Summer 2017 Anime in Review
It's seasons like this one that make me glad to be a seasonal anime watcher. With a good spread of genres and a generally high overall quality, this summer has been a highly enjoyable anime experience for me. Don't get it twisted though; there's always going to be a few bombs, and I'll always be here to leave a few scathing remarks, but I'm confident in saying that the good (and mediocre) far outweighed the actual "bad" this time. To give you an idea of where I'm coming from, I picked up a whopping total of 17 seasonal shows this season and I'm (strangely) not at all regretting it.
I've decided that I'm going to hazard leaving some thoughts about the few two-cour shows I've picked up this season instead of just skipping over them, either leaving my recommendation to check it out or hitting it with a dreaded "skip it". Let's get to it, shall we?
Studio: Diomedia
Streaming: Crunchyroll
If you've been with me on one of my seasonal review journies before, you'll know that I'm a huge sucker for short-form anime in pretty much any form, whether it be a shortened episode count like Planetarian or an actual short like Aho-Girl here. Now Aho-Girl definitely doesn't do anything new, and it certainly isn't anything high-brow, but I'd be lying through my teeth if I didn't say I was having a good bit of fun with this show. If I had to sum up this series in just a few words, they would be "simple and endearing", and Aho-Girl leverages its shortened runtime of ~14 minutes beautifully to this effect. Speaking of "simple", the art here is possibly one of the closest to what I'd consider the "bare minimum" for being acceptable. Character designs are quite honestly downright boring, and the frame count is pretty low. It's never exactly hard to watch, but it doesn't have anything aesthetically that stands out either. The only exception somewhat is the short OP, which is typically spun into some kind of joke in and of itself.
Keeping with the same theme here, "simple" also perfectly describes what you're going to get with this show, because the title literally gives it away: it's about how much of an idiot Yoshiko is and the trouble she causes. The rest of our cast is a pretty well-executed romcom standard with the exception of our other main, A-kun, who isn't having any of Yoshiko's idiocy. The comedy is the expected mix of extremely fast-paced, romcom-staple jokes and a heavy dose of slapstick, so you'll know pretty quickly whether you find it funny or tired. The shortened runtime is key in this regard, as I can see Aho-Girl easily running itself into the ground with a 24 minute runtime. You can really only see Yoshiko get hit in so many different ways before it stops being funny, but sidestepping this with shortened episodes is a welcome and effective choice in making the tired and overdone into something fun and enjoyable again.
Score: 6.5/10
Title: Boku no Hero Academia: Season 2
Genre: Shounen, Action
Studio: Bones
Streaming: Crunchyroll
I have never been a fan of shounen anime, but dear God if this isn't one of the best shows to come out in the past few years. My gripes with the genre are consistently made to seem completely unfounded every week as new episodes air. To have a shounen manga adaptation clip along at a decent pace is already an impressive feat, but to also include incredible characters, stellar animation, and great music is just a medium-shattering achievement, especially when the series came straight out of SHONEN JUMP. The last I remember having this much pure unadulturated hype and fun with shounen was with YuYu Hakusho back when it aired on Toonami, and there's something to be said for recapturing (and going above) that magic. Oh, did I mention yet that there's nearly no filler? Yeah, there's only ONE anime-original episode, and the only way you'd even pick it out was if you were an avid manga reader.
It's been said to death by the anime community at large, but the secret to HeroAca's quality is in its perfect execution of what we already expect. You're going to get all of your standard shounen tropes here; HeroAca embraces them to the fullest degree. The difference is in HOW the show does them, and does them so, so, so right. Deku is the most compelling shounen main character I've encountered to date, with, for possibly the first time in shounen history, a believable reason to actually be considered an underdog. You can't help but empthaize with him in his struggles and be hype as all hell for his achievements, and the same can be said for the rest of the cast as well. So much obvious loving time and care was put into making our core cast feel like actual fucking characters instead of power-husk show-offs. Personality-rich, driven, and (most importantly) believable characters are the name of the game here, and I can't help but enjoy pretty much every character that gets any ounce of screentime.
None of this is to say that HeroAca, and by extension this second season, is perfect by any metric. There are some misgivings with the plot and some of the general anime "bleh" that plagues all releases to come out within the past several years (high school setting, etc...). World-building is also a little suspect, and there's a clear requirement of being able to both suspend disbelief and to not question the lack of exposition regarding the character's environment. This issue is especially notable when the show likes to play with the idea of the "ideal" of being a "real hero", with some heavy handed messages about how widespread power has warped public perception about what being a hero really is and what sort of behavior they should exhibit. Although an interesting and compelling discussion for HeroAca, it's heavily damaged by this lack of meaningful exposition, and can come across as misplaced and even boring if you haven't properly "bought-in" to the series.
Still, if we're talking in-genre here, and if you've been with me for this song-and-dance before you know we always are, you'll be hard pressed to find anything better than this. If you have ever been a fan of shounen anime, or you are just looking for an new pick-up with a fair bit of content on the bone, I implore you to check this one out. Whether you end up watching it or just dive straight into the manga, you defintely won't be disappointed.
Score: 9/10
Title: Fate/Apocrypha
Genre: Action
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Streaming: "Netflix"
"Look who decided to show up and wave their big 'ol pecker around like they own the season." - Demolition D+, 2015
Fate/Apocrypha is just about everything you'd ever expect from the Fate franchise, and probably about all you'd ever want. It's undoubtedly one of the most popular shows this season, and all the Fate series ridiculousness has been cranked up to ten million. We have 14 servants and 14 masters, 1 "ruler", and an all out war between two factions that's been promised to lead straight into the old 7-servant deathmatch we've come to expect from Holy Grail War thusfar. With 25 episodes to play with and what has seemed to be a fairly rapid pace thus far, F/A seems poised to live up to the goal it's thrown out there in the first episode. A-1 Pictures is also doing their damndest to put on their best ufotable impression, and to be honest they're doing a pretty bang-up job so far. Fights are complex and well-choreographed with now-textbook Fate composted digital effects, but overall quality of the art "as stills" is poor when compared to the real deal ufotable adaptations like Fate/Zero and UBW.
There's a whole hell of a lot going on in every episode, and there's at the very minimum 30 or so characters that you need to be familiar with, so F/A is clearly walking the line for plot-intrigue vs. plot-fallout. As someone more than familiar with Nasuverse fuckery and a proud supporter of Fate's core concept being too compelling to ignore, I'm more than willing to see what side of the line F/A decides to fall on. If you aren't of this same mind and experience though, I'd take a step back and try Fate/Zero or Fate/Stay Night first to get your bearings before jumping into this one.
Fate Fans: Check it out.
Not Fate Fans: Hard skip now but come back later.
Title: Gamers!
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Harem
Studio: Pine Jam
Streaming: Crunchyroll
This show is NOT about games, gamers, or anything relating to games. These things definitely exist in the show, but it's not about them in the slightest. You know what is the focus? A fucking misunderstanding and a love hexagon. I queued this show up because I saw one girl in the show's gaming club main Elphelt in Guilty Gear: Xrd Rev2, and I've been regretting it ever since. Absolutely pants-on-head retarded main character, completely unbeliveable love interest, and a supporting cast so flat and uninteresting that I couldn't possibly tell you any of their names. To make matters worse, this show straight up looks like fucking garbage; character designs are as bland as they could possibly be and there's nothing to even be said about how things look in motion. The animation practically melts off the fucking screen into liquified garbage, and there isn't even any decent music to distract from the visuals sans the acceptable OP.
If you want a romantic comedy about video games, go watch Netoge no Yoma wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta instead. The fact that I have actually recommended something that trashy and with such a terribly long and ridiculous name should speak volumes to how terrible Gamers! really is.
Score: 2/10
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Harem
Studio: NAZ
Streaming: Crunchyroll
This one looked so much more promising in the PVs than how it turned out. I thought that it was going to be more like the short Osheite! Galko-chan, which was an effective and lighthearted comedy with a heartfelt message about smashing stereotypes. Yes, this show even from the PVs had a far greater fanservice aspect, but you can still tell that the whole idea of Yame's character is that she's supposed to have a look and personality that are diametrically opposed. Well, that was promptly thrown out within the first couple minutes of episode one, and what we're left with is just complete and utter trash.
I hate every character in this show that isn't Yame, because they're either one-dimensional obssessed maniacs (one of them is particularly disturbing) or have personalities as flat as washboards. This isn't to say Yame is a good character either, but I just can't help but see Galko in her. The "comedy" and "plot" present is bad to downright appalling, leaving the show as nothing but a trashy fanservice show that I can barely stomach to watch. It very barely loses out Gamers! this season for the "Least Inspired Character Design" and "Shittiest Art" awards, so even if I cut my ears off and ignored the plot I still wouldn't be having a good time.
Leave this in the garbage can, watch Osheite! Galko-chan instead.
Score: 2/10
Title: Kakegurui
Genre: Drama, Gaming (Gambling), Psychological
Studio: MAPPA
Streaming: "Netflix"
Imagine if we took the gaming challenges of No Game No Life, removed all the stupid loli bullshit, grounded it (slightly) more in reality, added a bunch of grotesque reaction faces, and genderbent the main characters. That's basically Kakegurui in a nutshell, and whether or not you can put up with the never-ending cycle of our main character Yumeko overcoming countless attempts of cheating with supposed skill pulled from the ether is up to you. For me, I was content to be pulled along for the ride and enjoy a supremely good-looking and great-sounding show while reveling in the absurdity of the premise; a gambling school where students can somehow throw massive amounts of cash around without a care in the world.
