Author: SuperWooper

Teogonia

Short Synopsis: A young boy sets off on a journey through a fantasy world after memories of his past life awaken within him.

Lenlo: It’s a bit sad, but the biggest thing holding Teogonia back has to be its production. The designs and what not are fine, but the whole thing moves like a half-assed powerpoint presentation. For a series built around combat, around the defense of a village against the endless hordes of monsters, that’s a real problem. And I don’t think the narrative is enough to overcome that, despite the early hints that the monsters aren’t what they seem and that those in charge may not be as benevolent as they would have you believe. There are some bits here and there I’m curious about, the “flashbacks” to our world, the use of magic, these little seeds filled with energy they eat to get stronger. There’s bits and pieces here, hints, as to something interesting. But the way it’s presented could make anything dull.
Potential: 20%

Hibi wa Sugiredo Meshi Umashi

Short Synopsis: A shy college student who loves to eat joins a fraudulent Food Culture Research Club on campus.

Wooper: HibiMeshi (or “Food for the Soul,” if you prefer the localized title) doesn’t offer a whole lot to get excited about in its first episode. It’s set at college rather than middle or high school, but the trademark P.A. Works character designs make the girls feel no different than any old extracurricular club-bound quartet. Several of them do have part-time jobs, which I’d say is the show’s best chance at building something concrete for itself, since their restaurant work ties into their food-focused circle. Jobs aside, all we’ve got is yet another socially anxious protagonist who joins a club to push herself outside her comfort zone, along with sadly mediocre meal prep animation. That last item might be the real killer here, as food porn in anime has taken some huge strides over the years, and this show doesn’t seem to have kept up. And it’s explicitly about food, too – or it seems to be at first glance. The twist at the end of this premiere informs us that the Food Culture Research Club was created under false pretenses, as its founder simply wanted a dedicated space to goof off, but it seems obvious that the series will be a culinary one in some capacity. I mean, the opening scene sees the main character watching a video about a Hokkaido chicken ranch. As of right now, I’m not sure what the point of that twist was, or why I ought to watch another episode of HibiMeshi other than its general pleasantness.
Potential: 20%

Ranger Reject S2

Short Synopsis: Season 2 of Ranger Reject.

Lenlo: It’s back and I’m loving it. Ranger Reject ended the previous season on an awkward note, with a dead Keeper, an escaped Boss, and a mediocre exam arc, so I was a bit concerned about how this new season would go. Aside from the weird sister-complex though, as well as the annoying boob jokes, I was pleasantly surprised. I love getting to see the slowly collapsing/fracturing Rangers, how the Keepers are falling apart due to interpersonal conflicts, and the confirmation that there are multiple Boss monsters still at large in the city. It feels like Ranger Reject is starting to expand its plot, like it’s getting into the secrets of the setting now that D is finally in with the Rangers. Even the production has appeared to improve, with some good looking scenes both in and out of combat. All things considered, I’m happy with Season 2, and I hope it’s able to take this strong start and continue it for the rest of the season.
Potential: 60%

Moonrise

Short Synopsis: The wealthy heir to a global tech company travels to the moon to avenge his parents’ deaths.

Wooper: Ever heard the phrase “too many cooks spoil the broth?” I’m thinking that’s probably what happened with Moonrise, whose nearly 30 minute premiere was so packed with familiar ideas that it feels like the show was written by committee. Rich playboy protagonist, unified world order governed by artificial intelligence, tensions between the Earth and moon, a battle set on a moving train with one faction doing acrobatics while wearing capes (we Attack on Titan now), an antagonist’s massive holographic likeness delivering a rousing speech, etc. Despite the flashy opening fight scene, the main character’s glamorous lifestyle, and the carnage of the anti-Earth terror attack toward the end, this first episode left no impact on me – except for a few moments of unintentional humor. The protagonist’s father springing, “Are you upset about being adopted?” on his adult son made me burst out laughing, and some of the character names are hard not to giggle at (Jack Shadow, Bob Skylum). There’s also a moment where the hacking of a train’s computer system is represented by glowing red lines snaking along its ceiling, which gave off extreme ‘early 2000s police procedural’ energy. Moonrise has a lot of big staff names attached to its production, so some people might not find it funny that its first outing was such a bust. Fortunately, all 18 episodes are already streaming online, so they can discover for themselves whether there’s something worthwhile beyond the first one.
Potential: 15%

Ninja to Koroshiya no Futarigurashi

Short Synopsis: A naive, helpless ninja meets a high school girl assassin and they start living under the same roof.

