Amun: Note: This is the second to last week of this season’s weekly summary, with several shows wrapping up. I’m going to have to take a break next season due to IRL, but hopefully this continues in some format (may go to a bi-weekly post, we’ll see). Until then, enjoy (we have unofficial ratings this week)!
Vanitas – 12 [FINAL]
Amun: Our favorite vampire bois have ended their run with…a whimper. These final two episodes feel like backdoor pilots (which I HATE) rather than a meaningful arc conclusion. The good news is that a second season is already confirmed, and apparently it’s quite a good arc. Overall, I liked the execution of Vanitas far more than the premise – I’m still a little confused as to what all the world’s mechanics are (there’s a mirror Paris, history’s been rewritten so that vampires exist, and despite all that, we STILL don’t know if Jeanne is a curse bearer…). Speaking of Jeanne, I think she’s a wonderful waifu, but she had far too much screentime (I’d prefer to see more of Noe’s cat). I hope that’s remedied in the upcoming season, but really that was my main complaint. Vanitas is infuriating, but he’s supposed to be; Noe isn’t a wallflower and surprisingly nuanced – quite a refreshing duo. One of this season’s best. Amun’s unofficial rating: 7.5/10 (with a 5/10 being average – if you use a 7/10 as average, then this is 8.5/10).
Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi – 8-9
Wooper: It’s fitting that a show starring gods that can break the sound barrier would outpace its audience in the move from one arc to another. Episode 8 detailed the success of the coup d’etat in Zoble – or more accurately, it spent 10 minutes on fight scenes with its Emperor and Empress, 10 minutes on major developments for Gil and Rin’s characters, and one minute on a list of bullet points detailing the success of the coup. I enjoyed getting to witness Gil’s rebirth as an Idaten (it was a smart way of repurposing the show’s least valuable player), but the series has been all about the conflict in Zoble for weeks now, and it flaked on the strategic aspects of the protagonists’ mission at the very end. Idaten-tachi didn’t slow down for even a second in the coup’s aftermath, either, shifting its focus to the villains in episode 9. The subplot about Brandy’s children resurfaced in a big way here, since her offspring will clearly play a major role in rebuilding Earth’s demon population, but they’re so ineffectual without the Demon Lord’s support that it’ll take another timeskip to make them truly relevant. Can Idaten-tachi’s plot support another jump forward when it’s already running a million miles an hour? Probably not, but this show has already demonstrated a tendency to do whatever the hell it wants – more power to it, I guess.
Hamefura – 12 [FINAL]
Amun: Hamefura’s sophomore season had some uneven moments. However, I’d say it pulled itself together and got back on track at the end of the season. I liked coming back to Keith (and putting him back in the running). The cast expanded a bit more than I liked (I think Sora is a completely unnecessary character), and the overall tension was severely lessened since the doom flags are gone. Until the last episode! It feels like now the true sequel can begin (although I haven’t seen if a third season is confirmed). Our main core is still extremely loveable, but I worry that with graduation, we’ll see less screentime for some of the mains (I don’t mind dropping Mary – she’s completely redundant at this point). It feels like we’ve fallen a bit back into reverse-harem territory, as Bakarina can no longer feasibly feign ignorance of her admirers. Hamefura was special in it’s fresh take on the subgenre, but it feels like it’s running out of ideas. I’m still hopeful for another season, though. Amun’s unofficial rating: 5/10 (or average).
Boku No Hero Academia – 112
Amun: Well that was certainly an…arc of My Hero (Villain) Academia. I don’t really know what to think – there were some good ideas that were executed unevenly. I particularly enjoyed looking at the villain backstories/power-ups using the hero format; unfortunately, I don’t think all of the backstories (particularly Himiko) landed. This arc felt like a Marvel movie that’s contractually obligated, and you know is needed for the big ensemble tentpole, but you really can’t remember 5 minutes after watching. I do not like Re-Destro, and honestly, I’m having some trouble caring about the League of Villains (or whatever on earth the new name is, ugh). Shigaraki’s backstory was pretty good, but I don’t 100% understand why All for One picked someone who is the quirk embodiment of nihilism as his successor – come to think of it, I don’t fully understand what All for One was after anyways (I guess he wanted to take quirks and give them to people who needed them?). Anyways, I know a big showdown is coming next, so I’m excited for that – except I can’t help but feel a little empty after this season from one of my favorite shows. Amun’s unofficial rating: 5/10 (or average).
