== Looking back at the Winter 2018 anime season

[[Once again Fall2017Retrospective]] it's time (and past time) for my
traditional look back at what I watched in this past Winter season, to
follow up on [[my early impressions Winter2018Brief]] and [[my midway
views Winter2018Midway]]. In general this has been a reasonably good
season, with some very nice high points.

Excellent:

* *Laid-Back Camp*: This stayed the course all the way through and then
  gave us a great epilogue at the end of the last episode, one that
  showed how both our protagonists had developed. Rin was always the
  heart of the show and I'm glad that the show respected her and her
  independent ways, while still gently involving her in the Outclub's
  activities.

As it ever was:

* *March comes in like a Lion*: As I pretty much expected, this didn't
  come to any particularly definite conclusion but instead just sort of
  found a good ending point in the last episode, one that emphasized how
  time had passed and characters had changed.

Good but could have been much more:

* *The Ancient Magus' Bride*: Despite showing flashes of more in the
  ending couple of episodes, I can't get over my feelings that this
  doesn't measure up to the manga and was in the end a merely ordinary
  adaptation. As an ordinary adaptation it's not a bad thing, it's just
  what I wanted more.

Dropped:

* *Violet Evergarden*: After writing up [[my midway views]], I decided
  I was done. I don't regret my decision.

In ongoing shows, *Darling in the FranXX* is ongoing and remains
essentially a popcorn show for me. It's a nice looking popcorn show with
good production values, but I'm not really expecting anything from it
any more. In Netflix shows, I have yet to finish *A.I.C.O. - Incarnation*
but I probably will at some point.

Finishing only three shows this season (and with a fourth one
continuing) feels like it's below par but probably isn't all that
far out of line with my general trends in anime watching, where I've
steadily become more selective and grumpy.

(Also, I actually finished five shows if I count *Devilman Crybaby* and
*B - The Beginning*, which I really ought to, since they took up their
own share of my anime watching time. When I put it that way this isn't
such an unusual season any more.)