Some Quick First Impressions: Musaigen no Phantom World, Prince of Stride – Alternative and Haruchika: Haruta to Chika wa Seishun Suru

Musaigen no Phantom World

Short Synopsis: Our protagonist hunts phantoms as part of a school club.

This show started off with some examples to point out how unreliable the human brain is with optical illusions and made to point that our view of the world would be drastically altered if our brains were messed with in some way. And points out that if such a change to the brain occurs maybe we might see and feel…annoying tiny flying pixie girls. You know something is wrong when a show’s first lines are ultimately flawed logic. Yes, our vision of the world could be altered if our perception is messed with, but outside stimulus is still required to perceive something. Unless of course it was something intangible like ghosts but this series already breaks that rule by having one of these illusions pull open someone’s eyes. Of course you could make an argument for delusion or madness but I digress. So a lab is attacked which unleashes a virus on the world that allows people to perceive youkai and fictional beings. It also gives teenagers superpowers because…science. And naturally this virus has no negative side effects in the slightest despite messing with the most delicate organ in the human body. This may in fact be KyoAni’s lowest point and yes, I am taking into account the moe drivel and Free. At least those had some shrivel of creativity. One particular moment that really put the nail in the coffin was a point where the protagonist was about to do the cliched accidental pervert but realised that he was about to do the cliche. He very nearly subverted it but then then ended up doing the cliche anyway. Pointing out the cliche does not excuse the cliche. We have plenty of fanservice, particularly with the big breasted ponytail girl who apparently has the power to harness elements by feeling herself up. That isn’t the only dislikable factor as we have Ruru, a flying little mascot character who’s only purpose is poor comedy and to display the power to annoy. Everything else is just so run of the mill that it’s painful. It has very good animation and with the phantoms they seems to be trying to add in hijinks but the end result is just so cookie cutter.

Potential: 0%

Prince of Stride – Alternative

Short Synopsis: A girl helps restart a school club for free-running.

I refuse to call it Stride. To stride is to walk with big steps, in that regard it would make more sense to call it sprint. Let’s not beat around the bush and call it what it is, free running. Free running with a relay race aspect  With that out of the way I got to applaud the Madhouse animators. One of the hardest things in animation is a run cycle and here we have an entire animation dedicated primarily to just that. In that regards the running animation in this is marvellous. Though sadly that may be its only shining point. This show goes through the checklist of sports anime tropes. People who have an interest in a sport find club about to be disbanded and interest dying out. Revitalises the club by showing everyone how awesome it is and gathers a team of weirdos who each have their own approach to the sport. It’s pretty standard stuff. It’s not bad by any means but you do have to take into account that besides the running, you aren’t getting anything new here. The comedy is also pretty terrible. There’s also that thing where they try to make the sport as visually impressive as possible by exaggerating it to make it more interesting. But that’s more of a personal gripe, and not a Solid one considering an anime I really love, Hajime no Ippo, does the exact same thing. Lastly there’s the ever annoying trope of Otome games, the really bland female protagonist who gets all the boys. Pretty much a male harem protagonist gender swapped. So it’s fairly watchable and could make for a good in between watch anime.

Potential: 60%

Haruchika: Haruta to Chika wa Seishun Suru

Short Synopsis: A tomboy joins the brass band club and encounters a strange mystery.

Well my first impression of this turned out to be different to what I thought. But I like it when a show I didn’t expect much from presents something I could be interested in. What we have here seems to be a mix of Hyouka and a music anime. Now I can’t say I liked Hyouka because I find that the mundane mysteries it presented wasn’t interesting when nothing was at stake. Haruchika has a similar problem in that the mystery when solved doesn’t make much logical sense when you think of it from a human standpoint. It pretty much boils down to someone sending an innocent message by breaking into a school in the middle of the night and presenting it in the most cryptic and ominous way possible. That said the connection it had to music was interesting and it gave us a look into Haruta’s deductive capabilities. Our two leads seem interesting enough and the band aspect is done in a way that isn’t tiresome. Ultimately an enjoyable first episode but the thing I really liked was the development of the last scene. I will be vague so as to not spoil but it’s nice to see this particular thing shown in a way that isn’t overblown or in your face.

Potential: 70%