Spring Cleaning the Spring Anime Season Part 2

(If you like what you see, you can go to camseyeview.biz to see more of my work on video game reviews, editorials, lists, Kickstarters, developer interviews, and review/talk about animated films. If you would like, consider contributing to my Patreon at patreon.com/camseyeview. It would help support my work, and keep the website up. Thanks for checking out my work, and I hope you like this editorial!)

Here we are with Part 2, and while the first part of this overall season was stuffed to the gills with good shows, here we have some other great shows, but this was definitely the second half of the season where we ran into some true garbage anime. Some of these could have been saved by better execution of their plots and bad source material, but more times than not, it’s a bad adaptation. Let’s dive right into the spring season and let’s finish it! 

Fantasy/Isekai

I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled (Crunchyroll)

CW: harassment, bullying, fatphobic

Do you mean to tell me the same author behind Fruit of Evolution has another terrible isekai that is also problematic, hateful, and mediocre? Color me surprised that this author is pretty terrible or at the very least, has a big issue with fat people. As I not so subtly said, this is based on the novels by Miku. The adaptation is produced by Millepensee, is written by Shin Itagaki, and co-directed by Shin Itagaki and Shingo Tanabe. We have yet another isekai where we have a lead character who is fat, and then one day finds all of his problems are solved when he is able to go from his human world to a fantasy world, turns into a super thin hot guy, gets two worlds worth of friends and harem acquaintances, and is as shallow as a puddle. The mean-spirited nature of this show is cartoonish and melodramatic in the worst way possible. It’s one of those lazy and uninspired power fantasies that aren’t interested in going in-depth with how society treats people who look different or are heavy. It’s a bad version of Lookism that actually delves into the topics this show failed to tackle with much more nuance. Outside of its repugnant characters and terrible writing, it’s just another power fantasy that isn’t interesting at all. These authors need to do better. Screw this self-indulgent power fantasy nonsense. Your petty pathetic power fantasy ruins any potential this anime could have had in the story department.

My One-Hit Kill Sister (Crunchyroll)

CW: themes of incest

This show honestly has the exact opposite problem from which most of these shows from this season suffer. This anime is directed by Hiroaki Takagi, written by Yohei Kashii, and produced by Studio Gekko. It’s based on the novels and manga by Konoe. What’s so fascinating about this anime is how hard it goes with its visual presentation. Out of all of the shows to have a stunning visual look and some of the best-directed action of the season, it shouldn’t be the anime with an incest kink with the older sister wanting to be very close to her younger brother. The whiplash you get from how well-executed certain scenes and jokes are is on the level of some of the best action and comedy anime out there, and yet what falls apart is the fact that this has a heavy emphasis on an incest subplot. Sure, they can try to write it off that she really cares about her brother, but it’s not in a way that says she just cares for him on a platonic level, because without that angle, it’s just a middling if well-executed edgy dark isekai fantasy comedy. It has a funny angle of the brother being sent to a fantasy world and not being the special one, whereas the sister is the one with all of the power fantasy tropes, and some of the jokes, (or at the very least, the execution of the jokes are more humorous than usual), but the incest angle is an instant turn-off to ever recommending this show. It also isn’t the only show this season with incest or a possible incest angle. 

The Aristocrat’s Otherworldly Adventure (Crunchyroll)

CW: Harassment played for laughs, and some slight hints of incest. 

Well, while I do not like this show for a multitude of similar reasons I don’t like most isekai power fantasies, I can say that at least this isn’t a tedious chore in many ways. This is based on the novels by Yashu. It’s produced by EMT Squared. It’s co-directed by Noriyuki Nakamura and Mitsutaka Noshitani, and written by Natsuko Takahashi. As I said, it suffers from a lot of the nonsense that plagues the most boring and generic isekai stories that include no stakes and harem elements that become slightly creepy when it’s about our lead who is a child for much of the show’s run. They also introduce mentors who don’t do anything, and there are no stakes in the action since our hero can’t be harmed. They try to make the characters more interesting by focusing on the more comedic angle of the series, and that is honestly its strongest aspect. The show is really adamant about being a comedy and it does a lot of different gags and jokes to make for a more entertaining sit. Even if the jokes don’t always land, it’s more than most isekai that play their stale power fantasies straight. They are trying a lot of things with this show and due to bad pacing and the stuff mentioned above, it still falls flat, but it’s not a boring sit. 

