First Impressions / Weekly Rankings

Welcome back to Up to Snuff, with our traditional season-opening edition! A new season is a time for looking forward of course, but our top series (again) is one that’s been with us for a season already.

A refresher: our team was asked to vote on their top premieres of the season. That includes season premieres of multi-cour series, so carryovers are eligible. Of course a couple of series (Hi Score Girl 2, Chihayafuru 3 – and who knows what the hell is going on with Pet) haven’t premiered yet, but there’s nothing to be done about that.

As per usual, we leap into the season with a selection of sleeper picks from the writers – which is as interesting for what they consider a sleeper as anything.

 

Weekly Staff Poll

Vinland Saga – 15 points, 3 first place votes
Hoshiai no Sora 2019 – 9
No Guns Life – 8, 1
Mugen no Junnin – Immortal – 7, 1
Ore wo Suki na no wa Omae Dake ka yo – 5, 1

 

Ask The Writers


What’s you top sleeper pick of Fall 2019, and why?

  • Guardian Enzo: Mugen no Juunin: Immortal. I liked Chuubyou Gekihatsu Boy a lot, but I have to go with Blade of the Immortal (despite its unbelievably cringe-worthy Engrish OP) as it’s simply the best-directed series of the season. The budget isn’t huge but everything Hamasaki Hiroshi is doing is working. The only question really, is whether is qualifies as a sleeper – but given that I think most fans of the franchise had relatively low expectations and most non-fans weren’t paying much attention, I think it clears that bar.
  • Zaiden: Beastars is my pick for sleeper of the season. I’m familiar with most source materials from this season, and nothing comes close to this show in terms of potential. Manga readers know what’s up, in terms of the profound philosophy and social commentary that will not fail to leave a deep impression. But judging by the lack of traction it’s gaining from just about every place on the Internet, it’s quite clear people are passing up because of the CGI animation and a bizarre concept featuring anthropomorphic creatures. I encourage people to give it a try for sure. And if you’re still unconvinced by the animation, I would highly recommend the manga because it is truly special.
  • Choya: Africa no Salaryman is my choice for a sleeper pick this season because of its humorous mash-up between a raucous workplace comedy and a macabre take on the relationships that animals would have if they functioned as humans do. The dynamic between the brutally honest Lizard played by Tsuda Kenjirou and the chauvinistic loudmouth Toucan played by Shimono Hiro made for some great entertainment within the first two episodes. It also operates off of the sensible rationale of fusing 2D and 3D animation to create an aesthetic that is both flexible and expressive for a show where life-like animals are arguing with each other in business suits & school uniforms.
  • Pancakes: As for sleeper it’ll be Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne! because I wasn’t honestly expecting a CGDCT isekai to be that adorably hilarious. It pairs the right amount of isekai with some excellent lighthearted “slice of life” (for typical fantasy) shenanigans to make an incredibly easy watch.
  • Stars: For my sleeper, that would be Hoshiai no Sora. It has fluid animation, charming character designs, likable leads, and the general feel of a drama dressed up in the trappings of the sports genre. Watching the tennis players sprint across the court was breathtaking, but so was watching them walk home at sunset or cook dinner. It’s a show that can shift from calming and beautiful to edge-of-your-seat panic at the drop of a hat, but its real strength lies in how it depicts children. They react to situations in ways you would generally expect kids to, and the show makes no attempts to soften the reality that for as much as schools and clubs try to give their students a place to challenge themselves and grow, life is not always kind to children. Come for the gorgeous tennis matches and boys taking full advantage of the springtime of their youth; stay for the complex interpersonal relationships.
  • Passerby: I’ll go with Kabukicho Sherlock as my sleeper of the season. I’ve only seen the one episode but I pick it as the sleeper because I think it’ll sleep quite soundly. It fits in a strange niche, for people who are a fan of both detective fiction and Japanese theatre. Alternatively I’d pick Babylon, which is probably easier to appreciate but people aren’t watching it anyway.

19 Comments

      1. I’m sorely tempted based on how the first two episodes have been, but that decision will depend on what my free time looks like. Fourth year uni courses, job searching, and covering extra shows doesn’t leave much in the way of free time haha.

        Pancakes
        Reply

      2. @Pancakes :: Definitely understand…
        This is a tough series to judge after just 2 episodes. Is it going to be a
        fun (SoL/comedy) series without any real tension in which case blogging won’t
        really add much to the discussion. Or is it going to get a little more
        story-driven and blog-able? The source material doesn’t help since they’ve
        strayed so far from it and omitted some of the drama so far — really they’ve
        changed things up quite a bit. For me, the solid production quality does it,
        and judging from the OP, seems too parody-like. I really laughed hard at
        the scene where they’re running from the sand wolves horned rabbits –
        I think Crimson Reina is even voiced by the same voice actress as Yukikaze!
        @Takaii :: Much better, thank you!

        mac65
        Reply

          1. I certainly won’t :p

            (Sorry, it was just what seemed at the time to be a very unfunny “joke” about the Ukraine and the caricatured Ukrainian that got me)

            Angelus

  3. My sleeper hit would be, Watashi Nouryoku…
    because we have wjile not unlimited then at least extreme power placed into hands of character who has deeply rooted psychological “safety breaker” against full use, even less abuse (looks at Overlord) of the power. All the other “posse” characters are very likeable, even if they are spoofs of classical adventuring tropes (fireball blasting mage, greedy merchant-mage, and whiteknighting knight).
    Other than that Special 7 caught my eye. Half Section 9, half Shadowrun, where do I start my likes?
    Azur Lane is my guilty pleasure. Game itself is half infodump about ww2 warships, half fanservice… so why would anime adaptation be any other?

    ewok40k
    Reply

  4. It may sound strange coming from someone who is finding Hataage! Kemono Michi verging on too furry for comfort, but Beastars is definitely my sleeper hit. Just the stop-motion OP would stand on its own as a masterclass in short animation. The actual episodes are CGI, but so far it seems to be done very well, and being all animals, it avoids the uncanny valley of attempting to animate humans. As for the story, well, on the face of it, it’s so simple (a kind of forbidden romance), but really you can take the deeper meanings a long way.

    Angelus
    Reply

  5. We just watched the 3rd episode of Honzuki no Gekokujou; it’s truly heart-warming and down-to-earth, the first isekai that doesn’t rely on cheap thrills and ad-hoc story-telling.

    I am scandalized, however, that the little heroine, “Main”, is so adorably devious. She successfully manipulates her father so easily, it’s ghastly. A daughter could not possibly be that much smarter than Daddy, right?

    RIGHT?!

    Jerry
    Reply

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