Tag: impressions

Posted on in anime, Seasonal Impression Roundups

Seasonal First Impressions: The Beautiful Bloom of KOMI CAN’T COMMUNICATE

Seasonal First Impressions is a column where I detail my thoughts, however brief or long, about a currently-airing anime’s first episode or so.

“Do you have a dream, Komi?”
“My dream is to make 100 friends….please don’t laugh.”
“Then I’ll be your first friend, and help you make the rest.”

I didn’t actually intend to write more of these for this season, but sometimes things have a way of surprising you.

Komi Can’t Communicate was not something I intended to pick up. I didn’t even really intend to watch the premiere. To tell you the gods’ honest truth, I don’t really like the original manga all that much. I know! It’s widely-liked, by enough people that it’s the sort of thing where I’ve just accepted that I’m firmly in the minority. I followed it for a few months when it was relatively new, and it just never inspired any strong feelings in me. I had some things I kinda liked about it, some things I kinda didn’t like, but on the whole it didn’t move me. I didn’t get the hype. But I started hearing things about the anime; positive things. Things that were so positive that I felt like I just wouldn’t be doing my job if I felt like I didn’t at least look into it. And good lord, what a difference a change of medium can make.

On paper, Komi Can’t Communicate shouldn’t really work as an anime. This is a series whose primary character dynamic hinges almost entirely on talking. No, not talking; non-verbal communication. It’s a bit of a challenge to make that visually interesting. And indeed, while the manga itself certainly has nice art, I wouldn’t say it’s terribly visually dynamic. That can be a real problem in motion! So how did Komi‘s team overcome it? Well, in a way, the answer is very simple.

They turned in one of the best productions of the entire year.

Komi Can’t Communicate is gorgeous. (Enough so in motion that it’s actually rather hard to capture its appeal in still screenshots.) Its only real competition this season is takt op.Destiny, from which it is stylistically whole universes away. But while takt op is bone-cracking action and melodramatic camp, Komi Can’t Communicate zeroes in on the warmth of youth, even when it’s being funny. It’s a feeling I associate more with films like Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop than I do TV anime. That’s not to say that Komi is particularly serious–it’s a fairly straightforward and lighthearted show–but it’s straightforward and lighthearted while looking utterly beautiful. This is the sort of thing that even those wholly uninterested in its plot can watch for visuals alone. There’re loads of clever little tricks in here; cut-ins, overlaid text, subtle art style shifts, etc. Some of these are inherited from the manga, but even those simply look way better here. This is a truly rare elevation of the source material, and I think even those who love the manga will agree with that.

This shot is from the OP, which is an instantly-iconic, sun-drenched piece of loveliness.

Its actual plot is so basic that it barely warrants summarizing. What do you want me to say? Boy meets girl! This is simple stuff. But Shouko Komi herself (our female lead) is an interesting character. As the title implies, she has what is colloquially known in Japan as a “communication disorder”. This to say: she cannot talk to people. Her case seems to be particularly bad. Over the course of the first episode, actress Aoi Koga (who recently made a name for herself as the title character in Kaguya-sama: Love is War!), doesn’t say a single actual word. Her vocal consists of flustered stuttering. That’s it.

But as the narration helpfully (and truthfully!) points out, people who have these kinds of difficulties do not crave human contact any less than anyone else. Komi still badly wants friends, but her anxiety is such an issue that she can’t bring herself to even say things as simple as morning greetings to anybody. Worse; all this, combined with her general appearance, has convinced most that she is an archetypal “cool beauty”, rather than a kind, gentle girl who deeply, simply wants to have friends and live a normal life.

That’s where our other lead comes in. Hitohito Tadano is an astoundingly average fellow, aside from his odd (but quite cute) habit of wearing a flower in his hair. The only “skill” of any kind that Tadano brings to the table is that it’s he who first recognizes Komi’s true nature. So, they get to talking. Or rather, to writing, as he comes up with the idea that using the classroom chalkboard while they happen to be alone between classes might be less anxiety-inducing than actually speaking aloud. By coincidence or by competence, he hits on the right idea, and the episode’s entire middle third is the two getting to know each other through a sprawling correspondence of chalk. This was cute in the manga. Here, it’s enrapturing, it pulls you in. For a few minutes, these two teenagers getting to know each other seems like the most important thing in the world.