KamiKatsu Working for a God in a Godless World (Crunchyroll)

Honestly, while I wouldn’t call the fantasy/isekai genre this season as good as others since it’s pretty rancid in a lot of ways when one of the best shows is still a dumpster fire, that’s a telling note of this being one of the best by default. It’s based on the manga by Aoi Akashiro. It’s directed by Yuki Inaba, written by Aoi Akashiro, and produced by Studio Palette.Yeah, this is one of the most infamous anime of the season, and not because characters do repugnant things or a creative is a terrible person. I mean, who knows, those things could happen, but more about the production side of things is why this show is being heralded as a dumpster fire/ironic classic. Shoddy editing, wild jumps in quality with animation, and inconsistent tones make this a real hot mess of a series to watch. On one side of the quality spectrum it’s a harsh snappy commentary about religious extremists and sex, but on the other side, it takes itself too seriously at points for the few laughs to fall flat, it restarts its stakes about halfway through the show’s run, and the zany tone it wants to go for doesn’t truly stick to that lane. This could have been the new generation Cromartie High, but due to its lack of commitment to the bit, it falls hard on its face. It’s a real shame, because I was down when it stuck to the zany unhinged side of its run, but it’s hard to fully recommend, since this show will either be your cup of tea or just turn you right off. Sure, it’s being made by a studio that is relatively new and a director who hasn’t done a lot of actual directing, but it at least stands out from the rest due to how wild it tries to go at points with its story and humor. 

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts (Crunchyroll) 

Thankfully, we don’t end the fantasy isekai genre of this season on a bad note. Granted, if this show was in any other stronger season, it wouldn’t be at the top, but here we are, and at least it’s a solid show. This is based on the manga by Yu Tomofuji. It’s produced by JC Staff, written by Seishi Minakami, and directed by Chiaki Kon. While this is yet another take on Beauty and the Beast, unlike last season’s similar show and has to compete with The Ancient Magus Bride this season, Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts actually does stand on its own compared to other shows with similar premises. For one thing, our female lead actually has stakes, unlike some shows where they take all of their stakes and have them solely rely on the beastly individual for everything. What also makes this stand out is that while it is a fantasy romance, it’s more interested in the world and politics of our beast king’s actions of having a human bride and how she is treated in both the human and beast world. While I am not fond of how young the lead is compared to the king, their chemistry almost distracts from that. It’s nothing original for this type of story, but being original can sometimes be its own beast of burden, and just being a well-constructed show is enough. Again, if this was in any other season, this probably wouldn’t be at the top, but due to the world, the characters, the inciting incidents that kick off this powder keg drama, and the twist and turns we see unwrap, it makes for a really solid watch. 

Romance/Comedy

Rokudo’s Bad Girls (Crunchyroll)

This category is starting out with a rough and rather clunky show based on the manga by Yuji Nakamura. It’s directed by Keiya Sato, written by Yuichiro Momose, and produced by Satelight. You would think an anime that’s trying to be retro in its visuals and premise about a boy who ends up with a curse where he gains a harem of ladies, but they are only delinquents and “bad girls”, would be funny or creative, but it’s not. It doesn’t seem sure what it wants to be with its take on masculinity and finding a more peaceful approach to conflicts, due to how the entire premise is based around our lead inadvertently getting all the bad girls to like him. What makes this premise worse are the implications of a single male individual thinking he can tame “wild girls” and how they all don’t really have any personality to speak of. They have character quirks, but they are extremely surface level, and the main blonde bad girl has no personality. Sure, they might show off some backstory about these characters at one point or another, but by the third episode, when you have been sitting there tolerating the mediocre action, animation, and writing, you just end up feeling like you wasted your entire time watching those episodes hoping for something good. It’s terrible, and not in a fun way other shows can be fun while being bad.

Yuri is My Job (Crunchyroll)

Hey, look, a Studio Passione project that isn’t sleazy and creepy. This is based on the manga by Miman. It’s co-directed by Hijiri Sanpei and Takahiro Majima, written by Naoki Hayashi, and produced by Studio Passione and Studio Lings. This show had me conflicted about how to feel about the few episodes I watched. On one hand, the premise is creative about a girl who puts on a facade in front of everyone who is put to the test with said facade when she gets roped into a dinner theater-like cafe. It’s definitely a melodramatic, possibly queer romance story where our lead has to come to terms with the persona/face she puts on when she has to do it differently when the theatrical stuff takes place at an all-girls school that obviously dips into queer romantic intent at points. It’s a fascinating premise that gets a touch repetitive until the third episode gets the ball rolling. I like the ideas that this show brings to the table, and the drama, if a bit melodramatic and queerbait-feeling, is compelling stuff. What do you do when the face you put on to make people compelled to like you, is put to the test in a setting where that face has to adapt on the fly? What happens when the persona is so much your personality that it becomes hard for people to know when it’s on or off? I have heard and read it gets better past the third episode, but if this all sounds interesting, give it a watch! It’s just not for me. 