Mario: I signed up to review this episode totally blind, so imagine my pleasant surprise when I learned not only that my fave studio Shaft handles this project, but also how hilarious it is and how quickly these 20 minutes go by. The jokes start early, as we begin the show with an 80s-retro aesthetic look about how this ninja girl unintentionally defeats everyone before it reverts back to the present day with a modern look and moe character designs. These designs work well in this context, as it probably catches viewers by surprise when such cutesy girls actually murder someone and expose the bodies. Well, it’s played for laughs so it’s pitch black humor we are talking about here. The jokes so far are snappy and don’t overstay their welcome, although I would say that the main ingredients (those being the ninja girl’s clumsiness and the assassin girl’s stoicism) are a bit thin at the moment. That doesn’t matter too much, as long as the first episode gets my attention, and this one did.
Potential: 45%

Mono

Short Synopsis: A pair of high school photography club members meet a manga artist who uses them as inspiration for her new series.

Wooper: If you’re a CGDCT fan, this show has all the necessary ingredients to become your new drug of choice. It boasts cartoony character animation, fun seiyuu performances, a gentle soundtrack (with a bit of slide guitar mixed in to create that Yuru Camp connection), and a genuine interest in its subject, photography. There’s not an information overload where that last topic is concerned, thankfully, as Mono keeps its attention on the characters. It goes so far as to include a prologue about one of the current club member’s attachment to her now-graduated senpai, just so we understand why she’s down in the dumps at the start of the new school year. The dour mood doesn’t hang around for long, though, as the girls’ excitement over their new cameras and their discovery of an old school candy store (complete with a cute cat who wanders in and out) is quite infectious. I think the reason the whole thing works so well is that the two primary characters are committed to their hobby mostly as a way of connecting with other people – Satsuki to honor her departed senpai, and An to stay close to Satsuki. Even when the climax of the episode faltered a bit due to an unremarkable bit of nighttime scenery, I was already so attached to the main cast that I wasn’t bothered in the least. The show may not be as pretty as Yuru Camp (I keep bringing it up because they share an author), but it looks to have just as much heart.
Potential: 75%

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX

Short Synopsis: A red-haired girl throws herself headlong into the cockpit of a mobile suit to fight against her space colony’s military police force.

Wooper: There are two major categories of Gundam series: Universal Century (the long-running timeline established by the original anime) and everything else. GQuacks is neither; it’s set in a parallel version of the Universal Century, where Zeon (the bad guys) prevailed in the all-important One Year War. This first episode offers scant details about that world-altering change – and somehow provides even less background on its red-haired protagonist. I don’t even think we got her name, much less anything that would explain how she so easily ditches her responsibilities and throws in her lot with an illegal mobile suit battle team. The unanswered questions about who she is and what motivates her to defy the military police were my biggest source of struggle while watching this premiere, though GQuacks certainly isn’t the first Gundam series to withhold crucial context at its start. I’m not wild about the ultra-modern musical direction, either, especially during Machu and Nyaan’s first meeting (thanks for providing their names, Wikipedia!) and Machu’s first time piloting the titular white Gundam. In my mind, those insert songs dominated their respective scenes in unhealthy fashion, since the visuals are the real star of the show here, and the more time we get to admire the youthful character designs and sci-fi infrastructure in isolation, the better. I’m interested to learn more, but this isn’t the start I’d hoped for.
Potential: 55%

