What’s it about? Hanagaki Takemichi is in his late twenties working in a job where his boss doesn’t respect him, is dealing with little kids bullying him, and has to keep apologising to his landlady about how loud his TV is. To top it all off, now he’s also dealing with the news that his middle school girlfriend died in the middle of the Tokyo Manji gang war.
After hearing this news Takemichi is mysteriously pushed onto train tracks and while facing death, he suddenly finds himself travelling back in time to 12 years ago when his ex-girlfriend was still alive. Now he must save her.
Thoughts on this episode? Takemichi has challenged Kiyomasa to a fight and is determined to win, even saying that for Kiyomasa to win he will have to kill him. It’s is a bit dramatic I personally think. Especially when you still need to save someone from dying 12 years later and when you are weaker and less skilled than your opponent…
It’s great to see how far Takemichi’s friends are willing to go for him too. I personally don’t think I would ever be ready to stab Kiyomasa to help Takemichi out.
Fortunately, before Kiyomasa gets the chance to get out his bat the gang’s bosses show up. One is a boy with a tattoo along the side of his head called Ryuuguuji Ken or Draken (Vice-President), and the other an eccentric boy called Manjiro Sano or Mikey (President). Mikey declares Takemichi as his friend.
Mikey is, interestingly, quite young. Mikey and Ken have already been shown to be strong fighters as well. I’m interested in how Mikey became President since he doesn’t show much aptitude so far for leadership. I clearly don’t know enough about how Japanese gangs with high-school students work though since they talked about the ‘attack division’ and ‘host’ – so I assume these will be areas that are further explored in the story.
Mikey shows up to Takemichi’s school the next day, dragging him out of his class. Hinata, in a stroke of bravery but also stupidity, decides to intervene and slaps Mikey. She’s then saved as Takemichi warns Ken not to touch her. Fortunately, once again, the story almost too nicely lets Mikey be fine with this and the gang bosses actually respect Hinata and Takemichi for standing up for each other.
Mikey later talks a bit about his backstory and his desire to create a ‘new’ type of delinquent – which is likely to tie in later into the story with how the Tokyo Manji gang forms. It’s revealed that Mikey likes Takemichi because this new type of delinquent will be people like Takeimichi, people who are willing to risk their life on the line for what they need to do. Mikey comes across as rather carefree, and Takemichi remarks that he struggles to believe that Mikey and Ken in the future are involved in something like the Tokyo Manji gang. The priority therefore becomes making sure Mikey doesn’t met Kisaki Tetta, whom Takemichi sees without realising at the end of the episode.
Jiro’s birthday is August 1st, she is 154cm tall, her blood type is A, and she was born in the Shizuoka Prefecture.
Jiro’s favourite thing is rock and her hairstreaks are drawn similarly to the waves of an EKG (which is considered to be a possible reference to how she uses her earphone jacks to amplify her heartbeat)
Jiro’s preliminary design didn’t undergo much change. The most noticeable difference is that she lacked her hair streaks in her preliminary design.
Jiro and Denki share the same costume designer.
Jiro’s surname contains the kanji for ‘ear’ (耳 ji) and ‘son, male’ (郎 ro). Her first name contains the kanji for ‘sound, reverberation’ (響 kyo) and ‘incense’ (香 ka).
Jior’s first name also contains syllables coming from both of her parents’ names. ‘Kyo’ comes from her father called Kyotoku, and ‘ka’ comes from her mother called Mika. Jiro’s surname is also from her mum’s side of the family!
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What’s it about? Hanagaki Takemichi is in his late twenties working in a job where his boss doesn’t respect him, is dealing with little kids bullying him, and has to keep apologising to his landlady about how loud his TV is. To top it all off, now he’s also dealing with the news that his middle school girlfriend died in the middle of the Tokyo Manji gang war.
After hearing this news Takemichi is mysteriously pushed onto train tracks and while facing death, he suddenly finds himself travelling back in time to 12 years ago when his ex-girlfriend was still alive. Now he must save her.
