Kamitsubaki City Under Construction – Episodes 0-1
These episodes unfortunately throw so much information and stimulus at you that it’s hard to get a grip on what all this means or why it matters.
Posts by Alex Henderson
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See You Tomorrow at the Food Court – Episode 1
Food Court takes us truly back to basics for a “girls doing stuff” anime: no club setting, no central hobby or special interest, just girls hanging out and shootin’ the breeze.
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Detectives These Days Are Crazy! – Episode 1
Detectives These Days is playing on a particular fantasy: a man yearning for his adolescent glory days feels he’s over the hill, but a hot young girl pulls him out of his slump and put his fractured ego back together.
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Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter – Episode 1
Any interesting elements are mushed down by the conventions of the fantasy harem genre that the series is awkwardly fitting itself into.
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mono – Episode 1
It has some big shoes to fill, coming from the same creator as Laid-Back Camp, and it makes a strong start as a hobby show.
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Food For the Soul – Episode 1
Maybe I can’t ask Food for the Soul to singlehandedly cure my existential dread, but I do have high hopes for it as a PA Works original.
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The Gorilla God’s Go-To Girl – Episode 1
On one hand, this is fairly standard “refusal of the call to adventure” stuff. On the other, there’s a gendered element that gives this a different dynamic.
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Your Forma – Episode 1
It’s clearly cooking with all the usual ingredients of a cyberpunk police procedural.
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The business and politics of magic in Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc
When money is a key motivation, ethics and the greater good are quickly abandoned. This theme is apparent in Season 1 of the anime, bubbling away ever-present in the background as Kana learns the magical girl trade, but comes to the forefront in subsequent material when the manga really starts to dig into the politics of the magical girl business.
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I May Be a Guild Receptionist, But I’ll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time – Episode 1
The gremlin girl lead is charming enough to carry what could have been a fairly bland meta-humor fantasy concept, and I have tentative yet high hopes for the show going forward.
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Momentary Lily – Episode 1
There’s a slightly surreal, fever-dreamy quality to this episode that means basically anything could happen and I’d say “sure.”
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A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School – Episode 1
There’s nothing more Halloween-grade horrifying than a fun supernatural slice-of-life premise cursed by an obnoxious protagonist.
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Puniru is a Kawaii Slime – Episode 1
The show wants to do fan service capers but it also wants this character to read like a cutesy child and, arguably, represent the protagonist’s childhood. This is, as I’m sure you can imagine, a deeply uncomfortable combination.
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You Are Ms. Servant – Episode 1
She’s his mum, and his housekeeper, and will protect him with her life, but she’s also sooo clumsy and sooo hot and she just needs him to take care of her.
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How I Attended an All-Guys Mixer – Episode 1
You can absolutely joke around about gender, drag, and attraction without stepping into awkward transphobic (or transphobic-adjacent) tropes, and if it can do that, honestly, All-Guys Mixer could be cute. At this early stage, I have no idea how it’s going to navigate all the ideas it’s playing with.
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365 Days to the Wedding – Episode 1
365 Days is a cute, classic fake dating caper with room for some deeper social commentary.
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VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral after Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream – Episode 1
If all you want is a show that revels in the contrast between pretty anime character designs and gross characterization, hey, you might have a good time.
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SHOSHIMIN: How to become Ordinary – Episode 1
What do you mean, you’re on a mission to become ordinary? You seem pretty normal to me as you are, kiddo—dare I say bland.
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Dungeon People – Episode 1
Dungeon People is the story of a woman who has never relaxed in her life suddenly finding herself thrust into the role of protagonist in a chilled-out, cozy fantasy series.
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Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian – Episode 1
I’m pleasantly surprised to report that despite the tsundere schtick and miscommunication issues potentially baked into this set-up, I found Kuze and Alya’s dynamic quite fun.
