Scenes from Awajima
Short Synopsis: About the lives of several girls who live in the Awajima Opera dorm.
Mario: The only thing I knew about this series coming in was that it’s an adaptation from Takako Shimura, whose works Wandering Son and Aoi Hana I absolutely adore. Just 5 minutes into this show and you can tell it’s based on one of her manga, alright. It’s about the complex web of relationships between a group of young girls as they train to become future entertainers, and at times will have to compete against each other. From what I understand the show is an ensemble piece, and if this first episode is any indication, it will be emotionally charged yet treat its characters with nuance and delicacy. The flashback about the protagonist’s roommate Kinue, for example, shows us a much different version of her than we see her presently: full of contradictions, things never said out loud but like a ripple under the water. While this episode nails it on the character drama, I am a bit two-minded about the show’s presentation. The scenes where it goes for an illustrated style (and there’s quite a few) feel a bit too overboard at times, especially for a show that is meant to be quiet and subdued. It might be just me who is too harsh on this, but regardless, with character writing this adept, I know that I will follow along this season.
Potential: 70%
Eren the Southpaw
Short Synopsis: An aspiring graphic designer takes inspiration from a mural by a generationally talented graffiti artist.
Lenlo: You know, with a name like “Eren the Southpaw”, I was expecting this series to involve at least a little bit of fighting. Who describes a lefty as a southpaw outside of combat sports?! Anyways, the show – it’s alright? I’m a bit of a sucker for series about art, and any commentary surrounding commercial art versus personal art, I write and paint regularly so it’s a topic I enjoy quite a bit. And Southpaw didn’t do a terrible job with it, the leading lady is a bit of a bitch, but she clearly cares a lot and the one piece we saw from her did feel inspired. But Southpaw also has the unfortunate problem of going up against series like Blue Period, which just do it better and are vastly more interesting. It’s also limited by the constraints of animation, just like Blue Period was, where it’s a lot harder to present the subject because it takes so much more work in animation versus manga. My point in all of this is, I’m not sure I’m going to keep watching Southpaw, but I’ll probably give reading it a try, to see if the presentation there better fits the story, rather than this standard anime visual design we’ve got here.
Potential: 40%
Kujima Utaeba Ie Hororo
Short Synopsis: A family with a strained dynamic welcomes a humanoid bird to stay with them until spring.
Wooper: Kujima Utaeba Ie Hororo was the only newly adapted manga I sampled in the lead-up to this season, so I have a decent handle on the areas that received the most focus in bringing it to animation. Number one by far is music, with tons of mellow instrumentation filling out this first episode. The use of melodica to open the show is reminiscent of the Animal Crossing OST, while the recurrence of mallet percussion gives it an intentional oddball feeling – fitting, since the story is about a personified pied avocet that speaks Russian and loves Japanese food. In fact, the soundtrack is really the only production category where this premiere stood out, as the animation and backgrounds were rudimentary, and even Kujima’s shrill foreign enunciation couldn’t elevate him to the level of a breakout character. It’s the show’s quiet tone, periodically punctured by outbursts from its colorful avian freeloader, that creates its niche appeal. I liked what I read of the manga and I liked this episode fairly well, too, but I don’t imagine it’ll garner a major (or even minor) audience. Unless you really love human-bird hybrid characters or marimba music, you may want to give this one a pass.
Potential: 25%
The post Spring 2026 Impressions: Scenes from Awajima, Eren the Southpaw, Kujima Utaeba Ie Hororo appeared first on Star Crossed Anime.
