#bocchi the rock packs

[beilus]

後藤 ひとり . . . 🎸📄

[happygirlartworks]

Bubz and blobs

[corrucyst]

im off that bocchi the rock shit im fucked up on that if i could be a constellation pack im smoking straight unfiltered bokita you stupid piece of shit

[callgespenst]

It wasn't a hugely eventful convention or anything but I should probably still write up my Matsuricon 2024 report.

Thursday: Had a friend stay over at my place for the weekend. Pregamed the con by watching a few more episodes of Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

Friday: Cosplayed Soujyurou from Mahoyo, made the jacket and safety pinned my Robin plush to my shoulder. Showed up, grabbed my badge, ran our Lupin III panel for the first time in...four and a half years? Went out into the hallway to chat with people who attended the panel. Then suddenly it was four hours later and we went home.

Saturday: Went home early on Friday to be awake and in a panel room at 8 AM on Saturday to talk about robots for two hours. Midway through the 90s we realized that, despite getting the longest possible timeslot, we were still almost out of time, and had to blast through the last three decades. Haven't done that panel in a while either (haven't done too many panels in general since the pandemic).

Got lunch and looked around the dealer's hall for a bit. I got a rubber charm of Bocchi (of Rock) from a gachapon machine. Not a whole lot else I was interested in, but that's objectively a good thing. Then it was off to the YGO tournament!

I'd revamped my deck (again) because I had made a few key realizations. First, I don't know my opponents' decks well enough to effectively use hand traps to shut down a combo. Second, many modern decks are relatively unprepared to handle a board-clearing spell. Monster effects are simple to negate and counter with a full board. But spells, maybe not. And third, and this one is the most critical part: having a balanced deck of 50/50 monsters/spells and traps no longer matters. I was taking out a bunch of monsters that would never, ever actually be played to the field, their only point in my deck was to be discarded as a counter; to switch in three copies of Raigeki, three Dark Holes, and two Lightning Storms.

It wasn't a huge tourney, there were eleven other players, for what would end up being three rounds of single elimination. My first game, I played a guy who had some kinda deck full of Dinosaurs and counter trap cards. It was an interesting playstyle I hadn't seen before, but I won that 2-0. Second game, Kashtira. Won the first duel, lost the second, won the third. Third and final game, which I sure didn't expect to get to the finals, was vs Ancient Gears, another deck that prefers to go second. Lost the first game, won the second, and I might have been able to win the third if I hadn't let myself get psyched out. But I'm still pretty pleased with my performance, considering I've lost just about every other match I've played with my new deck 0-2.

The second place prize was a bunch of tournament packs, and first place was as well, plus a free badge for next year. The first place winner let me have his pack pulls, which was nice, I'm still building back up a selection of trades to have available. I didn't really need a free badge for next year anyway since I'm planning on paneling again, and my opponent getting a free badge means we can rematch next year! So honestly, I'm kinda glad I got second.

Also while everyone waited for the tourney to start, everyone was ribbing on one guy for his very expensive deck he was keeping in the world's most basic $3 deckbox, so that was entertaining. Reminded me of the fellas I used to play YGO with at the local library, where there was always some friendly banter back and forth.

After that I hung out with a few more friends, played some Melty Blood, and went home.

Sunday: The traditional day at a con where I play mahjong with the homies until we pack up and go home. I got in one whole game before we took all the tables back to our organizer's car (that took half an hour to find). That wrapped up the event and then I got home and conked out early Sunday evening and most of Monday too. I didn't even do a whole lot of running around or anything, I was just tired.

Also my last few conventions have been so overwhelmingly positive on the whole that I forgot that these events are also frequented by people who are weird in not-fun ways. That last mahjong game, had a fella start spouting off about he hates being referred to as cis, despite being a cis hetero male. I hit him with the "I hate the cis because they are led by the treacherous Count Dooku" and that worked surprisingly well at changing the subject, but it was still, terribly awkward there for a second, especially when another of our club's regulars at the same table is one of the most Gender individuals I know.

Anyway that's probably my last anime con for the year, but there's a new event coming to the area in April I think I'll hit up, excited to see what that's like.

[yukisubmarino]

Whisper Me A Love Song packs a lot of great stuff in a solid first episode. It has all the complicated emotions and power dynamics of a good yuri a la Bloom Into You, plus some great J Rock sequences like you would find in Bocchi or Given.

I adore the character design, especially with how clearly separated our third years look from our first years. Our band is so dynamic that i hope we get at least a B plot involving them, though i cant imagine that wouldnt be the case considering how much detail goes into them looking distinct.

