Shoot! Goal to the Future
The Premise
Some kid is a former soccer player and hates soccer because a guy he played with doesn't play anymore. He ends up getting in a fight with the captain of the soccer team who were once great but have now fallen very far in the rankings. They decide to resolve their issues with a PK shootout which the former player handily wins with some amazing kicking skills and his prize is to never play again. A new coach arrives after that and agrees; if someone is good but doesn't want to play or grow, then they shouldn't. Then another team arrives for a practice match... with the former player's former bestie and partner in tow.
It Gud?
Apparently this is a sequel to another soccer series, simply called Shoot! that I think I've heard of but really blended into the background with all the other soccer manga I didn't read like Whistle! and the Knight in the Area. Having seen the first episode of this sequel, it certainly doesn't set itself apart, nor does it make the original series look interesting. It's poorly animated and has a cast of deeply uninteresting, unlikable characters.
The main guy is supposed to have fallen out of love with soccer but both his reasons and attitude are weak. His reason is his favourite partner left and he's not a good player without him and they sell it poorly, making it seem like just being whiny rather than simply hitting a wall he wasn't mature enough to deal with. And he has the misanthropic "everything is boring" attitude that made me think he was going to be isekaied into a misogynistic power fantasy where he owns lady slaves, which the show thinks is totally cool. Instead, it's a very dull sports story. And as someone who LOVES sports anime, I'm disappointed about how so few of them are worth watching lately.
It doesn't help that the guy who he is set up against is ALSO an asshole, a guy who resorts to violence at any whiff that soccer is insulted. He's a boorish creep when he is supposed to be a passionate tough and the failure to make this guy likable in any capacity makes me wonder "why should I be invested." I'm not rooting for them to come out of their slump and even as "bad boys" or "antiheroes" (which I don't think the show is going for) works because even in that capacity, they are completely unengaging. No, thank you.
Phantom of the Idol
The Premise
An idol duo has one member who is extremely not into it. Though he can sing and dance, he has no passion and only went into it for the money without having to do hard work. One day he meets an idol and realizes she's a ghost... who can possess him. Realizing the advantage, he decides to let her possess him so she can relive her idol days while he doesn't have to do the hard work of idoling.
It Gud?
It's not bad, so far. There's something fun about the premise of an idol star so completely disinterested in his craft that he's willing to let a ghost possess him. I like that while the show makes it a mutual arrangement, he is clearly hoping he doesn't have to do jack shit on his end and the narrator puts a bow on the fact that he kinda sucks as a person. The ghost herself is, sadly, a more generic "happy girl" character who is living her dream and so far doesn't have much going on beyond that.
The rest of the cast is similarly malnourished in characterization so far but it's just the intro and they aren't the focus so that could change. My biggest issue is that I'm not that big into idol shows and while this is one with a high concept angle, it is unabashedly that, with a full on musical number in the last act that left me pretty cold. It's the cheesy CG and clearly the show wants to sell some CDs and stuff and it's a big chunk out of the show.
I do think the lead male is probably enjoying himself, as he gets to play two characters; himself and himself possessed by a ghost girl. He plays both roles with the appropriate levels and while it isn't exactly a revelation, it's better done than some of these, really cementing the differences. I will say I feel the show lacks direction. The episode ends with both characters getting what they want. The male lead has fans who love him for who he is but do they turn on him when he's suddenly VERY different? No, they love him still. Does he feel a pang of jealousy that the ghost is getting attention? No. There could be more going in but I'm not sure what this looks like as a weekly series yet.
Yurei Deco
The Premise
On an island society were everyone uses augmented reality and status and wealth are based solely on "love", a girl hunts for a criminal thief known as Zero out of interest. She finds a mysterious "invisible" thief only she can see due to a glitch in her eye, and follows them, assuming they are Zero. After a chase, the two encounter the "real" Zero, a mysterious entity that destroys the like economy with their mere presence.
It Gud?
I'm a big booster of Science Saru and have yet to see a series they've done I didn't enjoy but I was a little worried going into this one. A series about a society focused on the Like economy seemed extremely heavy-handed and would lead to some eyeball rolling, no matter how well animated it is. But thankfully, the first episode keeps things very light, fun and keeping the characters as the priority. It is still one of my least favourite first episodes for a Saru series.
