First Impressions - Spring 2020

Written by Shiggins

You can't go out, so stay at home and watch anime.

Despite the issues in the real world, anime doesn't take a break and has saw fit to bring out the new anime of the season. And like I did with Winter 2020, let's take a look at everything Spring 2020 has brought out. Some are great, some are... what's the opposite of great? Oh right, Tamayomi.

Digimon Adventure (2020)

Oh yes, oh yes, OH YES! Let the nostalgia wash over you, as the series we needed during these trying times has finally arrived! If you're a long-time reader of my "work", you'll know I was severely disappointed by Digimon Adventure Tri, the recent continuation of the gang's adventures, and so I admit to fear and worry as a remake was announced. Well, I can safely say that if this is an indicator of things to come, Digimon Adventure's remake could end up being one of the best anime of the year.

It's everything I needed during this time! Everything!

Taichi Yagami is preparing to go on a summer camping trip, when his mother and sister are suddenly trapped on a train due to some sort of cyber-attack. When going to investigate, Tai ends up sent into a strange world inside the internet and discovers the cause of all this are little monsters, and Taichi befriends a dinosaur named Agumon that knows his name. So now it's up to Tai and Agumon to stop these monsters and quickly!

The Digivolution is gorgeous, but... let's just say they're missing a certain song. That's one point down!

Toei Animation have put a lot of love into making this episode gorgeous in both colour and cinematography, but unlike with Tri, the characters have kept their original faces to keep the same range of expressions (I personally didn't mind Tri's design changes but it's clear which is superior), and the music by Toshihiko Sahashi is as wonderful as expected, especially the fanfare of Greymon. And like any good remake/reboot, changes are made but nothing that won't make this accessible for both veterans and newcomers. Seriously, watch Digimon. I know you've probably heard that your whole life, but you're hearing it again! Digimon are the champions!


Appare Ranman!

I don't know why it's taken so long, but finally someone in Japan came across the perfect story for an anime and has brought it to us for 2020; Wacky Races! Yes, our episode starts off with a bunch of strange characters in strange vehicles at the beginning of a race across America, carnage and trickery clearly going to play a hand in this... then it becomes a flashback episode instead. Ouch, I just got blueballed.

Okay, well give this designer a raise.

Near the end of the 19th century, genius Sorano Appare is being hunted down in Japan for basically being who he is, all antisocial and designed like a protagonist trying to stand out as hard as possible, and ends up leaving his home country alongside accidental passenger Isshiki Kosame, an honest but fearful samurai, and the two end up reaching America.

Who else thought Appare was a girl until he spoke?

I was going to try to avoid comparisons to other anime, but when Sorano the super-genius started talking about going to the moon, it was too obvious we were witnessing a wannabee-Senku from Dr Stone, complete with kind and tough sidekick. Hopefully, Sorano grows into his own of course because I plan to keep watching Appare Ranman!, mostly because I want to see how this race plays out and if the right amount of chaos will be implemented. It's strongly hinted that every character has some sort of agenda or goal, so I am praying that we're not about to get a season of flashbacks crossed with racing. Time will tell if Appare Ranman! is ambitious enough to focus solely on the race of course, but I'm intrigued. As for the animation, it's got some nice colours and scenery, but nothing I haven't seen in any other anime before. Still, a good start for this season.


Tamayomi

Sometimes an anime is horrible because it's full of horrible imagery or horrible characters. A creative decision is made that annoys you, makes you feel uncomfortable even. This is not one of those anime. This anime is horrible because it doesn't come close to doing a single thing like any of what I mentioned, and instead is a creative flatline that makes it impossible to sit through.

Don't be fooled by the thighs. This is not a cultured anime.

Our sports anime for this season is all about baseball, in which Yomi Takeda moves to a new school, meets some new friends, reunites with her old childhood pal Tamaki Yamazaki and plays some baseball because she likes playing baseball. Whee. The thrills don't stop.

Serious question: Why does this hair piss me off so much? I don't know and I need someone to tell me.