If my distaste for the community's general opinion of "Kakegurui's characters overcoming all odds" was the thing that "just didn't seem right", I guess I just made it clear. The premise and actions of the characters were completely ridiculous from the outset, so why is it that Yumeko's asspull-y victories are what is focused on as "just a little too out there"? If you were actually looking for a story that had some sort of real, high stakes, Kakegurui was never what you were looking for, and this was blatantly obvious from a few minutes into episode one. Like, come on, a show where characters literally orgasm from gambling was never meant to be taken that seriously.
Well if Kakegurui isn't some sort of new age Kaiki, then what exactly is it? For me, it ends up being an absurdist dark comedy with a hell of a lot of style. The art and atmosphere just ooze this sort of slight grit that I can't get enough of, and the colorful yet dark character designs are a joy to watch both at rest and in motion. The ultra-grotesque facial expressions that pop up every once and a while are an incredible riot, and give the show an off-putting feel that drives the absurdity all the way home for me. The score also helps support the gambling scenes, and even if it's overall just a little on the weaker side, Kakegurui has far and away the best OP of the season; I just can't get enough of that Japanese jazz.
Kakegurui really can be a whole mess of fun if you let it be. Those of you that can't bring yourselves to give in to the absurdity of it all might find yourselves pretty frustrated, but I still think this one is worth rolling the dice on.
Score: 7/10
Title: Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu
Genre: Action, Bishounen
Studio: ufotable
Streaming: Crunchyroll
I really dislike this show. A lot. And that's sad for it coming out of one of my favorite animation studios. And I get it, I'm not exactly the target audience for a "bishounen", but I think I can get behind the idea of cool sword fights just about as much as anyone else can. ufotable never fails to impress with their forte in composted digital effects and well choreographed fights, but even those can't save what is to date the worst anime adaptation of a mobile game I've sat through. And it wasn't the source that was really the problem at the end of the day. We've seen that literally anything can be adapted into something good with a series like Rage of Bahamut, so a concept as naturally "too cool for school" as legendary Japanese weapons being revived as time-traveling, timeline-protecting samurai didn't exactly have to be a straight dumpster fire. Yes, the premise is ridiculous, but that hasn't stopped anyone before, nor does it immediately discount it as being a bad series.
Well, with such a powerhouse studio at work and a fringe-acceptable premise, what exactly went wrong? The unfortunate answer is everything except for the fight scenes and animation. The characters are bland and uninteresting, the plot could be called from a mile away while simultaneously making little to no sense, the villians act without reason or motivation, there are stupid fucking mascot characters that talk in an incredibly annoying voice, and to top it all off, there's a lower frame count than usual for a ufotable production... and it shows.
If you're really chomping at the bit for some good fight animation, then yes, give this one a look. ufotable are masters of their craft in this department, especially when it comes to fights at night, of which there are many. It's just that even ignoring everything else that Touken Ranbu offers is not at all worth that payoff. Not for me, and hopefully not for you either.
Score: 4/10
Title: Made in Abyss
Genre: Adventure, Mystery, Action
Studio: Kinema Citrus
Streaming: Amazon Anime Strike
Have you ever thought about what lies at the bottom of the Mariana Trench? What mysteries do you think could be uncovered if you were to dive below to 11,000 meters, and just freely observe it? That sense of wonder and discovery is what Made In Abyss is all about. In this world, a myserious giant pit opened up some unknown number of years ago, and humanity quickly began to make "raids" into it only to discover mysterious relics, unbelievable scenery, and dangerous creatures. Made In Abyss' story takes place a few generations after cave-raiding the "abyss" has become commonplace, told through the adventures of a young girl and a humanoid relic, Riko and Reg. Their journey to the bottom of the abyss has been rightfully the highlight of this summer anime season, so let's dive right into why it's so deserving of praise, shall we?
First and foremost, any watcher of Made In Abyss will likely first mention the series' incredible visuals. Kinema Citrus went truly above and beyond here, specifically with background work. Riko and Reg will walk through a location for only a few frames, but yet the backgrounds are all of wallpaper-worthy levels of detail. That quality adds greatly to driving home the mysterious, dangerous, and yet beautiful nature of the abyss, but this is most supported by the diametrically opposed character and monster designs. Humans in Made In Abyss are designed in a more cute style across the board, with even Ozen being far more "moe" than both her demeanor and actions would entail. Now, we've seen "cute but dark" done to death since Madoka seemed to invent it a few years back, but the intent of the design opposition here is much more focused on growing the sense of "other" within the abyss rather than trying to directly elicit feelings of dread from the viewer. The biology of the abyss is drawn in a completely different style from everything else, with jagged harsh linework and animated with unnatural but smooth movement. As our heroes descend further and further, creatures within the abyss rightfully feel more and more alien, unnatural, and dangerous. The effect is far more subtle than something like Madoka or Higurashi, but Made In Abyss' more careful execution of visual opposition works beautifully, and is consistently a joy to watch.
All this love and care placed into detailed visuals carries directly into Made In Abyss' world-building. The show knows just how interested you are in the mysteries of the abyss, and expertly scatters its information amongst story beats without ever feeling over-expository and still retaining an air of the unknown. To go into specifics would ruin the fun, but with abyssal mysteries such as the Curse, White Whistles, and Hollows are a few highlights of this kind of expertly handled instances of story-driven world-building. Hitching everything to Riko and Reg's descent in this way is very effective as a "tour" of the abyss, but unfortunately there is one key issue with their descent from a narrative perspective that mars the plot: their age. Riko is incredibly young and naive, and Reg is portrayed as young as well. Their repeated success in descending through zones that have slayed far more experienced cave raiders is eyebrow-raising at the very least, even if Reg is more "well equipped" than the standard raider. The show attempts to correct this with some particularly difficult to watch (gore) content in the last third of the show's run, which works to lessen importance of earlier successes but ultimately comes too late.
In spite of this, the dramatic climax and resolution of Made In Abyss' final few episodes was handled masterfully, giving a far better ending for an ongoing manga adaptation than any viewer was expecting in a special hour-long final episode. Nanachi's dramatic arc gave a heartfelt but hopeful conclusion for our two young raiders, and answered many of our questions while still leaving us chomping at the bit for more. Even if a second season never comes, Made In Abyss is a show that every anime fan should check out, and will be well-remembered as one of the best anime to release in current memory. Please give this one a look, but be aware that Riko and Reg's adventure to the bottom of the abyss is not for the faint of heart, no matter how cute and comfy it my look at first glance.
Score: 9/10, Anime of the Season
Genre: Comedy, Adventure
Studio: Production I.G.
Streaming: Crunchyroll
Mahoujin Guruguru is a 2017 reboot of an early 1990's manga series, with a hell of a comedic twist. Every episode of this show so far has been a non-stop riot, and it's a shame that no one is talking about this show. With stuff like Fate/Apocrypha and HeroAca:S2 airing at the same time, I understand it maybe not getting a large amount of attention, but for a show that's airing on Crunchyroll to be this criminally underwatched for how good it is must be some sort of crime. But I digress; I'm here to tell you why the show is good, not complain about why it has been undeservingly unpopular.
Guruguru's comedy mostly revolves around lampooning classic JRPGs, just as the manga did back over twenty years ago. However, Production I.G. has done a great job with modernizing the humor to ensure it appeals to people who might have missed out on the NES or SNES glory days, while still retaining a very "retro" aesthetic with visual affects such as pixelating objects for close up shots or animating "overworld movement" in sprite art. The cutesy Dragon Warrior-esque character designs and art do a great job of supporting the humor, and simplistic designs give an undoubtedly huge relief to the animation team with the show's over-abundance of fluid motion. In any one cut, very rarely is something not moving in Guruguru, which is pretty rare these days for TV anime; you're always going to have to deal with the usual pan and still shots during exposition so that the budget can be preserved.
While making fun of or honoring RPGs in anime isn't exactly something new, Guruguru succeeds on the merit of its execution. In a comedy, characters are going to be paramount, and that's one of highest praises I can give to the show. The characters are relateable and lovable, with our two mains acting more like "players" despite never being hamfistedly referred to as them. Watching just Nike and Kukuri travel together is a treat in and of itself, but the supporting cast is a riot as well. Guruguru also strikes a great balance between constant parody and progressing its story, where plot beats are always instantly contrasted with some sort of joke.
This one is running for a full 24 episode season, and I for one couldn't be happier. If you're in need of something lighthearted and have been a fan of JRPGs at any point in your life, definitely check this one out. Hopefully it can keep up its level of quality throughout its run.
Recommendation: Check it out
Genre: Yuri, NTR, Short
Studio: Creators in Pack
Streaming: Crunchyroll
At what cost do we as viewers continue to chase the yuri dragon? Where do we even begin to draw the line? Is netorare the last and final straw, or is it worth struggling through literally anime cucking to experience just a bit of that sweet lily bliss? This is the question that Netsuzou TRap asks us, and that answer is a firm and predictable "No".
With genre tags that you might expect from a legitimate hentai, you're probably just a little confused not only why this is present on such a prestiguous list such as Beanwolf's Brain Dump: Seasonal Anime Reviews in the first place, but as to why this is even streaming on Crunchyroll. As expected, the answer to both questions is an attempt to indulge in unadulturated otaku degeneracy at the cost of our own self-worth. Crunchyroll is likely benefitting from the endeavour, but I'm over here just struggling not to puke after each and every episode of this garbage. If this shit was any longer than 9 minutes per episode, I think I'd have been hospitalized by now.
