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「光まとう街」 (Hikari matō machi)
“City Adorned in Light”
Before heading off to university, Safu offers Shion what may the most refreshingly direct confession I’ve seen in a mainstream anime – “I want your sperm. Let’s have sex right now”.
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「亡環上のネクローシス」 (Boukanjō no Nekurōshisu)
“Missing Link Necrosis”
Thank goodness, the humor is back in Steins;Gate, even if it’s been suitably scaled back to reflect the gravity of the situation. But I definitely know the way I’m going to introduce myself the next time I’m in Akihabara:
“Hello, I am mad scientist. So cool. Sonuvabitch!”
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「浮春の郷」 (Ukiharu no Sato)
“Floating Spring Village”
Natsume may have leveled up to a real boss aloha shirt, but in every other respect Natsume Yuujinchou continues about its business as if it had never left the airwaves for a couple of years.
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「証明」 (Shoumei)
“Proof”
Sometimes in anime, you have a character who, despite their physical absence through death or distance, hovers over the proceedings at all times. Though he’s been dead since the second episode, Shiro continues to reach out and impact the story.
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「ようこそ閃学園へ！」 (Youkoso Hirameki Gakuen he!)
“Welcome to Hirameki Academy!”
Going in, I would say my highest expectation for R-15 was that it would be a guilty pleasure. And after one episode, I can safely say that expectation was met, and possibly exceeded.
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「びしょぬれネズミ」 (Bishonure Nezumi)
“Drowned Rat”
If it’s Thursday it must be NoitaminA, if it’s the second slot it must be an edgy fantastical series, and if it’s BONES sci-fi the plot must be indecipherably complex. So far, No. 6 looks to be meeting demand in all three areas.
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「形而下のネクローシス」 (Keijika no nekurōshisu)
“Physical Necrosis”
I’ve felt from the beginning is that this series has been exceptionally smart in the way it dishes out information. There’s always enough exposition every week to keep me from feeling completely at sea, but each bit of new information seems to raise two questions for every one it answers.
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「妖しきものの名」 (Ayashiki Mono no Na)
“The Name of a Monster”
Years ago, Roger Ebert (from my hometown of Chicago) wrote the following review of the abysmal film “North”: “I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie.” Well, I love Natsume Yuujinchou. I love love love love love Natsume Yuujinchou.
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「鬼事」 (Onigokko)
“Tag”
No other currently airing series does filler as well, but last week’s was pretty flimsy even by those standards, and it’s nice to get back to some plot-advancing development.
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「小学生がやって来る ヤァ！ヤァ！ヤァ！」 (Shougakusei ga Yattekuru Ya! Ya! Ya!)
“The Grade Schoolers Have Come, Ya! Ya! Ya!”
I suspect a good measure of how you’ll like Ro-Kyu-Bu! is going to be tied to the question of how you feel about a series that introduces itself with an extended scene of five 6th-grade girls in the shower.