The halfway point - What should you watch of the anime Spring Season 2017

We're at the end of May. By now, most of the Spring 2017 anime season have passed their halfway point (all safe Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains due to the delay) and some of those have already reached the much-dreaded recap episode (it's almost pre-packaged with an anime series nowadays).

Overall, there is only one show that stands out from the rest, similar to Ms. Kobayashi's Dragon Maid last season. However, it doesn't stand out for the good reasons... It's more like a... "how low can it go" feeling everybody has while watching it. It's absolute trash and we know it. Yet, we can't keep our eyes away from it.

No, we're not even at rock bottom...
This is only episode 2 of Eromanga Sensei

The Sequels

Attack on Titan S2

• Genre: Seinen action with drama and horror elements
• Studio: Wit Studio - Directed by Tetsuro Araki
• Source: Monthly manga series
• Direct continuation of Season 1. (review of that soon)
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll & Funimation (limited regions only)

This season in two words: Beast Titan

Longer version: The story of the second season picks up where the first left off, with the revelation of the Titan in the wall. Soon afterwards, there's the rumor that titans have also appeared within wall Rose (the second wall). Panic spreads rapidly and the members of the Survey corps that didn't partake in the arrest of Annie are now sent on a reconnaissance mission to see what happened.

What the second arc of the first season kinda lacked, this second season makes up for in spades. The first half is pure survival horror. The characters have little to no weapons and there's an unknown presence of titans within the wall (or is there)? This added by the addition of the frighteningly Beast Titan who seems to be the commander of all titans and can make them do things our heroes never expected before.

Recommendation: If you haven't finished the first season, watch that first! Then come back for more here!

My Hero Academia S2

• Genre: Shonen Action, Heroes
• Studio: Bones - Directed by Kenji Nagasaki
• Source: Weekly Manga series
• Direct continuation of Season 1. Link to my review of season 1)
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll & Funimation (limited regions only)

While Attack on Titan's second season is only half as long as its first, the opposite is true for My Hero Academia. 25 episodes of Plus Ultra! This will contain the entire sports festival, but will also contain the "Field Training" and probably also the End-of-Term test arc (so I presume up to ch 69).

I'm hyped. How about you?

Recommendation: Watch S1 first, then this one!

Uchouten Kazoku / The Eccentric Family S2

• Genre: Supernatural + Dramedy
• Studio: P.A. Works - Directed by Masayuki Yoshihara
• Source: Original work
• Direct continuation of Season 1. (review of that soon)
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll (limited regions only)

In season 2 Yaichirō is setting up a shogi tournament and is getting really close with a female tanuki named Gyokuran. But the rival Ebisugawa clan tries their best to ruin everything. Next to that there's the return of Master Akadama's estranged son "Nidaime" (which basically means the successor). Yasaburo tries his best to keep the peace between everybody, but fails miserably. What happens can only be summed up as something foolish. But then again, it's in their foolish blood.

Canipa pushed this one in the past months, so I ended up watching it. Not regretting it. The Eccentric Family is a different anime from your typical shounen action series. It's about Tanuki's and Tengu's, about creatures that transform into humans and mingle between them.

Recommendation: While you can watch this second season without the first, it would be foolish to skip on the great first season. If you want something different in your anime, The Eccentric Family certainly fills that gap!

Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains

• Genre: Card games
• Studio: Studio Gallop - Directed by Masahiro Hosoda
• Source: "Original" work
• Yet another Spin-off to the original Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters series.
• Legal stream: Not yet, currently only in Asia

Card games on surfboards in a VR world no less! The sixth installment of Yu-Gi-Oh! anime has started out on a high note and seems to be at least better than the previous two anime (Zexal and Arc-V). Let's cross our fingers and hope for the best.

Too soon to become a definite recommendation. It's a long-running series that once again will encompass around 140-150 episodes. So we're in for a LONG ride!

Temporary recommendation: This anime seems to go in a similar attitude like 5D's. So if you liked that one, this one may pick your interest as well. We'll see how it evolves.

New anime: The "how low can we go" anime

Eromanga Sensei

• Genre: Slice of Life
• Studio: A1-Pictures - Directed by Ryouhei Takeshita
• Source: Light Novel
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll (US only), Daisuki (rest of the world) & Anime Strike

Izumi is a beginning Light Novel writer whose light novels are drawn by a person named "Eromanga Sensei". After his first series ends, he finds out that said Eromanga Sensei is actually his stepsister Sagiri, who has been a reclusive for the better part of the last year (or so). They slowly come to terms that one is writer and the other the artist. But Izumi wants his sister to get out of her room and go to school, while also trying to keep his career as a light novel author going. And then a rival appears.

There's no better misfire to talk about than Eromanga Sensei. Similarly to MaiDragon last season, Eromanga Sensei is thé meme anime of this season. But while MaiDragon was all about positivism and gave everybody a smile on their face, Eromanga rather jives off the "how low can it go" motif. The first word uttered in this anime is "Imouto", or little sister. And from that first word alone, you already know where this is going. Yes, this is a repeat of Oreimo. And according to what I keep hearing from people that have read the novel, this anime will go even lower in "little sister fetish" than Oreimo ever did.

Recommendation: I'd say to stay the hell away from it. But you're probably just like e and want to check it out either way, just to see what the fuss is all about. Hey: Your loss!

New anime: The good ones!

If you want to know which anime of this season will stand the test of time, you've just reached the end of that list. Yes, it consists of the sequels and Eromanga Sensei. However, among all other anime, there still are anime that I want to push as "really good" and worth checking out. I sincerely wish for these to pass the test of time as well!

Sakura Quest

• Genre: Slice of Life / Coming of age story
• Studio: P.A. Works - Directed by Souichi Masui
• Source: Original story
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll and Funimation (limited regions only)

Sakura Quest is about the titular Sakura who recently graduated and is looking for a steady job in the big city of Tokyo, fleeing the the countryside in this process. But she quickly finds out that finding a steady job in the big city isn't all she had hoped it would be. She gets disillusioned, but refuses her mother's call to go back to the countryside.

A temp job as playing a "queen" in a tourist attraction gets her triggered and off she goes. But due to a lot of miscommunication she is not really all that welcome. The old man requesting her thought she was somebody completely different (a dead actress in fact), while Sakura herself is shocked when the "queen" role isn't for 1-2 days. It's for an entire year, and her role requires her to promote the countryside; two things which she absolutely resents doing.