Lenlo: I won’t lie, I don’t know a whole lot about Gundam. The only Gundam I’ve watched at all actually was the recent Mercury one and Gundam Wing back on Toonami, so a lot of the history and mentions like “Captain Char” and “Zeon” that I’m sure are exciting for long time fans are lost on me. That said, I still enjoyed GQuuuuuuX quite a bit. The designs were great, I enjoyed how simple and expressive they were, reminding me of Sun and Moon I think it was. The Gundams themselves aren’t bad either, the CGI is definitely noticeable in most shots but they get plenty of 2D animated ones as well. Story wise I liked the lead, she’s a bratty spitfire who isn’t afraid to go out and pick fights if she sees a reason to, very different from Suletta in Mercury. Do I understand everything that’s happening? Not really, there’s some obvious national tensions with refugees and spacians and such going on, but it seems like the series will be more about underground giant robot battles than intergalactic wars. Either way though, I had fun, the OST was a bop, I’m down to make this my third ever Gundam.
Potential: 65%

Apocalypse Hotel

Short Synopsis: The manager of a robot-operated hotel tries to keep her head on straight 100 years after humanity’s abandonment of Earth.

Lenlo: I was not… enthused by Apocalypse Hotel. The premise seems good, the last hotel in the world after an apocalypse because it’s run almost entirely by robots? That’s a solid idea, and the opening few minutes where it juxtaposes a hotel ad with news footage of the end of the world was a great intro. But much like last year’s Shuumatsu Train, it feels like that setting/idea gets dropped rather quickly for a very different show. One centered on the absurd comedy of a bunch of robots going about their daily lives after the apocalypse rather than any kind of exploration on humanity and how/why we ruined the planet as we did. Like… Did the concierge really need to be a cute girl while all the rest of inhuman machines? There is a moment halfway through with the discovery of the Driller Robot, and the reveal of the pile of other “deceased” staff, that gives me a bit of hope for the show, like it’s taking the long route to some kind of Wall-E sort of story where they find connection with each other and all that. But I’m not sure I can sit through another Shuumatsu Train where nothing really happens and the outside world is just set dressing for a mediocre slice-of-life.
Potential: 20%

Wooper: The post-opening-montage shot of the Gingarou Hotel’s robotic doorman overheating and collapsing in front of his station was a great indicator of this show’s M.O. What we have here is a comedy underpinned by existential dread – as the doorman later explains, despite recognizing the futility of his primary function, he wouldn’t be who he is if not for doors to open. The hotel’s humanoid acting manager succumbs to a similar horror partway through this episode, as the absence of a shampoo hat in one of the rooms sends her into a humorous spiral of negativity regarding her reason for existing. One by one, the robots who have kept their workplace guest-ready have ceased to function over the last century, leaving only the small team we meet in this premiere. Their designs are very cute (the quasi-sentient luggage cart is my favorite, but I also love the competitiveness of the two cleaning robots), and the concept of their electronic chatter going untranslated is a great one, as it creates room for the manager to interpret and then bossily override their thoughts. They’re fun enough that I’d have followed the show even without any guests to populate the story, but we get one right at the end, and not the sort for which the hotel was designed. I’m in for a full season, so I look forward to seeing how the Gingarou’s staff adapts to their new clientele!
Potential: 70%

Uchuujin MuuMuu

Short Synopsis: An alien cat comes to Earth to study Earth’s technology in order to save its planet.

Mario: Let me start by saying what I like about this episode the most: the background designs are easy on the eyes. It’s not showy – this show falls into a low-budget territory – but it’s nicely integrated to the series. It has an alien cat who wears a tie and likes to take apart appliances to see how they work (and has no idea how to put them back together). It’s a nice enough idea, but I have a hard time caring for any of these cast members. Their theory that “cats are the owners of the Earth”, likewise, is amusing in concept but doesn’t really have an impact. It’s that kind of show, inoffensive but also plain and forgettable as well.
Potential: 5%

Shoushimin Series S2

Short Synopsis: Season 2 of Shoushimin, where a bunch of kids solve mundane day to day mysteries around town.

Mario: After the bitter end of the last season, which I feel more like a midpoint anyway, we are back with more mundane mysteries to solve. I really enjoy how this second season starts by introducing the new case not from our protagonist Kobato’s POV, but from the perspective of Osanai’s new boyfriend Urino. The structure of this episode is much stronger than Shoushimin’s usual fare. It does take a while until we reach the crux of a new mystery (serial arson), but even before that we get a chance to see how Urino is determined to make something worthwhile, and where our main duo are at this stage of their lives away from each other. The stakes are much higher this time compared to the usual cases as there is an escalation of severity (the fires are more extreme each time) and it ends on such a strong note that finally brings Kobato into this picture. Maybe things will get more interesting now that the two are not together – that way we’d see how the story unfolds from multiple perspectives instead of Kobato explaining his findings to the audience through Osanai. This is a solid (re)start for Shoushimin Series.
Potential: 40%

Zatsu Tabi: That’s Journey

Short Synopsis: An up-and-coming mangaka decides to go on a short trip on a whim.

