This stuff is generally not my genre, but I know about it by sheer exposure. Here is some of it in the first ep:
mc with really underpowered ability finds a way to exploit it and become op
mc gets kicked out / betrayed by ‘hero party’
game stats like it’s a video game (as far as I can tell this isn’t even an isekai it’s just there for genre convention?)
love interest that is a willing slave to a mc / mc benevolent slave owner
adventurers guilds that give quests, again like video games
very specifically ‘demon lord/king’ (魔王) as the big bad that has to be defeated by the ‘hero/hero party’
on any given season there is going to be at least a couple anime that hits these that is adapted from a web novel.
For comparison I went to the last season and found something in less than a min.
信じていた仲間達にダンジョン奥地で殺されかけたがギフト『無限ガチャ』でレベル9999の仲間達を手に入れて元パーティーメンバーと世界に復讐＆『ざまぁ！』します!
When Light is kicked out of the Concord of the Tribes, his former comrades instantly turn on him. Light escapes this diabolical act of betrayal by the skin of his teeth…only to find himself in the deepest part of the Abyss, the most dangerous dungeon in the realm! To avoid being eaten by carnivorous monsters, he uses the Unlimited Gacha, his sole magical skill. But where it previously only produced junk items, this time Mei—a gorgeous Level 9999 fighter in a maid outfit—springs forth! Fast forward three years and Light has carved out his own kingdom in this backwater dungeon, summoning more beautiful Level 9999 warriors who swear absolute fealty to him. Now a powerful Level 9999 Overlord himself, Light plans to ascend to the surface and take revenge on his betrayers one by one!
just the synopsis hits a few of those tropes and I bet if I watched this show I would spot more
Here is another show from this season (勇者刑に処す 懲罰勇者9004隊刑務記録)
“Hero” is the worst punishment in the world. Those convicted of heinous crimes are sentenced to become “Heroes” and forced to enter the mandatory military service in the war against the Demon Lords. These convicts are not even allowed to die—if killed, they will be resurrected to fight another day.
Hero Xylo Forbartz, former head of the Order of the Holy Knights, leads a penal unit of deplorables fighting on the front lines. It is in these direst of circumstances that he meets Teoritta, one of the world’s strongest weapons. “When every last enemy has been defeated, you are to shower me with praise and pat my head.” In order to survive and to take revenge on those who wronged him, he makes a pact with the goddess and launches headfirst into a maelstrom of war and intrigue.
While this seems less obviously formulaic it still uses common tropes of the genre like a mc betrayed and is out for revenge, “heroes” and “demon lords”. it seems like maybe it is trying to twist the overused hero concept around?
Anyway having tropes and genre conventions isn’t a bad thing, but I felt like Omae Gotoki played it all completely straight and didn’t have any unique flavor of it’s own so far. Doesn’t mean it will be bad necessarily.
I see what you’re saying. I always avoid those just based on the titles alone, so didn’t really occur to me
I’m surprised this is one. It that was probably the 2nd “I’m really not convinced” moment in the episode. 1st one was: there’s randomly an op magic sword that came up with these wolf things
Tbh I mostly associate this with (probably) Korean-origin webtoons. At least that’s where I first encountered it.
Finished watching シャンピニオンの魔女 S1 | L28?? episode 1; this one probably has my favorite opening and ending themes so far. I like the premise of the show (protag is a reviled black witch who’s magic basically spiritually detoxifies areas), but I’m curious if it’s going to go more down the slice-of-life route or the romance route? It was rather funny when they introduced the bookshop owner: first his human self and then his spirit self, with the spirit self being extra pretty and sparkly. I thought his human self was perfectly good looking. Why is ルナ looking at ordinary boys in the town when she’s already got an in with such a nice-looking man?
Looks like the second episode’s already out, but I’ve two more first episodes to go before I check it out. (sigh, at this rate I’m going to want to keep up with every single one of the original six shows I set out to check out. Hopefully there’ll be enough boring episode 2s or 3s I drop a few.)
