Star Crossed Anime

Fumetsu no Anata e

Short Synopsis: An immortal being learns about the fleeting joy and terrible sorrows of living.

Armitage: The reason why To Your Eternity’s biggest litmus test was going to be the adaptation of the manga’s first chapter is because this introduction just carries such a quiet devastation and is so uncharacteristic of modern manga tropes that it’s almost unfair. It presents us with a heartbreaking self-contained narrative which also sets up the premise and tone of the series effortlessly. And while I was always skeptical of Brain’s Base as being the studio in charge of the adaptation, they do actually ‘adapt’ the source material near perfectly here. The one thing they could have chosen to do was to linger on the more poetic moments of the story. Like the being heading out into a wondrous world brimming with the possibility of life, while the boy lies behind him, lifeless. As I mentioned in the Spring Preview, Yoshitoki Ooima’s art cannot possibly be replicated in an anime and Brain’s Base was never gonna be the studio to even attempt to do it. So what we get are a few awkwardly minimal looking backgrounds and wide-shots but that’s about the only negative I hold against this premiere.

The one thing that they do manage to do right is character animation. Fleeting smiles, dejected eyes, trickling tears. All portrayed flawlessly. The OST too is fittingly sombre and melancholic. So, clearly the anime adaptation is going to have contrasting strengths to the manga. Which is fine, as the source material is far too accomplished to be held down by minor technical quibbles. And as long as the anime doesn’t pull a Neverland, this story is going to be one to pull at your heart-strings and then some.

Potential: of breaking your heart.

Lenlo: Fumetsu is freakin weird. Not weird like Odd Taxi, it’s easy to follow and there’s a clear purpose to it. Weird in that I have no idea where it’s going. I wasn’t expecting the Orb to become the MC. I wasn’t expecting this show to open that bleakly. But the way Fumetsu slowly rolled into it, slowly introduced and executed on the idea, was great. Some might call it boring and I don’t think they are necessarily wrong. This was 23 minutes of walking around a bleak landscape with a lonely boy talking to himself, hardly riveting stuff. I think Fumetsu would have really benefited from some better backgrounds to keep us engaged in these snowy plains because what we got are… kinda mediocre. But if you stick around to the end I think the payoff is worth it. It’s a really strong hook and I like how dedicated Fumetsu is to it. I have no idea how it’s going to fill out 20 episodes with this premise. But if they can give me the same kind of emotional catharsis I got from this one then they are gonna be pretty good.

Potential: 70%

Bishounen Tanteidan

Short Synopsis: A quintet of quirky middle school detectives search for a star that their client glimpsed as a child.

Mario: “The first three rules of Pretty Boy’s Detective Club: be pretty, be a boy, be a detective.” How well you take these rules will sum up your reaction to this show, as they’re treated with all seriousness. I’m a fan of both NisiOisin’s genre-bending works and Shaft’s quirky visual style and even then I found much of the dialogue utterly pretentious. Like Wooper mentioned below, it reminds me a great deal of Ouran Koukou Host Club, but while the characters are bland, I enjoy the concept of these boys doing detective work. The visuals are easily the show’s strongest suit, where Shaft handily employs several art styles – the girl’s flashback especially is something to behold. It’s the third collaboration between Shaft and NisiOisin so it’s kinda a household brand at this point. And like any household brand it attracts you because it’s singular. As such, while this episode never fully gripped me you bet I will follow it till the end of its run.

Potential: 60%

Wooper: This episode could be summed up as “Ouran Koukou Host Club by way of Nisio Isin by way of Studio Shaft.” How many of those people/things you enjoy will be a strong indicator of how much you’ll like this series. Personally, I’m fond of maybe one and a half of those three, so while I found a lot to admire about Bishounen Tanteidan, I didn’t particularly like it. What I did like were the overstuffed backgrounds and forays into different art styles, which make the show one of spring’s most visually arresting offerings. The starlit skies, silhouetted architecture, and simulated oil pastel shots were very pretty, which is fitting for a series that revolves around the concept of beauty. What I didn’t like was almost everything else: the pseudo-intellectual opening monologue, the swaths of character-profiling exposition, the camera’s tendency to focus on a middle schooler wearing hot pants, and the list goes on. I’d probably be more charitable if the female lead hadn’t been swept away in the mess, but alas, Haruhi she ain’t. I might revisit this show if the buzz is still good around the midseason mark, but for now I’ve seen enough.

