Random Curiosity

「渡辺しおん」 (Watanabe Shion)
“Shion Watanabe”

If it’s too good to be true, well, it probably is. Inuyashiki has certainly been delving deep through some interesting tangents as of late, although choosing to sideline Ichiro and take the path of redemption for Hiro definitely pushes those loose boundaries. It’s a delicate balance at best, taking your central villain and transforming him into the hero, but I think Inuyashiki has successfully bridged the gaping chasm so far, in part due to Hiro himself and that chaotic personality.

The important thing to remember when considering Hiro and his newfound heroics this week is that he has been building up for such a moment for a long while. Hiro’s problem as highlighted before is his lack of feeling, he possesses a void not easily filled and constantly bearing down on him. So far this fact has manifested in his killing spree (starting from the most unlikely of origins), but there was no reason it ever had to. Those raw and honest emotions Hiro was after don’t solely originate from the cries of a would-be victim, they can also manifest through the love one has for another’s life. As Shion’s pleading poignantly showed, Hiro could fill the void by simply finding the love of another, not unlike his mother or even his friendship with Naoyuki. Since Shion apparently loves Hiro dearly, our villain-cum-angel will do what is necessary to hold onto those feelings. If Shion demands he stop killing he will, if she enjoys him helping others at death’s door he’ll do it without complaint, all to suckle more from the affection she eagerly provides. Make no mistake, once those feelings from Shion disappear (as they likely will soon), Hiro will find something else to fill the void, and we all know how well his previous choice worked for him. There is no redemption for Inuyashiki’s antagonist, only the latest flight of fancy capturing his attention.

Besides the reasoning behind Hiro’s “change”, what particularly impresses me is how Inuyashiki is showing the consequences of Hiro’s actions. Unlike Ichiro who carefully rations his help (regretfully knowing he can never save everyone), Hiro, much like any teenager, takes his gift and uses it to the utmost, no matter the risk. He cures folks in public, operates a Twitter account, and has no problem whisking Shion around mechanical Superman style through the urban jungle. Such brash moves will quickly attract attention, especially if abnormal, and in our modern world it does not take long for the curious, determined sleuth to start piecing the puzzle together. It would typically be ironic for Hiro to be brought down by the very thing he’s worried about (i.e. caught by the police and sentenced to death), if not for his age and proven inability to introspectively analyze his own decision making. Hiro may be effectively invulnerable and sociopathic, but is certainly not smart in the way you expect most antagonists to be. There’s a subtle sense of complexity here, not being able to fully predict just what Hiro will do next, but at least for me it keeps Inuyashiki’s story thoroughly entertaining.

With only four episodes remaining and what likely will be one hell of a forced entry next week, Inuyashiki is pretty much set to enter its final act. There’s plenty which can still go horribly wrong—particularly if Hiro regresses too hard towards his murderous mean—but considering how well the show has handled the development this week, I have my hopes firmly up that the best almost certainly lies ahead. The only demand I have is that we get more Ichiro soon. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starting to miss our lovable (and quirky) geriatric saviour.

「竜頭蛇尾 (後攻)」 (Ryuutoutabi (Koukou))
“In Like a Dragon, Out Like a Snake (Part 2)”

The tension has been building for the past couple episodes as the Snake/Dragon twins step into the spotlight, namely because the present day events have been way far into the backseat for these two. Seeing who will fall next or how the events will unfold in the Zodiac War are brewing through a slow-drip, resulting in two episodes of flashback that aren’t heavy with depth, yet have a light enough body to make for a smooth cup.

In words not typed up by someone fanboying over coffee, the show’s break from the war to focus on the twins prolongs their eventual demise, but seeing into their flashbacks really hit the nail on the head on how awful they are as people. Ino had her fair share of issues and people were already calling the show “edgy” based off of her past hobby of turning her sister into a murder machine. Nezumi’s ideals also had that feel to it as well, but he’s been laying low enough where it’s not the sole perspective we follow. But this episode’s flashback with the twins are the only place where I cut myself on the edge. You don’t get any edgier than smugly lecturing a once blind kid about the meaninglessness of human decency after revealing you were responsible for his brother’s death to his face.

They were smarmy enough as is from last episode’s flashback, but this time around, we see what they really do when they rob people, and how they enjoy giving away their spoils to cause more chaos for kicks. Like watching mobs fighting over bills they toss in a town square or giving away stolen goods that ended up getting an entire village shot up for taking. The episode’s main kicker was how they used their “charity” to get a slap on the wrist in court for torching an experimental facility and then burning down the hospital they were moved to for more money.

Honestly, if we were going to have two episodes of flashbacks on a specific character, the twins would’ve been the lowest on my list. There wasn’t anything compelling about them as people other than Snake contributing to his own blog on reptiles while Dragon was in court. If we got an episode of Snake finding reptiles to blog about or his writing process, that would’ve been more compelling than setting buildings on fire using Birdemic-quality flame effects.

The episode was also stingy with present-day developments, but we found out that all Tora had to do to not get caught of fire was to throw her jacket off. Ushii also confirmed the theory that fire is the Achilles heel in Usagi’s necromantist powers as a zombie will be rendered unusable if set of fire. It does make me question why Usagi relied on Snake for so long given his weapon-of-choice is spewing fire everywhere. It’d make sense that he kills psychotically because if he was methodical, Dragon’s ice machine would’ve given him a better advantage, and Snake would’ve been easier to take out as the least intelligent brother of the two. Nonetheless, with the pattern that happens with eager-to-play contestants, Dragon won’t be doing himself any favors by sticking his neck out now of all times.

