I bumped Weekly Wednesday up to its proper weekly schedule instead of biweekly because I found myself way too willing to write more on a biweekly schedule.

I know, I know. It’s three quarters into the season and my second week on Weekly Wednesday. Why didn’t I start with this? Well, there’s a few reasons for it…

1) I wanted you guys to look into the archive and get used to the style of writing I currently do so that I can start to narrow things down to specific shows later on.

2) There are way too many people who cater towards covering shows on a weekly basis, and I don’t think I am that person. Not yet anyway.

If you want to see me ramble on about shows on an erratic basis, head to Courage, a Word of Justice, where you can find notes on episodes of simulcasts as episodes pop up week by week. (At least, whenever I finish a batch of episodes.)

3) I only take on about 5 shows per season so I don’t overwhelm myself, and the tiny Mahoutsukai no Yome shorts (being an easy binge at 1 minute per episode) decided to take up another position in my weekly watchlist. This is the point I want to talk about the most, because that’s the rest of this post.

So, I’ll probably move my year-end ranking here in a few Weekly Wednesdays’ time, which means I have to reveal what the heck I’m still watching late into the game. So, in the order of excitement I look forward to each show with every week (best first):

Netjuu no Susume: A smaller show at 10 eps, it’s pretty much over at this point. That said, both the MMO struggles and the real life struggles are relatable. Plus, we have a 30 year old protagonist and a cute-as-pie couple. It’s hard not to gush about this show every week during the simulcast commentary, although the artstyle is quite simple. The OP is cute and sweet, and I discovered the ED evolves over the course of the series. I’m a fan of Comico ever since I backed ReLIFE’s manga, which is why I picked this up, but I’m not following the Netjuu no Susume manga.

Juuni Taisen: This one you want to get ahead of because Viz is putting up manga chapters every week plus the novel’s out (haven’t read the novel yet but I plan to find it once I can). It’s hard to take it seriously sometimes because one of the characters is a guy in high heels and a huge rabbit tail, but it unexpectedly tackles big themes like war within its runtime, too. Notably, the biggest misstep in this show is the CGI models in the OP – Dragon and Snake in particular look like plastic models.

Mahoutsukai no Yome: The one show everyone’s talking about is 3rd here. It’s very Ghibli, but has a slow, melancholy mood that makes it better for bingeing which is why its ranking isn’t higher. Episodes 3 and 5 were some incredible spectacles, and probably will be big talking points at the year’s end. I haven’t seen the manga yet, so if I do talk about the anime or the OVA, no manga spoilers please.

Houseki no Kuni: Yet another immersive yet melancholy show, this one’s CGI is a step up from the rest and really makes the inhuman aspects of the gems shine (sorry, bad pun). The reveal of the King was a bit sudden and unexplained, but there’s some interesting points I’d like to discuss about the biology and humanity of it all. Look forward to at least one Weekly Wednesday on this show in the future.

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou: This show doesn’t have a completely straight focus when it tries to develop Big Ideas and Characters of the Day at the same time, but when it focuses on its slice of life aspects (see the segment The Sound of Rain), or just Chito and Yuuri (see the book-burning segment), that’s where this show shines. Its atmosphere and colour palette are both dark, which makes it somewhat of a problem visually on Normal Setting.

After Netjuu no Susume, I’m putting Code: Realise into its space, so I’ll mention my first two episode thoughts on it here too:

Code: Realise: Steampunk anime are the cool new thing since Princess Principal came on to the scene, and a tiny corgi with a peg leg and top hat sweetens the deal considerably. This is a step up from your bland otome protagonist, since Cardia Does Things Along With Her Boys and the overall visuals are pretty, but on the other hand, our protagonist doesn’t emote much…(Admittedly, my reasons for liking this are pretty shallow, and that’s alright, isn’t it?)

…As for series reviews, they may happen every now and again as part of Weekly Wednesdays, but I only watch a few shows at a time to not overwhelm myself. (For instance, somewhere in my future Weekly Wednesday lineup is a fairly conventional Hozuki no Reitetsu season 1 series review, but at the moment it might need some polishing.) However, I don’t intend to make series reviews my bread and butter due to reason 2 above, and I’ll stick to commenting on shows with overarching themes. Something in the same vein as something like Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu and Gender.

So, over to you: what are you watching this season and what do you think about it?