My New Boss is Goofy ep1: A traumatised company employee changes jobs and has a hard time adjusting to a decent workplace after struggling under a bullying boss. This time, though, his boss is a bit of an airhead, and he can't help but smile at the man's absent-minded mistakes. The designs are quite nice and everyone looks/behaves like (slightly silly) adults throughout, which should be a given in this genre except that it isn't. The main character's lingering trauma is kind of a big deal too, even though it's not the focus. This isn't a bad show, it's just another that I think would be more enjoyable chopped up into smaller doses rather than repeating the same joke and reminding the viewer of its core concept all the way through a full-length episode.
UNDER NINJA ep1: Another comedy, though with a drier sense of humour. This is the natural outcome after a generation grew up with NARUTO, a gritty spy series about a bunch of sociopathic ninja half-bakedly going on espionage (?) missions in an ordinary high school. The gag is that ninja are still extremely prominent in modern Japanese society and living fairly unremarkable lives when they're not using their awesome powers to resolve everyday problems. I quite like the silliness of the script but this is a seriously ugly show; from the dodgy CG to the muted palette to the fish-eyed character designs, there's nothing aesthetically pleasing anywhere in sight! I'll sit this one out but it has promise.
I'm in Love with the Villainess ep1: I should mention that the entire villainess genre annoys me because it lazily uses a setting that none of its writers know anything about and creates this annoying mythos around a hobby which is completely misrepresented. With that said, this was the first show in the genre which felt entertaining - and it even successfully parodies old fashioned stat-raising otome games in a way that feels genuinely affectionate. The plot is simple; some woman presumably dies of overwork (the isekai elements are, as always, wholly irrelevant) and finds herself in the world of her favourite game, except that she doesn't give a hoot about the actual plot and just wants to indulge her crush on the haughty blonde school bully. What follows is what Butareba would have been if the perving was actually consensual (ok, the villainess openly hates it but she keeps on coming back to bully the same girl anyway, so...) and the main character was indomitably cheerful throughout. Seeing a bully repeatedly undone by unpretentious cheerfulness feels fresh and entertaining in spite of its simplicity. I also love how the male leads are completely disregarded except where they intersect with the lead's plans for her beloved frenemy. No idea whether this will remain watchable but it's doing a good job so far.
R
UNDER NINJA ep1: Another comedy, though with a drier sense of humour. This is the natural outcome after a generation grew up with NARUTO, a gritty spy series about a bunch of sociopathic ninja half-bakedly going on espionage (?) missions in an ordinary high school. The gag is that ninja are still extremely prominent in modern Japanese society and living fairly unremarkable lives when they're not using their awesome powers to resolve everyday problems. I quite like the silliness of the script but this is a seriously ugly show; from the dodgy CG to the muted palette to the fish-eyed character designs, there's nothing aesthetically pleasing anywhere in sight! I'll sit this one out but it has promise.
I'm in Love with the Villainess ep1: I should mention that the entire villainess genre annoys me because it lazily uses a setting that none of its writers know anything about and creates this annoying mythos around a hobby which is completely misrepresented. With that said, this was the first show in the genre which felt entertaining - and it even successfully parodies old fashioned stat-raising otome games in a way that feels genuinely affectionate. The plot is simple; some woman presumably dies of overwork (the isekai elements are, as always, wholly irrelevant) and finds herself in the world of her favourite game, except that she doesn't give a hoot about the actual plot and just wants to indulge her crush on the haughty blonde school bully. What follows is what Butareba would have been if the perving was actually consensual (ok, the villainess openly hates it but she keeps on coming back to bully the same girl anyway, so...) and the main character was indomitably cheerful throughout. Seeing a bully repeatedly undone by unpretentious cheerfulness feels fresh and entertaining in spite of its simplicity. I also love how the male leads are completely disregarded except where they intersect with the lead's plans for her beloved frenemy. No idea whether this will remain watchable but it's doing a good job so far.
R
