It’s time for a new general discussion thread! How are you finding the Fall season? What have you been watching recently? Any recommendations? cautionary tales? questions? You have come to the right place!
As always, remember to be mindful of spoilers. If you want to know more about how to handle spoilers in this community, check the guide here (also linked in the sidebar).
Some series that no one else has mentioned yet:
Demon Lord, Retry! R: Somehow the artwork and animation is managing to be even worse than that from the 2019 series—guys, at least try to keep the main character’s hair length consistent, okay? Plus, 95% of what’s been shown so far has been a recap of the earlier version. As of the end of the second episode, they are finally caught up. The bizarrely chosen ecchi material, while it doesn’t make up any significant fraction of the runtime, is even more grating in the recap than the original. I found the original series amusing despite its many faults, so I’ll stick with this one for a while, but in general I don’t recommend it.
The Healer who was Banished from his Party etc.: Bog-standard protagonist-that-no-one-has-noticed-is-overpowered fantasy light novel schlock. Okay for turning your brain off, but otherwise don’t bother.
Good-bye, Dragon Life: Bog-standard protagonist-hides-his-power fantasy light novel schlock so far. Another one suitable for turning one’s brain off.
The Most Notorious “Talker” etc.: And for the hat trick, we have protagonist-wants-to-get-stronger fantasy light novel schlock. This one managed to get my attention slightly more than the others by ending the first ep. on a weak cliffhanger. I doubt it’ll come to anything, but we’ll see.
Trillion Game: Mixed feelings about this one, probably because I empathize a little too much with Gaku. Haru, on the other hand, seems like a slimeball despite attempts to depict him sympathetically. Haven’t watched the second episode yet.
I’m still waiting on several other series. There seem to be an awful lot of late premieres this season.
Past Seasons
Completed Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku
This solidifies josei romcoms as being top tier for me at least. We have childhood friends entering into a romantic relationship, and they did so in the first episode. The characters here are mature and level-headed too unlike many shounen / shoujo romcom characters. I like the relationship dynamics not just within the main couple, but also between them and the other couples and within the secondary couple. The tertiary couple could use more development, but I guess that’s what the source material is for.
It’s a pity that the premise of josei anime tend to be boring. In fact, Wotakoi is the perfect example: the premise is simply two nerds falling in love with each other! I probably passed over many good josei anime because they don’t have the hook to draw me in.
On the bright side, at least I discovered this one, which deserves a solid 9/10.
This Season
Continuing
Re:Zero season 3 - I find a lot of the dialogue between characters - not just Subaru’s - kinda cringe like in previous seasons, but that’s just me being nitpicky. As usual, once Subaru starts looping, I’m hooked.
Dan Da Dan - It certainly lives up to the hype. Looking forward to more of it.
Murai In Love - This is way funnier than I expected. The humour just clicks with me. It’s an unfair comparison due to the 4-episodes headstart it had, but I found it funnier than Dan Da Dan at the moment. I have caught up, and would like finish it.
How I Attended an All-Guy’s Mixer - It’s entertaining enough for now. Shall see how it goes.
Dropped
All of these induce some degree of boredom for me.
You are Ms. Servant - Male lead sucks.
365 Days to the Wedding - Just watch Wotakoi instead.
I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History - In addition to flaws that others have already pointed out, I find that this is just a generic villainess isekai, which is too boring. Watch Villainess Level 99 instead.
Magilumiere - Looks poorly executed.
Acro Trip - Just watch Gushing Over Magical Girls instead.
Puniru is a Kawaii Slime - The humour is not hitting it for me.
Wotakoi is excellent. Really glad you enjoyed it. After watching that one, I tried out a couple of other adult romance series and nothing really hit the same. One that I did enjoy was Rikekoi (Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It). Though, I suspect that a part of why I enjoyed that one so much is because of how hard the show goes into its math tangents from time to time and its depiction of grad school. Also, just a warning that if I were to watch that show blind again, I would probably just stop after the first season.
Any interesting stories with LGBT themes this season?
