Sabikui Bisco Episode 9 – Does Anyone Have a Cure For Heart Break?

Posted on by Karandi
Sabikui Bisco Episode 9 Review
https://www.crowsworldofanime.com/

So many anime should watch episode 8 and 9 of Sabikui Bisco to really understand how to capitalise emotionally on a cliff-hanger ending. Seriously, I thought episode 8 left us at a heart-wrenching moment and my greatest fear was that this week we would literally just see the characters walk away from it within the first few minutes of the episode.

Instead, episode 9 begins with shattered characters and words that are clearly foreshadowing disaster and then things escalate and just don’t stop until the dramatic conclusion of the episode (which I am going to try hard not to spoil because that really should be watched). I’m just left wondering what Sabikui Bisco does for the next three episodes and whether it can ever be as emotionally devastating as it was this week.

Sabikui Bisco Episode 9

Although, it probably doesn’t need to be. What it really needs to do is address what all of this actually changes in the world or whether it was all for nothing.

Sabikui Bisco was far more committed to its plot than I gave it credit for earlier in the season.

In order to avoid too many spoilers I am afraid this particular episode review is going to end up being a little bit all over the place as I focus on less prominent details than the conclusion.

For instance, I haven’t really talked about Jabi much in any of my episode reviews of Sabikui Bisco so far. Yet this mentor character from Bisco has played a key role at multiple junctures in the story, despite spending most of the series injured or captured. And you have to admit, this old man has some spunk.

Sabikui Bisco Episode 9

I mean, Jabi is the one who raised Bisco so we had to know this guy was a bit on the reckless side. He also clearly has a big heart. Throughout the course of the series, his own safety has never been his priority concern. Instead, he’s always looked out for the others, whether it be Bisco or even Pawoo when she was captured.

It makes me wonder why Kurokawa ever thought threatening Jabi’s life, or even his fingers, would somehow convince him to surrender. This old man was never going to fold over something like that.

But now I’m wondering how Jabi is going to react next week to the final of episode 9… Okay, not going there.

Sabikui Bisco Episode 9

Honestly, there’s little more you could ask from Sabikui Bisco at this point. It has been a zany adventure and buddy quest with this whole dystopian thing going underneath it and this episode just brought all those elements together so well. It is always nice when you are watching an anime or a story and realise that everything actually does work together and clearly there was a plan from the start when the writer put this story together.

About the only real visual criticism I could make of episode 9 is that it is pretty much the same colour from beginning to end and it is quite a bleak and dull looking episode compared to previous ones. Then again, given events, the colour palette more or less suits the episode perfectly.

Sabikui Bisco Episode 9 Review

Can the next episode be out already?

This is perhaps the biggest problem with seasonal viewing in that there’s so much I want to say but at the same time don’t want to say until people have a chance to watch this episode on their own.

Anyway, Sabikui Bisco has gone from being a curiosity and kind of interesting to being something I am highly emotionally invested in and that is definitely a good thing given how many other anime this season kind of lost me at the mid-way point.

Images from: Sabikui Bisco. Dir. A Ikariya. OZ. 2022

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How To Keep a Mummy Episode 6: A Little Knowledge Can Be Adorable

Posted on by Karandi
mummy6d

Conny, Isao and Mii-Kun together are making a truly cute team in How To Keep a Mummy. As much as I didn’t like Conny’s introductory episode, he adds an interesting dynamic to the trio and of course presents several moments of conflict for a show that might otherwise get a little bit sleepy and dull.

Mummy6a

But as much as the pets are bonding, the kids are also forming quite the friendship. And with future play-dates between the cuties, it will be fun to see how these three continue to get along.

How To Keep a Mummy Hasn’t Asked Where These Monsters Are Coming From?

How to Keep a Mummy

This episode of How to Keep a Mummy mostly focuses on the idea that Isao is a little bit more advanced in being able to take care of itself than either Mii-Kun or Conny. This leads to some cute jealousy as well as the other two trying to catch up by writing adorable notes and trying to do things by themselves. 

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As usual, there isn’t much in the way of plot and other than chasing down a screaming plant and retrieving it from the river, not a lot happens, but that isn’t really a problem when they manage to keep you entertained by staring at the cute characters on the screen.

