So, really quick: I was concerned that I cut shows a bit too quickly and didn't give them enough of a chance last season, so there are two new rules about how this is going to go:
- Only one show can be cut per week.
- No show can be cut in the first week.
That's it. That's all that's changing. Now, let's get to it!
Boogiepop and Others
First of we have a show that wants to be special and premiered with 2 episodes a week early, meaning technically there are 3 episodes out now. But because 3 episodes is a bit much to talk about at once, we're only going to be talking about the 2 episodes that came out in its premiere week. Anyway, in episodes 1 and 2 of Boogiepop and Others, girls at Takeda's school are disappearing. While the faculty and police believe that they just have a string of runaways on their hands, the students believe something more sinister is afoot. Legend has it that there is a serial killer named Boogiepop who kills young girls when they've reached the peak of their beauty, so as to save them from future ugliness. But when Takeda sees his friend Touka dressed as Boogiepop, he realizes things are more complicated than they appear. Boogiepop claims that they are a spirit that possessed Touka's body as a response to the appearance of a great evil, but then later disappears, claiming the evil was defeated without their aid.
Meanwhile, an alien named Echoes has landed on Earth with the goal of blending into society and observing humanity. However, he was discovered by the government and cloned as a part of their experiments. But the clone escaped and became the meat eater Manticore, who possesses the body of a girl at Takeda's school and teams up with the sadistic student Saotome, as they enslave suitable students through supernatural means and feed the failures to Manticore. This attracts the attention of the delinquent Kirima Nagi, who starts investigating the disappearances.
There is a LOT going on in these first two episodes, and the fact that events are not being shown in chronological order doesn't make it any easier to follow. My current understanding is that the story with Manticore and Echoes is happening simultaneously with Takeda's conversations with Boogiepop on the roof, but if that's the case, then why is Boogiepop even in the show? So far, Boogiepop just appears, says some psychological mumbo-jumbo that probably means nothing in the grand scheme of things, and then disappears saying somebody else already did their job for them. I don't know, this show is pretty hard to understand even after watching both episodes a second time, but I get the feeling that we just don't have enough information and that later episodes will help to piece it all together. Either way, the show looks great visually (Madhouse usually has very pretty shows), and the scenes with Manticore and Saotome give me Light and Ryuk flashbacks, where the sadistic high school student manipulates a supernatural entity for his own world-conquering ends. Only this time Manticore seems to be in love with Saotome. So that's a thing. And Nagi is immediately likable for me, and seeing her put that poor girl in an arm bar looks promising for potential action scenes in the future. All in all, even though I wasn't quite as blown away by this premiere as I thought I would be based on the hype, this still seems like something worth watching, and, depending how things go, could be very very good.
The Price of Smiles
Next up is a weird one. In episode 1 of The Price of Smiles, it is Princess Yuki of Planet Soleil's 12th birthday, and she is now taking an active role in government. As she approves the roster of the delegation to the nearing Empire, one of her soldiers suggests that the monarchy is outdated and that it is time for her to step down. This turns out to be a test of Yuki's character, though, and her diplomatic refusal to do so impresses the soldiers and they swear fealty. However, Yuki's bodyguard and childhood friend Joshua is still insulted and challenges the soldiers to a duel in their mecha simulator. Yuki intervenes when she sees Joshua fighting alone against two opponents -- even though those were the terms he requested and her getting involved is thus totally cheating -- and they win using her unconventional tactics. When Joshua leaves with the peace delegation, it is revealed to the audience that everyone has been lying to Yuki, and that the supposed non-aggression pact is actually a brutal border conflict that may even already be a full-on war.
I had no idea what to expect when I decided to watch this show. The trailers show nothing other than the show being pretty okay visually, and the synopsis on MAL just says that the story is about two girls, Yuki and a character we never met before named Stella, who live on different planets. Based on what we've seen so far, I'm guessing that this is a war story about how Yuki and Stella become friends and their friendship leads to peace or whatever. Which is fine, I guess. But I just wish that this first episode wasn't so BORING! Half of it is all "Look how cute Yuki is!" while the other half is "Hey, this will be important later!", and while foreshadowing and cute antics are both fine in their own way, it means that nothing substantial actually happened this episode. That sort of thing could be saved if the character writing was good, but so far they are all the same bland anime characters I've seen for the past two decades. There's a glimmer of potential here, especially if they push the political angle, but I'm not exactly optimistic about this one. I mean, they made giant robots boring. I didn't even know that was possible! Here's hoping future episodes save this show.