Lenlo: In a lot of ways Zatsu Tabi reminds me of Barakamon. A gifted youth with a creative block goes on a retreat into the country to get inspiration for the work, learning life lessons and growing up along the way. I’m sure future episodes will branch out, some might head to more metropolitan areas or what have you, but the core of it seems the same. Where it starts to lose me though is the use of social media, and how much of the trip seems more caught up in that rather than what it means for the lead. The episodic nature of the trips also make it really difficult for me to care/get caught up in the idea that our lead even needs to grow, because I know she never will in any meaningful way because to do so is to remove her need for more trips. At least in Barakamon the growth became the reason he wanted to stay out in the country, meaning when it was time to leave he had changed and was now fighting to stay. I guess what I’m saying is, Zatsu Tabi has a very similar idea to a lot of travel shows, and if you want to see rural Japan without actually traveling there yourself (You should, it’s nice), then this could work. For me though, there are better shows about this subject out there, and I’d rather rewatch them.
Potential: 30%

Mario: In a lot of ways Zatsu Tabi reminds me not of Barakamon (it’s a nice show) but of the more recent Yuru Camp. This episode juggles two main themes: 1) traveling as a way of getting out there, away from your normal busy life, to appreciate your surroundings and 2) the actual sightseeing – edutainment travelogue type stuff with (I assume) photorealistic backgrounds, which sometimes feels like its main purpose is to support the tourism industry. The fact that this episode leans more on the latter for me is a bit of a letdown. It’s still something that I enjoyed (hence the rating), but at various points protagonist Chika’s narrative gets sidelined just for the sake of scenery overload. I was actually expecting her to bump into that lady or the locals and get more of their perspective through conversation, and then get inspiration for her script, but ah well… It has a slow, calm, soothing quality so maybe it’s my fault for expecting more from its plot.
Potential: 40%

Summer Pockets

Short Synopsis: A teenage boy goes to stay on an island during summer breaks and meets a wide range of local girls there.

Mario: It’s interesting – I wasn’t sure I knew how to handle this episode until I saw Key’s name pop up during the end credits and it hit me. Yes, Key. The studio responsible for multiple popular visual novels back in the day such as Clannad and Air. And “back in the day” are important keywords, as Summer Pockets feels like it comes from the same era as those shows. On this island, a self-proclaimed “wounded bird of passage” boy meets several eccentric girls at different times / settings and sort of builds a relationship with each of them (in game mechanic fashion). The main issue with this episode is that it makes you wait for a twist that never comes. It takes its time as the protagonist drives around town and meets different people, we “kind of” sense there is something unusual going on (the way the main protagonist is not totally in sync, his “nostalgic feel” for this island), but it just… ends there. As it stands, there just aren’t too many hooks that grab viewers’ interest.
Potential: 20%

Lenlo: I dunno, this seems like a solid enough sort of summer romance. It’s not particularly great looking, not ugly either, and the premise is a tad dull, the biggest mark against it is that I’m just not interested in highschool romances anymore. But it’s not like… bad? The island location is a nice break from actual highschools, and the whole thing about managing his deceased grandmother’s estate adds a nice dash of tragedy/bitterness to help the sweet romance stand out a bit more. All in all, while my romance of the season is covered by Kowloon Generic Romance, I think you could do a lot worse than Summer Pockets.
Potential: 25%

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

Short Synopsis: A college student and konbini employee with a subpar superpower finds himself wrangling a much more powerful vigilante.

