Another week is done and a lot has happened in the world of some of our anime characters and not so much has really happened in others. Nonetheless, here are my thoughts on this week's episodes and the favorite of this week goes to one near and dear to my heart.
MONDAY
AKAGAMI NO SHIRAYUKI-HIME EP. 5 | While I want to say nothing really happens in this week's episode, that'd be a lie. Something significant does happen, but that's only until the last 4 minutes of the show. The remainder of the episode is more about fleshing out Zen and Shirayuki's characteristics and traits to each other--things we've seen in every episode really (aka Zen is a very outstanding prince in his care and compassion towards the soldiers, Shirayuki is very intelligent but also obsessively dedicated and selfless where it leads to her neglecting her own needs). The last few moments of the episode is given the twist. We finally meet Zen's older brother, aka the crown prince. While the previews seem to hint at him being arrogant, it'd be nice to see the crown prince actually being worthy for the throne, y'know? If not, I have this feeling that the over arching plot to this story is Zen becoming king eventually, overthrowing his brother by favor of the people and while that's great too, I'm tired of that trope.
JITSU WA WATASHI WA EP. 5 | The struggles of a vampire trying not to get a massive tan is real y'all especially in this episode. If you thought Shiragami couldn't get any cuter, well, be prepared because she totally does. I enjoyed all the little twists they had from the vampire mythology (crosses, garlic, etc.) My favorite was learning more about Shiragami's family. I was actually surprised that her mother was a human and the brief glimpse we see of her dad seems like he's some yakuza of the vampire/werewolf world which is mighty awesome. And while he seems ruthless in destroying Shiragami's high school life, I bet you anything he's just actually a very doting parent. I hope to officially meet Shiragami's parents, especially when they learn of Asahi's relationship with their daughter. Next is the introduction of the werewolf, so this should be good.
WEDNESDAY
JUNJOU ROMANTICA 3 EP. 5 | This particular arc of Junjou really hits home for me as being a fresh graduate still trying to look for a job, especially wanting one in the publishing field. Watching Misaki's interview process and his own worries made me equally anxious. I can only hope that his happy ending is something I can also achieve in my actual life. It'd be truly amazing for me to be an editor as well and help make, produce and shape books and share to the reading community. Moving along with other parts of the episode, it was so great to see Usagi in such a supportive role for Misaki--trying to offer him the comfort he needs. But, of course in typical Usagi fashion, he later gets jealous and irritated of baby Mahiro. Child meets actual child. The whole time I was like "Usagi plz." While nothing huge happened persay besides Misaki landing the job, it was still a refreshing episode or maybe one I found way too relatable. Next episode is another Romantica episode which marks the halfway point through the season. I'm still waiting for an Egoist plot since they were my second favorite couple!
ORE MONOGATARI!! EP. 18 | DID YOU HEAR A SCREAM COMING FROM ACROSS THE WORLD? If you did hear that blood curdling sound, that was most definitely me being stabbed by sheer joy and relief and excitement. OreMo's episode has stolen the highlight of the week. The beauty of this show is its realistic nature while still being comedic. So, while the pacing for true romantic developments seemed slow, by the end of it, the result becomes a more than satisfying reward. It had probably been about 4 or 5 episodes since an attempted kiss (the beach episode) and finally seeing it becoming realized by these two made my heart combust because we see both perspectives. Yamato struggles with her selfishness in the relationship, but still wants to be bold--something different in such a cutesy and petite girl. Takeo is a quintessential gentleman and paces their relationship with a bit of innocence and naivety. So, throughout the show, while you see these ideals of kissing clash against one another. And when they did kiss (NOT ONCE BUT TWICE), it was so gratifying to see--granted the first time around was not nearly as romantic and a bit one sided than it should have been. I'm so pleased with OreMo's progress. I was so worried that we wouldn't get a kiss until the finale so this was a definite surprise. The episode was not without its try and true comedy which just added to the beauty of the kiss finally happening. Shout out to Suna who not only helped Yamato and Takeo, but who had to be traumatized in the process.
HIMOUTO! UMARU-CHAN EP. 6 | It's summer vacation for Umaru and we get snippets of her daily summer routines. I don't think I can stress enough how much I relate to Umaru. I like that the show is venturing more into the brother's work and daily life now since he's a very important person to the show's dynamics besides Umaru herself. My favorite bit of the episode was the scene in the apartment with Umaru blasting the a/c and the brother suffering under the intense heat. That entire part was exactly me two weeks ago under the humid California weather. I would have shown that to my sister because she thought I was being dramatic groaning about the heat.
THURSDAY
RANPO KITAN: GAME OF LAPLACE EP. 6 | After the roller coaster of emotion that was last week's episode of Ranpo Kitan, the show did a good job of making episode 6 a filler because I don't know if my heart would have been able to take more of the pain. The filler did a good job of comedic relief in the brief air time of the show. We are once again seeing the Shadow Man and his little problem of having a bomb strapped to him and left in front of the agency's door step along with a stray cat and an abandoned baby. Who would've known that Akechi was good with babies but horrible with cats? It was a good lighthearted episode despite the glaring issue of the bomb. I laughed throughout and it really did set my mind at ease. Of course, that was all torn to shreds with the after credits scene where we see Kagami in prison talking to his partner who reveals the more serious issue. Twenty Faces has officially become a movement, and a dangerous one at that despite its relatively good intents. I LOVE THIS MORALLY GRAY AND AMBIGUOUS AND NOW CRUMBLING WORLD. GIVE ME MORE! However, one question that has been popping into my head with the start of this Twenty Faces arc is whether or not the original criminal is still alive? Will he be making an appearance in the show any time soon?