But after some hijinks, she agrees to the role of playing queen, together with the assistance of a few other young women/girls in town.

If this anime gives you flashbacks to Shirobako, it should. It is done by the same studio and it wouldn't surprise me if it had the same character designer attached to it. Other than that, this is a real coming-of-age story for young adults. This anime disrupts the illusion that you can make it big in the big city. It also shows the painful truth of many Japanese people fleeing the country to the big city and thus turning many countryside towns into ghost-towns (or soon-to-be ghost towns).

Recommendation: Must-watch for anyone of 20 years and above. However, this may be boring for teenagers (and young 20-somethings) who have not yet to venture into the real world.

Alice & Zoroku

• Genre: Supernatural + a mix of Adventure/slice-of-life
• Studio: J.C. Staff - Directed by Katsushi Sakurabi
• Source: Monthly manga series
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll (worldwide) & Funimation (US)

A young girl named Sana has been imprisoned in a secret facility for many years. But one night she escapes. While she is being chased by the people from the facility, she somehow ends up in the arms of a regular old man named Zoroku. Sana, as well as other kids in the team chasing her, have special powers which are akin to mutant powers.

After a few intense chase scenes, Zoroku and Sana are able to get rid of the people chasing her. Since Sana doesn't really know anything about the outside world, Zoroku decides to take in the girl into his house, together with his granddaughter Sanae. Sana now has to get accustomed to all the things in this real-life world, while Zoroku has to handle his normal life as a florist. Yes, you read that right: a florist.

This was one of my favorite series from the get-go, if only the CG wasn't so horribly bad. Luckily, that has slightly improved (although only a little). But the things that made the first episode strong are still there. A good and interesting story, amazing sound design and music. And that general smile that remains on my face after each episode. It's just... warm.

Re:Creators

• Genre: Seinen, Fantasy Action
• Studio: TROYCA - Directed by Ei Aoki
• Origin: Original story
• Legal stream: Amazon Prime's Anime Strike

Souta is inspiring artist who is sucked in to the world of an anime and sees this anime's female protagonist (Celestia) fight with a "Military uniform princess" who is not from that anime. Through a magical force, all three are sucked back to regular old Japan.

Throughout the story, while trying figure out what's happening, Celestia and our hero try to figure out why characters from several games and anime are popping up in the real world. And slowly they are trying to find ways to boost their own power (by contacting the character's creators). But it is not a journey that runs as smoothly as these people think.

This show's concept is so original yet classic at the same time. It's like Jump Ultimate Stars, or Smash bros, or Marvel Vs Capcom! Take random characters from different franchises and have them duke it out. And while the story buildup has gone quite slowly, it (at this moment) is one of the most interesting anime at this moment. In fact, while other anime are starting to show their faults and problems, Re:Creators keeps rising in quality.

Recommendation: If you don't mind some dialogue-heavy scenes, this is a definite must-watch!

KADO: The Right Answer / Seikasuru KADO

• Genre: Sci-Fi, Political
• Studio: Toei Animation - Directed by Kazuya Murata
• Source: Original
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll & Funimation (worldwide)

First contact with an alien / inter-dimensional species happens when a big cube-shaped object appears out of nowhere and lands on an airfield, encapsulating an entire plane in the process. The survivors and the Japanese government try to figure out what happened, until the alien appears a few hours later, together with one of the survivors. This survivor is our main character Kojirou Shindou and is a negotiator (as in this being his actual profession).

We soon find out that this being (Yaha-kui zaShunina) wants to share his knowledge with all humans, but runs into a few hurdles: Actual Earth's politics! What IS the right answer to giving new information to all of humanity?

I personally have noticed I shouldn't try watching this late in the evening when I'm tired, because there's a good chance of me falling asleep. But when my attention has awakened, I find it a very interesting and especially a different kind of anime out there (although that CG+2D gimmick still tends to bother me from time to time).

Recommendation: If you're tired of cliche action or romance / drama series; this is an anime that offers something completely different! However, it might be a little "too different" for everybody's taste due to the level of politics / negotiations (thus lots of talking).

New anime - Average stuff

This group is the stuff that's neither amazing and noteworthy, yet also not bad either. There's some good stuff in there, and there's also stuff in there that makes you go: "Really?"

WorldEnd / SukaSuka

• Genre: Fantasy, with added drama and romance
• Studio:Satelight & C2C - Directed by Junichi Wada
• Source: Light Novel
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll (worldwide)

Full title: "WorldEnd: What do you do at the end of the world? are you busy? Will you save us?" Only a Japanese Light Novel can have a title this long and convoluted.

Humanity has ended at the hand of the mysterious "beasts". Other races have taken over earth and blame the humans for the continued existence of said beasts. Our protagonist (Willem Kmetch) is a human who was frozen in time and has recently been "released" in present time, only to see it suffer.

He comes around doing odd-jobs and being part of the military. His most recent task now consists of protecting an arsenal of specialized "weapons" that will fight off the Beasts. Due to his own history with the beasts, he takes it upon himself to guard these weapons. But to his surprise, he quickly comes to the conclusion that said weapons are actually young female leprechauns (never seen such beautiful leprechauns in any literature ever). They're the only beings able to wield the "dig" weapons that can slay the beast and they can blow themselves up doing massive damage as well.

Willem quickly settles in and becomes the caretaker of all these young girls, but now tries to stop these girls from blowing themselves to smithereens.

Worldend is an anime with very high high notes, but also with a lot of low notes. The first episodes and some of the latest are really good, but then there are gems like episodes 3-5 that rank between mediocre to just plain bad. I really want this anime to end well since the story concept is REALLY interesting. But those bad episodes give me fear for the possible ending.

Recommendation: I want to say a must-watch. But there's a few episodes in there I really cannot defend from criticism. Take that as you will.

Grimoire of Zero / Zero kara Hajimeru Mahou no Sho

• Genre: Fantasy, action
• Studio: White Fox - Directed by: Tetsuo Hirakawa
• Source: Light novel
• Legal Stream: Anime Strike

The world of this anime is inhabited by magicians and beastmen. But regular species tend to hunt these beings to extinction. And since Beastmen are stronger than average humans and thus are often hired to hunt the female magicians (because they're witches and "witches are EVIL"). Our main character (Youhei) is one such beastman and has the looks of a white tiger. He's a mercenary hunting for witches, but once he comes across the magician named "Zero", his world changes. She is looking for the source of all current witches, the "Grimoire of Zero" (which is written by her). In return for Youhei's assistance, she promises to return him to a full human form.

