Category: Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction

Hisone to Masotan – 12 [We Are Unstoppable]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Hisone to Masotan

And we come to a close of this Dragon Pilot show and I’m still indifferent on how this anime wraps up. It’s not a bad ending per se, it has a good emotional payoff and it does somewhat wrap up the story. The more it gets into the conclusion, however,  the more I see inconsistencies in its world building that just throw me off even more. Hisone, as we suspected last week, after learning about the sacrifice, decides to defy the ritual and save the girl instead. She then, in her Hisone mood, sacrifices herself to put the dragon to sleep. But Masotan saves her at the end. It’s all fine and mighty, although I would be much more appreciate if HisoMaso explains me about the “stabbing” beforehand. It just feels as if they create that step to raise the conflict. Indeed a lot of “conflicts” in HisoMaso is designed that way. I know I’m mainly disappointed by the inconsistencies of its world building but it’s the first and foremost factor to sell me on the story as a whole. Failing that and it pampers my personal investment to the show and it makes me question the credibility of every plot’s progression.

At the end though, it saddens me to say that I don’t learn that much from the cast. Except for Hoshino and Sada who have a bit of development, all the side characters are under-written in general. The dragons are cute but again they are just that, cute. I do like the way they’re all confident that Hisone and Masotan will come back somehow in the end. The visual is still a wonder, which pains me even more that it can’t save the show from going downhill because of the weak writing.

Full review will come later but here’s some dot points of what get on my nerve in this finale:

-Grandma pilot Sada with her back story: if she feels that devastated how the hell she didn’t cause anastomosis to Masotan then?

-How comes all the back-and-forth exchanges between a girl who wants to save another girl is all about some other guy? It’s a under-representation of women role. Even with Bechdel test it fails fails fails miserably.

-Okonogi doesn’t fare any better. His childhood friend is on a verge of death and all he thinks of is Hisone

-At the end, even Natsume is more fleshed out than Kinutsugai and Hitomi, and I hardly regard her character as flesh out.

This show just disappoints me to no end.

Darling in the Franxx – 23[DARLING in the FRANXX]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Darling in the Franxx

The longer this series goes on, the faster my goodwill disappears as this episode was terrible on many fronts. At this point I think we can admit that this series has been on a downward spiral since episode 19 and has only worsened with each subsequent episode. Part of the problem was 19 spilling all the beans on the world which it had kept relatively close to heart and the thing which truly sunk the ship was the introduction of VIRM. As I have thought over the events of the last few episodes, i have found that VIRM don’t really make much sense and as antagonists there goals and actions are just too vague and indistinct. Let us examine things by looking at their objective which is to pull all races into some sort of collective being and the question I have to that effect is…what is stopping them exactly? I mean I believe they just absorbed all the adults no bother and it doesn’t really seem like consent is an issue considering that the upper brass were not willing yet were absorbed regardless. So then, why can’t they absorb the children, nay why couldn’t they absorb the Klax when they first landed instead of asking for permission first and then going to war with them? What would winning a war even accomplish?

The second objective seems to be destroying Strelizia prime but again the only reason Prime exists is because they went to war with the Klax! I guess we could reason that in order to be absorbed they first need to get the race to enter those happiness machines they made but again if that was the case then why didn’t they take the same approach as they did humanity and infiltrate society to introduce the machines. I highly doubt that the Klax were the first to rebel against their intent. We spent the majority of the series with APE acting as the antagonists and they too were not great due to being faceless with vague motivations. However they still have a presence and mean something to the characters of the story. VIRM on the other hand is an unknown, faceless entity with a boring motivation that means nothing to the characters. As a villain they are literally nothing more than a plot device and they seem to hold no real threat having being beaten by the Klax and now being obliterated again with little effort. I just can’t see these guys as a legitimate threat, I mean they had Strelizia at their mercy for months and at best they only managed to scratch it. Our villains ladies and gentlemen, couldn’t even hurt an unarmed enemy for months on end.

