iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Seasonal Anime™ Hell Mode: The Hardcore Gamer Dominates in Another World with Garbage Balancing Season 2 (finalFINAL): Yeah as I mentioned in another post, they snuck out a 13th episode that wasn't listed where I was watching it. Season 1 was 12 episodes, so I guess they just never updated it?

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So… remember when I said that “Hardcore Gamer Dominates in a World with Garbage Balancing” had an extremely shitty cliffhanger at the end of the season finale? Well another episode just dropped, so apparently the site saying the season was “complete” last week was wrong. OOPS.

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UnSeasonal Anime™ Finished my rewatch of Season 2 of Let This Grieving Soul Retire and idk what I was on about when I first watched it, but it completely holds up to Season 1. I think I mixed up story beats from Season 1 and 2, and there's a lot more of a flow between them than I gave it credit for

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2cat @2cat.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Seasonal Anime™ Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You (final): What's there to say, I liked the manga and I like the show. They've really given the story more verve and life than I expected with the animation and voice. Nothing here is terribly high-stakes, we're just here for fun.

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UnSeasonal Anime™ I was feeling a little under the weather and rewatched Let This Grieving Soul Retire season 1 and decided I want to give season 2 another try. I liked it overall, but I remember having some sticking points with it, and I want to see how much if it was watching it weekly.

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2cat @2cat.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Seasonal Anime™ From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman Season 2 (final): Season 2 has been up and down, It wasn't going to be able to have exactly the juice as season 1, but it's held on in ways. His interactions with students has mostly been channeled into Mewi but HER character is vague

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2cat @2cat.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Seasonal Anime™ Skeleton Knight in Another World S2 (final): I've very much enjoyed this season- I'd say that it felt a little aimless, but that's kinda the idea. Arc is just kinda enjoying aimlessly wandering the countryside looking for adventure. Weirdly, I want more and less plot simultaneously.

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2cat @2cat.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Seasonal Anime™ A Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires (final): I feel like I was pretty honest in how fast I fell off on this show- I feel like I'm often in a position of wanting a show to take more risks and get darker, and boy did I get it here

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2cat @2cat.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Seasonal Anime™ The World's Strongest Rearguard (final): This show has been pretty stupid, but there's an honestly in it. It is unabashedly a harem wish-fulfillment isekai but having the MC actually want to help and support his friends really saves the spirit of it. it's horny, but not like, HORNY.

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2cat @2cat.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Seasonal Anime™ Hell Mode: The Hardcore Gamer Dominates in Another World with Garbage Balancing Season 2 (final): I wasn't expecting the second season of this to be as engrossing as it has been. Season 1 was such a comparatively small story and now we're literally watching a full scale war

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2cat @2cat.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Seasonal Anime™ I Became a Legend After My 10 Year-Long Last Stand (final): This has ended up being a pretty fun little story. Surprised I barely remembered any of it from the manga (though I read it SO long ago at this point, they could have made major changes and I probably wouldn't notice)

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2cat @2cat.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Seasonal Anime™ The Frontier Lord Begins With Zero Subjects (final): This show has been fun and mostly comfy. The whole introduction of the "kids" was a miss for me, and I'm not really sure what kind of climax they're going to build toward. Either sudden big monster or a relationship milestone.

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Seasonal Anime™ Kaiju Girl Caramelise (final): Another anime that didn't get tagged as the last episode of the season, but it was pretty clear that was where we were heading. I feel like it's both pretty obvious where things are go from here, but also kinda not? In the kaiju battle sense at least.

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Seasonal Anime™ Smoke The Whole Pack edition Smoking Behind The Supermarket ep 10-11: Apparently I missed last week's episode? I remember hearing someone excited that the nervous produce guy was in the episode and he was only in episode 11 for like 2 seconds. Glad I checked, since 10 covers my faves

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Seasonal Anime™ The Exiled Heavy Knight Knows How to Game The System (final?): This one isn't listed as the last episode of the season, but unless they're doing a 24-episode run like Iruma-kun I feel like this episode will end at a pretty good climax for a season. Yeah, reading the manga is cheating

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Seasonal Anime™ The Oblivious Saint Can’t Contain Her Power (final) Shows like this are why I follow seasonal shows. NOBODY is talking about this show, even I was sure it was going to be mid. I've watched at least one show with this EXACT same premise even down to the story beats, yet here we are.

