With most Fall season series hitting episode 6 this week and a few of the earlier-starting ones hitting episode 7, it’s time to get the ball rolling on a mid-season look at how a couple of dozen series this season are faring.
Per usual, I am dividing this into two parts to keep it from being too tediously long. This first part will cover most of the series which have hit episode 6 by 11/10/26 (with the exception of Magical Girl Raising Project Restart, which I am following but a little behind on), while next week’s installment will cover the rest of the series I’m following, including a look at the recently-started Devils’ Crest.
Since I am covering them separately, A Tale of the Secret Saint and the current season of The Apothecary Diaries will not be covered in either of these articles. I have also dropped off of The Detective is Already Dead and Black Clover, so neither of them will be covered, either. (It’s possible I could catch up on either or both by the end of the season, though.)
A Wild Last Boss Appeared! s2
Rating So Far: B
Though it offers regular doses of flashy action, this season of this above-average “transported into a game” series has been at is best when contemplating its bigger structural and plot issues, such as what the Goddess is trying to accomplish, how the very existence of demons is effectively nothing more than a spell (which means they lose in the end even if they succeed in defeating humanity, since they literally only exist to defeat humanity), what game Dina is playing, and a further look at how the protagonist being reincarnated as Lufas effectively puts a limiter on Lufas. Next to those, collecting more Twelve Heavenly Stars only serves to ground the series in mundanity (and not for the better). Still definitely a keeper for its more thoughtful approach to the genre, and now we have Lufas interacting directly with the summoned Hero, too, which has all kinds of interesting potential. (Plus, I like Virgo, and we’re getting to see a lot of her.)
As A Reincarnated Aristocrat s3
Rating: B
This one deserves this high of a grade primarily for how effectively it uses and maintains one of the most rousing musical scores you’ll hear in any anime title. Ars’ increased responsibilities led to the biggest battle scenarios yet as the mega-arc about the Missian civil war is finally brought to a decisive conclusion (notably, with Ars and his people not participating in the climactic battle), while the most recent episodes have taken a somewhat different plot direction involving foreign royals on the run while the eventual push for Missian to secede from the Summerforth Empire plays out in the background. The downside to these developments is that not as much time gets spent with the long-established cast, and that shortcoming hits enough to keep me from grading this installment higher. Still a pretty solid series overall, just not quite as strong or personal a tale as the first season was.
Even Though I’m a Super Timid Noble Girl. . .
Rating: B+
Earlier this year we got An Observation Log of My Fiancée Who Calls Herself a Villainess, which proved surprisingly entertaining by taking the viewpoint of one of the main love interests in an otome game reincarnation scenario. This one runs with a similar concept, but instead of embracing the villainess role like Bertia does, Pia here is desperately afraid of being left behind by Rufus when the heroine inevitably shows. Like with his counterpart in Observation Log, Rufus finds himself fascinated by Pia from early on, but unlike with the earlier title, Rufus is pretty ruthless behind the scenes in protecting Pia since he both sees her value and is genuinely in love with her. Particular emphasis is also placed in how unwittingly socially destructive the heroine’s efforts to follow the game’s storylines to the letter actually are once she finally appears. It is, overall, a distinctly more thoughtful and serious look at the concept (though not a completely serious one), and it does have its cute moments, too. I’m fascinated to see how this plays out, so it stands among my higher-priority views in any given week.
From Far Away
Rating So Far: B-
Like Red River, this is an adaptation of one of the classic shojo isekai titles, and that origin gives this series a different flavor. There are no stat screens or game mechanics, nor even any indication that being the Awakening gives Noriko any special powers, beyond maybe the ability to reach out to Izark across long distances. There’s even the possibility that Noriko could be the Awakening not because she has any special power but because she can emotionally make a connection with the Sky Demon (somewhat implied to be Izark), so everyone in the setting could be reading this wrong. The series can be commended for not dodging the language barrier issue (Noriko is finally able to communicate in partly-coherent fashion by episode 6) and does have some decent action scenes and higher-level intrigues, and Noriko does do her best to not be entirely helpless, but ultimately she’s still heavily-dependent on Izark at this point. Readers of the source manga have been mildly disappointed with this one (though not to the degree of Red River) but it still makes for a decent, more old-school isekai yarn.
Hello, I am a Witch and my Crush Wants me to Make a Love Potion!
Rating So Far: A-
Based on the title, I did not at all expect this one to end up legitimately being one of the season’s best series, but here we are. Allowing us to see the story from Harij’s viewpoint, instead of just Rose’s, was a big plus, and who and what Harij actually wants the love potion for is, frankly, a bit heartbreaking. The dynamic so far between Rose and Harij is fantastic, and I’ve never seen a more convincing depiction of the effect of a love potion on a person than what we see from Rose’s test of the potion in episode 6; in fact, I’d even count it among the year’s best scenes from any series, and kudos to VA Mikako Komatsu for selling it hard as Rose. Wherever this wonderful romance goes next, I’ll be watching.
I’m Dating a Dark Summoner
Rating So Far: B
The wisest decision this series could have made was to run at a half-episode length, which means that none of its lewd scenarios overstay their welcome. And while arguably the raciest scenes were in the first two episodes, later ones aren’t much tamer, and the series’ sly wit is still there. (I found it terribly amusing that one character gets cursed after finding the doujinshi that a demon made earlier in his career that he desperately wants to see forgotten.) Though definitely not for the kiddies, this one’s still a blast to watch, and now it has an accompanying omake short (sort of; the first episode is nearly as long as the main episode), too!
