At least he is self aware.
What ho, readers. This week, and for next week, the Autumn Season Anime 2017 review posts will be falling on the weekend, due to the author’s work schedule. As such we are now proceeding with the fourth week of reviews! Things have been a little shaky so far for a couple shows, but others have become more enjoyable that one would have assumed based on the first episodes. This week, the trend for both of these things would appear to continue, as some shows manage to get better and some sink still further into confusion. One show seems to just be stagnating altogether. Which shows are progressing nicely and which seem to have hit a wall altogether? Well, the only way to know is to continue reading, so let the reviews begin.
Black Clover Episode 4
These birds swarm around people with low magical power.
This week’s episode of Black Clover is actually a pretty good one. The series had something of a rough start, mainly because the voice actor for the main character needs to be crucified for having such a terrible voice and doing nothing but screaming all the time, as he is quick to point out himself at one point in this episode. It is nice to know the creators are aware of the complaints viewers are going to have. One might argue that this is the way the character is written intentionally to set up some sort of growth for the character the further one gets in, but this is a bad choice if it draws all attention away from the show itself. Thankfully, the show seems to be trying to change this up as this episode starts with Asta and Yuno, orphans from a small country church, finally arrive at the main capital city, aptly named the Royal Capital. As luck would have it, the time it took for them to travel the insane distance to the capital was exactly the right amount of time, as they arrive right as the trials for joining the Knights are beginning. Asta eats some kind of fried eel on the way, and then things kick off as dozens of people are introduced at once. This includes the different captains of each regiment of knights, each unique (and actually quite cool looking) and each apparently so strong they would be able to crush every rookie in the room a thousand times over. The episode proceeds as one would assume it would with various tests for the hundreds of potential candidates. Yuno amazes everyone with his skills, having no trouble with any of the tests and scoring higher than most everyone there. Asta, on the other hand, fails miserably with every single test. There is a character who follows Asta through all of his tests, encouraging him not to give up. This character is probably the highlight of the episode, being quite amusing and having a great vocal tic. It turns out the only reason he has been helping Asta stick with it is that he wants an easy win when they get to the final test, a one on one duel where they are finally allowed to use their grimoire. The best part about this whole episode is that the viewer is not forced to wait for the next episode to see the duel happen, and the duel itself is definitely the highlight of the episode. This week was definitely a good step in the right direction, with the trial portion taking surprisingly less time than expected.
The Ancient Magus Bride Episode 4
This week’s episode includes a flashback to Reetin’s mom shortly after he was born.
After the dragons, where could Chise and Ainsworth possibly go that could really top that excitement? The answer, of course, is a kingdom run entirely by cats. After an amusing train scene, the duo arrives, having once again been sent to assist with a problem as they arrive and find that the cats are capable of talking. In this universe, cats actually do have nine lives and some have been around for many many lifetimes. The leader and king of the kingdom is actually not a male cat and is quite majestic compared to every other character so far. the “king” tells Ainsworth that a dark spirit has returned to life that all of the cats killed before, giving a flashback history of a man who used to live in the area and would capture and kill cats seemingly for no reason. The cats finally have had enough and all come together to tear the man to pieces, but apparently, this left a dark spirit behind. It is at this point that Ainsworth confesses he is no good at the kind of magic that would expel dark spirits, as his power comes from darkness, to begin with, so it is up to Chise to do it. The short version is basically that Chise must embrace her inner Yuna and perform a sending on the dark spirit so that it will pass on peacefully and stop being an evil monster. So Yuna puts on her robe and grabs her magic stick and calls upon one of the faeries from the first episode for assistance, as the magic being performed will be wind-based and the Ariels are strong in wind. Things get interrupted here as two sorcerers arrive and interrupt Chise in the middle of her ritual. Apparently, Mages follow laws and codes in this universe while sorcerers are all anarchists, living only for themselves and using their magic to do selfish things regardless of the laws. The episode ends with Chise in their hands and Ainsworth watching on while the sorcerers discuss some dark things. All in all, this episode is a little slow, but it is interesting to see the cats and the dark spirit, as well as some other random flashbacks that happen. It is also nice to get some information about who could end up being the villains of the series, with the knowledge that sorcerers are usually evil meaning that there will probably be a really strong one who comes against Ainsworth at some point soon. It is good to see that at least two of the shows are going strong so far…
Dies Irae Episode 3
Someone is showing powers, what is this madness?
One of the biggest problems so far with Dies Irae has been the pacing. While the characters are pretty enjoyable as a whole, nothing at all has been accomplished. Starting with an episode 0 really did not help, since all it did was show the potential of a lot of the villains that have not been shown at all since then. This week, the trend sort of continues, but some steps towards something actually happening are also taken, so it is something of a mixed back. With the last episode ending on a handful of the villains coming to the high school, one would assume that this means there would be some real conflict happening, but all it really results in is some loose threats being thrown around without much actual action. The red-headed girl says that she could easily wipe out the entire school without so much as a thought, but nothing really comes of it. The only real movement happens towards the end of the episode, but even this is a little confusing. Mostly what is accomplished is that they set up the next episode to hopefully finally explain the plot while showing some more crazy powers. One wonders if familiarity with the visual novel that this is based on is required to really know what is going on, and in fact, this author plans to download and play through the game in hopes of finding out if this is the case. Basically, the episode ends with the reveal of who has been committing murders in towns, and then the main character finally shows some signs of having some sort of powers, which is interesting to see but it is actually very little to lead off with. One hopes that the next episode finally kicks off events and that the prologue really is finally over.
Sengoku Night Blood Episode 4
This is basically the entire premise of the show.
The most disappointing series so far continues to be disappointing, unfortunately. The weird raccoon man approaches the female lead and tells her that he may have a lead on where the girl she is obviously supposed to be the replacement for maybe and says that she must journey to find her. Oddly enough, the location seems to be back with the cat boys from the previous episode. On the way, there is some rain and since she is just a frail, weak girl the lead gets sick, and if someone is wondering these characters names then this is the wrong review because this author refuses to try and remember any of these boring characters by name anymore. They take her to the cat boy clan and they agree to let her stay there until she stops having a cold. Of course, this just ends up being an excuse for all of the boys to dote on her as she recovers slowly, and the end result is that a couple of the boys also get sick, so she has to care for them. Eventually, the clan reveals that they have no idea where the woman is they are searching for, so nothing is resolved and the only thing that happens once again is the introduction of some more pretty boys to dote on the main lady. If it was not obvious, this show has been terrible from the first episode, with each episode being more or less the same as the week previous, and nothing interesting happening at all. Due to this, this will be the last review of this series for the season, as this author will no longer put up with watching a show. Four episodes are enough time for an anime to accomplish at least something interesting, and this one has done nothing in this regard.
With this sad news, we reach the end of the week once again. Was it worth it? Well, for the most part, the shows have proven that they can at least have interesting characters, all but the one that will no longer be spoken about. Of course, it is to be expected that there will be bad shows, but this is the first that will actually be dropped. A first for the Lusipurr Anime Extravaganza! Anyway, for the most part, the shows have been watchable, so hopefully, they remain that way for the rest of the season. As a reminder, the next post will be next weekend, and then the regular schedule will return with the posts coming on Thursdays every week. Until then, how are people enjoying this season? Leave a comment below about your work, even if you have to put in a fake email so we can speak to you! For now, and until next week, thanks for reading and keep on watching.