As for the music, i have the same complaint i have with bocchi: it sounds way too professional for high schoolers, but it at least makes for good soundtracking.

Im pleasantly surprised by this show’s quality and very much look forward to its continuation. With any luck, itll have a Given-like reception

[lecv140291]

Bocchi the Rock! (TV)

[ferin129]

not much for today

I worked produce. the regional manager came in today. he had almost nothing to say to me, but it sure is weird to see someone that Ms. Stephanie will take orders from and listen to so intently. I sure am glad that my job is pretty simple though, I didn't really get into to much trouble for anything, and we tried to make everything look the best it could, even though we were out of a lot of stuff. The holidays sure are wiping us out. Nick's working even more than me over in meat, he's probably still there as I'm writing in it. Closing up meat sure is a pain sometimes.

A little about how I overthought things today -

honestly, I wish that I was better at talking to people spontaneously. Whenever people say hello to me, I often find myself repeating exactly what they said back to them on accident. For example, if someone says, "How's it going?", I just say the same thing back to them on accident for some reason?? And I think it may come across as if I'm mocking them, but I'm just socially stupid. god, I'm sure I'm overthinking the hell out of this but it is what it is.

I talked to one of the cashiers up front today that's been at Food Lion almost as long as I have. I haven't talked to her much before, but I we're friendly enough. Anyways, she asked me if I go to USC, (i suppose because I wear my college of engineering and computing lanyard at work all the time), and I said yes, and she asked me if I had graduated this year or last year. I replied saying that I had graduated last year, which is (technically) the truth since I left BHS in December 2023. I didn't explain this though, and I'm sure it confused her, and I didn't even explain that I'm not taking classes yet because I deferred my admission to the spring 2025 semester. I wish I had told her, but I didn't because I felt like it might be too much and I'd get flustered explaining myself and I just wanted to avoid that much interaction anyway. But I feel really guilty, since technically I lied to her by omission. And I know this small interaction means nothing to anyone in the grand scheme of things, because of how little it matters, but interactions like this I'm going to try my best to avoid from now on.

oh and another thing that's been bothering me today. when I asked my (main store) manager to put some water in the fridge for the employees, she replies that "we only provide bottled water in the summer.", which, first of all, is absolutely BS because we just had some in there, like, last week, and what the hell??? you think I only need to drink water during the summer??? holy shit I can still dehydrate during the winter too lady, get a grip. I know Food Lion hates their employees but that's fuckin wild. Most mind-boggling thing I've heard in a hot minute from that place. Food Lion doesn't even give us an employee discount or anything in the way of holiday raises, the least you could do is scan out a pack of water. goddamn.

I also ran today, and god, my legs are shot. I am so out of shape. it's wild to think I ran a 1:17 half marathon just 2 months ago. But the only way to get back there is to try, right? billions must try. oh, and I ate real food for lunch AND dinner. well, it was just 2 burritos for both meals, but it counts. I made them myself with healthy ingredients and rolled the tortillas as well. So it's a win in my book. Tomorrow's shaping up to be a long day in meat, so I'll probably go to bed soon.

song of the day: ギタ��と孤独と蒼い惑星 (Guitar, Loneliness and Blue Planet) by kessoku band. (kessoku band, my beloved). I just love this scene in Bocchi the rock. it's such a great moment. I'm so glad that they make music that's just my vibe, because I love this album so much.

[total-cards]

Bocchi the Rock is coming to Weiss Schwarz! Make sure to place your pre-order on our site! #weissschwarz #bocchitherock https://www.totalcards.net/weiss-schwarz-bocchi-the-rock-booster-box-16-packs?utm_source=tumblr&utm_medium=organic+social

[greydiminishing]

2/3/24

yesterday was my birthday. I had a good day.

My first class yesterday was fun, we came up with project ideas as a class, then someone would pick one of the ideas, and those who liked it could come together and form a group. I'm excited about my project topic (developing a daily outfit picker), AND everybody I secretly hoped to be in a group with JOINED MY GROUP!! I'm so lucky!

Between this and my next class, I ate a granola bar. I got these Sunbelt banana granola bars and they're probably the best granola bars I've ever had. They taste like dessert, it made me happy lol. Now I have to try all the flavors.

I worked a bit on the project for my next class, its writing python methods and unit tests for a postgres database. I found that it seemed to be pretty straightforward and kinda fun. As long as I don't leave it to the last minute like last time :p. This next class was just lecture, so not too bad, but then we ended class 20 minutes early?? lucky again!!