Eventually, they come around to the exchange quoted at the top of this article. Things take a turn for the more comedic not long afterward, as the narration reminds us that the high school in which Komi Can’t Communicate is set is full of wild, wacky characters. (In the manga, I remember this kind of being a turn-off for me. I suppose we’ll see how it’s handled here.) So perhaps Tadano’s got more than he bargained for, but one gets the sense that he’d be okay with it if he knew. And that’s really the key thing; what makes a romance anime work is that we the audience have to believe that these two characters are interested in each other on a fairly deep level. Komi Can’t Communicate‘s first episode proves it with a startlingly clear, rosy, warm portrait of two young people who simply happened to be there for each other at the right time. For whom that simple serendipity will likely develop into much more. What else could you ask for? Komi and Tadano both get a little less lonely. The world gets a little brighter.

Grade: A+
The Takeaway: Komi Can’t Communicate stands as the season’s second truly essential anime. If you’re interested in romance anime as a genre or seasonal anime as a format, you should check this out.

Wanna talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers? Consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text, excepting direct quotations, is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

Posted on in anime, Seasonal Impression Roundups

Seasonal First Impressions: Spooky Season is Here, and So is MIERUKO-CHAN

Seasonal First Impressions is a column where I detail my thoughts, however brief or long, about a currently-airing anime’s first episode or so.

Of the semi-common genre hybrids, the horror-comedy is one of the weirder ones. Horror relies on disquieting the viewer. Comedy relies on making them laugh. They’re not quite opposites, but they’re close, so striking the right balance is the key when trying to do both in alteration.

Well? Have you?

Mieruko-chan does a pretty good job of it. Although to tell the truth, I went into the anime skeptical. Mieruko-chan is an adaption of a pretty well-regarded manga, and said manga earns that regard. But simply by shuffling a few things around, the Mieruko-chan anime manages to keep things fresh even for those of us who’ve seen this particular story before. It’s an impressive trick, and it leads to one of the better premieres of the season so far, if not a flawless one. (We’ll get to the caveats in a minute.)

Mieruko-chan manages to hold out for an impressive 13 1/2 minutes before showing us anything indisputably out-of-the-ordinary. Before then, it’s all tension, cut with the occasional bit of comedy to keep the mood from becoming overtly oppressive; Mieruko-chan‘s goal is to keep you on your toes, not horrify you outright, and it’s very good at that.

A lot of the reprieve comes from Miko’s (left) interactions with her friend Hana (right). They have a very warm, believable friendship even here in the first episode.

Our main character is Miko (“Mieruko-chan” means something like “the girl who sees them”, it’s not her name). Miko sees dead people. Miko does not want to see dead people. Hence the conflict of the show. Or more thoroughly; as she goes about her daily life, Miko is often bothered by monstrous spirits. They ask her if she can see them and generally make her life miserable. The only saving grace she has here is that she’s in possession of an absolutely stone poker face, and the entities eventually leave her alone after she fails to react to them.

“Yo.”

To a point, the series (both in its original manga incarnation and here) is voyeuristic, a feeling certainly not diminished here by Studio Passione‘s “enhancements” to the material, which mostly consists of gratuitous T&A closeups. (Not that the manga was devoid of these, but the increase is noticeable.) What prevents any of this from feeling too gross is that Miko’s one weapon–her will–means she’s not totally defenseless. Admittedly, I’m going into this with some level of foreknowledge since I’ve read some of the manga. But Miko isn’t entirely a victim of circumstance, here, and she’s easy to root for because of that, even when her fear gets the better of her.

Visually, other than the aforementioned kinda-distasteful cheesecake, the series is pretty nice-looking. The entities themselves are what’s hit hardest by the transition to animation, as they don’t look quite as scary animated, but the sound work makes up for this. The synthesizer hums and throbs that make up the best horror soundtracks are well-represented here, along with judicious use of silence. It’s a nicely-produced affair, all around.

In general, if you can get past the aforementioned caveat, and you don’t feel so bad for Miko that you find the show hard to watch, give this a try. Mieruko-chan really seems like it’s going to be worth following.

