After a pretty mediocre Winter anime season, this Spring season seems like it's looking strong. So as always, I'll be trying out just about everything, giving my thoughts, and ranking each premiere. These thoughts don't represent any overall opinions on the shows, simply my first impressions of them after one episode. I will by trying out all new shows, as well as sequels to shows that I have already seen previous seasons of. I will not be including sequels of shows I never finished (Shield Hero, Komi-san, etc.), I will not be including spin-offs of series I'm unfamiliar with (specifically for Black Rock Shooter and Detective Conan), and I won't be including A Couple of Cuckoo's, as it will not be airing until a bit later into the season. These will be ranked to some extent, and placed under categories that I will give very appropriate names to, but as this is simply my initial reaction to first episodes in the heat of the moment, my thoughts on these are subject to change as things go on, so I would recommend not taking that too seriously. Treat everything in the same category as relatively interchangeable in quality, and note that my thoughts on any of these shows can and will shift with more episodes. There's a lot of stuff to check out this season, so let's just get right into it.
Pfft, Who Said we Wanted to Make Something Watchable?
Tomodachi Game
I don't know how else to say it, this was just bad. Not only is it extremely conceptually stupid, like an edgy teen's poorly conceived fantasy of how a tense psychological game is supposed to look, it's also just downright unable to execute what it wants to do. It so badly wants to be creepy, like using the shot of the weird mascot guy's face to be unsettling, and it's just... not. It's visuals are sterile, its characters have no personality or chemistry, it's laughably blunt and tells you exactly how you're supposed to feel, it's like an edgy death game show that just forgot how to be edgy. For a series centered around the tight friendship of its characters getting tested, it sure fails to actually establish how and why they're friends. I have no connection to this group, and thus no reason to care about their trials or any deconstruction of their relationship. It's also just horribly incompetent in other ways. It's ugly as sin, for one. It also introduces the characters through pauses where descriptions of them appear for us to read, except they last about half a second and leave no time to actually process them. It also just keeps flashing the title card at us at seemingly random times, and it's just annoying. It even these horrible narrators who describe the MC's incredibly dumb and obvious thought process, as if I'm too dumb to figure it out. This show is so lacking in just about any merit, but worst of all, it has no heart, and an edgy thriller game for edgy teens is nothing without heart (and edge, how can an edgy psychological game thing be so edgeless).
Skeleton Knight in Another World
This one opens up on a rape scene (there's a trigger warning that appears... during the scene instead of before it, making it essentially worthless), and that's the only moment in this entire episode that I felt any emotion whatsoever. When it's not flippantly indulging in sexual assault of the girls who are definitely gonna join the knight's harem (which it has the "decency" to show us twice. We even get to see the urine stain on one of the girls clothes after one of the rapists tells us she peed herself, and we get leering shots of the rape victims to boot. Whoopie.), you just watch some skeleton knight guy do generic isekai fantasy stuff that I don't care about. Said skeleton knight has about as little charisma as humanly possible, making him a terribly boring protagonist to follow. And hell, everyone is totally unscathed emotionally by this horrific event. Skeleton dude talks about how weird it is to be killing humans but remarks about how little guilt he feels, and the girls basically get over it in about five seconds while obviously falling in love with sir knight immediately. It's trite and painful. The only intrigue I found in this one is my curiosity over how the skeleton's biology works. Can someone please explain to me how he can eat, drink, and smell?
Fanfare of Adolescence
I can't believe that we got a show about horse girl racing idols before we got a show about actual horse racing. There really is an anime for just about every sport, huh? Unfortunately, unlike said horse girl racing idol show, Fanfare of Adolescence is about as dull as it gets. It spends a lot of time showing us the characters, but forgets to give them even a semblance of personality. Arimura's backstory is presented in a way that makes me feel like I'm missing context, and it leaves me behind emotionally. Makoto Katou is a great director and he does the best he can with what he's given (lots of his quirks are here, so many first person PoV shots), but the production is too weak to make it visually interesting (it looks quite bad at times, and the horses aren't even appealing), and its most striking sequence is colored in this ugly rainbow puke filter that absolutely betrays what it's trying to convey. Probably the best thing about this is that Hiroyuki Sawano soundtrack, which is obviously pretty great. But even the greatest of Sawano drops can't make the sudden shift into angsty melodrama half way through the episode land. I can imagine it making the actual horse races pretty hype, but I have no interest in seeing these characters any further. The only fun I had with this one was when Oguri Cap was shown at the half way point and I recognized it thanks to Uma Musume. I hope someone shows me when Tokai Teio and Rice Shower pop up there.
Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs
Studio Engi is back at it again it seems. For those unaware, the studio is basically Kadokawa's cash cow, made solely to pump out adaptations as quickly as possible for the company. Just about all productions made there are atrocious, and this one is no exception. MobuSeka looks like shit, plain and simple. Even its OP is basically just a slide show, and for an otome game that's apparently known for having character designs from a famous artist, the character designs sure are ugly. Its main character receives no characterization beyond vaguely being kind of an incel, and other characters are so cartoonishly dumb that it doesn't even work as comedy. What puts this slightly above Fanfare of Adolescence for me is its worldbuilding, which isn't necessarily well thought out, but that's kind of the point. The otome game that the protagonist gets isekai'd to is meant to be a silly and tonally incongruent mishmash of every genre under the sun, and that is captured by what we see in this episode, through its odd blend of fantasy, sci-fi, and steampunk aesthetics taking influence from JRPG's and on-rails shooters, among other things, on top of otome games. A reverse harem game full of giant robots that want to murder all "new humans," played by a random mob character with the potential to change the trajectory of the story is an interesting enough idea that I wasn't completely turned off by this. But having a semblance of a redeeming quality does not make a worthwhile watch. This is still just another show Engi popped out of its ass, which is so obviously going to have a terrible production meltdown in a few weeks and I have no desire to stick around for it.
