Hello all, and welcome to the Winter 2019 Virtually Every First Episode Retrospective! As usual, my dedication to Anime News Network’s preview guide mean I’ve watched nearly every single new premiere this season, with I believe the exception of the slice of life mermaids show (I am sorry slice of life mermaids show). Aside from the mermaids, I’m pretty sure I caught every single premiere that was A. full length and B. not a sequel to something I hadn’t seen. That’s a lot of shows!
Having watched all these shows, I am clearly in the objectively best position to tell you all what is good and what is bad. Consider these words as law, their veracity as fixed and unchanging as the stars in the sky. Whosoever denies these takes, let them be cast out from our land, and condemned to forever wander with their terrible opinions.
Seriously though, these are all just my takes, and my own media preferences are pretty established – I like character stories, themey-wemey stuff, and occasionally well-executed action or adventure. I do my best to give everything a fair shake, but my own preferences and simple preview week fatigue mean something worthy is bound to get overlooked. In spite of that, I hope my thoughts give you something new to check out, and you can always click on any of the names for my fuller thoughts over at ANN (I’m Nick Creamer over there, incidentally). Starting with the absolute cream of the crop, let’s run down a full season of new anime!
Anime That Bring Rain and Sun Back to Our Blighted Fields
Mob Psycho was my most-anticipated show coming into this season, and its sequel absolutely did not disappoint. I’ve been a fan of Yuzuru Tachikawa ever since his underrated Death Billiards/Death Parade debut, and the work he’s done with ONE’s Mob is truly remarkable. Combining incredibly creative art design and some of the best animators in the business with a story rich in meaning and heart, Mob Psycho’s first season was one of the strongest action shows in years. This new season opened with an episode that may actually be the show’s best yet, and a welcome embrace of Mob’s emotional core. Offering some of the most dazzling fights around while firmly committed to kindness as the true foundation of strength, Mob Psycho is one of the most beautiful and poignant shows in recent years, and I’m ecstatic to see it return.
It’s sometimes hard to know what to expect from a modern adaptation of a Tezuka manga, but in this case, I believe all I need to say is “by the director of Trust & Betrayal” for you to get the picture. Dororo’s first episode is gorgeous throughout, carries itself with supreme confidence, and is capped off by perhaps the best fight scene of any premiere this season. Given its confidently stately storytelling and generally strong art design, if its animation can hold up this standard, it’ll be an action-adventure highlight of the season.
The Promised Neverland entirely upends the standard Shounen Jump formula, presenting instead a cat-and-mouse thriller focused on tactically outsmarting a terrifying, utterly overwhelming threat. I’ve been loving the manga for a while, and this premiere managed to smartly contort the manga’s early chapters into a shape perfectly suited for an anime debut. Strong sound design and beautiful character acting round out a premiere whose only real weakness is its flat digital backgrounds… but if you can forgive some lousy backgrounds, I’m guessing each twenty minutes in Neverland will pass by in a flash.
When it comes to pure entertainment value, Tsutomu Mizushima is a goddamn genius. From Girls und Panzer to Shirobako, Mizushima understands the fundamentals of engaging drama like few others, and The Magnificent Kotobuki applies all of his talents to a story that is pretty much just “Girls und Panzer in planes.” That’s fine by me – Girls und Panzer was great, this first episode is terrific, I’m on board for more fun. From the vividly executed dogfighting to the lean, punchy script and phenomenal sound design, The Magnificent Kotobuki demonstrates Mizushima’s talents haven’t flagged in the slightest. Fun things are fun!
Anime That Provide Quiet Warmth Through the Evening Dark
Director TATSUKI’s Kemono Friends turned out to be an unexpected hit back in 2017, spinning a theoretically artless phone game tie-in into a charming and surprisingly poignant post-apocalyptic narrative. Having abandoned the franchise game, his followup Kemurikusa dives fully into his own passions, presenting a charming group of sisters doing their best to survive a blighted, utterly inhospitable future. Sitting at the strangely comfortable intersection of slice of life and scifi adventure, Kemurikusa demonstrates that even the scrappiest CG productions can be elevated through fundamentally engaging storytelling.
