Tag: Crunchyroll

Categories
Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – In the Land of Leadale

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: A certain woman on life support loses her life when a blackout causes the power to fail. Yet she awakens again one morning to sun pouring through an open window. Certain things feel very familiar, and she soon realizes that this world is the inside of a VR game called “Leadale” she enjoyed playing while in the hospital, and that she’s embodied the character she created, a high elf named Cayna. When she speaks with the innkeeper, Cayna learns about a few inconsistencies from her time as a player. The seven kingdoms have now become three, following the intervention of the world’s deities. Oh, and two hundred years have also passed since Cayna’s time as an active player.

As Cayna continues to get her bearings, she decides to travel to her avatar’s Silver Tower, a home base where she once kept her items (and also, apparently wreaked much havoc against other players in the past as the notorious “Silver Ring Witch,” a moniker that seems to have survived among the populace). There, the tower’s guardian scolds her for her absenteeism, and notifies her that her “son” came looking for her about sixty years ago, an interesting fact that she files away for later. On the way back from this outing, Cayna saves a man from a horned bear attack and brings the meat back to the village for a grand feast. Cayna still isn’t sure what incarnation of Leadale this might be, but it may grant her a second chance at life in a world that she once enjoyed.

Continue reading “Winter 2022 First Impressions – In the Land of Leadale”
Categories
Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Orient

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: The land of Hinomoto was a peaceful one, until the Oni arrived and began to rule over the human population. Certain humans – warriors called Bushi – fought back, but eventually lost to the greater power of the demons. Now over a century later, the Oni have become central religious and authority figures in the lives of humans, and the Bushi have been all but forgotten. However, Musashi and his friend Kojiro, having been told about the Bushi in secret as children, have resolved to revive the battle against the oppression put upon them by the Oni.

As Musashi is processed through the school system, however, he appears to lose sight of his goals in the face of the relentless propaganda machine. He can’t find it within himself to outwardly make waves by professing his goal to become a Bushi, and he eventually graduates with the rest of his class and takes up his post as a miner. When Musashi meets Kojiro in secret, Kojiro refuses to believe in his resolve, partly to help ensure his friend doesn’t suffer the difficult life of a Bushi. But when Musashi and his classmates learn the truth about the Oni, it’s Musashi’s secret weapons practice and unwavering goal to fight against their oppressors that ultimately saves them. He and Kojiro make amends and once again set their sights on sharpening their swords and eliminating the Oni.

Continue reading “Winter 2022 First Impressions – Orient”
Categories
Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Love of Kill

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Chateau Dankworth is a young bounty hunter executing hits on behalf of a larger organization. One day while out on a job, she encounters an assassin named Ryang-Ha Song who immediately becomes smitten with her. His persistent advances eventually lead to him helping Chateau locate and neutralize her bounties. Ryang-Ha seems to be searching for something more substantial in compensation, though Chateau clearly finds him off-putting and only tolerates his constant phone messages in service of the “bigger picture” she operates within.

One day, Chateau’s agency is contacted by a client who plans to offer a substantial amount of money toward the capture neutralization of a certain hit man who managed to kill several high-ranking members of an Asian-based criminal organization. That bounty turns out to be none other than Ryang-Ha himself. Now Chateau must wrestle with the prospect of obtaining a substantial bounty, all the while figuring out how to handle her very dangerous romantic pursuer.

Continue reading “Winter 2022 First Impressions – Love of Kill”
Categories
Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Rusted Armors

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Multimedia project, including a stage play and Manga

Episode Summary: As war rages amongst the feudal lords all around them, the expert gunsmiths of the Saika village are defended by a group of powerful warriors who wield a selection of powerful special treasures called “Armors.” Among them is Magoichi, a warrior who arrived at the village with no memories, clutching one such Armor. Though the Armors allow those who own them to defend Saika village, their existence also draws the ire of the enemy toward the villagers more and more.

One day the village comes under attack once again. All of the lookouts are killed and the individuals holding the Armors suddenly find themselves overwhelmed and outclassed. Magoichi faces off against the leader of the enemy armor and quickly finds himself at death’s door. Just then he sees the flash of a sword as a mysterious man dressed in white comes to his rescue.

Continue reading “Winter 2022 First Impressions – Rusted Armors”
Categories
Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – World’s End Harem

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 11

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Five years ago, Reito went into cryogenic sleep in order to wait out a cure for Cellular Sclerosis, a currently incurable disease. This occurs, inconveniently, just as he confesses his feelings to his childhood friend and fellow researcher, Erisa. He leaves a token with Erisa so that they can reconnect after he’s awoken from stasis, but as he slumbers the world transforms into an inhospitable and broken place.

After the MK (“Male Killer”) virus quickly obliterates the male population of Earth, society begins to crumble and deteriorate. For reasons that are still being studied, Reito’s Cellular Sclerosis treatment makes him immune to the ravages of the MK virus, and as one of 5 known men in his same position, the potential for his offspring to carry that immunity makes his sperm cells a precious commodity. In order for the Human Race to survive, Reito must help repopulate it. But the only woman that’s on Reito’s mind is his childhood friend, Erisa. Thus, he’s given an ultimatum – he can try to find Erisa, but in the meantime he’ll be faced with many other women who are passionately focused on obtaining Reito’s seed.

