Anime

This was a decent season! I watched the following:

• Apothecary Diaries: not finished yet, but incredible season, but hard to keep up with due to how many threads there were starting from episode 1 season 1.
• SHOSHIMIN: also really good season. This season focussed more on some larger mysteries, which was a nice change from the 1st season. The 2 leads have great chemistry. Amazing OP.
• Apocalypse Hotel: so much fun. The big cast + setting make for a very entertaining and endearing show.
• Witch Watch: it was.. fine. Nothing that really excited me tbh.
• Catch Me At The Ballpark: surprisingly fun. I do not care for baseball, but loved the vibe and the different characters interacting. Felt a little bit like a PA Works show for me. Speaking of which, I need to watch Food For The Soul.
• NinKoro: also really fun. I'm repeating myself here, but I liked the chemistry between the characters. I also liked how it portrayed an awful occupation as something light hearted. Fucked up, but in line with the characters. Sometimes though, the seriousness of it all shines through. Very clearly a Shaft anime at times with some of the angles and shots.
• From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: also surprisingly alright. The main character actually acts like a reasonable adult. His constant self-deprecation gets a little bit old though. He's regularly outperforming famed knights and adventurers but still thinks he's not that good. For the first part of the anime, it's understandable, but the latter part and especially the last ep it got a little unbelievable. The fights looked very well choreographed and the 3D animation looked good and was well-used.
• Too-Perfect Saint: lovely, but too fast imo, especially near the end.

Put on hold:

• Zatsutabi: nice and relaxing, but nothing special.

Dropped:

• Can A Boy-Girl Friendship Survive: dropped after 6 eps. Cannot stand Himari.
• Shiunji Family Children: dropped after 6 eps. Boring incest-but-not-technically harem.
• Gorilla God's Go-to Girl: really boring reverse harem. The lead is dumb as bricks and the support cast isn't better. Also, for a reverse harem, I feel like the boys have very average looking designs. Then again, I'm not the target audience so who knows.
• Once Upon A Witch's Death: felt like a cheap way to get the audience to cry, which didn't sit well with me.
• Rock Is A Lady's Modesty: dropped after 3 eps. Similar criticism as the manga, but worse. I could not get over the awfully toxic dynamic. Being a musician myself, I can't imagine playing in a band with people like that. Drums and guitar competing in the way they do (or at all, really) in the anime makes no sense either. If you want to be a bad band, not listening to each other and trying to stand out more than the other is a surefire way to do it.

I'm catching up on Gundam GQuuux, but now that I'm 4 eps in, I'm not too sure if I like it. I feel like I'm missing tons of context, it's lightning fast pacing and it's all very superficial still.

I've seen a lot of praise for Umamusume, so I want to check that one out as well.

I have no idea what's going on next anime season yet.