Author: Lenlo

Mob Psycho 100 III – 4 [Divine Tree 1 ~The Founder Appears~]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Mob Psycho 100 III

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Mob Psycho 100! Apologies for missing SpyXFamily last week, had a bit of a family emergency. But that’s all resolved and I’m back in the saddle now, so lets dive into this weeks best episode!

Starting off, Mob Psycho looked fantastic this week. It still hasn’t dropped the animation bomb we are all looking for, and for some that might be disappointing. But barring that, this episode was filled to the brim with great character animation incredible storyboards. Just look at Tome’s segment in the opening shots of the episode, how her whole body moves with her gestures, and how the other club members express their confusion with her. Or how the atmosphere of the episode slowly grew more and more oppressive and uncomfortable as it progressed, with the color green slowly invading each scene. Omnipresent, always watching, waiting as it took over the show and the characters within. It was tense, almost horror-esque, with it’s uncomfortable closeups, silent wide shots and stark lighting. Once again we learn that even without sakuga, Mob Psycho is one of the best visual experiences airing right now.

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Mob Psycho 100 III – 3 [Getting Carried Away ~100%~]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Mob Psycho 100 III

Hello everyone and welcome back to Mob Psycho 100, the best show of the season! It’s a rather tame episode this week, but even tame a Mob Psycho episode is still one of the most solid things to air. Don’t believe me? Well lets jump in and see if I can’t convince you by the end of this post.

First up, what do I mean by “tame”? Simply that there weren’t any “big” moments. No grand sakuga showcase, no fight, nothing that we can point to and say “That looked incredible”. Instead what we got was simple, solid consistency. Everything from small scenes of character acting to expressive body language and engaging visual metaphors. The kind of things that fall by the wayside in a lot of series, because who is going to notice, right? But Mob Psycho is known both for its incredible highs and it’s consistently solid “lows”. So now that we’ve seen that solid “low”, when can we expect the high? And remember, I say low but that’s still wildly above average for TV anime. Back to the high, from what I’ve read we know that Hakuyu Go, from Season 2 Episode 5 fame, is working primarily on episode 8. So expect that to be huge.

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His and Her Circumstances – 18/19 [Progress/14 Days, Part 1] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, His and Her Circumstances, Throwback Thursday

Welcome everyone, to what is a very important week for His and Her Circumstances. Why is it important you might ask? Because this week marks the departure of Hideaki Anno from the production, and the production then imploding upon itself. What does that mean? What does that look like? Let’s dive in and talk about that.

So, the production. Does it really look that bad? The answer: Yes. Yes it does. In fact it looks so bad that I almost didn’t believe it. I thought that this must just be for the opening recap, right? That’s why it’s literally sketches on paper taped to sticks being held in front of a camera, or live footage of the streets outside the production studio? But no, this was the entire episode. So the question becomes: What happened? Well the best I can figure, based on a small amount of research, is that this is the point where Anno simply left the production. Between recent (for the time) laws regarding anime production, pressure from the studio about removing sex scenes (Will get to that) and arguments with the original author, things were starting to fall apart. But the sad thing about it, to me? It wasn’t completely bad.

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Spy X Family P2 – 3 [A New Family Member]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Spy X Family

Welcome everyone, to another week of SpyXFamily! This week is the true conclusion and epilogue to the 3-part opening terrorist arc, and you know what? They did a pretty damn good job wrapping everything up. From the scary terrorists to Anya wanting a dog, there’s even a neat little bow on top. So without further ado, lets dive in and talk about it!

Starting off, this episode was a bit weaker on the production side than the previous one. Part of that has to do with how little action there was, which to be clear is totally fine. This wasn’t an episode that needed action, instead leaning heavily on it’s character interaction and, day I say it, narrative to carry it through. However the action that was there, such as Yor kicking a car as well as Loid’s shootout with the dog, just didn’t live up to last episodes hype. Ultimately this isn’t a huge deal, SpyXFamily nailed all of the important bits. But it would be remiss of me to not mention dip in what is most likely going to be one of the best overall produced shows of the season. Enough with the nitpicking production details however, how was the rest of the episode?

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His and Her Circumstances – 16/17 [Eternal Interspersions/His Return] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, His and Her Circumstances, Throwback Thursday

Welcome everyone, to another week of His and Her Circumstances! This post was written on a deadline, and I don’t expect that to change with Mob Psycho airing on Wednesdays now. I will not apologize for my priorities damnit. My inevitable fall into being more and more late for the next few weeks aside though, this was a pretty interesting week for Circumstances so lets dive right into it.

