Busy week with many surprising developments and reveals in a lot of shows! Hit the jump, and let’s dive right in!
The shows that I am watching are in bold, shows my wife and I are watching together are in bold italics, strikethrough marks dropped shows and (*) marks shows that are watched but not regularly reviewed.
(*) A Certain Magical Index III Episode 00 – Crunchy (ANN)
Endro~! Episode 7
This week’s episode can basically be divided into two parts… The first, which I didn’t really think much of because it rode it’s one joke straight into the ground. On the other hand… It nicely set up the second part. As we saw back in ep 5, the Princess is in love with the idea of Hero more than the reality of a person. But on her trip with Fai, she seems to have gotten a lot more grounded in reality… Not just from the less-than-pleasant experiences she endured, but in how she learned to appreciate Fai as herself rather than as an abstract member of the Hero’s Party.
For a lightweight show, Endro does show some surprising depth now-and-again.
Zeria at Floating into Bliss has an interesting take on Endro‘s worldbuilding and some of the possible flaws thereof: On Cyclicality and Stasis in Endro.
Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka / Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka Episode 7
Is it just me, or did this episode feel like a bit of filler/holding pattern? Other than introducing Magical Girl Phoenix Tamara, we didn’t really learn anything new or progress the plot much.
Doing a little research on Japanese MRE‘s I found that weiner (Vienna sausage) curry is actually a thing… I love Japanese curry rice (karē raisu), but I haven’t had Vienna sausage in probably thirty years and I doubt I’d care for them today. Not at all sure I want to try the combination.
(*) My Roommate is a Cat / Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue
Run with the Wind / Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru
Episode 18
“Haiji is basically knighting all of his warriors before the final battle” – beautifully simple and oh so true.
Episode 19
I don’t have much to say beyond that I loved how they structured this episode… Swapping between the flashbacks as Haiji briefs the individual runners and being inside their head in the now as they ran was darn near perfect. Jotaro got a bit of short shrift in that respect, but did get considerable character development that has been lacking before – a fair trade. It also looks like we may have finally seen Hana reveal her feelings…
But… Damn, damn, damn. That PV. Wind has trolled us in the PV’s before, but… Damn.
Sword Art Online: Alicization Episode 19
An interesting juxtaposition between Alice’s salvation… and Eugeo’s seduction. (To the dark side – what did you think I meant?)
(*) That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Episode 00 – Crunchy (ANN)
The Price of Smiles / Egao no Daika Episode 8
Is anyone else a little confused here? I’m a little confused here. It’s not like Princess Yuuki’s tactical acumen and strategic prowess haven’t been foreshadowed… But when we last saw her, she was willing to sacrifice herself to prevent further bloodshed and was raging against being kidnapped to prevent her from doing so. When did she go from resigned pacifist to level clearing badass? I feel a little like they’ve skipped something here.
As we move into the second half, the role of the Princess is a growing crack in the show’s basic structure. She’s a main character, so they can’t really ignore her. But they don’t really seem to know what to do with her either. Maybe there’s a larger pattern I’m not seeing or hasn’t been revealed yet. (Smiles certainly loves its sudden turns of the card.)
As to the matter of the new chrars… It’s interesting that Izana sent the data directly to the Princess. (We’d been shown earlier in the episode that the truth of the terrorist attack that took her parents had been kept from her.) Equally interesting, what’s been kept hidden in the Kingdom appears to be common knowledge (at least among the higher-ups) in the Empire.
THE PROMISED NEVERLAND / Yakusoku no Neverland Episode 7
Allying with Sister Krone is… working out to be an idea with mixed blessings. At the end of the day, she’s out for herself and nobody else. And she’s as smart as the kids, and far more experienced and knowledgeable.
Why is she more experienced and knowledgeable? Because the Sisters and Mothers are exactly what I’ve long suspected – they’re Ray, all grown up.
Alex at The Afictionado wrote an interesting essay: The Promised Neverland and the (Horrifying!) Ideal of Pure Childhood, which compares the growth of the idea of “childhood” in Victorian England and how that symbology plays out in Neverland.
The Quintessential Quintuplets / 5 Toubun no Hanayome Episode 7
Loved the heck out of this episode… Nicely paced, especially the reveals at the end… And who would have thought that it was Nino who would save the day? Is she entering the race, or acting as wingwoman? Time will tell!
If you haven’t, you should read Wing King’s Quintessential Quintuplets: Breaking Down the Contestants (published earlier this week here on the Lounge). Fun look at all the girls and their chances with Futaro.
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Important news on the blogging front: Starting next week and running through May, I’ll be taking a photography class during the day on Tuesday… And that’s obviously going to cut into my blogging time as Tuesday is usually one of the days I work the hardest on that week’s entry. It’s taught by a well-known local photographer and teacher, and only once a year or every other year, so I need to grab this chance while it’s here.
