Random Curiosity

「下着は防具. 守備面積は大きめに. さもなくば息子が死ぬぞ!」 (Shitagi wa Bougu. Shubi Menseki wa Ookime ni. Samonakuba Musuko ga Shinuzo!)
“Underwear is Armor. Make Sure It`s High in Defense. Otherwise, My Son Might Die!”

After our recent episode, the series takes us into uncharted territory as our main party heads off to Maman Village, where a village has been accosted by a fearsome dominatrix witch. But when said witch turns out to be Wise’s mom, our protagonists have to confront an otherwise tumultuous relationship between two estranged family members as Wise has to summon up the willingness to undertake the difficult task of confronting her mom without resentment in her heart.

While the show is relatively light-hearted, Wise and her relationship with her mother bring in some of the anime’s more serious themes they play around with. Mamako and Masato may have their differences, but at the end of the day, they are able to find some way to make amends. In this episode particularly, Masato notices that he keeps going through the pattern of snapping at his mother when he finds himself embarrassed by her or catches her lying to him, causing him to feel immensely guilty and responsible for any sadness his mother feels. Mamako might follow the same trend of being overly affectionate with her son, but similarly, she is quick to forgive Masato when he apologizes because she senses that there is part of him that appreciates the affection she gives him.

This could definitely not be said about Wise and her mother as she was raised knowing that her mother had been terrible to her. Having her real name taken from a host, Wise had already known that her mother had been obsessed with clubbing and often neglected her. She happily lived with her father up until recently where she used this anime’s mom-themed videogame to force Wise into taking part in a gamer rigged to force her to patch things up with her mom. Unfortunately, her mother doesn’t seem interested at all in the original purpose of the game and is currently using the game as a means of living out her wish-fulfillment fantasy of having a harem of pretty men at her beck and call. To her mother, Wise isn’t worth her time as she’s already carved out her niche breaking the game by using her OP abilities to negate Shirase’s administrator powers and building her harem up.

There were some very humorous scenes in this episode too such as the moment where Mamako tries to find new armor, calling attention to the fetishy battle armor that female warriors are forced to wear in RPGs, and the part when Masato bids farewell to his party as they say their final words before Wise dishes out painful and deadly retribution for catching Wise’s towel drop. But what ultimately takes the cake for being the most valuable scenes in the episode are ones that revolve around Wise trying to cope with having to seek out a new mom in protest against her biological mother. Although Mamako tries to offer the idea of Wise still wanting the side of her mother that might have some warmth to her, what Wise is ultimately searching for with the comfort she feels from Mamako is having that same level of security and warmth from her own mother. It might seem like smothering to Masato, but for Wise, it’s far from the cold lack of concern her mother shows for her life until it benefits her to come back into her life. It’ll be neat to see how they tackle this development given how it helps to add some earnestness and gravity to an otherwise cheerful anime about an alluring mother’s contact with another world. Where rather than worrying about concepts like dying for real or world domination, the true enemy is being able to forgive a parent for being cruel and neglectful.

「自分ではない誰かを前へ」 (Jibunde Wanai Dareka o Mae e)
“Letting Someone Else Go First”

We still have no new OP or ED. Blaspheme! Moving on…

That was probably one of the most beautiful demon deaths I’ve seen so far in the series. It’s unfortunate Tanjirou didn’t rip her to shreds for what she did but it’s a sign of his inner strength in the face of anger. Somehow, even after watching his fellow demon slayers perish at the hands of this Spider Mom (Koshimizu Ami), he chooses at the very last second to give her a swift and peaceful release. I do wonder, however, what will one day drive Tanjirou over the brink. Will it be Kibutsuji himself, or perhaps, this upcoming lackey of his?

There were definitely a few things in this episode I appreciated more than others. First, I liked seeing Tanjirou and Inosuke work together. That was quite a little trick they concocted off the top of their heads, and that swift blade technique Tanjirou performed on his head was quite something. As a yogi, I was definitely impressed and I’m taking on the challenge – Inosuke style. Aside from the danger I’m about to put myself in, another thing I was really impressed with was the soundtrack. I’m not too sure why I felt more captivated by the soundtrack in this episode but perhaps it was the setting of the forest. One of the most memorable moments I experienced with the soundtrack was when Tanjirou trekked through the snowy forest with Nezuko on his back in the first episode. And the other was during the battle of the Final Selection. It seems that having a forest as a setting gives more depth to the soundtrack, or at least, I become much more attentive to it.

Now that I think about it, the story’s progression is quite slow. We’re at the sixteenth episode and still have yet to see Nezuko fight alongside the other three. Plus, our promised reunion with Giyu is stunted until the next episode and who knows if he’ll show up at the beginning or the end of it. For those who have read the source material, you’re part of the lucky ones. You know what comes next and when it comes. As for me, I need to live in this endless void of uncertainty week after week. At this point, it’ll be years until Tanjirou meets Kibutsuji again.

