Category: Some Quick First Impressions

Otome Game no Hametsu Flag

Short Synopsis: Reincarnated little girl hits her head, gets engaged, and breaks down a door like a boss.

Amun: Wait what’s this?! Isekai is evolving!! And…it’s now become chibi isekai! (patent pending)  As the third show this season to feature a person from our world who came back as someone younger, Otome is a decently fresh take on a stagnating genre.  Not only are we back as a little kid, we’re back as an EVIL little kid – well, one that will be eventually. Our heroine is determined not to be evil though – to the extent where she gets sick of everyone’s nonsense and fireman-axes a door.  That pretty well sells this series for me.

Potential: 70%

Armitage: Oh-My-God-This-is-the-most-adorable-thing-ever-I-can-feel-my-poor-harth-meltin’-because-of-this-wholesome-goodness *coughs* *composes herself* Right, so the Otome Isekai. Do we really have to do a proper review of this? I mean, come on! Can’t we just let precious things be, for once? Why do we need to dissect every tiny detail and pinpoint minor flaws that stop us from seeing how perfect things are? Ughhh, fine! I’ll give it to ya straight, a’ight? This is a show about a 17-year-old girl trapped inside the body of an adorable 8-year-old princess who has the tough tough job of stopping equally adorable 8-year-old boys from confessing their love to her. And she goes about that job with the help of the many different emotions who hold a roundtable conference inside her head to discuss prospective strategies for preventing said fated declarations of love, ‘Inside-Out’ style. There you have it. That’s all I have to say about the premiere unless you’re interested in reading about the wide variety of reactions I had to various parts of the episode. To sum them up, there were a lot of ‘aww’s, melodramatic swoons and general unintelligible words whenever something cute happened on screen (which was like, every 10 seconds). So, as a TL;DR, this show is cute, heartwarming and the best thing since sliced bread. Go watch it. Bye.

Potential: All the %

Shachou, Battle no Jikan Desu!

Short Synopsis: Potato-kun gets asked by his childhood friend to be a President of a company that does quests for money.

Lenlo: Basically everything Mario said down below is correct. Shachou is an unremarkable light-fantasy show, with average production and nothing to really set it apart. Yet somehow, someway, that is enough to make it one of the better Isekai of this season. So if that’s your jam, you could do a lot worse. Unlike 8th Son for instance it actually seems to care about its mediocre setting, going so far as to hide its info-dump in an everyday work tutorial or actually explaining why people adventure and showing that technology has actually advanced. Of course there are still no guns, and it isn’t exactly clever. But there is a bare minimum level of effort here that isn’t present in a lot of other Isekai’s. And that alone at least makes me not hate it. It won’t be good. But I don’t hate it.

Potential: 15%

Mario: This show is another lame light-fantasy adaptation that doesn’t have any ambition and is not funny or entertaining enough to secure its place for another try. Just look at the main male: plain, surrounded by cute girls (and a boy) who are more efficient than him, and has the CEO position handed to him without any sweat. It certainly doesn’t help that most of this premiere focuses more on tutorial and side quest than establishing the cast. In addition, the production is unremarkable. The budget must be tight, as whenever the show does a wide shot, they skip the details in characters’ faces. The side quest itself isn’t that exciting, and since we all know the outcomes it fails to offer any thrills. The supporting cast has their own quirks but I doubt that they develop much in later episodes. If you like DanMachi then you might find this enjoyable, otherwise steer clear from it.

Potential: 10%

Amun:  There seem to be some heretics among us, one of whom even said some fighting words like “If you like DanMachi” – so the defender of DanMachi has arrived!  That being said….I’ll admit this premier was a bit thin. And, yeah, this is my genre, but…it seemed pretty low effort. The positives are: I like the tension with childhood-friend-turned-secretary (that’s like a second-gen fetish or something right there).  There also seems to be a lot of nice little side stories like the talking backpack and whatever’s going on with the promo video (please note, that says promo) star. The negatives are pretty much centered on the MC, his hair, the mismatched CGI, and the puddle depth plot.  I give this another episode or two, but I’m not that hopeful. Also, I love that they give him the title of CEO, but it means less than nothing – apparently someone’s worked in a startup before.

Potential: 25%    

Gleipnir

Short Synopsis: Furry boy teams up with a girl to collect golden coins while constantly appreciating how nice she smells.

Armitage: Ladies and Gentlemen, lo and behold! The edge-fest of the season. Like always, we have people raring to have a go at each other’s throats while striving to reach a common objective, plot threads tied together by the bare minimum of logic and well, everyone just being a complete dick. Though this time around the differences being that there’s no ‘Game’ in the title, there are furries! (the creepy kind but still) and well, it’s actually pretty good. I love how Studio Pine Jam understands the absurdity and stupidly fun nature of the concept and just runs with it, presenting the already over-the-top story from the source material with even more bombast (I mean, there are guitar solos backed by EDM beats playing in the background as a giant teddy bear carries a scantily-clad teenage girl out of a burning barn. Ah, the CAMP!). And let’s just be honest here, if you aren’t already sold on this show because of the premise or just hate stories that serve as nothing more than popcorn entertainment, nothing I can say will probably change your mind. If you do give this story a chance, you know what you’re in for: elaborate excuses in the name of plot for the next action set-piece to begin so that we get to see some teens go batshit insane, all with some fanservice thrown in for good measure. If that doesn’t sound like your usual cup of tea, fair enough. Though, there’s always room to try out some cinnamon spiced chai latte :3

Potential: 85%

Amun: Uh huh.  Are you in the mood for a fanservice filled, high school death tournament version of Gangsta…with the younger version of Rock from Black Lagoon?  Who can turn into a sorta strong, somewhat cute mascot? Also, did I mention fanservice? It’s gritty, it’s edgy, it has really detailed CGI coins – it’s Gleipnir! (whatever that means).   That being said, I don’t actually hate it – I’m just a little shell shocked from whatever it was that happened in that first episode. Come to think of it, I actually liked Gangsta quite a lot.  I’m open to seeing how the highschool edition turns out – fair warning, you might feel like you need some hand sanitizer after each episode.

Potential: 75%

Mario: Hmm, I’m throwing my two cents here to contrast these two glowing positive reactions above. The fanservice is uncalled for… why does the girl have her bra exposed in the first place? Plot jumps at a brisk pace, and the only hook for me is the “monster” transformation that is both bizarre and cute at the same time. I would put this show in the same “trashy-edgy-and-fun” category as “Future Diary” and “Deadman Wonderland”, and consider how this first episode is pale compared to these two, and how these two crash and burn after the hook, I have my worries towards Gleipnir.

