Category: Some Quick First Impressions

Black★★Rock Shooter: DAWN FALL

Short Synopsis: Sleepy robot (?) girl saves some kids from bad robots.

Amun: I think I’ve seen the original ONA, and I definitely watched the 8 episodes that came out about a decade ago. Obviously there’s the original song and music video that catapulted the titular character to fame. However…I have no idea how any of that is related to Dawn Fall, except that the character design looks very similar. If my foggy memory serves, last time Black Rock Shooter was in a high school and switching between the post-apocalyptic world; this time around seems pretty set in the dystopian future of man vs machine (maybe she was fighting the same big boss at the end?). There are some pretty common robots-becoming-human themes here – although Mr. Sexbot 3000 was a bit of a surprise in his, erm, approach to deeply understanding humanity. There’s a bit of self-aware humor here (which, given some of the translation issues, might be more of a fansub editorial than the actual script), but the dialogue is pretty sparse. Given the oddities with the release licensing (Disney+ strikes again), I think the best hope is a legitimate fansub group picks this up. The big takeaway is that Dawn Fall looks great – in fact, I think they could have slowed down a few of their shots in the fighting sequence, there was just so much action packed in. Sure it’s CG, but that was always BRS’s MO, so no surprises there. My guess? It’ll be easy on the eyes and light on the plot. Sounds good to me!
Potential: 60%

Mario: I came to Black Rock Shooter without any real expectation and I got out of it mildly impressed. I have no prior knowledge to Black Rock Shooter franchise, but I have no problem following the story as 1) it is a reboot and 2) Dawn Fall is very light on plot and big on explosions. Yes, the story is such a mess (when you see a battle right off the bat without knowing whom to root for, it’s a bad sign), the characters are just cardboard figures at the moment (the main character has – yeah, you guessed it – amnesia), its visuals look consistently confident at all times. The CG fights blend together well, so does the choreography of the fights. At the moment, Dawn Fall is one of the titles that flew under the radar the most – it is only streaming in Japan and hardly gets a proper sub, and its appeal is mainly for those who have experienced the franchise before – but I am here to claim that it looks more polished than half of the current season’s offerings, if you can shut down your brain because the plot doesn’t really matter.
Potential: 40%

I’m Quitting Heroing

Short Synopsis: Single-handedly defeating a demon army does not provide the expected job security for a hero.

Lenlo: I really wonder if me and Amun watched the same show because seriously if it walks like isekai trash, quacks like isekai trash and has all the visual blandness of isekai trash then lets just call it isekai trash. Yeah there’s no opening scene where some schmuck gets hit by a truck and gets teleported, yet aside from that everything about this series has the structure of one. From the oft-repeated shallow fantasy crap to what I consider to be bland and standard visuals. This show is just painfully boring. It took me an hour to get through a 24 minute episode because none of it had any charm. Visually and narrative this comes off like a series made by a bunch of old men in committee, not by someone with any actual passion. So yeah, count me out. I’d rather watch Shield Hero than this. At least that revels in its trashiness.
Potential: 0%

Amun: This is one of my most anticipated non-sequel shows of the season (the other being Spy x Family). From the first episode, I’d say….they probably spent all their budget on the premiere. You can tell from the little animation tricks, especially when fighting the full formed demon. Which, if this turns out to be even decently animated, I think it’s still fully serviceable – I’m just a little concerned to see some shortcuts this early on. The character adaptations from the manga feel okay, although I feel as though Leo came off a little wooden (I imagined him a bit more cocky, but he feels pretty bland for someone who is that OP). That said, I love this premise – and I think even this MC has some potential. Normally, we’re seeing MC’s with “soft-skills” who are wildly weak or reincarnated, overpowered heroes who were supposedly awkward in their past life but still end up with the harem – Leo lacks people skills to such an extreme that he managed to go from the savior of the country to the villain. Now that’s talent. However, it’s hard to strike the balance between a character the viewers want to cheer for and someone completely insufferable. All in all? I’m still here for a few more episodes (probably the whole season, to be honest), but I’m trimming my expectations slightly.
Potential: 70%

Tomodachi Game

Short Synopsis: Five students are dragged into a series of psychological games in order to repay one person’s debt.

Lenlo: The best way I can describe Tomodachi Game is knock-off Squid Game. It’s not that Tomodachi Game is a bad premise, nor that the game played is dull. Rather it’s that Tomodachi Game falls into the same trap that every other series trying to mimic Kaiji does: It cares more about the games than it does the players. Despite the fact that it’s the players, the characters and their circumstances and why they are playing to begin with, that makes these series work. Squid Game works because we care about Seong Gi-hun, Abdul Ali, etc. Kaiji works because of how much time we spend with him and how we come to know him. But Tomodachi Game dives right into a 5-person game, only giving us a single second of flashing character cards and a few small scenes for each. I don’t know, or care, about any of these people yet. I don’t buy their friendship or their bond. In fact, because of the way this show is framed, I have doubted its authenticity from the beginning. Suffice to say that this was a miss for me, despite some colorful directing.
Potential: 20%

