Crunchyroll Anime Nights 3.16.2026 - Spring Anime Sneak Peak with Witch Hat Atelier and Daemons of the Shadow Realm

 

Called my dad up on the way home from work: "I'm picking you up in 20 minutes. Taking you to see some anime."

Dad: "Sounds good, let me get dressed up."

This is how we do things in my family. My folks are long retired, pushing 70, and spend most of their time on cruises and watching football, but they got me into anime when I was young enough that if you rounded my age I'd be 0. So, I think it's only fair to return the favor and introduce them to the really good stuff now that they're older.

When I saw Crunchyroll was doing a Sneak Peak for some series coming out this April, with Witch Hat Atelier included in the lineup, I knew that was something I couldn't miss, and something I wanted to make sure they didn't miss as well.

I waited in line for hours at AX 2024 to go see Shirahama-sensei's live drawing Q&A panel. One of the best events from that year, right up there with the Look Back world premier. Needless to say, I'm a pretty big fan of the manga (and the cooking spinoff which is even more cozy). This is one of those series I proselytize for. If I'm gonna go visit some relative and stay at their house for a while, I'll usually buy them a copy of volumes 1-3 of Witch Hat. Perfect present to bring along, easy to pack, and generally not possible to dislike. 

From the early trailers, I was a bit worried about this adaptation though; it looked like they were using a lot of CGI, which I felt totally went against the vibes the series had going for it. Given the MAJOR plot of Witch Hat is that Magic isn't something you cast, it's something you draw, to have the series be CGI seemed really off-putting. 

Well, from last nights preview of episodes 1 and 2, I think we can all rest easy. My worries have been relieved. It really looked like they refined the CGI almost completely out of the show. If they maintain the same level of consistency throughout the rest of the series, and are able to keep up with the quality from the episodes they showed off, I think we've got a very strong contender for Anime of the Year. I'd say the animation quality was either as good or better than Mushoku Tensei at its peak. The direction managed to really bring out all of the best qualities we saw in the books; I especially like how they occasionally cut to this pop-up style effect where they transition the characters from anime-style, to a pop-up book illustration. Super well done. I'd rather not spoil any of the other incredible moments, so please make sure to watch this one yourself!

The official worldwide premier for Witch Hat Atelier is less than a month away now on April 6th. We will be watching it again for sure.

After the premier of Witch Hat came Daemons of the Shadow Realm. I went into this one totally blind, only familiar with the series based on its reputation and pedigree, but not knowing anything about premise, characters, etc. The book is from author Hiromu Arakawa, creator of Full Metal Alchemist, of which I'm a bit of a fan (named my kid after one of the characters level of fan). Episode 1 did not disappoint. The premise completely sucked me in. Studio BONES did a marvelous job with the animation quality; direction is on point as well.

After getting home last night I re-upped my MangaUp subscription. Planning on binge reading the series today. I've gotta know more.

After Daemons of the Shadow Realm came The Drops of God. This is another series I'm not super familiar with. I've not read the manga, but oddly enough I'm watching the live action adaptation on Apple TV right now. Is it weird to say I think I liked the live action version better? The animation from the episode 1 preview seemed really low budget, and a bit bad... direction seemed all over the place as well with too many cuts to the backs of people's heads (as if to save money on not having to animate their faces). Motion seemed stunted and lifeless. Not sure I'll watch this when it airs after seeing the preview, which really begs the question why Crunchyroll would include something like this in their lineup??? Wouldn't you want to show off the series you're really expecting to WOW people? This felt like a real misstep to me.

I will probably read the source material - I believe I picked it up some years ago from a Humble Bundle, so I've got it all on digital somewhere. Also going to continue watching the live action, though it seems like there are major differences between the plot...

I didn't stay to watch Re:Zero, since I'm not caught up with season 3 yet and didn't want to get spoiled.

Wonder how that was... if you're reading this and watched the s4 premier, comment below...

I'm not sure I'll go to another of these Sneak Peak events, since it's basically just paying $20 to watch something a few weeks early (and I hate when you have to pay premium price for early access in video games), but I could see myself doing it again if it was a show I wanted to see up on the big screen. Getting to see Witch Hat like that was incredible. Wonder if there's a way to convince theaters/Crunchyroll to show some of there shows in theaters on the weekly....

Anime Review: Yano-kun's Ordinary Days

 

Did you watch Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie and think to yourself, "man, they really underutilized the whole clumsy boy trope," then do I have the show for you.

Yano-kun's Ordinary Days is an anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Tamura Yui. I'd probably label it a shojo (and then be beaten to death by shojo elitists). The story centers around the female MC Kiyoko, the class president, who's concern over her classmate Yano grows into affection, then into full fledged romance.

Yano is a very clumsy, accident prone boy, who seems to draw misfortune to himself; he always comes to school injured heavily, wearing an eye-patch. Kiyoko's determination to keep him from harm ultimately proves largely ineffectual, but charming and to Yano, very endearing.

Yuka Nukui, the actress who plays Kiyoko, does a fantastic job. Her reactions, panic, and emotion all come across so honest and believable that I really grew to like Kiyoko as a character. In comparison again to Shikimori, who's more of a badass, guardian angel type, Kiyoko comes across less powerful, and more concerned.

I think both are very good characters and I appreciate the different ways of approaching the clumsy-boy trope.

