Fall anime first impressions
Oct. 21st, 2023 02:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
petrea_mitchellI've gotten over the urge to list all the new sfnal shows, but I still feel compelled to mention that this season has three shows about people getting sent 12-13 years back in time and two where the entire premise is "a guy plays a VR video game". None of which I am watching! But I have tried out:
Frieren: This is the Big Show of the season, the heavyweight that felt so confident about grabbing people's attention that it dropped the first four episodes all at once. It's... fine. I was really interested in the premise of an elf realizing how fast human lives go by and trying to engage with them more, and after watching two episodes I think I'll get back to it and keep watching. But boy, being set in Generic Fantasy Mishmash Land does it absolutely no favors. Half a century goes by in the first episode and you can't tell because there are no visible changes in dress, architecture, etc. Just a comment from the protagonist that the town seen earlier in the episode sure has changed.
Under Ninja: A deadpan action show about modern ninjas taking themselves way too seriously. The premiere wasn't funny often enough to keep me watching further.
Bullbuster: A small-scale mecha show which is also about a struggling small business and may be working up to some kind of statement about modern corporate Japan. It's got a likeable ensemble cast, and while the science side of things is already showing some holes I expect to keep watching it for the rest of the season.
Undead Unluck: The next adaptation from the pages of Shonen Jump trying to make it big. The buzz about this one was that the early parts of the manga are terrible but it gets better. After three episodes, yeah, it's not highly recommendable yet, but three things are grabbing my attention: the unusual heroine who I found endearing right from the get-go; its commitment to doing romance tropes in fight, shouty, over-the-top Shonen Jump style; and the offhand reveal in episode 3 that the world where this story is taking place has one huge difference from our Earth. This is the one I'm most eager to see new episodes of right now.
Migi & Dali: A horror-comedy-mystery featuring creepy twins masquerading as one kid to solve the mystery of their mother's death. The comedy part is that the twins are evil masterminds but unclear on how mainstream family life works, leading to a series of misunderstandings. This appears to be the only joke, and it is told very very slowly. I dropped it after two episodes.
The Apothecary Diaries: Another high-profile adaptation, which waited until today to premiere so it could drop three episodes at once. I like the setting, I like the mystery-solving, I wish it didn't feel a need to spend so much time belaboring how not interested the protagonist is in the only handsome guy around when he's obviously going to be the love interest eventually.
Frieren: This is the Big Show of the season, the heavyweight that felt so confident about grabbing people's attention that it dropped the first four episodes all at once. It's... fine. I was really interested in the premise of an elf realizing how fast human lives go by and trying to engage with them more, and after watching two episodes I think I'll get back to it and keep watching. But boy, being set in Generic Fantasy Mishmash Land does it absolutely no favors. Half a century goes by in the first episode and you can't tell because there are no visible changes in dress, architecture, etc. Just a comment from the protagonist that the town seen earlier in the episode sure has changed.
Under Ninja: A deadpan action show about modern ninjas taking themselves way too seriously. The premiere wasn't funny often enough to keep me watching further.
Bullbuster: A small-scale mecha show which is also about a struggling small business and may be working up to some kind of statement about modern corporate Japan. It's got a likeable ensemble cast, and while the science side of things is already showing some holes I expect to keep watching it for the rest of the season.
Undead Unluck: The next adaptation from the pages of Shonen Jump trying to make it big. The buzz about this one was that the early parts of the manga are terrible but it gets better. After three episodes, yeah, it's not highly recommendable yet, but three things are grabbing my attention: the unusual heroine who I found endearing right from the get-go; its commitment to doing romance tropes in fight, shouty, over-the-top Shonen Jump style; and the offhand reveal in episode 3 that the world where this story is taking place has one huge difference from our Earth. This is the one I'm most eager to see new episodes of right now.
Migi & Dali: A horror-comedy-mystery featuring creepy twins masquerading as one kid to solve the mystery of their mother's death. The comedy part is that the twins are evil masterminds but unclear on how mainstream family life works, leading to a series of misunderstandings. This appears to be the only joke, and it is told very very slowly. I dropped it after two episodes.
The Apothecary Diaries: Another high-profile adaptation, which waited until today to premiere so it could drop three episodes at once. I like the setting, I like the mystery-solving, I wish it didn't feel a need to spend so much time belaboring how not interested the protagonist is in the only handsome guy around when he's obviously going to be the love interest eventually.
