But enough mushy stuff. We had five shows this week, and I'm not even going to bother trying to be all coy and suspenseful because everything was good and I'm really excited. LET'S GO!
Run With the Wind
Up first we have Sportsmanship: the Animation. I honestly can't think of anything better, sorry. In episode 10, Haiji had collapsed due to overworking his body and having an extreme amount of stress in his system. As he is forced to take a break and recuperate, the rest of the team steps up to try to relieve his burden. Hana and the twins take up cooking for everybody (with disastrous results) and Kakeru takes over coaching duties. While he and Prince continue to argue about Prince's time not improving at a fast enough rate at first, Kakeru has a breakthrough when attempting to find common ground through Prince's love of manga and creates a new training regimen for him based around said manga. And this new approach shows results when Prince records his first time under 30 minutes at the next track meet.
This. Was. Amazing. Not only did the conflict between Kakeru and Prince get resolved in a way that felt wholly in character for both parties, but there was a perfect balance between drama and humor throughout this episode. I really hadn't appreciated just how much Haiji had done for the others in the past, from cooking their meals to working to improve their physical condition to even helping some of them get jobs. That doesn't mean I forgive him for blackmailing the others into forming a track team in the first place, but between this and the reveal that he had only recently come out of physical therapy last week, I'm starting to sympathize with him a bit more. And the lesson that Kakeru learns about different people learning through different methods and at different speeds is one that everyone should take to heart, even if they aren't teachers. Nobody is going to know everything, and even if certain people can't grasp things that are obvious to you, they probably aren't stupid and might even understand with ease things that you cannot possibly fathom yourself. It's a lesson I've had to learn many times in the past, and I think it speaks to the core theme at the center of Run With the Wind: the idea that it's okay to be invested in something and have a passion for it even if you aren't an expert, and that, in some ways, amateurs can bring something new to the table and improve the field in ways that established veterans would never have considered possible.
Bunny Girl Senpai
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| I don't know why, but I found this line absolutely hilarious. |
Next on the list is Nodoka Doesn't Dream of Bunny Girl Nee-san. In episode 10, Mai and Nodoka continue to live out each other's lives as they stubbornly refuse to talk to each other. After Mai (as Nodoka) earns a lead role in the next song for Nodoka's idol group, Nodoka tries to drown herself, only for Sakuta to stop her. Sakuta proves to Nodoka that Mai still values her as a person by showing her that Mai kept every letter she wrote to her since the day they first met. As Mai finally affirms to Nodoka that she is free to be her own person, the two of them get their original bodies back. Meanwhile, Sakuta meets with his father to talk about Kaede's progress in reintegrating with society and Mai learns that her relationship with Sakuta had been leaked to the press.
It's bad enough that Zombie Land Saga is starting to get me to like idol shows. I don't need Bunny Girl to pile on. I really enjoyed that performance, and it was a great character moment to see Mai, ever the consummate professional, effortlessly cover for her bandmate's mistake in the choreography and singing without missing a single note or step or derailing the performance. And boy, let me tell you, seeing Nodoka break down like that somehow hurt even more than seeing Futaba contemplate suicide earlier, and I have absolutely no idea how they pulled that off. I was also really surprised to see news on Sakuta and Kaede's parents, since I had honestly forgotten that they existed and I thought that they were dead. Of course, there's still a lot of baggage to unpack with their brush with Adolescent Syndrome, and I can only assume the response from their mother, whose shock at the situation was so bad that she had to be indefinitely hospitalized, and their father, who left his children alone to stay with mommy all the time, is going to play into the resolution of that particular conflict. Still, seeing Kaede take such a huge step and try to wear something other than her pajamas was really gratifying, and I'm looking forward to seeing her arc progress in the next few episodes. Though I'm worried about how they're going to handle her story, the mystery of Shoko Makinohara, and the latest development in the grand conspiracy to keep Mai and Sakuta apart in only three episodes. Please don't crash and burn...
