Little Witch Academia – 20[Sense and Sensibility]

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

This episode has really nailed home for me just how defanging Diana has been a bad choice. In the OVA episodes Diana was bratty and stuck up but at least then she had character. In the TV series she’s more or less a mary sue through and through which is sadly a much more boring characteristic. When comparing how the two clash in both continuities it felt more animated in the OVA’s whereas Diana’s talks here are more exasperated. When you have a high energy character like Akko then I think the best foil is someone who is equally as outspoken. Compare the bickering at the end of this episode to that of the bickering at the end of the first OVA and I think you might see what I am getting at. It is good that we have awakened another word and only have two left for Akko to unlock the seal. The key to this one seems to be Akko relating Diana’s efforts to keep the history of the cavendish family from dying out to the pursuit of her own dream.

As predicted the evil Aunt tries to interfere with Diana taking the ritual and in all honestly I don’t know why this comes as a surprise to anyone. Both Akko and Edward are shocked to hear this as is the maid but when you get down to it then if her Aunt didn’t do something then that would be surprising. Did they really think she was just going to sit back and let Diana take the head position from her? With Diana being as perfect as she is I just don’t get how she couldn’t see this coming. Animation was up to the usual trigger standard with the broom sequence being quite excellent.

In the end the status quo wins. Diana gets to back to school and Daryl looks to have had a change of heart. Besides unlocking a word this little adventure hasn’t changed the norm. Maybe Diana and Akko will be closer after this? Chances are that’s not going to be the case. We did get to learn a little more about Diana with this episode. Things like her temporarily losing her magic when she was a child. This is likely the point she became a fan of Shiny Chariot. There is also her history lesson on the Cavendish family acting as war medics during wars which is rather fascinating. I wonder if witches took part in the fighting as well? Based on what they are capable of they would be formable weapons in a war.

It is rather odd to have this kind of seriousness when most of the violence in the series is treated with cartoon logic. Well we have five episodes of little Witch Academia left and it’s only now that Netflix announces that they plan to release the first cour on their service on June 30. Likely dubbed as they have with other anime releases. I must say that if Netflix will continue with licensing anime then they need to rethink how they release it. The binge format has its good points but when it comes to online discussion then it kills any talk about individual episodes. People accuse this of killing the momentum of Relife and Little Witch Academia which I would be inclined to agree. I think Netflix should consider a simudub strategy much like Funimation. It is great to see more companies jump into licensing anime but with the methods Amazon strike and Netflix are making use of it’s proving to make things more difficult for those who don’t wish to obtain anime on the high seas. Regardless I am looking forward to giving this show a rewatch dubbed when it does come out next month.

Shingeki no Kyojin(Attack on Titan) – 33[The Hunters]

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

One thing that continues to surprise me when covering this series is that after watching a full 25 minute episode of it and sitting down to write, I think about what happened in the episode and find it remarkably little. Truly, what did happen this episode? Well Reiner and Bertholdt ran off with Eren and everyone else chased after them once the military police showed up at the wall. That’s it. With one sentence I have hereby encapsulated what has transpired within the entirety of the episode. Maybe that is selling it short as we did have another flashback and Hans giving Mikasa and Armin some pep talk. Still I find the ever excessive use of flashbacks annoying and we could have established this at a much earlier point instead of now. Other than that we just have that one scene with Mikasa and Armin trying to eat as dramatically as possible. That was just really silly.

Perhaps you may be berating me for criticising this show taking it’s time as an attempt to speed things up could very well remove the gravita of the situations. But we only got a single cour this time round and to have more than one episode just focused on one or two significant events just feels like a waste of resources. But enough about that. Hans tried to make a point with his pep talk with Mikasa and Armin that Eren’s tenacity for never giving up was something to be admired. I however disagree with this statement. Tenacity in face of overwhelming odds is commendable, but only when they reason for those odds is not the person’s fault. Eren picks fights he cannot win. That’s not bravery, that’s stupidity. Still he’s likely right in that Eren will struggle and give his captors hell whenever he can. Though considering how effective Eren usually is I don’t expect much of a result from that. They already chopped off his arms to stop him turning titan. They could just cut out his tongue to stop him giving them any lip. Through considering this series so far, what else would they fill the time with if they can’t let people talk?

