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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Tribe Nine

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Mixed media (also includes a smartphone game and webtoon)

Episode Summary: In Neo Tokyo, battles between youth gangs steadily got out of hand until in the sport of Extreme Baseball was instilled as the official conflict resolution method of record. Now these gangs, called “tribes,” battle out their differences on the baseball diamond (and the surrounding city, usually). Haru is a bullied kid who doesn’t feel like he has the strength to fight back against his tormenters, but a chance meeting with Taiga, a tuna fisherman with a desire to play Extreme Baseball, and Shun Kamiya, considered to be the Minato Tribe’s ace player, changes the course of Haru’s destiny.

When the Minato Tribe is approached by representatives of a rival group and challenged to a game, the laid-back Shun volunteers both newbies to help represent them on the team. Haru is terrified by the sort of power on display – Extreme Baseball allows the use of various enhancements to provide players with superhuman strength, and their current opponents are heavily invested in these sorts of tools. Haru is scared to step up to the plate, but some advice from Shun and the fact that his eyesight and reflexes are much better than most allows Haru to survive the inning while Shun cleans things up. Haru feels a change in himself, and decides to remain a member of the Minato Tribe (and its team) after all.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – World’s End Harem

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 11

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Five years ago, Reito went into cryogenic sleep in order to wait out a cure for Cellular Sclerosis, a currently incurable disease. This occurs, inconveniently, just as he confesses his feelings to his childhood friend and fellow researcher, Erisa. He leaves a token with Erisa so that they can reconnect after he’s awoken from stasis, but as he slumbers the world transforms into an inhospitable and broken place.

After the MK (“Male Killer”) virus quickly obliterates the male population of Earth, society begins to crumble and deteriorate. For reasons that are still being studied, Reito’s Cellular Sclerosis treatment makes him immune to the ravages of the MK virus, and as one of 5 known men in his same position, the potential for his offspring to carry that immunity makes his sperm cells a precious commodity. In order for the Human Race to survive, Reito must help repopulate it. But the only woman that’s on Reito’s mind is his childhood friend, Erisa. Thus, he’s given an ultimatum – he can try to find Erisa, but in the meantime he’ll be faced with many other women who are passionately focused on obtaining Reito’s seed.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Sabikui Bisco

Streaming: Funimation and Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: After a disaster destroys Tokyo and turns it into an inhospitable desert, people begin to die from a mysterious illness known as the “Rust.” It slowly overtakes their bodies until it reaches their hearts. There are theories regarding how the illness is spread, some of which involve the assumption that strange plagues of mushrooms (and the mushroom keepers who create them) are somehow responsible. The most notorious of these mushroom keepers is Bisco Akaboshi, who spreads terror using his bow and arrows to produce giant mushrooms.

Doctor Milo Nekoyanagi maintains a residence in the slums where he tends to the impoverished locals while also using connections to obtain contraband mushroom material in order to search for a cure for the Rust. His motivations seem rooted in kindness, but they have a selfish angle as well – his sister Pawoo is suffering from the disease. One evening, none other than Bisco makes his way into the city to wreak havoc, causing the pavement to burst forth with mushrooms with every strike of his arrows. But he seems focused on one mission in particular – to seek out Doctor Nekoyanagi.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Blade Runner: Black Lotus

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 13

Source: Original (based on Blade Runner franchise)

Episode Summary: A young woman awakens in the cargo hold of an autonomous transport vehicle having lost most of her memories. The only item she has with her is an electronic device she can’t seem to unlock. As she enters Los Angeles, she has a sense of where “home” is, but the city has changed since she last remembers being there and she’s not quite sure how to navigate it. A group of thugs picks up on her confusion and, seeing the valuable tech she has in hand, they begin to pursue her.