In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki
From the mangaka behind Takagi-san, comes a series about an isolationist all-female ninja clan who gets fed propaganda about how all men are stupid and aren't allowed to interact with them. While I'm always down for shitting on men - let's face it, we suck - this show somehow fails to make it fun. For some reason, the main character is just really interested in men to the point of being distracted upon hearing the word alone. It's really weird that, despite not knowing anything about men (except for propaganda about how all of them are dumb, huge, barbarians), Tsubaki's feelings are obviously implied to be romantic in some way, like she can vaguely feel that she loves men despite never having seen or even conceived of what one looks like in her life. I struggle to buy into the premise as it is, but this also just makes for a painfully boring and largely inoffensive comedy. It repeats the same three gags over and over again, and never takes the time to give the characters personality beyond a single quirk (one of the girls quirks is basically just that she's a little mischievous and super gay for Tsubaki). Sorry Mr. Takagi-san guy, I guess not everything you make can be charming.
Stuff I Can Watch Without Wanting to Shoot Myself
Love All Play
The second of dull sports anime this season, though Love All Play is a noticeable step up from Fanfare of Adolescence. This show boasts stronger characterization and a few moments of genuine heart. I like when the Ryou's friend wants to encourage him to go to his dream high school, but is also clearly jealous and tries to hide while shifting his eyes, and generally seems to force himself to support his friend. I also like the older sister character, who wholeheartedly supports her brother even against his family. But these moments of heart are soured by a boilerplate script and thoroughly mediocre direction. Many events in this story are super contrived, and it feels like the writer just took the most generic aspects of other sports stories and threw them into one without any thought. This feels like some weird amalgamation of Haikyuu, Run With the Wind, and Hanebado, but lesser than all of those shows. It feels like someone said "I want to write a YA sports drama" and then just made the most standard and predictable one possible. So in the end, it seems like this will be a perfectly competent but wholly unremarkable sports drama.
To Become a Real Heroine! The Unpopular Girl and the Secret Task
There was one moment in the middle of this first episode where I really felt connected to this show. The main character Hiyori had met the girls who are obviously gonna become her friends, and since Hiyori had failed to buy lunch before it was sold out, one of them offers her half a sandwich that they bought. The girl offered it for free, but Hiyori refused to take it without paying half the price, establishing how money is important to her and how she doesn't want to leave friends in a bad spot. A bit later, her father breaks his back and is unable to bring in income as a fisherman, leading Hiyori to declare that she'll get a part time job so that her parents can afford to focus on taking care of her siblings instead of sending her allowance. This moment pays off the previous one, as the reason she acts how she does is because her family is relatively poor and the value of money is clear to her. It's a sequence of events where the characterization, motivation, and backstory line up to create a clear picture of the character, which made her endearing in this one moment. Unfortunately, it was only for that one moment, as nothing else in the episode comes together with similar grace. Hiyori has little personality, and despite all of her narration of events she doesn't have nearly enough charisma to carry me through, even if she's pretty cute. It doesn't help that I find Inori Minase's performance of the character to be fairly annoying, as she uses an exaggeratedly high pitched voice that just feels grating in a way that the actresses other characters never feel. Oh yeah, did I mention this is a male idol show? There's a bunch of drama between the idol duo that it throws at me with no context, and I don't care enough about any character to be invested in or intrigued by the mystery of their relationship. The visuals have their moments, but I find the character designs kind of ugly. It's not really bad or anything, and it's even cute and mildly endearing sometimes, but I think I can live without this one.
Them's Alright, Some Stuff With Merit
Onipan!
I absolutely love the direction that Wit Studio seems to be going in. After leaving Attack on Titan behind, the studio seems to have shifted in the direction of prioritizing interesting original projects by promising creators, with recent examples like Great Pretender and Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song leading the charge, as well as some artistically driven and ambitious adaptations of works like Ranking of Kings and After the Rain. Onipan! is the newest creator driven anime original project from the studio, and I'll probably be keeping up with it just due to my fascination with all of Wit Studio's intriguing output. It's a series of half-length episodes focusing on a trio of oni girls who are on a mission to raise human public opinion of oni kind. The actual content of this episode is mildly amusing and has its moments, but doesn't really stand out to me. Its voice acting is stiff and amateurish, probably resulting from the seiyuu all having Onipan! as their very first role, and its animation and expressions are fairly limited most of the time. What it does have going for it is a bunch of completely adorable character designs, a few decent bits of comedy here and there, and the one moment at the end that it was obviously saving its resources for. While the animation is generally very limited, there's one sequence towards the end of the episode where the girls have to catch up to a little girl who left on a bus, and it's elevated by dynamic camerawork and impressive animation; a sequence that is obviously helmed by some old Attack on Titan staff, and made for the highlight of the episode. I can definitely see this one coming into its own, especially if the voice actors can grow into their roles, but for now, I'm interested in it mostly as a new output of creativity from a studio that's been doing some really interesting stuff, and less so as a goofy comedy.
Don't Hurt Me, My Healer
I think the best way to describe this show is that it feels like a series by an amateur comedy writer who has potential. There's a sort of unpolished charm to it, it feels like a story that exists as a result of a young person finding a certain set of memes and character archetypes funny, like they saw someone on Twitter say "gomennasorry," thought it was the funniest thing in the world, and just
had to make one of their characters say it a few times. It feels like they just made a whole manga based on stuff like that, and it got adapted into anime. It definitely has its high points, with the standout gag of this episode being an extended sequence of finding weird and silly ways to ensure we don't get to see the strange way the protagonists face looks after being healed, and then just never getting to see his face at all probably for the rest of the series as a running gag. But the main thing that makes it difficult for me to really like it is that its main female lead is written awkwardly. Although what she does is generally amusing and weird, it never feels like it comes from a consistent personality. She doesn't really feel like a character, more like she just exists to do whatever quirky thing will be mildly amusing in that moment. I think that distinct and consistent characters are an important basis for great character driven comedy, and this series doesn't really nail that. Stiff direction also doesn't help things. But I also don't think I could fault anyone for really enjoying this one, it totally has a charm all its own that I do appreciate. I just don't appreciate it enough to want to keep watching it.
