Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari
Short Synopsis: an exorcist with a deep hatred for tsukumogami goes to a family of human-spirit hybrid and observes the dynamic.
Amun: I’m very mixed on Monogatari (Malevolent Spirits, not the other one). I’ve liked most anime I’ve seen which involve tsukumogami (inanimate objects being possessed) – Tsugumomo and Tsukumogami Kashimasu come to mind. The action looks decent – nothing to write home about, but it didn’t noticeably hurt. The problem is the cast: so far there’s nothing that interesting here. We have revenge, orphan boy and yokai Mary Sue with a dysfunctional spirit family all in suits. Yawn. I think the “opposites attract” dynamic might be interesting, but the characters have to get better – which they very well might. I think the world is decently interesting, and the obvious big bosses are clearly spelled out. There are definitely some positives, but I’m going to need more for this show to stand out in the crowded field.
Potential: 49%
Mario: Mononogatari sets off on the wrong foot for me, but thankfully the second half makes me want to watch more of it. I wasn’t impressed by the negative color palette during the opening flashback, I was bored with the characters (especially grandpa who keeps touching his beard), and the way Hyoma forcefully exorcizes the tsukumogami is… hamfisted, to say the very least. But then, the episode introduces its premise, and it gets better all because of it. Hyoma’s strong hatred to the tsukumogami is nicely contrasted with the new family. We don’t get to see the main girl that much in the episode, but she does have a presence that can be felt by the way other tsukumogami treat her. The fight between him and one of the household members is delightful. And the premise of him observing this makeshift family and maybe learning a thing or two about trusting the spirits and overcoming his past trauma brings a great deal of potential here. Yes, I am down for more
Potential: 50%
Ayakashi Triangle
Short Synopsis: The ninja cat is a trap to get you to watch. And that’s not the only trap, amirite.
Lenlo: I give you this season’s premier ninja magical girl ecchi show. Is it good? No. Does it have anything going for it at all? No. Are the girls even cute enough to warrant ecchi scenes? No. Is this first impression really short? Yes. There’s just that little to talk about. Don’t watch this show.
Potential: No
Amun: Oh, I thought the cat design looked cool. And I thought the cat turned into the girl. But I was wrong. It’s the guy who turns into the girl. But is still a guy. If you really think about it, it’s kind of a mean premise to keep having people switch genders unintentionally. Japanese herbivores, I guess. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, this isn’t hot garbage – just garbage. I’d take the dog one over this…that’s actually not true. I’d take neither.
Potential: 0V
NieR:Automata Ver. 1.1a
Short Synopsis: Two androids (who have their eyes covered because… fashionable?) encounter a string of mysterious phenomena during their mission.
Mario: I was legitimately looking forward to Nier:Automata adaptation. Its game reputation is up the roof, and the trailer looks decent… too bad that this premiere is such a misfire. Part of the issues I blame is due to the fact that it adapts from a game. It feels at times that we watch some game clips rather than a series. The fight sequences are bombastic but feel far removed from the narrative. And what little narrative is just enough to make me understand that this is the story from the point of views of 2B and 9S. I don’t have much affection for both of them to care about anything happening on-screen, and even then the animation is messy and confusing. It’s definitely my most disappointing episode of the season so far.
Potential: 20%
Lenlo: So I’m going to be painfully honest here, Nier doesn’t look great. Coming off of Trigun, the CGI looks amateurish at best. Meanwhile the 2D 2B (heh) we do get is mostly relegated to pretty explosions and otherwise relatively standard character animation. Suffice to say, it’s definitely not going to be one of the visual power houses of the season like I know some people were hoping. As for the actual story, it’s just the original video games as far as I can tell. It shares those moments of dystopian beauty, of looking at what it means to be human from the external lens of an android, but aside from that there isn’t really a solid central narrative in place. In fact, the only thing I can unequivocally call “great” here is the OST, which considering its lifted directly from the game isn’t even something unique to the anime. All in all, I’m not convinced this is a decent alternative to just playing the Nier Automata video game.
Potential: 20%
My impressions of Nier Automata are pretty similar to you guys, which is a shame as I am a big fan of the game.
The overall cuts felt kinda janky and rushed(but maybe that is because I am familiar with the source material). I am also unsure what benefit the anime will provide over playing the game(or even watching a letsplay) as the story requires certain things to be experienced(i.e some of the Hacking sidequests with 9S) hell even though route B is one of the most critiqued about Nier Automata’s pacing I’m questioning how that will work as an anime.
Overall my impression were pretty eh, I’ll see how the impressions look at the end but I personally won’t be following it anymore
Nier Automata is my #1 interest for the season, having just wrapped up the video game for the first time (and still clearing up some post game sidequest type stuff now). Some of the best stuff about the game is stuff that are tied into it being in the video game medium and simply can’t carry over into an anime adaption. That said, it still has a strong enough story to be able to be a satisfying anime in my eyes if they play it right. My only real complaint about the episode was the CGI in the mid-air battle sequences was really bad.
Yep, im in the same boat. Just finished the game at 50-something hours of gameplay, about to venture into the secondary missions. I wouldn’t call myself die-hard fan and it took a while to mod the hell out of the game to make it playable, but several parts of the game and much of the music is amazing. The anime finally pushed me to play this and I’m looking forward to the anime, which, now at ep 3, is obviously going to be subpar experience. I’ve never been fan of A1 Pictures, and Im not counting much on good sakuga here, nor steady pacing, but that the game transcended its medium into anime is a good thing, even if it IS mostly unnecessary.
Interestingly, the game employed anime voice actors and used lots of anime-like concepts, which makes it being adapted into anime quite interesting. Anime uses the same voice actors, reuses the game’s music, without cringy remixes, depicts same settings, follows the same plot, and as such achieves very close to the game feel. That’s a big win and this is very rare. Nier adaptations is literally the exact opposite of the recent Muv Luv Alternative adaptation, which imo is the worst adaptation ever created (yes, worse than Tsukihime).
Also, sometimes Nier borrows from Madoka Magika, I’m wondering how they are gonna handle Simoun. The show has already shown it does not shy away from the more psychological and genre-breaking storytelling methods of the game (paper-cut theather scenes) – thats important.
The anime also knows when it needs to take its time and slow down (like in ep 2) – in fact the scene progression about the robot finding meaning in planting flowers is already one of my favourite scenes in my recent anime history. It effectively combined the employed powerful message of Nier in micro- narrative while world-building, using the best possible song, depicting Nier scenery with beautiful and meaningful drawings all with utmost precision of the timinig (the music transitions in the moment the robot starts walking). This keeps giving me shivers again and again. Whoever is at the helm knows Nier inside out and knows to make good shit.
Btw, the game intro itself is spectacular and the anime did good there as well, so I’m already more than satisfied.
Anyway, the show does not have to do much to be a success in my view, this is more about transcending the game as a medium and using some of anime’s strengths to anchor Nier’s world in player’s minds. It would feel very weird to watch as uninvolved person. I know this is weird to say, but I simply recommend everyone to go play the game asap and then enjoy the anime as a completion reward. Going into this with standard analysis mindset picking it apart is completely besides the point.
Aaaand Nier automata anime has just been put on hiatus after 3 episodes. Reportedly due to covid reasons. Thats just perfect…