Summer 2021 First Impressions: Hamefura S2, Bokutachi no Remake, Mahouka Koukou no Yuutousei

Hamefura S2

Short Synopsis: A reincarnated high schooler finds out she’s the villain of her favorite game and feels safe, having avoided all of her doom flags.

Mario: Our poster girl is back for another season. As much as my heart screams “YES”, to be completely fair, this premiere will satisfy fans but offer little to change distractors’ minds. Part of the reason why is that it rehashes the formula from the first season: Bakarina just goofs around while other guys (and gals) fawn over her. It’s a prime example of characters running around in search of plot since there’s no real urgency at the moment. To add to that, the characters are not distinct enough solely because they all have the same attitude and feeling towards Katarina. Maybe that’s why I enjoy the red-haired dude the most since he is the only one who isn’t crazy about her. As long as the show fixes these two issues I can see it becoming a force to be reckoned with. If not, well, at least we always have Bakarina.

Potential: 50%

Amun: Season 2 of Hamefura was always going to have a problem: what happens when the central conflict, actually the central premise, of the show is resolved? From this first episode, the answer seems painfully clear – instead of avoiding exile or death, our heroine/villainess now must avoid another sentence – marriage. I’m expecting an expanded cast as well – we’ve already met some brothers and introduced the idea of the Magic Research Institute or equivalent institution. This sounds like I’m being pessimistic – which I am – but the first episode still hit all the fun notes and made me laugh just like the best bits of the previous season. I don’t think the magic’s lost, but I think there are going to be some challenges towards the back half of the season. That said, Hamefura has a long way to fall before I drop it – especially considering the other prospects this season.

Potential: 75%

Bokutachi no Remake

Short Synopsis: A wannabe game developer gets a second chance at his dream career after traveling ten years into the past.

Wooper: As soon as I booted up this hour-long premiere and saw the slow crawl of the progress bar, I braced myself for a bad time, but Bokutachi no Remake was merely mediocre. The premise wasn’t too far-fetched for a time travel anime, as the lead character doesn’t use his knowledge of the future to his advantage – he’s just making the most of the mysterious opportunity to redo his college years. Actually, you could argue that the show’s normalcy is its biggest issue. The script is overflowing with safe conversations between students and teachers, which seem designed to pad out a double-length episode rather than illuminate their personalities. Even the protagonist’s reactions to the fanservice scenes seemed a tad too mild (though anime has poisoned the part of my brain that evaluates that stuff). A semi-realistic look at art college isn’t far from my sort of show, but despite the series’ low key atmosphere thus far, I don’t think I’ll continue with it – the aggressively cute female characters and the superficiality of the classes don’t hold a lot of interest for me. Still, there’s a chance that Remake will deepen its scope as it goes, so if you enjoyed this premiere, don’t let me put you off.

Potential: 40%

Lenlo: Bokutachi is… rather dull to be frank. I was rather interested in the beginning! We don’t get enough anime following adult characters and I think the struggle not only to find a job but to manage a videogame project, ala Shirobako, could have been really interesting! But then it decided to go down the time travel route. And I don’t know about you but between Erased and the recent Tokyo Revengers I’ve been burned more than I would like by time travel anime. They so often fall into the common pitfalls of time travel, namely that half-assed writing/adaptations fall apart where in regular series they could coast. Bokutachi has one advantage in that it’s going back to college instead of high school or middle school but overall I’m just not that interested in another time travel “Fix my past mistakes” series. I don’t want to watch people fix those mistakes! I want to watch people recognize and overcome those mistakes!

Potential: 20%

Mahouka Koukou no Yuutousei

Short Synopsis: Viewers can now see the glory of One True Tatsuya from the perspective of his biggest fan – his sister.

Amun: Irregular at Magic High has always had two primary characters and an otherwise forgettable cast. This episode was…exactly what two seasons of this universe would have you expect, so I’m not going to dwell on that too much. What’s more interesting to me is the ED, which seems to indicate a more sports-themed focus on the minor characters. It also seems that the little sister is the narrator this time around – which I absolutely couldn’t care less about. I guess that means the female side characters will have more screen time? Last season started tackling issues that I felt were a little too large (literal multiverses) to be taken seriously, so I’m glad this season (which is something of a prequel? I think?) will be getting back to small-scale silliness. I still like this world and it’s a fun romp of power-magic fantasy with pretty characters, so I’m onboard. Just don’t hurt yourself thinking too hard about the plot – this isn’t that kind of show.

