Fall season and the year of 2024 is drawing to a close. Most shows have either wrapped up this past week or are wrapping up this week. So, let’s talk about it! Did anything surprise you? disappoint you? exceed your expectations? Of course, more general topics are still welcome just like any week.
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).
This was a very weak season for me. Of the 13 shows I started off with:
- one of them was a leftover from previous season (2.5D Seduction).
- I dropped 6 of them
- put on hold 1 of them (re:zero)
- the ones I didn’t drop are fine with only a few exceptions. I can only really call 2 of them very good (Dandadan and NegaPosi Angler).
I’m still planning to watch Orb and Magilumiere.
The ones I ended up watching in full were:
- 2.5D seduction: good fun, pretty wholesome despite the ecchi.
- Dandadan: probably best of season. Unfortunate ending.
- NegaPosi Angler: 2nd best of season and the surprise for me. Expected to dislike it because I don’t care for fishing, but ended up being pulled in by the characters and their dynamics.
- Demon Lord 2099: also a bit of a surprise. Not without its flaws, but fun. Interesting combination of 2 different settings (fantasy and cyberpunk). After Dandadan, probably my favourite OP and ED.
- 365 Days Till Wedding: took a nosedive after the first half and kinda stayed there. Adult romance anime are usually fresh compared to school romance because the characters are more mature and assertive. Not here though. Too passive and too dependent on misunderstandings.
- Do-Over Damsel: there’s something really intriguing here, but it’s brought down so hard by its problematic main duo.
Orb, Dan Da Dan, and NegaPosi Angler were the three shows for me from this season. I watched some others, but I haven’t really looked forward to those episodes as much as these three. If I had to put a fourth in there, it would probably be Villainess That Goes Down in History. However, that one had some problematic stuff and episodes tended to hit or miss. Part of what helped that show for me is that it was basically the only show coming out on Tuesday, as opposed to like the 5 shows that came out on Thursday.
Since I’m not watching anything this season and instead browsing through the past:
First up last week was Ore wo Suki nano wa Omae dake ka yo (2019), which was… not good. At all. It was sort of promising at first - the initial setup was intriguing if a bit derivative - but it fell flat almost immediately and never recovered. The biggest problem - I don’t know if it traces back to the LN or was just part of the adaptation - is that the writer(s) appear to have understood the idea that it’s good to have characters who grow and change, but didn’t get the bit about the changes having context and following a recognizable progression. So what we get are characters who are seemingly arbitrarily assigned traits, then at some later point, they’re essentially arbitrarily assigned different traits.
Next was Nisemonogatari (2012), which was… kind of dull really. It’s all the same gimmicks as Bakemonogatari, but at this point, they’re wearing a bit thin for me. And try as I might, I just detest Senjougahara.
Then came a surprising gem - season 2 of KonoSuba (2017). I liked season 1 well enough, but it just didn’t quite come together entirely for me. And season 2 didn’t look promising, since the first thing I noticed was that it has just about the worst art I’ve ever seen. It looks like it was done cheap and fast by amateurs. But then I discovered (the surprising bit) that pretty much every other aspect of the season was stellar - great stories, great characterization (most notably, they took the edge off of Kazuma’s assholery - in the first season there were too many times when it was unwarranted and too extreme, but in the second season, it was better timed and proportioned), and more genuine laugh out loud moments. And both the opening and closing themes are terrific.
And finally, after bouncing off of a few things, I ended up rewatching Akudama Drive (2020). The first time through I was initially intrigued but not particularly impressed, then slowly came to enjoy it more and more and was very impressed by the end. I wanted to see if it held up to a rewatch though, since I wasn’t sure if it was genuinely that good or if I was just swayed by the contrast between my initial reaction and expectations and what it turned out to be. And I’d say it really is genuinely that good. It’s not flawless by any means - it has some plot holes and some notably forced bits, but all in all, it just really is very good. And Swindler - the main character - is plain awesome.
Oh man, now you get to watch the Konosuba movie, my favorite piece of Konosuba media. I also agree that season 2 is really where the show hit its stride.
As for bakemonogatari (and subsequent -gataris), I have bounced off that series a couple of times now. I can’t really put my finger on it exactly, but I sympathize with you in that it hasn’t really grabbed me. It might just be one of those series that you either click with or you don’t.