Shinigami Bocchan – 11 [FINAL]
Amun: My dark horse of the season firmly goes to Shinigami Bocchan. I’ll have to double check, but I believe this is the first 3DCG anime I’ve watched all the way through – and thoroughly enjoyed, nonetheless. With a ham-handed premise, confined setting, and limited cast, I didn’t think I’d make it through. But here we are, and I’m delighted by the second season announcement. What makes this anime special? Staying true to itself. The cast is a delight, the premise is unwavering (there’s a huge, obvious problem, so no need to invent useless drama), and the world is surprisingly engaging. What’s more, the mystery isn’t spoon-fed to the viewer, and is left largely unresolved. My biggest theory at the moment is that Momma bocchan knows way more than she’s letting on, and is secretly being super helpful to our kill-ey boi (she’s the one who sent Alice to him after all, and she’s delaying handing over the family seat to Walther for no particularly good reason). I’m also betting that the grave that young Duke was playing on is Alice’s mother – whose body is with the other witch? Weird. There’s some weird connection with his grandfather and Alice’s mom too – the suspense. At any rate, this was delightfully light fare, and I’m very excited for the second season (even if I know they’ll have to up the stakes). Amun’s unofficial rating: 7.5/10 (or Very good – equivalent of 8.5/10 on a 7/10 average scale).
Love Live! Superstar!! – 6-7
Wooper: I’ve been more than happy with Superstar’s performance on a week to week basis this season, but there was some slippage in the first of these two episodes. That’s a subjective opinion, of course (and one that lacks knowledge of other installments in the franchise), but even massive Love Live fans would be hard-pressed to defend the show’s pressing of the big red sympathy button during episode 6. The multiple flashbacks to Chi-chan’s experience with playground bullies, along with her indebtedness to Kanon for sticking up for her, felt hollow in their lack of specificity. Rather than go back to that tired idea multiple times in the same episode, I’d have liked to see Chisato win her dance competition before joining Liella, so we could witness the fulfillment of her goal to succeed without Kanon’s help. Episode 7 was a great deal more entertaining, packing a student council election, a brief noir spoof, and a reconnaissance mission into a larger story exploring Hazuki’s character (it also felt like the first chapter of a two-parter, so any missing pieces could be put on hold for next time). It’s not as though Superstar 06 was devoid of fun – the quartet’s episode-ending song was energetic in its choreography and animation – but everything to do with Chi-chan brought it down a notch. Now that we’ve closed the book on her solo act, though, I’m ready to follow the series through the rest of summer and into the fall season.
ARE YOU SERIOUS? DID YOU EVEN PaY ATTENTION? AFO WANTS TO CREATE THE EMBODIMENT OF CHAOS AND DESTRUCTION. THE FACT THAT TENKO IS THE GRANDCHILD OF NANA MAKES HIS MOTIVES MORE SINISTER.
THE BACKSTORIES FLESH OUT THE LEAGUE (SOME OF THEM) AND MAKE THEM MORE SYMPATHETIC. OF COURSE I SPEAK AS SOMEONE WHO HAS READ THE MANGA AND PREFER IT OVER THE TRASH ANIME ESPECIALLY AFTER S5.
If you read the manga version of MVA you would appreciate it more.
I’m an anime only, so I have no knowledge of the manga – I might have to check out this arc though.
From what I’ve seen though, AFO doesn’t seem to be blindly destroying as much as building a world in the way he wants – he’s creating the Nomos, gave his brother a quirk, transferred a bunch of quirks between people to create an army…it doesn’t seem like someone who is just tearing down, but someone who is building a New World Order. Tenko doesn’t seem to have any real strategy yet, just is kind of doing whatever he wants (is “free”).
Of course, it being Nana’s grandchild is super sus – I don’t believe we know how she died yet in the anime either.
The backstories were a good idea, but they didn’t quite pull it off imho.
Well they pulled them off better in the manga.
If COVID didn’t screw up their scheduling so badly, I would be of the opinion that MHA s5 could’ve been a lot stronger and perhaps the third film would’ve been well out of the way by now (early 2021 perhaps before s5’s premiere) instead of forcing the production committee to make Bones pivot the entirety of this season around marketing this film (which I heard is probably the worst and the most unnecessary of the three films released so far, and yet made the most money of the three dubiously, with the fujos predictably simping over the movie-exclusive character).
But now? What we have is largely a greatest hits collection of MVA, where the team did the best they could under these horrible circumstances, but should’ve benefitted from being much longer in the adaptation.
And now I’m shuddering to imagine Toho wanting those Mugen Train bucks with the next MHA film (or films) and adapting the next arc as a film (or releasing season 6 as a series of TV-quality films in theaters and released monthly).