I'm Quitting Heroing
This show reminds me of last season's Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department. Both series are satires of their respective genres of choice (tokusatsu/super sentai and video game-esque fantasy respectively) which focus on the behind-the-scenes business side of the villainous group. I'm Quitting Heroing starts out with this big build as our protagonist walks into a castle, building tension well thanks to solid direction and a well utilized score, before our hero asks the demon lord to join their army, providing a resume and fake graphs to prove his usefulness. Unfortunately, unlike the consistently hilarious Kuroitsu-san (most underrated show of last season btw), YuuYame is only occasionally funny. Once it establishes its set-up, it embarks on a large exposition dump about how our hero defeated all of the demon lord's "elite four" which try to play themselves as jokes, but don't really feel all that jokey to me. It feels like a bog standard satire, making the same kinds of comments about its genre I'd expect from just about every similar show. Having the hero turn to evil because they're feared due to how much danger his power put civilians in feels wholly lacking in creativity. The characters are also a fairly mixed bag, though I do enjoy the designs. One of them is an adorable fox/monkey loli girl with a fang who thinks she has to marry the main character since he defeated her in battle, and another is an adorable giant buff dragon man who just wants to make time for his kids. It has its moments, particularly those first 5 minutes or so, but on the whole, I don't think I'll be thinking about this one very much, and thus I won't be sticking with it.
The Dawn of the Witch
This one is a sequel/spin-off to an obscure fantasy show from a few years ago called Grimoire of Zero. I watched Grimoire of Zero while it aired, and initially enjoyed its first half for some endearing character interactions and solid worldbuilding, but it started to get messy around half way through and never recovered from there. The Dawn of the Witch can be watched standalone as far as I can tell. Whether it's actually worth watching though... it's not bad. Certainly nowhere near my immediate endearment towards its parent series back when that came out, but it has a decent hook and I like a few of the characters. It's definitely lacking in a few notable ways, especially it's awkward dialogue (which is either too unnatural for mundane conversation, or way too overtly expository), but I do think it has a few interesting plot beats I wouldn't mind seeing explored. I won't watch more of it, but I don't think I'd blame anyone for wanting too. It's pretty alright. I should also note that I think Holt is pretty hot, big fan of her (in general, best character thus far by far, but also she's nice).
Shadowverse Flame
I was expecting some pretty generic kids card game show shenanigans here, but this was actually reasonably charming. It still has a fairly standard set-up, but its main character has this straight laced, somewhat deadpan personality that I find pretty endearing, and I like most of the character designs, which maintain that classic "kids show toy advertisement" flare but feel more restrained and cute here compared to what I've seen in contemporaries like Beyblade. The animation also has some surprising high points, though it's not consistent. This episode was definitely bogged down by exposition, and I have a feeling that it won't go away for a while considering that the card game at this show's center has barely even been introduced yet, but I can see this being a solid kids show once it gets going, and I can easily imagine anyone who enjoys card game shows getting a lot out of this. Honestly, if I weren't already keeping up with Precure, I may have tried out another episode, but one 50 episode kids show is more than enough. Plus, I've never been into card game shows. But this isn't too bad.
Just Some Good Old Fashioned Quality Anime Entertainment
Love After World Domination
As cliché a parody as this may be, as overplayed as the "hero and villain fall in love but have to keep it a secret" set-up is, a cute rom-com is a cute rom-com and this is decidedly one of those. I'm not sure if it will be able to keep it up for particularly long, but I found this first episode to be reasonably endearing. The biggest way it achieves this is just by having well realized characters. Fudo is a bit of weirdo, straight laced, obsessed with body building, and plays things out by the book and even turning to online resources. Desumi has an active social media account and does all sorts of normal girl things while feeling insecure about how her villain cohorts treat her. It's not a ton, but it's enough to make this couple feel genuinely endearing and for me to invest in it by the end of the episode. It even has a few animation highlights. While the fanservice may be a turn-off to some, I still ultimately enjoyed this one enough to consider giving it another episode or two.
Healer Girl
This one's about a world where a new branch of medicine exists, where you can sing a certain way and it heals people's sickness. It has genuine training for the profession, doing it the wrong way can be harmful for the patient, there are actual attempts at scientific explanations of how it works (including a seminar to teach people about it), and they can basically serve as substitutes for traditional doctors (or at least be complimentary to them). It's more than a little silly, but the show leans into that silliness just enough to be fun, mostly thanks to that absurd worldbuilding, and the fact that the main character healed an old lady's bronchitis by singing really well (complete with a very stupid visual metaphor). At first, I found the characters to be a bit bland and lacking in chemistry, but then they suddenly broke out into song in order to have a normal conversation and I was immediately completely on board with the entire show. It's not quite a musical, but it occasionally captures some of that appeal, and that's when the show is at its most fun. If the characters get to break out into song (and maybe dance?) at least a few times an episode, I think I'll have fun with this one. Genuine musicals are practically non-existent in anime, so I'll gladly take a series that captures that appeal in a way that's fun and lively, we really need more stuff like that. The girls are just likable enough to invest in, the animation is strong enough to sell their personalities, and it delivers on the most important part: the music.
