Category: First Impressions

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First Impressions Reviews

First Impressions: Delicious in Dungeon

Streaming: Netflix

Episodes: 24

Episode Summary: Adventurer Laios and his party find their dungeon crawl cut short when one of their party members, Laios’s sister Farin, is chomped up by a red dragon. As her final act, Farin uses magic to whisk Laios, Marcille, and Chilchuck safely to the surface. Now, having lost most of their supplies and looking at pawning their equipment to get the funds they need, Laios turns to an idea he’s been kicking around for a while. Rather than bringing their rations with them down into the depths of the dungeon, why not just kill and eat the creatures who call that dangerous place home? It would hopefully allow them to reach Farin before she’s digested, at least.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Fuuto PI

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: The city of Fuuto is a mysterious place where it’s very easy for magic to become reality. Shotaro Hidari considers himself a hard-boiled detective (though some would beg to differ) who knows the city like the back of his own hand. However, when a supposed “witch” begins mugging people, Shotaro finds that despite meeting her in person one night and being struck by her beauty, she’s especially difficult to track down. When a victim approaches him to help find her (along with his stolen items) it takes the extent of Shotaro’s information network to simply figure out where she might appear next.

When it becomes apparent that this witch may also have had her hand in the murder of the member of a local crime organization, Shotaro considers leaving the matter to the city’s police. However, the insistence of the client, as well as the nature of his own pride as a private investigator, keeps driving him toward answers. When he and his client are drawn into an alternate version of Fuuto and find themselves under attack, Shotaro finds himself in a pinch. The only thing that can save them is the intervention of Phillip – Shotaro’s literal other half as part of Kamen Rider W.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 11

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: After Yuuri’s parents pass away tragically in an accident, he decides to let the servants at his small mansion go to help preserve some of his inheritance. Unfortunately, for a kid with very little experience cooking and cleaning, living life entirely on his own has a steep learning curve. It’s at his moment of greatest need that Lilith, a maid, shows up on Yuuri’s doorstep and offers to work for him in exchange for nothing more than room and board. Though Yuuri finds this suspicious, the alternative isn’t appealing.

Almost immediately, Yuuri finds Lilith’s behavior questionable. She teases him with a familiarity that seems counter to the fact that they barely know one-another. Yuuri often finds her up late at night reading books or cooking up concoctions in the kitchen. He’s sure that she must be some kind of sorceress out to get him. It’s true that her motives run deeper than they may seem to at first, but despite her seemingly playful nature, Lilith wants to wait for the right time to let the young master know more about herself.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Uncle From Another World

Streaming: Netflix

Episodes: 13

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Seventeen years ago, Takafumi’s uncle was hit by truck-kun, and while his earthly body seemed to be in a coma in the hospital, his mind was far, far away having adventures in another world. When his uncle finally wakes up, Takafumi assumes that the weird language he’s speaking is just the ramblings of a crazy person, but once his uncle demonstrates some honest-to-goodness magical ability, Takafumi begins to understand the potential for profit he may have just stumbled into.

While their YouTube career starts as a bit of a slow burn, Takafumi learns more about his uncle’s experiences while his uncle wrestles with catching up with seventeen years’ worth of technological advances and changes in the video game console landscape. While his uncle has always seemingly had issues dealing with real human relationships (his fondest memories are of video games), Takafumi learns that his uncle may have inadvertently become closer to a young woman in the other world than he may have realized at the time. As Takafumi and his uncle try to work out a way of sustaining themselves and their meager lifestyle, could his uncle’s “interesting” past come back to haunt him?

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Shine Post

Streaming: HIDIVE

Episodes: TBA

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: It’s been nearly a year since the idol group TiNgS was formed. Despite the apparent enthusiasm of the group members, however, their ticket sales have always been dismal. The owner of their talent agency calls them in for a conference and it’s made clear that they need to sell out a 2,000 seat concert venue in three months, or it’s all over for the group. This is absolutely a tall order, but the group members are promised a new manager to help whip them into tip-top singing and dancing shape.

Unfortunately, Naoki Hinase, the new manager, has some past trauma related to representing idols – it was, in fact, the reason why he was pushed out of his last job. Hoping to take on simple office work instead, he initially resists the push to represent TiNgS directly. However, Haru, the center, manages to convince Hinase of her own sincerity, even if her group members may not be entirely truthful about their own motivations. Hinase sets a more modest immediate goal of selling 100 tickets to one of the group’s regular shows, but will this be enough to get TiNgS off of life support?

