Kick-Heart reached its funding goal! This is a great thing, and I can’t wait to see the finished product.
In other news, my Yukiko figma arrived, but got hit by customs so I had to pay like another £12 to free her from the evil clutches of the Royal Mail. Grr. Either way, she’s a lovely figure with a great sculpt and better articulation than the Chie figma I already own, although she does her long + hard plastic hair limits the potential movement of her arms a fair bit. But the main problem? Her ‘smiling’ face looks more like she’s being super srs. Ah well.
We should all strive to be this rad in our day to day lives
Busou Shinki ep. 4
Haters gonna hate
So this was such a hilariously anime Wacky Races, like, seriously. There was even a pit trap set by two villains! And all kinds of crazy vehicles! And something about trading stuff. I can’t tell if the creators are being very self-aware about this series and purposefully making it hilariously dumb, or whether they’re just trying to create something good enough for an otaku toy line tie-in. Whatever, it’s still so stupid it’s fun.
Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! ep. 4
You fucking WISH you were this effortlessly cool
Ah, so Nibutani suffered from chuunibyou much the same as Yuuta did! And also she’s not into him and was merely trying to erase all trace of her shameful past. I gotta admit, I found it all hilarious. Her complete 180 in personality was brilliantly executed, and the fact she almost reverted back into her chuuni ways through the stress was fantastic. The mirroring of her actions and reactions to Yuuta’s from previous episodes, and yet thinking Yuuta is “lame” and “uncool” just provides all these great little contradictions and inconsistencies. And then her ‘battle’ with Sanae, which she loses by getting super embarrassed by her memories of being a chuuni, it was amazing. She has proven to be a much better character than she initially seemed (cute and almost interested in Yuuta), and it made for a great episode.
Girls und Panzer ep. 3
Camouflage? More like CaMOEflage, amirite?
Aww yeah dat tank battlan. Main girl is obviously natural leader, sleepy girl is great driver, everything works out well and they win the first practice match. And they get involved in a friendly match between a school which is on a MUCH bigger boat, and then the episode ends. It’s pretty great. Also PINK TANK HECKZ YEAH.
Hayate the Combat Butler! Can’t Take My Eyes Off You ep. 4
omg Dreamnyast
Now this was something of a return to older Hayate. Tons of anime and manga references (or at least jokes about anime and manga and stuff), and it was quite fast-hitting with them. Certainly proved to be entertaining enough to stave off being dropped for at least another week.
Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb ep. 4
Principal is the best HidaSke
Dem school swimsuits. Dat principal’s demonstration. Dose warm and fuzzy feelings inside of me. Life is good.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure ep. 4
That wine is probably MANLY AS HELL or something
RIPPLE POWER HOLY FUCK. God damn was this manly and outstandingly stupid. I really don’t get the whole ‘ripples’ thing, but I guess it gives him near magical powers? Either way, it let JoJo brain a zombie with his fist from behind a wall, so it’s all alright.
Jormungand: Perfect Order ep. 3
I don’t know what scares me more – her looks of evil or her looks of fear
Well holy fuck everything about this episode. This was intense. Bookman’s obviously not out of it yet. He will obviously become a key figure in events to come. And Koko… jeez. We see her utterly terrified for the first time, and then we see what can only be a small fraction of the destruction she can bring down when she wants to. Terrifying. Can’t wait for more!
K ep. 4
The only worthwhile screencap because of Neko in the background
So, uh, this episode felt like a waste of time. They pratted about the school for most of the episode, nothing happens, and then a revelation occurs which was unbelievably dull and predictable? Characters are still mostly boring and bland, Neko is simply there to provide erokawaii fanservice, the robot cleaners are amusing but they’re shtick will get tired soon enough, and it’s all a bit disappointing to say the least. Hell, the animation isn’t even interesting anymore. With only 13 episodes and a huge cast, you’d think they’d do more with the story, wouldn’t you? Instead we’ve stretched about 2-3 episodes out to 4, with no signs of improving the pacing. We’re a third of the way in? This show does not fill me with hope for its future, it must be said.
Kamisama Hajimemashita ep. 4
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: amazing facial expressions
More shenanigans between Nanami and other deities/familiars. This time it’s a deluded snake! It makes for a relatively touching episode, and obviously furthers Tomoe’s feelings for her. And I guess vice-versa too. Not a bad episode, but nothing outstanding.
Little Busters! ep. 4
It may not be as good as KyoAni, but when it wants to it can be really visually interesting
For some reason I’m finding the “high school girl who acts like she’s 6 and is cute” thing… not working that well? I mean, it’s always been kinda silly, but I felt it was pulled off at the very least decently in Kanon and Clannad. But here… something’s missing to make them entertaining and not kind of annoying. That little bit of stylistic flair or energy that KyoAni brought? Who knows, feels a little unfair to blame JC Staff for every problem I have. Despite that, it’s hard to not get swept along by Komari’s charm and enthusiasm.
But that aside, it looks like the first arc of drama is lining itself up quite nicely. Gonna be about Komari by the looks of things, focusing on her older brother that she doesn’t has and that old guy, as well as that picture book. Something about memories, too. I’m interested to see where it goes, and how effective it’ll be.
Magi ep. 3
dem Djinn charades
Good episode. Some really entertaining action, a bit of explanation behind the towers, some humour from Alibaba, and some setup for a bigger mystery/plot in the future. There’s not all that much to say, but the fact that Morgiana couldn’t disobey her cruel master despite having every reason and opportunity to do so made for an interesting dynamic.
