Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka – that was something wasn’t it? Hit the jump and read my thoughts on that other premieres and then let’s chat in the comments!
Girly Air Force
One thing GAF has going for it is a bangin’ OP by Run Girls, Run!
The PV’s made it look like it might be something along the lines of 3rd Aerial Girls, and who isn’t hoping that anime eventually gets made? As the show started, it seemed more like Strike Witches set in modern times… But eventually it turned out the planes are autonomous and the MC is guy who is somehow going to inspire the (decidedly female) aircraft to fly and fight. Shades of Arpeggio of Blue Steel…
Not sure how I feel about it overall. The show is adapted from an LN, and MC is pretty much poised to be a self-insert. On the other hand, the actual execution of the show was above average and there were some nice world building touches. They even managed to hold the infodumps to a minimum and integrate them quasi naturally into the dialogue.
On the other hand, given the characters shown in the OP, it could be headed into harem territory. Not sure how I feel about that.
Status: Watchable so far.
Dimension High School
I was actually middlin’ interested in this based on the concept… But as I saw the early comments on the low production values, my interest waned, then vanished.
Status: Dropped from consideration.
B-PROJECT
Checked it out because I’m eternally on the hunt for a decent male idol show. But once again it’s a reverse harem disguised as an idol show.
SideM‘s crown as Prince of male idol series remains intact for another season.
Status: Dropped 5 minutes in, and two of those were the execrable OP.
Quintessential Quintuplets
Other than the ‘hook’ of the harem being quintuplets, this looks like it’s going to be a largely paint-by-numbers harem comedy. Not that there’s anything wrong with the show in particular… It just doesn’t seem to have much in the way of any ambition to be anything more than that.
To its credit though, the protagonist does appear to be a cut above the average. He’s not especially dense, nor a perv, nor freaked out by being around girls… He’s mostly annoyed and pissed because here’s his chance to help his family and the girls are blowing him off.
Status: Mind candy keeper, so long as it doesn’t get too annoying.
Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka / Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka
OK… For the first few minutes, I was not impressed. The massive infodump in the cold open and the largely generic tale told were not calculated to impress. Then this happened:
That made me sit up and take notice – a former magical girl with PTSD? That’s new. Later scenes, especially her reflexive attack on the dude who threatened her friends really drove it home realistically. (My service was much less intense, but even so I have habits and reflexes that still stick with me even after three decades. So I get it.)
By the time the closing credits rolled I was figuratively on the edge of my seat. I have long wanted to see a sequel to Magical Girl Raising Project that explored Snow White’s actions… And while Spec-Ops Asuka isn’t technicality a sequel, thematically it looks like it’s going to explore the same space.
It’s kinda frightening how her eyes go from angry to dead and empty as the battle wraps up.
If I have any objections, it’s mostly to Asuka’s character design. Did they really have to go the cleavage route?
Status: Strong keeper.
Domestic Girlfriend
Status: On my radar, awaiting early reviews.
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There’s still a few of premieres left to go…. and I guess I’ll cover those Mon or Tues? I still don’t know when I want to do my weekly post this season as my schedule is pretty danged full. Looking at the various shows on the schedule, I’m thinking Thurs or Fri so I can cover NEVERLAND in a timely fashion and just accept that I’ll be a week behind the curve on Smiles and Spec-Ops Asuka. Looking at the various shows so far, I’m thinking those are the ones I want to concentrate on. With the schedule as full as it is, I’m really going to have to prioritize and pace myself this season.
Your thoughts on these shows, or anything else that premiered through Friday (PST)? Drop a comment and let’s chat!
Apprentice Mages Lounge. 
I ended up really liking Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka. It seems like it has a bit of potential.
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Taking some of the consequences of combat seriously — like PTSD — got my attention!
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Agreed. That was definitely what got me interested.
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Looks like examining the consequences got a lot of people’s attention! I hope to heck they follow up on that, rather than just being a disposable bit.
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Me too. It would make this one stand out and have a bit more impact.
