Thanks for visiting Anime Rants today. These notes are from the episodes that aired from approximately April 5th to April 11th, 2026. Please enjoy my brief takes.
- Re: Zero Season 4
- Dr. Stone: Science Future Part 3
- Go For It! Nakamura!!
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4
- The Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 4
Re: Zero Season 4
Episode 1 (AKA 67): The Reason I’m Taking You With Me / Gorgeous Tiger Reloaded
This episode felt slightly disappointing due to the lack of action and/or horror, but it was fine as a set-up installment for what I assume will be an exciting and dangerous adventure. Subaru and a small group (including Emilia and Julius) headed out toward the Auguria Dunes where they would find the tower occupied by the Shaula the Sage. They needed the Sage to tell them how to restore the victims of the Cult. They also brought Meili, a mabeast user who is also, of course, a little girl. (Don’t get me started on this series and its weird focus on little girls.) The group stopped by Roswaal’s mansion to pick up the still unconscious Rem. Subaru was determined to ask the Sage to wake her up.
Seeking the Sage to cure the victims of the Cult was Anastasia’s idea, so she came along too. During the journey, we learned that Ana’s body was being controlled by an artificial spirit, confusingly named Echidna. Since the spirit loved its master and was trying to find a way to give Anastasia back her body, Subaru somewhat accepted it and kept quiet. In other news, it was great to see Garfiel again. I’m glad he got a healing moment where he could cry with his mother and be comforted. There were a few other events worth mentioning, such as the cute bonding moment between Subaru and Julius, but that’s all I have time and motivation to write about presently. It was a decent pilot with interesting character moments and an important reveal.
Dr. Stone: Science Future Part 3
Episode 2: Fire
After receiving a threatening message from Why-Man, Senku and company quickly recovered. They tried replying back to Why-Man several times, but got no answer. It seemed the villain wasn’t immediately taking action, but simply bullying the group while they moved around. Senku’s group then went to Spain to acquire Fluorite for rockets and telescopes and olive oil for cooking. It was great to see Francois cooking and enjoying themselves in this episode. As some readers already know, I love Francois as a nonbinary character who is also voiced by one of my favorite female seiyuus, Maaya Sakamoto. Other characters also had cool or funny moments in this episode, including Ryusui with his endless greed. The group woke up some Spanish people with revival fluid and then left them to build their own civilization.
The next place to go was India, where they would find and awaken the world’s greatest mathematician. They would need his help for the eventual full-size rocket. It would take long time to go from Spain to India by the surest route, going all around the continent. But if they were to take the Suez Canal, it would be a short-cut that saved them months of time. The problem was that the Canal was blocked by fallen trees. In order to remove it, Senku unleashed his small scale rocket loaded with TNT. He and Xeno had worked hard on making that first rocket, but it was worth using it to clear the way. After the explosion, the path was cleared, and the crew aboard the New Perseus continued on their way to India. Hopefully, in the next episode, we will finally meet the new character seen in the intro, the world’s best man at maths.
Go For It! Nakamura!!
Episode 2: Panic! The Secret Bible!!
The second episode was as great as the first, if not better. I enjoyed learning that Nakamura was a fan of BL and seeing his cute and funny reactions. It was commendable that the narrative steered away from homophobia while still pointing out the teenage silliness of getting dating examples from manga (in this case, BL). I love anime, but I was way older than Nakamura when before I realized how strange and melodramatic most people find it. I hold that some valuable life lessons can be reflected in certain anime, but maybe don’t use romance anime as a guide to real love. Speaking of love, Nakamura has a long way to go. But he has at least become acquaintances with Hirose officially now, thanks to their meeting in the manga store. On a final note, no matter how cute they made the little guy in this episode, I will always hate and fear cockroaches. I refuse to call them cute or show them any mercy. Eat this toxic spray and die in pain! Ahem. Good episode.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4
Episode 2: The Dungeon Evolves
This was another pretty average episode of TenSura, but it had enjoyable moments. As Masayuki and his party worked on clearing the Dungeon, we learned about the Green Fury team that’s making swift progress through dubious methods. Thanks to Hinata going insane to prove a point, the monster bosses in the upcoming dungeon floors were obliterated. In fact, Hinata beat the whole Dungeon except for the last boss, Veldora. Anyway, Rimuru, Ramiris, and the others needed a way to put more bosses in place quickly. Rimuru spent several days holed up in the research area of the Dungeon, conducting mysterious magic/science. It was so cute to see him in a lab coat!
After his research, Rimuru visited Adalmann and made it so he could use holy magic again. (He had temporarily lost the ability.) That led to some mildly interesting magic lore. Also, Milim came for a visit. As for the result of Rimuru’s research, it was revealed at the end of the episode. He basically made it possible to create soulless monsters and then possess them. The technology used orbs called Psuedo-souls and Master Cores. Veldora, Milim and Ramiris were also given the magical devices so they could have the same power. Possessing their monsters like Avatars, Rimuru and company headed out, planning to act as the new bosses of the Dungeon themselves. The episode ends there. Rimuru’s magical technology seems almost too advanced – but then again, he is one of the most powerful entities in the world. I guess it tracks.
The Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 4
Episode 2: Lower City Family Reunion
It has come to my attention that the animators for this series used some AI backgrounds in the opening song initially. Wit Studio since apologized and removed those backgrounds. I just wanted to make my stance clear that I strongly disapprove of generative AI. That being said, one mistake like this that’s been corrected isn’t enough to make me boycott a studio. I will definitely continue enjoying shows made by Wit. As for this episode of Bookworm, it was as engaging as the pilot and had some truly enjoyable parts. I was surprised we never got a follow-up about when Myne passed out at her adoption ceremony. I still hope that obnoxious boy was scolded. Anyway, one of the highlights of this episode was seeing Brigette, the new female knight. She clearly cares about Myne.
Rosemyne also became the new High Priest in this episode. I’m so glad she got to see Lutz and her family again, even though she only saw the latter from a distance at the ceremony. At least with Lutz, she got to hug him and speak with him. She also received a letter from her family, passed in secret by Lutz. A few other things probably happened worth mentioning, but I don’t have more thoughts on this episode right now.
~Thanks for reading~
Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants
Anime Rants 