Weekly Roundup Winter 2019 Week 4

Another week has come and gone, and before I knew it, the time has come for me to reflect on the latest batch of episodes. After the tragic death of W'Z (it's only tragic because it couldn't die sooner), 11 shows remain for our viewing pleasure. And in the meantime, I've also finally bit the bullet and started watching Black Clover!

So far, it's just okay. Once I get further in and have a handle on what this show is about, I'll share my thoughts on this polarizing series in depth.

But enough stalling! Are any of the new episodes a true epic that will be remembered for years to come? Will any shows be consigned to the trash heap of shame? Let's find out!

Rising of the Shield Hero

Now this isn't as cool as it looks. It's much much cooler.

Let's start things off with a bang, shall we? On episode 4 of Suddenly: Quality!, with the first Wave of Catastrophe safely behind them, the Heroes are invited to a celebratory banquet at the castle. However, the party is derailed when Myne informs Motoyasu of Raphtalia's status as Naofumi's slave. Enraged, Motoyasu challenges Naofumi to a duel with Raphtalia's freedom on the line. Though both Naofumi and Raphtalia protest at first, the king captures Raphtalia and orders Naofumi to accept the challenge at sword-point. In the duel itself, Naofumi resorts to "less than honorable" tactics in order to gain the upper hand. But then things go south when Myne interferes by firing a spell at Naofumi, knocking him off balance and leading to his defeat. When Naofumi asks how the duel can be legitimate in light of such blatant interference, the king and his court remain silent as Raphtalia's binding curse is removed. As Naofumi sinks into the depths of despair (and ignores a message that he has unlocked the Shield's "curse"), Raphtalia, Itsuki, and Ren confront Myne and the king over the interference, shaking Motoyasu's confidence and revealing a royal conspiracy against Naofumi, as Myne is actually the princess of the realm. Raphtalia returns to Naofumi's side, fully pledging her loyalty to him once and for all, and Naofumi truly smiles for the first time since being summoned to this world.

Now, I know I was pretty harsh on this show last week, so I want to be clear on this: I never thought that Rising of the Shield Hero was bad. In fact, I think that the first episode was actually pretty damn good. But overall, I never got more than an "okay" vibe from Shield Hero in the first 3 episodes. It had interesting story concepts and I like Naofumi and Raphtalia (especially Raphtalia) as characters, but the tone felt less gritty as intended and more mean-spirited, the action sequences failed to engage me, and the story felt more focused on the mechanics of the world and less on its characters and themes. Overall, I had it on about the same level as Price of Smiles; Smiles resonates with me more on a narrative level and Shield Hero is more competent with its visuals and presentation.

But you know what? You can throw all my old complaints out the window this week! This was what I was hoping for from this show all along! The fight between Naofumi and Motoyasu was great from start to finish, with a strong ebb and flow as advantage shifted from one to the other over and over as tactics changed, strong character moments from both participants, and much better animation than we've seen so far. The reveal of a royal conspiracy finally addresses the issue I had with everyone spruning Naofumi even though he's supposedly just as vital to protecting the world from the Catastrophe. Though it doesn't actually answer the question of WHY there would be a conspiracy in the first place, at least it acknowledges that there is one, so I have a good feeling that the why will be explained in time. It's also gratifying to see that the other Heroes aren't mindless jerks after all, and I'm overall okay with Motoyasu still in denial for now if it means that Itsuki and Ren will actually do something meaningful soon. But, of course, I'm not talking about the main highlight of the episode. Raphtalia's speech about Naofumi being the only one who cared about a slave like her was fantastic, and it gets to what may be the core theme of the story. The show is arguing that intent does not matter; your actions are either beneficial or harmful, and those are the only true indicator of whether you are a good or evil person. It's a surprisingly positive message for a show that had such a grumpy and slightly misogynistic tone early on. This episode definitely surprised me and was worth the awkwardness of the last two weeks. Here's hoping this upswing continues!

Domestic Girlfriend

Uh...are we not going to address that somebody took the time to draw this, and somebody else approved it? 

Next up we have Soap Opera Nonsense: The Animation. In episode 4, after a week of following Hina and planning their next move, Rui and Natsuo are caught off guard when they run into her and her boyfriend Shu at a nearby cafe. As Shu introduces himself and tries to explain that he plans on leaving his wife for Hina one day, the two of them lose their temper and walk out on them. Seeing their siblings' reactions opens Hina's eyes and, realizing that she has been used for 2 years, she dumps Shu. Later, Hina and Rui join Natsuo at his mother's grave and introduce themselves to her spirit as his new sisters.