Grade: B-
The Takeaway: Solidly-produced all around and with a novel premise, this one is worth picking up if you make a point of keeping up with seasonal anime. Its only real issue is the adaption’s insertion of some rather disruptive fanservice.

Wanna talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers? Consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

Posted on in anime, Seasonal Impression Roundups

Seasonal Impressions: Romance and Rocket Ships in IRINA: THE VAMPIRE COSMONAUT

Seasonal First Impressions is a column where I detail my thoughts, however brief or long, about a currently-airing anime’s first episode or so.

Let’s start with the obvious; what a title! In a time period where there are quite literally more anime being made per season than ever before, a series needs to do all it can to stand out. A novel premise is one way to do that, and Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut, which is about basically exactly what that title implies, certainly delivers on that front.

The short version; some amount of years after the end of not-quite WW2, two nations, not-quite The United States (“Arnack”) and not-quite The Soviet Union (“Zirnitra”) are competing in a space race. In lieu of sending an actual human aboard a rocket, Zirnitra’s space program opts to use a vampire. Which, in the world of Irina, basically means a normal human but nocturnal and with pointy teeth. (The series goes out of its way to assure us that all the traditional vampire clichés are just myths. Which, in of itself, is something of a cliché by this point. But the point is made; it’s not a garlic and crucifixes sort of story. Fair enough.)

Surely there are no shady, immoral reasons for this.

Our actual lead is not Irina, the titular vampire, herself, but rather her caretaker, a training program flunky named Lev.

This is Lev. He’s pleasant enough.

It’s here I should point out; this thing is tagged with the Romance genre on every site I can find it listed on, and between Lev, Irina herself, and Lev’s assistant, Anna, there is absolutely the possibility for this to descend into mediocre harem hell. However, I prefer to assume an anime is going to become the best version of itself. What would that look like for Irina?

Well, the show’s strengths are evident even this early on. While none of the characters strike as super complex (at least not yet), the important ones feel well-thought-out. Lev is trying to reconcile having to give up on his own dream of cosmonauthood with his new responsibility taking care of Irina. Irina is all too happy to tell every human in earshot that she hates them, which is evidently a defense mechanism from being treated like an object her entire life. (That’s not me reading into the series; the latter is obvious from visual cues and the former is explicitly pointed out a number of times.)

There’s not a ton going on, so far, but the promise is there. The early scenes especially seem to hint at something deeper going on, with context-free flashes of Irina clutching a necklace, which she still has in the present, in the midst of a snowstorm. And in the political undertones of her involvement in the spaceflight program in the first place.

Really, for this sort of thing, “promise” is enough. It’s distinct enough that it can coast by on potential, at least for now. Irina is not going to be most peoples’ premiere of the season, but you could do far, far worse. And who knows? We might be talking about it in far grander terms six weeks from now.

Grade: C+
The Takeaway: Keep an eye on this one. Consider picking it up if you want an additional show and the novel combination of sci-fi and romance genres with a dash of horror appeals to you. Otherwise, maybe hold off until it gets some more positive word-of-mouth.

Wanna talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers? Consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

Posted on in Uncategorized

Seasonal First Impressions: Gaze into The Void with TESLA NOTE

Seasonal First Impressions is a column where I detail my thoughts, however brief or long, about a currently-airing anime’s first episode or so.

On a fundamental, very basic level, the absolute first thing a work of fiction ever has to do for you as the viewer, is convince you that the world that it exists in could be real. Not consciously, of course, but you have to accept the premise and the production–whatever they may be–on a subconscious level to even begin processing a story as such. That’s what the suspension of disbelief is. It is almost impossible to fail at this step when creating an even remotely professional work of art. And in anime, even very, very bad shows can convey a sense that the worlds they take place in exist in some sense. Even the worst things I’ve covered on this site, your Big Orders, hell, your Speed Graphers, can do that much.

Tesla Note, improbably, fails at this very first step. Even worse, it’s not even the first anime to do so this year, quickly establishing itself as a close cousin of the truly rancid Ex-Arm, which it makes some of the same mistakes as. Though in other ways, while Tesla Note is not quite as consistently awful, it is actually worse in the sheer number of ways it manages to be bad, as we’ll get to.

I’m not going to condescend to my readership by pretending any of you need to know about this thing’s plot. But if you are, for some reason, curious, here’s the official description, in its entirety.