Thoughts on this episode? It was interesting that the story so early on and bluntly explained that Naoto is linked to Takemichi’s ability to jump back to 12 years ago and is the person who’s able to make this jump happen. Hopefully as the story progresses, they’ll explain how this works, why it happens, and how Naoto figured this out. Naoto’s also done some serious research on the Tokyo Manji gang which is insanely helpful in figuring out what needs to be done to resolve the conflict of the story. Without his knowledge, jumping back in time could end up being pointless for Takemichi.
The animation, voice acting, and soundtrack were also very solid this episode as well. And the story maintains your interest while progressing at a good pace. I have to say this though, and this is just a personal opinion, but gang hairstyles are so strange to see. I understand the style but they look so strange compared to other ‘normal’ hairstyles so I might do some minor research into the history of the style. But I do appreciate that they’ve made Takemichi’s friends so obvious – their differing hair gives them away!
I’m glad that Takemichi has these friends as well. Although they’re not exactly ‘cool’ or good students, they’ve got each other’s backs. Especially as Takemichi tries to save Hinata, which will likely cause some strange situations to witness or explain, it’s good that he can have support both in the past and future to help him.
It’s also nice to see more of Hinata, and how cheerful she seems to be. Without developing Hinata’s character the stakes of the series really aren’t raised. Hopefully she continues to get more screen time and development. It’d be boring to just watch someone jump back through time to try to save someone the viewers know so little, and have no attachment to. So far her and Takemichi’s relationship seems quite nice, and they seem to be quite sweet to each other.
It’s also rather brave of Takemichi to challenge Kiyomizu to a fight, but stupid. He has almost no fighting experience or technique as a child or adult I assume, and now he’s also in his middle school self’s body. This could never end well.
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Nichirin blades are special blades forged from a unique ore that constantly absorbs sunlight. Since this is one of the only major weaknesses of demons, these blades are used by demon slayers to kill demons. A demon slayer’s sword will take on a colour when first, with each colour having a meaning. There’s a variety of colours that the swords can have, and it’s said that each colour imparts certain properties to the blade related to the owner’s breathing style. There are 14 blade colours seen throughout the series, as each correlate to one of the 14 breathing styles demon slayers use. This post covers 7 possible colours that a nichirin blade can be. (To see the other 7 colours’ post, please visit here).
Please be aware that this post contains spoilers for the Demon Slayer manga.
Red
Red swords are wielded by Flame Breathing Style users, such as the Demon Slayers Corps Flame Pillar Kyojuro Rengoku. Rengoku’s red blade is unique because it has a flame patten running down his blade. Flame Breathing Style users mimic fire and flames in their combat and breathing style, especially the powerful burn of fire. Techniques are known to use singular strikes and intense movements. When used properly, the user sees shades or orange and red flames coming from their sword and/or body.
2. Amber
Amber swords are used by Sound Breathing Style users, such as Tengen Uzui who is the Sound Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps. The style is known to imitate sound waves, specifically the disorientating loudness of it. Techniques of this style include utilising an object that creates a massive amount of sound to use powerful attacks and effective confusion techniques to draw in close to opponents, accompanies by fast movements. If used correctly, the user will visualise amber sound waves coming from their weapon and/or body.
3. Lavender
Lavender swords are owned by users of the Serpent Breathing Style, such as the Snake Pillar Obanai Iguro. Users of this style mimic serpents and snakes, especially their movements and bites, in their movements, techniques and swordsmanship. The Serpent Breathing Style’s techniques and forms focus upon twisted and bending one’s sword like a snake and making use of non-direct attacks. When used properly, users will see white, red-like or purple-like serpents emitting from their sword or body parts.
4. Lavender-Blue
Lavender-blue swords are wielded by Insect Breathing Style users, such as the Insect Pillar Shinobu Kocho. Users of this style imitate insect’s stings and movements with their techniques, movements and swordsmanship. Techniques and forms of this style include stabbing, thrusting and making shallow cuts with a specially coated-made sword to inflict multiple wounds onto an opponent. This allows the user to inject various lethal Wisteria-based poisons to demons. When used correctly, users will see specific insects (mostly coloured purple) coming from their weapon and body.
5. Light Pink
Light pink swords are owned by Flower Breathing Style users, such as Kanao Tsuyuri. Users’ movements, techniques and swordsmanship mimics flowers and fruits, and the grace and beauty of them. Techniques and forms of the Flower style require agility and flexibility of users and their weapons. This style is known to enhance one’s vision as well. When properly used, demon slayers using this style will visualise purple, pink and white petal and fruit-like patterns emitting from their body parts or sword.
