The fact that we've gotten 10 weeks into the season with 7 shows still going strong is remarkable to me. At this point last week, we only had 5 shows left. Does that mean that this season is better than last season? That's a question for another time, since that would require a comparison between the individual shows, and we have a more pressing question: will all 7 shows survive this week? Let's find out!
Promised Neverland
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| The moment that Ray gives up is the moment my heart dies. |
First up is Paranoid Fans on Reddit Demanding to See a Body. In Episode 10, Norman's shipment date has arrived, and nothing Emma or Ray try can convince him to run and hide for real. Even when Emma throws herself at Norman in front of everyone and tries to forcibly disable his tracker, Norman stops her and accepts his fate. But when it comes time for him to be shipped, instead of being led to the truck where he found Connie's body so long ago, Norman is taken to a side room at the gate, and what he sees there leaves him stunned with shock. Later, Mama approaches Emma with a proposal: give up the escape plan, and she will recommend her to become an adult and trained as a caretaker for the farms. Months pass as Emma and Ray wallow in their despair, but on the night before Ray's 12th birthday and his shipment date, the two of them meet in secret, and when Ray asks if Emma has truly given up, Emma responds with a determined smile.
So, Norman's shipment was where I expected the previous episode to end, and then I expected this episode to go up to this point, focusing on Emma and Ray's mourning with a bit more time given to a plot point that is presumably coming next week. But it turns out that I remembered the order of events wrong and, with that in mind, I withdraw most of my previous complaints about last week's pacing. I still think that it was badly paced as a standalone episode, but when you consider how it fits into the greater narrative of the season, it was really the only choice that Cloverworks had. I forgot just how quickly the manga moves on from Mama's proposal to Emma to Emma and Ray reaffirming their goal to escape, and a lot of the scenes this week were either extended or completely original in order to fit the run time. This is par for the course when it comes to anime adaptations of manga, which are formatted to have smaller bursts of content released on a weekly basis, but Cloverworks did such a good job with its original content that it feels like it was part of the manga all along. I adored the flashback scene with Norman and Emma's string telephone; it really sells just why Norman would feel so strongly for Emma. Now the children have less than 24 hours in order to escape the farm without anyone else dying, and the only way out is through Headquarters which is, presumably, crawling with adults and demons. Emma's smile suggests that she has a plan, and I cannot wait to talk about what that plan is because, let me tell you, it's awesome.
Domestic Girlfriend
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| That's messed up, Rui. |
Okay, this episode was kinda all over the place. Why was the cultural festival and the club anthology mentioned several times in previous episodes only for it to be reduced to a two minute montage? I mean, I liked the visual gag of seeing Alex dressed up as a maid, but it was such a let down that I wonder why we even bothered introducing this event so many episodes ago. And then Kiriya is just casually revealed to be a famous author, and nothing comes of it. Like, yeah, he submits Natsuo's story to a contest, but he would have done that even if he weren't a published author. This whole subplot of Natsuo trying to become a professional writer has been so lazily handled throughout the series (probably because there's no excuse for naked anime girls) that any time we end up focusing on it just ends up feeling like filler. I mean, I don't hate any of these plot threads, I just want them to actually feel like they matter.
In fact, a lot of this episode just felt like padding and filler. Natsuo and Rui's scenes together after Natsuo breaks his leg are just elaborate excuses for some nudity and an accidental handjob (did I really just type that?). Things don't actually pick up until Rui learns about Natsuo's lie, and the way she finds out is incredibly moronic. She reads Natsuo's story, which is about a boy who pursues a forbidden love with his teacher? I mean, lazy cliches aside, I never got the impression that Natsuo was that stupid as to blatantly write a fictional story based on his scandalous secret incest affair that could very well put Hina in jail if they are discovered. I know, "write what you know", but that's just asinine. I get that it was important for the incest sex friend relationship to be discovered by Rui for the sake of drama, but with all the filler and the stupidly contrived way things progressed to this point, we're left with the first truly bad episode of Domestic Girlfriend. Hopefully, it will be the last one.
