Winter 2021 New Anime – Premieres for Wednesday, January 6th 2021

Well, as I’m writing this it’s definitely been an interesting couple of days in the United States. To be honest, it took a day or two to get enough sleep to feel like I could pay attention to an entire anime episode and write coherently about it. I think there are some folks who can use media to escape from whatever happens to be going on; my anxiety is just too terrible to let up for 25 minutes so I can take in an anime episode. But I’ve been wanting to watch anime, so I’m going to give it a try and see how far I get.

Most folks will notice that the look of the blog has changed; while I wasn’t really planning to switch things up at this very moment, a friend let me know of some image compatibility issues that were showing up on the mobile site so I figured it would be a good opportunity to make a change to my very out-of-date theme. I may be tweaking things in the coming days, but this is pretty close to what I wanted.

Note: There is a small spoiler for Hortensia Saga in its review. It’s one of the main conceits of the series and if you’re looking closely enough you can identify it on your own (even though the show itself is not keen to call it out directly), but I know more than one person who missed it until participating in discussions afterward, so if you’d rather go in completely blind you can skip the second review in this post.

Use the links below to navigate to the review you’re interested in:

I*Chu
Hortensia Saga
LBX Girls

I*Chu

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Idol Smartphone Game

Story Summary: Etoile Vio School is a training ground for fledgling idol groups, known by the term “I-Chu.” The students have formed several different prospective groups, each with its own special talents. One day, the school principal (a giant plush bear), assigns them a task – produce and sell 3,000 CDs, or be expelled from the school. Most of the groups are excited to take on the challenge, but one, Fire Fenix, has had a lot of trouble finding their harmony. It will take each unique voice to ensure that Fire Fenix has a chance at passing this test.

Impressions: I’m not going to spend this time going off on idol anime as a genre, because there are usually multiple idol series each season and I’ve whined enough about their similarities at this point to know that they’re mostly just not for me. What I’ll say is that I typically know I’m going to have problems with an anime when the first episode introduces more than 4 or 5 characters within a half-hour; it suggests to me that the focus of the story is not to build an interesting narrative, but rather to run character archetypes through a barebones set of experiences in order that each one will have some screen time. I gave Hypnosis Mic a pass last season, because it was so gosh-darned ridiculous that it didn’t matter as much who the characters were. But so far this anime hasn’t achieved a similar level of gleeful goofiness.

This episode does start by featuring the clear underdogs, though, and that’s something I can appreciate. I would suppose that making music in a group would have its share of challenges (I wouldn’t know, as my only ensemble experience was concert band in high school and I somehow managed to avoid most of the personality clashes that I hear can happen in that situation), not the least of which is just simply having musical sensibilities that don’t mesh well with the other members. Fire Fenix is clearly unpolished, so it suggests there’s at least a direction for their story to go. That said, they seem to mostly resolve their issues by the end of this episode with very little effort so I’m not entirely sure what’s supposed to happen next.

Pros: I thought the animation in the opening was great. I’ve complained about goofy idol CG in the past, but the opening sequence of this episode is all traditionally animated and looks good.

One cool thing I noticed (but which doesn’t show up in this episode, unfortunately) is that there seem to be groups comprised of different genders at this school. Typically the cast is one gender or the other in these types of series, so to see at least one girl-group was kind of cool (though I’m not sure how much they’re going to feature in the show itself).

Cons: This episode mostly just felt tedious to me. A chunk of the first half is made up of the introduction of the various idol groups; like most series with large casts, there’s an attempt to frame this naturally as one of the producers that works for the school takes videos of the students and talks about their different group styles. Unfortunately it still feels very forced to me.

Also (and this is petty, I know), when Fire Fenix sings together at the climax of the episode, I still feel like they didn’t sound that good.

Content Warnings: Nothing really in this episode, though there are some brief flashbacks for two of the Fire Fenix members that suggest they may have bullying or family trauma in their pasts.

Would I Watch More? – I don’t think so. I think these series have a very specific audience in mind who isn’t me.

Hortensia Saga

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Video Game

Story Summary: The kingdom of Hortensia existed for 700 years before Camellia, one of its own principalities, rose up against it in rebellion. During the attack the king was killed and the princess went missing. The royal knight Fernando even gave his life trying to defend against the coup. Several years later, Fernando’s son Alfred and his squire Marius have taken up the cause against Camellia. But Marius is keeping a secret that may have far-reaching ramifications in the conflict and beyond.

Impressions: I will echo some other reviewers in mentioning that the backstory for this series hits just a little bit differently after the events of this week in the US, although a rebellion that seems to happen out of nowhere and involves swords and magic werewolves is different from an attack that was blatantly announced and still ignored until it actually happened. Cue surprised Pikachu. Whether realistic or not, though, there’s a reason why I just up and took a break from anime until this weekend.

As far as this episode goes, it sets up the story well and the pacing is such that it manages to tell just the right amount of backstory before ending with an important current-time character introduction and conflict. One thing it doesn’t necessarily set up very well is the fact that Marius is actually Princess Mariel of Hortensia in disguise (I don’t really consider this a spoiler since it’s not a huge twist and I’m almost positive I read about it in a plot synopsis before this season started), but as I mentioned before the cut I know multiple people who didn’t pick up on it while casually watching the episode. I think it’s important for writers to decide how these sorts of secrets are utilized within a narrative – is this meant to be an open secret to the viewer, or will it be a bombshell reveal later on? This one falls sort of limply in the middle which, as evidenced by some reactions, just seems confusing.