It looks pretty as fuck, with eye-popping colours and some fun visuals and character designs. The action scenes look pretty great and, again, it doesn't let it's premise allow itself to wallow in smug self-satisfied "DO YOU GET IT?!" and instead is a light adventure. Things have room to deepen but it's actually pretty easy to follow overall, while still having mysteries to solve and has an opportunity to explore it's ideas in an organic way.
But to it's detriment, I'm just not engaged in the characters yet. They aren't boring or dull or trite. I mean, I have seen their types before but they don't feel like a cookie cutter design, entirely, and their personality is greatly aided by the animation. But I'm only mildly invested in the protagonists and it is so light-feeling that I don't have engagement beyond "oh, this is fun". But I am hopeful it can unfold into a young adult style adventure that becomes stronger as it grows. But even if it stays at this level, I'm in for a good time.
Allied Air Force Magical Idols Luminous Witches
The Premise
In an alternate World War II... CUBES ARE ATTACKING! Our only hope? Witches with propeller jets for legs and animal ears and tails. How can they help? Forming an idol group! Duh!
It Gud?
Wow, that's a wild premise, huh? I mean, it's a lot. A World War II show mixed with Idol Show mixed with Magical Girl show seems fucking wild. The girls merge with their familiars and also get ears and tails. Does the weirdness ever stop? I mean, it's crazy that their a series about a magical war with girls in ridiculous jet boots and the series isn't about them fighting but instead singing and dancing. Look at this nonsense.
So maybe I should be worried. I guess military chic never speaks to me anyway but it's an alternate history where Japan seems to be on the side of the allies this time which... I have mixed feelings about. I'm not entirely sure what to glean from it. I get wanting to have a fake history where you get to have made fewer mistakes and evil acts and instead of killing people, they get to kill... cubes. But I guess this kind of fanciful revisionist history while knowing the horror of war makes me not entirely comfortable with it. But I also enjoy war adventure movies from time to time so maybe I'm just being a hypocrite.
But after all the weirdness, the weirdest part is... how boring this show is. It is a shockingly dull show. They KEEP introducing new characters and they get less and less interesting. Lots of time with world building and characters but I don't understand this world and only know the most basic info on some of them and a couple of them come across as "also, these people". I can't even get angry at it, I'm just shock that a series with a premise this wild is so deeply dull, it hurts to think about.
Shine On! Bakumatsu Bad Boys!
The Premise
In an alternate reality Meiji era, all but one of the Shinsengumi have been murdered by an mysterious evil gang. Desperate for help, 7 criminals are recruited to be the new Shinsengumi, wielding the swords of the original leaders of the crime fighting swordsmen. This includes a murderer of samurai, a hitman, a mad doctor, a "sinful" monk, a woman who dresses as a man, a loan shark and a foot thief. The unlikely team soon finds that the swords they use may have unexpected supernatural properties.
It Gud?
Bakumatsu Bad Boys is a show I'm going to give a chance to. The first episode was middling but it has a few aspect I like. Some of the character designs are fun. I like the idea of bad dudes teaming up to do good, against their nature. And the show does nothing overtly wrong save for not being that exciting. But it's a weak season, so against my better judgment, I'm giving some middling shows a chance. The description might make it sound like Akudama Drive but tonally it feels like Tribe Nine, another show with a fun premise but mediocre results.
One thing to complain about is the decision, like the also mediocre Angolmois (there's a reason you probably don't know this one), for some reason there's some weird filter that looks like it was smeared with dust. It doesn't add charm, it's just ugly.
Parallel World Pharmacy
The Premise
A medical doctor dies and goes to another world and he's a kid and he's more powerful than anyone ever and has all the best magics to make medicine and everyone is SOOOOOO impressed and also he's rich and loved. A real upper middle class to GOD MODE BRUCE WAYNE story.
It Gud?
