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Winter 2021 Summary – Weeks 6-7

by SuperWooper, posted in Weekly Summary

Wooper: The recap post was on hold last week in favor of a bigger column, but three of us are back with a vengeance. Midseason fatigue is setting in where some of these shows are concerned, so prepare yourself for mockery, indifference, and swings of the executioner’s axe. How many shows will survive the next five weeks? At this rate, not many.

Reincarnated as a Spider – 06

Amun: Major plot updates this time out – no, not that kind of plot, you pervs. Without spelling it out, some major oddities in the OP/ED are now explained – mainly why are there multiple spiders. We also got some interaction with the hero and we found the weird girl from the OP who bites the world! Major developments, indeed. Meanwhile, Ms. Spider (who cares what her human name was) is still fighting and eating…and becoming more and more likely to be a Demon Lord. But more importantly is getting good food. Because that’s what really matters in isekai these days – next, she’s going to open a restaurant, staffed by sob-storied locals while she goes adventuring. Isekai is going great, guys…

Back Arrow – 06/07

Wooper: More like Bad Arrow, am I right? It’s hardly a stretch to say this is a bad show, and my tolerance for bad shows is low to begin with, so why am I still watching? My enjoyment of this anime could definitely be labeled ironic, but Back Arrow’s creators seem to be operating from a place of irony, as well. How else could one explain an episode that takes place at Pretty Boy Farms, a facility where human experiments cause their hot male subjects to sparkle nonstop? How about the hastily-invented plot point of Shu’s bomb collection, the discovery of which allowed Ren to escape suspicion, just as planned? The issue with this kind of writing is that it narrows the line between tongue-in-cheek and idiotic to a hair’s breadth – Arrow’s “betrayal” in the Pretty Boy episode was a nearly unbearable example of the latter. Still, the fact that it’s only week 7 and the Granedger crew have already made it to the wall means that there’s a lot of plot left in the tank, and it would be a shame to deprive myself of whatever chuckle-worthy moments emerge in the future. That’s my current justification, anyway.

Continue reading “Winter 2021 Summary – Weeks 6-7” →

State of the Season – Winter 2021

by SuperWooper, posted in State of the Season

Wooper: If you’ve been keeping your finger on the pulse of the anime fandom this winter, you’ve seen no shortage of proclamations that this is the best seasonal lineup in years. Some of us here expressed similar sentiments back in January, but that was a simpler time – one characterized by loosely-informed optimism, rather than weeks of compounded evaluation. Now that we’ve got a six week picture of the season, where do our writers stand? Totally validated, utterly betrayed, or somewhere in between? Read on to see how the Star Crossed crew is feeling midway through 2021’s first quarter.

What show are you enjoying that you’re not reviewing?

Mario: Sk8 has been a lot of fun. Yes, it’s your typical sports anime with larger-than-life personalities, but it’s gotten many things right so far. Reiki and Langa have that sweet brotherly bond, the races are always exciting to watch, and is it just me, or would ADAM fit in seamlessly with the Utena universe? On the sequel front, Yuru Camp delivers with every single episode and it’s just a blast to watch week to week.

Armitage: In order to give other shows a fair chance, I’ll try my best and not answer “Attack on Titan babyyyy” for all the positive responses in this seasonal check-in. So, yes. Best of the rest for me would probably be Wonder Egg Priority simply because of how ambitious and anomalous it feels while watching. Yes, it borrows from like 10 different places but it still manages to feel wholly original and even in a season absolutely brimming with quality like this one, there’s simply nothing else quite like it.

Amun: Since I’m not technically reviewing any shows this season (tehe), all of them! Special shoutout to Spider Isekai though – it’s been way more enjoyable than I expected. Sure, it’s low budget, but the spider MC really carries – something about the movements and use of the 8 legged expressive palette keeps me coming back every week. Obviously Wonder Egg has been superlative as well.

Lenlo: Quite a few! This is actually one of my most active seasons in a long time. From sequels like Beastars S2 to new originals like Sk8 and Wonder Egg, this season is packed for me.

Wooper: Attack on Titan’s fourth season has been pretty good thus far. It’s got many of the same problems as the Wit seasons, plus the baggage of being a strict visual downgrade, but the story’s leap across the sea has added a welcome layer of complication. So what if the new characters are painted just as broadly as the old ones? Titan is running almost entirely on plot at this point, which is precisely what makes it so addicting.

