@wjs018@ani.social Maybe it would be a good idea to post about how @rikka@ani.social works.

I believe this /c has gained a significant number of new users over this season, and the newbies may not understand that they need to comment inside their favorite shows threads to get rikka to post the next episode thread, or that they can request episode threads if rikka drops a show.

Taking a look through the list, there are definitely some that I am excited about. I have tried to categorize them by my initial impressions. I am likely going to have to cut down the number of anime I watch next season because work is getting busier, but I will do my best!

Definitely Watching

• Natsume's Book of Friends - Season 7 is here and I am ready for more. If you aren't familiar with this series, it is a (mostly) chill series about Natsume, a boy that can see yokai, and a book containing the names of yokai that was left to him by his grandmother.
• Dan Da Dan - I have tried to stay spoiler-free for this one based on the hype around it. What I do know sounds wild, so I am expecting the unexpected. Reminder to check out !dandadan@ani.social
• Orb: On the Movements of the Earth - This one caught my interest due to its historical nature. If you haven't seen me mention it before, I am a physicist professionally. So, an anime all about the history of science and the heliocentric model? Yeah, that is an intersection of interests that I can't pass up.
• Rurouni Kenshin Remake - I probably won't be watching this one week to week, but will definitely watch it eventually together with my wife. We had mixed feelings about the first season of the remake, but the Kyoto/Shishio arc is Kenshin at its best, so I am looking forward to see how this season goes.

Will Try to Watch (Time Permitting)

• Blue Box - I have only heard great things about the manga. So, if I can find the time, I want to try to check this one out.
• As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I'll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World - I enjoyed season 1, but it didn't blow me away. As a manga reader, it did a better job with the adaptation than I was expecting. Will try to tune in and see how the next season goes.
• Loner Life in Another World - I have read a bunch of this manga and it is silly fun. I am most interested in just checking out the adaptation more than really invested in the story/characters.

Might Check Out Depending on Reception

• 365 Days To The Wedding - An adult, workplace romance? Is this the new Wotakoi? I hope so! If I hear good things, I might try to find time to check this one out.
• I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History - A fully genre-aware otome protagonist that wants to be the best villainess they can be? This is what I imagine Kadath would be if she were ever isekai'ed into an otome universe.
• If My Wife Became an Elementary School Student - Suspicious title aside, this seems like it is going to be a pretty heart-wrenching exploration of grief after the loss of a loved one. If it is handled well, then this could be great (even if it is incredibly sad).
• NegaPosi Angler - Speaking of grief, this is an anime original in which the MC has a terminal illness. So, you know it will be a fun time. Personally, I lost my grandfather not too long ago, and I used to fish with him all the time, so this one might be a bit personal for me.

I'm planning to watch the following TV series:

High Expectation

i.e. most likely watch to completion

Re:Zero - season 3

Dan Da Dan

Decent Expectation

i.e. good chance of watching to the end, depending on how it goes

Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance

Low Expectation

i.e. probably drop after a few episodes, but there may be a few surprises

You are Ms Servant

Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions - season 2

365 Days To The Wedding

Magilumiere

Puniru wa Kawaii Slime

Murai In Love

A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School!

Acro Trip

I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History

100% gonna watch:

• The new Blue Lock season, still gotta watch episode Nagi though
• Dandadan
• Orb: On the Movements of the Earth
• Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc.

Gonna give it a try for a few episodes:

• Uzumaki
• Trillion Game
• I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History
• Yakuza Fiancé

I don't know about Re:zero to be honest, I was kind of disappointed with where the plot was going in the second season, and it feels like the stakes aren't really that high anymore :/

Planning to watch Dan Da Dan and Blue Box

Will watch

I've been anticipating these for a while and I'm so excited to watch them.

• Re:Zero S3

  Time to hate on Subaru

• 365 Days to the Wedding

  I read the manga when it was ongoing and I loved it! It's such a cute and wholesome story.

