Anime Sunday: Arifureta Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m back with my first Summer 2019 series. It’s my Arifureta Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot: I’m pretty happy with the pacing of this first episode, as it seems the series is taking the plot fairly slow which allows for the anime to do the story justice. That said it is handled a bit fast, and doesn’t cover everything that I’d have hoped from the adaptation of a series I thoroughly enjoy. Maybe that’ll change in future episodes, but I am a bit disappointed.

Characters: We get introduced to our main protagonist, Hajime in this episode along with a couple of the heroines, Kaori and Shizuka. That said the plot is mostly focused on Hajime which is understandable given what the first volume of the Light Novel covers is mostly focused on him and another heroine, Yue.

Art: The art is fairly good, though there were some points where I thought I could see CG used, which is worrisome given how I tend to despise the use of CG if it’s detectable compared to the rest of the animation. Hopefully that is something I just thought I saw, but still it doesn’t bode well for my overall opinion of the series if it continues into later episodes.

Music: The score is well done, and I enjoyed both the opening and ending themes.

Overall: A fairly solid first episode, but there are some parts that led me to dampen my hopes that this adaptation would be as good as some other ones I’ve seen before.

For those who like: Fantasy, Isekai, Magic, Drama, Action, Adventure, Good Plot and Excellent Cast of Characters, Good Musical Score.

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

Anime Sunday: Most Anticipated Summer 2019 Anime

Hey all I’m back with a look at the upcoming season for this Anime Sunday. It’s my Most Anticipated Summer 2019 Anime!

Arifureta: This is one of my all time favorite stories, so I’m really hoping they do the original light novels justice with this adaptation. Considering it was pushed back and that they are almost done with the main arc of story (there’s quite a few afterstory arcs that I’m hoping get published) I can only hope it adapts all of the story in a well paced manner.

The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II: This is yet another Fate series, but it deals with an old character from Zero, Waver Velvet and him solving various mysteries. If you aren’t well versed in the nitty gritty details of the Nasuverse this might be a bit out there for you, since this goes more into the Magecraft side of things rather than dealing with Heroic Spirits.  Still I for one am looking forward to this series very, very much.

Cop Craft: I’ve always loved Buddy Cop movies, and this seems to be a Fantasy/Mystery mashup that promises to be just such a story. I haven’t read the original source material for this series, but I’m hoping it’ll be good.

Isekai Cheat Magician: This is another Isekai series, but I hear it’s actually very good though once more I have yet to read the original light novels. Considering that the illustrator for the series was one of my more admired artists though, Nardack, I’m looking forward to seeing their designs animated.

Maou-sama Retry: Again this looks to be an Isekai series, but since I enjoyed Isekai Maou’s novels I’m hoping this adaptation does well also. We shall see.

Okaa-san Online: The full name is really long, and more than a bit ridiculous, but I’m looking forward to seeing this, I’ve yet to read the original light novels but they always sounded interesting I was just waiting to let translations progress so I had more than a volume or two to read at once.

Honorable Mentions:

Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator: This is another Toaru spin-off, this one centered around Accelerator and Last Order (the final Misaka sister), so this is one to look forward to.

That’s it for this Anime Sunday.

TNT: Isekai and Tensei

Hey all I’m back with a quick information post on some terms I realize I didn’t explain for some readers. It’s all about Isekai and Tensei!

Isekai, Tensei?: I’ve been throwing these terms around and I really should’ve made an explanatory post a long time ago. My apologies, I do get busy with devouring enough material to keep writing this blog in addition to my book and game reviews.

Isekai is a term that the Japanese have termed for a genre, which literally translates into “Another World”. It revolves around the idea of a character, or characters, being transported in their current bodies into another world completely, often a brand new dimension. Some examples of this is Death March, Shield Hero and Arifureta. There are of course plenty of examples, some I’ve even covered in other columns, but those are some quick and easy ones.

What is Tensei?: Well Tensei translates into “Reincarnation”. However there are couple branches of the genre. These can be termed as Reincarnate and Transmigration.

Reincarnate: This is to completely be born again, from infancy. This is the most standard and typical Tensei route, but there can be some differences between stories. Sometimes characters will remember everything from their past life, other times it’ll just be hazy memories or nothing at all until an event shocks them into remembering. Mushoku Tensei is a good example of this occurring. Rudeus grows up from infancy with memories of his past life. And that influences him greatly in his new one.

Transmigration: This is a little different, as this involves someone’s soul taking over another’s body, often right as they would otherwise die. Genius Doctor: Black Belly Miss is an example of this, although there are plenty of other examples out there you could find.

That’s it for this week’s Translation Necessary Thursday!

TNT: Upcoming Anime Adaptations of Light Novels

This week for Translation Necessary Thursday I’m back with a quick look the towards future. It’s all about Upcoming Anime Adaptations of Light Novels!

Arifureta: Color me really surprised, but yeah Arifureta is getting an Anime. Hopefully it isn’t absolute crap, but the storyline is actually pretty amazing, and I’ve read the entire web novel and a bit of the after story. Whether the adaptation is any good will remain to be seen.

Shield Hero: Again I’m really surprised this is getting an Anime, considering the absolutely horrid things that occur to Naofumi in the first few chapters.

Sword Art Online Alicization Arc: Not surprised at all that this is getting an Anime, with how huge a hit the first two seasons were. I’ll admit I’m partial to the GGO arc of SAO, but the rest is a bit too lighthearted overall for me. Alicization though shouldn’t be that lighthearted and I fully expect it to take the entire two cour’s worth of episodes to animate the entire thing, if not possibly 3 cour.

Toaru Index Season 3: Once more a suprise announcement, it’ll happen sometime in the future. Eventually.

Shout outs go to both Overlord and Death March for their adaptations happening in the Winter 2018 season. Hopefully Death March’s won’t be absolutely terrible.

Wish List Adaptations I’d love to see happen in the second half of 2018, but incredibly likely that they won’t happen:

Fate/Strange Fake and Fate/Prototype Fragments: Both are really interesting series that haven’t really been translated yet, so I’d love them to get some love from my favorite studio ufotable. Of course I’d also like a Fate/Extra Caster Route with Hakunon by ufotable as well. Hell get everything Nasuverse related done by ufotable in the future TYPE-MOON! Seriously though, a match made in heaven.

That’s it for the first Translation Necessary Thursday of 2018, come back next week for a more regular sort of post.

TNT: Arifureta Volume 03 by Shirakome Ryo

This week for Translation Necessary Thursday I’m covering the third volume in Hajime’s adventures on Tortus. It’s Arifureta Volume 03 by Shirakome Ryo!

Plot Synopsis: Having beaten Miledy Raisen’s Great Labryinth and acquired Gravity magic, Hajime and Co set out again to find another Great Labryinth. Meanwhile Hajime’s Teacher Aiko is travelling towards the town of Ul….

Plot: This is a pretty decent entry in the series and is full of action scenes while also containing some really important moments for Hajime. As a side note I’ve heard people complain about how Arifureta got boring and became a Rom-Com after the first volume. I assure you that’s not the case and while it may seem toned down there are reasons for Hajime’s bloodlust being dampened. It’s pretty freaking obvious, but I won’t spoil it if you haven’t figured it out yet.

Characters: We don’t get introduced to a bunch of new characters in this volume, but Tio would be my favorite. If only because she’s very earnest about what she wants and doesn’t care at all about other’s thoughts on it. That’s an admirable trait, although what she wants is less than admirable.

Overall: An excellent volume, and while not as bloodthirsty as the first or second, there are reasons for it.