Too Cute Crisis (HiDive)

Some viewers may want compelling thrillers. Some viewers may want high-octane action. Some may just want to see someone who has never seen cats or dogs before react to them and have their love for them to not have the earth blow up. It’s based on the manga by Mitsuru Kido. It’s directed by Jun Hatori, written by Aya Satsuki, and produced by SynergySP. Honestly, this is the most straightforward anime of the season. An alien is sent down to survey the earth and see if it’s worth blowing up, but is smitten by encountering cats and has a change of heart. Its main focus is poking fun, but also being sincere about the obsession pet owners have with their animals and this passive competition of the owners having the cutest animal. It doesn’t have the flashiest animation and a lot of its humor is reliant on viewers being pet owners, but it’s a cute series. It’s extremely silly and lightweight, but if you are down for a bunch of animal and pet owner jokes with a slice of sci-fi in your comedies, then you will like this series. It even has real-life photos of pets in the credits, and it does just make you want to snuggle and take photos of your favorite pets or cute animals. 

A Galaxy Next Door (Crunchyroll)

Sometimes, a rom-com needs to have an out-of-this-world angle and perspective to stand out from the rest. Sadly, it also came out in the same season as Tonikawa Season 2. This is based on the manga by Gido Amagakure. It’s produced by Asahi Productions, directed by Ryuichi Kimura, and written by Gigaemon Ichikawa. Reading up how this manga was from the same author that made Sweetness and Lightning makes so much sense due to how both manga and anime are about a father taking care of their kids, and in A Galaxy Next Door’s case, the father meets a young woman who is actually from a race of people from the stars that took refuge on an island off of Japan. It feels a bit like a wish fulfillment. Oh, the woman who signed up to do illustration work for the lead’s manga happens to be a huge fan of his work, has read everything obsessively, and happens to be drop-dead gorgeous? It’s not as self-indulgent as some of the isekais we talk about, but it has that feeling. What does help is that the characters are likable and they take their time for their bond and relationship to build and grow as the two bond with one another. It’s a bit slow-paced and that does hurt the show due to how low-key it all is. At some point, the family drama and the bond between the father and his kids can be more interesting than the main romance of the couple. With all that said, if you like slow-burn and I mean really slow-paced shows, then you will like this one. 

The Reason Why Raelina Ended up at the Duke’s Mansion (Crunchyroll) 

While this is technically an isekai, it’s really more of a romantic drama. It is based on a South Korean web novel by Milcha. It’s directed by Junichi Yamamoto, written by Mitsutaka Hirota, and produced by Typhoon Graphics. Instead of Raelina reincarnating as the main female lead of a romance novel, she is a minor character in the novel the isekai world is based on, and her fate is to be killed. So, that puts us in the shoes of our lead who goes out of her way to make sure she doesn’t end up on some royal’s hit list and to make sure she gets the life she didn’t have in the modern world. Much of the runtime is her maneuvering around the rich socialite lifestyle so she doesn’t end up six feet under the ground, and a lot of the emphasis is put on her relationships with everyone. It can be compelling stuff, if a tad clunky from time to time. Some moments feel like a bit too big of a leap in logic, and the sometimes solid and sometimes underwhelming animation can make yet another slow-burn thriller feel very frustrating to sit through. It gets juicy though when our lead realizes that while she is playing her version of chess to make sure she doesn’t die, her key player in her plan is also playing his own version of chess to get out of certain situations, and it combines in a romantic drama that can be compelling to watch. It definitely got me wanting to check out the rest of the series.

The Dangers in My Heart (HiDive)

It’s always nice when an anime decides to surprise you every season, and this is one of those hidden gem surprises that snuck up on this anime fan. This is based on the manga by Norio Sakurai. It’s directed by Hiroaki Akagi, written by Jukki Hanada, and produced by Shin-Ei Animation. Basically, it’s a story about an edgy teen who thinks of dark murder-like thoughts of taking out his other classmates, but in reality, is just an angsty teenager who is depressed, and he has the realization about his classmate he decides should be his first victim. The realization is that he thinks the popular girl is cute, but also finds out that she isn’t just a stereotypical popular girl, but is silly, loves snacks, and so on. The show is basically about their blossoming friendship and love. It captures a very real feeling of that time period of being a teenager where you become edgy, discover your attraction to the other sex, and become an individual who doesn’t quite know how to take in all of these new situations and emotions. Ever want to see yourself squirm and remember how awkward or terrible you are as a blossoming teenager? This show will do that well! It’s a sweet show that does a lot with its premise, and shows constant character growth and makes some types of jokes work that I don’t normally care for. That’s rare! Anyway, this was a surprise gem this season and it shows how good a lot of HiDive’s shows were this season. 

Oshi no Ko aka My Favorite Idol (HiDive)

Spoiler talk

Content Warning, Stalking, mentions of suicide, and abuse.

