Xbox needs a subscription? To play the games you own?

No, you don't. You can play the games you own just fine without one. They probably mean either the gamepass subscription or xbox live subscription.

if they don't get into some political intrigue or psychological suspense or something, then it's just going to be violent, but not really, which is sort of dumb and pointless.

Absolotely and I don't really trust it will if it hasn't shown a hint of that yet.

going to go as far as they do to take the edge off of the violence

Tbh, the gore isn't usually my issue with this type of thing. It's the psychological aspect of the hyperviolence that gets to me. And they didn't really take the edge off there.

Shiboyugi

it has an oddly serene atmosphere to it

violence and death are constants.

Yeah, I really dug the atmosphere, but the horrrifying violence and deaths really put me off.

I wanted to know if there was going to be a purpose to it other than "it's a death game" and "it's a bizarre world", because I don't really deal well with that kinda thing. I looked into it a bit and couldn't really find any, so I decided not to continue past ep 1. I typically don't watch these types of anime because of that, but wanted to give it a shot due to the atmosphere.

I'm not sure how widespread it is, but I'm noticing that some people somehow don't seem to remember that Frieren has always had loads of slow slice of life aspects and then act surprised. Not saying that's happening in this community, but I've been seeing it here and there. It's really strange to me.

My favourite series that I read in 2025 is a manhwa:

• Villains Are Destined To Die: the villainess trope is one I like a lot (though more and more are coming out that I don't care about) and I think manhwa has some of the best villainess stories. Villains Are Destined To Die is the best among them. Its art is gorgeous, but the story and characters is where it's at. The FMC got dealt a very bad hand and the way she deals with it in a grounded, no-nonsense kinda way is very satisfying and gripping.

But if I were to exclude manhwa and ignoring actual release dates:

Favourite reads of the year:

• Ruri Dragon
• Frieren
• Gals Cant Be Kind To Otaku
• My Dress-up Darling (ended in 2025, but the final English volume is to be released still).
• 2.5D Seduction
• Monthly in the garden with my landlord
• Renge to Naruto

Please wrap this up already:

• Anjo The Mischievous Gal: I don't hate reading it, but it feels like it's really stretching it out.
• Kuzuhana-chan: I dropped this. This manga is the reading version of edging. Finally progressing somewhere, then regressing, then progressing, then regressing etc.
• The guy she was interested in wasnt a guy at all: after the 1st arc, it started wandering like it didn't know what to do and that really came through. It probably should've ended when the arc ended tbh.

Yankee JK Kuzuhana-chan

This series basically spent a whole year spinning its wheels.

Yeah.. I dropped it some time last year. Anytime anything happens, it pretends that nothing happened.

Maybe it's that the people all feel a little too idealized?

I get what you mean. I sometimes have the same feeling. I wouldn't say they're without flaws per se, but they are all almost saintly at times. On the one hand it's refreshing because it means that the usual "misunderstanding arc" that could be resolved by just talking doesn't happen or go on for ages. On the other hand they sometimes go too far and it feels unrealistic.

These are my picks: :::spoiler Nominations

2025 Anime Series of the Year

• Apothecary Diaries Season 2
• Apocalypse Hotel
• SHOSHIMIN Season 2

2025 Anime Film of the Year

• Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc

2025 Anime Character of the Year

• Shisui - Apothecary Diaries
• Reze - Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc
• Yachiyo - Apocalypse Hotel
• Marin Kitagawa - My Dress-up Darling

Best Comedy

• Apocalypse Hotel
• A Ninja and an Assassin Under One Roof
• May I Ask For One Final Thing?
• From Bureaucrat to Villainess

Best Drama

• Apothecary Diaries
• SHOSHIMIN Season 2
• Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc

Best Fantasy/Adventure

• May I Ask For One Final Thing?
• Clevatess
• From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman

Best Romance

• My Dress-Up Darling Season 2

Best Slice of Life

• Apocalypse Hotel
• With You And The Rain
• Catch Me At The Ballpark

Best Action

• Dandadan
• Clevatess
• Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc

Best Animation

• Dandadan
• Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc
• Apocalypse Hotel
• Clevatess

Best Soundtrack

• Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc
• Apothecary Diaries
• bâan: The Boundary of Adulthood

Best Voice Acting (specific role in any language)

• Reina Ueda: Reze (Chainsaw Man)
• Shion Wakayama: Momo Ayase (Dandadan S2)
• Anna Nagase: Makina Kurusu (Milky Subway: The Galactic Limited Express)

Best Musical Sequence (OP/ED or insert song)

• Ruler - Clevatess OP: https://youtu.be/jQnIPTsWyC4
• chuva - With You And The Rain OP: https://youtu.be/q2ia6Fv-iHk
• Martian - SHOSHIMIN Season 2 OP: https://youtu.be/Tvusi5PSzo0
• HUGs - Gachiakuta OP 1: https://youtu.be/9f89PWhv8YE
• Hunting Soul - Dandadan S2 insert song: https://youtu.be/XoodunTw0kw :::

Ah, I didn´t realise you were manually going to be sifting through the nominations. Fair enough!

Regarding the formatting, the anime series themselves are relatively straight forward, but what about the OPs/EDs and VAs? There are many ways of writing this down. Is the song name + anime sufficient? Or just the anime + OP 1/2? Or do you need song + artist + anime? Does the order matter? Do you want streaming links?

All I'm hearing is "good animation" and "action".

That's all it really is tbh, and good music. The animation is insanely good and would've kept me hooked if it wasn't for incredibly obnoxious side characters (Zenitsu mainly)

I definitely second watching Hibike Euphonium. It means so much to me. The way the characters act and interact is what makes the show. Don't forget Liz and the Blue Bird!

Despite Frieren being in your "havent watched cuz unappealing/overrated" list, I'd still recommend it. It's very unlike the others in that list.

The big hero story is done, the big evil is no longer an existential threat. This anime takes place after your typical hero-demon king story from the perspective of a very long lived elf. The journey you go on with Frieren as she undertakes a nearly the same journey from 80 something years ago, while discovering what that meant/means to her and the world, is quite special. Seeing how an elf perceives things compared to short lived races like humans is a perspective I've never quite seen like this. It's quite introspective, while mostly staying really relaxing. The world it builds is the most expansive fantasy world I've seen in anime in a long time.

Aside from that, the music by Evan Call (same composer as Violet Evergarden) and the animation are just incredible.

Some other recommendations:

• Wotakoi: such a joyful slice of life romcom with otaku office workers.
• Cyberpunk Edgerunners
• Black Lagoon for some good old action that seems to become something more towards the end
• K-On: Bocchi The Rock is compared a lot to this, but I think that despite the surface-level similarities, they couldn't be more different.
• Fate franchise: recommended order is Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works (ufotable) -> Fate/Stay Night (studio Deen, considered optional by many due to being old and subpar. Could also be watched before UBW) -> Fate/Stay Night Heavens Feel with Fate/Zero either before or after the trilogy, depending on who you ask. It changes the experience (either is fine, I started with Zero). After that you can go wild with the spin offs. They're not directly related.