I Want to End This Love Game — Episode 1
A perfectly okay premiere where you know the characters are end-game, but you don’t know the journey there.
www.animefeminist.com/i-want-to-en...
Rooster Fighter — Episode 1
Reviewer Cy would rather eat a bucket of fried chicken than watch a rooster try to kick ass, but here they are with no fried chicken and a premiere that they really didn’t like.
www.animefeminist.com/rooster-figh...
Ichijyoma Mankitsu Gurashi! – Episode 1
Generally, this premiere seems more interested in setting up jokes about underwear than exploring the tangled psychosocial web the main character finds herself in.
www.animefeminist.com/ichijyoma-ma...
Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk — Episode 1
This yuri is as sweet as the scent of Spring, openly queer in its premiere that focuses on the simple pleasure of sharing a drink with someone you like.
www.animefeminist.com/botan-kamiin...
Kill Blue – Episode 1
It’s not often we get adult protagonists, so it’s kind of a shame that this middle-aged assassin regressed to being a middle schooler.
www.animefeminist.com/kill-blue-ep...
A Hundred Scenes of Awajima — Episode 1
Tender, thoughtful, and truly charming, this premiere promises a season filled with the growth of a dozens of perspectives all aimed at standing on the grand, operatic stage after their time at Awajima.
www.animefeminist.com/a-hundred-sc...
MARRIAGETOXIN – Episode 1
You’ll be saying “I do!” to this fantastic premiere that features two criminals who make for a fantastically odd couple in the daylight.
www.animefeminist.com/marriagetoxi...
Kujima: Why Sing, When You Can Warble? – Episode 1
If you’re a fan of oddball comedies and birds, this might be the premiere for you. Just know that your humble reviewer was terrified the entire time, but totally gets the appeal.
www.animefeminist.com/kujima-why-s...
NIPPON SANGOKU – Episode 1
As far as problems go, there are many, but by sheer dint of aesthetic this could also become a favorite.
www.animefeminist.com/nippon-sango...
Fist of the North Star: HOKUTO NO KEN – Episodes 1-2
Maybe this reboot is the kind of hopeful narrative we need during these challenging times, even if it’s against such a gritty and gory backdrop.
www.animefeminist.com/fist-of-the-...
Pardon the Intrusion, I’m Home! – Episode 1
This wants to be an upbeat comedy, but it feels more like a horror story about men taking over a woman’s precious personal space.
www.animefeminist.com/pardon-the-i...
Killed Again, Mr. Detective? – Episode 1
It'd be nice to be entranced by the supernatural cliffhanger, but the silliness around the female characters is simply too distracting.
www.animefeminist.com/killed-again...
Daemons of the Shadow Realm – Episode 1
This series comes out of the gate swinging with a first episode that’s gory, thrilling, and sets up plenty of intriguing and feminist-minded world-building questions.
www.animefeminist.com/daemons-of-t...
MAO - Episode 1
With long-running titles like this one, the question becomes less “is the story interesting?” and more “do you want to hang out with these characters for the next 100 episodes?” And, you know, Mao just might have the juice there.
www.animefeminist.com/mao-episode-1/
Even a Replica Can Fall in Love – Episode 1
Curiosity abounds in a premiere that lays a solid foundation while it starts to examines what it means to be human, even if you’re created from trauma.
www.animefeminist.com/even-a-repli...
I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class – Episode 1
A fairly standard rom-com burdened with a sometimes leering camera.
www.animefeminist.com/i-made-frien...
Mistress Kanan is Devilishly Easy – Episode 1
You’ll want to keep your soul to yourself in this premiere that feels so jarringly rote, you’ll be wishing you’d gotten consumed at the beginning of the episode.
www.animefeminist.com/mistress-kan...
The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King – Episode 1
One time in a team chat, Peter described an anime episode as “like an onion, except every layer is more razorblades.”
Dee thought about that a lot while she was prepping this review.
www.animefeminist.com/the-warrior-...
The Drops of God – Episode 1
An anime about wine 20 years after its initial release might come off as inaccessible, but at least it’s not an anime about PC building.
www.animefeminist.com/the-drops-of...
Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku?! – Episode 1
Nerds and Cool Girls meet in a premiere where what we think of each other is pushed and pulled on to ultimately reveal we all like fandom at the end of the day.
www.animefeminist.com/gals-cant-be...
Witch Hat Atelier – Episodes 1-2
This is a masterful adaptation that captures the beauty and terror of the sublime. Run, don’t walk, to watch it.
www.animefeminist.com/witch-hat-at...
The Klutzy Class Monitor and the Girl with the Short Skirt – Episode 1
This episode is working very hard to be engaging, energetic, colorful, and fun, but it simply can’t recover from the acidic awfulness of its opening joke.
www.animefeminist.com/the-klutzy-c...
LIAR GAME – Episode 1
It's about as tepid as premieres come, promising a really curious plot but coupling it with a college student who feels naive almost to the point of infantilization.
www.animefeminist.com/liar-game-ep...
Akane-banashi – Episode 1
The story is off to a very promising start with its themes about gender roles and performance told through rakugo, but it needs to give its visuals time to breathe.
www.animefeminist.com/akane-banash...
NEEDY GIRL OVERDOSE – Episode 1
Reviewer Chiaki is just the right level of quirky to catastrophically find the traumatized girls in Needy Girl Overdose “#relatable”
www.animefeminist.com/needy-girl-o...
Kusunoki’s Garden of Gods – Episode 1
It’s not a terrible show, but when you're competing with a beautiful story like Natsume’s Book of Friends, it just feels narratively empty.
www.animefeminist.com/kusunokis-ga...
GHOST CONCERT: missing songs – Episode 1
What could have been a fairly standard music anime goes in hard as a sci-fi/fantasy mash-up about humans being crowded out of music in favor of generic AI slop.
www.animefeminist.com/ghost-concer...
Prince Cecil and Bertia holding hands
An Observation Log of My Fiancée Who Calls Herself a Villainess – Episode 1
The perspective shift is a fun idea, but it's hard to get invested when the whole thing feels so mean-spirited and fatphobic
www.animefeminist.com/an-observati...
Touya holds a hand covered in blue and white patterns in front of his face
Petals of Reincarnation – Episode 1
Edgy vibes and genuinely interesting animation can’t make up for a story that pits history’s finest and worst against each other in a time where facism is ever present.
www.animefeminist.com/petals-of-re...
Aimi stuffs her whole fist into her mouth
Kirio Fan Club – Episode 1
A fantastic josei premiere about pining, weird girls, and pining for weird girls.
www.animefeminist.com/kirio-fan-cl...