diff --git a/src/core/services/anilist/season-resolver.test.ts b/src/core/services/anilist/season-resolver.test.ts
index ac0df8f0..a5d12964 100644
--- a/src/core/services/anilist/season-resolver.test.ts
+++ b/src/core/services/anilist/season-resolver.test.ts
@@ -156,6 +156,18 @@ test('season 1 resolves to the anchor without relation lookups', async () => {
   assert.deepEqual(relationLookups, []);
 });
 
+test('season 2 preserves the anchor exact-title evidence through a sequel resolution', async () => {
+  const { execute } = createExecutor(OREGAIRU_SEARCH, OREGAIRU_RELATIONS);
+  const result = await resolveAnilistSeasonMedia(
+    { title: 'My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU', season: 2, episode: 1 },
+    { execute },
+  );
+
+  assert.equal(result?.id, 20698);
+  assert.equal(result?.via, 'sequel-chain');
+  assert.equal(result?.exactTitleMatch, true);
+});
+
 test('reports an exact normalized synonym match as strong evidence', async () => {
   const { execute } = createExecutor([
     {
diff --git a/src/core/services/anilist/season-resolver.ts b/src/core/services/anilist/season-resolver.ts
index e2cd4e05..c57d0342 100644
--- a/src/core/services/anilist/season-resolver.ts
+++ b/src/core/services/anilist/season-resolver.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
  * reports `seasonResolved: false` so callers can refuse to act instead of guessing.
  */
 
+import { normalizeTitleIdentity } from '../../utils/title-normalization';
+
 export interface AnilistSeasonMediaTitle {
   romaji?: string | null;
   english?: string | null;
@@ -117,15 +119,6 @@ const SEASONAL_FORMAT_PRIORITY = ['TV', 'TV_SHORT', 'ONA'];
 
 const MAX_SEQUEL_HOPS = 12;
 
-function normalizeTitle(value: string): string {
-  return value
-    .normalize('NFKC')
-    .toLowerCase()
-    .replace(/[^\p{L}\p{N}]+/gu, ' ')
-    .trim()
-    .replace(/\s+/g, ' ');
-}
-
 /**
  * Drops season markers a release name carries but AniList titles never do,
  * so "Some Show Season 3" and "Some Show S3" both search as "Some Show".
@@ -143,7 +136,7 @@ function mediaTitles(media: AnilistSeasonMedia): string[] {
   const synonyms = Array.isArray(media.synonyms) ? media.synonyms : [];
   return [media.title?.english, media.title?.romaji, media.title?.native, ...synonyms]
     .filter((value): value is string => typeof value === 'string' && value.trim().length > 0)
-    .map((value) => normalizeTitle(value));
+    .map((value) => normalizeTitleIdentity(value));
 }
 
 function displayTitle(media: AnilistSeasonMedia, fallback: string): string {
@@ -218,9 +211,10 @@ export function pickAnchorMedia(
       : media;
   const pool = episodeFiltered.length > 0 ? episodeFiltered : media;
 
-  const targets = [normalizeTitle(title), normalizeTitle(stripSeasonSuffix(title))].filter(
-    (value, index, all) => value.length > 0 && all.indexOf(value) === index,
-  );
+  const targets = [
+    normalizeTitleIdentity(title),
+    normalizeTitleIdentity(stripSeasonSuffix(title)),
+  ].filter((value, index, all) => value.length > 0 && all.indexOf(value) === index);
 
   const scored = pool.map((entry, index) => {
     const candidateTitles = mediaTitles(entry);
@@ -376,7 +370,7 @@ export async function resolveAnilistSeasonMedia(
     episode: season === null || season <= 1 ? input.episode : null,
   });
   if (!anchor) return null;
-  const exactTitleMatch = mediaTitles(anchor).includes(normalizeTitle(searchTitle));
+  const exactTitleMatch = mediaTitles(anchor).includes(normalizeTitleIdentity(searchTitle));
 
   if (season === null || season <= 1) {
     return toResolution(anchor, searchTitle, season, 'anchor', true, exactTitleMatch);
diff --git a/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/__tests__/anime-merge.test.ts b/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/__tests__/anime-merge.test.ts
index 33f41821..a65b367a 100644
--- a/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/__tests__/anime-merge.test.ts
+++ b/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/__tests__/anime-merge.test.ts
@@ -560,6 +560,35 @@ test('resolveAnimeAnilistConflict leaves explicit incompatible seasons and assig
   });
 });
 
