Another season of anime, another post detailing what I’ve watched. Whether you’re watching the leaves turn red up in the north, or seeing new leaves grow in the south, it’s time for me to mention the new anime coming out this season. For this post I will speak about my first impressions for a select number of new anime, and this post will be updated over time. A word of warning, though: even though I’m only going to mention the first episode of each anime in this post, there may be spoilers.
First up, Magical Girl Raising Project. Having watched the first episode, I found it to be mainly a set up to what will come in later episodes (a “calm before the storm”, you could say). If you’ve read the light novels (or even just the synopsis), you should know that the girls will be fighting to remain magical girls, as the number will be cut to eight. The main character, Koyuki Himekawa (voiced by Nao Tōyama), has been a fan of magical girls since she was very little, and remained true to them even as the rest of her friends and classmates moved on to other stuff. Of course, she is a player of the titular game, a game where there is a small chance that a player will become a real magical girl. Initially, Koyuki dismisses these claims, as well as rumous of appearances of magical girls around the city. However, she is indeed chosen to become a real magical girl (with her magical girl name being Snow White), the 15th in the city. This culminates with a reunion with an old friend who went to the same elementary school as her, and the only one at the time to whom Koyuki was able to speak about magical girls. Then, of course, the stinger: they’re going to halve the number of magical girls in the city.
From my first impressions, I feel that the stage is set. This first episode was simply an introduction to the game, the characters, and the deeds the magical girls do. Koyuki is portrayed as a big magical girl fan, to the point of wanting to become one herself. This is despite the general impression being that someone her age should have grown out of it already (rather ironically, a fair majority of magical girl protagonists are Koyuki’s age, something I tend to find, at best, a bit unoriginal). While she does have friends, she tends to hide her like for magical girls from them. The same is even more true for the aformentioned old friend, Souta (voiced by Ayane Sakura). Being a boy, the general impression is that he should not be a fan of magical girls at all, let alone at his age. He had mentioned that only girls could become magical girls; boys could only become mages (the word used here is 魔法使い mahōtsukai). However, the game does not care if the player is male or female; the player becomes a magical girl regardless, even if it involves gender-bending (so, yes, he’s a magical girl, by the name of La Pucelle, and yes, he remains male in normal form; I really liked it when Koyuki asked “are you really a girl right now?”). There are many other characters who appeared and were mentioned, but I’ll only mention the girl whose magical girl name is Ripple (voiced by Manami Numakura). Three years Koyuki’s senior, she had not spoken when Koyuki entered the chat room for the first time, and was mentioned to be a tsundere by another character in her second appearance (where, like last time, she is also terse). One thing mentioned is that Koyuki is the closest to an ideal magical girl, and possibly the only one to actually resemble a stereotypical magical girl (the others include a knight, ninja, witch, etc.).
Overall, I found the episode to be fairly good. With the stage set, the next episodes can focus on the upcoming conflict between the magical girls. One thing which annoyed me, though was the verbal tic of the mascot character, Fav (voiced by Kurumi Mamiya). People have already compared this to Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Danganronpa (and not surprisingly, since Lerche is the studio in charge, some have mentioned School-Live!). Although, with the number of magical girls being halved, they won’t ask the girls to kill; instead, there will be a scoring system in place, and last place gets disqualified (unless someone gets a “bad accident”). Actually, I’m not sure how faithful the anime will be to the original; what I’ve mentioned just before was the case in the light novel.
If you want to watch the anime, you can check it out on Crunchyroll (available everywhere except China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Korea).
My next analysis will be on Magic of Stella, which will premiere tomorrow. In the mean time, this is the sixth support illustration, drawn by Shōko Iwami (Kanamemo, Manga Time Kirara MAX; In the Head of S-G-S-Children, Manga Time Kirara MAX).
