Winter 2021 First Impressions: Yuru Camp S2, 2.43: Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu, I★CHU

Yuru Camp S2

Short Synopsis: Rin prepares for a solo camping trip to ring in the New Year, while her friends discuss their holiday plans.

Mario: It’s hot as hell here Down Under so I can’t say I’m in need of its warmth, but cozy and comfy Yuru Camp does indeed excel at creating that feeling. The premiere of this second season traces back to Rin’s very first solo camp and it’s just a joy to watch. She makes mistakes all the beginners make and it adds an extra level since we know how experienced she is now. This new episode wastes no time to display detailed backgrounds, chill soundtracks, and confident, slow pacing that threatens to envelop you and put you into a comfort zone. The second half goes back to the present day and while it’s not as enjoyable as the first half, the natural flow of characters’ dialogue and interactions are fun to watch. I’m still a bit ehh on our animated mascots because it just takes me right out of the flow, but all in all, this premiere is a winner.

Potential: 70%

Wooper: Even though it’s been three years since Yuru Camp first aired, its return to the small screen feels seamless. The new OP and ED are performed by the same artists as before, the earth tone backgrounds are still picturesque, and the pinecones still squeak their customary hellos when the camera captures them up close. That sense of familiarity is a perfect fit for this premiere, which eased us back into the show with a flashback to Rin’s first camping expedition. She’s the group’s most experienced camper, so the sequence where her younger self learned to set up a tent and took notes on starting a fire was very welcoming. “It’s okay if you’re new,” Yuru Camp seemed to be saying. “Everybody has to start somewhere!” Those opening minutes were the highlight for me, but the girls’ present-day conversations did give us some hints as to what we’ll be seeing in the next few weeks – meeting some extended family members sounds like a fun prospect. This is a series designed to be watched with a blanket on your lap and a mug of hot cocoa in your hand, so it’s come along at just the right time for those of us in the northern hemisphere.

Potential: 75%

2.43: Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu

Short Synopsis: A star volleyball player moves to the boonies after his harassment of a former teammate ends in disaster.

Wooper: Just as Skate Leading Stars aims to escape the shadow of Yuri on Ice, this show (which I’m dubbing “Volleybros”) has its own Little Giant to slay. It’s not off to a bad start, either – the animation might not be a match for its older cousin, but it’s still pretty good, and the light-accented designs give it an entirely different look. The characters’ heights are more pronounced, as well, which comes into play during not just volleyball practice, but also the high number of dialogue-driven scenes. Volleybros is just as much a drama as it is a sports anime, and it wants you to know that right off the bat. Sulky and confrontational are two of its cast’s more common modes of operation, and two mentions of a transfer student’s dark past bookend the episode with as much subtlety as a spike to the face. Parts of this episode put me in mind of Hanebado, the schizophrenic badminton show from a couple years ago, but there was plenty of good conversation between the two leads, as well. They’re a poor match for each other, but they’d prefer not to be – that’s a tough dynamic to capture in a single week, and Volleybros did a decent job of it. I don’t know if I’ll watch another episode of this, but I hope somebody does – it’s not the knockoff that many will assume it to be.

Potential: 60%

Lenlo: I went into this expecting knockoff Haikyu, but surprisingly wound up with something completely different. Where Haikyu is a more fast-paced action type of sports show, “Volleybros” as Wooper puts it is much slower, but not in a bad way. I agree that it did a decent job with the lead’s dynamics though at times it does feel like it’s ripping off Haikyu a bit. My main hope here is that the “dark past”, which is a bit more extreme than Kageyama’s though the same in function, is properly used and integrated into the story. I want it to be more than just shock value for this initial episode and to see the event handled with the proper weight and respect the subject deserves.

Production wise Volleybros didn’t do too bad either. The animation definitely isn’t as dynamic or expressive as Haikyu but Director Yasuhiro Kimura of Golden Wind fame isn’t letting that hold him back. Instead of relying on sakuga magic he actually has some pretty clever and well timed cuts to add impact and a feeling of speed to the sport. If he can keep that up then I think Volleybros will hold up well, despite the occasional weightless block that the ball just bounces off of. All in all I am tentatively excited to see where this goes and will definitely be keeping up with it this season. I just hope it doesn’t go the yaoi route…

Potential: 75%

I★CHU Étoile Stage

Short Synopsis: A group of idols face expulsion from idol school unless they sell 3000 CDs in three months.

Lenlo: I hate how much effort went into the opening shot of this series, I really do, because it actually looks kinda good. I have no idea if this is a one off, if it will all get replaced with CGI models, or if fans might actually get a well-animated bishounen idol series. But the fact remains that production wise I★CHU shocked me out of the gate. Beyond that though… I don’t really have much to talk about. It’s a bishounen idol show, what you see on the tin is what you are going to get. Wooper may be right, there may be some small arcs for the characters here and there, but with how large the cast is I don’t expect any of them to do anything meaningful. Meanwhile I have never liked the premise of idol schools to begin with and the Idol industry in japan itself is uh… very concerning.

So yeah, if you like Idol shows then you might have a winner here with some decent production and solid but flat characters. If you don’t, then this show isn’t for you. I know it’s not for me.

Potential: 1%

Wooper: We’re only three months removed from the premiere of Hypnosis Mic, which had the best opening shot of any bishounen idol series I’ve seen. With that in mind, I sat down to watch I★CHU, feeling it would be premature to dismiss the subgenre’s next offering sight unseen. It seems my optimism was rewarded, because even though this show is even less substantial than a pack of soggy tissues, it didn’t give me second-hand embarrassment the way bishie anime typically do. There are close to 20 idols in the cast here, and while this episode didn’t do much more than assign gimmicks to each one, I got the sense that decent arcs were in the cards for a few of them. That feeling comes mostly from the earnest teambuilding of the show’s primary trio, who managed to put on a crowd-pleasing performance after some initial dysfunction. It was a plot befitting a children’s show rather than a late night TV anime, but it also wasn’t terrible. Oh, and the principal of the idol school (for there must always be an idol school) wears a bear costume, so there’s that.

Potential: 10%