I'll spare you the trouble of listing off everything that's bad about this show, because we'd be here for the rest of the year. Instead, here's a snapshot: terribly written characters, inconsistent art and animation, bad character design, and a plot that makes about as much sense as a trainwreck in the sky. Oh, and let's not forget the incredibly rape-y and terrifying actions perpetrated by both our male and female cast, specifically Hotaru and Fujiwara. Seriously, Hotaru repeatedly effectively rapes Yuma, and it's portrayed as encouraged and accepted while Fujiwara's equally as grotesque actions are villified. If you don't think there's something seriously wrong here after about 15 or 20 minutes of this series, you need to get your head checked.
I don't know how this got adapted into anime, and I'm not sure what kind of insane fantasy world the source's author lives in, but dear God please do not watch this show. For your own good, please stay far, far away.
Score: 1/10
Genre: CGCS, Comedy, Slice of Life
Studio: Doga Kobo
Streaming: Crunchyroll
This one is honestly just more of the same from the first season, and that's not exactly a bad thing. The draw here is very simple to understand: it's a show about cute girls who make video games, and that's it. You're not going to get any real drama or plot outside of some very basic instances of predictable "office politics/conflict" and expected project completion stuff. However, if you're into the kind of thing that New Game!! is offering, you're in for a well put together and decently funny cast with a heavy amount of pure Doga Kobo misplaced sakuga. The show is just as comfy and relaxing as its predecessor, and even if it's not as good as previous Doga Kobo offerings such as Love Lab and Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, it's still a great addition to the "cute girls slice of life" overflowing library.
I've since come around on the genre quite a bit from the first season, and I'm enjoying myself a good bit more even if my objective take on the series is likely the same as last time. Still, if you're into this kind of thing, you probably don't need me to tell you that it's worth your time.
Score: 6.5/10
Title: Princess Principal
Genre: Action, Drama, Mystery
Studio: Studio 3Hz
Streaming: Amazon Anime Strike
If you haven't pinned me for it already, I'll throw it out there that I'll watch any seasonal that's anime original. Not being shackled to a source, especially if that source is a manga (which heavily dictates shot composition), allows for far greater expression in a way that only animation is capable of achieving. With the industry spiraling more and more down a path of "only adaptation", seeing these original IPs is not only becoming more and more rare, but also less likely for them to bring anything truly "original" to the table. While Princess Principal might not be as abitious as something like Studio 3Hz's previous work, Flip Flappers, it still succeeds in leveraging its status as original to create something unique even if it does borrow some moe blob-ness to get the job done.
Princess Principal is first and foremost a show about spies. Girl spies of high school age. If you can't get past this fact, you're not going to get far into the show, even if the "high school" element is nigh invisible to the plot or even at all relevant, simply giving the girls somewhere to feasibly hide between missions. Speaking of the plot, I'm going to have to be scant on the details here since PP is primarily a mystery drama. However, what I can tell you is that whatever moe blob bullshit you're reading into with the character designs is far from the focus of the experience. If anything, it's used skillfully as a cover for the girls' covert activities, and never once feels like it's the purpose. As to why the show even opts for this art style we'll likely never know, but I'm guessing it was a marketing-based decision based on the lack of financial gain from Flip Flappers, and a need for some merchandise generation from the IP.
With that said, I don't think the character design detracts from PP's more gritty dramatic storytelling since the animation itself is so fluid and expressive, especially in regards to facial animation. Watching the girls act "in character" during spy missions is consistently great, with a high level of detail given to rapid changes in demeanor and mood when the stakes are high and the action moves into high gear. Action sequences do a great job of showing off PP's steampunk aesthetic, particularly in the vertical department due to Ange's "flight ball". Similarly to Kakegurui, Princess Principal does a great job of embracing its unique style throughout all of its pieces, wrapping its masterful jazz-inspired sountrack around the expected moe-but-dark core of the show that really just "clicks" from the first episode to the last.
Speaking of episodes, it's worth noting that Princess Principal does not tell its story chronologically by any definition. Individual episodes do have "case numbers" which we can use to establish a chronology of events after the fact, and although you are free to watch the series in chronological order, I heavily recommend release order. The focus of PP's intrigue is in our characters, and their characterization is far more impactful when viewed in release order. The plot itself is more or less treated as a backdrop for how it influences our group of spies, and it's in this that a lot of my gripes with the series begin to arise. The show opts for a near "monster of the week" formula until inevitable eleventh hour drama, and that hour feels even more forced than normal for this kind of structure. "Predictable" is a word I'd use to describe most of PP's overarching plot, and in a show that's supposed to be a mystery drama spy thriller, that's not a good thing. Oh, and if you were hoping for resolution for any our dangling plot threads, be prepared for massive disappointment. The ending of this show is paramount to one of the worst in recent memory, especially due to the fact that since there is no source and likely no hope for a second season, we're likely to never have our questions answered.
In conclusion, I can't say that I wasn't steadily disappointed by Princess Principle. With a first episode that came out of the gate firing on all cylinders and an absolutely killer aesthetic, I was ready to prematurely slap my "AOTS" sticker for summer right onto the cover. As I spent more time with it though, the problems with the core narrative just became more and more frustrating even if the audio and visuals both kept up and even improved over time. If you're someone who's capable of ignoring some bad story bits in favor of some great characters and awesome animation, then this one is definitely for you, but those that are looking for a well-executed cohesive narrative should likely look elsewhere.
Score: 8/10
Title: Re:Creators
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Fantasy
Studio: TROYCA
Streaming: Amazon Anime Strike
Since Sword Art Online swept the anime world by storm five years ago, nearly every single season since has had at least one big-budget isekai show. If you're not familiar with the term "isekai", it's a Japanese word literally meaning "another world", and it's used to throw a large blanket over this genre of typically escapist power fantasies where characters are magically whisked away to an alternate universe. Isekai has undoubtedly (and unfortunately) become a media-defining genre for anime due to SAO's popularity, with only a small handful of series being even remotely successful in leveraging the natural intrigue of such a premise into a compelling story. Re:Creators takes this isekai formula and flips it on its head, bringing fictional characters into the real world, but is that really enough to help it stand out amongst its cookie-cutter peers? On that alone, likely no, but Re:Creators thankfully has a lot more going for it than just a role-reversal.
The first thing is Re:Creators' interesting pedigree: studio TROYCA is Ei Aoki's relatively new animation studio, and although it has very few projects under its belt (only Aldnoah.Zero and Beautiful Bones), the staff is undoubtedly talented and puts out some impressive visual work. Aoki himself as director should speak volumes to anyone who's had the pleasure of watching Fate/Zero, and Hiroyuki Sawano's involvment with the music is just icing on the cake. Truly fulfilling the staff list's expecatations, Re:Creators is a predictably beautifully looking and sounding show from start to finish. Bringing together a large amount of characters from a wide array of different fictional series yet still having the designs look cohesive and retaining originality is a feat in and of itself, but keeping that quality throughout multiple different environments and action-heavy sequences is another. This is where Re:Creators really shines aesthetically, cleverly walking the line between cohesion and absurdity while still having individual characters stand out against draw-dropping backgrounds. Selesia and Meteora couldn't be more different from a character design perspective, and while they both retain the look of their respective series, they also look naturally great fighting together side by side. My hat is off Rei Hiroe and Ryuichi Makino for pulling this off; watching all these characters come together in this way has been consistently the largest factor in my enjoyment of the show.
So at this point, even if you haven't seen Re:Creators, you've probably guessed that this show probably contains a good bit of meta elements. And you'd be right: meta is absolutely the name of the game here. Nearly all the characters that are pulled into Re:Creators' world long to meet their "gods", which would be their authors, directors, or mangakas, and plead for them to improve their own worlds, revive their dead friends, or simply punish them for all the hardships they were forced to experience. This desire and the conflict that arises between two groups of "creations", those that reject their creators and those who accept them as normal people, are at the core of Re:Creators story. This might seem to be a little shallow at first glance, but the plot keeps it interesting with a fair bit of specific character-to-creator interaction and conflict, as well as two major dramatic character arcs that serve to add a little more "oomf" to the narrative throughout the show's longer-than-average run. The first of those arcs centers on Mamika, a Cardcaptor Sakura-esque magical girl character, and how coming to the real world shakes her to her core. Her reactions and responses to her cutesy attacks bringing down buildings and drawing blood from other creations are both powerful and heartbreaking, and the result of her "waking up" to the reality of her situation is a treat to watch play out... and it's a shame that the rest of Re:Creators starts to trip up around the climax of Mamika's arc.
While the plights and struggles of the creation characters in Re:Creators is the show's strength, the pacing and structure is its weakness. The narrative is content to drag on and on with needlessly long dumps of exposition, with Meteora sometimes talking for up to what seems like 85% of entire episodes. Re:Creators is not content to leave much unexplained, and is not afraid to go as far as it has to in order to justify its insane premise within the context of the show's world. Another source of slowdown is our main character, Souta, and his inability to share important information in life and death situations. His reasoning for witholding information is a good bit of anime autism mixed with a moderately sized helping of anime sadness, but even though the "sadness" bit is pretty well executed, it can't make up for the seemingly endless amount of situations that could have been solved or avoided entirely by Souta not being as much of an idiot as he is. Him finally revealing the "secret" serves to provide a clean split between our two dramatic character arcs, which does nothing but devalue the first for no benefit of the second, especially when the two are already inexplicably linked and have similar themes. To make matters worse, even after Souta "comes clean", the show still finds an excuse to drag, turning into some sort of action/workplace drama hybrid concerning the creators for a good few episodes leading up to the show's true climax. If Re:Creators were cut down to just thirteen or so episodes, maybe with a one-hour opening and closing special, it would have been a far better and more cohesive experience even if the price paid was a few less well-animated fight scenes.
