I’m Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class

Short Synopsis: Two highschoolers’ least favorite people (each other) are forced to marry by their newly reunited (not related) grandparents.

Lenlo: This is literally just a worse Nisekoi. The basic plot is the same, boy/girl who can’t stand each other are forced into a marriage by their elders and now have to interact regularly, but it lacks a lot of the charm that Nisekoi had. The designs aren’t as memorable, the visuals not as nice, the comedy is more in your face, etc etc. I suppose if you enjoyed Nisekoi you might get something out of this, but I’d be more likely to recommend you just rewatch that than waste your time on this. Sadly I’m too sick to pontificate more, so you’ll have to go off this and Amun’s writeup.
Potential: 1%

Amun: I sometimes feel like I’m the only author here who sees the good in some of these bargain bin shows. Yes, Lenlo is 100% correct that this is worse than Nisekoi…but is it so much worse that it’s worth throwing out entirely? Maybe not. Now of course there are some decent sized plot holes and character issues (main girl, grandpa, especially). Our leads are wooden as boards, the situation is more contrived than a bad excuse, and why are the grandparents always sitting in a convertible by the beach? BUT. I have a bit of a soft spot for shows like this (hearkens back to the seasons of Nisekoi and SNAFU clones), so I’m hoping it develops a bit more. I mean, it’ll probably all crash and burn, but at least I’m looking at the bright side, right?
Potential: 30%

Okitsura

Short Synopsis: A boy who transfers to Okinawa Prefecture develops a crush on a girl who speaks in Uchinaaguchi (traditional Okiwanan language).

Mario: As a slice-of-life resident, I can say that I had a good time with this episode and am looking forward to more. The selling point here is, of course, Okinawa’s dialect and their own unique culture, which I believe would work much better for the native Japanese audience to listen to than us who have to read the subtitles. That’s not to say we can’t enjoy and relate to much of the town’s oddballness. The leads, however, are not exactly vibrant as the top-tier slice-of-life shows such as Skip & Loafer or K-On, and I found many jokes laid their message on a bit thick (the whole town’s response to his name-calling, for instance), but as one who is curious about other cultures, especially the minority, this show scratches that itch and then some.
Potential: 40%

Kono Kaisha ni Suki na Hito ga Imasu

Short Synopsis: Two employees at the world’s most generic office must keep their relationship hidden from their coworkers.

Wooper: I used to keep my eyes peeled for adult romances each season, but the subgenre has really fallen off in recent years, especially if Kono Kaisha is anything to go by. The visuals here are so dull that I’m not sure how best to describe them – perhaps the mandate given to the art director was, “Make sure not a single background contains a single element that an ordinary salaryman wouldn’t immediately recognize from his own life.” The show’s central couple perform non-specific tasks at a non-specific company with non-specific office decor, and after they finally clock out, they enjoy a secret relationship ripped straight from the plot of at least a dozen J-dramas. The girl gets flustered about something, the guy thinks to himself that she’s cute, the conversation circles back around to how important it is not to reveal that they’re together. Introduce an attractive cast member to temporarily induce jealousy in one of the lead characters, then reaffirm the main couple’s commitment to each other. Rinse and repeat for twelve episodes, and pray that your less-than-mediocre romcom convinced at least a couple single folks to get out there and start secretly dating a coworker of their own.
Potential: 0%

Salaryman Isekai

Short Synopsis: Underappreciated overseas manager is head hunted by a Demon Lord with a surprisingly keen eye for subordinates.