Wooper: I was sure that this was going to be terrible, but Tomodachi Game’s playful storyboarding managed to rescue this episode – during the gambling scenes, anyway. The consistent use of diagrams explained the rules and illustrated the stakes for each character, and a few colorful backgrounds gave the games an exaggerated feeling that I kind of liked. There’s a clear mandate here to emphasize the psychological aspect at the expense of everything else – probably the right call given the show’s limited resources, but it does handicap the characters in a major way. The series is in such a rush to get to the debt repayment games that it introduces the cast with on-screen paragraphs, and the way it pits Money and Friendship against each other in the protagonist’s flashbacks is some of the most blatant theming that any anime has served up in recent years. All five kids are such nonentities that there’s no reason to care whether they get through the games or drown in debt; the brown-haired girl in particular is a nauseatingly transparent representation of innocence. Tomodachi Game might be worth somebody’s time if future episodes get much crazier, but it’s so thinly written that I’m done after one.
Potential: 25%

Vanitas no Carte S2

Short Synopsis: A bunch of vampires, vampire hunters, a vampire doctor, and some spooky clowns go to fight an ancient monster, only to get time warped and fight each other.

Armitage: It’s kind of strange to see vampire anime making such a return to the mainstream all of a sudden. I have been known to bemoan the lack of representation for bloodsucking white people in this medium but lately I have been feeling spoiled for choice. Sure, most of them are still your standard fare and barely better than mediocre. Your Vlad Love and your Kyuuketsuki (Mars Red is good tho, fight me) and it’s easy to see Vanitas no Karte belonging to the same crop. But it really does do enough to stand well and above the rest of its clan. Its light-hearted colorful exterior is an affront for a philosophical, dark core and it isn’t afraid to tear its own chest apart to give us a glimpse of its beating heart. It’s good stuff, to put it shortly. And while this season 2 premiere doesn’t necessarily kick things off in blistering fashion, it has earned enough goodwill from me in its previous season to be fully onboard with what comes next. I see this following in the footsteps of Golden Kamuy and building up on a first cour that laid the groundwork to turn into something truly special as it goes along.

Potential: 80%

Amun: Well that was pretty weird. No secret that Vanitas’ first half didn’t have the strongest ending – but the second half has certainly started off strangely. Our merry band of frenemies (and legitimate enemies) goes out to find this “Beast”, only to get time warped. Alright then. I’m getting tremendous Re:Zero S2 vibes from the timeskip, the snow, and the mysterious new goth girl. Which isn’t really a bad thing, but a bit unexpected from our buddy French vampire show. The fights and animation still look great, so I’m along for the ride – but I’m concerned that the story is starting to wander.

Potential: 75%

Futsal Boys!!!!!

Short Synopsis: Two high school boys put some mean ol’ bullies in their place with mad futsal skills.

Mario: I admit that I had reasonably high hopes for this original sports show, and as a result I was let down by the first episode. But while the premiere isn’t a standout by any means, It’s still a functional one. In the span of 20 minutes it establishes the basics of futsal, introduces the team and the personalities of our main characters. The only issue with that is that by doing so it forcefully creates a mock-match and pushes the drama in all directions. The production is subpar for a sports show, unfortunately, hence we get a fair share of still screens even in this first episode. I’m still intrigued to see how the team will shape up so I will be checking in for the next few episodes, but as with any sports show my concern is whether or not they could end this conclusively in a cour.

Potential: 30%

Fantasy Bishoujo Juniku Ojisan to

Short Synopsis: Two guys are whisked away from their mundane lives to live in a fantasy world, but one of them loses an important package in the process.

Wooper: Congratulations to the makers of this show for waiting until the 20 minute mark to display a midair menu detailing the main characters’ stats. I know it’s hard not to replicate every trope of reincarnation anime immediately upon summoning your protagonists to their new world, so the fact that Fantasy Bishoujo was able to delay such a well-loved staple for so long is proof of its rookie director’s patience. I hope to cultivate the same sort of patience within myself as I wait for this isekai romcom, which has already hooked me after a single episode, to air each week. It will take a determined heart and a diligent mind not to read ahead in the manga and find out whether these thirty-something men, one of whom was cursed with the body of a teenage girl, will confess their feelings for each other. But damn it, if a first time director can master her impulses and put the focus on her characters before feeding us those oh-so-sweet video game menu screens, I can surely restrain myself for seven days at a time. Those week-long waits will make each new episode that much better, I just know it!

Potential: 0%

Sabikui Bisco

Short Synopsis: A bow-wielding terrorist crosses a lifeless desert in order to meet a doctor specializing in illegal mushrooms.

Wooper: Sabikui Bisco may be the most ambitious anime of the winter season. It’s set in a future where rust is spreading across both planet Earth and the bodies of its inhabitants; its far-out costume design has half the characters dressed in masks and/or cloaks; and its fixation on mushrooms dips into the realms of both medicine and combat. More than its setting or visual themes, though, the main thing I noted about this premiere was its habit of jumping between locations and conversations. From a man trying to hide his identity from a pair of border guards to a black market mushroom dealer haggling with a food stall owner to a teenage doctor operating out of a brothel, Sabikui Bisco did a more than decent job of keeping things connected despite its plethora of characters and ideas. It ended on a strong note as well, with two people who we’d seen on opposite ends of a desert finally meeting in the episode’s last scene. I’m less enthused about the show’s production, unfortunately, as the eye-catching scenery isn’t sufficient to distract from the stiff character animation or the shortcuts taken when depicting Bisco’s mushroom barrages (rather than sprouting, the toadstools simply appear in frame with a cluster of airborne rubble hiding their point of origin). I’ll be sticking with this show for a while, but it’s got a lot more to prove if it wants to be truly memorable.

