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.
Posts by Alex Henderson
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MASHLE: Magic and Muscle – Episode 1
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?”
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Otaku Elf – Episode 1
It’s a supernatural comedy first and foremost, but that silliness is grounded in characters that feel like characters rather than one-off jokes.
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Yuri Is My Job! – Episode 1
Oh, there’s some fun to be had with this premise.
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Skip and Loafer – Episode 1
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.
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Alice Gear Aegis Expansion – Episodes 0 – 1
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.
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Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill – Episode 1
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!
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Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World For My Retirement – Episode 1
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.
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Sugar Apple Fairy Tale – Episode 1
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale is a promising premiere that’s complicated as hell from a feminist analysis perspective.
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Girls Doing Stuff: Agency and motivation in girls’ hobby shows
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.
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Arknights: PRELUDE TO DAWN – Episode 1
While not the most gripping premiere in the world, it’s honestly not bad.
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Love Flops – Episode 1
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”.
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More Than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers – Episode 1
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.
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I’ve Somehow Gotten Stronger When I Improved My Farm-Related Skills – Episode 1
Its flavor isn’t gross, it just tastes like nothing.
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BOCCHI THE ROCK! – Episode 1
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.
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Bibliophile Princess – Episode 1
I really wanted to like this one, but it’s off to a disappointing start.
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Do It Yourself!! – Episode 1
I’ve been hungering for a hobby show this year, and I’m hoping Do It Yourself!! might do the trick.
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Tekken: Bloodline – Episode 1
I’m a bit conflicted on this one, and it mostly comes down to the character of Kazuma Jun.
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Parallel World Pharmacy – Episode 1
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.
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Extreme Hearts – Episode 1
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.
