Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp – Episode 1
This is honestly a pretty interesting premiere; I just wonder if it’s actually going to keep the elements that made it interesting as it goes forward.
Posts by Alex Henderson
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Solo Leveling – Episode 1
Cool concepts aside, a series like this ultimately rides or dies on its cast, and so far these fictional people aren’t bringing much energy or doing much to get me hooked.
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A Sign of Affection – Episode 1
A Sign of Affection’s first episode is sweet as pie, beautifully put together with a sincere and likeable heroine I’m already rooting for.
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Chained Soldier – Episode 1
Is Chained Soldier going to be a story that digs into themes of gender and consent in an interesting and complex way? Look, never say never, but… this premiere is so silly that my expectations are pretty low.
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Genre conventions and a gentle story of recovery in My New Boss is Goofy
Momose’s trauma is a constant throughline in the series, but we can rest assured that he’s going to be okay—while there are dark moments, the light-hearted nature of the show and its clear placement as a fluffy, bit-based comedy reassure the audience that ultimately this will be a kind story that lets this wounded person have a good time.
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Tearmoon Empire – Episode 1
Off the bat, your interest in this show may depend on how you feel about the glamorization of royal figures like Marie Antoinette.
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SHY – Episode 1
Teru/Shy makes for an endearing protagonist and I hope we get to see her grow and develop beyond her constant embarrassment and awkwardness, and get to show some of that heroic pizzazz in her everyday life.
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I’m In Love with the Villainess – Episode 1
A lot of your taste for this one will depend on how you feel about the tsundere and her attached tropes, but there’s a lot to hope for too.
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My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer – Episode 1
Fall 2023 is starting capably and comfortably enough: gifting us some over-competent girls with swords and some Nice Anime Dads with gardening skills.
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Queer time and the quarter-life crisis in contemporary yuri
Series that focus on queer adult characters open the door to a storytelling niche that’s still relatively underrepresented despite the rich narrative potential it offers: the post-adolescence queer coming-of-age story. Or, in other words, the gay quarter-life crisis.
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The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior – Episode 1
If the male-targeted market is saturated with extremely similar reincarnation isekai, maybe it’s fair enough that the female-targeted market is getting its own version of the trend. It’s equity, ya know?
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Sweet Reincarnation – Episode 1
For a show about sweets, the whole thing is awfully flavorless.
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Level 1 Demon Lord & One Room Hero – Episode 1
A potentially interesting thread is buried in a premiere that’s otherwise crass, silly, and dumb as bricks.
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AYAKA – Episode 1
What? You’re telling me this generic orphan who was always a bit of an outcast secretly has a supernatural family legacy and gets to go live on a cool island? Neat! I wonder if he has a grand destiny he’ll reluctantly have to fulfil, too!
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Working Out the Kinks: Deconstructing gendered expectations of sex in Ladies On Top
NEJIGANAMETA’s manga Ladies On Top is a cute, sexy josei romcom about the crushing pressures of heteronormative gender roles. I know, the emotional trauma inflicted by society’s narrow expectations about acceptable masculinity, femininity, and sexual desire doesn’t sound very cute or sexy, but trust me when I say Ladies On Top weaves these themes together effectively with its fluffy romance.
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Insomniacs After School – Episode 1
How it fares will depend on a couple of key things: how it handles its love interest, Isaki, and how it handles the theme of mental health and isolation that underpins the whole premise.
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MASHLE: Magic and Muscle – Episode 1
Fantasy allows us to ask exciting, imaginative “what if?” questions, like “what if this guy punched a wizard in the face? Would that be funny or what?”
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Otaku Elf – Episode 1
It’s a supernatural comedy first and foremost, but that silliness is grounded in characters that feel like characters rather than one-off jokes.
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Yuri Is My Job! – Episode 1
Oh, there’s some fun to be had with this premise.
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Skip and Loafer – Episode 1
Mitsumi is immediately an endearing female lead: a nervous overachiever who’s not defined by her anxiety, and who balances “competent and smart” with “hot mess” in a believable and funny way.