Alright I am being mean as this episode wasn’t a bad one by any means. I am sure fans are still eagerly awaiting the next development but I do think the way Attack on Titan tells it’s story is flawed. Nonetheless the soundtrack and production values are carrying it despite the story not really going anywhere fast. You may argue that a lot has happened over the season but I ask whether any of your questions from the first season have been answered? For the answer on that is surely no. Instead we got a lot more questions. Seeing as we got Reiner and Bertholdt to represent the unknown enemy, we might finally get some answers when they are confronted by Eren next episode. Still I think that this story will hold it’s cards for quite a while yet.

Uchoten Kazoku 2 – 07 [The Friday Fellows Club, Again]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Uchoten Kazoku

For a show that has a knack for little moments, this episode is one of the rare times that Eccentric Family goes for big dramatic emotional route, and manages to knock it out of the park. Soun, in the end, serves no more purpose than a pawn in a chess. Wicked all the way, but died abruptly and meaninglessly. Everyone might just brush off and say that he deserves it, but for once I can see his real struggles there. Running away from tanuki society, he aims to join the Friday Club to hunt down all the tanukis that “betrayed” him, but all his efforts and careful schemes are all taken away by spurring moments by Yasaburou, who obviously doesn’t even try, nor care at all, but getting everyone’s approval instead. Irony is there. The natural order is there, too. At the end of the day, doesn’t matter if they’re a hero (like Soichirou) or villian (like Soun), ultimately they are just a weakling tanuki who died helplessly at the hand of the human. Soun doesn’t end up in hot pot tanuki stew, but his death is equally vulnerable. In fact, building him up as evil and ruthless make his defeat even more tragic.

But before that resting moment happened, we have quite an eventful day out of Yasaburou; the more amazing when you notice that last week and this week occur in a span of one single day – where he enjoyed a public bath, went through hell, watching Oni wrestling… and back, enjoyed mixed onsen (boy, that IS truly heaven), having crazy dinner party afterward. Just like what I gathered from the new movie “Life is Short, Walk on Girl”, also written by Morimi. The whole movie happens in a span of a single night, but the events feel much longer than that. This is on purpose, of course, since what is a better way to highlight the enjoyment of busy carefree life by crazy events one after another? It is the magical realism not only by its settings that consists of many mythical figures; but also by warping a sense of time that feel much longer than it supposed to be.

And that wrapping sense isn’t only limited in time, but in space as well. The Eccentric Family has various impossible physical interior places that looks much grander than it supposed to be. Last few weeks we have Nidaime’s cozy apartment that situated in a roof of a small, washout building; we have a hole in a shogi board that actually has a secret room inside it; we also have a painting that have a whole world inside its own; this week they might have its greatest addition: a three-stories train by Jyurojin whom its first story is his office, second story is a dining room and the third one has an open-air onsen with bamboo pathway to boost. The interiors clearly don’t fit with the exterior outside, but that is again intentional to highlight this magical world.

Jyurojin emerges himself as the real threat this episode, especially now when Tenmaya joins him again as a faithful servant. You dare to defy the Friday Club purpose? You get a gun pointed right at you by him. You want your dragon stone back because you couldn’t get in the club? No way in hell. When he mentioned he’s scared of the Painting of Hell because it reminds him of his own inside he seriously gives me a chill. The banquet night, likewise, isn’t your normal banquet. Things quickly go out of hand when Yodogawa sensei declares his love for tanuki (“Love is something you have to force on others”, haha), and protests tanuki stew hot pot tradition. Jyurojin quickly ties him up and “force on his love” to sensei by shooting him in the face, and he means business. Yasaburou then saves his friend by expelled himself from the Thursday club in order to change sensei mind, but Bentei gets the clue and asks him to join the Friday Club instead, meaning he will eventually get to eat a delicious tanuki hot stew. Benten has been very playful this week (guess she’s really in a good mood). That decision also means the total exclusion of Soun, and our Yasaburou is the stone that cries in this episode.

I’m glad that Kaisei has an excellent moment this week, and it appears she will get more spotlight now, as next week will be her episode: “Ebisugawa Kaisei’s Secret”. I have a feeling her secret will be dark (maybe she’s adopted by Soun?), and I hope whatever the secret is, it doesn’t involve with the death of Soun. After all, she takes her father’s death surprisingly calm, doesn’t it?