Preview

「友達」 (Tomodachi)
“Friends”

If I were to be totally honest, the last couple of episodes of Ballroom e Youkoso have not been the strongest in the series for me. There’s a fine line for shows with big casts like this one between developing the secondary characters to the point where they’re interesting and compelling, and losing momentum by shifting away from the principals. It’s not always easy to say where that line is, and some shows are better at finessing it than others – but it does strike me that the last two eps have seemed a bit out of place.

It’s not that I don’t care about Akira and her problems, but two full episodes of them at the crucial moment of the biggest competition in the series so far is probably a bit excessive. That said, she does bring a different perspective to the table than the other principals in the cast in that she’s someone who’s far more focused on the personal side of the story than the dancing side. And in Mine-san, her arc has brought yet another fresh take on the story – someone at a totally difference place in his life and career than the others. Because for Mine, dance isn’t a career at all.

Truthfully, Akira’s treatment of Mine-san doesn’t cast her character in the best light – starting with the means she chooses to try and entice him to be her partner. And her reason – basically, as a means to keep her in the same circles as Chinatsu, the one she’s actually interested in. To Akira Mine is just a means to an end, and while she did at least have the grace to feel badly about publicly scolding him, it’s plain that his feelings haven’t been of a great deal of interest to her. That’s why it was good to see him get a nice moment with his family – to bring the two halves of his life together in a way they haven’t been previously.

Ultimately this ep does find the time to loop its way back to Tatara and Chinatsu, who continue to roll on mostly unscathed (again they lose only one mark, though that’s enough to shake Tatara’s fragile confidence) despite their missteps (literal and symbolic) being played up broadly by the narrative. The issue of family is being raised often enough that I can only assume the story is going to confront Tatara’s secrecy sooner or later – everyone else’s family is quite conspicuously present and expansively kind to him (perhaps too much so for comfort in the case of Chinatsu’s father), and even his defense of “my friends are here” doesn’t hold up when one considers that they haven’t even made contact with him.

That changes with Hyoudo’s arrival. Tatara asks him for advice despite his internal monologue telling him that Hyoudo’s advice has never helped him, and he’s soon regretting it after Hyoudo unilaterally decides to “peel his shoulder blades” and do… something to his hips. Is this some kind of Shounen Jump power-up or a legitimate dance thing – or are we just talking about basic stretching? In any event it seems to involve ripping muscles away from their supporting skeletal structures, and while that may give Tatara additional flexibility, even if one discounts the alarming description, sound and imagery that accompanies it, it seems like a terrible idea to try something so radical right before a crucial competition…

Preview

「ミコ, ダンピツセンゲン」 (Miko, Danpitsu Sengen)
“Miko Quits Writing”

Who would’ve thought that this anime would have the episode title act as part of a mid-episode gag?

This episode was effective in displaying the show’s duality in its definition of evil; the student council’s efforts to thwart the anime club, and the predatory nature of anime production. Animegataris has been more skewed towards the idealistic “anime fans is the ultimate life-forms” mentality, but they tackle how soul-sucking creating anime can be, As the club tries to spark magic with their own version of the Daicon shorts, they run into the standard problems that many people are finding with anime production.

Miko gets the brunt of the pain as her position as the screenwriter is draining, and her work is retooled and butchered until it’s barely unrecognizable, giving her incentive to perform this episode’s namesake by giving up. At the same time, Erika takes on the role of a sleazy anime producer who aims to encourage the overworked staff to keep working for the sake of getting everything wrapped up. Arisu’s butler Sebas is seen as overworked after having created a full PV for an anime concept Arisu came up with. The voice-over process is tedious in its need to get every inflection down to a T with no corners cut. The strain is real on most of the staff even if the tone is still light-hearted enough to not incorporate other seedier aspects of the industry like underpaid, outsourced workers/animators and such.

On the flip-side, the student council is getting more and more aggressive in their campaign to eliminate the anime club. The goal post is moved so far by the student council that they’ve made it so that it’d be virtually impossible to get accomplished by cutting off other clubs from working with the anime club. They also shifted the location of their anime presentation to the field where they must fill the stands or else face elimination. Tsubaki was absolutely sinister in this episode, and I loved it. She waited until the end of the episode to put up the largest middle finger in the face of the anime club, and laugh straight in their faces as she gets closer and closer to killing the anime club. The way her eyes shifted into a deep crimson and her grin widened with the elation of ending the anime club was a treat that was hard not to revel in.

There were also hints at what the series tried going for around the beginning as Minoa stumbles across the storyboards for the anime she dreamt about enjoying as a kid. However, Kouki is giving a very suspicious glare her way as she finds the empty room containing the art from her dream anime. The cat’s warnings against opening up the contents from the old anime club could point towards the possibility of the old anime club’s work becoming the Pandora’s box that could cause a heap of supernatural-flavored trouble for the club. Where it goes from here, and whether the club will be disbanded for good are anyone’s guess at this point.

「冒険さえあればいい.」 (Bouken sae Areba Ii.)
“Adventure Is All You Need.”

Apologies for the delays this week. I had an Itsuki moment and went on a trip for the weekend. I tried to come up with valuable research for my posts, but my most valuable contribution from my experience is to watch how much you spend at Epcot or yakiniku grills. Otherwise, you’ll spend too frivolously before the holidays! Also, that breaks are a nice way of refueling since this episode of Imouto sae is the relaxing breather Haruto needed to keep his mind off of the poor reception to his LN’s anime adaptation.

