Some early impressions of the season:

• City the Animation - Fantastic so far. The production quality is off the charts and the humor is connecting for me. Nichijou is my go-to feelgood anime, so this show never fails to make me feel good as well.
• Silent Witch - This adaptation has been better than I could have hoped for. Monica is a lot of fun as a main character and Nero is a great supporting cat. Also, by far my favorite villainess of this season.
• Vending Machine - I have enjoyed season 2 so far, but I feel like the pacing is pretty slow. I remember reading that there wasn't much left of the source after the first season, so perhaps they are stretching what little there is over the whole cour.
• Mikadono Sisters - I have read/watched lots of harem shows and this one is not bad. The MC is actually likeable and the three sisters are all meaningfully distinct from one another.
• 7th Prince - The production of this show continues to impress. I know many are likely to get turned off by Lloyd's character design, outfits, camera angles, all of it really...but if you can look past that, the animation in this show really goes off when it wants to.
• New Saga - I have ended up liking this more than I thought I would. I didn't remember the beginning of the story too well since it had been so long since I read the manga. It has kept me watching so far. I don't think they are making it the whole way through the story this season, but I have feelings about the story's ending, so I will probably drop this at some point.
• Dan Da Dan - Season 2 has been fine for me, but one thing in particular has been excellent. The animation of Jiji in the fights the past two episodes has been stellar. I absolutely love the way they have animated him and his abilities. I just want more of Jiji kicking a ball around, is that too much to ask? I think we know where all the frames for Blue Lock ended up now, Dan Da Dan stole them.

I’m halfway through Samurai Champloo. I like it. Cowboy Bebop vibes, and the soundtrack is amazing (Nujabes). It’s also nice to take a break from shows where the main characters are kids therefore having immature problems.

The Summer Hikaru Died - I like how they did the horror elements and the melancholic vibe. It’s kind of a slow burn so far so let’s see if it picks up in later episodes.

Past Seasons

Following season 1 and 2 from the week before, I binged the rest of Sound! Euphonium: Our Promise: A Brand New Day, Liz and the Blue Bird, Special Edition - Ensemble Contest and season 3.

The developments in season 3 are well within my expectations e.g.

Though I certainly did not expect

Even if the plot is predictable, the execution is so good that it doesn't matter.

Also, I can finally empatise with Char from Gundam: Kumiko could have been a mother to me.

Jokes aside, various characters were raving about how Mayu seemed motherly, but I felt Kumiko has been the mother figure for the club - since season 1 - with how well she handled the club's interpersonal issues.

She showed exceptional emotional maturity for a high schooler. I would love to have her as my teacher / manager / team lead.

There's this saying that "the hardest problems are people problems" (source 1, source 2). I speak from experience in tech, but have realised that it applies to all fields: tech, anime-production, sports, music, etc.

I can't emphasise enough just how much of a genius Kumiko is at solving people problems. Kitauji's concert band is very fortunate to have her leading them.

Side note: I did not expect their marching costume to expose the tummies of guys. Talk about equality.

Long story short, this anime is a masterpiece. If you are into good story and well-written characters, this is the anime for you. (The animation, art and music are nothing to scoff at either). 10 / 10

P.S. I don't watch a lot of music anime. Now that I've watched Sound! Euphonium, music shot up the ranks to become my highest rated genre on AniList (85.5%).

Has anyone seen Nukitashi The Animation? Or "Bizarro Shimoneta" how I call it. It's an ecchi show (skirting the line on hentai really). Think how in Shimoneta every bit of erotica is forbidden and the protagonist fights to bring it back. In Nukitashi it's a complete reverse and everyone is fucking everywhere and the protag fights to save his virginity. The humor plays just to the extremes like in Shimoneta (just flipped) but the animation goes really hard. They have put a real animation budget behind this ecchi gag show that isn't even streaming on most services. It's a miracle.

And here is the OP (creditless, SFW)

Watching CITY the animation and finished ARIA the origination. Aria started out average (relative to the rest of it) but then it really started hitting. Ep 9 is one of the most emotional episodes I have ever seen in my life. It did a most wonderful thing: make me tear up without making me sad. And when Alicia explained her way of thinking and acting, it just was so wonderful and wholesome. She is a sage like character. Many anime focus on the dark side of life. Others on big dreams and unreasonable success. Others on comedy and entertainment. Aria focuses on happiness and how to live life. More so than most other slice of life series.