| Seriously, it's Takagi-san crossed with Death Note. Go watch this show! |
Domestic Girlfriend
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| But that's all I'm good at! |
First up, we have My Little Sister Can't Possibly Be This Awkward. In episode 2, Natsuo is having trouble adjusting to his new home life, and things become even more awkward when Rui transfers to his school. Even though they have a fight thanks to Rui misunderstanding Natsuo's desire to keep their relationship as siblings secret as "don't talk to me at school", when Natsuo notices that Rui is having trouble making friends thanks to her blunt nature, he offers to train her in conversation. Meanwhile, Hina is having her own troubles with her boyfriend, but when Natsuo asks what's going on, she refuses to confide in him, and Rui won't tell him either because she feels that it isn't her place to talk about her sister's issues.
This show is really surprising me with how restrained it is. While there are comedic antics and contrived scenarios to put Natsuo and the girls in compromising positions, everything has a certain level of restraint that shows that the staff sees the girls as characters rather than as fanservice objects. Instead of having the classic "fall on top of a girl and grab her boobs by accident", we have Natsuo catching Hina as she trips in a way that looks like a lover's embrace. And that pose manages to be sweet and wholesome while still suggesting more erotic undertones, and Hina's response of awkward surprise is much more human than the patented scream and slap approach used by more traditional harem anime girls. Another example would be when Natsuo walks in on Rui in the bath. She's surprised, but she isn't embarrassed or angry about it. Nor does she flirt with Natsuo like the more shameless harem girls of other anime would. She doesn't care one way or the other, nor should she. She and Natsuo did have sex before their parents married, so why would it be weird for her? Rui has endeared herself to me even more in this episode thanks to her painfully relatable difficulties with conversation and her relaxed attitude about the situation with Natsuo, and Hina shows potential to be more than just the inappropriately flirty teacher she first seemed to be. All in all, Domestic Girlfriend looks like it plans to be a character drama first and an ecchi harem show second, and that's the direction I was hoping it would take. This might end up surviving to the end after all.
Dimension High School
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| My thoughts exactly. |
Next up we have episode 2 of We Only Have Two Sets. Tsuyoshi the delinquent and Yurio the Instagram model are an unusual pair, but the two have been close ever since Yurio saved Tsuyoshi's life after his motorcycle crashed. When Yurio starts acting distant, Tsuyoshi asks Shiroyama for help in figuring out what's going on. But before Shiroyama can even attempt to do so, Spudio returns and transports the boys back to the 2D world, which is starting to gain depth after the Sphinx absorbed Momoya-sensei's energy. Yurio answers the Sphinx's first riddle incorrectly and ends up absorbed, but Tsuyoshi and Shiroyama correctly determine the answer to the second riddle and save his life. But when the boys are transported back to the 3D world, Tsuyoshi is missing, and nobody but Yurio even remembers him. As the most precious thing to Yurio, Tsuyoshi was taken away by the Sphinx as penalty for the incorrect answer.
This show's charm is wearing off really fast. Laughing at the bad animation and the terrible acting can only get you so far, and the riddles would be more engaging for me if I could understand Japanese, since they tend to rely on wordplay and the ability to read the language. Even worse, the one time a character threatens to be interesting, they kill him off! Why couldn't it have been that asshole Ryuusei!? I mean, I guess this could prove to be worthwhile if it leads to some good development for Yurio, but I honestly am losing interest really fast. The novelty of just how badly produced this show is is fading fast, and there isn't a lot to fall back on without it. A limited budget is no excuse for bad character writing and bad acting.