The Greatest Demon Lord is Reborn as a Typical Nobody
I think this is gonna be an unpopular opinion, but I actually liked this one. A little while ago, I talked about
how Hitoribocchi captured a lot of my experiences growing up with autism in very specific ways, and believe it or not, this show captures some of that same appeal for me. Following an overpowered demon lord who no one sees as human due to said power, he feels exceedingly isolated from his peers and desires a more normal life where people treat him as a beloved equal. Thus, he basically kills himself and reincarnates with a more average power level, but since the new world is far weaker than the old one, the average powers of his old world are overpowered in this one. But more important to what I consider to be the appeal of this show, is that he keeps his memories of his previous life, and it drastically impacts how he interacts with people in his new life. Since he's so used to acting as a dignitary and speaking overly formally towards people who will always listen to him, normal human interactions are fundamentally foreign to him, so he has to learn the basics as if it were an assignment rather than naturally picking up on them as you grow up. And this actually matches some of my own experiences with autism, mostly in the ways that I had to consciously pick up on patterns of natural behavior in order to mask my social deficiencies. Like for Ard, natural human interactions just didn't come naturally to me the way they do for most people, I had to go out of my way to learn and copy them, and rely on overly simplified heuristics without fully understanding the context that makes the concepts work. Ard drastically overthinks all of his interactions. He'll say one thing, read way too much into the other person's reaction, and then try to correct it but ends up overcorrecting, reads too much into their response to that, and it just keeps going. He plans out everything he'll say, and keeps to categories of interaction that he vaguely understands but can't properly execute. I honestly found this to be so relatable that I found myself pretty attached to Ard once I figured out the show's schtick. That being said, unlike Hitoribocchi, this show is marred by bafflingly bad direction, terrible animation, and only a few genuinely funny gags out of many attempts (there's one scene where Ard's facial expression just straight up doesn't match his voice actor's emotive performance, it was uncanny). The final moments of the first episode also give me the impression that this show is gonna turn into a more traditional isekai power fantasy, since Ard does become close friends with someone by the end (an extremely affectionate female character at that) and is headed off to school. Still, a power fantasy starring a unique and solidly defined main character I can relate to on a more personal level is always gonna be a lot more powerful and more fun than one with some bland Gary Stu loser I don't care about, so I think I might give this another episode or two to see what it's about.
Deaimon: Recipe for Happiness
I actually ended up watching this premiere twice, and came away with very different opinions of it both times. My first watch was before I had to go to work, and I ended up being in a rush, which I think effected my perception of the episode. At the time, I had felt that the comedy was grating, that everyone was unnecessarily mean to its main male character, and that it did a mediocre job of setting up its tone. But this episode was received very well by people I respect, so I decided to give it another shot. And without the fear of being late for work weighing on my mind, I enjoyed it a lot more. The comedy seemed more naturally integrated this time around, and vital to the characterization of its leads. It's based on this compelling parallel between the lost 30 year old Nagomu who's growth stagnated, and the young girl Itsuka, who had to grow up too early due to being abandoned by her parents. On this second viewing, Nagomu being lost in life and receiving a wake-up call to start taking responsibility for himself and his family weighed harder on me. He's a very child-like character, which has its positive traits as well, but also leads him to escape from his responsibilities. Upon both viewings though, Itsuka was the strongest aspect of the episode. I find her character to be immediately compelling. She interpreted being abandoned by her father as his way of escaping responsibility, so she hates anyone who is unable to bear the responsibilities they have, and naturally gets upset at Nagomu for being someone who does just that. But she's young and naive, and in desperate need of a father figure, and the childlike Nagomu still holds enough maturity and worldly wisdom thanks to all his failures to do just that. Thus, it sets up a wholesome slice of life show about family, responsibility, and the power of good food. I can see myself getting very attached to this as the relationships get fleshed out more, and lovely art direction carries it to even greater heights. I won't fault my first viewing as "wrong" or "invalid," but I'm going to consider my second, more positive viewing more strongly, and recommend this one based on that. I think it has a lot of potential.
The Executioner and Her Way of Life
The first few minutes of this one scared me a bit, as it seemed to be going the straightforward isekai fantasy route. It was a solid take on the formula, with its main characters generally having some decent chemistry, and with impressive animation and artwork adding character to the characters, but nonetheless struck me as something that might get a bit boring rather quickly. Thankfully, a major plot twist about half way through the episode drastically shook things up more than enough to be interesting, and justified the seemingly bland set-up. And the rest of the episode intrigued me enough to want to give this another episode or two. I won't spoil the bigger moments (suffice it to say that the major twist is quite interesting), but I will say that I'm drawn to the guilt that seems to be weighing heavily on the titular executioner, and the implication that the protagonist might be protecting a tyrannical status quo presents a potentially interesting direction for the series to go in. Its magic system also presents an avenue of intrigue, as it seems unique and the main characters have power from scripture. It's also more than a little gay, so if you're down for a bit of yuri in your fantasy show, this one's worth a shot. It's still a flawed premiere though, full of clumsy exposition and with a tone so all over the place that I couldn't even tell what this show's main genre is supposed to be, but it presents enough potential for me to consider it worth trying to find, and has enough standout moments in its own right for me to think it will live up to that potential.
