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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – My Isekai Life

Streaming: HIDIVE

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: Yuji is a tamer – what that means to those around him is that, though his heroic abilities are interesting, they aren’t especially powerful. He manages a small group of slimes that help him to defeat monsters in creative ways. This makes Yuji appear to have a knack for completing missions, but despite some rumors of certain slimes that are able to breathe fire, most folks around town don’t think much of Yuji.

That changes when the town comes under attack from a huge group of demons. As the horde approaches the outer borders of the city, Yuji uses his slimes to conduct a remote magical attack. The truth is that Yuji isn’t just a tamer – he has the abilities of a sage as well, which includes a bevy of extremely powerful magic spells. This allows him to wrap the city in a barrier and let loose with some terrifying flame magic, eventually defeating the enemy. In the aftermath of the encounter, evidence appears that seems to suggest the involvement of a certain cult in the attack.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Spriggan

Streaming: Netflix

Episodes: 6 (45 minutes apiece)

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: The ARCAM organization is guided by the writing on a mysterious golden tablet, imploring anyone who might read its words to protect the artifacts and technology from the ancient world from being misused. When an altar is found beneath Mount Fuji that seems to have connections to an ancient civilization which had the power to control the volcano’s eruptions, ARCAM seeks the help of young linguistics professor Yamabishi to decipher its cryptic writing.

Of course, Yamabishi’s skill and the potentially limitless power offered by this altar also draws the attention of several other factions, including those out of Russia looking to claim the power for their own world-dominating aspirations. Luckily, professor Yamabishi falls under the protection of Yu Ominae, ARCAM’s elite fighter, code-named “Spriggan.” With his orichalcum body armor and keen fighting sense, Yu is a force to be reckoned with. But Russia has its own elite forces – will Yu’s abilities be enough to prevent the power of Fuji’s Flame Serpent from falling into the wrong hands?

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Yurei Deco

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Original

Episode Summary: On Tom Sawyer Island, love is a ruling force. Or at least that’s the ideal – as people interact with one-another, the love they share with one-another and/or put out into the world is converted into points, which can then be used to upgrade one’s user experience and enhance one’s “Deco” (both the tool used to virtually interact and the outward-facing appearance one has). Berry and her friends are somewhat less inclined to buy into the utopian message that the authorities are selling; what interests them more are stories related to a mysterious figure known as “Phantom Zero” whose actions cause havoc within the Deco system.

Berry’s Deco has been acting-up, but this turns out to give her an advantage; with her malfunctioning right eye, she can perceive cloaked items – and people. She discovers a piece of odd origami stuck to a pole, and soon after encounters a mysterious person who she assumes to be Phantom Zero. After a lot of running around and a couple of confrontations, this mysterious individual draws Berry into a completely separate, truly virtual(?) world where they’re both soon pursued by formations that have the ability to destroy pieces of their Deco. After being forced onto a rooftop, a floating figure descends into view – the real Phantom Zero.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Bastard!! Heavy Metal Dark Fantasy

Streaming: Netflix

Episodes: 24

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: 400 years ago, humanity reached the apex of its own evil, drawing forth the power of Dark to destroy the world. But before the human race could be destroyed, a huge creature in the form of a white dragon arrived via a pillar of light. The battle between these godlike entities caused several continents to sink into the sea. After it was all over, the remaining humans passed this story on over the years until the line between reality and legend blurred.

Now, in a world of dark fantasy, the country of Meta-Licana finds itself under attack from followers of the late Dark Schneider, a wizard who wielded terrible evil power before being sealed away. A young woman named Yoko, guardian to Lucien and daughter of the head priest, holds a special power – the power to awaken a force sealed away in Lucien. But when the situation looks grim and she unleashes this power, it turns out that Lucien was the reincarnation of Dark Schneider all along. Dark Schneider has plans to destroy the world, but Yoko may have more sway in preventing that from happening than she realizes.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Phantom of the Idol

Streaming: HIDIVE

Episodes: 10

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Yuya Niyodo is one half of the male idol group ZINGS, though the effort he brings to the table is probably more around 5%. As an attractive man who got into the industry in order to make “easy money,” the fact that his manager, fans, and group member Yoshino expect him to put in some effort is making Yuya rethink his choices.

