Autumn Season 2024 Overview
In spite of the many and various rumours surrounding DAN DA DAN (Crunchyroll AND Netflix) did it turn out to be the hit of the Autumn Season? Or did other quieter, less controversial series win our writers’ praise as they reached their final episodes? Did returning series deserve to have been brought back for a second, third (or even nth) season? And has it been a worthwhile season overall or just a little bit disappointing…? Read on to find out what our writers have singled out for praise. Do you agree? Let us know!
Ian Wolf
Hotly Anticipated
As mentioned in the autumn preview back in October, “hotly anticipated” series can disappoint. So, let’s get it out of the way: Uzumaki was bad, wasn’t it?
We have been waiting five years for this series to come out and thanks to a combination of factors, the entire thing was a let-down for so many people. The animation quality was poor, UK viewers could only watch with an English dub, and in the end it did a disservice to Junji Ito’s original manga. The only way this four-episode series may live on is if people consider it to be “so bad its good” and it develops a cult following. In the end though, you probably should just stick to the original manga.
As someone who was already a fan of Demon Lord 2099, originally a series of reverse isekai light novels whose central character discovers his magical world has merged with Earth to create a magical cyberpunk setting, personally I enjoyed the way the series was made. Adapting the first two novels in the series, J.C.Staff did a great job bringing this world to life.
Personally, I do hope the series returns and we get to see more of this peculiar world, but given the fact that anything isekai these days automatically gets a backlash from certain quarters, you never know what will happen.
Returning Champion
The new Netflix adaptation of Rumiko Takahashi’s Ranma ½ has already proven its worth, with it being confirmed that the show will return for a second series.
It’s just as well the show is returning. This is because it felt like the series ended abruptly, concluding as it does with female love rival Shampoo suddenly disappearing after her failed attempts to woo the male version of Ranma Saotome, and kill the female version of the same character, unaware of the fact they were both the same person for much of the time. Another factor is the fact that if you look at the promotional poster for the series when it launched, you can clearly see some characters that never appeared in this first series.
Regardless, the general production of the series when it came to voice acting and the quality of the animation was great. Not only that, but thanks to Ranma, we get to see a single character topping both the most popular male and most popular female anime character polls at the same time.
Unexpected Diamond
While it is almost certain that most of the attention of anime fans has been drawn to the more action-oriented, shonen-style series (DAN DA DAN, I’m looking at you) a series that I was unaware of until just before it aired was the one that primarily caught my eye: Negative Positive Angler.
Admittedly, I mainly came to this series as a fan of the UK’s own Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing. The fact that Negative Positive Angler is a show about someone taking up angling just after they learn they’re suffering from a potentially terminal health issue does mean that there are many clear parallels.
There were also many differences too. The main character, Tsunehiro, is also in huge debt. When it comes to the fishing, while the Brits may catch and release, the anime characters cannot wait to stuff their faces with what they’ve caught. Plenty of drama builds up across the series as we learn about the problems concerning the main characters Tsunehiro becomes friends with; and while there is no bucktoothed dog searching for a missing briefcase, there is a cat.
I think that this series might have been my favourite of the entire season, partly because it was so unexpected, but also because it was simply made and produced really well. I, for one, hope we in the UK also get a physical release of it.
Ranma ½ is available on Netflix. Demon Lord 2099 and Negative Positive Angler are available on Crunchyroll.
Onosume
Hotly Anticipated
After impressing with its early episodes, DAN DA DAN has been a strong series that has taken its very mundane shonen origins and gone in a very eccentric but moving direction.
Science Saru brings a lot of style and, considering they’ve always been this sort of hipster edgy upstart of a studio, I’d say it’s a perfect choice for adapting this very off-the-wall type of show. This means that when watching the action and the fights against these monsters and aliens you’re rewarded with some very striking and exciting sequences that do keep you glued to your seat, as (for those who haven’t read the manga at least) you feel the tension and wonder if they’ll actually pull through without having something terrible happen to them.