Here's a story with a strong concept and starting point that just went average after a while. It's not bad at all, but you can see certain elements dragging it down, or making me go "Really? Is this necessary?". Albus (for example) is the McGuffin that moves the story forward, even if he/she is quite annoying. The main villain of the series (Thirteen) is the blandest thing you've tasted since tofu. And while there's a lot of potential in his character to be amazing (he has a mysterious power that turns mages into dust, he has great manipulative powers, he can have a sense of humor, etc), he generally just looks and sounds like he's bored out of his mind. And his design looks like he's an average Japanese man who just put on the world's laziest magician cosplay.

Recommendation: While I do quite enjoy it from time to time, this anime just has way too many missed opportunities. So you can skip it if needed to.

Akashic records of bastard magic instructor / Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records

• Genre: Fantasy, action, high school
• Studio: LIDENFILMS - Directed by: Minato Kazuto
• Source: Light novel
• Legal Stream: Crunchyroll (worldwide)

Sistine & Rumia are two girls that are going to a magic high school and are suddenly instructed by a new magic teacher (Glenn) who is totally lazy, a total bastard, a lech and god-knows-what else. Worst of all, everybody suspects that he doesn't know a lick of magic. He's the most useless bastard out there. Our two girls wonder how this "Glenn" was hand-picked to teach them the ways of magic.

But while he initially disappoints everybody in his class by being lazy and uninterested, events that happen in the second episode trigger him to become a bit more motivated and shows his pupils how to actually be better at magic. Bit by bit, piece by piece, Glenn shows everybody why he's the best magic teacher out there, even if he keeps a lot of his snarky wit.

Personally, I hated the first episode. The jokes were not funny and the forced gag of running into a girl's changing room was so bad, it made me drop this anime instantly. So it will be a drag to get over that initial let-down. But afterwards, the anime does get better, piece by piece. But there are (and remain) a lot of contrivances to get people to like this Glenn character. Also, Sistine remains very annoying and is an unnatural character with Easter eggs for eyes.

Recommendation: It's certainly a somewhat enjoyable show to watch (it's one of the most-watched new series on Crunchyroll, if that is an indicator), but there are just better anime with both magic and with high school settings out there.

New anime - The disappointments

Renai Boukun / Love Tyrant

• Genre: Comedy, Supernatural, Romance (kind of)
• Studio: EMT² - Directed by Atsushi Nigorikawa
• Source: Weekly manga series
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll & Funimation (Worldwide)

Boy receives mysterious note to kill people with a heart... oh, no no no. That's a different series. This is a lot less serious.

In this case, a Cupid named Guri ends up writing our main hero's name (Seiji Aino) in a parody of said death note: the Kiss note. And unless he finds and kisses his true love, he will die. And he succeeds in doing so in the very first episode; with the only catch being that his crush that he ends up kissing (Akane) ends up revealing herself to be a Yandere who already had a crush on our main character. And then our regular cupid decides that it would be fun if she write Akane's name and her own as a relationship in said Kiss note. Why? Because she thinks love triangles are fun! And thus hijinks ensue.

I originally picked this one up because of the interesting pitch and the amount of comedy in the first episode. However... After watching 6 episodes, it's become clear that having good "pitch ideas" is the only good thing this anime has going for it. The overarching story is boring and the characters (while initially funny) quickly reveal themselves to be one-dimensional cardboard cutouts (the only exception being Guri herself).

Recommendation: Skip it. While the first episode is good and genuinely funny, you will only get disappointed by the end.

Atom: The Beginning (Season 1)

• Genre: Sci-Fi, Seinen Action (with elements of Slice of Life)
• Studio: Co-production between OLM Inc, Production I.G. and Signal MD - Directed by Katsuyuki Motohiyo (lead) and Tatsuo Satou
• Origin: Monthly manga series
• Legal stream: Amazon Prime's Anime Strike

This anime is a prequel to Astro Boy (or "Tetsuwan Atom" as it is known in Japan). And by that one sentence this anime should have picked your interest already, since Astro Boy is one of the first mainstream "shonen action" series ever created.

This prequel tells the story of Astro Boy's creators and how they slowly create the "Bewusstsien" (self-awareness) AI that Astro Boy runs on and makes him as human as possible for a robot.

I've been looking forward to this anime for a long time, and for most part I'm getting what I wanted. But is it thé best anime out there? Sadly enough, no. The first 6 episodes build up the story a little too slow to be REAL good.

Also, I've read the manga (or what IS translated of it) and suddenly noticed the big problem of this show. Half of this show if filler. I'll go into more detail when I do a full review. But think about it, a show that isn't hyped that much tries to sell itself by replacing half of its run-time with filler. Who thought that was a good idea?

Recommendation: It pains me to say this, since I love any re-imagination of Astro Boy. But you better wait until there's at least a second season. Then watch them together. As it stands, this first season alone will not be enough to satisfy you!

Granblue Fantasy

• Genre: Fantasy, action
• Studio: A1 Pictures - Directed by Yuuki Itou
• Source: Game for Android & iOS
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll, Funimation & Hulu (limited regions only)

Girl falls out of the sky, boy saves her from her fall and protects her from the "evil army", although he dies in the process. Girl revives boy and now he has powers. This is a story with floating islands, airships, mythical creatures and magic!

This anime has been panned for being a run-of-the-mill fantasy RPG turned anime. It's mediocrity at its finest.

And while I personally am enjoying the series, I can admit that this series never rises above being "average". The dialogue (and often the art) seems ripped straight out of the game, since it seems so generic that it could appear in a text box and nobody would bat an eye. But at the same time, this anime gives LOTS of room for people to abridge it. I found it to be very funny to ad-lib dialogue over the actual dialogue spoken, since what I was hearing was run-of-the-mill anyway.

Also the voices. Katalina = Celty from Durarara, Vyrn = Happy from Fairy Tail, Rackam = Sanji from One Piece, etc. Once you hear it, you cannot un-hear them being other characters.

Recommendation: If you like anime based on fantasy RPGs and you have nothing else to watch, give this one a shot. Anybody else may skip this one, since it's very forgettable.

Warau Salesman new / Laughing Salesman new

• Genre: Seinen, drama
• Studio: Shin-Ei Animation - Directed by Hirofumi Ogura
• Source: manga from the 80s/90s
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll & Funimation (US only)

Every person has a dark desire in their heart. It is up to the mysterious laughing salesman Fukuzouto Moguro to find what these people are longing for and "selling" it to them. But each of these pieces of happiness brought upon his customers comes with a limit. When these humans reach past these limits, disaster will strike (and it strikes hard).

