All I’m hearing is “good animation” and “action”.

That’s all it really is tbh, and good music. The animation is insanely good and would’ve kept me hooked if it wasn’t for incredibly obnoxious side characters (Zenitsu mainly)

I definitely second watching Hibike Euphonium. It means so much to me. The way the characters act and interact is what makes the show. Don’t forget Liz and the Blue Bird!

Despite Frieren being in your “havent watched cuz unappealing/overrated” list, I’d still recommend it. It’s very unlike the others in that list.

The big hero story is done, the big evil is no longer an existential threat. This anime takes place after your typical hero-demon king story from the perspective of a very long lived elf. The journey you go on with Frieren as she undertakes a nearly the same journey from 80 something years ago, while discovering what that meant/means to her and the world, is quite special. Seeing how an elf perceives things compared to short lived races like humans is a perspective I’ve never quite seen like this. It’s quite introspective, while mostly staying really relaxing. The world it builds is the most expansive fantasy world I’ve seen in anime in a long time.

Aside from that, the music by Evan Call (same composer as Violet Evergarden) and the animation are just incredible.

Some other recommendations:

• Wotakoi: such a joyful slice of life romcom with otaku office workers.
• Cyberpunk Edgerunners
• Black Lagoon for some good old action that seems to become something more towards the end
• K-On: Bocchi The Rock is compared a lot to this, but I think that despite the surface-level similarities, they couldn’t be more different.
• Fate franchise: recommended order is Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works (ufotable) -> Fate/Stay Night (studio Deen, considered optional by many due to being old and subpar. Could also be watched before UBW) -> Fate/Stay Night Heavens Feel with Fate/Zero either before or after the trilogy, depending on who you ask. It changes the experience (either is fine, I started with Zero). After that you can go wild with the spin offs. They’re not directly related.

Thanks, then I’m not gonna go further.

Just watched the 1st ep. Is this anime just going to be this? Like, is there anything driving the plot towards a less fucked up world or something? Or is it going to stay as despair porn? I’m not particularly excited about the prospect of people getting killed in despair every episode without a payoff

Idk, it doesn’t sound like teasing to me. A constant feed of judgemental remarks will make you dislike, if not hate, someone. They didn’t really seem like quips, especially if you follow it up with “what? don’t you have anything to say?” when you notice the other person isn’t laughing and actually looks quite angry. That’s bully behaviour. If my brothers did that, I’d hate them too.

Makio’s sister may have loved Makio and didn’t look down on her (though I don’t really get the latter from this), but if that’s how she’s showing it, then it doesn’t matter.