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The Vermilion Mask is a brash revenge thriller with "misfits finding each other" undertones in between the fighting and fleeing. Purveyors of shounen angst would do well to give it a shot. Unless I hear word of it growing up and de-angsting a bit, I'll chalk my own apathy up to personal tastes. ❌

The scariest aspect of Horror Collector is the notion people might honestly dig it. It's incompetent at horror and too sluggish to work as inadvertent comedy. The saturation is overkill, the acting is ham-fisted, and everything's hideously off-model. Take this production out back and shoot it. ❌

100

an appropriate number of fears

010

Firefly Wedding's premiere was tense and made me squirm—a hallmark of great horror, which, to be fair, the series basically is. It's also stuffed with threats of SA hinged on the pretext of eventual romance. I'm not saying it can't get there, but it's playing with fire. My extinguisher is nearby. ⏸️

Anime made as a vessel for real creators' passions and anime born to satisfy corporate partnerships aren't always mutually exclusive, but Tetsuryou, the latest offering from a 20-year-old multimedia entity about girls that like trains, lands like an emotionless chore emblematic of the latter. ❌

200

Y'all remember Magical Girl Raising Project? I barely do, and this spin-off Restart with a new cast and setting seem primed to do the "last magical girl standing" concept again. I stuck out S1 to eventual indifference, and even in a season this week, repeating history doesn't seem advisable. ❌

Suikoden: The Anime adapts the apparently cult classic game's narrative (I genuinely hadn't even heard of it until this week, but I live under a gaming rock. grain of salt and all). A different medium and 30~ years of aging haven't benefited this adaptation, which flatly goes through the motions. ❌

100

Dandivine has the "plot-second, sell kids to toys first" vibe up the wazoo, straight down to the plot also being about selling kids to toys. Ngl fam, I kinda checked out in the opening minutes here. This has been a tedious crawl of a premiere cycle. Whatever I'm looking for, this show is not it. ❌

100

Magic Knight Rayearth's modern reboot pays respect to its source's age and aesthetic sensibilities. Everything's sorta spruced up, but the CLAMPy magical girl look is very much intact. Neither of those elements are my cup of tea at all, but if this is what you love, it appears to be in good hands. ❌

100

Thought exercise: take a protagonist from a fantasy realm and give them the internet. How might it challenge or grow their character? The World's Strongest Witch can't even begin to broach such a simple question. Its heroine is worse than a blank canvas—she's an easel passed off as a painting. ❌

100

Neither wholly satirical nor glazing copaganda, Super Psychic Policeman Chojo's sharp humor and glimpses of humility made this premiere one of the season's breeziest. Idk if its side cast will fare as kind or if the series' ceiling will lower fast, but I don't mind finding out for myself. ⏸️

Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden is a lot of things. Internally comprehensible isn't really one of them. The production has enough visual polish and hare-brained ideas that folks craving something *interesting* might get strung along, but imo its brand of pomp tends to have diminishing returns. ❌

100

This may be uncharitable, but some "character dramas" are so cloying through stock blandness that I fear they leak an author's active disinterest in the wider bounties of life. The Cold Sato-san is Only Sweet to Me isn't superlatively awful in this regard, but it might as well be trying to be. ❌

100

The Laid-Off Cheat-Granting Mage Enjoys a Second Lease on Life is a boilerplate "kicked out of my guild, newly appreciated by flirty women" fantasy thing with noteworthy, above-average direction. Shame it's in service of such a dud script. ❌

100

6 hours of driving, 90 minutes of everything everything, 1 night to feel like a fat child in a push chair old enough to run, 0 regrets

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Yatahaze @yatabro.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Big Formula must answer for their incompetence

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Fret not, I didn't forget about The Apothecary Diaries' third season, just watching it with a pal on Mondays going forward. Lots of methodical setup here as expected. Pretty much all of it should go places, in both the figurative and literal senses. Production's...fine. We take these. We have to. ✅

100

Yatahaze @yatabro.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Psyren smacks of hotheaded death game cheese. Its source material's dated origin (late aughts manga) explains its aesthetic garishness, but doesn't necessarily justify it. There's a fine line between a brash, juvenile time that's fun and one that's just bitter. This feels more like the latter. ❌

100

Yatahaze @yatabro.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Hello, I Am a Witch and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion has some grounded world-building going on in the background but a protagonist so drab and dreary that the show ends up about as engaging as watching paint dry. The more patient among you may have a finer time with it. Big shrug here. ❌

100

Yatahaze @yatabro.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

So What's Wrong with Getting Reborn as a Goblin? Well, apparently you only live for a week, unless you've been blessed with good reincarnation genes, in which case you live for eighty years just because. Oddly specific power trips, dull storyboards, and untrimmed fat all hold this one back. ❌

Better late than never, You and I Are Polar Opposites' final weeks were slightly hampered by production delays and narrative padding, but S2 continued to resonate warmer than the sum of its parts. One of anime's most personable and kind-hearted teenage rom-coms ever. Worth your time. I'll miss it.

