Finished Cowboy Bebop. Fantastic. Unfortunately, had the ending spoiled for me like 100+ times over the years but still, fantastic.
Thing is, those 4 plot episodes really just provide the emotional subtext for the rest of the episodes, rather than the other way around.
I've heard some people criticise the show for being too full of 'filler', which I think is nonsense. It's almost a sci-fi-action-slice of life show. The plot is not that important.
Continuing my anime romcom run, I've watched a couple of episodes of 'Love, Chunibyo and Other Delusions' and it's been hilarious fun so far. I hope it maintains its level. The last couple of series I've watched have started promisingly but failed to execute the concept to the end. Golden Time and in particular, Kokoro Connect both had solid foundations with interesting premises and characters, but both fell apart. Mostly it was I think due to a complete lack of understanding of the mental/psychological conditions the characters were afflicted with. In particular, Kokoro Connect had some pretty contrived scenarios and just didn't understand/describe human emotions naturally.
Come to think of it 'Love, Chunibyo and Other Delusions' also involves something similar in its premise. It's about a guy who had suffered from 'eighth grade syndryome' in middle school - or a kind of escapist fantasising/one-way roleplaying where a child (usually) pretends they're some sort of magical/fictional character, but has now moved on from the delusions at a new high school. Almost immediately he meet cutes a girl in his class who suffers from just those delusions. Hilarity ensues.
I'm a little bit more optimistic about it though, because I think it will be more about growing up/personal growth, which is a theme the Japanese do well.