Sakura Quest – 07 [The Mansion in Purgatory]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Sakura Quest

This week in Sakura Quest, we have core members lashing out at each other, and some more nice interactions between other members – which in fairness is all I could hope for. You know a cast is well developed when you can pick any two main characters and they still have their unique chemistry together. This week is a second half of a double episode about filming production and as far as “second half of double episode” entails, it does its job magnificently. Not only Sakura Quest manages to detail the activities of assisting the shootings from the girls and make it fun, they also flesh out the core casts. Maki’s material in particular is one of the strongest development they’ve succeed so far. What I’m not confident about is the larger narrative, which I guess we have to see how it will turn out next week.

Turn out the main reason for Shiori’s hesitation at the idea of burning that old house is because she spent her childhood memories in that house. She’s used to play around a lot as a kid with the owner of the house, now seeing that place is about to burnt down make her feel nostalgic. That flashback swells me up with emotions with the remains of forgotten memories: several marks of her height charts as a kid, the once-cozy house now empty and worn out. I always have a soft spot for ruins and empty houses (you can feel those places are immune from the passage of time) so I’m totally on Shiori side in this matter. That argument between Yoshino and Shiori is great, and I would love it if the show can continue pushing characters arguing with each other. No fight no glory as they say. Yoshino makes a jerky move by pointing out that Shiori was selfish- reluctant to burn this house but “don’t say a thing” when the crew mentioning other houses. Well, let see how Yoshino REACTS if this was the house she grew up with for Peter sake. I feel that sacrificing your own feeling in service of the shooting is way too easy for the filming crew. First, they don’t aware how difficult it is for the locals to follow their demands (even emotionally) and second, that house wasn’t originally planned to burn down to begin with. Maybe no one like to ask for more trouble, given that the relatives already give it a go but if I were Shiori then they can burn that house down over my dead body.

Maki is given a motivation push over what she wants with her acting job. While last week was all about her self-doubts towards her career, this week is Maki’s journey to find the love for acting all over again; all through tutoring a complete amateur about acting, find the passionate young versions in every corner of the town, and realize that she has the supports from others over pursuing what she loved, even if the supports are often subtle and low-key. I particularly love the sequences of her remembering her childhood, with lovely insert music and very great visual that highlighting the sad truth between her now and her passionate young self before. Again, her whisper ”It’s got to be something you like, or you won’t get far, kid” hits a bit too close to home. I appreciate the mature theme of Sakura Quest here, about the very real struggles that now, as someone who also in his 20s, have to deal with. Maki soon picks up her spirit, playing double for Moe in an overdramatic burning house scene (which was a crap decision by the movie crew for me, burning the house for just one take in such dangerous scene? There’s a high chance that she fails and what’s ever going to happen if that is the case? Burn another house down?), but she succeeds beautiful and moreover she enjoys herself to act again.

This episode also deepens the chemistry of our cast, especially between Maki and Ririko, my two favorite characters. What Maki says to Ririko ta calm her nervousness is great, but their easy atmosphere when they talk to each other about their old school and The Snow White’s tradition plays are what really sold me on their relationships. Not only give the core cast some internal conflicts to work with like in Yoshino and Shiori’s case, Sakura Quest also give the cast an opportunity to improve each other by using one character’s strength to help out the others. Ririko also has another cute scene when she was slowly moving sideways with her hands covering her butt. You have to see it for yourself but it was a solid joke for me (didn’t I mention I like the humor of this show?).

While last week I was a little frustrated with the direction of this show, Sakura Quest, at its core, still pull many moving and honest treatments to young adult’s insecurities and struggles with their life, something that anime medium don’t tend to do too well. If there is a movie on top of my head that resembles this show in terms of tone and the theme about the insecureness of twenty-something characters, it has to be Garden State. Moreover, while the plot does feel force at times (the crew guy talking to Shiori about Yoshino’s request is incredibly forced for example), it’s those quiet moments that help carry the emotional weight. Scenes like Maki seeing her childhood as I mentioned above, Yoshino glances over Shiori during the burning house shooting, or Shiori quietly watching the ashes, speaks more volume than any word can convey. Sakura has its charms and I will stick with it for a while longer, at least until the end of this season.

