Star Crossed Anime

Urusei Yatsura (2022)

Short Synopsis: A hopeless pervert finds himself with a jealous alien roommate after catching her in a fate-altering game of tag.

Wooper: I don’t know how much further removed this reboot could have been from the 1980s anime. Perhaps that’s for the best, since its loud colors and hyperactive tone may appeal to a new generation of fans, but personally, I watched this premiere with at least one eyebrow raised at all times. It was so committed to its vivid aesthetic that even its speedlines were rainbow colored, and some shots defied my understanding entirely. I mean, what the hell am I looking at here? To be clear, the presentation only dips into that sort of ultra-neon territory for isolated shots, but they demonstrate that the show has very loose boundaries when it comes to color design. The reboot animates with more proficiency than I expected (which is great!), though the way it zips from one scene to the next makes it feel like the director had Keanu Reeves’ mindset in the movie Speed: go too slow and your anime explodes. This stretches already-thin relationships like Ataru and Shinobu’s hot-cold attraction to a breaking point, removing the sympathetic aspect of her character so that she comes across as merely shrill. I’ve got more gripes that I could list, but it’s better that I end on a note of praise – Hiroshi Kamiya supplied a perfect performance as the lecherous, ill-omened Ataru. I’m sure it wasn’t a hard pick, since he’s played similar characters in the past, but hats off to the casting director nevertheless for making the right call.
Potential: Not for me

Mario: I was looking forward to this reboot as Urusei Yatsura was one of the more popular shows back in the 80s, and it’s pretty amusing to see how they’ve adapted it for modern audiences. The result is a mixed bag. I enjoy the visuals well enough; the character designs pop out, and I don’t mind that it goes bananas with the color palette. It certainly has the retro aesthetic that I seek. Unfortunately, it’s the story that feels dated and aimless. Is this love-triangle bickering going to be prominent for the rest of its run? It feels loud and one note after just one episode. The worst thing, however, is how broadly-drawn the main characters are – they don’t feel one bit believable or likeable. We don’t know them as individuals so we feel nothing for their relationships. This is the kind of show where you can only take it at face value and not think hard about the plot or characters afterward. As much as I enjoy the production, looks alone can only get you so far.
Potential: 30%

Mairimashita! Iruma-kun S3

Short Synopsis: After an exciting summer break, the Misfit Class gets an ultimatum to stay in their comfy classroom – with new lessons from eccentric tutors.

Amun: I previewed Marimashita before the season started, so I have a general idea of where this season is going (at least at first). Getting back to Babyls, Marimashita wastes no time diving into the new challenges: tutors and required ranks. How does it look? I personally really enjoyed what I read of this season’s material, and this episode didn’t do anything to dissuade me. If anything, I think they’re handling the pacing really well, since I could have seen them rushing through the groundwork. If I have any complaints, it’s going to be the lack of Ameri-san this season: why couldn’t she build on the incredible groundwork of last season’s date? One step forward, two steps back, I suppose. All in all, no surprises here – but for what started as an average comedy going into its third season, that’s an accomplishment in and of itself. I’m in it all the way.
Potential: 100%

Cool Doji Danshi

Short Synopsis: A handsome college student makes one faux pas after another, but at least he looks good doing it.

Wooper: This show is unsubbed at the time of this writing, so I went in raw for my final first impression of 2022 – except I cheated by following along with the manga scanlations on my second monitor, so I was able to follow the episode just fine. Cool Doji Danshi is a relaxing half-length CGDKT (cute guys doing klutzy things) with appealingly simple character designs and frequent cutaways to patterned backgrounds. It’s sparsely animated, but I did enjoy the realism on display during Hayate’s slow morning routine, which made clear use of reference footage. Hayate is the sort of guy who would forget his head if it weren’t attached to his neck, which poses difficulties everywhere from work to drinking parties to convenience store trips. People note his absentmindedness wherever he goes, but they don’t say anything about it (save for his best friend and his nagging boss) because he’s got such a cool aura about him. It’s refreshing to watch an ikemen series that isn’t about an idol group – girls still swoon upon meeting Hayate, but that’s because of his clumsiness as much as it is his good looks, and he gets a nice monologue towards the end about accepting the parts of himself that he doesn’t like along with the parts that he does. I enjoyed my time with this episode, and if I understood Japanese I’d probably watch more, but for now I’ll have to hope that some generous soul will start subbing it in the coming weeks.
Potential: 潜在的な

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War

Short Synopsis: A pair of rookie spirit fighters get bailed out by the local neighborhood watch.

Amun: It has been 3,850 days since the last seasonal episode of Bleach aired. While there have been various movies, these have really been self-contained stories that typically had no bearing on the overall storyline (we’re also not counting that weird BURN THE WITCH series that happened a few years back). Bleach’s reboot is one of the more surprising stories in the past year or so – one of the original shounen pillars back from the dead? Is this the case of a beaten dead cash cow or will it be a retelling, like Hunter x Hunter’s remake a decade after the original? Well apparently neither – looks like new ground is being broken. The verdict? ahem This is THE. SINGLE. BEST. REBOOT. EPISODE. that I have ever seen. Bar none. This episode hits all the right nostalgia notes (if you didn’t get goosebumps hearing “Center of attraction” then I’m a little worried about your anime childhood) while managing a very difficult feat: making hybrid-real backgrounds and CGI monsters look incredible. I don’t think I’ve seen another anime manage a hybrid approach this well (maybe Titan I guess?) The main characters still get plenty of old fashioned drawing love…and we haven’t even seen half the Soul Society cast yet!!! The designs, from the characters to the text don’t look dated in the slightest – this is Bleach brought into the 2020s. I don’t know how good this season’s storyline is, and I don’t care – if even a fraction of this level of effort is exerted on future episodes, then they can be fighting exiled Hollow dandelions, doesn’t matter. My hopefulness is off the charts. I did not know I wanted this, I did not know I needed this, but my goodness am I excited that it’s here.
Potential: If you have ever enjoyed any shounen anime, you should watch this. This is not potential, this is really happening. We are blessed to be alive.

