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First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2019 First Impressions – Grimms Notes: The Animation

Set in a fairy tale world in which everyone receives a book when they are born. These books determine every little detail of that person’s life. Written by the mysterious storyteller, each book traps that individual into a preordained fate. The story, however, stars a hero without a story, someone free to decide his own fate. But since he has only blank pages he can only wander to find his purpose. Our hero travels to lands and meets characters straight out of the pages of some of the most famous fairy tales. He must work together with the characters he meets to fight to get back his story. – Crunchyroll

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Mobile Game

Episode Summary: Every person is born with a book, its pages telling their life’s story and guiding their fate. What of those whose stories aren’t defined? Ex is one such individual, whose fate and destiny have been left blank. He joins a traveling band of individuals whose purpose is to battle “Chaos Tellers,” enemies who re-write reality and corrupt people’s stories until they become twisted and evil. He hopes to discover what his purpose is as he fights alongside his companions.

As Tao, Shane, Reina, and Ex arrive in Little Red Riding Hood’s world, they discover that she’s gone missing. Eventually they learn that her anxiety over her fate to be eaten by the wolf, as well as her apprehension over the prospect of the Woodsman marrying her mother, have left her open to a Chaos Teller’s corrupting influence. It’s up to this band of fighters, along with their magical fairy tale partners, to set this story straight once again.

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Winter 2019 First Impressions – Kaguya-sama: Love is War

Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane are two geniuses who stand atop their prestigious academy’s student council, making them the elite among elite. But it’s lonely at the top and each has fallen for the other. There’s just one huge problem standing in the way of lovey-dovey bliss—they’re both too prideful to be the first to confess their romantic feelings and thus become the “loser” in the competition of love. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hulu

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Kaguya and Miyuki are a perfect match for one-another. Kaguya is the pinnacle of old wealth who approaches life with a regal point-of-view. Miyuki comes from more modest origins, but makes up for that with his top-tier intelligence. Together they’d make a stunning romantic couple, but in an environment where confessing one’s feelings translates to revealing one’s weakness, love is much less a complicated dance than it is an all-out competition of strategic wit and cunning.

The student council office at Shuchiin Academy is the battle ground for these student leaders, who both have feelings for each-other but refuse to show their hand. Their tactics to catch each-other expressing their true feelings range from trickery, to manipulation, to outright desperation. But will this stubbornness ultimately result in unrequited feelings on both sides?

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Winter 2019 First Impressions – Endro!

In the land of Naral Island, a land of magic and swords, humans and monsters live together. Once upon a time, there used to be a terrifying Demon Lord, but long, long ago the first Hero defeated the Demon Lord. The Demon Lord would revive again and again throughout the ages, but every time a Hero would appear to defeat it… Now these young girls attend an Adventurer’s Academy to prepare them to defeat the Demon Lord that will one day rise again. This is the beginning of a laid-back fantasy life with no sign of the Demon Lord for these four who hope to become a party of heroes. – Crunchyroll

Streaming: Crunchyroll and Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Yulia, the hero, and her three companions soundly defeat the Demon Lord, sending them into a prison of time and space. The world is saved! … or so it seems. In truth, the magic spell that sealed the Demon Lord was a fluke with accidental consequences, sending the near-powerless enemy back in time several years before the final conflict.

The Demon Lord finds her way to Yulia-and-company’s hero school to nip the whole adventuring party thing in the bud before it becomes a problem for her. The issue is that, while the heroes aren’t very competent yet, they seem to have a talent for being lucky. That alone may be difficult for a very small Demon Lord to overcome.

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Winter 2019 First Impressions – Girly Air Force

Mysterious flying creatures known as Zai suddenly appear, and in order to fight the creatures, mankind creates fighter aircraft called “Daughters,” as well as the automatic fighting mechanism “Anima,” which are shaped like human girls. The story centers on a young man named Kei Narutani, who yearns to fly in the sky, and an Anima considered to be humanity’s trump card, a girl name Gripen. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: The Xi (rhymes with “sigh”) are an enigmatic, hostile group of aerial fighters currently targeting humankind. Kei Narutani and his adopted sister Minghua are attempting to evacuate Shanghai by carrier ship when they come under attack from a squad of Xi fighters. The Japanese Air Self-Defense Force arrives to defend the civilian vessels, but they’re no match for the maneuverability and speed of the enemy planes. All seems lost until the arrival of a mysterious red-hulled fighter jet that navigates as well as the Xi and shoots them down before crashing into the ocean. Kei exits his evacuation vessel to rescue the pilot – a beautiful pink-haired young woman – who states some incomprehensible words before kissing him and passing out again.

