“Year 2002. Japan’s gymnastics world was once strong. Former Japanese representative Shoutarou Aragaki (29), who devoted his time to gymnastics, was unable to perform as expected. Even …
Oct 14, 2020 • Subscribe
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First Look: Taiso Samurai
Jotaro Aragaki is a 29-year-old widower and father who has devoted his life to gymnastics but is now staring down the barrel of retirement, having performed poorly over…
Taiso Samurai – Episode 1 [First Impressions]
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Taisou Zamurai Review
“overall, it builds a compelling story, even if it’s ultimately… not the one you’d expect going in”
Ridiculous..ly good?! — First Impressions: Taiso Samurai!
Hello and welcome back to First Impression Friday (totally did not just make that up right now)! It’s like I just came at you with a first impression…
Taisou Zamurai Anime Review
Animation: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Story/Plot: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ Theme song/s and animation: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Taiso Samurai – 10
「決戦ザムライ」 (Kessen Zamurai) "Samurai's Decisive Battle" Now I'm really starting to worry about Leo.
Taiso Samurai – 01
「引退ザムライ」 (Intai Zamurai) "Retiring Samurai" I'm not a fan of samurais. Fortunately, despite the name, no actual samurais feature in the production of this series.
Taiso Samurai – 04
「ザムライ娘。」 (Zamurai Musume.) "Samurai Daughter." Being the daughter of someone in the public limelight doesn't seem easy. Especially when said person has been the focus of negative press.
Taiso Samurai – 02
「どん底ザムライ」 (Donzoko Zamurai) "Rock-Bottom Samurai" In MAPPA we trust.
Taiso Samurai – 09
「ニンジャ＆ザムライ」 (Ninja & Zamurai) "Ninja & Samurai" There are two kinds of injuries that affect an athlete's performance. The perceivable physical injuries. And invisible emotional strains that can be equally…
Taiso Samurai – 03
「決闘ザムライ」 (Kettou Zamurai) "Dueling Samurai" I could talk about how gorgeous the CGI gymnastics were. But I've always preferred to write up case studies into characterisation. So here goes.
Taiso Samurai – 07
「合宿ザムライ」 (Gasshuku Zamurai) "Training Camp Samurai" Who could have guessed that Leo wasn't actually a ninja this whole time?
Taiso Samurai – 08
「特訓ザムライ」 (Tokkun Zamurai) "Intensive Training Samurai" An exploration of personal crossroads, as characters ponder on choices regarding their respective futures.
First Impression: Kaginado
A familiar little girl wearing a sailor fuku with stuffed dango in hand walks into a planetarium, where she’s greeted by another familiar face, an android with blue…
First Impression: UniteUp!
Akira may be a bit of a curmudgeon (as far as perky 17-year-olds go), but he’s a good son and devoted friend. He’s just been a little bit…
First Impression: Cue!
Action music. A deep blue sea with emerald green coasts. Pursued by their enemies, a boy and a girl are entering the fantasy world where she was born.…
First Impression: Maesetsu!
After years of failed auditions, comedy duo Tokonatsu, consisting of Mafuyu Kogarashi and Fubuki Kitakaze, finally get their first break—a slot at Shoka-Yono High’s cultural festival! There&#…
First Impression: SHY
A snazzy comic book-style intro and voice-over catch us up on the state of the world: it seems that planet Earth is awash with…peace and tranquility? That’s right,…
First Impression: OVERTAKE
Kouya Madoka is a photographer who is having trouble with his work. He gets tense and anxious before a photo shoot, and this is causing him to be…
First Impression – ID:INVADED
Have you ever wanted to enter the mind of a murderer? There have been several shows that have attempted to explore this in detail, to see why criminals…
First Impression: Gibiate
In the year 2030, Kathleen Funada is seeking a cure for a horrible disease that has ravaged the planet, one which turns humans into monstrous creatures. Gibiate, as…
First Impression: Opus.COLORs
Two adults doing tai chi while wearing high-tech goggles and hand gear are watched by three enraptured boys. When they’re done swooshing their arms and tiptoeing through the…
First Impression: AOASHI
Aoi Ashito has enough natural talent to carry his backwater middle school soccer team to victory single-handed. He also has enough confidence for an entire 11-man team, and…
First Impression: Arte
Set in Florence, Italy, early in the sixteenth century, this is the tale of a young noblewoman named Arte trying to become a proper artist and make a…
First Impression: Helck
It’s a difficult day for Lady Vermillio, a powerful fire sorceress with an administrative position in the Demon (Oni) Realm. After the death of Lord Demon Thor, the…
First Impression: Ishura
It’s the first day of school in a vaguely medieval Ottoman-like world (with robots) when timid Yuno first encounters Lucelles, the sparkling, confident girl who quickly becomes her…
First Impression: SSSS.Dynazenon
The episode opens with a rapid montage of ambiguous scenes: teenagers hanging out along a riverbank; a muted argument in a school corridor; a hand releasing pearl-like beads…
86 (First Impression)
“The Republic of San Magnolia has been attacked by its neighbor, the Empire. Outside the 85 districts of the Republic there is the ‘non-existent 86th district,’ where young…
First Impression: Tonbo!