Episode 07 introduces Table-Top Role Playing Games into the forefront as Haruto’s favorite pastime, playing into the show’s largest strength of utilizing the games the cast plays to elaborate on their creative processes and imaginations. Whereas Nayu has fun with the creativity she can have with some of the more erotic scenarios, Itsuki can shape his character after the ideal imouto he can place himself in, and use abilities he admires like Unlimited Blade Works. Miyako’s mindset also makes me wonder just how much she knows about LN’s given that her powers mimicking Mikoto Misaka’s coin-toss electric beams. Haruto’s scenario is funnier the more Itsuki is able to call the twists he makes from a mile away, but it was interesting to see that he still has the mischief to have a tentacle monster summoned on the beach.

While it is a goofier episode with great comedy and greater fanservice, it’s Chihiro who steals the show in this episode with how she handles creating the little sister she wishes she could be. She’s excited by the prospect of being seen as a female by her friends and step-brother through the game’s create-a-character mechanic. Chihiro is also touched when Itsuki frees her first because the in-game Itsuki gives her a high level of respect and love as his little sister. It’s still dancing around getting deep into Chihiro’s motivations, but it is a small way of giving her something nice to work with.

The last episode hinted at the idea of Haruto admiring Miyako, but the ending to this one makes his thoughts as clear as possible that he is interested in her. From the title of the next episode, this might just be the foot-in-the-door Haruto needs to ask her out, but trying to pursue a relationship with Miyako could also be the catalyst towards the building tension between the cast. Miyako, still grappling with whether she should entertain the idea of liking Itsuki knowing that he’s on Nayu’s radar, might brush off Haruto’s affection if she’s more focused on Itsuki. We’re also unsure of who Itsuki really likes because he’s not as transparent about his actual feelings about anything other than little sisters, but I’m getting the feeling that he has something more to say about Haruto’s question on if Miyako is single. Knowing the romance has been slowly hinted at up to this point, I’m eager to see where it will go with the next episode.

「囚われの女王」 (Toraware no Joou)
“The Imprisoned Queen”

End Card

「火蓋は切られた」 (Hibuta wa Kira Reta)
“It Begins”

So this post is very much delayed… and I’ve been apologizing a lot these days for my tardiness but better late than never! I have a thousand and one excuses as to why my posts have been so late, but it all boils down to a new job and the holiday season (which is super busy for my company). I don’t want to make false promises that my posts from here on out will be on time… because that might just lead to disappointment but I will try! I will try very hard to keep it timely for the duration of the season.

Now on to the actual episode…
Which has been lacking of food porn lately! Super disappointing for a food anime! Normally I dedicate a large portion of the post to the food that was cooked or prepared, but this time, even two episodes later, I still don’t have much to say. It would be interesting to see what Souma prepares in a battle against Etsuya, but since they haven’t announced what the theme is yet, I can’t say much about that. Let’s just hope that there’s more orgasmic and delicious food for us to stare at and drool over next week; otherwise I’ll be very disappointed.

The Erina-centric episode was two weeks ago and I still feel like even though I’ve seen it several times over now, it lacks a bit of impact to me. I’m not the hugest Erina fan (as many readers will already know) but they definitely rushed through her traumatic past with her father. I wish they slowed down a bit just to see how much it damaged Erina’s childhood. It also doesn’t really explain why Azami is such a dictator or what stemmed his obsession with “finer” foods, ultimately leading to the brainwashing of his kid. I think this might be explored later – or I’m just supposed to accept that that’s part of his character – but I’d like to think there’s more to it than painting him as the villain for this arc. He’s clearly already the “bad guy” but what makes for a good villain (especially when all the “bad guys” in Shokugeki no Souma have been given good character development) is how the viewer can understand them and that’s the part that’s missing for me with Azami right now. He’s a pretty flat and 2D antagonist for the time being. Erina on the other hand, even though there’s a whole episode dedicated to her, I feel has taken a back seat this arc. Her father is up on the center stage and her presence so far, has really diminished along with her control of the situation.

With the latest episode, we see more of Eizan Etsuya (Suita Tomokazu) which is unusual since we haven’t seen him do much of anything since the first season. For those of you that don’t remember, he’s the ninth seat on the Elite Ten and almost like a business person rather than a chef because of his connections to many people outside the school and his family. Etsuya pulls the strings behind a lot of the scheming in the earlier arcs of Shokugeki no Souma but we never see him actually cook until now which is different. I don’t deny that he’s probably a good chef in his own way, but I don’t know what his style is, his choice of cuisine or if he has a particular uniqueness (like Subaru) unless it’s simply the fact that he pulls a lot of the strings behind the scenes. Bribing the judges and those around him to get what he wants… that could be a tactic and why he has a seat among the Elite Ten to begin with. However, now it’s becoming more of a story of corruption within the school and not so much about the actual talent of the students (which is a shame).

I don’t know what Azami has planned for the school, but he’s definitely starting to behave like a dictator that thinks he knows best and rids of school of anything that’s against him. He’s set new rules in places that he thinks are what the students should a bid by and also shuts down literally all freedom the students have. No choice of what you cook, or how you cook it; no choice in your clubs or activities and he’s focusing more on the final product of the food than the journey of how to get there. Now I feel like I’m preaching or something, but seriously, in this day and age, no one will agree to that type of “learning”.

End Card

「Talk of the Devil, and He is Sure to Appear」

I can say this about Mahoutsukai no Yome so far – it’s delivering on every level. I was expecting it to be a leading contender for the best series of the fall, and it’s pacing the field right now. I was expecting Wit to deliver gorgeous backgrounds and fluid animation, and they’ve done it. And every episode has been a near letter-faithful adaptation of the corresponding manga chapters, with only very minor changes made for the sake of narrative fluidity. If anything the anime is an even more engrossing experience than the manga, but with this studio and staff on-board that’s no surprise either.