As long as Tanjirou fights the one of the Twelve Kizuki next, I’m happy. Also, is Rui (Uchiyama Kouki) the Kizuki demon or is his ‘father’? I have a feeling it might be Rui who controls his father. But what do I know? I’m not one of the lucky ones.

Bring on the next episode! I’m anxiously awaiting.

「Clumsy Pretender」

I may have severely underestimated how much I would come to enjoy watching this series. It’s colorful, fast-paced, and often silly, but with a darker undertone that keeps you on your toes. You never quite believe that these kids aren’t in danger, so when Akatsuki was attacked by one of those Mimicry Man-eaters, it was like this was going to be Madoka all over again. While that turned out not to be the case, the fact that such a gruesome fate wouldn’t have been entirely unexpected is to Naka no Hito’s credit. Even the internal reveal that one of the characters has a stalker shrine is more of an “Okay. This might as well happen” moment than anything else.

Although it’s a surprise that Naka no Hito has chosen to spend any time developing it’s characters, it’s not unwelcome. We found out what Onigasaki was up to last week, which basically amounts to trying to find a way out. This, of course, was against the rules, and Mr. Paka punished them with a penalty game for their trouble. There definitely seemed to be some signs of censorship this episode, which was undoubtedly the most violent yet, but none of the scenes that were inverted felt overly violent, which leaves me to wonder if it was more of a stylistic choice than anything. Still, I find how these Let’s Players can wield smoke grenades and fight monsters like they’ve been training their entire lives for this moment charming. It sure beats watching them panic and crack under the pressure. Along with them, though, you also have the Let’s Players who definitely failed gym. Additionally, Kudou suffers from a sleep disorder that causes him to be unable to sleep until he collapses from exhaustion. This turns out to be one of the reasons why he chose to become a Let’s Player in the first place. More than anyone else, he’s shown signs of looking out for the others, even coming to consider Akatsuki a friend or if not that a valuable teammate, but Akatsuki may have very well violated his trust by going behind his back to ask Mr. Paka for medicine on his behalf. From a pragmatic standpoint, though, I’d have to go with Akatsuki here. They’re in too precarious a position for any of them to be suddenly falling asleep. Kudou passing out in front of the Mimicry Man-eater nearly got them both killed, and I rather hope Akatsuki, in spite of his lack of self-preservation, doesn’t fail to mention that. The time for pride is not during a death game, my friends.

All in all, this seems like a solid series. There’s a mystery brewing that I’m plenty invested in by this point, so while I can’t say I intend to continue reviewing this series, I’ll be keeping an eye on it to see where it goes from here, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a series where characters trapped in a death game actually get along (for the most part) and are genuinely entertaining to watch.

「STAR OF HOPE」

Considering we’re back for week four of rowdy adventures in space it’s probably no surprise Kanata no Astra has been picked up for coverage, but seriously, how could one turn their nose up at such cheesy sci-fi glory? Star Trek this may not be, but there’s certainly enough of it present to keep the amusement coming, and with that conspiracy plot just waiting for further detail, plenty of additional fun waiting down the line. It’s all minor events in KnA’s world right now, but don’t bet on it staying this way for long.

After all the fun of potential killers flinging about previously you’d expect KnA to delve deeper into that bombshell for obvious reasons—i.e. aggravating suspense—but this time we got more of what I expected for the first little while: character introductions. For all we know about the cast so the majority actually remain black boxes underneath the archetype fluff, and Yunhua was the first of them to receive some fleshing out. No real shockers concerning the girl of course: her quietness and melancholy is entirely down to backstory, with one ridiculous mother having some obscene effects on how Yunhua perceives the world and her role in it. I’d say it’s a little surprising her goal is to be a singer (not the first dream that comes to mind with a mentality liker that), but then again it’s not the first character here who’s wound up having an interest or skills seemingly conflicting with personality. That’s right Zack, I’m looking at you.

Where KnA proved surprising this week though was definitely in its plot setup, and not really for the right reasons. Anyone with post-secondary ecology learning can effectively tear KnA’s description of ecological niches a new one for example, as suggestions of conscious species evolution and ecological positioning can quickly lead to some very bad misunderstandings. Simply put species of all make and variety—especially those lower on the nervous system complexity chain—do not “decide” to fill a gap missing in the current ecosystem and develop towards that goal, it’s a randomized process occurring over years to millennia that’s predicated on the principles of natural selection. I can get behind some sentient magic mushrooms deliberately manipulating things to their benefit (a la your typical Star Trek plot), but a basic fungus deliberately arranging the whole thing? That’s a little much even for this kind of sci-fi. At least we got some choice interactions out of the whole crazy setup, because if there’s one thing KnA has proven quite good at so far, it’s having its cast do some ridiculously spontaneous and entertaining things when the urge strikes.