The Price of Smiles
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| As stereotypical as it may be, I want to protect this smile. |
In episode 10 of Deja Vu: The Animation, as Stella's squad occupies a border city while waiting for their next marching orders, Stella and Lily happen upon an elderly couple taking care of a group of war orphans. With Owens's permission, they deliver a package of toys for the children, and Stella is reminded of how she spent her teenage years as a homeless orphan in the Empire, digging through garbage for food and forcing a smile every time an angry stranger confronted her, until she joined the army thanks to the promise of regular meals and a cot. After confiding in Lily how lonely and frustrated she is with the whole thing, Lily tells Stella that the squad is her family, and Owens is their grumpy dad. When the squad is dispatched to attack a Soleil research facility, Owens and Harold fight against each other, with Owens sacrificing his life in exchange for killing Harold and protecting Stella. As the Empire puts on a grand funeral for Harold in a show of propagandistic generosity, the loyal soldier Commander Gail Owens is ignored, forgotten by all except those who served under him.
This episode had a bit of a slow start, with the orphanage scene feeling a bit like a rehash of episode 3. But I am willing to forgive that for two reasons. First, seeing a scenario so similar to what happened in Stella's introductory episode really highlights her growth as a character, as her time with Owens, Lily, and the rest of the squad actually allows her to healthily process her emotions and be vulnerable for once. Not to mention that it's a plus that she didn't have to hold any children at gunpoint this time.
Second, the battle scene that followed was good enough to make up for the sluggish beginning. Like the rest of the series, the battle isn't much to write home about on a technical level, but the emotional weight of seeing a character who has been built up as much as Owens die for his surrogate children carries the scene. And this is also the first time we've seen the same battle from two different perspectives, which signifies that this is a pivotal moment in the story. Harold and Owens are purposefully written to be mirrors of each other, each acting as father figures to Yuki and Stella respectively. While Harold was holding Yuki back, first by keeping secrets and then by undermining her authority, Owens was nurturing Stella's compassion and helping her recover from her childhood trauma as best he could. Yuki and Stella's journeys as characters relied on their influence, and yet they couldn't complete their arcs and stand on their own as adults if they kept holding these old men's hands. Now that the war has taken everything away from them, the two of them are in a position to start taking things back, and I really feel that they are in the perfect emotional headspace to meet and bring an end to the war together. At least, I hope they do, since there are only two episodes left.
Boogiepop and Others
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| What, you think a character in Boogiepop is going to explain their motivation in a clear and concise matter? Oh, you sweet summer child. |
Next up is Interactive Flashback. In episode 15, the Distortion King continues to manipulate his hostages in each of their dreams by poking and prodding at their deepest regrets. First he goes after a woman (who is never named for some reason) who was once Teratsuki's lover and blackmailed him with the knowledge that he potentially fathered her son Makoto out of wedlock. She regrets taking advantage of the man who she had feelings for and not apologizing before he died. Then he goes after Sakiko, a high school girl who had said something horrible to her best friend Hina in retaliation for the crime of being prettier than her in the eyes of her crush. Sakiko never go to apologize to her before she and her family died in a traffic accident, and she felt so much guilt that she had been searching for Boogiepop ever since, hoping that they would kill her. Finally, the Distortion King targets Kentaro, an amateur hacker who regrets letting his feelings of inadequacy prevent him from confessing his feelings to Nagi when he had the chance. However, unlike the other two victims, Kentaro refuses to play along with the manipulations, and he runs through the dream world (which has appearances from Saotome, Makoto, and a freaking kaiju for some reason) back to his own sleeping body in the Moon Temple. Using the knowledge that he is in an illusion, Kentaro forces himself back to consciousness and then wakes up his friend Shiro, and the two of them consider their next move.
I really like this episode, It's nice to have three short character pieces that all tie into the theme of regret, and Kentaro especially is a fun character who I can't wait to see more of. It's still horrifically unclear what the Distortion King is going for with his manipulations, but Kentaro's reasoning that he really is Teratsuki feels like it could possibly be true. Naturally, due to the laws of mystery shows, that's not going to be the case, but we do know that the Distortion King has taken on the form of Teratsuki before all this nonsense started happening. Perhaps he was born because Teratsuki's dying regrets were just that powerful?
But forget about that for a moment, because I have an even bigger speculation: I don't think that Kentaro actually escaped his hallucination. It just seems way too convenient that, immediately after waking up, he was able to wake up Shiro with just a light shake and a shout of his name. My gut is telling me that Kentaro is currently in another illusion, and Shiro is just another disguise for the Distortion King. Like all of my guesses for Boogiepop, I'm basing this on absolutely nothing, but I really think I'm right about this.
Run With the Wind
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| I forgot to take a screenshot, so I'm borrowing this one from Google Images. |
I think it's obvious that there was no chance for this episode to outdo last week's. Very few things can do better at playing with my heart than someone practically crawling their way to the finish line, after all, and I can understand why some people may be disappointed with this week's episode as a result.
