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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Muv-Luv Alternative

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Game Series

Episode Summary: In 1973, aliens launched an offensive from the moon. The BETA as they came to be called, have since slowly spread out across the planet, killing humans and erecting hives in their wake in order to facilitate more destruction. Military units across the world have done what they can to try to hold back the BETA forces, but the aliens’ strength seems only to increase and the human population continues to diminish. The Western half of Japan has slowly been taken over by BETA, and in 1998 they are now in danger of taking over the rest of the country.

An evacuation order has already been issued as the Japanese military begins to detect movement at the bottom of the ocean near the city of Sadogashima. Because of their loss of life, they’re forced to use rookie pilots to man the Tactical Surface Fighters – mechanical armor that allows close-combat. Unfortunately, despite the passion of the soldiers, the sheer number of BETA, including several fortress-class entities with the power to break down the giant walls protecting the people inside, overwhelm them and they’re forced to evacuate. Sadogashima becomes the site of the 21st BETA hive.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Platinum End

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 24

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Ever since the death of his family and his adoption by an unloving aunt and uncle, Mirai hasn’t felt happiness in his life. After his middle school graduation he walks to the roof of a tall building and leaps off its edge. However, before he hits the ground he’s rescued by an angel, glowing and clad in white, who claims to be his guardian angel. Her goal is to grant him happiness, and she provides him with the tools to do so – a red arrow that causes its targets to fall in love with him, and angel wings that grant him flight and super speed. Mirai doesn’t feel as though he’ll ever be happy, but his first flight is exhilarating and he begins to believe that his angel might be telling the truth.

The red arrow has the added benefit of its target doing whatever the caster asks, so Mirai uses it on his aunt to confirm a horrible truth – the accident that killed his other family members was actually a murder committed by his uncle and aunt. The magic of the arrow causes his aunt to atone for her sin through death and Mirai escapes into the night. Mirai’s guardian angel, called Nasse, fills him in on some other important details. There are 13 angel users around that are vying with one-another to become the next god – and now Mirai has become involved in this deadly quest.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Tesla Note

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 13

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: From a young age, Botan’s grandfather has trained her as a spy in the ways of the ninja in preparation for a greater purpose to come. Much to her surprise, this greater purpose actually manifests and she becomes involved in “Mission T,” a quest to recover a set of crystalline shards left behind by the famous inventor Nicola Tesla 70 years ago. Time is ticking, however, and she and her somewhat-unwilling new partner, a spy named Kuruma must find these shards before they’re assembled into a full crystal and used for nefarious purposes.

This time-sensitive quest brings Botan and Kuruma to Oslo, Norway, where a train appears to have mysteriously warped from one point to another within the city, causing destruction and bodily harm. As Botan infiltrates the walled-off research area, she discovers the horrifying aftermath of the accident, including mutilated bodies and even a survivor who’s lost his wits. This put their team on the radar of the authorities, so they must make a quick getaway. This helps Kuruma to gain a little bit of respect for Botan as a partner.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 25

Source: Original

Episode Summary: It’s the year 2061. For years, Japan struggled under a declining birthrate and economy, which made it a ripe environment for outside countries to take advantage of beneath the guise of offering aid. Now, the different factions battle one-another using unmanned battle units called AMAIMs. Amou Shiiba is an orphaned Japanese citizen – a member of the underclass – who works as a scrapper, collecting remnants of broken AMAIM units. His friends use the spare parts to upgrade their personal electronics and vehicles, but Amou has a much larger project in the pipeline – a full suit of AMAIM battle armor he happened to find sitting in an abandoned warehouse.

When the authorities catch wind of Amou’s scrapper group, his comrades are captured and used to try to lure Amou out of hiding. But what these colonizers fail to realize is that Amou has a trump card. After finding an abandoned AI unit named Gai in the woods with the know-how to bring Amou’s AMAIM online, he now owns one of the only manned units around. And human thoughts and reflexes, coupled with AI information, seem to be a powerful force that might turn the tables against the factions that have taken over Japan.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Takt op. Destiny

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Part of a multimedia project which includes a game.

Episode Summary: One fateful day a black meteorite fell to Earth and unleashed the D2, creatures who hate the sounds that humans make, especially the beautiful harmonies to be found in music. Now, playing any sort of music runs the risk of attracting swarms of D2, so there are many people who no longer even remember what music sounds like. But just as humanity began to lose all hope the Conductors and Musicarts appeared, using the power of music to defeat the D2.

