Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Whew aside from two latecomers, I've finally caught up with most of the anime I decided to try for the season.
The Premise:
A girl working in a hotel in Okinawa meets a boy renting a room... who is surrounded by fish.
It Gud?
This is so short, there's not really a lot to judge here. It's not bad. It's watchable enough. But at two minutes, it is quite slight.
The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window
The Premise:
A guy can see ghosts and another guy tells him they can use their combined psychic powers to exorcise them by hitting his spiritual cum button.
It Gud?
Look, I've seen psychic Boy's Love series before. It's not perfect, but Pet was a pretty good series about a guy trapped in a toxic relationship among a psychic gangster war. But this one is kind of a mix of hilariously ridiculous and unfortunately problematic. Let's start with the problematic element; that the series starts with a character kind of forcing his psychic power on the co-lead in a non-consensual metaphor for sex. Once they are more or less both in it's a little better but clearly one of the members still more dominant and forceful towards the other so that's not so cool. Yes, there was that element with the aforementioned Pet but that also was very much about agency.
One thing I did like is that it doesn't beat around the bush very long. What starts as a very clear metaphor... well, the metaphor quickly fades away. They describe their psychic union as "erotic" and it is clear both of them are getting pleasure from touching their souls. It becomes just plain text and I kind of appreciate that it isn't dancing around it with saucy analogies, especially because if this was a better show, it feels likes it could simply start talking about the characters relationship and sex used to process horror. Of course, this isn't an entirely healthy relationship (it's definitely implied one of the two is a little less trustworthy than the other) but it doesn't necessarily need to be to explore. But unfortunately, I think the show might be more interested in the sexiness of their spiritual orgasms.
And finally, there's a lot of elements that are hilarious, though not by intent (I think). The title is certainly silly and self-important but beyond that there's the fact that early in the series, the manager of a book store IMMEDIATELY buys into the series mythos as it is explained to him with no evidence. "I'm a psychic and your employee can see ghosts". "Oh, wow, cool." It's ridiculous and I kind of love it. The blond guy also has a weird laugh in one scene and while I think it is supposed to show he's slightly off, it just comes off as hilarious. The show is not to be recommended and whatever interesting ideas it has are kind of pushed aside by it's negatives but the sillier elements were memorable, at least.
Puraore! Pride of Orange
The Premise:
An embroidery club decides to try ice hockey, unaware that the coach of the would be team also wants to make them an idol group.
It Gud?
Going into this one, I was not prepared for the idol group angle. Boy was that introduction where they win the finals between themselves and Canada then smash cut to idol number a left turn. More so when it turns out that... we just watched what I assume is the end of the series? I get starting at the last game but not necessarily the win plus a pop song. Don't you save that for later? Then the series slows it's role and starts at the embroidery club.
I'll say about half way in, I liked the show a bit more after a while. It establishes a lot of stuff that doesn't seem particularly important and feels like it could be done down the line. But once the premise is "coach wants to shoe horn an idol group angle into her hockey team", there's a little more fun, particularly during a "stretch" scene that's kind of cute. And I will say, the actual hockey playing animation looks good despite the fact that most of the series looks rather modest.
In the end, though, my problem with this series is my problem with a lot of "cute girls doing cute things" shows... the girls go into their lives but none of them seem to have particularly distinct personalities. One is slightly outgoing, one... looks at her friends and is happy (as if in the next scene she is about to die tragically), and one... has pig tales and is slightly less smiley. One of the things I like a lot about sports series are people with different personalities and outlooks coming together but there's not a lot of tension or chemistry here and I don't have a strong reason to continue. If you just want a light sports show, this isn't bad, but it lacks something to make me interested in returning to this world.
Tesla Note
The Premise:
A girl trained from birth to be a ninja spy discovers that she is needed to hunt down the "Shards of Tesla" after an incident causes a train to crash from a portal in the sky. She teams up with an arrogant mail spy and the two must solves mysteries and help people.