6. Purple
Purple swords are used by Moon Breathing Style users, such as the demon Kokushibo. Kokushibo is the only user of this style and is a demon with the title of Upper Rank 1. He was one of the first Demon Slayers to use breathing techniques, and as a demon he has enhanced his style using his Blood Demon Art. This allows Kokushibo to create actual sharp crescent moons from his swings. The Moon Breathing combat and breathing styles imitate the crescent shape of the moon, and is expressed in the user’s movements, techniques and swordsmanship. Moon Breathing techniques make use of powerful strikes and movements that follow the shape and pattern of a crescent moon. When used properly, users will see bright yellow or blue crescent moons coming from their weapon and/or body parts.
7. Black
Black swords are very rare and demon slayers who wield black swords tend to not live for very long. Because of this, the symbolism of black swords is unknown. Tanjiro Kamado is a demon slayer who wields a black sword. Theories suggest that Tanjiro’s sword may be black in relation to his past job as a charcoal maker, or because he is a Sun Breathing Style user. Since black is all colours combined and the five main breathing styles are all derived from the Sun Breathing Style, it makes sense why Tanjiro’s sword would be black. Or Sun Breathing Style users may even have a black sword because black is the colour that absorbs the most sunlight, and sunlight is one of the demon’s only major weaknesses. It’s been suggested that the reason demon slayers who wield black swords don’t live long is because Muzan personally would ensure they were hunted down before they could become a threat to him like the first Sun Breathing Style user was. The Sun style combat and breathing style mimics the sun, especially its solar flames and users replicate this with their movements, techniques and swordsmanship. Techniques and forms of this style are very varied and appear to have no set pattern, making it a versatile and effective style against demons. When used properly, users will visualise fairly dark shades of orange and red emitting from their sword or parts of their body.
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What’s it about? Hanagaki Takemichi is in his late twenties working in a job where his boss doesn’t respect him, is dealing with little kids bullying him, and has to keep apologising to his landlady about how loud his TV is. To top it all off, now he’s also dealing with the news that his middle school girlfriend died in the middle of the Tokyo Manji gang war.
After hearing this news Takemichi is mysteriously pushed onto train tracks and while facing death, he suddenly finds himself travelling back in time to 12 years ago when his ex-girlfriend was still alive. Now he must save her.
Thoughts on this episode? Firstly, I have to say this to get it out of the way. This anime is going to be compared to ERASED. It’s just going to happen. Both are premised upon an unsuccessful late twenties man leaping back through time to save a girl from their past. And although I understand this comparison that will be made, I do like that Tokyo Revengers appears a lot more shonen-like (after all, it did win the 44th Kondansha Manga Award of the shonen category in 2020). I think this is a great distinction to make for viewers of this series as Tokyo Revengers comes across as a lot more goal-orientated and action-fuelled than ERASED. While ERASED is focused upon the mystery of who killed the girl, how, and how to stop it – Tokyo Revengers from the get-go establishes that the goal is to save Takemichi’s ex-girlfriend Hinata by interfering with the Tokyo Manji gang.
The anime begins with an exposition focused upon Takemichi and his current lifestyle. Ultimately, he comes across as rather unlikeable during this time. We gather that he lacks motivation, is an annoyingly frequent apologiser, doesn’t have many friends and/or family (considering his last thoughts before dying were about his ex-girlfriend he hadn’t thought about in years), and can barely remember Hinata’s face before jumping back through time despite this series revolving around his want to save her.
Things get particularly interesting though when Takemichi is mysteriously pushed onto train tracks and as he’s facing death, leaps back through time. The question arises here… who pushed him? And why? There’s no answer provided and no hints even really dropped yet so viewers will have to wait to find out.
Which is great! Series that involve a larger mystery should always have smaller mysteries being solved to piece together the puzzle. And this episode definitely delivers on this. Although the series isn’t in a mystery related genre and the protagonist’s is to save Hinata, we still need to find out why she died and how to stop it. Adding in little extra mysteries like who pushed Takemichi, therefore keeps viewers’ interest and helps them piece together the information they’ve given while watching to come to their own conclusions.