+test('manual AniList resolution reassigns across explicit seasons without merging them', () => {
+  withDb((db) => {
+    insertAnime(db, {
+      animeId: 1,
+      key: 'show season 1',
+      title: 'Show Season 1',
+      anilistId: 163132,
+      titleRomaji: 'Show',
+    });
+    insertAnime(db, { animeId: 2, key: 'show season 2', title: 'Show Season 2' });
+    insertEpisode(db, { videoId: 1, animeId: 1, season: 1 });
+    insertEpisode(db, { videoId: 2, animeId: 2, season: 2 });
+
+    const summary = resolveAnimeAnilistConflict(db, 2, 163132, { survivor: 'target' });
+
+    assert.equal(summary.anilistAssignmentBlocked, false);
+    assert.deepEqual(animeIds(db), [1, 2]);
+    const assignments = db
+      .prepare(
+        'SELECT anime_id AS animeId, anilist_id AS anilistId FROM imm_anime ORDER BY anime_id',
+      )
+      .all() as Array<{ animeId: number; anilistId: number | null }>;
+    assert.deepEqual(assignments, [
+      { animeId: 1, anilistId: null },
+      { animeId: 2, anilistId: 163132 },
+    ]);
+  });
+});
+
 test('automatic AniList update does not transfer an assignment across explicit seasons', () => {
   withDb((db) => {
     insertAnime(db, {
@@ -596,6 +625,55 @@ test('automatic AniList update does not transfer an assignment across explicit s
   });
 });
 
+test('automatic AniList update with unknown match confidence validates stored titles', () => {
+  withDb((db) => {
+    insertAnime(db, {
+      animeId: 1,
+      key: 'actual show',
+      title: 'Actual Show',
+      anilistId: 163132,
+      titleRomaji: 'Actual Show',
+    });
+    insertAnime(db, { animeId: 2, key: 'unrelated release', title: 'Unrelated Release' });
+    insertEpisode(db, { videoId: 1, animeId: 1, season: 1 });
+    insertEpisode(db, { videoId: 2, animeId: 2, season: 1 });
+
+    updateAnimeAnilistInfo(db, 2, {
+      anilistId: 163132,
+      titleRomaji: 'Actual Show',
+      titleEnglish: null,
+      titleNative: null,
+      episodesTotal: 12,
+    });
+
+    assert.deepEqual(animeIds(db), [1, 2]);
+    assert.equal(videoAnimeId(db, 2), 2);
+    assert.deepEqual(getAnimeMergeRecommendations(db), [{ recommendationId: 1, animeIds: [1, 2] }]);
+  });
+});
+
+test('stored AniList titles ignore season suffixes when validating an automatic merge', () => {
+  withDb((db) => {
+    insertAnime(db, {
+      animeId: 1,
+      key: 'legacy show',
+      title: 'Show Season 1',
+      anilistId: 163132,
+      titleRomaji: 'Show Season 1',
+    });
+    insertAnime(db, { animeId: 2, key: 'show season 1', title: 'Show Season 1' });
+    insertEpisode(db, { videoId: 1, animeId: 1, season: 1 });
+    insertEpisode(db, { videoId: 2, animeId: 2, season: 1 });
+
+    const summary = resolveAnimeAnilistConflict(db, 2, 163132);
+
+    assert.equal(summary.deletedAnimeRows, 1);
+    assert.deepEqual(animeIds(db), [1]);
+    assert.equal(videoAnimeId(db, 2), 1);
+    assert.deepEqual(getAnimeMergeRecommendations(db), []);
+  });
+});
+
 test('resolveAnimeAnilistConflict leaves an entry that already links elsewhere alone', () => {
   withDb((db) => {
     insertAnime(db, { animeId: 1, key: 'show', title: 'Show', anilistId: 163132 });
diff --git a/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/anime-merge-recommendations.ts b/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/anime-merge-recommendations.ts
index 82b5ea7c..6ac0c096 100644
--- a/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/anime-merge-recommendations.ts
+++ b/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/anime-merge-recommendations.ts
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ export function hasExactStoredTitleMatch(
     conflict.canonical_title,
   ]
     .filter((title): title is string => Boolean(title?.trim()))
-    .map(normalizeAnimeIdentityKey)
+    .map((title) => normalizeAnimeIdentityKey(stripSeasonIdentitySuffix(title)))
     .filter(Boolean);
   return targetKeys.some((key) => anilistTitleKeys.includes(key));
 }
diff --git a/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/anime-season-repair.ts b/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/anime-season-repair.ts
index 1eb170a7..dae92003 100644
--- a/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/anime-season-repair.ts
+++ b/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/anime-season-repair.ts
@@ -392,6 +392,7 @@ export function resolveAnimeAnilistConflict(
     const targetSeasons = getParsedSeasonsForAnime(db, targetAnimeId);
     const conflictSeasons = getParsedSeasonsForAnime(db, conflict.animeId);
     if (
+      !isManual &&
       targetSeasons.size === 1 &&
       conflictSeasons.size === 1 &&
       [...targetSeasons][0] !== [...conflictSeasons][0]
diff --git a/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/query-maintenance.ts b/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/query-maintenance.ts
index f0eb45d3..84c9e91b 100644
--- a/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/query-maintenance.ts
+++ b/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/query-maintenance.ts
@@ -427,7 +427,8 @@ export function updateAnimeAnilistInfo(
   if (!row?.anime_id) return;
 
