Categories
First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2018 First Impressions – Angels of Death

Most girls waking up without any memory and meeting a serial killer would panic, but not Ray. In fact, far from being her biggest problem, killer Zack might just prove a convenient resource when it comes to finding a way out of the building in which they’re both trapped.ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 16

Source: Game (you can purchase it on Steam)

Episode 1 Summary: Rachel Gardner wakes up in an unfamiliar hospital room. She vaguely recalls meeting with a psychiatrist to help her talk through her trauma of witnessing a murder, but beyond that she has no idea where she is or why. Things about her surroundings feel unreal and there are strange cryptic words written on the walls. All Rachel wants is to leave the hospital and return to her parents, but it quickly becomes obvious that she’s in some way trapped in this scenario against her will. She takes an elevator to what appears to be a city street, and is quickly face-to-face with a terrifying man with a scythe. It’s all she can do to hide from him and keep quiet until he loses her trail. The problem is that he’s great at sniffing out victims, and comes for her just as she’s escaping back into the elevator. Rachel takes it to the next floor up and there she encounters Danny, the psychiatrist she was seeing prior to this ordeal. He makes a show of looking out for their shared interest, but quickly reveals that he has designs on Rachel’s eyes. He has a false eye, you see, and wants a replacement, and hers remind him of his dead mother’s eyes. Though she makes multiple escape attempts, Danny outsmarts her and she loses her will to keep fighting. Rachel is saved by an unlikely source – the scythe-wielding killer from the previous floor stabs Danny to death and is about to finish Rachel off, when an announcement comes over a loudspeaker. Mr. scythe broke the rules by killing another denizen of the building, and now he and Rachel have the same goal – to escape without losing their lives in the process.

Categories
Book Club Special Features

Anime Book Club – Kino’s Journey ~The Beautiful World~ Week #4

Good afternoon, all. This post feels like a bit of a break for me, since as soon as CONvergence was over I went right to writing first episode impressions for the Summer anime season as per this blog’s mission statement from the distant past. I’m trying to keep a good pace while understanding that I’m just one person and shouldn’t expect to match websites with paid writers or blogs with multiple bloggers working simultaneously; comparison is the thief of joy and I started writing just to share my opinions for fun. I think for right now I’m just happy to be giving my writing muscles a good stretch and a workout with a couple thousand words a day or so. I’m also trying not to worry too much about quality, though that’s more difficult for an anxious perfectionist like me; I feel embarrassed when I miss spelling errors or forget to delete or edit things before I post. But that’s just how I am.

We’re now into the second half of Kino’s Journey, and I’ve loved reading people’s thoughts so far. I’ve been pretty poor at responding, so apologies, but that’s more because I tend to see comment emails arrive while I’m at work and then forget to log back in after I get home. I’ll be trying to remember to stay more involved going forward.

Previous week’s posts and discussions are linked below; as usual, feel free to keep discussing and sharing as you feel able and willing to do so.

Week 1 – Episodes 1 and 2

Week 2 – Episodes 3 and 4

Week 3 – Episodes 5 and 6

Break Week

Categories
First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2018 First Impressions – Harukana Receive

Haruka is a girl who has a complex about how she is very tall, and Kanata is about to give up beach volleyball because she is too short. With Haruka’s height and Kanata’s experience, the two girls form a pair to play beach volleyball in Okinawa.ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Episode 1 Summary: Because her mother is leaving the country on business, Haruka gets to spend her Summer vacation in beautiful, sunny Okinawa with her grandmother and cousin. She’s absolutely looking forward to it, down to wearing her swimsuit underneath her clothes so she can get into the water as soon as humanly possible when she arrives. At the airport, it takes a while for Haruka to recognize her cousin, Kanata; after puberty hit, Haruka gained a lot of height and Kanata really didn’t. They both feel that the grass is greener in that regard. After taking a dip in the ocean near grandma’s house, Haruka meets a couple of girls her age playing volleyball on the beach. When Kanata arrives to join her it becomes clear that there’s some history between them. A fun pickup volleyball match becomes intense when the relationship between Kanata and Narumi (one of the other girls) starts to reflect some past strain. When Haruka and Kanata suffer an unsurprising loss, Haruka begs for a rematch. Narumi decides to grant one on one condition – Haruka should spend the next week practicing and learning the rules of the game.

Categories
First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2018 First Impressions – Chio’s School Road

High school student Chio Miyamo has adventures commuting to school every day. Chio runs in to problems both big and small, such as construction, a biker gang, a sudden urge to use the bathroom, and more.ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode 1 Summary: Chio Miyamo is a pretty typical girl, with an atypically-obsessive video game habit. Because she was up until all hours playing a video game the night before, she managed to sleep through her alarms and leave her house with barely enough time to get to school. To make matters worse, she encounters some unexpected construction which makes her normal route impossible. It’s then that she decides to take some inspiration directly from her video games and get creative, taking to the rooftops to bypass closed roads (and prying eyes). On a different day Chio happens to meet up with Hosokawa, one of the popular girls from her class. Though she tries to make an escape a couple of times, as it turns out Hosokawa is actually pretty nice and Chio might actually want to be her friend.