Oh Yeah Baby, This is the Good Shit
Ao Ashi
This one isn't without its caveats, but at the end of the day, it's a sports anime from Production I.G., and that's obviously a recipe for success to at least some extent. Whether this will be able to match the likes of Haikyuu or Run With the Wind is yet to be seen, but I think this is a promising start. I think the scenario that it centers around is super interesting, and makes for a unique set of conflicts. Aoi Ashito is an extremely talented player who seems to defy logic. He has no real sense of strategy and doesn't seem to rely on his teammates, but in reality, he has a strong grasp of the field and of tactics to some extent, and does ultimately rely on other players in his unique style of game. He's confident because he knows he's good, he speaks his mind and isn't afraid to start conflict, and is short tempered and vents his frustrations by working himself half to death, which has turned many people away from him, but also made him really care about the team that did accept him for all of his quirks. He's something of an unrefined prodigy, but what makes this interesting to me is that his actual ability as a player is somewhat in contention. He's good on his own, but also relies on his teammates in his own way. In my mind, it's somewhat ambiguous as to whether he's good in spite of or because of his teammates, or at the very least it's some combination of both. The story looks to be about him trying to go pro rather than to take part in an inner-high tournament, which I think is pretty interesting, and his family's poor financial situation only adds another layer to the story. The direction is a bit of a mixed bag, often taking a moving manga aesthetic, but also having numerous moments of inspired cinematography and animation that stand out. My biggest problem with this episode is that, in spite of my praise of Aoi's characterization above, he's actually a pretty annoying character I find slightly difficult to root for. He takes from the Asta Black Clover school of shounen protagonist and screams basically everything (I thought they may have had the same voice actor even, though Aoi's VA is playing his debut role on this show), even though this is actually based on a seinen manga. He's not nearly as bad as Asta was, but it's still annoying enough that it keeps me at a distance from him. I think I could get super invested in him if this gets toned down, but it's definitely the biggest hurdle for this series. Still, in spite of that, I see tons of potential in this show, and I did ultimately enjoy this premiere quite a bit, so I'll keep watching it for now.
Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club 2nd Season
This was a pleasant reintroduction to the girls of Nijigasaki. While it didn't have the natural dialogue and intimate character relationships that made the first episode of the first season capture me, the strong personalities of the girls and of course the killer music videos are more than enough to make this worth while. Apparently there are over 30 key animators and 4 chief animation directors on this first episode alone, which is a scary prospect for the series overall production, but it still managed to show some pretty great moments, especially the cool advertisement video that opened the episode. The animators always seem to have the most fun with Kasumin, she always gets the best expressions. Presumably, it's because they know that she's best girl, so good on them. This season introduces multiple new main characters, which is also a scary prospect for a series that already has 9 main characters. Said characters have already gotten their arcs in season 1 though, so I suppose it's not too unreasonable to flesh out 4 more. New character Lanzhu presents a logical next-step in the series theming, and serves as a source of momentum for the story. While season 1 was about the ways we can work as a team to bring out the best of individual talents, and the ways the fans motivate our idols, Lanzhu believes that it's the job of an idol to captivate the audience as a star far above them, without relying on them at all. This makes Lanzhu and Yuu interesting foils, and I hope it plays out in an interesting way. But I'm mostly here because the girls are charming and the music videos are stylish and cool, and I have no doubt that this season of NijiGaku will deliver on that as always.
RPG Real Estate
Ah, Doga Kobo adapting a Kirara manga, name a more classic combo than that. This one's not without its caveats, but I found it to be extremely pleasant and adorable on the whole. It's basically a comedy about how hard it is to buy a house, and I think just about everyone should find that to be relatable. It's also, funnily enough, an era of world peace because the hero defeated the demon lord not too long ago. But at the end of the day, this is still a Kirara manga, so its main goal is to just be cute and heartwarming and pleasant, and it does that by having great character designs and an appealing color palette (the setting is literally just the same place that Is the Order a Rabbit takes place in except it's a fantasy world, and it has beautiful background art), solid animation, endearing humor, and a bunch of likable personalities. The end result is just a deluge of warm and happy feelings washing over me for 20 minutes, the sign of a great cute girls anime. This one does have quite a bit of fanservice, and even contrives excuses for it into some of its characters, though it's oddly not super overt and doesn't call attention to itself in the directing (most of the time) despite being prominent. There's an absurdly adorable dragon loli girl who just really hates clothes because it makes it hard to move her tail, and an adventurer girl who has to wear a skimpy outfit when she goes to work because "that's a sign you're a good adventurer." These characters are canonically adults as far as I can tell (they're real estate agents after all), but if fanservice and especially loli characters isn't your thing, then definitely stay away. But if, like me, you either don't care or enjoy that stuff, and are down for a charming and funny Kirara-kei series set in a fantasy world, I found this episode more than enjoyable enough to recommend. Also, as a side note, Hina Kino voices the adorable dragon loli, and I think she's quickly becoming one of my favorite seiyuu. Her voice is so distinct and expressive (and shrill, I don't know how she makes half the noises she does), and I had kept my eye on her after her standout performance in Asobi Asobase a few years ago, so I'm happy to see her in more roles, especially if the character is a super adorable dragon girl (even if she has one very annoying quirk).
Aharen is Indecipherable
I don't know what it is about the deadpan doll-like loli archetype that's almost just inherently adorable, but this show captures that specific charm about as well as anything. This is a stupidly cute and heartwarming comedy about the budding relationship between two people who scare others away for various reasons. Raidou's resting bitch face always seems to keep people at bay, while Aharen has a tendency to get too close too quickly and turn others off, making them a perfect match for each other. Raidou's attempts to understand and communicate with Aharen make for a stream of genuinely funny gags, as well as a number of heartwarming moments. There's something both sweet and hilarious about a girl who talks so low that karaoke mics can't even pick up her voice, but who spends so much time with the guy that his hearing naturally becomes acclimated enough to hear it. The titular Aharen is weird, but not actually indecipherable. She's a bit unpredictable at first, but once her motivations are established there's a clear logic to how she operates that stays consistent. Perhaps Raidou doesn't have quite as much personality, but his over-the-top efforts to communicate with Aharen are, again, both funny and heartwarming, and I found myself invested in their relationship by the end of the episode. It looks like this show is gonna be my dose of sugary sweet adorableness this season, and I'm always down for some cuteness in my life.
