Author: AidanAK47

Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii

Short Synopsis: Two childhood friends-turned-coworkers decide to start dating after bonding over their nerdy hobbies.

Aidan’s review

Well they added more original scenes to the manga but it fit and helped the story flow better and while this could be considered pandering to my demographic, I ultimately enjoyed the hell out of it. I stated before that 3D Kanojo was the idealisation of love while Wotaku is the more realistic version and that certainly is still true. The dialogue of this show feels real and the characters talk like people talk. Sure there is comedic posturing and some exaggeration but damn do the conversations just flow naturally. No beating around the bush either as our two mains get together by episodes end in what may be considered spontaneous and a bit too businesslike. I found it actually better that way. There is no bombastic orchestra nor emotional crying or doves flying in the air with dramatic lighting while flowers fall on the stage. The male lead lays down how he could make for a good boyfriend and the two decide to try it out. Which is fine, as the two do get along fantastic together and that could very easily blossom into love. The comedy was on point, the cast is good and it’s generally fluffy. Of course being an adult nearing his thirties who is a Anime and Game Otaku and works in a office space could be influencing my opinion somewhat.

Potential: 75%

 

Wooper’s review

I’ve seen a lot of talk about this show pandering to a specific subculture, what with the “otaku and fujoshi together 4ever” romance at its core. As a result, I went into this thing with the mildest of expectations, and found that they were unnecessarily low. Wotakoi obviously has its sights set on a niche audience, but it isn’t insulting about it. There are no women tripping over themselves to get with the male lead, and the show doesn’t glamorize or excuse pop culture obsession – rather, it’s a source of shame for the female MC. She’s pretty, a little ditzy, and cheerily superficial, which is refreshing for a woman in anime. Her blossoming friendship with her cosplaying boss gives me some hope that she’ll learn to be more accepting, both of herself and others, without needing to be educated or tamed by her new boyfriend. As a matter of fact, I’m much more interested in how her mindset will change than I am in her relationship with The Most Dapper Otaku in the World. The scene where those two get together is the main source of my disappointment in this premiere – the show looks decent, and I like the characters well enough, but the dispassionate way they decide to start dating left me with no interest in their romance. It happened right at the tail end of the episode, so it might be some kind of fake out, but given that Wotakoi is billed as a romcom, I doubt that’ll be the case. The show seems good enough to follow week by week, but if no legitimate sense of attraction surfaces within a few episodes, I might have to bail.

Potential: 50%

 

Hisone to Maso-tan

Short Synopsis: A woman is chosen to pilot a living Dragon

Aidan’s review

I wasn’t quite sure what I would get when I started this show but it certainly was a lot more comedic than I was expecting. So far any potential dark aspects are nowhere to be seen  and it’s a fairly lighthearted show to match it’s cutesy visuals. I quite like the main character and her general talkativeness as I am reminded of my own inner thoughts when pushed into a project haphazardly at work. We got a kooky cast of characters and the general premise of a transforming dragon in the army is a good one. It’s still up in the air as to what the actually plot will be but for so far it’s looking quite strong.

Potential: 80%

 

Mario’s review

As they say, save the best for last huh? This one literally was the last show I checked out during this First Impression period, with high expectation to boost, and it turned out even better than I had expected. There’s so much to like about this show. The style for example, is simple with clear and soft layout, but it works well in service for this show. Contrary to the simple designs, the characters are expressive and the animation is very consistent and dynamic. The concept of dragons being an airplane, with pilot is inside the dragon is a whimsical, if a bit nonsensical, premise and I am glad that in this first episode not only the show doesn’t take it too seriously, they sell well on the whole concept. The main girl, Hisone, is your typical Mari Osada’s creation here- meaning she has a tendency to say her mind a bit too much, but I do relate to her issues and hell, I already love the pairing between her and the dragon here. This one is, for my money, the best premiere of this Spring Season.

Potential: 90%

 

Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory

Short Synopsis: The fourth season of the Full Metal Panic Series

Aidan’s review

Well baring a opening scene where the pacing felt a bit too fast, this was a strong return to form. The skipped volume 6 which is a shame as it had some good Tessa moments but otherwise the relationship between Chidori and Sousuke was great. Seeing them hold hands as they both walked to her apartment and be affectionite with each other felt it was a long time coming. Of course we do have some interesting developments in how Chidora has to accept that she really can’t live a normal life anymore as well as the fact that no matter how much of a goof Sousuke is, he really has killed people. Sousuke himself seems to be regretting the loss of his school life as well and Chidori’s newfound caution of him certainly could throw him off balance. Little in the way of action but the ending episode cliffhanger is certainly promising. Xebec certainly seems to be emulating the animation style of KyoAni’s while they were doing Second Raid and so far it looks good. Still up for debate if they can keep the quality for the full series and especially during  action sequences but we shall see. Lastly I find the Japanese voices hard to adjust to due to my first experience watching being in English dub. Basically if you are a Full Metal Panic Fan, check this out.