It Gud?
Look, I feel like I'm kinder than a lot of anime viewers towards CG anime. Some of them look quite good. Drifting Dragons, Beastars, Batman Ninja, I like them quite a bit and thing the animation is actually quite good. So it is amazing that there are so many shows like Ex-Arm, that one Ghost in the Shell show and Berserk that look like such hot messes, it is ridiculous. Tesla Note is pretty bad all across the board. It's a show that on occasion uses cheap flat animation but most of it use CG and neither look good.
Tesla Note looks like a PS2 cute scene without the charm. It looks like they asked a VTuber to make an entire animated series all by themselves. This feels like the cheap modern equivalent of roto-scoping without the charm of those wonky looking 80s movies where they did that. And worse, the source material is not doing the show any favours. The comedy is unfunny, the characters lack charm and I don't care for the "shards of Tesla" element. I'm sure there is someone who likes Tesla Note and I feel sorry for them. I don't think I would like any adaptation but I feel like the bad animation and direction hurts the series even more, meaning people who would enjoy this get to see the series they like turned into a nightmare of a show.
My favourite accidentally hilarious moment is at the very end when we see some mystery man make a grand proclamation which is obscured by the fact that at the exact same time a narrator spouts whatever words appear beside him, making a complete aural mess and a perfect symbol for the complete mess this show is.
Rumble Garanndoll
The Premise:
In the near future, Japan has been conquered by the True Japan Faction and their giant robots. Those standing against them in Akihabara; a giant robot. But not just anyone can pilot it... only a NERD can give it the proper power it needs. And that nerd is a host club worker who doesn't want to admit to his nerdly tastes.
It Gud?
Nah. There are things I like about it and things I don't but I'm definitely leaning to the latter on this one. It is a series that seems to be keeping the nature of what happened to the world unclear, save that nerd stuff is not illegal and only nerds can save the day. Overall, I tend to be nervous about such pandering, much in the same way that so many current isekai's are about shut in otakus who finally get to live again by dying. Though there aren't many specific references, it goes very much in the same direction.
I will say to it's benefit, I wouldn't call it's attitude smug, which I feel like it easily could have been. Clearly, whoever made this does want to say "loving a thing is fun but we get more out of it when we love it together", which I kind of like. But overall, I find the majority of the humour didn't work for me and while the animation isn't bad, it didn't stick with me. I do like that they went with a "cuter" feel for the robots (the bad guy bots look like they came out of Samurai Pizza Cats). But overall, I think I bounced off more than I liked.
I also think it's not the best sign when the only female heroine (so far, I'm sure the bad guy in the ep defects at some point, simply by virtue of character design and attitude) is a "battery girl" who... can't control the robot very well and is limited to powering the robot by getting pumped up about nerd stuff. Again, I like the idea of messaging that says "like what you like and don't let others make you feel less for it," but it also puts the female co-lead in a kind of cheerleader position rather than someone providing a more active role in the series.
Muteking the Dancing Hero
The Premise
In Neo San Francisco, a new kid named Muteki comes to town in time to see a popular company called Octinq debuting new products such as Taco Taco, the octopus taco shop. But a DJ named DJ tells him to stay away and soon learns Octinq is using it's power to turn people into inky goo. The only way to turn them back? Turning into a dancing superhero!
It Gud?
It... I think I won't keep up with it but I also think it's good. Muteking is actually a (somewhat loose, I think) reboot of an older kids show of a similar name.
I can't speak to the original but this is clearly a show aimed at a somewhat younger audience with monsters of the week and a transformation sequence and elements that feel merchandisable. But this isn't Mazica Party, a similar type of show I had a hard time tolerating. Muteking, on the other hand, is doing a lot of things right. I like the look and character designs a lot. I can understand someone feeling blinded by the ultra-colorful look but this is a series that feels indebted to the 80s but is about now, more or less. In fact, there's so much 80s that the episode's first scene has Plastic Love playing on the radio! (nice touch). But it never feels obnoxious in trying to feel of an era and actually creates a nice looks.
