「友達になってください。」 (Tomodachi ni Nattekudasai.)
“Will You Be My Friend?”
Moving forward ever so slowly, Isshuukan Friends’ finale bows out gracefully. While it wasn’t the bang I was looking for, it definitely didn’t leave us completely hanging! So without wasting any more time, let’s jump straight into the final impressions!
Final Impressions
As my most anticipated show of the season, I’m happy to finally say that Isshuukan Friends managed to live up to its hype with a strong start, decent middle, and fairly powerful finish by the end. There may have been some hiccups here and there (specifically in terms of the pacing and the romance department as a whole) but I’m pretty sure you can chalk most of it up to opinion. If I were to pick one specific thing that the show did well, it’s probably how many tears it managed to continuously suck out of my eyes through a combination of emotional and psychological beatings.
Hase and Fujimiya
A male lead that not only lets his nerves the better of him but cowers in the face of adversity and a girl who can’t remember anything once Sunday rolls around and thinks it’s best to seclude herself from the world? Sign me up! In all seriousness though, I’m surprised with how well Hase and Fujimiya managed to fit together. Sure I’ve been rooting for them to become a couple since episode one but after seeing just how differently they view things it’s a little amazing that they’re even friends, right? If anything, I’m probably most impressed with just how much the two have grown since episode one. They may have gotten a little help along the way but from two strangers who had their own respective problems they’ve become an inseparable pair that have finally discovered just how much strength they provide each other.
The Amnesia Trope
I’ve talked about this a few times throughout the series but I wanted to take a second to highlight how creatively the whole amnesia trope was used. Starting out as a way to draw an audience in and slowly transforming into something that shaped the story from the shadows, I appreciate how the writers didn’t force it straight down our throats for twelve episodes. Throw in the added hurdles amnesia brings with it and instead of being a trope I think it became a pretty powerful storytelling tool. No matter how you view it though, I’m sure you can all relate with me when I say it’s great that it didn’t end up as a shallow idea that never got fleshed out.
Shougo and Saki
Even though they’re technically side characters, these two definitely had the biggest hand in shaping the story. Starting with the amazing Shoubro, he’s done so much for Hase and Fujimiya that he deserves some kind of award. Filling multiple roles like wingman, best friend, or pillar of support all at the same time; he’s basically the reason why things didn’t start falling apart the moment Hase hit his first hurdle. In Saki’s case she did have a bit of a late start and a few problems of her own but in her own personal way managed to keep Fujimiya looking forward.
And Finally…
Overall I think Isshuukan Friends was a great show that did a lot of things right and not too many things wrong. By playing to my emotions and quickly getting me invested into the characters, I was always finding something to enjoy throughout each episode. Sure the romance side of things were heavily toned down, but for a show with “Friends” in the title, it makes sense that the overarching theme would be friendship and the trials one faces while walking down that path. Toss in the amazing scenery shots and great music and you really do have the makings of a really good show. Plus, with an open-ended finale that managed to answer a few questions without revealing too much there’s always the chance of a second season!
P.S. It’s been a pleasure blogging this show and I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks again for keeping up with my posts and I’ll see you soon!<3
「九校戦編V」 (Kyuukou Sen Hen V)
“Nine Schools Competition Part V”
An accident, an investigation, a gamble, and a lot of talking.
Now We Have Some Tension
Mari’s Battle Board match was perhaps the most interesting part of the episode, as long as we ignore the fact that Tatsuya is apparently a better paramedic than professional paramedics are. It’s hard, but I’m really trying to ignore that. Really trying here. Give me a minute.
Anywho, it had some action, it had some tension, and they were showing rather than telling when the outside interference messed up Mari or the Seventh High girl who slammed into her. All ending with both of them laid out…finally, we have some tension in this competition!
Assumptions & Guesses Treated As Facts
Let me be blunt: investigations do not work that way. Tatsuya’s analysis led to the (seemingly logical) assumption that someone tampered with Mari’s board from within the water – okay, that makes sense. It dodges the cameras, the guards, etc. That’s an assumption I can get behind. But the rest of them? He immediately leaps from assumption to assumption and treats them like facts. He says it must have been someone other than a human. What if it was a human who bribed the committee? What if the committee is running a betting scheme and needed Mari and Seventh High to go down to make a lot of money? What if some fool hid in the water and got just lucky enough to not get caught? What if they used something mechanical, either to disrupt the water or hide themselves?
There are a hundred possible reasons why things could have happened like they did. That’s why the police don’t jump to right-seeming conclusions and then start arresting people based on that. They look for facts and evidence. This trips across a pet peeve of mine, as typified by many Sherlock Holmes-type characters who analyze things in a split-second and are somehow always right (trope!). What a disservice that does to our world! It ignores the manifold possibilities of reality in favor of treating it like an equation that could be broken down and solved absolutely, often by treating a 51% chance like it’s 100%. I’m sorry, this triggered a pet peeve of mine, but it’s an egregious one to my eyes. Reality is complex and messy, and while Mahouka has spent a lot of time trying to convey that complexity, it all becomes too clean when Tatsuya gets involved. If you’re going to turn this into some kind of mystery anime, do it properly; don’t skip out on all the messy details and expect it to work. That’s just the author pulling things out of his ass by having Tatsuya pull things out of his.
Going For Gold
I heartily approve of their decision to put Miyuki in Mari’s place for the official Mirage Bat competition. It could end up biting them in the asses if they lose both, but I think it’s better to go for the gold than play it safe and risk losing due to insufficient spine. Plus, they know that Tatsuya is there, and he knows how to manipulatedeal with his imouto like a pro. She’ll try her best, if nothing else.
Shizuku’s Time To Shine
Shizuku’s preliminary match was interesting for a number of reasons. There was her mention of [her family] offering Tatsuya a job; they actually took the time to explain the magic Shizuku used; they spent enough time on it that I got that thrill of “I hope she wins, but maybe this is setting her up to lose!”. All fairly good. The explanation was still dry as hell, and struck me as clever for this event but potentially useless in real life, because when are you going to be able to keep the distance and relative positions constant in combat? But as a stepping stone it was fine. The main thing lacking was, when they noted that Shizuku/Tatsuya’s Active Air Mine was the exact opposite of Mayumi’s magic. That’s really cool guys, but you never explained what Mayumi’s magic was, so…thanks? It’s the Mahouka anime’s old problem again, of mistakes earlier coming back to poison the effectiveness of events that take place later on.
But what annoyed me the most was that, when Shizuku stepped up to compete, the older girls were talking about finally getting to see Tatsuya’s work. What about Shizuku’s skills? She’s the one actually competing! This is mollified somewhat by what a cooperative situation these games have ended up being – it’s almost a knight/begleiter situation they’ve got going. Yet it still annoyed me that they were focusing on Tatsuya’s engineering skills over Shizuku’s, even though she was the one actually competing. It struck me as one of the (many) annoying double standards (for instance, trope!) that are so common in fiction (and life). One caveat: this could easily have come down to time constraints, if the older girls talked about Shizuku and Tatsuya in the LNs and they just didn’t have time to do both in the anime, since Tatsuya is the more plot-critical character. That would be understandable, though it still rubbed me the wrong way at the time.
Looking Ahead – Looking Back
I said last week that this would probably be the last episode I would cover, and though I considered going up to ep14, when this arc is apparently going to end, I honestly can’t summon up the willpower to get that far. Plus, I pride myself on posting quickly in order to extend an episode’s magic for just a few minutes longer, but when I don’t feel any magic and I’m having to force myself to blog the show every single week, it hurts my professionalism as a blogger. Better to step away than do something badly, I feel.
To clarify, I don’t think the Mahouka source material is bad, though I have a feeling it’s probably too dry for me – exposition and world-building are delicate things, and while I love them when they’re woven organically into a story, reading what amounts to a made-up tech manual isn’t my idea of a good time. I’m a fiddly marketer/liberal arts/writer-type, not a scientist/programmer/engineering-type, so wrapping my head around this world is too much (and too unintuitive of) work for me to enjoy. The anime exacerbates this by not even being a good tech manual, because it’s hard to understand something when they leave gaping sections out. And cutting all the fun character interactions that we saw so seldom, even though they were invariably one of the best parts of the series.
So consider this show dropped from weekly coverage. I finished (most) of a season, and that’s enough for me. Time-willing, I’ll try to return and do an END post after the second cour is finished, but I can’t promise that – I’ll be going on a big overseas vacation right around that time, which may make it difficult enough to finish the other shows I’ll be blogging next season.
tl;dr:@StiltsOutLoud – An accident, an investigation, a gamble, Tatsuya having all the answers, and a lot of damn talking. So, business as usual #mahouka 12
Random thoughts:
I wonder if that sword Leo was playing with can hit things with the middle part? Because otherwise it would be a very weird sword to use. Go to block attacks like you would with a normal sword and oops–there’s a giant section missing in the middle. Hello enemy’s weapon to the FACE!
Spreadsheets again AHHHHHHH! It’s still the weekend, I don’t want to do work right now NOOOOO!!
One other reason why Tatsuya may get so much love – all of the other First High boys (except Jyuumonji and Hanzo, barely) are apparently pretty worthless. It seems like every time we get an update, they’ve all lost their matches. Girl power!
Disclaimer: Please do not post spoilers in the comments. If you want to talk about future events, make sure to both enclose your comment in spoiler tags and identify what the spoiler is about (without spoiling) so other readers know whether to click on it. Also, if I ask any questions in my posts, assume they’re hypothetical unless otherwise noted. Thank you for your understanding.
As we approach the mid-way point of Captain Earth, the general formula remains the same. For better and for worse, it’s all about tracking down the remaining designer children, and our newest escapade involves illegal underground wrestling/gambling institutions… run by Yakuza (one with at least one immortal member, WHAT!?). Because of course they would be. It’s all for educational purposes after all, so it must be legit!
All things considered, the patient approach has definitely become the name of the game here—both in terms of the show itself and the outlook expected from the part of the viewer. In many ways, this makes Captain Earth a follower of the formula used with Star Driver a little while back, and it’s a strategy that definitely yields its fair share of pros/cons. Because although there’s a clear sequence of expansion preparation in regards to their revelations of all the designer children and their respective situations, the fact remains that this patient build-up comes at the expense of any other development. They’re certainly walking a fine line in terms of keeping viewers invested long enough to get to the climax you know is coming, and one wonders if they may not be overstretching their bounds somewhat in regards to this notion. In the end, the climax only means something if you have people staying long enough to watch it right?
Either way, there is a measure of interest that I’ve come to take in these individual stories over the past few weeks. It’s possible it may be result of me knowing what’s coming formula-wise on a weekly basis and tempering my expectations as a result, but the fact remains that there’s a clear (and interesting) contrast coming into play among the designer children, and Baku’s viewpoint this week highlights that notion. Unlike almost all the children before him, Baku actually seems content with the way his life is right now, and the fact that his innate powers seem to be warning him about rather than desiring the latent memories is significant in emphasizing how some might actually prefer the mortal life over an immortal/overlord one.
More importantly though, it emphasizes the importance of the people they’ve met and the interactions they’ve had with them, and it’s actually quite interesting to see how it all comes full circle. The beginning emphasized how the interactions between Daichi, Teppei, Hana (and later Nishikubo, Akari, and the rest of the Globe cast) led them to change and accept the situations they’ve been thrust into. Then they followed this up with a multitude of stories about designer children actually weren’t fortunate enough to end up in situations they were content with (which led to them to eagerly join the Kiltgang again). And now that we’re finally at the end of the line in terms of revelations, we’re hit one more time with another potential Kiltgang member who seems perfectly content to wave off his immortality for a regular life (notably due to Kumiko’s involvement).
In this way, both the first and the last children Amarok and Malkin approach might both end up rejecting their overtures, and there’s much to be said about the sequence’s significance in regards to how it could be a allusion to “the beginning and the end.” It may be that Teppei’s conversion to a Neoteny and possibly Baku’s impending conversion (or at least impending defection) are the beginnings of the Kiltgang’s end, and it’d be pretty awesome if that’s how it ends up playing out.
The question though, is how long it’ll take exactly for the climax of this series to play out, and it seems like that’s really the million dollar question here.
Author’s Note: Due to the show’s pacing, some logistical/staff changes here at RC, and personal things cropping up in the near future, Captain Earth coverage may be switched for a new show this coming summer season. It’s not a guarantee this will happen, but the chances are quite high at the moment. If this does happen, weekly coverage will likely stop with next week’s thirteenth episode. I apologize before hand if this ends up being the case.
The whole course of human history may depend on a change of heart in one solitary and even humble individual – for it is in the solitary mind and soul of the individual that the battle between good and evil is waged and ultimately won or lost. -M. Scott Peck
If there’s anything new to be said, there’s an ongoing debate on whether the girls of WIXOSS suffer more than the girls of Madoka. Is it the Selectors whose eternal duty to fulfill other people’s wishes a crueler fate? Or perhaps is it the Mahou Shoujo who inevitably falls into a despair just as great as their dream? It’s an answer that I don’t think is easily answerable and has multiple approaches depending on what one values more.
Right when it first came out, WIXOSS received a label as the aspiring little sister of Madoka Magica. Both shows have girls fighting an opposing force because of the power of a wish. Within that set of girls, there is one pure girl in both who wishes to save the other girls from despair, for the sake of friendship. Both involve a system of wishes that have a twist, causing unsuspecting girls to fall into utter despair. Iona and Homura are mirrors of one another’s obsession with the main female character. Kyuubey and the LRIG master both share the same red/white color scheme, with similar ways in how they operate and manipulate their victims. Oh yeah, both shows also share a failed love interest. Each time a similarity popped up, I laughed at the series for being such a close cousin. How could anyone get away with this and how could anyone at J.C. Staff think this was a good idea?
But by the end of the story, when all the plot twists were said and done, it made sense why this series came to be. While I would prefer to withhold most of my thoughts until the second season comes to pass, I’ll share a bit about what’s caused my change of heart.
Although the concept of ‘despair moe’ (not my term) is not something originating with even Madoka, what Madoka did as a series was question two things: how far can we push the despair on cute girls and how realistic is it to keep a hopeful tone in the series despite said despair? It amounts to pushing the limits of insanely depressing scenarios on cute girls while demonstrating how friendship and pure love conquers through it all, often through well-crafted characters. While Madoka definitely pushed this envelope far, WIXOSS attempts to push it even farther, by introducing a new element–a cycle of deception.
What made WIXOSS extremely engaging towards the end of the series was the silence of the LRIGs. By being forced into scenarios where they must actively deceive, the deceivers turn the fooled into deceivers themselves, where the only reward for obeying is the maintenance of a wish that’s not even yours. It is a cruel cycle of suffering where no one ever wins, save for the LRIG master who watches from behind her pearly windows. In essence, it is absolute punishment towards young women who cannot will themselves to fulfill their dream. It is double the pain when a Selector realizes that their dream is realized by someone else in their shoes, all while being subject to propagating this trapping system to other unsuspecting girls. If that’s not painful to read, then I don’t know what else to say. As a friend of mine says–it’s all a cruel irony that hits deep into the egos of those involved.
And so with that, WIXOSS, despite it’s many similarities, has found new ground in forming a new playground of despair for our young teenage girls, and as such answers the first part of the ‘despair moe’ genre in a unique and complex way. Sure, it had lots of bumps and speeding tickets, but overall the message portrayed here is a dark and grim one. However, where season one leaves us, season two will undoubtedly allow us to answer the second part–despite all odds, how will hope survive? I’ll be darn surprised if WIXOSS doesn’t head for a positive ending, but in the likely case that it does, it’ll be interesting to see how that question is answered through Ruuko.
Zephyr’s Impressions: [Spoiler-free]
See you later, Scum.