Genius Nikola Tesla preserved records of all his inventions inside crystals known as Tesla Shards. After an inexplicable incident in Norway, Botan Negoro, a descendant of ninjas raised to be the ultimate agent, is recruited on a mission to recover the crystals. Her partner through this is self-proclaimed No. 1 agent, Kuruma. With the fate of the world at stake, the fight for the shards begins.

In practice this doesn’t matter. It’s a setup for garden variety super-spy BS that can absolutely be fun if it’s handled the right way. But folks? This is not the right way. Tesla Note is the first production from the brand-new studio Gambit, and I would not be surprised if it were their last. Surely no one enters the anime industry–hell, cartoons in general–and their desire is to make this? I’m not talking about the animators, who I have the deepest sympathy for. I’m referring to the higher-ups here. What led to this?

“This”, if you’re not picking it up just from the screencaps, is an absolutely eye-searing cornucopia of god-awful 3D CGI. And let me be very clear, I am something of a 3D CG apologist. There have been anime earlier this year that have made great use of 3D CG, one of which, Love Live Superstar!!, is airing this very season. I am not against the process on principle, and used well it can lead to wonderful things that are difficult or impossible to achieve with traditional 2D animation. In some sense, Tesla Note may also have been impossible to achieve if animated traditionally, but certainly not in any good sense.

Visually speaking, Tesla Note’s mix of stiff, under-rigged, poorly-lit, and generally bad-looking models for its main characters, its unconvincing backgrounds, the fever-dream editing style, its flat-out inexplicable decision to animate some but not all minor characters traditionally, and its profound failure to make any of this look like it exists on the same planet, much less in the same show, all combine into a symphony of incompetence. Tesla Note has all the visual panache of a teenager fucking around in GMod or a Virtual Youtuber working out the kinks in her rig before going live for the first time, which is funny, given that the main character is named Botan. It is the worst-looking anime of 2021, exceeding Ex-Arm, its only real competition, by lacking the one thing that show had, a unity of style.

Occasionally, the odd traditionally-animated cut will pop in, just for a moment, almost as a taunt. None of the few examples in this first episode are really any good, but they at least stand out.

Worse; Tesla Note is not merely awful-looking, it is also horribly-written. For nearly the entire 22-minute runtime of the first episode, no one ever shuts up. Almost every single second is filled with the characters chattering away in some of the most uninspired, cliché-ridden character dialogue I have ever seen. I was not super keen on the last series I did for this column, but this makes Selection Project look like The End of Evangelion. It is terminally charmless.

So does this thing have any merit? Well, if you’re the sort who enjoys gazing into the dying dreams of popular media, its first episode has some value as a thing to inflict on the unsuspecting. When it’s over, I could see it being an interesting thing to get wasted and binge watch with a particularly susceptible group of friends. Even then, be wary of falling on the wrong side of the Star Wars Holiday Special graph.

Truly there is an xkcd for every situation.

Other than that? No. Avoid Tesla Note at all costs.

Grade: F-
The Takeaway: Don’t watch this. Seriously, love yourself. Even for those chasing a “so bad it’s good” “meme anime” or what-have-you, the novelty will wear off, and you will be left spiritually hollow by the experience. Self-care is important these days.

Wanna talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers? Consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

Posted on in anime, Weekly Writing Roundups

The Frontline Report [10/3/21]

The Frontline Report is a weekly column where I briefly summarize the past week of my personal journey through anime, manga, and the related spheres of pop culture. Expect some degree of spoilers for the covered shows.

One season ends and another begins, the world turns here on Magic Planet Anime.

The Heike Story

Japan races toward war. The third episode of The Heike Story only reinforces what we’ve known from day one, but it’s the method that really sticks out here. We know the character of Lord Saiko, for instance, for mere minutes. But he is the first to speak truth to power in opposing Shigemori’s father, Lord Kiyomori. For his defiance, he is beheaded, in a brilliant cut–in every sense of that word–that flickers from the falling of the sword to a flower landing in water. Elsewhere, archers fire at warrior monks and pierce portable shrines in the process, telling us that even already, nothing is truly sacred in the power struggle that’s about to ensue.

