It's up on Random Curiousity, so let's see if the trend of ridiculously overstuffed anime seasons does continue.
Quite a lot of shows for which I already dislike the very concept, so leaving out stuff like
Dungeon Meshi,
Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete,
Isekai de Mofumofu Nadenade suru Tame ni Ganbattemasu,
Sokushi Cheat ga Saikyou Sugite, Isekai no Yatsura ga Marude Aite ni Naranaindesu ga and
Ore dake Level Up na Ken. I'm just not into the basic concepts of the show, so I can safely put them aside to focus on the stuff which is a bit more in my general direction. Maybe I've become a bit of an anime contrarian (or just an entertainment contrarian in general, I also found
Baldur's Gate 3 to be quite overrated), where, when I see a show being hyped up too much in advance, like
Chainsaw Man, I instinctively develop a dislike for it. Sometimes it turns out that the concept is actually very interesting, like
Sousou no Frieren, but at least for
Solo Leveling I can already tell that the very premise feels like complete shit to me.
Mato Seihei no Slave: So, let's be frank here: This one is mostly interesting for the ecchi value. It may even have a decent story and good action. I am very much not down with this trend in anime of normalizing slavery (where the fuck did this come from, anyway?), but I intend to overlook it when it's just treated as a gimmick, like here. They could have called the male MC just as easily a "servant", but whatever. Three episodes.
Sasaki to Pii-chan: Another one of the "Salaryman isekai" shows, with a premise which elicits a big "eh" from me. One episode.
Chiyu Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata: Senjou wo Kakeru Kaifuku Youin: Ah, yes. "The wrong way to use healing magic", i.e. beating dudes up. ^^ The concept seems to be pretty fun at its base, so I'll put two episodes into checking it out.
Kekkon Yubiwa Monogatari: Oh, it's an isekai where the MC actually goes there on his own will to get the girl. Well, at least the concept is interesting, so one episode.
MASHLE Kami Shinkakusha Kouho Senbatsu Shiken-hen: Dammit, I need to finish season one of "Fantasy One-Punch Man".
As soon as I've done this, I'll check this one out.
Saikyou Tank no Meikyuu Kouryaku ~Tairyoku 9999 no Rare Skill-mochi Tank, Yuusha Party wo Tsuihou sareru: Hm, a combo of "I am the tankiest" and "kicked from the hero's party". I mean, at least it looks kinda promising? Two episodes.
Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasareta node, Henkyou de Slow Life suru Koto ni Shimashita 2nd: Talking about "kicked from the hero's party", this is the show which actually delivered well on that premise, so we'll have to see if a second season can continue with the premise in an interesting way. Three episodes and a likely pick-up.
Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuu Kimama na Hanayome Seikatsu wo Mankitsu suru: Hum, reincarnation anime where the female MC is already on reincarnation seven and now has to romance the guy who murdered her in a previous loop. I mean... interesting story set-up for sure. Two episodes.
Nozomanu Fushi no Boukensha: Whoo, boy. Look, I really liked
Skeleton Knight in Another World. I even got the light novels, which I've only done otherwise for
Mushoku Tensei. But the show was very comedic at time and at least Arc covered up his being a Skellyman with a gigantic armor and is on a trajectory to permanently get his body back. This here... I guess we'll have to see if it can even come close to Arc and his friends. Two episodes.
SYNDUALITY Noir Cour 2: It's a unicorn! I mean a mecha show! Alright, the mech designs are kinda goofy, but not the worst I've seen in my years, even if they are CG. The first season was also solid in terms of storytelling and characters. So, this is the first 100% pick-up of the season.
Oroka na Tenshi wa Akuma to Odoru: High-school romance between a devil and an angel. Literally. I guess it depends on how fun the first episode is, because this gets one episode.
Akuyaku Reijou Level 99: Watashi wa Ura-Boss desu ga Maou dewa Arimasen: Ah, the "cute girl is a misunderstood super powerful hero, but everybody sees her as a villain" thing. Which is not exactly a unique premise, but lives and falls on the likeability of everyone involved. The previews looked nice enough, so this gets three episodes.
Gekai Elise: Another villainess anime, where I happened to already have read the manga and therefore know that it's more of a romance story. I guess it depends for me how well they translate the story from page to the screen, so two episodes.
Metallic Rouge: Okay, this kinda vibes of
Blade Runner, so we'll have to see if the show can deliver on it. Two episodes.
Yuuki Bakuhatsu Bang Bravern: Oh, another mecha show! This one seems to be quite a bit more on the serious side, with mecha designs which seem to fall more on the practical/BattleTech-ey side of things. Could be interesting. Three episodes.
Majo to Yajuu: Mystery/monster anime, which seems to also fall into the more serious side of things. Two episodes.
Saijaku Tamer wa Gomi Hiroi no Tabi wo Hajimemashita: Aw, god, another "weak monster tamer who secretly is the strongest ever!" anime. One episode and only reluctantly.
So, 17 shows, of which only one is an automatic pick-up (and it's a sequel) and I would say a lot of the shows are still in the "I first got to check it out to see if it's any good" territory. Well, at least
Sousou no Frieren is still going on and keeping strong, so I got two shows all sewn up.
But it seems so far that the basic premise that winter seasons are slimmer pickings does hold up. I presume I'll be left with 5 - 6 shows to follow (which is still a lot compared to only two years ago!), but it's a far cry from the last two seasons, which were just stuffed to the gill with shows to watch.