GATE: JIETAI KANOCHI NITE, KAKU TATAKAERI EP. 6 | I've come to realized that my weird endearance for this show is rooted in the contrast of modern military technology placed in a medieval magical setting (that apparently still can't really defeat advanced technology). It was such a thrill to see the choppers come in with guns blazing and just take care of the invading bandit army in one fell swoop while also instilling fear in Princess Pina Co Lada. Likewise, I thought it was a nice touch of the SDF's prisoners of war ethics versus the other world's ethics despite the brutal massacre that the princess basically witnessed. It is because of our capabilities to kill so many people that treating others humanely enemy or not becomes more vital and I think that's what drove the end home for me. The animation was smooth throughout this episode and Gate's artists making the scene in sync with Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" was beautiful. Granted the song is a cliche military theme song for films and television shows and it was kind of cheesy how the leading officer basically told his assistant to drop the beat in the middle of flying over there; I still appreciated it nonetheless. Throw in some classical orchestra music and well timed animation sequences and you've basically captured my heart. Rory's fight scene was also a thing of beautiful grace even though its so dark in nature. If they had paired that with some sort of classical song, that would have been wonderful too. This was a good episode and I'm excited what next week has to offer.
SATURDAY
DURARARA!!X2 TEN EP. 6 | I'll just start off by saying that this episode of Durarara might have been underwhelming, but I'm still going to appreciate it for setting up something grander in the future (or at least that's what I'm hoping). Episode 6 focuses on Hijibe Ruri and her very very creepy stalker who likes cutting out pictures of her head and pasting it on dinosaur cut outs which totally makes sense, right? I enjoyed this episode as it develops more of Ruri's background, more than what we saw last season. Likewise, there's a distinct parallel in Celty's life with Ruri's life and I think that was the star point of the episode no matter how brief it was. We are shown Ruri being dissected by these bored rich people who have nothing better to do, screaming back to Celty's more calm and amicable agreement of being dissected in the very first season. The contrast is clear that while the scenes are essentially the same, there is an entirely different meaning and different consequences to it as they form and shape the person (i.e. Ruri becoming Hollywood, the serial killer). The ending of the episode definitely made me scream. Shinra being beat up by the stalker is making me so worried. Celty or someone needs to come help him before it's too late and that stalker needs to be diced to pieces. I'm guessing from the brief glimpses of the hospital that we do see in the previews, this may or may not affect Celty in a good way. Though, if she does lash out and embodies the darkness of death I am totally up for that.
WORKING!!! EP. 6 | THE FIRST FINALLY IN THE THIRD SEASON! Yamada finally meets Yamada (or a brother and sister are finally reunited after a season and a half). I really wasn't expecting for this to actually happen before everything else, though it is the easiest to deal with. This development has given me a surge or hope that Satou and Yashiro will get together by the end of the series. If I had a dying wish, it'd be this. My favorite part of the episode beside that reunion was Yamada and Souma teaming together. Yamada being the main star of the episode for once made me pleasantly happy and uncontrollably laughing. I'm crossing my fingers to see what's next for Working!!!.
ROKKA NO YUUSHA EP. 6 | Episode 6 continues where the last left off with Adlet being dug under. I'm glad that this episode didn't resolve the mystery of who the seventh is and now we, according to Adlet's theory, have to keep an eye out for an eighth person too. Watching the interrogation that took up the first half of the episode made me extremely nervous and anxious. I wanted Adlet to convince the others somehow that he really didn't do it because he couldn't have. But, unfortunately that didn't turn out well in his favor. Adlet Mayer is the strongest man not the smartest man in the world after all. I have a feeling that Mora might be the seventh given that she seems to be the natural leader of the group right now and those who everyone least suspects is the one that is most likely the source. This episode also gave us a brief glimpse of Adlet as a young boy and I smell major tragic past. If you know me well, tragic characters are kind of my thing so this may be dangerous for my heart. I hope that the show further delves into that background more (and I'm sure it will).
SUNDAY
ARSLAN SENKI EP. 18 | While last episode I complained about the cardboard cut out villains Arslan seemed to have with the Shindra arc, this episode redeemed itself by offering Rajendra as a great antagonist, someone who is such a performer that he fools himself and who tries to trick people that he becomes predictable. It was such a thrill to see Rajendra's con being foiled by Narsus. This is a relatively short review, but that was the main key point of the episode that I felt seemed to stand out the most. With Arslan returning to Pars now, I can't wait to see the main battle pick up again and perhaps figure out more about his lineage.
GANGSTA EP. 6 | It might have been a dangerous thing reading the manga before watching the anime. However, in my defense, when I read the manga, it was long before the anime announcement came out so I couldn't have stopped myself even if I tried. Because of this, I seem to see the failings of the anime in comparison to the manga. While I don't mean to compare the two, it just naturally happens. This particular episode featured more of Nicolas' and Worick's past. While it was still great, having them as consistent flashbacks throughout the episode really takes away from the emotional impact it could have. I don't know what the animation was lacking. It might have been the expressiveness of the facial features or just the general mood and tone set up through the manga that made it much more poignant but I just didn't feel as sad for the storyline compared to when I read it uninterrupted. Okay, onto a more positive note, I'm just glad to see Alex being developed a bit more, even if it's just the briefest of scenes. Now, we get to see Alex finally folding into Benriya through Worick whose pain and suffering of his childhood parallels Alex's abuse during her time with Barry. Now, I'm prepared to witness the healing affects that they'll all have on each other, especially with Nicolas and Alex. I'm a shipper and I'm totally not sorry for it.
*So this took a while to type out. Do you guys like me reviewing all the shows I watch or would you prefer to only read reviews of episodes I found really good or really bad? Since this is still fairly new, I'd be more flexible with changing stuff around. Please, let me know!
No comments:
Post a Comment