Some Quick First Impressions: Gegege no Kitarou (2018), Uma Musume – Pretty Derby and Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi

Gegege no Kitarou (2018)

Short Synopsis: A young girl enlists the help of a youkai expert to cure her city’s Vampire Tree epidemic.

Aidan’s review

Not particularly special in its own right but I found this show to be decently enjoyable and far more comprehensible than its manga counterpart. Its biggest flaw is that it suffers from the Seinfeld is unfunny trope. Namely that everything done here has been done again and done better. Making this show as standard as you can get. I also could never truly get into shows about Youkai as I find the concept of them to be too silly to take seriously. So far it’s decently fun to watch but I feel it will lose a lot of its appeal once the nostalgia peels off and you are left with an episodic run of the mill show with nothing to offer.

Potential: 20%

Wooper’s review

Gegege no Kitarou is a franchise that dates all the way back to the 1960s, and it certainly shows its age in this newest reboot. Despite the focus on cell phones as a way of modernizing the series (the episode opens with a Youtuber ignoring traffic while filming himself, then turning into a cursed tree in the middle of an intersection), the whole production feels bog standard. There are bullies who pick on the weird kid who believes in youkai, a main character who uses special attacks (several involving his hair or finger guns) to defeat evil spirits, and a monster of the week format that contains not a whiff of a larger story. If you’ve been watching anime for any length of time, you’ve probably seen all of this before. There’s a cliffhanger at the end of the episode that I won’t spoil in case you’re a Kitarou devotee, but if you’re not, this incarnation of the franchise is unlikely to convert you.

Potential: 10%

 

Uma Musume – Pretty Derby

Short Synopsis: Our sparkly-eyed main character attends a horse race, a horse idol concert, and a school for other horse girls.

Mario’s review

Aussie culture has a strong and proud tradition when it comes to horse-racing. Let’s just say we’re crazy about horse racing and even I am not a proactive guy when it comes to the sport, the atmosphere of dozen of horses preparing to kick off always makes my heart pouncing. And that was the only aspect I remotely like in Uma Musume (oh, and the names. Since you’re horse girl, you’re allowed to have some crazy names like Special Week and Vodka and in case you don’t know: these girls are modelled after real racing horses). First, I still can’t comprehend why the heck they include idols part into the show, the one that clearly feel out of place. Then, the only male character in this first episode is badly portrayed that he leaves a bad taste in the mouth. And somehow our innocent girl falls for it??? The settings doesn’t have anything special enough to stand out and the main lead girl can get to your nerve at any time. I have zero interest between her yet-to-come chemistry with Silence Suzuka or anyone else in her team. Which actually can be appropriate since all I can do now regarding this show is fall silent.

Potential: 10%

Wooper’s review

Within the first five minutes of this premiere, a man with a ridiculous haircut and a lollipop in his mouth sneaked behind our main character and started massaging her legs, commenting on what a perfect horse girl she was. Embarrassed and violated, she kicked him in the head and he flew backwards ten feet or so, knocked unconscious by the force of the blow. When she trotted over and asked whether he was still alive, I was struck by the realization that a handful of people must die from getting kicked by horses each year. This was the show’s big chance to sell me on the concept of horse girls. If Ponytail McMolester would just stay down for the count, I’d swallow every other contrived, pandering bit of bullshit this script had to offer. The seconds wore on, and he still wasn’t getting up. P.A. Works was just moments away from becoming the most subversive studio of the season. Please just kill this useless character, I prayed, and rescue your godawful production from the growing trash heap of instantly forgettable 2010s TV anime!

Then he sprang into a standing position, apparently uninjured, and started wiggling his fingers and eyeing her boobs. Generic character designs, ass shots, and an idol concert followed. Don’t watch this series if you value your time or life.

Potential: Horse shit/10

 

Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi

Short Synopsis: A woman who can see spirits finds a job in another realm to avoid marrying a mask-wearing ogre.

Mario’s review

I figure you’d call this a Mahoutsukai no Yome that set in the world settings of Spirited Away, although I admit that if you put it that way then this show just looks pale in comparision. It’s simply on a lower caliber here. The main girl experienced a childhood just like Chise, albeit without the self-hatred. Just like Mahoutsukai the romance part gives a lot of head-scratching development and it is easily my least favorite part of the show. That oni master is just… unbearable from his character design to his attitude. We have quite a strong female lead this time, which I’m glad and the concept of her finding job in an inn of the spirit world has some potential, although towards the end it comes to the light food-porn that generally turn me away. The world building of this spirit world is another part that the show done well so far, with the world is vivid and different from the normal world in the first few minutes. Not a fan at all of the character designs, however, and the romance saga including the “selling off my sweet granddaughter” subplot will need to some serious improvement to get me hooked again. Overall not a bad start, but I don’t see myself coming back for it.

Potential: 30%

Wooper’s review

How many anime have there been where the main character “can see things that other people can’t?” What percentage of those have given their protagonists tragic backstories because of their abilities? And what percentage of those have included a sexy love interest who wants to marry the protagonist right off the bat? We’re still talking about thirty or forty series, I’d wager, and this must be one of the cheapest attempts at telling this ultra-specific story. The unlucky girl in this particular yarn was sold to a bishounen ogre (or, to use the technical term, bishogre) to pay off her grandfather’s gambling debt, but she negotiates her way into a cooking job at an otherworldly inn instead. Here’s where I’d typically say that the usual assortment of youkai made their appearance, but the majority of the spirits in this show are human-looking, with only a mask or horns or a pair of fox ears to distinguish them from each other. What’s worse, the tracks that play behind the characters’ conversations are somehow such boilerplate throwaways that they stand out like sore thumbs. There’s just a general lack of care to be found in every aspect of this episode, which doesn’t bode well for the next 25. If you want to watch something similar, but with improved visuals and more personality, try Kamisama Hajimemashita instead.

Potential: 0%