Fall Season 2016 : First Impressions & Discussion

[Manimal]

http://anichart.net/fall

First Impressions
Kaiju Girls + Nyanbo!
Magical Girl Raising Project
Scorching Ping Pong Girls
Matoi The Sacred Slayer
To Be Hero
Keijo!!!!!!!!
Flip Flappers
Girlish Number 
Long Riders!
Magic of Stella


Reviews
Phantom World Special
Magical Girl Raising Project
Scorching Ping Pong Girls
Matoi The Sacred Slayer
Magic of Stella

[Manimal]

Yer Stinkin' Two Fer One : Kaiju Girls + Nyanbo!



Review

Spoiler

Looking at two shorts for this season we first have Kaijuu Girls. This is a web short about three girls who have powers to transform into monster suits that give them super powers. Or something. In this episode we meet the three girls, a dead pan one Agira, an excitable one Miku and a glasses one Windom. The girls are briefed on their powers and see some other Kaijuu Girl put out a fire. It's basically Nendroids in animation. They have the same chibi proportions and are all cutely styled after popular anime tropes. The art is similarly bright and the designs are good also. This short works off some pretty conventional and weak anime humor and overall doesn't do much of interest. It's just a dumb 4 minute short. The only interesting part was the nice looking frame of Panty & Stocking estc transformation animation in the OP.

The world can't get enough of monster girls these days. Atleast these ones are cute.


Nyanbo! on the other hand is more interesting. It's about cardboard box looking cats who wonder around. The show is basically 3D characters in the real world, and it looked a lot better then one would assume. The animation was a little bit choppy but it was pretty well done, and shot nicely as well. There was reflections and depth of field to give the 3D a good look. There was one scene where they interacted with a cat. This felt a bit awkward as the first bit was so clearly green screened which will sort of takes you out of it. Another issue is the voice acting. It was weird to hear this very pitchy anime voice came from the little girl, it didn't feel right with the real life backgrounds. Nyanbo! was an interesting first episode, it's a whimsy and amusing kids' show. It was creative and feels like an interesting concept for a short.

The most interesting part was the brief CG animation of Yotsuba drawing since Nyanbo is from that series. This is as close as we'll get to a Yotsuba anime I suppose...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbekZB1OVLY

[Manimal]

Magical Girl Raising Project



Genres : Action, Fantasy, Supernatural, Thriller
Studio : Lerche
Source : Light novel

Plot Summary
The highly popular social network game "Magical Girl Raising Project" is a miraculous game that produces real Magical Girls with a chance of 1 in 10000 for each person. Girls who are lucky enough to gain the power of magic spend fulfilling days. But one day, the administration arbitrarily announces that "There are too many magical girls so they will be halved." The curtain will now be raised on the relentless and merciless survival game between 16 magical girls.

(Source: Baka-Tsuki)
Review

Spoiler

Opening with a room full of bloody magical girl bodies, Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku sets itself up right away as a cute girls gone bloody show. Koyuki is an 8th grader who loves magical girls. There is a mobile game "Magical Girl Raising Project" that she often plays. Recently there have been strange sightings of so called magical girls in town, but the only photographs show blurred images.

One night Koyuki is about to exit out the game when she receives a special event, an offering to become a real magical girl. She goes right for an transforms into her alter ego, Snow White. Her ability is to sense when others are in trouble, she goes out into town to help those in need, collecting points and topping the score board in the game. She then meets with the other magical girls, a group of 15 who have various sections of the city they watch over. Koyuki pairs up with Souta who will be taking care of her training. Souta turns out to be one of her friends, a boy who's a big fan of magical girls, and now he is one. At the end of the episode it's revealed that the admin wants to halve the group, leaving only 8 of the 15 to remain....OOOOOHHHH!!!


Raising Project didn't have my full interest at first until about the last third. The idea of a cute girl show gone dark isn't anything new, and from the bloody intro it seemed to be overly edgy. But then it set up something more intriguing with the idea of a magical girl survival game. It's not a gamers trapped in game type story, rather the game plays out in real life. The girls performing super heroine tasks to earn points. There is a "cute" mascot who will likely turn out to be the ultimate evil and a set of interesting characters.

An issue I had was how quickly it jumped around. We didn't get to see much of Koyuki adjusting to being a magical girl, she just transformed, seemed a little shocked, and then it cuts to a Superman 78' montage of her helping random people. But there is only so many things a first episode can do. There is not much of a shocking reveal. After the credits the mascot pops up to say "hey, so um we're going to cut this team in half" and then it ended. The opening scene was almost unnecessary and only seemed to be there to lure in the audience. Without the opening there is nothing else to suggest the show will be dark and bloody. This perhaps takes away from any kind of surprise.


