The Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord’s Army Was a Human
Short Synopsis: Literally the show’s title.
Amun: First premiere of the new season, hooray! Usually the first show premiering is a steaming pile of poor animation or fanservice, but is this season any different? The answer is….kinda. Maogun was about as standard a premiere as you could ask for. Truthfully though, that puts it head and shoulders above any other season first premieres that I can remember. Hey, at least it’s not an isekai, right? We have a standard overpowered OP with a dark secret that only the big boobed boss knows….well and this random maid who just found out. Okay, whatever. There’s a pig henchman and then a demon queen who is on about something. I don’t really love the character designs though – there have been more shows that do this, with the heavier outlines. This more comes down to execution and that’s something I am absolutely not convinced Studio A-CAT can continue for a full season. Think of this as an old, used Honda Civic – it’ll be sorta fun to drive until the wheels fall off.
Potential: 25%
Lenlo: While Maogun isn’t quite as bad as I was expecting, I think Amun is overstating its quality a bit. It’s still a rather dull and by the books OP MC fantasy story. I suppose the whole “Hiding his identity” thing would be interesting, if it wasn’t immediately revealed that others are aware of who he is, taking a lot of wind from Maogun’s sails so to speak. Meanwhile visually Maogun is primarily mediocre CGI with poor lighting and a heavy reliance on after effects for the spells. There’s just… very little of interest here, and while that places it above most Isekai slop we get, it’s still not worth my time.
Potential: 10%
Suicide Squad Isekai
Short Synopsis: DC Suicide Squad villains are sent to a new world!
Amun: (Note, I’m only going to discuss the first episode, although I know 3 premiered immediately). Let’s keep this simple: “Suicide Squad Isekai” didn’t have a great start. My complaints: first, Harley’s fight with whoever that ninja was felt really weird – the finishing blow just felt odd in perspective. Secondly, the entire episode felt rushed and confused – tons of time was spent on showing the Joker, only for him to be seemingly absent from the rest of the show (although I love the inclusion of his car). Third, the animation wasn’t as crisp as it needs to be for an action heavy show like this. I KNOW Wit can do better. Finally, and this is probably the most concerning point, I didn’t feel that the tone of the DC Suicide Squad was well integrated with the isekai setting. Suicide Squad is about the irreverent “bad guys killing other bad guys for good reasons” with humor and style. “Suicide Squad Isekai” more felt like super powered prisoners were set free in a fantasy land. And I mean, that would be a fine premise, but we know these characters already – it just felt like hearing a song you love, trying to like it, but they’re hitting the wrong notes just slightly. Maybe the show will improve, but I’m honestly really disappointed.
(Episode 2 update: while the first episode is cheeks, episode 2 was way more fun. Maybe this could turn out okay?)
Potential: 30% (after 2, 50%)
Lenlo: After watching Suicide Squad I feel that it’s safe to say, as a comic book fan, that it’s best to go into this expecting a regular Isekai with a DC aesthetic rather than an actual exploration of these characters in any interesting fashion. If you wanted to see Harley Quinn in a fantasy world in any way other than visually, SSI simply is not for you. It has no idea who they are beyond the surface level and some catch phrases like “Puddin”. However if you just want to watch a hot blonde psychopath and her “friends” make media references and murder their way through a fantasy world, this will probably be right up your alley. And honestly, visually? I don’t think it looks that bad. It doesn’t move that well, like Amun says the animation isn’t very crisp and I’ve seen Wit do better, but I kind of like the designs and how colorful it all is, sometimes at least. If I rate this on a scale of Harley Quinn stories, it’s not shaping up to be very good. If I rate it on the scale of Isekai in general however… Well that’s a much more favorable comparison if you ask me. Suffice to say, I’m going to finish watching the other 2 episodes and probably a bit more before/if I drop it.
Potential: 40%
My Wife Has No Emotion
Short Synopsis: An exhausted salaryman gets a robot maid and swiftly falls in love with her.
Mario: Boy this is tough to sit through. For me, the problematic part of this premise is not about him falling in love with a robot (which of course is a can full of worms), but the very idea that the “perfect wife” image is the one who cooks for you and does the household chores… and refers to you with the honorific “-sama”. It’s just a blatant wish fulfillment cranked up to 11. Adding to that is a very generic male lead whose name I immediately forget as soon as I hear it. He doesn’t have much of a personality, really. Just look at his apartment and you don’t see anything that reflects his hobby or characteristics. But I guess he’s human enough to… have a boner when a humanoid girl sleeps next to him. The fact that the titular robot is emotionless but somehow 10 times more interesting than him speaks to that. Sorry but I don’t buy this relationship at all.
Potential: Nope. Does this show deserve three reviews written for it? Nope nope.
Amun: This premiere was lowkey disturbing. Not on the level of Goblin Slayer or anything, but yeah, this was not enjoyable. I looked into it and the source comes from 2019, somewhat at the beginning of the current AI boom. Given today’s advancements with humanoid robots (props to showing the extensive charging sequences) and LLMs like ChatGPT, My Wife Has No Emotion isn’t a cute comedy, but more of a dystopian nightmare. There was just way too much discomfort and awkwardness this episode, ignoring that this could very well become reality within the next decade. Of course, we have the obligatory ghosts in the machine, where the AI exhibits functionality beyond programmed behaviour – could it be, gasp, alive?! I do have to give props for that clock animation (that’s on point). Plus, there is also no way on earth that having a robot sleep in your bed doesn’t smell like oil. Yeah – this is disturbing. No more of this for me, thanks.
Potential: Absolutely not. Why do they keep making tradwife anime weirder and weirder?
Lenlo: I don’t know what I find more depressing, the idea of live-in tradwife sex robots, or the idea that this guy works what looks to be 12-hour days just to get home, crash, and do it all over again. Anyways, Amun has the right of it in that this show isn’t wholesome or cute at all and instead rather creepy. Weebs and Neets are already too afraid to go outside and talk to the opposite sex, do we really need to encourage it with things like demure robot wives who do anything you say? Maybe the show goes somewhere with it and gives her a personality, does the thing where it chastises him for falling in love with an appliance and that a true and fulfilling romance can only come from another sentient being reciprocating those emotions with their own free will. The emotions bit at least definitely seems to be what My Wife is gunning for judging by this first episode. That’s enough for me to not write it off completely like Amun, as there’s clear potential there. But I can’t say I’m particularly hopeful for it, just going by Japan’s track record.
Potential: 1%
The post Summer 2024 Impressions: Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord’s Army, Suicide Squad Isekai, My Wife Has No Emotion appeared first on Star Crossed Anime.