Yano, very much like Izumi of Shikimori, is a beacon of calamity. Misfortune seems to follow him around constantly. I found myself calling him cursed in episode 1, which may became a plot point later on... When episode 11 rolls around though and a character is introduced from Yano's past, I felt like they kind of rushed through the traumatic backstory in order to find resolution, and the new cast member's presence wasn't really well executed.

Yano's pretty pathetic, but his positivity and unwillingness to break in the face of all the bullshit he constantly dealt with left me wanting to be inspired; to what end? Not sure.

I would happily watch another season of this series and buy the manga if they decided to license and print it in the US.

8/10

Anime Review: My Awkward Senpai

 

I went in really wanting to love "My Awkward Senpai", but came out very lukewarm on it. Office romance is such a rare genre as far as anime goes, so I hoped this one could be added to my list of faves. However, outside the titular senpai, I found the cast to be very bland and the episodic stories were extremely tropey and unoriginal, while also not really capturing just how marvelously cute, charming, and awkward the senpai mc girl is. It could be in part because the animation quality, or the directing, but the series just felt super underwhelming. The most offensive thing to me though was that the male MC was just extremely boring and I couldn't for the life of me think of why the Senpai ever became attracted to him in the first place, outside of him just being a hard worker??; I read the first few chapters of this manga, and I feel like he was more devilish there, teasing Senpai and trying to monopolize her cuteness to himself. That just didn't come across at all in the anime, and now looking back, I question whether or not he was that kind of character in the manga to begin with. Was I reading a different series??? Maybe I only read the original web version? Did I read the right one...?? They got her eyes right in at least a couple of shots, but in the manga, everything is black and white, but her eyes are full color, and full of life - this didn't really come across well in the anime, especially with everything else in color too. She just looked like another anime girl with weirdly colored eyes. They got her accent done really well though!

I'd give this a 5/10 I think... might look into reading the manga, since I do want to see more of her.

Anime Review: mono

 

From the creator of Yuru Camp, comes another work of tourism propaganda. "mono" features an entirely new cast of characters (with some familiar cameos), taking trips together, exploring Yamanshi, Shizuoka, and the surrounding environs. They eat lots of food and get involved with the occult (what...). I loved this series, but as far as story goes... was there one? It felt like they completed lost the plot pretty early on. It was supposed to be about a couple girls taking on their senpai's legacy to continue the cinematography club, but it pretty much just devolved into a travel anime where the characters visit a bunch of real world locations and showcase the local cuisine and scenery. 

And what the hell was all that occult stuff about?? There's a specific character who's got a mysterious background connected to shrines and exorcism. They encounter ghosts, and characters get haunted. How does this have anything to do with film making... or travel??? It seems maybe like just the personal interest of the author. It worked though, and provided for some funny setups.

Am I complaining? Nope. But then again, I lived in Yamanashi for half a decade and the nostalgia I have for the area is crazy. I visited quite a few of the real world locations they visited like Katsunuma, and the wineries, but never got to explore a lot of the others (can't believe I never actually got to go to the wine tunnel when I lived like 30 minutes away) - and now I want to book a vacation to go back and continue where I left off. So, did this anime achieve exactly what it was aiming for? Probably!!

9/10 from a very biased former Yamanashi JET.

Anime Review: A Wild Last Boss Appeared!

Been going through my watchlist trying to clear out some shows from my backlog - get a good binge in here and there on days off when I have the time. One of the shows I checked off recently was "A Wild Last Boss Appeared!", which aired during the Fall 2025 anime season. I totally missed this one as it was airing, actually didn't even know it existed, but saw some wild clips online and decided to give it a go.

TL;DR - 7/10 - Not bad for a seasonal isekai; I'll watch a second season if they make one. Doubt I'd buy the books though.

The opening premise of this show reminded me quite a bit of Overlord - too much in fact. Had to take off a couple points for originality right from the get-go. The male mc, who's a super-elite in a particular mmo game, gets sucked into the game world where he comes to embody the character that he used to play; the character happens to have a female character model, so we get some gender dysphoria to go with this  all too familiar package. A very standard adventure isekai with all the usual tropes ensues. Cute girls doing cute things, androgynous pretty boys, robo-maids, laughably evil demons, etc. etc. One particular use of the main character's power - to create a certain golem, gave me a PROPER chuckle. Definitely don't want to spoil this one with images, but trust me, once you meet Tanaka, you will understand. Tanaka, we salute you.

Series like this have been played to death lately, so I wasn't really expecting to be wowed by any of it.

The art style was pretty standard and safe and not anything I'd call special, but the animation was done competently enough that I'm not going to complain about the lack of visual directing. It's a popcorn isekai, not a Frieren. Good enough.

So, I shut my brain off, and just watched things play out, half paying attention, half doom-scrolling twitter, appalled by the state of affairs in the world. But, wouldn't you know it, eventually something surprised me enough I had to put my phone away...

There were a couple interesting elements that I don't want to spoil, which elevated things for me from what would probably have been a very mediocre 5.5/6. I suppose I could have, and really should have, seen these developments coming, but I think I underestimated the series too much. But, I'm glad I gave the show a chance to surprise me...

But... just when I had to sit up straight and consider that I may not have been familiar with this show's game after all, the ending left me more than confused, unsure of where this was all going. Maybe a second season will clear things up. I could definitely see this one getting another.

You can watch "A Wild Last Boss Appeared!!" on Crunchyroll.