Synopsis: The story begins when Ao opens a package that arrives at her doorstep. Inside the package is Gourai, a Frame Arms Girl: a small robot capable of independent movement. Gourai is a newly-developed prototype: a Frame Arms Girl equipped with an “Artificial Self,” an advanced AI that gives her a personality. Ao is the only one that has activated her. Gourai begins to gather both battle data and emotions, starting a day-to-day life with Ao, who knows nothing about Frame Arms Girls.
Synopsis: Hobbies are often a great way of meeting new people, but how could Kakeru Diachi, who collects rare juice cans, have ever suspected that he’d meet a fascinating new girl when he attempted to DRINK her? Naming her Melon, because she’s got great melon… soda, Kakeru quickly learns that she’s an Akikan—a beautiful girl who’s also a special can created to fight other Akikans in a strange experiment to determine what kind of container is better: steel or aluminum!
Will becoming involved in this ridiculously twisted research project gone amuck complicate Kakeru’s life incredibly? Of course it will, but because Melon’s steel body needs carbon dioxide to breathe, he’s now stuck with her since she’s too CO2 dependent! And when his wealthy, attractive, best childhood friend Najimi gets HER own aluminum Akikan, the trouble really begins!
STORY
This is my 182nd review on YuriReviews, and over that span, I’ve experienced all manner of stupid plots, but Akikan!‘s story still stands out for all the wrong reasons. You can read the synopsis above and tell how stupid this story is, yet a stupid story doesn’t automatically make this a bad anime. Rather, the reasons this is a bad anime include the absurd story, lousy character development, horrible attempts at “romance”, and the equally bad attempts at comedy. Continue reading →
Synopsis: A catastrophic earthquake has left Tokyo, and most of the Earth for that matter, under the sea. Aika is a salvager who retrieves various remains from the watery ruins. When Aika accepts the dangerous mission of locating and obtaining the mysterious Lagu, she discovers that she’s not the only one after it.
STORY
First off, I should mention that this OVA is listed as having seven episodes, but the last three of those are essentially filler, so for maximum enjoyment, I’d recommend just to stop watching after episode four.
Synopsis: It is the year 4999 – mankind has long abandoned war in favor of intergalactic competition through athletic events. One of which is an all-female contest for the coveted “Cosmo Beauty” title. Akari Kanzaki has just entered the University Satellite in hopes of becoming the latest Cosmic Beauty – a title held by her mother long ago. On her first few days in the university, she meets new friends, encounters fierce rivals, and struggles to become the best of all the Battle Athletes.
Synopsis: For many individuals in N-City, playing the popular social role-playing game Magical Girl Raising Project is as close as they could come to being a real magical girl. However, for some rare players, that dream can become a reality. One such girl is Koyuki Himekawa, who receives a notification one night that she has been selected to become a magical girl, her in-game avatar Snow White.
As Koyuki and other chosen players in the city begin helping those in need, they all receive yet another notification: the admins have decided that they want to reduce the number of magical girls. Whoever collects the least amount of Magical Candies—which are awarded for their magical girl activities—in their competition each week will lose their powers. But when a real-world tragedy happens to the first player that drops out, they are shown the repercussions of losing their abilities. As more participants inevitably lose the competition and more twisted rules are added, the girls soon realize that their “contest” is actually a desperate fight for survival.
Synopsis: Most people would prefer being the protagonist of a world full of adventure, be it in a game or in another world. But, unfortunately, a certain girl is not so lucky. Regaining the memories of her past life, she realizes that she was reborn in the world of Fortune Lover—one of the games she used to play.
Unfortunately, the character she was reincarnated into—Katarina Claes—is the game’s main antagonist, who faces utter doom in every ending. Using her extensive knowledge of the game, she takes it upon herself to escape from the chains of this accursed destiny.
However, this will not be an easy feat, especially since she needs to be cautious as to not set off death flags that may speed up the impending doom she is trying to avoid. Even so, to make a change that will affect the lives of everyone around her, she strives—not as the heroine—but as the villainess.
STORY
Given the current state of anime, I know a lot of people might be experiencing isekai fatigue right about now, and I thought I was too, until I started watching My Next Life as a Villainess, which I’ll be calling Hamefura for the remainder of the review. Thanks to mediocre anime like BOFURI, my expectations are pretty low for shows in this genre. A reason why I felt differently about this anime isn’t because Hamefura does anything radically different than other isekai anime, it’s simply because the show seemed fun and clever, two things I personally haven’t felt about this genre since the olden days of SAO and The Devil is a Part-Timer!.
It’s that time of the year again, so enjoy our First Impressions of the 2020 summer anime season that just started~
Deca-Dence
Studio: Nut | Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
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.
