Category: Currently Watching:

Re:Creators – 11 [The Monster Under the Eaves]

by HelghastKillzone, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Creators

Not surprising that this was a more subdued episode since the events of last week landed two and a half creations in the hospital. Given their bed-ridden state, Re:Creators takes it time in developing some new deep and profound ideas about creating works and resolves the quagmire that Sōta finds himself in the last few weeks.

Selesia is really moving forth from her light novel template with her “thank you” line and I can really see that father/daughter relationship shine in their quiet moment together. This is what Re:Creators does so well in that it always has something important to say even in its slower episodes and that continues on into the Gigas Machina ride with Kyokua speech about creators being Gods is found in their free will despite not being super powerful beings who can fling out beam attacks or manipulate causality. What is perplexing is that we didn’t see the development of Kyokua change from being a Shinji-lite character to someone who is able to accept his role as a creation in his own stories. It was very much the same problem in episode six when he goes from being a whiny children to being adamantly supportive of fighting for the survival of this world. I’m not asking for a repeat of Evangelion but a few scenes here and there would have been more than enough.

For all of Sota’s moping around in his connection to Setsuna’s death, I find it a stretch to say that he himself “killed” his best friend. I would said It’s more akin to the biblical story of Saul where a mob decided to stone the shit out of a man name Stephan for his beliefs. While Saul never directly partake in the violence, he held the coats of the those who hurled stones and had a faint satisfaction at seeing Stephan being killed. Still, it’s a rather sad story about two lonely weeaboos sharing their passion for anime with each other before fame and jealousy tore that relationship apart.

Hiroe Rei said that this show is about ordinary human creators as much as the super powerful creations that spawn from them and Setsuna’s case is what happened when that artistic vision goes off the deep end in the ruthless and anonymous world of the internet. Just like how Takashi said to Selesia that “For me, writing your story is proof that I lived”, the creation of Altair was the final farewell to a cruel and malicious community. Something that was the complete opposite of her career-defining art of scenical backgrounds and cheery bright tones. Something that was cute, destructive and filled with her painful emotions of her final days. Whereas Setsuna’s last act was the conclusion to the  “I wish I could just disappear” attitude, Altair’s mantra is “I wish the world could just disappear”.

With Souta’s dirty little secret out in the open now and knowing the who and the circumstances leading up to Altair’s creation, there is a firm foundation for a plan to be dreamed up by Meteora to try and stop her from imploding the entire world. On the other hand, Alice still needs to stop going on wild goose chases to avenge her magical friend and realize the one who is going to betray them all in end is standing behind her all this time.

Little Witch Academia – 24[The Road to Arcturus]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Little Witch Academia

Hmmm….mixed feelings. There are parts I like about this episode but then there is this underwhelming feeling over how things have turned out. In general I like that the epicly named world reconstruction magic turned out to be just a stick that performs party tricks. Thinking about it it’s likely the decline of magic is due to people just not having much faith in it anymore. So the real means of bringing magic back to the world is just what Chariot was doing, showing the world just how great it is. I like that sentiment, there are no quick fixes in the world. Instead worldwide problems are solved with effort and perseverance. Plus seeing Croix utterly devastated about how she pretty much started a war to get a hold of a stick that blows bubbles is delicious karmic retribution. But what was with that battle at the start of the this episode. I was honestly confused to see Chariot pull out a lightsaber of all things and start doing shadow clone jutsu. I was under the impression that magic in this universe required some kind of activation word.

Honestly, the moment Chariot pulled out a lightsaber, I couldn’t help but think of how deeply intertwined pop culture has made that iconic weapon. I mean, it’s not just Star Wars at this point—lightsabers have become a staple of anime too. Think about it: from Bleach to Naruto, there’s always some hero with a glowing sword cutting through enemies, and it’s hard not to draw parallels to the Star Wars universe. These anime versions often come with a twist—usually more flashy, more over-the-top—because of course, they do. But that doesn’t make the appeal any less potent. And speaking of potent, if you’ve ever wanted a piece of that magic, Theory Sabers has perfected the art of crafting custom lightsabers that feel like they belong in both an anime and Star Wars universe. The attention to detail is like something out of a high-budget animated series.