Potential: 80%

 

Dorei-ku The Animation

Short Synopsis: A girl finds out about a device that allow you to enslave anyone

Aidan’s review

I guess the big question is that if such a device existed, who in their right mind would use it? Sure it allows you to dominate someone else with the device but at the same time holds the risk of anyone subjecting you to eternal servitude. In that case it would be a hard sell because if a girl tried to convince me to stick in some weird device into my mouth my first and last instinct would be no. Of course since the characters in this show are naturally stupid, they stick the device in. All these characters are terrible and unlikable. The games themselves aren’t so much mind games cause the author isn’t smart enough to come up with genuine smart strategy. The animation is bear bones and while the anime cut out quite a bit of the stupid nasty stuff in the manga, it still can’t save what is already a fairly trash story. Avoid this one.

Potential: 0%

 

Mario’s review

The segment in the first few minutes pretty much sets an overall tone to this series: a silly card game where the girl loses, the guy then requests to have sex with her in which she has to obey. This is a show that is more interested to exploit the twisted desire of enslave someone (in a fetish form) than it has anything grounded to say. So for anyone who think this show is a depiction of BDSM fetish, there isn’t much about it at all, given it gives the same “descend to darkness through desire” vibe as Kakegurui and Liar Game, although with much lesser impact. Sexual assault, assholeness, misogyny pops up everywhere. The duel isn’t remotely exciting since only one of them aware of the SCM device, hence they obviously have an handicap over the opponent. The main leads, if we can call them that, are characters that we don’t care one iota for because they are unlikable, and their chemistry isn’t even functional. It might be just me but this kind of trashy pulpy show that tries hard to sound smart always turn me off the most. Avoid it.

Potential: 0%

Golden Kamuy

Short Synopsis: An unlikely duo decides to hunt down a treasure map that is tattooed on prisoners backs.

Aidan’s review

Speaking of premise only this show wins a lot of points. Set in the 1900’s, in the northern snowy wilds of Hokkaido with a story that pulls no punches with gore and violence and not a teenager in sight. The two main characters work well and the dark implications of them hunting down people in order to kill and skin them is certainly morally questionable and interesting. This first episode sets up the main goal of the plot well and for the most part is executed well to boot. So I would be giving this 90 to 100 percent potential if not for one thing. One giant glaring fly in the ointment. Those bloody cgi bears. I don’t know what the director was thinking but he decided to make the bears in this series look photorealistic. So while looking objectively the animation of the bear was fine, the way it was made to look photorealistic is one of the most jarring things I have ever seen. I did a double take every time one of these bears was on screen. They are laughably, utterly out of place. And yes this was an intentional choice by the director because he wanted them to look alien and scary. Gunning for the uncanny valley effect. As this episode showed a perfectly decent CGI wolf. You may be thinking that it’s only an issue for this episode but from what I hear this series will have a lot of furry animals and definitely more bears. So that Director better change his tune on how he wants to portray them. But yes, ignore the giant CGI abominations and this show is one to keep an eye on.

Potential: 80%

 

Lenlo’s Review:

A good treasure hunt story is always welcome, and Golden Kamuy has started strong. Not only do our leads have to find the treasure, they have to hunt down the maps themselves. I love the premise of the map being tattooed on people. It forces conflict into what otherwise could have been a serene trek through the mountains. Our leads work well together, though Asirpa seems emotionally stunted, though her hard-line morals should prove interesting. Sugimoto also plays the brash soldier who can’t leave the war behind well. Aside from the CGI bear, which was just terrible, the actual designs are good to. Overall, I am happy with Golden Kamuy and it did enough in the first episode to make me stick with it for a while.

 

Potential: 70%

 

Piano no Mori (TV)

Short Synopsis: Two young music lovers bond over a mysterious piano in a nearby forest that only one of them can play.

Mario’s review

In preparation for this show, I actually watched the 2007 movie version so I have some kind of prior knowledge, as well as expectation, for this TV series version. So far it’s a smooth ride, but there are still some worries I have for the show, especially when it comes to production aspect. Fukushima Gainax certainly isn’t the studio that shouts confidence given they have no track record whatsoever and indeed some of its issues can be seen here. The character designs are unremarkable, the series looks quite stiff as a whole and most unappealing factor, the awkward and obvious CG animation during the piano playing scenes. Story-wise, it progresses with confident and this premiere already laid out many important seeds between Kai, the new kid and the teacher. We know just about enough about these characters so that we have a reason to care, at the same time there’s still much more room for development. Even though I feel the show sacrifices Shuuhei’s personality (he comes off a bit weak compare to the movie counterpart), I do feel the amount of developments we have is balanced and well-planted. Only other thing I’m worried about is how far this show will adapt considering its 1-cour length. Based on the first few minutes I guess they will adapt the manga until these kids grow up, which mean they will have to burn a lot of material to get there. Not necessary a bad thing if it’s done right, though.

