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We have officially hit the halfway point through the Winter 2024 anime season with most shows having aired at least 6 episodes and several already with their seventh behind them. I want to hear what your impressions are about the season so far. Any shows surprise you? Disappoint you? Exceed your expectations? Like every week, this is also a general discussion thread, so feel free to post general questions/discussions as well.

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).

  • zabadohEnglish
    5·
    10 months ago

    MUST WATCH, waiting for the moment they drop:

    • Freiren - Outstanding writing and direction.
    • Solo Leveling - Great action direction with an interesting story.
    • Level 99 Villainess - I wasn’t expecting to like this as much as I do, but it’s fun.
    • Sokushi Cheat - Same here, this is much better than the sum of its parts should add up to.

    Good:

    • Bang Bravern - Striking a careful balance between parody, including satirical homoerotic overtones, and an actual serious story
    • Sasaki and Peeps - Another “careful balance” story, this time crossing between multiple genres, the story slowed down in the last couple of episodes, knocking this down from a must-watch start
    • Dungeon Meshi - A fascinating rollout of world building, this is approaching, but not quite must-watch status
    • Gushing over Magical Girls - This one actually came up from Just Okay with serious story development last episode, hopefully more to come
    • Mr. Villain’s Day Off - Mellow slice-of-life disguised as a villain POV. For what it is, the art is gorgeous.
    • Classroom Of The Elite - The animation is virtually a slideshow with moving lips, but the story is intriguing. What a shit learning environment though.

    Just Okay, still watching, could drop if they have a couple of bad episodes and some other show gets hyped:

    • Unwanted Undead Adventurer - It’s not bad, but other than the twist right at the start, the story’s a little too straightforward
    • Hokkaido Gals - I am just watching this for the little details of life in Hokkaido. Otherwise, protagonist is bland and somewhat predictable girls.
    • 7th Time Loop - Okay
    • Tis Time For Torture, Princess - The princess’ reactions to the food and amusement porn is amusing, but feels a bit repetitive, but it’s a gag manga, so that’s okay.
    • Ninja Kamui - Nice animation, but where’s the dramatic tension? Only the first episode is out at the time of writing, so there’s potential, but this director doesn’t give me great hope of improvement. I hope to be proven wrong.
    • Wrong Way To Use Healing Magic - It’s not bad, but the writing is too straightforward, too obvious.

    Dropped:

    • Metallic Rouge - Huge animation budget, but poor storyboarding and writing made it frustrating to watch. Dropped after 1 episode
    • Strongest Tank - I just found this boring. Dropped after 5 episodes.
    • Ishura - Bored with unlikable characters after 1 episode. Supposed to get better starting with episode 6, but that’s too late.
    • Pon No Michi - Didn’t like this after 1 episode. That’s very fast to drop, but I found the writing grating on me.
    • Bucchigiri - The violent colors and ultra macho delinquents didn’t land with me, despite good production values. The background artists really went wild, but the visual aesthetic is nauseating. Dropped after 2 or 3 episodes.
    • Snack Basue - Weird character designs and static animation added to a sense of humor that didn’t land with me. Dropped after 1 episode.

    Curious about:

    • Shangri-La Frontier - The number of torrent shares on this is phenomenal, and reviews on the fights are good, but I’m so far behind right now…
    • Weakest Tamer - Sounds sort of interesting, but I’ve got too much on my plate already.
    • Apothecary Diaries - Again, numbers and reviews indicate this is very popular, but I’m soooo far behind…