Continue reading “State of the Season – Winter 2021” →

Winter 2021 Summary – Week 5

by SuperWooper, posted in Weekly Summary

Wooper: This will be the last recap post for a couple weeks, as we’re currently shifting our focus to the mid-month State of the Season update. Before that project drops, though, you can get a taste of what we’re watching right here: a bunch of mid-tier seasonal offerings, plus a couple mid-2000s anime on Mario’s end. Click through for the full post – it’s a big one this week!

Urasekai Picnic – 04/05

Mario: Urasekai Picnic so far nails the creepy atmosphere of the Otherside and not much else – the production is barebones. Granted, there aren’t many action scenes but you can see the clunky production through the extras walking by. The two worlds, especially the connection between them, are still pretty much ambiguous – in the sense that visits feel more like nightmarish trips than an adventure. There’s way too much we don’t know about the Otherside, as each episode the girls encounter different kinds of urban monsters but for me at least these monsters don’t feel connected to each other. The lack of information about its world-building does help, though, in the sense that we don’t know what will happen next – making it kinda work as a mystery show.

I was Reincarnated as a Spider, so What?! – 05

Amun: Lads, we can all rest easy. Our darling spider has finally gotten something good to eat. As Spider-chan continues to try and survive between a rock and a hard place (or more accurately, the frying pan and the fire), I can see some complaints you could have about this show. Lots of text. So much text (that’s also upside down). I think whoever made this show got really into typefaces. There’s also the human drama that no one cares about – although the parallels with the Spider-chan’s bully who was reincarnated as a land dragon are mildly interesting. But all that’s beside the point – Spider-chan is still doing cute things (training montage was hilarious) and overcoming enemies…albeit in less interesting fights than before. I’m sure the plot is going to converge at some point, but so far it’s some good ole’ arachnid slap-stick, and I’m here for that.

Continue reading “Winter 2021 Summary – Week 5” →

Winter 2021 Summary – Week 4

by SuperWooper, posted in Weekly Summary

Wooper: Another week, another roundup of what we’re watching that isn’t getting dedicated posts. This time we’ve got two demon-themed shounen series, two anime that take periodic trips to the great outdoors, and two shows where vehicles are the main attractions. Can you spot which is which?

The Promised Neverland S2 – 04

Lenlo: So I will, as a manga reader, admit to being a little bit biased when I write this but: What the hell Neverland? What is this? Not only are you skipping the only good arcs/characters left in your story to fast track to the bad stuff, but you are undermining what good you had from the first season with Isabella. I can’t think of another series that has managed to kill my interest faster than this. I’ll keep watching just to see if the author can manage to not screw it up a second time in a row, but I have no faith that this is going to end up good.

Pui Pui Molcar – 01

Wooper: I just learned of this show’s existence and had to spread the good news. Pui Pui Molcar is a stop motion series of two minute episodes about guinea pigs that are cars. I repeat: this anime is about guinea pigs that are cars. Whether you find that adorable or stupid depends on how much of a joyless Scrooge you are, but even if you fall on the “adorable” side, this show is more charming than you can imagine. The colors are bright, the soundtrack is jammin’ (the melodica track in the first episode is a bonafide ode to optimism), and the squeaks of the cars are provided by actual guinea pigs. There’s not much more to Molcar than cuteness, though it does win some points for telling its stories without any dialogue (despite the guinea pigs’ human drivers). Here’s a link to the premiere on YouTube (the first of five available episodes), so you can see for yourself why it’s become a minor sensation in Japan.

Continue reading “Winter 2021 Summary – Week 4” →

Winter 2021 Summary – Weeks 2-3

by SuperWooper, posted in Weekly Summary

Wooper: There seems to be a consensus online that Winter 2021 is one of the strongest seasons in recent years, but not everyone agrees on which shows are doing the heavy lifting. For some it’s the powerhouse sequels; for others it’s the anime originals; for others still it’s the new crop of isekai series. No matter where your preferences lie, it’s impossible to cover everything – which is where this column comes in. This week we’re touching base with ten shows that didn’t quite make the cut for full coverage, but are still doing their part in making this a jam-packed start to the year. Hope you’re enjoying the season so far – as you’ll see below, we certainly are!

