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First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2018 First Impressions – Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation

Muhyo and Roji are masters of magical law and solve many cases having to do with ghosts, monsters, and all things supernatural. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Muhyo, a diminutive child-like individual, and Roji, his put-upon assistant, work in supernatural law. Muhyo is a famous executor who punishes spirits for encroaching on the lives of human beings, his looks and foul temperament belying a savvy expertise. Roji is an apprentice hoping to learn the trade from the very best. One afternoon a young student named Rie approaches the professionals to seek help. There’s a ghost haunting one of the platforms at the local train station, and Rie believes herself to be responsible for its existence. She was very close with her friend Taeko since they were both outsiders at school. When Rie joined the volleyball team she began to disconnect from Taeko, and their last meeting ended when Taeko fell backwards onto the tracks and was killed. Now her ghost is unable to let go of the human world and has been grabbing other passengers by the ankles, searching for Rie. Muhyo agrees to take the case. After nightfall, the three travel to the train platform and wait out the ghost, which doesn’t take very long. As suspected, the creature is an amalgamation of many ghostly grudges with Taeko’s death being the catalyzing factor that’s drawn them together. Muhyo calls upon Hades himself to capture the monster and draw it to Hell. It’s only Rie’s insistence on holding Taeko’s hand that allows Taeko passage into a kinder afterlife. With Taeko now at peace, Rie can live her life normally again.

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First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2018 First Impressions – Holmes of Kyoto

In an antique shop in Kyoto’s Teramachi Sanjō shopping district, high school girl Aoi Mashiro unexpectedly runs into Kiyotaka Yagashira, the son of the shop’s owner, and ends up working part-time at the shop. Kiyotaka is called the “Holmes at Teramachi Sanjō,” and he and Aoi solve odd cases brought to them by various clients. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Novel

Episode 1 Summary: Aoi Mashiro is in need of an antique appraisal, and the antique shop she finds is staffed by one of the best in the business, though she doesn’t realize it initially. Kiyotaka Yagashira is known as a bit of a Sherlock Holmes (“Holmes” is a pun on the characters that make up his name) who has an intuitive knack for sniffing out counterfeit items, uncovering the histories of genuine ones, and knowing just what his clients are looking for. He deduces soon enough that the art scrolls Aoi is trying to sell don’t really belong to her, but that she seems like a good person and her situation must be desperate for her to be taking such extreme measures. Though he won’t buy the scrolls he does offer to appraise them, and they turn out to be quite valuable. One of them even has a history that causes Aoi to think twice about spending her money the way she intends. “Holmes” offers instead to give her a job so she can earn the money she needs, though by that point she may no longer feel it necessary to spend it.

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First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2018 First Impressions – The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar

Yuuto Suoh gets more than he bargained for when he joins his childhood friend Mitsuki Shimoya in testing out an urban legend. When he uses his phone to take a picture of himself with the local shrine’s divine mirror, he is whisked off into another world – one heavily steeped in the lore of the old Norse myths. Using his knowledge gained from school and from his solar-powered smartphone, he has the chance to bring the Wolf Clan, the same people who cared for him, to prominence, all while earning the adoration of a group of magic-wielding warrior maidens known as the Einherjar. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode 1 Summary: It’s been two years since Yuuto was accidentally whisked away to an unknown bronze age society, but in that time he’s managed to become the leader and patriarch of a powerful clan. His goal isn’t exactly to gain control of the entire land, though that might be the unintended consequence; he wants to bring about peace to its various warring groups so that he can then concentrate on finding a way back to his native time and place. Luckily Yuuto still has the use of his smartphone, as it gives him access to military tactics and other knowledge he’s able to utilize to gain an advantage over almost any adversary. His most recent victory is over the Horn Clan, and the leader chooses to become his “sister,” a term for a subservient position beneath the patriarch. Soon after their alliance is solidified, another group makes moves to attack the Horn Clan’s homeland. Though the ink is barely dry on their alliance, Yuuto chooses to honor it by sending his armies to aid his new subjects.

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Summer 2018 First Impressions – We Rent Tsukumogami

Fukagawa ward of old Edo (present-day Tokyo) is prone to fire and flooding, so residents rent everyday items like pots, futons, and clothing from shops instead of purchasing them, so as not to impede them when they flee. Okō and Seiji, an older sister and younger brother, run one such rental shop called Izumoya. However, mixed in with their inventory are tsukumogami, objects that have turned into spirits after a hundred years of existence. The siblings sometimes lend these sentient items to customers. Both Okō and Seiji can see and talk to these spirits, and other tsukumogami often come to the store after hearing of the famed siblings. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Novel