I like the designs of the characters a lot, a nice mix of American culture and classic anime, and there are a lot of jokes that legit work, including a sweet-hearted waitress who only seems to know how to serve cream sodas. I like that the main character's best friend implies that he's fucking the main character's aunt (I'm sure it's more innocent but I hope they don't spell it out because my headcanon is they fuck). The villain, a CEO named Ceo Eight, is fun. This show exudes fun. Even the end credits might be my favourite of the season, styled as an 80s comic book.
And yet, despite my glowing review... I don't think I want to continue. I liked what I saw but I feel like the shine might wear off for me. I don't dislike formula (I still love the shonen formulas) but I feel like a monster of the week show is something I'm less interested in now. But if you aren't, I'm going to say give this one a try. This show is doing a lot of stuff I like and if you think it's going to maintain your interest for the run, all the more reason!
Blue Period
The Premise
A young man with good grades and good friends seems to have it all. But his ties to his friends and homework require a lot of effort and not letting them who he really is. When he sees a painting in the art room, he's moved by it and begins to consider art and find value in it as he becomes drawn to expressing himself.
It Gud?
I love series about a process and Blue Period is very much about that. It's why I like sports series, as they are often about developing strength and techniques and figuring them out. But Blue Period also does a great job developing it's lead. He isn't the most showy character with a supremely unique personality but there's a lot going on in his story. There are a lot of shows about "guy great at everything" that rub me the wrong way but here we have someone who wants to be great at everything, puts in the work and does it but finds it hollow. He loves his friends and puts effort into maintaining his friendship but he never expresses his real self, instead just going on with what he wants to do. He works himself to the bone with his homework so he can get into a good university but wonders what it is for.
His journey is about the value of self-expression and when it comes to that, he does have some skill and is thoughtful but has a long way to go. This is the character I like but I feel like it is treated with a level of quiet thoughtfulness not often found in those stories. And I also think the series does a good job illustrating the world he wants to express as he becomes interested in showing how he can share his vision with the world.
This is one of the first series that Netflix seems to be doing weekly, a thing they should have been doing for a while now. Yeah, it's a couple weeks behind but frankly I can live with that. But more than that, it's definitely one of the stronger series they are producing and the kind I would like to see more of. I want to see this characters journey and learning different techniques and most importantly, the joy of sharing something in a way he can't simply through talking. This is probably tied for show I'm most looking forward to continuing this season. Here's the other one.
The Heike Story
The Premise
In old Japan, the Heike clan is implanted itself into the highest positions of governmental power and are the most influential. But one member of the family is not so cocksure of the family's standing, in part due to his humanity but also due to his ability to see the dead. When he meets a young girl, he discovers two things; his family is responsible for her father's death and that she can see the future. Deciding to take responsibility for her, he brings her into his own family. Meanwhile, he is also hoping he can convince her to use her future vision to help his clan avoid tragedy, which she is understandably unwilling to do.
It Gud?
The Heike Story promises to be an epic in probably the best possible way: we are introduced to a lot of characters and there is likely to be a lot of moving parts and characters and trickery. But it zeroes in on two characters to tell a very human story; a father who feels the need to protect his clan despite the fact they they have a solipsistic world view and are shits. But the show still manages to sell him as someone we like, even if is plans are in favour of continuing a toxic status quo.
Meanwhile, Biwa, the female co-lead, is finding as awful as the family is, there are good people in it and some worth saving, which is likely to make for some great drama down the line. The entire thing feels like a traditional Japanese drama but goosed in a way to keep it lively. It's got this driving rock soundtrack along with it's traditionalist music and I feel like the storytelling is working the same way. It's antiquity and political nature doesn't distance us from the humanity and story telling that is actually fairly easy to follow in the broad sense, even if there are specifics that are likely to be lost on me.
