We have an anime about VTubers so why not one about YouTube livestreamers? Mayonaka Punch takes things from virtual avatars back to reality with a slice-of-life drama that is sure to hit you right in the feels! Wait, isn’t that what it was supposed to be about?
Let’s go!
First Episode Synopsis
Masaki is a bit egotistical and out of control. This is accented by the fact that she punched one of her groupmates and that led to their decision to fire her. The only problem is that they didn’t talk to Masaki beforehand and she found out about her termination during a livestream apology video by her group, known as the Hyped-Up Sisters.
Disgraced, she tries to start her own solo NewTube channel; however, everyone knows her from the Hyped-Up Sisters and they refuse to follow her. In fact, they just posted discouraging and hurtful comments during her debut stream. It also didn’t help that she didn’t apologize for her actions, though. Feeling the weight of defeat, Masaki becomes an emotional wreck and thinks about quitting livestreaming completely. She gets so depressed that it drives her to start drinking heavily.
Lost, directionless, and filled with despair, it looks like everything is about to come to an end for Masaki as the path to redemption looks too treacherous to walk.
Then the vampire shows up.
Yes, you read that correctly.
A vampire has been asleep for twenty years; however, she was having a rather, um, erotic dream about a random girl who just so happens to look like Masaki. After being awoken right when she got to the “good part” (Dream World Masaki telling her it’s okay to make a “meal out of her”), she becomes determined to find this girl after she’s introduced to a smartphone and sees Masaki asking for anyone to join her on her new channel.
Masaki, on the way back from getting blitzed, passes by an abandoned hospital where her first video as the Hyped-Up Sisters went viral. She decides to walk around for nostalgia and ends up bonking her face on a steel beam, resulting in a bloody nose. (You can connect the dots, right?). The vampire, who is conveniently-named Live, is in the same hospital looking to restock her supply since she drank twenty years’ worth of blood upon awakening and has run out.
They meet.
Live goes nuts and chases Masaki up to the roof. One almost accidental suicide later, Live grabs her and flies through the air, showing her a magical time…. Until Masaki hurls… From there, the deal is done. If Live helps her reach 1 million subs, then her reward can be to “make a meal of her.”
Worth Watching?
MAYBE – If you were expecting a serious path to redemption story, well, you almost got it but you have to be quicker than that!
Even with the weird swerve, I… oddly… wasn’t off-put by it one bit. While the humor did go a bit over-the-top at times, it was still semi-enjoyable. Teaming up with an actual real-life vampire who needs a way to pay off twenty years’ worth of debt (how did a bank not repossess her manor is beyond logical thought) could provide the series with enough material to carry it through the next 11 episodes before this ends up as a 2.5-star rating in my review at the end of the season.
Clearly, this show isn’t going to win anime of the season but it’s another braindead show that you can sit back and laugh at without thinking about the details. It’s just going to be a wild and fun ride with a show that’s adding its name to the pile of other shows that are off-the-rails and unhinged this season. I’m starting to think nonsensical brain-dead humor is the main theme of Summer 2024.
Oh well, at least we have Tower of God S2 to fix that for us… and that’s a nice fallback show in case this one craps the bed and becomes utterly unwatchable.
