Month: April 2021

Categories
Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2021 First Impressions – Tokyo Revengers

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Story Summary: Takemichi feels as though his life peaked in middle school. In those days he was a member of a gang, had a girlfriend, and generally felt as though he belonged. In the ensuing 12 years, however, his life went off the rails. One day while eating chips in bed he hears the news that his former girlfriend and her younger brother were killed in an act of violence perpetrated by the Tokyo Manji gang, with whom Takemichi had some run-ins as a kid. As he’s waiting in line for the train, he’s pushed onto the tracks and his life starts to flash before his eyes – or, he soon realizes, he gets sent back in time. He re-experiences the fateful day in middle school when the direction of his life steered off course, and wonders why God would curse him to experience it all again. When he meets Hinata, his girlfriend at the time, and then her younger brother, he vows to try to make sure that they both survive.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2021 First Impressions – The World Ends With You

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Video Game

Story Summary: Neku wakes up disoriented in the middle of the Shibuya scramble crossing, only to quickly discover that no one can see him and he can’t be physically affected by other humans or moving objects. However, he’s not alone; after watching a human being literally erased from existence, he meets Shiki, a fellow player in the Reaper’s Game in which he’s been forced to participate. The players must survive 7 days fulfilling missions at the Reaper’s whim, and the only way they can achieve this is to work together and defeat creatures called “noise.” Neku is initially wary of trusting anyone else, but he’s also the only player with amnesia; after a couple of especially dangerous situations, his bond with Shiki proves to be invaluable and he chooses, against his cautious nature, to become a member of a team hoping to win their way out of the situation.

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Personal

Goodbye, Osamu Kobayashi

This past weekend I learned of the death of animator and director Osamu Kobayashi from kidney cancer at the young age of 57. It’s uncommon that I follow the careers of anyone in particular in the anime industry aside from a few big-name directors because I have a poor memory for names, but there are a few folks whose work has interested me over the years and Kobayashi happens to have been one of them.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2021 First Impressions – Blue Reflection Ray

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 24

Source: Game

Story Summary: Ruka is a quiet girl with a longing to connect with others but an inability to do so effectively. She carries regrets with her after transferring schools, and can’t seem to change her situation for the better. When her roommate Hiori returns through the window of their shared dorm room after an absence, Ruka is immediately struck by her natural, outgoing nature. Though they are very different people, they seem to share a connection; the ring that Ruka found dropped on the ground one afternoon seems to make a pair with one that Hiori received from her sister’s belongings, and both house a power that neither could have imagined.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2021 First Impressions – The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Story Summary: Sei is an overworked office employee who, after being made to stay late yet again, returns home under dark of night only to be magically summoned to an alternate world called Salutania which suffering from the proliferation of a terrible miasma. In this world a figure called a “Saint” is said to have the power to hold back the miasma, but in dire cases where they do not appear organically they are often actively summoned into duty through magical means. Sei arrives with a second woman and Prince Kyle seems to take to her more quickly, whisking her away and leaving Sei to spend her days alone in boredom. But a chance meeting introduces Sei to a magical research institute, where her prior interest in herbal remedies translates very well into the distillations of magical potions. She has a knack for it, too; despite having had no idea how to use magic when she arrived in Salutania, it turns out that her magical abilities are powerful and seemingly bottomless. When a group of knights is attacked by a monster, Sei’s special 1.5-strength healing potions turn out to be a boon.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2021 First Impressions – Fairy Ranmaru

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Story Summary: The Fairy Queen summons a representative from each of the fairy clans to form a heroic team. Their task? To go to Earth and collect “attachments” from humans who are suffering. Fairies have rules of conduct that limit them from experiencing love (physical or emotional) with humans, yet their mission involves understanding the root causes of such things and reacting to them. Ranmaru, of the powerful Light Clan, poses as a quiet transfer student, but he almost immediately identifies a girl who’s being bullied out of jealousy. He rescues this young lady and uses the purity of her heart to put a stop to the tormenter. The Fairy Queen has received her first payment, but are her intentions truly on the up-and-up?

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2021 First Impressions – Full Dive

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Story Summary: 10 years ago VRMMO games reached the peak of realism. However, since people play games to escape reality, it was decided that games should go back to being more game-like. In the ensuing years those games lost much of their popularity. However, that doesn’t stop Hiro, a former member of his high school track team who now spends most of his time gaming, from seeking after the most recent installment of his favorite VRMMO series. After coming up short on funds, he ends up at a shady game store where a bubbly-yet-cunning shopkeeper named Reona dupes him into buying a completely different, older game with his hard-earned funds. Hiro loads it up anyway and is initially pleased with how realistic it is – until he finds he can experience pain and then accidentally kills an NPC. When he finally encounters Reona inside the game, she’s upset to discover that Hiro’s in-game title has already become “Best Friend Killer.”

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2021 First Impressions – Backflip!!

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Story Summary: Shotaro Futaba has been a bench-warmer all three years on his middle school baseball team. After the conclusion of their final game of the season, he happens to wander into an auditorium where a high school boys’ rhythmic gymnastics competition is taking place. Shotaro is instantly enthralled by the leaps and tumbles of the team from Soshukan High School, to the point that he chooses to attend that school the following year. He doesn’t have any experience with gymnastics, but his history with swimming, soccer, and baseball has conditioned his body to be flexible and strong. Though he may be a newbie, he falls in love with the feeling of his body being in flight and chooses to join the rhythmic gymnastics team. And since the team really needs to have six members to compete with other schools, they welcome him with open arms.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2021 First Impressions – Dragon Goes House-Hunting

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Story Summary: No matter how great or small, all creatures need a place to call home. Letty, a red dragon, is left having to find a new one after he manages to let his family’s egg get stolen by monster hunters. After wandering the land and getting into trouble one too many times, Letty finally gets a tip about an elf named Dearia who lives at the foot of Yggdrasil, and seems to have a knack for housing the many fantasy creatures who inhabit their world. Letty wanders for days to find Dearia, only for Dearia to find him; after some so-called heroes hassle Letty, the powerful elf lets loose on them and… neutralizes the threat. Perhaps now that Letty has met the person he seeks, he can finally find a place to call his own.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2021 First Impressions – Farewell, My Dear Cramer

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 13

Source: Manga

Story Summary: Women’s sports are often underfunded and given significantly less prestige than men’s sports; the girls and women who play them sometimes have to navigate additional hurdles to find recognition. Nozomi has played on boys’ teams through middle school because she feels the members of the girls’ teams aren’t serious enough; Sumire has become a one-girl show, rivaled only by her, well, rival Midori. These players and others find their way onto the struggling girls’ soccer team at an unassuming high school, and suddenly against all odds, their competitive spirit starts to find a home. Soon after their year begins, a big name returns to the school to help coach this group into becoming a winning team.

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