Don’t know why, but I didn’t expect the Spring season to already have started, even though Winter shows have been finishing up.

Hana wa Saku, Shura no Gotoku
I didn’t really have high expectations of this, but the first episode did a good job with the animation supporting the poems, so I kept watching. Sadly, the entire series was setting up for a championship arch that didn’t actually appear. Instead, the climax/resolution of the last episodes introduced a bunch of new characters and some family drama that would have needed 5 episodes to properly explore, so it just fell flat. They introduced plenty of interesting characters for a cool qualifier event or something, I just wanted Hana to read more poems. That’s what hooked your viewers, it’s what sets you apart, so use it.

Medalist
Really solid, punchy animation. Well choreographed action. Wormies.

Blue Box
Love how it combines a sports story with a romance story without compromising on either. All likeable characters getting into believable drama and it never feels like the writing is stalling, every episode develops the characters and story in an interesting way. And outside of the romance, I love to see Taiki train hard, play good badminton and beat strong rivals.

Alright, I am in the process of catching up on things. Here are my thoughts on what I watched this season:

• Guild Receptionist - Strong opening but struggled as the season went. It really felt like one of those series that had a great concept, but the author couldn’t really figure out how to keep it interesting.
• Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf - I had a great time with this show this season. It was just such a nice, comfy vibe.
• 100 Girlfriends - I haven’t watched the finale yet, but this show remains as unhinged as ever. Some great fun this season.
• Bureaucrat to Villainess - Similar to Guild Receptionist, this show started stronger than it finished. The ending in particular was a “read the manga” ending that didn’t really feel satisfying at all.
• Apothecary Diaries - Glad this is continuing. The first half of the season feels like a lot of setting things up, so I hope we start to get more answers in the second half.
• Ameku M.D. - I ended up dropping this and I don’t think I am going to pick it back up. It just wasn’t really scratching either the mystery itch nor the medical drama itch.
• My Happy Marriage - I dropped this partway through the season due to time, but I intend on finishing it. I was really enjoying this season, but it seems like there might have been some production issues indicated by the season finale being delayed.

Okitsura: Educational brainrot. I live for this kind of humor

Zenshu: Sakuga merchant. Carried the show harder than Demon Slayer did.

Blue Box: Very well-written and beautiful love polygon story. Props to Chinatsu’s VA.

Random superlatives:

So Stupid it Hurt - Bogus Skill “Fruitmaster”
I wanted to like this one, and stuck with it way to long. Finally dropped it when the utter dumbness of the characters and story starting to cause me actual pain. 2/5

Most Improved from Launch - Magic Maker
The first few episodes were mid tier at best and I nearly dropped it, but that turned a few episodes in and it developed into a fairly decent show. 3/5

Top of the heap - Possibly the Greatest Alchemist of All Time
There were a bunch of adventure themed anime with isekei and harem themes this season, and I think this was the best of the bunch. Still fairly average, but the one I’d most like to see more of. 3/5 (Runner’s up: Middle aged Online Shopper and Left my a-rank party)

Better as a Light Novel - I May be a Guild Receptionist…
I don’t think this adapted well to anime. The novels are very episodic and a bit repetitive without a lot of substance, and the anime just highlighted those problems. 3/5

Best Returning - Solo Leveling
This is very, very close between Solo Leveling, Apothecary Diaries, and Re:Zero, but I give the edge to Solo Leveling. Each episode was satisfying and while it is a power fantasy, it does that very well. Re:Zero was a bit fragmented (partially due to scheduling/production) and did not end nearly as strong as the last season, and Apothecary Diaries, while still excellent, is mainly setting things up for later. All three 5/5

Most Surprising - Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf
Knowing nothing about this, I expected something more lewd and fanservice like. Way, wrong! This was wonderfully wholesome. Somehow it managed to balance both the light adventure aspects of the fantasy world with the reverse isekai cultural discovery aspects of the Japan side. Maybe the best new show of the season. 4/5

Most Disappointing - Zenshu
This looked like it could be something really special. The art, theming, concept, etc. were all solid. The plot, just wasn’t meaningful in any way, at least not before I dropped it. 3/5

Edit:

As requested in the post body, here’s my hot take:

there’s no need to be particularly on guard for recency bias.

On the other end of the time-based bias spectrum, we have rosy retrospection (a.k.a. nolstagia).

By discounting recency bias so strongly, we end up being biased towards older shows.

Just leave things be and the biases would cancel out.

So if a recent anime is good, there’s no need to hold back - just acknowledge that it is good.

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Edit 2:

Parking thoughts here for next week

Beastar season 2 episode 4 spoiler

Legosi bit a huge chunk out of his attacker. It should be very obvious who the attacker is because of his injury, or because he skipped school to hide his injury. Why don’t Legosi want to stay in school to find out?? Or at least tell a teacher!!

Wtf. I hate it when serious characters lose their brains.

Beastar season 2 episode 5-6?

