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I finally got to watch Zoku Owarimonogatari and I have to say that it was very interesting. We can finally talk about it now :D

How Araragi met every one of his regrets along the way and sort of resolved them was very well done. It didn't occur to me before it was explained, but once they explained it it made a lot of sense. Of course it kept all the usual Monogatari strengths like clever use of language and funny and unique gags, while also giving us something we didn't get before in the series. I loved how we got to see inner personalities of everyone (besides Senjougahara). They were all interesting and believable. Inner Shinobu sure is dangerous :'D Ononoki was really fun too, it's a shame that we only saw her for a while.
Finally meeting Gaen Tooe was quite interesting as well. I loved her personality. That's certainly not how I imagined her.

The way visuals were done during the reveal was great too. It enhanced Ougi's menace even more. I really loved her in that reveal. The ending was the best part of the whole thing imo. The fact that it ended in the same classroom that Owarimonogatari started in was a nice touch. In a way it's a shame that we only got to see Ougi at the very end, but on the other hand that made her part so much better. The way Ougi sat on that desk also reminded me of the way Araragi sat at the end of Owari S2. History repeats itself for sure :^) The fact that it wasn't Araragi that got transported into the mirror world, but rather that the mirror world itself got transported was unexpected and welcome way to finish the story.
A great finish for a great series. I certainly want to rewatch the whole show again when I learn Japanese to explore all the word plays in it. I really loved that about the series and I bet I only understood fraction of them. There is a lot of ingenuity in that aspect.

What were your thoughts about Zoku?

No problem :)

Thanks for your opinion, I think it's going to be helpful. I will check out the show when I'm done with Cardcaptor Sakura, which I'm currently watching, and Zoku Owari. From what you say it could indeed be interesting.

Now to Carole & Tuesday. That's kinda difficult topic in its own right, even if in a different way :D Personally I found the show to be disappointing. I wasn't fan of the music, although it was good for what is usually used in these types of shows, but it wasn't up to my taste personally. Nonetheless my biggest problem was with story and character development. Story tried to fit in too many things without going deeper into any of them and ended up being rather flat.
There were also several glaring inconsistencies from the world building perspective, especially when it came to seemingly sentient machines existing in the show yet all character acting like this wasn't possible. Another aspect was that it was supposed to be advanced civilization capable of colonizing Mars yet so many things looked like 20th century America. And this was especially visible in flashback of one of the characters that looked like it happened in 80s. It's not possible for civilization like that to colonize Mars in 20-30 years, as we can see right now :D That was just weird and immersion breaking for me.
Characters ended up being rather flat as well. They pretty much got no significant development from episode 1, especially for Carole. Tuesday got a bit of development here and there, but it wasn't sufficient to make her interesting, since she was the more boring of the two from the get go.

I ended up giving it 6/10 because of the decent art and music that, while to my taste, was pretty good for this type of show. And story definitely had a lot of potential, although it ended up wasted. But it had some good moments here and there, and it was kinda unique, so for that I decided to give it slightly favorable rating in spite of all the faults.

I think it would really benefit off either being longer or just focus on one particular theme and its relation to music, which it unfortunately didn't do. It started with focus on music made by humans vs music made by technology, which imo could have been a good theme if done right. Then it shifted off to so many other directions like personal drama, politics, show business and more, while still kinda trying to focus on its original theme. Many episodes also essentially ended up being filler that didn't add up to any overreaching plot which made it further time constrained.
Overall I don't really get the hype around that show because it has many faults and little to offer. I hope I didn't spoil anything, I tried to be as general as possible while addressing the faults and the few strengths that the show had as closely as possible.