Visually, Circumstances had some ups and downs this week. Animation wise there was really only one scene that stood out, it once again being Tsubasa. But god damn did that scene look good. Not only because it was well animated, but because of the details and expressions within it. The narrowing of the eyes, her face shattering apart, how Tsubasa’s mouth ripped open. It’s just beautiful. So if it looks so good, where are the downs? Well that’s just it. The rest of the episodes didn’t move at all. They are more like slideshows than animation. Yes, the creativity within those slide shows is great. Circumstances has some of the best visual metaphors and facial expressions I’ve seen in a long time, just look at Tsubaki’s rotating flip-board reaction faces for a perfectly example of minimalist animation. Even with that however, it’s becoming noticeable just how little Circumstances moves.

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Mob Psycho 100 III – 2 [Yokai Hunter Amakusa Haruaki Appears! ~The Threat of a Hundred Demons!!~]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Mob Psycho 100 III

Hello everyone, and welcome to the premier show of the season, Mob Psycho 100 III! Some people might take issue with that considering some of the other big hitters airing, but this is my post not theirs so they can suck it. Enough with the rivalry though, lets dive into the episode proper!

Right off the bat, Mob Psycho continues to be one of the best looking shows of the season. The colors are bright and saturated, characters expressive, the movement dynamic. There’s no CG backdrops or janky crowds, just hand drawn goodness. Sure, it’s not polished and perfect. The lines aren’t neat and clean. But there’s a distinctly human element to it that I love. To paraphrase kVin, who often expresses the same feelings I have but with better words, it’s appealing in a way few things are and really fits what Mob Pyscho is going for. Combine that with the extensive use of eyecatches and this is some of the most visually engaging stuff I’ve watched this season. You could argue about Do It Yourself‘s expressive and polished visuals, or for Time Machine Blue‘s timeless minimalism. But for me? Mob Psycho is where it’s at.

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Fall 2022 Impressions: Bleach – Thousand Year Blood War, Chainsaw Man, Another Farming Isekai

by Lenlo, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War

Short Synopsis: A pair of rookie spirit fighters get bailed out by the local neighborhood watch.

Amun: It has been 3,850 days since the last seasonal episode of Bleach aired. While there have been various movies, these have really been self-contained stories that typically had no bearing on the overall storyline (we’re also not counting that weird BURN THE WITCH series that happened a few years back). Bleach’s reboot is one of the more surprising stories in the past year or so – one of the original shounen pillars back from the dead? Is this the case of a beaten dead cash cow or will it be a retelling, like Hunter x Hunter’s remake a decade after the original? Well apparently neither – looks like new ground is being broken. The verdict? ahem This is THE. SINGLE. BEST. REBOOT. EPISODE. that I have ever seen. Bar none. This episode hits all the right nostalgia notes (if you didn’t get goosebumps hearing “Center of attraction” then I’m a little worried about your anime childhood) while managing a very difficult feat: making hybrid-real backgrounds and CGI monsters look incredible. I don’t think I’ve seen another anime manage a hybrid approach this well (maybe Titan I guess?) The main characters still get plenty of old fashioned drawing love…and we haven’t even seen half the Soul Society cast yet!!! The designs, from the characters to the text don’t look dated in the slightest – this is Bleach brought into the 2020s. I don’t know how good this season’s storyline is, and I don’t care – if even a fraction of this level of effort is exerted on future episodes, then they can be fighting exiled Hollow dandelions, doesn’t matter. My hopefulness is off the charts. I did not know I wanted this, I did not know I needed this, but my goodness am I excited that it’s here.
Potential: If you have ever enjoyed any shounen anime, you should watch this. This is not potential, this is really happening. We are blessed to be alive.