Images from: How To Keep a Mummy. Dir. Kaori. 8Bit. 2018

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How To Keep a Mummy Episode 5: Dragon + Mummy = Too Cute

Posted on by Karandi
mummy5f

Okay, so the child-oni turned out to be a bust last week in How to Keep a Mummy but the addition of a back-pack sized dragon gave this show a nice boost back into being the single most adorable thing ever. Not to mention, despite introducing new cast members, Mii-Kun managed a decent amount of screen time in this episode and we finally see Sora considering his loneliness and history a little bit more seriously.

How To Keep a Mummy recovered after a small downward turn.

how to keep a mummy

Add in that Motegi is a fun supporting cast member in her own right and I’m glad she got a bit more of a role this time round rather than just being an obstacle for hiding Mii-Kun’s existence. Her reaction to lizards and then the dragon were also pretty amusing even if they were completely overblown even by this anime’s standards.

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Mummy5b

However, this show wouldn’t be itself if it didn’t bring the two together in the end. I would like to know more about Tazuki’s deal with the dragon (though we know he did get scarred previously the details were a bit limited).

Mummy5d

All and all, this was a nice recovery for the show and we’re back to blissfully cuteness.

Images from: How To Keep a Mummy. Dir. Kaori. 8Bit. 2018

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Senryuu Shoujo Anime Review – Watch out for cavities with this one.

Posted on by Karandi
senryu1d

Say It With Senryuu Shoujo

This is going to be a short review, which makes sense given the nature of the anime being reviewed. Senryuu Shoujo is about Nanako, a high school girl who doesn’t speak but communicates by writing poems. Instead of being a story about a lonely girl who is bullied, this is the story of a cheerful girl surrounded by supportive friends and a love interest who seems to enjoy every day.

While there are hints of a dark and lonely past, this isn’t the focus, and really this anime just wants to leave you smiling at the antics of these adorable dorks.

Senryuu Shoujo - Nanako with bed hair

In fairness, it is hard not to smile. I’m not really into slice of life, or comedy, or anime set around high school clubs, and Senryuu Shoujo is all of these things and yet still hit the mark for being cute and fun to watch for me. There was something infectiously charming about the main pair in this story, Nanako and Eiji, and the support cast were stellar as well.

Senryuu Girl - Eiji and Nanako drawing

That isn’t to say this is a slice of life better than any others. As is the case with the genre, the appeal of slice of life is highly subjective. Without a plot driving forward to carry the audience along, it is left to the tone and cast to be the draw and what one person likes and appreciate won’t necessarily work for another. During the Spring Anime season many anime fans loved Hitoribocchi but that was pretty much a swing and a miss for me. Whereas, Senryuu Shoujo seemed somewhat underappreciated given just how sweet it was.

Senryuu Shoujo - Nanako bends her board.
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Visually this one leans heavily toward bright and pastel colours. They suit the tone and the characters just fine but make this one fairly unremarkable in terms of standing out from other similar stories. The exception is for Nanako herself. While her character design is fairly ordinary, there’s something truly striking about her smile and I absolutely loved how her whole face lit up. For a character who never speaks she is incredibly expressive even when not writing her poems.

The many faces of Nanako

On that note, characters who communicate in alternative ways is something of a theme as we also have the art girl in the story that comes in midway. She only communicates through drawing and regularly holds her art book over her face with a cute girl drawn to express whatever the girl wanted to say.

The acceptance these somewhat oddball characters experience in their group is astounding and while it is clear that not everyone in this anime universe is equally nice, all the cast members we spend any time with just take each character as they are.

It isn’t nuanced or subtle but it does add overall to that feeling of sweetness and the idea that this anime just wants you to feel better for having watched it. It isn’t wanting a deep dive into social commentary about ‘normal’ or ‘ableness’ though the themes are definitely there.

Senryuu Shoujo - Art Girl

The one sour note on the cast is probably Nanako’s father who is just a little too over the top. Fortunately the family only feature in a few episodes and generally he’s fine in small doses.

senryu6b

There’s not a lot more to say about this one. Short episodes running around 12 minutes are the perfect length, the tone is very mellow and relaxing, and the characters are super nice and fun to spend time with. While Senryuu Shoujo isn’t about to change the world it is an anime well worth trying if you missed it.

senryu12d
What are you waiting for?

