Random Curiosity

It’s hard being a Casanova in battle.

If asked at the season start whether Alderamin would be a good time waster I’d call you crazy. This was an adaptation initially offering your typical war story with boring, cookie cutter characters at best. Surprisingly, however, Alderamin slowly and quietly flipped that preconception on its head, turning a mediocre beginning into one solid show.

Part of the surprise lies with the fact that Alderamin (on the surface) it is fairly derivative. We already have similarly themed series, ranging from the excellent Valkyria Chronicles to the flawed Argevollen. What Alderamin does differently to its benefit, however, is execute its material well. Falling more towards Valkyria than Argevollen, Alderamin sticks to the realm of realism without succumbing to confusing and incorrect tactics (as Argevollen liked to do). The initial wargame between Ikta and the arrogant Sarihasrag for example was an excellent example of basic manoeuvre warfare and deception, while the final fight between Ikta and albino Lelouche Major Alkiniks fantastically displayed elastic defense, ingenious use of terrain, and leader psychology. For the military geek there is plenty to chew on here as few series ever tackle these concepts directly with such enthusiasm. Although I felt Alderamin started rushing in the latter half (specifically the quick transition between the Sinack and La Saia Alderamin fights), this does not take away from the strength of its material.

What really struck me about Alderamin, however, was not the tactics as much as the thinking on tactics. Most war stories treat tactics as static, strategies never changing no matter the weapon introduced or the effect it has. Alderamin, however, might be the first anime to consider the impact of minor technology on military strategy. The changing battlefield becomes the primary theme during the series, initially hinted at through Kioka’s air balloons and bluntly stated later with the implementation of rifling. Especially fascinating is the cultural responses to these changes. Kioka is eager to adopt any advantageous device for war, while La Saia Alderamin treat most technologies as affronts to God. Even among the Empire there are differences, with Yatori’s clan adhering to swords while Torway’s embraces the firearm. This chaotic (yet realistic) struggle to come to grips with such technological change on a personal, religious, and state level transforms Alderamin from a basic war story into a true (and entertaining) battle of minds.

Speaking of minds, no discussion on Alderamin would be complete without mentioning Ikta. Without a doubt our resident genius was the star of the show. Although beginning as little more than a womanizing Ryner Lute (of Densetsu fame), Ikta quickly grew into his own by season’s end. What made Ikta for me was his compassionate side. The frank chats with Yatori and the significance of that blood payment to Nana showed Ikta possessing a surprising (but not unwelcome) degree of honour and empathy uncommon for this type of character. Especially interesting was how Ikta assisted other characters’ development, particularly Matthew and Torway whom would likely have remained flat without the attention. All of this together produced an amazingly well-rounded character who gave the series a new layer of complexity emphasizing the human consequences of war. Without Ikta (or a less well-written Ikta), Alderamin certainly would not have been as good as it was.

Overall Alderamin was definitely one of the better shows this season. This was an adaptation which improved an amazing amount over time and brought up some fantastic themes to delve into every week. A true slow burner, Alderamin was certainly deserving of weekly discussion instead of a quick summarization here. If we are fortunate enough to see a return to Ikta and crew (which given the infamous Madhouse curse is no guarantee), then this is one series which won’t be forgotten about next time. Even without a sequel, however, Alderamin has already made itself a worthy addition to the military genre. If you have the curiosity or interest in all things war I’d encourage you to give this one a shot. You will not be disappointed.

Episode 12

「My Home」

Episode Summary: With the arrival of the Third Exorcists and an army of Akuma, the Order is held in their pursuit of Allen Walker, and a declaration of betrayal confirms the Third’s voluntary allegiance to the Noah. Apocryphos forces the activation of Allen’s innocence in order to find him, ultimately closing in to their location as Road succumbs to the damage inflicted to her in the previous episode. Lenalee catches up to Allen in time for a tear-filled farewell, and Allen opens an arc gate to escape the battlefield, stating his intention to remain an Exorcist. Leverrier’s discovery of Link’s body leads to the revelation that he knows of Apocryphos’ existence, with additional hints pointing at the intentional creation of Third Exorcists to lure him out.

Episode 13

「ウォーカー」 (U~oka)
“Walker”

And so, the curtains come down on D.Gray-man, and this week’s finale isn’t so much an end as it is a new beginning. In a fitting analogy to the Walker name—which was also used as this week’s episode title—the cast begins to look and move forward into an unknown future, and it’s something that starts with the return of Kanda, who elects to sacrifice the freedom given to him by Walker in an attempt to return the favor. The fact that he returns just in time to see Zu May Chang on his deathbed ends up symbolic of the new chapter he’s starting—given that the former started all of the Order’s original experiments in the first place—and at this point, it’s all about leaving the past behind for good.

With the way things are—there is no need, time, or option to look back anymore, and with Apocryphos hot on his tail and the threat of the Fourteenth’s complete awakening, this goes doubly true for the man currently in possession of the Walker name. In the meanwhile, the Bookmen continue to be held hostage, Road’s confirmed as temporarily gone, and while there’s no shortage to the amount of plot lines left open, it’s nice to at least see where every member of the cast stands at the current time, as it gives a sense of closure that makes it easier to stomach what might be an immensely long wait for another continuation.

Final Impressions after the ED caps…

ED1.13 Sequence

Final Impressions: When you get down to it, I think it’s safe to say that this was a series that surprised both in the fact that it returned in the first place, and in regards to how well it advanced the story despite an obviously low budget allocation. For every animation quality drop there was a significant moment in exchange that made the series worth watching, and it only helped that the whole Alma Karma arc was arguably the best and most emotional arc we’ve watched to date. Getting used to the new cast and art style took a little while to get used to at first, but once you did, it was like we never left the dark world of D.Gray-man, and if anything—we realized just how dark the world really was.

Ultimately, the series was a triumphant return for a series that disappeared over a decade ago, and as a fan who got into the franchise with its original run, there are few words to express how glad I am to have been able to see D.Gray-man HALLOW materialize into an actual, quality adaptation. The question that begs to be asked though, is whether or not this’ll be the only thing we’ll get, and let’s just say that it’d be a terrible pity if the series never receives the animated continuation it rightfully deserves. Either way, you can count on me as someone who’ll be waiting in the wings for one to arrive, and who knows? With a little bit of luck and some good timing, we might just meet again here sometime in the future with Allen Walker in tow.

Until then, here’s hoping you’ve enjoyed coverage of D.Gray-man here on RC (apologies on the delay on episode 12), and remember: “Don’t stop. Keep walking forward.”

「モブと霊幻～巨大ツチノコ現るの巻～」 ()
“Mob and Reigen: A Giant Tsuchinoko Appears”

I can sum this one up in three words: it was great.

It’s been a very interesting season, with a basket of really strong shows at the top that span a fairly huge range of styles and genres. From the lovably cheeky romcom of Konobi to the abject emotionalism of Orange to the peerless and almost regal Hollywood storytelling of 91 Days, there’s been something here to suit a sizable array of tastes. But in Mob Psycho 100 I think we have the most quintessentially “anime” of all the top series – a series that’s both reminiscent of the medium ten or twenty years ago and quite timeless. No matter how retro it is I don’t think a show like this could ever feel dated, because it’s simply too alive and inspired.

In truth, I don’t think Mob Psycho 100 has really out a foot wrong over the course of its entire run. And funnily enough I’d include the first episode in that even though it was the weakest of the series. The reason is that I think it was the weakest quite on purpose – it was an insidiously clever tweaking of the manga by director Tachikawa Yuzuru to both send us down the garden path when it came to what kind of character Reigen was, and to throw off our expectations of what kind of series Mob Psycho was. I was lucky enough to see the first two eps in one sitting but most weren’t, so there’s no question this would represent a lot of faith in his audience on Tachikawa’s part. But based on the evidence, I think it’s going to be justified.

