Midterm Review of Winter 2022 Anime by Anime Writers [Anime Column].

A mid-term review of the new anime releases for the winter of 2022! We picked up 5 new works: "Delicious Party ♡ Precure", the latest Precure work, "Sono Kisei Ningyo wa Koi ni Suru", a romantic comedy serialized in "Young Gangan", "Sono Kisei Ningyo wa Koi ni Suru", a school story serialized in "Tonari no Young Jump", "Rust Eater Bisco", a Dengeki Novel Grand Prize winning work, and a short anime based on a creative fairy tale, " Kanashiki Debu Neko Chan," a short animation based on a creative children's story.

Delicious Party ♡ Precure

The motif of the 19th work in the Pretty Cure series is "rice. Three girls transform into Pretty Cure to stop the ambitions of the Bundles, who want to monopolize all the food. From the very beginning of the first episode, there are many delicious-looking dishes such as sushi, yakitori, hamburgers, pizza, and ramen. Cooking anime can be an enemy that stirs up cravings for late-night meals when it airs late at night, but in the morning it can be a friend that helps you decide what to eat for dinner. I am looking forward to seeing what kind of menu will be served this week.
The cooking fairies who support the Precures are all about carbohydrates: Rice Rice Rice, Bread Pam Pam, and Noodles Noodles Noodles Noodles. This aggressive stance against the tendency to demonize carbohydrates is very appealing. The nostalgic word sense of the king of the cooking dam, Cooking, and the battle cry of the Bundle Gang, "Bundle Bundle Bundle Bundle Bundle Bundle Bundle Bundle Bundle Bundle," are also soothing. For the first time in the Pretty Cure series, it is available on video streaming services on a missed delivery basis, making it a gentle work in every sense of the word.

Its dress-up dolls fall in love.

In this romantic comedy, high school student Gojo Shinna (Wakana), who aspires to become a doll maker, becomes friends with her classmate, gal Kitagawa Umimu (Marin), when she asks her to make a costume for her cosplay. Shinna's room is a six-mat Japanese-style room where she wears only samue, but when Marin appears, the atmosphere changes drastically. Cosplay costumes are hung from hangers on the nageshi, and a photo session with KAIMU begins on the tatami mats, drawing the audience in with the unexpected combination of Japanese-style room and cosplay.
Shinna's serious attitude toward everything is also impressive. She plays bishojo games in which the characters appear, draws the points to reproduce their costumes on three-dimensional drawings, and above all, she is diligent enough to meet even the most unreasonable deadlines. This is a work that makes us keenly aware that we cannot gain the trust of the gals unless we go to such lengths.

Tomorrow-chan's Sailor Suit

This is a coming-of-age story about the main character, Akebikomichi, who is the only one among the girls who wear blazers to school in her sailor uniform. In the film, the reason why she has come to admire sailor uniforms is told in an innocent manner, and this pure emotion leads to our desire to observe the character through the subjective shots that are sometimes interspersed with the film. The theme of the film affirms the feeling of love with all one's might, so there is no hesitation in close-ups of eyes, lips, feet, fingernails, and other body parts.
The animation was produced by CloverWorks, the same company responsible for "That dress-up doll will fall in love. With many broadcast stations airing consecutive hours, viewers can enjoy an hour-long show on the subject of clothing.

Rust Eater Bisco

The setting is a future Japan where everything is rusted and devastated. This is an adventure story about a wanted criminal, Akahoshi Bisco, a master archer, and a genius doctor, Nekoyanagi Miro, who meet and team up in search of the legendary mushroom, Rust Eater, which purifies all rust. This post-apocalypse film depicts a world after the collapse of civilization, but what is surprising is its visuals. Phenomena that seem like a joke are presented with a unique reality: giant crabs, iguanas and hippopotamuses ride along, and giant mushrooms appear where Bisco shoots his bow.
The bold switching of timelines in the early episodes to show both Bisco's and Miro's points of view is also effective in strengthening the impression of a buddy story. The storyboards for the OP anime, including those by novelist Otaro Maijo, add to the charm of the unpredictable dark pot.

Kanashiki fat cat

A creative fairy tale popular in Ehime Prefecture is adapted into a short animation as a special project for the 80th anniversary of NHK's Matsuyama Broadcasting Station. The story is about Maru, a fat cat who is scolded by his owner for a misunderstanding, and goes on an adventure in Ehime to see the wider world. The role of Maru is played by actor Kenichi Takito, and his voice, which is not unlike that of a fat cat, and the melancholy guitar sound add to the hard-boiled worldview. The film is also funny in the gap between the realistic cat-like behavior in public and the human-like behavior when alone, such as when he struts around town on his own two legs.
The anime also has elements of a local anime that conveys the charms of Ehime, with different scenery in each episode, such as sneaking onto a fishing boat on the Shimanami Sea Route, or experiencing a roller coaster ride on an agricultural monorail in the mandarin oranges fields of Uwajima. The mysterious black cat Madonna, the cat that inspired the trip, and Anna, Maru's owner, are played by Nana Mizuki, a native of Ehime, Japan.

(Text by Katsunori Takahashi)

(C) ABC-A, Toei Animation
(C) Shinichi Fukuda/SQUARE ENIX-"Kisekoi" Production Committee
(C) Hiroshi/Shueisha, "Asa-chan no Sailor Fuku" Production Committee
(C) 2021 Shinji Kusakubo/KADOKAWA/Rust Eater Bisco Production Committee