Well, the new computer is in and set up! But that doesn’t mean I’m done being frustrated. Something about Crunchyroll’s new website prevents me from taking proper screenshots… It’s *always* something. Anyhow, let’s dive in and chat about anime shall we?
The shows that I’m watching are in bold, shows my wife and I are watching together are in bold italics, strikethrough marks dropped shows and (*) marks shows with no comments this week.
Fruits Basket The Final (Crunchy) Episodes 10-11
*sigh* Right now I am so frustrated I don’t know if I can write. Went to Crunchy to collect the screenshots I already knew I want to use as springboards… And their damm new player won’t let me take screenshots. Regardless of the method I try, they come out blank/black.
Anyhow. Episode 10 was good, what with Kyo and Yuki finally baring their souls and speaking the truth to each other.
But Episode 11… Pure. Freakin’. Magic. Kyo confessing his sins and his love to Tohru. Kyo and Tohru embracing – without him becoming the Cat. Kyo destroying his bracelet – without becoming a monster. Folks, I damm near cried. I suspect many watchers did.
And then the quiet epilogue… Telling the true history of the Zodiac and the eternal banquet. Masterful.
HIGEHIRO (Crunchy) Episodes 10-11
Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway
Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikosei wo Hirou.
Episode 10 put a bit of missing context into place… Sayu was lonely and without friends because her mother kept her isolated. Thinking back, I think the whole narrative arc might have worked better if episodes 9 and 10 were swapped… Putting the recollections into chronological order.
Going straight from Yuuko’s suicide to Sayu facing down her memories would have made episode 11 hit even harder… And it would have kept the focus on the proximate cause of her running rather than jumping about a bit as it did.
I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level (Crunchy)
Episodes 9-10
I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level
Slime Taoshite 300-nen, Shiranai Uchi ni Level Max ni Nattemashita
OK, now this series is just a parody of itself. Not that it had to try that hard…
And the video’s title is LOL funny…
Also check out: Ranking The Anime Girls of Slime 300 From Worst to Best from 100 Word Anime.
Note: Laika Best Girl.
(*) Let’s Make a Mug Too (Crunchyroll) Episodes 10-11
Yakunara Mug Cup Mo
Mashiro no Oto (Crunchy) Episodes 10-11
Those Snow White Notes
Wow. Setsu’s family problems run deeper than Umeko trying to run his life. Seems he also has a father that’s also a control freak. He wants Setsu to inherit his school of samisen! Not that Setsu has shown any promise as a sensei/master… I get the impression that the club’s performance owes much more to Rai overall.
Meanwhile, all Setsu wants to do is sort out his complicated relationship with his grandfather and carve his own path into the future. He’s not necessarily opposed to the idea of that future being shaped around the samisen mind you… He just absolutely hates being told what to do. That’s not helped by one of the complications in his relationship with Matsugoro – his often cryptic statements on the nature of a personal sound and it’s development. These are leaving Setsu tied in emotional knots. To the detriment of his playing, which is almost entirely controlled by his emotional state.
My Hero Academia Season 5 (Crunchy) Episode 11/12
Boku no Hero Academia 5
Not much to say here about these two weeks… Not much happened that was unexpected or not foreshadowed.
What’s the over/under that Shinso ends up in Class 1-A? It’s a shame either way. 1-A has too many characters already, and 1-B is (in terms of story time) barely even as has been. I hope he doesn’t end up being shoved aside after being developed so interesting.
Episode 12 (episode 100)… Episode 100 is, to me, a Really Big Deal. Me, I’d have a done a clip show or arranged for a high drama episode… Something other than a fairly pedestrian transition episode.
Super Cub (Funimation) Episode 10
This is the type of Super Cub episode I’ve come to enjoy the most… Not much in the way of plot or exposition or anything else except Koguma and Reiko derping around on their Cubs. Watching them at play in the snow was just 110% fun and emphasizes just how far Koguma has come over the course of the series.
That cliffhanger though… That zigs the show into an entirely unexpected direction.
Super Cub (Funimation) Episode 11
Koguma, no. Someone who has laid in water cold enough to make you wince when you step in it needs to go straight to the emergency room. Heck, someone who’s fallen and can’t move should only be moved by trained professionals.
Other than that and leaning a little heavy into the wonderfulness that is a Super Cub, this was a fun episode. It really shows how much Koguma values and depends on her new-found friends. She’s come a long, long way from the loneliness and isolation in the first episode. And the reveal that she envied Shii was a bit out of left field, but works well to illustrate that.
Dawnstorm, what was the piece of music over the rescue? That was a really good piece.
So I’m a Spider, So What? (Crunchy) Episodes 21-22
Kumo desu ga, Nanika?
With the plot in the middle of two battles, separated by fifteen years, we’re building towards a climax… But I’m not sure what or how. Two episodes left, will the close the gap? How?