Potential: 30%

Cestvs: The Roman Fighter

Short Synopsis: A Roman slave fights for his freedom by participating in boxing matches.

Wooper: Don’t mess with me like this, Cestvs. Don’t open your show with ugly CG character models, thereby allowing me to brace myself for one sort of badness, and then switch to an even worse hand-drawn style for the remaining 90% of your premiere. Honestly, the move to 2D did this episode no favors, unless encouraging you to stop watching counts. The shift neutered not only the fight scenes, whose fist-body collisions were no more forceful than a primary schooler cracking an egg, but also the anguish inherent in the story. The cries of the fighters as they were struck, their gasps for air and whimpers of pain – none of those sounds were reflected on the characters’ faces, even during life and death bouts. That mismatched quality would have turned Cestvs into a gut-busting comedy had slavery not been an integral part of its premise. Even the injustice and the brutality of slavery couldn’t bring gravity to this production, though. What else is there to say? Spring 2021 truly saved the worst for last.

Potential: 0%

Mario: It feels bad for a show about boxing in an unique setting like Cestvs to be treated like this. The 3DCG is the elephant in the room here. Not only is it ugly to watch, but the facial expressions are nonexistent. Moreover, the punches don’t land any impact, which is a red flag for a show where boxing is concerned. Adding to that, the writing is pretty mediocre as well. The titular character Cestvs doesn’t have one shade of personality, the death of his “best friend” is ridiculous and pointless, and WTF he’s a slave but he has his own coach and apparently he can do some individual training? HE’S A SLAVE for god’s sake!! It’s not the worst premiere this season but there’s very little hope for this to be something worthwhile.

Potential: 0%

Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san

Short Synopsis: A high school girl bullies a nerdy upperclassman for her own amusement.

Wooper: I expected to hate Nagatoro-san the same way I did Teasing Master Takagi-san, but the surprisingly competent animation did this show a lot of favors. The way Nagatoro bounces around the screen gives her an impish quality that softens her verbal blows – her dynamic reenactment of the male lead’s manga in particular marked her as a fun-seeker rather than a tyrant. Of course, bullying a schoolmate in your quest for entertainment is unacceptable behavior in the real world, but this is anime, where a story’s presentation makes all the difference. Nagatoro is a mean girl, but she demonstrates both a lasting interest in her target and an understanding that her behavior is wrong (“I’ve been pretty horrible to you”). She doesn’t leave as soon as she gets the pitiful reaction she wanted – she sticks around, probably because a small part of her empathizes with this loser, and she likes that new feeling of empathy. She even smiles in satisfaction after Mr. Loser works up the courage to ask her name, as though she’s been waiting for it. I think there’s more to this one than meets the eye, even if it’s obvious masochist bait.

Potential: 40%

Amun: Ah, this was pretty painful. Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san is another rare show where I’m familiar with the source material. I previewed this show and said something along the lines of “it’ll be okay as long as it’s not too mean.” Well…it’s pretty mean-spirited, honestly. There’s a bit of a moment where our main antagonist feels bad about making the helpless lad cry, but it’s too little, too late. How should they have approached this? I think this show works if they show how Nagatoro is more clumsy, instead of cruel – how her “bullying” is just a lack of understanding how to relate. Instead, it comes off as just sadistic. Maybe I expected too much, but this is a hard pass from me.

Potential: 0%

Tokyo Revengers

Short Synopsis: A former delinquent time travels back to his middle school days right before his untimely death.

Lenlo: Revengers is a weird one. Narratively I know I have nothing to worry about. I enjoyed the manga so much I caught up on the entire thing in a weekend and the anime did a decent job overall on that. But not 2 minutes in and LIDENFILMS is already changing small character moments, the sort of stuff that informs you as to who they are. Like making the kids key the car instead of our lead himself doing it, taking away that small moment of rebellion as we get a peek at his inner self. It’s not a big deal but it leaves me asking: What else are they willing to change? Meanwhile the visuals are simply uninspired. They reek of cashing a check, of making an adaptation with minimal actual effort. Hopefully I’m wrong, hopefully Revengers comes back strong and gives me the adaptation I want. But I won’t be surprised if it doesn’t.

