Been struggling all week to write this… Writing was never easy even when I made a habit of it. Anyhow, it’s Friday, the week is done, and so is my post.
So, let’s hit the jump and take a look at my early impressions of this season.
The shows that I’m watching are in bold, shows my wife and I are watching together are in bold italics, strikethrough marks dropped shows and (*) marks shows that are watched but not regularly reviewed.
Bullbuster
Episodes 1-2
Bulllbuster‘s first episode was all about setting the scenario and populating it with largely stock characters. The second, all about worldbuilding – and there’s a lot of moving parts.
Despite the flat characters, it’s not without promise. If it gets serious, it could get really good.
Status: Tentative keeper.
Dr. STONE NEW WORLD Part II
OK, we’ve gone into full on ass pull mode in the Stone World… And y’know what? I’m OK with that. I like the characters, no matter how overblown they are. And the show kept me interested and invested – what more can you ask?
Status: Keeper.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Sousou no Frieren
Episodes 1-5 (Episode 6 has aired, but can’t watch it until my wife gets home – after this is posted.)
OK, I’ve put this off as long as I can, but now I just have to say – I have absolutely no idea how to adequately say anything about this series. It’s simply, quietly, damm good. And it’s not the big bits – it’s the little ones. Why Freiren learned a spell to make grapes sour. Why she was so self confident in taking on Qual with no more help than an inexperienced apprentice. That she accounted no cost in spending years in hunting for just the right flower to place around Himmel’s monument…
And I love Fern’s simple acceptance of Frieren as who she is. But then, she’s been around (literally) basically all of her life.
And the stories they tell shouldn’t work – yet somehow they do.
Status: Keeper.
Overtake!
Episodes 1-2
Honestly, not a show I have much to say about because contents of the tin pretty much match the label. So far, shaping up mostly to be a bog standard sports show, only with race cars rather than baseball. The only real difference is the protagonist is more of an observer than a participant – so far.
I’m enjoying it and as things are don’t see that changing much.
Status: Keeper.
SHY
Episodes 1-2
As I said over on Twitter, “if Deku and Bocchi had a love child, she would be Shy”. That is, a magical girl in a world where there were actual consequences for her (in)action. People get hurt. People die. And it’s all too much for our heroine.
And that’s about all we know. The scenario and central arc of the show have been briskly set… But character and worldbuilding are still very much lacking. Shy really needs to up it’s game in the next episode or two.
And I kinda hope it does. It’s kinda interesting, and it’s not bad, just bland so far. And I don’t have much patience with bland at the moment.
Status: Tentative keeper.
SPY x FAMILY Season 2
The first episode was something of a sidestory/filler story… But that’s perfectly OK as it was still vintage Spy X Family. Loid and Yor are still dorks at this relationship stuff, and Anya is still the beating heart of the show.
I’d hope for a more Yor (or Thorn Princess, I’m not picky) centric ep without Yuri, but it is what it is.
Status: Keeper from the moment the new season was announced.
Stardust Telepath
Hoshikuzu Telepath
Look, we get it, MC-chan has social anxiety. You really didn’t need to spend ten minutes repeating yourselves.
Status: Dropped before the eyecatch. Couldn’t even make it through the whole episode.
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You
Kimi no Koto ga Daidaidaidaidaisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo
Watching this felt like somebody rolled up the script and kept beating me on the head Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY hard. It never stopped, it never let up, and it never turned it below 11. And it just wasn’t funny.
Status: Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY dropped without a backwards glance.
The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Part 2
Episodes 1-2
Still in the startup/setup phase… But I have this lingering dread of what’s going to happen when Chise realizes the beast she carries inside her. I mean, she knows it exists, she’s just not thinking about it too hard. Meanwhile Elias seems to be taking things chill… But he’s awfully hard to read.
Status: KEEPER.
The Family Circumstances of the Irregular Witch
Dekoboko Majo no Oyako Jijou
Supposed to be a comedy, forgot that comedies were supposed to be funny… Might have helped if it hadn’t run every gimmick into the ground. Repeatedly. And it really would have helped if the notional sixteen year old hadn’t acted like she was eight.
Three episodes were premiered on the same day, I barely made it through one.
Status: Dropped.
The iDOLM@STER MILLION LIVE!
In what idol show would this be a surprise? That’s one of the things I always liked about the OG iDOLM@STER – it skipped over this unnecessary bit and got on with the story.
Basically and intro/setup ep. I’m already kinda liking all three of the MC’s (introduced so far) despite all them being pretty tropish. Let’s see how they follow through as the season develops.
