Manga Adaptation by 100studio
Streaming on Crunchyroll

Premise

Jiro is a mean-faced delinquent with a heart of gold and the ability to talk to animals. He nurses a mysterious black cat back to health, but it turns out to not be a cat at all: it’s the ancient mononoke Rago the Black Star of Doom. When other mononoke arrive in pursuit and Jiro is killed in the crossfire, Rago fuses their spirits together, and a new shonen battle anime begins.

Iro’s verdict: Staggeringly Generic

Black Torch feels like something from 2003. This premiere in particular might as well be a straight up reskin of Bleach‘s first episode, moving down the proverbial checklist like an unsure chef following a recipe to the letter. Nothing about it is outright bad in any way – in fact, I’d say it’s generally quite competent – but there are also no distinguishing features to give Black Torch any kind of singular appeal. Still, I suppose I’d rather see bland shonen anime out there than more isekai Narou slop.