The Eminence in Shadow

Short Synopsis: A delinquent with delusions of being a hero faces off against his ultimate four wheeled foe – his consolation prize is catgirls.

Amun: This first episode will be Eminence in Shadow’s best. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very good. There was a real chance for something unique here, but alas – cat girls won the day. I guess the premise is a bit different – I don’t remember any delusional delinquent isekai off the top of my head. I do think it’s pretty hilarious that no matter how great a martial artist he was, truck-chan wins in the end (should have been a ninja, I guess). Using a side character as the fake-main in episode 1 is starting to become standard practice, but Eminence just used it as fan-service. This seems like a furry power fantasy show from here on out – so if that’s your thing, then banzai, I guess? I’m personally out.
Potential: 1%

Lenlo: You know, I kind of had a little bit of hope for this show at first. I thought it was doing something clever! Rather than being a generic isekai show, it would instead being about a delusional incel who thinks he has been isekai’d, shown through the lens of his fellow classmates around him so we can see just how insane and maladjusted he is. All the while giving us the classic silly setups and action sequences expected from Light Novel Isekai garbage. But as the show progressed it fell more and more into that classic power fantasy trap. Until right at the end it just… dove headfirst into it. It was quite the disappointment to be honest. And it’s not like the show was very good before that either, it was so boring it reminded me to pay my taxes the day they were due (today). But now it’s lost anything to possibly make it unique, and thus, also my interest.
Potential: 5%

Legend of Mana: The Teardrop Crystal

Short Synopsis: A curly-haired hero decides to help an unfriendly traveler in locating his royal companion.

Wooper: My opinion on this premiere is of virtually no importance, since its parent game is not among the small handful of JRPGs I’ve played, but here it is anyway: The Teardrop Crystal takes a decent stab at creating a living fantasy world, but puts far less effort into writing an interesting cast. On the plus side, the art direction is mostly successful at masking the use of CG background elements, covering furniture with dotted lines to simulate wood grain and choosing convincing textures for greenery during exterior scenes. By contrast, there are moments when the show makes its 3D usage obvious, such as the trees that whip by during moments of high-intensity travel, or the map that springs to life after the main characters lay their hands on a mysterious jade artifact. These moments lean into the series’ fantastical roots in a natural way, so no problems there. My issue lies with the cast, especially the main character Shiloh – he’s the selfless, upstanding, helpful sort who passes his days waiting for something to occupy his attention, which is about as boring as fantasy writing gets. Just as you’re forced to accept a video game’s playable character as your POV because they’re the one you control, we’re forced to see The Teardrop Crystal’s world through his eyes because he’s the character who’s on screen the longest, and for no other reason. RPG fans aren’t likely to think twice about this kind of setup, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I can’t really recommend the show on its own merits.
Potential: 20%

Lenlo: Wooper already gave a good technical look at the series, so I’m going to give a more emotional one. One where I talk about how I couldn’t look away from the lead’s poorly drawn, sticker-lick abs that didn’t fit at all. Or how ridiculous his design is at all. Or how much this first episode felt like a dull JRPG cutscene intro, complete with shoddy PS2 CG and slow, dare I say glacial, pacing. I ended up checking the timestamp every minute or so thinking “We’re almost done right?”, but it never was. I don’t care that this actually is a JRPG adaptation, that’s irrelevant. I just wanted it to be a good JRPG.
Potential: 0%

Bocchi the Rock!

Short Synopsis: A chronically shy high schooler is invited to join an amateur band as a substitute guitarist.

Wooper: This premiere exceeded my expectations by a sizable margin, mostly due to the array of tricks it used in forming its main character’s personality and worldview. Hitori is shy, awkward and friendless, which is a combination of traits possessed by dozens (if not hundreds) of other anime characters, but very few of those anime have taken such a multi-stylistic approach in depicting such a character. From its very first scene, where Bocchi the Rock drains the color from its childhood flashback to signal Hitori’s lack of zeal for life, the show experiments with different ways of illustrating its protagonist’s isolation: narrating her lonely middle school years in song, fencing her off from a happy family during a scene at a playground, using warped camera angles to put as much (or as little) distance as possible between her and her peers, responding to a humiliating moment by rolling the credits midway through the episode, and putting her in claustrophobic spaces like closets, trash cans, or (as in the eventual concert scene) a cardboard box. Hitori’s constant monologuing during the episode infuses these moments with humor, but the script pays respect to her anxiety as well, striking a nice balance of tones that had me rooting for her success. Some of the photographic backgrounds weren’t integrated as well as others, and a few strained line deliveries took me out of the zone while watching, but on the whole I found this episode to be varied, fun and even a bit therapeutic.
Potential: 70%

