Category: Other:

Phantom in the Twilight

Short Synopsis: A girl accidentally comes across a cafe full of supernatural beings and learns that she’s the chosen one

Lenlo’s Review:

From this episode, I can’t see anything wrong per se with Phantom. The two biggest things I can think of are the stiffness, the genericness of our characters (excluding the heroine) and the stupidity of the lead girl. Seriously, she sees them batting monsters around like nothing, and tells them to run? That aside, the premise itself looks like fun. Reminds me of Kekkai Sensen in a way. A normal person thrust into a magical city (London here), who stumbles into a super powered group. If Phantom avoids the monster of the week trope and actually explores its setting, magic in modern day, what happened to the girls Great-Grandmother, etc, then it stands a chance. I’m always willing to give something outside the Isekai/Japanese Highschool pit that most anime fall into a try.

Potential: 45%

Mario’s review:

We have a first supernatural thriller original of this season (the second will be Tenrou), and as far as supernatural thriller original goes it fares well. The “pretty boys” (subjectivity here) serving in a restaurant have me worried for a second there, mostly because I worked part-time in a restaurant years ago and I know it takes much more than 3 people to run the thing. But soon the main heroine appears the show goes into a much better territory. The main improvement is Ton herself. She has a strong personality and she’s the easy protagonist to get behind. Normally, girls within that genre is a blank who get dragged into problems and found themselves out of depth in most these situations. Ton, on the other hand, adapts herself to the situation quickly. Being say all that, the cast so far is still too generic. The supernatural dash in a London settings is welcomed, although again it pushes the story into formulic fashion. We all know she will become a regular in the restaurant despite they wash away her memory at the end. Overall, while the first episode doesn’t wow me, I can see its ambition. The production is on the brighter side and the story has some potential to be deeper, whether or not they can reach that potential remains to be seen.

Potential: 50%

Jashin-chan Dropkick

Short Synopsis: A bunch of anime tropes sit around a table, eat hot pot, and kill each other.

Wooper’s review

This entire premiere was a complete misfire. Jashin-chan wants to be a crude and violent gag comedy, but its desperate attempts to satisfy naked monster girl fans and goth loli-obsessed otaku dull its murderous edge. It also wants to maintain a cute atmosphere during those moments where its characters aren’t attempting to kill each other, but the mood is shattered by the snake girl’s rotten personality every thirty seconds. The only asset the show has is passable animation, which gives it flexibility when deciding how to portray Jashin-chan’s next mutilation (and subsequent regeneration). You read that correctly – the best aspect of this series is one that gives it the freedom to be as stupid and shitty as its tiny brain can manage. The only way Jashin-chan Dropkick could possibly be worth your time is if you’re an unemployed, uneducated whackjob who has to watch every seasonal anime to completion or else you’ll spontaneously combust.

Potential: 0%

Mario’s review:

Dropkick is a comedy show that only has two things on its mind: being a slice-of-life cozy show about cute monster girls spending time together, and being an ultraviolence slapstick show whenever the titular strikes an opportunity to kill her human friend, but she gets beaten in a gruesome way. It doesn’t do justice for either if them, given the characters lack the warmth, or depth. The simple character arts might remind you of anime product from twenty years ago, even its slapstick humor feels dated as well. I don’t mind the extreme gruesome, by the way, but its jokes weaken fast every time it repeats itself, and by the end we can only see several variations of the same joke. There are some meta jokes as well, which I find it mildly amusing. Make no mistake, Dropkick’s appeal is its commitment to the several gorefest ways our heroine will endure (and she deserves it), if that exactly what you’re looking for then by all means continue, because otherwise it doesn’t have many other things to offer.

Potential: 10%

Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes

Short Synopsis: two teenagers work in an antique store who also solve mysteries.

Lenlo’s Review:

Holmes is an odd one. I really like the actual antique aspects of it. The analyzing, descriptions and explanations for them. I also like Holmes as a character, this impersonable, out of touch sort of character. Reminds me of anime like Fune wo Amu in a way, a sleeper hit for me of 2016. But the actual drama/character interactions, like the counterfeit plot, just seem so ham-fisted. There’s no nuance to them. And while I like the deductions, they could be better. Look to the RDJ Sherlock Holmes movies for instance, where specific details are pointed out and built on. Here, some of it strains credulity. For the main story, for once I feel Holmes would be better suited to a weekly sort of story format. Like each week we see a new antique and hear its story. Similar in a way to Mushishi. Use it to teach history. I liked the ending Monk story more than the counterfeit story afterall.  If Holmes dodges/downplays the underground counterfeiting ring storyline I suspect is coming, it could be a treat for those like me. I’m not hopeful though.

