Joker Game – 10

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Joker Game

Today we have an episode about the past of Yuuki, finally a time to see how the man came to be the ultimate spymaster and superhuman extraordinar. Well maybe because at the end of the episode we can’t even be sure if the backstory was made up or not. Because Yuuki apparently figured that someone would connect his name to some kid at a military academy and pretty much set up a massive fake backstory for the servants to tell anyone who happened to look into it. I am beating a dead horse here but bloody hell perfection is boring. The minute I started this episode and seen this guy attempt to pry into his past I knew exactly what was going to happen. For Yuuki is a fellow who likely has seven contingency plans for when he runs out of toilet paper when on the can. Let me go off on a tangent for a moment and bring up batman. Do you happen to know what is one of the most highly regarded Batman graphic novels?(Comic arc?) One that often appears on a best of list is Frank Miller’s Batman Year One. It is a story not about Batman facing off against a member of his famous rogues gallery but rather a tale about Batman’s first days of stopping crime. In it Batman is more inexperienced, less confident and more clumsy. Batman makes mistakes and even against low level thugs he has a hard time. One of the best scenes from it that I recall the most is Batman fighting desperately on a fire escape against three men. At the end of it all Batman slumps down and thanks god that he got lucky and won. That is why this comic is so well regarded, as it shows the grown of a man who would become legendary within comics.

Now let’s fast forward to Yuuki here as he effortlessly excels at everything. He absorbs information like a sponge, he rarely fails and all the girls fall for him. This episode didn’t humanise Yuuki in the slightest but rather made him even more Alien. Even assuming of course any of this story is true. Before we saw Yuuki as a top level spymaster and now we just see he was exactly the same when younger. Almost as if the moment Yuuki exited the womb he planned out his life to the finest detail so that he could become a badass Japanese spy. That to me isn’t a interesting person for to them excel is normalcy. I praise the carpenter who sheds blood sweat and tears to craft a perfect chair and not the machine that tosses chairs out enmass on an assembly line. I would like to see the thing that gives Yuuki an emotion besides calm indifference and a smug smile.

So our tale today is that a man tried to look into the origins of Yuuki and in doing so was fooled into a trap while the D-Agency passed themselves off as Military police and stole his wedding ring. Why the wedding ring, well that’s because his wedding ring contained a microfilm of all his contacts and informants. How did D-Agency know this? Hell if I know. Dolphins likely told them. I originally thought his wife was going to turn out to be working for Yuuki but the end of the episode says otherwise. So our protagonist of the episode gets stripped of all his info he gathered over years but everything is alright cause Yuuki let his wife know where to find him. Another day, another win for D-agency.  We have reached the tenth episode and unless this show has a secret second cour that means that this show has been for the most part a waste of my time. Neither laughable horrible or exceling in an area, just forgettably mediocre. Which as you can likely tell by the post size, makes for hard to review episodes.

~AidanAK47~

Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World – 10

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

Out of everything I watch in a week, nothing quite gets me excited than to see another episode of Re:Zero and nothing leaves me quite as wanting as when the end credits role and let me know of the week long wait till the next episode. I actually visibly shouted “No!” when I seen those end credits roll. To those in the future who happen to have all the episodes ready to marathon through, know that I envy you. I also hope that general consensus of the second half of this series is quite positive too as there have been beloved darlings of mine that slipped up in the second cour.(Oh Fate/Unlimited bladeworks, so close yet so far.)  I even admit that part of the reason why I hunger for the next episode is to see that cliffhanger resolved, only to get left with another cliffhanger. While not a bad way to get the viewer hooked, ending each episode on a cliffhanger can lead to inflating expectations(As evidenced by Erased) or just escalating the story to silly levels when it attempts to one up its cliffhangers constantly.(As evidenced by Code Geass) Considering that Re:Zero is a light novel adaption I am hoping it will manage to avoid both of these missteps. But let’s move on to the actual episode.

So surprisingly, Subaru did not die but this brings up a new problem. While I think we near the end of this arc; Subaru looks to have gotten a new save point. One that puts him in a much worse position than before. Now having been bitten and cursed by a number of dogs, he must killed those dogs or else die when they drain him of energy. In a desperate attempt to save Subaru’s live Rem has ventured into the forest and is killing every dog she sees in berserker mode. Leading Ram and Subaru to go in after her before she gets herself killed. We learn a number of things from Ram about the twin maids, namely that Ram and Rem are Oni. Ram however does not have a horn like Rem does as it was cut off in the past by from what the flashback suggests, Rem. Oni generally have two horns, however twins are born with one each. So twins are normally ostracised from the village. Use this info I think I got a theory on just what happened with Ram and Rem. Basically I believe the two left their village and ended up settling near a human village related to the witch’s cult. Ram tried to get along with the villagers and village did something unforgivable to Ram which pushed her into berserker mode. When the village was in flames Rem came up to Ram and cut off her horn to break her out of it it. This would explain how Ram thought the tale of the Red and Blue Oni would upset her sister and why Rem was particularly distrustful of Subaru. Though we shall see how much of that turns out to be correct.