Potential: 60%

Armitage: I love this world. I mean, not our own, obviously, but the world that Sabikui Bisco paints across the densely packed 24 minutes of its runtime. Desert dunes and retro-futuristic cities. Traders of skin and automaton lizards for car rides. It’s all just dripping with cool while never feeling overly moreish. It almost feels like Xam’d lost Memories went on a cyberpunk bender and was found on the side of the road the night after. The character writing here isn’t going to win any awards and like Woop mentioned the actual character animation is not all that great. But these are all issues I am willing to overlook if we can get a deep dive into the underbelly of a world that for now appears to be a living breathing thing of its own. Hopefully, this will FINALLY be an LN adaptation that doesn’t crash and burn after a promising start.

Potential: 70%

Koroshi Ai

Short Synopsis: An assassin cons a bounty hunter into going on a date with him by doing her job for her.

Lenlo: I’ll be honest, there’s nothing in Koroshi Ai I haven’t seen done better elsewhere. Visually it’s pretty weak, but in a season as bad as this it’s still probably in the upper half. The storyboards are uninspired and everything looks like it’s lit from a singular source from directly above at all times. It’s just not that good looking. Meanwhile narratively the premise of competing assassins/spies/whatever falling for each other is fine but I can’t help but think of works that have done it far better. Stuff like the currently releasing (and soon to get an anime) Spy x Family. Koroshi Ai is trying for something darker than that, true. But I don’t think it has the chops to pull it off if this episode is anything to go by. It couldn’t sell me on the assassins, it couldn’t sell me on the romance, and it couldn’t sell me on it being a visually interesting watch. And if you can’t sell me on any of those… Why bother watching?

Potential: 0%

Mario: In a rather weak season – the weakest in recent memory actually – Koroshi Ai remains one of the most promising shows, but I still have heaps of issues with it. I feel like I’m in the minority who buys into this “creepy” advance of Ryong-ha Son, an assassin who has the hots for our lead girl. He’s unpredictable for one thing, and he can be over-the-top and still fit into the premise. But my interest in the chemistry between them doesn’t hide the fact that the show looks pretty bad at times. Furthermore, for the pulpy mystery elements I’m feeling a bit mixed. The show doesn’t tone down the violence on any of its killing scenes, but why is that exactly? Wouldn’t it need to go much darker later on? Despite some issues, I’m in for a few more episodes to see where the lead relationship goes from here.

Potential: 40%

Kenja no Deshi wo Nanoru Kenja

Short Synopsis: In a riveting turn of events, an MMO player decides to change his character’s appearance from male to female.

Wooper: Full disclosure: I bailed on Kenja no Deshi’s premiere halfway through the episode. Once you get a look at its first two images you’ll understand why – this is an anime for people so addicted to MMOs that they feel uncomfortable watching any other sort of story unfold. It opens with a bunch of narration explaining the lore of the game, and follows that up with scenes of characters praising it as though they were part of an in-game advertisement. The OP sounds like the sort of karaoke song that would only be selected if somebody got really drunk and picked it by mistake. The mid-episode battle scene is so poorly laid out and relies on such unattractive CG that it’s a wonder nobody pulled the plug on the entire show after seeing it. (Then again, the people who greenlit this show probably don’t care.) Usually I can get some satisfaction out of dunking on these greasy light novel adaptations, but this one was so hideously unimaginative that I couldn’t make it through. Do not watch this anime.

Potential: 0%

Lenlo: You know, I thought Wooper was exaggerating. I thought that I could come in here, make an MMO joke, something about “Just go play FF14” since that’s been my addiction lately. But when I watched the episode it was… it was one of the most aggressively mediocre things I have ever seen. Even people who like the Isekai MMO genre will find nothing here. Everything Wooper said above is true and more. Just go watch Leadale. Or Log Horizon. Or hell SAO, at least that one looks pretty decent most of the time. Just don’t watch this.

Potential: Why does this exist %

Tribe Nine

Short Synopsis: A brash fisherman and a quiet bullying victim join an Extreme Baseball team in Neo Tokyo.

Wooper: Tribe Nine was one of the most common responses in our Winter 2022 poll, which had me curious coming into its first episode. I was expecting a dumb sports anime and nothing more, but maybe I’d overlooked something that would make it stand out from the pack. In short, I was hopeful… but I shouldn’t have been. Tribe Nine is even more frivolous than its promo material had led me to believe, with characters so thin they’d disappear if they turned too far to the left or right. There are two audience surrogates, one with plenty of self-confidence and one with none, and at least a third of the dialogue revolves around those traits. Another third is dedicated to Extreme Baseball, the government-ordained method for rival gangs to settle disputes in this dystopian version of Tokyo. (Too bad the show puts almost no effort into making that future believable or even appealing.) I’d tell you what the last third was about, but it got drowned out by the show’s nonstop electro-rock and EDM soundtrack, which blared through my speakers in nearly every scene. Annoying music and anime go hand in hand, but when it’s overused to the point that you’re startled by its absence, I start to wonder why I’m listening to (or watching) that particular show at all. Tribe Nine’s engine-powered bats, digital catcher’s mitts and violent defensive play make it worth a look for ironic anime fans, but personally, I found this episode to be a swing and a miss.