   const repair = resolveAnimeAnilistConflict(db, row.anime_id, info.anilistId, {
-    matchConfidence: info.exactTitleMatch === false ? 'weak' : 'exact',
+    matchConfidence:
+      info.exactTitleMatch === true ? 'exact' : info.exactTitleMatch === false ? 'weak' : undefined,
   });
   if (repair.mergeRecommended || repair.anilistAssignmentBlocked) return;
   const targetRow = db
diff --git a/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/storage.ts b/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/storage.ts
index 1a712577..124a8437 100644
--- a/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/storage.ts
+++ b/src/core/services/immersion-tracker/storage.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { createHash } from 'node:crypto';
 import { parseMediaInfo } from '../../../jimaku/utils';
+import { normalizeTitleIdentity } from '../../utils/title-normalization';
 import type { DatabaseSync } from './sqlite';
 import { nowMs } from './time';
 import { SCHEMA_VERSION } from './types';
@@ -319,14 +320,7 @@ export function applyPragmas(db: DatabaseSync): void {
   db.exec(`PRAGMA journal_size_limit = ${WAL_JOURNAL_SIZE_LIMIT_BYTES}`);
 }
 
-export function normalizeAnimeIdentityKey(title: string): string {
-  return title
-    .normalize('NFKC')
-    .toLowerCase()
-    .replace(/[^\p{L}\p{N}]+/gu, ' ')
-    .trim()
-    .replace(/\s+/g, ' ');
-}
+export const normalizeAnimeIdentityKey = normalizeTitleIdentity;
 
 function normalizeSeasonScope(value: number | null | undefined): number | null {
   if (typeof value !== 'number' || !Number.isSafeInteger(value) || value <= 0) {
diff --git a/src/core/utils/title-normalization.test.ts b/src/core/utils/title-normalization.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8e5a01b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/utils/title-normalization.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import test from 'node:test';
+import { normalizeTitleIdentity } from './title-normalization';
+
+test('normalizeTitleIdentity produces a Unicode-aware comparison key', () => {
+  assert.equal(normalizeTitleIdentity('  ＢＯＣＣＨＩ・The ROCK!!  '), 'bocchi the rock');
+});
diff --git a/src/core/utils/title-normalization.ts b/src/core/utils/title-normalization.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0bb7c446
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/utils/title-normalization.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+export function normalizeTitleIdentity(title: string): string {
+  return title
+    .normalize('NFKC')
+    .toLowerCase()
+    .replace(/[^\p{L}\p{N}]+/gu, ' ')
+    .trim()
+    .replace(/\s+/g, ' ');
+}