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Well, I've only seen one episode of everything so far. So everything at this point falls into "we'll see." I certainly haven't seen anything that instantly endeared itself to me as much as last season's Super Cub, but that show's appeal proved distressingly narrow. The people who like it seem to (like me) love it, but that's a pretty small audience, unfortunately.

Returning Shows

Miss Kobyashi's Dragon Maid Season 2 isn't out yet, so I'm really waiting for that one. I think it will be out by Friday, if I'm reading things correctly. I love the first season, and it's the first series put out by Kyoto Animation since that maniac murdered all those people there. So obviously we're all rooting for it to be great.

Also the second core (basically the second half) of Season 2 of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime should be great, because the show in the first half of season two went in a completely new direction. I didn't love My Live as a Villainess; All Routes Lead to Doom as much as many, but the first episode of season two was pretty fun.

New Shows

The Detective is Already Dead was fine, although I honestly don't know that it was helped by having a double length first episode. Girlfriend Girlfriend, a romcom about a guy who improbably gets permission from his girlfriend to also date another girl was better than expected, because I actually kind of like the main character. So that might be pretty good.

A couple of new Isekies were better than I feared. I like isekais--although I don't think you're supposed to admit that--but there are lots of really bland innocuous ones. How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, about a guy brought to a fantasy world to save it, have a fun premise. He doesn't have immense magic or fighting skills like usual, he instead intends to save the kingdom through financial and bureaucratic reforms. Great writing could really make that premise sing, and I don't think we'll get that, but it's pretty solid for the first episode. We'll see.

Seirie Gensouki is the other isekai that was better than I feared. There have been a lot of poorly written isekai with insanely bland heroes who suffer from (my phrase, and pardon my french) Unbearable Pussy syndrome. This one was harder edged than that, and better written if not fantastic. So this one I look forward to. So decent and maybe better rendition of the poor kids whose super overpowered and ends up in the magic academy, facing (literal) class prejudice form many of the otherwise all royal fellow students.

The Casebook of Vanitas is a meh vampire show, and I tend not to love vampire anime anyway. It wasn't bad, and I'll probably watch another episode or two, but it will have to improve because I decide to stick with it.

Remake Our Life is a college slice of life series, only with a time travel framework. Another double length episode. It was, again, fine. I am wary of the time travel thing as regular slice of life is my favorite genre. Again, we'll see.

The Honor at Magic High School is a spin off of a not great magic high school action/harem series with your typical superman hero. This series follows his 15 year old loving sister, who is...how do I say this...loving in the way that all too many sisters in anime can be. I mean she wants to marry her brother and have sex with him. Pass.

The Duke of Death and His Maid is this season's example of the suddenly ascendant guy-gets-quasi-bullied-by-a-hot-girl-but-she-really-likes-him-and-he-needs-it-so-it's-OK genre. Usually there are inadvertent, mildily sexy antics as well. So it's like Uzaki-Chan Wants to Hang Out, which was good, and last season's Don't Toy with Me Miss Nagatoro, which was quite good. This one has a fantasy spin. A teenager aristocrat has been curse by a witch so that anything he touches dies. Exiled to a mansion in the woods, he's constantly sexually harassed by his loyal maid who keeps getting waaay too close to him, considering, putting him in a constant state of panic. It's OK, we'll see if it gets better.

Peach Boy Riverside is an anime riff on the old Japanese folk tale of Momotaro, about a baby found in a peach who grows up super strong and does off to kill demons. A princess who wants to travel in a dangerous monster-filled world is inspired to do so after meeting a mysterious stranger who is presumably Momotaro. Actually, that back story hasn't been filled in yet, but I know that's the premise. Anyway, I rather liked the first episode, although I doubt the show will be a classic. Still, this one rates high on the seasonal list so far.

Re-Main is a sports anime, a genre I reliably like. It's about water polo, which I don't care about, then then I rather liked a show about a girl's badminton team, so obviously that's not a prime factor in getting a yes or no from me.

Scarlet Nexus is an OK sci-fi action show. If it doesn't improve I'll probably stop watching it at some point.

Life Lessons with Uramichi-Oniisan is about a guy who hosts a popular kids show, and find it soul-crushing. The first episode was middling funny, but so far it's kind of one joke, contrasting his alternating overly sunny interactions with the adorable tots and then his cynical asides to them. We'll see if they can find something else to do, because it's not really sharply written enough yet to milk that one joke for 12 episodes.

Opera Girl! is this year's most promising slice of life, I think, if you like that sort of thing and I do. A super energetic, overly friendly and naively likeable heroine seeks to become a star of her fabulous theater-oriented arts academy. Her and everyone else, of course. Thumb's up for me, because again this falls squarely into my wheelhouse and so far looks pretty well done.

So that's maybe half the new shows or thereabouts.