Potential: 25%

Amun: First Mario challenges DanMachi, then bashes Mirai Nikki and Deadman Wonderland (which went downhill a bit, I’ll admit)? It’s on now! That said – I think those are some valid points about Gleipnir, having read a bit more of the manga.

Yesterday wo Utatte

Short Synopsis: A recent college graduate who lacks any real ambition in life gets stalked by a high-school girl and her pet crow.

Armitage: Oh, boy. This is a tricky one. Don’t get me wrong now. There are a lot of positives here. Be it the refreshing choice of a college graduate for a protagonist in Rikuo, the complicated nature of the relationship between him and Shinako (it falls somewhere in between one-sided crush and mutual fondness) or the general tone of the series which seems wholly drenched in nostalgia (the sombre OST has to be credited for that) while feeling very realistic. Plus, the ED song is definitely my favorite for any series this spring. It’s evident that there’s a lot to love. But my main qualm with it comes back to Haru, who is a walking red flag. Her behavior so far in the series just comes off as a bit obsessive and from what we got to know about her in the premiere, I couldn’t really justify her actions. Though it’s still early days and as more layers of the characters’ lives get peeled in the coming weeks, my opinions may change completely. Unfortunately, Doga Kobo has a track record of ending their one-cour series with big flashing ‘GO READ THE MANGA!’ signs and considering that the source material is over a 100 chapters long, I can see this series succumbing to the same fate. What I can say for sure is that I do find myself interested in knowing where this story is headed and will be following it to the end, even if it crashes and burns by then.

Potential: 75%

Wooper: For a story about a mellow convenience store worker, life sure comes at the viewer fast in Yesterday wo Utatte. We’re barely given a chance to understand who the main character is before his meet-cute with a crow-taming girl, who then appears four or five more times throughout the episode. His recent graduation is mentioned only minutes before his college crush waltzes back into his life, and his confession/her rejection happen shortly thereafter. In fact, all the show’s cards seem to be on the table as of the premiere’s end. We know about Rikou’s past with Crow Girl, her personal history and lack of family, the link between the two female love interests, etc. So why am I looking forward to the next episode? Well, it’s got a male protagonist who doesn’t trip over his own tongue at the mere sight of a woman, which is a welcome surprise in anime land. Plus there’s a melancholic atmosphere to it that I like, even if the show ventured into navel-gazing territory with Crow Girl’s monologue at the end. Rikou’s interest in photography could take the story to some interesting places, as well. That’s a strong enough toolkit for me to pick up this series, at least temporarily.

Potential: 60%

Bungou to Alchemist: Shinpan no Haguruma

Short Synopsis: Historical authors enter stories gone wrong to set them back on the right track.

Lenlo: What the hell even is this? Are we in stories? A fantasy world? The modern world? What is with Japan’s obsession with putting novelists in anime, as if just throwing names in there adds depth? Everything about this just reeks of mediocrity and it doesn’t even have the good will of a decent production. I grew bored and wanted to turn it off by the time the OP rolled, to say nothing of the ED. Long story short, skip this. Even Bungou Stray Dogs does a better job with the “Authors as heroes” concept, and I don’t even like that show.

Potential: 0%

Mario: It’s a pretty bad idea to throw us in the middle of the story without any context and then introduce the twist. It’s like they pull the rug out when we haven’t even put our feet on it. Dazai and Akutagawa are interesting historical figures, but that doesn’t necessarily make them an engaging anime leads to follow. The core concept is easy enough to follow, these writers serve as heroes going inside the fictions to destroy “Taints”, who want to corrupt the story, but it’s not a fresh idea by any measure, and the show loses me hard once Akutagawa’s character enters the story. Our mains are over-designed, loud and thinly written and I find it hard to have any kind of investment in them. An easy skip.

Potential: 0%

Gal to Kyouryuu

Short Synopsis: A fashionable young woman starts living with a dinosaur after drunkenly inviting it home one night.

Wooper: Having read a few chapters of the manga before this episode dropped, I have to say I prefer Gal and Dino in book form. The dinosaur is cute in both versions, but having the freedom to drink in its various facial expressions at your own pace works much better than the TV version. There were many spots in the anime, especially during the Dino Channel segments, where the show held too long on a shot of its mascot, which brought some scenes to a screeching halt. The live action segments suffered from a separate problem, stemming from the cartoon sound effects that accompanied the dino’s movements. I’ll admit to chuckling the first time I heard the airhorn and raising an eyebrow at the lightsaber sounds, but the more ordinary squeaks and boings were applied far too liberally. Despite my nitpicks, the series did have a trump card that entertained me, and that was the recreation of its first chapter with human actors, where a middle-aged man played the role of Kaede. I got a big laugh from this gimmick at first, but I doubt it’ll be enough to keep the show fresh for 12 episodes – Pop Team Epic this ain’t.

Potential: mlg_airhorn.mp3/10

Amun: Uh, this isn’t entirely animation. I mean, there was an animated short for about 5 minutes, followed by some claymation…and then some live action? With an old dude? Who had a heart attack? Like – what is going on? The anime bit was fine, I guess (not a huge fan of dino’s design), but there’s just so much more to this show. I guess I’m extremely curious not where this goes plot wise, but what the actual media is…?

Potential: 5% (Just because I’m curious if this is an actual anime)

Arte

Short Synopsis: Tired of being held down by societal norms and traditions, a girl decides to leave behind her aristocratic roots and carve a new life for herself as an artist.

Lenlo: Unlike Armitage, I knew nothing about Arte going in and only barely knew that Artemisia, whom Arte is based on, existed. Yet even with no knowledge, Arte is the first series of this season to actually hold my complete attention all the way through. Similar to Runway de Waratte, the initial premise of a character striving in an industry they are unfit for and whom the industry is biased against is a good one. Right away it sets the entire world against the lead, and Arte doesn’t look like its going to shy away from the technical aspects like Runway. It’s only made better by the setting of 16th century Florence, which I at least have never seen covered in anime before. The backgrounds are beautiful, and as someone who has actually been to Florence, it’s a joy to see it rendered in such a stunning way. And the commitment to the setting seems to go beyond the flavor of the backgrounds, with hard labor in place of modern conveniences for the art and a focus on the actual living conditions of the times too. My only quibbles are actually very similar to Armitage, those being the comedy falling flat or the animation not being all there. Still though, it’s the first series to really catch and hold my eye yet. And the fact that Armitage is blogging it means I get to just sit back and relax with it to!