Whether or not KnA continues on the same path of episodic development in the immediate future is anyone’s guess right now of course, but considering the attempted murder mystery elements apparently at play, I wouldn’t bet on conventionality being followed here for long.

「夏休みいい事あった?」 (Natsuyasumi Ii Koto Atta?)
“Did You Have a Nice Summer”

Summer has come upon us in Dumbbell and that’s not entirely a good thing. Between the overpacked gyms, the town’s training facilities being closed down at the most opportune time, and hammerhead shark swarms, the girls find themselves needing to get creative about how they work out and what routines to go through. This, however, is great news for us viewers as the fourth episode teaches us ways to work out outside of your standard gym workouts.

Machines have become a fact of life in many gyms, and Akemi looks at them with scorn as she finds the old fashioned bench press to provide the most benefits during arm day. But what the show dives into is that chest machines offer balance instead of specialty. The seating format allows lifters to have the proper posture needed to get the most out of every lift, giving them a larger overall boost to their chest and upper region. For those summers that leave gyms over-capacity, you’re in luck because the episode goes over some basic and reliable work-out activities that can be done indoors and outdoors, at the gym and away from the gym. Kengan Ashura‘s unsettling combat professor Ozu Toshio gives us a decent how-to on doing Dips or using sturdy and sustainable objects to lift yourself. Similarly, he introduces Reverse Push-ups that would eventually be the focus of the end-of-episode workout. When the beach trip goes awry for the girls, Akemi uses this as the perfect opportunity to teach them how to do Burpies, an exercise I’ve been all too familiar with as I’ve tried to stay more active.

Along the way, we also get some fun developments among our main cast. Ayaka joining the Silverman Gym is a great way to have her further incorporated into both Hibiki’s path to weight loss and Akemi’s goal of gaining muscle. Throughout the episode, Ayaka’s interactions with Akemi are quite fun to see as her active life and personal goals are both similar and dissimilar to Akemi’s perspective. Their differing reactions to Ozu’s workout tape were particularly amusing to watch as Ayaka’s slowly building concern is counterbalanced with Akemi’s unbridled arousal. But while their preferences for muscle make them different, their healthy lifestyles allow them to stay on the same enthusiastic wavelength with exercise, matching the same continuous pace while they do Burpies as their peers struggle to catch up. It was a relatively light-hearted episode that shares the distinction of other anime’s beach episodes by balancing appealing ecchi with a good sense of humor (the scene where Hibiki breaks two timeless antique chairs was outright hilarious). But whereas those kinds of episodes tend to be light and fluffy without much substance, Dumbbell uses the summer beach episode to educate viewers on exercising outside of the gym and offer us a chance to get further acquainted with our circle of friends. It’ll be exciting to see how Ayaka and Satomi will continue to grow with their training at the Silverman Gym and what help they can give to Hibiki and Akemi with their company during the next set of episodes.

Omake:

So in a sequence of events which I could only describe to be bad luck, my laptop died on me and I had to send it in for repairs. Without further delays, I should immediately proceed towards getting this post sorted out.

To begin the episode, the pacing takes a step back from adventuring, briefly introducing us to the dynamics within his classroom. As far as I can tell, he’s a pretty fantastic professor who is loved and well respected by his students, despite his neurotic mood swings and resting grouchy face. Not that you can entirely blame him, considering he has a class filled with eccentrics and misfits that continue to test his patience. But the moment of calm does not last as we’re immediately thrown back into the storm, when it turns out the reason behind his particularly bad mood from that day stemmed from his favourite tearoom facing the threat of potential closure. To be honest, getting extremely worked up about a favourite tearoom is exactly what I’d expect of Waver Velvet-kun.

It turns out there’s some magical mischief going on, with swathes of electrical energy being redirected from the tearoom to an underground lair. While Waver’s theoretical knowledge might be considerable, his forays into this lair exposes a limitation in his practical talents, whereby a single electric rabbit easily accosts him. (Electric Lagombi anyone?). His students follow up on him to make sure he’s okay – and he’s at least alive, though he definitely comes out of the encounter significantly worse for wear. For the second consecutive episode, our culprit turns out to be yet another geriatric magus who’s slightly off his rockers in seeking to pursue the Root. Fortunately, Waver’s confident bluff allows them to escape a potentially life threatening encounter with Gueldoa – that army of giant electric rabbits did look pretty terrifying. You’d think that saving the tearoom would have meant that everything would end well. Unfortunately, Waver is immediately hit by bad news right after, namely that both of the Clock Tower’s positions for the next Holy Grail War had been taken, meaning he is now unable to fulfill his life goals of getting revenge and bringing about some semblance of justice for Rider. Though any of us familiar with Fate/stay Night and its adaptations would have been well aware that this would happen. Not a happy outcome, but I’m sure our grumpy boy will bounce back from it.

