Category: Other:

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%