Anime General Discussion Thread - Winter 2024 Midterms Edition [Week 8]

5/5 - Apothecary Diaries - wow, the last few episodes have been perfect. The characters are the strongest part of the story and the anime is doing a great job of reflecting their depth.

5/5 - Frieren - I was a little disappointed in the first part of the exam, but now that the new characters are more established, I’m enjoying the second part.

4/5 - 7th time loop - I really enjoyed the light novel and this adaptation seems excellent. The writing is not to the level of Apothecary Diaries, but well above average for light novels. Strong characters and a good use of the past lives gimmick. I especially like how Rishe has to adapt to changes from the past timeline and cannot just trust her past knowledge to work outright.

4/5 - Weakest Tamer - the story is low and deliberate but somehow I’m not getting bored. I think it does a good job of making the mundane meaningful to the characters.

4/5 - Villainess 99 - another good adaptation. The anime does a good job of showing what a lovable dork Yumiella can be.

4/5 - Solo leveling - I’m a sucker for rpg elements in stories, so this has been fun so far. Pacing is a bit slow for my tastes, especially with some of the forced cliffhangers, but that is getting better.

4/5 - Shanghai-La Frontier - still enjoying this one, the last arc has been good, just far to long. Almost feels like this one would be better with hour long episodes.

3/5 - Tsukimichi - the hero focus episodes were annoying (but understandably necessary) and the season started slow, but it is now reminding me of all I liked in the first season and thankfully seems to have escaped the season two curse that ruined a lot of other anime…

3/5 - Sasaki and Peeps - picked this one up recently and really enjoying the goofy randomness.

3/5 Instant Death - seems like a good adaptation. The story was so crazy that seeing it animated makes it somewhat more sensible. And seeing proud, OP, characters get effortlessly killed of never gets old, at least not in this story…

3/5 - Fluffy Paradise - I did not expect much from this one, but it has been fun so far. Still concerned about the whole monster ranch concept though

Close to dropping:

Demon prince of Momochi house - I like the yokai, house stuff. But overall am about 50/50 on this one.

Wrong way to use healing magic - I wanted to like this one but nothing about it is compelling to me.

On hold: Sengoku, and Torture Princess - I watched the first episode of both, but have not felt compelled to continue

Dropped:

Strongest Tank - I wanted to like this one but no. Far too much fetish/harem material for far to little plot.

To watch: Dangers in my heart - enjoyed the first season, but not sure I finished it. Hopefully it gets less repetitive

Brave Bang Bravern - I’ve seen this one talked up a lot

Banished from the hero’s party - I watched the first season, so I guess I should check it out…

Unwanted undead adventurer - another that seems to have a positive buzz

I have gathered my quick impressions of shows I have watched this season below in no particular order:

• Frieren - Continues to impress. I am actually not a big fan of this arc in the manga, but seeing it animated, I have liked it more. I am looking forward to the gang setting out on the road again though. I think those slow, SOL moments are when this series is at its best.
• Chained Soldier - I have enjoyed the show, but it hasn't really blown me away. I get the sense that they have really held back on the ecchi and the action animation has been inconsistent. I like the story so far, but feel like it has only scratched the surface of a much larger story.
• Sasaki and Peeps - This show is all over the place. It has been inconsistent in its week to week storytelling, but I am still watching just to see where things go as each week is extremely unpredictable.
• Tsukimichi Season 2 - I have liked this season a lot. The first episode was pretty boring and meaningless, but since then, the story has broadened out a lot and I have been much happier with the adaptation.
• 'Tis Time for Torture - It has been really silly, not very deep, and a bit repetitive. However, it has remained entertaining and cute.
• Hokkaido Gals - I keep wavering on whether to continue watching this show or not. I kind of have trouble staying awake a lot during this show, but so far, I have continued watching.
• Villainess Level 99 - I have enjoyed this adaptation a lot. It's clear that the animation budget has been restrictive, but the humor has been great. The VA work has really carried a lot of this show's humor due to how static the animation often is during things like internal monologues.
• Gushing Over Magical Girls - I ended up dropping this series as it was a bit too ecchi for me. However, for those that don't mind, it seems like an interesting premise and source readers have hyped up the story that is layered underneath the plot.
• Metallic Rouge - This show is a weird one. Like, I am completely unable to follow the story, but I have enjoyed just turning my brain off and taking in the vibes instead. Some of the recent episodes haven't had as much of the nice action scenes as early episodes. If the animation quality drops as it goes, then there really isn't that much left to redeem this show.
• Delicious in Dungeon - I think this show got a lot better after the first episode. It has a great main cast and it has done a great job of slowly pulling back the curtain on an immensely rich world.
• Bravern - A true hidden gem this season. It is unabashedly a cheesy, super robot series while at the same time, a gruesome depiction of humanity fighting extinction.
• Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic - This show has been a slow burn so far, but they are building up to a huge conflict. If they can deliver in the back half, then it is going to be great.