While I have a few niggles with the writing of the manga, on balance I think The Ancient Magus’ Bride is an excellent series that has an undeniable quality of “specialness” to it. And one of my favorite aspects of Yamazaki-sensei’s work here is that she takes her time setting things up – characters arcs progress at a natural pace, and events never seem to be rushed to a conclusion. That’s especially welcome in the era of the light novel, when even many manga rush through development in order to appeal to an audience bereft of attention spans. I have heard complaints that Chise is too passive, too helpless – but given her background, how could anyone expect this girl to overcome her issues and change overnight?

This part of the story is largely concerned with Chise’s education, largely an experiential one. But Elias is teaching her along with life, albeit slowly – at this point she’s helping out in the apothecary side of the business, but her sense of proportion could still use a little work. Her first prescriptions run a little potent (a potion to prevent nightmares turns into a sleeping potion), but before she has a chance to fine tune her skills Elias takes her out on another job – the third and theoretically final one he has to do for the Church.

Why does Elias have to do these jobs? “A long time ago, I made a mistake” he tells Chise cryptically. It’s hard to imagine anyone forcing Elias to do something he truly doesn’t wish to do, but we don’t know what consequences there might be for his refusal. This particular assignment is to investigate a black dog that’s been seen around a village church – a possible “church grim”. This – like almost every legend in Mahoutsukai – is a part of real-world folklore, again from the British Isles and Scandinavia. The church grim does not always have to be a black dog (the reason why it often is one is grim, indeed) but that’s the most common form the apparition takes.

By the time Elias and Chise arrive, a crowd has gathered around a mutilated dead body, horribly scratched and bitten. There’s company here, too – Alice is on-hand. And when Chise wanders into the graveyard to investigate, she sees malevolent spirits gathered by many gravestones – and an especially terrifying one accosts her. She’s saved by a young man named Ulysse (Uchiyama Kouki), who notes that she reminds him of his sister Isabelle before morphing into a black dog, then passing out from what appear to be grave wounds.

The other part of this story is Joseph (Murase Ayumu) who’s blackmailed Renfred (whose arm he’s taken) and Alice into providing him materials – materials he needs to produce chimera (Joseph is not doing the reputation of sorcerers any good). Alice describes him as a kid – which is how we’ve seen him of course – but says that his form appears to be strangely “overlapping”. Alice sees the dog as potential material to offer up to Joseph, but Chise won’t have that – and she (rather proactively) uses her accidental sleeping potion to help Alice take an unplanned nap.

Give Joseph credit – he’s managed to do something no one else has been able to so far, and that’s push Elias into showing his true form. It’s probably just as well Chise was unconscious when that happened (though not that the reason was that she’d just been impaled by a giant thorny tentacle), because it certainly would have been traumatic seeing him that way. The only conscious being who doesn’t seem horrified is Joseph – whose visage is as infuriatingly scornful and mocking as ever. What happens when a sorcerer and a mage stare each other down with hostile intent? In a series that’s overfond of cliffhangers, we’ll have to wait until next week to find out.

Preview

「おみやげク工スト」 (Omiyage kuesuto)
“The Quest for Souvenirs”

Boruto forgets to buy a gift for Himawari, and proceeds to further dig himself into a hole. After searching for a long time, he finally finds his mark in an exotic store. When Mitsuki implied that he could dispose of the old woman, so that they could grab the sweets, I gave a pretty dark chuckle. Unfortunately, it was a proposition which Boruto immediately objects, albeit for good reason. So instead, Boruto needs to win a game of Shinobi Bout before he can finally claim his prize.

Frankly, I’m surprised that Boruto did not cheat when presented with the opportunity. I know he’s not a bad kid, but as the TV series continues to develop his character, it’s becoming much more difficult to reconcile with what we’ve seen in the movies. While I would like to delve into this topic a bit further, I’m aware that some people may not be familiar with future events depicted by the movie.

One last thing. We’ve seen how Boruto positively influenced Kagura, therefore it’s only fair we get to see the equivalent exchange. After seeing how Kagura goes in an excessively roundabout manner to apologise, Boruto realises that it’s alright to ‘fess up for your mistakes. This results in his decision to be honest with Himawari, something Mitsuki views as strange. If anything, I view it as a step in the right direction.

「スランプ!!　超獣偽画（ちょうじゅうぎが）」 (Suranpu!! Choujuu nise ga (chou-juu giga))
“The Super Beast Scroll Slump!”

Talk about how friendships can negatively influence you, when Inojin starts calling drawing a ‘drag’. In fact, this attitude is exactly what causes the jutsu problems seen within this episode. Fortunately, Inojin’s parents were there to steady the boat, and guaranteed that it didn’t float astray – even if Sai’s methods were a tad unorthodox.

Inojin’s Plight

Right at the start of the series, I called out Inojin for being dislikable. While such an opinion mellowed over time, this episode did wonders, and humanising Inojin. In other words, I’ve come to like him a lot. We see him undergo a struggle, whereby he cannot properly perform the Super Beast Scroll technique, something which really demoralises him. And even though he seemed like a whippersnapper for trying to cut some corners, I felt really sorry for the kid when he put up a façade of not caring, when he almost considered genuinely quitting.

Yamanaka Parenting

Sai’s largely l’aissez faire approach helped yield this fruitful outcome, allowing Inojin to derive a conclusion that was mostly self-realised. However, I wonder if things would have gone awry if not for Ino’s timely intervention. She puts in a fantastic shift as mother, and guides her son in the right direction, stopping him just short of abandoning the Super Beast Scroll. She managed that, without interfering too much, leaving the labour of Sai’s painstaking efforts intact. Inojin doesn’t quite give up, but still remains unsure.