I think the signs that there was something kind of deep and touching about Mob and Reigen’s relationship started to creep in pretty early (I believe I noted it around Episode 3) and this season finale was the natural culmination of that turn of events. If we look at Mob’s powers as an extension of who he is, it’s only natural that after Reigen saved him (and I mean in the existential sense) Mob would extend those powers to Reigen. For me, what it really comes down to is this – Reigen is the only one who tells Mob that wants to believe in his heart is true. That he’s a good person, that his powers don’t make him special, that he not only doesn’t have to hurt anyone, but that he absolutely has a duty not to. Time after time when Mob is in darkness, Reigen pulls him back. And what nobler purpose could there be for Mob’s powers than to protect someone he loves without hurting anyone else?

That’s what it means for Reigen to be Mob’s “bridge” – a very elegant way to put it (I assume coined by ONE). And let’s face is, Reigen is a pretty badass guy. Mob’s powers may be propping him up but damn, this dude walks the walk. He indeed has powers of his own – he’s such a good bullshit artist himself that he has an infallible eye for BS in everyone else. He bats away Ishiguro’s gravity balls like soap bubbles and snaps Sakurai’s sword (that’s sort of ironic when you think about it) like the plastic toy it once was. But much more than that, be punctures the bubble of pomposity and false superiority these overgrown schoolyard bullies have built around themselves. The emperor has no clothes – not when Reigen strips him naked. By the time he’s done shattering their illusions about themselves the lot of them have been left broken, defeated husks. Mob’s powers and Reigen’s chutzpah – an unbeatable combo.

The carnage includes Ishiguro, whose mask Reigen literally and figuratively rips off (after scolding him for not removing it when talking to people), revealing a wretched, spotty old geezer who’s the most pathetically insecure of the bunch. Even after it’s clear the battle has been lost Ishiguro decides on a scorched earth strategy, and with even Mob’s power starting to tire things look dicey for a moment. But then Shou steps in, and reveals why he’s unscarred – he’s clearly a step up in power from the rest of the Seventh Division elites. He puts down Ishiguro once and for all, declares that the Seventh Division is to be shuttered, and calls Mob a coward before disappearing into thin air.

I realize that we’ve yet to see Claw’s true fangs (or whatever), and that when we do, that’s likely to be a major part of seasons to come. But what happened here seemed quite predictable in a way, because as far as the Seventh Division goes at least, Claw has always struck me as a paper tiger. The reason Reigen’s verbal assault was so effective was because it was so on-point – these really are a bunch of school bullies, and once you take away their implicit advantage in brute force they have nothing. Even Onigawara found this out, though he more or less reached the conclusion on his own after Ritsu and Kamuro’s treachery drove him to rock bottom. I don’t know what the future holds for the ravaged remains of the Scars, but it’s hard to imagine that they can be reformed as a meaningful weapon for Claw.

The postscript of the episode is conspicuously open-ended, given that this was in theory the final episode. Ekubo has eaten his way through Matsuo’s remaining spirits (that belch!) and emerged rejuvenated. Hanazawa has decided to team up with Awakening Lab to try and act as a mentor to the esper’s eggs, helping them prepare for the next time Claw comes for them. Reigen and Mob return to their usual life as itinerant spook hunters – though it might be argued that the truth of Reigen’s lack of ability is now no longer a secret to Mob. Most interestingly, it’s revealed that Shou is the son of the man we can safely assume is the leader of Claw – and he isn’t afraid to speak his mind to him, either. The Scars may be finished, but we’ve surely not seen Claw’s big guns brought to bear yet.

So what’s next? Well, as usually happens, we’re left to ponder and wait. I was hoping for a S2 announcement at the close of this episode, but not really expecting one. And frankly, I’ll be very surprised if we don’t get a second season, and fairly soon, too. There’s plenty of manga for it, and there have been rumors (including of a supposed hidden cache of episode-chapter correspondence on the official website) since the series began that Mob Psycho 100 was a split-cour. If all that weren’t enough, the series looks to be on track to sell quite well on disc – wedged between Boku no Hero Academia (which is a far bigger seller in manga form) and One Punch Man, if Stalker is to be believed. Bones is sure acting like this series is going to continue in anime form, and it’ll be a far bigger surprise if it doesn’t than if it does.

That I sure hope so is so obvious that it hardly bears repeating. The equation here is simple – if you take really smart and well-written source material, pair it with arguably the best studio in anime and probably the most exciting young director in the business, you get Mob Psycho 100 – a powerhouse of an anime that exemplifies the best that the medium can be. Tachikawa is the goods – a stunning talent, equally adept at storytelling and storyboarding. His visual interpretation of ONE’s idiosyncratic (to use a charitable term) art style is nothing short of genius, and Mob Psycho 100 doesn’t have a manga adaptation by a heavy hitter like Murata Yusuke to act as a template and buffer. Bones has pulled out all the stops here – Kawai Kenji’s music and a murderer’s row of legendary animators – and the results are nothing short of staggering. Bring on Season 2 – and the sooner the better, as far as I’m concerned.

Epilogue:

ED2 Sequence

ED2: 「」 () by ()
Watch the 2nd ED!: Streaming ▼

「永遠のワルキューレ」 (Eien no Warukyure)
“Eternal Walkure”

The curtain falls, and for the most part, it’s a mixture of what we’ve come to expect from Macross finales and the things we expected to happen plot-wise. Primarily,Roid’s attempt to forcefully link all of humanity together is rejected by the Windermeres and Delta Platoon, and—while not in an alliance per se—they team up in an attempt to ensure his plan doesn’t succeed. Keith sacrifices himself to deal the final blow to his old friend, and ultimately at least one prediction came true in regards to two of the big three dying from the Windermere side of things.

Through it all, I think one of the biggest surprises is the fact from both Heinz and Freyja survive, and I suppose it’s only fitting given the circumstances and the fact that it’s cruel enough as is knowing that they don’t have long to live regardless. Thankfully, we do get a confession from all three members of our main triad before it’s all said and done, and while Mirage’s seemed more of an attempt to spur Freyja on more than anything, it was certainly a nice inclusion that brings much needed closure to an episode that otherwise felt a lot more rushed than many of the franchise’s previous finales.

Don’t get me wrong, the other series also ended their respective runs with whirlwind endings—a franchise staple—but there’s an argument to be made that having Mikumo still under Roid’s clutches with a few minutes left really pushed the envelope in this regard, and we don’t really get much of an epilogue aside from a few (albeit beautifully illustrated) shots of our main cast on Ragna and in another Walkure performance. The Windermeres are unceremoniously cut out following their retreat, and however much they were disliked by many viewers, it’s an omission that doesn’t sit well with me given the amount of focus that’s been given to them throughout the series. Adding to the disappointment is the fact that we never did see Lady M despite her many mentions, and it feels like a missed opportunity more than anything, as an appearance by someone from the original Macross would have not only made things better for older fans of the franchise, but also culminate the obvious links they tried to make here between Δ and all the series that have come before it.

Alas, I suppose we’ll have to just be satisfied with what we got, and all that’s left are the final impressions—which you’ll find after the epilogue caps.

ED12 Sequence

ED12: 「絶対零度θノヴァティック」 (Zettai Reido θ Novatic) by Walkure

Epilogue:

Final Impressions: When you get down to it, Macross is one of the most popular and well-known franchises out there, and following in the great success that was Frontier, it reasoned that Δ would be as great as its predecessor. Sadly, the series referred to as “a stunning revival of a 25 year old franchise” was followed by one that didn’t come close to hitting the same highs, and Δ‘s struggles ultimately came in forms—ranging from an odd pacing that caused the plot to be filled with sudden lulls and large bits of exposition to an underdevelopment and under-utilization of various members from its main cast.

Mirage ended more of a tool to advance the plot rather than a true third complement to the typical Macross triangle, and when it was all said and done, the supposed love triangles that were supposed to exist outside of the main triad never actually happened. What we got instead were antagonists they tried and rarely succeeded to paint as grey, and in terms of botched execution, it’s not hard to remember Messer’s death—however typical of a franchise that has unceremoniously killed off important characters—and how little we felt about it in the following episodes. Valkyrie combat was also lackluster despite statements that there’d be more emphasis regarding that aspect, and it’s a pity that we pretty much only got to see what, three episodes worth of the series’ famed super packs in action?

