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Watched last night from the 2024 Spring season:

Bartender Glass of God Episode 1. This is going to be one of my Go-To series to watch this season, even more interesting than I thought it would be.

Unnammed Memory Episode 1. Woah, this one is going to be another good anime for me to watch, I've got a waifu witch with long black hair to fawn over now, lol!

An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to love your Elf Bride Episodes 1-2. Two episodes dropped for the start of this series. It's going to be a "First Love" story and could be pretty good, as long as the embarrassment-factor between the two MC isn't kept at sickening levels. I despise that trope in (lack-of)-romance anime to no end and I'll drop it in a heartbeat if it continues that way.

A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics Episode 1. A reverse-Isekai, with the female MC coming to the modern world. Interesting first episode, although the female Princess lead is way too cutesy for me, I actually like her white-haired female retainer Livia much more.
 
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Dragon Raja -The Blazing Dawn- ep 0: A lot happened in this extra-long prequel episode, yet somehow at the same time very little progress was made. Our embattled hero is living a frustrating life under the thumb of his cruel adoptive family when he gets scouted for a mysterious college by a foreigner who claims to have known the lead's parents. He's not completely on board with doing as he's told, though, so a feisty redhead girl is enlisted to attempt to coax him into making the only interesting choice for the sake of the story (its ultimate direction feels kind of obvious). The narrative is all over the place; it feels as though a reasonably competent reincarnation (?) story has been pasted onto an extremely average magical school show, by way of an awkwardly one-sided romantic confession scene which didn't make any sense at all. The animation is good, if occasionally bizarre (one early scene showing the lead gaming made me laugh) and I liked the Sawano theme song. Not a keeper but not completely terrible.

Go! Go! Loser Ranger! ep 1: I'm disappointed that I didn't like this anime more. It's a big, flashy parody of sentai shows and on paper it sounds fantastic, digging into the ridiculous behind-the-scenes politics of the defeated enemy soldiers destined to play out doomed losses week after week in order to entertain the masses. With its musical style and mildly uncanny use of CG, it reminds me of Tiger & Bunny, which took a similar poke at superhero genre conventions (albeit in a slightly less silly way), but I found myself tuning out watching Go! Go Loser Ranger! several times. The reason was the pacing, I think; if the episode had burned through its material twice as quickly it would probably have held my interest better, but as it was everything felt as though it was dragging the same jokes out for an eternity and the lingering on the least interesting parts of the visuals (unfortunate as some of the designs are quite fun). Perhaps the manga would work better for me?

Tadaima, Okaeri ep 1: While I've been passively aware of the omegaverse for years now, I think this is the first mainstream outing that it's had. And though the hallmarks of the subgenre are not hidden, they're also not thrust to the forefront of the narrative because the leads are already settled and comfortable in their relationship by the time that the story starts. I learned something about myself while watching this gentle story about a cute pair of married guys and their adorable kid, though, and that was that while the characters and core story were all fine, the omegaverse isn't for me. I can see the value in exploring discrimination by examining it through the lens of imaginary social dynamics instead of the issues we get in the real world... but it makes me feel personally weird for people to have hardcoded traits which fit into particular categories, and because this series wants to be soothing at the same time as it questions the discrimination against people who marry outside of their 'type', it ends up confusing me tonally. I don't think that I can judge this series objectively because of the discomfort I feel (which is a shame, because its family dynamics are sweet).

Tonari no Youkai-san ep 1: Watching them back to back, this show's world felt like the opposite of Tadaima, Okaeri's; it's so fluid! We're quickly introduced to a corner of a version of Japan where ordinary people live side by side with youkai. Some of them are born that way but the first episode introduces us to a nervous house cat who transforms into a new nekomata towards the end of their expected lifespan. The former cat, Buchio, then has to learn to deal with their new form by getting acquainted with their fellow youkai. The people of the community - youkai and human alike - are supportive, accepting and friendly, but there are undercurrents of sinister happenings going on in the background which promise that there's more to the story than wholesome everyday fluff. And even the everyday fluff has a spiritual weight to it. I'm intrigued. This earns a second episode.

