Spring 2020 Summary: Week 6-8

Mario: So a few weeks has passed, and this thin season has gotten thinner and thinner with shows affected by the pandemic and people died left and right, sometimes NOT because of the COVID-19 (like the devastating news that Zac Bertschy over ANN passed away. Rest in peace man). Anyways, all this sad news makes me more appreciative with shows that are still in the running. We’ve been slacking a bit here with a couple shows I have yet to follow up, but rest assured that next week we’ll be back in full steam.

Kakushigoto 4-8

Mario: So about Kakushigoto, I enjoyed the episodes as I was watching, but when it comes to the plot details, unfortunately all these gags muddle and I have a hard time recalling what was happening. I guess the reason for it is because of its gag-based nature. At its best, all the gags set up some unexpected situations. At its worst, it feels random at times. From episode 6 onward however, the show improved remarkably as the episode has connected stories. Episode 6 deals with Gotou both doing the fan meeting and going out with Hime while making sure that Hime doesn’t find out about his job and episode 7 is all about adopting the dog and heritage which I think is a pretty nice theme. The show still holds its cards close in regards to the flash-forward 18 yo Hime (Gotou is still out of the picture in that timeline). There’s also a lot of gags about the manga industry and Gotou random harem but the beating heart is all about Gotou and Hime bond.

Hamefura 6-9

Amun: Man, I know it’s lame to use COVID-19 as an excuse, but it has just sapped all my energy in regards to writing (about anime or otherwise).  Feels like Hamefura is suffering a bit from the midseason doldrums as well.  These episodes were certainly not bad, but they definitely seemed to be putting the brakes on the armada of ships heading for Catarina.  That said, I’m all about Royal Magic Academy Hijinks: Catarina Edition (or, fine, “Princess Lover” if you want to use the canonical title).  These little slices of life are endearing and fun – AND there’s even a little plot progression (meeting her friend from a previous life was really quite sweet).  I’m also dying at how everyone in this show be thirsting, while our girl Catarina is just proper hungry ^_^.   Also, hats off to Mary being the jealous fiance…except she’s jealous that her fiance is spending time with Catarina!  Nice twist there.  Overall, still top tier for this season, but I do feel we’re slowing down just a hair.  Probably getting ready for the epic finale – with candies and comradery (and probably little to no actual romance).

Hachi-nan 4-8

Amun: Let’s check back in with our unlucky/actually-super-lucky eighth isekai boi.  In these four episodes, there’s a lot done to advance the plot and explain how our magic hero gets money, titles, ladies…and obligations.  Also, let’s just take a moment and appreciate Hachi-nan where it’s due – many shows are labelled harem.  Few shows ACTUALLY manage to get the MC a LEGITIMATE harem – but Hachi-nan does.  Straight asks the future wife if she’s cool with concubines (she is).  So credit where credit is due – no waltzing around the topic here.  This adventuring party is DTF (down to fly) – except for the one guy without magic.  I feel bad for him.  Pretty much everyone in this show is a generic character if we’re being honest, but their journey and the relationship especially between MC and Elise is decently done.  There’s also a tournament and a spooky dungeon.  Let’s face it: this is a filler show in a filler season.  It’s not making anyone’s top lists, but I’ve been enjoying it and it’s exceeded my (very low) expectations.

Nami yo Kiite Kure 6-8

Mario: And our girl Hiname has one crazy adventure after another and episode 6 and 7 tie her talk show to one loose thread from before: Minare’s ex-neighbor Oki-san and his weird behavior. Minare is such a fascinating character, she’s a firecracker and she’s often too self-centre and obvious to really know what her action might cause to the others – in this case Oki-san and multiple false charges from Minare, not to mention that she’s the one who caused the issue in the first place. Not that we don’t see the hilarious twist coming, especially we know that Minare used to live just right above him. With that I have a feeling that the show will integrate Makie and her brother’s story into Minare’s radio topic someday.

Tamayomi 6-8

Mario: Tamayomi might not hold up much in terms of story and production, but I still find it very charming. The last few episodes have been especially rough (just look at the clip above), not to the level of its episode 3 by all mean, but we can see more ugly CG models in there. In terms of a sports show, it’s a perfectly functionable one, now that the team starts the tournament and every character proves to have their own roles in the team. For this sparse season I have no complaint to keep this on my watch-list.