Given the many issues with development, it’s hard to say whether or not the series was one that had too much or too little time to work with, and this will go down as a series that makes you wonder what exactly happened here. Still, despite everything I’ve said so far, I do find myself without regrets after watching a series that was still solid even with its many issues, and there’s no denying the uniquity of a series that essentially comes only once a decade. Hearing JUNNA and Suzuki Minori make their respective anime debuts made this series worth watching by themselves, and there’s still a charm that Macross series possess even if its content may not end up what you expected.

The big question is where the franchise will go from here, and given it’s continued popularity, it’s all but guaranteed we’ll get something more in the future. The thing is whether or not it’ll be another decade or so before the next one, and let’s just say I’m not looking forward to the wait if it does end up being the case. I suppose I’ll just have to settle for the imminent arrival of my DX Chogokin and assorted kits…

And so, here’s hoping that you’ve enjoyed coverage of Δ here on Random C, and I guess the next time we’ll meet shall be at the year end’s Best of Anime post. Until then, I bid thee a fond farewell!

「LETTER #13」

And just like that, orange saves the best for last. Gah, what an episode. This is the level of high drama and emotional poignancy that I expected from this adaptation. Some episodes may have been less exciting, but a good ending makes all the difference, and this was pretty much a perfect ending. I can’t think of a better way for the story of orange to reach its conclusion other than what we got here. Thank the anime gods this came in at 37 minutes rather than the usual 21, because it would have made for a rushed finale otherwise. There were quieter moments here squeezed between the monumental ones, and giving that extra time to breathe made all the difference once things got serious. Really serious.

First off, this episode looked great. It wasn’t gorgeous, but there wasn’t any off-putting facial expressions or unsightly animation tics; some scenes were almost beautiful, even if that was mainly down to the backgrounds and vibrant colours. It’s obvious that orange suffered in its production midway through its run, and whether that’s down to scheduling or budget or anything else will remain a mystery, but I’m glad that more effort was put into this final episode. Without that extra touch to make it burst off the screen, it might not have been so impactful. Previous episodes suffered from that lack of emotional investment when the characters just looked so wrong that you couldn’t get dragged in by their stories. Here, everything fit together nicely, and the result was exactly what we needed.

I’d like to mention just how much Naho has grown these past two episodes. I never hated her or blamed her for all this mess, but I do think it took her longer to reach that point of clarity that would have been preferable. But now that she understands what she has to do and how she has to approach Kakeru head-on despite the worries in her heart, she’s proven herself a fitting protagonist to this story. Again, Kakeru kept trying to push her away and avoid conversation. But she didn’t give in, even when an unsightly face confronted her at the worst opportunity. She persevered and got through to Kakeru in the end, changing his fate forever.

Kakeru’s actions this week weren’t too surprisingly, but they had me on the edge of my seat. Knowing that this was the exact moment he would kill himself, and that the events were playing out exactly the same despite the groups best efforts, I didn’t know what to expect. For a moment, I thought we were going for a tragic end, but then everything became clear and the answers we got were fitting and rewarding to the story we’ve watched unfold. Even though all of Kakeru’s friends were waiting at that intersection to stop anything bad from happening, it would have been cheap if they only stopped him in this moment. The fact that Kakeru saw light at the end of the tunnel and pulled away from that truck just in the nick of time is the ending we needed, deserved, and got. It goes to show that the efforts of his friends were worth it in the end, and that it all paid off. Slowly, day by day, they got through to him until he felt loved enough to keep on living. Every day he considered taking his life, but when the moment came, he paused and remembered what he’d be missing out on. Suwa may have shouted at him afterwards – when he thought Kakeru had been hit and only survived out of luck – but this goes to show that their nurturing, loving, and tender methods to show how much they cared for him worked out in the end. It’s not so easy to just shake those bad thoughts out of a suicidal person’s head. You can’t just tell them that life’s worth living, you have to show them. And that’s exactly what they did.

I’m shocked but relieved that they spilled the beans on the letters. If they bottled up that information for the rest of time, it would be unsettling to know Kakeru was left out of the loop throughout his high school years. His reaction was much better than I expected, and the moment where the group handed their personalised letters from the future, that’s when I started to well up. I had major Ano Hana flashbacks right there, and anyone who knows me knows that an Ano Hana comparison is a sign of true quality in my eyes. It was the perfect emotional conclusion to this tale, even if Kakeru wasn’t saved in the previous timeline. His friends from back then will be haunted by their ignorance forever, but the fact that they were willing to make the effort to save him, even if it meant still not seeing him again, shows how much they cared for him. It’s a happy end for all, in one timeline or another. Naho proved herself, Kakeru survived, Azu and Hagita are still adorable, Takako is a supportive friend, and Suwa is just the best. They’ve all lived happily ever after, and it feels wonderful. I love a tragic ending when it’s done right, but a happy ending this earned is incomparable.

Final Impressions
I feel like I’ve already said all that can be said about this finale, so my final impressions won’t be as lengthy as usual. What I can say is that I had high expectations going into orange, as I had read the first half of the manga and knew what level of quality storytelling to expect – I knew it would be raw, emotional, with a killer premise, and present a bunch of teenagers that you couldn’t help but root for. Now, I have to be honest and say this isn’t the adaptation wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, similar to Boku no Hero Academia last season. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just that the director’s vision and the limits of anime production meant that the result didn’t live up to my hopes. However, I did appreciate the distinct directing by Hamasaki Hiroshi, and I think by the end he and his staff did the best they could manage.

It’s been fun (and also very emotional) to write about this show these past three months, but what’s even better is there’s a movie sequel on the way! That came out of left field. I don’t think anyone was expecting that to be announced after this double-length episode, but there we have it. It sounds like it’s going to be a retelling of the TV series from Suwa’s perspective while also adapting the two-chapter story that mangaka, Takano Ichigo, is publishing shortly. It feels like we’ve already got the ending we deserved, so I expect this movie to be an extra treat rather than an attempt to make up for past mistakes. It will hopefully give Suwa some well-earned screentime for his sacrifices, we’ll see Naho and Kakeru being cute and smitten with each other, and hopefully Azu and Hagita finally get together and make their current world the one where they get married.

「君とかわした約束」 (Kimi to Kawashita Yakusoku)
“The Promise I Made With You”

So I only just found out that Key’s latest ‘kinetic novel’, Harmonia, was out on Steam (and 20% off until 29th September /unpaidplug). I really want to go off to read that, but I can’t. Instead, I’m here writing about Rewrite. Y’know, the older title. It really impresses in me how late I am with this post, and for that I apologise. Yeah, like I said last week, I had some personal things to take care of, and had to delay my anime blogging. Since we’re a bit short on time, let us roll the episode impressions and the overall final impressions for the series together and keep it snippy around here.

Speaking of short on time: Rewrite in general (how’s that for cringe-worthy segues?). I think this finale is rather demonstrative of the constraints Rewrite has been working with. This is the episode, folks. After a lengthy staring contest between Gaia and Guardian, and a lot of dilly-dallying by Kotarou & Co., the plot has now come to a head. The two sides have made full-contact collision, and the city is at war. This is supposed to be the exciting part, and in most stories like this it is. After the all the slice-of-life and comedy set in Kazamatsuri, seeing it embroiled in conflict should be a poignant juxtaposition. Let me use a Harry Potter example, even though I’m not the biggest Rowling fan, since I assume every English-literate person in the world has read it. Hogwarts is home turf, right? It’s safe and familiar to our protagonists. So when it comes under attack, that’s a big deal. It’s the same thing in Rewrite; when the peaceful city suddenly becomes the set for a disaster movie, that should be represent real upheaval to for our protagonist, and perhaps we should dwell on that a bit longer. But it seems that Rewrite can’t really find enough time to. It montages its way through much of the battles—the juicy action that could really spice up the series—and has Kotarou narrate philosophically instead of actually addressing the chaos and death around him. He simply doesn’t have the time to care; he can really only afford to care about Kagari in the limited episode time, and everything else has to be sort of background noise that we have to trust is happening off-screen.

