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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)
As the co-producer of these posts, I just want everyone to know I didn’t vote this week because I’m super behind.
That said, Go Watch Bang Dream.
Okay bye~
Besides the beautifully animated performances, any other reason?
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 :’)
Noot noot.
Pingu! Pingu!
> Implying you were the writer that put Pingu first place on their list.
Not my intent
Still waiting for your Kaguya-sama entry 😉
Don’t tell me you’re planning to sit out the highest-rated first ep of Winter 2019?
It will be addressed, don’t worry…
Highest-rated where, BTW?
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.
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.
Can’t speak to Reddit or 4chan, but Mob and Neverland are 1-2 on MAL. Kaguya-sama is doing quite well but several shows are drawing higher scores so far.
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 😉
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.
I think Dororo is absolutely wonderful. I was expecting Mob to be incredible and it is, but Dororo isn’t all that far behind it.
I wonder which show will be the number one show of the season in Japan. Zombieland Saga won the previous season by a massive margin in terms of physical sales, nothing came close.
A lot harder to tell these days, now that Stalker is dead and only sketchy presale forecasts are available. Some sites are predicting Manaria Friends, surprisingly.
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.
Exactly two, I would argue. Though Doukyonin could still make a run.
Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai made it into the list? Nice, after watching episode 1 it becomes my most anticipated anime this season at least for now.