Potential: 35%

Mario’s review:

Holmes of Kyoto’s debut episode has fair shares of good and bad. This premiere both builds up the relationship between our two main leads, and sell the appeal of antique appraisal, as well as Holmes’ amazing deduction skills. On a good side, the antique appraisal part is really solid. It comes from the appreciation of this work of arts, and like any famous painting it takes skills, and knowledge behind it to fully value the works. Second, the relationship between him and her grow naturally, and while his deduction strain some credulity, overall it sells his character well. On the negative side, the counterfeit case is extremely hammy, especially the bad guy image is just too on the nose. Consider that the counterfeit thread will become the central plot in the future, I have some reservations. Furthermore, the drama isn’t quite good. The drama of the lead girl for example, is too underwhelmed, emotionally distant and resolve too quickly that I don’t feel anything at all. I will give this show 3 episodes to see if it’s worth following all the way.

Potential: 30%

Satsuriku no Tenshi

Short Synopsis: A girl wakes up in a strange facility and is hunted by a scythe wielding maniac.

Aidan’s review:
Well this is quite interesting. This premiere certainly has problems and it most certainly can be all downhill from here but I really like the setup, atmosphere and general mystery here. It just feels so fresh to have a story like this with all its characters all having something clearly wrong with them and the surreal building with typewriters that question people and mirror blockades with announcements about sacrifices. While our main characters seems rather bland at first it does seem like the story is hinting at her having serious psychological issues for what girl sees a dead bird, starts claiming it’s not “her bird” and shews it back together. However there is a problem with the two other characters here, though I am willing to give Zack the scythe wielding murderer a break as it seems he purposely goes over the top because he likes to get some sport out of those he hunts. As when Rachel lost any will to live and escape him, he too lost any real desire in killing her. The doctor on the other hand…yeah they went too far with him. Again there were hints of something deeper there but then he went cuckoo bananas and in no way could anyone take him seriously with that long tongue. This anime also seems to be struggling with incorporating the game aspects of this story as you can certainly see the points were gameplay is supposed to take over and the story just kinda skips past any point were she is exploring or searching for something. Still I admit that I am curious, this story is a rare case as far as anime goes and I have heard word that the story really kicks up around the halfway point of the game which the anime seems to be fast forwarding to. I think I will continue following this to see where it goes.
Potential: 60%

Mario’s review:
Woah, the art is quite impressive, not so much with the story. and the characters are just… duh. Satsuriku doesn’t hide the fact that it’s based from a game, as game format bleeds right through this story in every moments. Girls waking up doesn’t know who she is or where she’s from; clues written over the wall, each “villain” situated in each floor. Even the show’s wash-out aesthetic, and some of its visual choice reflect the game mechanic (like the door automatically opens). It has a strong visual sense, solid camera composition (look at one of the screencap, where the camera pans around Rachel but intentionally keep the light on top of her head, illustrates that fact that she’s an “angel of death”. Being said that, the characters are god awful. They’re loud, they talk nonsense and the show makes their expressions completely deranged, for what? Creepiness for its own sake ain’t gonna make it, ever. The story has own central mystery and so far, it doesn’t sell well on that either. I see no chemistry whatsoever between the two leads, so they will have to try harder to make those characters relatable. Well, I highly doubt they can do that.
Potential: 30%

Ongaku Shoujo (2018)

Short Synopsis: A failing idol group happens upon a promising newcomer at an airport

Aidan’s review:
If there’s one thing I rather hate, it when shows give a character a gimmick as a means of differentiation. Admittedly this is the first episode and we got a cast that is far too large with eleven(twelve by episodes end) idols. But I would take three well thought out idols over twelve tropey interchangeable stereotypes. The dialogue here just has a forced tinge to it, similar to a sitcom, where nobody talks like an actual human being. My guess is that it’s trying to be funny or cute and not succeeding with both. The girls designs don’t make them distinct and mainly just look like elements recycled from the bargain bin of factory standard anime girl. I don’t know these girls names and their personalities are just one note. The only girl that stands out is the main girl who they decided to throw on stage before confirming if she could sing. Very funny, maybe if I cared I might have laughed. This is an anime about a C-grade Idol group and they certainly look and act like one with the anime following suit by being a C-grade idol anime. And I don’t even like Idol anime.
Potential: 0%

Mario’s review:
This is your idol fix of this Summer season, so pretty much if you don’t care for idol shows you won’t find much in here. Within the idol genre, however, this actually does a decent job. The only thing that works against this show is that it feels like a second-rate version of THE iDOLM@STER (it doesn’t help that I just watched the Idolmaster so it’s still fresh in my mind). From an underdog idol team of 10 plus girls with slightly different traits, to the same kind of bland male producer, they repeat the same formula here. The factor that differentiate this to its inspiration is the involvement of Hanako, a girl who just comes back from overseas but has the X-factor. It’s hardly anything original, but so far they don’t make any wrong step yet. I say this is an above-average idol show but it doesn’t have a widespread appeal. If you’re within their niche market then you will enjoy the hell out of it, others might approach with caution.
Potential: 20%