Psycho-Pass ep. 3
The most perfect, condescending, smug smirk
Something of an episodic… episode this week. Uh, what I mean is that it’s mostly completely standalone and could probably have been safely ignored without affecting the plot too much. Well, it does give a bit of background on what this world is like and how the Psycho-Pass system has some easily exploited flaws. And we also get some hints to something quite major that happened in Kougami’s past. Other than that, nothing spectacular, Akane gets to see what real policing is like a bit more, and on the whole a solid episode.
Robotics;Notes ep. 3
Can you imagine if Robot Wars was this fabulous?
Ok, so Kai is confirmed to be a lot more badass than I initially gave him credit for. He really tried for Akiho, really went all out for her sake. Akiho was obviously still fun as hell, but Subaru stole the show. So damn awesomely fabulous. As for actual story elements, we’re getting some more overt rumblings of the major plot, in the form of whatever’s being plotted with Akiho’s sister, the exoskeleton, the strange aurora, the conditions the main two are afflicted with (and whatever happened in their past that links to the aurora) and god knows what else. And of course dat new character. Robotics;Notes has definitely picked up, although the plot proper may not begin in earnest for a little while longer, but it promises to be really quite interesting.
Shinsekai Yori ep. 5
The fear of death has never been so pretty
Holy fuck this episode. Firstly, it’s a pretty big change in style – not for the worse, either. Secondly, it is tense as hell. Those two are genuinely frightened for their lives. And beyond that, they’re questioning the world they’ve been brought up in – the two are about to get physical after they had been captured, but Saki remembered what the library had said about the bonobo chimps, and realised that they are better than this. They are actively rebelling against the society that raised them. On top of that, they’re beginning to question the status of queerats too – when one queerat says they’ll be enslaved and forced to work for the rest of their lives should the enemy queerats win, it instantly reminds the two how queerats are treated in their society. And there’s so much more going on too, this episode was fascinating. The sense of unease that permeates every inch of this world, combined with their dread as they flee, it all adds up to an excellent horror. And next week, Jesus, it looks to be even more intense.
Sword Art Online ep. 17
Pretty much the only not-boring-as-shit frame this week
Oh my god I can’t stop laughing.
This is just so bad.
Gary-Stu continues to Gary-Stu it up. Uber-powerful! Can learn to fly with an advanced technique super quickly! Amazing in combat despite picking a race that doesn’t excel in combat! Still utterly bland!
Of course Leafa was his sister. Of course. And of course her avatar had to be a scantily clad, big-breated blonde. Of course. You want a recurring character who ISN’T total eye-candy for the audience and DOESN’T want Kirito’s dick? I’m sorry, I don’t think you understand the point of terrible-fanfic-tier wish fulfilment fantasies.
I really hope they try and add in themes of ‘xenophobia is wrong’ and ‘overcome differences to achieve victory together’, because they’d be totally hilarious and completely contrived. We’ve seen that there’s nothing mechanically to stop different races working together, and each race has some inherent traits meaning it only makes sense for a diverse team to group up in order to make up for each other’s shortcomings. Literally the only thing causing any friction to happen is the whole “race who wins turn into Alfs” thing.
Speaking of, this an awfully designed MMO. The ultimate goal of the game is to become an Alf? Ok, that’s a fair enough thing, but the fact that the first race to meet the Fairy King all become Alfs and nobody else means that when a race DOES succeed, all the other players will either quit the game (because what’s the point?) or start with a new character in the race that succeeded. Which is gonna result in an incredibly shitty and unused endgame – if there is even an endgame beyond “get wings”.
Nice to see that Asuna’s gone from being strong, capable, independent etc. and only a questionably sexist character to being completely depowered, helpless, damsel in distress who needs a man to save her. That’s awesome and amazing and doesn’t completely undermine any fucking goodwill I had towards her characterization.
And now big bad creepy guy is the final guy! WHAT A SHOCKING TWIST WHO THE FUCK SAW THAT COMING. Also he’s creepy and rapey and doing experiments on humans without their consent! WHAT A CAREFULLY BALANCED AND WELL CHARACTERISED ANTAGONIST WITH CLEAR, INTERESTING AND UNDERSTANDABLE MOTIVES AND NOT TOTALLY A HILARIOUSLY UNBELIEVABLE CARTOON VILLAIN.
Elfs and fairies are stupid and this arc is stupid and Sword Art Online is stupid. Anyone who thinks this series well-written is objectively wrong.
I just can’t stop laughing.
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun ep. 4
Oh man that double blush
A very fun episode! Shizuku and Haru do really make for an entertaining couple. And dang, her forwardness at the end of the episode. Pretty great! It’s good to see that as much as Haru has mellowed is, he still can’t help picking fights to protect those who are weaker. Yeah, it’s an admirable ‘flaw’, but at least it stops him from being boring and perfect and happy all the time.
Space Brothers ep. 29
Shouldn’t he like, wash his hair or something? This looks kinda serious
So I think that’s the first ‘live’ rocket launch we’ve seen so far? This has really slowed down too much, not enough has been happening recently. At least Mutta’s feelings on his brother’s success have been clarified – pride and jealousy obviously. Still good, just wish it would progress already.
Wooser no Sono Higurashi ep. 4
I don’t need to say anything more about this episode
Zetsuen no Tempest ep. 4
Hawt
And so most of the episode is spent learning about how the two of them met. Not much to say there, but it was interesting for sure. Lol @ Yoshino’s ‘puppy’ essay about Mahiro.
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