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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Visual Prison

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Ange Yuki enjoys the singing and visual stylings of an old visual kei band called “Eclipse,” which has been away from the scene for quite a while. This makes their sudden return (leaping from a helicopter) a very welcome surprise. However, the band seems to have a different, much more sinister air, and with only two of the original members, it’s definitely not the same. They also seem to be competing with another band called “Lost Eden,” whose members do much less to hide their disdain for the captive audience around them. Ange becomes overwhelmed during the performance and nearly passes out, before being rescued by a passer-by.

That random interloper turns out to be Guil, former front man for Eclipse, now seemingly retired from his life of performance. He sees something interesting in Ange, and when Ange begins to sing this confirms his power within. Ange is acknowledged by the scarlet moon, something which can only be seen by vampires. This allows him to compete for a special prize – a power known as “Visual Prison.” But Ange is even more special – as a Dhampir (a half-vampire), he piques the interest of both Eclipse and Lost Eden. But Guil seems intent on protecting this young man.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Platinum End

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 24

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Ever since the death of his family and his adoption by an unloving aunt and uncle, Mirai hasn’t felt happiness in his life. After his middle school graduation he walks to the roof of a tall building and leaps off its edge. However, before he hits the ground he’s rescued by an angel, glowing and clad in white, who claims to be his guardian angel. Her goal is to grant him happiness, and she provides him with the tools to do so – a red arrow that causes its targets to fall in love with him, and angel wings that grant him flight and super speed. Mirai doesn’t feel as though he’ll ever be happy, but his first flight is exhilarating and he begins to believe that his angel might be telling the truth.

The red arrow has the added benefit of its target doing whatever the caster asks, so Mirai uses it on his aunt to confirm a horrible truth – the accident that killed his other family members was actually a murder committed by his uncle and aunt. The magic of the arrow causes his aunt to atone for her sin through death and Mirai escapes into the night. Mirai’s guardian angel, called Nasse, fills him in on some other important details. There are 13 angel users around that are vying with one-another to become the next god – and now Mirai has become involved in this deadly quest.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impression – Banished from the Hero’s Party…

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 13

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: Red is a quiet man, well-liked among the citizens of Zoltan, but with a personality that leads many to believe he might be obscuring parts of his past. And in truth, he is; he was once among the hero’s party that was set to confront the demon lord, but though Red’s wide range of skills and blessings as a “guide” provided him with many valuable abilities as an adventurer, he was eventually convinced that his services were no longer needed. As his sister Ruti became well-known as a heroic leader, Red allowed himself to fade into the background.

Now Red lives a slow life in Zoltan, holding onto the modest dream of building an apothecary shop and putting his survivalist skills to good use. When he rescues a village child using his knowledge of medicine (despite the actions of some careless heroes who set fire to the forest), Red works out a deal to get his shop built. When Rit, a well-known loner adventurer stops into town, she seems curious about Red and about the life he’s chosen to lead.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – PuraOre! ~Pride of Orange~

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Multimedia Project

Episode Summary: The members of the junior high embroidery club are used to turning their stitches one-by-one into small works of art. But when Manaka invites the other group members to attend an information session for the Dream Monkeys, the local ice hockey team, they start to discover a much different way of weaving together their various talents and skills.

The mastermind behind this beginner’s class is Coach Matsunaga, a former player and someone with high aspirations for the Dream Monkeys. Not only is she on the lookout for new team members, she hopes to incorporate a brand new form of entertainment into the games – having the team members perform a victory dance following their wins, thus turning each hockey match into a show. This goal seems questionable on its surface but it just might work; the members of the embroidery club, as well as a couple of students from a neighboring school, all seem interested in giving this new sport a try.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Tesla Note

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 13

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: From a young age, Botan’s grandfather has trained her as a spy in the ways of the ninja in preparation for a greater purpose to come. Much to her surprise, this greater purpose actually manifests and she becomes involved in “Mission T,” a quest to recover a set of crystalline shards left behind by the famous inventor Nicola Tesla 70 years ago. Time is ticking, however, and she and her somewhat-unwilling new partner, a spy named Kuruma must find these shards before they’re assembled into a full crystal and used for nefarious purposes.