Thanks. That sounds like a nice instrument to play :)

I play it in English. There is English translation out there, I suppose you missed it somehow. Here is the guide. Playing it in Japanese could be nice for sure if you have the skill though. I learned Japanese for a bit some years back, but then I kinda gave up when I realized how many kanji there are out there. I have been thinking of picking it up again recently since I studied memory techniques a bit and I'm now more confident to remember stuff, including kanji, but I haven't gotten around to it yet :(

From the new shows I'm also hyped for Tower of God (and also Noblesse) since I also heard a lot of good things about it. Besides that I'm also hyped for Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta... for the same reason, even though it's not the type of show I usually watch. I also like that MC kinda looks like Iori from Idolm@ster :D
I didn't have much interest in Arte, but reading about it closer it could be interesting if done right, even if historical shows based outside of Japan are quite often disappointing due to the lack of accuracy.
If we consider it a new show then also Date A Bullet, since I heard it's superior to Date A Live and features Kurumi as MC. It's technically a spin-off though.
I didn't hear about Bishounen Series before, though I agree the name isn't convincing (:'D), the fact that it's Nisio Ishin's work make me interested in it. So far I loved both of the shows based on his works that I read (Katanagatari and Monogatari Series).

From the continuations I'm looking forward to Kingdom S3, Re:Zero S2, Mahouka Koukou no Rettosei S2, Tsugumomo S2, Yuru Camp S2 and Zombieland S2 and AoT S4. I'm also going to watch Muhyo to Roji S2 because I quite enjoyed S1, so you aren't the only one :)
I'm not exactly looking forward to FB S2 since as I said S1 was kinda disappointing, but since everyone says it should be better I will check it out.
I heard from any people that Neverland gets worse after arc covered in S1, so I'm a bit careful about that, but I will check it out. Although I think you mentioned before that you thought story was still good later, so maybe I will still like it regardless.

As for No Guns Life it was kinda interesting at first, but it became a bit boring later. Some things in terms of world building also didn't make sense imo. It has decent action and has that kind of sci-fi and kinda post-apocaliptic (even if that's not quite the case) feeling to it, which is usually nice, but it didn't impress me. Characters also weren't that interesting imo. I dropped it around episode 3 or 4 and I don't plan to pick it up again.

Since I noticed that you have watched it, what are your thoughts on Hyoka? I have been thinking about watching it, but I have gotten quite mixed reactions about it. Since we are fairly compatible with our tastes I'm interested in your opinion :)

Oh, that sounds like an interesting field. Best of luck in your studies :)

Thanks, I also really love that picture. It's so funny when I imagine Shinobu as Joutarou :'D Even if, both being blonde vampires, Shinobu as Dio could be pretty damn nice too when talking about JoJo crossovers.

Yes, I agree that Shouen/Shoujo Ai and Yuri/Yaoi have a lot of untapped potential. Shows like Yagate Kimi ni Naru certainly show that. I'm looking forward to watch Given someday and hopefully genre itself will eventually go down a bit more serious and less fan service-y and fetishized path, because that certainly makes many of them cringy to watch. If done more seriously it can have all the good aspects of regular romance and more due to the circumstances same-sex couples face. It has very good drama potential imo.

Oh, so you a musician? That's nice! :) I'm not playing any instrument myself, but I have an interest in eventually learning some instrument for some time now. Although my interest lies more in classical instruments, especially violin. What instrument/s do you play?

Lord El-Melloi had some issues and wasted potential for sure. But I really liked some of the characters, especially Waver and Reines, and I'm a huge Fate fan, so it was still enjoyable for me. But especially in second half I think they took a bit too long on some arcs while in the beginning they rushed the cases. Also one big problem was that due to the magic being involved it was practically impossible for us viewers to make our own theories as to who did it and that's a big problem for a mystery show. It's important to give viewer opportunity to try to figure it out. Therefore it was very depended on other plot elements and those unfortunately had their weaknesses. But I still enjoyed it regardless.

I'm still waiting for all three HF movies to come out before watching them in one go. Unfortunately we don't really have any cinemas airing anime movies here, so I will just have to watch it at home. But I'm certainly looking forward to watching it. I also started to play Fate VN, although I'm progressing quite slowly, so I'm also considering whether I should watch the movies first or read HF route first.