Lenlo: I’m going to be real with you, if you don’t already enjoy My Hero Academia on some level, then you won’t enjoy Vigilantes either. While the focus has changed from big limelight heroes to street level vigilantes, complete with weak quirks and smaller villains/stakes, it’s still a show about superheroes fighting super villains. For me though, Vigilantes is what My Hero Academia was always meant to be. Our lead doesn’t get some overpowered quirk handed to him while he sits around doing nothing, he has some useless jank yet still spends all night helping people out and cleaning up his town, yet still responds to the call to adventure. The mentor isn’t the greatest hero in the world, he’s an unlicensed jacked hobo who beats up thugs while having no visible quirk. And the villain? They aren’t out to destroy the world, they just sell dangerous street level drugs. Even the production feels livelier, filled with more comic-styled onomatopoeia in one episode than the entirety of the main series, brightly colored panels and fun direction. It feels like Vigilantes is breathing new life into the IP, much like how the manga did back when it first began. So for me, this is an easy win, and definitely one of my favorite premieres of the season so far.
Potential: 80%

Wooper: I disembarked from the HeroAca train midway through season 2, so I’m not part of the target audience for this show – or maybe I’m exactly the sort of person Bones hopes to recapture. The timing of Vigilantes’ airing, six months before the debut of its parent series’ final season, seems to indicate that it can be treated as a separate experience (though familiarity with the original is recommended, so you can spot cameos from characters like Deku’s mom). So, is it worth signing up for this new entry in the MHA universe, even if simple familiarity is all you have under your utility belt? Well, despite its older protagonist, Vigilantes doesn’t feel any more grown up than its parent series, with its yelpy lead character and the beyond-cliched bullies who torment him. The mid-episode concert put on by the cutesy idol Pop Step wasn’t a major attraction for me, either. But the presentation is a bit stronger than HeroAca’s was (from what I remember, anyway), leaning into its comic book roots with on-screen text and a handful of split-panel compositions. More scenes are set at night, as well, and the resulting bluish-purples and twilight oranges give the show a contrasting visual identity. Animation and character designs are well above average too, as you might expect from this franchise. Perhaps Vigilantes isn’t aimed at me after all, but I’ll try a couple more episodes and see where I land.
Potential: 50%

Your Forma

Short Synopsis: When every aspect of life is recorded, from sights and smells to your emotions, the best way to investigate crimes becomes diving into these electronic memories yourself, with robot detective help of course.

Lenlo: This is a pretty classic AI anime, with most of the same failings. Like so many others, they are caught up in Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics”, using them as a framework for the AI’s entire personality while missing the point that these laws are a storytelling tool, made to be flawed, not actual engineering laws. Combine that with a lackluster mystery more concerned with looking cool than being interesting to solve, and you end up with another surface level science fiction AI show that doesn’t do anything particularly novel. It doesn’t even look good like Vivi did at times! Suffice to say, Your Forma might be able to do something later on, maybe just this first episode is toothless, but I have no interest in watching more to find out.
Potential: 15%

Bye Bye, Earth S2

Short Synopsis: Season 2 of Bye Bye Earth, where a bunch of things that I still don’t understand happen.

Lenlo: With 6 months of distance between me and season 1, I was hoping things would have settled and clicked into place a bit with Bye Bye Earth. Watching this episode though, I’ve realized it’s the exact opposite. I’ve forgotten what conclusions or theories I had from the first season, making the start of the second make even less sense than I was hoping for. It’s not all doom and gloom, I slowly rebuilt things as the episode went on, slowly managed to realign myself to whatever the hell Bye Bye Earth is. But the fact remains, this show makes very little sense, and there’s no guarantee it’s all going to come together by the end. It was already starting to struggle last season, so I won’t be able to tell you whether or not it’s worth your time until the end. So for now, I’d recommend anyone who didn’t jive with Season 1 to pass and wait to see what the final consensus on the series is before you try and dive into it again.
Potential: 30%

Lazarus

Short Synopsis: A criminal parkourist is recruited by an elite task force in search of a doctor who’s unleashed a deadly drug upon the world.

