Author: Jessi Silver

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Love of Kill

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Chateau Dankworth is a young bounty hunter executing hits on behalf of a larger organization. One day while out on a job, she encounters an assassin named Ryang-Ha Song who immediately becomes smitten with her. His persistent advances eventually lead to him helping Chateau locate and neutralize her bounties. Ryang-Ha seems to be searching for something more substantial in compensation, though Chateau clearly finds him off-putting and only tolerates his constant phone messages in service of the “bigger picture” she operates within.

One day, Chateau’s agency is contacted by a client who plans to offer a substantial amount of money toward the capture neutralization of a certain hit man who managed to kill several high-ranking members of an Asian-based criminal organization. That bounty turns out to be none other than Ryang-Ha himself. Now Chateau must wrestle with the prospect of obtaining a substantial bounty, all the while figuring out how to handle her very dangerous romantic pursuer.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Slow Loop

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: When she’s stressed out Hiyori spends her days near the ocean, fly fishing like she learned from her late father. Her meditative silence is broken one day, however, by a girl attempting to leap into the frigid March ocean. Hiyori uses her wits to help avert disaster, and she spends some time fishing with this girl, named Koharu. Koharu is impressed by Hiyori’s way with a fishing rod, and is even more impressed when Hiyori prepares fresh rock fish sashimi right there on the wharf. Hiyori feels drawn to this outgoing girl, and their meeting turns out to be more than just a chance encounter; Hiyori’s mother and Koharu’s father are planning to marry, which will make the two girls sisters.

After their families are joined and Koharu and her father move into Hiyori’s and her mother’s home, some of these big changes begin to make Hiyori feel withdrawn. Yet Koharu’s bright personality seems to be just the thing to help draw Hiyori back out of her shell. Koharu’s enthusiasm toward learning to fish certainly doesn’t hurt, either. As the two new sisters start the new school year, their future looks bright.

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Site News

January 9-15, 2022 Week-in-Review

Hi all, and happy Sunday (or whenever you happen to read this). I thought I’d try something new this season – weekly posts to gather in one place what I’ve written the previous week. Not only do I hope that this will remind interested folks of posts they may have missed, but also that it will remind me of the things I’ve accomplished, which is always something I could stand to do a little more of.

Though I didn’t get to as many premieres as I would have liked this week, I’m choosing to give myself a little bit of leeway since I returned from a weeklong vacation right back into the thick of a hefty work project and some other “real-life” deadlines. I also took an evening to go see Belle in theaters, which was a great experience! I’m sure I’ll have some more to say about it soon. In any case, as much as I’d like to construct a life that revolves almost entirely around anime, I’ve unfortunately had to face the fact that it’s just not a realistic goal 😉

Below are links to posts from last week:

  • Winter 2022 First Impressions – Sabikui Bisco – This is probably the most interesting premiere I’ve watched so far. The first episode accomplishes a lot with its worldbuilding. Oh, and have I ever mentioned that I like mushrooms? I find them very cute and *aesthetic*, so there’s a lot for me to love here!
  • Winter 2022 First Impressions – World’s End Harem – This series’ reputation preceded it, and having been delayed from its initial premiere date I became even more curious. The opening beats of this story following one of the last men on Earth is significantly less offensive than I would have expected, at least in the manner I would have expected. But why did all the scientific expertise disappear when the men did? I’m only asking questions here.
  • Winter 2022 First Impressions – Rusted Armors – Anime’s use of CG character animation continues to go through growing pains, and this series is a prime example of why many of us are still not entirely convinced that this technique will ever replace 2D hand-drawn animation.
  • Winter 2022 First Impressions – Futsal Boys!!!!! – This series revolves around Futsal, a variation on soccer/football. That’s all well and good, but some of the character relationships already feel a little bit manufactured to me.

Have you had time to check out any of these series yet? What did you think of their premiere episodes? Let me know in the comments!

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Futsal Boys!!!!!

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Mixed Media Project (including a smartphone game and live-action matches).

Episode Summary: Haru Yamato couldn’t have cared less about Futsal, until he happened to catch a bit of the U-18 world cup in which Tennouji, a player from Japan, pulled out one of his special moves. Now remaking himself in Tennouji’s image (or at least getting into the sport) has become a goal of Yamato’s. On his way to his high school entrance ceremony, a seemingly-ill-fated shortcut brings him face-to-face (though upside-down) with Seiichiro Sakaki, whose Futsal skill is definitely top-tier. The two successfully use the game to dissuade some bullies from picking on a group of kids.

But Sakaki is a bit of a one-man show, and therein lies the issue; though he and Yamato want to join the Futsal club at their school and find themselves in a pickup game fending off bullies once again, it’s clear to the more experienced team members that his lack of willingness to work together with others may become an issue. Can Yamato’s youthful spirit and willingness to have fun possibly break through Sakaki’s hard, selfish shell?

