Cyber Inspector Echika begins a brain dive. Her assistant, it seems, is an android—or rather, an Amicus—and as such, he is imprinted with the Laws of Respect, aka Asimov’s Laws of Robotics. Cut to a montage of confrontations in dark, seedy alleys and dead-end streets, and then to a St. Petersburg shopping mall, where Echika,… Read More First Impression: Your Forma
“So, to sum up Hikaru’s story,” says one of Hikaru’s friends, as they walk to school in a futuristic Japanese city, “last night, Hikaru, a troubled third year in Kitakagami junior high school, was gazing at the starry sky, as he often does…” We see a shoujo protagonist screaming with passion. “No. I thought I… Read More First Impression: Mecha-Ude: Mechanical Arms
Welcome to the future: murderous robots run wild in a Japan full of ruins and toxic rain. Enter Tokio and Kanata, a team consisting of “Drifter” (read “mecha pilot”), and tech expert who collect relics of the past from cities overcome by nature, and transport them to the dome-protected “Nests”. They do so with the… Read More First Impression: SYNDUALITY: Noir
A family (?) of androids watches fireworks on a beach. Cut to elsewhere with the androids on beds and one making some cryptic comments about destiny and reuniting. Cut to a “commercial” segment that explains how, in the wake of global warming and a massive decrease in human population, androids are picking up the slack.… Read More First Impression: Technoroid Overmind
Cute girls…using weapons powered by magical bloodsucking rings, fighting evil robots? Well, we did it, team. This is a thing now—let’s go home. Assault Lily: Bouquet appears to be a show about cute high school girls called “Lilies” battling mysterious wild robots called “Huge.” Protagonist Riri is just starting to attend an academy for Lilies… Read More First Impression: Assault Lily Bouquet
Episode one of Plastic Memories had me hooked this season. With a theme and feel much like Time of Eve, one of my all-time favorite movies, and a dollop of moe, its pilot episode hit all the the right spots. Of course, the episodes following the first have yet to prove if the series will… Read More Anime Today: Dealing with the Finite
The anime movie Hal, a lovely piece from Wit Studio and Production IG, aired just one year ago in June 2013. Thus, it was a pleasant and refreshing surprise when I learned that Funimation had picked up the rights to dub and will be releasing the film in the US! Especially since I don’t believe… Read More Anime Movie Review: Hal
Keep up with first impressions of all the summer 2026 anime series + more with our weekly newsletter, Above Anime!
Each Friday, you’ll receive an original anime devotional along with links to all our reviews, analysis, videos, and other content for the week. It’s the easiest way to keep up with our ministry!