Star Crossed Anime

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

Short Synopsis: A transfer student from Mercury finds herself engaged after getting mixed up in the mecha duel-based hierarchy at her new school.

Lenlo: So I haven’t watched Gundam in like… 15 years. Not since Gundam Wing was on Toonami over on Cartoon Network. I don’t know what the past 2 decades have done to the series, I don’t know if it’s fallen like the Mecha genre as a whole, I don’t even know what the current lore and story is! But I do know this: I had a good time with Mercury. I’m a little blasé about the school setting, just seems a bit too modern moe anime bullshit for me. But everything else was just… Good. The gundams look and move well, actually getting 2D animation vs the 3D CGI we’ve seen in mecha for years. I absolutely adore the MC, Suletta, with all of her little stutters and ticks, and I’m looking forward to seeing how she grows in confidence via her interactions with Miorine. And on top of both of those, there were some really stunning shots spread throughout the episode that made me more excited for a Mecha series than I have for a long time. I have no idea if Sunrise can keep this up or if it will become a CGI fest down the line. But this first episode surprised me a lot, and I’m here for it.
Potential: 80%

Wooper: After watching the Witch from Mercury prologue episode on Gundam Info, my main reservation had to do with the animation designs for the non-mechanical characters. Their thin, swoopy lineart in particular felt insubstantial to me, creating a fear that the show would hyperfocus on the robots and leave the humans to rot. Now that I’ve seen the first episode proper, that fear has been greatly reduced – the show itself features a much wider range of colors than its prologue, which goes a long way in defining each character. That broad spectrum of color applies to the locations, as well, which stretch from the central school’s sleek facilities to its verdant campus and craggy dueling grounds, most of which look great. The duels themselves look great too, and their function as power-based arbitrations for all student conflicts gives the show a “battle high school” hook without being obnoxious about it. (In fact, its use of robot fights to determine mecha heiress Miorine’s fiance is strongly reminiscent of Revolutionary Girl Utena, whose student characters dueled to claim the hand of the Rose Bride.) It remains to be seen whether head writer Ookouchi can successfully connect that premise to the off-campus politics we glimpsed in this premiere; after a casually-ordered and conveniently-retracted assassination attempt on the school’s principal, we’re not off to a great start. But it’s still early days, and the first episode was certainly entertaining, so I’m in for now.
Potential: 70%

Housing Complex C

Short Synopsis: Strange bad events happen to the small town when a group of foreign workers show up.

Amun: This isn’t my normal genre, so take this with a grain of salt (I also don’t really love dubs). I’ve only done a handful of horror-ish shows (Another, Shiki, and recently the first half Summer Time Render), but from what little I know, Housing Complex C seems to start off well. We have some spooky foreshadowing, a cast of decent (and expendable) characters, plus our main lead who is oblivious and happy. There are some funny jump scares and a creepy basement – what more can you really ask for? Also seems to be a lot of falling, judging from the ED. The framework of the show and the “rules” of the world seem pretty straightforward, so it’ll be interesting to see which side each of the characters are on (I guess it depends on their past life?). Or it would be interesting if I had any intention of watching anything further – however, that’s the genre, not any complaints on quality or execution.
Potential: 0% (but that’s me, not the show)

Mario: There are only two notable things about Housing Complex C you need to know – and none of them have to do with the show’s quality itself. First is that for some odd reasons (most likely because of Adult Swim), it’s in English dub. And second, the character designs are handled by none other than the great Yoshitoshi ABe. Both elements don’t really enhance the viewing: the dubbing is uncanny in a bad way, and ABe’s designs are just so-so. In addition, Housing Complex C aims squarely to horror’s zone, but so far it’s more spooky than outright horror. The tone is over the place as they try to mix the normal, uplift conversations from the town villagers to the uncomfortable feeling of having complete strangers swarm over the town. There’s so much inconsistencies in the characters so far (this by design) that it’s hard to get invested in them: Kimi talks to the “invisible Mom” with an extreme closeup to her face. The big guy is likable but we do get the opening scenes of the citizens trying to kill him off. My guess for now is that it’s the village who holds a dark secret full of rituals and Cthulhu and all that. With only 4 episodes, this should be a quick watch, but then again, I don’t see it appealing to anyone but horror fans who want to enjoy a goofy anime this Halloween.
Potential: 10%

Golden Kamuy S4

Short Synopsis: The gang gets ambushed by a mysterious sniper.

