Shironeko Project: Zero Chronicle
Short Synopsis: A queen and a swordsman, linked by fate, embark on separate journeys in their respective kingdoms.
Lenlo: Shironeko Project is trying so hard to be something it’s not. Whether that’s Rage of Bahamut with its battles between effectively Heaven and Hell or SAO with its edgy MC and “deep” metaphors like the hole, I don’t know. What I do know though is that Shironeko achieves neither. The pace is glacial and my interest is non-existent as we watch not!Kirito, or whatever generic name brand MC of your choice, gets his tragic backstory about digging holes only to meet and then lose a mentor figure in the span of 10 minutes. It’s like it’s going to try and cover the whole Hero’s Journey in the span of like… 3 episodes. I could rib on this thing for paragraphs, but Wooper did plenty down below. So instead I will just back him up by saying: No. Don’t watch this.
Potential: 0%
Wooper: Thinking back on the 20 minutes I just wasted with Shironeko Project’s first episode, not a single line of its script or point in its plot was remotely convincing. The opening metaphor of its dual leads as cats was goofy, and each protagonist’s story was terrible in its own way. First up was the future King of Darkness, whose entire village was destroyed within minutes of his introduction. Gotta get that tragic backstory out of the way, I guess, so the red streak in his hair can feel appropriately emo. While digging a mass grave, he meets a master swordsman and defeats him in combat right before the old dude kicks the bucket. This whole scene is such an obvious jump starter for the actual plot, which is spelled out by Mr. Knight in laundry list form right before his death. Then there’s the queen of the sky world, whose personality we aren’t allowed to observe – we just hear about how awesome she is from her subjects. All of that dialogue gets dumped on us after we’re nearly comatose from a shitty CG battle scene – the first of many, I’d wager, given the lifeless production on display. I hope to forget this series as quickly as possible.
Potential: 0%
Fruits Basket S2
Short Synopsis: Yuki meets new eccentric friends of the student council.
Amun: Fruits Basket season one (of this version) ended with some pretty heavy moments – Yuki’s trauma and Kon’s smell. I was worried season two would start off a little timidly – guess I forgot that if there’s one thing Fruits Basket is good at, it’s making you feel. This was a good premiere episode to get us back into things, shown from the perspective of a side character – but still moving the plot along. Broadly speaking, I’m most concerned about character creep and/or delving too deep into side characters – judging from the OP/ED, I think that won’t be an issue (I’m seeing one to two more zodiac characters, tops). Plus the humor is still on point – “zodiac level strange” had me dying. With many other big name sequels getting pushed back, it’s good to know that Fruits Basket is here with the feels, no matter what.
Potential: 100%
Mario: Season 2 picks up right where the first season ends, and overall this premiere is a smooth sailing. It introduces some new characters and gives some minor cast a spotlight. The best improvement here in this sequel is that the show moves away from Tohru and so far focuses on Yuki without Tohru’s direct involvement. As much as I like the main chemistry between Tohru, Yuki and Kyo, it can feel monotonous at times given how many times we need to be reminded that Tohru has changed Yuki for the better? So at least here Yuki owns his story with his own set of side cast (harem as you might put it). This likely is a one-time off, but at least for me it’s a good sign that the material expands its view outside of Tohru’s perspective and allows Yuki (and hopefully Kyo) to be more flexible. While there isn’t much of Zodiac members involved or its iconic Zodiac transformation in this episode, and there’s a tad bit too much romance for my taste, I’m happy that Fruits Basket is back and hopefully this time we can witness it going through the finish line.
Potential: 40%
Princess Connect! Re:Dive
Short Synopsis: A nearly mute hero is sent to another world, where he’s looked after by an envoy of the goddess who sent him there.
Wooper: Princess Connect’s first couple minutes were unflattering, reading like a genderswapped otome game adaptation. The POV shot of a potential love interest just after waking up, the silent protagonist acting as an audience stand-in – things weren’t looking so hot. As the premiere went on, though, it revealed a goofy sense of humor that stopped me from hitting Alt+F4. The male lead’s helplessness is played for laughs, as in the recurring gag where he’s dragged away by rapid dogs, or his inability to grasp the concept of money. The episode-ending battle against a horde of mushrooms was goofy, too (and the animation was pretty nice, coming from a green studio like CygamesPictures). Unfortunately, beyond some of these quirks, Re:Dive doesn’t have much to offer. It’s a KonoSuba-type series featuring much less interesting characters, and the montage of girls that will be introduced in future installments doesn’t entice me in the least. It might not be the worst fantasy anime of the season, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth your time.
Potential: 10%
Lenlo: This is probably the most… “average” first impression episode I have seen so far. There was absolutely nothing offensive or outright bad about Princess Connect for me. As Wooper says, it’s not particularly interesting, there is little thematic depth to it. But it actually got me to chuckle. Multiple times. The gag humor works, and the MC is a played up version of your everyday isekai MC, except legitimately retarded. Yet unlike Konosuba it doesn’t rely on potty or sexual or transphobic humor to make its jokes. Meanwhile it feels like CyGames Pictures is actually trying here, with things like the CGI grass swaying in the wind and such. It looks terribly awkward sometimes, but there are also moments where it just sort of… works. So I can say wholeheartedly, if you just want a goofy show to burn 30 minutes and enjoy yourself on, Princess Connect is not a bad choice at all. I won’t be watching it personally, because my time is limited and this isn’t exactly up my alley. But I honestly can’t see anything wrong with what is ostensibly a slightly above average gacha mobile game adaptation. At the very least it’s less offensive than Azur Lane was last year.
Potential: 30%
Isn’t Shironeko Project a Japan-only mobile game? Not that surprised at the lack of quality for something like that, it’s probably targeted at people playing the game and no one else.