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Okay, it's time to see how the current season is shaping up.

Beast Tamer (ep. 1-3) Another disappointing case of a supposedly underdog character having to fend for himself only to discover that he's actually over-powered. I stuck with this for a few episodes because there was the occassional flicker of the protagonist having to use his brain, but it mostly settles into typical power fantasy territory. It also doesn't help that it falls into the uncomfortable cute-girls-enjoy-being-slaves-(honest) sub-genre of harem anime, and the way the girls spend all their time gushing about how wonderful the mediocre protagonist is just became cloying. Dropped.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury (ep. 0-3) After a classic UC-style Gundam prologue in episode 0, this surprisingly turns into Revolutionary Gundam Utena from episode 1 onwards. The show wears this influence on its sleeve, with everything from the student council fighting duels to decide who winds up engaged to a certain character, all the way to having a character called Chuchu with hair that looks like Mickey Mouse ears. It works better than I hoped, tonally sitting somewhere between the school aristocracy vibe of Gundam Wing and the duel-of-the-week structure of G Gundam. Also the music is fantastic. Watchlist.

Raven of the Inner Palace (ep. 1-2) This came out of nowhere, and has quickly become a contender for one of the season's best shows. It's a stylish period drama/mystery series with some supernatural elements, set in Imperial China. I was a little surprised that it's not in Mandarin, but this appears to be based on a Japanese source manga. Watchlist.

Urusei Yatsura (ep. 1) Aside from the updated visuals, this feels authentic to the original so far. This means that your enjoyment will depend on how you feel about mid-showa-era comedy. It's heavy on slapstick, as UY always was, but it's handled well. As a lifelong fan of the series, I'm glad it seems to be in good hands. It's great to have the OG waifu back. Watchlist.

I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss (ep. 1-2) I quite enjoyed My Next Life as a Villainess, so I thought I'd give this a try, but I'm just so tired of protagonists getting reincarnated into their favourite dating sim that it's facing an uphill struggle to keep me awake. It's okay, but fails to stand out in what's turning out to be a strong season. If it had come along during the weak summer schedule, I'd probably be more inclined to keep watching. On probation.

Do It Yourself (ep. 1-2) Aside from overusing that tired gag about a character constantly called someone by a nickname they don't like, this is decent. Not sure if it will hold my interest for 12 episodes though. On probation.

Chainsaw Man (ep. 1) The monster designs are interesting, but aside from that I'm scratching my head as to where the massive amount of hype is coming from. This just looks like another Bleach clone like Fire Force. I presume it's going to follow that typical pattern of having several episodes of monster-hunting followed by several hundred about in-fighting between various monster-hunting factions. On probation.

More Than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers (ep. 1-2) The annoying characters almost made me drop this in episode 1, but episode 2 was pretty funny. On probation.

Spy x Family (ep. 13-15) Still great. Watchlist.

Bocchi The Rock (ep. 1-2) Another pleasant surprise. This K-On-meets-crippling-social-anxiety comedy is a lot better than I expected. Then I saw the CloverWorks name pop up in the end credits and it all made sense. Watchlist.
 
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Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War episode 368 Free-falling.

Golden Kamuy 4th Season episode 39 Tattoo in the mist.

Management of a Novice Alchemist episode 3 Fiery foes.

31 Days of Halloween 2022! Day XVII: Prom Night (1980) (Film)

One Piece (Rewatch)
episodes 530-538
 
Spy x Family ep15

Pop Team Epic S2 ep3

Lupin III: Part 2 ep46

Another good one, seeing the captive Lupin, Jigen and Fujiko auctioned off to an evil billionaire, who attempts to use them as test subjects for training his cyborg army. As you do. Aside from some obvious nods to Westworld with Lupin fighting the cyborgs, this episode also seems to be slightly hinting at (the then forthcoming) Mystery of Mamo, with its psychedelic special effects and generally weird atmosphere. Normally, this is where I would say ‘this would make a good movie’, but then, I suppose it kind of did?
 
Sgt Frog episodes 10-17: and now I have been introduced to the characters I have already met thanks to watching in the wrong order. All still excellent fun and craziness. Wish I was more familiar with the Gundam universe as there are a LOT of in-jokes that I am missing.

One question. Why DO aliens find humans so sexy? Do we have a "reputation" in galactic circles?
 
Golden Kamuy s4 e3
Shot in the dark.

Chainsaw Man ep 2
Power!
Another pretty slow episode meeting the side characters.

Shinobi no Ittoki ep 3
Meeting new schoolmates.

Encouragement of Climb: New Summit ep 3
The Place Promised in Our Early Days!
 
Chainsaw Man episode 2 Experimental.

Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit episode 3 Slow and steady.

Shinobi no Ittoki episode 3 Ninja meal.

31 Days of Halloween 2022! Day XVIII: Screamers (1995) (Film)

One Piece (Rewatch)
episodes 539-541, 543-548
 
Akiba Maid War ep1: What a strange show. Full credit to it for going whole hog with its premise, which is a shameless excuse to have maids murdering one another in the most melodramatic way possible. There's a lot of attention to detail in the setting even though some of the background stuff strikes me as a little anachronistic. I don't think I'll continue but those who like maids, gratuitous blood and humour are in for a treat.

