Category: Some Quick First Impressions

Majo no Tabitabi

Short Synopsis: An apprentice witch trains under a weird witch to become a full-fledged witch.

Amun’s review:

Welcome to Kino’s Delivery Service! (I got a bit of Ancient Magus Bride/Somali and the Forest Spirit vibes too). In all seriousness, we have no idea where this show is going – episode 1 was just a backstory after all. What we can tell is that we have pretty standard character designs, some nice texture details (I liked the Stardust witch’s cloak/hat), and an open ended, dynamic world. The fight animation was nice, the writing with her parents’ instructions clever – this was as good of a prologue as you could ask for. Now the question becomes – where does Majo no Tabitabi go from here? Like Elaina, the sky – and the ground – are the limits.

Potential: 65%

Lenlo’s review:

Sadly I have a much more… mixed reception to Majo no Tabitabi than Amun. For one, I do think it was visually nice, mostly. The water effects were good, the fight was stilted but fine. The only thing that really stood out to me as looking bad were the fire effects. Oh boy the fire effects. They looked like they were applied in MS Paint, to be honest. Outside that though Majo looked fine. Story wise is where I have my big bugbear though, because I cannot stand how the parents’ story this episode was written. Not only did Elaina have absolutely no need to be taught that lesson with how Majo no Tabitabi portrayed her, but the lesson itself was incredibly stupid. I saw what they were going for with it, the idea is solid. But the way Elaina’s character was presented and with how it was led into makes it make no sense. She wasn’t shown to be arrogant or anything like that, and the Stardust Witch didn’t make any real effort to teach her anything before deciding to throw thunderbolts at her. Hopefully the rest of the season is better written, because I think there is potential here. But if this is the quality of writing we can expect it might be better to just skip Majo no Tabitabi entirely.

Potential: 45%

100-man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiru

Short Synopsis: Reclusive guy gets isekai-ed to another world and starts a new life as a… powerless farmer?

Armitage’s review:

Well well well. What do we have here? An Isekai story with no gimmicks in which the player starts off at the bottom level and is forced to grind his way up instead of being ridiculously overpowered? An authentic RPG game world, complete with organic interactions with NPCs and actual care put into the game mechanics? Huh, 2 out of 3, show. Not bad. But I know where you’ll falter. Surely your MC is a Kirito clone who needs to appoint himself as the savior of every female character in the story? Wait, what!? He can actually be cruelly selfish and choose the best course of action even if it means abandoning his weaker party members? He has a… p-p-… personality?? Now that’s not very fair. You are not giving me any reasons to make fun of you, show! That’s not how it works. Sheh. Don’t ya know? You’re an ‘isekai’. Just turn back into a clichéd regurgitation of overdone tropes come next episode so I can call you trash and then feel guilty about watching you anyway. Sounds cool?

Potential: 90%

Amun’s review:

100-man writers had a brilliant idea: let’s take components from all the past Isekai that did well and put them together. Goblins (Goblin Slayer – I actually had PTSD on that first shot, to be honest), Resurrection (Re:Zero), and the Main character is a farmer (Hamefura) – Armi pointed out the similarities with Kirito above. I guess slimes are getting their own show later this season, so those weren’t available. 100-man is a bit of an isekai amalgamation…but it worked pretty well. Really, it’s the characters having some depth and some glaring weaknesses that makes this an interesting show – the visuals and designs are passable at best and this episode, at least, felt really rushed. How does this show succeed? By being more than the sum of its parts. How does it fail? By regurgitating worn-out tropes with subpar animation (and overdone CG). So far though, it looks pretty promising.

Potential: 65%

Tonikaku Kawaii

Short Synopsis: Mysterious girl saves an idiot’s life then shows up 3 years later with marriage papers.

Amun’s review:

I got some serious Kaiki in the snow flashbacks at the start of this episode (I forget which Monogatari that was – if you know, you know). I was confused why what I thought was a romcom started with a shot of a dying kid. But nope, this is the right show after all – definitely a strange premiere, looks like a modern Princess Kaguya (as Mario mentions). The MC is a bit nuts, the girl is 1000% sketchy (and superpowered?)…but for some reason, it’s a bit endearing. Like you know it should be a trainwreck, but you’re hoping it will somehow work out. This seems like a slim cast version of the Quintessential Quintuplets – if that’s not your cup of tea, this should be a pass. Also, this OP is actually hilarious – you have to listen all the way through.

Potential: 50%

Mario’s review:

Structuring itself as a modern spin on Princess Kaguya’s tale, this slapstick romance has a bit too much anime logic that makes it enjoyable (for us), but I don’t see it breaking any ground here. Structure-wise, it’s a typical setup of a romance: boy meets girl and falls for her at first sight, with a little twist that they are married and now we see how this relationship develops. The humor is a bit of a hit-or-miss for me, it works when our MC meta-acknowledged how easily a boy falls for a girl. But at the same time we have to endure lots of MC screaming out of shyness and it just gets more annoying by the minute. That girl is a perfect manic pixie dream girl from the moment that she enters and hijacks his poor lonely life, so we need to see more sides of her. For now, I am okay with the premise but I will decide if I am going to follow it through after 3 episodes.

Potential: 30%

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

Short Synopsis: Bunch of completely sane kids hang together while playing perfectly non-threatening games, non-threateningly.

Armitage’s review:

As someone who’s a fan of the OG Higurashi and who wasn’t a fan of what I saw from PVs of this latest iteration, I went into this remake with more caution than excitement. And well, I came out of it feeling that way too. Look, if this is your first exposure to this series, I can totally see you like the first episode and even really enjoy it. But while comparing it with the beloved original, this just feels like a watered down rehash instead of a ground-up remake. The art style is bland as can be, making the show look like every other generic rom-com out there; the color scheme is almost sickeningly sweet and vibrant, especially for a horror show; and the VAs sound nothing like the personalities of each character. Higurashi is a show that lives and dies on its meat cleaver. And if the opening shot leaves you feeling… nothing, please DO NOT watch this adaptation. Go see the original. The animation is dated and takes a little getting used to. But that in turn, amplifies the creep factor of the series. Just watch that premiere and see how much better it is in comparison. The only positive and the one reason that I would give this remake a few more episodes before deciding to drop it is the production staff’s choice to bring back the original’s OP. And I hope against my better judgement, that the coming episodes are able to bring back some of its charm too.

Potential: 30%

Lenlo’s review:

As someone who has not seen the OG Higurashi and this is their first exposure to it… I don’t get the hype. Despite what Armitage said I think its looks are its strongest part, but that isn’t saying much. It’s very bright, yes, but the lines are clean and though some of the girls redesigns look like knock-off Monogatari Girls with that silly ‘3’ mouth thing, I think it largely looks fine. And looking at images/clips of the original, I can’t say that looked very good either. Neither the old nor the new series have very strong production but at least the old has the excuse of being 15 years old. Meanwhile story wise I am… slightly engaged? I’ll be honest and say that horror anime have never really grabbed me. As a medium, anime just doesn’t do horror well in my experience, not this sort of horror anyways. Some manga such as Junji Ito’s work can pull it off, and more psychological pieces like Perfect Blue/Lain/Mononoke can pull it off. But so far Higurashi doesn’t seem to nail that. Maybe it will turn into a sort of Children of the Corn, in which case I’ll be down. But at this point I am pretty desensitized to anime characters murdering anime characters.