Potential: 80%

Armitage: Arte is a story, loosely based upon real events, which follows the titular character on her journey to becoming a painter in 16th Century Florence. The manga serves as a fitting companion piece to Blue Period (another phenomenal manga, though we’ll talk more about it when that anime eventually comes out) but while both are about individuals trying to pursue their passion of becoming artists, Arte distinguishes itself by not only being a story about art and the sacrifices that go into pursuing it for a living but by also serving as a criticism of a history of unfair gender biases that prevail almost every profession. I am already familiar with the source material so, all I hoped for while tuning in to the premiere was for a competent enough adaptation. And I got just that. While the animation itself was nothing too spectacular, the backgrounds bringing to life Renaissance-era Florence looked absolutely stunning. The voice actors for our main duo are both apt and Maaya Sakomoto’s vocal return for the OP is always welcome. The one thing I can point out as a minor quibble is that the comedic gags didn’t all land as expected but that’s a shortcoming on the manga’s part and not the anime. All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a better start to this story. I shall be returning next week for full weekly coverage. Hope you will join me too!

Potential: 100%

Listeners

Short Synopsis: Audio nerd makes advances on mysterious girl, but gets too caught up in his love of gear to actually get any.

Amun: Really the studios doing Listeners and ToG should switch – I feel like each’s visual style is way better suited for the other. This show looks great – the CGI integration makes sense, the world has good details, it feels like a world of junk and burned out tech. The characters are well introduced with their obvious traits at the front but also with adequate room to grow. Where I’m a little hesitant is the obvious service that’s going to play into this show, and I’ve always found Japan’s portrayal of rock and roll a little…mismatched. That said, I like what I’ve seen so far – this kind of seems like a music mech version of Tsugumomo (also airing this season), which I’m a fan of (see what I did there). I’m here for at least a few more gigs!

Potential: 65%

Mario: Concept-wise, Listeners has a lot to write home about. It’s a musical and mecha hybrid in a distinct setting (at least in this first episode) with gorgeous character designs, expressive animation with a plot that knows where it’s heading. At the same time though, it sweeps through an array of cliche development and tired dialogue that it feels new and old school on equal measures. The soundtrack reminds me a good deal of FLCL, anyone who is familiar with Dai Sato’s past works will see lots of familiar factors here, and boy meets girl who is a perfect match for him with a convenient amnesia? All checks. Even the gags revolving around Mu misreads Echo’s advance is so dated it’s hard to overlook. But Mu’s outgoing personality plays out as a neat contrast to Echo’s personal traits and they have a pretty solid chemistry already. The battle at the end successfully embraces Listeners’ appeals: mecha ⁺ solid action ⁺ rock & roll. In addition, I enjoy many references to the real world’s music. Listeners’ premiere might be on a cliche side, but it does it with its utmost confidence, just like Mu herself.

Potential: 40%

Sakura Wars the Animation

Short Synopsis: A team of Taisho-era actresses moonlight as mecha-piloting peacekeepers.

Wooper: I knew this show was going to be bad, but I missed the fact that it was animated by Sanzigen, one of the worst 3DCG studios in the business. The first scene took place in darkness, so its ugliness was largely disguised, but the rest of the episode looked straight outta 2013. From simple dialogue to more complex theater and combat scenes, this thing is hideous to watch. The story isn’t much better, being a fusion of the fantasy, idol, and mecha genres that feels like it was made for nobody in particular. The enemies are lizards that look like robots, but are actually demons, and the suddenness of their appearance renders the ensuing battle scene totally lifeless. But hey, at least the main characters got to reintroduce themselves and deliver their shitty catchphrases before charging into battle. Yes, this is *that* kind of show – made solely to familiarize a new generation of waifu-seekers with a media property that they can sink their money into. Don’t watch this.

Potential: 0%

Mario: Unlike Wooper, I am fond of Sanzigen given how their character designs are attractive and the CG looks rather decent, but Sakura Wars looks trash and feels trash. All the characters look stiff and emotionless. It doesn’t help that the personality traits are nothing to write home about, with the worst offender being Sakura herself. Clinging to the only boy in the show, she’s just a pain to watch. The plot is filled with cliche like that girl that has amnesia or how we can tell miles away they are going to be under attack when the only man isn’t around. I know it’s a reboot of a franchise so there’s a market for it, but otherwise I see no reason to pick up on this. It’s unremarkable on all fronts.

Potential: 0%

Kakushigoto

Short Synopsis: The author of a dirty gag manga strives to keep his profession hidden from his daughter.

Mario: I always like Kouji Kumeta’s brand of humor. He has that sort of dry absurdist humor which often relies on heavy wordplay and Japanese culture that would easily get lost in translation. I enjoyed his previous anime adaptations, I know I like Joshiraku more than most people out there, so I approach Kakushigoto with reasonably high expectations. You could say that out of the three works (Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei, Joshiraku and this one), Kakushigoto has the clearest “stake” and “story development”, the father makes it clear he doesn’t want his daughter to find out about his manga career and tries his hardest to do just that. But this premiere still relies on an awful lot of standalone gags and a mountain-size of new characters, sometimes it’s overwhelming but personally I don’t mind being overwhelmed by it. The simpleness of character designs is a delight (I’m a fan of Eccentric Family’s character arts). So far, the show works best for me when it fully embraces the absurdness of its world: Gouto’s seat cushion serves as a swimming belt, and he becomes a local hero for his action? Or the running gags of random people recognize him and enjoy his works? Bring more of these please, but the central chemistry between Gouto and his daughter is still lacking, and without it, it’s hard to invest for their action at all. All in all, this premiere earns a recommendation from me.