So, does Re:Creators succeed in being intriguing despite these flaws? As an original anime product, yes, it definitely does, but it falls short of being something that will be well remembered or notably "artistic" in the medium, which unfortunately seemed to be its goal. The show is an audio-visual treat for a TV anime, and for all of the cringe-inducing meta content out there, I can honestly say that Re:Creators really did it justice. The industry is fairly well represented, if not idealized, and the in-universe lore for how the creations and industry were linked was interesting enough to carry me through many a Meteora monologue. Where Re:Creators fell short was in going beyond being a product, and failing to become the next Madoka or Evangelion when the stars had already aligned for it to do so. The show plays with some really heavy stuff, but was content to throw it by the wayside the second it got close to the line instead of pushing past it. Whether this was due to differences in vision and opinion between staff on differing sides is an unfortunate possibility, but it isn't something that has much worth when it won't change anything about the twenty-two episodes we have.
I've had to dance around as many spoilers and specifics here as I could with this review, and that's unfortunate because a lot of the things I enjoyed and had issues with were in those details. Still, I really don't want to be in the business of ruining an experience that many people have enjoyed and will enjoy, but I hope that I at least was able to convey my praise and misgivings with a show that really could have been so much more than it was. All I can say with this one is to try it for yourself; whether or not the frustration will take hold of you or just roll off is something I could never determine for you.
Score: 7.5/10
Title: Sakura Quest
Genre: Slice of Life, Drama
Studio: P.A. Works
Streaming: Crunchyroll
I think I can speak for all us when I say that we all took the P.A. Works-Shirobako bait hard on this one. Despite its better-than-average visuals for a pure slice of life show, Sakura Quest is just so incredibly boring and uninteresting that it borders on hard to watch. And that's really sad for a slice of life show; we don't exactly go into these things as anime watchers with any sort of expectations unless it's some kind of anticipated sequel. The worst part about Sakura Quest is that I don't even think the premise is relatively bad. A group of twenty-something year old girls revitalizing a small Japanese town is as novel and original as any for this kind of thing, especially since it dodges the dreaded "in high-school" bullet, but the execution is just so incredibly poor and slow that the show seems beyond saving.
To paint a needlessly bloody picture, Sakura Quest's metaphorical foot was fired into so many times throughout its inflated 25 episode run that it was completely severed, flying several miles before landing. It's almost like P.A. Works took this one on in an attempt to recapture the success that Shirobako had, but missed the point entirely. Shirobako was so well received because of its realistic, dream-crushing take on the anime industry, and how that environment effects those who work in it. While Sakura Quest might have an altogether different take on workplace drama, it's fundamentally less effective when the characters and situations that are supposed to evoke said drama seem unrealistic and arbitrary. Even how Yoshiko becomes the "queen" of Manoyama is farfetched and unbelievable at best, continually undermining every subsequent episode's content.
I'm really at a loss for words here. You can do so much better for pure slice-of-life than this, and if it's working women you're after then I direct you straight to this same studio's hit, Shirobako.
Score: 3/10
Title: Senki Zesshou Symphogear AXZ
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Music
Studio: Satelight
Streaming: N/A
Symphogear is undoubtedly my kind of show; it's pure unadulturated hype-inducing action-packed fun with a sprinkling of musical performance. The premise is absolutely ridiculous, the stakes are raised and raised each season past the point of even typical anime absurdity, and your eyes are constantly assualted by insane action animation. If you're not familiar at all with Symphogear, it's a relatively new anime-original project that's about magical girls that fight using the power of song. If that wasn't enough for you, add in a heaping helping of mecha-esque technojargon, enough yuri-baiting to make Hibike Euphonium blush, and a (chromatically) colorful supporting cast, and you have a product that rarely fails to be enjoyable. Whether that enjoyment is a laugh at the absurdity or a buying-in to the hype, or both, is up to you.
All this craziness alone wouldn't be enough for me to give such glowing praise to Symphogear, as I can name plenty of shows that go even farther off the wall than this. Execution is yet again the clincher here, and that's something that Symphogear nails pretty much all the time. Nearly all action in Symphogear is synonymous with a musical performance; every girl gets their own battle song, and fights are pefectly in sync with the music. When tensions raise and fall, the singing is more stressed or calm, sometimes even esacalating into a yell or scream when emotions are running high. And I'm not just talking about different mixing here, I'm talking about uniquely re-recorded songs for specific fights, complete with reprisals in some instances. If this was where the show stopped I might have just considered it a straight gimmick, but Symphogear goes the extra mile to include not only regular duets and group songs, but also new songs for every character, for every season. This isn't even mentioning how well-fit each song is for each character, each giving a deep yet concise message about each of their current goals and problems. The care and attention given to each performance can't be ignored, and continues to raise the hype level to maximum for every single fight. Pair this with consistenly great animation and good fight choreography, and you have a show that rarely fails to entertain.
However, Symphogear isn't devoid of flaws. At times the constant bombardment of audio-visual autism can be tiring, and the show definitely suffers from the Kill la Kill effect: trying to explain and contextualize your insanity. As a viewer, I don't really want to know or care about the why or how of the craziness happening on screen; I just want more of it. I get that this is hard to keep up the longer your series runs for, but that reasoning doesn't absolve Symphogear of the crime. The usually shounen-centric "expansion and escalation effect" outside of the actual songs/combat/performances is also starting to show some wear and tear, with this now fourth season really struggling to raise the stakes from the previous season in any meaningful way. The series also relies on some really hamfisted emotional messages that might be a bother to some, but with this kind of show, you've knowingly signed up for it just by deciding to watch.
Symphogear is a unique series that's worth checking out at the very least to see if it's your thing, and there's plenty of content here if you end up getting sucked in like I have. The fifth season has already been confirmed, and the series' general success will likely continue to drive it onwards past that.
Score: 8.5/10
Title: Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul
Genre: Fantasy, Action, Adventure
Studio: MAPPA
Streaming: Amazon Anime Strike
If you haven't heard of the Bahamut series, even as fervent anime fan, you'd be forgiven. Its second season has flown under the radar, even moreso than the first, although this time primarily due to the scourge that is Amazon Anime Strike. This is a shame, because the community is missing out on one of the most beautifully animated pure fantasy anime to come out in a long time with this continued adaptation, although referring to the Bahamut "series" as an adaptation is a stretch at best. It's (very) loosely based off of a mobile card game by Cygames, but nearly none of the plot or characters have anything to do with the game. In both this season and the first, Bahamut continually feels like someone's Dungeons and Dragons campaign rather than a tired adapatation, tweaked only slightly to account for slight Cygames branding and the animated medium. However, if it's the heavily DnD-inspired experience that you're most craving, I'll have to push you towards the first season rather than this one; Virgin Soul builds on the first season's DnD base to create a more plot-focused adventure rather than a "dice-roll decision"-laden romp.
Rather than dump us straight into a "campaign" like Bahamut's first season, Virgin Soul starts out clueing us in to the events following Bahamut's defeat until the present, through the eyes of our new female main character, Nina. I'm not here to talk much about the plot, but just know that you're in for a much slower-paced and well-thought-out arc than season one by miles. You're also going to get a heaping helping of romance-driven drama in the middle and later sections of this season, which might drive some away on premise alone, but be aware that it's far better executed than most fantasy action series tend to be. A few wonderfully animated dance sequences really nail the delivery for romantic scenes, as well as the trademark "anime-muted" yet detailed character designs that were employed in the first season. Speaking of detail and animation quality, Bahamut delivers some truly top-tier work for a TV anime from studio MAPPA. The show has a great deal of aerial motion and large-scale combat, and the choreography really makes the space feel as open as it can be while still retaining a high amount of fluid movement.
When talking about the great animation though, I unfortunately have to mention that this season of Bahamut is yet again laden with some dreaded anime CG. It's not as bad as it could be, and MAPPA at least tried to make it seem cohesive, but for such an otherwise visually stunning show to be plagued with it at all is really disappointing. My gripes aesthetically thankfully end right there, but I still have some misgivings with the plot and characters even if they are lessened from the previous season. The slower pace of the story this time around can kind of seem to drag, especially when compared to the blitzing pace of the previous season, and the additional time gives us as viewers an opportunity to acknowledge just how stupid some of these characters are. Drunken god, loli necromancer, and tightwad paladin start to become a little tired when you're foced to acknowledge them as characters with depth, and even if they do end up being a little deeper than a kiddie pool, it's still hard to shake your first impression. Also, some character decisions still feel a little bit "dice-roll"-y, lacking little sense and seeming a lot like a DM punishing for natural ones or rewarding for twenties, but I suppose this is part of the draw for those privy to the series' DnD-like nature.
For those of you who enjoyed the first season, and even those who thought it might have been a little lacking, I implore you to check out this show, and even moreso if you're someone who's played Dungeons and Dragons before. While this season could stand on its own, I'd still recommend giving the first season a watch before jumping into this; a lot of context for the setting is glossed over in the early episodes, and might leave those starting with season two alone a little in the dark.
Score: 8/10
Title: The Reflection
Genre: "Superheroes", Action
Studio: Studio DEEN
Streaming: Crunchyroll
God, what a let-down. This series is honest-to-goodness legitimately terrible, and not at all worth your time. From the second of Stan Lee's stupid voice over to the rotoscoped ED, everything about this show is a pain to observe. The art alone is bad enough to keep anyone with functioning eyeballs away, and was obviously only used to hide cheaply made CG amongst the hard-black-line "comic book" art style. Everything about this show feels incredibly cheap, and the poorly executed story and bad characters don't help it. About the only "praise" I can give the show is that is indeed an anime-original project, but original shit is still just shit.