Back Arrow – 2/3

Wooper: Remember when mecha anime ruled the airwaves through a combination of spirited characters and semi-coherent plotting? Back Arrow remembers. “Semi-coherent” is a charitable descriptor, really – the number of meetings, partings, alliances and betrayals in these episodes was enough to make my head spin. Episode 3 was the guiltier party on that front, since it detailed a conflict over a futuristic warship which was largely obscured from view until the end. A clearer sense of just how imposing this dreadnought was, and why so many people would be willing to fight over it, would have been greatly appreciated. Even if the visual direction had been improved, though, a transparently corrupt cowboy leading an entire village by the nose would still make for eyebrow-raising viewing. The previous episode was simpler and more goal-oriented, which worked to the series’ benefit, but it was still packed full of nonsense. My tolerance for that sort of thing is generally pretty low, but the main character’s combination of big dreams and straight talk will keep his show tethered to my watch list for at least 2-3 more weeks.

Heaven’s Design Team – 2/3

Lenlo: This show is too clever for its own good. Somehow, some way, Design Team continues to make edutainment entertaining. Each half of an episode is cleverly pieced together so that every monster, every make believe creature, every feature of life seamlessly leads into whatever the end animal is meant to be. Somehow going from dragons to chickens to starfish, all while feeding into each other. It’s incredible really. Design Team is not and never will be an incredible, Best of the Season type show. But what it is, is interesting and entertaining discussion about nature and just how fucking scary and weird it can be. I love it far more than I should. Also it looks pretty charming.

Amun: I completely agree. This is one of the better “feel-good” shows of the season – maybe that should be an awarded category?

Continue reading “Winter 2021 Summary – Weeks 2-3” →

2020 Anime Awards and Top 10 List

by SuperWooper, posted in Yearly Summaries

Lenlo: 2020 was a year many would probably like to forget. Trapped inside from a pandemic as, at least in America, the world burns down around them. But there was one good thing not being allowed to leave our house gave us: anime. So much time to watch anime. From the wild rides of Dorohedoro and Attack on Titan from Studio MAPPA to the relaxing works of Sleepy Princess and Asteroid in Love from Studio Doga Kobo, we had time to experience it all. And now that the year is over there is just one last thing to do before we can leave it all behind: yell about which one is the best, or worst, until the other writers here at Star Crossed give up and accept it. So without further ado let’s look at the best and the worst of 2020 before we wave goodbye to the worst year in a long, long time.

Worst of the Worst

Worst Show: Japan Sinks

Armitage: It’s tradition to start off these year-end awards posts with the worst stuff we had to sit through in the year but this time, for a change, we are actually starting on a high! And by that I mean a literal high because Sweet Jesus on a bicycle, what were the people who made this smoking up during its production??! I have never been a fan of Masaaki Yuasa’s animation style but the least you can expect from him is to deliver some sort of thematic coherence in all of his series. And then, there’s Japan Sinks. Best described as a love-child between disaster dramas like Tokyo Magnitude and a worrying lack of script supervision, Japan Sinks is a travesty on every narrative front. No caricatures it sells as characters are relatable, people are killed off purely in the name of shock value, in-your-face nationalism is rampant and decisions made by all of said caricatures make as much sense as a chicken petting a leprechaun. At a point you can tell that the creators just don’t know how to write a series because they decide to go full-Daniel. And as is written in holy anime sacrament, you never go full-Daniel.

Runner-up: MAGIA RECORD, for being the spinoff that no one asked for, and leaning so much on gacha game conventions that the story meandered instead of advancing forward.

Biggest Disappointment:
Kamisama ni Natta Hi

Amun: Ah, Jun Maeda. I won’t even touch on the latest drama, but certainly a polarizing figure to say the least. However, I was firmly in the positive camp with Angel Beats and Charlotte being quite enjoyable (I’m mixed on Little Busters). Naturally, I had high hopes for Kamisama ni Natta Hi and it delivered – but only in the first half. A “last summer” show – a known, established trope, no problem. Like a magician’s trick judged not on whether you’re fooled but on showmanship, I expected Kamisama to walk down established paths – familiar but well executed. Sadly, the “feels train” detonated spectacularly in the final episodes, undoing any good or goodwill accumulated by a decent plot. With a finale of unprecedentedly poor writing (possibly only rivaled by School Days, depending on if you took the show seriously), Kamisama drove decent characters, setting, and story directly into the realm of the unbelievable and, frankly, a little disturbing – all for a shoe-horned “good ending”. Which it may have been for the author’s warped vision, but no other sentient viewers will agree. Many shows are bad, but few manage to build such expectations only to damn them to such depths. For this disparity, Kamisama ni Natta Hi will certainly be remembered…and not fondly.

