Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou Season 3

Arifureta is an anime known to many as isekai harem trash, and if not so much any more, it definitely was known for that when season 1 came out, but comparing this to the similar kind of isekai shows with an overpowered MC and a bunch of girls fawning over him that have come out in the past few years, this hits different. This is proven by the very fact that it has received a 3rd season, something a generic isekai could never do. I hope.

A lot of these kinds of shows suffer from either bad character writing or weird pacing, and sometimes both of ... those put together with eerie animation on top of it. By bad character writing I mostly mean MC's going through something similar that Hajime went through, some kind of betrayal or bullying, and then they still somehow have the highest principles of morality and somehow end up forgiving everybody, basically they are painted as the most forgiving, nice and kind characters and do things humans would never do in their situation.

This show thankfully doesn't suffer from that, even in season 3. It knows what it is and who's the audience. Hajime went through bad betrayal, almost lost his life, and that is reflected on how he acts going forward. He values people who he cares about or is close to and doesn't give a damn about anybody else. In addition he doesn't act all edgy and ''above everybody'' for no reason, he knows he's strong because he has defeated labyrinths.

The same goes for the girls around him, they are not there for a nonsensical reason, almost all of them are around him with a good explainable reason. Almost, because Kaori liking him was kind of like in any other isekai. But then again, it's not like Hajime has an uncontrolled ego, he always prioritizes Yue and tries to keep it that way, he doesn't go for every girl just because he has a chance to, Hajime has set in stone values, and that is reflected even in season 3.

In terms of pacing, Arifureta definitely feels about average or maybe even a bit more fast-paced, which is definitely better than most of the isekai anime nowadays, that set out some random goal, and in the end nothing happens and you feel like the story didn't progress at all, or they skip over half the plot and leave the watcher with only questions, but it is already season 3 after all, so maybe the pacing is right and I just don't want this show to end, either or. Arifureta's story feels meaningful, actual progress gets made, and new powers discovered, although this show definitely deserves a few episodes for deeper worldbuilding, especially since it's already the 3rd season and the people who didn't enjoy the show have already left. As it seems by the pacing though, most likely not all volumes will be adapted into season 3, meaning we might just get a 4th season.

Altogether, season 3 is the continuation of the story and it seems to keep getting better. The Haulia tribe arc was great, and as it's only at episode 6 at the time of writing, one can only hope that the ending of this season doesn't miss.

TL;DR
The show doesn't deserve the bad rep it seems to get, as it's character writing and worldbuilding are miles above most other similar isekai. Season 3 is great and for anybody who enjoyed the first 2 seasons, this is a treat.