Bibliophile Princess ep1: I wanted to like this but the first episode was so slow that boredom set in early on. And yet even after slogging through it, I didn't feel as though I'd learned anything meaningful about the lead or her crush! It was just scene after scene of the lead being harmless and trying her hardest not to have a deep thought about anything while things mysteriously developed all around her. Even her love of books felt sort of muted as she didn't seem to know very much about anything. Maybe it gets better later on. If so, I wish they'd injected some of that potential into the first episode too.

BLUE LOCK ep1-2: Ah, now this I like! I was expecting another ordinary football show but this is completely different and quickly establishes its own identity by smashing two completely different genres together in a way that shouldn't even work. It's completely unrealistic and deeply entertaining. A keeper.

R
 
Lupin the Third: Part III - Episode 7 - 8

My Hero Academia (Season 6) - Episode 3

Spy x Family - Episode 15

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc - Memorial Edition - Episode 3

Chainsaw Man - Episode 2

Mob Psycho 100 (Season 3) - Episode 3
 
Do it Yourself!! episode 3 Reluctant genius.

Mob Psycho 100 III episode 3 Chad chin.

The Eminence in Shadow episode 3 Self-reflection.

31 Days of Halloween 2022! Day XIX: Poltergeist (1982) (Film)

One Piece (Rewatch)
episodes 549-556
 
Yuru Camp△ (English Dub) Episode 1-12 (Complete)

Chainsaw Man Episode 2

Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit Episode 3

Peter Grill and the Philosoper's Time: Super Extra (Uncensored) Episode 2

Shinobi no Ittoki Episode 3
 
I don't think I've actually finished another series since Godzilla: The Series Season 1 but I have recently rewatched a few anime films:

Vampire Hunter D (Streamline English dub) - Still a great creepy grimy lurky OVA that I'm glad I rewatched as it is the season after all, though this is a little rough visually in places overall it is a very cool looking movie and though I'm well aware it was directed by Toyoo Ashida rather than Yoshiaki Kawajiri, it does have a quite Kawajiri-esque feel, as combined with a touch of Fist of the North Star. I love the Streamline dub as well, it's super fun and campy :)

Whisper of the Heart (English dub) - A lovely movie as always, it is sad that Yoshifumi Kondo passed away before he could direct more anime films :( Could have done without the slight fat/appetite shaming of the female MC by her romantic interest element, but tbf I've seen waaay worse in other anime, and I do believe it is just teasing and not him actually trying to really mess with her mind. I love how much attention to detail there is in the animation and drawings as well, and it's a romantic, sentimental film about love and pursuing one's passions in life that I enjoyed revisiting yet again :)

The Sky Crawlers (English dub) - I have only seen this subbed before and only once or twice, and I did really like it at the time but I am extremely glad I revisited it, the English dub is excellent and the film has a fair few worthwhile things to say about modern anime and modern society while also telling a sincerely poignant story about somewhat broken people.
 
I don't think I've actually finished another series since Godzilla: The Series Season 1 but I have recently rewatched a few anime films:

Vampire Hunter D (Streamline English dub) - Still a great creepy grimy lurky OVA that I'm glad I rewatched as it is the season after all, though this is a little rough visually in places overall it is a very cool looking movie and though I'm well aware it was directed by Toyoo Ashida rather than Yoshiaki Kawajiri, it does have a quite Kawajiri-esque feel, as combined with a touch of Fist of the North Star. I love the Streamline dub as well, it's super fun and campy :)

Whisper of the Heart (English dub) - A lovely movie as always, it is sad that Yoshifumi Kondo passed away before he could direct more anime films :( Could have done without the slight fat/appetite shaming of the female MC by her romantic interest element, but tbf I've seen waaay worse in other anime, and I do believe it is just teasing and not him actually trying to really mess with her mind. I love how much attention to detail there is in the animation and drawings as well, and it's a romantic, sentimental film about love and pursuing one's passions in life that I enjoyed revisiting yet again :)

The Sky Crawlers (English dub) - I have only seen this subbed before and only once or twice, and I did really like it at the time but I am extremely glad I revisited it, the English dub is excellent and the film has a fair few worthwhile things to say about modern anime and modern society while also telling a sincerely poignant story about somewhat broken people.
It's been years since I've seen The Sky Crawlers but remember enjoying it myself quite a bit despite it having a pretty mixed reception back then, I need to give it a re-visit myself.
 
Do It Yourself!! Episode 3 Hesitant genius.

Immoral Guild (Uncensored) Episode 3 Entangled.

Love Flops Episode 2 Moving in.

The Eminence in Shadow Episode 3 Self-reflect.

Reincarnated as a Sword Episode 4 Dungeon debut.
 
Urusei Yatsura (ep. 2)
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Jugemu. Thanks, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu.

In other news, I like that they're sticking to two stories per episode for now. Opinions I've seen over the years lean toward UY getting better as it goes along, but I prefer the faster pace the show had before it switched to stretching one story out to episode length. I'll be interested to see how the new series handles stories that were full episodes in the original, ie. if they do the same or trim them down to half an episode.
 
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