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The Best and Worst Anime of Fall 2023

That could actually be an interesting experiment, if you were to also show things like the pit/technicians, management and how they strategize in addition to the race itself. The honest answer is that it would probably drag at some point.

Not all character development is good. If it’s too depressing to watch, it just isn’t worth it. You see, I now have a new rule for anime: If there’s at least ONE shred of drama in a otherwise generally lighthearted slice of life anime, it gets an instant drop.

Wanna know what the biggest problems I have with most anime these days? They're too... dramatic. They rely too much on the sob stories of each character, most of them tend to be bitchy and whiny, and there are also too much anime with overly sadistic, evil laugh prone villains that do a lot of horrible misdeeds and they constantly get away with it. And the mood swings, dear God, the mood swings! One minute you're watching a comedy anime, the next it suddenly turns dark and dramatic for no freaking reason! It's one of my biggest pet peeves! It's like anime really can't decide if it wants to me dramatic and serious or lighthearted and goofy... Or how about the moment killers, like when a couple is about to share a kiss or hug only for their friends to run in at the last minute?

And that's why I rarely if ever engage in conversation with people who dislike the shows I like. Far too exhausting and confrontational.

None of this is a recent trend. You can find stuff like this in anime going at least as far back at the '80s (and the "evil laugh prone villains" goes back even farther than that).

I do understand where your complaints are coming from, and shonen action series tend to be the biggest offenders on things like ham-handed ways to slip in needless character development or hackneyed ways to insert drama. Inserting comedy shots in inappropriate places has long been a pet peeve of mine, too, and tonal dissonance in general is a big problem in some anime series.

However, I disagree that anime can't do drama properly or find a good balance of humor and drama. There are plenty of series which do it well, including some great examples in this season alone.

Having watched the last episode, I can now confidently say that Power of Hope: PreCure Full Bloom is the absolute best of the season.

Saeryen wrote:

Having watched the last episode, I can now confidently say that Power of Hope: PreCure Full Bloom is the absolute best of the season.

You kidding me? I was kinda enjoying it until that stupid moment killer happened near the end. Bad enough I'm Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness did the same thing not too long ago!

As a car racing fan I wanted (and kinda expected) to like the series, and that's probably the only reason why I kept watching till the end. But I'm very much on the fence if I want to give the 2nd season even a chance. Heck, Initial D has been on my plan-to-watchlist for way to long, but after watching this I'm not even sure if I should watch that.

I haven't seen MF Ghost so I can't speak for it either way, but I would highly encourage you to give Initial D a try. I started watching it last year mostly because of the Eurobeat and memes, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it's a damn good sports shonen. The races themselves are well-staged and have proper stakes to them, and the characters get fleshed out and have to deal with plenty outside of just racing. (Oh no, personal drama in my anime!) Coincidentally, the friends I watched the first two seasons with are getting together tonight to watch the Third Stage movie.

But were the villains in anime constantly shown to be absolute, irredeemable scum that always got off scot-free back then?