Kakushigoto – 02 [Beach Sandals and B4/ Don’t Place, Don’t Draw, Don’t Finish Up)

As the one who finds his Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei and Joshiraku hilarious, I was certainly looking forward to Kakushigoto. The premiere informs us that Kakushigoto is pretty much a Kouji Kumeta’s joint, it has his signature brand of gag-based humor of absurd situation comedy and extreme wordplays. Despite enjoying the first episode, I have my share of concerns towards how the show takes off from there. The premise of him trying his mightiest to keep his occupation away from his daughter ensues some hilarity but it would get pale pretty fast. The fact that it’s a gag-based show also means that the jokes can be random and most of all, I’m not too sure how Kakushigoto will handle the central relationship between Gotou and his daughter. This second episode is a step up from the premiere for me in that it gives an emotional resonant at the end that I feel lacking in the week before.

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The Case Files of Jeweler Richard Anime Review – 71/100

It’s nice to see some rare gems like Housekishou Richard-shi surface in anime medium once in a while. It’s about a niche subject matter that is gemstones, and how these jewelries reflect the quality of its owners. The show also builds up a solid relationship between the main duo Richard and Seigi, although it remains ambiguous till the end whether their relationship could qualify as “romance”. The cases vary in its delivery and quality and frankly my biggest issue with the show is that I find a real lack of engagement to the main characters, each has traits that I found unrelatable.

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Some Quick First Impressions: Houkago Teibou Nisshi, Fugou Keiji: Balance Unlimited & Appare-Ranman!

Houkago Teibou Nisshi

Short Synopsis: A city girl moves to a seaside town and learns the joys of fishing and the outdoors with her new club.

Lenlo: For those that are new here, CGDCT (Cute girls doing cute things) isn’t really my genre. I don’t have anything against it, I just find them boring more often than not. Houkago doesn’t really break that mold, it’s exactly what you would expect. But it feels like there is a level of care, a solid foundation, behind that at least makes it tolerable. That makes it feel like an actual show with reason to exist beyond selling merchandise or appealing to weebs with cute girls. It feels like there might actually be a story here to tell, even if it’s not necessarily one for me. So if you like CGDCT, I see no reason why I wouldn’t enjoy Houkago. If you don’t like the genre, I doubt this one will change your mind on it.

Potential: 25%

Mario: The cute girls subgenre is more physically active this season (ironically since this is the only time where the world hibernates), with Tamayomi about baseball and this one Houkago is about fishing. Houkago is much more typical CGDCT as this episode does nothing to break its usual formula. We have the main girl being unfamiliar to the subject, getting dragged by her new senpai to join the club, doing the activity in question and realizes how much fun that is. So in other words, all the usual affairs. What makes it slightly better than average is the pleasing backgrounds of blue beach, and even their clubroom brings a cozy, warm feeling. The girls are fine, with Hina barely passing my test of endurance… but why includes an off-putting tentacle attack? I do love the haiku at the end, though, so it evens out, I suppose? I like CGDCT in general so I have a fun time watching it, but it isn’t on the same level with, say Yuru Camp, so for those who don’t care about cute girls being cute then you won’t miss out anything. 

Potential: 30%

Fugou Keiji: Balance Unlimited

Short Synopsis: A multimillionaire solves crimes with the power of money in the most ridiculous ways available.

Lenlo: Holy-comedic-timing Batman. Fugou Keiji was a ride from start to finish, and I don’t want to get off. It’s just so ridiculous, as if Batman had more money, more snark and no cape. I am all in on Fugou Keiji, a show where the lead character’s superpower is money. Need a car to chase a criminal? Buy it. Damages incurred during the case? Pay double market value. Pay for a position on the police force? Get the one on the front lines as much as possible. Partner left hanging from a bridge after the criminal is caught? Not your problem, smirk as he falls into a river. This show is unapologetically balls to the wall stupid, without a serious bone in its body, and I love every second of it. Style oozes from everything from the characters to the animation. Also the ED is straight fire. Anime of the Season, calling it now. Daisuke Kambe, I love you, you ridiculous man.