Mario: Bocchi the Rock is endearing. Granted, a shy, introverted lead is amongst my least favorite character types in anime, but I suppose it’s more due to the way anime tends to exaggerate these traits and offers nothing else in terms of their personality. Here in this episode, we really come to know Hitori and thus can get behind her shyness and her need for attention and acceptance from the peers. As a cherry on top, the show knows how to instill these insecurities while both making it light-hearted enough and never looks down on their characters. I love her self-written song about how she still has no friends despite her effort of learning guitar. I find it relatable the way she finds consolation in the online world instead of the real world. And I enjoy the way she gets dragged into live performing – half-exciting for the opportunity and half-scared if she messes it up. It helps that other band members play a great contrast to Hitori, and so far it helps that the music is pleasant enough. I cannot wait for more. Truly a pleasant “diamond in the rough” for me.
Potential: 55%

Do It Yourself!!

Short Synopsis: A klutzy girl decides to join the DIY club to make things with her own two hands.

Mario: For a CGDCT show, and as a CGDCT resident, I am happy to report that Do It Yourself is a solid offering of this season. The premise is simple and formulic, but it’s how they get there that raises it above the rest. The first strength here is how the episode successfully establishes our main character, Serufu, with just enough personality and charm. She’s a klutz (think of Yui from K-On), but it’s the small moments we witness from her – her struggling to commute from home, her worry towards the growing distance with her best friend – that makes her totally relatable. Second, the visuals are similarly charming with watercolor-like backgrounds, expressive character designs and a unique setting that mixes a present-day town with modern technology (on that note: it feels weird to me that her childhood friend’s main house gate is electronically guarded, but her room window can be easily accessed). Lastly, the topic at hand is DIY projects, which is a great way to showcase the unique spirit of each character as they make things they like with their own hands. It brings out such promising potential that I’ll surely visit Serufu and the gang again next week.
Potential: 50%

Lenlo: Do It Yourself is… It’s fine? The designs are cute I suppose, though not really my style, and it moves and looks good enough. Definitely one of the more expressive, and unique, shows of the season visually. But narratively it’s just your classic Cute Girls Doing Cute Things: Arts and Crafts edition. It’s a Slice of Life cutesy show where nothing is going to happen and you watch it purely for the chill vibes. Sort of like Yama no Susume this season and hiking. If that’s up your alley, then awesome. I think Do It Yourself is probably one of the better chill vibes kind of shows to air in a while. But for me? This 23 minute episode felt like it took an hour to get through. There’s nothing to really get my attention, nothing to hook me, make me sit down, and want to watch more.
Potential: 30%

Bibliophile Princess

Short Synopsis: A young Noblewoman who loves books and a Prince who wants to dodge royal politics get engaged. 4 years later, has this convenient “marriage” run its course? Or will they fall deeper in love?

Lenlo: This is about as Shoujo romance as Shoujo romance gets. And my god is it boring because of that. It’s just so clinical with its dialogue, and the visuals lack any sort of depth to their coloring. It’s all one big bright colored blob. Maybe if the leads had some sort of chemistry I could sit through it. But they have about as much personality as these stock-standard books. Like just look at the other “lords”, they all look exactly the same with slightly different hair colors and eye shapes! I just… This late into seasonal previews, I don’t have the energy to deep dive on just how dull this is.
Potential: 5%

Mario: It’s the damnedest thing when you watch an entire episode and still haven’t a clue what the main story is gonna be. We have an entire episode tracking closely from the POV of our main princess (an attribute I do appreciate), seeing her accepting an arranged marriage just to read books, and falling in love with the Prince, and falling in and eventually out of favors with other hot lords. And the point of all that is… what exactly? Will our Princess become an unlikely villain because of her bitterness? Is it a story of her becoming a victim from the coldness of others that has nothing to do with her? Either way should be fine if the show is more clear about where it wants to go. Visually-speaking, Bibliophile Princess has the traits of typical shoujo (with roses and all that), but the style does run in isolation with the (lack of) romance of the story. As a character, sadly we don’t see much of Elianna’s personality despite staying in her headspace all the time. Her most defining trait is that she loves reading books, but we frustratingly don’t get to know much about books. I have no doubt that we will get a fuller picture in the next episode, but I won’t be around to check out more from the show, all things considered.
Potential: 20%

Shinobi no Ittoki

Short Synopsis: A boy who wants to enjoy a normal life finds out that he’s the future head of a ninja family, which is being targeted by a rival clan.

