Shoushimin Series S2

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

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

Zatsu Tabi: That’s Journey

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

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

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

Summer Pockets

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

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

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

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

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

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

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

Your Forma

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

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

Bye Bye, Earth S2

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

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

Lazarus

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

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

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

The Dinner Table Detective

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

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

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

Witch Watch

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

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

Shin Samurai-den Yaiba

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

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

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

Kowloon Generic Romance

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

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

The Gorilla God’s Go-To Girl

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

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

The Beginning After the End

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

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

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

Wind Breaker S2

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

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

From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman

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

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

Rock wa Lady no Tashinami deshite

Short Synopsis: A former rock guitarist discovers that the most popular student at her elite girls’ academy is secretly a top class drummer.

Mario: Just like the disorientation of its first scene, Rock wa Lady is a clash of two extremes – a splash into a perfect lady society if you will. Appropriately, the style is that mix of shoujo drama you would normally associate with this setting, and crazy, wild expressions from our duo that don’t stray so far from insanity / yandere tropes. But that alone doesn’t make this a promising premiere, so it helps that we have two other factors that also work quite well. First, Lilisa’s pent-up anger about this strict society is easy to root for. The way she feels she has to put on a mask to become a perfect lady, plus her lost rock passion (which she learned from her father) create the perfect fuel to just blaze out. And second, the rock performance at the end is a feast for the eyes and a roar for the ears. So far, its formula works, adding another solid recommendation to the girls’ rock band genre.
Potential: 50% – just for the hair alone.

Wooper: Rock is a Lady’s Modesty certainly makes a big first impression, both in its opening scene and its opening episode as a whole. That first scene’s abrupt cuts between the polite, piano-backed introduction to Oushin Girls’ Academy and the pounding drumbeat played by its star student quickly lay out the show’s main theme: conflict between societal expectations (respectable ladies shouldn’t play rock music) and personal desires (hell yes they should). Our main character isn’t this reclusive drummer, but rather a peer with impossibly styled twintails who discovers her secret and picks up a guitar to reveal one of her own – and thus a musical partnership is born. Aside from their restrictive setting, there are a handful of wrinkles that lend some interest to the story, the biggest one being the drummer’s curse-laden critique of Miss Twintails’ six-string skills. Glimpses of the guitarist’s backstory also reveal that she once quit playing music in dramatic fashion, likely when her mother got remarried to her rich-ass husband. She still loves to shred, however, as evidenced by the premiere’s closing musical duel, which combines hard rock instrumentation with both 2D and 3D animation to strong effect. All we have so far is Rock wa Lady’s debut single, but I’d say it shows more than a little promise.
Potential: 60%

Anne Shirley

Short Synopsis: An excitable orphan girl experiences the highs and lows of the adoption process in late 19th century Prince Edward Island.

Wooper: Classic revivalism has been a consistent force in recent years, from Rumiko Takahashi adaptations to reimaginings of manga like Devilman and Trigun, but I’d argue that Anne Shirley has more to live up to than any of those series. Not only was the original show (Anne of Green Gables) a landmark work, but the novel from which its story is derived is beloved the world over. With that in mind, I was prepared for disappointment upon double clicking this first episode – but even though I have one major nitpick, I came away from it feeling quite pleased. The animation is modest, but it works in harmony with the character designs to make Anne’s mood swings intimidating and her intelligence charming. The character most charmed by her is Matthew, who’s a lot more upfront about his affection for her in this version, which is a change I liked. Marilla comes across as suitably stern, and the way she softens ever so slightly during that pivotal carriage ride she shares with Anne had me smiling. Full marks for the characters, then, but my big criticism is the art direction, especially the textures applied to the sky, which try and fail to mimic the look of canvas. The splendor of nature is one of Anne’s biggest fixations (both the character and the series itself), so I wish the team had taken another path there. Still, I’m happy with all the initial positive signs for this series, and I hope it will be enjoyed by plenty of children across the Pacific.
Potential: 75%

Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers

Short Synopsis: The muscleheaded son of a human hero and a magical android sets out to confront his parents’ would-be assassin.

Wooper: Dual Rulers opens with a stained glass “the legend so far” lore dump before transitioning into a metal opening theme with blast beats for days. I know nothing whatsoever about Guilty Gear, but this shit still made me feel like I was back in high school. Uncanny nostalgia aside, this episode was a little weak, but its exaggerated weirdness made up for some of that. We’ve got guys named Leo Whitefang and Sol Badguy starring in the same show as the president of the United States – oh, and there’s a smug U.S. senator who shows up to a party looking like this. The narrator introduces new characters in the most pompous tone imaginable, and sometimes interrupts the story to explain what they’re thinking, since some of them are so dumb it’d be hard to tell otherwise. The dumbest of them all has to be protagonist Sin Kiske, who’s introduced during a fight with a bear and whose catchphrase is, of course, “I’m hungry!” The battles here are a mixed bag; they’re full of sick poses and bold effects work, but the triple take camera moves and occasional split screen shots wore on me after a while. I don’t know if I’ll watch another episode, but the show certainly has style.
Potential: 25%

Kijin Gentoushou

Short Synopsis: A 19th century swordsman trains to defeat demons in an effort to protect his village’s priestess.