This time-sensitive quest brings Botan and Kuruma to Oslo, Norway, where a train appears to have mysteriously warped from one point to another within the city, causing destruction and bodily harm. As Botan infiltrates the walled-off research area, she discovers the horrifying aftermath of the accident, including mutilated bodies and even a survivor who’s lost his wits. This put their team on the radar of the authorities, so they must make a quick getaway. This helps Kuruma to gain a little bit of respect for Botan as a partner.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: With the midcentury space race in full swing, the communist UZSR seems to be in a winning position. Having completed the first space flight with a living being aboard (a dog named Daly), they’re again tasked with reaching for the stars – sending a human being into space during a live broadcast. Such a thing would cement the position of the Union as the world leader in space exploration, but it comes with some complications; namely, that with such prestige at stake, any error would likely spell shame and death to those who had failed their country.

Lev is a failed cosmonaut candidate assigned to the top secret Project Mechtat, which aims to skirt by on several technicalities – namely using a vampire as their cosmonaut test subject rather than a human soldier. Irina, codenamed N44 and the vampire in question, serves as a test subject in this program. Biologically similar to humans, she becomes the vehicle by which stresses on the human body during space flight are tested, and if she dies in the process, well, she was only considered a test object by the standards of the program. Lev is ordered to remain emotionally hands-off as her handler during this mission, but despite the many myths surrounding vampires, he already finds himself focused on her inherent humanity.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – The Vampire Dies in no Time

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Ronaldo is the world’s premiere vampire hunter, so when he catches wind of a potential vampire-related kidnapping involving Draluc, a so-called progenitor vampire, he jumps at the chance to intervene. As Ronaldo enters Draluc’s lair, however, it’s obvious that the situation is not quite what it seems. The missing child has just been sneaking in to play Draluc’s video games, and Draluc is so weak that he turns to sand at the slightest provocation. Though Ronaldo tries to handle things as a proper vampire hunter, one thing leads to another and he ends up destroying Draluc’s home.

Now homeless, Draluc travels to Ronaldo’s agency and takes up residence there. As the two argue over the propriety of this arrangement, Ronaldo is called to handle another local vampire crisis, this time at the convenience store right downstairs. There, a wannabe vampire threatens a hostage. But of course, the situation is somewhat more emotionally complex and involves an unrequited love never fated to be successful. With the local journalists now aware of Ronaldo’s “arrangement” with Draluc, there’s no going back to being a one-man operation for Ronaldo.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 25

Source: Original

Episode Summary: It’s the year 2061. For years, Japan struggled under a declining birthrate and economy, which made it a ripe environment for outside countries to take advantage of beneath the guise of offering aid. Now, the different factions battle one-another using unmanned battle units called AMAIMs. Amou Shiiba is an orphaned Japanese citizen – a member of the underclass – who works as a scrapper, collecting remnants of broken AMAIM units. His friends use the spare parts to upgrade their personal electronics and vehicles, but Amou has a much larger project in the pipeline – a full suit of AMAIM battle armor he happened to find sitting in an abandoned warehouse.

When the authorities catch wind of Amou’s scrapper group, his comrades are captured and used to try to lure Amou out of hiding. But what these colonizers fail to realize is that Amou has a trump card. After finding an abandoned AI unit named Gai in the woods with the know-how to bring Amou’s AMAIM online, he now owns one of the only manned units around. And human thoughts and reflexes, coupled with AI information, seem to be a powerful force that might turn the tables against the factions that have taken over Japan.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Muteking the Dancing Hero

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Offshoot/remake of Tondemo Senshi Muteking

Episode Summary: Muteki arrives in Neo San Francisco to live with his grandmother and doesn’t have a lot of money in his wallet. But what he does have is a good sense of rhythm, something which both allows him to save an old lady crossing the street (using dance!) and also draws the eye of a man named DJ who is, unsurprisingly, a DJ. DJ develops a bit of a fascination for Muteki, who isn’t very happy for the attention from such a strange source. DJ’s obsession with analog sound technology is also a bit against the grain – Neo San-Fran is also the home of a famous tech company with its innovator CEO (literally named “Ceo”).

Muteki is excited to attend a local music event after finding out about it from a flirtatious waitress, but as the main act takes the stage it’s immediately clear that something strange is going on once a giant monster attacks. DJ comes to Muteki’s rescue and provides him the power of Muteking, a transforming hero on roller skates. Once the situation is resolved, Muteki finally reaches his grandmother’s house, only to discover that DJ has already “infiltrated” her home.

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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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