Season sampler results! Watching the first episode of (almost) every new anime. Excluding sequels, but allowing spinoffs (so Wixoss and BSD are allowed).

Cute Executive Officer: Emily described it as "The Office with racist undertones and petplay." I can't even say she's wrong. At least a few of the other jokes were funny -- even though I'm pretty sure our joking around was more entertaining than the anime.

Back Arrow: The robot designs are weird and we're not sure if we actually like this or not, but it was pretty amusing and I like the over-the-top combat and jokes. Feels like a Studio Trigger anime, even though it isn't.

WAVE!! Let's Go Surfing: The consensus was "please let this get a dub where everyone has stereotypical surfer accents." While the show didn't escape comparisons to Free by everyone who came in, it looks pretty solid in its own right.

Aside from the Hawaiian guy always playing the ukulele no matter where he is just to make sure you know he's Hawaiian. The CGI water is very pretty.

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki: We had more fun with the wordplay and background details than with the actual anime some of the time, but we all had to admit that as cringe as this guy constantly comparing everything in life to game mechanics is... we all secretly do it too sometimes.

Heaven's Design Team: Okay, this is hilarious. Not sure if I'd watch week-to-week, but save it to watch when you need something silly to cheer up. Probably the best comedy of the season.

Idoly Pride: I like this a lot, actually. Maybe watch it unspoiled. It's pretty different from most idol anime, which is good in a season stuffed with idol anime, and I'm not even sure if it counts as an idol anime in the traditional sense. We'll see.

Dr. Ramune: What.

Otherside Picnic: This is pretty good so far. I know there's been demand for more shows about adults in the genres that don't usually feature them (whether that's for us to continue to feel represented in our shows or just to fit in with our friends who have moved on from shows about teenagers... for me it's a bit of both). The OP is good, too.

Bungou Stray Dogs Wan: This is very silly and cute and a good way to close out the night. More shows tomorrow.

I☆CHU: What is it with a lot of the idol anime these days and being completely overwhelmed with characters? Seems like a fun time, but I've got a few too many shows I'm watching this season to go for something that looks overall pretty mid.

2.43: Dark sports anime that actually seems interesting, even if the characters are a bunch of jerks; the show seems to be working toward not just improving the team but exploring the drama. I'll think about it.

WIXOSS DIVA(A)LIVE: While going from "magical girl death card game" to "magical idol VR card game with lower stakes" is a little weird, it's kind of fun, too. This show is a lot of things, and it's a little confusing. But eh, I guess happiness sells now, which is fine with me.

Cells at Work CODE BLACK: I have no idea why they aired a new season of the original in the same season as the grimdark fanservice spinoff, but I guess they have different target demographics anyway.

Either way, this is exactly what you'd expect as a fan of the original given the phrase "grimdark fanservice spinoff," and while I like it enough, I'll probably stick with vanilla CAW.

The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter: Horny garbage.

Horimiya: Looks like a cute romance so far. Though I have to say we barely registered it because it was that point in the night where we spend the entire episode talking about unrelated social issues.

Skate-Leading Stars: This show is going to have so many comparisons to YoI even though it's clearly got nothing in common with it except for men's figure skating.

I'd almost compare it to a male idol anime, with teams of a bunch of guys, a form of skating invented for the show instead of accurately reflecting the real sport, and revenge drama in the competition.

Idolls!: Boring idol shorts that look like they were made in VRkatsu, complete with arms clipping through their faces. The jokes weren't all that funny either. It looks like good machinima, but still.

LBX Girls: Magical-girl-adjacent mecha-musume isekai toy commercial with cute girls, which will either make this very popular or quickly ignored. I'm not sure. Overall, seems mid.

SK8 the Infinity: It's hype and not much else (and I'm not sure I can get past the sexist bits), but the show does succeed in looking cool, the fox is cute, and I haven't seen the token foreigner be a Canadian since Sketchbook eons ago. Small victories.