You know what's surreal? Hearing everyone talk about how Motoyasu in Shield Hero is such a horrible person even though he is just as much a victim of Myne's manipulation as Naofumi, while this jerkass Shu is walking around playing games with Hina's heart and hardly anyone says anything. I mean, I get it, Shield Hero is more popular than practically anything else airing this season, so the voices of its fanbase will drown out anyone else, and from what I can tell from lurking on Reddit, those who are actually watching this hate Shu just as much if not more. It's just a weird feeling having both these episodes air in the same week. 

Anyway, this was a pretty good episode. There wasn't much to it outside the scene in the cafe, but that scene was so good and so tense that it didn't really need much else. Though, obviously, more would have been nice. The only thing that really needs to be addressed here is the big question: Did Hina really break up with Shu, or is she lying to get Natsuo and Rui off her back? Personally, I think she's telling the truth, if for no other reason than I don't think she'd do something as horrible as lie during a special moment of being there for her stepbrother while he's mourning/honoring the memory of his dead mother. But, well...we don't actually see the end of her conversation with Shu, so things are still technically ambiguous. If it does turn out she was lying, I don't expect it to come up until several episodes later. The time has come to move on to a new arc, after all, and two of the girls in the opening still haven't been introduced yet. So, I think the show's gonna put this story on hold for a while, if there still even is a story here.

Girly Air Force

Have you never seen an anime before, dude?

Up next we have episode 4 of Darling in the Planes. Gripen's test flight has failed and now she is set to be scrapped. When Kei hears the news, he leaves Minghua in the middle of their day out and rushes to her side. Kei and Yashirodoori want Gripen to run away from the base and lay low until they can work out a solution for her problem, but that plan is rendered moot when the Xi launch an attack on the base in numbers too great for Eagle to handle on her own. When Gripen insists on joining the battle, Kei comes up with the stupidly obvious solution -- so obvious that the opening doesn't even bother hiding it -- he goes out to fly with her. As they fly together, Kei's brainwaves fully synchronize with Gripen and they pilot the Daughter together with some mind meld shenanigans.

The only reason I'm not cutting Girly Air Force this week is because worse shows are still in the lineup. But let me be clear: this was a terrible episode. It may seem like a good episode on the surface since it has a big climactic moment where the main characters overcome a major obstacle and form a bond that is stronger than ever while an insert song designed to tug at your heartstrings plays in the background, but the big moment falls flat because the show didn't earn it. I mean, it may sound unfair and repetitive, but compare this to Darling in the FRANXX. Just like Gripen, Zero Two is a bioweapon with incredible power and a massive drawback that is solved by piloting her vehicle together with a male lead who is somehow the only one who stabilizes her. However, FRANXX takes 15 episodes to tell this story, fully fleshing out Hiro and Zero Two as characters and actually explaining WHY they have such a strong connection. They have multiple roadblocks and stumbling points on their quest to be recognized as official partners and there is a legitimate question as to whether or not the idea will even work as we see that Hiro is physically suffering due to Zero Two's parasitic condition. Add in some good animation and a supporting cast worth a damn, and you have a huge arc that drives the first two thirds of the series, and all that buildup makes the climax that much more powerful. Or, for a contemporary example, Prince finally getting his qualifying time in Run With the Wind wouldn't have meant anything if he got it in episode 4. Girly Air Force just wants to skip the big moment when the groundwork hasn't even been properly set. Not to mention that a quarter of this episode, supposedly about Gripen and Kei, is dedicated to Eagle, who may be the most annoying character this season. And lest we forget, this season has Ryusei Midorigaoka, Spudio XXII, Yukiya Araki, and the entire cast of Pastel Memories! You're on thin ice, Girly Air Force! Either make Eagle tolerable or expect to get cut next week.

Magical Girl Asuka

The prettiest magical girl of them all.

Next up we have History of Trunks. In episode 4, Babel Brigade initiates their plan and sends a video of Nozomi being tortured to the Japanese police. Even though her father wants to mount a rescue mission, his superiors decide that they don't stand a chance in the even that the enemy has any more monsters at their disposal and discreetly sends the information to the magical girls. Frustrated with the politics, Asuka and Kurumi go after Nozomi themselves, knowingly setting off a trap laid for them by the evil magical girl Abigail and her magical Russian mercenaries. Even though Abigail cuts off her arm and has her on the brink of death, Nozomi is rescued by the magical girls anyway, and Kurumi flees while carrying her as Asuka stays behind to hold the enemy off.