Now, let’s be real. The true OG lightsabers come from the Star Wars franchise, where their legacy was built over decades of films, comics, and merch. What’s great about Star Wars merch, especially the lightsabers, is that you can find ones that fit your personal Jedi or Sith style. The feeling of holding a high-quality, illuminated hilt gives you the same chills as when you first saw Luke swing his lightsaber in A New Hope. And whether you’re dueling with friends or just displaying them as the crown jewels of your collection, Star Wars lightsabers have become a gateway to owning a piece of cinematic history. From the very first Star Wars to the Clone Wars animated series, the iconic weapon continues to resonate, and that’s why they’re not just toys—they’re part of the legend itself.

However we have spent half a season building up Croix and the grand triskelion for this moment. Thus with one episode the main concerns of the plot that sacrificed the rest of the casts screentime has more or less been resolved in about five minutes. Akko forgives chariot, gains the last word, Croix is defeated and all is sunny in LWA land. Well besides the demonic nuke going somewhere but we will get to that. The conclusion to this whole affair is just to neat and clean. In particular I find Croix’s change of heart to be too little too late for the story has already gone to lengths to convince us that she’s a irredeemable bitch. She had a moment or two of showing compassion for Chariot but it really isn’t enough to cancel out her evil power trip at the beginning of the episode. I mean she’s surprised that the giant evil as all hell robot started going berserk? You even called the thing the Noir rod so it’s just really stupid that you didn’t realise that you might be on the wrong track. Perhaps she was working with the ends justify the means logic and hoping the grand reconstruction magic would erase all her own wrongdoings. But she’s not the only one at fault here, after all Chariot could have tried to stop this at any time. Yet never did. Are we sure she’s not somewhat evil here?

I can’t be the only annoyed that the entire cast of characters made it to the grand Triskelion and did absolutely nothing. I mean they did so much more when getting the scorers stone from Fafner and speaking of which, what happened to that Dragon? I thought he was going to play a big role but he ended up a one episode deal. Come on Trigger, we could have had the gang fend off the dark dragon while Akko charges up an attack! Sure they don’t have magic at the moment but they could just as easily explain that away by having Croix turn on their routers or magic being in the air or something. We got one episode left so I hope they don’t spend it being a peanut gallery. I did like the conversation between Chariot and Akko as it was a good way to get the last word. Felt a little rushed but I am willing to give a pass on that. So we got one more episode to go and a missile to stop which make this the last time Trigger can really go all out with this show. Some are debating that one of the things mentioned in the book Lotte reads(About Belle tossing aside a nuke) is going to turn out prophetic. I would love to see Trigger go over the top but based on previous experience with this show it’s likely not going to get that insane. But I am more than willing to bet that Shooting Star is going to be in the final episode. That Chekhov’s gun has been ready since episode 3.

Shingeki no Kyojin(Attack on Titan) – 37[Scream]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Shingeki no Kyojin(Attack on Titan)

I was all geared up to write up a post that this season of attack on Titan was mere lip service for a third season that may never come when I seen that there is indeed a third season of Attack on Titan on the way next year. So I could voice those same complaints but they aren’t so grievous when we have confirmation that the anime will continue. One could complain that if they were going to make another season then why didn’t they make this season two cour but considering how much the production values dropped by this last episode I think they made a good move. If it’s one thing I think the animation studio needs to learn for the next season, it’s consistent animation quality. This season started high quality and then just started moving erratically between low and high for the remainder of it’s run. It’s a problem the first season had as well so I really hope they learn it for the third season. I still hold the point that in the grand scheme of things, not really much has changed since the start of the season. We have a few scraps in the finale but overall I think just too much time was spent on being action driven rather than advancing the plot. We have two main events in the defense of the castle and the chase with the Armoured and Colossal titans. Both of which I think were a too drawn out for their own good, especially the titan chase. Over half the season was dedicated to them chasing after those two and that’s just way too much time.