Runner-up: THE GOD OF HIGH SCHOOL, for being a massively entertaining popcorn romp through its first half, and a head-scratching crapfest that got so absurd and over-the-top in its second half that it would even make Michael Bay blush while loading an episode on Crunchyroll.

Continue reading “2020 Anime Awards and Top 10 List” →

Winter 2021 Sequel Impressions: Dr. Stone, Slime Isekai, Log Horizon

by SuperWooper, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Dr. Stone: Stone Wars

Short Synopsis: A science whiz freeze dries ramen to give himself the edge in an impending war.

Wooper: I have to respect Dr. Stone for launching into its second season after the briefest of recaps. Many long-running anime in a similar situation would spend 10+ minutes holding the audience’s hand during the catchup process, or else fill time with a thin side story to remind us who the characters are. Of course, it helps that Stone’s limited animation keeps the per-episode work on the low side, so the story can progress without delay. That’s been this show’s M.O. from the beginning, though, so there’s no sense in docking points for it now. Rather than concern itself with looks, Dr. Stone is all about concepts, and the tactical introduction of freeze dried food and mobile phones into a prehistoric setting is a hell of a concept. I’ve got to shout out the series’ music, as well, which is easily the best component of its production. The soundtrack is not only varied, but well-deployed, bridging scenes by extending and cutting songs at just the right length; the return of that seamless experience is just one of the reasons to be glad for Dr. Stone’s return. I won’t be watching this one week to week, but it’ll probably get the marathon treatment around the mid-year mark.

Potential: 60%

Lenlo: Like Wooper says, Dr. STONE launched right back into the story with a gusto I found impressive. Even the way the recap was done, presenting it as Gen telling a story, was a nice bit of detail. Meanwhile the episode itself did a good job of reintroducing characters while still moving the plot forward. Bringing them in slowly, giving each of them things to do or small lines to remind us who they were. By the end of the episode it felt like the series had never left at all! As for the animation, while it was never Dr. STONE’s strong suit I do think the way it balances between comedic exaggerated gags and serious, sharp linework is praiseworthy. Personally, my only major concern is the shift in focus towards the Stone Wars conflict. Dr. STONE was never an action series, and its combat scenes in the first season prove that. Maybe we will see an improvement here, but if not I fear that we may be in for a bumpy ride anytime the science isn’t front and center. All in all though, if you enjoyed the first season of Dr. STONE then I would wager you are going to enjoy this. It just needs to give us more of the same.

Potential: 65%

Slime Isekai S2

Short Synopsis: A shapeshifting teacher quits his job and re-assumes command of a nation of monsters.

Lenlo: I’ll be honest, I lost interest in Slime about halfway through the first season when it shifted away from a game of fantasy civilization and towards a more action focus. When it does that, Slime has a tendency to abandon all that made it interesting and become just another isekai power fantasy. Sadly, that appears to be what we are seeing here as well, with the episode ending on yet another pointless fight. There might be some potential in the politics focus and maybe we will get to see more development of them as a budding nation, but I don’t have my hopes up. That said, if you liked the end of the first season then it appears you will be getting more of the same here.

Potential: 30%

Wooper: That Long Title Ending with Slime is back for another season of pretty yet patronizing nation-building. This is the only show in the reincarnation genre that I’ve ever managed to tolerate for a full cour, let alone two, but I’m not sure whether I’ll continue with it beyond this point. The backgrounds are still attractive; detailed, geometrically-pleasing buildings and stylized vegetation make Tempest look like a place where you might actually want to be reborn. The characters are also neatly drawn – the series’ motley depiction of goblins and ogres is one of the best things about it. Meanwhile, the tendency to worship its ultra-powerful, meccha kawaii hero continues to be one of Slime’s worst qualities. Rimuru’s strength is essential to the series because it allows him to rule benevolently, I get that, but if you played a “MC gets praised” drinking game while watching this show you’d be dead in a matter of hours. It subtracts from the challenge of raising a country from scratch, a process that looks to be this season’s focus as Rimuru welcomes hostile messengers and sends envoys to neighboring kingdoms. Will the show concern itself more with the intricacies of that process, or push the “slime to win” button and gloss over the things that make it interesting? It’s essentially a coin flip, hence the grade.

Potential: 50%

Log Horizon S3

Short Synopsis: A group of MMO-bound players deal with setbacks in their quest to return to the real world.

