It’s been a week… But, we’re here again. It’s also the mid-season gut check, where shows that aren’t making the grade get tossed overboard. There’s really only one candidate this season, and anyone who’s been reading knows the show and it’s probable fate…
So, let’s just hit the jump and dive right in shall we?
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 Scientific Railgun T Episode 18
OK… This episode did make clear that Indian Poker (I loathe that term) is pretty powerful and can have significant impact on a persons life… I just wish they hadn’t chosen such a cheesy way to demonstrate it.
It was interesting that Saten is caught up in Indian Poker, and not in over her head as she was with the Level Upper and Poltergeist/Sisters arcs. (At least, not so far.)
Deca-Dence Episode 5
As one era ends… another is born in blood and mourning. Kinda fancy wording, but it does sum up what I feel about the episode. And new era is appropriate I think, Kaburagi having passed the torch to Natsume. (Though I don’t think she realizes it yet.)
I’m also starting to wonder if the world the cyborgs inhabit isn’t virtual reality of some kind. A cyborg is a fusion of biological and artificial parts… And the world we’ve seen so far doesn’t seem to indicate that. You’d expect something more like individual that materialized at the end of the episode.
On the other hand, how did they suddenly materialize? Mysteries and enigmas.
I’ve probably spent way too long thinking about it, but then that’s something I enjoy doing. I like to look at how the stories are put together and try to spot the clues to what’s really going on. Basically, I think I may have stumbled onto a couple of theories that I’m going to lay out before the next episode airs.
Lynn at The Otaku Author also takes a swing at deciphering some of the show’s mysteries.
Note: I have watched episode 6, but I’m not sure what to think about it yet. I’ll take a swing at it next week.
Fruits Basket 2nd Season Episode 19
Tohru’s well of kindness and compassion seems infinite… And that’s a dang good thing, as Rin needs it. It was interesting so see Rin’s abandonment issues juxtaposed with Tohru’s… It’s been a while since they brought up her background, but it hasn’t been forgotten.
Lapis Re:LiGHTs TV Episode 6
The second of a two-parter, a great deal of faffing about with little plot progression… Culminating with yet another badly animated concert performance by yet another new group.
All the worldbuilding they did in the first and second episodes has been completely forgotten and wasted for four episodes now.
I am so done here. Dropped.
My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Climax Episode 5
(Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru. Kan)
No comment this week other than noting the show turns in it’s usual excellent performance… Oh, and the gauntlet has been thrown and Final Showdown between Yukino and Hachiman is underway. Two bullheaded people, probably perfect for each other, if they’d just let their defenses down just a little bit.
Essentially, he believes that it’s better to be hurt yourself if it means that others don’t get hurt. That, in an ordinary story, would be considered a good thing. Sad, sure, but heroic.
jernahblunt at Jonah’s Daily Rants takes a dive into Hachiman’s character to see what makes him tick and how he’s progressed over the course of the series.
Rent-A-Girlfriend Episode 5
(Kanojo, Okarishimasu)
So, looks like Mami is temporarily out of the picture. No doubt nursing her wounds and preparing for her next attack… She’s not going to bow out easily. Meanwhile, looks like Kazuya and Chiziru are reaching a kind of accommodation to their growing mutual interest. With the number of girls seen in the intro though, I sense a plot zig incoming… Which is kind of annoying, because they could do so much with just what they’ve already put on the table.
That being said… Creepy, predator grandma’s are very creepy. And hopefully there’s nothing else coming down the pike like that bath scene or the masturbation scene. I really want to like this series, but sometimes it makes itself very unlikable.
Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld: Part II Episode 5
I won’t deny that Eiji deserved a redemption arc. He’s an ass, but not actually a bad guy. (Folks motivated by love and poor self image rarely make good choices.) But this was a particularly bad place to insert his story. A good third of the episode was basically wasted on a side story that wasn’t even originally part of the source material. All of the fairly tight plotting and pacing of this season tossed out the window like it had never happened.
Either way, looks like Kirito is going to return to the stage momentarily… No doubt after a flashback/internal monologue episode. If they go that route, it’s going to have to be DAMM good to restore the momentum.
But, it’s not all bad… I love how they’ve been using the original SAO S1/S2 soundtrack these last few episodes, which have concentrated heavily on characters from SAO.
Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! Episode 5
(Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai!)