But enough of that, what actually happened in this episode? Well this felt like three episodes all crushed into one as we had many a climatic development with none of it felt earned. We start the episode with the squad all playing around in Franxx in space..wait a minute.. how did they modify Franxx to fight in space without doctor Franxx? Oh I see Nana and Hachi (Wait a second, why the hell are you guys here? Aren’t you supposed to be on earth guiding all the children?) confirm that the Klax made it for them..wait…why would the Klax make space equipment for their enemies? No I don’t buy that bull about them somehow thinking that humanity would rise up and preparing equipment for that time. The Klax were fully committed to sorting this stuff themselves, the Klax queen made that very damn clear. Also they prepared a ship which is set to autopilot to Strezla prime(Then again, why are you here Nana and Hachi? If you aren’t driving the ship then what’s the point of being there? Moral support? To exposit that poor piece of justification for the space suits?)

Anyway the leader of the nines is acting as Hiro’s partner now to get him to Zero Two and oh no he sacrifices himself talking about how Hiro and the gang teaching them how to live…um sorry, when did that happen? Last I remember you were all throwing a hissy fit in the medical bay before you decide to go on this mission. Are you talking about those points you berated them for living like that? Wait Kokoro and Mitsuri suddenly love each other again? Zero Two pushed away Hiro and went off on her own despite being completely unable to move prime? Wait Zero Two’s body turned to stone? Wait Prime now is literally a giant Zero Two? Alright the mech science hasn’t being realistic for the whole series but at least it was consistent but this is just pure magic and makes no sense whatsoever. Wait you are planning a suicide attack on the alien homeworld by going through some gateway out of nowhere while using the Klax ship as a bomb? Can’t you launch it through the gate? Considering VIRM couldn’t make a dent in Prime I figure this won’t be much of a final battle. Oh no Hiro and Zero Two may never return and…again sorry I feel like I skipped to an emotional climax without any of the buildup.

Sigh. This episode was a mess. It feels unplanned and unjustified with all these nonsense story developments and sudden changes in tone to try and pull at your heartstrings. It’s feels like the writer wrote himself into a corner by introducing VIRM and now must work to resolve something that would take more than the last few episodes to resolve. Truthfully I question just how much of this story is planned for the episodes of the full series do play out haphazard and without strong continuity with an inconsistent level of quality. This last arc is mainly like a satire or homage to many other famous Mecha shows with none of the finality and with characters replaced with the Franxx cast. I just wonder what the point of it really was for I previously mentioned that Franxx could end in one of two ways, with the gang raising a new humanity or a final confrontation with VIRM. It was though they were going for a mixture but looks like they are going to cut out the final confrontation with VIRM after all and go right back to the setting up of new humanity. Franxx would need to pull out something real special to make all this worth it but considering the tend of these episodes, my expectations are certainly low.

Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory – 10[Onward, Onward]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory

Oh no. Well I suppose this was coming with all the news of this series troubles but it is disheartening to see it come to worst case scenario with the quality of this episode. This is the episode that announces without a doubt that this team is at the breaking point. Characters go off model several times, the animation get to levels of absurd with Sousuke running an obstacle course and his animation missing frames, audio errors like Sousuke kicking away a canister for it to make no noise whatsoever from the sound of the sergeants pockets being patted despite his hand currently lighting a cigar. Tessa eating a sandwich without even opening her mouth. Boy of boy, I don’t know if this episode was outsourced or what but you can just see the tremendous drop in quality. I don’t blame the animation team as it does feel like they were going above and beyond for this series and that finally broke them. I previously wished for a second cour but at this rate I should consider it lucky if we get to the end of this cour with respectable quality. Well after this episode there will be a three week break until the next one so I hope that would remedy some of the problems with production.

Despite this the story still holds up as we have Sousuke manage to fend off an attacker, Tessa dealing with insomnia and guilt of over the the stress and guilt of the situation and Chidori finding out Sousuke is still searching for her and finding herself wishing to disappear due to the trouble she’s causing others. Not to mention Kalinin revealing that he was a traitor to Mythril and a Amalgam spy. If this last revela felt a bit out of nowhere that would be because it was supposed to be revealed at the end of the Dancing very Merry Christmas volume which was skipped over by this adaption. So indeed the reveal here feels rather abrupt due to the fact that the audience should already know about it at this point but I kinda wish they gave the reveal a bit more gravitas. He wasn’t a major character but he did play an important role in the series, not to mention being a mentor for Sousuke so him being a traitor is sort of a big deal. Still they set him up well as a villain here what with him shooting a man and telling him that he will die in 30 minutes if not given first aid. Remarkably cold that upon being refused he just left him there to bleed out, not even asking him to reconsider.