Amun: If there was an award for how many overused tropes could be incorporated per 20 minutes of airing, Shinobi no Ittoki would take the cake. From the painfully obvious seduction to the big “reveal” of the ninja retainers, this was not well-written. I also really hate the ninja outfits and the weird sci-fi/motorcycle helmets – the fight scenes were mediocre at best. Unlike the delinquent in Eminence in Shadow, ninjas beat truck-chan! Who knew! The masked ninja bodyguard was the only slightly redeeming character, and that’s because she said like 3 lines. Nothing about this stood out in a good way, and I really am not that interested in seeing anything more.
Potential: 1%

Mario: TROYCA studio might be most well-known for their Idolish7 works… you know, a male idol show, but when it comes to Shinobi no Ittoki, the closest point of reference would certainly be their Re:CREATORS. They are both original shows that take a “fresh spin” to their respective tropes. For Shinobi no Ittoki, it’s an old-school feud between two clans in a modern setting. But maybe it was only me who expected the “fresh spin” part because the episode is painfully plain and average in its story and the characters. We can tell the events that happened in this episode ahead right after 5 minutes (that is not a great sight), and to top it off, the way the episode establishes Ittoki’s normal life doesn’t feel remotely believable in the first place. Ittoki isn’t that memorable as the main character himself, so far he’s a step behind everyone, the audiences included, in catching up with the story. I still see the show’s potential, as its main hook – their ninja clan has to fight against the other clan – still hasn’t been fully explored yet, but as far as the first episode goes, it is plain and soul-less.
Potential: 20%

Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei

Short Synopsis: An orphan girl graduates from an alchemists’ academy and prepares to open her own business.

Amun: I mean…yeah. I like the Working!! knock-offs, especially with the mix-in of fantastic and alchemy, but there just isn’t that much to say here. Like, our protag is uninteresting in HER OWN SHOW. That’s a very bad sign – at least make her magnetic to other in-world characters. I feel for her tough upbringing and determination and all…but these kinds of people don’t make interesting stories in reality, let alone in an oversaturated genre. There are nice touches here and there (and the most interesting character is clearly the dashing master). It’s just there’s not that much to write home about here, except that a girl with fanatical effort managed to attract a high level teacher whose strict training made her meet expectations. Then that master sent her off to the countryside to learn something other than books. Yeah, seems super boring on paper…but I’ll probably watch at least half of it – it’s at least cute and calming.
Potential: 25%

Wooper: Why do so many fantasy anime feature schools as the jumping-off points for their main characters? Sure, it’s a familiar concept for teenage audiences (especially in academics-obsessed Japan), but if your work is set in a universe separate from ours, you can go about building it any way you want. Knowledge can be shared within families, passed down from masters to apprentices, or acquired through self-study or trial and error. You can even write stories that don’t require your protagonist to have encyclopedic levels of information rattling around in their heads! That concept is lost on Shinmai Renkinjutsushi, which thought it important to demonstrate its hero Sarasa’s vast alchemical knowledge in this premiere. I don’t know about you all, but I was so proud to see how quickly she recognized cepharantha bulbs, perenalcone sap, filipendula, dryas, woostail, lyratam fruit, apifilliam roots, and armelina fruits during her practical exam. But seriously, this episode was unappealing and tiresome, despite featuring a few cute visual gags (Sarasa’s nose swelling with pride, then snapping off and falling out of frame, for example). It’s yet another medicine-adjacent fantasy show, the bar for which has gotten so low that “there’s no reincarnation element” is supposed to be a selling point. This is an anime for people who are frightened by unpredictability.
Potential: 0%

Futoku no Guild

Short Synopsis: A monster hunter saves several girls from being assaulted by fantasy creatures (but not before the camera captures them at the most exploitative angles possible).

Amun: Oh, I didn’t actually know what this was about. There is legit nothing good here – it’s a playthrough of a Ero RPG. Like, you could go watch one of those Twitch plays (well, I guess not Twitch) of something and it would be more interesting. I regret everything.
Potential: Nah

Lenlo: Aaaaaass and titties, ass ass and titties, aaaass and titties. That’s right, this is your seasonal uncensored, explicit, it might as well be outright porn, ecchi of the season. Is there anything of value or substance here? Does anyone have any personality besides their breast size and fetish category? The answer to those, and similar questions, is no. Like I’m not going to sugar coat it, this show is the seasonal incel wish fulfillment where the MC is a perfect blank slate and the girls exist purely to be sex objects. Even Shield Hero tried harder than this to hide its incel wish fulfillment. I can’t even recommend this show on the basis of just enjoying porn, because at that point you are better off looking up actual porn.
Potential: ⊙⊙/100

Akiba Maid Sensou

Short Synopsis: Two new hires at a maid cafe are tasked with delivering a message to a rival business, but one of them is far more equipped for the job than the other.