Wait. I got ahead of myself. Ahem*
Why can’t I hold all this suffering?
Looking back to the start of this season, Selector Infected WIXOSS was one of those shows that was hard to pin down. There wasn’t much in terms of information—the PV and premise details barely came out like a week before the season started—and all we knew was J.C. Staff was working with Okada Mari on a card-game series with a grim-dark backdrop. Needless to say, it was an odd combination—who would’ve expected either the studio or Mari to work on a show like this?—and this was a show that had a really wide range of potential outcomes. Now that the first cour’s end is here though, we can finally talk about it, and it’s pretty simple really. When you put together J.C. Staff with Okada Mari and card games, apparently you get Madoka with a side of Yu-Gi-Oh!
Or at least, that’s what I want to say. Because while the ultimate result is Madoka-isque in a variety of ways, WIXOSS does also manage to shine a bit on its own merit. Don’t get me wrong, it’s far from a masterpiece in the objective sense, but there’s a whole lot of entertainment to be garnered here, and it has a lot to do with the unique decision not to focus on the actual mechanics of WIXOSS itself. It’s an interesting choice to say the least—having a card game show without actually focusing on the specifics of the card game—and arguably, it’s the saving grace of the show, as it allowed Okada Mari to really strut her stuff with the characters, their interactions, and the story itself.
Throughout the series, the black box nature of the selector battles contributed much to what ended up being a ridiculously entertaining show overall—I’ll say this first cour’s ending was probably one of my favorites this year—and I’ll just say I was caught off guard by multiple twists and turns the series presented, especially in this week’s first cour finale. To top things off, the subtle link between the respective deck colors and the players behind them—White Hope, Black Desire, Red Ambition, etc.—also ends up pretty nicely implemented considering the kind of show it is, and I’m glad it’s getting a second season, especially when you consider the key aspect that drove the series.
MOAR BATTLU.
Yup, I’m talking about the suffering. All these poor girls just wanted their wish granted! IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK!? Hitoe just wanted friends! Yuzuki just wanted to be with the person she loved! Ru just… wanted to battle? Well okay, that’s not exactly a proper wish, but you get the drift. The suffering here borders on Madoka level in some respects, and however sadist this makes me sound, it was just enjoyable to see how things worked out. Everything our cast did just made things worse, and when you thought they’d get their wish granted or some kind of positive break, they’d get screwed over. It’s just like “YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,” episode after episode, and one could spend all day talking about how much our cast got screwed over. I mean, how can you forget:
Hitoe finally getting her wish granted just to get it torn away by a surprise third loss? Suffering.
Akira and her permanently scarred face and shank attempt? Suffering.
Yuzuki getting her wish granted just to see someone in her body fulfilling that wish in her stead? Suffering (and awkward).
Tama rejecting Ru’s wish at the very end? Suffering.
Tama’s rejection leading to Iona’s wish being granted and her becoming Ru’s new LRIG? Massive suffering.
And how about the fact that Iona’s only going to push Ru to fight from now on? (And will prevent her from fulfilling her wish every step of the way while she’s at it?). Priceless.
Ultimately, there just ain’t enough words to describe the ridiculousness of the show we called WIXOSS, and the show’s right on the mark when it talks about being “infected.” Cause the fact of the matter is, I’ve definitely been infected by the BATTLU! RU! I WANT TO BATTLU MORE!, and there’s no way I’m missing the second cour in the fall (and nor should you). Some shows just come once in a blue moon, and although WIXOSS wasn’t exactly the best example of good writing, it’s a good example of a show well worth watching for entertainment alone, and that’s really all that matters. As it turns out, the combination of J.C. Staff, Okada Mari, and card games is anything but weak sauce.
Update 7/4:The application phase is now closed. Thank you to everyone who submitted an application. We will announce our decisions in a few days, once we’ve have had a chance to go through all of the applications.
Have you ever wanted to write for Random Curiosity? We’re looking for ONE more blogger to add to our staff. Just one this time – as much fun as it was to bring in seven all at once, we want to take our time and make sure our new writer gets properly vetted, trained, and abused prepared for life as an anime blogger. It’s a hard life, but somebody has to do it. Or will, at any rate.
The new writer will be expected to cover one show for their first season (to avoid overwhelming them), with that ramping up to 2-3 shows once they’re in the swing of things. They will also be expected to contribute to important posts such as the season previews. We will train you in all the ins and outs, so if you’ve never used WordPress or Photoshop, don’t worry. Here are the most important attributes we’ll be looking for in a new writer:
Timeliness. RandomC made its name blogging shows as soon as they’re released, often before English subs even came out (this was in the age before simulcasts). We want to keep that legacy going.
Consistency. We need to be able to trust that you’ll consistently get your posts out on time. That means you need to be prepared to write on days you may not feel like it.
Writing skill. You need to have good written English skills, preferably college/university level.
Those are the biggest requirements. Pay special attention to timeliness and consistency – life happens, and (nearly) every writer has had to miss a post on occasion, but those times should be the rare, once-in-a-blue-moon exception, not the rule. Blogging for Random Curiosity is a big commitment, and likely bigger than you expect, so if whoever we recruit ends up not working out, we may decide to part ways. Likewise, if blogging here ends up being more than you can handle, you can opt to bow out at the end of any season with no ill-will. We’ll understand, and a classy exit is always better than going until you break.
If I were to describe the person we’re looking for, I would say that he or she will be slightly older, and probably not a student so they won’t get bogged down by homework or projects. (Students are fine, but having firm control over your schedule is imperative.) They will have an insightful and objective outlook on anime, while still being able to inject personality into their posts. They’ll have diverse tastes and a solid anime watching background. They’ll believe that you can take something seriously and still have fun, because make no mistake, writing for RandomC is basically a part-time job, though it is a fun one. They will always act professionally, do their part with a minimum of fuss, respond to emails within 24 hours, and generally be a team player who is a pleasure to work with.
Understanding Japanese enough to watch anime raw is a bonus. Prior experience writing publicly, using WordPress, or taking screen captures in Photoshop is a bonus. Being a cool person we want to work with is a super big bonus.
If you’re interested, send an email to divine(at)randomc(dot)net and stilts(at)randomc(dot)net (both please – being able to follow simple instructions is important as well) with the title RandomC Application. Include the following:
What your anime background/history is (e.g. how you got into it, what some of your favorite series are, etc). Please include your MyAnimeList or Anime-Planet profile.
Why you want to blog for this site.
A sample post on a recent episode of any currently airing anime.
A batch of 36 screen captures (zipped) from the same episode your sample post is on.
Note: If you’ve emailed us before asking about a writing position, please email us again with a new application + sample post so we know you’re still interested.
Please submit your application and sample post by Thursday, July 3rd at 11:59PM PDT. If I were you I would submit it as quickly as possible though, so we have time to properly consider your application before the summer season starts.
If you’re truly interested in writing for Random Curiosity, I encourage you to apply, even if you’re not 100% the ideal person I described. Passion counts for a lot, and in the end our decision will come down to both who we think will do a good job and who we want to work with. (Basically, it’s like Space Bros all over again.) Good luck, and I look forward to having one of you join the team.
I don’t know what the future holds for Mushishi, but I know this – if you love great anime, you should be damn grateful that it exists.
Thinking back on this episode, the only word that seems to fit is “sublime”. It was every bit as perfect as last week’s masterpiece, though completely different. One of the great pleasures of Mushishi, of course, is that it has so many contrasting facets at which it excels, and can present all of them while still feeling completely consistent. As I’ve said before the experience of Mushishi really is an experience rather than simply an act of viewing – it transports you mind and soul in a way few other anime (or other artistic endeavors) can do.
As we’ve come to expect from Artland, production-wise things are a confusing mess with Mushishi. The last two episodes (a two-parter that manga readers have been seriously jonesing for) of this cour have been cancelled for TV broadcast, and won’t be released until the November Blu-ray volume (at least in theory). The end card for “The Depths of Winter” confirms another cour is indeed “planned” (their word, not mine) for Fall 2014, but given this studio’s history you’ll forgive me if I’m skeptical. Artland has perpetual production delays and seems always on the edge of insolvency, yet they still produce heartbreakingly gorgeous episodes. What’s one to think, really? For me, it’s best to view the prospect of more Mushishi as a hope rather than an expectation.
Given that context, we can at least take solace in the fact that “Depths of Winter” works astonishingly well as a finale, in addition to being a brilliant episode on its own merits. It’s all Ginko, start to finish, and brings the season to a close with a story that showcases the ethereal beauty and mystery of the world of Mushishi as well as any could, in addition to leaving us with a good deal of mirth. And again, it’s gorgeous – Artland again displaying matchless aptitude for snowscapes and the art of depicting falling snow, then topping itself with equally beautiful panoramas of the rebirth of spring in the mountains. As a whole it’s a cleansing, meditative experience of the sort that only Mushishi can really provide and it leaves the series in a wonderful place, whatever happens next.
“Depths of Winter” is a study in economy – an elegantly simple story with minimal dialogue that relies equally on sound and vision to appeal to every aspect of the viewer’s consciousness. Ginko is passing through a mountain on his way to respond to a summons when he sees the signs that the Mountain Gods are about to have the “awakening” – the rebirth of spring after the long winter’s sleep. As this means the return of hungry spring Mushi from their hibernation, Ginko decides to hole up in a homemade lean-to, protected by Mushi-repelling incense, for a few days until the process is complete. But when he wakes, he discovers that he’s in the midst of a blizzard – even as the surrounding mountains have begun their spring.
We’ve seen Ginko caught in these sorts of “closed” worlds before, but this telling is especially beguiling. Unable to escape Ginko goes in search of the lord of the mountain, who he finds at the edge of a small pond – a withered old turtle covered in snow. The only sounds are the haunting BGM and the even more haunting screams of the Oroshibue (“whistle of the mountain wind in winter”) – the winter Mushi who should have migrated north, but remain trapped in the closed mountain. I can’t say enough about the way these Mushi are drawn and, especially, “voiced” – it’s unforgettable – and the Mushi-dono calls them down to drive Ginko backwards into the pond. This turns out to be a mud of some kind, inside which the creatures of the mountain are sleeping, nourished by Kouki welling up from the Koumyaku deep below, protected against the damage of the typhoons that had ravaged the mountain earlier. And Ginko, too, is pulled into slumber for a time, unable to resist the elemental power at work around him.
When Ginko is released from the spell, he breaks the surface of the pond – now water again – and sees that spring seems to have sprung all around it. His own bottle of Kouki has spilled and the Oroshibue are hungrily consuming it, nourishing themselves for the trip north. And Ginko realizes what’s happened – the wily old turtle has lured him into a trap, needing his Kouki so that the winter Mushi could replenish themselves the way the animals in his induced hibernation have. He slumps to the ground in a meadow covered in flowers, hands behind his head, flashing a rare, wry yet truly mirthful smile – a bit vexed at having been taken in, but respectful of the guile of the Mushi-dono at doing what had to be done for its mountain. It’s a wonderful moment, a celebrating both of Ginko’s character and of the fascinating world that Mushishi has created.
And so it ends, for now. It does seem likely that we’re going to see more Mushishi one way or the other, so I won’t treat this is a farewell post but as a reflective one. Apart from the production issues this season of Zoku Shou has met expectations in every way – any fears that the series would have lost its magic were quickly dispelled. It truly was as if no time had passed, so seamless was the transition between the Mushishi of 2006 and 2014. The gorgeous art and music, the quiet brilliance of the writing, the vocal performances so unlike traditional anime – it all worked every bit as well as it did then in casting a unique spell. Mushishi is a great manga but the anime is even better, utilizing every tool available to the medium to make the experience even more magical and engrossing. Apart from the production delays which plagued both the old and new seasons, Mushishi now as then stands as a model for how a great manga should be adapted – faithful in every way to the source material, yet not limited by being so. It’s one of the all-time anime classics irrespective of genre and a true gift to those that treasure anime as art.
Summer 2013 was the best season of the year – can 2014 duplicate that feat? Check out the LiA Summer Preview post – and vote in the season preview poll!
「八真重護が決める覚悟」 (Yama Juugo ga Kimeru Kakugo)
“The Resolve of Yama Juugo”
So that ending was a little… lackluster to say the least.
I was expecting some more action and some more Tensai wit and puzzle-solving but we got none of that! What was that?! In the end, I think I’m left with more questions than answers, especially with Hiiyo’s powers left hidden. I’m quite disappointed with how they resolved that issue so quickly. It was like Hiiyo had a change of heart and he rather save his own skin (and keep his secrets) than destroy his rivals. The scene had little to no effect on me because it was all just a bluff! And there wasn’t much resolution for that ruin at all. The scene cuts and the next thing we know, Tensai is back in Juugo’s apartment. Very much lacking in terms of a proper season finale in my opinion.
The good news is that the focus of this episode is really tying back to what everyone’s’ motives are. There’s a lot more talking and self-reflection than I would’ve anticipated for a season finale, but I think it sends the clear message of what everyone is thinking. Most importantly – Juugo actually confronts Nanana about what she wants. This has been a question I’ve been asking since the beginning and I think a lot of readers also pointed it out. Does Nanana want to stick around and eat pudding all day? Or does she want to move on from limbo? The answer is to be expected, but it’s still good to hear it straight from her. This pretty much sums up why she’s been holding secrets from the Adventure Club and why she can help them but doesn’t. Truth is, Nanana probably wants to find her murderer, but it’s not the core reason that her spirit still lingers in that apartment. I think that even though she does get her revenge, she’ll still be around because she likes watching over the island and its inhabitants.
So what was in the treasure chest? Well who knows… because they don’t really show it; nor is it really showcased how it works. Tensai tries to get Juugo to break his promise to Nanana, but I take Juugo to be a more honorable and trustworthy person than that. I’m glad that he kept his promise, but it’s a shame that Tensai lost the bet at the same time. The only fan girl moment that I got out of this week was the fact that Hiiyo called Tensai, Juugo’s girlfriend. Neither of them denied it too! You can see how distracted I was during this scene because nothing was really happening. What I really wanted to know was, what’s in the bag? Why did Hiiyo fight so hard for it? Does he even know what it’s used for? The other piece of it was revealed at the end post credits because it brings back the image of the bloody schoolbag and confirms that it did belong to Yuu-chan. What’s more, it alludes to the fact that Yuu-chan isn’t who she appears to be and I think she’s either being controlled by someone or someone else lives inside her (MPD or schizophrenia perhaps?). Unfortunately we’ll never know for now…
Ultimately, I think this does lead to the possibility of a second season. Keeping in mind that the novel isn’t very long (only started early 2012), I don’t think there’s enough material yet to create more episodes without it being derailed. I would’ve liked it more if the finale was more conclusive or provided more details, but it’s best that they didn’t come up with an anime-original ending.
Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: Hate to say #nanana_tv was anticlimactic… But it was =( damn, I’m disappointed. At least the epilogue was interesting though #postcredits
Epilogue:
Final Impressions
Coming into this season’s noitamina timeslot, I was pretty shot down after blogging Samurai Flamenco for a whole two seasons. I admit that I wasn’t expecting much and given that the initial premise of the show, I figured it’d be more light-hearted, comedic and probably focused more on girls doing cute things with an innocent guy as a bystander. Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin was none of that and to no extent was I ever bored or turned-off. Much of this probably had to do with my expectations of the show coming in, but in general, it still goes beyond what you read from a short synopsis. Each of the characters are much more than cardboard cutoffs of their stereotype. They all have personalities and motives which make you understand why they are all hunting for pieces of the treasure. The mystery aspect of this show is actually focused on who everyone is, rather than what’s inside the chest. You’ll find yourself wondering where everyone came from and who they know rather than how to get through this ruin.