Run With the Wind
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| You've come to the wrong neighborhood. |
Let's move on from bad shows and talk about something good again. In episode 13 of Friendship Speeches: The Animation, before Kakeru is able to follow through on his attempt to punch Sakaki in the face for being such an asshole, Haiji and the rest of the club are able to hold him back. As Sakaki gloats that Kakeru hasn't given up his selfish ways that he had back in high school, Kakeru is horrified by his actions and remembers the incident that caused Sakaki and the rest of his high school team to turn on him the way they did. After silently ignoring the verbal abuse his high school coach heaped onto an injured first year that was only in the school on a track scholarship, Kakeru snapped upon witnessing the coach humiliate the first year in front of the entire club before kicking him off the team. Enraged at the injustice, he attacked his coach, breaking his nose in the process. But even though he was acting on behalf of his fellow students, Kakeru was only thinking about releasing his own pent up anger and resentment, and didn't consider the effect his actions would have on his fellow students. Sure enough, in an effort to keep everything quiet and avoid a scandal, the entire high school team was barred from competition for the rest of the year (Kakeru and Sakaki's final year in high school, by the way). Ravaged by guilt and terrified that he will endanger the Kansei University team's chances to compete in the Hakone Ekiden, Kakeru tells the others his story and offers to resign, only to be rejected as the others tell him that they are in this together and will not run in the Ekiden without him.
This is, hands down, the best episode of Run With the Wind yet. When we first saw glimpses of Kakeru and Sakaki's history, we only saw things from Sakaki's perspective, where he saw a coach showering Kakeru with favoritism because his amazing records were making him and the school look good. Naturally, that could cause some resentment to build up, so I didn't think anything of it, but after seeing Sakaki just be so antagonistic over the last few weeks, I had started to get the feeling that there might be more to the story. I didn't say anything before because I was convinced that they weren't going to go into the backstory any more than they already did (if anything, I expected another flashback for Haiji), but I'm glad that this niggling doubt in my mind was addressed in the best possible way. I really like the stylistic way this flashback was presented, too. Kakeru is dwelling on the past while ignoring the present throughout this episode, and the show chose to convey that with a grainy filter that resembles old black and white films and an appropriately scratchy audio filter on top of that. It instantly clues you in that this is something that happened long ago (while simultaneously being "ancient history"), and the way all the color and sound snap back to normal at the moment Kakeru punches the coach is such a great way to draw attention to that critical moment and give it a sense of impact and weight. The scene where the club refuses to accept Kakeru's resignation was admittedly a bit corny, but the actual dialogue is still very much in character and the sense of camaraderie that the show has built up up to this point just makes it work for me. What else can I say? This show is great overall, and this episode in particular was truly exceptional.
Girly Air Force
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| The hentai writes itself. |
Up next is Adorable Aircrafts. In episode 2, Kei is assigned to work part time at Komatsu Air Force Base, but his duties only consist of hanging out with Gripen, who has no actual duties of her own outside of combat. When Yashirodoori sends her outside the base for the first time and orders her to "do whatever Kei tells her", Kei takes her around the city to experience what civilian life is like. During their little date, Kei tells Gripen about his mother, who taught him how to fly before the Xi killed her, and Gripen reveals that she is actually a defective unit; every time she flies, she ends up losing control shortly after takeoff. When Gripen suddenly passes out, Yashirodoori reveals that, on average, she can only stay awake for three hours at a time, and the method of waking her up again is currently unknown. However, during her date with Kei, Gripen had managed to stay up for ten hours straight. But as much as Yashirodoori would like to continue studying Kei's effect on Gripen, they only have a week until her final test flight. If she fails to impress the higher-ups, Gripen will be scrapped...
So, I must be out of my mind, because I thought that this episode that was almost entirely dedicated to a cute girl doing cute things was quite good. Everything about Gripen, from her absent-minded nature to the way she holds chopsticks like a four-year-old, is absolutely precious and I highly enjoyed watching her antics and wouldn't mind seeing more. Hell must be freezing over, because for the first time, I'm enjoying moe for its own sake! Then again, to say that nothing substantial happened in this episode would be inaccurate. Learning more about Gripen and how she compares to Anima was vital information, and the hints in the background of how Kei might be blinded by his desire for revenge against the Xi (such as his anger at a news anchor suggesting that peace talks should be considered) show potential for future story beats. Speaking of the Xi, I had previously assumed that they were cybernetic aliens, but at least some people in-universe think that they are just a radical Chinese militant group with advanced technology. Which begs the question: what is up with the Xi? Hopefully we'll find out soon, because I doubt a whole season of cute antics at an air force base will keep me engaged for much longer.
