We discuss our spoiler-free Summer 2021 Anime First Impressions. Join us as we chat about our current watches, how this season compares in the early days to Winter and Spring, and what our favorite anime is so far.⁠

45. Summer 2021 Anime First Impressions

Anime reviews and discussions. By casuals, for casuals.

Part of The Strictly Series of podcasts.

Leisure

Animation & Manga

We review Promare. A visual rollercoaster that assaults your eyes from start to finish in the best way possible, this movie knows exactly what it is and what it’s striving to achieve. We discuss how the story does just enough to set up great action sequences, giving Studio Trigger free reign to do what they do best. We also discuss the ways in which this movie pays homage to earlier works like Gurren Lagann.

66. Promare

We discuss: Our Anime Origin Stories: How We Got Into Anime. We take you back to the early days of anime (when people used the term otaku instead of weeb) and share how we discovered anime. We discuss our gateway anime, transitioning from dubs to subs, getting into Jpop, and why anime hits different than western cartoons. Join us for lots of nostalgia!⁠

65. Our Anime Origin Stories: How We Got Into Anime

We review 86 EIGHTY-SIX (Part 1). The hype is going strong for this character-driven story set during wartime. This anime uses split perspective storytelling to⁠ force the viewer into witnessing the same situation from opposite sides, and it does it very well. We discuss the story, the characters, the emotions, and where things are headed in part 2 (no pun intended).⁠

64. 86 EIGHTY-SIX (Part 1)

We discuss: Is It Finally Cool to Like Anime? Being an Anime Fan Then vs. Now. We take a look at life as an otaku back in the day (we're talking the Adult Swim, Toonami, and 4Kids TV era of anime) and compare it to the current anime industry and weeb community. Let's just say that new weebs have no idea how easy they have it.⁠

63. Is It Finally Cool to Like Anime? Being an Anime Fan Then vs. Now

We review Saint Young Men (Saint Oniisan). This comedy, which follows Buddha and Jesus on their vacation to Japan, left us thinking "What did we just watch?" but in the best way possible. Rather than being a focal point, religion only helps to shape how they interact with the world, making this a simple and refreshing story that anyone can enjoy. We discuss the clever ways in which religious aspects are blended with the modern world to give us the hilarious situations in which Jesus and Buddha find themselves.

45. Summer 2021 Anime First Impressions

Download our free app to listen on your phone