Wooper: There’s more to Akiba Maid Sensou than meets the eye, thanks to a theatrical final scene that’s likely to generate a lot of buzz in the coming days (or perhaps it already did, depending on when this post gets published). I’ll refrain from spoiling precisely what occurs in those last few minutes, even though most viewers will be able to sense where the story is headed after the opening flashback, which depicts a maid-on-maid assassination 14 years before the main plot begins. That final sequence is so wild that it will naturally dominate all discussion of this episode, but having seen it, I’m no more likely to watch this show next week than I was before. In fact, the odds of me coming back are lower now than if Akiba Maid had been a dark comedy about a starry-eyed employee getting their soul crushed by a minimum wage job. The show leans in that direction once or twice, but it’s all couched in the knowledge that the girls’ job isn’t what it seems, which detracts from what could have been a decent satirical angle. There is a cute panda at the series’ workplace, though (which is called the Oinky Doink cafe, if you can believe it), so that’s something.
Potential: 5%

Lenlo: You know, I wasn’t sure what to expect going into Akiba Maid Wars. I thought… Are these customer wars? Fighting for market share with silly gimmicks, skimpy outfits and cute girls? And then it opened with a street assassination and I suddenly had no idea what I was in for. Are these actual maid-cafe street gangs? Apparently so cause bitches be dying. To be honest, I had a shocking amount of fun with this. Its stupid, but it feels like Akib knows its stupid. It leaned all in on the Akihabara maid cafe culture with its light-stick weapons and dance routine street fight. As someone who has worked in a maid cafe for 3 years at convention, I appreciated that. I don’t expect Akiba to have much depth to it. It’s going to be weekly maid-themed fight scenes to maid music probably. But that’s more than I expected going into it, and I figure I can have some fun with that. Plus its all about gallows humor, my favorite kind of humor.
Potential: 30%

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

Short Synopsis: A transfer student from Mercury finds herself engaged after getting mixed up in the mecha duel-based hierarchy at her new school.

Lenlo: So I haven’t watched Gundam in like… 15 years. Not since Gundam Wing was on Toonami over on Cartoon Network. I don’t know what the past 2 decades have done to the series, I don’t know if it’s fallen like the Mecha genre as a whole, I don’t even know what the current lore and story is! But I do know this: I had a good time with Mercury. I’m a little blasé about the school setting, just seems a bit too modern moe anime bullshit for me. But everything else was just… Good. The gundams look and move well, actually getting 2D animation vs the 3D CGI we’ve seen in mecha for years. I absolutely adore the MC, Suletta, with all of her little stutters and ticks, and I’m looking forward to seeing how she grows in confidence via her interactions with Miorine. And on top of both of those, there were some really stunning shots spread throughout the episode that made me more excited for a Mecha series than I have for a long time. I have no idea if Sunrise can keep this up or if it will become a CGI fest down the line. But this first episode surprised me a lot, and I’m here for it.
Potential: 80%

Wooper: After watching the Witch from Mercury prologue episode on Gundam Info, my main reservation had to do with the animation designs for the non-mechanical characters. Their thin, swoopy lineart in particular felt insubstantial to me, creating a fear that the show would hyperfocus on the robots and leave the humans to rot. Now that I’ve seen the first episode proper, that fear has been greatly reduced – the show itself features a much wider range of colors than its prologue, which goes a long way in defining each character. That broad spectrum of color applies to the locations, as well, which stretch from the central school’s sleek facilities to its verdant campus and craggy dueling grounds, most of which look great. The duels themselves look great too, and their function as power-based arbitrations for all student conflicts gives the show a “battle high school” hook without being obnoxious about it. (In fact, its use of robot fights to determine mecha heiress Miorine’s fiance is strongly reminiscent of Revolutionary Girl Utena, whose student characters dueled to claim the hand of the Rose Bride.) It remains to be seen whether head writer Ookouchi can successfully connect that premise to the off-campus politics we glimpsed in this premiere; after a casually-ordered and conveniently-retracted assassination attempt on the school’s principal, we’re not off to a great start. But it’s still early days, and the first episode was certainly entertaining, so I’m in for now.
Potential: 70%

Housing Complex C

Short Synopsis: Strange bad events happen to the small town when a group of foreign workers show up.