Potential: 70%

 

Wooper’s review

Piano no Mori is a charming, unassuming piece of work. Based on a manga that’s nearly 20 years old, it could almost be described as quaint – after all, there aren’t any superpowers, it isn’t set in a high school, and nobody is trapped in a video game. In lieu of all that, the series focuses on a couple of elementary school kids who love the piano, one of whom has the mysterious ability to play a broken one that was abandoned in the forest (okay, I guess there are superpowers). They quickly become friends, but their music teacher takes a much stronger shine to forest boy, which I assume will be the genesis of whatever conflict develops between them. This premiere had the look of a kids show, but that’s not a bad thing; given that the characters start as children, it’s appropriate that we see their world the same way they would. I’d describe the series as expressive, even during the CG piano-playing scenes, which I found to be perfectly appropriate. They exist only to depict the performance aspect of the show as accurately as possible, and they do a nice job of it. My one gripe comes from a small passage in the middle of the episode, which glosses over an important day at school in favor of going right back into the forest for more bonding between the two main kids. This decision was so jarring that it has me worried about the rest of the series, which may try to cram too many volumes’ worth of story into just 12 episodes. Without having seen the 2007 movie that Mario mentioned above, I’d say that’s a safer bet than the TV version, but this should still be one of the better offerings this season.

Potential: 60%

 

Juushinki Pandora

Short Synopsis: An exiled scientist does science-y things and fights against a biomechanical mutant crab.

Wooper’s review

When animating a story with a silly premise like this one, where a worldwide evolution field causes plants and animals to fuse with artificial intelligence, every aspect of its production needs to be rock solid so people can take it seriously. In the case of Juushinki Pandora, every aspect of its production is laughably bad. The dialogue is mostly technobabble, featuring such gems as, “Hyperdrive is now in overdrive mode” – try saying that five times fast without dying of shame. The show is visually unappealing on every level, from its human cast to its mech and monster designs. Stupid anime hair abounds, and the combat scenes are plagued with jerky CG models that lumber weightlessly through vomit-colored backgrounds (a few of which were computerized themselves). As for the characters as individuals, they’re void of all personality. The show tries to establish a tenuous bond between its brilliant scientist MC and his younger sister, but can’t manage it without the help of a “family contract,” which is constantly brought up as a reminder that even though they argue a lot, they’re still a family. Everybody else pilots a robot and talks incomprehensibly about some shit you can’t understand because nothing that’s happening on screen makes sense. But hey, the show has a cat with a mustache and some lady with big tits, plus it’s a NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES (HOLY SHIT), so you’d better watch it, you anime-loving, streaming service-obeying drone.

Potential: None whatsoever

 

Mario’s review

Farewell comrade Conrad, you deserve better.

In case you wonder who the hell Conrad is, he’s the side character that died even before we hear his voice, let alone knowing what he looked like and what his favorite food was, yet his name is the only name I remembered after watching this show. That should tell you plenty about the level of quality of this blah-blah-blah Pandora. “Disaster” is the word that totally sums up how I feel about this show, as it has nothing that I could recommend on. Characters, like I said, are bunch of cardboard models with weird hairdo that have no personality whatsoever. Worst of all is our main character who love to experiment random things (including his food), speaking in incomprehensive terms and run around his base naked. And did I mention that he has a little sister who watches over him (naked)? He’s so bad that he makes a generic imouto character feel like an angel in comparison. The production is pretty crap as well. Nothing interesting going on with just robots fighting and spilling acid aimlessly and the story grabs me like a fly sting – which is to say nothing. I’m running out of lame remarks so let’s me just wrap it up by saying: this show is garbage.

Potential: 0%

Nil Admirari no Tenbin – Teito Genwaku Kitan

Short Synopsis: A girl joins a group of pretty boys that search for cursed books

Aidan’s review

I will give credit where credit is due and say that this certainly is better than what I usually expect from an Otome adaption. But better as in only slightly. The same problems are here, the main character is too bland, we have a boy band cast of stereotypical pretty boy Otome tropes and they all have an interest in the main character because she has some super special power that was handed to her from birth. The cursed tome aspect could be somewhat interesting but both the Opening and Ending sing a clear tune of “Look at these boys, aren’t they neat? Which of them should I get in my sheets?” I am fully expecting this to go downhill fast with the second episode.

