Some Quick First Impressions: Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau, Animegataris and Imouto sae Ireba Ii.

Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau

Short Synopsis: A mysterious girl is found and brought on board a vessel called a mud whale which sails on a sea of sand.
AidanAK47’s review
It really is nice to see a fantasy series which doesn’t use the template of Tolkien and instead tries to make a world vastly different from our own. That is the biggest draw of this series so far, the world of this story is very fascinating. For a first episode this is quite good at setting up the culture and livelihood of these people. There are some hiccups however in it’s presentation. One is that the series has the main character narrator constantly to give exposition and allude to future events. While he can have interesting things to say, his narration can be unnecessary at times and this is a world where showing would be better than telling. The second issue is that occasionally the characters have rather “anime” like interactions. What I mean is that there are bits of comedy and dialogue which have the designs go more chibi and exaggerated mannerisms. Considering the serious mature tone of the series it’s odd to have these small moments which just serve to take you out of the show. Another minor thing has to do with the backgrounds and character designs. The backgrounds of this series are magnificent, it appears they got a real anime veteran in to pull out these marvels but sadly they are a bit too good. For the characters have a more simplistic design so it makes them feel very disconnected from these backdrops. Nonetheless this is another strong first episode in a season with great potential so far. So provided that you haven’t met your max setting on your plan to watch list then this most certainly is another to consider adding.
Potential: 70%

Mario’s review
Like one of our commenters pointed out, I get the “From the New World” vibe while watching this show. Their world is a close-knit society filled with rich and fascinating history, carry out many rituals and customs that completely their own. The children in those worlds possess a magic power (whatever terms they use: saimai, cantus – it’s magic). It helps that the main character of this story is an archivist, so the info-dumping about the place doesn’t feel out of place and we will get to know more about its worldbuilding as time goes on. That come to one of my main issue with Children of the Whales right now, we haven’t spent enough time to this world to fully grasp the impact of new change about to come. Without a proper build-up can we, as an audience, care enough about the danger to this society? Another issue that I have is that I notice a tone-changing most of the time the male lead appears. This light-hearted cutesy tone unfortunately doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the episode. Apart from those, we have one of the strongest premiere here. The arts, for example, really stand out with its watercolor aesthetic and detailed backgrounds. The same could be said for the beautiful scores and the attention to details of its world-building. Even the characters have a lot of room for a proper development here. Overall, this show has a potential to become something truly special.
Potential: 80%

Animegataris

Short Synopsis: Two girls decide to revive the anime club at their high school.
Wooper’s Review
High school club series aren’t really my thing, but as far as the genre goes, Animegataris is solid. It feels a little like a kid’s show in its presentation, but there’s an undercurrent of self-awareness running through its simple script. Within the first few minutes, the show mocks ridiculous light novel titles like “A Report on the Irresponsible and Depressing Chronicles of Me and a Certain Eccentric Childhood Friend.” It also comments on popular character archetypes like ojou-sama (“I love the way she’s slightly condescending!”), and uses its soundtrack to create a heightened reality where these tropes slot naturally into a real high school classroom. Unlike a lot of anime where the ~most beautiful girl in school~ is into anime or video games, this one pulls it off by properly balancing her enthusiasm for anime and her shame at having such a nerdy hobby. In the end, the enthusiastic part of her wins out, and so she decides (with a little encouragement) to reform her school’s anime club. Unfortunately, that’s where the show loses me, since it’s going to be a matter of formula from episode 2 onward – recruiting new members, figuring out what to do for the cultural festival, etc. I’d say this episode is worth watching on its own, but it wasn’t enough to convince me that the series will deliver the goods every week.
Potential: 35%