Score: 1/10
I've decided that I'm going to hazard leaving some thoughts about the few two-cour shows I've picked up this season instead of just skipping over them, either leaving my recommendation to check it out or hitting it with a dreaded "skip it". Let's get to it, shall we?
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Genre: Comedy, Romance, Short 
Studio: Diomedia
Streaming: Crunchyroll
If you've been with me on one of my seasonal review journies before, you'll know that I'm a huge sucker for short-form anime in pretty much any form, whether it be a shortened episode count like Planetarian or an actual short like Aho-Girl here. Now Aho-Girl definitely doesn't do anything new, and it certainly isn't anything high-brow, but I'd be lying through my teeth if I didn't say I was having a good bit of fun with this show. If I had to sum up this series in just a few words, they would be "simple and endearing", and Aho-Girl leverages its shortened runtime of ~14 minutes beautifully to this effect. Speaking of "simple", the art here is possibly one of the closest to what I'd consider the "bare minimum" for being acceptable. Character designs are quite honestly downright boring, and the frame count is pretty low. It's never exactly hard to watch, but it doesn't have anything aesthetically that stands out either. The only exception somewhat is the short OP, which is typically spun into some kind of joke in and of itself.
Keeping with the same theme here, "simple" also perfectly describes what you're going to get with this show, because the title literally gives it away: it's about how much of an idiot Yoshiko is and the trouble she causes. The rest of our cast is a pretty well-executed romcom standard with the exception of our other main, A-kun, who isn't having any of Yoshiko's idiocy. The comedy is the expected mix of extremely fast-paced, romcom-staple jokes and a heavy dose of slapstick, so you'll know pretty quickly whether you find it funny or tired. The shortened runtime is key in this regard, as I can see Aho-Girl easily running itself into the ground with a 24 minute runtime. You can really only see Yoshiko get hit in so many different ways before it stops being funny, but sidestepping this with shortened episodes is a welcome and effective choice in making the tired and overdone into something fun and enjoyable again.
Score: 6.5/10
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Genre: Shounen, Action
Studio: Bones
Streaming: Crunchyroll
I have never been a fan of shounen anime, but dear God if this isn't one of the best shows to come out in the past few years. My gripes with the genre are consistently made to seem completely unfounded every week as new episodes air. To have a shounen manga adaptation clip along at a decent pace is already an impressive feat, but to also include incredible characters, stellar animation, and great music is just a medium-shattering achievement, especially when the series came straight out of SHONEN JUMP. The last I remember having this much pure unadulturated hype and fun with shounen was with YuYu Hakusho back when it aired on Toonami, and there's something to be said for recapturing (and going above) that magic. Oh, did I mention yet that there's nearly no filler? Yeah, there's only ONE anime-original episode, and the only way you'd even pick it out was if you were an avid manga reader.
It's been said to death by the anime community at large, but the secret to HeroAca's quality is in its perfect execution of what we already expect. You're going to get all of your standard shounen tropes here; HeroAca embraces them to the fullest degree. The difference is in HOW the show does them, and does them so, so, so right. Deku is the most compelling shounen main character I've encountered to date, with, for possibly the first time in shounen history, a believable reason to actually be considered an underdog. You can't help but empthaize with him in his struggles and be hype as all hell for his achievements, and the same can be said for the rest of the cast as well. So much obvious loving time and care was put into making our core cast feel like actual fucking characters instead of power-husk show-offs. Personality-rich, driven, and (most importantly) believable characters are the name of the game here, and I can't help but enjoy pretty much every character that gets any ounce of screentime.
None of this is to say that HeroAca, and by extension this second season, is perfect by any metric. There are some misgivings with the plot and some of the general anime "bleh" that plagues all releases to come out within the past several years (high school setting, etc...). World-building is also a little suspect, and there's a clear requirement of being able to both suspend disbelief and to not question the lack of exposition regarding the character's environment. This issue is especially notable when the show likes to play with the idea of the "ideal" of being a "real hero", with some heavy handed messages about how widespread power has warped public perception about what being a hero really is and what sort of behavior they should exhibit. Although an interesting and compelling discussion for HeroAca, it's heavily damaged by this lack of meaningful exposition, and can come across as misplaced and even boring if you haven't properly "bought-in" to the series.
Still, if we're talking in-genre here, and if you've been with me for this song-and-dance before you know we always are, you'll be hard pressed to find anything better than this. If you have ever been a fan of shounen anime, or you are just looking for an new pick-up with a fair bit of content on the bone, I implore you to check this one out. Whether you end up watching it or just dive straight into the manga, you defintely won't be disappointed.
Score: 9/10
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Genre: Action
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Streaming: "Netflix"
"Look who decided to show up and wave their big 'ol pecker around like they own the season." - Demolition D+, 2015
Fate/Apocrypha is just about everything you'd ever expect from the Fate franchise, and probably about all you'd ever want. It's undoubtedly one of the most popular shows this season, and all the Fate series ridiculousness has been cranked up to ten million. We have 14 servants and 14 masters, 1 "ruler", and an all out war between two factions that's been promised to lead straight into the old 7-servant deathmatch we've come to expect from Holy Grail War thusfar. With 25 episodes to play with and what has seemed to be a fairly rapid pace thus far, F/A seems poised to live up to the goal it's thrown out there in the first episode. A-1 Pictures is also doing their damndest to put on their best ufotable impression, and to be honest they're doing a pretty bang-up job so far. Fights are complex and well-choreographed with now-textbook Fate composted digital effects, but overall quality of the art "as stills" is poor when compared to the real deal ufotable adaptations like Fate/Zero and UBW.
There's a whole hell of a lot going on in every episode, and there's at the very minimum 30 or so characters that you need to be familiar with, so F/A is clearly walking the line for plot-intrigue vs. plot-fallout. As someone more than familiar with Nasuverse fuckery and a proud supporter of Fate's core concept being too compelling to ignore, I'm more than willing to see what side of the line F/A decides to fall on. If you aren't of this same mind and experience though, I'd take a step back and try Fate/Zero or Fate/Stay Night first to get your bearings before jumping into this one.
Fate Fans: Check it out.
Not Fate Fans: Hard skip now but come back later.
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Genre: Romance, Comedy, Harem
Studio: Pine Jam
Streaming: Crunchyroll
This show is NOT about games, gamers, or anything relating to games. These things definitely exist in the show, but it's not about them in the slightest. You know what is the focus? A fucking misunderstanding and a love hexagon. I queued this show up because I saw one girl in the show's gaming club main Elphelt in Guilty Gear: Xrd Rev2, and I've been regretting it ever since. Absolutely pants-on-head retarded main character, completely unbeliveable love interest, and a supporting cast so flat and uninteresting that I couldn't possibly tell you any of their names. To make matters worse, this show straight up looks like fucking garbage; character designs are as bland as they could possibly be and there's nothing to even be said about how things look in motion. The animation practically melts off the fucking screen into liquified garbage, and there isn't even any decent music to distract from the visuals sans the acceptable OP.
If you want a romantic comedy about video games, go watch Netoge no Yoma wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta instead. The fact that I have actually recommended something that trashy and with such a terribly long and ridiculous name should speak volumes to how terrible Gamers! really is.
Score: 2/10
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Title: Hajimete no Gal 
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Harem
Studio: NAZ
Streaming: Crunchyroll
This one looked so much more promising in the PVs than how it turned out. I thought that it was going to be more like the short Osheite! Galko-chan, which was an effective and lighthearted comedy with a heartfelt message about smashing stereotypes. Yes, this show even from the PVs had a far greater fanservice aspect, but you can still tell that the whole idea of Yame's character is that she's supposed to have a look and personality that are diametrically opposed. Well, that was promptly thrown out within the first couple minutes of episode one, and what we're left with is just complete and utter trash.
I hate every character in this show that isn't Yame, because they're either one-dimensional obssessed maniacs (one of them is particularly disturbing) or have personalities as flat as washboards. This isn't to say Yame is a good character either, but I just can't help but see Galko in her. The "comedy" and "plot" present is bad to downright appalling, leaving the show as nothing but a trashy fanservice show that I can barely stomach to watch. It very barely loses out Gamers! this season for the "Least Inspired Character Design" and "Shittiest Art" awards, so even if I cut my ears off and ignored the plot I still wouldn't be having a good time.
Leave this in the garbage can, watch Osheite! Galko-chan instead.
Score: 2/10
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Genre: Drama, Gaming (Gambling), Psychological
Studio: MAPPA
Streaming: "Netflix"
Imagine if we took the gaming challenges of No Game No Life, removed all the stupid loli bullshit, grounded it (slightly) more in reality, added a bunch of grotesque reaction faces, and genderbent the main characters. That's basically Kakegurui in a nutshell, and whether or not you can put up with the never-ending cycle of our main character Yumeko overcoming countless attempts of cheating with supposed skill pulled from the ether is up to you. For me, I was content to be pulled along for the ride and enjoy a supremely good-looking and great-sounding show while reveling in the absurdity of the premise; a gambling school where students can somehow throw massive amounts of cash around without a care in the world.