• Uzumaki

  I love Junji Ito

Looks interesting

• Dan da dan

  I never got around to read the manga but since the anime is here I'll hold off on reading it for now.

• Blue Box

• Kimi wa Meido-sama

  The description makes it sound like a drama but it's tagged Comedy. Wut?

• Maou 2099

  Cyberpunk + Demon Lord? You have my attention.

• Rekishi ni Nokoru Akujo ni Naruzo

  I'm a sucker for villainess isekai.

• Orb: On the Movements of the Earth

• Yarinaoshi Reijou wa Ryutei Heika wo Kouryaku chuu

  Oh hey villainess isekai. Never seen that before.

• How I Attended an All-Guy's Mixer

  This isn't helping me beat the fujoshi allegations.

• Touhai: Ura Rate Mahjong Touhai Roku

  I know nothing about Mahjong but sure why not.

Might watch

I might wait for a couple of episodes to come out first.

• Ranma 1/2

• NegaPosi Angler

• Trillion Game

Continuing from last season:

• 2.5D Seduction.

Still need to watch from last season:

• Monogatari: wanted to do a rewatch first... I'm now at Zoku Owarimonogatari, so almost time for the new one.
• Spice & Wolf: I'd paused this one at the start of Summer so I could binge through what I've already seen in the original. I meant to pick it up again when the 4th arc started but I haven't yet.

Definitely watch:

• Re:Zero S3: took a while, but finally a new season. I'll probably want to rewatch the old stuff first though.
• Dandadan: let's see if it lives up to the manga.
• SAO Alternative GGO II: the good SAO

Likely watch:

• 365 Days To The Wedding: looks like a fun romance with adults with an interesting premise.
• I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History: manga is good. Villainess stuff is fun
• Nina the Starry Bride: looks fun
• Magilumiere: manga is good.
• The Do-Over Damsel Conquers The Dragon Emperor

Maybe watch:

• NegaPosi Angler
• Touhai: not big on gambling anime, but this sounds interesting enough
• Orb: On the Movements of the Earth
• Demon Lord 2099
• Yakuza Fiancé

As I said in last week's thread:

Whew, Fall 2024 looks stacked with good shows!

I'll be anticipating:

• Re:Zero S3
• Uzumaki
• Blue Lock S2
• Dandadan
• Shangri-La Frontier Season 2
• SAO: Gun Gale Online II
• Mechanical Arms
• Trillion Game

Maybe:

• Acro Trip (because riffing on magical girls)
• Chi.: Chikyuu no Undou ni Tsuite (because Madhouse)
• MF Ghost 2nd Season (because racing)
• Magi Lumiere (based on y'all's recommendations)

Everyone is hyped about Dandandan, so I might give it a try as well

The summer's been a bit busy, so I've unfortunately fallen off some of the stuff that I meant to watch and fallen behind on the rest, but I think things are actually settling down now.

For our weekly anime time, my friends ended up picking:

• Senpai is an Otokonoko - an absolutely beautiful look at the complexity of figuring out gender and sexuality with some truly gut-wrenching depictions of transphobia and homophobia, both direct and indirect.
• Elusive Samurai - stunningly animated action (Cloverworks is doing the thing they do) and it has made us hopeful that some of the historical figures might finally get english language wikipedia pages (we keep complaining that there are no resources to look at about how close this comes to the real story, lol)
• Dahlia in Bloom - a bit of the odd one out because it, um, looks terrible and the story is a bit rough as well. We're enjoying the slow-burn romance (it's a bit too slow for me, tbh) and pointing at all the weird animation quirks (we were SHOCKED when, after episodes of making fun of horse animation errors, we got an up-close shot of a horse and learned that this world had 8-legged horses the whole time and they didn't tell us, so those were not errors after all)
• Odd Taxi - I slept on this when it came out because the dialogue felt really stilted to me and I couldn't get my brain to focus on what was being said, but one of my friends insisted, so here we are. It's definitely gotten better in the dialogue department, but I don't really see why people call it a masterpiece, at least not yet. We'll see.