Continue reading “Winter 2022 First Impressions – World’s End Harem”
Categories
Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Sabikui Bisco

Streaming: Funimation and Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: After a disaster destroys Tokyo and turns it into an inhospitable desert, people begin to die from a mysterious illness known as the “Rust.” It slowly overtakes their bodies until it reaches their hearts. There are theories regarding how the illness is spread, some of which involve the assumption that strange plagues of mushrooms (and the mushroom keepers who create them) are somehow responsible. The most notorious of these mushroom keepers is Bisco Akaboshi, who spreads terror using his bow and arrows to produce giant mushrooms.

Doctor Milo Nekoyanagi maintains a residence in the slums where he tends to the impoverished locals while also using connections to obtain contraband mushroom material in order to search for a cure for the Rust. His motivations seem rooted in kindness, but they have a selfish angle as well – his sister Pawoo is suffering from the disease. One evening, none other than Bisco makes his way into the city to wreak havoc, causing the pavement to burst forth with mushrooms with every strike of his arrows. But he seems focused on one mission in particular – to seek out Doctor Nekoyanagi.

Continue reading “Winter 2022 First Impressions – Sabikui Bisco”
Categories
Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Digimon Ghost Game

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Digimon Franchise

Episode Summary: The internet is abuzz with rumors regarding a Sewn-lip Man; a hologram (or perhaps a holographic ghost) that terrorizes people and steals their time, leaving them as aged husks. Hiro Amanokawa brushes them off as urban legends, but the previous mysterious disappearance of his father has left him somewhat unsure of what might be real or imagined. When Hiro and his friend break into their school auditorium to investigate the rumors, they soon discover just how real the chatter about the Sewn-lip Man actually is.

As Hiro returns to his dorm room in the aftermath of being attacked, he discovers a set of strange flash drives that appear to be compatible with a set of digital wrist devices left behind by his father. When he plugs them in, he finds himself face-to-face with an image of his father, who’s somehow managed to convert himself into a digital entity. Hiro’s father provides Hiro with Gammamon, a digital monster that Hiro is asked to consider as his “brother.” Gammamon turns out to be handy when the Sewn-lip Man, who reveals himself as “Clockmon,” appears in Hiro’s dorm room. Gammamon turns out to have some specific resilience to Clockmon’s time-stealing attack, and along with Hiro’s support is able to defeat Clockmon – for now.

Continue reading “Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Digimon Ghost Game”
Categories
Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Blade Runner: Black Lotus

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 13

Source: Original (based on Blade Runner franchise)

Episode Summary: A young woman awakens in the cargo hold of an autonomous transport vehicle having lost most of her memories. The only item she has with her is an electronic device she can’t seem to unlock. As she enters Los Angeles, she has a sense of where “home” is, but the city has changed since she last remembers being there and she’s not quite sure how to navigate it. A group of thugs picks up on her confusion and, seeing the valuable tech she has in hand, they begin to pursue her.

As she fights off these organized criminals she begins to remember bits and pieces of things, including her name – Elle. In exchange for more information about the technology in her hands, she offers a local dealer named Doc Badger protection from the thugs that are hassling them both. Swordplay and martial arts seem to be part of Elle’s repertoire and she easily dispatches them all. When Doc Badger reveals that he’s been unable to decipher locking mechanism on her tech, he offers to take her to see a man named J who seems to have more of a specific knack for that sort of thing. But J is awfully familiar…

Continue reading “Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Blade Runner: Black Lotus”
Categories
Anime Reviews Reviews

God is Dead – The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace

This essay contains plot and thematic spoilers for the entirety of The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace. I would suggest a blanket Content Warning for the series due to its inclusion of violence, religion, rape and pedophilia.

Read my First Impressions HERE

I’m once again at that point where I’m playing clean-up with my anime seasonals in a mad rush as I find myself with a huge new batch of current series I’d like to watch more of. It’s the constant struggle of someone who watches way too much anime. Often when I’m in this hyperdrive mode, I find myself drawn back toward the anime series which I initially had ambivalent feelings about. I’ve always been that kind of person who pushes her favorite foods to the side of her plate in order to enjoy them last, so I suppose that this makes some sort of sense.

The Summer 2021 season had plenty of series that featured intriguing story elements and themes, but which were also hamstrung by some missteps that made them a little harder to love. The most iconic of these, to me, was The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace, an action series with a lot of cool visual style and a total banger OP, but also an off-putting reliance on some particularly violent and grotesque story elements. And yet, as I was settling in to play a little anime catch-up in preparation for letting myself continue some of the entries from Autumn, Idaten was the one series that I couldn’t get off of my mind.

Continue reading “God is Dead – The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace”
Categories
Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Build-Divide -#000000 Code Black

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Multimedia Project (created alongside a card game)

Episode Summary: In Neo Kyoto, one’s place in the world is ruled by the game Build Divide and by the King who sits atop it all, there to grant the wildest wishes of the top players. A mysterious young man named Teruto meets a young woman named Sakura in an alley after she’s attacked by a wandering thug. Teruto seems to have possession of a set of Build Divide cards but has no idea where he got them or why.

Curious, Sakura challenges Teruto to a match, explaining the rules of the game as they play. But fragments of memories remain in Teruto’s mind and he suddenly recalls the true depth of the power he wields in his own two hands. As he defeats Sakura, she decides to put all her faith into his ability to usurp the King. But the King may be prepared for his return.

Continue reading “Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Build-Divide -#000000 Code Black”