Lenlo: It felt… surprisingly good to be back in the world of Bleach. The design, the sounds, the characters. I enjoyed seeing them again. Make no mistake, this show is going to live and die based on nostalgia. But so far, that nostalgia is hitting hard. Combine that with Kubo’s great designs and some more modern animation and I’m back in the 2000’s watching saturday morning cartoons and having fun. I don’t expect it to do much narratively, this was one of my least favorite arcs on that front. But it seems like the pacing has been drastically improved from what Bleach used to be like, what with the series being done and not needing much filler (We hope). I also have high hopes for the health of the production after hearing the announcement that it’s going to be 4 split cours, thus 13 episodes every 6 months. So maybe, just maybe, Bleach will be able to have a consistent production across its entire run. That would go a long way towards making it worth watching. And yes, the CGI Hallow stands out, but as monsters they suffer from it less than say… CGI humans do. Anyways yeah, it’s Bleach with a modern coat of paint. It looks good, seems healthy, if you like standard Shounen then you are going to have some fun here. Personally, I’m going to be reliving some of my childhood.
Potential: 50%

Chainsaw Man

Short Synopsis: Yo there’s a cute chainsaw doggie, and he’s a good boi.

Amun: So I come into Chainsaw Man a bit naive – I’ve heard the hype (and read Aidan’s very informative pre-season primer). I also don’t have any predispositions for or against it – I’m really a blank slate. Coming in, the closest comp I could think of was Dorohedoro, which I felt started well and then went off the rails a bit (chainsaws and crocodiles are similar, yeah?) Watching this episode…there was more emphasis on the story and less on the gore than I expected. Never thought I’d see an anime that made me a) feel emotionally attached to a chainsaw dog and b) think a chainsaw was cute, but here we are. Now the problem I have is simple: the visuals. This episode was WILDLY uneven in production quality. Zombies are an area that’s pretty forgiving for mass CGI – and even then I really didn’t think the fight scenes looked that clean. There were some parts that looked hand drawn, and those looked great – but they weren’t consistent by any means. I get a bit of flashback to last season’s Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer: I can see there’s a quality story underneath, but it’s being held back by production. This is MAPPA, so I would have expected at least the first half to come out looking sharp, but I’m worried we’re out of gas already (puns intended). I’ll keep going for a few more, but I need some better visuals for this show to live up to its potential.
Potential: 70%

Lenlo: I’m just going to come out and say it, Chainsaw Man was strictly fine. I didn’t love it. And despite what Aidan may think, I didn’t hate it. It just sort of exists for me. For every beautiful wide shot or well animated bit of action, there was a matching shot of janky CGI, dark washed out colors or poor aliasing. Combine that with taking itself way too seriously for what it’s actually about, and you end up with something neither excites or puts me off. My hope is that as the series goes on it will start to add a bit more color, embrace the levity inherent in the series more. At the very least I want them to make it look better. I suppose the long and short of what I’m saying is this: Narratively I’ve never cared for Chainsaw Man, and that hasn’t changed after seeing it animated, I simply don’t think it’s written well. But my hope was that MAPPA would at least be able to make it a production juggernaut for the season, and even that seems to have been betrayed. All that’s left after both of those is a perfectly fine, serviceable, irreverent show that I’m sure you’ll be able to get some enjoyment out of if that’s your thing. And if you want to hear “unbiased” praise? Then keep an eye out for Aidan’s posts, he’s going to be covering it. As for me? I’m surprised he even let me write this.
Potential: 50%

Noumin Kanren no Skill bakka Agetetara Nazeka Tsuyoku Natta.

Short Synopsis: An overpowered farmer cannot help but gets involved in saving the kingdom, despite his best efforts to stay hidden.

Mario: Ah here we go, isekai-kun. This show is not bad per se, rather it suffers from being toothless, harmless and unmemorable. It’s about a boy who maxes out his stats (the episode literally has the stat tabs. Why?) because he’s into farming so much, so when we meet him, the guy already achieved godlike power. The plot goes exactly like you would expect: he easily defeats bad guys to the awe of others, and he runs away from recognition…just because. I’d say that the manner in which he kills the flying dragon – with a boomerang carrot – is so absurd that I wonder why the show isn’t aiming for a comedic/satirical edge. At least then we could have some fun watching it! The show is mindless enough that I reckon it might be one of the popular shows of the season, but for me I’d rather watch Pop Team Epic – at least it tries something completely different.
Potential: 10%

