Category: Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction

Darling in the Franxx – 17[Eden]

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

Indeed Franxx appears to be doubling down on a darker more serious tone though I still am wondering if it will truly follow through on this or dismiss it fast and go full on happy ending. Personally I always feel cheated when a series foreshadows dark things to come only to turn tail when it’s time to pay the piper. But Franxx at least looks to be delivering so far and if they do negate all dark tidings and go for a full happy ending that would be quite the betrayal. Anyway in todays episode we get a number of revelations, one of which is that the childcare book that Kokoro has been fascinated with since the beach episode has come back full force. Though I misunderstood Kokoro’s interest in this regard as before I thought her interest was in sex but it appears that her actual interest is in having a child. The logic being that they have a means of leaving something behind for future generations besides fighting and which everyone knowing that there lives have a short expectancy she wishes to leave her mark somehow. I was a bit worried about Mitsuri shunned her after her advances and revealing her intentions but hot damn they actually took a route I thought they wouldn’t. Kokoro and Mitsuri had sex, there is no ambiguity in that for it was shown quite clearly. In fact I would be quite annoyed if they backpedaled this in any way as I am curious to where it leads.

I just hope that book went into good detail over just what Kokoro is in for as if she is oblivious then she has a nasty surprise waiting for her. Childbirth will be pretty brutal if she has no doctors on standby to help her out. Will Franxx intervene or would he see this as interesting experimental material? Speaking of which some recent light has been shed on the nature of “Papa” and the others. I may be misinterpreted this but from the looks of things the leaders of APE are not actually human and are possible alien invaders. They seem to be hinting that Klax are in fact true humanity and APE are alien invaders who have been cloning humans to fight humans. This is quite interesting as it suggests that Humanity has taken on some form of biological evolution in order to fight against the invaders, meanwhile the invaders are seemingly aspiring towards human forms. Either that or these are two branches of humanity, one whom took the path of beastal biological evolution that put them closer to beasts while the other took a path of evolution through technology which pushed them closer to a machine like existence. Both of whom seem to consider themselves “True humans” while the closest thing to actual humans are test tube grown cannon fodder for Franxx. In this case with Dr Franxx I always considered him a human who modified himself into a cyborg but what if it was the other way around and he was a machine that modified himself into a human? For the first time this series has got me interested in the actual world of Franxx which I dismissed as a bit too basic. But now there is quite interesting theming going on.

Not liking the Nines much here though. Of course they are not supposed to be liked but they just seem far too stereotypical cocky and antagonistic. I find it somewhat amusing that despite there egotistical posturing their Franxx piloting style is actually reverse so its funny to see someone so excessively prideful over bending over to pilot a Franxx. But thank god for Ikuno jumping in to slap him once he brought up a touchy subject for her. Indeed they seem to be going hard for a lesbian route for Ikuno which could bring interesting tidings provided it’s handled with care. Care which based on Franxx’s previous record, I don’t think it could provide. As a final note it appears that Hiro is growing blue horns hereby putting the blue Oni theory to near confirmed status and it appears adults go through some emotion damping process which can reverse back into a “puberty” state.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes Die Neue These – 6[The Capture of Iserlohn (Part 1)]

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

Thus we have the introduction of the rozenlitter, the badass close quarter combat specialists of Yangs party lead by the suave Walter who’s looking rather different in this adaption. He certainly looks a lot fierer here as opposed to his more charismatic look in the OVA. I suppose this new look matches with his demeanor in combat with is up close and personal but it doesn’t quite mesh with his womanising side. So not much to say about this episode as it’s mainly Yang preparing to take on Isoldon fortress and it being pointed out just how much of a ridiculous order it is. We got Greenhill introduced who’s judo throwing a guy just to show that she don’t need no man but yeah expect her role to mainly be Yangs secretary.

It’s great seeing the Rozenlitter and pointing out them to be former members of the Empire and thus rather untrustworthy due to the betrayals of the force in the past. However I notice the severe lack of battle axes in the training they are doing which is disappointing because those axes are what made the Rozenlitter so badass. I hope they haven’t replaced them with standard laser shootouts but it could just be because they are on earth instead of space where the axes are more relevant. It’s generally a bad idea to use lasers in spaceships due to the danger of compromising the atmosphere of the ship, hence the return of good old melee combat.