Hataraku Saibou

Short Synopsis: A germ invades a human body being run by anthropomorphised cells

Aidan’s review:
I learned something important today. And that is that I have Ojou-Sama’s in my spleen and Loli’s in my lungs. Now despite the bloody encounters(Yes, cells apparently have blood too) this show is like those old saturday morning cartoons that you watch. Rather silly and cheesy but wholesome and fun. Plus it makes an effort to actually teach about cells and the human body which I most likely will never remember but hey it’s a good effort. Honestly I am rather concerned over some stupid otaku cutting themselves and being surprised when they don’t see red haired waifus pop out. I wouldn’t say the storytelling here is on any deep level, as I said it’s more saturday morning cartoon material but it’s undeniable enjoyable. Those platelets sure were adorable and oh fun fact! Platelets have a lifespan of only ten days so in ten days time, all these lolis will be dead….boy that got depressing fast.
Potential: 70%

Mario’s review:
I approve this fresh interpretation of the cells in our body. This is something that can work for general audience, as kids would find out a lot for their knowledge, and us can appreciate the whole world building on another level. First, it’s nice (and certainly informative) to learn more about these cells and what their main function is, as we have the Red Blood Cell in their red uniform delivering boxes of oxygen, while the White Blood Cell’s more macho, trying to protect the body from outsiders. In one of the most refresh take, Platelets are portrayed as kindergarten kids doing their jobs, it’s the cutest thing there is. Second, the two main leads more than carry this episode. Not only they have their fair share of distinctive traits that make them different than the rest of their own team (she is hopeless with direction, he has this deadpan delivery), they share a strong chemistry together. Third, the rich backgrounds are lovely to look at, with many details on others organs and cells, and I’m sure interested to see the designs of other body organs in the future. Lastly, the story of this week serves as a perfect plot to introduce this world, and even if the show does monster-of-the-week format (which I doubt), I won’t complain as this one’s brimming with exciting sense of adventure. I can’t wait to get back to this world next week.
Potential: 65%

Asobi Asobase

Short Synopsis: A group of deranged high school girls form a pastime club.

Mario’s review:
I found Asobi Asobase the most hilarious premiere of this season so far. Granted, Chio-chan is more grounded but as far as a show that can make me chuckle along the way, this one does an admirable job. Their core strength lies in how these girls betraying their own typecast traits, with a straight face. As such, they have such solid chemistry and bounce off each other well. The character designs are cute, until they display their meanie sides, which I found amusing. There remains an issue, however, how long it can hold up before it gets pale with a thin premise like this. With already four short segments, it doesn’t feel like it has enough fuel for an entire series. I hope they can find a way to get away with it, although as far as this first episode goes, I’m sold with its humor and the three cute-but-not-cute girls.

Potential: 50%

Wooper’s review:

This didn’t need to be a full-length series. The main appeal here is the ridiculous faces that the girls make as they play hand games, discuss school subjects, and set up inflatable pools in club rooms. The characters and their banter aren’t much to write home about, but the contorted expressions that the animators give them? They’re worth a chuckle from time to time. The ending of this premiere was the strongest part, featuring a gag wherein the school principal channels Detective Conan (with wildly inappropriate results), and an eyebrow-raising hand puppet scene. Everything that came before these segments, though, was hit or miss. I’d probably be on board if they condensed each airing to five minutes and threw the rest away, but the sheer amount of unamusing filler here is overwhelming.

Potential: 10%

Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria

Short Synopsis: You have seen this story and it’s just as terrible.

Aidan’s review:

As utterly tiresome this genre is, it is a fact that the most interesting aspect of an isekai is it’s beginning where the protagonist is slowly gaining up his power and resources. So jumping straight to the point where he has four girls in his harem already with one more by episodes end is like tearing out all the most interesting parts of a book. What’s this you say? Alexander the great and Oda Nobunaga invented the phalanx formation? Let me just do a quick wikipedia search here…dum dum…ah “The earliest known depiction of a phalanx-like formation occurs in a Sumerian stele from the 25th century BC. Here the troops seem to have been equipped with spears, helmets, and large shields covering the whole body. Ancient Egyptian infantry were known to have employed similar formations.”  So in other words Alexander the Great and ESPECIALLY Oda Nobunaga had nothing to do with it’s creation. Ladies and Gentlemen, that took me exactly one minute to find out. Which goes to show that this author couldn’t be bothered to do one minute of fact checking on his bullshit. And hoo boy this is something when the characters are so stock that I know their entire personally at the very first line of dialogue. Sometimes even before that as two men go up to our main character to talk and my immediate thought was “Oh these two are assholes whose sole purpose is to make the protagonist look good.” and low and behold that is exactly what they were. I felt like gagging at some of this dialogue whose intent is so goddamn obvious and sickening. Look if you are wanting for some dumb bargain bin Isekai show with fanservice then just go watch either of the demon lord ones airing this season. Even in that category you deserve better than this low effort trash.