Amun: Alright, this one’s a bit of a meme. We have a farmer who maxed all his mundane stats, so he gets the super rare boost of being OP from Mother Earth. Sure, I guess. But defeating a dragon with a CARROT?! Then eating said carrot. You can’t be serious. The other issue I have with this show is how bad the CG looks. I mean, that’s the opening scene – it doesn’t typically improve in quality from here. It’s kinda funny seeing him beat up his enemies with a hoe (that’s the literal farm utensil, not disparaging any of the waifus). The main bad guy is edgy and yells alot, but I strangely enjoy his character design (very Key). This show definitely has no nutritional value, but if you can enjoy something “so bad that it’s good”, then this is for you.
Potential: Meme%

Fall 2022 Impressions: Mob Psycho 100 III, Blue Lock, Fuufu Ijou, Koibito Miman

by Lenlo, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Mob Psycho 100 III

Short Synopsis: The third, and final, season of “Local boy goes through puberty and has difficulty controlling his emotions, exploding in psychic mayhem”.

Lenlo: It’s happened everyone, the Anime of the Season has aired, pack it up and go home. My joy at Mob returning aside though, I really did love this episode. There were some small inconsistencies writing wise, like Reigen having to figure out its career survey time of year despite Mob directly asking him about it earlier. But that wasn’t anything more than a blip on what was otherwise a really nice reminder of what their relationship has become and how much they have come to respect and care for each other. Combine that with Mob’s continued excellent production, expressive animation and beautiful color palette and you have what is my favorite show of the season. But I kind of expected that to be the case way back when it was announced, so no big surprise here.
Potential: 99%

Amun: While Mob is back – and that’s great – I can’t help but feel a little sad as this is clearly the beginning of the end. It has been a bit since the last season, and I must admit, I’ve sorta forgotten who Reigen’s new assistant is (was he a former baddie last season?) – that aside, it’s nice to see our cast again. The plotlines look pretty straightforward, with Dimple reverting to his old ways, and Mob looking to take his next step plus fighting his new status as resident deity of the broccoli tree religion (that’s a weird sentence). Of course, the visuals are still fantastic, and Mob + Reigen dynamic is top shelf – everything we’ve loved is back in spades. I think the OP showed it best, with watching Mob grow up – that’s how I feel as we start this final season: a bit bittersweet to see our favorite OP psychic finally graduate and end our journey together. But we’re not done yet, and there’s still tons of evil spirits and silly humans to take care of!
Potential: 90%

Blue Lock

Short Synopsis: A gifted player from a losing team gets invited to join Battle Royale: Soccer Edition.

Lenlo: I’m just gonna come out and say it, Blue Lock is fun. Locking 300 egotistical assholes into a building and telling them to hunger-games-style eliminate each other to become the best forward in Japan? No “friendship” or “teamwork” here, just actively hunting down the strongest person and kicking their butt in soccer? Yeah, it’s dumb. But Blue Lock plays it so straight that I can’t help but have a good time. And this is reinforced by its visuals as well. Strong, sharp linework, crazy eyes and proportions the more characters fall into their own ego, the muscles. It looks good! The soccer looks jank most of the time, the space is obviously CGI and you can tell, as is the ball and a lot of the background characters in any given scene. But Blue Lock distracts from it well most of the time, enough that it only marginally impacted my experience. So yeah, as far as “stupid Shounen fun” goes, this is probably one of the stupidest, funnest, and most “Shounen” shows of the season. And I’m gonna watch it.
Potential: 65%

Mario: Speaking about “diamond in the rough”, woh boy, I just can’t get past how silly Blue Lock is. Although it presents itself as a soccer anime, Blue Lock is more akin to Kaiji or Squid Game – a survival, twisted thriller show with a moral-ambiguous protagonist. To heighten all the drama and personal conflict, the show amps it up to 11. Just look at the prologue when our MC’s decision backfires on him – it’s so committed to its drama that it’s on the verge of collapse under its self-importance. The show totally lost me when the GameMaster appears and explains his twisted nonsense philosophy. He’s completely over-the-top with crazy eyes (I’m not a fan at all with the character’s designs) and exaggerated gestures. Likewise, the players are decidedly selfish and villainous. It’s certainly appealing for those who like to watch what becomes of the ultimate anti-hero striker, but as the one who also feels Squid Game is overrated, I can safely say that Blue Lock is not for me.
Potential: 10%

Fuufu Ijou, Koibito Miman

Short Synopsis: Two students resolve to improve their relationship after they’re forced to live together as part of their high school’s marriage practicum.