Images from: Senryu Shoujo. Dir. M Jinbo. Connect. 2019.

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Arifureta Season 2 Episode 7 – Departure’s and Turning Points

Posted on by Karandi
Arifureta Season 2 Episode 7 Review

Arifureta continues to be a mixed bag of varying animation quality and varying amounts of care. At times there are scenes that look truly beautiful and then they are followed by a still image depicting everyone walking in for dinner with the sound of footsteps over the top to give us a sense of actual movement going on (unsuccessfully). Likewise we go from a silly game of tag where Shia’s bikini top gets stolen to full on conspiracy and murder at the castle.

Arifureta Season 2 Episode 7

As always, my feelings on Arifureta are mixed as the overall plot line is fascinating and all of these characters have moments where I truly do like watching them. Then there’s everything in between those moments and when that starts dominating the episodes I find myself wondering once again why I continue to push through with this anime.

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Definitely a case where reading is the better option for this story because you can definitely get through the more frivolous parts quicker and when you get to the meat the story is actually really good.

Those still watching Arifureta really have to just accept this is what it is.

You’d be forgiven early on for feeling that episode 7 of Arifureta was just going to be more filler time with fan-service as Hajime and the girls delay leaving Myu and her mother due to Hajime suddenly having sentimental feelings toward leaving Myu behind. Admittedly, it is a pretty decent character progression point given other than Yue, Hajime had cut himself off significantly from others after the initial betrayal that led to his fall so seeing him so connected to another is actually a great step forward.

It doesn’t make watching them play tag in bikinis any more interesting. Nor does it make morning wood jokes actually amusing.

Arifureta Season 2 Episode 7

However, for all that Hajime and gang seem to be in a holding pattern this week, events back at the castle involving the other students are in full swing. We finally get to see Aiko in her prison and admittedly she isn’t doing a whole lot other than fretting about things. It would have been nice to see her plotting escape or trying to get a message out or literally anything to show that she had grown beyond just wringing her hands and hoping, but at least we’ve finally seen what happened to her after her abduction.

Of course, it does leave you wondering why she isn’t just dead. All well and good to say she’s been taken off the board but the problem is she could be placed back on it if you just leave her where she is.

Arifureta Season 2 Episode 7

Aiko isn’t the main point though. What we see this week is that huge numbers of people in the castle are being influenced and this leads to an attack on the Knight Commander and pretty much only decent guy there. While a fairly common criticism I’ve had of Arifureta up until now is that we don’t spend enough time on this aspect of the story, leading to only having a vague sense of any of these characters, the Knight Commander has managed to make an impression so the attack upon him definitely carried weight and it definitely has huge implications for the safety of the students going forward.

Arifureta Season 2 Episode 7

And just to ensure that the plot is really hopping along we also get a cut of the demons declaring that their god has spoken and they are going to war. This could potentially lead to a very violent climax if all of these plot threads actually come together.

All that is really left is to see what Arifureta decides to do with all these plot points. Hopefully something good. Or at the very least, explosive.

Images from: Arifureta 2nd Season. Dir. A Iwanaga. asread & studio MOTHER. 2022.

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Sabikui Bisco Episode 8 – They Aren’t Going To Leave It There (Oh they did)

Posted on by Karandi
Sabikui Bisco Episode 8 Review
https://www.crowsworldofanime.com/

If I thought episode 7 of Sabikui Bisco left us on a dramatic cliff-hanger, clearly I was mistaken as episode 8 shows us exactly what a dramatic cliff-hanger really is. I guess the only question I’m stuck with is whether I think Sabikui Bisco will actually follow through or whether this is going to be one of those stories where we get a dramatic cliff-hanger only for everything to be resolved within a minute of the next episode beginning.

Sabikui Bisco Episode 8

Only time will answer that particular question and in the mean time I’m going to try to review this episode without spoilers. Though, this episode did very much cement my opinion that despite all the weird mushroom trappings, Sabikui Bisco is very much going through the motions of an adventure narrative plot. We had four episodes setting up the adventure and bringing the two main characters together. The next four episodes had their journey to find the MacGuffin and then set up this new problem. Now, with four episodes left, we’ve hit another dramatic turning point in the story.

Sabikui Bisco wasn’t going for light viewing this week.