After this I have 4 hours till my next class. I got a bagel and a brownie from a cafe on campus. I asked for a plain bagel with cream cheese. I kinda expected to get it how you get bagels in NJ, loaded with cream cheese, sandwiched together and wrapped in foil. They handed me a parchment bag with a bagel and 2 of those mini Philadelphia cream cheese cups. Honestly I was a little disappointed, I mean, as disappointed as you can be over just a bagel lmao. But you mean I gotta make it myself?!? I took it home and toasted it, and had half with cream cheese and half with butter. Tell me why this was one of the best bagels I've ever had?? The outside was crispy and shattering, the inside was still soft and chewy, it was so good omg.

A few days ago my mom sent me a package with my meds, and some "other stuff" that she wanted me to call before I opened. The "other stuff" was birthday presents!! In the box was a lovely card, a pack of mini red velvet muffins, some of my favorite cashews and macadamia nuts, a bag of these lattice cut chips I really like, a packet of fajita seasoning I really like lol, a cute purple pepper spray that goes on your keychain, and a really nice mug. So much stuff, I really wasn't expecting it haha! I had a quick call with my mom before I had to get to my next class.

Physics can be pretty boring and annoying sometimes. Idk if it was just because it was my birthday so everything was great, but class wasn't that bad. Pretty average. It is a two hour class though :/

After class I went to check out a "no-sew blankets and hot chocolate" campus event thing. When I went in they said they were out of blanket materials, and the line for the hot chocolate was crazy long (especially when I have hot chocolate at home lol), but then they gave me a $5 dunkin gift card?? huh?? That's pretty cool lol.

Then I stopped by Salsaritas for dinner, I got a burrito and chips and queso. This was a birthday treat for myself cause one small burrito and a bag of chips with queso was $15. That's crazy to me. I guess that's probably normal, but idk I can't justify that cost, so its a once in a while thing. It was good tho.

I stayed in for the night, watched Bocchi the rock, ate my burrito, had a red velvet cupcake. It was a good time.

I told my roommates it was my birthday and they asked if I had any plans. It's always so embarrassing to be like "ahh no, no plans I'm too tired and too busy with homework and stuff haha". But screw that! I DID have plans, and those plans were to enjoy my peaceful solitude in my cozy dark room (I didn't say that though lol).

It's very easy to be sad and sorry for myself because I didn't have any "plans" or do anything special. But I stayed in and watched anime, which is exactly what my INTP self likes to do on a friday night after a socially exhausting week of classes.

I had a good day and a good birthday :)

[beilus]

山田 リョウ.

[roconize]

These are stickers btw. Isn't that crazy?

If you're interested:

A new generation of (anime) rock bands

[morzyin]

* ⁺ ✦ Bocchi-chan

BOCCHI THE ROCK!

* ⁺ ✦ Não reposte sem os créditos

[centrally-unplanned]

Episode 3 of Bocchi The Rock! is like buying a TCG expansion pack for creative animation and having every card be a rare, its amazing. If you are fan you have definitely seen the screenshots; Bocchi’s panic over peer judgements done with paper cut-outs on puppet sticks:

Her sanity hitting a breaking point being a live action exploding balloon:

And her improv-folk-ditty about her failed friendship attempt being set to a 2000′s-era indie music video backing of scanning landscape shots

The production team released some adorable behind-the-scenes footage of some of these, btw:

Those shots really emphasize the necessity-as-mother-of-invention dynamic - if your team is *already* creative and has multimedia approaches down, filming a balloon pop is way less work than animating it and is more importantly working *different* staff members, so your animators can focus on making the other scenes look good. Bocchi is a small production and they are stretching their resources to the limit, with great results.

(The budget-saving facts reminded me of the much-more-troubled but equally creative production of Kare Kano, whose Episode 19 is famously paper cut-outs filmed live:)

(This episode is also Studio Trigger founder Hiroyuki Imaishi’s episode directorial debut, fun fact)

Now these scenes do not need a ‘reason’ to be animated in such creative ways; you can just have fun, Bocchi is a light comedy, art for arts sake is great actually. But I am impressed by how much thought has gone into aligning the aesthetic choices with the narrative & character. To go in order:

Paper cut-outs: Bocchi is entertaining an elaborately ridiculous fantasy that joining a conversation her peers were having would result in complete social castration; how unrealistic such a response would be is emphasized by the unrealism of their bobbing stick movements and how they clash with the ‘real’ Bocchi (who is drawn traditionally)

Balloon Pop: A simple one, her ‘reality break’ is extremely sudden and its really hard for animation to approximate the sharp speed of an actual balloon explosion, combined with (not observable in a still) an extremely silly, non-explosive spoken sound effect to emphasize the triviality of the stakes.