Koyuki is a standard female lead. She is cheery and positive with great pure values and a love for magical girls, wishing to be one since she was a kid. I imagine she will be hesitate to fight in the beginning but become an overlord by the end. The reveal of her old friend Souta being a magical girl was the most surprising part of the episode. Amusing enough Souta states he becomes a girl when he transforms...mostly, to which Koyuki looks down at his crotch. Ya. We also meet a cute witch and a sparsely dressed tsundere ninja. Koyuki's two normal friends are not likely to return and the mascot is kind of annoying. So far I think the cast was set up effectively.

Art wise this show is not very girly looking for a magical girl show, it's clearly aimed at the older otaku audience. There was a short tasteful scene of Koyuki changing from behind and some of the designs are racey. The characters have BIG eyes and sometimes look derpy, but the style is sort of cute. The magical girl designs look solid and varied, each girl having her own "archetype" of sorts. I like the witch girl "Top Speed". Nothing was too bad about the art, it's pretty straight forward, not much style or flair. The voice acting was standard until we meet the other girls. Some good voice actresses in the cast.


Overall the first episode of Magical Girl Raising Project  was not bad. I feel it could turn out to be something pretty cool, if anything it will be a blood bath. Unless it goes the Akuma no Riddle path where no one actually dies, but judging by the intro sequence, I doubt that. If this is another dark mature magical girl show then I welcome it. There are always a lot of mahou shoujo every season, as stated before the idea of a dark one isn't anything new but if it can bring something different to the table and deliver a solid story then it should be a good watch. We'll see but for now, I'm actually interested to see what's next. 

Reaction


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1RLJTxF9hs

[Manimal]

Scorching Ping Pong Girls



Genres : Sports
Studio : Kinema Citrus
Source : Web manga

Plot Summary
The manga follows middle school students Koyori Tsumujikaze and Agari Kamiya as they enter the world of girls' middle school ping pong.

(Source: ANN)

Review

Spoiler

Moe sports, it's so fluffy and...oh wait they're serious? Oh. Ping Pong Girl is the exciting tale of middle school ping pong. This episode opens with an intense match and a crushing defeat for the leading middle school. Now that the top team was been defeated a spot has opened for new champions, inspiring the villain moe girls in the audience. We then cut to a middle school where we meet the ping pong club. Agari, a second year, is the team's ace, and is dedicated to holding her position, hoping to go to the nationals. After some hijinks we meet our other main character Koyori. At first she seems slow and ditzy but after a friendly gone serious match with Agari we learn she is a secret ping pong master. Koyori later faces off another member, Mune, and wipes the floor with her. Now Agari's spot as the ace is challenged and a rivalry forms in the club.

So Ping Pong Girl is a moe sports anime but this episode was pretty serious. These girls where not taking ping pong lightly. The beginning was ultra dramatic with the losing team reacting like they'd just witnessed murder. Then with the school stuff we have some light cute girl hijinks with a few standard fare jokes like, hey Mune has big boobs...it's joke. A rivalry forms between Agari and Koyori though it seems to be one sided. Koyori is happy go lucky and plays ping pong seriously but with a smile. Agari is passionate and pretty serious about holding her title as the best. She is setting herself up for a meltdown with this one. Rivalry is always a thing in sports anime, but this time it's on the team so that's interesting. The characters where set-up well, a few silly jokes, but it's fairly straight forward. The other characters we meet are energetic fang tang Hanabi and weird deadpan sweater girl Hokuto.


Now we get to the show's biggest issue, the visuals. Artwise this show looks incredibly outdated as the characters boast GIANT eyes and a kind of simple style seen more in the early 2000's. It's an offputting look for a show that takes it's subject so seriously. The opening scene has all these dramatic death reaction faces that just looked goofy with such huge eyes and cat pupils. Despite having simple features there bodies are pretty realistic which creates a weird contrast. Almost like they are people wearing masks. The artstyle is not great here, and the random colour choices don't do it any favors. They have white and red school uniforms like Lucky Star and the hair colours are like a box of popsicles. The art is going to make or break the show for a lot of people. I personally had issues taking it seriously.

However the art may be nothing is wrong with the actual animation. The ping pong scenes, all three of them, where animated pretty well. Fluid motions and high in action. The directing is not bad, with all the classic slo-mo, speed lines and object artifacts one would look for in a sports show. Another thing about this episode is the lack of ecchi content. Koyori and Mune get super sweaty when they play and yet there is nothing spicy about it as I initially expected. Aside from jokes about Mune's breasts and the natural gym uniforms there is nothing distracting here. A good choice if we are made to take the characters seriously. Sound wise the OP is okay and flows like a conversation between characters. The Wake Up, Girls!' ED is a little louder. Voice acting is fine also.


Overall, the first episode of Ping Pong Girl was not bad. Certainly nothing was wrong in how it set up and in fact I can see it being a pretty entertaining show. The biggest detractor is the art which is offputting and outdated. The animation however is good and this episode has fine production values. The rivalry set up between Agari and Koyori is interesting enough, it's just surprising how serious the ping pong is. That's good and if the show continues to explore this rivalry while featuring high speed matches it will be worthwhile. I just hope it doesn't get too melodramatic. Middle school moe sports ping pong that takes itself seriously. It could go either way but for now, it's alright. But seriously that artstyle...

