Some Quick First Impressions: Legend of the Galactic Heroes – Die Neue These, Mahou Shoujo Ore and Captain Tsubasa (2018)

Legend of the Galactic Heroes – Die Neue These

Short Synopsis: A young upstart General overturns a space battle to his favor

Aidan’s review
Comparing this to its older OVA predecessor I actually find this a very strong start to the series. With the old series I only truly got engaged with the third episode while the space battle that took up the first two episodes failed to grip me. It could be my foreknowledge but the presentation in this new series worked better due to focusing on only one side of the conflict instead of jumping between the two. Besides minor elements this is looking to be a pretty faithful adaptation which isn’t rushing the source material and I am actually gaining some hope for this series. Only flaws I found is a rather intrusive piano theme in the middle of the episode which I hope they don’t overuse and that some of the character designs still throw me off a bit. kircheis just looks so strange to me. I am still a bit wary and feel that won’t go away until episode three or beyond but so far I would consider this something worth keeping an eye on this season.
Potential: 80%

Mario’s review
Unlike Aidan, I’m a complete LoGH novice here so I can offer my thoughts without any prior knowledge from the original. I was inherently worried that this show might turn out like last year’s Kino Journey, a reboot that look prettier but with much less impact. This episode sets a nice hook that not only underline the tactical aspect of this space opera, but also set up the great rivalry between Reinhard and Yang Wen Li, both of them proved to be smart, awesome and ambitious. If you’re looking for an action show or a pure sci-fi show, you’d end up disappointed because the closest thing this show reminds me of is watching two talented person playing chess. As far as I concern, this is a great start for what would be an epic battle, but there are some issues remain. First, the updated part, the CG animation doesn’t do a good job at animating the characters (they look on par in battleships, though), as I feel the animation for the parts with human involved pretty wonky. And second, with only 12 episodes how the hell this new show can fully adapt the scope of this epic war? Only time can tell I suppose.
Potential: 80%

Mahou Shoujo Ore

Short Synopsis: A girl is scouted to become a magical boy

Aidan’s review
Here’s how to come up with the idea of this show. Write a standard magical girl synopsis, then use find and replace to switch words with more outlandish counterparts. Then sit back and pray people find it funny. Unfortunately this kind of comedy isn’t really my thing and only gets less funny when animated as everything seems to follow a Boke and Tsukkomi routine. The meta jokes are just trying too damn hard and the references are the kind that would go over most viewers heads. I can see it maybe being a guilty pleasure for some but it’s pretty poor as a parody, satire and a comedy.
Potential: 0%

Mario’s review
There is a difference between good and mediocre satire. A good satire not only makes the twist fresh and unpredictable, it also addresses the issues behind the subject they are making fun of (for a good example you can check out the premiere of Osomatsu-san few years back). Mahou Shoujo Ore does neither of these. While I can see where those jokes (especially the meta-joke in the beginning) come from, the jokes are fairly predictable and the show is more happy just to twist around mahou shoujo’s genre tropes than have any concrete thing to say. What is the significance behind turning them in a boy for example? Why idols again? Jokes without substance like this get dull fast and I find myself bored watching this. It doesn’t help that the production is below par and the characters all have paper-thin personalities. Stay far out from this.
Potential: 0%

Captain Tsubasa (2018)

Short Synopsis: A soccer prodigy moves to a new town and challenges the local hotshot goalkeeper to a match.

Aidan’s review
This is a throwback in more ways than one with the series being nearly forty years old and the general writing of the show. But it seems that David production have not only done a throwback with adapting such and old property but even animating it like one too. There are an abundance of animation saving techniques in this one with the abundance of still shots and event the return of anime speed lines. To some it may be a charm point but to me it just looks like a slightly cleaner version of a 80’s anime. The events of the show go to ridiculously levels with a goalkeeper deflecting javelins and a kid somehow surviving getting hit by a truck because it was cushioned by a soccer ball? I say this one is for fans of the original or those feeling rather nostalgic.
Potential: 10%

Wooper’s review
It’s reboot o’clock once again, this time for the 1980s franchise Captain Tsubasa. Though Gegege no Kitarou is the older of the two series, Tsubasa’s legacy far surpasses it, having developed a worldwide following since it burst onto the scene 30-some years ago. Even professional soccer players have credited Captain Tsubasa with kindling their childhood interest in the sport, so it can scarcely be imagined how many other kids it inspired. With that in mind, it doesn’t seem appropriate to nitpick the show too harshly. Something I will note, however, is the inclusion of bombastic sound effects by David Production, which you’d assume were from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure if you had your eyes closed. I wonder whether those bassy, bone-crunching noises will be attractive to young soccer enthusiasts, rather than manchildren hopped up on caffeine and Transformers films. Some of the directorial tricks from JoJo (most notably a speaking character’s translucent face imposed on top of a still shot) make an appearance here too, but they aren’t nearly as distracting. On balance, the show doesn’t look or sound very good, and there are moments of utter nonsense sprinkled throughout its first episode. But it’s about a boy who loves soccer more than anything in the world, and for some viewers, that’s all it needs to be.
Potential: 25%