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Rusted Armors

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Multimedia project, including a stage play and Manga

Episode Summary: As war rages amongst the feudal lords all around them, the expert gunsmiths of the Saika village are defended by a group of powerful warriors who wield a selection of powerful special treasures called “Armors.” Among them is Magoichi, a warrior who arrived at the village with no memories, clutching one such Armor. Though the Armors allow those who own them to defend Saika village, their existence also draws the ire of the enemy toward the villagers more and more.

One day the village comes under attack once again. All of the lookouts are killed and the individuals holding the Armors suddenly find themselves overwhelmed and outclassed. Magoichi faces off against the leader of the enemy armor and quickly finds himself at death’s door. Just then he sees the flash of a sword as a mysterious man dressed in white comes to his rescue.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – World’s End Harem

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 11

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Five years ago, Reito went into cryogenic sleep in order to wait out a cure for Cellular Sclerosis, a currently incurable disease. This occurs, inconveniently, just as he confesses his feelings to his childhood friend and fellow researcher, Erisa. He leaves a token with Erisa so that they can reconnect after he’s awoken from stasis, but as he slumbers the world transforms into an inhospitable and broken place.

After the MK (“Male Killer”) virus quickly obliterates the male population of Earth, society begins to crumble and deteriorate. For reasons that are still being studied, Reito’s Cellular Sclerosis treatment makes him immune to the ravages of the MK virus, and as one of 5 known men in his same position, the potential for his offspring to carry that immunity makes his sperm cells a precious commodity. In order for the Human Race to survive, Reito must help repopulate it. But the only woman that’s on Reito’s mind is his childhood friend, Erisa. Thus, he’s given an ultimatum – he can try to find Erisa, but in the meantime he’ll be faced with many other women who are passionately focused on obtaining Reito’s seed.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Sabikui Bisco

Streaming: Funimation and Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: After a disaster destroys Tokyo and turns it into an inhospitable desert, people begin to die from a mysterious illness known as the “Rust.” It slowly overtakes their bodies until it reaches their hearts. There are theories regarding how the illness is spread, some of which involve the assumption that strange plagues of mushrooms (and the mushroom keepers who create them) are somehow responsible. The most notorious of these mushroom keepers is Bisco Akaboshi, who spreads terror using his bow and arrows to produce giant mushrooms.

Doctor Milo Nekoyanagi maintains a residence in the slums where he tends to the impoverished locals while also using connections to obtain contraband mushroom material in order to search for a cure for the Rust. His motivations seem rooted in kindness, but they have a selfish angle as well – his sister Pawoo is suffering from the disease. One evening, none other than Bisco makes his way into the city to wreak havoc, causing the pavement to burst forth with mushrooms with every strike of his arrows. But he seems focused on one mission in particular – to seek out Doctor Nekoyanagi.

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Meta Personal Site News

Upcoming Material at S1E1

Hello, this is Jessi speaking to you from the recent past. By now I’ll be out-of-town on a vacation that’s been in the planning for almost a year. But in the meantime I thought I’d make a post about what you can expect from Season 1 Episode 1 in January.

The first order of business are seasonal first impressions. Unfortunately, I’ll have little access to watch new anime or update the site until January 10th, so those will be on a delay until after I get back to my computer to watch them and do write ups.

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Anime Reviews Personal Reviews Special Features

2021 – An Anime Year in Review

Happy New Year! Or, at least, I hope that this new year has the potential to be happier than the last couple have been. As many… critiques as I may have about the world in general, at the very least I think I’m pretty safe in saying that the world of anime has been extremely bountiful throughout 2021.

While many writers and bloggers have been posting their ranked lists of the best (or least-best) anime from 2021, because I’m not and probably never will be particularly keen on trying to rank apples against oranges I thought I’d try to tackle this from a different angle. So instead of attempting to arbitrarily cram things into a numerical list I’d like to instead look back at some of my strongest anime memories from 2021 by general subject matter and/or category. Thus, I can continue to be wishy-washy while also managing to put together some kind of content. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.

With that said, below the cut are some various memories I’ve put together from 2021, some related to seasonal anime in general, and others more closely related to my own experiences as an anime consumer within that time frame. If you’d like to share your own thoughts in the comments, I’d love to hear them!

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Favorites First Impressions Personal Reviews

S1E1’s 2021 Site-in-Review

Well, here we are; somehow I blinked and it’s now suddenly the end of December. As I continue to privately mull over the strange properties of the human perception of time’s passage, publicly I thought I’d take this opportunity to look back at the writing I completed over the past year. If you came here looking for a “best-of” anime post, fear not; I have one of those in the works as well. But for now, I thought I’d toot my own horn a little bit.

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