Over the past three episodes, I think the series has done a fantastic job of portraying a hardened and grouchier Waver Velvet who’s become this jaded professor after his participation in the previous Holy Grail War, while very much carrying a good chunk of the zany characteristics that defined him when he was a teenager. It’s refreshing to see a familiar character who doesn’t put up with other people’s shit anymore, and complains all the time, especially coming from a professor. Nevertheless, when push comes to shove, he would easily push himself and risk his life to protect his students – leadership qualities that are very reminiscent of Iskandar to me. This really builds up on the two cours of Fate/Zero , and in my opinion, going into the Lord El-Melloi Case Files without having watched Fate/Zero means you’re missing out on the complete experience. In terms of the substantive content, I’ve been largely satisfied with the murder mysteries we’ve had on hand because it’s been fascinating to see them play out. However, I would also like to see a change in formula, such as investigations into: vanishing magical objects, embezzlement of clock tower funding, locked room mysteries. Maybe add on some explorations into his students background, especially Gray as I said last episode, who seems to have some kind of connection to Saber. That should add variety to the series and would also allow it to expand on depth, which means two birds with one stone. Anyways, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thanks for reading my post! I’m undecided but rest assured, it’s guaranteed that this series will be covered on this blog. Make sure to pay attention for the season schedule to find out the rest of the information.

「Midnight Train」

Cop Craft has had incredible production values from the start. The fights were fluid, well-choreographed, and interesting to watch, but not all episodes are created equal, and this one definitely has its flaws. After Tilarna left Matoba with her sword, a sword which a little search engine browsing informs us is as important as life itself to the Knights of Mirvor, she found Matoba’s informant and had him help her infiltrate a club to find the culprit behind the fairy abductions. While it’s sweet that she trusted Matoba to take care of her sword, couldn’t she just have told him what she was up to? Anyway, the Semanian guy hitting on her turns out to be Elbaji, the person she’s looking for, and it quickly delves into a sword fight filled with so many still shots I honestly thought my computer was glitching. Besides the still shots, the action felt slow compared to the other episodes, the transitions and framing awkward, which leads me to believe that the studio is saving their budget for later on.

It’s tough to be a light novel adaption. It’s much easier to give exposition in the written form than to have your characters explain the history of their world to the audience. Most of the time this can be excused. Some stilted language here and there, info dumps and the like, are easy to accept. However, when a character exposits their emotional relationship to another during a dramatic moment and the narrative doesn’t back up their claim, then it starts to take the audience out of the world. Having watched this from the beginning, I don’t believe either of the deaths in this episode were earned. A betrayal that is emotionally devasting to the hero can be foreshadowed – it should be foreshadowed – but there still needs to be a connection there for that betrayal to hurt the way it’s supposed to. Did anyone really get the impression that Matoba thought of anyone as a father figure? If he hadn’t told you outright that this was how he felt, would you have guessed it? And as for the villain this episode, small fry though he may have been, his design and demeanor were still intriguing enough that I’d have liked to have seen more from him. Even his very existence suggests that there’s dissatisfaction with the lack of opportunities for personal and financial growth in fairy society that could very well lead to more troublemaking Semani youth stirring up chaos in the future.

Events are going a little too fast, but on the other hand, seeing Matoba support Tilarna this episode, with him tossing her the sword when she needed it and cheering her on, while also proving to be a competent fighter in his own right, exemplified good, positive character development. However many episodes this series will have, it needs about twice as many, but the end result still isn’t something to complain about. Tilarna and Matoba are one step closer to becoming equals in their partnership, the missing fairy has been found, and a short flashback revealed to us that something tragic had happened in Matoba’s past to shape him into the man he is today. Something that has Zelada and his creepy zombie magic written all over it.

Preview

「Liar」

The general format of these first three episodes seems to be a focus on each of our mains. The first served the purpose of introducing Bem, the second was Bela, and the third should be Belo. Since Bem is naturally so stoic and reticent, it makes sense that episode one had to focus on Sonia instead, thus preserving his mystery. This time around, the viewer followed Bela to school where she laughs and chats with her friends, teases a boy who likes her, and meets a woman named Elaine (Taichi You). She’s twenty-seven, a little too old to still be in high school, and upon seeing Bela’s face, called out the name of an old, dead friend.

