I like Aletta even though she admitted her bodily fluids are not poisonous.

Food-based anime is all about reaction shots. Isekai Shokudō (Restaurant to Another World) is no different, but it does spice up the usual recipe by with its fantasy element and its somewhat unremarkable menu. As the title indicates, the restaurant in question features an entrance which pops up periodically in fantasy world locations, ensuring an eclectic mix of clientele who are amazed by the exquisite way food can taste when it does not consist entirely of plain boiled meat and wilted vegetables.

Fuck you, rabbit.

There are a lot of tonal shifts in Alice to Zouroku (Alice and Zouroku). The shifts themselves are not jarring. It's just that the show covers a lot more emotional ground than you might expect. There are people getting fucked up in fight scenes, but also scenes of a little girl joyously talking to the plants she's watering. There's also a dramatic arc which abruptly ends midway through the one-cours show. I don't know how closely the anime follows the manga, but I presume that must be at least partially responsible for the somewhat unconventional way everything plays out.

You can tell Sanae is a responsible girl because she packed an umbrella.

Ordinarily, these sort of factors result in a disjointed show that's mostly a mess, but Alice to Zouroku is quite good the whole way though. I like that despite having superpowers, Sana is still very much a little kid with all the weaknesses and vulnerabilities that come along with that. It helps that Ohwada Hitomi does a fine job voicing her. I like the way Sana talks and the inflections she uses. I also like that the show is filled with interesting bits, such as its depiction of "Wonderland" and how various superpowers manifest. Naturally, I also like that there's a combat maid who shows up to bail people out from time to time, because of course there's a dependable combat maid. Ultimately, it's not so much that Alice to Zouroku is necessarily capital-G Good, although it is pretty good, but rather mostly that the show is really likeable. I think that's reason enough to give it a try.

The happiest girl in the world.

Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii desu ka? completed its 12-episodes admirably. There's basically no way to talk about it without going into spoilers, but I'll try to avoid major details beyond what's revealed in the first 60 seconds of the first episode. That prologue does test the theory that spoilers don't matter. Personally, I think spoilers absolutely do matter for comedies and punchlines, but I'm willing to entertain the notion they don't matter for drama. In the case of SukaSuka, having an understanding ahead of time about some major developments in the final episodes by having them revealed in the opening prologue did not detract from the show, and I have to admit the revelations likely improved the anime as a whole.

Well, it makes sense given that it's the sixth of the "A Ten" series.

I feel as if I should enjoy Atom: The Beginning more as a matter of general principle. After all, it has such highly influential and historically important roots that I feel compelled to watch it regardless of its merits. Never mind that I'm only passably familiar with the original content, and have basically watched or read none of it. It's a backwards approach to things, to be sure. Nevertheless, Atom: The Beginning is airing now (well, soon ending now at this point), and getting into the franchise out of order seems okay since it's a prequel.

Best Girl.

Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii desu ka? continues to surpass all expectations. That an anime adaptation of a light novel with a ridiculous title (WorldEnd: What do you do at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us?) could turn out to be one of the best shows of the year is somewhat absurd, yet here we are. With 10 episodes in and two to go, I'm looking forward to the ending which was telegraphed in the first episode's 60-second prologue, but I'll also be sad to reach the end of the series, given that successful anime romances are so rare.

What? You can't see it?

I'm calling it. Re:CREATORS will end (next season) with Potato-kun re-drawing and re-writing Altair as a wall-to-wall dere-dere moé-moé...kyun! schoolgirl whose MAD gets super popular on the NicoVideo. Still the best show this season, though. Even ahead of Little Witch Academia TV which is also really good. I should write about that before it ends.

Magikal girls have the strongest conviction.

I'm rather pleased Re:CREATORS will be two cours even though it means the pace is somewhat leisurely. Or, at least it seems that way because it happens to be the sort of show where the viewer constantly feels as if something could happen at any minute. "Gunpuku," who we now know is named Altair, seems content to let things unfold without haste, an attitude which gives greater impact to the violence of her actions when she suddenly snaps in response to an emotional trigger. It's a great scene, regardless of how you feel about the outcome, and where your personal loyalties lie.

At least the flower on her head is not a fried egg.

I started watching Seikaisuru Kado because it is an entirely 3DCG anime, and I liked at least one of Toei's 100% 3DCG things, Rakuen Tsuihou: Expelled from Paradise. Unfortunately, Kado: The Right Answer, despite not featuring periodic shots of Angela Balzac's spanking-brand-new 16-year-old butt, is a lot less interesting than Expelled from Paradise. In fact, the most compelling episode thus far was the episode zero prologue about chrome plating, to such an extent I sort of wish the series were entirely about chrome plating instead.