It is rather funny that the fanservice moments of this episode were downplayed by the situation what with Tessa stripping down to rest only to be unable to eat, sleep and being racked with guilt all the while lying to her officers and pretending she’s fine. She’s still a teenager after all so no doubt this hits her hard and when Kalinin’s betrayal is revealed to her that’s gonna be devastating. Chidoris situation by contrast isn’t quite as dire and her scene felt a little more gratuitous with her jumping into a pool and swimming lengths in her underwear. Which gave her motivation because…hmm…I don’t quite remember her being on the swim team. I guess cause it reminded her of swimming class at school or that she just felt she needed to do something? Truth be told I don’t quite grasp the logic but whatever it was got her pumped to do something at least. I just hope her little angst moments are few and far between. Other than that we got some good comedy with Sousuke’s old sergeant who was drilling in a personal philosophy of being a soldier into him only fr Sousuke to literally get knocked out and the sergeant goes “Well I guess that happens” Also saying shit in Japanese is fine yet saying fucking in English needs to be beeped out? These censors need some fucking guts. Well we won’t be getting the next episodes for another three weeks so it will be quite the wait till I can close this one off. I am still waiting on SHaft to get those final Fate/Extra episodes out as well come to think of it. Hopefully they don’t all hit during a bad time.

Legends of the Galactic Heroes Die Neue These Anime Review – 80/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Legend of the Galactic Heroes Die Neue These, Reviews by AidanAK47

This is a remake of a series made way back when which is one of the most highly acclaimed anime in the medium. It is of legendary status but you would be hard pressed to recommend it as to many the barrier of entry is too high to consider. A 110 episode OVA with dated animation and art is hardly an appealing show looking from the outside. Thus we have Die Neue These, a remake which takes the story of LOGH and sticks closer to the original source material of the novels. Acting as a small offering of what makes this series so highly regarded. LOGH is a story set in the future that plays out like actual history, for the stage is grand and the cast is huge. It is about a war between the Free Planets Alliance and the Goldenbaum Dynasty, one being a democracy while the other a autocracy. The series explores these two systems exposing the ideals and flaws of both as while there are large space battles, the true worth of this series is the great amount of politics that surround this war. Even though the story was made over thirty years ago, it’s messages still ring true today making it excellent food for thought.

The series mainly follows the two heroes representing each side, with Yang Wenli being the believer of democracy and a man who seeks a easier life but is pulled time and time again into historic battles due to his talent for strategic combat. Reinhard is the young upstart of the empire who wishes to rise through the ranks to reform the heavily corrupt society of the class system of the empire. The story can be a bit erratic as it jumps forward in time and it can be hard keeping track of the large cast of character which just seems to expand infinitely. The space battle remain the weaker aspect of the series and from word of mouth it appears the strategy employed is only base level tactics. There is also a common factor of highly incompetent people in high positions that gets reused time and time again as justification for the actions of the plot though not necessarily unrealistic. Also is the factor this is very much only a tenth of the full story of LOGH and when this show reaches its final minutes you may not even realize that it has concluded for the story just cuts off like someone slamming a book shut while you were in the middle of a chapter. There is plans for movies to continue the story but you will be left hanging quite a bit if you don’t intend to watch the original OVA.

Presentation wise aside from some rather odd character designs this series is leaps and bounds over it’s older counterpart. Thus I can conclude that this series is the prefect means to recommend this series to a newer fan of anime to encourage them to check out some of the older greats the medium has to offer. Even after all this time this series remains a standout tale within animation and one anime fans should at least attempt to watch in their lifetime. It loses points for being only a part of a story which has barely begun but for those seeking something that’s away from high schools and teenagers with more mature themes then LOGH is right up your alley. Perhaps even sparking an interest in shows of a bygone era.