There comes a point where merely being darker and bloodier than a typical magical girl anime would be stops being surprising. I mean, when the first episode already introduces the themes of terrorism and post traumatic stress disorder and the following episodes show the terrorist Kim Kanth being subjected to very gruesome implied torture, how much more explicit can this get? Well, Asuka hasn't managed to stop being surprising yet? After all, the next step from implied physical torture is to show it on screen, and while Nozomi's experiences are different enough thanks to the use of magic, seeing her effectively get waterboarded and watching the villain CUT OFF HER ARM is still shocking and horrifying. 

And you know what's the worst part? None of it was necessary. Babel Brigade doesn't care about her or her father; they just want to capture the magical girls and transform them into weapons of mass destruction. And while the torture was partly a means of appeasing their more fanatical underlings, I don't doubt for a second that Abigail could have handled them another way. She chose to torture Nozomi for fun. And her voice actress sells that insanity so well, it gives me chills. I do feel like things were dragged out a bit too much this week, though maybe the intention was just to make the viewer uncomfortable now and get us ready for cathartic violence next week. If so, then it worked, cause all I want is to see Asuka bust some heads!

Boogiepop and Others

Not this again...

On episode 5 of Answering Questions with Questions, Masaki used to live in Cambodia, but moved to his home country of Japan in order to experience school life there. Living with Nagi, he started his final year of middle school in a new country. When he is confronted by bullies who were jealous of his popularity with their female classmates (that he was unaware of), he is rescued by a girl named Aya, who offers to have sex with the bullies in order to stop them from attacking Masaki. Masaki tries to prevent this, and that is when Asukai intervenes, thus providing additional context to the supposed attempted rape scene from last week. In the weeks that follow, Aya and Masaki start going out, but Aya is strangely quiet about herself and always worries about Masaki abandoning her. Meanwhile, a boy from Masaki's class with an interest in him named Anou has been stalking the two of them, only to be attacked by a mysterious stranger who rewrites his memories and tells him that he is a slave of the Towa Organization. Anou's new orders are as follows: get accepted at Shinyo Academy and await further instructions. However, Asukai notices the compulsion and removes it. When Anou later finds a love letter asking to meet, the girl who left it turns out to be Boogiepop, who had also noticed the programming during their hunt for the Imaginator and decided to set a trap for the Towa Organization member. Sure enough, the stranger takes the bait, but he manages to escape before Boogiepop can kill him. Later, as Aya waits to meet Masaki for another date, the stranger appears and demands to know why she is acting without his instruction.

Alright, so this episode answered none of my questions from last week. We still have no idea what is up with Asukai or the Imaginator, and if that weren't enough, we now have more mysteries to worry about. Who or what is the Towa Organization, and why are they concerned with planted spies at Shinyo Academy? There has been no mention of this faction before, but since Boogiepop called the stranger an "artificial human", I think I may actually have a theory about them. See, if they made one artificial being, who's to say they haven't made others? My guess is that this Towa Organization is the group that tried to clone Echoes before and ended up creating Manticore as a result. There's no evidence to support this theory one way or the other, so I'm probably wrong, but it would be a neat way to tie this arc together with the previous one.

Either way, this was actually my favorite episode so far. Frustrating lack of answers aside, the story of Masaki and Aya was really sweet, and Anou is just an interesting character to me. I would love to see all three of them again later on, but I'm still waiting for Nagi to make another appearance (this week's cameo doesn't count), so who knows? Recurring characters don't seem to be this show's thing, what with its semi-anthology style of presentation where each episode essentially has a new set of protagonists with Boogiepop being the only common thread. It makes sense when you consider that this is based on a series of light novels -- the first three episodes are based on one book and these last two are probably part of another book -- but it's still not a structure I'm used to in anime. The only real comparison I can think of is Darker than Black, but since this is an anime I really enjoy, I'm not going to complain about that.

Hinomaru Sumo

Next up we have episode 16 of Well, That Was Anticlimactic. As Hinomaru undergoes an unusual treatment for his arm from an eccentric doctor, the rest of Dachi High has to face off against Hikage and his team on their own. While Ozeki and Yuma easily win their matches, Chihiro has his work cut out for him when he faces down Hikage -- a "national treasure" who intimidated Hinomaru earlier -- in his bout. And even though the onlookers in the crowd all believe him to be doomed, he stuns them all by utilizing a rarely used sumo technique (so rare, in fact, he didn't even know it had a name) and pulling off a major upset, after which he dubs himself the "National Treasure Eater."

