Shin Chuuka Ichiban!
Short Synopsis: A young master chef helps a struggling chicken breeder by winning a cooking contest using her birds.
Wooper’s review:
I’ve seen precisely one episode of the original Chuuka Ichiban, which was overly theatrical and not particularly well-produced if memory serves. This one fares much better, as it’s got Production IG money behind it and a veteran director (Itsurou Kawasaki) at the helm. I’m usually a sucker for the sort of white-trimmed characters that Shin Chuuka uses, but in this case I don’t feel like that extra design element contributes much to the series’ aesthetic. What does help its case is the above-average animation and the judges’ ridiculous responses to everything they eat. You get a sense from this episode that cooking means everything in 19th century China (ironically, this is conveyed via the 21st century technique of constantly overreacting to stuff). The art and the series’ sense of fun are great, but where the show stumbles is in its painfully simple story. Mao and friends happen upon a new village, meet a misfortunate character, and help put her life back on track with the power of food preparation. I’m sure the series has a larger plot in mind, but I can’t wholeheartedly endorse this sequel when its first script is such a boilerplate effort.
Potential: 50%
Mario’s review:
You can sense that the source material of this show comes from the 90s based on the character designs and the episodic content alone, and that for me works for its benefits. It certainly revokes many of the charms from that era: from the sidekicks’ dynamic to the feel-good nature it has. Add to that this show is about cooking and there’s clearly a love put on making the food. Maybe it’s just me who watched the episode with an empty stomach but the food displayed in the episode look so delicious. The art and animation remind us to its era, but overall it’s still lacking. The story seems to jump in the middle of an ongoing story, but points to the show of making this episode accessible to new viewers without the usual pitfall of overexplaning its world and characters other anime usually fall into. Admittedly the resolve is stupid (“this is steam rice but it tastes like chicken oh boy give me a goddamn break”) and its over-the-top reactions from the judges can be grating at times, but overall it delivers the charms and appeals successfully in this first try.
Potential: 30%
My Hero Academia Season 4
Short Synopsis: In a world of superpowers, one normal boy is given a chance to be the hero he always dreamed of.
Amun’s review:
Why are people calling this a recap episode? I would say this was a filler episode at worst – I actually love when shows flesh out their world by looking at situations from different perspectives. “Recap” implies no new ground was covered – while MHA usually covers more ground per episode, there was definitely progress here (see – All Might’s Former Agency Partner, Mr. Combover). So what if they reused a few scenes? Half of each Bleach episode was footage from the previous 2 episodes, and they didn’t call those recaps. There was more than enough original footage to stand on its own. This episode was like a small acoustic ballad from a heavy metal band – it may have been different from normal, but it was pure class all the same. I think it’s also critical to build up the impact of All Might’s retirement – this is a global event that shouldn’t be glossed over just to get to the next villain; personalizing it helps the viewers really appreciate how the world’s changed. I applaud MHA for taking their time and doing this right. And I’ll take slice of Hero life to get me nice and hyped up for the new season any day. Plus ULTRA!!
Potential: 100000000000%
Lenlo’s review:
Well, it’s really hard to rate a first episode, when the first episode is a recap episode. That said, as far as recaps go, it wasn’t bad. MHA tried to do something new by framing the whole thing from a reporter’s perspective. Even attempting to paint him in a more sinister light at the start. It was a… more organic way to do a recap than I was expecting. And even gave us a peek into the world outside of UA and how they view All Might. Helping to flesh out the world. It’s what anime only filler/recap content should be. All that said though, a recap is a recap, and I can’t really judge the season off old footage and a bunch of stills. So if you really want to know how MHA will do, wait until next week. As this one isn’t for old fans who already know what they are getting into.
Potential: ???
Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld
Short Synopsis: After ending the tyranny of the Administrator, Kirito must overcome his trauma to save the world. Both virtual and real.
Lenlo’s review:
So let me be very clear as I start this, I hated the first season of Alice. Probably my least favorite season of SAO yet, with how it handles its entire second half. So I went into this with the lowest expectations imaginable. When I say I couldn’t care less about this episode, please take that as nothing less than a compliment for the series. As it didn’t outright offend me. Just like last season, the opening arc actually appears like it won’t be that bad, maybe even good. As with Kirito being a vegetable, the focus won’t be on him ruining the plot every 5 minutes. It’s probably the best decision it could have made. And Alice’s focus isn’t that bad either. Bringing the fight to her and all that. I find the weakening of her character strength wise to be a bit pointless though, as we all know it doesn’t actually mean anything. I would rather they just establish the bad guys as being that much stronger. Still, the episode wasn’t bad. But I just have this niggling doubt inside me. A doubt that says somehow, some way, SAO Alice will screw this up.
Potential: 45%
Rifle is Beautiful
Short Synopsis: A girl gathers up other girls to save the rifle club from being disbanded.
Lenlo’s review:
Holy crap did Rifle burn through content. When I saw the club wasn’t formed, I thought for sure the season would be about them gathering members and coming together but screw that, lets find them all in 3 minutes flat. Almost gave me whiplash. As for the actual show itself, eh. Like Mario says its a CGDCT show, though while he probably likes it the most out of us, I probably like the genre the least. As a Texan, I was really hoping we would get some actual focus on the guns and the sports aspect of the club but that seems to be in vein. Some of it is there, but this is a CGDCT show first and foremost, and thats sad for me. I also don’t see how Mario failed to notice the CGI, because I saw it the moment it happened, when everyone turned stiff as a board. Now, I could rag on it all day, but I suppose it boils down to this: If you like CGDCT, you will probably find something of value here. The girls are the focus, its not a sports show, yadda yadda. If you want something meaningful out of a piece though? Something more than feel good times with highschoolers? I say its not worth your time.
Potential: 10%
Mario’s review:
The moral of this story: for cute girls even guns and rifles are indeed beautiful. Well, this is your typical CGDCT show (a rarity that it’s the only Cute girl show this season). I’m confident to say that I am the most into Cute girls show out of all writers, so trust me when I say that I can see it winning some hardcore fans of the genre. First, the character designs are cute and these girls have some significant traits (like… red hair for half-Russian because Russians have the most beautiful red hair ahh you know I’m just kidding). And literally they all have moments to shine in this episode. Second, it’s not much about the sports but more about them hanging out together so the chemistry between them is important, and as far as it goes the show already establishes some nice chemistry between them in which they bounce off each other quite well. Lastly, the production design is on a better side. There’s some CG mixes in couple scenes but I myself didn’t notice until someone pointed out to me. Overall, this show won’t win any awards but it serves as a good breather in between bigger hits this season.
Potential: 30%
