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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Tomodachi Game

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Yuuichi and his four friends are inseparable in spite of their varying circumstances. Yuuichi doesn’t have much money to his name, but he works extra hard to come up with the fee so that he can join his friends on the upcoming class trip. Soon after the funds are turned in, however, the class learns that the full amount was stolen out of a locker. Following that, the class reps (who happen to be two of Yuuichi’s close friends) suddenly go missing. Some days later, Yuuichi receives a letter from one of them, beckoning him to a late-night meeting outside the school gate.

As it turns out, this is a ruse to get all five of friend group members in one place. They’re kidnapped and taken to a mysterious location where they’re told that they can participate in the “Tomodachi Game” to wipe out their collective debt. This immediately throws suspicion on the group members – could one of them perhaps be the thief? Eventually Yuuichi decides that friendship is more important than the potential for monetary loss in this situation, and the group is brought to the first game room. All they have to do is agree on a “yes” or “no” answer to pass and have their debt erased, but it seems that there’s some kind of sabotage taking place after the group fails multiple questions in a row. As they reach their last chance the group seems poised to figuratively eat one-other alive through suspicion. Can a burst of inspiration from Yuuichi save them all from failure?

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Personal Reviews

S1E1 Week-in-Review – April 17th, 2022

Hi everyone, welcome to another long-overdue week(+)-in-review. It’s been a while since I’ve had anything to include in one of these round-up. Last weekend when I’d normally be doing more writing, I ended up spending large chunks of the day out-and-about at the Minnesota Yarn Shop Hop – an annual event where several Twin Cities local yarn stores participate and provide free patterns, special hand-dyed yarns, and door prizes, among other things. Those of you who follow me elsewhere probably know that I indulge in the fiber arts from time-to-time, so this was something fun to do in relation to that other major hobby.

The event ended up being incredibly popular; I think after cancellations the last couple of years due to the pandemic, people were really hungry to get out of the house and participate in this in-person gathering of hobbyists (if Anime Detour was any indication, this trend is likely to continue on for quite a while). More than half of the stores we visited were already sold out of their special yarns. As a completionist who was hoping to buy all of the yarns/kits for the event patterns, this was a little bit disappointing. On the other hand, I’m hoping that this means the event was a success for all the participating brick-and-mortar stores. While I’m perfectly happy to order my craft supplies online (even from these very stores), there’s just no replacing the experience of visiting them in person and touching/squeezing all the yarn hanks (and also hanging out with friends and traveling to various metro area cities, of course).

Categories
Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Fanfare of Adolescence

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 13

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Yu Arimura is a member of a popular idol group, but after seeing horse racing for the first time he becomes fixated on the idea of becoming a jockey. After gaining entrance into an extremely competitive jockey-training high school, Yu’s fans and the media immediately begin questioning his motivations. Why not just continue to live the life of a famous idol like his fans obviously want? But Yu is committed to this new endeavor in spite of their protests.

On the day of the entrance ceremony, Yu’s convictions are put to the test. Not only are members of the media ready and waiting to hassle him, a mishap outside the building causes two horses to get loose, leaving the students to try to wrangle them. Yu feels in over his head, until one late-arriving student named Shun, who appears to have a gift for interacting with the animals, comes to the rescue. Shun shows Yu the view from atop a horse, and Yu realizes that he really is in the right place after all.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Love All Play

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Novel

Episode Summary: Ryo is a middle school badminton player who idolizes one of Yokohama Minato high school’s aces, Kento Yusa. While he’d love to play badminton on the same stage as Yusa, his own skills aren’t quite up to the Yokohama Minato level of play. At least, Ryo believes so until the badminton coach from Yokohama Minato reaches out to him directly and offers to get him entrance into the school on a sports recommendation. As it turns out, Ryo definitely seems to have some untapped potential that might end up giving him a leg-up, so-to-speak.

Ryo’s father is unimpressed and very nearly forbids Ryo from pursuing this opportunity. As a college sports player who encountered trouble after physical injury, he knows first-hand what an inconvenience it can be to lose the ability to access the skills required of the program. However, undeterred, Ryo offers to take a more traditional path toward his dream, by entering the school based on academic achievement. Though this is an uphill battle based on Ryo’s mediocre grades, his sister helps him study and it seems as though he might make the cut. After being asked to join a weekly practice session at Yokohama Minato High School, Ryo is excited to meet Yusa, his idol. But sometimes heroes seen from afar turn out to be very different in person.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Estab Life: Great Escape

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Far in the future, Tokyo has been divided up into several isolated areas called “clusters” in which citizens spend their entire lives without the right to leave. Additionally, the denizens of these clusters are often people with particular shared genetic modifications. For those folks who may wish to leave their cluster, they have few options but to call upon hired “extractors” who help facilitate the ability of these unhappy people to start new lives elsewhere.

