During the first episode of Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, a zombie apocalypse strikes Tokyo, and protagonist Akira Tendou’s sudden recognition of his own mortality is a great example of how the expression “Memento Mori”, from stoic philosophy, applies in real life. This realization empowers him to break free from his mundane and meaningless dead-end job and forces him to figure out what he wants to do before he dies.

Akira is a character with whom the viewer can relate, especially those part of a burnt-out “black company” workforce feeding the insatiable, bleeding jaws of capitalism, sacrificing their youth, energy, and time to the whims of uncaring managers and destructive corporate overwork culture.

Additionally, Akira is an example of how in Japanese corporate drone society, individual purpose, drive, and identity is lost when work subsumes all other aspects of life completely. Perhaps the zombies are a metaphor for how freelancers look at salarymen?

I love that the manga chapters and the anime episodes follow the convention of using the word “dead” in the titles, just like High School of the Dead did thirteen years ago.

The animation from new studio Bug Films looks excellent — from the contrasts in the colors used (depending on the mood of individual scenes) — to the background music that emphasizes the direction.

Additionally, I enjoy how we see Akira’s deranged perspective on how his newfound freedom feels, to the point he perceives blood as splats of multicolored painting everywhere he looks, while he’s experiencing an endorphin rush. It reminds me of Yuki Takeya in School-Live, how people tend to romanticize relations or situations as a self-protection mechanism.

Shizuka Mikazuki is a great supporting character who works as a catalyst to make Akira more self-aware about the zombie apocalypse, to make him react and detach himself from his romantic view of the situation. In addition, she is a practical badass who sets herself apart from Akira by establishing the difference between trying to survive the crisis, and accepting death. By focusing on her as a narrator for a while instead of Akira, her introduction becomes a wonderful way to foster empathy for her as an individual, rather than merely a companion. Furthermore, her level of awareness of the situation makes you question how far she has prepared in advance for Judgement Day.

Also, I have no issues with anime censorship because the exploration of the topics and the messages is the same as in the manga, which of course any self-respecting person of culture should endeavor to read!

Zom 100 deeply connects with me not only as a fan of survival horror, but also as a human who has experienced first-hand many times how hard it is to let go or say goodbye to a time in my life when everything went so well it felt like a utopian dream suddenly come true. I watched these times become a dystopian nightmare and could do nothing about it, back when “Hinamizawa Syndrome” was a thing all over the news.

First, I lost a job that I loved due to mental and physical exhaustion, not related to the intervention of Oyashiro-sama from Higurashi of course, but to the fact that my boss and coworkers saw me as a tool to let them slack off while I handled most tasks to the point that a vacation was almost forbidden. Then, my girlfriend and I went separate ways because our goals and objectives diverged. Finally, my job search was a rollercoaster between the good, the bad, and the weird — between transitioning positions and companies over a 3-year period (that felt much longer), and meeting people that frankly belonged in a mental hospital.

However, I have no regrets because I was able to do things like writing this article by pushing myself through those learning experiences, to think in English while writing, just like when I speak to salesmen, clients, or executives from other countries in my line of work, which is what Akira does with each item on his list.

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Remembrance of Mortality Makes You Appreciate the Life You Have. was originally published in AniTAY-Official on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Japanese metal sensation, Babymetal, released their fourth full-length studio album called The Other One, an album that focuses on a mainstream sound, while relegating the guitars and drums to the background in some songs. It is a departure from their usual sound; this is pop-oriented in a similar vein to what they did in Metal Galaxy. Yet it feels like more serious material that shakes things up once again.

Their fusion of metal, j-pop, and electronica is not the driving force behind the record. Still, it provides a wide variety of music to highlight the talents of Suzuka Nakamoto and Moa Kikuchi through top-notch vocals and exceptionally executed choreographies in their live performances.

However, you can still find great metal tracks and powerful riffs. Some examples of this are the strong opener that is “Metal Kingdom” with its triumphant anthem of powerful, pounding drums; the simplistic hard rock and heavy metal blend that delivers solid riffs in “Monochrome”; the massive chorus that builds upon its groove with rabid instrumentation in “Divine Attack”, and the progressive metal sounds developed in “Mirror Mirror”. Additionally, “Mirror Mirror” has choruses that evoke Spencer Sotelo’s style of melodic and distorted vocalizations in Periphery, and the guitar tones and textures are reminiscent of Steve Vai.

Furthermore, there is something for everyone in this unusual album. There is a power ballad with a great saxophone work that is “The Legend”, or the fusion between EDM and the Middle Eastern sound in “Metalizm” that gives a unique rave vibe or the beautiful piano piece present in “Light And Darkness”. I miss the wider palette of influences appearing in Metal Galaxy, but these changes are not a deal breaker by any means due to the variety, and versatility shown by the musicians and singers.

This album breaks the original formula that kept all the musical influences balanced in thirds throughout the last three studio albums, making the pop sound more prominent in an 80–20 proportion The Other One begins a new chapter in the history of the band. This new phase might alienate the purists and gatekeepers who think of them as a band that depends on gimmicks and not talent, however, the album shows that the girls are grown-ups in their twenties and are doing great in the metal scene. Where not many acts dare to go, Babymetal feels absolutely fine.