Potential: 15%

Amun: Hey, I liked the soundtrack – I thought it went well with the neon theme and high octane action. Premises and backstory are for the first 30 seconds, let’s not sweat the details of how high-tech gang battle beanball became the legal recourse for general disputes (and apparently is exempt from property damage or liability…how does insurance even work in this world?). It’s probably the character designs, but I’d describe this show as a Tron meets Danganronpa, just less kill-ey and without an overarching premise. Oh yeah, and mech baseball – which honestly, wasn’t as dumb as it sounds. Yes, the cast can barely be called characters, but they’re colorful (visually that is). I’ve seen worse. Tribe Nine requires you to brain-off and just vibe to some Neo Tokyo ball games – I’m down for a few more episodes.

Potential: 40%

Sasaki to Miyano

Short Synopsis: A high school delinquent falls in love with the underclassman who loans him BL manga.

Mario: While I am certainly open to discovering more shounen-ai anime, I don’t think I’ll go along for the ride with Sasaki to Miyano. The two leads are likable enough, but the non-linear style distracts from the flow and lessens their chemistry instead of highlighting it for me. All these segments could have been arranged chronologically so we could see their relationship develop, whereas the out of order version we got prevents us from getting a grasp on where their relationship lies. In terms of how the show handles their chemistry I am half and half so far. On the one hand, I appreciate its different approach in how it gives space for the characters to breathe. On the other side of the spectrum, it still relies on tropes (like the beginning scene or when Sasaki forcefully grabs poor Miyano). It’s sweet and pleasant so far, but it risks becoming repetitive as it goes.

Potential: 30%

Wooper: Having read the first few chapters of Sasaki to Miyano prior to this premiere, I can say that the anime does almost nothing to set itself apart from the manga. The lack of 3DCG background characters was a nice surprise, as were little things like textured storm clouds and sunny train interiors, which allowed me to appreciate the visuals rather than be embarrassed by them. The score was similarly pleasant – piano, strings, flute and a bit of bass – but better yet was the show’s lack of dependence on music to push itself forward. The dialogue managed to do that without much assistance, which is something to strive for when directing a slower-paced story. Sasaki to Miyano isn’t aiming to tell a highly involved tale, though, and it’s not difficult to picture its potential death by repetition. Sasaki has a crush on Miyano, but doesn’t yet identify as gay, so he’s constantly checking himself for appreciating the other boy’s hair or hands or body line. “W-wait a minute… Miyano is a dude! That’s so weird!” is a thought that will probably flash through his mind upwards of thirty times before the show concludes its run, which doesn’t sound like my idea of a good time. But forget about me – I’m sure there are people who love watching anime characters discover their sexuality after a lengthy denial phase, and this is a decent version of that premise.

Potential: 30%

Tensai Ouji no Akaji Kokka Saisei Jutsu

Short Synopsis: A genius prince’s guide to raising a nation out of debt (hey, that’s the title of the show!).

Amun: Bah. This was worse than I thought. For me, Tensai Ouji is an imitation of the other Genius Prince Isekai, which is an imitation of Amagi Brilliant Park, which really wasn’t that great of a show to begin with (although I do love it). The settings are pretty static – I feel we’re going to be spending significant time in the prince’s office (although, they splurged for the first episode and went out to the battlefield). The problem is that although a story exists somewhere in this episode, it was told in possibly the least interesting way possible. The rapport between the prince and his assistant was the only good thing I saw, and even that’s probably a fluke. It doesn’t look good, the story’s not interesting, the character designs are boring…I probably won’t be on this train for long.

Potential: 5%

Mario: I have one word for this show, and it’s “lazy”. And I don’t mean the laziness of the MC-kun who happens to be way overpowered, it’s the writing that doesn’t seek to deliver anything special. The only joke this show tells in 25 minutes is that despite the fact that he hates his position and wants to sell off his nation as soon as he can, his “tactics” backfire and he ends up doing good for the nation instead. Does it pay off? No, it’s not even funny to begin with. Is he interesting to root for? No, he’s whiny and has a bunch of girls who literally do his dirty work for him. Am I bored? You bet I am.

Potential: 0%

Attack on Titan:
The Final Season Part 2

Short Synopsis: Some show about large naked people who get really steamy.

Armitage: See, at this point, the fact that you’re even reading this means that you’re fully committed to seeing this hype-train to its final station. I don’t need to sell you on it and I sure as hell am not gonna bother trying to change your mind if it’s not your thing. To each their own. This premiere by itself is pretty standard fare. Doesn’t come close to being as bombastic as S4 Part 1’s or as shocking as the very first season’s premiere but it serves as an adequate setup for the carnage that’s about to follow. I know that the manga chapter everyone is most looking forward to being animated will be adapted around episode 3-ish of this cour. I don’t know what happens in it but I have been led to believe that, colloquially speaking, shit hits the fan. And I am waiting eagerly in anticipation of it. I also dislike the new ED. The OP is cool though, very extra-edge like the first Vinland Saga opening. But yeah, other than all this, I don’t have much to say about this episode. Though, really, this is the final season of the show that almost single-handedly got non-fans into giving these Japanese cartoons a chance in the last decade. It’s anime history, it’s the end of an era. By now, you’re either in or out. I am very clearly in the former group. The lot of us love this story, subtlety be damned.

Potential: B(i)ased.

