The Spring season is wrapping up at this point and the first Summer shows are just about to start. So, I wanted to hear your thoughts on shows you watched this season. Shows you liked, disliked, were surprised by, disappointed by? Let those opinions rip!
Like always, this thread can also be used for general discussions, recommendations, and questions. So, if you haven’t been watching any seasonal shows, we can talk about that too!
As always, remember to be mindful of spoilers. If you want to know more about how to handle spoilers in this community, check the guide here (also linked in the sidebar).
This Season
Watched (or will watch) till completion
will only talk about full anime seasons (i.e. no OVAs, no shorts)
Gundam GQuuuuuuX
I see people complaining that the show progresses too quickly. Personally, the breakneck pace means that I didn’t have a chance of grow bored of it.
My only “real” complaint is the
Gundam GQuuuuuuX spoiler
yuri bait with Machu and Nyaan. The studio definitely know what they were doing, given the success of Witch from Mercury at drawing in new fans.
Umamusume: Cinderella Gray
Peak story-telling and drama. Never could I have imagined that anthropomorphised horse-racing would get so exciting and emotional.
It definitely deserves to be the highest-rated new anime of the season on tracking sites like AniList and MyAnimeList.
It is also a contender for best sports anime of all time IMO.
Cinderella Gray would easily be the anime-of-the-season for me, if not for another anime airing this season that belongs among the GOATs.
The Apothecary Diaries season 2
I have mentioned a few times that I ruined the viewing experience for myself by reading the manga. But even with this nerf, it still doesn’t change how well the story was presented.
One thing I have wondered since season 1 is why its target demographic is seinen. IMO suspense is one of those genres that cater to all age groups and genders.
Season 2 made the reason apparent. Season 1 teased the conspiracies and politics, but season 2 brought them out in full force. It reminds me heavily of Vinland Saga and other Gundam-like shows.
The only reason I have not declared Apothecary Diaries to be AOTS is because it has not finish airing, and I am very particular about the climaxes and endings of shows.
Cinderella Gray had a strong ending, so it has to at least match that.
Notable Drops
i.e. watched more than a few episodes
Witch Watch
It can be pretty funny at times. However, the slice-of-life-focused episodes got too slow and boring for me.
To Be Hero X
It had the potential to be anime of the season with the insane plot twists and conspiracy. Unfortunately, it lost me at the Lucky Cyan arc. A standard superhero rise-to-fame story is too boring for me.
Plan to watch
I have heard good things about the shows below, so I am planning to try one episode out for each of them.
Hmmm. Shounen publishers might have thought that a political-intrigue-based story with a female lead wouldn’t be popular enough with their demographic, and josei tends so strongly toward mundane modern-day settings with romance that an historical whose romance is very slow burn might have been a hard sell. Shoujo might have fit, but I suspect there weren’t enough flowers, sighs, and bishounen. (Saiunkoku Monogatari, which is the most similar other series I can think of, has a much higher number of pretty young men in the cast and was published as shoujo.)
So it might have ended up seinen by default.