Potential: 0%

Mario’s review:

Another generic isekai garbage? Dude, how can we end this nightmare? If you want to see all the snapshots of cliche, lazy written isekai story, you can’t go wrong with this one and Demon Lord earlier. It’s educational, after all, to see those that embrace all the tired tropes of the genre. Again, this boy transported into another world with knowledge (and a smartphone) that immediately makes him overpowered in this new world. Girls with different hair color and boob sizes following his every step, even blatantly hit on him. But of course the guy’s a Saint so he never thinks of them that way… you know… all the usual crap. This one doesn’t even attempt to make anything different, and shows with no identity like this are the most forgettable ones.

Potential: 0%

Planet With

Short Synopsis: A boy with amnesia is pulled into a fight between superheroes and alien beings.

Aidan’s review:

Satoshi, don’t tease the audience by having Lucifer and the biscuit hammer figures in it which don’t exist.(Yet) So it’s no secret that I love this authors works and from what I hear this project is 3 or 4 years in the making. Satoshi is the kind of author who writes on the fly but rather plans out his stories from beginning to end before he starts. So far it’s difficult to destern how this one will turn out as beginnings tend to be where he’s weakest as Satoshi generally uses a generic foundation and then builds upon it with character development and twisting the cliche. He’s already started what with the alien menace only seeming to give people flashbacks showing their hearts desires and the heroes seem to have some agenda. The main protagonist is already in the position where he is tasked with fighting not the aliens but rather the heroes. My main feelings of this episode reflect my first impressions of the manga as there is certainly potential here but it hasn’t quite captured me yet like his previous works. The main comparison people are making for this one is FLCL which it does somewhat resemble in how nothing is quite explained and the surreal character and mecha designs. Not to mention the quirkiness of the characters themselves.While I am not blown away by this episode, I am quite interested to see where exactly this is going and hoping Satoshi can knock this one out of the park.

Potential: 80%

Mario’s review:

Planet With is one of my most anticipated anime of this season based on staffs involved alone, but the fact that it’s an original show means that we don’t have much detail to form a concrete opinion until the first episode airs. So, how does it perform? Well, I have mixed feeling regarding this episode. Main lead with amnesia? AGAIN? The plot sure raises many red flags here, chief amongst them the main character himself. He’s so bland and uninteresting, and so far he does stuffs because others tell him what to do – a boring trait that I’m not sure if I can follow him for the whole season.Other characters don’t fare well, either. We have classic “Class Rep” type, an imouto-like character who basically takes care of him, and that Cat-like sensei… I’m alright with shows mixing unrealistic part to their world (after all Doraemon is anything but realistic but he fits into the world), but how the hell no one notices anything strange about him, whereas make a big deal out of UFO? The CG fights were alright, although I’m not a fan with flashback sections in the middle of the fight. Although not flat-out terrible, I have the same vibe between this and Darling in the FranXX, an original production with good animation but botched down by weak and forced writing and uninteresting characters. Hopefully this show can prove me wrong on these.

Potential: 50%

Sunoharasou no Kanrinin-san

Short Synopsis: A young boy travels to a new city and moves in with four women, one of whom has some pretty big tits and shit.

Wooper’s “review”:

I watched less than a minute of this before turning it off. The character animation looked like the popsicle stick episode of Kare Kano, and the story turned left onto Wish Fulfillment Avenue within seconds of its opening scene. This is a show for people who need to see their very specific fetishes reflected on screen, and don’t care how cheaply they’re portrayed. If that’s you, then please watch this trash so I don’t have to.

Potential: Check out Banana Fish instead

Mario’s review:

Boy, even with me, who is fond of slice of life shows, couldn’t find anything remotely interesting regarding this. This first episode had only two things going on: that this kid is a boy despite looks (and behaves) like a girl, and his boarding house caretaker has a massive bouncing boob. There’s no story to begin with, but the fan-service fares so much worse, uncomfortably so. You see, not only she waked the kid up by putting her chest to his face, she determines to wash his back naked and lets him touch her chest. Aahh! The show looks bland and other characters have some sort of fetish, not in the good way. This is just a huge waste of time.

Potential: 0%

Harukana Receive

Short Synopsis: A high school girl moves in with her cousin for summer vacation and learns to play beach volleyball.

Wooper’s review:

The best word to describe this show is “mediocre.” It’s a disappointment in most departments, but not a failure. Some examples: the character movements are stiff, but consistent throughout the episode. The girls’ personalities are simple, but effective for a sports series. The music doesn’t make any waves on a compositional level, but it has a coastal flavor that fits the beach volleyball theme. Harukana Receive epitomizes the bar that all anime should reach before setting their sights any higher. It even features a few quiet slice-of-life moments near the end that make it a bit more than just a sports series. In a season full of zero-effort productions and soulless cash grabs, this show is just good enough to merit a second look (but only if you’re a fan of the genre).