I have really come to adore just how human Subaru is for a protagonist. It’s true when compared to the power levels of all the cast he’s barely even noteworthy and often fairly useless in a fight. But he has a vulnerability and emotional drive that makes him such a great protagonist. For example, Beatrix was surprised to see Subaru unaffected when she informed him that he would die in half a day and even seemed somewhat impressed. Though we know that Subaru isn’t affected not because he doesn’t fear death or has courage but rather because he’s used to it. He’s experienced death so much that the prospect of dying doesn’t so much as make him flinch. Rather it’s just business as usual. What does make him flinch is Ram using her wind powers or Rem flinging her mace, which does look to be them slightly triggering his PTSD. He brushes off his situation by comparing it to a game or cracking meta jokes but he is truly shaken by it. It makes him unmistakably human. Even at the end of the episode when he had a perfect moment to hit Rem’s horn, he chickened out at the last second. Let’s be honest, in that situation when you had to run up and hit someone who could kill you in a millisecond, we would do the exact same thing. That’s what I love about this guy, he isn’t some perfect superhero who can perform on command with no hesitation. This is just an ordinary guy trying his very best to overcome a dreadful situation. I find it most amusing that he’s given a sword and it breaks before he even gets a chance to use it. Looks like the only thing you can depend on is your fists Subaru, though speaking of which.

I previously complained about Subaru showing a level of superhuman strength, as shown here as he tosses Ram several feet away. However I noticed someone bring up that upon coming to the other world Subaru got a slight strength buff. Whether this is actually true is up for debate as the only evidence is Subaru claiming it when he punched out the thieves on his second run but I am willing to accept it. It’s plausible and happens to negate my complaints about the feats he can accomplish which would be beyond human capacity. So going forward I will assume this is the case, even though it could just be adrenaline and self confidence. Major props to him thinking of using his curse of not being able to talk about responding to his advantage. That was some really clever thinking on his part. Pity he overestimated Ram though and she ran out of juice before she could take them all out. I previously stated that Ram was the more dangerous of the two but considering her lack of stamina it looks like Rem truly beats her in every area after all. Despite that Ram is determined to live up to the expectations of her sister. Yet again I am left hungry for more as I don’t know what this trio will do once they knock Rem back to her senses. Her berserker mode is certainly needed if they plan to get out of this situation. Some other last notes on this episode, fight animation remains excellent and flying Ram made my day.

~AidanAK47~

Flying witch – 09

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Flying Witch

As Flying witch returns my wish, we have both Nao and Inukai in a single episode. I feel so blessed. This week we have a larger cast than usual, and almost everyone has a chance to shine. Chito the cat has a great moment with Al the hamster and made up one of the most endearing sequence this week. I love the way the hamster making a jump Olympic style to the table, follow by he sees the cat and freezes. Chito, cat-styles, just like to toy with the poor hamster and ends up padding his head. Akame sure stands out every she appears on screen this week. From the “hey heeey” moments that actually gets funnier every time I watch to her gift scene. The first part of this episode contains Inukai visits the cast and read them fortune. Many little details and subtle jokes are in display here, like the way Chinatsu keeps bringing her most out-of-the-blue questions like “Is it free?”, “what’s for dinner?” to Inukai but then she handled it so well. Other little details like Makoto dressing as a raccoon (which famously known for its lack of sense of direction) in animal fortune telling or Inukai as a monkey (which actually makes sense since she’s the type that often mixed up with unlikely disguise), or the repeating of “the pretty Inukai” adds a warm closure to the first half.