Lenlo: So I watched the English Dub for this, just to try it out and see how it was knowing Wooper would be watching the Japanese, and it was… serviceable? It works well enough I’d say. It’s awkward in a few spots, sure, clearly trying to pace itself to the Japanese. But overall it’s serviceable, with the leading man being charismatic enough to carry it, though the rest of the cast feel almost emotionless. Still, I’ll definitely be watching the rest with the Japanese Dub. As for the show itself, I don’t know what I was expecting from Shinichirou Watanabe’s newest show, but it seems like he’s going back to his Cowboy Bebop roots with this one. Lots of Blues and Jazz music, a loveable scoundrel of a lead character, a grungy, street level view of the world. I’m not sure how successful it is though? The lead has Spike’s athleticism for sure, but trying to recreate his charm feels like trying to capture lightning in a bottle again, he feels a bit like a Great Value Spike if you get my meaning. I guess what I’m trying to say is that Lazarus has all the visual style of Cowboy Bebop, it’s fun to look at and watch, but I’m not bought into any of the narrative or characters yet. There was no need for him to run across the city skyline to try and escape, only doing it to look cool, it throws so many characters at us we don’t get to know any of them. I’m hopeful for Lazarus, it at least looks fun and cool, but I need to see more to know if Watanabe managed to hit with it.
Potential: 50%

Wooper: As Lenlo mentioned above, I watched this one subbed, so I got a double dose of Mr. Miyano’s voice acting for this post. He was a lot more subdued as this show’s Axel Gilberto than he was in Dinner Table Detective, though, so I was able to focus on all the other good stuff Lazarus has to offer: namely, its action scenes, background art, and overall ambition. Axel is doing ‘Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible’ level stuff here (the scene where he jumps between two towering cranes comes to mind), along with acrobatic combat moves that’ll make you question whether he’s completely human. My favorite moments from this episode involved his destruction of several drones following him across an urban city’s rooftops, which he accomplished with some well-placed kicks, even while fleeing their pursuit. What put those scenes over the top for me was the soundtrack – of its three contributing artists, it was certainly Bonobo whose danceable electronics accompanied Axel’s life-or-death parkour stunts. There was some lively jazz during the prison break scene in the first act, as well (courtesy of Kamasi Washington), but I have a feeling I’m gonna prefer the beeps and boops where Lazarus’s music is concerned, especially since its world falls on the futuristic side of things. As for the ‘30 days to save humanity’ plot, it hardly matters to me at this stage – I’m just here for the atmosphere, and so far, the atmosphere is good.
Potential: 65%

The Dinner Table Detective

Short Synopsis: Two wealthy, incompetent detectives bumble around a murder scene before one of them is introduced to her new butler, who’s already cracked the case.

Wooper: Once a certain type of anime fan reaches a certain age, they begin to loudly declare their fondness for shows with adult casts. I’m one such fan, but I recognize that a show escaping the halls of high school doesn’t mean it automatically has something worthwhile to say. That’s the biggest reason for my disappointment with Dinner Table Detective so far – much of its dialogue is obvious, frivolous, or both. Sure, the characters talk about grown-up topics like avoiding special treatment at work and whether to marry for love or security, but almost no one in this premiere comes across as an adult. Mamoru Miyano’s vocal histrionics as a fedora-tipping detective threaten to swallow the series whole, and the female lead must sink to his level in order to even things out. Much of the conversation she shares with her friends at a party (before switching into detective mode) poses problems for a different reason – time is spent on, but not invested in, their characters, meaning they’re unlikely to play a significant role beyond this initial case. If there’s a glimmer of hope here, it’s provided by the elusive butler who introduces himself in the final seconds of the premiere. He’s set to be the brilliant sleuth propping up the show’s two incompetent cops, and perhaps educating his new mistress in the art of deduction along the way. I’ll be watching episode two solely to discover whether he solves the mystery of how to make DTD entertaining; if he fails, I may not continue with this one.
Potential: 25%

Mario: I wish I liked Dinner Table Detective more. I’m always a sucker for solving crime stories, but this first episode sadly still leaves a lot to be desired. I reckon that I am not in tune with the tone of the show so far, which involves a lot of over-the-top antics and doesn’t take itself, the characters or even the crime that seriously. We have this lead girl who is a heiress and also works double life as a detective, but sadly there is much more yelling than actual solving crimes. Take, for example, the moment where she enters a crime scene. She had to show her badge to one of the guards to get in, but right at the moment she saw the victim, boom, everyone is allowed to enter the crime scene? We see many of these clumsy moments throughout the episode. Then we have a mysterious butler who apparently figures out what’s going on, but decides to kind of “tease” this girl instead. The crime itself is underwhelming as well, as the way it’s laid out, I figure that it’s the glasses girl who nobody questioned that’ll be the main culprit. I can’t say I have much interest in finding out whodunnit either way.
Potential: 10%

Witch Watch

Short Synopsis: A teenage witch comes back to town and picks her childhood friend, a human-ogre, as a familiar.