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Parallel World Pharmacy

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: A pharmacology researcher works obsessive hours as a response to the loss of his sister from cancer in their childhood. Unfortunately the endless work and little rest catch up to him one night and he collapses in his office. When he awakens, he finds himself not only in another world, but in the body of young Farma – a noble whose family is well-renowned for their talent in the medical arts. Farma was recently struck by lightning, and his maid Charlotte notices some strange marks on his arms which she believes indicate that he was saved from certain death by the god of pharmacology.

Farma soon begins to understand the implications of the situation he’s been dropped into, and starts attempting to re-learn the skills that he knew prior to being struck by lightning. As he becomes reacquainted with his abilities, it becomes apparent that he has the potential to wield a great deal of power. When his tutor Elen begins to sense something different in Farma, including the fact that he has access to powers that, as a human, he probably shouldn’t, she becomes terrified of him. Could Farma possibly be a god incarnate – or might he be a demon?

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Shine On! Bakumatsu Bad Boys

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Episode Summary: In the Bakumatsu era, the Shinsengumi were nearly wiped out by a mysterious group of masked foes. In order to help defend the local populace against these enemies who seem to have some connection to the Shogunate, Todo Heisuke, the one Shinsengumi member left standing, kidnaps a group of death row inmates and provides them with a choice – either join the ailing Shinsengumi by “becoming” its lost members, or be executed immediately.

Most of the criminals choose to take on these new roles. Among them is Ichibanboshi, a brawler with a laser-focused desire for revenge. When he discovers that his personal goals align with that of the Shinsengumi, his decision to join them is an easy one. Unfortunately his brash attitude and unique fighting style leave something to be desired within an organization that prides itself on its swordplay. Yet, when he encounters one of the masked Ronin about to raise his sword against an innocent family, Ichibanboshi is able to draw from the power of the Shinsengumi he now embodies to dispel the strange, malignant forces controlling the Ronin.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impression – Extreme Hearts

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Hiyori’s idol career has stalled-out before it even truly began. Though she has musical talent and a desire for her songs to be heard, she just hasn’t gained the fandom that her managers would have wanted. Her one true fan, Saki, listens to Hiyori sing after school every day, but one fan does not a career make, no matter how passionate that person may be. Eventually Hiyori’s management terminates her contract, but they leave her with a piece of advice – she may be able to give her budding career the jump-start it needs by entering into one of the many Hyper Sports competitions that are all the rage.

Hyper sports players employ a wide selection of enhancement gear during their matches, which adds an additional element of excitement to the games. The best teams also tend to become famous, which is something Hiyori wants. When she starts training, however, this causes Saki to remember some painful moments from her own soccer-playing past. It isn’t until Hiyori is actually out on the field attempting to make her dream a reality that Saki truly comes to terms with her own failures, and she and her friend Sumika rush onto the field to support Hiyori.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Black Summoner

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: Summoner Kelvin doesn’t remember anything about his former life. In exchange for better starting stats, he offered up his memories to Melfina, the goddess of reincarnation. Now he’s one of very few summoners in his new world, although his former self seems to have been a bit of a romantic – having fallen in love with Melfina, he somehow convinced her to tag along with him in his new life in the form of a talking stat menu. At least that’s helped him get up to speed with the customs and peculiarities of his new world.

When he registers at the local adventurers’ guild, he disguises his true skills to avoid attracting too much attention. However, he chooses his first task – defeating three blue slimes – with the extra goal of forming a summoning contract with one of the monsters. After some initial issues with underestimating the strength of blue slimes, Kelvin manages to contract with one and then complete his task. It seems that his new adventure is now underway, although the city seems to have a bit of a dark underbelly that Kelvin has only just started to uncover.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Yuuhi Amamiya is a busy college student with a lot on his mind, so when he’s initially approached by a talking lizard he feels as though it must be a product of his stress and overwork. Eventually, after many attempts at getting rid of the vocalizing reptile (who’s literally attached to him at all times) and then learning he now has access to a type of forcefield power via a magic ring, he begins to accept the fact that he may truly, for some reason, have been designated the “Lizard Knight.” Being chosen and being willing are two different things entirely, however.

After facing off against a frightening golem and also being forced to recall the harsh words of his grandfather, Yuuhi is done with this whole “saving the world” thing. But the power is really not his to give up. After learning that his neighbor, Samidare, is the princess that his lizard friend keeps referring to, and that the world is under threat from a giant looming object called the “Biscuit Hammer,” Yuuhi starts to feel trapped in his role. Samidare is also not entirely benevolent herself; she hopes to defeat the Biscuit Hammer so that she can then destroy the world via her own two hands.

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