Potential: 25%

Mario’s review:

We have the second cute girl playing sports anime this season, and this one wasn’t half bad, all things considered. It isn’t anything stellar by any stretch but it does its job on selling the appeal of the sports and introduce characters we can get behind. Although aware of beach volleyball as far back as I can remember, I don’t really know much about it. So on that front this show does make me feel a bit interested and I particular like it when they frame the sport as partnership instead of team or single sports. Second, the two main girls are the exact opposite so their differences bounce off each other well, and having complex about height is something I feel as reasonable. The main story, however, is formulaic as we can all figure out that what this story is gonna head. The new girl will learn the sport, drag her partner to some sort of tournament and they will play against these girls in the final. I would love to be proven wrong on this.

Potential: 20%

Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro

Short Synopsis: A girl takes an enthusiastic shortcut to school.

Aidan’s review:

Now this is just fun. I admit that as far as humor goes I didn’t really laugh but more found the events on screen amusing but it was still quite the enjoyable watch. The main character is hella relatable at least for a gaming side to me and even I had the awkward moment where you thought someone was waving at you but turned out they were signaling to someone behind you. Either way I love the contrast of Chio’s social insecurity contrasted with her ridiculous means of going to school and dealing with situations. This is a girl that wants a normal life and yet goes to absurd levels to preserve it. It’s certainly fun, though not sure why we needed those boob bouncing animation and sound effect. Might be because the author of the manga is a genuine hentai artist which isn’t quite as rare as you might think. Anyway this looks to be a fun weekly dose of madness but it’s going to have a hell of a competitor once Grand Blue starts airing.

Potential: 70%

Mario’s review:

Chio-chan is a show with one simple premise: Chio’s misadventures on her way to school, which arguably is more suitable for shorts than a full-fledge 1 cour series. But if this premiere is any indication, I think we’re up for a good fun here. This episode walks a fine line between bizzare and relatability, boasted by the absurd situations she faces herself in, Chio’s colorful, silly yet rich inner voice and the unpredictability both in how the story progresses and in Chio’s mindset herself. These two skits paint two different aspect of her (her game nerdy side and her social anxiety side), and the tone and style in general remind me a bit of Nichijou, which is one of my favorite comedy anime. The animation is fairly basic, and not all the jokes land, most notably the bouncing boobs that just gets pale fast. Still, as someone who was dreaming the same goddamn things (what if something extraordinary happened on my way to school) in my junior years, this pretty much lands within my territory here.

Potential: 70%

Back Street Girls

Short Synopsis: Yakuza boss turns 3 yakuza underlings into popular idol girls

Lenlo’s Review:

I have to say, Microsoft Powerpoint has come a long way since the early 90’s. I was so confused by this series, I legitimately stopped to check if I hadn’t paused it or something at one point. Turns out, no, it just has less frames than a weekly manga chapter. Seeing that though, I decided to try something. I went and read the manga. And you know what? This anime is just fan-colored panels slapped into a powerpoint presentation. Like seriously. This is adapted almost 1 for 1 from the manga. I was so surprised I skipped straight past anger, bargaining and depression and went straight to acceptance. Seriously though, just read the manga. It will be faster. And if you have to have the voices, just treat is as an audio book or something. Slap it on your kindle. You’ll probably have a better experience.

Potential: 0%

Aidan’s review:

Now, I don’t consider myself an expert on animation production but just this once let me offer a piece of advice. If you are going to create an anime of a manga then maybe you should…I don’t know…animate it? I swear to god this was literally a slideshow of the manga on screen, absolutely bare minimum effort required to technically classify this as animation. No, this is as one reddit user put it, moving manga. Well at least I can feel safe in know they series won’t be taking any talent away from JC Staffs other anime this season. So the presentation isn’t doing the show any favors which causes the jokes to fall flatter than they should. I like the general idea of this story but overall it’s just the same joke repeated over and over. I wouldn’t bother with this one.