I certainly gave it a very facetious synopsis but I really didn't "hate" or even "dislike" this show, but I am sort of exhausted by going through the same song and dance again and again. It's another older dude who travels into a younger body after dying of a lethal case of work. He is innately amazing at everything (these series often either have that or are given all the time in the world to be the best in an atmosphere of near complete isolation) and frankly he has more personality as a burnt out workaholic than some rando rich kid, even though they are the actual same character. I don't hate formula at all but it bothers me how it is constantly the hero drowning in privilege when I'm much more interested in watching a guy having to introduce modern medical techniques to a fantasy world.
But there was nothing offensive about it... yet. It's fairly standard but I do see potential here and since JBear is more interested, I don't mind giving it a chance. I like the implications that what the character has on his wrist when he first gets there. Medical isekai has been done but if it doesn't rely too much on all-power and seeing the value of medical knowledge, I'm more into it. And maybe the hero will develop a real personality that I can articulate. That said, I won't recommend this one as it stands, though I'll let you know if anything changes.
Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer
The Premise
A young man is approached by a lizard who tells him he is destined to be a heroic knight protecting a princess. He wants nothing to do with this but it won't stop monsters from attacking him and his meager superpower. Luckily he finds his princess, who protects him... and points out a giant hammer hovering above the Earth, threatening to smash the Earth. And she doesn't want that to happen... because SHE wants to smash the Earth.
It Gud?
This is yet another show with a wild premise but while I wouldn't call it boring... exactly, I really didn't care for this at all. I get what it wants to do; it wants to be a show that deconstructs and challenges adventure tropes, particularly chosen one heroes, knights protecting princesses and the goals of characters. The hero is actively trying to avoid the plot and constantly questions the premise of the series, mocking it and trying to ditch his responsibility. There's monsters but a lot of it is him walking around and discussing his nature.
I don't mind the idea of a show putting the escapist stuff on the backburner for fun character interactions but the lead character is fucking insufferable. It's not just that he's a jerk, it's that we are constantly with him and I think we are supposed to share some of his smugness about the series and it's premise. The jokes mostly don't land. And it is ugly. Not, like, the worst by a long shot but it just looks shoddy and cheap and passionless. Apparently this was based on a 20 year old manga and I think that maybe it's such a product of it's time that it wasn't made to come out again.
Whatever the case, whether it aged badly or it was always bad, Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer takes a wacky premise and turns it into a slog. I don't like being around these characters and particularly not the lead, who is in every scene and has some dismissive comment that isn't clever as much as it is off-putting. Which also describes the show.
The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting
The Premise
The toughest, most feared yakuza in town has a new mission; taking care of his boss's young daughter.
It Gud?
I feel like this is part of a burgeoning sub-genre of yakuza being put in softer roles. The most obvious one is the hit The Way of the Househusband but there's also the very fun Hinamatsuri (though the yakuza angle is only a smaller part of the series). I also like the formula of cute kid with unlikely guardian or protector, which feels as old as time where the idea is taking a type who doesn't seem kid friendly and forcing them to be a parental figure.
Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting follows this but the results are merely fine. I didn't mind watching it but it was neither laugh out loud funny nor did it pull on my heartstrings the way I would have wanted. I still enjoying it well enough and it's fun to see an uncompromising bully find someone worth protecting and caring about and having those feelings reciprocated. That said, it's merely a so-so first episode and while I'm hoping it will grow in my estimation, I don't have a lot of faith in it hitting that much harder.
When Will Ayumu Make His Move?
The Premise
Ayumu is a beginner player of shogi who joins the unofficial "shogi club" in order to confess his love to the only other member. She already has feelings for him too but the catch is he will only confess once he wins one game against her. She's much better than him so it seems hopeless. But his one advantage is his pokerface and his completely guileless forwardness that makes it very clear he does feel something and constantly makes her flustered in a way he seems to be unaware of.
It Gud?
It's alright. This is another rom-com series based on a manga created by Sōichirō Yamamoto who is currently doing three series. I didn't care much for In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki, about a ninja who wants to see a man, but this is much more fun. Having not seen it, I suspect this has a lot in common with Teasing Master Takagi-San, as it revolves around one character making another character flustered, though this seems to be about someone who is clueless that they are doing it.
It's a cute little series, mostly, and I do like the two leads. Ayumu both sincerely wants to confess but also looks up to his love interest, naively waiting to equal her in a game when he already has the romantic advantage he is constantly and aggressively pressing it without noticing how effective it is. I think it risks getting old but I'm hoping like Aharen, it mixes up the formula and keeps pressing on it's own advantage of charming leads, I see this as a fun one for the season.
