This week’s Ousama Ranking comes as a doubleheader – for an unusual reason. Normally, when I don’t get around to writing for a week, it’s a personal issue of time management. In this case, our double feature comes because I just didn’t feel I could fairly judge episode 7 “Prince’s Apprenticeship”, without seeing the following episode. Let’s take a look!
Continue reading “Ousama Ranking – 7-8 [Prince’s Apprenticeship/Sacrifice of Dreams]”
This week was certainly an episode of Ousama Ranking. It was not an episode I’ll remember for long.
“King of the Underworld” was a bit of a chore to watch. With several flashbacks and a fighting sequence that we had basically seen before, there wasn’t the series’ usual heart in this one.
Continue reading “Ousama Ranking – 06 [King of the Underworld]”
I’ve been harder on Ousama Ranking than any other reviewer I’ve seen. I’ve criticized, nitpicked, complained. But it’s not out of spite – it’s out of love, because I can see the immense potential here. So let me be the first to say – “Intertwining Plots” was absolutely fantastic. It earned the highest compliment that I can give a seasonal episode: I watched it twice in a row. This episode was everything I want out of this show – and more. Let’s take a look!
Alright, this week’s goal is to generate ZERO controversy with my post. Just a nice, simple post saying how great this episode was, how I love the show, and how everything is hunky dory….well, that was the plan anyways. Unfortunately, this week had some issues. Looks like controversy’s back on the menu!
True colors emerge around episode three, and I would say this episode should provide an excellent barometer to determine if you want to continue watching. How does it fare? Let’s find out!
Hello and welcome to my ramblings on this season’s prospective dark horse – Ousama Ranking. Truth be told, I was looking at other shows to review before seeing the premiere of Ousama Ranking (which ended up being one of the last shows to start its run). So far, I’m happy with my choice, but some storm clouds are on the horizon for our tiny king’s adventure. Let’s take a look!
Continue reading “Ousama Ranking – 02 [The Prince and Shadow]”
Amun: It’s been my pleasure hosting you for this summer season. With fall upon us, I’ll be handing the reins off to Wooper again. Not to worry though, I’ll still be here for my hot takes on the latest shounen trash!
Amun: Slime Isekai finishes out the second half of its sophomore season…to mixed results. Frankly, this season spent far too much time talking and far too little time doing – the first half was basically a political conference. The second half, and the finale in particular, were some good old fashioned beatdowns that were quite cathartic given Clayman’s nonsense. We also have the looming spectre of the final boss baddie, which I’m not entirely sold on. As far as finales go, this one was pretty good – especially with all the homages (most of all being the clown’s “You’re already dead”). I actually want to see more of the other Harlequins troupe members in coming seasons, because they’ve turned into decent characters. All in all, a pretty good season (more the back half than the first), and an excellent OP – I’m pretty happy. Amun’s unofficial grade: 7/10 (5/10 being average).
Wooper: When a fictional character spends a great deal of time pondering the meaning of their existence, it’s sometimes a sign that the author who created them isn’t sure of that meaning either. That seems to be the case where Fena (the “Pirate Princess” from this series’ title) is concerned, at least if episode 8 is any indication. A slow-moving installment designed to give the characters time to recuperate from a naval battle, the episode played host to a lot of ponderous dialogue about who Fena truly is. An ordinary girl? A princess? A witch who puts everyone she encounters under her spell, as Shitan seemed to reveal? We won’t find out until reaching Eden, the story’s final destination, but for now she exists as an object of fascination for three men and not much else. Many of their conversations with her have involved grand proclamations and desirous stares – it’s all getting to be a bit tiresome. I would have loved to see her level up as a pirate or learn more about her destiny before reaching this point in the story, but as long as one or both of those checkpoints arrive before long, I’ll be alright. Plus there’s still the memory of Fena’s excellent episode 7, with its ship-shredding cannon fire and climactic boarding mission, to tide me over until the next big set piece.
Amun: I criticized Realist Hero before the season as a poor man’s Amagi Brilliant Park. Turns out…I was right. But, as I surmised, it wasn’t all bad – in fact, it wasn’t that bad at all. Realist Hero set realistic expectations, and met them. And you know what, that should be commended. I expected a straightforward power-fantasy, slightly political isekai. I got that, with serviceable characters, a moderate harem, and a plot with enough interesting situations to keep me engaged. Is it likely a high schooler makes all of these great judgement calls? No way (I’m also very concerned about Japan’s libido after seeing some of these recent protagonists – no wonder the population is declining). These final two episodes had some nice moments: I particularly liked the singing of the conquered national anthem, with the full expectation of execution. Solid moment. The season was wrapped up well, with the future conflicts pretty well telegraphed – I foresee an adequate amount of character creep, with a few new harem additions. A good way to judge your true opinion of an anime is to react to news of a sequel; in Realist hero’s case, I’m looking forward to it.
Continue reading “Summer 2021 – Weekly Summary Week 13 [FINAL]”
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)!
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).
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.
