Your anime viewing journal

Grisaia: Phantom Trigger Episode 1 I'm curious to see where this sequel goes.

Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! Episode 1 Negotiate.

Possibly the Greatest Alchemist of All Time Episode 1 Summonings and suspicions.
 
Last night on Blu-ray, I watched for the first time:

- The Vexations Of A Shut-in Vampire Princess: Episodes 1-2

I loved it from the off and after episode 1, I know this show is going to be very entertaining.
 
Bogus Skill <<Fruitmaster>> ~About That Time I Became Able to Eat Unlimited Numbers of Skill Fruits (That Kill You)~ ep1: The glossy visuals are decent but they can't make up for the storytelling. The hero is excited because the day has come for him to take his hot childhood friend to eat the once-in-a-lifetime magic fruit which will set their future paths in stone. From the way that she asks dithery exposition-laden questions and little else, his friend appears to have no mind of her own or knowledge of the scenario, and as soon as things go south she lets the clergy drag her away to become a destined warrior without so much as a farewell or overnight bag. Meanwhile, he's convinced himself that he's going to gain superpowers and is gutted when instead, he gains an affinity for fruit (I'm not spoiler-tagging the central premise).

In a world where all of your agency revolves around this weird coming-of-age moment it's strange that everyone seems so ignorant about what it all means, but after a brief spell of farming magical fruit with a little girl he's inexplicably been forced to adopt, the hero accidentally eats another fruit, which would ordinarily kill him (along with his young charge who has been innocently cooking with the extra magical fruit, but nobody seems worried about that). Sadly, he doesn't die, and instead gains additional powers while his pet girl gets the power to deliver more exposition with the ubiquitous Appraise skill, prompting him to don a white sheet, obtain a new, impractical-looking sword and revert back to his original plan to become an adventurer. Why he didn't eat even more of the magical fruit when he realised that he could, I don't understand. The rest of the plot plays out with all logic hand-waved as the hero goes through all of the standard rites of passage for a new adventurer: travelling to a big copy-paste city, hanging out at the guild, meeting a large blond man there who bullies him, humiliating the bully in combat... before bumping into his old, now-famous friend who is acting strangely and clearly needs a man to rescue her. It's all been done before. It's a little comical how the hero is called Light, looks a bit like a bootleg version of Lelouch and lives in a world with One Piece's Devil Fruit are the centre of everyone's lives, yet the resultant show ends up being utterly mundane.

Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective ep1: An inoffensive medical mystery show in the exact same vein as House (only with a petite cutie serving as the grumpy doctor). I found the lead quite annoying but she has potential and the central mysteries are interesting, so I'm willing to overlook how daft (or smug, in her case) everyone is and continue to watch for now. At the very least, I'd like to see the next episode because the first one ended partway through a mystery! This is how all first episodes should be; a limited amount of introductory scene-setting before hinting at an actual hook to show off what the rest of the series has to offer. Most of the shows I grumble about annoy me because they rely on their existing audiences and don't do any work to draw new viewers in with the narrative. Also, dinosaurs make everything cooler.

Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! ep1: Easily the best of the copy-paste fantasy shows this season so far (admittedly, that isn't a huge compliment). The episode plays out as the title suggests, with the demon lord setting our salaryman a task to prove himself in order to persuade his other three generals that his new recruit is worth keeping around despite being a lowly human with no special powers. The task is negotiation-based, however, which plays to the hero's past life experience in dealing with unpredictable foreign business partners in his old job. I rank this one a little higher than the rest in spite of the standard-issue 'irrationally angry braindead redhead babe' taking up most of the oxygen in this first episode, and that's because it's clearly pitched at an older audience and proactively makes use of its plot elements. The hero's past life actually matters, and he's actually persevering instead of cynically narrating his way through everything, and the scriptwriter has the basic common sense not to have people over-explaining the generic scenario because that's not the story that they're trying to tell. It also avoids falling back upon open misogyny in lieu of storytelling, which is a refreshing break from the usual pattern (the ending then overcompensates by showing off the bikini babe lying in improbable positions). It's not my cup of tea but I think this show has some merit for isekai fans (as well as cynical salarymen who enjoy fantasy genre tropes).

Possibly the Greatest Alchemist of All Time ep1: And then we have this. I don't really have much left to say. It's another uninspired 'milquetoast nobody gets reborn in a video game world' nothing-fest. I guarantee that you've already seen everything that happens in it elsewhere no matter how long you've been watching anime, and even the characters seem bored as they meaninglessly follow every trope in the genre and faff around with pop-up menus. There are hints at a wider plot but I cannot believe that it will be worth the wait, given how blatantly everything seems to have been telegraphed already. One for isekai megafans only.

R
 
Rui said:
Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective ep1: An inoffensive medical mystery show in the exact same vein as House (only with a petite cutie serving as the grumpy doctor). I found the lead quite annoying but she has potential and the central mysteries are interesting, so I'm willing to overlook how daft (or smug, in her case) everyone is and continue to watch for now. At the very least, I'd like to see the next episode because the first one ended partway through a mystery! This is how all first episodes should be; a limited amount of introductory scene-setting before hinting at an actual hook to show off what the rest of the series has to offer. Most of the shows I grumble about annoy me because they rely on their existing audiences and don't do any work to draw new viewers in with the narrative. Also, dinosaurs make everything cooler.
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@Rui Dinosaurs and blue blood make everything cooler.
 