My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World
The Premise
Guy is in a fantasy world and was probably isekaied or something and he super great at everything who cares.
It Gud?
Based on the write up, you must know and must ask "why even try? Why?" Let me let you in on a secret. If there's a goofy looking monster, that helps. We'll give it a shot. And there's a slime with a handlebar mustache and a wolf that looks like he's constantly in panic mode.
Really, don't bother. Pretty animation AND in the first episode, nothing offensive (though the fact that the only woman I remember is the heroes hench-fairy and some lady who... helps at a guild bar or something? So potential sign of where it puts it's female characters). But it is kind of generic and overpowered cool main character is boring when played completely straight. The charm of things like One-Punch Man or Haven't You Heard, I'm Sakamoto? is that it understands the absurdity of power but also humanizes it's cast (even if Sakamoto is almost a cipher, he brings out the best in people). But shows like this really want to to wish you were as powerful and clever without actually feeling clever and having a very superficial idea of what makes a character cool.
Lycoris Recoil
The Premise
Society has reached a golden age but eternal vigilance is needed. The last vestiges of crime and terror are discreetly dealt with by an army of heavily armed teen girls. One such girl makes a pretty big dangerous chance and is punished/rewarded with a transfer to Lycoris Recoil, where a former agent runs a cafe and uses her assassin skills to help people rather than punishing villains, to teach her to value life.
It Gud?
You'd think a utopia built on a secret army would be interesting in raising questions about what kind of paradise is built on lies and death but Lycoris Recoil puts that on the backburner for "gal pals bonding". Nothing wrong with that but it's weird to have the heroes be secret police and it kind of not having an opinion on secret police. During on montage there's a guy who is killed sitting on a bench with a bag and I think we are supposed to assume he's a mad bomber but also maybe it looks like the cute girls murdered a rando for the crime of loitering. I don't think this show wants to really deal with the ramifications of it's premise, which is weird. I think it somewhat gets that there's a darkness to it but this isn't treated like a secret dystopia and the main hero doesn't seem haunted by her bloody-handed past so much as "let's help people rather than kill them." Good but also, I suspect it will be frustrating going forward.
The show has a light feel. It's more about a person learning that helping people is better than punishing evil and I can enjoy it for that. I think I will enjoy it for what it is but it's kind of wild that (again, I suspect, maybe I'll be wrong) it isn't interested in making the secret police as baddies. Like, in an ideal world, the secret ladies turn on their masters and overthrow paradise but instead its about killers learning small stakes lesson. And it sounds like I'm down on this show. But I'm not. It's just weird, is all.
Call of the Night
The Premise
A teen finds himself secretly wandering the streets at night and encounters a weird young woman. It turns out she's a vampire looking to score some blood but he's less interested in her teeth than her life-style as she is truly a creature of the night. He wants to follow her example and become a vampire but before he can be one he needs to live like one, leading a second life as a night owl.
It Gud?
Overall this season has been a bit of a bummer over all. But I will say Call of the Night looked like a simple and maybe horny romance series. But I actually think this is going somewhere interesting. The first episode does do some worldbuilding for vampires but I think that this isn't going to be a vampire adventure series but I suspect is going to be more of a coming of age story about a guy learning to enjoy the night life. In order for him to become a vampire, he's basically going to have to spend a lot of time in the night and I could see this as being a series about opening himself up to a new world.
The animation is really nice to be sure and though the female lead is scantily dressed, it doesn't feel like a saucy series (though it has some gestures in that direction) but really about a guide to the world of night and her charge. I can see this going in several directions and they mostly interest me. It could go more vampire heavy but if it does, I feel like it won't be "good vs. evil vampires" and more vampires enjoying the night differently. I see a lot of what I assume are the main character's classmates so I suspect it'll be about this guy dealing with his two worlds and how his night adventures play into his daytime life.
I won't say I'm super stoked but I enjoyed it and see a lot of potential not just in the premise but the presentation. Frankly, I've seen good premises die on the vine but this one seems to know what it wants to be and I hope it succeeds and that I enjoy it.