I think this is a solid first episode as well in terms of delivering in action and plot progression. Although the characters so far don’t seem too complex or well-developed, we see Takemichi and his friends already go through a rather traumatic beating delivered by another school’s third years when they challenge them to a fight. This event results in Takemichi and his friends becoming ‘slaves’ to these lower ranked guys in the gang that Hinata dies because of. Already the plot pieces are falling into place to allow Takemichi to save her for viewers.
It was also very interesting, and honestly a little surprising, to see confirmation too that Takemichi’s time-travelling is effective. Where in other series there is usually the question floating around of ‘is this actually working? Is anything actually changing?’ thanks to the protagonists’ actions in the timeline, Takemichi already has saved Hinata’s younger brother Noato. When Takemichi travelled back through time to 12 years ago for the first time, he saves Noato from some muggers and tells him that he and Hinata will die 12 years from now. When Takemichi awakens in a hospital room to discover he survived being pushed onto the train tracks Noato informs him that thanks to Takemichi’s words 12 years ago, he survived. However, he couldn’t save his sister.
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Nichirin blades are special blades forged from a unique ore that constantly absorbs sunlight. Since this is one of the only major weaknesses of demons, these blades are used by demon slayers to kill demons. A demon slayer’s sword will take on a colour when first, with each colour having a meaning. There’s a variety of colours that the swords can have, and it’s said that each colour imparts certain properties to the blade related to the owner’s breathing style. There are 14 blade colours seen throughout the series, as each correlate to one of the 14 breathing styles demon slayers use. This post covers 7 possible colours that a nichirin blade can be.
Please be aware that this post contains spoilers for the Demon Slayer manga.
White
Mist style users have white blades, such as the Mist Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps Muichiro Tokito. The Mist Breathing Style mimics mist and vapour, especially its obscurity. Users replicate this with their movements, techniques and swordsmanship to invoke swift strikes and movements. They perform these in a way that confuses and obscures their opponent’s sense and surroundings. When used properly, Mist Breathing users visualises light blue mist and vapour emulating from their sword and/or their body.
2. Green
Wind style users have green blades, such as the Wind Pillar Sanemi Shinazugawa. The Wind Breathing combat style and breathing techniques mimic wind and air. Users imitate powerful air torrents, tornados and whirlwinds with their movements, techniques and swordsmanship. The forms and techniques of the Wind Breathing Style make use of the air around the user to generate powerful wind gushes to enhance striking power. When this style is used property users will visualise wind in a light shade of green coming from their sword and/or their body.
3. Grey
Grey swords are owned by users of the Stone Breathing combat style and breathing techniques, such as the Stone Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps called Gyomei Himejima. This style is known for its techniques, movements and swordsmanship that are study and solid like stone. Unlike the traditional Nichirin Blade though, the Stone Pillar a hand-axe with a spiked flail attached to it via a long grey chain. (This weapon is still made from the same unique ore used to make Nichirin Blades, but with a superior technique). The forms and techniques of this style utilise the ground beneath the user and their surroundings to create powerful offensive and defensive attacks. When used properly, users of the Stone Breathing style will see cracks in the earth around their sword and/or body.
4. Pink
Pink swords are owned by users of the Love Breathing Style. Mitsuri Kanroji, the Love Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, is the only person capable of using this style. Kanroji developed the style thanks to her body’s unique constitution. She’s flexible, agile and the fastest of all the pillars, but possesses inhuman strength due to her having muscles 8 times more dense than normal without losing speed. Unlike other Breathing Styles, the Love Breathing Style is based upon emotions rather than elements or natural phenomena. Because of this, techniques in this style are whip-like and require superhuman flexibility, dexterity, agility and speed. When used properly, users will see pink strikes emanating from their sword and/or body.
5. Indigo-Grey
Indigo-Grey swords are owned by Beast Breathing Style users. This style was created by Inosuke Hashibira and is derived from the Wind Breathing Style. Inosuke developed this style after living in the mountains, and it enhances his sense of touch. The Beast Breathing combat style and techniques imitate beasts and wild animals, particularly their unpredictability and wild nature. Most techniques and forms are known to be straightforward but with unpredictable and wild-seeming attacks and movements. When used properly, the user sees light blue and grey claws and hears loud beast roars coming from their sword and/or body.
