A few weeks since the start of the new season and it’s shaping out to be pretty good, all things considered. It’s hard to keep off Twitter to not get too spoiled by folks watching shows before I do, but I like to batch-watch everything on Saturdays. But less preface and more substance…
Oh, Vividred Operation. So we’ve established the Alone are the enemy, and the weird Homura lookalike is the catalyst for powering up these alone, and that Akane and Aoi, despite her initial docking issue over tomatoes, they beat off the first baddie, all is well? Introducing Saegusa Wakaba, a proud kendo fighter and Vivid Green, who seems to have no trouble at all docking with Akane, creating a samurai showdown of awesome. But really, why was there this whole fuss about friendship and love with the last dock, but this one was like, LOL YUP and done? Details, obviously. Next week we get the hacker shut-in girl. Oh baby~
Solar flares and conspiracies, oh my, Robotics;Notes heats up as the heat death of the sun takes out Tokyo’s electric grid and someone flips Frau’s robots loose on the population, with the only way to shut it down being to beat a haxed fight in KILL-BALLAD. Yashio naturally takes up the challenge, but can’t evade the final super attack. He resorts to triggering his “Slo-Mo” reaction he often gets to beat the boss and stop the robots. Lots of inner reflection of Frau, plenty of ecchi moments, and more WTF Misaki moments, as you try to figure out whose side she is on anyway. Also Nae, sweet innocent Nae. Hard to believe she was just a girl in Steins;Gate.
AOTY is still panning out to be Kotoura-san for me, for so many reasons, but fuck this episode, fuck Moritani especially, you see her in the OP and ED and you know that some turn of events in the show will being her alongside the main cast of good, but she is going to play the demon role and learn that important life lesson to convert over. I guess this show really tickles my fancy because it plays itself off in passing as a school comedy, but it engages all these under-layers of tension and drama to kind of bait you in but not immediately put out. It’s maddening, but I’m like some kind of masochist, I enjoy it. Anyway, that ending confused me, the hell could she “go”? But I imagine we’ll find out. I also want to know what Club President has up her sleeve.
I’m gonna be real honest, I am not digging Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru as much as I could be, and perhaps it is just the pacing of the last couple episodes, or the fact that it’s trying to push the whole “chunni” really badly. It’s a lot of talktalktalk, and that’s fine if there is something interesting to talk about, but they’re kind of droning on about nothing, and it has this very Boku wa Tomodachi feel to it, without any interesting characters. I get the whole blackmail thing, and I get the whole “let’s make the childhood friend jealous” thing, but something else has got to come down this pipe, perhaps the other characters we see in the OP/ED need to appear and show us their moves.
Oh Tamako Market. You’re too kind to me when I want to just watch a simple show about simple things in a simple manner. But to throw in a shy girl-with-glasses who gets flustered when she tries to thank Tamako for the night over, in front of a bathroom mirror? My feels can’t hold all these HNNNNG’s. This is where I give KyoAni credit, they know how to do a light comedy show that doesn’t try to force you to enjoy it, it sort of just rolls along Dera-style and you either like it, or you don’t. It won’t win first place in my memory of anime when I am old and dying, but it will certainly stand out for its more… unique fare.
So Maria versus Kobato hijinks and The King’s Game are on for this week’s Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT, and DAT KUKUKU, her cute is too strong for mere mortals. Maria laid in on pretty thick too. No one they’re a dastardly duo. With The King’s Game, Meat thought it’d be an excellent way to get Yozora to lick her feet, but wound up doing a number of other embarrassing things, along with the rest of the crew. But, to throw in a potential story piece, a mysterious phone call from Kodaka’s father enters play, so perhaps something interesting will happen in the next episode? Or three? Something of the sort.
As with other SHAFT shows, I am trying to figure out where Sasami-san@Ganbaranai is heading. This episode seems to have finally revealed some of the mystery behind this otherwise fantastic show of intrigue and mystery. There are some supernatural elements at play, and they seem to center around all the major characters in some capacity. I’m not sure how that is going to play into the next ten episodes, but it’s bound to be interesting, I suppose.
Winter vacation away from Sakura Hall begins in this week’s Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, and we’re introduced to Sorata’s family as some of the gang stays over. Besides the overbearing sister, you have a seemingly sweet, playful mother, and a frank, gruff father, who constantly beats on about “being a man” and not allowing Sorata’s sister to apply for Suimei. So there is that, Sorata preparing for his presentation, Misaki being down in the dumps over Jin, Mashiro’s complicated relationship with Sorata, and Nanami’s… being Nanami. Fun times all around.
Eagerly awaiting SpaceBros 42 to see what happens to Hibito, and of course the next episode of Minami-ke. No Little Busters that I could find yet. I watched Initial D 5 and 6 last weekend, I’ll cover more of that when more episodes get out.
Until then, stay frosty.
