Weekly Roundup Fall 2018 Week 4

Welcome back to the weekly roundup! We had a bit of a purge last week, going from 11 shows down to 8 after cutting That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Jingai-san no Yome, and Xuan Yuan Sword Luminary. Hopefully we're coming close to the point where we don't have to cut anything anymore and all the shows we're recapping are good all the way through!

Hinomaru Sumo

Starting us off this week we have Captain Tsubasa: Sumo Edition. In episode 4, Kirihito demonstrates that he means business as Dachi High's sumo coach by teaching Mitsuashi exactly how to defeat Chihiro, Yuma, and Ozeki with relative ease, exposing their weaknesses and showing where to improve. For Hinomaru, however, Kirihito has to step into the ring himself, where he wins by using an improved variant of Hinomaru's signature finishing move. When the others ask why Kirihito doesn't just compete as a member of the team, he reveals that he has a respiratory disorder that leaves him unable to compete for longer than 20 seconds before risking death. It is later explained that Hinomaru can bypass the physical restrictions for becoming a professional sumo wrestler by winning the high school tournament and the subsequent national amateur sumo wrestling tournament that he would be admitted to as a result. Elsewhere, Kuze declares to his father that he will be participating in the tournament this year, and his father acquiesces surprisingly easily.

This is the best episode of Hinomaru so far. The show actually takes a moment to slow down and explore the personalities and fighting styles of our main characters, and the results speak for themselves. While there is still nothing here that I haven't seen elsewhere in sports anime, everything here was executed so well that it still feels fresh, for the most part. Sometimes it isn't necessary to reinvent the wheel after all. Still, I'm not sold on Mitsuashi as a character yet, simply because his whining is a bit much. I appreciate the intent behind his character -- an underdog using sumo as a way to improve his confidence is a good idea -- but we already have such a sympathetic underdog in Hinomaru that Mitsuashi feels redundant and vestigial next to him. As for Kirihito, I've seen the gimmick of a talented athlete's potential being hindered because of a medical condition done better in shows like Captain Tsubasa and Kuroko's Basketball, but to see it applied to such an analytical personality is somewhat unique, at least as far as my experience goes. Usually the affected character stubbornly keeps competing anyway, sometimes with devastating results. But for Kirihito to logically look at the situation and choose to step back subverted my expectations, at least a little. And while the bout between Hinomaru and Kirihito wasn't as intense as his bout against Kuze last week, the characters' shared history and emotional baggage gives it more impact than any other bout up to this point. I hope that future episodes continue to build on what was established here and take this slightly slower pacing than what we had before.

Goblin Slayer

In Episode 4 of Genocide is Okay when Heroes Do It, the party enters the goblin nest in the old fortress, where they discover a brutalized female elf prisoner. After freeing her, they exterminate the goblins with little effort, only to be ambushed by a fearsome ogre. Goblin Slayer manages to defeat the ogre with the clever application of a teleport scroll, and the party returns to town, hardened by their experiences.

Before I say anything else, I have to admit that I was wrong last week. I erroneously claimed that Dwarf was a fighter, when it turns out that he is, in fact, a mage. I don't know how I got his class so wrong, but there you go. Probably because his spells suck. And you know what else kinda sucks? This whole story. It's not awful, it definitely works if you just want some fun dark fantasy and I'm definitely still enjoying myself while watching it, but there's just not a lot of substance here. How can the characters go from such an amazing campfire scene last week to them being all business and no personality this week? It's more than just adjusting your tone to fit the situation, this is a complete 180 and the characters are left as lifeless ciphers. I know that this is heavily inspired by tabletop RPGs, hence the dice motif in the opening, but if it is revealed that the whole thing is just a game, then these are just about the worst roleplayers I have ever seen. And I've been playing Dungeons and Dragons for about a decade, so I've seen my fair share of bad roleplayers. The only character who has anything going for him is the Goblin Slayer himself, and he just stops being interesting once you learn his lame backstory. He's just medieval Batman, and that may make for a cool character in a game, but it doesn't really work in a narrative medium like anime. The action scenes are still very good and the usage of a teleport scroll to send high pressure seawater out like a blade was inspired, but with the weak story, generic characters, and awkward CG animation, there isn't really much else going for Goblin Slayer. Still, I'm having a good time with the show as a fun dark fantasy action-fest, so I will be back next week.

Double Decker: Doug and Kirill

In episode 5 of Law and Order: Anime Victims Unit, death row inmate and former Anthem dealer in Esperanza Zabel claims to have killed A, the cartel's leader, months before he was arrested, and is now willing to trade information about the case in exchange for his life. Doug and Kirill investigate his claims and allow Zabel to lead them to A's body, but their convoy is interrupted by Bamboo Man of Esperanza, and Zabel takes advantage of the confusion to escape the police. Later, it's revealed that while Zabel did in fact kill A to take over Esperanza, the entire hunt for A's body was a set up designed to allow for his escape, and Zabel murders the prison guard who helped him set up everything for the operation.

This is so much better than last week's episode. Zabel and Bamboo Man are just the shot in the arm that this show needed, and with a multi-episode case and a group of recurring villains to look forward to, things are looking up for Double Decker. Seeing Doug truly obsess over the Esperanza case helped to sympathize him with the viewer, which is great because it's hard for me to care about someone who is canonically "a bit of an asshole." The scene where he held Zabel at gunpoint to try and get as much information about Esperanza as possible while Bamboo Man was attacking the police was an amazingly tense moment, and it even led to a few arrests, though I wonder whether Zabel planned it that way as well so he could get rid of a few loose ends in his organization. I look forward to finding out.

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny-Girl Senpai

In episode 4 of Going Back on a Love Confession So We Can Indulge in Some Harem Bullshit, Sakuta has finally convinced Mai to go out with him after following through with his promise to confess his love for her every day for a month. Unfortunately, he is then trapped in a time loop where he has to repeat that day over and over. Eventually, he discovers that this is due to the manifestation of Adolescent Syndrome in his classmate Koga, who is using the time loop to avoid a love confession from an upperclassman that her friend has a crush on. The time loop is broken when he stumbles on Sakuta and Koga in a compromising position, but Mai also sees the misunderstanding, leaving Sakuta's chances with her in doubt. Things only get more complicated when Koga convinces him to fake a relationship with her to keep the upperclassman off her back, and now Mai is angry and wants answers. 

I'm about to go on a rant, so let me just get this out of the way: This episode isn't bad. All of the great dialogue, natural voice acting, smooth animation, and strong direction is still here, and this is still one of the best anime I'm currently watching right now (including the sequels that I'm not covering on the roundup). But compared to the last three episodes, this is several steps backward. Did the author of the light novels really think it was a good idea to undo all of Sakuta and Mai's progress following a truly great love confession scene that earned a few tears from me with the most cliche of boring harem cliches? I appreciate what I think is the intent behind the scene --Sakuta facing the consequences for trying to fix Koga's issue as quickly as possible for his own sake instead of actually trying to understand and do what's best for her -- but if that is the case, the fact remains that it was so rushed it doesn't feel like any of it is actually his fault. And while Koga's cute and her desperate desire to hang on to the few friendships she has left is relatable, she just doesn't have the sheer screen presence that Mai does. I'm glad that Sakuta is just as annoyed with the situation as I am because this feels like a major step down from what I'm used to expecting from this show. And in fairness to Mai, when she comes to visit at the end of the episode, she seems to be more annoyed that he isn't chasing her like a traditional romantic and playing along with their usual game of cat and mouse, and she seems to be perfectly ready to listen to his explanation, so that's refreshing. That alone gives me hope that things will pick back up next week.

Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san

In episode 3 of Dracula's Comic Emporium, Honda and the rest of the staff struggle to negotiate with the sales representatives of various publishers. Then Honda and Jack-o-Lantern struggle to find recommendations to fit the specific tastes of their customers.

Not a lot ever happens in Honda-san, which means that the show is carried by the strength of its jokes. And on that front, this episode fairs much better than last weeks. Seeing the different ways the booksellers deal with the publishers was really fun, and the quick pace with which it jumped from one negotiation to the next made that 7 minute segment feel quick and breezy without a single wasted moment. It did feel a bit random to be introduced to an actual publishing rep that deals in distributing French manga when every other publisher was just represented by a generic character with a nametag over their face, but at least I know who to blame for unleashing Radiant on a poor unsuspecting world. The recommendation segment was even better in my opinion, though since that all hinged on the one punchline of someone asking for a cutesy shojo manga only to pick up Berserk instead, your mileage may vary. Still, a good episode here means that I don't have to drop one of my two vaguely horror related anime in October, so we're safe on that front.

Zombie Land Saga

In Episode 4 of Buffy the Crowd Surfer, Franchouchou's budget has run dry one month after their surprise performance, so Kotaro arranges a performance for the girls at a pharmaceutical company's retreat, hoping to arrange a sponsorship deal. But even though the performance goes well, Sakura, Saki, and Junko sneak off into the hot springs and end up revealing their zombie nature to the corporate rep, traumatizing her to the point that the sponsorship deal is forgotten.

Okay, this is seriously getting annoying. How is it that even though the character writing is getting better and better with each new episode the actual amount of fun I'm having is going down? The performance this episode is exactly the same as last week (bad CG and all)  and got barely any focus, and all that we got besides that was some typical anime sightseeing and hot spring scenes that I can get anywhere. Admittedly, once the girls got spotted at the hot spring, everything came to life, and the way the directing shifted to be more like an actual horror series was brilliant, but the punch line that the rep forgot everything that had happened the previous day, performance included, is just stupid. Other people from the company were there, you know. Did they forget about it all, too? Did nobody record the performance? Wouldn't it have been so much better if the two metal fans -- No, I'm not going to stop mentioning them, they're the best characters in this show -- were the actual people making the decision and they chose not to sponsor Franchouchou because they strayed from their metal roots and are trying to sell out? That'd be an actual joke. This show is great when it plays with our expectations and pokes fun at idol shows, but recently it's just trying to be a typical idol show and that won't be the right direction. I'm still having fun but I'm worried that the show might be running out of good ideas, and I don't want to regret recommending it in my Halloween post. So don't screw this up, Franchouchou!

Run With the Wind

In episode 4 of Japanese Usain Bolt, the red-haired boy is Sakaki, who ran on the same track team as Kakeru back in high school. Sakaki resents Kakeru for being the favorite of their coach, and expresses surprise at Kakeru's willingness to run with amateurs. When he hears about Haiji's plan to run in the Hakone Ekiden, he finds the idea laughable and insulting to the sport of track, which inspires enough outrage to convince the nay-sayers to commit to running the race just so that they could prove him wrong.

So I know that every sports anime has at least one rival character, but I'm still surprised that this show has one. I mean, Sakaki's taunting is a good enough reason to get the entire group on board with the race I guess, but it didn't really feel necessary. There was already a lot of gradual development among the characters, showing them enjoying the daily runs more and more before ever hearing an insult that hurts their fragile male pride in front of a cute high school girl. Throwing Sakaki in here feels like forcing something that was already going to happen anyway, like trying to eat a vegetable before it's ripe. That's not to say this episode is bad or anything -- Run With the Wind doesn't seem to do bad episodes -- it's just weird. The scenes of Kakeru literally running from his problems while being chased by the ghosts of his past (Haiji, Sakaki, his former coach, etc.) was very interesting to watch, especially since we haven't gotten any internal monologue in this show so far. It did feel a little out of place to have so much visual metaphor in what has been a fairly grounded show up to this point, but it was visually engaging and was probably the best way to convey Kakeru's thoughts without breaking its normal conventions, especially since he doesn't have anyone he's comfortable opening up to yet. And Prince just won my character of the week award with this episode. I too would be more motivated to exercise if I had a trainer quoting sports manga at me. Oh, and his "up yours" speech to Sakaki was pretty cool, too, I guess.

SSSS.Gridman

And finally, we have Mighty Morphing Trigger Characters. In episode 4, Akane tries to get closer to Rikka so as to get information about Yuta and Gridman. The girls go on a group date with their classmates and a quartet of college-age YouTubers. When the boys keep getting in Akane's way as she tries to get info out of Rikka, she gets frustrated and sends a kaiju after them. Because of her modifications to the kaiju muffle their aura, Gridman is unaware of the attacks, and three out of the four targets are killed. But when Rikka figures out what's happening, she is able to get Gridman to save the last one. Anti interrupts the battle with the kaiju and tries to get revenge aginst Gridman, but their battle is again interrupted by their respective time limits. The next day, Rikka entertains the idea that the appearance of kaiju is somehow linked to her presence.

This episode is a bit of a step down from last week, but that's more to do with the sheer amount of quality last week had rather than any lack of quality this week. Gridman is constantly fighting with Bunny Girl and Run with the Wind for the position of best show of the roundup, and it's definitely the most fun to think about. Everything about Akane is fascinating, as she jumps back and forth between diabolical mastermind and spoiled child throwing a tantrum. I still can't tell what her relationship with Alexis and the kaiju are. Is she the boss? Is she being manipulated? Are they equals? Any one of these options is still possible. And as for an even bigger questions: why does she create the kaiju in the first place? The way she impulsively picks her targets suggests that it's all just pure id and that she just kills anybody who annoys her. That would explain why she obsesses over Gridman as well, since he keeps getting in her way. But somehow, I still think there may be more to it, simply because I don't understand why Alexis would just go along with all this. He's clearly intelligent, so what would he gain from going along with the whims of a teenage girl? As for Rikka, I think it's pretty obvious that she doesn't have anything to do with the kaiju spawning. Yeah, it's left ambiguous, what with it being the last line of the episode, but we already know that Akane is creating the kaiju. There's no way that Rikka is involved. A better question is how long have these attacks been happening. With all the sculptures on her shelves, I find it hard to believe that Akane just started at the same time as Yuta and Gridman. 

I know I'm not talking about what actually happened this week, but that's because this felt like a typical filler that a monster of the week show would put out at this point in the season and there really isn't anything new to talk about. Everything good I've said before about the animation, voice acting, and character beats still stands here, and with no new information to chew on, I'm just left contemplating the mysteries that were already presented to me. But I still have fun seeing Gridman punch kaiju, so I'll probably be happy even if none of my questions ever get answered.

And that wraps up the weekly roundup! A bit of a slow week this time, but nothing was so awful that I had to drop it. Following the trends that came before, that means that I'm going to be dropping four shows next week. Can't wait! And with that, I leave you with an important medical announcement:

Patrick's Halloween Guide for the Horror Averse

As you have probably noticed, we are currently near the end of October.  Halloween is six days away, which means that everyone is currently swept up in the mania of dressing up, eating candy, and watching horror movies. And like many other people, I like Halloween a lot. Who doesn't love wearing costumes and eating candy?

But there is a problem. As a 26 year old adult, I'm way too old to go out trick or treating, and as a shut-in anime fan whose friends live far away, I don't have any parties to go to. Which leaves me with only one traditional Halloween celebratory route: horror media. And I don't like horror.

My reaction to most horror media.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the idea of horror media. But I am a massive coward who has trouble dealing with even mildly creepy stuff. So even though I understand the appeal behind horror (fear gives you an adrenaline rush), I tend to avoid the stuff.

Which leaves me in an awkward position. What am I going to talk about for Halloween? I can't go back and review the works of Satoshi Kon or Junji Ito because I'm too terrified by the prospect to go watch or read them. But if you are more interested in that sort of thing and want to know about scary anime stuff, these videos from Super Eyepatch Wolf are an excellent introduction to this sort of thing. But I remembered that while I don't like scary anime, I do like monsters and ghosts and such. So I thought that I would look for stories involving that sort of thing in my anime history that relate to the themes and aesthetic of Halloween but can be enjoyed by those who, like me, can't handle horror without embarrassing themselves by screaming like a five year old girl. So, without any further stalling, here are 5 spooky anime for non-horror fans.

Shaman King

First up, we have the shonen battle series Shaman King. Based on a manga series by Hiroyuki Takei and animated by Studio Xebec (who also did last season's spooky harem anime Yuuna's Haunted Hot Springs, so there's another Halloween recommendation if you're into that), Shaman King is something I like to rewatch a little bit around this time every year. Yoh Asakura is a shaman, who acts as an intermediary between the physical and metaphysical worlds and forms pacts with ghosts to fight on his behalf. He forms an alliance with the deceased samurai Amidamaru and seeks to become the Shaman King, a title bestowed on the winner of a tournament held every 500 years who gets the ability to commune with the Great Spirit and remake the world in his image.

Shaman King was one of my obsessions when I was younger, and it's one of those obsessions that I look back on with a strange mix of warm nostalgia and cringe. I discovered the manga first in Shonen Jump magazine in elementary school, at the same time as my first exposure to Naruto and One Piece. And because of the chapters that were in that particular magazine, Shaman King was the one that excited me the most, focusing on a climactic battle while Naruto was setting up an arc and One Piece was having a mostly comedy focused story. The aesthetic of Shaman King is also quite unique among shonen manga, drawing on the culture of the First Nations, hip-hop, and calligraphy inks, and exploring different cultures' beliefs on death and the afterlife. The Chinese Ren has a different set of views compared to the Ainu Horohoro, and their partner spirits are quite different as a result. Yoh is a good main character too, with a laid back slacker demeanor that hides a great deal of pain and conflicting feelings about the nature of humanity, which ultimately ties back well into the pacifistic message of the story. And some moments, like Yoh's first battle against the necromancer Faust VIII, can help scratch any horror itch you may still have.

But it's not perfect. The tournament nature of the story occasionally contradicts with the pacifistic themes that Takei is trying to convey, and many of the fights themselves can fall flat with several underdeveloped antagonists. And Takei agrees that it isn't perfect, actually having canceled the series out of frustration that he was losing the series's edge and becoming too "normalized", forcing the anime adaptation to create an original ending before he came back to give the story a proper send off. And if you are a dub fan, Shaman King was handled by 4Kids, who do have a well-deserved bad reputation for poor dubbing, though I think they did a pretty good job with Shaman King. And while 64 episodes is a respectable length for an early 2000s shonen series, it doesn't exactly have enough time to fully explore all the ideas it introduces. But I'd rather watch an ambitious show that doesn't quite succeed than something playing it safe, and I'm still hoping that Yoh gets added to Jump Force.

High School of the Dead

You have no idea how hard it was to find a picture without fanservice for this post.

I mentioned Yuuna's Haunted Hot Spring before, but I didn't actually see it so I can't say if it's any good or not. But I can review this particular action-horror series with ecchi and harem elements, so we're all good. Based on a manga by Daisuke Sato and animated by Studio Madhouse, High School of the Dead is basically a Japanese take on zombie movies. No particular explanation is given for why zombies are walking around, and the show focuses on a group of high school students trying to survive the creatures and the breakdown of society. 

Like any good zombie story, High School of the Dead works really well as a surface level action story while also having a good deal of thematic depth. As the YouTuber Mother's Basement argues in this video (beware of spoilers), zombies act as a metaphor for the dangers of conformity and the story suggests that the only way the world can be saved is for talented young people to reject societal pressures of school and career and pursue their passions with as much vigor as possible and that adults should stay out of their way and follow their lead. And the anime adaptation (directed by Tetsuro Araki of Attack on Titan and Death Note fame), further reinforces this by celebrating sex and violence in a way that can only be fully appreciated by an adolescent. And while this is the closest to a traditional horror story that I'm going to talk about today, the focus on action makes it feel more like I'm playing House of the Dead than anything else. But unfortunately, the anime only has one season and will probably never see a proper sequel to finish the story after the untimely death of Daisuke Sato in 2017.

Soul Eater

Okay, I'm gonna be honest. I haven't finished Soul Eater, so I'm not going to be talking about the series in any real depth. But I can say that this series is well suited to some spooky fun. Soul Eater takes place at a school for students who can transform into weapons and the meisters who wield them. In order to reach the goal of making their weapons worthy of being wielded by Death itself, the students work in weapon and meister teams to reap the souls of evil humans and witches. 

I like Soul Eater quite a bit, with it sitting on my list at a 7 out of 10 with just under half the episodes completed. It's got a unique look to it that I can only describe as what you would get if Tim Burton directed Harry Potter, which you cannot quite get anywhere else in anime. The nature of the weapon and meister systems means that every fight is a team battle, and I don't think that action anime has enough team battles, so that's awesome. And coming from Studio Bones (aka my favorite anime studio), the animation is top notch and the music rocks. I can't really say that all the characters are well developed though. The drawback of having weapons and meisters working together means you have twice as many characters that you have to develop, and Liz and Patty in particular are left wanting.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

"What are you talking about, Patrick?" you may be asking. "There's nothing even remotely horror related in JoJo? What do Stand battles and goofy poses have to do with Halloween?" I'm glad you asked, hypothetical reader. Because while JoJo's Bizarre Adventure did move into a more fanciful and goofy direction, JoJo's Part 1: Phantom Blood takes on a classic gothic horror aesthetic. Well, sort of. It's like if Mary Shelly tried to write Fist of the North Star. Telling the story of a feud between Jonathan Joestar and his adopted brother Dio Brando, the creepiness gets turned up quite a bit when Dio uses a cursed Aztec mask to transform into an immortal vampire.

People tend to forget about Phantom Blood, since the story was still a bit restrained and hasn't fully embraced the bizarre quite yet. And while I haven't fully caught up on JoJo yet (currently halfway through Part 3), I can still say that Phantom Blood is worth watching, especially since it's only 9 episodes long and then gets really good starting in episode 10 when Part 2 starts. And I'll be totally honest: I only included this section here to tell you to go watch JoJo if you haven't already and that the gothic tone of Part 1 makes this a perfect time to do so.

Zombie Land Saga

If you're following my weekly roundup, you would already know that I'm currently watching Zombie Land Saga and why it fits as a horror-themed anime that doesn't actually try to scare you away. With the bizarre premise of a crazy person gathering zombie girls and training them to be idol singers in order to revitalize tourism for the Saga prefecture, Studio Mappa decided to get weird, and I'm enjoying nearly every minute of it.

The show makes me laugh out loud all the time, and the unconventional performances, drawing on metal and rap on top of traditional idol pop, are always fun to watch. Is it perfect? Not at all. The manager Kotaro is funny as hell, but he can get annoying very quickly and I think he should be used a bit more sparingly, and the character dynamics can be improved greatly if one or two of the zombie girls weren't here (I nominate Ai and Lily). And with only three episodes out so far, it's hard to recommend when I don't know where the story will be going. But this is a lot of fun, and I do think that if you approach it with an open mind, you will enjoy yourself.

And there you have it. Five horror themed anime that even non-horror fans can enjoy. I hope you have a great Halloween!

Weekly Roundup Fall 2018 Week 3

We're three episodes in to all the anime we're watching together (or four if you're an overachiever like Double Decker or two if you're a little slow like Honda-san). So far, we've dropped two anime over the course of two weeks and narrowed everything down to 11 shows. Last week we even managed to go the whole week without anything pissing me off enough to quit watching! So the question is: can we keep that streak going? Let's find out!

Jingai-san no Yome

Oh, dear. We are not off to a good start. Well, just for formality's sake, time for the episode summary. Hinowa learns that his classmate Hirukawa is in the same situation as he is, having been married off to a small pink blob that is jealous of those with hair and can curse people to lose hair if it gets angry. Hirukawa then brags about how close he is to his ugly pink husband.

I tried. I really really tried. As this is Studio Saetta's first ever anime, I wanted to see them succeed. And to their credit, these last two episodes are better shorts than the first one, using the run time more efficiently and developing the story and characters over time, and the animation is decent enough for what this show wants to be. But we're three episodes in and only two of the four couples shown off in the OP have been introduced. NOTHING is happening in this story, the jokes are either falling flat or just plain non-existent, and the "cute" mascot characters aren't even that cute to me. I simply cannot justify wasting my time every week watching this, even if it is only three minutes, and I have to drop this show. I'm hoping that this is just a case of bad source material holding the quality back, and maybe next time Saetta tries to make an anime they'll have something better to work with, because it's impossible to tell if the studio is any good with such a bland story to work with.

Skull-faced Bookseller Honda-san

From one short to another. In episode 2, Honda and his many many coworkers struggle to keep the shelves stocked as more and more new volumes are delivered throughout the day. Later, when Bag Head returns from vacation, she is distraught to learn that no new books for her section were delivered while she was away, only for them all to come in when she comes back to work. Honda -- the writer of the manga the show is based on -- introduces the audience to his editor, represented here as a seal. 

There aren't any great jokes this week, but the experience of scrambling to keep the store stocked and the customers happy is something that I have experience with, so I was able to empathize with Honda's struggle and chuckle nostalgically at his situation. Just like Honda, I've been in that position at a retail store where I had to constantly bounce back and forth to help my coworkers, only to have my own work fall by the wayside as a result. I just wish that that segment wasn't 8 minutes long, because the other two segments had more potential to be truly funny and had no time to actually build up to a substantial punchline. Still, regardless of it's faults, this is charming enough that I'm willing to keep watching for now.

Run with the Wind

Moving right along, in episode 3 of Running Bros: the Animation, Haiji starts training the Kansei Track and Field Team with daily 10 kilometer runs, resistance be damned. Though the runners' times are slow at first, they start to improve dramatically when Haiji unleashes his secret weapon: a high school girl named Hanako. With Hanako following them on her bike, the power of boners has been unleashed and almost all of the runners start pushing themselves farther than they thought were even possible. Still, Kakeru voices his opinion that they are wasting their time, since they are still a long way from even being eligible for the qualifying race for the Hakone Ekiden. The episode ends when a boy from Kakeru's past approaches him during his morning run. 

I'm running out of nice things to say about Gotta Go Fast: University Edition. The show continues to be a solid character-driven narrative with pretty visuals and relaxing music. It feels less like a show and more like 20 minutes of hanging out with your friends every week. Not a lot may have happened in this episode as far as advancing the overall plot, but there are so many little character moments that it still feels like I'm not wasting my time. Nico might have difficulty running since he is a smoker, but he clearly wants to run deep down and doesn't even complain when Haiji takes his cigarette out of his hand. Yuki doesn't seem like the kind of guy who cares much about girls on the outside, but when you learn that he uses his lawyer knowledge to pick up girls at the club, it makes perfect sense for his character. The twins may only be motivated by the chance to get popular with the ladies, but seeing them argue about who finished the run first shows that they have a bit of a competitive rivalry between them, which only makes sense since they'd probably fight over the same girl if they ever got any meaningful female attention. All in all, the characters feel less like anime characters with exaggerated traits and more like real people, and that's not an easy thing to pull off. Admittedly, I am a little creeped out at the fact that all of these college-aged men are interested in a high-school girl, but since the show hasn't gone out of its way to fetishize her, I don't think it's a real issue yet. Please let it stay that way.

Hinomaru's Sumo

I don't have any funny titles for Hinomaru yet. Sorry. In episode 3, Kirihito arranges a practice match with the elite Oiga High School. Yuma, Ozeki, and Mitsuashi (the shrimpy kid) are all easily defeated by their opponents, but Chihiro manages to pull off a win with his wrestling skills. Hinomaru is surprised to see his old rivals from his elementary school days as members of the Oiga sumo club and is pit against fellow undersized sumo wrestler Shun. After narrowly winning against Shun, Hinomaru challenges his old rival Kuze. Kuze had faced Hinomaru before, but after accidentally breaking Hinomaru's shoulder, his legendary pro father forbade him from participating in any more matches while still at school, so as to keep other students safe. Regardless, Kuze accepts Hinomaru's challenge, but their match is interrupted before it can reach a conclusion. 

I really like this show, but I have to be honest with it. And honestly, this episode wasn't quite as good as the previous ones. I'm glad that we're hyping up rival schools, they're usually a big part of what makes a sports anime great, but it's hard for me to root for our heroes when I barely know them. Kirihito keeps talking a big game about how he's gonna take the team to nationals, but I don't really see much of a plan yet, and all I know about Mitsuashi is that he's never participated in any kind of athletic event before in his life. Hinomaru, Ozeki, and Chihiro are all quite likable though, and Yuma is starting to grow on me, especially when he tells Reina to shut up and stop giving everyone a hard time. Kuze and Shun are interesting characters, and each shows potential to grow into excellent rival characters and unique foils to Hinomaru and each other. But the biggest problem here is that it feels like the show is on fast forward. So many good ideas are being introduced one after the other that I just want to stop and explore a few of them before the next match. Don't get me wrong, I'm having a lot of fun with this breakneck pace, but I feel like we can have something really special if the show pumped the brakes just a little.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

I was dreading this, but it's time to rip that band-aid off. In episode 3 of My Isekai Adventure Can't Possibly Be This Disappointing, Rimuru kills the alpha of the direwolf pack with next to no effort whatsoever and forces the pack to submit to him. Under his leadership, the goblins and the direwolves unite to form a new tribe and begin rebuilding the village. Rimuru names his new subordinates, but because he's never read a good fantasy novel before, he is unaware that naming them imbues them with magic power, and they evolve into the stronger Hobgoblins and Tempest Wolves. When the tribe struggles to build new houses and clothes, Goblin Lord Rigurd suggests trading with the nearby dwarf clan. Rimuru agrees and leaves with a small group of goblins and wolves to go meet the dwarves. 

I think I figured out why this show bothers me so much. It wants to be Overlord. Think about it. Both shows focus on an extremely powerful visitor from another world that takes on the form of an inhuman monster and the way his arrival changes the political landscape of their world. Both shows start with a self-contained story as the new arrival learns what he is capable of before moving on to protect a small village from a larger invading force, turning that village into a formidable political force in its own right in the process. Both stories even introduce friendly goblins in this early point in the story! The only difference is that in Overlord I actually care about the characters. Momonga doesn't know how he got transported into his new world, and his campaign to increase his power and influence is all in service of his true goal of learning if anyone else from Earth got sent there as well and if it's possible to go back, only to slowly lose his humanity over time and truly become the persona of Sorcerer King Ains Ooal Gown the merciless Overlord. Rimuru knows exactly how he got to his fantasy world, he knows that he can't go back, and he knows that Otherworlders have come to this world in the past. He's moving without any true motivation of his own, just hearing the problems of those he meets and helping them because he doesn't know what else to do. And that would be fine if that's just the way that he is -- there are plenty of real people who value helping others and make that their life goal -- but his internal monologue suggests that he'd rather not be in this situation, like he's just here because he has no other choice. And we have no idea if this is how he was when he was human because we only got to see him as a human for at most ten minutes, and the only thing we learned from that is that he has some weird porn on his hard drive. None of the goblins or wolves are interesting either. They all have the exact same personality: they worship Rimuru blindly. And while they may have worshipped Ains blindly, at least the Floor Guardians in Overlord had their own clashing personalities to flesh them out. 

The only unique thing that this show has going for it is the gimmick that Rimuru is, in fact, a slime. And that's just not going to cut it, especially when they undermine that feeling of vulnerability with his powers to absorb literally anyone and take on their powers. If I wanted to watch a Kirby anime, I'd just rewatch the Kirby anime! It's not like there's anything especially awful about this show -- aside from all the stuff about Veldora not making sense -- but I just don't care anymore. I will not be tuning in next week. 

Goblin Slayer

Well, that got a little rant-y just now. Let's cool off with something good, shall we? In episode 3 of Dungeons and Dragons: The Animation, three adventurers -- Elf Archer, Dwarf Fighter, and Lizardman Shaman -- have come to hire Goblin Slayer to assist them. As representatives of their three races are meeting with human leadership to form an alliance against the newly resurrected Demon King, goblins have taken advantage of the situation and begun carving out a foothold in elven territory. Goblin Slayer and Priestess travel to the goblin nest with the three newcomers, and they begin their assault. 

Remember last week when I said things were starting to feel stale with just Goblin Slayer and Priestess? Throw all that out the window. Adding these new dynamic characters to the party has not only given me three new characters to love, but also has brought out new depth from both Goblin Slayer and Priestess. Hearing Goblin Slayer talk about his older sister and how she was never wrong was actually kind of endearing and almost made me care about his boring backstory. And while seeing Dwarf and Elf bicker was consistently funny, the comedic highlight of this episode for me was seeing the otherwise serious Lizardman taste cheese for the first time and pronounce it nectar of the gods. The whole campfire scene was fantastic, but that in particular stood out. Conversely, the scenes at the guild were pretty boring. I like the design of the Sorceress character, but I cannot stand her voice or the way she takes unnecessarily long pauses in her sentences like she's channeling Captain Kirk or something. And I really wish there was more to her character than just a gossipy bitch who exists only to plant doubts about Goblin Slayer in Priestess's mind. Still, this is definitely an improvement over last week and I can't wait to see this full party kick some goblin ass next week.

Zombie Land Saga

On episode 3 of Love Live as directed by George Romero, Kotaro schedules a surprise concert for the girls, giving them only one night to prepare, but the only two girls who were idols in their past lives, Ai and Junko, aren't on board with this plan. The concert itself goes well at first, only for mistakes in the choreography and Sakura forgetting the lyrics to lead to  most of the audience leaving them behind. Ai and Junko rush on stage to help salvage the perfomance, and the new idol group Franchouchou is born with one little girl watching them to the end and loving every second of it. 

I feel conflicted about this episode. On the one hand, the scenes at the zombie house with the different girls interacting with each other are better than ever, with a lot of personalities being developed and bouncing off each other. For the first time, I feel like I have a handle on who most of the girls are as people. Ai and Junko still seem interchangeable as characters, and it might have been better if there was only one of them, but future development can fix this redundancy issue. On the other hand, this was the most boring concert scene yet. Using a traditional idol pop song instead of metal or rap or some other new genre is a weird choice. After the series has gone so far to establish an anarchic tone, it feels wrong to go back to something so standard. And while the song itself is fine, the CG used for the dancing isn't very good and it consistently took away from the story. It wasn't a terrible show (aside from the mistakes that were part of the story anyway), but it wasn't very exciting either. And why weren't the metal fans from the last two episodes here to cheer them on!? Worst episode ever! 

All kidding aside, this show does have enough good will built up for me to forgive the weaker performance this week and give it another chance. And it is a funny detail that we have now officially confirmed that the Legendary Yamada Tae (the one who still can't speak properly) is voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi, aka Sailor freaking Moon!

Double Decker

Let's keep this meh train going, shall we? In episode 4 of Rush Hour: Anime Edition, Derick reveals his decision to not return to police work after all, opening a bar instead. The narrator then insists that the preview from last week was a fake out and the story is going to be about the four female officers in SEVEN-O instead. Kay and her partner Deana are sent on an undercover investigation, but when their mark is revealed to not be selling Anthem, the two argue about whether they should arrest him anyway, allowing him to escape. Wanting to make up for her error, Kay goes to her mentor Gary in the narcotics department, but he turns out to be selling illegal stimulants disguised as Anthem with her original mark, and holds her, Kirill, and Yuri hostage. Gary tries to use Kay as bait to kill Deana and get a sample of the anti-Anthem bullets, but Deana is aware of the set up and arrests him, while Yuri and her partner Maxine arrest the other members of the situation. When Kirill asks Doug why he didn't help with the operation, Doug dodges the question while the narrator reveals that Doug is "a bit of an asshole."

This episode was just not good. It wasn't awful by any stretch, and focusing on side characters isn't a bad idea either. But the good cop, bad cop rivalry between Kay and Deana is just not interesting. It's not even that it's an unoriginal dynamic that bothers me -- sometimes the classics are what's best -- but there's no real nuance to their characters specifically and nothing changes when all is said and done. Yuri and Maxine are more interesting, but they only amount to being some additional muscle during the raid, and from what the previews are showing, they're not about to get any more development any time soon. And the reveal that Yuri is really a robot doesn't count as development when it's the first time we've seen her do anything so far. All in all, this episode proves that Double Decker doesn't have much going for it other than its art style, its music, and its two main characters. I'm still having fun though, and I'm looking forward to what's coming next now that the narrator assures me that the main plot will start next episode now that we're fully acquainted with the members of SEVEN-O.

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl-Senpai

We've got three episodes left to talk about. Two of them were equally great! One of them was the worst episode of the week. So we're gonna make this into a sandwich: a great show first, then the bad show, and then my favorite show of the week to wrap everything up. 

So, in episode 3 of Why Does This Good Show Have to Have a Stupid Title!?, Sakuta learns from his friend Futaba the Science Gal that people at school are forgetting about Mai overnight as they sleep. Futaba theorizes that the slow disappearance of Mai is due to the social isolation that she was experiencing at school, suggesting that Adolescent Syndrome really is an extreme actualization of teenage angst. Desperate not to forget about Mai, Sakuta goes several days without sleep, chugging energy drinks and writing a record of their time together. But when she sees Sakuta hurting himself for her, Mai slips him some sleeping pills. Sakuta temporarily forgets about her the next day, but Mai's hints and his overwhelming feelings for her cause him to remember. Knowing that he needed a grand gesture to shift the social paradigm and bring Mai back for everyone, Sakuta loudly proclaims his love for her in front of the entire school.

This was the best episode of this already really good series yet. Just the scenes of Sakuta pushing himself to stay awake were enough to make this a winner in my book, but this show isn't content with doing a bare minimum. It might have been more effective to stretch out the time Sakuta hadn't remembered Mai for at least another episode, but the way his memories returned were set up so effectively by her kanji lesson that I couldn't bring myself to care. And seeing Mai get acknowledged by the other students was cathartic enough for me to forgive the pacing issues. And to hear a love confession in the third episode? One that Mai has all but openly admitted to reciprocating in her own way? I imagined that that would have been the end of the series! I have no idea where the story is going for the 10 remaining episodes, but I cannot wait to find out!

Xuan Yuan Sword Luminary

Don't let her smile fool you. This was not a happy experience.

If you thought I hated the new episode of Slime, you are not prepared for this. In episode 3 of Regretting Your Life Choices: The Animation, Slave Boy makes his first new invention as Chief Engineer: a dopey looking construct that seems to use a lawn mower as its primary weapon. But it is still somehow stronger than all the constructs designed by its predecessor. Former chief engineer is asked by the rebels to build constructs for them, but he refuses because he somehow didn't know that the deadly weapons he was designing would be used to kill people and he feels like he needs to atone. Summon Girl gives Little Sister new prosthetic arms with blade attachments, which come in real handy (dammit, that was a pun...) when the empire attacks the village where the sisters were performing back in episode 1. After defeating the constructs (including the new one built by Slave Boy) with little effort, Older Sister refuses to kill the enemy general, only for Little Sister to do so as she declares her hatred for the empire.

Why didn't I drop this back in episode 1? How did I get 3 episodes into this mess? Why does every character have so little impact that I forget their names seconds after looking them up and I make up nicknames just to keep track of what's going on? Why do I always get a migraine when I watch this garbage?

This wasn't as unfocused as episode 1, but episode 3 was even worse in every other possible way. I swear, there were even moments when the lip flaps didn't even match up to the dialogue. I have never seen that problem in any modern anime before, not even in Island. The background art is either flat and lifeless or so bizarrely colored that it hurts my eyes. Not a single voice actor seems to care one bit about their performance, especially the two sisters who are supposed to be our protagonists, who react to a massacre with as much emotion as you would if you spilled coffee on a picture your least favorite nephew drew for you. Older Sister's monologue about how the empire's expansionist mindset doesn't make any sense should be striking a chord with me, but instead all I'm wondering is if she even cares herself. The action scene had no flair to its choreography and no motivation for the characters beyond "You killed people who were kind of nice to me once and that makes me feel angry." Instead of excitement, tension, or any kind of emotion at the climax of this episode, all I can think about is how ugly that green glow around the magic sword is. 

But worst of all is the former engineer talking about his constructs. Apparently, he spent his entire life building and that's all he ever did until he was old and grey. And he never got the desire to see his creations, which he describes as his children, in action before this? And he's surprised that machines with blades all over them are killing people? What did he think they were for? Food prep? Hedge trimming? Haircuts? I had thought that he defected for more personal reasons, like the empire killed his brother or something. If he simply objected to their militarism and was willing to just leave as soon as he knew they were the bad guys, why didn't he do so sooner? And you really expect me to believe that this old fart didn't leave the palace once in his entire life, when he's older than every other living character we've seen so far? That's just stupid. I cannot give this show any more slack just because I like the designs of the constructs or it had some good character writing one time in a flashback. This is horrible and I'm never watching it again.

SSSS.Gridman

After all that negativity, I need a pick me up. So let's end things on a high note. On episode 3 of Trigger Hype: Tokusatsu Edition, Akane creates a new kaiju with limited intelligence and a human form named Anti. When Anti speaks during his fight with Gridman, Yuta is taken aback and his hesitation leads to Gridman's defeat. Rikka and Shou assume that Yuta and Calibur died as a result, but their grieving is interrupted when three mysterious strangers who know Calibur arrive at the junk shop. They help the Gridman Alliance contact Yuta and it's revealed that Calibur was hiding Gridman in cyberspace for repairs and was preparing an ambush for when Anti returned. At the strangers' insistence, Gridman returns to the open, drawing Anti out for a rematch. One of the strangers, named Max, combines with Gridman, and the new form helps Gridman fight Anti to a stand still, which causes both of them to simultaneously disappear.

Imagine, if you will, watching this episode at 1:30 in the morning and trying to keep your voice down while you're freaking out at an amazing fight scene. That was my struggle. My inner 8-year-old was jumping up and down like a madman during the entire Gridman-Anti rematch. Everything about that sequence, from the choreography to the animation to the sound, hit all the right buttons and I couldn't have asked for anything more. Even better, the rest of the episode was excellent as well! Anti is a fun new rival character for Gridman, and if there's one thing I love, it's a rival character. His feral, childlike nature bounces off of Akane's spoiled brat persona really well, and it looks like it might be setting up a conflict between them in the future, especially if Akane keeps mistreating Anti whenever he fails like at the end of this episode. Just like Bunny Girl, I feel like that there is a missed opportunity to drag out the suspense of whether or not Yuta is actually dead, but the emotional payoff of the rematch was so good that it really doesn't matter. 

And something I've noticed this episode that really helps the show work is the sheer contrast in sound design between the mundane scenes and the battle scenes. Mundane, ordinary life scenes have almost no background music, minimal use of sound effects, and very natural, almost anti-anime voice acting. This creates an effective contrast with the battle scenes, which go all out with high-energy music, over the top voice acting, and an abundance of sound effects happening all at once, creating a chaotic atmosphere that serve to make the battles even more exciting by contrast. It's an effective trick and it's probably a big factor in why I'm liking this show as much as I am. That, and giant monsters are cool.

That wraps up week 3, everybody! We've gone from 11 shows down to 8! I might have been overly ruthless this week, but with my new job taking up a lot of my time now, I want to make sure I'm spending my anime time on stuff I care about and make this weekly recap enjoyable for all of us. Unless you like seeing me break down at bad anime. In which case, shame on you. Either way, I'll leave you with these wise words from Zombie Land Saga.

A Defense of Goku as a Parent

How many times have you heard something like this? It's become a tradition in the Dragon Ball fandom, and anime fandom as a whole, to joke that Goku is an absent father who dumps all the work of being a parent on Piccolo and whose only contribution as a parent is to put his children in danger.

And I'm sick of it. I think that Goku has been treated unfairly and honestly did the best job he could have done under his circumstances, with only one truly bad decision as far as I'm concerned during the entirety of Dragon Ball Z. I'm not going to be talking about Super here, simply because I haven't yet finished it and I wouldn't be able to make a compelling argument about that series one way or another. Also, there will be spoilers for Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, so if you haven't watched that yet, you have been warned. So, with that in mind, let's go back to the beginning of Dragon Ball Z.

The first major time we see Goku as a parent is at the party at Kame House. This is a reunion between Goku and his friends, who haven't seen each other for at least four years, and Goku brings Gohan along to introduce him to his friends. During this initial conversation, Krillin asks Goku if the four year old Gohan has started training as a fighter yet, and Goku says no. Granted, this is only because Chi-Chi refused to allow Goku to train Gohan, but let's look at this a little more in depth. Goku heard his wife's arguments that martial arts training isn't the right choice for a four year old, and he agreed and respected her decision. Did Chi-Chi scare him into going along with her plan? Maybe, she's that kind of wife. But the important thing to note is that Goku never tries to train Gohan behind her back, and we know this is the case because Gohan is completely unable to defend himself during this opening arc. Goku knows that he doesn't know everything about being a parent and is willing to follow his wife's advice and parenting strategy so much that he swallows his disappointment because he understands that that is what's best for his son. 

So, in the middle of this party, Raditz arrives and kidnaps Gohan. Goku, being the caring father that he is, immediately jumps into action and gets his ass kicked, because no Dragon Ball Z villain gets defeated on the first try. Goku then makes a difficult decision: he allies himself with his enemy Piccolo in order to defeat Raditz and save Gohan from a life of slavery. It can be easy to forget this sort of thing for people who started with Dragon Ball Z (including myself), but this was a huge decision. Goku and Piccolo hated each other, and with good reason. Piccolo's father, the villainous King Piccolo (it's confusing, I know), was a tyrant who had killed Chiaotzu and Shenron, and whose presence indirectly led to the deaths of Master Roshi and Krillin as well. Goku may not like killing, but King Piccolo had left him no choice, and despite never meeting his father (due to being more of a reincarnation than direct offspring. It's complicated.), Piccolo wanted revenge. Goku and Piccolo had fought a bloody battle in the past, and Goku had spared Piccolo, and though this is never said out loud, I imagine that Piccolo had felt humiliated by this move and was more willing than ever to kill Goku and conquer the world in his father's memory. There is a lot of baggage between these two characters, and Goku set all of that aside because his son's life was in danger. And then in the actual fight against Raditz, Goku, without hesitation, came up with the plan to defeat Raditz in a maneuver that also led to his own death.

Let me say that again: Goku died for his son. That may be the standard that we expect of parents in a society, but that is still a huge sacrifice. I imagine that a lot of people who think that they are willing to die for people that they care about would actually find it more difficult than they expected when the moment of truth came. This is also where the jokes of Goku being an absent father started. Why?

Well, because Goku planned to use his afterlife to train with King Kai, and the Z Fighters chose to delay using the resurrection power of the Dragon Balls in order to allow this. On the surface, this might sound like a selfish decision, but it's worth remembering the context. Raditz was more powerful than any opponent Goku had ever fought up to this point, and Goku had to die just to leave Raditz vulnerable enough to be killed by Piccolo. And Raditz revealed in his dying breath that he had told the even more powerful Nappa and Vegeta about the Dragon Balls and that they were coming to Earth. Goku and the Z Fighters had no other choice. If he was to stop Vegeta and protect the Earth (and consequently his wife and son), Goku had to train in the afterlife and wait to come back to life, even if it meant that he wouldn't be able to spend time with Gohan.

At the same time, Piccolo had kidnapped Gohan in front of the other Z Fighters, justifying his decision by saying he was going to train Gohan (who had exhibited a true potential and an incredible reserve of power) to help fight against the Saiyans. Piccolo's true intentions were to brainwash Gohan into becoming his child soldier slave (much like Raditz) and using him to conquer Earth and even possibly as a secret weapon to kill Goku. But because his time with Gohan softens him and leads to real character development, we forgive him and label him as Gohan's real father? Yeah, it can be funny, but it's not really true.

Don't get me wrong, Piccolo is my favorite character. He's just not a paragon of fatherhood.

But enough about Piccolo. This is about Goku. After Goku comes back to life and returns to Earth, he sends Gohan away and tells him to go home and let him take care of Vegeta and Nappa. Gohan had just witnessed four people die in front of him and had had a presumably traumatic experience fighting for his life against Nappa, who was the weaker of the two enemies. Goku knew that he could handle Vegeta, but he knew that it was far too dangerous for Gohan to stand around and watch and makes the responsible decision to send him and Krillin out of harm's way. Sure, Gohan and Krillin came back to help fight Vegeta, but Goku had no way of knowing that this was going to happen, and it ended up saving his life. Goku then makes an interesting choice: instead of sending Gohan and Krillin away again, he incorporates them into his plan to use the Spirit Bomb against Vegeta, first giving Krillin (the adult) the Spirit Bomb to use against Vegeta and then instructing Gohan on how to redirect the attack back at Vegeta after he dodges it. And while we all can agree that taking a five year old to a battlefield is a bad idea, I think Goku made the right choice here. Goku could barely move at this point and Vegeta is about to kill them all. Desperate times call for desperate measures and all. If he didn't get Gohan and Krillin involved in the fight, all of them (including Gohan) would have died. 

Goku doesn't die against Vegeta this time, but he is left unable to walk for a while. During this time, Gohan goes behind Goku's back and shoots himself into space with Krillin and Bulma to find the Namekian Dragon Balls and resurrect everyone Nappa killed. It is unclear if Goku knew Gohan's plan before he leaves for Namek, but Chi-Chi does know about this. And though she does vocally protest to a five year old being shot into space, she never actually physically stops him from leaving. Given what we know about Goku up to this point, I think it's safe to infer that Goku took Chi-Chi's lack of action as an implicit approval of Gohan's actions and rolls with it. It's worth noting that Goku is a naive person who doesn't truly understand that his own childhood (which was full of death-defying adventures and hunting for Dragon Balls) was unusual and not a good upbringing for most children. As far as he knows, Gohan is going on a safe outing with Krillin and Bulma, two adults who he trusts to look after his son. When Namek turns out to be a war zone with both Vegeta and the even more powerful and sadistic Freeza running around and killing everyone in sight, Goku immediately breaks doctor's orders, takes a senzu bean, and rushes to help Gohan and Krillin.

There is a legitimate argument to be had about whether or not Goku should have taken the senzu bean right away and gone to Namek with Gohan right off the bat. And that would have been the better decision, I agree. But here's the thing: with what Goku knows and what he's been through, he deserves time to truly rest and spend time with his wife. It's like he's sending his kid to hang out at his uncle's house while he and Chi-Chi have a date night or second honeymoon. In hindsight, it was a bad decision, but how many times have you ever made a decision you thought was the right one only for it to turn out to be a mistake? Goku didn't say, "Let's send Gohan to a war zone and have him fight Space Hitler! That's a good idea!" Context matters is what I'm trying to say here.

Once Goku arrives on Namek, he consistently steps in and tries to handle the fighting himself whenever he can. Without wasting time, Goku fights four opponents in a row and has Gohan and Krillin get the noncombatant Dende to safety and the Dragon Balls ready to go. After finally defeating Captain Ginyu (which did involve Gohan for much the same reasons that Gohan had to get involved with the fight against Vegeta), Goku is left unable to move and has to recover in a healing pod. Goku emerges from the healing pod later, finds Freeza in the middle of assaulting his friends and family, steps in, and the rest is anime history. Goku and Freeza are left behind on a planet currently exploding during the evacuation efforts, and both are presumed dead (spoilers: neither actually die). When it is revealed that Goku is alive and refuses to go back to Earth immediately, wanting to train in space for a bit, he is, arguably, abandoning Gohan for a few years.

This is definitely a questionable decision, and one that he should have talked over with Chi-Chi first, but I'm going to argue that the context of Goku's decision is what matters. Goku just found out that there are enemies in space that are more powerful than anything that anyone on Earth can handle, villains that he can just barely hold his own against. Moreover, Earth had become a target for these villains specifically because he lived there. Raditz had come looking for Goku to recruit him to fight for Freeza, Vegeta learned about the Dragon Balls because of Raditz, and Earth ends up on Freeza's radar because of the fallout of Vegeta's invasion. By staying in space, Goku can prepare for future attacks in ways that he simply couldn't on Earth and hopefully divert attention away from his family. And while they both are upset with this decision, it's worth noting that Chi-Chi and Gohan accept and agree with it. Goku would like nothing more than to live peacefully with his wife and son, but he is sacrificing that happiness to keep them safe.

All of that goes out the window when Freeza comes back for revenge.

Freeza's return changes everything, and Goku has to get back to Earth as soon as possible. Luckily, Trunks comes from the future and kills Freeza before Goku even arrives, but then Trunks gives Goku a warning. Two androids, stronger than Freeza himself, are coming and will kill all of the Z-Fighters and take over the world. While Bulma's reasonable suggestion to stop Dr Gero from creating the androids in the first place is shot down by all of the Z-Fighters for completely valid character reasons and is worth talking about, it's Goku's decision to involve Gohan in the fight that is more interesting. Gohan is seven years old at this point, way too young for a battlefield by any sane standards. Chi-Chi even expressly forbids Goku from training Gohan. But instead of respecting his wife's parenting decisions like before, Goku actually defies her, training Gohan with Piccolo behind her back.

Why would Goku do this? Is he a bad father after all, throwing his kid into life or death situations? Again, I'm gonna come down on Goku's side here. He tried to keep Gohan away from the fighting before, and each time, Gohan has shown up anyway and fought alongside him. It didn't matter what he did, Gohan was going to be fighting the androids either way. Not to mention that Goku thinks fighting villains as a kid is normal, considering that he grew up without any adult supervision for most of his life, and Gohan definitely had the power to protect himself. The best decision for Goku to make was to give Gohan the tools and techniques to give him the best chance for survival in what was undoubtedly a no-win situation. Not to mention this gave Goku 3 years to bond with his son, the most time they spent together since Raditz first showed up and started ruining their lives.

So, up to this point, Goku's made some mistakes, but not as many as some people on the internet would have you believe. At this point, you may be wondering: so what was that "one truly bad decision" I hinted at earlier? Well, that comes next in our story: during the Cell Saga.

For context, the fight against the androids has been overshadowed by an even greater threat: the bio-mechanical monster Cell, who absorbs the androids into his body and becomes nigh invincible. In a show of arrogance, Cell gives the Z-Fighters one last chance to save the Earth with the Cell Games, a last great chance to defeat him before he destroys the Earth. Goku steps in first to fight Cell, and seems to be evenly matched with the monster, but then he suddenly forfeits the fight, claiming that he is no match for Cell and that the one who will truly defeat Cell is Gohan. 

Goku's a confident character who has never admitted defeat before in his life. If he says that he can't defeat someone, I'm willing to believe him. And Gohan has shown incredible power buried inside him multiple times throughout the show up to this point, so on the whole, Goku's plan makes sense. I'm even willing to say that I believe the interpretation that Goku was setting Gohan up to succeed him as Earth's protector, since eventually, death is going to stick. But it's still a bad decision that I cannot forgive for two reasons. First: Goku never actually tells Gohan the plan ahead of time. Imagine being an 11 year old and hearing your dad say out of nowhere: "Go fight Mike Tyson and stop him from killing everyone you've ever known and loved. I believe in you!" No matter how well-suited you may end up being to the situation, the psychological effect this has on you will put you at a major disadvantage and probably lead to your death. Even worse, Goku has made a fundamental error in understanding his son's personality, assuming that Gohan enjoys the rush of combat just as much as Goku does instead of understanding that Gohan was fighting and training out of a sense of duty and a desire to spend time with his father. This is why Gohan had such mental blocks keeping him from accessing his true powers: he doesn't like fighting or hurting people, no matter what the circumstances are.

But even worse than Goku not being honest with Gohan about what was going to happen, Goku gives Cell a senzu bean and restores the monster to full strength. Cell, who is part Saiyan and thus gets a power boost when recovering from serious injuries, gets healed after fighting Goku, ostensibly the strongest fighter on Earth. It's like Goku is setting his son up for death, and I cannot overlook or rationalize this decision. Though, in fairness to Goku, he does admit that he was wrong before teleporting a self-destructing Cell away from Earth, sacrificing his life to protect his son once again. It didn't work this time, but that's hardly Goku's fault.

And Gohan finishes the job anyway, so all's well that ends well.

Goku refuses to come back to life this time, and while it can be argued that he should be there for Gohan as he grows up, his argument that the Earth would be safer without him is stronger than ever. Freeza and King Cold came to Earth for revenge against Goku, and Dr Gero created Cell and the androids for the same reason. With him dead, no more old enemies will come back for vengeance. And Gohan was coming into his own as a man, one more powerful than Goku at this point. He can handle future threats if they come.

And Goku was right. Earth was peaceful for seven years, and his god-friends were even able to pull some strings so he could visit his family during the World Martial Arts Tournament. It was too bad that Babidi took advantage of his visit to unleash Majin Buu, but that was almost entirely because of Vegeta's mistakes, not Goku's. And Goku really doesn't make that many bad choices during the Buu Saga. Due to the rules of the afterlife, he can't stay and fight Buu himself because he is on a time limit, and the limited time he does have isn't enough to defeat Buu once and for all. And with the now adult Gohan presumed dead and Vegeta actually dead, Goku doesn't have a lot of options to work with. So he teaches his younger son Goten (whose existence he was previously unaware of because Chi-Chi didn't tell him she was pregnant before he died against Cell) and Vegeta's son Trunks the secrets of fusion and the Super Saiyan 3 technique before having to leave Earth in their hands. 

Is it messed up that he's sending a 7 year old and an 8 year old to fight a demon that has lived for millenia? Yes. Did Goku have any better choice? No. Piccolo and Krillin were the only other active Z-Fighters left, and neither of them were even close to being strong enough to fight Buu without the kids' help. And it's not like Goku was idle once he returned to the afterlife. He tracks down Gohan and helps him prepare to fight Buu in case Goten and Trunks fail (which they do), gets his life restored by the Elder Kai and even convinces his arch-rival Vegeta to fuse with him, a potentially permanent solution, to defeat Buu and save their sons. Basically, Goku handled the Majin Buu situation and how it related to his children in the best possible way given what he had to work with, and when all is said and done, he realizes that his hands-off solution wasn't working and stays on Earth with his family this time.

And this brings us to Super, which I'm not going to cover today since I haven't actually finished it yet. Goku hasn't really done much as a father one way or the other in the episodes that I have watched, and leaving Earth to train with Whis just because he wants to is definitely causing me to raise an eyebrow, but I'm reserving judgment until the time comes when I get around to finishing it. But I hope that I've convinced you that Goku did a pretty good job as a father, considering the exceptional circumstances that he had to deal with.