Shakunetsu Kabaddi

Short Synopsis: Guy gives up on his dream to be a Livestreamer to find joy in touching other guys instead.

Armitage: How about that! I was not expecting this to be anywhere near as good as it was. I’m still left here grinning even after finishing the premiere a while ago. Most of you might not be aware of the existence of this sport called Kabaddi but over here, we all basically invented it. Like literally, look it up, we did. While I have never played it myself (for some reason, most other girls my age were not thrilled by the idea of being grabbed and pulled to the ground. A shame, indeed), I did see the boys at my school play it during recess. And though it was and never has been the most aesthetically pleasing of sports, you gotta admit that there is a great deal of skill required to excel at it. And Burning Kabaddi manages to bring that out so charmingly well. Obviously, this is still a traditional sports anime where a group of guys are gonna learn the value of friendship through team sports but what could have been a sub-standard premiere bogged down by the evidently minimal budget and genre trappings is turned into a fun, light-hearted romp mainly because of a very lovable protagonist in Yoigoshi. The banter between him and the other members of the club forms the heart of the premiere and yes, even with the Kaiji narrator voice yelling StRuGgLe every 2 mins, I just couldn’t help but be on board with what’s on offer here. This one’s a keeper for me.

Potential: 75%

Mario: Like most anime fans, my experience with the rules of Kabaddi games comes purely from a Chio-chan segment, but this premiere did a decent job of introducing the game, with fun, albeit stock characters to boot. So the subject is fun to explore, but judging the show purely from a sports show’s lens it’s as typical as you can get. The main kid gets introduced and then “forced” to join the club, which I didn’t take very well. Everything else is fun (and educational) so I will spend at least another episode to see if I’m up for some kabaddi in my life.

Potential: 30%

Mashiro no Oto

Short Synopsis: A shamisen prodigy moves to Tokyo and gets involved with a cast of eccentric characters [or, Your Lie in December].

Wooper: This premiere isn’t a good litmus test for the series as a whole. Mashiro no Oto is an extracurricular club show, but this prologue never set foot in high school, or any school for that matter. Instead, it followed a wandering teenage dropout through Tokyo as he became embroiled in a bunch of other people’s lives – people who may not reappear on screen for quite a while. There’s a good one-cour anime to be made about that premise alone, but since Mashiro no Oto has to jam so many betrayals and romantic developments into a scant 20 minutes, its first episode left me feeling underwhelmed. The main character involves himself in other peoples’ affairs too easily (despite his otherwise reserved personality), and the background of the cabaret girl who houses him is disappointingly derivative (aspiring actress with a heart of gold). The contrast between them is interesting: he has incredible talent but no drive, while she fails countless auditions but stays motivated, at least at first. If the show had taken things more slowly, their stories could have run in parallel for quite a while, and something intriguing may have come of it. I’ve got no interest in heading back to high school, though, so one hyper-condensed episode is enough for me.

Potential: 30%

Armitage: Man, that is a whole lot of subplots. We have Arima Kousei ver. 2021 grieving over the death of his grandpa, Emma Stone from La La Land, a womanizing guitar player. I mean, slow down show, you’re just getting sta— anddd we’ve got a SWAT team. Brilliant.

Still, even with its million miles a minute approach to storytelling, I actually quite like Mashiro no Oto. And a lot of the goodwill it gets from me is owed to the way it sounds. The soundtrack in itself is fine but all the performance pieces featuring the Shamisen are simply incredible. Maybe a lot of it is due to the fact that I am unfamiliar with the instrument but the show does make its beauty carry through. So, props for that. Secondly, the voice acting. Arima #2 comes from a rural town and the way it shows through in his mannerisms and the influence of the dialect in his voice was a really nice touch which reminded me a lot of Barakamon. Another plus. Lastly, the direction in which the show is headed seems to involve the guitarist boyfriend playing a central role. And while I personally despise infidelity more than anything, I would be interested to see if the show is able to make me care for someone clearly painted in a negative image from the start. So, yeah, I’m intrigued enough to keep watching. But seriously show, slow the hell down!

Potential: 60%

Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song

Short Synopsis: An AI aspiring to be an idol thinks it’s a good idea to trust a talking teddy bear who says he’s from the future.

