Summer 2021 Weekly Summary – Week 8

Kaizoku Oujo – 1-2

Wooper: Kazuto Nakazawa’s new TV anime, a pre-industrial pirate/ninja mashup, is off to what I’d call a decent start. Its design sensibilities remind me of his last series, the overambitious B: The Beginning – thankfully, the similarities are merely stylistic in nature. Kaizoku Oujo is an honest-to-goodness adventure show, the likes of which we haven’t gotten from anime in some time, and its cast is full of colorful characters (as all good adventure casts should be). Fena Houtman is a serviceable protagonist, handling the transition from captive princess to Campbellian hero with a mix of grit and introspection, but it’s her band of boisterous Japanese pirates that commanded my attention during the double-length premiere. I can see them getting on my nerves before long, but assuming the show has plans to slow down and dig into their personal histories, I’ll eventually be free to enjoy their antics alongside strong character designs and fighting styles. The story hasn’t taken shape yet, so I’m hoping for some good standalone episodes in the coming weeks to take advantage of studio Bamboo’s varied backgrounds. “Hoping for” is the key phrase there, as confidence in a modern Nakazawa work requires plenty of hope, but I’m willing to follow along for now.

Shinigami Bocchan – 08

Amun: Shinigami Bocchan has been my dark horse of the season. With many of the other shows faltering, this adorable quiet romance has kept plugging away at the admittedly difficult problem of getting our Count Death a girlfriend. I’ve been very pleased with the witches developing into actual characters, and we’re starting to see the edges of the family structure. Episode 8 is probably the best outing yet, with a flashback to what our sad boi was like before Alice arrived. Two key lines from this episode also imply that Mother isn’t the cruel parent the OP makes her out to be: his younger brother (with a hilarious second complex) says that their mother hasn’t given up yet, and Rob says Alice was sent by the lady of the house. Why would an uncaring mother send in the only known “friend” to her son? Who also seems to have witch connections through her own mother? Methinks there’s more than meets the eye here – seems like Mother has plans of her own to solve this problem. Which likely will turn out to be the power of love (“He’s cursed to never love or be loved”) – a bit predictable, but it’ll be a pleasant journey nonetheless.

Love Live! Superstar!! – 2-4

Wooper: My Love Live viewing experiment is still running after four episodes, though number two was a rough reentry point. Kanon’s stage fright had vanished after her successful performance in the premiere, and the script was drenched in idol talk: why idols were so awesome, wanting to be an idol, how to go about becoming an idol, etc. You’d think I would anticipate that, but instead it grated on me more than it should have, especially because everything was turning up roses for our newly-minted idols. The follow-up was much more to my taste, returning to Kanon’s struggles with being in the public eye and serving as a major showcase for her voice actor’s emotional range. Episode 3 alone should put Sayuri Date in the conversation for seiyuu of the year – her ability to create cracks in Kanon’s energetic mask and inject pieces of her natural voice into her performance was impressive. Her singing ability during last week’s duet was good too, of course, but as far as characters go, the standout from this batch of episodes was Sumire, the blonde bombshell whose jealousy and pride formed the basis for some excellent facial expressions. She’ll be competing with Kanon for the group’s lead role going forward, so I’m crossing my fingers for a legitimate season-long contest rather than a one-and-done fight.

Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi – 5-6

Wooper: There was some serious wheel-spinning going on in these episodes of Idaten-tachi. As usual, the visuals were admirably bold, but we’ve reached the halfway point and we’re still sitting through info dumps about demon reproduction and weight manipulation – even the show recognizes how inessential they are, since it moves at double speed whenever they’re being delivered. All of Hayato’s training and the villains’ strategizing doesn’t feel as though it’s building to anything; there’s talk of an eventual Idaten vs. demon showdown, but none of the characters are linked to each other by any emotional threads, whether positive or negative. Brandy’s plot to save her children seems to have created a new path for the story to follow, but since her kids don’t fit into the series’ fixation on superpowered punch-ups, I doubt we’ll see much more of them. I’d rather have them on screen than Miku, though, whose recent harassment of a captured nun placed Idaten-tachi in the too-horny territory I was wary of when starting the show. Nearly all of her behavior in these episodes fit that description, really. Licking a ball gag like a lollipop? I try to give anime plenty of rope where this stuff is concerned, but Idaten-tachi is on its way to hanging itself with it.