Since neither of us is quite caught up with the present I will ask about the future. Besides Fumetsu no Anata e what other upcoming shows, if any, are you looking forward to? :)

I'm glad that you are liking it so far and that you are alright :) If you don't mind me asking, what are you studying? And don't worry about text walls, my own reply was (and again is) a text wall too after all :D I enjoy reading your messages.

If you are liking JoJo already during season 1, which is arguably the worst season, then you have something to look forward to. Personally I also loved S1 a lot though, I'm not sure why so many people consider it to be that season you just have to force through :/ And yeah, the name Bizzare Adventure perfectly fits the show, it's so bizzare, yet really great in so many ways :D
Let me know when there is anything you want to discuss about it :)

If it's from the same author as KnK then I'm going to check it out when it comes out. I really loved that movie.

I need to watch Somali, I heard a lot of good things about it. Ishuzoku is certainly very based around ecchi, but as bizzare as that is, that's actually what makes it good. If it had some overreaching story I think it would get it would get in the way. The fact that whole world is set up with that in mind makes it fun because it's not out of place as it usually is in most ecchi series. But I can certainly see why some people wouldn't like it. Nonetheless for me it's really hilarious series. If you are ever looking for stupid comedy give it a chance at least. Maybe you will like it, and if not you can always drop it.

I should pick up Kaguya-sama again at some point. I put it on-hold after few episodes and then I never got back to it. I also plan to watch Given since a lot of people said it's great and I don't mind Shounen Ai/Yaoi as long as it's good.
I can see why you wouldn't like Araburu since it's really unconventional as far as anime Romance shows go. But that's exactly what I liked about it. I really loved how it explored themes that most shows do not explore in unique ways and that it didn't censor itself and went further than most anime do. It might not have explored them as deeply as it could due to time constraints, but it was interesting watch.

I watched Kanata no Astra, but it didn't make it to the highlights, mostly because as good as the second half was the first half was pretty boring imo. There were also some plot holes in the second half which kinda decreased my enjoyment of it. But it was interesting series and the reveal at the end was really good.
Fruits Basket was kinda average for me. Not much happened and most characters were pretty normal. It's an old manga so to a degree that's understandable, but I didn't enjoy it as much because of that. People assure me it will get better in season 2, so lets see if it changes my opinion.
As for OPM it lost a lot in terms of animation quality and art was also a bit worse which was a deal breaker for me. I read the manga so I know the story already and therefore it had nothing that would interest me. But for people who don't read manga story should still be enough to keep it interesting. Garo is really fun villain and it has some pretty cool fights and develops other heroes outside of Saitama himself nicely.

Let me know what you think about Babylon when you finish it, I'm interested in hearing your opinion :D Same for Beastars, it was quite unconventional, but really interesting and fun.
I dropped SAO S3 during the first arc, so I can't really speak much about that.

I watched Psycho Pass, although I have to finish S3. I kinda put it on-hold and never got to it again. But it was really fun season. Better than S2 to be sure, even if not as good as S1. At least until the point where I saw it. It might still get better later.
As for my general opinion on the franchise, it has some issues here and there in terms of world building imo, because some things don't really make sense. Like dominators completely blowing people apart, which if we assume they want people to remain mentally healthy is not something they should be seeing regularly. But otherwise season 1 of Psycho Pass was really good. It had a great villain and protagonists were also good. Plot was interesting and fairly unique and the world was pretty dystopian, but it was enjoyable to see how it reacts to what happens in the story. Season 2 unfortunately didn't deliver on the hype after season 1, having much weaker villain and worse protagonists as well. I don't remember much from it, but it was overall disappointing. Because of that I had my doubts as to whether I should watch S3 at all, but I'm glad that I did. The movies released between S2 and S3 were interesting, even if they could have been better. But I liked them, especially the second movie was really fun since we got to see more of one character that I really liked in S1. The season 3 itself had better plot than S2, although it was still a bit lacking in comparison to first season. Villain is a bit more ambiguous which is interesting way of doing it. Overall the first few episodes that I saw were engaging and I'm looking forward to finish it someday.