Did you guess who the liar was? If you said any number of the characters, you’d be partially right. There was no one liar. Everyone was the liar. If the reference to the French Revolution and Reign of Terror was meant to evoke or foreshadow anything, I’m sure it was paranoia. That was a time when people turned on each other, when anyone would have done anything so long as the next aristocrat fed to the guillotine wasn’t themselves or someone they cared about, and sometimes for personal reasons, too. Like jealousy or greed. Shortly after our glimpse into Bela’s school life, Sonia was shown interviewing former classmates of Elaine’s friend, and their accounts conflict. Some of them seemed to be exaggerating their relationship to the murder victim for an extension on their fifteen minutes to fame, while others described the victim’s friends as cruel or odd, even warning the officers to be wary of Elaine if she ever says, “I wish we’d met sooner.” How on earth did that guy know that those words were a tip-off, though? Was he around if/when Elaine said those words to other classmates who conveniently ended up dead? Then, of course, you have Bem, Bela, and Belo, who are all living a lie in some shape or form, too.

There was only one significantly violent death this time around, and that was enough because what this show lacks in quantity it made up for in quality. If you go frame-by-frame during the rich woman’s final moments, you can see how that bowling ball the size of a boulder tore her body to shreds. And then exploded. It was just a nice reminder that for all that BEM can take advantage of a gloomy color palette, at its heart it’s still an adaptation with a sense of humor and a bit of camp. Probably my favorite part on that point was when Belo handed Bela his phone to reveal who hired the man sent to kill her, and she’s so enraged by what she sees that she crushes it with her bare hand, leading the segment to end on him staring at the wrecked device in horror.

So that leads me to my only critique of the episode, which is that this doesn’t feel like the natural follow-up to the previous episode. Last episode ended with Sonia blasting Bem full of holes, so why would she follow his lead to a crime-in-progress here? How did Bem manage to earn her trust? However he did it, I hope it’s not skipped over. Next time should be Belo’s time to shine, though, so it looks like we’re going to get an elaboration on why exactly Bela referred to him as a bodyguard. For instance, is he bodyguarding Bela, his friends, or both? Maybe we’ll even find out more about the person who wore his face. Judging by Belo’s musing, it’s even possible that they could still be alive. Highly doubtful, but almost certainly possible, so long as Bem, Bela, and Belo aren’t literally wearing human faces to blend in.

Preview

「エイプリルフール／お花見／呼び方／進級」 (Eipurirufuuru/o hanami/Yobikata/Shinkyuu)
“April Fool’s/Cherry Blossom Viewing/Honorifics/New School Year”

I go back and forth about Takagi-san. The character, not the show – though I suppose in this context it’s one and the same. Is she a mean person? And if she is, what makes someone who feels that way stay with the series? Theoretically it should be either that they don’t think she’s actually mean, or they do but don’t really care. That’s a tidy dichotomy, but the problem is that neither one of those really apply to me. I think both that Takagi – san – is mean, and that she likes Nishikata-kun (they’re not mutually exclusive). And it does bother me that she’s mean. But I’m still here.

We start out with April Fool’s Day (just the use of the word “date” pretty much deals Nishikata the loss). He should know this day is not his friend, since for Takagi-san every day is effectively April Fool’s Day. He’s out of his league and the trip to the candy store spells that out in gruesome detail. The most interesting part of this chapter is when Takagi – san – with uncharacteristic straightforwardness tells Nishikata to stop lying, as he’s too easy to see through. Part of Takagi’s schtick is that she never lies to Nishikata because she doesn’t need to in order to troll him, but for me this is disingenuous at best. The way she manipulates the truth is every bit as good as lying – better in fact, and she can do it only because she’s so good at manipulation.

After a quick detour to view the sakura and show that the power trio are getting an early start on obsessing about body shaming, the focus turns to the first day of school. Of course Takagai – san – and Nishikata are in the same class again (though she quite successfully twisted him into an admission of affection earlier by lying manipulating the truth about that) and Nishikata-kun is determined to put childish humiliations behind him. But he can play at maturity all he wants – it has to be a two-way street and as long as Takagi persists in her childish games, he can’t move forward.

Honorifics – ah, that most powerful subject again. I continue to be struck by how stressful this topic is not just for kids in Japan, but adults too. Once more Nishikata learns that “100% Unrequited Love” is not a viable source for life advice. Naturally withholding the honorific is a way to put stress on the other person in a relationship, but as is so often the case Nishikata’s downfall is overestimating his own resolve and this get flipped around on him. Both of these kids remain stuck in their childish ways, but sadly for Nishikata the way that manifests itself is perpetually making him the victim.

「The Kids Are Alright」

Alright, so episode fourteen sure took a turn for the worst. I’m kidding. If anything, it’s marked the true beginning of Carole and Tuesday’s journey towards the seven minute miracle. In this episode, there were two story arcs I truly appreciated. The first was Carole and Dann’s and the second was the girls’ first recording session with Skip and his bandmates.