Reaction


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkJEvpwDBXY

[Manimal]

Matoi The Sacred Slayer



Genres : Magic, Supernatural
Studio : White Fox
Source : Original

Plot Summary
There are two girls who are in training to become Miko at the Tema Shrine: Matoi Sumeragi and Yuma Kusanagi. Matoi Sumeragi lived with her grandparents on her father's side because her mother left her since she was young, until the second year of junior high school when she finally was able to live with her father since three months ago. Matoi yearns to live a simple life. Yuma Kusanagi is the daughter of a family who lives at the shrine and is expected to become the next Miko. She knows that her ancestor used Taimakou, a technique to exorcise evil spirits and invites Matoi to challenge the ritual called Kamikagari using the skill of Taimakou.

One day after school on the way to the shrine, the two girls go to meet Yuma's parents, but discover that they have fallen in pain. Shingo, who is Matoi's father, and a police officer involved in investigating the case, discover a man giving off an unusual aura. To stop this man, Yuma calls out Kamikagari, but something happens to Matoi.

The girl who yearns for a simple life has a power to exorcise evil spirits? In order to get her simple life back, she goes on a task to exorcise evil spirits.

(Source: MAL News)


Review

Spoiler

It's the season of mahou shoujo, and it doesn't even end here. Matoi the Sacred Slayer is about the grand adventures of Matoi, a young girl who accidentally becomes an exorcist. In the beginning of this episode we are treated to most fantastic engrish as soldiers storm a church and get destroyed by a monster. The army sends in a blonde girl who transforms into a battle suit and one shots the monster. We cut to Tema Shrine as Matoi and her friend Yuma work a booth. Matoi has recently moved in town to live with her father whom has been out the picture most of her life. He works as a private investor and her mother is gone. Matoi is adjusting to her normal life as her dad, Shingo, picks up a new case. Lately women have been gone missing, only to be found later, unharmed, at a painters house. We see the painter roaming the forest and learn he is being possessed by the demons when he shows up to the shrine, transforming into a beast. Yuma attempts to do some sort of anti demon ritual which accidentally transforms Motoi into an exorcist, the perfect image of her mother. Matoi is confused, kills the demon, now she's a magical girl the end.

Matoi the Sacred Slayer seems like a mix of police drama and mahou shoujo. It sets up this global issue with the evil spirits, and has super powered girls who fight them. Like Mahou Shoujo Rising Project it's not a girly magical girl show as it has these action elements in the background and ecchi content from the knock out blonde investigator who sways men and turns them to dogs with her incredible cleavage. Her boobs are shiny. Matoi is just one of those "I want a normal life!" type of leads who is thrown into a situation by a freak set of events. The super girls are called Fatima in this show and we can assume her mother was one. Matoi basically becomes her mom when she transforms, prompting her dad to hug and grope her thinking she was his wife...ouch. There where a lot of jokes, some of which where slower builds, and the action was pretty low impact. Nothing with the painter was explained, I guess we can assume he was a criminal beforehand.


The cast was dry. None of the characters popped or where all that memorable aside from physical attributes. Matoi is happy go luck with her energetic best friend Yuma, whom judging by the poster will also become a Fatima. Yuma's dad is a pompadour jelled cupid who thinks he's smooth with the ladies. He's not. Matoi's Dad wasn't much of a character and Luciela is the deadpan cool girl. None of the cast did anything to stand out, much like the show itself. Animation wise it looked okay. Lots of choppy animation, quick cuts, and other tricks to make it appear faster. The painter's design was amateur looking and there where a lot of moments which felt off. Matoi looked pretty cute when she transformed into a flowing red and white dress though. That was the most memorable part.


Overall, the first episode of Matoi the Sacred Slayer leaves me with very few words. It felt like one of those many forgettable plot based stories without any real intrigue or standout characters. There's no real gimmick, it just looks like Matoi will be fighting monsters, meet the blonde Fatima at some point...and ya. Little of note comes to mind when reflecting on this episode. It wasn't terrible, a few things could've been explained better and it felt like Luciela was intentional designed to keep viewers interested. I'd like to see the second episode but I don't feel this is going to be a standout for the season. A few more shows and this'll be exorcised from my brain.