Potential: 65%

Wooper: I must be getting soft in my soon-to-be-middle age. The sort of dumb anime bullshit that used to get on my nerves only makes me laugh these days. And just like its parent series, this Mahouka Koukou spinoff is positively dripping with dumb anime bullshit; incest bait, protagonist worship, and obsession with female purity all made appearances in this single episode. This thing is written by and for dudes whose contact with women is limited to their immediate family members (who had better dress modestly whenever they set foot outside the house). But as I said earlier, I’m a changed man – these are no longer disqualifying factors in my mind, just distractions from whatever larger appeal a show might have. Just because anime as a whole is overrun with cardboard characters and busty babes doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyed for its better qualities! So the question is, barring Miyuki’s lustful narration, Tatsuya’s crowd-moistening sophistication, and all that evil female flesh on display, what is the appeal of this franchise?

Appeal: 0%

Summer 2021 First Impressions: Vanitas no Carte, Kanojo mo Kanojo, Re-Main

Vanitas no Carte

Short Synopsis: Vampire Hunter V: Bookworm.

Lenlo: I have to admit, Vanitas surprised me. I wasn’t expecting much from another vampire show, especially not after Mars Red. But the unique blend of Studio BONES visuals and the Monogatari Director Tomoyuki Itamura’s flashy, over the top style blend together in interesting ways. It’s dramatic but doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously, often utilizing the same chibi visuals we saw in Sk8 earlier this year. Though one might argue it uses them too much. The fights themselves also aren’t terribly impressive but they also aren’t uh… terrible. The only part that I’m up in the air on is the story. So far it’s pretty rote, happy ending type stuff. Good guy saves the girl, etc etc. The only part that has me interested is how Vanitas tells us, right from the get go, how it’s going to end. That’s always a ballsy move in my book and if it can pull it off, I’ll count myself as satisfied. All in all I would say this is a decidedly average showing from BONES. But in a season as dry as this it’s at least worth watching for a bit.

Potential: 50%

Armitage: Unlike Lenlo, I had rather lofty expectations from Vanitas no Carte and it met those satisfactorily for the most part. This was more of an introductory episode getting us acquainted with our lead duo and the lovely catto, Murr. It looks like this is going to be a vampire hunting show which is what almost all vampire anime ever seem to be. So not much in the name of a unique premise. Still, I have always adored the Victorian Steampunk aesthetic and the nice backgrounds do tend to render the setting well. The real highlight of the premiere for me was the score composed by personal favorite Yuki Kajiura. It amplified the atmosphere and picked up any slack in the animation department to make the premiere feel interesting throughout. The narrative itself has just about started to unfold but the hook delivered at the end makes me really excited for what’s to come. So, in parallel with Jun Mochizuki’s Pandora Hearts, Vanitas has also been slow to start off, but I expect it to make for a highly enjoyable experience once it hits its stride.

Potential: 70%

Kanojo mo Kanojo

Short Synopsis: A high school boy enters a throuple with two cute girls by begging and shouting a lot.

Wooper: Kanojo mo Kanojo depicts the realization of every teenage guy’s dream: dating two girls at the same time, both of whom are cool with the arrangement. How does it approach such an unrealistic scenario? As unrealistically as possible, of course. That’s the secret to the show’s appeal – every line is delivered as theatrically as possible, and developments like the three kids moving in together are basically achieved by magic. The male lead’s noisy demeanor isn’t winning, exactly, but he’s so persistent that he warps the rules of courtship to his will – a top five superpower for sure. The visuals are just as loud, with plenty of closeups on the characters’ shocked faces and scrolling rainbow effects in the background. Even the soundtrack was manic, but I guess it would have to be, as the episode would crash and burn otherwise. All in all, I got a few laughs out of this premiere, most of which stemmed from its stupidity, but I can’t deny its commitment to the bit. Just don’t go in expecting Tsuki ga Kirei or anything on that level.

