The Rising of the Shield Hero S2
Short Synopsis: Unexpected giant spirit tortoise terrorizes the world!
Amun: Shield Hero is best when it’s the edgy underdog that isn’t afraid to get a little scummy. For me, season one ended in a strange place – it felt like the world was expanded larger than it should have been. Season Two looks to narrow the scope with just one special event boss to fight…wait, a giant spirit tortoise? That’s seriously what it is?! The subplot of the newest party member probably will be a decent sized plot line…which I honestly don’t really care about (I don’t even really remember who that is). The most striking plot device so far is the rage shield – it’ll be interesting to keep an eye on. The visuals are still good, and I think the “mood” or “vibe” is still properly sour – I expect this to be pretty similar to season 1. Only thing is, after seeing this episode I just feel a bit down – maybe it can counteract some of the other sweeteners of the season.
Potential: 75%
Lenlo: I’m sorry, you can’t make me watch this, something something trashy slave fantasy bad.
Deaimon
Short Synopsis: A former runaway returns to his grandparents’ confectionery and discovers that they’ve already chosen a successor to run the store.
Mario: This was, for my money, the first truly solid first episode of the season. Deaimon has many admirable qualities: its art is pleasing to the eyes, its backgrounds are vivid and lived-in with a soft color palette (they remind me of Tsuki ga Kirei, which is a good thing) and the characters are thoughtful and well-developed. Well, it’s still guilty of many anime tropes (the red eyes, I never got those) and this first episode doesn’t really break any new ground story-wise, but it more than makes up for these shortcomings with grounded characters with intimate relationships. We already get to witness a deeper side of both Nagomu and Itsuka, both their personalities and their insecurities. Itsuka’s fear of rejection might not steal our tears away like 4-year-old Kotaro did (did Kotaro Lives Alone air this season, or last? It’s hard to categorize), but the bittersweet emotion at the end is well earned. I am certainly looking forward to more.
Potential: 60%
Wooper: Deaimon is sweet like the treats sold at the series’ confectionery, but it’s not particularly filling. It’s an informally adoptive father/daughter story (Japan seems to put out one of these every couple years) with an emphasis on mild comedy, even relying on a bit of costumed street music to resolve its first dilemma. The conflict between disapproving father and prodigal son is smoothed over with some comedic overreactions and a scene of the dad playing sergeant as his son does push-ups at five in the morning. That’s all fine – a light tone comes as a welcome change after oodles of anime that bear a grudge against decency – but I struggled to find anything to hold on to while watching. The ten year old girl helping to run the sweet shop has a past full of parental abandonment, but the premiere merely glances at it before averting its eyes. The chain of events that led the son to run away from home is beyond silly, making his return much less of an event than it ought to be. Deaimon is a pleasant enough watch, and the fuzzy filter used for the background art is easy on the eyes, but it’s not funny or warm enough to make up for its airiness.
Potential: 30%
Skeleton Knight in Another World
Short Synopsis: More “gamer wakes up in an MMO” bullshit, now with bonus rape.
Wooper: What’s the point of a “viewer discretion is advised” notice if it appears while the scene requiring discretion is already underway? Skeleton Knight in Another World (or “Skeleknight,” as I was planning to nickname it before I gave up twenty seconds into this episode) opens with just such a warning, only by the time your eyes shift to the top of the screen to read it, a girl’s skirt has already been torn in half by her would-be rapist. His accomplice has her friend pinned down a few meters away, breasts mostly exposed, camera perfectly positioned for maximum jiggle. As if things couldn’t get any sicker, the first guy gleefully announces that his soon-to-be victim has peed herself. This was the point where I closed my video player, feeling more disdainful than disgusted. There’s little doubt in my mind that the hero of the show stepped in to rescue both girls just seconds later, but that doesn’t change what a garbage pile this premiere was bound to be after that sort of beginning. If I’m going to watch an anime that contains sexual violence, it’s going to be Ninja Scroll or Berserk – something that uses the act to comment on the cruelty of its world or characters. If you open your seasonal isekai (strike one) with a rape scene (strike two) just so your hero can save the damsel in distress (strike three), you’re out.