(2016-10-11) I have just watched the first two episodes of Magic of Stella, and I can say that I enjoyed both of them. The first episode was pretty much an introduction. The first thing we see is that Tamaki Honda (voiced by Maria Naganawa) and her friend Yumine Fuda (voiced by Ryōko Maekawa) live in the countryside, and need to take the train to school (mind you, this is not uncommon in Japan, especially since prestigious high schools are often fairly distant from each other, or tend to be located in big cities such as Tokyo and Osaka). Tamaki was very passionate about joining a club, but was unsure about what kind of club she wanted to join (not helped by the fact that she constantly changed hobbies when she was younger). However, she comes across the SNS club, a club which develops and publishes video games. After recalling that she wanted to create her own games when she was younger, and the fact that this was the reason she became friends with Yumine, Tamaki ends up joining the club as an illustrator (to replace the previous illustrator, who had graduated). The second half of the first episode has Tamaki getting to know the other members of the club, and the club’s members being assigned their respective roles for their next project. And, of course, we learn what “SNS” stands for (死んだ魚の目日照不足シャトルラン部). 死んだ魚の目 (shinda sakana no me, or “dead-fish eyes”) refers to sleep deprivation, 日照不足 (nisshōbusoku, or “not enough sunlight”) refers to the indoor nature of the club activities, and シャトルラン部 (“shuttle run club”) refers to the fact that the club’s members constantly sprint to and from the club room.
The second episode has Tamaki too embarrassed to show her drawings to the other club members (well, Tamaki’s illustrations resemble what one would find in an old shōnen, while Teru’s illustrations more closely resemble shōjo). It is also here that we learn more about the other characters. Shiina Murakami (voiced by Rie Murakawa) is the programmer for the club, and Ayame Seki (voiced by Ari Ozawa), Shiina’s childhood friend, is the scenario writer. Kayo Fujikawa (voiced by Aoi Yūki) is in charge of the music and sound effects. As for Yumine, well, she’s very much into yaoi. Here we learn about Ayame’s previous works, and how she’s embarrassed whenever someone else even brings them up. Not to mention the time when she accidentally left one of her notebooks behind, only for Tamaki to (accidentally) put it in her bag. Of course, when Tamaki read it, saying that it was “adult-like” was the best description she could give.
Overall, I found the characters, and their interactions with each other, to be fairly enjoyable. Tamaki is portrayed as naïve and ditzy (I mean, if you were about to head to school with a bad case of bed hair…). Indeed, Yumine sees Tamaki as “pure and innocent”, to the point of losing it whenever there is even the suggestion that Tamaki is drawing lewd illustrations (even if it is just Yumine’s dirty fantasy). Shiina and Ayame have wildly different personalities; Shiina is fairly down-to-earth and serious, and seems to have trouble communicating with others (e.g. being fairly blunt, then regretting it later), while Ayame is outgoing, whimsical and somewhat boyish (she was even more so when she was younger). Kayo seems fairly sensible and laid-back, and nice (unless you’re making a ruckus at the fast-food (manga)/family (anime) restaurant where she is working). Yumine often looks out for Tamaki, and offered to help her with club activities (i.e. assisting with digitalising Tamaki’s artwork) despite already being part of the Illustration Club.
You may have noticed that when the SNS club were heading to school in the second episode, two characters with unique designs could be seen. I’m guessing that one of them is Minaha Iino, who, if you’ve read the manga, is also a member of the Illustration Club, and who sees Tamaki as a rival. The opening sequence also features, in addition to Minaha, her sister Natsu (I’m guessing) alongside the Iino family servant Tayama, the half-Japanese, half-foreigner Marika Shimizu, and the founder of the SNS Club, Teru Hyakutake.
The anime is currently being streamed on Daisuki. I won’t give a direct link, as only country-specific links are available. However, if you’re in one of the countries listed in this article, then you will be able to stream it (if you can’t be bothered following that link, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa can access it, along with a whole list of European countries; sorry, Latin Americans). If you’re in France or Belgium, though, you’ll have to wait until October 17.
I’m not sure if, when, or on what I will be posting my next analysis and first impressions. I might do one for Girlish Number, but that isn’t guaranteed.
