Tag: anime

Little Witch Academia – 05[Luna Nova and the White Dragon]

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

Well there goes my character focused episodes theory unless the purpose of this episode was to introduce Fafner the dragon. I think only trigger can manage to turn a situation with dragons stealing a magic stone into a tale about the academy trying to pay off a debt owed to to a dragon who works in the stock market. Dragons in particular are known for hoarding treasure with Fafner being a dwarf who turned into a dragon and guards his treasure hoard. So a modern interpretation of this being a dragon who acts as a loan shark while working digitally with the stock market is a stroke of genius. If you’re unfamiliar with the stock market, platforms like IG Review can offer insights into how the stock market works. I certainly wasn’t expecting that after a powerpuff girls reference at the beginning of the episode. The Dinotopia reference with dragonese being essentially footprint alphabet I didn’t catch until reading discussions. Also found out that dinosuar show I watched way back in 2002 was called Dinotopia and was based on books. I will be damned. Other than that this did give the troublemaker trio of Amanda, Constanze and Jasminka some time in the spotlight, especially Constanze who has likely won more fans with this.

In my book any character than can pull out a Spaz shotgun and shoot down dragons is a character worth remembering. The diversity of nationality is pretty unheard of for an anime as well with Akko being Japanese, Lotte being Finnish, Sucy is from southeast Asia, Amanda being American(Considering her second name is O’Neill, she’s most likely part Irish too.), Constanze is German, Jasminka is Russian, Diana is British and even the announcer from the broom race looked Africain. I can’t think of many anime with a cast like this other than maybe Jojo and that anime that represented each country with an anime character(Helalia was it?)  Considering that Little WItch Academia appeals more to a western audience than a japanese one this could be fanservice on Triggers part and boy do I love them for it.

It’s a little early to call this a demerit to the show but if not remedied soon Akko’s attitude could become a problem. Akko’s main gimmick is that she is a girl with incredible passion and daring which will most likely cause a change in the magic world. Right now however when Diana was laying into her about her faults I found that I agreed with her 100%. Akko doesn’t think about how her actions affect others and despite talking up about how she is going to be the best that ever was, she never makes a real effort to try. Ursula is more than willing to give Akko the help she needs but she is getting shunned or ignored fast by Akko. The big factor in this episode is that Akko placed her friends in real danger just by butting into a problem which would have been resolved without her. As I said it’s a little early to call this a flaw as Akko’s development is clearly going to be a big part of the series but she is going to need to at least start changing a little. One thing that constantly had me wondering while watching this is that Akko and her friends went to take on dragons and for some reason Akko did not bring along Shiny Rod. She was lucky in this case as the dragon in question didn’t intend to hurt them but to go up against a dragon without the deus ex machina stick isn’t bravery, but pure foolishness.

Fafner does bring up a point which is likely to play an important role in this series, namely that magic has become outdated for the modern world. The luna nova teacher state that there is a decline in students and it doesn’t help that they have proven themselves fairly incompetent so far in the series. Magic does look to have great benefits like with Diana reforming the potion that broke during Akko’s and Amanda’s fight. However those benefits come with an immense downside as the witch’s can only use great magic within the grounds of the school. In that regard just what does one gain from studying to be a witch? Constanze has proven it well enough that technology can not only do what magic does but it can do the job better. So the big question is what caused of the decline of magic? For Shiny Chariot could once use great magic outside of school so what exactly changed? Could it have anything to do with that star shaped scar on the moon? For that scar doesn’t appear to be on the moon in the very first episode during Chariots show. Perhaps the fall of magic could be related to why Chariot gave up being an entertainer and lost the power to wield Shiny Rod.

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu – 18

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

The opening of this episode starts us off with an ominous note as Sukuroka’s eyes are shown with a deep blood red. Perhaps it is a sign that the reaper has come for Yakumo, but I think it’s too early for that yet. On Yotaro’s side of things, something I previously suspected was brought up as Yotaro still hasn’t found his Rakugo and I think that until the writer gives him some new material, he won’t. One thing he did realize was that s and his and Yakumo’s approach to Rakugo are different. Yakumo tends to push his style as a performer onto all the characters he portrays while Yotaro wishes to become the characters themselves. It’s an important step for Yotaro as it means that he is moving away from simply copying his master to developing his own style. Considering the events at the end of the episode, I hope he doesn’t regress back from this step forward. It was indeed a very unfortunate timing for Yotaro to have this revelation.