Potential: 60%

Wooper: I’m not a fan of Kouji Kumeta’s works. In addition to not being a manga reader, I was only able to get through one season of Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei, and Joshiraku’s one cour run was too Japanese for a lowly gaijin such as myself. As such, I doubt Kakushigoto will ever set my world on fire, but I found this premiere to be moderately entertaining. The show gets decent mileage out of its gags, rather than dreaming them up and discarding them after a single use. My favorite has to be Goto’s donut-shaped seat cushion, which doubles as a feline floatation device and a projectile weapon over the course of the episode. On the other hand, the last five minutes were spent mocking Starbucks-drinking hipsters – a toothless bit of humor, especially from a social satirist like Kumeta. Backgrounds were a mixed bag, as well, but the Eccentric Family-esque character designs compliment them nicely. Speaking of that series, Kakushigoto’s ED was heavily reminiscent of its style; even if you’ve got no interest in this one, I’d recommend watching its ending theme just for the art. As for the rest of the show, I’ll give it another week before deciding whether to continue.

Potential: 50%

Hachinan tte, Sora wa Nai Deshou!

Short Synopsis: A hungry salaryman boi is reincarnated as a royal broke brat.  

Amun: You have to respect a show that is true to itself – even if “itself” is really rather plain.  Hachinan (not to be confused with Hachiman, who I believe is here later this season) is a pureblooded isekai, through and through – a rather pedestrian lineage, but one to be proud of nonetheless.  This show looks to be a mix of Wiseman’s Grandson and Ascendance of a Bookworm – neither of which were terribly well animated, but both endearing in their own ways. I don’t see anything original here, but the characters are pleasant enough, the setting rather humorous  – and who doesn’t appreciate making random meals at midnight. I’ll give this a few more episodes at least.

Potential: 35%

Lenlo: Oh Isekai, Isekai, where would we be without you my dear Isekai. Long story short, it’s about what you would expect. We have an overpowered MC thrown into another world. About the only thing interesting Hachinan does is set him up as the 8th son of an impoverished noble, ostensibly setting him up for hardships ahead. Had Hachinan not immediately undercut that by making him an incredibly powerful wizard, we maybe could have had something here. And to be fair, there might still be some decent stuff on how they use the magic to benefit their family economically. But based on this introduction, and the general direction most Isekai go, I am not particularly hopeful. It looks, acts and sounds like a generic Isekai. Odds are that’s exactly what it is. Maybe that’s up your alley, but it’s not up mine.

Potential: 5%

Nami yo Kiitekure

Short Synopsis: Young girl gets super-drunk and is taken advantage of by a middle-aged man in the worst way possible: being forced to host a radio talk-show. 

Armitage: I want to like this show. I really really do. I mean, it’s about a girl in her mid-20s who’s tired of getting over break-ups and wants to find her true calling. It’s also a look at the inner workings which go into producing a podcast. So, it’s basically the radio version of Shirobako. What’s not to like, right? Well… actually, quite a lot. First off, the animation. I understand that studios must be short-staffed because of COVID-19 but the sheer number of times that the animation cut corners in this episode was frankly, appalling. From the blank faces of almost every person in the backgrounds to the bare minimum of character movements and the CGI car reminiscent of early Initial D, it’s safe to say that the show did not look good. Secondly, the A-part of the show just didn’t work for me at all. I appreciate the brave decision of dropping us right in the middle of an episode of the talk-show but it felt sort of jarring and disjointed. Though the one thing this show has going for it is novelty. It’s the kind of story that is very niche but seems really intriguing on paper. And certain aspects of the presentation do pique my interest. Like the sound design guy’s exasperation on Koda making an unnecessary yelp noise in her monologue which would prove difficult to mix or the many other intricacies of the radio production. But unfortunately, the whole package just didn’t gel together like I wished for it to. Which is a pity as I had reasonably high hopes for this and the Spring season already looks pretty thin.

Potential: 40%

Mario: I guess most of us have gone through (or will go through) the phase where all your anger and frustration boil up to the point you want to let off steam and curse the world. This is, I suppose, half of the appeal of Kiitekure, as Minare provides explosive rants after rants but not without its humor and underlying truth. The inside of how the radio station works and Minare’s on air podcasting make up the other half. I had high hope for the show but overall I’m not sold on this first episode. If every session runs like Minare’s first half on-air performance, it’s not going to appeal me much as it just consists of phony, unnecessarily over-dramatized case-scenario, random listeners’ questions and Minare’s yelling her lungs out, all which get pale really fast. The second half has a fair share of issues as well, from Mato’s ethically questionable action, to the over-the-top schtick at the end in an otherwise real setting, and inconsistency in character writing. There’s a scene where Minare wakes up and finds her shoes were neatly arranged and she comments on that, but the very scene before that we see her clothes scattering around the room. In addition, the shadows in characters’ eyes are quite distracting to look at. Still, Minare is an interesting character and this show still has its unique appeal so I still will give it a 3-episode trial. Let’s hope it sticks around.

Potential: 30%

BNA

Short Synopsis: Trigger re-writes Beastars in traditional Trigger style.

Helghast: Due to how Netflix releases things either too late or too early, the entire first half of BNA is out for your viewing pleasure. I’ve watched the first three episodes to balance it out and Studio Trigger hasn’t failed to entertain me yet. This time it’s Zootopia meets Kill la Kill and if you were expecting another Beastars, think more along the lines of the brustling fire-conscious city of Promare rather than the intricate layers of society. With the director of Little Witch Academia and the guy who scored Megalo Box being behind this production, it has been a fast-paced and wild ride through Anima City. The animation is an absolute riot in portraying the comedic violence and the characters of Michiru and Shirou drive the story with their different senses of discovery and justice. Being a Studio Trigger show, I expect this to be a smash hit or at least implode unto itself in a spectacular fashion.

Potential: 80%

Lenlo: Well one thing is for sure, you can tell this is a Studio Trigger production right from the get go. It’s flashy, bright and has a sense of style. Whether BNA ends up as anything more though we will have to wait and see. Because initially, its story isn’t anything we haven’t seen before, especially from Trigger, who seem hooked on this same core narrative. Some kind of class system in place, down-trodden, etc and the heroine comes in to fix it. That said there is some promise, a hint of a mystery, in just the first episode. Which gives me hope that there is more to BNA than just Triggers stylistic flair. Even if I am wrong though, if nothing else, BNA will be a party to watch. That’s for sure. With any luck, we may even go to space by the end.

Potential: 80%

 

Tamayomi

Short Synopsis: Two childhood friends reunite in high school and become a softball battery.

