Welcome back to the mega post of Magia Record. After the stellar episode that was episode 9, the following three have been… unremarkable to me. There are some neat individual moments, mostly due to how well the direction is, but as a whole Magia Record introduces too many characters that it’s hard to keep up at times, while at the same times, the central mystery regarding finding Ui still yet to make any significant progress. With this amount of unresolved mysteries left, I really am in doubt that the finale next week is going to cover them all. That would mean with this pacing there’s a chance that there will be a second cour to wrap things up, but if that’s the case I’m not too interested to follow its second half.
Author: SuperMario
Winter 2020 Summary: Week 11
Mario: With Jibaku entering its 2-part episodes, I will skip it for a week. Other than that, it’s business as usual here. We nearly reach the end of this Winter Season now, and with the coronavirus glooming around the corner, schools, works and shops shutting down, I wish you guys stay safe and maybe spend these extra free time to catch up with anime that you have missed.
RikeKoi – 11-12
Wooper: This show stopped being fun the moment it entered dramatic territory. Himuro’s jealousy of Kanade and embarrassment at breaking her present for Yukimura were both painful in their presentation. Episode 11, in particular, was so bad that I had to avert my eyes from the screen multiple times just to get through it. The explanation of Himuro’s fateful trip on the stairs (which caused the present to break) was pitiful, as well. As it turned out, everything that happened in episode 11 was according to mangaka Yamamoto’s master plan, except for the moment when Himuro slipped and fell. When Yukimura points out that her scheme would have failed if not for that coincidence, her response was, “But she *did* trip, so there!” Pretty lame for a series with a science-based gimmick. The kiss in episode 12 (and the post-kiss analysis just before the final moments) fared much better, but the lousy setup that brought the show to that point prohibited me from sharing in the main couple’s happiness. At least the show is finally over, I guess.
Oshi ga Budokan – 10
Wooper: There was some nice animation in this one. ChamJam’s comeback performance, characters swooping across the frame in anticipation of Valentine’s Day, Kumasa fretting over his secret being revealed – it all looked great. Maina’s internal monologues might be unbearably saccharine, but there was plenty of humor to make up for it, the best of which was Eripiyo’s voice-replacing whiteboard. Why don’t more comedies make use of the sore throat trope, I wonder? Having people write instead of speak presents all sorts of opportunities for wordplay, character-breaking expressiveness, inadvertent reveals, etc. On the more dramatic side of things, we got another Maki/Yumeri scene that pushed their relationship into “perhaps it’s not just bait” territory. The only way I’d watch more of this show is if those two got their own spinoff. That’s not likely to happen, but based on the next episode preview, it seems that Maki will be getting a minor spotlight next week, so I’m actually looking forward to it!
Winter 2020 Summary: Week 10
22/7 – 09
Mario: 22/7’s attitude towards the idol industry is amusing. Cynical, but also accepting the fact that “being an idol is all about being exploited”, this attitude, plus the fact that they are willing to be manipulated by the orders of the Wall (yeah, the Wall is a massive jerk this week), make the cliffhanger very intriguing. How these girls deal with the new order will tell you exactly the ambition of this show. As for the main story this week, well, Ayaka is the main focus this week and as per 22/7’s standard, the flashback is way more interesting than the current event. In fact, except from taking open air onsen and eating hot pot, our girls do nothing. Ayaka’s flashback though, about her chemistry to her sisters is much more well-developed. Depending on how you look at the show, 22/7 is either smarter than it lets on, or blindfolded by how it does acknowledge the exploitation aspect of the idol industry, yet does nothing but accepting it.
ID:Invaded – 11
Wooper: I’ve got to hand it to whoever is handling series composition for this show: they’re bending over backwards to tie all of its illogical developments together. Every time Sakaido said “which must be why” during his fits of mid-sandstorm rationalization, I lost five IQ points. After every reference to Fukuda or Hondomachi’s brain holes giving them convenient mental functions, I took a shot. Every time John Walker was painted as a mastermind despite the impossibility of his influence, I fell deeper into an anime-imposed stupor. After half the episode, I was dumb, drunk, and drowsy – the perfect state of being to watch ID:Invaded. But hey, we learned John Walker’s true identity and saw Kiki wearing a bio-suit in a state of suspended animation! At least the show is playing its strongest cards at the appropriate time.
