Things from this season I watched/am watching, in rough order of preference:

• Daemons of the Shadow Realm - Great stuff. I already knew from the manga I was going to like this one, but Studio Bones gave it that extra push towards excellence. Of all the shows I’m watching this is the one I find myself more excited to get more of each week. All Fullmetal Alchemist fans should give it a watch.
• Witch Hat Atelier - I was really worried that they would’ve be able to capture the beauty of the manga, but they really hit it out of the park with the visuals here. The story being told is also good, though I’ll admit I only know that because I’ve read ahead - the portion of the story shown so far isn’t quite as special as the rest of the tale they’ve been setting up for.
• Re:ZERO Season 4 - This has been tons of fun so far, but I spent most of the season catching up with season 3; I’m only 3 episodes into this one. It’s been very fun though.
• The Ramparts of Ice - An enjoyable high school romcom from the author of You and I Are Polar Opposites.
• MAO - I’m told this one is similar to Inuyasha but with better pacing, though I haven’t seen Inuyasha myself so I can’t verify that. In any case, it’s a good bit of supernatural adventure from Inuyasha’s mangaka and I’m here for it.
• Akane-banashi - A fun drama about some rakugoka originally published in Weekly Shonen Jump. Has all of the strengths and weaknesses you might normally associate with WSJ. Definitely worth a watch if you enjoy that sort of thing, or if you’re just interested in learning about rakugo.
• Nippon Sangoku - Something for people who like strategy, tactics, and operations but also don’t mind if the writing isn’t very good. Gorgeous style though.
• Snowball Earth - Everything about this anime is “fine”. The writing is “fine”. The visuals are “fine”. If you want to watch it you’ll probably have an okay time but this is probably the most forgettable show I’ve seen this season.
• Agents of the Four Seasons - Seemed decent but the main character speaks in a really annoying way so I dropped it.
• Pardon the Intrusion, I’m Home! - This sure is some girl trash. It’s kinda fun but with all this other great stuff airing this season I just couldn’t find the time to finish it.

Honorable Mention:

A Boy With Gundam - A really cute 5-minute music video that just exudes love for the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise. Worth a watch if you like Gundam, especially since it can be viewed free of charge on youtube.

Witch Hat Atelier was my biggest disappointment of the season, other than Agents of the Four Seasons. After reading comments from people familiar with the manga who said it was a story that could rival Frieren, I was expecting something that would surprise me with its unique approach. But while Frieren paid a lot of attention to portraying characters in a believable way, avoided standard solutions to common tropes, and cleverly used flashbacks to introduce us to the main character’s way of thinking, watching WHA gave me the impression that I’d seen this story a hundred times before.
For the first half of the season the characters came across as very stereotypical, with few exceptions – the happy-go-lucky MC with a sad backstory; the hardworking, edgy perfectionist; the laid-back individualist; the sweet ray of sunshine who’s always cheerful; the talented teacher who always saves the day. Over time, we get to know everyone a little better, but in a way that leaves much to be desired, and while the characters do develop, they do so in a manner very characteristic of the stereotypes they originally represented. There’s nothing surprising here.
At the same time, the whole thing is full of dialogue that doesn’t sound like real conversations between people, but rather as if it were crafted to explain to the audience everything that’s happening on screen – how the world works, what the characters are feeling, and what conclusions they’re reaching. It’s as if the characters were speaking to us instead of to each other. To make matters worse, sometimes I had the impression that the author was trying to cram into the dialogue as much moralizing wisdom as possible, which makes it sound rather artificial. The main character’s attitude is also irritating; she seems unable to learn from her own mistakes or think even one step ahead which always put her in danger, and at times it feels like it’s the only way they push the plot forward.
It’s not all bad, though. I really enjoyed the visuals – the series has nearly cinematic quality and is certainly one of the most beautiful anime of the year. I also like the world in which the story takes place, and in particular the magic system based on drawings.
Unfortunately, the elements I view positively are secondary to me when evaluating the quality of the anime as a whole. For me, the most important are characters and dialogue, and in that regard, I was disappointed. Overall, I give this 6/10

Agents of the Four Seasons got off to a great start. I had high hopes for this series, considering that the writer behind it is the same person who created Violet Evergarden, which is one of my favorite anime. Although it was clear this was going to be a very melodramatic story, that didn’t bother me, since it’s something I actually enjoy. I was positively surprised for the first five episodes, but then the house of cards started to come crashing down. Throughout the entire series, the creators never stop bombarding viewers with material designed to make them feel emotional and cry. While this makes sense in reasonable doses, here it’s served up in such excessive amounts that it becomes numbing. The longer you watch it, the more the series turns into “cryporn”. On top of that, we’re treated to action scenes that, instead of being thrilling and dramatic, look ridiculous because the insurgents, who are our main antagonists in the story, have combat skills on par with stormtroopers, while our main heroes have a tendency to talk on the phone a lot, even when a hail of bullets is raining down on them. It looks comical, and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve rolled my eyes. Overall, this was my biggest disappointment of the season. There’s one more episode left, but I think I’ll give this 4-5/10. I liked the visuals and the soundtrack, though. Kensuke Ushio never disappoints.