Summer Time Rendering
This is another show I recommend with a few caveats, but the core of this show is very intriguing and its execution is noteworthy. This one's a time travel mystery series that feels like it uses Re:Zero's gimmick in a small, tightly knit setting similar to that of Higurashi (and with Higurashi's sense of tone, that sweltering summer time atmosphere, plus it structures its mystery similarly). My initial hook into this show was how it portrayed grief in its first half. The story centers around the death of a girl named Ushio, and starts out on her funeral. But it's not portrayed with any melodrama or angst, there's not even that much crying. But when protagonist Shinpei and Ushio's sister Mio get home, the reality of life without Ushio starts to sink in. Shin cooks dinner and sets a place for Ushio, and Mio had been upbeat the entire time but starts to break down as reality sinks in after a shower. These little moments instantly sold the characters and their feelings to me, and it's bolstered even further because Ayumu Watanabe directs the absolute hell out of this (guy's seriously one of the most underappreciated directors in the medium). In the second half, the overarching mystery starts to get established, and there are multiple avenues of intrigue that have me wanting to see more, especially the violent note that the episode ends on. And top it off with a strong soundtrack from Nier composers Keichi Okabe and Keigo Hoashi, backed by great sound direction as well, and you've got a show that I'm really looking forward to seeing more of. And this is all in spite of its awkward handling of tone. While it generally does a good job making me feel that sweltering summer heat, and of getting into the characters headspace, it occasionally undercuts itself by either being weirdly goofy out of nowhere, or by suddenly getting inappropriately melodramatic. The early parts of the episode are particularly frustrating, it only took 1 minute and 30 seconds for the protagonist to accidentally stick his face in a women's breasts and get slapped, and that was quickly followed up by one of the most contrived panty shots I've ever seen. Thankfully, those things are no longer present for the rest of the episode (and hopefully the rest of the show), but it does have one more moment where it suddenly gets way dramatic with lots of action lines and screaming basically out of nowhere, that mostly just made me laugh. These awkward individual moments did take me out of it at times, but I know that shows like this often tone that stuff down as they go on, and the set-up and general execution thus far have been more than strong enough for me to be on board with this one. I can see this being pretty great, here's hoping it lives up to my initial comparisons of Re:Zero and Higurashi, rather than the eventual disaster that fellow time travel mystery thriller Erased ended up becoming.
Estab-Life: Great Escape
Shows like this are the exact reason I refuse to pay MAL scores any mind. While its 5.68 rating might give the appearance of a mediocre series, and I'm sure being a Polygon Pictures CGI production isn't helping its case, I found this premiere to be incredibly entertaining, and to hold a ton of thematic potential. If you look at the staff, this stops being a surprise, as its an original mixed-media project written by Shoji Gatoh (the creator of Full Metal Panic and Amagi Brilliant Park) with direction by Hiroyuki Hashimoto (Is the Order a Rabbit, Classroom of the Elite), both known staff members who have proven themselves as consistently strong creators. It also has a banger soundtrack from composer Yoshiaki Fujisawa (Land of the Lustrous, Mushoku Tensei), so again, no shortage of strong staff here. Estab-Life is about a post-apocalyptic world where people live in "clusters," each with a unique set of rules and culture. The cluster that our main characters exist in seems to have something of a totalitarian authority running it and forcing people into their roles for the entire lives, and that naturally causes some to want to escape it, even when their society won't allow it. Thus, "extractors" like our main characters help them to find happiness in other parts of the world by escorting them through gates like secret agents. Its a fun spy thriller of sorts that seems to be exploring the ways we find purpose and happiness in our lives, and it takes place in an intriguing setting that I want to learn more about. Its characters have instant chemistry, and I enjoyed the more mundane school segments just as much as the spy thriller stuff. But their banter during their missions and just the unique natures of the characters (such as a wolf man who communicates solely by grumbling in dog noises, it's great) is just extremely fun to watch. I can easily see this show making for a silly and entertaining episodic series of fun heists with tons of heart, and that more than makes up for the stiff facial expressions and other such issues related to its CGI.
These Are Why I Watch Anime
Spy x Family
The most anticipated premiere of the season, the first episode of this beloved shounen jump property didn't disappoint. It's snappily directed, effortlessly funny, and oh so adorable. Combining a spy thriller with the classic set-up of a detached person growing close to a found family makes for an interesting hook for both comedy and drama, and though Twilight (or rather, Loid) keeps himself closed off and has little in the way of vulnerability, Anya is just the most precious and easily likable kid around, which gives the series an emotional grounding. And her having psychic powers will certainly allow us the look into Loid's mind that we need. The two already grow an endearing relationship by the end of this first episode, and the next episode looks to bring together the last piece of this odd family unit. This is quirky, fun, and adorable, and seems to have strong staff as a collaborative effort between Wit studio and Cloverworks, so it's gonna be one to look out for, and its promising start only makes me more excited for what's to come.
Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost
I'm gonna be blunt: if you dislike this show, you're a monster. Even if it's not your thing, it has such a positive message and is so unbearably adorable that I
will judge your character if you actively dislike it. Thankfully, I think it's impossible to actually truly hate it. As for why that is, well this is a comedy about an overworked and depressed office lady who always has to stay late, and the little tiny ghost girl who worries about her and tries to scare her into going home and getting some sleep, but is way too cute to actually succeed. It is even more adorable than that premise sounds, and the ghost girl ends up being so cute that it has the opposite effect on Miss Shachiku, healing her and motivating her to do even more work, thus causing the ghost to worry even more and do even more adorable things. She's cute enough that I actually buy into this as a thing that happens. I'm talking GochiUsa levels of Grade-A weaponized moe, it's
that cute. It's the kind of comedy where your reaction the punchline isn't to laugh, but to clutch your chest and say "d'aww" with a big doofy smile on your face, and that happened to me basically the entire length of this premiere. I have no idea if this gimmick will get old in the future, or if the series will lose itself once it introduces more characters, but for right now, I don't care, because my heart is healed. I guess I'll have another dose of sugary sweet, disgustingly adorable shenanigans to heal my soul and maintain my sanity this season.
