After literally working herself to death in an office, Azusa takes her new slow existence in stride, and is understandably distraught when challengers start appearing at her door threatening to turn her life into an action-adventure game when she’s content playing a farming simulator.
Saint’s Magic Power, with a listless twenty-something as its heroine, represents a different kind of power fantasy, but it’s a fantasy nonetheless: the power fantasy of getting a job without qualifications or a complicated interview process, of having a “knack” for a new skill and picking it up quickly, and not having to tie your hair back when you do lab work.
Do I want to explore tree-lined old streets looking at antiques now? Maybe. Mostly, though, I want to talk about the unexpected emotional undercurrents that I think will really elevate this cute little hobby show.
In a market so saturated with Generic European Fantasy Adventures that it’s practically dripping, it’s nice to see new series that really try to go niche and plumb the depths of more mundane, less-explored aspects of these settings. In this case, I’m very much looking forward to seeing the ins and outs of the fantasy real estate market.
Tropical Rouge is the latest in a long line of Precure series, and in this first episode it’s plain to see the tried-and-trusted formula clicking into place and why that formula works so well.
If schlocky action and gritty murder games are your deal, you might find yourself at home with High-Rise Invasion. However, I’m sure there are many fight-for-survival sci-fis that play with similar ideas with better execution and fewer peeks at the teenaged protagonist’s undies.
D4DJ is like a swig of energy drink. It’s fun, colorful, high-octane, and I can already tell I’m going to have Rinku’s beloved dance track stuck in my head for the whole weekend.
Dropout Idol Fruit Tart, like the sweet treat in its name, is bright and sugary, but probably does not contain much nutritional value… and in fact might make you feel a bit off if you consume too much of it too quickly.
The tone is soft, the art is gorgeous, and it’s never afraid to dive a step to the side of realism in the name of visual metaphor or setting up atmosphere. And yet, at the same time, this premiere is oddly and satisfyingly down-to-Earth. The dreamlike visuals go hand in hand with the subtle characterization, even if they—like the characters themselves—might seem at first like an odd couple.
I have a tricky situation on my hands here, gang: as a reviewer, I want to give you as much information as possible to pique your interest and get you to check this show out if you think it sounds fun. However, the really intriguing factors are all woven into a twist that only rears its head in the final moments of the episode.
Assault Lily: Bouquet certainly has a fun, tried-and-true concept up its sleeve. The question will be whether or not it can power its engine on Cool Factor alone.
So, is the world of Villainess a queer utopia uniquely laid out so that Catarina’s love(s) can bloom? Or is the question of world- and story-building a little more complicated?
Mr Love looks, at this stage, to be a fairly standard sci-fi otome series with all the pacing and compression issues you might expect from a shift in mediums from game to anime. If nothing else, it certainly looks gorgeous, so if you want a night in with some schlocky sci-fi full of Handsome Boys you might be in luck.
The power dynamic between the two leads is so far oddly and satisfyingly balanced (aside from the “girl kicks boy” slapstick), and there is a potentially really interesting undercurrent of character development and social themes amidst the corny comedy.
I feel like the writers have placed Sakurai as the “blank slate” sort of character that the audience is meant to project themselves onto, and they succeeded… with the perhaps unintended consequence that, in empathizing with Sakurai, I could not stand Uzaki.
Through both the character design and characterization of its three protagonists, Eizouken challenges a lot of the tropes that often loom over portrayals of nerdy, passionate teenage girls… and, if we’re being honest, teenage girls in general.
Media presents a certain set of common tropes that informs much of our idea about love and what it “should” look like. Bloom Into You interrogates these tropes, making it a story that provides important queer representation in fiction while also talking about representation in fiction within the story itself.
This musical, magical, swashbuckling school story comes together in an ending that packs a wonderfully metatextual and rebellious punch, serving as a commentary on—and rejection of—the “Bury Your Gays” trope and the historical convention of sad endings for queer characters.
Fantastical fiction is an ideal space for working through complex real-world issues using the frame of allegory, metaphor, and a little bit of magic. Yurikuma Arashi is one such series, a step detached from reality but with something to say about real-world problems, specifically about homophobia and the societal stigmas queer women face.
In Laid-Back Camp, the main characters’ relationship develops over the course of the series becomes a rewarding story about female closeness; Ms. Koizumi, on the other hand, sticks to the status quo established in its premiere, which creates a stale and repetitive story that perpetuates negative tropes about queer women.