Nao and Makoto is our main lead in the last half, as they are talking about being on a diet, Makoto shows Nao her garden, and the cast eating the radish. I love the way Nao was so quick, and no-nonsense way to stop Makoto from pulling the mandrake out, or when she talks to the witch’s familiars. This is the kind of understated interaction that I would never get tired of, and I truly think Kei and Nao could be a really great couple. The last short part consists of Akame sending her presents to the girls. Well, Burkina Faso shirt with Japanese characters, or the origami who sings “bing bong” is a nice, whimsical touch. The last laugh, the fortune teller’s notes by Inukai that foreshadowing that scene, is time perfectly (“Meaningless” & “Unnecessary” gets me every time). I would say the mask will reappear in latter episodes, consider that Inukai had suggested that Chinatsu will treasure it. This is a nice, typical Flying witch episode that mostly great, echo by its consistency of mixing the magic and everyday life with an attentive eye to details, the well-balance atmosphere and the rich, but very natural set of characters.

~SuperMario~

Kiznaiver – 09

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Kiznaiver

This episode happened to confirm one of my biggest worries about this series from the very start. With the advent of the love triangle I was cautious that the melodrama would escalate into a shouting match. Thus here it is, rain, shouting match and a big fallout because no one likes the person who likes them back. The comedy? Whatever scraps of plot? Thrown to the sidelines to deal with excessive melodrama between the characters. It’s rather disappointing honestly as that’s not what wanted from this series. What I wished for was more a better executed Kokoro Connect but now it looks to be falling into the same pitfalls that did. Basically what this episode is the fall before the climax. Where our heroes are brought to their lowest point so as to rise past it. However while their are part of this episode presented sell, this development doesn’t feel earned. It doesn’t feel like previous episodes were building to this point but rather a revelation that they just spent the past 8 episodes messing about and now that the end is near they need a climax. An example of this is that in the previous arc we spent two episodes developing Maki to accept the Kiznaivers and at the end of this episode at the first sight of trouble she regresses right back to how she was. I get what this episode is aiming for and that’s the message that remaining so close to someone who can see and read you like an open book is difficult as no one can truly like having no privacy with their thoughts. But if this is the case then shouldn’t the past episodes been used to strengthen the bonds between the group. On conversation it felt like the plot was more focused on setting up couples than improving friendships. As Nico recalls that all they had accomplished together I find it’s surprisingly little. Considering the dramatic fallout we have here, this truly doesn’t feel deserved.

The question at the end of the episode remains the same as it was from the beginning. What now? I hope we won’t be spending the next episode with all our characters busy moping and angsting over love. I don’t want to spend an episode waiting for someone to step up to snap everyone out of their funk. I have long since gotten tired of seeing anime characters wallow in self pity when simply talking things out is far more productive. Sure you can argue it’s realistic but it’s not enjoyable and this series doesn’t have the episode count to indulge such fruitless time wasting.I never cared for Chidori’s little crush because I never saw it as being remotely achievable and Nico’s feelings even less so. If this is the story from now on then I would have preferred that the animation budget that went into this would have been transferred to Space Patrol Luluco as it at least presents something that I can’t find in a dozen other anime series. I am 27 years old and I have long lost the romance for these shy first loves with no progress so I say to those with achievable love, quit the beating around the bush, put yourself out there and get together. To those desiring a love damned from the start, cut your losses and settle for something within your reach. Sure it’s not a romantic notion but damn it, it’s practical. Besides you are a teenger and your first love is hardly going to be your only chance at it.

It looks as though the previous Kiznaiver experiment failed when some event caused all the kids to be crippled with emotional pain which looks to have been caused by Noriko. This very same thing looks to have happened to the gang here though the cause is more our chain of unfulfilled loves. The indirect cause might be the same though as this time was more or less orchestrated by the school teacher who is pushing for more results regardless of the cost. This certainly didn’t really help as I see it as the same results as before where negative emotions are being transferred easier than positive ones. In this case it wasn’t so much the voices of their hearts that was transferred but rather their deepest most selfish desire. Otherwise Nico’s desires to keep the group remaining as friends would have come across as well as her desire for Tenga. I do like the contrast as she spoke of her selfless desire while her true selfish desires interrupted her. I love the deep red and static effect as the characters inner voices are heard. I do think that this episode is for the most part presented well but as stated before, I don’t feel this fallout was built upon properly. It feels hasty and flimsy so while I can appreciate the direction of this episode, I cannot approve of the shoddy foreshadowing.

~AidanAK47~

Mayoiga – 10

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Mayoiga

It is a feast to see a show that still remains very unpredictable till its very end. Yes, this episode put the silliness to the max and I prefer it this way. Now to think about it I think this might be one of the best way to approach Mayoiga. They consistency screw up our expectation, twist any ordinary convention by making things as insane and as little sense as possible. So kudos to Tsutomu Mizushima for remain really consistent for composing things inconsistently.