The anteater is an insectivore, making him a carnivore, but they are treating him like a herbivore???

Also, looks like some non-insect-eating carnivores would eat bugs occasionally, and they are real casual about it. Last I heard, non-vertebrates are animals too. What’s this discrimination???

Beastar season 2 episode 7-8?

WhyTF did Legosi and pretty boy not tell a teacher or any other responsible adult after they found out who the culprit was??!!

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Past Seasons

Peak is back on the menu with Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song-

It is yet another anime that is good in multiple aspects - animation, story, etc.

It felt like a crossover of Violet Evergarden and Terminator 0,

Vivy spoiler

with more of Violet Evergarden at the start and more of Terminator 0 towards the end

It is not without its flaws though.

For example, in episode 2:

Vivy spoiler

If the terrorists are going to demolish the building, why bother going after that politician with guns first?! Just set off the bombs while he’s still inside!

Also, if the teddy bear is so good at controlling electronics, there was no need for them to actually set off the bombs to create an escape route at the end. All it has to do is to show a fake timer, then Vivy and gang can use the chance to flee!

I also don’t vibe with the songs despite this being a music-focused anime.

Honestly, these are minor flaws. Plus, the other aspects of the anime are so good that they made up for the flaws.

On a side note, this anime felt especially relevant with all the discussions around AI (even though they are simply narrow intelligence at the moment). For example, we had this recent post in our community. I sense that some people can fit in with Toak - and I don’t mean the moderate faction.

One last point before I wrap things up: I have watched enough anime that Tanezaki Atsumi voice-acted in that I can recognise her by voice.

In a nutshell, this anime is top tier. 10/10

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This Season

In the end, I only watch 4 anime to completion this season (Apothecary Diaries is still ongoing).

Apothecary Diaries season 2

I kinda ruined it for myself by reading ahead with the manga, which means that I’m watching a suspense show without the suspense. I should be more patient next time.

Otherwise, the production value is still up there, so it’s still top tier in my book.

Re:Zero season 3

This season of Re:Zero is just not it for me.

I realised that I enjoyed the previous seasons so much because of:

• very emotional moments

Re:Zero spoiler

e.g. with Subaru’s parents

• how Subaru turn the situation around against all odds

Re:Zero spoiler

He basically started with nothing - no allies, no powers - except his one time manipulation power, so he was really just a normal dude. It was so exciting seeing him use all his wits to achieve the optimal outcome despite how grim the initial situation was. I would have difficulty figuring the best way forward.

Now that he has powerful allies, the plot becomes so predictable. I already know that his allies are going to win the fights against their respective challengers.

With how predictable things get, it gets boring.

I don’t think I will be continuing with the next season of Re:Zero.

Zenshu

It had a very slow start, such that I almost got bored enough to drop it. Thankfully, one of the later episodes turned it around.

IMO the last part of the show was good, but not great. It’s entertaining, but I could have explored anime from past seasons instead.

Medalist

I have gushed over this anime before, but that’s because it’s just that good. It’s quality is on par with other top anime and it has so many touching moments.

I gave the top contender for my anime of the season a good run for its money, but in the end I still went with the other anime for AOTS.

To use Tsukasa’s analogy: Medalist is like a taiyaki with consistently high production value, always looking good but with fewer standout moments. The other one is like a strawberry shortcake with clear peaks.

For me, the memorability of a series at its best wins out. And unfortunately for Medalist, its last episode was essentially just setting up for a sequel.

Regardless, it’s still so good that it’s joining my 10s, making it the first sport anime to do so.

100 Girlfriends season 2

This right here is my anime of the season.

This adaptation doesn’t just follow the source material - it elevates it.

A couple of episodes look somewhat rough, likely because the anime staff is stretched real thin, but the standout moments / episodes more than make up for it. My favourite has got to be episode 6, which has everything - top tier comedy, emotional moment, character development and fantastic animation.

I can only hope that the studio announces a sequel.

Finally finished my Winter 2025 list

• Bang Dream! Ave Mujica: My biggest surprise this season. It was a bold move to incorporate psychological horror into a girl band anime, and they have done a great job. They do a great job with the composition, timing, and soundtrack to keep us on the edge each time the band clashes. You wouldn’t know where they will take you each episode. They were brave enough to write a broken band descent into madness and believe they could still garner fans for the real-life counterpart. There were some issues with the pacing, otherwise, it would easily have been a 9/10 for me. I won’t stop glazing it. 8/10
• The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You Season 2: They did a great job translating the joke to anime form, same with season 1. The overall animation is rather inconsistent, though, for some scenes they did an amazing job animating it (karaoke eps), others have awkward layouts and inconsistent form. They did a great job making sure the impactful moment still got a great animation. 7/10
• Blue Box: I don’t have much to say. Mostly only follow it because I read the manga. Same with 100 gf, it has the same issues with its animation. The last 3 episodes were amazing 7/10