First Episode Impression: Hitorijime My Hero

Synopsis

Setagawa Mashiro was a middle schooler who didn’t know where to fit in and ended up joining in less than savory crowds. But with the rumors of a man who goes by the title of “Bear Killer” taking out gangs, a change is in the air. As Setagawa finds his “friends” defeated by this figure he also ends up finding a friend in the bubbly Ooshiba and in turn he finds out that the monstrous figure who destroys gangs is in fact his new friend’s older brother!

The Good

The episode following the opening song, which was a pleasant surprise with its bright colors and preppy beat, brought out a rather pleasant introduction in comparison to its premise. The aesthetic was simple and the color palette of the background and characters were light, overall bringing a pleasant visual to the viewer. Each of the characters were interesting in their own way and with their introductions came little mysteries about them that would lead to the viewer wanting to watch more.

In terms of plot, it’s not terribly exciting but it does have some interest in it with how everyone is connected to the other in some way and how each of the characters have their own points in the story as introduced in the episode. Overall the visuals and animations were done well and were pleasing to the eye, the theme song and ending were both catchy and held a good beat, the characters were interesting enough that they came off as little puzzles for the story and the plot came off as the giant puzzle for the characters to fit in.

The Bad

The flow of the episode could have gone better and the premise made the opening come off as off kilter with how preppy it was. From certain scenes it’s quite easy to see who the possible couples are and how their set-up is going to be if you’ve read enough similar stories to this. Speaking of reading, if you have read the manga series of this you will notice quite a polarity in terms of introduction and premise which in the episode gave a rather polar tone to the rest of the episode. Certain parts of the episode also seemed cut off rather abruptly in  terms of transition and seems to cut the scene short. Overall, the execution of the premise could have been done better along with the transitions and the story is slightly predictable if you’re familiar with the theme.

Conclusion

Barring the initial execution of the premise, the first episode shows some promise with some good art and animation and an interesting way of introducing its characters to the viewers. The plot is not all that exciting but the promise of each character having their own story to tell is interesting enough for the viewer to want keep watching the series. Basically, the first episode showed a light and pleasant visual presentation and an interesting method in introducing the story and characters with some hits and misses.

Rating: 8/10