In addition to All-Guy’s Mixer that was mentioned, the only thing I could think of that maybe qualifies would be Ranma since that features a lot of genderbending (I believe, I haven’t watched it).
This season is barren when it comes to yuri and boy’s love series with neither tag having a single series on AniList for this season. The only thing is that there is a compilation movie of the Winter 2024 Boy’s Love series Cherry Magic.
Edit: It really is barren this season for LGBT themed series. Just compare this Fall season to the other 2024 seasons. The number of series with the “LGBTQ+ Themes” tag on AniList:
| Season | No. of Shows with LGBTQ+ Tag |
|---|---|
| Winter | 10 |
| Spring | 12 |
| Summer | 9 |
| Fall | 1 |
The numbers comparison is a little skewed, I think because more tags get added as an anime goes on. Some of the shows that are included in those previous lists are a little dubious to me - from just the stuff I know, Delusional Monthly Magazine shouldn’t be there at all, and stuff like Tonari no Yokai-san, Windbreaker, and Mashle make the cut because they have a bi, trans, and non-binary supporting character respectively (Windbreaker’s having almost no screen time at all). I’d guess by the end of the season a few of the current shows will get that type of “there’s queer people in there somewhere” tag. We’re definitely short on anime about queerness, though.
Yeah, I just went back and took an actual look at some of the shows listed in those seasons (I was just counting before) and the tag is pretty liberally applied. Some of the series really surprised me including Dungeon People, Shikanoko, and 'Tis Time for Torture Princess. I can’t really remember any LGBT themes from any of those shows.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Maybe How I Attended an All-Guy’s Mixer?
The crossdressing girls had the guys confused / questioning their sexuality. They are ultimately straight though.
Getting into the Fall season and I have some initial thoughts on what I have been able to watch:
- Oshi no Ko - The season 2 finale just aired and season 3 was announced. I am so, so pleased with this past season. I couldn’t have asked for a better adaptation of the source.
- Dan Da Dan - A hell of a premiere. There were some uncomfortable moments, some good humor, some hints of romance, a mountain of WTF, and lots of gorgeous animation. No idea what to expect with this show going forward.
- Orb: On the Movements of the Earth - I really enjoyed the first two episodes of this show (a couple torture scenes notwithstanding). As somebody that has taught astronomy in the past, it’s been fun. I have been using the show discussion threads to drop some science info if anybody is interested.
- Loner Life Isekai - I very well might drop this. I enjoy the manga, but it is overall a pretty typical story that doesn’t really do much to set itself apart. With limited time for me this season, this is probably going by the wayside.
- Negative Positive Angler - A slice of life series about fishing…and terminal illness…and crippling debt. You know, comfy. I liked the premiere, so I am going to try to keep up with it to see where it goes.
- 365 Days to the Wedding - Really cute first episode. I am really hopeful that the romance delivers going forward now that the premise is established.
- Villainess Who Goes Down in History - I enjoyed the first episode and hope that with a time skip coming, the age gaps present between potential love interests become less creepy. Just because courtly love in the past involved very young nobles, doesn’t mean we need to carry that forward through our fiction.
- Appraisal Isekai Season 2 - The first episode feels pretty much exactly like last season. I might try to keep up with this one as the adaptation has been decent.
About Appraisal Isekai Season 2, been following the manga, and we’re about to enter the actual succession war, so here’s where both most characters will shine, and where it will go most Suikoden with the recruiting people thing, high hopes here
I just watched episode 2 and the new OP teases characters that I didn’t think they would get to in this season. So, I am hopeful that the pace picks up as hostilities get underway. One thing I think the show suffers from is that the pace can feel quite slow, but I am not sure if an anime-only would feel that way or if it is just me since I have previously read the manga.
Finished Mawaru Penguindrum - this one was a wild ride! I enjoyed most of it, but the way it jumps between genres and the plot and character development in the second half of the show are quite extreme and sometimes questionable. Some things were hard to follow for me, but core ideas are very inspiring and leave room for thinking even outside of anime context.
