Here Lies My Hopes and Dreams for My Blog – September 2023 Edition

Time for an update and some reflections. Once again, I’m just going over the anime side of the blog.

Anime Episode Reviews

Currently Covering:

I don’t know about the quality but August was a very productive month for the blog. I really got into a groove with churning out an episode review or two on a daily basis and thanks to that, I checked off some shows in the backlog and caught up on the seasonal shows I’m covering.

This week, I’ve returned to my job so I’m in the process of scaling things down. I stopped posting twice on weekdays and with one exception, I’m not aiming to get stuff done on weekdays after Labor Day weekend. I think what I’ll instead do on weekdays is finalize screencaps for my posts and work some construction on the Anime Archive. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done in those departments. Because of Dynazenon and The Quintessential Quintuplets Specials, I’ll have to get two posts done for a couple more weekends. After that, I may stop aiming to get two posts done during those days.

Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon airs on Wednesdays so I decided to switch to quickie/bullet point form until the series finale. That way, I can still write about it after work and it’s less likely to get in the way of other shows. Horimiya and Yohane air on weekends so I can still cover them as normal but the quickie format is an option.

The Quintessential Quintuplets Specials will be airing for the first two weekends of the month. I’ve wrote those into my schedule but it’s possible I’ll have to rework it as there’s still no confirmation that they’ll stream on Crunchyroll like with the rest of the show. Fingers crossed for a super last minute announcement or timely fansubs so that I don’t have to rework my schedule.

Up Next:

  • Love Live! Superstar!! (Season 1) – /12 eps.
  • Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club (Season 2) – /13 eps.
  • Love Live! Superstar!! (Season 2) – /12 eps.

I considered covering Superstar!! alongside Yohane but doing so sounded weirded to me and I must admit that finishing Sunshine!! and catching up on Yohane gave me burnout. On the flipside, that made me look towards alternatives and resulted in me coming back to The Quintessential Quintuplets and the Gridman Universe. The plan right now is to finish Dynazenon right when Yohane finishes airing and then make Superstar!! my next backlogged show for episode reviews. I pushed myself to write two more episode reviews for Dynazenon on my first two workdays so that this would line up perfectly.

As mentioned in the last announcement post, I want to get back to tackling Love Live! in release order so that’s why Nijigasaki Season 2 is wedged between Superstar‘s two seasons. That said, this is dependent on when Superstar!! Season 3 airs. If it’s premiering in Winter 2024, I might have to keep Nijigasaki on hold.

TBD:

  • Granbelm – /13 eps. (Will re-date the Eps. 1-3 reviews)
  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica – /12 eps. (Will re-date the Eps. 1-9 reviews)
  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica Movies – /3 eps.
  • Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story Season 2 -The Eve of Awakening – 8 eps.
  • Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story Final Season – Dawn of a Shallow Dream – 4 eps.

Obviously subject to change. This is in alphabetical order so there’s no indication to the order in which I tackle these shows. Also, this list only encompasses TV shows. There are a bunch of movies and OVAs for other shows that I plan on covering in episode reviews but most of them are not a top priority for me at the moment.

With Madoka, I’m waiting for news on the Walpurgisnacht Rising movie before I revive covering it. Magia Record ended so it’s not completely topical for me to cover but it’s a still a big maybe since it is related to Madoka. I might as well consider covering the entire anime side of the franchise. As for Granbelm, I think I’ll revive my episode reviews for it in time for the show’s fifth anniversary. That’s pretty much the last justification I can think of as finishing it is would otherwise be the least relevant thing I could in this day and age. It’s another big maybe but part of me still wants to do it as I really do regret passing on it back when it aired and it would be the last retroactive series of episode reviews left for me to do after Madoka.

I did remove a couple of shows from the list. I’m interested in Lycoris Recoil but you know what, I wasn’t knee deep into it like I am with other shows. Part of me wants to finish Restaurant to Another World since it’s one of the first shows I covered on the blog but I know that’s a silly reason to hold on to it. Dropping Magical Revolution feels a bit awkward since I’m over halfway with covering it but it’s not topical anymore and I’ve clearly been more interesting in finishing other stuff in the backlog. I say there’s still a small possibility for me to finish these shows but right now, I don’t want to promise that I will so they’ve been delisted. If I don’t return to Magical Revolution by the end of the year, don’t expect me to cover the rest of the series in episode reviews.

Two shows that I’m thinking to adding to the TBD section are Made in Abyss and Girls und Panzer. Part of me would like to open the door to covering their succeeding content. With Made in Abyss however, I’d also like to redo my episode reviews for Season 1, either partly or entirely, before covering anything else. Girls und Panzer is in a similar boat as I kind of want to first expand on the Twitter/X threads I wrote for it for #Anitwitwatches. We’ll see. It depends on if I have to time and if I can fit them in with the shows that already on the list.

Episode Review Poll

I considered posting a fourth review poll around the time I finished the original Horimiya. In the end, I decided to hold off on it as I have enough shows from the backlog to go through right now. I think once that initiative starts to die down, I’ll consider doing a fourth poll.

Fall 2023 Coverage

Goblin Slayer is returning next season so I plan on covering it. I do need to watch the Goblin’s Crown movie so I’ll be watching and writing an episode review for it during Labor Day weekend at the earliest and the weekend before Season 2 premieres at the latest. There’s still no premiere date for Season 2 so the current plan I have in my head is cover Goblin Slayer on Saturdays and catch up on Love Live! Superstar!! on Sundays. If Goblin Slayer is airing on Sundays then I’ll swap the order. If it’s airing on a weekday, I could write quickies for it and reserve Saturday for a third potential show, be it seasonal or backlogged.

I might put Superstar!! on hold during the influx of premieres though part of me really wants to make progress in that show once I get started on it. I also don’t know if I’ll be writing a lot of First Impressions in the meantime. I got my job to consider and I’ve learned throughout this year that I just don’t have the spark for First Impressions these days. We’ll see once the season begins.

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