The final scene reminds me of a moment during the first season, when Miyokichi claimed that she would haunt Yakumo in episode 9. In a way she has done just that, so perhaps it gives her joy in the afterlife. Is this truly the ghost of Miyokichi come back to torment Yakumo or simply a hallucination due to his failing health? It really is up to the viewer, but it is rather interesting that Yakumo was telling a story about a man meeting his loved one by lighting incense and making the story more dynamic by having Konatsu light the incense. For the ghost of Miyokichi to appear from incense lit by her daughter, who just so happens to still hold a grudge against Yakumo is rather intriguing. As I stated in the title, I don’t think this is the end for Yakumo. Things may look grim but he still hasn’t hit the apex of this character arc yet. He is essentially the main opposition for Yotaro and for the writer to kill him off now would leave a gaping hole in the narrative. I think this near death experience should give him some perspective though. One thing that really caught my eye was in how Yakumo reacted to Yotaro calling Rakugo fun. Once upon a time Yakumo found Rakugo fun, but it seems after Sukoroku died, that event killed Yakumo’s enthusiasm for it. Rakugo is just a job for Yakumo now and I think this marks a turning point for him to regain that love he once had.

One thing that threw me through a loop this episode was before Yakumo collapsed, he looked at Konatsu and repeated “My Beloved, My beloved.” I personally saw the relationship between Yakumo and Miyokichi to be one sided. Unless that flashback was Yakumo playing unreliable narrator I don’t think Yakumo truly loved Miyokichi. He may have cared for her but often his more intimate moments with her felt like he was just indulging her. Of course time is a fickle beast and it’s possible that looking back over his past that Yakumo’s affection for Miyokichi could have grown into love. It was a long time ago and she was clearly the woman who made the greatest impact on his life. But perhaps there is something more to this. Perhaps Yakumo was hiding something that he didn’t tell Yotaro and Konatsu. What that could be is anyone’s guess. As a nice bit of symmetry this episode is the fifth episode of the second season which could potentially be Yakumo’s end as a Rakugo performer. The fifth episode of the first season was where Yakumo crossdressed for a play and discovered his talent with could be considered his beginning in Rakugo. In that regard this could be the beginning of great change.

Scum’s Wish – 04 [Bad Apple!!]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Scum's Wish

This was a sublime episode from start to finish. By showing these tales of love through fragments from many characters’ point of view, it adds more layers, as well as more perspectives to this webs of broken desires. Normally this approach of focusing of fragments mean that the story can become disjoined; but not here. Every small stories in this episode matter and it keeps sinking us to its muddy swamp. And yes, the music in this show is incredible; if you listen closely there’s a distinctive theme for its stories and it really helps to elevate the mood for each segment; like how you could feel a seedy sense in Akane-sensei story, or a false mood of sweet, dream-like quality in Narumi-sensei part. Again I’ll discuss each of the theme in last week’s format, as I see it as the most appropriate format to squeeze out most of what this show tries to convey.

“Being desired by men. There’s no greater feeling than that”

Turn out that our sweet Akane-sensei isn’t sweet at all, but a manipulative bitch. That might sound negative but in truth this is a kind of character that works really well in this story. She isn’t your typical bitch after all, as she’s the most observant one out of all characters in this story. She is the only one who sees through many intertwined love nets and really the only one who can sees through Hanabi. Using her attractiveness as a weapon isn’t something utterly terrible, but what is remarkable about her character is how she’s playing up her attractiveness mainly for wrecking other girls, for them to feel the pain of seeing the one they love taken away by her. She said she doesn’t aim for superiority but all I can see is superiority plays a significant role here, since all she wants is attention from men and the hurtfulness from girls. I love the way she recognizes that Hanabi is pretty much on the same side as her, by neglecting the one sided love of other (Moca). The true Akane is anything but pretty, but now at least she’s real. What impressed me the most is the way the show underlines her sexiness and her thrust of physical consumption; not through big boobs, sexy clothes or suggestive behaviors, but merely by her sweating. Hooray for solid characters writing here.

