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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Tribe Nine

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Mixed media (also includes a smartphone game and webtoon)

Episode Summary: In Neo Tokyo, battles between youth gangs steadily got out of hand until in the sport of Extreme Baseball was instilled as the official conflict resolution method of record. Now these gangs, called “tribes,” battle out their differences on the baseball diamond (and the surrounding city, usually). Haru is a bullied kid who doesn’t feel like he has the strength to fight back against his tormenters, but a chance meeting with Taiga, a tuna fisherman with a desire to play Extreme Baseball, and Shun Kamiya, considered to be the Minato Tribe’s ace player, changes the course of Haru’s destiny.

When the Minato Tribe is approached by representatives of a rival group and challenged to a game, the laid-back Shun volunteers both newbies to help represent them on the team. Haru is terrified by the sort of power on display – Extreme Baseball allows the use of various enhancements to provide players with superhuman strength, and their current opponents are heavily invested in these sorts of tools. Haru is scared to step up to the plate, but some advice from Shun and the fact that his eyesight and reflexes are much better than most allows Haru to survive the inning while Shun cleans things up. Haru feels a change in himself, and decides to remain a member of the Minato Tribe (and its team) after all.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Slow Loop

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: When she’s stressed out Hiyori spends her days near the ocean, fly fishing like she learned from her late father. Her meditative silence is broken one day, however, by a girl attempting to leap into the frigid March ocean. Hiyori uses her wits to help avert disaster, and she spends some time fishing with this girl, named Koharu. Koharu is impressed by Hiyori’s way with a fishing rod, and is even more impressed when Hiyori prepares fresh rock fish sashimi right there on the wharf. Hiyori feels drawn to this outgoing girl, and their meeting turns out to be more than just a chance encounter; Hiyori’s mother and Koharu’s father are planning to marry, which will make the two girls sisters.

After their families are joined and Koharu and her father move into Hiyori’s and her mother’s home, some of these big changes begin to make Hiyori feel withdrawn. Yet Koharu’s bright personality seems to be just the thing to help draw Hiyori back out of her shell. Koharu’s enthusiasm toward learning to fish certainly doesn’t hurt, either. As the two new sisters start the new school year, their future looks bright.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Futsal Boys!!!!!

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Mixed Media Project (including a smartphone game and live-action matches).

Episode Summary: Haru Yamato couldn’t have cared less about Futsal, until he happened to catch a bit of the U-18 world cup in which Tennouji, a player from Japan, pulled out one of his special moves. Now remaking himself in Tennouji’s image (or at least getting into the sport) has become a goal of Yamato’s. On his way to his high school entrance ceremony, a seemingly-ill-fated shortcut brings him face-to-face (though upside-down) with Seiichiro Sakaki, whose Futsal skill is definitely top-tier. The two successfully use the game to dissuade some bullies from picking on a group of kids.

But Sakaki is a bit of a one-man show, and therein lies the issue; though he and Yamato want to join the Futsal club at their school and find themselves in a pickup game fending off bullies once again, it’s clear to the more experienced team members that his lack of willingness to work together with others may become an issue. Can Yamato’s youthful spirit and willingness to have fun possibly break through Sakaki’s hard, selfish shell?

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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.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Taisho Otome Fairytale

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Tamahiko is the second son of a wealthy family, but when a car accident kills his mother and injures his dominant hand, his father and the rest of the children are all-too-willing to remove him from the family and abandon him to his own devices. Now a dyed-in-the-wool pessimist due to his circumstances, Tamahiko is more than a little surprised when a young lady named Yuzu shows up at his doorstep claiming to be the bride his father has arranged for him.

The situation turns out to be one of debts repaid and not necessarily one with Tamahiko or Yuzu’s romantic interests in mind, but Yuzu takes to her responsibilities in a diligent and kind way in spite of her new prospective husband’s poor spirits. Yuzu knows that this was all essentially a transaction between their parents, but in spite of that she wants to know the real Tamahiko and for them to fall in love with one-another eventually.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Ranking of Kings

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 23

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Kings are ranked by their physical prowess and the number of knights and followers they have. Prince Bojji, heir to the his father’s kingdom, has none of those things. Deaf and unable to speak, he also bears the burden of bullying, snide remarks of the people he encounters. Many people think Daida, the second prince and son of the King’s remarriage, is much more fit to be the next king.