Mario: It’s such a blatant set-up to get a boy and a girl together who eventually fall in love to each other (I expect it’s more of physical attraction and have nothing to do with understanding each other), and of course to add more spice to it, they both have a love interest who happen to be together themselves. There are lots of red flags for this show (and sorry, unlike Wooper, I cannot come up with any positivity). The first issue is that the episode is chock-full of tired tropes, from character stocks (the virgin type, childhood friend, gal girl…) to situations you literally see in countless anime before (potato-kun’s reaction to being close to a girl, he’s unable to call his crush by her first name), and the list keeps piling up. Second, Potato-kun is so plain and so far possesses zero charisma, and that extends to the whole cast as well. Last, the set-up itself of grouping a male and female students as husband and wife is stupid enough that I can’t really buy the concept itself. Oh well…
Potential: 10%

Wooper: Positives first: this series’ high-contrast color design, which would come off as garish in most other shows, does a fine job of complimenting and countering the personalities of its female and male leads, respectively. I also liked the ED’s groovy synth lines, sultry vocals, and 80s-inspired art direction – it has to be one of my favorites of the year so far. Too bad everything else about Fuufu Ijou gave me an allergic reaction, especially the premise of high schoolers cohabitating in order to “prepare for marriage.” What it actually prepares for are cleavage shots, bad teen angst, and quantifiable romance for ranking-obsessed otaku. The students at this school can’t graduate unless they get a good grade on their marriage simulations, and the fluctuations in their couple scores are updated in real time via a digital readout in their living rooms. You know, just like a real marriage! The gloomy male protagonist (who is so pitiful that he monologues about acting sad to attract his childhood friend’s attention) and his domineering gyaru partner can’t stand each other, but they have to work together to achieve Rank A and get their choice of roommate during the next phase of this ridiculous experiment. Except oh no, she’s too sexy, and what if they end up falling in lurve?! Every character introduction and story development within these twenty minutes seemed designed for people whose brains can no longer feel shame, or have transcended the need for such a response. If you belong to either of those categories, you might enjoy this, but I’m not enlightened enough to avoid the embarrassment factor here.
Potential: 10%

Spy X Family P2 – 2 [Disarm the Time Bomb]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Spy X Family

Welcome back everyone, to a new season and the continuation of SpyXFamily! This is a fun, though serious, week for the show, one I can proudly say I enjoyed a fair bit. Maybe time was all I needed to get back SpyXFamily back into my good graces, who knows. Without further ado though, lets dive into the episode!

Starting off, I love the more serious tone of this episode. The whole plot with stopping a terrorist threat? A spy, a dog and a little girl walk into a bomb before it blows up? I love it. This is SpyXFamily at it’s strongest for me. We get all the substance of Loid’s backstory and mission, his serious nature and the effects of war on simple people trying to live simple lives, while at the same time Anya and Yor fill the episode with levity and fun. Just enough that SpyXFamily doesn’t feel like a gritty war drama. What I’m saying is that this episode, in my opinion, perfectly balances SpyXFamily’s two halves and I really hope that we get more of that this season. This or more time at school, because it’s really hard to hate Anya episodes.

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Fall 2022 Impressions: The Eminence in Shadow, Legend of Mana: The Teardrop Crystal, Bocchi the Rock!

by Lenlo, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

The Eminence in Shadow

Short Synopsis: A delinquent with delusions of being a hero faces off against his ultimate four wheeled foe – his consolation prize is catgirls.

Amun: This first episode will be Eminence in Shadow’s best. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very good. There was a real chance for something unique here, but alas – cat girls won the day. I guess the premise is a bit different – I don’t remember any delusional delinquent isekai off the top of my head. I do think it’s pretty hilarious that no matter how great a martial artist he was, truck-chan wins in the end (should have been a ninja, I guess). Using a side character as the fake-main in episode 1 is starting to become standard practice, but Eminence just used it as fan-service. This seems like a furry power fantasy show from here on out – so if that’s your thing, then banzai, I guess? I’m personally out.
Potential: 1%

Lenlo: You know, I kind of had a little bit of hope for this show at first. I thought it was doing something clever! Rather than being a generic isekai show, it would instead being about a delusional incel who thinks he has been isekai’d, shown through the lens of his fellow classmates around him so we can see just how insane and maladjusted he is. All the while giving us the classic silly setups and action sequences expected from Light Novel Isekai garbage. But as the show progressed it fell more and more into that classic power fantasy trap. Until right at the end it just… dove headfirst into it. It was quite the disappointment to be honest. And it’s not like the show was very good before that either, it was so boring it reminded me to pay my taxes the day they were due (today). But now it’s lost anything to possibly make it unique, and thus, also my interest.
Potential: 5%

Legend of Mana: The Teardrop Crystal

Short Synopsis: A curly-haired hero decides to help an unfriendly traveler in locating his royal companion.