The story is not without its faults though. The initial arc proves to be quite an info dump of revelations and Nanana as a whole requires quite a bit of your attention span. There are a lot of one-liners (especially from Tensai) which answer a lot of questions, but you have to be on the watch for it. There are also hints and subtle signs of what’s to come, but Nanana barely scratches the surface of the story which it can potentially deliver. It’s a shame that the run is so short because the characters are quite loveable and they’re not given the time to develop in front of the audience. The lack of episodes is definitely a miss for this type of series, however I’m glad that it had a run at all because it shows how the typical Indiana Jones adventure series can be transformed into something completely different.
What do you do when a Gauna-powered, planet size object is about to collide with you? Well, I guess it’d depend on who you are. If you’re Kunato, I guess you can just sit there and wait for what you believe to be inevitable. If you’re the Immortal Council, I guess it doesn’t matter cause either way you seem to have escape options of your own. But if you’re a normal person, chances are you’re going to want to fight to the bitter end for whatever slim hopes you might have, and that’s exactly what we’re getting. With only one episode left in the season, it’s now up to two platoons with 48 experimental weapons, an exterminatus, and all the Hyggs Particles from the Sidonia to prevent them from meeting a devastating end, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The problem? Well, considering Benisuzumesingle-handedly wiped out a whole platoon by herself—strategically taking out the commander first while she was at it—and the remaining squadron’s down to their last shots, things don’t look good at all. But that’s how things have always been and it’s times like this where legends are born. In this case, it’d be the re-birth of the Knights of Sidonia, and it looks like the path is set for Tanikaze and Co. to claim that title—by literally going into a Gauna and taking out its Master Gauna—if they want to survive.
All things considered, this is the kind of penultimate episode that I wish every mecha Sci-Fi would be able to execute. It’s fast-paced, there’s huge stakes (You’re six hours away from annihilation!), a great soundtrack, thumb-biting moments, twists and turns every step of the way (surprise, it’s Benisuzume!), epic reveals/usages of last ditch attempts to ensure survival, and there are just few ways to make things more exciting for viewers of a series such as this. Of course, that’s not to say those are the only tactics to ensure success, but that’s what I mean by execution. There’s a difference between utilizing the aforementioned story-elements and successfully executing them in such a way that viewers are actually invested in what’s happening and what will happen, and Sidonia just does a great job ensuring that the latter ends up the case.
Indeed, it’s especially great how this series approaches things from the physics point of view, and it’s clear that there was a lot of effort put in here to ensure that the physics here is somewhat correct. Granted, I’m not a physicist myself, so it’s not like I’ve run simulations or calculations of my own, but even I know the basics and it’s great to see things like inertia, momentum, acceleration, deceleration, attraction of gravity, recoil (and everything in between) being used to give things a more realistic and believable touch. This week’s episode in particular highlights this, and it shows that a little effort in the gritty details does go a long way.
Looking forward, there really isn’t much to say. There might be a lot of questions left surrounding the Sidonia and Gauna, but there’s a time and a place to address those—how about that second season?—and it’s clear that this is not the time. With life and limb on the line, the questions and answers can come when the time is right, and this is truly one of those cases where you can sit back and enjoy the ride, because that’s essentially what the last few episodes of this season are meant to be. Here’s just hoping that things don’t leave on some epic cliffhanger next week though…
Author’s Note: As usual, please refrain from spoilers, especially if they’re not in response to a query of some sort. If you must, please remember to use spoiler tags.
Summer has returned, bringing with it a fresh batch of anime to give you excuses to escape from the heat. It’s an interesting batch we have this time. If I had to call this season anything, it would be the Summer of Sequels, with continuations of the KyoAni boys love swimming anime Free!, the alien-hunting stylings of SPACE☆DANDY, the second season of everybody’s favorite magical girl spin-off Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya Zwei!, another arc of Nisio Isin’s Monogatari series in Hanamonogatari, and the colossally popular (and equally polarizing) second season of Sword Art Online. But there are originals as well, including the P.A. Works’ summer romance Glasslip, XEBEC’s mecha series Shirogane no Ishi Argevollen, and another mecha series in the Urobutcher/Aoki Ei collaboration ALDNOAH.ZERO. There’s even a bit of a resurgence in the horror/thriller category, buoyed by the highly anticipated adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul and the original series Zankyou no Terror. Last year’s summer season was surprisingly strong. Can this year keep the trend going? There’s only one way to find out. This is Random Curiosity’s Summer 2014 season preview.
As a quick reminder, most entries are divided into two paragraphs:
A brief introduction to the series and its premise, often with the starring cast of characters.
The writer’s impressions, expanding on the plot and highlighting specific points of interest.
This season we’ll continue using our Expectation Levels. As always, remember that these reflect our own subjective excitement level for each show, and do not necessarily reflect how shows will pan out. For more information check out the Overall Impressions section at the bottom, which includes an expanded explanation of each category and a list of all shows by expectation level.
Disclaimer: Back in the ancient era of 2012, previews were done by a single writer, Divine. Unfortunately, none of the current writers are as crazyawesome crazy awesome as him, so we’ve divvied up the writing among six of our writers (Cherrie, Guardian Enzo, Takaii, Zanibas, Zephyr, and Stilts) in order to maintain the quality of this preview. As always, we will try to point out what appeals to us in each series, in the hope that it will help you determine if it coincides with your tastes.
Disclaimer #2: Please note that this list does not reflect all the series airing this coming season. It is meant to be as comprehensive as possible, but omissions have been made for shows that stray from the anime norm or seem to be oriented towards young children. Please check out MOON PHASE for complete listings, syoboi for specific air times, and Fansub DB for a list of potential subbers for each series.
Once again, thank you to all of our writers (as well as our tech guy Xumbra and the big man himself, Divine) for helping out on this preview. If you want a second opinion on any of these shows, you might also want to check out the all-Enzo-all-the-time summer preview over at LiA. Finally, a special thanks to all of you for continuing to support Random Curiosity. You’re the best. Those fans of other anime blogs? Second best at least. Science fact!
TV Series
Technical Note: The chart below is ordered by the date and time that the shows premiere. The links in the schedule will take you to a series’ corresponding entry and the “Top” links on the right will bring you back. You can also use the back/forward buttons in your browser to jump between links you’ve clicked. All times are given in a 24-hour, relative-day format where times are extended to show which day they belong to. For instance, Friday morning at 1:30AM would become Thursday at 25:30 to show that the episode aired late Thursday night.
Imagine yourself at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Replace propaganda with hypnotic ‘Heaven Songs’, substitute the swordsmen of the Shingengumi with pop and rock idols, and instead of the pro-emperor Ishin-shishi, have a rock band that seeks to “change the world with rock ‘n’ roll for freedom and justice.” That’s Bakumatsu Rock. In this band are members Sakamoto Ryouma (Taniyama Kishou), Hijikata Toshizou (Morikawa Toshiyuki), Katsura Kogorou (Morikubo Showtaro), Takasugi Shinsaku (Suzuki Tatsuhisa), and Okita Souji (Ono Kensho). Together they compose and perform songs that are forbidden by the Tokugawa Shogunate in order to spread a new message to the Japanese people: down with the military and freedom for all!
Despite being as anachronistic as a game can get, literally rocking the Shogunate is interesting as a concept. Putting aside how cool the game looks as a rhythm story, it looks like there’s only one ending to the game itself, so there should be no worries about different arcs being adapted. People who are into the bishounen music category (such as Uta no Prince-sama) will find this show right up their alley, but with Studio DEEN at the helm, and considering their average track record with pre-Meiji anime, we should only expect an “okay” animation experience. But the main draw will definitely be the rock songs and stripping characters, as hinted by the promotional videos. Overall, with an experienced seiyuu cast and a good selection of rock songs, Bakumatsu Rock should serve its intended audience well.
The wildly successful swimming anime makes it triumphant return for a second season this summer. Aptly named Free! Eternal Summer, the story will continue with Iwatobi Swim Club members Nanase Haruka (Shimazaki Nobunaga), Tachibana Makoto (Tatsuhisa Suzuki), Hazuki Nagisa (Yonaga Tsubasa), Ryuugazaki Rei (Hirakawa Daisuke), and club manager Matsuoka Gou (Watanabe Akeno) as they continue doing what they love doing – swimming! Along the way I’m sure their friend Matsuoka Rin (Miyano Mamoru) will make his presence known, and maybe, just maybe we’ll get to see Amakata Miho-sensei (Yukino Satsuki) rock some of that modeling talent she has deep down inside of her!
Seeing as how the first season focused more on the slice-of-life side of swimming versus the typical setup of a traditional sports anime, I expect Kyoani to continue doing more of the same. While I have no idea what that could end up being, I’m hoping they’ll continue to build off what we saw during the first season – important things such as Haru’s relationship with swimming and how it effects the rest of his life or Rin learning not be a complete assface and stop taking his friends for granted. That said, because of how popular this show ended up being, there’s always a chance we could end up with something that’s completely different from the original, for better or worse. Whichever direction things go, I know as long as I get to see Gou have one of her moments whenever she’s within two feet of a hot guy, I’ll be able to watch the show with no regrets. Seriously though, I’m sure Kyoani won’t disappoint us with whatever they decide to do, because you know, it’s Kyoani!
P.A. Works is releasing a new original series this season. Glasslip is the story of six high school students and the dazzling summer they’ll never forget. Touko Fukami (Fukagawa Seria) is a 17-year-old who dreams of becoming a glass artisan. Takayama Yanagi (Hayami Saori) is a girl currently taking lessons to become a model. Nagamiya Sachi (Taneda Risa) is a quiet bookworm. Imi Yukinari (Shimazaki Nobunaga) is a member of the track team who is currently in rehabilitation. Shirosaki Hiro (Yamashita Daiki) is a helper at the cafe Kazemichi they all frequent. During the summer break of their senior year, they meet a transfer student named Okikura Kakeru (Ohsaka Ryota), who claims that a voice from the future talks to him, and it led him to Touko. His arrival sets off a series of events that will turn their final summer into a romantic and fantastic tale full of hope and heartache.
As one of the few studios that still consistently produce original anime, I’m always on the lookout for the next P.A. Works series. And this one has all the hallmarks of their best work – equal parts slice-of-life, romance, drama, and a dash of fantasy. The animation is gorgeous as usual, with the promos really showing off the care P.A. Works puts into their characters and stories. As an original series, there’s always a risk – this story is untested, so it could backfire gloriously. But with P.A. Works we don’t usually have to worry much about a total bomb; about the worst you should expect is TARI TARI, with the best going past Nagi no Asukara up to the level of Angel Beats! and Uchouten Kazoku. Staff-wise we have a decent showing, with prodigious director Nishimura Junji leading the team. He’s done a lot of work, much of which is on the older side…though it does include directing P.A. Works’ very own True Tears, which I feel is a good sign for this series. If you’re a reasonably prodigious anime viewer and like any of the elements I described above, I suggest you check out Glasslip. It may turn out to be only okay, but the floor for a P.A. Works anime isn’t that low, and the ceiling is very high. That’s worth giving it a chance.
Made by the producers behind Break Blade, Shirogane no Ishi Argevollen comes in as XEBEC’s newest original series. An action-mecha series, Silver Will Argevollen follows the long standing war between the countries of Arandas and Ingelmia. In a conflict with no end in sight, the introduction of a new weapon begins to change the tide of the war. Piloted by Susumu Tokimune (Ohsaka Ryota) of Arandas, the Argevollen comes in as the “will that guides us forward.” This series will be directed by Ootsuki Atsushi (To LOVE-Ru Darkness) and the series’ scripts will be written by Satou Tatsuo (Basquash!, Mouretsu Pirates, Rinne no Lagrange), who is joined by mechanical designers Kikuchi Hirame (Toaru no Hikuushi e no Koiuta) and Teraoka Kenji (Code Geass). The main cast rounds out with Oonishi Saori, Tsuchida Hiroshi, and Oohara Sayaka.
With the coming of every season, there’s always a few shows without much information to go on, and Shirogane no Ishi Argevollen seems to be one of them. This show comes in looking like your typical mecha action series, and it’s something that fans of such series will likely enjoy watching. Boding well for Argevollen is the fact that XEBEC’s previous mecha series in Break Blade was well animated, but that may not make up for Sato Tatsuo’s hit/miss scripts, and the director’s resume isn’t particularly impressive either. That said, one can only extrapolate so much with the limited information that’s available. At the moment Argevollen isn’t looking particularly impressive, but there’s definitely room for it to develop depending on how they do things, and it should at least be something mecha fans will enjoy.
This year represents something of a renaissance for horror as an anime genre, and Tokyo Ghoul stands near the head of the pack. I haven’t read Ishida Sui’s manga, but those who have are almost uniformly positive, and the previews have done nothing to dampen my enthusiasm. Director Morita Shuhei is an interesting choice – he’s not well-known among Western anime fans, but has done some very interesting OVAs and shorts such as KakuRenBo and last year’s Tsukumo, which was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Animated Short Feature. The character designs are eye-catching as well.
The story is centered around “ghouls”, beings who look human but must feast on human flesh to survive, and the young man whose fate is forever changed by his encounter with them. There’s a lot of interest in this series – Funimation has already licensed it in North America, and it may just be that rare show that succeeds both commercially and artistically. There are a few yellow flags – as great as the previews look, Pierrot’s recent track record on production values is spotty at best. And manga fans seem very concerned with the fact that the series length has not yet been announced, predicting disaster if this is a one-cour show (I suspect it will be two, with the possibility of more if it sells). With those caveats, Tokyo Ghoul is definitely in the top tier of summer anime in terms of expectations.
RAIL WARS! is set in a parallel world where Japan didn’t privatize its national railway system. Takayama Naoto (Fukuyama Jun) is an ordinary high school boy who dreams of a comfortable future working for the Japanese National Railways. He ends up being assigned to its security force, where he trains with strange colleagues such as Sakurai Aoi (Numakura Manami), a troublemaking woman who hates men. Naoto also has to contend with the extremist group called “RJ”, which plots to privatize the Japanese National Railways.
Based on the light novel series Rail Wars! Nihon Kokuyuu Tetsudou Kōantai, RAIL WARS! is a bit of a puzzle to me. I’ve never understood the allure of trains, despite my uncle’s best efforts to enlighten me. I know train otaku are a thing, so I assume this is a series for them, but the alternate history where the trains weren’t privatized is…well, I know how industry works. If they want to privatize something, extremist groups aren’t how they go about it. They use lobbyists. Which are kind of similar, but that’s another issue entirely. The whole setup smacks of a throwback to a time that train otaku find nostalgic, and that’s cool, I guess? Nostalgia is another thing I’ve never been prone to. The relatively new studio Passione is animating, with a team that’s similarly light on experience, though the animation I saw in the promos was very nice. If you like trains, I can safely say that you should watch this show. For everyone else, I have no idea. Weirder shows have turned out to be excellent, but we’ll just have to wait and see if this is one of them.
Every girl wants to be an idol, but what about a local idol? Futsuu no Joshikousei ga [Locodol] Yatte Mita. stars Usami Nanako (Itou Miku) and Kohinata Yukari (Misawa Sachika), two ordinary high school girls who end up becoming their town’s local idols (locodol) upon the request of Nanako’s uncle. As the idol unit “Nagarekawa Girls” they are interviewed (by the town’s shopping center), go on television (low-budget cable), and hold concerts (on the roof of the department store). Their fictional Nagarekawa city based on the real Nagarekawa area in Hiroshima Prefecture, and it’s from the city’s coffers (and taxes) that the girls draw their meager salaries.