Mario: If the personnel involved hasn’t suggested this to you already, Vivy is certainly one of the most ambitious anime of the season so far. From Re:Zero author Tappei Nagatsuki and collaborator Eiji Umehara, the double-length premiere establishes a strong hook with urgency and a morally grey premise of an android that has to destroy her kind to save humanity. Diva appears a bit of a wet blanket at first as the robotic version of Violet Evergarden, but by the second half she’s sufficient enough to carry the story. It’s the dynamic between her and the “Bear” that proves to be the most interesting aspect as we can see the difference in how they approach their “missions”, and the tension between them because they have different sets of values in mind. While the world-building suggests many potential plot threads, the main quest is so far strong and inviting, and the production is gorgeous with rich animation. Vivy has a lot of potential to become a breakout hit this season.

Potential: 50%

Armitage: Robot good, Hooman bad? Well, that seems like a disingenuous reduction of the message Vivy seems to be going for but we’ve just had far too many iterations of stories which handle this theme. Though, thankfully, Vivy does manage to stand out and then some. A lot of it boils down to Studio Wit’s stellar production in creating a world that feels like a cross between Guilty Crown and Psycho Pass. The one thing that especially stood out to me is the contrast in movement and how slightly robotic the motion of all the AIs (even the futuristic ones) feels as compared to all the humans. A small touch but impressive nonetheless.

Coming to the story, our lead AI, Vivy, has been chosen by a “Professor” from the future and tasked to kill all of her kind to save the lives of all of his kind. But the catch here is that she has a messenger from the future who’s to accompany her along this noble journey of mass genocide. But what this teddy bear shaped messenger also serves as is the world’s most sadistic history book where the recorded past hasn’t happened yet, and some of it cannot be changed no matter how painful it may be. Therein lies the story’s main hook and frankly, it’s a damn good one. My only gripe so far is that the writing feels a bit too expository but granted that it’s Re:Zero’s writer at the helm, you just gotta make your peace with it. All in all, after the end of the second episode, I like Vivy way more than I did after the first. And if the show manages to keep up with the trend, we might be in for one hell of a ride.

Potential: 80%

Jouran: The Princess
of Snow and Blood

Short Synopsis: Emo magical-girl show set in period Japan.

Lenlo: Everything about Jouran screams that it’s trying too hard. It has this futuristic Tokyo reminiscent of Osaka in last year’s Akudama Drive. But where that leaned into its campy sci-fi setting and story, Jouran is taking itself way too seriously. Everyone is stiff backed and talks as if showing emotion is a cardinal sin. Meanwhile the story throws us right into the middle of some kind of monster espionage, something the Mars Red premiere did far better I feel. At least the background and world building itself is good. Jouran makes good use of bright, rich colors to offset the dark outfits of the leads and dreary outside world. And as janky as it sometimes looks in motion, I do like the breath effect on the monsters’ faces revealing their skulls, it helps sell their otherworldly nature. I just wish… I just wish Jouran knew that it was an alternative history steampunk monster show as much as we did. Because it would really benefit from toning down the grimdark and toning up the characters.

Potential: 35%

Armitage: Sigh. I was so excited for this one. It had all the ingredients for success I look for in a series: Strong female lead, an interesting world brimming with personality, gorgeous character art, yet the whole thing doesn’t ever come together. The story of Jouran takes place in a lovingly crafted Meiji era setting, featuring all the period accurate umbrella-crossbows, lightsabers and shapeshifters. Yet, it somehow manages to make its world feel so very hollow. There is some anti-shady organization, going about some anti-shady mission to stop some shady people from doing some shady thing. You are never given a reason to care for anything. No matter how stylized and pretty the characters look, they just come off as empty husks solely present for plot progression. Jouran is setting itself to be a monster-of-the-week action show but it doesn’t boast the animation chops to back it up and ultimately, its decision to sacrifice on character writing turns it into the last thing you’d expect from a show featuring said umbrella-crossbows, lightsabers and shapeshifters: a generic slog.

Potential: 25%

Shaman King

Short Synopsis: There’s a tournament for spirit mediums to control the fate of the world or something [or, JoJo’s Basic Adventure].

Armitage: Man, them skittles just keep tumbling down on their own. So far two of my highly anticipated premieres from the season have managed to disappoint me. And not in the same vein as shows from last year which were let down by the production difficulties. My main issue with Shaman King (and Jouran) is that it’s built up on a premise and characters so generic that not scrolling aimlessly on your phone during its runtime becomes a monumental achievement. From the talking bobble-head of a sidekick to the run-of-the-mill delinquent baddies to the tediously unfunny comic relief, everything is so drenched in a salad dressing of mediocrity that it’s near impossible to see the healthy stuff underneath. I mean, I really want to like this show as its entire atmosphere just feels so reminiscent of the good ol’ days of early 2000s shounen staples but unfortunately, this premiere just feels like a mere regurgitation of those very tropes. For now, I am going to stick with it since I was informed by the manga fans that this was expected to have a rocky start. But it better git real gud, real soon.