“I decided to believe it was fate”

The next segment was told from the point of view of Narumi-sensei, on how he was attracted to Akane and thus become her unfortunate prey to play with. This story is slight and the least impactful compared to other segments, but I still found it interesting because out of anything, the first impression he had towards Akane was directly tied to his memories of his long-lost mother. It furthers detailing his long searching for a feminine figure all his life, and really that was a false picture that he incidentally subjects Akane to be and that was the reason why he’s blind be this affection. In the end, things that too good to be true are more likely deceptive in nature so I really hope he’s sensitive enough to figure out the true Akame on his own (would be really disappointed if he can’t).

“I want you to be filled with me”

Last but not least we have a development to Ecchan and Hanabi relationship as they sunk deeper to love confusion. There’s always a distinctive border between friend and lover and now they crossed that line, each for their own selfish reasons. Hanabi both needs Ecchan as a way to escape her own heartbroken from Narumi (which I can totally feel for her), and because she still needs and loves Ecchan as a friend. Ecchan likewise knows all this, but she’s determined to use every opportunity to have Hanabi all by herself. What they both know but too afraid to acknowledge is that once they crossed that line, they can never be back to “just friends” again. That image of little Hanabi disgusted with her current self sums that sense up pretty nicely and for me the best moments out of this already excellent episode. Scum’s Wish stands on a very firm ground here, as the story keeps maintaining its confidence take on the line between physical desires and emotional desires, on how the characters keep using the former as the substitute for the latter (the first and the last segment directly tied to this), but end up being more lonely and suffering. I know a lot of viewers have been turned off by its depressing nature but all I can say is guys, you might miss out one of the more thought-provoking look on relationship here.

ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept. – 04 [Smoldering Embers in an Isolated Nation]

by SuperMario, posted in ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept., Currently Watching:

We are no stranger with this kind of world in anime: an isolated, conservative world that cut-off from outside communication and ultimately stay behind its times, slowing back 10, 20 even hundred years. Everything there is monitored and controlled by the rules and authority. As ACCA keeps suggesting the chaos within this peaceful façade, the most appropriate way to question this very world is to put its ideas to an extreme spectrum, as a result we have this isolated district of Suitsu. The Dowa kingdom promotes autonomy in its 13 districts, with each of the district bring their own uniqueness to better suit the place; but what happen when the authority started to abuse their power in a negative way? Citizens in Suitsu are prohibited to use phone, even to communicate with outsider in the pretense of “preserving tradition”; they in turns are displeased with how things going and form an angry mob. What sadden me the most is we’re living in this exact same world, where North Korea still cut-off from the rest of the world just like this. Suitsu district, when you look at it, is more like one of those weird countries straight out of Kino’s Journey, but it still manages to add ambiguity to the flaws of the Dowa Kingdom’s systems so in that regards, this episode still has its merits.

But when it comes to the actual plot of this episode, then this week ACCA made one mistake that they managed to avoid so brilliantly before: its delicate pacing. ACCA is slow-burn, at the same time there are many plots and themes going on both underneath and beneath the surface but as far as I concerned they hold everything together extremely well. This week though, we follow Jean as he auditing the district, witness him being kidnapped, then learn about the coup d’état, follow the angry mob, the uprising and their ultimate downfall, both in a runtime of merely 20 minutes. The pacing therefore is much quicker this time, as a result those big events don’t have time to settle down or give much impact. We just know Wabler or Biscuit at the beginning of this week so it’s hard to relate to them or the events around them. I get the message: frustration out of unfairness and strictness is relatable, but I hardly feel any of this. It comes quick and goes quick and leave not much impact.

