It’s that time of the year again, so enjoy our First Impressions of the 2020 summer anime season that just started~
I picked up this show mostly because it looked interesting and is from the director of Death Parade and Mob Psycho 100, and through one episode, it seems entertaining enough. The story involves humanity’s near extinction at the hands of creatures called the Gadoll, and how the remnants of humanity now reside on Deca-dence, a mobile fortress where soldiers called Gears lead the assault on the Gadoll. There are some Shingeki no Kyojin vibes, but this anime seems to lack the drama and somber tone of SnK, so the comparisons aren’t super strong.
Actually, this anime seems kind of campy, and I think I like it that way. Thanks to the main character, Natsume, this first episode seemed more comedic than dramatic, at least until the Gadoll attack and we get more SnK vibes. Feisty characters like Natsume are fun to watch, so I think I’m going to like her quite a bit. The action was pretty nice, and I think for most people, that’s going to be the biggest reason why they watch this. I’m still not sure how I feel about the Gadoll, since their overly colorful and unusual designs aren’t quite what I expected, but they have more time to grow on me. All I’m expecting from this anime is some solid action and a somewhat interesting sci-fi storyline, and if it can give me that, I’ll be content.
From the promo image to the description, this anime looked and sounded pretty kickass, so I decided to give it a shot. The gist of the story is this. In 2030 Tokyo, a mysterious pandemic has swept the world, turning humans into monsters called Gibia. Somehow, a samurai and a ninja from 17th century Edo are suddenly transported into the middle of this mess, where they join a group of survivors who are struggling to survive, as well as a professor searching for a cure. It’s exactly the type of upbeat and improbable anime that can take our minds off of the current state of the world, isn’t it? 😀
Okay, so the story kind of hits a little close to home, but this first episode started putting the pieces into place, and I expect a lot of monster slaying action in upcoming episodes. There wasn’t a lot of action in episode one, which mainly just introduced the main cast and provided a little exposition. The samurai, Sensui, and the ninja, Kenroku, didn’t display a lot of personality in this episode, but I suspect they’re going to be all about kicking some monster ass, so I don’t have unrealistic expectations that they’ll be incredibly deep and layered characters. There’s a cute blonde named Kathleen that’s the other main character, but we’ll have to see if she’ll end up being more than just a cheerleader. Either way, I’m interested to see where this whole thing goes.
Of all of the anime in this depressing season, Lapis Re:LiGHTs seemed like it would be the most likely to have any sort of yuri subtext, so it was automatically something I’d want to watch. This anime seems to consist of an all-female cast and seems to take place at an academy for aspiring magical girls. No, check that, aspiring magical idols. It sounds weird but also pretty intriguing, I’m not gonna lie. Thanks to the magical elements in this first episode, this show already feels like something different than your typical Love Live! clone, so I think it got off to a better start than I was expecting.
Because of the all-female cast, there’s bound to be some shipping involved, and it looks like we may have been introduced to this anime’s main pairing, Tiara and Rosetta. These two are pretty cute, and cute is a good way to describe some of the other girls as well. The implementation of ranks within the academy might be another nice twist to the standard idol formula, and the further Lapis Re:LiGHTs can distance itself from Love Live!, the more interesting I’m likely to find it. For all this talk of idol anime, there was hardly any singing at all in the first episode, but I’m sure that’ll change in the near future, and I’m hoping the magic aspects of the show aren’t downplayed. So all in all, I think this anime made a positive first impression, and I’m looking forward to seeing if it can deliver something that idol anime fans, and yuri fans, can enjoy together~
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby (TV) was a somewhat enjoyable anime that aired a couple of years ago, which is why I felt the need to watch the spinoff, Umayon, this season. It’s another one of those cheap and quick shortform anime that’s all chibified, so don’t expect it to resemble the Uma Musume you’re used to, except for the characters.
This first episode didn’t involve any horse girl racing, but it did feature a race of sorts. Special Week was involved in a make-up exam, and since these horse girls are used to racing, they turn it into a race. The episode is only three minutes long (including the ED), so it’s over before you know it, but for fans of the original, this might be a fun little time waster. I doubt there’ll be much, if any, yuri subtext in this spinoff, but I hope I’m wrong about that. It’s cute and mildly amusing, which is pretty much what I expected when I first heard it was going to be shortform. Still, this season is so bad for yuri fans that I don’t mind spending three minutes a week on this show, and since this addition makes this post look a little less sad, I’m glad I picked it up! Thanks, horse girls! 😀
YuriReviews and More 
Deca-Dance and Gibiate have definitely caught my eye. I really need to sit down and look over the line-up a bit more.
