The first third of the Winter 2019 anime season has come to a close. And with that comes the return of the premiere Galvanic Team takedown battle series – Anime TKO!
PREAMBLE
EvilBob: At last, the time has come. You will be defeated by the end of this!
Voyager: Aw. Look at the cute widdle chihuahua, barking his head off. Does someone want headpats?
EvilBob: …Hello, police? I’d like to report another attempted homicide? The victim is my pride, this time. Yeah, it’s my boss agai- … What do you mean, you won’t send an officer? … What do you mean stop calling this number?! Don’t hang up on-!
Voyager: Methinks that would be an omen.
EvilBob: An omen of your defeat, maybe.
Voyager: My, you’re such a sore loser it carries over months later?
EvilBob: I told you. It’s not about you anymore. Someone is counting on me to win.
Voyager: Ho? Then for their sake, I hope you go all out. Because the Knockout Eliminations begin now.
QUALIFIER ELIMINATIONS
4th Place – Grimms Notes The Animation/Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen
EvilBob: Grimm’s Notes isn’t… bad. It’s just… not as good as the rest of the ones on my list. My main complaint is just how the show’s out of order, and put the actual first episode as, like… episode 3.
Voyager: The more I think about it, the more I think it possibly had something to do with the game.
EvilBob: Well, yeah. And, it might’ve worked for the game. It just doesn’t work for the show.
Voyager: Yeah, no such problem. Kaguya-sama is amazing. I just doubt it’ll go all that far when stacked up against other shows with… you know… a story. It’s hilarious and the characters are fun. And while we may be starting to get more into the characters now, it doesn’t seem likely to go all that deep with them, definitely leaning a lot harder on the humor. Great show. Just nooot likely to compare with what’s left.
3rd Place – Boogiepop wa Warawanai/Date A Live III
EvilBob: *sigh* …I’m just gonna say it again. This show’s confusing. It’s not a bad confusing. It just… takes a while for things to make sense.
Voyager: Aw. Does your little brain hurt after watching it?
EvilBob: Yes, actually. Especially that first epi-… wait, my brain is not little! My doctor says it’s perfectly minuscule!
Voyager: …Oh. Yeah. My apologies. Ahem. Meanwhile, Date A Live is Date A Live. Animation dip aside, it’s basically like the show never went anywhere. Awesome music, fun characters, amusingly simple humor, surprising knack for drama when it feels like it, it’s a show I love to death! But. It is undeniably Junk Food. And no way is Junk Food going to compare to what’s left on this list. At all.
2nd Place – Dororo (2019)/Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari
EvilBob: Dororo is one of the best remakes I’ve ever seen.
Voyager: You’ve… never seen the original.
EvilBob: No, but I’ve watched a lot of remakes. Compared to them, this is one of the better ones, for sure. And I’m not saying it’s better than the original.
Voyager: Eh. Probably is.
EvilBob: …Brutal, much?
Voyager: *shrug* Remember, folks. All hate mail to cvoyage@dontgiveadamn.idgaf.
EvilBob: …AHEM. But it can stand on its own, is my point.
Voyager: And then there’s Shield Hero. Which started out strong with yet another overblown controversy that severely hampered my ability to care. But it earned its way back up with consistently solid (if mildly problematic) episodes, proclaiming its superiority with that last episode. It’s an extremely unpleasant anime. Not in the same needlessly brutal way as some other stuff we won’t name. But in a very raw, emotional manner that could’ve dragged this series down to the point of just being unwatchable. (As I’ve covered, I’m not big on watching characters suffer endlessly) But then Raphtalia gets a line or a scene and makes it all better. For the full breakdown on my feelings about how it handles that, just go look at the last review.
1st Place – The Promised Neverland/Mob Psycho 100 II
EvilBob: Welp. Pretty sure we’re gonna see a lot more death, coming soon. This is, uh… this is not gonna end well. Especially if Ray’s actually a traitor. But. Promised Neverland is still my strongest show, so far. The stakes are high, the characters aren’t idiots, and man does it know how to build its atmosphere when it needs to. ‘speeecially when it involves the adults.
Voyager: Still not sure I’d mark it as “horror,” though. Not yet anywhere. Fear is, of course, subjective. But this seems to be more in the vein of a psychological thriller, if anything… and speaking of psychological…
EvilBob: Here it comes…
Voyager: Mob wins.
EvilBob: Wait, what?
Voyager: Yeah. Mob wins.
EvilBob: Not if I have anything to say about-!
Voyager: Have you seen episode 5 yet?
EvilBob: …N-no? But we’re grading this on episode 4!
Voyager: I am. And that was also amazing. But I also watched episode 5. Mob wins.
EvilBob: …
SEMIFINAL BRACKETS
First Bracket – The Promised Neverland/Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari
EvilBob: Psh. I’ve got this.
Voyager: Oh my. Someone’s confident.
EvilBob: Of course. It’s my strongest show, up against one that seems to think slavery is okay.
Voyager: Tch… no comment.
EvilBob: Truth hurts, don’t it?
Voyager: Not as much as watching fools so utterly miss the point…
Second Bracket – Dororo (2019)/Mob Psycho 100 II
Voyager: Hey, Bob.
EvilBob: What?
Voyager: Quick gift for you.
EvilBob: …Your arrogance will not be rewarded, this time. I believe in the heart of my anime picks!
Voyager: All I’mma say is… Episode 5. RIP, mate.
THE AFTERMATH
Is It Evil? Line-Up
EvilBob: My line-up is actually staying basically the same. Not really any need to drop anything, since I’m already covering so little, as it is.
Weekly Anime Redux Line-Up
Voyager: And then there’s me. Technically, I won’t be dropping anything either. But I’ll obviously be shifting things around. So, joining the Non-TKO Line-Up will be Date A Live III and Kaguya-sama. I could drop them, as I do have seven shows on my list. But I like both shows, so I won’t.
Voyager’s Next Full-Series Review
Already made this announcement, but I goofed and did so early, as the Kill la Kill ones came out in January. So, later this month you can expect a full review of…
Yep. Maid-sama! Look forward to it!
CONCLUSION
Voyager: And that’s it for the Qualifiers. Keep an eye out for the Semifinals, in four weeks’ time.
EvilBob: It will be a glorious battle for the ages.
Voyager: Or a complete farce…
EvilBob: …
Voyager: Thanks for reading, folks. Keep up the Awesome.
EvilBob: And Keep it Classy.
Voyager: Take Care.
Pingback: The Qualifier Round Is Over! | Is It Evil? Weekly Edition Volume 4 Recap Winter 2019 | GALVANIC
Pingback: Will the PS5 be Backwards Compatible? | Bulletoon Weekly | GALVANIC
Pingback: Everything Else Is Late, But At Least This Monthly Update Is On Time! | Galvanic Post | GALVANIC
Pingback: Showdown! Mob Psycho 100 II vs. The Promised Neverland | Anime TKO | GALVANIC