The Netflix-esque 3D cgi is however, very off putting. 3D is so not ready for prime time… Yet studios insist on using it anyhow, especially for idol shows.
Status: Keeper, I guess. Hard to tell because we really know so little after just one episode.
Umamusume: Pretty Derby Season 3
Episodes 1-2
Well, the third apple didn’t fall far from the tree, did it? Which… isn’t actually so much of a problem as it might otherwise be. This franchise seems to work well ringing the changes rather than striking out in new direction.
And really, this isn’t a show I’m thinking too hard about. So long as it doesn’t get too stupid, I’m perfectly happy watching the horse girls try their hardest.
Status: Keeper.
You Were Experienced, I Was Not: Our Dating Story
Keikenzumi na Kimi to, Keiken Zero na Ore ga, Otsukiai suru Hanashi.
Episode 1 (Episode 2 has aired, but can’t watch it until my wife gets home – after this is posted.)
That wa bit squicky. Despite his nobility, Kashima is still mostly every cringe rom-com MC-kun ever. (Dial it back dude!) And… Shirakawa has not had good experiences with dating, she just doesn’t know it. So, I don’t know where it’s going to go from here. I certainly hope it gets better and shakes off it’s more tropish tendencies.
Doesn’t help that I recently rewatched Hajimete no Gal, and I keep trying to draw unwarranted comparisons between the two.
=========
And that sums it up for me! What are your thoughts on this season’s first episodes?
Drop a comment, and let’s chat about them or whatever else crosses your mind – over to you!
(Shows I don’t mention I haven’t tried and am not interested in.)
Bullbuster reminds me of all those mecha shows where I can’t find anything particularly wrong with them, but I still drop them eventually. It’s not likely I’ll stick with it, but it’s not dropped as of yet.
Frieren is probably my anime of the year. It’s just that much my cup of tea. The show was always going to depend on the execution in the little things, and this one just pulls it off. A lot of the story telling is in the bodylanguage. It’s sentimental but not maudling, and it breaks up the mood with its laid-back brand of goofiness. I just adore the show.
Shy I quite like. It’s not anything special, but I find it fun. And it’s take on heroism is definitely much more my brand that MHA. Also, I think the show might have more depth than I gave it credit for. There’s this scene where Teru, angsting over not being able to rescue that girl, looks at social media, and we get all sorts of negative comments. I took it at face value. Then later our Russian hero makes an off-hand comment about the negative comments being only view, and I did a double take. I took this in as the show overdoing stuff for dramatic effect, but at that moment I thought, yeah, we were getting the comments twice filtered, once through the social media escalation machine, and then again through Teru’s selective attention. To be sure, it’s not a deep show. It’s all tried and true territory, but it might be more genuine than I initially thought. I’m definitely going to stick with it.
SpyXFamily is pretty much what you’d expect. I, too, would like more Yor centered story telling, and… this isn’t it. It’s still as fun as always, though.
Stardust Telepath I find comfy background noise so far, and I don’t expect much of it. Nice mid-tier stuff, I’d say.
100 Girlfriends: for some reason, a lot of people I wouldn’t expect to like this seem to like this. And I can’t figure out why. Curiosity is driving me forward. (People say the manga sits currently at around 25 girlfriends, and the handling of that many characters is actually pretty smart. I don’t see that in the anime so far, but I’m hearing this from many people in different non-overlapping places…) Shrug I fully agree. It’s just not funny. Also much too shouty. And I hate the god. And the two girlfriends so far seem pallet swaps geered to type. I really want to know what people are talking about (even if I likely won’t agree).
Ancient Magus Bride: Nothing much to say. It’s exactly what I’m here for. I hear a lot of detractors saying they don’t like the school arc, but I’m not one of them. All the new characters are great, and they have believable dynamics. I like this season. Also: this image; it looks like they’re dancing until you notice Chise’s hand at the homunculus thoat…
Irregular Witch. Yeah, this is a comedy composed of unfunny jokes. Daughter’s yandere tendencies are even annoying me. I do like the phoenix, though I’d probably like him better as a one-off… I did watch the second episode, and I might watch the third, but I’m not certain how far I’ll get.
