So, my reading drought continues this week, but should hopefully be resolving itself soon. I have mentioned before in this community that I work in the sciences, and these past couple weeks, I have been neck-deep in technical writing and reviewing. After a whole day of writing, reading, and revising technical reports, I just can’t bring myself to do any reading for fun. So, I have largely turned to English-language content recently (most recently were the Lord of the Rings films).

In any case, here are a couple more series that I have read and enjoyed in the past that I don’t think I have shared in this community.

• Strongest Curse Clan Reincarnation ~A Magic Geek’s Utopia~ / Saikyou Juzoku Tensei ~Majutsu Otaku no Risoukyou~

I just saw that a new SL group picked this series up to try to finish it up. However, way back when I enjoyed the beginning of this series and ended up reading the entire webnovel. The story is pretty good despite a pretty generic setup and the characters are likeable.

• My Friend’s Abnormally Cute Sister / Osananajimi no Ijou Kawaii Imouto-chan

Yes, I will grant you that the setup for this series is a bit suspect. However, the humor in this series is fun in a turn your brain off kind of way. The basic premise is that the MC has a crush on her friend’s little sister. However, that little sister is actually a huge siscon. So, they get roped into situations together to get closer to their crushes. It’s contrived, but funny.

• Gachi Koi Maou-sama

I think I might have mentioned this one before, but it continues to be great, so I am going to mention it again. Basic story is that the human hero goes to confront the Demon Lord, only for her to ask his hand in marriage. He is hopelessly unable to defeat her, but she isn’t interested in conquering anything other than his heart! It’s a lot of stupid fun and I wish there was more of it to read.

• Amai-san is Cold and Sweet / Amai-san wa Tsumetakute Amai

This series is hardly a story at all, basically a guy that wants to be a baker/patissier bonds with his next-door neighbor over sweet things. It has all the trappings of a romance series, but it ended up going on hiatus before really getting anywhere. But, it was tasty-looking while it lasted.

Work has been nuts this whole month and I am at least a week behind in just about everything I have been watching, even after dropping a handful of shows mid-season. More recently, I hope everybody got some news they were waiting for during AnimeJapan this past weekend. With that said, it is time to look ahead. The neverending churn of new shows grinds on…

Definitely Watching

• Apotehcary Diaries - This is continuing for another cour. Everybody make sure to check out !theapothecarydiaries@ani.social and shoutout to @sag@ani.social
• I’ve Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years - Season 2! It’s finally here and I am really looking forward to it. I need some chill iyashikei now more than ever.
• Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX - I have never watched a Gundam series before as it airs, so this will be new. Make sure to check out !gundam@ani.social as well!
• Rock is a Lady’s Modesty - I really like the manga for this series, but only the first volume or so has been translated, so I am not sure where it’s going. Looking forward to finding out.

Will Try to Watch (Time Permitting)

• The Too-Perfect Saint - I really enjoy this manga and am curious to see how this got adapted. There is a surprising amount of emotion in this one and I hope that they can build up the emotions as it goes for the payoff later.
• A Ninja and an Assassin Under One Roof - I have enjoyed the manga for this series, but it isn’t a series that I feel like I need to watch after reading the manga. It’s more like I am curious about the adaptation.
• I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! - I have seen people compare this series to one of my favorites, The Eminence in Shadow. So, I am going to try to give it a shot if I can find time.

Might Check Out Depending on Reception

• Apocalypse Hotel - This is an anime original in a post-apocalyptic setting. I kind of have a thing for post-apocalypse stories, so I will probably end up checking this out if it’s interesting.
• Kowloon Generic Romance - This manga has sat on my to-read list for ages. If the anime is well-received, I might just go that route.
• mono - I never watched Yuru Camp, but this is by the same author and I feel like a comfy SOL is just what the doctor ordered for me right now.

Weekly ranking roundup:

1. Anime Corner - Full Results - Weekly Winner: Solo Leveling
2. Reddit Karma - Weekly Winner: Solo Leveling

Credit to /u/Abysswatcherbel for making the chart for reddit karma and /u/Nooble5 for the Anime Trending chart.

Solo Leveling clearing the field this past week. The huge gains in both charts (karma and vote share) show that it must have had a great episode. In fact, the top 3 for both charts are identical which rarely happens.

It’s a perfect follow-up role after playing Alexia in The Eminence in Shadow, where she is also a wannabe pet owner.

I have really, really enjoyed this show. I don’t think it is the best thing I have ever watched or anything like that, but it’s iyashikei vibes are exactly what I need right now. The fact that grandpa knew about the other world wasn’t too surprising after all the hints he gave earlier in the episode, but it was nice that it got confirmed.

Top tier smug pose there

The short chapters were something that Pseudo Harem had as well. I mostly binged that series, so it wasn’t too bad, but this could be painful.

Paging @hitagi@ani.social.

I wish I had your confidence in the Texas judicial system to only apply this law in an appropriate and measured way.