R
 
Rui said:
Tadaima, Okaeri ep 1: While I've been passively aware of the omegaverse for years now, I think this is the first mainstream outing that it's had. And though the hallmarks of the subgenre are not hidden, they're also not thrust to the forefront of the narrative because the leads are already settled and comfortable in their relationship by the time that the story starts. I learned something about myself while watching this gentle story about a cute pair of married guys and their adorable kid, though, and that was that while the characters and core story were all fine, the omegaverse isn't for me. I can see the value in exploring discrimination by examining it through the lens of imaginary social dynamics instead of the issues we get in the real world... but it makes me feel personally weird for people to have hardcoded traits which fit into particular categories, and because this series wants to be soothing at the same time as it questions the discrimination against people who marry outside of their 'type', it ends up confusing me tonally. I don't think that I can judge this series objectively because of the discomfort I feel (which is a shame, because its family dynamics are sweet).

Tonari no Youkai-san ep 1: Watching them back to back, this show's world felt like the opposite of Tadaima, Okaeri's; it's so fluid! We're quickly introduced to a corner of a version of Japan where ordinary people live side by side with youkai. Some of them are born that way but the first episode introduces us to a nervous house cat who transforms into a new nekomata towards the end of their expected lifespan. The former cat, Buchio, then has to learn to deal with their new form by getting acquainted with their fellow youkai. The people of the community - youkai and human alike - are supportive, accepting and friendly, but there are undercurrents of sinister happenings going on in the background which promise that there's more to the story than wholesome everyday fluff. And even the everyday fluff has a spiritual weight to it. I'm intrigued. This earns a second episode.

R
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I'm really excited for Tonari no Youkai-san ever since seeing a trailer a few days ago, looks very Ghibli/Natsume's Book of Friends-esque, and I've never read anything omegaverse before but Tadaima, Okaeri does look very cute and sweet I'd quite like to watch that too :)
 
Bartender: Glass of God episode 2 Out of the rain.

Date A Live V episode 1 Together.

KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! 3 episode 1 Photosynthesis.

Mysterious Disappearances episode 1 Youth.

The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio episode 1 Reluctant partners.

Natsume's Book of Friends Season 5 episodes 53-62
 
KonoSuba! God's Blessing on this Wonderful World! (Season 3) (Japanese) - Episode 1

My second favourite anime is back and just as great as ever! I enjoyed the Megumin series but nothing beats having the whole gang together.
 
The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio Episode 1. Nope, don't care for the cutesy characters and this is basically an Idol anime, so not of any interest to me. Dropped.

Mysterious Disappearances Episode 1. Not sure what to make of this one, more than a little bit odd, and of course the gargantuan boobies are not to my liking at all. But, I do love mystery anime, so I'll keep going with this one for a while. From watching the OP and ED, I think I'll be looking forward most to the Glasses Girl character when she's introduced.

Konosuba Season 3 Episode 1. Ugh, this entire episode was nothing but screaming and yelling, the anime trope I absolutely despise and the biggest reason most anime comedy turns me off. The first two seasons were not so overdone and I enjoyed those episodes, but I just can't watch this. I'll watch one more episode and if it is as irritating as this first episode, I'll be dropping it.

Bartender Glass of God Episode 2. Ahh, I really needed this calm after the slop that was Konosuba 3. This is definitely going to be my #1 anime of the season, with the Spice and Wolf remake at #2.
 
The Garden of Words film

Nice little shortie. Thought I’d tick this one off after buying it today. I like how Makoto Shinkai uses camera focus tricks in his animation, it always makes things look so polished as well as stylised. Great story until the dreaded inappropriate romance. Seriously Japan, why do you always have to play me like that. Thankfully, it’s not taken too far, but I think the story would have worked just as well if it was a notch down on the ladder.

Otherwise, I enjoyed everything about the film. Shout out to shoe making from a dude who grew up in and around the industry.

