An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

Sealed with a Kiss – Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches Spoiler Review

What if I told you there was an anime where teenagers have to end up kissing each other to use magical powers, and that the first such power revealed was body swapping? You’d probably think, as I thought, that it would likely be awkward as heck, and even more likely neither funny nor charming. Well, that’s the premise of Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, and I’m pleased to say that it’s at least a little bit funny and charming, and not as awkward as one would fear.

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Welcome to Chaos – Dorohedoro Spoiler Review

In the midst of a vicious battle, taking place in what looks to be the back alley of a dingy industrial/modern city, a big lizard man clamps his jaws down over the head of some kind of masked sorcerer. The man in the mystic space inside the lizard guy’s mouth appears before the dazed and confused magic-user and declares, dramatically, “You’re not the one.”

The lizard guy extracts his foe and asks what the man in his mouth says, which the magician reports. Since it seems that magician is useless, the lizard guy slices him to bloody ribbons. The sorcerer’s severed hand shoots a dart of black smoke which conjures a door through which his partner escapes and we then follow the lizard guy, Caiman, and his friend and helper in this endeavor, Nikaido, who appear to be our main characters.

You probably have quite a few questions at this point. But that’s the very first scene of Dorohedoro, and if you weren’t already familiar with that fact, I think I’m doing you a favor by throwing you into the deep end as suddenly as the show.

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Seasonal Selection – Warlords of Sigrdrifa Episode 1

In the interest of highlighting more Original anime, this season we’re going to be taking a look at Warlords of Sigrdrifa. The pitch that was given before I decided to sit down with the first episode was… not much. Something about Valkyries being chosen to defend humanity against some new random monster threat. It looked and sounded kind of like a mash-up of Evangelion-esque action and maybe some vague magical girl elements with a military theme. In short, even if it wasn’t based on anything, the show didn’t seem like it would have any easy stand-out elements.

And, after watching the double-length first episode, I do think that remains the challenge set to Warlords of Sigrdrifa: it looks like it could be kind of fun as is, but I want it to show me something unique and worthwhile. Is it going to?

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The Ecchi We’ve All Been Waiting For – Trinity Seven Spoiler Review

So, the “School for supers” archetype that we’ve been looking at this month has a few common elements. For one, the vast majority of them (including shows of the type I’ve looked at before, such as Hundred) have some degree of Harem elements. In a lot of ways, it’s very similar to what you see in the Isekai genre, where the same basic principles that are known to work are remixed in new ways with different trappings. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but in the end they develop a long set of expectations and turn out a lot of crowd-pleasing junk food, a good few generally disliked flops, and at least a couple gems at various stages in the genre’s popularity life-cycle.

One of the ways in which these shows distinct themselves from others of their type (if they’re smart enough to do that) is to focus on a different element of the formula. For Trinity Seven, the Harem and Ecchi elements that appear in other “Battle School” affairs are turned up to eleven. I said that Anti-Magic Academy worked better as a Harem show than it did as an action show, but its ambition was still firmly a hybrid, and given the dark tone and feel probably leaned more towards the weaker action side. Trinity Seven, by contrast, is all about that steamy Harem goodness, with some action and drama thrown in for good measure.

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Seasonal Selection – Deca-dence Episode 12 (Finale)

Last time, Kaburagi logged into Deca-dence itself, hoping to manage the win against Omega. However, this is going to take some help as we move onward. Minato and Jill manage to set up a system so that the players can help Kaburagi assemble a weapon with which to kill Omega and stop the need for spatial collapse. Pretty high drama, right?

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Darker and Grittier Battle Harem – Anti-Magic Academy Spoiler Review

Anti-Magic Academy: The 35th Test Platoon is the story of Takeru Kusanagi and his misfit friends, a team of trainee witch hunters who may not assess well, but who end up thrown into harrowing situations where they can prove themselves. They’re students at the titular academy, where they learn and apply techniques to fight witches, people who use magic to threaten humanity. It’s a sometimes bizarre and usually dark take on the super-power battle-school scenario with a hearty side-helping of Harem elements. In some ways, there’s fairly little to talk about, while in others it’s absolutely worth a lengthy analysis, if for no other reason than to pick apart the underlying structure of its genre, and how its elements blend or don’t.

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Seasonal Selection – Deca-dence Episode 11

Last Time, a final Bug Gadoll emerged to stand as our last boss and Kaburagi had just had his main old avatar finished off by Kamina Shades Boss. With threats great and small in evidence, it seemed like just about anything could happen.

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Yes, I know – RWBY (Seasons 1-3/Beacon Arc) Spoiler Review

Many of you may be thinking something very particular right now. Specifically, something along the lines of “Wait, RWBY’s not an anime, it’s made in Texas!” And you’re right. By the technical definition used in the West of “Anime” being Japanese Animation, RWBY is not an Anime. However, even if you don’t take into account the massive amounts of merch and even the dedicated cosplay gathering for RWBY that would have been found at Anime Expo (in 2019), it’s undeniable that it’s appealing to a crowd that has a huge overlap with anime fans… and anyway, this is my blog, and I’m making up the rules for what I can or can’t write about. I’ll try to not bend the idea too often, but I think one moment to talk about the first few seasons of RWBY can be forgiven.

With that out of the way, let’s dive in.

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Seasonal Selection – Deca-dence Episode 10

Last time, with the destruction of the Gadoll Factory, Natsume had quite the question and received a world-shattering answer. She actually ends up hyperventilating and even passing out, being initially unable to take the truth of her world. I don’t blame her. Kaburagi removes her from the crumbling factory while the lab workers there fail to get their avatars to safety, with one being stabbed by a dying Gadoll with just the right amount of focus so you know what’s coming. Meanwhile, the real bodies of the surviving bugs do their best to escape the prison.

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