6. Yellow
Yellow swords are wielded by Thunder Breathing Style users, such as Zenitsu Agatsuma. Zenitsu in particular has a unique blade colours, as his yellow is actually a lightning strike motif running down his blade. The Thunder Breathing combat and breathing style mimics lighting, electricity and thunder with swift strikes and movements (similar to lighting strikes and the sound of thunder). Techniques and forms are known to involve movements and attacks using blinding speeds to close into targets, and insanely fast movements to overwhelm opponents. When used properly, users will see deep yellow or light blue electricity strike from their sword and/or body.
7. Blue
Blue swords are wielded by Water Breathing Style users, such as the Water Pillar Giyu Tomioka. Blue swords are said to the be the most common colour, since the Water Breathing Style is the most commonly used among Demon Slayers (since it is the easiest for beginners to learn). The style mimics the flow of water and adaptability of water, which is reflected in users’ movements, techniques and swordsmanship. Techniques involve users bending their body, limbs and weapons similar to the flow of water. When used properly, users will visualise water in a deep shade of blue with white wavy patterns that resemble traditional Japanese paintings of waves from their body and sword.
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Studio: Liden Films (also known for The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Berserk and Cells at Work! Code Black)
Synopsis from MAL: Takemichi Hanagaki’s life is at an all-time low. Just when he thought it couldn’t get worse, he finds out that Hinata Tachibana, his ex-girlfriend, was murdered by the Tokyo Manji Gang: a group of vicious criminals that has been disturbing society’s peace for quite some time. Wondering where it all went wrong, Takemichi suddenly finds himself travelling through time, ending up 12 years in the past—when he was still in a relationship with Hinata. Realizing he has a chance to save her, Takemichi resolves to infiltrate the Tokyo Manji Gang and climb the ranks in order to rewrite the future and save Hinata from her tragic fate
Episode Count: Unconfirmed
Genre: Action, drama, school, shounen
The Tokyo Revengers anime is based upon a manga series contained 21 volumes of the same name, written and illustrated by Ken Wakui. It has been serialised in Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine since March 2017 and also has a live-action film set to be released in Japan in July 2021.
As of February 2020, Tokyo Revengers had 3 million copies in circulation and won the 44th Kodansha Manga Award for the shonen category in 2020.
Based upon the trailer and genres, I understand this series to contain lots of action. Since the characters are in gangs too I reckon we’ll see a lot of fights and violence from this show. It’ll be interesting to see how this happens in the anime as it can be hard to keep fights, especially longer ones, entertaining for an audience. Since this series isn’t set in a sci-fi, hero or fantasy type world either it’ll be interesting to see if each character will have a set style and unique fighting patterns to make watching more engaging.
The question surrounding why the ex-girlfriend died too is something I’m keen to see progress throughout the story line. Will the anime explore this as a mystery and investigation? Or does the main character already know what they need to do to save her?
The other thing about this series that I’m hoping lives up to expectations is the characters. Their character designs are quite cool – especially the blonde-haired guy with the flowing jacket and hair I wish I could have. Since they’re high school students and in gangs it’ll be interesting to see how they develop these characters, and what their backstories and personalities will be like.
Starting next week then, I’ll be posting my episode reviews here on my blog. I’m looking forward to doing this since I’ve been wanting to try to do this episode review format for a while, and want more practise reviewing media. Hopefully the anime will be good too.
I always have a tough time deciding what anime to watch when new seasons roll around. Honestly, I’m not the biggest fan of watching something weekly so usually I just wait until more episodes are out before starting. For example, with Haikyuu! to the Top and Attack on Titan final season I had already read further ahead in the manga so I was happy to wait a bit until a few episodes were out before starting to watch. This method also allows me to get a feel for what’s good each season instead of feeling like I’ve wasted my time by watching multiple series that I end up not being interested in.
With this in mind though I’ve been wanting to get back into the swing of reviewing media. And so, I’ve made a commitment with myself to choose an anime to review weekly for the Spring 2021 season. It’ll be good practise for me.
Out of the full list of anime releasing this season, these ones in particular have stood out to me and now I need to see which one I want to review.