Like, the proportions of the people inside it are wrong. I wish I had a screenshot handy, but it looks weird (to me, at least), if the room is far larger than what you would expect, based on how small the people appear to be inside it.
Ah, I know, but the subtitles stopped showing up partway through the show, then resumed afterward, so I was trying to figure out why.
I tentatively decided to mark it as just No Subs for the moment. If grading becomes an issue I’ll have to rethink and consider your suggestion.
I don’t know if it’s a spoiler or just cut or what, but he doesn’t seem interested in a relationship. In the manga, when she looks at him “too hard” and starts growing a rose, he stops her. So, I would take the hint, so I’m not surprised she does too.
I spent a chunk of the afternoon getting caught up on currently running anime…
花ざかりの君たちへ S1 | L30?? I got part way through the first episode before realizing I’d watched a live action drama version WAY back in the day. The art’s a little wonky in places, but at least they’re trying for interesting shot composition.
シャンピニオンの魔女 S1 | L28?? I knew this one was going to have a shoestring budget, but boy does it feel like a shoestring budget. I’ve definitely seen worse though. The story’s cute and I’m excited to see the rest of the manga animated. Although they did the whole first volume in two episodes, so they’re bound to catch up to what I’ve read shortly.
うるわしの宵の月 S1 | L30?? Nothing really remarkable in the first episode… I’ll give it a couple more episodes because I like Yoi’s character design.
多聞くん今どっち!? S1 | L24?? I watched this one solely because it’s shoujo from Hana to Yume and I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would. It’s got some good jokes, I like the lead girl. The animation is actually nice. Nice animation in a shoujo series?? I’m shocked.
I also thought it was better than I was expecting. Mostly I was expecting it to be a lot more toxic, and for the female MC to be more doormat-y. Glad to be proven wrong. I still need to watch E2 tho
I’ll need to keep a better eye out once I get to episode 2. I was pausing and rewinding so much trying to work on my comprehension I noticed nothing. XD
エリスの聖杯 S1 | L30?? - Turned on subs for this one. I’ll need to watch a few more episodes to see if I want to stick with it. They could do fun things with the setup, but there’s also lots of potential for villainess cliches.
異世界の沙汰は社畜次第 S1 | L30?? - Subs as well for all the business/financial vocab. @.@ Enjoyed the first episode, though I’m still trying to get used to アレシュ’s voice; I think I always imagined it a little bit deeper.
All right, so here’s what I’m thinking after watching episode one of all my pre-pricks:
死亡遊戯で飯を食う。 S1 | L30?? - will probably drop, mostly due to the really long episode lengths. May come back later if I need something to watch.
I thought I’d check シャンピニオンの魔女, since it’s supposed to be on TVer from “ 2026年1月13日(火)深夜3時00分〜”
So, since we are Tuesday 13th, it should be up right? Wrong. Late night 3:00 means 27:00 (15pm) and I keep forgetting it. Also that’s a stupid way to record time. Just say Wednesday.
I caught the first two eps, and I’m in love with it!! And now I have a ルナ pfp again!! I’m very curious where it’s gonna go next, cuz it seemed like there might be a bit of a shift. Either way as of rn this is in my top 3 for the season so far
Not anime, but I’ve been trying to watch year end videos from japanese booktubers and…I did this last year too and maybe I just have higher expectations for myself but it’s been a bit discouraging how little I end up understanding. Especially if there are no subs.
Currently watching this one where she goes through all the books she read. I like this channel because her voice is very pleasant and she talks slowly and is easy to understand.
Found this one more exhausting to watch for comparison
Why is ルナ looking at ordinary boys in the town when she’s already got an in with such a nice-looking man?
The story’s cute and I’m excited to see the rest of the manga animated. Although they did the whole first volume in two episodes, so they’re bound to catch up to what I’ve read shortly.
