This war criminal lmao. I can’t even tell if Momoka’s tears are real because we didn’t get her internal thoughts and if there were anyone who would cry fake tears it would be the girl who told her crush and his crush that it would be really creepy and weird if friends were to see each other as romantic prospects!

this lack of trolling is somewhat implausible

I actually don’t think so; it looks like there’s only one of these guys for everyone playing the game to share so it’s possible the moment it spawns people are already queued up to kill it.

This game that the world is based off of is a very weird game that doesn’t work, IMO. The dream lord is not instanced, but shared between all parties, and it’s got a mechanic that only works when it kills a lot of adventurers? That just seems like a bad game design to me. Those MMO raids are always more about learning the boss’s mechanics, and then executing them. If the game is designed to always wipe some parties, all of that design will go to waste when the mechanic is understood. So, I don’t think it would be designed like that.

You’re right, but tbf there are some pretty shit MMOs in this world.

Did not expect them to pull out the old OP there at the end. How nostalgic! I wonder if they’ll keep using that for the rest of the season.

That’s a shame; I’d love to vote with my dollars but if it’s only smut there’s probably nothing I’m super interested in. The closest thing to DRM-free anime I’ve ever found for sale is the light novels that Apothecary Diaries is based on, but of course not the anime itself. There are also several much shittier light novels, but I’m less interested in those.

I really enjoyed this episode. It was fun seeing the events of episode one from Tani’s perspective, and the epilogue was pretty much everything I’d want from an epilogue for a show like this one. It didn’t do anything new or crazy, but I found it to be quite enjoyable.

Not sure what you mean by overseas, but at least in the US this season most of the best anime seems to be on Netflix (though Crunchyroll does have Apothecary Diaries).

I can barely even use matrix. They need figure out their UI and UX before it can become a serious option.

The impatience on display here is insane. They’re acting like they have to hit level cap in two weeks to stay alive.

It’s pretty mixed. Most of this stuff wasn’t very good, but Medalist was great, in no small part due to its impressive animation. Hopefully this gets the full Medalist-tier treatment, but if not I’ll still be happy as long as the jokes still land.

I’m actually kinda happy Rem woke up but can’t remember anything; hopefully she can become a more interesting character again.

Certainly Gintama. Several of the main characters are parodies of actual Japanese historical figures few westerners would recognize, and there are a ton of points where it plays off of everything from other influential anime that non-anime fans might at least be tangentially familiar with (Gundam for example) to classic rakugo stories that they definitely will have never heard of (Jugemu).

Do you have a source for that? All I’m seeing is an interview last may where he said they won’t use generative AI tools for the production of their subs and dubs. https://animecorner.me/crunchyroll-ceo-says-anime-creators-can-use-whatever-technology-they-want-but-its-a-no-for-ai-subs-and-dubs/

So yes, there was one show where this happened, but IIRC Crunchyroll put a statement out that that was the translator they hired being lazy, not Crunchyroll choosing to use AI subs.

I’d bet they’re trying too hard to match mouth flaps or something.

Well in this case it’s Netflix, so there was never any chance we’d get on-screen text anyways. I don’t think their video player can handle displaying on-screen text while also displaying dialogue.

There’s no point doing something that nobody cares about, so no wonder many fansub groups ceased their work

There is another reason: a lot of the people doing official subs used to do fan subs.

You have any source at all for that? I’m pretty sure the subs would be way worse if that were actually the case.

The Goods (in no particular order)

• Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You - It’s sweet. I really love Tamaya’s manager and Sasaki’s coworker. Tamaya also knows how to have some fun, though Sasaki himself could use a little more personality.
• The Elusive Samurai Season 2 - The original manga was already pretty weird, but season 2 of the anime has solidly placed it in “batshit insane” territory, all while telling a good and coherent story. Honestly this one might’ve ended up with “the greats” if “the goods” section didn’t look so lonely.
• Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia - An excellent and very unusual anime. Cutest Mongols you’ll ever see. This is another one I wavered on when categorizing, but I just didn’t find myself looking forward to each new episode as much as I did with some other shows.

The Greats (in no particular order)

• Re:ZERO - This season had everything. New enemies and obstacles? Check. Ram reminding us she’s best girl? Check. Cool new fantasy environment? Double check. Subaru dying in horrible ways? Sooo many check. He did get some new clothes so he doesn’t look homeless anymore though, so good for him.
• You and I Are Polar Opposites Season 2 - Season 1 was incredibly cute and incredibly well-executed. Season 2? Also incredibly cute, also incredibly well-executed.
• The Ghost in the Shell - What can I say? I liked the 1995 film and loved Stand-Alone Complex, but this stands above even that for me. Truly a great Ghost in the Shell experience; I really hope we get more of it.
• The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You Season 3 - My favorite character (Naddy) has finally been introduced, and I’m extremely pleased with how she was handled. They also introduced another character I don’t care so much for, but overall this season was hilarious. An absolute riot.
• Goodbye, Lara - A very sweet Little Mermaid story. Feels more like a Miyazaki movie than perhaps any other non-Miyazaki thing I’ve ever seen. The ending wasn’t great, but it also wasn’t bad enough to ruin an otherwise excellent show.
• Daemons of the Shadow Realm - A new action-adventure anime based off an Arakawa manga and animated by Bones? Sign me up! The characters? Charming. The enemies? Menacing. The main character? Kind of crazy, but in a way you can understand as you learn more about how he grew up. This show was a blast, and I look forward to getting more of it whenever that (surely) happens in the future.

The Rest (in descending order of goodness)

• Clevatess Season 2 - It wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t as good as the first season. Probably my biggest disappointment of the season; I’m not certain I’ll watch a third season if they ever make one.
• KAIJU GIRL CARAMELISE - For such a fun premise this show was boring af.
• The Exiled Heavy Knight Something Something Something Something - I started watching because I wanted to experience the notorious GoHands cinematography. Oh boy did that first episode not disappoint; this might be the first time I’ve thought an anime was actually difficult to look at. Unfortunately there are other problems; the story is just the same dull isekai slop you’re likely imagining from the title and the pacing is awful. On top of that, recent episodes haven’t even been doing insane camera movements or any of the other weird shit that made this show pique my interest in the first place. Lately it’s just been kinda boring.

Not From This Season

• Devilman Crybaby - This has to be the most batshit insane anime I’ve ever seen, and that includes Mind Game. It’s the perfect show for anyone who wants to watch a very nsfw story about a guy trying his best to do what he can for a perilous world, accompanied by his friend Evil Tomoyo.

FWIW everyone else I know disagrees quite a bit. I personally think it resembles seasons 1 & 2 more than 3, and my friends and family who are watching the show all agree that this is the best season yet.