Lenlo: I struggled for a long time to figure out what to write about Log Horizon here. It doesn’t feel as if anything has really changed, yet is this a good thing? I still remember the characters fondly, and the general plot along with it. The setting is still nice and I enjoy the continued focus on MMO-style politics. But anime has changed since 2014 but it doesn’t feel like Log Horizon has changed with it. Everything about its production still feels the same as it was 6 years ago and I can’t help but feel underwhelmed by that. Maybe as it goes I will rediscover my passion for the series, but for now I can’t help but look at it and think that my nostalgia might have lied to me.

Potential: 40%

Winter 2021 First Impressions: Non Non Biyori Nonstop, Ex-Arm, Wonder Egg Priority

by SuperWooper, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Non Non Biyori Nonstop

Short Synopsis: A shy high school girl travels to the idyllic countryside for some flute practice.

Wooper: Non Non Biyori is often lumped in with “cute girls” shows, but I’ve always viewed it as an iyashikei series first and foremost. You need only watch the first two minutes of this episode to confirm its healing powers; they depict, in near-silence, a series of beautiful rural landscapes, followed by the quiet morning routine of a curious country girl. The show’s habit of implying actions without visualizing them allows NNB to maintain that mood for long stretches of time. For example, the still image of a shrine with a floor pillow in front of it allows the viewer to absorb Renge’s honoring of a family member without pushing the viewer into a sad place. Of course, the show can be humorous and charming, as well, and this premiere was certainly both. The girls’ creation of dolls with toothpicks and tape led to an absurd set piece, and the musical bond that formed between Renge and new character Akane was both comically and tenderly executed. Come for the scenery and stay for the laughs, or vice versa – either way, Non Non Biyori has you covered.

Potential: 75%

Mario: I can point you to the first minute and the last minute of this premiere to highlight the appeal of the Non Non Biyori franchise. The first minute uses a deliberate pace and slowly takes us to the calm, peaceful everyday life of the Japanese countryside before Renge enters the picture with the sound of her recorder. The last minute showcases Non Non Biyori’s sharp comedic timing and punchlines when we realize whom Renge wanted to play music for. The rest of the episode is no fluke, either, as in the first half the girls carry such a strong and natural chemistry and bounce off each other neatly, while the second half focuses on a new character. It has variety, it controls its pacing with grace and it’s always a blast to see these cute girls doing whatever cute things they can think of.

Potential: 70%

Ex-Arm

Short Synopsis: A teenager wakes up as a disembodied brain sixteen years in the future and learns that he was responsible for Japan’s destruction.

Lenlo: I’m not quite sure how to rate this. Ex-Arm is not simply bad. It’s… advanced bad. Ex-Arm is so bad that I can’t give it a 0% without changing my scores for everything else, because nothing deserves to be on the same level as Ex-Arm. The CGI? Terrible. The camera work? Abysmal. Name literally any aspect of a production? I don’t think they even tried. I’ve watched some bad anime for these before, hell I have even reviewed some on this site. Japan Sinks of last year was one such anime, but even it wasn’t THIS BAD. Ex-Arm isn’t even the funny kind of bad either. It’s like someone took the Berserk 2016/17 people and told them to try even less this time. This does not look like it was made by professionals and there are series on Youtube by amateurs better than it in every respect. Makes sense since the man directing it has never made an anime before. At all.

So yeah, don’t watch Ex-Arm, forget about its existence. It’s going to win Worst Show next year and it’s not even close.

Potential: -100%

Wooper: Ex-Arm’s first episode was a truly terrible piece of work, but I’m glad it exists. That’s not because its floaty, disjointed combat sequences made me laugh, or because its piss-poor facial modeling reminded me of Sonic Adventure from 1998. It’s not because the lack of clarity in its script made it a perfect guide for how not to write your dystopian novel’s prologue, or because the show’s blatant ugliness creates a strong case for the superiority of hand-drawn animation. All of those things are true, but none of them come close to Ex-Arm’s greater purpose: showing arrogant anime bloggers the error of their ways.

I’ve been doing this for over three years now: sitting in my ivory office chair, legs tucked under my boring IKEA desk, typing up a storm about the new depths to which anime sinks every three months. Though I’ve never misrepresented my feelings about any of the premieres I’ve viewed, my propensity for hyperbole has led me to make unfair criticisms. It took a show as wonderfully inept as Ex-Arm to show me that. How could I dismiss other shows on the basis of their pandering plots and awful art direction when a failure like this one was just around the corner? All the scornful words and failing grades I’ve given to past series are like rags to me now. I gladly renounce them in light of anime’s newest, most shameful benchmark. May it reign for years to come.