Lenlo: It felt… surprisingly good to be back in the world of Bleach. The design, the sounds, the characters. I enjoyed seeing them again. Make no mistake, this show is going to live and die based on nostalgia. But so far, that nostalgia is hitting hard. Combine that with Kubo’s great designs and some more modern animation and I’m back in the 2000’s watching saturday morning cartoons and having fun. I don’t expect it to do much narratively, this was one of my least favorite arcs on that front. But it seems like the pacing has been drastically improved from what Bleach used to be like, what with the series being done and not needing much filler (We hope). I also have high hopes for the health of the production after hearing the announcement that it’s going to be 4 split cours, thus 13 episodes every 6 months. So maybe, just maybe, Bleach will be able to have a consistent production across its entire run. That would go a long way towards making it worth watching. And yes, the CGI Hallow stands out, but as monsters they suffer from it less than say… CGI humans do. Anyways yeah, it’s Bleach with a modern coat of paint. It looks good, seems healthy, if you like standard Shounen then you are going to have some fun here. Personally, I’m going to be reliving some of my childhood.
Potential: 50%

Chainsaw Man

Short Synopsis: Yo there’s a cute chainsaw doggie, and he’s a good boi.

Amun: So I come into Chainsaw Man a bit naive – I’ve heard the hype (and read Aidan’s very informative pre-season primer). I also don’t have any predispositions for or against it – I’m really a blank slate. Coming in, the closest comp I could think of was Dorohedoro, which I felt started well and then went off the rails a bit (chainsaws and crocodiles are similar, yeah?) Watching this episode…there was more emphasis on the story and less on the gore than I expected. Never thought I’d see an anime that made me a) feel emotionally attached to a chainsaw dog and b) think a chainsaw was cute, but here we are. Now the problem I have is simple: the visuals. This episode was WILDLY uneven in production quality. Zombies are an area that’s pretty forgiving for mass CGI – and even then I really didn’t think the fight scenes looked that clean. There were some parts that looked hand drawn, and those looked great – but they weren’t consistent by any means. I get a bit of flashback to last season’s Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer: I can see there’s a quality story underneath, but it’s being held back by production. This is MAPPA, so I would have expected at least the first half to come out looking sharp, but I’m worried we’re out of gas already (puns intended). I’ll keep going for a few more, but I need some better visuals for this show to live up to its potential.
Potential: 70%

Lenlo: I’m just going to come out and say it, Chainsaw Man was strictly fine. I didn’t love it. And despite what Aidan may think, I didn’t hate it. It just sort of exists for me. For every beautiful wide shot or well animated bit of action, there was a matching shot of janky CGI, dark washed out colors or poor aliasing. Combine that with taking itself way too seriously for what it’s actually about, and you end up with something neither excites or puts me off. My hope is that as the series goes on it will start to add a bit more color, embrace the levity inherent in the series more. At the very least I want them to make it look better. I suppose the long and short of what I’m saying is this: Narratively I’ve never cared for Chainsaw Man, and that hasn’t changed after seeing it animated, I simply don’t think it’s written well. But my hope was that MAPPA would at least be able to make it a production juggernaut for the season, and even that seems to have been betrayed. All that’s left after both of those is a perfectly fine, serviceable, irreverent show that I’m sure you’ll be able to get some enjoyment out of if that’s your thing. And if you want to hear “unbiased” praise? Then keep an eye out for Aidan’s posts, he’s going to be covering it. As for me? I’m surprised he even let me write this.
Potential: 50%

Noumin Kanren no Skill bakka Agetetara Nazeka Tsuyoku Natta.

Short Synopsis: An overpowered farmer cannot help but gets involved in saving the kingdom, despite his best efforts to stay hidden.

Mario: Ah here we go, isekai-kun. This show is not bad per se, rather it suffers from being toothless, harmless and unmemorable. It’s about a boy who maxes out his stats (the episode literally has the stat tabs. Why?) because he’s into farming so much, so when we meet him, the guy already achieved godlike power. The plot goes exactly like you would expect: he easily defeats bad guys to the awe of others, and he runs away from recognition…just because. I’d say that the manner in which he kills the flying dragon – with a boomerang carrot – is so absurd that I wonder why the show isn’t aiming for a comedic/satirical edge. At least then we could have some fun watching it! The show is mindless enough that I reckon it might be one of the popular shows of the season, but for me I’d rather watch Pop Team Epic – at least it tries something completely different.
Potential: 10%

Amun: Alright, this one’s a bit of a meme. We have a farmer who maxed all his mundane stats, so he gets the super rare boost of being OP from Mother Earth. Sure, I guess. But defeating a dragon with a CARROT?! Then eating said carrot. You can’t be serious. The other issue I have with this show is how bad the CG looks. I mean, that’s the opening scene – it doesn’t typically improve in quality from here. It’s kinda funny seeing him beat up his enemies with a hoe (that’s the literal farm utensil, not disparaging any of the waifus). The main bad guy is edgy and yells alot, but I strangely enjoy his character design (very Key). This show definitely has no nutritional value, but if you can enjoy something “so bad that it’s good”, then this is for you.
Potential: Meme%