And now to OPs, EDs and OSTs. I think that last year wasn't as good in this aspect. There is no opening or ending that I downloaded to listen to more regularly and no OST that particularly stood out to me. That being said there were still some good ones. For openings I think that Chihayafuru S3, Beastars, Toaru (both Index and Accelerator), Vinland Saga, Lord El-Melloi, SNK S3 and Dororo were good. Endings are along the same lines. As for OSTs this is a bit more difficult. Vinland had really good OST, not good to listen to on its own, but it really fit the show and scenes in it. Mob Psycho II and Dororo also had really good OSTs. Chihayafuru has the best OST of any of its seasons so far. Beastars and Lord El-Melloi were also nice. But there nothing on masterpiece level like Madoka, Monogatari et al. This year is more promising with Magia Record in the first season.
Which were notable for you?

Yeah, it's been really long. It's really nice to hear from you again. I was just thinking of writing you myself over the last few days to see how you are doing. I hope that besides being busy things are going well for you. No problem with not writing for a while, I understand :) Hopefully we will be able to write a bit more again. How is your university going so far?

I haven't gotten to Zoku yet, since I was waiting for good subs for a long time and then I thought I would rewatch it, but then I hit sort of anime slump around the time I got to Owari S1 so I put my rewatch on hold ._. But I have been recovering from it recently, so I thought I would finish Owari S1 and 2 this week and then watch Zoku this weekend, but some things got in the way. Nonetheless I'm really looking forward to watch it soon.
I agree that Mayoi Hell was an excellent arc and Shaft did a really good job with the art there as well. I also liked the whole outcome of that arc and how Mayoi became a new goddess. Ougi dark was very interesting and weird at the same time. One of the reasons I decided to rewatch the series, besides to make sure I remember everything when I watch Zoku, was to see what I will think about it the second time around. I really enjoyed that arc and it had a kind of menacing atmosphere no other arc really had. It was really peculiar and finish was great and unexpected at the same time though. It was one of the most enjoyable arcs overall and made me really like Ougi as well, since we got to know her more.
I'm also hoping that they will finish other seasons. I think chances are good, but lets see.

Because of my slump I'm also not as caught up as I could be. I have been watching less seasonals quite consistently throughout the last year. But this season is pretty solid, so I have been watching more again. My personal highlights this season are:
Chihayafuru S3: certainly expected after first 2 seasons, but still good that it didn't loose anything and improved on some things compared to previous seasons. Especially soundtrack is better, and I probably enjoy matches the most this season.
Runway no Waratte: this show uses pretty traditional Shounen formula, but it's pretty well executed imo, even if I'm not fan character designs.
Ishuzoku Reviewers: there was a meme upvoting of this show, but it's also genuinely good for ecchi show, certainly a surprise of the season for me since I rarely enjoy shows like that. It's very explicit though, which is good imo because it allows it to make things more natural than they are in most ecchi shows, but it might also be off-putting for some.
Dorohedoro: I'm still not sure what to think about this show, it's really weird and I think it's not necessarily positive, but it's interesting and has some good action)
Magia Records: as expected of Madoka side story it's interesting, though there are some things I don't like about the way it does things, because it breaks some things in OG Madoka a bit. Story is kinda average as well, but production quality is good, which I'm glad for since Shaft lost bunch of skilled animators last year and I was worried it would affect them badly, but it seems alright. And of course soundtrack is excellent as expected.
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S3: this revived my hope for the franchise after the disaster that was Majutsu no Idex S3. I enjoy the plot so far and art and animation are also looking better. The story of Railgun was also always a bit more engaging. The delays because of Corona outbreak are unfortunate though.

I really enjoy Toaru franchise too, as can be seen from the fact that Raigun S3 got on my list :D Though I have to say that Majutsu no Index S3 was really disappointed and I just dropped it at some point. I guess I should read the novels if any more seasons are announced. But Railgun is going strong as always. I always loved that part more, so I'm glad it received better treatment. It certainly has a bit old school feel, as can be expected of old novel, but it's not bad. It gives me the kind of nostalgia that shows adapting newer sources can't. Abilities are really well thought out on the esper side, possibly one of the reasons why I enjoy Railgun more. I should also finish Accelerator series, I was in my anime slump when it was coming out, and still affected by my memories of Majutsu S3 I never finished it. But seeing more Accelerator and Last Order was nice. Last Order is the best Misaka :^) I agree Index is certainly quite annoying, even if I also have sweet spot for her a bit since Majutsu no Index was one of my early shows and I think the first show I watched fully with English subs.

