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Dated 12 March 2024: I was expecting Torture Princess to be more popular even though I stopped watching it

Hime and Ex
I like that they imprisoned her with her sword.

When I first heard about Torture Princess, I assumed it was some sort of edgy bullshit manga. Then, when I found out it's a comedy, it wasn't difficult to piece together what it's actually about. Later, when I learned it was getting an anime adaptation, I assumed it would generate a fair amount of buzz, since I had always heard the manga is popular. As it turns out, I dropped Hime-sama, "Goumon" no Jikan desu ('Tis Time for "Torture," Princess) after two episodes even though it was mostly fine.

Torture
Cordless phone.

I stopped watch Torture Princess because I assumed it would continue being mostly variations on the same basic joke. I'm sure this sort of thing can remain fresh if it's done creatively, but I'm not a huge fan of reaction-based humor to begin with. As a result, I got my fill of Torture Princess gags pretty much right away. It didn't take long for me to lose interest. There were some jokes that I liked because they did not follow the basic template of the main gag, but they weren't enough to keep me watching.

Torture, Datarma, Hime, and Ex
Where does she poop?

Still, I assumed the anime would be fairly popular with other viewers. And while I wouldn't call its current performance a failure, it at least doesn't seem to place highly in weekly popularity polls and whatnot. I also don't encounter much enthusiasm for the series in the corners of the Internet that I frequent. I suppose I should avoiding putting too much stock in that one particular metric, since I don't encounter much enthusiasm in those areas for BokuYaba or Frieren either, and those are my top two shows this season by a considerable margin. There's no question those two are popular, though. Torture Princess, not so much.

Dated 28 November 2023: I stopped watching seven shows during the Autumn 2023 anime season

Komari
Everyone loves this shark.

It's probably misleading to say I dropped seven shows this season, since I wasn't expecting to finish any of these when I started them. (There's a lot of other anime this season that I find much more compelling.) Anyway, I dropped two shows after a single episode: Hikikomari Kyuuketsuki no Monmon (The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess) and Kimi no Koto ga Dai Dai Dai Dai Daisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo (The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You). I understand Hikikomari has it's fans, but it really wasn't for me. Hyakkano, I've addressed already.

Pepesha
SHY has a Mamikore alcoholic.

I watched two episodes of Saihate no Paladin: Tetsusabi no Yama no Ou (The Faraway Paladin: The Lord of Rust Mountain) and three episodes of SHY and Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari: Dantoudai kara Hajimaru, Hime no Tensei Gyakuten Story (Tearmoon Empire). I didn't find anything objectionable about these three shows. I probably would have watched them during a duller season, or if I had more free time right now. I suppose it's worth noting Saihate no Paladin is the second cours of something I watched two years ago, but I did lose interest towards the end back then.

Keiya and Isaku
This is some beach episode.

Somehow, I watched five episodes of Ojou to Banken-kun (A Girl and Her Guard Dog) which is a very shoujo age-gap romance notable only because the would-be couple starts the series already into each other. I guess it's also notable for having a lot of plot contrivances, and for having a Kitou Akari lead who sounds extremely Kitou Akari, if that's important to you. I also watched six episodes of Boukensha ni Naritai to Miyako ni Deteitta Musume ga S Rank ni Natteta (My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer), which is sort of a lot of episodes for a show that I never found especially interesting. Mostly, I was motivated to continue watching because the source material has ended, so I was at least not concerned about getting a non-ending ending. Hayami Saori voices the lead, so S-Rank Mususme has that going for it if you're a Hayamin fan.

Dated 7 November 2023: There sure is a lot of polygamy this season

Shino and Naoya
Potential Girlfriend Number Three might be Best Girl.

The second season of Kanojo mo Kanojo (Girlfriend, Girlfriend) is currently airing. It's maybe not quite as absurd as its first season, but it's still pretty wild. It's definitely not a series the viewer is meant to take too seriously, but the characters are earnest. If a show about a two-timer forcing himself to keep potential girlfriends numbers three and four at bay isn't wacky enough, this season also includes the anime adaptation of Kimi no Koto ga Dai Dai Dai Dai Daisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo (The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You or Hyakkano for short).

