Tag: Fantasy

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First Impressions Reviews

First Impressions: Delicious in Dungeon

Streaming: Netflix

Episodes: 24

Episode Summary: Adventurer Laios and his party find their dungeon crawl cut short when one of their party members, Laios’s sister Farin, is chomped up by a red dragon. As her final act, Farin uses magic to whisk Laios, Marcille, and Chilchuck safely to the surface. Now, having lost most of their supplies and looking at pawning their equipment to get the funds they need, Laios turns to an idea he’s been kicking around for a while. Rather than bringing their rations with them down into the depths of the dungeon, why not just kill and eat the creatures who call that dangerous place home? It would hopefully allow them to reach Farin before she’s digested, at least.

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Halloween Seasonal Special Features

It’s Spooky Season! – Day 23: Dorohedoro

So far this month we’ve tackled psychological horror, comedic horror, and horror-adjacent titles and episodes. However, as far as I can see, we haven’t yet looked at the niche-within-a-niche that is “grotesque-yet-humorous urban fantasy where people are turned into meat pies,” so I wanted to make sure we had that covered by featuring Dorohedoro.

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Halloween Seasonal Special Features

It’s Spooky Season! – Day 21: Shadows House

When I started this month-long project, part of the reason I’d had the idea in the first place was because I wanted to call attention to some lesser-known, older, and potentially out-of-print or unlicensed episodes or series under the guise of creating a Halloween listicle. Having said that, I think it’s important to note that not every overlooked series is older or even especially difficult to get a hold of. Take Shadows House. While I don’t think the show is a secret to anyone who’s kept up with seasonal anime the last several years, it’s a series that I think deserves to be more well known than it is.

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Halloween Seasonal Special Features

It’s Spooky Season! – Day 6: Night World

I’ve heard it said that the dreams we have during the night are part of our brain’s way of processing the events of the day. It’s one of the reasons why sleep deprivation is such terrible torture – being forced to forego that kind of mental processing is enough to instigate psychosis. That time sleeping isn’t just for assembling the logic puzzle of human interactions, but also to process the complexity of our own emotions.

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Halloween Seasonal Special Features

It’s Spooky Season! – Day 2 – Wasurenagumo (Li’l Spider Girl)

A few days ago I was doing some chores, and as I was unloading some laundry from the dryer I happened to notice a bit of movement out of the corner of my eye. I was startled to see one of the largest spiders I’ve seen in quite a while making its way slowly up our cinder block basement wall. As an adult I logically know that most spiders (especially in my area of the country) are helpers; they prey upon pest insects and generally just want to be left to their own devices to do so. But it’s difficult to fully ignore that visceral jump-scare feeling that just seems to be part of human nature when we encounter creepy-crawlies in unexpected circumstances. I’m sure it speaks to something ancient in our DNA, some deep fear that our ancient ancestors dealt with.

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Halloween Seasonal Special Features

It’s Spooky Season! – Day 1: Healer Girl Episode 10

While it may be the case that, for some of us, our anticipation of Halloween never really wanes, once the calendar flips to the month of October it finally feels reasonable to get hyped up over pumpkins and skeletons. And though Halloween isn’t a holiday native to Japan, judging by its presence as a background motif in media ranging from Cowboy Bebop: The Movie to Odd Taxi, it’s certainly cemented its unique place in the country’s culture. There are several anime that deal directly with the holiday, and many more that make for good watching for those of us who enjoy getting into the mood while indulging in our favorite hobby.