Potential: 100%

Armitage: Okay. So, Lenlo apparently LOVES this. And that was one of the reasons I went into it with high expectations. But to be honest, I wasn’t that sold. The show’s aesthetic seems to be reminiscent of ACCA, another anime with similar themes which aired a couple of years ago. From the jazz soundtrack to the crime-solving nature of the plot, the two share a lot of similarities. But the main difference is that unlike Jean, our protagonist Kanbe came off as a rich, pompous, cigar-smoking brat with apparently an ‘unlimited’ credit balance and who seems to be anime’s take on Bruce Wayne. He has anime Robin as a partner for now but a future Catwoman appearance was also teased in the OP. Which would explain why the premiere played off as a cheap knockoff of the plotline from Dark Knight Rises, complete with anime Batman going after the truck which is carrying a ticking time bomb and having it blast off in the water. Sure, you may like all these things and the show itself has every chance to improve over the coming weeks, but the premiere by itself, was kind of a let-down. (PS: The ED is indeed incredibly fun and reminiscent of the Kokkoku OP, which was quite a thing a couple of years ago. It is also almost just as catchy.)

Potential: 55%

Appare-Ranman!

Short Synopsis: A genius inventor and a gutless samurai cross the Pacific Ocean and land in Los Angeles.

Armitage: So, who’s pumped for Steel Ball Run’s anime adaptation! I mean it’s the wackiest JoJo part so, I can’t wait to see how all of the crazy goodness gets adapted to screen. Huh? What do you mean it’s not Part 7!? I mean, there’s a race set in the American Wild-West with goofy looking characters and all, of course it’s JoJo’s. You wait till Gyro shows up! Wait, who’s this Samurai guy? Where’s Johnny!? The pink haired girl is a dude? I mean, sure. But why are there SO MANY characters? What is it you say, this is a PA Works original with the setting for SBR just slapped in as a PR strategy? O… kay, I guess. It should still be a fun watch, right? There’s no way that they can screw up such a distinctly unique and interesting premise. *20 mins later* Wow, I can’t believe they screwed up such a distinctly unique and interesting premise. Why, PA Works, why? You had one job! All we wanted was to see some racing action and devilish looking cars blasting each other off to shreds. Who needs backstories when the hook by itself is this gripping? Didn’t you guys see Redline? *Sighs* You really got to know your audience better.

Potential: 30% (75%, if they add stands and poses) 

Wooper: If anyone was hoping for wacky race action beginning with episode 1, Appare-Ranman has some bad news. This premiere was a prologue to the cross country shenanigans to follow, and the involvement of so many characters who are now an ocean away from the plot feels like a waste. Character building is important, so learning that Appare is the black sheep of his family was all good, but the vindictiveness of Kosame’s lord wasn’t necessary. In fact, his character could have been cut out of the story completely – Kosame could have served Appare’s father, and been charged never to leave his side. That would have provided a much sturdier reason for him to get stranded at sea, and saved a bunch of time to boot. The scene where Appare broke himself out of jail with a screwdriver didn’t feel right, either (why was he allowed to keep a tool like that while locked in a cell?). The script doesn’t feel watertight, is the point I’m getting at. It does the job of landing the main characters in America, though, and the rest of the show will assume a different form, so I’ll write off my issues for now.

Potential: waiting for ep. 2

Some Quick First Impressions: Shironeko Project: Zero Chronicle, Fruits Basket S2 & Princess Connect! Re:Dive

Shironeko Project: Zero Chronicle

Short Synopsis: A queen and a swordsman, linked by fate, embark on separate journeys in their respective kingdoms.

Lenlo: Shironeko Project is trying so hard to be something it’s not. Whether that’s Rage of Bahamut with its battles between effectively Heaven and Hell or SAO with its edgy MC and “deep” metaphors like the hole, I don’t know. What I do know though is that Shironeko achieves neither. The pace is glacial and my interest is non-existent as we watch not!Kirito, or whatever generic name brand MC of your choice, gets his tragic backstory about digging holes only to meet and then lose a mentor figure in the span of 10 minutes. It’s like it’s going to try and cover the whole Hero’s Journey in the span of like… 3 episodes. I could rib on this thing for paragraphs, but Wooper did plenty down below. So instead I will just back him up by saying: No. Don’t watch this.