Potential: A Humbling Experience

Wonder Egg Priority

Short Synopsis: A lonely girl is granted a chance to reverse her friend’s suicide by fighting monsters in another dimension.

Mario: How is that for First Impressions? Wonder Egg just blows me away for daring to do things its own way. It has a lot to say though, switching back and forth between the real world and dream world, between the present and the past, between its lighter moments and its heavy themes such as bullying and suicide. I can’t blame the PVs for being vague because basically after this episode I still can’t tell you what just happened or what route it might take (and whether it will crack under its own weight – but hey, it’s an egg), but like Flip Flappers (the show I’m most reminded of while watching this) I can tell you what this show is about. It’s a literal psychological journey of a girl (or many girls) to find their connection and their own self-worth, to overcome their guilt and their shortcomings. The trippy, surrealist visuals are my jam, and the character designs are a delight. Not only does this first episode prioritize visual storytelling (there’s a lot of show-don’t-tell here), they do that in smaller scenes with subtle character expressions and gestures as well. One such scene is where Nagase sits next to our main girl in her tent. It’s a quiet moment that perfectly captures the tension between them. At the end, in a mere 20 minutes, I found myself intrigued, impressed and most of all, touched.

Potential: 90%

Wooper: My experience with Wonder Egg Priority was dominated by perplexed interest, but once I reached the final seconds of the premiere and heard Kanata Aikawa’s final “Tsuzuku!” a huge grin overtook me. This was such an assured start to a series that will inevitably go down as one of the year’s boldest experiments. It deals largely in metaphor, with escalators descending into dream worlds and humans hatching from eggs, which put me in mind of another director whose name I’m sure has already popped into your mind. That’s about the highest compliment I can pay to a first episode, but there’s more to admire here than layered abstraction. Main character Ai Ooto has a modern, Masayoshi Tanaka-influenced look, but the high cheekbones of several other girls seem to stem from Yuri Kuma Arashi’s elegant character designs. The hair animation is really good, too, and it’s tied back to Ai’s nervous curiosity, obscuring and revealing her differently-colored eyes as it shifts and sways. The soundtrack’s use of carnival music is both playful and suspenseful, and the concluding surprises promise a depth of imagination that stretches far beyond a single episode. I can’t wait to see what the next one looks like.

Potential: 85%

Twelve Kingdoms Anime Review – 89/100 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Reviews by Lenlo, Throwback Thursday, Twelve Kingdoms

In this day and age it is nigh-impossible to find a season of anime without an Isekai. From Konosuba and Slime Isekai to Sword Art Online and Re:Zero, they have invaded the medium. But the genre existed long before these more modern takes. .Hack//Sign did videogames almost a decade before SAO released its first light novel. Meanwhile Inuyasha did the same for fantasy worlds. Predating all of these though we have what can only be called an Epic in scale. Produced by Studio Pierrot during their golden years and directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi, I give you Twelve Kingdoms. Spanning 45 episodes, Twelve Kingdoms adapts the first 3 of 9 novels written by Fuyumi Ono. Novels which are still releasing to this day and that I would relate to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time in scale and influence.

If that doesn’t excite you, doesn’t make you want to hear more about this incredible series, then be gone I say! But if your interest is piqued and you want to hear about this fantastical world and Nakajima Youko’s role in it? Then read on, and lets dive right into it!

(Disclaimer: I am working to make 50 the new “average”. 70 is not an average score people. 70 is above average. Carry on.) Continue reading “Twelve Kingdoms Anime Review – 89/100 – Throwback Thursday” →

Winter 2021 First Impressions: Kemono Jihen, Idoly Pride, Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu

by SuperMario, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Kemono Jihen

Short Synopsis: A spirit detective travels to a quiet country town and meets an immortal half-ghoul child.