Well usual complaints aside, just what did I think about this season finale? I liked it. Having lost interest these past few episodes, this managed to get me engaged again. I am sad about Hans and I really think the author should have given him the titan kill. You can call it karmic payback for him ditching Erens mother all those years ago but I dislike the idea of punishing those who are seeking to redeem themselves. Han’s dying here pretty much confirms that he did make the right choice back then when he chose to save the kids and run away. I mean Han’s pretty much was set in stone to die but you could have given him that much before he kicked the bucket. Christa’s small 3D movement gear moment was also some really fine animation even though those few seconds are all we get to see of her fighting. Erens Breakdown at Hans death and his own inability to do anything about it was some truly excellent voice acting that I felt the high degree of emotion straight through the language barrier. Mikasa almost confessed her love to Eren in the moment they were about to die and I honestly burst out laughing when Eren dodged the kiss. People took his words about wrapping a scarf around her forever as some sort of proposal but well knowing Eren I would be willing to be he meant it a purely platonically. Actually I believe Eren hasn’t even hit the point when he even notices girls so I think Mikasa should just jump into his bed one night and give him a full course lesson if she wants this to go anywhere.

Eren’s new power to command titans certainly does spell out why Reiner and Bertholdt wanted to kidnap him but I do still find the way it just appeared to be a bit of a Deus Ex Machina. Actually it pretty much qualifies as one. Still the events of this episode were quite exhilarating and does get one pumped to see just where the story will go from here. It’s is also a huge relief that they finally found out that titans are humans. It’s about goddamn time. It’s pretty surprising that Levi only got one or two appearances as well, I only just remembered the guy when that scene started. I don’t know why Ymir decided to go with Reiner and Bertholdt as I honestly thought she only cared about Christa and this sudden pity for the two titans situation just seems abrupt if anything. Non the less it gives Christa something to fight for in the upcoming season. So this season ends on a high note and it seems that to many it was a good season, to some even surpassing the previous season. Personally I just don’t have the motivation to continue and for the third season I think it would be best to leave if up to another writer to cover. Believe or not you are not the only one tired of my whining. I have gotten rather bored of it as well. No review for this season as it’s not really finished in the true sense so I guess that will have to wait till next year.

Tsuki ga Kirei – 10 [The Setting Sun]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Tsuki ga Kirei

Kotarou and Akane have reached a stage where they need to think hard about the long term of their relationship. Akane is about to move town, so how they going to keep up their relationship? Usually for a teenager’s romance it means the end. Full stop. LINE and texting can keep them for a while but with two separate lives it’s hard to consider each other important anymore. Tsuki ga Kirei again succeeds at displaying their relationship at a deeper stage, where negative feeling starts to bust in the way and whether or not they really are serious about their dating. This episode had me at the edge of my chair till the end, just to show how adept Tsuki ga Kirei is at their pacing and natural progression. Really, I have no complain about this show. They’re as mundane, true to life and as intimate as ever.

Finally, the Kawagoe festival – where Kotarou is about to do the Hayashi dance – has arrived. As expected from this show, the festival itself breathes life with various festival activities. Akane, in particular, has a chance to hang out with her club friends for what possibly their last time, watching Kotarou do the Hayashi moves from afar, and eating imokoi with her mouth full. In order words, enjoying her time. Takumi, on the other hand, has an ulterior motive, believing this festival is a good chance to confess his love for Akane. Through various silly unfortunate chain of events (they both lost on rock, paper, scissor huh?). Takumi did, and Akane flat out rejects him. I don’t know if it’s a good idea, since he knows full well who Akane dating. Sure, Takumi just wants a chance to let it all out, even he understands completely that Akane will reject him. It feels like a victory for Akane, as she gives him a straightforward rejection. It feels like a defeat for Kotarou though, when you imagine that this kid comes all the way to see his girlfriend after a hard performance, just to see her alone (again) with another guy.

