The Season in Haikus - Summer 2025 (Part 3)

Hello, all! Time for another round of seasonal haikus. I wasn't able to get as many shows watched this week as I would like to, but dang, there are some doozies here! From a misogynistic, space-themed revenge fantasy to Quintessential Quintuplets, but it's Incest to the long-awaited animated adaptation of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes. Let's dive in!

I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire

Est. 4.5/10. Skip.

The-honest,-hardworking-Japanese-office-worker-who-will-soon-be-known-as-Liam is just your average, everyday dude.  He goes to work.  He does his taxes.  He follows company protocols about putting your computer in sleep mode before leaving your desk.  The norms of Japanese society say that he should be heading for a prosperous and socially-acceptable future, with a wife and child who love him, and an apartment that’s a decent commute from his place of employment.  But that’s not how it’s going to turn out.  You see, The-honest,-hardworking-Japanese-office-worker-who-will-soon-be-known-as-Liam is on a collision course with the most destructive and devastating force imaginable:  A woman with ill intent.  His wife is cheating on him with his supervisor at the company.  His daughter calls this other man “papa.”  This other man goes to his computer while he is away from his desk, after personally ordering him stop leaving it in sleep mode (thus violating company protocol), and uses it to embezzle around a hundred thousand dollars.  The-honest,-hardworking-Japanese-office-worker-who-will-soon-be-known-as-Liam gets fired, gets dead-end jobs to pay back the money he didn't steal, gets cancer, and dies of blood cough.

Luckily for him, this is an anime!  And The Guide gives him the opportunity to be reincarnated into an exciting, new world of his choice!  Since he and his lone friend were super into this mecha series, he decides on a sci-fi world full of giant robots and space empires.  And what does he do, when he’s reborn as the son of a prominent Count in that world?  He takes out his frustrations on the rest of the galaxy, of course!  After all, there are only two kinds of people in this world:  Stompees and stompers, and dang it, in this life, Liam – the Intergalactic Overlord formerly known as an honest, hardworking Japanese office worker – is gonna frickin’ stomp!

So here’s the thing.  Based on just the first episode of this show, it’s terrible.  It’s an overwrought revenge fantasy, but the main character isn’t getting revenge on anyone.  The thing that makes those stories work is having a villain that we love to hate, and the villain in the story of Liam – the Intergalactic Overlord formerly known as an honest, hardworking Japanese office worker – is. . . just a woman?  A shitty woman, to be sure, but she’s a melodramatic stereotype of an evil ex-wife, designed only to justify our main character’s misanthropy.  She’s not fun to hate.  We just hate her (if we’re actually invested in the story of Liam, – the Intergalactic Overlord formerly known as an honest, hardworking Japanese office worker – which we are not).  And so, we’re left with a story of someone who looked at evil in the world, gained the power to shape the world in whatever way they wanted, and responded to that power by saying, “Great!  Now, it’s my turn to be evil!”  And that’s. . . well, I think that hits too close to home to be enjoyable, these days.

But here’s the thing I was talking about when I said “here’s the thing” in the last paragraph. Liam, – the Intergalactic Overlord formerly known as an honest, hardworking Japanese office worker – is very, very bad at being an evil overlord.  Apparently, despite all his best efforts to be selfish and wicked, his acts of impropriety lead to prosperity for his entire space county.  People love him, because everything he does leads to their happiness, even when he’s trying to destroy any ounce of hope in the galaxy.  I learned this when I glanced at the description of the show on MAL, and since I’m never going to let this anime grace my screen again, I can’t comment on how well this angle plays out.  It’s totally possible this show turns out to be just fine.  Funny, even.  But from what I’ve seen, it’s an anime about a shitty, misanthropic Lelouch Lamperouge cosplayer getting revenge on innocent people because his wife was mean to him, and I don’t think the fact that the revenge doesn’t work is going to do anything to make this show more fun.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

Est. 7/10. Test.

Normally, I don’t review spinoff series on this little column, but I was always going to watch this one, so I thought I would give my thoughts.  Vigilantes is the story of the cutest dang community activist you ever did see, running around in an All Might onesie and picking up trash on the side of the highway.  As someone with a seemingly useless quirk and no realistic ambitions of being a superhero, Koichi Himawari spends his time cleaning up the streets of Musutafu City.  Literally.   He helps old ladies cross the street.  He picks up wallets that people drop on the sidewalk and delivers them to their owners.  He’s a certified nice guy, and he’s happy to do his part to make the world around him a better place.  Then, when a couple of guys who are up to no good start making trouble and beating the heck out a local pop idol, Mr. Nice Guy has to. . . just kind of sit there and watch while KNUCKLEDUSTER: JANITOR OF THE FIST metaphorically takes out the trash.  What follows is Koichi getting swept up into the world of vigilante justice, the highly illegal (sort of) and dangerous underbelly of superhero work.

