Getting very close to the end of the season, and before you know it, the holidays will come and go and we’ll start anew in January, and I still have no idea what is on my docket for next year, but for the meantime, let’s jump in with this week’s offerings.
Oh, Tonari no Kaibutsu, you know how to make me laugh in the most absurd of ways. Especially when Haru gets jealous over Mitty and Yamaken’s “business” relationship, which turns sour for him in the end when she refuses to drop going to a winter cram school he is also attending even after they re-confessed love for each other. It’s that on-again, off-again kind of relationship that amuses me, probably because I deal with a woman who flips her shit once and awhile at me, and I do the same also. Ain’t life grand?
If any show gets “Anime of the Year” treatment, it is Space Brothers, hands down. Makabe won his astronaut bid last week, Itou wins this week, and that back story? Ugh. See, I lost one of my grandparents fifteen years ago to a similar disease, he had a neurological disorder that slowly paralyzed him until he couldn’t move or speak, my sister made him a board with letters and common phrases and tasks that he could point with. He was a pretty proud man, and I don’t think he enjoyed the fact that he was in that condition, that we had to watch, and that he had to be moved into an assisted nursing facility. My memory is pretty hazy past that, I don’t know much about the circumstances or anything else, but having been fortunate to have known both of my great-grandparents and grandparents in my conscious lifetime, not many people get that experience, and they were all awesome people. That episode cut me down a little watching that, it really sucks when you are powerless to stop time from moving forward, not being able to know when those you care about will be there when you achieve your goals, land that big promotion, get married, have kids, anything that is important to you. I didn’t really get a chance to know my grandfather beyond his exterior, what his principles were, what he aspired to be, or anything. All my memories of him are that of a man who never said many words, was up early every morning drinking coffee and reading the paper, played golf, watched golf, listened to Rush Limbaugh every afternoon, and made us ice cream at night before bed. This show may just be about two brothers going into space, and about astronauts in general, but it never fails to stop and remind you that these people aren’t gods, they aren’t upper-crust entitled people “buying” their way into space, they’re regular people with varied pasts all working towards personal goals to become the next round of astronauts heading for the stars, and that they have their own angels and demons they must wrestle with in order to get there. This really is top-grade material, very few shows can operate on this level.
Well then, last week we saw ol’ Hayate get pierced through the heart by some kinda black sword that came out of the watch, so of course this is a new crazy PLOT TWIST to Hayate no Gotoku, so this week, we find that being pierced by the sword grants immortality, and lucky day for Hayate, he was pierced with the sword, immediately standing without a scratch, but he either has amnesia, or doesn’t care for Nagi at all, scoffing her and resigning before walking away. Tough break? Eh? We’ve come around full circle to the opening of the first episode though, as Nagi, Hamster, and the male teacher end up stranded in the desert after Hamster picked up the watch and ended up with its misfortune. You know what is more unfortunate? This show, it keeps jumping all over the place, serious, not serious, fucking magic, Isumi, but somehow the last couple episodes have me actually wanting to watch the next. Is this some sort of Christian Magic?
After turning down sweet little Nae, the club proceeds to unveil GUNBUILD-1 to an awe-inspiring public in this week’s Robotics;Notes, only to find that it does not really move at all as expected, as it still has technology from a decade ago, much to everyone’s disappointment. Yashio continues to look into the mystery surrounding IRUO and Kou Kimijima with little success, and we get another glimpse of Misaki, who received all of Akiho’s messages, but responded to none of them. It seems she does not care anymore for her teenage ambitions and only works on her current job with advanced robotics. So now we have Nae, who else from SG do we get? I know Daru has a role in the story, but I’m going to guess none of them will get speaking roles, which is a shame. This show could use some CHRISTIIIIIIIINNNNAAAAAAAAAA~
Mere mortals, the great and wise Akasaka Ryuunosuke has graced us with his on-screen presence this week in Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, and apparently he likes tomatoes, and hates women. Orly? Well, besides that, Mashiro’s blonde English roommate drops in to try to take her back to England, because she doesn’t think she should be doing manga, rather she should be doing fine art like she was before. SHOCKER. So that is probably on the docket for next week. Really though, I couldn’t tell if Akasaka was a he or she, and I swore MAL had him listed as a girl until probably this episode. Probably better as a guy though, can’t let that entire house be a vagina-fest.
More hints are thrown out that something isn’t quite right with Riki and Company in Little Busters this week, but despite that, he attempts to court Nishizono into the Little Busters, mainly because he thinks she was like he was before he became friends with everyone. Wordswordswords and MUSCLES later, he succeeds in getting her to at least come and spectate, but probably not play. She seems to have some kinda secret she isn’t willing to tell him. Ominous~
Oh C0DE:BREAKER, you so crazy, but it seems now that two of the six breakers are against the others, and another fellow who controls ice seems to be along for the ride, and Hitomi’s grand keikaku? Kill a bunch of people, make the breakers public, and make people love them. Wow. I mean, he says its so that breakers don’t die forgotten, but someone wasn’t loved enough as a child, methinks. Sakura, meanwhile, has proven to be some sort of special person, but insists on getting herself into trouble at a moments notice, winding up with the bad guys at the end of the episode in order to protect the prime minister. Still a good show though.
After their second victory, overconfidence may have run out for Miporin and the gang in this week’s >TANKS, when against her wishes, everyone falls into an enemy trap, a Russian enemy trap no-less, and is forced to barricade themselves in a building to figure out their next move. It’s here the student council reveals that if they lose the tournament, the school will close down for good, which crushes many of the girls who weren’t really making it a serious competition. Miporin on the other hand faces more personal circumstances as her family plans to cast her out of the family for her defection to Oarai and probably her loss from her previous school. Tension!
Last, but not least, the shit continues to get good in Chuu 2 Koi as Yuuta and Rikka both confess feelings for one another, but they’re still muddled in eight-grader syndrome. Being flanked by Touka though, who plans to leave for a professional chef school, Yuuta is placed with a difficult task of either continuing to placate Rikka’s delusions, or try to force her out of it, which winds up with some interesting results at the end of the episode. I like this show, but I seriously hope they choose the good ending on this and walk away from it without leaving a hole open for a second season, I’m not sure what could be done with another season, and we already have some prime Saimoe material here.
So a good haul for this week, and with a few weeks left, it looks like everything will close out in time for Christmas, save for Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, Robotics;Notes, Little Busters, and probably Space Brothers continuing into the new year. I’ll have to start checking out the prospects for next year and figuring out what will be watched, should be a hell of a time.
