Laid-Back Camp – Episode 1
This premiere was the anime equivalent of sipping tea under a fuzzy blanket. It cured my headache and dropped my blood pressure 10 points. I wouldn’t be surprised if my doctor starts prescribing it to me.
Posts by Dee
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Anime Supremacy! is the SHIROBAKO sequel you’ve been waiting for
Not quite a novel and not quite a short story collection, this book is divided into three main chapters, each following one of its female protagonists through part of a single anime season.
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Inuyashiki – Episode 1
Man Getting Hit By Football: The Anime.
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The Ancient Magus’ Bride – Episode 1
…Stay with me, okay?
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Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ – Episode 1
Here it is, folks. I found it. A fun otome visual novel adaptation with smart pacing, a solid plot, strong aesthetics, and good boys. THE UNICORN.
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DYNAMIC CHORD – Episode 1
C’mon. Just look at that header image. This show put sunglasses on a cat. It can’t be all bad.
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Recovery of an MMO Junkie – Episode 1
I considered making this a one-sentence review: “Watch it and decide for yourself.” Which would, if you were wondering, be the exact opposite of the definition of “review.” It would be a non-review. But that’s my position right now. I am a non-reviewer of Recovery of an MMO Junkie.
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KONOHANA KITAN – Episode 1
This premiere begins with a one-two punch of fanservice and “comical” assault, immediately souring me to a series I think I’d have otherwise found at worst harmless and at best kinda charming.
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SENGOKU NIGHT BLOOD – Episode 1
Have sympathy for those tasked with visual novel adaptations, dear readers. And if ever you find yourself in a position to write the premiere for such an adaptation, think back to the first half of Sengoku Night Blood—and do exactly the opposite of what they did.
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Black Clover – Episode 1
In trying to come up with a pithy way to introduce Black Clover, all I could think was “It sure is a shounen.” And yep. It sure is.
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Know When to Fold ‘Em: Princess Principal and the feel-good feminism of “Loudly Laundry”
Many of Princess Principal’s stories discuss the sharp social and economic divisions present in its world. But it’s the upbeat and inspiring Episode 7 that offers the show’s most nuanced depiction of inequality to date, as our central cast must acknowledge their own privilege—and find a better way forward.
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In Another World with My Smartphone – Episode 1
If you’ve been watching anime at all these past five years, you’ve seen this series before. But, uh… I still kinda liked it?
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Angel’s 3Piece! – Episode 1
Watching this show was like riding a bike down a sunny hill and slowly realizing it’s not a hill at all, but a trash chute leading to a burning landfill.
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Made in Abyss – Episode 1
Made in Abyss is a dieselpunk fairy tale that combines a rich world, curious kids, and energetic adventure with an undercurrent of lurking danger and quiet melancholy. I can’t prove it, but I’m pretty sure it was custom-made for me.
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18if – Episode 1
Sometimes the best way to describe an anime is to say “it’s very anime,” and that’s kind of where I am with 18if.
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Convenience Store Boyfriends – Episode 1
If you really need a blandly directed series with snail-like pacing this season, just make it Restaurant to Another World. At least that one has a dragon in it.
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Love and Lies – Episode 1
This is a nightmarish, dystopian premise that’s overflowing with possible avenues for pointed social commentary, and Love and Lies… uses it to tell a milquetoast high school romance?
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A Dream of One’s Own: Finding a home outside femininity in Chihayafuru
Sometimes wrenching but ultimately inspiring, Chihayafuru’s first volume quietly challenges traditional gender norms and offers the hope of a supportive community to anyone who’s ever felt like they didn’t quite fit society’s gendered expectations of who they’re “supposed” to be.
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WorldEnd vs. Hajime no Ippo: When bad frames happen to good people
If fanservice is gratuitous T&A that exists solely to titillate its audience, then the massage scene in WorldEnd is fanservice in its purest and most distasteful form. So how could it have done it better?
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WorldEnd: What do you do at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us? – Episode 1
This wasn’t just good “for an LN adaptation”; it has potential to be a really solid fantasy series in general.