Potential: 10%

 

Mario’s review

One thing that really irks me towards this first episode of Nil Admirari is the misfired usage of dramatic effects. Why rely on such obvious technique when you can convey the same thing more subtle? It’s an otome game adaptation so naturally we have a team of hot boys with no personality here. Gosh, this genre and boy idol shows are my kryptonite. It sucks out my energy and my ability to think clearly. Otome adaptation, on the other hand, can boost a good central female character who can think independently and if they use the tropes right, it could serve as a serviceable reverse-harem show. This show certainly has none of the latter, but the lead girl has some pretty solid development here. Her issues with her brother is nothing stellar, but what makes her character work is what comes after. She constantly blames herself and eventually comes to term with it (I particularly like the visual metaphor of her getting herself bleed by the thorn of the roses. In your face I know but it speaks right to her mentality there).  Another little thing I like about this show is the setting of old Japan in early 20th century. While I do like the concept of “cursed tomes” being the books that can possess people, although the implication so far of that neat idea is tenuous. It’s more as a basis for the team of hot guys and gals performs their cool jobs. As it turns out, I enjoy many little extra ingredients, but the main ones: the cases, the reverse-harem and THOSE BOYS turn me off. As such I think this one will turn out mild and serviceable at best.

Potential: 20%

 

Caligula

Short Synopsis: A boy finds his reality breaking apart after he listens to an idol song

Aidan’s review

Girl, Johari’s window isn’t complex psychology, it’s just that this guy sucks at explaining it. Also myopia is nearsightedness and as someone with myopia I can tell you that I don’t need a long winded analogy about a fish tank to explain that to people. Weirdly while I stated that you would be better off watching Persona instead of this, this episode was actually was much better than persona was. Up until the last few minutes I was legitimately interested. I mean sure the main character is a hipster dumbass who thinks he’s a psychologist because he looked up some wikipedia articles but the general disjointed nature of his reality was quite intriguing. Why did his female friends mother go from dangerously thin to beautifully young? Why do people act zombielike whenever the MC brings up the topic of his inconsistencies with reality? Up until the last few minutes I was considering watching beyond the first episode on personal curiosity. Then the video game part of this game adaption appeared with dumb looking RPG enemies popping up and what looks to be an evil idol singer. Got a firm feeling this show hit its peak with this episode and it will be all downhill from here but still that was a pretty good effort.

Potential: 30%

 

Mario’s review

Well, I certainly didn’t expect Caligula’s first episode turn out that way. Not that I think it will become a solid one, given the main meat isn’t that promising, but for this premiere alone I can offer 3 solid reasons why this episode is worth checking out. First, the blurred line between dream/reality is explored here, and while it goes for the Matrix route – which I am not entirely keen of – I’m glad to see it make good use of this conflict (I am a fan of Satoshi Kon’s works for a reason). Second, Caligula methodically creating a sense of disorienting, making viewers feel uncomfortable in the right way about something seems off in that world. I particularly like the use of “glitch” that for me feel much more uncanny than any pure horror (I hail Lain as one of my most favorite anime for a reason). Finally, the show has a good sense when it comes to scenes transition while jumping across many characters through the use of match-cuts or repeated dialogues. This is HOW you make your story flows well in visual medium so kudos for a show that based from video game that understand it. But then all these innovative points come crashing at the end with the full-blown action that makes me scratching my head. The main lead is one of the worst lead of this season so far, always spouting philosophical nonsense every chance he opens his mouth that it’s irritating to hear and based from the direction at the end, I feel the first episode was just one-off occurrence and the story will be more conventional from now on. Which is a real shame since this first episode totally grabbed my attention.

Potential: 60% for this episode alone and 30% for the real potential.

 

Cutie Honey Universe

Short Synopsis: An Android girl called Cutie honey fights off an evil organization

Aidan’s review

How am I to judge this show. It certainly has a lot of yuri, and not yuri undertones, more like actual yuri. This is Go Nagai at his most shameless and I find myself in two minds over it. Certainly the story has not aged well at all and is trashy as all hell. Yet it is a manga that inspired a lot of future works, most notably the famous Sailor Moon. Much like Sailor Moon there is a certain charm to this show. It’s bright, colourful, ridiculous and poppy. Though it seems a lot of people are quite angry that they changed the Opening theme that Cutie Honey has had for every single interaction of her show. Having watched that opening I admit that it’s catchy tune would have been perfect for cashing in on nostalgia. Still this seems like a warts and all kind of reboot when I feel the better option would be the route of Devilman Crybaby which took the material and adapted it for a new audience. Still I might watch this for cultural reference….I swear I am not watching for the boobs.

