Man… Flower and Asura comes in like thunder. The best of a mixed bag of premieres. Probably the best of this season. Hit the jump and see the good, the bad, and the just in between!
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.
Flower and Asura
Hana wa Saku, Shura no Gotoku
Ummm… Wow?
And I mean “wow” in the best way, it’s just sort of hard to summarize this episode… In some ways, it’s a fairly straightforward “recruit the reluctant MC into the school club” episode. I mean, we’ve all seen those more times than we can count.
What moves the needle is why she’s being recruited. The club doesn’t need members to survive. The MC isn’t the lonely outcast being adopted by the club for reasons. (Well, she is lonely but not outcast, but that’s secondary.) She isn’t actually being recruited at all. She’s being scouted. Because she’s seriously effing good at what she does. And the best part, is her VA is also seriously effing good and sells it like nobody’s business. Also the best part, the animation matches the voice acting at doing so.
I’m crossing my fingers that it holds up… But this is absolutely the strongest premiere of the season. (Nudging Sorairo Utility into second place.) If you’re not watching, please do yourself a favor and check it out ASAP.
Status: Strong keeper.
Honey Lemon Soda
Color me interested… But they really could use to step up the pace as wee bit and stop going in loops. It took an awful lot of time and repetition to reach the key moment.
The real question is where do we go from here? The first episode does not leave me with a warm fuzzy that the show knows where it’s going, let alone how it’s going to get there. Eh, wouldn’t be the first series that ‘ran out the clock’ on the first episode and improves in the second and subsequent… But the show is going to live or die based on whether or not that happens. I have no time for a romance that just runs in place with little to no progress or character development.
Status: Keeper. Mostly on the strength of the folks whose opinions I generally trust who have been hyping this a bit based on the strength of the source material.
Dr. STONE SCIENCE FUTURE
I’m going on out a pretty strong limb here… and guessing this was anime original. Manga readers wouldn’t have needed such a clumsy and half ass re-introduction to the characters and their situation.
I mean, I get what they were trying to do… But they just didn’t do it very well at all.
So, I’m going to give them a mulligan and pretend this was just a non canon OVA or something… and the true first episode is later this week.
Status: Keeper.
Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You
*sigh* I went in with high hopes, and they were smashed flat even before five minutes had elapsed. And then things went downhill from there.
I was seriously tempted to subtitle this review “stop me if you’ve heard this one”, because that sums up the show. It’s very painful in just how obvious it is, and there’s few stereotypes or tropes they failed to incorporate into the script.
And they didn’t even do it that well…
Status: No. Just. Effing. No.
UniteUp! -Uni:Birth-
I was a bit worried to come back to this series because I never did make time to rewatch the first. I needn’t have worried, they did a decent enough job of reminding us of what we needed to know. (Assuming you at least remembered the basics.) Though anyone new to the franchise might find themselves a little lost.
The plot line is a wee bit contrived, but that’s par for the course for many shows and idol shows in particular. They executed it competently enough, and while cheesy it remains a solid mid-tier idol series. If you’re looking for a male idol series that isn’t a thinly disguised reverse harem or otome – go back and check out the first season. If you didn’t dislike the first season, this season is more of the same.
Status: Keeper.
The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World
Sentai Red Isekai de Boukensha ni Naru
I am a bit too old to have grown up with the Power Rangers, and I’ve never gotten into super sentai series. But I’ve absorbed many of the tropes by osmosis and from watching Love After World Domination (my one real experience with the genre). Even so, the screenshot summed up my initial reaction…
But then, I got it. The show was so over the top stupid, it had wrapped around to being endearingly stupid. The MC, Asagaki Togo, is absolutely the most Red Ranger in the history of Red Rangers – and he’s honestly and obliviously totally sincere about it. And the show wouldn’t work if he wasn’t.
And that also puts Red Ranger in a category of shows y’all know I adore – ones that takes their central conceit, no matter how redonkulous, and absolutely commits to it. So, even in a world overrun with isekai, it stands out. And while it does have too many boob shots, on the credit side it doesn’t have any gamified elements.
Status: Keeper. I don’t know for how long, but for the foreseeable future.
Sakamoto Days
Speaking of absolutely over the top series…
Red Ranger hasn’t got anything on Sakamoto Days. Sakamoto looks at Red Ranger and goes… “Watch this kid. This is how it’s done.”
Seriously, it’s funny as hell and like Ranger absolutely commits to the bit… and then turns it up to 11. And somehow, it also makes it work with an absolute minimal amount of dialog, the epitome of show-don’t-tell. I love shows that don’t assume the viewer is a nitwit and can’t grasp what’s going on without tons of exposition.
My wife floated the theory that this Sakamoto is related to another Sakamoto…
But I don’t think so. Their moves are both astounding and cool, but I can’t see that Sakamoto being a hitman. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they were related…
My only concern is that it seem to be a two cour show and I’m not sure how they can do that without falling into a rut. But I am looking forward to and hoping to find out how they don’t.
Status: Solid keeper.
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And that’s a wrap folks, the last of the planned premieres for this season. There’s a lot of folks calling this one “bleak”, and I’m not so sure. Not the most stuffed season ever, but now that everything is on the table… There’s a few shows that have promise.
Especially since Sorairo Utility just turned in a stellar 2nd episode. (Medalist, not so much.) And Blue Box finally broke its the status quo and put it’s cards on the table. To the point where I actually considered reviewing the latest ep as a premiere of sorts…
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So, that’s it for me then… Over to you! Drop a comment and let’s chat about the new shows or whatever else is on your mind!
Apprentice Mages Lounge. 
Well, heck. I’ve already committed to not getting HiDive this season. I guess I’ll put Flower and Asura on my “to get to” list.