It's weird to be so annoyed by something so inoffensive, but there's just nothing here. Nothing! The designs are cutesy but not enough to be memorable. The animation is fine. The characters are cliche and obvious. Oh look, the first girl the protagonist talked to loves baseball. What a shock. This anime feels like a vacuum of interest, and at one point my screen glitched and I could have sworn the protagonist's face was staring right at me when it did, so I'm pretty sure this anime is cursed. A complete waste of time and 20 minutes of my life I wish I could get back to use for something more fulfilling like reading a book or clipping my toenails. Next!


Kami no Tou

A South Korean webtoon got an anime on Crunchyroll... alright, well that's cool. Gives me faith that my own series will come to the world someday, once I learn to draw and stop hating myself. However, as important as the origins of a project can be, it's the outcome that matters most, and Kami no Tou is pretty damn good actually.

Where is lizard girl?

The premise is simple for once, thankfully. There's a big tower of unknown size, with a rabbit-eared caretaker. If you pass every trial and make it to the top, you will have your wish granted. And characters from all over are attempting to climb it for their own goals. The potential is as obvious as it is staggering.

I like that rabbit and I like that stick, but where is lizard girl?

The colours are wonderful, and the style of animation has that roughness around the edges that adds the charm to me, rather than take it away. Almost every character has a fun design, and the opening makes it clear we have plenty to expect in terms of spectacle and variety. And the way these trials are held brings back those wonderful memories of watching Hunter x Hunter's opening exam arc. My only real complaint is why, after showing me all these unique and strange characters, the story decides to focus mainly on the generic hoodie-wearing boy. There is a lizard girl right there!


Gal to Kyouryuu

You know when American tv shows parody an anime by having some girl with big eyes talk a lot, a (purposefully) badly-drawn mascot for marketing purposes, and random intermissions full of weirdness that you can't do justice by describing in a single article? Okay well, imagine someone did that but real.

I really like her shoes.

Also known as "Gal and Dino" or "My Roomie is a Dino", this anime is a plotless bunch of comedic moments focused around a gal named Kaede who is letting a small dinosaur, named Dino, stay with her. Hijinks ensue! Sort of...

No screenshot will ever be enough to show you what this series is.

I'm just going to be blunt, I can't explain this one justice. It's clearly based on a manga that never aspired to be anything heavier than Garfield, but at the same time, it's mesmerising. There are claymation segments, animation as if it was a web series, and then suddenly the entire second half of the episode is in live-action... And I am so utterly terrified of this Dino. What trauma has it seen that it just stares like that? Did it survive the finale of Dinosaurs (1991), and watch as his family went extinct, but he was doomed to live on and hears their screams between his cups of ramen? What the flying hell is this series?!


Listeners

You ever wonder how many anime would be avoided if the mysterious girl hadn't been met/found? I'm thinking at least 80%. And why do they all have either silver or black hair, and half the time have forgotten their memories? Well, despite these typical and cliche issues, I have to say I somewhat enjoyed Listeners, even if there is a lot to take in at first.

Charming poster, but they just look lost.

So this can seem a bit complicated, but I'll make it as simple as possible: The world is in ruin because of monsters known as the Earless, and people known as "Players" would plug themselves into robots known as "Equipment" to take them down with the power of music. And in a small town, a young boy named Echo finds a girl with no memories who is obviously one of them.

I'll admit that is one cute Medabot-style robot though.

It's not a great first episode, due to the cliches and confusing manner of exposition. The Earless, when they do finally show up, are quite a boring design of ugly 3D shadows wiggling about with no real powers to speak of, and the robot fighting is not exactly Gurren Lagann, but there is an emphasis on music playing as the Equipment fights that grabbed my attention and I liked the world being built around the characters. I will be checking out the next episode, but Listeners is going to have to play it's own tune soon or I'll be giving this one up.


Gleipnir

Oh there's my panty shots! Thank goodness, I was worried this season wasn't going to have any, and we can't have that from our anime, now can we? Whew, that's a relief. Don't worry though, because fanservice isn't the only reason to watch this fascinating episode. It might also have the most unintentionally hilarious image I've seen this year.