And that’s the thing: there’s really not enough time to care. Commendation to the anime for making a good attempt at condensing so much of Rewrite into 13 episodes (well, 14 if the pilot counts for double), but the sacrifices, even if smoothed over, show. So much time is already needed just to get through the plot—and there was hardly enough time for that (look, text!). There doesn’t seem to be as much left over as one may want to actually tell the story. You know, all the extra bonus stuff that makes the watch engaging and entertaining. For example, giant monsters and showdowns and Yoshino beating on raptors with a baseball bat are hardly necessary for the plot, but they do add flavour to the story. It would have really shown off the advantages of the anime medium over a visual novel. Too bad we had to turn away so hurriedly from all of that, after which they get thrown onto the pile of little details and explorations left on the cutting floor. Had 8bit been a more skilled studio, and managed to deliver a few well-choreographed and well-animated action sequences in this finale, much could have been forgiven. Instead, everything from the depth in storytelling to the aesthetics of the show are burdened by a veneer of mediocrity (though some of the background art was pretty). It’s too bad, because this anime could have been a definitive Rewrite adaptation. The Kagari route thing was a good idea; one of the big flaws of the VN was that while Kagari turned out to be a very important character, and we were expected to care a lot for her, she didn’t get enough focus. Working her into the common route helps with that, as well as giving her a story arc of her very own before she does her big dramatic thing. And make no mistake, watching the world end was pretty cool, and this finale is definitely the strongest we’ve had so far, which is a promising sign for the future. It’s just that overall the execution was a tad lacking and the timeframe too limiting, so Rewrite, while functional, never really rises to any aspirational heights.

Still, there’s a second season, and we shouldn’t make any final judgments until then, perhaps. CLANNAD comes into its own with After Story, and Little Busters! would be nothing without Refrain. Rewrite is similarly incomplete without Moon and Terra, its linear ‘True End’ chapters. It should get better and better as the story escalates, so if you’ve enjoyed Rewrite so far or at least have found it interesting, then you should look forward to season 2 coming with Winter 2017. Oh, but hasn’t everyone gotten a face-full of Instrumentality, the world has ended, and our protagonist has become a vegetable. Where can we go from here? Well, this show is called Rewrite, after all. I know I’ve said before that adaptations don’t get second chances, but here we have a curious case. Let’s try this again.

Epilogue:

「威風堂々」 (Ifuudoudou)
“Pomp and Circumstance”

As expected, Souma blows the competition out of the water with his first original creation… that ends up on Kojirou’s menu! No wai! I always thought that Souma would pass the Stagiaire with flying colors but to actually get an item ON the menu permanently? That’s crazy! I’m proud of Souma, but seems a bit unbelievable when Kojirou has an entire team behind him that’s followed him all the way from France. I was a bit disappointed that the scene flashed by so quickly when we didn’t even get to see any of the others’ dishes – especially Abel’s when he’s the chef of the restaurant. How can we compare Souma’s to the other three when we don’t even know what they presented? I understand that the writers probably cut it short due to time constraints (or maybe the manga does gloss over these plates) but it makes Souma’s accomplishment a bit less impressive or just handed to him. The part where Kojirou improves Souma’s dish personally was sweet though.

Last week, I complained that there wasn’t enough Kojirou and here we have it – a whole history listen about why he specializes in French cuisine. I was surprised (in a good way) because the finale actually focuses on someone else other than Souma; plus, it was someone I liked! Turns out that the reason Kojirou specializes in French cooking is because his mother enjoys French food and he wanted to make his mother happy. That was a nice and concise way to easily show Kojirou’s motivations for going into a cuisine that’s not his background at all. I appreciate how the mangaka doesn’t force a dark and twisted past on Kojirou about how he has something to prove by cooking French food… in fact, the reasoning is so simply that I completely support Kojirou for going down this route. To bring fine dining French cuisine to Japan is a huge accomplishment all on its own. It’s not every day that you’ll see people that venture into different countries with successful restaurants so for Kojirou to take that leap, I wish him all the best. I completely understand why he has his own spin-off series now.

The epilogue was very short-lived but pretty much encompasses all that is Shokugeki no Souma. It ends off with another shokugeki for Souma (challenged by a senior student! By the way, are they in second year yet?) and he, obviously wins. We catch a very brief glimpse of all the other students in their stagiaire challenges as well and most of them seem to have done well for themselves. It’s a shame that we couldn’t see them more towards the end – especially since a lot of them have their own goals and agendas going on but maybe that is being saved for the next arc. Given that we didn’t end up on a cliffhanger this time, who knows what will await Souma next. Besides more school-wide fame and all the shokugeki requests from students, Souma finally has made a name for himself and he needs to live up to it. I just hope that another season is in the talks so that we get to see that happen.

Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: Hmmm… I’m not a fan of how #shokugeki_anime ended with a clear win for Souma. They didn’t even show the other dishes Kojirou tried =S Not a lot of suspense or sense of achievement but the food looked good at least. I would’ve liked to see more from the other students but at least the ending isn’t a cliffhanger like last season #shokugeki_anime

Full-length images: 14, 23.

Epilogue:

Final Impressions

Another season of Shokugeki no Souma has come and gone way too quickly – and this time, I really mean it. The finale of the Autumn Elections was the majority of the season (being 10 episodes long) and the remainder of the season ran through the Stagiaire arc. It wasn’t a terribly balanced season with some episodes feeling rushed and the others feeling well paced but the story gets told one way or another. Certainly compared to the first season, there’s a lot of material that the show glosses over or condenses in a short amount of time. There are not a lot of filler moments or even breaks in between for breather which proves just how quickly the scenes fly by. This is likely the result of the show being one-cour compared to the previous two so it forces the writers to choose their scenes wisely. Some episodes feel like the anime literally animates the manga frame-by-frame without any “fluff”, while other episodes feel like they’re better told with the right timing, music and delivery of the lines. Overall I’d say that there are some hit and miss moments but for anyone interested in continuing the Shokugeki no Souma marathon, the story still sticks to its source material. The food p*rn is still on-point and continues to motivate me to improve on my own cooking abilities… but who am I kidding, I just like to eat.

It’s been a while since we’ve all seen our favorite characters back in action and Shokugeki no Souma: Ni no Sara brings them all to life again. Some of my favorites (to no one’s surprise) are Megumi, Kojirou and Hinako, but it’s also nice to see everyone return to no only watch the Autumn Elections but participate. The results aren’t surprising, but I think I was more interested in seeing what the themes and dishes were. As it turns out, the creativity for some of these plates are outstanding and it really inspires me to not only be a better chef but be more appreciative for fine dining and different cuisines. Asides from the secondary characters we’ve already met, we get to know a few new characters a bit better too. This includes Alice’s mother, Kojirou’s new staff but also the mysterious eighth qualifying student – Subaru. I thought this was a great way to extend the cast and give further context for their actions, but some I warn you that it can be overwhelming at the same time. For example, Ryou’s history with Alice was actually one of my favorites because it was fairly well paced and told in different intervals; whereas Akira’s was kind of just jammed in there right before the winner was announced. In the end, I think the writers did the best they could with the time they were given, but it’s evident where shortcuts were taken when possible. This applies to both story lines and animation. However, where it counts, J.C. Staff pulls through (watch for the ED sequence that keeps changing) and it does end on a satisfying note.

End Card

「災禍の顕主」 (Saika no Kenshu)
“The Lord of Calamity”

It’s a good thing there’s already a second-cour confirmed, because this episode didn’t have the feel of a finale. If this were the true ending, there would no doubt be waves of disappointment, but this has always been paced as a 2-cour adaptation, so this instead feels like a natural place to pause for a breath. Some episodes have been slower than I would have liked, or existed purely to advertise the latest Tales game, but it’s been an effective season in terms of set-up, and has maintained its sleek and polished aesthetic from start till finish.