W'Z
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| The next episode previews are the only good part of this show. |
Ugh...now let's talk about episode 2 of Migraines: The Animation. After a pointless monologue about the Tower of Babel that has nothing to do with anything happening on screen, Yukiya and Haruka escape from the parallel world of Ziggurat and their pursuers. After losing their quarry, the two enemy pairs retreat to the real world in order to regroup and plan their next moves. Since she is not a Handshaker, Haruka loses her memory of the events in Ziggurat, and Yukiya decides that the best thing to do is to go to his new high school like normal. While there, he meets a teacher named Koyori, who reveals herself to be a former Handshaker and requests that Yukiya returns to Ziggurat to find some friends who are currently trapped there, to which he agrees, even though that would make him and whoever he brings with him a target of the enemy.
If last week was horrendous, then this week was just bad. Is that any better? In a manner of speaking, yes. I mean, there isn't anything that makes me angry or nauseous like last week, but this still isn't good by any stretch of the imagination. This is the sort of production you'd get from someone who thinks they have big ideas and a lot to say but doesn't have the will to actually do any more than what they believe is the bare minimum of work to make those ideas real. Moving the camera around all the time doesn't make animation look interesting, smooth, or dynamic; it just makes everything look disorienting and confused. Psychedelic imagery and random tangents about mythology don't mean anything if it doesn't correlate to anything that's going on. In other words, it's not symbolism if it doesn't mean anything. And I don't care how novel an idea it is to use house music as your soundtrack, you can't just put random tracks in scenes that don't match the tone that the song is trying to convey. I'm convinced that some higher-up at Go Hands (possibly the director) is really passionate about this project, since there is definitely some ambition here, but nobody else on the team seems to really care that much, and any effort that is spent is being focused in the wrong places.
Hinomaru Sumo
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| I'm so proud of you. |
Now we return to Half-Naked Boys Grappling Each Other. God, I love anime. In episode 14, as Dachi High's training in Nagoya with the pros at Shibakiyama Stable come to an end, Ozeki's confidence is starting to fade. Sensing this problem, Chihiro takes him to see Hikage's team in action, and upon hearing his club insulted by their more prestigious rivals, Ozeki gets fired up and proclaims that Dachi High will be national champions. Meanwhile, Mitsuashi convinces Kirihito that he shouldn't restrict himself to being just a trainer for the team; lung condition or no lung condition, Kirihito deserves to be an official member of the team, and thus Mitsuashi convinces him to register himself as a reserve fighter for Dachi High. Meanwhile, the favorite to win the national championship Tennoji announces on live television that nobody can defeat him in sumo, and the national tournament officially begins soon afterward.
I've made no secret of my frustration with Hinomaru Sumo in the past. The pacing is all over the place, the characters aren't as deep or complex as I might have liked, and some major moments have lacked the impact that I think the staff were hoping for. But this episode was beautiful. This is how you hype up a tournament arc! The usually meek Ozeki just gave a declaration of war to one of the best teams in the nation! Kirihito is literally putting his life on the line just to be there for his teammates! Mitsuashi is suddenly ripped! And hearing Tennoji specifically call out Kuze and Hikage in his speech, implying that they were just coasting on having professional sumo wrestlers as family members? That's how you properly introduce a hateable rival and a final boss for your protagonist! This episode isn't perfect, and I still wish that Yuma had a moment to shine in this training arc since he somehow feels like the most underutilized of the main cast despite being introduced in the first episode, but it's damn close. Way to go, Hinomaru! I knew there was a reason I stuck with you!