Potential: 0%

Shichisei no Subaru

Short Synopsis: a group of childhood friends come to terms with the loss of one member, in RPG

Aidan’s review:

Wow this game sounds terrible. You really can tell the author hasn’t really much experience with MMOs or just doesn’t really care about fleshing it out to a point of being believable. I mean one of the party has the power to see into the future…how the hell would that work mechanically? Also a boss that literally deletes your character if you happen to die to it? Who in their right mind would design a boss like that, literally no one would risk it unless it had some game breaking reward. Well I guess hackers would just cheat it but I guess hackers don’t exist in this world. But allow me to be blunt and say I hate this anime, I hate it very much. There is bad anime but then there are anime which are like a personal insult to me for seeing something so lazily written with nothing really thought out just makes me furious. This is a story where the author wants to put his drama down without thinking out any of the aspects to make it feasible. The plot points are so agonisingly obvious that I can map out the character love pentagram just from the first episode alone. This story is clearly gunning for a mixture of Anohana and Sword Art Online and does neither to any level of satisfaction. For the RPG aspects are ludicrous and the drama so forced that I want to grab the writer by the neck and scream in his face “Learn how to goddamn write you stupid ass HACK!” So yes, quite unpleasant. I may be as uncouth to say it made me rather hot and bothered. Well, pip pip, tally ho, fuck this show.

Potential: May this show burn in hell and apologise to writers everywhere

Lenlo’s Review:

So… are we entirely sure the UI and town/backgrounds wasn’t lifted wholesale from SAO? Is this made by the same people? Am I being punked? To be serious for a moment though, this series has issues. I really can’t add anything onto what Aidan said except this: The most fun/entertaining part of Subaru was listening to Aidan as he watched it. Really, the thing I look forward to most each season is the possibility of something like this that just drives him up a wall. If you don’t care about things making logical sense, of laying down and following set rules, you might get some fun out of this. I don’t expect the drama to be all that great, its very melodrama-ey and simply not as well crafted as Anohana was. I actually think the ridiculousness of the MMO aspect takes away from what is basically a rehash of Anohana’s mostly grounded (excluding the ghost) story of coming to terms with loss. But the twist at the end was unexpected and kinda makes you wonder where its going to go. Consider my interest peaked enough to hear how it goes, but expecting the worst. Also, someone help me convince Aidan to watch it through the season.

Potential: 15%

Mario’s review:

Well, people are right to suggest that Shichisei is a mixture of Anohana in a Sword Art Online RPG settings, even the characters resemble the cast in Anohana, let alone the twist that brings us to the present day. It does run through many forced developments and strain credulity a bit, like the love interest bit and WHAT THE HELL? THEY ARE PRIMARY SCHOOL’S KIDS. But at the same times I’m not lying when I say this twist does grab me and I want to see how they deal with it in future events. The characters, then, will have to shoulder all the emotional weight, and as far as this first episode goes, NO, they still aren’t fleshed out beyond their established traits yet. It might get frustrated later on, but for now, I’m mildly interested to see what comes next. I’d say that the best way to know if the series works for you is to see how’s your response regarding that plot’s turn. I don’t mind another Anohana-inspired drama if it’s done right.

Potential: 40%

Banana Fish

Short Synopsis: A young gang leader becomes embroiled in a drug-related plot and befriends a Japanese reporter.

Mario’s review:

No question about it, Banana Fish is kool and stylish. From the NY settings to this mafia feud to the compelling characters, Banana Fish grabs you in the first moment and never leaves you.The story so far is fast-pace and thrilling, without ever sacrifice the characters’ motivation and they provide just enough information for us to process. For only the first episode, Ash proves to be an interesting lead, confident, sharp but has enough ‘weakness’ to make him believable. I’m not too fond on the other lead, Eiji though. So far he’s dragging the show down and that yaoi tone is so obvious it’s rather distracting. It helps that the production is sublime: many striking shots and the animated sequences at the bar are simply stunning, and the memorable soundtrack with the gritty backdrop make this the best-looking and stylish show we’ve seen so far this season, and that Banana Fish, whatever it is, will prove to be a wild ride for our Ash and Eiji. Sign me in for this wild ride.

Potential: 80%

Wooper’s review

Now this is more like it. Banana Fish feels like it was assembled by a creative team that actually gave a shit about the material they were handed. Check out the graffiti and the sunlit streets that bring its stylized version of New York to life. Listen to the show’s musical palette, which moves seamlessly between genres to feature bass, boom bap, electronic, and even metal (there’s only one dud in the bunch, during Ash and Dino’s first conversation, but it’s quickly forgotten). Most of all, check out the godlike fight scene in the billiards bar near the end of the episode, which lends credibility to the idea that these characters play hard and live harder. There’s no question that MAPPA delivered with this episode, but the manga’s tendency to forego establishing panels bled into the anime’s sense of speed, which hurts its score a little bit. Once the initial conflict between Ash and Arthur/Marvin dies down, hopefully the show will stop and smell the roses for a bit, but with 110 chapters to adapt in just 20-something episodes, we may be stuck on fast forward for the majority of the series. Still, this was a very exciting premiere. Everybody go watch Banana Fish!

Potential: 75%

Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa

Short Synopsis: The right hand man at a financial consulting firm struggles with mundane tasks while designing a death game for his boss.