Wooper: The first few minutes of this episode nearly tricked me into thinking Wit Studio was still involved with Attack on Titan. The look and sound of the rain falling where Levi’s body lay broken, the rich colors that appeared as both the sun and Zeke emerged from their hiding places… I allowed myself a moment of optimism that this final season (part 2) might recapture the visual gravitas of the franchise’s earlier years. Then the OP happened and everything afterwards fell much more in line with my actual expectations, but I hardly need to spell those out for you, as fans have been airing their grievances with the show’s new look for a year and a half now. What’s really important at this point is the story, which is where this episode excelled. Two scenes in particular made this a strong reintroduction to the world of Titan: Gabi’s catchup session with General Magath and Onyankopon’s plea to save Eren. Both conversations made the informational playing field a bit more even, while still leaving room for surprises down the road. The uninterrupted presentation of that second scene did distract from the action-heavy middle section, but it also created plenty of room for Connie to vent his righteous fury in a hair-raising performance by Hiro Shimono. Attack on Titan may sport a different coat of paint these days, but this episode proves that it’s still got plenty of drama left in the tank.

Potential: 70%

Kaijin Kaihatsu-bu no Kuroitsu-san

Short Synopsis: Salarywoman struggles through impossible office work for an evil organization that can’t defeat a local hero.

Amun: Evil organizations are hardly anything new in anime, but it seems they’re getting more popular. Last year’s Combatant’s Will be Dispatched reflected the general quality of such shows, but every now and again, something like Devil is A Part Timer comes along. One episode in, Kaijin Kaihatsu-bu feels shockingly like the latter. The juxtaposition of the mundane salaryman life against grandiose schemes of evil, dynamic (albeit a bit too much fanservice) characters, and an unexpected real-world tie-in makes this the most interesting new show I’ve seen this season. I’m dying at the chief of staff who has to make everything run for a leader who randomly comes in and causes tons of unnecessary work. The animation isn’t anything to write home about, but I’ve seen worse. Plus, I’m VERY interested in the revolver wielding chicken. Now can everything fall apart halfway? Absolutely. But in a season as sparse as this one, I’ll take any ray of hope I can get. (Bet Lenlo hates it, since you could view it as a slapstick SSSS.Gridman).

Potential: 67%

Lenlo: And Amun would be correct! Take everything good the SSSS franchise had going for it, interesting story boards, dynamic cameras, decent animation, good editing, and throw all of it in the trash. Then add in a sprinkle of slapstick and you have Kaijin Kaihatsu. It’s just so… so bland. Even in a season like this there are better shows. Attack on Titan, Bisque Doll, Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vanitas S2, Leadale, I don’t care! Just… if you’re really hard up for some kind of super sentai show maybe you’ll enjoy this? But I’ve never enjoyed super sentai much to begin with, not even Power Rangers when I was a kid, so there’s nothing here for me.

Potential: 0%

Baraou no Souretsu

Short Synopsis: Two kings of England, one present and one future, have a fateful meeting without the knowledge of their warring families.

Wooper: This premiere got hit hard with the ugly stick, which in the anime world may as well be called “the stick of indifferent production.” Most of the characters look completely vacuous, the show is rarely animated, and the art is oppressively gray. We’re only given a reprieve from this bleakness whenever Joan of Arc’s ghost appears to protagonist Richard III in garishly colored visions, but these are no better to look at. It’s not as though Baraou no Souretsu takes place in the Dark Ages, either – we’re in 15th century England here, observing the Wars of the Roses. (“Observing” is a major overstatement, since in this show war is fought off screen, but there’s the setting, anyway.) Richard is part of the York family, who have enough influence to make a bid for the crown, so I doubt they lived in the sort of dismal conditions the show presents – not until their capture by the Lancasters, anyway, an event that the episode didn’t bother to portray. To be fair, all of the premiere’s political and military developments were equally neglected, since the show is interested solely in Darkness. Richard is tormented by hallucinations and despised by his mother for his intersex biology, but the show’s lack of sensitivity and relentlessly grim tone make it difficult to empathize with him or anyone else, so I’m not going to waste time trying.

Potential: 0%

Mario: Adapting Shakespearian material to the screen is hard, and it’s even harder in anime. Half of the time the self-seriousness of the source will clash with the looseness of animation, and the plot and setting will function as mere vehicles for tragedy. Baraou no Souretsu suffers from both these issues. I didn’t get a sense of the war’s progress at all here, and the cast were similarly vague except maybe for Richard and Henry. I guess it’s fine that they’re in focus since the show will likely follow their paths to the crown and their interweaving fates and failures, but here it overwhelms everything else about the show. The production is flat, the narrative is incoherent, and the themes are overtly heavy – all in all it’s a pass for me.

Potential: 10%

Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru

Short Synopsis: Sew-me ga Kirei.

Armitage: While it may look generic in the way most modern anime set in high school do, the plot concept at the center of Sono Bisque Doll is actually pretty novel: a story about a socially awkward boy using his one very specific skill to help a popular girl in following through with her one very specific hobby. It can be a nice exploration of the dynamics of the relationship between these two while also giving a peak into cosplay culture. But, all that potential gets overshadowed by the continuous and entirely needless pandering to horny teenagers. Which really should not be this show’s core audience. If it strips itself of all the out-of-place fanservice, it won’t lose an ounce of its story’s essence. Alas, so often this premiere felt like the writers thinking “Hey, this is how we sell our female lead! Make sure to add a close-up panty shot at the time when she’s opening her heart to the male lead. That’s obviously the perfect moment.” Of course, that’s only one of the many moments of dumb sexualization of Kitagawa and I don’t think this story is ever going to change this approach. But hey, it sure would be talked about by the end of the season. For better or worse.

