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This post is running well behind again with the new season solidly started. Of course, much of my viewing doesn’t notice anime air times, and I get to them when I can. As ever, the listing is from general best to worst, though it’s been a good three months with a very crowded top-end of the list.

Arcane — We’re currently 2/3rds of the way through the second season, and it is living up, and more, to the first season. Frankly, I don’t know that I can take another two or three episodes of this. My understanding is this will be it for the series, and I can believe it, we do seem to have a lot of personal character arcs headed for a conclusion.

Pluto — We finished this off shortly after the last post, and there were still some really big twists and developments to come. This is another top entry for ‘remakes done right’. This is action-drama with all the emphasis on the drama. There’s a lot going on, but the series takes its time with it all, and develops it all out.

Carol & Tuesday — We’ve been meaning to get this into the Thursday rotation for a while, and are now most of the way through. Like Cowboy Bebop (same creator), it pays a lot of attention to the music; I only know maybe a third of the references in episode titles. The first half kind of comes under ‘why Mars?’, with there being no real reason plot-wise other than general setting, and cutting loose from Earth institutions. The second half though makes it very important, and is surprisingly prescient and relevant on several current subjects.

Delicious in Dungeon — Smudge and I started showing the guys this a bit ago, and we’re a good part of the way through the second half. Dave has been unsure, but has warmed up to it over

Scott Pilgrim — The four of us are just about done with this. And it is a very wild ride. Not the same as the graphic novels or movie, and being very purposeful about it, and meta, and actually celebrating the movie at the same time. If you’ve seen the others, see this. If you haven’t, still see this, it is very good, and while… kind of a sequel, doesn’t require knowing anything about the originals at all.

Shangri-La Frontier — This is continuing to be good, and Smudge and I are basically caught up. I was a little annoyed by the diversion Nephilim Hollow, but it actually did not outstay its welcome (what I was afraid of), and made for a nice side arc. Meanwhile, we’ve had a real fight against Lycagon which was well done, and the latest episode developed Katzo, which I also appreciated.

Ranma 1/2 — Not a top entry for remakes done right, but at least a solid effort. Now, I know the start of Ranma pretty well, and there were a lot of disappointments. The main trouble is that in a lot of places Mappa seemed to be doing a shot-for-shot recreation of the manga, instead of translating it to TV. Frankly, the original anime series did a very good job of that in places (“Eternal Lost Boy” managed to be much funnier than the manga), and Mappa did not pick up on them and follow the lead of any ‘that was better’ moments (so much so, that I wonder if there’s a rights issue behind the problems). The English translation then loses a lot of good lines by ignoring the original Gerard Jones translation (“See, they’re like a couple already.” “He’s a couple by himself!”). The dub is fairly good, but has problems like Kuno sounding about a decade older than his actual 17. (Smudge is right though; while I’m not a great fan of male Ranma’s voice, his voice acting is spot on.) In some ways, the best thing about the new series is that it’s in HD, and the original shall be forever stuck in SD. But, while it doesn’t do as much with the story as it could of, it’s still a solid story at this part, and I hope there’s another season (especially as the production seemed like it was loosening up as it went).

Fairy Tail 100 Year Quest — So, the gang’s back together for one more really big job. In a way, there is a bit of sequelitis going on. So, the same characters doing largely the same things. On the other hand, it’s a good cast, it’s always been somewhat episodic (story-arcdic?) in format, and there were some decided dangling overall character threads left hanging. The central plot does not deal with them, but they are actually progressing along with the story, so it’s actually working out quite well. Smudge and I are early in the moon dragon arc, and we just got to se Aquarius summon herself. Because of course she did.

Pokemon: Horizons — Smudge and I are nearing the end of the first half of the series, and it is continuing to be very good. Roy (and Fuecoco) can be a bit annoying for me, and I was worried by Liko’s hesitant nature, but she especially has been growing past that nicely. The action is good, the characters are good, and I like that there’s a number of adults around as part of the main cast who both help and respect the kids.

Delico’s Nursery — This was an interesting one. I was really unsure when Smudge first tried it out, but it has a solid story. Unlike the next entry, it spends time and effort explaining much of how the world works naturally inside the plot, and keeps things moving. It’s a complete story in one season, and doesn’t feel at all rushed or padded. The production is certainly on the cheap end, but they spent their money well.

Bye Bye, Earth — The one show of the list I don’t recommend. It wasn’t bad, but it’s definitely on the cheaper side as a production, and you can tell that this is from a pair of novels (possibly squeezing too much into one season). The premise is not bad, but there’s practically more hints as to the background in the opening credits than in the story so far. But… well…. The real problem here is everything happens because the plot says so. A lot of actions and character bits come off feeling extremely forced, and not really rising out of the characters. Visually, I think the series also suffers a bit from the fact that they took Amano designs and worked them down into a somewhat stiff conventional style.