If my distaste for the community's general opinion of "Kakegurui's characters overcoming all odds" was the thing that "just didn't seem right", I guess I just made it clear. The premise and actions of the characters were completely ridiculous from the outset, so why is it that Yumeko's asspull-y victories are what is focused on as "just a little too out there"? If you were actually looking for a story that had some sort of real, high stakes, Kakegurui was never what you were looking for, and this was blatantly obvious from a few minutes into episode one. Like, come on, a show where characters literally orgasm from gambling was never meant to be taken that seriously.
Well if Kakegurui isn't some sort of new age Kaiki, then what exactly is it? For me, it ends up being an absurdist dark comedy with a hell of a lot of style. The art and atmosphere just ooze this sort of slight grit that I can't get enough of, and the colorful yet dark character designs are a joy to watch both at rest and in motion. The ultra-grotesque facial expressions that pop up every once and a while are an incredible riot, and give the show an off-putting feel that drives the absurdity all the way home for me. The score also helps support the gambling scenes, and even if it's overall just a little on the weaker side, Kakegurui has far and away the best OP of the season; I just can't get enough of that Japanese jazz.
Kakegurui really can be a whole mess of fun if you let it be. Those of you that can't bring yourselves to give in to the absurdity of it all might find yourselves pretty frustrated, but I still think this one is worth rolling the dice on.
Score: 7/10
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Genre: Action, Bishounen
Studio: ufotable
Streaming: Crunchyroll
I really dislike this show. A lot. And that's sad for it coming out of one of my favorite animation studios. And I get it, I'm not exactly the target audience for a "bishounen", but I think I can get behind the idea of cool sword fights just about as much as anyone else can. ufotable never fails to impress with their forte in composted digital effects and well choreographed fights, but even those can't save what is to date the worst anime adaptation of a mobile game I've sat through. And it wasn't the source that was really the problem at the end of the day. We've seen that literally anything can be adapted into something good with a series like Rage of Bahamut, so a concept as naturally "too cool for school" as legendary Japanese weapons being revived as time-traveling, timeline-protecting samurai didn't exactly have to be a straight dumpster fire. Yes, the premise is ridiculous, but that hasn't stopped anyone before, nor does it immediately discount it as being a bad series.
Well, with such a powerhouse studio at work and a fringe-acceptable premise, what exactly went wrong? The unfortunate answer is everything except for the fight scenes and animation. The characters are bland and uninteresting, the plot could be called from a mile away while simultaneously making little to no sense, the villians act without reason or motivation, there are stupid fucking mascot characters that talk in an incredibly annoying voice, and to top it all off, there's a lower frame count than usual for a ufotable production... and it shows.
If you're really chomping at the bit for some good fight animation, then yes, give this one a look. ufotable are masters of their craft in this department, especially when it comes to fights at night, of which there are many. It's just that even ignoring everything else that Touken Ranbu offers is not at all worth that payoff. Not for me, and hopefully not for you either.
Score: 4/10
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Genre: Adventure, Mystery, Action
Studio: Kinema Citrus
Streaming: Amazon Anime Strike
Have you ever thought about what lies at the bottom of the Mariana Trench? What mysteries do you think could be uncovered if you were to dive below to 11,000 meters, and just freely observe it? That sense of wonder and discovery is what Made In Abyss is all about. In this world, a myserious giant pit opened up some unknown number of years ago, and humanity quickly began to make "raids" into it only to discover mysterious relics, unbelievable scenery, and dangerous creatures. Made In Abyss' story takes place a few generations after cave-raiding the "abyss" has become commonplace, told through the adventures of a young girl and a humanoid relic, Riko and Reg. Their journey to the bottom of the abyss has been rightfully the highlight of this summer anime season, so let's dive right into why it's so deserving of praise, shall we?
First and foremost, any watcher of Made In Abyss will likely first mention the series' incredible visuals. Kinema Citrus went truly above and beyond here, specifically with background work. Riko and Reg will walk through a location for only a few frames, but yet the backgrounds are all of wallpaper-worthy levels of detail. That quality adds greatly to driving home the mysterious, dangerous, and yet beautiful nature of the abyss, but this is most supported by the diametrically opposed character and monster designs. Humans in Made In Abyss are designed in a more cute style across the board, with even Ozen being far more "moe" than both her demeanor and actions would entail. Now, we've seen "cute but dark" done to death since Madoka seemed to invent it a few years back, but the intent of the design opposition here is much more focused on growing the sense of "other" within the abyss rather than trying to directly elicit feelings of dread from the viewer. The biology of the abyss is drawn in a completely different style from everything else, with jagged harsh linework and animated with unnatural but smooth movement. As our heroes descend further and further, creatures within the abyss rightfully feel more and more alien, unnatural, and dangerous. The effect is far more subtle than something like Madoka or Higurashi, but Made In Abyss' more careful execution of visual opposition works beautifully, and is consistently a joy to watch.
All this love and care placed into detailed visuals carries directly into Made In Abyss' world-building. The show knows just how interested you are in the mysteries of the abyss, and expertly scatters its information amongst story beats without ever feeling over-expository and still retaining an air of the unknown. To go into specifics would ruin the fun, but with abyssal mysteries such as the Curse, White Whistles, and Hollows are a few highlights of this kind of expertly handled instances of story-driven world-building. Hitching everything to Riko and Reg's descent in this way is very effective as a "tour" of the abyss, but unfortunately there is one key issue with their descent from a narrative perspective that mars the plot: their age. Riko is incredibly young and naive, and Reg is portrayed as young as well. Their repeated success in descending through zones that have slayed far more experienced cave raiders is eyebrow-raising at the very least, even if Reg is more "well equipped" than the standard raider. The show attempts to correct this with some particularly difficult to watch (gore) content in the last third of the show's run, which works to lessen importance of earlier successes but ultimately comes too late.
In spite of this, the dramatic climax and resolution of Made In Abyss' final few episodes was handled masterfully, giving a far better ending for an ongoing manga adaptation than any viewer was expecting in a special hour-long final episode. Nanachi's dramatic arc gave a heartfelt but hopeful conclusion for our two young raiders, and answered many of our questions while still leaving us chomping at the bit for more. Even if a second season never comes, Made In Abyss is a show that every anime fan should check out, and will be well-remembered as one of the best anime to release in current memory. Please give this one a look, but be aware that Riko and Reg's adventure to the bottom of the abyss is not for the faint of heart, no matter how cute and comfy it my look at first glance.
Score: 9/10, Anime of the Season
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Title: Mahoujin Guruguru 
Genre: Comedy, Adventure
Studio: Production I.G.
Streaming: Crunchyroll
Mahoujin Guruguru is a 2017 reboot of an early 1990's manga series, with a hell of a comedic twist. Every episode of this show so far has been a non-stop riot, and it's a shame that no one is talking about this show. With stuff like Fate/Apocrypha and HeroAca:S2 airing at the same time, I understand it maybe not getting a large amount of attention, but for a show that's airing on Crunchyroll to be this criminally underwatched for how good it is must be some sort of crime. But I digress; I'm here to tell you why the show is good, not complain about why it has been undeservingly unpopular.
Guruguru's comedy mostly revolves around lampooning classic JRPGs, just as the manga did back over twenty years ago. However, Production I.G. has done a great job with modernizing the humor to ensure it appeals to people who might have missed out on the NES or SNES glory days, while still retaining a very "retro" aesthetic with visual affects such as pixelating objects for close up shots or animating "overworld movement" in sprite art. The cutesy Dragon Warrior-esque character designs and art do a great job of supporting the humor, and simplistic designs give an undoubtedly huge relief to the animation team with the show's over-abundance of fluid motion. In any one cut, very rarely is something not moving in Guruguru, which is pretty rare these days for TV anime; you're always going to have to deal with the usual pan and still shots during exposition so that the budget can be preserved.
While making fun of or honoring RPGs in anime isn't exactly something new, Guruguru succeeds on the merit of its execution. In a comedy, characters are going to be paramount, and that's one of highest praises I can give to the show. The characters are relateable and lovable, with our two mains acting more like "players" despite never being hamfistedly referred to as them. Watching just Nike and Kukuri travel together is a treat in and of itself, but the supporting cast is a riot as well. Guruguru also strikes a great balance between constant parody and progressing its story, where plot beats are always instantly contrasted with some sort of joke.
This one is running for a full 24 episode season, and I for one couldn't be happier. If you're in need of something lighthearted and have been a fan of JRPGs at any point in your life, definitely check this one out. Hopefully it can keep up its level of quality throughout its run.
Recommendation: Check it out
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Title: Netsuzou TRap 
Genre: Yuri, NTR, Short
Studio: Creators in Pack
Streaming: Crunchyroll
At what cost do we as viewers continue to chase the yuri dragon? Where do we even begin to draw the line? Is netorare the last and final straw, or is it worth struggling through literally anime cucking to experience just a bit of that sweet lily bliss? This is the question that Netsuzou TRap asks us, and that answer is a firm and predictable "No".
With genre tags that you might expect from a legitimate hentai, you're probably just a little confused not only why this is present on such a prestiguous list such as Beanwolf's Brain Dump: Seasonal Anime Reviews in the first place, but as to why this is even streaming on Crunchyroll. As expected, the answer to both questions is an attempt to indulge in unadulturated otaku degeneracy at the cost of our own self-worth. Crunchyroll is likely benefitting from the endeavour, but I'm over here just struggling not to puke after each and every episode of this garbage. If this shit was any longer than 9 minutes per episode, I think I'd have been hospitalized by now.