Kirio Fanclub - The show had its ups and downs, and not all the jokes landed, but when they did it was absolutely hilarious. IMO it was one of the best shows of the season, despite somewhat poor reception at the beginning of the season. I guess some people expected a more typical romcom and got a pure comedy-drama instead, not to mention that comedy is highly subjective. 8/10 from me

Go For It, Nakamura-kun!! - Another fantastic comedy. This season was really carried by comedies, huh. Very funny, very gay, with great production quality. Different ED for each episode was a cherry on the top. Chiaki Kobayashi nailed the role of somewhat crazy, shy, gay MC. I think my only issue with this show, as someone who wasn’t interested in romance, is that only the last episode nailed the balance between romance and comedy. In most other episodes it was either one or another, so some of the episodes were ‘too serious’ for me. Fortunately, there weren’t many of them, so I had a lot of fun watching this show. 8/10

The Klutzy Class Monitor and the Girl with the Short Skirt - Another great comedy with high-quality production. Stylistically, the show reminds me of Trigger Studio’s shows. The development of the relationship between the main characters is portrayed brilliantly here. The series didn’t make me laugh as much as “Go For It, Nakamura-kun!!”, but I think the creators managed to strike a better balance between the gags and the more serious parts of the story. It’s hard for me to say much more, because my main criterion for evaluating comedies is how much they manage to make me laugh, and everyone has a different sense of humor. 8/10

Daemons of the Shadow Realm - this is probably the only non-comedy series that I actually really like this season. It has an original story that’s somewhat reminiscent of gang rivalries, and a great main character who’s got his head on his shoulders. He’s not your typical battle shounen MC who lacks brains and makes up for it with sheer determination in the fight for noble causes. Instead, he displays a more stoic demeanor, he’s level-headed, but he’s not some infallible genius either. It’s like a breath of fresh air, really. It’s not clear where the story is headed yet, and the plot is rather slow-paced, but I like this, because predictability was one of my main complaints about FMA:B (this and FMA were both written by Arakawa). The production quality is very good. The animation looks great, and you can tell a lot of attention has been paid to details. So far, it’s a solid 8/10.

Dandelion - The ending was very cheesy, but the rest was quite fun. It’s by creator of Gintama, and Gintama vibes were certainly there. The ED was great – makes you wanna dance. 7/10

A Hundred Scenes of Awajima - It’s a collection of interconnected, intriguing stories, told in an engaging way with believably portrayed characters, but the fairly similar character designs and the chaotic narrative style at the beginning of the season made it hard for me to follow everything at first, which dampened my viewing experience. I feel like it would be better to watch the entire season in one go, because once some of the characters had managed to stick in my mind, the final parts of the season struck me as really strong. 7/10, but I might change it to 8 after a rewatch

Akane-banashi - Pretty decent season. It improved quite noticeably in the second half once they stopped talking over performances so much. I think the first half suffered from having to explain what rakugo is, etc. I dislike the standard sports anime formula that seems to be applied here, so that certainly affected my score. But overall, the cast was rather fun, and I can’t say I was bored watching this. Production quality was pretty good too. 7/10 from me

Re:ZERO S4 - I’m not sure how to feel about it yet. Some of the episodes nailed the horror atmosphere, and they give you a feeling that we’re back to S1 quality of storytelling, but I’m not entirely sold on this

arc. All in all, it’s too early to tell, but it’s definitely better than the snoozefest battle shounen arc that S3 was.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime S4 - if you are still watching this, then you know what you’re in for. Can’t say this cour was much better than S3 so far. We’ve got plenty of meetings (obviously), and

Very mid.

There’s also like a dozen shows that I dropped, but I don’t feel like mentioning them here. It would only piss some people off, and I don’t want to be overly negative. Generally, after having somewhat high hopes, this season turned out to be quite average.

Already finished, might be my number one: An Observation Log of My Fiancée Who Calls Herself a Villainess Sweet and funny and goofy and charming and a pure pleasure from start to finish. Bertia is easily my favorite character of the season.

Not finished but might end up my number one: My Ribdiculous Reincarnation (and that’s the first time I’ve actually written out that godawful localized title and will also be the last) Bizarre and hilarious and stylistically unique. Went from having no recognizable plot to speak of to having a “fate of the universe(s) hangs in the balance” plot and the final episode is potentially going to be epic, silly, charming, stupid and laugh-out-loud funny, all at the same time.

