SEASONAL PRATTLE

The second week of this anime season is already done, and I have to say, Winter 2020 isn’t looking too shabby for the most part. Now, of course, that can very easily change. It’s not uncommon for anime that look strong now to quickly sink as they turn the corner around week six or so, and for ones that were disregarded early, spin their perception favorably with a few well made episodes – picking up steam during the final stretch of their run. And while we’ll see how the quality of all of Winter’s shows ultimately shakes out, here and now, Seasonal Prattle is only concerned with what will be heading this week’s Check-In. After a week packed with plenty of new titles, Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun bright performance felt the most deserving out of this fresh batch.

Our initial entry into Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun has an appreciable level of craft and touch to make its plot beats steadily investable, and delivery that’s forward-thinking enough where its “adorable moments” go beyond just being cute – spilling into worthy narrative contributions. Hanako is already proving to be capable as a lead for the tonal spaces this anime wants to occupy – he’s flexible as a source of comedy and shares the screen well with Yashiro who isn’t too rough as a co-lead herself so far. Frame wise, this show is pretty lightweight, operating with an eccentric enough premise and story mass to buy-in but not enough to strangle its telling or comedic awareness. No real miscues and plenty of positive upside inevitably seals its fate as our lead show. Good first turnout!

Bofuri (1)

“Doesn’t really stray out of the box”

While it has a reasonable amount of charm and comfortability, Bofuri comes across as limited in a pretty blatant fashion. Episode one notably struggles to present its narrative as anything even close to compelling – Bofuri finds itself wading through the heavily familiar swamp of limp writing that VRMMO centered anime have drowned viewers in for quite some time now. Thus, the twenty minutes spent here feel like it’s just going through the motions: From the game’s setting and dynamics down to Maple’s training and triumphs, Bofuri doesn’t really stray out of the box, only offering the wrinkle of its defense gimmick which has a questionable shelf life as is given how hard it’s already being leaned on. Thoroughly average start.

Pet (1)

“Ambitious and deliberately loose at times”

As a psychological piece, Pet’s premiere is very satisfying. After a murky yet fascinating opening sequence, episode one builds on its alluring ambiguity with a patch of writing and delivery that gives viewers just enough control to watch on — Oomori continues to be so, so good at finding ways to envision and manage fractured headspaces —excellent in this start at disorienting viewers but still sharp enough to know when to pull back. Pet’s trippy run is ambitious and deliberately loose at times, but sneakily clever by credit roll. Promising stuff.

Runway de Waratte (1)

“Notable payoffs when paired with its understated bgm”

Sturdy turnout from Runway de Waratte that showed more dedication to the tangibles than it appears to be getting credit for. Slight shifts and nods under the hood are absolutely vital to sell a narrative that’s as straightforward as this: Runway does a good job of keeping Chiyuki out of static water with a variety of craft embellishments that lift perspective and shine a light on her temperament – finding notable payoffs when paired with its understated bgm and winding up as fairly accurate when the episode wants to take its more emotional shots. Story wise, and as alluded to, at its heart is nothing too special or magnetic but the show’s ability to operate off of it is fair enough to make it click – inevitably suggesting a more optimistic future ahead than not. Not bad at all.

Kyokou Suiri (1)

“Not the sharpest or most translucent textually”

Decent start from Kyokou Suiri, getting good mileage out of its banter between Kotoko and Kurou but still a little hollow when it comes to the more pertinent storytelling tenets. Episode one has a foundation that’s not the sharpest or most translucent textually – where the show exactly wants to go and the topmost genre spaces it wants to fill is up in the air. However, there’s enough in place to generate a moderate amount of interest as it rests more heavily on its youkai riffs in its waning moments.

Hatena Illusion (1)

“Little to no surprises including the stark feeling of mediocrity”

Hatena Illusion arrives, bountiful in its articulation and scripting of heavily worn romance-comedy tropes and equally as generous in its ability to underwhelm. Much of this first turnout is orthodox and sterile: The narrative plays out like it belongs in 2009~, where having an overtly upfront tsundere as one of your leads was the way to go – and simply playing off of that plot-wise was sufficient enough to get the job done. Unfortunately for this series, that path is so beaten now that it simply doesn’t make for a respectable approach and the bland components ranging from the premise itself to the flat personalities of the cast do little to lend it a hand. Conclusively, Hatena Illusion is as basic as they come. Basic structure. Basic outcomes. Little to no surprises including the stark feeling of mediocrity by the time you reach the ending theme.

Nekopara (1)

“Little value to be found mechanically”

Embodying all that’s middling in one episode, Nekopara announces itself as yet another cutesy slice of life-ish show that offers little beyond its base appeal – it resembles a swarm of other shows that have started and finished to no real applause in the past, and those which will air in the future. Easily an underwhelming experience with little value to be found mechanically.

Infinite Dendrogram Tokunana (1)

“Flat flows and loosely sculpted characters”

When garbage comes together, it creates a landfill, or perhaps, in this case, a forgettable twenty minutes known as Infinite Dendrogram episode one. As if being a painfully generic VRMMO show complete with cringy dialogue choices, flat flows, and loosely sculpted characters wasn’t enough – this premiere is boldly disinterested in even trying to make it story attractive. Routinely viewers can find themselves running into walls of questionable narrative logic and scripting choices that feel like the writers had given up halfway through. What a mess.

Plunderer (1)

“Amateurish, cliche drenched writing”

Fine concept destroyed by terrible execution – Plunderer’s start operates like a very rough draft that was never truly serious about being polished in the first place. From the opening sequences forward, viewers are starved of relevant information as very weak incidental detailing and spotty exposition are favored to paint this world and story – a feat that they shallowly accomplish. Throwing salt in the wound along the way, episode one is deeply inept when it comes to characterization. All too often dynamics and transitions in this department are hamstrung by amateurish, cliche drenched writing, especially as it pertains to Hina. By credit roll, it’s hard not to say this was an easy swing and a miss that’s going to need to clean up substantially behind the pen if it wants to be anything more than “bad”.

 

22/7 (1)

“A misfire for sure”

I want to tell you this premiere was at least mildly competent, that it somehow didn’t feel like a schlocky pile of poorly paced idol themed scripting and wounded execution – but I simply can’t bring myself to tell that very blatant lie. To put it politely, this premiere is insufficient. From the awful voice acting to the debatably worse character writing and everything in between is just one big bright flag after another in regards to this show’s overall quality. A misfire for sure that doesn’t take long to recognize.