I hope you will enjoy JoJo. I really love that franchise. It's so unique. It certainly has common Shounen elements, but it also has a lot more. I love how the art changes throughout and it has a way of making viewer like all the characters in the show, even if some are certainly better than others. How far have you got so far? I wouldn't want to spoil you something.

What is Fumetsu no Anata e? I didn't hear about that before.

And now to get to my general thoughts and highlights about the last year. I think it had very good beginning with great shows like JoJo part 5, first season of Slime (second half got really meh though), Mob Psycho (as we also talked about before), Dororo, Isekai Quartet, Bungou Stray Dogs S3, SNK S3 (Especially the world building in part 1 was great, even if part 2 was a bit too action focused and empty otherwise. But taken together it was the best SNK season so far). But in the second half it got more meh. There were still some great shows like Vinland Saga or Araburu Kisetsu no Otome Domo yo. (one of my favorite Romance shows. It gave me hope for the genre at the point where I pretty much lost all of it :D), LotGH Die Neue These Seiran, Lord El-Melloi no Jikenbo, Beastars and Babylon. But otherwise I dropped or never finished most of the shows that aired in second part of the last year. This is probably also in part due to my anime slump, but my anime slump was certainly also in part a result of that. This year is starting out weaker than the last year did, but hopefully it will be more consistent.
If you are looking for shows to watch from the last year I certainly recommend you to check out the shows that I mentioned :) Especially Vinland and Araburu. From a bit lesser tier, but still great, shows I also recommend Babylon (even if the finish was a bit disappointing) and Beastars.

What about you, from the shows that you have seen from the last year, how was it for you?

If I remember correctly you are from Italy, right? I'm not sure from where though, so I hope that with the recent Corona outbreak you and your family are alright \(^^)/

About Dororo, I really enjoy it so far. It's up there with JoJo part 5, Yakusoku and Mob Psycho as one of the best shows this season, and could possibly end up being one of the best show this year, especially as it was announced to be 2 cour show, so hopefully there will be no rushed ending, which I was also worried about. I also liked Dororo less at the beginning, although I always liked her, but either way she has been growing on me more and more as it goes on. I really enjoyed her backstory, as sad as it was. Also the reveal about Dororo's gender really took me by surprise. I was really convinced that Dororo is a boy before. I also have to say that her VA does a really good job, and especially in the last few episodes I have been really enjoying Dororo's voicing. And chemisty between Dororo and Hyakkimaru makes this all the better. I still like Hyakkimaru a bit more though.
Mio's death was really sad, that's for sure. I kinda expected it to come, it was heavily hinted, so it didn't made me as emotional, but seeing Hyakkimaru's reaction nonetheless made it rather impactful.
Interestingly though, so far I enjoyed episode 7 the most, even though plot-wise it's really not very important, but interesting love between monster and human, and overall events that happened in that episode made me really enjoy it.
After events at the end of episode 10 which I won't spoil for you, I'm really looking forward to episode 11, it could turn out to be rather interesting.

I have finished Owari S2 already. It was really interesting, and I have not expected Ougi's identity to be like that. I kinda liked how she went from essentially antagonist into a "good" party once again. I really enjoyed the ending, and how Ararararagi-san refused to let her be eaten by darkness. It isn't my favorite Monogatari part, it had it's boring moments too, especially in the beginning, but it nonetheless makes integral part of Monogatari story-line. I really enjoyed all the interactions between the characters though, although that applies to pretty much all of Monogatari, as their relationships at this point in the story are most developed, they were also most enjoyable. This part was quite important in terms of Ougi's development though, and that I thoroughly enjoyed. It made her go from one of the more interesting side characters into character that I really started to like, in spite, or maybe exactly because of that menacing feeling that she gives off. I also really enjoyed the visual story telling in this part, even more so than in other parts. I was also really glad to see Mayoi back, and being made into a goddess no less. Her antics with Koyomi are some of my favorites.
Overall, now that I'm up to date with the series, if I discount Zoku that doesn't seems to have a good translation out yet, I found out that I really fell in love with Monogatari a lot. I have thought a lot about it recently, and it's also one of the few anime series that made me want to re-watch it eventually, possibly soon. It's becoming one of my most favorite anime series so far.

