Tsuyokute New Saga
Short Synopsis: A swordsman is given a second chance to save his homeland from demons after being sent back in time by a magic gemstone.
Wooper: They should have called this adaptation Tsuyokute New Shortcut in honor of its cheap production. The identical fire.gifs slapped on top of its world map during the opening narration, the 3DCG feathers that filled the frame after Kyle defeated the demon king (yes, the protagonist’s name is actually Kyle), the way the animation cratered after he was sent back in time and there were no more effects-laden fights to be had. Perhaps I should be glad that Tsuyokute’s production is so poor – its time travel premise is such boilerplate fantasy fodder that even world class animation wouldn’t push it past mediocrity, so why make the attempt? Guy goes back in time and writes a journal of everything he remembers so he can change the future, wowee. He’ll likely pick up a bunch of anime babes along the way using his foreknowledge of their personalities and preferences – he’s already gotten to work on his childhood friend Liese (at least she has a suitable name for a fantasy series), whose butt he gropes just one minute after being transported into the past. And oh god, the OP’s vocaloid-esque vocal treatment makes for some of the worst music I’ve heard so far this year – give it a listen if you’re ever in the mood to punish your temporal lobe.
Potential: 0%
Onmyo Kaiten Re:Birth
Short Synopsis: A delinquent is isekai’d to an alternate reality version of Tokyo filled with demons, as well as gains the ability to return from death.
Lenlo: Look, this is just a budget Re:Zero, and that’s saying something because Re:Zero is just budget Re:Zero at this point. But where Re:Zero uses Subaru’s ability to return from death to highlight his weaknesses and generally terrible personality, forcing him to try to accomplish impossible tasks again and again, here Takeru is just an OP Shounen MC gifted super powers, an incredible body, and now can’t even pretend to lose, because he comes back to life to try it all over again. It’s obvious that Onmyo Kaiten is just cashing in on whatever’s popular at the moment, trying to combine Re:Zero’s success with the recent outbreak of delinquent anime like Bucchigiri, Wind Breaker, and Tokyo Revengers. But where all of those have some degree of heart, something the author clearly wanted to make even if the results were questionable, Onmyo Kaiten is bland, uninteresting, and boring to watch. Do you want return by death or isekai shenanigans? Just go watch Re:Zero again. Do you want delinquents? Just go watch anything else I listed. Because this is not it.
Potential: 0%
The Water Magician
Short Synopsis: A reincarnated teenager uses his water manipulation powers to settle into his new life in a fantasy world.
Wooper: For a “slow life” isekai anime, The Water Magician (Mizu Zokusei no Mahoutsukai) sure is interested in combat – and sure is bad at depicting it. Not only is its animation frequently amateurish, but the protagonist’s running commentary sometimes makes it seem as though he’s reading a novelization of his own life. At one point he was forced to flee from a monster called an assassin hawk, and rather than concentrate all of his energy into running, he dedicated half of it to reciting what sounded like the creature’s Pokedex entry. I can’t blame the guy for talking to himself, since he lives in total isolation, but both the content and the timing of his monologues had me raising my eyebrows at multiple points. Visually, there were more lowlights than highlights here: off model character animation (for the episode’s one principal character), several PNG trees falling at 90 degree angles, a canvas filter selectively applied to the least attractive bits of background art. The red dragon who appeared to the protagonist in the last few minutes looked derpy as hell, too. This show isn’t all bad, as it seems poised to avoid the worst of its subgenre’s cliches, and the Dullahan who granted the main character his water sword is a point of interest. There’s a lot of room for improvement, though – so much room, in fact, that I doubt much of it will be utilized.
Potential: 10%
Lenlo: The OP is kinda pretty though, sometimes.
The post Summer 2025 Impressions: Tsuyokute New Saga, Onmyo Kaiten Re:Birth, The Water Magician appeared first on Star Crossed Anime.