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So, how did your week go? Drop a comment and let’s chat!
Apprentice Mages Lounge. 
I’m a little behind on most shows after last week but what I watched was good and Run With The Wind just keeps getting better.
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Couldn’t agree more… Even if next week does turn dark, I’m still probably going to like it because the execution is just so good.
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“Haiji is basically knighting all of his warriors before the final battle” – agreed! It’s a beautiful way of putting exactly what that episode was all about. Run with the Wind just keeps getting better and I’m here for the ride until the end!
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Those are Nick’s words, not mine! I just quoted them because they were so perfect. :)
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Run with the Wind reminds me again how important bodylanguage is for characterisation. When Haiji apologised to Prince, that head-tilt, before they cut away was just so perfectly him, and it’s amazing to be able to say that about an animated character. Character design and animation does a lot of work in this show. I’m fully involved again. What a great show.
I’m still not sure about Price of Smiles. At this point I probably will say the same thing after the story finishes. Heh. Yuki doesn’t bother me much. Her strategy is definitely compatible with her pacifism; hit-and-run and wear them out, while minimising casualties on both sides. It’s also the weakpoint in the strategy, as we’ve seen at the end. It undermines the morale of her generals, and it also gives the opponent time to adjust. In a vague sense, it’s all about what it means to smile (being sheltered from the truth? a neurotic coping mechanism?). Yuuki’s flowers are important here, and we’ve seen Stella notice them. There’s also a day/night symbolism in their names: Yuuki Soleil/Stella Shining. It’s definitely a consistent show. I’m just not sure how well that works for me.
Also, I’ve decided to drop Asuka. I’m done. The good parts are to few, and just don’t care about anything that happens. From episode one, I wasn’t fond of the villains, and that hasn’t changed. It also seems to be the typical anime-take on trauma: something you have to just power through so you can go on doing what you do. It’s not as bad as Your Lie in April, though, where the attitude ruined the show for me. I’m not dropping it because of that; I’m dropping it out of sheer boredom.
And I still like Endro. At this point, I’m confident they know what they’re doing, and it’s just fun to watch.
As for Slime, I like the change of setting, but our Slime winning everone over far too easily is becoming increasingly tiresome. The thing is, though, I’m charmed, too. Heh.
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Can’t say I’m surprised at you dropping Asuka, you haven’t been happy with it for a while. I’m not a huge fan (there’s a number of niggling plot holes), but I’m OK with it.
Over at Karandi’s blog I described this week’s episode of Slime as “all the worst tropes Slime has on offer all in one charming package”. (Or something like that.)
It’s not Yuuki herself that bothers me in Smiles… It’s just that something appears off in the shift. Why the generals even trust her after her attempted surrender? And it’s not like they haven’t disobeyed her or kept her in the dark before. The show just can’t make up it’s mind whether she’s a pawn or not.
And strong agreement on Wind… We’ve been a long time getting here, but to misquote Alton Brown – “our patience has been rewarded”. Probably the single best episode to date.
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Heh, that’s a great way to describe Slime.
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“Zeria at Floating into Bliss has an interesting take on Endro‘s worldbuilding and some of the possible flaws thereof:”
I think it’s cool that you reference other blogs like that.
“Is it just me, or did this episode feel like a bit of filler/holding pattern? ”
I’m not going to lie: I’m a little disappointed. But I’m finding a lot to like if I focus really hard. Though if the previews are any indication, I’m really concerned about the next episode.
“Doing a little research on Japanese MRE‘s I found that weiner (Vienna sausage) curry is actually a thing… ”
Now I kinda want to try it! I think.
“It’s taught by a well-known local photographer and teacher, and only once a year or every other year, so I need to grab this chance while it’s here.”
That sounds awesome! Bummer that it’ll affect your posting, but like you said, you have to grab the chance! You’ll have to show off your new skills when the class is over!
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Since Wiener Curry keeps coming up: I didn’t think twice about it, since we (in Austria) sometimes put them into a kind of ragout together with potatoes, dried and powdered bell peppers, onions and garlic (among other things). Also, Austria may be the only place in the world where their not called “Wiener”, but “Frankfurter”. Go figure.
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That sounds delicious!
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I’ve done a variety of interesting stews and whatnot with sausages… But the Vienna sausages mentioned in the MRE menu don’t taste all that great to start with. Next time we’re over at the oriental superstore in Seattle I’ll have to see if they have any from Japan and see what they’re like.
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Thanks! Yeah, there’s some stuff that I want to share more timely and in context than my Worth Reading posts provide.
Being self taught, I’m a little apprehensive going into the class, but I won’t get better if I don’t work on it.
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