Not finished but has an outside chance to end up my number one: The Ramparts of Ice - very impressive look at miscommunication that worked by regularly switching the point of view between the four main characters, so we got to see first hand the (often significant) differences between the ways that different characters saw each other and the things that happened between them. The only problem is that there seems to be far too much story still left for this final episode to be really momentous.

Not finished but has an even more outside chance to end up my number one - Even a Replica Can Fall in Love Intriguing and original, and with a demonstrated history of going along seemingly relatively sedately for a few episodes, then hitting us with an astonishing gut punch (and in fact the second time they did that - I can still see the scene in my mind’s eye, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it - it was that impressive). It’s now been going along for the last few episodes relatively sedately, so there’s no telling what might happen in this last episode.

Seems like it might end up my number one, but I dropped it right at the beginning of the season so I could binge it later so I don’t know yet: Witch Hat Atelier

Notable but not in the running for number one: Nippon Sangoku and Needy Girl Overdose Both creative and interesting and generally well done, but with too many flaws to make the top of the list.

Silly awards time! (I missed this last season because I was recovering from bronchitis—mea culpa.)

• Worst subtitles award: Snowball Earth. Rendering incoherent noises (including incoherent monster noises) as “Bach!” because there’s a plosive at the beginning has got to be a new low. I presume an LLM went rogue. (And the runner-up would be whatever series keeps using “rouge” where it clearly means “rogue”, but I’m blanking on which one it is.)
• Worst name localization award: Yuusha no Rokkotsu de, whose localized name I steadfastly refuse to use.
• Most interesting animation award: Also Yuusha no Rokkotsu de—I can’t now remember how many different styles they ran through.
• Most unusual character design choices: Nippon Sangoku. The only other series I can think of that’s even remotely comparable is Hyouge Mono, although that had less beard stubble and more odd historical Japanese hairstyles.
• Best dragon award: Himekishi no Barbaroi Yome, narrowly edging out The Beginning After the End due to at least one decently original design. (Reincarnated as a Slime, on the other hand, actually managed to tweak my bad-CGI-dragon meter at one point).
• Most ridiculously melodramatic: Shunkashuutou Daikousha. I’m pretty good at suspension of disbelief, usually, but that phone call was just too much.
• Unexpectedly fun award: Nigetsuri. I almost skipped this altogether, and went in not expecting much, but I enjoyed spending time with Mimi.
• Most edible protagonist: Niwatori Fighter, naturally. (I’m still in awe of how they managed to embed this in a season that—between Yuusha no Rokkotsu de and everyone’s favourite vending machine—made martial artist chickens fighting kaijuu look positively normal.)

I love Witch Hat Atelier the manga and the anime’s animation is beautiful, but I can’t stand the voice acting for the protagonist in either Japanese or English. It’s so screamy and loud and overly dramatic. I couldn’t keep watching and just went back to rereading the manga.

Ongoing, will keep watching because I’m having a great time with all three:

• Mairimashita! Iruma-kun 4
• Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken 4
• Re:Zero 4

Watched / finishing, top of the list:

• Jishou Akuyaku Reijou / Bertia
• Dr. Stone: Science Future 3
• Hime Kishi wa Barbaroi no Yome / The Barbarian’s Bride

Finishing, I don’t regret watching it:

• Isekai Nonbiri Nouka 2
• Higeki no Genkyou 2 / Pryde 2
• Jidou Hanbaiki 3 / Boxxo 3

Deserved a better adaptation:

• Honzuki no Gekokujou: Ryoushu no Youjo / Ascendance of a Bookworm 4
• Saikyou no Ousama 2 / The Beginning of the End 2

Dropped:

• Reincarnation no Kaben

liked / would watch again / will watch prequel

• Yomi-no-Tsugai (strong recommendation for everyone)
• Witch hat atellier (strong recommendation for everyone who likes fantasy or yuri or yaoi or worldbuilding or artsy stuff)
• Akanebanashi
• Ojamasaremasu

wanted to watch, but not enough time/energy (only watched 2-3 eps so far)

• NEEDY-GIRL-OVERDOSE
• My Ribdiculous Reincarnation

didnt like / dropped after some ep

• Snowball-Earth (ep1 sets up a really nice world, but ep 2/3 has too bad story writing)
• Rooster Fighter (not bad but too much screaming)

So far, my while I’ve like a lot Yomi no Tsugai and Kill Blue (among other less notable mentions), my fav anime this season has been Ramparts of Ice. I wasn’t expecting much at first, but without a doubt it has become the weekly release I look forward the most.

I was also looking forward to Witch Hat Atelier, but I think it’s not for me. I think this is very much controversial (for some reason I honestly can’t relate), but I hated that certain character not only got scot-free for what was basically attempted murder, but apparently such character also becomes important and never really faces any consequences for her actions. No, thank you; I like my fantasy to help me escape from the world’s injustices, not to glorify them.