Urata is one of those fabled “high school transfer students” and wants to make a big impression on his first day at his new school. But he winds up getting upstaged by not one, nor two, but three other transfer students: the laid back Sakata, the flamboyant Shima and the cool and collected Senra. And that’s it, that’s really all there is—this episode clocks in at four minutes, opening included.

When you have a bite-sized morsel like this, it comes down to being able to go for maximum impact: is the animation eye-popping? Is the central gag hilarious? Is it winsome? The answer is…eh. Sure, the chibi style is fun, but it’s all a little too reliant on meta-humour about anime high school tropes. Yes, the transfer student trope exists, but merely underlining it isn’t enough. The episode, in introducing all its protagonists at once, doesn’t have the time to do anything witty with the idea. So I probably won’t be following up on this one (although, on the other hand, with such a short run-time, it’s not like there’s much sunk cost here).

Days of Urashimasakatasen is available for streaming at Crunchyroll.

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Jess W

Josh’s academic perambulations have taken him from the isle of English literature all the way over to the distant realm of Biblical criticism by way of philosophy and theology. When not geeking out over those subjects he can often be found geeking out over video games, science fiction, and all things animated.

Latest posts by Jess W (see all)

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• First Impressions: Days of Urashimasakatasen - 10.08.2019