Potential: 0%

Wooper: Thinking back on the 20 minutes I just wasted with Shironeko Project’s first episode, not a single line of its script or point in its plot was remotely convincing. The opening metaphor of its dual leads as cats was goofy, and each protagonist’s story was terrible in its own way. First up was the future King of Darkness, whose entire village was destroyed within minutes of his introduction. Gotta get that tragic backstory out of the way, I guess, so the red streak in his hair can feel appropriately emo. While digging a mass grave, he meets a master swordsman and defeats him in combat right before the old dude kicks the bucket. This whole scene is such an obvious jump starter for the actual plot, which is spelled out by Mr. Knight in laundry list form right before his death. Then there’s the queen of the sky world, whose personality we aren’t allowed to observe – we just hear about how awesome she is from her subjects. All of that dialogue gets dumped on us after we’re nearly comatose from a shitty CG battle scene – the first of many, I’d wager, given the lifeless production on display. I hope to forget this series as quickly as possible.

Potential: 0%

Fruits Basket S2

Short Synopsis: Yuki meets new eccentric friends of the student council.

Amun: Fruits Basket season one (of this version) ended with some pretty heavy moments – Yuki’s trauma and Kon’s smell.  I was worried season two would start off a little timidly – guess I forgot that if there’s one thing Fruits Basket is good at, it’s making you feel.  This was a good premiere episode to get us back into things, shown from the perspective of a side character – but still moving the plot along. Broadly speaking, I’m most concerned about character creep and/or delving too deep into side characters – judging from the OP/ED, I think that won’t be an issue (I’m seeing one to two more zodiac characters, tops).  Plus the humor is still on point – “zodiac level strange” had me dying. With many other big name sequels getting pushed back, it’s good to know that Fruits Basket is here with the feels, no matter what.

Potential: 100%

Mario: Season 2 picks up right where the first season ends, and overall this premiere is a smooth sailing. It introduces some new characters and gives some minor cast a spotlight. The best improvement here in this sequel is that the show moves away from Tohru and so far focuses on Yuki without Tohru’s direct involvement. As much as I like the main chemistry between Tohru, Yuki and Kyo, it can feel monotonous at times given how many times we need to be reminded that Tohru has changed Yuki for the better? So at least here Yuki owns his story with his own set of side cast (harem as you might put it). This likely is a one-time off, but at least for me it’s a good sign that the material expands its view outside of Tohru’s perspective and allows Yuki (and hopefully Kyo) to be more flexible. While there isn’t much of Zodiac members involved or its iconic Zodiac transformation in this episode, and there’s a tad bit too much romance for my taste, I’m happy that Fruits Basket is back and hopefully this time we can witness it going through the finish line.

Potential:  40%

Princess Connect! Re:Dive

Short Synopsis: A nearly mute hero is sent to another world, where he’s looked after by an envoy of the goddess who sent him there.

Wooper: Princess Connect’s first couple minutes were unflattering, reading like a genderswapped otome game adaptation. The POV shot of a potential love interest just after waking up, the silent protagonist acting as an audience stand-in – things weren’t looking so hot. As the premiere went on, though, it revealed a goofy sense of humor that stopped me from hitting Alt+F4. The male lead’s helplessness is played for laughs, as in the recurring gag where he’s dragged away by rapid dogs, or his inability to grasp the concept of money. The episode-ending battle against a horde of mushrooms was goofy, too (and the animation was pretty nice, coming from a green studio like CygamesPictures). Unfortunately, beyond some of these quirks, Re:Dive doesn’t have much to offer. It’s a KonoSuba-type series featuring much less interesting characters, and the montage of girls that will be introduced in future installments doesn’t entice me in the least. It might not be the worst fantasy anime of the season, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth your time.