Lenlo’s Review:

Ah Kaiji, how I had missed you. For those not in the know, Tonegawa is basically a prequel/side story to the Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor series. The best gambling anime out there. If you like Kakegurui, then Kaiji will knock your socks off. I would also almost make it mandatory, or at least recommended, watching for Tonegawa as it basically covers the entire first 3 minute recap. It’s fantastic. As for Tonegawa, well… it’s alright. Looks like it’s going to be a middle-management wordplay comedy instead of Kaiji’s high stakes gambling. That’s disappointing. There is also the fact that, because of Kaiji, we know that Tonegawa survives his series intact. In addition everything, from the sound effects to the art, seem… off from the original series. I can’t place it, but its stuck in my head. Regardless, Tonegawa will live or die by its ability to adapt. If it sticks with this middle-management comedy routine, it’s going to crash and burn. If it flips to something else, it may just survive. We shall see.

Potential: 30%

Wooper’s review:

This is a Kaiji spinoff, right? Right. So where is Fumihiko Tachiki as my solemn narrator? Where are the sinister “zawa zawa”s that I remember from the first season? I don’t want to say this series betrayed my expectations, because it’s clearly going for something new here, but I certainly didn’t expect such iconic elements of the original production to change. Maybe change is a good thing, though. Tonegawa is a straight-up comedy rather than the pulse-pounding thriller that Kaiji was, so the hammy narration might gel with the middle management hijinks after another episode or two. I’ll be giving it that chance, because I like the original series, and because Tonegawa’s performance as a world-weary death game designer offers plenty of potential for laughs. The suit-related gags in this episode weren’t too strong, but I believe that Madhouse will squeeze whatever black comedy they can from the source material. Plus, Fukumoto’s art style is glorious as always.

Potential: 40%

Yume Oukoku to Nemureru 100 Nin no Ouji-sama

Short Synopsis: A woman must embrace her destiny of awakening 100 princes after being transported to another world.

Lenlo’s Review:

Ah the good ol isekai harem series. A staple of every season it seems like. Hope your ready for info-dumps, because your in for one probably every episode most likely. The only thing 100 Sleeping Princes has going for it is the age of its heroine. Instead of being the generic high schooler, we have… presumably a young out of college office worker. That’s really the only thing this series has that separates it from any other standard isekai fair. Aside from that, the designs are standard, the characters are standard, everything about 100 Sleeping Princes screams bog standard to me. Simply not worth your time, your prince is in another castle.

Potential: 0%

Mario’s review:

Think of a generic reverse-harem isekai and you pretty much have a good idea about this show. 100 Sleeping Princes embraces all these tired tropes: main heroine who already has super-power (and amnesia), sleeping boys around wherever she goes, and the mascot who basically info-dumping us all the things we need to know. All those make this episode a predictable and harmless ride. It doesn’t help that the production doesn’t have anything above-average to offer, nor can the characters carry the show. There’s a fair bit of chemistry between the two princes, but it’s obvious that this is an excuse for amping up as many cute boys in distress as it could. Look, if you want make a reverse-harem show, just don’t grant your girl any special ability. Your typical isekai garbage.

Potential: 0%

Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu

Short Synopsis: a shut-in gamer is summoned into his game world, becomes a powerful character with 2 beast girls as his slaves

Aidan’s review:

So I heard that the author of this series wrote another series which was a political war/strategy LN series called Altina the Sword Princess which seems to be fairly well written. You may notice that it was not that series which got an anime adaption. Sigh…alright to be fair I actually somewhat enjoyed watching this. Oh believe me it’s it garbage but it’s the kind of garbage that makes for easy watching. Though it is very shameless with heavy boob bouncing animation and a first episode where the main character molests a catgirl. The one thing that makes it enjoyable is the discrepancy between the characters thoughts and his actions. But my original comments from the season preview very much stand, this is second hand Overlord. So if you want a version of Overlord that doesn’t take itself too seriously and has a boatload of fanservice then this is the show for you. Otherwise I say just back away slowly. Oh, and catgirl, you are not my Rem. Faker.

Potential: 10%

Lenlo’s Review:

Alright, so let me see, going off of just the OP we have a red haired Darkness, our token slightly tanned girl, big boobed elf girl, and two scantily clad jailbait animal girls. All of whom I presume will somehow get enslaved to our lead otaku isekai demon lord and get their own creepy molestation scene. What is this, a budget Overlord? I thought Overlord was a budget Overlord, what even is this? As Aidan said the only remotely interesting thing about this is the “fake it till you make it” attitude of our lead, which reminds me of the 40k Ciaphas Cain novels, if Cain wasn’t a smart-mouthed Imperial Commissar with a wit of gold. Suffice to say if your watching this for the fan-service, cut out the middleman and just go watch hentai. If you want a decent Isekai story, I guess go watch Overlord? Either way, this isn’t worth your time. Oh and as Aidan said, #NotMyRem

Potential: 0%

Island

Short Synopsis: A man stranded on an island full of cute girls claims to be from the future.