Once again, Hinomaru Sumo has me feeling conflicted. On the one hand, having a rival school that was just hyped up in the previous arc go down so easily that Hinomaru didn't even get to fully settle the score with his rival is a good way to surprise the audience. And no, I don't count their little skirmish during the training arc as settling the score. If anything, everything about the past few episodes (last week notwithstanding) was presented as buildup for a final confrontation between Hikage, a fighter forced to confront the way he settled for being a mid-tier participant in his league, and Hinomaru, an underdog who refuses to accept the status quo and plans to overthrow the tier list. Swapping out Hinomaru for Chihiro at the last second here, combined with what happened last week, feels like this show is just making weird decisions for the sake of being surprising. Like I said last week, it's too early to tell if these twists are bad, but I don't have a good feeling about the way this arc is going. 

Then again, I would be lying if I said that I didn't like this matchup. While I do worry that Chihiro is starting to win a little too often, the actual bout was entertaining enough when it was actually on screen, with plenty of changing power dynamics and moment to moment decision making from both Chihiro and Hikage. It's too bad that the action kept cutting away to flashbacks that show things we already knew about or Hinomaru telling the doctor -- who is the most boring cliche old anime pervert -- about how great his team is. And squeezing 3 bouts in a single episode really backfired to the point where I actually said "That's it?" out loud at the end of the bout. Once again, Hinomaru Sumo is falling back into is old habit of rushing things too much, but even more worryingly, it may have picked up a new bad habit of pulling out random twists just for the hell of it. It's been a while since we had a bad episode of this show, but I still really like it and we're almost to the end, so I'm giving it the Honda-san rule: one more misstep, and it will be considered for elimination.

The Promised Neverland

I swear I had a joke planned when I grabbed this screenshot, but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was. I'm not very good at this.

We're halfway done! Next up is Plot Twists: The Animation. In episode 4, the search for the traitor is on, and Norman decides that playing by Mama's schedule will hinder their ability to escape undetected. He thus decides to move the escape date from one and a half months out to ten days out. To further their preparations, Emma and Norman tell Don and Gilda the truth about Grace Field House, only replacing the demons with human traffickers in order to ease them into accepting the need for escape. Norman leaves a trap with false information for Don and Gilda in order to determine which is the traitor. Gilda proves her innocence by telling Sister Krone that her earlier worries about Emma were nothing and pleading ignorance right to her face. But when Don's information is seemingly leaked to Mama, Norman surprised everyone by accusing Ray of being the traitor!

Oh, NOW I remember this story arc! This twist was already really good in the manga and the anime builds it up even more with its great use of tracking shots, first person perspective, and sound design to build up the sense of paranoia. But as good as that final scene was, I actually much prefer the opening scene. Seeing Mama smugly tell Krone "I know what you're up to and it's not going to work. If you stay out of my way and know your place, I'll give you what you want." is oh, so perfect. These two are professional liars and each has their own agenda. Mama needs to meet her shipment quota without causing a panic in the demon community so she needs to keep a lid on things. Krone wants Mama's job, so she is trying to find definitive proof of the truth being leaked and plans to use that to discredit her rival. Sure, Mama offered Krone the job after the leak was taken care of, but does Krone know that she can trust her? It's a really strong dynamic, and it really makes any comparison to Death Note all the better. Everyone has an agenda, and nobody knows where anyone else stands. Except Emma. She wears her heart on her sleeve, and that's what makes her my favorite. I want to talk about how good Norman's reveal was, but I can't do so without spoiling future episodes! Argh!

Dororo

Next up we have Durarara Bo-bobo. In episode 4, Tanosuke was a samurai who left home to fight in a war. But when his lord ordered him to choose between executing innocent prisoners and committing seppuku, Tanosuke picks up the sword given to him and murders everyone around him, including his lord. It turns out that the sword is cursed and possessed by a demon named Nihiru, which has now fully corrupted Tanosuke and turned him into a remorseless serial killer. Five years later, Hyakkimaru and Dororo encounter Tanosuke, and though Hyakkimaru manages to separate the man from the sword, Nihiru ends up in Dororo's hands and takes control of his body. As Tanosuke's estranged sister begs him to come home with her, Nihiru drags itself back to its partner using Dororo's body, and Hyakkimaru has no choice but to kill Tanosuke and destroy Nihiru. After doing so, he regains his hearing. Meanwhile, noticing the damage to the shrine where he made his deal so many years ago, Daigo begins investigating the possibility of Hyakkimaru's survival.