Kotarou’s frustrated, and true to his first love inexperience and his introvert nature, he holds his feeling all in and can’t let it out. I actually feel a bit taken back when it’s reveal Kotarou was watching those two talking. I mean, misunderstanding is the most stupid, well-worn trope in any romance and at first glance Tsuki ga Kirei seems to be falling into that trap. But it’s not really about misunderstanding in this context, Kotarou’s mad because she spent time alone with Takumi, which she did. This silent treatment doesn’t do any of them any good, Kotarou gets even more frustrated and it hurts Akane. Now, imagine it from her point of view, she just rejected Takumi because she knows she’s in love with Kotarou, she’s rushing in to meet him so they can have some time together and then THIS. She doesn’t deserve that. Seeing her crying in that festival, where she’s supposed to have fun, make my heart swell. That drift makes both of them suffered. They want to reach to each other but are unable to, so they’re retreating in their bed, embracing that pain. This dark moment fits right in any Makoto Shinkai’s moments (without all the sentimental of course) I tell you, but it’s a necessary step for the two to experience the low of their relationship.

Their main concern, however, remains the fact that Akane’s moving away soon. Trying to spend little time left together won’t solve the problem, thus Kotarou researches for the high school that Akane’s applying – Koumei private High School. I tip my hat for Tsuki ga Kirei how they handle the ending moment here, everything is perfect. Showing the reveal of Kotarou applying for her school through Akane’s point of view is a good touch, as she takes a more active role in this sequence (Although, I actually came to believe it’s that potato pushie that made up Kotarou’s mind. Long live the pushie). While Kotarou has been the one who’s more active in this love, this is the time where we can see how much Kotarou means to Akane and how his decision really makes her happy. She reaches out and kisses him for crying out loud. Kotarou’s willing to study in the same school with her, despite the fact it’s two hours away, might affect negatively to his writing and his parents aren’t even informed about that. But that’s the SACRIFCE he needs to make to be together, and he’s game for that. Well, that somehow resolves their conflicts (it actually doesn’t), so I hope that they can learn from their mistake and be open to each other more. The last couple episodes they have been closer and much more natural with each other, now it’s the time for them to become a permanent part in each other’s lives.

Sakura Quest – 11 [The Forgotten Requiem]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Sakura Quest

Well, apart from Ririko suddenly can sing confidently, and sings really well on top of that, this episode ends in high note. In fact, that statement really sum up this week of Sakura Quest as a whole. Messy, a bit all over the place with too many elements, but they have very strong ending that tied up everything together. This matchmaking arc in its entire, is a decent addition to Sakura Quest, with the singing Ririko moment as a highlight. I do appreciate how relevant Rirkio’s own problems with the matchmaking events and the Dragon tale in that extend, for they’re all about the outsiders, but adding other out of place elements like faux, goofy horror; the show’s sudden focus to Sandal and even the bouldering activity make Sakura Quest feels unfocus at times. And the final punch, to give this town a reputation of the eloped town, seriously makes me frown. Rirkio’s issues ain’t that much to begin with but in that regard, I’m perfectly fine with how Sakura Quest handled her situation.

Ririko’s personal issue has always been an outsider of her own village, and she relates very well to the Dragon tales – where the Manoyama dance is supposed to scare the dragon away (that might be the reason why she couldn’t smile when she danced when she was young, and this legend sounds very familiar to the legend in Sora No Oto). The revealing about the absence of her parents further deepens that theme of outsiders: her Mother came from other town, she met her father here in Manoyama and they got marriage, but she couldn’t get used to life here and left. Chitose from then has an uneasy feeling when it comes to tourists and outsiders. Ririko finds out another (true) interpretation of this legendary Manoyama dragon: the villagers want to be friend with the dragon, so they dance to lure her in but scare her away instead, and she ends up die alone in the cave. That dance is still there, but like how the story loses its original meaning as generations go by, the original song has been lost. Magically (because why else Sandal could just appear like ghost and sing that very song the moments the girls mentioned it. Deux Ex Machina!!!), Sandal mentions that this song was passed through generations overseas, and he is one-eighth of Manoyama (appearance can be deceptive huh?). Thus come a beautiful song at the end that tied up her arc, the dragon tale and give the matchmaker girls a moment to remember.