This one is a lot, and that’s both good and in some ways bad. But when the manga is by the same author of Kaguya Sama: Love is War, then you know you are in for something. This is based on the manga by Aka Akasaka. It’s directed by Daisuke Hiramaki, written by Jin Tanaka, and produced by Doga Kobo. So, since it’s been more than a month since this anime’s release, it’s time to talk about this film’s extremely unhinged premise, but surprisingly well-done execution of said premise. If you don’t want to know about the premise, skip this section until you see the first episode. Now then, let’s begin! First off, it starts with a 90-min first episode, and you get why it did. If your plot was of a doctor and a terminally ill teen being reborn as the two children of their favorite idol, and what feels like a sweet romantic slice-of-life turns into a drama with a slow-burn revenge thriller of finding the person behind the idol’s murder, then you would need 90 minutes to get all of that out of the way first. They could have made a 30-minute or an hour-long premiere, but it really does set up the emotional connection you make with the characters, and then those last five minutes really stab you in the feelings. It turns from idol stuff into a romantic drama about the two now teenage kids going about their lives in the entertainment industry, where the daughter tries to make it as an idol and the son tries to find connections to his mother’s murder. It also starts to sharply critique the entertainment industry on multiple avenues from idols, child acting, to the cynical marketing made by production companies to hamper actors who are truly great. It’s a show with layers of character depths and what drives them. Granted, the manga has some issues and irksome manga/anime-like elements, but the 90-min episode skips through a lot of the baby/child phase of the story for good reason since it seems like the focus of the people behind this adaptation knew what was more important to focus on. It might not grab everyone and you have to get through the 90-min first episode and the out-there premise, but I would easily recommend it as one of the stand-out series this season. 

Loving Yamada at lv 999 (Crunchyroll)

Still, if someone had to ask what romcom anime gave me the best impressions from its three-plus episodes, then this one would be it. This is based on the manga by Mashiro. It’s produced by Madhouse, written by Yasuhiro Nakanishi, and directed by Morio Asaka. We have yet another romcom anime this year with college/young adults as the leads, and as always it feels so refreshing that it isn’t just teen romance. Even when the teen romance is good, you just want to see some variety in ages, and this season brought us that in spades. What also helps is how they created this great parallel between the online game the characters connect with, and the story of a woman going through a rough breakup and bonding with a member of a guild via the game they play in real life. Both of our leads are complex, interesting, funny, and truly human in their interactions. Sure, our male lead is a shut-in gamer who doesn’t have a lot of human connection, but obviously isn’t a terrible person. Our female lead is dealing with pain and wants to put the sadness and anger of her breakup through the wringer instead of dealing with it sensibly. It’s another compelling drama/romcom that’s equal parts funny, romantic, and appealing to the eye via Madhouse’s fantastic animation. You feel for them, and their chemistry is wonderful. The cast of side characters are also great additions to the roster, and makes it an incredible series. I wholly recommend it to anyone who wants to watch the best of the romcom/drama. 

And that is the Spring 2023 anime season! Overall, thinking about the lineup between Part 1 and 2, this was a great season. It definitely took some time to get good, and some of the bad anime were intensely terrible, but since the anime industry is going to keep chugging along no matter how many times people tell them to slow down, we might as well keep track of the industry in its doom spiral. Hopefully, they change, because as usual, when anime is great, it’s really good! 

My Spring 2023 Anime Recommendations: Loving Yamada at lvl 999, Oshi no Ko, Hell’s Paradise, Skip & Loafer, The Dangers in My Heart, Magical Destroyers, Mashle, Otaku Elf, Insomniacs After School, My Clueless First Friend, Heavenly Delusion.

Spring 2021 Anime Season Impressions Part 2

(If you like what you see, you can go to camseyeview.biz to see more of my work on video game reviews, editorials, lists, Kickstarters, developer interviews, and review/talk about animated films. If you would like, consider contributing to my Patreon at patreon.com/camseyeview. It would help support my work, and keeps the website up. Thanks for checking out my work, and I hope you like this review!)

Here we are with part 2! Let’s do this! 

Drama

Higehiro: I Shaved and then Brought Home a High School Girl (Crunchyroll) 

Based on the novels and manga by Shimesaba, the anime was directed by Manabu Kamikita, written by Deko Akao, and produced by Project No. 9. I am so frustrated with this show. Not because it’s one of the worst shows this season, but because it has a decent idea. While the base idea is already a bit uncomfortable, you see how the show unfolds and it turns out to be this drama about young adults and the baggage that they carry with them. They do talk about it and interact with one another like real individuals. It’s uncomfortable, but at times, it’s uncomfortable for the right reasons with these characters coming to terms with what they carry with them and how they interact with friends and people they are close to. On the flip side, it’s also filled with fanservice and the show keeps using shots to leer at the young girl and the women in this show, and it can’t seem to balance out what it wants to be. Does it want to be this adult drama that tackles uncomfortable elements and the emotional baggage you carry? Or does it want to be a fanservice show? Granted, so far from what I have seen, it doesn’t want to entirely be about the fanservice, but it’s distracting enough to make the experience of watching the show a tough sit. I think I’m more disappointed with how it handles its themes and story than downright mad. Still, I wish it focused on just the drama. 