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I also wanted to provide a quick meta-update from last week's thread. I am continuing to debate with myself about how best to handle episode discussion threads going forward (as well as doing a lot of coding work to enable options). If you have further ideas or feedback, please feel free to reach out to me in a PM if you don't want to post publicly. I have gotten quite a few messages about this issue from people and wanted to let others know it is an option if you would feel more comfortable reaching out that way. Another option for those that are inclined would be discord as I have been in the !lightnovels@ani.social discord here.

This season has the most number of animes that I'm watching, unexpectedly. My impressions:

Watching

Top Tier

1. Frieren - As good as ever. Looking forward to the boss fight in the next episode.

Second Tier

1. Villainess Level 99 - The dark horse of the season for me. It is supposed to be yet another villainess series, but turned out to be very entertaining.
2. Delicious in Dungeon - I usually avoid cooking shows, but decided to try this out due to the hype. It did not disappoint.
3. Gushing over Magical Girl - I can (almost) never predict how the villains deals with the magical girls in each episode.

Third Tier

1. 'Tis Time for "Torture", Princess - very sweet
2. Mr. Villain's Day Off - very sweet
3. Cherry Magic - This is the first anime with gay protagonists that I'm watching due to the interesting premise. The good pacing has kept me interested to see what comes next.
4. Chained Soldier - Others were complaining about the lack of ecchiness, but personally, I was looking forward to well-animated action scenes - which it did not deliver. Still good enough (for now).
5. Instant Death - I dislike how the anime kill characters off without showing how powerful they are. I believe it is a problem with the novel though, because IIRC in the earlier half of the series the narrator simply mentions their powers, whereas in the latter half we get to experience the story from the other characters' point-of-view before they get killed off. Otherwise, I liked the faster pacing of the anime as compared to the novel, cutting out the fluff and jokes that probably won't translate over as well to the anime.

Close to dropping

1. The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic - It has been one long training arc so far. Sounds like it is going to get interesting though.

On Hold

Apothecary Diaries - Top tier along with Frieren. I want to binge everything, instead of being kept in suspense by mysteries that span multiple episodes.

Dropped

1. Bravern - Goofiness mixed with grim reality does not sit well with me.
2. Foolish Angel - Got bored, and male MC was too dumb.
3. Sasaki and Peeps - Interesting premise, but wasted on boring MC.
4. Tales of Wedding Rings - Checked out the manga briefly, and MC appears to be stupid.
5. Weakest Tamer - Got bored.

Plan to Watch

1. 7th Time Loop
2. Dangers in my Heart Season 2

I dropped a lot of shows along the way. The ones I still watch are

• Frieren
• Apothecary Diaries
• Hokkaido Girls
• Shangrila Frontier
• Solo Leveling (dude that episode 6 insert song!!!)
• Unwanted Undead Adventurer
• Doctor Elise
• Fluffy Paradise
• Sign of Affection
• Delicious Dungeon
• The Weakest Tamer
• The Stongest Tank

And If I feel like it and have some time to kill I watch the Instant death Ability, Sasaki and Peeps and Wrong Way to use Healing Magic.

Man, written out in this way it looks like a lot more than I thought...

