Spring 2018 – Weeks 8-10, the speed run edition

Two weeks on hiatus, plus a certain amount of laziness on my part…  And now I’m really behind on my writing.  So, this week is going to mostly fast takes on what’s been happening with regular coverage resuming next week.  (Just in time for the first of the finales.)

The shows that I am watching are in bold, shows my wife and I are watching together are in bold italics.  Question marks denote shows not watched yet (during the premiere weeks), and strikethrough marks dropped shows.

3D Kanojo / Real Girl Eps 9-11

The ‘vacation cabin’ arc was decently done in an abstract sense, using the forced closeness and the breaking down of conventional social barriers to move the story along…  I could have done without the focus on secondary characters while allowing the main characters to fade into the background.

This week’s sort-of cliffhanger, I didn’t care for.  With the next episode being the finale, and Tsutsui and Iroha’s pending separation still to be dealt with…  It’s a bit late to be adding additional complications.  On the other hand, looking at the manga volume list I’m guessing the anime only covers the first half.  We may be looking at a full stop “read the manga” finale rather than a true ending and closure.

Comic Girls Eps 8-10

Comic Girls remains Comic Girls – with Kaos-chan remaining semi-incompetent and making little progress, even as the other girls in the dorm are making progress.

Crossing Time Eps 9-10

Ep 9, the first of a two parter set up an interesting scenario…  Ep 10 continued this, but then blew it in the final moments by inserting some awfully creepy notes.

Hinamatsuri Eps 8-10

Hinamatsuri is still going from strength to strength… Hitomi’s segments have been good, but the real joy was Anzu-chan’s segment this week.  It was fascinating to watch her very real desire to thank her adoptive parents lead her into error and greed – and then she owned her mistake and refused to make the horse a victim because of it.

Last week’s segment with Mao was funny as hell, especially with how neatly she nailed Hina and Anzu.  I’m very curious to see where they go with her, and there’s no doubt in my mind she’s the redhead we saw in the opening of the first ep.  (The one using a wooden effigy of Hina as a fighting weapon.)

My Hero Academia 3 /  Boku no Hero Academia 3 Eps 8-10 (Eps 46-48)

We’ve spent 45 episodes getting to this point…  And now, All For One is on stage.  We’re all set for a titanic battle next episode, or are we?  All through eps 9 and 10 I was sweating All Might’s time limit, and the previews for episode 11 show that we’re going to see the consequences of that next episode.

There’s also an interesting theme brought to the fore that nobody seems to have noticed…  Both All Might and All For One are working to establish and protect their apprentices and legacies.  I’m going to have to ponder on that a bit…  If you have any thoughts, be sure and drop a comment.

Working within the ongoing theme of “What makes a Hero” is was interesting to see them address the limits heros work under…  Not just the legal limits (the students not being able to fight), but the self-imposed moral limits – All Might not being willing to unleash his full powers with an innocent (Bakugou) in the line of fire.

Speaking of Bakugou, I was not at all surprised that he didn’t make a Face-Heel turn as many folks seemed to anticipate.  While it wouldn’t have been unusual or unheard of in terms of comic book plotting…   It would have turned his particular characterization on its head.  He’s been unwaveringly dedicated to the goal of being the Number One Hero since the very first episode.  He’s a violent asshole to be sure, but he’s a principled violent asshole and he’s given no indication of any tendency to falter in his dedication.

Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori Eps 7-9

I have made my peace with Rokuhoudou.  It hasn’t lived up to what I’d hoped it would be…  But it’s settled into a comfortable groove and doing a decent job there.

Over the last three weeks, I think Ep 8 (Espresso Espressivo, Gure’s backstory) was the best.  For a slice-of-life show with such a simple premise, Rokuhoudou has done some unexpectedly strong character work.  We still haven’t seen much of Tsubaki’s backstory yet though…  And the latest ep once again dropped hints about unresolved business in Sui’s past.  I hope that gets addressed before the season ends.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Eps 7-9

Is it just me, or has the pacing over these episodes been a bit off?  They spent two episodes spinning their wheels getting Karen/LLENN and Miyu/Fukaziroh into SJ2… and then wiped out the bulk of the participants in a single episode.  On the other hand, this massive wipeout allowed them to set Pito up as a sadistic badass.  They’d kinda hinted at this before, but now it’s clear.

I do question the sanity of the teams that assaulted PM4 en masse though… If I’d been in the game my main targets would have been LF (LLENN’s team) and/or SHINC (the gymnastics club).  Despite M’s tactical genius, it was plainly the Pink Devil that won SJ1 and SHINC came within a hair of beating her.  Plus anyone familiar with military tactics knows that it’s bleedin’ insane to attack uphill against a prepared enemy.

Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai / Tada Never Falls in Love Eps 8-10

Tada-kun finally remembers that it’s supposed to be about a romance between the two main characters – and picks up midstream as if it had being doing so all along.  Maybe they hoped the viewers wouldn’t notice?  I certainly did.  And it had all the impact of a wet noodle.

Now Tada is going to go all emo because Theresa-hime is gone, and it’s going to be hard to convince me to buy it.

On the other hand…  Watching Theresa-hime go all fangirly at the Rainbow Samurai was fun as hell.  But who is that old dude?  And why was he stalking Tada and Theresa-hime and helping her in the shooting game?  I’ve seen some folks theorize he’s the actual Rainbow Samurai (actor), but he strikes me as a bit young…  They are celebrating the show’s fortieth anniversary after all.  That would mean a fairly young man (twentysomething) playing the role back in the day.  Or he’s one king hell of a spry octogenarian.

It also seems to me that Theresa-hime bailed early.  Supposedly they’re spending a year in Japan, and that year seemed to start with the first episode.  Barely four months have gone by and she’s in the wind.  However from her point of view it makes sense to run now because staying longer may endanger her larger goal of being a responsible Queen.

Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Eps 10-12

Three episodes… two big races.  First up, Silence Suzuka’s return to racing, and she wins handily.  I was disappointed that once again we didn’t get a peek inside her head.  Despite being the show’s deuteragonist, overall we know less about her and she remains less well characterized than some of the secondary characters.  Next up, spread over two eps, Special Week’s big day and big win.  And another disappointment as (unusually) we didn’t see inside her head either.  The animation did a reasonable job of telling the story, but overall the race didn’t evoke the emotions some of the earlier ones did.  Instead, the race was told mostly from Broye’s point of view…  which didn’t work so well for me as she’d been airdropped into the series and we know nothing of significance about her.

Everything I can find shows there’s going to be a 13th ep, which I imagine will be mostly celebration/wrap-up.

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku Eps 6-9

Pretty much a standard series of outings that don’t drift far from the show’s central premise.  I do wonder why Hirotaka and Narumi were so hell-bent on having a “normal” date though.  Are they so used to hiding their true selves from the normies that they think their relationship isn’t real unless they have a “real” (read: normal) date?

=========

And there you have it – three weeks summarized as neatly as I can manage.  I apologize for being lazy and not having fuller write-ups.  Should be a straight shot from here though, my next planned hiatus isn’t until late Aug/early Sept.  (The county fair followed by a large SCA event that I’m on staff for.)

Next week, we see the first of the finales and I expect my season review towards the end of the month.  I’ve also got my Summer preview in work, and that should be out late next week or early the following week.

So, what are your thoughts on the shows or thoughts on my thoughts?  Drop a comment and let’s chat!