Firstly, and most obviously for anyway who follows me on Twitter, I’m going to be watching My Hero Academiaseason 5. I love this anime and therefore will not comment further.
Mars Red
Studio: Signal.MD (also known for Tantei Team KZ Jiken Note and Recovery of an MMO Junkie)
Release date: April 5
Synopsis from MAL: MARS RED is based on a dramatic stage reading by director Bun-O FUJISAWA. It is the first anime to be adapted from this source material. Taking place in 1923, MARS RED is set in a time period where vampires have existed for quite some time. As of late, the number of vampires has increased and a strange, artificial blood source named Ascra has surfaced. In response, “Code Zero”, an army unit tasked with combatting the vampires, is created by the Japanese government. The ironic part? They are using vampires to aid in their fight. It’s Code Zero’s job to look into this mysterious increase and stop it before it becomes an uncontrollable threat to society.
It is really interesting to me that this story is actually based upon a sound theatre piece. The animation looks beautiful in the trailer, especially the backgrounds which have a wonderful painting-like texture look to them. The white-haired guy’s character design is amazing too and I wish I could one day look that cool. I also love gas masks in designs in general so it’s an easy way to win me over. The pink-haired guy also looks really interesting. The story concept from the synopsis also seems solid. My only concern with this trailer is that since this anime is set during a war with soldiers and/or vampires as the main characters, I would assume there would be more action in the anime. The trailer was a bit lackluster in this regard, so I don’t think I’ll do weekly reviews for this one but hold out to see what people think of it and might just watch it on my own in order to not get my hopes up what could be an amazing anime.
The Way of the Househusband
Studio: J.C. Staff (also known for Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, , A Certain Magical Index, One-Punch Man season 2, Toradora!, and The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.)
Release date: April 8, exclusive to Netflix
Synopsis from MAL: This is the anime adaptation for the manga The Way of the Househusband created by Kousuke Oono. In the series, “the Immortal Dragon,” once the fiercest member of the yakuza and a legend in the underworld, leaves it all behind to walk a more honest path– the path of the househusband. Comedy arises when Tatsu tackles new challenges, like supermarket sales and cooking, and adapts to his new life as a stay-at-home husband.
I love this manga so much. I’ve read volumes 1-4 and they’re so good. The Disastrous Life of Saiki K is also a comfort show of mine so I’m keen for this. In the trailer though the animation is a bit disappointing since it seems a bit too stilted, almost like they’re just manga panels redrawn. But it might just be how the trailer was cut together so I’ll have to wait and see. The voice acting for Tatsu was perfect as well and exactly how I imaged him sounding when reading the manga. I’m going to be biased while watching this so I’d rather watch it on Netflix myself to give myself another comfort show.
Burning Kabaddi Studio: Domerica (also known for Flying Witch Petit and Ninjala)
Release date: April 2
Synopsis from MAL: Burning Kabaddi’s story follows first-year high school student Tatsuya Yoigoshi, a Former ace soccer player who dislikes sports. He gets invited to join a team for the contact sport, Kabaddi. He scoffs at the idea at first but becomes interested after watching a Kabaddi practice.
This anime looks good! The trailer I think explains the sport and plot context well enough to be interesting, and the characters seem appealing. Might watch it, might not – so I probably won’t review this weekly because I’m not too certain yet if I’d like it.
Subarashiki Kono Sekai the Animations Studio: Domerica (also known for Flying Witch Petit and Ninjala)
Release date: April 10
Synopsis from MAL: Neku Sakuraba, a 15-year-old boy with a hobby for music and graffiti, wakes up in what seems to be the Shibuya shopping district of Tokyo, Japan. With no idea why he’s there, he opens his hand to realize he is holding a strange black pin. After flipping it with his hand, the thoughts of the people surrounding him begins to flow into his head at once. Surprised, Neku discovers he is able to read the minds of others and assumes it has something to do with the black pin he is holding. A cell phone starts to ring in his pocket, and he can’t tell whether it is his or not. A text message appears: “Reach 104. You have 60 minutes. Fail, and face erasure. -The Reapers.” After discovering he can’t delete the message, a timer of 60 minutes imprints onto his right hand. Neku is in Shibuya to play the “Reapers’ Game,” which spans a total of seven days. All Players of the Reapers’ Game have a black pin with a skull embedded on it.
