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So it’s the end of another anime season (cour), and there a bunch of stuff I haven’t even started yet. But, plenty has been watched too. Here’s the general rundown, most recommended first, though everything here is actually very good:

Vinland Saga — We’re just finishing up the second season of this. It’s been a very interesting ride, with a lot of themes of Christian pacifism in a violent world working out. Presumably, the third arc will again be a very different story than the first two, which points up just how much the creator has to say through the life of one individual.

Frieren — And a bit late, we’ve finally finished this one up too. I have had the feeling for much of the series that a lot of the point is Frieren’s slow realization of just how important a ‘brief’ ten years has been to her, and dealing with coming to that point a bit late. At any rate much of the later part has gotten into the technical parts of magic as we deal with the first class mage certification (really, must humans change the criteria so often…?). It’s a great cast of characters, where all the major characters are very understated  instead of being psychotically over the top, which is really nice to see.

Delicious in Dungeon — The second act kind of suffers ‘middle of story’ syndrome, but carries through it very well, with some amazingly entertaining episodes. And of course, we end with a new solid goal in place. An extremely challenging meal.

Made in Abyss — Don’t binge this. There is a lot of body horror in this series, and it’s especially prevalent in the second part. That said, there is a lot going on, and it’s really good story, sadly undercut by bits in another language subtitled in Japanese, but not in English. Thankfully nothing big, but the series is already hard enough to understand.

Apothecary Diaries — Just finished up catching up on this too. The second part leans into the format of a series of mysteries, but of course they all tie together at the end for a satisfying story arc.

Jobless Reincarnation — This is one of the ones me and Smudge wanted to get to immediately, but we only started it partway through, though we’re nearly caught up now. The giant arc started by the mass teleport is now about resolved, and we have continued to see some good growth in Rudeus. Now there’s a whole other major plot still dangling over him….

Konosuba — Smudge and I watched the Explosion on This Wonderful World side/prequel and the movie. I wasn’t sure just how well a story just staring Megumin could do, but it actually worked. Certainly, she’s probably the only one who could support a prequel. At any rate, the movie (Legend of Crimson) also is helped by seeing the prequel first, and we just got around to seeing it. Both recommended for isekai hilarity.

To Your Eternity — And the group finished this off too. I think large sections of it dragged on longer than strictly needed, but the overall story is good.

The Fire Hunter — Sadly, the first season of this was a bit limited on the budget side, and it feels like this one got an even smaller budget. The production experiments with some interesting ideas to carry the smaller budget, and I think they did a better job this time, but the lack of budget elsewhere really told against it. Still, a great Japanese Shakespearean tragedy.