Anime Roundup

That's right, it's time for another edition of Anime Roundup!

Fire Force

Kind of like Avatar/Legend of Korra, except everyone is a firebender? Sort of? Actually, not really, but there is a lot of fire being thrown around. Basically, (cue movie announcer voice) in a world where a special fire brigade called the Fire Force is fighting and investigating cases of spontaneous human combustion, one boy with special pyrokinetic powers (that are more special than other people's "regular" pyrokinetic powers) and who flashes a creepy smile whenever he's nervous joins the Fire Force in order to become a hero while discovering who was behind the murder of his mother (who was, naturally, killed in a fire). Fun fact: the manga upon which it's based is made by the same guy who made Soul Eater!

Fena: Pirate Princess

As you may know, I watch a lot of stuff on both Crunchyroll and Adult Swim (Rick and Morty, etc.), so this show being an original joint production of the two, I had been getting routinely bombarded with ads and promos for it. It looked like an interesting story with some fantastic art, so I decided to give it a shot. And was not disappointed! A historical fantasy about an orphan girl rescued from an arranged marriage and swept up into a quest to find the meaning behind her late father's last words, it's a new show that is made in Japan (by Production I.G) but comes out in the U.S. first, which is an interesting twist.

Star Wars: Visions

Star Wars and anime together? Yes, please! This is an anthology of original anime shorts set in the Star Wars galaxy that were created by some of Japan's finest animation studios, including the aforementioned Production I.G. Totally awesome and mind-blowing, although my only gripe is that I couldn't figure out how to change the Disney+ settings to Japanese with English subtitles, which a few reviewers of this series recommended doing (and is how I watch all my anime). Editor's note: I have since figured out how to change it and am considering doing a full rewatch

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai

With a title like Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, I was expecting a lighthearted romantic comedy romp along the lines of Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro! or maybe even Toradora! What I got instead was a wistful, melancholy drama with some really cool supernatural elements (time loops, body swaps, doppelgangers, etc.) that reminded me more of something like Clannad. Once I got used to the tone (and got past the third episode, which seemed like it was the natural ending for the story but totally was not), I really got into it, especially as it started landing one surprisingly deep and emotional moment after another.

Love is Like a Cocktail

A series of short episodes about a hard-working office woman and her stay-at-home husband who dutifully mixes her favorite drinks for her at the end of a long day, I liked this one so much (being a fan of light and fluffy slice-of-life rom-coms) that I wanted each episode to be thirty minutes instead of three. Bonus points for the actual cocktail recipes at the end of most episodes.

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

Two high school girls discover that they not only have a mutual passion for anime but that they are also super-talented artists - one is great at character design, the other at backgrounds. Meanwhile, a third girl (the best friend of one of the two) is not an artist but has expert-level business acumen. So, what happens? Naturally, they form an anime club - which is technically called the "film club" because their school already has an anime club - and set about to create the ultimate anime. This show, which started off good and got better and better as it went along, is a must-watch for anyone who is interested in going into the anime industry and/or just wants to know some of the things that might be going on behind the scenes of their favorite shows (sleepless nights, creative differences, budget issues, etc.)