Phantom in the Twilight
Short Synopsis: A girl accidentally comes across a cafe full of supernatural beings and learns that she’s the chosen one
Lenlo’s Review:
From this episode, I can’t see anything wrong per se with Phantom. The two biggest things I can think of are the stiffness, the genericness of our characters (excluding the heroine) and the stupidity of the lead girl. Seriously, she sees them batting monsters around like nothing, and tells them to run? That aside, the premise itself looks like fun. Reminds me of Kekkai Sensen in a way. A normal person thrust into a magical city (London here), who stumbles into a super powered group. If Phantom avoids the monster of the week trope and actually explores its setting, magic in modern day, what happened to the girls Great-Grandmother, etc, then it stands a chance. I’m always willing to give something outside the Isekai/Japanese Highschool pit that most anime fall into a try.
Potential: 45%
Mario’s review:
We have a first supernatural thriller original of this season (the second will be Tenrou), and as far as supernatural thriller original goes it fares well. The “pretty boys” (subjectivity here) serving in a restaurant have me worried for a second there, mostly because I worked part-time in a restaurant years ago and I know it takes much more than 3 people to run the thing. But soon the main heroine appears the show goes into a much better territory. The main improvement is Ton herself. She has a strong personality and she’s the easy protagonist to get behind. Normally, girls within that genre is a blank who get dragged into problems and found themselves out of depth in most these situations. Ton, on the other hand, adapts herself to the situation quickly. Being say all that, the cast so far is still too generic. The supernatural dash in a London settings is welcomed, although again it pushes the story into formulic fashion. We all know she will become a regular in the restaurant despite they wash away her memory at the end. Overall, while the first episode doesn’t wow me, I can see its ambition. The production is on the brighter side and the story has some potential to be deeper, whether or not they can reach that potential remains to be seen.
Potential: 50%
Jashin-chan Dropkick
Short Synopsis: A bunch of anime tropes sit around a table, eat hot pot, and kill each other.
Wooper’s review
This entire premiere was a complete misfire. Jashin-chan wants to be a crude and violent gag comedy, but its desperate attempts to satisfy naked monster girl fans and goth loli-obsessed otaku dull its murderous edge. It also wants to maintain a cute atmosphere during those moments where its characters aren’t attempting to kill each other, but the mood is shattered by the snake girl’s rotten personality every thirty seconds. The only asset the show has is passable animation, which gives it flexibility when deciding how to portray Jashin-chan’s next mutilation (and subsequent regeneration). You read that correctly – the best aspect of this series is one that gives it the freedom to be as stupid and shitty as its tiny brain can manage. The only way Jashin-chan Dropkick could possibly be worth your time is if you’re an unemployed, uneducated whackjob who has to watch every seasonal anime to completion or else you’ll spontaneously combust.
Potential: 0%
Mario’s review:
Dropkick is a comedy show that only has two things on its mind: being a slice-of-life cozy show about cute monster girls spending time together, and being an ultraviolence slapstick show whenever the titular strikes an opportunity to kill her human friend, but she gets beaten in a gruesome way. It doesn’t do justice for either if them, given the characters lack the warmth, or depth. The simple character arts might remind you of anime product from twenty years ago, even its slapstick humor feels dated as well. I don’t mind the extreme gruesome, by the way, but its jokes weaken fast every time it repeats itself, and by the end we can only see several variations of the same joke. There are some meta jokes as well, which I find it mildly amusing. Make no mistake, Dropkick’s appeal is its commitment to the several gorefest ways our heroine will endure (and she deserves it), if that exactly what you’re looking for then by all means continue, because otherwise it doesn’t have many other things to offer.
Potential: 10%
Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes
Short Synopsis: two teenagers work in an antique store who also solve mysteries.
Lenlo’s Review:
Holmes is an odd one. I really like the actual antique aspects of it. The analyzing, descriptions and explanations for them. I also like Holmes as a character, this impersonable, out of touch sort of character. Reminds me of anime like Fune wo Amu in a way, a sleeper hit for me of 2016. But the actual drama/character interactions, like the counterfeit plot, just seem so ham-fisted. There’s no nuance to them. And while I like the deductions, they could be better. Look to the RDJ Sherlock Holmes movies for instance, where specific details are pointed out and built on. Here, some of it strains credulity. For the main story, for once I feel Holmes would be better suited to a weekly sort of story format. Like each week we see a new antique and hear its story. Similar in a way to Mushishi. Use it to teach history. I liked the ending Monk story more than the counterfeit story afterall. If Holmes dodges/downplays the underground counterfeiting ring storyline I suspect is coming, it could be a treat for those like me. I’m not hopeful though.
Potential: 35%
Mario’s review:
Holmes of Kyoto’s debut episode has fair shares of good and bad. This premiere both builds up the relationship between our two main leads, and sell the appeal of antique appraisal, as well as Holmes’ amazing deduction skills. On a good side, the antique appraisal part is really solid. It comes from the appreciation of this work of arts, and like any famous painting it takes skills, and knowledge behind it to fully value the works. Second, the relationship between him and her grow naturally, and while his deduction strain some credulity, overall it sells his character well. On the negative side, the counterfeit case is extremely hammy, especially the bad guy image is just too on the nose. Consider that the counterfeit thread will become the central plot in the future, I have some reservations. Furthermore, the drama isn’t quite good. The drama of the lead girl for example, is too underwhelmed, emotionally distant and resolve too quickly that I don’t feel anything at all. I will give this show 3 episodes to see if it’s worth following all the way.
Potential: 30%