When you judge this episode through its stance in the big picture, then this show offers too little to the main narrative as well. At the end, those uprising will be hidden and forgotten, only Jean gets away with the knowledge of the actual coup d’état and that’s freaking little development for a complex show like ACCA. Although we do learn that Nino apparently is working as a triple agent and we have a glimpse on another member of the ACCA’s five Pastis and the Suitsu representative Beurre, this still leave a lot to be desired. No, this episode, while certainly is a competent episode in its own ways, serves as my least favorite episode so far of ACCA (the curse of episode 4) both because it runs too quick for its own good, and it adds too little to the main narrative. And where is the glorious cake and tasty bread this time? All we have was a loaf of bread when Jean was all tied up so… um, no, thank you.

Little Witch Academia – 04[Night Fall]

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

No legendary items or Shiny rod antics this time as we have an episode focusing on Lotte and her particular fascination with a book series called Night Fall. A series spanning 365 volumes(Oh my god, this thing must be as worn out and tired as The Simpsons.) which seems to be a Twilight like story that somehow evolved into Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure levels of ridiculousness. Just hearing fans talk about it makes the story sound completely insane, so much so that I actually would be interested in reading it. After all there’s a chapter where the main heroine catches a nuke with her bare hands and after hearing that all I can say is where do I start reading? Out of the episodes so far I would call this the weakest but still a fairly enjoyable episode. For one I noticed that Diana’s two cronies are called Hanna and Barbera which is clearly a reference to the Hanna Barbera cartoons. Pretty amusing how one of them was a closet Night Fall fan getting the other girl to check out the event to “see how stupid it is”. Yet at the first Night Fall question her hand to shot up right away. I think it’s the little touches like that which makes this series so charming.

Lotte’s admiration for her idol did bring an interesting contrast to Ako’s admiration for Shiny Chariot. In Ako’s case she really wants to be Chariot and perform great feats of magic in front of an audience. Lotte on the other hand doesn’t want to write Night Fall like Annabel and instead wants to enjoy the books she writes while cheering her on. It reminds me of a time when I was trying to get a career in the Video Game industry as I love video games and couldn’t think of anywhere else I wanted to be. However after getting a taste of what making games is actually like from college I realised that I didn’t really want to make games, I just wanted to play them. If video games were my job then could I really enjoy them as a hobby? Lotte hit the same conclusion when given the opportunity to become the new writer of Night Fall. I find it funny that she spent so much time encouraging Annabel when later it’s revealed that her main reason for doing that was that if she wrote Night Fall then she would know what happened and thus couldn’t enjoy reading it anymore. I feel a bit for Annabels dilemma in that she was tired of being bashed by the internet. As they say, Haters will broadcast your failures, but whisper your success. Or to put it another way, people only have a reason to speak up when you stop doing your job right. Lotte brings up a good point that the most vocal on the internet don’t really represent the opinions of the majority and that’s pretty well evidenced here as Night Fall has fans from new to old who are still passionate about it at the unveiling of Volume 265.

Otherwise this entire episode is likely what happens when ordinary people listen to anime fans. We know absolutely nothing about Night Fall and yet what little bits we hear of it just sounds outright insane or nonsensical. Really goes to show how fans can have their own internal logic which can only be understood by other fans. After all if I talked to anyone who did not watch anime about tsunderes, yanderes and likewise then chances are they wouldn’t have any idea what I was talking about. Regardless neither Ako nor Sucy attempt to badmouth Lottes hobby despite finding it impenetrable and just respect her passion for the series. Lotte did good here as well by not attempting to force the series on Sucy or Ako like your more stereotypical fan would. Ursula can’t seem to catch a break and it’s a little sad that Lotte recognised her idol immediately when Ako has no idea when Chariot is standing right in front of her. Considering this episode it’s possible we will be getting character centered episodes from now on so Sucy is likely next up followed by the girls from Enchanted Parade like Amanda. Or we shall be returning to Ako and her antics with Shiny Rod. Finally the only thing they eat at Witch Academia is potatoes? Guess there’s no house elves in this dimension.