Potential: None
Lenlo: You have no idea how tempted I was to, in the first 2 seconds of this show, immediately close it. However seeing that is exactly what Wooper did, I felt the need to stick it through. To really see what this show is about. My conclusion? It’s just crappy Overlord. Which is saying something, since Overlord already wasn’t very good. It’s like someone saw the arc where the lead dresses up as a knight to hide being a Lich, thought “That was cool”, and made an entire show about it. And that includes all of the shitty MMO skills/stats/gear crap that has come to permeate the Isekai genre. The sad thing with Skeleknight though is that, at least going by the OP, it could have been something! It could have embraced all the stupidity of its concept and gone full-camp and been fine! It wouldn’t have been a good show. But it would have at least been mindless fun. You can see it in a few places that actually got a chuckle out of me, like the randomly assigned backstory. But it’s like a single glittering copper piece in the dung pile that is the rest of this show. And that’s just sad.
Potential: 0 Copper Pieces
Amun: As the resident isekai enjoyer, I must thank Mr. Wooper for sacrificing his eyeballs to warn us of this opening. I only wish someone had warned me with Goblin Slayer…
The most baffling thing about that Skeleton isekai is that it clearly positioned itself as some goofy comedy and yet they pull this rape garbage, in the first scene of the premiere no less! And then they show it yet again much later on for no other reason than to titilate and be huge tonal shifts because it was largely comedy in between such jarring contrasts.
It stuns me that Studio Kai is wasting its time on this trash but then I’m reminded of a famous review quote from Vincent Canby to paraphrase, that you suspect that they sold their soul to the devil to obtain the success of Uma Musume season 2 (which they did not receive any royalties because CyGames ran away with all of the profits) and the devil has just come around to collect.
I am surprise this crap git greenlit for an anime while Konosuba still doesn’t have a third season.
I do plan on watching more of Deaimon, but to me, it had a surprisingly mean-spirited tone about it. “How dare anybody leave the house, try to find a life of their own like an adult, and then come back when he hears his father is sick?!” It’s not like Nagomu is an adult capable of making his own decisions, but the series treats it like he’s an awful person for…not choosing to stay and inherit the sweets shop and pursuing a life of his own. Y’know, like adults do! Oh, and his father is a spiteful jackass. I don’t like Nagomu’s dad at all. Also, something about Nobunaga Shimazaki’s voice really grates on my ears. He always sounds shrill and shrieky in every role I hear him in, and this hasn’t changed my opinion on Nagomu’s seiyuu.
I didn’t see Paripi Koumei mentioned on any of the posts here. I’d really recommend checking it out.
I’m quite critical of anime and usually agree with most reviews here. I had a season maraton with friends, so had the unfortunate experience of seeing too much shit.
Paripi Koumei was the only surprise, where I had no idea what it was, and it was one of the best first original episodes I have seen in a really long while. Other than this one, I only follow some sequels and Spy x Family (since that one is amazing)
My comment below is supposed to be here
I was planning to skip it since PA Works series have consistently disappointed me in recent years, but sure, I’ll give it a go.
In all fairness, this is PA Works’ first actual adaptation so it could go either way. I was planning to skip it because it looked like more wannabe-quirky idolshit ala Zombie Land Saga from the PV but it’s not?
I was about to post a really long reply but it accidentally got deleted. Im so mad right now!!
Anyway, thz for the recommendation, random netizen. This is… this is the hidden gem! Thank God for this!
PS: The OP is absolute masterpiece. Chinese Honinbou Shusaku (Hikaru no Go) on drugs enjoying Coco Jumbo 1996 disco is the 2nd coming of Satoshi Kon’s Paranoia Agent’s OP and the purrfect miracle drug Japan made for humanity in the year 2022.
https://youtu.be/g-XdVADwyqY
Chan chan, a chiki chiki ban ban
ai chiki chiki chan chan
aa chiki chiki ban ban
…
Im melting
Also, the fact that it looked like it was going to be idol-focused turned me off upon seeing the PV but is it really that good? The idolshit elements aren’t that intrusive? I had the same impression with Zombie Land Saga and that one just continued to disappoint me as the series progressed.
So far, it’s not idol-focused at all. It’s simply fun, where a great figure from the past goes to current day Japan, likes the voice of a girl and after getting to know her, he decides to support her. And the main scene seems to be a night club.
Meanwhile, the comedy is spot on.
The opening is amazing, it’s a rework of a ’90s hungarian party music. You can see how much fun the creators had with it with the great dancing and stupid shit going on.
Forgot to link the original music, if someone is interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x10XFcR2U1c