Boogiepop and Others
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| That's cause it's a mystery! |
In episode 3 of Actually Explaining Things For One, Tanaka is concerned that his girlfriend Naoko has gone missing, so he turns to student council president Niitoki for help. As the two of them debate whether or not she's still alive, Saotome overhears them and suggests that they ask Nagi for help, since she and Naoko are friends. However, Saotome is actually using Tanaka and Niitoki as bait, luring Nagi and Echoes into a trap. Saotome stabs Echoes with a pen dipped in poison and slits Nagi's throat, as Manticore drops in from above and battles Echoes as he tries to bring Nagi to safety. In the end, Echoes is left lying weak with Niitoki by his side, Tanaka is nowhere to be seen, and Saotome and Manticore are gloating. But as Niitoki defiantly states that they are evil and inhuman, Echoes is satisfied that humans have proven themselves to be good and disappears, announcing his intention to "return to the source". Furious that her prey has escaped her yet again, Manticore tries to kill Niitoki, only to be stopped by Boogiepop, who traps Manticore in a web of strings, and Tanaka, who shoots an arrow through her head. With Manticore dead, the school is now safe, proving that Boogiepop wasn't liking when they said that someone else defeated the evil force, and Nagi survives her wound thanks to Echoes giving her his life force, even though it meant that he couldn't defeat Manticore in a direct battle as a result. Nagi and Niitoki then approach Takeda and Touka at the end of the school day, proving that I was right and that episodes 1, 2, and 3 were happening more or less simultaneously.
This was an excellent climax to this introductory arc. While the beginning segments of Tanaka, Niitoki, and Saotome wandering around looking for Nagi were admittedly pretty boring, even though the direction was trying its best to build up dread and dramatic irony with the fact that Saotome is a freaking nutcase, the payoff when Saotome and Manticore attack the others was absolutely intense. Every moment after Saotome makes his move had me on the edge of my seat, and when Boogiepop and Tanaka showed up to save Niitoki, I was pumping my fist and cheering. And while I'm disappointed that Manticore is already dead after we just met her last episode, the fact that Saotome is still supposedly a loose end (I went over this episode twice and have no idea what happens to him after Echoes goes back to the source) leaves me hopeful that future events will be just as interesting as this first arc.
Magical Girl Asuka
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| The face of evil has never been so adorable. |
Next up we have Care Bears: Metal Edition. In episode 2, Sayoko is having difficulty going back to normal life after nearly being killed in a terrorist attack, and thanks to Asuka's perception-bending magic, she doesn't even know that her friend Asuka is the magical girl who saved her, so she feels like she has no one she can truly talk to about this. Nozomi's father is revealed to be a member of the secret counter-terrorism unit of the Japanese police, and he has been torturing the terrorist from last week's episode in order to learn more about the faction that was backing him. When the terrorist's comrades plan their revenge against the magical girls, a mysterious girl offers them a gift: a modified Disas weapon from back in the war. When Asuka learns that her friend Kurumi, a magical girl who specializes in first aid and not combat, goes to fight the weapon on her own, she rushes to her aid and saves her from certain death. Kurumi begs Asuka to return to the field, and then surprises her the next day by transferring to her school!
When I picked this show up, I expected it to be a goofy and fun action show with fanservice elements. I chose it because I thought it would be a good popcorn show to talk about in between the big name titles and the hot messes. And, well, that's what I got, but I didn't expect Asuka to go above and beyond in being the best popcorn show it could be. While it's true that the animation and writing aren't necessarily up to Killing Bites standards in popcorn entertainment (few things are), Asuka shows a good deal of heart and a willingness to go to uncomfortable and challenging places that a lesser show in its genre just wouldn't. I'm constantly blown away that a show with such a warm color palette is so brutally gory, or that a show about magical girls is willing to be about post traumatic stress disorder without any symbolism or other such fluff obscuring the message. And I LOVE the stuffed animal gone wrong look that the Disas have going on. It might not be wholly original, but the corrupted innocence vibe that they capture really leans into the simple magical girl subversion that this show is about. It might not be original, and I certainly don't think that it will ever be remembered as a classic, but Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka is really starting to warm up to me as a show willing to be the best version of itself it can be, and if these first two episodes are anything to go by, I could see it surviving to the end of the roundup.