Based on the 4-koma of the same name, I can’t tell if Locodol is a shameless promotional vehicle for the Nagarekawa area, or whether the mangaka just really likes the place. I’m not a big fan of idol shows myself, and the idea of scrappy young kids playing at being idols (rather than the striving-for-amateur-greatness of, say, LoveLive!) just doesn’t do it for me. It is based on a 4-koma though, so the point is likely comedy more than anything else, and on that I have no idea how it performs. Sorry, but I couldn’t get my hands on the source material in time. Director Nawa Munenori has a decent amount of experience, and most of it on decent-to-good shows, while studio feel is largely the same. Based on the premise alone I’m not personally too excited about this show, but that doesn’t mean it will be bad. If idols are your thing and you wouldn’t mind a little comedy too, you should absolutely give this a shot. Idols are a versatile lot, so adding more comedy into the mix might be a winning formula.
It’s time for an evolution in the Pretty Rhythm universe – its successor is here! Based on the brand new Takara Tomy arcade game of the same name, Pripara is set in a world filled with girls’ dreams of fashion, dance, and music. It seems like every day there are auditions that send top idols to worldwide fame on television and online. Laala (Akaneya Himika) and her friends all yearn to join this world, but their school prohibits Pripara for elementary schoolers. Fortunately, an unexpected chance leads to Laala entering the world of Pripara, where she just might be able to make her debut.
I did not expect to be previewing another Pretty Rhythm series so soon. Though truth be told, that’s not exactly what this is. Rather than another sequel, Pripara is a successor to Pretty Rhythm’s throne. It turns out that last season’s All Star Selection was a one-cour compilation series, a sort of victory lap for the Pretty Rhythm characters while they introduced Lalaa, who it turns out wasn’t the heroine of All Star Selection after all, but the main heroine of Pripara! I’ll give them points for crafty marketing there. So what’s new? It looks like the skating Prism Shows are gone, and in exchange we have the idol unit i☆Ris, which will sing and star in this new series. Other than that, this is the successor to Pretty Rhythm from the same company – if not the same staff…they probably got burned out after 3+ years on the same show – so expect the same things we got from its predecessor. If you’re not familiar with the Pretty Rhythm series, I’ll direct you to the lastfourtimes we’ve previewed it, because everything Divine and I said should still apply. If you’re not a preteen girl, this series probably isn’t for you. But if you are, rest assured that the Pretty Rhythm spirit will continue on into the future. Pretty Rhythm is dead; long live Pretty Rhythm!
Returning for its 20th anniversary is none other than everyone’s favorite (and probably first) shoujo anime, Sailor Moon Crystal. Originally debuting in 1992, the phenomenon is getting a new remake which is going to more closely adapt the original manga. Just in case you missed the bandwagon and the excitement, it’s about a naïve, klutzy girl named Tsukino Usagi (voiced by the original seiyuu, Mitsuishi Kotono) who stumbles on to a talking cat one day. This talking cat, named Luna (Hirohashi Ryou) enlists the help of Usagi by transforming her into a magical sailor solider. She defends the Earth from evil and Luna gives her an additional mission – to find the Moon Princess named Princess Serenity. The evil on the planet is known as the Dark Kingdom, headed by Queen Beryl, and they’ve come to Earth to sap the energy away from its inhabitants, but they’re being constantly foiled by Sailor Moon.
No words can fully demonstrate how much influence and goodwill the Sailor Moon name carries with it, and I think you have to be a part of that generation growing up to fully appreciate it. Sailor Moon was one of the first anime I ever watched (both in Japanese and English), and I’m not even ashamed to say that I’ve seen all 200 episodes + the movies. Indeed, it’s episodic and drags on for miles before it gets to the point, but there’s also tons of potential development, romance, and all that good stuff that keeps everyone coming back. People that have seen the original dubbed version may have a preconception that the show is juvenile, but I beg to differ because the story is actually darker and more rich in context. I don’t think this season will dive into all that good stuff, but the anime still serves as a great nostalgic piece for fans. Whether or not you’ve seen the original, I would still highly recommend you join the hype; it’s never to late to become a fan.
Male music/idol shows are on the rise this season, with Ohsaka Ryota), Sakeki Kira (Yamashita Daiki), Tomii Daiki (Aoi Shouta), Amaki Ikuma (Kakihara Tetsuya), and Maiyama Shun (Ono Kensho) all work hard to become better idols and a better group overall.
Although I don’t know much about the original material, the anime takes place 15 years after the novel, so there shouldn’t be any worries about source adaption quality. However, judging from the promotional video, it doesn’t look like there’ll be a lot of animation going on. The drawing consistency should be good, but my guess is that the majority of the budget will go towards animating the show’s various songs and concerts. What seems to differentiate this male idol show from others is the focus on the idols in normal clothing, having normal lives outside of their careers. If that means this will reflect a more realistic view of a male idol group in the same way that Wake Up, Girls! did, then more power to this show!
The wildly popular Sword Art Online is finally returning for its second season. Following our main protagonist Kirigaya Kazuto (Matsuoka Yoshitsugu), who’s more commonly known as his in game name Kirito, we dive straight back into the virtual MMORPG world with a new crisis on our hands. In the competitive game Gun Gale Online, where professional players make their living by being the best, a mysterious figure wielding a black gun appears. For some reason, players shot by this gun are rumored to be dying both in-game and in the real world. With a potential crisis in the works, Kirito is tasked with trying to figure out just who is behind the slayings. But in a world where guns are the norm and melee fighting takes the backseat, how will he fare?
Okay, so I don’t know about you, but I am so hyped that this show is getting a second season. Being a huge fan of the original and one of the few writers on the staff who really likes it, I will take anything and everything SAO. If only you could have seen me salivating while watching that OVA… Anyways, something about all the shounen-style action combined with the lure of romance and friendship kept me happy week after week, and I expect no less from the sequel. With a top notch studio on production and a huge fan following worldwide, I can’t wait to see what all that fame and money will bring. That said, I have heard from friends who read ahead that Gun Gale was their least favorite arc. Their reasoning was that guns are boring versus swords – but that’s in book form, right? So I hope you’ll join me in fangirling / fanboying when Kirito graces our screens again during the Anime-Expo premiere!
Produced by A-1 Pictures, Aldnoah.Zero brings together the Fate/Zero’s original creator in Urobuchi Gen and the director that led its adaptation in Aoki Ei. The latest in the line of Sci-Fi series created by “the urobutcher,” Aldnoah.Zero revolves around the discovery of a hypergate in 1972. Found on the moon’s surface, the hypergate led to the migration and settlement of Mars, and an inevitable conflict that led to the destruction of the moon after the hypergate went out of control. The year is now 2014, fifteen years after the war began, and the stage is set for a story whose tagline reads: “Let justice be done. Through the heavens fall.” Sawano Hiroyuki comes in as the series’ soundtrack composer, combining with the OP theme duo of Kajiura Yuki and Kalafina.
Arguably one of the more exciting original series of the summer season, there’s much to be said about the golden combination of an idea thought up by the urobutcher himself and the man who did a pretty good job adapting one of his more acclaimed works, Fate/Zero. That said, UroGen isn’t actually involved past his ideas being utilized, but there’s no doubting Takayama Katsuhiko’s past script writer/series composition experience (Full Metal Alchemist, KoiChoco, Mirai Nikki, many others), so there shouldn’t be much of an issue with the story’s overall development. A-1 Pictures should supply a decent budget for animation, and the awesome assortment of musicians behind the soundtrack and OP/ED themes adds another layer of hype to what could be an epic Sci-Fi tale. This is definitely a series to watch for if you’re a fan of UroGen’s previous works or of the genre in general.
HERE WE GO! Sengoku Basara is back with a third season. Based on CAPCOM’s 2010 game Sengoku Basara 3, it’s party time as the series’ newest iteration brings us back to the Battle of Sekigahara and provides us with an alternative version of the events that occurred. Unlike previous seasons, Sengoku Basara: Judge End has Telecom Animation Film (Lupin III, Z/X Ignition) at the helm rather than Production I.G., and it’s a full staff change highlighted by Sano Takeshi making his directorial debut after over a decade in various other roles. The seiyuu remain the same, with Nakai Kazuya, Hoshi Soichiro, Ookawa Tooru, and Seki Tomokazu reprising their respective roles. It’s all guns blazing as the battle to determine the country’s ultimate ruler commences.
As one of the more spectacular series based (loosely) on the Sengoku period, the return of Sengoku Basara comes as a welcome present for fans of the series (such as myself). There really isn’t much to say here considering its wide-spread popularity and the established nature of the series. There is the change in terms of the studio and staff, but the underpinnings of the show in its source and the memorable cast are still there, and the fact that its previous iterations had a successful formula makes it unlikely that Judge End will differ too much from that path. Generally, it’s a sit back and enjoy the ride kind of thing, even if part of the series seems to revisit a stage already introduced in The Last Party.
There’s an awful lot to like in this adaptation of Yoshino Satsuki’s manga, one of my top picks for the upcoming season. The manga, for starters – it’s superbly written and lovingly drawn, very warm and very acerbic at the same time. We’ve also got a very fine studio (usually – I prefer to pretend Black Bullet never happened) studio in Kinema Citrus, a director in Tachibana Masaki whose resume in various roles reads like a laundry list of the finest anime in the last 20 years – Evangelion, Seirei no Moribito, Eureka Seven, Ghost in the Shell, and Fullmetal Alchemist among others. Top that off with music by the sublime Kawai Kenji, another Moribito veteran, and you’re really cooking with gas here.
Barakamon is the tale of a calligrapher from Tokyo who’s “exiled” to a small island as punishment for punching a famous colleague. The island is predictably full of odd-key locals – including a plethora of kids who will be played by actual kids – and Barakamon is really the story of this man’s culture shock as he sees a world he never knew existed. Simply put, the only way this show isn’t a gem is if they screw up the adaptation, and there’s enough pedigree behind it that I don’t expect them to do that.
Remember those “Dear XXX” columns in newspapers, where readers would ask the columnist for advice? Take that idea, put it into a high school setting, and split the work from one wise person to three very conflicting individuals. That’s the premise of Jinsei in a nutshell. Featuring the literary Kujou Fumi (Toyota Moe), the scientific Endou Rino (Nitta Hiyori), and the sports-oriented Suzuki Ikumi (Suwa Ayaka), all under counselor Akamatsu Yuuki (Takumi Yasuaki), these girls attempt to give advice to students who write in to the Kyuumon Gakuen Second News Club. Arguments of a cute and funny nature ensue.
Despite the air date looming next month, almost little to no information has been released regarding the show. The character designs that have been released aren’t anything special. However, without something beyond mere line sketches, it’s impossible to judge the rest of the art. Staff-wise, my only comment is the inclusion of director Kawaguchi Keiichirou, whose work on shows such as Mayo Chiki!, Nyan Koi!, and Minami-ke Tadaima proves his ability to direct a series. Since the adaption itself is coming from a light novel, I can’t speak much about the plot, but the basic premise looks like a bundle of fun, in the same vein that Seitokai no Ichizon was. Overall, keep a small eye on the developments of this show, but with studio feel in charge of animation, it should become a nice casual comedy to check out, especially for those who love the one-room comedy style of show.
Sabagebu! is the story of first year high school girl Sonokawa Momoka (Ohashi Ayaka), who is coerced into joining one of the strangest clubs at her school, the Survival Game Club. The club’s members participate in various forms of paramilitary training under the watchful eye of the charming (and alarming) club president, Ootori Miou (Uchiyama Yumi). How on earth will the inexperienced Momoka survive her training in this club full of not-at-all-normal high school girls?
After C3-busurprised me by being better than expected, I am primed for more survival game anime. But the first thing that struck me about Sabagebu! is that’s it’s shoujo. Action-shoujo. And it kind of works! The manga was funny and lighthearted while definitely having more of a shoujo than cute-girls-doing-cute-things air. The main character Momoka is relatable while not being too “normal”, while club president Miou is totally bonkers (but still cool and beautiful). The staff is also encouraging – director Oota Masahiko (Yuruyuri, Kotoura-san, Love Lab) and series composition Aoshima Takashi (Yuruyuri, Gaworare, Love Lab) have both worked together before, and on successful adaptation across the board. All in all, I’m optimistic about this series. Action and shoujo don’t usually go together, but there’s no reason they can’t, and after six volumes of manga, apparently it’s working. I for one would like to see why.
The second season of Space Dandy approaches with much less fanfare and consternation than the first. I think the first season accomplished exactly what it set out to do – it was extremely popular on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block (where it premiered, in English), even as it was relatively under-appreciated in Japan. Both were highly predictable occurrences.
Artistically, I think the first season was also mostly successful. As with any series so resolutely episodic there were significant peaks and valleys, but the overall level rose significantly as the series progressed, with several outstanding episodes late in the run. Some of the seeds planted early on also began to pay off, bringing together the series mythology in such a way as to give seemingly random earlier events significance (the ED was always the biggest clue as to what was really going on). Visually one of the most impressive series of the year, full of interesting ideas and highly experimental, Space Dandy was occasionally a fascinating mess, but more often just fascinating. I very much look forward to seeing what it has on offer this summer.
An adaptation of the dark fantasy action manga Akame ga Kill! is airing this summer. A young fighter named Tatsumi (Saito Soma) has finally arrived in the Capitol. His goal is to earn enough money to save his starving village, but his dreams are quickly dashed by the harsh reality he finds. The Capitol is awash in unimaginable corruption, all of which is spreading from the depraved Prime Minister who controls the child Emperor’s ear. After being robbed by a “kind onee-san”, Tatsumi is taken in by a pretty girl who promises to help him. His luck seems to be changing…until the pretty girl’s family is visited by a family of assassins, including the girl who robbed Tatsumi. But things are even worse than Tatsumi realized, and compared to the corruption of the city, these merciless assassins might actually be the good guys…
The world of Akame ga Kill is not a pleasant one. If something can be broken, it breaks. If something can be corrupted, it will be. This is a world where the good guys are merciless murderers, cutting down the guilty without a shred of remorse. It’s dark, but it’s also well done. The action in the manga is great, with a visceral and brutal feeling that fits the story well. It’s hard to say much about the characters without spoiling anything, but I can say that Tatsumi at least isn’t the simple country bumpkin that he first appears; there’s steel in his spine to spare. WHITE FOX is animating, and there’s some pretty good staff attached to the project, so hopefully the production quality will be up to snuff. If you like action and can stand the darkness – or love the darkness as much as Akame ga Kill does – this may be the summer anime for you.
Anime is full of meta series about the process of making manga/anime, and Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun joins their ranks this season. Sakura Chiyo (Ozawa Ari) has feelings for her fellow handsome classmate Nozaki Umetarou (Nakamura Yuuichi). However, no matter how Sakura tries to convey her feelings to Nozaki, some sort of misunderstanding comes up – this usually results not in acceptance or rejection, but an autograph or an invitation to his house. During one of these invitations, Sakura is surprised to discover that Nozaki is actually a famous shoujo mangaka! In order to grow closer to the man she loves, Sakura becomes Nozaki’s assistant so she can spend more time with him. Joining this cast is Nozaki’s current assistant, Mikoshiba Mikoto (Okamoto Nobuhiko) as well as Yuu Kashima (Nakahara Mai), the female prince of Sakura’s high school.
Judging from the PVs, the art style gets a big thumbs up from me. I appreciate Doga Kobo’s commitment to clean character designs (see: Natsuyuki Rendezvous and Mikakunin de Shinkoukei), and this show is no exception. Clean lines, bolder colors, smaller and narrower eyes (save for the main heroine), and practical body types all get my approval – it’s nice to not see all females bursting at the bust or males with ripped abs. Add to that a main hero who is an author of a shoujo manga (in a shounen manga no less) and we’ve got an interesting series that could be the surprise of the season. With Nakamura Yuuichi, Kimura Ryouhei, and Nakahara Mai onboard (among many others), newcomer Ozawa Ari will have a lot to prove in her debut main role. Although the premise is another ‘making manga’ type of show, it’s atypical for the manga in the anime to be shoujo-oriented. Seeing how this changes up the romantic comedy genre should be interesting to check out for at least a few episodes.