Episode 1 Summary: Siblings Okou and Seiji manage a rental shop in Edo called Izumonya. While their bread and butter is based around renting everyday objects to customers, they also hold onto an inventory of tsukumogami, well-loved items that have gone on to develop souls. Though they try to keep a lid on this strange specialty, word tends to get around; they’re called upon by a man about to marry into a wealthy family who’s lost a particular family heirloom. The mouse netsuke (charm) that’s gone missing is said to have sprouted legs and run away, and while the siblings are coy about the possibility of it being a tsukumogami (or even acknowledging that tsukumogami are real), they soon employ their own tsukumogami to gather information about the situation. What are eventually discovered are some half-truths about the impending marriage, as well as some fuller truths about the groom’s relationship with his older brother. There might also be some complicated feelings between Seiji and Okou, who aren’t related by blood.

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Summer 2018 First Impressions – Revue Starlight

“Starlight” is the song and dance revue troupe loved throughout the world. Karen and Hikari make a promise with each other when they’re young that one day they’ll stand on that stage together. Time passes, and now the girls are 16 years old. Karen is very enthusiastic about the lessons she takes every day, holding her promise close to her heart. Hikari has transferred schools and is now away from Karen. But the cogs of fate turn, and the two are destined to meet again. The girls and other “Stage Girls” will compete in a mysterious audition process to gain acceptance into the revue. – ANN

Streaming: HIDIVE

Episodes: 13

Source: Original Multimedia Franchise

Episode 1 Summary: Karen Aijo, despite being a goofball and a little bit of a sleepyhead, is one of the elite students at Seisho Music Academy, a training ground for musical actresses and theater professionals. She made a promise with her friend Hikari when they were children that they’d each become actresses, and Karen has been living that promise to the best of her abilities. It’s been years since Karen has seen Hikari, but as fate would have it Hikari has recently transferred to Seisho after having lived several years overseas. Karen is overjoyed, but Hikari seems distant. When Karen follows Hikari back to school one evening, she discovers a secret hidden below the halls of Seisho. There, Hikari is involved in what appears to be the battle of her life with another of the students as part of an audition for the role of top actress in the Starlight musical. Karen, being who she is, can’t help but don a costume herself and intervene.

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Summer 2018 First Impressions – Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs

Kogarashi, a high school boy cursed with misfortune to see ghosts since birth, finds a haunted inn offering rent-free room to anyone able to exorcise a ghost. When the ghost turns out to be an innocent young girl, Kogarashi decides to help her move on rather than purify her. While he works on that, Kogarashi is pulled into the paranormal hijinks of the other residents of the inn and even his new school mates. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode 1 Summary: After living in poverty and without a home for much of his recent life, Kogarashi has finally found an affordable place to hang his hat. After being abandoned by his relatives he spent some time apprenticing with a medium, perfecting his exorcism punch attack to get rid of ghosts and spirits. Now he’s found an inn offering incredibly cheap accommodations, though it’s due to being haunted. With Kogarashi’s skills, he figures it won’t be haunted much longer and he can then live his days there cheaply and comfortably. It isn’t long after his arrival that he encounters the ghost, but he realizes quickly that a psychic punch isn’t going to do the trick this time – the ghost isn’t some terrifying spirit, but a sexy girl his same age named Yuuna. Kogarashi muddles over this conundrum, but his purpose becomes clear when a traveling monk attempts to forcibly send Yuuna to the afterlife. Kogarashi rescues Yuuna and vows to help her ascend to Heaven on her own terms.

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Summer 2018 First Impressions – Lord of Vermilion: The Crimson King

Tokyo in 2030. In a suburban area, suddenly a high-frequency resonant sound is heard, and at the same time a red mist shrouds the area. Anyone who hears the sound, be it human or animal, loses consciousness. The government estimates that it might be an unidentified virus, and fearful of an epidemic, blockades Tokyo and moves its base to Osaka. However, six days after the incident, those who lost consciousness from the sound awaken for no apparent reason. Those blockaded in Tokyo slowly start to get the city functioning again, but after that day strange incidents start to occur at the blockade border. Those who have awakened a hidden blood power arise, are drawn to one another, and must face a cruel fate. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Game

Episode 1 Summary: Chihiro is a typical college student who lives with his adoptive family at their dojo. Though he’s a good swordsman, he has an aversion towards aiming for a killing blow, something his instructor (and adoptive father) warns him about repeatedly. Kotetsu, the instructor’s son as well as Chihiro’s friend and adoptive brother, dreams that the two of them will take over the dojo together someday. While they’re both on their way to university, a terrible noise rings out across the city. People begin to collapse in the street as the noise permeates the atmosphere.

