Part 2 of 2 for the Winter 2021 First Impressions.
The following premieres will be detailed in their own First Impressions posts: Horimiya, Idoly Pride, and Wonder Egg Priority (if I get too busy, I’ll include them here).
Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki
I’m tired of anime relying on video games as a crutch of some kind and the idea of going through real life like it’s a video game is downright laughable to me. I may be a gamer myself but this show is not for me.
So I’m a Spider, So What?
Isekai? Spiders? Millepensee CGI? What a “winning” combination. I first saw the sneak peak Crunchyroll posted on Youtube and that was frankly all I needed to know that this show is not for me. In the interest of fairness, I still watched the first episode but the extra material did little to persuade me.
Idolls!
A show about struggling idols who suddenly need to git gud for a gig in ten days. The premise is fine though I’m not entirely sure why the characters are convinced to turn their careers around by a talking statue. No, I didn’t make that up. Also baffling is the animation. Aside from rough CGI, the character models and the backgrounds just don’t mesh aesthetically.
Back Arrow
This was one of the shots in the dark in my season preview. I was more or less just drawn to the fact that you have Code Geass director Gorou Taniguchi and Gurren Lagann writer Kazuki Nakashima collaborating together. For the most part, Back Arrow just seems like a typical, super robot series, at least as far as I can tell in the first episode. I will say, the mythos is looking to be surprisingly dense despite its heavy focus on comedy and absurdism. My one hope is that Nakashima will write in an emotional core within the series, much like how he did with Gurren Lagann, though part of me does think that’s wishful thinking.
Scar on the Praeter
I have no idea what this show is about; something about a group of lawless, superpowered agents protecting the peace? The worldbuilding is all over the place. It’s hard to pay attention to the story anyway with how distractingly ugly the visuals are. I don’t know what the deal is with GoHands but they keep using the same CG-heavy art style and it just doesn’t work. To be fair though, I can’t exactly call their latest show the ugliest anime of the season.
The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter
A fantasy anime where the soon to be overpowered protagonist becomes overpowered by entering a hidden dungeon and getting kinky with the girls in his life. I frankly didn’t find it all that funny so pass.
Dr. Ramune -Mysterious Disease Specialist-
The general premise of a doctor knowledgeable in the unknown is fine enough. It’s the mystery of the week provided in the premiere that turns me off. The very concept of the client crying condiments is just dumb and it horribly clashes with the episode’s more serious message about parental neglect.
SK8 the Infinity
I zoned out a bit on SK8 though the show gradually caught my attention with the introduction of its protagonist, Langa (Chiaki Kobayashi). I like his awkward personality as well as seeing his background in snowboarding translate into skateboarding, which the show revolves around. Bones’ animation looks quite good though this is Bones we’re talking about.
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Incarnation
As someone who’s tired of isekai, I didn’t get what the fuss is for this show and the premiere does little for me. I somewhat appreciate that the show plays the isekai formula with little bells and whistles but I’d also argue that there is a reason why a lot of isekai shows resort to dumb gimmicks so not having one is rather moot.
Ex-Arm
We were all ready to bash Ex-Arm after that infamous first trailer and…yeah, the show still isn’t looking too hot. I firmly believe writing is the most important aspect in telling a story and I do think the show’s premise of a dead guy whose consciousness is being used as some sort of weapon could be interesting. Even if the writing is somehow good though, I doubt that would carry the show enough, not when the show looks so ugly. Apparently, the staff are all new to animation and it shows. I’ve found Crunchyroll’s original programming to be hit or miss but I have a feeling this show will especially sour people’s opinions and hopes for it.
Non Non Biyori Nonstop
I really enjoyed my time with Non Non Biyori back in December so I’m all for seeing the third season. Evidently, this season is apparently set parallel to Seasons 1 and 2. At this point, I’m convinced the characters of this show are trapped in a time loop and it somehow is Renge’s doing. That does frustrate me a bit as I think watching these characters grow up could be really interesting. Still, it’s more Non Non Biyori. The show is still hilarious and delightful. Renge is still one of the greatest characters ever. It says something about a show if it’s able to get a slight pass on its lack of progression.
Redo of Healer
A fantasy show about a white mage reversing time so he can enact revenge on his fellow Heroes (all of whom are women) who physically and sexually abused him…by physically and sexually abusing them. I can see why this raised a lot of eyebrows. Any premise can be told well and truth be told, this premiere is mostly setup so while this premise isn’t my cup of tea, it’s too early to say how it’ll actually pan out.
If anything, I was just disinterested in the premiere. There’s some interesting bits of worldbuilding such as how the protagonist’s healing powers work but the fantasy setting looks like any other I’ve seen in countless light novel adaptations. The protagonist appears to be extremely powerful which I guess you kind of need for the premise to work but it’s still cliché and not at all intriguing. Most importantly, the setup is pretty clumsy. I question the decision to abridge the protagonist’s first life as a Hero. If you really want me to relate with this guy, I’d rather have a full episode detailing the abuse inflicted on him rather than have it skimmed over in a flashback with exposition. The framing provided is weird anyway. That some fairy shows up and restores his memories after he reverses time is extremely contrived.
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