While the main plot is going somewhat satisfying, faux, goofy horror Sakura Quest tries to pull off is just way too silly to be taken seriously. All the visual motifs, the sound effects, all come to nothing because there isn’t any suspense to begin with, nor it need to be. The twist is hilarious but there is a leap of logic everywhere (like, he was all wet, covered in mud that night, but the other day he’s way too clean. Also, how did he get into the restaurant without anyone noticed?). And then that police guy just comes as rude when he flat out prevents poor Ririko a chance to speak (this is HARRASTMENT). Sandal takes most of a spotlight this episode, and although I would say that sudden shift of focus to him is a bit too jarring for me, him as a pure outsider, enjoying the town with all his heart is a nice touch that connected with the theme so well, and I can see him gain a lot more fan after this episode. Well, I’m off to enjoy this magnificent “lullaby” again. Give it up to “Dragon’s Song” by our truly Ririko.

ID-0 – 10 [Compressed Sin]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Id-0

Oh no, ID-0. Out of all the possibilities you could’ve picked for the climax, you chose the worst possible one. Ido’s past self, Dr. Kane Arisugawa turns out to be an evil scientist, using human as a sacrifice for his own research’s advancement. If this already sounds well-worn, it’s getting worse from there. The first half of the episode is basically an info-dump where the main antagonist literally throws info-dumps screen served as Arisugawa’s memories without shame. Everything makes sense now, in fact it makes too much sense that it leaves out all the ambiguity it had built up to. Adams Forte blah blah blah, our new antagonist, comes from nowhere to become the worst villain, scratch that, the worst character I’ve encountered this year, not a small feat for a character who only appeared in one episode. It’s worrying signs, really, as the climax now seems to be our group tries to regress this Adams dude from his incompetent plan, as the same time saving the humanity just like Maya loved to do. And I don’t care one iota for either one of those. Such a waste since this one had its feet firmly on the ground for two third of the way just to be swept over by this misfired last arc.

The cliffhanger from last week revealed that Ido is Dr. Kane Arisugawa, and this episode goes an extra length detailing us his backstory. Kane, one of the most genius mind of his time, working together with his colleagues Adams and Jennifer. Jennifer had a daughter, Alice, who was disabled so she wanted to Trance Mind Alice to an I-Machine (she would be the first one, if I understand it correctly, to transfer the mind into an I-Machine). Kane had a better idea though, he transferred her mind into the Orichalt and thus she became humanoid Orichalt, an Orillian. The result upset Jennifer and shocked Adams, so in a state of “saving humanity” he eliminated Kane by putting him into the exile ship and wiped out his memory. Now, although I would prefer ID-0 goes different direction than this (well, it’s not bad, I’s just ordinary), the notion that Kane, Ido real self, was ruthless and heartless creates a nice contrast of how much Ido has grown to become his own person. Throughout the course of this episode, even after he regains his full memory, he assured many times that he isn’t Kane but Ido the Excavator, because now he values the friendship of he has with his comrades, Alice and people around him.

This week also reveals that the person behind all this was Adams, one of Kane’s self-proclaimed best friend. Turn out that the very reason he wiped out Kane’s memory, putting him an exile ship and took over his friend’s identity is a mixture of inferior-complex and saving-the-world mentality bullshit. They are superficial at best and most of the time contradicts each other, making his reasons behind every action sound utterly pretentious and inconsistent. For example, his reaction towards meeting Ido is a bit of childish proud that he became someone important now, a bit of wanting recognition from the person he used to look up to, and a bit of self-satisfied that Kane himself deserved the sentence he did to him. All of this still don’t justify why he wanted to kill him NOW, not THEN. He said that he didn’t kill Kane back then because he still regarded him as friend, then why shoot him in the back at the end? He doesn’t have anything of his own personality to begin with, so it’s hard to identify with all his complex. ID-0 tries so hard to paint him as an opposition to Ido that all his actions are unbearable, and plainly annoying over the times. It doesn’t help that he overacts all the time, even in his I-Machine robot version which was supposed to hide your facial expression.