86 (Crunchyroll) 

Based on the light novels and manga by Asato Asato, this A1 Pictures-produced series is directed by Toshimasa Ishii and written by Toshiya Ono. What this anti-war drama gets right is what might be the biggest criticism aimed at it right now with how it handles its commentary and themes about discrimination and war with the carefulness of a sledgehammer. It’s very blunt about its beliefs and its story about a society of people who use “AI”-control mechs to fight, while in reality, the “AI” are humans that are of different races than the ones who sit back and do something. Normally, this would be a major issue since everyone loves to scream and rave about subtly while missing films and shows with subtle elements. I’m fine with them being blunt about the show’s themes and commentary. Sometimes, you need to tell them upfront what you are about. Luckily, the comradery between the 86 team members is constantly entertaining and feels like they are real friends. The action does use a lot of CGI, and while it comes with some of the typical clunkiness that is seen in none MAPPA and Studio Orange-produced CGI series, it’s a lot better here than in other anime from this season or previous seasons. However, the action is handled well and is intense. They also find a great balance in the drama, the action, and the moments of lightweight wholesomeness. It’s not subtle, but it’s a good anti-war drama that I think is one of the highlights of the season. 

Tokyo Revengers (Crunchyroll) 

Based on the manga by Ken Wakui, this delinquent school drama with a time travel twist was directed by Koichi Hatsumi, written by Yasuyuki Muto, and produced by Liden Films. What seems like a first in such a long time, we have an honest-to-god school delinquent story. It takes a few creative twists about its setting and how the lead can go back in time to try and prevent the death of a girl he dated in the past. I think what works about the show are the character dynamics. I found the lead way more interesting than he came off at first, and when he meets one of the future gang leaders, it sets off this chain reaction of relationships that I admired. Maybe it’s because it’s been a while or what feels like a long time since we have seen a school delinquent anime, but it feels new and fresh. Now, granted, I was not fond of the first episode. I found it a bit too try-hard in showing how pathetic our main character is, his friends from middle school were obnoxious (even if they were middle school boys, they were a bit much), and it was a bummer that the girl that our lead is trying to save gets relegated at first to being an object of a goal. However, as I went through the episodes, the friends got better, the lead got better, and it has turned into one of my favorite shows of the season. I hope it can keep the momentum up. 

Those Snow White Notes (Crunchyroll) 

Based on the manga by Marimo Ragawa, this show is directed by Hiroaki Akagi, written by Kan’ichi Kato, and produced by Shin-Ei Animation. This is hands down the best drama of the anime season with its focus on finding your sound aka your way in life through the power and mastery of the shamisen. Outside of gorgeous production values, solid comedy, and a more introspective take on the character’s arc, you have music that was supervised by the famous Yoshida Brothers, and it does make up for how much their talent was wasted back in the Summer 2020 season on 2020’s worst anime, Gibiate. The shamisen music heard throughout the show brings so much emotional depth that I was instantly hypnotized by the stand-out moments of each episode when a character would play the stringed instrument. It’s a show that truly stands out and so far, I have no real complaints about it. Now, if I continue watching the show and I find faults with it, maybe I’ll do quick little anime reviews going over the overall season of the show. 

Action/adventure

Combatants Will Be Dispatched (Funimation) 

Based on the light novels by Natsume Akatsuki, this adaptation is directed by Hiraki Akagi, written by Yukie Sugawara, and produced by J.C. Staff. Well, it might be from the same author as Konosuba, but it is not by the same anime team that made Konosuba the smash hit that it was. This show is very confused about what it wants to be. Is it set in a sci-fi world with fantasy? or is it a fantasy world with sci-fi elements, because by episode three, they pretty much dispatched the sci-fi elements in favor of fantasy offerings. What also doesn’t have that thing that made Konosuba work are the characters. Instead of having Konosuba‘s chaotically likable idiots, Combatants has characters who have none of that energy or drive that made the other property so fun to watch. What you get here are an annoying lead, a robot girl who looks like a young child, and a harem of quirky characters that don’t have much going for them outside of their one personality trait. The jokes are also not funny. Some got a mild chuckle, but the exact kind of jokes you would find in such a show are all here and accounted for. The one thing missing is any of the major jokes being funny. It’s a shame that I didn’t like this show because it makes me wonder if the Konosuba anime just got lucky it got a director and team that understood the goal or if the author of both this anime and Konosuba were not good. Maybe the source material is better than the adaptation, but as of right now, I do not want to watch these combatants be dispatched! 