Coming from the minds behind Nitro+chiral, we present DRAMAtical Murder (DMMd), a yaoi adventure full of hot guys, philosophy, competitions, and companion animals that turn into (hot) humans. The story centers around Seragaki Aoba (Kisaichi Atsushi), resident of the island of Midorijima, an island that holds mega-resort Platinum Jail. The resort is so large that it takes up most of the space, forcing the former inhabitants into a small corner of the island. Though Aoba wants nothing to do with the conflict between the resort and the natives, he is eventually forced to join a virtual game, competing with other fighters and their animal-human companions known as All Mates. With characters like Aoba’s own All Mate, Ren (Takeuchi Ryouta); a mysterious masked man from the sky, Clear (Nakazawa Masatomo); and various other attractive guys, Aoba’s peaceful life comes to a close as he is dragged into the conflict to win back Midorijima.
As a favorite visual novel for its target audience, DMMd was an adaptation long awaited. The franchise is so popular that Good Smile has already setup pre-orders for Aoba’s nendroid. The visual novel has good character designs, a decent plot that contains some emotional and philosophical issues, and all the ships you could ever need, all wrapped in a yaoi-centered game. Depending on the arc and ending they choose, DMMd could either end on a heartwarming note all the way to one that makes you hate humanity. Production-wise, there’s some uncertainty. Studio NAZ did a decent job producing Hamatora earlier this year, but was limited by time and budget issues. However, with the financial backing of Nitroplus on their side, we’ll likely see improvement from the fairly new studio. Hopefully the PVs were being conservative in what they were showing off, because I’d love to see this work get executed well, proving that visual novels can be adapted properly in this day and age.
Himegoto follows the life of Arikawa Hime (Kuwahara Yuuki), a second-year student at Shimoshina High School. After his parents abandoned him with a huge debt, Hime is saved by three girls from his school’s student council when he’s being chased down by yakuza debt collectors. In exchange for paying off his debt, Hime agrees to their conditions – he’s to become the student council’s “dog” and spend his high school life dressed as a girl. Now he’ll spend his days at the mercy of 18-Kin-san (“Rated 18+-san”) (Saotome Yuka), Unko-kaichou (Ono Saki), and Bell-sempai (Toujou Hisako). Each episode will be 6 minutes long.
Next in line for the Hayate no Gotoku Memorial Award for Worst Parents Ever are the parents of Arikawa Hime! In all seriousness, Himegoto is equal parts funny, confusing, and horrifying. Based on the 4-koma manga by Tsukudani Norio, it does everything it can to make the main (male) character Hime as cute as possible. He’s a convincing trap, but not hiding it at all, as multiple panty flashes *shudders* quickly prove. Whether you will enjoy this show depends on how much sadism you can tolerate in your comedy. Hayate no Gotoku worked for me because, though Hayate is extremely unlucky, he’s also lucky in other ways (with girls, mainly…to a point). Hime starts enjoying being called cute pretty quickly, and his classmates all accept him as a cross-dressing trap, but between his asshole parents and the sadistic student council, his overriding attribute is “misfortune” (and “cute”). The seiyuu and staff are all relatively inexperienced as well, so I’m not sure how they’ll perform. If you like sadistic comedies, give this show a whirl – to certain comedic tastes, this could be a home run. If nothing else, we’ll have another contender for this year’s Best Trap awards. So that’s good?
It’s been a long time, and I mean a long time since I’ve read or cared to watch an anime that gives you butterflies in your stomach. You know the feeling that makes your heart beat fast and all the blood rushes to your head because for the love of God, your favorite couple finally has a moment. That’s the feeling that I get when I read Ao Haru Ride. It’s extremely cheesy at times, and cliché all at once, but sometimes that’s all I want. This show delivers everything that you’d expect out of a romance series between teenagers and their coming of age story. The animation and promo material give me vibes similar to Bokura ga Ita and Orange, and truly focus on the depths of the characters’ relationships rather than using external forces to advance the plot. There’s not a lot of comedic moments either that strip away the essence of the show, which I appreciate. It’s not a terribly realistic view of relationships, but it has the whole tough-guy-turned-soft-for-a-girl charm that makes me excited for the genre again.
So I won’t lie, I have a soft spot for bad boys and Mabuchi Kou right here, is a bad boy. (Too bad his seiyuu, Kaji Yuuki is not. I wish they cast a more manly, deep-voiced male…) Fortunately for Toshioka Futaba (Uchida Maaya), Kou was not always this way, and she developed a crush on him three years ago in middle school. They had a moment which didn’t last and Kou transferred to another school after the summer break. Now, Kou has reentered Futaba’s life, and he’s not the same person that she fell for back then. Circumstances bring the two closer together, but nothing is the same because people change over time. The story revolves around how they both learn to accept each other as they are and help each other out in unexpected ways. They might not be the same people anymore, but they start to fall in love all over again.
Sekiya Naru (Ueda Reina) loves to read. Although every other part of her is textbook average, Sekiya is extraordinary in her ability to read fairy tales and familiarize herself with the many mythical beings within them. One day, while mistaking a girl dancing to be a fairy, she ends up being entranced by the girl’s elegant dance. The moment Sekiya asks to join Hannah N. Fontanstand (Tanaka Minami) is the moment she finds herself in the world of yosakoi, a dance that combines both old cultural dance with contemporary music. Sekiya is eventually joined by her best friend Sekiya Naru (Ueda Reina) and the student council president and vice-president Tokiwa Sari (Toyoguchi Megumi) and Tokiwa Machi (Numakura Manami) in learning to dance as elegantly as Hannah.
Although no animation PVs or images have been released, there are some good signs for Hanayamta. Fresh from No Game No Life, Madhouse and rising director Ishizuka Atsuko (Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, Tsuki no Waltz, No Game No Life) will be producing and directing this show. Although some may disagree with Ishizuka’s take on Sakurasou and Madhouse can definitely produce really bad work (Photokano), it all hinges on what production companies end up funding the project. However, independent of production, the premise of yosakoi dancing provides an interesting looking glass into contemporary Japanese festivals. As a more modern offshoot of Awa Dancing (see: Golden Time), it blends modern music with traditional Japanese dance for a unique blend of old meeting the new. Just as it’s a treat to see K-ON! songs animated, I’m looking forward to Madhouse animating some nice dancing segments that are representative of the dance itself. With a cute cast and seiyuu mainly hailing from The iDOLM@STER and Wake Up, Girls!, I’m sure this will be a fun show to watch while also being a cultural window into Japanese dance.
Continuing the trend of split-cour adaptations is Re:_Hamatora (a.k.a. Reply Hamatora), the sequel to this winter’s Hamatora the Animation. Returning as director is Kishi Seiji, who comes back with the rest of the series’ original staff and main cast. Studio Lerche (Carnival Phantasm, Fate/Prototype) takes over as the lead producer for the series, with studio NAZ moving to a more collaborative role. Once again, Re:_Hamatora will focus on a world where select humans known as “Minimum Holders” are born with special powers known as “Minimums.” With a tag line of “We don’t need the Minimum,” Re:_Hamatora is a direct continuation of the first season, which found our main cast in Nice (Ohsaka Ryota) and Murasaki (Hatano Wataru) and the rest of the Hamatora Detective Agency caught up in a serial murder case involving minimum holders.
As with the first iteration, Re:_Hamatora comes in without much in terms of actual information. What we do know is that we’ll get to see the results of one of the more seizure-inducing cliffhangers in recent memory, which is something I’ll gladly take. The first half was an interesting mixture of action, mystery, and the supernatural, and there’s much that could be said about its thematic exploration of prejudice, discrimination, and the responsibility of those with power. Sadly, the inclusion of what seemed like a fair amount of filler took away from the execution, but there’s clearly a good core story here, and the second season should be able to expand on that. It’s not a must watch since the lack of source material means there will likely be more filler, but there’s definitely a solid enough story here to make it worth seeing how it develops. Just make sure you’re not going into this without watching the first season.
Momo Kyun Sword is a modern reimagining of Momotarou, starring a bishoujo swordswoman known at Momoko (Taketatsu Ayana). Momoko, who was born inside a peach (“momo” in Japanese), lives a peaceful life with her constant companions, Inugami (lit. “Dog God”, Hatano Wataru), Sarugami (lit. “Monkey God”, Morikubo Showtaro), and Kijigami (lit. “Pheasant God”, Imai Asami)…until one day, when their peaceful lives were shattered. A demon army led by the demon king Jakiou (Ginga Banjou), which includes his willful daughter Onihime (lit. “Ogre Princess”, Tsuda Minami), invades their paradise and steals the precious treasure that protects Momoko’s land. Now Momoko must embark on a great adventure with her three companions to retrieve the treasure and save her people!
I was skeptical when I first started researching this, but a lot of what I found was encouraging. The premise seems a little cliché – another reimagining of an old story with a gender-swapped female lead – but they left her three companions as animals, and it doesn’t seem like the whole thing is being mined for fanservice. It seems to have a pleasant fantasy/fairy tale air to it, like it’s a deliberate throwback to the days before ultra-”realistic” grimdark murder-fests got in the way of lighthearted tales about heroes with shiny swords. It does lean on the Momotarou tale a lot, so I don’t expect anything exciting or fresh in the way of plot, and both the staff with director Yanagi Shinsuke (Ro-Kyu-Bu! SS) and the studios in Project No.9 (Ro-Kyu-Bu!, ImoCho) and Tri-Slash (who?) are relatively inexperienced, so this could go south fast. But I think the worst case scenario is probably “mediocre” rather than “trainwreck”, which is more than I can say for all of Project No.9′s work. My guess is that this will be a good lighthearted adventure that you can watch to relax without going all of the way to slice-of-life town. With so much unknown though, we could end up surprised, for better or worse.
Shibaki Kouta (Takahashi Makoto) is a high school boy whose only interest is girls. Unfortunately, he’s been branded the most perverted boy at school, so the girls avoid him like the plague. One day Shibaki finds a book in the library about summoning witches; he tries it out on a whim, but it turns out to be the real thing! That’s when an apprentice witch named Rurumo (Mimori Suzuko) appears, and turns Shibaki’s life upside down. Now he has a contract with the young witch, who must convince him to use up 666 magic wish-granting tickets before she can return to her old life. The only problem: each ticket Shibaki uses shortens his lifespan, and when the final one is used, he will die…and Rurumo has no idea. Now he has a choice to make, between helping Rurumo regain her status as a witch or saving his own life.
Part slapstick comedy, part…other types of comedy, I enjoyed the first few chapters of the Majimoji Rurumo manga, though I’m having trouble describing exactly why. Shibaki is your standard pervert protagonist, but the way he’s quickly trapped between a rock and a hard place (wanting to help Rurumo and wanting to not die) made him sympathetic. As for Rurumo, she’s an odd little witch – she’s quirky and not terribly talkative, and bound by arduous regulations that give her an undeniable air of misfortune. She’s the type of girl you want to protect, which gets Shibaki into trouble fast. This is one of those comedies where the world feel enormously unfair to the main protagonist, which means the question is whether it will be funny enough to cover for that. Noucome famously abused its main protagonist, but it was so funny it worked. The first few chapters of Majimoji Rurumo were a borderline case for me, so it really depends on whether the J.C.Staff team can amp up the laughs, and with newbie director Sakurai Chikara at the helm, I have no idea what to expect. If you like fantasy or comedy, this one is probably worth a peek. I’ll be giving it a try, to see if J.C.Staff can draw out that comedy magic once again.
The winner of our coveted (and brand new) Best Short category is returning for a second season. Encouragement of Climb stars Yukimura Aoi (Iguchi Yuka), a high school girl who’s afraid of heights thanks to a nasty fall she took when she was younger. Now Aoi prefers indoor activities, but when her childhood friend Kuraue Hinata (Asumi Kana) bursts back into her life and reminds her of their promise to climb mountains together, Aoi is drawn towards the allure of climbing once again. Along with their newfound friends Saitou Kaede (Hikasa Yoko) and Aoba Kokona (Ogura Yui), the four form a circle of friends around their mutual interest. Each episode will be 15 minutes long.
The first season of Yama no Susume surprised me by being more than the typical cute girls doing cute things short. It was that as well – this is pure slice-of-life, and the girls are certainly cute as they pursue their mutual passion. But there’s an admiral fidelity to the hobby of mountain climbing that, though I don’t share the interest myself, was enjoyable to watch. But more than that, it’s the fact that in the first series, where each episode was less than five minutes long, actually gave us a real character arc for Aoi, one that was uplifting and satisfying by the time the season ended. This season season is coming with double the episodes and three times the length per episode, so we’ll have a lot more Yama no Susume to enjoy. I’m excited, because this always seemed like a story that could support more than the short episodes the first season was allotted. It looks like they’ll be picking up where the first season left off, but with the first season being so short it shouldn’t be hard for newcomers to catch up. Of any of the shorts from 2013, this is the one that’s most worth watching, so if you haven’t already I suggest you do so before the second season starts!
Born into a wildly successful family that’s all the rage in the Japanese entertainment world, Sena Izumi (Yonaga Tsubasa) wants nothing to do with all of that. Blessed (or maybe cursed?) with girlish proportions, he was scarred at a young age after being forced into a dress for a wedding commercial where he spectacularly failed, and in turn he turned his back on all the opportunities and open doors his family status laid in front of him. Fast forward to his high school days, where he hasn’t grown out of that girlish figure and has become a die-hard otaku, and you can understand why his family would be nervous about what he’s going to do with his life. But all of that changes when his otaku pride forces him into appearing in another wedding commercial, where he’s reunited with Ichijou Ryouma (Eguchi Takuya), his co-star from the very commercial that scarred him years earlier.
Whenever there’s a story about someone who’s deep into the otaku world and they’re not pictured as a stereotypical one, you’ll bet I’ll at least give it the three-episode/chapter treatment. While I stopped at the second chapter during my research because I didn’t want to spoil myself too much, I’ve got to say that I really enjoyed the setup and the buildup to the first big surprise. I mean, how can you not sympathize with Izumi and his dreams of breaking free from his family’s chains and becoming something crazy like a mangaka? And sure, I get that this type of show (shounen ai) might turn some people away, but there’s no other way for me to put it – it looks and feels like this will end up being a pretty darn good show.
The fantasy-action magical girl spin-off of the Fate universe returns for its second season. Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya stars Illyasviel von Einzbern (Kadowaki Mai), who was a normal girl until the talking wand Magical Ruby (Takano Naoko) flew into her life and turned her into a mahou shoujo! Illya teamed up with Ruby’s former master Tohsaka Rin (Ueda Kana) – as well as fellow magical girl Miyu (Nazuka Kaori), her wand (and Ruby’s imouto) Magical Sapphire (Matsuki Miyu), and Sapphire’s former master (and Rin’s eternal rival) Luciagelita “Luvia” Edelfelt (Itou Shizuka) – to gather the seven Class Cards that could have destroyed Fuyuki City. And they did it! But the adventure isn’t over. About a month after the events of the first season, Illya and Miyu are once again called upon. This time they need to help stabilize the Earth’s pulse, which went haywire when they started capturing the Class Cards. However, something goes wrong with the ceremony. Illya tries to protect everyone from the explosion, but when the smoke clears, Illya finds a clone of herself sitting beside her!