Not all about this episode is going in the wrong direction though. When the show focuses back on the main cast and their chemistry together, they shine through. Karla has a chance to return to her long-lost body, and the moments when she finally tranced back to her body, the fact that she’s overwhelming both because she’s finally back to her body, and because she still isn’t used to the body, is unflinchingly raw and honest. She then decides to shield herself protecting Maya and Alice as a payback for her betrayal – it’s another emotionally satisfied moment. In fact, I hope the show focuses more about them working together in this last arc because if so they can still provide an entertaining and worthy showdown. Otherwise, the longer Adams stays around and affects the plot the closer ID-0 train is going to wreck. I hear a ticking clock now.

Re:Creators – 10 [The Monster Under the Eaves]

by HelghastKillzone, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Creators

The laying of the foundation and development of all previous episodes culminates into an explosive episode that lives up to the hype of Re:Creators’ initial premise.

Following Magane long-winded trolling of last week, the amount of action on display this episode more than made up for her antics. Every creation (with the except of Mamika) gets in on the action and I love how the fight progressed like Fate/Zero as characters would switch opponents and abilities littered the battlefield. Even ordinary people like Sota manages not be a bitch and summons his courage long enough for a spirited argument of Alice. Old favorites like Meteroa’s missile attack makes a return to little effect against Alice and new abilities keep the twists coming. It turns out that the only thing that can go toe-to-toe against Rui’s ace in the hole Gigas Machina is another giant robot. That match was a little disappointing as I would have loved to see how a giant robot square off with squishier foes. The implications are now that Altair could very well summon copies of creations and have them fight against each other and that could be very exciting indeed. For many though, the highlight was definitely Selesia finally transforming into her alternate form and doing her best Excalibur impression along Sawano’s insert song. I didn’t really feel the the parent and child analogy between Takashi and Selesia earlier in the series, but his speech about her cliches line and throwing himself into the fight with the power of Twitter was heartwarming to say the least.

On more chaotic side of things, Magane just continues to get stronger and that doesn’t bode well for either side. At some point in the story, she is going to become borderline OP if she continues to gain stands and build up immunity to certain attacks. It would be simpler for everyone to shut their  mouth when confronting Magane and just focus on whacking the shit out of her. and Unfortunately for Yuuya, he finds out the hard way that having any conversation with her is always bound to fall victim to that trollish causality ability of her.In the aftermath of this brawl, Yuuya’s attack power gets halved, nothing really gets settled and there are only more questions like how new information brought into the social conscious affect creations as it looks like it was just a temporary power-up and Selesta is still wounded. The Re:Creators ride is not even halfway done and it’s looking like it going to be one hell of a wild second half.

Note: Re:Creators OST is out so go have a listen to Sawano’s epic soundtrack. Favorites include God of ink; 4GL4yu8RE:E, AL:Lu and Layers.

Uchoten Kazoku 2 – 10 [The Day the Trick Magister is Chosen]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Uchoten Kazoku

The plot of Eccentric Family thickens greatly as this episode ended and heads nicely towards a much-awaited climax. Well, all the developments are pretty much expected, but with a compelling twist. I mean, was there any doubt from the beginning that Yaichirou will become the next Nise-emon? Except maybe not. Kureichirou – his opposition – might be an imposer for whichever unexplained reason and the true Kureichirou might go back home and break all the tanuki’s peace there. Was there any doubt from the beginning that the one who would end up in a tanuki hot pot is none other than Yasaburou? Except maybe not. Kaisei is unfortunately dragging along the ride too and it would be much more tragic (I WIL SCREAM) if Kaisei’s the one who become a tanuki meat. Meanwhile, we have some lovely moment of Yaichirou finally achieved his dream and the new ship of Yajirou and the hole-digger Kancho-girl has been sailed fast (I’ll be here shipping them hard). This episode hasn’t lost any of The Eccentric Family’s charms yet.