Potential: 40%

 

Mario’s review

Welcome to the trashiest anime show of the season. There are two qualities of this updated version that carry on the spirit of uncle Go Nagai’s works: flashy and horny. The level of fanservice is up to the max: with horny girls kissing each other, fighting that results in Honey nearly shredding her clothes, bondage as a punishment and so on so forth. To be fair, the show embraces those fan-services so passionately and energetically that it’s hard to fault them for that. It looks exactly like the kind of entertainment came out 30 years ago, with more over the top and surprisingly well-made production. Story is told in bare minimum, the dialogues are full of nonsense (glaring example: “sure take gall to do that in the middle of the afternoon”) and even Honey is just there to fight sexy busty Thundercat copycats in her gym suit, but nevermind since we all know what we’re here for: to watch Honey fights sexy busty Thundercat copycats in her gym suit. And for that I would argue there’s inherently nothing wrong with a show that understands – and is proud of – its own DNA.

Potential: 30%

Gurazeni

Short Synopsis: A relief pitcher is unexpectedly called on to be a starter in a money-obsessed baseball league.

Lenlo’s Review:

Gurazeni’s word of the season is, budget. A budget One Outs for the modern day. The first episode of Gurazeni is an info-dump and fails to establish anything about the main character or the series conflict. It goes to lengths to try and show how everything revolves around money, how desperate the main character is for it and the cutthroat world of baseball. Yet the bright colors, the music and general style takes away from that completely. Compare that to One Outs from ~10 years ago, where you knew the value of every pitch. Where the lead had an established personality, motivation and relationships in the first episode. Where even the lead’s design informs you to his personality. Really, what I am trying to say is this. Skip Gurazeni, watch One Outs instead. Go find it on YouTube. To this day, it is one of my favorite sports anime and without a doubt my favorite Baseball one.

Potential: 0%

 

Wooper’s review

The going is still early, but this will probably finish as the most disappointing of all the shows I watch this spring. Gurazeni is a well-respected baseball manga, but Studio DEEN clearly lost some kind of reverse bidding war and were forced to animate this show at gunpoint. The OP takes the time to portray merchandisers, groundskeepers, commentators, and fans, hinting that the series will be about the culture of baseball, rather than just the sport. DEEN accomplished something similar with Giant Killing at the start of this decade, but their approach for this series is too narrow in scope. More than half the premiere is eaten up by the main character’s narration, most of which revolves around how his salary compares to those of other players. We hardly see him pitch, or even talk to other human beings. He does go out for drinks with an ex-teammate, but that guy’s career woes dominate the show from that point on. And when we’re actually treated to some baseball, it’s with CG players and sweeping helicopter shots of PS2-era stadiums. The show’s lousy appearance and botched first episode might be tolerable if I could tell you anything about the main character’s personality, which I can’t (other than the fact that he likes money). Just read the manga.

Potential: 0%

 

Hinamatsuri

Short Synopsis: A young girl with supernatural powers and a porcelain-collecting yakuza learn to live together.

Aidan’s review

Not quite as funny as I would have though but still a really enjoyable start for the series. Hina certainly seems like a more likeable character here, whereas in the manga she was a lot brattier. Animation is actually quite impressive and comedic timing is on point so later events and characters should work well. I somewhat miss the jokes that the scantilators of the manga would put in like “Norway!” but well there was absolutely norway they would put those in the anime. Got to wonder why they bothered to put that action scene at the beginning as it really isn’t going to become relevant for quite a while but maybe the joke is just how inconsequential it will be. Really loving the dynamic between Nitta and Hina here and the emotional scenes actually work well despite them being misleading buildups to the absurdity that happens afterwards. My big concerns for this one is that there may not be enough time to get to the really great moments of the manga though the pacing of this episode burned through three chapters. Looks great, sounds great and I had a smile on my face the whole time watching. Most definitely one to check out this season.

Potential: 80%

 

Wooper’s review

Unlike Aidan, I haven’t read the Hinamatsuri manga, so my impressions of the show’s comedy will be based not on whether it’s as funny as its source, but whether I found it funny at all. Happily enough, I did! Studio Feel did a fine job of making the show seem vibrant and kooky, though it’s clear that much of their effort was concentrated in the opening fight scene. As for the story, it centers on an Odd Couple relationship between a gentle yakuza (Nitta) and a young girl (Hina) who manipulates him with her special abilities. I’d have liked their “getting to know you” phase to have been extended a bit, but with 12 episode orders being the industry standard at this point, narrative shortcuts are expected. The show’s biggest comedic strength thus far is the injection of strange gags and visual moments into a familiar story template (adult and kid are thrust together, butt heads at first, then learn to appreciate each other). Hina’s arrival in a giant metallic egg is so strange that you can’t help but laugh at it, especially after Nitta’s attempt at ignoring it fails so horribly. The show also underscores its most heartwarming scene with a comically violent one in which Hina uses her powers to help her new friend – it’s a ridiculous set piece moment, but it comes from an earned sense of understanding between the two leads. Despite feeling a bit hurried, this is one of the better premieres of the spring thus far, and it’s certainly the funniest (intentionally, anyway).

