Tag: Winter 2022

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – The Orbital Children

Streaming: Netflix

Episodes: 6 (irregular lengths)

Source: Original

Episode Summary: In a time where space, as everything else, has been filled to the brim with consumerism and advertisement, three children have won a contest to visit the first space hotel with facilities that cater to young people. Mina, an internet celebrity, her younger brother Hiroshi, and Taiyou, arrive at Anshin station excited to experience all of the wonders that corporate branding can provide in the world of space tourism. They’re set to join two children who know nothing other than living away from Earth – Konoha and Touya, who were born on the moon. Both Konoha and Touya experience the effects of gravity differently and are under constant medical observation. Touya is also a bit of an AI nut, using semi-illegal means to “broaden” the abilities of his personal AI drone, Dark.

As the contest-winners arrive to the station, a situation begins to unfold from within Earth’s orbit outside. A mysterious projectile is detected, and eventually station management learns that a comet is approaching the planet and the station. As the two groups of children meet and begin to work through some interpersonal and philosophical differences, they’re suddenly forced to brace for impact. It may now fall on their shoulders to figure out how to survive using only the tools and know-how they can cobble together. But will they be able to team up long enough to make this a reality?

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Shenmue the Animation

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 13

Source: Video Game

Episode Summary: Ryo is an accomplished student and well-known as a martial artist. The training he received from his father allows him to lead his high school’s Karate club to victory. When Ryo returns home to his father’s dojo, however, he notices a conspicuously open door and finds his father fighting a losing battle against a man dressed in striking green kung-fu robes. The man blames Ryo’s father for an individual’s death, all while demanding the location of a mirror his father possesses. After learning its location, the man dressed in green finishes off Ryo’s father.

The aftermath of this incident is confusing – who was this man and why did he label Ryo’s father a killer? Some folks around town suspect the Chinese Mafia based out of the port of Yokohama might be to blame. It turns out that Ryo may not have known his father as well as he may have thought. As he begins to put the pieces together, Ryo finds himself under attack again, though this time his father’s teachings and wisdom prove invaluable. Rather than continue on to college as he’d planned, Ryo decides to use this time to learn more about his father’s dealings and perhaps gain more insight into his family’s past.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – FreakAngels

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 9

Source: Webcomic

Episode Summary: 6 years after the apocalypse, Britain’s citizens live out a hardscrabble existence amongst the rubble and ruin. While most folks simply try to get enough food and clean water to live out their lives, this world is also populated by 12 individuals with certain psychic gifts, called the “Freak Angels.” Their benefits vary, but they’re all powers of the mind. Despite that, though, their users often find themselves bickering amongst one another rather than collectively joining forces for anything constructive.

After an encounter that resulted in the death of her brothers, Alice enters White Chapel in search of the Freak Angels – and of revenge. What she learns is that her memories were likely tampered with, and that a man named Mark, whose relationship to the Freak Angels seems strained at the very least, may be responsible. The Freak Angels call a meeting – quite the task considering that getting them to tolerate one-another in one room is a feat in-and-of-itself – but soon find themselves under attack and on the defensive. As their hideout crumbles all around them, it seems this issue with Mark may be an even bigger deal than it appeared to be at first blush.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Delicious Party Pretty Cure

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA (but these series generally run for a full year or so)

Source: Sequel of long-running franchise

Episode Summary: Yui Nagomi is an active girl who’d be right at home on the soccer team, but the reason she participates at all is for the delicious rice balls to be had afterward. As a resident of Oishiina Town she has her pick of delicious foods from around the world, and Yui wouldn’t have it any other way; as the daughter of a restaurant owner and someone who appreciates a scrumptious meal, she’s definitely in the right place.

When Mari, a citizen of the Cookingdom, arrives in Oishiina Town in search of some missing recipeppi fairies, they soon encounter Yui who revives them with some food. But not far behind are members of the gang who’ve been trapping the recipeppis and using them for their own dastardly ends. Yui gets wrapped up in the battle, and there she transforms into Cure Precious, a hero powered by the energy of delicious food!

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Salaryman’s Club

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Mikoto Shiratori is a former high school badminton star whose doubles career was derailed after a traumatic incident during a match. As an adult he’s played on the corporate team for a large bank, but only as a singles player and with not nearly as much success. After yet another loss, he’s let go from both the team and his job. As he heads back to his parents’ home with his tail between his legs, he gets an unexpected call from the Sunrise Beverage Company looking to recruit him to their company and corporate badminton team.

