Bunny Girl Senpai
First up is Rascal Does Not Believe that the Universe is Conspiring Against the One True Pairing. In episode 9, after spending most of the summer break apart, Sakuta is excited for school to resume so he can spend time with Mai again. However, the universe continues its grand conspiracy to keep them apart by switching Mai's body with that of her half-sister Nodoka, aka that blonde girl from the opening, who is also an idol singer. Mai and Nodoka's mothers are in a feud over their respective relationships with their distant father, and Mai and Nodoka's careers in show business are just another part of their eternal quest to one-up each other. But even when Sakuta gets the two of them to air their grievances with each other, neither Mai nor Nodoka is willing to reconcile, and Sakuta is caught in the middle.
For the first time all series, it feels like nothing really happened this episode. I mean, aside from the proper introduction of Nodoka, most of this episode is just Sakuta mumbling "what the hell am I supposed to do" over and over. I like the idea of Nodoka as a character, but we didn't get enough time to learn about her as a person when she was in her own body, and while it's clear that she is her own person in the dialogue, the direction and acting leaves her feeling like a Mai knockoff. And, granted, that probably is the point, what with switching bodies and the pressure to be just as successful as her big sister, but it just leaves me scratching my head and wondering why she is only showing up now in what may be the final arc of the series? Considering that Koga and Futaba were both introduced and developed during Mai's arc, a brief cameo from Nodoka just one episode ago doesn't feel like enough groundwork for her own arc. But hell, the worst episode of Bunny Girl is still much better than the best episode that Slime or Goblin Slayer ever put out, so I can roll with it.
Hinomaru Sumo
Next up, we have Slappy Hands: the Animation. In episode 9, the final match of the preliminaries is between Hinomaru and Sada. The two are evenly matched right up until the end, but Hinomaru pulls a surprise maneuver and turns Sada's finisher against him. With Dachi High's place in the nationals secured, the team now prepares to square off against each other in the individual tournament.
Story-wise, there isn't much to this episode. Aside from seeing Hinomaru experience a rare moment of doubt during the match and seeing Sada and Araki apologize to their seniors for losing to Hinomaru and Chihiro, nothing significant or worth talking about in depth really happened. But hot DAMN, this was a good fight! The back and forth, the rising and falling tension, the escalation over time, hell, even the commentary from the other characters was REALLY well done. It all coalesced into a perfect storm of hype, and I haven't been this engaged during a match in a sports anime since I finished Kuroko's Basketball, and honestly, this might be even better on a technical level. And if you know me, you know that that is VERY high praise. Narratively, Hinomaru Sumo is right in the middle of quality of sports anime this year -- not as good as Major 2nd, Run With the Wind, Megalo Box, or Captain Tsubasa, but still much better than Tsurune, Hanebado, and Anima Yell. But if there is a science behind generating hype, this show would have a PhD in it. If things continue down this road, this show might pull an upset and end up in my best of 2018 list after all. Which would be very appropriate, considering who it's about and all.
Run With the Wind
Up next we have Speedy Gonzalez: the Animation. In episode 9, despite Haiji's best efforts, the conversation between Kakeru and Prince leaks out to the rest of the team. Haiji manages to convince Nico to start eating properly again. When the next track meet arrives, only half of the team is registered to run this time, and though they fail to meet the required qualifying times, they do improve considerably, and the experience of watching them pour their hearts into the race from the sidelines leads Kakeru to admit that his behavior was wrong. But when Kakeru continues to express his doubts about their chances to actually qualify for Hakone, Haiji suddenly collapses.
This episode represents a turning point in the story. We get confirmation of the theory that Haiji had recently undergone physical therapy in a brief flashback, along with major steps forward in the character development of Kakeru and Nico and copious amounts of little details sprinkled throughout like Yuki becoming more and more competitive and Shindo learning that he is more suited to long distance running than sprinting. And getting to see Haiji's ridiculously animated cheering next to Prince just barely whispering his support is one of the funniest things I've seen all year. So, why would such an important episode have such ugly CG in the race? It's never enough to truly take me out of the experience, but I had to pause at one point and laugh at how the twins suddenly looked like adult versions of Bobby Hill for a moment. It's especially surprising here considering that Production IG has been delivering consistently high quality visuals up to this point, even when using CG in the first place. Don't get me wrong, this episode was still good, it just wasn't as pretty as what I'm used to.