Potential: 30%

Assault Lily: Bouquet

Short Synopsis: Teenage girls attend magic school and fight robots using transforming weapons and yuri (sub)text.

Lenlo’s review:

Alright, so you remember all the previous highschool magical girl schlock we have gotten this year like Lapis Re:Lights and such? Well this may sound hypocritical, but Assault Lily ain’t any of those. I can’t tell if it’s because Shaft is making it or the FLCL director is… directing it, but something about this just works. Visually the show looks good, the characters are very emotive and even 1 episode in it feels like a lot of work has been put into how they move. Meanwhile the CGI fight scenes are actually uh… good, somehow. Some were obviously CGI, but flowed really well, while others were framed in such a way I could barely tell there was CGI involved. It’s good shit yo! And to top it all off it feels like there is something deeper and darker underneath, something akin to the last Mahou Shoujo Shaft made, Madoka Magica. Tack on a KyoAni animation director in Nagahara and it’s a recipe for some good production. So yeah Assault Lily has a lot of good things going for it and I am looking forward to it this season for all the previously mentioned reasons. Or the thigh-highs. It could also just be the thigh-highs.

Potential: 70%

Wooper’s review:

Assault Lily: Bouquet reminds me less of Madoka Magica, which I’m sure it would love to be compared to, and more of Houkago no Pleiades, Gainax’s final TV anime. Sure, they’re both magical girl shows, but their status as death knells for their respective studios is the more interesting parallel. Shaft may have another project in the works for 2021, but the lack of creativity behind Bouquet says all you need to know about the studio’s future. It opens with a solid three minutes of narration explaining the setting and the main girl’s place within it, and new girls feed her factoids about more important characters by way of conversation. The character art seems to have been ripped from a D-tier gacha game. The animation is stilted during conversation, and CG models dutifully take the place of traditional drawings during all the interesting cuts. The script makes no attempts to hide its by-the-numbers construction; mere seconds after the major character relationships have been established, a plain-looking upperclassman materializes and instructs the main trio to hunt down the enemy of the week. This thing is amateurishly written and plainly produced, not to mention insulting in its yuri-baiting (“I’m not really a loose woman!” swears a redheaded girl, by way of apologizing for hugging her new crush). If this is the level at which Shaft will be operating going forward, then the studio is dead.

Potential: 5%

Haikyuu!! To The Top S2

Short Synopsis: Sweaty high-school boys fondle some balls on a national level.

Lenlo’s review:

Let me preface this by saying, I am a Haikyuu stan. I have read and own the entire manga series along with all the BD’s. I think the first 3 seasons are incredible, and I love me some volleyball bois. So it comes from a place of love when I say that something just feels… off about To The Top S2. Something about its production just feels flat visually. I can’t tell if it’s the colors, the occasional stiffness in the animation or the direction but it feels like Haikyuu is only 70-80% there. Like the last cour of To The Top, outside of the BIG MOMENTS it just feels off. Don’t get me wrong, I love the BIG MOMENTS, I love how malleable Hinata’s character model gets on his jumps and how expressive they can be. It’s just not happening often enough for me. Regardless, the first cour picked it up in the 2nd half and I am expecting the same here. I know the story is good, the manga is proof of that. The only thing in question is if they can nail the production and I am willing to bet they can.

Potential: 75%

Armitage’s review:

I need this show right now. 2020 has been a shitty year with every second anime being marred with production difficulties and delays in air schedule. The current Fall season is the last straw of hope our rapidly expanding community seems to be holding on to in this terrible year. And Haikyuu is the closest you can get to a guarantee in quality. It’s consistent as any multi-season series can be and for fans of the show, myself included, it’s simply comfort food. Which is something we all can do with a generous helping of.

Though, compared to its previous three iterations, To the Top has been… uneven. While the art style change has taken some getting used to and the animation’s budget cuts have been rather apparent, narratively it’s still been strong. It seems like we’re building towards some big narrative payoffs and this series has earned its reputation by delivering a sizable amount of those; episode in, episode out. There is still clear room for improvement here. And it seems like this second cour will be spread across one single match which is a format that lends itself to many such moments of catharsis. Pair all that with a revamped soundtrack and a killer new OP (those high notes!) and you have the perfect recipe for a sumptuous meal. And I would like mine jumbo-sized!

Potential: 85%

Monster Musume no Oisha-san

Short Synopsis: Human doctor gets wrapped up in his assistant and then makes a blonde gladiator scream by touching her feet.  Okay, so his assistant is a snake and the gladiator is a centaur.

Amun’s review:

There was a pre-air of this a while ago.  Maybe I’m the only one who thought this was a continuation of the other series named Monster Musume (“Monster, Monster, Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Monster”) – but it’s not.  Instead we meet a young human doctor and snake assistant who have to help a centaur.  I guess it’s better than the highschool setting?  What’s weird to me is the character designs seem lower budget.  Original Monster Musume (and for example, the more recent Dropkick Jashin-chan) are obviously labours of love by monster lovers.  MM Oisha-san felt a bit…more bland.  If you’re going to go the demi-human route, go all the way – the way it stands, neither normies nor monster furries are going to watch this.

Potential: 50%

Lenlo’s review:

Are you telling me this isn’t a sequel to Monster Monster? Coulda fooled me. Anyways let’s cut to the chase and be real here, the only reason anyone is watching this is for the monster girl titties. No one cares about the doctor or the plot or any actual story, they want “plot”. And the fact of the matter is Monster Musume is the inferior monster girl titty show this season. If you are going to be a degenerate, then go all the way and watch the Super Philosopher (Uncensored) version of Peter Grill and don’t waste your time with this thinly-veiled soft-core. Hardcore or bust I say! Let your inhibitions run wild, don’t let your dreams be dreams! Scream to the heavens that you want well animated Hentai and you want it now! 

Potential: 0% – Your tits are in another castle.

Gibiate

Short Synopsis: Kathleen-chan, almost a high-school graduate, teams up with the time-travelling duo of a samurai and a ninja to develop the cure for COVID. 

Armitage’s review:

Ah, anime. Many times when my friends who can’t seem to understand how I spend so much time watching anime ask me why I feel so passionately about these ‘cartoons’, I tell them it’s because anime offers something that almost no other visual storytelling medium does: the opportunity for creators to completely BONKERS with their ideas. I mean, just read that synopsis! Where else will you be able to find something like that? We have shapeshifting monsters, teleporting ninjas, a samurai who’s slain a 1000 men yet somehow the protagonist is still a high-schooler. Because, ANIME! Now, as expected, with the studio not being of a very high pedigree, the animation leaves a lot to be desired and the CGI is pretty bad, but in a season as bare as this one, I’d take any attempt at telling a story like this over the many run-of-the-mill Isekai trash we get every season. And even with the lacklustre animation, I have to say the show looks really great. The character designs are stylized and the post-apocalyptic backgrounds are arguably best of the entire season. To top it off, we have a stellar soundtrack. And unless it completely falls apart in later episodes, this will definitely be one to keep an eye on. 