Honestly this was something I was worried about when covering this series, namely that at times there may not be much for me to comment on. It’s not that nothing happened this episode as quite a bit did. But rather it’s difficult to comment on it because it’s generally fairly straightforward planning. Yang had to talk a bit about his aspirations to Walter in order to get him on his side and i noticed that Walter was very much probing him to see if he was gunning for glory. Only to be shocked at his general declaration that he wants to grab Isolron to help set up a peace treaty between the empire and FPA so he can retire with a nice pension. Considering the FPA general attitude towards pacifism it is likely surprising to Walter to hear a high ranking officer talk about alternatives to sending millions to their death for glory. With the next episode we shall see how this whole gambit turns out.

Darling in the Franxx – 16[Days of Our Lives]

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

After the action packed last episode of Franxx, we return to the birdcage for a easygoing episode of the squad learning to be self sufficient after their caretakers suddenly stop providing for them. A change which appears to be at Dr Franxx’s request and I find myself wondering about this man’s objective is. From the flashbacks he seems to be of rather questionable character what with him torturing Zero Two and erasing memories. Yet when taking into account what he is doing in the present it almost seems as though he is trying to help the squad mature as people. It’s hard to determine if this is some attempt to redeem himself or if their is some hidden dark agenda to his actions. Or if Franxx is just neutral in general and prioritises scientific progress over any kind of morally so how good or evil he is depends on which choice brings the best experimental results.

Despite the episode for the most part being rather easygoing and uplifting with even Zero Two making a rather jarring change in personality, this episode just feels foreboding throughout. The fun and games may be sweet on the surface but under that is a cynicism over what the future has to bring. Several characters make statements which tempt Murphys Law such as Goro remarking about how they feel without purpose with the leaders putting them on standby until further notice. Above all Hiro saying the ultimate death flag by claiming that he and Zero Two will always be together which is almost comically timed with a small rumbling of the ground right after. Miku has white hairs on her head signalling premature aging, Zorome stating that they shouldn’t bother praying to father before eating and even Futoshi revealing he has an eating disorder. That last bit about Futoshi was quite a surprising one as he was always the lighthearted fellow who played to the usual trope of being the fat guy who eats a lot. But I wonder if his condition is the result of the standby orders or something that developed after Kokoro left him. Though sadly I do like how Kokoro and Mitsuru’s relationship is developing. She seems remarkably aggressive which might be a product of that baby book she picked up before maybe?

But with that comes back a particular flaw that I remarked about earlier in the series. Namely the jarring switch from easy going fun times to serious drama. Franxx has always had this problem interchanging between the two but it hasn’t reared its head in a while because the last few episodes have mostly been serious affair. But now we have a sudden shift with Zorome trying to force Futoshi to eat playfully at first only for him to start getting aggressive and reveal that he knew Futoshi wasn’t eating. It certainly is a change when you consider that this is in tone with his usual bratty self but actually being concerned over Futoshi. Admittedly he’s handling it in a terrible way what with outting him in front of everyone but you can as least tell it’s not out of malice but a genuine want to help him. But this dramatic shift just didn’t feel natural and was more the product of making things more dramatic for the sake of drama. I look at how Full Metal Panic naturally resolve a personal dilemma with care and find Franxx’s approach to be far too grandstanding. You don’t need a shouting match followed by a group hug to make drama. Really acknowledging that there is a problem and it’s not something that can just be “fixed” is a more mature approach to storytelling. Maybe not quite as visually impactful but meaningful in presenting the characters better. On a last note the new ending appears to confirm that Ikuno is indeed gay. On one hand it’s good to get confirmation but I also feel a little disappointed that the internet’s shortsighted assumptions were proven correct.

Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory – 04[On My Own]

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

Damn. I mean damn. You would think bringing back an old series like this would begin to show its age but Full Metal Panic looks to have aged like fine wine. This episode really pulled off the desperate struggle Sousuke was going through and hit hard with action and the new serious tone it’s been going for. WIth this episode we finish animating the seventh volume of the series and it ended with quite a bang. The last few episodes have been a pure destruction of the school setting and lighthearted antics of Full Metal Panic. Nothing quite makes that hit home more that seeing Kyouko, almost the symbol of that side of the series, pierced through the stomach with debri. It looks very much like she will live but the moment she turned around and seeing that wound caused an emotional reaction in me I can’t quite explain. I wouldn’t even consider her to be a character I particular cared for in the original series but seeing that was akin to seeing a child mascot get mowed down in a hail of gunfire.