I've yet to be disappointed with a Science Saru joint and this is one that might be one of their best looking series yet. I feel it's look actually lacks a little of the uniqueness of some of the other series, but it still isn't conventionally and definitely feels like it following it's own path in telling what I assume is a well known story. And I feel like a lot of tales work better from being told again and again, as there can be new ideas to be found. And I feel like whatever I've missed from previous tellings that this isn't a retread, this is something fresh and fascinating.
"Deji" Meets Girl
The Premise:
A girl working in a hotel in Okinawa meets a boy renting a room... who is surrounded by fish.
It Gud?
This is so short, there's not really a lot to judge here. It's not bad. It's watchable enough. But at two minutes, it is quite slight.
The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window
The Premise:
A guy can see ghosts and another guy tells him they can use their combined psychic powers to exorcise them by hitting his spiritual cum button.
It Gud?
Look, I've seen psychic Boy's Love series before. It's not perfect, but Pet was a pretty good series about a guy trapped in a toxic relationship among a psychic gangster war. But this one is kind of a mix of hilariously ridiculous and unfortunately problematic. Let's start with the problematic element; that the series starts with a character kind of forcing his psychic power on the co-lead in a non-consensual metaphor for sex. Once they are more or less both in it's a little better but clearly one of the members still more dominant and forceful towards the other so that's not so cool. Yes, there was that element with the aforementioned Pet but that also was very much about agency.
One thing I did like is that it doesn't beat around the bush very long. What starts as a very clear metaphor... well, the metaphor quickly fades away. They describe their psychic union as "erotic" and it is clear both of them are getting pleasure from touching their souls. It becomes just plain text and I kind of appreciate that it isn't dancing around it with saucy analogies, especially because if this was a better show, it feels likes it could simply start talking about the characters relationship and sex used to process horror. Of course, this isn't an entirely healthy relationship (it's definitely implied one of the two is a little less trustworthy than the other) but it doesn't necessarily need to be to explore. But unfortunately, I think the show might be more interested in the sexiness of their spiritual orgasms.
And finally, there's a lot of elements that are hilarious, though not by intent (I think). The title is certainly silly and self-important but beyond that there's the fact that early in the series, the manager of a book store IMMEDIATELY buys into the series mythos as it is explained to him with no evidence. "I'm a psychic and your employee can see ghosts". "Oh, wow, cool." It's ridiculous and I kind of love it. The blond guy also has a weird laugh in one scene and while I think it is supposed to show he's slightly off, it just comes off as hilarious. The show is not to be recommended and whatever interesting ideas it has are kind of pushed aside by it's negatives but the sillier elements were memorable, at least.
Puraore! Pride of Orange
The Premise:
An embroidery club decides to try ice hockey, unaware that the coach of the would be team also wants to make them an idol group.
It Gud?
Going into this one, I was not prepared for the idol group angle. Boy was that introduction where they win the finals between themselves and Canada then smash cut to idol number a left turn. More so when it turns out that... we just watched what I assume is the end of the series? I get starting at the last game but not necessarily the win plus a pop song. Don't you save that for later? Then the series slows it's role and starts at the embroidery club.
I'll say about half way in, I liked the show a bit more after a while. It establishes a lot of stuff that doesn't seem particularly important and feels like it could be done down the line. But once the premise is "coach wants to shoe horn an idol group angle into her hockey team", there's a little more fun, particularly during a "stretch" scene that's kind of cute. And I will say, the actual hockey playing animation looks good despite the fact that most of the series looks rather modest.
In the end, though, my problem with this series is my problem with a lot of "cute girls doing cute things" shows... the girls go into their lives but none of them seem to have particularly distinct personalities. One is slightly outgoing, one... looks at her friends and is happy (as if in the next scene she is about to die tragically), and one... has pig tales and is slightly less smiley. One of the things I like a lot about sports series are people with different personalities and outlooks coming together but there's not a lot of tension or chemistry here and I don't have a strong reason to continue. If you just want a light sports show, this isn't bad, but it lacks something to make me interested in returning to this world.
