Insomniacs After School – Episode 1
How it fares will depend on a couple of key things: how it handles its love interest, Isaki, and how it handles the theme of mental health and isolation that underpins the whole premise.
How it fares will depend on a couple of key things: how it handles its love interest, Isaki, and how it handles the theme of mental health and isolation that underpins the whole premise.
Fantasy allows us to ask exciting, imaginative “what if?” questions, like “what if this guy punched a wizard in the face? Would that be funny or what?”
It’s a supernatural comedy first and foremost, but that silliness is grounded in characters that feel like characters rather than one-off jokes.
Oh, there’s some fun to be had with this premise.
Mitsumi is immediately an endearing female lead: a nervous overachiever who’s not defined by her anxiety, and who balances “competent and smart” with “hot mess” in a believable and funny way.
Alice Gear is very silly, and because its tone and lore are so at odds it’s silly in a way that’s baffling rather than fun.
While it has its share of familiar isekai plot beats, this premiere manages to exude a certain charm that kept me interested. Maybe even hungry for more!
Intentional or otherwise, the colonial spirit of the heroine’s endeavor—in which an enlightened traveller improves the sorry lives of the locals by bringing them “proper” technology—screams off the screen.
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale is a promising premiere that’s complicated as hell from a feminist analysis perspective.
By their very nature, these series’ protagonists are driven and motivated young women—motivated by something other than romance and men—who experience visible development across the narrative. As a bonus, the relaxed vibe and personal stakes of this genre means that realistic dangers are removed and these characters are left in idyllic spaces where they have autonomy over their time and their surroundings.
While not the most gripping premiere in the world, it’s honestly not bad.
As well as being a bad, dumb comedy, however, it’s a bad, dumb comedy with a disgusting concept at the heart of its “humor”.
More Than a Married couple seems intent on being as dumb as its premise, refusing to use its school-mandated-fake-dating scenario for any interesting commentary or even any interesting character scenes.
Its flavor isn’t gross, it just tastes like nothing.
Your mileage may vary with this one, and whether Hitori feels overly twee or relatable will depend. But I say give it a shot: I found her unexpectedly funny and relatable.
I really wanted to like this one, but it’s off to a disappointing start.
I’ve been hungering for a hobby show this year, and I’m hoping Do It Yourself!! might do the trick.
I’m a bit conflicted on this one, and it mostly comes down to the character of Kazuma Jun.
It’s made more of an effort to establish conflict than other isekai shows that just want everything to be easy for their male leads, which certainly makes it a more engaging viewing experience. It is, however, still falling back on familiar, gendered tropes, with the female characters thus far largely existing to provide motivation and exposition.
The sci-fi setup and superpowered sporting element help Extreme Hearts to stand out. That being said, its combination of genres may lead to a narrative identity crisis that the writing can’t quite support.