Great film from the ankles up! 🥿

 
AgeOfBoredom said:
The Garden of Words film

Nice little shortie. Thought I’d tick this one off after buying it today. I like how Makoto Shinkai uses camera focus tricks in his animation, it always makes things look so polished as well as stylised. Great story until the dreaded inappropriate romance. Seriously Japan, why do you always have to play me like that. Thankfully, it’s not taken too far, but I think the story would have worked just as well if it was a notch down on the ladder.
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It's the post credits scene that is so very important to the ending of the story - him reading the letter from her in the gazebo. Some releases I've found neglected to translate the letter, so the ending really falls flat if it is not.

Unlike many people, I don't have a problem with large age gaps in relationships, so from the content of the letter, I'm actually rooting for them to be able to get together in the future - but maybe in another 5+ years.
 
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Kizumonogatari Film III/3 Reiketsu (English subbed) - A great finale to the trilogy, lives up to the novel quite well (I have listened to the entire Kizumonagatari novel as an unabridged audiobook), the animation is v creative and was just an all-round good time :)

Summer Ghost (English dubbed) - Lovely short film about a group of young'uns growing to adulthood and finding ways to find joy in life as well as pain, really enjoyed this and the animation was stunning, I'm very keen to see what the creator Loundraw comes up with next! :)

Wreck-It Ralph (REWATCH) - Def one of Disney's best CGI features, colourful and inventive with a good character arc for Ralph and Vanellope and plenty of fun stuff involving Fix-It Felix and Sergeant Calhoun as well :)

The Mysterious Cities of Gold Season 1 Episodes 31-39 COMPLETE (English dubbed) - I feel like I should have paid a bit more attention towards the end but my knee is hurting it's been a tough few days, still I think this absolutely deserves it's status as a classic family adventure anime, I enjoyed the mini-documentaries at the end of each episode as well :)

Pita-Ten Episode 15 (English subbed) - Just so cute and heartwarming OMG I love this show! 🥰
 
Girls with Guns said:
I haven't watched the QQ series, but just from images I've seen of the sisters, my favorite would be Headphones Girl, lol.
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I can't really confirm who it is without spoiling you if you ever watch it here, or I'd reply with more detail here! I shall remain quiet on this one for your benefit and others who may be reading and haven't seen it yet!

AgeOfBoredom said:
The Garden of Words film

Nice little shortie. Thought I’d tick this one off after buying it today. I like how Makoto Shinkai uses camera focus tricks in his animation, it always makes things look so polished as well as stylised. Great story until the dreaded inappropriate romance. Seriously Japan, why do you always have to play me like that. Thankfully, it’s not taken too far, but I think the story would have worked just as well if it was a notch down on the ladder.

Otherwise, I enjoyed everything about the film. Shout out to shoe making from a dude who grew up in and around the industry.

Great film from the ankles up! 🥿
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I'm a big fan of rain, and this is basically "rain, the anime". If anyone likes rain and gorgeous animation, I'd certainly recommend giving it a go. It's only about 45 mins long as well as I recall, so perfectly watchable in one sitting.
 
Lordhippos said:
I'm a big fan of rain, and this is basically "rain, the anime". If anyone likes rain and gorgeous animation, I'd certainly recommend giving it a go. It's only about 45 mins long as well as I recall, so perfectly watchable in one sitting.
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Yeah, it’s maybe 50min max. Put some lo-fi beats and with the rain you have a perfect length study/work/2am YouTube video too 🤣
 
An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride episode 3 Worthy aggression.

A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics episode 2 No ordinary foe.

Dungeon Meshi episode 15 Solid state survivor.

Yuru Camp△ Season 3 episode 2 Sausages and a scenic view.

Natsume's Book of Friends Season 5 episode 63 & Specials, Natsume's Book of Friends Season 6 episodes 66-75
 
An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride Episode 3

Date A Live V Episode 1

Delicious in Dungeon Episode 15

Metallic Rouge Episode 13 (Complete)

Urusei Yatsura (2022) 2nd Season Episode 36

Yuru Camp△ Season 3 Episode 2
 
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