W'Z
In episode 1 of W'Z, Yukiya is a DJ who's trying to make it big on Youtube. In his quest for more views, he decides to use his secret power to transport his friend Haruka and his DJ equipment to a parallel world, which he uses as the set for a livestream of his music. But the stream is interrupted when he is attacked by two pairs of fighters called Handshakers, who can also enter the world and fight as long as they are holding hands. Yukiya is apparently a special Handshaker, who seems to be able to move between the worlds with anyone instead of having a predetermined partner, so his new enemies want to steal that power for themselves.
So, I goofed. I try to keep a rule to only have new shows for the roundup, so as to avoid confusion with people during the recaps. But when I was watching this, I got really confused, so I took a second look at the summary on MAL. And somehow, I missed that this is actually a sequel to an anime that aired in 2017 known as Handshakers. I think it was an honest mistake, considering that W'Z is a completely different title and how Handshakers is one of the worst reviewed modern anime I've ever seen. How bad are the reviews for Handshakers? Xuan Yuan Sword Luminary has a HIGHER average review score on MAL. But at first, I was ready to give W'Z the benefit of a doubt, since I didn't know about its "illustrious lineage". The show definitely has some ambition, constantly swinging the camera around to try to find unique and dynamic camera angles and the house music angle is definitely something I haven't seen in anime before. Sadly, any chance for the aesthetic to endear itself to me is lost with a story that is told with all the coherence of a drunk man trying to give a comprehensive recap of A Song of Ice and Fire based on a second-hand description he heard of the porn parody of Game of Thrones. And when I say that the camera is constantly swinging around, I mean CONSTANTLY. It's clearly being used as a mask to try to hide the fact that the fight scenes are animated poorly and have no sense of flow or choreography. It gets one more episode thanks to the new rules, but I highly doubt that it's going to get any more than that. This is just awful.
Rising of the Shield Hero
Well, enough crap, let's get back to shows that were actually good. In episode 1 of The Rising of the Shield Hero, a boy named Naofumi finds a book in the library that tells of a world where four heroes from another world will be summoned to battle an impending darkness. He is then immediately sucked into the book, where he finds three other young men, each from an alternate Japan. These four are the legendary heroes, each with their own legendary weapon: sword, spear, bow, and shield. Naofumi is the shield hero, and the four agree to fight against the prophesized evil on the behalf of the kingdom in exchange for a monetary reward. However, the legendary weapons are incompatible with each other, and the heroes need to split up and prepare on their own. Different warriors volunteer to join with the other three heroes, but only a single female adventurer named Myne agrees to join Naofumi. After a day of training and resource gathering, Naofumi wakes to find his money and equipment (aside from his shield, which is incapable of being separated from him) stolen, and the castle guards arrest him. Myne had framed Naofumi for sexually assaulting her and stolen his stuff as a result, returning to the spear hero Motoyasu, who Naofumi suspects as being part of the plan against him. Due to the prophecy, the king cannot execute Naofumi, nor can he send him back to his homeworld until the evil is defeated. Nevertheless, the people have turned against Naofumi, and he is left to prepare for the impending battle on his own. Frustrated and alone, Naofumi is approached by a slave trader who offers to help get him a party to call his own.
So I saw the preview for this one, and I thought it looked pretty decent. I was down for the idea of four different characters transported to another world, each with their own perspectives on what an isekai adventure should be, interacting with each other. I thought that that would make for a strong dynamic. And I always liked the idea of shields as a primary weapon, impractical though it may be. So, I was ready for a light fantasy adventure with four characters each trying to be the protagonist. I certainly didn't expect the first episode to play out as a typical isekai trash story, with a sexy lady falling over herself to help the main hero as power slowly but surely falls into his lap, only to be subverted as everything is taken away from him and he is left to live on his own in a world that fears and mistrusts him, yet must rely on him to protect them. Naofumi is a very likable character to me, and I especially enjoyed seeing him have fun leveling up before having everything go wrong. It definitely made me sympathize with him (even if the false rape accusation story is bullshit and problematic as hell), and I'm very curious to see how he responds to the temptation of having slaves magically bound to him, completely unable to betray him.