Potential: 10%

Lenlo: This is probably the most… “average” first impression episode I have seen so far. There was absolutely nothing offensive or outright bad about Princess Connect for me. As Wooper says, it’s not particularly interesting, there is little thematic depth to it. But it actually got me to chuckle. Multiple times. The gag humor works, and the MC is a played up version of your everyday isekai MC, except legitimately retarded. Yet unlike Konosuba it doesn’t rely on potty or sexual or transphobic humor to make its jokes. Meanwhile it feels like CyGames Pictures is actually trying here, with things like the CGI grass swaying in the wind and such. It looks terribly awkward sometimes, but there are also moments where it just sort of… works. So I can say wholeheartedly, if you just want a goofy show to burn 30 minutes and enjoy yourself on, Princess Connect is not a bad choice at all. I won’t be watching it personally, because my time is limited and this isn’t exactly up my alley. But I honestly can’t see anything wrong with what is ostensibly a slightly above average gacha mobile game adaptation. At the very least it’s less offensive than Azur Lane was last year.

Potential: 30%

Some Quick First Impressions: Otome Game no Hametsu Flag, Shachou, Battle no Jikan Desu! & Gleipnir

Otome Game no Hametsu Flag

Short Synopsis: Reincarnated little girl hits her head, gets engaged, and breaks down a door like a boss.

Amun: Wait what’s this?! Isekai is evolving!! And…it’s now become chibi isekai! (patent pending)  As the third show this season to feature a person from our world who came back as someone younger, Otome is a decently fresh take on a stagnating genre.  Not only are we back as a little kid, we’re back as an EVIL little kid – well, one that will be eventually. Our heroine is determined not to be evil though – to the extent where she gets sick of everyone’s nonsense and fireman-axes a door.  That pretty well sells this series for me.

Potential: 70%

Armitage: Oh-My-God-This-is-the-most-adorable-thing-ever-I-can-feel-my-poor-harth-meltin’-because-of-this-wholesome-goodness *coughs* *composes herself* Right, so the Otome Isekai. Do we really have to do a proper review of this? I mean, come on! Can’t we just let precious things be, for once? Why do we need to dissect every tiny detail and pinpoint minor flaws that stop us from seeing how perfect things are? Ughhh, fine! I’ll give it to ya straight, a’ight? This is a show about a 17-year-old girl trapped inside the body of an adorable 8-year-old princess who has the tough tough job of stopping equally adorable 8-year-old boys from confessing their love to her. And she goes about that job with the help of the many different emotions who hold a roundtable conference inside her head to discuss prospective strategies for preventing said fated declarations of love, ‘Inside-Out’ style. There you have it. That’s all I have to say about the premiere unless you’re interested in reading about the wide variety of reactions I had to various parts of the episode. To sum them up, there were a lot of ‘aww’s, melodramatic swoons and general unintelligible words whenever something cute happened on screen (which was like, every 10 seconds). So, as a TL;DR, this show is cute, heartwarming and the best thing since sliced bread. Go watch it. Bye.

Potential: All the %

Shachou, Battle no Jikan Desu!

Short Synopsis: Potato-kun gets asked by his childhood friend to be a President of a company that does quests for money.

Lenlo: Basically everything Mario said down below is correct. Shachou is an unremarkable light-fantasy show, with average production and nothing to really set it apart. Yet somehow, someway, that is enough to make it one of the better Isekai of this season. So if that’s your jam, you could do a lot worse. Unlike 8th Son for instance it actually seems to care about its mediocre setting, going so far as to hide its info-dump in an everyday work tutorial or actually explaining why people adventure and showing that technology has actually advanced. Of course there are still no guns, and it isn’t exactly clever. But there is a bare minimum level of effort here that isn’t present in a lot of other Isekai’s. And that alone at least makes me not hate it. It won’t be good. But I don’t hate it.

Potential: 15%

Mario: This show is another lame light-fantasy adaptation that doesn’t have any ambition and is not funny or entertaining enough to secure its place for another try. Just look at the main male: plain, surrounded by cute girls (and a boy) who are more efficient than him, and has the CEO position handed to him without any sweat. It certainly doesn’t help that most of this premiere focuses more on tutorial and side quest than establishing the cast. In addition, the production is unremarkable. The budget must be tight, as whenever the show does a wide shot, they skip the details in characters’ faces. The side quest itself isn’t that exciting, and since we all know the outcomes it fails to offer any thrills. The supporting cast has their own quirks but I doubt that they develop much in later episodes. If you like DanMachi then you might find this enjoyable, otherwise steer clear from it.