Every now and then I watch an episode of an anime that just leaves me emotionally wrecked. That was this week’s episode of Sabikui Bisco. We begin with Milo facing Kurokawa having watched his little broadcast in the last episode and we finally get to see what images drove Milo to drugging Bisco.

Kurokawa is just… well, evil would probably be the best term. Cartoonishly evil. Motive revealed – profits at the expense of the lives of everyone suffering from the rusting. Maintaining power. Oh, and throw in the kicker reveal about Kurokawa’s life before he was the governor. Added kicker, he’s personally responsible for why everyone hates mushroom keepers.

Sabikui Bisco Episode 8

That’s a lot of reasons to hate a person. And the thing is with the over the top nature of how this story has played out, having a villain that is so ridiculously villainous just kind of makes sense.

Speaking of over the top, Milo really stepped up this week in Sabikui Bisco. As much as it didn’t end up working out, you have to admit the sight of him charging in to the villain’s den, taking out the lackey’s and taking slices out of Kurokawa was really impressive. If Kurokawa didn’t have plot armour because he’s needed to still be around in the final act of this story he would definitely have been taken out by this attack.

Sabikui Bisco Episode 8

What doesn’t quite add up though is that Milo did go to a lot of effort and clearly put some thought into his attack and yet turns out Jabi was going to rescue himself and probably could have gotten himself and Pawoo out without Milo or Bisco ever turning up. It really does suck when the designated hostages can rescue themselves as it makes the efforts of the heroes look more than a little futile.

Still, how awesome was Jabi?

Sabikui Bisco Episode 8

Actually if we are ranking how awesome the characters were this week in Sabikui Bisco, tragically Pawoo who only gets to be the damsel in distress and torture victim comes in quite low but Bisco, despite coming to save Milo, doesn’t do much better. For all that he’s had some truly awesome moments throughout this series, somehow here he was just kind of off his game.

I know, they are going to use the whole poisoned last episode thing as a reason, plus he didn’t really expect the attack to come from where it did, but given some of the dodges and cool moves he has pulled off previously it really did seem like they had to seriously de-power Bisco this week in order for the story to progress as they wanted.

Sabikui Bisco Episode 8

Anyway, Sabikui Bisco was great. I love watching this scene unfold and my only issue is the credits started rolling leaving us severely hanging until next week.

Images from: Sabikui Bisco. Dir. A Ikariya. OZ. 2022

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How To Keep A Mummy Episode 4: And Without The Star What is Left?

Posted on by Karandi
mummy4a

My previous episode reviews have left no doubt that about the only thing How To Keep a Mummy has going for it is the single cutest mummy in existence. So what happens when we get a whole episode with barely any appearances by said mummy because they are introducing the second little character, a child oni (demon)?

How To Keep a Mummy diluted its own winning formula.

Mummy4b

The answer is, not much. I didn’t really click with this new character and don’t find him particularly cute. I did enjoy some of Tazuki’s reactions to the oni but basically that was the whole first half. Oni shows up, Tazuki reluctantly lets him in, next morning he kicks him out and bemoans the fact that he’ll come back.

Haiku Kotaro Bokuto

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The second half at least has the oni meeting the mummy and that is kind of adorable, but it isn’t quite enough to off-set the rest of the episode.

How To Keep a Mummy

While How to Keep a Mummy wasn’t bad this week, it is just kind of average. And I’ve known from the start that everything about this show is pretty ordinary and it has only been the presence of Mii-Kun that has really elevated it to something I’ve enjoyed. Still, here is hoping that next week goes a bit better or at the very least we have more of the mummy and less of the oni.

Images from: How To Keep a Mummy. Dir. Kaori. 8Bit. 2018

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Love of Kill Episode 7 – Sorry, Not Dead Yet

Posted on by Karandi
Love of Kill Episode 7

Okay, Love of Kill you aren’t as predictable as I thought and yet I’m not actually sure that’s a good thing. In my episode 6 review I speculated that the stabbing of Chateau’s boss would set up “a really obvious scenario where Chateau will have to decide whether to trust Song or believe the worst about him” but it turns out that the boss didn’t die and both Song and the boss more or less told Chateau that Song didn’t do it.

Love of Kill Episode 7

So if we aren’t setting up a massive misunderstanding to pit our two leads against one another what is Love of Kill doing?