Change is the only constant in life — Babymetal — The Other One — Album Review. was originally published in AniTAY-Official on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

One of the big four is back in theaters with a new film and a title that proves Akira Toriyama is as silly as ever. Fortunately, Dende did not become a child again by keeping his adult appearance this time. Apparently, Toriyama forgot the anime name had changed to Dragon Ball Super, just like he forgot Launch existed, and decided to call the movie “Dragon Ball: Super Hero,” which Toei corrected to make the final title. The title reflects the inspiration the movie takes from superhero flicks.

Super Hero is the twenty-first movie in the Dragon Ball franchise. It is the first to use computer animation in conjunction with some 2D elements for less important characters. This results in a loss of the realistic facial expressions and gestures that the series is known for from secondary characters. I noticed this particularly when Carmine passed by a driver that was going very slowly and did nothing after Camine’s maneuvers almost made her crash the car.

This was the fourth time in a row that I dragged my friends and girlfriend to watch something related to Dragon Ball. Someone uploaded the film 27 hours after the Japanese cinematic release on June 11, but that treasure in the digital seas did not tempt me.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero offers a plot that apparently develops after the “Survivor Arc”, where Piccolo and Gohan will switch places with Goku and Vegeta. This is a welcomed change to see these beloved characters in the spotlight. The interactions Piccolo has with most characters are wonderful, especially those he has with Gohan as a substitute father figure, Shenron as a Namekian getting preferential treatment, Korin as a previous Earth-God, and Pam as her martial arts teacher.

The Red Ribbon Army reappears for another rematch, the third time in a Dragon Ball movie. Magenta, the son of Commander Red (interpreted by Charles Martinet in the English dub), and Carmine recruit Doctor Hedo to revive the research done by his grandfather, Doctor Gero, to create a third generation of androids called Gamma 1 and 2 and conquer the world.

The mere existence of Magenta raised a controversy within the fandom because he should not be alive. At the end of the Kidd Boo Arc, the Z warriors asked Shenron to resurrect all humans except for those who were evil. However, this just means Magenta was not evil when he died and resurrected.

Another controversy revolved around the implication that Gohan already knew the importance of training to protect those he loves after Universe 7 won the Tournament of Power. However, we do not have enough elements to create a timeline of the events of this movie because the project concluded in 2019, and it is not impossible that sometimes characters commit the same mistakes again. The movie does not just retread old ground; it also explores Gohan’s familial issues, which have often gone ignored in other arcs. Gohan realizes that he needs to spend more time with his daughter and wife to take care of them to prevent his own history with Goku from repeating itself . Even further, the underlying lesson of the movie is that everybody has an ulterior motive and you should not believe everything they say. Instead, you should judge their actions.

Similar to all Dragon Ball movies since Battle of the Gods, Piccolo and Gohan have new transformations in Super Hero. After Shenron unlocks Piccolo’s hidden potential, the color of the newly-awakened Piccolo’s skin changes to a golden yellow. From that point, he is able to unlock a second phase where his skin changes again to orange with a symbol on his back that represents the Ajissa trees from Namek. Meanwhile, Gohan gets a beast form, which is a second phase of his mystic state induced by the fear of losing Piccolo during his fight with Cell Max.

Gohan’s use of Makankosappo to finish up Cell Max instead of the classic Kamehameha is a great demonstration of the evolving relationship between Gohan and Piccolo, as well as an alternative to differentiate this film from others that end the same way.

The sound effects of the rain, punches and kicks hitting metal components are cleverly coordinated with the background music to build tension in the fight scenes. The fighting choreographies add wrestling moves to the martial arts techniques used by the characters during the sequences. Super Hero also has many references from manga, doujinshi, anime, and videogames of the same franchise, as well as other popular media like Marvel movies and comics, which may be indicative of the movie’s focus on a western audience.

Overall, the movie demonstrates that Piccolo and Gohan are great characters that can grow on their own and are capable of providing us with great stories because they actually have room for growth and every change has a proper explanation within the canonical nonsense dynamic of the original work itself. While some dialogues feel off the fact that the original cast of the Spanish Dub from my childhood returned, adding a newcomer that did a great job as Gohan, and Vegeta finally winning a fight against Goku is all I ever wanted. Personally, I cannot wait to see how the anime develops the stories provided in the last two movies and the two arcs the manga has developed after the Universal Survival Arc.

The movie succeeds to attract a wide audience to obtain new fans while keeping the fan base satisfied and that is the greatest achievement this production will have considering Dragon Ball Super is meant for children.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (ドラゴンボール スーパーヒーロー)

Director: Tetsuro Kodama
Writer: Akira Toriyama
Based on: Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama

Production company: Toei Animation.
MX cinematic release: August 18th, 2022

A Welcome Change: Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Review was originally published in AniTAY-Official on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Knights of the Zodiac: Battle for Sanctuary is the second season of the original net animation series produced by Netflix based on a 1980s Japanese shonen manga of the same name. The story is a classic battle of good versus evil that fuses together elements of fantasy, adventure, martial arts, and Greek mythology.

The anime adapts the last set of battles of the manga’s first arc. Deciding to join forces with Saori, the Bronze Saints go to the Sanctuary to defeat the Pope, but upon their arrival, a gold arrow from a Silver Saint wounds Saori. Believing the Pope may be able to heal her, the Bronze Saints go to find him. To do so, they have to go through 12 temples, each one guarded by one Gold Saint (the most powerful Saints of Athena).

After watching some episodes, I wanted to share my thoughts on THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE MEH aspects of this retelling of the most iconic moment that most fans remember Saint Seiya for.