Chihiro awakens in a hospital bed, where the doctor (and his moody nurse), inform him that he’s been comatose for the better part of five months. He’s in fact the last of the people affected by the incident to wake up. While he was asleep Chihiro dreamed of a void space filled with spinning architecture and a mysterious young woman with a parasol, but when the doctor asks him about his dream, he finds the images have begun to fade. Once Kotetsu retrieves him from the hospital, Chihiro begins to learn about the things that happened while he was asleep and how Tokyo is now isolated from the rest of the country by a mysterious red fog. When the two return to the dojo, they once again hear a terrible sound ring out – and discover a terrifying monster that has absorbed their father!

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Summer 2018 First Impressions – Happy Sugar Life

Beautiful high school girl Satō Matsuzaka believes she has finally found the meaning of love when she begins living with a younger girl. Previously, Satō never refused the advances of any guy around her, but that changes when she meets the girl Shio. The background and age of the mysterious girl are unclear. When Satō is with Shio, she experiences a very sweet feeling, which she understands as love. In order to protect that feeling, Satō is willing to do anything, even if it means committing murder. – ANN

Streaming: Amazon

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode 1 Summary: Satou used to sleep around with various guys, but ever since discovering true love, she’s left the revolving door of men behind her. The object of Satou’s affection is Shio, a young girl of indeterminate age who lives with her. Now that the two are on their own, Satou is the primary breadwinner, so she quits her lower-paying maid cafe job to become a waitress at an upscale restaurant. As an attractive young lady, Satou draws the attention of one of her male coworkers, but as with all other potential male suitors as of late, she rebuffs his advances. Afterwards, she sees him entering the female manager’s office. Suddenly the manager starts giving Satou significantly more work than the other employees, ostensibly in order to make up for having declined her coworker’s advances and causing discord in the restaurant. The long days keep Satou from seeing Shio, and she begins to experience some intense negative feelings towards the manager for keeping her away from her love. Payday is the final straw – Satou doesn’t receive any pay related to the overtime she’s been forced to work. But Satou knows the manager’s dark secret and threatens to blackmail her. Satou has some secrets herself, though; her “happy sugar life” as she describes it may not entirely be based in reality, and the blood-covered garbage bags in her back room may have their own tale to tell.

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Summer 2018 First Impressions – Grand Blue Dreaming

Iori Kitahara is a college student living along in a coastal city who meets scuba-diving and fun-loving upperclassmen. – ANN

Streaming: Amazon Prime

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode 1 Summary: Iori is about to start college, so moves in with his uncle and cousins so he can be closer to campus. He’s got an image in his mind of how he wants his school life to be, and that image includes none of the juvenile antics he experienced while attending an all-boys high school. Unfortunately he seems destined to repeat the past, since the school diving club members use his uncle’s diving store as a hangout – they spend their evenings drinking alcohol and taking off their clothes, and now they’re eyeing Iori as a potential new member. As much as Iori tries to resist, the guys trick him into drinking and then blacking out. He wakes up the next morning on campus in his underwear, leading to several uncomfortable situations throughout the day. Vowing never to repeat this debauchery, but in need of clothes to wear, he ends up in cahoots with his diving upperclassmen again to trick another freshman into joining the club. Their “victim” is Kouhei, an obvious otaku, who they literally grab off the sidewalk. The club welcoming party is – you guessed it – another excuse to get black-out drunk, and Iori and company end up making the same mistakes as last time.

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Summer 2018 First Impressions – Late Night! The Genius Bakabon

The pinnacle of gag manga as well as one of Akatsuka Fujio’s most renowned works, “Tensai Bakabon” returns after 18 years since its last anime with Director Hosokawa Toru’s new original story! Bakabon and his family, who made the phrase “This is how it should be” famous, are back along with the eccentric cast of Mr. Policeman, Rerere no Ojisan and Eel-Dog letting loose in a much more modern setting! The new frontier of “Bakabon” that’ll take place in a late-night slot is about to begin, 10 years after Akatsuka Fujio’s death. – Crunchyroll

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode 1 Summary: It’s been eighteen years since the previous animated incarnation of Akatsuka Fujio’s (Osomatsu-kun) manga Tensai Bakabon, and the characters are back and ready to take on the modern era. Papa, however, has the idea in his head that his family and their anime’s setting hasn’t changed nearly enough in the interim, so he starts making arbitrary alterations left and right. He hires a new voice actor to perform his role, and then hires a famous surgeon to give him a dramatic new look. He also has Bakabon, his son and the show’s namesake, cloned into sextuplets to capitalize on the fame of that other classic remake. Papa’s tunnel-vision towards dramatic change continues to escalate until the family’s youngest child, Hajime, is about to be falsely arrested for dealing drugs. It’s Mama’s anger that brings the family back down to Earth. Sometimes change for the sake of itself isn’t really such a great idea, but with an familiar-but-updated look and feel, the family can start their new show on the right foot.

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