Kei feels like this experience may have just been a dream, and after he and Minghua manage to settle into their new lives in Japan it might as well have been one. Kei can’t leave the experience behind, however, and even begins to research joining the Japan Air Self-Defense Force because of it despite Minghua’s protests. As he’s heading home from the convenience store, Kei swears he sees the mysterious red fighter plane being taken by truck to the local air-force base, so he sneaks out later that evening to see if he can catch a real glimpse of it. Minghua follows him, and they’re both blindfolded and taken onto the base. As it would happen, Kei’s presence seems to be the only thing keeping the animus, the artificial pilot of the experimental jet, from rebooting itself. He’s invited to join the project in hopes of helping to finally defeating the Xi.

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Winter 2019 First Impressions – The Quintessential Quintuplets

One day, a poor high school second-year named Futaro Uesugi comes across a private tutoring gig with good pay, but his pupils are his classmates. In fact, all five are quintuplets, each gorgeous but also on the brink of flunking out of school. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll and Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Futaro Uesugi’s family doesn’t have much money, so he’s learned to pinch pennies wherever he can. Luckily for him he’s a pretty smart student, so the fact that most of the other students look down on him isn’t as bothersome as it could be. One day he ends up fighting for a seat in the lunchroom with a girl named Itsuki who he doesn’t recognize. They get off on the wrong foot and sling a few jabs at one-another. It isn’t until later that Futaro learns that she’s transferred into his class, and his father has gotten him a job tutoring her for a very high price.

Futaro soon learns that this is no normal tutoring job – Itsuki is one of five quintuplet sisters, and each of them is in danger of failing their high school classes. Each of the sisters has their own unique personality and they all have their own special ways of weaseling out of Futaro’s study sessions. Once Itsuki gets a taste of Futaro’s living situation (and meets his cute younger sister), her perception of the situation starts to change a bit. This tutoring job may be more difficult than anticipated, but Futaro will make sure that all the sisters pass their classes, if it’s the last thing he does.

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Winter 2019 First Impressions – Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka

Three years ago, alien invaders ravaged the Earth–until they were defeated by a group of young women blessed with powers from a mysterious source. The girls went back to their normal lives after vanquishing the ghastly monsters, but that time of peace is about to end. The same malevolent creatures have resurfaced, which means it’s time for the Magical Girl Special Ops force to head back to the battlefront and defend mankind. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll and Funimation

Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Three years ago, alien life forms called Disas invaded Earth. An alliance was formed with a galactic entity, and magical girls (girls with the ability to join with spirits) became the planet’s best hope of defending against the alien menace. Asuka was one such magical girl whose efforts help to thwart the enemy. Though she’s left her fighting life behind she still feels the mental and emotional aftermath of the terrible experiences she had during battle.

High school is a different environment entirely, and while Asuka doesn’t quite fit in among her peers, she does eventually make a couple of friends who choose to help Asuka engage with her physicality (through track) and enjoyment of reading (through the literature club). Even when talks of re-forming a magical military squad start to trickle down to her, Asuka is adamant about living and enjoying this new, normal life – until a terrorist attack puts one of her new friends in harm’s way. The Disas may be long gone, but the world is still filled with crime, war, terrorism, and hatred; Asuka may have discovered a purpose worthy of bringing her out of retirement.

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Winter 2019 First Impressions – My Roommate is a Cat

A shy novelist adopts a cute stray cat and starts to slowly open himself to the world. Both his and the cat’s point of view are included in each story. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll and Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Subaru is a novelist whose parents recently passed away in a tragic accident. Since then he’s become withdrawn and only really interacts with his editor – when he needs to. One day, while visiting his parents’ grave, a stray cat leaps from the shadows and pounces on Subaru’s sashimi, and the author has an epiphany: his next novel will feature a murder mystery where a cat is the culprit!