About Boogiepop, I plan to continue it at some point, but currently I'm rather behind. But since I'm out of my anime slump now, I will continue it when I get up to date with some other series, and then we can talk about it :) My biggest issue now is that they released so many episodes out of nowhere, which makes getting back to it kinda difficult :D What were your thoughts about Owari S2?

No problem :)

I'm really enjoying Mob Psycho too. I always liked Reigen, but before mostly just as a comedic relief. But this season he has been really dependable and helped Mob develop. I also really liked the whole part when he was set up and blamed of scamming. It showed his inner character a bit more, and it was interesting. Now the biggest question of this season remains whether Reigen gets payed his property insurance or not :D And Mob getting more and more development is really great. It also sets Mob Psycho as visibly different from OPM in being more serious, while OPM more comedic.

It was heartbreaking to see Mob's reaction to seeing the burning corpses, I really appreciated how Dimple managed to quickly improvise and stop Mob before it was too late. It was a relief to see that it indeed wasn't anything serious in the end. It was also nice to see the characters from S1 back, I'm enjoying conflict between the Scars in the last episodes. Now that Mob has finally woke up I can't wait to see him kick some ass. The Scars boss' world domination plan is gonna crash really fast. Though I'm surprised that he actually managed to gather proper manpower, I thought that his plan is done for when the government espers were onto him. I also can't wait to see whether old man really betrayed them or whether he is just attempting to scam Scars into letting him closer to the boss now that they have been found out, which I suspect might be the case.

I also enjoy all the characters interacting with each other, and seeing all the bonds that Mob has managed to built up since the beginning. It was really touching to see the body improvement club members trying to protect Mob from being beaten up by the macho esper. Especially when captain tried to shield him with his own body.
Animation is as good as ever, and seeing all the interesting esper powers in action is really fun too. These recent episodes were really stellar imo. This season just might be a new 10 if it continues like this.

Neverland is amazing too. I really didn't expected that there was a cliff behind the wall. They sure trolled them hard. Now I can't wait to see what happens next, since they can't go through the wall, nor can they go through the gate presumably. Unless they can fly somehow which may be possible, but they don't have the materials nor time to figure out how available. I feel like the next episodes, and subsequent escape, are going to be really important. If it's done wrong it might take a lot from the show, but if it's done right, and I'm sure it will be, it might just end up 10 as well. I especially want to see how they are going to escape while leaving Norman alive, considering how they have little to no time left and no plan B to escape. I presume that whatever sister Krone left to them will be of utmost importance in the following events, so I can't wait to see what it is. It's really quite cliffhanger-ish now.

I also really enjoyed that reveal of Ray as double agent, I didn't expect that. I also have to hand it to him that ordering seemingly random items throughout the years to make a device to break the tracking devices was really ingenious. He cemented himself as the best character in the show so far. I also really like how, in spite of acting all cold and detached on the outside, he is in fact really doing his best to escape with everyone (or at least everyone he deems capable of it) without wanting to let Norman die, even if it may have endangered the escape. I really like how rational he is while still keeping feelings underneath the logic.

As mediocre as most shows this season are, there are some real gems as well. It just remains to be seen how they turn out in the end.

What are your thoughts? And I'm also enjoying Dororo a lot still, what are your thoughts on that, if you are still keeping up to date with in spite of the business?

