Anime Sunday: CHOYOYU Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m back with a look at a series from Fall 2019. It’s my CHOYOYU Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot: The plot isn’t the standard Isekai, there’s no obvious evil to defeat and the main characters are already the top of their respective fields while they were on Earth which makes their arrival to this new world really quite interesting. Honestly it’s kind of refreshing to have this take on the Isekai genre, even if I have read and watched other series somewhat like this, but not quite done the same way.

Characters: Tsukasa seems to be our main male lead, although the rest of the “Prodigies” are all quite interesting, though we don’t get many insights into their pasts just yet, I imagine later cover them. Or at least I hope they do.

Art: The art is pretty good, although not nearly as good as my gold standard of ufotable, Project No. 9 did a pretty good job nonetheless.

Music: The music is pretty decent, although I didn’t get a chance to watch the opening or ending themes, the score did fit the series pretty well.l

Overall: A good take on the Isekai genre, it’s not super original, but it does pretty well standing out in a flooded market.

For those who like: Isekai, Fantasy, Overpowered Protagonists.

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

Bookish Wednesday: Accidental Mage by Jamie and C.J. Davis

Hey all I’m back with the sequel to Accidental Warrior for this week’s Bookish Wednesday. It’s Accidental Mage by Jamie and C.J. Davis!

Plot: The plot is really stereotypical, and honestly it was a huge disappointment compared to the first book. The fact that this ends the trilogy, but not the series, in such a slipshod manner doesn’t make me feel any good will towards the authors for what started out as an interesting and fun LitRPG series. If it sounds like I’m harping on the authors for creating a really bad series, it’s because I am. I was honestly expecting much more from them after the first book, but instead it continually was full of Hal being pompous and a bit of an ass even after he learned the “truth” behind the game. That was forgivable in the first book, because he wasn’t taking the adventure seriously much of the time and he was supposed to be an affable rogue. The later entries however didn’t get that excuse anymore.

Characters: Honestly the evil emperor trope was so overdone and played so straight that I couldn’t take his character seriously, the fact I have trouble remembering his name doesn’t help that fact. The rest of the cast was really quite disappointing as well, with Kay being again kept mostly to Hal’s shadow.

Overall: A terrible ending to the series, the first book was pretty decent, but take that as a standalone and you’d be mostly satisfied. The other entries were just a disappointment.

Anime Sunday: Maou-Sama Retry Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m back with another Summer 2019 series. It’s my Maou-Sama Retry Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot: The plot is okay, but not really that interesting either. Where as other series appeal to other things, either adventure, romance or comedy, this doesn’t seem to focus on any of that. Honestly this first episode seemed really bland and didn’t capture my attention at all. That’s not a good thing, as I tend to at least want to watch another episode or two, even if I don’t actually have the time to do so. I felt none of that with this series. The plot didn’t get my attention nor did the cast of characters which was incredibly small for even this first episode. In fact the plot goes almost nowhere in this first episode it seems like. I haven’t read the original Light Novel series, but I have little desire to now that I’ve seen this first episode.

Cast: Our main characters are Kunai, the main protagonist and Aku a little girl. Honestly I didn’t really enjoy Aku, and Kunai wasn’t that funny. They seemed rather bland and uninteresting compared to other main characters even though this entire episode seems to focus solely on them.

Art: The art is okay, but nothing special and nowhere near close to my gold standard of ufotable quality.

Music: The music is again okay, nothing special but not super terrible either.

Overall: Skip this series, if even I can’t be engaged by the end of the episode then I highly doubt most other people will really enjoy this series. I could be wrong and it picks up in later episodes, but first impressions do count for a lot and Maou-Sama Retry fails that spectacularly.

For those who: Fantasy, Isekai, Bland Plot and Cast of Characters.

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

Bookish Wednesday: Accidental Warrior by Jamie and C.J. Davis

This week for Bookish Wednesday I’m back with a sequel to a book I covered over a year ago. It’s Accidental Warrior, Accidental Traveler Book 02, by Jamie and C.J. Davis!

Plot: The plot is okay, but honestly I was disappointed that it took the story where it did. Honestly I didn’t really care for Hal’s annoying antics as much as I had found them endearing in the previous book. The fact that he continued to rely on his Luck stat as much as he did just seemed foolhardy and a tool for blatant Deux Ex Machina whenever the authors felt like it. That said it’s not a completely terrible book, but the story is really not that amazing compared to other stories I’ve read.

Characters:  Honestly I can’t say I enjoyed Hal nearly in this second book as this the first. I could deal with the wise ass comments and the foolhardy nature he displayed since he was a gentleman rogue in the first book, in this book where he is supposed to be a warrior it just makes him look like a tool. Kay isn’t much better, running off and getting captured, again, in a really stupid manner. Honestly I didn’t enjoy the cast of characters in this book.

Overall: An okay sequel, if incredibly predictable and stereotypical.

Anime Sunday: Cheat Magician Episode 01 Impressions

Hey all I’m back with another Summer 2019 season series for this week’s Anime Sunday. It’s my Cheat Magician Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot: The plot is really stereotypical, and normally I try to give Isekai series more of a chance than just a single episode. However I just didn’t have the time this summer to watch more than a single episode. That isn’t to say I hated the episode, far from it. Cheat Magician is completely and unapologetically a stereotypical Isekai series, and makes no attempt to prove it’s otherwise.  It features completely overpowered characters, and supposedly a harem. I’m completely okay with that, as long as it makes no attempt to dress it up with an edgy plot or some other nonsense that is so typical in today’s Anime. I’m probably one of the few who is okay with how stereotypical it is, but Cheat Magicians doesn’t bother hiding it’s nature, it’s in the freaking title after all.

Characters: Our main two characters are Taichi and Rin and really most of the cast we get to meet in this episode. There is another, Myura, but we didn’t get to see too much of her in this episode. Overall Taichi and Rin are pretty decent main characters, but there wasn’t much character development in this first episode.

Art: The art is pretty good, but nowhere near as good as other series this summer season. Still it’s hardly even close to being as bad as anything Studio Deen puts out, so I’m okay with it being just good.

Music: The musical score fits the episode. I haven’t listened to the themes though so I can’t say much more on the subject.

Overall: It’s a stereotypical Isekai series. Take that as you will, but at least it doesn’t bother trying to hide that fact at all. That puts it over a bunch of other series already in my books.

For those who like: Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Isekai, Decent Lead Characters, Good Artwork, Fitting Musical Score.

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