Dororo
Now it's time for the show that's apparently so good, Amazon thought it didn't need subtitles when they first uploaded it. In episode 1 of Dororo, in the age of samurai, a lesser lord named Daigo Kagemitsu makes a deal with a group of demons: in exchange for the power to rule and protect Japan, he would give them anything they wished. Later, when his son is born, the baby is struck by lightning, and he is left alive while missing several body parts. Daigo orders the midwife to drown the baby in the river, but she pitied the baby and sends him down the river in a boat instead. Sixteen years later, an orphan thief named Dororo is attacked by a demon but is saved by the now adult son of Daigo, named Hyakkimaru, who survives thanks to the prosthetics given to him by a wandering doctor. After killing the demon, Hyakkimaru is again struck by lightning, and his prosthetic face falls off and is replaced with the face that was stolen by the demons.
So, you may not know this, but this is actually a remake of a classic anime. And I'm not talking classic like the 90s or the 80s or anything like that. The original anime, Dororo and Hyakkimaru, first aired in 1969! That's 50 years ago! Even cooler, the manga that this is based on was created by Osamu Tezuka, the man behind dozens of classic manga series like Astro Boy and Black Jack. Tezuka's work is basically the reason that anime as we know it exists at all in the first place, so when the remake was announced I knew I had to check it out (once Amazon figured out what subtitles are, anyway). Anyway, this first episode was SO DAMN COOL! The animation was smooth and fluid, and the art style still pays tribute to that classic Tezuka style that you just don't see in modern anime. This is also a cool setup for a dark battle anime, and Hyakkimaru's prosthetics made the fight against the demon quite interesting to watch. He's a bit of a mystery, since he hasn't spoken once yet, but Dororo makes up for it by being a pretty cool kid so far. Even if he is a thief and a tad obnoxious, he seems to target other criminals and consistently made me laugh, so he's on my good list. Either way, this was one of my most anticipated shows of the season, and this first episode did not disappoint!
Pastel Memories
Oh, geez, this show. In episode 1 of Pastel Memories, in an alternate Akihabara, anime culture has been all but erased from society. The employees at one of the last surviving anime and manga stores receive a request from a little girl to find copies of a once popular manga series. The girls search high and low, and manage to find all but the very first volume of the series. As they consider their next move back at the shop, three more girls appear in a beam of light out of nowhere with a talking rabbit mascot, back from a mission of "erasing a virus" in a fictional world. Almost immediately after their arrival, the rabbit announces that the virus has reappeared in the world of the manga the others were searching for. As the manga volumes they've collected start disintegrating, three of the girls teleport with the rabbit into the world of the manga in order to erase the virus and save that world...
You know, after watching W'Z earlier this week, I didn't think anything could confuse me more. But here comes Pastel Memories, ready to prove me wrong. What the hell did I just watch? Why does every character look like they just got beaten with a frying pan so many times that their faces are now permanently flat? Why does every girl in the cast have the same personality? Why are 13 characters being introduced all in the same 24 minute episode? Why are the jiggle physics and close-ups on breasts even more lifeless than in normal trashy anime, to the point where I didn't even notice until the third time it happened? Why are there ads for Caligula and Citrus in the background?
I honestly don't know what to say about this. The episode literally went "We need to find this manga. We can't find the manga. Let's split up and look for the manga! Hey, I found the manga! One of the manga volumes is missing! There's a virus attacking the manga!" There was no details, no worldbuilding, no characterization, awful music...Nobody working on this anime gave a shit, and it really really shows. As bad as Xuan Yuan Sword Luminary was last season (and yes, that is my measuring stick for terrible anime now), at least this show TRIED. Let's see if next week's episode can save it, cause I'm really tempted to just ignore the new rules and just cut it now.
Run With the Wind
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| Geez, Crunchyroll, fix your subtitles. |
In episode 12 of The Boys are Back in Town, at the latest track meet, Shindo and Yuki achieve qualifying times for the Hakone Qualifying Race. Now only King, Prince, and Nico remain without the official recorded times necessary. A reporter for a sports magazine approaches Kakeru after the race, but his questions about Kakeru's time as a high school athlete make him uncomfortable, and Kakeru refuses to talk to him. Haiji takes the team to a summer training camp in the mountains, where Sakaki and the rest of Tokyo University track team are also training. Sakaki and his friends deliberately slow down their pace to throw off Kakeru's rhythm, and when Sakaki taunts Kakeru and the others after they confront him, Kakeru charges him, ready to throw a punch...