I didn’t realise Idolmaster already aired. Maybe it dropped on a busy day. Or I have a solid Idolshow filter in place and automatically skim over them at this point. The first Idolmaster started with the girls already in place because the pov-character was producer. It was still the visual-novel-inspired point of view back then. I think Love Live might have shifted the game. Interesting an Idolmaster show would take this path now; did they take the master out of Idolmaster (I mean Cinderella Girls still focussed on scouting for the intro…)
Dating Story: Yeah, it’s rather creepy. It feels like the show thinks clearing a really low bar is some sort of accomplishment. And it all feels so odd, as if the entire romance is driven by girl-boy expectations rather than by characters getting along. Maybe I’ll get back to Hajimete no Gal at some point. Plenty of people have praised this, and I haven’t seen enough of it to be my own judge. Wouldn’t have been the first show where my first impressions misled me.
Oddly enough, the romcom of the season seems to be I’m Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtieness. I thought this would be an ecchi, but in the first two episodes “naughtieness” seems to mean eating sweets for dinner, or punching a sandbag with the picture of someone who wronged you. And there’s really no skeev shots or ecchi jokes around. It’s actually quite charming and fun, with very little in the way of ecchi elements.
Other surprise standouts are Goofy Boss and S-Rank Daughter, both better than I expected and maybe worth a look.
16bit Sensation is really, really nostalgic, with a pixel art ending I adore.
And Undead Unluck is EXACTLY what I expected and thus likely not for you.
I’m really happy with this season.
re:Freiren Is amazing… And the best part is how well it does, well, everything. And Atsumi Tanezaki (who is also voicing Chise (Magus Bride) and Anya (SPY X FAMILY) is just killing it.
Re:SHY You nailed the good parts, but it just feels a little paint-by-numbers to me. I’ll watch Ep3 today or tomorrow, and it’s really make or break time.
Well, the good news about Dating Story is that while it still doesn’t color far outside the lines, it does improve markedly in the 2nd ep. I do recommend Hajimete no Gal, but you might have a hard time getting past all the fanservice…
Arcade game, not visual novel, but otherwise yeah. Makes sense.
Overall, yeah, it’s a nice season. Good, but even with Frieren not great per se.
I’ll likely try Hajimete no Gal some time; I dropped it really quickly – it wouldn’t have been the first pre-mature drop. I can’t say the echhi parts are a draw (they’re likely part why I dropped it if they’re apparent early on), but they’re no deal breaker either.
Ah, and about Dating Story; it didn’t really improve for me. The show feels like it has this girl+boy = romance tunnel vision to me that usually turns me off. I don’t much like the protagonist, and I dispise his friends. It just feels like the show’s pushing a very low bar as a major accomplishment. You get your avarage Joe protagonist who looks like a saint because his friends and his girlfiend’s previous boyfriends are trash. Other than that it’s a very superficial relationship that runs purely on I-want-a-boy/girl-friend vibes, with a work ethic applied to it. The thing is, when it comes to the work ethic part it’s actually not bad. It’s just the framing around it that makes it feel… sort of early family indoctrination stuff. And I rolled my eyes at the plot development in episode 3. It’s not bad; it sounds like I don’t like the show because I’m focussing on the negatives, but some of it is pretty good character development actually, and so on. It’s not in danger of being dropped or anything, but it’s not going to amount to more than lower-mid-tier show for me. Good enough for weekly relaxation, but easily forgotten once gone.
The only one I’m watching is Frieren, and I love it. I think the early episodes do a great job of distracting the viewer from the fact that Frieren was the wizard in the party that defeated the Demon Lord, and is world-shakingly powerful — and I think a lot of her behaviour really needs to be interpreted with that in mind. Frieren does appear to be on the autistic spectrum as well, but I don’t know whether that’s supposed to be a Frieren thing or an elf thing — assuming other elves are still a thing.
I haven’t read the manga, but I am concerned that the series is going to have a very sad ending when Fern dies. Peacefully, of old age, with Frieren at her side.
Frieren is… a very different type of character indeed.
The manga is ongoing, so the ending may be off a while yet.
Well, I have no objection to this one keeping going for a while.
I’m coming in a bit late on this post as I’ve been trying to sort out what I’m actually watching this season.
For ease of sorting I’ve set up a top ten for this season watching.
1) Frieren – I won’t say much apart from it is my favorite show this season and among my favorites of any season in fact. Madman have aced it in every department here and continue their hot run after Yamada-kun.
2) Dark Gathering – Dark Gathering is in the second part of its 25 episode run and I have nothing byt good things to say about this show. Dark Gathering has delivered so far consistent, well animated, and well written stories that are both unsettling and tense. You know that thing when you are watching a horror, fantasy or sci fi anime and they drop in a really dumb looking monster, a cliche cackling madman or some other cliche that kills the show’s vibe? Dark Gathering hasn’t done that so far. We are up to episode 20 and they still haven’t done that. That’s why I rate Dark Gathering so highly.