Takt and Cosette are a partnered Conductor and Musicart, although their ability to work well together is somewhat lacking. Their de facto handler, Anna, does her best to wrangle their disparate personalities in service of a shared goal – to reach New York so that Cosette can be “repaired” by the Symphonica there. Their journey eastward is bound to be dotted with challenges, not the least of which is their ability to effectively combine their powers and achieve their goals as one.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Muteking the Dancing Hero

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Offshoot/remake of Tondemo Senshi Muteking

Episode Summary: Muteki arrives in Neo San Francisco to live with his grandmother and doesn’t have a lot of money in his wallet. But what he does have is a good sense of rhythm, something which both allows him to save an old lady crossing the street (using dance!) and also draws the eye of a man named DJ who is, unsurprisingly, a DJ. DJ develops a bit of a fascination for Muteki, who isn’t very happy for the attention from such a strange source. DJ’s obsession with analog sound technology is also a bit against the grain – Neo San-Fran is also the home of a famous tech company with its innovator CEO (literally named “Ceo”).

Muteki is excited to attend a local music event after finding out about it from a flirtatious waitress, but as the main act takes the stage it’s immediately clear that something strange is going on once a giant monster attacks. DJ comes to Muteki’s rescue and provides him the power of Muteking, a transforming hero on roller skates. Once the situation is resolved, Muteki finally reaches his grandmother’s house, only to discover that DJ has already “infiltrated” her home.

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Anime Reviews Reviews

A Little Respite with “Poketoons”

Recently, I posted an essay that I’d been working on for a while. I don’t blame you if you missed it; it didn’t really get the traction that I expected, and at such a length and dealing with the subject matter that it did I probably shouldn’t be surprised that it came and went without much fanfare. Often the writing you’re really proud of doesn’t hit the same way that some one-off “just for fun” type post does; It’s just the nature of posting your writing on the internet. In any case, after spending a lot of energy reliving some heavy material (and writing, editing, and re-editing it), I found myself in the mood for something a little bit lighter. Lucky for me that a very cute clip of animation happened to grace my Twitter timeline and I headed over to YouTube to chase after its source.

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Miscellaneous Reviews Reviews

Infrastructure Run Rampant – Yokohama Station SF

This essay contains spoilers for the novel Yokohama Station SF by Yuba Isukari

In Minnesota there’s a saying – there are only two seasons: Winter and road construction. The weather in our region does a real number on the quality of our roads; the freeze-thaw cycle leaves us with potholes the size of moon craters that are the first flowers to bloom once the snow melts. Soon after, the streets are dotted with orange traffic cones as machines dig and scrape and patch until our thoroughfares are passable again.

Sometimes these projects are more long-term. Every weekday I hop in my car, driving from South Minneapolis into downtown via interstate 35W, which has for months been a winding maze of diverted lanes, temporary partitions, and signs warning motorists to slow down and heed the construction workers. This has been ongoing for almost four years and will soon be completed; the rebar and concrete that for weeks could be seen just over the concrete barriers, as well as the shiny new bus station that will accommodate a new high speed bus line along that corridor, speak to the project’s imminent completion.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2021 First Impressions – Fena: Pirate Princess

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Fena Houtman drifted ashore on a certain island many years ago. Orphaned and alone, her prospects were limited. About to make her debut as a sex worker, her unusual looks mark her as a particularly prized conquest and the highest bidder is a man known to be particularly indulgent of his libido. But this is all a part of Fena’s not-particularly-well-thought-out escape plan; passage on a ship off the island costs money, and money is difficult to come by for people like her unless they’re willing to manipulate from the hands of those who have it.

What Fena doesn’t realize is that her hazy past is about to come into sharp focus. She’s intercepted by two elderly men who she eventually recognizes younger and more svelte attendants from her childhood. Though their sense of direction is flawed they eventually manage to leave the confines of the city and head through the woods toward a waiting ship. But when a group of bandits attacks and attempts to kidnap Fena, she’s saved by a mysterious armored man. Could this man, whose dark eyes shine in spite of his helmet, possibly be Fena’s long-lost friend?

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2021 First Impressions – The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 11

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: 800 years ago, humanity was at the brink of extinction. The humans pleaded with the heavens to save them, and the Idaten battle gods arrived to defeat and seal the evil demons causing problems on Earth. Young Rin was left in charge of monitoring the integrity of the seal and training the next generation of deities, should things happen to go South again. Unfortunately the “next generation” is comprised of a few lay-abouts who don’t see much value in training to defeat an enemy they’ve never encountered. Ysley only really cares about studying, while Paula enjoys animals and nature. Only Hayato really has any fighting chops, but he’d rather goof off then get beat up on by Rin in the name of “learning.”

Unfortunately, laziness is quickly taken off the table when the gods catch wind of a contingent of soldiers poking around the Arctic. They seem to have uncovered some sort of ancient demon called Gyudo, and are working quickly to thaw it out of its icy prison. In particular, Dr. Obami, a scientist accompanying the exhibition, seems to know more than a typical human should about the workings of ancient gods and demons. When Hayato is finally able to trounce Gyudo he follows the Dr. as he attempts to escape, only to discover that the Dr. is nothing more than a robot body being operated remotely. Perhaps this twist on typical human mortality may explain Obami’s oddly-specific knowledge of the world’s gods and demons. Meanwhile, far away, civilization is beginning to deteriorate into abject savagery, where not even a prayer to god above can save the believers.

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