Zombie Land Saga
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| Don't scare me like that, waiting until the end credits to appear! I thought that you guys were cut again! |
Up next is Delinquent Duo (yes, like the Yugioh card. I have no better pun). In episode 9, Saki bumps into Maria, the daughter of her former partner in crime Reiko. Maria inherited the title of boss in the bike gang from Reiko, but the gang is a shadow of what it used to be. When a challenge from a rival gang threatens Maria's life, Saki and Reiko intervene, and Saki converts the bikers into fans of Franchouchou after showing off her bike skills, which is much easier when she doesn't have to worry about dying.
Can we just have a show about Maria and her bike little bike gang? They were so much fun to watch. I've always had a soft spot for delinquent characters, ever since Yu Yu Hakusho way back in the 90s. And I'm really enjoying this recent trend of seeing how the different girls died in episodes related to their backstories and the ones they left behind. Ai and Junko had their two part saga, and Lily had her episode last week, but Saki's story is my favorite one yet. It might not have been as emotional as the others, but the idea that she died playing chicken, driving her bike off a cliff, is so stupid and over the top that I can't help but love it. And the song was awesome, too. And, hey, Reiko held onto Saki's Tamagotchi! I wonder if it's still alive...
SSSS.Gridman
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| And this was when I spat out my drink. |
Finally, we have For the Man Who Has Everything to wrap up the week. If you get that reference, you're officially awesome. In episode 9, Akane uses a new ethereal kaiju to trap Yuta, Utsumi, and Rikka in their own personal dreamworld. Yuta repeats the events of the first episode, only with Akane taking Rikka's place and claiming to be Yuta's girlfriend. Utsumi and Akane go shopping for models of kaiju and mechs. Rikka's dream is about her meeting Akane for the first time, but there isn't much focus given to her other than that. However, despite her best efforts, Akane is foiled when Gridman manages to break through to the Alliance and restore their memories, and he and Yuta attack the kaiju in the dream realm. This renders the kaiju corporeal and vulnerable to attack from the Neon Genesis students, who merge together to form a new Gridman-less form called Powered Zenon and defeat the kaiju in the physical world. After the battle, Rikka tells the others she has something to say to them...
I really hope you guys aren't tired of me gushing about Gridman yet. Because I have nothing but praise for this week's episode. I really like seeing Akane change her tactics and try to attack the minds of the Gridman Alliance instead of their bodies like usual. And hearing her mounting frustration dissipate at the end of the episode and be replaced by legitimate despair was haunting. Especially when she jumped off a crane. I mean, she wasn't hurt by it, what with being a goddess and all, but the action is still reminiscent of suicide, and I feel that that is significant. And to hear her claim to be Yuta's girlfriend! Since she was taking Rikka's place in the dream, does that mean Yuta and Rikka were dating before Yuta's amnesia?
Either way, what really made this episode stand out was the visuals. Seeing Gridman and the Neon Genesis students appear in reflections and in the background throughout the various dreams, and having static-y images of them appear on top of the dreams was very striking, and reminded me a lot of the prologue of Kingdom Hearts 2. And poorly paced gameplay aside, I LOVED the prologue for Kingdom Hearts 2. Both that and this episode do a fantastic job of building tension using the sense that something is wrong, even though you can't figure out what. This was easily the best episode of the week, and unless Run With the Wind or Bunny Girl does something spectacular pretty soon, I'd say that Gridman just locked down the title of anime of the season! At least, as far as the roundup is concerned, anyway.
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| Nothing can touch Golden Kamuy's 2nd season. |
And that does it for the weekly roundup. Our five shows survived another week, but four more weeks remain in the Fall season. Will Chihiro defeat Hinomaru in the individual tournament? What does Rikka have to tell the Gridman Alliance? Will Sakuta and Mai ever have a normal relationship? Will the LEGENDARY Yamada Tae have her backstory revealed? What happened to Haiji? Find out next time on Dragon Ba--I mean, the Weekly Roundup!
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