Tedious, dry, lacking charm or compelling drama, the latest product of the Neo-Toonami Industrial Complex simply feels replaceable.
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First Impressions – Lazarus
Watanabe Shinichirou sits on a different shelf than most everything else in anime.


Seasonal First Impressions: Everything is Right on CUE!
One of the season’s early standouts, CUE! opens with an improbably sincere navigation of what it means to be a performer.


Understanding Re:Zero Season 2 Part 2: Dead on Arrival
This will spoil the first few episodes of Re:Zero season 2 part 2 but honestly unless you truly love Re:Zero you aren’t missing much. I know it’s considered…


Second Impressions – Lazarus
If Watanabe doesn't care that much, I don't see why any of us should either.
First Impression: Lazarus
It’s the year 2052. We’re now living in a time when, thanks to a genius scientist named Dr. Skinner, a miracle painkiller called Hapna has made the world…


First Look: Lazarus
In the year 2052 mankind has become reliant upon Hapuna, a wonder painkiller developed by famous scientist Dr. Skinner. Three years ago however Skinner disappeared, and as our…


First Impressions – Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction
Any manga by Asano Inio being adapted is a big deal.


SEASONAL FIRST IMPRESSIONS MASTERPOST
Hi friends. This season, I decided to write short first impressions. Why? I’m as lost as you, kind of just felt like it. Well, one reason I can…


Seasonal First Impressions: WONDERFUL PRECURE is Doggone Great
With a largely character-driven and astonishingly charming first episode, the 21st Precure season gets off to a wonderful start.


Seasonal First Impressions: What is THE MISSING 8?
Stylish and atmospheric, but with notably limited animation, The Missing 8 is the year’s last–and probably most mysterious–anime to premiere.


Summer 2021 First Impressions – The Detective is Already Dead
Streaming: Funimation Episodes: 12 (The first episode is double-length) Source: Light Novel Episode Summary: Note: The first episode is double-length. I will endeavor to keep the summary concise.…


The Detective is Already Dead – Summer 2021 Anime First Impressions (Spoiler‑Free)
In the week or two before the start of each new anime season, we run a poll for our readers to vote on what series they’d like us…


Seasonal First Impressions: On a Highway to HELL’S PARADISE
Somewhere in Edo-period Japan, one man tells himself that he’s accepted his impending death. He is lying.


Seasonal First Impressions: Mysteries on Mars in METALLIC ROUGE
The hotly anticipated action-yuri opens with a decidedly esoteric first episode, but will its obscure storytelling reel in viewers, or push them away?


Seasonal First Impressions: SENGOKU YOUKO is Good, Thank God
The second Satoshi Mizukami manga to get an anime in two years thankfully fares much better than its older sibling The Lucifer & Biscuit Hammer.


Seasonal First Impressions: MAYONAKA PUNCH is a Total Knockout
Local toxic Youtube influencer gets cancelled and meets a vampire. You won’t believe what happens next!


Seasonal First Impressions: TAKT OP.DESTINY is The Season’s First Must-Watch
takt op.Destiny opens with a triumphant, soaring symphony of a premiere. The season’s first must-watch has arrived.


Seasonal First Impressions: SABIKUI BISCO
An atmospheric, engrossing, and surprising offering from a new studio, Sabikui Bisco is one to watch.


Seasonal First Impressions: SELECTION PROJECT
Selection Project is Doga Kobo’s swing at the idol anime genre, but does it sing or is this a flunked audition?


Seasonal Anime First Impressions: BIRDIE WING Swings Again
The Symphogear of Golf returns like it never left, with a swaggering reintroduction that reminds us why it’s so great in the first place. Golf If It Ruled…


Summer 2024: Seasonal Anime First Impressions Part 2
Second part of the Summer 2024 Seasonal First Impressions, including premieres of the life-affirming Elusive Samurai, the quietly storming Shoushimin Series, the sleeper hit Sakuna of Rice and…


Summer 2024: Seasonal Anime First Impressions Part 1
First impressions include the middling Isekai Suicide Squad, the unsettling wish fulfillment of My Wife Has No Emotion, and the genre shortcomings of Twilight Out of Focus.
Suicide Squad ISEKAI, My Wife Has No Emotion, Twilight Out of Focus


First Impressions – Dead Mount Death Play
Who the hell names their kid "Polka"? Read more


Seasonal First Impressions: TOKYO 24TH WARD is Off The Rails, on a Crazy Train
CloverWorks’ new winter original is here, but how does it compare to their past efforts, and the season on the whole?