Let me start with the recording session. So, you might not know this about my life, but my partner recorded his very own album a few years ago and I was privy to the process on multiple occasions. Watching Carole, Tuesday, Gus, Tobe, and the rest of the gang work tirelessly felt a little nostalgic. To me, music is about being vulnerable, trying and failing, doing the shitty open mic nights, and the fun live concerts. It’s, so far, pretty much what Carole & Tuesday have been going through since the very beginning. It’s not an upward climb into the heaven of fame and riches. It’s a spiralling vortex of strain and doubt that then turns into a satisfactory ‘sigh of relief’ when a finish product emerges. That’s exactly what we saw. There was so much uncertainty as the girls went through fifty-two takes before getting Tobe’s ‘okay.’ And all this, for a single. The process was watered down by a montage but the tired eyes and throbbing, shaky fingers were accurate. It’s only the beginning for these two and there’s a lot more in store for them, especially if they’re going to produce a full album.

It’s pretty clear what this recording session is setting up. It’s not just about recording Carole & Tuesday’s hit debut single but about showcasing the actual work that real life people, artists have to put in to create a work of art. The whole scene was juxtaposed against Tao’s artificial (holographic) version of Angela. Angela is but a vessel. She was useful to him in the beginning because her body held the voice he desired for his songs. But now that he’s had his facility analyze her every move, her every sound, he’s managed to recreate her from A to Z. How will this play out? Who knows but I’m curious to see how Angela will retaliate if he ever uses his AI Angela publicly.

Now moving onto Carole and Dann. Her story so far has been shrouded in mystery. Anytime the subject of her childhood came up, she cooly dismissed it and she herself would never bring it up. As a character, she truly understands what it is to live in the moment. Her concern is always with the present and never with the past or future. Because of this, she’s learned to build a tough exterior. Regardless, it was bittersweet to watch her open up to a man who would have to disappear as quickly as he came into her life. It brought tears to my eyes, not a first for this show, but the first of this kind. True this story arc was short but I think it that was a necessary move. Had they drawn out the reveal for more episodes, we would have thought it tedious. In this way, we caught a glimpse of Carole’s vulnerability.

All that said, it isn’t only Carole & Tuesday’s music getting fuller and rounder. So is the series. There’s much more to Angela than meets the eye, there’s more to Carole’s mom, and much more to their world. Looks like we’re in for a treat this summer.

「踏むなっつってんだろが！」 (Fumuna Ttsutendarouga!)
“She Said Don’t Step on Them!”

Sometimes meeting the person you idolize is a mistake.

General Impressions

As with most shoujo stories, I love it when the main protagonist’s close friends get an episode or two to dive into their backstory and explain to us just how they became such good friends with the protagonist. In Arisa’s case, I loved how we got to clearly see (or will hopefully see) just how much she’s changed since meeting Tohru and learning just what happened to the her prized idol the Crimson Butterfly.

Looking back at it, it’s kind of crazy how much of a 180 Arisa managed to have between meeting Tohru and the present day. If I remember correctly during the New Years episode, she was enjoying herself while she spent time with her dad — even going as far as gently joking with her dad about his second beer. With that knowledge in mind, it’s kind of crazy to see how different things were when she was younger. With her household in a pretty rough state and a father who coped with his struggles through alcohol, it’s not too difficult to see how Arisa went down the path of joining a female gang.

That said, what I think was the most engaging part of the story was getting a glimpse at the moment where Arisa realized just what she was missing in her life and that her previous actions didn’t exclude her from also finding what Tohru’s mom also found. It’s tough for me to accurately describe the feelings that I felt, but I think it was something about how it was easy to relate to how angry she felt and how you could really feel all of it just welling up in your chest. A feeling that’s usually reserved when someone wrongs you personally and you just want to smack them across the head with a 2×4.

As a two-parter, it looks like we’ll have to wait until next week to see just how Arisa’s story closes out. Something that, if I’m being honest, I’m happy to see the show give ample time too since I’m really enjoying the story. That said, next week’s episode title leads me to believe it’ll have something to do with Hanajima — hopefully it doesn’t affect how Arisa closes out her story! In any case, see you guys next week!

Preview

「科学の武器」 (Kagaku no Buki)
“Weapon of Science”

While I still enjoy watching Dr. STONE, I’m going to take this third episode to gently express some displeasure about a few different things in the plot.

General Impressions

As I said in the excerpt, I really enjoy watching Dr. STONE. It has a fun mix of characters that jive well off of each other and the overarching plot of trying to restore the world after it literally plunged into a second stone age is so thrilling that I wish I could fast forward time to see what happens. However, with the third episode in any new show marking the end of the litmus test, there are a few things that I have to talk about since it’d be a lie if I said I loved everything about this show.

