Kimi ga Shinu made Koi wo Shitai
Short Synopsis: A shy girl becomes roommates with a rumored assassin at an orphanage for magical child soldiers.
Wooper: KimiShinu (“I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day”) provides few details about its decidedly odd setting: an orphanage where children are raised as soldiers in a magical war against an enemy country. As far as the magic goes, we see wands being conjured and desks and chairs floating in midair, but not much else, and as for the military aspect, that’s how the episode opens, but the broader battlefield situation is obscured by a thick forest canopy. This premiere is more dialed in on protagonist Sheena’s feeling of loss after her roommate is killed in combat, and her fascination with new roomie Mimi, who’s soaked in blood during their dramatically lit first encounter. The issue I experienced here was that the former emotion is crowded out as soon as Mimi appears on screen. She’s cute as a button, and the show practically screams, “BE INTRIGUED!” when such a floofy-haired, high-voiced child is paired with such violent imagery, whereas everything that comes before her introduction is delivered in a normal speaking voice. Even a trip to the school’s chapel, which provides Sheena with an opportunity to place her old roommate’s stuffed animal in her casket, seems to prioritize Mimi’s bewilderment at the ritual. Also, the “kissing as magical first aid” trope is some cowardly shit – if you want to show girls locking lips, why not draw it with your whole chest?
Potential: 25%
Saga of Tanya the Evil S2
Short Synopsis: Tanya Degurechaff finds herself on the front lines once more, determined to win at all costs.
Mario: It sure has been a while. I remember the first season aired almost a decade ago, with a follow up movie and then radio silence until now. We get right to the thick of it in this second season, as Tanya finds herself completely isolated. She is assigned by her scheming leaders to carry out a critical mission, even though she knows she is on the losing side. Her team is incompetent, and the enemy doesn’t fare much better either. What this episode does best, for me, is to keep the tone just right. It fuses the big bombastic battle, the nihilism of Tanya and the ridiculous situation she is in, all in one big swoop. It can be funny at times, gruesome at the next, and in the centre of it all, Tanya is an antihero we just can’t take our eyes off of. So far, what makes her fearsome is that she’s super overpowered, but what makes her vulnerable is that she is alone against everyone else, especially Being X. The show’s animation looks great too, so it’s a blast to see the evil Tanya back in action.
Potential: 50%
Mebius Dust
Short Synopsis: Teams of Capture the Flag players collaborate with a scientist to enhance their meteorite-activated superpowers.
Wooper: It looks like Mebius Dust has taken the form I feared it might: teenagers with various superhuman abilities (who happen to be confined to a single city) playing territory games, rather than teenagers (who happen to enjoy playing territory games) coming to terms with their confinement. This episode is bookended by two such games as a way of introducing the characters and their powers, so there’s no confusion about who’s who and what they can do, but it hardly feels as though we know them as individuals by the time the credits roll. Neither am I curious about the soft-spoken main character Araki, even if he’s the only character who seems interested in life outside the characters’ open-air prison – there’s not enough contrast between him and everyone else to make him feel noteworthy. Some of the players’ superpowers are weird enough to raise an eyebrow at, especially the idol who can conjure glow sticks in his opponents’ hands that put them under his spell, so that’s something. In the end, though, there’s no sense that this meteorite-impacted version of Japan is much different than the present day, and the characters are all too content to spend each day waiting for nightfall so they can play Capture the Flag. No one and nothing about Mebius Dust feels authentic, at least after a single episode.
Potential: 5%