I was genuinely interested in this anime from its premise. However, after you've seen one or two episodes, you basically have seen thme all. The story becomes repetitive WAY too fast for its own good.

But to give credit where it's due, the OP is animated wonderfully! When you skip this anime, at least check the OP.

Recommendation: Skip it! Watch Hell Girl (Jigoku Shoujo) instead of this disappointment! On that end: New Season of Hell Girl this coming Summer season!

Anime to be watched / Continued

There's still some good anime out there, but I just haven't found the time yet to watch or continue watching.

• Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul: Just started with the first season. I'll get to this one later!
• Tsuki ga kirei: Loved the first episode! Really good! But I'm just not a romance anime fan, so it might take a while to finish it.
• Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism: Kinda liked the first episode, but then forgot about it. May drop it, may continue. Dunno yet.

New anime - Dropped after 1 episode

These are the series that are so disappointing or "not my style", I've dropped after one episode be. For more detail as to why, I refer to my Starting point blog.

• The Royal Tutor: I know there will be many fans of this series. But it's not my style. It's aimed at girls to gawk at boys. I dropped it, but I'm not going to hate on it.
• Hinako Note: Cute girls doing cute things for the sake of being cute. Not my style, but I know there are people that love this kind of genre.
• Boruto: I'm sorry, but I'm apparently one of the few that hated the first episode. But I saw the flaws in it and saw how this series is going to fall in the future. And none of the promo video's that have appeared ever since have picked up my interest. It remains dropped.
• Clockwork Planet: Was "meh" after the first episode, and couldn't be bothered to pick up the second episode.
• Sword Oratoria: The first episode was "okay" at best, but I kinda forgot about it... and so did most other people. I don't hear anybody talking about it anymore.
• The King's Avatar: Not understanding the praise people give this series. The CG is awful and the dialogue and story is very unnatural and awkward.
• ID-0: Mediocre CG, mediocre story and characters you cannot connect with. ID-0 simply does not work.
• Sakurada Reset: The first episode is boring me to tears. And from what I hear, it didn't get much better later on. Stay away from it.
• The Seven Mortal Sins: Some of the best animation of this season went to a glorified hentai. Nuff said.
• Tsugumomo: Fell somewhere between generic as hell and borderline annoying me.
• Anonymous Noise: HATE THIS PIECE OF SH... STOP SINGING! Just STOP singing!
• Frame Arms Girl: Is one of the most popular shows in Japan ATM. And I can understand why. But it's not my kind of anime. It's a glorified toy commercial.
• Kabuki-bu: Had high hopes for this, but dropped it after 1 episode. It's so bland and Generic, I could predict what would happen without even seeing the rest of the season.

Afterword

Yes, there's still a few series to add. still to be added are the short anime. Though I can be just as short about that: "Please Take my Brother Away" / "Ani ni Tsukeru Kusuri wa Nai" is the best short anime of Spring 2017! Nuff said!

To be updated soon. Until then, V out.

Updates

• June 06th: Added Grimoire of Zero, Akashic Records and the Drops list

V Reviews - Yowamushi Pedal: How to make a boring sport interesting

Lately I've been trying to catch up on some of the bigger multi-season sports anime of the past years. So obviously, after catching up to them completely (not there yet, it's taking longer than expected), I'm going to write reviews about them! Ha-haah!

First up, the anime that makes one of the most boring sports around (safe fishing and golf) into pure, gold entertainment: Cycling - or as they call in in this anime: Road Racing. The anime I'm talking about is Yowamushi Pedal! Let's get this show on the road.

V Reviews - Yowamushi Pedal (Seasons 1 + 2)

Backstory

Yowamushi Pedal ("The Cowardly Cyclist" in English) is a manga created by Wataru Watanabe. And boy, if you look up his name it will result in pictures of him in cycling (otaku) gear. He's totally into cycling!

Wataru has been active as a mangaka since 2002 and has created a certain amount of manga that all lasted somewhere between 1-4 volumes. This includes titles like Seifuku Nuidara (4 vol), Densha Otoko (3 vol, with a main char that looks exactly like the one from YowaPeda), Go GO Kochira (4 vol), Hanatan (3 volumes) and MajiMoji Rurumo (13 volumes over 3 different series)

But no matter how short or long-lived his titles are, one thing is common: They all got published. If you look at track records of many other big manga authors, that's not always a given.

But Wataru's biggest success story began in 2008, with the launch of a series of his favorite sports: Yowamushi Pedal. And success story it is. The manga is one of the top series in Weekly Shonen Champion and has amassed 50 volumes already. And the series shows no signs of stopping anywhere near soon.

In 2013, TMS Entertainment has picked up the manga for a 38-episode anime series (+1 OVA and recap movie). Due to the popularity, a sequel was quickly green-lit and from then it went onward. Today we have 4 movies (including 2 recap movies), 1 OVA, 1 short-lived Drama series and a third season (New Generation) that is currently airing that can be watched on Crunchyroll (Note: this sequel is the only one that doesn't have strict region restrictions at the moment of writing!!).

And oh boy, does Wataru enjoy every minute of his success story. He's one of the few mangaka around who can actually perform his hobby and get away with it ("It's research!!!"). If you look at his blog, you will find many pictures of him either ready to train, ready to perform at a road race or MTB race, or cycling around "just because".

I bet there are many mangaka out there that are at least a bit jealous of Wataru's success story. It's hard to find mangaka that aren't devoting night and day to making their own series into a possible success. Even the most talented ones tend to struggle through their daily lives. So then seeing "a mangaka" posting pictures about how he's enjoying his bike ride is bound to make a few artist eyes twitch. But hey, I can only applaud mangaka who are willing to both work hard and take some time off for themselves. Too many people in the manga/anime industry end up working too hard or are physically damaging their bodies to make deadlines work.

There's a reason why editors try to push authors into making series (not just manga, but series in general) about the things that you like yourself. It's easier to get invested and do research when it's about things you want to do yourself.

Story

Our protagonist (Sakamichi Onoda) is your typical Otaku. He loves anime (the fictional Love Hime in particular), loves Akihabara (or Akiba as it's nicknamed here) and wants to share his joy with everybody he knows. When choosing a high school, he specifically chose a school that is known to have an anime club and is within cycling range of Akihabara (45 km distance).