Zombie Land Saga
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| No metal fans this week, but since there was on concert, I'm okay with that. |
Speaking of idols, let's talk about episode 10 of The Necroidolcon. Kotaro books a show for Franchouchou where they are not only the headlining act, they are the only act. At a venue expected to hold 500 fans, where Sakura had seen Ai make her idol debut ten years ago, no less. Sakura is incredibly excited about the chance to regain her memories at the concert, and, as such, she becomes obsessed with getting everything perfectly, completely missing the point of Kotaro's team building "mountain training camp," where she refuses to take part in the camping activities and secretly practices on her own. After finally realizing that her obsession with getting the rest of the steps right has ironically left her unable to dance in sync with the rest of the group, Sakura apologizes and the group is now ready for their big show. But things soon go awry when Sakura is hit by a truck (again) and loses all her memories of being in Franchouchou...
Honestly, this episode wasn't anything super special, and was probably the weakest of the week. Things didn't get super absurd, and I was disappointed that it looks like there won't be a Yugiri or LEGENDARY Yamada Tae episode. The conflict of Sakura rushing ahead of everybody and failing to understand the point of having a strong group dynamic is nice, but after the last few weeks of Run With the Wind telling the exact same story, a mere 20 minutes pales in comparison. But the cliffhanger at the end? I was laughing so hard, soda came out of my nose, and I cannot wait to see how Franchouchou is going to handle Sakura's latest bout of amnesia when they have less than two weeks until the biggest show of their careers.
Hinomaru Sumo
Up next we have Yugi vs Joey: Sumo Edition. In episode 10, the preliminaries for the individual tournament begin and end. Mitsuashi and Yuma are eliminated quickly, and Hinomaru defeats both Chihiro and Ozeki in some very close bouts. Hinomaru stands alone as the winner of the individual tournament, and he is the only representative from Dachi High to make the top three and reach the national individual tournament. With a spot in both the group and individual tournament secured, Hinomaru and his teammates rest and prepare for nationals.
Who gave Hinomaru Sumo the remote back? We took that away because it likes to fast forward too much! Now we have what should have been an awesome two episode story turn into just a pretty good one episode story. Seriously, this is the most frustrating episode to watch. Hinomaru's fight with Ozeki was really well done (like, seriously, it was REALLY good), but the fight against Chihiro that was so hyped up last week ended up being rushed and unsatisfying this week. I just want to love this show, but it's trying too hard to impress me and get through all its plot points that it's not giving me a chance!
SSSS.Gridman
Finally, we have Power Rangers: Infinity War. In episode 10, Akane takes a break and leaves the virtual world for a while, leaving the Gridman Alliance to contemplate the implications that they were created by her. When she does return in a half-hearted attempt to destroy Gridman with a new easily defeated kaiju, even she is surprised when a second kaiju born out of her subconscious inner turmoil emerges from the corpse of the first one and destroys the kaiju that maintain the virtual world, levaing everyone except for her, Anti, and the Gridman Alliance dead. Gridman tries to fight the new kaiju, but is overwhelmed and would have been defeated if it weren't for the intervention of Anti, who evolves from his kaiju form and becomes a Gridman lookalike known as GridKnight. As the Gridman Alliance tries to plan their next move, Akane surprises them by walking into the Junk Shop and stabbing Yuta.
This was a BIG week for the roundup. Kakeru and Prince settled their differences and track team's chances at Hakone look better than ever (read: now 2% instead of 1%). Hinomaru battled against both Chihiro and Ozeki in some well animated, albeit slightly rushed, action. Nodoka had a cathartic moment of emotional realization and regained her original body. And Sakura learned the true meaning of teamwork only to lose her memories all over again. But none of them came even close to matching a fraction of the greatness that was this week's episode of Gridman. Akane's world has been all but destroyed! Anti saved Gridman's life and got a major power boost! And that final scene! I honestly thought for a minute that Akane did some god-level bs to Yuta before I rewound it and saw the knife for a single frame before the final cut to black. That impact matched Yuta's perspective perfectly and I loved it. There are only two episodes left of Gridman and I have VERY high expectations for this finale.
And that wraps up another roundup, and we are coming very close to the end of the season. Will Sakura get her memories back in time? Will Haiji ever apologize for blackmailing his friends? Will Mitsuashi ever win a bout? Will Mai and Sakuta be forced to break up for the sake of her career? Will Yuta survive being stabbed in the chest? And will I manage to keep up my blog schedule without Super Smash Bros distracting me? Find out next week on, uh...this.
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