The gravity of this fight is not to be understated. Now that we’re finally seeing Emilia’s past, we see some of the characters who helped her become the half-elf she is today. One of the most surprising is none other than the disciple of the Witch of Sloth, Petelgeuse Romanèe-Conti! Emilia was raised by her paternal aunt Fortuna, whom she regarded as her mother. Fortuna was the leader of their elven community in the Sanctuary, and they were often visited by the bishop, Petelgeuse. While taking a peaceful walk together through the forest, the trio of Emilia, Fortuna and Petelgeuse is attacked by the Witch of Vanity, Pandora, and her underling, Regulus Corneas.

Unlike Regulus, Pandora appears to be solely interested in having a conversation regarding the seal on the Sanctuary; however, Fortuna and Petelgeuse are immensely threatened by her presence and do their best to keep her at bay. Eventually, Petelgeuse resolves to take on both Regulus and his superior while Fortuna leads Emilia away from the Sanctuary to safety on the outside. Petelgeuse uses the Sloth Witch Factor in this battle, valiantly giving everything to protect his loved ones, but he ends up accidentally killing Fortuna, and Emilia ends up breaking her promise to run away by confronting Pandora herself.

Petelgeuse’s descent into madness is driven by the events that take place in this fight, and even his absorption of the Sloth Witch Factor drives him into a corner both physically and mentally. This fight against Pandora, though hopeless from the very beginning, shows incredible grit and resolve from a character we did not expect to find in Emilia’s memories.

Wonder Egg Priority has been a bit of a dark horse this season, bursting in as an original anime seemingly carrying the baton passed on by Madoka Magica ten years ago. Yet another dark take on the Mahou Shoujo (Magical Girl) genre, Wonder Egg Priority has some intense themes but also some great moments, such as protagonist Ai Ooto’s fight against the Sports Coach Monster in her second “egg dream”.

The damsel in distress in that episode was a gymnast who suffered great psychological and emotional damage from her coach’s belligerent barking and cruel punishment strategy. With Ai slowly coming out of her shell, this episode proved that she has a strong sense of justice, a disdain for people who abuse their power and she can be relied on when someone really needs it. A wholesome episode in a series that touches upon some difficult themes, Ai’s fight against the Gymnastics Coach also needed her to think outside the box and make use of the relevant tools to slay the beast, tasks which she performed excellently.

One of the most anticipated events in the current season of Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken (That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime) is the reveal of the person baying for Rimuru’s blood. A mysterious individual is introduced as someone who has a huge grudge against Rimuru Tempest.

A fellow Japanese summon like Rimuru, Hinata Sakaguchi is the highest-ranking knight of Ruberios, bearing two titles: Chief Knight of the Imperial Guard and Leader of the Ten Great Saints. Her beef with Rimuru stems from the fact that she was once Shizu’s pupil and as far as Hinata knows, Rimuru is the name of the unholy monster who ended her master’s life.

When Falmuth attacks Tempest, Rimuru is isolated and forced into combat by Hinata, who seems to know nearly everything about him, including his former identity. Completely uninterested in anything Rimuru has to say, Hinata swiftly engages him in combat, overwhelming Rimuru with the help of the anti-monster, anti-magic barriers in place at the time.

For the first time since the very first episode of That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime, we witness Rimuru being put on the backfoot. Hinata’s incredible ability with a sword, as well as her burning hatred for the slime, leave Rimuru with no choice but to rely on a shameful technique: transforming himself into the sum of all the monsters he has ever eaten. This is later revealed to have been a ruse by Rimuru, who created a clone of himself which then engaged Hinata in his stead and was easily defeated.

One of the most celebrated series airing in this Winter season, Jujutsu Kaisen is a shounen anime on the rise, featuring stunning animation by Studio MAPPA, particularly when it comes to the fights. With the sheer number of awesome brawls this battle shounen has brought to us, one that stood out to us was the one featuring Jujutsu Tech Kyoto Branch student Toudou and the protagonist Yuji Itadori against the Special-Grade Cursed Spirit known as Hanami. Revealed to be some kind of nature spirit, Hanami is capable of manipulating plants and a plethora of nature-themed special abilities. One such ability allows Hanami to plant strange carnivorous plants into the body of the opponent, which then feed off the cursed energy of the opponent to grow.

The final season of the modern classic Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) has been an absolute phenomenon this season and for good reason! The first five episodes were a consistent rollercoaster ride and eventually seeing the characters we journeyed with for three seasons after a hefty time skip was a major treat!

However, the most jarring, most memorable part of The Final Season is Eren’s coordinated plan to kill all the major Marleyan political players, members of the military, and to make Reiner feel the utter fear he felt when the Colossal Titan first appeared.

The Marleyans were in possession of the Armoured, Jaw, Cart and Warhammer Titans by the time of Eren’s attack. The Warhammer is one of the most destructive titans in the Marleyan arsenal, and for a moment, it seemed that Eren would not be able to win in a clash of titans.

While his comrades from Paradis, lead by Hange and Levi, deal with the Cart and Jaw Titans, Eren discovers the core of the Warhammer, which is similar to the substance Annie Leonhart used to crystallise herself. In a dramatic sequence, Eren overwhelms the Jaw and uses his teeth to break the Warhammer’s core before drinking the crushed and bloody remains of its inhabitant. The fight against the Warhammer is definitely proof that Eren is cold as ice!