Tag: First Impression

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Mieruko-chan

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Miko is a seemingly ordinary girl whose daily life would be familiar to most. She wakes up, goes to school, spends all day in class, and then takes the bus back home again. As uninteresting as that may seem, Miko’s days are defined by one very specific quirk of hers – she’s able to see and sense apparitions all around her, wherever she goes.

It’s all that Miko can do to keep herself from running away screaming at every turn, but she has come up with a way to cope – as long as she doesn’t acknowledge these supernatural beings or let on that she can see them, she believes that they’ll eventually leave her alone. However, keeping up this act may be more than she’s able to bear.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Selection Project

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 13

Source: Multimedia project

Episode Summary: Ever since she was young and bedridden in the hospital, Suzune Miyama has admired the Selection Project idol Akari Amazawa. Years later, Suzune has the opportunity to compete as one of her region’s representatives during the 7th season of Selection Project. However, Suzune isn’t alone; she’s joined by talented girls from around the country who are all vying for the same distinction.

As the regional finals near their conclusion, the competitors are all asked to sing a final song – Akari Amazawa’s debut single, as a tribute to her after her untimely death in an accident a few years prior. Suzune’s pure voice is striking, but as the song nears its climax, she nearly passes out on stage. Whether this is what prevents her from winning her group is debatable, but she leaves the competition to walk home, defeated. But is this truly the end of Suzune’s quest to follow in Akari’s footsteps?

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Anime Reviews Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – The Heike Story

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 11

Source: Novel

Episode Summary: Biwa witnesses the murder of her blind father at the hand of the powerful Heike clan, thus leaving her an orphan. Yet it’s a member of the Heike, the subdued, practical Shigemori, who apologizes for the crimes of his brethren and identifies a similarity between himself and Biwa. Both possess a heterochromic eye which has granted them psychic powers. Shigemori is cursed to see the spirits of the dead all around him, but Biwa’s eye allows her to see the future.

Shigemori chooses to adopt Biwa and raise her alongside his own sons; Biwa’s father had disguised her as a boy to help her survive, and she has no interest in living as a girl, so this arrangement is helpful. Yet, despite his kind overtures, Biwa refuses to tell Shigemori the one thing he’d truly love to know – what will finally bring downfall to the Heike clan, and can he help prevent it? As the clan begins to grow bloated with its overwhelming power and corruption creeps in, can either Shigemori or Biwa truly do anything to stop the Heike’s fall?

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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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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2021 First Impressions – The Great Jahy Will Not be Defeated

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 20

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: The Great Demon Jahy was once the demon lord’s second-in-command, but when a magical girl entered the demon realm and shattered its mana crystal, Jahy suddenly found herself banished to Earth. Even worse, without her powers she takes the form of a child, so she lacks the presence she needs to order folks around. With a tiny shard of the mana crystal left, she’s able to retain her adult form long enough to hold down a service job, but even so she has difficulty making ends meet. Jahy’s come up with ever manner of excuse to keep from paying rent; unfortunately her landlord is also her boss’s sister, so she can’t keep up her ruses for long.

But perhaps living among humans might not be such a bad thing, even though Jahy can’t quite see things that way. At the very least, her boss cares about her and wants to see her healthy and happy. It’s just that, when you’re used to wielding nearly unlimited power, having to deal with human rules and customs is a huge burden. Hopefully she can find the other shards of the mana crystal soon and return to her rightful position!

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2021 First Impressions – Battle Game in 5 Seconds

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Akira Shiroyanagi has become bored with life. He excels in both school and gaming to the point that he no longer feels the thrill of being challenged. That all changes when, while on his way to school one morning, he’s randomly attacked by a rather frightening man with animal-like reflexes and strength. Using some clever manipulation, Akira lures the attacker to an environment that allows him to rig up a trap and defeat him. But his victory is short-lived, as he’s approached by a purple-haired cat girl named Mion and shot on sight.

Akira awakens in an unfamiliar location, where he several other people are informed by Mion that they’ve been randomly-selected to participate in an experiment. To society, they’re good as dead. Now they’re ordered to serve as a focus group to test the various special abilities that they’ve been granted. Akira is granted a particularly odd ability, where his power is whatever he can get his opponent to believe it is. It’s something that’s incredibly difficult to use, but if anyone can make use of it, Akira can.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2021 First Impressions – Mother of the Goddess’ Dormitory

Streaming: HIDIVE

Episodes: 10

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: After his family home was burned in a fire and his dad walked out on the family, rather than take advantage of any social program to get by Koushi decides the best course of action is to try to make his own way on the streets. Being a kid, however, it’s not easy to live independently, so when he’s offered a cushy job as the “dorm mother” of a problematic dormitory associated with the local women’s college, he thinks it may be a dream come true.

Unfortunately the residents are something of a handful. Mineru, the seemingly kind soul who invites Koushi to work at the dorm, is a mad scientist type who has an aversion to wearing clothes. On the other hand, Frey is a cosplayer who enjoys dressing other people up in costumes (whether they want to or not). Possibly the biggest hurdle is Atena, a young woman whose past living situations have left her with a fear of men (apparently even pre-adolescents). It takes a little time, but Atena tries to come to terms with her fears while also attempting to clean up the behavior of the other women for Koushi’s sake.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2021 First Impressions – Night Head 2041

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga (there have also been previous TV and anime adaptations)

Episode Summary: In the year 2041, society has disavowed any depiction of the supernatural. Belief in ideas and entities that can’t be proven is criminalized by the government. The Special Weapons Enforcers work to root out illegal thought activities and arrest those responsible. When they’re assigned to capture a man purporting to be a psychic along with his followers, they assume this will be a straightforward mission, but when brothers Takuya and Yuuya begin to see oddities that the others on their team don’t, it suggests there’s something much stranger going on. Takuya then exhibits a strange power when he tries to rescue Yuuya from being hurt. A huge EMP wave is emitted and they’re suddenly faced with the prospect that the realities of their own minds and existences may not be quite as factually cut-and-dry as they may have assumed.

Meanwhile, brothers Naoto and Naoya Kirihara find themselves freed from the laboratory where they’ve been isolated for the past 15 years. Because they truly do have telekinetic abilities they soon discover that this unfamiliar world they’ve been separated from for so long isn’t the bastion of understanding and acceptance that they had hoped it may have become in the interim. While they’re able to leave their isolation with a few resources at their disposal, they’re about to enter a hotbed of prejudice in which their powers are decidedly unwelcome.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2021 First Impressions – The Aquatope on White Sand

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 24

Source: Original

Episode Summary: As Fuuka packs her things and prepares to head back to her childhood home, she realizes that this has become the depressing end point to a dream she’s had since childhood. She worked and sweated to become an idol, only to realize that she wasn’t meant for that lifestyle. After giving her blessing to a younger group member and putting in her resignation at her agency, she packs her things and calls her mother to coordinate her homecoming. By chance, however, Fuuka is distracted by an advertisement for a tropical Okinawan vacation, and feeling unsettled by the amount of fanfare the neighborhood group is putting into her return, she makes the last minute decision to head for warmer waters.

Upon arrival she doesn’t really have anything planned or anywhere to go, and dragging her luggage around in a tropical climate is sweaty work. After spending a night sleeping on a beach, she’s approached by a local tour guide and given some water and a few info packets. Fuuka chooses the local aquarium as her destination, and a 500 yen ticket grants her access to what she experiences as a magical world that lays bare some of her deepest insecurities. While there, she meets Kukuru, a young employee of the aquarium and learns that the power of this place is nothing new. But despite its beauty and magic, the aquarium is in danger of closing.

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