The Promised Neverland
Next up we have Deductive Reasoning: The Animation. In episode 2, Norman and Emma begin gathering intelligence so as to plan their escape from Grace Field House. They determine how often the children are shipped out, how the selection process works, and that the intelligence tests are used to determine how rich the brains (the most delicious part of humans) are to eat. As they begin investigating the walls around the orphanage in order to plan their route, they learn that Mama had implanted tracking devices in each of the children that she can view with her pocket watch, but also determine that while she knows that SOMEONE witnessed Conny's death, she doesn't know exactly who that was. They realize that the two of them won't be enough to plan the escape, so they invite Ray (who had been waiting for them to tell him what happened at the gate anyway) to join them. Ray wants to leave the others behind in order to maximize their chances of survival in a world run by demons, but Emma and Norman refuse to leave a single sibling behind and Ray knows that he cannot escape on his own, so he reluctantly agrees to help them. Their plans are interrupted, however, by the arrival of two new residents of Grace Field House: the baby Carol and the new assistant matron Sister Krone.
It is so hard to talk about just this episode when I know what happens in the future thanks to the manga. I can't imagine what this must feel like for anime-only watchers. Cloverworks does an excellent job at using unusual camera angles and pans to instill a sense of confusion, paranoia, and claustrophobia in the viewer, and it really works to make me feel as nervous as Emma and Norman do at any given moment. My favorites of these moments are the swinging view of Emma from the perspective of the pendulum on the wall clock and the very tight view of Norman as he walks through the hallway.
Also, I'm sure that there are some people out there who think that Emma is being unreasonable when she insists on saving everybody, and, well, they aren't entirely wrong. But I want to stress this now: Emma is NOT stupid. The fact that she deduces and plans just as much as Norman does should make that clear. The important thing to realize is that Emma, Norman, and Ray are all different kinds of intelligent. Emma is the visionary; she can look at the world and say with certainty, "This is a problem, here is how it needs to be solved, and I know how to motivate the right people to help me make it happen." Ray is a master of logistics and analysis; he can find potential problems and pitfalls with the visionary's plan and warn her about them. And Norman? He's the strategist; he acknowledges the logistical problems and understands that they need to be addressed, but he also understands the importance of the vision and works around the problems to make it a reality. All three of these kinds of intelligence are present in every human to an extent, but our protagonists are literal personifications of these ideas. Without a single one of them, an undertaking as grand as escaping Grace Field just couldn't happen. And, dammit, that's just some really good character writing!
Dororo
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| Insert Bandai-Namco joke here. |
In episode 2 of Superhuman Samurai Demon-Slaying Squad, Dororo and Hyakkimaru travel to a village that is supposedly suffering thanks to a monster. The village chief, Lady Bandai, was paralyzed thanks to the monster and her vice chief asks Hyakkimaru to slay it for them. However, upon meeting Lady Bandai, Hyakkimaru attacks her, causing the townspeople to turn on him and Dororo and lock them away. A blind priest who was also locked away by the townspeople explains to Dororo that blind people like himself and Hyakkimaru can see the aura of those around them, and that Bandai's aura was one of a demon in disguise. Hyakkimaru leads the others out of their imprisonment and kills Bandai, who is revealed to be a demon that the townspeople had been feeding travelers to in exchange for their lives and the money the travelers carried with them. After killing Bandai, lightning strikes again, and Hyakkimaru starts convulsing in pain after regaining his nervous system.
