Crunchyroll Announces Their First Crunchyroll Originals

Recently, in a blog post Crunchyroll announced their first roster of Crunchyroll original series. In fact, if you're a user of Crunchyroll and you don't have premium, you've probably already noticed the In/Spectre ads that have been running on Crunchyroll. Some of them look interesting and the list of series is below. The first series In/Spectre has already started streaming on the platform.

• In/Spectre
• Tower of God
• Onyx Equinox
• The God of High School
• Noblesse
• Meiji Gekken: Sword & Gun
• FreakAngels
• High Guardian Spice

Many video platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube Premium have already been making their own original content for some time, and this now means that Crunchyroll has joined the party, and this also means that there is now an anime streaming service that now both runs the creation of content and its distribution in the west.

If you are interested in finding out more about his, the official Crunchyroll blog post:

https://www.crunchyroll.com/en-gb/anime-news/2020/02/25/crunchyroll-reveals-first-slate-of-crunchyroll-originals

So When is 91 Days Actually Set

Image from MyAnimeList.net

So, 91 Days is a historical anime series set during the course of prohibition America, a time at the start of the 20th century when alcohol became illegal, and which ran from 1920 to 1933. During this time, the mafia ran amok trading moonshine and making their own alcohol illegally. Based on the pretext of it being set during prohibition, we have a 13 year period that this show can be set over. During the series, it is never explicitly stated which year the '91 Days' that this series are over is actually set. You may think that there is nothing that can be done to find the year that this series is set over, but based on what is shown, it may be able to be narrowed down somewhat.

In one episode, a 1921 model 102 Series telephone is shown sitting on a table. This can be differentiated from the 101 as the model shown has a round base as opposed to the elliptical base of the 101 series. While this does not narrow it down it is a start, and suggests that the series takes place after at least 1921.

Throughout the series, a number of people say that they have heard rumours that prohibition is coming to an end. If there are people that are saying that prohibition is coming to an end, you may be thinking that it must be in the 1930s, the last few years of prohibition, but these are just rumours and due to the societal problems that existed during this period, there was much unease and people likely though that prohibition would end at many times throughout this period. It is likely though, that it is near the end of the prohibition period.

While there does not appear to be enough information throughout 91 Days to place the series in a particular year, it is definitely set in at least 1921 due to the telephone shown, and is likely set during the later years of prohibition due to the claims of people that prohibition is coming to an end.

If you noticed anything else whilst watching the series that may be able to more precisely place this series, feel free to comment it below.

High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even In Another World Episode 2 Review [SPOILERS]

The episode starts off showing that the corruption in the world spreads further than corrupt imperial knight exploiting their position. After seeing that the only licensed trader is trying to rip the village off, and that based on his prices the village will not be able to survive, Masato Sanada shows his business and entrepreneurial expertise in saying to Elch that if he does't like the bad trades he doesn't need to accept them, and that he can build his own business empire and put that trader out of business in a week. Masato explains that their whole group owes their lives to the village, and that he will not stand for them being exploited due to this.

The group has been shown to have incorporated well into the village and now each have their own roles. Masato establishes his own trading company through blackmailing the mayor for a permit, and that is the main premise for this episode. Masato establishes the Amazon equivalent of their world, selling the products of villagers for a commission fee of 10% allowing others to sell their own products directly without a permit legally, whilst making more than they would have elsewhere, and allowing Masato's new business to make money without ever having to purchase any product.

In stark contrast to the first episode, this episode has no narration and now has incorporated elements of a plot and daily life in the village, similar to other good isekai series. This episode has been much of an improvement compared to the first.

High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even In Another World First Impressions [SPOILERS]

Okay, so starting off with these first impressions, I have started watching the English dub version available on Crunchyroll, but plan to watch later episodes with the sub, due to the cheesy-sounding voice acting. Obviously, this review is going to contain SPOILERS!

Image From Crunchyroll

The first episode starts off with character introductions for the internationally renowned 'prodigies' that based on the relatively realistic setting of Japan on Earth seems unrealistic. There are these seven prodigies that all high highly-esteemed positions such as a politician (prime minster), surgeon, inventor, stock trader, magician (seems to be different, as it seems to be the most unrealistic in this setting of a realistic Earth), journalist, and a samurai that fights in war zones. It seems unrealistic that these high-school students would be given these jobs and responsibilities as children, particularly those that have a high risk. The introduction from the opening narrator to introduce these character and their premise of their plane flying to this magical world comes across as the type of thing that one would have seen in the original series of Pokémon.

The first of the group to wake up after the plane crash is the politician Tsukasa Mikogami who comes across as unlikable, and appears to be the main character/leader of this group. The episode immediately skips to a month later when the group have already been living amongst the village that found them, skipping the humour of a typical isekai-esque series where character try to get adjusted to their new world and vastly different way of life. The group seem to be held in high regard by this community, although to this point they have not been shown to have contributed anything or their ideas that supposedly make them 'prodigies' to this community. It is here that the group learn of a legend that a long time ago, a group of seven people came from another world and overthrew the evil ruler.

Under the guidance and leadership of Tsukasa the group aims to help 'rebuild the finances' of the community as a way of repaying their debt to the community for looking after them. Near the end of the first episode, the first conflict comes up, an evil militant group of imperial knights are abusing their power to impose a protection racket upon the town. Tsukasa steps in as a leader to reject their offer, and the leader of these knights says that it is an insult to the empire and the emperor. Just as the knights are about to assert their dominance, the samurai and the journalist (a descendant of a ninja) take out the group except for their leader.

Conclusion:
Overall the anime seems like a cheap cash grab of the isekai genre, with little substance or interesting semblance of plot.

The Best Free Sites to Stream Anime (2019)

This article will go through some of the best free anime streaming sites online.

AnimeLab

AnimeLab is an anime streaming service by Madman that operates in Australia and New Zealand. The site offers a wide selection of shows, but not as many as sites like Crunchyroll or Funimation. Many shows require a paid subscription, but there are also many free shows. Many of the shows available for free are also available on Funimation. If you are from Australia or New Zealand and want to watch some anime, you might want to check out this site.
www.animelab.com

Crunchyroll

Image from Wikipedia

Crunchyroll is probably the best known of the free anime streaming sites. It has the widest catalogue of shows out of all of these sites. All of the anime become free to watch 1 week after their availability to paid premium members. Crunchyroll also has a wide selection of Asian drama and manga as well as anime.
www.crunchyroll.com

Funimation

Funimation is one of the older anime distributors that has a history is releasing anime dubs. There are some shows to watch online, although it heavily favours a premium subscription, so it is not ideal.

www.funimation.com

Tubitv

Tubitv is a completely free, ad-supported site that allows users to stream many shows and movies. There are no paid plans, and this site also has some anime available. It is hard to find anime, but the link directly below will take you directly to the list of available anime.
www.tubitv.com/category/anime
www.tubitv.com

Conclusion:

If you want a wide selection of free anime to watch, and want to watch the latest shows, the top pick is Crunchyroll. If you want to watch some shows completely for free, and don't mind what you watch, you might want to check out Tubitv.