THE GOOD: It fixes the most significant issues from the first season and provides additional content while keeping the essence of the plot.

*Sonota saint.- an anime-exclusive character created to let the manga progress and prevent the anime from catching up.

THE BAD: It removes some key details from the story, such as flashbacks that provide context or insight behind the actions and motivations of the characters. In addition, sometimes music and special effects are not used to their full potential to build tension in crucial moments.

THE MEH: The armor does not change in either season of the new ONA, the pace of the series is faster than the classic anime, and the opening is the same as the first season.

Overall, Season 2 is slowly but surely redeeming the CGI adaptation by maintaining a delicate balance between adding original content that provides different perspectives about the conflict of the plot and respecting the core aspects of the concept from the manga. Crunchyroll has a mixed reputation as a streaming service, but still, it is better than Netflix. I highly suggest you check the classic anime and give it a chance this new season. This statement comes from a fan who came in with very low expectations for this new adaptation.

Title: Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya (聖闘士星矢: ナイツオブザゾディアック)

Based on: A manga series by Masami Kurumada.

Produced by: Toei.

Streaming on: Crunchyroll.

Anime Episodes Watched: 3

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Recovering from a Bad Beginning: Knights of the Zodiac: Battle for Sanctuary (Season 2) First… was originally published in AniTAY-Official on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Summer Time Render is a manga mixing mystery, suspense, cosmic horror, and supernatural elements. It takes place on the fictional island of Hitogashima, possibly based on one of the Tomogashima cluster islands in the Seto Inland Sea, situated near the coast of Wakayama city, capital of the prefecture that shares its name. Summer Time Render is conceptually similar to Steins Gate, Erased, Re: Zero, and Higurashi — When The Cicadas Cry.

WARNING: SIGNIFICANT SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST FEW EPISODES OF THE SPRING 2022 ANIME FOLLOW

The story follows Shinpei Ajiro, a young man whose parents died when he was little. He moved in with his childhood best friends, the Kufone sisters, and later decided to live alone in Tokyo. The story begins when Shinpei returns to his hometown on Hitogashima Island to attend the elder sister Ushio Kufone’s funeral.

Our first impression is of a glitch-filled dream where Shinpei reunites with Ushio in a boat. She asks him to save her younger sister Mio. This moment occurs while he is traveling to the island, establishing an interactive dynamic with the reader by asking the question: how can Shinpei communicate with Ushio if she’s dead? So is established the first mystery, amongst other dead ends and red herrings, engaging the reader’s curiosity in unravelling the story’s multiple secrets.

Dream-Ushio is our first contact with the element of cosmic dread, the primal human fear of the unknown and unknowable. This happens for a second time after Shinpei dies when a malevolent being disguised as Mio shoots him down. He experiences a vision of Ushio scolding him for not being careful, before returning to the boat he used to arrive on the island. This can be interpreted as a “game over screen” inside a videogame after the main character loses a life, though it’s closer in mechanics to the guidance provided by Hanyu to Rika in When the Cicadas Cry. Rika and Shinpei are both protagonists faced with with inexplicable phenomena beyond their comprehension, events whose scope extend beyond the narrow field of human affairs and into cosmic significance.

These events initiate a cycle that imprisons Shinpei within a Sisyphean struggle where he repeatedly dies and resurrects in a variety of situations, desperate to honor Ushio’s last request — although saving Mio might require him to suffer endlessly before advancing, let alone succeeding, in his task. It’s a metaphor representing the power of the human will . Shinpei must prove he has the endurance to complete his objective, because it is meaningful to him. It’s similar to the experience of Bill Murray’s character in the movie Groundhog Day, where he relives the same day many times over until he finds redemption by distancing himself from his selfishness to break his cycle.

The plot thickens and the focus shifts from Shinpei’s grieving process to a murder mystery when Shinpei’s friend Sou Hishigata informs him that during the autopsy, forensic experts found bruises around Ushio’s neck, implying someone strangled her and she did not drown after saving local little girl Shiori Kobayakawa. The tone darkens further when Mio reveals she saw a girl that looked exactly like Ushio — a doppelganger — three days before she passed away, adding a supernatural twist.

This foreshadows another element of cosmic horror, the presence of a non-human influence on humanity, perceived as an urban legend about a fictional disease that gives hallucinations to the carriers where they see copies of themselves, created through camera flashes, called “shadows”. Particularly, the usage of the concept of the shadow as a metaphor is fascinating because it works in other ways to expose various cosmic horror elements.

The paranormal origin of said shadows seems to be a bewildering mix of religion, superstition, fate, and the flawed, poorly-evolved logical cognition of the island’s inhabitants. The shadows are portrayed as far beyond normal human conception. This only increases the reader’s sense of unease — even an exorcism at Hiruko Sama Shrine is no flawless guarantee to cure the sickness, or the shadow, that is actively trying to kill its carrier.

Summer Time Render works as a reference to the classic horror film “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” because each shadow pursues a target, copies its appearance, kills and disposes of the body, replacing that person by creating a new shadow, and repeats the cycle until every island inhabitant is a shadow. However, while Bodysnatchers uses this element to reflect the fear of losing individuality during the Cold War, Summer Time Rendering uses it to uncover an appalling truth about humanity’s place in the vast, comfortless universe: as sacrificial offerings to fulfill the shadows’ main objective: preparation for the arrival of their mother.