Amun: First show of the new season for me (we’re not watching that weird ecchi cat thing) – and honestly, as far as first shows of the year go, Salaryman was quite decent. I thought we’d have a cringey episode of misunderstanding the “overseas” title as master of water – instead, we have a very reasonable Demon Lord boss who has done his research and very much wants this salaryman in particular. It’s clear this is a case of the outsider acting as the bridge between factions – just with a supernatural setting and some cute girls. And you know what – it plays for me! The animation and character designs aren’t anything to write home about, but this is where the modern isekai shines: juxtaposing a modern society straight-man with fantasy settings and hot girls. Definitely worth a few more episodes out of me.
Potential: 65%

Mario: Well, you read the positive review above from an isekai enthusiast, but what about us generic anime watchers? Personally I feel this premiere is quite tame. It’s not funny, nor does it offer anything groundbreaking within this subgenre. The idea that the Demon Lord is a much kinder boss than you might have at a real life company, and that he knows about workers’ rights and benefits, is a neat concept, but the way our main character proves his worth in this “otherworldly entrance exam” is a bit too simplified for its own good. The main message of this trial is to understand different cultures’ behaviors (in this case, a Minotaur), but we don’t really get the process of him working it out; rather, we see the results and his method instead. If you think about it, there was no instance whatsoever where he and the Minotaur interacted with each other. Moreover, what’s the deal with the strange udon stand where he comes to sit down in the middle of the episode? Isn’t he supposed to be in hell?
Potential: 10%

Momentary Lily

Short Synopsis: Six stringy-haired girls exchange quips and battle machine-alien hybrids in an abandoned city.

Lenlo: Oh GoHands, what are we going to do with you. At this point I’m less interested in their anime, every single one is a visual mess of after effects and nonsensical camera angles, than I am in how this studio keeps getting funding to make more stuff. Seriously, who looks at this studio’s previous works and thinks “The next one will be a banger”. As Wooper says below, there really isn’t much narrative or anything going on. It’s more about watching a bunch of “cute”, and I use quotes there because GoHands couldn’t create a cute design to save their lives, fight giant monsters with a lot of “cute” mannerisms and turns of phrase. Is it good? No. It’s GoHands. Is it well animated, fun to look at, or in any way appealing? No, it’s GoHands. Should you watch this? I’m sure you know the answer to that by now.
Potential: GoHands

Wooper: Whenever a new GoHands anime comes out, I keep my fingers crossed that it’s an original rather than an adaptation, because no mangaka deserves to have their work squeezed through the anus that is this studio’s animation pipeline. Thankfully, Momentary Lily is based on nothing but the wildest fantasies of hair fetishists and first-time Adobe After Effects users. The half dozen female characters in this show are the only human beings that appear for the entire premiere, and all six of them have laboriously drawn hairdos, with hundreds of independently-minded strands, some of which seem poised to decapitate their wearers. The girls have two modes: sitting around their photorealistic ghost town and acting out their designated tropes, and fighting glowing blue monsters while elaborate effects animation sparks and swirls around the screen. Both modes are drenched in sunbeams, lens flares, and rainbow arcs, and feature wide angle shots galore. I found the visual presentation so distracting that I couldn’t pick up on the plot, though the fact that these six characters have only themselves to talk to makes it pretty clear that Momentary Lily will be light on story and heavy on kawaii mannerisms. Ultimately, written impressions of GoHands anime aren’t much use – you just have to subject yourself to their visual style and see whether it’s for you.
Potential: 🌈%

Sorairo Utility

Short Synopsis: A gacha game addict in pursuit of a new hobby is introduced to the world of golf.

Wooper: What’s with all the golf anime recently? Even if you write off 2022’s Birdie Wing, Ooi Tonbo and Rising Impact aired just last year. What’s more, all three of those shows got second seasons, meaning there’s a definite push to have the sport represented in animation. I’m not sure Sorairo Utility will make it 4-for-4 on sequels, though, since its first episode was rather underwhelming. The opening scene did get a chuckle out of me, essentially telling the protagonist to get off her gacha-rolling ass and get a real hobby, and her repeated failures to find a high school club that she liked were amusing enough. But when it came time for the show to sell itself as a golf anime, I’m sorry to say that it bogeyed. Most instances of the protagonist’s cluelessness made her seem dopey rather than eager, the background art was either too plain (the two-tiered driving range) or too bright (the outdoor course), and we’re already whiffing on depicting the golf swings of background characters. The last of those issues means we’re probably in for more severe animation hiccups down the line, so investing in this show might not be the best line of play if you value on-model drawings. I did like the character designs, though.
Potential: 10%