I’ll be spending the month (or at least as many days as I can manage) giving out some of my personal recommendations for spooky anime (and perhaps some manga if I happen to be so motivated). Most of these are just fun and mildly seasonally-appropriate, but there are some genuine spooks sprinkled throughout. While there might be some familiar entries in the list, I’m trying my best to dig a little bit for some surprises, so hopefully folks will find a few new things they weren’t aware of previously. Note: most of these should be fairly easy to find on streaming or disc, and I’ll make note of where to watch them if that’s the case. If they’re not legally available in the US, however, I’ll leave it to you to find them on your own.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Uncle From Another World

Streaming: Netflix

Episodes: 13

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Seventeen years ago, Takafumi’s uncle was hit by truck-kun, and while his earthly body seemed to be in a coma in the hospital, his mind was far, far away having adventures in another world. When his uncle finally wakes up, Takafumi assumes that the weird language he’s speaking is just the ramblings of a crazy person, but once his uncle demonstrates some honest-to-goodness magical ability, Takafumi begins to understand the potential for profit he may have just stumbled into.

While their YouTube career starts as a bit of a slow burn, Takafumi learns more about his uncle’s experiences while his uncle wrestles with catching up with seventeen years’ worth of technological advances and changes in the video game console landscape. While his uncle has always seemingly had issues dealing with real human relationships (his fondest memories are of video games), Takafumi learns that his uncle may have inadvertently become closer to a young woman in the other world than he may have realized at the time. As Takafumi and his uncle try to work out a way of sustaining themselves and their meager lifestyle, could his uncle’s “interesting” past come back to haunt him?

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Parallel World Pharmacy

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: A pharmacology researcher works obsessive hours as a response to the loss of his sister from cancer in their childhood. Unfortunately the endless work and little rest catch up to him one night and he collapses in his office. When he awakens, he finds himself not only in another world, but in the body of young Farma – a noble whose family is well-renowned for their talent in the medical arts. Farma was recently struck by lightning, and his maid Charlotte notices some strange marks on his arms which she believes indicate that he was saved from certain death by the god of pharmacology.

Farma soon begins to understand the implications of the situation he’s been dropped into, and starts attempting to re-learn the skills that he knew prior to being struck by lightning. As he becomes reacquainted with his abilities, it becomes apparent that he has the potential to wield a great deal of power. When his tutor Elen begins to sense something different in Farma, including the fact that he has access to powers that, as a human, he probably shouldn’t, she becomes terrified of him. Could Farma possibly be a god incarnate – or might he be a demon?

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Shine On! Bakumatsu Bad Boys

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Episode Summary: In the Bakumatsu era, the Shinsengumi were nearly wiped out by a mysterious group of masked foes. In order to help defend the local populace against these enemies who seem to have some connection to the Shogunate, Todo Heisuke, the one Shinsengumi member left standing, kidnaps a group of death row inmates and provides them with a choice – either join the ailing Shinsengumi by “becoming” its lost members, or be executed immediately.

Most of the criminals choose to take on these new roles. Among them is Ichibanboshi, a brawler with a laser-focused desire for revenge. When he discovers that his personal goals align with that of the Shinsengumi, his decision to join them is an easy one. Unfortunately his brash attitude and unique fighting style leave something to be desired within an organization that prides itself on its swordplay. Yet, when he encounters one of the masked Ronin about to raise his sword against an innocent family, Ichibanboshi is able to draw from the power of the Shinsengumi he now embodies to dispel the strange, malignant forces controlling the Ronin.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Black Summoner

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: Summoner Kelvin doesn’t remember anything about his former life. In exchange for better starting stats, he offered up his memories to Melfina, the goddess of reincarnation. Now he’s one of very few summoners in his new world, although his former self seems to have been a bit of a romantic – having fallen in love with Melfina, he somehow convinced her to tag along with him in his new life in the form of a talking stat menu. At least that’s helped him get up to speed with the customs and peculiarities of his new world.

When he registers at the local adventurers’ guild, he disguises his true skills to avoid attracting too much attention. However, he chooses his first task – defeating three blue slimes – with the extra goal of forming a summoning contract with one of the monsters. After some initial issues with underestimating the strength of blue slimes, Kelvin manages to contract with one and then complete his task. It seems that his new adventure is now underway, although the city seems to have a bit of a dark underbelly that Kelvin has only just started to uncover.

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