Like the previous episodes, this one split the story between Sorey and Alisha. Sorey got to face off against who a humanoid hellion appears to be the big baddie, after making a conscious effort to uphold his beliefs and quell this war without killing a single soul. I do have to say that it was a tad cliché that he basically survived because his opponent “allowed it”. It happens all the time in shonen battle manga, and it seems that element carries over here. And amusingly, even though this is a video game adaptation, this was one of the few occasions where it felt like a boss encounter was unfolding on screen.

As straightforward as Zestiria is, I have to give it credit for its consistent characterisation across the board. It would be so easy for these characters to be thrown into their respective plots and changed based on the whims of the scenario writer and the necessity of the story. But throughout this first season we’ve seen Sorey and Alisha’s journeys unfold in a natural and believable way. I expected to dislike Sorey’s happy-go-lucky attitude after a few episodes, but his warmth grew on me, especially after the darker attempts shown in Berseria. But I’m also glad that he’s been pushed to his emotional limits and has at times questioned his pledge not to kill. We saw it last week, but this episode had him nearly cross the line. The moment he encountered the man who almost murdered Alisha, it seemed like he was overcome with vengeance, right up until he did the “right” thing. He and Alisha are both Lawful Good on the spectrum, which is rare for both the male and female lead. It may seem a little too naive at times, but it lends to a rewarding watch when things do work out, because at the end of it all what they say makes sense and doesn’t exist purely to please action and war lovers.

The one scene that almost gave me a heart attack was when Sorey was solemnly looking over Alisha’s near-dead body under the starlight. For a good minute they purposefully avoided showing Alisha’s body, even though she was speaking naturally and is if she wasn’t in pain. A few seconds in I propped up and thought she had already died, and for whatever reason Sorey was conversing with the spirit of Alisha as they both looked down on her body. I was waiting for that to come, practically screaming: “Don’t kill her! Don’t kill her!” in my head, because they’ve done so well in adapting her characters and giving her a proper story arc, that it would be a terrible shame to see her go out like this. I wouldn’t hate it, because it would help set the tone going into the second season, but I’m damn glad Alisha is still around now that she can see Sorey’s friends in person (and what a genuine reaction that was). She’s got so much more to give, and by the looks of it Rose’s anime counterpart is much more likeable than her original character in the games – she appears to inspire rage across all quarters of the fandom in some way or another, and so far I don’t see anything worth disliking. All things considered, this episode was a nice continuation of the characterisation we’ve seen thus far, and I’ll be expecting the cast to develop even more come 2017.

Final Impressions
It feels odd to give final impressions where there was no attempt at finality to this episode. There were no nail-biting cliffhangers, no big questions still to be answered, no massive reveals that change the course of the series going forward – all it did was continue to show the positive spirit of these characters and get us, the audience, excited for the next episode. I do wish it was coming next week, but as I mentioned prior, it’s a good thing that ufotable does these split-cours to recharge their batteries and give their staff some time to maintain the level of quality you expect from their titles.

One thing I can talk about overall is how damn good this show looks. Is it the best animated anime I’ve ever seen? No. Many scenes are framed simply and have limited character movement; but where a lesser staff would stall on the lingering shots and give the viewers something to complain about, it all fit well with the tone and pace of the show, and there were very few shots that looked anything other than great. I have to give credit to all those behind the art direction, colour design, and 3D camera work. It’s a rare thing to see those elements done so well, and it makes sense why many consider ufotable and Kyoani the top of the pack when both excel in those departments. For what it’s worth, I think Kyoto Animation do well across the board, especially in the finer details and subtle character animation. ufotable lack in that department, but they deliver more than enough to make up for it, and the fact that there hasn’t been a noticeable dip in quality throughout this run is testament to their talent and forward planning.

And that’s it for me. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll be blogging the second cour of Zestiria when it arrives early next year. It’s been a fun watch and just as fun to write about, but it’s just not as deep as I initially hoped. It does what it does well, but I fear I’d be at a loss for words if I were to still for the full 24 episodes. What words I can say, to finish off with, however, are: Alisha is awesome. It’s a stellar adaptation. It’s immensely pleasing to the eye. And I’ll be anticipating its return when it comes around.

A new writer out of the blue? Is this real life? Well boys and girls it certainly is. Stilts and crew were gracious enough to offer me a spot here at RandomC and I simply could not refuse. So who just signed onto Kyuubey’s onerous contract? Some probably know me already from the occasional comment, but for the uninitiated I am Pancakes, the tasty breakfast delight. Canadian by birth and home, I am currently working on a chemical engineering degree, because money is a necessity and nothing screams money quite like oil and pharmaceuticals. I did have dreams to be a doctor, but some dreams are not meant to be.

My anime experience is like many others. I started out in elementary school with the trifecta of Sailor Moon, Pokemon, and Digimon before quickly ascending into the magic of Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z and Yu-Gi-Oh. By the time grade eight rolled around, however, social standing took precedence and my anime watching ended. What got me back into anime (and incidentally made me an anime addict) was this little show called Code Geass. I was bored one day during my first degree (biology) so plugged it in. I never became hooked on something faster. Binged the entire series over a week, went searching for more, and never looked back. By time of graduation in 2013 I was a convert to watching anime as it aired.

To this day my anime tastes can be mostly summarized as anything involving politics, history, fantasy, and science fiction. I especially adore those shows featuring solid world building and strong, tragic characters. Sure Lelouche was my gateway drug, but it’s the gritty, honourable bastards like Admirals Bucock and Reuenthal that keep me addicted. No surprise from those names that Legend of the Galactic Heroes is probably my all round favourite anime. It’s the only fictional series which (in my opinion) truly provides a story that would make Herodotus and Thucydides proud. A few of my other favourites include Shinsekai Yori, Psycho-Pass, Ergo Proxy, and Gurren Lagann for similar reasons. While I generally dislike romance on principle, that view has been tested of late (Lovely Complex I’m looking at you), and I have always been a sucker for good comedies and slice of lifes. Needless to say I enjoy a damn lot, which if you are curious you can peruse my haphazardly updated MAL profile.

In real life I build models (1/35 tanks are my fetish) and voraciously read anything and everything from history to political science/philosophy. In particular my true literary love is for war history, both real and fictional. While the other kids went to parties, I read national histories in encyclopedias and nerded out drawing maps of fictional wars in made up lands (which I might still do >_>). Military strategy speaks to my heart like little else, everything from grand strategy to tactical manoeuvres and war machines utterly fascinates me and is guaranteed to get me going—likely lost a few dates because of that! I especially enjoy alternate history, particularly the works of Harry Turtledove and S.M. Stirling. Stirling’s Draka series specifically remains one of my biggest guilty pleasures to this day.

When not reading and salivating over my awesome modelling skills, however, I somehow find time to be a committed gamer on the side. Strategy games (Europa Universalis IV mostly) and multiplayer stuff like World of Tanks/Warships and War Thunder are my main interests, although the occasional (J)RPG may wiggle its way in. Don’t even ask me how I manage to find the time for everything, I’m scared of discovering the answer.

Without a doubt I’m looking forward to writing about the shows we all have an unhealthy passion for. You can expect to see my ramblings on any series stealing my attention, whether that be tragic war thriller or fluffy moe slice of life. Should you have comments, criticism, or feedback for me, don’t hesitate to speak up, I’m always open to improvement. Thank you all for having me, I’ll see you on the other side, and as is customary:

よろしくおねがいします。
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

「蒼い世界のコト」 (Aoi Sekai no Koto)
“The Story of the Blue World”

I’m late already, so let me combine my final impression with my episode impressions and jump straight into things. In this episode, Amanchu! finally returns to the sea, and also finally gives Teko, along with the audience, a look below the waves. Being Teko’s driving goal, this has been a long time coming; we’ve been waiting for this moment ever since she joined the diving club. It just goes to show how many little steps lead to the simple wish of, ‘I want to go diving with my friends’. Teko was basically starting from nothing, not even knowing how to swim, so when she finally got there there’s certainly a satisfying sense of achievement. Also, Amanchu!‘s ocean is, as always, very pretty, both above and below (pretty scenery all around, really), so it’s all payoff for this finale.

