Loved the fakeout with Vermilio coming onto the beach in what appears to be grief but turns out to just be frustration with Helck. Also loved that she took the time to cross the finish line to make the others happy; didn't even push back on it after Piwi pointed it out. The cohesion and mutual trust between Vermilio and Helck has developed very naturally.

Great episode this week. We finally got some background on the final member of the party, though we haven't seen her in the current time yet. Also had some great action between Leo and Fred and (briefly the Demon Lord). Finally, I loved the gags around Max riding his bike. I wasn't expecting commentary on multi-modal infrastructure in my silly anime show, but it was appreciated. Glad they included the post credit scene for some closure on the flashback.

Really looking forward to this one! The manga is one of my favorites.

I am up to date on the Farming Life manga (not read the LNs) and it doesn't really change in those regards. I would consider it an Iyashikei series (even though MAL just has it as SOL), so by design it is mostly just chill vibes and character-driven gags occasionally. I do think that the MC and supporting cast could be more dynamic though. It sometimes feels like the author just wants to nerd out about some topic of the week related to farming/village construction rather than character writing. There are other examples on that MAL page of Iyashikei series that have very interesting characters (including my favorite show of all time, Mushishi) and Farming Life is just so bland in comparison.

I also appreciate that the harem in Farming Life is so matter of fact, but it does mean the MC comes off as cold or distant a lot of the time. Agree that Makuro (spider) is great and everybody from the world is low-key terrified of Makuro. I also love the wolves Kuro and Yuki.

Helck has been interesting. It has had a very slow start, but it feels like it is doing a lot of work in establishing things. I mentioned in the last episode thread that the slow, unspoken worldbuilding they are doing in Helck reminds me a bit of Adventure Time. A pretty silly cast of characters that is set in a world harboring a very dark past.

Other than the seasonal anime airing right now I have a couple older shows I have recently finished.

• Lycoris Recoil: Loved this show. Really struck a great balance between action set pieces and some fluffy SOL stuff. Definitely a bit of suspension of disbelief on aspects of the show and some plot point around the Allen Institute aren't super clear, but overall really great show.
• Shimoneta: Really fun, silly, horny show. This show takes everything to 11. The translators must have had a hell of a time translating all the filthy, horny Japanese puns. If you are looking for a madcap, over-the-top comedy that is desperately horny, then you can't do much better than this one.
• The Vision of Escaflowne: Felt like checking out some 90's vintage anime and saw this one recommended a couple times. Overall it was enjoyable, but the story definitely feels a bit dated. I was initially intrigued by the combination of a fantasy setting with the mecha genre, but the fantasy aspects never really factor into things and it is pretty much just straight mecha. I loved the animation in this series...yes, the character models (especially the noses) are kinda weird, but the mecha animation and fight choreography was great. Also, props to the animators for animating a girl running like a human being rather than the way moe girls are often animated these days when they run.

Well, this show continues to surprise me. This week it was a discussion about the challenges associated with menstruation in a fantasy setting.

Also, the new, shy hero character's design reminded me so much of Mitsurugi from Konosuba. I half expected him to start talking about his cursed sword.

The bot maintainer is @chaorace@lemmy.sdf.org. I am not sure why the series isn't getting posts made since it is listed in the source code.

Interesting idea! I have really enjoyed the slow, unspoken worldbuilding in this show so far. We see ruins that hint at a civilization mysteriously wiped out in antiquity, some vague, super dangerous threat to the north of the demon territory, some unexplained toxin permeating demon lands. All of this hints at deeper lore and a fleshed out world, but the story doesn't give us some huge exposition dump explaining things. It reminds me a ton of how Adventure Time very slowly builds its world over the course of many seasons, but still never really explains things, content to leave some questions unanswered or open to interpretation.

I have gone super deep in the Darth Jar Jar rabbit hole before and I am convinced this was likely the original intent of the character. I believe he was written to be a character similar to The Mule from the Foundation series.

Had the same thought. I expected her to call Anne by the name Vermilio as she was monologuing to herself while the boat was sailing away.

The show looks great and I have been enjoying it, but the production side seems like it is a huge mess. I doubt if the show will be contained within just this season and expect it to stretch into more than one, similar to Nier.