030

As a resuscitated shoujo isekai originally written decades ago, From Far Away had me worried this adaptation would be another Red River-ish disaster. It's not anywhere near that dated or distressed, but it's rather unremarkable nonetheless. Workable plot beats so far burdened with flat execution. ❌

"everything new" means everything new, so yes, I watched today's three (!!!) h3nt@i titles. I cannot stress enough that you don't have to. ❌ ❌ ❌

130

Tank Chair's brooding whiplash doesn't really land in a production this uncanny. I've been kind to Polygon Pictures' CG in the past if it fits the atmosphere, but their whole aesthetic feels irreverent in ways that undermine the show's edgy foundation and its attempts at jovial rug pulls. ❌

100

Even Though I’m a Super Timid Noble Girl, I Accepted the Bet From My Cunning Fiancé, or "Yowaki MAX" for short, once again asks "can you be made Important™️ in Another World™️ by paying attention in school?" The answer, as always: "who cares when the production is this flat?" ❌

220

Uncle's Obsession with Cute Things has a heart of gold but needs a more discerning script—the Chief's monologues take up too much space, killing precious time between a few genuinely funny gags. Could evolve into a capable "we've all been there" workplace/family comedy. Not a must-watch rn though. ⏸️

100

In the same vein as putting glittery neon icing on a moldy cake, Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship gains a few points for not spawning its reincarnated gamer in a medieval fantasy, and then loses them again by doing all the same tropes that it would if it had. ❌

It's with no real pleasure I must announce Even the Student Council Has Its Holes is this fall's first premiere directed with blazing passion and memorable personality. Beware: said character is unflinchingly raunchy, but I can't lie, I had a blast. Won't blame anyone for abhorring this, though. ✅?!

240

I don't mind I'm Looking For a Zombie moe-fying its zombie apocalypse for the sake of banter, but the cast is awfully one-note. You've got the psycho, the pretty face, the muscle, the small one, and the brains, and they abide by these archetypes without reprieve. Turns it all into a drag quick. ❌

Vertex Force's gazey shots have been widely noted, and they're especially ineffective due to the unflattering CG. The official subs also need tweaking and I doubt I'll be on board for the long haul, but the world-building has enough creativity and thrust for me to *want* to like it. It's a start! ⏸️

100

Putting aside the fact the original Sgt. Frog already aired over 300 episodes this century, here's some more, I guess. This premiere assumes a lot of familiarity with the cast, which I suppose is no problem for domestic audiences and admittedly kept it from dragging its feet. Solid for kids' TV! ❌

The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom embodies a storybook aesthetic with virtually no character conflict aside from some ambassador positions looming over the main septet of brothers. It's inoffensive, maybe even admirable, but ultimately too passive an experience for its own good. ❌

If it had worse production, I'd probably drop Romelia War Chronicle without a second thought. Given the presumably dire state of the season, above-average direction and a quietly headstrong protagonist like Romelia boost its stock a bit. Not quite invested yet, but no instant deal-breakers either. ⏸️

A Tale of the Secret Saint is built on the "I was too powerful in my former life, now I just wanna chill" formula, and with potent dosage it'd be a fix I'm partial to, but this premiere just washed over me. Bland execution of textbook plot beats ain't gonna cut it out here. ❌

120

Credit where due, a name like Magical Explorer doesn't spell the entire show out clear as day. Allow me to do that part: suave scarf boy finds himself cast as the third wheel in an eroge he's played. Circumstances differ. It's more boring than it is lowbrow, but I bet it'll be both before long. ❌

Yatahaze @yatabro.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

hey it's me, I got four hours of sleep last night, worked a full busy shift, and spent my whole evening at a phone store, just in time to fall extremely behind on the busiest day of the premiere cycle. what mercy do I harbor? let's see Magic Repo Man finna be smol bean revenge fantasy slop. yawn. ❌

111

Like last season's Chainsmoker Cat, a show whose premiere I found artistically capable but personally unwatchable, FX Fighter Kurumi-chan's pilot gets its kicks through a protagonist's inherited, life-consuming addiction. Maybe it could serve as someone's wake-up call. I don't need any such alarm. ❌

Yatahaze @yatabro.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

spent all evening on the porcelain with an IBS flareup, so I'm in an especially ungrateful mood rn, and Overgeared is the first recipient of today's disdain. Competent (not even standout) production can only get it so far—"dull gamer guy is also dull in the game" ain't exactly a captivating pitch. ❌

Yatahaze @yatabro.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Still not sure whether to blame the original material or this adaptation's flaccid production (why not both?) but The Ramparts of Ice spent all of S1 squandering my goodwill. S2's premiere hints at getting unrequited crushes out in the open—it's about time!—but I'm still checked out on it. ❌

100

Yatahaze @yatabro.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

fall 2026 seasonal anime first impressions thread as usual: ✅ = impressive premiere, likely keeper. ⏸️ = need more material to decide if I'm sticking with it weekly. not ruling out a later binge ❌ = not for me and/or not enough panache for me to care. chart's lookin' slim. prepare for the worst

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Yatahaze @yatabro.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Grow Up Show's wishy-washy competitiveness is apt—it's a mostly fun and games production about mostly fun and games operations, selectively analyzing why its various circus girls find the drive to keep doing their thing. A charming time, if a bit too lightweight to clock as a seasonal frontrunner.