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.

TNT: My Favorite Japanese Novels

Hey all this week for Translation Necessary Thursday I’m back with a continuation of last week’s topic. It’s all about My Favorite Japanese Novels! Warning there will be some major spoilers for Arifureta and Mushoku Tensei this time around!

TNT: Arifureta Volume 04 by Shirakome Ryo

This week for Translation Necessary Thursday I’m back to Hajime’s journey to get back home. It’s Arifureta Volume 04 by Shirakome Ryo!

Plot Synopsis: Having killed his classmate, Shimizu Yukitoshi, for trying to kill their teacher Aiko and destroy an entire town at the same time, Hajime left with Yue, Shea, and their newest member Tio for the next Great Labyrinth. At the same time Kaori and Shizuku along with Amanogawa Kouki and his party have been steadily conquering the Great Orcus Labyrinth in the hopes of finding Hajime who they still think is dead. What awaits both their teams are things no one could have seen coming…

Plot: This is probably one of my favorite volumes in the entire series, the reason why is incredibly spoilerific, but I will say it also includes character growth.

Characters: We get introduced to a couple new faces in this entry, but mostly we see old familiar faces from the previous volumes. Tio is still a shameless pervert though…. However of the newcomers my favorite is definitely Myuu, if only for what she brings to the story and the cast’s character growth.

Overall: An excellent addition to the series, this is where the story really starts to take off.

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.