It most likely is a product of the nostalgia gathered after 12 years but that moment made you feel the exact same way as Sousuke did. Almost a desecration of something sacred. Though we did get one small callback to funnier times when the student council president references the dangerous gas of Fumofu’s last episode to get the school to evacuate. In the novel the villain actually remarks that it would be impossible to evacuate a school that fast and for any other school this would be true. But this school knows Sousuke and therefore when they say he’s done something insane then it’s time to run.

This episode was a confirmation that this series will completely abandon the lighthearted tone of old as Sousuke leaves the school to chase down Chidori. It’s admittedly a bit of a cliche for Chidori to give herself up to the enemy in order to save Sousuke but in this case I allow it as we got to see Sousuke lose badly for the first time in the series. This was him battered to the brink, with Arbalest destroyed and left down to nothing but a pistol, but still firing it in vain. On that note, the mecha CGI was beautiful, Belials animation makes look remarkably cool and you can truly feel the weight of these machines in their movement. Also in this episode we got the reveal of Wraith whom, to be blunt, I completely forgot about. It’s not that unbelievable to do so seeing as Wraith never really showed up until second raid and there she didn’t reveal herself and mainly fought on the sidelines. But I certainly did a double take seeing her disguise herself as a the teacher and suddenly kick all kinds of ass. I was half believing that the teacher was an undercover operative this whole time. The Tuatha de Danaan ramming a behemoth was also superb. Overall I am very satisfied with how Xebec has handled the adaption and I hope they can keep this up.

Hisone to Masotan – 04 [They Came to Gifu]

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

With this episode the main plot thread of HisoMaso starts to emerge. Not only we have a new character this week, but all three of the remaining cast joined in in spectacular fashion. And befitting with the oddball personalities of both Hisone and Nao, they are a bunch of eccentric characters whose characteristics are all over the place. We have Ririko (codename Jimmy) – a shy and introvert girl, Hitomi (TAC name Morris) – a kind-hearted soft spoken big (and lazy) girl and Eri (TAC name Penguin) – a self-serious and overachiever. Looking at this cast, one has to wonder how unfit those girls are in military context. I mean, army is supposed to be uniform, consistent and those girls are as faraway from those as possible. But maybe that’s the point, that driving (AKA massaging the inside of) dragon is a job that only oddballs can do (And to think that Nao now is the one being left out – 4 dragons and 5 girls, seriously?). I’m still not very convinced about the characters of Hitomi and Ririko so far, given most of the time HisoMaso play their weirdness mostly for laugh.

It’s Eri who takes the main stage in this episode and she’s responsible for HisoMaso’s first real thematic depth: whether to regard themselves as pilot or dragon caretaker, thus regard the dragon as their friend/pet or as the airplane. With a show that been dancing around its theme so lightly so far you’d know what their solution is. Eri’s point has her merits, she wants to be the first big female pilot in the military force and she’s determined to make the boys recognizing her talents, or in the broader sense to make military women more than just an object/ a weakness, but by doing so she’s objectifying her dragon as something no more than a tool. The fact the dragon is too tense that he remains in aircraft mode even after the flight is sad as hell. As a result, he goes over his limits and transforms into the dragon form when Eli pushes him harder.

Again, Hisone nearly ruins the mood of her new comrades by saying mean things as they are, but in some way there’s always a charm in her meanie thought-out-loud. There’s no chemistry between her and the rest of the cast whatsoever, but that’s precisely the joy to see this band of misfits doing missions together, arguing over the most meaningless things while inside the stomach of dragons. The girls’ facial expressions remain as expressive as ever and the visual is certainly top-notch and gorgeous. I’m not too sold with the new cast so far, mostly because it’s Eri-centric episode but I reckon I’ll warm up with the other two as time goes by.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes Die Neue These – 5[Birth of the 13th Fleet]

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

Now this was the part of the original OVA series that I really started to get interested in LOGH though in that this was episode 3. I find it great that neither Reinhards nor Yangs society is perfect so there is no real villain in regards to the two sides. No side is effectively more right because both have their positives and negatives. The Empire is good if you are born Nobility but otherwise the class divide has a hefty amount of unfair privileges and prejudice. The Free Planets Alliance allows for personal freedom…assuming of course that person is supporting the war and doesn’t have pacifist sentiments. Both are essentially a dictatorship, just that one is more open about it while the other hides it under a false pretense of equality. Nothing shows this more than the politician Truniht making a impassioned speech at a funeral about the glory of dying for your country and how people should aid in the war against the empire. Jessica Edwards certainly made a good point in interrupting that speech by pointing out that what he is saying is true but is highly hypocritical when Truniht and his loved ones remain safely outside of the war while others go to die for their country. It’s all well and good to praise the guillotine as being a honorable death but you better be willing to put your head under it if you want your words to hold weight.