Legends of the Galactic Heroes Die Neue These – 8-12

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Legend of the Galactic Heroes Die Neue These

Well this is rather embarrassing. Believe me when I say I fully intended to cover every episode of this series but life finds a way of ruining your plans. So rather than waste a post just talking about what happened in these past four episodes, I would think it better to just give my thoughts on the series as a whole and follow it with a review. Even then i don’t think it would take too long to summarize the bare bones of what happened here as it was basically the FPA deciding to invade the Empire despite literally not being able to sustain one all because the top brass wanted to scrape a win to improve their chances of reelection. An idea so dumb that even Truniht the snake that he is, saw it as doomed. The army gets dragged into this dumbass plan, the flaws in the plan become apparent immediately from the start and Reinhard shows up with his army to give the FPA a whooping they ain’t gonna forget. In some ways it’s painful just seeing this whole plan get pushed forward despite everyone and their mother seeing it as a terrible idea and when looking at the series it does seem that incompetent people in high positions is abundantly a common factor here. Aside from the main character it honestly seems like any side character is just a bumbling idiot which could be a flaw of this series…if it wasn’t a rather accurate portrayal. More than once in recent times we had top officials pushing for plans which everyone clearly saw as bad ideas, yet were pushed through regardless. It is funny seeing someone like Folk who is basically a high commander and main originator of this stupid plan be someone so ill suited to his position that he has a mental condition that literally means he will go into seizures if things don’t pander to his ego.

As far as adaption goes this is a very good adaption. Of course loyalists to the OVA will find flaws with it and even I feel the OVA had the time to focus on the small details like that one episode that showed things from the ground view of that whole revolt due to Reinhard’s scorched earth tactics. A particular moment that stands out to me is the FPA preaching to the people of the first planet they took from the empire of how in democracy they have freedom and the response being “Well that’s great and everything but we would prefer if we could have food and water.” Indeed it didn’t matter who was in charge or what platatues they offered as people will ultimately be concerned with their own survival over idealism. As well as pointing out that Rienard may be a genius tactician but his methods certainly are morally questionable as well as his ruthlessness in killing an army who are only following the orders of idiots. But back on adaption this is indeed a pretty version of LOGH that seems to be loyal to the books and in that regard makes for an excellent introduction of the series to a modern audience. The themes and messages of LOGH are just as relevant today as they were thirty years ago, maybe even more so. To the anime community LOGH is very much a white whale of a series for as acclaimed as it is, it is about as appealing to a newer anime fan as vegetables are to a lion. Not to slight newer anime fans as the artstyle of the OVA is rather outdated, the animation is bare and a 110 episode series is a huge time investment. In that regard the new LOGH of twelve episodes and a more polished presentation makes for a far more digestible offering, at least to the level that people could give it a chance.

But indeed, this is just a small portion of the story which brings me to what is undeniably the greatest flaw of this series. People give Re:Zero grief for being a “Prologue” of the story but I have always said that while it does set up things for future story arcs, the arcs in the anime itself do have conclusions. LOGH on the other hand is a story far too big for a twelve episode series and when this series reaches its final episode the story doesn’t end, it just stops. Now there is word that movies are going to be made to continue the story but that is also something I find concerning as this story was too big for a one cour series so having a continuation be in a even smaller format is unsuitable. Let me put it this way, the original OVA took nine years to reach its conclusion so how long will we have to wait to see the new series reach the same end? Wouldn’t it just be as inaccessible as before if the series is chopped up into movies and anime cours? The benefit of this is higher production values but the minus is a story that no matter how good, could lose people due to time between releases. Sure one could go to the OVA if they get impatient but I feel this series would only be worth getting into once the entirely of the story has been covered. But will the entire story be covered? Well who knows really.

Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory – 09[The Fallen Witch]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory

My hopes for a second cour of this series grow all the more fainter as I see the clear production issues that the animation studio are having. Bless them as this series is still provided to be excellent quality and a proud representative of the source despite all these woes but I really do wish they would continue for just one more cour. As one more cour would be enough to cover the last of the novels and after all these years it would really suck to leave Full Metal Panic unfinished yet again, perhaps at a worse ending point than second raid many years before. Which would be a great shame on many levels for I have seen many anime beginnings but very few true ends.

This episode was mainly focused on Tessa whom after the events of five episodes ago is left wandering the streets and brought into a hospital. She seems traumatised by the whole affair and puts forth a tale of the mithral staff turning against her in mutiny. It is rather interesting as we seen suggestions of mutiny before though those were given a cold reception. But when you aren’t getting your pay and supplies run short then loyalty can waver. Considering the dark turn this series has taken as of late this development actually fits which makes it pretty believable despite the fact that it was all a clever ruse. Got to say that if I didn’t know the story from the novels then i might have fell for this hook, line and sinker. Amalgam took the bait hard and proceeded to kidnap her though before that we had Tessa talking to a psychiatrist who took her talk of mythril as delusional ramblings. So it was immensely satisfying for Tessa to reveal it all a bluff to lure out amalgam and the ensuing action was pretty great as always. Also Tessa cursing like a sailor telling the man to pass on the message that she hates fucking pieces of shit like her brother, as well as mythrils reaction to hearing her, was pure gold.