Amun: This isn’t my normal genre, so take this with a grain of salt (I also don’t really love dubs). I’ve only done a handful of horror-ish shows (Another, Shiki, and recently the first half Summer Time Render), but from what little I know, Housing Complex C seems to start off well. We have some spooky foreshadowing, a cast of decent (and expendable) characters, plus our main lead who is oblivious and happy. There are some funny jump scares and a creepy basement – what more can you really ask for? Also seems to be a lot of falling, judging from the ED. The framework of the show and the “rules” of the world seem pretty straightforward, so it’ll be interesting to see which side each of the characters are on (I guess it depends on their past life?). Or it would be interesting if I had any intention of watching anything further – however, that’s the genre, not any complaints on quality or execution.
Potential: 0% (but that’s me, not the show)

Mario: There are only two notable things about Housing Complex C you need to know – and none of them have to do with the show’s quality itself. First is that for some odd reasons (most likely because of Adult Swim), it’s in English dub. And second, the character designs are handled by none other than the great Yoshitoshi ABe. Both elements don’t really enhance the viewing: the dubbing is uncanny in a bad way, and ABe’s designs are just so-so. In addition, Housing Complex C aims squarely to horror’s zone, but so far it’s more spooky than outright horror. The tone is over the place as they try to mix the normal, uplift conversations from the town villagers to the uncomfortable feeling of having complete strangers swarm over the town. There’s so much inconsistencies in the characters so far (this by design) that it’s hard to get invested in them: Kimi talks to the “invisible Mom” with an extreme closeup to her face. The big guy is likable but we do get the opening scenes of the citizens trying to kill him off. My guess for now is that it’s the village who holds a dark secret full of rituals and Cthulhu and all that. With only 4 episodes, this should be a quick watch, but then again, I don’t see it appealing to anyone but horror fans who want to enjoy a goofy anime this Halloween.
Potential: 10%

Golden Kamuy S4

Short Synopsis: The gang gets ambushed by a mysterious sniper.

Lenlo: Finally, some good fuckin food. Golden Kamuy has come back just as strong and hilarious as it’s always been. In a single episode it manages to reestablish our lead relationships, introduce 2 separate plot threads, introduce Ogata as a main antagonist without him ever setting foot on screen and give me a hilarious interaction between a mute russian and a guy who mere seconds ago wanted to kill him. Maybe it’s because I’m predisposed to already enjoy the show, but this is easily the most fun I’ve had yet with season premiers. I know some people don’t find the humor up their alley, but at this point they probably tapped out of the series a long time ago. If you are still watching 4 seasons in, then not only do you know what Golden Kamuy has to offer, you bloody enjoy it.
Potential: 90%

Mario: Yeah, that was a great episode. Golden Kamuy has an astonishing ability of placing a humorous scene right in the middle of a climax and still feels like the most natural thing in the world. The credit here should be given to its masterful buildup and then release with a middle finger to your face. In this episode alone it happens not only once but twice, for great effect. In addition, the show introduces some new faces and they are just as interesting as the main cast, as though they were the main characters of their own stories. Can’t wait to see what obstacles Sugimoto and Asirpa are gonna face next.
Potential: 75%

Spy x Family Part 2

Short Synopsis: The second half of Spy x Family Season 1, where a spy, an assassin and a telepath must live together as a family without any of them knowing what the others are.

Lenlo: It’s the second half of Spy x Family, don’t act like you don’t know what this is. Production wise it’s still just as solid as it was before. It’s well directed, well animated, and overall just looks good. I have no idea how that will carry for the rest of the season since Cloverworks is involved, but we can at least assume a good number of good looking episodes. As for the content, this is something that actually surprised me. I didn’t think that Spy x Family would dive back into the plot that quickly, especially not that seriously. At the very least I figured a filler episode, or some kind of fluff piece. Instead we come back to bomb threats, death, and Starlight Anya. It was a shockingly good time! I thought I had grown a bit tired of the show after its first season didn’t really live up to my expectations, but this episode reminded me how good it can be. Hopefully it manages to keep it up!
Potential: 70%

Mario: While watching the first season, I remember feeling odd about the dog plot thread that the show forgot about in the finale. Turns out they saved it for the premiere of the second season and I can certainly say that it’s well worth the wait. Immediately the dog feels like a worthy addition, even though he hasn’t met Loid yet – he’s smart, funny and goofy at the same time – all the qualities the Forger members have. As for the episode, well, I feel that this new return has all the distinctive characteristics that made the first season such a hit: the episode looks polished; all the core characters have their time to shine (my favorite: Yor jumps 2-step into the roof out of panicking); the terrorist plot doesn’t overwhelme the fun of watching these dysfunctional members reacting. I have a lot of fun watching it.
Potential: 75%

Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! Double

Short Synopsis: Short hair, well endowed underclassman forces her senpai to have fun in college, despite him just wanting to play videogames all the time.