Reaction


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXmrMMYpQL4

[Manimal]

To Be Hero



Genres : Comedy
Studio : Haoliner Animation League
Source : Original

Plot Summary
Our main character, Ossan, is a no-good father with a messy appearance even though he looks nice, and decorates restrooms. He is a divorced, single-dad and lives with his daughter Min-chan, who is good at both studying and sport. One day, Ossan has been sucked into the toilet that he finished using, and becomes a hero to save the Earth! The price is he lost his ikemen appearance and becomes a fat person!! Ossan’s battle to protect the Earth and Min-chan has begun…

(Source: MAL News)

Review

Spoiler

A fine offering of wonderful anime absurdity delivered with the slimy grime and smell of dedication. To Be Hero is a 10 minute short about Ossan, a womanizing toilet seat designer who fatefully falls down the pipes during a dramatic crap. He meets gay Mario who tells him he was the only person on Earth taking a dump which will now grant him SUPER POWERS! When he washes up back home however he finds himself a fat lard. No longer the charming man he once was, Ossan has made a transformation for the worst. The upside, he has super powers! Now with aliens about to strike, Ossan must get ready while finding a new place to live.

This was hilarious! A perfect amount of ridiculous, fast paced and unconventional jokes. It's concept is telling enough and surely it comes with it's series of never ending toilet jokes, but To Be Hero has great comedy. The dialogue is brilliant. I love to see this kind of stuff among all the bland anime comedy we are used to. It seems to be a true superhero parody, Ossan was once hansom but now that he was powers he's fat and ugly. The aliens are silly as well. This show felt a lot like Trigger in terms of delivery. Not so much creativity, but in the same vain. The animation is low grade and similarly fast paced as it needs to be. Ossan's violent daughter is much like a typical angry anime girl but she is brutally violent to her dad. The scene where he goes to her bed at night after he transforms was the funniest part!


The key to the comedy is director & writer Shinichi Watanabe. His style of complete absurdity and rapid fire jokes is present. Some of his past directorial works include Excel Saga and Puni Puni Poemi, both of which are hilarious the latter being genre mutilation. The voice acting was great, lots of funny lo-fi voicing, and his deep voiced daughter was awesome! Plus Ossan's hero voice is funny. To Be Hero is 100% comedy, it's ridiculous and I assume it will only get crazier. If you are not into stupid comedy you will not like this show. If you go into this looking for a serious plot then you're missing the point. It's about a toilet seat designer. I thought this was a great episode, very funny, a good length, and I look forward to more!

Reaction


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tViZoJpXG1A

[Manimal]

Keijo!!!!!!!!



Genres : Ecchi, Shounen, Sports
Studio : Xebec
Source : Manga

Plot Summary
Kaminashi Nozomi (17) is an exceptional gymnast. So much so that colleges with some of the best gymnastic programs are trying to recruit her. Unfortunately for them, she has other plans. Due to her family being extremely poor, money is everything to her. That's why she wants to step into the world of "Keijo." "Keijo" is a type of gambling sport where girls stand on a small floating platform and compete against one another. The aim is to push the other contestant off of the platform into the water, but they are only allowed to use their butt or breasts to push the others off. Will Nozomi be able to compete in the intense world of "Keijo" and bring wealth and fortune for her family?

(Source: MangaHelpers)
Review

Spoiler

The classic battle of boobs and butt taken to extremes, Keijo is about Nozomi, a recent high school grad who goes to train for Keijo! A major pro sport where girls battle on floating platforms using only their boobs and butt. The goal is to knock their opponent off. The athletes make a great salary and win big cash prizes, which inspires Nozomi to join. Her and a bunch of other girls go right their first game at the academy. Sex appeal clashes sex appeal as the girls knock each other out. It's battle of the thickest. After the match Nozomi and her friend Sayaka find they have been roomed in the reject spot, room 309. They meet two other girls as there journey begins.

This was a fantastic first episode. It's an unabashed ecchi show that is not scared to roll with it's themes. It goes all in on it. Nothing is shameful or embarrassing, they just begin to slam their butts together and clash. There is no lame male character to nose bleed and bring it down, it's straight up boobs and butt combat. It's an idea so silly that it completely works. Keijo knows it's dumb and it rolls with it, delivering what the audience wants in a fun way. The battles where great and so many silly things happened I actually laughed. The battle wasn't erotic at all, it was played like a straight shounen. Aside from the lesbian character groping Nozi's butt there was nothing steamy outside of the swimsuit clad bodies. They fought passionately. It felt painful to watch, it's like they have butts made of iron, the sounds where rough and they where causing serious damage. Nozomi gets her nose stuck up a butt and engages in bust to bust combat like a light saber duel.

The best part of Keijo is how natural everything is played. There is no hesitation or shame, this is a pro sport in the world and the girls are burning to win. All of the moves have names, it's way over the top, and it has a good tone. It's literally just a sport shounen where girls in bathing suits clash with their assets.


Nozomi is a great lead, passionate and a true sportswoman. Her voice actress did a great job! The other characters are fine, but I think we could do without the clumsy one. An over played trait. We have some tropes like the raging lesbian, psycho, awkward one and everything, but that's to be expected. The animation is awesome, it has great style and flow. When they battle the lines get really thick and there is lots of action, heavy impact hits, flips, and effects. It's seriously well directed and animated, this is not some low quality production. Of course the girls are nice and the butts, out of this world, but it's also a well made show that is aware of it's goofiness and plays it seriously and naturally enough to make it really entertaining and have greater appeal then ecchi.