Indeed this was another Tessa moment of badass that cements her status as best girl while Chidori makes omelettes. Speaking of her though she briefly shows up and seems to be treated well at Amalgam then certainly a lot colder than before. It’s nice to see she isn’t balling her eyes out and has enough backbone to give Leonard snide comments but it would certainly be a shame if this was the last position we see her in by series end. Sousukes still alive of course though it seems he suffered hard by his last encounter and now he’s in an even more dire situation as Amalgam are attacking the base and he can barely move. Lemon does show a bit more character her as he lets him know that he truly cared for Nami and even going as far to say that he might have loved her. He says he doesn’t hold a grudge but also says that the only reason they won’t torture him is because he wouldn’t survive it so perhaps there is some misgivings. But even he might be next up on the chopping block to join her if the end of this episode hints right. I am quite interested in seeing just how the hell Sousuke is going to defend himself with his body bedridden. One thing I haven’t really mentioned is that the anime is cutting out details a bit. For one the girl who was programing ALs core is in fact the girl sousuke rescued in episode 1, who I mistakenly thought died. But one detail I thought was a shame was that when Sousuke woke up he quoted the name of the painting on the wall in the book, which was “Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?” and Al quoted that exact same thing when he first woke up. Which is certainly an interesting connection these two have.

Darling in the Franxx – 22[Stargazers]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Darling in the Franxx

Honestly looking at this episode as a whole I could very well call it a prime example of the problems with Franxx condensed into a single episode. Previously I guessed that Franxx would go one of two endings being either starting a counterattack against VIRM or setting up the new line of humanity. This episode actually tries to do both and the end result is rather mixed. Mainly because the majority of the episode was quite bleak but I still found myself apathetic to the plights of the protagonists. As to why I wasn’t quite invested, the reason was proven by episodes end as for all the grim tidings, everything was just washed away while friendship wins over all. It looks like the Nines are dying, oh wait they have enough strength to pilot Franxx and are good guys now. The farm the kids were building has failed and it seems that the earth is too far gone to support plant life anymore but wait, turns out there is a lush plantation nearby which can support plant life so huzzah!The old Nana returns and is facing an existential crisis, but hey she finds her way giving some random kids some headpats.

There has been serious losses in this needless war, but wait it turns out all the failed pilots were refrigerated below the plantation all along and are alive. Even Naomi from episode goddamn one is still alive. Zero Two is a comatose vegetable, but wait her brain is fighting aliens up in space and now Hiro is going to save her! SIgh…look Franxx, grim storytelling requires consequences. You can’t just hand wave the consequences because it’s inconvenient as that just renders all the drama before now for naught. This is the Maeda problem where in the writer wants all the emotional weight of heavy storytelling while doing everything in his power, regardless of logic, to ensure a happy ending. But a happy ending completely negates the scenes pire for if you have a scene where a character grieves over the death of a loved one, only for that loved one to walk right in moments later then that makes all the grieve and emotion of the scene before pointless.

I now have full confidence that none of the main squad are going to die and that a happy ending is inbound so whatever gaslighting these series attempts will be just a waste of screentime. The writer doesn’t have the balls to kill anyone off so let the shipping happen and lets get this ending over with. Well at least this final battle with VIRM could prove interesting, we got two episodes so I am guessing the battle will take one while the last episode will be some kind of epilogue. So otherwise besides the teenage hissy fits we got Kokoro finding out that she’s pregnant much to her dismay seeing as she has no memory of the conception. Which does pose an interesting question as she was fully up for it before the memory wipe but now that the memory wipe has happened it seems to have removed all her previous interest in parenting. Indeed the trigger for all this was the book she found on the beach episode and if we take away that memory then her interest in children wouldn’t have bloomed. So it’s surprising that Kokoro is the same person yet due to a change of memory has two entirely different opinions of pregnancy. I admit that I am finding new Nana quite amusing as she seems to be reacting to the situation in a manner very similar to mine. She quite frankly holds no interest in anything and is withholding power control from the kids on the simple grounds that she will only follow orders from father. Upon being told that they will all die if they don’t get it she responds that “Yep, guess we will die then.”

