First Impression: Spring 2018

I was bad and forgot to post my last first impressions the the end of the last cour... hopefulyl  don't make the same mistake again...

anyways as always

Ground rules

1. I will TRY to give every show on Crunchyroll a chance but that doesn't mean I am obligated to watch a full episode. If I stop early I will give a time stamp and reason for stopping. I will not be looking at shows on Netflix or Amazon's anime Strike because the former won't simulcast and the latter Is just too much of a pain and expense to set up.

2. No shows that are under 20 minutes in length, I don't like waiting a whole week for a 3 min gag. there are some exceptions but it's rare.

3. No shows with Brother, Sister, Father or Mother in the title... too often it goes into incest... which I really do not like.

4. If the show is a second season of a show I didn't watch before I'm not going to talk about it here.

5. No card game shows, I may give them a chance but they really aren't my thing.

6. All opinions are my own and based solely on what I have seen. I tend to go into these shows completely blind. If I don't enjoy the show after 1 episode or even quit out of an episode early I'm not saying the show is bad... just that I didn't enjoy it.

Returning Shows

Darling in the FranXX
I was kinda hesitant about this show at first because I've never been the biggest fan of anime made by Trigger and the first first episodes are so blatantly trying to be allegory foe sex that is had little to no subtlety... it was all just too on the nose.
However as the show has progressed it has gotten infinitely more interesting. We are learning more about the world, more about why children are pilots, more about what it means to be an adult i nthe world.
This new episode (ep 13) was also really well done and as long as they don't mess it up I should be hooked till the end of the series.

New Shows

Magical Girl Ore
. . . This reminds me of Excel Saga, as of this moment i'm not sure if thats good or bad but it 100% gives me excel saga vibes.
I will say the first two episodes (cause they aired back to back) gave me a few chuckles. it's an interesting blend of Genre and i'm curious to see if it can keep up this level of zany or if it'll jump the shark.
The show is about a 15 year old girl who wants to be a magical girl.... however it may not be all it's cracked up to be. (and i know that described a bunch of other dark takes on magical girl anime but despite the amount of blood i doubt this is going to go into that territory)
So yeah may give it another episode at least. it hasn't hooked me as fast as Cute High Earth Defense Club Love! but it may still be a fun watch.

Kakuriyo -Bed & Breakfast for Spirits-
... ok... just on that title alone... I hope this is good
And after that intro song... yeah i'm going to like this show...
Oh no maybe this is more magus bride then natsume.... No wait this is good, she has a backbone and this show just made me laugh outloud.
hmmm also a bit of Hanasaku Iroha and Rstaurant to another world...
Ok so i should describe the show?
A young girl can see spirits, is abandonned by her month and adopted by her grandfather. However he passed away a few days ago.
Now as an adult she comes across an Ogre (oni) who is claking she must be his bride... her grandfather had used her as collateral. However this Oni works at a famous Inn in the hidden Ayakashi world.... and she doesn't want to marry someone she just met let alone an Oni. She declares that she will find a job, pay off the collateral and get out of being his bride.
It's like.... all the things i love about those 4 shows in one, I love that she has a backbone, i love that the relationship that should develop between her and theo ther Ayakashi will be based more on equal footing then just "well you have to cause i own you"
The animation may not be the best but I am looking forward to this show so much... please don't mess this up.

Space Battleship Tiramisu
. . . i'm usually hesitant about space shows but with a little like fly in space/Naked dance.... i'm almost curious.... however it's a 7 min long show so i'm not that curious.
Oh man suwabe you are better then this

Fist of the Blue Sky: Regenisis
can... can i just count this as a sequel and not watch it? never seen fist of the north star and i honestly don't care to change that.
While the intro has some really interesting motion graphic type animation... i know this isn't how the show looks... and i don't feel like sitting through terible CG of burly men... if i wanted that i'd just go watch jo jo (and i know it's well loved but i cannot get into it)
Is it Berserk levels of bad CG? no... but it still looks like it would be better as a video game then an anime.

Umamusume: Pretty Derby.
Musume is japanese for daughter (also girl but ignore that for now).... can i just wrap it up in my "no familial terms" blanket and avoid it cause... I will be amazed if this is any good.
So... when race horses died off they reincarnated as horse girls... and now they race (in bloomers cause of course)
and then..... when they win they have idol recitles.
no.... this is too silly....
you wanna see horse girls run? then this is the perfect show for you... it doesn't even look as bad as you'd expect a show about horse girls to be. however i'll pass.

GeGeGe no Kitaro (2018)
So this is an older series (novel? Manga?) that has been modernized.
I think it's a really neat conept. Asking a Yokai for help in modern times.
and even though i've made it clear i like stories with Yokai in them this one doesn;t do it for me...
not sure if it's because the character names all their attacks or i just don't have the history with the series it just.... it's fine but it didn't really resonate.

The Legend of Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These
So based on what MAL tells me this is an adaptation of the novels not a remake of the original The legend of Galactic heroes... I was just curious cause the title was familiar even though i have never seen or read anything.
For now though i think i'll pass, just too much space and i don't feel like forcing myself through it at the moment. (plus the CG i have seen os far is distracting so yeah pass for now.... if i hear good things from friend or find out it wont give me a panic attack i may give it a try though probably not)

Persona 5 Animation
This is stunning, considering how fast this anime is coming out compaired to the game that is really impressive.
that being said this first episode is really really rushed, not a complaint but yeah it's hard to fit the first like... 2-3 hours of a game into 23 mins. I hoping the pacing gets better though at the same time it's a huge game so yeah.
I figure it'll be good... i also figure it wont fix my biggest issue with P5 but i'm going to enjoy this

Comic Girls
After giving shows like newgame a chance i figured this may be fun take on being an artist and working towards serialization...
Yeah unfortunately not the case.
this is a cute show where four high school girls who all write/draw different kinds of manga live in a dorm and work together to help each other grow.
Which New game does this and succeeded is that even if the characters are eccentric they still seem grounded in reality. You could know and talk to people like this (except having a boss who is adverse to wearing a skirt... i don't buy that for a second)
This is just character types to the extreme... perhaps it'll tone down over the course of the show but it's so over the top right now i can't get into it.