Landscape Music Video: My personal favourite, the ‘depressed romantic indie musician’ is such a specific vibe, a style we often laugh at today for its pretentiousness, and the way Bocchi is romanticizing and catastrophizing the extremely mundane struggles she is going through is exactly that energy, the joke just doesn’t work without this reference.

Almost every time they stretch the scope of the definition of ‘animation’ they also enhance the characterization & story, which imbues a lot more life into scenes that could otherwise come off as simply zany. 

The team is really nailing it - and its led by first-time director Keiichirou Saito at Cloverworks. He can’t take all the credit for the ideas; Episode 3 was directed by series assistant director Yusuke Yamamoto, and we know he was directly responsible for the landscape photography music video sequence. But Saito’s credits put him working as an animator on Wonder Egg Priority, Heiki Monogatari, Sonny Boy, Flip Flappers...never as a huge role, just a key animator, but still I think it demonstrates an interest in pushing the envelope on style and direction. I hope these productions continue to beget new creatives who take the spirit on to new projects.

[animehouse-moe]

Bocchi The Rock Episode 7: The Anime of The Year

Look at the video above, just.... look. This is still a series about a socially anxious loner that wants to play in a band and make friends. It's still the same as ever. It's still the same series. But somehow, somehow, it not only separates itself from its pack of fellow Slice of Life titles, it separates itself from its fellow anime this year and rests atop them in a league of its own. It's like some sort of dream.

Sure, Dress Up Darling did the classic 4:3 anime reference, and yeah, Akebi's Sailor Uniform had incredibly detailed and essentially photorealistic environments and backgrounds. But there's two things with that.

One: Cloverworks did both of those series Two: Neither uses a god damn Claymation Zoetrope for the purpose of a single cut in a single episode of a single series.

It's not playing with a balloon, it's not drawing characters onto cutouts on popsicle sticks. It is an entirely separate creative process that takes far more time, and is even an entirely different area of expertise. Drawing is not the same as 3d modelling. Yes, there's overlap, but you're not guaranteed to be great at 3d models and sculptures just because you can draw super well.

And this is but the tip of the iceberg, it's a minute and 30 seconds of this entire outstanding episode, of which there's a world of incredible creativity to tackle. So buckle up for a far too long post about the incredible work on episode 10 of Bocchi The Rock.

So, how about that cold open? Though I guess it's more so hot than cold. Regardless, this cold open really provides some incredible pieces that cement the quality of prior episodes. Firstly, the photorealistic environment work. Look at the image above, it's drawn in a really interesting way. The angle, the height, the shadow. It sells the feeling that you're bending over to grab the bottle of water from the vending machine perfectly. Why? Because it's from a reference photo. Look at the image below. Look at the cars, at the incredibly unique layout of the building behind the girls, or the pieces of another building sticking out from the trees on the left. This too, is from a reference photo. In fact, with a large amount of confidence, I can say that all the static backgrounds and environments that Njika and Kita walk through are from reference pictures, and they integrate incredibly well. There's something so alluring about the overlap of photorealism and the relatively low detail but expressive designs of the girls.

Perhaps my favorite piece from their cold open though was when the pair disappeared behind a grouping of trees. The understanding of space and pacing, the distance that the girls are shown at, it's all so incredibly well put together, and produces a helplessly satisfying cut.

Favorites aside, the direction of the cold open really stands out in comparison to the typical style of Bocchi The Rock. It's even more spacious than usual thanks to being outside, but Cloverworks contrasts that wide feeling with lots of super close up shots to bring it in tighter.

There's something really wonderful about this approach for a cold open. The staff didn't just randomly pick closeups to focus on, they work the dialogue into their approach, when there's nothing specific being talked about they keep the scene wide and open, but when there's something specific like talking about bringing stuff over, or talking about Bocchi's weirdness, they shift the focus to those pieces to really highlight them. However, there is a secret third option that they add: the walking close up. What I love about this is the break that it provides. You might not have noticed, but you can only hear the footsteps of the girls when there's a close up on them walking. When they're at a distance or focused on somewhere else you can't hear it, which I thought was a wonderful addition that really adds a nice feel.