Biwa sees the bloodshed ahead, as Shigemori prepares to attack his own father to stop his power-hungry madness, but seems powerless to stop it. Only time will tell if that’s truly so. There is little in the way of embellishment to say about Heike Story, it simply is a gripping period piece drama.

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S

In a meta sense, it’s not that strange that a show like this remains somewhat controversial. “Be yourself, ignore what society tells you” is about as close as Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid ever gets to a proper theme, and it certainly follows its own advice, for better or worse. But while it’s no philosophical treatise, the writing can be surprisingly characterful when it remembers to get out of its own way. Dragon Maid S actually ended a bit ago now, but I only watched the final two episodes this past week, and that’s definitely true of both of them, especially the actual finale with its festivals and faux wedding ceremony. It re-centers the focus on Kobayashi and Tohru themselves, making for the series’ strongest showing since, well, the last time I covered it on this column.

But Dragon Maid‘s thesis of ethical hedonism aside, the real story here in the long run remains the triumphant return of Kyoto Animation. I won’t drag the point out; all twelve episodes of the show look amazing, and while what they’ve been through will probably weigh heavy over the anime landscape for a long time, it’s just really good to have them back. See you all for 20th Century Electric Catalogue?

Elsewhere on MPA

I debuted my Seasonal First Impressions column this past week (which you’re going to be seeing more of literally today if everything goes as planned), but I’ve also put up a review, another episode of KeyFrames Forgotten I’m rather proud of, and just in general am keeping a decent clip of things. Remember to toss me some coins in the footer if you’ve liked anything I’ve written this week and are able to!

Seasonal First Impressions: SELECTION PROJECT – The season gets off to a truly “and the crowd goes mild”-style start with an idol anime that left me very, very nonplussed. It’s annoying to dislike something because it’s simply “not doing anything new”, and I wouldn’t even say I do dislike Selection Project per se, there’s just not much to it at the moment, which is unfortunate.

(REVIEW) The Far Side of Summer, SONNY BOY, and Me – Sonny Boy is one of those anime that’s going to be rolling around in my noggin for years. I don’t think I’m as huge as a fan as many of the show’s biggest defenders, but that’s splitting hairs. Immaculately produced, uncommonly nuanced, and contemplative to its core, Sonny Boy is a show we’re going to be hearing about for a long time.

KeyFrames Forgotten Episode 3 – WINDY TALES – Hey you, reading this right now, listen to our podcast about Windy Tales! The show is good and the podcast episode is also good! I don’t hear people discuss Windy Tales much anymore, and I’m not sure why? It’s a lovely little thing.

See you on the next, anime fans.

Wanna talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers? Consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

Posted on in anime, Seasonal Impression Roundups

Seasonal First Impressions: SELECTION PROJECT

Seasonal First Impressions is a column where I detail my thoughts, however brief or long, about a currently-airing anime’s first episode or so.

As a critic, it’s a terribly annoying thing to feel unsatisfied with a work that doesn’t actually do anything wrong. But, the profession’s one requirement is honesty. And I can genuinely say that I just can’t find it in me to care all that much about Selection Project.

Here’s the thing; not just anybody can make an idol anime. The genre is more brittle than I think many realize. One needs a strong, well-defined and delineated cast, strong writing, and of course good music to make a truly good idol anime. But on top of all that, we the audience need to have a desire to see the cast succeed. It’s hard enough to do that when the main characters are all part of the same idol group. Doing it while the cast are part of an X-Factor-style competition, as is the case here, feels borderline impossible.

Studio Doga Kobo have, of course, tried anyway. Selection Project‘s first episode, as I said, is not by any means bad, but something feels palpably missing from the whole affair. On a production level it’s certainly professional. The animation is clean and at times characterful, and the character designs are distinct from, at least, each other. Conversely though, they’re not terribly anything new overall. “Solid, but not amazing” is the operative phrase here.

Probably the most interesting shot in the episode is this neat bit that loosely evokes Abbey Road.

The opening here tries to tug at your heart strings from the top. We (very briefly) learn that our lead, Suzune, used to be hospital-bound and used the in-universe Selection Project show itself as a form of escapism. We even briefly see her watch her own favorite idol, Akari Amasawa, win the first season of the show. There’s clearly an intent to portray Akari’s music touching Suzune’s heart, and to pass that sensation along to the viewer, but something about it just fails to connect. Maybe it’s just that this entire scene is very short. Maybe it’s that the song, “Just One Yell”, sounds just enough like “Eat the Wind” by Yorushika (one of my favorite Japanese pop songs from last year) to be distracting. Maybe I’m just cynical. It’s hard to say.