So, I will admit, one of my few complaints about Dororo so far was that the titular character wasn't really an active participant in the story. Initially, I was happy to see him more actively involved in this week's episode. I'm not sure this is what I wanted, though. I mean, take away all the supernatural business and his role basically amounts to a kidnapping victim who needs to be saved by Hyakkimaru. Doesn't matter either way though because this episode was fantastic! This easily has the best action scenes so far, and we got to see two of them! And the effect of the sound suddenly becoming louder once Hyakkimaru regained his hearing? Perhaps it was a little obvious in hindsight, but it was certainly effective. Not to mention that the dynamic between Dororo and Hyakkimaru may change a little in the future now that Hyakkimaru can actually hear what is being said to him, so that's pretty cool. The story wasn't particularly as deep or as interesting as previous episodes, and I certainly wasn't expecting one of the demons to be inside a sword since the last three were all moving around on their own, but I'm willing to roll with is since I was so thoroughly entertained this week. This has taken an early lead as my favorite show of the season, with only Promised Neverland and Mob Psycho 100 Season 2 as its competition. If you aren't watching this yet, I highly encourage you to check it out!

The Price of Smiles

Up next we have Why You Shouldn't Lie to Your Children. In episode 4, the Imperial Army has begun its attack on the state of Caldarth. But as Yuki has forbidden the use of the new chrars on the mechs, the Knights of Soleil are forced to fight a defensive battle with evacuation as their only course of action. Yuki's adviser Layla remembers the day that both she and Yuki lost their families. During the unveiling of a joint research project of chrars created by both Soleil and the Empire, terrorists attacked and clashed with the Imperial Army. After seeing her husband and daughter Stella die, Layla put her life on the line to protect the infant Yuki and was made a member of her court after she woke up from her coma one month later. Soleil officially blamed the Empire for the death of Yuki's parents, and relations between the two nations have been confrontational ever since. Back in the present, Yuki decides that, as princess, she has a responsibility to participate in the war effort, where she learns that Harold and Izana have installed the chrars without her permission. But when a group of civilians refuses to evacuate and tries to fight the Empire on their own, Yuki orders a unit of the new mechs to rescue them, only for the soldiers to get overwhelmed and die with the civilians. Helpless, Yuki now truly understands the cruel nature of war, and all she can do is scream.

This isn't following the trend of being better than last week's episode, but it is just as good as last week, so at least we aren't backsliding. Everything Yuki did felt so natural to what we've seen of her so far, and I'm glad that we got to see her stupidly rash decision (which I don't blame her for since none of the adults responsible for her actually trained her for this sort of thing) backfire on her. This show really did fool me with the saccharine tone it had in episode 1, but, now that that deception is over with, it's really proven that it's not afraid to hold back and the effect is palpable. What's really interesting about this episode, however, is the reveal that Stella is Layla's daughter and, presumably, a citizen of Soleil. Does she know that? It's tough to tell how old she was in that flashback since her face was hidden, but I'm guessing around 6 or 7 years old. Unless the explosion gave her amnesia, she has to have some memory of her life before then, right? Wouldn't it be interesting if she believes that her mother abandoned her and resents her for it? I mean, it's more likely that she either has no memory or was told her mother died by whoever rescued her (presumably someone from the Empire), but still. Also, now we have an idea as to how this war may have started. It seems that after the deaths of the Royal Family, Soleil chose to keep the chrars that it developed alongside the Empire as "punishment" for causing the tragedy. From what I can tell, the best and brightest of both nations were devastated, so it's not as if the Empire can easily replicate the advanced technology on their own now. Thus, the struggle for these invaluable resources and the animosity between the nations as a result of the anger felt over the bombing festers and eventually the Empire feels that the only option that will give it a chance at survival is invasion. It's an incomplete narrative, as most backstories to war are during the war itself, and the version we see comes from Layla, who naturally favors Soleil over the Empire. Still, it is a plausible explanation as to how this all began, though given this show's track record, I'm expecting it to only be a piece of the whole story.

Run With the Wind

I remember someone else telling me that.