Old Nana and Hachi look to be jumping in as the plantations new caretakers under the last orders from Franxx with the general idea of them becoming the new “Adults”. It’s nice to have old Nana back but it does feel a little cheap t have her turn up alive after all. Again this series has heavily insinuated that individuals removed were killed only to have it that nobody was killed and while I am not bloodthirsty I just find the means to keep her alive to be contrived. My readers, few though you may be, I fully concede that I am feeling burned out for keeping up with the anime this season has been tough and work has just gotten burdensome. Some of my dissatisfaction with this series may be due to that mindset though I do feel my complaints are still valid. From the look of things it seems to be a popular sentiment of this show as of late though I find the comments regarding Franxx’s Atheism to be absurd. Franxx didn’t do what he did because he was an Atheist, he did it because he wanted expand his knowledge of science and make himself closer to the Klax queen. If anything I was consider him a religious man who had yet to find his god, which ended up being the Klax queen. But that aside while Franxx has be a rather enjoyable ride, when you look at the package as a whole you find that it falters on many levels. We near the end so as we do I find that this series is beginning to feel like a waste of time. And I value my time highly.

Hisone to Masotan – 11 [The Sky of Montparnasse and the Trash Girl]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Hisone to Masotan

What’s there to say about HisoMaso? I’ll be blunt but I see this whole final arc a missed opportunity. It builds from neat ideas, but the way the show creates and resolves its conflicts are hammy at best. Take the two main struggles this episode: Hisone decided to quit the job altogether and the grandma possible yuri relationship with the old miko. All of these are established and quickly resolved in about 15 minutes, and I can’t say I feel anything about their conflicts. For Hisone, I can ‘barely’ get the reasons for her quitting. She doesn’t want to hurt the people she love. But for me it’s just an easy way out, she’s running away because she can’t deal with it. Now, I realize that this is HisoMaso’s point all along, but consider this: why the show introduces this drama too late of a game? Is it creating conflicts for the sake of conflicts? This new development effectively kills little interest I have left for Hisone character.

And then we have a brand new conflict in the name of Sada and that opens up another can of worms. Sada formed a special “relationship” with the old miko, just so that she witnessed the death of that shrine maiden and still hanging on it. It’s a nice little drama in concept, as it questions the necessity of sacrifice someone. But in practice, we have HER piloting Masotan instead of Nao, which for me makes completely no sense. Isn’t it another case of creating conflicts for the sake of conflicts? And then all this plot is building up for HISONE JUMPING INSIDE MASOTAN. Have you ever heard of the expression “Jumping the shark”? Well, it’s the same here (Jumping the dragon!). And it comes up with some more issues. First, how the hell it’s okay now that there’s two pilots inside the dragon and second, it feels that all these developments feel utterly calculated, and I must say, cheap.

Regarding how this story gonna closes up, I’m guessing that Hisone will find a way to save Natsume and all them come back safely. Remember they are inside the great dragon, right? Couldn’t they pilot or do something the same like what they do with Masotan and other dragons? One more thing that struck me is that the old lady might not die yet. We see her shredded clothes but surprisingly not her body, and regrading it’s HisoMaso we’re talking about, it could go in any direction. I still feel a bit betrayed how Hisone gets off and comes back a bit too quickly and easy, and worse the worldbuilding just isn’t strong enough for me to completely suspend my disbelief. For me it’s just another case of creators don’t think about this world hard enough.

Hisone to Masotan – 10 [Melting in Love]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Hisone to Masotan

Pretty visual aside, I wonder how much fuel left for this aircraft before it runs out of ideas. HisoMaso has never been a show with detailed world building, or even thick plot to begin with, and as the usual case for me, nothing much happened in this episode. The biggest plot point of this week is that Hisone and Hoshino now have to choose between love and career because somehow fallen in love is like a toxic for your dragons. I guess Okada’s point is that she raises one of the most common issues normal working woman will have to face: family or career, but even putting this story in that light, I can’t help but think HisoMaso is sexist. Guys are free to flirt around, guys at the top twitch the noses of our girls, and our girls take all the fall. Not only Hisone and Hoshino, but now Natsume is officially a Binden – literally a sacrifice (even that poor girl can’t have the man she loves, damnit). So by having Hisone decides to quit the job at the end, it also mean she strays away from the restriction, the repression. Hopefully I read that right because to be frank, part of me still thinks that Okada’s just trolling us around.