Magic Repo Man
Rating So Far: C-
There’s exactly one reason to watch this series: Empee, protagonist Lent’s (literally) sharp-toothed “gift” fairy, whose on-the-nose name and gleeful propensity to turn people into contractual debt slaves are a delight. Linka, the samurai-styled female warrior whom Lent rescues and then teams up with after she’s also abandoned by her party, may be another slight bright spot with her berserker-type rage, but it’s too early to tell. Lent, contrarily, is just pathetic as a character in both personality and appearance, and even his increasingly potent abilities don’t offset that, while Lent’s former party, the Skypiercers, are just irredeemably awful. With the series also saddled with uninteresting world design, some visual and musical choices that are odd in a not-good way (such as the design of that carriage in episode 6!), and some of the season’s weakest technical merits, it’s easily the lesser of the two “kicked out of the party” series this season.
Magical Explorer
Rating So Far: C+
I will give this one credit for playing hard into its ero game setting, including multiple instances of traps/puzzles that would only make sense in such a game, though it remains relatively tame compared to some other recent fare. (No nudity or actual sex yet!) And the protagonist is certainly no milquetoast, as the scene shown above makes abundantly clear. Beyond that, though, the series mostly treads down familiar harem paths, with Kosuke gradually collecting a gaggle of gorgeous gals around himself despite playing a role that should be just that of a doomed side character. It’s still mildly interesting for how it uses genre tropes, and the girls are pretty enough, but it doesn’t do enough to stand out.
Nia Liston: Merciless Maiden
Rating So Far: B
So while sorting out sufficiently tough opponents to fight, Nia Liston plays the role of a cute child actor in order to further promote her family’s Magivision business, and eventually she meets some other ambitious girls her age, too (one an actual princess, the other also the scion of a Magivision channel-promoting noble), who collaborate with her in building what essentially amounts to TV networks. At times the cuter angle and the Demonic Pipsqueak Martial Artist angles tend to clash with one another, but that’s hardly enough to limit Nia’s sheer glee when she gets to fight (she’s getting arguably the season’s best facial expressions), and the scenes where she trains her personal maid (who can be a creep otherwise) are somewhat neat. I also like how she’s clearly wearing shorts under her skirt so she doesn’t flash when fighting, though you have to really pay attention to notice this. While I wouldn’t rank this one among the season’s top series, it’s certainly never boring and always a high-priority view.
Reborn as a Space Mercenary
Rating So Far: B-
While I would probably rate this one a notch lower if only grading qualitatively, it gets a slight boost for its quality simuldub, in particular a very slangy script which seems to suit the series’ carefree attitude quite well. Yeah, it’s kinda dumb, low on technical or tactical detail, and more than a bit trashy, but at least all of the sexiness is consensual and it seems like the two women in the harem get along well rather than competing with each other in normally-expected catty fashion. I also do appreciate that Hiro seemingly coming out of nowhere with a super-elite ship and piloting skill isn’t overlooked by other cast members, either. On the downside, the production team apparently decided that making the space battles exciting wasn’t a priority, and who thought that was a good dress look for a supposedly high-class noblewoman? Still, it makes for a nice, lowbrow bit of entertainment each week.
Reincarnated as a Sword s2
Rating So Far: B
While I haven’t found this season so far to be quite as much fun as the first one (it leans more darkly-shaded overall), watching Fran and Sensei/Teacher do their thing has still been entertaining. I particularly appreciate how they sometimes have to get creative with opponents rather than just overpowering everything, and the OP is among the season’s best (even if it its more oppressively grim than the series itself is). Seeing Fran get utterly ruthless when dealing with Blue Cats in the second arc is especially interesting, as is the somewhat amusing way she thwarts a would-be assassin’s attempts to commit suicide in episode 7. It’s still above-average on the technical front, too. Maybe not a top performer for the season but still solid and reliable.
Romelia War Chronicle
Rating So Far: B
Of all the series I’m following this season, this is the one I’m least certain about how to evaluate. This is due in no small part to the series’ tendency to view Romelia from a distance even though she’s the titular character. What’s clear is that she is a capable leader, organizer, and negotiator, though definitely not a capable fighter, and (her turn playing a nurse notwithstanding) generally a kind individual, too. What isn’t as clear is what her actual goals are, or how her apparently-tricky Grace ability actually works. Were her battle scenes an indicator that she can’t harm enemies herself, or is just incompetent at it? The attention to detail on battle formations and cooperative fighting is definitely welcome (it makes you appreciate how rare this actually is to see in fantasy anime) and at least some effort is being devoted to making Romelia’s direct subordinates a distinctive bunch without resorting to fully-exaggerated personalities, with mixed results. On the plus side, the series also get points for generally pretty good visuals, slightly above-average animation, and giving Romelia proper military-style clothing and armor. The series doesn’t quite have the spark it needs to be a truly good or fun series, but it is at least watchable.
The Laid-Off Cheat-Granting Mage Enjoys a Second Lease on Life
Rating So Far: B-
If we didn’t have My Ribdiculous Reincarnation earlier this year then I would consider this to be one of 2026’s oddest titles. It’s a somewhat similar premise to Magic Repo Man but played from a significantly different angle, and unquestionably it’s the better of the two. On the uncommon occasions that the series is being fully serious, it makes a commendable effort to portray a fantasy version of PTSD with former prodigy adventurer Lily. But this is also a series where cityscapes are drawn with literally no straight lines (doorways and windows are always crooked), characters occasionally make fourth wall-breaking comments, an Uzi gets used on a dragon at one point, and you might randomly see a small satellite dish pop up on a building. The series also leans very heavily into Rein seeming to be an incompetent idiot (both in SD visuals and in actions) but still being stupefyingly dangerous because of how ridiculously he stacks the bonuses he lends out. The switches between its serious and silly moments can be jarring, but the overall balance isn’t too problematic. The English simuldub also deserves some props, especially for Justin Briner’s performance as Rein.
