Tag: HIDIVE

Categories
First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2019 First Impressions – Re:Stage! Dream Days

The story centers around the first-year student Mana Shikimiya as she pursue her dreams of winning at the Prism Stage, the competition that determines the top middle-school idol. – MAL

Streaming: Hidive

Episodes: 12

Source: Mobile Game

Episode Summary: It’s unusual for students to transfer schools right away in the Springtime, but that’s first-year student Mana Shikimiya’s situation. Despite being an oddity, Mana would really like to lay low and not call attention to herself. Unfortunately there’s a school-wide rule that all students must belong to a club or other extra-curricular activity, and so she resigns herself to that reality. After a member of the student council gives her a tour of the campus and its clubs, Mana feels overwhelmed by all the potential choices. By chance, however, she ends up passing a basement room in which the Lyrical Tradition Dance Club holds their meetings.

The president of the club is not-so-subtly looking for new members, and nearly dupes Mana into signing up despite the point of the club being a complete mystery. When Sayu, the only other club member, arrives for the daily meeting Mana learns the truth; despite its traditional trappings, the club is focused around the thoroughly modern art of singing and dancing to pop music. Mana turns out to be a natural, but suddenly insists that she can’t join. It seems she may have some kind of related trauma in her past, and though the club members are sure she’d be a great addition to the team, getting past that trauma may end up being too high a hurdle.

Continue reading “Summer 2019 First Impressions – Re:Stage! Dream Days”
Categories
First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2019 First Impressions – Wasteful Days of High School Girls

There are three high school girls: Tanaka, nicknamed “Idiot” for her low test scores; Kikuchi, nicknamed “Ota” for her obsession with boys-love stories; and Saginomiya, nicknamed “Robot” for being a genius but emotionless. Together with a colorful cast of characters, the hopeless girls live wasteful days of youth. – ANN

Streaming: Hidive

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Nozomu and her friends are about to start their first day of high school, but even with all the big changes that are likely in store for them she really only has one goal – to become popular with boys. That might be an issue, since she’s only now realized that her high school is girls-only, she doesn’t have any childhood friends to hit up, and her two closest friends are a girl with a robotic personality, and an otaku – not exactly experienced in the romantic arts. Even their homeroom teacher immediately quashes any latent fantasies about teacher-student relations – he drastically prefers college women, especially those in business attire interviewing for jobs, and has no interest in getting fired for the sake of a forbidden romance.

Nozomu tries her best to troll for male prospects, approaching strangers in the hallway between classes and asking them to introduce her to their male friends. Of course, she doesn’t endear herself to anyone since she’s given most of them unflattering nicknames already. Still, she has vivid (unrealistic) fantasies about meeting boys and leaving an impression as an “interesting woman.” The difference between her idealized life and her reality earn her the nickname “Baka.”

Continue reading “Summer 2019 First Impressions – Wasteful Days of High School Girls”
Categories
First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2019 First Impressions – O Maidens in Your Savage Season

The girls in a high school literature club do a little icebreaker to get to know each other: answering the question, “What’s one thing you want to do before you die,” One of the girls blurts out, “Sex.” Little do they know, the whirlwind unleashed by that word pushes each of these girls, with different backgrounds and personalities, onto their own clumsy, funny, painful, and emotional paths toward adulthood. – ANN

Streaming: Hidive

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Kazusa and the other members of the literature club start to realize that the world of novels is saturated with adult concepts of sex and sexual metaphors. When news drops of a new novel from one of the club’s favorite authors, focusing on a character who creates a “bucket list,” the girls discuss what sorts of things they want to do before they die. Bluntly, one of the girls says that she’d want to have sex, and this sends the others into a tizzy. While the other girls in their class seem comfortable enough talking about sex day in and day out, Kazusa and company aren’t comfortable with the concept at all.

Kazusa starts to feel like she can’t escape the subject of sex; she and her best friend start to mis-hear sexual words in everyday conversation, and the way some other girls talk about her childhood friend Izumi causes her to react in ways she never expected. When she goes over to deliver a hot meal to Izumi (since his parents are out of town), she walks into the last situation she would have wanted to – she catches him with his pants down, pornography playing on his laptop. Kazusa runs away and wishes that sex weren’t such an overwhelming topic. It’s confusing, a little scary, and completely foreign, and she doesn’t know if she’ll ever be comfortable with it.

Continue reading “Summer 2019 First Impressions – O Maidens in Your Savage Season”
Categories
Book Club Special Features

“Legend of the Galactic Heroes” – Week 4

Managing attendance at two conventions in as many weeks is a tall order for me. Though I didn’t have any responsibilities at SGDQ during the last week in June, the late nights and intense emotions of the event definitely wore me down more than I expected them to. This weekend was CONvergence, where I sat on 4 panels while also juggling a day of work on Friday and several anime premiere impressions here at the blog (I really don’t want to end up too far behind this year…). All of the time away from home, the crowds, and the stress of speaking in front of people (among other things), ended up becoming overwhelming, and I skipped out of the last day of CON to recuperate. While it’s disappointing to miss part of something you’ve looked forward to all year, sometimes mental health has to be a priority. The up-side is that being at home gave me the time to continue this watch-along rather than delaying it a day or two (while also trying to dig into all of the high-profile new anime series that premiered this weekend). Life is all about blessings in disguise.

The Marchionesse has a bone to pick with Annerose. All Screencaps from Hidive.

Note: This post contains spoilers for episodes 11-13 of the series.

