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As usual, I’m running a bit late on this compared to the ‘actual’ anime season. And I did finish a few things about two weeks ago, which makes a pretty good season changeover point for me. As always, these are listed in rough descending order of recommendation.

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu — Smudge and I finished showing this to the guys a couple months ago, and they really enjoyed it all the way through. It’s a great two-part drama series with good characters, and a great ending.

Apocalypse Hotel — This just started up in the Thursday schedule with everyone. As to be expected, the guys are enjoying it quite a lot. The series manages to take a fairly grim high concept, and shove most of that to the side for a series with a lot of heart and hope, and is excellently done all the way through.

One Piece — Smudge had no problem talking Baron into trying the live action series. Dave seemed unsure for the first episode, but the following week he had obviously read up on things, and was really into it for the remaining eight episodes. It’s one of the best jobs ever translating a comic/animation to live action, and has very strong mutually supporting plot and character arcs.

The Owl House — We’re now a decent chunk into the second season, and it continues to be popular with everyone. We all certainly recommend looking it up and giving it a watch. We’ve certainly gotten into a wider plot that leverages a few background elements that had been seen but not explained.

From Bureaucrat to Villainess — I finished this up early on. It really needs another season, as there’s a lot to go. But, it’s a lot of fun, as the main character is a good father, and is bringing a culture of efficiency and politeness to a game’s role of ‘snobby antagonist’… and failing utterly at that last.

Pokemon: Horizons — Smudge and I missed that there was more for a bit, as part two, The Search For Laqua, gets a separate entry. We’ve seen the first chunk of it, and it isn’t as good. This is a two-punch of a school arc that took away all the interesting adult characters, and concentrating on terastallization, which is the gimmick for Gen 9. Thankfully, the overall plot is picking back up, but with the gimmick still stealing air out of the room. (And it just looks ridiculous.)