Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai
Short Synopsis: As four women from four different provinces vie for a prince’s hand in marriage, a male representative from the northern province is sent to serve as the prince’s attendant.
Wooper: From its double length premiere to its massive cast list to its elaborate fantasy setting, Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai is one of this season’s most ambitious shows. Not every facet of that ambition makes for great TV, but I’ll be following it for the foreseeable future, since I like historical anime. Karasu isn’t grounded in history, of course, but its costume design and court politics are strongly reminiscent of medieval Japan, and the mythos surrounding the yatagarasu (the three-legged crow whose name appears in the show’s localized title) reads like historical fantasy lore. I say “reads” because that’s exactly what this show requires of you – there’s a ton of table setting in these episodes, so you’ll be chugging through not only the plentiful subtitles, but also the on-screen names and ranks of around 20 characters. That’s going to feel too much like homework for a lot of viewers, and at this point I wouldn’t disagree, but Karasu’s wordy beginning works in service of an Apothecary Diaries-esque palace intrigue plot, with four female representatives competing to wed a reclusive prince, and a POV character serving as our window into said prince’s life. The yatagarasu stuff is what’s most interesting to me, as several characters can shapeshift into crows; we don’t get a good look at those transformations, but the production is otherwise solid, with just a single dip during a kendo scene across these first 50 minutes. I wouldn’t recommend this one to a wide audience, but for those who don’t mind dedicating their time and their full attention to a new fantasy series, there may be something here.
Potential: 50%
Whisper Me a Love Song
Short Synopsis (Anilist): After performing a song at her school’s opening ceremony, musician Yori Asanagi receives an apparent love confession from freshman Himari Kino. But just as Yori decides she wants to return Himari’s feelings, Himari reveals that she did not “love” her, but “admires” her! But you can’t unring a bell once struck, and Yori is determined to make Himari fall for her, not just her music. Will their hearts ever beat as one, or will their love fall out of tune?
Lenlo: Look it’s the last post so I’m just going to lay this out there, you have at least 3 better music based shows airing this season. From Hibike to Girls Band Cry to Jellyfish, each and every one of them brings more to the table than this. I’m not saying it’s bad, it isn’t. It’s definitely better than most of the usual seasonal stuff. But that isn’t an achievement and it’s competing in a very contested genre at the moment. The characters aren’t as compelling as Jellyfish, the visuals aren’t as polished as Hibike, and it doesn’t move anywhere near as well as Girls Band Cry. If none of those were up your alley, but you’re still itching for a music show, maybe give this a shot and see if this somehow does it for you. Personally though? I’m music’ed out and this lost the race.
Potential: 25%
THE NEW GATE
Short Synopsis: Kirito from SAO stays in the game a tad too long after beating it and is sucked into an Isekai world exactly like the game, but now with all the standard isekai tropes on top of it.
Lenlo: Imagine if you took Sword Art Online, created a carbon copy in every way, made every aspect worse by about 50%, nuked its production from orbit, and then turned it into a fantasy Isekai by teleporting Not-Kirito into the game world for real after he beat the game and everyone else logged off. That’s how you get New Gate. It is, in every way, an inferior Sword Art Online, Log Horizon and Shangri-La Frontier. Watch literally any of those instead, they have better narratives, better production, better characters, better music, better voice acting, just better… everything.
Potential: Can’t believe I’m saying this, but just go watch SAO.
