SAO Alternative: Gun Gale Online II
Short Synopsis: Season 2 of Gun Gale Online, where a little girl plays a gun-based VR MMO and kicks butt.
Lenlo: GGO continues to be the most fun I’ve had with SAO. Screw the high fantasy shit, gimme all the same MMO trappings but with guns. While the production isn’t great, lots of stills, panning shots, zooms etc, it looks good enough for what it is and I expect it to pick up as the season goes on and we get into the action. And sure, this episode was largely setup/recap, reminding us what happened, reintroducing characters, and establishing the conflict. But the characters in general are also just… more fun than SAOs? To them this is a game, it isn’t life or death, so even in defeat it’s allowed to be fun, and that shows in how they interact with each other. The fact there’s no death game, no serious end of the world scenario, also means that our leads can feasibly lose. They still probably won’t, because that’s how these stories go, but it’s more tension than you’d normally get in an SAO story. All in all, I’d say if you’re looking for an Isekai-Adjacent show, especially one that plays the MMO stuff straight with some actual fun behind it similar to Shangri-La Frontier, then GGO is going to be right up your alley. It’s definitely up mine.
Potential: 60%
The Stories of Girls Who Couldn’t Be Magicians
Short Synopsis: After flunking the placement test for her school’s magic program, an aspiring magician begins to study alongside a host of strange classmates.
Wooper: I’ll say this for Girls Who Couldn’t Be Magicians, it’s highly dedicated to its storybook background art style. The show’s use of digital textures to mimic canvas, construction paper, and other materials isn’t convincing to my critical eyes, but given that the story seems to be aimed at 8-12 year olds, it ought to get the job done. What doesn’t match its apparent demographic, however, is the sheer number of characters introduced in this first episode. I couldn’t keep all of the students straight in my head, but honestly, I didn’t really need to – they can just be labeled based on their personalities, which ought to be instantly familiar to anyone who’s watched a decent amount of anime. That includes the crybaby protagonist (why Japan is so attached to that trope I’ll never understand), the class ojou-sama and her two yes-women, the mysterious male twins, etc. They’re all part of a class that isn’t supposed to have much magical talent, but many of them actually do, plus their instructor ends up being a highly skilled witch, so there’s not much cause and effect to the episode’s outer workings. I’m sure it’s helpful for children to hear that they have innate potential, especially if they’re branded as underachievers, but I’d rather they receive that message from a trusted adult in their lives rather than this very plain anime.
Potential: 5%
Lenlo: You know what, I can’t deny that Mahoutsukai looks nice. The thick line work, watercolor style and pastel colors, the world. It really is a pretty show, with a memorable and unique art style! Easily one of the most memorable of the season so far. It’s too bad the show abandons so much of it for a more traditional anime style once the opening scene ends. It keeps some of the texturing, but that’s it, otherwise dropping everything that made it stand out in favor of the normal anime look. It’s a damn shame, because that was really all I could praise. Wooper hits the rest on the head. The cast is bloated, the plot is dull and the whole thing felt like it took me an hour to finish despite being only 20 minutes long. I suppose if you like childrens witch/magical girl shows, this could be up your alley. But for me, I’d once again say to just go watch Precure. Apparently that’s pretty good this season, better than this at least.
Potential: 5%
Kimi wa Meido-sama
Short Synopsis: A former assassin becomes a live-in maid for a pair of siblings.
Lenlo: This whole show is just… There’s not even an attempt to justify or explain it? The lead isn’t the son of someone the maid/assassin killed, she’s not trying to hide her prior highly illegal job or anything, there’s no real prior connection here. It’s just the loosest, most ridiculous justification to have an adult woman in a maid outfit clean up after an absolute slob. I’ll admit, there’s some decent animation whenever she shows off her weapons against the tree, but… I’m really not feeling this Violet Evergarden knockoff. The maid is just generically trying to learn what a normal life is, rather than anything specific or compelling. And once it reveals its hand as a cheap romance where a Nobody has a hot girl in a maid outfit hand delivered to him, it becomes clear I never will. Maybe I’m just not seeing it and Mario will catch something, but the heart-felt connection needed to make this work is missing completely for me.
Potential: 1%
Mario: This time I’m not seeing it either, Lenlo. What we have in this first episode of Maid-sama is lazy writing full of wish-fulfillment factors, where both characters have zero personality to speak of. Hapless boy suddenly has a hot girl asking him to be his servant? She happens to be an assassin with no emotion? It’s trite, it brings nothing new to the table. Indeed, the maid girl makes both Yor Forger and Violet Evergarden much more complex in comparison, which is saying a lot given the fact that both are the weakest links in their respective shows. And she expresses her feelings over… tonkatsu sauce?! Get me out of here. On the positive side, I now know which show I will put as the worst premiere for my vote.
Potential: Tonkatsu sauce can’t save this episode
