Mario: Next week, we will publish our seasonally State of the Season post, so remember to check in. Like Amun, real life stuff has eaten me alive but I still managed to keep up with current shows, and watched the Oscars yesterday. PARASITE wins. Honestly I’m still overwhelmed by that historic fact and honestly this is one of the best decisions Oscar has ever made. Parasite wins, and nothing else really matters anymore. But enough about Parasite and let’s dig in for anime time this week:
Somali to Mori no Kamisama – 05
Mario: Well, this easily is the best episode of Somali so far. The trick here is that the show does shake up its usual formula. I will start with the lesser success first. While the background designs of the various towns and locations the show displays have been its big strength, this episode is the first time it delves into the local custom of the town where Golem and Somali visits, thus making the settings feel lived-in. It also helps that later on when the group passes the forest, there are many fantasy animals (sand whales) that are pure feast in the eyes (albeit they are lacking in animation). But the real winner here is how it adds some urgency to the road trip of our main characters. We have a couple who are intriguing in their relationship (although the way the Harp girl keeps bringing up her love for her human companion gets repetitive at the end), and the fact that they are willing to harm Somali for their own gains. At least they have their own reasons to do so and I can see and understand that.
Rikei ga Koi ni Ochita no de Shoumei Shitemita – 06-07
Wooper: Both of these episodes were pretty meh, but I watched them in time for this post, so I might as well throw my thoughts into the digital abyss. The kissing experiment in episode 6 wasn’t a bad plot – I’ve seen that kind of barebones chemistry test pulled off before, but a show’s ability to do so hinges entirely on its cast. So far, RikeKoi has shown itself to be premise-driven, rather than character-driven, so the story didn’t quite fit. There was one brilliant mix of those two modes on display here, though: Yukimura’s promise to give Himuro “a kiss of the highest theoretical value.” Since the series is all about hot nerds trying to quantify love, that kind of declaration is both a strong relationship builder and a clever fulfillment of the show’s goals. As for episode 7, I found its reworking of fairy tales and folk stories to be its saving grace – everything else was pretty bad. When Himuro gets drunk and acts super lovey-dovey towards Yukimura, we don’t learn anything new about her (since it’s already clear that she likes him). But if the show puts a mathematical spin on stories like Cinderella and Kaguya-hime, that’s worth a chuckle or two.
ID:Invaded – 07
Wooper: ID:Invaded may be prone to malformed character models and small production oversights, but its story is never dull. There’s an undeniable freshness in watching a criminal analyst explore the subconscious of a co-worker, then find a portal to another person’s subconscious within the original. Does it make sense? No, and neither does the whole pi sequence that’s supposed to point to the death of Sakaido’s daughter, or the bullet flying Matrix-style through an existing hole in someone’s head. The show’s success rate at selling these absurdities is pretty high, though. There are a lot of neat visual concepts tied to the “Hondomachi enters Sakaido’s subconscious” plot this week, including the purple lightning strikes and the numbered, tiled floor where she awakens. The John Walker plot was advanced a great deal, as well – turns out that Momoki has a truckload of evidence to support his guilt, including a literal skeleton buried at his residence. Detective fiction often stacks the deck against innocent characters, but Momoki hardly protested as he was carted off in handcuffs. Both plots have my attention, but Hondomachi’s upcoming Inception routine is the more interesting and entertaining one.
Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu – 05
Wooper: The misunderstandings continued this week, as Eripiyo’s coincidental cafe encounter with another idol morphed into a display of disloyalty in Maina’s mind. Here’s a tip for any writers out there: if overhearing a pair of otaku smearing someone for changing “their fave” is enough to throw your character’s mind into disarray, go back to the drawing board. Eripiyo’s injury and reduced funds were already limiting her to one handshake ticket per live event – that should have been enough to get the ball rolling on Maina’s speculation. But hey, what’s aired has aired. At least the show is doing some decent work with a couple of background idols, Maki and Yumie. All of Cham Jam is tied up in a popularity contest at the moment, and the way Maki supports her younger co-worker through that process is nice (if a bit obsessive). Episode 5 is the hardest the show has leaned into the yuri sub-subplot between these two, so it’s nice that there’s a legitimate connection there apart from their shared attractiveness.
Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun – 05
Mario: Unfortunately, this week in Jibaku isn’t at the show’s best. The main issue, I suppose, is that Nene’s character isn’t that deep or interesting enough to carry the story, and her worry this week – about whether or not Hanako-kun likes her and confesses to her – feel silly, boring and predictable at best. The show gains back its footing when the supernatural plot of the 7 Wonders kicks in, and the reveal that Nene’s senpai crush turns out to be Kou’s older brother and hence – Hanako-kun’s enemy is interesting enough. But sadly, the first half with Nene feels way too long and drags out.
22/7 – 05
Mario: This week we have another member-focus episode and overall I think the show did a decent job of fleshing her out. Her situation at home is quite interesting to say the least, and I applaud the show for creating a Mother character who is so unique in anime medium. Yep, she divorces 4 times and is now a single mother with 7 kids, but what makes her character sticks out is how the show never “judges” her character, and her chemistry with her oldest daughter Miyano is all around solid. By blending that backstory to the current event where the group does picnic together for the first time, the show doesn’t offer any dramatic height but nails it in making Miyano personality interesting enough to enjoy. A pretty solid episode in my book.
Kuutei Dragon – 03
Mario: Three episodes in and I can safely say that I enjoy what Kuutei Dragon offers. The show’s tongue-in-cheek nature makes the entire cast feel lively and they share a strong chemistry with each other. The cast is diverse and even when the show makes no attempt to introduce any of the characters, the way each of them talk and behave makes them memorable and they bounce off each other nicely. This week the show focuses on Mika and the legend of the glittering dragon and it produces what could be the most satisfying moments the show has made so far. The fansub has gone crazy fast to the point that they have subbed 12 episodes, and by the strength of these 3 episodes, you bet that I will finish the show till the end.
Agree on RIKEI GA.