Amun: Woah, pretty rare to see the season’s finale in the opening seconds. Bold move, Uzaki-chan. That bit aside, we have a key improvement here over the previous season: character designs. It’s interesting to see Studio Engis development and growth on their flagship franchise – I hope the upward trajectory continues. The sketches (3 of them this episode) are crisp and self-contained, albeit a bit flimsy in the plot departments (but not the “plots” department, amirite). I wouldn’t expect anything terribly substantial before the final arc, but this show is still amusing enough. I mean, it could be worse.
Potential: 50%

Yuusha Party wo Tsuihou sareta Beast Tamer, Saikyoushu no Nekomimi Shoujo to Deau

Short Synopsis: Nice animal-loving guy gets kicked out of the hero’s party, because they don’t realize he’s carrying all their bags.

Amun: Cool, so we’re now combining two different mediocre genres – adventurers with slaves and monster tamers. I’m a little surprised there isn’t a slime in sight (and this from someone who likes slimes). Nice guys get harems, I guess? I’m pretty sure that isn’t how it works, but I’d have to check with Andrew Tate to be sure (please don’t cancel me, that’s just a joke). You can tell I was very enthralled with the episode – OP catgirls and super species and yeah, other important stuff. I mean, let’s be honest here, ENGI does this every season or so – puts out a B-tier feel-goodish anime to go along with their headliner. It starts off passably, then completely falls apart by the end. I won’t be fooled again! Okay, I might still watch this though, just for kicks – at least until the production inevitably falls apart.
Potential: 15%

Lenlo: And here we have our required seasonal sad-boi fantasy show of the season. Job/Classes with defined party roles and loot? Teammates/characters designed to be nothing more than blanket assholes for an MC pity party? A power that’s initially presented as useless that’s going to become OP by the end? While it may not be an isekai in name, it’s got all the trappings of one. It even has a magical bond that the MC is no doubt going to put on every member of his all female harem of anthropomorphic animal girls by the end. I don’t know when this became the trend, maybe I should blame Shield Hero for this crap, but it’s starting to get annoying. Anyways, the point is that there is nothing in here that you haven’t seen before. Maybe you’ll like the cat girl, or the dragon girl, or whatever, and manage to have a decent popcorn time with it. But I wouldn’t expect anything more than that from what is, for all intents and purposes, seasonal isekai schlock. Only this time without the isekai. So that’s nice. I guess.
Potential: 10%

My Hero Academia S6

Short Synopsis: Both the heroes and villains are gearing up for their largest confrontation yet, one that will decide the future of Japan and the world at large. Can Deku and the heroes save the day?

Lenlo: The most surprising thing about this premier was that it didn’t start with a 100% anime original recap focused episode. Somehow, some way, BONES managed to jump right into the action. I don’t know what that says about the production schedule. It probably helps that this is the first season in 3 years where they aren’t working on a movie simultaneously, but I hope it’s a sign of things to come. That aside though, let’s be honest, its My Hero Academia. We are 6 seasons in at this point, you know if you like it or not. Personally, for me, it’s going to be my popcorn show of the season. I know this is where Hori’s writing starts to get weaker, but there’s also some epic moments in the arc that I now have a bit of hope will actually get the treatment they deserve. If BONES can just deliver on those then I will be satisfied. My god how my standards have fallen for this show since Season 1.
Potential: 40%

Amun: MHA, you’ve changed. Gone is the underdog feel-good high school life – always a step behind, but with good friends and complex enemies. I mean, our main leads had roughly one line each here. This is now a slick, well-animated ensemble of fan favorites, derived over the last couple seasons, fighting a large-scale battle with global ramifications. And that’s fine, in and of itself, but it’s just not the story I fell in love with. I don’t care about the hero society on a macro level, I just want more Midoriya (and Uraraka). It all feels too big, too fast. I know why the story’s developed to this point and I’m not begrudging the plot development, but I can’t keep telling myself everything’s the same. I guess at some point it’s time to accept that this franchise has scaled up and just enjoy any time with our characters that I can get. Still watching it though.
Potential: 100%

Koukyuu no Karasu

Short Synopsis: An Emperor asks the mysterious consort living deep within the inner palace to help him solve a mystery that will overturn history

Mario: This is purely a set-up episode that introduces the main settings and the main characters – so it’s definitely slow paced – but it gets there with just enough indication about the “rules” of the inner palace, as well as the main characters’ motivations. The result is an introductory episode that does just about enough to tell the main leads with interesting back stories and how they partner up for a current mystery. It’s actually the current mystery that is a weak link here, as I still don’t see the good reasons why the new Emperor Xia Gaojun cares so much about this case, nor does the Raven Consort Shouxue. What the show more than makes up for is establishing Shouxue with a distinctive personality that is both mysterious but lovable at the same time. We also learn about Gaojun’s resolve and while I feel it’s a bit too overblown, his backstory still works well. Then we get the reveal in literally the last seconds and I know I will be back for the second outing. It’s a job well done for Koukyuu no Karasu first episode.
Potential: 40%