Honey Lemon Soda: I can put up with a slow show, but I do want some assurance that they’ll get to a point of some kind. It’s a romance, I understand, and that’s reason enough to put up with a repetitive opening chapter like that, but I’m not entirely sure yet that I buy the chemistry between the leads. He’s a little overbearing, but maybe that’s what she needs to blossom? Not my favorite dynamic, but it can work sometimes.
Anyway, I’ve gone back and caught up with Grisaia Phantom Trigger. Kinda waiting for the story to happen there, but girls with guns are fun and it’s throwing a bit of philosophical meandering into the mix, which seems fine so far. The Apothecary Diaries second season is starting off strong enough. Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun second season is delivering what is expected so far. Promise of Wizard doesn’t have anything special to it, but it seems like it should be fun.
For some reason, and this is worrisome, Crunchyroll did not pick up Witchy PreCure!! ~MIRAI DAYS~, so I had to hunt down another source to watch the first episode. The rumors swirling around CR are troubling and this does nothing to dispel them. In any case, MIrai Days is up with Apothecary, Hanako-kun, and Tasogare as the shows I am liking most so far. I’m a little surprised that they’ve let Mirai Days be as yuri as it has been in this first episode, but it’s still a very light touch. Either way, it’s well worth the inconvenience of having to hunt episodes down.
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Re: Honey Lemon I can’t really reply to what you said other than to nod “yes, yes, exactly.” But it is going to have to work awfully hard to overcome that opening episode.
Re: Grisaia It just strikes me as a way slower start than previous outings. I’m not really objecting, it’s decent overall… I’m just hoping for a little more action. Or a little more character development to support the philosophical. I suspect not having access to the OVA is hurting us in the latter respect.
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@Flower and Asura: You pretty much guessed my show of the season last post. I was also pretty confident you’d like it. What I didn’t know when I made the post: the story’s by the same author as Hibike Euphonium. Makes sense; it has the same sense of pathos. The beach scene had me shiver: the voice acting here was awe-inspring.
@Honey Lemon Soda: This is pretty much what I expect from a josei romance. Nothing about it stands out, which is good in the sense that we don’t have an actively abusive or pushy male main character. I actually like that he let her stand up for herself first; this isn’t common in the genre. So far, I’m not seeing what’s special about it (beyond that one aspect, which I don’t think is unique either). So far, I’m liking the support characters (the genki girl and the teal-haired boy) more than the main cast. I, too, am curious where all that praise comes from. I did notice the opening scene occurred infront ot the Café Miel. Honey Lemon Soda, even in that scene (the titular Honey is the school?).
Dr. Stone & Unite UP, I’m not watching. I might one day get around to UniteUp; not so much Dr. Stone.
@Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You: Yeah, it’s pretty much by the numbers. And the numbers here indicate a formula I actually dislike: Being jealous and possessive = romantic. Grr. Out after one episode and not looking back.
Sakamoto Days was tons of fun. I was a tad wary, as the trailer didn’t sell me on the show. But the actual show is tons of fun. Watching two episodes back to back was no problem at all.
@Red Ranger: It was… okay I guess. They did the right thing in playing the Red Ranger straight, but the problem is that – so far – the isekai-side isn’t keeping up, and you sort of need a counter balance. So far, if strip away the tokusatsu aesthetic, you get pretty by-the-numbers shounen fighter. It’s very clear that the giant robot has a couple of free colour-coded slots open. I’m wondering what the show could have done here. Since the bonds are important here, you could play with this. What, for example, if all the robot-slots would be filled with a pre-existing party who already have their bonds in place, which would make the Red Ranger the outsider? If you start from there, you have a weirdo who preaches the obvious to people who don’t need it, and who in turn has to actually find his place. Now this is just an example. But all we’ve got so far is girl-falls-for-weirdo. If this goes the way of Red Ranger gathers a rag-tag band of outsiders with big dreams, this might work out fine. The problem is, though, that there’s too much overlap between genres regarding the way the plot can go. (I’m neither that knowledgable about ranger shows, nor am I a huge fan, so there may also be stuff I’m missing.)
For what it’s worth, I thought Medalist had a pretty good second episode – though not really better than the first. Sorairo Utility is obviously the show I enjoy more, though.
@Promise of Wizard: I do think the show has something special to it: the musical score. It’s perfect for the mood the show is setting. The opening and ending are also near if not at the top of the season.
And yes, I fully expect Apothecary Diaries and Hanko-kun to be at or near the top this season.
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Re: Flower Yeah, the beach scene converted me from “curious” to “potential fanboy”. The Hibike Euphonium connection explains a lot, including some stuff I’ve not managed to avoid about the 2nd ep… which I haven’t seen yet. (Looks like it’s going to be delayed to Wens for me due to regular commitments on Tues.)
Re: Honey Lemon Yeah, there are good things about the ep/series. I’m just objecting to the Groundhog Day feel of the first episode. If they’re pacing for a big 2nd or 3rd ep twist/reveal, fine. But it’s going to have be a pretty big hook to make up for that 1st ep.
Re: Sakamoto Absolutely. Just hoping it can keep it up.
Re: Red Tanger My only real exposure to tokusatsu is Ultraman, everything else is cultural osmosis, so I’m in the same boat. It would be nice if it got less shouty and the Ranger maybe got humbled… Just a touch. Room for character growth.
Is it just me getting old , or have we had a LOT of shouty shows this season?
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Dunno, it seems to be me anime’s always been shouty one way or another. Or at least the part that isn’t laid back and relaxed. I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. I mean the trainer in Medalist is basically a humbled red ranger, no? There’s also the shounen protagonist type (taken to such extremes by Asta from Black Glover, that it got too much even for fans of the genre). And so on. I don’t much care; my anime auto filter takes care of it.
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