As for my own shows, I had to make some cuts and I'm still a bit behind on it all, but I'm watching:

• Yatagarasu - This one keeps surprising me with its weird twists, lol. The big one two-thirds of the way through made me go read the manga (I may try to find translations of the novels as well), and I learned that the anime blended the first two novels together into a single story (they cover the same time period, but different characters, as I understand it), and I think the story was much better for it. The manga's pacing, at least on the ladies' side of the story, was really janky and the tone felt all wrong.
• How to Become Ordinary - Why is this so cinematic?? I really like all the subtle character moments in this show and the extreme low stakes of (most of) the mysteries.
• Twilight Out of Focus - as far as BL anime goes, it's fine. It's sort of endearing how seriously it takes itself and how artsy it's trying to be, but I don't know that it works that well.
• Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian - I really liked this as a romance at the start of the season, but I've become more disinterested as it's (predictably?) become a harem anime. I'll probably finish out the season, but if there's no romantic progress, I won't be back for a season 2.

As always, I'm going into the season as blind as possible, though I am tentatively hyped for Ranma 1/2.

Also, I'm not sure if this counts as the new season (or as anime, since it was sort of a slideshow), but here's my thoughts on the first(?) fall show:

::: spoiler Murai in Love It only escaped the extreme creepiness of its premise by being painfully dull in all aspects. I'm not one to complain too much about animation quality (I'm watching Dahlia In Bloom this season), but the writing and direction were the things that really dragged it down. I could barely force myself through it (I have my pride as a Watcher of Every Anime, even if it's meaningless), and it didn't get even a single nose exhale out of me, let alone a laugh. The one good thing I have to say is that J.C.Staff know how to make pretty people and the ninja guy is definitely pretty. 1/5 :::

Looking ahead to next season, it’s a bit light for me. I’ve been watching a lot (for me), so might chill a bit and maybe catch up on other stuff. Or maybe I’ll follow the charts and try out whatever bubbles up. I dunno! But I’ll definitely be watching: 

• Re:Zero S3 - I’ve liked the previous seasons quite a lot. 
• Ranma 1/2 - I grew up on OG Ranma 1/2 and have watched most of it. I loved it. I’m really hoping this is good, especially since some of the content is going to be pretty dated. But I at least feel confident it will be as well produced as possible since it’s being made by MAPPA. I’m kinda sad so few others are mentioning this. Maybe I’m too old haha… 

Current releases, following weekly (roughly organized by decreasing interest): 

• Oshi No Ko S2 - Decent start to a new arc. Several good moments. 
• Makeine - This mini arc didn’t hit as hard for me as some of the others, but still enjoyed it. 
• Pseudo Harem - Great episode again. This couple is adorable. 
• I Parry Everything - Still good. I think there are more episodes, but it feels pretty wrapped up? 
• Dungeon People - Caught up this week. Sometimes a bit hit or miss, but still enjoying throughout. 
• Days With My Stepsister - Caught up this week. I have mixed feelings on it. It’s verrrrrry slow and deliberate. Sometimes this lands well, but a lot of the time I’m waiting for anything to happen. The characters are likeable and their feelings seem realistic. It’s decent, and I’ll at least finish this cour. I don’t know if there will be more. 
• Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings… - I’m gonna finish this season, but I probably won’t follow future seasons. 

Watched part of, but not up to date: 

• Wistoria - 5 episodes. Good animation, great action, and fun story. Probably finish.

Weekly ranking roundup:

1. Anime Corner - Full Results - Weekly Winner: Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian
2. Reddit Karma - Weekly Winner: Makeine
3. Anime Trending - Weekly Winner: Days With My Stepsister

Credit to /u/Abysswatcherbel for making the chart for reddit karma and /u/Nooble5 for the Anime Trending chart.

Same three winners as last week. I had expected Oshi no Ko to come back on top of the reddit karma after its break last week. However, it seems that Makeine is too strong and, with the start of a new arc, Oshi no Ko couldn't hold onto the hype from before the break.