The reader can distinguish shadows from humans because the author uses different techniques such as making shadows seem pixelated, or light reflections manifesting glitches and static in their bodies. This is another videogame reference, or perhaps a suggestion that this is an invasion of creatures from an alternate timeline.

The shadows are proven to be worthy foes that challenge Shinpei by exercising strategic thinking, using their victims’ memories to blend in, and analyzing Shinpei’s actions to generate specific countermeasures against his every action. This leaves Shinpei no plot armor and conjures a real sense of threat or endangerment, which is the goal of every good horror.

Shadows obtain knowledge from Shinpei by absorbing his memories, and are capable of updating it in other encounters where he dies and is resurrected. This correlates to Shinpei’s ability to remember the information he obtains about his enemies every time he resurrects. Shinpei must be careful, because every piece of forbidden and dangerous knowledge he learns, every piece of new scientific knowledge, comes with a risk to him and the people around him — at some point it backfires, and his enemies know everything he does.

The author limits the scope of Shinpei’s ability to change the sequence of events. He can never prevent events set in stone in every loop — like Ushio’s death, or the disappearance of the Kobayakawa family. These limits force Shinpei to acknowledge the bleakness of his world and to make painful choices, setting him apart from the ideal yet unrealistic goal of saving everyone like as Rika Furude in When The Cicadas Cry or Subaru Natsuki in Re:Zero.

The number of times Shinpei can revive is limited, as his save point moves forward in time with each loop. This allows the conflict to develop in a way where it’s not clear which side will win. It maintains the reader’s interest in watching the anthropocentric view of existence collide against the indifference to hopes, desires, and struggles of human individuals and groups only a silent, pessimistic, and nihilistic universe provides. It obliges Shinpei to accept the lack of meaning of life itself, or to destroy the values that established and maintain the status quo, to create something new and therefore provide significance to human existence as a whole.

Therefore, my suggestion is to grab some snacks and read all the chapters until the end. It is a work for fans of mysteries, suspense, cosmic horror, and supernatural elements. I even highly suggest you continue the journey by checking out the anime produced by OML, the same studio responsible for Odd Taxi, as soon as it escapes from Disney+ prison.

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I, for one, welcome our Glitch Counterparts from a Parallel Universe: Summer Time Render Manga… was originally published in AniTAY-Official on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Love After World Domination is an adaptation of a manga mixing comedy, romance, and action that parodies the science fiction fantasy works from Tatsunoko Productions of the 1970s, particularly Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Yatterman, and the Super Sentai series. It shares some similarities with Power Rangers, too; however, the customs and the cast tell a different story when you compare them, ending up only with minimal similarities, which helps differentiate it from last season’s Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department.

This anime exploits a gimmick that has been used before by Power Rangers: In Space (an episode called “A Date With Danger”) and Power Rangers: Time Force (an episode called “Nadira’s Dream Date”), so it immediately grabbed my attention to see how it develops the concept.

In the eyes of the public, Fudou Aikawa a.k.a. Red “Strawberry” Gelato is the leader of a hero squadron called Freezing Sentai Gelato 5, whose mission is to preserve world peace. On the other hand, Desumi Magahara is a minion leader of Secret Society Gecko, a villainous organization that has burnt half of the world and is planning to burn the rest in pursuit of total domination. Fudou and Desumi are enemies who have nothing in common. However, despite these differences, their relationship is not quite what it seems: both fell in love with each other although they are supposed to be enemies. When they are not making a show of being at each other’s throats, Desumi and Fudou continue to pursue a forbidden love. Even though neither have any experience with romance, they begin dating in secret, trying to hide their relationship from their respective organizations. Going on dates, baking sweets for one another, and meeting up as often as they can despite their hectic schedules, the two inexperienced lovebirds pave the way for their unique relationship. Though their public lives are worlds apart, Fudou and Desumi will stop at nothing to make their seemingly impossible romance work.

Fudo is a disciplined bodybuilder, an earnest person, and a stoic hero focused on Gelato’s mission, while Desumi is a cute, skilled girl, and both have a lot to learn from each other while trying to develop their relationship. Their interactions are priceless as a funny manual about dating or getting to know people better.

The rest of the cast has interesting qualities. The narrator speaks in a hilariously silly, exaggerated, and loud way like in any 80’s heroes show. Professor Big Gelato, the commander of the Gelato 5, is a hot-blooded and oblivious substitute father figure that works brilliantly as a parody of Dr. Kozaburo Nambu from Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. Blue “(Bubblegum) Soda” Gelato Hayato Ōjino, is a handsome but compulsively persistent wannabe player, Yellow “Lemon” Gelato Misaki Jingūji is the eye candy, mood maker, and dependable older sister, Green “Pistachio” Gelato Daigo Todoroki is the reserved distant lone wolf, and Pink “Peach” Gelato Haru Arisugawa is a brilliant, energetic, active rookie with a specific goal to motivate herself.

The power-pop opening song, labeled by Spotify as Amateur Vocaloid, “Love is an Explosion” by singers Masayoshi Oishi and Yukari Tamura gives us a powerful duo combo with an exotic retro vibe and a memorable infectious chorus. Meanwhile the dreamy pop ending song “Love with the World Theorem” by idol group Dialogue+ is as energetic and catchy. Furthermore, both are worth praising for how greatly their lyrics fit into the theme developed by the anime.

The animation is fluid and detailed and does not rely on static images. The art style of the anime is very close to the drawings of the manga but also provides nice backgrounds with proficient illumination, shades, textures, and contrasts, as well as video and audio special effects that are always on key. This makes it a completely pleasant experience for the viewer, although a few scenes are noticeably lower quality. The anime provides original content that works as a positive distinction when compared with the manga because it provides context to the plot and additional gags.