Let me just get off track a bit and compare The Eccentric Family to another show airing this season, Saekano. Both are character-driven shows, yet in Saekano’s case, despite a smart-sounding writing that usually fall within my taste, somehow the characters always leave a sour taste in my mouth. Take how they introduce new characters to see the difference in their approach. Last week Saekano introduced a new “boss”: Kosaka Akane, and she surely makes the most out of her introduction with over the top gestures, screaming, demanding and even deranging her face. Her extreme actions have a purpose though, as she was pushing our characters to their limits, but I still have issues with that. In Eccentric Family, they highlight the “boldness” of the tanuki who love to dig hole through showing us many subtle details. Yes, she’s quirky alright, but the new girl wouldn’t be that distinctive if she hasn’t make witty comments WHILE poking his frog-face with whatever things she was holding (the YELLOW fur of fate) and running around the hole carelessly in her BARE FEET. And I haven’t get to the part that she recognized Yajirou (by his name no less) just by sniffing at him (how awesome!) and they already have some sort of history before with the Fake Train and all that. This show knows how to make a good impression on their new characters and to top it off, her chemistry with Yajirou is amazing. Well, the girl who was born to dig hole to meet a guy who literally lives in a hole. I can’t think of anything else to say except that they’re born for each other.

The inner parlor rooms where the Kincho clan resides are another case of impossibly huge interior space that The Eccentric Family is famous for. In this case, they can change in shape and size as well. However, it’s soon revealed that the lazy grumpy guy who we don’t even get to see his face might be the real Kureichirou. Which means who the hell is this monk back home and why reveal that twist that late of the game? It will have to do with the climax, right? Whatever the reason that the guy tries to impose as the eldest of Ebisugawa might be, it’s all from his good will as he has done nothing but trying hard to make peace for the two families. As for Yaichirou, the moments that he become the next Nise-emon, I actually feel that he’s truly earned it. His father said some wise advice here and if there’s anything to indicate that Yaichirou doesn’t follow his father’s footstep, it’s that he still very much sincerely cares for all his brothers. Gyokuran have many solid moments with Yasaburou and even outshines him in some scenes. The Eccentric Family really knows how to develop new characters that fit right in with the old cast and the world around them.

At long last, both Yasaburou and Kaisei get shot down and on their way to become a delicious tanuki hot pot. Till death do us part, hey? If there is one thing that we should learn throughout the course of this series, trust Kaisei’s instinct. Like when she hears the sound of music, you better know that you’re about to be in deep trouble.

Little Witch Academia – 23[Yesterday]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Little Witch Academia

As we near the end of this show I have come to realise that this story has the habit of building up my expectations only to let me down. There have been several points where it felt like this show was going to great heights, only for it to crash back down. Last episode I praised the twist of the true nature of Chariots shows and how this changed Ursula’s character as a whole. This episode meanwhile goes to great lengths to remove any moral complexity that the previous revelation hinted at. Did Chariot resort to abusing the dreams of her fans in desperation to open the grand triskelion? Is there more to Croix than than being a evil villain? Is Croix merely repeating Chariots previous mistake? The answer is no, nope and nah. What really happened was that Chariot had no idea about the consequences of dream magic and Croix is just a irredeemable bitch. That’s a relief, we almost had some character depth there. Really this just feels like the most dull answer and I really am tired of these heroes who are made out to have commited some great crime only for it to turn out to be something completely out of their control.

But out of the revelations in this episode, the one that really killed it was the explanation behind why Chariot lost her powers and the mark on the moon. Now when you have something like a scar on the moon you often assume that it was created in some epic battle to the death. It’s the moon after all and with how throughout this series Chariot has been presented as some major badass in the know about ancient secrets and I thought that the moon scar would be part of one of her great exploits. I even heard tell of people making theories that Chariot was gathering dream power to fight off Anti-spirals in space. Now as ludicrous(And frankly, amazing) that sounds, it at least is a far more interesting explanation than we got here. As it turns out, Chariot wasn’t a badass but instead a entertainer. The moon scar was the result of her desperately trying to entertain a crowd with impressive magic. So the scar on the moon and the cause of her loss of powers was in fact, a misfired magic trick. Sure that’s unexpected but in the way that you would buy a new game console and find out it’s just a hollow case with nothing inside kind of unexpected. There are dozens of explanations that could have been better than this and by all account this is a really mundane development to come from trigger of all people.

