Not been able to watch EVERYTHING I wanted due to time restraints so got QUITE the backlog but give my impressions of what I've seen so far:
On the Backlog
ReZero
Dr Stone
Classroom of the Elite
*Good stuff
Reincarnated as a Slime: New season has Rimaru bitch slap a spoilt bratty young girl so that alone will have many watching! Jokes aside it's nice that this series is consistently good and it's running concurrently so next cour is happening right after so this week Rimaru gets to add 3 new 'sports cars' to his Diablo..
Ascendance of a Bookworm: It's nice having this back as now we see the nobility dynamics with Rosemyne's new position. Still the lovable bookworm but it is funny seeing how she can only be herself around old associates in a secret room.
Personal taste
The Angel next door spoils me rotten S2: As someone who has LONG complained that Anime shows the chase too much over the actual relationship, this is a nice pallette cleanser everytime.
Farming life in another world S2:Just chill vibes again with comedy mixed in. I particularly loved this scene of him casually saying 'I beat her' as she holds their baby 🤣
Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun: Always nice to return to the sweet roll that even hell appreciates, and this arc focuses on the 'phantom' member of the class
Wistoria:Wand and Sword: this season does feel like 'everyone that mocks the MC is getting bodied then saved by the MC', still entertaining but a pattern I notice.
That's it as I'll need to take time to catch up on my backlog a bit, especially before Saga of Tanya the Evil S2 FINALLY comes out. But feel free to add anything about the ones mentioned, ones I missed as at least we can complain about TOO MUCH to see than too little (stares at Western media)..
These threads are always interesting to me because they give a glimpse into a market I don't partake in -- but it's nice to get some insight into what's happening in the zeitgeist.
What I've gathered from reading these threads every time they pop up is that the Isekai (is that the right term?) genre still seems to be dominating -- the whole trapped in a virtual world theme.
I remember when the big talk of the town in the anime/gaming sphere was Sword Art Online. I didn't watch it nor play any of the games, but it was talked about a lot in nerd circles and that had to be more than a decade ago at this point.
I guess, what I'm trying to get across is -- is that genre really still that popular? Are there no new themes dominating the market at this time, like dark sci-fi? Or alien mechs? Etc.
I only ask because there is an AI series about a K-pop mech squad that fights deadly aliens, which reminded me of Muv-luv -- I think that was it (or some spin-off if it -- I remember it was on a top-ten list of modern gory anime). Do they still make stuff like that or is it all about the nerdy guy being trapped in a virtual world surrounded by beautiful wenches?
I did a post WAY back about this but get ready for a bit of an essay:
Most Anime comes from Manga and Japanese light novel sources but now include Korean Manhwa and few but may grow later Chinese Manhua sources. From these there are three popular trends, Isekai from Japan, Regression from Korea amd Cultivation from China and it's a reflection of the desires of those societies which is why they are popular.
Isekai because a lot of Japanese feel confined in their worlds and lives and would like to escape it, a reflection of the overworked nature a lot of them are trapped in.
Regression because the desire to go back and undo a mistake or take a different path is probably popular with how integrated social media is in their society.
Cultivation....because the Chinese want to cheat to win. Seriously.
As for the unique stuff like that, it IS out there in Manga and Manwha and some of it IS getting adapted. I believe one where it is essentially a 'space Isekai' where the MC is a space bounty hunter in a unique advanced ship is getting an anime adaptation and that's a good series.
Isekai seems to have 2 types, and yes, it's still QUITE popular. The type you described, and the other, which is just the MC taken to a new world, or reincarnated into it with memories intact, and often with unusual or powerful skills to help them overcome their lack of understanding.
Like Ascendance of a Bookworm he mentioned. It's about a young adult Japanese woman, being put in what appears to be the middle ages in terms of technology, as a 7~ or so year-old girl. Its nobles have magic, but badly need mana, and the MC has an overflowing amount of mana. She also retains her Japanese memories of life, and her obsession of her life in Japan, which was books.
As to your other part, the gory stuff and sci-fi stuff is definitely still out there, but it's not as popular as it once was.