Winter Animu 2023: bringan it back

[bassgs435]

Megaton Musashi X done
Goddamn hidden gem. I love this show and think both seasons are great from start to end. Pretty great super robot show. There are some questions and plotlines open for the game (Musashi W) to explore, but still pretty good. Interested in the game

[bassgs435]

MagiRevo done
Pretty fucking amazing yuri fantasy isekai. Great characters, good and compelling drama and even some great fights. The romance was pretty well done. One of my favourites of the season

[bassgs435]

Ooyukiumi no Kaina done
This show was average. Nice and interesting setting, but characters and plot were nothing special. Still liked it enough that I'll watch the sequel movie to finish the story

[Spartacus]

They kiss and gay
Therefore 10/10

[Toranth]

MagiRevo done
Pretty fucking amazing yuri fantasy isekai. Great characters, good and compelling drama and even some great fights. The romance was pretty well done. One of my favourites of the season

I enjoyed it up through the second half of the last episode. The very end there was a major letdown. All that build up... for that?

Ending spoilers

"Choose A, and everyone will be miserable. Choose B, and everyone will be miserable in a slightly different way."
"I'm sure everything will turn out fine!"
NARRATOR: "Everything turned out fine. The end."

I'd call it a deus ex machina, but there wasn't even a deus to watch.

[Magical Biche]

Ooyukiumi no Kaina done
This show was average. Nice and interesting setting, but characters and plot were nothing special. Still liked it enough that I'll watch the sequel movie to finish the story

Yeah same. Not much to say about it in the end. The CGI was decent at times. Main cast was fine. I will watch if there is a sequel though, I really dig the universe, I want to see more of it.

The bad guy was very, very bad though. He sounded so goddamn tryhard, he was annoying everytime he was speaking. Comically evil and old.

[bassgs435]

I enjoyed it up through the second half of the last episode. The very end there was a major letdown. All that build up... for that?

Ending spoilers

"Choose A, and everyone will be miserable. Choose B, and everyone will be miserable in a slightly different way."
"I'm sure everything will turn out fine!"
NARRATOR: "Everything turned out fine. The end."

I'd call it a deus ex machina, but there wasn't even a deus to watch.

I feel it makes sense. With a clear head, Anis can see a way foward to either stop Euphie immortality or become immortal herself some way in the future. And in terms of politics, the problem was Anis is a heretic who can't use magic. So even as queen, she'd be very limited in her authority and what she can do. Euphie never had that problem and as an spirit contractor, she's basically like an angel in a kingdom run by chrisitans. She has a LOT of pull and the conservatives can't oppose her as easily given she's the very thing they worship and the base of their authority and the kingdom's existence. The forced heir matter: A heir was needed if Anis became queen because if she didn't have one, the throne'd be empty after her death. Euphie as an immortal doesn't have that worry and thus there's no reason to force her to bear heirs.
It's not a deus ex machina at all

[bassgs435]

Revenger done
Pretty good samurai story about revenge. Characters were great, plot was interesting and it ended well. Very good

[Toranth]

I feel it makes sense. With a clear head, Anis can see a way foward to either stop Euphie immortality or become immortal herself some way in the future. And in terms of politics, the problem was Anis is a heretic who can't use magic. So even as queen, she'd be very limited in her authority and what she can do. Euphie never had that problem and as an spirit contractor, she's basically like an angel in a kingdom run by chrisitans. She has a LOT of pull and the conservatives can't oppose her as easily given she's the very thing they worship and the base of their authority and the kingdom's existence. The forced heir matter: A heir was needed if Anis became queen because if she didn't have one, the throne'd be empty after her death. Euphie as an immortal doesn't have that worry and thus there's no reason to force her to bear heirs.
It's not a deus ex machina at all

I don't think the choices were as clear cut as you present, which is why we had two episodes of the characters agonizing over them.

MagiRevo spoilers

Anis would have to give up her magitech work, marry someone she didn't like, and deal with being a queen that represented the commoner-nobility split.
Euphie would lose her freedom, her emotions, her memory, even her humanity (in addition to marrying someone she didn't like).

But then there a narration that says "But it all worked out, and everyone was happy. Done." It just rejects all the build up, and trivializes all the drama. I mean, sure, the results do make some sense: overthrowing the government so no need for an heir solves the marry-someone thing, and if you just ignore the immortality/loss-of-humanity it sounds fine.
But there was no lead up to that! It just came out of nowhere. It'd be no different than if the drama was resolved by the founder saying "I'll be queen again". After two full episodes of drama, I expected something more than "And then everyone lived happily ever after" for a resolution.

Still, a 95% enjoyable show is better than most of the season.

[Magical Biche]

Revenger done
Pretty good samurai story about revenge. Characters were great, plot was interesting and it ended well. Very good

I really liked the ending! It was kind of slow and unimpressive, but it really changed from all those shows that go all in in the last episode. I did find the show to be overall a bit too edgy at times, but generally, there was a very good balance of edge, emotion and epicness. My only real negative point about the show is that it never did anything very unique or daring, it just went and gone, and I doubt it'll leave a mark. It was solid, but that's about it.