Potential: 10%

Amun:  There seem to be some heretics among us, one of whom even said some fighting words like “If you like DanMachi” – so the defender of DanMachi has arrived!  That being said….I’ll admit this premier was a bit thin. And, yeah, this is my genre, but…it seemed pretty low effort. The positives are: I like the tension with childhood-friend-turned-secretary (that’s like a second-gen fetish or something right there).  There also seems to be a lot of nice little side stories like the talking backpack and whatever’s going on with the promo video (please note, that says promo) star. The negatives are pretty much centered on the MC, his hair, the mismatched CGI, and the puddle depth plot.  I give this another episode or two, but I’m not that hopeful. Also, I love that they give him the title of CEO, but it means less than nothing – apparently someone’s worked in a startup before.

Potential: 25%    

Gleipnir

Short Synopsis: Furry boy teams up with a girl to collect golden coins while constantly appreciating how nice she smells.

Armitage: Ladies and Gentlemen, lo and behold! The edge-fest of the season. Like always, we have people raring to have a go at each other’s throats while striving to reach a common objective, plot threads tied together by the bare minimum of logic and well, everyone just being a complete dick. Though this time around the differences being that there’s no ‘Game’ in the title, there are furries! (the creepy kind but still) and well, it’s actually pretty good. I love how Studio Pine Jam understands the absurdity and stupidly fun nature of the concept and just runs with it, presenting the already over-the-top story from the source material with even more bombast (I mean, there are guitar solos backed by EDM beats playing in the background as a giant teddy bear carries a scantily-clad teenage girl out of a burning barn. Ah, the CAMP!). And let’s just be honest here, if you aren’t already sold on this show because of the premise or just hate stories that serve as nothing more than popcorn entertainment, nothing I can say will probably change your mind. If you do give this story a chance, you know what you’re in for: elaborate excuses in the name of plot for the next action set-piece to begin so that we get to see some teens go batshit insane, all with some fanservice thrown in for good measure. If that doesn’t sound like your usual cup of tea, fair enough. Though, there’s always room to try out some cinnamon spiced chai latte :3

Potential: 85%

Amun: Uh huh.  Are you in the mood for a fanservice filled, high school death tournament version of Gangsta…with the younger version of Rock from Black Lagoon?  Who can turn into a sorta strong, somewhat cute mascot? Also, did I mention fanservice? It’s gritty, it’s edgy, it has really detailed CGI coins – it’s Gleipnir! (whatever that means).   That being said, I don’t actually hate it – I’m just a little shell shocked from whatever it was that happened in that first episode. Come to think of it, I actually liked Gangsta quite a lot.  I’m open to seeing how the highschool edition turns out – fair warning, you might feel like you need some hand sanitizer after each episode.

Potential: 75%

Mario: Hmm, I’m throwing my two cents here to contrast these two glowing positive reactions above. The fanservice is uncalled for… why does the girl have her bra exposed in the first place? Plot jumps at a brisk pace, and the only hook for me is the “monster” transformation that is both bizarre and cute at the same time. I would put this show in the same “trashy-edgy-and-fun” category as “Future Diary” and “Deadman Wonderland”, and consider how this first episode is pale compared to these two, and how these two crash and burn after the hook, I have my worries towards Gleipnir.

Potential: 25%

Amun: First Mario challenges DanMachi, then bashes Mirai Nikki and Deadman Wonderland (which went downhill a bit, I’ll admit)? It’s on now! That said – I think those are some valid points about Gleipnir, having read a bit more of the manga.

Some Quick First Impressions: Kakushigoto, Hachinan tte, Sora wa Nai Deshou! & Nami yo Kiitekure

Kakushigoto

Short Synopsis: The author of a dirty gag manga strives to keep his profession hidden from his daughter.