Sink or Swim

It takes some motivation from Himawari to get Inojin back into his groove. Initially disdainful of her childish doodles, he eventually comes to see the value inherent to her work that he lost sight of – sheer amounts of effort and emotion she had poured into creating it. Witnessing the drawing almost get destroyed rallies up Inojin’s conviction, and he draws with the emotional energy of wanting to rescue someone else’s precious belonging. To me, it says that beyond a prickly pride, he’s a truly good person at heart. When Inojin asks Himawari if she’s okay with expending her precious drawing for the Super Beast Scroll technique, she reaffirms the moral behind the story. Even if her precious drawing got destroyed, that’s okay – she would simply draw it again. Oh Himawari… you’re too precious for this world!

Concluding Thoughts

Single episode filler usually rustle my jimmies. However, these past two have pleasantly surprised me, with Boruto and Inojin having developed as characters. But actually, I want to talk about the closure brought to me, regarding an uncomfortable resolution left behind by the previous generation. I used to think that the relationship between Sai and Ino was a foolish result of Kishi’s naïve attempt at pairing everybody off. However, this episode completely changed my opinion. Why hadn’t I seen it before, that their personalities actually compliment one another? What’s more, it actually leads to some truly wholesome interactions. Despite being busy leading Konoha’s police force, he has time to raise his son, and help out at the flower shop. I didn’t think I’d say it, but even with Sai being socially dysfunctional in many respects, he and Ino probably share the healthiest marriage. As for my favourite from the last generation, I’m personally hoping to see some more moments between Temari and Shikamaru, though it doesn’t seem like we’ll be getting it any time soon.

While next week looks to be a continuation of filler content, I’m hoping that it will be at least somewhat relevant, by leaning towards the formation of ninja trios. That way, we’ll know that we’re embarking on a path towards the Chūnin Exam arc. Anyway, that’s it from me. Until next time!

Preview

「残された時間」 (Nokosareta Jikan)
“Remaining Time”

Everything I’ve watched today has been a god damn emotional rollercoaster.

General Impressions

Can I just start off with just how much I love Sunshine for not giving our girls everything they want? As much as I would love a “happily ever after” ending, there’s definitely a lot more satisfaction involved when some work is required to get the things you want. Seeing how we already watched our girls fail to make the cut for the Love Live competition once, I can let it slide that they’re having a rather easy time making it through all the qualifiers. When it comes to saving their school though, I’m glad (in a bittersweet kind of way) that they weren’t able to find exactly what they were looking for. Thinking about their school closing from a logical and financial perspective, it feels like they were already asking for a miracle with the powers-at-be being okay with only one hundred perspective students. Besides the mere fact that prospective students doesn’t equal actual enrolled student, I can’t imagine what else our girls would have to do to actually keep things going even if they were able to win the entire Love Live competition.

But in true Sunshine fashion, we got to watch Chika fall down to lowest I think we’ve ever seen her — and it was so good it almost felt therapeutic. Unlike another leader of another popular School Idol group, I love it that the story takes the time to show us that Chika is just like all of us. Not invincible, not impervious to failure, and sometimes is unable to keep her composure when things get a little too depressing. If I’m being honest with you guys, I was so happy when Chika started lashing out at the rest of our girls because the reality of the situation was just too heavy.

At the end of the day though, Sunshine pulls through and gives us a solution to all of our problems without undoing any of the problems that our girls have to face. And honestly, I thought it was a pretty creative solution to their problems. If anything, I’m a little disappointed that I wasn’t able to think of it. But, as things stand, it looks like our girls have something amazing to fight for as they move on to the Love Live Finals. In any case, I’ll catch you guys next week!

Preview

「鰓呼吸ブルース」 (Era Kokyuu Buruusu)
“Branchial Blues”

Today’s reminder: Don’t get drunk in Hellsalem’s Lot. Ever.

We’re still main-character-of-the-week mode, and this time it’s Zed O’Brien. Which, if we’re going to do episodes focused on Libra members, he’d be one of my top picks (K.K., Zed, Steven, & Chain, in roughly that order—though Chain’s ep underwhelmed, and Steven’s was only partially focused on him). Zed just sort of showed up during the first season, and while we got to know him well enough by seeing how he interacted with everyone in a larger story, giving him some time in the limelight is appreciated.

(Side note: It’s also what’s wrong with this season. A good author doesn’t need to do episodes (or chapters) focused primarily/exclusively on fleshing out specific characters, because they can do it within the context of a larger plot, or do several at once so their subplots intertwine. And I know Nightow-sensei can do this, because he made Trigun fer chrissakes! (Those were an emphasis italics, not just here’s-a-series-title italics.) It’s puzzlingly lazy, and director Matsumoto Rie was wise to remix/add to the source material as she did during the first season. But I’ve said variations of this before, so moving on.)

I didn’t pick Zed for such a sensitive and lonely soul, though it doesn’t surprise me, showing that his characterization up to this point (when he wasn’t the focus) was done well. The funny thing is that Zed didn’t end up being the most interesting character this episode, at least to me. His development was in the surface-level text, so it was clear to see—he’s lonely as the only fish-man hybrid, he thought he was a burden, but his friends helped him, and he even found something special he could do (that was an especially sweet moment, by the way). It was in the subtext that I found the nugget that most drew my eye, and it concerned Zapp.

Zapp is a bully. When he started talking about how he doesn’t hesitate to strike back against those who humiliate him, that became crystal clear. Not that he hasn’t always done stuff like that, but there’s a difference between someone who has bullying tendencies and someone who’s a full-on bully. (Think of the former as a switch, and the later as something you are.) Zapp is the latter. His entire way of interacting with life is that of a bully, and if he has any redeeming quality (debatable at times), it’s this: he’s our bully. Which, er. Yay?