Well it turns out that after a perfectly good chance for an obvious misunderstanding was cast aside, we’re just going to have the bad-guy flat-out blackmail Chateau into attempting to neutralise Song and hand him over with her mother’s life in the balance. Same result but more convoluted path to get there really. Though it did at least leave Chateau with actual expressions on her face this week.

(Spoilers coming below.)

Love of Kill Episode 7

What is Love of Kill’s end game?

I’m more than a little confused at this point whether a romance between Song and Chateau is even the point despite Love of Kill being listed as a romance. Chateau makes a weird declaration this week that Song is always on her mind but otherwise they seem to be in the same holding pattern they’ve always been in. Worse if you factor in that she tries to kill herself before he chokes her unconscious this episode.

Haiku Kotaro Bokuto

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On that note, Chateau is still playing the damsel in distress and any illusion that she might be a strong female lead had fled the building. It’s the ‘I don’t know what to do’ and ‘I can’t solve this problem so I’ll throw myself off a cliff’, actually shoot herself in the head, complex and honestly I am really disappointed with her character as this series has gone on. While she was pretty flat in the earlier episodes there was so much potential in her to be an interesting female lead and she’s since either been perpetually kidnapped, outclassed, or just given up.

Love of Kill Episode 7

Even her attempt at suicide is underwhelming and I’m not entirely sure it would have solved the problem. Would they have actually not killed her mother if she killed herself? Would Song be able to avoid them even if she didn’t bring him in? It definitely seemed like running away and it most definitely seemed, given she knows how fast Song can move, like she wanted him to stop her or perhaps she would have acted faster and more decisively.

Wow, critiquing a suicide attempt… Not exactly what I had in mind when I picked up an action/romance for the season.

Love of Kill Episode 7

And honestly, that’s about all that happened. The Boss was evacuated but the ship didn’t pull into port and have police investigate the attempted murder of a guest. Everything just continued on. It isn’t until near the end of the episode that some of the bit players in Love of Kill speculate that things might be a bit weird on the cruise given a passenger nearly died and no one seems to care.

With five episodes left it is probably a little late to hope Chateau becomes a more interesting character. Even Song has been a lot less fun recently. And the young stab-happy villain this week wasn’t exactly a show-stealer (nor was his brother who seems to be trying to do an L from Death Note impersonation).

Love of Kill Episode 7

So instead lets just hope they at least tell us a bit about Chateau’s past and maybe Song ends up at least getting a kiss. That’s about as high as my hopes for Love of Kill go at this point.

Images from: Love of Kill. Dir. H Ooba. Platinum Vision. 2022

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How To Keep A Mummy Episode 3: The Word Cute Will Not Appear In This Review Even Though Mii-Kun is The Cutest Ever

Posted on by Karandi
mummy3d

Another episode of How To Keep a Mummy that seems to know exactly what its strength is and ensures every scene plays to it. However, we’re still kind of left with no plot other than the day to day life of Sora looking after a mummy and instead focusing on particular incidents. While episode 2 was the Mii-Kun went to school this is the Sora get’s sick and then gives it to Mii-Kun episode.

Mummy3c

How To Keep a Mummy captures the caring of pets.

We did however finally get introduced to the other person living in the house though it still isn’t clear if Kaede is an older sister, some other relative, or just a random person living in the house. Still, it made for some interesting interaction between human characters taking some of the screen time away from the bandage blob who has completely stolen the spot of my favourite pet or mascot in an anime.

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Mummy3a

Okay, other than the general feel good aesthetic that How To Keep a Mummy generates, this is really the usual boy gets sick with cold and needs nursing kind of thing. While there are a few laughs and chuckles along the way, it is a pretty standard episode including the serving of porridge (which apparently requires things to be cut with a knife to make so I’m wondering what the porridge includes and whether I’ve been making it wrong my entire life – probably given it tastes pretty awful when I make it and would be the last thing I’d want to eat when sick).

How To Keep a Mummy

And yet, I’m kind of happy just watching this despite it really not being my usual kind of thing and despite the lack of an overall story (and usually by episode 3 the lack of a story is a death sentence for an anime on my watch list). And look, I made it to the end of this episode review with using that word.

Images from: How To Keep a Mummy. Dir. Kaori. 8Bit. 2018

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