Mario: I always like Kouji Kumeta’s brand of humor. He has that sort of dry absurdist humor which often relies on heavy wordplay and Japanese culture that would easily get lost in translation. I enjoyed his previous anime adaptations, I know I like Joshiraku more than most people out there, so I approach Kakushigoto with reasonably high expectations. You could say that out of the three works (Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei, Joshiraku and this one), Kakushigoto has the clearest “stake” and “story development”, the father makes it clear he doesn’t want his daughter to find out about his manga career and tries his hardest to do just that. But this premiere still relies on an awful lot of standalone gags and a mountain-size of new characters, sometimes it’s overwhelming but personally I don’t mind being overwhelmed by it. The simpleness of character designs is a delight (I’m a fan of Eccentric Family’s character arts). So far, the show works best for me when it fully embraces the absurdness of its world: Gouto’s seat cushion serves as a swimming belt, and he becomes a local hero for his action? Or the running gags of random people recognize him and enjoy his works? Bring more of these please, but the central chemistry between Gouto and his daughter is still lacking, and without it, it’s hard to invest for their action at all. All in all, this premiere earns a recommendation from me.

Potential: 60%

Wooper: I’m not a fan of Kouji Kumeta’s works. In addition to not being a manga reader, I was only able to get through one season of Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei, and Joshiraku’s one cour run was too Japanese for a lowly gaijin such as myself. As such, I doubt Kakushigoto will ever set my world on fire, but I found this premiere to be moderately entertaining. The show gets decent mileage out of its gags, rather than dreaming them up and discarding them after a single use. My favorite has to be Goto’s donut-shaped seat cushion, which doubles as a feline floatation device and a projectile weapon over the course of the episode. On the other hand, the last five minutes were spent mocking Starbucks-drinking hipsters – a toothless bit of humor, especially from a social satirist like Kumeta. Backgrounds were a mixed bag, as well, but the Eccentric Family-esque character designs compliment them nicely. Speaking of that series, Kakushigoto’s ED was heavily reminiscent of its style; even if you’ve got no interest in this one, I’d recommend watching its ending theme just for the art. As for the rest of the show, I’ll give it another week before deciding whether to continue.

Potential: 50%

Hachinan tte, Sora wa Nai Deshou!

Short Synopsis: A hungry salaryman boi is reincarnated as a royal broke brat.  

Amun: You have to respect a show that is true to itself – even if “itself” is really rather plain.  Hachinan (not to be confused with Hachiman, who I believe is here later this season) is a pureblooded isekai, through and through – a rather pedestrian lineage, but one to be proud of nonetheless.  This show looks to be a mix of Wiseman’s Grandson and Ascendance of a Bookworm – neither of which were terribly well animated, but both endearing in their own ways. I don’t see anything original here, but the characters are pleasant enough, the setting rather humorous  – and who doesn’t appreciate making random meals at midnight. I’ll give this a few more episodes at least.

Potential: 35%

Lenlo: Oh Isekai, Isekai, where would we be without you my dear Isekai. Long story short, it’s about what you would expect. We have an overpowered MC thrown into another world. About the only thing interesting Hachinan does is set him up as the 8th son of an impoverished noble, ostensibly setting him up for hardships ahead. Had Hachinan not immediately undercut that by making him an incredibly powerful wizard, we maybe could have had something here. And to be fair, there might still be some decent stuff on how they use the magic to benefit their family economically. But based on this introduction, and the general direction most Isekai go, I am not particularly hopeful. It looks, acts and sounds like a generic Isekai. Odds are that’s exactly what it is. Maybe that’s up your alley, but it’s not up mine.

Potential: 5%

Nami yo Kiitekure

Short Synopsis: Young girl gets super-drunk and is taken advantage of by a middle-aged man in the worst way possible: being forced to host a radio talk-show. 

Armitage: I want to like this show. I really really do. I mean, it’s about a girl in her mid-20s who’s tired of getting over break-ups and wants to find her true calling. It’s also a look at the inner workings which go into producing a podcast. So, it’s basically the radio version of Shirobako. What’s not to like, right? Well… actually, quite a lot. First off, the animation. I understand that studios must be short-staffed because of COVID-19 but the sheer number of times that the animation cut corners in this episode was frankly, appalling. From the blank faces of almost every person in the backgrounds to the bare minimum of character movements and the CGI car reminiscent of early Initial D, it’s safe to say that the show did not look good. Secondly, the A-part of the show just didn’t work for me at all. I appreciate the brave decision of dropping us right in the middle of an episode of the talk-show but it felt sort of jarring and disjointed. Though the one thing this show has going for it is novelty. It’s the kind of story that is very niche but seems really intriguing on paper. And certain aspects of the presentation do pique my interest. Like the sound design guy’s exasperation on Koda making an unnecessary yelp noise in her monologue which would prove difficult to mix or the many other intricacies of the radio production. But unfortunately, the whole package just didn’t gel together like I wished for it to. Which is a pity as I had reasonably high hopes for this and the Spring season already looks pretty thin.