Tesla Note
The Premise:
A girl trained from birth to be a ninja spy discovers that she is needed to hunt down the "Shards of Tesla" after an incident causes a train to crash from a portal in the sky. She teams up with an arrogant mail spy and the two must solves mysteries and help people.
It Gud?
Look, I feel like I'm kinder than a lot of anime viewers towards CG anime. Some of them look quite good. Drifting Dragons, Beastars, Batman Ninja, I like them quite a bit and thing the animation is actually quite good. So it is amazing that there are so many shows like Ex-Arm, that one Ghost in the Shell show and Berserk that look like such hot messes, it is ridiculous. Tesla Note is pretty bad all across the board. It's a show that on occasion uses cheap flat animation but most of it use CG and neither look good.
Tesla Note looks like a PS2 cute scene without the charm. It looks like they asked a VTuber to make an entire animated series all by themselves. This feels like the cheap modern equivalent of roto-scoping without the charm of those wonky looking 80s movies where they did that. And worse, the source material is not doing the show any favours. The comedy is unfunny, the characters lack charm and I don't care for the "shards of Tesla" element. I'm sure there is someone who likes Tesla Note and I feel sorry for them. I don't think I would like any adaptation but I feel like the bad animation and direction hurts the series even more, meaning people who would enjoy this get to see the series they like turned into a nightmare of a show.
My favourite accidentally hilarious moment is at the very end when we see some mystery man make a grand proclamation which is obscured by the fact that at the exact same time a narrator spouts whatever words appear beside him, making a complete aural mess and a perfect symbol for the complete mess this show is.
Rumble Garanndoll
The Premise:
In the near future, Japan has been conquered by the True Japan Faction and their giant robots. Those standing against them in Akihabara; a giant robot. But not just anyone can pilot it... only a NERD can give it the proper power it needs. And that nerd is a host club worker who doesn't want to admit to his nerdly tastes.
It Gud?
Nah. There are things I like about it and things I don't but I'm definitely leaning to the latter on this one. It is a series that seems to be keeping the nature of what happened to the world unclear, save that nerd stuff is not illegal and only nerds can save the day. Overall, I tend to be nervous about such pandering, much in the same way that so many current isekai's are about shut in otakus who finally get to live again by dying. Though there aren't many specific references, it goes very much in the same direction.
I will say to it's benefit, I wouldn't call it's attitude smug, which I feel like it easily could have been. Clearly, whoever made this does want to say "loving a thing is fun but we get more out of it when we love it together", which I kind of like. But overall, I find the majority of the humour didn't work for me and while the animation isn't bad, it didn't stick with me. I do like that they went with a "cuter" feel for the robots (the bad guy bots look like they came out of Samurai Pizza Cats). But overall, I think I bounced off more than I liked.
I also think it's not the best sign when the only female heroine (so far, I'm sure the bad guy in the ep defects at some point, simply by virtue of character design and attitude) is a "battery girl" who... can't control the robot very well and is limited to powering the robot by getting pumped up about nerd stuff. Again, I like the idea of messaging that says "like what you like and don't let others make you feel less for it," but it also puts the female co-lead in a kind of cheerleader position rather than someone providing a more active role in the series.
Muteking the Dancing Hero
The Premise
In Neo San Francisco, a new kid named Muteki comes to town in time to see a popular company called Octinq debuting new products such as Taco Taco, the octopus taco shop. But a DJ named DJ tells him to stay away and soon learns Octinq is using it's power to turn people into inky goo. The only way to turn them back? Turning into a dancing superhero!
It Gud?
It... I think I won't keep up with it but I also think it's good. Muteking is actually a (somewhat loose, I think) reboot of an older kids show of a similar name.