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu – 17

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

Another time skip? That caught me off guard but it does seem like Yotaro has not quite gotten over the problem of not being able to find his own Rakugo but has gotten popular enough to be featured on TV and expand his fandom. As a fan put it, it’s not so much that Yotaro being consistently good but having moments of brilliance. So in that regard, I am glad Yotaro didn’t solve his problems offscreen. Konastu’s son, Shin, has grown up a bit and knows how to use his cuteness to his advantage. He gains a love of Rakugo just like his parents and even Yakumo can’t help but fawn over the kid. This was more or less Konatsu’s episode, and the biggest smile came across my face upon seeing her reaction to Shin performing Rakugo. Yotaro still hasn’t pushed their relationship further from what I can tell but the two have gotten more lax around each other. They understand each other so well and despite not really lusting after each other I would honestly vote them as couple of the year.

Konatsu’s Rakugo for the children really warmed my heart in just how much she enjoyed it. This seems to suggest that Kontasu would be entering the profession of Rakugo and Yotaro wholeheartedly wants her to do it. I somewhat agree with Konatsu’s assessment that she would be rattling the cage so to speak. Rakugo is something mired in tradition and any change, be it for better or worse, will be met with hostility and I even think that Yotaru creating new Rakugo is bound to stir up some anger. Throwing Konatsu on a stage just seems like a bad idea no matter how you see it and could be devastating for her as a performer.  If she really wants to become a Rakugo performer then it would be better to start with smaller gigs and then slowly gain a fanbase. Of course, before any of this can happen, she would need Yakumo to remove the ban on female performers so that she can become accredited and considering the character of Yakumo, it would be a monumental task indeed. He’s already getting crabby about people having fun in the green room so getting him to agree to this will take some far more convincing. Assuming that Konatsu wishes to go through with it. Which I honestly think she should, she would really light up the stage when performing Rakugo.

It’s nice to see that Yakumo isn’t cold to Shin but he’s certainly cold to the writer and his attempts to write new Rakugo. These two seem in direct opposition as the writer sees Yakumo his enemy in regards to keeping Rakugo alive. It’s possible that he holds a grudge over him rejecting him as an apprentice in the past. Or how he considers Yakumo one the of the main reasons for the decline of the art. Personally I see it as Yakumo keeping to his promise to Sukeroku. As Sukeroku said in the previous seasonj, it would be Yakumo’s job to keep old traditional Rakugo from dying out and Sukuroku’s job to reinvent Rakugo for the new age. This I believe is Yakumo’s main reason for tearing up the writers Rakugo stories. Yakumo is not the one to ask when it comes to developing Rakugo for the modern era. That job should be left to the man who inherited Sukeroku’s title. I admit however that this really could just be Yakumo being difficult and stubborn. However I find it hard to see Yakumo being purposefully spiteful as it’s more likely just his awkwardness with interacting with people. Which is something he never truly got rid off throughout his life.

3-gatsu no Lion – 15 [Moonlight – Lump of Ego]

by SuperMario, posted in 3-gatsu no Lion, Currently Watching:

Let me get off track for a bit, but the truth is that I’ve always been fascinated by moonlight. Moonlight gives me a warm presence, moonlight (especially in full-moon) gives me the bright feeling that there’s no more worry in the world. Sit there and watch the moonlight is one of those rare moments where I truly “enjoy my moments of nothingness”. Coincidently, many media involving moonlight have a special connection to me: “Moonlight Shadow”, “Dancing in the Moonlight”, even last year’s indie gem “Moonlight” gave me a certain feeling that resonate strongly to me. This week in 3-gatsu we start with the chapter named “Moonlight” and again this proves to be a special episode to me, one of my favorite chapter out of 3-gatsu in fact. The ambiguous relationship between Kyouko and Rei has been one of the show’s strongest material, and this episode manages to take that relationship up a notch.

I will forever remember the image of that young Kyouko; there she stands, beyond the moonlight by the window, demanding Rei’s and our attention. If there were moments that best captured the relationship between Rei and Kyouko, that would be the moment she sneaks into his bed, whispering those words “Don’t touch me. But don’t move away from me”. Kyouko, just liked the way Rei described her, is a strong-willed but deeply insecure girl. The girl who has everything that she doesn’t need, and ‘fails’ the only thing that profoundly mattered to her. To her eyes, she’s always the inferior one compared to Rei, both in shogi and in their father’s attention. Rei isn’t any better when it comes to self-doubting though, as a result we encounter one of the most heartbreaking moments when the only way those two know how to comfort the other is by ways of showing that insecurity, but even then Kyouko still gets hurt really bad. That is Kyouko, love and hate someone with the same intensity.