Which takes me to my main point of the fact that it’s the characters themselves that make the show come alive, as they are all very well written. Sure Ken can feel quite shonen protagonist, but I do like how he’s this cowardly nerd being thrust into bizarre situations, and overall I think the characters actually have some personality rather than wanting to save the world/be a superhero, etc… Momo in particular is very strong, and it’s been great watching the strange pairing of her and Ken get into scrapes and slowly become friends (and hinting at something more…).
As for the story itself? It’s wacky and silly, and some people might be put off by the fact that it revolves around Ken trying to retrieve his manly bits, but that’s just a single part of the show, and you can easily overlook it as, although it’s the goal, it touches on a lot more as it delves into how ordinary people suffer and how it’s important to release their souls from that suffering. I think some of the darker parts of the story have been dealt with really well, showing a lot of humility and respect for the victims of grisly incidents, particularly in the case of Aira’s mother, which I thought was one of the most tragic moments of anime this year.
The only real negative that I thought the series had was the point at which it chose to finish on, as it cuts awkwardly in the middle of a story arc where it could have ended things just a couple of episodes earlier. This is definitely a production issue and nothing that harms the quality of the show itself, but it feels incomplete without the next season which is set to air in Summer 2025.
Still, this is a great show and one I’d definitely recommend, just maybe if you can avoid spoilers, wait until the next season comes around before watching the whole lot.
Returning Champion
After losing me a bit with the Illuminati arc, Blue Exorcist: Beyond the Snow Saga has pulled me right back in as it did exactly what I wanted it to do, focus back down on the relationship between Rin and Yukio, as well as the core battle between the humans and the demons.
The initial part of this season delves into Shura’s backstory and has the brothers fighting alongside each other as they try to save her from her fate of being the bride to some slippery hydra-like snake god that her ancestor made a blood pact with. Shura’s been one of the mainstays from early on in the series, but we’ve never known too much about her, so it was great having that curtain peeled back in a very dramatic fashion, while the battle to save her was pretty thrilling and really harks back to some of the series’ early fights against the demons.
Yet throughout all this there is a great sense of unease as Yukio battles with his inner demons, under pressure from the immense growth of his twin and the job at hand, eventually turning to the dark side. His fall from grace is quite gut-wrenching to watch but as it’s tied into Lightning and Bon’s investigation into that dark side of the Order and what it actually leads to, it’s not a complete out of left field gut punch. You can see it coming, but it’s fascinating now having the more human brother on the demon’s side, and the more demonic brother on the human’s side.
By focusing on its more familiar characters and themes this has been a much more solid, grounded experience, doing what the series does best. Things do tie into the previous arc but instead of going to strange places it actually explains just what was going on there and makes it make sense. It comes a bit late in my opinion, and I wonder if the Illuminati elements of the story could have been better arranged in the series overall, but it feels necessary to the demons’ objectives to have it in there.
Overall though I really enjoyed this part of Blue Exorcist and I’m looking forward to getting more answers to ongoing mysteries as we step back into the past straight after the breaking of the New Year with The Blue Night Saga.
Unexpected Diamond
I’ve been watching Nina the Starry Bride with keen interest, and I think this one has come into its own as a strong fantasy romantic drama with plenty of politics and intrigue, even if it does stray into reverse-harem territory from time to time.
Taking Nina from an orphan living on the streets and thrusting her into the arms of royalty has been a fascinating thing to watch, as it’s her character that really steals the show. She doesn’t have a filter and is a magnet for trouble, always meddling with things but in the best way possible to make the lives of those she cares about better. She understands her role and what she is meant to do for her homeland, but even if she is pretty naïve, she wants to see the best out of both rival countries.