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Seasonal Anime™ sword edition Country Bumpkin Master Swordsman ep 11: The last few episodes have set up a very interesting conflict- the main character has spent his life teaching and training others and cares deeply for his students, but the mercenaries that almost killed one of them is now an ally

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2cat @2cat.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I'm going to try something a little different for the end of this season's animes, since so many of them are ending at around the same time. I'm going to make one post about the show as a whole BEFORE watching the last episode, and then watch the last episode and see if anything changes.

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Oh boy, a philosophical episode. I'm sure this is going to be translated in a way that maintains all the meaning

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2cat @2cat.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I feel like the part of the Saint Selection Exam where one of the contestants fucking APOTHEOSIZES INTO A 6-WINGED ANGEL might just kinda override the need for the point scoring system and the televote.

Scene from episode 11 of The Oblivious Saintess Can't Contain her Power, during a competition to find the most powerful Saintess, the main character pushes her divine power to the limit to try to save her sister's life. In doing so, she grows 6 angel wings and blasts rainbow-hued lights, causing the clergy present to weep and and praise her. Afterwards, the competition resumes and the judges discuss the number of points each contestant had, as if they hadn't just watched one of them blast the arena with holy radiance

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2cat @2cat.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Seasonal Anime™ yep edition The Ghost in the Shell ep9: It's going to get tiring just saying over and over how much I like this show. I like that it bridges the silly and professional sides of the Major so well, though I said that last week too.

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Seasonal Anime™ jebus edition The Oblivious Saint ep10: I can't believe this is one of the best things I've watched today, but I seriously was mad that the episode ended when it did. The saint trials are very silly so I assumed it'd be pretty dumb, but I am ON BOARD.

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Seasonal Anime™ anticlimax edition Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even ep 9: So the followup episode to her hypnotizing a guy to behead his young sister on screen then kill his entire family and every person in a ten block radius was... a business meeting about cats having sensitive noses. Cool.

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Seasonal Anime™ old school filler episode edition Second Reincarnation of a Talentless Sage ep 10: How do you follow a disturbing and troubling gear-shift to damsel-rescuing and generational exploitation? FILLER EPISODE! HOT SPRINGS TRIP! CHIBI EPISODE!

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Seasonal Anime™ mawwaige edition The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects ep 9: Big axe man doesn't know how to wedding. I was a little bummed they cut over his wedding speech and just said "oh I said a prayer I learned in church when I was young" dude I don't know fantasy world church prayers

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Seasonal Anime™ 2cat4koma edition Hanaori-san Still Wants to Fight in the Next World ep8: The world is being invaded by interdimensional aliens, and task forces of magic users and magical girls are attempting to turn the tide... but hold on the main characters had to hold hands once OH BOY OH MAN

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Seasonal Anime™ yep that's an anime The World's Strongest Rearguard e9: This show is going to survive on my memory for about 2 seconds after the season ends. I don't hate it, and I want to see how it ends out, but I KNOW they're leaving an opening for a season 2 that will never happen.

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Seasonal Anime™ yep that's anime edition Skeleton Knight Iseaki s2ep9: It's sorta fun that the main character of this show is just kinda goofing around. He's suddenly in a RPGsekai world with crazy powers and he just wants to see an elf or poke a dragon or whatever.

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2cat @2cat.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

sigh... time to watch the next episode of Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even... I guess

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Seasonal Anime™ peak edition Ghost in the Shell ep 7+8: It took me so long to collect my thoughts on the last episode that another one came out, which ended up being for the best. My only concern about episode 7's blast of transhumanist existentialism was that it would be a one-off, but no!

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2cat @2cat.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Seasonal Anime™ whoopsy doodle edition The Oblivious Saint ep 8+9: Realized upon starting the episode that I never talked about the last one. This show is the very definition of mid. It's totally fine lunchpail anime, not bad but also not amazing. There are essentially zero surprises.