And when it comes to her loving someone with full force, we also see her and Gotou together for the very first time, and this relationship is still pretty much blurred at this time, but fascinating nonetheless. Gotou is oblivious to Kyouko’s feeling, even calling her “stalker”, but of course Kyouko doesn’t back down just because of that. We saw them together twice this episode, and while the first time he allowed her to walk side by side with him, the second time he ditched her like a bastard. Except when you think about it, this is the best kind of actions when dealing with someone as bombastic as Kyouko. He’s a married man anyways. People seems to agree that Gotou has been using her but from what I see it might not be the case; it’s Kyouko who clearly steps out the line right now. I have a feeling he still cares very much about his sick wife but I know we will see more about his relationship soon enough so let’s wait and see.

The rest of the episode also follows the best-of-three matches to determine title-challenger between Gotou and Shimada. They are basically equal in terms of skills level so the matches are long and worn-out ones and resulted in one slightly beaten out than the other, which the first match goes to Gotou and the second goes to Shimada. I’m glad to see that Rei really invests in those matches. Yes, to learn from the people who are higher than you and get inspiration from those matches are the right way to get out of his own depression now. Speaking of that, Hina has an adorable moment of sitting in the chair and worrying for Rei, just so that the grandfather gives her his wise advices of basically come down to “let him deal with his issues himself”. At the same time, Harunobu offers his insight on how Rei changed his attitude towards shogi and the very reason he cares deeply for his “best friend”, this is a sweet little material for Harunobu, but I can’t help but feel that we already know that Harunobu felt that way even before he tells it, so the result gives us very little impact; which is a shame. As now a tradition with 3-gatsu no Lion, if I have to recommend the series, I’d just recommend certain chapters out of the show because when the show hits, it hits real hard, like this week’s Moonlight chapter. Other chapters though aren’t as strong or memorable and I guess with the intention of adapting faithfully to every chapters of the manga by Shaft, we will have to bear with it for the long, long term.

Scum’s Wish – 03 [Show Me Love (Not A Dream)]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Scum's Wish

This episode offers more perspectives to these whole messy affairs and gives an unflinching look to teenager’s insecure-ness, echoed perfectly by the reflections from the leads from each of these sections. It ends up stronger than last week’s, continuing peeling their skins and making them as naked as possible. While I still have issues with some of its narrative, the story gets to a much stronger and more relatable grounds. Let’s just run each of its theme down by the narrations from both Hanabi and Mugi.

“I had no idea that being the object of someone’s desires was so heavy”

This was what Hanabi learnt from the affection of Ecchan, as the girl now confesses her love to Hanabi. The show certainly isn’t subtle at all by showing how Hanabi saved her from sexual abuse on a train and that’s the only obvious flaw I would give in that development (although I must admit that we need more awareness on the sexual harassment in public transportation). The crush from Ecchan towards Hanabi comes from a very understandable perspective, and she intends to hide her love until she senses something wrong about the relationship between Hanabi and Mugi so she pushes forward. Hanabi begins to realize she has been a center of Ecchan’s affection and now she understands the real weigh behind this. When someone give everything for their love it’s suffocate and heavy; you can’t carry the load with them because you obviously don’t feel the same way as them, but if you outright reject them it’s mean all their desire/affection is nothing more than… a wishful dream.  Moreover, this one-sided affection serves as a mirror towards her own crush with Kanai-sensei for a) he might reject Hanabi the same exact way she rejects Ecchan and b) keeps hanging on the love with someone who doesn’t love you back and you end up hurting the most, you end up all alone. Hanabi understands that and she understands that well.