Wooper: Pirate Princess Fena may not be the most pleasant surprise of the year (that’d be Odd Taxi), but it has to rank pretty highly on that list. Taken together, these installments served as a major turning point for the adventure series, and I’d say it handled the transition with aplomb. Things got real starting in episode 5, where the previously cartoonish band of female pirates from several weeks back revealed themselves to be major players in the show’s universe. Their alluring Captain Grace led an operation that landed Fena back in captivity, and her crew pulled far fewer punches in the process. The Indiana Jones-ish descent of the episode dovetailed quite nicely with our heroes’ sudden imprisonment in an undersea cavern; they escaped near the start of episode 6, of course, but that was far from a copout. Rather than throw Yukimaru & Co. back into the fray, the series hunkered down for some good old-fashioned exposition regarding its larger plot – emphasis on “good.” I can’t remember the last time an anime dumped so many mythical countries, legendary swords, and ancestral warrior clans into my lap while keeping my full attention. Abel was a positively magnetic antagonist here, fully earning the wonder of his new prisoner and the hatred of his former lover in the process of explaining all these concepts to us. Add to that Yukimaru’s surprisingly emotional decision to undertake a solo rescue mission, and you’ve got a recipe for a killer second half of an already-engaging anime. More please!
Wooper: Re-Main just jumped the shark in a major way, but the question of how it’ll cross the finish line still interests me. After Minato’s memories were restored thanks to a five minute lecture from Chinu, he hit his head AGAIN in episode 8, this time maintaining his recollection of junior high but losing his cheery high school demeanor. Now he’s an overconfident asshole with the sort of anger issues that lead him to trash his room, and his seiyuu has been forced into mimicking Yuki Kaji’s babyrage voice in an effort to keep pace. The growl-off between Minato’s old self (which is new for those of us in the audience) and a surly former teammate made me embarrassed for everyone involved in the making of the scene, from the writers who had to play along with their boss’s Double Amnesia vision to the actors who had to pretend that it made any sense. Episode 9 did a decent job of bringing Minato back to Yamanami High and humbling him a bit in the process, but that hardly puts a dent in the whiplash created by this plot development. At this point, my curiosity about how the show plans to recover is morbid in nature, but hey, at least I’m curious.
Amun: Honestly, nothing really stood out to me this week – although I am a little behind on Fena. MHA was slightly better, and Iruma-kun ended the season on a high note. We’ll try again next week!
Amun: After last week’s controversial and personally disappointing episode, MVA is back on track. For some reason, it wasn’t clear until this week that these episodes are going to be origin stories for each league member – I think the other problems with Toga’s story overshadowed the mirrored “hero-origin” format: single enemy, going beyond one’s limits to overcome past problems, power of friendship, etc. Twice’s origin hit the right notes, largely due to his built-in humour and the fact that his quirk is pretty important to smoothing out plot problems. Now that I’ve understood what’s happening with My Villain Academy, I appreciate what the writers are going for. Some major plot developments look to be brewing – we know Shigaraki is connected to All-Might’s teacher, the previous One-For-All (I think we were told he’s her son?), and Dabi is being strangely built up as a character – he really didn’t get that much screen time in past seasons. With the earlier drauma from the Todoroki family – and given that one other major league member is a Nomos – I half suspect he’s the dead brother (he’s a zombie, uses fire, etc). Why else spend the first half of this season setting that up? That twist might be a bit on the nose, but this is MHA we’re talking about. Regardless, I’m happy to see our season’s major franchise back on track.
Wooper: I found this to be Idaten’s least daring episode to date, perhaps owing to the fact that all the demigods’ plans went off without a hitch. Ysley put the church of Sarabael under his thumb just by dangling Paula in front of their faces, and Rin/Hayato’s invasion of the Zoble Empire was the very picture of one-sided carnage. Some of the shots of the two of them working together were significant in terms of their evolving master/student relationship, but I don’t think we saw anything in episode 7 that we hadn’t seen before (unless you count Sarabael’s tower-heavy architecture, which kinda reminded me of Utena). The big surprise here was supposed to be the emergence of a self-styled Emperor from within the demon camp, but isn’t he just going to get his shit pushed in like everyone else? This show has only four weeks left, being a noitaminA entry, but even that number almost seems like too much, given the Saitama-sized gap that exists between Rin and everyone else. Just throw her into a string of fight scenes and dispatch all the villains one by one so we can get back to the strangeness and psychedelia of the early episodes, please.
Wooper: One of the things that most impresses me about this show is how consistently it generates fun and friendly banter between its female characters. Keke and Sumire bickered with each other all throughout this episode, but I never tired of listening to them bust out variations on their catchphrases or proclaim the supremacy of their favorite artistic field (School Idols vs. Show Business). Whether they were daring each other to practice in sweltering temperatures or thumb wrestling to secure a solo bed during an overnight trip, their antics kept me engaged in each of their scenes. This week’s trip to Kozushima was important for Kanon and Chisato, too, allowing them to take on individual challenges before their imminent reunion (whereupon Chisato will likely join the idol group). What’s interesting to me is that I don’t know which of them will have more success: Kanon with her lyrics or Chi-chan with her dancing. Regardless of who fails and who triumphs, Superstar has already succeeded in shifting Chisato’s focus so that it lines up with the other girls. She might win her competition and prove to herself that she can be a part of both worlds, or lose but remain satisfied because she’s found a different calling. This is all good stuff – now to wait for Liella to gain some ground on Sunny Passion in anticipation of the finale!