Tag: Autumn 2018

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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.

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Anime Reviews Reviews

Anime Review – Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san

A skeleton named Honda works in a bookstore. Hilarity ensues daily in his work at the shop’s manga counter. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12 (11-minutes apiece)

Source: Manga

Review: This review may contain spoilers for the series.

Everyone’s life experiences are different, but if I could name one thing that’s been relatively consistent among the people I know, it’s that they all have some experience working in customer service. Whether, like me, it’s something they did during high school and college to help pay for school or other needs, or whether it’s work they do today, it’s an experience we can all bond over.

When I was in high school thinking of applying for a part time job, I had a mental hierarchy of what I’d like to do. I definitely wanted to avoid food service if I could; I have a weird aversion to getting greasy and wasn’t keen on slinging fries. I ended up working for nearly 7 years at a big-box discount retailer which, like just about any service job, was a good learning experience that taught me the joys and challenges of working to help customers.

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First Impressions Reviews Uncategorized

Autumn 2018 First Impressions – Voice of Fox

Hu Li is a poor but talented high school boy. He is a “ghost” singer/songwriter for the popular and narcissistic boy idol Kong Que, who is very handsome but can barely sing. Hu always wears a fox mask to hide his large facial scar caused by a traffic accident. He also uses a screen name “Mr. Fox” to publish his music online. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Comic

Episode Summary: Hu Li is a typical, unassuming young man. He holds down several odd-jobs to scrape by and watches those with fame and fortune from afar. But Hu Li has some interesting secrets. He’s a talented singer and songwriter who posts his creations online under a fox-masked pseudonym. He’s also the voice of a popular idol, the attractive Kong Que – a man with a pretty face but without the talent to go along with it.

Kong Que and Hu Li have an arrangement – Hu Li provides the live vocals for Kon Que, and together they create the perfect idol. A clause in Hu Li’s contracts is that no one can find out the nature of this secret, but after receiving a mysterious email one night, Hu Li realizes that someone is watching his every move.

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First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2018 First Impressions – Gakuen Basara: Samurai High School

The suspension of student council president, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, has created a power vacuum at Basara Academy. Now, Date Masamune and Sanada Yukimura find themselves vying for the top spot. But they aren’t the only ones with their eyes on the prize. – HIDIVE

Streaming: HIDIVE

Episodes: 12

Source: Game Series

Episode Summary: It’s election season at Basara High School, and the primary candidates are feverishly trying to drum up support as they work to replace the displaced student council president. The rivalries have even filtered down into some of the sports clubs, as the soccer team and baseball team fight over who has ownership of the practice field. As the argument gets even more heated, club leaders Date Masamune and Sanada Yukimura decide to work things out the way they know best – through sports.

Their hot-blooded kickball game exists as a bit of a proxy war for the larger conflicts going on throughout the school. Candidates Tokugawa and Mitsunari use the event as a campaign opportunity as both teams prevent one-another from scoring any points. As the sun sets, Yukimura and Masamune go one-on-one to decide the victor, and with his master’s guidance Yukimura comes out on top. The competition is quickly made moot, however, as headmaster Oda Nobunaga puts an end to the game (and the entire playing field).

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First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2018 First Impressions – My Sister, My Writer

Suzuka Nagami is a beautiful third-year middle school student who has excellent grades and is the student council president. She wrote a novel about a little sister who dotes on her older brother, and the the novel wins a light novel award. After they discuss the matter, her older brother Yū is the one who debuts as a proxy light novel author instead of Suzuka, under the pen name Chikai Towano. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 10

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: Yu has aspired to be a light novel author most of his teenage life, but his contest submissions never seem to make it to the finalist stage. After another rejection email, he looks up the winning entry – a story about a sister who harbors feelings for her older brother. Yu files the information away for later use (it might be a decent read, after all).

