Summer 2021 First Impressions: Kageki Shoujo!!, Uramichi Oniisan, Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid

Kageki Shoujo!!

Short Synopsis: A tall girl joins an Opera troupe to play Lady OSCARRRRR. 

Armitage: Kageki Shoujo is an anime featuring an all-girls central cast, a light academia aesthetic and focusing on students training to be opera(!) performers. Yeah… um, where do I sign??

Apart from the core elements being practically tailor-made for me, this show’s highlights are by far the elegance with which it treats its theme and characters. Even the comedic moments are all graceful, never leaning into over-the-top slapstick hijinks. And that’s what makes the central dynamic between Watanabe and Ai so interesting. Though they clearly serve different purposes in the narrative. Ai, a former idol, represents the ugly side of the idol industry serving as a reminder of how pervasive celebrity fandom can be while also acting as a critique for mindless cancel culture. Watanabe on the other hand is the polar opposite of what the performing arts industry demands from its poster children – tardy, loud, uncaring about her perception in front of others; graceless. She values her family and the people who are part of her life more than keeping up appearances for strangers. In stark contrast with Ai who can barely even text her mom every once in a while. It’s a fascinating duality and one that’s bound to be the core of the show going forward. As for the production, it’s nothing out of the ordinary, but the character designs, by Takahiro Kishida of *Baccano! fame, and the backgrounds stand out well enough to cover up any shortcomings on the animation front. While the premiere served mostly as an introduction to the setting and characters, I have it on very good authority that the source material is compelling enough to hold its own. A definite keeper for me.    

Potential: 85%

Mario: There’s a sense of familiarity in watching Kageki Shoujo, but in this case I don’t regard it as detrimental. You can see all the shoujo/josei tropes in this first episode, and the overall story – of several girls with different backgrounds and personalities joining the troupe – is something that we have seen before, but the show provides some solid groundwork for the cast. Each character is distinctive and has their own voice, and the real winners here are Sarasa and Ai as their contrasted attitudes play off each other very well. Visually, the show doesn’t stand out much but the direction does very well to complement the story. Its focus on small moments is another highlight. Kageki Shoujo won’t be “the next big thing” by any measure, but it’s definitely my definition of a sleeper hit.

Potential: 50%

Uramichi Oniisan

Short Synopsis: A world-weary ex-gymnast hosts a children’s exercise show.

Wooper: Uramichi Oniisan is one of those adaptations where the manga is slapped straight on screen, which means that unless you’re blind and need voice acting to follow along, you might as well read the comic. There are a bunch of A-list seiyuu attached to the project (four of whom have supplied voices for Levi Ackerman, Light Yagami, and both boys from Haruhi’s SOS Brigade), but not even they could stop this episode from feeling about 15 minutes too long. I like the concept, and some of the gags are cleverly conceived, particularly the mascot actor who refuses to take off his rabbit head in order not to make eye contact with Uramichi. Then there’s the exhausted early-30s protagonist who, despite being in peak physical condition, is Literally Me. Despite finding the show humorous and somewhat relatable, though, it has maybe three jokes, and tells variations of them far too often to give me confidence in its next 11 episodes. If the concept of a cynical children’s entertainer and his costumed friends appeals to you, the manga scanlations are 26 chapters deep, so I’d recommend that route instead.

Potential: 15%

Armitage: In theory, Uramichi Oniisan sounds like the perfect comedy anime aimed at adults and the existential dread a lot of us constantly deal with every so often. It’s the perfect premise for a highly relatable gag comedy that would have been a welcome change of pace from all the high-school comedy shows we usually get. The only issue? It’s not funny. The gags can be seen coming from a mile away, the same template is used for almost all jokes, hell even the reaction faces are predictable. With arguably THE BEST voice acting cast in any anime… ever(?), featuring industry titans in Mamoru Miyano, Hiroshi Kamiya, comedy royalty Sugita Tomokazu, Nana Mizuki, Yuichi Nakamura, Daisuke Ono, the list goes on, really. It is such a damn shame that a dream collaboration like this is wasted on a sub standard series like the one we’ve got here.

Potential: 10%

Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid

Short Synopsis: Everyone realizes the young duke is lethal to be around…except for his busty maid who decides that actively seducing him – which would be fatal – is a great pastime.  

Mario: And here we have another show where the girl character makes “unwanted sexual teases” to our poor boy, but as weird as it might sound I do consider them a success so far. So why, you ask? The show balances out its hormonal hijinks with its sad story beats underneath, considering that our boy is cursed with death touch that forbid him to touch living things. That means, no physical contact whatsoever. That tonal shift is not always smooth, but it’s certainly layered where you can sense the sadness behind their (or lack thereof) interactions. Created by the staff behind Hi Score Girl, I expected its full CG animation would take a bit of time to get used to, so I’m genuinely pleased with what we got in this premiere. The gothic background is simple but pleasing, so does the whole production as it looks decent to me most of the time. The main draw here is certainly the titular characters, so if you don’t put off by the amount of sexual teases in this first episode, you will have a good time with it.

Potential: 60%

Amun: You know what, I like this spin on the anime female tease – if you wanna thot at our MC’s expense, then at least put some stakes on it.  In this case, touch him – you die (I actually think that because Alice already loves him, then she’s immune to the curse.  My reasoning: Duke O’ Death had a flower that she also touched and she was fine).  I think Shinigami Bocchan actually played it straight and explored aspects of the premise in an intelligent manner.  I don’t normally love 3D renders, but Shinigami Bocchan looks pretty good so far.  Despite the silliness, there’s a real story here – and for this season, that’s good enough for me.

Potential: 70%