Lenlo: I agree with most everything Wooper said above. The opening few scenes as the protagonist is cut-off from her gacha addiction cold turkey and forced into an actual hobby were pretty good, both in her interactions with her fellow classmates and her own reactions to it all. Sadly though, all of the actual golfing, what the show is being built around, weren’t very good. I never bought into the MC actually enjoying golf, or her reasons for picking it over any other sport. Simply put, as a sports anime I feel like it’s failing at everything that is important for a sports anime.
Potential: 5%

Bogus Skill “Fruitmaster”

Short Synopsis: A supernaturally skilled gardener discovers he can eat more than one Devil Fruit without perishing.

Wooper: 2025 kicks off with a benignly terrible fantasy premiere that cribs from One Piece, of all things. In the world of Fruitmaster, everyone is granted a free JRPG skill upon reaching the indeterminate age of an average anime protagonist. You acquire the skill by eating what is essentially a Devil Fruit, so you can’t eat a second one or else you die – unless you’re the main character, in which case you can have as many as you want. Since he has this ability, the role of “Appraisal Skill User” (for there must always be an appraisal skill user) is foisted onto his companion, who mutters that she must “make herself useful to him” by scouting everyone else’s solitary powers. Thus the stage is set for our hero to become the most powerful adventurer in the universe, prove his strength to his childhood friend, and participate in all manner of barely-animated battle scenes. Fruitmaster is dull on nearly every level, but its most baffling failure lies in the design of the protagonist’s sword; the second skill he acquires is titled “Sword God,” but it might as well have been “MS Paint God” based on the unadorned look of the thing. I hope the next fruit he eats will grant him the blacksmith skill, for the audience’s sake.
Potential: 0%

Lenlo: Why are we even bothering with this whole “Fruitmaster” thing? It didn’t take 5 minutes for the show to toss its entire premise out the window and gift the MC an OP skill like “Sword God”. Why? Just give him the ability from the start if you’re not even going to try and turn his “bad” ability into a great one. Fruitmaster feels lazy on basically every level, with even the designs and animation feeling phoned in while the studio pockets anything left over. Suffice to say, this is one of the easiest skips I’ve seen in a long time.
Potential: 0%

Ameku M.D: Doctor Detective

Short Synopsis: A doctor/detective and her henchman investigate a strange murder involving blue blood and dinosaurs.

Lenlo: Have you ever seen House? No? Well neither have I, but this is what I would imagine an anime version of it would look like. An eccentric loli doctor capable of diagnosing patients in an instant while simultaneously lambasting the patients for getting themselves in this state to begin with. As such, your enjoyment of this show is really going to come down to how much you like watching Sherlock Holmes-style hyper-intelligent characters solve convoluted problems from the most basic of observations. There’s some relationship drama as the doctors are split between their work and private lives, which has the potential to be interesting, as well as this “Blue blood” murder case thing. For the most part though, you’re looking at a pretty normal medical drama show that wouldn’t be out of place on regular live action television. Sadly for Ameku though, I’m not really into that. Maybe you’ll have better luck than me.
Potential: 20%

Mario: There are a few aspects of the first episode that I really enjoyed. First, I appreciate that the show doesn’t shy away from the medical technobabble, even though the focus shifts toward case-solving as the episode progresses. It helps ground the story in a sense of realism. The case itself is intriguing—strange, yet I get the feeling it leans more toward the logical than the supernatural, which remains interesting to see how it unfolds. However, this comes with a trade-off: the main characters, particularly the “genius” girl, display a strong curiosity but a limited emotional range. For instance, after a patient is declared deceased, her first reaction is to grin and remark, “How curious.” I suspect that, like many shows of this nature, the appeal will lie less in character development and more in the ongoing mystery—though whether that will be enough to sustain interest in the long run remains to be seen.
Potential: 20%

Possibly the Greatest Alchemist
of All Time

Short Synopsis: A former salaryman is granted an amazing alchemical skill by a goddess after being accidentally summoned to another world.