Potential: 35%

Wooper: Imagine for a moment that Erased, the time travel anime from 2016, had been delinquent-themed. Now strip away that show’s intrigue, nostalgia, and good looks. Oh, and replace its suspenseful soundtrack with half a dozen lukewarm electric guitar tracks. Got all that? Congratulations, you just saved yourself the time it would have taken to watch the premiere of Tokyo Revengers. I wish I could join you in spending those 20 minutes on anything else, but instead I have to quickly account for my disinterest. I suppose most of it stems from the main character, whose primary thought as he moved through his extended flashback was, “Oh yeah, I remember that.” The guy is far from an electrifying protagonist – his long-awaited reunion with the girl of his dreams was so mild that I thought he might have the wrong person. Not even the plot’s fixation on single-minded teenage punks could make him look complex by comparison. I suppose I should be grateful to Revengers for having such a lousy lead, though, since it quickly signaled that I had one less series to follow this spring.

Potential: 5%

Edens Zero

Short Synopsis: Poor preteen’s Fairy Tail.

Amun: Disclaimer: I’ve only watched the first episode for this review, and it was a fansub, pre-air. That out of the way – Edens Zero certainly gets right to it – no OP or anything. I guess I’d forgotten how…silly Fairy Tail was. This episode was certainly that – very silly. The twist was pretty telegraphed, but I appreciate what they were trying to do. The fight scene was mixed – there were some nice after effects, but I’m not sold on the choreography. I’m also a little concerned about the pace – this episode felt like we were on a schedule with places to be (despite the robots waiting something like 100 years…no big). I just wish the first episode had reminded me only of what I loved about Fairy Tail – fun characters, friendship, and bagpipes – instead of the other nagging issues as well (production, pace, and choreography). I’m still optimistic, just maybe not as much as I was.

Potential: 60%

Armitage: Preface: Amun made me do it!
To say that I am a fan of Fairy Tail is a lie. To say that I don’t judge you for liking Fairy Tail is a diplomatic lie. So, I guess Edens Zero had its task cut out when it threw its hat in the arena for trying to vie for my weekly watch time. Needless to say that it failed at the five-minute mark when we got our main 12-year-old looking protagonist fondling the main female lead’s breasts before proceeding to place himself on the ground in such a position that he could get a peek at her underwear. Going into this show, I knew that I was gonna have to overlook a lot of stuff to even be able to get through the premiere’s runtime and I did exactly that… until the high-pitched, unfunny slapstick comedy and every second sentence ending with a “desu ga?” got too overbearing that I had to tap out. But for the sake of being a professional anime reviewer, I willed myself to the end-credits. Still, I must say that I simply don’t like this show. I won’t ask you to not watch it. As art is subjective. What I might dislike, you can end up wholeheartedly enjoying. But I can give you a TL;DR which can help you decide if Edens Zero is for you: “Even Fairy Tail is better than this”.

Potential: Pass

Amun: Wait, why the heck would you watch this if you didn’t even like Fairy Tail?! It has the same characters!

Slime Taoshite 300-nen

Short Synopsis: Salarywoman dies of overwork and comes back committed to doing the minimum. And accidentally becomes overpowered.

Amun: For whatever reason, some anime recently have been on a crusade against Japan’s overwork culture. Which strikes me as odd, since it’s well known that animators are overworked. Bit of a disconnect between the medium and the message, you know? Anyways, Slime’s message is “slow and steady wins the race” – which is fine if you’re immortal. Oh yeah, and there are no important males in this world. That’s not saying any particular male is unimportant, there just aren’t any present in this world. I guess those are the points I’m neutral or slightly negative on – the show is otherwise nicely chill. The main character is consistent and committed to taking it easy – no complaints here on that. The introduction of the dragon maid is, well, expected – but not horrid. If you’re looking to turn off your brain (say, as you catch up on the last season of Titan), this is the show for you.

Potential: 65%

Lenlo: I was wondering when I would get to the Isekai of the season. And what do you know, it’s exactly what I expected! Video game logic, stats, levels, slimes, drops and absolutely 0 world building or meaningful character work. Oh there might be something novel in following the “Wise Old Witch” character of the story. See some adventurers visit and ask for guidance, do some Gandalf shit then go to bed. But I don’t expect that to be interesting for more than an episode or 2. Meanwhile any “Save the world” plots are automatically invalidated since our lead is literally an overpowered max level immortal witch. If you want some popcorn entertainment you can turn on and not have to actually engage with, Taoshite is probably up your alley. If you want anything other than to be bored out of your skull though then this is probably a pass.

Potential: 10%

86: Eighty Six

Short Synopsis: Army Management Simulator – The Anime.