I'm so happy that the boys are back! And this episode really made that three week wait for them feel worth it. Every single background shot during the training camp scenes was breathtaking. It wasn't at the level of, say, Violet Evergarden or anything, but it was damn nice to look at. Seeing Kakeru finally beat Manas in a race after losing to him before was satisfying as hell, as was seeing Haiji outpace Sakaki. And the comedic moments felt especially on point this episode, too. I was especially fond of seeing Musa and Shindo run head first into the side of a van in the dark. More importantly, though, this last scene could have big implications. Since the only people around are members of each respective team, with no coaches or other witnesses, even if Kakeru doesn't punch Sakaki (which he likely won't, since Haiji could probably stop him), Sakaki could just claim that he did and potentially get him or maybe even the whole Kansei University team disqualified from the Hakone Ekiden if he really wanted to. He's definitely petty enough to do that, and the way the team would react to that sort of thing, and the way the team would react to that sort of thing would make for some good drama later on down the road, so that's my prediction for future episodes. Like always, there isn't much in the way of forward plot progression in this episode, but the little character details and gorgeous visuals make up for it, and even with the slow pace, everything is still moving forward and with a purpose. Also, while I like the new opening and ending themes, I don't like them as much as I like the old ones.
Girly Air Force
Now time for more new shows! In episode 1 of Girly Air Force, when mysterious flying creatures with extraordinary technology known as the Xi appear over Shanghai, the Chinese military is overwhelmed, and the people of China must evacuate. An evacuation ship carrying childhood friends Kei and Minghua is attacked by the Xi, but they are rescued by a strange red plane bearing the flag of Japan. This plane destroys the Xi, but then crash lands into the sea, and Kei swims out to the plane to try to save the pilot. When the pilot turns out to be a pretty pink haired anime girl who kisses Kei upon seeing him, he passes out and we jump ahead to after he and Minghua safely arrive in Japan. Kei wants to join the air force and fight against the Xi, but Minghua is against the idea. When the pair of them argue outside of a military base that Kei has snuck off to see, they are captured by the government, where a science officer named Yashirodoori explains that the special prototype planes are called Daughters, and they are piloted by artificial humans called Anima. The Anima who met Kei earlier, named Gripen, seems to draw strength from his presence for some reason, and Yashirodoori offers Kei a job working with them against the Xi.
This was really really dumb, but that's pretty much what I expected going into this. I mean, with a title like Girly Air Force, I'm not exactly expecting high art here. Going into this, I thought that the girls were the planes themselves, and I'm still not sure if the Anima are separate from the Daughters or if they are two parts of a whole unit. Either way, this is my first real foray into the weird trend of turning every single thing into a cute anime girl aside from maybe Cells at Work, and this could potentially be another tongue in cheek masterpiece a la Killing Bites. Too bad it's taking itself a bit too seriously. I don't care about Kei's desire for revenge or Minghua's emotional trauma yet because they're skipping to the dramatic payoff without properly laying the groundwork. Hopefully the addition of plane waifus will liven things up in future episodes, because right now this is too boring to even be dumb fun.
Dimension High School
And now for the weirdest show on the list. In episode 1 of Dimension High School, we begin in live action, where a high school student named Shiroyama picks up an innocuous-looking rock because it looks pretty, I guess. During his after school tutoring session, the rock starts floating and speaking to Shiroyama, his classmates, and his teacher. The rock introduces himself as Spudio XXII, claims that the assembled boys are humanity's only hope, and teleports them into an animated world. They cannot leave the classroom they are sent to, however, as the rest of the anime world was destroyed by a horrible demon. Said demon, a sphinx, appears in the room and challenges the boys to a game of riddles. They fail to answer the first question, and Momoya-sensei's soul is eaten by the sphinx as a result. But when Shiroyama correctly answers the second riddle (thanks to his knowledge of both the English and Japanese language and the Doppler effect of all things), the boys (including Momoya-sensei) are transported back into the real world, but, as a penalty for getting the first question wrong, the sphinx has stolen Momoya's most prized possession: his progress in a mobile game.
