Some good episodes, some not-so-good. Pretty unusual given the general high quality of the shows I’m (still) watching. Hit the jump and let’s run ’em down!
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 that are watched but not regularly reviewed.
Akebi’s Sailor Uniform Episode 10
Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku
It’s field day practice day! And our heroine does her best at the pool forms a cheer squad! Wait, what?
It’s a bid odd, but I’d also say it’s right on brand for Akebi (both the show and the MC). And it was a pretty good ep. Body image is no less a problem than shyness or any of the others things that Akebi has tackled… So it was nice to see it handled with such a deft touch.
Attack on Titan Final Season Part 2 Episode 10
Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season Part 2
I was… disappointed in this episode. It spent an awful lot of time accomplishing not very much. Several scenes (particularly in and around the flying boat) seemed to be padded out to fill up time.
That being said, the scenes with the Marleyans and the Scouts were particularly interesting. Especially watching Magath take responsibility for his actions… along with Gabi, that makes two Marleyans who’ve repented of their ways and actions.
But none from Paradis… And I don’t know quite how to feel about that.
And then Armin. Even with the healing factor the Titan shifters posses, he looks to be in a pretty bad way.
Which also raises the question of Eren’s human body – has he unshifted? Or is he still in the form of the Founding Titan? They’ve haven’t said or shown. That’s an interesting gap in our knowledge.
Lupin III: Part 6 Episode 22
I was left in a bit of confusion after this episode… The absolute last thing this arc need was more layers of murk and confusion. But what did we get? Yet another student of Tomoe’s! (She sure got around didn’t she?)
However, it was nice to see confirmation that, as I suspected, Mattea is right in the middle of things. Exactly what things? Well, that’s not clear yet. At least some of Tomoe’s students didn’t end up as independent as others. (I keep re-reading that sentence, and that’s about as clear as I can make it.)
My Dress-Up Darling Episode 10
Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru
A bit of a transition episode… Wrapping up the Inui sister’s arc.
This and a couple other quick shots were pretty effective at showing-not-telling just how serious/good Marin is getting at her cosplay… (When she remembers to be.)
Even though I normally dislike the makeover trope, watching Marin try and upgrade Gojo’s wardrobe was pretty cute. I loved that she really didn’t force him and kind of accepted things as they stand. They double down on that by having her back away from cosplaying Veronica because of the distress it causes him. Huge step forward for her, to start seriously taking his feelings into account.
Slow Loop Episode 10
Mostly about the cultural fair and Futaba and her self doubts… Not a good episode.
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Got a chance to get out and shoot some this week… You can see the results in this Twitter thread:
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In other news… Remember the chair I won a few weeks back? Turned out the one they sent was the wrong size. (Too small for my weight…) So, they sent the proper one, which arrived this week. They let me keep the old one, and I’m not quite sure what to do with it. It’s not practical to hold any kind of giveaway because the box weighs 70-odd lbs (34kg), so shipping will be a killer.
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Anyhow, that’s it for me this week. Over to you! What are your thoughts on this week’s anime or anything else?
Apprentice Mages Lounge. 
@Akebi: This episode was a pure distillation of everything that annoys me about both the character and the show. It’s such unadulterated and pushy positivity that it wraps around into negative once it reaches a threshold. I like my postive-thinking elements to be more gentle and laid-back. That said, I don’t have any issues with how they handled body-image. I just react aversly to the show’s perceived pushiness, and I think this episode helped me figure this out.
I only have very vague memories of this week’s Slow Loop, so, yeah, probably not the best entry in the show’s history.
I have little to say about Dress-up Darling either. I feel the show doesn’t develop too well. I was hoping that expanding the cast would add something to the show, but the disparate set of characters don’t mesh too well, and we keep having those splits that distract from each other. I was hoping we’d go into Mrin’s circle of friends before the start of the second arc, mostly because that would have been the most obvious route to take – and it would develope both characters apart from each other. Looking back, it would have felt less harem-y, too, simply because we’d have been in Marin’s circle of friends, and for Gojo it might have been a learning experience: you don’t always have to be useful to be accepted.
Again, I sound like I’m disappointed or like I’m not enjoying the show, which simply isn’t true. It’s just that shortcomings are easier to talk about to begin with, and what Dress-up Darling does well, doesn’t really change or expand (I think), so there’s nothing new to say on that front.
There’s one show I’m enjoying more than I thought I would at the beginning of the season, and it’s The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raise a Nation Out of Debt. It’s hardly a master piece, but I’m having fun. I’ll take it over the Realist Hero anytime. Both are shows about a genius politician with a harem vibe, but this one captures the chaotic aspect of having to run a country much better. It’s no more realistic, to be sure, but the main character’s better balanced between being a genius and being a person. Other people in the show are competent, too. And so on. And there’s an obvious romance going on between the Prince and the Retainer, but it can’t be an official romance because of social status in two ways (both royalty and ethnic group), and the show actually makes this work rather effortlessly in the world building. Basically, the show’s impressed me. That said, it impressed on account of very low expectations, which says more about the genre than the show, but still…
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Sorry for the late reply, I’ve been in a mood these past few days…
re: Dress-up Darling
Some of the best romantic shows definitely do that. And you’re right and that hadn’t occurred to me before… We’ve gotten a little with Gojo, but almost nothing with Marin. She just moves in and out of Gojo’s field of view doesn’t she?
I have that problem too. All too often it’s easier to talk about the sand in the gears than what’s working smoothly. (Especially the latter without gushing. I want to reserve gushing for the shows/episodes that truly deserve it.)
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@Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season Part 2:
Yup, once again we get a single manga chapter adapted into a single anime episode. That’s unusual for this series. For seasons 1 and 2, the average was roughly 4 chapters to 3 episodes; for season 3, the average was just under 2 chapters to one episode. They’re downright slow-rolling the end of this season.
I give them some slack since they grew up believing the Titans had devoured all humans outside the walls and only four years ago learned that not only had humanity not perished, they hated the people inside the walls and wanted to kill them all. Thank King Fritz the 145th for wiping their memories. That’s a level of brainwashing with no earthly parallel.
And they did repent by the end of the episode with their actions. Especially Connie, who ended up having to kill Samuel and Daz, two old comrades from the 104th Training Corp days and the Battle of Trost. (It’s been a long time so it’s easy to forget… Samuel was best known for being swept off Wall Rose by the Colossal Titan’s attack, and being saved by Sasha harpooning his leg with an ODM anchor. Daz was the traumatized cadet who almost led a mass desertion during Trost. Those Season 1 episodes aired nine years ago our time, but it was only four years ago in-story.)
Don’t know if you’ve heard, but the season finale (not tomorrow’s episode) was pre-empted and will air a week later, April 3.
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They reacted out of fear and desperation… They’re making up for past actions, but they’re not actually consciously making amends. /contrarian I mean, I get your point and I don’t entirely disagree… But (to me) there’s a difference between Magath deliberately accepting responsibility and the Scouts, who have not.
But it’s easy (for me) to make snap judgements. In reality, it’s a complicated situation and maybe none of the prisoners of their past have done anything they should feel personally responsible for.
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