The fantasy elements, military action, and political intrigue are all here, in a fairly basic form that I think is digestible, but probably not all that interesting for folks who into more thought-provoking entertainment. I think of series like this as pretty competent, but not all that interesting beyond that.

Pros: I like it whenever a young woman plays a prominent role in a more somber story, especially when there doesn’t seem to be much of a taste for fanservice. That said, whenever the “hidden gender” scenario comes into play there are ample opportunities to shoehorn in that type of material, so I’d probably keep my ears peeled for signs of that sort of thing.

Alfred and Marius are both likeable characters and have a good rapport with one-another. They seem to play off one-another well and have a focus on being supportive, which is nice to see. It’s not that interesting to me when character egos get too big or a character is grossly over-powered.

Cons: A lot of the setting seems like “generic fantasy 101,” with basic-looking castles, forests and such. I feel the fantasy genre provides opportunity to be visually creative and do things that wouldn’t be possible in stories set in the realistic modern-day, so it bugs me when creators default to the tried-and-true.

The episode opens with the events of the rebellion, which are then described immediately afterward via narration. This is wasted time – we just saw what happened.

Content Warnings: Fantasy violence, including stabbing, maiming, and mauling by fantasy creatures and other humans, with visible blood and character death.

Would I Watch More? – I’m kind of iffy on this one. My general opinion is that it seems like a decent fantasy series, but I’m not really compelled to follow it weekly.

LBX Girls

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Video Game

Story Summary: Riko and her friend Mana take a trip into the big city to attend an event for LBX models, a popular line of robot toys. Not wanting to leave empty-handed, Riko buys a lucky bag with several toys in it. When she opens the box for the LBX called “Assassin,” time suddenly stands still and she’s dragged through a dimensional rift into an alternate world. In this version of Japan, girls here age use LBX as body armor to fight Mimesis, hostile robotic beings. Riko is forcibly joined with the Assassin armor but has no battle experience to draw upon; she’s only saved by a sympathetic group of LBX users. They could definitely use another team member, but all Riko wants is to make it back home to her version of Japan.

Impressions: I was lead to believe that this episode was so ridiculous as to be comical, so part of me was looking forward to watching it. The reality is that, while it turns really dark with very little warning a few minutes in, it’s not really bad in the way that makes for an entertaining watch. It’s mostly just the result of what happens when one attempts to awkwardly combine a kids’ toy line with the inherent fetishy nature of a more niche fandom concept like mecha musume/mecha shoujo (think Strike Witches, Kantai Collection, and similar franchises).

There’s an aimless quality to this episode that’s difficult for me to put into words. I think it results from the conflict between the urgency expressed by the characters about their situation (as Riko makes her appearance, the main squad is retreating from an attack), and the fact that it takes very nearly 3 tedious minutes (from 9:06 – 11:58 in case you want to just skip it; you’re welcome) to watch all the other girls transform into their battle armor. There’s an attempt to craft a serious tone that’s undermined by the actual episode construction, which is maddening. I had a difficult time paying attention, which is generally the mark of an unsuccessful premiere.

Pros: The CG modeling for the characters in their LBX armor is well-done. The mecha components are all very detailed and I feel like it would have been much too labor-intensive to go the traditional route, so it’s nice that they turned out looking pretty good. I think 3DCG doesn’t render anime facial features well; I realized recently that the issue is likely that the eyes and mouths display and move as if they’re actually a part of the 3D face, when in traditional anime there are a lot of liberties taken with perspective to end up with something that’s more aesthetically pleasing if less accurate. This series definitely has that issue, but aside from that the visuals are good.

Cons: The protagonist is in deep denial, and not in a way that reads as realistic. Below I’ve summarized some of the dialog from late in the episode:

Riko – “I wonder where my friend Mana is”
Other girl – “she’s probably doing just fine back in your world.”
Riko – “Oh, there’s a sign for the town I live in, I’m going to start making my way back on foot” (the sign is rusted, bent, and jammed into the rubble-filled street after clearly being blown off of wherever it was hanging).
Other Girl – “Uh, it’s probably not going to look the way you expect it to look.”
Riko – “I want to go back home.”
Other Girl – “Uh, obviously that’s not possible.”

Likely the story will involve her getting back to her own version of Japan. But with all the obvious evidence of destruction around (blown-out buildings, torn-up streets, desolate landscapes, literal evil robots rampaging through the city) it makes one want to grab the character by the shoulders and shake the the stupid out.

Content Warnings: Mechanical violence (robots blowing things up). Characters in combat. Military and gun imagery. Mild fanservice (jiggling boobs during transformation, silly costumes).

Would I Watch More? – As it is, no. If I caught wind of things ramping up later on and becoming more self-aware and over-the-top it might be worth checking back in for some fun, but as a serious watch I doubt I would find the experience enjoyable.