I agree with your takes there. I'll add that whether someone thinks it is a masterpiece or not hinges on how well did the themes resonate with their personal experiences.
To add to Frieren, I'm interested to see how well it would hold up against the fabled FMAB-related rating bombs.
I caved and watched the final Attack on Titan special subbed. Did not regret it. I do notice that the VAs are more "shouty" in Japanese. The German dubs I regularly watch are more similar to everyday conversation.
Rewatched Suzume no Tojimari subbed. It's better than dub in terms of VAs. It could not salvage the dialogue-writing though, which is a step down from Your Name and Weathering With You. I wonder of Shinkai's next movie would depart from the Your Name formula.
Frieren: Lügner looks a lot like Johan Liebert. Remove the horns, and he's genderbent Violet Evergarden.
Is there any news about a season 2 of Usagi Drop? I really love where the manga goes after the anime and wanted to know when it might get adapted.
I'm more sympathetic with the (non-profit) board this time. Sam Altman feels like bad news to OpenAI, really. It's more like the workers rally behind Sam Altman because they can get fat paychecks and bail out once the enshittification intensifies.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
MF Ghost: "Pacing is slow." It is if you're looking at it in a character-centric lens. From a worldbuilding perspective, it's actually as good as it gets. The episodes get into detail on the track conditions and how each car behaves (the Carrera vs. Cayman battle for first stood out). I'm aware the author seems to be a pervert, and the 5-10% non-car fanservice is a societal problem if it occurs in real life, but it also tells quite a bit on the sensibilities of the Japanese society in that work of fiction. The show needs to last two-three cours though so we can see how Kanata's quest to find his father turns out.
Frieren: I'm in Episode Six, and I'm divided on the visuals of the dragon fight. I thought it was Pain-fight level terrible, but the comments I read are almost unanimous on its kinographic excellence. Upon further introspection, while I stand by my assessment that the backgrounds looked low-effort, the hand-drawn dragon is indeed very well-done.
It takes some guts to read Berserk