ENDRO! is basically just Konosuba, except conceived as the style of comedy where everyone likes each other as opposed to everyone hating each other. Snappily paced, visually charming, and very friggin’ funny, this first episode demonstrated a sturdy union of art design, comedic timing, and actual base material, pulling off what I’d consider the funniest premiere of the season. From the demon lord’s sad attempts to speak over her teacher’s podium to the hero accidentally destroying a sacred temple, ENDRO! demonstrates that familiar jokes just need strong execution to shine.
Rising above the usual “magical girls BUT DARK” doldrums, Asuka succeeds through its genuinely convincing portrayal of its heroine’s post-traumatic stress, as well as its tight scripting and generally polished visual execution. If you’re looking for a more bloody and hard-boiled action property this season, Asuka’s your best bet.
Presenting that classic romance between a man and an anthropomorphic fighter jet, it’s obvious that Girly Air Force is squarely aimed at one specific kind of otaku. Fortunately, this episode is as intelligently scripted as it is conceptually brazen, establishing its character motivations and worldbuilding with rare grace. It probably won’t appeal if “man loves jet” doesn’t sound like an inherent hook, but it’s a very well-executed riff on the concept.
Anime That Offer Reasonable Genre Pleasures at Affordable Prices
Kaguya-sama’s director Shinichi Omata gave me plenty of reason to anticipate this title, as his transcendent Rakugo productions were some of the best shows of the past several years. Kaguya-sama’s more conventional “will they or won’t they” romcom plot leaves less room for Omata’s visions, but he still lends this generally charming premiere some serious visual flair. The show’s central joke may ultimately overstay its welcome, but it’s certainly being executed well so far.
The Price of Smiles is one of those straight-down-the-plate middle rung shows that entertain their small audience each month, then go quietly on their way (see last season’s The Girl in Twilight). This premiere featured likable enough characters and a fine setup, but wasn’t truly remarkable in any way. I get the feeling its cutesy main cast and ambitious political setup will make it hard to find an audience that enjoys both of those halves, but it’s pretty okay at both of them!
The Quintessential Quintuplets
The Quintessential Quintuplets is pretty much the platonic ideal of a generic but well-executed harem, featuring solid art design and some very snappy gags. In this age of infinite sin, a plain old-fashioned harem feels almost weirdly wholesome, to be honest.
Anime That Understand Being Unremarkable is Still a Dignified Fate
Meiji Tokyo Renka is this season’s “I was transported to the universe of hot guys” otome game adaptation, with its particular twists on the genre being “all the sexy boys here are famous cultural figures from Meiji Japan,” along with a welcome sense of self-aware irreverence. Unlikely to appeal outside of genre enthusiasts, but a fine example of the form.
Meanwhile, Domestic Girlfriend clocks in as this season’s messy-as-shit romantic soap opera. It’s probably a bit too clumsy in its storytelling to appeal if the fanservice isn’t a draw, but the direction is pretty compelling, and I appreciated watching a show that acknowledged having sex as a teen is often more complicated and anxiety-provoking than actually fulfilling.
His roommate is a cat.
Grimms Notes takes an incredibly fascinating premise (“what if all our lives were predetermined by books of fate we possessed, and also the stories of our lives conformed to classic fairy tales?”) and does absolutely nothing interesting with it. Nice going, folks.
Anime Which My Rigorous Dedication to Politeness Forces Me to Describe as “Containing Sounds and Pictures”
It pains me to put a show I was anticipating this far down, but Boogiepop’s first two episodes were kinda terrible. This is a show that expects you to care about its mystery purely because that mystery exists – there’s no actual emotional or thematic hook, there’s just a bunch of cryptic and incredibly slow-paced stuff that happens.
I love it when a show that’s constructed around “but actually our show is about THIS” forgets that the audience will actually have to sit through everything before the twist.
An anime constructed around jumping between live action and animated spectacle should not make me cry blood whenever it moves to animation.
Anime Which Prove That We Are Sinners and This Is Hell
With this, Doga Kobo have successfully claimed the “premiere lolicon appeasement studio” throne. Congratulations Doga Kobo, you have certainly earned it.
