Anime

I watched quite a bit of anime last week so it's back to longer (but hopefully not too incoherent) ramblings.

Currently Airing

Picked up 3 anime that are airing right now:

Chainsmoker Cat felt more depressing than funny at times. Addiction is no joke. But the slapstick humour hits perfectly for me.

Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You is yet another vanilla romance. I hope the writing is good because so far it hasn't done much to differentiate itself from all the other vanilla romance stories.

Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia is basically Vinland Saga v2, so I know right away that it's going to be peak.

With these latest additions, I am now following all seasonal anime with average rating of 80% or higher. I may be missing out on some sub-80%-rating anime though. Any seasonal recommendations based on my taste? https://anilist.co/user/Endmaker/animelist

Past Seasons

I am working my way through Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation now, and have just completed the first season / part. I should be caught up to the latest season before long.

I can see why this is a controversial anime with the icky bits. Personally, those are a nothingburger to me, considering some of my previous watches.

I just find it a pity that people avoid this anime because of the controversial elements. They are missing out on the story, world-building, writing, etc which are honestly solid.

Yes, the protagonist is problematic, but

1. it's not like they are glorifying it. They made it quite clear that his behaviour is unacceptable (And the protagonist is aware of that too!)
2. these flaws are what makes the character so fascinating. It's much more engaging to have a flawed character grow over the course of the story as compared to a perfect character who never change.

To elaborate on the second point, when I think of isekai (Konosuba, Cautious Hero, Re:Zero) Jobless Reincarnation felt more like "vanilla" isekai - set in a stereotypical medieval European-style fantasy world; no gimmicks, no parody. But it never once felt like wish fulfillment unlike the seasonal isekai slop.

In extreme cases of isekai slop, the loser protagonist would externalise their faults, blaming everyone and everything but themselves. They were just dealt a bad hand at life. So what do they need to overcome their hardship? A unique cheat just for them! It's like striking the lottery - completely unearned. The anime would then degenerate into a power fantasy for similar-minded losers to indulge in. There's no character growth at all!

Jobless Reincarnation is not like this. I have seen so much development through flashbacks, internal monologue and dialogue - and that's just the first cour of season 1! I see no reason for them to buck this trend, so I'm confident that the protagonist would grow even more - which means the story would be good.

Anyway, I enjoy it a lot, and am looking forward to participating in the episode discussions.

P.S. I'm unsure how best to categorise this anime. Peak drama? Peak politics? I don't see enough of either at the moment.

P.P.S. I bet half of the village's kids are Paul's.