A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School
Short Synopsis: A pathetic failure becomes the new teacher of a school for Spirits.
Mario: While I believe Youkai Gakkou can build on this concept to get to know more about each type of youkai as they open up to this new human teacher, there are many strikes against it that I don’t really see it can raise above the water. The most glaring one is the teacher himself who is just plain and uninteresting as a lead. When you introduce someone with a story of how they become shut-in after one bad first day teaching at school, while making light of that fact, you’ve done your character a big disservice. It doesn’t get much better from there since he curls up like a ball when he realizes he’s teaching a class full of youkai. The first case he gets here, about a misfortuned youkai that becomes a shut-in, is also not its best sadly. We soon learn the reasons for her not going to school is not because of any stress, bullying or social anxiety that she experiences (which in turns could be something common the teacher and she share), instead it’s just because… she plays too many games. I guess maybe like Natsume’s Book of Friends, we get an episodic chapter about these youkai, and some of them might be touching – but in a season where the actual Natsume is airing, I don’t see any reason in following this one over the much better show.
Potential: 5%
Lenlo: How do I put this… Youkai Gakkou seems to depend entirely on how much you enjoy pathetic humor. Is it funny watching a cowardly incompetent teacher be picked on/looked down on by his students? If so, you’ll probably have a decent time with it. For me though, the comedy fell short. And seeing as how the comedy is basically all this first episode has going for it, that’s not good. I imagine Youkai Gakkou has plans for more, it probably wants to do something uplifting where the teacher makes the Youkai feel normal or something while they help him become more confident. If that’s the case though, it really should have led with that and let the comedy come in later. Suffice to say, as exhausted as I am of premieres this late into the opening of the season, I’m not feeling any interest here.
Potential: 5%
Thunderbolt Fantasy S4
Short Synopsis: Season 4 of Thunderbolt Fantasy, AKA Urobuchi’s Taiwanese Puppet Show.
Lenlo: So I’m gonna be honest, I’ve never really known what is actually happening in Thunderbolt Fantasy. There’s some epic plot about swords, demon lords, spirits and shit, I honestly couldn’t tell you. As such, I can’t really talk about the story or character arcs or anything like that, because none of those are why I watch the show. No, I watch it for one thing and one thing only: Puppets. There’s nothing else quite like them in anime I feel. The exaggerated way they move, the detail in their design and fights, and the fights! Oh the fights. There’s something so fun about watching puppets fly across the screen, kicking up sand and dust with mystical powers, as they duke it out in classic wire-work martial arts film style. Can I recommend this to everyone? No, not at all. The story is nonsensical and honestly probably not very good if I’ve ignored it for 4 seasons. But if, like me, you have a strange fascination with magical puppet fights… You’ll be able to have a good time.
Potential: 50%
Mario: I’ve been following Thunderbolt Fantasy since its inception, and even more was blogging it when it first aired in 2016. Unique aesthetic – and a common question of ‘is it even anime?’ – aside, I am familiar with the wuxia convention well enough to get a real kick out of that. This show for me is Urobuchi at his most doesn’t-give-a-damn. There are larger-than-life characters, epic plots about human and devil realms and other nonsense, but they are entertaining and truly something to behold. This first episode of the supposed final season is purely set up as we track multiple groups of characters while introducing a pair of powerful underlings. So far, it’s actually our MC Shang Bu Huan who is the least interesting as he has second thoughts about his own mission. I’m sure he gets dragged along to the mess soon enough, and I’m all in for that.
Potential: 50%
Touhai: Ura Rate Mahjong Touhai Roku
Short Synopsis: Money, women, organs. Kei, a high school boy, frequents the underground mahjong parlor teeming with desires, earning him the moniker ‘K of Ice’ in the underworld due to his cold-hearted strategy and stylish gameplay. Rumors also circulate that he keeps a girl at his home.
Lenlo: Touhai suffers from the same issue as every Mahjong anime, the simply fact that no one in the west knows how to play this fucking game. And much like the Cute Girls Doing Cute Things Mahjong from a season or two ago, that really limits its reach because it doesn’t put any effort into teaching the audience how to play the game. That’s probably for the best with the Japanese market, but for me? That makes it impossible to get into. Even putting that aside though, Touhai also comes off as a poorly produced, inferior copy of Akagi, another Mahjong series but created by the Kaiji Ultimate Survivor author, someone who is far more capable of making Mahjong interesting. Combine those, the difficulty of getting into the game and the existence of multiple better criminal-based mahjong series, and I’m not really finding a compelling reason to watch this one. Maybe you’ll enjoy some of the over the top criminality, what with the sex slaves and all, but it sort of feels like shock value more than anything.
Potential: 0%
As someone who has actually watched S1 of TF unlike you Lenlo I can tell you that it is more than just puppets. Maybe if you actually paid close attention instead of exorcising fanservice every five bloody minutes you appreciate it more!!! Critical thinking is truly dead.
Bro. They ARE puppets. Cool ones.
And the word’s excoriating.