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.

Anime Sunday: Darling Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’ve got another series from the latest season. It’s my Darling Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic future where humanity has been driven to extinction by giant beasts known as klaxosaurs. The remainder of humanity soon establishes a military city known as Plantation, where children are bred to be partnered in boy-girl pairs called Parasites and pilot giant mecha known as Franxx.  One of these children, Hiro, is initially viewed as a prodigy, but after failing one of his test leaves him unable to pilot a Franxx, making him lose any desire he had in life. While skipping out on his class’s graduation ceremony, Hiro encounters Zero Two who has red horns on her head…

Plot: Let me get this out straight away, this deals with some heavy subjects. Children probably shouldn’t watch this, as it deals with many mature themes including but not limited to sexuality. Now, as for the actual plot it’s fairly decent and didn’t make me want to stop watching immediately as most Studio Trigger series tend to do for me. I will say that while most of this is pretty good, there are some very obvious stereotypes that occur and they are a bit grating.

Characters: Hiro is an okay main character, although this first episode leaves a ton of his background really lacking. As for the rest of the cast, they are overall pretty good although there are a couple characters who are the typical bullies you find in series dealing with teenagers.

Art: The artwork is pretty great, and while this is a co-production between Studio Trigger and A-1 Pictures, I will say that it has elements of both their styles.

Music: The score is very fitting for this first episode, although not nearly as enthralling like other series can be.

Overall: I may or may not continue watching the series, it depends on how much angst occurs in later episodes, I find such plots grating most of the time and while the story is interesting it might not be interesting enough for me. As for my recommendation, if you can deal with the heavier topics I’d say give it a shot, you may or may not find it to your liking.

For those who like: Sci-Fi, Mecha, Action, Drama, Intriguing Plot, Good Cast of Characters, Fantastic Artwork, Awesome Musical Scores.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above, or some really emotionally heavy topics.