A study in boredom.

Keishichou Tokumubu Tokushu Kyouakuhan Taisakushitsu Dainanaka: Tokunana/Special 7: Special Crime Investigation Unit

Sometimes you watch an anime and have absolutely nothing to say about it afterwards. The first episode of Tokunana is one of those anime. It’s totally okay, entirely there, absolutely existing. I also watched it less than 24 hours before writing this and have already forgotten most of what I saw, so that might be a good indication of just how impactful I personally found the experience. I do vaguely remember thinking the visuals looked a little on the cheap side – run-of-the-mill character designs, animation that was serviceable at best, at least one pretty awkward CG sequence – but I guess the music was fine? Look, if you dig urban fantasy and/or police procedurals, and will also watch pretty much anything for a few episodes so long as it’s not offensively bad, you’ll probably have no major issues with Tokunana. Unless there’s really nothing else going on for you this season though, I’d say to give it a miss.

Actors: Songs Connection

I’ve watched – okay, okay, done my best to watch – a decent number of idol anime before and enjoyed almost none of them. So when I say that, in comparison, Actors is about as bland as its possible to be with 10+ characters (I honestly lost count of exactly how many there are and didn’t even attempt to remember their names after the intro of the first few) and a vaguely-hinted at supernatural element, just know that I’m not exaggerating in the slightest. It’s really hard for me to like any show, or to take it even remotely seriously, when every character has perfectly coordinated hair and eye colours (which probably say all that will ever need to be said about their personality), or when the older sister of one of the main protagonists has textbook Incurable Anime Disease, or when all the music sounds like… well, about as generically awful as anime idol music tends to sound.

I tried to go into Actors with an open mind, I really did. And to its credit, there’s nothing offensive about it other than being an utter snooze-fest. Plus, it’s also not attempting to make fanservice its main selling point – for all the bare-chested moments of the OP and ED, Actors seems to be going for something a little deeper than that, and I guess that counts for something. Unfortunately, that’s about as charitable as I can be after a truly insipid first episode. Even if bishie idol anime is your thing, Actors has absolutely none of the grounded realism of Shounen Hollywood, out-there weirdness of Sekkou Boys, or crazy energy of Uta no Prince-sama, so I’m at a loss as to what its main selling point is, if any. I don’t know if there are any other music shows airing this season, but if so, I’m just going to assume they’re more interesting than this one.

Question of the post: Did either of these shows appeal to you, and if not, what are you actually looking forward to this anime season?