A successful spin-off should take what made the original successful and take it in a new direction, and that’s what Prisma Illya does. After an impressive first season – one which was faithful to the source while making smart tweaks, and which included one of the best fight sequences of the year, nabbing it honorable mentions in our yearly awards – the second season was green-lit immediately. I’m glad, because the source material for 2wei is better than the original. 2wei feels more “Fate-like” to me, while maintaining the essential qualities that make Prisma Illya different. Add to that our little Illya clone (Saito Chiwa), who is an excellent (and frequently hilarious!) addition. SILVER LINK is back, along with nearly all of the same staff, including composer Kato Tatsuya, who is sure to put out another superb soundtrack. I’ll say the same thing I said about the first season – if you like fantasy, intense magical action, quirky humor, or would like to see old friends in a different setting, this show is for you. For everyone else, don’t underestimate Prisma Illya just because it’s a spin-off, because it has a great story in its own right. The first season proved that, and it only gets better from here.
Set in an alternate version of the present day, the Tokyo Area has been completely destroyed by a large-scale terrorist attack. With no clues other than a group known as “Sphinx” taking credit of the attack through a strange video uploaded on the internet, Japan is in distraught as they try to find the group that was responsible for such a terrible deed. However, unknown to Japan and the rest of the world is that Sphinx is made up of just two teenage boys known as Nine and Twelve. Two boys who say they shouldn’t technically exist in this world and are trying to wake it from its slumber. Waiting and ready to “pull the trigger on this world”, the two are ready to wake the world up.
After diving deep into various sources to get a handle about what Zankyou no Terror was about, I ended up feeling that slight shiver in your back you get when you realize you’re dealing with something really creepy. With director Watanabe Shinichiro of Cowboy Bebop fame leading the charge with Aniplex handling all the logistics, I can picture this show becoming one of the few anime that try and mess with your mind while simultaneously scaring the crap out of you. With a really interesting premise that draws you in but doesn’t reveal much at all, it looks like Zankyou has all the ingredients to become something amazing. That and because it’s going to be an original anime, just about anything could happen!
In preparation for the series’ second season this fall, PSYCHO-PASS returns to the noitaminA block as a series of one-hour long episodes with added footage. As with the original release, Urobochi Gen (Fate/Zero, Madoka Magica) returns along with the rest of the previous cast, who set the foundation of a dystopian Sci-Fi set in the near future. In this world, one’s state of mind and personality can be measured and quantified instantly, resulting in a PSYCHO-PASS hue that displays a person’s criminal tendencies. To dispense justice upon those who would seek to harm society, enforcers at the Ministry of Welfare’s Public Safety Bureau wield special weapons known as Dominators. Among them is the veteran Shinya Kougami (Seki Tomokazu) and their newest member, Tsunemori Akane (Hanazawa Kana).
Essentially a refresher for those anticipating PSYCHO-PASS 2 next season, this is a series you likely already know whether you’ll be watching, either nostalgia’s sake or as a memory jog for the fall. For those who didn’t get the chance to catch PSYCHO-PASS’ original run, this could be a great chance for you to watch one of the more popular series of last year, and arguably one of the more notable sci-fi series in recent memory. Fans of sci-gi series such as Ghost in the Shell and western movies such as Blade Runner and Minority Report should find much to like here, with the many references and inspirations it takes from the aforementioned, and it goes without saying that Urobochi Gen’s previous work speaks for themselves. If you haven’t watched PSYCHO-PASS yet, this is your chance.
Two years after the original adaptation, Persona 4 is back with a new studio at the helm and a new social link in Marie. Based on the critically acclaimed RPG of the same name, Persona 4 Golden The Animation’s (a.k.a. P4GA) story is generally the same as its previous iteration, which revolved around a protagonist named Narukami Yuu (Namikawa Daisuke). Shortly after his arrival in the rural town of Inaba, a series of murders take place, and a rumor begins to spread about “Mayonaka TV,” a midnight program that supposedly allows you to see your other self if you watch it on a rainy day. Looking into the rumor, Yuu and his new friends, Hanamura Yousuke (Morikubo Shoutarou), Satonaka Chie (Horie Yui), Amagi Yukiko (Koshimizu Ami) are pulled into an alternate TV world where monsters known as Shadows roam about. They’re forced to confront their Shadow Selves and awaken their “Personas,” summoned beings that they use to investigate the murders and their connection to this other world.
To state the obvious, Persona 4 Golden The Animation shares much with the original P4A. All of the original cast’s seiyuu are returning, as is the director in Kishi Seiji (Angel Beats, Jinrui). There is a new studio, a new co-director, and a new character in the cast, but the style and general content should be quite similar to P4A regardless. As someone who’s played the games, loved them, and knows how much Japan loves Persona 4, I’ll probably watch this anyway, but depending on your opinion of P4A and how you feel about watching what’s essentially a retelling, this may not necessarily be down your alley. Those of you that haven’t seen P4A yet, or played the game it’s based on, should find a lot to enjoy here. It’s definitely worth a watch considering the critical acclaim its source material has received, even if the animation may take some liberties on the game’s mechanics.
Following an apparently successful first season, the 4-koma manga Ai Mai Mi is getting a second season of anime shorts. It follows four girls in a manga club – the titular Ai (Ootsubo Yuka), Mai (Uchida Aya), and Mi (Uchida Maaya), along with Ponoka-sempai (Kayano Ai) – as they fight evil alien invaders, face off against their rivals at tournaments, and deal with other strange situations. Oh, and occasionally draw manga. (They’re not big on work ethic.) It’s a bonanza of absurd comedy as the story follows the antics of these four girls. Each episode will be 3 minutes long.
When I previewed the first season, I said it looked like a low-budget affair. Then I watched some of it, and I was right. It has the production qualities of a mid-90′s cartoon, which would be nostalgic if these three-minute shorts were funny. To me, that is–comedy is subjective, so if you enjoyed the first season, don’t let me stop you. With the staff, studio, and seiyuu all set to return for the second season, this is an easy show to recommend (or not). Did you watch and enjoy the first season? If so, watch this. But if you haven’t seen the first season and are curious, go give the first episode a try. At three minutes per episode, you won’t lose much time, and you’ll be able to make an informed decision. I for one won’t be bothering with this one though.
In order to adapt the manga properly, Book of Circus will pick up where episode 15 of the first season left off – in essence ignoring the second season in order to take a different path. Favorite characters Sebastian (Ono Daisuke) and Ciel (Sakamoto Maaya) return to the party in an arc that will be very different from what viewers have been exposed to so far. As the name implies, the story will take a more circus/carnival turn, thrusting Ciel and Sebastian into the Noah’s Ark Circus Arc, full of new characters such as Joker (Miyano Mamoru) and Beast (Kaida Yuko). Many of the original side-characters will also make a reappearance as the series returns to the manga material that needed time to catch up.
As a highly visible series that generates ships and a lot of fanfiction, Kuroshitsuji needs no introduction. With enticing character designs, sexual undertones, and Victorian-era intrigue, the series has captured the hearts of many fans. The main concern this time is whether fans can take a backtrack from the events of the second season in order to restart where the first left off. Many significant and permanent events occurred during the second season, and the third season is asking viewers to forget about all of that. For some, this may be a struggle, but considering the love the series gets from its fans, this shouldn’t be a big roadblock. As for production, although A-1 Pictures is once again producing the series and the seiyuu have stayed constant, the staff has once again changed. With Abe Noriyuki (Bleach) as director, production should go smoothly, but as with all staff shifts between seasons, we may yet see a change in the ‘feel’ of Kuroshitsuji, for better or worse.
An anime adaptation of the popular Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? light novel series is debuting this summer. Due to young Satomi Koutarou’s (Nakamura Yuuichi) financial constraints, he is forced to live in a small rokujouma (6-tatami apartment) on a budget of 5000 yen (~$50) a month. He gets to live in room 106 of Corona Apartment rent-free, but that’s only because it’s haunted. The ghost is a cute young girl named Higashihongan Sanae (Suzuki Eri), and hijinks ensue when she tries to drive Koutarou out. Between the ghost, a self-professed mahou shoujo, a space alien, and more, Koutarou’s impoverished life just got a lot more interesting.
Crazy comedy hijinks are the name of the game, with zany girls making our protagonist’s life hilariously troublesome. Or at least that’s the jist I get, because I was unable to get my hands on the source material in time. Thus, let the speculation begin! This is one of two SILVER LINK shows airing this summer, the other being the sequel to Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya, and veteran SILVER LINK director Oonuma Shin is helming both of them. While I always get a little worried when smaller studios work on multiple shows, as they could end up stretching their resources too thin, the promo videos for this have good animation and character designs. But with a comedy, it always comes down to “Does this make me laugh?”, and for that, I have no idea. I’m personally predisposed to like this kind of zany, hinjinks-filled comedy, and both director Oonuma Shin and SILVER LINK have a long track record of making shows I liked (BakaTest, C3, Nourin, WataMote), so I’ll be tuning in. Without being able to tell you more about the source, I suggest you watch (or not) based on the strength of the staff and the studio, and hope they can deliver an enjoyable ride.
Urushiba Rinka (Kido Ibuki) is a young high school girl who discovers one day that she has the abilities to transport through solid objects. In other words, Rinka can phase in and out of basically anything, even carrying other people or things. On this same day, she coincidentally meets a man named Azuma Kyoutarou (Koumoto Keisuke) who also has teleportation powers. Together, the two of them encounter other individuals with ESP powers, which includes Rinka’s father, an infamous thief, and even a special little penguin named Peggi (Mizuhara Kaoru). Unsure of where these powers came from, Rinka and Kyoutarou learn to live and deal with what’s been given to them. But the two are driven by a sense of justice and righteousness, so they end up becoming vigilantes in Tokyo, stopping crimes and gangs from hurting innocent people.
I won’t lie, doing previews can be a chore after digging up the source material and properly writing out a summary. However, Tokyo ESP is truly the exception, which I couldn’t stop reading chapter after chapter. I instantly fell in love with Rinka; she’s the exact opposite of a damsel-in-distress, and makes a huge impact on her own (quite literally). From what I’ve read, the story is less episodic than it first appears because there’s actually a lot of continuity between the enemies, as well as a sweet background story between our protagonists. Rinka is actually meant to be a mixed child (hence, the albino look), and although gimmicky, it adds value to the story. On the downside, I’m leery about the character design and animation. The promo art looks amazing, but the cast are not as experienced as I’d like and the staff have an uneven track record. Nothing to be excited about on that end, but I hope I’m proven wrong because the source material is interesting enough to follow on its own.
Nobunaga Concerto is another series focusing on anime’s favorite Sengoku figure, Oda Nobunaga. Saburou (Miyano Mamoru) is a high school student who excels in athletics, but wavers in academics, especially in history – in the first chapter, he calls history a relic of the past that doesn’t affect his present or future. However, after Saburou falls through time to the Sengoku Era, he probably wishes he would’ve studied more. After being discovered by Oda Nobunaga (Kaji Yuuki) and realizing he looks exactly like him, he is forced to become the young Oda’s substitute. This causes a whole range of problems, sometimes leading to a blade to Saburou’s face. With the pressure of all of Japan on his shoulders, Saburou must quickly learn what it means to be the legendary figure and how to unite Japan. Unfortunately, having not paid attention in class, events such as the Honnou-ji Incident may take him by surprise.
The first series that I relate this to is Oda Nobuna no Yabou, which followed a similar line of plot, minus the substitution and gender bending. Both follow the events of Oda Nobunaga fairly closely and both have main characters that hail from the future. However, Saburou lacks any sort of historical basis to make his moves, instead relying on physical skill and personal ambition to protect the present he wishes to return to. Although not much information has been released, there is a decorated cast of seiyuu lined up, such as Mizuki Nana, Fukuyama Jun, Yuuki Aoi, and Sugita Tomokazu, all voicing major roles. The animation production team is still unannounced so far, which worries me that it’ll be adapted by a novice studio. Though the project is still shrouded in mystery, considering how the original material won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shounen manga, we could be in for a real treat.
Based on the light novel series of the same name with 11 published volumes, the fantasy-harem story Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance is getting an anime adaptation this season. In a world of magic, only pure maidens are able to form contracts with powerful spirits. Areishia Spirit Academy exists to train the maidens of noble families in how to contract and control spirits, with the strongest maidens competing in the Spiritual Blade Dance Festival to bestow divine protection upon their country. Into this world comes a boy, Kazehaya Kamito (Furukawa Makoto), who, after peeping by accident on the bathing Spiritualist Claire Rouge (Kido Ibuki), ended up making a contract with the spirit she was after. Yes, Kamito is one of the vanishingly rare male spirit contractors – the only one, other than the legendary Demon Lord. Aghast that her spirit was stolen by a boy, Claire makes her demand – “You’re going to become my contracted spirit!”
You know the story – a boy is found to be the only male [insert powerful magical/sci-fi special person here], enrolls in an all-girls high school, gets himself a harem, becomes beloved by all, etc. It’s the Infinite Stratos treatment, with some caveats. Kamito acts fairly competent and driven, more Raishin (Unbreakable Machine Doll) than Ichika, so hopefully he won’t spend the entire series going “Huh?”. The magical combat also has a lot of potential, though bad combat was never IS’s problem, at least not until it started mailing it in. I don’t know how much fanservice to expect, because while TNK (High School DxD) is animating and veteran TNK director Yanagisawa Tetsuya (High School DxD) is at the helm, the manga I perused wasn’t nearly at Issei-levels of ecchi, nor does Kamito come across as a pervert, no matter what some of the girls insist. There’s definitely some fanservice though, and the art is downright luscious, so I wouldn’t mind seeing more of these girls, regardless of how much clothing they’re wearing. In the end, this is a magical fantasy harem anime based on a light novel, so if that’s your sort of thing, you should already know enough to decide whether to watch it or not. All I can add is that I’m cautiously optimistic that this might turn out to be one of the better examples of the form, but I’ve been wrong before. Enough is still unknown that we’ll have to wait and see how it turns out.
Hanamonogatari is the continuation of the Monogatari series that we’ve been covering here at Random Curiosity for quite some time. For a quick recap, the story follows a young man named Araragi Koyomi (Kamiya Hiroshi), who, after a precarious turn of events, has turned into something along the lines of a half vampire. With his body and soul eternally linked with the infamous vampire Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade – who’s easier to say nickname is Oshino Shinobu (Sakamoto Maaya) – he spends most of his time running about and messing with lolis. When his attention isn’t stolen by them, he’s usually helping solve other people’s problems that tend to err on the supernatural side. Continuing off where last season left off, Hanamongatari focuses on Kanbaru Suruga (Sawashiro Miyuki) and takes place after Araragi has graduated high school. For those of you who remember, this should be right after we saw Kaiki Deishuu (Miki Shinichiro) solve Senjougahara Hitagi’s (Saito Chiwa) “issue”.
If I were to make any guesses about what’s going to happen this season, I would say that anything and everything involving Kanbaru will probably play a role. Hopefully this means we’ll get to know a little more about the mysterious Gaen Izuko (Yukino Satsuki) as well as see more of Araragi since he was painfully absent for most of Monogatari Series: Second Season. Whatever the case may be, with SHAFT still behind the wheel I’m sure we’ll get everything we’ve become accustomed to, with hopefully some surprises sprinkled here and there.
The local undead idol of Hokkaido is getting an animated series of shorts this season. Francesca (Makino Yui) is an “undead idol” who’s a little spacey but has a lot of energy, and all of her favorite foods are from Hokkaido. Big trouble arises when Hijikata Toshizou (Takahashi Hiroki) and the rest of the Shinsengumi awake from their eternal slumber and attack Hokkaido! The little girl Exorcist (Tano Asami) stands up to defend the area, but in the midst of the chaos, Francesca awakens to protect Hokkaido as well.
