Forum - View topicThe Fall 2023 Anime Preview Guide
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18568 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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No, this many Saturday premieres was always on the schedule. It is the single heaviest debut day that I can ever remember happening. (I can remember the days when we used to regard five debuts on one day as a super-heavy day. . .) Sunday's going to be super-light by comparison because most of the Sunday titles debuted on the 1st. Now that I've finally gotten through all of the Saturday debuts except the Precure one, a few thoughts: Tearmoon Empire - I am rather surprised by the universal positive critical reaction to this one. It does have some of the most gorgeous background art I've seen in a long time, and I did appreciate the historical call-outs, but I was bothered a lot by how much the tone of the first episode whipsawed all around, to the point of becoming a distraction for me. Despite looking nowhere near as good, I found A Returner's Magic Should Be Special to be the more appreciable and engaging of the two. I Shall Survive Using Potions - Apparently I'm in the small minority which actually liked this one? I found the the heroine's attitude and approach to things to be fun enough that I'll probably watch more. Buteraba - Completely not surprised that this one got panned by everyone but Richard. While I can understand where some of the complaints are coming from, I was nearly as intrigued as Richard was by Jess (and for pretty much the same reasons) and found it far less taxing to sit through than many of the other Saturday debuts. I'm curious to see how the concept works once more characters get involved, since this was literally a two-character episode. The Faraway Paladin - This felt like it would have fit better as an OVA or midseason between-arcs episode rather than a season debut, but I still appreciated fully what it was doing: establishing why Bee is so enthusiastic about promoting and propagating William's deeds, and how crucial a piece that is in William's ultimate objectives (whether William realizes that himself or not). She is such a neat character, and interacts so well with Will (or anyone else, really) that the story would be missing something without her.
That was kind of the point of her getting that name: to make sure that the immature and gross behavior which put her in that predicament was not forgotten. (As for context, spoiler[she was about to be guillotined when Naofumi proposed that as an alternative punishment to killing her - partly as a way to bail the Queen out of a very difficult conflict of interests].) |
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5991 Location: Virginia, United States |
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You are not alone. This is one of my favorites. And while she is OP, she is not indestructible. In some ways, I feel sorry for her. Because she has one glaring problem, that is going to hinder her personal relationships.(not the eye glares either) |
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pi8you
 Posts: 219 Location: Minneapolis |
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Welcome back SPY x FAMILY, that was very funny premiere and your OP/ED are fantastic once again. Welcome back Faraway Paladin, that hit the right notes for me.
The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess didn't really work for me, but I'll give it one more week to see if there's anything more about that late episode twist. My New Boss is Goofy had its moments, for sure, but it's not for me. For as dragged out as it was, I didn't entirely dislike A Returner's Magic Should Be Special, and might even give it another episode to see how it aims to try and avoid its tragedies (jesus, that number they gave), but it's not likely a keeper. Butareba was really bad, but I think the most offensive part is that it doesn't really own up and commit to its obvious horniness. Tearmoon Empire was good, absolutely down for not-Marie Antoinette trying to stay in one piece. I had to laugh at the shot of the palace exterior extending to the horizon though. I don't have any Precure history, but the life-after-magical-girl premise of Power of Hope ~Precure Full Bloom~ got me to check it out, and it's pretty solid so far, sticking around for now. I stuck with 80,000 Gold alright, but I Shall Survive Using Potions! just wasn't doing anything for me, and the perma-chibi is just... no. |
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NeverConvex
 Subscriber Posts: 2621 |
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I don't think I entirely agree that it's out of place when Frieren cares; her emotional growth based on (for her) a near-instantaneously brief part of her life (and her very slowly growing self-awareness that such a 'short' span of time could even create growth or matter to her) seems like the primary idea the show wants to explore. But, I agree it feels kind of listless so far; not unlike Frieren herself, it isn't in a huge hurry to get into the depths of that, and the change in Frieren's behavior is very gradual. I think that's a reasonable storytelling approach, but it also taxes my attention span a bit because, as you said, it places a ton of stress on the content of each episodic story, without giving the viewer a lot to latch onto in terms of overall narrative/development/plot/and so forth. I'm still hopeful for it, though. I'm not a reader of the manga, but I would not be surprised if it is a 'slow burn' in this respect. If it maintains this same sleepy super-glacial tone the entire time I will be a little disappointed, though. Last edited by NeverConvex on Sun Oct 08, 2023 7:33 am; edited 1 time in total |
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michizure
Posts: 178 |
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Nicholas Dupree, regarding Power of Hope ~Precure Full Bloom~:
Intentional or not, I think that wins the award for Worst Pun this season. |
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Woozy
Posts: 20 |
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Damn, reviewers truly got filtered by butareba.
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L0ken
Posts: 90 |
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I was watching the broadcast and oh my GOD, first episode of 100 girlfriends was actually perfect! Not just good or great, but speaking from adaptation standpoint I honestly though it was even better then the manga! Unexpectedly strong direction, just right jokes tempo and timing, VA work, art and animation, they straight-up utilized the medium to enhance gags and moments from the manga, everything had so much SOUL! Not to mention that cute ED! I'm afraid if studio can actually manage to keep adaptation quality for rest of the season, feels like a lot of effort for Bibury to live up to.
Anyway, gonna rewatch it with Crunchy subs or Muse Asia ones, hope they did a good job with them and translated jokes correctly. Regardless of that, we are blessed having such a passionate adaptation, can't wait for episode 2! |
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2736 |
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Probably not news exactly, but SpyxFamily is back and as good (or maybe even better) than ever! An absolute delight to see all the characters in top form from last season and I was right with Franky when Anya suggests "tailing" her "parents" on their "date" and he agrees with much glee. The comedy that they become obvious to Master Spy Loid in the process is rich.
