Ragna Crimson
Short Synopsis (Anilist): Dragons reign terror over the earth, sea and sky. If sworn dragon hunters like Ragna are to have any hope of dealing death to these seemingly invincible, fire-breathing beasts, they must find a way to level the odds. Ragna teams up with a mysterious man named Crimson who has likewise sworn to stand against the dragons menacing the world. But although Crimson’s motivations may be mysterious, his goal and Ragna’s perfectly align, and together they’ll fight to vanquish the dragons once and for all.
I’ll be honest, if this were a regular length premier Ragna Crimson would have lost me. The first half was some pretty standard isekai fantasy bullshit, except without the isekai, that I had 0 interest in. I mean, just look at all of those shitty anime tropes like 12 year old waifus that act nothing like a 12 year old, crazy tragic backstories and setup for said waifu dying to inspire our MC. But as we enter the 2nd half Ragna Crimson starts to shift from a standard tale of edgy MC revenge crap to a weirder, slightly more interesting one of time travel, regret, and tragedy. That’s kinda cool! I was pleasantly surprised that, despite still being an OPMC fantasy tale, Ragna Crimson wasn’t just following the standard cookie cutter template. I have no idea how it will hold up, as a lot of what makes it compelling is Future!Ragna’s feelings of regret and how they affect Past!Ragna. However if Ragna Crimson can lean into this alienation, this idea that even when saving those he cares for Ragna is still alone because he’s no longer the same person, then I think this could be worth some time. Guess we will have to wait and see, but its at least earned an episode 2 from me.
Potential: 40%
Firefighter Daigo: Rescuer in Orange
Short Synopsis (Anilist): Toake Daigo burns with remarkable talent and unparalleled determination. Onoda Shun struggles against the walls blocking his own path. Nakamura Yuki hopes to become one of the few female members of the special rescue corps known as “Orange.” When these three young firefighters who share the goal of becoming members of Orange come together, the story of how Japan will one day be saved begins… and what looms before them is a crisis that endangers the entire country!
You know, as clearly pandering as the concept is, I’m down for a show to celebrate our public servants who put their lives on the line for everyday people. It’s a solid idea with a lot of room to teach people about the job, inspire others to look at the career, and generally bring some attention to it and its risks. So it’s such a shame that Firefighter Daigo is just so… bland. From its visual presentation to the narrative, I’m just not pulled in by it. I wouldn’t say Firefighter Daigo looks bad, it doesn’t. The designs are fine, it moves fine, the coloring is fine. The proportions are a bit more adult, “realistic”, as far as anime goes. Meanwhile the narrative so far is a classic 0 to hero, start at basic training, rise up together sort of thing. There’s nothing I can point to in Firefighter Daigo as outright bad. But there’s also nothing I can point to that inspires me either, nothing passionate. It’s like it was made by committee, with no one on it being truly interested in the subject. Maybe that’ll change as it goes, I’ll give it a bit to find out. As far as first episodes go though, I’m not that enthused.
Potential: 20%
Shangri-la Frontier
Short Synopsis: A retro game otaku finally tries out the newest high-end MMO on the market and immediately gets sucked in, having the most fun he’s had in a long time.
Shangri-la should not be good. It’s a video-game MMO style isekai with an OPMC. This is the most basic sort of anime you can get. And yet… It’s a lot of fun. Most of that has to do with the production, which so far is great. Not quite at Frieren’s level, Shangri-la has still put a lot of care and detail into the world, characters and movement. From small stuff like condensation on a can to the MC jumping around and climbing trees in a forest, it looks good. Good enough that it kept me interested throughout the episode at least. I can’t say that the story is particularly interesting yet, as that’s still a rather straightforward MMO plot of “I’m gonna play the game because it’s fun”. We don’t even have a real story beyond that, no real driving force other than enjoying the game. But there’s enough fun moments, like kicking the annoying NPC party member or messing around with stats, that I’m willing to give it a chance and see where it goes. At the very least if it can keep up this production and comedy, I’ll have a good time.
Potential: 65%