First and foremost, can we talk about Tsukasa and how he’s literally turning into a macho version of Senku? If I remember correctly he was described as the “strongest high school student” and not the “strongest high school student with insane aptitude”. Sure his backstory gives some weight to his insane street smarts and ability to read in-between the lines, but something about him instantly realizing that Senku was trying to throw him off their scent and figuring out that they were heading to Hakone was just a little too ridiculous even for me. Like, I understand that we need to have a antagonist who can go toe-to-toe with Senku but I wish that the story could have done it in a way that didn’t bestow an insane amount of intelligence to someone but rather played on the less concrete elements that Senku might overlook with his insane intelligence missing something too obvious. As we saw in Episode One when Taiju thought of creating alcohol via smashing grapes to make wine, there are ways that Senku can get caught off guard because of his intelligence.

Second, even though I love you man, I swear Taiju at times makes me want to violently shake my monitor until it breaks. He’s such a loveable oaf that I just can’t get mad at him, but I will admit that his demeanor around Yuzuriha is slowly starting to annoy me. Luckily, his straightforward honesty still manages to keep me loving the guy and if I’m being honest I thought it was super cool how he managed to shrug off a direct kick from Tsukasa which as a byproduct managed to stave off the whole situation. So please, even if I begin to love Taiju as much as I did during Episode One, I acknowledge that he probably annoys the hell out of some people.

At the end of the day though, a good third episode that really got the ball rolling when it comes to setting the stakes. With a clear difference in opinion between our protagonist and antagonist, I love how this rat-race or sorts has finally kicked off. While it remains to be seen whether or not Tsukasa will be able to overcome Senku’s intelligence, I hope that the story will continue to reiterate on itself and create creative situations for each side to overcome.

Preview

To kick off S2 and carrying over from the first episode, Danmachi’s decided to introduce some drama back into the mix, featuring a hostile familia that seems insurmountable for Bell and Hestia to overcome this time around. Not only are they significantly outnumbered, but they lack the political pressure and monetary parity to prevent themselves from becoming a project for subjugation at the Apollo familia’s hand.

I find Apollo to be a bit too comically villainous, though none of his disgusting mannerisms detract from the potent threat which he has displayed. On top of having an elite troupe, with the strongest member of his familia far surpassing Bell at present time, he has also secured the assistance of the Soma familia – with Zanis using the skirmish as an opportunity to coerce Lili back into their fold. Eventually, through what I interpret to be a combination of genuine concern for Bell’s welfare and extreme annoyance that her confession to him was interrupted, Hestia marches over and whacks a challenging glove right onto Apollo’s face. Good god he deserved it. Apollo sure is a creep and I don’t understand why that Hyakinthos is so obsessed with following this rather unsavoury individual.

At least there’s a minority of adventurers and minor gods who sympathised with Hestia’s plight, and tried to assist in the ways that they could. But one has to wonder why the other major familia or institutions haven’t stepped in to address the Apollo familia’s flagrant violation of city rules. You see, I’m not entirely convinced that politics between the gods is as major a stumbling block as they’re making it out to be. Thinking about it, weirdly enough, their motives probably aren’t too different from ours. I watch Danmachi because it’s pretty fun, got a lot of excellently animated segments and there’s a lot of entertaining mythologies brought to life as well as the ways in which they interact. To be honest, it really reminds me of the Percy Jackson book series (which I was a massive fan of in secondary school) where gods and their chosen scions mingle and quest, only with a less Western and more Japanese take. The major familia gods probably find the conflict highly entertaining and would rather see how it will look to play it, as opposed to intervening. At least that’s how I’m choosing to rationalise the flow of events for now.

I look forwards to seeing how the War Games play out, because while the Hestia familia are at a massive disadvantage, Bell Cranel is the protagonist of this story and has exhibited unprecedented growth at every turn. Also, it’s not like Hyakinthos is Ais. So it wouldn’t be impossible. Who knows where Bell might be in terms of strength when the war games finally roll around? And whether that will be enough to defeat the Apollo familia? But I’ll certainly be equally interested in seeing the process of getting there, as well as the end product itself. Anyway, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thank you for reading my post and see you next week!

ED Sequence

ED: 「」 () by ()

So Dale continues being an extremely doting father-like figure who cannot bear to be parted from Latina. This guy’s just obsessed. Every waking moment, he can’t stop thinking about her and what kind of presents he could potentially get her. Latina herself greatly misses Dale, and Kenneth encourages her to find a focus to channel her feelings into. In this case, learning how to make Shepherd’s Pie for Dale to enjoy when he finally returns. This made for a relatively light, cute and fluffy episode, and the deep bond is evident between these two, despite the fact they’ve not known each other for long. However, the actual mission itself exposed a dark side to the series I hadn’t even been aware of myself.