Lenlo: I feel betrayed. I feel lied to. In a word, I feel upset. Because the PV’s and Key Illustrations leading into this promised me strong women with strong thighs. And Tamayomi gave me neither. Just look at these thighs, all bland, detail-less and samey. It’s almost as if their character designs have little actual differences! Meanwhile, the animation on these thighs is also lacking, as they move like slow blobs of jello. I can’t even appreciate flashback thighs, which is criminal considering how many there were! Flashbacks I mean, not thighs. Long story short, as far as a “Cute Girls Doing Cute Things” sports show goes, neither the girls nor the thing they are doing, are cute. And so I can only say it fails.

Potential: No Thighs/10

Wooper: This premiere was, in a word, boring. It took 22 excruciating minutes for the main character to meet several of her classmates and throw a few practice pitches to her childhood friend, with a couple middle school flashbacks to break up the monotony. Every bit of the episode felt padded, from the slow upward pans whenever a new person was introduced, to the internal overreactions whenever a character did something mildly surprising. The comedy revolved around identically-designed anime girls being kind of ditzy, which is nobody’s cup of tea when it’s done this predictably. Speaking of their designs, they’re so simple that it’s a wonder that animation isn’t better. Everybody looks like Kirito with a more feminine haircut, yet the episode’s few moments of full motion struggled to keep things consistent. The main girl has a magical curveball that initially heads right for the batter’s head, then darts into the catcher’s glove at the last second, and… You know what, I’m not going to waste another word here.

Potential: 0%

 

Tower of God

Short Synopsis: Young boy enters a Tower themed Death Game in search of the only girl to ever talk to him.

Amun: I read the first couple chapters of this webtoon and I was decently hyped….first episode has pretty well killed that. Unlike Lenlo, I do not like the rough line – I think it disrupts what should otherwise be a spectacle of scenery. Instead, we have shallow depth, low effort backdrops with characters parading around in PowerPoint animations. The story is a mess too – had I not read the source material I would be completely lost. As it is, I’m only halfway lost. What I’m seeing is the very definition of amateur hour – which makes me sad since I’m rooting for the Crunchyroll sponsored projects to succeed. Oh well, better luck next time, I guess.

Potential: 1%

Lenlo: Tower of God is a weird one. Visually, I like it. The rough line work stands out and the animation is good enough with that line work to keep me interested. It looks like nothing else airing this season, really. However having read the original WebToon, I can say with utmost certainty that if you had no idea what was going on this episode, you won’t moving forward either. Narratively it’s a bit of a mess, as the author figures out what kind of story they want to tell. So all I can really say at this point is that I am looking forward to some good animation, some good fights, and if it can adapt some of the best scenes of this first volume, it will at least be a good time. Nothing phenomenal, but hey. Sometimes I just want some popcorn you know?

Potential: 50%, popcorn flick

Kuutei Dragons

Short Synopsis: A ship of vagabonds hunts dragon for food and money.

Amun’s review:

This is a terribly hard anime to find, but if you can find it….it’s not really worth your time.  I’m even willing to forgive whoever valiantly tried to sub it, despite having a mastery of neither the English nor Japanese language.  No, the real problem here is the jerky 3D animation and the thinly veiled analogies to whale hunting which don’t really translate well to steampunk/dragon fantasy.  Hopefully the staff will learn enough here to become full fledged animators in their own time – this just isn’t going to be their breakout project. With ironically flat characters (except their thighs for some reason) and subpar visuals, I think everyone can safely pass on this.  

Potential: 10% 

Mario’s review:

Unlike Amun, I can say I have a good tolerance with full CG shows, well… some of them. I can’t be bothered with the new clunky CG in Berserk or Ajin for example (the latter is from the same company of Kuutei Dragon), but I did enjoy shows like The Magnificent Kotobuki last year or Ronja the Robber’s Daughter. So, which spectrum does Kuutei Dragon fall into? I’m happy to report that I enjoy the whole lot of it (well, terrible sub aside). The CG character models look bland, true, but I got used to that very quickly. The CG fares better when it concerns the ship and the dragon models. Add to that, I like the worldbuilding of dragon hunting just for food, like a good mix of whale hunting and the love for delicious food. Its easy humor and tongue-in-cheek nature reminds me a good deal of Magnificent Kotobuki, and if that is the case, I know I am in a good company. Just give me a decent enough subtitles.  

Potential: 50%

 

ARP Backstage Pass

Short Synopsis: A behind-the-scenes look at a male idol group.

Mario’s review:

Right off the bat, the CG live performance stands out like a sore thumb and things only get worse from there. This is apparently based on a real (maybe virtual?) band, and all we see in this episode is a little bit of them in school. It functions more like a promotion for that art school and the ARP director (whatever ARP means) than putting effort to tell any story. To give this show some credit, the dance routine of one team member is surprisingly inspiring, and it is in traditional hand drawn style. When it switches to the CG (especially the after credit where it doesn’t need to be) it becomes soulless. Soulless is pretty much how I’d describe this show.

Potential: Soulless

 

Plunderer

Short Synopsis: A girl walks around in search of the Chosen One.

Mario’s review:

Just like what Amun said back in the season preview, Plunderer is indeed terrible. The concept of a world run by “counts” is not a bad idea, but they mishandle everything else completely. There is not a single likeable character, and the show goes borderline offensive with its sexual harassment jokes and cringe worthy humor. Girls are treated like dirt in this show, especially the main girl who is so dumb that despite living in that world she doesn’t know one bit about the rules – how does she survive until now? Congrats Plunderer, you beat Ishizoku Reviewers as the worst premiere of this season.

Potential: TERRIBLE. HORRIBLE

A3! Season Spring & Summer

Short Synopsis: The acting troupe Mankai Company scrambles to recruit new members to avoid losing their theater.

Amun’s review:

This isn’t really my kind of show. There, uh, was some acting and a reverse harem thing going on. And the guy napping the bulldozer was funny, I guess. Also….no one in this show except for the guy in black can even spell the word “business.” Pretty obvious he’s trying to give all the second chances possible. I also sorta spaced out halfway through to be honest. The shot of jumping over the fence was cool. But yeah, nothing about this even remotely interested me.