Magia Record – 09 [A World With Just Me]
Magia Record has been hit and miss so far, but I’m happy to say that the latest episode was pretty solid. In fact, it’s my second favorite episode from the show (the premiere still reigns). Magia Record’s tackle on loneliness and the bond between this girl Sana and the Artificial Intelligence Ai are handled with nuance and its emotionally powerful. Considering how we barely know any of them prior to this episode, I can say the show did a pretty good job that I legitimately care about them as the credit rolls.
Winter 2020 Summary: Week 9
Mario: It’s me and Wooper again contributing in this column for “less popular” shows this season. Many of them are falling apart as they wrap up, but that to be expected with any season. If we’re lucky, we have golden eggs but most of the time they are forgettable fluffs. Well, enough with metaphysical nonsense and let’s scroll down to see what this week has to offer.
RikeKoi – 10
Wooper: While watching this episode, I was surprised at its level of commitment to the characters’ academic presentations. We’ve only seen two Ikeda lab members pitch their research, which means we might spend the last two episodes watching the rest of the cast do the same. Before that, however, Himuro and Yukimura will have to work out the misunderstanding that threatens to drive a wedge between them (ruining not just their relationship, but their joint presentation). Yukimura giving a cortisol-lowering hug to Kanade just before her turn was an innocent gesture, but it’s a terrible betrayal in his partner’s mind. That plot is pretty stupid when you type it out, but I did pick up a hint of interest from Kanade, mostly based on her senpai’s unflapability. Girls do love confidence in men – could Himuro have detected something between the two that they’re both unaware of?
Somali to Mori no Kamisama – 08
Mario: I’ve come to realize that Somali the show fares much better when it focuses on the side characters instead of the main leads. The reason for that, I suppose, is that Somali and Golem’s chemistry is solid but has only one shade. By focusing on their relationship it becomes repetitive and gradually loses its impact. By examining other characters’ relationship towards the human race, or towards the person they love (like last week), the show draws out more context and dimensions to the central leads’ fondness for each other. This episode is entirely in flashback from a witch’s point of view, and that segment says so much about humanity’s frailness and skepticism when it comes to accepting other races. In addition to that, the witch’s world is gorgeously detailed and becomes my favorite setting out of this show. Somali’s looking good heading to the last stretch of its run.
Winter 2020 Summary: Weeks 7-8
Mario: Welcome to week 8 where we somehow only have one month left before the new season starts. Crazy, right? I still have lots to catch up on, especially Kuutei Dragons and Blade of the Immortal, so hopefully I can watch those in time for the next post. For now, enjoy our thoughts on these second tier shows.
ID:Invaded 8-9
Wooper: I had a good handle on episode 8 as I watched it. The show spent a great deal of time in Momoki’s desert psyche, which functioned as the setting for Sakaido and Fukuda’s miniature buddy movie. Moisture conservation tricks, quicksand escapes, and encouraging banter got them to their destination: a cockpit with Kiki Asukai’s name on it. Surely Hondomachi and Sakaido would meet up in Kiki’s mind this week, I thought, and get to work on another mystery. Nope! As of yesterday’s episode, this show has become Inception: Serial Killer Edition. It turns out that Kiki is really Kaeru, whose dreams play host to murderers summoned by John Walker. Sakaido is caught somewhere between half a dozen dreams, all of which take place in the past, giving him a chance to catch the Challenger before his family is murdered. There’s no time for celebration, though. His new mission is to kill all the serial killers who are conveniently attracted to Kaeru’s brainwaves. This wasn’t just a conceptual left turn – this was a deliberate swerve off a cliff. Is there any hope of coherence for the last four episodes? Guess we’ll find out soon enough…
22/7 – 6
Mario: I only had time for episode 6 of 22/7, and it’s easily my least favorite episode out of this show. To its credits, I found the show’s characterization a tad bit more grounded than typical idol shows. I suppose the reason is that they are based on real idols instead of fictional ones, there’s a ring of honesty in the characters. Like the beginning of this episode where baby Reika fighting for her life feels genuine. In addition, I’m glad we get into the conflict as trivial as this one because when you think about it, teenage girls are usually fret about these tiny little things. But it doesn’t lessen the fact that this episode is boring and insignificant as hell.