3) Goblin Slayer II – It had to be didn’t it? More existential goblin inspired mayhem ensues. Liden Films took over the production from White Fox who did season one, and while there is a small drop in animation quality, there are improvements in other areas too.
4) Uma Musume Season 3 – Horse Girls doing horse girl things. While it hasn’t reached the heights of season one or two (yet), the story of Kitisan Black and Satono Diamond (the little horse girl fans from season 2) is entertaining enough.
5) My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer – While no where near the heights of Frieren, S Rank Musume is pretty good. The story of Angeline as the aforesaid S Rank adventurer and her her father Belgrieve is just different enough to be likeable and interesting (if a bit tropey). Its a fun watch I think.
6) Kimi Zero – I note the comments above but I think it’s got a bit a better as its progressed – though some plot aspects stretch its credibility a bit far. Ryuuta and Runa are a likeable couple, if not the most profound thinkers you’re ever going to meet. Its a nice comfort show I think – Not particularly original but enjoyable anyway.
7) Overtake! One of two motor racing stories this season and the better of them (MF Ghost, an Initial D sequel, didnt grab me). Set in the world of Formula 4 racing, its not a bad show. The actual racing sequences are pretty good if a bit computer game-ish, They employ some of the camera points of view shown in real Formula one coverage which is a good move and adds to the impact of the races. Their depiction of the world of open wheel racing is pretty accurate too, which is good. The story line is interesting though I’m not sure where its going yet (is that a good thing?). There is one other thing though. There is one sub-variant of sports anime which I will call fujioshi bait (One recent example was “Shoot! Goal For The Future” a couple of seasons ago) where the male characters can be blatantly shipped. Overtake! dances on that line, just enough so that’s it’s hard to tell if that is the creator’s intent or not. However, I am a big Formula One fan, so I can look past that and enjoy the story and action.
8) Dead Mount Death Play Cour 2 – DMDP 2 is even more Durarara-esque than season one and I’m enjoying the labyrinthine story telling it serves up.
9) The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy – A reincarnation type isekai – its not that original though I find the sci-fi world old Leonis Death Magnus reincarnates into more interesting than most. Its another comfort filler for me.
10) Shangri-La Frontier – A typical gaming anime. Its pretty well executed and the MC is pretty likeable (and he doesn’t look like Kirito).
Mentions:
16bit Sensation – has a potentially interesting story line but has really done nothing with it in seven episodes. The plot just meanders along (for example its taken six episodes for the MC to realize things she does in the past have consequences in the future). I find the MC annoying and the muted reactions of the people from the 90s to her a bit off kilter too. Its a show I am trying to like it but its on the edge of being dropped at the moment if there is no improvement.
Vexations of a Shut In Vampire Princess. A not so bad comedy at times marred by jarring sledgehammer fan service. Komorin is likeable and fun in the good bits.
Shy and Also the Alien Telepath show – both dropped – for some reason I have little patience for trope ridden highly anxious socially withdrawn MCs these days. Both the main characters grated for me, so both were quick drops (Maybe its an after effect of identifying with Takamatsu Tomori {“Bang Dream Its MyGo”} last season).
Running down the shows we have in common:
Re: Freiren Absolutely agreed. Runaway AOTS, and almost certainly AOTY… There’s still that block of romances from Spring though.
Re: Uma Musume S3 Also agreed, decent enough but not the franchise’s high point. Kinda sad to see Gold Ship sidelined though. The basic problem with the series is that, other than Rice Shower, it’s all the same basic storyline… and that’s hard to keep refreshed.
Re: Kimi Zero It’s become one of those shows that’s better than it’s premiere might make you think, and better than it has a right to be. I love how their handling Runa’s past. Ryuuto needs a spine transplant though. I’m am so over milquetoast MC-kun’s. Stand up for yourself man!
Re: Overtake! I was dubious of the decision to make the Madoka one (if not THE) POV character… But it’s worked out surprisingly well. This last ep kinda blew me away, especially the clifhanger.
re: Shy I’m just about to drop it. The schtick is getting old, and neither the plot nor the characters are bearing up under the weight the story is trying to place on them.