I'm not one of those people.
This was a solid episode and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Both Yuki and Nico's sectrions take seemingly throwaway details from previous episodes and build on them in a satisfying way. There have been scenes with Yuki yelling at his mother over the phone, but we only ever caught the end of the conversation and never knew why he was angry at her. Even now that we know it was because she remarried and had a kid with another man, the actual conflict isn't really built upon. But that's okay, since it's unimportant. What matters is that Yuki and his mother clearly love each other, and his new family is there for him in one of the most important moments of his life. And that's beautiful. As for Nico, we had a throwaway line in episode 2 that Haiji had his eye on him because he knew that Nico ran track in high school. At the time, it was implied that Nico quit the track team because he didn't enjoy it, but then it turned out that he was one of the first people to agree to training for the Ekiden with any amount of enthusiasm. At first, I thought he was taking advantage of the situation to turn his health around and have an excuse to quit smoking, but it turns out that he just really loved running and watned to get back into it, even though his high school coach told him his body wasn't cut out for it. Now he gets to run in the biggest marathon event in the country, and the obvious catharsis he feels is just so satisfying. Overall, the Hakone Ekiden episodes have all been great, and I cannot wait to see what the next two episodes about King, Kakeru, and Haiji have in store for us.
Dororo
Up next we have episode 10 of Rejected Fire Emblem Plots. Tahomaru notices that his father Daigo has been acting distant and worried lately, and not just because of the mourning threat of the neighboring Lord Asakura gathering his forces or the prolonged drought that warns of a coming famine. Suspicious that something sinister is going on, Tahomaru and his retainers capture and interrogate one of Daigo's men. The prisoner reveals that Daigo is searching for a baby that was born 16 years ago, but refuses to say why. Frustrated, Tahomaru confronts his father and asks to be allowed to share his burden, but Daigo lashes out at him. Tahomaru runs off to his favorite childhood sulking tree, where he learns of a giant crab monster attacking the fishermen in a nearby village. Out of a sense of duty and a need to prove himself, Tahomaru leads a group of men to trap the beast in an artificial lake that he then drains using recently made sluice gates. Tahomaru and his samurai seem to have the upper hand at first, but the monster destroys the sluice gate and fills the lake up with water once again. Just as it seems that Tahomaru has to watch as his loyal servant gets eaten, Hyakkimaru appears out of nowhere and slays the crab. As Tahomaru looks upon this new arrival, he notices his family crest around Hyakkimaru's neck.
Is it weird that I got excited for this week's episode from the title alone? Tahomaru is a character that has been teased almost since the beginning of the series, and as Hyakkimaru's brother, there is a lot of potential for him moving forward. Will he bond with Hyakkimaru, learn about how he was sacrificed by Daigo, and then turn on his father? Will he lash out at Hyakkimaru, resentful of how his mother was always distant and thinking about him? Will he befriend Hyakkimaru but still stand against him as his loyalty to his father trumps his loyalty to his friend? Will he be happy to see his mother truly smile upon seeing her son return home, or will he be angry that nobody is paying attention to him anymore?
At first I thought Tahomaru was just a meh character, since we never got to see him do anything other than whine about his father seeing him as a sumb kid and whine about his mother never being there for him. But now that we have a full episode about him, I'm starting to come around on the guy. Spoiled annoying brat he may be, he clearly idolizes his father, seeing him as the man who took a land that was barren and a people who were starving and led them to prosperity, and he is desperate to win such a great man's approval and be worthy of his legacy. As such, it only makes sense that he would care so deeply about his people's well-being and wish to fight the monster even in spite of his retainers' worries. Being shown to be an intelligent strategist willing to use the environment in his battles (which is not nearly as common a trope as it should be) and quite the swordsman doesn't hurt either.
Honestly, my only complaint about this episode is the scene of Dororo and Hyakkimaru in the beginning. It adds nothing to the story on a literal or thematic level aside from a throwaway line from Dororo that hints at them entering Daigo's domain, and that foreshadowing ruins the moment of Hyakkimaru coming out of nowhere and unknowingly rescuing his brother. I would have much rather had that scene cut and the battle scenes made just a little bit longer in exchange. I realize this means that Dororo wouldn't have appeared at all this way, but she doesn't really need to in a story about Tahomaru, does she?