The core romance in the series is good, but is again driven largely by Nina and how she has a positive influence on those she meets, melting the hearts of even the most cruel warlords. Both of her main suitors are damaged in some way, with Az on the Fortnan side being disillusioned about how his country is run on the backs of imposters and usurpers, while Sett on the Galgadan side is brutally cruel and would kill anyone without thinking. Yet she worms her way into their hearts and slowly makes them better. The other Galgadan princes are there to disrupt the main trio, and do so very well and are all quite amusing in their own ways, but they lack depth in their characterisation in comparison.
The story itself is definitely strong though, and it’s not just about these romantic entanglements as there is a good amount of worldbuilding and there’s plenty to read into on the political stage. As much as the show is about protecting Fortna from invasion, I have to wonder whether life for the people there would be better under Galgada, as the King of Fortna is a right piece of work. But either way, you can tell there is a lot at stake for all parties involved, and things are probably going to get messy by the end.
Which of course we don’t get to here with the manga still ongoing, and the series cuts off at a pivotal moment. There’s no follow up to this yet confirmed, but I hope it gets more as I was really enjoying this one and I’d hate it to be one of those “go read the manga” endings.
DAN DA DAN, Blue Exorcist -Beyond the Snow Saga- and Nina the Starry Bride are all available on Crunchyroll.
HWR
Another season finishes and looking back, it was a very sequel-heavy one, with some winners like the latest Bleach TYBW season being great, whilst other titles like Blue Lock and Tower of God turned out to be more disappointing compared to their predecessors . On a more positive note, I’ll shout out Trillion Game as a new anime that I enjoyed and am looking forward to the next batch of episodes in January, likewise with A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School!, which has been an easy fun supernatural comedy so far.
Hotly Anticipated
Natsume’s Book of Friends is an anime series that’s been running since 2008, amassing seven seasons, and several specials and movies in the process. It’s not exaggeration to say it’s one of the best overall anime I’ve seen, thanks to its wonderful and warm atmosphere and mythology, enduring characters and world, and the ability to continually weave interesting stories and concepts, as seen with this latest seventh season.
I won’t give away too much as it would be good to get more eyes on this series but every episode made for a highlight of that day – my only small overall gripe is that it took seven years from Season 6 to get this so I’m hoping the gap will be smaller but still worth the wait regardless!
Returning Champions
I once again have the unfortunate task of deflating my own balloon for a franchise entry I was looking forward to in The Prince of Tennis II U-17 World Cup Semifinal as, simply put, it underwhelmed me compared to previous entries.
Though this wasn’t my hotly anticipated choice per se (it fell into the category below) I was rather looking forward to it, having finally been caught up to date after a long marathon of the various TV, OVA, movie, and shorts that made up the franchise’s 20+ year history in the animated medium. It was, however, rather forgettable outside of the more OTT exploits that have become synonymous with the series, and wasn’t quite as enjoyable the first half of the U-17 series that aired back in 2022.
I will say though that it wasn’t as disappointing as Blue Lock’s second season was – I sympathise with those fans who may have come away feeling more frustrated than underwhelmed, and I’ll ultimately be drawn back to the Prince of Tennis franchise in the future on the strengths of its past entries.
What hasn’t disappointed, and I can talk about yet again as it belatedly became available on Prime Video, is Ooi! Tonbo’s second season (I promise this will be the last time I discuss this franchise for a while – but who else is?)
To recap, this was exclusively put on Prime Video, and then as the second season started to air was nowhere to be seen, thankfully reappearing around the third or fourth week of airing from what I recall. A pain in the arse to be sure but the season itself has been a solid one.
OT is arguably treading very familiar grounds as a series but then again so do most sports anime, and where it perhaps plays out familiar plots it provides solid characters, with leads Kazuyoshi Igarashi (Hiroki Touchi) and Tonbo (Rika Hayashi) growing in different ways as the latter grows older and more experienced (but also more challenged) at golf.