Potential: 25%

Lenlo: I’m so torn on Bisque Doll. On one hand, it’s really pretty and I think it could make for an interesting exploration not only of a piece of Japan’s culture I’ve never seen before but of non-traditional masculinity in general. On the other hand… My god is it creepy. The way it lingers on the lead girl, who is admittedly very pretty, and the almost disturbing way the lead man looks at or thinks of the dolls are both off putting. I think Bisque Doll has a lot of potential. All the pieces for not only an interesting romance but a compelling drama are here. From good visuals to a fun and interesting dynamic between our lead couple, I’m curious! I want to watch more! It just feels so god damn voyeuristic. I’m going to keep watching this and just pray it stays lovably weird and doesn’t go full trashy creep.

Potential: 60%

Shikkakumon no Saikyou Kenja

Short Synopsis: A powerful sorcerer choses to be reborn as an even more powerful preteen boy so his anime can attract a larger audience.

Amun: The biggest question here is: does this count as an isekai? It has reincarnation to the same world, but a different time – although it isn’t from the modern world to a magical one. Hmmm. Anyways, this was a dense episode. My goodness. There was reasoning behind the reincarnation, meeting of the main harem, becoming the honor student/quasi-teacher, winning an inter-school tournament, defeating a major foe, and uncovering the main sinister plot. That was ONE episode. Guys, you have like 12 episodes – I’m pretty sure I’ve seen shows with less plot in a full season. That said…it wasn’t terrible. Sure, we’ve seen it all before, but I’m kind of interested in the demons taking over a school (eat your heart out Voldemort). Our MC is properly overpowered, but still has his shy side – I’m not saying this is anything original, but it’s at least a decent rendition of this trope. I’ll give Shikkakumon a few more to prove out where it’s going (at breakneck speed), but I’m expecting a B-tier adventure at best. Which I am perfectly okay with.

Potential: 50%

Wooper: Back when The Irregular at Magic High School aired in 2014, it drew a lot of criticism for bending over backwards in praise of its own protagonist. It wasn’t the first anime to employ such a stupid storytelling strategy, of course, but it was still novel enough (and popular enough) to make the show into a meme. Eight years later, the success of that meme means we get at least two anime per season that are similarly obsessed with their own heroes. Shikkakumon is one such series. It is so concerned with demonstrating the awesomeness of Matthias Hildesheimer (yes, that’s his real name) that he becomes secondary to the list of spells and insignias that he possesses. Enhance Physique, Sunder Steel, Crests of Creation and Rapid Firing – these things are more important to the series than anything about Matthias himself. Every other character in the show exists not as an individual but as a device to inflate his importance. His friends trust him within seconds of meeting him and benefit immensely from his guidance. He passes his magical entrance exams at the top of his class and is immediately recruited to teach all his less talented peers how a real mage does it. Those who oppose him doubt his strength at first, but turn out to be hopelessly outmatched by his abilities as a sorcerer. It’s the stuff of wet dreams for chuuni teens, but I’d sooner be reincarnated as a blind and deaf man than look at or listen to another episode of this show.

Potential: 0%

Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku

Short Synopsis: Glorified sauna belt commercial.

Lenlo: Remember when I called Bisque Doll creepy and voyeuristic but promising? Right, Akebi is just voyeuristic and it’s about 13 year olds. Visually I think it’s alright? I’m really not a fan of the character designs sadly, their faces just look like lumpy balls of clay someone stuck absurdly large eyes to. That lumpiness probably makes it easier to animate, and Akebi does have some good shots, but I find it really unappealing. Meanwhile the narrative is doing nothing for me. It’s another idol-ish show where young girls try to become Idols, glorifying an honestly pretty toxic industry. So yeah, this is a hard pass from me.

Potential: 0%

Armitage: While I agree with Lenlo that both this and Sono Bisque Doll are completely trite in their fanservice, I actually can’t pick what kind I hate more. Watching a 13-year-old putting on a skirt while her underpants are artistically not shown to the viewer or having a 15-year-old have her buttcheeks shown dead center of the screen. They are both equally unnecessary and brain-dead if you ask me. The difference is that Sono Bisque actually has a decent premise even though it is unable to fully back it up. Here we have a message for girls to lose weight till society deems them perfectly slim and desirable. Else they would amount to nothing. Truly poignant stuff.

Potential: 0%

Tokyo 24-ku

Short Synopsis: Three former classmates receive superhuman abilities after receiving a call from a supposedly dead friend.

Wooper: Tokyo 24-ku is one of just three original anime premiering this season, and of those three it’s the only one that’s not about sports (though its protagonist is a parkour enthusiast). I’m sure there will be people hoping for its success as a result, but after this freewheeling double-length premiere, it’s difficult to say whether their wishes will be granted. The show’s presentation is certainly original, with cuts to talking heads imposed on frozen backgrounds (see the screencap above) and in-universe objects like car doors and spray paint cans used for wipe transitions. The animation is one notch above average so far, but an action-heavy series like 24-ku is bound to encounter speedbumps, especially if the main character keeps jumping across rooftops as the season goes on. As for why he’s pulling out all these stunts, he and his two best bros are given a precognitive vision of a real-life trolley problem, along with the superpowers necessary to save the childhood friend who’s figuratively bound to the tracks. That’s only a small part of the show’s setup, though – the three boys’ post-high school ambitions are in focus as well, along with corrupt politicians and a hacking collective who will no doubt be at odds for the next 10 or so episodes. Think Durarara by way of Psycho Pass (or maybe it’s the other way around?). The show feels overstuffed, but it’s still energetic enough to get me on the hook for a second helping.