That said, let us also recognise how slowly Amanchu! has taken things. If we’re just weighing Amanchu! by how much stuff it had gotten done, it is certainly light. In fact, if we compare the anime to how much manga is available for adaptation, Amanchu! has hardly started. This was arguably the opening act, with the diving club finally being able to fulfill its charter of actually diving. But it’s also, I think, the appropriate way to both tell and end this story when in anime form. In fact, it’s a great demonstration of how director Satou Junichi can do no wrong. With only 12 episodes to work with, it’s evident that he has chosen to create an experience that, at least in the short term, feels complete. Thus the main focus Teko’s journey, and each small step made towards getting her underwater. So rather than call it slow, I would call it methodical. Amanchu! is calm, steady, and gentle—an ideal slice-of-life atmosphere. While it speaks of ‘fun’, it obviously is not talking about the high-adrenaline excitement, but more of a mellow whimsy. Compared to median anime fare, it’s a welcome change of pace. The atmosphere also played well to the overarching themes of Amanchu!, which were neatly capped off in this finale. The sea is a metaphor for the world in general, and Amanchu! gently urges its viewers to dive into it. Sure, it says, at first it may seem deep and dark and scary, but if you look closely you’ll find that it’s full of good people who are quite open to helping you along. That, and cool fish. Such is the positivity of Amanchu!; I’m sure if I went diving and found that it was so crowded I’d have no end of snark about all these bloody tourists mucking up our reefs. Good thing I’m not in charge of Amanchu!. Good people! Play nice!

So, yeah, that was Amanchu!. While it does end quite well, with a pleasing sense of closure, there’s no climatic finish here. It’s steady as she goes, the entire way through, which is how it should be. From a blogging perspective, perhaps it was a bit tricky to cover every week, since there’s really nothing very overt to comment on other than perhaps an embarrassing homily and a bag of good feelings. That’s the way of slice-of-life anime though; they’re not really made to inspire commentary, but to be watched by the fire with a mug of something warming as accompaniment, or while enjoying the autumn breeze and a cup of tea. And in that vein, I liked Amanchu! a good deal—as I knew I would, because for me neither Amano-sensei nor Satou-sensei can disappoint. Because I did, though, it does perhaps feel a bit short. I know the industry has changed much since ARIA, and a run as long as that would be excessive to ask in this day and age. I also don’t know if there’s a large appetite for these kind of shows out there. Still, a single cour is a bit of a pity, and since ‘healing’ anime do pop up fairly consistently each season, perhaps Amanchu! can make a reprise. I’m hoping for more. That’s how it is with good anime. You always hope for more.

Episde 10

「誠実の証」 (Seijitsu no Akashi)
“Proof of Good Faith”

Episode 11

「すべてがむだごと」 (Subete ga Muda-Goto)
“All for Nothing”

And you thought Avilio was angry before.

These past few installments have completely changed the landscape for 91Days. Completely. Most notably, Avilio’s revenge scheme has gone from cold, calculative procedure to emotionally charged carnage. All bets are off—Avilio is PISSED. They guy’s always been sort of pissy and angsty about his family’s death, but he’s seemed for the most part over the initial anger and more hellbent on coldly executing his complex revenge scheme. With the conclusion of episode ten, however, we finally get to see a freshly outraged Avilio. This isn’t just about murders he’s had plenty of time to let sink in. It was always personal, but now it’s personal.

And on that note, I’m surprised by how believable the friendship between Corteo and Avilio turned out to be. I’ve written previously on how contrived the strength of their bond seemed to be throughout the show’s run—at least to the extent which the show hopes we believe. We’ve been expected to truly understand Corteo’s undying loyalty to a childhood friend that he has only recently been reacquainted with. While we still don’t get much of an explanation here, we get a little more insight into their friendship. It came off at first a little too strong and sometimes even…weird, but soon becomes something understandably real. Maybe Corteo is a little too puppy-doggish, but Avilio for the first time expresses something close to…affection? I think. If you look reeaaalll close. Either way, it finally provides us a reason to empathize with Avilio. And just in time, as he’s forced to execute the only source of human compassion he’s maybe ever seen in recent times.

This is an excellent way to finally emotionally charge the plot going forward. It’s something we’ve definitely been in need of. Now we can sink our teeth into all the crazy that’s about to go down. Avilio isn’t just out for those responsible for his family’s murders. Now he wants everything. He wants the utter destruction of the Vanetti family. And boy does he get it. One by one, characters we’ve become well-acquainted with are cut out of the equation. Dead. Dead. Dead. It’s absolute carnage, and Avilio is not stopping at any cost. By killing Don Galassias, he’s sealed the fate of the Vanettis. There is no family for Nero to run. His death is almost as guaranteed as those that’ve already fallen.

While we’re there though, I think Nero has taken far too minor of a role in the past few episodes. A couple of the prior episodes were devoted to establishing a bond between Nero and Avilio—one which I think has not entirely paid off in the face of Corteo’s more involved presence in Avilio’s life. Did he really actually have a friendship with Nero? Was that real at all? The series has been going back and forth with whether any of Avilio’s friendships are genuine. Now that we know what he truly felt towards Corteo, it’d be great to get some closure on where he stands with Nero.

「サンシャイン!!」 (Sansyain!!)
“Sunshine!!”

This week’s episode was rather bittersweet for me. Bittersweet solely for the fact that even though I want a second season, I think things ended so well that I think I could be satisfied even without one.

Quick Thoughts Before the Final Impression

Before we jump into the final impressions which is probably going to devolve into a talk about the three main groups that compromise Aqours (maybe four if I can find enough to talk about), can I just say just how amazing this final episode was? From the new found passion Aqours found to the retrospective that our girls gave us before their final performance of the season, there was almost nothing I could find wrong. It’s really a damn shame that this was the final episode since this would have been a perfect place for the show to finally hit its stride. In any case, let’s jump into that final impression where we’re all going to get sad thinking about all the great things that happened over the season!

Epilogue:

Final Impressions

For a show that I thought would end up being a shameless spinoff of a successful series that’s experiencing tons of success both in the corporate and cosplay world, Sunshine’s first few episodes took that fear and curb stomped it into oblivion. With a new cast of characters that drew from their predecessors as they grew into their own unique selves, I never expected I’d love all of them as much as I did. Unlike the original series where I had some pretty big beef with certain characters (Sorry Kayo-chin, Nico, and Maki lovers), everyone in Sunshine had their own problems and insecurities that the story worked through in some form which led to just the right type of character development that made me fall in love with the entire Aqours cast.

Starting with the first years, I never thought that Hanamaru-zura-chan would end up being my number one favorite. I mean, literally, there’s absolutely nothing that I don’t like about her. She loves technology (or maybe you could say is impressed with it?), she eats and snacks all the time, she has that adorable zura~ catchphrase, AND she’s part ninja? Seriously, how could you stuff all this into a character and not have them turn into a complete mess? Sure, she might be the shortest in the group (this final episode did a fantastic job at highlighting that), but she packs so much attitude into everything she does that I can’t help but lover her. And don’t get me wrong – I also have a lot of love for the other first years as well! Ruby and Yoshiko both had their own unique charm points that almost won be over (but I’ll always be for zura-chan). Ruby filling the “cute” girl slot that any group needs while Yoshiko was the unexpected chuuni who totally rocked the part by constantly having me smile and cringe at the same time (she was also the reason we found out Hanamaru was part ninja).