This is the very reason I like anime so much as a medium. Nowhere else can such a silly idea as girls fighting each other with their boobs and butt get a high quality professional television animation. Even if a lot of these shows might blow, it's still such a fun medium that can give us so many of these crazy ideas. Yes of course I like this episode because it's hot girls in swimsuits, I'm not pretending it's high art and neither is the show. I don't care if someone thinks I have bad taste for saying this but I'd take a fun silly show like this over an overblown shounen/plot driven show any day. I like goofy things, I like fun and I like good ecchi as anything else. 


Overall the first episode of Keijo was really great and is my favorite so far. In normal terms an ecchi show might only have a few good bits with the rest being boring plot. A great ecchi show like Prison School plays it for jokes and has so much spice and good comedy that it turns into something else beyond the normal boring battle school type stuff. Keijo starts off like one of those great shows. This episode deliveries great ecchi, has awesome animation, actually cool battle scenes, good comedy and a likable fun cast. It's a ballsack on the table let's roll with it kind of thing. and that's great. If you don't like ecchi then you will totally not like this, but for those with that special taste, this seem like it's going to be a great show.

Reaction


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLRgxD5ARak

[Manimal]

Flip Flappers



Genres : Comedy, Sci-Fi
Studio : Studio 3Hz
Source : Original

Plot Summary
Papika and Cocona hold the keys to open the door. When the two girls meet, their adventures in a different time and different overlapping dimension called "Pure Illusion" begin. Many things in Pure Illusion will stand in the girls' way on their search for the mysterious crystal called the "Shard of Mimi," an item that is said to grant any wish. However, when the girls find themselves in danger, the Shard of Mimi shines, and they are able to transform.

(Source: ANN)
Review

Spoiler

Magical girls in other worlds, Flip Flappers is an anime original about magical girls in different worlds. Kokona is a soft spoken bored student who one day meets a mysterious orange haired girl, Paprika. Without warning the two are warped to another dimension where they play and explore a snowy field. They encounter strange creatures, run into troubles, and unlock Kokona's transformation power. What is the reason behind this? We don't know! There is some kind of organizing monitoring them and Paprika is joined by a strange robotic creature. At the end of the episode they return home and are captured by robots, what'll happen next?

This was a fantastic first episode. It had such a pure sense of wonder, joy and adventure. Instead of overloading us with tons of information and detailing every boring backstory we are thrown right into the world as Kokona joins Paprika in this weird snowy world. In the beginning we see Kokona bored and unsure at school, when she meets Paprika she thinks everything is a dream but still doesn't allow herself to laugh or smile too much. Little bits of her personality are revealed, just as little bits of information about Pure Illusion are split. It's more of a whimsy adventure with some pretty creative themes, artsy bits and some rather unexpected moments. The girls start by playing in the snow, making big snowballs and everything, then they hide away in a snowhut before encountering these strange creatures. Paprika rides around on a surf board and when she tries to recover Kokona's fallen glasses she gets frozen in the water. Kokona gets angry and unlocks a sort of Super Saiyan transformation where she gets super powers and her hair grows out. This episode just flew by, it was a lot of fun.

There where some really weird bits. The robot machine is odd, before the girls warp it lassos them up and tickles them, for some reason...there are also some cute yuri themes, nothing too suggestive but it certainly looks like it'll play a part. The weirdest bit is when the robots hatch is opened to see a human brain inside. This threw the tone off (in a good way) and was really strange! There was also a bit of blood where Paprika was on the monster. I was expecting something really light, maybe kind of dull, with not much going on. I was very surprised.


The characters are interesting. Kokona seems normal but she has some kind of power hidden inside her. Paprika drags her along on grand adventures, seeming to be the thing Kokona is lacking. The animation was wonderful, it's a cool style with lots of great fluid animation sequences, great backgrounds and settings, fantastic character designs (all hail the low cut sailor fuku) and overall a lot of style. It was pretty and a joy to look at. Voice acting and music where good with a great OP theme from ZAQ. It's awesome that it's an original anime as well, so who knows where this will go. I'm incredibly interested to figure out more. The great part of this episode was that we are thrown into it right away. Experiencing this weird world along with Kokona. We know as much about it as she does. The robot isn't coming down all like "this is Pure Illusion, it is etc.", that would be lame. Hopefully this will be something interesting that develops as it goes.


Overall the first episode of Flip Flappers was a blast. Unique, fun, and a great start. I revoke the statement above, this is my favorite first episode so far. It passed by in a snap and presented a really great adventure. It promises a lot of good things and I hope it can continue to deliver. I have not seen anything like this before, it captured such an adventure thrill. Just exploring this Pure Illusion dimension would be interesting enough to carry a full show. I'm all for an adventure mahou shoujo. The animation is great, it was wonderful style and it should be a good one. It has a few odd themes that I mentioned above, but I think it all added to the overall intrigue. By not telling us much it only makes things funner to discover. Flip Flappers is off to a brilliant start, I hope it keeps it up! I really want to see more!