What Mikoto thought had been a major stroke of luck turns out to have some… caveats. The senpai providing him with job training is a free-spirit named Tatsuru, who first appears to Mikoto face down in a park after a late-night workplace outing. After spending a day with the guy, Mikoto finds out that the intention was to have them both be partners on the badminton court as well – as the two halves of a doubles team. Their coach just happened to omit that little detail. Mikoto’s participation in this ploy comes down to the result of a single’s match between himself and Tatsuru, and while Mikoto’s skill at anticipating his opponent’s moves proves formidable, Tatsuru’s skills and experience come out on top. Now forced to make good on the wager, Mikoto’s sour mood has only just started to rev itself up.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Requiem of the Rose King

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 24

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: The “War of the Roses,” so named because of the family crests of those involved, consumed the houses of Lancaster and York as they both sought the highest seat in England. Young Richard admires his father above all others, and longs for nothing more than for him to ascend the throne. When the battle ends in an unsatisfying truce, Richard begs his father to return to battle and win a decisive victory and become king. As the fighting draws on and things begin to look dire, Richard begins to believe the rumors of his own demonic nature and whether his “honeyed words” may have sentenced his father to death.

After escaping his cell, Richard encounters a mysterious man in the woods; a beautiful, melancholy person who claims to be a shepherd named Henry. Though Richard is nearly enraptured, he realizes that it’s not a friendship that will satisfy him, but a victory for his father. Soon afterward the tides turn and the Yorks achieve victory, putting this Henry, in reality the now-deposed King Henry, at the mercy of Richard’s wrath.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Tales of Luminaria: The Fateful Crossroad

Streaming: Funimation and Crunchyroll

Episodes: 2

Source: Smartphone Game

Episode Summary: The Empire has enjoyed the benefit of a device called the Piliar, which draws forth mana from fossils within the Earth. Because of this, they reap the positive effects of almost limitless power, medical advancement, and food production. But the dark side to this is that the mana drain has had a terrible effect on many smaller surrounding communities, leaving them unable to provide for themselves and creating many refugees in the process.

Leo, Celia, and their instructor Lisette, have been coopted into the fight for the fate of the world, using their prowess in battle to help escort a scientist and his specially-modified key to the Piliar in order to stall its operation and reverse its negative effects. Unfortunately there are multiple factions after this key, including Hugo, who was once one of Leo’s closest comrades. When Hugo comes out victorious and utilizes the key in the Piliar, however, they all discover that they were simply the pawns of a much larger, and much darker, force.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Girls’ Frontline

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Game

Episode Summary: After the horrors of World War III, Earth civilization is on the brink of collapse. Due to low population and the resultant labor shortages, much of the work has since been taken up by artificial android life forms called “dolls.” These dolls have found an important place within the military sphere, with Tactical Dolls or “T-Dolls” using their superior physical strength and other heightened abilities to fight battles that humans wouldn’t dare.

When the AI of an entire fleet of T-Dolls owned by the Sangvis Ferri company rebels against their human masters, a group of elite T-Dolls owned by Griffin and Kryuger investigates. What they find when traveling to a remote location to obtain some classified data from an old computer is a dangerous, extremely violent, and intelligent group of T-Dolls who give them a run for their money. After defeating a trio of heavy artillery models, T-Doll M4 is tasked with taking the retrieved data to safety. Meanwhile, back at their base, a new commander joins the organization.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Fantasia Sango: Realm of Legends

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Taiwanese RPG

Episode Summary: As a nation finds itself on the decline at on the cusp of war, the people find themselves vulnerable to attack from a much more supernatural force. The wangliang, vengeful spirits that prey upon the darkness in people’s hearts, begin to multiply and wreak havoc among the populace, and only warriors with very special skills are able to fight against their powerful dark magic. Unfortunately the 6th unit, which was comprised of such people, was wiped out under mysterious circumstances.

As the situation becomes more dire, the need for the 6th unit grows as well, and four warriors are chosen to comprise the group: Ying Ji, who can cast spells using ink magic, Xun Qiao, whose music draws forth the wangliang, Ding Yan, who has some connection to the former 6th unit, and Xiao Ling, who is a Gui Zhan – a warrior who draws power from the wangliangs’ miasma. Working together they help dispel a wangliang from a village who’s been singlehandedly defending his village from invasion, and the group gets a first-hand taste of the power wielded by a Gui Zhan.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Tokyo 24th Ward

Streaming: Funimation and Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Note: episode 1 is double-length.

Tokyo’s Far Eastern Special Administrative Region, also known as ward 24 was built on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay, and has been seen in the past as a lawless region. Now on the cusp of being officially acknowledged, political tensions are high. One year previous, three childhood friends born in the 24th Ward are witness to a fire at a school, and afterwards go their separate ways until they’re reunited at a memorial service. All three are navigating life differently; Ran dabbles in guerilla protest art and hacking, while Kouki remains a rule-follower who everyone expects to go into politics like his father. But Shuuta has struggled in the year since the incident, wondering if the heroic goals he once had were just childish fantasies.

The three keep meeting by chance around town, and as they’re settling down to lunch all of them receive a mysterious phone call from someone who sounds like their late friend Asumi, who was lost in the tragic fire. The voice warns them of an impending accident in which their friend Mari will get stuck on the train tracks. Their choices are to reroute the train, causing it to derail and likely killing the 150 people onboard, or to let it continue on its current path, thus killing Mari. Asked to make the choice yet unsatisfied with both outcomes, the three young men use their know-how and physical prowess to achieve a solution that saves everyone. But who was the voice on the phone? And can it truly see into the future?

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