We get to know more about this Natsume – Okonagi’s romance and I’m not in a bit surprised here. It goes to the most common trope of unconditional love from Natsume, while Okonagi part-oblivious, part-see her as his sister- bullshit. I don’t really appreciate the way he dodges the kiss, but the blowing air to the nose part itself is quite a lovely bit (guess that mean that Masotan will have a chance to blow her nose in the Ritual). Another detail is about the village dedicated to this Ritual, where they raise young boys and girls to be shrine maidens and… what? Priests? How many priests they need in the ceremony anyways? (the answer is one). And how long in between each ceremony (the answer is 74 years). You get that? The whole generations of shrine maidens and priests were wasted because the dragon won’t wake up. This tells me that they haven’t thought the world-building out well, because the more you think about how it works the more it falls apart.

But we still have some nice moments in this episode. Nao has a chance to shine. Being somewhat written out towards the latter half of this series (the reason is simple: she doesn’t have a dragon), it’s nice to see her piloting Masotan again, an evidence that she has finally came to terms with being who she is, and piloting Masotan also means she helps out Hisone and her dragon as well. She has some nice chemistry with the designer (but wait, doesn’t she have a crush on this guy? Why can she piloting then? Guess the saying remains true: each girl tastes differently, right Masotan? In short, this is a so-so episode in an underwhelming last arc so far.

Darling in the Franxx – 21[For You, My Love]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Darling in the Franxx

Huh…wasn’t expecting that to be resolved so quickly. So as predicted Zero Two makes it to Darling and as predicted they power up and drive off the aliens. Also as predicted Zero is is now dead…or dying…or in a coma…or in some state that leaves her dead eyes by episodes end. I admit to be rather ambivalent about this development. As a matter of fact this episode despite the high stakes and dash to get Zero Two to the finish line, was rather by the numbers. Or it was more that I just felt rather bored as the events unfolded. I also wasn’t fond of how things played out here as we had sudden revelations that only served to make the plot more mundane. For one Ikuna used some sort of super attack to clear rubble which resulted in her aging rapidly which seems like a very left field development as previous episodes hinted more that the rapid aging was a side effect of being clones with a shortened life span, not connected to the operation of Franxx. This just feels like a cheap excuse to negate the shortened lifespan and shows to me that Trigger is gunning for a happy ending. There is also the matter of the Nines whose origin is explained and despite them being an antagonist rival since the halfway point of the series, are tossed aside faster than you can say wasted. I don’t understand, i thought they were going to act as some sort of villain vanguard and they were certainly built up as much but instead here they are just getting decimated which makes me question why they are even here.

We get another exposition dump from the Klax queen who proceeds to reveal everything there is to know about the Klax history, who they are, were they came from, everything. Yet again it proves to be far less interesting than what was previously speculated. Not to mention a rather lazy means of exposition, it is odd for Frannxx to hold it’s cards so close to its chest for the majority of the series, only to just fling everything out lazily by series end. Then there is Franxx who gets some sort of redemption by sending Zero Two to Hiro but again sort of killed the deeper more morally ambiguous aspect to his character. Maybe that might explain my apathy in regards to this episodes content, for Franxx has taken the elements that I previously found interesting and turned them rather rudimentary and mundane. So the Aliens are driven off with them saying they will get those pesky humans next time so I wonder just what the last three episodes of Franxx are even going to be about. We could have Hiro and the rest preparing for a counterattack and have the series end with one more fight or we could just end the series with Hiro and rest setting up some new kind of humanity with the promise that they will fight off VIRM the next time they return. The first ending is predictable but at least could be enjoyed for the spectacle but the second ending would be a terribly unfulfilling conclusion. Which is bad because i get the feeling they are aiming for the second ending more than the first. Regardless I just feel rather tired of this show by now, it had its ups and downs while being a decently enjoyable watch but these last few episodes I will finish more out of obligation rather than genuine interest.