Jumping to our second years and the first three members of the group, I must say that compared to Honoka, I can’t believe just how much Chika grew on me. Starting out as a simple Honoka clone that constantly moved at her own pace, she grew into this charismatic leader that grew from her failures and never let hardship rock her to the point where she lost her way. Especially when that hardship was hitting literal rock bottom and having the strength to not give up in the face of total defeat. Then you have You who sits at spot number two with Kanan in my books. Energetic enough to the point she could keep up Chika but grounded just enough to keep a watchful eye on her best friend, it was a pleasure to watch out costume designer whenever she got some screen time. That and her yosoroo catchphrase was awesome. Finally we have Riko who I honestly disliked right up until the last few episodes. Feeling like she was just coming along for the ride and not liking how she made You feel insecure with herself, I loved how both of these were addressed right at the end leaving me with a sense that instead of being a disrupting force, she truly became a great friend for both Chika and You.
Last but not least, we have our third years who managed to enter fray just before the show came to a close. And while I have some complaints with the “issues” they all had that led to the catastrophic meltdown of their friendship (misunderstanding and breakdowns in communication irk me), the resolution and payoff at the end of it all definitely did feel good. Of the three girls though, Kanan ends up as my favorite with Mari and Dia trailing close behind. I don’t know what it was, but before the series started I thought Kanan would have been my favorite. Something about the way she looks just clicked with me and had she not been part of the third-year drama arc, I think she would have had a good chance. With Mari and Dia though, their unique personalities and their dynamic in the group always rubbed me in just the right way. The former being the “oomph” of itjoke to get Aqours rolling and the latter being the tough love mom who turned into the doting mother, things wouldn’t be the same without the two around (and don’t even get me started on the DiaRuby combo moments!).

Now, even though Aqours only has nine members, I think it’s 10th member deserves a quick shout out. Comprising of the entire city and school that Aqours exists in, I never thought the story would integrate its side characters so well. With random classmates reappearing every now and then to the entire school showing up for one of Aqours’ most important performances, I just love how they weren’t pushed to the side in favor of trying to keep the show solely Aqours.

Overall, I think Sunshine managed to capture everything that I loved about the original Love Live and changed things up just enough to really transcend into being a proper sequel that I wanted. With loveable characters and a story that was filled with all kinds of emotions, I’m really sad that it’s all coming to an end. But with the hopes of a second season and more new songs constantly coming out on SIF EN (School Idol Festival, the Love Live Game), I’ll be patiently waiting for another chance to watch our new girls do their thing as they hopefully make it to the grand stage known as Love Live. Also, thanks to all of you loyal viewers who’ve been coming back week after week to catch the posts. It’s been fun interacting with everyone and I hope you’ll be back if we get anymore Love Live!

Anyways, I’ll see you guys around the bend when the Fall Season rolls around. See you yosoroo-zura-itjoke!

「その日を再び/二人の春」 (Sonohi o Futatabi/Futarinoharu)
“The Day Again/The Second Spring”

There was a little glitch with the subtitles for Battery (hopefully not a sign of future troubles for the Amazon-NoitaminA partnership), causing the penultimate episode’s release to be delayed several days.  I’m not that wild about Amazon’s subs to begin with (“-san” really doesn’t translate to “Mr.” when we’re talking about sempai and kouhai among schoolboys, as an example) but I’d be lying if I said the translations were the biggest problem with this series.  And given how sky-high my expectations for it were going into the season, that’s rather disappointing.

Post-mortems are always a dodgy proposition when it comes to anime, because none of us were there when the decisions were being made at the production meetings and the like.  Maybe the odd-couple partnership between Mochizuki Tomomi’s minimalist directorial style and Asano Atsuko’s more histrionic writing was destined to cause problems.  Maybe the novels were too long to be adapted into an 11-episode series.  Maybe there’s something lacking in the source material itself that Mochizuki just wasn’t able to fill in.  But whatever the reason, in the end Battery just wasn’t everything it could have been – and looked like it was going to be at the halfway point.

The closing arc surrounds the pickup game (that’s effectively what it is) Between Nitta and Yokote Middle School.  Which, if you think about it, seems like an odd place to conclude a baseball series.  This isn’t an official game, and the main dramatic impetus for it is a rivalry between Takumi and a character (Kadowaki) who we didn’t even meet till halfway through the series.  There’s an overblown quality to this whole rivalry, especially where Shun is involved (he pretty much defines the term as a character), which makes it hard to feel fully vested in this game and its eventual outcome.

Battery does keep teasing us with tastes of the themes that once seemed as if they would drive the series – Takumi’s relationship with his family, especially his brother.  His clash with a society that doesn’t take well to too much individuality and braggadocio, especially in its children.  But they’re only tastes, never full meals – and that’s the real problem here.  There’s certainly enough interesting material in this premise and these characters to give us a fascinating series, but that’s not the show Mochizuki ended up making (again, whether that’s a function of the source material I don’t know).

The game itself continues this trend, with the final episode giving us only about an inning of it.  The rest is dedicated to build-up, with a good chunk of that once again focused on Shun and Shuugo and their strange waltz of coltish love-hate.  It’s all very odd – almost if the eleven eps we got were a slice of a planned four-cour show that was cut off at the knees.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a series with so many unrealized plotlines and so much time spent on ones that ween’t introduced until well into the second half of its run.  Again, not having read the novels it’s hard to know whether that’s a function of the material or the way it was adapted.

In the end I suppose it doesn’t really matter which it is – the anime has to be judged on its own terms, and I think in all fairness it has to be judged as largely unsuccessful.  I robustly disagreed with the poor ratings Battery was receiving after five or six episodes, because I thought there were some really good things happening here.  But what I’m left with is a sense of puzzlement over what the goals of the series are.  Why does this story exist – what was its purpose in life?  I don’t see a larger message here if one wants to view Battery symbolically – just the nascent flowerings of several interesting themes about Japanese society – and if one takes it strictly on the narrative, I don’t see how anyone could argue that the storytelling remotely finished the job.

So, for the second season in a row we have a highly-anticipated series (Bungou Stray Dogs being the other) that failed to live up to the pedigree.  Fortunately both Spring and Summer had enough backup to end up as solid seasons anyway, but given all the reasons to feel optimistic about Battery – Mochizuki-sensei, NoitaminA, award-winning baseball source material – it still hurts a fair bit.  I liked so much about the early episodes, and there was so much potential in the relationships the series never explored (Takumi and Seiha, Takumi and Go) and the themes it only touched on that I feel like Battery could have been really special.  In a funny sort of way, the OP and both EDs told a more interesting story in 90 seconds than the main narrative did in 11 episodes – I wish they’re been an accurate reflection of what the focus of this series was going to be.

ED3 Sequence

Middle school romance is never easy.

The anime fan’s emotions are never more conflicted than at times like these.

It’s no secret that I love Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru, both for what it represents and for what it is. I think I’ve made that pretty clear over at LiA in last twelve posts, especially the last several when the series has really come into its own as a standout certain to reappear in those pages right before New Year’s. Every season is better with a show (or two) like Konobi – needs a show like Konobi, really. But this isn’t just a show like Konobi – it’s a truly distinct and extraordinarily well-executed anime romantic comedy. It’s not just a filler of a very important role on the schedule – it’s one of the better examples of it you’ll see.

While I can point back to series like Minami-ke (the last season of which shares a director with this show), Majimoji Rurumo, Dagashi Kashi and Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge, all of which share a broad kind of audience connection and feeling with Konobi, like the best of its breed this series’ charms are unique to itself. And “charms” they are, because this is one of the most charming anime comedies for a good while. The balance between sweetness and acidity is just right, the cast is preposterously winning and while there’s plenty of humor that’s broadly at the expense of the cast, it’s never, ever mean-spirited. There’s a clever play on anime tropes, but never a sense of being limited by them – more of a knowing wink at cliche than anything else.

Indeed, the only bad thing about a wonderful finale like this is that it just reminds you how much you’re going to miss the show now that it’s over. Series like this one almost never get sequels (Minami-ke is a very rare exception), so these one-cour adaptations are ultimately teasers – both for the manga and generally speaking. I wouldn’t trade the experience of watching an anime like Konobi or Tanaka-kun for anything, but these series review posts are not the most fun to write. There’s a particular pleasure you get with this class of series, a sense that you’re getting together with friends every week to laugh and feel good, and that’s a tough thing to let go of no matter how many times one repeats the experience.

I’m very happy with the finale – to the point where I don’t think I would have changed a thing. I know some fans will have wanted a formal declaration of romantic commitment between Subaru and Mizuki, but to me that wouldn’t have been true to the series. Not only because the manga is ongoing, but because this is such a canny take on middle-school romance – that time of eternal frustration, shyness and unsatisfied yearning. We got something real here, something genuine – Usami and Uchimaki did move forward, as they inevitably have after every one of their chapters together. And it was really funny to boot, which since this is a comedy is a nice bonus.