But boy, Truniht truly is a slimy politician that makes me hate him all over again. He just has that absolute insincerity and greed. Topped off with his own personal army which is disguised as a radical nationalist group whom remove anyone who poses the slightest risk to his influence, he truly is the kind of creature I would love to toss out an airlock. So I relish any opportunity for people to piss him off, be it Jessica pointing out his hypocrisy or Yang refusing to stand and applaud his speech. It is interesting to note that the officer that berated Yang for not standing up is the same officer who assaulted his home leading the PKC. On that I will say that the anime didn’t quite do a good job explaining why the PKC gave up so easily. It wasn’t just because they were sprayed with water but also because that activated the fire control system and called the police to Yangs house. Julian certainly is making himself at home though at this point in time he’s been living there for quite a while. The remake does a better job of showing how young Julian was while in the OVA he looked more like a young man than a teenager. Got to say that both of them were quite calm in handling the whole situation of the PKC throwing a grenade through the window. Almost as if it was a regular occurrence.

So Yang is given his next mission to capture Isolation Fortress, which has quite a big role throughout the series. I think next episode will go into detail as to why this fortress is so important so I won’t explain why but this mission is really risky. It’s like an ultimatum to Yang, either pull off something no one ever has and win more accolades or die in battle so as to not be a thorn in Truniht’s side. Yet Yang always responds with the attitude of a salaryman going to another day of work. I rather liked the small moment where Yang held a broken piece of a plate in his hand after the PKC attack, remarking that it was the only genuine thing his father had. Suggesting that his father was a bit of a conman with his merchandise. From the look of next episode it seems we are not getting back to Reinhard yet and instead be seeing how Yang handles his unreasonable mission.

Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory – 03[Big One Percent]

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

We got nearly a full episode of mecha combat so time for those CGI animators to show us what they can do. Now I gave this series a lot of grief last episode over CGI, so it’s only fitting to commend the CGI this episode as that was some excellent mecha CGI. not quite seamless enough to not be recognised as CGI but the movement of the mechs made it very easy to forgive that. Three quarters of the episode was pretty much mecha combat and it didn’t feel janky while also conveying the weight of these mechs. 2D mecha would still be preferred obviously but as an alternative I am fine with this as well. I loved the scene were the behemoth jammed the barrel of it’s cannon into a mecha, swung the mech upward and shot it in midair. Admittedly it was supposed to be a rather grim death scene but I saw that and immediately thought “Damn that was cool.” Speaking of which we did have some death scenes, though none of characters that were all that well known.

Seems they may have gotten more attention in the novels but right here and now all I scene was background character cannon fodder. Though one of which was Speck, who was the soldier that was joking about mutiny one episode back. Now sacrificing his life to give Kurtz a shot at taking down a behemoth. Again it does feel a bit trite but I find myself willing to forgive it. Another argument I have heard is in why Kurtz pretty much watched Speck die without doing anything and only after it finished killing him. But someone brought up that he couldn’t get a clear shot because the composite armour was all he could see and once the mech turned it’s head, he had a clear shot at the exposed head. Makes sense as firing beforehand would cause him to lose the surprise factor, which when fighting Behemoths is integral to taking them down. One detail I really love is that upon Kurtz taking out the main control of the behemoth, the mech was crushed under its own weight. Ultimately black technology is what keeps these robots bipedal and if you take that out then the robot quite literally destroys itself.

Other than that we got a really nice scene with Sousuke and Chidori where in the do a thing that a majority of couples need to do in anime. Actually communicate with each other. You could call it an anticlimactic resolution to their individual problems but it certainly is good to see characters actually deal with their problems instead of letting them bottle up their emotions until the appropriate climatic moment for maximum dramatic effect. Like episode 14 of a certain show about Darlings. The fact of the matter is that these two have been through a lot so actually seeing them talk things out is excellent development for them. Chidori admits to being both in love and scared of Sousuke with Sousuke admitting the same thing about her. You would think it would take an entire episode for Chidori to push Sousuke to rescue her classmates over protecting her and yet Sousuke cuts that right off by stating that he wants to protect Chidori and the school life that she cares for. Admittedly in the novel there was a bit more Angst with Chidori suddenly talking furious technobabble to explain the situation being hopeless and the manga goes even further than that. So I actually prefer how it was handled in the anime, less dramatic, more sensible. Cause those things are precious to him too. Actually makes me wish I could have given the entire series a rewatch up until this point cause this really does feel like a development the series has been building towards for a long time.

