Winter 2020 – Week 8/9

Another two week marathon!  Hit the jump and let’s see and talk about what’s happened.  (Hint: I dropped a show, can you guess which one?)

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.

Asteroid in Love (Koisuru Asteroid)  Episode 7

I think this was supposed to be Inose’s character episode, but she never really took center stage.  The story of her settling in as President of the Earth Science club kinda played second fiddle to Ao’s activities.  Said activities were charming as heck though…  I love the way she gently drew out the student’s interest in the stars.

Speaking of Ao, seems there’s a bit of bad news they haven’t let us in on…  and which she is avoiding telling Mira.  (I bet she’s moving, that’s usual way of such things in anime.)

Episode 8

Kind of a chill episode…  Concentrating on Christmas, memories of the events so far…  And then they finally drop the hammer, Ao is indeed moving.

But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel!  Mira’s older sister is moving out to go to college, so she suggests that Ao move in with them!  I have to admit I’ve never seen that before in an anime, so I’m curious to keep how they play it.

BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense  Episode 7
(Itai no wa Iya nano de Bougyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu.)

Filler maybe?  I mean it was charming as heck, Bofuri would have to work at it to miss that target, but much of the episode was basically set up for what I’m guessing will be the final big arc.

Watching Kasumi’s gentle exasperation with Kaede being her usual airhead self made me chuckle.

The back half of the episode though…  Kaede acquiring yet another OP skill through a dubious quest chain, yah, par for the course.  But the PK guild at the end, that’s a LOT darker than Bofuri has been previously.

Episode 8

The event is underway…  And wisely the other members of Maple Tree leave Kaede to her own devices.  (She can’t really keep up with them on the hunt…)    Of course, she stumbles into a new quest and aquires new skills – among them the ability to become some kind of giant mecha.

Kaede being Kaede has worked gangbusters so far, but at least to me now they seem to have gone right up to the edge.  I just didn’t care for the fantasy-to-steampunk shift.  That Kaede is horrified as hell is a good sign…  Kinda feels like a make-or-break point for how I’ll regard the season.

If My Favorite Pop Idol Made it to the Budokan, I Would Die  Episode 7-8
(Oshi ga Budoukan Ittekuretara Shinu)

These two episode can usefully be summed up in two words: “Finally!  Progress!”

The key here is in ep 8…  Eripyo finally gives voice to her feelings and makes them clear to Maina.  She’s embarrassed that they’re out there, but noticeably she doesn’t even try to take them back.  For her part, Maina finally openly admits (at least to herself) that she has feelings for Eripyo.  She’s bound by her own nature and the iron strictures of being an idol, but she does take the only step she can – she moves closer to Eripyo during the photo op.  She’s finally admitted her feelings, at least to herself.  That alone is a huge step.

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! (Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasuna!)  Episode 8

That was… Magnificent! Fantastic!  (And any number of other superlatives.)

Love the heck out of the “chase scene” and just how enthusiastic the Robot Club was in support of Eizouken.  Yah, sure, they’re involved too.  But I still think they went above and beyond.

At first I didn’t think I cared much for how easily the Mizusaki’s capitulated to Tsubame’s “disobedience”…   But the more I thought about it, the more it made perfect sense.  They aren’t strict after all, and little miscommunication between them and overzealous employees easily explains the end result.

This…  says it all.  They’ve been through the fire together.  They’ve brought their vision to life.  That’s a bond beyond friendship.

Episode 9

At last!  A Kanamori focused episode!

Turns out she’s had a head for business since she was very young…  And that’s leading her to push Midori and Tsubame to work within their means and stay on track.

That being said, I’m glad she’s not a caricature of the type!  She cares for her partners and seems to genuinely want them to produce the best they can within the limits imposed on them.  She’s compassionate when she can afford to be, hard nosed when she must be.  And generally bordering on being unpleasant most of the time…  Even as she accepts  compromise as a necessity, does she chafe under it?

A highlight of the episode was when Kanamori laid out her social media strategy.  That reveals her true head for business as she’s not focused only the short term.  She’s got an entire strategy worked out, and it all fits together to flow towards logical conclusions.  This also shows that’s she’s not mired in “old school” ways, which contrasts with Midori and Tsubame.

I think the only thing I didn’t care for is the shift towards totally-not-Comiket.  I guess that’s inescapable as it stands at the head of nerd culture in Japan and it would be unrealistic to ignore it.

Magia Record: Mahou Shoujo Madoka★ Magica Gaiden
(Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story)

Never could bring myself to watch Ep 7, and was even less interested in watching Ep 8.  Peeked ahead at the ANN reviews, and saw nothing to sway me or restore my flagging interest in the series.

Dropped at 6 episodes.

My Hero Academia 4th Season  Episode 19-20

Not without it’s good parts, but I’d guess I’d still have to tag these episodes as “mostly filler”.   I enjoyed Bakugo’s emphatic moment, once again reminding us that there’s much more to him than his violent exterior persona.

Can’t say I’m enamored of La Brava though.  I’ve never been fond of the “sniveling suck up side kick” stereotype.  Can’t say I’m enamored of Gentle Criminal either…  They’re really leaning into this “the hero system has broken down” plotline, and I’m not seeing how bearding the dragon in it’s lair is helping here.  Yeah, yeah, I know – the real reason is to put Class 1-A front and center again.

Room Camp (Heya Camp△)  Episode 8

I honest-to-$DIETY never though I’d say this…  But a Camp episode that I didn’t care for in the least.  Changing the trickster from Chiaki to Aoi just didn’t work for me.

But it does look like there’s a hook being set to bring Rin and the other girls together for at least one ep before the end of the series.  That’s a good thing.  A very good thing indeed.

Episode 9

With cameos from Saitou, Sensei and her sister…  We’ve now pretty much seen all the characters except Sakura (Nadeshiko’s older sister).  Oh!  And Chikuwa!  How can I forget him!  Either way, a fun episode indeed.

Where there is Ena, there are Rin-buns.  Room Camp doesn’t miss a call-back beat.  Not objecting to that one bit, like many of you I could swim for a long time in the ocean of More Of The Same.  There’s not anime in that category.

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There you have it, a belated week 8 and a week 9.  Did you guess which show I dropped?  Hit the reply button and let’s chat!