Potential: 15%

Amun: I’ve never seen the original Shaman King, but I heard it was a shounen OG. I came in hoping for the next Hunter x Hunter. What I got was…a worse DragonQuest? The biggest similarity to Hunter x Hunter was the anatomically incorrect humans – missing was the charm, adventure, or, well…fun. Let’s stay with character designs for a moment: these were really bad – even worse than Gee Gee no Kitaro, somehow. The main character is completely devoid of personality….wait, that’s on purpose?! That’s terrible. The comedy is shout until it’s funny…except I’m not even sure it could have been funny. Underneath all of these glaring problems is an insidious, but fatal flaw – the animation was not good. If you’re going to have a weak plot or mediocre characters, you need something visually interesting – Shaman King had nothing. This is a stinker. But I will keep watching until chibi-Winry Rockbell shows up, so you have until then to get it together, Shaman King!

Potential: 10%

SSSS.Dynazenon

Short Synopsis: Random people need to save the world from monsters by using giant, toy-looking mechs!

Amun: Disclaimer: I don’t know this franchise that well – I’ve only seen the modern SSSS.Gridman, so that’s all I have to go off. As with Gridman, the human story here in Dynazenon is fantastic. And the mech battle scene is so incredibly childish, you wonder how they ended up in the same show. Gridman kept me engaged by exploring the characters and the mystery of the show (even if some viewers didn’t feel fulfilled by the conclusion) – I suspect Dynazenon is going the same route, just with a different quirk or cause. But it’s such a tale of two shows – maybe the human element requires the absurd backdrop, who knows. All that to say – I liked Gridman for the characters and writing, and I see quite a bit of that here in Dynazenon. I just scratch my head at the integration of Dinosaur transformer mechs into a serious story.

Potential: 60%

Mario: All I can say is everything about Dynazenon’s premiere just clicked with me. It reminds me of all the best qualities of its spiritual predecessor, Gridman, while still having confidence enough to be its own thing. The show utilizes visual storytelling that drops hints about the interpersonal lives of our main characters before throwing them together to pilot giant mecha and I absolutely love both halves. We see a glance of these characters coping with their inner struggles through smart yet minimal images: Yomogi slips the cash gift from the guy his Mom dates to the donation box, Yume looks at the calendar from her deceased sister’s room, a shot of a messy room more than informs us on the status of shut-ins Koyomi and Chise. In a show where there is always doubt if the world they are inhabiting is real or not, these characters’ insecurities remain both real and relatable. The complete lack of BGM in the opening, the naturalism of the conversations and the smart visual storytelling set up for a bombastic climax that is pretty much in sync with Gridman’s DNA – if you’re a fan of that show (like I am) then this is a must-see. For once, Dynazenon’s premiere is the product of a team at the top of their game. Here’s hoping they can carry this level of quality throughout its run.

Potential: 80%

Koi to Yobu ni wa Kimochi Warui

Short Synopsis: A womanizing salaryman harasses a high school girl after she saves him from falling down the stairs.

Wooper: Spring 2021 is setting the bar very low with Koikimo as its first premiere (not counting a HeroAca filler episode). Its adult male protagonist isn’t just a pervert – he’s a straight-up psycho. After one of his past sexual partners embarrassed him in front of his underage crush, he shoved a napkin in her face and smeared her makeup, then threatened to pluck out her eyelashes. How anyone could find him tolerable after that display is beyond me – not that he was charming beforehand. The little moans he made after getting a phone call from Ichika (the high schooler) were fucking weird, and his indifference toward her discomfort gave off major predator vibes. Ichika got in a few good jabs as she rejected his advances, but she also called him and left a record of her cell number at one point, so defense clearly isn’t her strong suit. I’d want this show scrubbed from my memory even if it were lavishly produced, but it isn’t – the animation is a notch below competence, and the backgrounds are so poorly conceived that they violate basic architectural principles. Stay clear of this one unless you have a May-December fetish.