Karana, Rentarou, and Hakari
Thanks to divine intervention, Potato-kun pulls chicks like none other.

Spoilers: There aren't really 100 girlfriends in 100 Girlfriends, at least not yet. I presume there eventually will be, but I don't believe the source material has gotten anywhere near that goal yet. I've read some of the manga, and it's reasonably funny, although not really my sort of thing. It's at least successful in running with its ridiculous premise. However, I didn't like the anime as much; I dropped it after only one episode. That's not to say you should avoid the series. Hyakkano seems pretty popular this season (more so than Kanojo mo Kanojo Season 2). I'm simply following too many other anime this season, so a lot of stuff I might watch at other times got cut.

Dated 5 September 2023: Akikan! really is WORSE THAN COSPRAYERS

Budoko
Maybe Budoko gets more pleasant as the show progresses.

I started watched Akikan! (Empty Can!) as it aired during the Winter 2009 anime season, but I quit because I thought it was WORSE THAN COSPRAYERS. However, the irritating voice of a character introduced in the third episode did influence my decision to drop it then. As it turns out, this character's seiyuu was Yuuki Aoi, who has since gone on to have a successful career. She's rather popular, and I enjoy her work too, so I started second-guessing my 2009 self's opinions. Could it have really been that bad?

Najimi and Budoko
I admit Budoko's character design is amusing when she doesn't talk.

As it turns out, yes, it really was that bad. Budoko is a bratty, child-sized grape soda who speaks in a deliberately annoying voice. I think Yuuki Aoi was only 16 years old herself when she recorded the role, but I don't think being less experienced necessarily impaired her voice acting ability. If anything, she was probably too good at bringing a loathsome soda can to, err, life.

Melon and Kakeru
This scene is about erections.

I did actually try to watch further this time around, but I still only made it to episode four. Noto Mamiko voices a new can (a sports drink), but it's just not worth it. I don't know if the type of humor and tropes that saturate Akikan! are especially dated now. It's not as if I enjoyed humor of this variety in 2009 either. However, it also doesn't seem like the comedy styles found here are common in anime anymore. Possibly this is because I simply don't watch as many shows like this now, or maybe they're less common in general now that anime lineups are all isekai all the time. In any case, I suspect nobody besides boys discovering anime for the first time ever found the jokes in Akikan! funny either.

Dated 29 August 2023: The Summer 2023 Anime Season So Far

Mie and Komura
Enjoy this apple. Or else.

Somehow, Suki na Ko ga Megane wo Wasureta (The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses) is my top show this season. I say "somehow," but I know why: It's because the girl Potato-kun likes squints when she doesn't have her glasses (which is often), and it makes her look angry as fuck all the time. This is a dumb gimmick, but I love it. The juxtaposition between her appearance and her demeanor is so good. More surprisingly, outside of the trailer and first episode that made everyone (including me) assume GoHands was going to commit anime crimes all season long, the visuals have been fine. If anything, I'm sort of disappointed it looks as normal as it does. Maybe Sukimega would be a bottom-tier show during most quarters, but you go to Seasonal Anime War with the shows you have, not the shows you wish you had.

Ageha
Carcinization.

Hirogaru Sky! Precure is only sort of average as far as Pretty Cure seasons go, but it's such a step up from Delicious Party♡Precure that it seems wonderful in comparison. God, they really fucked that one up. Anyway, Hirogaru Sky! has made notable changes to the existing Pretty Cure formula. It has a "blue" lead instead of a "pink" one, it has an adult Cure, and it has the franchise's first male Cure. Nevertheless, despite these departures, the series as a whole seems really...normal.

Misha and Anos
Not even bothering to make a magic umbrella.

Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha: Shijou Saikyou no Maou no Shiso, Tensei shite Shison-tachi no Gakkou e Kayou II (The Misfit of Demon King Academy: History’s Strongest Demon King Reincarnates and Goes to School with His Descendants Season 2) re-started after a mid-season interruption that forced a delay for the remaining episodes of the cours. It's a lot of magic bullshit, none of which seems as interesting to me as the first season's Misha and Sasha content, but I haven't gotten tired of the constant ass pulls yet.