In the meantime, his sister Suzuka (with whom he has a strained relationship) begins to act as though she has some news to share with him. Finally he gets her to cough it up – she was, in fact, the winner of that writing contest, having submitted a manuscript that she just happened to write on a whim. With that blow to his confidence out of the way, Yu ends up undertaking a difficult challenge; Suzuka can’t make public appearances as an author for various reasons, so she ropes Yu into becoming the public face of her writing.

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First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2018 First Impressions – Conception

Itsuki Yūge is a high school student who finds out on the day of his graduation ceremony that his cousin and childhood friend Mahiru is pregnant. Immediately afterward, Itsuki and Mahiru are taken to a magical world called Granvania, which is currently being invaded by monsters. The only people who can fight and exorcise the monsters are the “Star Children,” and the Star Children can only be produced by the 12 “Star Maidens.” In order to defeat the monsters and return to his own world, Itsuki must father the Star Children with the Maidens. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll and Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Game

Episode Summary: Itsuki’s cousin Mahiru has some news for him, and it’s a surprise to them both: Mahiru is pregnant, though having never had intercourse the mechanism is truly a mystery. As she reveals the news, both the teens are drawn unwillingly into a magic porthole that connects to another world. After battling with a demon, they’re met by someone from the royal court who escorts them them to the castle.

As the King himself explains, Itsuki was brought to their world to be its savior, and Mahiru is one of twelve zodiac priestesses who play an important role in the world’s survival. It’s not Itsuki himself that’s destined to purify the world, but instead the offspring he creates with each of the priestesses have the power to save them all. As a relatively innocent guy, this weighty task seems somewhat daunting though perhaps a little fun, too. When his potential coupling with Mahiru is set to become a reality, it’s then that Itsuki is under the gun to prove what kind of man he is.

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First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2018 First Impressions – Karakuri Circus

Masaru Saiga is a fifth-grade boy who aims to become a puppeteer. After Sadayoshi Saiga — the CEO of the giant home telephone maker Saiga and Masaru’s father — passes away, Masaru inherits 18 billion yen. Masaru is targeted for his wealth, and is saved by two people. Narumi Katō is a man who has studied Kung-Fu and has a weird illness called “Zonapha Syndrome,” and Shirogane is a silver-haired woman who controls the puppet “Arurukan” (Harlequin). Together, Masaru, Narumi, and Shirogane get thrown into various conspiracies by those who would try to steal Masaru’s fortune. – ANN

Streaming: Amazon Prime

Episodes: 36

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Narumi is a martial-arts expert, but you wouldn’t know it from his day job as a costumed advertisement for a circus. As he’s handing out flyers to passers-by, a boy runs into him with his luggage. This young man, Masaru, is on the run from several very threatening men-in-black who seem immune to physical attacks. Narumi and Masaru escape from them onto a train, but their safety is only temporary; these dark figures, who are soon revealed to be puppet-like automatons, attack their car and derail the train, crashing it into Narumi’s circus tent.

Inside, Masaru and Narumi find themselves cornered, until a silver-haired woman wearing a sparkling unitard descends from a tightrope above and takes control of the huge marionette in Masaru’s luggage. This woman, Shirogane, has a long-standing commitment to Masaru’s family, and uses her skills to rescue him. Still, she doesn’t know much about the lay of the land, so as Masaru receives medical treatment, Narumi and Shirogane reach an uneasy truce.

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First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2018 First Impressions – As Miss Beelzebub Likes it.

Mullin lands his dream job with the demon king he’s always held in awe, but when his tenure begins, it turns out the demon king isn’t quite what he expected. Beelzebub is a hardworking female demon but her dedication to her job is only rivaled by her love for everything fluffy. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Though human beings have many myths about Hell, in truth it’s a very pleasant place, populated by demons who don’t appear as sinister as expected. In fact, they’re actually fallen angels who still (in some ways) serve God, and they’re led by the intelligent, powerful, and cuteness-obsessed demon Beelzebub. Beelzebub’s assistant, Mullin, has always looked up to his leader (and might even have feelings for her), but can’t reconcile the image he had of her with the reality of her personality. In truth, Beelzebub is very capable, but her comfort around Mullin manifests as laziness and continued expression of her love of soft and fluffy things.

