current anime
This anime season is about halfway over, so I guess I should actually comment on the shows I'm watching?
Fairy Tail Zero: A prequel arc that covers the founding of the Fairy Tail Guild. Shortest plot summary: Two girls (one of whom becomes the founder of the guild) who are the only survivors of a massacre in their village meet three treasure hunters (2 of whom play important parts in the regular timeline, and the other is someone's dad) and they have adventures and learn how to become powerful wizards. The spinoff manga it's based on is only one volume long, so there's filler, but it's still pretty fun. There are references to the regular timeline and hints dropped about backstory the regular plot hasn't gotten to yet, but I'd say it's pretty accessible to people who might be curious about the series, but not want to dive head first into a 250+ episode shounen anime, once you get past the first 6 or so minutes of the first episode, which is pretty much just 2 of the main characters wandering around.
Durarara!!! x2: Whatever the current arc is called. Not much to say that I didn't say in my posts about the first season and first 2 parts of season 2. I love it even when I shouldn't, but there are so many plotlines going on that I wouldn't know how to even talk about it without needing multiple paragraphs and lots of spoilers. (Though at least some people are tarting to make decent choices and try to resolve things, though other people just keep making increasingly more terrible decisions and listening to the wrong advice.) This season has a tendency to have alternating episode structures, where one episode focuses on the Current Big Thing and checks in a bit on other things, and then the next episode tries to touch base with all the plots ever and go "oh yeah, and huge thing over there." Not a bad thing by any means, though I watched the first seasons so fast that I didn't notice whether or not they did the same.
Akagami no Shirayuki-hime: I think I like season 2 more than season 1. Don't get me wrong, I loved season 1, but not a whole lot happened as far as a central plotline goes, whereas this season has had an extended storyline and lots of action so far. Sometimes, though, I feel like going "who got angst on my fluffy fantasy shoujo romance?"
Haruchika: The only one I'm watching this season that's actually new. A mystery series about a girl named Chika who joins the brass band in high school, and learns that one of the boys is her childhood friend, Haruta. Together they investigate mysteries in the lives of other students and drag everyone they meet into their club. Normally, you'd expect the series to end with Chika and Haruta romantically interested in each other, even if they don't admit it, but in this case, Haruta is gay and they have a crush on the same teacher. (Who, thankfully, doesn't seem to reciprocate either of their feelings.) I enjoy it, and it's noteworthy as an anime with an explicitly gay lead that isn't marketed as BL, but it has a tendency to have Haruta do all the investigating and solving and then revealing everything in a long spiel, while Chika comes along without really having a clue what's going on, and Haruta sometimes tends to go out of his way to say something mean or hurtful to Chika just because he can find an opportunity to, and I feel like I'm meant to go "That Haruta! So snarky!" in those scenes. More recent episodes have been better about both those things, but I feel like the anime has a habit of falling into a "boys=intellect and logic and girls=emotion and passion" mindset, though less obviously so with the supporting characters.
Fairy Tail Zero: A prequel arc that covers the founding of the Fairy Tail Guild. Shortest plot summary: Two girls (one of whom becomes the founder of the guild) who are the only survivors of a massacre in their village meet three treasure hunters (2 of whom play important parts in the regular timeline, and the other is someone's dad) and they have adventures and learn how to become powerful wizards. The spinoff manga it's based on is only one volume long, so there's filler, but it's still pretty fun. There are references to the regular timeline and hints dropped about backstory the regular plot hasn't gotten to yet, but I'd say it's pretty accessible to people who might be curious about the series, but not want to dive head first into a 250+ episode shounen anime, once you get past the first 6 or so minutes of the first episode, which is pretty much just 2 of the main characters wandering around.
Durarara!!! x2: Whatever the current arc is called. Not much to say that I didn't say in my posts about the first season and first 2 parts of season 2. I love it even when I shouldn't, but there are so many plotlines going on that I wouldn't know how to even talk about it without needing multiple paragraphs and lots of spoilers. (Though at least some people are tarting to make decent choices and try to resolve things, though other people just keep making increasingly more terrible decisions and listening to the wrong advice.) This season has a tendency to have alternating episode structures, where one episode focuses on the Current Big Thing and checks in a bit on other things, and then the next episode tries to touch base with all the plots ever and go "oh yeah, and huge thing over there." Not a bad thing by any means, though I watched the first seasons so fast that I didn't notice whether or not they did the same.
Akagami no Shirayuki-hime: I think I like season 2 more than season 1. Don't get me wrong, I loved season 1, but not a whole lot happened as far as a central plotline goes, whereas this season has had an extended storyline and lots of action so far. Sometimes, though, I feel like going "who got angst on my fluffy fantasy shoujo romance?"
Haruchika: The only one I'm watching this season that's actually new. A mystery series about a girl named Chika who joins the brass band in high school, and learns that one of the boys is her childhood friend, Haruta. Together they investigate mysteries in the lives of other students and drag everyone they meet into their club. Normally, you'd expect the series to end with Chika and Haruta romantically interested in each other, even if they don't admit it, but in this case, Haruta is gay and they have a crush on the same teacher. (Who, thankfully, doesn't seem to reciprocate either of their feelings.) I enjoy it, and it's noteworthy as an anime with an explicitly gay lead that isn't marketed as BL, but it has a tendency to have Haruta do all the investigating and solving and then revealing everything in a long spiel, while Chika comes along without really having a clue what's going on, and Haruta sometimes tends to go out of his way to say something mean or hurtful to Chika just because he can find an opportunity to, and I feel like I'm meant to go "That Haruta! So snarky!" in those scenes. More recent episodes have been better about both those things, but I feel like the anime has a habit of falling into a "boys=intellect and logic and girls=emotion and passion" mindset, though less obviously so with the supporting characters.