Potential: 60%

 

Mahou Shoujo Site

Short Synopsis: A girl who is horribly bullied is given magical powers

Aidan’s review

When I sat down to watch this show I prepared myself for a rough ride. Yet despite knowing what was coming it was still a hard watch. Take note that does not mean that it was a hard watch because of some skilled writing of troublesome subject matter but instead imagine an author of poor skill trying to write a Madoka clone and shoving pure visceral contempt into his story. The characters in this show are unbelievable or at least I wouldn’t want to believe people so utterly unsalvageable would exist in reality. I mean we have bullies here who literally shoved so many razor blades and pins into this girls shoes that it defeats the purpose of the act. Geniuses! The point is to put a sharp thing she wouldn’t notice into her shoe so that she hurts herself putting it on! So filling the shoe full of razor blades defeats the goddamn purpose! Not to mention you actually wasted money getting all those. Considering the number of blades you literally wasted a significant amount of money for shock value. Also, beating her up, drowning her, killing her cat and even calling a guy to literally rape her wasn’t going over the line, but putting a knife to her throat, woah suddenly too far! God it’s just so stupid and stupid it needs to be if it must push the authors agenda for more darkness. Believe me when I say this only gets stupider. Unless you really love watching this kind of trash, avoid it like the plague.

Potential: 0%

 

Mario’s review

Boy, this is one of the most painful 20 minutes I’ve ever experienced for this first impression. Forget what I said about 3D Kanojo Real Girl being forced, this one pushes all the buttons of misery and bully bullshits to the lead girl that, for once, I wish the person who write it could experience the same. It’s no fun whatsoever to see a girl gets repeatedly beaten, nearly raped, has her one source of happiness taken away because “life is cruel” message. Even if all this was just a set-up for her becoming a dark magical girl who kill people, I just wonder why they need to overplay her circumstance to this extent. It might help if those bullies say something about the show own’s nature, which it doesn’t. It might help that the show has some love to its characters, but so far I don’t think that’s the case. This show’s message seems to be cruelty happens everywhere and the weak will receive a miserable life. I actually like the visual style when the girls are in these freeze-time zones, but other than that I will avoid this one like a plague. I do enjoy bleak shows but I won’t take ones that insult our emotions plus intelligence like this.

Potential: 0% or PURE CRAP

Gundam Build Divers

Short Synopsis: Some kids buy some Gunpla figures to play with in a virtual reality game

Aidan’s review

Once upon a time there was a show called Gundam which was made with the intent to sell toys but the animators decided to make a serious story about war, hence kickstarting it’s legacy. Now in the future, a Gundam show takes that legacy and uses it to sell toys. We have gone full circle here people. Anyway as for the show itself it’s basically one big advertisement for Gunpla models that happens to have some rather well animated mecha battle scenes. Storywise though this is about a bunch of kids taking a virtual reality game way too damn seriously. No stakes and it looks like it’s just gonna be about this kid becoming the best Gunpla pilot, like no one ever was.

Potential: 0%

 

Mario’s review

Words can’t even describe how little I care about this Gunpla universe. This first episode plays like some promotional material for Gunpla, as a consequence there’s little to no identity regarding the show itself. Characters have little personality besides “Gundam models are A-mazing” and the only real story this show has so far involve the mysterious amnesiac girl that somehow I thought she was muted (despite have some talking lines now that I recall it), just to show how forgettable all those characters are. It’s a kiddie show so I’m not going to be harsh on it, but it still remains a forgettable kiddie show at best.

Potential: 0%

 

3D Kanojo Real Girl

Short Synopsis: An otaku boy falls for a girl after they clean a pool together.

Aidan’s review

Yeah, this really isn’t for me. The developments are just contrived and the romance is forced as best. Boy isn’t it romantic when the guy you ask out rejects you in front of the class and then proceeds to stalk you after school? We had several situations that broke suspension of disbelief completely for the sole purpose of making one of them look good in front of the other in order to sell that their relationship was “Real” Thing is that examining all there intereacts I don’t see these two having anything in common or a drop of chemistry. I can’t even imagine what these two would talk about when the relationship drama dies down. But of course it won’t die down because this is shoujo and here someone will always have something to get their knickers in a twist over. Some may get something out of this but honestly a better romance anime is coming.

