Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa
Short Synopsis: The right hand man at a financial consulting firm struggles with mundane tasks while designing a death game for his boss.
Lenlo’s Review:
Ah Kaiji, how I had missed you. For those not in the know, Tonegawa is basically a prequel/side story to the Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor series. The best gambling anime out there. If you like Kakegurui, then Kaiji will knock your socks off. I would also almost make it mandatory, or at least recommended, watching for Tonegawa as it basically covers the entire first 3 minute recap. It’s fantastic. As for Tonegawa, well… it’s alright. Looks like it’s going to be a middle-management wordplay comedy instead of Kaiji’s high stakes gambling. That’s disappointing. There is also the fact that, because of Kaiji, we know that Tonegawa survives his series intact. In addition everything, from the sound effects to the art, seem… off from the original series. I can’t place it, but its stuck in my head. Regardless, Tonegawa will live or die by its ability to adapt. If it sticks with this middle-management comedy routine, it’s going to crash and burn. If it flips to something else, it may just survive. We shall see.
Potential: 30%
Wooper’s review:
This is a Kaiji spinoff, right? Right. So where is Fumihiko Tachiki as my solemn narrator? Where are the sinister “zawa zawa”s that I remember from the first season? I don’t want to say this series betrayed my expectations, because it’s clearly going for something new here, but I certainly didn’t expect such iconic elements of the original production to change. Maybe change is a good thing, though. Tonegawa is a straight-up comedy rather than the pulse-pounding thriller that Kaiji was, so the hammy narration might gel with the middle management hijinks after another episode or two. I’ll be giving it that chance, because I like the original series, and because Tonegawa’s performance as a world-weary death game designer offers plenty of potential for laughs. The suit-related gags in this episode weren’t too strong, but I believe that Madhouse will squeeze whatever black comedy they can from the source material. Plus, Fukumoto’s art style is glorious as always.
Potential: 40%
Yume Oukoku to Nemureru 100 Nin no Ouji-sama
Short Synopsis: A woman must embrace her destiny of awakening 100 princes after being transported to another world.
Lenlo’s Review:
Ah the good ol isekai harem series. A staple of every season it seems like. Hope your ready for info-dumps, because your in for one probably every episode most likely. The only thing 100 Sleeping Princes has going for it is the age of its heroine. Instead of being the generic high schooler, we have… presumably a young out of college office worker. That’s really the only thing this series has that separates it from any other standard isekai fair. Aside from that, the designs are standard, the characters are standard, everything about 100 Sleeping Princes screams bog standard to me. Simply not worth your time, your prince is in another castle.
Potential: 0%
Mario’s review:
Think of a generic reverse-harem isekai and you pretty much have a good idea about this show. 100 Sleeping Princes embraces all these tired tropes: main heroine who already has super-power (and amnesia), sleeping boys around wherever she goes, and the mascot who basically info-dumping us all the things we need to know. All those make this episode a predictable and harmless ride. It doesn’t help that the production doesn’t have anything above-average to offer, nor can the characters carry the show. There’s a fair bit of chemistry between the two princes, but it’s obvious that this is an excuse for amping up as many cute boys in distress as it could. Look, if you want make a reverse-harem show, just don’t grant your girl any special ability. Your typical isekai garbage.
Potential: 0%
Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu
Short Synopsis: a shut-in gamer is summoned into his game world, becomes a powerful character with 2 beast girls as his slaves
Aidan’s review:
So I heard that the author of this series wrote another series which was a political war/strategy LN series called Altina the Sword Princess which seems to be fairly well written. You may notice that it was not that series which got an anime adaption. Sigh…alright to be fair I actually somewhat enjoyed watching this. Oh believe me it’s it garbage but it’s the kind of garbage that makes for easy watching. Though it is very shameless with heavy boob bouncing animation and a first episode where the main character molests a catgirl. The one thing that makes it enjoyable is the discrepancy between the characters thoughts and his actions. But my original comments from the season preview very much stand, this is second hand Overlord. So if you want a version of Overlord that doesn’t take itself too seriously and has a boatload of fanservice then this is the show for you. Otherwise I say just back away slowly. Oh, and catgirl, you are not my Rem. Faker.
Potential: 10%
Lenlo’s Review:
Alright, so let me see, going off of just the OP we have a red haired Darkness, our token slightly tanned girl, big boobed elf girl, and two scantily clad jailbait animal girls. All of whom I presume will somehow get enslaved to our lead otaku isekai demon lord and get their own creepy molestation scene. What is this, a budget Overlord? I thought Overlord was a budget Overlord, what even is this? As Aidan said the only remotely interesting thing about this is the “fake it till you make it” attitude of our lead, which reminds me of the 40k Ciaphas Cain novels, if Cain wasn’t a smart-mouthed Imperial Commissar with a wit of gold. Suffice to say if your watching this for the fan-service, cut out the middleman and just go watch hentai. If you want a decent Isekai story, I guess go watch Overlord? Either way, this isn’t worth your time. Oh and as Aidan said, #NotMyRem
Potential: 0%