Potential: 75%

Mario’s review:

Well, I approached Gibiate with low low expectation – an anime that aims at an international audience where the creator is a character designer (not director or writer, goddamn character designer) with made-up sounding studio names surely don’t boast any confidence – and got out of it quite pleased with what I just saw. The concept is not terribly original but so far the presentation still holds everything together. The time-travel twist feels like a gimmick though, as so far it just feels so random that these Edo-era samurai would just appear to this post-apocalypse world and they get on with it a bit too well. I believe what grabs me the most in this premiere of Gibiate is the sense of dread of how the virus-infected spreads and causes massive impact to the world. Maybe in the time of Covid and lockdown, this is the closest anime that deals with the same issues we are currently experiencing right now. It might just be me, though.

Potential: 60%

Koi to Producer: EVOLxLOVE

Short Synopsis: Unnamed female character exists in close proximity to four male characters (each with their own names!).

Mario’s review:

Like many otome-game adaptation, Koi to Producer’s first episode concerns too much on this unnamed protagonist encountering these key (literally perfect specimen) characters than telling a coherent story. It has a lot going on at the same time, involving her company is on the verge of shutting down, supernatural incidents happen around her and she tries to bring these boys into her show. Each plot line has the potential but so far the pacing is messy, and the supernatural part is what I’m still unsure about. Are the “evolved” like superheroes and what “abilities” exactly do they have? For a show that has “supernatural power” as their backbone, this first episode doesn’t really do anything to elevate that.

Potential: 20%

Wooper’s review:

Y’all remember when MAPPA first spun off from Madhouse in the early 2010s? Their first few projects had people amped for the future of the studio – think “Trigger saved anime,” but unironically. Propping up two Shinichiro Watanabe projects was a good start, and their double shot of action/adventure series right afterwards (Garo and Bahamut) solidified them as heirs to the Madhouse throne. They even gave us Yuri on Ice and In This Corner of the World within a month of each other in 2016. Those were good years, weren’t they?

Fast forward to the present day, where MAPPA has delivered unto us this turd of an otome game adaptation, whose nameless heroine woos a conquerable bishounen with a bag of potato chips. This happens between the two nearly fatal traffic accidents from which she’s saved by a different, much moodier stud, who’s part of some secret plot to do… something? The story isn’t exactly clear, burdened as it is with senseless sci-fi lingo and levitating bishies. The soundtrack reminds me of Gen IV Pokemon music, which is to say it’s dated as hell (especially the digital organ). The characters move joylessly through sterile environments, which serve primarily as monuments to the suffocated dreams of the artists working on them. The only compliment I can find for Koi to Producer is that it’s not likely to stick around in my memory for long. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Potential: 0%

Oregairu S3

Short Synopsis: Antisocial antihero manages to give all nearby girls/guys feelings. And doesn’t eat his cookies.

Amun’s review:

Five years after the 8-man rode the wave of adolescent antisocial nostalgia, our awkward triangle/trio returns – exactly where we left them. Now – first of all, anyone who says they remember who Saki was either a) just rewatched the series in preparation or b) is lying and just looked it up. It’s been a while. My feeling is this season will be a farewell tour – saying goodbye to characters one by one until the final trio is resolved; we already saw this with Saki and the little sisters. I’m curious what’s going on with the Western formal wear in the OP – there tends to be a main event each season, so that’s probably related. I guess the biggest point of speculation is the ending of the obvious final ship; Yahari, for all its sneering, is too vanilla for a yuri ending, but I could see some BS throple avoidance of a real answer. The just-friends route is still an option too, but that would be lame. I mean, last season’s 8th son managed a proper harem, so maybe this season’s 8-man will do the same.

And so help me, if Hachiman doesn’t eat his damn cookies, I will knock the stupid out of him, making him 4-man.

Potential: 88.888888%

Mario’s review:

It feels rather nostalgic to see OreGairu back on screen, on that very day, as the characters look the same and we’re now 5 years older and wiser. For me, while this premiere doesn’t really establish the arc to come as it concerns more about Hachiman’s everyday life, it displays many of the show’s core qualities, for better or for worse. There’s a mix between light comic moments where the characters make “smart remarks” about the LN tropes – they fire imouto tropes in all cylinders here and overblown drama that grabs your heartstrings – sister takes a bow to send her gratitude to her brother. Really? Individually each part can be grating but OreGairu has that quality of making them affecting nonetheless. The thing I like most about the series, its attention and love to the characters’ little gestures and movements are still there. Hachiman and his little sister has always been one of my favorites so every moment they are together is just gold to me, but I can’t say the same with the Saki and Hachiman’s pair – Saki remains the least memorable character out of this entire cast. It’s lovely to see our awkward boy back with all the girls (and boys), that’s for sure, and I’m in for the ride, wherever it leads me.

Potential: 60%

Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai!

Short Synopsis: Girl manipulates her lazy senpai into having fun.

Armitage’s review:

Let’s just talk about the elephant in the room. YES. THOSE BREASTS ARE UNREALISTICALLY HUGE. Moving on.
I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. If there was a section in our first impressions for ‘most charming anime of the season’, this would undoubtedly take the cake. Although, it’s facing almost no competition, but still. We have a cheery female MC with a great pair personality and her lazy-ass senpai who just wants to be left alone so he can have his chicken karaage in peace after watching a movie by himself. The chemistry between the two is what instills the charm in this story. It’s a loud, slapstick comedy with plenty of moments capable of earning laughs from the viewers. The production quality is satisfactory and the soundtrack is serviceable. The only caveat I have is the slight over-reliance on well, the boob jokes. But I guess one would know that’d be the case even before pressing play on an episode. If the show can tone those down going forward, then this can easily be a sleeper hit for the season.

Potential: 70%

Wooper’s review:

Here are the two conversation loops that power this dumbass premiere.

#1:
Sakurai: I regret having to spend time with you, but I guess it’s happening anyway.
Uzaki: Yay! By the way, aren’t you, like, kind of a loser? LOL
Sakurai: [visibly frustrated] Listen here, you little shit. My lifestyle is totally normal, and here are some Facts and Logic to prove it.
Uzaki: Naruhodou! You really are the coolest and most logical spiky-haired anime protag in recent times. But for real though, aren’t you still kind of a nerd? XD
Sakurai: [suppresses the hilarious urge to hit a woman]

#2:
Sakurai: I guess spending time with Uzaki isn’t so bad, after all.
Uzaki: [draws attention to herself]
Sakurai: Why are you so annoying?
Uzaki: [has large breasts]
Sakurai: Why are your titties so sugoi dekai? [TL note: “sugoi dekai” means ‘big plan’]

Rinse and repeat.

Potential: 0%

Kanojo, Okarishimasu

Short Synopsis: Loser MC wants to get laid, no matter the cost. Literally.

Armitage’s review:

Now I’ll be honest, I am not a fan of the bland-male-protagonist-hitting-it-up-with-the-gorgeously-perfect-girl-who-is-way-out-of-his-league subgenre of romantic comedies because well, when I am rooting for the guy to get the girl, I want to at least like the guy. Which, in such stories, is rarely the case. Does Ren-Kano fall under the same category? Most definitely it does. The male lead is highly unlikeable, the female MC has the overdone twin-personality trait and if the premiere would have only involved the two of them, I’d have passed on it instantly. But thankfully, this story or at least the premiere does have one saving grace: the supporting cast. Generic loser MC’s parents and grandmother fare much better in terms of likeability and the comedic moments the show churned out of their reactions did genuinely make me laugh. Of course, that by itself is no reason to watch this week by week. None of them may feature extensively in the coming episodes. But still, I’ll give it a couple of episodes to give me something or someone to root for before giving up on it entirely, even though now I don’t think this will become an in-depth look into the escort industry which is kind of what I was hoping for.