Magia Record – 07/08 [I Want to Go Home With You/ You Definitely Shouldn’t Respond]
Such a shame for a show that has one of the most impressive productions of the season such as Magia Record that its story can’t match up. Magia Record’s story has one fundamental issue: it’s currently a show where the main protagonists are in search for the plot. That’s why the show feels meandering at times, and its game mechanics are more relevant than ever with new quest/ new rumors. The worst part of it all is how the main storyline of Iroha looking for her lost sister Ui is repeatedly put into sideline, with each mystery case doesn’t have any direct connection to it. I, in particular, was waiting for some dreadful things to happen to Iroha when the luck countdown reaches zero, turns out though that nothing really happens at all. Throw in the already-confusing mix, we have the cult group Wing of Magius with questionable motive and even more questionable activity, Kyouko (one of my favorite characters in the original) randomly shows up and leaves as much impact as a mosquito bite.
The Case Files of Jeweler Richard – 06/07 [Perilous Turquoise/ The Jade of Succession]
I certainly didn’t see that coming at all. While Housekishou Richard-shi still utilizes its episodic format, the last two episodes reveal some backstory regarding our pretty boy and very quickly that plot thread becomes my favorite part of the show. So far, we see Richard as an all-too-perfect specimen that it’s hard to regard him as a full-fledged human. Not until the closing scene of episode 6 that is. Throughout the previous episodes we have seen how Richards always ticks off whenever people (especially Seiki) comment on his good look, and episode 6 expands on that with the case regarding scammers who try to sell their fake gems to young girls. Normally this could be a cause for our local hero Seigi to stir up, but surprisingly it’s Richard who does. Richard’s scheme is a bit far-fetched if you ask me, but it’s all the service of that flashback at the end. It turns out that Richard used to be a schemer who uses his good look to deceive customers, and with that he suddenly appears to be much more complex than he normally lets on.
The Case Files of Jeweler Richard – 04/05 [The Fighting Garnet/ Opal of Encounters]
An update in regards to Housekisho Richard-shi coverage. Amun decides to drop these cute boys and their gems so I will take over full-time now, with him covering Kyokou Suiri instead. These past two episodes saw Housekisho Richard-shi goes through some highs and lows, but overall I’m happy with what the show has to offer. The drama in its weekly case is low-key and mundane, and while Richard and Seigi aren’t necessary there to “fix the issues” (well, at least Richard doesn’t), in this show, inconsistencies in how the customers behave reflect their own insecurities and their own personalities. Add that to the gems they seek in which they usually have some interesting message behind, and it’s pretty much the appeal of Housekisho Richard-shi to me. The other aspects of the show, namely the chemistry between the two leads and Seigi and Shouko’s romance, aren’t that interesting to me, which I will address that in later paragraphs.
Magia Record – 05/06 [There’s No Place for You Here/ I’ll Do Anything]
At this point, Magia Record’s mobile game root becomes more and more apparent, as we encounter brand new characters with brand new rumors. Episode 5 closes off the Shrine Wish arc to a decent effect, with many intriguing ideas along the lines. Iroha and the after credit scene reveal that our little magical girls can transform into something dangerous. It becomes more apparent to me that these girls are the cause of these mysteries around Kamihama city. And maybe, like the original series, it speaks the core ugly truth about our magical girls: they can never grow up. As long as they have to fight these witches in ongoing battles, is there time for them to grow up to be an adult at all?
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