I mean, I get it. I understand the allure of the bully who is on our side. To use a political example (no, not him, though he counts too), think of soon-to-be-former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. During the brief period in which he was popular, he made some serious hay out of being a bully, but on the people’s side. Or at least, on the side of the people who weren’t idiots. Even I’ll admit that I enjoyed watching him rip apart a fool or two, and I’m a big proponent of civility in politics. (Also, boredom. Dear gods, give us back our boring politics please.) And that’s what Zapp is—a bully, but one who will get mad for Zed’s sake. Which, once again: yay?

Because he was the main reason Zed thought he was a bother, wandered off, got drunk, and was subsequently mugged. Zapp is still an asshole, and the best thing Kekkai Sensen does with his character is beat the crap out of him. Whether someone breaks his arm, threatens to rip off his Freedom Magnum, shatters his entire body, or everything Chain does to him, the more he suffers, the better. Kekkai Sensen is generally good about depicting him as a terrible person whose life isn’t that great, which is how it should be, because the dissonance in giving Zapp anything but the most limited of praise would be HUGE. This episode is about the most I want to see of that. And I could do with more Zed too, as long as it’s tied into a larger narrative instead of being sequestered in its own little island. Or perhaps I should say, its own fish bowl.

Random thoughts:

• I did like the villain this episode. Not only is a villainous Yukarin always appreciated, but they quickly emphasized the points of “She’s extremely competent” and “She thinks she can have anything she wants”, which naturally led to the comeuppance of “You got too arrogant.” All without even bother with a name, which is good because it woulda been a waste. That worked well.
• Also fun: some of the facial expressions this time. Definitely amping up the hilarious reaction faces!
• What is this, an issue of Atomic Robo? Put the pilot on the inside! Though that was one helluva Checkov’s Gun, I’ll give them that.
• Pennies? Really? What a bunch of dicks.

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 updates. At stephenwgee.com, the latest post: Help Houston.

Preview

「あなたと俺とキミとわたしと」 (Anata to Ore to Kimi to Watashi to)
“You and Me and You and Me”

The buildup is starting to kill me.

General Impressions

Before diving into things, let me preface the post with the fact that I think we’ve hit the apex of just how much the story can build things up. That and even though I might sound like I’m complaining a little, I’m thoroughly enjoying being toyed with as the story starts to drop all kinds of hints.

Okay, on to the post itself! Starting with the more serious part (and one that I didn’t really want to talk about due to my own embarrassment), I thought this episode did a great job at demonstrating just how real an in-game relationship can be and just how stressful it is when two worlds collide. With Sakurai’s character personifying the struggles of having a character mismatch between your in-game character and real life, his battle between keeping his identity a secret or revealing everything really struck a chord with me. Thinking about my early MMORPG days, I remember a friend of mine getting really invested into a fellow player only to get bamboozled in the end. While the circumstances might be a little different in Netojuu since everything kind of works out in terms of gender, the memories of what happened really helped me throw myself into Sakurai’s shoes as he worried about destroying what Lili had built up with Hayashi.

The thing is (and I’m hoping this is where the story is heading), I feel like Sakurai has this amazing opportunity to take his two worlds and smash them together into an amalgamation of happiness. He already has a fantastic relationship with Moriko in-game and their experiences out in the real world have for the most part went pretty well. I can already picture it now, some fabulous scene where Hayashi and Lili talk things out in-game and it transitions to Moriko and Sakurai staring into each other’s eyes. Boy, what a wonderful world that would be am I right?

Anyways, let’s close things out before the post gets too long. With only three episodes left, I think the show is in a great position to close things out with a bang. What’s amazing though is it looks like we’re about to get a peek into Moriko’s past. Something that I’ve been dying to see since not only would it help flesh her out, but I can’t help but feel that it’d be the perfect opportunity for the show to make us cry our hearts out. In any case, I’ll catch you guys next week. See you then!

P.S. OMG WE FINALLY GOT TO SEE NICO. LJASDKLFJALKJF SHE’S SUCH A GREAT PERSON AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Preview

「明日、人を殺してしまうかもしれない」 (Ashita, hito o koroshi te shimau kamo shire nai)
“Tomorrow, I Might End Up Having To Kill Someone”

Eve of the War

Child soldiers always make my stomach twist and turn, even if it cannot be avoided within this particular fictional setup. The adults have vastly inferior Thymia, leaving no other practical alternative to fight off the invasion. However, it’s a terrible situation I cannot wrap my head around, because I know I will struggle seeing the corpses of kids, even if it’s not ‘real’ per se. At first, the idea of mass suicide sounded really crazy, and I harshly criticised the elders last episode. But I can sort of see their reasoning in the perspective offered by Rasha. You either die with your conscience intact, or live long enough to become a monster that sacrifices children. Even supposing that these children do not die, being forced to take lives would definitely warp them for the worse. To that end, I can understand why the elders do not want the blood and trauma of children on their hands. However, I think that fighting to survive remains the vastly better choice out of two evils. But with the insight Rasha provided, can we still call it a correct decision?

Nibi and Ouni

We get a flashback fleshing out the incredible bond that Nibi has shared with Ouni since childhood, making it through thick and thin with a rag-tag bunch of fellow orphans, following a silly altercation of sorts. What intrigues me is how Ouni, who is universally viewed as the group leader, recognises Nibi as being his leader. Going back to when they were children, Nibi was actually the one who validated Ouni’s raison d’etre in the bowels, by proclaiming that he would take him to find a better place beyond the island. Now that I think about it, this could explain why Nibi seems so set on joining the mission. He wants to keep true to the promise he made many years ago, and we can see that for Ouni, it truly means the whole world to him.