My short list for AOTY is Frieren, Yamada-Kun, Skip and Loafer, Vinland Saga 2, and Bang Dream Its MyGo so far. Obviously Its MyGo won’t rate for most anime fans but as I’ve said before it should. :)
Ryuuta is developing a spine I think. He stood up for Runa and declared himself proud to be her girlfriend and he has put off other girls (I’m not spoiling here) at least twice now. As your typical Japanese bashful male teenager, he is starting from a very low base. I think though with Runa’s help, he will get there. I do agree with you though, that hyper bashful/repressed Japanese boy trope can be really grating at times.
Yeah that climax in episode six of Overtake! was a beauty. I have an inflamed tendon in my left ring finger and am wearing a splint on it at the moment and when that occurred I involuntarily clenched my fists in response and it killed! I think Madoka is always going to be the PoV character. He is the social explorer taking us into the world of F.4, and so he will always be the central though maybe not the (only) main character. i think Madoka’s back story is interesting too, though so far we haven’t had much exposition on what he thinks the ethics arising from his story are – that would be interesting if they attempt that.
Uma Musume has kind of plateaued this season so far. They have worked the Kitisan/Satono rivalry to its natural conclusion and if that’s continued its only going to be a re-iteration of earlier episodes. What to do? A strong foreign horse girl? (Done that), Injuries? (Done that twice), a horse girl with personal issues? (done that)… Haha, how about yakuza? Everyone knows Horse (girl) racing is really a dodgy business with all sorts of things happening behind the scenes. How about a horse girl who will do literally anything to win? Or a horse girl trapped in circumstances by yakuza? I know its unlikely but this is the dilemma of game-based anime franchises. They have to have to keep the story in the parameters of the game and introduce new characters to keep their customers happy and player base expanding, so those compromises set the parameters of what is possible in the anime. This is the same problem Bang Dream faced after three seasons. Their typical game-based scenarios were played out after the third season. They had to do something different and took a big risk with Its MyGo and it worked out for them wonderfully. However I dont think Uma Musume will go down that path this series. Well I guess as long as the horse girls try their hardest it will work out somehow. Maybe if the rest of the carrot munching, mostly spectating Team Spica girls did something for a change, it would be interesting…
Umm… Paragraph two line two should read: “boyfriend”
Do people consider the Winter season to be part of this year or last year? Because Oshi no Ko is definitely in the AotY running if it’s this year, but otherwise Frieren is sitting alone as far as I can see. I do still love Ancient Magus’ Bride, of course, and Chise is forever best girl but it seems doomed to a nearly perpetual second place.
kumashock: I also like Dark Gathering, but I think that its stories have been a little unevenly-paced and I think that’s been a flaw in an otherwise excellent series.
The AOTY year follows the calendar year, so yes. But I didn’t watch Oshi ni Ko… Where people differ is where you count two cour series – in the season they begin, or the season they end? Me, I go back and forth. Probably should be consistent someday. Maybe. (Of split cour series, we shall not speak.)
re: Magus Bride
Yeah… Bride has had awful luck that way, it keeps airing against some pretty heavy hitters. That it can’t consistently string together a season of above average episodes doesn’t help matters. More a problem in the first than the second, but it’s still there.
I’ve been ruminating over that “Top OPs of the last decade” we briefly talk about on FB… It would almost have to be top ‘x’ series, otherwise a handful of series could potentially dominate the top ten. I mean, can one meaningfully chose between the first OP of Bride‘s 1st and 2nd seasons?
The fact that three of Ancient Magus’ Bride‘s openings to date have been by JUNNA, and all three of those are great, is certainly a thing to pay attention to (“You” by May’n is okay, but not up to JUNNA’s standards). I do think that “Here” is the best OP for any series since “Tank!”, or maybe only since “Inner Universe”, but there are a few openings in between Cowboy Bebop and Ancient Magus’ Bride that could give it good competition (probably most notably “Feuerroter Pfeil und Bogen”, though I still prefer the folksong simplicity/complexity of “Here” over the operatic bombast of any AoT opening songs; Attack on Titan has some others since that I think are also in serious contention for best of all time though, especially “The Rumbling”). And then, speaking of Cowboy Bebop, recently there’s “Kura Kura”, nominally by Ado but arranged and performed by Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts with Ado providing vocals, which I’d say is the best OP for SPY×FAMILY so far, and that’s a show which also boasts some very strong opening songs.
Which is a long way to go to say, yeah, I agree that it’s a difficult proposition.
I just realised that the first few shows have ended or are ending. Where did the season go? That said, many of my favourites this season are two cour, so…
Yeah, went by fast… Hopefully, if life will stop throwing curveballs, I’ll have an end-of-season “forum” post up today or tomorrow to discuss the season.