Lenlo’s Review:

Well I can see how ISLAND might appeal to some people. After all the first two scenes are A) Erotic wordplay about “breaking” and B) The classic trip and fall into your main love interest, but this time it’s directly into his crotch. Face first. Truly, ISLAND is a bastion of culture. Yeah, there are small hints about some kind of murder storyline. Some kind of detective drama. But let’s be real here, this is a fanservice delivery system. If Studio feel learned how to weaponise the genre, this would be their Tsar bomb. If your into fan-service and B-plots designed to deliver that fan-service, ISLAND may be for you. For everyone else, I give it a 1-in-a-million shot at being anything resembling decent. It’s a shame to, because we have irrefutable proof that Studio feel knows how to make good anime. They just choose not to sometimes.

Potential: 0.00001%

Mario’s review:

Let’s me just recap the story just so we have an idea how half-baked it is. We have a guy who literally a blank page, who both suffers amnesia (!), but “remembers” enough key events to advance the plot at will (!!). He meets various girls (!!!) and the first thing he remember about them is boob and kiss (!!!!). This is obviously a VN type of story where the main guy has no personality whatsoever and the girls are loud and cliche. It doesn’t help that the fanservice is off-putting and the conversations are generic. There’s some hints of a darker storyline which all the mysteries and killing stuff, but so far it’s hard to invest to any of that because the pacing is all over the place. That insert song in the end might pull some viewers in but for me it’s just a generic J-pop song. Uninteresting characters with too much fan-servicey and not enough plot would sum this one up nicely.

Potential: 10%

Hanebado!

Short Synopsis: The remaining members of a badminton club struggle to keep their group together.

Mario’s review:

How appropriate that we have a sport anime that kick off the season in a middle of football frenzy and Wimbledon, and it’s a competent one to boost. Conventional plot aside, Hanebado has all the ingredients of a solid sport drama, from adequate character developments to outright impressive badminton choreography. These two main girls have clear motivations and struggles, but what I enjoy the most is the way the show display characters’ feeling through subtle expressions (this reminds me a lot of KyoAni works). Yeah, that main girl can be unbearable sometimes but she comes from a place I can totally understand. As a person who used to practice tennis day and night, I come up with that question a lot: Why do I keep playing the sport. As noted, the animation is impressive. It’s one of the few shows where I can say it resembles the sport in real life, but I’m not sure if they can keep up that impressive visual for the rest of its run. Other concern is that I’m not certain if it can finish the story in one cour, because I just don’t want to invest in a story that just stop when everything just gets interesting.

Potential: 60%

Wooper’s review:

This is one of the anime that most interested me based on promotional footage, because the badminton matches looked great. Now that I’ve seen the first episode, though, I realize that the rest of the production doesn’t have that level of polish. That goes for story, characters, visual direction, and most disappointingly of all, music. Hanebado’s soundtrack sounds like the result of putting every Joe Hisaishi score into a blender, taking two sips, and throwing the rest away. And that’s honestly a shame, because with good visuals for the competitive scenes and a distinctive sound for the rest of the show, we might have had a contender on our hands. Instead, the average character writing (featuring transparent stand-ins for the concepts of “talent” and “hard work”) shines through at every possible opportunity, making their relationships and arguments feel artificial. The idea that two rivals will have to become friends and work to improve their club isn’t wowing me, either. Hanebado still gets a light recommendation from me for the athletic animation and the fun OP, but don’t expect the world from this series.

Potential: 40%

Senjuushi

Short Synopsis: Rifles are Boys.

Lenlo’s Review:

Sigh Why do I do this to myself? Why does Japan do this to me? To anyone? Welcome to “Ancient-guns-as-cute-boys-doing-cute-things” the anime. I swear if this becomes a genre, i’m just done. There are so many things wrong here. I would need this entire post to explain my problems with Senjuushi. That’s not going to happen. I already made that mistake with Touken Ranbu. And at least Touken Ranbu had the decency to look as flashy as Fate/Zero or Fate/Unlimited Blade Works. At least from it I got some visual stimulus! From Senjuushi all I get is a dozen of the exact same male face with different hair colors, scaled to different sizes. Nope. I’m out. Bye.

Potential: 0%

Mario’s review:
Just after last year with Touken Ranbu where hot boys are the incarnations of famous swords, Senjuushi basically borrows the idea with them boys as an embodiment of famous matchlock firearms, in a musketeer fashion. The mashup of all the different setting periods is actually the most amusing factor this show provides. Throughout this episode, more than dozen of male characters introduced and I’ll be damned if I remember any of those faces. Make no mistake, this show is an advertisement for those boys and I suppose this show will make several missions as an excuse for those boys teaming up and squeeze out every drop of charisma out of them. Avoid this show at all costs.

Potential: 0%