For my mid-season review, my anime of the season hasn't changed too much, though lately Sangatsu no Lion has been edging out Shokugeki no Souma. While the latter is covering one of my favorite arcs in the manga, watching what I've already read doesn't really have the same impact now. Still looking forward to Erina's long overdue focus arc, but it's still largely waiting to see what I've already seen.
Sangatsu, meanwhile is absolutely amazing. Every character feels so realistic, and it's easily the probably the most immersive show I'm watching this season. Last episode was a great example of that; watching Rei trying to solve the bullying problem, and hearing how complex the issue really is. The hypothetical scenarios the teacher walked him through were very accurate, and the scene with Akari was amazing. It's so easy to spout platitudes when confronted with problems like that, Akari's reaction to how ineffective such advice really is was a very humbling scene. It was a very human reaction from someone who constantly puts on a strong face for everyone. And that's to say nothing of the art and sound direction for the show.
Biggest disappointment is probably Black Clover. I knew going in that it was basically an amalgation of every popular shounen adventure series...what I didn't know was that they would hire a dying car engine motor to voice the MC. Holy crap that's obnoxious.
Biggest surprise is Imouto Sae Ireba Ii, which somehow keeps surpassing my expectations of it. First two minutes of the first episode were absolute cringe, and yet the actual slice of life elements and the coming of age stories for these young authors are surprisingly well done. Little things like the characters playing brainstorming games and having fun drinking together are always fun to watch, and it's interesting seeing a more grounded take on how light novel authors advance in their careers. The scene with the other male author watching his anime debut, only for everyone online to dismiss it as another "generic light novel adaptation" was well done, and his reaction felt surprisingly realistic. I can't help but feel scenes like this are flat out meta-references to events the author of this story herself has been through (I liked Haganai...but I'm curious how close it was to the source material).
Speaking of which...I wonder if the author of Black Clover felt that way when the anime came out. Poor guy...now I feel bad.
NNID: Zephyr25 / PSN: Zephyr--25 / Switch: SW-4450-3680-7334
