Doctorkev’s Thoughts on the Spring 2024 Anime Season Part 2: New Shows
Yesterday, I covered this season’s heavy weighting of sequels and ongoing shows, but now it’s the turn of new, shiny anime! Apart from the long-awaited adaptation of the manga Kaiju №8, I had minimal expectations for any new shows, so took my time choosing what to watch. There are a few that my fellow AniTAY writers have recommended, but I’ve not found time to squeeze them into my schedule, like: The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio, Tonari no Yokai-san, The Fable and T P BON. Girls Band Cry looks really good, but inexplicably has not been picked up for streaming outside of Japan, and I don’t feel strongly enough about it to pirate. Also Autumn 2021’s Megaton Musashi mecha anime has finally appeared on Crunchyroll, so I might give that a shot at some point.
Let’s move on to the things I am watching, then:
Train to the End of the World — Crunchyroll — 7 of 12 episodes — Mondays
Without a doubt my favourite new show of the season, this completely bonkers comedy/drama/avant-garde weirdness-generator is a priority watch every week. It’s like if Girls’ Last Tour was crossed with Kyousougiga. In this strange world, the advent of 7G cellular communication has, uh… broken everything. You thought the paranoia over 5G was bad? 7G apparently stretches time and space to breaking point, while also mutating human beings into animals, or zombies, or tiny Lilliputians, or mushroom-brained fatalists.
We follow a group of four teenage girls riding a train on a long journey from their remote hometown of Agano towards Ikebukuro, where the 7G catastrophe began, in search of their lost friend. Crazy Train (as I will henceforth refer to it) is a nonstop cavalcade of deranged imagery, laugh-out-loud comedy, freaky situations, and surprisingly affecting character drama. Each of the main girls has a strong personality with well-defined traits contrasting them easily against their peers. They’re also all pretty dumb in their own ways, bickering amongst one another like close childhood friends often do.
Each new episode brings some fresh new craziness and truly bizarre setpieces, always leavened with a potent mix of both dread and humour. I don’t want to give away too many details because this is one of those shows best consumed as fresh as possible. This is the kind of story that anime was made for, it would be almost impossible to envision this functioning in any other type of media. Please take my word for it and watch this bananas piece of modern art.
A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics — Crunchyroll — 1 of 12 episodes — Thursdays
Fellow AniTAY writer Naruto Johnson championed this odd slice-of-life/reverse isekai comedy in our Discord chat. Initially, I had zero intention of watching it, but his extremely positive endorsement piqued my interest. After a slightly slow start, this gradually outgrows its Sasaki and Peeps-like setup to provide some truly absurd character-based humour. The basic premise is that plucky 13-year-old blonde Princess Sara Da Odin flees a coup in her home fantasy world by plunging into a suspicious-looking interdimensional portal, and arrives in contemporary Japan. She knows nothing of the culture, yet somehow speaks perfect Japanese. 29-year-old private detective Sosuke Kaburaya takes her under his wing, essentially as an unwitting foster father, while tasking her to help with his work.
Now in itself, this setup isn’t particularly entertaining or amusing. What really makes the show for me is Sara’s devoted, hyper-competent, yet utterly clueless retainer Livia’s parallel experiences in “our” world. Livia follows Sara through the portal some time later, and unable to locate her liege, becomes homeless, living under a bridge, catching fish and washing in the river. Her truly bizarre misadventures as she stumbles from one unsuitable employment to the next are hilarious. Starting with collecting discarded metal cans for pennies, she accidentally progresses to less-than-salubrious hostess work, to an assistant to a crooked rare gundam mecha reseller, to prophesied saviour for a deeply unsettling cult that uses mind control to fleece its followers of money, to a naked 3D model for the cult’s commercial figurine-selling business, and finally to a virtuoso guitarist for her friend’s new band. She’s a busy girl, and the episodes focusing on her are roughly one thousand times more interesting that those featuring Sara and Sosuke.
That’s not to say the Sara and Sosuke episodes are bad, but if they were all that comprised the show, I’d have dropped it already. Sosuke does have some… interesting work collegueas, including a child-like but shrewd pink-haired lawyer who employs an assistant who apparently “dates” historical castles rather than men, and a female fellow private investigator whose speciality is setting honey traps for men suspected by their wives of infidelity… who sometimes “goes all the way” if she likes her target… Yeah, it’s a very strange and eclectic cast. It’s quite unpredictable, with each episode veering from one random plot to the next, but so far I’m finding it very entertaining.