Also nice change of PP. I really like how menacing Ougi is.
And I hope that whatever is keeping you so busy will go smooth and end up successfully :) Faito! :D

It must certainly be quite strange to suddenly hear for someone who never has. I can see that it would distract and annoy him before he gets used to it. But I'm sure that over time he will understand that hearing have a lot of advantages as well, and utilizes it to the fullest. It's nice that they accounted for that fact however, as it makes it more realistic. Overall this was a rather sad episode, though. Hyakkimaru getting hurt like that, as well as the whole business with the girl and the ultimate death of the girl and the kids were all sad in their own right. And for them to get killed just as their dream could begin to manifest. I agree that pattern that something bad usually happens just as Hyakkimaru regains his sense is sad and worrying, as well as interesting. It makes me interested in what will happen when he regains his sight, but a bit worried too. It was nice to see the monk again too.
How did you find latest Mob Psycho episode? :)

I'm sorry for late reply, I was a bit busy.

I also really enjoyed this episode. I felt that art was a little sloppy at times, but that was the only notable issue. Other than that, I enjoyed every part of this episode. I felt a bit sorry for the possesed guy. He seemed like quite a kind person before, and due to the influence of the sword he was changed into such a cruel person. It was sad that he had to die. I wonder if the change would have reverted if he survived, as he wasn't deemed as evil by Hyakkimaru's sight. But alas, we will never know. Though in a way, I suppose that his death was the retribution for the cruelties that he has committed, even if he was partly innocent. I'm glad that at least the sword was destroyed and it won't cause any more people to loose their path. I really enjoyed the fight in this episode, as it was really close. Even if it was clear that Hyakkimaru will win in the end, as he is the MC after all, there was a considerable feeling of suspension nonetheless. I also second that Dororo was really cute this episode, especially when trying to stop the sword, as well as when he was saved by Hyakkimaru. Overall I enjoy their mutual chemistry a lot. I was also nice that Hyakkimaru got his hearing back, even if I agree it's sad that the first sound he had to hear was crying. At least there was the sound of storm as well, though. I like the sounds of storm, showing nature's might in all its glory. I'm sure it was nice for Hyakkimaru as well. I wonder if hearing storm as the first thing of getting his hearing back have deeper meaning or not. I also feel sorry for the sister, to get and loose her brother in a single day after not seeing him for 5 years. Especially as they clearly had a very good relationship before. So far Dororo cements it's place among top 3 best shows this season.

And since episode 5 should be already out, how did you find it? :)

I agree that SAO was pretty bad. I'm not going to pick it apart to the details again like last week, but either way, I found it hard to enjoy this episode. Well, not entirely, as it was the case of being so bad it's kind of funny, but that's not a plus in my book. I will however mention the things that I consider as the most notable issues (and in the end I ended up picking them apart quite a bit again D:).
First right in the beginning of an episode, Kirito and Alice somehow managed to catch themselves by stabbing swords into the tower. This is a very important plot point, as the whole episode is centered on it, and the rest of the plot is likely to depend on it. But when they fell out, they were clearly flown outside by the wind, so I find it hard to believe that they could get close enough to the wall to do it while free-falling down. With beginning already being like this, it made it all the harder to enjoy the rest. Obviously I already got used to the fact that physics goes out of the window more often than not in anime. But in this case it was entirely avoidable and it really could easily abide by the laws of physics. It did not add anything to enjoyment either, even if that is somewhat individual. But I can't but blame the author again. I bet that he just wanted to create the situation where Kirito and Alice have to cooperate to forge a bond between them, and wasn't creative enough to think up of a more believable reason, so he went with that.

And with this is tied the second, and even worse point, which is how Alice turned into damsel in distress midway. It's very usual approach in SAO, but that's certainly one of its bad parts. And considering how Alice has been shown as strong and capable, suddenly switching her into damsel in distress at plot's convenience, without proper reasoning, is just plain bad writing, even if by no means unusual, but that makes it all the worse. Even if we account for that she never climbed a tower while hanging on poles, it's not like Kirito ever did either. And yet, even as she is shown self-confident and strong person, suddenly she is scared for no reason. Obviously it must be uncomfortable experience to hang in the air like that, but I don't see that as convincing enough reason to make her act as she did.
And then when that was already somewhat done with it happened again when the demons attacked. And in even worse way, imo. Of course, she would be rather surprised to find them in such a place. But she is a trained knight and a soldier, and one of the strongest ones at that. Regardless of how surprising it may be, she must be capable of protecting herself properly without falling to disarray as she did. Again, it seems like a weak excuse to make Kirito save her to create a bond between them, so they can "save" her without defeating her.

