Hoshikuzu Telepath
Short Synopsis (Anilist): Konohoshi Umika is a high-schooler who is very bad at communicating with others. Feeling almost like an alien trapped on Earth with nowhere to belong, one day she meets a girl who claims to be an actual alien!
Had this just stuck to the girl really really liking aliens then it could have been cute. Instead though Telepath decided to go full social ignoramus, missing even the most basic of social ques with an equally ridiculous secondary girl. This is like Bocchi the Rock all over again, except while both handle their subject of socially challenged kids poorly, one was at least spectacularly animated and produced. Don’t get me wrong, Telepath looks fine, better than a lot of things airing this season actually. But it’s also not the best. It also doesn’t help that while watching it I had to check multiple times to see how close we were to the end, making a 20 minute episode feel like an hour. Maybe I’m just not built for these social outcast shows where the outcasts are always depicted as cute girls with no actual issues and yuri-bait non-romance. Still, I’ve seen enough friends rave about it that I’m willing to accept this is a me thing more than anything else. After all, I praise Bocchi in this very post and I didn’t like that either. Probably just not my thing, if your looking for socially inept children interacting than you will probably have a good time here.
Potential: 5%
Kawagoe Boys Sing
Short Synopsis (Anilist): The story is about the Kawagoe School Boys Choir Club and their instructor, a former orchestra conductor named Haruo Hibiki. The club members’ personalities clash, but Haruo helps them grow together through singing, as they aim for the nationals of the Boys Choir contest.
Ok this might come across as rude, but no matter how good the singing is, the Engrish just completely ruins it for me. Were they singing in Japanese, or had actual English singers like the My Hero Academia Culture Festival, everything would be fine. But as a native English speaker, it makes all of the music sound discordant and amateurish. Pair that with a generally rather annoying teaching and a generic plot and I’m not really feeling any of it.
Potential: 0%
What”s Left
With that we come to the awkward point in the season where there are only 3 shows left to cover and none of them come out anytime soon. So what do we do? Dr. STONE I’m obviously going to be covering, I love it and I want to continue to give it love. But what about Dog Signal and Kusuriya? Well this is my plan. I’m going to wait until both are released, give them their own preview post, and then once all are out I’ll drop the seasonal awards. Between now and then though I’m going to continue the season as normal, posting about the shows I’m watching when I have the time to write them up. I’m also going to try and bring back the Weekly Update, just so y’all can see a bit of what I’m watching outside of my main coverage. Hope everyone enjoys that, I want to spread the content around a bit and this is the best way I can see to do that. Thanks for reading and see y’all throughout the season!
The one-man show must continue! Keep it up, Lenlo, we’re counting on you!
Wait, you thought Bocchi handled social anxiety poorly? How so? I’m genuinely curious.
So to explain, Bocchi was billed to me as a realistic representation/discussion on social anxiety and overcoming it. So that immediately set my expectations. What I ended up getting however was more of a feel-good, “Everything falls into your lap” exaggerated take on it. It’s cute, well produced, and I understand why people like it. But as far as really diving into anxiety, why people feel that way, how they can legitimately overcome it… I was left wanting.
Thank you for all your hard work!