Hey you! Do you want to see an image as part of these weekly threads? If so, reply to this comment with any images for next week's post! It could be a screenshot from an episode this past week, an anime image pulled from your personal archive, or some other relevant image that is fun. I have just been thinking that Lemmy enables me to add an image to the discussion posts, so why not try to use it?

MUST WATCH, waiting for the moment they drop:

• Freiren - Outstanding writing and direction.
• Solo Leveling - Great action direction with an interesting story.
• Level 99 Villainess - I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I do, but it's fun.
• Sokushi Cheat - Same here, this is much better than the sum of its parts should add up to.

Good:

• Bang Bravern - Striking a careful balance between parody, including satirical homoerotic overtones, and an actual serious story
• Sasaki and Peeps - Another "careful balance" story, this time crossing between multiple genres, the story slowed down in the last couple of episodes, knocking this down from a must-watch start
• Dungeon Meshi - A fascinating rollout of world building, this is approaching, but not quite must-watch status
• Gushing over Magical Girls - This one actually came up from Just Okay with serious story development last episode, hopefully more to come
• Mr. Villain's Day Off - Mellow slice-of-life disguised as a villain POV. For what it is, the art is gorgeous.
• Classroom Of The Elite - The animation is virtually a slideshow with moving lips, but the story is intriguing. What a shit learning environment though.

Just Okay, still watching, could drop if they have a couple of bad episodes and some other show gets hyped:

• Unwanted Undead Adventurer - It's not bad, but other than the twist right at the start, the story's a little too straightforward
• Hokkaido Gals - I am just watching this for the little details of life in Hokkaido. Otherwise, protagonist is bland and somewhat predictable girls.
• 7th Time Loop - Okay
• Tis Time For Torture, Princess - The princess' reactions to the food and amusement porn is amusing, but feels a bit repetitive, but it's a gag manga, so that's okay.
• Ninja Kamui - Nice animation, but where's the dramatic tension? Only the first episode is out at the time of writing, so there's potential, but this director doesn't give me great hope of improvement. I hope to be proven wrong.
• Wrong Way To Use Healing Magic - It's not bad, but the writing is too straightforward, too obvious.

Dropped:

• Metallic Rouge - Huge animation budget, but poor storyboarding and writing made it frustrating to watch. Dropped after 1 episode
• Strongest Tank - I just found this boring. Dropped after 5 episodes.
• Ishura - Bored with unlikable characters after 1 episode. Supposed to get better starting with episode 6, but that's too late.
• Pon No Michi - Didn't like this after 1 episode. That's very fast to drop, but I found the writing grating on me.
• Bucchigiri - The violent colors and ultra macho delinquents didn't land with me, despite good production values. The background artists really went wild, but the visual aesthetic is nauseating. Dropped after 2 or 3 episodes.
• Snack Basue - Weird character designs and static animation added to a sense of humor that didn't land with me. Dropped after 1 episode.

Curious about:

• Shangri-La Frontier - The number of torrent shares on this is phenomenal, and reviews on the fights are good, but I'm so far behind right now...
• Weakest Tamer - Sounds sort of interesting, but I've got too much on my plate already.
• Apothecary Diaries - Again, numbers and reviews indicate this is very popular, but I'm soooo far behind...

Haven't watched anything last week due to a holiday abroad. Very excited to catch up on Frieren, Apothecary Diaries, Level 99 Villainess and 7th Time Loop though. I did buy some anime BDs over there though. Physical media is much more expensive where I'm from. Also less popular in general. I bought Belle, GitS and Akudama Drive, all for good prices.

I'm up to episode 6 of Delicious in Dungeon and I did not expect to be enjoying it as much as I have been so far. I've gotten tired of anime set in a medieval RPG-esque setting because they fall back on a lot of overdone tropes and thus have little to no intrigue as far as worldbuilding goes. Delicious in Dungeon, on the other hand, takes those fantasy elements, especially the monsters, and dives deep into their inner workings. Every time Laios pulls out that encyclopedia I'm floored by the ingenuity in the ensuing monster descriptions. The art direction, animation, and music are also top-tier thanks to Trigger being Trigger.

Note: This week's Solo Leveling is a recap episode.

Edit: I just skimmed it, there aren't any new scenes or information in it.