Anime Sunday: Wotakoi Episode 01 Impressions

Hey all I’m back with another Spring 2018 series for this week’s Anime Sunday. It’s my Wotakoi Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: 26-year-old Momose Narumi is a die-hard fujoshi otaku who recently switched jobs, in hopes of being able to play off an image of a perfect, beautiful young lady. However, her hopes are crashed when she reunites with her middle school classmate Nifuji Hirotaka, an avid gamer otaku that knows about her secret….

Plot: The plot is pretty great, it’s very open about how socially unacceptable being a nerd or otaku is in modern culture. This is a lesser factor in the West, but the stigma is still prevalent nonetheless. That being said if you aren’t a fan of Slice of Life series in general this will be a series you’ll want to skip.

Characters: Narumi is a pretty good female lead and Hirotaka is just as good a male lead. The rest of the cast is rather small at this point so I can’t really comment on them.

Art: The art is pretty great, while it’s not ufotable quality work, it is pretty dang good and easily beats anything Studio Deen could produce.

Music: The music isn’t very memorable sadly.

Overall: A good series for those who don’t mind some cringe worthy parts and Slice of Life.

For those who like: Romance, Slice of Life, Drama, Good Plot.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Anime Sunday: Golden Kamuy Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m back with another series from the latest season. It’s my Golden Kamuy Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: Russo-Japanese War veteran Sugimoto “Immortal” Saichi, pans for gold in Hokkaido to provide for his dead comrade Toraji’s widow. He learns that a man called Nopperabo has stolen a gold reserve from the Ainu people and killed those transporting it…

Plot: The plot is pretty good, but this follows the first chapter really closely so I wasn’t surprised much. That said it wasn’t a bad first episode, but it didn’t absolutely grab my attention like other series have before.

Characters: Saichi is a pretty interesting main character, he’s devoted to helping his dead friend’s wife, although the means he goes about doing so is somewhat questionable. Especially since I can’t imagine anything more hellish and depressing than panning for gold in the middle of winter. Asirpa our female lead is also very interesting, and the fact that she’s a capable young woman is just icing on the cake.

Art: Here’s where the major issue I had with this series is. The art is generally pretty good, but the very obvious use of 3D CG for the bear in this first episode is really distracting and absolutely destroys the immersion that I had up till that point. It’s a bummer, because if not for this major issue I might have chosen to watch the series as an Anime instead of waiting for the Manga to finish up before reading it.

Music: The music is alright, but not super special either.

Overall: An okay series, but there are some artistic issues that really ruin the experience of watching this first episode.

For those who like: Historical Fiction, Adventure, Drama.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above, or bad 3D CG.

Manga Monday: Tsumi to Batsu by Ochiai Naoyuki [Quick Review]

This week for Manga Monday I’ve got another Quick Review with a series that may end up just being even more serious than last week’s Quick Review! It’s Tsumi to Batsu: A Falsified Romance, or Crime and Punishment in English, by Ochiai Naoyuki!

Plot Synopsis: Miroku Tachi was a promising student until he dropped out of college. Now, after months spent as a NEET, he has hatched a plan to help his sister, himself, and the whole world.

Plot: The plot looks to be super dark, and while I’ve been told that this series is based off the classic novel Crime and Punishment, I’ve never read that particular classic before. So i know nothing about the plot, but it looks pretty freaking dark and super serious.

Characters: Miroku is a pretty standard college drop out with no hope of getting a job, and is pretty unlikeable, although his sister seems to be a nice enough girl although it sounds like she’s marrying an asshole to keep her family with enough money to live. We haven’t met said asshole yet, but I have a feeling I will as read the rest of this series.

Art: The art is wonderful, but if it turns out like any other Seinen series I’ve read that had the Tragedy sub-genre I’ll need to read it during the summer to avoid getting too depressed.

Overall: This looks like an interesting read and I will certainly get to reading it, in a few months so I can avoid getting overly depressed by the plot. I have a feeling it will be depressing.

That’s it for this week’s Manga Monday!

Anime Sunday: Reikenzan Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m covering the series I was most worried about coming into this season of Anime. It’s all about my Reikenzan Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: A comet falling will bring about a great calamity, and in order to choose a child fated by the falling comet, the family of the “Reiken” clan with a long storied history is once again resuming its entrance examination process to find disciples.

Plot: You see that plot synopsis up there? It’s not alluded to at all in the first episode except in the fact that we see the beginning stages of some grand “Test”. I was super disappointed in the lack of world building for the series in this first episode.

Characters: Ouriku is an arrogant fellow and while we haven’t seen him do anything to suggest he’s got the skills to back it up, it’s not a farfetched guess to say he does.  The rest of the cast is incredibly small so far, but the most interesting character is the Innkeeper so far. Which says a lot about the blandness of this series.

Artwork: And while I had hoped Studio Deen had shaped up since I last watched a work made by them, the last one being the original Fate Stay/Night series from 2006, I was severely disappointed. The artwork is terrible and it’s obvious that the animators used every cheap trick in their skillset to avoid effort in creating this work. From the constant use of deformed characters to action happening offscreen I was disappointed in the artwork from the first second to the last.

Music: The only upside was that the music wasn’t terrible. That being said it’s nothing amazing either. But compared to the rest of the components that went into making this first episode you can see that at least a modicum of effort was expended in the musical score.

Overall: A highly disappointing first episode in what will probably a highly disappointing series. My hopes for I Shall Seal the Heavens getting an Anime adaptation have been crushed for the foreseeable future.

For those who like: Xianxia, Action, Comedy, Decent Music.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above, or wanted an epic story to get an epic adaptation.

Sensate Saturday: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

This week I’m covering a happy series that makes you just feel all warm and fuzzy for Sensate Saturday. It’s Higurashi no Naku Koro ni!

Plot Synopsis: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni takes place during June 1983 in a fictional rural village called Hinamizawa (雛見沢) (based on the village of Shirakawa, Gifu, a World Heritage Site), which has a population of approximately 2,000. The main character, Keiichi Maebara, moves to Hinamizawa and befriends his new classmates Rena Ryugu, Mion Sonozaki, Rika Furude, and Satoko Houjou. Keiichi joins their after-school club activities, which consist mostly of card and board games (and punishment games for the loser – usually him).

Plot: The plot’s pretty happy go lucky and is more slice of life than anything else. That being said I won’t spoil anything, so just go into this with a very open mind when you first watch it.

Characters: Keiichi is pretty neat for a main character, but it’s the rest of the cast that makes the series. That being said Satoko is probably my favorite.

Art: Unfortunately this is animated by Studio Deen, which is a joke of an Anime series.

Music: The music is great though!

Overall: Go into this with an open mind and you might enjoy this happy go lucky series.

For those who like: Interesting Plots, Mysteries, Great Cast of Characters, Excellent Music.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.