Potential: 50%

Mario: Whenever I see a double-length premiere, my immediate thought is to see whether or not it pays off: no one wants to sit through 45 minutes of nothing worthy. In that sense Tokyo 24-ku does just about enough to keep me wanting more. I appreciate how the show focuses on the characters first and foremost, detailing how they fall out and eventually get back together. That makes the first half slow and stoic but it helps lay the groundwork for the second half. The titular district has a lot of potential too, with the political unrest that is a mix between the current Hong Kong situation and Minority Report’s world. But while I don’t argue against its ambition, the execution still feels a bit clunky at times. The humor is not quite there, the three boys already have some girls fawning over them and the moral stance that it reaches at the end is… having it both ways, I suppose? I like the base ideas well enough to tune in for more, but at the same time I can see why others still ain’t buying it.

Potential: 50%

Slow Loop

Short Synopsis: A pair of soon-to-be stepsisters bond over fly fishing and cooking.

Mario: While Slow Loop reminds you of a certain show last year (read: Wooper’s comment below) and while it doesn’t steer away much from the genre’s well-worn formula, the first episode fares quite well to me. Its unhurried atmosphere is already a plus and it fits very well with its “fishing and cooking” subject matters. The two girls bounce off each other extremely naturally, but what Slow Loop does right in this first episode is how it takes a closer look at these girls’ familial issues. There are sequences where the girls talk to their new step-parents and it captures how their relationship begins to form. Then both the fishing part and the cooking part do their jobs well (maybe because I have a huge weakness for sashimi). It’s unlikely to be a breakout success like Yuru Camp was (though it does remind me of that show a bit), but it’s a perfect CGDCT show to enjoy while laid back (pun intended).

Potential: 40%

Wooper: Slow Loop is bound to draw comparisons to Houkago Teibou Nisshi, the other ‘cute girls go fishing’ series from a couple years back, so it’ll be casting upstream from the get-go. The short version of this already short paragraph is that if you haven’t seen either, go with HTN, but the long version is that Slow Loop’s writing, art direction, and character designs are lacking even in isolation. The script dives into main character Hiyori’s inner thoughts far too often: “This girl is an odd one, isn’t she?” “I don’t usually talk this much with people I’ve just met, do I?” “My dad died three years ago, didn’t he?” The result feels less like the thoughts of an introverted character and more like an authorial preference for thought balloons. Visually, nothing about this episode stood out apart from the CG fishing rods (to the show’s credit, they blended in quite nicely). Any show set by the ocean should be prepared to capture its beauty, tranquility, or vastness, but Slow Loop doesn’t seem intent on evoking anything of the sort. And I apologize for trotting out a Serious Anime Fan line here, but these high schoolers look like they’re ten or eleven years old. If the show held any sort of promise I’d give it a pass like I have for dozens of other series, but it doesn’t, so I won’t.

Potential: 10%

Dolls’ Frontline

Short Synopsis: Teenage Super-soldiers fight WW3 in skirts and blindfolds.

Armitage: See, I fully believe that 2022 is going to be a pretty good year for anime. It’s just starting off on the wrong note. Series like this aren’t offensively bad, they’re just aggressively mediocre. They don’t know if they want to commit to the fanservice or to the mindless action. They have their characters talk in tech jargon to make them come off as smart while having them undress right at the camera in the opening song which itself sounds like something that would play in a cheap pub in 2051. You know how series like this go by this point. Bland characters will be put into artificial conflicts that you wouldn’t care for. It can be mildly amusing if you are really out of stuff to watch and even YouTube is down and you’ve watched your share of cat videos for the day but otherwise just why would you bother? This show features a dual machine-gun wielding lady in a maid outfit but don’t let yourself think that it’ll come anywhere close to being a poor man’s Black Lagoon. It’s most probably just going to end up as a rich man’s Coppelion.

Potential: 10%

Amun: Ah, I’m a little more positive on this than Armi, but not by much. The good: I thought the representation of battle was a good attempt. There are plenty of shows that would have done pure power of friendship, but there was a semblance of strategy and “fog of war” here. There were a couple shots that featured excellent trigger discipline – points for that. I think anime as a whole has evolved in the depiction of battle with chaos, loss, etc – “86”, for its many other flaws, also did a pretty good job there. The bad: this is super-soldier cosplay with tricked-out, nonsensical custom weapons. I mean, the character names are all firearm models, but as far as I can tell, they don’t match the guns being used. Like…none of them were named AR-10 and I’m pretty sure there was at least one of those there. I didn’t see an M16, but it’s kind of hard to tell with all the various modifications.

