I can’t believe spring is already at the door, begging to come in. Maybe someone needs to get kidnapped for another ten years…
The Food Diary of Miss Maid Ep. 1
A maid finds herself marooned in Japan. Well, not really. Her employer’s mansion’s roof collapsed, so she doesn’t have a home to return to for at least a year. So what’s a girl to do? Enjoy Japanese snacks, obviously. And for some bizarre reason, she always wears her maid uniform. Why? Beats me. Anyway, we kick things off with the noble taiyaki. Our maid somehow manages to get her hands on a taiyaki that is amazingly stuffed to the gills (or tail) with filling. I’ve never seen one with a crust this thin. Apparently, this is achieved by cooking each taiyaki individually instead of doing them in one large batch. Sure, sure. I suppose that’s a mildly interesting factoid, but I’m not confident that this sort of thing can sustain my interest for an entire season.
I mean, takoyaki as the second snack? Practically every anime out there already extols the virtues of takoyaki. Next, we get instructions on how to eat dango sitting in the middle of a skewer. How is this remotely interesting? Who is this for? What Japanese kid out there doesn’t know about taiyaki, takoyaki, and dango? That’d be like me making a Sunday morning cartoon to talk about about hamburgers and tacos.
As an aside, I think it’s rather fitting that our voracious maid is voiced by the same actress as Fern.
The strongest job is apparently not a hero or a sage, but an appraiser (provisional)! Ep. 1
This show feels like the author’s barely disguised fetish. The elf heroine’s breasts pop out of her shirt at least three times throughout the episode. Just wear a fucking sweater at that point, christ. Even when they’re fully clothed, however, her breasts loom threateningly over the main character in practically every scene like twin Death Stars.
By the way, the male lead looks like a lil’ kid despite being 16. The show wants to make it very, very clear that he has a face that all older women dote upon. Alright, alright, we get it: you’re one of those oneeshota degenerates. Sheesh.
What’s the story? The main character can appraise stuff, which obviously includes people. And he has a map that allows him to track everything nearby. That’s the story. No, really, that’s literally it. He gets isekai’d, he meets his big titty oneesan, they do unspeakable things to a rabbit, the end. Man, the author must’ve really racked their brain when they came up with this premise.
Anyways, this is going on the “Everything else” shit pile. Granted, not every “Everything else” show is shit, but this one certainly is.
Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring Ep. 1
The premise is a bit… inelegant. In this world, the seasons don’t come naturally due to the earth’s tilted axis as the planet revolves around the sun. Rather, the seasons must be ushered in by specific individuals — agents, if you will. Said agents, however, can be kidnapped by… I dunno, evil people who don’t want the seasons to change? Why? For now, your guess is as good as mine. We’ll just have to keep watching to find out. Point is, Hinagiku, the Agent of Spring, went missing ten years ago. As a result, the country has been trapped in a dreary winter ever since.
Thankfully, HInagaiku is now free, and she’s on a journey to bring a little green back in our lives. But for some reason, she has to do this in secret. I assume it’s because the people who kidnapped her are still out there. And then in the process, we’re supposed to shed tears as people reflect upon the passing of the seasons. The first episode features little girl who refuses to forget her late mother, so she makes the long trek up the mountains in order to shovel snow from her mother’s grave. But now that spring is here, she can move forward like, um, the seasons!
I dunno, the whole thing just feels… overworked. It’s like how overworked dough ends up dense and tough after baking. That’s how I see this anime. It just feels like it’s trying too hard; it feels like it’s constantly holding up a “Please get emotional” sign during key story beats for the audience to react appropriately. Maybe I’m being unfair. Maybe I just need to give it more time to settle into a groove now that we’ve gotten the concept of the story out of the way. I’m willing to keep following the anime. I just won’t do a whole ass post about it every week.
Also, I can already tell that I’m going to dislike Sakura’s character. As Hinagiku’s bodyguard, she’s naturally protective. She’s a bit overzealous about it, though. As a result, her personality is rather grating. It’s just a lot of angry outbursts and yelling, even around kids. The little girl even calls her out for this, so who knows? Maybe she’ll reflect on this and chill out a little… ’cause, y’know, winter’s gone. But probably not. Sounds like she’s got a beef with the Agent of Winter even though Hinagiku seems to be in love with the guy even after all these years.
