Fall is here! A couple shows have already aired their first episodes and most of the rest are starting this week. I hope that everybody finds something fun to watch this season! In case you wanted to browse the airing shows, here is a list:
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).
Meta Update
It’s been a while since I last made a meta post, so I guess we are due. With the start of the Fall 2024 season, I was reminded that it was during the Fall 2023 season that I created this account and began posting to this community. So, it seems like an appropriate time to reflect and take stock of where things are.
Overall, I have been very pleased with the continued growth of the community. I remember starting out where it felt like it was just me and a couple others posting things that nobody else saw; yelling out into an empty void. So, it is always exciting to me when people are making posts and having conversations in the comments in which I was not involved at all. We have grown to be the most subscribed-to community on ani.social with far and away the most comments/discussion. Keep it up everybody!
An important part of this community, our resident bot @rikka@ani.social, has also been seen in a generally positive light (or at least I haven’t gotten complaints). The very beginning of a season is always a little weird with the bot because the api it uses is being edited a lot as things like broadcast schedules or streaming links get sorted out in the first 1-2 weeks. So, please bear with her as she gets herself sorted out this season as well.
Something else I wanted to mention was the success of having some shows run their own discussion threads in a separate community. The first of these was !dungeonmeshi@ani.social running their own discussion threads, followed by !nokotan@ani.social. Thank you to both @MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz and @sag@lemm.ee for your contributions! Also, for those unaware, episode discussion threads for the upcoming Dan Da Dan are going to be run in !dandadan@ani.social by @GordonFreeman@ani.social this coming season. I hope you all check them out!
Finally, a hearty thank you to all of you users for the content you have and will hopefully continue to contribute to this community. I consider this community as one of the more successful and sustainable examples of community building in the fediverse. Here’s hoping that I can write an update like this one come Fall 2025.
Completed / caught up to two shows that entered my top favorites:
Lycoris Recoil
Take the reflexes of Spiderman, the moral compass of Batman / Kira Yamato and the pistol-handling skills of John Wick, put them in a cute, happy-go-lucky girl in a setting similar to Minority Report, and you’d get Chisato.
She embodied so many of my favorite characters for the right reason, making me come to like her right away.
Beyond the MC, I found many more resemblances to my other favorites.
Majima is pretty much a one-man Celestial Being, though he played the antagonist here. I can see him joining force with Chisato in a sequel.
The politics, as well as the manipulation of children into fighting / murdering others by adults is just like most Gundam series.
In fact, it passed a number of my lax criteria for being a Gundam show, so I’m just going to consider it one. (As of current writing, it is top six on AniList’s anime recommendation after watching Gundam: Witch from Mercury
I hope it gets a sequel. The anime left multiple plotlines unresolved (intentionally, it seems): Majima survived, the authorities are still in charge and LilyBell was set-up to be the next antagonist.
Speaking of LilyBell, I’m glad they exist. Some shows would just handwave away the fact that the entire cast is girls (or in some cases, guys) when there is no good reason for it to be so.
Anyway, it is a 10 / 10 for me.
Oshi no Ko
I’ve been putting off watching this one, because I know that I would get emotionally invested and binge the whole show. I finally decided to bite the bullet and lost some sleep along the way; totally worth it.
As others pointed out, the first episode is essentially a movie and was so impactful - so much so that I caved in and gave it a 10 / 10 from the outset (which I rarely do).
The story, the drama, the plot twists and characters are all so well-written. Between this and Kaguya-sama, Akasaka Aka is a genius. And being meta, we have the anime studio and the rest of the team to thank for bringing this story to life.
I was no stranger to the opening and ending songs (Idol and Mephisto) of Oshi no Ko even before watching it, but watching it gave me the context to appreciate the lyrics. These two songs are now part of my playlists. I don’t find season 2’s songs as memorable though.
Thanks to my binge, I’m all caught-up, in time to catch the last episode of this season with everyone else. It also meant that Makeine got dethroned as my top anime of the season at the last minute.
My only regret is that I started watching it before the source material is complete, which means I’m unable to binge the manga to completion.
I’m still in the middle of Oshi no Ko S2 and gosh, they’re not holding back at all. If I stop right now, S2 is an easy 10/10 for me.
You chose two fantastic shows to catch up on. LycoReco really surprised me. I didn’t really have many expectations going in, but I ended up really, really liking it. I cannot wait to see what the LycoReco Cafe is cooking up next. I too want to see what is going on with the LIlyBell group.
As for Oshi no Ko, I couldn’t control myself and binged the manga after the first season. Now I have to wait in pain for each new chapter to come out. I feel like this season in particular has really taken the adaptation to a whole new level.
Good news! Well, maybe good news? It looks like we ultimately don’t know when or what form the new anime will be, but something is in the works.