Mysterious Disappearances — Crunchyroll — 6 of 12 episodes — Wednesdays
This one was foisted upon me by AniTAY podcast host Requiem, who claimed it was similar to last year’s top horror anime Dark Gathering. I can see the points of commonality, but I’m quite convinced Requiem enjoys this show because of the Impossibly Voluminous Bosoms of main character Sumireko Ogawa. If that poor girl doesn’t get breast reduction surgery soon, her spine is probably going to snap in two. Although Sumireko can de-age herself at will into a much more sensibly proportioned child or teenage form, the first instance of this in the opening episode takes pains to illustrate the horrifying (for Sumireko) accompanying shrinkage of her massive mammaries.
Sumireko is a novelist with a severe case of writer’s block. Her one and only published novel was from her debut at age 15, and now years later (is she maybe in her late 20s or early 30s?) she is keenly aware of the march of time. She’s terrified of ageing into literary irrelevance. To make ends meet, she works at a local bookstore, along with the mysterious Ren Adashino who, along with his equally inscrutable teenage sister Oto, have occult abilities that allow them to sense the presence of evil spirits. Ren has creepy swirly eyes that tend to bleed, so he opens them very rarely. He hunts down and disposes of “curiosities” (similar to Dark Gathering’s spirits, or Monogatari’s oddities), because if he does this enough, he will be able to send his sister “home”, wherever that is.
Embroiled in a supernatural world she had no idea existed, Sumireko ends up assisting Ren and Oto with their spiritual warfare across various cases. Each case is tied into traditional East Asian (not necessarily Japanese) folklore, and there are some fairly disturbing scenes, but nothing as remotely f***ed up as Dark Gathering’s frankly soul-scarring extremes. Mysterious Disappearances is far more horny too — for example, there’s one entire episode taken up by conversations between schoolgirls about underwear, and multiple visits to the bathhouse where the teenage proprietress fantasises about and leers at the other female characters’ bodies. That wasn’t the kind of horror I signed up for. The show has some fun ideas, and the creepy but cute Oto is the best character, but I could do without the constant intrusive voyeurism.
Astro Note — Crunchyroll — 7 of 12 episodes — Fridays
This show was made for me. Back in the 1990s, I was obsessed with the manga of Rumiko Takahashi. I still have shelves and shelves full of Viz Comics’ 32-page monthly floppies of Ranma 1/2, Lum: Urusei Yatsura, Mermaid Saga, One Pound Gospel, and Inuyasha. Far and above these was my absolute favourite, Maison Ikkoku. Despite lacking the fantasy or sci-fi edge of most of her other work, Maison Ikkoku was an episodic comedy romance set in a humble boarding house with wonderful characters and a plot that did eventually progress towards a deeply satisfying conclusion, not something you can say about most of Takahashi’s other work. Eventually, I moved onto other things, giving up on the repetitive Inuyasha partway through, and I’ve never read her more recent series Rin-ne or Mao (and considering the circulation figures for these latter two, neither has anyone else). Maison Ikkoku has always held its place in my heart, however.
Astro Note is an anime-only production, not based on any previous manga, but it’s clearly made as a loving homage to Maison Ikkoku and other slightly skewed romantic comedies of its ilk. From the deliberately retro aesthetics and music of the opening sequence, to the familiar setting of a multi-roomed boarding house, the whole production screams “1980s anime”, most specifically Maison Ikkoku. Main character Takumi Miyasaki is a clear stand-in for Maison Ikkoku’s Yusaku Godai, a good-natured young chef who mistakenly applies for a job at what he thinks is a hotel or restaurant. Struck by the beauty of landlady Mira Gotokuji, he decides to stick around, cooking everyone in the house breakfast in return for rent, while he searches for more substantive employment.
Mira’s design heavily evokes that of Maison Ikkoku’s Kyoko Otonashi, right down to her apron and sweeping brush. With her bright, wide eyes and prominently curled locks, she’s an alluring character and it’s easily to see why Takumi falls for her instantly. What’s different about Mira compared to Kyoko is that Mira is, in fact, an alien. And her pet “poodle” Naosuke is, in fact, a sentient alien of a different race, who can stand up on his hind legs and speak. Much of the first few episodes’ comedy focuses on Mira and Naosuke desperately trying to keep their secret from the other characters, while searching for a mysterious “key” hidden somewhere on the premises.