Well, you certainly can't call the imagery forgettable.

Surprisingly for a first episode, Gleipnir doesn't attempt to answer every question about the basic premise in it's first episode. From what we learned so far, it's all about a school student named Shuichi Kagaya who has a secret that is so ridiculous I won't dare spoil it, and finds himself in trouble when a girl named Kurea "Claire" Aoki finds out about it. Also, there's something to do with coins.

It was either this sadistic smirk, fanservice, or a spoiler. I made my choice.

Gleipnir is refreshingly taking it's time to build up what it's talking about, which I appreciate because doing this article has caused me to have to sit through a lot of exposition this week. Claire is confident and sadistic, which is a nice change from the airheads and quirky innocents I've seen a lot of lately, and again, Shuichi's secret is hilarious to me. I just wonder if that's why he's got these random moments of perverted creepiness though...


Yesterday wo Utatte

You ever just like a character's design, not because they're fancy or over-the-top or cultural, but just enjoy the way they're drawn? Every season should have at least one waifu, and I finally found one in the form of this show's main girl, Haru Nonaka, and her eccentric love of crows. Which is good because the rest of the episode really wasn't that appealing to me.

This city has a major crow infestation though.

Rikuo Uozumi is a college graduate who has ended up working part-time at a store after having no idea what to do next, and is clearly suffering from self-esteem issues. He has a surprise encounter with a crow-wielding weirdo named Haru Nonaka, and later meets his old college friend and crush Shinako Morinome, who has a teacher-student history with Haru.

I looooove her... crow. Her crow.

The characters' designs are understated and simple, and there's a sketchiness to some of the animation that I really enjoyed, but most slice-of-life anime tend not to click with me. I'm not negative about the series, and it is a well-made episode about endearing characters who are clearly going to go through some big changes. For those who love their coming-of-age stories, this will probably be a very decent choice to go for. It's not what I'm looking for, but it might be exactly what you want to see.


BNA: Brand New Animal

TRIGGER! I saved the one I was excited for most until last, because I love me some Trigger, the studio behind Promare, Kill la Kill, Little Witch Academia and the greatest anime of all time Inferno Cop, so you can imagine I was pumped when they announced a series about animal people. In 2020, I finally watched Bojack Horseman (and dealt with the expected existential crisis afterwards), I watched Beastars' fantastic dub, and now this... Am I a furry now? And if I am, do I have a problem with that? The last one is easier to answer; no.

2020; The year of the Anthropomorphic. I didn't see that one coming.

A society of Beastmen have been revealed to the world a while back, and people are divided because that's what happens in this world. To create a haven for Beastmen and keep them away from humans, the government have created Anima City (Eh, Zootopia sounds better) and this brings us to our protagonist, Michiru Kagemori, a tanuki girl who has just escaped some hunters and finds herself finally reaching the city.

She looks like the cutest robber ever!

If you liked Beastars but felt Trigger should make their own version, this is basically what you wanted. It's their animation style brought to 2020, but with animal people alongside humans and less batshit insanity, at least so far. I also didn't see any giant robots or drills but give it time, I'm sure they're in here somewhere. Michiru is proving to be as likeable as Ryuko Matoi and Akko, two of Trigger's best protagonists, so I've got high hopes for BNA to end up like Kill la Kill, rather than Kiznaiver... Also, the wolf protagonist just out-sexy'd Legoshi. I didn't think that was possible!


What's been your favourite anime of the season? Any good ones I missed? Let me know in the comments below!

Shiggins:[Admin]
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Born under the stars of the Dark Gods, Shiggins owns the power of the Great Eye and is utterly magnificent in his omniscience. If you dare to discover more about someone as great as him, then go ahead. And to all my friends and family members, YOU are wrong and I should be disappointed! Not the other way round!,. You can find out about him or ask him stuff on ask.fm/shigginsishere or go to his tumblr page http://otakugajeel.tumblr.com/