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Seasonal Anime™ your ass is grass(land) edition The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects ep 8: I was going to wait for another episode to go by to write anything since the big climactic conflict was kinda a dud. Nobody involved actually wanted to fight and it could have been over nearly instantly

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Seasonal Anime™ I forgot I was watching this show edition I became a Legend After My 10-Year-Long Last Stand ep 8: Congratulations we made it to a part that I remember from the manga. I feel like the anime is stretching things out because I swear the crime boss with cursed items was WAY earlier.

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Seasonal Anime™ oh wait anime can be fun edition Hell Mode: The Hardcore Gamer Dominates in a World with Garbage Balancing s2ep8: I appreciate that this show found a way to make me enjoy an isekai where a superstrong protagonist blows up endless armies of nameless monsters and everyone is imressed.

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Seasonal Anime™ ninja lore edition Skeleton Knight ep8: oh hey it's that boat that's been in the opening for 8 episodes I was wondering when that was gonna actually happen. Mostly an exposition episode, for backstory on the ninja characters. Nothing too out there, which is rare for this show.

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Seasonal Anime™ tl;dr for Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even since I didn't realize I was going to write QUITE that much: It's very unlikely when the next episode releases that I'm going to want to watch it. Not a definite drop, but a definite "what the fuck are they even DOING"

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Seasonal Anime™ UM WHAT A Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even ep 8: wow I can't believe an episode or 2 ago I was worried I'd have an issue with the business meetings uhhhh fair warning this is gonna get pretty dark pretty quick so if you don't want massive downer spoilers, just "it's pretty bad"

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Seasonal Anime™ more of the same edition The World's Strongest Rearguard ep8: Yep it sure is more of this show. It's fine. They're making a point to show the MC learning about his party members to best direct them. Having the same 3 story beats in every RPGsekai gets a little old though.

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Seasonal Anime™ chop chop edition: From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman ep7: Nothing really happened? I wasn't disappointed or anything but it felt like I looked away for a second and the episode ended. I like that they're back to showing moments of his teaching, it IS the heart of the show

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Seasonal Anime™ big lizard edition Kaiju Girl Caramelise ep 8: I HAD been kinda hoping that the other characters might get a smidge of development, since the kaiju-obsessed girl hasn't really done anything besides show up in weird costumes despite getting a lot of seemingly portentous moments

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Seasonal Anime™ ghost doggy edition Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You ep7: Yeah it's still good. I know enough about this series and manga and the show so far, I won't have an issue with it. Just assume it's good unless I say otherwise.

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Seasonal Anime™ anti-frog edition Exiled Heavy Knight ep8: Can't believe the "we use 3d animated backgrounds to focus that time and money on animating the characters" studio spent the time and money they saved to animate the characters- that feels like cheating somehow. This show is still SO pretty

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Seasonal Anime™ wait what edition Villager of Level 999 ep 9: I was so ready to bag this show up before this episode. Stuff has just kinda been happening one thing after another like a bad D&D campaign or a bedtime story for a hyper child, but there's a glimmer of hope in here.

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Seasonal Anime™ groan edition Second Reincarnation of a Talentless Sage ep 9: A show with a limited number of episodes can't always afford to be as slow and thoughtful as they'd like... but holy shit dude. For the last 3 episodes this show has been a clip show of terrible thing after terrible thing

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Seasonal Anime™ midseason check-in! Hanaori-san Still Wants to Fight in the Next Life ep5: This show is DEDICATED to being a gag anime with short silly vignettes of the tired mc being prodded by the fiery heroine, meanwhile the plot was about a secret wizard army fighting an alien invasion??

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Seasonal Anime™ midseason check-in! The World's Strongest Rearguard ep6: this show is extremely dumb and I'm definitely going to finish the season because I have to see just HOW dumb it's going to get. We already have jokes about how just rolling over in his sleep casts crazy buffs on his party

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Seasonal Anime™ midseason check-in! Skeleton Knight in Another World s2ep6: Still fun! Still kinda dumb! Someone addressed the fact that the MC just kinda wanders from place to place dispensing justice! They've been doing an ok job at showing how friendship with non-humans is rare and important!

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