Well it’s not all bad. I rather like how Akko was cheered up though I really think Diana should have had a bit more of a reaction to Ursula explaining that she was the cause of her losing her magic briefly. I also thought that her revealing herself as a Chariot fan would have more impact as well. Actually thinking about it the whole jealousy over Akko being closer to Chariot really didn’t turn out to be much, did it? Still at least they are not going to milk Akko’s depression for a couple of episodes and having her friends come to collect her was quite heartwarming. I thought that was going to be a pretty big deal in the first episodes of the series. I like that the gang is getting all together for the finale and I at least hope that’s going to be an explosive finish.

Seikaisuru Kado – 09[Nanomis-hein]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Seikaisuru Kado

Let us ignore the elephant in the room for a moment and say that up until that point this episode was quite good. The explanation that Za-Shunina put forward essentially admitting that the Anisotropic created humanity was quite excellent and really puts ZaShunina’s alien nature into perspective. I in particular really like his explanation as to why humanity was created in the first place. To put it in the absolute lowest terms, the Anisotropic is like a fully decked out gaming PC that’s only used to play solitaire. They wanted information to process and the universe was found wanting. So they went and created millions of worlds in hopes that one would provide them a fountain of information they crave. The one planet that managed this was earth and now ZaShunina is attempting to advance earth in hopes of providing an endless amount of information for Anisotropic. All things considered that makes sense and shows why ZaShunina going to such efforts to advance humanity for what seemed like no benefit. He even went over the last of his gifts, which is essentially the universal controller for creation. It was a bit of a dick move for him to accidently leave Shindo stuck for three days while he was screwing around with time but it does show just how disconnected he is from human nature. Overall we now know what ZaShunina is after and his end goal. By all account his motivations are actually quite beneficial to humanity and his innovations could result in a brand new frontier for the human race. One of boundless imagination.

So with all due respect…what…in the holy hell…was that?! I mean what?! You have done it haven’t you? You pulled a Samurai Flamenco. (Clarification: Samurai Flamenco was an anime which started as portraying sentai heroes in a realistic setting but went straight to crazy town after a sudden genre shift.) I did express concern that this series might go the route of turning ZaShunina into a villain but this is so jarring a shift that I have whiplash. ZaShunina my man, you were doing so well. By all accounts Shindo didn’t even reject your invitation into the anisotropic, it’s just that after you put someone through three days of being stopped in time and throw this in their face then of course he would need some time to process it! This is not out of character for ZaShunina but just suddenly declaring to make a copy of Shindo and then erase the current one with a super magic beam sword is just…what?! I mean if he wanted to erase Shindo then couldn’t he done it without the light show or was that to make Saraka’s appearance all the more “EPIC”.

Yes, Saraka is now a secret anisotropic being and I am certain that was not foreshadowed in the slightest. Even the ring in this episode didn’t seem to be previously featured and really feels like a last minute rewrite. Oh this feels like a twist that the show will not recover from and it pretty much destroys the goodwill I had for the series. True, this show wasn’t going to be my anime of the year but I at least appreciate what it was going for. An alien popping down to earth to help advance mankind is a much rarer story that what it has now become. It’s us vs them now. The inventions the alien presented to us could greatly benefit humanity but they are not right because they alien and only humanity is right. Humanity hell yeah! You know, if aliens do show up on earth I am certain a large amount of Sci-fi media would be labeled as racist, with this show being one of them. I am more than a little annoyed that Saraka’s nonsense is not only being put forward but also being constituted as “The Right Answer”. That’s not how this works show. You don’t dictate what is the right answer. Free will is part of humanities creed and therefore attempting to shove values on the viewer is indicative of disdain for humanity itself. You can’t berate an alien figure for shoving his values on humanity while doing the same thing. That’s just hypocrisy.