[bassgs435]

Onimai done
Great show. Fanserivce was hot, cast was great, and I loved to see Mahiro making friends and reconnecting with Mihari. Very well animated too. Bravo, Bind

[bassgs435]

HeroAca 6 done
Pretty good season. The finale had some great emotional moments, and the story's become great. Hyped for seasons 7

AnkokuHeishi (Chillin' in my 30s) done
Pretty good showl I like how it focuses on the value of family and finding a place to belong (and also the negative effects of negelcting a child and leaving him to grow up only with legends of his father's accomplishments). Pretty good show. Aso one of those rare shows where the MC marries and has a son halfway through

Trigun Stampede done
Pretty good show. They tried to do their own story with manga stuff (like the Getter OVAs) and honestly, it's pretty good. The ending explains a lot of what they're trying here. And this clearly isn't over. So I look foward to the next part

Blue Lock done
Pretty good hype show. The matches are pure hype and the characters are great and fun to watch. Will watch the 2nd seaon and the movie

[Rafflesiac]

Hero Academia: An actual banger of a season. I'm amazed how what gripes I had with the manga material evaporated. Everyone killed it.
Spy Classroom: I'm glad that Grete got some love, even if it wasn't romantic. And that Mr. Bernard lived just like the One Piece reference he pulled off.

[bassgs435]

Digimon Ghost Game done
The finale was extremely rushed, but I liked most episodes and in general had fun with the show. I definitely like the 3 mains and it was fun to follow their episodic adventures. So, in the end, I like it. Still I'd have liked a more extended finale so we could see Actrurusmon and Proximamon

Roukin done
Pretty fun isekai. Mitsuha was a fun MC to watch. Love how she made use of her teleportation power and her ideas to make money. Pretty good

[TomPen94]

Nier Ep 7: Good stuff with Pascal. Unfortunately we're back at the minimal fight scenes. After Simone I got my hopes up for a cool fight scene against A2, but all we got was like two clashes then A2's sword broke. Shame.
Nier Ep 8: I liked the focus on the sidequests from the Operators, Jackass made me laugh with her fishig technique, and the additional scene of 9S being found by Adam was suitably creepy.

Another hiatus tho... production must've been hell. But I'll take that over subpar undercoked episodes. I'll probably binge the whole anime once it's entirely out.

[AmADo VII]

Trigun Stampede ended.

well no, it's just begins.

[bassgs435]

Tsunlise
Pretty good romance show. I like that it's a complete adaptation. Ending is great and very sweet. Good show

[Magical Biche]

Tsunlise
Pretty good romance show. I like that it's a complete adaptation. Ending is great and very sweet. Good show

I hate that a show being a full story is having so much an effect on me. My standards are so low. I also thought Liselotte was pretty cool. A bit simplistic, but very cute.

[bassgs435]

High Card
Pretty fun show. That said, glad this has an S2. Lots of stuff unsolved, like Finn's past with the knight.

Kyuuketsuki Sugu Shinu 2
Hilarious show. I love S1 and this was also great. I love every single weirdo in this show. Man, I hope we get an S3

Reborn to Master the Blade
Fun show, Inglis is a fun MC and it's fun to see her always excited for fights. The fights themselves are fun too.

Ars no Kyojuu
It was fun at the start, but I wanted answers and got almost none. Given the sponsors, I guess a game is planned or something. Incredibly frustrating. Still liked it, though

[Mattias]

So I finished a bunch of shows while I finished the Akiba Tower event in FGO, so thoughts:

Revengers: Yeah, there was no other way this was going to end was there? I'm always a fan of shows where the context of the ED is only understood as the series ends. Cyberpunk did it amazingly, but AMAIM's first season did a nice one too.

Cold Steel North War: God, I'm such a sucker. When that battle theme drops, I popped off so hard. I did like the MC realizing that the 'only two choices' the villain gave are bullshit and I like how she went out, but I don't know why. Her right hand guy just ups and mercs her out of nowhere, when he had ample chances already to do it.

Nagataro: It was okay, but Tomo airing in the same season made it feel way weaker.

Trigun: This was wierd. It feels like they both ran through the original story, and made a prequel at the same time. Goddamn was it gorgeous though.

Kaina: Holy Shit a Kamehameha. Honestly I thought the robot was draining Old Man since from the moment he steped inside it he sounds like he aged 20 years. Went from Part 3 Joseph Jostar to Part 4 in one episode.

MagiReco: Oh hey, actual lesbians not just teased! Way to go. MC also feels bad 17 years later for being isekai'd thinking she stole someone else's life.

Betrayed Party: While I wouldn't call the show good, I also can't call it bad. I got a real kick out of the characters, and the "every fantasy revenge show plot at once" premise.

Fire Hunter: Didn't feel like an ending at all. In fact I had to go check MAL to see if it was actually over. Apparently they're at the halfway point of the book, but given how rough the productions been I'm not sure it won't be shelved.

In/Spectre: A pretty solid season, even if I disliked the Flashback Murder arc.

Handyman Saitou: A pretty solid gag show until the end.

My Hero: Better than last season, though the Hospital section really started to drag at the end. The Lady Nagant fight was great. Two people with clearly defined powers trying to outplay each other.

Only a few more shows to wrap up now. And the ones that got Covid delayed. Thank god there's nothing really interesting airing until the 6th.