New arrival!

Jotting down some thoughts on this season's anime series since I didn't do a preview for this season.

Champignon no Majo: Western fairy-tale-esque fantasy about a poison witch called the Champignon Witch who cannot touch anyone and is feared by just about everyone in town. She tells herself that she's content and happy with what she's got, though it's not hard to tell that she yearns for human companionship. The set-up reminds me a bit of Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid. This one turns out to be a pleasant surprise. There is an ongoing main plot that wasn't revealed till episode 3. The reveal regarding the identity of the narrator is quite neat.

Eris no Seihai: Court intrigue and conspiracies with many moving pieces and characters. The visual is decent if unexceptional, but the story more than makes up for it. Episode 1 serves as a prologue, and the main plot begins in episode 2. The pacing of this series feels a bit off to me, as if there were scenes being skipped. I'm guessing it has to do with the way the novel series was written. (Note: I haven't read the novels.) The main plot is very intriguing so far.

Fate strange/Fake: Another Fate spin-off, this time written by Narita Ryogo (Baccano!, Durarara!!). The writing is about what I would expect from Narita Ryogo. The visual looks great; the multiple delays probably helped. The anime delivers what it promises and nothing more. I find this one playing it a little too safe, but maybe that's just me -- or I've gotten jaded where Type-Moon franchises were concerned.

Isekai no Sata wa Shachiku Shidai: BL isekai about a workaholic salaryman being transported to another world when he tried to save a high school girl -- and he's not the one the summoning party wanted. The visual is average at best, but the romance plot is quite good if predictable. This one scratches the BL itch for me.

Oshi no Ko Season 3: If you've watched the first two seasons, you already know what to expect here. Great OP sequence.

Shibou Yuugi de Meshi wo Kuu.: Death game from Studio Deen, with a dream-like aesthetic, a slow, measured pacing closer to a psychological horror, and minimalistic background music. The result is quite haunting. This one is directed by Ueno Sota, who also directed 2024's Gimai Seikatsu, which I really liked. This is the most interesting series I've watched so far this season. Blood and gore is replaced with foam instead, but the body horror is very much there. The first episode in particular is very tough to watch if you go into this one blind like I did. I couldn't quite decide whether the main character is being genuine, manipulative, or both.

(Side note: I've read two infinite flow/death game cnovels lately. The cultural difference between one written by a Chinese author and one written by a Japanese author is quite interesting. Cnovels tend to be more positive in their outlook, while J-novels have a tendency to be quite despairing and pessimistic regarding humanity in general.)

Ikoku Nikki: Drama from studio Shuka, about a fifteen-year-old girl who'd lost her parents being taken in by her novelist aunt, who prefers to be alone and doesn't like dealing with people. This one isn't a tearjerker; it's closer to slice-of-life as the two main characters try to adjust and adapt to their new lives together. I haven't really formed an opinion on whether I like this one or not. Most of the time I'm left feeling as though I'm looking at these characters through a veil.

Haven't caught up with Sousou no Frieren season 2 yet.