And I thought Pastel Memories had bad animation. This is just pathetic! I mean, if you make a joke about characters' arms clipping through their bodies and then continue to allow that stuff to happen, that doesn't make it okay just because you acknowledged it. This looks like an early PS1 game! And as for the story? It reads like someone describing a fever dream that they half remember having while watching reruns of Bill Nye the Science Guy. Nothing makes sense, everything is stupid, and...I kind of liked it? I was laughing so hard the entire time, but I wouldn't really call this show good by any means. The characters are one-dimensional, the story is nonsensical, the animation is awful, and the acting is somehow even worse, but there's a certain charm to it. I imagine that this is how a parent would feel watching their kids perform in a school play. You know it's bad, you're cringing every second, but you can't help but like it anyway. I should apologize to my parents for all I put them through when I was in drama club...
Domestic Girlfriend
Thankfully, Dimension High School was the last really bad show this week. In episode 1 of Domestic Girlfriend, Natsuo is in love with his teacher Hina, who cannot reciprocate his affections due to her position and the fact that she sees him as a child. In order to distract himself, Natsuo goes to a party where he meets Rui, an emotionless girl who suggests that they have sex so that she can say that she is no longer a virgin. A few days later, Natsuo's father surprises him with the news that he is getting remarried, and his bride turns out to be none other than the mother of both Hina and Rui! Now the five of them are living together in a new house, and Natsuo has to tread carefully around his flirty teacher and the girl who insists that their recent tryst was a one time thing that must remain secret.
It's a sad fact that the brother-sister romance genre is actually fairly common in anime. My Little Sister Can't Possibly be this Cute, Kiss x Sis, My Sister My Writer, Eromanga Sensei...they're everywhere and they're terrible, to the point where Kaede's character in Bunny Girl Senpai felt like a parody of this trope. So imagine my surprise when this show is actually not that bad. It's not amazing or anything, but the jokes made me chuckle more often than not, and the animation is nice enough. Natsuo doesn't have much in the way of personality yet, and he has been a bit too passive so far, but it's only episode one, and the fact that he's supportive of his father's remarriage for the sake of his happiness and is willing to at least try to adjust to the awkward situation is commendable. Rui is pretty cool, especially since she just wants her mom to be happy and isn't being weird around Natsuo at all, but Hina needs to chill out. She can't be that stupid if she's a teacher, yet she keeps flirting with Natsuo like it means nothing at all. As someone who used to work with children, let me tell you, none of the things she says to him at school alone are okay. While the ideal ending for this series would be for Natsuo to move on and not date either of his new sisters, the show's probably going to make him choose, so you can put me on Team Rui for this one, I guess.
Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka
We're almost at the end of the week, people! In episode 1 of Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka, three years ago, a group of magical girls led the nations of the world to victory in a war against an alien invasion. While her fellow magical girls continued to fight the good fight, Asuka was traumatized by the way the fighting had led to the death of her parents and others close to her, and chose to retire and live the life of an average high school student. Though she has trouble adjusting to civilian life, her newfound friendship with Nozomi and Sayaka helps to make her feel normal. But when an escaped terrorist starts attacking people indiscriminately and targets Sayaka, Asuka jumps in to save her and has her identity revealed. And if that weren't enough, a sinister presence is watching Asuka's battle...
This was kinda awesome. I know it's kind of annoying that we don't get that many straight new magical girl shows, but sometimes the twists and reimaginings can give us something good that isn't trying to be Madoka Magica. Asuka is a pretty interesting character so far, even if her characterization is essentially Violet Evergarden-lite. The flashback scene of the cute-sy aliens mailing her her father's hand was horrifying and the action was surprisingly a lot more gory than I thought it would be, even though the show basically advertised itself as "magical girls with guns". I don't expect this show to set the world on fire with just this one episode to go on, but for now, I'm just happy we have another decent looking action show besides Dororo and maybe Shield Hero.