Lenlo: Finally, some good fuckin food. Golden Kamuy has come back just as strong and hilarious as it’s always been. In a single episode it manages to reestablish our lead relationships, introduce 2 separate plot threads, introduce Ogata as a main antagonist without him ever setting foot on screen and give me a hilarious interaction between a mute russian and a guy who mere seconds ago wanted to kill him. Maybe it’s because I’m predisposed to already enjoy the show, but this is easily the most fun I’ve had yet with season premiers. I know some people don’t find the humor up their alley, but at this point they probably tapped out of the series a long time ago. If you are still watching 4 seasons in, then not only do you know what Golden Kamuy has to offer, you bloody enjoy it.
Potential: 90%

Mario: Yeah, that was a great episode. Golden Kamuy has an astonishing ability of placing a humorous scene right in the middle of a climax and still feels like the most natural thing in the world. The credit here should be given to its masterful buildup and then release with a middle finger to your face. In this episode alone it happens not only once but twice, for great effect. In addition, the show introduces some new faces and they are just as interesting as the main cast, as though they were the main characters of their own stories. Can’t wait to see what obstacles Sugimoto and Asirpa are gonna face next.
Potential: 75%

Spy x Family Part 2

Short Synopsis: The second half of Spy x Family Season 1, where a spy, an assassin and a telepath must live together as a family without any of them knowing what the others are.

Lenlo: It’s the second half of Spy x Family, don’t act like you don’t know what this is. Production wise it’s still just as solid as it was before. It’s well directed, well animated, and overall just looks good. I have no idea how that will carry for the rest of the season since Cloverworks is involved, but we can at least assume a good number of good looking episodes. As for the content, this is something that actually surprised me. I didn’t think that Spy x Family would dive back into the plot that quickly, especially not that seriously. At the very least I figured a filler episode, or some kind of fluff piece. Instead we come back to bomb threats, death, and Starlight Anya. It was a shockingly good time! I thought I had grown a bit tired of the show after its first season didn’t really live up to my expectations, but this episode reminded me how good it can be. Hopefully it manages to keep it up!
Potential: 70%

Mario: While watching the first season, I remember feeling odd about the dog plot thread that the show forgot about in the finale. Turns out they saved it for the premiere of the second season and I can certainly say that it’s well worth the wait. Immediately the dog feels like a worthy addition, even though he hasn’t met Loid yet – he’s smart, funny and goofy at the same time – all the qualities the Forger members have. As for the episode, well, I feel that this new return has all the distinctive characteristics that made the first season such a hit: the episode looks polished; all the core characters have their time to shine (my favorite: Yor jumps 2-step into the roof out of panicking); the terrorist plot doesn’t overwhelme the fun of watching these dysfunctional members reacting. I have a lot of fun watching it.
Potential: 75%

Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! Double

Short Synopsis: Short hair, well endowed underclassman forces her senpai to have fun in college, despite him just wanting to play videogames all the time.

Amun: Woah, pretty rare to see the season’s finale in the opening seconds. Bold move, Uzaki-chan. That bit aside, we have a key improvement here over the previous season: character designs. It’s interesting to see Studio Engis development and growth on their flagship franchise – I hope the upward trajectory continues. The sketches (3 of them this episode) are crisp and self-contained, albeit a bit flimsy in the plot departments (but not the “plots” department, amirite). I wouldn’t expect anything terribly substantial before the final arc, but this show is still amusing enough. I mean, it could be worse.
Potential: 50%

Yuusha Party wo Tsuihou sareta Beast Tamer, Saikyoushu no Nekomimi Shoujo to Deau

Short Synopsis: Nice animal-loving guy gets kicked out of the hero’s party, because they don’t realize he’s carrying all their bags.