“Secret can save you, so I pretended that it was just casual, but actually, it was much more serious”

So Mugi had a physical relationship with an older girl before and it still gives him a hard time now (in more ways than one). Guess he’ll never learn on his own mistake as now he’s doing the exact same thing with Hanabi. That aside, this flashback offers the more realistic look on what actual teenagers might experience in real life. It was told with a sad look, lonely feeling like when you looked back to the memories that you don’t want to. It’s obvious from the flashback that Mugi had a deeper feeling for this senpai and that feeling of lost and love still scarred him even now. Senpai sees their relationship for just physical though, but the show succeeded in showing that senpai herself was a lonely and vulnerable figure like most of teens out there. I don’t think she will reappear ever again but for the little screentime that she had she speaks right through the anxiety of most teens have to gone through. Which bring us up to the next point; how exactly does he consider his relationship with Hanabi? As a substitute for Akane-sensei or as a mean to put all his emotional frustration out in form of physical contact? Well, for now it would be the latter but Hanabi did the same too as after she was confused and depressed by the confession of Ecchan; she came to him for solace. But instead of sharing their pains by talking they do it much more physically.

“Love will make you blind”

Because when you idolize them so much you start to unnoticed their flaws. Akane-sensei has been the most generic character out of the cast but it’s time (that is, next week) that we will get under her skin to see what she really thinks. I’m not sure myself but wearing the same outfits as yesterday isn’t the good sign at all. Curiously though, Akane-sensei is a love rivals in more than one ways for Hanabi, and Hanabi forms a hatred feeling towards the female teacher. Which make me thinking, how much she love Mugi right now? This hatred comes from jealousy (and not trusting that woman) after all.

Although Moca’s annoying antics still suck big time, the show so far handles the melodrama quite well so point for them on that. Scum’s Wish is a show that excels on portraying ugly aspects of romance relationship; of the love so pure and strong it begins to be eaten over by desired; hatred and obsessions. So here’s basically where I stand on this show right now: handjob is good (as always), crying isn’t, kissing is questionable, and jealous/hatred feeling please-give-me-more.

ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept. – 03 [The Swirling Smoke of Rumors in the Castle]

by SuperMario, posted in ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept., Currently Watching:

The plot’s getting rather interesting, now that Jean finds himself in the middle of everyone’s watching eyes without having a clue what’s going on. The crowd thinks about him as an important factor for the upcoming coup d’état, his friend Nino certainly frames him as ‘the one and only’ when feeding info to Grossular, at the same time he was mysteriously received two cigarettes in the sealed envelopes and he was asked to be an ally for two higher authorities of ACCA. So despite the gorgeous ball, the tasty cakes and the night smokes might convince you otherwise, this is a very busy episode that set up a lot of frameworks for the future. Let all get down to it.

The big event here on the surface have to be all of important people in the story were invited to the ball of the Prince’s Coming of Age ceremony. Yes, it’s as absurd as it sounds and the imperial figures are framed as incompetent, arrogant and right out stupid. For now, my guess last week on why the uprising occur was way off the mark, as the reason is very silly: prince Schwan is going to take the throne and no one is happy with it. Just from the few scenes this week, he already makes his case on how annoying he could be. The show understands his stupidity so they accompany his speech and gestures with over-the-topness and so far it works well. The king isn’t much better either, as the only thing he stands out right now is his passion for cakes (quite cleverly underlined in the show). In fact, the true man in power has to be the president of Privy council. He is a puppetmaster who manipulate all the strings right now so it’s understandable that he’s afraid of Jean because Jean might threaten his position. That said, with all the powerful person gathered in one place, I expect next week’s event will trigger the uprising to come and make it all real.

Jean has a busy day in this episode as he had to attend to some dinner meetings twice and gets the hot from everyone else. I’m glad to see him embarrassed in front of the beautiful Mauve to be honest, because at least I can see his real emotions. As Jean becoming a trigger of all the events to come, the next moves everyone want to make of course would be making him their ally. Mauve wants him to provide information on his audits to her so she can “protect order” of this nation, curiously that’s the very same reason Lilium offered to Jean, but we all know they come from a very different motive. Nino, on the other hand, pushes really hard to convince Grossular that Jean were the one; whether he knows something deeper or what his real motives are remain pretty much unclear. I still stand by the opinion that Nino hasn’t betrayed Jean (not yet), but more that he uses Jean as a scarecrow to diverse everyone attention from his true goals.