Potential: 0%

 

Mario’s review

This is a story of a boy meets girl and through many trials and tests they come to like each other. Happy ending. Except that this show wanted to be a realistic portrayal of nerdy otaku who find love in real life and boy, “realistic” is never in its DNA. First, the boy is a pitiful mess, not because he’s a nerd with weird hobby, but because he holes up into his shell and blames others for making him feel that way. The show, in its defense, understands that but it overplays that insecurity too many times within this first episode. They make it worse by making side characters act like true asshole to bring up that point. A boy physically abuses Iroha at school because he thinks she’s a slut? An ex-classmate meets the main character after many years and her first reaction was: “You’re still gross!”. Or later the event at the bookstore when Iroha reacts to the shoplift accusation by… undressing herself. It’s a ham-fisted way of storytelling that I just feel every development is so contrived. The main leads at the end have some good bonding (hence the 10%) but even with the girl, I don’t find her character that much appealing so there’s little in this show that makes me want to watch more here.

Potential: 10%

 

Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai

Short Synopsis: A teenage boy continually runs into a pretty foreign girl around town, and eventually brings her to his family’s coffee shop.

Wooper’s review

This is another romcom from the same studio and director that did Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun in 2014. While that show was more focused on the “com” part of the genre, though, Tada-kun will probably be heading deeper into “rom” territory – at least, that’s the route I’d take, since I don’t find it the least bit funny. The humor in this show mostly comes from its characters acting wacky, like the craaazy gaijin girl who’s constantly getting lost, or the flamboyant best friend who thinks he’s God’s gift to women. That would be fine, except that there’s nothing comical about the situations depicted in the show, which are just a series of coincidental meetups between the two leads. Think back to the premise of Nozaki-kun: a girl tries to confess her love for a boy (who is secretly a shoujo manga artist), but he mistakes her confession as an offer to work as his assistant. Even if you think that’s the dumbest idea on earth, there is at least a potential for comedy there. In Tada-kun, there’s nothing of the sort, unless you count the hints that Teresa is of royal descent. Even that idea would be more appropriate in a romance than a comedy, though, so let’s hope the show gets there eventually.

Potential: 30%

 

Mario’s review

An original anime from the team behind Nozaki-kun should tell us a bit on what to expect about this show. As it turns out, Tada-kun’s premiere has its fair shares of ups and downs. On the good side, the blonde lead girl – which might or might not be a princess of little unknown Europe country which is “Larsenburg” (my sub), and I really hope the show trolls us there – comes off as quirky charming (chief among them is her passion about a Japanese TV drama: Rainbow Shogun, which brings me many good laugh) and she sure brightens the screen with her presence here. She and the male lead also share some moderate chemistry and I can see the romance between them has some potential to grow. I also enjoy the visual timing of Tada-kun, in addition. My favorite visual gags from this show, for example, is how Terasa miraculously appears on the male lead’s camera multiple times. The titular male lead, on the opposite side of good, is rather bland and feel much like an self-insert type protagonist. It could benefit the show if they spend some times instead fleshing out him before he met Teresa. Moreover, I have a mixed feeling regarding the supporting cast. His male friend, Mitsuyoshi with his over the top antics was so off-putting that he could be a make-or-break point for me. The same can be said for that Nyanko Big cat (geez, he’s annoying) and the plot so far is generic and fairly routine (the leads happen to run into each other too many times, they happen to live close together, she happens to be a transfer student who study on the same class. NO). I will continue watching it as the parts I enjoyed, I did really enjoy, so I hope the show just tone down all the unnecessary and tonal-whiplash antics from certain supporting cast.

Potential: 50%

Gegege no Kitarou (2018)

Short Synopsis: A young girl enlists the help of a youkai expert to cure her city’s Vampire Tree epidemic.

Aidan’s review

Not particularly special in its own right but I found this show to be decently enjoyable and far more comprehensible than its manga counterpart. Its biggest flaw is that it suffers from the Seinfeld is unfunny trope. Namely that everything done here has been done again and done better. Making this show as standard as you can get. I also could never truly get into shows about Youkai as I find the concept of them to be too silly to take seriously. So far it’s decently fun to watch but I feel it will lose a lot of its appeal once the nostalgia peels off and you are left with an episodic run of the mill show with nothing to offer.

Potential: 20%

Wooper’s review

Gegege no Kitarou is a franchise that dates all the way back to the 1960s, and it certainly shows its age in this newest reboot. Despite the focus on cell phones as a way of modernizing the series (the episode opens with a Youtuber ignoring traffic while filming himself, then turning into a cursed tree in the middle of an intersection), the whole production feels bog standard. There are bullies who pick on the weird kid who believes in youkai, a main character who uses special attacks (several involving his hair or finger guns) to defeat evil spirits, and a monster of the week format that contains not a whiff of a larger story. If you’ve been watching anime for any length of time, you’ve probably seen all of this before. There’s a cliffhanger at the end of the episode that I won’t spoil in case you’re a Kitarou devotee, but if you’re not, this incarnation of the franchise is unlikely to convert you.

