Shibou Yuugi de Meshi wo Kuu
Short Synopsis: Cute girls participate in death games for money, and no matter what happens so long as they survive they’ll be put back together.
Lenlo: I’m really not sure how I feel about Shibou. Narratively I’m probably in, decently executed death games with casts who take it seriously are fun, and Shibou seems to have just that. It wasn’t afraid to off people right from the start, and it managed to be brutal about it without being excessively gory or over the top. Visually though… Someone is trying something here, and I’m not convinced it works. Are we Monogatari, with the numbered scenes, pastel color palettes, and weird low-detail splotchy wide shots? Or are we Hand Shakers with the diffused lighting, rapid cuts and weird, excessively detailed eyes? I don’t know! There’s a distinct possibility that Shibou is blowing everything it has on its first episode with a double feature and that the rest of the show is nothing like this, it is Studio DEEN after all. But to figure that out I’ll have to watch more, so Shibou has at least succeeded at hooking me for a second episode, and that’s all you can really ask of a premiere.
Potential: 60%
Jujutsu Kaisen: The Culling Game
Short Synopsis: Season 3 of Jujutsu Kaisen, you know what this is at this point, don’t yell at me.
Lenlo: So the thing about JJK is, it’s really just a vibe at this point. The narrative, the characters, all of that is kind of mediocre to me, none of it is interesting or particularly well written, aside from a quick arc with Maki I do quite like. So the question then becomes, why bother watching it? Well because someone as MAPPA is clearly in love with it, because the production is bonkers, in more ways than one. Sometimes beautiful and fluid, sometimes incoherent and messy, JJK is never not visually interesting to look at. So many different color palettes, it’s not afraid to just splash some purple or green or red on the screen, some really stark lighting at times that I love, it just looks good. So as I said at the top, don’t watch this for the narrative, watch it because it’s a vibe and someone at MAPPA took drugs while animating parts of it.
Potential: 50%
The Case Book of Arne
Short Synopsis: An immortal, all-powerful vampire solves cases involving mysterious monsters, and then murders them.
Lenlo: I dunno, it’s fine? Arne feels like it can’t decide whether it wants to be a mystery thriller about a vampire detective solving supernatural mysteries akin to Undead Murder Farce, or an action series with an OP MC “Strongest vampire king” who utterly destroys and overpowers the “evil” supernatural forces. It’s clearly meant to be like, the endgame of each story is Arne defeating them physically after figuring out their scheme, but it doesn’t really work for me. Slap on a vampire obsessed child following our lead around, and the knowledge this is based on a mediocre video game, and I’m just not interested enough to try out a second episode. Still, there isn’t anything outright terrible about it, so maybe you can find some fun?
Potential: 10%
Shiboyugi went from show that I put on my PTW list on a whim to the thing I’m most excited about this season based on just how amazing the visuals/directing/mood was. The type of plot it has is something that is nothing special and has been done many times (although I am a fan of the Saw franchise which seems to be at least one source of inspiration), but those visuals? Wow. That one episode was better than any single anime episode I watched for everything that aired in 2025 for me.
Of course it could very much be as you mentioned, they blew everything on that episode and the rest won’t be as special. Or something like this works great in a shorter medium but as a weekly airing TV show maybe not as much. So no guarantee that it ends up being as amazing as that first episode was. But in a season that also has Frieren, Fate and Oshi no Ko airing new content this show that wasn’t on my radar at all has the potential to leapfrog all of them.
I never understood this silly misconception about jjk. Bad writing? Later on perhaps but in the beginning the writing was very good. Not perfect but no where near as bad as you guys make it out to be.