Potential: 40%

Mario: I guess most of us have gone through (or will go through) the phase where all your anger and frustration boil up to the point you want to let off steam and curse the world. This is, I suppose, half of the appeal of Kiitekure, as Minare provides explosive rants after rants but not without its humor and underlying truth. The inside of how the radio station works and Minare’s on air podcasting make up the other half. I had high hope for the show but overall I’m not sold on this first episode. If every session runs like Minare’s first half on-air performance, it’s not going to appeal me much as it just consists of phony, unnecessarily over-dramatized case-scenario, random listeners’ questions and Minare’s yelling her lungs out, all which get pale really fast. The second half has a fair share of issues as well, from Mato’s ethically questionable action, to the over-the-top schtick at the end in an otherwise real setting, and inconsistency in character writing. There’s a scene where Minare wakes up and finds her shoes were neatly arranged and she comments on that, but the very scene before that we see her clothes scattering around the room. In addition, the shadows in characters’ eyes are quite distracting to look at. Still, Minare is an interesting character and this show still has its unique appeal so I still will give it a 3-episode trial. Let’s hope it sticks around.

Potential: 30%

Magia Record Anime Review – 65/100

(Little side note: Not meant to start a civil war between us writers but I’m a firm follower of 60 being a line that separates recommendable to mediocre shows. You pass your subjects if you get over 60%, right? Review-aggregation sites like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritics also use 60 as their middle line. So 65/100 means it’s slightly above average) 

Magia Record has a huge hurdle to clear: being a spin-off of one of the most talk-about anime in the last 10 years. This new adaptation doesn’t have the original writer Gen Urobuchi on board, but the background duo of the original Gekidan Inu Curry helm the project with Shaft returning to produce it. The result is a good indication of this transition and of the fact that Magia Record is based on a gacha game. Magia Record has some stunning art designs that fit its dark themes like a T and Shaft does a pretty decent job in terms of visual directing, soundtracking and shot composing, but the show suffers from its lack of focus to the main story, and introduces far too many characters that aren’t well developed. Magia Record uses the settings set by the original quite consistently, with some brand new updated concepts such as uwasa (manifestations of actual rumors) and doppel (materialization of despair from the magical girls), but as the story progresses it feels as if Iroha the main character wanders around for side quests rather than her main quest of finding lost sister Ui whom she has no memory of, as a result Magia Record feels hollow, superfluous and incomplete.

Continue reading “Magia Record Anime Review – 65/100”

Winter 2020 Summary: Week 13

Mario: With this last week, bring the first taste of the new Spring season (or in my case, Fall season) and a lot of finale on Winter season’s shows. Sorry for the delay but I decided to finish Kuutei Dragon first to include it here. Other writers have already done a good job of giving our thoughts on the Winter season’s shows. For me, it’s Eizouken and Dorohedoro that are leagues above the rest, but other shows like Kyokou Suiri and Kuutei Dragon still are still worth the time. I still need to finish my own blogged show Jeweler Richard (yeah it will come) and Blade of the Immortals, but for now enjoy one last breath of cold Winter before we all head to the new Spring season. Enjoy.

Oshi ga Budokan – 12 (end)

Wooper: OshiBudo began its life as a satire of the idol genre – that was the impression I got, anyway, after its premiere demonstrated a willingness to mock its obsessive protagonists. After a few more installments, though, that facade gave way to a straightforward celebration of idol culture and consumption. There was a joke this week about idols not using the bathroom, which would have felt equally at home in the first episode (poking fun at purity expectations) as it did in this one (unironically espousing puritanical values). Images of Eripiyo juggling stacks of CDs, once viewed as pitifully excessive, verged on heroic in the last leg of the story. You can even put aside any tonal interpretations and look at this episode’s subtitles to see where the show’s values ended up. “I’m so happy that I’m an idol.” “The world of idols is huge, but I’m so happy that [name] is my favorite.” If the idol sphere is really such a big deal, why not write a story that depicts it as such, instead of making shallow purchases and handshake events the climactic moments of so many episodes? I’m sure there’s a good idol show out there somewhere, whether past or future, but this wasn’t it.