Wooper: This was better than I thought it would be. Kemono Jihen’s first episode was a pretty straightforward adaptation of the manga’s prologue, but it did manage to elevate itself in a couple ways, the most obvious of which was the music. I liked SK8’s melodic pop punk tunes quite a bit, but this show one-upped it with ease, drawing on chimes and woodwinds to create a traditional soundbed that matched its country setting beautifully. This is a modern production, so synths and strings came crashing in at the usual points, but the more subdued or playful moments were highlights for sure. The solidity of the character art was quite pleasing, as well, though there was a lack of harmony between people and backgrounds during some wide shots. The narrative setup itself is nothing impressive, and the twist at the end doesn’t carry nearly the impact that the author likely intended, but some good voice performances and a blessedly quiet shounen protagonist have me interested in the series’ future.

Potential: 60%

Mario: There’s something about Kemono Jihen that I’m not sold on yet. Maybe it’s because I am never too hot on shows based on supernatural procedures. Or it could be because I still find the relationship between Inugami and Dorotabo to be weak despite how this premiere tries hard to build up their relationship. Or maybe the characters’ dead eyes just bug me. In any case, the show doesn’t grab me the way it should. All that negative assessment doesn’t disregard many elements that Kemono Jihen did excel at: the production is strong, the show’s themes are intriguing and the twist in this episode mostly works. This is just a prologue for the main story, so the true test will be in the next few episodes. Let’s see if it manages to win me over by then.

Potential: 30%

Idoly Pride

Short Synopsis: A manager at an idol production agency flashes back to his first job.

Mario: Guess what? Another idol show that doesn’t suck. It really says something when the first episode of an idol show doesn’t feature many actual performances (for better and for worse). The bad thing about it is that it’s undeniably cutting corners. As smart as that method is I’m still afraid about its production values, and the ED further confirms my worries with the glaring CG model dance. On the bright side though, it means that its focus isn’t just on the idol industry – they delve more into character development and motivation, which for me is a plus, as by the end I did care about the MC. If Idoly Pride carries the same level of details to its 10 (!) idol characters then we have ourselves a winning show here. For now I remain optimistic.

Potential: 40%

Wooper: During first impressions season, I tend to watch anime with my fingers on my laptop’s pause and screenshot keys. It’s become something of a reflex to capture images I like from new premieres, which is why I was surprised to find I’d taken zero shots of Idoly Pride by the end. Then I thought back on what I’d just watched, and my surprise evaporated. This is a drab-looking show with discount Bunny Girl designs, still montages in place of dance routines, and the same closeup of the main dude’s face repeated around ten times in the span of twenty minutes. The main type of scene between him and Idol Girl involved him being a stodgy realist, then getting taken aback by something cute or inspiring that she did or said as the camera held on his confusion. I know that anime regularly leans on that trope, but Idoly Pride used it with alarming frequency, as though the protagonist’s brain were running a program that couldn’t decode cuteness or inspiration. At least it had a story, though, instead of running wild with all the idols that appeared in the first minute. That has to be worth something… right?

Potential: You tried

Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu

Short Synopsis: A pervert loser dies and is reborn as a…pervert magical baby.

Amun: Ah…everyone okay over there, Mr. Anime industry?  Just wanting to check in and make sure.  Is there some childhood trauma that you guys need to talk about?  Something you need to get off your chest?  I’m here for you guys, and I’m just getting a bit worried – imouto infatuation is weird, but we’re starting to branch out to parents now.  This has been the kink of a few TV anime, and I’m sure some “niche” ones as well.  We’ve got a hentai hikikomori who has full consciousness as a baby and is ogling his mom…Sorry, I’m just going to be stuck on that.  That’s a bit far for me.  The show’s characters are definitely made with love, and the plot is perfectly generic, so that’s as advertised – I’m just a bit concerned about the childhood trauma of this author and his particular tastes.   So the short and long of it – a cookie cutter, decently animated isekai with a mother complex.           

Potential: 10%

Mario: There was a thought that was constantly on my mind while I was watching this episode: “why wasted so much effort for this?” Mushoku Tensei’s visuals are better than at least half of the shows I’ve sampled so far this season, and it all amounts to nothing with a generic story like this. The MC’s death in “real life” couldn’t be more stale, the world-building is overly familiar and the ecchi (to put it very mildly) couldn’t be more creepy. But what is worst for me is the “life lesson” the protagonist comes to learn after all this: he appreciates life and gives it another chance. WHAT? By escaping his very real life and living in this wish-fulfillment fantasy? That message is pretty problematic, doesn’t matter how I slice it up. Plus he gains OP power within the first episode, so what more is there for him to gain except for a harem of girls and recognition that he would never have in his previous real life? It’s just sad, really.

Potential: 0%