I’d like to highlight two anime this week: Witch Hat Atelier and Pokemon Horizons

I know it’s not the case for most people, but Witch Hat Atelier had a pretty weak start relative to the hype IMO. However, it has been growing on me quite a bit lately. The nutter in me always love a good conspiracy, and there’s a big one brewing in this anime. I am also starting to find the characters endearing after spending more time with time. If it keeps this up, Witch Hat Atelier being my AOTS is not far-fetch.

The second main arc of Pokemon Horizons - and likely that of the main story - has just ended. Honestly, this second arc is a significant downgrade from the first one. They basically rehash the same plot lines as the first arc, but with less character development and such.

I was left wondering about the new antagonist’s motivations till the very end because they never explained it. They brought in new grunts, but never gave them personalities like they did the previous ones. They are “bad” just because our protagonists need some bad guys to defeat.

Speaking of protagonists, Liko felt more like a side character than the main character. She’s just watching / cheering from the side lines while others took the spotlight at so many significant moments.

This watching experience reminds me of Gundam Seed Destiny somewhat. It’s as though the showrunners needed to extend the anime, but ran out of materials.

Unlike Gundam Seed Destiny, I enjoyed Pokemon Horizons second half a fair bit more. The pokemons are still very cute, with plenty of wholesome moments still. Also, I doubt that the anime’s intended audience - little kids - would even notice the flaws.

All in all, it’s still an enjoyable watch for me despite its shortcomings. I am looking forward to the next arc; hopefully it will do better.

After a season ends, I tend to not watch anything from the new season for a while to watch other things. So, I spend last week getting caught up with most of what I wanted to watch from this season. No real standouts for me yet, but overall still good.

• MARRIAGEXTOXIN: I was already reading the manga and so far I’m really enjoying this adaptation.
• Gals Can’t Be Kind To Otaku: also a manga reader. For some reason, I typically don’t really care for adaptations of these types of manga (that I’ve read). They often don’t provide extra value to me. I’m afraid that mostly holds true here. It’s not bad and I am enjoying it, but would rather read the manga. I think a large reason here is the voice acting for Seo. It’s so wimpy and pathetic. Not that he isn’t in the manga, but it feels amped up here. And louder.
• Daemons of the Shadow Realm: mostly enjoying it, but there are some crucial points that I don’t like about it, particularly how it reveals information (or rather, doesn’t) feels very artificial and obtuse. Depending on how that goes, it might become a reason for me dropping it.
• Ramparts of Ice: digging this one the most so far. I like the FMC a lot. It’s only brought down by Netflix’s awful typesetting in the subs, unable to properly present text bubbles and signs without interrupting the actual spoken subs.
• An Observation Log of My Fiancée Who Calls Herself a Villainess: it’s fun to see a “villainess” story from the perspective of someone else.

Still want to watch:

• Dr Stone
• Needy Girl Overdose: only watched the 1st ep, but thought it was really good. Very heavy, but good. The heaviness is making me a bit reluctant to continue.
• Witch Hat Atelier
• ReZero: haven’t fully watched season 3 yet tho.