As he sits on the cusp of being fired, he notices a young woman sitting next to him on a bench. But this isn’t just any young woman – her name is Asahi Mogami, a famous idol who died a year ago in a tragic accident. As a ghost she can no longer perform for her adoring fans, but perhaps with the help of Yuya, who has a very alive body, Asahi can relive her performing days one last time. When Asahi’s influence causes Yuya and ZINGS to have their most successful performance to date, Yuya invites Asahi to keep their arrangement in place indefinitely.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Teppen!! Laughing ’til You Cry

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: After winning a regional manzai comedy competition, the manzai trio Young WaiWai is asked to move into a dorm specifically for national manzai competitors. There, they join other regional groups, each with their own aesthetics and schtick – some are wealthy, others pretend(?) to believe in aliens. Here, they all practice their routines in order to prepare for competition – and to make their audiences laugh.

Young WaiWai turns a semi-autobiographical occurrence into a routine, describing a very unusual case of a broken bodybuilding trophy and the location of its missing head. While they try to hide the situation from the owner of the dorm (the winner of the trophy who’s extremely proud of it), they walk back through a series of truly silly events to discover the true culprit.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Shoot! Goal to the Future

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Related to Aoki Densetsu Shoot!

Episode Summary: Tsuji was once a star on his soccer team, but his own arrogance over his skills as a shooter eventually spelled his downfall. After that he left soccer behind in favor of other pursuits, though his attitude toward the sport itself took on a specifically sour note. The team at Kakegawa high school has a championship history, but that seems to have faded into the past. Now other teams don’t even find them worth practicing against.

When Jo, one of the current team members perceives Tsuji’s disdain toward soccer, their philosophical differences blow up into a fight. In the background, a mysterious man watches this conflict with unusual interest. This man turns out to be Kamiya, a past member of the team and now a famous pro player. He returned to Japan upon the request of Kakegawa’s principal, and while he seems mostly uninterested in coaching the young members of his former team, witnessing a soccer shoot-out between Tsuji and Jo piques Kamiya’s interest. Perhaps there’s something he may be able to do for the team at Kakegawa high school – but it will take a lot of work for them to reach their destination as a cohesive team.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Lycoris Recoil

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 13

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Japan has been considered the worldwide #1 safest country for several years running, but while the general populace may understand this to be simply due to inherent aspects of Japanese culture, the truth is that the Lycoris, trained assassins, are tasked with addressing crimes before the public becomes aware of them. Takina is one such Lycoris, who goes rogue during a high-risk operation involving a huge weapons sale. Because of this, she’s reassigned to a different area in order to learn from Chisato, one of the Lycoris stationed in her new region.

Chisato is Takina’s total opposite – bubbly, outgoing, and personable in contrast to Takina’s subdued nature. As Takina job-shadows Chisato, she realizes the type of work she engages in is quite different as well. Rather than assassinations and arrests, Chisato’s daily workload involves helping various people around the neighborhood doing odd jobs, making deliveries, and generally making their lives better. This goes against everything Takina knows and because of this she wants more than anything to get back to the familiarity her old job, especially once an escort mission they’re engaging in is resolved in a very non-traditional way. Is there really anything Takina can learn from this unusual Lycoris?

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First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Engage Kiss

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 13

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Baylon City is ground zero for the mining of the mineral orgonium. Of course, as with the extraction of most natural resources this one comes along with some unintended consequences, one of which is the release of demonic entities who cause destruction around the city. Shu Ogata is a former employee of a private military/security company experienced in dealing with these demons, but after setting out on his own his costs quickly got out of control and it’s become a struggle for him to simply keep the lights on. The only thing keeping him afloat at this point is his relationship with a girl named Kisara, who seems to be attracted to Shu in spite of his many flaws and helps to pay off his debts.

When Shu manages to snag a contract (by severely undercutting his competition), he has to call in some favors simply to prevent himself from getting immediately killed. But the biggest favor is one given to him willingly, because Kisara happens to have incredible power at her disposal. The only issue is that, in order to release that power, she and Shu have to “reinvigorate” their contract on a regular basis via the power of a passionate kiss.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: In his former life, Leon was a typical Japanese adult who happened to have been blackmailed by his younger sister into completing an otome game for her. He does it grudgingly, complaining the entire time. Unfortunately once he completes it he gets little time to celebrate his freedom from the task before taking a fatal spill down a staircase. Having been reincarnated, it takes Leon several years to realize that his new life exists within the boundaries of the otome game that he so despised.

In the world of this game, men are second-class citizens. Rather than go to the academy to try to woo a young woman as his suitor, Leon is tossed into an arranged marriage with a woman 50 years his senior. Rather than sit idly by for this scenario, Leo goes on an adventure using his prior knowledge of the game to uncover a futuristic space ship that he makes his own. Returning to his his father with treasures unimaginable, Leon buys his way into the academy to try his luck there. But searching for love among the elite might be a challenge in and of itself.

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