Perhaps the issue is that from that opening scene, everything about Selection Project‘s first episode (with one minor exception, which we’ll get to) feels almost too neat. It has a near-mechanical predictability to it. Watching a fully-committed genre show tick along can absolutely be a good time, but generally they need to at least try to do something to set themselves apart from the pack. Selection Project airing in the same season as the still-ongoing current Love Live installment, and just days before the premiere of the premisewise-bonkers PRIDE OF ORANGE certainly does it no favors here. It is perhaps just a little too straightforward to truly stand out.

The way this most obviously plays out is with the characters. Suzune is a very standard main character for this genre; she’s earnest, hardworking, and passionate with light brown hair and a light, airy voice. Even in a trainwreck like say, last year’s crushingly disappointing 22/7, the main character was different enough from the ISO standard to be memorable. Suzune really isn’t. She looks like the lovechild of any number of idol anime protagonists. Her most distinguishing feature is probably that she has a ponytail, and while she’s certainly cute enough, that’s not really a great sign.

The other characters don’t fare much better. One we briefly meet, Nodoka, is defined solely by her love of sweets, after which she predictably voices a worry about the show having a “weight limit.” Another, Ao, is a sporty tomboy with short hair whose parents are gym freaks and whose one bit of characterization here is someone else telling her that she should be careful to not sweat too much, because her makeup might run. Probably the most notably distinct is the catgirl-inspired Shiori, who may have the unenviable task of carrying the series on her back if her costars don’t develop more interesting personalities soon.

Y’know, like, nya?

All of this would be easy enough to roll with if Selection Project gave you much of a reason to care about any of these people. And maybe it will, in the episodes to come, but Suzune’s general lack of any kind of hook is a much bigger problem. But, lest it come off like I’m being way too hard on this show, I will give it credit, because there is one trick that it pulls off toward the episode’s conclusion that points to some possible interesting developments.

As it’s her turn to sing “One More Yell” in order to try to pass the regional semi-final of the in-universe Selection Project series, Suzune falls to the ground and nearly faints. She actually loses the audition to her apparent friend Seira, who herself seems uncomfortable with winning. Now, Seira is not on Selection Project‘s poster art (which you can find all over the internet). So it seems likely that, some way or another, Seira is going to have to drop out or be disqualified, and Suzune will sneak in to the final round of the competition that way, the remainder of the show taking place there. But it at least shows some willingness to break with convention. The closing shot is her walking home alone with her rolling suitcase. It’s the only bit of Selection Project‘s desperate attempts to make you, dear viewer, Feel Things, that actually works.

There are a few other positives and things that are at least interesting to point out. For one, the show’s direction is quite nice. There are a number of fun visual tricks it uses throughout this episode to stay on the engaging side of the line. For another, there is a probably-deliberate overtone of weirdness baked in to the Selection Project series-within-a-series itself. There’s a brief moment of near-literally religious reverence for Akari, who we learn died in the car crash “at the height of her career” (the show’s words, not mine) some years ago.

Is she praying to the dead idol? Because that would make Suzune kind of awesome. If also very creepy.

And while he’s incredibly obnoxious, the show-within-a-show’s bear-like mascot character does inject some flavor into things. It makes things feel a little weird, and for a show that really needs something to stand out, weird is good.

So yes, it’s wholly possible that Selection Project will develop better character writing, or alternately will fly wildly off the handle and become at the very least, a compellingly strange show. But it’s far from a given, and for that reason I don’t think I could really recommend this series to anyone but idol genre diehards. But of course, the joy of seasonal anime is that the future stands unknown before us. Who knows, maybe I’ll be eating my words in only a few weeks’ time.

Did I mention Shiori has a butler? Forget the whole idol competition, I want a show about these two.

Grade: C
The Takeaway: A pass for anyone but dyed-in-the-wool genre enthusiasts. Might be worth your time in a few weeks if it picks up some positive buzz.

Wanna talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers? Consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.