The greatest downside of my life at the moment is that there aren’t enough hours in the day to watch new anime. If it were up to me, I’d divide my time quite specifically: the hours of 9am to 5pm are for normal, boring life stuff. Break for dinner. 7-9pm are for watching current or ongoing series, then 9-11pm are for sampling and reviewing new ones. I’d stay up later, but Mum would be really angry. She hates it when I go to bed too late.
One I’m really considering writing a strong review about at the moment is ‘Castle Dream Kid Squad!’, which everyone is going on about online right now. I don’t really see the appeal.
You’ve got find kids party venues for hire close to Canberra, and they all look pretty normal, like a standard play centre. The story is about a bunch of really young kids who, when they go to the play centre, transform into adult knights and go on massive adventures. I’m only on episode four, and one thing I do kinda like is how you can’t tell if it’s just their imagination or actual magic. I remember being a kid…like a few years ago. I used to go to a play centre, and I sometimes genuinely managed to convince myself that I was Drago-tron, Ravager of Dimensions, Lord of Torment and He-Who-Eradicates-Goodness. None of the other kids wanted to play that specific game, so I just played myself. But play centres are cool
Still, I’m not sold on the plot progression. They don’t GO anywhere. They’re always defending this one castle against mutant elephants and the Parental Devastation Squad, armed with coffee bazookas. It’s really kid-friendly, with long speeches about friendship and how awesome ball pits are.
I’m thinking this really is an anime just for kids, and also the parents watching with them. Maybe it’s supposed to make people think back to when THEY used to go to kids parties around Canberra and remember their childhood, and the imaginary games they played. But I gotta be cruel. 4/10, needs more magical girls and dream explosions. Not cute.
-Dylan-kun