You know, I got pretty nervous when it sank in that Hyakkimaru just can't talk and that the show is going to rely solely on Dororo for its major speaking roles. But then it turned out that Dororo and Hyakkimaru have such natural chemistry together that it doesn't even make a difference. It really feels like the best scenes of Ash and Pikachu, where even though they cannot verbally communicate with each other, the audience can still get a feel for each of their personalities and follow a genuine conversation that is developing over the course of a scene. It's hard to describe, but even in the first scene where Dororo is explaining how to cook fish and Hyakkimaru just sits there and only responds through the slightest of movements, there's a growing sense of camaraderie and understanding between the two of them. I'm really liking this character dynamic and I can't wait to see it develop even further. As for the rest of the episode, well, it was just okay. It seems like this is going to be a monster of the week formula, and if that's the case, then all the monsters really need to do is be visually and narratively distinct from each other. At this point, it's tough to ask for any more than just that. The fact that the townspeople (or at the very least, the vice chief) were willingly working alongside Lady Bandai was a nice touch, but there wasn't anything too surprising or unique this story. But between the excellent character writing for Dororo and Hyakkimaru and the nice animation, I'm not sure that much more was really needed here. I wouldn't be surprised if the next few episodes were similar one-off conflicts that serve to build up Dororo and Hyakkimaru's bond before a more serious multi-episode arc involving Hyakkimaru and Daigo becomes the focus at around the halfway point.
The Price of Smiles
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| You and every other anime fan on Reddit. |
In episode 2 of Most Improved Anime, Joshua's family had long served as the guards of the royal family, and after the death of his father in an attack by the Empire, he vowed to make his father proud by protecting Yuki no matter what. To that end, he has gone to war at the border city of Grad. After a few skirmishes, a Soleil ambush of the Imperial Army goes awry when the noble in charge of Grad, Margrave Girard, betrays the Knights of Soleil and warns the Empire in the hopes of having his citizens treated mercifully, and the Soleil forces are forced to retreat. Joshua makes a daring rescue and saves the twins who taunted him last episode, but he is wounded and dies a few days later. With the reality of the war impossible to hide any longer, Yuki's tutor and her adviser takes her to the front to tell her the truth and to take her to Joshua's body.
Where was this last week!? This was actually good! I mean, the actual choreography and animation of the mech battles weren't anything to write home about, but the two battles shown were an effecive way to depict war: chaotic, yet easy for the audience to follow. Without having a single character spell it out, it's easy to tell at a glance where each character is and how they're doing, as well as understand the bigger picture and who is winning or losing. And there were some great fake-outs here, too, between Girard actually being captured and his sabotage of the mechs dealt with before the start of the battle, only for Soleil to lose anyway thanks to the Empire being forewarned of their plan and thus able to counter it. And in no way did I expect Joshua, who featured so prominently in these first two episodes and in the opening to actually die this early in the story! That's a gutsy move, and I appreciate that. One good episode doesn't exactly do enough to erase how bad last week's episode was, but The Price of Smiles has proven that it's worth keeping an eye on for a little while longer, especially since the preview for the next episode hints that we'll be seeing the perspective of the Empire's soldiers soon.
Rising of the Shield Hero
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| Cute, badass, furry, AND the voice of Mai Sakurajima? The internet is going to love her. |
I will admit, I am a bit conflicted about this show. On the one hand, between the false rape accusation last episode and the whole slave magically bound to Naofumi and unable to disobey orders without experiencing intense pain thing this week, I feel very uncomfortable and have the sneaking suspicion that the story elements here could be used by the worst kind of people to justify some very misogynistic attitudes, especially since the show's approach to world building seems to be "everyone is an asshole except Naofumi (who is also a jerk) and those who treat him well (who are his slave who is afraid of him, a slave trader, and a merchant who admittedly did nothing wrong)."