Potential: 55%

Lenlo’s review:

Surprisingly wholesome for what is effectively a soft-core escort service. Armitage basically hit the nail on the head, our leading pair are actually the worst, dullest part of the show. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before in rom-coms, and Ren-Kano doesn’t seem to be doing anything different to change it up either. The supporting cast, and all the gags they are involved in, are really the best part. Playing up the grandparents, the father and mother, all of that was the best the episode had to offer. Sadly unlike Armitage, I didn’t enjoy it near as much. My brand of comedy leans more towards gallows humor than this “Your grand-daughter is my fake girlfriend because it keeps you out of the hospital” shtick. Still credit where it’s due, Ren-Kano was actually not mediocre for around 10 minutes of its runtime. So if this is your wheelhouse, I figure you’ll be able to find something to enjoy here.

Potential: 30%

Deca-Dence

Short Synopsis: Girl finds herself a new daddy while waiting for her biological father to return from fighting monsters in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Armitage’s review:

Damn. That was a lot of subplots. Not only does Deca-Dence throw the viewer right into its world without any warning or setup, it also keeps unveiling layers upon layers of subtext and side-plots over the course of its premiere. There’s so much going on here that if you were to not pay attention for ten seconds, you’d end up missing a potentially vital detail. Considering that a story like this relies heavily on world-building and the fact that it’s likely only going to be one-cour, you can expect that the pacing would feel a bit breakneck at times. That being said, I really liked what I saw and do find myself thoroughly invested. The direction by Yuzuru Tachikawa feels very assured, camerawork is dynamic, character designs stand out and the CGI doesn’t suck(!) The only thing that makes me a little skeptical is the writing. Tachikawa is not overseeing the screenplay and being an anime original, this can just as easily crash and burn no matter the calibre of its director. Nonetheless, it’s a promising premiere and I am genuinely excited for the direction this story might take in the coming weeks.

Potential: 80%

Mario’s review:

Out of all the shows airing this season, Deca-Dence is a wild-card for me based on the reputation of the director alone. Let’s just say I found this premiere mixed, especially the first 5 minutes were so clunky it nearly kicked me out of the story entirely. We have a textbook flashback of a young girl losing her Dad during one of the “missions”, we have a mouthful of world-building exposition fed to us, camouflaging itself as students reciting the rules – but I can’t help but feel obvious. We have most of the characters behave one-noted and unconvincingly (take that bullying girl, for example). Thankfully one our lead gets into her first job (in what reminds me greatly of Dragon Dentist’s world), the story improves tremendously as the show showcases many of its strengths. First, Natsume is a good character to follow around. She has this “loud” personality but Deca-Dence does a great job of endearing her with expressive facial expression, and her chemistry with the other lead is solid so far. The direction stands out as well, kudos to its use of match cuts (I love those) and many stunning fight choreography. On the other spectrum, the story moves a bit too fast at times and I am not really that into the CG monster designs. As it stands Deca-Dence has its ambitions but I am not totally convinced with how it plays out so far.

Potential: 40%

Japan Sinks

Short Synopsis: A 1970’s disaster novel adapted for 2020, where Tokyo is destroyed by a massive earthquake and the Muto family must do their best to survive and escape this crumbling city.

Lenlo’s review:

It should go without saying after my Eizouken review, but I am a bit of a Yuasa stan. When I heard he was doing another series this soon after Eizouken, I was pumped, even if it’s his last series as a Science Saru lead. And while other writers here might disagree with me, as far as the first episode goes, Japan Sinks did not disappoint. Visually yes, it’s a bit odd, like all of Yuasa’s works. It isn’t an animation spectacle like Eizouken or Devilman, nor is going to be as surrealist as Tatami Galaxy. But there was just enough color so as to not feel too brown, just enough expressiveness in the characters and their animation to still feel like an anime, all the while delivering a grounded tragedy/disaster tale. I have no idea if it sticks with this, as I have heard some… interesting things from friends who have already finished the series. Things that make me think that maybe, just maybe, this falls apart horrendously. But I do know that I am bingeing it later tonight, and I trust Yuasa to see me through. Might even write a review if no one else wants to blog it.

Episode 3 Update: 3 episodes in, my hype has died down tremendously. Every episode it just gets worse. I’m starting to blame the series director if only to keep Yuasa on my “Never failed me” list.

Episode 5 Update: Dear god why

Potential: 80%, I trust in Yuasa to carry this through
40% Yuasa please fix this before my next update
1% Hope is almost all lost

Wooper’s review:

Despite its depiction of a nation-shattering earthquake, Japan Sinks might be Science Saru’s most down-to-earth project yet. There are no genius dogs, no supernatural water physics, and no ultra-stylized table tennis matches to be found here – just ordinary shots of extraordinary environmental damage, and the people devastated by it. The loose character designs remind me of Devilman Crybaby, but that series’ uncompromised freedom of movement isn’t the goal in Japan Sinks. It’s a straightforward disaster drama with a family of four at its center – which makes me wonder whether a stricter style might have clarified their emotional burden. As a matter of fact, that thought nagged at me the whole way through this episode. Still, it managed to connect with me by the end, when survivor’s guilt caught up with the teenage daughter and she wept for her fallen teammates. The backgrounds were prettier than I’d anticipated, and appropriately stark in their portrayal of a ruined and fiery Tokyo. Other things I liked were the small narrated inserts about life before the earthquake, Kensuke Ushio’s forlorn, piano-based accompaniments, and the sunlight-flooded OP. The character art and straightforward story are lagging for me right now, but assuming the latter factor improves, I’ll be content.

Potential: 60%

No Guns Life S2

Short Synopsis: Tough guy with a literal revolver head has to babysit an idiot who can take over other people’s bodies (only if they are robotic amputees).

Amun’s review:

If you read the weekly summary from a couple seasons ago, you’ll know NGL S1 was my darling overachiever. I love the characters, 3D generated setting, the world – everything. NGL S2’s first episode is an unmitigated disaster. First off, you know the one thing that didn’t make Season 1 great? Characters standing (or sitting) around talking. Secondly, the animators have forgotten how to draw their main characters – mostly Mary. But the background characters as well. I guess Juzo looks about the same, but even then there are wonky shots – when he reaches his arm back, it’s completely out of perspective. The backgrounds still look pretty good, but that’s not enough – the most action in this episode is getting shocked by a doorknob. Victor just looks weird and the 3D CGI chain tentacles are not appealing or frightening. The OP is okay, and the ED is kind of fun (twerking giant Mary is really the only redeeming part of this show), but in between is a big problem. My hype is severely dampened.

Potential: 25%

Wooper’s review:

As an extended homage to the noir detective genre, No Guns Life relies heavily on its detective MC to maintain a clear point of view. Without Juzo’s dry humor and reluctant do-goodery to filter incoming information, the plot would read like a load of quasi-political conspiracies and nothing else. That’s exactly what happened in this episode, as our favorite gun-headed investigator took a backseat to Mary, Tetsurou, and season 2’s new rogues gallery. Hell, he received only slightly more screen time than his heavily stereotyped trans landlord, who was kidnapped by a fanatical anti-modification faction. There’s little time to flesh out that story, though, because we’ve got to learn about Mary’s Doctor Octopus-esque brother, the blond bowl cut villain who appears in the final scene, the well-mannered agent who’s after Juzo’s data chip, etc. It doesn’t help that a good portion of the story revolves around that data, since it was acquired during a glorified side story during the previous season. Ultimately, this is a premiere that tried to do too much, and failed pretty badly.