Hisone no Masotan – 03 [Take responsibility, would you?]

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

HisoMaso continues its bright, playful creativeness with another stellar episode, albeit a bit light in terms of plot. It’s an annual Air show and with that our titular characters’ bond is getting a little deeper. The cast’s getting even more expansive with several new faces, although somehow the main supporting characters that we see in the ED are still nowhere to be seen. Here I want to bring up one of HisoMaso’s unique appeal: its simple but incredibly expressive character designs: be it in their facial expressions or in their gestures. I believe the simple designs help loosen the strict movements we usually see in other anime. Here, each character has their own mannerism: their distinct movements can inform us plenty about the characters’ personality. In addition, their exaggerations actually never feel out of place with the tone of the show and the facial reactions from those characters are just something to behold, even with Masotan this episode whenever he hears Forest name. Those things help make up plenty for the lack of actual characteristics in our characters.

The main development of this episode revolves around the appearance of Hisone’s predecessor, Forest, which I’m still not sure if she’ll be a recurring character or just one-off. While she quit the D-pilot job few years ago, Hisone still feels the connection between Masotan and his old pal and becomes jealous of it. I can understand where Hisone coming from, given how she always regards Masotan and her have some sort of special bonding. Turns out, someone else even understands the dragon better than she does, so even her most secure feeling gets crumbling really quickly. Hisone’s speech with the dragon during their flight is another touching moment, further strengthen their special relationship. I also come to enjoy HisoMaso whimsical sense of wacky, most notably from Hisone’s remarks (gold: “I’m envious of your ability to sincerely believe this a proper contribution”. Way to go, Hisone) and her TAC name (which is like a nickname) is her freaking real name. I might not catch the nuance of the wordplays in those names here, or maybe the point is that these names don’t even mean anything excepts sound cool together (HisoMasooooooo)

As I said earlier, in terms of plot this show doesn’t have much to tell right now but it more than makes up by the strength of its stunning visual (I took like 40 screenshots out of this episode) and its easy-going bright atmosphere and fun characters. Being said that, I hope the show doesn’t get dark later on and I still HAVE NO IDEA what it will bring for the main overarching plot. The flights aspect is my least favorite part so far, so I hope they can turn that aspect into something more interesting. Somehow the lack of actual main plot doesn’t really worry me much, as long as HisoMaso still delivers those cute face expressions and introduces us more characters that we can relate to, I will be more than happy to get behind.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes Die Neue These – 4[The Unbeatable Magician]

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

With the previous episode we got the backstory of Reinhard and with episode and the next we are getting the backstory of Yang. I know it’s likely a rather typical response to the “Who is my favorite character from LOGH?” but I really do love Yang. This episode actually did a better job of introducing him than the previous series did as before his past was relegated to a prequel series made afterwards. The pacing was a bit fast but otherwise this does a great job of setting up Yangs character. Yang is a man who wants to study history but finds himself more often than not forced to make it. Almost a polar opposite of Reinhard, he isn’t an overachiever and is lazy to a fault while only harboring the ambition to use the military as a means to obtain a paycheck so he can study history. Yet because he’s such a history buff he has a gift for tactical strategy which unfortunately pushes him up the ranks and some serious bad luck. For example she was positioned in the military at El Facil in this episode and found himself in lead command after the army abandoned the people. Though his wit he managed to use the escaping army as a decoy and evacuated the population. Now this event was still a big loss for the Free Planets Alliance but to divert attention away from that they focused public attention on Yangs evacuation and thus he was propelled to the status of the Hero of El Facil.

Honestly I love his demeanor of calm easy going mood even during the most dire of situations while still being rather socially awkward. This episode mainly set up his love for history and his friendship with Jessaia and Jean. I particularly liked how Yang tended to support Jean in pursuing Jessica romantically while signifying that he too may harbor romantic feelings for her. If there was certainly something I adored from the OVA series it was Yangs speeches on history and in this episode his opinion(Or rather his dad’s opinion) on Rudolf is oddly chilling. “People supported him…because they wanted their lives to be easy”, “Rather than solving their problems on their own, they were waiting for some superhero or saint to show up and take it all on single handedly. Rudolf took advantage of that”…my friends do these words seem oddly relevant? For these are lines taken word from word from a novel written in the 1980’s. Thus much like Yangs opinion on strategy, If one knows the past then it makes you better at predicting the future.

