When someone says "I don't want politics in my anime", everyone knows what they mean. They know that a fictional world can have a government or political structure. They know the author's world view can be reflected in the show. That's not what they mean and everyone knows it. They're talking about modern propaganda shoehorned into escapism. We already see modern political propaganda shoved into everything from late night "comedy" shows to sports to taxes, schools, political ads, its fucking everywhere. And again, everyone knows it. Everybody knows the topic at hand isn't some broad, all encompassing definition of "politics" that could mean anything. The type of person replies "dOn'T yOu KnOw AlL aNiMe iS PoLiTiCaL" is being dishonest. They're pretending to not understand. The reason they argue in such bad faith is because they want THEIR politics shoved down everyone's throat in all aspects of life. They want to bully people for taking a break once in a while. They do not want any medium, even foreign cartoons unmolested by their personal political agenda. They're nothing more than dishonest trash.

Summer 2026 Anime Season in review. My most yappy season review ever, lol Started and finished: Mushoku Tensei. 10/10. This gave me basically everything I wanted. Unique openings and an improvement over S2 in animation and direction Youjo Senki: 8/10. I've been waiting a long time for this. It was good and the fights were amazing. I couldn't invest the same as S1 though. Maybe its the delay, maybe the direction, maybe the pacing. Hanaori San: 7/10. Guilty pleasure, not that great, but I loved it anyway. Elusive Samurai: 8/10. Similar to Tanya in that I loved it, but not as much as S1. Smoking Behind the Supermarket: 8/10. Has lots of tropes I don't like, but somehow worked and I couldn't get enough. Love Unseen: 9/10. Love me a bittersweet show and this was fire. Inept Villainess: 9.5/10. Was immediately hooked by the unique premise. Favorite new show of the season easy. Daemons of the Shadow Realm: 8.5/10. Not as strong as Cour 1 in Spring, but still a ton of fun. Old Country Bumpkin: 8/10. Fantastic stuff. I expected it'd be good and it delivered. Heavy Metal Knight: 6.5/10. This had a weak start with almost endless recaps and an animation style that didn't sit with me. But it most did away with them later. Livid Lady: 6/10. Probably the worst show I finished. Felt like it couldn't decide if it wanted to be Shield Hero or some cute economic show. It was almost jarring and nonsensical. Dropped: Oger's Bride, Duke's Son, Trapped in a Dating Sim, Victoria of Many Faces, Overshadowed to Overpowered, Heroine? Saint?, Rich Girl Caretaker, I Became a Legend, Oblivious Saint, Frontier Lord. Most stuff I dropped was due to a lack of time or it felt too generic. None of it was really bad, but.... felt like it didn't leave enough of an impression on me to remember what happened the week prior. Some might be better binged, but I rarely have the time to binge. Started and will finish: Ascendance of a Bookworm. The anime doesn't live up to the books, but it's still good and I watch this with my daughters.