Sing “Yesterday” for Me – Episode 1
“This whole thing smacks of manic pixie dream girl,” I holler as I overturn the coffee table in my living room and turn spring premiere season into shit premiere season.
Posts by Caitlin Moore
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Arte – Episode 1
I went into Arte with cynicism in my heart, and Arte proceeded to prove me completely and totally wrong. Under all that brightly colored shoujo artwork lies a heart of steely determination.
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Wave, Listen to Me! – Episode 1
Minare is perfectly imperfect, and the exact kind of heroine I’ve been asking, nay, begging for for years. I think I would die for her.
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Listeners – Episode 1
Listeners is the best kind of pastiche. It takes a number of familiar elements—a young man stumbling on a mysterious young woman, a post-apocalyptic setting, and the sense of being shaken out of a sense of complacency—and mashes them up in such a way that, even though you know you’ve seen and heard it all before, feels fresh and energetic.
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Kakushigoto – Episode 1
Kakushigoto is sweeter, softer, and gentler than the mangaka’s previous work Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, and the first episode was a delight to watch.
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Power, Oppression, and Victimhood in The Twelve Kingdoms versus The Rising of the Shield Hero
While their first arcs run largely parallel to each other, Shield Hero’s themes of revenge and victimhood undercut any room for growth, while Twelve Kingdoms uses almost identical story elements to explore the nature of power and oppression and push its protagonist towards positive change.
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A3! Spring and Summer – Episode 1
You can tell that A3 really messes up when I found myself rooting for the bad guy.
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ARP: Backstage Pass – Episode 1
May appeal to folks who are already fans of ARP or virtual idols in general, but the story doesn’t give newcomers much reason to stick around.
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In/Spectre – Episode 1
In/Spectre may not have been the best show to premiere this season, but it’s definitely upper-tier in a season full of mediocrity.
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A Destructive God Sits Next to Me – Episode 1
Hey, remember last season’s surprise gem Outburst Dreamer Boys? This is like that, but way less fun!
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Smile Down the Runway – Episode 1
Smile Down the Runway has potential to make interesting choices, but it’s hard to tell at this point whether or not it has the courage to actually follow through. Maybe it’ll be worth giving it three episodes to strut its stuff.
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Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It – Episode 1
I love a good romantic comedy about awkward dorks, but this one misses the mark.
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Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun – Episode 1
Hanako-kun’s sweet comedy, attention-grabbing visual style, and undercurrent of melancholy make for one of the most promising premieres of the season.
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number24 – Episode 1
If you like sports anime, number24 is a pretty safe bet for a good time.
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Plunderer – Episode 1
If Plunderer lost a point for every time it tried my patience, it would have hit zero about ten—no, five minutes in.
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Sorcerous Stabber Orphen – Episode 1
It’s hard at this point to suss out whether it’s mostly inoffensive, aggressively ‘90s light novel trash, or whether the narrative plans to do something genuinely interesting.
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Somali and the Forest Spirit – Episode 1
Cute and charming with a hint of darkness, this gorgeous fantasy is a welcome addition to the growing single-dad-and-child subgenre.
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Cruelty or Kindness: Understanding The Promised Neverland’s Isabella
Outside of the daily standardized tests, Grace Field House looks an awful lot like a high-quality preschool. Maybe that’s why, in a strange way, I found myself relating to Isabella through my own career in early childhood education.
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Chidori RSC – Episode 1
Chidori RSC is an extremely low-tension series, even for the “cute girls doing cute things” genre.
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Case File nº221: Kabukicho – Episode 1
Bizarre and wild and unpredictable, with glossy animation and style to spare… all steeped, unfortunately, in absolutely hideous levels of queerphobia.
