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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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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Healer Girl

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Kana, Reimi, and Hibiki are three apprentice healers at the Karasuma Voice Treatment Center, which trains individuals in the art and science of treating patients using the power of singing. This form of medicine developed as a compliment to already-existing Eastern and Western medicine. Kana is the newest recruit of the bunch, and though she was inspired to become a healer due to an encounter when she was a child, she often finds that her ability to adhere to her training regimen (as well as the rules) to be a little lacking. When she uses her abilities to heal a boy’s skinned knee, Karasuma, the main healer at the clinic, puts Kana on notice.

The girls live out their days doing administrative work and building up their endurance through exercise and eating healthy foods. As people who love to sing, their down time is often filled with music as well. When the granddaughter of one of the clinic’s patients rushes over after-hours to get help for her grandmother’s condition, however, the apprentices switch into overdrive to retrieve their senpais from a conference. Though Kana knows she can’t use her singing to heal her patient, she realizes that she can use her skills to ease the patient’s mind, which she does. As the others arrive, they witness Kana’s immense skill, which ultimately calms the elderly woman well enough that she can be taken to the hospital.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Tomodachi Game

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Yuuichi and his four friends are inseparable in spite of their varying circumstances. Yuuichi doesn’t have much money to his name, but he works extra hard to come up with the fee so that he can join his friends on the upcoming class trip. Soon after the funds are turned in, however, the class learns that the full amount was stolen out of a locker. Following that, the class reps (who happen to be two of Yuuichi’s close friends) suddenly go missing. Some days later, Yuuichi receives a letter from one of them, beckoning him to a late-night meeting outside the school gate.

As it turns out, this is a ruse to get all five of friend group members in one place. They’re kidnapped and taken to a mysterious location where they’re told that they can participate in the “Tomodachi Game” to wipe out their collective debt. This immediately throws suspicion on the group members – could one of them perhaps be the thief? Eventually Yuuichi decides that friendship is more important than the potential for monetary loss in this situation, and the group is brought to the first game room. All they have to do is agree on a “yes” or “no” answer to pass and have their debt erased, but it seems that there’s some kind of sabotage taking place after the group fails multiple questions in a row. As they reach their last chance the group seems poised to figuratively eat one-other alive through suspicion. Can a burst of inspiration from Yuuichi save them all from failure?

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Fanfare of Adolescence

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 13

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Yu Arimura is a member of a popular idol group, but after seeing horse racing for the first time he becomes fixated on the idea of becoming a jockey. After gaining entrance into an extremely competitive jockey-training high school, Yu’s fans and the media immediately begin questioning his motivations. Why not just continue to live the life of a famous idol like his fans obviously want? But Yu is committed to this new endeavor in spite of their protests.

On the day of the entrance ceremony, Yu’s convictions are put to the test. Not only are members of the media ready and waiting to hassle him, a mishap outside the building causes two horses to get loose, leaving the students to try to wrangle them. Yu feels in over his head, until one late-arriving student named Shun, who appears to have a gift for interacting with the animals, comes to the rescue. Shun shows Yu the view from atop a horse, and Yu realizes that he really is in the right place after all.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Love All Play

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Novel

Episode Summary: Ryo is a middle school badminton player who idolizes one of Yokohama Minato high school’s aces, Kento Yusa. While he’d love to play badminton on the same stage as Yusa, his own skills aren’t quite up to the Yokohama Minato level of play. At least, Ryo believes so until the badminton coach from Yokohama Minato reaches out to him directly and offers to get him entrance into the school on a sports recommendation. As it turns out, Ryo definitely seems to have some untapped potential that might end up giving him a leg-up, so-to-speak.

Ryo’s father is unimpressed and very nearly forbids Ryo from pursuing this opportunity. As a college sports player who encountered trouble after physical injury, he knows first-hand what an inconvenience it can be to lose the ability to access the skills required of the program. However, undeterred, Ryo offers to take a more traditional path toward his dream, by entering the school based on academic achievement. Though this is an uphill battle based on Ryo’s mediocre grades, his sister helps him study and it seems as though he might make the cut. After being asked to join a weekly practice session at Yokohama Minato High School, Ryo is excited to meet Yusa, his idol. But sometimes heroes seen from afar turn out to be very different in person.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Estab Life: Great Escape

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Far in the future, Tokyo has been divided up into several isolated areas called “clusters” in which citizens spend their entire lives without the right to leave. Additionally, the denizens of these clusters are often people with particular shared genetic modifications. For those folks who may wish to leave their cluster, they have few options but to call upon hired “extractors” who help facilitate the ability of these unhappy people to start new lives elsewhere.

Equa is one such extractor, who with her team leads dangerous missions to bring their clients to freedom. Their next client happens to be their philosophy teacher, who struggles with the isolating permanency of being a teacher whose heart isn’t in the job. As soon as he signs on the dotted line, the team springs into action, deftly dodging police droids and breaking into security systems in order to send their former educator to his new life in the Akihabara cluster. When they receive some happy photos from him at his new job, the dirty work feels worth it. But after this latest caper, it seems as though the authorities might be taking a keener interest in the extractors’ work.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Aharen-san wa Hakarenai

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Raido starts his high school career with one goal in mind – to make friends in spite of his somewhat intimidating visage. He starts with Aharen-san, the petite girl who sits next to him in class, but no matter what Raido does he can’t seem to get her attention. After school, however, it’s a different story – Aharen-san suddenly seems stuck to him like glue. This hot-cold treatment continues until he learns that Aharen-san has issues with coming on too strong with people and making things awkward. Raido vows to be a good friend to her, no matter what it takes.

The first challenge to overcome is the fact that Aharen-san speaks so softly that her voice is barely audible. Raido tries all sorts of communication methods, including passing notes, learning lip-reading, and even attempting to use a carrier pigeon, before he realizes that, after a while, his hearing has just adjusted enough that he can understand what she’s saying. As their friendship grows stronger and the two get closer, it seems there may be someone on the outside who isn’t so happy about their developing relationship.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Shenmue the Animation

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 13

Source: Video Game

Episode Summary: Ryo is an accomplished student and well-known as a martial artist. The training he received from his father allows him to lead his high school’s Karate club to victory. When Ryo returns home to his father’s dojo, however, he notices a conspicuously open door and finds his father fighting a losing battle against a man dressed in striking green kung-fu robes. The man blames Ryo’s father for an individual’s death, all while demanding the location of a mirror his father possesses. After learning its location, the man dressed in green finishes off Ryo’s father.

The aftermath of this incident is confusing – who was this man and why did he label Ryo’s father a killer? Some folks around town suspect the Chinese Mafia based out of the port of Yokohama might be to blame. It turns out that Ryo may not have known his father as well as he may have thought. As he begins to put the pieces together, Ryo finds himself under attack again, though this time his father’s teachings and wisdom prove invaluable. Rather than continue on to college as he’d planned, Ryo decides to use this time to learn more about his father’s dealings and perhaps gain more insight into his family’s past.

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