Seven Knights Revolution: The Hero’s Successor (Crunchyroll) 

Based on a mobile game we can’t even play in the states, this anime adaptation is directed by Kazuya Ichikawa, written by Ukyo Kodachi, and produced by Liden Films and DOMERICA. It’s a real bog-standard action fantasy RPG with characters and a story you have seen before. Even the monsters look painfully generic. It’s always amusing how we get these anime for games we don’t get access to, because if you don’t know about the game, then why would you watch this show? It’s fine if you don’t play the game, but since I’ve seen this whole premise and cast of characters before, it doesn’t add anything to my experience that I couldn’t get with other action shows this season. When the action does kick in, it’s fine, but you can do a lot better this season than this anime. 

Cestvs: Roman Fighter (Crunchyroll) 

Based on the manga by Shizuya Wazarai, this anime is directed by Toshifumi Kawase and Kazuya Monma, written by Toshifumi Kawase, and produced by Bandai Namco Pictures and Logic & Magic. While we might not have an Ex-Arm this season in terms of bad CGI animation, Cestvs almost hits that mark. While it has better CGI animation with weight behind the movements and actual lip movements, the show suffers everywhere else. The main character is way too whiny, the aristocrats are pushed to an unlikability that’s not tolerable, and the side characters are boring. However, it then also pulls the stunt of being a mix of 2D and CGI, and while it’s better implemented than Ex-Arm, the show suffers by not fully going the route of CGI. Also, this whole gladiatorial combat stuff has been debunked by historical findings, so seeing some of the inaccuracies pop up that are only there to drive the story is humorous to me. It has a few interesting characters, and it doesn’t 100% fail at brushing the horrors of slavery under the rug, but even after going 4 episodes deep into this show, I can’t find myself going back to it. The only real reason to watch this show is the combat, but when there are so many anime this season with great action set pieces, then why would you go for the weaker shows in the action category when you can get something better? I would personally skip it unless you are curious about seeing a boxing anime that takes place in ancient Rome. 

The World Ends With You: The Animation (Funimation) 

Based on the cult-favorite video game from Square Enix, this adaptation is directed by Kazuya Ichikawa, written by Midori Goto, and produced by DOMERICA and Shin-Ei Animation. Well, it’s an anime adaptation of a video game. You get all of the cutscenes, but none of the fun of actually playing the game. It’s an extremely dense three episodes as we go from story beat to story beat with no time for stopping to take it all in. It got better by the third episode, and I would consider this to be one of the better action shows of the season. It’s not better than some of the other anime out this season, but I can see myself wanting to see how this show ends. 

Mars RED (Funimation) 

Based on a manga by Bun-O Fujisawa, this action drama is directed by Kohei Hatano and Shinya Sadamitsu, written by Jun’ichi Fujisaku, and produced by Signal.MD. This show set in 1923 and dealing with an elite unit to take care of a blossoming vampire problem was one of the first shows of the season and one of the first to get a dub. I’m not entirely sure why, but I found myself enthralled with this vampire drama. It’s not doing anything unique, but I think having the characters be adults let the scenes that have them contemplating about their vampire nature be handled better here than most stories that deal with the blood-sucking monsters. There are some truly heartbreaking moments in the show and I was compelled and pulled into their stories. The action is more grounded, but it has some small fantastical elements sprinkled in that make for some truly great visual moments. Speaking of the visuals, Mars RED is one of the most gorgeous shows I have seen this season with perfect linework, expressive animation, and the designs and world overall feel cohesive. I can understand why some people aren’t as into this show as others, but I see myself getting back into this show once I’m done writing this article. 

Joran: The Princess of Snow and Blood (Crunchyroll) 

Joran is an original anime this season directed by Susumu Kudo and produced by Bakken Records. It’s an anime version of the Lady Snowblood films mixed with Blood+, and turn-of-the-century technology (the late 1800s maybe early 1900s). I compare it to these elements because it has a stellar female lead who slays shapeshifting demons while wondering what is going on with the shady underbelly of the organization she works for and the targets they go after. It has pretty great animation, and when the power sets are turned on, the animation takes on an entirely different visual style that is so much fun to watch. It has great characters, intriguing plot twists, and lots of creative action that has impressed me within the five episodes I had watched.