Because for me, the fun of watching Mayoiga is to experience the ridiculousness of the episode, and this week it’s choke full of absurd and nonsense sequences that  today instead of reviewing the episode, I will rank them in order of RIDICULOSNESS:

Mayoiga 10-10Mayoiga 10-9

For number 10, we have our Yotsun back (which makes the total body count a big ZERO). This is a good introduction phase to our GOD, which later we found out that “a long time” means 3 years ago.

For number 9, we learn that Mitsumune indeed returns back to the real world. We witness one of the most bizarre parental guidance (“You can leave home and come back any time”), and even a more chilling confession above. It’s a shame because after nearly 10 years of imposing his dead brothers, Mom just decided to not getting better. And what they mean by getting better? Accept Mitsumune as Tokimune? Yuck.

Mayoiga 10-8Mayoiga 10-7

At number 8 and 7, we have two out of nowhere backstory mean to freshen out Yotsun and Lion, respectively, which at the end we learn nothing new from each of them. Who are the people with those cello? His parents? Over the rap career? Lion said nobody believe her but she did build quite a strong following so I’m just not sure what she complaining. Also her gift is quite vague: she can see dead people? She can see the people who about to die? She can see people that might not die? Oh god. This adds up to nothing, which also means Mayoiga at its best.

Continue reading “Mayoiga – 10” →

Bungou Stray Dogs – 09

by SuperMario, posted in Bungou Stray Dogs, Currently Watching:

I have a strong mixed feeling towards this week’s episode of Bungou Stray Dogs. While structurally, this presents Bungou Stray Dogs at its best, it has a major flaw, A FATAL BLOW, that could potentially damage the show. The show establishes its most confident pacing ever, by slowing things down on the first half to really focus on the relationship between Atsushi and the new girl, Kyouka. This provides a great break after we had so many explosions and fighting the last couple of weeks. This is a time for a slower, tender moment to flesh out our characters and heighten their relationship. It helps that Kyouka is among one of the best characters the show ever written, the way she’s grounded: she’s well aware of her loneliness and her crimes, yet she strives for someone who could understand her. The art designs, in addition, bright with so much creativity this week. The use of strong color: dark red, green, resembles many of classical painting, but to put them in a modern context – especially this week when they showcase the various attractions of Yokohama – makes it a unique production. This art designs feel like an essential component of Bungou Stray Dogs. I have never seen any other shows that Yumiko Kondo (the art director) contribute apart from this one, but she surely has my full attention now. The music remains strong this week, with a rather unusual choice again, but surprising fitting, in a sequences where Atsushi get attacked by the Port Mafia. Rather than using the thrilling score, in that particular scene the show goes for a much slower, tender score to express the lost feeling of Kyouka. The second half of this episode the show rushes thing off into its action mode and this would be our main climax of the whole first season, especially will be a big fight off between our main lead Atsushi and Akutagawa, both of them connected to Dagai as their upperclassman.

But there is one issue that the show unfortunately stumbles on, and I do think this is a serious issue, that is the inconsistency of the characters. This inconsistency had happened before in Bungou Stray Dogs, in an episode where Dagai, Atsushi and Kunikida witnessed several victims were gassed in an abandon hospital. Now with Kunikida’s personality, a rather self-righteous man who lives by his “ideal”, there is no way he’s not shooting the glass down, regardless if the glass is bulletproof or the gas will spread out. He would not even think about it, just shoot it. Again in this episode, the huge leap of personality happens when the Agency was informed that Atsushi has been abducted, and guess what Kunikida’s acting? He’s babbling about the Agency’s current “important” ministry job, which is strange because in this very morning he still has time to go out for lunch, and worse of all he and Ranpo actually look for reasons no to help Atsushi out. I know that the show has downplayed this part and it seems like this part is a vehicle for the President to involve and shows that the President cares for our rookie member, but the show could do that better without selling out any other characters. Consider Kunikida behaving at that moment with him in the end of the episode where he rushing out to rescue our main lead, this feel almost like a betrayal. Dagai being kidnapped and others don’t seem to care at all strikes as another inconsistency for me, I know he would take good care of himself without any help but I really feel like the cast just don’t care because the show don’t want them too, because it would help to move the story faster or some other rubbish. Another glaring example is when Kunikida raising an unnecessary stake with a remark “Once he’s outside of the country, we can’t touch him”. How the heck outside of the country impossible for them to rescue Atsushi? This is an Armed Detective Agency with gifted people for god shake, and I don’t understand why only him and not the whole Agency going to rescue him? It’s simply just because the show don’t want them too. I can get pass their shaky pacing because as of now it’s kinda Bungou Stray Dogs thingy, but if the characters keep acting so inconsistent like this, I would mark the show down rather harshly.

