Hi, all. I decided to do something a little bit different this time around. Because I’ve been combining several first impressions into each post, I thought it might be a good idea to post a master list of links to the locations of each specific series for individuals who are looking for a certain review. I’m also taking this opportunity to rank series by their first episodes in three categories – series I’m enthusiastic about, series that I might check out if I have time, and series I’m not interested in. I’ll also include some follow-up thoughts on each of those.
Just as a reminder, unless stated otherwise, these are based only on the first episodes I watched for the First Impressions reviews of the material. There are many cases where I may not have thought the first episode was that great, but might watch some more of the series anyway because something or another intrigued me about it. The various episodes are not otherwise ranked within the categories.
Enthusiastic Faves
Keep Your Hands off Eizouken! – This is obviously no surprise to anyone whatsoever. This is the one series this season that I’m caught-up with, and I can say with confidence that I don’t think anything else will top it for me. I love the quirky characters and the joy of creativity that they express. The animation is spectacular, too.
Magia Record – I’m a couple of episodes in on this one, and while I can’t say that my theory about it being a stealth sequel has proven itself correct yet, it’s definitely entertaining as a stand-alone story within the Madoka universe. It at least captures the visuals and atmosphere of the original Madoka series well.
Somali and the Forest Spirit – It’s a fantasy story of surrogate parenthood that, by design, can’t end up with a Bunny Drop bad-end. What more could you want? It’s also got beautiful background art to spare.
Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun – Spooky ghost story shoujo romantic comedy? Sign me up! I also loved the visual style of the first episode and Hanako-kun’s character in general. This is a series that I may not have investigated further if I weren’t doing first episode reviews, so it was certainly a pleasant surprise.
In/Spectre – More spooky yokai stuff and some fun character banter? I had a great time with the first episode. I also found out that (spoiler) there’s a time-skip which puts Kotoko over the age of majority, essentially removing one of my major critiques from the picture. Awesome!
The Case Files of Jeweler Richard – I’ve gotta have at least one episodic pseudo-mystery on my list, and this low-key but strikingly poignant first episode really spoke to me. In fact, it seems to be specifically targeted to my tastes (which I’m definitely not complaining about). I’m excited to catch up with some more episodes.
Room Camp – Absolutely my favorite short-form series this season (not that there was a ton of competition). It’s so fun to visit with Rin, Nadeshiko, and their friends again, if only briefly.
OBSOLETE – Again, I’m sort of fudging things by squeezing this series into the Winter season. But I found the first couple of episodes really interesting, and its shorter run-time means I’ll more than likely finish it (or at least finish the episodes that are out now; there are 6 more planned for some time in the future).
Mildly-Interesting Possibilities
BOFURI – The first episode of this series probably made me laugh the most of any premiere. While I’m not as enthusiastic about the “virtual MMO” genre as some, it’s likely that I’ll probably follow-up with this one if I have time. I really like that the main character is a gaming noob; it makes things more approachable for me.
ID: Invaded – I had some conflicting feelings about this series after the first episode. I was impressed by the episode’s visuals and storytelling style (I don’t mind dialog-heavy stories either), but I have some background frustration about how the main character’s motivation is his dead daughter. That said, it’s likely that I’ll at least watch the second episode to resolve the first episode’s cliffhanger. Then we’ll go from there.
Pet – By almost all accounts it sounds like this series has continued to have some tone and content issues, not the least of which was its lackluster portrayal of POC characters and touchy handling mental disability. That said, I still think the premise is interesting and will probably feel it out for a few more episodes just to see.
Infinite Dendrogram – This definitely isn’t my normal jam, because once again the MMO premise isn’t my favorite. But I’ve heard good things about the source material and thought a follow-up viewing or two might be a good way to resolve my feelings about the series.
Asteroid in Love – Definitely “cute girls doing cute things” rather than an actual hobbyist anime from what I’ve heard, but I thought the interaction between the main couple was cute.
Sorcerous Stabber Orphen – Mostly the reason I have this here is because of the first episode’s ability to take me back in time to much earlier in my anime fandom days. They just don’t make fantasy stories like they used to, and this is a testament to that.
Smile Down the Runway – I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t enjoy the first episode of this more than I did, but I still think the fashion industry is an interesting topic for an anime series and am curious to see more.
A Destructive God Sits Next to Me – The first episode actually gave me a pretty good chuckle, which seems to be an irregularly-positive reaction when it comes to this show. While it more served as a reminder that I ought to go back and finish watching Outburst Dreamer Boys, I still thought it was pretty funny on its own, too. And of course I have to give it credit for the Animal Crossing parody; as I sit impatiently waiting for the Nintendo Switch game to drop, I felt very seen.