AidanAK47’s review
I can’t say I am fond of these school club animes but this one managed to retain my attention thanks to two things. There does seem to be a degree of self awareness and the characters seem stereotypical but at least have enough personality to show that they didn’t come off a conveyor belt. I can relate to this rich girl otaku’s dilemma of thanking to someone who enjoys anime but doesn’t quite delve into it on the depth you do. I felt like this when I got into a conversation with a newbie anime fan. Much like here it does feel like a disconnection in the conversation and it often end up with you recommending them a bunch a titles. I can’t say it’s funny or all that original but it does at least seem watchable. The second thing though is that there is a odd sense of foreboding here. There are supernatural elements present and there were shots with a man sitting on a bench which didn’t quite tonally match with the rest of the episode. I am not expecting a dark turn but there does seem to be more to this than meets the eye. I plan on giving it a few more episodes to see if it develops into something interesting but even if not this could be a decent anime for watching in between shows.
Potential: 40%

Imouto sae Ireba Ii.

Short Synopsis: A group of LN authors get together to drink, flirt, and play games.

Mario’s review
I believe this show is a jab at the “little sister” archetype, and more especially at Tsukasa Fushimi’s works since his career has been milked from writing those crappy novels sibling relationships. But here’s the thing, the show, not unlike its characters, understand next to nothing about writing a female character. Look the way they write those two girls – one is plain, the other one is foul-mouthed who already has a feeling for male lead despite he doesn’t have to lift his finger. The rest of the show runs more like an author get-together with not-so-exciting games and lazy wish-fulfilment (well, a half-brother who not only can cook, but cook very well). So far none of the cast feel like a real person and that main guy in particular is so annoying to watch for his arrogant and his obsession for little sisters – the only 2 traits that he has. A little note for the author, if you have never seen a real girl sniffing at boy’s underwear with your own eyes before, then don’t write this creep down. It rings false, phony and superficial doesn’t matter how I look at it. If you like the works of Eromanga sensei or shows about self-insert successful LN author who know nothing about the real life then this is right up your valley. Sorry if I sound mean but why do these lazy works keep selling like crazy?
Potential: (my head bursts)

Wooper’s Review
The first 90 seconds of this show are a dramatization of the main character’s manuscript, in which his protagonist makes out with his naked little sister, dunks his head in her used bathwater, drinks her breast milk from a cup, and eats an omelet prepared with her “eggs.” The whole segment looked hideous and made me want to die, but then the show pulled back the curtain and revealed… more garbage. Honestly, my opinion of this show couldn’t possibly be lower, even if the entire 23 minutes had been an extended version of its “tricky” opening scene, because what came afterwards was just as stupid and degrading. The main author’s preoccupation with imouto is aimed squarely at the incest division of Japan’s otaku population, who are incapable of realizing this show exists solely to steal their Blu-ray bucks. The MC’s “step-brother” is fooling absolutely nobody (apart from the show’s sub-70 IQ cast). The main female character might as well be replaced with a block of text that reads, “Girls will like you if you keep watching this show.” Dick jokes, leering shower scenes, underwear sniffing – this series has every bottom-of-the-barrel cliche in the incest anime playbook. But hey, maybe that’s your thing. Maybe you just want a show where you can “turn ur brian of” and watch a handful of underage girls fall in love with a non-threatening protagonist. Maybe this premiere was actually a work of art, and I’m just a dumb normie who can’t understand its brilliance. That’s gotta be it, right? Imouto sae Ireba Ii is a masterpiece, and those pesky normies are out to ruin your anime experience! It’s all the normies’ fault!!! HAHAHAHAHA
Potential: Fuck this show

AidanAK47’s review
Everyday we stray further from God’s light.
Alright to be fair it’s the opening two minutes which were painful to watch. Even though I get the intent for it to be a jab at imouto stories, it’s really wasn’t something I needed to see. Plus it’s hard to mock light novel conventions when you rely on those exact same conventions. The rest is just bad jokes with characters who are one dimensional stereotypes. There is at least one moment at the end which looked to be aiming for a deeper plotline in that the main protagonists fan is a far better writer than he ever was and that could have worked had it not been for the character in question. This is the guy who sabotages his own work just to fulfill his own fetish and self insert fantasy so I can’t say I feel for the guy when he gets sad that someone is a better writer than he is.
Potential: (Incoherent screaming)