Fluffy Paradise
Short Synopsis: Grown woman gets isekai’ed with the power to make non-human creatures love her. Also she’s like… 6. Disney Princess the anime.
The new season is here! And the first show we start off with is… An isekai. And a dull one at that. As far as isekai go this one is rather harmless. It’s a fluffy, cute, non-serious show about a girl petting magical creatures. Does it look good? No. Is it narratively compelling? No. Is there any reason to watch it beyond de-stressing while a little girl looks after some animals? Not really. Yes there’s an implied dragon fight at the end, but I bet 50$ that the next episode will start with that dragon falling in love with the little girl and turning into a goddamn house cat. If I’m being honest though, the older I get the more I come to see the appeal of this sort of show. Personally it’s not my thing. I think Fluffy Paradise is boring as sin. It’s just not how I like to relax. If you want to relax to an anime Disney Princess chilling with animals though, I won’t judge you.
Potential: 5%
Gushing Over Magical Girls
Short Synopsis: Middle schooler gets transformed into a Mahou Shoujo villain, proceeds to sexually assault all available magical girls.
Ignoring the blatant and disturbing fetishization of middle schoolers, with full nipple at that, Akogarete is nothing special. The production is average at best and mostly forgettable. The comedy is mediocre, though whether that’s due to the jokes being bad or this just not being my brand of humor is up for debate. Whatever the case, I can’t say I laughed at anything. That leaves the elephant in the room, the fetishization of middle schoolers. Akogarete is, in a word, disgusting. That makes it pretty standard an ecchi series, where the only reason to watch the show is to get a weekly dose of children being groped and sexually assaulted in a variety of ways while another kid watches and gets off to it. Unlike shows like Onimai however, which can at least attempt to claim some greater purpose like the trans experience, Akogarete is softcore porn and nothing. I cannot understate how much I hate this show. Do not watch it. I will judge you for this one.
Potential: We’re all going to jail for watching this.
Ishura
Short Synopsis: Local jackass Isekai MC with a sword fights giant monsters without caring about property damage. Local girl takes issue with this, decides to try and lead him to his death.
The good thing for Ishura is that after watching Akogarete the floor is so low, I could not possibly be disappointed or upset by it. From the looks of things though, Ishura doesn’t need it. Production wise it isn’t anything too special, at least not for the most part. The CGI robots look fine enough, nothing great, and the giant fuck-off lazer was pretty cool, especially with the choice of coloring. I’d say the two words that most embody Ishura right now are “Ambition” and “Gore”. It tries for things that the production team doesn’t seem sure it can do, like the whole “Climbing the robot” sequence. I can respect that, I think ambition goes a long way, even if it doesn’t always work. For Gore, well… Ishura is pretty brutal so far. I’m talking ripping off arms and legs, blood splatters, it’s a pretty gorey show! If that’s not your thing you’ll probably hate it as much as I do Akogarete, because it’s very much a “murder porn” first episode. If you can get past that though, it might be fun. I’d say the biggest thing holding it back right now is the OP MC who is less of a character and more of a wild animal only looking to fight strong things. If not for the Female MC, who plans on leading him from fight to fight hoping to find one that can kill him, there probably wouldn’t be much here. For now though? I’m curious to see where it goes, I’m down for generally villainous MCs, and while the production isn’t the best I want to see how far Ishura’s ambition will go. Will this be the highlight of its season, the most it can give us? Or will it push itself until the production falls apart? Or maybe it will even be that 1-in-a-million show that shoots its shot and somehow lands. I don’t know! But I’m intrigued enough to follow along. For now.
Potential: 50%
You’re not alone when it comes to “Gushing Over Magical Girls.” The reviewer at Anime Feminist concluded, “And when they come and get me for that government watchlist, just know that I did this for y’all.”
How can Japanese animation go from Cowboy Bebop to bloody Gushing girls?! WTF were they thinking?!