Not sure what to make of this episode. I kinda liked the slight increment of progress between our main not-quite-a-couple. I was less fond of the amount of time spent on side characters. As they tone down Uzaki and make her more appealing, they increase the annoyance of the side characters – and that’s not a step up by any means.
Also, I keep meaning to get some choco-mint ice cream! It’s pretty warm here, and it sounds awfully good. OTOH, I do have some Thin-Mints in the freezer… Thank heaven I stocked up the first time I saw them available, because they shut down the state the very next week.
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A day late and a dollar short… and I apologize for that. My new theory for getting back into my groove is to get something out each week to break the lack-of-consistency problem. Once I can do that, then I can up my game and eventually get back to where I was.
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Anyhow, drop a comment with your thoughts on this week and let’s chat! Have a good one and see you next week!
Apprentice Mages Lounge. 
Thanks for the mention. I haven’t seen episode 6 yet. Hoping to fit it in tonight and have all my theories validated… lol!
Also starting to wonder how Fruits Basket is this good. The author must have made some sort of pact with an otherworldly being.
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Episode 6 is making me re-think some things… Every time I think I have a handle on it, Deca-Dence takes a detour. It makes for interesting watching, but it’s also a bit wearying in ways.
FruBa, yeah.
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As an aside, I don’t always read the comments on shows I don’t watch, but I sometimes do. It’s rather interesting to read about concepts or characters and to have only a vague idea of what you’re talking about. With Railgun, for example, pretty much the only thing I can place is “sisters arc”, and that only vaguely.
Now, Deca-Dence. I don’t have much confidence in the story or world building, to be honest. It’s intuitive, but I’m leaning back and taking things as they come rather than speculate as I normally would with SF. I do like the characters, but not enough for them to carry the show. Pipe makes a fun mascot for the show, though.
As for Fruits Basket, yeah, their foregrounding Tohru’s issues more and more, and as far as I can tell people in this show need to solve their own problems, but not alone, and in a show with relationships as messed up as in this one, that’s like navigating a swamp. And now there’s the Rooster – Arisa angle, too, as if things weren’t complex enough. It feels like popping a boil, to be honest.
Oregairu I’m not really getting into this season. I no longer have the problem that I can’t follow. Some episodes are excellent, but many (including this one IMO) are just shifting the pieces around. I can’t tell whether season 2 just dealt with very personal stuff for me, or if I’ve changed. It’s not bad at all, but it doesn’t draw me in reliably.
It’s hardly a surprise to see Lapis gone. I’m fine with it, but that’s about the best I can say. I dislike awful CGI perormances as much as ever, and they’re becoming more frequent. I find the show entertaining but fogettable; it really isn’t in any sort of danger of being dropped for me.
Rent-a-Girlfriend is… annoying. I’m actually in favour of the masturbation scene, or… I would be if the show weren’t such a standard rom-com in the usual presentation. It’s as if the show takes things seriously but doesn’t quite know how to work around genre constrictions to make it effective. As for the grandmas… I’m wondering if they know it’s a lie but are playing at match making anyway, calling their bluff. It makes me wonder about the generational gap and arranged marriage culture. Once again, though, the rom-com standards are holding the show back. It doesn’t feel subversive enough, so that groping stuff feels like standard creepy fanservice. A show that doesn’t live up to its potential. (And, yeah, all the girls in the opening are likely going to strenthen the harem feel of the show. Not looking forward to that.)
And Uzaki-chan… yeah, I’m not sure I like the direction the peanut gallery is going in. As for choco-mint… I only really know After Eight, but I like those on occasion.
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re:Deca-Dence, the characters aren’t bad… But the unstable nature of the world is a bit wearying. You can only lean on “everything you knew was wrong” so many times before the story crumbles. The more I think about it, the more it bothers me.
re:Lapis I don’t insist that every show be one for the ages… And taken from a high level, there’s nothing there that’s not in my wheelhouse… I just object to the bait-and-switch they’ve pulled. The first two eps laid the foundations for one kind of show, and subsequent episodes have been very different. Now they’re doing nothing but introducing the waifu for the yet-to-be announced gatcha game. (And you know how much large, ill-defined casts irritate me.)
Rent-A-Girlfriend, yeah. It wants to be good, better than it is, but won’t actually do anything to make it happen.
Had to look up After Eight, those look good.
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