In common with many shows in this genre, each episode introduces a new character, or a new wrinkle to the comedic setup. The humour is incredibly retro, and in general very good-natured. Each character is something of a caricature, with slightly creepy jobless dad Tomohiro reminding me greatly of Maison Ikkoku’s Mr Yotsuya. Pink-haired idol singer Teruko is a more-salubrious stand-in for Akemi Roppongi. There’s even an obnoxious neighbourhood gossip not unlike Mrs Ichinose.
Taking Maison Ikkoku’s basic premise but melding it with Urusei Yatsura’s alien insanity, and a pinch of Tenchi Muyo’s intergalactic royal politics, Astro Note is a wonderful retro-flavoured anime morsel that I’m delighted to gobble up every week. I only hope that we get further seasons — twelve episodes is nowhere near enough!
Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night — HIDIVE — 7 of 12 episodes — Saturdays
Doga Kobo are an anime production studio who rarely miss. Most often they tend to focus on life-affirming slife-of-life shows, but some of their more eclectic work ranks among my top anime shows of all time, such as Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Oshi no Ko, and Sing “Yesterday” for Me. So it was with some excitement I awaited this new Doga Koba show, written by the author of Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki’s original light novels, Yuki Yaku.
Jellyfish follows the story of four troubled teenage girls who come together to help each of their dreams come true, through forming a multimedia group. Mahiru is an artist who loves jellyfish, but has lost confidence in her abilities. Kano is a disgraced ex-idol singer, burned by her previous experience of showbusiness, who is desperate to sing on her own terms. Mei is a talented musician and lonely girl who struggles to make friends, but was a massive fan of Kano as an idol. Kiui is a a popular Vtuber who in real-life is a shut-in with terrible social anxiety.
This unusual quartet form the collective group “JELEE”, each contributing their relevant skillset to promotional art, vocals, lyrics, musical composition, video editing, and social media promotion. We follow their first steps from unknowns to online viral hits, witnessing all of the bumps on their way to success. It’s a lovely show, presented beautifully, with a good sense of progression and a well-drawn group of characters who interact believably. Last week’s episode featuring an idol singer with a big secret was an unexpected highlight. I like how Jellyfish introduces little throwaway details that become much more important later. Definitely recommended for those who enjoyed Bocchi the Rock or Ya Boy Kongming, it combines significant elements of both.
Whisper Me a Love Song — HIDIVE — 6 of 12 episodes — Saturdays
A sweet romance anime, also with a musical element, this follows the uncertain relationship between tall, cool, guitarist and third year student Yori Asanagi and energetic, somewhat scatty first year student Himari Kino. Himari “falls in love” with Yori’s singing, confessing this to Yori, who misunderstands Himari’s intentions, and finds herself falling in love with the younger girl. Despite their differing interpretations of one another’s love, they strike up an intense friendship, as Yori tries to win Himari over, and Himari struggles to comprehend what “love” really means to other people.
It’s one of those high school yuri romance shows where basically every single female character is lesbian, so whether that conceit bothers you or not may determine how much you enjoy the show. It’s not the most dramatic story so far, and although Yori has more than one potential suitor, most misunderstandings and selfish actions are resolved in quite mature ways, which perhaps don’t ring strictly true, considering the ages of the characters. We are still early in the plot though, so I won’t judge it too harshly for the lack of contrived drama! (We really don’t need another Citrus — one was enough.)
It’s refreshing that both Yori and Himari have personalities and friendships away from the central relationship, and this helps to deepen them as characters with sometimes conflicted and unsure motivations. For a show that so prominently features musicians, there isn’t a whole lot of actual music, but I suppose that isn’t the point. A sensitive exploration of tentative high school romance, friendships, and differing expectations and understanding of “love”, it’s a gentle and positive yuri drama that so far I’ve enjoyed quite a bit.
Kaiju №8 — Crunchyroll —6 of 12 episodes — Saturdays
Now this is the one I’ve been waiting for. Kaiju №8 is another excellent manga from Shuesha’s Shonen Jump+ online manga platform, home of Chainsaw Man, Dandadan (getting its own anime soon!), Oshi no Ko, and Spy x Family. I particularly love Kaiju №8 because it has an actual adult protagonist, with adult concerns and problems. Kafka Hibino is a 32-year-old man who feels he has failed to achieve his childhood dreams. As a kid, he promised his best friend Mina Ashiro that she and he would join Japan’s Kaiju Defense Force together, and battle the monsters threatening their country. While Mina joined up and rose the ranks to become Captain of the Defense Force’s Third Division, Kafka has never been able to pass the entrance exam, and now instead works for a cleanup service clearing the streets of literal Kaiju shit, left behind from battles with the Defense Force.