(2016-10-13) I’ve just watched the first episode of Girlish Number. This anime is part of a multimedia franchise, and focuses on the anime and voice acting industries from the perspective of a new voice actress. The main character, Chitose Karasuma (voiced by Sayaka Senbongi), has spent only a year as a voice actress, and up to the start of the story has only had bit roles. The anime dives quickly into the unseen side of the industry, with fellow voice actress Kazuha Shibasaki (voiced by Saori Ōnishi) complaining about the fact that she has to meet with the fans and sing despite being an actress (yes, this is the hard reality for Japanese voice actors; “idol seiyū” groups such as TrySail have been growing in popularity, and it is expected that voice actors be able to sing), and Momoka Sonō (voiced by Eri Suzuki), another voice actress, is quite blunt about her disdain for light novel authors (one of them is depicted in the anime as a fat slob) and their efforts in trying to be a part of the industry (she’s also blunt about Chitose’s performance as a voice actress). At the end of the episode, a couple of producers approach Chitose and offer her to play the heroine in their next project.
The first episode has impressed me quite a lot. Out of all the anime I’m watching, I believe that this has the best chance of earning an S-rank from me (while I give out As like confetti, due to my very selective nature in choosing what to watch, I’ve given out an S rank no more than four times for anime in the past ten years, and not once for any simulcast or delaycast I’ve watched). Already people are comparing this to Shirobako (one of the aformentioned S-rank anime), and, to a lesser extent, Seiyu’s Life. It goes into quite a bit about how the industry really works, such as the fan event, which Kazuha disdains, and the fact that producers often go for new voice actors (such as Chitose; I’ve also noticed this trend, although it is justified as veterans are often expensive to hire). Just as Chitose (and her brother) said, the industry is weird.
You may have noticed that there was no proper opening or ending sequence in the first episode. The “opening sequence” was Momoka and Kazuha singing the theme song to the anime in which they are cast as the main heroines, and the ending credits were superimposed onto the final scenes. I often find this a bit unusual, as often, in the first episode, either both the (proper) opening and ending sequences are played at their respective times, or the opening sequence (or both) is played as if it were the ending sequence. In addition, two of the main cast were not introduced (not by name, anyway) in the first episode: Yae Kugayama (voiced by Kaede Hondo) and Koto Katakura (voiced by Yui Ishikawa).
If you want to watch the anime, you can check it out on Crunchyroll (available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Latin America). It is also available on Anime Network Online for selected regions, and on AnimeLab for Australia and New Zealand, so if for some reason you don’t like Crunchyroll’s player, or you have a subscription on the alternative sites but not on Crunchyroll, you can watch it there.
Okay, that’ll be the end of my first impressions. There are more anime I’m watching, including one short, and more I’m considering, but this post is 11 days old. So I feel now’s the time to end this post.
P.S. (2016-10-11) This article compares the setting of New Game! to the real-life Japanese video game industry. It’s a good read, and should tell you that the anime/manga is more realistic than what quite a fair number of Westerners think (often those people make comparisons with the Western video game industry, which in my opinion is comparing apples and oranges due to the massive cultural differences between Japan and the West).
P.P.S. (2016-10-11) There are some errors with regards to Daisuki’s stream of Magic of Stella‘s first episode. First, the first episode synopsis erroneously calls Tamaki a boy instead of a girl, and in the episode itself, Ayame’s given name is given as “Ayane” according to the English subtitles (I haven’t checked the other languages). There are other issues with the translation, but I feel it’s not something I should discuss.
P.P.P.S. (2016-10-13) Akiba Souken has released the results of their popularity poll for the most satisfying Summer 2016 anime. What didn’t surprise me was that Love Live! Sunshine!! took top spot with 6,225 votes. What did surprise me was that Time Travel Girl was second with 3,593 votes (it could be that this is a case of “Americans hate Tingle”, as it was quite unpopular in the West). What intrigued me was that New Game! (third at 1,183 votes) and This Art Club Has a Problem! (fourth at 1,182 votes) were separated only by a single vote, and that no other anime had more than 450 votes. That said, I expect #1 to get a second season, and I hope that #3 and #4 get second seasons as well (I thoroughly enjoyed them).
(2016-18-10) Edit: Oops, I got the kanji the wrong way around.