Continue reading ““Legend of the Galactic Heroes” – Week 4″
Categories
Book Club Special Features

“Legend of the Galactic Heroes” Week 3

I’m currently coming off of a late-night video game high; this year I took the opportunity to attend Summer Games Done Quick, since it was held at a hotel very close to where I live. It was loads of fun, but staying up late, playing physically-demanding arcade games, and screaming, clapping, and cheering as the event raised $3 million for charity has taken its toll. I don’t think I’ve ever longed for my bed as much as I did at about 2am Sunday morning when we stumbled back into our apartment. Now I’m ready to sit back in my chair and return to my “stories.”

A painting of the first Goldenbaum Kaiser. All Screencaps from Hidive.

Note: This post contains spoilers for episode 8-10 of the series.

Continue reading ““Legend of the Galactic Heroes” Week 3″
Categories
Book Club Special Features

“Legend of the Galactic Heroes” Week 2

Note: This post contains spoilers for episodes 5-7 of the series.

The Duke of Castrop has enriched himself at the expense of the Empire. All screencaps from Hidive.

The former Duke of Castrop enriched himself off of the Empire’s coin, and now his son Maximilian has continued the family tradition. The Imperial leadership has finally had enough, and so they give Marshal Reinhard the task of quelling this rebellion. Reinhard sends Kircheis with a small fleet of 2,000 ships, which raises some chatter among the hierarchy; not only is this a smaller fleet than was recently annihilated by Castrop’s “Artemis Necklace” (a ring of several deadly weapons orbiting the planet), it also seems to be an action meant to position Kircheis for a major promotion. Fezzan, as usual, is playing both sides; their sale of the weaponry to Castrop is meant to maintain a balance, and therefore continue the war indefinitely.

Continue reading ““Legend of the Galactic Heroes” Week 2″
Categories
Book Club Special Features

“Legend of the Galactic Heroes” Week 1

Note: This post contains spoilers for episodes 1-4 of the series.

Battles are fought on a massive scale. All screencaptures taken from Hidive.

Summary: Far in the future, humanity’s reach has extended across the Milky Way galaxy. Currently, two factions are vying for control of various trade routes – The Galactic Empire, an authoritarian ruling body with incredible resources and power, and the Free Planets Alliance, descendants of humans who rebelled against the Empire’s authority. Both groups trade with Fezzan, a somewhat-independent planet that trades with either side of the conflict as it suits them.

Continue reading ““Legend of the Galactic Heroes” Week 1″
Categories
Book Club Special Features

Summer Reading – Legend of the Galactic Heroes

As anime fans, I’m sure each of us has some series that we’ve been curious about, but just never made the time to watch. As each anime season goes by, I find that I only have enough time to finish some of the series on my long list of “maybe’s.” As the months pass and new anime seasons take the place of older ones, the likelihood of getting to any of the stragglers becomes smaller and smaller. But there are still those that hang around in my mental headspace, demanding to be seen. I like to try to clear out my calendar for those every once-in-a-while.

Continue reading “Summer Reading – Legend of the Galactic Heroes”
Categories
Anime Reviews Reviews

Anime Review – Run With the Wind

Haiji Kiyose is an enthusiastic fourth year student at Kansei University who has been stealthily gathering men for the track and field team of the campus. As Kakeru Kurahara, a snappish first year student, becomes the promising tenth member; Kiyose dreams of participating at the Hakone Ekiden, a famous relay university marathon race. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll and Hidive

Episodes: 23

Source: Novel

This post was originally written for the April 2019 issue of Mangaverse, the anime, manga, and comics ‘zine published by the National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F) which I am currently in charge of editing. If you are interested in contributing to Mangaverse, please contact me at jessi@s1e1.com. I am always on the lookout for writers and artists!

This post may have been minimally-edited from its original form to correct minor errors and/or include hyperlinks.

Review: This review contains minor spoilers for the series.

Exercise has never been one of my strengths. In elementary school, we were tested every year on how quickly we could run a mile (4 laps around the outdoor gravel-coated track). My best time was somewhere in the 12-minute range, and that was when I was in 1st grade. I think, deep inside, I never saw the point of running when walking was a perfectly serviceable mode of personal transportation. That, or I have always been chronically out-of-shape and unwilling to admit it.

Continue reading “Anime Review – Run With the Wind”
Categories
First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2019 First Impressions – Why the Hell Are You Here, Teacher?

High school student Ichirō’s female teacher Kojima-sensei is famous for being a “demon teacher.” However, in front of Ichirō she seems to be air-headed and clumsy, and he keeps finding himself in perverted situations with her in places like the in men’s bathroom, in the men’s bathhouse, in the pool, at the school infirmary, and elsewhere. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll and Hidive

Episodes: 12 (12 minutes apiece)

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Ichiro has to use the restroom, and the most private place to do his business is an out-of-the-way men’s restroom on the school grounds. He doesn’t expect to see anyone, but when he opens the stall he’s surprised by none other than his female teacher, Kojima-sensei. The stall locks behind him, and the two wrestle with this uncomfortable reality until neither student nor teacher can “hold it” any longer.

The next week, Ichiro decides to cut class by hiding in the school infirmary, but coincidentally Kojima-sensei is there sleeping off a cold. She sends Ichiro to get her some medicine, but the only fever suppressant left in the cabinet comes in suppository form. Ichiro takes one for the team to help his teacher, but once she discovers that he’s skipping class, she returns the favor in the worst possible way.

Continue reading “Spring 2019 First Impressions – Why the Hell Are You Here, Teacher?”