Trapped in a Dating Sim offers some potentially interesting ideas but is helmed by a disagreeable protagonist and, through him, a general sense of disdain for the genre it’s supposedly inhabiting.
Even if there’s something kinda funny about seeing realistically-rendered horses next to stylized anime humans, the aesthetic of the show overall is really nice.
If it can get back to business and commit to being silly, Novae might hit its stride. But aside from offering me an artistic glimpse into the ancient world, this premiere hasn’t done much.
When they go to a games arcade after school and Aharen smushes her chubby cheeks up against the glass of a crane game machine, it looks more like Raido is babysitting a young relative rather than… setting up the initial character beats of a rom-com. I hope I don’t have to explain why that’s an issue!
As an initial vibe check, I’d describe Kotaro Lives Alone as “deeply odd, but potentially (???) charming”.
The Orbital Children rejects the ecofascist idea that humans need to be controlled and culled in the name of someone’s idea of “humanity” and demands we imagine a better future that everyone gets to be a part of.
o a certain extent, what can I say? It’s PreCure. It’s adorable. It’s charming. It’s some colorful easy fun for tired adults and energetic children alike. But hang tight, reader, because there are a couple of aspects to this series that I want to talk about in more detail.
This introduction paints a dazzling but grim picture of a not-too-far-flung sci-fi future.
Do you want to watch a show about an insufferable young man born into money, scheming to make more money, stumbling into success and being lauded as a tactical genius?
If you’re not a sports anime fan, it probably doesn’t have enough pizzazz to win you over. If you’re already a sports anime fan, you can probably already recommend six other shows that you’d rather be watching.
Akebi’s Sailor Uniform is a beautifully-put-together show with a voyeuristic undercurrent, that doesn’t necessarily affect the overall experience but leaves it (at least, leaves me) feeling… off.
There’s nothing wrong with Slow Loop (except some potential yellow flags in the dynamic between these soon-to-be stepsisters, which I’ll get to in a second) but it just doesn’t earn the kind of gold star I know this genre can.
Personifying war machines (or just putting cute girls in them) is a trope by this point, and I want to say it’s not inherently harmful in and of itself. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that the very premise of this show relies on detaching killing machines from their historical (or current!) context. Yes, these girls represent assault rifles and are shooting assault rifles, but don’t worry about it, they’re only using them to shoot evil robots. And don’t they look cool?
This premiere isn’t keen to rush into the heart of the action and show Will being a cool badass holy warrior. It’s content to draw us in slowly, focusing on the relationship between Will and his undead guardians.
It’s the job of a hobby anime’s premiere (and this is listed as “slice-of-life” rather than sports, at least on Funimation) to show the protagonists getting hooked into the hobby in question. To throw the heroines into something new and to show that initial spark of interest, so the audience is inspired to join them week by week on their journey. But this first episode of PuraOre! just doesn’t have the emotional weight to pull this crucial work off.
A slow life show set in a fantasy world runs a dual risk: being too slow, and being a bad fantasy.
I’d assumed Mieruko-chan would be much more straightforwardly a zany comedy, juxtaposing the terrifying creatures of the beyond against Miko’s disinterest in engaging with them. But the pacing of this entire episode, and each individual apparition, leans way more on the horror aspect of this horror-comedy.
Technically, the general rule at AniFem is that we don’t cover children’s programming, but if we can make an exception for dear ol’ PreCure I figure I may as well shine a spotlight on PriMagi and see what’s going on over there, too. If you’re hungry for more officially-licensed all-ages magical girl content, you might want to join me in the audience.
Fena has the potential to be a really fun action-adventure protagonist in a really fun action-adventure show. Fingers crossed she retains her agency and gets to really grow and shine across whatever zany treasure hunt she’s about to embark upon.
Just as the dreamscape Wonder Killers provide a convenient and killable representation of the issues that harm young people, the writers of the show invent a convenient “monster” and pin the blame for those very issues on her. As a result, a lot of the nuance in the series’ treatment of trauma and suicide is lost.