I liked the shout-outs to the Russian and German WW2 guns (and the random AK-47 out of nowhere), but this seems second-rate gun otaku pandering to me. Boring choices too – they’re all pretty much mid-range assault rifles; let’s see some variation (close quarters, longer range, pistols, etc). Plus, one of my big pet peeves is firing with a silencer for absolutely no reason whatsoever. You’re not being subtle, you don’t have to worry about blowing out your electronic eardrums in the confined space – take it off so you don’t burn it up for when you actually need it (plus you’re diminishing your force for no reason). Anyways. I would say this show is more aiming to be a more war-time “Ghost in the Shell” (sorry Armi, I don’t really get the “Coppelion” comp?), but I doubt it’ll be anything special (you can already feel the “becoming a human” dilemma starting up). I actually like the OP though – some “Guilty Crown” vibes for me.

Potential: 30%

Leadale no Daichi nite

Short Synopsis: Bedridden gamer becomes her in-game character 200 years in the future after a hospital fails to install back-up power for her life support (but provided her with a full VR gaming rig?).

Lenlo: New year, new season. New year, new season. And the first show of the new year is… Not objectively terrible. I’ll take it! As far as Isekai go, Leadale isn’t the worst. It’s still pretty basic, it’s still a power fantasy and it still uses a lot of the MMO trappings you’ve seen from Log Horizon and SAO. On top of that, Leadale also looks… kinda bad. Its animation is almost nonexistent, the CGI is jank and it shifts between this chibi art style and your more standard A-1 Pictures knockoff style a lot. But you know what? It doesn’t take itself seriously, this isn’t your super edgy whatever the fuck Isekai. It’s just a feel good, don’t think, watch the previously hospital bound girl finally get to experience life kind of show. And sometimes that’s all a person needs. Not me, I won’t be watching it, but I wouldn’t blame someone else for doing so.

Potential: 30%

Amun: I am that someone else! This show is right up my alley, despite some of the mentioned quality concerns. There are a few shortcuts here and there, but the characters are charming enough, the world looks decent, and the MMORPG aspect isn’t overbearing. I’d say this fits into the “big sister-little sister” genre (think Slime Taoshite 300-nen or Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear), but with less cuteness and more adventure. This show has plenty to work with – already we have the time-skip mystery (are there only NPCs here?), the little sister route, then the surprise adult children. There are bones of an interesting story here instead of just the normal “spoil cute little sister” troupes. Color me interested. The first episode also showed some interest in action sequences, but I’m not holding my breath on that front. Where Leadale might derail is if it tries to be too many things and turns out half-baked. Even still, I see some good potential here, so I’m onboard this Make-A-Wish Isekai Adventure!

Potential: 75%

Hakozume: Kouban Joshi no Gyakushuu

Short Synopsis: Two police-women go through their daily routine.

Mario: My first show of 2022 is a mixed bag at best. In Hakozume, I admire a fair share of its elements: the fact that the leads are female police officers, the fact that it’s a comedy and most of all the fact that it’s cheeky enough to poke fun at itself. The recurring gag of almost everyone hating them certainly brings a smile to my face. The other jokes, however, are a big hit or miss. Many of the comedic bits just fall flat; the visuals are subpar and the characters are alright but nothing outstanding. Worse, despite poking at itself it still has this idealistic view of its profession and occasionally I feel it tries so hard to sell me on how good and fun being a cop can be. And fun it sure isn’t.

Potential: 30% or Copaganda.

Lenlo: Let us welcome this season’s entry into the “Cute Girls Doing Cute Things” genre! This show’s subject? The subjugation of the poo- I mean police work! To be frank this show comes off as a fluff piece for Japanese police, almost like an advertisement. “Catch criminals, work with cute girls, get to carry a gun!” To be fair, it does poke some fun at many of the stereotypes and kinds of jobs police do. Stuff like working with kids, mascots, etc. So there is potential for it to be decent. It just comes down to which direction Hakozume chooses to go. Will it take a serious look at what it means to police people? Or will it just be a cute girl advertisement for the job? Only time will tell.

Potential: 30%?

Orient

Short Synopsis: Two idiots decide to fight their alien overlords.

Amun: This show is not what I’m looking for. First of all – scythes. The only show where a main character wields a scythe and isn’t terrible is Soul Eater…and we’re not going to talk about the last half. I just don’t have a good track record with scythes (Angel of Death, I’m looking at you). Back to the point, Orient starts with a slideshow, which always concerns me. From there, we get the power of friendship plot armor and a protag who legitimately forgot he gave his weapon away before declaring his independence day. Oh yeah, and there was a crystal motorcycle Deus Ex Machina…dead serious. The first bit of animation was decent, but the second half was rough – at least wait until the second episode to fall apart! The monsters being cats with scary octopus mouths was pretty funny, but that’s about all the good I’ve got for this show. This is a pass from me.

Potential: 1%

Lenlo: I know that I’m only 3 shows in but visually this show is the most interesting so far… is what I would say if it didn’t completely abandon the traditional ink style in the first minute. And for what? A boring, bog standard, low detail visual style where they can’t even bother to animate a mouth moving in a wide shot? God you have no idea how much of a disappointment that was. Yes, I realize I haven’t touched on the story at all, and there’s a reason for that. It’s just as dull as you would imagine. Monsters rule the world, our lead doesn’t like that and must rebel against society to fight against them. The twist? He uses a weird pickaxe. There really isn’t much going on here, it’s exactly what you think. If you want a show about fighting monsters with absurdly large weapons on motorcycles then sure, have some fun. Personally I think there are better action series out there – even AoT, which I’m known to dislike.

Potential: 10%