Subaru brings the cat home and starts to take care of it while continuing to indulge in some of his bad habits as a writer – neglecting sleep, forgetting to eat, and generally just losing touch with reality until the completion of the manuscript. When he passes out from exhaustion, the cat’s presence turns out to be a blessing. In the aftermath, he finds out that he might have eaten some of the cat’s food in his dire state. The cat, for their part, can’t understand why this particular human is so strange.

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Winter 2019 First Impressions – Wataten! An Angel Flew Down to Me

Miyako Hoshino is a shy college student and otaku. Miyako’s younger sister Hinata, who is a fifth grader, has a classmate and friend named Hana. When they meet, Miyako falls for Hana at first sight. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Miyako is a college student with a talent for baking and sewing cute cosplay outfits for herself and her younger sister, Hinata. One afternoon, Hinata brings home a friend – Hana-chan – and Miyako is suddenly at a loss for words. Though her otaku nature has always left her shy around strangers, seeing Hana gives Miyako a serious case of the butterflies. Hana, on the other hand, is skeeved by Miyako’s behavior.

Miyako decides that she wants to become friends with Hana, and begs Hinata to invite her over to the house again. Hana happens to be very food-motivated, so Miyako offers her sweets in exchange for her mere presence. This forces Hana to override her strong self-preservation instinct. Miyako eventually convinces Hana to try on some cosplay, which turns into an impromptu photo session. Eventually, Hana decides that she can put up with Miyako’s… eccentricities if there are enough baked goods involved.

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Winter 2019 First Impressions – The Promised Neverland

Emma, Norman, and Ray are the three most brilliant children the Grace Field House has produced in decades. Unlike in a typical orphanage, they, and their fellow children, eat well and are given an intensive education. However, despite living in a peaceful environment with fun games and a caring mother, there’s something not quite right. When six year old Connie is “adopted” by foster parents, she forgets her favorite stuffed rabbit, and Emma and Norman sneak out to return it to her. When they arrive at the scene, the two realize exactly why they had always been isolated from the outside world. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu, and HIDIVE

Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Emma, Ray, and Norman are three orphans at Grace Field House. Kind-hearted Emma loves all the other children deeply as members of the only family she’s ever known. They’re cared for by “Mom,” a kindly young woman who ensures their safety. The children spend their days learning and playing together among the fields and forests. However, they’re forbidden from approaching the gate or the fence that surrounds the property, because of untold dangers.

When Conny, one of the younger children, is adopted into a foster family, the other children wish her a tearful goodbye and ask her to write them letters before Mom escorts her to the world outside. Emma realizes that Conny left her favorite stuffed animal, and she and Norman rush to return it to her. As they approach the open gate, however, they discover something so terrible that, as the traumatic images begin to settle in, they realize that their only option is to plan an escape for themselves and the other children.

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Winter 2019 First Impressions – Mob Psycho 100 II

“Mob” is a boy who will explode if his emotional capacity reaches 100%. This boy with psychic powers earned his nickname “Mob” because he does not stand out among other people. He keeps his psychic powers bottled up so he can live normally, but if his emotional level reaches 100, something will overwhelm his entire body. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll and Funimation

Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama has an after-school gig working for Reigen Arataka, an exorcist of questionable talent with an eye toward making a profit. Otherwise, he’s an unremarkable boy who happens to have access to some of the most powerful telekinetic abilities most people have ever seen. However, Mob’s friend Mezato has reason to help (force?) Mob to overcome his bland existence. Without his knowledge, she’s positioned him as the leader of a budding psychic group, and she needs for him to take on a more impressive stature so that her ruse doesn’t fall through. This is easier said that done, however. Mob makes a run for student council president, but freezes when it’s his turn to speak, destroying Mezato’s dreams.

Unexpectedly, Mob receives a love letter in his locker. When he meets its author, Emi, behind the school, she says that she was so impressed by the courage it took him to get on stage for his aborted speech that she’d like to go out with him. The two spend a week together before Emi lets on that this was all a ruse. As Mob starts to walk home, he discovers Emi being bullied and uses his powers to reassemble the manuscript the other girls tore into pieces. Emi is impressed by his kindness, and makes a pledge to be truer to her own feelings.

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