I’m just not seeing it. I have this sinking feeling we’re headed towards an inconclusive “our battle goes on” ending.
Also a shout-out to my lovely bride… Who noted the changes to Ariel’s personality and correctly identified the cause a couple of weeks before it was revealed onscreen.
Speaking of Ariel… I wonder if there’s something of her in Kumoko in the future? I just keep getting this niggling feeling that she’s somehow behind the events in the human side timeline.
Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song (Funimation) Episodes 11-12
Frankly… Vivy is just a complete mess now. It’s only after the hundred year journey that our main characters find out that their enemy (the Archive) has been there all along. (And it’s been working to undo Vivy and Matsumoto’s efforts…) Given the order of events in the original timeline (way back in the first episode), that does make sense. It just seems cheap.
And what even cheaper is how they’re padding the episode count our main characters, having already failed once, get another bite at the apple… courtesy of a second trip back in time. And speaking of getting another bite, the whole plot hinges on Vivy re-discovering what Diva already discovered – what it means to “sing with your heart”.
If that sounds grumpy, that’s partly because I’m in a bad mood. Also partly because I am seriously disappointed at how far this series has fallen from it’s early promise.
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So, as I said, I’d hoped to include more screenshots… But something about Crunchyroll’s @#$%^& Beta website prevents taking screenshots. No matter what method I try – they come out with the anime portion being black/blank.
But Funimation’s works just fine…
So, instead, most of the images in the post will be the slice-of-life/catchup portion that I usually put down here at the end of the post.
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Finally, the pandemic restrictions are easing… and got a chance to go over the Seattle to shop and stock up on stuff that’s hard to get over here. And I’ll be dammed if I’ll pay $7.50 and shipping for stuff I can get for $3.00 + tax over in Seattle.
First stop was Uwajimaya, a pan-Asian megamart. That miso up in the upper right is amazing… I always thought ‘sweet’ was just a label for ‘light’, but nope! It’s actually sweet. I dunno what I’m going to do with it, but I can’t wait to figure it out.
The next stop was Daiso, a Japanese dollar store for snacks and some dishware.
I’m studying Japanese menu construction – Ichiju Sansai (One Soup, three dishes) and I needed the proper serving dishes.
Whenever we’re over in Seattle on a shopping trip, or can spare the time, Krispy Kreme is an absolute Must Stop. I grew up in the town they were founded in, so it’s a huge nostalgia/comfort thing.
Driving home… I could see these steam plumes in Tacoma from the highway. Absolutely had to get closer and get some shots. (This is from my cell phone, haven’t processed the shots from the big camera yet.)
The nice part of having a new computer… You start with a nice clean screen, even after installing all the “Must Have” programs. And yes, I’m lame, that’s key art from Sound Euphonium 2. I rarely change my backgrounds, cover pics, or userpics.
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So – what food is nostalgic for you? What does your desktop or lock screen look like? What do you think of this week’s episodes? Drop a comment and let’s chat!
Apprentice Mages Lounge. 
There is a buffet chain that operates under several different names, but I’ve always known them as Old Country Buffet. I love their carrot cake!! But the one near me closed many years ago, and so I would take a trip once or twice a year to a city with one, sometimes even buying a cake to go. But that one closed too! If I ever stumble across one again, I’m just going to go in and eat carrot cake, forget the rest of the food! Haven’t found any carrot cake I like as well, as a lot of places add like pineapple or nuts or whatever to it, and I don’t like those.
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I love Old Country Buffet! There are several over in the big city and we try to stop by when we can.
Actually, I love buffets in general… There are a couple of decent Asian buffets around that go to a couple of times a year. (Or did before the last year…)
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@Super Cub: Yeah, I really wasn’t happy with the way they treated the rescue. And then, to top it off, she put her into the basket upfront (after they dedicated quite some time to the need for a windshield, too, and here we have a wet passenger). As for the piece, I didn’t recognise it. Not even sure if I heard it before. I asked my mum, and she says its familiar (only a certain passage triggered recognition), but she doesn’t know what it is either. Some parts remind me of Bach, but I fancy I heard dissonances used in a way that would hint at much later (I’m hardly an expert), and most of the stuff I did recognise was 19th Century/early 20th Century stuff. I didn’t recognise all that much. Twice Debussy, once Chopin (I think, I’m not sure I remember this correctly), once Liszt. If I’m not forgetting anything, that’s all I recognised.
@Higehiro: I was actually fine with the sequence. I like having a breather between the punches to let things settle and I don’t mind learning more later, either. What I’ve never quite figured out and what irks me a little is that feel some sort of romantic framing from the direction that I don’t feel from the story (where it’s part of character confusion more than part of the plot). Someone on the anime team seems to be shipping them and it’s not good for the way I watch the story.
@Fruitsbasket: That was quite the powerful finale, but now we still have two episodes to go. I do expect one more to wind down things and give us some answers. I’m not sure though they’d need two episodes for that. Curious what they’ll be doing with that time. (Wrap up Tohru’s Mum? Shed some light on the curse, maybe? What else?)