Her friends/rivals comprise old and new faces, including Hinoki Otowa (Yui Ishikawa), who strives to be perfect but buckles under pressure as the tournaments become more strained, and Ema Kurisu (Marina Inoue), a golfer whose past leg injury provides its own set of challenges. Returning to face off Tonbo is Tsubara Adaniya (Eri Kitamura) who played against Tonbo previously when they were younger.
Overall, I enjoyed all of these characters and their dynamics with the ever-positive Tonbo, who is shown to have a healthier mentor-pupil relationship and talents, without it feeling too easy for her to succeed, and her eye for supporting other players and their growth is effectively conveyed even after certain events during the tournament. I’m not sure if this will get a third season, but there appears to be another episode left to go early next year so that’s something to hopefully look forward to.
Natsume’s Book of Friends and The Prince of Tennis II U-17 World Cup Semifinal are streaming on Crunchyroll, whilst Ooi! Tonbo 2nd Season is streaming (for now) on Prime Video.
Sarah
Returning Champions
Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions Season 2
The House of M (Moriarty) continues to plague Ron Kamonohashi (Youhei Azakami), the brilliantly gifted detective who isn’t officially allowed to be a detective because of his cursed ability to implant the wish to self-destruct in criminals’ minds. Relying more and more on his police detective friend and sidekick Totomaru ‘Toto’ Ishiki (Junya Enoki), the two have formed a reverse (or so it seems to the world) Holmes and Watson partnership to solve crime. And crimes keep needing to be solved, whether it be on the beach with a dead surfer who was too strong a swimmer to have drowned or in a university research department where someone rigs up an explosion to kill one of the team. Taking a new drug to suppress his murderous instinct, Ron seems to be just about coping with the drastic side effects while Toto is gaining in confidence in his own ability to solve crimes. But the shadowy presence of the House of M never goes away and as Ron struggles to remember his childhood and his father, the two receive a mysterious invitation to a remote mountain auberge, along with an emerald! Major revelations are about to ensue – and they have never been in so much danger before after seemed like a pleasant dinner invitation turns into a sequence of bizarre murders.
Even though I had some initial doubts about this second season and specifically the Moriarty theme, the slow revelations about Ron and his forgotten past are well handled, making this an enjoyable watch for all who relish a good murder mystery! For those shipping Ron and Toto there was a big disappointment, followed by a mysterious CLAMP moment which seems to be not in the manga (what did Ron whisper to Toto? Lip-readers have been guessing…) Is it nature or nurture, though, when it comes to inheriting criminal genes? Why would generations of Moriarty family continue to be the Napoleons of crime? It’s tremendous fun for all lovers of Holmes versus Moriarty stories – and the mysteries in this second series make it an engaging watch with rarely a dull moment, supported by decent animation. I suspect from the way the anime ended at 26 episodes, that we’ll be encouraged to read on in the manga by Akira Amano (not yet available in English) from Volume 7. French, Italian and German translations are currently in print. Time to suggest it to Seven Seas!
Unexpected Diamonds
Back in 2016 I reviewed a cute and touching first volume from DMP called Kinoko Inu – Mushroom Pup by Kimama Aoboshi. A second volume was planned in English but like so many titles promised by DMP, never materialized. So, imagine my surprise, when one of the new anime for Autumn 2024 turned out to be Kinokoinu, a gently paced but charming animation of the manga (15 volumes!). Mangaka Hotaru Yuuyami is mourning the loss of his beloved dog Hanako when he is startled to find a pink-and-white creature in his garden that behaves a little like a dog but also resembles the mushroom planted there some years ago by his grandmother. Kinokoinu turns Hotaru’s quiet life upside-down: it loves Takoyaki; it constantly wants to imitate him, drawing and trying to learn to write too; it sometimes even behaves like a dog when taken out for a walk. Inspired out of his writing slump, Hotaru (encouraged by his friend and editor Komako) creates a new book based around Kinokoinu and it’s a great success.