Hinomaru Sumo
Finally, we have Overpowered Hax: The Animation. In episode 22, Kirihito steps up to battle Sawai in the second bout of the finals. Though his respiratory disorder puts him at a severe disadvantage, Kirihito's skills and talent for sumo rival Hinomaru's, and they were both recognized as national treasures back in elementary school. Even still, Sawai's physique and observant nature allows him to keep pace with his opponent, and the two land outside of the ring simultaneously, forcing a restart of the bout. At this point, Kirihito has long since passed his time limit before his super asthma kills him, but thanks to the power of friendship or whatever, he manages to win the rematch and gives Dachi High a point. Yuma's bout against Yomoda is next, and for the first time ever, he ignores the feelings of guilt and regret that have been driving him this whole time and instead decides to just enjoy what essentially will be his last official sumo bout, as he is in his final year of high school. Yuma's hard hitting strikes and unconventional tactics give him the advantage at first, but Yomoda's larger body and experience win him the day and Yuma is defeated. With Dachi High on the brink of losing the tournament, Ozeki steps into the ring for the fourth bout.
Ugh...
I know that I was taken in during episode 14 when Kirihito agreed to be Dachi High's reserve team member, but that was mostly because it fit in so well with the rest of the episode's scenes that hyped up the national tournament. Now that his big moment has arrived, I feel that the entire decision was a misstep. The gimmick of a passionate athlete who is hindered by a debilitating physical condition has been done in sports anime before, most notably with Jun Misugi in Captain Tsubasa. What made Kirihito unique was how he subverted the trope by making the rational decision and retiring from the game, choosing instead to become a coach. It made the decision to make him a reserve fighter compelling at first, as he was literally putting his life on the line for his teammates, but once he actually had his bout the problems began.
The 20 second time limit had been mentioned again and again early on and, as a result, there are only a handful of possible outcomes for any match that Kirihito is in. Either he wins the bout in less than 20 seconds, he loses the bout in less than 20 seconds, he reaches the time limit and forfeits voluntarily, he reaches the time limit and is forced to forfeit by either the official or his teammate, he pushes himself too hard past the time limit and is hospitalized, or he completely trivializes the time limit by continuing past it and winning anyway with no apparent drawback other than needing an oxygen tank for a few minutes. We got the last scenario, which is, in my opinion, the absolute worst choice. Why even introduce such a dire dynamic if you're going to completely ignore it for the sake of a single dramatic moment? It wouldn't have been so bad if he just went over by a few seconds and pulled out the win, as that would be somewhat plausible. But the fact that he had a simultaneous landing, a discussino between judges, and a restarted match, all after he had already passed 20 seconds and without a chance to use his oxygen tank, just makes it seem that the time limit never actually mattered. And the fact that we had an almost identical outcome to his match as Mitsuhashi's last bout, only to win this time, is just insulting to Mitsuhashi, who has been through enough at this point. The whole thing sounds like an idea that the original creator had for a dramatic scene without actually thinking about the context. I'm usually down for a bit of shonen nonsense since the excitement that it creates tends to resonate with me, but this is a bit too much.
Look, I like Hinomaru Sumo a lot, and I've let a lot slide with it as a result. The characters and tone are right up my alley, and it does a lot right with its underdog sports narrative. No matter what happens, I'm definitely going to finish watching it, especially since there are only two episodes left. But I cannot justify including it in the roundup anymore when I've been harsher on shows like Shield Hero for much less. As much as I try to be impartial when it comes to these reviews, I have my preferences and biases, and I let Hinomaru Sumo get away with too much nonsense because it happens to play to my biases. But the problems aren't limited to pacing issues anymore. The animation is dropping in quality in this second half of the series, the narrative decisions exist simply for the purpose of surprising the audience without thinking those decisions through, and the new rival characters are almost universally failing to make an impression. It says a lot about the quality of this episode that my favorite part is the dopey joke scene of Reina and Chizuko wrestling after the credits that is probably non-canon. I feel that the show has lost its way, and I don't want to bore you guys with the same complaints week after week any more than I already have. And so, crying as much as the boy from Old Yeller, I'm putting Hinomaru Sumo out of its misery. Consider this show dropped.
And with that depressing idea out of the way, we have 6 shows left for next week.With only 3 weeks left in the season and only Dororo and maybe Domestic Girlfriend continuing into next season, we are nearing the climaxes of a lot of our stories. What will happen next week? Will Kentaro meet up with Boogiepop? Will King catch up to Sakaki? Will Daigo discover Hyakkimaru's presence in his domain? Will Rui reveal Natsuo and Hina's affair to their parents? Will Stella swear revenge against Soleil? Will the children escape from Grace Field House? Will I ever shut up? Find out next week on...this! I need to work on these conclusions.
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