Amun: Cool, so we’re now combining two different mediocre genres – adventurers with slaves and monster tamers. I’m a little surprised there isn’t a slime in sight (and this from someone who likes slimes). Nice guys get harems, I guess? I’m pretty sure that isn’t how it works, but I’d have to check with Andrew Tate to be sure (please don’t cancel me, that’s just a joke). You can tell I was very enthralled with the episode – OP catgirls and super species and yeah, other important stuff. I mean, let’s be honest here, ENGI does this every season or so – puts out a B-tier feel-goodish anime to go along with their headliner. It starts off passably, then completely falls apart by the end. I won’t be fooled again! Okay, I might still watch this though, just for kicks – at least until the production inevitably falls apart.
Potential: 15%

Lenlo: And here we have our required seasonal sad-boi fantasy show of the season. Job/Classes with defined party roles and loot? Teammates/characters designed to be nothing more than blanket assholes for an MC pity party? A power that’s initially presented as useless that’s going to become OP by the end? While it may not be an isekai in name, it’s got all the trappings of one. It even has a magical bond that the MC is no doubt going to put on every member of his all female harem of anthropomorphic animal girls by the end. I don’t know when this became the trend, maybe I should blame Shield Hero for this crap, but it’s starting to get annoying. Anyways, the point is that there is nothing in here that you haven’t seen before. Maybe you’ll like the cat girl, or the dragon girl, or whatever, and manage to have a decent popcorn time with it. But I wouldn’t expect anything more than that from what is, for all intents and purposes, seasonal isekai schlock. Only this time without the isekai. So that’s nice. I guess.
Potential: 10%

My Hero Academia S6

Short Synopsis: Both the heroes and villains are gearing up for their largest confrontation yet, one that will decide the future of Japan and the world at large. Can Deku and the heroes save the day?

Lenlo: The most surprising thing about this premier was that it didn’t start with a 100% anime original recap focused episode. Somehow, some way, BONES managed to jump right into the action. I don’t know what that says about the production schedule. It probably helps that this is the first season in 3 years where they aren’t working on a movie simultaneously, but I hope it’s a sign of things to come. That aside though, let’s be honest, its My Hero Academia. We are 6 seasons in at this point, you know if you like it or not. Personally, for me, it’s going to be my popcorn show of the season. I know this is where Hori’s writing starts to get weaker, but there’s also some epic moments in the arc that I now have a bit of hope will actually get the treatment they deserve. If BONES can just deliver on those then I will be satisfied. My god how my standards have fallen for this show since Season 1.
Potential: 40%

Amun: MHA, you’ve changed. Gone is the underdog feel-good high school life – always a step behind, but with good friends and complex enemies. I mean, our main leads had roughly one line each here. This is now a slick, well-animated ensemble of fan favorites, derived over the last couple seasons, fighting a large-scale battle with global ramifications. And that’s fine, in and of itself, but it’s just not the story I fell in love with. I don’t care about the hero society on a macro level, I just want more Midoriya (and Uraraka). It all feels too big, too fast. I know why the story’s developed to this point and I’m not begrudging the plot development, but I can’t keep telling myself everything’s the same. I guess at some point it’s time to accept that this franchise has scaled up and just enjoy any time with our characters that I can get. Still watching it though.
Potential: 100%

Koukyuu no Karasu

Short Synopsis: An Emperor asks the mysterious consort living deep within the inner palace to help him solve a mystery that will overturn history

Mario: This is purely a set-up episode that introduces the main settings and the main characters – so it’s definitely slow paced – but it gets there with just enough indication about the “rules” of the inner palace, as well as the main characters’ motivations. The result is an introductory episode that does just about enough to tell the main leads with interesting back stories and how they partner up for a current mystery. It’s actually the current mystery that is a weak link here, as I still don’t see the good reasons why the new Emperor Xia Gaojun cares so much about this case, nor does the Raven Consort Shouxue. What the show more than makes up for is establishing Shouxue with a distinctive personality that is both mysterious but lovable at the same time. We also learn about Gaojun’s resolve and while I feel it’s a bit too overblown, his backstory still works well. Then we get the reveal in literally the last seconds and I know I will be back for the second outing. It’s a job well done for Koukyuu no Karasu first episode.
Potential: 40%

Lenlo: As far as seasonal chinese-adjacent historical pieces go… This was decidedly bland. The colors are dull and washed out, and the only design of any note is the female lead. Meanwhile all of the line delivery just feels stiff and lifeless. I get that they are going for a sort of… cool nobility to everyone, but there’s no emotion in anything anyone says. About halfway through there was an engaging scene, both visually and narratively, but right after it ended Koukyuu returned to its bland dullness. It’s like… It’s like the mythology surrounding this world is far more interesting than the world or story itself. There might be something here for those willing to stick with it, you might end up rewarded for that devotion. But personally? This 23 minute episode felt like an hour, and that’s not something I want to repeat every week.
Potential: 30%

Pop Team Epic S2

Short Synopsis: How did Pop Team Epic get a second season when it’s such a shit series?

