So next season is out, here is the MAL chart.

While it didn't exactly grab me, still going to check out season 3 of Boku no Hero Academia.

Since it is unlikely that I will play the game anytime soon again, might give Persona 5 a shot.

I started reading the manga a month ago and it is excellent, so gonna keep an eye on Golden Kamuy. First episode was rather solid.

When I was around 14-15, I really started to get into Captain Tsubasa, which also kinda made me want to go out and play soccer as a kid, so might check out the new series of it. Actually hoping that they are updating it a bit instead of just doing it again with better animation. I don't think it aged well.

Those are the ones for now, the good ones I usually can't discern from summary alone so gonna wait for reviews and other opinions and the like. Not like I don't have a huge backlog anyway.

 

So I've tried a bunch of things so far:

Boku no Hero Academia S3: opened with a recap episode. Wasn't all that necessary for me but I guess it might've been for others, I dunno. Looking forward to more excellently timed You Say Run.

Hinamatsuri: actually really funny. Nitta's every scene is great. Promises to be heartwarming in the future, too.

Megalo Box: I'm not that much of a boxing fan, but this show is really pretty. Plot's not gripping me right now but I'm sure that'll improve as we go along.

Gundam Build Divers: cautiously optimistic. First episode wasn't amazing, but Gundam Build Fighters was too good to abandon this already.

Uchuu Senkan Tiramisu: Not really my thing.

 

Megalo Box looks hype as fuck. Definitely watching.

Magical Girl Ore is so bad that it's good, even knowing that it's a parody. Not sure if I'll keep watching, but definitely amusing.

Comic Girls is your standard cute girls doing cute things. It's fairly cute imo. Might continue with it.


Aside from that, going to keep watching DiTF, (which I feel completely vindicated about btw), BnHA Season 3, and Shokugeki no Soma.

 

I remember watching and enjoying the Full Metal Panic! series years ago. Seeing a season 4 was slightly surprising, though it seems to be following season 1 and 3 (action) and not season 2 (comedy).

 

Steins;Gate 0 is out and its just as good as I'd hoped. Its great to see all of these characters again and hear that perfect OST.

 

Hopefully getting S4 of Full Metal Panic means we'll get more as there are plenty more light novels to cover. But at least we should get to see the Laevatein.

 

Watching the second MHA episode of the season and it's really highlighting why I really can't get into this. Most of the characters don't matter and/or are boring and the ones that are interesting are drowned out by the vast majority that aren't. The characters that do get some focus are garbage like Mineta or lame like Deku.

Honestly, half of that class should have been either scratched (like who gives a fuck about the sugar guy or animal dude or harden guy or belly laser guy or tail guy or that earjack girl) or maybe split into another class.

Then there is the fact that MHA isn't really doing anything new or interesting, it's jut going through old shonen plot points with a superhero twist. This episode we had the little kid who doesn't believe in heroes anymore because his hero parents were killed and isn't trite and boring? if this subplot doesn't play out exactly as I imagine it will be, it'll be the biggest twist of the year for me. Basically the Inari subplot of Naruto during the Wave arc, only Deku doesn't have Naruto's charisma and it's super weird to actually say that but little did I know I had taken a character like Naruto for granted.

At least Naruto had a spine and personality other than the meek, polite boy that Deku is who just wants to work hard and be a hero. Sure, Naruto could be annoying and obnoxious but one had a respect and interest for him in the first five episode that I just don’t have for Deku after two seasons. Okay, the manga and character declined hard sometime in Shippuden but it was pretty good until then and MHA doesn’t even have that so far.

Maybe it will get better if the villains are worth anything (so far they aren't) or there will be something actually interesting happening among the students themselves but so far rather disappointed. One recap episode and now this, well, probably premature to really say anything but it has been a disappointing start to say the least.

 

Having actually read the manga, I can safely say that the anime is all just building up to what was one of the most hype fights I have every read about in

Spoiler

All Might vs All for One

Also the villains really do kick it up a notch, which you'll see in the current arc iirc.

What I like most about MHA is the gradual growth we see in all of the characters - no bullshit powerups or asspulls, and all of the characterisations are strong enough to make me feel a sense of investment in said growth. It's distilled shonen, for sure, but it's done very well.

 

Today's Darling in the Franxx was an absolute masterpiece. Emotional rollercoaster from start to finish, and all the buildup paid off in the end. My faith the writers was not misplaced.

Too bad their's no episode next week, but I can live with that. The next nine should be fucking nuts, and I can't wait.

 

3rd episode of MHA was better than the previous two, so I'll give it that. Villains also started attacking although I can't say I give a damn about them so far or their "heroes suck" goals. We'll see how it plays with them, I guess.

Persona 5 anime isn't bad so far, the animation is pretty good but prefer the game, which is unsurprising I guess. Seems to rush less than Persona 4 Golden at least.

Golden Kamuy is a bit disappointing so far in terms of animation and the way it's portraying the plot and I don't have the confidence it will improve. The manga is definitely worth checking out though, even if the anime is relatively meh so far.

 

This is the first Persona anime that's actually managed to convey the game mechanics into a good enough story for me to follow along with. Everything was so rushed with previous attempts that it just never hooked me as someone who hasn't played the games. This one's fun enough so far.

The end of the MHA episode was pretty fantastic; really enjoyed the music, it had a good impact.

Revelry of Darkness.

 

The Legend of the Galactic Heroes Remake is actually pretty good so far, I've tried to get into the 1988 series before and enjoyed/am enjoying both.

Gave up on P5 though, adore the games but it's just not working for me.

 

Just picked up 'Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku'. It's adorable.

Just the right amount of fluff, romance, humour and nerd culture references. It's nothing groundbreaking, just a well executed slice of life romance comedy, and I love it.

 

Binged all of Megalo Box this week to catch up. Probably the best this season, definitely from an OST and Animation standpoint. Plot's a tad generic, but Ashita no Joe that it's based off was practically the blueprint or something for modern Sports/Shonen so it's understandable in a way?

 

I'll admit, My Hero Academia has gotten better. I still have a lot of problems with it and I have to say most of the characters who are getting the majority of the screentimes are meh at best but the last few episodes were pretty intense and enjoyable.

The other show I am currently following is the Sword Art Online spinoff. I only watched the first half of season 1 and checked out then and from what I have heard of the following seasons, there was no reason at all to check those out. However, a different main character and no "trapped in a video game" premise were enough to make me give this one a chance and I'm glad I did. Main character is fun and most of the show is pretty much watching the MC grow with videogames and have fun in it. First episode was basically a let's play of watching some PUBG streamer only, you know, actually fun because anime bullshit. That said, the whole Pito thing is something I am lukewarm about, mainly because I would rather this be game only without any heavy stakes but it's not terrible.

It's nothing amazing or groundbreaking, mind you, it's just a fun time waster but not an anime that's going to have an impact on you on way or another.

Edit: that said, episode 9 had a weird amount of creepy characters for no reason. Who would behave like that in a streamed tournament?

 

Having finished Steins; Gate 0, all I can really say is that it was a disappointment. The show goes off on tangents and asks the reader to suspend disbelief one too many times for my enjoyment.

Theres also the issue that the show heavily overcompensates for killing off the first seasons most popular character by... making her an AI.

Like, episode eight was my favorite episode and that was because I could see a human instead of a phone screen.

I haven't done anything with the VN, so I don't know the source material, but somehow I feel as though a lot of the potential for a Steins; Gate sequel was lost. And that rather saddens me.