~SuperMario~

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress – 07

by HelghastKillzone, posted in Currently Watching:, Koutetsujou no Kabaneri

3

Can the best show of the season to continue be even more epic than a giant Kabane chasing after a train armed with a tank cannon?

Get ready to be disappointed because the Kabaneri hype train stops for a shopping trip in this episode.

After six episode of running away from Kabane and fighting off enemies on a speeding train, it is inevitable that Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress would give its cast a chance to wind down and let loose before the next leg of their journey. The show does a good job of balancing out its supporting characters by giving them meaningful screen-time alongside our main characters. Between Memui’s first shopping experience with the ladies of the Hayajiro, the bromance of Ikoma and Takumi sticking it to the Bushi and the constant shipping between Ayame-sama/Kurusu, there is plenty of lighthearted humor to go around.

The Tanabata was a good excuse for all the ladies to dress in Yukata clothing.

It’s not all fun and games in the station as the cold and hard reality of the Kabane infection rears its ugly head in a couple of place even though not one of the those glowing zombies shows up. As the encounter shows with the Hayajiro conductors and the boy, whose father was sent flying into the station as a Kabane, there is no place for sugarcoating the bitter truth. However, the latter half of the episode, while it acknowledges that the world is a hellish unforgiving place, pushes a narrative that is hopeful and looks forwards. Just look at Memui’s cynical views on her own dual nature and Ikoma’s rebuttal of his goal of reversing the Kabane side of her.

It’s more than just mere survival.

It’s about going past that and dreaming about a bright future. While Memui’s wish for a belly full of rice is laughably simple and Takumi ‘s appetite for three hot beautiful wives, it all points to a place where the Kabane simply doesn’t exist anymore.

4

With Memui’s brother/Hunters coming into town, it sets up the main conflict for the latter half of the show with its attention turning towards other human factions having ulterior motives and setting their plans into motion. Afterall, he is the one who turned little Memui into a Kabane killing machine and the foreshadowing of a sinister plot is bound to have the squishy humans turn their weapons on each other.Even though the action is missing from a show that is all about killing Kabane in the most brutal and spectacular way possible, Studio Wit still manages to deliver a less hectic episode that can stand on its own through its characters interaction and cheesy music while pushing the story ever so slightly.

5

Joker Game -09

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Joker Game

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at this outcome, after all the idea that this story would let anyone outshine the D agency for long is rather foolish when you consider everything so far. Wind agency certainly didn’t last long and you could foretell their fate right at the start of the episode. I certainly did as I noticed that while Wind agency was moving in for the kill, not a hide or hair was seen of D agency. For a show that puts them on so high a pedestal that that you could call it a tower of babel that is certainly very odd. I had firm suspicions of the houseboy and old man that appeared in this episode and I turned out to be completely right. To me this episode symbolises everything that’s wrong with Joker Game, in that it loves its protagonists far too much. D agency is  can do no wrong and is always smarter, stronger and better than everyone else. D agency is perfect and isn’t that just dreadfully boring? With Sakamoto desu ga the premise of someone being perfect at everything is a joke and that joke works because it turns that joke up to a thousand. But here we have prefect superhumans played straight and it expects us to root for them. I expects us to be interested in a battle were the outcome has already been decided. There is no tension nor suspense, just the inevitable victory of D agency.

With the introduction of wind agency I was hoping for the D agents to finally face conflict. Something to challenge them and reveal that despite their master over a particular set of skills, they are still human. But instead we had an episode trying to put Wind agency as a potential threat, only to have them get completely demolished in the very next episode. They were never a threat to begin with, everything was according to the keikaku. I am glad to see Yuuki again because he’s pretty much the only D agency member I can recognise but his berating of the wind agency captain for even attempting to top D agency was just self congratulatory to the point of being sickening. I found the wind agency’s methods to be truer to that of a real spy and having Yuuki berate them as wannabes just makes me angry. Killing is the worst mistake a spy can make because it compromises your identity when an investigation is started to look into the death? Hogwash. Revealing your face and identity to people is far more compromising and the D agents certainly make themselves look as suspicious as possible. To add insult to injury, the boss of Wind agency is so shamed by Yuuki that he ends up killing himself and that’s irritating. I actually want to start cheering for the bad guys now as it would be satisfying to see someone take D agency off their high horses.

