Mashiro no Oto ep. 1 was fine. Not that I expected but still fine. I personally like traditional instruments so it was interesting. And actual performances were better animated than in Kono Oto Tomare. I am also fine with the pacing. My only concern for now is that the most interesting heroine already left.
Vivy: Interesting ideas, good animation, competent direction... and I just don't care that much about the characters. Next episode is introducing some characters that are on the key visual, so I'll give it another try, but I'm dropping it if it doesn't hook me
Combatants: Too much sekuhara-as-comedy for my tastes
Sena Revo: The background are nicely drawn, at least
Dora Ie: I like the core idea, but rather than studying fantasy housing most of the time is spent with dull characters trying to be funny
- SSSS.Dynazenon - Interesting first episode. Was going to skip this because I hadn't watched Gridman, which I had originally skipped because I thought it was set in some continuity for a thing I'd never seen. Good to know I was apparently wrong about all that. Quite liked that roundhouse kick from the robot.
- Combatants Will Be Dispatched - MC's a bit hot or miss for me, and the first half of the episode felt... incredibly rushed. I honestly couldn't tell if there was genuine world domination going on or if it was a giant chuuni fantasy. That said, it was still pretty amusing, and flowed a bit better once they got to that planet. Alice is just great.
- Farewell, My Dear Cramer - ...This art style's going to take a lot of getting used to for me, something about it's really distracting. I'll give it another episode or two, since otherwise I'm not entirely sure it'll be for me. Already having a hard time following all the characters introduced.
This season is starting off pretty strong for mecha series, with Godzilla Singular Point and SSSS.Dynazenon, plus Back Arrow from last season, and fansubs for the latest Fafner movies are finally out.
And you are all doing yourselves a terrible disservice if you're not watching Thunderbolt Fantasy.
So, definitely Bn HA and Nomad: Megalo Box 2, probably Zombieland Saga Revengence and hopefully Ijiranaide Nagatoro-san. This season is looking like it has more for me than the last one. Maybe a few originals will be worth watching too?
Huh, I didn't expect Shadows House to get picked up for an anime. I've been enjoying the manga, at least. Starts out as a Slice of Life fantasy thing, and then leans more towards mystery/subtle horror as the story goes on.
The only thing that kind of... I guess it doesn't bother me per se, but it does make me raise my eyebrow, is the name of our main protagonist. I'm sorry, but Emilyko is just... weird. I know why she's called that, but... I dunno, it sounds silly and is a bit jarring. It's just a Western name with the Japanese word for "child" at the end for some reason. I know it's because Kate wanted her doll to have her own identity, and so picked a name for her doll that wasn't even remotely reminiscent of her own, but... isn't Emily a different enough name already?
Edited by MagmaTeaMerry on Apr 5th 2021 at 10:58:27 AM
My AO3 profile. Let sleeping cats lie and be cute and calming.Initial Reactions:
Odd Taxi: Already, I can see the intrigue coming from some of the characters, from a suspicious alpaca to a sus monkey to even a suspicious police officer, all this while we hear conversations in a night ride... Surely interesting and fascinating! I wonder what will happen next...
Edited by thuse on Apr 6th 2021 at 9:36:31 PM
First Episode Impressions
- Vivy: It’s the The Terminator but replace Arnold Schwarzenegger with an idol singer. Why did it have to be an idol singer, though? Kinda weird to have the very first autonomous AI relegated to a small-time amusement. Loved the contrast in the beginning between the cheerful J-pop and the massacre. Visuals are sharp and the pacing is good. Will have to check out episode 2 now. Continuing.
- Megalo Box: Nomad: Wow. In-universe it’s been five years since Joe fought with Yuri, and shit went down. Nanbu is probably dead. Joe feels guilty about it somehow and now he’s a drug-addled, aimless wanderer looking for something that will finally do him in. The last scene where he buries the wolf was a powerful callback. Will be interesting to see how Joe will get out of his funk. I’m not ruling out a tragic ending. The old school aesthetic season 1 had is well and intact, and I am loving the Spanish tunes in here. Also the fight we had in this episode is already one of the better fights this series has offered. Definitely continuing.
- Sayonara, Watashi no Cramer: So we got the typical underdog sports story. It doesn’t look the prettiest but the ball-handling is fluid enough for my tastes. Continuing.