With the gathering of all key characters, we also have a privilege to witness the chemistry of several minor characters, and boy do each of the pair have some unique chemistry together. I enjoyed the most the encounter of Mauve and Nino, since Mauve has no idea they were close friend so she can look right through to the issues. In addition, I found that Nino and Lotta are even closer than the sibling themselves. See how each of those pairs Jean – Lotta, Jean – Nino, Nino – Lotta have their own harmony and thus give much more dimensional to each of those characters? This is for me one of the best strength the show succeeds so far. I also find myself enjoying moments like Lotta being impressed by Mauve, Lotta was offered the favorite cake by the King, the arrogant prince had the crush on Lott… Actually, when put it that way I come to believe Lotta will play a vital role in the events to come, since she’s actually the one who pretty much encountered everyone (including the lovesick guy last week), while simultaneously enjoyed all types of cakes, breads and wines. This show is sooo rich with cake, bread and food that really made this show a rather tasty watch (but seriously, the amount of good foods here are insane). Things certainly are about to explore and everyone pretty much expected it, but what exactly “that things” are and to what extend remain a total mystery. And for that the show still remains intriguing.

Little Witch Academia – 03[Don’t Stop Me Now]

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

What’s a witch without a broomstick? Today’s episode deals with Akko’s troubles with flying and considering how terrible she is at nearly all facets of magic I am really beginning to wonder just how she got into this school in the first place. For the most part it’s not her fault as other witches at the school have clearly been trained in magic from a young age. Meanwhile Akko is just being introduced to it. I appreciate that this episode didn’t feature the shiny rod solving Akko’s problems and was instead about her troubles getting to grips with flying and trying to win a broom relay race. They almost did win the race through the magic of cheating so in this regard I am rather glad Akko didn’t get an unjust victory. Instead we have a excellent episode about a legendary broom and Akko’s hilarious training to fly a broom. I laughed pretty hard when she tried to intimidate her broom by snapping a twig in front of it.

It wouldn’t feel right for Akko to win after Sucy was sabotaging the other racers. Not even accounting that Akko wasn’t so much as flying a broom but instead trying to wrestle the legendary Shooting Star broom into submission. With that broom I now count three legendary artifacts at the school. The shooting star broom, the shiny rod and the philosopher’s stone which powers the Academy’s magic. This is merely an inkling at the moment but I think these items will play a part in the finale of Little Witch Academia. I certainly believe that we haven’t seen the last of the Shooting Star broom. Animation continues to be perfectly executed with flair and fun. So far the story has a episodic structure with events being brought up and resolved in the same episode. There doesn’t seem to be an overarcing plot so far and personally I am fine with that. As long as the series continues to be a barrel of fun there’s no real need to force in an overarcing plot. Otherwise it could make the same mistake as Death Parade and forget just what makes it’s concept work so well.

We have an introduction to many of the characters from the second OVA. Also are a number of cameo’s in this episode with a urn referencing Nonons hat from Kill la Kill, Inferno cop on the television of the room Akko flew past and even a very strange cameo of a man referred to as Chumlee from an American reality tv show called Pawn Stars. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to point out that Ursula is probably Shiny Chariot as the series has given several hints to that effect. It’s clear that something happened which pushed her to adopt her current persona and she seems jaded when Akko repeats her catchphrase back to her. She obviously lost her power, perhaps because the rod requires the childlike wonder that Akko has. Over time Ursula and Diana look to have gotten disillusioned by the technical workings of magic but both seem to yearn for the view of magic they had in their younger days. If this is true then it really is a matter of time before Akko can no longer use the shiny rod which may be the main conflict of this series. Though the opening does show some sort of antagonist who could act as a triggering factor for Akko to mature and potentially lose Shiny Rods power. Purely from a personal standpoint I think the best person to play antagonist for this series would be Shiny Chariot herself. Who better to crush Akko’s faith in magic and dreams? So on to episode four and I hope it isn’t effected by an old trigger curse, that being that episode four is where there is a huge animation quality drop.