This week things were a bit more back to normal. I’m still behind with Caligula, but I’ve caught up with Tokyo Ghoul:Re, and more or less decided I’m only finishing it because I enjoyed the first season and not because of anything it is doing. With Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory doing a recap four episodes in, having dropped SAO Alternative, and feeling Steins;Gate 0 is relying too much on me caring about the characters because I do rather than giving me any kind of reason to care about this story, it hasn’t been a great season for sequels and spin-offs. Fortunately there has still been plenty to keep me watching this season and while not all of it is good, I’m certainly having fun.
This week I’d love to know your favourite character of the season so far so leave me a comment below.
What I watched
3D Kanojo: Real Girl (Episode 7)
And Real Girl becomes pretty dull as it feels like they don’t really have anything unique to offer. The characters have both toned down to pretty standard romance fare with little to distinguish them and the conflicts in the anime are quickly dealt with and swept under the rug. As a result, this is pretty ordinary viewing (I’d suggest even a little dull).
Caligula (Episode 4 – On Hold)
Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card (Episode 17)
We get closer to a reveal, though at this point the audience is pretty clued in and it is only that the characters remain in the dark. Cardcaptor Sakura has maintained a fairly consistent quality and while I haven’t been as super into it as I would have liked, if this had come out just after the original Cardcaptor when I was a bit younger, I’d have loved every minute of it.
Cute High Earth Defense Club Happy Kiss (Episode 6)
Cute High Earth Defense Club Happy Kiss hasn’t improved over the last couple of episodes as they’ve stuck strictly to the formula rolling out routine and almost timed beats to these episodes. That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been some fun in listening to the boys’ musings, it just means that any kind of plot development is just going to have to wait because they are stretching around 4 episodes worth of content into a whole season once again.
Darling in the Franxx (Episode 16 – Reviewed for patrons)
The children are left to their own devices in the garden with the mysterious caretakers having vanished and so they go fishing and learn to cook. That seems somewhat anti-climatic but it all seems to be setting up some big reveal that they are dragging out as long as humanly possible. I really don’t like the pacing of this anime and yet I really do want to know where they ultimately go with it.
Devils’ Line (Episode 6)
A second week in a row where plot seems to be developing and the main characters are only mildly stupid in their interactions and decision making. If Devils’ Line keeps this up it might even achieve the status of ‘average’ rather than ‘pretty bad’ by the end of the season.
Doreiku The Animation (Episode 5)
And this week it seems clear that the anime plans to just free-fall dive until it bottoms out. Which is a shame because conceptually there were some interesting ideas presented, but five episodes in we’ve done nothing of interest with them. This one has ended up being kind of less amusing King’s Game for me this season and I will admit I’m enjoying watching it even as I’ll also admit there’s practically nothing to recommend about the show.
Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory (Episode 4)
No episode this week.
GeGeGe No Kitaro (Episode 7)
As I said last week, this anime knows what it is doing with episodic tales and the straight take on a ghost story this week was a nice shake up and a fairly punchy little story. Really enjoyed it and the different approach each week makes this show better than just the monster of the week label might make it sound like.
Kakuriyo No Yadomeshi (Episode 7 – Reviewed for Patrons)
The eatery isn’t going so great, surprise, given a lack of planning and advertising. That said, Aoi isn’t put off. And viewers probably won’t be either. While this isn’t overly thrilling, it is pleasant enough to look at and the characters are kind of fun in a very low key manner. It works but won’t really be remembered and isn’t exactly exciting viewing.
Libra of Nil Admirari (Episode 6)
Very much a mid-season episode offering little of overall value to the grand plot and focusing almost exclusively on an individual character’s back ground. While this isn’t a problem, it also isn’t overly noteworthy and feels a lot like marking time.
Lostorage Conflated WIXOSS (Episode 6)
Things are still going pretty badly for our main characters and the odds seem insurmountably against them. And that’s Wixoss for you. I’m still really enjoying this and it seems like we’re about to round the corner as the set up is pretty much played out and it is time to see how they get through this.
My Hero Academia Season 3 (Episode 6)
Yay! My Hero Academia is back to full steam ahead and this episode was fantastic. Finally I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens next and I just genuinely enjoyed every minute of episode 6. Fingers crossed the season continues like this now that it’s gotten over its warm-up.
Record of Grancrest War (Episode 18)
Who has Theo become? His actions this week are so far apart from where he started this anime in terms of his moral stance and yet superficially it looks like he hasn’t changed at all. This anime continues to deliver an interesting and yet confusing narrative and while it isn’t good, it certainly continues to make me think.
Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori (Episode 6)
For a flash-back/origin episode, this one worked well enough. Not a lot of excitement but a relaxing story that confirms much of what we’d thought about the setting and cements our understanding of two of the characters though doesn’t offer a lot new. For a calming watch it was definitely workable.
Space Battleship Tiramisu (Episode 7)
Episode 7 was a bit of a mixed bag. The story continued but at the same time it wasn’t a particularly satisfying watch. Hopefully the plot developments lead us to something interesting next week.
Spiritpact: Bond of the Underworld (Finished)
Perfect ending to a show that has continued to defy the low expectations set by season 1. Season two of this was fantastic and I’m so glad I picked it up, even if I was worried when I started it. A full review will be out soon.
Steins;Gate 0 (Episode 6)
Yeah, this one probably isn’t ever going to hold the same place in my heart that the original Steins;Gate series managed. It just hasn’t managed to make its own mark and I’ve realised that every moment of interest or enjoyment I’ve gotten from this series has come from a feeling connected to the first. While I intend to finish it, I’m not exactly jumping with joy about this one.
Tada Doesn’t Fall in Love (Episode 6)
The sweetness continues and there’s really not a lot new to say about this anime. My biggest issue is that we seem to be skipping over the falling in love stage to the we’re in love but not admitting it stage. It’s a fairly minor concern in an anime that actually remains consistently better than average but not amazing.
Tokyo Ghoul: Re (Episode 7 – Not Reviewed)
I probably won’t be reviewing episodes of this but I did catch up on the anime this week. Basically I don’t know who half the cast are or why they are important and none of the fights have the punch or look as interesting as what season one offered. While it is a fun turn off brain and watch chaos kind of thing, with limited care about the characters and story because they don’t seem to want anime viewers to be able to follow it anyway, this one is pretty much just a watch because it exists kind of thing.
Episode of the Week
Character of the Week
Dropped
- Butlers X Battlers (Episode 1)
- Comic Girls (Episode 1)
- Crossing Time (Episode 1)
- Dances with the Dragons (Episode 2)
- Golden Kamuy (Episode 1)
- Gurazeni: Money Pitch (Episode 1)
- Hinamatsuri (Episode 1)
- Love To Lie Angle (Episode 1)
- Magical Girl Ore (Episode 1)
- Magical Girl Site (Episode 2)
- MEGALOBOX (Episode 1)
- My Sweet Tyrant (Episode 1)
- Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online (Episode 4)
- You Don’t Know Gunma Yet (Episode 1)
Thanks for reading.
Karandi James
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My favorite character would be Anzu from Hinamatsuri.
Okay, I really need to get back to watching that. Quite a few people have recommended it at this point and I was planning to catch up once I got my schedule back under control.
It takes a couple of eps to get rolling, but it’s worth it!
“While I intend to finish it, I’m not exactly jumping with joy about this one.”
Well at least you’ll finish it. Hope S;G gets better for you though!