ID-0 – 06 [The Observer]

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

With this episode we start to learn more about Ido’s true identity but the reveal feel far-fetched at best. I know he’s supposed to be someone special, but “an enemy of mankind”? Seriously? That trope again? So he was a Titan or some kind of disease that destroy the human kind? Oh since he’s in space he might as well be Frieza or Darth Vader for all I care. That cliché aside, this reveal opens more questions of whether his past self was truly evil, or he was anti-hero of some sort. Although based on his current skills and knowledge I can safely say that he was dangerous either way. I find the development will have some potentials as doesn’t matter if Ido’s past self was evil, this current version of him is his own individual. It’s interesting to see the conflicts of multiple selves of sort. Although I must say I don’t prefer this passionate, newfound-hope mode of his (he laughs and then embraces a loli girl – such image gives me a creep). The collected Ido we know previously is always the best.

Continuing from last week, the Orichalt satellite comes in full force and tries to crush down the team. Quite a persistent bunch. Those satellites proved to be very dangerous, as they have their own intelligent and they nearly succeed to damage our team. But then our members are saved from another force by the warping weapons. Now, this is some powerful arms. Imagine you just shoot and send your enemies to the other side of outer space. Save you the trouble of cleaning up the bodies. This episode ID-0 also introduces a new force that run entirely independent from the Military force: the Observer -who presented by the guy named Sam Tailor- overseeing the operations of ins and outs spaceships. They appear to know everything, from Maya’s false accusation to Amanza’s deserter situation and they suggest the entire ship to cooperate with them for a testimony, with the promise of coming clean all the illegal activities the ship has done. Such a nice bait I must say, although that request received mixed reactions from our team. I love how they voice their opinions and the overall reception is so all over the place.

Notice how Amanza doesn’t really have a say in that matter, which echoing later by Tailor that without her social status she would be nothing. Even now when she’s in this group her situation is rather intriguing: not really a Prisoner of War, not exactly an ally. In fact, her reason for escaping this dire situation makes sense: just toss Alice aside and the Police, the Observer and the Satelites will stop bothering them. She becomes the voice of reason for the ship and it makes sense because she thinks about the issues as a soldier. Follow the instruction, not your dream. The group quickly shot her idea down though because they view each other as a member of a family, so when Ido shows some motivation of keeping Alice and tracing down his past, they all agree to do it. Now, she’s still some steps away from being a true member of our group, but how she eventually gets there will be interesting to watch. But please stop doing that standing pose, it’s starting to get on my nerves.

However, as soon as Grayman and his ship decides to turn the offer down, they realize that Alice was kidnaped by Tailor. Didn’t I tell you that the Observer knows everything? Our team thinks they hold a secret triumph card here, but the truth is that it was their plan all along to capture Alice. What’s all the deal with all the crazy attention to this Alice-girl? As soon as Ido faced Tailor, however, that observer recognizes him. Then of course he was crushed down before he had a chance to spill it up. I don’t really like the way Maya behaves in this latter half as it feels more like it was for the plot’s advance but I let it pass for now. Half way through, ID-0 still performs well, and with its overarching act is beginning to form, I am confident that it will get even more awesome later on. You guys, pick it up! ID-0 isn’t the show that scream “Best of the season” but it has its own respectable quality. On final note, the episode came earlier than expected as the fan subs seemed to be picked up sooner. Whoever you are who have been doing the fan-sub for ID-0, you have my gratitude.

Little Witch Academia – 19[Cavendish]

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

It’s time for the Diana episode and it’s a two parter no less. This episode was mainly a setup to the next one but we did learn a couple of things here. One is that Diana is indeed a former Chariot fan as she possesses the one card that Akko doesn’t have. I honestly think that card is going to end up getting shown to Akko at some point though I don’t think it has a word of Arcturus on it. If anything the tapestry that was shown in the beginning and was one of the items her aunt tried to pawn off appears to have the word that Akko is looking for. Other thing revealed is that Diana is not as well off as she first appeared to be with her family assets getting sold off by her Aunt. Makes me think that Akko is deeply regretting that Aristocrat remark she made during the fairy strike. Speaking of Diana’s aunt, I like to think that she is a character who absorbed the original bitch tendencies of Diana’s OVA self. Still I admit she’s a pretty weak villain character to introduce at this stage. I don’t disagree with her assessment on charity not being the best way to keep yourself afloat but her solution is full of holes. It’s an odd thing to outright dismiss the legacy of her family when her very well being depends on her selling off the heirlooms that the legacy gathered.

