Disclosure: as a moderator of the /c/anime and /c/manga communities on ani.social, I don't want to try to influence anybody's decision regarding this as I think there is plenty of space for multiple communities to exist at the same time.

That being said, after the defederation happened and there was clear hostility from the ml admins toward much of this type of content is when I made my account on that instance and started up activity on those two communities. I agree that there is an inherent risk of these communities being purged from the ml instance and that is one of the main reasons I wanted to establish an alternative community that is well established with existing content that users can migrate easily to. Quoting myself from that post:

In any case, I think this issue validates concerns that were raised after the initial defederation happened that the ml admins could come to view any kind of lewd content or fanservice as anathema to their instance. It begs the question if the anime or manga communities on ml are on borrowed time. If the admin’s metaphorical Eye of Sauron passes over their community on a day a lewd clip, key visual, or trailer is posted, that could be it for them.

All that said, the reality is that unless you use an ml account (which you unfortunately posted with), then you can access both communities. I had primarily been using this ml account on lemmy for some time until the defederation happened, and then proceeded to make an account over on ani.social to access that content and drive activity in those communities.

So, this past week saw the defederation of ani.social from lemmy.ml. If you aren't familiar with ani.social, it was an anime-focused instance and the host of the episode discussion bot that used to make the episode discussion posts here. I don't want to rehash things that have already been said in other threads other than to bring it to people's attention that may have missed the original posts about it.

This past week has been very busy with irl work for me so I have only really been able to keep up with Eminence in Shadow and Frieren. If you aren't watching Frieren at this point, I am not sure what I can say to convince you, but the animation of the most recent episode was absolutely amazing and completely elevated the manga to new heights I could not have imagined.

@ram@lemmy.ca if you would be so kind as to do the pin/unpin shuffle once again.

I personally have been super impressed with Frieren, but I get that that is a show that isn't necessarily for everybody. The other two shows I have been enjoying this season, Eminence in Shadow and 100GF, are similarly not for everybody as you either enjoy the humor or not since comedy can be really subjective (especially genre parodies like those two).

That is most unfortunate. It doesn't inspire a lot of confidence that this was done without any elaboration or warning. Without a reversal, if we want to keep automated discussion posts, there are a couple options I see. Either posts are made by a local account on lemmy.ml, discussions are moved to a different community/instance, or ultimately automated posts could go away.

This is the most active lemmy anime community, with the next most active belonging to hexbear.net which is a polarizing instance to say the least. Beyond those, it is a steep drop in activity. The anime community on lemmy.world for instance most recently had a post 20 days ago (beehaw's anime & manga community is a bit better at 5 days ago). All this is to say it would be a steep ask to get the community that has essentially consolidated to lemmy.ml to move elsewhere. I hope it gets resolved soon.

I feel like every time I see a version of this question online, I mostly see people talking about how HDHPs and HSAs are always the right choice. So, I want to provide the perspective of somebody that opted for a PPO rather than an HDHP.

My workplace offers both a PPO option and a HDHP with a company contribution. I opted for the PPO because the HDHP's out of pocket max was so much higher than the PPO that it would be very difficult for us if something were to happen. My wife has a chronic illness that is manageable most of the time, but there is always that risk that we suddenly need to have a whole bunch of very expensive specialist visits and procedures done. Yes, if it is a good year, I probably came out behind compared to having a HDHP + HSA investments. However, I value the risk mitigation that having the PPO plan provides for the chance that it isn't a good year. The situation can be very different for different people though.

Definitely deserved for Frieren. Episode 7 was probably my favorite episode yet. The Kingdoms of Ruin dropping entirely off the chart is surprising considering that it premiered at number 1 on the chart and stayed high until suddenly its gone. Also interesting to see Undead Unluck and Dead Mount Death Play jumping up the chart so much.

I sympathize with this view as well. Romances in anime/manga are especially frustrating to me because all the characters tend to act in very childish ways and not act their age. If you are in high school, it shouldn't be heart-attack inducing to have a member of the opposite sex talk to you or share a textbook or whatever. The extra frustrating part is that these childish behaviors are not just limited to teens, but fully grown adults tend to act the exact same way in a lot of anime/manga; just swap high school for an office or izakaya. I can deal with it easier if the show leans more on the comedy side of a romcom, but the more straight romances tend to be tough to bear (with a couple exceptions).

My thoughts on shows I watched this season fall into a couple groups.

The Good:

• Helck: This one is still going since it is running for two cours. I have enjoyed the slow, mysterious world building they have done. It really feels like they are taking their time to build things up in a rewarding way. It has also had good comedy bits and Vermilio serves as an excellent straight man to the clowns that seem to be everywhere else in this world (I mean that in the most loving way possible).
• Isekai Vending Machine: When I started this series, I had low expectations based on the idiocy of the premise. However, it has far exceeded my expectations and has actually been really fun. If you can get past the ridiculous premise and accept a bit of silliness when it comes to combat, then there is actually a story with some heart and thought behind this ridiculous title.
• Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero: This is another that I expected to not be that great, but turned out to be a pretty satisfying fantasy story. The characters and their interactions in this show are the best part of this show. The political storyline that is happening is a bit bland, but doesn't drag the show too much.
• Horimiya Pieces: I am a huge fan of the manga for this series, so I was happy to see this anthology of cut content from the original run of the show. However, I think that viewers that aren't as familiar with the source content might not be as engaged with this run of episodes since it focuses more on side characters than the titular Hori and Miyamura.

The Bad:

• Atelier Ryza: This one was tough for me to stay awake while watching. I understand that the game is widely beloved, but the adaptation to a show just fell flat for me. I don't know how much of the game was adapted, but the whole season feels like they are just stuck in some kind of tutorial rather than undertaking some grand adventure.
• Am I Actually the Strongest: This show was just bad. I have seen/read a lot of really bad isekai and this one might take the cake. The story is incredibly oddly paced; flying through extremely important plot segments and then dwelling for an excrutiatingly long time on fluff/omake stuff that doesn't matter at all. Just steer clear of this one, it's really bad, but not so bad it is funny. It is just really bad.

The Mixed Feelings:

• My Happy Marriage: I have written a lot about this series in the episode threads already, so I will keep it short here. The first half of this season is excellent and really sets up the potential for a great period romance. However, the second half of the show is incredibly disappointing in this regard and just feels so lackluster compared to what was set up through episode 6.

The only other show from this season I am watching is Zom 100. It has been pretty great so far, but because of the delays in production, I don't want to make any final verdicts about it.

Honestly, it's deserved. Much worse shows have had multiple seasons. The premise is so stupid that a lot of people aren't going to be able to get over it, but if you do, I think there is a decently written story underneath it all. Lots of the world left to explore, so I am looking forward to it.

I have gone super deep in the Darth Jar Jar rabbit hole before and I am convinced this was likely the original intent of the character. I believe he was written to be a character similar to The Mule from the Foundation series.

Really looking forward to this one. Just caught up with the manga and it is one of the best I have read in a while. Hope they keep the pacing nice and slow to keep the contemplative mood that the beginning of the series has.

Excellent post. If there is an equivalent of /r/bestof this would be worthy. It is super telling that rather than stick around and deal with the ramifications of the referendum, Cameron immediately resigned. Another point of context is that Cameron had gambled his political life previously on a different referendum (Scottish Independence) and that one worked out fine, so what is the harm in trying that gambit one more time?