But yeah, Kyou and Tohru hug and… no transformation. I mean I sort of saw it coming, but it’s still really effective. And then the reaction of everyone (the show really didn’t have much of a role for Ritsu, did it?). And the story of the curse.
@Spider: Congrats to your wife; I noticed nothing, but it makes sense. I still think there’s a little classroom spider in the mix (sort of the isekai version of The Fly). That soul merging stuff changes quite a few of my theories. So now, future arc Ariel and likely that white woman might both be both characters, and none of them exist in pure form anymore? My head is spinning to be honest.
As for Vivy: I never really thought the show worked all that well, neither on a timetravel nor on an AI angle. They had interesting ideas, but if feels like they let take “impact” over so that the story’s much too smooth and much to humanistic for my taste. My enjoyment of the show has been pretty constant, but never all that high. Even 86 seems to do the AI angle better this season, but they haven’t really tipped their hand yet (they’re the antagonists, mostly, and feel utterly alien, with uncanny valley mimesis in the mix, and also snippet remix… sort of a plausible and interesting way of AIs and humans to interact; the show has risen in my esteem over the season, but it’s still trying to push the drama a bit much for my taste).
@Killing Slimes: I’m actually with Karandi on this: Beelzebub best girl. Not much to say about the show. It’s sort of there; entertaining enough, but not memorable.
@Mashiro no Oto: Setsu’s talent seems to be based on situational inspiration; he can play well when he knows why he’s playing, but when he’s told what to do or feels forced into a situation he blanks out. It’s probably also why he needs to retreat before playing. That’s the impression I’m getting. My problem is, though, that the show doesn’t really make me care.
I’m enjoying the preformances a lot, though. Even the ones that are supposed to be not so good (I don’t have that discering an ear, it seems. Heh.)
Also Odd Taxi: It’s episode 11 and the plot is coming together, and the show can still provide me with a 3-second scene (basically one single reaction to news from a side character) that makes me go: “huh? What was that?” OT is a masterpiece of plotting so far; I certainly hope it won’t fall apart, but so far everything’s been on point.
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@Killing Slimes:
Beelzebub is certainly a strong runner-up… Other than that, yah, I agree. There’s a reason why it’s been in the “watched but not commented” category.
@Mashiro no Oto:
Indeed, some are better than others… But the “not so good” don’t actually stand out as “not being good”. Euph did that better, but then those performances weren’t so much “not so good” as “actually awful”. It’s much easier to make a performance “actually awful”…
@Spider:
I don’t know if I explained it well, but that’s my theory too. Kumoko has to be somewhere in the human timeline doesn’t she? Somewhere active? It just doesn’t make sense she would be in the middle of things in her timeline and then not in the future timeline.
@Higehiro
It is a rom-com after all… (Though it’s been light on the comedy so far.) And if the MC’s aren’t the “rom”, then who would be? But you’re right, the ‘rom’ at this stage could be anime-original. I haven’t dug around and tried to find out though…
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Are you using MacOS? With Safari, I’ve had a devil of a time with screen shots, but so far, Chrome + SnagIt lets me take screen shots from the Crunchyroll beta site.
The Shift-Cmd-4 (or Shift-Cmd-Cntl-4) also works with Chrome and Firefox. But also not with Safari.
It’s disappointing how far some sites and companies to go prevent fair use.
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No, my new (replacement) computer came in and I’m back on a PC. (The Mac was a loaner from a friend.)
Either way, the issue was solved thanks to someone on Twitter. Of course it was solved too late for this post… But what ya gonna do?
Indeed! But in this case, it’s just an incompatibility that fixed by diddling with my browser video settings.
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I’m coming way out of left field here (and the shadows) to comment for a moment on Sayonara Watashi no Cramer hehe. The series continued to be patchy with some pretty dumb animation design issues undercutting what little credibility it had in later episodes. However… However, I recently saw the prequel movie that was released a few weeks ago, “Sayonara Watashi no Cramer – First Touch” and it was far superior to the series. In fact I found myself thinking the movie should have been the series and the series the movie. For those that care it makes a lot of things in the series make more sense, but most of all its a far superior piece of story telling and animation. It does well pretty much all the things the series failed at. If you have an hour and half spare give it a look.
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I had exactly the same impression of the movie. I didn’t know it existed and thought I clicked on the new episode. I was confused for a few minutes, why we suddenly had a flashback episode out of nowhere…
The film even made me sympathise with the main character, and I don’t like her much in the series. The only thing it didn’t do for me was reframe the series. For example, understanding the main character better didn’t make me suddenly like her in the next few episodes of the series. That said, I was very much surprised at the quality of the film.
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Welcome back!
I remember reading that back at the start of the season… The movie was a prequel and was supposed to be released at the same time, but wasn’t.
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