Another thing of note is a prediction that Diana made earlier in the series. She previously predicted using magic that Akko would leave the school however with her dropping out from school to take on the duties of the family head it appears that prediction was actually meant for her. Her position when compared to Akko is interesting as her mother also tasked her with bringing magic back to the world. I feel that that was a missed opportunity in this series up to this point to display how she came to accept Akko  as the one to gather the words. Diana has been a bit too mary sue for my liking so to actually see some internal conflict would have been nice rather than just have her jump straight to the resolution. After all Akko is the one to fulfill her mother’s dying wish, Akko is the one chosen by the Shiny Rod, Akko is the one being tutored by her childhood hero…Akko has essentially inherited the position that Diana originally aimed for and quite frankly she is inferior in all aspects to Diana herself. Shouldn’t there be some frustration? Envy? She has shown to be dissatisfied with how Akko is doing things and the occasional wayward look but I think her arc should have been something much more than this. Back on episode two I originally thought that would be so.

Based on the opening and the parallels between Akko and Diana to Ursula and Croix then i would say she’s bound to play a big role in the finale of this series. So perhaps these episodes are to build the relationship between the two so that they can clash/work together for whatever Croix is planning. It was nice to see Diana not put up with her Aunt mocking Akko and Andrew certainly seems to be willing to help Akko out whenever he can. Or maybe he just felt like annoying Diana. Either way the problem her is Diana’s aunt and she’s clearly doing to do something to stop Diana from inheriting the position of family head. Perhaps she’s not quite as evil as she appears and they may somehow give her a change of heart. But seeing as her familiar is a snake and her first introduction involved her having glowing red eyes and slipping into the darkness then I think her defeat is not going to be through words. The question is whether Diana will return to Luna Nova through some condition where she can continue her education while being family head? Or will she no longer be a part of the school from this point forward as she previously intended?

Shingeki no Kyojin(Attack on Titan) – 32[Close Combat]

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

It really does feel like this episode passed by far too fast as I remember Eren and Reiner fighting and not much else. Much like most of you I am sure you are very interested in who won that fight between Mikasa and Annie. Well I can certainly let you know that this fight is never ever brought up again. Look I bash the overuse of flashbacks in this series quite a bit but I really hate it when a flashback I am invested in is brutally cut off by the main character saying “Eh, who cares about that anyway.” To give you peace of mind, apparently the two were evenly matched and fought until an instructor cut the match short. The flashback served it’s purpose to suddenly teach Eren Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Got to admit that was very convenient timing as it makes it really odd that Eren never made use of these techniques against the very one that taught him them, Annie herself. In fact it’s rather odd that it’s only now that he starts to utilise these skills.

We have a couple of standout moments such as Hange reacting to a titan finally acknowledging her words and Mikasa’s fantastically animated cut into Reiners legs. However I really must ask, did it take them that long to figure out they should be attacking the gaps in his armour. I mean these people aren’t exactly educated people but it seems like minimum level combat tactics to strike at someone’s weak spots. Point is that if you need to break through a wall and there is a wall of concrete with a wall of styrofoam right beside it then it’s rather silly to go for the concrete wall. I saw that shot of Mikasa repeatedly trying to stab Reiner’s shoulder armour when there was a clear fleshy gap right beside it. Plus couldn’t the rest of you scouting crops swoop down and give Eren a hand? I mean the ending had a perfect shot for someone to fly into and cut the neck yet everyone was too busy playing spectator. I know you had spare blades Mikasa, why did you go after the legs instead of the neck?

I have a few more complaints too, like the way the kept interrupting the action to show others talking or reacting or whatever. The shot of Mikasa cutting the legs did not need intercuts to Eren choking Reiner. It should have been one unbroken shot and that really shows when someone edited the shots together without the fluff. I don’t mind the interruptions about how people feel about Reiner and Belhots betrayal as it does explain why Mikasa didn’t go straight to chop their heads off before they transformed as well as hyping up the fight. Even if Eren was being…well…Eren at the beginning. Seriously, Eren. You can be really damn disappointing at times. So we have a action packed half hour that leaves us with another big cliffhanger that honestly felt like ended the episode too soon. This episode also marks that we are over halfway through the season and I can hear the frustrated tears of Attack on Titan fans from here.