One day while Bojji is playing outside, he encounters a strange shadow creature named Kage who manages to talk him out of giving up his clothing for Kage to sell. But Kage and the Prince seem to be able to understand one-another. Though Kage’s past marks him as someone potentially dangerous, he follows Bojji back to the palace and witnesses his true inner strength begin to show itself. When Bojji challenges Daida to a sparring duel, very few actually anticipate the outcome.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Deep Insanity: The Lost Child

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Multimedia Project

Episode Summary: A mysterious ailment called “Randolph Syndrome” has started to affect the people of Earth. The suspected source is thought to be a recently-uncovered underground world in Antarctica, named the “Asylum,” populated by strange, mutated creatures and immense stores of natural resources. The brave souls who choose to explore this wilderness are there both to find a way to exploit these resources and the genetic material of the mutants, but also to find a cure for Randolph Syndrome.

Lured by a recruiting commercial and his desire to be a hero, Shigure joins the few, the proud (and the short-lived) “Sleepers” who explore this underground world. It’s not long before he’s sent, mostly unprepared, on his first mission. As his party encounters some of the horrors to be found below, he learns quickly that survival is the rule above all, and that accepting fear of death is the only way to survive.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Rumble Garanndoll

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Episode Summary: The military government rules over Japan with an iron fist. The one place allowed a bit of freedom is Kabukicho, which remains a hotbed of adult entertainment. Hosomichi is a host at a host bar, banking on his own inability to be insincere to the customers, though in reality he’s barely eking out a living. When the authorities discover hidden messages from the underground rebellion buried within the code of a bootleg eroge, the trail leads back to Kabukicho. This, of course, means that the hammer of authority must come down hard.

Hosomichi finds himself in a pretty tight spot until he’s approached by an apparently pilotless mecha. When he takes refuge inside and dons VR goggles, he finds himself face-to-face with an odd little super-deformed character whose moods seem intimately tied to the way in which the mech is powered. Hosomichi is dead-set against indulging this strange creature’s whims, but when push comes to shove he allows some of his latent otaku past to show itself and is able to successfully fight back. It’s only after the encounter that he learns his cartoonish companion actually represents a real-life battery girl who’s none-too-pleased with his behavior.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Ancient Girl’s Frame

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 24

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Reika Minamiya’s family has been deeply affected by the use of Divine Grace Energy, a form of energy used by humanity to start colonizing space, but which also exposed them to the wrath of the Nergal, hostile alien life forms. Reika’s older sister Reiu was lost due to DG energy, and this has made her parents very protective of her. Because of this, Reika sneaks off to apply to join the Ancient Girls squad with her friend in secret.

At the interview, she’s confronted by Judith, one of the faces of the program, who tells Reika that she’ll never be allowed to join the Ancient Girls. However, after the excavation of a new G’s Frame, one of the only weapons able to hold back the alien attackers, the Earth is attacked by a group of Nergal. Though the AG program didn’t accept her, the newly-awakened G’s Frame seems to have no misgivings about her abilities; it draws Reika into the cockpit where she’s able to fight back until Judith arrives to finish the job. Later, just as Reika receives her rejection letter from the program, her family is approached by military personnel who seem to be offering her a different option. As Reika arrives to join the others in the AG unit, Judith wonders if there may be consequences from allowing Reiu’s sister into their midst.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – My Senpai is Annoying

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Futaba Igarashi is a sales worker who’s been on the job for several months, but it can be difficult for some folks reconcile that fact with her short stature and occasionally child-like mannerisms. Her Senpai, a large, loud-mouthed man named Harumi, often treats her like a kid sister, tousling her hair affectionately even as he’s also providing her guidance and advice around the job. Despite that, their relationship is generally positive.

When the time comes to present a big sales proposal, Harumi gives the responsibility to Futaba since she’s done the legwork and knows all the figures. All seems to go well… until the client uncovers some issues with the order form that Futaba assembled. As Futaba struggles to emotionally deal with her error, Harumi works long hours in the background to fix things. With things back in shape, the two go out drinking to celebrate – and the alcohol causes Futaba to be a bit loose about her feelings toward her senpai.

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