However, there is only one problem for Onoda: Reality.

In case you might be in the illusion that anime is everywhere in Japan and that everybody knows and loves anime, let me dispel that. This series depicts reality a little better. Both in his middle school and now in Sohoku High School, he is about the only person to give a damn' about anime. Even if his fellow students do like anime, most people don't want that to be publicly known (because teenagers like being "cool" more than being a weeaboo outcast).

In Onoda's case specifically, he runs into the notice that the anime club has been closed due to the club no longer having the necessary amount of members (FYI: A minimum of 5 members is necessary to keep any school club going). Onoda thus desperately searches for 4 more people that are interested in anime to revive the club. But since he's shy and a total wimp, that is quite a struggle for him (hence the term yowamushi, which can mean weakling/wimp or coward).

All the while, something else is happening behind Onoda's back. People are taking notice of him. Not because of his passion for anime, but because of his cycling. He is able to take a women's bicycle (nicknamed an "old grandma bycicle") up the steep slope (2km of of 20° slope) without real issue and his claim that he goes to Akihabara from school and to home afterwards (which again is about 2x45 km) is catching the attention of cyclist Shunsuke Imaizumi and Cycling club manager Miki Kanzaki.

There's being interested in somebody,
and then there's Miki-level of creepy obsession.

Both want to test Onoda's claims and they organize a race between Imaizumi and Onoda. Onoda initially refuses. But when Imaizumi offers to join the anime club if he would lose, Onoda becomes passionate about winning!

Due to Imaizumi cycling on a road racer and Onoda on his "granny bike", nobody expects Onoda to actually win. But he catches a lot of attention when he's actually able to keep up with Imaizumi for most of the race.

Slowly, Onoda is being convinced to join the cycling team instead of focusing on recreating the anime club. And slowly he becomes good enough to join Sohoku's main roster of road racers and join them to partake in the upcoming Inter-High road racing tournament, which lasts 3 full days.

The first 20 episodes focus on Onoda's efforts to join the cycling team and the main roster of cyclists. The rest of the first season and the entirety of the second season is the three full days of the Inter-High tournament. But if you think that is boring, think again. This anime has the power to make one of the most mundane things (watching people cycle on a road racer) into one of the most thrilling fights in existence. You'll never look at road racing in the same light again after you finished watching this anime.

Characters

One of the strong points of Yowamushi Pedal is the characters. And there are A LOT of characters! Let's do this team by team

Team Sohoku, from left to right: Sakamichi Onoda: Main character. The titular wimp, but a genius in climbing and a master in catching up to others. He's a full-blown otaku and his biggest dream is taking his friends to Akihabara. Shunsuke Imaizumi: The fitting image for the solitary cyclist, but has a grudge towards a cyclist named Midousuji. His purpose is to grow stronger as a cyclist and beat Midousuji in a race. But meeting Onoda helps to soften his cold and distant demeanor. He slowly opens up befriends the other cyclists. Shingo Kinjou: 3rd year and leader/Ace of the Sohoku cycling team. Is nearsighted and has specific UV-blocking glasses he has a tendency of putting on / taking off to look cooler (no, really).	Jin Todoroki: The big tough guy with a golden heart. Is a born sprinter and often butts heads with the other sprinters of the school team (they're all just as competitive). Shoukichi Naruko: The Red Bean of the team. Osaka-stereotype (loud, rough and very competitive). He's a sprinter at heart and gives everybody a nickname. He may be loud, but he's very hung-up on the team and his friends. Yuusuke Makishima: "The cool and mysterious one". Third year and ace climber. He has a weird way of climbing up hills (which earned him the nickname of "peak spider") and isn't very good at socializing, but is a real softie when you get to know him. As sempai-climber, he coaches Onoda into becoming better.
Hakone High School, from left to right: Sangaku Manami: First-year climber like Onoda. He's carefree and absent-minded. And he likes to do things on his own terms. But when it comes down to it, he's an ace climber. Hayato Shinkai: 3rd year sprinter and power bar addict. Seriously, unless he's in his berserker mode he constantly has an power bar in his mouth. Considering how long each course is, you'd wonder how long he's sobbing on each of those bars. Touichirou Izumida: ABS! ABS! ABS! ABS!	Yasutomo Arakita: The street punk turned cyclist. 3rd year support rider. You'll hear him before you even see him, that is how loud he is. But he's very reliable as a drafter. Jinpachi Toudou: Pretty boy of the team and he knows it! Juichi Fukutomi: The literal number 1 of the school (the Kanji for "1" is in his actual name). His nickname is "stone-face" and with reason. He barely shows any sign of emotion on his face. He's stoic, steadfast and most of all: He is STRONG!
	Kyoto Fushimi High School A mostly forgettable team, safe the one man that towers above all others: Akira Midousuji. He's a twisted man that will lie and play mind games on all other cyclists, in order to break their mentality and force them to quit or give up. But don't let that foul attitude fool you, he is also one of the best cyclists out there. And since he's an all-rounder, he can compete in sprints, climbs as well as the overall finish.
	Hiroshima Kureminami Technical High School A new threat in the second season. Most riders are forgettable except the ace in the middle: Machimiya Eikichi. Rather than focussing on sheer power and ability, his team aims for survival and the win on the third day, when most teams have lost members (except theirs + Hakone & Sohoku). Eikichi is able to manipulate the thinned-out teams and turn them into an "angry mob" aiming to swallow up all the teams. But there's more to this trick than meets the eye.

Animation

If you ever want an example of a show that is able to blend classic animation and CG graphics, this is one of the prime examples of blending done right. Shots that focus on the faces of the characters are done in 2D, while distant shots, back shots and overall quick movement shots are done in CG. And the two blend together so well, you barely notice it. And this blending is getting better the further along the show goes. Considering the amount of horrible CG that has been used in this season's new anime, I can really applaud the use of CG in this anime franchise.

The more you look at it, the more you wonder:
Outside of Imaizumi's face, How much is still classic 2D-animation?

Sound

Most of the OPs are hype tracks to get you pumped, but none of them specifically "trigger" something in me. But on the other end, the entire soundtrack is really good. The returning tracks easily get stuck in you head and several of the specific sound moments (like the epic finish music) really gets your blood pumping! It's so good to listen to! Kudo's to composer Kan Sawada. Most of the time, Sawada composes for TV-series and movies; but in a few rare exceptions, he will compose for anime as well (like Doraemon, Sergeant Keroro, Moonlight Mile (huh?) and now also Yowamushi Pedal.