While I’ve come from reading the manga, which mostly portrays things from Latina’s perspective, it was really fascinating to finally get an insight into Dale’s perspective through the anime. While Latina feels the need to hide from Dale her ability to use magic and that she was perceived as evil by the demon villagers, it turns out Dale has a few skeletons that he’s keeping in the closet. Namely that he’s often enlisted to kill demons, who are Latina’s fellow brethren. Even though he justifies it through the fact he would equally kill a human too when hired, I do not find myself convinced. And I find the stark contrast between the emotionless killer and doting father extremely jarring. This must have been a side to Dale that Kenneth, Rita and the other pub regulars were aware about. And like Latina, I hadn’t been aware of it myself. I would be quite fascinated to see how it would play out when they inevitably discover each other’s secrets. Maybe it won’t happen within this single cour, but it’s bound to happen sometime down the line, right? As noted by many characters, Latina’s a really smart kid, and she’ll eventually grow older and begin to pick up on these things.

For now, it seems like Latina will continue working at the pub, while Dale continues his daytime job of adventuring, with a side gig of carrying out political missions for a prominent Duke who happens to be his pal’s father. In fact, Chloe’s visit may even indicate that Latina will start going to school at some point in the near future. So far, Maho Film’s been doing a fantastic job of adapting content, especially considering that this is their debut. While the animation can be basic at times, I get the impression they’ve got pretty solid fundamentals and it looks pretty damn good to my eyes. Anyway, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thanks for reading my post, and see you next time around!

Note: I haven’t quite decided whether I want to pick up this show or not, but you’ll find out when the schedule drops.

「Like Someone In Love」

(Author’s Note: I’m filling in for MissSimplice on Giventhis week. Thanks for reading!)

What I would say about Given after two episodes, aside from the fact that I rather like it, is that it fills a niche we don’t see filled in anime too often. Several, in fact. A rock anime that takes the music pretty seriously, a romance between guys that doesn’t appear to be mostly about pandering, and a musing on the art of teaching. The latter is an especially fascinating subject to me and while I suppose it’s probably not going to be a huge part of the series going forward, it’s been dealt with in a very intelligent way thus far.

Having labored through the process of trying to learn to play the guitar (and discovering that I wasn’t naturally gifted at it) I definitely empathize with Mafuyu here. The tuning thing especially annoyed me, as with my tin ear and lack of an auto-tuner it took me forever to do it every time. And with a guitar (Ritsuka wasn’t kidding) the smallest thing can knock it out of tune. Putting it in the case, taking it out of the case, humidity changes, temperature changes, looking at it funny… It sounds like such a small thing but to a newbie trying to get a grip that – and callouses – are a big hurdle to overcome.

My favorite part of this episode, honestly, was the uneventful first part which basically consisted of Ritsuka’s internal monologue about teaching, Ritsuka explaining stuff to Mafuyu, Mafuyu saying “Un” and Ritsuka grimacing comically. It has to drive him a little bit crazy that a total noob has such an amazing axe (and I think not even Ritsuka realizes just how amazing it is) and a total lack of appreciation for it. I totally get Ritsuka getting frustrated with Mafuyu because as an audience member, I find his lack of response frustrating myself. But the truth is, up until the latter moments of this week Ritsuka really wasn’t asking him any questions.

It’s a truism that teaching is very differently than doing, but no less true for that. I also find that teaching someone else to do something almost invariably changes your perspective on doing that thing yourself, an effect whose significance cannot be overstated. Especially for someone as young as Ritsuka who himself still has so much to learn, this can be an incredibly valuable experience for him as a musician. Setting aside the romance angle (which we know is coming) his relationship with Mafuyu – while frustrating – is already paying dividends for him.

I’m also enjoying the interplay between the two younger lads and the two college dudes, Hiiragi and Haruki. As Ritsuka takes Mafuyu under his wing it’s clear that they’ve already done so with Ritsuka, and they watch over his mentoring of Mafuyu with affectionate amusement. At the studio in Shimo-Kitazawa (which is the live music and general hipster capital of Tokyo with no other area coming close) Mafuyu has a new world slowly open up to him. Hell, he has no idea what pickups or pegs are, never mind what an amp is and how to use it.

Inevitably (this is a story after all) Mafuyu proves have a good ear despite his total lack of musical knowledge. Ritsuka finally does start to ask questions and show Mafuyu that he’s interested in who he is, but the first one is a bit of a bomb scare – Mafuyu didn’t get the Gibson from his father because he doesn’t have one. But the second question is more fruitful. “What’s your favorite song?” yields a demonstration rather than an answer – and Ritsuka now knows that his pupil has a gift which his band can actively make use of.

It sounds funny for me to say after rebutting the charge against Kono Oto Tomare!, but the one thing I’ve found a bit frustrating in the first two eps of Given is the almost total lack of actual music. That should change now though, what with Mafuyu learning a few chords and showing off his pipes. I’m enjoying the depiction of the mundane reality of being in a band – like the need for a part-time job (or jobs), and the romance element is surely on the horizon, but ultimately music is surely going to be a major determiner of just how successful Given will be as a series.

Preview