It is a different coat of paint for the story of Romeo and Juliet, not meant to exploit the classic good versus evil plot found in most shonen anime. Instead, it provides commentary on how people taking sides in a pointless argument are as stiff as comic book villains trying to follow an agenda to conquer the world. Although the idea that villains and heroes do their activities as a full-time job is nothing new, our brave couple uses it brilliantly as an excuse to see each other while being oblivious about the fact that they could see each other outside the competitive dynamic of their line of work provides. Also, the relationship between Fudo and Desumi works as a catalyst to eliminate any bias derived from the roles both need to comply with during their usual activities to act beyond appearances and arrive at a different conclusion altogether. The result of this decision will affect everyone around them in more than one way and the results will not be as black and white as a Super Sentai series would usually portray.

Therefore, my suggestion is to watch it until the end. It is a work for anyone who likes romantic comedies with ridiculous gimmicks, not only Super Sentai or Power Rangers fans. I even highly suggest you continue the journey after the first season ends by checking out the manga. It has more to offer including puns and references about Power Rangers in the English translation. I give this show 5 Zenkaizer poses out of 5.

Title: Love After World Domination (恋は世界征服のあとで)

Based on: A manga series by Hiroshi Noda and illustrated by Takahiro Wakamatsu.

Produced by: Project No 9.

Streaming on: Crunchyroll.

Episodes Watched: 1–3

This article is a part of AniTAY’s Spring 2022 Early Impressions series, where our authors offer their initial thoughts on the new, prominent, and exciting anime from this season!

Who Says Social and Work-Life Aren’t Compatible? Love After World Domination First Impressions. was originally published in AniTAY-Official on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Futsal Boys, with its traditional portrayal of soccer, seems to be trying to get a spot between Free! Iwatobi Swim Club and Ace Of Diamond, albeit with futsal. Futsal is a football-based game, a variation of mini-football played on a hard court, smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-per -side football and indoor soccer.

The first four episodes make it clear how the plot will develop just like any other sports anime, the classic journey from the bottom tier to the top, but lacks something that could truly set it apart from anything you have seen before in other places such as Haikyuu!!, Kuroko’s Basketball, or Prince of Tennis.

My first reaction was positive to the energetic electro-pop opening song, “Brave Maker” by Takao Sakuma. The drawings display a mix of simple strokes with realistic structures, slight and deep shades, fluid animation style with clear movements, imaginative designs for the uniforms, and even some CGI textures in the clothing that reminded me of the style used in Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo.

After watching Tokinari Tennouji, a famed futsal athlete, play at the U-18 Futsal World Championship, our protagonist Haru Yamato decides to join the Koyo Academy futsal team to become like his idol. There, he meets Seiichiro Sakaki: the classic lone-wolf prodigy who will probably overcome his bad reputation and learn how to work with his team so they can face their rivals to win the Fresh Cup. The plot develops fluidly to appreciate how the members of their team are trying to figure out how they can work as a cohesive unit. It is clear each of them has individual talents and techniques, but they also need to work on their flaws to improve their dynamics and overcome any obstacle that may get in their way.

The anime is a commercial ad for the mobile game that tries to engage with the target audience that might be interested in playing the game once they watch the anime. Although the plot is carried on proficiently it hardly establishes anything to set it apart from any other classic sports manga nor establish a new interpretation of the road that sports enthusiasts take to fulfill their passion or follow their call in life to finally break the mold in the genre. In that sense, it seems to settle itself into a comfort zone rather than create something new. This anime, just like the game, relies on what franchises of the past have done in soccer. Therefore, I think this work focuses on newcomers unfamiliar with classic sports anime.

Overused stereotypes and archetypes manifest in the teammates of Koyo Academy as well as the rivals they face: bullies, rich kids, old acquaintances, past incidents made present, and more are all accounted for, but at least the déjà vu sensation it gives is not annoying and even pleasant at times because the use of this element is coherent with how each character manages stress according to its personality and role within the team.

One of the highlights of the show is the dynamic contrast between Haru, an optimistic character with a legit love for and dedication to the sport, and Seiichiro Sakaki’s status as natural talent, which makes them seem like rivals. Another one manifests in the relationship between Ryuu Nagumo and Taiga Amakado since they seem not to be on the same page any longer, but considering they know each other very well, they can support each other to get through thick and thin like true friends.

I love sports anime because of the positive messages they convey and the value behind the actions of characters doing what they can to achieve greatness in their passions. Regarding this topic, Futsal Boys give us clones from other franchises like a one-trick pony, but since that pony is so good in that single trick, the lack of identity makes this anime memorable for being a good time but bad if you were looking for something that could transcend as one of the best in the genre.

The anime uses every trope that the genre has to offer, including ridiculous special techniques that defy the laws of physics, which at least are unique to this material so far, and cheesy, but compelling, drama. For that matter, the anime is good enough to gain your interest in the genre and be entertained if you have nothing better to do while watching what happens with Koyo’s Academy futsal team in their journey towards the Fresh Cup. Some say imitation is the best form of flattery, and maybe I was hoping to get something more out of it but this is still good work in that regard although I would strongly recommend checking other sports anime franchises like Slam Dunk, Ahiru no Sora, or All Out!! that can offer a more diverse roster of characters.