Two shows left, the end is in sight! Next up is episode 15 of The Running Man (man, now I just want to watch Running Man. I love that movie). As the Hakone Qualifying Race draws near, the Kansei University team's underdog story has made them local celebrities, with a picture in the paper and a segment of them being filmed for television as they train. But before they know it, the big day arrives, and the race begins. In order to qualify for the actual Hakone Ekiden, each member of the team needs to finish the 20 kilometer race in just over one hour. And when a runner collapses just in front of Haiji early in the race, the team's chances are already in jeopardy...

Okay, obviously, that was a strong cliffhanger. In fact, everything from after the starting gun being fired was pretty good. But the majority of this episode was kinda bad. I get that every sports anime needs buildup between its events, but this particular example of buildup feels rushed and drawn out at the same time. I don't care about Musa and Kakeru gossiping about Hana potentially being attracted to one or both of the twins and I don't care about this tv reporter being confused by Kansei's unusual approach to training. When the purpose of these scenes is to hype the viewer up for the race, silliness like that is not appropriate. It's not all bad, though. The reactions to the newspaper article, Haiji expressing doubts about his coaching ability to Kakeru, and Yuki arguing with his mother about something over the phone were all good ways to build up the event. The problem is that those scenes were really short and the goofy scenes went on for way too long to be funny. Then again, I'm probably only being hard on this show because I know it can be so much better. But, well, I guess the runtime had to be filled before we could get to that sweet cliffhanger.

Dimension High School

How could anyone approve this? His hand is phasing through his body during what is supposed to be a dramatic scene!

Finally we have I Don't Even Care Anymore. In episode 4, Ryusei intimidates the gardening club into locating a specific plant for him. When they complain to Shiroyama, who was once Ryusei's best friend, he volunteers to get the plant for them, hoping to use it as a means of opening conversation between the two of them and patch things up. See, when they entered middle school, Ryusei invited Shiroyama to join the tennis club with him, but Shiroyama turned him down because he was more interested in a biology or gardening club. Ryusei, being the calm and rational person he is, freaked out and declared their friendship over from that point on. Back in the present, Ryusei refuses to even look at Shiroyama at school, and Spudio transports the two of them and Tsuyoshi to the 2.2D world to battle Paramesos's older brother: Sphinx Dictis. Even though Ryusei solves the first puzzle, he is one second too late and is eaten as punishment. After Shiroyama and Tsuyoshi correctly answer the second puzzle and rescue Ryusei, they learn that his pride was taken as punishment for being incorrect before.

The people making this have to know it's bad, right? Nobody can be this unintentionally hilarious. The staging of the flashback scene with Shiroyama and Ryusei playing catch and Ryusei just letting the ball fall as the music cuts out to signify the moment of "betrayal" seems like it wants to be dramatic, but everything is so amateurish that I can't help but laugh. I'm not going to say that it isn't believable for middle school kids to turn on each other because they don't want to join the same club -- I worked with children for years, and I've seen them turn on each other for far less -- but the idea of Ryusei instantly changing his personality like that and holding onto a grudge for so long is so petty that it would make Bakugo say "Dude, calm down." I get what they're going for here: Ryusei is defined by his pride and he can't admit that he was wrong, so he thinks his only option is to double down and be a huge tool for the rest of his life. Him losing his pride could be an interesting way to facilitate character growth, but at this point in the story, after we saw Tsuyoshi literally get erased from history, it just doesn't have any impact and seems like a bad joke. The only good part in this whole episode was the two gardening club members. Every second of their scene with Shiroyama was genuinely funny, and I suspect it has more to do with the actors' performances than any of the writing since the lines were pretty generic. It may have taken four weeks, but I think I've solved the greatest puzzle of all: Dimension High School is not so bad it's good. At least, not for the whole season. Consider this show dropped.

And that wraps up another installment of the Weekly Roundup! Only ten series remain! What will happen next? Will Soleil mount a counterattack against the Empire? Will Haiji finish the race? Will Mitsuashi get to have another match, and maybe even win for once? Will Boogiepop stop the Imaginator in time? Will Asuka defeat the Russian mercenaries? Will Daigo learn about Hyakkimaru's survival? Will Norman be forced to kill Ray? Will the other Heroes actually treat Naofumi with respect? Will Natsuo move on from his crush on Hina? Will Girly Air Force actually turn itself around? Will Kingdom Hearts 3 be spoiled for me before I can buy a compatible system!? Find out the answer to all these questions and more or none of them at all next time!