Happy new year (again), and welcome to our first full season of “Up to Snuff*”. We’re going to be unveiling all sorts of things as part of the column this season – different weekly polls, new bonus questions, more bonus features. But to start things off, we’re keeping it very simple as everyone gets into the flow of a new season.

This week’s poll is as simple as it gets: What was the best first episode of the season? This is not limited to new series – carryovers are eligible as well. As you can see from the results, Mob Psycho 100 II was the clear winner (which is in itself not a surprise – it’s garnered raves just about everywhere, not just here). But what you may not get a sense of is just what a free-for-all the voting was – these five series made the cut, but a huge number got votes from at least one writer. That’s the fun of a new schedule – it’s like opening day in baseball when every team is in first place, and all dreams seem possible…

Without further ado, here are Winter’s premiere results:

* Name subject to change


 

Weekly Staff Poll


Mob Psycho 100 II – 14 points (2 first-place votes)
Dororo (2018) – 11 points (1)
Yakusoku no Neverland – 6
Boogiepop wa Warawanai – 6
Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai – 5 (1)
Pingu in the City – 5 (1)

20 Comments

      1. As a Bandori fan, it is literally everything you could want.

        As an idol/band fan, it feels like s2 is going to dive into how PoppinParty becomes an awesome band.

        Every other band is in there so we got Afterglow, Roselia, Hello, Happy World!, and Pastel Palletes.

        That and I’m a shmuck so don’t forget that :’)

        Takaii
      1. Probably talking about reddit. The first episode thread was also guilded by a crapton. Also, from someone who got bored on the manga fast, I was blown away by the production value of the anime adaptation.

        Reikakou
  1. Reddit, 4chan, MAL… there’s also a LOT of excitement in JP, I’ve been told, but I don’t know that by personal knowledge.

    Heck, it even trended near the top pages on Twitter.

    Mentar
      1. Hmm, I stand corrected, you are right. Strange. On MAL Mob, Neverland, Tate and Dororo are currently above Kaguya-sama. I wonder if I confused Manga ratings (currently 8.67 for Kaguya-sama)? Anyway.

        Kaguya-sama _did_ have the lead on reddit. The episode bot got gilded with 30 silver, 20 gold and 10 platinum, which was kinda hilarious. Then again, Kaguya-sama the manga is the darling of reddit and the Xchans, so no big surprise there.

        Anyway, as long as you have someone covering it, I’m not complaining 😉

        Mentar
  2. Dororo is definitely intriguing. I kinda get a darker Natsume vibe from it;
    maybe more like Gegege no Kitarou as well. Slowly, they’re explaining “things”
    about him and it’s pretty clever and he’s episodically finding himself.

    Endro~! was great for what it is, and it was a strong first ep. For some reason
    the Demon Lord reminds me of Klem from Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu.
    I think it’ll be fun watch.

    Girly Air Force wasn’t a bad 1st either. I thought the dynamics between the
    two characters was pretty sincere. Although I don’t see it much more than as
    a plain harem series (did you see what I did there :)), it’ll be a lighthearted
    watch, I think.

    mac65
  3. Happy to see Dororo getting recognized, as I feel it’s a strong contender for top anime of the season and in a season which doesn’t seem to have very many contenders for that title.

    hjerry2000

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *