Shocking Truth

I am back after a several week hiatus from buying a house, signing my life away for the house, briefly panicking about performing said act, replacing that panic with excitement that I own a building free from weird-smelling gumbos at midnight on a Wednesday, and then bone-crushing reality that moving is easily the worst thing we humans do. But after moving, unpacking, getting the network in order, and admiring the view of the deck, I decided to commence the jigglin’ once more. Even with this disappointment we call a season.

I’ve got a long list of episodes to catch up on, so there will be more posts after this. Tonight I’m covering Black Bullet, Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou, Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka, Hitaugi no Chaika, and Mekaku City Actors.

Black Bullet
“You got problems, I feel for you son, I got 99 Cursed Children, and Tina’s the one.”
Every logical process in my head tells me that this show is really just standard season fodder, a cheeky feel-good harem pretending to be deep and dark with this intricate story and a protag with plot armor rivaling that of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Yamato and Mary-Sue Clyne. But fuck if I am somehow removing myself from the superfluous bits of this show and just enjoying the nonsensical shit it throws at me, like cute-as-buttons Tina, and President Sword Tits. I really kind of wish this show wasn’t trying to be Guilty Crown, because it seems like it would have been loads better to watch than some of the other shitty romcoms we got in past seasons, and this show isn’t even supposed to be a romcom. But I mean, come on:

The show just explained itself. We’re done here.

Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou
“Centipedes? In my vagina? It’s more likely than you think.”
Speaking of shitty romcoms, Kawaisou so far has nailed my expectations for what a romcom should be. You have two characters interested in each other enough to create and maintain the scene, but both are pretty doofy and can’t close the deal, so you add other characters to cut the tension and make it interesting. But above that, the male protag isn’t a whiny piece of shit, except a few times, and the female protag isn’t completely useless, also except for a few times. But the supporting cast is off-the-hook, between Grandma, Glasses McTits, Miss Shallow, and Captain Masochist, they steal the scene without stealing the story. I thoroughly enjoy this shit, but then I am easy to please sometimes.

Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka
“Is this rabbit a cheeseburger?”
There really is little to say about this show, it’s twenty-three minutes of pure bliss in the form of simple, light, and fluffy anime. There is no good way to describe it, because when you think about home movies of you or someone else’s kids doing what many consider to be cute, it usually ends up being something obvious or obnoxious that we overlook because they’re kids. Not many kids, especially in America, would be involved in working in a cafe, much less have the maturity to handle such a task. So watching this show tends to be pure fantasy, like you wish you knew of a coffee shop where you were being served coffee by the owner’s cute daughter and you could appreciate such a thing in a completely non-sexual way.

The closest you can probably get to that now is maybe a family restaurant in the South somewhere, but they’re sixteen, and you know damn well if you so much as look at them, papa has a shotgun at your head with the check and a smile.

Hitaugi no Chaika
“Show good. Very fun. Wow.”
Not surprisingly, Chaika has been one of my top favorites this season, because aside from the quirky cast of characters, like Dogaika, it’s filling for me what every other show isn’t, a good story. Sure, the others have some interesting characters, or interesting episode plots, but Chaika has the full package, interesting characters, little fluff, and a fairly convincing story that I honestly am not sure what will happen next, especially with Red Chaika showing up. That was an interesting spin. Plus I just like the “Saboteur” in this setting, it’s interesting, and they haven’t really shown the background on their special powers.

But really, Red and White Chaika. Now I want clam chowder.

Mekaku City Actors
“Teen Titans: The Anime”
I do enjoy SHAFT’s Monogatari-like abstract style, but it can really be largely forgettable in a show like this. Madoka can do it better by presenting a reason for it, you were in the witch’s world, so paying attention meant something. Here, the abstraction doesn’t lend itself to whatever is going on in the scene. I think they expect most people to be so fascinated by the visuals, they don’t care what the characters are saying. Others will tune out the backgrounds and then complain the show lacked depth. Yet given all this, this quasi-supernatural tale being woven is slightly more interesting than I might’ve thought, maybe because I didn’t. I knew they were going for an odd angle, but the moment they implied Ene was human and then became the program, that piqued my interest. After all, that’s what I hope ends up to be before mortality catches up. Some people want to live forever as Bonzai Buddy.

I’ll have more as I continue to slog through the backlog. Stay tuned.