I'll spare you the trouble of listing off everything that's bad about this show, because we'd be here for the rest of the year. Instead, here's a snapshot: terribly written characters, inconsistent art and animation, bad character design, and a plot that makes about as much sense as a trainwreck in the sky. Oh, and let's not forget the incredibly rape-y and terrifying actions perpetrated by both our male and female cast, specifically Hotaru and Fujiwara. Seriously, Hotaru repeatedly effectively rapes Yuma, and it's portrayed as encouraged and accepted while Fujiwara's equally as grotesque actions are villified. If you don't think there's something seriously wrong here after about 15 or 20 minutes of this series, you need to get your head checked.
I don't know how this got adapted into anime, and I'm not sure what kind of insane fantasy world the source's author lives in, but dear God please do not watch this show. For your own good, please stay far, far away.
Score: 1/10
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Title: New Game!! 
Genre: CGCS, Comedy, Slice of Life
Studio: Doga Kobo
Streaming: Crunchyroll
This one is honestly just more of the same from the first season, and that's not exactly a bad thing. The draw here is very simple to understand: it's a show about cute girls who make video games, and that's it. You're not going to get any real drama or plot outside of some very basic instances of predictable "office politics/conflict" and expected project completion stuff. However, if you're into the kind of thing that New Game!! is offering, you're in for a well put together and decently funny cast with a heavy amount of pure Doga Kobo misplaced sakuga. The show is just as comfy and relaxing as its predecessor, and even if it's not as good as previous Doga Kobo offerings such as Love Lab and Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, it's still a great addition to the "cute girls slice of life" overflowing library.
I've since come around on the genre quite a bit from the first season, and I'm enjoying myself a good bit more even if my objective take on the series is likely the same as last time. Still, if you're into this kind of thing, you probably don't need me to tell you that it's worth your time.
Score: 6.5/10
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Genre: Action, Drama, Mystery
Studio: Studio 3Hz
Streaming: Amazon Anime Strike
If you haven't pinned me for it already, I'll throw it out there that I'll watch any seasonal that's anime original. Not being shackled to a source, especially if that source is a manga (which heavily dictates shot composition), allows for far greater expression in a way that only animation is capable of achieving. With the industry spiraling more and more down a path of "only adaptation", seeing these original IPs is not only becoming more and more rare, but also less likely for them to bring anything truly "original" to the table. While Princess Principal might not be as abitious as something like Studio 3Hz's previous work, Flip Flappers, it still succeeds in leveraging its status as original to create something unique even if it does borrow some moe blob-ness to get the job done.
Princess Principal is first and foremost a show about spies. Girl spies of high school age. If you can't get past this fact, you're not going to get far into the show, even if the "high school" element is nigh invisible to the plot or even at all relevant, simply giving the girls somewhere to feasibly hide between missions. Speaking of the plot, I'm going to have to be scant on the details here since PP is primarily a mystery drama. However, what I can tell you is that whatever moe blob bullshit you're reading into with the character designs is far from the focus of the experience. If anything, it's used skillfully as a cover for the girls' covert activities, and never once feels like it's the purpose. As to why the show even opts for this art style we'll likely never know, but I'm guessing it was a marketing-based decision based on the lack of financial gain from Flip Flappers, and a need for some merchandise generation from the IP.
With that said, I don't think the character design detracts from PP's more gritty dramatic storytelling since the animation itself is so fluid and expressive, especially in regards to facial animation. Watching the girls act "in character" during spy missions is consistently great, with a high level of detail given to rapid changes in demeanor and mood when the stakes are high and the action moves into high gear. Action sequences do a great job of showing off PP's steampunk aesthetic, particularly in the vertical department due to Ange's "flight ball". Similarly to Kakegurui, Princess Principal does a great job of embracing its unique style throughout all of its pieces, wrapping its masterful jazz-inspired sountrack around the expected moe-but-dark core of the show that really just "clicks" from the first episode to the last.
Speaking of episodes, it's worth noting that Princess Principal does not tell its story chronologically by any definition. Individual episodes do have "case numbers" which we can use to establish a chronology of events after the fact, and although you are free to watch the series in chronological order, I heavily recommend release order. The focus of PP's intrigue is in our characters, and their characterization is far more impactful when viewed in release order. The plot itself is more or less treated as a backdrop for how it influences our group of spies, and it's in this that a lot of my gripes with the series begin to arise. The show opts for a near "monster of the week" formula until inevitable eleventh hour drama, and that hour feels even more forced than normal for this kind of structure. "Predictable" is a word I'd use to describe most of PP's overarching plot, and in a show that's supposed to be a mystery drama spy thriller, that's not a good thing. Oh, and if you were hoping for resolution for any our dangling plot threads, be prepared for massive disappointment. The ending of this show is paramount to one of the worst in recent memory, especially due to the fact that since there is no source and likely no hope for a second season, we're likely to never have our questions answered.
In conclusion, I can't say that I wasn't steadily disappointed by Princess Principle. With a first episode that came out of the gate firing on all cylinders and an absolutely killer aesthetic, I was ready to prematurely slap my "AOTS" sticker for summer right onto the cover. As I spent more time with it though, the problems with the core narrative just became more and more frustrating even if the audio and visuals both kept up and even improved over time. If you're someone who's capable of ignoring some bad story bits in favor of some great characters and awesome animation, then this one is definitely for you, but those that are looking for a well-executed cohesive narrative should likely look elsewhere.
Score: 8/10
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Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Fantasy
Studio: TROYCA
Streaming: Amazon Anime Strike
Since Sword Art Online swept the anime world by storm five years ago, nearly every single season since has had at least one big-budget isekai show. If you're not familiar with the term "isekai", it's a Japanese word literally meaning "another world", and it's used to throw a large blanket over this genre of typically escapist power fantasies where characters are magically whisked away to an alternate universe. Isekai has undoubtedly (and unfortunately) become a media-defining genre for anime due to SAO's popularity, with only a small handful of series being even remotely successful in leveraging the natural intrigue of such a premise into a compelling story. Re:Creators takes this isekai formula and flips it on its head, bringing fictional characters into the real world, but is that really enough to help it stand out amongst its cookie-cutter peers? On that alone, likely no, but Re:Creators thankfully has a lot more going for it than just a role-reversal.
The first thing is Re:Creators' interesting pedigree: studio TROYCA is Ei Aoki's relatively new animation studio, and although it has very few projects under its belt (only Aldnoah.Zero and Beautiful Bones), the staff is undoubtedly talented and puts out some impressive visual work. Aoki himself as director should speak volumes to anyone who's had the pleasure of watching Fate/Zero, and Hiroyuki Sawano's involvment with the music is just icing on the cake. Truly fulfilling the staff list's expecatations, Re:Creators is a predictably beautifully looking and sounding show from start to finish. Bringing together a large amount of characters from a wide array of different fictional series yet still having the designs look cohesive and retaining originality is a feat in and of itself, but keeping that quality throughout multiple different environments and action-heavy sequences is another. This is where Re:Creators really shines aesthetically, cleverly walking the line between cohesion and absurdity while still having individual characters stand out against draw-dropping backgrounds. Selesia and Meteora couldn't be more different from a character design perspective, and while they both retain the look of their respective series, they also look naturally great fighting together side by side. My hat is off Rei Hiroe and Ryuichi Makino for pulling this off; watching all these characters come together in this way has been consistently the largest factor in my enjoyment of the show.
So at this point, even if you haven't seen Re:Creators, you've probably guessed that this show probably contains a good bit of meta elements. And you'd be right: meta is absolutely the name of the game here. Nearly all the characters that are pulled into Re:Creators' world long to meet their "gods", which would be their authors, directors, or mangakas, and plead for them to improve their own worlds, revive their dead friends, or simply punish them for all the hardships they were forced to experience. This desire and the conflict that arises between two groups of "creations", those that reject their creators and those who accept them as normal people, are at the core of Re:Creators story. This might seem to be a little shallow at first glance, but the plot keeps it interesting with a fair bit of specific character-to-creator interaction and conflict, as well as two major dramatic character arcs that serve to add a little more "oomf" to the narrative throughout the show's longer-than-average run. The first of those arcs centers on Mamika, a Cardcaptor Sakura-esque magical girl character, and how coming to the real world shakes her to her core. Her reactions and responses to her cutesy attacks bringing down buildings and drawing blood from other creations are both powerful and heartbreaking, and the result of her "waking up" to the reality of her situation is a treat to watch play out... and it's a shame that the rest of Re:Creators starts to trip up around the climax of Mamika's arc.
While the plights and struggles of the creation characters in Re:Creators is the show's strength, the pacing and structure is its weakness. The narrative is content to drag on and on with needlessly long dumps of exposition, with Meteora sometimes talking for up to what seems like 85% of entire episodes. Re:Creators is not content to leave much unexplained, and is not afraid to go as far as it has to in order to justify its insane premise within the context of the show's world. Another source of slowdown is our main character, Souta, and his inability to share important information in life and death situations. His reasoning for witholding information is a good bit of anime autism mixed with a moderately sized helping of anime sadness, but even though the "sadness" bit is pretty well executed, it can't make up for the seemingly endless amount of situations that could have been solved or avoided entirely by Souta not being as much of an idiot as he is. Him finally revealing the "secret" serves to provide a clean split between our two dramatic character arcs, which does nothing but devalue the first for no benefit of the second, especially when the two are already inexplicably linked and have similar themes. To make matters worse, even after Souta "comes clean", the show still finds an excuse to drag, turning into some sort of action/workplace drama hybrid concerning the creators for a good few episodes leading up to the show's true climax. If Re:Creators were cut down to just thirteen or so episodes, maybe with a one-hour opening and closing special, it would have been a far better and more cohesive experience even if the price paid was a few less well-animated fight scenes.
