So, here are my rankings ¾ through my Spring 2019 season. I think the only change I had since last time was dropping BokuBen. As usual, all standards for artistic merit are completely subjective and arbitrary.
Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu
Aikatsu Friends S2
Carole & Tuesday
Sarazanmai
Star Twinkle Precure
Kimetsu no Yaiba
Senryuu Shoujo
Fruits Basket 2019
Dropped
Miru Tights (1)
Hachigatsu no Cinderella Nine (1-2)
One Punch Man S2 (1-6)
Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai (1-9)
Nande Koko ni Sensei ga (1)
Joshikausei (1)
Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san (1-2)
Strike Witches 501 Butai Hasshin Shimasu (1)
The first four are still pretty close for me, Hitoribocchi getting the top spot because it’s been the most consistent.
Carole and Tuesday has been pretty much carried by its performances lately. The comedy has been inconsistent, and it’s made a few questionable narrative decisions. Maybe those decisions will pay off well, but that remains to be seen.
Sarazanmai’s emotional moments aren’t really landing as square as they should, particularly Reo and Mabu. I think maybe show spending a lot of time on silly kappa/otter stuff and reused footage is catching up to it. It’s not bad, but I don’t feel like it really has the grounding needed for its story to have the kind of emotional significance it’s aiming for.
Star Twinkle has similar issues as Sarazanmai. It’s fun and has some solid themes, but its episodic nature and its strict need to adhere to its magical girl formula keeps it from being more consistent.
Kimetsu no Yaiba hasn’t really broken the mold, but I’m at the point where it doesn’t need to. I feel like its plotting and dialogue has been below even My Hero Academia, but it’s getting by on gorgeous character art, excellent choreography and effects, and avoiding really egregious writing decisions. It would be nice if its writing eventually became a legit draw, but it’s still consistently enjoyable.