- Dragon Ie wo Kau: The beginning where the slimes are checking out the cave was the most engaging part. I suppose my expectations were misplaced— I thought this would be more of a worldbuilding-focused story like Isekai Shokudou, except themed around real estate instead of food. Instead it seems to be a parody of JRPGs, and not a very funny one at that. And as I’ve mentioned before, dragons are boring. Dropped.
- Sentouin, Hakenshimasu: Par for the course with the manga. It’s trying too hard to be funny, and the cast members do not have good chemistry at all. One should note that this written by the author before he wrote Konosuba, so in many ways you can see how this is like a rough draft of that. Continuing.
First Episode Impressions
- Yakunara Mug Cup mo: It’s not flashy or anything, but it’s only appropriate that an anime about pottery would be down-to-earth. It has few of the usual moe anime tropes, leaning more closely to a “pure” slice-of-life, if that makes any sense. It’s also really satisfying seeing the pottery in action. That part where the MC stretches the clay out to make the rim, mmmmm. Continuing.
- Seven Knights Revolution: Sure feels like a mobile-game adaptation, though as others have said it’s got higher production values than the norm. Also gorier than expected. Unfortunate that the characters actively bore me to tears. Hoping the anime will focus more on flashy fights against monsters, and not devolve to typical fantasy high school shenanigans. Will try until episode three.
- Odd Taxi: The coffee-shop music OP is an instant delight, and gives way to what is one the strongest premieres of the season so far. Through the mundane goings-on of a surly cab driver, we hear hints of a missing person case, and of course the taxi driver is embroiled in it. He might be the kidnapper. Or the murderer and he’s talking to the missing girl in his delusion. Or possibly an accomplice. Anyway, he’s not the only sketchy animal around. It’s grittier than I expected it to be and it clashes wonderfully with the cutesy, watercolor art style. Continuing.
- The Saint’s Magic is Omnipotent: The most unremarkable thing I’ve seen this season. Could have at least tried to make the potion-making look more interesting. And for something that seems to be angling for a comfy slice-of-life vibe, it felt too rushed. Will try until next episode.
- Higehiro - Was not entirely sure what to expect, but this was actually neat. I do not recall where the shaving came into things before the end, but the MC is a decent, morally upstanding citizen even when drunk, so that was nice to see. Curious as to why the girl's running away from home.
- Super Cub - Not entirely sure on this one. I watched the whole episode at least, but not sure if I'll watch the whole season. Koguma's life sure is bleak as hell, and the episode was pretty slow. I can't tell if she's *supposed* to look sickly, or if it's just an art style thing.
- Full Dive - Actually pretty funny once it gets to the game itself. I know there's a lot of Kirito clones running around, but this guy's design is literally Kirito with a mole added. Thankfully, that's all the resemblance there is. Some hints to an incident in his past that seems to have led to him playing VRMMO's, a pushy lady nudges him into buying a super realistic RPG, and what he immediately does is morbidly hilarious. Definitely following this one.
- The Saint's Power is Omnipotent - Eh, gave up halfway through the episode. Nothing egregiously wrong, it just wasn't clicking.
Odd Taxi: I think I would really like this if it was in written form? But as is, the direction is intentionally emphasizing the more tedious, annoying aspects, and I'm really having trouble staying interested
Super Cub: ...I like the direction here more, but way less actually happens
Well, at least we're coming up on the stuff I'm actually looking forward to this season
Vivy is definitely AOTS material, i also get that Re:Zero feeling that the episodes are full of foreshadowing that i don't notice on the first watch
fun fact: Tappei Nagatsuki and Eiji Umehara started to work on the project at the end of 2016
and wrote an entire novel as rough draft
OK two more anticipated shows conme out this Sunday byut I have more to comment. Jouran still looks pretty predictable but I still like it as it is pretty well-made despite the generic script and plot. Also, the OP is really cool both visually and musically (though, as a Ra S fan I am a bit biased here).
Also watched Odd Taxi as it came out on Crunchyroll. I understand why people may found it slow-paced or even boring, but for now it is right up my valley. I don't think MC is a criminal but he clearly has a ghuge mental disorder. In his short flashback all characters are human and everyone points out that he has issues and that they look not how he sees them.

First Episode Impressions