Potential: 0%

Wooper’s review:

As far as bishounen series go, this one was okay. The implausibility of the script is perhaps its main issue, as the main characters seem to be able to convince people of things just by speaking in elevated tones. The acting troupe at the center of the story has precisely one member, yet the owner is able to persuade their landlord not to turn this laughably unprofitable theater into a bar. There’s not an ounce of believability to this story, as the landlord is a major prick, plus he’s just watched the troupe perform for a whopping audience of two people (including himself). Nevertheless, our heroes venture into a sparsely populated city that seems built entirely around the theater industry. They recruit two people by 1) being attractive and 2) quoting Shakespeare, and return to show landlord-san what they’ve accomplished – which is virtually nothing. Has anyone in this series heard of a business plan? Did all of their mothers play motivational tapes when they were in the womb? This level of strained optimism makes it impossible to take the show seriously, but hey, let’s give it the same grade as the female idol show from the last post. Gender equality and all that.

Potential: 15%

 

Dorohedoro

Short Synopsis: A crocodile head has a human inside his mouth, and he goes around biting evil sorcerers, who are just trying to fill their evil quotas.

Lenlo’s review:

One of the weirdest things I’ve looked at so far, Dorohedoro had me going “wtf” from the start. Yet, part of that “wtf” has made me curious. Where is this bottled insanity going? Why is there a person inside the lizard? Why does everyone look like they just came off of a 16 year old’s first Punk Metal album design? No idea, but I kind of want to find out. Don’t get me wrong, the CGI is terrible and sticks out like a sore thumb. Dorohedoro is not a good looking show. Not by any stretch. But maybe it can pull a JoJo and keep me interested by sheer absurdity.

Potential: 40%

Amun’s review:

I’ve seen a few shows now that are using 80s/90s retro designs and style. I don’t like it. Also, this slum world just ends up looking dirty and dingy…I guess you can say that’s by design, but it makes the inevitable blood splatters just look overdone. I guess I’m marginally curious where this story goes, but honestly I haven’t seen enough content to keep me going. I guess the worlds and doors are neat, but the characters so far are meant for shock rather than sympathy. This is a pass from me.

Potential: 10%

 

Ishizoku Reviewers

Short Synopsis: This is ecchi. There’s also some kind of story and a hermaphrodite angel.

Mario’s review:

Here comes the trashiest show of this season. A human and an elf make it a mission to bang everything that moves, meet a bi-sexual loli angel and let him/her join the club: reviewing all the red-light district girls they have been sleeping with. Should I say any more? Oh yeah, the fact that the show makes a “hilarious” twist that other species find 50-yo call girl more attractive than old elf? I actually watched the whole thing so that I can inform you to avoid this show like the plague.

Potential: my mind hurts

Amun’s review:

This is atrocious. Like someone actually put significant effort into this. So instead of reviewing this, I want to list some shows that could use a second season, since these animators are clearly misdirected. Kamisama No Memou-chou. Hunter x Hunter. Angel Beats. Literally a brick wall.

Potential: No. Just no. It doesn’t have any.

Boku no Tonari ni Ankoku Hakaishin ga Imasu

Short Synopsis: An irritable high schooler must deal with a delusional classmate after they’re put into the same study group.

Wooper’s review:

This isn’t the worst premiere I’ve seen so far this season, but it’s certainly the one from which I gleaned the least enjoyment. Shows like number24 and Infinite Dendrogram were, at the very least, so bad that I could amuse myself by criticizing them. “A Destructive God Sits Next to Me,” as this series is titled in English, didn’t make me feel a single thing. Despite its decent production and plentiful reaction faces, it’s somehow less tolerable than last season’s Chuubyou Gekihatsu Boy, which was another show about guys with eighth-grader syndrome. Destructive God’s protagonist is a “normal” guy, but he’s so aggravated by the delusions of his chuuni classmate that watching him becomes a chore. It’s like he doesn’t want to be in his own show, which certainly isn’t a good attitude to give your main character if your goal is audience retention. There’s no story to speak of, unless you count MC-kun experiencing endless frustration at his classmate’s game of pretend. This show has so thoroughly sapped my energy that I can’t be bothered to craft a closing sentence.

Potential: 1%

Lenlo’s review:

Bland. Blaaaaaaaand. BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND. This is the blandest premiere I have seen so far. I just finished watching it, and if you asked me questions about it, I wouldn’t be able to answer them. It’s like your most basic comedy sketch show, with a character that doesn’t want to be on it. And if the character doesn’t want to be on it, why should I want to watch it? Nope, sorry, this gets a solid:

Potential: Bland%

 

22/7

Short Synopsis: Eight girls are summoned to a zoo and informed that they will become idols in a week’s time.

Lenlo’s review:

ALL HAIL THE WALL! AS THE WALL COMMANDS AND SO SHALL IT BE! BRING ME YOUR YOUNG WOMEN WITH LITTLE TO NO MUSICAL TALENT. BRING ME YOUR DAUGHTERS WITH SKIMPY SKIRTS. BRING ME YOUR SHY AND DISILLUSIONED MC’s. THEY SHALL BECOME IDOLS FOR THE WALL. WHY? DO NOT QUESTION THE WALL, IT DEMANDS ENTERTAINMENT. YOU WISH TO WATCH GOOD ANIME? THE WALL DENIES YOUR REQUEST. THERE IS NO ANIME BUT THE WALL AND YOU SHALL ENJOY IT YOU FILTHY PEASANTS. ALL HAIL THE WALL! THE WALL! THE WALL! THE WALL! THE WALL!…

Potential: Wall%

Wooper’s review:

22/7 is the latest in a new breed of idol series from this season, come to inform us that idols “laugh at stupid things, wear frilly outfits, and shake their butts for their customers.” That’s a direct quote from the show’s main character, and it’s not a point of view that’s magically reversed by the episode’s end, either. The lead girl is anxious and lonely, and she only agrees to become an entertainer because she loses her part-time convenience store gig. Why does she lose her job? Because it’s the will of “The Wall” that she become an idol. What is The Wall? It’s an inanimate oracle of sorts, which provides guidance to a fated group of girls from an underground idol training facility. Why was this extravagant subterranean facility built to serve just eight young idols-in-training? Because it’s the will of The Wall that they become idols.

This show is dumb, to be sure, but its skeptical attitude towards its chosen industry is interesting – especially because the eight girls I mentioned earlier are voiced by members of the real-life idol group 22/7. All of their performances are unpolished; a few are believable in their roles, but most of them aren’t. When you factor in its rough art and animation, this show appears to be an easy skip… but something about its bizarre mythology and unconventional leading lady has me curious about where it’s headed.

