I would've done this last week but....didn't feel right if you catch my drift. Obviously didn't watch everything and behind on some so feel free to fill in the gaps. Without further adou:
I've read the Manga
Scooped up an S-Rank Adventurer: Standard 'guy gets booted from his party because he's so good they don't notice him helping them' fair. Have noticed they have changed things compared to the manga and can't tell if censored or not. It doesn't feel like creative changes like with others I see.
The Headliners
DandaDan S2: unfortunately no Creepy Nuts opening but this one isn't bad. It just feels more crazy and fun than last time with everything to suicide inducing giant worms with a cult, soccer playing possession, a musical fight and even Kaiju battle.
My Dress up Darling S2:Yep she's back, the one girl where we both appreciate the fanservice but also 'please get with HIM!' First episode along was funny with the bunny girl outfit and Gojo remembeting he is a teenage man!
Kaiju No 8 S2: Still some hyped battles and scenes though didn't feel as pulling as first season, could just be me.
Up for Personal tastes
Shield Hero S4:Nearly getting back to Season 1 quality at least, do prefer up of who he is against in this season.
Reborn as a Vending Machine S2: is still to the formula as last one only they raised the stakes with the attack of the demon lord with accomplices.
Clevatess: Now this one is interesting, episode one was double in length and features the heros getting bodied by the beast lord then their kingdom Annihilated with only a baby left alive taken by the beast lord after the pleas of a dying guardian and one of the slain heros brought back to life to serve as effectively a nanny. A lot more of a dark fantasy vibe.
Gachiakuta: A city divided in two between a prestine city where everything not perfect is dumped as trash and slums with below that a world of just trash. It's gotba nice soundtrack and visuals and not far into it but going to try to watch more of it.
Lots I haven't caught up on like Dr Stone but I will give a honourable mention to this: Takopu's Original Sin, I was planning on watching it when I was in the right mood as it's apparently dark as fuck at times but, well, never felt positive enough so put it on the back burner. Feel free for those who watched it to provide a review for that and others missed off as only one dude lol.
I said somewhere else, the author sped up the ending because of health risking it to be unfinished so hopefully in the anime seasons to come, they tighten up that plart and then have more episode of them IN a relationship as for the 3-4 chapters we saw, they were really cute together.
It's a reason I praised Chivery of the failed Knight as that with 4 episodes had them together in a relationship which is sad there was no season two to that.
I think in a way its because there is a strong "purity" culture still in Japan, and they want their escapism to maintain that as much as possible. Especially with the heavy industry focus on waifuism.
So if they show them in a relationship, they have to show progress in that regard and that risks upsetting a lot of people if they do stuff that people do in relationships. Because otherwise you get stuck in the "what has actually changed from before they got together" rut, and that's even more frustrating because there isn't even a big tension building payoff waiting at the end of it.
As a recommendation for some manga for your hunt, Do Chokkyuu Kareshi x Kanojo is one of the loudest series ever written that gets them together like 1/3 into its run time and Arakure Ojousama wa Monmon Shiteiru actually made the long "will they" pay off through the character's developments and is still ongoing (though the TL is incredibly slow and keeps getting dropped) after they got together.
On the flipside, Japan's heavy purity focus is one of the things that has held feminism and the like back for so long. They will bankrupt entire companies if a girl in one game is shown to have a boyfriend she has sex with, and will do so violently and aggressively. Its why Idol culture is as strict as it is, because even the hint of sexuality or desire from these girls is like blood in the water for fans to abandon and destroy them.
There is already a huge push in the industry for "sluts are actually good!" and its clearly being used for subversion. Rent A Girlfriend is the famous one, but I've stumbled upon far too many that aren't just NTR bait and are trying to sway perception in an unhealthy manner to our Western Hedonism and Degeneracy.
So while I bemoan how much its effecting the arts, I think for a political purpose its better to keep it this way than the alternative.
That just irks me more how much time was wasted on that entire arc of characters I didn't care for getting introduced, doing their entire plot and then disappearing in a single sitting.
I'm not displeased with what we got, and I'm not going to hate on her for getting sick. But the series as a whole would have been stronger if they just cut that completely.
I think there is still the fallacy in a lot of manga that people 'love the chase' and think when they get in a relationship in the story that's 'the end'.
This really needs to get over as there are LOTS of people that would love to see people IN RELATIONSHIPS and seeing them progress. Hell one of my favourite romcoms is my love story and that's mostly them in a relationship.
One of the highschool-but-actually-gundams/war-magic animes that were popular in a phase a while back had such a good interaction. They marry at the end of episode 1. The FemC tries to introduce jealosy drama and, indirectly, harem elements, and the friend side character just slaps her upside the head and goes "shut up, you're married, he loves you, you love him, don't start drama over him being near another woman for a whole minute." and then it's just their pure married story, plus the whole actually-war-magic-gundams thing.
As I wrote in my recommendations to the other guy, some of my favorites also involve people already in relationships or continuing past. Another, Oogami-san, Dadamore Desu, was one of my favorites while it was coming out and it gets them together super early and just explores the funny hijinks they get up to without ever needing to get into the nitty gritty.
Its not even that the chase isn't fun enough for an entire story. I can't imagine Kesa mo Yuraretemasu actually continuing once the chase is done, because the framing and theme won't make sense or work anymore afterwards.
But so many of them set up these entire casts and plots and arcs, and then just drop them all once the MCs get together, enough that it seems forced. And we all hate it.
Mandatory shout out to Wotakoi.