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They’re some of the only ones that stood out to me, so overall, I’m not impressed with what this season has to offer. But hopefully those two will be entertaining.
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Deca-Dence definitely pique my interest with its world and the 2nd episode dropped that unexpected bomb. I didn’t like the reveal at first but with some interpretations and brainstorming, I liked it even more with how it juxtapose with the situation at hand. Natsume is TOO cute and relatable and please, pleeeeeeeeeease NUT Studio, let her and Fei be together. Also Kurenai is hot, admit it.
I’m still holding my breath with Lapis since it’s a…..you know………..an Idol Anime….which primarily caters to that you-know-what kind of fandom and that left a very bad taste in my mouth. Still, I’ll be watching from afar to see if anything changes my preconception.
I desperately hope they improve the characters and sound designs of Gibiate since its premise is pretty stacked but the characters just don’t sell it for me, especially Kathleen and the sound mixing is………weird. OH and the OP music sounds kinda lame compared to its visual.
So in short, I’ll be mostly sticking to Deca-Dence and Fishing Girl’s Club this season.
Godspeed to y’all
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I still haven’t seen the second episode, so I’ll pretend that I ready your entire comment, even though I didn’t to avoid being spoiled. 😛
Yeah, it seemed like the characters are in need of some love. Hopefully they’ll be more interesting in future episodes.
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Found this in my weekly trawl through the shoujo ai tag on MAL. https://myanimelist.net/anime/41392/Urasekai_Picnic
Looks promising.
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Yup. Definitely one the most promising yuri-ish anime on the horizon. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for it.
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I’m watching Deca-Dence and Lapis Re:Lights. I excepted to be disappointed since this season no longer had any shows I looked forward to. But I like these two, so far! 🙂 Nothing super special, but good entertainment.
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They’re pretty nice, huh? Especially Lapis Re:Lights. Could end up being this season’s pleasant surprise~
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I have to express my hate towards the idols thematic lol , it is more like , public stuff hate 😂 , the magic in lapis looks interesting , i mean the way they use it for a lot of stuff
You mentioned you dont like magic/fantasy much , but magic babies :p , the demon girl next door has a theorical magic baby (spoiler , it is from the lemon girl , and it is not a baby she ends up being like 13? I guess , and the being got created by her mana alone)
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Talking about that manga , the author put , no tapir next episode in the last chapter i think so the brain started functioning a little at least since i hate so much that tapir , i will still drop the manga later though
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Magic babies? I’m not sure how that would work, but it could be interesting. How about an isekai anime where someone gets reborn as a magic baby! Instead of using their magic against evil or something, they could be using their magic to prevent their parents from leaving them at daycare. So innovative! 😀
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I mean hahahaha , meant two women could have babies with magic , saw a few doujins with that 😂
Latest ep of lapis had fighting between the girls and looked really solid (and 0 dancing!)
It is yuri , unless the idiot directors or someone is trying to use baits
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Aah about your idea , i saw a few isekai babies already (shoujo) haha , the demon academy is not isekai but he gets reborn and he starts talking as soon as he opens his eyes and uses magic to grow , was hilarious , they removed that in the anime it seems
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None of this season’s anime had caught my eye, but after reading your review I may have to check out re:lights and deca-dence.
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If you don’t end up liking them, that’s gonna make me feel like I’m to blame. 😀
Hopefully you will, though~
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Well now that Vampeerz manga i commented before just did another 180 , the naked dude is more gay than hetero , and when they punched him that i thought was bs he didnt seem harmed he actually cried and couldnt move on the new episode , they are back with the yuri parts
I like to think that a lot of people hated that episode a lot that is why he got insta killed basically , and the author used it’s brain a little
The yuri manga Futari Monologue i mentioned before got a live action very early on , that one i want an anime of (there is no way they could adapt it well into a live action also lol)
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So many twists and turns in this manga. 😀
Now I’m hoping it gets an anime, just to see this for myself.
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I don’t remember where you wrote you were hoping to see more Yuri gyaru (or something like that) couples but that Futari Monologue main protagonist (well it is 2 characters) it is a hmm gyaru in progress , there is a full gyaru but she is not interested in romance so far (she is a very side character)
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Did I ever say that? I think I recall saying something like that, but if I did, it must’ve been a long time ago.
If it ever gets an anime, I’d watch it, but I’m not really interested in reading the manga or watching the live-action series. 😛
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I hate live actions 😂
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Hi thanks for postinng this
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