Summer is ongoing, and some new interesting anime have come out this season. A new gimmick has surfaced and seems to be gaining some attention: it’s about content creation, YouTubers NewTubers, and streaming. Last season, we had “Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night” and “Viral Hit,” where the former is mainly about overcoming inner struggles and singing, and the latter focuses more on making viral content on YouTube NewTube. This season, we have two anime about live streaming and making content: “Mayonaka Punch” and “VTuber Legend.”
Mayonaka Punch
“Mayonaka Punch” is an original anime from P.A. Works. A manga adaptation started serialization in Kadokawa Shoten‘s Young Ace magazine in March 2024, and a light novel adaptation was published in July this year. The anime is about Masaki (a human) and Live (a vampire) teaming up, making content, and reaching 1 million subscribers. But they both face different circumstances and emotional drama in their hefty journey of going viral.
First Impressions on Mayonaka Punch
Honestly, I was surprised by how much thought went into this. On the surface, it’s a comedy anime with goofy vampires, but it has some intimate moments woven in. Even the supporting characters received proper care, and one of them had an entire episode dedicated to her story. As expected from P.A. Works, they never fail to deliver a heartfelt story. There’s more to this anime than it may seem. The characters get closer with every episode, and the development brings closure.
The animation is well-directed, the art is vibrant, and the music fits perfectly into every scene. The opening song has basically become iconic and leans into otaku culture. I can’t stress enough how well-directed the ending song is, with its flawless combination of art and music. I can’t wait to see what direction this anime takes.
VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral After Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream
“VTuber Legend” is adapted from the light novel of the same title from 2021. It originated on the novel posting websites Hameln and Kakuyomu in 2020 and got a manga adaptation in Kadokawa Shoten’s Comp Ace magazine in August 2023. The anime is being produced by Studio TNK this season. As the title implies, the anime is about VTubers but follows an odd one who accidentally forgot to turn off the stream and exposed herself.
First Impressions on VTuber Legend
I enjoyed the first episode, then it started to get… meh. I guess that was the only charm of it. The art direction and storyboarding were great, and the voice acting is fun to sit through. I love the fact that the VTubers have the same look as their avatars. All streamers pretty much do acting to entertain the audience and have to keep up a facade of being cute, silly, and whatnot. But here, when the mask comes off, the MC just cashes in on that and continues with her real-life persona. Sometimes, being true to yourself is the best way to go. And I think that’s a great concept with the premise of this anime.
The later episodes just explore all the VTuber stuff, collaborating, sponsors, etc. The anime even outwardly shows real-life brands from our world without much censorship or parodying. It’s kind of a satire and mostly sells on the slapstick comedy. It’s just like watching actual VTubers, except you can’t interact with them. The voice acting is the main strength of this anime. If you like hearing people talk, then this is the show for you.
Conclusion
Summer 2024 has more interesting anime which we will surely cover. These two stood out due to a unique gimmick, hence they made it into the summer anime 2024 recommendation. There aren’t many anime about content creation, but lately, some are popping up. Hopefully, they won’t be as overdone as isekai.
Thank you for reading ♡. Let us know your thoughts and what’s your watchlist this season. Keep an eye out for more first impressions. Join our Discord server & Telegram chat for the memes and check out our YouTube channel for extra content. Take care y’all 👋.