Any downsides?

Well, If I have to be completely honest: there are a few minor things that do bug me throughout this series. Minor nitpicks, but it still keeps returning. One is the obvious: "This route isn't as long" that many sports anime fall victim to (remember Prince of Tennis? Yeah, that kind of running logic). If the dialogue spoken is longer than the distance that needs to be crossed, the cyclists keep riding at full speed; often causing the weird feeling that 50 meters suddenly turns into a friggin kilometer. Luckily this mostly happens at final checkpoints, but it can get annoying if it pops up.

Another nitpick is... well, how do I put this? Everybody is WAY TOO NICE! Yes, obviously Midousuji & Eikichi are portrayed as villains. But other than that, most people are genuinely nice guys. And sometimes being nice to a fault. Throughout the entire series, for example, I can't seem to hear or see one scene where Onoda pays for his gear or bicycle. Everything he uses in this anime is borrowed from somebody or given to him without a need to return. Could you try to do the same things Onoda did in real life, I can bet 100$ on it you won't be able to obtain the amount of gear Onoda uses "for free". Nobody is that gullible or friendly in real life.

Big female fanbase

It is kind of a phenomenon that sports anime tend to be favored by female anime viewers. I guess it has something to do with muscular or tender looking men doing sports, being all sweaty and going all "bromance" on each other?

And this anime series delivers such female fanservice in spades. While none of the characters are gay in any way, the anime doesn't shy away from delivering fanservice to the female audience.

Yes, Imaizumi has his arm around Onoda in this scene.
Out of context, this scene could've been from a BL anime

How much of an impact did it have? Well, reports have stated that the sales of bicycles in japan has gone through the roof ever since the anime started airing. And most surprisingly, the people that were buying bikes were mostly women in their 20s-30s. So that gave a clear indication of the fanbase that got triggered after watching the series.

But do I care about this? Do I hate this? No! Unlike some other over-the-top anime targetted at a female audience (*cough*YuriOnIce*cough*) this anime is actually really good, even if you take said undertone away. And because of that, it turns this into a series that both males and females can enjoy watching (even together).

Overall enjoyment

I'm hooked! I'm almost caught up with the current season of "New Generation" and I'm going to keep watching. It's interesting to watch and the way this show is directed really pushes you forward into keeping this on your to-watch list. Let's hope even more seasons will be greenlit!

Overall, I'm giving both seasons a solid 8/10! A must watch if you're into cycling/road racing, or just into sports anime in general.

That's it for me now. Until next time, V out.

V Reviews: Onihei - The first dream project of an aging producer

One of the few Winter 2017 titles that picked my interest was one that wasn't available through regular means. The anime named Onihei is one of the first anime to be only available through Amazon Prime, where anime only goes to die.

All bad jokes aside, seasonal anime that end up being "reserved" through premium streaming services are a good thing for legally watching anime (see my previous rant on the closing down of Nyaa). But the downside is that all the different services together can cost you quite a bit. Especially with Amazon's model, where you both need an Amazon prime account + an Anime Strike subscription. Both together costing you 16$/month.

At first I would've said that Onihei by itself isn't really worth that much money, since it's only an "above average" anime.

But when I started researching this anime's backstory segment, I ran into so many things that I had to change my opinion completely. Let's get over this one step at a time to show you why I changed my opinion.

V Reviews - Onihei (the Anime)

Backstory - About Onihei Hankacho

Onihei Hankacho (lit: "The Crime reports of Onihei") is a series of light novels written by the late Shōtarō Ikenami (1923-1990). These stories are based around the historical figure of Hasegawa Nobutame, whose name later changed to Hasegawa Heizo - also nicknamed the Onihei (Heizo the oni). The first volume of these novels has been released back in 1967 and ran until the author's death, with the 139th novel released in 1989 (wow, really productive there!).

And the series of novels have received quite a bit of adaptations over the past decades. From 1989 to 2001, there was a TV series on TV Asahi, which also received a movie and several TV specials. Next to that, several of the light novels have been adapted into Kabuki theater plays, the first of them already aired back in 1970.

Promotional image for the regular tv-series

And since 1990 there is a manga adaptation of the light novels as well, which is running to this day and has already amassed 100 different manga volumes.

So to say that Onihei Hankacho is a cultural phenomenon in Japan is kind of an understatement. The show and its main character (Hasegawa Heizo) have been part of the Japanese cultural heritage for decades now. This so much that his character either appears or gets parodied in other manga/anime. Most notable being Hasegawa Taizou from Gintama (who couldn't be further away from the character he's based upon, like most Gintama historical characters).

If you want to know more of the historical figure of Hasegawa Heizo, read the following blog post on My Little Dejima. He goes deep into the history of the person behind Onihei.

So if you think about that, it's actually more surprising that this series NEVER got an anime adaptation before this year. To think it would take a terminally ill producer to make that possible...

Backstory - About Studio M2 & Masao Maruyama's dream projects

If you follow the anime industry as a whole, you may have heard the name Masao Maruyama before. He's a legendary figure who has been present in the industry for over 50 years now. If you want any indication of how long exactly, he stated in an interview that the first anime he ever worked on was the 60s adaptation of Astro Boy (which aired between 1963 and 1967).

Over the course of his career, he worked on dozens of classics and raised talent from the ground up (including legendary directors like Satoshi Kon).

He co-founded Studio Madhouse in 1972 (The Ma from Madhouse comes from his name) and he is one of the main reasons Madhouse became so famous over the years. If you look at the works Madhouse made ever since its existence, most of them were possible due to Mariyama's "producer" powers and influence. You can look up the entire list on Wikipedia, but let's just list a few to make your jaw drop: Trigun, Beck, Chobits, The Girl who leapt through time, Gunslinger Girl, Hajime no Ippo, High School of the Dead, Monster, Nana, Paprika, Summer Wars, etc, etc.

But 2010-2011 were the year of change for Madhouse. Both co-founder Osamu Dezaki and legendary director Satoshi Kon passed away. The studio had financial issues due to (among other things) the anime bubble bursting and the financial crater the movie Redline left behind. To make sure the studio survived, Nippon Television pumped money into the studio and became its major stock holder (and thus becoming the new rulers in that process).

The movie looks amazing, but it was a financial disaster for Madhouse.