Wooper: What’s up guys? Welcome back to part 15 of my analysis of Endless Love, the smash hit tokusatsu series starring Aoi Shouta! Before we dive into the video, just a quick reminder – only 95 percent of you guys are subscribed to the channel, so if you haven’t already, be sure to SMASH that notification button and RING the bell for more awesome CONTENT like this. Alright, with that out of the way, let’s just jump straight into it! So in the OP for this episode, we can see Shouta-kun teaming up with another version of himself, which may be the alternate universe Shouta first seen in Gal and Dino, and…wait, why have we suddenly cut to an anime? No, it would be wrong to call this an anime, because it doesn’t have a mature, serialized story for mature viewers such as myself. This…is a cartoon. This doesn’t make me feel Japanese at all! And worst of all, it’s not even funny! Oh, I am definitely tweeting about this. I’ll just open up Twitter and…Pop Team Epic? Wait, this is a real thing? And it actually got a second season? Why didn’t someone simply tell the director to make a better, more accessible show? Great, now it’s repeating the exact same scenes from the first half but with disgusting male voices. Who the fuck would purposely watch something like this?!
Potential: COOL TIME

Lenlo: I’ll never know how serious Wooper is with his lampooning considering Pop Team Epic lampoons itself, but regardless he isn’t wrong about how insane this series is. Pop Team Epic continues to feel like a fever dream that somehow got a budget. If you like over the top meta humor that holds absolutely nothing sacred and takes shots at everything via either obscure jokes or real life slapstick, this might be the series for you. There’s no real story, the characters are openly admitting to being gag cutouts, this is about as pure a comedy series as you can get. It’s just 12 minutes of sketch comedy. A week. Personally? I’m going to watch it because I know that one of these episodes is going to end up being right down my alley. The others will probably be mid, not all comedy hits with all people. But you only need the one episode to have a decent time here. Plus it’s not a big time investment so… why not?
Potential: Is this even anime anymore? I dunno, but it’s fun.

Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita

Short Synopsis: A man dies and is reincarnated as a sword in an RPG world, where he learns tons of sweet skills and is eventually wielded by a catgirl.

Wooper: Of all the fantasy anime to abuse the “RPG menu screens” trope, I think this one abuses it the hardest. There were around 25 shots here with no function except to list the abilities and levels of the show’s sentient sword protagonist, which typically required the use of the entire frame. Interestingly, though, this practice didn’t distract much from the flow of the episode, since its story revolved almost entirely around killing monsters and gaining their skills. There’s something satisfying about watching a sword fly through the air and run through enemies of its own volition, especially when the 3DCG used in its animation is so slick. The fun came to a screeching halt, though, during any scenes where his future wielder Fran appeared on screen. A catgirl, former slave, and now devoted follower of some guy who was reincarnated into her world just last week, Fran represents many of the things I dislike about modern fantasy series. It’s great that she’s free of bondage and ready to take fate into her own hands and all, but there’s no way a story this thin is equipped to make her anything more than a mascot. Even if her menu screens go berserk with experience points, she’ll be trapped in an anime that was never anything more than a telepathic sword simulator.
Potential: 10%

Amun: Oh come on now Wooper, this wasn’t that bad. One of my pet peeves on the new influx of slave isekais is how life-long slaves just behave perfectly normally without any trauma – Reincarnated as a Sword didn’t do that. Fran is clearly not reacting to the normal social/comedy cues, and I found myself appreciating that – it felt halfway realistic. Does it make for great dialogue throughout the rest of the show? Of course not, but this isn’t just your typical furry (or elf) maid slave that you’ll find in many other recent isekai. We’ll have to see if that’s a good thing or not. Some positives: the 3D animation was clean and as someone ambushed by the first episode of Goblin Slayer, I loved seeing the Goblin massacre. The story is very simple, but there’s a clear direction to it, so I’ll take what I can get. The biggest positive here is just the premise – a sentient sword off on an adventure is one I can’t recall having seen before. The downsides are pretty clear too. Without a doubt, as Wooper lamented, the wielder Fran is the weak link and will probably provide some quasi-service throughout. I don’t see this being anything other than a novelty show, but given isekai these days have to find some way to set themselves apart, I appreciate the effort. And the animation looks good (for now)!
Potential: 35%

Uchi no Shishou wa Shippo ga Nai

Short Synopsis: A young tanuki draws inspiration from a local rakugo performance after finding it tough to trick humans in the big city.