Finally, Futsal Boys uses too many exclamation marks in its original title with no justification whatsoever considering it has nothing new to set it apart from others in the genre, unlike Re-main, which at least tried. Therefore, my suggestion is to view it if you just want to have a good time without worrying about the fact that you might have seen this somewhere else and also check out some classic soccer anime (and manga), but do not expect to obtain something different that you can get from any other franchise.

Title: Futsal Boys!!!!! (フットサルボーイズ!!!!!)

Based on: A videogame of the same name.

Produced by: Diomedéa Inc., Bandai Namco Entertainment, Good Smile Company, Live Viewing Japan, Bandai Namco Arts.

Streaming on: Funimation.

Episodes Watched: 1–4

This article is a part of AniTAY’s Winter 2022 Early Impressions series, where our authors offer their initial thoughts on the new, prominent, and exciting anime from this season!

You’re reading AniTAY, a reader-run blog whose writers love everything anime-related. To join in on the fun, check out our website, visit our official subreddit, follow us on Twitter, or give us a like on our Facebook page.

How to play soccer without breaking anything indoors? Futsal Boys First Impressions. was originally published in AniTAY-Official on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Salaryman’s Club gives us a welcome surprise with a nice mix of seinen, slice of life, and sports anime, doing its own thing without pretending to be the badminton version of Baby Steps or Prince of Tennis. This anime immediately grabbed my attention by showcasing how badminton players are not only expected to do everything they can to win a game but also display their growth as athletes to the company that invests in them through incentives and employment.

As a person who has studied and worked at the same time, and as a former member of a soccer team sponsored by the company for which I used to work, I empathize with Mikoto Shiratori, our protagonist. He tasted defeat and failure at the same time after not showing any progress playing singles for a year, which forced his company to fire him. Using workers as players of a company team is common practice with many well-documented stories in other sports like soccer, but you don’t often see anime that show the hardships of adulthood and struggling with doing a hobby professionally and working at the same time.

The plot begins with Mikoto Shiratori practicing singles with the rest of Mitsuhoshi Banking’s badminton team. The same day Mitsuhoshi Banking fired him while traveling on the train home, Makoto almost instantly gets a job offer from Sunlight Beverage to play for their team. Mikoto has vowed not to play on a doubles team following an incident at his inter-high match in high school. However, his co-worker, the optimistic yet silly and devoted Tatsuru Miyazumi, encourages him to be his doubles partner, and Mikoto must work through his past trauma to overcome the struggles in their teamwork.

Mikoto is a typical lone-wolf prodigy with a good head on his shoulders, choosing to handle his incident by trying to play singles instead of quitting the sport completely unlike so many others. I’ m looking at you Taiga Amakado from Futsal Boys. The dynamic in which Mikoto engages with Tatsuru is funny and interesting since their fateful encounter in the park. The way they learn to play together as a cohesive unit feels organic because they learn more about each other as they work on their flaws by both playing with each other and cooperating as coworkers.

My first reaction was very positive to the power-driven hard-rock opening song “The Warrior” by j-rock band Novelbright. The drawings display a mix of dark tones in the color palette and simple strokes with realistic structures, slight and deep shades, fluid animation style with clear movements, and imaginative designs for the uniforms.

The anime gives us a realistic approach to how skills develop through time, not by performing miracles or physics-defying gimmicks. By watching characters learn from defeat, the shower offers a more human narrative of improvement by noticing mistakes and working towards improvement. The depiction of corporate culture, and how this affects the performance of each team member, feels fresh because the show establishes parallels between how teamwork skills are useful in sports and work alike. As an example, when Mikoto uses his foresight ability to stop a shoplifter and Tatsuru tackles the thief from a blind spot before he can attack Mikoto, both can keep the best client Tatsuru has after he almost lost it. This experience gives both the feedback they need to come up with a strategy while they face the Unisics team, making Tatsuru cover the angle Mikoto leaves open after his foresight fails to predict the direction of the shuttlecock. This provides us with a new interpretation of the road that sports enthusiasts take to achieve their goals. I will not deny that some similarities exist when you compare this with other sports anime franchises, but the idea of fighting to not only win a game but also keep your job is enough to engage with the plot. Therefore, I think this anime is for newcomers unfamiliar with classic sports anime and fans of slice of life and sports anime alike.

Drama and appeal spice up the interactions between Mikoto and Tatsuru as protagonists with a light-hearted feeling considering the generational gap between them, making Tatsuru the mentor and Mikoto the apprentice on the court and in the office.

Salaryman’s Club is valuable from a self-improvement point of view when you see how Mikoto decided to participate in the product proposal competition although he knows nothing about how to do that but tries anyway after Tatsuru convinces him instead of letting the opportunity pass by as most people do. Another example is how Mikoto retries to play badminton in doubles after his defeat against Tatsuru which is the first step in his process to overcome his lack of confidence in others, the kind of tough love that forces you to keep pushing to achieve what you desire.

The foresight special technique that Mikoto uses to predict the movements of his opponents feels natural considering it is not 100% effective all the time, while drama manifests in an empathic form. For these reasons, the anime is good enough to give a nice perspective of how it feels to participate inside a company’s sports team. Therefore, my suggestion is to view it until the end and enjoy the ride.

Title: Salaryman’s Club (リーマンズクラブ)

Based on: It is an original Japanese anime television series.

Produced by: Liden Films.

Streaming on: Crunchyroll.