Lenlo: As far as seasonal chinese-adjacent historical pieces go… This was decidedly bland. The colors are dull and washed out, and the only design of any note is the female lead. Meanwhile all of the line delivery just feels stiff and lifeless. I get that they are going for a sort of… cool nobility to everyone, but there’s no emotion in anything anyone says. About halfway through there was an engaging scene, both visually and narratively, but right after it ended Koukyuu returned to its bland dullness. It’s like… It’s like the mythology surrounding this world is far more interesting than the world or story itself. There might be something here for those willing to stick with it, you might end up rewarded for that devotion. But personally? This 23 minute episode felt like an hour, and that’s not something I want to repeat every week.
Potential: 30%

Pop Team Epic S2

Short Synopsis: How did Pop Team Epic get a second season when it’s such a shit series?

Wooper: What’s up guys? Welcome back to part 15 of my analysis of Endless Love, the smash hit tokusatsu series starring Aoi Shouta! Before we dive into the video, just a quick reminder – only 95 percent of you guys are subscribed to the channel, so if you haven’t already, be sure to SMASH that notification button and RING the bell for more awesome CONTENT like this. Alright, with that out of the way, let’s just jump straight into it! So in the OP for this episode, we can see Shouta-kun teaming up with another version of himself, which may be the alternate universe Shouta first seen in Gal and Dino, and…wait, why have we suddenly cut to an anime? No, it would be wrong to call this an anime, because it doesn’t have a mature, serialized story for mature viewers such as myself. This…is a cartoon. This doesn’t make me feel Japanese at all! And worst of all, it’s not even funny! Oh, I am definitely tweeting about this. I’ll just open up Twitter and…Pop Team Epic? Wait, this is a real thing? And it actually got a second season? Why didn’t someone simply tell the director to make a better, more accessible show? Great, now it’s repeating the exact same scenes from the first half but with disgusting male voices. Who the fuck would purposely watch something like this?!
Potential: COOL TIME

Lenlo: I’ll never know how serious Wooper is with his lampooning considering Pop Team Epic lampoons itself, but regardless he isn’t wrong about how insane this series is. Pop Team Epic continues to feel like a fever dream that somehow got a budget. If you like over the top meta humor that holds absolutely nothing sacred and takes shots at everything via either obscure jokes or real life slapstick, this might be the series for you. There’s no real story, the characters are openly admitting to being gag cutouts, this is about as pure a comedy series as you can get. It’s just 12 minutes of sketch comedy. A week. Personally? I’m going to watch it because I know that one of these episodes is going to end up being right down my alley. The others will probably be mid, not all comedy hits with all people. But you only need the one episode to have a decent time here. Plus it’s not a big time investment so… why not?
Potential: Is this even anime anymore? I dunno, but it’s fun.

Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita

Short Synopsis: A man dies and is reincarnated as a sword in an RPG world, where he learns tons of sweet skills and is eventually wielded by a catgirl.

Wooper: Of all the fantasy anime to abuse the “RPG menu screens” trope, I think this one abuses it the hardest. There were around 25 shots here with no function except to list the abilities and levels of the show’s sentient sword protagonist, which typically required the use of the entire frame. Interestingly, though, this practice didn’t distract much from the flow of the episode, since its story revolved almost entirely around killing monsters and gaining their skills. There’s something satisfying about watching a sword fly through the air and run through enemies of its own volition, especially when the 3DCG used in its animation is so slick. The fun came to a screeching halt, though, during any scenes where his future wielder Fran appeared on screen. A catgirl, former slave, and now devoted follower of some guy who was reincarnated into her world just last week, Fran represents many of the things I dislike about modern fantasy series. It’s great that she’s free of bondage and ready to take fate into her own hands and all, but there’s no way a story this thin is equipped to make her anything more than a mascot. Even if her menu screens go berserk with experience points, she’ll be trapped in an anime that was never anything more than a telepathic sword simulator.
Potential: 10%