Potential: 15%

 

Kyokou Suiri

Short Synopsis: Girl who mediates disputes between yokai seeks help from man who ate their flesh as a child.

Amun’s review:

Several seasons ago, I was head over heels for the first episode of a show called Kyoukai no Kanata. It had great visuals, great chemistry, wonderful character designs, the works. I felt it was destined for greatness…when in reality, the pinnacle of the show was an idol routine that ended in a…sliming (yes, that’s a verb). I say all of this to express my reservations on the excellent first episode from Kyoukou Suiri – I will not be tricked again! With a main girl who reminds me the world of Charlotte and a bland, over-powered MC, I must resist my yokai sympathies and temper my expectations for what surely will be another letdown…actually, I’m super hyped, this is AOTS for me, I’m sure of it this time!

Potential: 1000000000%

Mario’s review:

Overall, I enjoyed this episode. It takes a while for the true plot to kick in, but it carries through by a solid chemistry between the two leads. This premiere has long but engaging dialogues, and how their conversations lead into the show’s main themes work well for me. The backstory of the girl being a mediator for weak yokai, for example, is intriguing, but I can’t say I’m that impressed on the boy’s story. Her backstory, in addition, lacks suspense, consider that she was kidnapped and lost her eye and leg in the process. On the production side, Kyoukou Suiri has a pretty solid animation, but I am not at all a fan with its muted color palette. So far, it’s the intriguing themes and the solid character chemistry that serve as main strength to me, and I am happy to recommend it as the one to look out for in this Winter season.

Potential: 60%

Runway de Waratte

Short Synopsis: A short high school girl who wants to be a supermodel teams up with her aspiring model design classmate.

Lenlo’s review:

This is a weird one for me. You see, I am typically not the “cute girl anime” sort of person, I often rail against them. Most of the time that’s because they lack any real story or are just fan-service bait. Yet Runway interests me, because for once the girls being absurdly cute is relevant to the story. You can’t be a fashion model without being good looking after all, and it’s a nice excuse to get them in a bunch of different outfits. Meanwhile its also another “Follow your dreams, fuck people who say otherwise” sort of story, and I like those. If I had to say what my major complaint with it all was, it would have to be that it’s moving too fast though. In 1 episode we see Chiyuki go from “It’s impossible I’m too short” to “I’m now a professional and fully contracted model”, with a similar route for her friend. It’s like we setup and blazed past this first hurdle, when I was expecting it to take all season. Going through amateur fashion shows, with the boy making her clothing all the while. Figuring out their style and what works best on her, etc. Instead success is sorta just handed to them on a silver platter 5 minutes from the end and its like… Great, we just skipped an entire seasons worth of possible content to get straight to what could have been a season finale payoff. It feels like a lot of wasted potential. So while I enjoyed it, and I like the concept and the art, though the OST is pretty basic, the writing leaves me worried. All that said, I do want to watch more. So I have to give it a solid score.

Potential: 60%

Mario’s review:

Runway lost me in the first few minutes when it tries too hard to address Chiyuki’s height issues, but thankfully it picks up after that. The main strength is the main girl right now with her outspoken attitude that I find rather refreshing, especially in regards to her situation. The way she dodges the question regarding her dress is gold to me. Wannabe designer-kun personality is not as bold, but he serves well as a foil to Chiyuki, and I’m quite surprised to see the show’s focus on his siblings this early in the game, whom I reckon that we will see more from later on. Also I suspect parts of make Runway so appealing is that it has a clear goal to clear, and clear obstacles for our duo to overcome. Speaking of their chemistry, they handle it in a believable way, and outline their trust for each other. There isn’t a lot of time spent on the actual progress though. After all, I still don’t see why he’s inspired to make that dress for her, or even see him actually making it. Runway seems to head into the right direction, though, so I am fully on board with it.

Potential: 50%

 

Rikei ga Koi ni Ochita no de Shoumei shitemita

Short Synopsis: Two scientists prove love through formulas and science.

Amun’s review:

Rikei ga Koi ni Ochia no de Shoumei shitemita is Dr.Stone meets Kaguya-sama: Love is War.  Which is pretty funny if you find statistics amusing and not terrifying/triggering PTSD.  If higher maths and logical proofs give you a headache, this is not for you. The character setup so far  is the same as Kaguya: two idiots, one straight-man/woman.  I think the obvious pitfall for this show is focusing too much on the experiments/proofs and not enough on the character relationships – literally the main plot point.  For the first episode, I definitely chuckled, but I could see how it might get tedious after a while – pretty much how most discussions of statistics go, actually.

Potential: 50%

Lenlo’s review:

Amun was much more generous in their description of this show than I would have been, but they aren’t entirely wrong. It’s basically just another romcom, but instead of ecchi jokes its science/social ineptitude jokes. If nothing else, that puts it above most romcoms of the last few years. The jokes were novel for the most part and the core conceit something I hadn’t seen before. Still not my style of show, but it looks like a good time for those that enjoy the genre. At the very least I plan to check out the other 2 that were released at the same time to see if it holds up across multiple episodes.

Potential: 40%

 

Oda Cinnamon Nobunaga

Short Synopsis: Oda Nobunaga and other historical figures are pet dogs.

Amun’s review:

Thief Amun, sneaking into another blurb he didn’t sign up for!  I don’t really understand Japanese (anime in particular, but also live-action television) obsession with Oda Nobunaga.  I guess it’s a pretty good story, but it’s been retold more times than the U.S.’s Little Women.  So if you’re a historical buff, you’ll have your own opinions, but I’ll judge Cinnamon aside from that.  Having taken care of Shiba Inu’s myself, I definitely chuckled at this episode. This really isn’t a full anime, but a collection of shorts – but I think that medium fits these simple skits.  Light hearted, not terribly complicated, and plenty for dog-lovers (normal ones NOT furries, like the other THREE, that’s not an exaggeration, THREE shows this season) – Oda Cinnamon Nobunaga is good fun.  Will it get tiresome or keep me interested for the whole season? Who knows! Arf!

Potential: 30%

Lenlo’s review:

I can’t… I don’t know… what? Why? I don’t understand why this exists. Who thought this was a good idea, was something that needed to be animated? It’s just so absurd it took me a good 10 minutes to wrap my head around the fact that this was real. Then after that another 10 minutes to realize the implications of whatever this show could do with its characters. Now on paper, having Oda Nobunaga lead a dog based uprising against the humans could lead to a lot of comedy throughout. Especially as more historical figures are added. On the other hand, its just so fucking stupid and the comedy so out there and one note that I just… I can’t see this going anywhere or doing anything novel for more than like 2 episodes, tops.