It might just be one of those series that you either click with or you don’t.
It definitely is
season 2 of KonoSuba
Konosuba is one of those rare anime where the sequels are better than the 1st season.
I watched Joshiraku and Ichigo Mashimaro. Joshiraku is decent. Not as sharp and artistic as its brother anime Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. The ED is very popular but the op is the real banger in my opinion. Ichigo Mashimaro is amazing. They don’t make slice of life like that anymore. Wonderful art style. Effective humor, quite dry. The show feels very effortless. Only negative point is that Nobue is kinda sus.
Ichigo Mashimaro
I wasn’t familiar with this one, but a quick look and it looks cute af. On the list it goes…
Fall 2024 is probably one of the weakest seasons in recent times.
Here are my scores for series that I have completed:
- Dan Da Dan - 10 / 10
- Murai in Love - 10 / 10
- Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance - 9 / 10
With the exception of Re:Zero Season 3, I have dropped every other anime that I picked up this season.
Yeah, Fall has been pretty weak, especially if you just look at new shows rather than season 2+ shows. Orb, Dan Da Dan, and NegaPosi Angler are probably my favorites of the season.
This past week has been super busy for me. I have been hard at work to wrap up some year-end projects, working on the year-end awards for anime, manga, and light novels, and then I got sick to top it all off. So, I am sad to report that I haven’t gotten to watch any anime from this past week; literally zero. The backlog grows ever larger…
I made a separate thread completely devoted to the year-end awards voting. Go check it out! I have always kind of had a soft rule to not have more than two threads pinned to the community at a time because I feel like it pushes the fresh content too far down the page. However, if there is any time I can break that rule, it is when there is an election going on.
Finally, to talk a little bit about actual anime, there was one piece of anime news that I really enjoyed this week, but I didn’t end up making a whole post about it: Chained Soldier cast Kana Hanazawa to play Ren Yamashiro. I have been reading the manga a bit past where the first season of the show ended, and Ren’s character will be an interesting one to see portrayed on the screen. Getting Kana Hanazawa to play Ren is just perfect. She’s already warmed up for the role after her portrayal of Alexia Midgar in The Eminence in Shadow.
I just realised there wasn’t a single discussion thread for “Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online” - Season 2. Not anything exceptional but it’s a lot of fun if you like guns.
spoiler
also the twist in the last episode really has me excited for S3, maybe it might actually get some depths.
Haven’t watched a lot of shows this season, but by far my favourite (excluding carry-overs) was “Orb: On the Movements of the Earth”. So glad it will continue seamlessly into the next season.
What I didn’t quite get this season was the hype around “Dan Da Dan”. I thought it was decent, but I kind of had to push through it. Certainly wasn’t anticipating the new episodes like with Orb. Not sure I’ll continue S2.
And last “It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?” - Season 5 is still on my will-definitly-watch list. Probably gonna wait for the season to finish and then binge it.
Orb is fantastic. I am a couple episodes behind right now. I mentioned this last week, but because of how busy/tired/sick I have been recently, I have held off on watching it. The show is too good for me to half-ass watching it. That show is deserving of my full attention.
I think Dan Da Dan has benefited tremendously from an otherwise pretty weak season of new shows. Sure, Re:Zero, Bleach, and Danmachi might have been great (I have heard, I don’t watch either), but those shows have the previous seasons as a barrier of entry that Dan Da Dan doesn’t.
wasn’t a single discussion thread for “Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online” - Season 2
There was for the first few eps, but I guess it didn’t get enough interaction and got dropped by the bot as a result. I certainly dropped it. It was quite boring. There was little reason to care about anything that happened. I dropped it at the surprise mechanic.
Weekly ranking roundup:
- Anime Corner - Full Results - Weekly Winner: Blue Lock
- Reddit Karma - Weekly Winner: Dan Da Dan
Credit to /u/Abysswatcherbel for making the chart for reddit karma and /u/Nooble5 for the Anime Trending chart.
Last week I remarked on Blue Lock ascending to the #2 spot on AC’s chart. This week, they completed the run up the table and actually managed to unseat Bleach to take #1.
