Anime Sunday: HameFura Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m back with a Spring 2020 series. It’s my HameFura Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot: The plot of this first episode is typical for this particular sub-genre of the Tensei genre. There are plenty of series where a female lead is reincarnated into the villainess of an Otome Game, but HameFura is an adaptation of one of the more popular takes on that particular plot hook. It does a great job of it, though it does have a little bit too much comedy for this first episode, at least in my opinion. Maybe later episodes will be better.

Characters: Catarina is our main character and she’s pretty neat, although she’s not that talented and is incredibly dense at times in this first episode. The rest of the cast is pretty hilarious though.

Art: The art is pretty great, with Silver Link being the Animation studio for this adaptation. It’s not nearly ufotable quality, but it’s not Studio DEEN levels of terrible either.

Music: The musical score of this first episode is appropriate enough, but not too outstanding at least to me.

Overall: A decent series, though if you dislike main characters who are incredibly dense it may not be your cup of tea.

For those who like: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Fantasy, School Life, Fun Plot, Hilarious Cast of Characters.

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

Anime Sunday: Mahou Shoujo Ore Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m covering a series from the Spring 2018 Season. It’s my Mahou Shoujo Ore Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: Unpopular idol and high school student Uno Saki discovers that her mother, Sayori, used to be a “magical girl,” but, as a result of back problems, found it necessary to pass her position down to Saki. With the help of a Yakuza-like mascot character named Kokoro.

Plot: The plot is pretty freaking ridiculous, and is full of references to other magical girl shows, including Sailor Moon. Frankly I might have enjoyed the show a bit, but it broke the fourth wall a bit too many times. I’m not a fan of that particular trope, so the usage of it in the series isn’t doing it any favors for me personally. That being said, the show is pretty freaking funny and I was totally not expecting the plot to go the way it did.

Characters: The cast is good, but frankly it’s not amazing. It’s not terrible to the point that I forgot characters names in an attempt to mind bleach my memory as soon as possible, but it’s not far from reaching that point either.

Art: The art is okay, but it’s nothing spectacular. Studio Pierrot is the animation studio behind this series, and while I’ve enjoyed their work in the past, I’ve also seen better from them. Maybe it’s because of the ridiculousness of this show and I’m just having a hard time really appreciating it.

Music: The music is okay, but it’s fairly forgettable.

Overall: An okay show, but not something I’ll be continuing to watch unless I hear some really freaking amazing things about it.

For those who like: Comedy, Magical Girls, Good Art.

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

Sensate Saturday: Happy Sugar Life by Kagisora Tomiyaki

This week for Sensate Saturday I’ve got another Quick Review! It’s Happy Sugar Life by Kagisora Tomiyaki!

Plot Synopsis: High-schooler Matsuzaka Sato has a reputation for being easy, but one day her lifestyle of being intimate with one boy after another comes to an end. It happens when she meets the young girl Shio…

Plot: This is a fairly interesting series, and I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it quite so much just based off the title. That being said I’ve only read the first chapter so I might end up not liking the series, but so far I’ve found it to be very different from other Shoujo Ai series. I won’t say anymore because it’ll spoil it for you, but I’ll be continuing to read this series.

Characters: Sato is a really intriguing lead character, I’d really like to see what makes her tick, but since it’s just the first chapter I’ll have to wait for later chapters. Shio on the other hand is a truly innocent girl who is carefree and quite adorable. She reminds me of my own baby sister, if not quite as rambunctious as my sister.

Art: I honestly thought this might be published by Shueisha given the quality of the art, but it’s another Square Enix publication.

Overall: This isn’t like other series you’ll have read, so give this first chapter a shot. I know I’ll be continuing to read the series.

For those who like: Drama, Romance, Slice of Life, School Life, Interesting Plot, Intriguing Lead Character, Excellent Artwork.

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

P.S. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas Eve.

Anime Sunday: Yuri on Ice Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m going over the first episode of what might be the most talked about Anime of the entire year. It’s my Yuri on Ice Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: The story follows a Japanese figure skater named Yuri Katsuki following a crushing defeat during the final of a Grand Prix competition. Following more failures, Yuri has developed mixed feelings about ice skating, among other troubles in his life, and puts his career on a hiatus. After graduating from college in Detroit, he comes back home to Hasetsu in Kyushu after being away for five years.

Plot: The first episode was pretty gripping, and while there were silly moments it was mostly pretty serious. That isn’t to say it wasn’t exciting there actually were amazingly well done parts that even got my heart pounding. I won’t go into the details, but there is a reason that so many people have been raving about this series.

Characters: Yuri is a pretty depressing guy in this first episode, but by the end of it he grew on me. Victor on the other hand seems to be very carefree. Yuri P., another Figure Skater from Russia is very much a jerk in this episode. Maybe he’ll grow on me in later episodes.

Art: The skating sequences were amazinly well done, in fact Olympic skaters from around the world have commented on how well done the sequences are and how accurate they are. So that is another reason people are so excited about this series.

Music: The music was pretty awesome, from the opening to the ending it was very well done. Even during the depressing parts it was very fitting.

Overall: I won’t scream at you to watch this series, but you owe it to yourself to at least give it a shot. I know I’ll be talking about this series with friends for years to come.

For those who like: Sports, Figure Skating, Amazing Animation Sequences, Fantastic Plot, Excellent Cast of Characters, Great Artwork, Stupendous Music.

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

Anime Sunday: Flip Flappers Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m covering another new series from the Fall 2016 season! It’s my Flip Flappers Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: Cocona, a cautious girl by nature, is dragged into another dimension called “Pure Illusion” by Papika, a strange and headstrong girl. With a new set of rules and strange organizations, Cocona’s life is turned upside down.

Plot: The plot is pretty sparse in this first episode, and a lot of stuff didn’t make a lot of sense. Maybe it will improve in later episodes, but nevertheless Flip Flappers didn’t quite manage to grab my attention enough for me to follow this series each week. I’ll probably binge watch the entire series in the very near future.

Characters: Cocona is a fairly normal girl, albeit very shy and not very open to other people. Maybe that’s why I enjoy her as a character so much, because that is a quality that I myself also have. Papika on the other hand is very strange, and while she’s not grating to me, there were points where she got very close to being so. The rest of the cast seems to not have been introduced quite yet.

Art: The art is quite good, but definitely not ufotable quality level. At least it’s better than anything Studio Deen can make though.

Music: The music was alright, but it wasn’t super amazing either.

Overall: This may or may not end up being a great series, but for right now I’ll be putting it on hold to deal with more interesting stories for other projects of mine.

For those who like: Magical Girls, Adventure, Action, Yuri?, Drama, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Decent Plot, Intersting Leads, Great Art, Okay Musical Score.

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