Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk Episode 1 Review
### Synopsis
Storyboard artist: Takashi SakumaEpisode director: Takashi SakumaScriptwriter: Yoko YonaiyamaAnimation director: Miyachi Frankly, I can’t remember the last time I had a drink with someone (though, I’m not exactly solo-drinking these days either). But no matter. Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk is finally here, which means I can spend the rest of the anime season experiencing such social pleasures vicariously through a finely-animated, yuri-flavored slice-of-life anime about college girls and alcohol. ©塀（秋田書店）／上伊那ぼたん製作委員会 ©塀（秋田書店）／上伊那ぼたん製作委員会 Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk follows the residents of a cozy, house-like college dormitory, among them the titular, first-year student Botan Kamiina. The first episode focuses on her interactions with two of her seniors: the dorm leader Ibuki Tonami, who looks like an older clone of Encouragement of Climb’s Aoi, and the elegant Kanade Gujo. And, of course, there’s quite a bit of drinking to go with the exchanges as well. Already, there are strong hints of Botan and Ibuki becoming more than junior and senior in the future. Ibuki prefers to consume alcohol alone due to the ensuing hiccups, and in the beginning, she has snuck away from the group to enjoy some solo drinking during the day. Botan finds her, and through her pleasant and forward nature, slips through the wall Ibuki has put up and assuages the older girl’s self-consciousness about her hiccups. Botan also drops some lines that make Ibuki’s heart skip a beat, because the conceit is that drinking causes Botan to become a little uninhibited, and I really don’t blame Ibuki for pondering on some of Botan’s words at the…
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Details aren’t fully clear from the source, but this item is developing—hit the link for the latest specifics.
### Key details
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– Names and staff as noted in the article
Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring Episodes 1-2 Bud With Promise
### Synopsis
In the nation of Yamato, Hinagiku Kayo is one of the Agents of the Four Seasons, humans endowed with the responsibility of bringing their respective seasons to the land. After being kidnapped by a terrorist group, Hinagiku disappeared for a decade, and with it her fruitful season of spring too withered away from the cycle. Now, Hinagiku is back, with the Guard of Spring Sakura Himedaka to protect her as she whirls spring back into bloom. Upon seeing news of spring’s return, Rosei Kantsubaki, the Agent of Winter, and Itecho Kangetsu, the Guard of Winter, set out to see it for themselves, cautious of what a reunion with Hinagiku and Sakura might mean after they failed to stop Hinagiku’s kidnapping all those years ago. One episode wasn’t enough for me to determine my feelings toward Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring, but two episodes in, I’m thoroughly on board with this lush, melancholic, dangerous world. The necessary worldbuilding at the start takes a bit to sludge through, mainly because of a melodramatic encounter with a 12-year-old I’m sure we will never see again — but once spring arrives and the consequences ripple into being, the anime’s impact expands tenfold. What did draw me in from the get-go, even through the slower exposition, was the gorgeous 2D animation. As expected of an anime about the four seasons, every scenic shot is rich with detail, each flower petal and dollop of snow like a delicate stroke across an oil painting. The rendering of the lighting and shadows on each of…
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Details aren’t fully clear from the source, but this item is developing—hit the link for the latest specifics.
### Key details
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Honkai: Star Rail Gets MAPPA-Produced Animated Trailer
### Synopsis
New animated content for Honkai: Star Rail have been released, in the form of a MAPPA-produced concept trailer and a video for the free-to-play RPG’s third anniversary song “Side Quest King.” The concept trailer is directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa (Mob Psycho 100 Season 3 chief director, Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine, Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer, Blue Giant) and has character designs from Kayoko Ishikawa (Zenshu). Honkai: Star Rail is set to get its Version 4.2 update, “So Laughed the Masses,” on April 22. The upcoming additions include 5-star characters Silver Wolf LV.999 and Evanescia, as well as the Trailblazer’s Path of Elation. The press release describes the upcoming main story developments as such: In the Version 4.2 Main Story, the stakes of the Phantasmoon Games become a whole lot more complicated once it’s announced that the ultimate reward has received an unprecedented escalation: the victor will become the permanent Aeon of Elation. Caught right in the center of the spotlight, the Trailblazer naturally draws the scrutiny and wariness of every major faction. At that moment, Fulwish — leader of the Research Society of Happy Smiles and a local media mogul — invited all Supplicants to the Fulwish TV headquarters in Seafeld City, a holiday resort renowned for its crisp scenery and idyllic climate. There, Fulwish plans to host a televised debate open to all of arcadia, exploring the burning question: “What kind of future will the Phantasmoon Games bring to this world?” For the Trailblazer, this “public provocation” is undoubtedly an overt scheme that is impossible to refuse. And beneath the…
### What’s going on
Details aren’t fully clear from the source, but this item is developing—hit the link for the latest specifics.
### Key details
– See source for final dates/platforms
– Names and staff as noted in the article
Honkai: Star Rail Gets MAPPA-Produced Concept Trailer
### Synopsis
New animated content for Honkai: Star Rail have been released, in the form of a MAPPA-produced concept trailer and a video for the free-to-play RPG’s third anniversary song “Side Quest King.” The concept trailer is directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa (Mob Psycho 100 Season 3 chief director, Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine, Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer, Blue Giant) and has character designs from Kayoko Ishikawa (Zenshu). Honkai: Star Rail is set to get its Version 4.2 update, “So Laughed the Masses,” on April 22. The upcoming additions include 5-star characters Silver Wolf LV.999 and Evanescia, as well as the Trailblazer’s Path of Elation. The press release describes the upcoming main story developments as such: In the Version 4.2 Main Story, the stakes of the Phantasmoon Games become a whole lot more complicated once it’s announced that the ultimate reward has received an unprecedented escalation: the victor will become the permanent Aeon of Elation. Caught right in the center of the spotlight, the Trailblazer naturally draws the scrutiny and wariness of every major faction. At that moment, Fulwish — leader of the Research Society of Happy Smiles and a local media mogul — invited all Supplicants to the Fulwish TV headquarters in Seafeld City, a holiday resort renowned for its crisp scenery and idyllic climate. There, Fulwish plans to host a televised debate open to all of arcadia, exploring the burning question: “What kind of future will the Phantasmoon Games bring to this world?” For the Trailblazer, this “public provocation” is undoubtedly an overt scheme that is impossible to refuse. And beneath the…
### What’s going on
Details aren’t fully clear from the source, but this item is developing—hit the link for the latest specifics.
### Key details
– See source for final dates/platforms
– Names and staff as noted in the article