Potential: 15%

The God of High School

Short Synopsis: Tournament Arc – The Anime.

Armitage’s review:

Pure, unadulterated dopamine. 

No premiere which has aired in 2020 has been this enjoyable a watch for me. Remember how last season we saw the first overlap of Korean Webtoons with the anime realm? Now, a lot of people were impressed by the visuals and fights of TOG but its lore and power mechanics left many viewers scratching their heads. So, taking a lesson from that, The God of High School takes all the subtext & world building and throws it right out the damn window. This is mano-a-mano winner-takes-it-all combat and nothing more. You are here for the brilliantly choreographed fights and that’s what you get, with a fittingly upbeat soundtrack (and a banger of an OP) to back up all the physics-defying action. It’s a prime example of how sometimes, a story which doesn’t take itself too seriously can be all the better for it. 

Potential: 95%

Amun’s review:

Finally, an anime soundtrack that I can really get behind. “Contradiction” is a banger song for a bangin’ show.  First half was anime Fast & Furious…with a bike and wooden sword.  That’s about how this show looks to be going.  Unlike last season’s Tower of God, God of Highschool starts out fast and fun.  The characters are troll, the action is great….but I’m just a little concerned with how fast we’ve started that things might fall apart in the back half.  Regardless, I’m along for this ride!

Potential: 90%

Lenlo’s review:

Out of all of the premieres I have seen so far this season, which admittedly isn’t many, God of High school was the best. It’s pure, unadulterated stupid fun. Want health bars and power levels? Nanomachines son. Want a bunch of fights? The entire series is one big tournament arc. Juvenile comedy? We are equal opportunity with the underwear here, with jokes about both panties, briefs and elephant trunks. All around, God of Highschool is just stupid fun that doesn’t take itself seriously, has no deep or philosophical plot (so far) and just wants us to enjoy the ride. The fights were fun, well animated, and reminded me of old kung-fu flicks with characters flying through the air, even if the camera got a bit too wild at times. I only really have 2 concerns. The first is MAPPA, who are notorious for falling apart in the 2nd half of a show. Considering they are working on the final season of Attack on Titan right now as well as how many fights a series like God of High school will have, I am predicting the same thing here. I can only hope they prove me wrong. The 2nd though is whether or not GoH can keep the fun loving attitude or if it will attempt to shift into something more serious. Both of those might not happen though, so until they do, I’m just going to keep watching and enjoy the ride.

P.S. I am apparently the only writer here who doesn’t like the OP. Go figure.

Potential: 80%

Mario’s review:

Sorry to be that guy who bring this overwhelming reception back to the ground again, but I just found the characters too loud for my poor taste and I already have issues with the story. Why does every battle tournament start with the battle royale style where you have to defeat fellow participants? Why do you need to establish the main characters’ bonds by some random chase? I guess it all comes down to the fact that neither the story or the characters engage me much, and that makes this whole ride fun but utterly unmemorable for me.

Potential: meh

Re:Zero S2

Short Synopsis: Modern anime’s most celebrated simp cries a lot and dies a lot: Round 2. 

Aidan’s review:

So how does the new season of Re:Zero kick things off after our boy Subaru is fresh off the victory of the last season? Well it starts by kicking him in the balls and removing his victory of most of its weight. Indeed, you may have thought that after last season Subaru’s life could only go up but this season pushes you right down into the mud and a depressing outcome for all to make the happy sunshine before seem like a dream. Some detractors who stated that this series has no stakes due to Subaru’s ability to do the time warp again have been vetoed as even return by Death can’t undo the damage that has been done. I do think that Re:Zero is still damn strong but admit that as a season starter this episode is rather weak. It was never meant to be that of course with the nature of webnovels being continuous storylines so the source doesn’t really take into account that we viewers waited four years for this.

For anyone binging the series in the future this is unlikely to be a problem but even I with my love for this show, had a bit of an adjustment period to this first episode. I also think that for some extra context and despair, reading the Re:zero Side story novel ex 1 can give some much needed context as to why Crush losing her memories is far, far more sad than it might appear. I also admit that the design of the Gluttony Archbishop is just far too silly. I will also note that the first few minutes of this episode was the same few minutes added to the final Re:Zero director’s cut episode shown previously.(On that, the only piece of new content within the director’s cut. The rest was just small tweaks) It’s a bit of a lukewarm start but I am most definitely ready for the story to come and Subaru’s ever continuing journey of pain and suffering.

Potential: It’s about damn time

Armitage’s review:

Huh? That was… a premiere, I guess. Though, to be very honest, it just felt like an immediate continuation of the last season of Re:Zero. The show flat out assumes that we would remember all the characters & their relationships with each other and just dives right into the nitty-gritty without no recap or nothing. Now, that isn’t a bad thing in itself but it does catch the viewer a little off guard. As for the episode itself, it was fine. Nothing too remarkable. Barring a brief fight between Rem and two newly introduced Sin Archbishops, it consisted mostly of people talking. Since the original production staff has returned, the show has kept its look but the animation wasn’t anything to write home about. Here’s to hoping the coming weeks bring a lot more death and suffering with them!

Potential: Cloudy, with a high chance of pain. 

Amun’s review:

Okay, now hold on just a second here.  I’m seeing some detractors to what I consider an outstanding start to a marquee show’s second season.  Why is Re:Zero great?  It’s not the action, character designs, or weird magic cats – Re:Zero is head and shoulders above in depicting realistic reactions to trauma and human emotions.  There are no stakes?  Subaru’s PTSD is the darn best depiction of fighting through personal demons and fears I’ve ever seen in anime.  Most shows maybe kill off a main character in the finale or something for some feels – Re:Zero manages to do it every week and still hit hard (even when it’s the same character).  So there was no recap, so Gluttony looked a little silly – this episode still delivered the emotional gut punch we’ve come to expect (and maybe even started to like).  I am ready to be hurt again!

Potential: Oh yes.

The Misfit of Demon King Academy

Short Synopsis: A demon lord is reincarnated as a douchey teenage boy with murderous magical combat skills.

Wooper’s review:

Some anime are so structurally and artistically inept that they serve as case studies for How Not to Make a Show. Other anime are so laughable in execution that they read as comedies in the eyes of their disbelieving audiences. Both of these categories have value, but unfortunately, The Misfit of Demon King Academy fails to meet either of those already low bars. This premiere was not merely bad; it was stupid. It was not merely silly; it was ridiculous (that is, worthy of ridicule). Its mission statement was to place its protagonist in flattering situations, then allow his effortless strength and charisma to carry each scene. This strategy failed due to his lack of humanity, but the reality of this episode is far more troubling than that mistake would indicate.