But with a new financial ruler at the studio's helm, changes at the top were inbound - whether voluntary or forced, we'll probably never know. First up was obviously the firing of Redline's director Takeshi Koike. Co-founder Dezaki passed away as previously mentioned. Co-founder Shigeyuki Hayashi (Rintaro) left the studio and basically retired. And Masao Maruyama left as well. And with 3 of the 4 co-founders gone, most of the Madhouse directors, animators and other employees started to leave the studio as well.

One of the reasons of Maruyama's departure was the legacy of Satoshi Kon: The unfinished movie "Dreaming Machine" (Yume Miru Kikai). It's not really a secret he felt regret for the financial side-effects of Redline and did not want to repeat that disaster for finishing Dream Machine (he knew it would cost a lot to finish properly).

In order to find the financial means and continue making anime he liked, he founded studio MAPPA in the same year (Maruyama Animation Produce Project Association).

And with Maruyama's name, amazing anime followed as well. Since its founding, MAPPA created hits like Kids on the Slope, Hajime no Ippo the Rising, In this Corner of the World, Rage of Bahamut and also the 2016 "best anime" (according to Crunchyroll) Yuri on Ice.

But in 2016, he first hinted in an interview and further elaborated in a Q&A at Animazement that his health is deteriorating and he probably only has 3-5 years left to live.
(Edit: I took this way too literal when I first wrote this. In reality he just commented on how he's in his 70s and people shouldn't expect for him to live/work in anime forever).

Due to this, he really wants to use his last living years to finish his personal dream projects. But since he doesn't want to put financial burdens on MAPPA (once again reflecting on what happened at Madhouse), he founded a mirror studio to MAPPA, aptly named Studio M2.

This Studio will only focus on the dream projects of Mariyama and thus will push to complete anime like Satoshi Kon's Dream Machine (if Mariyama ever finds a good replacement director), Naoki Urasawa's Pluto and the novel/tv-series Onihei Hankacho. There probably are more, but these are (at the moment) the only ones that have been hinted or confirmed.

Mariyama will be 76 this coming June (born June 19th 1941). Let's hope he is able to live long enough to see most of his dreams see fruition (Pluto, please make Pluto happen! Come on, Pluto).

And in case you were wondering: Yes, Shirobako's Masato Marukawa
is based upon Masao Maruyama (and he IS aware of it).

The Story

Hasegawa Heizo is the long-time head of the Edo era equivalent of the police force: The arson and theft control. His crew and he go around trying to capture (and/or kill) crews of thieves, murderers and other scum. This via an intelligence network he slowly builds up from reformed thieves.

All the while, Heizo himself can be an "oni" on the battlefield, while being an aloof husband to his wife, a caring father to his children and mischievous supervisor to his underlings.

The 13 episodes of this season (+1 OVA) tell stand-alone adventures about Heizo, his crew, his family and former convicts he somehow ends up recruiting along the way. While you can watch the episodes out of order if you want to, each episode has the focus on introducing one or more of the recurring supporting characters. So if you don't want to feel alienated from these people, it's still advised to watch them in order.

The episodes can vary from story and from tone, depending on what story needs to be told. Some of the stories are filled with remorse and making things up for mistakes made in the past. Former criminals trying to reform and seeing how their former friends turn into scum, or how people they thought were their allies will suddenly drop them or even kill them to save their own hides. A recurring theme here is the "three rules of the thief" in Japan (Do not kill, do not steal from the poor and do not rape women) and how some abide by these rules, while others (the scumbags) do not.

Other stories then are a bit more light-hearted. Like the episode were Heizo's pipe is stolen while he was sick and he by accident stumbles upon the man who has stolen it. It's enjoyable to see Onihei play with the poor thief on the one end, as well as his own personal underlings on the other end.

Animation

Yeah, I eventually had to stumble upon this one, eh... While a lot of things are enjoyable about Onihei, the animation is often not that great. The direction, the backgrounds and the basic character animation is good or even great. But the movements can be somewhat awkward at times... and the lighting... Boy, do I have an issue with the lighting. And that's one thing I never thought I would say about an anime.

This is the first time that I see an anime where light and atmosphere is being added in post, as a 3D effect upon 2D images. The result thus also varies between "interesting" (as the choice itself) and really, really awkward to look at.

I can't be the only one noticing something wrong here, am I?

Let's just say that this method works at certain moments, while it just simply distracts at other points in time.

Music

The overall music choices are good. Though i can't really judge how it compares to the TV-series of the same name. Is the same music being used or remixed, or is it entirely new? I dunno.

The most notable thing is once again: The opening theme ("Edo o Hashiru"). It's instrumental and shorter than usual (only 1:00 instead of the usual 1:30), but it's really good. It's like a perfect mix between classic Japanese music and jazz, and it works!

Overall enjoyment

I'm not going to lie: I initially dropped it after the first episode. The first episode had Onihei's crew torturing one of their captives. And while this certainly is a practice that was done in real life in the past; it's not really a positive depiction of your hero and his team IN THE FIRST EPISODE!

"How was the first episode?"
"We nailed it..."

But in order to give accurate feedback for my "halfway point" blog post, I did decide to give it the 3-episode test. I soon found out that the disturbing imagery was only in the first episode and was toned down further down the line. The stories in the following episodes did pick my interest enough to keep watching until the end; even if the series had its high and low points.

After the last episode I was left wondering whether or not I would advice this series to anybody else. And while at first I did come up with a negative answer (it's just average and forgettable), the entire backstory sure does make it worth checking out. Even if only to support Mr Maruyama and help him complete his dream projects.

Overall, I give this series a 7/10. It's not bad, it's "above average".

Check it out if you want to know more about the figure of Hasegawa Heizo, or why Masao Maruyama was interested in him. If not interested in either, then you can easily skip this one.

Until next time, V out.

V Reviews - Saga of Tanya the Evil: Loli goes to World War 1

One of the most notable new anime that aired in Winter Season 2017 was Youjo Senki or Saga of Tanya the Evil. Why? Mostly because the titular character Tanya is a loli in a uniform. And the internet loves to go crazy about loli's in uniform.

You wouldn't dare say no to this face, right?

But is the anime actually any good? Let's find out.

V Reviews - Saga of Tanya the Evil

Backstory

Youjo Senki is a series of light novels written by "Carlo Zen" (no, not that one, since this is obviously a pen name), with illustrations by Shinobu Shinotsuki. Not that much is known about either person. As far as the info I can find, this is the first series Shinobu has illustrated for. And in "Comrade" Carlo's case, he's worked on a few other titles as well.