Yohane, Lailaps, and Dia
Dia still sucks, though.

Genjitsu no Yohane: SUNSHINE in the MIRROR (YOHANE THE PARHELION -SUNSHINE in the MIRROR-) needs more music. And where the Hell is SAINT SNOW? C'mon. I mostly like what it's doing anyway. It's had a few twists that are sort of interesting. I'm not sure I'm entirely on board with what the series has planned for what I presume will be a big finish, but I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. The Yohane focus has rehabilitated my opinion of Love Live! Sunshine!! to some degree, but I still think Nijigasaki and Superstar are superior installments overall.

Dated 8 August 2023: I dropped Zom 100 way before getting to #100

Akira
Enjoy your life.

I was impressed by the energy and style of the first episode of Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru Made ni Shitai 100 no Koto (Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead), but it was probably inevitable that I would lose interest so fast. I don't have much enthusiasm for zombie-type shows most of the time. In fact, I'll even go so far as to say I dislike zombie-related media in general. In that sense, it's a testament to the first episode that I liked it enough for me to watch three more.

Shizuka
Do more cardio.

I suppose part of why I kept with it even that far can also be attributed to the arrival of a mysterious, cool survivalist voiced by Kusunoki Tomori. I was hoping she'd stick around, but she disappeared entirely as the show turned its attention to expanding the cast. I presume she'll be featured prominently again soon enough once all the introductions are complete, but I don't feel like watching all of that. The source manga is still ongoing, so I'm taking that to mean I'll only have a non-ending ending to look forward to even if I do stick with the anime. For viewers who enjoy zombie stories, it's probably still an entertaining series, but I'm out.

Dated 28 February 2023: I stopped watching Handyman Saitou In Another World for the same reason I stopped reading it

Lafanpan
The Touyama Nao character sounds extremely Touyama Nao.

I like the basic premise of Benriya Saitou-san, Isekai ni Iku (Handyman Saitou In Another World). The series starts off well, but the anime suffers from the same problem as the manga: It develops a plot. As a gag anime with uncomplicated jokes about a normal schmuck who uses his unique skillset to assist a stereotypical RPG party of adventurers, the series is successful. It's consistently amusing, and it's rewarding to see the contrast between the appreciation Saitou receives in the fantasy world compared to how his blue-collar skills were taken for granted in modern Japan.

Lychee
Those cowards didn't animate Lychee's sex scene.

Because the Handyman Saitou anime is a faithful adaptation of the original manga, it doesn't take long for it to exhaust the more whimsical standalone chapters and reach the part with continuity and interwoven character backstories. At that point, it becomes more of a normal fantasy show, albeit still with comedy and parody bits. It never gets actually bad (or at least it didn't before I dropped it), but I lost all interest in watching more. Maybe it returns to the original flavor of the series, but I'm not motivated to push through—hoping for the best—to find out for myself. Someone else is gonna have to tell me.

Dated 21 February 2023: I've stopped watching anime-original episodes of Detective Conan

Ran and Kogorou
He's fine. Your dad has been knocked unconscious probably a thousand times by now.

The Meitantei Conan anime (localized as Detective Conan and Case Closed) has been running since January 1996. I didn't start watching it until much later than that, but I have been following it for something like 13 years. I did start from the first episode, but I ended up I skipped hundreds of episodes in what was at the time the middle of its run. Still, I've basically seen all of the episodes from the past decade at least, including a number of spinoffs. It's getting to be entirely too many because I'm tired of the anime-original episodes.

Ran
On the plus side, Ran will probably kick some guy in the neck next episode.

I've complained about this before, but now I've decided to stop watching the series aside from the episodes that draw from the source material. Thankfully, the Japanese-language Wikipedia entry gets updated in a timely fashion, making it easy to identify which episodes to pass up. It's not that there aren't good anime-original episodes, but there are entirely too many that don't seem worth watching when a show has run as long as Detective Conan. Incidentally, the plot episodes based on the manga do suggest the main story is getting somewhere, but I have no idea if that means a conclusion is looming, or if we'll still be in basically the same place a decade from now.