Episodes Watched: 1–4

This article is a part of AniTAY’s Winter 2022 Early Impressions series, where our authors offer their initial thoughts on the new, prominent, and exciting anime from this season!

You’re reading AniTAY, a reader-run blog whose writers love everything anime-related. To join in on the fun, check out our website, visit our official subreddit, follow us on Twitter, or give us a like on our Facebook page.

The Delicate Line Between Work and Fun: Salaryman’s Club First Impressions was originally published in AniTAY-Official on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“Genius is a mix of “inspiration” and “perspiration. “Talent is perspiration.” — Kate Sanborn[1]

Tesla Note is the type of manga I like because of how it creatively reinterprets quantum physics and the personal histories of noted scientists Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison to enrich its plot and (perhaps accidentally) inspire scientific curiosity. The anime adaptation’s first three episodes set the stage for a bizarre free for all contest full of suspense and action.

My unfortunate first reaction was a jump scare due to the frequent, indiscriminate animation changes from 2D to 3D CGI art styles. This makes it look like a Real 3D engine videogame with still frames that give the impression that the video file can’t load properly due to the poor mixture between 3D textures and 2D backgrounds.

The execution lacks fluidity and adversely affects the tone, interfering with plot development. This is a particular problem when it comes to mood changes that should be communicated through the characters’ facial expressions, skin or hair changes, and body movements. The staff involved clearly lacked time and money, considering the studio is experienced with videogame industry standards. It seems like they have attempted to adapt resources that work for visual novels in the wrong media.

Although the staff previously produced videogame cinematic sequences, in a similar situation to other dumpster fires like Ex Arm, they had the technology but no prior animation experience. They fail to understand that visual novels and videogames involve the viewer in an active role, while animation alone must engage the passive viewer’s interest.

This anime adaptation pales in comparison to the original manga, which develops its plot in a far more engaging manner. They even manage to screw up the grass and sunlight in episode two and the houses and building structures in episode three.

The narration of titles while antagonists talk is distracting and disrupts the pace of the scenes in which they interfere, forcing the viewer to rewind it to catch the dialogue.

The scientific concepts integral to the plot in both versions are poorly explored, and the author greatly misinterprets the relationship between Tesla and Edison. He uses a popular quote that Edison took from Kate Sanborn (“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration”), just to change it so it appears that Tesla disses his intellectual rival in a rap battle (“Genius is the one percent of inspiration that renders the ninety-nine percent of perspiration meaningless”).

In a more positive scientific light, Tesla Note makes clear that living matter is not capable of traveling to the speed of light without becoming energy. It also illustrates convincingly how teleportation might work following quantum physics principles. The show also covers quantum computing of information and even quotes fictional conspiracy theories such as the Philadelphia experiment of 1943, adapted as the well-known 1984 Sci-fi movie of the same name. Tesla Note is particularly accurate regarding Tesla’s hotel lifestyle and the circumstances surrounding his death.

The author even posits the use of crystals to store and transfer data, which requires the viewer to consider how crystals might convert mechanical energy into electrical energy, for example, to turn on the lights in a room. Since only a small percentage of crystals are magnetic, in theory they can store and transfer data by converting electrical energy into magnetic energy. Similarly, a spinning platter hard drive writes data by passing electrical currents through an electromagnet (the drive head), generating a magnetic field that is stored on the medium.

Tesla Note is an effectively entertaining and even engaging data scavenger hunt as the extravagant plot combines quantum physics and shady underground organizations.

However, my suggestion is to ignore the lackluster anime adaptation and read the manga for the full experience, although I still get that feeling of reading a newspaper comic every time I read manga due to the black and white illustrations.

Title: Tesla Note (テスラノート)

Based on: Tesla Note manga by Masafumi Nishida and Tadayoshi Kubo, illustrated by Kouta Sannomiya

Produced by: Gambit, Kodansha , Movic , BS11 , JR East Marketing & Communications , Bandai Namco Arts.

Streaming on: Funimation

Episodes Watched: 1, 2 & 3

[1] Ziegler, Maseena. 7 Famous Quotes You Definitely Didn’t Know Were From Women, online. Forbes. Consulted on: October 17, 2021. Recovered from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maseenaziegler/2014/09/01/how-we-all-got-it-wrong-women-were-behind-these-7-famously-inspiring-quotes/?sh=6640810b1016

This article is a part of AniTAY’s Autumn 2021 Early Impressions series, where our authors offer their initial thoughts on the new, prominent, and exciting anime from this season!

You’re reading AniTAY, a reader-run blog whose writers love everything anime related. To join in on the fun, check out our website, visit our official subreddit, follow us on Twitter, or give us a like on our Facebook page.

A Quantum Entanglement of Weird Science and Incompetent Animation: Tesla Note was originally published in AniTAY-Official on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This article is a part of AniTAY’s Summer 2021 Early Impressions series, where our authors offer their initial thoughts on the new, prominent, and exciting anime from this season!

“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own.” — Epictetus, Discourses, 2.5.4–5

Higurashi: When They Cry is the type of anime I love, as it helps me overcome existential issues and break the cycle in the narrative of my daily life. It hits especially close to home these days considering how the pandemic makes every day just like the last. After watching the first four episodes of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sotsu, its special brand of storytelling continues by showcasing how circumstances out of our control can give us the wrong perception about events causing harm to those that we love.

Higurashi’s ongoing reboot continues to unfold as a collection of answer arcs for Kai and Rei, recontextualizing those arcs before arriving at a larger conclusion.