So, does Re:Creators succeed in being intriguing despite these flaws? As an original anime product, yes, it definitely does, but it falls short of being something that will be well remembered or notably "artistic" in the medium, which unfortunately seemed to be its goal. The show is an audio-visual treat for a TV anime, and for all of the cringe-inducing meta content out there, I can honestly say that Re:Creators really did it justice. The industry is fairly well represented, if not idealized, and the in-universe lore for how the creations and industry were linked was interesting enough to carry me through many a Meteora monologue. Where Re:Creators fell short was in going beyond being a product, and failing to become the next Madoka or Evangelion when the stars had already aligned for it to do so. The show plays with some really heavy stuff, but was content to throw it by the wayside the second it got close to the line instead of pushing past it. Whether this was due to differences in vision and opinion between staff on differing sides is an unfortunate possibility, but it isn't something that has much worth when it won't change anything about the twenty-two episodes we have.
I've had to dance around as many spoilers and specifics here as I could with this review, and that's unfortunate because a lot of the things I enjoyed and had issues with were in those details. Still, I really don't want to be in the business of ruining an experience that many people have enjoyed and will enjoy, but I hope that I at least was able to convey my praise and misgivings with a show that really could have been so much more than it was. All I can say with this one is to try it for yourself; whether or not the frustration will take hold of you or just roll off is something I could never determine for you.
Score: 7.5/10
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Genre: Slice of Life, Drama
Studio: P.A. Works
Streaming: Crunchyroll
I think I can speak for all us when I say that we all took the P.A. Works-Shirobako bait hard on this one. Despite its better-than-average visuals for a pure slice of life show, Sakura Quest is just so incredibly boring and uninteresting that it borders on hard to watch. And that's really sad for a slice of life show; we don't exactly go into these things as anime watchers with any sort of expectations unless it's some kind of anticipated sequel. The worst part about Sakura Quest is that I don't even think the premise is relatively bad. A group of twenty-something year old girls revitalizing a small Japanese town is as novel and original as any for this kind of thing, especially since it dodges the dreaded "in high-school" bullet, but the execution is just so incredibly poor and slow that the show seems beyond saving.
To paint a needlessly bloody picture, Sakura Quest's metaphorical foot was fired into so many times throughout its inflated 25 episode run that it was completely severed, flying several miles before landing. It's almost like P.A. Works took this one on in an attempt to recapture the success that Shirobako had, but missed the point entirely. Shirobako was so well received because of its realistic, dream-crushing take on the anime industry, and how that environment effects those who work in it. While Sakura Quest might have an altogether different take on workplace drama, it's fundamentally less effective when the characters and situations that are supposed to evoke said drama seem unrealistic and arbitrary. Even how Yoshiko becomes the "queen" of Manoyama is farfetched and unbelievable at best, continually undermining every subsequent episode's content.
I'm really at a loss for words here. You can do so much better for pure slice-of-life than this, and if it's working women you're after then I direct you straight to this same studio's hit, Shirobako.
Score: 3/10
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Title: Senki Zesshou Symphogear AXZ
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Music
Studio: Satelight
Streaming: N/A
Symphogear is undoubtedly my kind of show; it's pure unadulturated hype-inducing action-packed fun with a sprinkling of musical performance. The premise is absolutely ridiculous, the stakes are raised and raised each season past the point of even typical anime absurdity, and your eyes are constantly assualted by insane action animation. If you're not familiar at all with Symphogear, it's a relatively new anime-original project that's about magical girls that fight using the power of song. If that wasn't enough for you, add in a heaping helping of mecha-esque technojargon, enough yuri-baiting to make Hibike Euphonium blush, and a (chromatically) colorful supporting cast, and you have a product that rarely fails to be enjoyable. Whether that enjoyment is a laugh at the absurdity or a buying-in to the hype, or both, is up to you.
All this craziness alone wouldn't be enough for me to give such glowing praise to Symphogear, as I can name plenty of shows that go even farther off the wall than this. Execution is yet again the clincher here, and that's something that Symphogear nails pretty much all the time. Nearly all action in Symphogear is synonymous with a musical performance; every girl gets their own battle song, and fights are pefectly in sync with the music. When tensions raise and fall, the singing is more stressed or calm, sometimes even esacalating into a yell or scream when emotions are running high. And I'm not just talking about different mixing here, I'm talking about uniquely re-recorded songs for specific fights, complete with reprisals in some instances. If this was where the show stopped I might have just considered it a straight gimmick, but Symphogear goes the extra mile to include not only regular duets and group songs, but also new songs for every character, for every season. This isn't even mentioning how well-fit each song is for each character, each giving a deep yet concise message about each of their current goals and problems. The care and attention given to each performance can't be ignored, and continues to raise the hype level to maximum for every single fight. Pair this with consistenly great animation and good fight choreography, and you have a show that rarely fails to entertain.
However, Symphogear isn't devoid of flaws. At times the constant bombardment of audio-visual autism can be tiring, and the show definitely suffers from the Kill la Kill effect: trying to explain and contextualize your insanity. As a viewer, I don't really want to know or care about the why or how of the craziness happening on screen; I just want more of it. I get that this is hard to keep up the longer your series runs for, but that reasoning doesn't absolve Symphogear of the crime. The usually shounen-centric "expansion and escalation effect" outside of the actual songs/combat/performances is also starting to show some wear and tear, with this now fourth season really struggling to raise the stakes from the previous season in any meaningful way. The series also relies on some really hamfisted emotional messages that might be a bother to some, but with this kind of show, you've knowingly signed up for it just by deciding to watch.
Symphogear is a unique series that's worth checking out at the very least to see if it's your thing, and there's plenty of content here if you end up getting sucked in like I have. The fifth season has already been confirmed, and the series' general success will likely continue to drive it onwards past that.
Score: 8.5/10
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Genre: Fantasy, Action, Adventure
Studio: MAPPA
Streaming: Amazon Anime Strike
If you haven't heard of the Bahamut series, even as fervent anime fan, you'd be forgiven. Its second season has flown under the radar, even moreso than the first, although this time primarily due to the scourge that is Amazon Anime Strike. This is a shame, because the community is missing out on one of the most beautifully animated pure fantasy anime to come out in a long time with this continued adaptation, although referring to the Bahamut "series" as an adaptation is a stretch at best. It's (very) loosely based off of a mobile card game by Cygames, but nearly none of the plot or characters have anything to do with the game. In both this season and the first, Bahamut continually feels like someone's Dungeons and Dragons campaign rather than a tired adapatation, tweaked only slightly to account for slight Cygames branding and the animated medium. However, if it's the heavily DnD-inspired experience that you're most craving, I'll have to push you towards the first season rather than this one; Virgin Soul builds on the first season's DnD base to create a more plot-focused adventure rather than a "dice-roll decision"-laden romp.
Rather than dump us straight into a "campaign" like Bahamut's first season, Virgin Soul starts out clueing us in to the events following Bahamut's defeat until the present, through the eyes of our new female main character, Nina. I'm not here to talk much about the plot, but just know that you're in for a much slower-paced and well-thought-out arc than season one by miles. You're also going to get a heaping helping of romance-driven drama in the middle and later sections of this season, which might drive some away on premise alone, but be aware that it's far better executed than most fantasy action series tend to be. A few wonderfully animated dance sequences really nail the delivery for romantic scenes, as well as the trademark "anime-muted" yet detailed character designs that were employed in the first season. Speaking of detail and animation quality, Bahamut delivers some truly top-tier work for a TV anime from studio MAPPA. The show has a great deal of aerial motion and large-scale combat, and the choreography really makes the space feel as open as it can be while still retaining a high amount of fluid movement.
When talking about the great animation though, I unfortunately have to mention that this season of Bahamut is yet again laden with some dreaded anime CG. It's not as bad as it could be, and MAPPA at least tried to make it seem cohesive, but for such an otherwise visually stunning show to be plagued with it at all is really disappointing. My gripes aesthetically thankfully end right there, but I still have some misgivings with the plot and characters even if they are lessened from the previous season. The slower pace of the story this time around can kind of seem to drag, especially when compared to the blitzing pace of the previous season, and the additional time gives us as viewers an opportunity to acknowledge just how stupid some of these characters are. Drunken god, loli necromancer, and tightwad paladin start to become a little tired when you're foced to acknowledge them as characters with depth, and even if they do end up being a little deeper than a kiddie pool, it's still hard to shake your first impression. Also, some character decisions still feel a little bit "dice-roll"-y, lacking little sense and seeming a lot like a DM punishing for natural ones or rewarding for twenties, but I suppose this is part of the draw for those privy to the series' DnD-like nature.
For those of you who enjoyed the first season, and even those who thought it might have been a little lacking, I implore you to check out this show, and even moreso if you're someone who's played Dungeons and Dragons before. While this season could stand on its own, I'd still recommend giving the first season a watch before jumping into this; a lot of context for the setting is glossed over in the early episodes, and might leave those starting with season two alone a little in the dark.
Score: 8/10
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Genre: "Superheroes", Action
Studio: Studio DEEN
Streaming: Crunchyroll
God, what a let-down. This series is honest-to-goodness legitimately terrible, and not at all worth your time. From the second of Stan Lee's stupid voice over to the rotoscoped ED, everything about this show is a pain to observe. The art alone is bad enough to keep anyone with functioning eyeballs away, and was obviously only used to hide cheaply made CG amongst the hard-black-line "comic book" art style. Everything about this show feels incredibly cheap, and the poorly executed story and bad characters don't help it. About the only "praise" I can give the show is that is indeed an anime-original project, but original shit is still just shit.
Score: 1/10