As she fights off these organized criminals she begins to remember bits and pieces of things, including her name – Elle. In exchange for more information about the technology in her hands, she offers a local dealer named Doc Badger protection from the thugs that are hassling them both. Swordplay and martial arts seem to be part of Elle’s repertoire and she easily dispatches them all. When Doc Badger reveals that he’s been unable to decipher locking mechanism on her tech, he offers to take her to see a man named J who seems to have more of a specific knack for that sort of thing. But J is awfully familiar…

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Deep Insanity: The Lost Child

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Multimedia Project

Episode Summary: A mysterious ailment called “Randolph Syndrome” has started to affect the people of Earth. The suspected source is thought to be a recently-uncovered underground world in Antarctica, named the “Asylum,” populated by strange, mutated creatures and immense stores of natural resources. The brave souls who choose to explore this wilderness are there both to find a way to exploit these resources and the genetic material of the mutants, but also to find a cure for Randolph Syndrome.

Lured by a recruiting commercial and his desire to be a hero, Shigure joins the few, the proud (and the short-lived) “Sleepers” who explore this underground world. It’s not long before he’s sent, mostly unprepared, on his first mission. As his party encounters some of the horrors to be found below, he learns quickly that survival is the rule above all, and that accepting fear of death is the only way to survive.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Ancient Girl’s Frame

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 24

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Reika Minamiya’s family has been deeply affected by the use of Divine Grace Energy, a form of energy used by humanity to start colonizing space, but which also exposed them to the wrath of the Nergal, hostile alien life forms. Reika’s older sister Reiu was lost due to DG energy, and this has made her parents very protective of her. Because of this, Reika sneaks off to apply to join the Ancient Girls squad with her friend in secret.

At the interview, she’s confronted by Judith, one of the faces of the program, who tells Reika that she’ll never be allowed to join the Ancient Girls. However, after the excavation of a new G’s Frame, one of the only weapons able to hold back the alien attackers, the Earth is attacked by a group of Nergal. Though the AG program didn’t accept her, the newly-awakened G’s Frame seems to have no misgivings about her abilities; it draws Reika into the cockpit where she’s able to fight back until Judith arrives to finish the job. Later, just as Reika receives her rejection letter from the program, her family is approached by military personnel who seem to be offering her a different option. As Reika arrives to join the others in the AG unit, Judith wonders if there may be consequences from allowing Reiu’s sister into their midst.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Sakugan

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Gagumber and Memempu are a father-daughter pair who are constantly at odds with one-another. Despite being a kid, Memempu is extremely precocious and a genius inventor; it’s her goal to become a Marker – an adventurer who explores the underground labyrinth connecting the various remaining human colonies that exist beneath the planet’s surface. Gagumber, despite being a bit of a goofball, still has his fatherly responsibilities to think about, and he doesn’t want his only child to run off and be needlessly killed by one of the terrifying kaiju roaming outside their city’s protective dome. The result of this is that the two consistently find themselves butting heads.

But Memempu has been seeing a mysterious place in her dreams, a white tower above the surface surrounded by beautiful fields. During a visit from Lynda and her father, both current Markers, Memempu receives a mysterious package that suggests her dream might be real. As she begs her father to let her go on a journey to find this place, the city is attacked by kaiju breaking in from outside. Despite the terror of the situation, Memempu still longs to explore. Gagumber decides that there’s only one thing for a father (and retired Marker) to do – go along on his daughter’s journey in order to protect her.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2021 First Impressions – Muv-Luv Alternative

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Game Series

Episode Summary: In 1973, aliens launched an offensive from the moon. The BETA as they came to be called, have since slowly spread out across the planet, killing humans and erecting hives in their wake in order to facilitate more destruction. Military units across the world have done what they can to try to hold back the BETA forces, but the aliens’ strength seems only to increase and the human population continues to diminish. The Western half of Japan has slowly been taken over by BETA, and in 1998 they are now in danger of taking over the rest of the country.

An evacuation order has already been issued as the Japanese military begins to detect movement at the bottom of the ocean near the city of Sadogashima. Because of their loss of life, they’re forced to use rookie pilots to man the Tactical Surface Fighters – mechanical armor that allows close-combat. Unfortunately, despite the passion of the soldiers, the sheer number of BETA, including several fortress-class entities with the power to break down the giant walls protecting the people inside, overwhelm them and they’re forced to evacuate. Sadogashima becomes the site of the 21st BETA hive.

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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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