This is a protagonist who has the ability to kill people multiple times by reviving them between deaths, and he takes advantage of this power to repeatedly and gruesomely murder his enemies. What’s worse, his reward for this behavior is the loyalty of his victims, because they’re the Demon King’s subjects, and he was the Demon King the whole time! That episode-ending twist is intended to re-frame his cruel behavior, but I have to wonder what sort of person it could possibly convince. This reads like a series for the bullied middle school kid who aspires to be a bully one day, or an adult with an animated blood fetish, or whatever the magical equivalent of a future school shooter is. If you fall outside of those categories, watch anything – ANYTHING – except this show.

Potential: 0%

Mario’s review:

Questions: Is it fun to watch an overpowered character do nothing but display how awesome he is an entire time? Is it fun to see him mercilessly abuse another opponent just because that opponent acts like an asshole? Is it fun to see a girl’s still fallen head over heels for him and describes him as “kind” despite all his egotistical actions?  Answer: No, Not at all. Get me out of here.

Potential: 0%

Dokyuu Hentai HxEros

Short Synopsis: Literally Horny Power Rangers.

Wooper’s review:

If you’re opting not to watch this show because it has “Hentai” in the title, you should be aware that there’s no sex in this first episode. Instead, there are dozens of better reasons to avoid it, including a stupid premise, insipid character designs, thinly-veiled sexism, and a Mad Libs-tier script. Most of the establishing dialogue plays out along the lines of, “Hey [main character], what’s your opinion on [antagonist]?” or “Still, it’s too bad that [character] has been [personality trait] since [backstory].” These long stretches of conversation play out across slow panning shots, usually of the female lead, whose sexiness is of particular concern to the series. It wasn’t enough for her to be hot – she had to be so horny that an evil alien who tried to absorb her sex drive exploded as a result (she was around 12 years old at the time). In the present day, she fights aliens with her repressed eroticism, which naturally dwarfs her male counterpart’s libido, because women are sexy devils. The only reason I can think of to watch Dokyuu Hentai HxEros is if you think I’m exaggerating and you want to confirm how dumb this thing really is.

Potential: 0.69%

Amun’s review:

This is somehow worse than Shimoneta (props to Aidan for remembering the name off hand).  This…is not good.  Like….why?  Is good source material that scarce these days?  Project No 9 has adapted silly shows well before – do a second season of The Ryuo’s Work is Never Done or Heroes have it Tough.  Those were good.  HxEros is a misfire any way you look at it.  And you really should only look at it once – at most.

Potential: I have never seen a first episode interest me less.  And that includes Arifureta and Plunderer.

Fire Force S2

Short Synopsis: Devil Boy, Idiot Knight, Workout Fanatic, Hot Witch Gorilla, Sister Nun, Catgirl, and Lack of Fashion Sense work to uncover why people randomly catch on fire.  And do a (lads) nude calendar.  

Amun’s review:

Ayyyyyyy – that’s how you start a second season.  This episode was everything right with the first season…and had none of its problems: catgirl was kept to a minimum (and actually showed her personality and not “personalities”), the fight was FLUID AND BEAUTIFUL AND NOT CHOPPY – plus the second half had me rolling with laughter.  I mean, man, if the rest of the season is even half this good – we’re in for a treat.  Okay, there is a really weird perv shot in an otherwise amazing OP so we still have a bit of immaturity infecting from the source material.  But that premiere definitely has me nice and hyped.  Props to Tatsuma Minamikawa for starting off his tenure on the right foot!  Latom!

Potential: 100% (I think I’m going to blog this)

Wooper’s review:

This comeback has me unsure whether to clap my hands or roll my eyes. There’s an extended fight scene against an infernal in the middle of the episode, but it’s disrupted by nearly ten “remember the characters’ names?!” title cards. There’s a strong sense of fun about the episode, but a lot of it is airy to the point of irrelevance. The animation in the OP is eye-poppingly cool, but it’s backed by Aimer’s best impression of early 2010s uptempo J-rock, which is decidedly not her lane (girl’s gotta eat, though). Assuming the series keeps growing its character tree and doubles down on the metaphysical combat from last year, I’d say it’ll be the same decent, off-kilter shounen as before. A largely untested director and an initial avoidance of narrative drive are reasons to be wary, though.

Potential: 50%

Lapis Re:LiGHTs

Short Synopsis: a girl who joins a Magic Academy and meets up her teammates, plus 20 other girls while she’s touring the school.

Lenlo’s review:

In anime’s latest “Cute Girls Doing Cute Things” we have a new multimedia franchise that is making an anime, game, manga and LN all at the same time. That seems ambitious to me, especially considering the quality of the show itself, but I can’t tell Tokyo execs what to do with their money. As for the show itself, all I really have to say is that it isn’t for me. The background’s clean, especially the night shots, but do little to really inspire. We haven’t seen enough of the animation to judge that since this episode was 90% walking around the school. Meanwhile for the cast, we spent this whole first episode meeting all of the important ones at such a fast pace, they really didn’t have much time for any more than “I’m the Genki one! And I’m the [insert dere here] one!”. All in all, Lapis is shaping up to be another standard seasonal series without much to offer. It’s entirely possible it will try to pull the rug out from under me, the ED hints at some conflict to come. But as far as first episode impressions go, I am not impressed.

Potential: 25%

Mario’s review:

You know, without what it says in the premise and the OP clues, I wouldn’t have figured that Lapis Re:LIGHTS as an idol show based on this first episode. That plays mostly to its advantage, as the premiere concerns more about establishing its light-fantasy magic academy, its system and the characters. In fact, it has high-school fantasy flavour all over it, this time excluding any horny male character who accidentally encounters girls changing clothes. On that front, I appreciate its paying attention to various magic classes, and we have a serviceable protagonist to boost. It’s the supporting cast that does nothing for me so far, as the show introduces a lot of them in the first 20 minutes and so far they are stock characters with different hairs at best. The turning point for me is when Tiara bursts out and sings out loud. Yes, the combination of CGDCT, light fantasy highschool and idol is something of a selling point for me, and I still am interested to see how the show cooks up these ingredients. So I reserve my comments until the “idol” part or whatever twist plays out to see if this show is for me or not.

Potential: 30%

Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai 2

Short Synopsis: You already know what this show is about.

Lenlo: What is there to really say here? It’s Kaguya Season 2, if you have seen the first, you know exactly what to expect and what you are getting here. There will be gags, romantic comedy, Chika will be an idiot and along the way we may get to the point where actual romantic developments occur. The only real difference is the production, which was without a doubt stepped up here. I have no idea if they can carry this through the rest of the season, but its animation was definitely a contender for best of these first impressions. As far as criticisms… Only one I really have is that it felt rushed in places, pacing wise, since it covered 4 chapters and that the animation was actually rather distracting in some places. I don’t expect either of those to keep up though, so ultimately, it’s a pretty easy recommendation.

Potential: 80%

Mario: This premiere does a decent job of reminding us why we love Kaguya-sama in the first place. It has this ridiculously high stake mind game between Kaguya and Shirogane (and other cast members, as the show playfully reminds us in the first segment). In fact, each segment establishes many groundworks that played as the series’s strengths, and ones I expect them to follow up for the rest of the season. We have a couple of supporting casts who receive their spotlight (segment 1 & 2), we have fun games when the core cast spend time together where Chika’s unpredictability drives our main duo insane (segment 3), and we have their usual mind game that ends in an unexpected way. The production is a clear step up as well, with great building up and the narration is pretty sharp. My minor complaint (AKA not really complaining but bragging) is that the show tends to go overboard with Chika’s cartoonish expressions. I know it’s purely fan-service but… I need to find these gifs asap.