Ms. Silverman Wrote: I'm not sure how she learned how to make a peanut bomb, but still, more power to her. I guess you missed that Anya was picking up on the reformed terrorist's thoughts as he detailed in his mind what ingredients in the store room were needed to make a bomb and where they were. The piece-de-resistance that Anya delivers to him after his defeat sounded exactly like a girl her age, was perfect and hilarious. Seems Starlight Anya is following in her illustrious "parent's" footsteps promoting World Piece one "bad guy" at a time! |
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Gnarth
Posts: 175 |
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I knew 100 girlfriends was going to be self-aware, but the sheer fourth wall shattering really caught me off guard. Incredibly fun episode, this one has me absolutely locked in; it may even be my second favourite premiere of the season, behind Frieren of course which is simply on a whole other dimension.
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18568 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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After seeing all the hype for 100 Girlfriends in the Most Anticipated feature, I was expecting something special out of the first episode, and. . . it just wasn't. Maybe its merits stand on the strength of it being a great adaptation of the source material, but as an anime-only viewer, I did not find it to be either one of the better-looking or one of the funnier debuts this season. The fourth-wall-breaking stuff was worth a couple of chuckles, but hardly anything else was all that funny. Nothing about the characters or the defining contrivance which mandates the harem situation felt any fresher than what scores of other harem series have done over time (and I didn't feel it went far enough to qualify as genre parody), and I share Rebecca's misgiving about the "love or die" aspect of the premise.
As harem series openers go, 100 Girlfriends was okay, but not better than average. |
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Gan_HOPE326
Posts: 35 |
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Eh, comedy wise, the opener of 100 Girlfriends is funny but not gut bustingly so, and in the end quite similar to that of Girlfriend, Girlfriend. The thing that really sets this series apart is how progressively more and more bonkers it gets (I shit you not, at one point spoiler[the harem endangers and then saves the planet]), how it can balance funny and genuinely cute, and how it gets you in awe at the fact that it doesn't cower at all from its absurd premise. |
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Hal14
 Posts: 737 Location: Heart of africa |
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Rebecca already points out how it's similar I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse. And TWGOK, had the whole jupiter girls arc and time travel. What you spoilered would be more surprising if the first episode didn't already establish supernatural elements. Personally, I did find the episode funnier than most premieres, but the use of tsukkomi (pointing out the joke), especially in the first half, was more miss than hit to me. |
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L0ken
Posts: 90 |
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Naturally, the accumulated hype comes more from what series accomplishes up to a current point, rather then 1st episode specifically, so while I do find the beginning the weakest and the most "normal" out of all content, it is also clearly not for everyone, especially on subjective comedy front. Stil when people ask why it stands from others people could name stuff like record amount of casual kissing/dating/crazy relationship shenanigan's or "legit zero losing heroines" slogan meaning every girl is a legit main character that is relevant and always around on massive scale, or go to point other angle of absurdist meta-comedy that only escalates further and further. But for me personally strength is in weird and idealistic, but genuine, respectful and lovely poly-relationship between Rentarou- all girlfriends- them between each other in basically endless ways. If it's wish-fullfilment, then it encompasses literally everyone in the most endearing way, Rentarou hardy fills like he is benefiting the most (looking from detached perspective, he the least "wish-fullfiled| due to ridiculous things he does maintaining this relationship, feels like girlfriends got lottery of being bonded to best lover in existence and the friendliest family group). Girls are active main characters that function without him, constantly forming new bonds, doing their own stuff,have drama and ambitions, tropes combination stays interesting to this day... I really going off rails now, so better stop, we are talking just about opening 
Anyway it's more then sum of it's parts, hence why for plenty of people particularly single out 100gf as one of the special ones, opening not impressing part of watcher is normal.
Answering to Rebecass's point regarding that, I don't know if anime specifically mentioned that, but majority people without soulmates or with normal romantic feelings, aro/ace and other groups perfectly exist here and everything fine with them. It just some people have a destined soulmates which is more like extreme luck and affection that bonds people already likely to fall in love with, helping to speed things up a little bit. It's pretty harmless plot device |
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NeedMoreCats
 Subscriber Posts: 334 Location: Westchester, NY |
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I’m with Rebecca on this one. 100 Girlfriends just isn’t my cup of tea. Way too manic and screechy for me.
And then there were three: Kawagoe Boys, Starlight Telepath and Good Night World. Of the remaining shows, these are the only ones I know nothing about. The rest are either known properties or returning shows, so I’ve already made up my mind to watch or not. I still can’t believe how many shows there are this season! I think the reviewers have done a bang-up job getting thru them all. I’m really grateful for their efforts. You’re almost there, guys: 49 down, 8 (I think) to go (assuming they add Pluto)! Of course, the show I’m most excited about won’t even be included in the preview guide because it’s danmei  : Season 2 of Heaven Official’s Blessing. Can’t hardly wait!!!
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Gan_HOPE326
Posts: 35 |
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Yeah this obviously does not apply to 100 Girlfriends; as the god explains not everyone has a soulmate, and by definition, if someone has a soulmate, they aren't aromantic; that's the whole point of the soulmate idea, that you fall in love at first sight! They may still be asexual but knowing Rentarou he would just 100% respect the fudge out of that and be super loving anyway. |
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