Lenlo: I’m getting some serious Ender’s Game vibes from 86 and let me tell you what, I’m in. It’s incredible how much information 86 packed into a single episode. By the end it felt like I had watched 40 minutes instead of 20. Yet the pacing didn’t feel rushed either. It managed to convey just as much information through visuals as it did through its dialogue. Whether it be the homogenized hair/eye color of the citizenry, the debaucherous and trashed “Military HQ” or how District 86 and its inhabitants starkly contrasted both. Combine that with some clever cuts and information dense dialogue and you have more world building in a single episode than a lot of anime get in their entire season. The one way I could see 86 going wrong would be if it abandoned its serious take on war. I need this to be in the same camp as OG Gundam, not Space Battleship Yamato.

Potential: 90%

Armitage: This is damn good stuff right here. 86 was one of the most high profile adaptations of the season, based off of a light novel series that’s highly acclaimed even by people not big on LNs, and being adapted across two cours by A1 Pictures. Safe to say that it does deliver on its promise by presenting us with a gritty war-torn world brought to screen through lush backgrounds and actual good 3D-models not rendered by Studio Orange for once. Outside of the 3D designs too, the animation is nothing to scoff at, with characters having detailed expressive movements even during regular conversations. Coupling all that with some impressive quick-cuts and an uncharacteristically low-key but fitting soundtrack from Hiroyuki Sawano, and 86 just about supplants Vivy as the most technically impressive anime of the season, even with A1’s rather generic character designs. Another aspect in which 86 betters Vivy is the way in which it handles its world-building. While the latter has a better premise overall, 86’s necessary info-dump feels more natural and never gets overwhelming, as it lets its visuals and themes take centre-stage instead. If it can deliver a story along the lines of the very similar and highly impressive Iron-blooded Orphans, we’ll surely end up having one of the highlights of the season on our hands.

Potential: 86% >.>

Shadows House

Short Synopsis: A living doll begins her service as an attendant in a mysterious mansion.

Wooper: Boy, that opening montage was a lot more sinister than anything I read in the manga’s first ten chapters. I like it! There’s all sorts of stuff we can infer from those first few minutes – the train that arrived at the Shadows estate was carrying human slaves, those slaves were served a liquid that likely tampered with their memories, members of the Shadows family are created using humans as models, etc. It’s an interesting premise to be sure, but apart from that early foreshadowing, most of this episode provided more character introduction than intrigue. I’m fine with that, since likeable characters are something every premiere ought to strive for, but it does make it hard to judge just how strong a central pillar Emilyko will be for this story. If you like genki blonde girls, you’re sure to find her an adequate guide, and if you like the ‘dirty canvas’ look of the backgrounds, you’re probably hooked already. I’m mixed on the aesthetic myself – it’s great in concept since it underscores the series’ Victorian influences, but it was clearly achieved with a preprogrammed filter, rather than a human hand. Even though I feel like the art director made the right call here, it’s still a minor distraction – modern anime’s curse to bear, I guess.

Potential: 50%

Lenlo: I’m not sold on Shadows House yet. As Wooper says, the opening montage was very sinister, very different from the rest of the show. If it can fulfill the promise of a mystery that it has made then I can see it being successful. But so far I’m not very engaged by Kate or Emilyko. It was cute enough I suppose and I like what it’s doing with the “Shadow” characters’ designs. I’m just… I’m not interested in a girl playing house for 20 minutes. I’m going to keep watching in the hopes that these “Bodysnatcher” vibes I’m getting pay off. I’m not convinced they will yet though.

Potential: 40%

Zombieland Saga: Revenge

Short Synopsis: A Zombie Idol group bombs a performance and has to get real jobs.

Amun: I went into this episode thinking, “what else could Zombieland possibly have that we didn’t see in the first season?”  Quite a lot, apparently.  I still hate the producer – “shout until it’s funny” – but he makes sense, given the end of season reveal about his Sakura connection.  However, this first episode was not the steady ascent of an idol group that I expected; it’s surprisingly befitting of the title “Revenge.”  I…am actually onboard for this.  If it was just a straight trajectory of variety shows and silly local hijinks, I’m not interested.  But put the idols in a large financial and emotional hole plus imply that these zombies have a real shelf life?  That’s high stakes – sign me up.