Lenlo: Maybe I’m being too generous with this score, but literally anything would look good after Fruitmaster. It’s not that Alchemist is terrible, while it doesn’t do anything particularly noteworthy I would call it competent in most things. The focus on crafting and day to day living in a fantasy world is done better in shows like Log Horizon, while the fantasy community is handled better in Reincarnated as a Slime, sure. I also wish it would go into more detail on the fantasy aspect of the crafting and such, as the combat is pretty weak. Still, Alchemist does all of those well enough that they don’t drag it down. The MC isn’t annoying, being a mild-mannered salaryman, and while it doesn’t look great, the designs aren’t terrible and it moves well enough. All in all, Alchemist feels like a standard run of the mill Isekai that is inoffensive and does everything just well enough that you might be able to get some fun from it. Saying that though, maybe that is enough to stand out in the modern isekai landscape.
Potential: 10%

Demon Lord 2099

Short Synopsis: The Demon Lord is banished by the Hero, only for him to reawaken 500 years later into a whole new, much more technologically advanced world.

Lenlo: Demon Lord 2099 was… shockingly good. I was expecting a meme, but not, it’s legitimately good. From the world and characters it’s created to the story they are caught up in, 2099 genuinely feels like something new. The combination of magic and technology to create a future-fantasy dystopia ala Shadowrun, is fully realized here with beautiful backgrounds and an interesting mix of visual staples from the two genres. And the way power scaling is handled is great as well, working similar to Frieren where it’s not that the Demon Lord got weaker but that magic technology and technique advanced while he was banished. This idea that even common street thugs are able to kick a Demon Lords ass now, and that he can’t get the same implant they have, works well. Most of all, I like the villain! The dude’s just a corporate overlord ass-hate with an inferiority complex who spent the last 500 years prepping to replace his boss. I’ll admit, the show isn’t incredibly animated or anything, there’s no big fights. But I’m bought into this world, these characters, and this conflict way more than I expected to. I really hope 2099 manages to keep this up for the whole 12 episode run, because right now this is my big surprise of the season. Plus, it has Vtubers! Towa-Sama!
Potential: 70%

Amun: I’m a bit less enthusiastic here than Lenlo. I have to admit that I’ve seen quite a few of these “Post-Demon Lord” shows recently (the best of which is obviously, without question, Frieren). I’d say Demon Lord 2099 is a lot closer to Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero with the character dynamics – maybe mixed in a bit with Our Last Crusade/Rise of a New World for the magic/tech mixture; neither of those shows is exactly making history. The villain and even our lead felt a bit flat – both leaning into the super evil persona’s a bit too hard there. Sure, I’m certain they’ll develop over the series, but I was just a bit turned off by how one-dimensional the confrontation was. I like the world well enough, and I think the “problem” to solve is plenty interesting (rebuilding a lost kingdom). I guess I’m a little hesitant in the lack of comedy or chemistry felt…anywhere. Still, I’m here for at least a few more on the strength of the premise alone.
Potential: 50%

The Healer Who Was Banished From His Party

Short Synopsis: A healer only capable of using basic heals is banished from his party. Little did they know, he was capable of more than anyone could expect.

Lenlo: This is a pretty classic “Misunderstood MC is actually OP” story. We don’t get any explanations just yet, more setting up our Female MC, why she’s here, her connection to the lead, and a small mystery about how dangerous he actually is. I’ll admit, the idea that he’s actively hiding his true class and skills is better than him just being OP despite only having basic spells. But unlike say… I Parry Everything which had much the same setup, this one is lacking a lot of the personality and character that made Parry so fun. The MC isn’t an asshole, which is nice, but he also doesn’t have much personality beyond just… not being an asshole. I could see this being fun if you just want a popcorn sort of show, but personally I’m not going to be keeping up with it.
Potential: 10%

Shangri-La Frontier S2

Short Synopsis: Season 2 of Shangri La Frontier.