Reaction


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD3DdskaPhs

[Manimal]

Hibike! Euphonium 2 : Episode 1

• Hibike! Euphonium is back! Coming in with a double episode this second season kicks off very slowly as we are re-introduced to the characters and presented with a new situation. The club aims to go to nationals after their big victory at the end of the last season. Now a second year wants to re-join, adding more mystery to the unspoken event that shattered the majority of the club the previous year. Kumiko and Reina continue to supply great subtle yuri vibes.
  
  This was a good way to ease us back into the show. Focused on character interactions we see how they have changed. Reina is a lot bolder now, more comfortable with everyone. She invites Kumiko to the fireworks and is better at talking with the other club members. We see how observant she is, noting in her head who's friends with who and repeating Hazuki's three second rule joke to Kumiko. The characterization is so good and natural in this show, Reina feels like a real person. Kumiko to is very chill and indifferent. Her reactions are often quiet and her voice actress does a great job. Providing a rather unique tone. This show says a lot without saying much, like her relationship with her sister and the club dynamics. Asuka as well acts goofy but hides a lot of her emotions and can get pretty serious. This new girl Nozomi is a bit of a mystery to.
  
  The animation looks nice as ever, lots of detail and movement. I like the little touches, like Reina on the train moving her shoulder to let a sleeping Kumiko lean in further and background characters moving. It's a beautiful production, I expect no less from Kyoto Ani. This was an awesome slow start reminding us how great the cast is! I am so looking forward to more of this awesome series.
  
  

[Manimal]

Girlish Number



Genres : Slice of Life
Studio : Diomedea
Source : Original

Plot Summary
College student Chitose Karasuma is determined not to do boring things as she enters the adult world. To this end, this bad-mannered beauty barges into a facility that trains would-be voice actors and actresses, somehow landing a job at “Number One Produce,” a seiyu agency managed by her older brother, Gojo. In Chitose's mind, she's poised for greatness, but finds herself at a loss when she continues to only get minor roles. As she clashes with other girls in the agency, including a cunning airhead and a girl with a Kansai accent, Chitose is about to learn that there's more to succeeding in this competitive industry than she imagined.

(Source: ANN)
Review

Spoiler

Surprising! Girlish Number is the story of Chitose Karasuma, a rookie seiyuu of 1 year. The episode takes us over a few situations like a live event, voice acting session and after hours stuff. Chitose begins to get fed up with doing one line roles when suddenly she is presented with a big offer. Become a idol seiyuu to voice in a light novel adaption.

Okay this was pretty good. Where Shirobako gave us a look into an anime studio and shone the industry in a positive light it seems like Girlish Number looks to tear at the weirdness and dishonesty in the industry. Right away in the beginning two seiyuus are bickering with each other at the event. Everyone has a cute act on that they quickly switch away from. Chitose first gives a clumsy intro and smiles evilly when it connects with the audience. She acts nice around the industry people and instantly talks bad about them in her head. Everyone in this show is about making the sales. Chitose only cares about getting big roles and the business guys have a meeting where they decide on doing an idol light novel anime since idols and light novels are popular. Everyone has a bad attitude towards light novels, laughing away at them. One character even suggests those who can't draw or make music go to writing. We see a light novel author in the show as well. He's incredibly awkward, especially around the girls. Momoka and Chitose are asked to go to dinner to which Momoka is able to avoid in style. In the end Chitose is given the lead role in the idol anime and when given the source materiel she laughs, telling them she won't read it. Chitose and the business people laugh like cartoon villians, dollar signs in their eyes.

There is a lot of bickering and bad vibes between the seiyuus. Kazuha is rude, not wanting to perform or do events. She is not happy with being a "consumer attracting panda" as she says after doing an idol song with Momoka. Kazuha is mean to Chitose as well. Momoka has her own agenda, putting on a perfect show for everyone to get ahead. The seiyuus are all wicked and look out for only themselves. It presents a view of a ruthless and twisted industry. Chitose is only picked for the idol role because she's a cute rookie. The show presents the reality where seiyuus are put forward to promote shows with their cuteness by doing all kinds of events and concerts, expanding them past their job of simply voice acting. It's a dig at the inner workings of the industry.


The cast is pretty good already. Chitose is all over, secretly scheming how she can get big. But she's also childish and impatiently. Her facial expressions shift around as she reacts to everything while trying to put on a good show. Kazuha is not interested in being paraded around where Momoka is able to accept and deal with it as part of her job. Chitose gets confused trying to figure out what it means to be a seiyuu. Even though it should just be voice acting the girls are put out in events and all kinds of things. Everyone is about the money. This kind of view is refreshing to see in an anime. It's not overly cynical or aggressive in how this is presented but many digs are taken, especially at light novels which is where the source material itself comes from! It's self deprecating in a way.

