If not for Rudeus' monstruous mana pool they would be all dead. He kept a water wall against three heads dragonbreathing the group.

...hard to talk about this episode without giving spoilers on what comes next. (The LN equivalent is vol12 ch9, by the way.) The fight was exciting, and it ended in such a sorrowful note (Paul is dead, Rudeus lost an arm, there's something wrong with Zenith). A rollercoaster of emotions, really - and it shows how much Rudeus evolved, from the distance towards his Earth parents to the concern about his new ones.

That's mostly for show. The impact of their recent measures on the population pirating stuff is next to zero, and that even if they jail someone you'll get 10 new streamers on their place.

It was the same thing with the alleged seizure of people streaming for TV boxes. (Mine still works fine, by the way.)

!isekai@ani.social is open! Now not just for weaboo, but also for people of culture! ...we're still a buncha weebz.

The ending left me a bit dissatisfied to be honest. Okay, they tied the stooge couple (prince x Alicia), killed the demon lord, had Alicia backstab Yumiella (instead of the two stooges)... but what about Eleonora?

Small cute detail: Ryuu following Patrick's orders. It shows how much time Patrick and Yumiella spent together, to the point that her dragon-sized puppy trusts him.

They finally kissed. THEY FINALLY KISSED! I was waiting since the start of the series for this. But they finally kissed! Fuck yeah!

Having your own parents to send assassins against you is rough. At least she isn't emotionally attached to them, for good or bad.

So there is some "gaming force" trying to railroad the story back into its track! Mostly acting as Alicia's compulsions.

Yumiella and Alicia in the dungeon was everything that I hoped for, plus a bit more! Stating by the dragon-sized puppy transforming the guard's hear into a pool of saliva. Then Alicia calling for her granny to save her. Then Yumiella forcing Alicia to grind the dungeon over and over. Then Alicia seeing her dead grandpa, who says that she isn't ready "for this place" (afterlife) yet. It was fucking perfect.

...and it shows how much over-protecting someone might cripple them. Alicia made far more progress with Yumiella gently encouraging her into a risky situation than the three stooges did all this time by protecting her. ("Gently encouraging"? Who am I trying to fool? She simply threw Alicia into the fire!!)

...fuck, and now I'm bummed. Dragon Ball was what introduced plenty people (including me) to anime; it's like Toriyama-sensei opened a gate for us and said "see this? It's anime. Have fun!". I'm near my 40s and I still have DBZ T-shirts, to give you an idea of the long-term (and positive!) impact of his work.

And when it wasn't anime, it was games. I seriously doubt that Chrono Trigger would be loved by so many people without Toriyama designing the characters. (inb4 that's why Crono resembles Goku.)

May he rest in peace, and my condolences to the family.

This episode was pure joy. From Patrick being unable to invite Yumiella, his blatant jealousy making him forget that humans don't lay eggs, Yumiella taking care of the egg as if it was some cute little pet...

I read the manga and heavily recommend it.

Without spoilers: based on the pacing, odds are that the anime season will end on the equivalent of the manga chapter 60. It's a conclusion of the current short-term events, odds are that it'll feel emotionally fulfilling instead of a cliffhanger.

If you liked the first season odds are that you will be excited for a [potential?] future second season, but... that's it, no Zoltraak feels going after you.

Just like Yumiella sucks at making people like her, she also sucks at making people hate her. It's hilarious how attached Eleonora became, like a blond puppy wagging her tail at the dark magic eldritch abomination. (If the ending didn't spoil you guys enough: Eleonora is a fool. A lovable and loving fool.)

My top 3 would be probably

1. Chainsaw Man - Kick Back. It's the gift that keeps giving; every time that you watch it you'll find something new, and the more that you like it.

Don't get distracted by Power wearing a bikini, or the movie references - look at the details. Makima taking Denji for a walk, Denji seeing carnivorous flowers (a dangerous love), golden balls rolling... Mother's Basement does an amazing job exploring it, way better than I could.

2. Elfen Lied - Lilium. The anime aged poorly, and it's a weak adaptation of the manga, but damn! This OP is beautiful. And the Latin mass actually makes sense in the light of the manga's story:

Switch the genders for a moment and everything falls in place: the "man" enduring temptation is Lucy, asking for forgiveness to a "chastity lily" called Kouta. And she's devoted to him almost religiously - because, even if she's a sinner, he's the one accepting her, giving her peace and serenity, pleading in her defence, as if he was her personal Virgin Mary.

3. Sorairo Days - Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. The song is great, don't get me wrong, but what makes the OP really special for me is that it isn't just "a single OP". The scenes shown in the opening evolve alongside the story in the anime, while keeping the same catchy song. For example, here's what the first ten seconds of the opening tells you:

• up to ep8 - it's the story of three people: Kamina, Yoko, Simon.
• from ep9 to ep16 - it's the story of a whole team that includes Yoko and Simon but much more people.
• from ep17 to the end - it's the story of a boy growing up, Simon.

Except that it isn't just those ten seconds. It's the whole opening that evolves, throws back at earlier events just to push forward, in a way that feels completely natural and consistent with the theme of the anime series - evolving and going forward.

I think that the main boundary is between deciding what you like versus what others should like.

The former is fine; even if someone like "ahneemay" because it's trendy, or avoids fanservice or because the person got tired of [whatever they're watching in USA nowadays, I seriously do not know] and wants something different.

The later however is not. It's just someone being entitled, and expecting people to appease their personal tastes. It doesn't make them just a shitty anime fan, it also makes them a shitty person, unable to deal with the fact that the world does not revolve around their belly button.

Just my two cents.