WTF is that abomination?! I would expect that in an episode of King of the Hill, but not something a Japanese high-schooler casually eats on a date.

Poor Otakun. I wouldn’t be able to choose either.

Honestly, everything that isn’t a (battle) shounen should be great. The most important thing is to firmly establish that anime is a “medium” and not a “genre”. And since almost every outsider thinks every anime is a battle shounen, it’s important to correct that misconception early on.

AnoHana would be my recommendation. It’s short for a series, it doesn’t take any Japanese cultural knowledge to enjoy it, and the themes are universal regardless of personal background, age or gender.

There was some fan service in the first episode, but not excessively so. But I have a high tolerance for fan service, so maybe stay away if this is something that bothers you.

Yes, I think the entire fight scene with the beast in the last episode of Frieren was also just a single frame in the manga.

Again, I love how much they added “between the pages”. All those little details elevate this adaptation so much from the source which was already a visual masterpiece. For example this entire scene with remembering herself growing up learning and the memory of her mother guiding her is added inbetween just these few frames:

And this one here made me laugh:

We also see why I am of the opinion that Agott is deeply and inherently evil and should not be allowed to exist as a witch.

Part of that might be because it kind of lends itself to visual gags, so that they translate better in manga form.

I can absolutely see that.

<The Amazing Village Creator: Slow Living with the Village Building Cheat Skill> Volume 2 - Just some inoffensive city building power fantasy. Though there is a argument to be had that it’s offensive in how inoffensive it is.

<GATE - Thus the JSDF Fought There!> Volume 1 - Experienced the series in the wrong order (anime -> manga -> lightnovel). That’s also how I would order the adaptations, with the anime as the best version and the LN at the end.

<Looks like a Job for a Maid! The Tales of a Dismissed Supermaid> Volume 1 + 2 - This follows a simple formula: Maid comes someplace, a problem develops and gets solved by Maid because that’s just what Maids do. She then collects a dedicated follower and they then move to the next place like a locust swarm that feeds on problems. Sadly this changes in the second volume and she stops collecting followers. I had hoped she would continue to do so like a Maid version of Pikmin.

<The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary> Vol. 4 - I picked up this series again. Not sure why.

Has anyone read The Worlds Strongest Witch?

Yeah, I have. Here’s what I wrote about it back at the time:

One of those “somehow our entire fantasy society is based on skill ranks using earth terminology but everyone thinks ‘S Rank’ is the worst because it’s so far down the alphabet, so I get left to die by my parents because that’s totally normal parenting behaviour, but it turns out S-Rank actually means it’s good!” type of stories. I’m groaning so much reading this, my neighbors started cheering for my stamina. There is a certain charm to it, though. It reminds me of the good old days before I stopped reading web novels for the lack of quality. This book here is riddled with so many logical and temporal errors that it should never have reached the point where it got picked up for publication and stayed in WN territory. It’s ridiculous, really. Like the editor just threw in the towel and said “yeah, whatever…just release it”.

Oh wow. What a week. Bookworm, Setsuna, Frontier Lord and Zilbagias.

I don’t think so. At least not for me. Honestly I find most school-based anime off putting since I cannot really empathize with the teenage angst and anxieties anymore. I know that it’s normal but it is so far removed from myself that it’s just annoying to see. That’s why I enjoyed this series and disliked Heibara’s Teenage NG+ as an example.

It’s hard to describe. Both are some form of wish fulfillment plot, but one is going back to have a chance to overcome their anxieties and the other is going back having overcome them already. I think it’s a different target audience - tweens vs middle aged.

As someone in the age group as MC I find the idea of going back to middle schooler with all the insight and confidence of an adult quite compelling.

The ED is a banger. I heard it before ,though so it’s not something made for the anime.

Link to the outages per chance?

Kiryu-chan as the devil is pure genius.

I was shitting on the first adaptation because they skipped so much important world and character building to just get to the plot points faster, but in this season they just ignore everything. Whoever is in charge has absolutely zero idea of what makes the series great. Probably didn’t even read it in the first place. I had so much hope for an adaptation by a studio that can animate more than a powerpoint slideshow, but now I would gladly go back to the shitty first studio.

I hope the replacement scenes will fix the moon. That’s the only thing that’s offending e in the OP.

Looking at how successful anime boost the sales of associated industries (camping gear sales after Yuru Camp for example) it’s no wonder there are so many anime produces that promote alcohol.

I have a weakness for kindhearted Gal-Girls, so this is the romance show for me this season.

and the fascination with the magic system (B to A+, depending on how well it explains advanced magic).

It’s widely considered one of the best magic systems in all media on par or above with Sanderson’s Mistborn series.

After first ep.: Exceptional adaptation. They did the same thing that Frieren did, where they added so much “between the panels” to elevate the source.

edit after ep 2.: episode 2 was closer to the source since there was more material there that needed less anime original padding. They still managed to give the characters so much personality. I especially love how they managed to translate the manga’s insanely beautiful art panels into animation.