Amun: Oh come on now Wooper, this wasn’t that bad. One of my pet peeves on the new influx of slave isekais is how life-long slaves just behave perfectly normally without any trauma – Reincarnated as a Sword didn’t do that. Fran is clearly not reacting to the normal social/comedy cues, and I found myself appreciating that – it felt halfway realistic. Does it make for great dialogue throughout the rest of the show? Of course not, but this isn’t just your typical furry (or elf) maid slave that you’ll find in many other recent isekai. We’ll have to see if that’s a good thing or not. Some positives: the 3D animation was clean and as someone ambushed by the first episode of Goblin Slayer, I loved seeing the Goblin massacre. The story is very simple, but there’s a clear direction to it, so I’ll take what I can get. The biggest positive here is just the premise – a sentient sword off on an adventure is one I can’t recall having seen before. The downsides are pretty clear too. Without a doubt, as Wooper lamented, the wielder Fran is the weak link and will probably provide some quasi-service throughout. I don’t see this being anything other than a novelty show, but given isekai these days have to find some way to set themselves apart, I appreciate the effort. And the animation looks good (for now)!
Potential: 35%

Uchi no Shishou wa Shippo ga Nai

Short Synopsis: A young tanuki draws inspiration from a local rakugo performance after finding it tough to trick humans in the big city.

Wooper: Rakugo anime sure have it tough in the wake of Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju. Even when they belong to a completely different genre, as Ushi no Shishou does, their performance scenes will no doubt be compared to the mesmerizing stories found in that modern classic. Cutting away from the rakugoka mid-act to an imagined version of their tale seems like kids’ stuff, but to be fair, children may be Shishou’s target audience; there’s a segment after the ED that breaks down the episode’s (already simple) rakugo story for viewers who had trouble following it, which seems a very kid-friendly thing to do. Main character Mameda is a child, too (of the tanuki variety), and not the grating prodigy type, which might have been refreshing had the show been able to capture a country kid’s amazement at the bustle of early 20th century Osaka. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel it was successful in that task – both the human city of Osaka and the series’ supernatural elements (tanuki transformations, Daikokutei’s flying ship) were depicted rather plainly. There was a lot of emphasis on Mameda’s admiration for her prankster father, which led to her own desire to trick humans, but even that was consigned to flashbacks, and not particularly good ones. That’s the trouble with Uchi no Shisou – even though there’s nothing glaringly wrong with it, there’s nothing glaringly right, either.
Potential: 10%

Lenlo: Wooper isn’t wrong in anything he said. I feel like Shishou’s target audience is children, and it was very simplistic in its rakugo and presentation there of. But while he seems to have been bored by it, I found it a tad endearing. A little Tanuki being more confused and befuddled by the modern world than the humans were her tricks was cute, and the fox girl’s monologue on the passing of time and the old ways being forgotten to history was more poignant than I was expecting. It’s still not great, these totaled about 8 minutes of engagement in a 23 minute long episode. But I’m also not usually the kind of person to go for cutesy stuff, so Shishou had an uphill battle to win me over regardless. So yeah, for someone just looking for a cute, fluffy show this season, I expect you could do a whole lot worse than Shishou.
Potential: 20%

I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss

Short Synopsis: A girl dies and is reincarnated in her favorite otome game, where she must avert her deathly fate by seducing the Demon Lord.

Wooper: I’ve only watched the first of Villainess’s two available episodes, but I doubt the second one will do much to improve my initial impression of the series. It’s the hundredth anime in recent years to use the resurrection gimmick, putting an analog earthling (like you, the viewer) in a digital setting (like you, the viewer, play on your video game system of choice). As such, it has the privilege of skipping storytelling basics like characterization and setting establishment, since its intended audience is already familiar with the sorts of games it’s aping. Only this show seems to have missed the memo that it could skip all that, because it still goes about it in its own clumsy way – namely, tons of internal monologuing from its main character Aileen. These scenes held zero appeal for me, and the spoken dialogue was hardly any better, being ripped from both the reverse harem anime and otome game playbooks. Visually, the show manages to make nearly every one of its scenes a dull disappointment, with lazy brightness effects used in chandelier-lit balls and moonlit exterior scenes alike, and unimaginative layouts that had my eyes glazing over. The only redeeming factor anywhere in this first episode is a talking crow named Almond (voiced by Tomokazu Sugita), whose love of Aileen’s cookies gives him the sort of charm that no other character here can muster. If I were to die and be reincarnated in this anime, the first thing I’d do would be to find Almond and tell him to fly far, far away from this borefest.
Potential: 1%, strictly out of appreciation for Almond

Lenlo: Zzzz… Zzzz… Zzzz… Snrk! What? Where am I? What time is it? Am I still watching shitty video game isekai? Only this one is coached in some kind of period-drama dating sim? Except even with that slightly unique premise it still falls back on fantasy demon lord bullshit? Anime why. You had a shot here to do something new. Just make a video-game isekai but instead of RPG bullshit do a dating sim, complete with all the videogame trappings of the genre. Have some fun with it! Joke about routes, riff on it a bit and have some fun! Instead it just gives me exactly what Wooper says above: A dull, boring, whatever of a series.
Potential: 0%