The art looks good. Chitose is certainly cute and the other characters have good designs. It's similar to the Idolmaster where we see backstage and in the voice acting booth, so it doesn't move around like a cute girl show. Girlish Number is not something fluffy trying to paint things in a positive light. The characters are sour are in a way unlikable, the setting is also realistic and all of the industry people are guys. Voice acting is good and animation is the only think to fault in the show's production. It's choppy at times.


Overall the first episode of Girlish Number was pretty good. It's off to an interesting start, taking aim at the anime industry and roles of seiyuus as "consumer attracting pandas". This episode rips at light novels as well and presents everyone in the office like Decepticons drunk on Energon. I quite liked this one, it certainly was WAY more then what I was expecting. It has cute girls but it's not a standard overly pretty cute girls show. Instead it might be something a little more. We'll see but for now I quite like where this is going. Chitose is going to try to step her way ahead while the other girls plan to bring her down. That is a good conflict!

Reaction


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pizJwgPKoaA

[Manimal]

Long Riders!



Genres : Comedy, Shounen, Slice of Life, Sports
Studio : Actas
Source : Manga

Plot Summary
Ami Kurata, a first-year university student who has no athletic ability, suddenly falls in love with a folding bicycle after seeing it in front of a train station. Inspired by her newfound love, she starts saving up to buy a bicycle and to learn cycling.

(Source: MAL News)

Review

Spoiler

EXCUSE ME




Long Riders! is a brand new show that is...nothing new. But is that bad, let's look into it eh. As the first episode begins we are instantly shocked to find, it's a college anime! This means no school uniforms or anything else we've come to expect! But the set-up is just as familiar as a loose fit sailor fuku, Ami is a hobbyless girl looking for something to do. Her best friend Aoi is athletic and is constantly being asked to join clubs, her hobby is biking. Ami has never thought of biking as her thing until she spots someone on a small fold up bike. It's love at first sight as she rushes to a bike shop with her life savings literally in her pocket, looking to lay it down. With some direct from Aoi she comes across the fold out bike of her dreams and purchases it, going for a long ride the next day only to find...biking is kind of hard. Ami and Aoi meet two other bikers along the way, stop at a dairy place and ride home. Ami has now found a new hobby and something to do with Aoi, oh it's so joyful.

So Long Riders sets up a pretty standard tone. Ami is a plain girl with a cool friend, she suddenly gets into a hobby and with the help of said cool friend begins to explore it. This episode was warm in tone, with a sappy string soundtrack and joyous monologues about how awesome biking is...before realizing it's troubles. It's a cute girls show for sure but focused on a specific hobby. Aoi is there to guide Ami through her biking journey, serving as a kind mentor. Unlike the comedic edge of Bakuon, which constantly made fun of it's focus (motorcycling), Long Riders look to have a more serious and encouraging take. There is typical anime humor placed in, like Ami's overreactions and movements.


As we get into the characters we realize how similar something is here. Ami is goofy and a bit clumsy. She buys the first fold out bike she finds and becomes attached to it right away, personifying and naming it Pontakun. Aoi is cool and knowledgeable about biking. She patient and willing to help Ami out. Lecturing her on important details. She also has long black hair, blue eyes and...oh it's Mio. and Ami...Yui...right. Yes Long Riders is quite similar to K-On in it's initial set-up. The characters have similar dynamics to Yui and Mio, but they also differ in a few regards. However some scenes, like Ami rubbing against her bike and freaking out when her sister walks in on her, rang pretty close to Yui and Guita getting it on.

The other two characters we meet are loli twin tails blondie Hinako and big breasted ditzy Yayoi who appears as the "Mom character". These two are so tropey I could've mapped out their appearances in my mind just by hearing their voices. However they where likable, Hinako offering help to Ami who forgot to eat before riding. We didn't see to much of them in this episode. The voice acting was not bad, but we have heard these voices before. Aoi's seiyuu, Hiromi Igarashi, did a pretty good job on the cool but soft voice. The soundtrack as stated above was a little hammy. There was a very odd whistling piece to. But Ray's OP song was awesome! One of her classic electro-jams, it stood out! The ED was less remarkable. Animation and art wise things where rather meh. The art style is okay but the eyes look a little too big. The characters appear more as high school characters, especially Hinako. I thought the style was like a low-grade Idolmaster even. CG is used for the bikes, as expected. Some of the riding scenes looked video game-ish. It'll be a while before we don't notice CG, but it didn't look awful here.


Overall the first episode of Long Riders was fine. It was a standard fluffy and warm set-up where our heroine gets into a new hobby and explores it with her friends. It was typical in many regards and didn't do much to standout, especially aside a great show like Bakuon that aired only two seasons ago. However it looks like it'll show a fun look into biking in a rather serious way with some fuzzy bits of humor on the side. I don't expect much from Long Riders but it might be an enjoyable show to get through. We will see but for now it's only just "fine".