That unique direction of specialized close ups doesn't end with the cold open though, it extends into the episode itself and adds a really fun change of pace to the norm that we as viewers have gotten used to.

Also, this small little piece in Bocchi's room. Was a really fun little callback to her pool surfing daydream, and gives you the inclination that Bocchi's daydreams aren't just abstract, but from stuff she's seen and/or experienced.

Anyways, the episode eventually settles in and begins to deliver on its usual promises. Fluid animation, creative reactions and approaches, really satisfying framing and camera angles, the whole 9 yards. I say that like it's some regular standard, but in reality there's not a show out there I can think of that produces such incredible episodes each week as if it's nothing.

Also, I loved this little addition. The staff is aware enough of Bocchi's daydreaming and the reactions of the characters to to it that they can incorporate natural jokes into the flow of the series.

The further you get into the episode, the more its approach sinks in. It's not the more muted or driven episode like the previous, but one that affords the team experimentation and plenty of room for creativity. Bocchi's severe case of lonerism is Cloverwork's golden ticket to the odd and outstanding approach that they seem to love.

And do they ever put their heart into it. Getting Bocchi to dress in regular clothing was super fun and cute!

Quickly though, they drive out the cuteness and bring in the despair for an impressive minute and thirty (ish) second stretch of a very unique brand of skit where Bocchi dies from having her head fully exposed, and wreaks havoc on Nijika and Kita from the grave. Sort of a see it to believe it moment.

Of course, this skit too, comes to pass, and we get back to the girls and their plans for their first big event, where they settle down a little and focus on the characters. It was a really fun little sequence that shows how far Bocchi's already made it in terms of social anxiety, where she's willing to go against the flow of the group based on her own opinions and ideals.

Bocchi really is trying hard to overcome her fears and anxieties, and her friends are very supportive. Of course though, it's Bocchi, things can't go well. The typhoon comes to hit them anyways, and we get left in the episode with a dramatic shot of Bocchi looking out at the storm. Thanks to the eavestrough (or maybe roof?) above Bocchi in the scene, it paints it as a sort of widescreen black bar effect, making the moment even more dramatic.

I had said it in my last post about the previous Bocchi episode, but the creativity of this show truly is a marvel. How you manage to have the thought process of "Bocchi daydreaming about the sports festival -> Claymation Zoetrope" still astonishes me. It's such an incredible leap to even consider, let alone execute. And they find the perfect spot for it. They don't have these ideas and think "where can we fit these", in fact it feels the opposite. It feels like the staff analyzes each and every little moment, every single frame of each episode and rack their brains over the question of "What can we do here", and the answer to that question is each and every episode of Bocchi The Rock.

Anime of the season hands down, Anime of The Year no contest, each episode of this series transcends awards and popularity to an entire other degree. It's something that everyone looks at with admiration, with astonishment, with immense appreciation, because it's more than competing for popularity or anything that trivial. It's a perfect case study for letting talented individuals loose to do the best and most cohesively creative work you can even really think of.

[s-lycopersicum]

I imagine that, for anyone not in the know, it must feel strange how we never seem to get tired of it, even with that sort of fixation being par for the course with any sort of meme...

But, as it stands, Bocchi The Rock! is just that good of a series! It is absolutely packed with funny moments and fits of wacky animation, of course, but it also displays its emotion-laden moments with so much care.

Remembered that I get double the goosebumps from music whenever I have a fever, so I've been watching bits and pieces of bocchi for a couple hours...

[ridley-was-a-cat]

Fall 2022 Anime Roundup

Somehow yet another season has completed, and this one was a doozy. Not only were there multiple sequels to major franchises like Mob Psycho and My Hero Academia, we got a sequel to Bleach 10+ years after the last season ended. On top of that, there was the highly anticipated debut season of Chainsaw Man, and four adaptations of shoujosei works, which is more than we usually get in an entire year. There was just a ton of stuff on offer this season, and almost all of it was good.