Natsunagu – Less an actual travelogue and more just a character’s wanderings through an unfamiliar prefecture, I still found the first few episodes of this pretty enjoyable. If anything, it was aesthetically pleasing.
22/7 – I thought that this might be a more unique take on idol shows due to its unorthodox focal character in the first episode. It sounds like that may not actually be the case, but this still wasn’t too bad a start for something that I wouldn’t have given a second look otherwise.
If My Favorite Pop Idol Made it to the Budokan, I’d Die – I got some really uncomfortable vibes from the first episode of this series, but I read some other reactions later on that tempered my feelings a bit. While I’m not a big fan of the logic that “the bad behavior is OK because it’s coming from a woman instead of a man,” I feel like this series might be more interesting than I’ve given it credit for.
Number 24 – This seemed like a decent sports anime, but nothing much beyond that. While I think centralizing a character who can’t actually play the sport he loves is an interesting choice, I wasn’t extremely compelled to pick this series up.
Uchi Tama?! Have You Seen my Tama? – I have a feeling that this may be a great under-the-radar comedy that most people are missing out on because of its odd presentation style. The more I think about it, the more curious I am, and I’ll probably check out a few episodes later on just to see if my instincts are correct.
Show By Rock!! Mashumairesh! – The opening episode was extremely cute and colorful, but I just felt like it was missing something and wasn’t as compelling as I would have liked.
Breakers – I enjoyed the focus on para-athletes, and thought that the first focal character’s development as a basketball player was solid. I just wish that the character tying everything together wasn’t a creepy professor.
Long-Shots
Plunderer – Oof, this first episode was upsetting. Not only were the visuals poor, it asked its audience to value judgment between a sexual-harasser, and a sexual-harasser who was also framed as an antagonist. When the only choices are “bad” and “worse,” you know you have a problem.
Darwin’s Game – Having grown into fandom around the time that the legitimate social commentary of Battle Royale was popularized, it just takes a lot for me to accept yet another “murder game” style plot that seems to exist just to put its characters through the wringer. Add in a dollop of weirdly-inappropriate sexuality, and you’ve pretty much lost me.
Nekopara – After writing about this episode, I learned that it’s based on a legitimately erotic visual novel, and then my feelings about it started to make more sense; it’s like the series wants to be sexy, but it also doesn’t want to get too lewd. The end product just feels like it’s stuck in place, which seems awkward and uncomfortable. Add in the vaguely iffy character ages, and for me it just becomes too much work to overlook the problems.
Seton Academy: Welcome to the Pack! – I had a difficult time getting past the protagonist’s bad attitude and the odd gender differences between the animal characters in this series. Literally no one seemed happy to be involved in the story, which to me is an enthusiasm-killer.
Hatena Illusion – There wasn’t anything terrible about this first episode, I just didn’t really like the characters and thought the female lead’s issues with the male lead’s gender to be irritating.
A3! Season Spring & Summer – This first episode felt way too much like it was based on a game (which it was), and I’m just not all that interested in character-collecting scenarios.
ARP: Backstage Pass – This series was clearly created for a very specific audience. As someone who didn’t even know who these virtual idols were prior to watching the episode, I’m most certainly not a member of audience.
Oda Cinnamon Nobunaga – This isn’t a bad series by a long shot, but to get the fullest experience you really have to have a lot of familiarity with these historical figures and their exploits, which I do not. There are also some off-color jokes related to Nobunaga being “owned” by a teenage girl.
Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove it – This series would likely have been higher on the list but for one major issue; the two leads are aggressively obtuse, unlikeable people. The joke about their desire to define and categorize love in a scientific also wears thin very quickly. This might be a better choice for those who really prefer anime gag humor as a genre, but it gave me bad flashbacks to The Big Bang Theory.
Interspecies Reviewers – So I put this one last on the list, not because I think it’s the “worst” (for me that would be Plunderer), but because in the ensuing couple of weeks there have been some interesting developments with the show’s streaming situation in the US. I actually think that I might make a separate post about it at some later time. Needless to say, Funimation dropped this series for being basically a hentai, though they’re still streaming Plunderer, which centers a groper and sexual harasser as a main character, and Goblin Slayer, in which women are raped and murdered in graphic ways, among other anime that are lewd and sometimes only vaguely-consensual. So I guess non-consensual sexual material is still A-OK. Anyway, this series was very much a kink parade and not for me, though now that this controversy has gone down I feel mildly compelled to defend it.
Keep your eyes peeled for some follow-up posts on some of the series listed here. Let me know what you plan to watch down in the comments!