I remember playing this game when I was younger with my dad. Although I can’t remember at all what the plot was actually about. I’m keen for this anime to come out so I’d rather watch it myself than review it, especially since it’s created by Nomura who’s also the Kingdom Hearts creator so I’ll probably end up with a soft spot for it.
Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood Studio: Bakken Record (also known for Weatering with You and Pandora to Akubi)
Release date: April 7
Synopsis from MAL: Set in alternate history Japan in 1931 and the 64th year of the Meiji era, the Tokugawa shogunate was never abolished and Emperor Meiji was never restored to power. The anime will follow the activities of “Nue,” an organization of shogunate executioners who enforce the government. The country has developed its own energy source, the “dragon vein,” and has achieved a unique development in which science and the Edo period are mixed. However, behind the glamorous city, the dissident organization Kuchinawa strives to overthrow the administration, while the Nue of the Tokugawa regime, who was entrusted with its extermination, are in conflict. Sawa Yukimura, whose family was killed when she was young, continues to search for Janome, the executioner of the Nue.
This plot seems very interesting and the main character seems like she’d be great to watch. The animation seems very high quality and honestly rather Demon Slayer like in style for its characters and surroundings. The music in the trailer is a bit of a turn off for me though, I think because it’s just not the style I’d personally use for this type of trailer’s storyline. When the music starts the trailer starts cutting scenes more quickly which is a bit too much of a stark contrast to its previous fairly well-paced and storytelling-like rhythm. I think that’s just what’s throwing me off here. I am keen for this anime though and will probably watch parts of it.
Godzilla Singular Point Studio: Bones (also known for My Hero Academia, Ouran High School Host Club, Soul Eater, Space Dandy, Snow White with the Red Hair, Bungo Stray Dogs, Mob Psycho 100, Carole and Teusday and SK8 the Infinity) and Orange (also known for Land of the Lustrous and Beastars)
Release date: March 25, exclusive to Netflix
Synopsis from MAL: This series features an original story, which depicts the young geniuses Mei Kamino, a female researcher, and Yun Arikawa, a male engineer, as they take on an unprecedented threat with their companions. When danger comes up from the depths, only young geniuses Mei, Yun, and their team can face the threat in Godzilla Singular Point!
Bones is one of my favourite studios so I’m so excited for this anime! Anything Godzilla with some cool monsters I usually enjoy too, so extra ready for this series. I loved the music choice in the trailer as well. Another series I think I’ll watch on Netflix and enjoy for myself.
Tokyo Revengers
Studio: Liden Films (also known for The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Berserk and Cells at Work! Code Black)
Release date: April 11
Synopsis from MAL: Takemichi Hanagaki’s life is at an all-time low. Just when he thought it couldn’t get worse, he finds out that Hinata Tachibana, his ex-girlfriend, was murdered by the Tokyo Manji Gang: a group of vicious criminals that has been disturbing society’s peace for quite some time.
Wondering where it all went wrong, Takemichi suddenly finds himself travelling through time, ending up 12 years in the past—when he was still in a relationship with Hinata. Realizing he has a chance to save her, Takemichi resolves to infiltrate the Tokyo Manji Gang and climb the ranks in order to rewrite the future and save Hinata from her tragic fate.
This series gives me Erased vibes, and I’m down for anything mystery/murder/gang related. Action is always good as well which this series seems to have. The character designs so far are interesting and I’m intrigued by who I assume to be the main antagonist with his remarkable hair and flowing coat. This seems like a series that I could easily watch 12 episodes of while not being too interested in to care that I have to wait weekly for episodes. I also think that it looks solid enough to not fall apart after a few episodes – so this seems to be the winner for which series I’m be reviewing weekly!
I’m upset about this topic. But we’re not here to listen to me complain about The Promised Neverland (TPN) Season 2. We’re here to discuss theories as to why someone thought it was a good idea to take out the arguably best arc of the entire series – Goldy Pond.
Original Anime Content
The anime has chosen to include original content. Yet Goldy Pond was most readers’ favourite arc, so it’s surprising to see that it’s not included.