Potential: 20%

Mario: Frankly, the show already lost me after its first 10 seconds. Here we witness a boy’s wish fulfillment wet dream cranked up to 11. There’s a line in the show that perfectly reflects my sentiments: “What is it about him that you fell in love with?” One thing I can say is that he doesn’t bullshit about two-timing, but does the show expect him to get away with his plan just because he’s honest? The girls, then, are created solely to please both their boyfriend and the males in the audience, and guess what, based on the ED even more girls will join the cast. OF COURSE THERE WILL BE MORE GIRLS. The only point I can give Kanojo mo Kanojo is its sheer commitment to its message, aligned with the boy’s unflinching devotion to NOT let anyone go. For me it’s just painful to see girls written and acted this way.

Potential: 0%

Re-Main

Short Synopsis: A boy wakes up from a coma with missing memories, but can’t say no to the power of water polo and muscular dudes.

Mario: It’s tricky to write about a protagonist who has amnesia going on with their life. It works best in the mystery genre because of the way it utilizes the unreliable narrator – for comedy, though, it’s tough to get it right. Re-Main reminds me a fair bit of the 2010 film Colorful, and it suffers the same problem as that film. First, throughout the 20 minute episode it wasn’t clear how much time had passed since the accident. I reckon the writing is to blame for this, as it tends to replace a lot of events that would show him navigating his new life with “a few months have passed.” Second, the way the lead boy behaves is not at all believable. It’s a three year time span that he lost, but apparently he can still enter high school after just eight months of self-study? I don’t buy that at all. Re-Main glosses over so many details which would have been compelling in their own right and focuses on the water polo part, but it doesn’t actually show us a match, leaving me disinterested in both aspects of the show. Just like the amnesiac protagonist, it’s better to erase this water polo series from our memories.

Potential: 10%

Lenlo: I… what? What are these scribbles? Is this how badly MAPPA is running out of animators? I know that staff/animators are leaving en masse, op-eds about hellish working conditions are being published, and people are literally going to the hospital there but come on! What’s that Wooper? Get off my soapbox? Fine, back to Re-Main. My general impression is one of utter boredom. Visually, narratively and tonally there is absolutely nothing that engages me about this show. Maybe it can get a story out of the family working through the effects of the MC’s coma but that’s about it. But all of that aside, you wanna know what the real crime is? That MAPPA couldn’t even give us some quality butts. Seriously, you’re going to give every guy in a show about speedos and swimming some cardboard asses? Are they all Ken dolls?! I’m very disappointed.

Potential: 0%

Summer 2021 First Impressions: Sonny Boy, Scarlet Nexus, Peach Boy Riverside

Sonny Boy

Short Synopsis: Infinite Ryvius but set in the only place scarier than space: High School.

Armitage: I can safely assume that most of you reading this have not seen HBO’s The Leftovers, though I highly recommend you do so as I consider it to be the best story I have experienced in all of entertainment media. Sonny Boy’s core concept is basically a rip-off of The Leftovers but set in a more constrained setting of a high school, because anime. There are also elements of Lord of the Flies, the art is reminiscent of Anthem of the Heart and the school kids have superpowers, because anime. Basically, it’s not a highly original setup. But it’s the presentation of all these disparate elements conjoined together that makes for an incredibly arresting viewing experience.

The world, well… the school, truly feels like an actual place with paint coming off from the walls and iron rails covered in patches of rust. This is very much a place that’s been standing for years, maybe decades. Even with the empty void that surrounds it, it feels like a place that people lived in. A place now inhabited by a cast of somewhat emo teenagers who just want to escape. To be anywhere but here. The ‘punishment rules’ in place are supposed to mirror a totalitarian governing system and I do believe the superpowers and lack thereof would lead to some scenarios of prejudice reminiscent of BnHA and MP100. But while watching this premiere, I couldn’t help but get that nagging feeling of having seen it all before. That is until the last 30 seconds of the episode when Sonny Boy took a deep dive into uncharted territory. There’s every chance that it might still end up rehashing established genre tropes but it’s given itself a solid opportunity to stand out as something more than the sum of its parts.