One aspect of Konobi that really works is the way it smartly plays with the familiar elements of anime romcoms without becoming enslaved to them. There’s no cliche more precious than the shared umbrella routine, of course, and this was a great take on it. There was some solid comedy (that “dual wielder” bit was a winner, and then we got yet another Arslan Senki in-joke). But it was important stuff for the main couple too, and I knew Kaori’s gambit as soon as it was revealed that she’d “borrowed” Mizuki’s umbrella. And I hope you took a good look at that umbrella, because it would have spared you some disappointment in the chapter that followed.

I never really bought into the idea that we were to take Subaru literally when he told Imari that he’d “fallen” for Usami, but she certainly did. The scene where the two of them are “alone” in the clubroom after Mizuki has eavesdropped on the aforementioned conversation is a great one on so many levels. There’s more really clever humor here (did you notice Colette hiding in the locker again?), and the interplay between Mizuki and Uchimaki-kun is beautifully written. Her internal monologue about “taking control” and “teasing” never had a chance (I mean, come on) and then the reveal, with Usami’s facial expressions… It was perfect. So was the fact that at this of all times Mizuki still didn’t revert to tsundere cliche and get violent – just frustrated, as any girl would be in her slippers.

As for Subaru’s request to call her by her first name, well – there’s another huge Japanese adolescent relationship watershed right there. I get why she said no, given the circumstances – but Kaori was right, it is kind of a good opportunity to let go to waste. In the aftermath we get a definite nod to the more absurd aspects of the whole waifu subculture – Subaru “dumps” Usamimi because the “sly fox” has dared to have a boyfriend “When she already has me!”). But I think there’s a more important subtext here, which is that in addition to having her pose for him, Subaru has now fallen in (and out of, but…) love with a 2D waifu who’s almost literally a representation of Mizuki – same name, usagi hair ornament, quick temper, panties… There are those who feel that every waifu Subaru draws is basically a twist on Mizuki, and I’ve come to kind of believe it. I think he’s just a 13 year-old boy for whom fantasy romance is much less scary than real-life romance, and he’s not ready to confront the attraction he feels towards Mizuki. So he uses the waifu routine as a safe and familiar outlet – for now.

With that, we’ll have to leave it open-ended (though some of the manga is out there in English, and translation efforts do seem to be active). These kinds of goodbyes just don’t get any easier no matter how many times one goes through them, but it’s the toll anime fans pay for getting involved with shows like Kono Bijutsubu. Apart from the fact that it’s ending the experience has been totally positive for me – I’ve come to love this show, all the more so since it was my top sleeper pick of the season despite the fact that I’d never read the manga. Maybe when you watch anime for as long as I have, you get a certain sense of what’s your type just from first impressions – it’s hard to explain it any other way, but I somehow knew this series and I were going to get along famously. Thanks for all the wonderful moments this season, Konobi – both the laughs and the feels. See you this New Year’s.

「繋いだ奇跡」 (Tsunaida Kiseki)
“Woven Miracles”

The 3rei anime ends, leaving us with more questions than answers. The upcoming film should answer some of them.

It’s hard to shake the feeling that this finale episode wasn’t much of a finale, and leaned on deus ex machina. The former is obvious—it’s not the ending. The latter can perhaps be debated. But Tanaka throwing Illya her sword arm just in the nick of time, the antagonists disappearing even though Julian gave Beatrice two thunderbolts, and Bazett finding Rin’s amulet—that’s the one that smacked of it most clearly, even if I appreciated the poetry of that gem binding Rin and Shirou, no matter the timeline, no matter the verion of Rin and Shirou. It just united in a whole that wasn’t firing on enough cylinders to get away with transgressions that past seasons could have managed. That’s what happens when you drop the budget and allow the shine wear off with unevenly paced seasons. Such is anime life.

Not that I didn’t enjoy the episode on the whole. Any timeline where Illya gets to grow up happy and innocent is truly the brightest timeline, and I like how they’re emphasizing that it’s Illya’s ability to wish the selfish, unrealistic dreams of a little girl—and to do what she can to pursue them—that separates her from the adults, and this timeline from the others. That’s a good theme to unite the series around.

Plus, a return to some classic Prisma Illya-style hilarity is appreciated! Even if this time it comes with a creepy disembodied hand. (Tanaka is as mysterious as she is freaky, and also dumb.) 3rei has never quite got dark enough to prevent me from liking it, but I do enjoy this version of it better. A little sugar makes the drama go down smooth, and it saves budget to make the action better. Plus, spoiled imouto-mode Miyu! Who doesn’t like that? Monsters, that’s who.

The big thing I want to know is how Shirou and Miyu got to where they are, and who the hell Tanaka is. Fortunately, it looks like one of those is going to get answered in animated form before long. Prisma Illya movie confirmed, and it looks like it’s going to focus on a certain pair of siblings. Bring it on!

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – 3rei ends with a flaming sword, a disembodied hand, and bathtime hijinks. As it should #prisma_illya s4e12

Random thoughts:

• Them taking in Angelica sure is interesting. I have a feeling she’ll play a pivotal role in the endgame, though for who is anyone’s guess. Probably Team Illya, but we’ll see.
• I feel like the Emiya house isn’t the best place to go. Pretty sure Julian will know to look there.
• Saber is in Emiya’s head, even when he hasn’t (presumably) met her. That hair style!

My SECOND novel, Freelance Heroics, is available now! (Now in print!) (Also available: Firesign #1 Wage Slave Rebellion.) Sign up for my email list for a FREE prequel short story. At stephenwgee.com, the last four posts: Re Zero: The hero who strives, I have four jobs right now, Radical transparency. I’ll try, and Freelance Heroics in print, and other matters.

Full-length images: 11.

Epilogue:

Final Impressions

I feel like 3rei arrived with entirely too much hype. Manga readers will probably say that it really is as good as they said, and this wasn’t a good enough adaptation, but stop—just stop. You’ll never be able to recapture the feelings you had when you first read it. That’s just not how fiction works. Even if it wasn’t as good of an adaptation as it could have been—which is entirely possible—the hype did nobody any good. It just led to massive expectations, with far more potential downside than up.

I’m glad I spent so much time consciously downplaying those expectations, because I still enjoyed the season on the balance. I feel like some of the earlier battles worked better, and the budget began running low late in the season, which shouldn’t be a surprise—3rei was a lot more action heavy than previous Prisma Illya seasons. Which sucks, because now the luster has fallen away from Prisma Illya’s action, as we’re reminded it’s mortal too—but ah well. That’s the risk you run when you have the embarrassment of riches that is four seasons, such a rarity in this anime age. Fortunately the upcoming movie shouldn’t have that problem, probably. Having to fork over money before seeing the content has its advantages.

Full disclosure: I’m exhausted from working too much, so I’m not going to go into the blow-by-blow. There are twelve posts to read if you want that. Instead, here’s a lightning round of things I enjoyed: the mystery of Tanaka; Gil-kun being so very much Gilgamesh, but a bit different; Beako’s perversion; all the different heroic spirit Illya costumes; the selfcest wincest smooching (again); Rin & Luvia being useless as maids too; plenty of Gate of Babylon; Shirou getting to strut his stuff; Shirou & Kuro fighting together, the twin fakers; and Illya keeping the whole damn timeline from sliding into darkness on the force of her kindness and optimism alone. So, most things! Though I wish the antagonists didn’t keep arbitrarily letting the protagonists live. That got annoying. Make ‘em earn it.

I liked it. It was fun! Though I’m still looking forward to the movie story a lot. Even if Prisma Illya isn’t Shirou’s story, I still have some affection for the old bastard, and I want to know how he got so far down the Archer/Heaven’s Feel path. Hopefully we’ll get another TV season after that, because we need another two seasons to fulfill the prophecy. It’s six seasons and a movie, right? Almost there.