If I wanted to watch Incels Rise Up: Last Stand of the Feminazis, I’d read the comments on any article critical of Shield Hero.
AND THAT COVERS IT FOR ME! Dear lord that was a bunch of anime. As you can see though, the actual quality this season is quite high – the bottom tiers were fairly underpopulated, and the vast majority of anime range from watchable to genuinely excellent. There’s plenty worth watching this season, and I hope my breakdown highlighted something new for you all to enjoy. Please let me know what you’re all enjoying in the comments, and I look forward to sharing this new anime season with you!
Thank you for your hard work!
I’m sure your intention wasn’t to be mean, but the Doga Kobo comment implies that they are actively pursuing adapting creepy shows. While they are known for cute girls show, we don’t know for sure why they picked up their latest two shows. From what I know about anime business, there is a chance they didn’t have better offers and had to take these to keep the studio afloat.
I’d strongly recommend giving Boogiepop that third episode, which both finishes up the adaptation of the first novel and lays its “what-really-is-human-kindness?” thematic chips out on the table, before deciding whether or not to keep up with it.
Interestingly, your critique perfectly encapsulates my opinion of the old Boogiepop Phantom series, a show which I can only describe as “generously misunderstood” by the anime community. However, I do think that this new adaptation has demonstrated itself to be more interested in its source’s exploration of human motivations and less in obfuscation for obfuscation’s sake.
Shield Hero isn’t a GOOD show but I don’t think it’s as bad as what you’re making it out to be. I’d put it in the group starting with Boogiepop And The Others. Frankly, it discussing the current climate regarding rape allegations in a way that is so different from the norm is practically its only redeeming factor. The love interest is creepy with her being a mother/slave thing and it’s a wish fulfilment Isekai where the MC is “just so cool” but it’s the WORLD that just doesn’t SEE that he’s SO much better than all those OTHER heroes. Just serious cringe all around.
Anime Which My Rigorous Dedication to Politeness Forces Me to Describe as “Containing Sounds and Pictures”
your category titles are freaking hilarious. thanks for the post.
Surprised you loathe Shield Hero. One of the only series I’ve seen that’s lowkey dark without seeming exploitive. The protagonist’s openness to the slave route is genuinely chilling (“Slaves cannot lie to or betray their masters”), given his experience in this world, and I’ve never seen a series that deals directly with the reality of slavery. Assuming he doesn’t use her as a pleasure toy, I have to know what happens next.
I wasn’t expecting the princess to be so villainous (I thought she’d just fleece him and run, not accuse him of rape and ruin his life!), but it’s not like false accusation never happen, so I rolled with it.
Plus the music is by Kevin Penkin. And the art is pretty. I’m sold.
I suspect you’re misreading Shield Hero. It’s not like he’s making it up in his head, as far as we can tell she really did set him up. Moreover it wasn’t just her, the shield hero’s belief that the other hero is involved is not unreasonable. You may be right about the show by the end, but right now it’s a much more compelling show than the reincarnated slime, or most isekai, insofar as the main character has real limitations and threats to size up against. I’m actually interested in how he will handle his situation, at least much more than I ever was with the main characters of like the reincarnated slime, sao, log horizon etc. What made you hate this show so much more than that other crypto-fascist isekai Yojo Senki, a show that, if I recall correctly, you ended up liking a lot?
Having seen the second episode of Shieldbro, I am pretty sure Bobduh just got caught up in the manufactured controversy. This series is killer.
Isekai has more than its fair share of pointless fluff, but its gems (e.g. Re:Zero, which has probably the best romantic speech in, I dunno, the whole history of art) are freaking good. Shieldbro is at the level of tantalizing. The relationship between Naofumi and his slave (omg I can’t believe I am writing this) is shaping up to be insanely good. Raphtalia, being a warm, caring, courageous sort, is going to keep Naofumi’s better instincts alive, and keep him from being motivated entirely by anger and revenge. Naofumi, on the other hand, is intelligent, and able to see what must be done in order to survive.
I was really critical of your take on Shield Hero at first, and willing to look past the false-rape accusation premise as an instance of a bad thing rather than a trend of many bad things.
Then episode two happened. It got so, so much worse.