MEGALOBOX
I'm not the biggest fan of boxing anime but this one just oozes style. It almost feels like the lines were drawn with a sharpie and i just love it.
Will i stick with it the entire time? probably not.
But i'm curious enough to give it another episode... i just really hate tournament arcs so thats the only reason i'm not giving this a full recommendation.

Gurazeni: Money Pitch
Not a fan of sports anime but again trying to give things a chance.... granted a lot of this seems to be CG assisted and it just looks odd.
So it's a show about making money as a pro baseball player.... Yeah sorry pass, the art isn't doinf it for me, i really dislike baseball and yeah i'm good.

Cute High Earth Defense Club HAPPY KISS!
YES, I forgot this was going to be this season. Sure it's a new cast which means no Kin-chan but i'm still all over this.
It's not as good as the original series but it's still goofy fun magical boys show.

Caligula
. . . um.
ok i think i know how to tackle this.... maybe.
Imagine your every day life, seems peaceful and happy right? nothing to complain about... but suddenly there are inconsistencies....
are you really happy?
why are you hearing a voice you've never heard before.
Why do you see memories that you don't have.
why is everyone acting so strangely.
and then suddenly you see why, and it's more horrific then you could ever imagine.
I think I enjoyed this.
I may need a few more episodes to decide.... like... maybe 10 more or so...
but I think it was pretty good.

Dance with the Dragons
Do you like your fantasy anime to be purely exposition for the world building for the first episode?
Cause i sure do not.
The most annoying thing about this show is that at least half the exposistion doens't need to be there (or at least doesn't need to be there from episode one)
Like yes we need to know about the group of people who fight dragons and why... we can even know that they are still teated like shit by corporate and possibly being used by higher ups.... as well as knowing that someone is looking for them... fine great.
every other bit of dialogue or term could have been introduced natrually by showing or not at all and we lose nothing.
it's a show about a world where science allowed for magic to be reality.... also dragons are a thing and they are killed cause they may harm people.
will i be watching more? no, even if i hear nothing but praise that first episode was a slog.

HINAMATSURI
What do you do when a young psychic girl drops into your aparment and breaks all your expensive vases? take care of her of course.
This is a Slice of life comedy about a yakuza thug being overpowered and taking care of a little girl who has probably spent her entire life destroying anything considered an enemy.
I don't think it's my cup of tea but it seems like a cute enough show... the comedy just doesn't land for me.

MAJOR 2nd
Another Baseball anime...
Well this one seems to be better... it's about a kid who has a famous dad but he is just ok. It can be disheartening having all this pressure and it doesn't help that your sister is so much more talented then you are.
Daigo either needs to get his shit together or work hard.
It's better then the other baseball anime and it's always more interesting dealing with character who are average getting better but i doubt i'l be continuing. I really dislike baseball.

Libra of Nil Admirari
This is based on a dating game isn't it...
oh yes I am going enjoy this show.
There are cursed tomes and this group of people hunt down and deal with.
One book ends up in the hands of Tsugumi's brother who tried to kill himself thanks to this book. Due to the stress of this incident she can now see the aura of the cursed books and now the group wants her.
I tend to like VN adaptations more when the female protag has a name so this has that going for it.
Will i watch the whole thing? probably... i just hope it continues to be plot for the most part. (and if it pulls an amnesia well you'll all get to hear about that so look forward to it?)

Golden Kamuy
Not a comment on the show but it's using very real looking fire in an anime and it just.... looks odd to me... anyways
and the cg bear is more "realistic" . . . hm
Stylistic choices aside it's an interesting take o na time you don't often see depected in anime.
I don't know if I'll stick with it... only cause i'm a bit squeamish about one of the things that will be a running theme... perhaps i'll marathon it at the end of the season? i don't think i can do it week to week.

Yotsuiro Biyori
Another restaurant anime with Suwabe....
yeah i'll bite
Ok so slice of life show surrounding a japanese cafe/sweet shop and the customers that attend.
Yep this is 100% my jam and i look forward to more. I mean it's not like i have a thing for Cafes or anything (it's just the bulk of the events i went to in japan and a inspiration for an entire set of images...)

Last Period: the journey to the end of the despair
What if the world actually had a gatcha system?
it's a meta fantasy comedy but... it feels like it's trying super hard.
The intro is super cute but i think i'm passing on the show as a whole.

Butlers X Battlers
Oh please let a show with a title this bad be good
Uh..... so... butlers sounds like Battlers...
um a guy who was with his sister is suddenly not... and he had super powers but you only see that at the end?
the one episode wasn't very good... which is disappointing cause it's quite pretty.... may give it another episode or two to see what is going on (though the post credit splash helps see that they got warped from somewhere(when?) else

Steins;Gate 0
I did watch the original anime, i know nothing about 0 but i am looking forward to it.


No better time to post this then at the seasons end right? oh boy.... ok next time i'll post sooner for sure