I love the My Hero Academia universe.  No, it doesn’t make sense that a world where 80% of the population has superpowers can have a functioning society, but that’s okay.  It’s fun, it has a great sense of wonder and identity, and I’m excited about the idea of exploring new stories in that space, especially when some of the characters we’ve come to know from the main series are (presumably) going to be acting as antagonists in this one.  After all, vigilantism is a crime, and what self-respecting hero would let crime go unanswered?  (Spoilers:  I'm afraid it's all of them, but I can dream.)

The main thing I want to praise this series for is its visual style.  Unlike the main series, which looks very much like a typical anime, this one has a little bit of distinct flair in the form of leaning in to the visual language of comic books.  Thick outlines on the characters.  Plenty of dramatic reaction shots.  And, most importantly, sound effects being physically drawn on screen.  It’s very satisfying to see KNUCKLEDUSTER: JANITOR OF THE FIST punch a villain and have that hit accompanied by a bright orange “THWAM!” with a starburst graphic behind it.  For fans of My Hero Academia, this is another story in that universe.  The characters and plotlines are different enough from MHA to not feel like they’re retreading old ground, but they still feel like they fit in with everything we know about the world from our previous experience with it.  For people who haven’t seen MHA. . . this is a superhero show about unlicensed superheroes going around fighting crime (which is, itself, a crime).  For people who don’t like MHA, your enjoyment of this show will entirely depend on why you didn’t like it, so I don’t feel comfortable saying you should or shouldn’t watch it.  Make your own judgments.  I’m not your dad.

That's Journey

Est. 7/10. Test.

On an entirely different note from Vigilantes, we have That’s Journey, a slow-paced, iyashikei style series about an overworked mangaka who discovers her love of travel.  When three of her manuscripts are rejected in a single day, Chika Suzugamori’s publisher suggests that she should incorporate the things she loves into her manga, which is a great idea!  After all, she loves manga and. . . and other things.  For sure, there are other passions in her life.  Like. . . uh. . . shoujo manga?  Wait, that’s manga.  She’s a big fan of. . . m-man. . .ga? 

In search of a new hobby, she posts a poll on Dabetter (knockoff Bluesky) to see which direction she should go from Tokyo, and the people spoke:  Up.  She (forever a coward) interprets “up” to mean “north,” and finds herself going on a journey to the top of a very tall mountain (so I guess she kind of did it, the madwoman!)  She hangs out at a hot spring.  Explores a surrounding town.  It’s all very quaint, charming, and expensive, and at the end of it, she walks away with a newfound appreciation for life and art.

The only real problem with this show is that it exists in a world that already has three seasons of Yuru Camp.  Yes, there are differences, but at the end of the day, this is a show about appreciating the beauty of new places.  Slow panning shots of old buildings.  Beautiful ambient shots with mountain landscapes and flower fields.  A gentle, atmospheric soundtrack that gets you in the mood for a cozy show to watch with your afternoon tea.  And when it comes to that kind of show, this one is very good!  The art is beautiful, and the chosen location for episode one has a decent amount of character and realism.  That said, it doesn’t stand out against other shows of its kind.  If you don't normally like that kind of show, and you're looking for some kind of hook or gimmick to make this one different, you aren't going to find it here. But if you are a fan of that kind of show, this is another one, and it's pretty good! I think you'll be pleased.

Summer Pockets

Est. 5.5/10. Skip.

You know those shows that feature a clueless protagonist going into a “realistic-but-kinda-off” community of people and learning how to integrate himself with them (or not)?  Shows like Island, Summertime Render, and a few others that my brain refuses to let me remember?  Maybe there’s some sinister secret behind it all that the main character uncovers over time, and maybe there’s not, but the point of the show is that he’s surrounded by eccentric people (usually girls) who slowly become part of his life.  In this show, you’ll be treated to stories about girls who are suffering from amnesia, searching for pirate gold, learning to swim, and vehemently against shirtlessness at the public pool.  If you’re thinking, “That sounds like a VN adaptation,” then I’m very sorry.  You’re right.  After some ambiguous personal drama, our main character moves to the island where his grandma just died, using her estate sale as an excuse to get away from his life for a while.  While there, he meets some nutty girls who do things that don’t make sense, and he tries to make them make sense.  My guess is that they’re all involved in something strange, if not altogether supernatural, but I hope I’m wrong. 

This is the kind of show where you have to be invested in the vibe from the beginning, and after watching so many shows like this that decided to have that vibe go somewhere stupid just for the sake of showing off a couple of (what they believed to be) cute anime girls, I’m not giving it the benefit of the doubt.  You can watch it if you want.  The surreal atmosphere and disjointed scenes might be fun for someone who’s never seen a show like this before.  But if you have, I can’t imagine this one is going to be any different than they were.