This anime takes time to breathe. It has a very charming OP “Kinokoinu” by HY (an earworm, beware!) and an almost equally charming ED by 8-girl unit IBERIs& “Heart b-b-beat!!” As Kinokoinu’s origin story is gradually revealed and Hotaru gradually begins to enjoy life again, it’s a restful but restoring watch with some wise things to say (without proselytising) about grieving, letting go and moving on. And, of course, Kinokoinu is cute yet mischievous enough not to be unbearably cute (in many ways like a toddler)!
And just to add, although they are falling between the traditional four seasons, Crunchyroll recently added the first two of the three series of 2019 donghua The Master of Diabolism – a really welcome addition (hopefully the third season will arrive soon as well). This is a much more faithful adaptation of MXTX’s danmei novels than live action series The Untamed and features some dazzling animation and an impressive score.
And just at the very end of the Autumn Season but continuing into Winter (maybe it counts as an early starter?) comes the long-awaited new Link Click donghua: Bridon Arc. Both series are highly recommended.
Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions, Kinokoinu, The Master of Diabolism and Link Click: Bridon Arc are available on Crunchyroll.
Cold Cobra
Hotly Anticipated
I’ve been “hotly anticipating” Dragon Ball DAIMA since it was first announced thanks to a life-long love of the franchise, and thankfully it hasn’t disappointed, in fact it’s over exceeded itself. DAIMA was created to be a 40th anniversary celebration written by series creator Akira Toriyama himself but after his tragic passing last year it’s instead turned into his swan-song, and what a perfect one it is.
The show starts with a focus on the Demon Realm, a dimension mentioned a few times but never visited (outside of some decidedly non-canon Japanese-only card-based Arcade games, anyway…) as the new ruler of the place gets so flustered after seeing our heroes defeat the legendary and “unbeatable” Majin Buu that he uses Earth’s Dragon Balls to wish our main cast to become children again, at least their bodies anyway, and they kidnap Earth guardian Dende for good measure. All this does though is focus Goku and co.’s attention ON the Demon Realm and sure enoug,h with help of new ally Glorio, the first bunch of episodes turn into a proper Toriyama-penned adventure story, full of lots of jokes, real stereotypical and often not-very-threatening bad guys to beat and weirdly, a large amount of new lore going into the history of the Supreme Kai’s race, the history of the Namekians (the race fan-favourite Piccolo belongs to, for those not in the know!) and even the creation of the universes themselves. A lot of it seems unnecessary, but fun nonetheless!
In true celebratory fashion the story soon narrows its focus on collecting the Demon Realm’s Dragon Balls and to do this the main cast have to defeat three guardians called Tamagamis, and this has led to more later-Toriyama, Z-like fighting sequences complete with stunning animation and fight choreography. The final one involving Vegeta from the most recently aired episode included a rather special moment that had been speculated and wished for by many fans for a good majority of the latter two-thirds of the past 40 years but never seen, so that was a great moment (trying to be vague!) By all accounts DAIMA is now at its half-way point. It’s been a heck of a ride already, and with the villains, which now include two new enemies based around Majin Buu (um, called “Majin Kuu” and “Majin Duu”…?) have got that perfect blend of light-heartedness and potential power that should make for a great finale. For Akira Toriyama the end doesn’t have to be deep or dramatic, it just needs to be fun, and I have no doubt he’ll go out on a very fun “bang”.
Returning Champion
Continuing with the Shonen Jump! returns, Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War’s third cour aired this past season, and it really blew me away. The first two cours stuck quite closely to the source material, only adding a few bits here and there to expand things (with the exception of the last episode!) but it’s at this point in the story that the manga fell off a cliff and with the exception of showing some much-anticipated “Bankai” (a powerful form some characters can use, to put it simply) the last few volumes of Bleach weren’t up to much. Thankfully, series creator Tite Kubo has stepped up his involvement with the show even more and this chunk of episodes has been full of revisions, brand new fights and lots of breathing room for the couple of previously mentioned highlights. It’s added so much to the weak source material that it’s almost hard to compare, and given the show has continued to have an extremely high budget giving us great looking and smooth animation along with the usual fine voice work and OST, it’s hard not to be impressed with the show.