Potential: 0%

Mario: In order to make an engaging romance story, the leads need to be likeable enough and you need to sell the chemistry between them. Sadly, based on this first episode Koi to Yobu fails on establishing these factors. While I’m not as salty as Wooper, the male lead is unlikable. Even if you look past the age gap, the fact remains that he has absolutely zero regard for the girl’s feelings, which gives off an off-putting vibe. Real life has taught me that when a person can’t take “no” for an answer, they are the most dangerous. On top of that, his sister and Ichika’s parents have no reservations about their relationship, so it looks like an easy route for her coming to “accept him”. The plot so far doesn’t elevate the romance, sadly – the first episode relies too much on “coincidences” to put these two together. It’s not offensively bad (when it comes to romance anime I’ve seen much worse), but if you, like me, are turned off by this “psycho” boy, or by the alpha-male-eccentric perspective, then it’s best to steer clear of this.

Potential: 20%

Godzilla SP

Short Synopsis: A pair of scientists investigate a string of unnatural occurrences that have something to do with Godzilla… probably.

Mario: Such an intriguing mess this first episode was. If it didn’t say it in the title, I wouldn’t have known that it is from the Godzilla canon, and in this instance that ambiguity works for the show’s benefit. This premiere takes its time building suspense by following our leads investigating strange phenomena, as it’s usually the case that monsters lurk beneath abandoned military buildings like the ones here. The characters sound too smart for their own good but for now the expressive character designs are keeping me engaged. Moreover, I am genuinely impressed by the background art, which looks very textured and detailed. So production-wise, this new version of Godzilla looks pretty good. The story is intriguing but feels uneven at times and I have doubts that it can stick the landing safely. As far as the first episode goes, though, you can bet that I am interested.

Potential: 50%

Lenlo: Mario calls this a mess and he’s right, but it’s not one I take kindly to. Not only did we go an entire 23 minute episode of a show named Godzilla without hide nor hair of the titular monster but instead we got saddled with a bunch of technobabble vomiting pieces of cardboard. That might be a bit of hyperbole however I honestly wasn’t engaged by anything they said or did nor any of the mystery-like premise. Maybe it’s my fault for expecting something else but it really feels like Godzilla has found a way to make giant robots fighting monsters boring. I figured that would be Dynazenon’s territory but someone beat it to the punch. Still, Mario is right that character designs are good and the backgrounds are detailed. Maybe Godzilla will stop feeling like a B-movie monster flick now that the monsters are actually arriving.

Potential: 30%

Mars Red

Short Synopsis: It is the 12th year of the Taisho era and vampires stalk Tokyo, both foreign and domestic. Only Code Zero, Japan’s first vampiric task force, can protect the country and find out where these vampires are coming from.

Lenlo: Mars Red started off much stronger than I expected. The animation is choppy and the whole show being made for ultra wide screen, meaning those bars are coming back, are a concern. But the direction was on point. It’s like Director Kouhei Hatano has taken the words “show don’t tell” and tattooed them on his chest. Whether it be clever recurring use of the plays poster, snappy cuts such as on the bridge implying violence without showing it, or a well placed timelapse. For a show where the animation itself can best be described as “rough” I thought Mars Red looked pretty good. Add on to that some stellar VA work, that “Jokanaan” was chilling, and you have a recipe for something good. My major concern at this point is that this was not in the manga, this entire first episode was anime original and so I don’t think it’s going to be indicative of the final product. If they can keep this tone, this directorial style, as Mars Red shifts to a more stereotypical narrative then I will be happy. I’m just not sure it can.

Potential: 60%

Amun: Mars Red is a show I’m cautiously optimistic about – I mean, Violet Evergarden Vampire Edition sounds pretty good, right? Well….there are some problems. For starters, this first episode was a wee-bit contrived; I’m happy to suspend my disbelief a bit, but come on now. I’m also not entirely sure who the main cast is – probably the blonde dude is the vampire, the journalist girl might be the replacement love interest, but it’s unclear yet if the colonel is going to be the lead or if he was just an introductory vehicle. We might see these characters the rest of the season or one more time in passing. Hard to say – wouldn’t be surprised either way. The animation is overly ambitious for the resources available – there were some particularly rough panning shots. I know what they were going for, but they just don’t have the animators for it. If that’s apparent in episode one, I don’t feel great about the prospects for episodes 7-13. That said, the world looks amazing and the episode’s direction and pacing were spot on (plot holes aside). Unfortunately, too many shows start strong only to fall apart halfway (Wonder Egg Priority, anyone?) – and I smell blood in Mars Red’s waters already.

Potential: 40%