Equa is one such extractor, who with her team leads dangerous missions to bring their clients to freedom. Their next client happens to be their philosophy teacher, who struggles with the isolating permanency of being a teacher whose heart isn’t in the job. As soon as he signs on the dotted line, the team springs into action, deftly dodging police droids and breaking into security systems in order to send their former educator to his new life in the Akihabara cluster. When they receive some happy photos from him at his new job, the dirty work feels worth it. But after this latest caper, it seems as though the authorities might be taking a keener interest in the extractors’ work.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Ya Boy Kongming!

Streaming: HIDIVE

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: General Kongming, a brilliant military strategist during the time of the War of the Three Kingdoms, wished on his deathbed to be reborn into a peaceful world. He awakens on the street in what he believes to be “hell,” but what is really Shibuya at Halloween. The tides of the crowd bring him to a dance club where he’s suddenly drawn in by the sublime voice of Eiko, one of the club employees and part-time singer. While the rest of the crowd couldn’t care less about what’s happening on stage, Kongming is moved.

Eiko wants more than anything to become a successful singer, but keeps getting rejected by agents. Kongming, lost in this strange futuristic world. knows one thing for certain – Eiko has talent. With his skills as a strategist (and his status as Eiko’s number one fan), Kongming vows to help her gain an audience and achieve stardom.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – The Executioner and Her Way of Life

Streaming: HIDIVE

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: Menou is both a priestess and an executioner, tasked with protecting her world from the destruction wrought by outsiders summoned from Japan. When the noblesse – the rulers of her country – complete their most recent summoning, Menou spends little time with their latest discarded “Lost One” before discovering that his destructive power has the potential to be extremely deadly. After executing him she learns that he wasn’t the only one pulled through the dimensional gate.

Menou has odd dreams that almost feel like memories, of being in Japan, going to school, and being friends with her classmates. But there’s always one mysterious figure just out of sight that she knows in her heart was her best friend. Even her priestess training never managed to erase these odd partial recollections. When Menou confronts the second Lost One to arrive in her world, the girl seems to be incredibly familiar.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Aharen-san wa Hakarenai

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Raido starts his high school career with one goal in mind – to make friends in spite of his somewhat intimidating visage. He starts with Aharen-san, the petite girl who sits next to him in class, but no matter what Raido does he can’t seem to get her attention. After school, however, it’s a different story – Aharen-san suddenly seems stuck to him like glue. This hot-cold treatment continues until he learns that Aharen-san has issues with coming on too strong with people and making things awkward. Raido vows to be a good friend to her, no matter what it takes.

The first challenge to overcome is the fact that Aharen-san speaks so softly that her voice is barely audible. Raido tries all sorts of communication methods, including passing notes, learning lip-reading, and even attempting to use a carrier pigeon, before he realizes that, after a while, his hearing has just adjusted enough that he can understand what she’s saying. As their friendship grows stronger and the two get closer, it seems there may be someone on the outside who isn’t so happy about their developing relationship.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Kotaro Lives Alone

Streaming: Netflix

Episodes: 10

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Kotaro is a precocious four-year-old boy who moves into an apartment by himself. The landlords only seem concerned with whether or not he can pay his way, not with whether he can actually manage on his own, so he manages to clear that initial hurdle. Kotaro’s neighbor Karino is perplexed by this well-spoken kid, and wonders what may have happened to his family leaving him to survive on his own.

As Karino follows Kotaro around on his daily errands, he also starts meeting the other tenants in the building, who all seem to be people with somewhat complicated circumstances. The one constant between them seems to be Kotaro, who treats them all as neighbors, though also has very little tolerance for falseness in relationships. Karino, who also lives alone and has felt directionless in his manga career, starts to warm up to Kotaro, sensing some unresolved emotions and trauma in the kid.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Thermae Romae Novae

Streaming: Netflix

Episodes: 11

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Lucius Modestus is the son and grandson of architects specializing in the design and construction of bathhouses. Because his father died on the job, Lucius is treated with a soft hand by his grandfather, which runs counter to the standards of what it means to be a Roman man. When Titus, the local bully, hassles Lucius at the nearby bathhouse (which was built by Lucius’ late father) and insults the building’s construction, Lucius vows to follow in his family’s footsteps and become a thermae architect.

Years later after completing his education in Athens, Lucius returns to Rome to make good on his promise to himself. There he meets Titus, a more mature family man, who apologizes for his past behavior. Lucius’ life seems to be looking up. But what of the strange childhood experience he had submerging himself in the thermae’s heated bath and resurfacing in a totally foreign place?