Potential: 10%

Uchitama?! Uchi no Tama Shirimasenka?

Short Synopsis: A bunch of anthropomorphic cats and dogs go on adventures in their neighborhood.

Wooper’s review:

What is this, the third show about human/animal hybrids this season? Was there a pet cafe boom in Akihabara last year or something? Whatever the case may be, Uchitama’s origins predate this modern trend, as it’s based on a set of characters created by Sony in the 80s. You can see those original designs during this premiere, which flashes back and forth between boldly outlined cartoon animals and more typically “anime” cat and dog-eared people. The show manages these design swaps pretty well, but there’s not a great in-universe reason for them to take human form – it just makes the characters more marketable. Uchitama is broken into multiple 5-ish minute stories of little consequence, which focus on the friendships between all the dogs and cats in a peaceful Japanese suburb. That’s probably the best narrative approach they could have taken, but the real selling point is the production. The backgrounds are well-illustrated, and the lighting was applied with a deft hand. This is a show that knows how to set a scene at 6:00 PM without slapping an orange filter over the entire screen and calling it a day. Uchitama looks good, and it’s got a feel-good vibe to it, but it doesn’t offer much beyond that.

Potential: 30%

Lenlo’s review:

Christ, is the furry population on the rise in Japan or something? I swear animals are the new hotness in anime recently, from Kemono Friends to Beastars to Nekopara. Of those, Beastars was easily my favorite, being a character drama with some pretty solid themes. After that though I would have to give it to Uchitama, because while its not my style, there is absolutely nothing offensive about it. Uchitama is, perhaps more than anything else I have seen so far this season, a “feel good” show. You turn it on, and you feel happy. You don’t have to worry about character drama, or politics, or ecchi, or any of that crap. Its just animal boys doing animal/boy things around a town in Japan. Is it particularly ambitious? God no. But I see no reason why someone couldn’t enjoy this after a long day, after they get home and just want to relax to some anime. Suffice to say, Uchitama is the comfort food of anime, and there is nothing wrong with that. It won’t win any awards, but hey. Not everything has to. Read Wooper’s post if you want a more in depth look into how it does things. I’m just here to call it like I see it.

Potential: 25% (Inoffensive, unambitious, but incredibly comfy)

 

Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu

Short Synopsis: A female otaku obsesses over her favorite member of an underground idol group.

Lenlo’s review:

Let me be clear: I hate Idol shows. I think the idol industry is, for the most part, a blight on many poor young women’s lives. I hate CGDCT shows. I was not a fan of Yama no Susume, Slime or Hoshiai (Looking at you Wooper). And yet, Budokan was pretty damn funny. As a sarcastic jab at the inherent absurdity of the idol industry, I loved it. It’s the most unconventional show of the season I have seen so far, taking the Idol anime we normally see and just taking one tiny step back to the audience. Showing the love these fans have for them, just how fucking creepy that can sometimes be yet how it isn’t totally malicious. My hope is that it dives in to the topic a bit more deeply moving forward, taking a look behind the scenes at the idols and ribbing on some of the shittier sides of the Idol industry. Even if it just keeps this light hearted and surface level view throughout though, it’ll no doubt me my favorite idol show of the year. Low bar, but still, when do I talk positively about Idol shows of all things?

Potential: 50% 

Wooper’s review:

Eight Bit is making a quiet run as one of the best unsung studios in the anime business. Yama no Susume has long been a favorite of CGDCT fans, Slime Isekai was one of the best-looking shows ever to emerge from its genre, and Hoshiai no Sora gave them some big name director clout – even if it didn’t end spectacularly. Now they’re back with Oshi ga Budokan, one of the least conventional idol series I’ve ever seen. OshiBudo stars not a particular member of an idol troupe, but one of their biggest fans, a girl by the name of Eripiyo who worships the group’s least popular member. The show’s best trick is finding humor in her borderline-neurotic behavior, while also using it to comment on the absurd structure of the idol biz. As someone who finds that industry to be deceptive and exploitative, I hope OshiBudo dabbles in the headspace of both disillusioned fans and performers. Even if it goes for a lighter tone, though, as suggested by the final scene, the show has lots of things going for it. 2D dance sequences, washed-out environments that bring levity to otherwise challenging moments, and a great voice performance from lead seiyuu Ai Fairouz are all reasons to check this one out.

Potential: 60%

 

Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun

Short Synopsis: Wish-granting school ghost turns out to be a boy!

Amun’s review:

It always worries me when the word toilet is in a title (to be fair, it’s only in the English translation – literal title is actually a little weird, Bound Boy Hanako?).  That said, Hanako surprised me by being more than just a B-tier supernatural show; it’s a B-tier supernatural show with a twist.  That twist is taking a common troupe, luck in love, and having an actual, mature outcome.  So at least the writing isn’t atrocious. The visuals remind me of Danganronpa or Samurai Brides: heavy contour and outlining of characters to mask pretty simple settings and faces.  I don’t see this winning any animation awards, but the writing seems okay so far and the setup is decent. I tend to have a soft spot for B-tier supernatural shows, so I’ll probably stick this one out – wouldn’t blame anyone if this wasn’t their cup of tea, though.

Potential: 65%

Mario’s review:

One strong aspect that works in Hanako-kun’s favor is its lush and distinctive visual style, especially towards the backgrounds (Lerche’s signature panel-like scenes are present). The character designs are a bit hit or miss for me, as most of the time I find it gorgeous, then in some parts the big eyes take me right out of the story. Story-wise, I will need to see more of the material to see whether it’s for me or not. What I can say is that this premiere is inconsistent. It juggles light-hearted tones (with mixed results), thriller/horror in the earlier part (which it completely fails) and a hint of drama with supernatural twist (which is quite decent). The inconsistencies are not strictly in tones, but in the way it structures its first episode as well. The twists are handled very well, especially when exploring its own folklore. There’s a hint that Hanako-kun is not your typical apparition, for example. But these twists are often undercut by the ineffective comedy, or more conventional approaches (like the whole matchmaking situation). At the end though, I do feel like the introduction episode nails its main characters and their bound together, so yeah, I’ll stick with this one too, but more cautiously than Amun.

Potential: 50%