Blogging Like it’s the 2000s – Spring 2025 Anime Impressions

Posted On April 15, 2025

Man, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these. In fact, it’s been over a decade! It’s par for the course, though. With the advent of social media, people started dropping their thoughts in short-form posts, and as a general trend the amount of blogs like this one on the internet has dropped significantly. While I’m sure there are anime blogs that still round up their seasonal impressions, this style of post feels extremely retro to me. But as an old-ass otaku hitting their late 30s, it feels good doing something nostalgic like this, so what the hell!^[1]And hey, what do I know–I just searched “2025 spring anime season impressions” and a handful of posts came up, so perhaps it’s just me that’s out of it.

While perhaps not apparent from posts on this blog or on my social media, I generally keep up with a show or two per season, but it’s true that my focus on seasonal anime has dropped significantly over the past decade and change. I still love anime, but the glut of isekai titles in recent years has pushed my attention away from current shows, and has thankfully allowed me time to revisit some old favorites, as well as finally dive into Japanese film.

But damn, this season caught me off guard. For the first time in a long while, I am watching… four shows. Thankfully this coincides with a quiet period for me at work, opening up evenings for me to enjoy this stuff. While I may not follow through with all of them, the shows listed below  boasted pretty strong pilot episodes^[2]I will only be looking at first episodes in this post., so I would like to take the time to drop some long-ish form impressions, as opposed to forcing you to read through a cumbersome Tweet thread^[3]Or Skeet thread, as the case may be..

Kidō Senshi Gundam GQuuuuuuX

Given the surprising premise laid out in the opening act of GQuuuuuuX’s theatrical outing, ahead of the TV airing, there was chatter online around whether or not the show itself would include this content. As was expected however, the TV version jumps straight to the action with our main trio of Machu, Nyaan and Shūji–you know, the kids on all the posters for this show. As someone familiar with the full film version, the way the TV series starts does feel incomplete to me, lacking the context of the theatrical cut. That said, some impressions I’ve seen online from people who have only seen the TV version indicate that this approach may be just fine. Personally, without the UC fanservice that’s slopped all over the movie version, I feel I wouldn’t be as convinced with the show just after episode 1. I’d be intrigued for sure, but it would likely take me more time to get sold on the premise. But perhaps that’s why they made that film–to draw in oldheads like me who will pay to see a Gundam film, while the kids just flipping to the show on Amazon Prime can get straight to the new and sexy stuff. Personally I’m just waiting for the TV series to get past what I saw in the theater, which should be episode 3 at this pace. One thing I will admit that the TV version has hands-down over the theatrical version is that killer ending sequence. That’s one for the ages.

Lazarus

I’m not a huge fan of how a certain segment of people keep chasing after the next Cowboy Bebop, and also keep expecting this show to come from Watanabe Shinichiro. Bebop is a very special show that came together sublimely due to the extremely specific circumstances around its creation, and it’s simply impossible to recapture that same lighting in a bottle. But at the same time, if a Bebop clone by Watanabe is plopped down in front of me, I’ll give it a chance–hence why I decided to watch the first episode of Lazarus. With all the non-Japanese names in the credits, it’s eerily clear how much they want it to hit in the US, which strikes me as less endearing than Cowboy Bebop–a show that was just made by some Japanese subculture nerds in the ‘90s, and got big in the west due a shared passion for what those subculture nerds liked. But hey! Thankfully, Lazarus is not bad. The concept is interesting enough, and there’s a great energy to the first episode. Most importantly for a Watanabe show, the keen attention to style helps it go down smooth, and the soundtrack owns. I really enjoy the setting as well, which has Bebop’s same sense of grounded reality with convincing sci-fi touches thrown in. I’m a bit lukewarm on the characters, and am right now not convinced that I’ll become as attached to them as I am to the cast of Bebop or Champloo, but I’m open to giving them a chance. Axel’s constant shit-eating grin did bother me a lot, but when that grin got wiped off his face, I felt better knowing he has more than one personality trait, and some weaknesses. The show in general looks great, but a lot of the action in the first episode felt a bit too light. That first fight in Asteroid Blues has Asimov punching through a table and Spike smashing his nose in. That shit looks like it hurts. Perhaps Jason DeMarco should stop forcing Mappa to render so many 3D buildings and instead have them focus on making the action hit harder.

Lastly, I am a bit concerned that the show is a serialized narrative. In my experience with Watanabe, he works great when he’s overseeing a series of one-shots like Bebop, Champloo or Space Dandy. A lot of his serialized works run out of steam for me, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can deliver on this one.

Kowloon Generic Romance

I was going to pass on this one, but then someone posted that video of the main girl Reiko waking up, walking out to her balcony^[4]You know, those tiny caged southeast Asian balconies–I love ‘em! in just a t-shirt and underwear, and taking a smoke before digging into a watermelon for breakfast. Reiko also won extra points for having short black hair and wearing glasses, effectively hooking me. The preceding sentences should not surprise long-time readers, but to make it clear for anyone new: I am a simple man to please. 

The actual romance stuff that drives the first episode is fine, but it’s refreshing seeing it played out between two real-ass adults who have a boring-ass day job as opposed to seeing it go down in another anime high school. The rendering of the show’s setting of Kowloon Walled City is extremely detailed and rich, overflowing with texture and personality, which adds some much needed spice to the titular “generic romance” content that makes up a bulk of this episode. Not being familiar with the original work, the stinger at the end of the first episode is what’ll keep me going on this one, but if I’m going to drop anything this season it may be this show if it can’t keep me engaged. And being based off of an on-going manga, I do worry about how they plan to conclude this first season of the TV anime.

Ballpark de Tsukamaete!

After watching Gurazeni back in 2018, I think with Ballpark de Tsukamaete! I am on track to watch one low-budget anime about baseball per decade. I’m not a huge fan of baseball, but I did enjoy going to the stadium to get drunk and watch games with a friend of mine early on in my time in Japan, so I understand the fun of enjoying a cold one in the open air while watching the game on and off on a summer’s night. I was worried that the show would focus exclusively on the self-insert salaryman and his crush on Ruriko^[5]She’s the beer girl you see in all the key art. but thankfully right from the first episode, the show demonstrates that it plans to focus on all facets of working at a ballpark. So far all the characters are fun, charming and relatable archetypes that you see in the real world. I particularly enjoy Ruriko more than I thought I would, probably thanks to Fairouz Ai’s spirited and nuanced performance. So long as it sticks to day-to-day antics and doesn’t try to force a relationship between Ruriko and self-insert salaryman dude, I think I’ll stick with it.

Also, this is another one with a killer ending sequence. You just gotta see it.

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Man, it feels so weird doing this again. I look forward to encountering the next anime season that inspires me this much again. Bring it on, anime industry!