A statement was made that Kaiu Shirai, the writer of TPN manga, would be supervising the series to add ‘original scenarios.’ Because the manga suffered from rushed arcs, especially towards the ending of the series, and due to the manga’s negative feedback regarding this – original anime content would allow for the anime to progress past the manga’s ending or to expand upon topics that the author wants to spend more time on. Chosen arcs could be reconstructed at a healthier pace. If Shirai wants to focus upon this, then that might a reason Goldy Pond was cut.
This is still strange for viewers though, as people initially thought when hearing this announcement that the ‘original scenarios’ was going to be filler. So the choice to cut all of the Goldy Pond arc has only heightened people’s confusion regarding what direction the anime is going in and/or why since the story has skipped a lot of manga content.
Maybe Shirai thought that Goldy Pond for the anime was too much of a ‘change’ to the story. Instead of going from escaping an orphanage, to learning about the outside world, to action fighting against demons possibly they wanted to stick to a more ‘streamlined’ story and focus upon anime original content.
Goldy Pond is Going to Appear Later into the Anime
Because the Goldy Pond arc can be argued to take place in a self-contained setting, the creepy hunting grounds could theoretically appear later in the anime. Goldy Pond could be in a different location, and so it could be introduced in season 3.
The Taboo of Firearms
In Japan firearms is a large taboo. DJ Milez has made the comparision that since TPN isn’t as ‘mature’ a story as a series like Attack on Titan where there is more violence, gore and mature themes compared to TPN, perhaps firearms being shown in the anime wasn’t something anime creators wanted to do. Especially since TPN features children as the main characters learning how to use firearms and using them frequently. And not in a military context which can be deemed ‘okay’ compared to TPN. Maybe the producers are just trying to avoid parents complaining about their children watching fictional children using guns to kill demons.
To Reintroduce Norman
Norman wasn’t reintroduced to the TPN manga until years into its weekly serialisation. He didn’t make his full reappearance until practically the last 1/3rd of the manga. This could translate to at the earliest, Norman reappearing in the anime late into season 3.
It’s been suggested that TPN anime wanted Norman reintroduced because they were concerned about losing such a popular character for such a long period of time.
To Finish the Anime Quickly
For a manga that had such a large audience, and a first anime season that was popular, studios don’t tend to feel like they need to compress or even skip parts of the story out of a fear of not getting a second season. This is even particularly weirder for a Shonen Jump story, where there a very few examples of their stories getting this sort of treatment.
However, because of how rushed season 2 is people theorise that TPN anime was trying to wrap out within two seasons. (There could have also been undisclosed production delays, COVID-19 affected progress, we’re not sure – but this could of resulted in perhaps less episodes or just general production disruption and they cut Goldy Pond). The show could still finish off with a Season 2, Part 2 – which wouldn’t include enough time for the Goldy Pond arc.
Goldy Pond might have been determined to be the arc that’s cut from the series because it is not ‘necessarily’ needed for the overall plot of TPN. Instead, it’s more focused upon character development, introducing new characters, story world building, and focusing upon the children learning how to navigate, learn more about, and fight in the world.
But even if the reason why the Goldy Pond arc was cut due to wanting to finish the anime quickly, it’s still strange that it wasn’t compressed and instead cut completely since that is where the children of Grace Field in particular had the most character development.
Separate Content
Since TPN has already been adapted into a live-action movie and Amazon apparently has the license to create a live-action, English TPN series the Goldy Pond arc could be made as separate content. Perhaps, Goldy Pond will be a separate timeline in an OVA or film – and viewers will be easily signalled about this alternative timeline because in the anime ‘HELP’ was written on the wall instead of ‘POACHERS’ like in the manga. Anime references to the arc such as Yugo’s biscuit tin being mouldy can also signal to viewers that in an alternative timeline, someone is living in the bunker if they’re shown non-mouldy biscuits.
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Her surname contains the kanji for ‘frog’ (蛙) and ‘puff’ (吹?), and her first name contains ‘plum’ (梅) and ‘rain’ (雨). When written together, her first name translates to ‘rainy season.’
2. Asui’s favourite thing is the rainy season and her favourite food is jelly.
3. She was originally conceived as a male character but was turned into a female character because Class 1-A lacked girls. This is also happened with Toru Hagakure.
4. Asui shares the same costume designer with Momo, Minda and Mineta.
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