Summer 2022 Impressions: Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World, My Stepmom’s Daughter is My Ex, Smile of the Arsnotoria the Animation

Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World

Short Synopsis: A young man gets teleported to another world with enough equipment to be a hero and earn some money, only to spend it on slaves, whores and sex.

Lenlo: Dear god, it looks like Vermeil has some real competition in the trashy bullshit department. As the title suggests, this is just your regular isekai with sex thrown in, with absolutely 0 effort put in to separate it from any of the others. I’d say it’s trying to be a less edgy Redo Healer or Shield Hero, but even there it fails. It doesn’t even have the bravery to show full on T&A like Reviewers did. Just… don’t watch this. Find a better Isekai. One with decent production, or at least a community and fanbase large enough to find other people to enjoy it with. There’s nothing here of value.
Potential: -10%

Amun: I was actually so bored watching this episode that I quit before it got trashy.
Potential: None

My Stepmom’s Daughter is My Ex

Short Synopsis: A day in life of new step-siblings who used to date each other.

Mario: My mission here is to find out if the show itself is better than what the title suggests (so the bar isn’t exactly high) and it was… for a while. The episode plays out different scenarios of the main characters flirting with their new relationship status: from trying to get the upper hand, to how their peers consider them, to their own romance. It’s clear to me that the second segment works best and the last segment is just trashily bad. The characters don’t harbor any wit in their exchanges, so most of their forth-and-back falls a bit flat, but sometimes you can feel their emotions come through – the kind of hate / love dynamic that is understandable for 15 year olds to have. This show isn’t downright terrible, but it’s not memorable either, making it a bland romance. Rather unfortunate for a title this bold.
Potential: 10%

Lenlo: Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Why is Japan so god damn obsessed with incest. Even when it doesn’t have the balls to actually have them be related, it just says “Step-siblings”. Is it every kid’s dream to screw their sister over there? Is this the only kind of cliche romance they can come up with? Is Japan’s grand plan to solve declining birth rates to make everyone want to have a sister? I just don’t get it. And at the very least if you were going to force a sibling romance into a story, you could at least make it good. Instead we get a trope filled, “Kyaa he touched my boob when we hugged”, piece of garbage. There’s nothing authentic or passionate in this story. It’s just someone cashing in a pay check with “They aren’t blood related” incest bait.
Potential: 0%

Smile of the Arsnotoria the Animation

Short Synopsis: Five students at a magical boarding school have tea and scones. Elsewhere, a squad of swordsmen commit genocide.

Lenlo: It took me way too long to figure out why Arsnotoria felt familiar: It has the same character designer as Re:Zero and Granbelm. It’s not a bad look, the designs are good! Now if only the show was remotely interesting to back it up. Arsnotoria took 20 minutes to do absolutely anything, the rest of the time being filled with slice of life fluff that had me constantly checking to see how far I was. When a first episode feels twice as long as it actually is, that’s not a good sign! If that’s supposed to be their hook, their opening salvo where I spend 20 minutes with 5 little girls sitting around eating biscuits and drinking tea, then why should I bother with the rest? Now maybe the show picks up, maybe that ending means something interesting will actually happen. Personally though? I wouldn’t count on it.
Potential: 5%

Wooper: I’ve got no idea how the quaint first 20 minutes of this episode (in which five girls meet for afternoon tea) and the murderous final three minutes (in which hooded swordsmen set fire to a town and kill its European-looking residents) are connected. I do know that my curiosity about that connection is supposed to drive me to watch the second episode next week, but unfortunately that’s not going to happen. There were things I liked about Arsnotoria’s premiere, including a vague sense of mystery surrounding its magical dormitory, bolstered by translucent figures walking along its hallways and references to activity “on the surface,” as though the dorm existed on its own plane of reality. There was some good character animation throughout the episode, and the detail that went into the school cafeteria (staffed by fire and forest sprites) displayed some real imagination. I even liked one or two of the gags that recurred throughout the girls’ tea time – black-haired Alberta sinking deeper and deeper into her pile of cushions springs to mind. Ultimately, though, too many of their discussions failed to support the show in any meaningful way. It was all either pleasantries or banter, with almost no detail or context about their characters being supplied, and the script wasn’t nearly sharp enough to support that approach. The show is sure to become more exciting in future weeks (the action-driven OP is evidence of that), but its premiere didn’t do much for me.
Potential: 5%