Main villain Yhwach starts this cour by defeating his nemesis Ichibe and then attempting to destroy the “Soul King”, a man encased in a crystal that is, effectively, the lynchpin holding all the dimensions together (Bleach can get weird sometimes…) Our main protagonist Ichigo and his allies arrive and try to stop him, but they’re slowed down by Uryu Ishida, their old friend who has seemingly joined the enemy side and in this version shows it by battling Ichigo and nearly killing him (and later doing the same again to old ally Renji in a completely anime-exclusive showdown) Our heroes fail and Yhwach gains even more power along with his “Almighty” ability, which allows him to see into the future and therefore effectively become undefeatable as he’ll always know what you’re going to do beforehand. Everything looks grim, but luckily this is the final story arc and Ichigo has finally learned not to mope and give up hope at last, so he’s soon back in the thick of it!
Yhwach rearranges the Soul King’s Palace to his liking and sends his strongest Elite Guard to fight the remaining Shinigami who have popped up with the help of previous lead villain Sosuke Aizen. This leads to a showdown between a few select “heroes” and the four Elite Guard, and includes finally seeing the Bankai of series (and personal) favourite Shunsui Kyoraku, which was given some stunning animation to go along with its theme of being a Japanese play brought to life. The cour ends with two Elite Guard still remaining, plus Yhwach and his right-hand man Haschwalth, but oddly there are only roughly 24 chapters left to adapt where are the previous three cours have adapted between 50-60 per 13 episodes. It looks like the finale will have a LOT of new content, which makes sense given how obviously rushed the end of the manga was and how dedicated Tite Kubo seems to be to rectify that. Something to look forward to, whenever it arrives!
Dragon Ball DAIMA is available on Crunchyroll and Netflix, while Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War is available on Disney Plus.
Demelza
Hotly Anticipated
This season, a number of manga and light novels I’ve been enjoying were adapted into anime. One such title was The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor, originally a light novel brought to our screens by studio J.C Staff.
The series follows the story of Jill, who is scheduled to be executed by her evil ex-fiancé Crown Prince Gerald. Obviously, she’s not going to sit around and let that happen, so she breaks out of her cell but ends up caught up in a battle where she ultimately dies despite her best efforts to escape. Just when Jill thinks her life is coming to an end, she finds herself sent six years into the past to the night she first got engaged to Gerald.
Having gone back in time, Jill realises this is an opportunity to right the wrongs of the past and avoid becoming involved with Gerald so she rushes to find someone else to propose to in order to ensure her safety. That man happens to be Hadis Teos Rave, a man who was her enemy in her past timeline and is known as the Dragon Emperor. Perhaps it’s out of the frying pan and into the fire for our poor heroine…
Back when I first read the manga I was a little put off by the age gap between Jill and Hadis. Physically she’s only 10 years old (she was 16 before being sent back in time) and Hadis is already 19. However, as the story went on, perhaps in part due to Jill’s mental age being closer to his, this proved to not be a problem. Hadis is completely new to the concept of love and romance, so what transpires between the two is a genuine emotional bond long before anything else. It feels like a balanced and wholesome relationship, which is what I was hoping to see.
With that concern put to bed, you can enjoy the rest of what the series has to offer, which is a compelling drama with some great action scenes and quirky comedy (just watch the opening to witness Gerald involved in a hilarious dance number despite being the enemy). I often think of J.C. Staff when it comes to romance titles (perhaps due to my long-standing love of Pet Girl of Sakurasou) and sure enough, they brought their best efforts to this one. This isn’t the most original story out there, but it’s certainly a solid one if you’re into the genre.
Do-Over Damsel was a lot of fun to watch week after week and I hope we’ll eventually get a second season so we can follow more of the story. Until then, the manga is available through Yen Press and the light novels are published by Cross Infinite World.
Returning Champion
Given DanMachi Season 5’s final four episodes have been delayed into Spring after a string of production issues this season, I feel it’s not right to cover that again as my returning champion while it remains unfinished (as much as I do adore it). So, instead let’s talk about one of my other returning champions, Shangri-La Frontier.
Back for a second season and another two cours no less, the adventures of Sanraku and his rabbit companion Emul have successfully kept me on the hook so far. This set of episodes picks up right where we left the cast, with Sanraku hoping to find a way to use the weapons and armour he gained from defeating Wethermon in Season 1. Perhaps because we’re coming off the back of such a thrilling arc as the Wethermon fight, these episodes have felt like they’re largely downtime or set-up before the next major arc. Sanraku even leaves Shangri-La Frontier for a while to play Nephilim Hollow, a game where players fight one another in giant robots. There he reunites with some old rivals, who may just prove to be important companions for his Shangri-La adventures…
While this half of the season has felt slow, Shangri-La Frontier still proves enjoyable due to Sanraku’s happy-go-lucky attitude toward life and his tendency to get himself into trouble. The few episodes we spend watching his time in Nephilim Hollow prove a refreshing change of pace before we return to Shangri-La and he encounters Lycagon, the wolf-like monster that cursed him at the beginning of the game. Even if Sanraku with the help of Rakuro (the girl with a crush on Sanraku but so far unable to tell him her real-life identity!) can’t defeat Lycagon, this feels like it will be another major turning point for the series.
This one is staying on our screens through the Winter season, so if you’ve been enjoying it we certainly won’t have to bid goodbye for a while yet!
Unexpected Diamond
Now we’re at the end of the season, my unexpected diamond comes in the form of Acro Trip, an adaptation of a shojo series that seems to have gone overlooked. We follow Chizuko Date, a magical girl otaku living in an unnamed city in Niigata with her grandfather. The city is famous for its magical girl, Berry Blossom, who fights against Chroma the leader of the evil organization Fossa Magna. Chizuko always rushes to the scene to get a front-row seat to their battles, but lately, she can’t help but feel the fights are a bit underwhelming.
One thing leads to another and Chizuko becomes friends with Chroma, who encourages her to join the evil organization so she can orchestrate better fights between him and Berry Blossom. Chroma reasons that this is perfect since he might stand a chance against her and Chizuko is getting what she desires most. So begins this odd relationship between an otaku, a magical girl and a not-so-evil villain.
This appears to be studio Voil’s first TV series and what a good one it was to start with! Acro Trip is light-hearted and charming, with characters that are easy to root for. Chroma, in particular, has a lot of depth as someone who wants to cause minor inconveniences but really isn’t anything like you’d expect of a villain character. Chizuko too, often finds herself exasperated by Chroma’s actions, but she’ll do anything for her love of Berry Blossom, so really she’s just as bad as he is for getting carried away with silly ideas. And maybe Berry Blossom isn’t the perfect magical girl that Chizuko believes her to be…? No humans are ever at risk or gravely injured, so it’s easy to watch over the action of these three and the ‘Kuma Kaijin’ that Chroma can summon to fight for him safe in the knowledge that this is a show with no intention of taking any darker twists.
The only problem is that it feels like the anime ended quite abruptly without a satisfying conclusion. I still enjoyed its run overall, so it’s not like that soured me on the show but it is a shame given how good it had been until that point. The manga is only five volumes long, but sadly isn’t licensed so we can’t easily continue the story there either. Still, I think all magical girl fans would get a kick out of this so I’d encourage giving it a try if that happens to be you.
The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor, Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 and Acro Trip are all available on Crunchyroll.