Now I have heard complaints that the strategy in this series is somewhat dependent on rather obvious tactics made brilliant by the incompetence of the opponent and I do see where that is coming from. It was rather odd that the best student in the school had the basic strategy of fighting Yang head on without considering to defend his supply lines. However while I admit the tactics of this show are a bit basic, I have two points which I feel negates that somewhat. One is that this series isn’t really about the space battles themselves but rather the politics around them so high level strategy isn’t so much needed when it’s the outcome of the battle on the political landscape which matters to the overall plot. The second point is that there is some claim that the author based these battles on real historical battles which I too suspected so. As I stated previously, stupid people in high positions is quite the common theme within history, you would be rather shocked how often it comes up. So I find the idea of Yang and Reinhard facing incompetent commanders to be at least fairly feasible. As a final note, the last episode showed us that the Galactic Empire has is dark sides to it’s society and this episode does give a glimpse that the Free Planets Alliance has its fair share of darkness too. While less constrictive that the Empire and closer to our current society, there is mention of a war orphans provision which basically amounts to soldiers being able to raise orphans and have a loan lent out by the Government. Then when the kid turns 15 they can veto the payback of the loan by joining the military. Essentially grooming war orphans into future soldiers. A democracy the Free Planets Alliance may be, but it is one that makes becoming a soldier the most attractive and in some cases, only option.

Hisone to Masotan – 02 [I’ll Name the Dragon Masotan]

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

It’s already 2 episodes in and I still have absolute no idea what HisoMaso’s overarching theme is going to be, which might no be a bad thing given I enjoy the show for what it is so far. HisoMaso’s main concept is quite silly when you think about it. A dragon camouflages as a military aircraft in which the person pilots it inside its organs. Yuck. And you see how he throws Hisone up? The show could easily fall apart if they take that concept seriously, yet so far they manage to get away with it. Even heaps of scenes in this episode could be viewed as workplace sexual harassment with all the touching, sexual innuendo (not to the level of FranXX but still,) and fetish-fuel suits, yet somehow they still work? Why then? I have no clue, but if I have to guess, it’s because of the show’s subtle parodical tone. Main characters, for example, have betrayed their common archetype tropes: Hisone is first seen as a character who have no qualms to be pushed around, turns out she’s the blabbermouth who says all negative things without thinking. Likewise, with Nao appears as your typical grumpy but kind-hearted partner, but this episode goes a long way to establish that she’s mean to Hisone through and through. Or even with the yoghurt lady who supposed to be a source of wisdom, turns out she just gives Hisone some random food (or is it not) and it’s Hisone who tries to make the meaning out of it.

Then again, I figure our best approach to HisoMaso should be don’t delve too deep into it and just enjoy the simple yet absolutely outstanding visual wash over you with some mild emotional core and some tweaks at the common tropes. And on that front HisoMaso more than shine through. This episode is all about Nao the delinquent who unsuccessfully bullying our main girl, but successfully steals a scooter and gets herself swallowed by the dragon (yay!). Her arc involves how Nao feels insecure with her position after Hisone becomes a main pilot. Ignored by her idol and had her rival standing up for her for all the wrong reasons, it comes to the breaking point where she need to revenge. Vengeance is the best cold dish there is. But why Nao, why do you have to go all the way to cook a meal for your rival? But further down the line and you realize that what Nao afraid the most is not living up to her mother. Kakiyasu the Captain does a crappy job to remind that her every single goddamn time. There’s a subtle hint that Kakiyasu used to be Nao’s mother junior, hence she understands what Nao is going through right now. But what she doesn’t understand is Nao the person, as the girl lashes out and runaways. Okay, Nao is pretty much a meanie but her character ticks with me through her little adorable details: her sketchbook with all the drawings are kawaii (with a commentary to boost), reading Princess Tutu / Black Swan manga, the way when she’s hurt she calls out for her Mama (big girl always calls out for Mama)

Judging from the OP and ED, there going to be three more additions that it makes me wonder if there is going to be another dragon appear. As I said earlier I absolutely have no clue whether HisoMaso will be more serious later on. I hope it’s not as for the moment I enjoy the chemistry between the titular characters, the bright and impressive visuals and I have a fondness for these quirky characters with no nose. The same can be said for its catchy French ED (I love French Pop, their sounds always remind me of bright summertime. German always sounds to angry for me – fitting for Metal music). One thing for sure is that whichever direction HisoMaso going to head, I am gonna be happily on board.