Wooper: My opinion on this premiere is of virtually no importance, since its parent game is not among the small handful of JRPGs I’ve played, but here it is anyway: The Teardrop Crystal takes a decent stab at creating a living fantasy world, but puts far less effort into writing an interesting cast. On the plus side, the art direction is mostly successful at masking the use of CG background elements, covering furniture with dotted lines to simulate wood grain and choosing convincing textures for greenery during exterior scenes. By contrast, there are moments when the show makes its 3D usage obvious, such as the trees that whip by during moments of high-intensity travel, or the map that springs to life after the main characters lay their hands on a mysterious jade artifact. These moments lean into the series’ fantastical roots in a natural way, so no problems there. My issue lies with the cast, especially the main character Shiloh – he’s the selfless, upstanding, helpful sort who passes his days waiting for something to occupy his attention, which is about as boring as fantasy writing gets. Just as you’re forced to accept a video game’s playable character as your POV because they’re the one you control, we’re forced to see The Teardrop Crystal’s world through his eyes because he’s the character who’s on screen the longest, and for no other reason. RPG fans aren’t likely to think twice about this kind of setup, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I can’t really recommend the show on its own merits.
Potential: 20%

Lenlo: Wooper already gave a good technical look at the series, so I’m going to give a more emotional one. One where I talk about how I couldn’t look away from the lead’s poorly drawn, sticker-lick abs that didn’t fit at all. Or how ridiculous his design is at all. Or how much this first episode felt like a dull JRPG cutscene intro, complete with shoddy PS2 CG and slow, dare I say glacial, pacing. I ended up checking the timestamp every minute or so thinking “We’re almost done right?”, but it never was. I don’t care that this actually is a JRPG adaptation, that’s irrelevant. I just wanted it to be a good JRPG.
Potential: 0%

Bocchi the Rock!

Short Synopsis: A chronically shy high schooler is invited to join an amateur band as a substitute guitarist.

Wooper: This premiere exceeded my expectations by a sizable margin, mostly due to the array of tricks it used in forming its main character’s personality and worldview. Hitori is shy, awkward and friendless, which is a combination of traits possessed by dozens (if not hundreds) of other anime characters, but very few of those anime have taken such a multi-stylistic approach in depicting such a character. From its very first scene, where Bocchi the Rock drains the color from its childhood flashback to signal Hitori’s lack of zeal for life, the show experiments with different ways of illustrating its protagonist’s isolation: narrating her lonely middle school years in song, fencing her off from a happy family during a scene at a playground, using warped camera angles to put as much (or as little) distance as possible between her and her peers, responding to a humiliating moment by rolling the credits midway through the episode, and putting her in claustrophobic spaces like closets, trash cans, or (as in the eventual concert scene) a cardboard box. Hitori’s constant monologuing during the episode infuses these moments with humor, but the script pays respect to her anxiety as well, striking a nice balance of tones that had me rooting for her success. Some of the photographic backgrounds weren’t integrated as well as others, and a few strained line deliveries took me out of the zone while watching, but on the whole I found this episode to be varied, fun and even a bit therapeutic.
Potential: 70%

Mario: Bocchi the Rock is endearing. Granted, a shy, introverted lead is amongst my least favorite character types in anime, but I suppose it’s more due to the way anime tends to exaggerate these traits and offers nothing else in terms of their personality. Here in this episode, we really come to know Hitori and thus can get behind her shyness and her need for attention and acceptance from the peers. As a cherry on top, the show knows how to instill these insecurities while both making it light-hearted enough and never looks down on their characters. I love her self-written song about how she still has no friends despite her effort of learning guitar. I find it relatable the way she finds consolation in the online world instead of the real world. And I enjoy the way she gets dragged into live performing – half-exciting for the opportunity and half-scared if she messes it up. It helps that other band members play a great contrast to Hitori, and so far it helps that the music is pleasant enough. I cannot wait for more. Truly a pleasant “diamond in the rough” for me.
Potential: 55%