I like the designs of the characters a lot, a nice mix of American culture and classic anime, and there are a lot of jokes that legit work, including a sweet-hearted waitress who only seems to know how to serve cream sodas. I like that the main character's best friend implies that he's fucking the main character's aunt (I'm sure it's more innocent but I hope they don't spell it out because my headcanon is they fuck). The villain, a CEO named Ceo Eight, is fun. This show exudes fun. Even the end credits might be my favourite of the season, styled as an 80s comic book.
Blue Period
The Premise
A young man with good grades and good friends seems to have it all. But his ties to his friends and homework require a lot of effort and not letting them who he really is. When he sees a painting in the art room, he's moved by it and begins to consider art and find value in it as he becomes drawn to expressing himself.
It Gud?
I love series about a process and Blue Period is very much about that. It's why I like sports series, as they are often about developing strength and techniques and figuring them out. But Blue Period also does a great job developing it's lead. He isn't the most showy character with a supremely unique personality but there's a lot going on in his story. There are a lot of shows about "guy great at everything" that rub me the wrong way but here we have someone who wants to be great at everything, puts in the work and does it but finds it hollow. He loves his friends and puts effort into maintaining his friendship but he never expresses his real self, instead just going on with what he wants to do. He works himself to the bone with his homework so he can get into a good university but wonders what it is for.
His journey is about the value of self-expression and when it comes to that, he does have some skill and is thoughtful but has a long way to go. This is the character I like but I feel like it is treated with a level of quiet thoughtfulness not often found in those stories. And I also think the series does a good job illustrating the world he wants to express as he becomes interested in showing how he can share his vision with the world.
This is one of the first series that Netflix seems to be doing weekly, a thing they should have been doing for a while now. Yeah, it's a couple weeks behind but frankly I can live with that. But more than that, it's definitely one of the stronger series they are producing and the kind I would like to see more of. I want to see this characters journey and learning different techniques and most importantly, the joy of sharing something in a way he can't simply through talking. This is probably tied for show I'm most looking forward to continuing this season. Here's the other one.
The Heike Story
The Premise
In old Japan, the Heike clan is implanted itself into the highest positions of governmental power and are the most influential. But one member of the family is not so cocksure of the family's standing, in part due to his humanity but also due to his ability to see the dead. When he meets a young girl, he discovers two things; his family is responsible for her father's death and that she can see the future. Deciding to take responsibility for her, he brings her into his own family. Meanwhile, he is also hoping he can convince her to use her future vision to help his clan avoid tragedy, which she is understandably unwilling to do.
It Gud?
The Heike Story promises to be an epic in probably the best possible way: we are introduced to a lot of characters and there is likely to be a lot of moving parts and characters and trickery. But it zeroes in on two characters to tell a very human story; a father who feels the need to protect his clan despite the fact they they have a solipsistic world view and are shits. But the show still manages to sell him as someone we like, even if is plans are in favour of continuing a toxic status quo.
Meanwhile, Biwa, the female co-lead, is finding as awful as the family is, there are good people in it and some worth saving, which is likely to make for some great drama down the line. The entire thing feels like a traditional Japanese drama but goosed in a way to keep it lively. It's got this driving rock soundtrack along with it's traditionalist music and I feel like the storytelling is working the same way. It's antiquity and political nature doesn't distance us from the humanity and story telling that is actually fairly easy to follow in the broad sense, even if there are specifics that are likely to be lost on me.
I've yet to be disappointed with a Science Saru joint and this is one that might be one of their best looking series yet. I feel it's look actually lacks a little of the uniqueness of some of the other series, but it still isn't conventionally and definitely feels like it following it's own path in telling what I assume is a well known story. And I feel like a lot of tales work better from being told again and again, as there can be new ideas to be found. And I feel like whatever I've missed from previous tellings that this isn't a retread, this is something fresh and fascinating.