To Your Eternity (Crunchyroll) 

Based on the manga by Yoshitoki Oima, this adaptation is directed by Masahiko Murata, written by Shinzo Fujita, and produced by Brain’s Base. Without a doubt, To Your Eternity has made one of the biggest and best first impressions out of any anime this season. The first episode would have been amazing as its own little short film. Then you realize it has more story after that first episode! They threw a lot of talent and resources into this show if they got Utada Hikaru to do the theme song. It’s an ambitious story about life and the human experience as we follow our lead character as it interacts with the characters it meets. It’s a show that has a lot of enticing dialogue, creative world-building, and the individual the story is revolving around actually does become the main focus as the story goes on. Still, if you are against shows that have a sort of passive main character that traverses the story, you might not like this, and some story beats might be a bit much. Still, I have enjoyed the story and admired the ambition that this show has. It’s easily one of my favorite shows of the season so far. Now, will it stay that way, who knows? 

Romance/Comedy

It’s Too Sick to Call this Love aka Koikimo (Crunchyroll)

Based on the manga by Mogusu, this anime adaptation is directed by Naomi Nakayama and produced by Nomad. This is an age gap romance where a man who is obviously in his 30s, is falling for a teenage girl, and the anime only seems half of the time aware of how creepy this premise is. You can spew all of the “well it’s a different culture and age of consent” comments as you want, but when one side of the party is not okay with the guy hitting on her constantly, then any defenses become null and void. The show only calls out the fact the guy is a creep half of the time! The other half is everyone gaslighting the high school girl that “hey maybe he’s not that bad” when all he does is stalk her, send her presents, and then does the bare minimum of a guy being nice and kind. Maybe this anime adaptation would have been better if it was leaning more on the dunking on the male lead and the animation was better, but it’s not. Alongside Burning Kabaddi and that Battle Athletes reboot, this is one of the cheapest-looking productions this season. The designs might be okay, but the animation is downright mediocre. It’s stiff and lifeless, and that’s saying something when you can say “Hey, The Way of the Househusband, a motion comic, is better animated than three of the shows in this anime season”. The opening and ending songs for Koikimo are okay, but that’s about all the kindness I have for this show. If I were ranking these shows, this would be right at the very bottom. I can’t see myself wanting to see how they gaslight the girl into loving the guy twice her age. 

The Romcom Where The Childhood Friend Won’t Lose (Crunchyroll)

Based on the light novel and manga by Shuichi Nimaru, this adaptation is directed by Takashi Naoya, written by Yoriko Tomita, and produced by Doga Kobo. This might be the one anime this season where I don’t honestly don’t know where I stand on it. I enjoy it way more than Koikimo, but I don’t know if I downright love this show. On one hand, the first episode has a lot of ideas that rub me the wrong way. A high school boy is getting revenge on a girl because she is going out with another guy, and a girl who was crushing on our lead teams up with him to get revenge on the girl. But then you get to episode 3 and so many twists happen that it turns into less of a revenge fantasy with some rom-com elements, and more of a dysfunctional rom-com of teenagers who are in love and have no real idea of how to handle these emotions. The production values are okay, and so far, the cast is only okay, but something about this show grabbed me as I went on through it. Maybe I’ll pick it up again, but I will have to see if I do want to return. 

Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagataro (Crunchyroll)

Based on the manga by Nanashi, this series is directed by Hirokazu Hanai, written by Taku Kishimoto, and produced by Telecom Animation Film. Who would have thought about a rom-com with a bullying fetish would be good? It’s not something I’m personally interested in, but the comedy is well-executed. Now if you aren’t into bully fetishes, then you won’t enjoy the titular character’s antics with the male lead. However, Nagataro herself is a sadistically delightful character who has some of the most expressive animations out of any character this season. While some of the teasings can lean a little too hard on being mean, there is this sincere kindness and teenage awkwardness under it all that makes it a delightful show to watch. You can tell she isn’t meaning to be a jerk, and she’s being more of a doofus crushing on the lead character who doesn’t get how to approach him respectably. The male lead isn’t the most interesting character at first but becomes more interesting as the show goes on. It’s a show I was wary about with how it would turn out, but I ended up enjoying it quite a lot and I can see myself wanting to finish it up alongside Dragon Goes House Hunting as my two comedies of the season. 

And there you have it! The Spring 2021 Anime Season watch is complete. I am burnt out on anime, and I need to take a small break before I can fully dive in and enjoy more anime when the summer season heats up. Still, even if most of these shows didn’t pan out, I was happy enough with the ones I loved. 

Thanks for reading the review! I hope you all enjoyed reading it! If you would like to support my work, make sure to share it out, and if you want to become a Patreon supporter, then you can go to patreon.com/camseyeview. I will see you all next time!

The Other Side of Animation 194: Summer Days with Coo

(If you like what you see, you can go to camseyeview.biz to see more of my work on video game reviews, editorials, lists, Kickstarters, developer interviews, and review/talk about animated films. If you would like, consider contributing to my Patreon at patreon.com/camseyeview. It would help support my work, and keeps the website up. Thanks for checking out my work, and I hope you like this review!)