Half of this episode was dedicated to Yuuki schooling the Wind agency captain on how he screwed up his mission. While he did indeed make grievous errors, I think Yuuki was being a bit too smug for his own good. After all part of your plan to inform Shirahata was apparently to get an attendant to ring him to say his houseboy was goaded into getting drunk which apparently is a massive red flag for him. Not sure why that’s a red flag, was the identity they made for him that he wasn’t a drinker. Then it would make sense but still it’s a lot of faith to pack up and leave because of a phone call which could very well be a misunderstanding. I am certainly regretting picking this up to blog as much like Gangsta it feels like a great idea was wasted because it wanted to appeal to a general demographic. Not that my second choice to blog Mayoiga faired any better but at least that is entertainingly bad. This show however is just competent and boring at this point. I am tired of seeing D agency win no matter what nonsensical method the author comes up with to let them do so. Conflict is entertaining when both combatants are on even terms. A one sided slaughter is no fun for anyone watching.  The animation is nice and the music is quite stylish but the plot leaves much to be desired.

~AidanAK47~

Chinese Animation Guide – Part 4: Chinese Traditional Animated shows

by SuperMario, posted in Anime Reviews, Reviews by SuperMario, World Animation

Welcome to the last part of our Chinese animated guide. This part will cover Chinese traditional art style, for me personally this is the most enjoyable group. The first thing you might notice in these shows are they were in different format ratio, lean more towards the Academy ratio format. I always find their traditional art style more compelling, but somewhat conservative approach (since for long decades the Chinese insist to use this style over and over again). Luckily, these restricts have been loosen up in recent years without locking into any particular one style. As a result we have those shows below as a more relaxed and more updated version of their traditional style. Here are again the 6 shows in no particular order:

Romance of Three Kingdoms (三国演义)

romance of 3 kingdoms

This is a 2009 Chinese adaptation, so not to be confused with the various anime versions. Based on the popular work “Romance of Three Kingdoms” (which people regards its influence in East Asia literature is like that of Shakespeare in English literature). What we have in this episode are the three legendary warriors Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, Guan Yu become brothers and they fight together. I love the traditional character designs, and they provided solid enough animated scenes. But I can’t get pass the fact that a girl who was pushed down a cliff, not only she’s not die, but seems unharmed and she then proceeds to play musical after that. Weird. She must had been on crack I think! Besides that, I always meant to read the actual book, but its length (800,000 words) always put me off. This series so far is solid enough for me to follow it through.

Continue reading “Chinese Animation Guide – Part 4: Chinese Traditional Animated shows” →

Flying witch – 08

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Flying Witch

Watching Flying witch really feel like listening to a classical music, where the long running time flies by and we actually feel it more than try to understand it. This week we continue what was left off last week, with Makoto, Chinatsu, Kei meeting the owners of the café shop and their regular customers. This is Flying witch in their most confidence. The pacing, the music, the character and background designs are very consistent and complement each other, with many little details that further shows how much the creators care about this world. I always prefer the magical realism part of the show than the everyday rural life part, and this episode is choke full of the former, with for the first time introducing a whole range of new characters, all of them are interesting I should say. Anzu and her mother add another solid charm to the cast. Anzu is my new favorite characters, with her hair styled like Shinobu, she seems more self-serious than the rest of the cast. The mother has a more easy, laidback type and she was more amused, not disturbed by the Makoto’s misunderstanding. And then we meet the new customers, each of them are as different from each other as it can be, ranging from a pair of ladybugs, The veil of darkness and the fox. Each of them are part of nature, which each of them contributes different things to the nature, and to the witch’s life. Little details are again too many but blink-and-you-miss-it moments, like the fact that this coffee shop even showcase jewelry, or what do you think the Veil of Darkness will drink in the shop? Yes, coffee and reading book of course. Or the fox would drink milk along with his usual food: winter cherry.

The second small part followed Akame as she tries to test out her new invention, for the shake of having fun no less. I had my suspicion weeks ago about a bay that featured in the OP, which really look like China – Vietnam landscape. This week we got an answer, that the place is Ha Long bay in Vietnam, non-subtlety (well, Akame kinds of scream it to our face this time), that confirmed my mention on her wearing the Vietnamese traditional dress (which, again, little details that you might have missed). Overall this is a stand out Flying witch episode, we are into their 8th episode and it has never failed to be consistent and atmospheric. I just hope I can meet these new characters again, in any place other than this coffee shop.

~SuperMario~