Potential: 60%

Mario: Zombieland Saga’s first season for me peaked too soon and fell off a cliff after two episodes, and I have the same sentiment about the franchise’s return here. The intro where the workers sing a propaganda song about squids reminds me of all the qualities that I love about Zombieland Saga – yeah, its biting satire is still there. Sadly, the rest of the episode functions like a typical idol show. They all work part-time jobs in order to do concerts again, they are dismissed by the audience and then saved by their manager Kotaro. Speaking of this dude, boy, I’d forgotten how lousy and annoying he can be. This is supposed to be an episode where we can get into the reasons why he wanted to form Franchouchou in the first place, but we didn’t get a glimpse of that – instead it was just him acting from one extreme to another at maximum volume. Even the girls feel less distinctive this time around. Zombieland Saga works much better as a satirical comedy than an idol show, so as long as it sticks with the former, lightning could strike again. If it sticks to Kotaro, however… (sigh).

Potential: 10%

 

Bakuten!!

Short Synopsis: A former baseball benchwarmer joins his new high school’s rhythm gymnastics team.

Wooper: This show really wants to be Haikyuu, man. The chummy club atmosphere, the bird motif, the Yuuki Hayashi score (which sounds like a discount version of his past work), it’s all here. I do want this show to succeed, though, because while it leaned on shiny 3D models for an extended gymnastics routine near the start, there was a rough sort of expressiveness to the rest of the episode. Both the club members and the student body exuded personality during the recruitment scene, and there were smile-worthy moments throughout, like a character doing a somersault into a hallway to make his presence known. Even if Bakuten starts relying more on CG as the season progresses, that’d be alright, so long as it clears its main obstacle – a boring protagonist. Every other character in this premiere outshone him, which was expected, since he functioned as an empty vessel just waiting for [insert sport] to spice up his life. If the show takes quick steps to help him find his voice, Bakuten will have a shot at being the second-best sports anime of the season, but that’s the most it’ll ever achieve.

Potential: 50%

Lenlo: After 2.43 last season I really wasn’t expecting much from this season’s “Pretty Boys do Pretty Things” show but Bakuten surprised me. There was no faffing about with sad backstories, edgy setups or anything like that. It introduced us to a kid who tried a lot of sports trying to find a passion, something most can relate to, and focused on that. The entire episode was him meeting and hanging out with the team, giving us a good idea of who these people are. They are still only stereotypes so far but already we have seen each of them be open and supportive in their own way. Welcoming new people into the group. It’s not the most inventive of openings but I can appreciate its brevity, how it gets us straight to the meat of the story. Hopefully Bakuten can keep up this depiction of passion and teamwork because so far at least I’m in.

Also the 4 minute long full length gymnastics sequence was a ballsy way to start. Nothing but feet hitting pad, diegetic music and some closeup camera shots. CGI wasn’t half bad either. Good job Bakuten.

Potential: 70%

 

The World Ends With You

Short Synopsis: A moody amnesiac attempts to clear a death game in a parallel Shibuya.

Wooper: I should’ve known better than to expect anything from a video game adaptation. TWEWY’s characters have to be some of spring 2021’s worst thus far – other than their participation in a virtual death game, they’ve got nothing going on. Imagine a scene where a story’s protagonist is mentally controlled and forced to choke his partner, without whom he has no hope of survival in an unfamiliar world. Sounds tense, right? Now imagine being bored out of your skull while it plays out on screen, because you were only introduced to the characters ten minutes ago and you have no clue who they are or how they arrived in this alternate universe. The premiere only created more questions as it progressed, so the show is likely fine with that state of cluelessness, but I’m not. It fell to the visuals to keep me intrigued, but while the 3D models did lend a convincing virtuality to the experience, the framing of the non-combat scenes was pretty boring, and alt-Shibuya wasn’t nearly detailed enough to keep me rooted in TWEWY’s world. Even the music was forgettable, despite how integral the original game’s soundtrack was to its success. Hopefully somebody out there enjoyed this episode enough for two people, because I liked almost nothing about it.

Potential: 5%

Lenlo: I had some hopes for TWEWY. Not much, but they were there. Hopes for its visual style, hopes that it would break the mold a bit since it isn’t front a Light Novel, etc. But it met none of those! While I love the thick black linework on the characters the CGI monsters, and occasionally CGI leads, look atrocious. Maybe if they all used the same style it would be fine but I can’t help but feel let down. Meanwhile the story is exactly as Wooper describes it: Boring. Within 5 minutes I found my eyes wandering to the timestamps. It took 10 for my phone to come out and by 20? Well lets just say I was glad to hear the ED kick in. Wooper already gave you the detailed point by point rundown of why so I’ll just stick to seconding him on this: Don’t watch TWEWY. There are better shows this season.

Potential: 0%