I hate the boys and girls can’t be friends trope that pops up in media.

Same. I think if the title was just "Can Friendship Between Men and Women Exist?" it would be fine since it's leaving it open, but the "(No, it doesn't!)" answer spoils it.

Also, I feel like the characters look just like characters from another anime. Or it could just be that they're so generic as to be indistinguishable from other blue-hair anime girls/black hair anime boy.

I spent WAAAAAY too much time on MyAnimeList narrowing down my choices. I felt like there wasn't a whole lot of suspense anime to pick from, and Adventure wasn't a category. I also thought Isekai/Reincarnation would get its own category but I guess we can just lump that in with Fantasy for the most part.

Seriously though, in some categories I had a really hard time narrowing it down to just 3, and in others I left spots blank simply because there wasn't much I had seen in that category at all. I guess that's normal though.

Oh, I love 86, but it is very emotionally intense. You're in for one wild ride. But don't worry, it's not all downers. Hedgehog dilemma is definitely an appropriate metaphor.

I'm getting Hi-Score Girl vibes. Definitely going to watch this.

Oh man, what a cool action episode. It's explodes right off the bat with Sunraku vs Rust which has the entire Nephilim Hollow community going wild.

@rikka@ani.social

Sunraku understandably loses. After all, he hasn't played this game in months and was fighting the #1 undefeated ranker! Rust is pissed at Sunraku for losing and we get some more of Rust's backstory. Seems she's on a quest for someone to reach her level. She wants a real rival, and I get the impression she was thinking of quitting the game right before Sunraku came back. Sunraku, the only person ever to come close to beating her. Rust really becomes a full-fledged character instead of some background NPC. Who knows, maybe Rust will end up playing SLF too!

Anyway, Sunraku tells Rust to give him a day to shake off the cobwebs and build a new Crimson Twinblade killing mecha. And of course Sunraku builds something completely ridiculous by the standards of the current meta. And it seems to work!

We were kind of spoiled this episode. We got two good fights, although the second one hasn't quite reached its conclusion. Twinblade seems like it's still capable of fighting and Rust doesn't seem like the type of person that would give up just because they lost an arm. Also, we've yet to figure out the full secret to Sunraku's sneak attack, and that one scissor claw can't be the only weapon Crab mecha has!

On a side note, I was really impressed with the animation this episode. The mecha movements felt very fluid, the background city was detailed enough to feel like background without being distracting, and the overall feel resonated "This is a video game" in my mind. I could even imagine it running on a different game engine than SLF. Just a lot of great nuances and artistic direction to really nail the look and feel of a video game.

I don't know what you're talking about. I'm still a super young and fresh 90s kid... cries in middle-aged

The opening argument between Momo and Aira reminded me of Get Smart or maybe FLCL. It was just so wacky with giant text across the screen as they talked with their mouths full.

Then this majesty happens:

I love how for Okarun, getting his ball back is a big deal but everyone else is just messing with him, especially Turbo Granny.

Then we get the love-triangle story arch with a "No, I won't listen to you and will keep the misunderstanding going" trope. It's interesting that Aira went from making fun of Okarun to falling for him. Okarun harem incoming?

At the end of the last episode, it was pretty clear that Aira was going to get powers from Acrobatic Silky. But I love how they introduced it with just enough going on that it comes as a bit of a surprise. And damn does she look cool.

Oh, and how they used the water ripples to build tension between Not-Godzilla and Momo. Jurassic Park levels of tension build there.

I never thought Turbo Granny would be a main character but it's so freaking cool having her along for the ride!

Giving me Ossan Newbie Adventurer vibes. Or my Daughter Left the Nest and returned an S rank adventurer. Will have to check it out.

Oh nice. I like this silly and wholesome slice-of-life meets fantasy anime. And it doesn't even have a stupid name like, "That One Time I Got Sold to a Demon by my Wicked Parents but the Demon is actually now my Loving Grandfather... As Long As I Don't Let Anyone Know I'm Actually A Human As They'll Kill Me For Sure!"

It's funny because you can tell when an anime is from a Japanese light novel or not based on the length of the title.

Solo-Leveling: Korean Light Novel

True Beauty: Korean Webtoon

Blue Lock: Japanese Manga

A Sign of Affection: Japanese Manga

Oshi No Ko: Japanese Manga

Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon: My Trusted Companions Tried to Kill Me, But Thanks to the Gift of an Unlimited Gacha I Got LVL 9999 Friends: Japanese Light Novel

Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside: Japanese Light Novel

My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me!: Japanese Light Novel

IIRC it's because the dominant Japanese light novel website doesn't do descriptions well so the authors make the title the description.

A few tried to have a normal title AND a description in the title.

Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells: Japanese Light Novel

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest: Japanese Light Novel

Most of the episode is the fight between Kinohara (in prototype gen 5 mecha armor) and Gram.

@rikka@ani.social

We learn a few important bits of information here. First, Kinohara cannot hack Gram. I've long suspected it, but this is further proof that Gram, like Veltol, does not have a Familia. Second, only Gram knows about Veltol's ultimate power trump card.

Marcus continues to be evil just for the sake of being evil and lists off a bunch of faceless immortals that were previously sacrificed to the Immortal Furnace. He also apparently sent mecha-troops to kill both Gram and Kinohara for extra evil points.

The after credits scene has Marcus tossing Machina into the Immortal Furnace. You know, because apparently Spartan-kicking immortals into the furnace is all that is required to use them as fuel. Machina actually does a pretty sweet little speech where she imparts her last words towards Veltol in her mind before the aforementioned Demon Lord saves her at the last possible moment.

It's barely going to be episode 7 and we're already getting the showdown between Marcus and Veltol. It really makes me wonder what's going to happen next. Is there some bigger bad waiting in the shadows after Marcus is defeated? Does Veltol have to clean up the mess Marcus leaves behind? Does Marcus escape to exact some ultimate doomsday evil plot? Stay tuned and FIND OUT!