Slime Taoshite 300-nen
Short Synopsis: Salarywoman dies of overwork and comes back committed to doing the minimum. And accidentally becomes overpowered.
Amun: For whatever reason, some anime recently have been on a crusade against Japan’s overwork culture. Which strikes me as odd, since it’s well known that animators are overworked. Bit of a disconnect between the medium and the message, you know? Anyways, Slime’s message is “slow and steady wins the race” – which is fine if you’re immortal. Oh yeah, and there are no important males in this world. That’s not saying any particular male is unimportant, there just aren’t any present in this world. I guess those are the points I’m neutral or slightly negative on – the show is otherwise nicely chill. The main character is consistent and committed to taking it easy – no complaints here on that. The introduction of the dragon maid is, well, expected – but not horrid. If you’re looking to turn off your brain (say, as you catch up on the last season of Titan), this is the show for you.
Potential: 65%
Lenlo: I was wondering when I would get to the Isekai of the season. And what do you know, it’s exactly what I expected! Video game logic, stats, levels, slimes, drops and absolutely 0 world building or meaningful character work. Oh there might be something novel in following the “Wise Old Witch” character of the story. See some adventurers visit and ask for guidance, do some Gandalf shit then go to bed. But I don’t expect that to be interesting for more than an episode or 2. Meanwhile any “Save the world” plots are automatically invalidated since our lead is literally an overpowered max level immortal witch. If you want some popcorn entertainment you can turn on and not have to actually engage with, Taoshite is probably up your alley. If you want anything other than to be bored out of your skull though then this is probably a pass.
Potential: 10%
86: Eighty Six
Short Synopsis: Army Management Simulator – The Anime.
Lenlo: I’m getting some serious Ender’s Game vibes from 86 and let me tell you what, I’m in. It’s incredible how much information 86 packed into a single episode. By the end it felt like I had watched 40 minutes instead of 20. Yet the pacing didn’t feel rushed either. It managed to convey just as much information through visuals as it did through its dialogue. Whether it be the homogenized hair/eye color of the citizenry, the debaucherous and trashed “Military HQ” or how District 86 and its inhabitants starkly contrasted both. Combine that with some clever cuts and information dense dialogue and you have more world building in a single episode than a lot of anime get in their entire season. The one way I could see 86 going wrong would be if it abandoned its serious take on war. I need this to be in the same camp as OG Gundam, not Space Battleship Yamato.
Potential: 90%
Armitage: This is damn good stuff right here. 86 was one of the most high profile adaptations of the season, based off of a light novel series that’s highly acclaimed even by people not big on LNs, and being adapted across two cours by A1 Pictures. Safe to say that it does deliver on its promise by presenting us with a gritty war-torn world brought to screen through lush backgrounds and actual good 3D-models not rendered by Studio Orange for once. Outside of the 3D designs too, the animation is nothing to scoff at, with characters having detailed expressive movements even during regular conversations. Coupling all that with some impressive quick-cuts and an uncharacteristically low-key but fitting soundtrack from Hiroyuki Sawano, and 86 just about supplants Vivy as the most technically impressive anime of the season, even with A1’s rather generic character designs. Another aspect in which 86 betters Vivy is the way in which it handles its world-building. While the latter has a better premise overall, 86’s necessary info-dump feels more natural and never gets overwhelming, as it lets its visuals and themes take centre-stage instead. If it can deliver a story along the lines of the very similar and highly impressive Iron-blooded Orphans, we’ll surely end up having one of the highlights of the season on our hands.
Potential: 86% >.>
Shadows House
Short Synopsis: A living doll begins her service as an attendant in a mysterious mansion.
Wooper: Boy, that opening montage was a lot more sinister than anything I read in the manga’s first ten chapters. I like it! There’s all sorts of stuff we can infer from those first few minutes – the train that arrived at the Shadows estate was carrying human slaves, those slaves were served a liquid that likely tampered with their memories, members of the Shadows family are created using humans as models, etc. It’s an interesting premise to be sure, but apart from that early foreshadowing, most of this episode provided more character introduction than intrigue. I’m fine with that, since likeable characters are something every premiere ought to strive for, but it does make it hard to judge just how strong a central pillar Emilyko will be for this story. If you like genki blonde girls, you’re sure to find her an adequate guide, and if you like the ‘dirty canvas’ look of the backgrounds, you’re probably hooked already. I’m mixed on the aesthetic myself – it’s great in concept since it underscores the series’ Victorian influences, but it was clearly achieved with a preprogrammed filter, rather than a human hand. Even though I feel like the art director made the right call here, it’s still a minor distraction – modern anime’s curse to bear, I guess.
Potential: 50%
Lenlo: I’m not sold on Shadows House yet. As Wooper says, the opening montage was very sinister, very different from the rest of the show. If it can fulfill the promise of a mystery that it has made then I can see it being successful. But so far I’m not very engaged by Kate or Emilyko. It was cute enough I suppose and I like what it’s doing with the “Shadow” characters’ designs. I’m just… I’m not interested in a girl playing house for 20 minutes. I’m going to keep watching in the hopes that these “Bodysnatcher” vibes I’m getting pay off. I’m not convinced they will yet though.
Potential: 40%
The heavy handed moralizing of 86 was pretty hard for me to watch, personally.
Yeah, the scenes of military officials drunkenly laughing about their country’s human rights violations were painful. And of course, the main character is the only person in all of San Magnolia to treat the 86s with decency. The series scores a solid zero in the ‘ethical complexity’ department, but the dual settings might yield some interesting results in the long run.
Just by the description I checked the opening. And what stood to me was how it does’t have lyrics, very odd. I suppose there’s few anime that opt to have the music solely give the mood of an opening.