Wooper: Rakugo anime sure have it tough in the wake of Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju. Even when they belong to a completely different genre, as Ushi no Shishou does, their performance scenes will no doubt be compared to the mesmerizing stories found in that modern classic. Cutting away from the rakugoka mid-act to an imagined version of their tale seems like kids’ stuff, but to be fair, children may be Shishou’s target audience; there’s a segment after the ED that breaks down the episode’s (already simple) rakugo story for viewers who had trouble following it, which seems a very kid-friendly thing to do. Main character Mameda is a child, too (of the tanuki variety), and not the grating prodigy type, which might have been refreshing had the show been able to capture a country kid’s amazement at the bustle of early 20th century Osaka. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel it was successful in that task – both the human city of Osaka and the series’ supernatural elements (tanuki transformations, Daikokutei’s flying ship) were depicted rather plainly. There was a lot of emphasis on Mameda’s admiration for her prankster father, which led to her own desire to trick humans, but even that was consigned to flashbacks, and not particularly good ones. That’s the trouble with Uchi no Shisou – even though there’s nothing glaringly wrong with it, there’s nothing glaringly right, either.
Potential: 10%

Lenlo: Wooper isn’t wrong in anything he said. I feel like Shishou’s target audience is children, and it was very simplistic in its rakugo and presentation there of. But while he seems to have been bored by it, I found it a tad endearing. A little Tanuki being more confused and befuddled by the modern world than the humans were her tricks was cute, and the fox girl’s monologue on the passing of time and the old ways being forgotten to history was more poignant than I was expecting. It’s still not great, these totaled about 8 minutes of engagement in a 23 minute long episode. But I’m also not usually the kind of person to go for cutesy stuff, so Shishou had an uphill battle to win me over regardless. So yeah, for someone just looking for a cute, fluffy show this season, I expect you could do a whole lot worse than Shishou.
Potential: 20%

I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss

Short Synopsis: A girl dies and is reincarnated in her favorite otome game, where she must avert her deathly fate by seducing the Demon Lord.

Wooper: I’ve only watched the first of Villainess’s two available episodes, but I doubt the second one will do much to improve my initial impression of the series. It’s the hundredth anime in recent years to use the resurrection gimmick, putting an analog earthling (like you, the viewer) in a digital setting (like you, the viewer, play on your video game system of choice). As such, it has the privilege of skipping storytelling basics like characterization and setting establishment, since its intended audience is already familiar with the sorts of games it’s aping. Only this show seems to have missed the memo that it could skip all that, because it still goes about it in its own clumsy way – namely, tons of internal monologuing from its main character Aileen. These scenes held zero appeal for me, and the spoken dialogue was hardly any better, being ripped from both the reverse harem anime and otome game playbooks. Visually, the show manages to make nearly every one of its scenes a dull disappointment, with lazy brightness effects used in chandelier-lit balls and moonlit exterior scenes alike, and unimaginative layouts that had my eyes glazing over. The only redeeming factor anywhere in this first episode is a talking crow named Almond (voiced by Tomokazu Sugita), whose love of Aileen’s cookies gives him the sort of charm that no other character here can muster. If I were to die and be reincarnated in this anime, the first thing I’d do would be to find Almond and tell him to fly far, far away from this borefest.
Potential: 1%, strictly out of appreciation for Almond

Lenlo: Zzzz… Zzzz… Zzzz… Snrk! What? Where am I? What time is it? Am I still watching shitty video game isekai? Only this one is coached in some kind of period-drama dating sim? Except even with that slightly unique premise it still falls back on fantasy demon lord bullshit? Anime why. You had a shot here to do something new. Just make a video-game isekai but instead of RPG bullshit do a dating sim, complete with all the videogame trappings of the genre. Have some fun with it! Joke about routes, riff on it a bit and have some fun! Instead it just gives me exactly what Wooper says above: A dull, boring, whatever of a series.
Potential: 0%