SSSS. Gridman Episodes 1 - 12

Latest title from my backlog, interesting concept for a series with fighting with minimal fan service Even to the point when the main female character is giving a bath to one of the male characters she wears shorts under her skirt.
 
Ranma 1/2 (2024) (English) - Episode 11 - 12 (Complete)

It has been good to finally experience this classic series with a new coat of paint.

Out of the two Rumiko Takahashi works I've seen now (this and the first season of the Urusei Yatsura remake) I definitely still prefer the latter but this was a good watch all around and I'm looking forward to the second season (and also reminds me I still need to properly start the second season of the UY remake as well).

Undead Unluck (English) - Episode 18
 
I’m Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class ep1: A prickly, cynical, lazy heir is forced into an arranged marriage with the stickler that he always argues with in his class at school, leading to predictable hijinks aimed squarely at tsundere enjoyers. I wasn't expecting to like this so it was a pleasant surprise when it handled its well-worn premise quite capably. There are a few remaining mysteries still to be explored (such as why she agreed to the deal, and why such a grumpy school kid cares so much about his inheritance) but the first episode is glossy, attractive and full of energy (perhaps too much energy at times; the pseudo-little-sister character is very odd). I also appreciated the quick pace of the series. As well as hurtling through all of the standard 'will they, won't they' elements to avoid pointless misdirection, the overall pacing of the dialogue is speedy too, which came as a welcome change after my run of languid isekai adaptations. It's not going to be a keeper but it successfully entertained for its runtime. Ultimately, though, I'd just much prefer to watch a series about the insane, completely hypocritical grandparent characters driving around and causing problems for all of their relatives instead. They definitely stole the show.

Momentary Lily ep1: Speaking of fast-paced, it's the latest headache-inducing, utterly hyperactive GoHands show. Their trademark art style is as unattractive as ever, full of lens flares and disorientating camera angles and random CG and excessively animated strands of hair. Everyone's hyper-gravity-defying hair bounces once per sentence that they speak, except for the girl whose sole personal trait is 'big sister', whose boobs bounce weirdly instead. Still, it's not their worst-looking show and I did somehow make it through the entire first episode before acknowledging that I was overstimulated and needing to settle down. From what I could gather in between the visual insanity, this story is a typical post-apocalyptic adventure about five (later, six) girls, who hang out together and fight evil invading robot things with colourful CG weapons. And occasionally cook together. It would have been mediocre with conventional animation; as a GoHands series it is definitely not something that I'm going to persevere with any longer.

R
 
Rui said:
Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective ep1: An inoffensive medical mystery show in the exact same vein as House (only with a petite cutie serving as the grumpy doctor). I found the lead quite annoying but she has potential and the central mysteries are interesting, so I'm willing to overlook how daft (or smug, in her case) everyone is and continue to watch for now. At the very least, I'd like to see the next episode because the first one ended partway through a mystery! This is how all first episodes should be; a limited amount of introductory scene-setting before hinting at an actual hook to show off what the rest of the series has to offer. Most of the shows I grumble about annoy me because they rely on their existing audiences and don't do any work to draw new viewers in with the narrative. Also, dinosaurs make everything cooler.
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Evidently Crunchyroll released the first two episodes together over here in the US, as I was able to watch both episodes 1 & 2, which completed the case at hand. I thought the second episode was better than the first; it got into Sherlock Holmes levels of deduction. I did have to chuckle a bit at the end of the second episode - it reminded me so much of the classic Scooby-Doo villain line "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!" 😄
 
I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World etc
Episodes 8-11.

By the Grace of Gods S2
Episodes 1-3
Ooh, big fight and Lebiala is fanservice.

As it seems the rules on posting have been cancelled (Wallace &Gromit)

Samurai Jack
Jack and the Scotsman
Jack Vs Zombies
Watched the DVDs made by Manga entertainment.
 
RonJB said:
Listen Girls, I Am Your Father episodes 7-12+OVA: Still unsure if I liked this or not. Why is no-one prepared to offer them financial support? So much makes no sense. I prefer the realism of Isekai.

Please Twins complete series: No idea when I bought this or from where. I did have it when it was first released, but my teenage nephew "borrowed" it and I never saw it again. Very stretched out story that could have been told in about 3 episodes. Also some dodgy family dynamics.

Made In Abyss two films Journey's Dawn and Wandering Twilight: compilation of season 1 with a couple of extra scenes. Total running time of over 3.5 hours means it's not much shorter than the actual series once you remove the credits and previews. I'd forgotten how traumatic it gets.

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Foul: Lots of fun and perfect for New Year's Day viewing.
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Wallace and Gromit
 
Sorairo Utility (TV) episode 1 A new obsession.

Tasokare Hotel episode 1 New worker.

Dragon Ball (Rewatch) episodes 47-71
 
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