Mario: Geez, what’s up with all the young witches this season who are cursed by a random death curse. I feel this one fares better than “Once Upon a Witch’s Death” though, simply because I don’t think the “curse” factors much into this story. Instead, we have a slice of life show where these two teenagers live together (for no apparent reasons) and hijinks ensue, mostly between the witch girl and the ogre boy who has to clean up her messes. The show has some nice humor, although I am more fond of its small, chuckle-worthy moments (like how his cup breaks) than when it attempts to make me laugh (the whole section about her turning as flat as paper, or later on when they get “high”). The two mains have some easy chemistry, but I hope they tone down on the romance, as we don’t really need it. I’m here for more crazy mishaps this duo find themselves in, so I’m good to check out more from this show.
Potential: 30%

Shin Samurai-den Yaiba

Short Synopsis: A young swordsman raised in the jungle is shipped off to live at the dojo of his father’s rival.

Lenlo: You know, there’s something almost nostalgic about an almost 40 year old Shounen. It just feels… fun, like it lacks a lot of the self-serious trappings so many modern series have taken on to fit “modern” sensibilities. Add onto that a shockingly good production, seriously these simple designs allow the animators to hog wild who cares about staying “On model”, and you have something that could be a lot of fun. The episode and OP make me a bit nervous, looks like a lot of the older and more questionable tropes from the era are along for the ride as well, I’m talking about the 80’s treatment of women/female characters and general horniness, so we’ll see how well the rest of the series goes and if the weird stuff pushes out the fun good stuff. For now though it wasn’t prevalent enough to bother me much, I was pleasantly surprised by Samurai-den and I’m looking forward to a simple, fun, well animated action series from an older era.
Potential: 50%

Wooper: I know it’s only been one episode, but based on what I saw here, Shin Samurai-den Yaiba may end up as my pick for best-animated show of the year. (Though KyoAni’s City the Animation should give it a run for its money next season.) Its excellence isn’t a surprise with key staff members from Mob Psycho 100 aboard, but it’s nice how well the Kanada school swordsmanship harmonizes with the show’s backgrounds. The colors are vivid without hurting your eyes, while the characters may be loud enough to hurt your ears, depending on your tolerance for combative personalities. That’s the thing about Yaiba – the source manga’s age makes it a cousin to Dragon Ball, and though this adaptation boasts a beautiful coat of paint, its tone (as well as its story, I suspect) will feel very familiar to folks who grew up with the Big Three and similar shounen properties. Our hero is short, naive, gluttonous, brash, and obsessed with testing his strength – thankfully, he meets his Destined Rival at the end of this episode, which will allow him to exercise that fifth trait until the Power of Friendship inevitably unites them. Personally, I think the show is good-looking enough to overcome the formula that’ll power its plot, so I plan to watch more – though probably not on a weekly basis.
Potential: 50%

Kowloon Generic Romance

Short Synopsis: Real estate workers do their best to avoid romance while corporate machines slowly rob them of their memories. The lead lady is very cute.

Lenlo: I may not know yet what Kowloon Generic Romance is selling, but I can tell you that whatever it is, I’m buying. I absolutely adore the slow romance between the two leads, the clear chemistry and longing between them, the only thing keeping them apart being some unknown mystery around lost memories and a machine built to store them. Combine that with the dense, interesting setting of Kowloon and some gorgeous visuals, both in the designs and the backgrounds, and you have what is easily my favorite premiere of the season so far. I honestly can’t wait for the next episode, it’s been a while since I’ve bought into a romance so hard so quickly, I’m looking forward to it.
Potential: 90%

The Gorilla God’s Go-To Girl

Short Synopsis: In a world where everyone gets a blessing from the gods, one girl was blessed by the god of Gorillas.

