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This and Frieren are the two I am most anticipating. Eminence looks to be keeping a nice pace this season, adapting only 1.5 LN volumes over 12 episodes. Should set things up for a dramatic finale once again.

Yep. I am willing to try a season 2 of My Happy Marriage since I think there is still good story potential there. However, the first season is really a mixed bag. Episodes 1-6: great storytelling while Episodes 7-12: pretty disappointing. So, if I watch season 2 and it looks more like the second half of season 1, I will probably bail.

As for vending machine, I am 100% on board. I already made a comment about my feelings on the announcement post. I have started keeping coins on hand to be ready to insert them when season 2 drops.

Lots of love for Undead Girl Murder Farce in this thread. I think I will have to check it out. Like you, it's not a genre I usually am into, but executed well, mysteries can be very engaging (just that most aren't). Also, if I haven't dipped a toe into Love Live before, would that impact my experience with Genjitsu no Yohane or are they separate?

I haven't been watching it, but I remember the early episodes being a bit divisive due to the animation style (Studio GoHands). It seems as though the extreme GoHands-yness of it toned down as the season went though.

I liked it way more than I was expecting when the season started. It has good characters and strikes a good balance between comedy and heartfelt moments.

Having a large cast of characters can be difficult. It is something that I think has hurt some otherwise great shows I have watched in the past like Baccano. I love that show dearly, but the cast is so large it is hard to keep straight for somebody on their first time through. Also, handling a large main cast is something that I think Naruto does very well (though they have a lot more time to build out the cast). I haven't heard too much about Seven Spellblades, so glad to hear they are doing this right.

My partner worked for a very exploitative company for a long time, so Zom 100's first episode felt pretty close to home in that respect. Sometimes the most random things can help provide perspective and strength to persevere through adversity. Wishing you the best!

I also plan on checking out Murder Farce when I get a chance as it has gotten a lot of love in this thread.

Not every show is a winner in a season. Sometimes the plot of a story just can't live up to the characters that live it. I've felt that way about shows in the past. I usually like to dive into an older show that has stood the test of time afterward.

The best sci fi is able to focus on very human questions without getting bogged down in crunchy, technical specifics. I am a big fan of the genre in western media, but haven't really explored it in anime very much.

That is a fair take on Helck I think. If the humor doesn't connect for you, then I imagine it would feel really slow. They are going at a really slow pace story-wise and letting the humor keep things light and engaging. Take the humor away and that strategy falls apart.

Also, I have heard good things about Undead Murder Farce as the season has gone on, so I will check it out.

I might give Great Cleric a shot then. The synopsis has all the right things to make me interested, I just didn't really have time to add any more shows to my plate this season. Thanks for the recommendation!

My thoughts on shows I watched this season fall into a couple groups.

The Good:

• Helck: This one is still going since it is running for two cours. I have enjoyed the slow, mysterious world building they have done. It really feels like they are taking their time to build things up in a rewarding way. It has also had good comedy bits and Vermilio serves as an excellent straight man to the clowns that seem to be everywhere else in this world (I mean that in the most loving way possible).
• Isekai Vending Machine: When I started this series, I had low expectations based on the idiocy of the premise. However, it has far exceeded my expectations and has actually been really fun. If you can get past the ridiculous premise and accept a bit of silliness when it comes to combat, then there is actually a story with some heart and thought behind this ridiculous title.
• Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero: This is another that I expected to not be that great, but turned out to be a pretty satisfying fantasy story. The characters and their interactions in this show are the best part of this show. The political storyline that is happening is a bit bland, but doesn't drag the show too much.
• Horimiya Pieces: I am a huge fan of the manga for this series, so I was happy to see this anthology of cut content from the original run of the show. However, I think that viewers that aren't as familiar with the source content might not be as engaged with this run of episodes since it focuses more on side characters than the titular Hori and Miyamura.

The Bad:

• Atelier Ryza: This one was tough for me to stay awake while watching. I understand that the game is widely beloved, but the adaptation to a show just fell flat for me. I don't know how much of the game was adapted, but the whole season feels like they are just stuck in some kind of tutorial rather than undertaking some grand adventure.
• Am I Actually the Strongest: This show was just bad. I have seen/read a lot of really bad isekai and this one might take the cake. The story is incredibly oddly paced; flying through extremely important plot segments and then dwelling for an excrutiatingly long time on fluff/omake stuff that doesn't matter at all. Just steer clear of this one, it's really bad, but not so bad it is funny. It is just really bad.

The Mixed Feelings:

• My Happy Marriage: I have written a lot about this series in the episode threads already, so I will keep it short here. The first half of this season is excellent and really sets up the potential for a great period romance. However, the second half of the show is incredibly disappointing in this regard and just feels so lackluster compared to what was set up through episode 6.

The only other show from this season I am watching is Zom 100. It has been pretty great so far, but because of the delays in production, I don't want to make any final verdicts about it.