Carlo has also written the novel series "Yakusoku no Kuni", which ended earlier this year with its fourth volume. He also released a few stand-alone novels (like Gunner Wars) and even helped write scenario's for a few (Japanese) mobile games.

The title of the current story literally translates to "military chronicles of a little girl", but the official English Title has thus been changed to "Saga of Tanya the Evil". And while it sure is more catchy (read: clickbait), it's not 100% true. Because no matter how "evil" the animation studio tries to depict her in the first episode, most episodes her level of "being evil" boils down to being a drill sergeant, or enjoying the destruction of enemies.

The novel series has been novelized since 2013 and already seen 7 novel volumes as of writing, as well as a spin-off manga (since 2016). And in 2017, the newly formed Studio NUT took it upon them to release an anime adaptation of the Light Novel.

You can follow Carlo Zen on twitter at @sonzaix (which translates to: "Being X")

You can follow Shinobu's Pixiv account via: https://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=77203

Story

The start of the story is actually Episode 2, with the first episode being more of an introduction to the characters and the "battlefield" that is the story.

The story thus starts (in ep2) with a Japanese salaryman (whose name is unknown) who has a certain sub-management level and is "responsible" for firing other employees. Through this process he's become quite cold-hearted and sometimes even takes enjoyment in seeing the despair of the employees that are fired.

But one day this habit of his misfires when a fired employee takes revenge and pushes the salaryman in front of an incoming train, thus killing our "evil" main character in the process.

The end...?

But the moment the train should hit the man, time is frozen and the salaryman is confronted by a mysterious "Being X" (technically: God, without mentioning the actual title). Being X condemns the man for not believing in him (even in the face of death) and sentences him to be reborn in a different world (an alternate universe). According to "Being X<", if the man is not able to die of a natural death, or if he continues to refuse to have belief in said "Being X", his soul will leave the circle of life and will be sent to hell for the countless sins he has committed in his previous life.

There's only one (huge) catch... He's being reborn as a little girl (Tanya Degurechaff) in this world's alternative for Germany just a handful of years short of the start of World War 1. Tanya refuses to acknowledge Being X with all her might and stubbornness, but "Being X" also has his ways of "testing" Tanya. This by orphaning her at young age, by starting the Great War, failing tech equipment, etc.

"Err... this isn't even my final form?"

Due to Tanya's stubbornness to not accept Being X, she desperately searches for the best way to reach a "natural death", because the last thing she wants to do is "admit defeat" to God. Since tests had proven she has high magical awareness, she thus enlists herself in the Mage division of the army of the (German) Empire. She hopes that by reaching a high enough rank in the military, she will be able to live a safe and comfortable life.

But since fate doesn't like her, she constantly gets sent to the battlefield and has to face hordes of enemies. She can survive early on due to her tactics/combat awareness and her knowledge of what happened in our universe's World War 1. But how long will she be able to rely on this, when the higher-ups in the military seem to have a mind of their own and don't necessarily want to listen to "this little girl".

"What do you mean? The battlefield... again?"

Characters

	Tanya von Degurechaff: Main character. The salaryman turned Loli who's a tactical genius and the resident drill sergeant to her Mage Squadron. She tries to push her way to the upper echelons of the (not) German army, even is she's a little girl. But her knowledge of the actual first world war, her tactical insight and her magic affinity makes her a valuable asset to the army. Fun side-note: She is voiced by Aoi Yuuki, who also voiced Madoka (Madoka Magica). Quite a polar opposite to our dear Tanya here.
	Viktoriya Ivanovna "Visha" Serebryakova: A timid and somewhat innocent girl and right-hand man, err... woman to Tanya (her adjutant). Similar to Tanya, she's a mage, but she's also somewhat of a person of trust for anyone in the mage squad.
	Matheus Johann Weiss: The Apostle? No, it's just the Vice Captain and second-in-command of the mage squad. Would be the straight man in a comedy duo. But there's no such duo here.
	Kurt von Rudersdorf: One of the leader types that looks so German, only a combo of knackwurst-sauerkraut could top it even more. Together with his companion (Hans von Zettoer), these two are basically commanding the entire (not-)German army. While they clearly can show who is boss to anyone in the army (Tanya included), they're not afraid to ask for her strategic opinion and use that for their own merit.
	Anson Sioux: Most frequently recurring "villain". Part of the (non-)French army, and also part of their mage squadrons. Frequently comes in contact with the "Devil of the Rhine" and loses many comrades in battle due to her. You almost try to root for him to actually take down Tany near the end.

Animation

The animation for Youjo Senki was done by the new studio "Studio NUT", which is founded by producer Takuya Tsunoki and consists mostly of former MAPPA and Madhouse animation talent.

And being a new studio in an over-saturated market with a shortage of available animators, they obviously ran into a few issues. No-no-no, don't misunderstand me. The quality of the show never (really) dropped.

I mean, this IS good animation.

What DID happen was that one episode ended up having a week's delay and one other had to be pushed one day (from Thursday to Friday). Not all that great if you want to give a first impression to possible investors.

Having watched Shirobako, I can understand a few issues they've been having. You never know when production may receive a delay due to unforeseen circumstances, rejections by the original author, etc... And as a new studio, it might be harder to book freelancers for your show in this over-saturated market (the best ones are taken quickly).

Let's hope Studio NUT can overcome these issues and make their next project a success.

Sound

The sound in this anime was great. But more especially, it's the OP and ED song that resonated the most in the community.

Myth & Roid performed the Opening theme "Jingo Jungle", and it's an amazing track. Myth & Roid have only been around since 2015, but they're on a serious roll with anime related tracks, pumping out tracks for Overlord, BBK/BRNK, Re:Zero and now also Youjo Senki.

The ED is performed by the voice actress of Tanya (Aoi Yuuki) and is names "Los! Los! Los!" (lit: "Come on! Come on! Come on!"), and it's REALLY good as well. In fact, it's probably the best ED I've heard in 2017 as of yet.

Overall enjoyment and opinion

This was surprisingly enjoyable to watch. No, Tanya sure isn't as "evil" as the title lets on, but still evil enough for us to enjoy her struggle against being "X". You don't really want her to succeed, but is interesting to see both her successes and failures on her path to survival.

Overall, I give this anime an 8/10. It IS worth a watch, and probably has the best combination OP/ED this year (as of yet).
You can skip the Youjo Shenki (with an 'h') shorts though. While they're interesting and somewhat cute to see, they have little to no value on the actual story.

That's it for me, now. Until next time. V out.