Winter 2026 Check-In – Weeks 7-10

Wooper: I don’t know why I said I’d write a first impression for Rooster Fighter in the intro to the last check-in post. Maybe I was on drugs – though certainly not as big a dose as I’d need to enjoy the show itself (as befitting an Adult Swim series). It’s just the three regulars plus Ganglion, then, with thoughts on a bunch of episodes crammed into only a handful of paragraphs. The Spring Preview takes priority, I’m afraid – it ought to go up in four days or so, so be on the lookout for that as the winter season begins to wind down.

You and I Are Polar Opposites – 7-9

I’m beginning to get fatigued of all these socially anxious anime characters who find a friend group and learn to express themselves. Polar Opposites’ representative in that field is Nishi, Tani’s co-worker in the library after school – she’s twice as quiet as he is, so the show’s primary strength (conversation) hardly applies to her. Of these three episodes, Nishi only appeared in number 7, and it was a warranted appearance, resolving her encounter with Yamada during the previous episode’s culture festival. Still, she’s my least favorite of the show’s otherwise fun cast – thankfully, the other two weeks in this batch were primarily concerned with our main couple, especially when Tani’s birthday rolled around. Teenage staples like falling asleep on a phone call and celebrating with store-bought cakes brought a smile to my face, but the funniest moment of all came at the very end of episode 9, when Suzuki terastallized in excitement after kissing her boyfriend goodnight. As for the show’s secondary couple, their non-relationship underwent a bit of a stress test the week beforehand, as Taira insisted that Azuma discard her nonchalant persona and “get angry” over her middle school friends’ poor treatment of her. I’m still not sure how I feel about his phrasing, but it made for a sharp change of pace.

Ikoku Nikki – 7-10

We were gifted some excellent episodes of this show over the past month – what else is new? If any of you have read the manga, I’d be curious to know whether the anime is replicating or altering its structure, particularly when it came to episode 9. That was the one that cut between four conversations in four different time periods, all related to the topic of self-knowledge, before Asa (who struggled to define her own image across these chapters) rejected all the participants’ musings and walked into her private desert. As high as I am on this show, I still had difficulty with that framework – not decoding it, but connecting with it – though I’m glad that Ikoku Nikki offers some resistance to its audience (it’d risk dullness otherwise). There’s more resistance in the form of Asa’s petulance across a couple of these episodes, beginning with her discovery of the journal her mom left behind for her and culminating in her secretly cutting school, with discontentment lingering even as the season heads into its final stretch. Regardless of whether Ikoku Nikki receives a sequel, I don’t expect her unhappiness to be resolved in the near future, as this just isn’t that kind of show. A line of Juno’s from episode 10 clarified that for me; in regards to Makio’s bond with Asa, she said, “There’s no ‘until so and so’ or ‘until this is over.’” Ikoku Nikki isn’t arranging its scenes in service of particular reveals or breakthroughs – we’re not watching until Asa processes her grief or until Makio overcomes her resentment of her sister. We’re following these characters’ lives as they live them, no matter the order or intensity of events.

Sousou no Frieren S2 – 7-8

If someone asked you what a demon general was, how would you respond? Putting aside the preface you might give about demons being fictional, it probably wouldn’t take long, since “general” is an obvious indicator of strength or leadership. But if you were Frieren, or more accurately, the author of her sequel season’s seventh episode, you might spend upwards of a minute delivering an answer. This is one aspect of Frieren that I don’t enjoy – its occasional tendency to use many words when few will do, particularly on the subjects of mana and demons. This mini-arc has been very talky in general – often inappropriately so, with Frieren and Fern chatting calmly while pinned down by deadly beams of magic raining from the sky, and Stark and Genau pausing to discuss their battle strategy while their enemy stood just meters away. (Shouldn’t you have done that during the preceding hours you spent around the campfire?) Of course, episode 8’s action scenes helped compensate for this, especially the fight against the aforementioned demon general, the speed and frequently airborne nature of which exceeded even the first season’s highlights. Revolte launching his half-serpentine body skyward to pursue Genau’s magically winged form was cool as hell – frankly, I found it hard to believe that Stark could keep up with either of those two titans, but it’s nice that he had a chance to play hero, since he’s typically on the lower end of his party’s pecking order.

Ganglion – 19-21

These three episodes really lent themselves to combined coverage, as they detailed the departure and swift return of Belve Squad’s hated Colonel Shadow. Just as it was looking like Isobe might be promoted from lower management to middle management, a decision was handed down from on high that crushed his hopes of advancement – and after his wife had already gotten her hopes up. A story bitterly familiar to company men the world over, I’m sure, but that’s what Ganglion does best, especially while putting its own weird spin on corporate politics. The show’s head of HR wears an elaborate cow headpiece (which put me in mind of Mizaistom from Hunter x Hunter’s Election Arc), and one Belve squad member wore an unexplained alien costume during their riverside operation in episode 20. Bizarre stuff – but there was a bit of pathos surrounding Colonel Shadow’s character that broke through the absurdity. The framing of his final moments in the office, where he defiantly walked out of the room with his possessions piled into a classic cardboard box, as well as his private confession to Isobe that his family was falling apart, made his character a little more interesting than it had been before. With just three episodes left before Ganglion’s conclusion, I wonder whether the show will opt for the catharsis of Isobe quitting in protest over Shadow’s reinstatement, or if his return will play into the show’s cynicism about company life in Japan (with a slightly softened view of the bosses therein).