There was also the whole point of Kirito doing acrobacy, standing like a master on those thin, cylindric poles, and even pulling up Alice, while wearing those boots with thick soles. Even with the best of mobility it would require masterful skills to balance on it normally, all the more so while pulling a weight. So doing it in such boots is just out of place. This was all the more shown with Alice doing it, albeit with less capability, while wearing those armored boots that should be both slippery when placed on another piece of metal, as well completely undeformable, which should make balancing impossible. Author may not be necessarily to blame for this, it might just be A-1's fault, but I assume that author has written it with that in mind. And my inner engineer says that wind should have considerable force in such altitude, so balancing on those poles without holding on anything is all the more stupid.
If we assume that they breath, air should also be fairly thin in such height, which again would make it no easier. Even if trained person may be able to put up with it, which Alice might be given how she flies and fights on dragons, Kirito is a different matter.

It was a mess of an episode for sure. At least it still had those great looks, so I have to give props to A-1 again on that. At least one part is not disappointing in these episodes.

I find it hard to describe how I feel about new Boogiepop's episode. I would say that I enjoyed it more than last 2 episodes. Maybe due to dropped expectations as well. I still found it slightly boring at times, but there were some interesting things happening as well. I have to say that I appreciate how they make several, seeming unrelated, things happen at the same time, and having characters not acquaintanced with each other involved in them. But I think that they aren't using that aspect quite right, and it's making it confusing in a bad way. Some anime can make very good use of confusion, such as Baccano!, but in this case it's the opposite. It doesn't feel like intentional confusion (even if it was probably partly intentional). It's more that they fail at executing the events properly. That's the main issue of Boogiepop since the beginning. I think director is not doing it justice.

I'm rather intrigued about the girl as well, however. It was interesting to see her show feelings when the boy (I really fail to remember their names in this, there is too many characters :D) [was] attacked [by] the rocker (or maybe it's more of a punker) guy. Since she was presumably brainwashed like others, she should not show feelings. I wonder why that is. I also wonder why did the android guy not brainwash the boy as well when he beat him. He did it with the other guy before, after all. Hopefully it will be shown in some flashback later and properly justified, as it feels like an issue now. I also wonder what exactly is the Imaginator guy doing. Whether he is just restoring their flowers as they should be, or whether he is also brainwashing them in some way. Or maybe both. Either way, given how they talked about it, it doesn't seems like a good thing, but let's see. I enjoy the exchange between the 2 girls on the roof though. It was interesting talk. Overall, it's hard to say whether I like or disliked this episode. It was very neutral, having its share of good and bad aspects. But it was certainly better than SAO, in spite of the subpar animation. It just shows that even if art and animation can help, they don't make the show.

How do you feel about Dororo? If you have seen the new episode yet, I'm not sure if Prime released it already.

Any fate fan art
Is bound to be good

Nice saber pic

I got that, I just see it as poor excuse, because it doesn't seem to make sense within universe. I could get past the rape accusation part in the first episode, and even the people's response, as it was mainly around capital, and villages clearly did not always known about it, which was pretty realistic given that information would need to be transmitted somehow. But in episode 3 a bit, and especially in episode 4, it just seems to be getting way over the top with all the hating on Naofumi just to make him feel miserable, as there is no clear reason why do it. It's as if the whole universe existed just for that sake. Maybe they will clear it up in which case I will forgive it, but otherwise I will let it go.

I'm also glad to hear that about Saiki. I will give it a try when I get my drive back :D

If you have seen them yet, what did you think about latest episode of SAO and Boogiepop? :)