Fall 2024 Mid-Season Report, part 1

Week 7 of the Fall ’24 season marks the season’s official midway point, so let’s take a look at how some of the series airing this season are doing. Like with the past three seasons, I am keeping up with a massive number of series this season (23 to be exact), so I am onceContinue reading “Fall 2024 Mid-Season Report, part 1”

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 7

Rating: Despite Freya Familia seeming to have nearly all-encompassing control of Orario, last episode still left the status quo with a few loose ends. This episode explores several of those, while also dropping the first vague hints about possible resistance to the status quo. With so much ground to cover in various little scenes, thatContinue reading “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 7”

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 3

Rating: B+ One point that often gets underemphasized in discussions and analyses about this franchise is how much the structure and nature of familias can vary. Some (like Hestia Familia) function like a true family, while others function like businesses (Ishtar and Dian Cecht), fraternal organizations (arguably Loki Familia), spy groups (Hermes Familia), civic groupsContinue reading “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 3”

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 2

Rating: B+ I have seen some claims that this installment is only supposed to be 15 episodes long instead of two full cours. If true, that means a much faster-paced adaptation than the previous story arc, as volumes 16-18 are collectively at least 100 pages longer than volumes 12-14. (And that’s without factoring in theContinue reading “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 2”

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 1

Rating: B+ NOTE: For anime-only readers, I strongly recommend either reading the novel Familia Chronicle: Episode Freya or watching the compilation of the Memoria Freese version of it before getting too deep into this season. Certain parts of this season (especially its middle arc) will make more sense if you have the background for Freya’sContinue reading “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V episode 1”

Summer 2024 Wrap-Up

With the last handful of titles for the Summer 2024 season having now aired, let’s take a summative look at what worked well and what didn’t this season. Because of the high volume of titles I followed this season, covering every one of them here would make this post cumbersome. Hence I am only coveringContinue reading “Summer 2024 Wrap-Up”

Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 16

Rating: B+ Of all of the story arcs in Spice and Wolf, this arc is maybe my least favorite, and the content covered by this episode is a big part of the reason why. Some would say that it’s because of Amati, who’s one of the least-liked of all of the guest characters in theContinue reading “Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 16”

Spring 2024 Wrap-Up

With the last handful of titles for the Spring 2024 season having now aired (except for the title whose last two episodes have been delayed), let’s take a summative look at what worked well and what didn’t this season. Because of the high volume of titles I managed to follow this season, covering every oneContinue reading “Spring 2024 Wrap-Up”

Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 9

Rating: B+ The original adaptation fell into a steady and familiar pattern throughout its two seasons: the first two episodes of each arc set up the circumstances as Lawrence and Holo move to a new location, encounter someone new who figures into the overall arc, and generally engage in more relaxed banter. The third episodeContinue reading “Spice & Wolf (2024) episode 9”