But, well, there is nuance here that shouldn't be ignored. Naofumi's actions don't feel like they are being portrayed as moral or justified, and they instead feel like the actions of a desperate man trying to survive against impossible odds. The way Naofumi approaches Raphtalia and the long passage of time in between his first use of her seal and the one in the cave -- which was a life or death combat situation, so I kinda get trying to force her to save your life -- shows that he doesn't view Raphtalia as expendable despite the lip service he gives to the slave trader that says otherwise. If anything, he would probably say he's making the best of a bad situation: he needs allies in order to survive against the Catastrophe that he must fight, and if nobody will join him willingly, why not make a slave contract? It's messed up and in no way okay, but this isn't Death March and the show isn't presenting Naofumi as an upstanding moral individual. As for the episode as a whole? It's alright, I guess. None of the combat scenes were that exciting on a technical level, but seeing Raphtalia face her fears and achieve some actual believable growth was nice. I found all the scenes of them level grinding to be a little boring, but I think that's probably because I'm tired of video games influencing fantasy isekai anime so much. I still can't decide if I like Shield Hero as a whole or not, but it's not bad to look at and it's interesting enough to hold my attention.
Pastel Memories
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| Foreshadowing.... |
Finally, we have Oh, Dear God, Why!? In episode 2, three of the interchangeable girls are sent into the world of the manga being attacked by the virus, where they have magical girl transformations that you can't even see because it's hidden by a flash of light, thus defeating the purpose of magical girl transformations. The characters of the manga are all being transformed into human-eel hybrids thanks to a terrible Japanese pun, and instead of doing anything about it, the girls just goof off and happen to get lucky enough that the villainous witch-lady (with big boobs, naturally) shows up with a bunch of rejected Yugioh monster designs that just happen to be the virus that's causing all this trouble. The girls fight against the virus and win thanks to the smart one's (you know she's the smart one because she wears glasses) winning strategy of aiming for the glowing circle in the big one's chest. By defeating the virus, the real world regains their memories of the manga, thus allowing the rest of the girls to easily locate the final manga volume off screen and complete the set in time to make a little girl whose face the viewer never sees smile.
I'm sitting here working on this section of the roundup at 1:40 AM. I stare blankly at the screen, wondering what I can possibly say about the quality of this episode that I didn't already say in the episode summary. I don't know if I have the descriptive ability to convey exactly how bad this show is. Nothing I can say can quite compare to the experience of sitting down and watching this garbage. I find myself in a trance -- my eyes glazing over, my mouth hanging open in sheer disbelief, a slight amount of drool dribbling down my chin -- until I suddenly realize that 20 minutes have passed and the ending sequence has started and I have no idea what just happened. Then I realize that I have to watch the episode again because I twice failed to retain the information needed to do my job and cover this show.
None of the characters' proportions are consistent from shot to shot! The fight scene was so lazily animated that at one point the glasses girl swung her spear in a circle (touching none of the monsters, by the way) and everything around her just vanished! And then, this show has the audacity to try to have the villainess blast off into the sky like she's in Team Rocket! You didn't earn that, Plastic Memories!
I picked this show for the roundup because I found the premise of a world without anime intriguing. This could have been a chance for introspection, a chance to ponder the role that stories have in our society and the way they impact those who experience them. Then I remember that Re:Creators already exists and that this is a soulless adaptation created to advertise a mobile game that nobody cares about. Tachibanakan Triangle felt like an insidious plot to con the world into watching it. This feels like a six-year-old who hated the idea of his creative writing homework so much, he just wiped his ass on the worksheet and handed it in. He knows he's getting an F, but at least nobody can say that he did nothing. I'm not sure which I hate more, but I can safely say that I will not be reviewing Pastel Memories next week.
And with that, the first show of Winter 2019 has fallen. But what will happen next week? Will Shield Hero stop being vaguely problematic? How will Yuki respond to learning that everyone around her has been lying to her her entire life? When will Hyakkimaru regain his vocal chords? How will Emma and the others respond to having twice as many adults to deal with now? What happened to Saotome after Manticore's death? Will Asuka return to the battlefield once and for all? Will Gripen be ready for her test flight? What is going on with Hina and her boyfriend? And most importantly of all: will W'Z or Dimension High School ever stop sucking, or will one of them be the next to die? Find out next week on "The Wall of Text Occasionally Broken Up by Anime Screenshots".
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