Let me preface my next statement, by saying I don’t typically buy into how anime as a medium presents homosexual relations. That said, I feel this moment between Ouni and Nibi hark back to the intimate brotherhood shared by Patroclus and Achilles from the Iliad. In my opinion, there is much romance to be had in the Ancient Grecian notions of love. As such, I would love to see this being explored, since it would further expand the way in which Kujira draws from the influence of Classical civilisation. Not to mention, it’s been said that Ouni has never been seen crying. If he couldn’t even shed tears for the two comrades that fell in the last invasion, it would possibly take Nibi’s death to push him over the edge.

The Sand-Throwing Festival

Cultural traditions such as the Sand Throwing Festival really augment the extent of Kujira’s gorgeous world-building. In the context of a society where people die at young ages, I suppose it makes sense to commemorate these transient yet beautiful lives. I’m glad that the event was not cancelled given the difficult times, since it managed to convey a strength of compassion, which continued to shine through despite everyone’s grief. Not to mention, the sparkling of sand scattering across the wind managed to strike a somber note deep inside of me.

Seeing how Chakuro rescued Lykos from her plight, I’m not surprised that she’s begun developing feelings towards him. But the Sand Throwing Festival shows us that Chakuro has yet to move on from Sami. Memories of the deceased girl remain fresh, and imprint a deep wound onto his heart. I actually think Chakuro gets a lot of unfair criticism, especially when it concerns his crying. The boy is a sensitive soul, who had to watch the love of his life getting senselessly slaughtered right before his eyes. If he didn’t cry, or if he had quickly bounced back and recovered, my estimation of his character would have severely decreased. Knowing and loving someone intimately, and for most of your life at that, is not something that goes away in a matter of days.

The Other Half

Seems like my previous hypothesis on Neri was wildly off the mark. Turns out the other personality is Ema, who currently claims to be a twin sister, manifesting occasionally as a separate consciousness. Anyway, I hope that Ema shows ethereal visions to teach Chakuro about Falaina’s history. The dream sequence demonstrated by Neri was absolutely exquisite if we’re talking about artistic value, and plays into the mystical fantasy element that I would associate as being one of the stronger aspects in Kujira. Therefore, it would please me to see them happen on a more regular basis.

Concluding Thoughts

The threat of total annihilation is not being fully utilised. Kujira needs to work on capturing feelings of fear and uncertainty, that are bound to engulf people faced by such overwhelming adversity. At the moment, the characters are simply taking events as they come, and emotions to me seem just as fleeting as the lives of Thymia users. They don’t concern themselves over the possibility their mission might fail, which artificially deflates what should be significantly higher in terms of stakes. Fundamentally, there’s a lack of urgency, which makes it hard to feel immersed in the crisis presented to us. However, I do not expect the operation to go smoothly and reckon there will be a good number of casualties resulting from this attempted infiltration. I personally look forwards to seeing how things pan out, because it may facilitate a darker turn of events, that will be sure to elicit some savoury reactions from our cast.

Preview

「楽園の檻」 (Rakuen no Ori)
“The Cage of Paradise”

When all is said and done and Altair finally reaches its conclusion, there’s no doubt in my mind that this show will have set the bar for geopolitics in anime. Altair is certainly cruising through its material and has a penchant for rapid fire character introduction and development, but the ideas it espouses and the themes presented make for some wonderfully meaty material. Case in point being this week, where ideals are tuned to meet the circumstances.

I’m surprised it took this long for a character like Mahmut to appear, but it is a fitting spot to introduce one, especially one who seriously prods at Mahmut’s morality. Carvajal, besides looking like Mahmut in 20 years, possesses a similar mindset in seeking peaceful existence and doing what is right for the people. He wishes no harm on anyone…and yet immolates over ten thousand souls with no hesitation. It’s a viciously ingenious scene, showing how violence and pacifism can coexist and work towards similar goals. Stories and real life often see peaceful idealism as a virtue to uphold against all (and many stories often feature struggles to reconcile such belief with countering circumstances), but Altair questions the need to always uphold it. If the enemy is unwilling to follow the rules, what obligation do you have to do the same? It may feel good obeying the principles taken as ultimate good, but how well will they serve if you are dead? This is a dilemma with a different response from everyone, for every individual alone will know at what point personal morality must be set aside in favour of other objectives. Mahmut has previously indicated his willingness to do what is necessary to save his country, but Carvajal is the first real test of that resolve. Can Mahmut, if required, kill unremorsefully to see his dream reached, or is that one step too many? It’s a question he must answer soon, for quite a few lives are resting on his choice.

Where Altair will likely start seriously playing this dilemma up, however, is in matters to come. For example we have already seen the technology angle before with the muskets, but Halil Pasha’s blunt rejection of another wonder weapon (and the designer’s retention of a blueprint copy) suggest Altair is just getting started in this theme. Whatever the device is (likely cannons or explosives given the mention of using it for reconstruction), if it can slaughter armies and exterminate towns, someone will eventually use it in that capacity (*cough* Balt-Rhein), and when that happens, there’s no putting the genie back in the lamp. As Balt-Rhein has repeatedly shown, this war is a matter of state survival, and Balt-Rhein (at minimum) places no limits on the pursuit of that goal, no matter the consequences. Halil Pasha’s moral stance may be commendable, but I fear he is only setting himself up for one hell of a fall against an enemy caring little about honour. With Balt-Rhein not only numerically outmatching the alliance forces, but also willing to do anything for victory, I don’t think it will take long before Turkiye’s first expeditionary force is sent home in pieces, and very likely without its general.