Potential: 80%

Lenlo: I’ll be frank: I have no idea what this show is. High school? That’s normal. Superpowers? Ok, we’ve seen it before. Transported to another world? All’s good in the hood! Yet Sonny Boy’s strange mix of them all feels… unique. Perhaps that’s just the mystery of the whole thing tinting my perception. Whatever the case though I am intrigued by what Sonny Boy is doing, even if it doesn’t yet make any sense. Meanwhile production wise Sonny Boy is right up my alley. The loose style reminds me a lot of Yuasa’s more fluid, low-detail character designs – the kind that tend to allow his team to distort the bodies to really fit the movement they are trying to sell. Top that off with some great effects work on the powers, such as shattering the entire screen (plus some iffy CGI), and you have my hope for the season (he says after watching one show so far :p).

Potential: 70%

Scarlet Nexus

Short Synopsis: A psychokinetic teen and his childhood savior fight against alien flower monsters.

Wooper: I’ve seen some recent pushback against the habit of calling anime adaptations “advertisements for the source material.” I get why people are moving away from the phrase, since it paints with too broad a brush, but a series like Scarlet Nexus demonstrates why it became prominent in the first place. The show started airing just days after its parent video game’s release, and it’s so disinterested in its own story that spending 60 dollars on the game seems worth it, if only to avoid the anime. Characters talk in bullet points, introducing themselves and providing background information with robotic precision. The very second they’re finished reading their lines, aliens appear, creating a sterile transition into unexciting combat scenes. A little girl unleashes a classic cry of “Momma!” as a means of motivating the rookie protagonist to join the battle and Save the Children. If you’ve ever read or watched a piece of dystopian fiction, Scarlet Nexus won’t have anything new to offer you (apart from its bizarre antagonists, which might best be described as legged floral arrangements).

Potential: 10%

Lenlo: As far as sci-fi video game adaptations go Scarlet Nexus is… fine? Wooper hits all the notes above, it’s a straight laced, stereotypical dystopia with a sci-fi aesthetic. And the sad part? I actually think the video game looks better. The outfits are clearly designed for 3D models and are far too complicated to animate any complex actions. Meanwhile the pacing, as Wooper points out, is more suited for a game than it is a 24 minute-per-week TV show. In fact I actually went and watched the opening hour of the playthrough and I think you would get more value out of just watching the cutscenes or a Let’s Play of that game than you would watching this anime. I don’t know whose idea this series was but the money would probably have been better spent taking everything they put into this and instead recycling it back into the game.

Potential: 5%

Peach Boy Riverside

Short Synopsis: A runaway princess meets a demihuman rabbit who then follows her to repay her debt.

Lenlo: I don’t think there is a single unique or creative thought in this show. It’s a medieval fantasy with a big-breasted female lead and shallow racism that, for some reason, our lead has never heard of and doesn’t believe in despite growing up in this world just like anyone else. There’s nothing about Peach Boy that in any way catches my eye, except maybe like… the cute rabbit monster.

Potential: 1%

Mario: Apparently Peach Boy Riverside’s director chose to rearrange the source material for the anime, which explains why it starts in media res. It’s not that hard to grasp the story, though, as it’s pretty straightforward. So far it’s a road trip where the main girl finds out about demihuman discrimination and her own bloodlust, but neither she nor her discoveries are appealing so far. The way Peach Boy tackles discrimination is totally on the nose, and the fact that she was previously unaware of it is so unnatural. Moreover, what I found most underwhelming is how it approaches the story. The tone is all over the place, to the point we have no idea if certain scenes are supposed to be funny or not. In one sequence, when offered octopus, the main girl immediately thinks of tentacle sex. The way the show focuses on her bouncy boobs, the rabbit girl’s habit of wearing a modern school uniform despite the fantasy setting… all the obvious otaku pandering left a distasteful impression on me. (sigh) I did have some hope for the show before watching it, but with its generic setup, shallow exposition and thinly-written characters, Peach Boy Riverside sets the bar incredibly low for this Summer season.

Potential: 0%

Spring 2021 Summary – Weeks 12-13

Wooper: It’s just me, myself and I for the last of the season’s recap posts. I’ve gone through a bunch of shows over the past few months, and dropped a fair few of them – here are the series that still had my attention at spring’s end. (Also, I won’t be running this column over the summer, so it’ll be up to a different author to pick up the torch if they’re interested!)