Seikaisuru Kado – 06[Tetrok]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Seikaisuru Kado

I was wrong about the recap episode this week. Perhaps it was after this episode or maybe I was just mistaken. Well you don’t hear me complaining about this as I get to see the fallout from the last episode. Or at least what should have been the fallout. I got a little annoyed with the developments this week as while last week had the Japanese reveal the secret to creating Wam to the world, it appears that not everyone has the aptitude for making them. Thus the story brushed aside what would have been very interesting developments in favorite of focusing on the next Kado gift. Seeing as this series is all about this Aliens effect on humanity, I find it distasteful to hand wave off the long term consequences of his gifts. Makes me think that this series will shy away from the darker aspects of the human condition even when it’s relevant. It is refreshing to see a series where humans approach an alien lifeform with reactions that are not KILL or Capture for experimentation then KILL! Likewise for the Alien creature itself. But it is important to remark on the negative aspects of Kado pushing human advancement rather than just throw down revolutionary gifts and say “Well some revolution will happen in the future and it will be fine I guess?”

Well today we rolled a cube and it was oddly rather exciting despite nothing going wrong. It’s time to move Kado to a less bothersome location now that the passengers are freed and zaShunina makes things difficult by putting down conditions on how his cube should move. The solution is to literally roll a giant cube through Japan which goes surprisingly well despite how messy it sounds. Don’t know why everyone found Shindo’s idea of rolling it along it’s edges so impressive seeing as it doesn’t really change much and it is pretty obvious idea.

Once everything is moved zaShunina drops the bombshell for his next gift to humanity. That being to remove humanity’s need to sleep. To that let me say, sign me the hell up. If there are any kids reading this blog(Chances slim to none) that when you are younger having the money to afford things is more important. But when you have steady income job when you are older, time becomes your most valuable commodity. Rule of thumb is when you are young you have all the time in the world but nothing to spend it on. When you are older you have tons of things to spend time on but no time to spent. So if I can trade my sleeping hours for more spare time without consequence but you bet I would. To most of you however this proposal may not sound all that big considering his last change was infinite energy. It sounds that way at first but when you think about it, this is just as devastating.  WIth an extra 8 hours a day you could put it into work and earn double your paycheck. Even taking into account what people could accomplish with that extra time would be incredible. In terms of the economy businesses would need to be open 24/7 for there will be no point when people sleep. In fact what’s the point of having beds anymore? Besides maybe the occasional rest and adult time those things would be unneeded. The changes this would make to society as a whole would be astronomical. You would be able to get ten days work done in seven and most importantly…people would final have time to get through their backlogs.

Of course their is going to be kickback from this. Namely does this process make someone still human? Shindo certainly isn’t too excited by the prospect but I really do wonder how he didn’t realise that he hadn’t slept in a week. zaShunina has clearly crossed a line whether he knows it or not by altering Shindo without his permission. This alteration brings up more concerns as black companies would certainly abuse it to make working conditions even worse and it draws up the question that maybe zaShunina’s final aim is to turn humanity into something like himself. As Shindo’s mother brought up, perhaps he’s alone in the universe and seeking a being close to himself. Whatever the result I just say for zaShunina should to bring this gift to our reality. Cause I sorely need it.

Uchoten Kazoku 2 – 06 [Arima Hell]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Uchoten Kazoku

Hell, this episode of Eccentric Family sure is surreal. While this show has always been your very definition of magical realism series, the latter half of this episode leans far away from the “realism” spectrum with the most ridiculous catch ever: Yasaburou found himself inside the Painting of Hell, being pushed by none other than his uncle Soun. But true to Eccentric Family’s universe, this version of hell is glorious and bright, with Oni who as cool as a cucumber (off track but why the cats so afraid of cucumber by the way?). Really, what an episode! The sequence in Hell totally won me over for its rich background details, stylized world of industrial ruins in hell. And then we have Oni girl commenting on hair fashion. And then we witness Oni demons doing wrestling matches. And then tanuki flies off the sky. My mind’s blowing with such goofiness. This season of The Eccentric Family just getting better and better and now with the main antagonist starts to appear (in this case, reappear), the plot is rolling much faster now.

This first half continues to give more screen time to the recurring characters as Yasaburou visits them along the way. First, Yodogawa-sensei gets kicked out of his teaching because of the influence of the Fellow Fridays (the show makes it like it’s no big deal at all but it’s scary when you think about his situation applied in real life), as a result he has to retreat to the rural forest whose wild boars are all around. But the interesting bit lies in his assistant, Suzuki, whose has the same hair color and the same eyes with Benten (her real name is Satomi Suzuki). Indeed, it wouldn’t be far-fetched if he turns out to be her brother. Heck, I’m quite amazed the way The Eccentric Family just throw new characters in the scene without any proper introduction or exposition, and then by the little information we gather and by the way they behave, we have to work out who they are and how they’re related to the big picture. The best thing of all is that those new characters, even without proper introduction, fit right in with this universe. Prepare for some sibling reunion (and maybe tissue-grabbing moments) later down the road.

