Sweet Dreams

Before I get to this season's reviews, some exciting news -- I'm going to be an aunt again! My sister is pregnant with her second child, due in April. It came as a shock to pretty much everyone since my nephew is already seven-and-a-half. (He'll be eight by the time the baby is born, as long as they don't arrive too early.) Everyone thought for sure he was going to be an only child, but surprise!

Anyway, onto the reviews!

The aquatope on white sand - In a season where I mostly just followed continuing series and sequels, this was the only new series that managed to catch my eye, and I'm so glad I checked it out. Though it's continuing into next season, based on this first cour, I'd say this has the potential to be one of my favorite series of the year. The animation is just gorgeous, the characters are great, and the storyline is poignant. The only thing I didn't particularly care for was the random visions people got at the aquarium, a plotline that never really went anywhere, at least in this first half.

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! X - I could have done with a lot less forced kisses on the parts of Geordo and Keith (and did they really need two more kidnappings arcs?), but otherwise, it's always a pleasure to spend more time with Bakarina and her ever-growing harem (shout-out to Nicol's spotlight episode, which was absolutely gorgeous), even if there wasn't much of a plot to speak of now that she's "won" the game. But, what's this? There's a Fortune Lovers II? And a Villainess movie has been announced? Game on!

Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun! - This show just makes me smile! The amusement park storyline was a lot of fun and allowed some of the less popular characters from Iruma's class to stand out more. Also, Iruma and Ameri went on an adorable date! I'm not sure if Iruma actually understood it to be a romantic date or not, but it was still really sweet and cute. Glad this is getting another season!

IDOLiSH7 - Y'all know how much I loved the first two season of IDOLiSH7, so I was expecting to love the new season, too. Unfortunately, even though the story finally focused on the backstory of my favorite member of the group - Yamato - the way his arc played out was somewhat dull, with a conflict that could have been solved in a couple of episodes if he would have just talked to others. (And the choking scene was just...weird.) The second half of the cour picked up a bit, but overall, I'd say it was just pretty good, not great. Still looking forward to second half of the season next year, though!

My Hero Academia - After the endless training fest of the last cour, it was nice to see the show focus back on other things. Even though there was still some training with Endeavor at the beginning of the cour, most of the first arc focused on Endeavor trying to atone for his abusive behavior toward his family, which I thought was handled reasonably well. I liked that it was acknowledged that it was okay for his children not to forgive him, even though he was genuinely regretful. Some scars are just too deep. The second part of the cour turned into My Villain Academia, which was an interesting twist! I've never been too interested in the villains, admittedly, but seeing their backstories did make them a bit more sympathetic.

Tropical-Rouge Precure - Nothing much to say that I haven't said already! It's a fun, but silly, show, and Laura is still the best part of it. I do wish they would focus on the other Pretty Cures beside Laura and Manatsu, though. I can't even remember the other girls' names most of the time. Sango... Yeah, see? (Asuka and Minori -- those are their names! I knew they started with an A and an M, at least.)

To Your Eternity - While the first cour was fantastic, the second cour was a lot weaker, focusing on just one arc (for the most part). I'm still not sure why they decided to animate it now, considering it wasn't even a full cour. Since another season has already been announced, I think it would have made a lot more sense to wait to do this arc then and finish it in less episodes. I just don't think the Jananda arc needed six episodes to be told, especially if they had no real intention of focusing on all the other kids. The last episode, centered on Pioran, was excellent, though, and I am hoping the new season returns back to the greatness of the first cour.

Fena: Pirate Princess - Okay, so Aquatope wasn't the only new series I checked out. I almost forgot that I'm watching Fena on Toonami, which kinda says it all, doesn't it? It's a shame, because there was definitely potential in the premise and it looks beautiful, but the characters just aren't that interesting. Granted, I'm a few episodes behind due to watching on Toonami, so maybe the second half of the series will improve?

As for the Fall season, I'll be continuing with Aquatope and Tropical Rouge Precure (and Fena on Toonami), and I plan to check out the second season of Restaurant To Another World, The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window, takt op Destiny, and Platinum End. I was interested in PuraOre! Pride of Orange when I heard it was going to be about a girls' ice hockey team, but apparently it is actually a combination of hockey/idol show and the reviews haven't been great, so I think I'll give it a pass. It's on Funimation, anyway. I also intend to watch the new season of Demon Slayer, but I'm assuming that will be picked up by Toonami again (maybe once Fena ends), so I'll just wait.

I haven't actually finished any of these yet, but I'm close enough to give my overall thoughts.