Their relationship is a bit of a tug-of-war, which blows up when Beelzebub wanders off in Hell Ginza and gets lost. Mullin worries that, in spite of her battle prowess, she’ll end up getting mugged – or worse. When he finds her, he lets his emotions show, and Beelzebub doesn’t know how to react. The real problem is that she’s started to feel feelings she doesn’t have the experience or the vocabulary to define, and it seems to be Mullin’s fault.

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First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2018 First Impressions – Tsurune

Minato Narumiya is beginning his freshman year at the local Kazemai High School. Mr. Tommy, adviser to the Japanese archery Club, is keen to recruit Minato, as well as his childhood friends Seiya Takehaya and Ryohei Yamanouchi. Ryohei convinces the reluctant Minato to attend the Club’s orientation, where he also meets Kaito Onogi and Nanao Kisaragi. Singling Minato out, Mr. Tommy introduces him as a rare Japanese archery talent and asks him to demonstrate in front of everyone. However, Minato’s arrow fails to hit the mark because he is afflicted by a serious condition. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll and HIDIVE

Episodes: TBA

Source: Novel

Episode Summary: With a new school year comes a fresh start, and Minato needs one; after the death of his mother, most of the household responsibilities have fallen on his shoulders. At a new school where he expects to know very few people, he thinks he might be able to fade into the background enough to go home rather than joining a club (which he doesn’t have time for anyway). This plan falls apart quickly as several factors come into focus. First, his neighbor Seiya is one of the few people from his previous school attending the same high school, so they end up having to interact as a matter of course. Secondly, the two boys reunite with Ryohei, a friend from their elementary-school days who transferred away in middle school. Thirdly, the high school is hoping to resurrect its Kyudo – traditional archery – program, and Minato may end up right in the middle of it.

Minato has some history with the martial art, though he’s adamant that his domestic responsibilities necessarily keep him from getting involved in the newly-re-established club. His friends, suspecting that his internal desire might win-out against his perceived familial obligations, manage to get him to come to the first club meeting. But it turns out that Minato is carrying some additional baggage and the resulting anxiety results in missed shots and a some subsequent bad feelings. As he mulls the situation, he finds himself drawn to a hilltop Kyudo practice field within a shrine as the moon glows above. There he meets a mysterious archer, one with beautiful form and perfect aim.

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First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2018 First Impressions – Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight

During France’s Hundred Years’ War with England, Montmorency, the son of a noble, immerses himself in the study of magic and alchemy at a school for knights. However, after France’s defeat at Agincourt, the school is disbanded and Montmorency is forced to flee. While on the run he meets a miraculous village girl named Jeanne. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll and Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Novels

Episode Summary: Montmorency, along with his friends Richemont, Charlotte, and Philip, attend a school for the children of nobles. The backdrop of their carefree school days is the Hundred Year War between France and England. Though they all realize that their friendship will likely come to an end as their families take their places within each faction of the conflict, right now they choose to cling to them as a last bastion of innocent joy. Montmorency has taken it upon himself to try to learn alchemy in order to protect the lives of his friends, but his “master,” a mysterious old alchemist named Nicholas Flamel, is unwilling to train him in this dark art.

Eventually Richemont is called away to join her family in fighting the English, while Philip returns to her father, who has allied with England. Montmorency, realizing that he cannot change things through his own physical power, chooses to enter into a pact with the devil. He summons a fairy named Astaroth, who instructs him in concocting the “Elixir.” Imbibing the elixir will allow him to join with the Philosopher’s Stone (a relic from his family) and gain immense power. He realizes, after what he believes is an unsuccessful attempt at distilling this concoction, that 7 years have now passed.

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