Birdie Wing: Golf Girls' Story
Golf is a difficult sport to show in fiction. It lacks the inherent hype of other sports like basketball or baseball, and though it's plenty complicated in its own right, it's difficult to actually convey that in a way the viewer can feel. I think there are two ways to handle a golf focused sports story. One way is to focus on the vibes, highlighting the relaxing and somewhat therapeutic nature of golf as an activity to share with yourself and others. This is the approach that last season's short film Sorairo Utility took, and that was a very pleasant watch. The other way though, is to up the ante and find ways to make the sport really silly. Birdie Wing goes the Sk8 the Infinity route and just makes everything batshit crazy and absurd, and it's an absolute joy to behold. This show is silly, insane, campy, and incredibly dumb, and I love it. It immediately starts off with a pretty insane plot twist, and only picks up from there. The main characters run an illegal business to make enough money to keep some kids fed, and the protagonist plays golf solely for the purpose of gambling so they can pay the bills. There's basically a whole betting ring set out to beat the protagonist "Rainbow Barrette" and her moves based around different colors, who is so confident in her playing that she only uses three clubs. Of course, the most important part of the episode is when said character hits a golf ball between the cars of a moving train, lands perfectly on a rake, and uses that to hit the green. All to beat an old lady in a clown mask and take an ugly bastard's money. I think that says it all. Visually, it takes pretty heavily from Osamu Dezaki's toolkit, with its use of triple takes and memories, as well as a hefty dose of angst, which makes it all the more fun. I had a blast with this one, it's a great time and I'd recommend it to anyone craving a silly super powered sports anime.
Ya Boy Kongming!
These classic fish-out-of-water comedy series always seem to have a charm to them, and Ya Boy Kongming is a very well done take on this tried and true formula. Following Kongming of Three Kingdoms China after he dies and gets reincarnated into modern day Shibuya, this premiere starts out going full force on the classic set-up of an anachronistic historical figure learning about modern society. This series takes it about as far as it could, with a ton of fun gags built around the misconception that Halloween in Shibuya is actually Hell. From getting tequila shoved down his throat to suffering at the hands of EDM constantly ringing in his head at the club, the hell-worthy punishments he faces create an endless barrage of hilarious gags, and snappy direction makes things flow efficiently. And that leads to fun stuff like Kongming asking about the blockchain and reading his own wiki page, all great stuff. But that only really lasts for the first half of the episode, after which it shifts to a more serious and heartfelt direction, with Eiko's failed music career and Kongming's guilt over failures during war weighing on them heavily, and making for a surprisingly effective parallel. Kongming and Eiko have great chemistry thus far, and I love how their sense of styles contrast each other, with Kongming's old-timey outfit standing out compared to Eiko's super fashionable and stylish streetwear (seriously, her outfit is killer. Maybe best girl of the season too). It looks to be exploring the nature of talent through the failures of its protagonists, and it's also a poignant look into the ways that music can move people. Backed by great background art and expressive animation, this made for a thoroughly excellent premiere. It's also the first time that studio P.A. Works has adapted a manga, which is exciting all on its own, and I look forward to seeing how that turns out.
Dance Dance Danseur
There are a lot of sports anime this seasons, but Dance Dance Danseur is pretty cleanly on another level for me. This first episode was dedicated to some truly excellent character building. At the center of this story is standards of masculinity, and the effects of propagating toxic masculinity on young men. Junpei has built up this image for himself due to masculine influences in his life like his father and friends, who are never trying to hurt him but who unintentionally reinforce traditionally masculine stereotypes on him even when he doesn't cleanly fall into them. He comes off as aggressive and a bit of a dick, but it's all an act meant to keep up this appearance of being "manly," because he's been taught that "manly" means "cool," and not being cool is a social death sentence. Ballet is therefore off the table in favor of the much more masculine Jeet Kune Do, and long girlish hair and genuine emotion is a no-go. Nonetheless, deep down inside, he knows he wants to do ballet, and new people in his life look to be pulling him out of his shell and into a more positive headspace, a way to express his masculinity without giving up on what he loves. The episode paints a detailed portrait of Junpei as a character, he's very well realized thus far. While other characters haven't gotten a chance to shine yet, this premiere was still blessed with natural feeling dialogue and a few smaller moments establishing characterization for others in the cast (I particularly found it funny that Junpei's friend Hyou, who ironically has grown to have longer and more girly looking hair, just takes videos of everything outside in hopes of getting one that can go viral). Perhaps most importantly, the dance sequences are stunning, and it maintained high quality animation throughout. This is a modern Mappa production, so I have no doubt that this show in particular (one that necessarily requires extremely lengthy and detailed sequences of dance animation) is probably a production mess behind the scenes, but it doesn't show at all in the product as of right now, so the dance scenes are entrancing. My only real complaint is that I hate the weird line across everyone's eyes, but that slight visual hiccup is more than made up for by an otherwise really engaging and enjoyable premiere that makes me excited for what's to come.
Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie
I'm a simple man. I'm a sucker for an adorable, pure as hell romantic comedy with a wholly lovable ensemble cast. Shikimori gives me that in spades, and was an utterly delightful premiere that kept a smile on my face basically the entire time. Izumi is a cute soft boi who has a tendency to attract really bad luck, and Shikimori is his loving girlfriend who will always stay by his side and protect him from whatever comes his way. It's a simple premise that makes for a really sweet relationship, and it delivers on it not only from a romantic perspective but a comedic one as well, especially at the end of the episode where Shikimori kicks a fucking massive sign to stop it from killing Izumi. I am... down bad for Shikimori. Like the title says, she's not
just a cutie, she's also cool as hell and a total badass. But also, she's a hella cutie. So is literally every character in this show though, who I'm also down bad for. The couple has three other friends who are way too cute, including a precious orange haired boy with an adorable fang, a stupidly endearing somewhat deadpan girl with short blonde hair, and a feisty gremlin girl who makes funny noises; all with distinct personalities I already love. One thing that strikes me about this show is just how innocent it presents the romance as. Izumi and Shikimori speak to each other in extra polite ways that may not carry over perfectly in translation. Both of them refer to each other with -san, and I believe Shikimori uses keigo with Izumi, which you normally wouldn't expect of people who are dating (hell, you normally wouldn't use keigo with classmates, let alone a classmate you're supposed to be ultra close with). I wonder if this is going to be explored at all. Even if it's not though, simply being a totally precious romance with expressive visuals and lovable characters is all it takes to make for a great premiere, a very well executed take on its genre with a unique identity. In a season saturated with romance anime, Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie stands out as the one I found the most endearing.
Ascendance of a Bookworm 3rd season
We are officially at the part of the list where everything else is just sequels to shows I already love and am very invested in. The third season of Ascendance of a Bookworm picks up right where the previous one left off, honestly to the point of my detriment since it's been quite a bit between season 2 and now. But although I didn't remember some of the details that the plot of this season hinges on, everything I do remember loving is still here in spades. Myne continues to be a super easy character to root for with her fun personality and infectious passion (as well as Yuka Iguchi's delightful vocal performance), the series maintains its heartfelt family drama, and Myne's accidental quest to bring capitalism to this world continues to be interesting. With Myne having to hole herself up away from her family in the midst of trouble brewing in the background, I suspect that this season will be a fairly emotional one, as the end of this first episode was already a poignant moment all its own. Ascendance of a Bookworm is a fun and heartwarming series with some interesting politicking and economics to boot, and season 3 looks to keep up that reputation.
The Demon Girl Next Door season 2
God dammit, I missed Shamiko and the gang so much. Look, the first season of The Demon Girl Next Door was such a delight, simultaneously a charming sitcom, a hilarious parody of magical girl anime, and a heartwarming family drama. Season 2 just picks up right where season 1 left off and doesn't drop a single beat. And it's even nice enough to incorporate recaps very naturally into gags, to the point that it doesn't even really register as recap. This episode was all over the place, starting with a series of silly gags about Yuko trying to challenge Momo to a dual but it naturally turning into a date, and then ending with a heartfelt family dinner between neighbors and friends (no matter how many times Yuko swears that Momo is
definitely her mortal enemy). There's just something so insanely charming about the way Momo always tries to help Yuko grow and always keeps her in mind even while "defeating" her. And this episode even has a few surreal gags. Demon Girl has this weird, eclectic style of humor that somehow builds into the character relationships and always culminates in the most heartwarming moments. And this season looks to be giving major answers to the plot that's been lurking in the background as well, a plot that is genuinely interesting and that I want to see explored. Honestly, this show just does everything right. It's funny, it's cute, it's heartwarming, it has expressive visuals and direction, it has great voice acting, it's just the complete package, and having another 12 weeks to spend with Shadow Mistress Yuko and company will definitely ensure that there's at least a little bit of light in my life.
Kaguya-sama: Love is War - Ultra Romantic
Did you expect anything else? Kaguya-sama is back with its third season, and I am absolutely delighted to spend another 12 weeks with the lovable dorks of Shuchiin Academy. Everything that made the first two seasons such a standout romantic comedy return in spades, from Mamoru Hatakeyama's dynamic direction to great vocal performances all around. This season starts out bold, with a sequence not centered around the main cast, and it's every bit as hilarious as any other gag from this show. This season goes for the hella relatable Gen-Z experiences too, from headphones not being fully plugged in to the horrors of not being able to use "I didn't see your message until now" on Line thanks to read receipts. It ends off with an arm wrestling competition as hype as any sports anime, with a perfect payoff to boot; starring all of my problematic sexist children, god bless them all, I missed them so much. This is still Kaguya-sama, and any season with Kaguya-sama is a better one solely for its presence. And another banger OP from Masayuki Suzuki is just the icing on the cake.
Overall thoughts
On the whole, this is an exceptionally good season, maybe even one of the best I've ever kept up with. A drastic improvement over Winter, there are over 20 anime that I want to keep up with right now, and almost all of them are ones that I really think have the potential to become great. I rarely keep up with more than 10, so that's super impressive. This is gonna be a busy season, but it's definitely one where I can argue that anime is pretty damn great.
A few miscellaneous thoughts to end things off. For one, I think the biggest surprise for me is what genres are dominant. While the most dominant genre is video game inspired fantasy (including but not only isekai), not far behind is actually sports anime, of which 5 are currently airing. Comedies (including romantic ones) are also very prominent this season. I'm also surprised at how many notable staff members have projects this season, or at least staff members that I find to be notable. Bloom Into You director Makoto Katou and Attack on Titan composer Hiroyuki Sawano are working on an anime about horseback riding, that's fucking crazy to me.
Finally, my favorite OP's and ED's. My favorite OP's belong to:
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Ya Boy Kongming!-
The Executioner and Her Way of Life-
Dance Dance Danseur-
Spy x Family-
The Demon Girl Next Door season 2
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