Potential: 75%

Argonavis from BanG Dream!

Short Synopsis: Aspiring singer joins bishie band in 3DCG hell.

Mario: Haizz Sanzigen. I remember liking their early efforts including BBK/BRK, ID-0 and Arslan Senki (they just partly produced the latter but still…), but recently they followed the golden prospect of idol anime and they went completely off the mark. Argonavis is in the same universe with their BanG Dream (well, you can see it in the title), and the first episode is a fairly standard story of how the members form a band together. It’s filled with cliche plots, underwritten characters and really really bad CG production. I do think that the studio is in a dire situation, given that the production looks cheap. It’s nothing offensive in its story but it’s the kind of story that I’d forget as soon as the ED hits.

Potential: the worst premiere

Wooper: “I aM fOnD oF sAnZiGeN gIvEn HoW tHeIr ChArAcTeR dEsIgNs ArE aTtRaCtIvE aNd ThE cG lOoKs RaThEr DeCeNt”

Potential: lol

Kitsutsuki Tantei Dokoro

Short Synopsis: A genius poet opens a detective agency to help pay the bills.

Wooper: This show isn’t on the same level as Rakugo Shinjuu, but it’s clearly inspired by it. Both are historical pieces that involve a specific artform; both begin in the present before embarking on a serialized flashback; and both focus on the friendship between two men, one of whom has died and left the other alone in the world. Kitsutsuki Tantei Dokoro is less elegant and more matter-of-fact than its predecessor, throwing Ishikawa into his new detective gig by the end of episode 1, but it’s admirably directed. It focuses on small details, like hanging nails or stuffed bookshelves, that gain new meaning once they reappear in a later scene, having changed in some small way. The backgrounds are strikingly geometric, creating an attractive picture of Tokyo City as it existed in the late 19th century. I really like the show’s use of color, too – the palette is muted, with lavenders and olive greens giving it a vaguely romantic air. The contrast between the city’s orderly layout and earthy appearance results in a nice atmosphere, which helps counteract the sting of the series’ lackluster animation. The characters haven’t sold me yet, but they’re based on novelized versions of real life tanka poets, which sounds neat. And they’re going to solve mysteries, too? Count me in for another couple episodes, at least.

Potential: 60%

Mario: Another stylish detective anime of this Spring season, it’s a style-over-substance show where it has “cool” factor written all over it. While Fugou Keiji rocks you hard on characters’ over-the-top traits and its crazy, wild ride, Kitsutsuki is more concerned with refreshing background arts, the blue character outline and how the main character trolls everyone around him. The show’s style is pleasing with attractive character designs and a nice soundtrack. The actual case is passable with some leaps of logic but at least the plot constantly moves forward. It’s the characters that I am most worried about. Main guy is fine and indeed he carries the whole show so far, given that the other characters are pretty unmemorable at the moment, especially Watson-kun. Because of that I don’t find any chemistry whatsoever between these two so the ending doesn’t work for me. In addition, comparing detective work with poetry is interesting, but frankly I don’t see the links between these and this is more about my lack of class when it comes to poetry but the poems the main character often recites fall flat for me. Still, I can see the appeal of watching this and Fugou Keiji back to back every week to see which one tops the other in terms of stylish ridiculousness.

Potential: 30%

Houkago Teibou Nisshi

Short Synopsis: A city girl moves to a seaside town and learns the joys of fishing and the outdoors with her new club.

Lenlo: For those that are new here, CGDCT (Cute girls doing cute things) isn’t really my genre. I don’t have anything against it, I just find them boring more often than not. Houkago doesn’t really break that mold, it’s exactly what you would expect. But it feels like there is a level of care, a solid foundation, behind that at least makes it tolerable. That makes it feel like an actual show with reason to exist beyond selling merchandise or appealing to weebs with cute girls. It feels like there might actually be a story here to tell, even if it’s not necessarily one for me. So if you like CGDCT, I see no reason why I wouldn’t enjoy Houkago. If you don’t like the genre, I doubt this one will change your mind on it.

Potential: 25%

Mario: The cute girls subgenre is more physically active this season (ironically since this is the only time where the world hibernates), with Tamayomi about baseball and this one Houkago is about fishing. Houkago is much more typical CGDCT as this episode does nothing to break its usual formula. We have the main girl being unfamiliar to the subject, getting dragged by her new senpai to join the club, doing the activity in question and realizes how much fun that is. So in other words, all the usual affairs. What makes it slightly better than average is the pleasing backgrounds of blue beach, and even their clubroom brings a cozy, warm feeling. The girls are fine, with Hina barely passing my test of endurance… but why includes an off-putting tentacle attack? I do love the haiku at the end, though, so it evens out, I suppose? I like CGDCT in general so I have a fun time watching it, but it isn’t on the same level with, say Yuru Camp, so for those who don’t care about cute girls being cute then you won’t miss out anything. 

Potential: 30%

Fugou Keiji: Balance Unlimited

Short Synopsis: A multimillionaire solves crimes with the power of money in the most ridiculous ways available.

Lenlo: Holy-comedic-timing Batman. Fugou Keiji was a ride from start to finish, and I don’t want to get off. It’s just so ridiculous, as if Batman had more money, more snark and no cape. I am all in on Fugou Keiji, a show where the lead character’s superpower is money. Need a car to chase a criminal? Buy it. Damages incurred during the case? Pay double market value. Pay for a position on the police force? Get the one on the front lines as much as possible. Partner left hanging from a bridge after the criminal is caught? Not your problem, smirk as he falls into a river. This show is unapologetically balls to the wall stupid, without a serious bone in its body, and I love every second of it. Style oozes from everything from the characters to the animation. Also the ED is straight fire. Anime of the Season, calling it now. Daisuke Kambe, I love you, you ridiculous man.

Potential: 100%

Armitage: Okay. So, Lenlo apparently LOVES this. And that was one of the reasons I went into it with high expectations. But to be honest, I wasn’t that sold. The show’s aesthetic seems to be reminiscent of ACCA, another anime with similar themes which aired a couple of years ago. From the jazz soundtrack to the crime-solving nature of the plot, the two share a lot of similarities. But the main difference is that unlike Jean, our protagonist Kanbe came off as a rich, pompous, cigar-smoking brat with apparently an ‘unlimited’ credit balance and who seems to be anime’s take on Bruce Wayne. He has anime Robin as a partner for now but a future Catwoman appearance was also teased in the OP. Which would explain why the premiere played off as a cheap knockoff of the plotline from Dark Knight Rises, complete with anime Batman going after the truck which is carrying a ticking time bomb and having it blast off in the water. Sure, you may like all these things and the show itself has every chance to improve over the coming weeks, but the premiere by itself, was kind of a let-down. (PS: The ED is indeed incredibly fun and reminiscent of the Kokkoku OP, which was quite a thing a couple of years ago. It is also almost just as catchy.)

Potential: 55%

Appare-Ranman!

Short Synopsis: A genius inventor and a gutless samurai cross the Pacific Ocean and land in Los Angeles.