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Girly Air Force: dropped on account of motion sickness, but I have a hunch, I’d have dropped it anyway. I just didn’t see enough to be sure.
Dimension High School, B Project: Didn’t last long.
Quintessential Quintuplets: It’s nothing special in any way, but I like it. Distinct personalities, good art style, all-round nice, with a few unneccessary camera angles, but not too bad considering. Has potential.
Magical Girl Spec Ops: I’m in two minds about this. The PTSD treatment is interesting, but it seems they’re going out of their way to make things as gruesome as possible, and I’m not excited about the villains near the end. It has the potential to be really good, but it also has the potential to really make me angry. We’ll see. In for now.
Domestic Girlfriend: The show’s using its unlikely set-up as an excuse for an unusually realistic style. I’m not sure yet it works for me, but I’m sure the show knows what its doing, and it’s now only a matter of whether I want to watch what the show wants to show me. The show’s very much guided by teen male hormones; not so much in presentation, but more in its emotional core, and I tend not to respond to that too well. A lot depends on where the plot is going. That I can’t yet tell, shows you that it’s definitely its own thing. This is neither a recommendation, nor a disrecommendation, but it’s all I’ve got for now. At the very least it’s interesting.
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re:Asuka Maybe now that it’s established they’ll back off the grimdark a bit. I was kinda surprised to see a supervillain group set up and ready to roll, but I’ll wait and see.
re:Domestic Girlfriend Between what you and HAL are saying, it sounds skippable, at least for now. (And that kinda echoes what I’m reading elsewhere.) With my schedule as it is now, I’m wary of adding anything that isn’t really worth it, and if anything Dororo is more likely to take that slot.
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TV failure has put me behind on the new season…
@Domestic no Kanojo #1: Putting this one in the “delightfully trashy soap opera” bin for now. Feels like the seinen doppelganger of Citrus. It’s veering between indulging in the standard stepsister tropes and subverting them. I’ll see how I feel about it after a couple more episodes.
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re:Domestic no Kanojo, as I said to Dawn above, the lukewarm response isn’t telling me this is a show I need to watch…
You had another reply, but it seems to have vanished…
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I didn’t mean to discourage you from at least checking out episode 1, but I understand the need to be selective. I was so overwhelmed by the fall season I had to give up and triage: some to keep up with, some to semi-drop and catch up during Christmas break, and some to drop period. This season looks to have similar quantity but I won’t get a break from work to catch up this time. Oh well. Seasonal anime is like conveyor-belt sushi. You can’t get too worked up about the piece that just slid by; there’ll be more coming along before you know it.
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It’s not just your or Dawn’s response, it’s the general consensus that I’m seeing.
A very nice way to put it! :)
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I’m definitely sticking with QQ, as long it can keep that level up. I liked all the main characters, and the jokes made me laugh, and that’s really all you need from that kind of series.
I’m keeping the jury out on Girly Air Force. I did like the two main leads, but I’m not totally sold yet on the story…or the CG. It might end up being a numbers victim, if there are too many other shows this season I like better.
Now I want to try Asuka after reading y’all’s thoughts, and I forgot that I still wanted to try Love is War, too. I haven’t watched any premieres yet today, because I went out to see Modest Heroes this afternoon instead (worth it), so that gives me three more still to get to including Neverland.
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re:QQ It’s definitely a cut above most harem romcom’s. I’m crossing my fingers it keeps it up too.
re:Asuka if you check it out, I’d be curious to hear what you think, good our bad.
Dangit, spaced that Modest Heroes was coming out. A Silent Voice is coming locally in a couple of week, and I’m awfully tempted to rewatch it.
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Great point about how Asuka seems to explore a situation that would be experienced by Snow White after the anime adaptation of Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku. Fingers crossed on this series!
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Ever since the end of MGRP I’ve been fascinated by the concept of magical-girls-as-superheroes (which is what they really are), so I’m pumped to see someone run with that concept. (I’ve even got an essay on that I’ve been picking at for a while now, but which has never gelled.) Fingers crossed indeed, Asuka could be very good!
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