Anime Sunday: Radiant Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m back with my thoughts on the first foreign made Manga series’s Anime Adaptation. It’s my Radiant Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot: The plot is pretty much standard Shonen fare, so it’s nothing spectacular. That being said, consider that a Frenchman makes the original source material and you might begin to see how it is noteworthy for how it sticks to the formula. Still this isn’t a really groundbreaking series in terms of story at least in this first episode. That may change in later episodes or in the original Manga but it wasn’t present in the first episode.

Characters: Seth is our main character and he’s pretty much the standard Shonen protagonist. Kid with big dreams and generally no real way to go about achieving them. The rest of the cast that was introduced in this episode isn’t too interesting either, but it’s not bad. It just didn’t hold my interest other than being noteworthy for the reasons stated above.

Art: The art is pretty well done, and while I haven’t watched later episodes if it sticks to this first episode’s level of quality it’ll be a good series in terms of art. That said it’s again nothing spectacular and not amazing like a ufotable production.

Music: The music is pretty standard Shonen, again. You’ll be noticing that this is a pattern, but once more it’s not particularly outstanding, nor is it particularly terrible.

Overall: Worth a watch for those who enjoy Shonen shows, but those who have little interest in them will find Radiant only interesting in what it could mean for future series.

For those who like: Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Drama, Shonen Stories.

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

Anime Sunday: Most Anticipated Summer 2018 Anime

This week for Anime Sunday I’m looking ahead. It’s my Most Anticipated Summer 2018 Anime!

Isekai Maou to Shoukan Dorei Majutsu: This is an Isekai series, I’ve heard it’s a fairly funny series with a ridiculously OP main character. Whether it’s any good remains to be seen, but it’s a pretty okay Light Novel series.

Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria: This is another Isekai series, but this time the main character isn’t some OP bad ass and actually has to work his ass off and isn’t given any help from pretty much anyone upon arriving in a new world. I’m unsure on this series as I haven’t read it’s original Light Novels, but given the synopsis and the fact that the main character isn’t some walking nuke I’m interested.

Happy Sugar Life: This is a Horror series. If you want to know how screwed up humans can be, you might want to watch this. Me I’m just watching it because it’s more psychological horror rather than a traditional horror series. I might regret it, but I’ll be giving it a shot.

Honorable Mentions:

Fate/Extra Last Encore: The second season of Last Encore, this will continue the weird adaptation of a game I really need to finish playing.

One Room Season Two: I enjoyed these short form Anime last year, and I’ve been a fan of the main artist for this series. So I’ll be giving this a quick watch.

That’s it for this week’s Anime Sunday.

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.

Anime Sunday: Real Girl Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m back with another Spring 2018 series. It’s my Real Girl Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: High school student Tsutsui Hikaru is shunned by his classmates for his otaku behavior. One day, as he was sentenced for pool cleaning duty for being late, and is paired with the beautiful but reputed troublemaker Higurashi Iroha…

Plot: The plot is okay, and I’ve covered this series before in a past column way back when my Saturday columns were known as Shoujo Saturday. It’s nothing much different than the first chapter of the series so if you read that you won’t see anything new.

Characters: The cast is okay, although there are some really cringeworthy moments. However that’s more due to the nature of the series, rather than any character faults in particular,

Music: The music’s okay, but nothing special.

Art: The animation is at least well done, but again it’s nothing spectacular either.

Overall: A decent adaptation, and great intro to the series, but it’s nothing spectacular either.

For those who like: Romance, Slice of Life, School Life, Drama, Teenage Angst, Good Artwork.

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