Fall 2020 Summary – Week 6

Wooper: Last week I said that we might be skipping our weekly recap for a seasonal check-in, but then Amun came through with some impressions to give us three whole writers in one post, and I couldn’t pass that up. We’re approaching levels of blog contribution that shouldn’t be possible! Next week will be our Fall 2020 State of the Season shindig, but for now, we’re here to gab about the newest wave of weekly anime. Enjoy!

Tonikaku Kawaii – 06

Amun: Not in my normal strike zone of shows, but I find myself watching Tonikaku Kawaii first on the weekend anime binge. With a simple premise and a tiny cast, Tonikaku Kawaii should fall under the category of show that gives you cavities and I avoid like the plague. Tonikaku Kawaii banks on, and makes light of, some common early onset romantic issues – but it’s done in such a light hearted way that you can’t help but cheer on our silly, spacy couple as they bumble through the beginnings of married life. I’m sure you could find some criticisms of the perverted bath owner or the meddling little sister, but for now, it’s cute and that’s all you really need to know.

Golden Kamuy S3 – 06

Lenlo: I never know what to expect with Golden Kamuy. Some weeks it’s light hearted gallows humor with a sprinkle of drama, other weeks like this one that recipe is flipped on its head. Sadly it’s in weeks like this that I really start to see the cracks in the series. Drama is not Golden Kamuy’s strong suit, to say the least. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, the sniper battle was fun. I really liked the double misdirect in regards to Ogata’s position, and how his strategy actually laid him flat for the rest of the episode. Pair that with Shiraishi’s introspection and you have some decent drama. But I didn’t care much for Ogata’s flashback, all things considered. It didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know about him as a character, and while it introduced a bit of guilt, it’s not something I really see it acting on. All in all it felt like it existed to pad runtime. Not in the worst way, it fit the show and reminded us just how much of a cold bastard he is. But it definitely wasn’t the most interesting thing in the episode.

 

Maou-jou de Oyasumi – 06

Wooper: I think Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle might be my favorite currently-airing anime. Its triple minisode structure makes that a tall order, since a bad gag could make one-third of the anime torture to sit through, but Maou-jou hasn’t crossed that line yet. Admittedly, this week’s third story was pretty thin, since it gave the Demon King a bigger part than his character warrants, but the other two were great. Monster names/designs, the princess’s missions, and the misunderstandings that result from their differing worldviews are always the things I look for – and they were all present in the first two segments, which made them lots of fun. The Demon King’s council of advisors were so keen on fighting the Hero that they practically laid out a trail of candies for him. What they perceived as a wicked plot actually verged on kindness, which is why it was so clever that Syalis wrecked their plans and unintentionally delayed her rescue. Even the show’s panty humor is good, revolving around the princess’s obsession with the royal family’s dignity, despite the fact that her undies are perfectly modest to begin with. Maou-jou might be a lightweight comedy, but it’s yet to put forward a bad episode, and that consistency is something I appreciate.

Kamisama Ni Hatta – 05

Amun: You didn’t really expect to get that far through a Key show without some feels, did you? Taking a break from the odd “super hacker” tangent (which will undoubtedly come back around in say, 11 days), our benevolent, tiny Odin is here with some grief counselling – albeit ten years late. Okay, nice story, nice animation (got some Hyouka eye sparkles going on there), all that’s well and good – what I’m really interested in is if Odin actually has supernatural powers. We know she’s got some mother issues (good pointing that out, because I would have definitely missed that), but there are some other things that are making me wonder. Like how she needed a video to replicate the deceased mother – seems like some Deepfake sort of thing going on. It really seemed like she couldn’t find anything out about her without that reference. That, plus the other weird hacker side-story…really making me question here. But then she knew all the horse race outcomes – that seems hard to predict, super hacker or not. Hmmmm….also, there’s the whole world ends in 11 days thing, so I’m not sure what to think. Definitely has me hooked though.

Haikyuu: To the Top Part 2 – 06

Lenlo: Look, I love Haikyu, I really do. But this season is so annoyingly inconsistent in every imaginable way. Production wise sometimes we will get incredible sequences such as this. I know not everyone enjoys smears as much as I do on this blog, but the dynamic movement the style allows is great. Other times in the same episode though we will get characters floating through the air like clip art being dragged. Meanwhile the pacing is on and off in such a way that there really isn’t any tension in the match. Sure, when Haikyu is on and all the cylinders are firing it’s a fantastic time. We need look no further than the Tanaka episode a few weeks ago to see that in action. But it just isn’t very consistent and I fear the fast paced nature of Nationals might be impacting the production in some negative. Only time will tell if it can finish the season strong, but I am worried at this point.

Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken – 06

Wooper: There wasn’t much to get jazzed about in this one. It had three major responsibilities: usher Dai and Popp onto the mainland, introduce Maam (a ringer for Chrono Trigger’s Lucca), and establish the power hierarchy within Hadlar’s Dark Army. All three goals were accomplished, but while the episode did turn in all its homework, none of it gave me confidence that it’ll ace its upcoming test. Dai jumped straight from a boat bound for Papnica to “lost in the Dark Forest,” skipping whatever shifts had occurred in his friendship with Popp during their travels. Maam has a spunky design and once studied under Avan, but she’s very much “the girl” of the group (hopefully her backstory provides some new angles on her character). As for the six factions of the Dark Army, I’ll only be impressed by this concept if their relationship to each other becomes part of the story, rather than all of them being fodder for Dai and company to crush underfoot. Fingers crossed for a better showing next week – DnD will need it, since most battle shounens lose my interest around this point in their stories.