Yoru no Kuni – 1-2

Now here’s an interesting project. Yoru no Kuni is directed by ryo-timo (animator of the iconic running scene from The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) and features music from Aimer (whose songs have served as EDs for After the Rain and Vinland Saga). These are both artists whose work I enjoy, so I’d follow this ongoing web series regardless of its merits, but thankfully it’s quite good. In both episodes, a noble half-avian creature named Yoru serves as a guide for a troubled child, entering their dreams and gently prompting them to resolve their emotional issues. There’s a painterly look to Yoru’s “Night World,” as he calls it, where shooting stars, glittering hillsides and luminous butterflies have their own unique textures. Despite that brightness, watching Yoru no Kuni is a soothing experience, with visuals that don’t grab your eyes so much as they caress them. The second episode is noteworthy for maintaining a dreamlike feeling despite the questions of its older and more cynical subject, who nevertheless has a profound epiphany within her dream. Both episodes can be found at [these] [links] if you’re interested – I highly recommend them if you’re into animation with a storybook vibe.

Continue reading “Spring 2021 Summary – Weeks 12-13”

Summer 2021 Season Preview

Lenlo: Spring 2021 had a lot of hopes riding on it, from sequels like My Hero Academia S5, Zombieland Saga and the final season of Fruits Basket to new adaptations like Super Cub, To Your Eternity and Shadows House. Even originals got a chance to shine with works like Odd Taxi taking everyone by surprise! Sadly Summer 2021 has none of that and might in fact be one of the emptiest seasons we’ve seen in awhile. Sequels like Higurashi are going unnoticed as the remake appears to have fallen flat, though some might be excited for another season of Slime Isekai. Meanwhile adaptations feel like they are scraping the bottom of the barrel with works like Bokutachi no Remake – the lone hope there perhaps being The Detective is Already Dead. And originals? Well originals are my sole hope for the season as Sonny Boy has me all kinds of excited.

Think I’m being pessimistic? Well read on, take a look and let us know down below what you think is worth keeping an eye out for this summer! You have no idea how much I want you to prove me wrong and point out some good anime to me. Please, I can’t have Throwback Thursday be the only good thing I watch this season.

This poll is no longer accepting votes

What will you be watching this summer?
  • Sonny Boy (30 votes)
  • Vanitas no Carte (16 votes)
  • Hamefura S2 (13 votes)
  • Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon S (13 votes)
  • Tantei wo Mou, Shindeiru (11 votes)
  • Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sotsu (10 votes)
  • Peach Boy Riverside (9 votes)
  • Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid (9 votes)
  • Slime Isekai S2 Part 2 (9 votes)
  • Shiroi Suna no Aquatope (8 votes)
  • Kageki Shoujo!! (7 votes)
  • 100-man no Inochi S2 (6 votes)
  • Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai! (6 votes)
  • D_CIDE Traumerei the Animation (5 votes)
  • Meikyuu Black Company (5 votes)
  • Scarlet Nexus (5 votes)
  • Uramichi Oniisan (5 votes)
  • Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki (4 votes)
  • Getter Robo Arc (4 votes)
  • Bokutachi no Remake (3 votes)
  • Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi (3 votes)
  • Magia Record S2 (3 votes)
  • Mahouka Koukou no Yuutousei (3 votes)
  • Night Head 2041 (3 votes)
  • Re-Main (3 votes)
  • Cheat Kusushi no Slow Life (2 votes)
  • Kanojo mo Kanojo (2 votes)
  • Love Live! Superstar (2 votes)
  • Ore, Tsushima (2 votes)
  • Seirei Gensouki (2 votes)
  • Deatte 5-byou de Battle (1 vote)
  • Megami-ryou no Ryoubo-kun (1 vote)
  • Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu (1 vote)

Middling Expectations

Peach Boy Riverside

Studio: Asahi Production
Director: Shigeru Ueda
Series composition: Keiichirou Oochi
Source: Manga

Mario: The Peach Boy Riverside manga is written by Cool-kyou Shinja, a creator involved in two other adaptations this season: Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon and Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi (though they only did character designs for the latter). Now, if you’re expecting Peach Boy to be in the same domestic comedy style as Maid Dragon or I Can’t Understand What My Husband is Saying, you couldn’t be more off the mark. From the little I’ve read of the manga, this is going to be a straightforward fantasy shounen show with slightly darker and more twisted characters. Asahi Production is not a big studio name, and the same goes for the director, whose first series in the big chair aired just three years ago. Series composer Oochi is more prolific, having written for comedies like Hinamatsuri and dramas like Oregairu’s recent third season. Will he be able to pull from his experience in both of those genres to elevate Peach Boy’s middle of the road source material? The odds aren’t great, but only time will tell.

