Madoka.

As I just noted in another response, I immediately heard the OP as an overly earnest and depression-prone robot a century out from human contact letting go, to the best of her very limited ability. I thought it was brilliant.

ETA: The more I think sbout it, there are two notable things about that OP - the song was both down tempo and off-key, and a number of her dance moves actually required a partner.

How awesome would it be if, by the end of the season, the song was sweet and light and she had a partner?

I loved the OP.

What I heard, clear as a bell, was an overly earnest and depression-prone robot who’'s one of the few remaining who hasn’t ended up on the scrap heap, and is gamely and determinedly keeping a luxury hotel not only running but luxurious a century after humanity left the planet letting go, just a little bit, with a song that’s more upbeat than she is. For now.

Okay - first off, the OP is wonderful.

The episode itself was sort of odd, but in a promising way - it touched on a number of apparent mysteries, but didn’t reveal much of anything. It’s a slow pace, but if the series remains mostly slice of life with mystery, that’ll be fine.

Still haven’t met the Tanuki family, though they’re heavily featured in both the OP and the ED.

The thing I really noted is that if you take Makeine apart and analyze it, it’s mostly standard school rom-com tropes - childhood friends and “homewreckers” and a club and a couple of oddball teachers and a beach episode and a series of festival episodes and an amusement park fake date and so on - but every one of them has just enough of a spin to it to make it new and interesting and specifically relevant. And the characters are the same way - they’re each almost stereotypes, but not quite, because they have individual quirks that lift them above the stereotypes.

It’s just very well done all the way through, and with especially impressive attention to the characters.

And yeah - I’m looking forward to the new season, and cheering for Nukumizu and Yanami. They just have such comfy chemistry.

I don’t normally watch currently airing anime - I’d rather binge completed series - but last season I ended up getting sucked into not just one or two, but three of them - Zenshu, Guild Receptionist and Honey Lemon Soda. Now that they’re over though, I planned on going back to not watching current series.

But then last week I happened on a mention of Apocalypse Hotel and read the synopsis… and couldn’t resist. And it was excellent from start to finish, so that’s at least one series I’m going to be following.

Beyond that, I finished up Shinsekai Yori aka From the New World. I’ve bounced off the LN a number of times, so decided ro give the anime a chance, and even it took a while to get going. But it turned out quite good all in all. It’s not an easy watch - not only is it relatively complex and slow-moving - it doesn’t pull any punches. But it was worth it.

But after that, I was drained both mentally and emotionally and wanted something comfy and pleasant, so after a bit of thought, I decided it was time to rewatch Makeine, and it was just as terrific as it was the first time around. It’s just solidly above average in pretty much everything, and Anna is still one of my all-time favorite characters.

Then I bounced around for a bit and ended up watching one that had sort of lurked at the edge of my awareness for years - Aquarion EVOL And that’s one of the most fascinatingly awful series I’ve ever seen.

I actually tried to drop it a few times, but it kept drawing me back in. It was bad, but in mesmerizing ways. It’s a constant barrage of hot blood and pointless drama and insipid pseudo-philosophy and clumsy innuendo and chuuni and giant hams, all forced into a combination of gratingly awkward teen love and sex allegory and super robot model kit advertising. Most of the characters aren’t even characters really - they’re plot devices with legs and hasty backstories, each just reciting whatever collection of tropes is going to move the plot along to the next phase on the way to the hot-blooded, pointlessly dramatic, insipidly pseudo-philosophical chuuni and giant ham conclusion. It was just so bad, but so gloriously and unapologetically over-the-top about it that it sort of worked anyway.

And now I’m casting about for the next thing, without even any clear preferences in mind - just wandering around clicking things and seeing if they hook me.

Mm… yeah. You’ll like it. I have no doubt of that.

I loved everything about that.

This was a great week for old anime.

I started off with the rest of Noragami Aragoto, which was very good. Noragami in general has been a pleasant surprise - it doesn’t seem to get a lot of attention, but it’s really quite good, in a sort of low-key, just-all-around-good sense. This season had two main arcs, and both of them were interesting and well-executed (which was especially satisfying for the first one, which dealt with a central drama that had been lurking in the background since the start, and about which we’d already gotten enough hints that there weren’t many surprises left).

Then I bounced around for a bit before ending up on Oda Nobuna no Yabou. I was in the mood for cute girls doing something, and like the protagonist, have spent far too much time playing Nobunaga’s Ambition, so Cute Girls Doing the Warring States it was. And while I expected it to be cute and stylish and sort of goofy, I didn’t expect it to be… well, sort of epic really. Granted that Sengoku is literally an epic tale, I still figured the cute girls thing would keep it light. And while there was a certain amount of expected charming silliness and fanservice, mostly it was surprisingly dramatic and engaging. And the addition of a character who already knew the entire history and was determined to stop this Oda from making the same mistakes the other did led to some intriguing changes in the story. All in all, it was just very pleasant and enjoyable.

Then after bouncing around a bit more, I ended up diving into a series I’d been idly threatening to watch for a few years - Shinsekai Yori aka From the New World. I got a copy of the first volume of the LN years ago and have bounced off of it half a dozen times or so, so I figured I’d give the anime a chance. And even the anime takes a bit to get going, but once it hit its stride, it just sucked me in. It’s very good, and with impressive art design and music, in addition to the expected good story. I’ve watched 21 episodes in just two days, and will certainly watch the last four episodes later today.

Looking forward to this. This was easily my favorite new anime last year, and Anna is one of my all-time favorite characters