When Kafka somehow swallows a small random kaiju, he finds he develops the ability to transform into a human-sized kaiju with oversized powers. Encouraged by his co-worker (and fellow Defense Force potential recruit) Reno’s news that the recruitment age limit has been raised to 33, Kafka decides to give his dream one last big push. Obviously, he needs to keep his new kaiju form secret, or the Defense Force (and likely Mina) will either kill him or cut him into bits to make weapons from his body!
Thankfully, Kaiju №8 was handed to a reliable studio — Production I.G, known for various Ghost in the Shell anime, plus the Psycho-pass franchise. It almost couldn’t be in better hands, and Crunchyroll has been marketing the shit out of this show — they know it has the potential to be their next massive hit. It’s got the enormous monstrosities of Attack on Titan, the plot progression and team cameraderie of My Hero Academia, and the irreverent grossness of Chainsaw Man. It’s almost cynically constructed to be popular. Thankfully, I.G have pulled out all of the stops, and the action so far has been spectacular. I love the characters, the underlying mysteries, and while the humour is mostly pretty juvenile, the show makes me grin from ear to ear. It’s great.
Go Go Loser Ranger! —Hulu/ Disney+ — 5 of 12 episodes — Sundays
Fans of Love After World Domination and Miss Kuroitsu From the Monster Devopment Department will likely get a kick out this anime mashup of Amazon’s dark superhero parody The Boys with a Power Ranger-style Super Sentai setting. As a Hulu/Disney+ of, it’s obviously been sent out to die by its uncaring corporate overlords who completely fail to market any of the shows they acquire. This is a huge shame, as this is a really great drama with some dark, twisted humour.
Set in a world where aliens invaded but lost, their leaders were all executed but their basic grunt warriors were allowed to live with the understanding they would be used to provide entertainment to the masses. Now, every weekend there is a live TV-broadcast colosseum-like battle between the colour-coded “Dragon Keeper” hero team and the hapless alien footsoldiers who are never permitted to win these staged bouts.
Footsoldier D has had enough of the humiliation and desires to fight back and liberate his fellow colleagues. His shapeshifting abilities, along with a couple of surprising human allies, help him to infiltrate the Dragon Keepers’ base and kickstart a rebellion. Unfortunately, none of the Dragon Keepers are particularly sane, and they’re all unbelievably powerful…
Go Go Loser Ranger!, as may be obvious from the title, is primarily an underdog story, seen from the viewpoint of a traditional sentai series’ enemy mook. Full of twists and turns, it’s compelling, subversive, and funny. Extra marks to the superb dance sequence during each ending song. It’s got some of the best anime CG character movement I’ve seen in a long time.
Mission: Yozakura Family — Hulu/Disney+ — 6 of 27 episodes — Sundays
Finally, this was another recommendation from Reqieum that turned out — surprisingly — not to be terrible. Despite sounding derivative of Spy x Family, despite also being a comedy, this is in fact a different genre of show. Taiyo Asano is a high school student whose family died in a motor accident, leaving him an orphan. He shuts himself off from everyone around him, with the exception of his beloved childhood female friend Mutsumi Yozakura. Taiyo and Mutsumi’s feelings are obviously mutual, but when Mutsumi’s sister-obsessed older brother Kyoichiro (who is also the school’s head teacher) discovers this, he attempts to murder Taiyo. Turns out Mutsumi’s entire family are highly-trained (and very eccentric) spies, and the only thing that can save Taiyo’s life is if he marries Mutsumi immediately. Then he’ll be protected by the family’s one rule — “No killing among family”.
Now drafted into intensive spy training as Mutsumi’s husband and protector, Taiyo must survive the insane trials that even just living in the Yozakura household involves. The rest of Mutsumi’s siblings are more supportive than the eldest brother… in their own way. Bit by bit they (quite literally) beat Taiyo into shape as the international super spy that Mutsumi deserves as a husband… much to Kyoichiro’s barely sublimated disgust.
It’s a high-energy no-holds-barred comedy with ridiculous setups and even more silly resolutions. Every member of Mutsumi’s family is freakishly strange, with odd quirks and hyper-competence in their chosen spycraft fields. Mutsumi is the only “normal” one, yet she remains happy to exist at the centre of this constant whirlwind of chaos. Switch brain off, sit back, and enjoy the pretty colours and myriad explosions.
That’s everything I’ve had time for so far, but if I can I’ll try to squeeze in a few more shows before season’s end. I’ll be back at the end of June/beginning of July to finalise my thoughts in my seasonal postmortem! Thanks for reading!
