitting on Kabo's shoulder, though more optimism and pessimism rather than good and evil.


Screw the MAL score and give me another season!

Trigun Stampede

Stunning. They took a 25 year old show and gave it such a wondeful depth in ways I'm not sure I ever felt watching the original run. Roberto De Niro is an all time supporting character. The writing here is incredible. Damn near cried at the end.

Since it’s share-your-polar-opposite-opinions day:

This is the second anime this season I went into with zero expectations and came out of it blown away. But unlike Eris where it was mostly the acting that carried the episode, Polar Opposites was most remarkable for its character writing. They excelled where many romcoms fall short by building you up throughout one episode to a point where you’re extremely invested in the characters and rooting for them. At the start of the episode I was prepping myself for another cliche genki Sayumin performance, which to be honest 2025 kind of wore me out with. But by the end of the first episode I wanted nothing more than for someone to give this girl a hug.

I haven’t read the manga but I’d attribute the compelling power of the show to a combination of the writing and the animation/voice acting really selling you on Suzuki’s interiority, in a way that’s both exaggerated but also extremely relatable. Sometimes an anime with a character that’s too in their own head can be annoying, but here it’s a refreshing contrast from her typical bubbly personality.

A really strong start and I hope they keep it up, and like others I’m excited by proxy that [another of the author’s manga is getting adapted soon](https://myanimelist.net/anime/60852/Koori_no_Jouheki).

[Tier list](https://files.catbox.moe/cw1dhu.png) of all my seasonals' premeries, and some comments:

- Invisible Man: Very, very lovely stuff. These characters have a lot of heart to them, and I like how well-realized the world feels too.

- High School Kimengumi: Dudes rock. Girls rock, too. This rocks in general. Reminds me a lot of Cromartie High School despite being a complete 180 in terms of energy.

- Gentle Noble: Aside from my disappointment that it's not about a fantasy travel agency like the title led me to believe, this is pretty good. Has some surprisingly deadpan humor, which I always appreciate.

- Kaya-chan: Held back by one fatal flaw that is the annoying glitch effect that keeps getting spammed, but I'm liking it otherwise.

- Part-time Torture: I respect the absurdity of the premise, but it's not doing much to grab me.

- Hikuidori: I'm not one of those types who flies off the handle at the sight of awkward CG, but this is a very *bizarre* looking show, and not in a good way. Props for the unique premise (Edo period firefighters), but I don't know how much it'll do with it.

- Dead Account: There Will Soon Be Ghosts, In Your Telephone. Pretty stock battle shonen, nothing terrible but nothing special either.

- Shiboyugi: My obligatory contrarian take (if the Kimengumi one wasn't already, judging from the MAL score). I like schlock, and I like arthouse, but I don't like schlock that tries to be arthouse. Fine plot, but the directing just does not fit this material at all.

- Arne no Jikenbo: You can't just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

I've gotten back into watching anime a lot recently a couple of days ago I'm just so happy I've been watching Tokyo Ghoul I've missed it so much I truly feel like a kid again I'm just so so happy

I watched the first episode of **Food Wars** and I think this is the first time watching an anime that mixes cooking with ecchi. Weird. I kinda like it.

For Noble Reincarnation: Born Blessed, So I'll Obtain Ultimate Power, Alichey sings a song right at the start of episode 2. Anyone know if there's a longer version and what the name is?

How many firstborns do I have to sacrifice to get all of MariMite adapted

Is One Piece biweekly now?

I am still surprised after knowing that Nagomi from Mangaka's Weirdly Wonderful Workplace is a character from an older Kuzushiro short serialization. It feels like her inclusion is quite a fanservice to the author's long-time fans.


(And yeah, that old manga also explains how Nagomi got the desire to become an ero mangaka, which would be realized in Mangaka. Maybe make this as an OVA or something?)

Alien Bandori is real

I’m two episodes into **Runway de Waratte** and I’m already wondering if Chiyuki is really the “main” MC, not Ikuto, because the show spends way more time on Ikuto’s struggles in fashion and his journey.

Never mind, I just checked. It’s shounen. I *assumed* it was shoujo since the intro opens with the female lead wanting to be a runway model.

man the new anime that im watching is so shitty, i feel bad for the mangaka
Currently, i am watching the Noble Reincarnation: Born Blessed, So I'll Obtain Ultimate Power, and honestly i loved the light novel and the manga. I know it resembles the 7th price anime, but still the story was good and then the animation studio just turned it into a hot pile of garbage.

I have watched 2 eps of this series and already the dialogue and the sound design is horrendous. i normally am so frustrated when an anime series or ep ends but in this series it is really a struggle to just keep my eyes open. The BGM for some reason is so low that it is just barely audible and the voice actors talk like they are reading a essay in front of their class.
man I hate that this production has done this to the hardworking mangakas.

Jesus here I am showing people mushoku tensei and convincing people that thar trump sucks only for a rando along and ruin the entire thing. Meanwhile I'm hella liberal and think it's fine but some rando requits a rando to the right wing because they are a kunt

Hello /r/anime, a new daily thread has been posted! Please follow
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Do you know of any unsatisfying revenge plots in anime?


I know of some, like the fight between Ikki and Kirihara in the Rakudai Kishimoto anime.