Potential: 10%

 

Uma Musume – Pretty Derby

Short Synopsis: Our sparkly-eyed main character attends a horse race, a horse idol concert, and a school for other horse girls.

Mario’s review

Aussie culture has a strong and proud tradition when it comes to horse-racing. Let’s just say we’re crazy about horse racing and even I am not a proactive guy when it comes to the sport, the atmosphere of dozen of horses preparing to kick off always makes my heart pouncing. And that was the only aspect I remotely like in Uma Musume (oh, and the names. Since you’re horse girl, you’re allowed to have some crazy names like Special Week and Vodka and in case you don’t know: these girls are modelled after real racing horses). First, I still can’t comprehend why the heck they include idols part into the show, the one that clearly feel out of place. Then, the only male character in this first episode is badly portrayed that he leaves a bad taste in the mouth. And somehow our innocent girl falls for it??? The settings doesn’t have anything special enough to stand out and the main lead girl can get to your nerve at any time. I have zero interest between her yet-to-come chemistry with Silence Suzuka or anyone else in her team. Which actually can be appropriate since all I can do now regarding this show is fall silent.

Potential: 10%

Wooper’s review

Within the first five minutes of this premiere, a man with a ridiculous haircut and a lollipop in his mouth sneaked behind our main character and started massaging her legs, commenting on what a perfect horse girl she was. Embarrassed and violated, she kicked him in the head and he flew backwards ten feet or so, knocked unconscious by the force of the blow. When she trotted over and asked whether he was still alive, I was struck by the realization that a handful of people must die from getting kicked by horses each year. This was the show’s big chance to sell me on the concept of horse girls. If Ponytail McMolester would just stay down for the count, I’d swallow every other contrived, pandering bit of bullshit this script had to offer. The seconds wore on, and he still wasn’t getting up. P.A. Works was just moments away from becoming the most subversive studio of the season. Please just kill this useless character, I prayed, and rescue your godawful production from the growing trash heap of instantly forgettable 2010s TV anime!

Then he sprang into a standing position, apparently uninjured, and started wiggling his fingers and eyeing her boobs. Generic character designs, ass shots, and an idol concert followed. Don’t watch this series if you value your time or life.

Potential: Horse shit/10

 

Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi

Short Synopsis: A woman who can see spirits finds a job in another realm to avoid marrying a mask-wearing ogre.

Mario’s review

I figure you’d call this a Mahoutsukai no Yome that set in the world settings of Spirited Away, although I admit that if you put it that way then this show just looks pale in comparision. It’s simply on a lower caliber here. The main girl experienced a childhood just like Chise, albeit without the self-hatred. Just like Mahoutsukai the romance part gives a lot of head-scratching development and it is easily my least favorite part of the show. That oni master is just… unbearable from his character design to his attitude. We have quite a strong female lead this time, which I’m glad and the concept of her finding job in an inn of the spirit world has some potential, although towards the end it comes to the light food-porn that generally turn me away. The world building of this spirit world is another part that the show done well so far, with the world is vivid and different from the normal world in the first few minutes. Not a fan at all of the character designs, however, and the romance saga including the “selling off my sweet granddaughter” subplot will need to some serious improvement to get me hooked again. Overall not a bad start, but I don’t see myself coming back for it.

Potential: 30%

Wooper’s review

How many anime have there been where the main character “can see things that other people can’t?” What percentage of those have given their protagonists tragic backstories because of their abilities? And what percentage of those have included a sexy love interest who wants to marry the protagonist right off the bat? We’re still talking about thirty or forty series, I’d wager, and this must be one of the cheapest attempts at telling this ultra-specific story. The unlucky girl in this particular yarn was sold to a bishounen ogre (or, to use the technical term, bishogre) to pay off her grandfather’s gambling debt, but she negotiates her way into a cooking job at an otherworldly inn instead. Here’s where I’d typically say that the usual assortment of youkai made their appearance, but the majority of the spirits in this show are human-looking, with only a mask or horns or a pair of fox ears to distinguish them from each other. What’s worse, the tracks that play behind the characters’ conversations are somehow such boilerplate throwaways that they stand out like sore thumbs. There’s just a general lack of care to be found in every aspect of this episode, which doesn’t bode well for the next 25. If you want to watch something similar, but with improved visuals and more personality, try Kamisama Hajimemashita instead.

Potential: 0%