#Compass2.0: Animation Project

Est. 5.5/10. Test.

Normally, this is the kind of show that I would write off immediately.  And I did.  I got about four minutes into the episode before I was struggling not to look at my phone, and two minutes into my phone before I was struggling to look at the screen.  It was clearly made as an ad for the mobile game of the same name (which doesn’t have an English translation, so there’s even less reason for us to watch this), and the people who made it apparently forgot to give it a proper title.  I’m surprised it isn’t called “[SEND THIS ONE] #Compass2.0: Animation Project – Final (FINAL)”.  But despite the fact that it’s flying more red flags than a communist rally in downtown Beijing, there are actually a couple of interesting ideas here that I think are worth exploring for people who just want something simple and fun where monotypic characters blow up robots together.

This show takes place inside the world of #Compass, a (real-life) Japanese mobile auto-battler.  Characters called Heroes fight each-other so that they can test their skills and defend the world of #Compass from invading threats.  They do this with the help of “avatars” (players), who help them decide what moves to make and power up their abilities with special cards.  The thing that interests me is that this doesn’t take place in some fantasy world that’s canon to the game.  It takes place in the game.  Characters wander around waiting for a player to tell them to go join a battle.  They chat at the stark-white café in-between quests.  It has a real Super Smash Brothers vibe, where the characters are occasionally called on to fight each-other, but when the game console is off and the timer’s not counting down, they all go chill in the park and hang out as friends, and I, personally, find that refreshing.

The series follows our local Shinigami-themed edgelord, 13, as he’s pressured into joining the Battles by the game’s tutorial robot.  As a staunch pacifist and card-carrying Little Shit, 13 has no desire to do anything of the sort, until #Compass, itself, comes under attack from The Tutorial Robot But Evil, who’s throwing a bunch of spiky, sticky, black orbs at the big golden cube that they all worship as a god.  13 is convinced, one time, to team up with an Avatar, a guy named Jin who just started playing the game in the middle of math class, and together they help take down the invasion.  What 13 doesn’t know is that this partnership is permanent, and now he’s stuck being Jin’s five-star gatcha pull forever.

As usual, I don’t think this show is going to do anything groundbreaking.  For the average Western anime fan, it’s nothing but a commercial designed to sell you a game that you can’t even buy.  But for a commercial, it’s doing far more than it needs to do.  The visuals are colorful and exciting, much different from your usual anime backgrounds, and they enhance the fights well.  While the characters do all have “their thing” that is their entire personality, I feel like that’s true to the style of game this show is trying to portray, and it can be fun to watch The Character Who’s Really into Justice drag The Character Who Just Wants to Do Their Own Thing onto the battlefield against their will because “HEROES HAVE A DUTY TO PROTECT #COMPASS!”  If nothing else, I think this one is going to be fun.  Simple, uncomplicated fun.  And sometimes, people need that.

The Shiunji Family Children

Est. 4.5/10. Skip.

The Shiunji family is one of the most prominent clans around.  Everybody has heard rumors of their extravagant wealth, and of the five gorgeous daughters who attract hordes of attention everywhere they go.  There’s the bratty one, the sciency one, the video gamer, the older sister, and the fifth one, whom I don’t remember despite the fact that I finished watching episode not three minutes before I started writing this sentence.  For the two boys who are lucky enough to get to spend their adolescence surrounded by such illustrious, talented, and aesthetically gifted young women, it’s only natural they should step up to the plate and become men worthy of the right!  There’s Shion, the cool and carefree charmer who casually flirts with anyone who crosses his field of vision (blood relation be damned), and Arata, the family heir who just can’t wrap his head around how to talk to girls.  By their powers combined, we have the perfect set of siblings, ready to support each-other, laugh with each-other, marry each-other, and deal with the trials and tribulations of ado-

Hmm?  Oh, that.  No, it’s fine.  They’re adopted.  I mean, two of them are actually twins, but those two aren’t into each-other.  That’s the other set of twins.  The ones who aren’t blood-related.  They’re the ones who are into each-other.  Hmm?  I mean, yeah, I guess the oldest sister is, like, permissive when it comes to Arata being into his other sisters, but I wouldn’t say she’s encouraging.  It’s like she said.  He’s a growing boy, surrounded by beautiful women, so it’s only natural he’d get a little curious, right?  Even if they are related.  Besides, it’s not like he’s actually into his sisters that much.  Like, when he walks in on the fifteen-year-old one naked in the bath, and she asks him to scrub her back, he specifically says it doesn’t make him horny.  So we know it's all fine.  Sure, he’s flustered when she gets out of the bath at the end of the episode and gives him a hug from behind, but that doesn’t mean he’s, like, into her.  You’re reading too far into things.

Quintincestual Quintuplets.