Reaction


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AHI4DL2BZc

[Speckle]

Long Riders! it would be hard to beat Yowamushi Pedal.

Spoiler

It's another show focused around Cycling and it does really well to introduce that world to other people. Also it's a pretty good ride for the show. I enjoyed it and will possibly look into Long Riders.

[Manimal]

Ya Yowamushi Pedal is really the leading cycling show. I haven't seen it but from my understanding it's a lot more serious then what Long Riders will be. I think this show will be fun and fluffy while having a big focus on the hobby, showing various aspects while setting a warm tone. So far the characters take biking pretty seriously.

[Manimal]

Magic of Stella



Genres : Comedy, School, Slice of Life
Studio : Silver Link.
Source : 4-Koma Manga

Plot Summary
Tamaki Honda is a first-year high school girl who joins a somewhat peculiar "SNS-Bu" circle that makes d?jin (self-published) games.

Review

Spoiler

The cute girls strike again, have they gone to The Manimal's brain? Can he take it, can he go on. Is it too much, can it even be enough? The answers and more at 5. For now we have the final boss of the season, Magic of Stella! A show about Tamaki, a new high school student who's looking for a club to join. She finds two girls chilling out, calling themselves the SNS club;they're thing...making video games. Tamaki is impressed by their game and inspired by the cover art so she joins as the illustrator. Now the club of four comes together and with sights on making a new game for the summer Comiket they get to work!

So Magic of Stella is another cute girls club show focused on a hobby. However unlike Long Riders this hobby is more common, being a video game club. We have the illustrator, composer, programmer and director. Their goal is to make a game...a visual novel I believe. So again it's not a new idea, and nothing about this episode was anything unseen. It was pretty standard in set-up. Tamaki wants to find something to do and comes across an interesting club. The tone for this show is light and cute, but the characters don't really do anything cute per say in this episode, it's more the designs and colours that express this. It was sort of a slow episode, ending with Tamaki joining the club and wondering how to find her own artstyle. The interactions where dry, the characters having more laid back personalities. There where two bits that made me laugh, like Tamaki sets up to draw and comes out with this super realistic dude. The rest of the humor is the normal over reaction type of stuff. It wasn't heavy on jokes, more so just setting up the cast and setting.


Character wise I don't think anyone really popped out. The composer gets sad when Tamaki doesn't notice her music and the glasses one is the loudest. The president is deadpan and Tamaki herself is pretty chill. Artwise things look okay. It's a super bright look with fuzzy character designs. The characters have a few personal flairs like Tamaki's bedhead. They also look like grade schoolers and even though they seem short the characters are all proportioned normally in their world. There was not much of an enviroemnt in this episode, mostly just stuff with the cast. I didn't connect with them right away or feel a whole lot of anything...

Voice acting was alright and the OP song is called..."GOD SAVE THE GIRLS"...the fashion and curls. Legendary title but we did not hear it in this episode. The ED is cool! As a production Magic of Stella looks good for a cute girls show. They characters are "cute" and the colours set up a feel good tone. The soundtrack is forgettable but has that same deal with the strings as Long Riders. Compared to that show, which is another directionless girl joins club thing, Magic of Stella seems more focused on the antics rather then the hobby, and moves much slower. It will be compared to New Game from last season, but it's quite different. New Game standing out for it's office setting and poppy characters.


Overall the first episode for Magic of Stella was nothing special. It was not a bad watch but it felt dry, nothing standing out about it. If there where less cute girls shows this season it might be fine but among the onslaught of promising titles this one kind of falls aside. The concept is not too interesting either and there is nothing in the character dynamics that sparks. Being another cute girls high school show is not a bad thing to me, but a quality one depends on how it's presented. Sansha Sanyou from last Spring gave us interesting characters and conversations right off the bat. This one doesn't offer a lot from first impressions, but we will see where it goes. 

Reaction


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp9dc9im3-M

[Manimal]

There we have it, that was the Fall season first impressions. Quick eh! I picked up all cute girl shows expect for To Be Hero. I don't mind, I like it this way as long as everything turns out good. We have a lot of club and hobby ones along with THREE magical girl shows (that are all different from each other). I hope to keep up with everything this season but I can see myself dropping a few. I want to power along though.

So this would be my ranking from first episodes!

Spoiler

FULL LENGTH

• Hibike! Euphonium 2
• Flip Flappers
• Keijo!!!!!!!!
• Girlish Number
• Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku
• Long Riders!
• Scorching Ping Pong Girls
• Magic of Stella
• Matoi The Sacred Slayer

SHORTS

• To Be Hero
• Teekyuu 8
• Anitore! XX
• Nyanbo!
• Kaiju Girls

Now this thread turns into a general discussion for the season! Let's rock it up, yee yee.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZTXFCanDx0