Another week has come and we are back to being in the midst of another anime season with more anime titles to watch than we can count! Thankfully there have been some really surprising and interesting titles so far with some of the surprises being titles I usually would not go for. Yes, slice of life is at the top of that list!
A couple of titles have been very interesting and others lacklustre. This is a nice change from previous seasons where trying to find a good anime among a sea of disasters was almost impossible!
For now, however, we are jumping straight into this week’s newest titles with ones that should sound familiar to any anime fan: Beyblade Burst and Bungoe Stray Dogs.
Beyblade Burst
First up, we have a very familiar sounding title for any anime fan. Although technically from an already established and faded anime series, Beyblade Burst is in fact a newly adapted title with a new set of characters and narrative. Beyblade Burst is a sci fi, action, sports and shounen anime based on the original long running Beyblade anime series which newly began airing on April 4. For anyone unfamiliar with the Beyblade franchise, it is essentially battling spinning tops (to put it very plainly).
In this anime, we meet Bart Aoi, a high energy and passionate fighter who loves nothing more than to jump right into an attack wielding his Beyblade, called Valkyrie. His friend Shu Kurenai also wields a Beyblade called Spriggan. Where Bart is high energy, Shu is an elite blader and, although he is a genius, he puts in a very high amount of effort.
So, really, we all remember Beyblade! Even if you never played with the spinning top toys, you definitely saw at least one episode of the anime that reigned supreme during the early noughties. It stayed on the scene with new rehashes every few years but it soon fell off the face of the anime scene. Now it’s back with a bang with a brand new rendition! No, I am not cheating adding this title into the mix of new titles as it is a completely new series for the Beyblade franchise.
Thankfully, the anime kicks off with a fantastic high energy opening theme, mirroring that of the original series with a great opening and equally exciting cut scenes for the anime and its characters. I was worried this series would be just another cash cow for the franchise but there was actually a very fresh feel to the anime from the beginning, though there were some of the typical Beyblade clichés, the protagonist being the main one. He was the usual high energy bonehead with a passion for Beblading but even he had some great moments in the episode.
It’s a new series with a whole host of new characters to follow and, thankfully, they only introduced a few in this episode but you can tell by the foreshadowing there are much more to come. Just going by the first episode, it is clear that this could definitely turn out to be an exciting series.
Will I Continue To Watch: A nice breath of life into a tired franchise – yes!
Bungoe Stray Dogs
Next we have the seinen, mystery and supernatural anime, Bungoe Stray Dogs, which is adapted from the manga of the same name that originally released on April 7. We are brought to the world of Nakajima Atsushi, who is an orphan recently kicked out of his orphanage, leaving him homeless with no place to go and starving on the streets.
One day as he is by a river and on the edge of starvation he sees and winds up rescuing a man who tries to commit suicide; this man’s name was Dazai Osamu. It turns out that he and his partner Kunikida are a part of a very special detective agency. This detective agency is very special as the members have supernatural powers and take on cases that are far too dangerous for the regular police.
At this time, they are on the tail of a tiger (pun intended) that has been spotted in the area around the same time that Atsushi arrived. There is clearly a connection between this roaming tiger and Atsushi and it is also clear even when this case is solved that Atsushi’s life has changed and will be intertwined with the detectives’ lives.
There are certain titles each season that even I cannot deny I am completely excited to watch just due to the amazing previews that have been floating around and this title is no different! I do not often admit to being excited to watching new anime titles but this one stood out from the crowd. Just from the opening scenes, I could tell this series was not going to let me down; the animation was flawless and has already created lovable and hilarious characters.
To say I enjoyed this episode is an understatement as, in my opinion, it was as close to perfect it could get with characters that were engaging with their own mysterious back stories we have yet to even touch on. It also provides some of the best comic relief I have seen in a long time. As for the story itself, it was kept particularly simple for that first episode focusing only on our main protagonists and later briefly introducing the remaining members of the armed detectives. However, you can just tell we have barely scraped the surface of the madness that is to come.
Lastly, the animation throughout this entire episode, opening and closing themes included, is exquisite in its execution. Every frame is perfectly done to match and flow to perfection while the music perfectly accompanies the visuals. Needless to say, I am very excited to see where this anime takes us.
Will I Continue To Watch: Yes, yes a million times yes! An amazing show I cannot wait to see more of!
