Bishounen Tanteidan – 5-6
Wooper: There was a reason I opted not to follow Bishounen Tanteidan on a weekly basis, and this hour of the series showcased it beautifully; for me, listening to this author’s dialogue is like overdosing on Ambien. All of his characters talk circuitously, and they don’t manage to generate intrigue in the process, either. Take episode 5, for instance – in its final minutes, all Doujima needs to do to expose Lai as a cheater is watch him carefully, since she knows he’s taking cues from an invisible man. Instead, we have to suffer through her internal monologue about concentrating all her thoughts on a single point, which leads her to realize that she has to look “at her own self” because she’s been accepted by her new friends, who she really wants to help by exposing Lai as a cheater. See how we looped around to where we started? This show is full of shit like that, and even when it’s not skipping Composition 101 to do donuts in the parking lot, it’s engaging in gab sessions about art that have nothing to do with the smaller stories it wants to tell (see episode 6). When even a windbag like me can’t appreciate your meandering script, you know something has gone sideways. Dropped.
Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song – 11
Helghast: It was me, the Archive all along. I’m actually okay with the big villain being the global management system as it’s the only entity capable of overriding the AI population in a murderous and sometimes ironic frenzy as well as developing a motive over one hundred to erase the soft squishy human beings. I’m glad it wasn’t painfully obvious despite its construction progress being featured in the OP and the looming shadow it casts whenever a wide-angle shot of Nialand shows up. I think it is attributed to the fact that it was very passive during the entire Singularity Project by functioning as a hangout spot for Vivy/Mastsumoto and maintenance system in the background. While Vivy may not have been the primary reason for the uprising, her song certainly played a role in it as evidenced by all the other bots singing along while going on a rampage. The Archive could have used her song as a tipping point for its reasoning to go rogue when all the conditions have been met including the completion of the tower. After all, if AIs could independently create something of their own accord, then humanity could be perceived to be unnecessary and be cut out of the equation.
For a terrorist organization devoted to being antagonistic against AI, Toak really sucks at being prepared to defend itself from bigger and better machines. I would expect that they would have heavier-caliber weapons than a freakin’ pistol when fighting off industrial sized robots but having a clone of Elizabeth is a welcome addition to the team that will inevitably face down the Archive after they’re through dodging satellite drops from low-orbit. I could see the ending being something along the lines of Vivy sacrificing herself and incorporating a piece of herself into every AI on the planet, just like Grace on the Metal Float, in order to end the AI apocalypse. It would match the show’s themes thus far with AI understanding what singing from the heart in order to make everyone happy.
Godzilla SP – 6-7
Wooper: The last-minute Godzilla name-drop in episode 7 was a hell of an anticlimax. What, a monster we’ve known about for weeks is just now receiving the name we’ve been waiting to hear since the start? I know I’m a month behind, so those of you who are caught up may be satisfied with how the story has played out, but I’m feeling a bit deflated. The sea creature hereafter known as Godzilla isn’t even the series’ main focus at this point – the stegosaurus on the golf course and the green monster in the containment chamber tangled with far more prominent characters during these episodes. All the talk about prophecies and higher dimensions has me kind of bamboozled, and the lady who keeps quoting Walt Whitman isn’t exactly a beacon of clarity, either. I can feel myself disengaging from the series at this point, since we’re halfway through and our two bespectacled prodigies are still working at opposite ends of the plot, but I’ll try another couple episodes to see how the series sets up for its conclusion.
Spoilers: The Big G still doesn’t arrive for few more episodes (a.k.a. the last fourth). ymmv if the payoff was worth it or not.
Meanwhile, I’m still wondering if Mars Red will have a proper payoff to its current meandering couple of episodes post-ep7. Granted, it’s probably closer this time around since Code Zero finally has some plan, Rufus is doing something now (having colluded with Nakajima so he can lead the artificial vampire unit) with kidnapping Aoi and luring Defrott into a trap, and thankfully Maeda’s proper return, though given that he’s a vampire, he probably not alright. At least the theatrical stage allusions are back which I haven’t seen in a while, with Defrott performing Orpheus.
Back Arrow though, even during a so-called “breather” episode, threatened to choke the remaining life out of this show with an eeeeeeeextra long infodump from Shu about the nature of Lingalind and how it connects to “God” (a nerve center connecting many other worlds but it must sustain itself with life energy) and what it’ll take to destroy it; even going so far as to explain why Shu came back after seemingly dying (it’s his own Briheight walking around and disintegrating while the real flesh and blood Shu is sleeping in the Granedger lmao), in addition to just erasing Arrow’s Destroyer mode right on the spot. So travelling to the center to meet “God” should be a simple 2 episode finale right? Right?
Not before we have to resolve that dumb Rekka subplot (where Kai was stupid enough to think Arrow killed the emperor despite the fact that they heard him sacrificing himself during that big battle with Rudolph), so we can have Arrow grow with the Power of Friendship rofl.
F-Ran actually had a better episode than usual for this series, though it was because we finally got some backstory about the horny fairy’s mother cheating on his father (explaining his animosity towards the fire fairy, because she hooked up with his father) complete with implied sex being heard. Just too bad it has to sit through the usual human plot (involving a housewife committing adultery against her family’s wishes) that tries to have some tenuous parallel to the horny fairy’s own backstory; until that housewife committed suicide after breaking up with the adulterous man, shortly after the magical boy segment. That was a major bummer…
Addendum: And we now have another show that’s obsessed with getting to the endgame of the manga regardless if the adaptation wrecks the pacing and character moments since Moriarty is hellbent on getting to The Final Problem by cramming the two four-chapter arcs into just 2 episodes. I swear this is becoming a serious problem now for manga adaptations these days.
Anyways, this episode is a loose adaptation of Conan Doyle story, The Sign of the Four, only that the story is changed around to accommodate the shortened runtime and shoves Milverton into the plot so that it’s revealed that Mary was blackmailed into finding the treasure to pay him off for something, or else her marriage to Watson will be called off. Merely an excuse for Sherlock to go after Milverton as well, but this episode wasn’t too bad, even if it should’ve had more time to breathe. I’m just more concerned with how the last 3 episodes will be handled though.
Casino wasn’t my favorite Pretty Boys Detective Club arc, but the next ones are a bit better. I’m still enjoying it, despite the verbosity and more circular talking than my sweet grandma.