Local moe characters for cities, provinces, and consumer products are…well, they are a thing. I can sort of understand why these appeal to locals, but I have no idea why they would bother making an anime about one. I checked out the promo videos, and they’re pretty bad. The animation is unimpressive, the plot holds no interest, and it’s all clearly a shallow promotional vehicle for Francesca and, through her, Hokkaido. I don’t know who this anime is for, unless it’s being bankrolled by the Hokkaido Department of Commerce in some misguided attempt to kick up commerce and/or tourism. Each episode is only 15 minutes long, so at least there’s less of it? I don’t know. If something about this show interests you, check it out, but I for one will be steering clear. I prefer my shameless advertisements to stay as advertisements rather than invading my fiction, thank you very much.
Joining a sequel-filled summer is Strange+ 2nd Season, which brings back Mikawa Verno’s slapstick gag manga for another go around. There’s not much information available on this one, but it looks like the seiyuu cast will be reprising their roles at least. As with its previous iteration, this second season will be a series of five minute shorts, with the focus once again on the daily activities of the Mikuni Detective Agency. The story revolves around the main character named Kou (Seki Tomokazu), who found his lost long-lost older brother Takumi (Fukuyama Jun) in the first season, and was roped into working for the agency shortly thereafter. There, Kou finds himself investigating various mysteries with the agency, though it’s a story that’s more about the laughs than the mysteries themselves.
True to its strange nature, Strange+ is a show whose sequel was announced right before its first season premiered. But like the information available for the second season, there’s little known as to why this ended up happening. The fact remains that we have one of our obligatory comedic shorts of the season, and it comes as a show whose formula has worked in the past (Cuticle Detective Inaba was another recent comedic mystery). I didn’t end up watching the first season in its entirety, but from what I saw it was a run-of-the-mill series for the most part. It doesn’t exactly scream special in any sense of the word, and didn’t get me laughing as much as I’d liked, but it’s something whose mileage varies from person to person. Given its short runtime, it’s worth a peek if you’re interested, but don’t be surprised if it doesn’t end up being your kind of jam.
The world’s first ever live anime program is coming to screens this Summer. What do I mean by “live anime”? Animated with MikuMikuDance software, Minarai Diva is slated as the first ever anime to be voiced and acted live, with the characters’ movements captured via motion-capture technology. It will star Aoi Ruri (lit. “blue lapis lazuli”, Murakawa Rie) and Harune Ui (Yamamoto Nozomi), along with NTV emcee Yoshida Hisanori who will play a fictionalized version of himself. During the program, the two seiyuu will try to think up lyrics for a new song, and will even accept suggestions from social media and email. It will be similar in style to a radio program, and each episode will be 60 minutes long.
I guess we can’t say the anime industry isn’t trying to do new things? Though I would have preferred new original series or innovative storytelling techniques to what amounts to a radio show with a visual gimmick. But progress can come from funny directions. It’s hard to know whether to suggest this one, because it’s billing itself as a radio program (or podcast) you can also watch. But that’s part of the draw of radio/podcasts! I doubt this will have much in the way of plot, and it won’t have the polished feel of a scripted show. This feels like a special feature for the sake of having a special feature, which is the very definition of a gimmick. It could be good – I’ve listened to some seiyuu radio shows, and in the right hands they can be excellent – but then why isn’t it just a radio show? Though if it were a radio show not as many people would be talking about it. I mean, we’re previewing it here, so mission accomplished, I suppose.
Watching This: No one yet
Expectation Level: Low
OVA / Movie
Technical Note: OVAs are sorted by the date they are released. For series that have multiple episodes coming out over the course of the season, please refer to the Notes column for additional dates. More information on each OVA can be found on their respective websites, including promotional videos in some cases. Movie premiere dates are not included since they don’t mean a whole lot to viewers outside of Japan. DVD/BD movie releases are, however. This list is likely incomplete and will be updated as more titles surface. If you notice anything missing or incorrect, please feel free to point it out in the comments or e-mail one of us directly (Stilts, Zephyr).
It’s always said that the summer and winter seasons are traditionally weaker than spring and fall, but last year bucked that trend by giving us a stellar summer lineup. This year? I am eternally hopeful, but with the information we have the outlook is still uncertain. Not even the writers appear to be in agreement – only two shows, Glasslip and Zankyou no Terror, are on all of our watch lists, with Barakamon, Ao Haru Ride, and the second season of Free! coming close. I don’t know what that says about us, but probably nothing good. There are more Moderately High series than normal though, which means we’re still optimistic, qualified though it may be. Plus there are always good shows airing every season, and as always we will do our best to point them out to you as they air. Hopefully a few dark horses will buoy this season and defy the conventional wisdom once again.
Onto the rundown. Our rubric remains the same, with the five main expectation levels ranging from High to Low, plus Niche and Established hanging around for special cases. Hopefully this guide will help viewers with limited time know which shows to try first, based on our preliminary examination of the show’s staff, seiyuu, and source material.
We arrived at these levels by convening our regular (and reliably shady) “anticipation council,” which as always consists of Zanibas, Zephyr, and myself (Stilts). While we’ve gone to great lengths to be as objective as possible, we’re all fallible human beings around here, and even the most well-considered predictions can prove themselves wrong in a hurry. Take these designations with a grain of salt.
Note: The lists are sorted in alphabetical order.
The Rundown:
High expectation shows give us reason to believe they have the makings of a very good series that should appeal to the widest audience in their given genres. If you consider yourself a “casual” fan who only gets your toes wet every season by watching the “best” shows (i.e. popular ones that generate the most buzz), then these are the ones we feel you should keep an eye out for. We’re also expecting good things from these shows, so if they fall short, disappointment is understandable.
Moderately High expectation shows are ones that came close to joining the High expectation crowd, but missed out due to one or two elements that gave us concern. The series underpinnings are generally strong, but there is just something that keeps us from putting all our hopes and dreams on these shows. They still have most of the makings of very strong series, so if you watch only the “best” shows but want more than what the High category provides, keep an eye out for these as well.
Moderate expectation shows, also known as “True Moderate”, don’t provide any immediate indication that they’ll be amazing in retrospect. This is often the case with shows that fall into one of anime’s overused plot devices, which most people, particularly self-proclaimed critics, will perceive as mediocre at best. However, in many of our experiences these shows still provide a great deal of entertainment and may turn out a lot better than they appear. They’re good for “regular” fans who are aware of all these tropes and don’t mind seeing them used in different settings. Personal tastes come heavily into play, so your mileage will vary.
Moderately Low expectation shows don’t seem to be aspiring to much, but it’s hard to call them bad exactly. They might focus on senseless humor or fanservice, but there’s often at least one element that elevates them above other members of their genre. Once again, personal taste comes heavily into play with these shows, because if they’re part of one of your favored genres then chances are you’ll enjoy them no matter what. Just don’t expect them to break the bank with originality.
Low expectation shows don’t seem to be striving for much and choose to focus on more frivolous aspects such as senseless humor and fanservice. That doesn’t mean they’re the bottom of the barrel and shouldn’t get any consideration, but simply that you need to keep in mind what kind of show it is. Generally only “avid” fans will be interested in seeing what these have to offer, because they’re already watching all the better shows.
Niche shows break away from the norm by being slower-paced, extremely dark/grotesque, or even controversial. In most cases these shows are oriented towards older audiences or those who feel that anime has become far too repetitive and want something different. Shows of this category tend to be highly under-appreciated, but can turn out to be hidden gems for that very reason. Includes some works oriented toward younger audiences.
Established shows are generally long-running manga/anime series, geared towards younger viewers who are already fans of them. A commonality is that they all air early morning on weekends or well before midnight on weekdays so that “normal” people can watch them. They aren’t very dependent on expectations, but a love for never-ending shows and a willingness to get into all the material that’s out if they’re completely new to you. Shounen series fall into this category, hence why we treat them differently.
The best FPS’s have hearts and kawaii onnanoko, and the best plans are as fun as hell!
Is Reality Someone Else’s Fiction?
I think it fits this story the best that the “Tokyo” the game takes place in is actually a sci-fi level they made up. Fun Fact: Did you know we’re all characters in a cheap genre fiction novel? The idea that our reality is somebody else’s fantasy is wildly fascinating to me, even if, yes, the way they got all the details so close is a tad suspect. It gave us freaking out Sora and burnt out, ultra-shiro Shiro though, so NO ARGUMENTS IT IS GRAND!!
Living or Dead Series Side Story. Love or Loved 2: Hit Her With Your Bullet of Love!
The revelation that shooting an ally would temporarily make them your love slave was hilarious! Excellent execution abounds in how, as soon as this was revealed, Shiro instantly shot Sora and made him her love slave before we could even think of this happening, and then Jibril did the same. Love triangle! NTR! Jibril is not only an M but an S too! (She’s also incapable of love, which is an interesting thing to keep in mind. She simply does not possess that emotion.)
Steph also came in handy by letting them test out how shots bounce. Steph loves herself! Selfcest! No, wait–Stephcest! THREE CHEERS FOR STEPHCEST! Oh, and for getting her clothing shot off, though Sora tested that with before that. An All Ages game, damn!
Games Are Fun, No Matter The Stakes
Do you remember how Kuuhaku said they always win games before they even start? I think that’s what they were doing when Sora asked Izuna-tan when was the last time she had enjoyed a game was. Because while Izuna-tan was in super serious mode, Sora and crew were goofing around, and the cracks started to show early. Whether this was a plan to destabilize Izuna-tan or a way to bring her to their side after they’ve won, I do not know, but I think it’s more the latter. The game against Izuna-tan is important, but the game for Izuna-tan is equally so, because they need the Warbeasts if they’re ever going to challenge Tet. That’s the meta reason why Sora was having so much fun shooting panties off nekomimi girls, to get this message across to Izuna-tan. The rest was for him.
But more to the point, are Sora and Shiro right? Can we, and should we, enjoy the game no matter the stakes? Yes! All of life is a game, and it’s not one we’re going to make it out of alive. Why take it seriously all the way through? Sure, take it seriously to a point, but have fun too. This comes as much from Sora and Shiro’s neigh-overwhelming skill – they can “afford” to goof around, even in a game with these stakes – as from anything else, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. Have some fun, Izuna-tan. Life is too short to be angry all the time.
Shiro Star
Shiro takes center stage again! Sora has been overshadowing her a fair amount of the series, but that’s because of the nature of the games as much as anything else. Sora is the liar and the strategist, the trickster and the fool, and in the messy “real world” he most often gets to employ his advantages. Shiro, though, has the minutiae down to a science. She’s the computational master, able to digest every detail and arrive at the best tactics so quickly it borders on precognition. How she fought reminded me of Discworld’sCohen the Barbarian – it’s not that she’s especially strong or fast, she just stands in the exact spot where the blows won’t strike her and uses the most efficient way possible to take down her enemies. If this were a fair game, it would have been over as soon as she found Izuna.
And that’s why Shiro frequently gets overshadowed by Sora. It’s not because she’s not as good, but because the way she’s good isn’t dramatic. When Shiro wins, she wins with overwhelming skill, making exactly the right moves and never making a misstep. Where’s the drama in that? Sora, though, is a master of the come-from-behind victory. His victories are just as overwhelming in the end – and his base abilities are damn good too, as we saw when he was sniping (with a pistol, no less) – but they’re far more dramatic, more “How the hell are they going to come back from this?” That makes for better storytelling, so I suspect Sora will continue to play a larger role. I like that the story is giving Shiro a larger part though, because Sora vs Shiro is a false choice – it’s all about Kuuhaku together.
Unbeatable Cheaters
As I said, if this were a fair game it would have already been over, but Izuna has three advantages: 1) She can block attacks with her clothing, 2) there’s some cheat code enabled that gives her precognition, and 3) her grandpa is talking to her. Oh, and her ridiculous reflexes. Oh, and her amazing senses, and how she can use them to make the bouncing shots do crazy things. I don’t know how #3 is working, and I can’t think of a technological reason that wouldn’t have been sniffed out, so I’m suspecting it was him moving his lips and Izuna picking up the vibrations or something like that.
More interesting to me is #2, because like the fiction that the Warbeasts can “read minds”, it’s a giant con on a race-wide scale. They’ve made people think they can read minds, have a sixth sense, and all of this other stuff in order to cover for their cheating. Without being able to rule out this fictional “sixth sense”, they can claim it as an explanation for their cheats. Their national discipline is amazing, and I can’t help but have respect for a con on this large of a scale. The liar marketer within me is impressed.
All According To Plan
Foreshadowing is king, and they brought back everything we learned early on. The bouncing shots. Blocking shots with clothing. Being able to shoot clothing off. The love-love mode “love slaves” go into for a time. Shiro not running. Kuuhaku knowing each other’s minds better than anyone else, so they can arrive at the same plan separately without speaking a word (which would risk their plan being overheard and leaked.) Everything came back in time to corner Izuna-tan on the fall off the building.
I’m proud to say that I called how Shiro wasn’t turned when she was walking after Sora, and more importantly, missing. It’s possible that a mind controlled Shiro wouldn’t have access to her full computational abilities, but I doubt it. No, Shiro isn’t the type to take a shot (and potentially doom her team in the process) unless she had a plan up her sleeves.
If your enemy is cheating like Izuna-tan was, the way to victory is all about tricking them into a situation where they can’t dodge, and in coming up with this plan Shiro is plotting like Sora. Misdirection, subterfuge, shooting off pantsu…she’s growing up! Even Jibril being turned so that Shiro can shoot and spin the shot around was all according to plan. Once again, they nearly won–but there’s one problem.
Looking Ahead – Blood Destruction
One ability of the Warbeasts wasn’t a lie, and that was Blood Destruction. Izuna definitely has it, and she’s having fun now, which means she’s dangerous. But perhaps predictable? Now that she’s having fun she might throw caution to the wind and play for the love of the game, which could give Kuuhaku some serious trouble. But I still think they have something up their sleeve, and Steph might just be the key to their victory. You never know…until next week. One more episode, nooooo!
tl;dr:@StiltsOutLoud – A love-love FPS turns intense when Kuuhaku & co goes toe-to-toe w/ an unstoppable cheater & force her to pull out all the stops #nogenora 11
Random thoughts:
I still sort of want to see Shiro actually become Izuna-tan’s love slave. Not that she hasn’t shown that she’s perfectly willing to take on the role voluntarily.
I liked how ojii-san realized that Sora and Shiro know this game even better than they do. He’s a perceptive old bastard, and he better hope they lose. Too bad they won’t.
「それぞれの覚悟!」 (Sorezore no Kakugo!)
“Their Various Resolves!”
I can’t seem to put my finger on it but something felt a little off during this week’s episode.
Soul Resonance
As excited as I was for Tsugumi to have an awesome moment, let me start with my one complaint with the road the story took to get us there. In this particular episode, I felt a little conflicted when Clyde, Clay, and anyone else in charge of protecting/restricting our main trio had a sudden change of heart. Because as much as I want to see Anya and Tsugumi save Meme (which I’m sure will involve beating the crap out of Shaula), it’s tough to disagree with the points Clyde and Clay made while they were in serious mode. Just what can two girls do against a witch that the entirety of the DWMA has been trying to locate and takedown for weeks can’t?
At the same time, it’s hard to pass up on any opportunity for Tsugumi to shine. While I don’t remember Soul Resonance giving the ability for a weapon to shape shift until it became an actual “Deathscythe”, all I’m going to say is that the feeling of watching Tsugumi grow from someone who couldn’t transform completely into an almost nearly full-fledged weapon is almost as satisfying as punching someone in the face who says you’re unable to do something. But what may have been even more impressive than her wings was probably her response to Dr. Stein’s question.