Something tells me Mahmut’s personal struggles (and discovering the true reach of this war) are only just beginning.

Preview

OP Sequence

OP: 「ホシトハナ」 (Hoshi to Hana) by Terui Haruka, Mimori Suzuko, Uchida Yumi, Kurosawa Tomoyo, Nagatsuma Juri

「ひだまり」 (Hidamari)
“A Sunny Place”

A recap of the original season, in under 30 minutes.

This post is going to be short, because what is there to say? It’s a full recap of the original series, which, if you watched the original but it’s been the better part of three years since that viewing, will provide a fairly good recap. If you didn’t watch the original but watched this, holy heck why did you do that!? You probably just ruined all the fun of the original, even more so than Washio Sumi no Shou did (by necessity). It works fine if you remembered liking those characters but are fuzzy on a few details, most specifically when Sonoko showed up, and whether Wasshi/Tougo got her memories back (she did). Oh, and Gin remains dead. No surprises all around.

What it mostly does, though, is leave five episode for Yuusha no Shou proper. Maybe? Presumbly they could still take the full six episode, in which case I’ll still be thinking “Why not use seven for the sequel?”, but if the pacing ends up good, then bygones and all that. What matters is what this means in the context of the sequel, because as a recap it was fine, and probably helpful for viewers of the original run. (Don’t I feel silly for rewatching ep12 right before rewatching the recap. I didn’t know~!)

Oh, and needless to say, if you’ve seen the original season recently or remember everything, no point in this. It doesn’t add anything new, other’n forcing the viewer to connect the dots via Tougo’s lost memories, what Sonoko says (she’s a much larger part of this recap than she was of the series), and how Gin remains dead. All of which you’ll be able to do just fine if you’ve watched recently. See you next week for the (real) first episode of the sequel!

Random thoughts:

• One new-ish thing I noticed due to this recap: Team Sonoko and Team Fuu fought the same vertex, didn’t they? The vertex don’t redesign themselves, they just throw the same variations at the heroes each time. Which means if they kept some damn institutional knowledge around instead of serving their heroes up as sacrificies, they’d increase their safety 10-fold! Urgh. These kinds of stories really don’t do better with extra explanation. Often it reveals how needlessly cruel and/or stupid the world or characters are. Less is more, in this as well.

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ED Sequence

ED: 「Aurora Days」 by Mimori Suzuko

「２ｃｈの人たち」 (nichan no hito tachi)
“People of 2 chan”

I don’t know what impresses me more, the number of serious themes Inuyashiki managed to shove into a single episode, or the spastic fit 4chan must be experiencing right about now. Truthfully this show has amazed me since its inception, but with the turning point reached this episode it has truly started to utilize its subtle complexity and abandon most pretenses of simple black and white. We might have our villain and the hero opposing him, but Inuyashiki is determined to muddy those waters something fierce.

As firmly expected, Hiro ran from the police instead of allowing himself to be captured, a response in line with his personality. The kid may be a sociopath, but until now he’s largely been operating in a safe space devoid of consequences. No one knew who (or what) he was, no one ever confronted him, and his powers seemed to give him the world—combine that with the teenage conception of “nothing bad could ever happen” and it’s chaos incarnate. No wonder Hiro ran first and considered the consequences second, he has never learned any differently. The issue with such impulsive action though is the effect on Hiro’s mother, who I imagine few will think deserved any of what happened to her. This unfortunate turn is just one example of the ubiquitous debate popping up whenever a (mass) murder occurs: to what extent are the parents responsible for the child? Should they bear all responsibility due to their rearing, or is the child solely to blame? Law enshrines several legal ages for this reason (ex. the age of majority), but the court of public opinion as well shown cares little for such technicalities. If the pitchfork crowd cannot find the intended target, they procure a scapegoat, and that very often (and wrongly) is the suspect’s parents.

While Hiro undoubtedly brought this fate down upon himself, it does not excuse the actions of the pitchfork crowd. Inuyashiki deserves some kudos for featuring this aspect, it’s not often any show is willing to give a nod to 2/4chan culture, let alone critically. These communities have done plenty of good (particularly identifying animal abusers), but Inuyashiki shows how rapidly and how permanently their quintessential tools of doxing and mass media can ruin someone’s life. Give an eager sleuth 20 minutes and an internet connection and he’ll find out more about you than you knew possible and post it on more sites than you knew existed. Inuyashiki may be playing up the example (and Hiro’s victimhood) out a little too heavily considering previous episodes, but it does not take away from the impact such people and communities are shown to have on notable events. As Inuyashiki indicates, blame is not easy to assign when hundreds—if not thousands—of people can spontaneously influence how an event plays out or the fate of specific actors. No one Hiro killed this week deserved to die, but they sure as hell did not deserve getting off scot-free either. There is no easy answer to this conundrum, but showing that the villain isn’t always obvious is a good first step to properly plumbing the depths. No matter how Inuyashiki ends, it’s already got a place in my heart for the questions it tackles.

Considering Hiro’s “awakening”, however, I imagine the next big shift will be with Ichiro. Our lovable grandpa may be saving lives and providing choice comic relief, but that showdown with Hiro is looming and we need a reason for him to actively pursue the kid. I’m not saying Inuyashiki family murder is in the cards anytime soon, but I’m hard pressed to think of a more obvious target. Doubly so if eldest daughter wound up posting naughty things about Hiro. There’s a surprising number of ways left for Inuyashiki’s story to unfold and I honestly have no idea which one is more likely. Who knew Thursdays would wind up being my favourite day this season.