If you watched the previous seasons and OVAs, you will notice that the first episode opens the same way as in Gou and the 2006 run.

At first, I thought it was lazy recycled animation or, even worse, something like the Endless Eight arc in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. However, I ended up finding it immersive, considering it allows the viewer to understand the dynamics in place for Hinamizawa’s inhabitants.

We are no longer trying to break a cycle of bad endings like Sisyphus, punished for cheating death twice and forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll down every time it neared the top, repeating this action for eternity.

Albert Camus states “At this point of his effort man stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.”[1]. In Gou, Eua represents unreasonable silence, her attitude proper of a deity not meant to interfere in human affairs, all the while watching the actions of Satoko during the last arc.

Camus imagined Sisyphus overcoming despair by defiantly meeting his fate as he walks down the hill to begin rolling the rock again, giving the task significance and value by embracing it as his own despite its absurdity and repetitiveness. In the same vein, Rika does everything she can to avoid her demise and break her own cycle, realizing, as Frederica Bernkastel, that when her curiosity and her pain become equal she can grasp the meaning of her task.

Higurashi mainly uses gore to impress the audience, as seen in the grotesque imagery throughout the first season of When They Cry and Kai. However, it also dabbles in cosmic horror, a subgenre melding the horrific and the weird by emphasizing the dread of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than pure shock.

Higurashi uses elements of cosmic horror in a few key ways:

a) Cosmic dread (the way Eua uses her powers in Gou to help Satoko or the guidance Hanyuu gave to Rika);

b) Forbidden and dangerous knowledge (political power obtained by the head families through fear by exploiting Oyashiro’s curse);

c) Madness (collateral effects of the Hinamizawa Syndrome in stage 5 causing psychosis, paranoia, and schizophrenia in carriers of the endemic parasite);

d) Non-human influences on humanity (Hanyuu helping Rika or Eua helping Satoko);

e) Religion, superstition, fate, and inevitability (the relation between the cotton drift festival and Oyashiro’s curse); and

f) Risks associated with scientific discoveries (the use of the research about the Hinamizawa Syndrome to gain political power).

The basis for this is the evolution of the thinking processes each character provide to explain the origin of the tragedy through spiritual beliefs (Oyashiro’s curse), scientific facts (Hinamizawa Syndrome), or strategic thinking (using the parasite to give impulse to a political agenda). Nonetheless, the sense of wonder comes in Sotsu through Satoko’s perspective as both new antagonist and foil for Rika, both trying to solve the same problem. By developing the consequences of the last chapter of Gou in this first arc, Sotsu gives viewers the answer sheet to the questions raised in Gou, letting them rethink the events from Satoko’s perspective.

Furthermore, by letting Satoko manipulate the outcome and complicate Rika’s work, it perpetuates the conflict, using it as a tool to let the story flow and force both characters to grow through pain. By discarding the uplifting ending achieved in Kai and revealing it as a lie, Higurashi exposes the need for both characters to transform their narcissism into empathy implying they need to accept that each of them need to pursue their own goals. Although this might cause a separation or deterioration of their relationship, it is required to transition into adulthood by settling any bad blood from the St. Lucia Academy experience and embracing the fact that pain is the only constant in the universe, thereby creating their own hope by putting the effort to be better.

This also leaves enough room for speculation by letting the viewer witness the cast enter chaos in their search for happiness through apparently opposing goals.

The first four episodes made me watch again Gou to search for clues and try to understand how Satoko will screw every arc until the moment where threatens Rika and the rest of the cast with a gun out of nowhere, leaving me wondering how everything ties into Umineko, too. Also, I cannot stop thinking about what will happen during the rest of the season if the core cast is splintered due to trust issues from Satoko’s and Rika’s actions and how those issues will factor into the ending. Finally, for me, Higurashi remains a remedy against the Groundhog Day effect of the pandemic. It talks to the person inside me constantly searching for purpose in life by experimenting and distinguishing what I can control according to my capabilities — it allows me to empathize with Rika and Satoko to a certain degree

Will Satoko and Rika become aware of the consequences of their actions? Will they overcome their fixations or delusions out of a god complex? Will they abandon their arrogance and accept the inevitable true ending just like Bill Murray in the Groundhog Day? Only time will tell.

Perhaps Groundhog Day holds the answer for Rika and Satoko: the main character, played by Bill Murray, finds redemption by distancing from himself and his selfishness to break his cycle. In this matter, Higurashi already has anestablished reason for Rika to do the same as Bill at the end of Kai through showing unconditional compassion to Takano as Frederica Bernkastel. However, we cannot be sure about what will ultimatelyhappen in Sotsu, and therein lies the importance of the Epictetus quote transcribed above: both Satoko and Rika need to distinguish what is and is not up to them to finish the conflict.

Title: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sotsu (ひ ぐ ら し のなく 頃 に 卒)

Based on: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni visual novel series by Ryukishi07, illustrated by Karin Suzuragi, Yutori Hōjō, Jirō Suzuki, Yoshiki Tonogai, Mimori and Rato

Produced by: 07th Expansion (Umineko no Naku Koro ni, Ciconia no Naku Koro ni)

Streaming on: Funimation

Episodes Watched: 4

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[1] Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays. translated by Justin O’Brien. New York: Vintage Books, 1991.

When the Cicadas Cry Graduation: Early Impressions was originally published in AniTAY-Official on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.