Continue reading “Summer 2021 Season Preview”

SSSS.Dynazenon – 10-11

Looks like Dynazenon’s format-breaking episode arrived in its tenth week, rather than its ninth. “Which Memories Do You Regret?” was a challenging piece of work, much like Gridman’s “Dream,” and though I don’t think this season’s experiment went over quite as well as the previous one, the shake-up was appreciated. It wasn’t just the ‘kaiju of the week’ formula that received an adjustment, either. The character designs were noticeably looser – more angular in motion, yet rounder (and occasionally deformed) in close-up. “More with less” was the animation director’s mission statement for this one, as moments like Yomogi bursting through the barrier to Yume’s past were made hectic by limited frame counts, yet he still found time to slow down for a sisterly heart-to-heart in the second act. This assortment of styles put me in mind of the late Osamu Kobayashi, who surely would have enjoyed this episode for its aesthetic detours. That probably means a lot of other people didn’t like it, but hey, Dynazenon wasn’t built to be a crowd favorite.

Continue reading “SSSS.Dynazenon – 10-11”

Spring 2021 Summary – Week 11

Wooper: We’re bringing back the pre-column author’s notes this week! Not for anything too exciting – just a heads up that there won’t be a recap post on June 21st, since that’s Summer 2021 Preview day. We’ll do a final Spring Summary on the 28th, though, before jumping straight into first impressions mode. Seasonal anime never stops running, and neither do we!

Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song – 12

Helghast: What kind of super AI records in a 4:3 format and has an antique VHS overlay when recounting Vivy’s one hundred year journey? With that kind of tech, maybe it came to the conclusion that humanity has become stagnant and that AI should replace them to continue to evolve much like how children end up replacing their parents in the long term just with killer robots and apocalyptic imagery. Speaking of killer robots, that entire mission could not have gone more poorly for Vivy and her crew trying to take down the Archive. Everyone is dead and humanity got its ass kicked by hundreds of thousands satellites falling from the sky. I’m glad that Toak brought some rifles to the party and there were some awesome sequences, including a fight with the archive that bordered on abstract art.

Unlike Teppei’s other works of Re:Zero, there are no more retries. The autosave overwrote the timeline where Osamu is still alive and placed Vivy at the door of the final boss. At least Vivy finally has an answer to her question of what her heart is. I suspect it has something to do with her own desires and dreams of protecting those close to her and conveying those strong passions through her singing. With next week’s episode title being “Fluorite Eye’s Song,” I certainly hope that it will be a banger to close off a spectacular original show.

Continue reading “Spring 2021 Summary – Week 11”

Spring 2021 Summary – Week 10

Bishounen Tanteidan – 5-6

Wooper: There was a reason I opted not to follow Bishounen Tanteidan on a weekly basis, and this hour of the series showcased it beautifully; for me, listening to this author’s dialogue is like overdosing on Ambien. All of his characters talk circuitously, and they don’t manage to generate intrigue in the process, either. Take episode 5, for instance – in its final minutes, all Doujima needs to do to expose Lai as a cheater is watch him carefully, since she knows he’s taking cues from an invisible man. Instead, we have to suffer through her internal monologue about concentrating all her thoughts on a single point, which leads her to realize that she has to look “at her own self” because she’s been accepted by her new friends, who she really wants to help by exposing Lai as a cheater. See how we looped around to where we started? This show is full of shit like that, and even when it’s not skipping Composition 101 to do donuts in the parking lot, it’s engaging in gab sessions about art that have nothing to do with the smaller stories it wants to tell (see episode 6). When even a windbag like me can’t appreciate your meandering script, you know something has gone sideways. Dropped.

Continue reading “Spring 2021 Summary – Week 10”