With everything that is going on, it makes me want to watch movies about summertime and summer vacation. You know, flying or driving to another place, maybe the countryside, the beach, going to a campsite, and so on. It brought back a lot of childhood memories about my time by the lake, going to the beach, and finding weird little critters to show to my family and friends. It brings me back to a much simpler time, and as pretentious as that sounds, I still miss those days. It’s why after that trainwreck of a film I reviewed last time, Fe@rless, I wanted to review a film that could give me that vibe. That’s why I chose Summer Days with Coo. 

Directed and written by Keiichi Hara, animated by Shin-Ei Animation, and originally released back in 2007, Summer Days with Coo went around the film festival circuit where it swooped up Best Animated Film wins at the Mainichi Film Awards, the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival, the 2008 Tokyo Anime Award, and was nominated at the Japanese Academy Awards and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards for Best Animated Film. For some reason, the film never made its way over to the states until recently with the help of our favorite distributor, GKIDS. So, what do I think about Hara’s first non-franchise-based animated feature? Well, let’s take a look. 

Our main story revolves around a kappa named Coo, voiced by Kazato Tomizawa. 200 years before the modern-day, he was with his father, who was killed during an incident with a samurai, and a sudden earthquake after said incident. Coo is then fossilized in the earth, that is, until a young boy named Koichi Uehara, voiced by Takahiro Yokokawa finds him and revitalizes him. Now Coo is stuck in the modern world alone, and slice-of-life shenanigans ensue. 

So, what do I personally think about this movie? It’s Hara’s first film not based on any franchise like Crayon Shin-chan or Doraemon. It’s based on a book by Masao Kogure called Kappa Osawagi and Kappa Bikkuri Tabi. Well, I’m mixed. On one hand, I love the scenes where Coo interacts with Koichi’s family. They are genuinely nice scenes where the film is a more laid-back affair like Hara’s future film, Miss Hokusai. The plot takes its sweet time getting to different points of conflict to push the story and Coo’s development forward. I like that the film is casual in its tone and atmosphere. I even adore the fact that they throw away the trope of the family fully freaking out about a living folklore creature. The dad simply comes back from work and is like “huh, neat”. Coo himself is a fun and likable character, and the final scene with him is touching. 

Animation-wise, this is where the mixed opinions become more noticeable. I know the studio is known for working on Crayon Shin-chan, and due to the designs sometimes being very chunky, it’s quite obvious. There are some nice movements and sequences from time to time, but the art direction looks inconsistent. Lesser characters in the background look clunky, while more important humans look okay, but nothing super impressive. The coloring on the humans is also not great. The digital colors look too plain and simple. It was so bland to me that I thought it was from the earlier days of digital coloring in anime, but this came out in 2007, the year before that had films like Paprika, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and Tekkonkinkreet, three of the most visually stunning Japanese animated films of the 2000s. It has some great music, and some solid performances, but the animation falls flat in some areas. Sometimes there is a great physical gag or facial reaction, but it’s not often. 

The animation isn’t the only problem. This is a long movie. A touch too long. It’s two hours and fourteen minutes long. For a film to be that long, and to have a plot that doesn’t have focus, and meanders from plot point to plot point, that’s a long runtime. It doesn’t help that the stakes seem out of order. Like, the major conflict happens, and then, another major conflict happens that doesn’t seem as impactful as the previous one. The tone is also all over the place. Most of the time, it’s harmless and family-friendly, but then some fairly violent parts caught me off guard. Hara’s later films would have much better tone consistencies. It’s frustrating, because when the film is great, it’s really good. I do love a lot of the character interactions. I just wish some of the other characters, like the love interest for Koichi were more interesting. She doesn’t do a lot until the very end. It’s not like there isn’t any substance to the film, because it does deal with themes of change, death, family, connection, and preserving nature. It’s the fact that this film’s pacing is not great. If it had better pacing for its long runtime, then this might well be one of the 2000s best hidden gems. 

Despite my issues with the film, I do mostly enjoy Summer Days with Coo. I don’t consider it one of GKIDS’ best film releases in terms of what else they have brought over, but it’s still a unique experience all things considered. I would wait to maybe see if this film goes down in price before buying it, but if you want to own all of Keiichi Hara’s films, then pick it up and watch it for yourself. Now then, let’s continue with the somewhat summer vacation-related tangent at the beginning of this review, and end this summer with another GKIDS release, Children of the Sea. 

Thanks for reading the review! I hope you all enjoyed reading it! If you would like to support my work, make sure to share it out, and if you want to become a Patreon supporter, then you can go to patreon.com/camseyeview. I will see you all next time! 

Rating: Rent it!