Armitage: So, who’s pumped for Steel Ball Run’s anime adaptation! I mean it’s the wackiest JoJo part so, I can’t wait to see how all of the crazy goodness gets adapted to screen. Huh? What do you mean it’s not Part 7!? I mean, there’s a race set in the American Wild-West with goofy looking characters and all, of course it’s JoJo’s. You wait till Gyro shows up! Wait, who’s this Samurai guy? Where’s Johnny!? The pink haired girl is a dude? I mean, sure. But why are there SO MANY characters? What is it you say, this is a PA Works original with the setting for SBR just slapped in as a PR strategy? O… kay, I guess. It should still be a fun watch, right? There’s no way that they can screw up such a distinctly unique and interesting premise. *20 mins later* Wow, I can’t believe they screwed up such a distinctly unique and interesting premise. Why, PA Works, why? You had one job! All we wanted was to see some racing action and devilish looking cars blasting each other off to shreds. Who needs backstories when the hook by itself is this gripping? Didn’t you guys see Redline? *Sighs* You really got to know your audience better.

Potential: 30% (75%, if they add stands and poses) 

Wooper: If anyone was hoping for wacky race action beginning with episode 1, Appare-Ranman has some bad news. This premiere was a prologue to the cross country shenanigans to follow, and the involvement of so many characters who are now an ocean away from the plot feels like a waste. Character building is important, so learning that Appare is the black sheep of his family was all good, but the vindictiveness of Kosame’s lord wasn’t necessary. In fact, his character could have been cut out of the story completely – Kosame could have served Appare’s father, and been charged never to leave his side. That would have provided a much sturdier reason for him to get stranded at sea, and saved a bunch of time to boot. The scene where Appare broke himself out of jail with a screwdriver didn’t feel right, either (why was he allowed to keep a tool like that while locked in a cell?). The script doesn’t feel watertight, is the point I’m getting at. It does the job of landing the main characters in America, though, and the rest of the show will assume a different form, so I’ll write off my issues for now.

Potential: waiting for ep. 2

Shironeko Project: Zero Chronicle

Short Synopsis: A queen and a swordsman, linked by fate, embark on separate journeys in their respective kingdoms.

Lenlo: Shironeko Project is trying so hard to be something it’s not. Whether that’s Rage of Bahamut with its battles between effectively Heaven and Hell or SAO with its edgy MC and “deep” metaphors like the hole, I don’t know. What I do know though is that Shironeko achieves neither. The pace is glacial and my interest is non-existent as we watch not!Kirito, or whatever generic name brand MC of your choice, gets his tragic backstory about digging holes only to meet and then lose a mentor figure in the span of 10 minutes. It’s like it’s going to try and cover the whole Hero’s Journey in the span of like… 3 episodes. I could rib on this thing for paragraphs, but Wooper did plenty down below. So instead I will just back him up by saying: No. Don’t watch this.

Potential: 0%

Wooper: Thinking back on the 20 minutes I just wasted with Shironeko Project’s first episode, not a single line of its script or point in its plot was remotely convincing. The opening metaphor of its dual leads as cats was goofy, and each protagonist’s story was terrible in its own way. First up was the future King of Darkness, whose entire village was destroyed within minutes of his introduction. Gotta get that tragic backstory out of the way, I guess, so the red streak in his hair can feel appropriately emo. While digging a mass grave, he meets a master swordsman and defeats him in combat right before the old dude kicks the bucket. This whole scene is such an obvious jump starter for the actual plot, which is spelled out by Mr. Knight in laundry list form right before his death. Then there’s the queen of the sky world, whose personality we aren’t allowed to observe – we just hear about how awesome she is from her subjects. All of that dialogue gets dumped on us after we’re nearly comatose from a shitty CG battle scene – the first of many, I’d wager, given the lifeless production on display. I hope to forget this series as quickly as possible.

Potential: 0%

Fruits Basket S2

Short Synopsis: Yuki meets new eccentric friends of the student council.

Amun: Fruits Basket season one (of this version) ended with some pretty heavy moments – Yuki’s trauma and Kon’s smell.  I was worried season two would start off a little timidly – guess I forgot that if there’s one thing Fruits Basket is good at, it’s making you feel.  This was a good premiere episode to get us back into things, shown from the perspective of a side character – but still moving the plot along. Broadly speaking, I’m most concerned about character creep and/or delving too deep into side characters – judging from the OP/ED, I think that won’t be an issue (I’m seeing one to two more zodiac characters, tops).  Plus the humor is still on point – “zodiac level strange” had me dying. With many other big name sequels getting pushed back, it’s good to know that Fruits Basket is here with the feels, no matter what.

Potential: 100%

Mario: Season 2 picks up right where the first season ends, and overall this premiere is a smooth sailing. It introduces some new characters and gives some minor cast a spotlight. The best improvement here in this sequel is that the show moves away from Tohru and so far focuses on Yuki without Tohru’s direct involvement. As much as I like the main chemistry between Tohru, Yuki and Kyo, it can feel monotonous at times given how many times we need to be reminded that Tohru has changed Yuki for the better? So at least here Yuki owns his story with his own set of side cast (harem as you might put it). This likely is a one-time off, but at least for me it’s a good sign that the material expands its view outside of Tohru’s perspective and allows Yuki (and hopefully Kyo) to be more flexible. While there isn’t much of Zodiac members involved or its iconic Zodiac transformation in this episode, and there’s a tad bit too much romance for my taste, I’m happy that Fruits Basket is back and hopefully this time we can witness it going through the finish line.

Potential:  40%

Princess Connect! Re:Dive

Short Synopsis: A nearly mute hero is sent to another world, where he’s looked after by an envoy of the goddess who sent him there.

Wooper: Princess Connect’s first couple minutes were unflattering, reading like a genderswapped otome game adaptation. The POV shot of a potential love interest just after waking up, the silent protagonist acting as an audience stand-in – things weren’t looking so hot. As the premiere went on, though, it revealed a goofy sense of humor that stopped me from hitting Alt+F4. The male lead’s helplessness is played for laughs, as in the recurring gag where he’s dragged away by rapid dogs, or his inability to grasp the concept of money. The episode-ending battle against a horde of mushrooms was goofy, too (and the animation was pretty nice, coming from a green studio like CygamesPictures). Unfortunately, beyond some of these quirks, Re:Dive doesn’t have much to offer. It’s a KonoSuba-type series featuring much less interesting characters, and the montage of girls that will be introduced in future installments doesn’t entice me in the least. It might not be the worst fantasy anime of the season, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth your time.

Potential: 10%

Lenlo: This is probably the most… “average” first impression episode I have seen so far. There was absolutely nothing offensive or outright bad about Princess Connect for me. As Wooper says, it’s not particularly interesting, there is little thematic depth to it. But it actually got me to chuckle. Multiple times. The gag humor works, and the MC is a played up version of your everyday isekai MC, except legitimately retarded. Yet unlike Konosuba it doesn’t rely on potty or sexual or transphobic humor to make its jokes. Meanwhile it feels like CyGames Pictures is actually trying here, with things like the CGI grass swaying in the wind and such. It looks terribly awkward sometimes, but there are also moments where it just sort of… works. So I can say wholeheartedly, if you just want a goofy show to burn 30 minutes and enjoy yourself on, Princess Connect is not a bad choice at all. I won’t be watching it personally, because my time is limited and this isn’t exactly up my alley. But I honestly can’t see anything wrong with what is ostensibly a slightly above average gacha mobile game adaptation. At the very least it’s less offensive than Azur Lane was last year.

Potential: 30%