Second, let’s talk about our Kaisei. Finally she’s back and I enjoy every conversation between her and Yasaburou, even if the majority of their chat is about she’s being busy lately for some reasons unknown and her jealousy towards Yasaburou’s affection for Benten-sama. Later, that ninja tanuki teleports from one red post to another (not really!) to follow Yasaburou around is so endearing and whimsical to watch. Great chemistry there, although I would prefer she has some more development for herself. Last season she was special for her ability to appear in the right time at the right place (like how she transformed into the stair to help Yasaburou and Yodogawa-sensei last season), it has been sorely lacking this season as all she does for now is hanging around Yasaburou at her own pleasure (I hope you get the signs, Yasaburou) or disappearing into thin air.

But the biggest reveal of this week’s episode is the return of Soun. In truth, he has never been gone. He sneaks around that Arima onsen, and preparing himself to be the next candidate of the Friday Fellows, meaning providing a new tanuki hot stew and will eating it himself. CANNIBALISM. Kind of freak me out how inhumane (in-tanuki-ne) Soun has become, as he refuses himself to be a tanuki anymore – in a way just like Nidaime who refuses to be called tengu. But to tell you the truth, this is the most glaring issues that I have with The Eccentric Family back from the first season: Soun and the twins are just badly-written characters in otherwise a sincere character-heavy show. They’re the characters we love to hate, and Soun proves once again to be evil all the way. When you see it that way he resembles the villains in Disney movies: ruthless and evil.

And then we get to the second part. The Painting in Hell part. I’m not at all exaggerating when I say that this is one of the best sequence I’ve seen this year. Period. The sequence is so great that it’s compatible with another hell episode (Showa Rakugo) in terms of greatness. Prior to this episode, I had expected that the Painting in Hell would come up as a reference only, so seeing Yasaburou actually gets sucked into that world is eye-popping to say the least. Only in mere 10 minutes, that hellish world is well realized, both as nothing we’ve ever seen in this series, yet somehow never out of tone. Instead, it’s one of the brightest and most whimsical version of hell that I’ve witnessed so far. Then the Oni demons come and they turn out to be a very enjoyable bunch. For such a limited screen time, that Oni Girl already appears as adorable and trustworthy – not a small feat to pull off at all. And then the most absurd moment that no one would never have anticipated: Benten wrestling with the Oni demons; in order to collect their horns and exercise some muscles. She’s taken by surprised as well when she sees Yasaburou in this living hell, but her genuinely joyous moments are truly the best moments this show had to offered. Definitely the best episode The Eccentric Family so far, this episode highlights the show in its most magical sense. In fact, watching that Hell part making all the previous episodes somewhat improved in retrospect.

Re:Creators 06 – [You are the one who knows where justice lies]

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

After a slew of exposition-filled episodes, Re:Creators is back to the vibe of the first two weeks where its creations were blowing each others apart with their powers. Out of all creations so far, Makagami is probably the most batshit crazy character in Re:Creators that is more in the vein of Rei Hiroe’s previous work of Black Lagoon. Her carefree demeanor and sadistic methods of murdering people who get into her way of fun reminds me of Nui Harime (Kill la Kill), whose trollish attitude always threw a wrench into balance of the show. Using some sort of occult powers that ties in “a lie about a lie” is just icing on the cake and puts her as an alternate contender for best girl title.

While most of this episode was mostly dialogue, it had that delicious tension that was sorely missing from the previous weeks. At times, it felt like Fate/zero as they slammed their ideological beliefs in a vain attempt to pursue each other before devolving in a brawl. Makagami may be an murderous bitch but she does have a point that Saber Alice’s idea of justice is deeply hypocritical. When it came to the final minutes, Re:Creators delivers on its promise of mishmash of powers being thrown around from your standard magical fantasy mega beam to gravity bombs being detonated. Blitz Talker has some very cool gadgets like his anti-grav device that allows him to fly and suggests that he comes from a sci-fi setting that has already mastered some serious tech. However, the best moment comes from Madoka’s Mamaika’s valiant defense of Meteora as it matches up so well with her character of trying to have everyone get along and owning up to her friends. I can’t for next week for the conclusion to this fight as this show finally finds its legs and starts running.