Hinomaru Sumo
And now for the other returning show! In episode 13 of Karate Kid: The Animation, the former yokozuna Shunkai has started training Hinomaru and Reina directly. However, his training methods are unusual. He gives them only 100 yen and tells them to prepare elaborate meals in only 30 minutes. Then they do chores around his house for most of the day and only 15 minutes is given to Hinomaru to actually train against the pros, where he is only allowed to use his special finisher to win, making him too predictable for him to win a bout. Hinomaru struggles at first, but upon Reina coming to him and saying he can ask to borrow her cell phone instead of running out to a pay phone, he realizes the lesson that Shunkai is trying to teach him: even if the end goal is the same, there are multiple ways to get there. This lesson comes in handy when Hikage bursts in and demands that Shunkai trains him instead, challenging Hinomaru to a bout for the right to train under Shunkai. Hinomaru wins by faking his normal approach before using his finisher in a reverse approach (and he gets Shunkai's dinner by using the 100 yen for a pay phone to order takeout).
That was awesome! I was worried that this was going to be a boring training arc going into these past few episodes, with Hinomaru just training REALLY hard and learning a badass new move. But this episode, with a Karate Kid-esque training philosophy, was exactly what the show needed. This arc really gets into the core idea behind Hinomaru's character. Hinomaru doesn't have a lot going for him: he's small, he has a shorter reach, and he started getting tunnel vision in the ring after he developed his finisher. All he's got is his will and his wits. So teaching him to lean into his wits is the best possible solution to the issue of how to make a training arc interesting. Also, the ship tease for Hinomaru and Reina is adorable and I can't believe I'm in favor of it considering how haughty Reina was at the start of the series.
The Promised Neverland
And now, for my most anticipated series of the season! Now, I know I don't usually care much about spoilers on this blog, so I hope you understand that when I say that you should not read ahead without watching the first episode, I mean it. MAJOR SPOILER WARNING AHEAD!!
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| Waiting for those who care about spoilers to leave. |
Are they gone? Good.
Now, then, in episode 1 of The Promised Neverland, Grace Field House is the ideal place to live for orphans such as Emma, Norman, Ray, and their 35 other foster siblings. Every morning they wake up and have breakfast with their Mama before she gives them their daily intelligence aptitude tests, which our three protagonists consistently get perfect scores in. After the tests, the children have free reign of the orphanage, so long as they never cross over the fence. But every child must leave the orphanage before their 12th birthday, and today is the day that 6 year old Conny is getting adopted. When they notice that Conny forgot her stuffed animal, Emma and Norman sneak past the gate to try to return the toy to her. But when they reach the truck that will take her away, they find her dead body in the back. Through their eavesdropping, they learn the truth: the orphanage is a farm, the children are just livestock, and Mama has been harvesting them on the orders of man-eating demons. After barely escaping detection, Emma and Norman vow to take the remaining children and escape from Grace Field House, but Mama finds the stuffed toy they left behind...
So, I am aware that I've been kinda sorta hyping this show since it was announced a season or two ago. I read the manga for it, so I couldn't help myself. The story is fantastic, and I knew it would be, but I was concerned about who would be adapting this since a great deal of the appeal of Promised Neverland is the atmosphere and tension. But when I saw Cloverworks announced as the studio that would be handling the show, I knew we were in good hands. The studio did an amazing job of bringing Posuka Demizu's art to life, and the subtle distortions of facial features, the use of sound, the low angle of the camera, and the clever use of panning shots make the reveal in particular really stand out. This was a tense moment and a huge payoff in the manga already, and it was even more impactful for me in the anime since the direction was able to control the pacing and drag out the suspense a little longer than still images and words on a page could, since everyone reads at different speeds. I was surprised by the use of female voice actors for Ray and Norman (especially Ray), but since they are 11 and the actual acting is pretty good, I'm sure I can get used to them. Also, Don's personality seems a bit off, but I might be too used to him after a few years of character development in the manga, so we'll see what happens there.
I do wish that the opening scene with the fence wasn't there, though. I'm pretty sure that this is an anime original scene, and introducing a gate that the children can never leave instantly tips the viewer off that something is wrong. I feel like the surprise would have been more impactful for new viewers if the fence wasn't mentioned until the scene during the game of tag, where the trio discuss how dangerous the outside world supposedly is. Either way, this is the show I was most excited for this season, and this premiere did not disappoint. If you ignored my spoiler warning earlier, then you need to listen to me. Go watch this NOW!
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