I have hardly read a thing this past week. Work really hit hard this past week and I feel pretty close to becoming an isekai protagonist through overwork. So, instead of writing about what I read this past week, I thought I would share some series that I pretty regularly read, but don’t regularly post about:

• Due to Their Appreciation and Expectations, I Can’t Exploit My Slaves / Dorei kara no Kitai to Hyouka no sei de Sakushu dekinai no daga

This is an incredibly silly isekai series that, if I’m honest, is kind of hard to recommend. The MC is reborn with god-like healing powers and proceeds to buy some slaves for practically nothing due to their extensive injuries. One miraculous healing later, he now has some incredibly OP slaves that are immensely loyal and respect him as some kind of sage. The only problem is that he basically just wants to get down and dirty with them (the “hard to recommend” part), but now he has to maintain this sagely facade. Rinse and repeat as his stable of talented followers grows.

• Anan-san Wants to Combine within 3 Seconds of Meeting! / Anan-san wa Deatte 3-byou de Gattai shitai!

Another hard to recommend series that I have enjoyed nonetheless. Anan-san is an office worker that has a crush on her manager. However, to better understand how to interact with and get his attention, she watched a bunch of porn. So, now she dresses/acts very provocatively, but is extremely innocent and pure at the same time. It’s very silly and contrived, but I have been able to kind of shut off my brain and enjoy it.

• Wolf-chan Wants to Be Clear / Wolf-chan wa Sumashitai

This series is currently on hiatus due to the author having a child, but it’s been a slow, but rewarding burn. The MC is a kuudere girl that has a crush on an extremely outgoing boy in her class. It’s a no-nonsense, straightforward romance that has been a great read so far and I am eagerly awaiting its return.

• Until the Gal and I Become a Married Couple / Boku to Gal ga Fufu ni Narumade

This is the true power fantasy. The MC is a high school boy whose family is deep in debt. Suddenly an extremely wealthy, attractive classmate of his shows up at his door and says that she has paid off all his family’s debt and they will be married int he future. They haven’t yet really gotten into her motivations for doing so yet, but the relationship that ensues is very cute. Another series where I just don’t think too hard about it and just enjoy the romcom vibes.

Work hit me like truck-kun this past week, so I haven’t really been able to watch much of anything. Since I can’t really talk about what I watched this past week, I thought I would use this week’s post to talk about something I have been thinking about, specifically (re)watches of older shows.

Calendar - The Final Boss

I have kind of been thinking about organizing a rewatch of an older series in this community, but haven’t really been sure about the best way to do it. Back in the olden days, the anime subreddit occasionally had rewatches of a show I was interested in watching or rewatching, but their pace of watching a show is usually 1-2 episodes per day and I just could never keep up. So, I was wondering if I were to organize a community watch of a series, what a good pace would be for users here.

Frankly speaking, trying to do a show at a 1-2 episode per day pace is just not possible for me. Instead of watching the series alongside everybody, to maintain that pace, I would basically pre-watch the whole thing and then just schedule threads.

A more realistic pace for me would be something like 1-3 episodes per week, maybe like a M,W,F kind of thing. I have thought about doing 1 episode a week on a day of the week where not a lot of other shows air. For instance, this season has a very slow Monday and Tuesday.

What do other people here think would work for you?

Series - Pick Your Poison

I have a couple series in mind that I thought about having be the first series to watch. I welcome input that others might have on these. I haven’t made up my mind yet.

• Cowboy Bebop - An absolute classic. It has a MAL and AniList id number of 1 for a reason. It runs for 26 episodes and a movie, so it would probably be better to do 2+ episodes per week or it will run for a good chunk of the year.
• Mushishi - My personal favorite anime that I want to evangelize. Also, it is an anthology series, so it would be easy for people to skip an episode here and there and then hop back in. It runs for 36 episodes and 2 OVAs between both seasons, so it would also be quite the commitment.
• A Place Further Than the Universe - A single season show that I have not seen before. I have only heard great things about this show and I have been meaning to check it out for a while and this would be a great source of motivation.
• Cyberpunk Edgerunners - Another single season show I haven’t seen before. Another that has sat on my list to watch at some point.

Additionally, if there is any other suggestions that people have for candidates for this kind of community-run event, that would be more than welcome.

Join the Fun

Finally, if this is something that somebody else wants to organize and run, you are more than welcome to take the reins. There is no reason that I am the only one allowed to organize something like this or have complete control over it. If you want to run a community watch, here are the general guidelines I suggest:

1. Make a post gauging interest before actually starting. See if there are others that want to actually watch with you. This is probably a good place to finalize a pace with those that are interested.
2. Start the community watch, trying your best to stick to the schedule. Community watch threads are not created by rikka automatically, so it’s up to you. If you are going to miss some posts, you can arrange one of the other watchers to make the post in your stead, or use a scheduling tool to plan out your post unattended.
3. Make sure to contribute! If you are running a community watch, make sure that you are kicking off the discussion.
4. Enjoy!

Anyway, just something that’s been on my mind lately. Looking for some early feedback from users that frequent this community enough to bother reading my weekly post threads.