22/7 – 12 (end)

Mario: Out of all the finale this week, I was eagering for 22/7 the most, given how it wraps up will justify the whole season. In the end 22/7 can’t make up its mind on what it wants to be. It’s uneven in every sense of the words, both have some cynical views on the idol industry, but at the same time gives it exactly what we want as the girls get together and become independent from the Wall’s order. It’s a mixed bag but this finale does have some sparks of brilliance, so to highlight its inconsistency I will rate its moments from scale 0 point to 10 points, with 0 being the worst and 5 as the average. Spoilers ahead so skip it if you don’t want to get yourself spoiled. Let’s go:

Continue reading “Winter 2020 Summary: Week 13”

Magia Record – 13 [A Faint Hope]

And so Magia Record ends –  at least for now since the second season is confirmed – on a sad note. Not only am I disappointed (but not too surprised) about how unresolved everything is, but also this finale does a sloppy job to expand the big reveal last week. So we learned last week about the Doppel as a way to prevent Magical Girls from becoming a Witch, but this week Doppel serves as a weapon to boost the girls’ attack power and suddenly our girls can control the ability at will (Yachiyo with her casual remark: “oh by the way, I know how to use Doppel as well” – Hello, we are not in Yugioh universe). Yachiyo also serves as another source of disappointment, as the way she reacts is pretty inconsistent (“I don’t consider you girls as friends” in the previous episode and then “I decide to disband the team” now – what “team” exactly?). Her flashback is likewise inconsistent as well. Her wish is “to survive”, but what does it have any connection to her being a leader of an idol group?

Continue reading “Magia Record – 13 [A Faint Hope]”

Winter 2020 Summary: Week 12

Mario: Only one week left before the end of this season. We got to the finish line of a couple shows this week with Eizouken in particular ending on high note. With the world currently in total lockdown I do feel like we are in some sort of post-apocalyptic world in anime where humanity has declined. It might sound depressing but hey, at least it’s an once-in-lifetime experience, right? Stay safe, by which I mean stay home and do nothing, to save the world.

Somali to Mori no Kamisama – 11

Mario: Somali and Golem reach their most dangerous journey so far, with the “monsters” hunt down the human child and Golem is on self-destructed mode in order to save Somali, but this higher the conflict, sadly the more clumsy the show gets. There are 2 main messages the show wants to transfer across in this hunt, First, the human race brought it all to themselves since their racist behavior is the main reason other races turn against them, and second, humans taste delicious and these two thoughts don’t really mesh well with each other. Imagine the flow of dialogues moves from “It’s all human fault” in one moment, followed by “I will have her brain”, and you get the idea. The whole ambush plan has a lot of flaws as well, so you need to turn off your logical sense and just roll with it. Sure, the stake is higher than ever but sadly I am already tuned out by what was happening onscreen.

Oshi ga Budokan – 11

Wooper: Wow, that episode really just ended with a series of tweets set to a warm, uplifting string accompaniment. Is there any more appropriately vapid choice that a show about idol culture could have made to conclude its penultimate episode? Seriously though, this whole episode was a miss for me, even if you set aside the silliness of its final minutes. The series’ typically well-animated performance scenes were nowhere to be found here, with a series of panning stills replacing their practice sessions, and a miniature clip show intruding on their weekly concert. Movement was pretty limited in general, actually, except when Eripiyo was screeching about her love for Maina. Eri’s VA was at her least tolerable this week, delivering throat-shredding screams about how her favorite idol is the cutest in the universe. You know what tone of voice makes a convincing case for cuteness? Literally any intonation except that one. Even when a female coworker came over to her place to watch ChamJam’s two second TV appearance, Eripiyo couldn’t settle down. At least she’s consistent, though – that’s more than I can say for Oshi ga Budokan itself.

Continue reading “Winter 2020 Summary: Week 12”