Winter 2023 Anime: First Impressions

The first episode of every show I have chosen to watch during this season of anime has now aired, so I shall be sharing my initial impressions of each one. I’ve even added an extra show on top of what I previously said I was going to watch.

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young LadyFrom the first episode alone, I can already state with certainty that Anisphia is the best protagonist of this season. I do love me a fun character, and Anis is bringing plenty of fun to this show. I’m also excited to see how her relationship with Euphyllia develop. Definitely a strong start for a year that promises to deliver us plenty of yuri.

Spy ClassroomI mean, it’s no Princess Principal, but it had a fairly decent first episode. The cast of characters seem pretty interesting; I look forward to seeing each one of them display their own unique special skills as the show goes on. I also got a laugh out of Klaus’s teaching style, so that’s more points in its favour. This was the extra show that I added to my watchlist for this season, by the way.

NIJIYON ANIMATIONSo it turns out that NIJIYON ANIMATION was officially picked up, and I’m happy that it was. After all, its first episode alone pretty much confirms what we knew about Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club all along: that its a yuri harem, with Yu as the protagonist. All within the space of three minutes. Good start for this series of shorts.

NieR:Automata Ver1.1aIf you’ve played NieR:Automata, you will no doubt recognise that many of the scenes from this anime are 1:1 recreations of cutscenes from the game. Can’t get much more faithful than that. They are also using the game’s phenomenal soundtrack as well. However, the best thing to come from this anime adaptation is the way in which they’ll be showcasing the various different endings of the game. That might be the thing that I’ll be looking forward to most with each new episode. A big thumbs up for the first episode of this video game adaptation.

Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My RetirementGood start for this one. It was pretty interesting to see the show acknowledge a language barrier between Mitsuha and the people of the world she ended up in, even if only temporarily. It’s a pretty interesting ability that Mitsuha has managed to pick up, and her plan for how to use it is amusing. I like what we’ve got here so far.

D4DJ All MixThe DJs return once again, with Lyrical Lily taking centre stage this time. A fun first episode that involves everyone to get us back into the swing of things. It’s nice to see all these characters interacting with each other, and I’m sure we’ll be hearing plenty of great music as well. We definitely did with this first episode.
I’ll miss WOW WAR TONIGHT as the ending theme, but I do like that the animation for the ending is keeping up a theme.

Ippon Again!When it comes to the actual judo stuff in this judo anime: I very much like. I’m not entirely sure about Michi at the moment, but I’m definitely a fan of Towa. I’d still say a pretty good start overall, though. I actually did read up about this one a little bit, and it seems we still have plenty of interesting characters to meet. Quite eager for that.

BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense. Season 2Maple, Sally and their companions are back. And yes, Maple is still providing headaches for the dev team of NewWorld Online. The show is still just as delightful as its first season. It’s a blast watching Maple utterly destroy NewWorld Online, and I’m sure she’s only going to acquire more skills that will serve towards that in this season as well. This first episode gave us some action, some comedy and an insert song – pretty much everything I’ve come to expect from BOFURI. A wonderful return for this show.

Those are the new shows for this season that I shall be watching – with the exception of Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure (or Soaring Sky PreCure), because that doesn’t start until February. I shall make it known that I’m looking forward to that one – and having the blue Cure take the lead has definitely piqued my interest.

It’s way to early to decide on a favourite, but what I can tell you is that The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady is the show that impressed me most with its first episode. NieR:Automata Ver1.1a is a pretty close second, though.
Overall, though, I’d say we’re off to a pretty good start for this season. A good start for what looks to be a very good year for yuri.