Seasonal First Impressions: Die, Die, and Isekai Again in DEAD MOUNT DEATH PLAY
Somewhere in a grim fantasy world, a heroic knight in shining armor confronts a dread necromancer to prevent the end of the world. But is that really all…


Seasonal First Impressions: Dead or Alive 1333 – In Search of THE ELUSIVE SAMURAI
The highly-anticipated shonen adaptation is a fireworks show of explosive, splintering potential. But is the story it’s telling with all of this worthwhile?


Seasonal First Impressions: The Apocalypse as Liberation – ZOM 100: BUCKET LIST OF THE DEAD is the Season’s First Must-Watch
The best premiere of the year to date, Zom 100 explores the end of the world as a source of joy and liberation via the medium of high-energy…


Seasonal First Impressions: POLICE IN A POD is Comedic Homicide
The season’s first true washout is a soul-sucking piece of cop apologia that wouldn’t know funny if it were beat over the head with it.


Seasonal First Impressions: Something is Wrong in AKEBI’S SCHOOL UNIFORM
There is no polite way to say that a series “has weird vibes.”


Seasonal First Impressions: Something is Wrong in AKEBI’S SAILOR UNIFORM
There is no polite way to say that a series “has weird vibes.”


Seasonal First Impressions: SORAIRO UTILITY Is NOT Up to Par
In the year’s first truly disappointing anime, the girls-play-golf original seeks to land a hole in one, but is stuck in a sand trap of passionless flailing.


Seasonal Anime First Impressions: The Thorny Debut of ROCK IS A LADY’S MODESTY
The Girl Band Renaissance rolls on, but can Rock is a Lady’s Modesty stand out from the crowd or is it doomed to get lost in the shuffle?


Seasonal First Impressions: Spooky Season is Here, and So is MIERUKO-CHAN
She’s cute, they’re spooky, you won’t believe what happens next! Is Mieruko-chan worth picking up? Find out here.


Seasonal First Impressions: Spring 2023 Stragglers
So many anime airing in a given season means I can’t possibly devote full columns to them all. Nonetheless, here are some short thoughts on a midnight slice-of-life,…
Mobile Suit Gundam, Otaku Elf, THE MARGINAL SERVICE, Tokyo Mew Mew, TOO CUTE CRISIS


Seasonal First Impressions: Summer 2024 Stragglers
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. I’ve done one of these once…
Dungeon People, Senpai is an Otokonoko, Tasuketsu -Fate of the Majority-


The race is on!– First Impressions: Appare-Ranman!
It’s a fictional period piece? About some drag racers in LA? In the steam era/cowboy? Sign me up, fam. It’s cute colorful and funny. I can see it…


Seasonal First Impressions: REINCARNATED AS A SWORD is Dull and Rusty
Reincarnated as a Sword is yet another isekai with a marginally interesting premise that completely squanders it by being as dull and full of shortcuts as possible.


Seasonal First Impressions: What in the World is AKIBA MAID WAR?
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. Friends, rejoice. It’s finally happened, a…


Gagging on Sexism is Not Dead!
Hi readers! I’m sorry for the long stretch of silence! I am currently buried under a mountain of books and a small hill of essays as I finish up…


Seasonal First Impressions: Be Aware of MONO
The camera club comedy from the mind behind YuruCamp is an easy seasonal highlight, charming, funny, and full of life.


Seasonal First Impressions: THE GENE OF AI
Part medical procedural, part one man’s quest to clear his mother’s name.


Seasonal First Impressions: BIRDIE WING Tees Off
Birdie Wing manages to somehow make 22 minutes of golf-related video watchable. I can pay it no higher compliment.


Seasonal(???) First Impressions: HIGH GUARDIAN SPICE is Finally Here, But is it Too Late?
The long-delayed Crunchyroll Original fantasy series is finally here, but does its very origin mean it’s already dead in the water?
First Impressions: Date a Bullet: Dead or Bullet
Without much of an introduction, Kurumi, the girl in the red dress, begins fighting Queen, the girl in white dress/military uniform in a pretty cool-looking church with vitrals.…


Lazarus
Lazarus is currently streaming on Max and Hulu on Sundays....


Seasonal First Impressions: Battle Girl Acid Ramen – What Even Is MOMENTARY LILY?
Look to the far future, and there you will find GoHands.


The Detective Is Already Dead – 01 (First Impressions) – To Have and to Hold
Kimihiko Kimizuka just wants to live a normal dull life. But like Kamijou Touma’s tendency towards misfortune (if being surrounded by poweful cute girls all the time is…


Shinichirou Watanabe’s Lazarus is Almost Here…
Today, we’re talking about Shinichirou Watanabe’s newest series, Lazarus ahead of its release in early April.