LAST EDITED ON Jan-18-25 AT 01:33 AM (EST)
With the return of Solo Leveling, still more Shangri-La Frontier, and some other continuing series that I lack the good taste to like, there's still new shows that grabbed my attention. The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World, of course, but along with that...The dream girl isn't just a dream girl: Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf!
Kazuhiro Kitase's dreams have always been unusual. He travels to a fantasy world, where he can see amazing things and meet interesting people, including Mariabelle, an elf sorceress. Then he discovers that he can take Mariabelle with him when he wakes up. She discovers a world of technology and flavor that she's never imagined.
Reverse isekai has been done, but I've never seen it be so adorable.
Not the usual fast draw: Zenshu
Natsuko Hirose set her course from a single experience: the anime A Tale of Perishing. It wasn't very popular, and it's implied that it was one of those stories where all the heroes die, but it didn't matter to her. What mattered was that for the first time, she realized that people created anime.
Her first film is a success, her second has become a struggle. Then she eats some bad clams and collapses on the studio floor. When she wakes up, she's in the middle of A Tale of Perishing. She knows the plot, and she desperately wants to change it...at which point she discovers her isekai cheat power is to animate something that can save the day, doing three days of work in roughly thirty seconds.
I'm in for Natsuko's experience, which I suspect will give her the inspiration she needs for her second film, but when I notice that the artwork is impressive, that's saying something. And I think the artwork here is impressive.
I May Be a Guild Receptionist, but I’ll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time
No joking summary for this one, because the title says it all.
Alina Clover wants a steady paycheck, a good night's sleep in her own bed, and a solid retirement plan more than anything. Unfortunately, every time a boss monster isn't taken down promptly, it generates mana that spawns more monsters, and if they aren't eliminated in short order...well. It just snowballs, and the Adventurer's Guild paperwork piles up, turning Alina's life into overtime hell.
And that's when the mysterious adventurer who has been dubbed "The Executioner" shows up, kills the boss monster to death, and vanishes into the night. Alina doesn't know anything about this, of course. Really.
I haven't noticed whether the animation is anything special in the episodes, but that's because the opening credits are so stunning, I wonder where they found the budget for it.
Dead or alive, you're staying in this hotel: Tasokare Hotel
Tasokare Hotel exists in the twilight between life and death. Its guests arrive with lost memories, and must search the room they are given to find clues to who they were. Eventually, they decide if they're alive or dead, and leave the hotel.
Tsukahara Neko is the latest arrival, an idol fan who decides that helping the guests is more intriguing than finding her memories are. The guests' stories are intriguing, as is Neko's curious past.
In a real-world oddity, it's available on YouTube.
So, what're you watching?
Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.
Aside from Solo Leveling, which I read a good chunk of the manhua for some years back, I at least have all of those ragged for viewing, along with Sousei no Aquarion- Myth Of Emotion, the fourth Aquarion series and the first in well over a decade. It could be excellent or....not....hard to say yet. But it has a cover of the original theme, so that’s a REALLY good start!
Bogus skill “Fruitsmaster” the real title is longer and annoying and I’m tired right now, but it’s about a guy who gets the skill that lets him eat any fruit without getting poisoned - including more of the skill fruits which cause anyone who eats more than one to die horribly.
Worthless skill appraisal - same as above for the title. Guy has the ability to appraise things and nothing else. But it turns out if you’re good, you can turn appraisal into copy. Shenanigans ensue.
Dragon Ball Daima- I don’t think I need to elaborate on Dragon Ball.
BeheNeko - Reincarnated as an S-rank behemoth. Incredibly horny show about a stacked half naked elf and her stacked half naked friends going adventuring with the titular behemoth kitten.
And finally, The Daily Life of a middle aged online shopper. Dude gets transported to another world, has the ability to buy anything that’s sold on what amounts to Amazon.co.jp. Shenanigans ensue.
Most of these, I’ve been reading the manga for, which is why I’m hitting the anime as well. I’m most interested in fruitsmaster despite its...uninspiring animation because the manga scanlations were terrible and then unceremoniously dropped due to low readership. Probably because they were shit and almost worthless.
Headhunted to Another WorldOur protagonist is a put-upon salaryman until he's summoned to another world... because the Dark Lord needs a general with his particular skills. While he has to win the respect of the other, more conventional, generals of the dark army, our protagonist at last has a decent boss.
Akuyaku Reijou Tensei Ojisan
A 52 year old government bureaucrat is struck by a truck and wakes up in the body of an otome game villainess, a genre that he's only aware of from his daughter's otome games. Still, as a sincere otaku in his own right, he will do his best... 'alas' his instincts to be a good father figure mean he quickly becomes a mentor to the game's heroine.
Aparida
The familiar story of a member of an adventuring party being pushed out, only to turn out to have been the unsung hero of the team so he does well without them while they now struggle. It's well-executed and there is a twist in that in this fantasy world, adventurers livestream their work.