Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells ep1: Yet another copy-paste 'revenge' story about a guy who leads the Worst Life Ever until he (and his entire class) is dragged to another world, where they discover that while they all have cool new powers, his new powers are considered so lame that he's abandoned in a dungeon (because outright killing him would lower the group's morale, even though everyone other than one swooning girl seems to hate him). It's bizarre and makes no internal sense, and everyone in it is so cartoonishly evil that I can't take the supposedly tragic story setup even slightly seriously. The rubbish-looking monsters were just the final nail in the coffin.
Quality Assurance in Another World ep1: I appreciate that this series had more intelligent world-building and detail in its setting than all of the braindead pseudo-fantasy nonsense we've had lately - and in spite of that, it's literally about a world where that world-building would have every reason to suck! Our villager heroine meets a suspicious guy who seems to be trying to save everyone from a monster attack, except that the big reveal at the end (which is already given away by the title) is that he's actually just a bug tester and the entire world is a glitchy RPG. It's all been done before but my only real complaint here is that the story could have got to the point much faster without the need to save the 'twist' until the end; the designs are distinctive and there's been a lot more thought put into the storytelling than usual, so it ended up being a decently satisfying watch in spite of the tiredness of the premise. A standout in an overcrowded genre.
Red Cat Ramen ep1: A newcomer looking for work visits a novelty ramen shop entirely staffed by talking cats, who take their jobs very seriously and hire her to sit in the back room and brush their coats in between shifts. She keeps making mistakes which annoy some of the highly strung workers but her efforts earn her the trust of the others, and she seems to be settling in well as various cat-related gags play out in the sitcom setting. The visuals aren't great; I didn't entirely like the cats' designs and for a series which zooms in lustily on the noodles as though it's Food Wars or Delicious in Dungeon, rendering those noodles (and their toppings) as blocky, undetailed CG assets was a questionable artistic decision. And I think I'd have enjoyed the series more in bite-sized chunks rather than as a full-length episode full of noodles and cats.
The Elusive Samurai ep1: A refreshing, lively historical adventure story. This is a fairly typical tale of a young heir whose life is forever turned upside down by a bloody rebellion, but the combination of lovely animation, energetic scripting and larger-than-life characters made it an engaging watch from start to finish. The end of the Kamakura period and what came next is often passed over in favour of the courtly antics which came before it or the well-trodden drama of the Sengoku era, so I'm looking forward to seeing a less popular setting get its time to shine this season. It's always good to see a show which lived up to the promise of its promotional artwork.
Narenare -Cheer for You!- ep1: None of this really gelled for me; I didn't love the coloured outlines that made all of the artwork look indistinct, nor could I get into the introduction sequence where lots of girls with identical CG models and different heads woodenly performed a cheer routine. It felt too robotic to convey the excitement of the sport, which came through much better in the story itself. This first episode was quite slow overall, introducing several girls who will presumably eventually come together as a cheer squad but initially spending more time exploring streaming, parkour and foreigners non-consensually kissing people. There's a lightness to the physics which is obviously intentional (the girls leap ridiculous distances without a wobble) but at the same time, the Traumatic Past Event which haunts the narrative feels as though there's supposed to be a sense of controlled danger to the sport, so I'm struggling a little with how far to adjust my level of immersion. The girls themselves were fine but I think this show might earn more appreciation from genre fans than from me.
(I don't write things off entirely just because of CG - there was even a little in The Elusive Samurai - but when it's used to make set pieces or important moments pop and instead makes them look lame, it really takes me out of the moment!)
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