Who would you pick?
While I think it’s all but set in stone, do you think Meme has a chance to become Tsugumi’s true partner? Looking past the fact that Anya and Tsugumi were able to perform a Soul Resonance with each other, you have to be pretty impressed just how close the two are with each other. From what I remember it always felt like Anya was getting the short end of the stick and if I had to say who Tsugumi was closer with, I would have said Meme. Sure there’s still the third option of Tsugumi somehow having multiple partners and Meme is in an unfair situation but at this point its hard for me to see anyone besides Anya becoming her partner.
Looking Ahead
With the climax right in front of us, I don’t think there’s anything that’ll stop us from grabbing it. The DWMA is in a crisis with Shaula’s poison spreading worse than a zombie outbreak and a pissed off Tsugumi and Anya are amped and ready to release Meme from Shaula’s grasp! Throw in all the cameos from SOUL EATER that we’re getting and what more could you ask for? Along the way I’m sure Meme will get her chance to show us what she’s really made of but only time will tell, right?
What do you do when your main characters can’t move and are slowly getting their chakra sucked out? You tell a grand tale of how Aizen wasn’t the only one who planned everything from the very beginning, and while it’s not surprising how that’s happened at this point, one must say: it’s a nice usage of events in order to give probably one of more more important info-dumps of the series.
With that said, let’s first take a look at what exactly the story seems to be at this time—at least, what I’ve managed to grasp up until this point:
A long time ago, Kaguya consumed the sacred tree’s fruit in order to end the wars that were going on at the time.
Kaguya had two children in the Hagoromo and his brother Hamura, whom acquired her powers and the chakra she possessed.
In order to re-acquire the chakra redistributed among her sons, she merged herself with the sacred tree to create the Ten-Tails. If Black Zetsu is to be believed though, this story is actually not correct. Rather, Kaguya wasn’t attempting to take back all the chakra herself, but intended to distribute it among both Hagoromo and Hamura.
Either way, Hagaromo and Hamura end up sealing the Ten-Tails (and Kaguya while they’re at it) in the upcoming fight, which is sealed in Hagoromo, who becomes the Sage of Six Paths and the first jinchuriki as a result.
Before being sealed however, Kaguya would create Black Zetsu, who would spend the rest of time between then and now intentionally manipulating the sage’s descendants in ways that would awaken the Rinnegan—the key to reviving Kaguya. This would include involving himself in the Uchiha v. Senju conflict and intentionally modifying the Uchiha tablet to say that the Infinite Tsukuyomi would save the Uchiha, when in fact it would merely acquire enough chakra to awaken the Ten-Tails/Kaguya once again.
…or something or rather. It’s a mouth-full to say the least, and just when you thought you knew the whole story, it turns out that even the Sage of Six Paths (and his descendants) didn’t even know that they didn’t have the whole story themselves. As it turns out, only Black Zetsu knew the whole story, and he’s been plotting the revival of Kaguya for what’s essentially been the entirety of Shinobi History. Needless to say, it all comes together as a tale that’s pretty darn ridiculous, and there really isn’t much to say aside from: “keikaku doori”. Next thing you know, even the wars before Kaguya were planned out by someone even more powerf—okay that’s probably not going to happen, but you get the gist.
Generally, this little revision of the history book takes up most of the chapter, which ends up surprisingly interesting considering how the whole “keikaku doori” element’s been hammered in multiple times over the past few months. Looking forward, it looks like things are gearing up for our cast to try and use the sealing technique again—which was apparently the technique taught to them by the Sage of Six Paths many chapters back—and for my brain’s sake, I sure hope it comes without anymore history revisions, because my head’s spinning at this point…
「 ヒトコト×ハ×ソノヒト」 (Hito Koto x wa x Sono Hito)
“The Word × is × That Person”
Author’s Note: Please be very careful to avoid divulging any information about upcoming events from the manga. When in doubt, don’t post it – and even if it’s remotely possible to view it as a minor spoiler, please spoiler-tag it. Thanks for your cooperation.
An episode like this one has to be pretty depressing for aspiring shounen mangaka…
You would think that after 134 episodes, at some point I would have lost my ability to be surprised and floored by what Togashi and Madhouse are doing with this series and this arc. But Hunter X Hunter can still do those things to me every bit as powerfully as it did two years ago. Even partially spoiled I’m still surprised by where Togashi chooses to take the story, and the execution continues to be virtually peerless. There’s never been any danger of my taking H x H for granted, but the enormity of what it’s managed to accomplish will probably only hit me when the anime is gone.
It only makes sense to start with the beginning, because without a doubt it was the most subversive and vicious sequence I’ve ever seen in a shounen anime. If there were any doubt as the core message driving “Chimera Ant” Togashi and Koujina eviscerated it. It wasn’t just the horror of the imagery chosen, but the types of images Togashi (or Koujina – I’m assuming these were all manga-original) chose. It was, in 2 minutes and 33 seconds, a complete and self-contained narrative of its own – a merciless condemnation of stupidity and cruelty and a mirror held up to the world we live in.
It’s the fact that the mind of the writer who created that vision also created this arc that makes it such a dark and enigmatic piece of work. You could call all of “Chimera Ant” and by extension all of Hunter X Hunter a kind of bait and switch – nothing here is what it first appeared to be. The reality of this story is not bedrock but a desert of shifting sands and mirages, calm and pleasant oases that don’t really exist and a place where we cannot trust what our eyes and senses tell us. You can practically hear Togashi growling “Think for yourself!” as you watch those first two-plus minutes play out, and you realize just what you’ve been watching for the last 60 weeks, give or take.
It’s testament to this that as the final act of this massive story plays out, Gon and Killua are nowhere to be seen. The players here – the only players this week – are Meruem, Shaiapouf and Welfin. In truth “Chimera Ant” turns out to be Meruem’s story more than Gon’s or anyone else’s – it’s his journey we’ve been following all this time, from conception to (presumably) death. To the extent that Gon and Killua are main characters in this arc, it’s in the way “Chimera Ant” plays as a metaphor for what happens when children are exposed to the sort of world that we see in the pre-open of the episode. They’re exceptional children by any standard but children nonetheless, and in his usual contrarian fashion Togashi has chosen to focus not on what makes them strong, but on what makes them weak – and human. However their part of this story concludes – Gon especially – has to be viewed in that context.
As to what actually happens in the episode itself, it’s elegantly simple and straightforward. All we have is dialogue but once again the atmosphere is incredibly tense, especially when Meruem activates his En and confronts Welfin. Meruem has taken Pouf’s “Spiritual Message” and elevated it to a God-like power – the world holds few secrets from him. With his En he can see anything that has changed since he last used it, and read the emotions of those in his presence. Pouf continues to play out the last act of his charade, one which it seems even he has just about given up hope on. Of course he sees Welfin as a threat to his secret, but the Pouf of this episode is increasingly helpless and defeated – between the knowledge that he can hide nothing from the King and the growing sense that his own body is failing him, it feels as if Pouf is only continuing to struggle because he’s a butterfly trapped in a spider’s web, and that’s what butterflies do until the poison finally puts an end to their struggles.
Welfin and Meruem are, if anything, even more fascinating. Meruem has become so omnipotent that more than anything what seems to motivate him is curiosity – he can see so much that anything that defies easy understanding is a secret which must be unraveled. And Welfin is a riddle – why does this squadron leader emanate such hatred for him? Why did he kill Youpi (in fact, he didn’t)? Welfin is, as always, a compelling mass of neurotic overthinking. His instinct for self-preservation is at war with his hatred of the Chimera Ants and his loyalty to Gyro. Welfin struggles, too, but it seems more pointed – an urgent need to live on because there are things he still needs to do.
This scene is very reminiscent of the one which saw Knov ruined by the sheer terror of facing Neferpitou’s Shaiapouf’s terrible aura, but Welfin is facing a being far more powerful. As Pouf and Welfin each cling to a thread of life there’s never any question that Meruem could snip either strand in less than the blink of an eye. When Pouf commits the affront of ordering Meruem to stop questioning Welfin because doing so would likely reveal Pouf’s secret and void their game, there seems to be a flash of anger on the King’s part – but he stays his hand. Why? I believe it’s pity – Meruem sees the sheer depth of Pouf’s love for him and that it’s this obsessive loyalty that’s caused him to become the broken, mad thing that he is.
At this moment Meruem turns his attention to Welfin, and – as we did with Knov – we feel the sheer visceral fear that grips him. He knows he’s about to be killed and eaten, and he undergoes an even more grisly physical transformation than Knov did. Yet Welfin has always been compelled by a powerful instinct for self-preservation, and even in this horrifying instant his mind still searches for the angle, the path that will lead to his survival. We get something of the sense of Welfin the human here – and we already have a sense of the man he swore his loyalty to – and if this drive to survive isn’t in itself exactly admirable, it is at least relatable. And it drives Welfin to say the one word that will extend his life – “Komugi”.
Once again Hunter X Hunter surprises us with this moment, because when the scales are lifted from his eyes Meruem reacts without a hint of anger. He tells Pouf there will be no punishment – it’s “not needed” – and then orders Pouf to question Knuckle and Meleoron, then release them. He asks Welfin to give him the message he was engaged to deliver, and tells him that he’s free to go once that has been done. Welfin, withered and aged, delivers Ikalgo’s message and then, even as the opportunity to flee is open to him, casts aside his crutches, shouts out his defiance of Meruem and what he represents, and swears that he will never call Meruem “King” – he’ll always be their enemy. This is again a sort of redemptive moment for Welfin – even if his loyalty to Gyro is misdirected, in the end he’s acted in a way that’s true to himself and again and again taken actions that placed his life at risk.
One irony here is that as Meruem extends his mercy to Pouf, he’s damning him, because doing so is a rejection of everything in Meruem that Pouf loved and revered. Seeing Meruem’s reaction (through his aura) on hearing Komugi’s name is the proof that all is lost for Pouf. His race is run and he’s broken, both physically and emotionally. “All I could do is nod” he thinks, and of course it’s true – the will to fight may live on in Welfin, but in Pouf it’s dead. “I hope you find him,” Meruem says to Welfin after his outburst, “And if possible, that you can continue to live as a human.” And with those words, destroys Pouf’s very reason to exist.
We’ve seen a lot of Buddha imagery attached to the King ever since Netero enacted his final solution, and I don’t believe it’s accidental. I think Togashi is presenting what’s happening to Meruem as nothing less than Buddhist enlightenment. As his eyes have taken in more of the world around him. Meruem has changed at a truly dizzying rate. He’s the same being who cruelly killed for pleasure and delighted in the thought of reducing the human race to feed stock, but he’s profoundly grown. Nothing changes us like perspective, and this change in perspective began in the form of Komugi. She was like a virus that wormed its way inside Meruem’s consciousness, and the part of him that was human responded to it, leaving him forever changed. In that light the current situation and indeed all of “Chimera Ant” are groaning under the weight of irony – the sands have constantly shifted under our feet, and finally parted to reveal a truth we could never have imagined.
Summer 2013 was the best season of the year – can 2014 duplicate that feat? Check out the LiA Summer Preview post – and vote in the season preview poll!
「タウルスの心臓、光の槍」 (Taurusu no Shinzou, Hikari no Yari)
“Heart of Taurus, Spear of Light”
After last week’s bombshell, this week’s episode smacked us with another one — albeit with slightly less emotion.
A War of Attrition
In any war, it’s never prudent to fight an uphill battle without some sort of strategy in place ahead of time. As we’ve seen throughout history, the underdogs can manage to scrape a victory from the claws of defeat with a bit of ingenuity and planning. But if I were to describe the war Rentaro and company are currently placed in, it sounds like the people in charge are making some very careless decisions. Between failing to assess the environment (to you know, avoid getting flanked) and sending Civil Officers straight up against a Lion King worthy stampede of Gastrea, its slowly starting to feel like they’re deliberately trying to lose! All I know is that when a standing commander loses a leg on the battlefield, they’re usually not playing around.
Just what are Gastrea?
After that tiny little hint we got when we saw the toy bike within the briefcase, there hasn’t been much else revealed about the oversized bugs. While I want to avoid making any speculation because I really have no idea how their creation or existence plays into things, you have to wonder — why is Aldebaran making such a huge effort to lead an army of its own?
Kagetane Returns!
Even though we all knew deep down inside that Kagetane didn’t bite the bullet, it’s nice to see him finally make his reappearance — and in such style! Getting back on track though, don’t you think it’s so awesome that he may be a good guy this time around? Because if there’s anything awesome about a bad guy that cheats death is a bad guy that cheats death and joins the protagonist, am I right?! Seriously though, I am happy to see that Kagetane isn’t trying to start a fight with Rentaro. Even though he has plenty of reasons to do so, I’m really hoping that he continues to stay all buddy-buddy with Rentaro as they walk toward the metaphorical “Queen”.
Looking Ahead
With only two more episodes left until the series comes to a close it looks like things won’t be slowing down at all. Even with a ton of questions that still haven’t been answered (I saw how you tried to dodge Enju’s actual health problems, Black Bullet writers!), I think I personally will be pretty content if we at least get to see some good ol’ vigilante action. Don’t get me wrong though, should we go down the path of the story giving us closure I’ll take that too!
「友達なんかいないって」 (Tomodachi Nanka Inaitte)
“Don’t Have Any Friends”
“Makeup is scary…” Usa says. Of course it’s scary–it hides a reality for better or for worse. Remember everyone, makeup in moderation does wonders in transforming the face.
There is something hilarious about seeing SayakaNabe-chan on the losing end of the battle for once. For her to finally get her battle scars of embarrassment feels satisfying, both for us watching and of course, Usa and the ever-suffering Mayumi. Eventually, she too would have to go through the rite of embarrassing passage in the show. What better debut though to make this embarrassment than her best friend Tsuneda!
Of all the main characters in the show, Sayaka wasn’t the most interesting or engaging of them. She has a sharp tongue and amazing makeup abilities, yet she didn’t have much weakness for the rest of the cast to poke fun at. Now that her armor has been pierced though, boy is it both hilarious and healthy for her character development. Many things about Sayaka actually get explained thanks to this episode–the quick ability to kill bugs, her above average strength, and her insistence on putting on makeup were all by-products of her countryside tomboy experience. It all pieces together now and I appreciate the work that went into making Sayaka’s character as a result. Although people are saying that Sayaka’s past doesn’t get much screentime other than this, I’m secretly hoping some future chapters will expose more of Sayaka’s past nature. Who doesn’t want to see a tomboy kick butt and read yaoi on the side?
As for the second half of the episode, it was a grim reminder that the show is coming to a close. It felt a bit rushed, but this seems like the proper setup to contrast the ‘let her come’ approach Ritsu has at Kawaisou as opposed to the more straightforward inviting nature of her new buddies. There’s nothing wrong with dragging your friends to go out, but when it starts cutting into their lives, there’s something wrong going on. If done properly, we could see a nice message about introverts and socializing–it’s not that all introverts are unsociable, but that they need more space and time away than an extroverted crowd. That’s why Ritsu was more than happy to socialize with other bookworms like herself, but not in an extroverted or continuous environment as she’s gotten herself into. Next episode will bring in Usa and friends to save Ritsu from some awkward flirting moments as usual, but I’m anticipating they won’t leave us completely hanging and leave us with some thanks from our lead heroine. Heaven knows Usa deserves some despite his stalking nature.
It’ll be hard to write the finale post, as with every finale beforehand, but it’ll be bittersweet to say goodbye to this show. It’s been awhile since a romantic comedy made me laugh out loud, so I appreciate the show for being funny and adorable at the same time. See you guys next week!