Kazuyoshi Igarashi accepts a job on the remote Hinoshima island, where he meets the island’s only middle schooler, Tonbo. The girl is energetic and rambunctious, but more curiously,…
First Impression: Dandadan
“Huuuuuh?!?!” Like lightning, Momo the gyaru launches a jaw-breaking kick at the delinquent’s head, only, it doesn’t land. And then he dumps her. Seems she’s too poor and…
First Impression: Kakushigoto
Kakushigoto looks to be a lighthearted comedy. The title itself is a pun: It’s a story about the “kakushigoto” (i.e., secret) of Kakushi Goto. Kakushi is a mangaka…who…
First Impression: Noblesse
Okay, before I get into my first take on this one, I need to clear the air about something. Yes, I am aware that Noblesse has an OVA…
First Impression: Horimiya
Kyoko Hori: Smart, beautiful, popular, but for unknown reasons, she rushes out of school instead of spending time with the rest of her clique. Izumiya Miyamura: Quiet, introverted,…
First Impression: PLUTO
One of the staples of popular anime has always been robots, often giant in scale and battling in space. Long before Gundam and others, Astro Boy, created by Osamu Tezuka, was…
First Impression: Revenger
It’s nighttime in the dregs of the Tokugawa era, Japan, and assassins abound. This particular one kills his mark, but not before the victim is able to plant…
Horimiya (First Impression)
“Although admired at school for her amiability and academic prowess, high school student Kyouko Hori has been hiding another side of her. With her parents often away from…
First Impression: Chimimo
The everyday life of three sisters—Mutsumi, Mei, and Hazuki—is thrown for a loop bythe appearance of a bouncy, cute, spherical creature with an oni-like horn. Soon, Mochi, as…
First Impression: Koikimo
Another day, another conquest—though truth be told, misogynistic businessman Ryo Amakusa doesn’t seem to take much delight in taking so many women to bed. But his mindset is…
First Impression: Pet
The physical world is immense and full of possibilities—good and bad. But the world inside our minds is even more vast, full of imagination, potential, and horror. There…
First Impression: Bucchigiri?!
Arajin Tomobishi has a habit of losing things. First, he leaves his bass guitar in the classroom on his first day at a new school, then he leaves…
First Impression: Onipan!
Three typical slice-of-life girls arrive in the big city. There’s Himawari, the confident blond sporty one, Tsuyukusa, the sleepy-eyed, dessert-loving blue-haired one, and Tsutsuji, with the reddis…
First Impression: Sakugan
A little girl is running from a man with a gun through a sci-fi city. The tension grows. He is near. He looms over the square, then jumps.…
First Impression: Orient
Musashi and Kojiro grew up thick as thieves, brothers in all but name, tussling with each other and bandying with swords under the tutelage and stories of Kojiro’s…
First Impression: BULLBUSTER
For the past year, Ryugan Island has been overrun by large, hulking creatures known as “Giant Beasts.” To deal with the creatures and make the island inhabitable again,…
First Impression: AYAKA
As an island breaks apart, with magna spewing from the earth and scorching the surface, two boys escape to the beach where they and other islanders are being…
First Impression: ODDTAXI
Odokawa is an odd duck (or rather, walrus) by most any measure. He’ll take an inappropriately long amount of time to think of an answer to a question…
First Impression: HAIGAKURA
Ichiyo is a “Kashi,” a shaman who uses dance and music to capture gods in his sacred beads, known as “Sai.” But among all the Kashi, Ichiyo is…
First Impression: Noblesse
Okay, before I get into my first take on this one, I need to clear the air about something. Yes, I am aware that Noblesse has an OVA…
First Impression: Re:Monster
If you were resurrected into another world, would it matter what form you were born into? Would you immediately give up on this second life if your new…