Following up on some comments in the recent meta thread, I decided to be the change I want to see in the world and create a place to talk about anime that aren't actively airing.
I plan on making these posts regularly going forward on Mondays as they normally suck for most people that work M-F, so why not try to make them a little bit better? Also, in the process of making this post, I found out that there is an ISO standard that says weeks start on Monday rather than Sunday. TIL!
Just a reminder to tag your spoilers.
I have recently finished watching Campfire Cooking in Another World and it was a way better adaptation than I had expected. I am up to date on the manga, but had written off the anime as I figured it would be a fairly sub-par isekai adaptation (like most of them are). However, I was really surprised at how nice the animation was, especially the titular cooking sequences. It actually inspired me to make chicken katsu curry (it was delicious). Also, I love the OP. Like, it is a regular in my daily listening now it is so good. Really...check it out (long version).
After finishing that, I started watching Zombie Land Saga. I actually picked this one completely randomly from my library and went in completely blind. I must say, the cold open of episode 1 caught me completely off guard. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this show before I started, but it has turned out very different than I expected. Other highlights include the performance in episode 2, and the VA work for Kotaro (really, it is incredible).
Finally, on a meta note, I just want to thank everybody for engaging in the thread about episode discussions over the weekend. There were a lot of great ideas and points raised in the course of that discussion.
I’ll be honest: I thought Campfire Cooking looked like another generic low effort isekai anime, so I didn’t even give it a try. With your input, I’ll give it a shot. I’m looking for a lighter good feeling show to cap evenings, and this might be just right.
It sounds like a great fit for that. However, these kinds of shows you either vibe with or you don't. So, if you aren't feeling it after episode ~3 or so, just move on. Other shows that fit this role for me would be Azumanga Daioh, Farming Life in Another World, Slime 300, How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift. I would also make a case that Mushishi, Kino's Journey, and Natsume's Book of Friends are also good at that, but can feature darker storylines in some episodes (they are anthologies).