Lenlo: Do you remember that tomboy romance show from a few seasons ago, about the tall and athletic girl who just wanted to be treated like a regular girl by her crush? Take that, shove it into an OP MC fantasy show, and you have Kami Kara Kago. It’s a mix of ironic comedy, giving a small girl the strength of a gorilla, a highschool rom-com, because of course it’s set in magic highschool, and some light fantasy elements disguised as what is effectively a highschool athletics club. Is it good? No. Is it bad… Not really? It’s just kind of mediocre, filled with a bunch of elements we’ve seen before all thrown together. If you’re really itching for a reverse-harem, Kami Kara Kago should fill that void, as it’s basically a strong girl with a growing harem of male students impressed by her strength.
Potential: 10%

The Beginning After the End

Short Synopsis: Super powered king from one world dies and is reborn as a super powered baby in another world.

Lenlo: At first I thought Saikyou might have been onto something, having your MC be from the same world they are reviving into gives them a connection to the world, the opportunity to make up for past mistakes. They would have some actual investment in it, knowledge of the setting, with concrete goals from the start. By shoving him into a completely different world though, they remove all of that, making Saikyou no different from any other mediocre OP MC Isekai bullshit. The lead being an ancient king is nice enough I guess, it’s better than a petulant highschooler. But that really starts to be undermined after the like… third “He shit himself” joke. It feels like everything interesting about Saikyou’s premise was left behind for the sake of making it as easily digestible as possible, resulting in just another fantasy Isekai show. So yeah, hard pass.
Potential: 5%

Mario: I guess it strikes me how plain the whole episode is. Down to the title, it presents itself as a rip-off of “Beyond Journey’s End”. Its premise reminds you of a tame version of “Jobless Incarnation”, and even the world has elements that you’ve seen somewhere else. And even though I prefer this MC more than the one in “Jobless Incarnation”, the production just can’t hold a candle to that show. And because we are stuck in his head and his narrative the whole time, other characters like his father and mother don’t feelmulti-dimensional at all. I guess we will get more to the meat of it once he gets older and travels around, but for now there is nothing exceptional in this show that would keep me coming back. For hard fans of isekai only.
Potential: 10%

Wind Breaker S2

Short Synopsis: High school delinquents get into turf wars and talk about friendship, S2

Lenlo: As expected, Windbreaker escalated to mortal combat pretty damn quickly. Metal baseball bats and wire wrapped wood? That can legitimately kill somebody. Don’t get me wrong, the fights, the choreo, the OST, all of that’s still good. The production of Windbreaker is still just as it was before, so if you’re just in it for the action I think you’ll get what you want. I just worry that Windbreaker is going to lose what made it work for me in the constant escalation all Shounen have. Some of it was here, the short glimpse into how flawed an organization ruled by fear can be was nice, and I liked how it pushed Sakura away from the leader since Windbreaker’s focus should be more on the community and what these fights represent, rather than the fights themselves. But I can’t help this nagging feeling that the series is going down the classic shounen rabbit hole. Hopefully it proves me wrong, I’ll definitely be watching it to find out.
Potential: 50%

From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman

Short Synopsis: A swordmaster from a country village is summoned to the big city to serve as its knight corps’ instructor.

Wooper: Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman opened with the adult hero’s elderly father pestering him about potential grandchildren, which made me wonder what kind of show it might be. Would it treat the experience of being middle aged in a youthful fantasy world with some amount of realism, or would it surround this barely-greying sword instructor with potential mothers for his offspring? I needn’t have wondered – it was the latter, of course, and shortly after that initial conversation with his dad, the first of the series’ cast of cute anime girls showed up at their door. Then he was whisked away to the city where he met another, and another, and there will doubtless be more beyond this episode. The show frequently trots out a gag where he doesn’t pick up on any of the female lead’s obvious signs of attraction, as if that makes its intentions any less transparent. Maybe he’s just distracted by the fact that she and the other prominent women’s outfits are designed strictly for sex appeal, despite the fact that they’re all accomplished swordsmen in their own right. Some props are due for the slick 3D models used during the duel between Mr. Bumpkin and the knight corps’ second in command – positioning the camera between them for most of the fight made it more intense than expected – but as for the story and characters, there’s nothing here to recommend.
Potential: 10%