Lenlo: Honestly, Kijin had me in the first half. I was invested in this cast, the setting, the leads conflict between personal love/desire and his duty to the village, all of it. Sure, the hour-long premier felt really slow. I agree with Wooper that it probably didn’t need to be this long, despite the fact that it actually used that hour pretty well, showing us the cast’s entire history and setting up the rest of the show. But I was bought in, Great Value Kimetsu no Yaiba had my attention by actually spending time with and focusing on the cast’s relationships with each other. But then it got into the fighting and overarching conflict, which it definitely doesn’t have the production to support if this big special hour long premier is anything to go by, I sort of just… lost all interest? It killed off half the cast, removed one of the most interesting relationships to me, and turned into this “Journey across the country to hunt a demon” story we’ve seen dozens of times before. Maybe it can do something interesting with the antagonist and their relationship with Jinta as it goes, but with how bluntly Kijin is written and how black and white their conflict is, I’m not interested enough to stick it out.
Potential: 25%

Wooper: Kijin Gentoushou is the latest anime to receive a one hour premiere, and I have to say, it used those additional minutes effectively. That’s not to say I personally enjoyed its whopper of a prologue, because I didn’t, but the extra time spent on the characters’ histories should alleviate the series’ need for disruptive backstory going forward. Those histories involve the sword-wielding protagonist Jinta and his two sisters, one biological and possessed by a demon, and one adopted and sworn to protect their village from demons. That’s not a bad setup by any means, but the storytelling is so stark that it ended up losing me halfway through. Whether its characters are meeting for the first time, confessing their love, or betraying one another, they act as though they’re mere agents of fate, giving the story an inhuman feel. The premiere’s climactic moment sees its major villain deliver the line, “Screw this world! AND SCREW YOU!” which should give you an idea of how blunt things can get. With its overarching conflict established, Kijin Gentoushou is now free to tell the tale of Jinta’s 170 year journey to the present day, which could result in some worthwhile individual episodes. I can’t say that I’m interested in the story as a whole, however.
Potential: 20%

Once Upon a Witch’s Death

Short Synopsis: A young witch learns she has only a year left to live, and to lift this curse she must travel the country collecting tears of joy for the ritual to undo it.

Lenlo: I don’t understand the need for the whole “Death curse” portion of the show. Do you really need an excuse for a teenage witch to travel around a fantasy world, getting involved with all manner of trouble and exaggerated cast members? How am I supposed to take this seriously when everyone treats it so relaxed, not even bothering to tell/prepare her until a year before it goes down. Maybe if Aru Majo took a Frieren approach, focusing on appreciating your life and all the people that make it what it is, this could work. We could have gotten almost the thematic flipside of Frieren, seeing how someone young interprets the world rather than an elf. I guess it tries to do that with little Iris, but it feels very surface level. I spent almost the entire runtime looking at my watch marveling at how slowly time moved when watching something with no passion or interest behind it. If you’re really desperate for a cute witch show, maybe Aru Majo will be of service? Personally though, this feels vapid even for that.
Potential: 1%

Catch Me at the Ballpark!

Short Synopsis: A concession worker and a pair of security guards go about their days at the baseball stadium where they’re employed.

Wooper: Every once in a while a show will debut that reminds me of Giant Killing, which is still (15 years after its initial airing) the sports anime with the widest ever scope. That soccer series centered around a manager and his team, as you might expect, but it also made time to tell stories about their fans, the team’s ownership, and the sports media. Ballpark de Tsukamaete takes an even less common path, to the point that it’s not really a sports anime at all, but a workplace comedy starring a beer girl that happens to be set at a baseball stadium. Its premiere tells of her flirtatious, cringe-inducing quest to secure her first regular customer, along with a slightly better side story about a pair of security guards who help her handle a lost child. It could go the Giant Killing route and deepen its cast to cover multiple aspects of its sport, but even if Ballpark pulled that off, its poor visuals would keep it at the bottom of the league. Bargain bin animation is one thing, but if your story is set at a baseball stadium and you can’t manage to make it look remotely appealing, nobody is going to pay your ticket price. And just look at the second screencap above – I don’t think an art department has ever struck out harder in their attempt to depict a baseball field in an anime.
Potential: 0%

Lenlo: Wooper basically hits the nail on the head. Ballpark fails in basically every area a sports show usually excels in. The flirtatious beer girl is a miss, neither cute nor fun to watch, and the baseball is so dull ugly that I’d honestly rather watch actual baseball, because at least then I’d have something moving on my screen.
Potential: 0%