Completed

Anime of the Season: Mob Psycho 100 III

In a season as packed as this one, choosing a favorite was no easy task, and I went back and forth between this and Raven of the Inner Palace. As good as they both were, I'm going to have to give this the edge for pairing its moving story about adolescent turbulence with an absolute spectacle of art and animation. I really can't say enough good things about how Mob steadfastly rejects violence or subjugation as displays of strength or power. The show never gets preachy about it, Mob just sees people's appeals to use his power in destructive ways as pointless and unappealing. ONE said that he set out to write something kind when he wrote Mob Psycho, and I have to say that he definitely succeeded in writing one of the best examples I've seen of positive, non-toxic masculinity. 9/10

First Runner Up: Raven of the Inner Palace

I didn't really know what to expect when I added this to my schedule for the season, and basically only watched it because it had a shoujo label, and I reflexively support shoujosei anime. What I ended up with was a fantastic drama that used one to two episode-long vignettes about various people and spirits around the imperial court to tell a larger story about who the main characters are, and how the events of the past affect them today. The slow development of the relationship between the Raven Consort and the Emperor was extremely satisfying to watch, as was seeing her learn to open up to the people around her. Many of the characters' backstories were tragic or traumatic, and the show handled them with the right amount of thoughtfulness. 9/10

Second Runner Up: Akiba Maid War

I nearly dropped this halfway through the first episode thinking that it was going to be just another P.A.Works original about humbling an idealistic young woman at her first job, and then a gang war broke out. A committed and affectionate parody of gangster movies with enough heart to avoid becoming a cheap joke. 8/10

Bocchi the Rock! - I didn't plan to watch this because the manga runs in one of those lolicon magazines that skeeve me out, but luckily the hype got to me, and I didn't miss out on this spectacularly animated and directed comedy about an introverted girl chasing her rock and roll dreams. 8/10

I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss - This tried to squeeze three light novel volumes into twelve episodes, making episodes 4, 8, and 12 into arc-concluding speed runs, but our villainess was so charmingly spunky and her demon lord boo was so damn fine that I was having too much fun to care about its flaws. 8/10

Spy x Family Part 2 - I kept waiting for the plot to kick back in before finally accepting that this series apparently is more of an episodic comedy than the first cour let on, but it's still plenty entertaining. 8/10

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - I liked, but didn't love, Bleach's original run, and this sequel retains many of the story writing traits I didn't care for, but the visuals got a major upgrade, everyone is smoking hot, and they played "Number One" at the end of the last episode, so I can't help but feel the hype. 8/10

Chainsaw Man - I can both see how skillfully directed and animated this was, and how the characters and story would be appealing to a lot of people, while also disliking the decision to mimic live-action movies, and acknowledging that this story full of misery is just not for me. 7/10

Do It Yourself!! - A cute girls doing cute things show that broke through my exhaustion with the genre by having an unusual activity like carpentry, and mixing it with distinctive character designs and lively animation. 7/10

The Little Lies We All Tell - The visuals for this didn't appeal to me so I didn't pick it up until the season was almost over, but it ended up being a really charming little comedy about four friends with bizarre secrets. 7/10

My Master Has No Tail - The rakugo performances left a little to be desired, but the character interactions in this light comedy about a tanuki taking up rakugo in Meiji era Osaka kept things entertaining. 7/10

Reincarnated as a Sword - If this wasn't a light novel adaptation, and it didn't have so much monologuing from the sword, blah visuals, or mediocre shot composition, this would make a pretty fun story despite the goofy sounding concept. 6/10

Bibliophile Princess - I've read the manga adaptation, so I was really looking forward to this, but some combination of poor animation, questionable story adaptation choices, and an annoying tendency to rehash the same conflict made this a bit of a slog to finish. 6/10

Ongoing

Golden Kamuy S4 - I'm definitely looking forward to watching this when it comes back from hiatus in the spring, as the action was really starting to get interesting, with our competing gangs of charismatic scoundrels about to get back on their bullshit. 8/10

IDOLiSH7 Third BEAT! Part 2 - This part continues with the corporate drama instigated by the extremely hateable villain, while completing Trigger's transformation from antagonist to loveable underdog, and giving some very satisfying character development moments. Looking forward to the concluding four episodes in February. 8/10

One Piece - While I'm definitely still enjoying myself, and this really is the best One Piece has looked during its run, I'm kind of ready to be done with Wano already. 8/10

Play It Cool, Guys - You've heard of cute girls doing cute things, now get ready for the new hotness: cute guys doing airhead things. Just pure, unadulterated fluff that brightens my day. 8/10

My Hero Academia S6 - On the one hand, this was kind of an exhausting anime season for seeing the good guys get the stuffing beat out of them, but on the other hand, seeing Mirko rip a monster's head off with her thighs was some peak content. 7/10

Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun S3 - This season still has most of its charm, and I still love all the characters, but this contest arc is really dragging. 7/10

Dropped

The Eminence in Shadow - This was sold to me as a satirical take on power fantasy isekai, but it was playing all the tropes pretty straight, and the atrocious fanservice in episode 10 made me decide I had better things to do. 6/10