Lenlo: Shangri-La Frontier picks up so close to where it left off, so nonchalantly, that it almost doesn’t even feel like we’re starting a new season. In some ways that’s nice, there’s no overly long recap, it doesn’t waste our time trying to bring us up to speed, we just jump right into things. As someone who knows where we are, that’s nice! I’m glad we’re not wasting any time here. That said, I could see it being a bit of a shock for those who don’t remember anything from the previous season. One nice surprise with the episode though had to be the production. It looked great, a number of well animated, dynamic, stylistic fights that I really wasn’t expecting. Season 1 started strong as well, sure, but with how uneventful the last few episodes of the previous season/this current arc is, I didn’t think it would get that much attention. Hopefully the series will keep this up as it moves into the more interesting arcs that it should, hopefully, reach with 25 episodes. All in all, while I’m not expecting the show to be too great this early, aside from shockingly good animation, I do have hope for two arcs that should be roughly as good, if not better, than Wezaemon we got in the first season. If it can do those arcs justice, with the same care Wezaemon got, then Season 2 should be just as good as the first.
Potential: 50%

Tsuma, Shougakusei ni Naru

Short Synopsis: A normal family’s matriarch is reincarnated as a grade schooler.

Amun: I signed up for this one simply because the premise is…unusual to say the least. Going in, I wondered if it would try to be a lighthearted comedy, making tons of jokes about the age gap or if it would be a really tearful, heartfelt “value the time you have” message beaten over our heads. Turns out, Tsuma, Shougakusei, plays it pretty straight. There isn’t a glossing over of how weird things are, or how unusual the dynamics appear to society (the family’s wife now being substantially younger than her own daughter). Moreso, the scenarios of the juggling of the two families (how do you explain your second family as a grade schooler?) and the different romantic dynamics of the more appropriate ages are explored in a pretty clear-eyed manner. In fact, the premise is pretty much the only weird thing about this show – everything else so far has been by the book. And I like that. I really don’t know how Tsuma Shougakusei will manage all of the storylines and complications, but I appreciate the uniqueness of how it’s trying so far. It’s definitely an odd one, but I’m willing to give it a chance.
Potential: 65%

Yakuza Fiancé

Short Synopsis: The granddaughter and grandson of rival yakuza families enter into an uneasy relationship.

Wooper: I knew this show was going to be twisted, but I didn’t expect its male lead to suggest that his prospective fiance become an escort, then list some of the sexual acts she’d be expected to perform in the role. Unless Yakuza Fiance led with its most scandalous material and is planning to turn it down going forward, it seems this show will be a far cry from your typical romance anime. Another thing that sets it apart is its female protagonist’s mission: to make this unhinged dude fall hopelessly in love with her, then dump him after a year, ostensibly so that her yakuza group can take revenge or gain leverage over her target’s family. I’m hopeful that the show will dive into the specifics of how these two groups have antagonized each other in the past, since the heads of both families were the most prominent supporting characters in this premiere. As a matter of fact, it was mostly just the two teenagers and the two grandpas delivering lines this time – the show is tightly focused on a core group of people at this point, eschewing visual diversity in favor of repeated close-ups to highlight the cast’s attractiveness. This results in a rather uninvolving episode, at least from a storyboarding perspective, but the characters’ spirited personalities do keep the half hour afloat. I’ll give this one another couple episodes to develop its personal and familial conflicts, then decide whether I want to continue with it.
Potential: 40%

Natsume’s Book of Friends S7

Short Synopsis: A highschooler seeks to return spirit’s names that his grandma beat out of them.

Amun: I can’t tell you how many times I refreshed Anichart, just to make sure it wasn’t all a dream – that Natsume’s Book of Friends was returning this season. Almost exactly seven years, we’ve been waiting for the supernatural hijinks to return. And this was honestly a good, standard, Natsume episode. We were reintroduced to some of our old friends (plus Natsume’s more recent human additions), but we still got a standard, self-contained story, like we get in so many of the previous six seasons. It doesn’t look like the overall production quality has diminished, and the story still felt complete with plenty of youkai feels – I’m happy as a clam. I would say that Natsume really shines when the story advances (with glacial speed), so I’m hoping for some small advancements of the overall story and maybe some deeper looks into Reiko’s past. Overall, it’s just so great to be back.
Potential: As long as they’re making it, I’m watching it.