(Average) Lovely Complex

Series in one sentence:
Japan thinks 172 cm is tall for a woman, wtf.

Series in more sentences:
A taller than average girl and shorter than average boy seem to be each other's natural enemy, and yet, no one is more on par with their personality and interests as they are with each other's.
It doesn't take long for Risa to realize she has feelings for her frenemy, but teenage awkwardness and ill-timed drama makes winning him over a struggle.

I've never seen a show that started off so well lose itself so hard.

Episode 1 was a good introduction, and it's strange that the creator didn't make this introduction the whole season. You know, have the show be about these two wanting a partner, meeting those partners, discovering they're a bad match every time, repeat, until they realize they are each other's ideal partner.
But the two main characters are quick to "befriend" each other and I did not expect the series to be about Risa and her absolutely psychotic obsession with Otani.

Generally speaking, I liked these two. When there wasn't repetitive drama going on. When at their best, they're feisty, fun-loving, and play well off of each other. The energy of this anime can be so wild, it's fun to watch.

But the show takes a quick nose dive in more ways than one. The dialogue and conflicts kept getting recycled, Risa and Otani are constantly compared to this real-life Japanese comedy duo to an obnoxious degree, and Risa expresses often that being a "comedian" hinders her ability to be a woman or something weird in that vein. When she figures out her feelings for Otani, she gives him no break and cries all the time, I found it pretty out-of-character for this otherwise hard-headed, shouty girl.
It was warranted at certain moments and surely emotional, but it just kept happening. She keeps getting a moment of hope, but then the same episode or the very next, she gets depressed again. Like, chill.

She puts alot of pressure on Otani with her questions, crying, and yelling, which is a disrespectful thing to do to someone who's expressed not to be interested. And no one in the show is on Otani's side. They make him feel guilty for not enthusiastically returning her feelings the moment they're expressed. That's unfair. Some people need time to think about what it is they're feeling.
Risa has only been his frenemy until that moment; this strange companion he couldn't see eye to eye with, despite being identical. Their relationship is a contradiction, they're cut from the same cloth, which ironically causes them to clash.
And really, do you want to enter a love relationship with someone who hits or scolds you all the time? Sharing the same hobbies and interests becomes a trivial positive at that point.

The show doesn't make use of the things it has. Risa's childhood friend, for example, is in love with her and hostile to Otani, he could've been a real rival if they toned down his hatred for short people and was less of a pathetic worm. But, he ended up being a completely pointless addition to the series, he rarely made an appearance, even though he so confidently expressed to make Risa love him. Alright, where is you then, idiot? Even as his shitty self, he could've given some balance to the show, because Risa is always the loser chasing the guy and sobbing about every little thing. I recall the both of them being desperate for a partner at the start of the series, but Otani isn't putting in the work even a little. His only role is to be chased. More lovestruck girls show up, even though the series first tried to argue that short boys struggle getting girls the same way tall girls do boys.

When Risa and Otani start dating, nothing of note changes and the show clearly has nothing to tell anymore. It inserts some more rushed drama, because that's the only language Lovely Complex understands, and only helps making it more evident that these two should not be dating. Is Otani's insinuation he's not entirely in love with her and "his heart still needs to be stolen" not saying enough? And how insulting is it to date someone like that. Why did you take her as your girlfriend, then? Talking about putting the cart in front of the horse.

And I can't even blame him, because Risa is such a violent crybaby, her falling in love with him literally made her a worse person.

(Average+) The Unwanted Undead Adventurer

Series in one sentence:
Guy is a 3D skeleton for half a day.

Series in more sentences:
A knowledgable, but weak adventurer takes a dangerous risk and pays for it with his life, yet awakens looking like a skeleton. In the hopes to regain his human form and continue his quest of becoming a high class knight, he takes on any monster he can, while disguising himself in a less than flattering outfit.

Interesting start and overall plot, but another one of those "adventure of the week"-medieval fantasy shows with a bland hero character who fights bland battles you've already seen in similar anime.

It's not a bad show, objectively, but I have so little to say about it, it just didn't impress me. I wanted more high stakes, more persecution, more uncertainty about this guy ever getting a speck of flesh back.

I don't think I'll watch the next season, if it comes.

(Good) The Apothecary Diaries

Series in one sentence:
No one cares a girl got kidnapped, including the girl.

Series in more sentences:
Maomao, born from a shamed prostitute, is the learned apprentice of a talented apothecary, one day kidnapped by thugs and sold to the royal family as a supposed no-name servant.

While taking the situation for what it is, she grabs everyone's attention by just being herself, primarily an eunuch of supposed high ranking. Her knowledge for medicine and detective level of intelligence makes her a valued employee and Maomao is often summoned to solve mysteries no one else seems able to figure out.

What a surprise, the sexually charged eunuch still has his balls. Called it he was a prince the moment the existence of one was brought up.

Oh. Spoilers, lol.

Liked it, mostly. Just about to deem it a "Good". I've said it before that I don't enjoy these "emperor with 50 wives and castrated servants" settings much, especially when you have all these employees having a silly good time with each other. Sir, you've been snipped, and madam, you will never get the chance to start a family either, you'll forever be the grovelling slave in this fancy whore house called a palace, why are you smiling? And why are you smiling, wife #12? You're literally just here to be a sex toy and baby maker.
It's a strange setting from the past to romanticize, but nothing from the past really makes for a decent setting to insert a romance or comedy in, honestly.

At the halfway mark, I didn't feel as invested anymore. I'm not sure if I can explain it, but it felt like nothing of note was happening. Maomao is fired for an episode, but pretty much brought back immediately. The way everyone responded after she finally returned from what was abduction and forced servitude was nothing short of heartless. Her surrogate father especially is a very emotionless man and uninteresting as a character, though the series gave him a much needed backstory. Not that it did anything for him, though.
The series picked itself back up fairly nicely after that, but I still didn't feel as invested as I did at the start of it all.

The ending was open, with nothing having been established for Maomao, but the announcement more episodes are coming was its saving grace. The internet claims season 2 is planned for 2025, and I think that's a good thing, if it remembers to take care of loose ends and kicks this one-sided romance between her and Jinshi a bit harder.

Speaking of.. I totally missed why he has to pretend to be a eunuch, did the show even tell..?

(Average+) Mr. Villain's Day Off

Series in one sentence:
Man is in love with a species that's notoriously too lazy to reproduce.

Series in more sentences:
Demon-like aliens have their eyes on Earth and wish to destroy the human race, but their nameless general is a peculiar man who refuses to lift a finger outside of working hours and adores panda bears.

I mostly liked this, but the nothing ending and the bits that solely focussed on the rangers dragged things down a bit. Not all comedic bits were created equally, either. 

The villain main character made the series, though I wondered if the panda obsession would get on my nerves. But well, the absurdity of it is charming. The absurdity of this alien army general having a home on Earth and participating in the human way of life is charming.
I had to think to myself to what degree, though. All throughout the series I wondered: Is this a "Good" or a less charitable "Average+"?

As much as I like seeing the guy mosey around and doing his thing, the series feels like a filler episode galore. I would've liked a bigger narrative presented, and arguably, that's the aliens invading Earth, but there's no progress in this plot. Very late in the season, it's revealed that there are other life forms who intend to attack Earth, and this goes nowhere. The series deems itself finished, despite all the open ends it created for itself.