Welp, we’ve got a few finales to go through.
New Saga Ep. 12
As I suspected, beating the demons doesn’t feel like much of a climax. Nevertheless, we still get a denouement. In fact, the entire season finale is the denouement. So you know what that means: people living their best anime life, i.e. sitting around and yapping to their hearts’ content. Gosh, I just love exposition. Usually, denouements are gentle deescalations after reaching a fever pitch. But what high are we coming down from exactly? It feels like the story peaked at saving Princess Milena, and it’s been downhill ever since.
Anyway, thanks to everything that happened last week, Kyle and friends are saviors once again. Unfortunately, not all attention is good attention, because a trio of princes now have their eyes on our hero. One of them even threatens our boy with death if he refuses to bend the knee. Last but not least, the surviving demon makes her report to the current, supposedly peace-loving demon king. And that’s it. That’s the ending. It’s like reaching the middle of a story just for it to end abruptly. A lot of popular shows immediately sequels, but for New Saga… well, we can’t all be winners. After all, you can sum New Saga up in just one word: uninspired.
Just to be fair, I hated how Dandadan’s first season ended as well. Love the show in general, but ending on potential sexual assault was a bit too far.
Dealing with Mikadono Sisters Is a Breeze Ep. 9
We start by seeing Niko’s senpai say his goodbyes. He has a name, but since he can’t respect the word “no,” I’m not gonna bother learning it. Anyway, the future predator confirms that Yuu effectively enfeebled him in their very, very short bout. In other words, Niko needed the dork’s help in more ways than one. The senpai then tries to shoot his shot, but it’s too late, buddy. Her heart already belongs to another loser. Honestly, what was the senpai waiting for anyway? He could’ve fetched her at any time, but he waited too long.
After that, Yuu and the sisters hit up a theme park. The girls end up competing to see who can “melt his heart” first, but he’s your typical dense anime protagonist. Kazuki can’t pretend to be scared in a haunted house attraction, because Yu gets scared first. Miwa tries to be all helpless and cute after riding a roller coaster, but once again, Yuu is the one who needs comforting. Finally, Niko tries to initiate a bit of clothed skinship by having her and Yuu ride one of those wild, spinning teacups. He nearly falls out of his seat instead. When the sisters least expect it, Yuu is the smoothest player in the world. But when they actually want that sort of attention from him, he turns into the clumsiest, most helpless dork possible.
It’s pointless, anyway. The Mikadono sisters might have feelings for Yuu, but he’s firmly family zoned them. Every action he takes is to ensure that he has a cohesive family unit around him. The thought of dating them or anyone at all hasn’t even crossed his mind. Plus, if we take a step back and look at this subgenre as a whole, I have never seen one of these shows come anywhere close to resolving romance in just a single season. Or even two seasons. If this series ever makes a return, you can bet the house on getting nowhere near our final destination. Maybe Yu will finally realize that the sisters are in love with him by the end of a hypothetical second season, but I doubt he’d have any romantic feelings of his own. So again, it’s pointless.
In any case, it’s Miwa’s turn to have a problem, and Yuu is the only person who can help her. Sounds like she has a big match coming up. I imagine her arc will take us all the way to the end of the first season. If we just go by looks alone, I guess I would pick Miwa. I can’t get past that patch of yellow hair on her head, though. It makes her look like a freshly plucked fruit.
The Water Magician Ep. 9
Ryou takes care of a bunch of goblins and skeletons plaguing one of the nobodies’ hometown. Honestly, this episode felt like filler. Or I just don’t care enough. Either way, according to a derpy looking Fenrir, Ryou is super special. Just in case you weren’t already aware.
Welcome to the Outcast’s Restaurant! Ep. 12
Dennis discovers his true purpose in life, and this determination levels him up to 100. And in doing so, he gains a unique skill that overwhelms Vigo once and for all. The end. What more can I really say? It’s one of those magical power ups you always see in middling anime. Plus, why is Vigo any different? Isn’t he just as determined? Are his convictions somehow less efficacious simply because his ends are evil? If anyone has a one track mind, it’s him. If it’s anyone has a singular purpose for living, it’s him. But I’m not all that invested in the story, so I’ll drop it. Dennis wins, and that’s that.
The aftermath is a bunch of feel good stuff. Mostly. We do see Dennis’s brother up to no good, but that’s for a hypothetical sequel that might never see the light of day. Atelier will stay with Dennis no matter what, her previous family be damned. The rest of the kiddies have found their own ways in life, but they’ll never stray too far from Dennis and Atelier. Meanwhile, the community pitches in and helps rebuild the restaurant. The end.
Like most genre fiction, Welcome to the Outcast’s Restaurant! doesn’t tweak the formula too much. The hero is still an under-appreciated gem. The former party leader still gets his comeuppance with little chance at redemption. And it was looking dire when the first thing Dennis did after leaving his former party was rescue a slave girl. I was cringing at the thought that we might go there. If you know, you know. Luckily, this show manages to avoid some of the formula’s biggest pitfalls. First, Atelier is just a daughter to him and nothing more. A lot of similar shows can’t avoid that nasty temptation. Second, Dennis doesn’t surround himself with a harem full of nubile maidens. Of course, he’s a nice guy who can cook, so he’s still prime marriage material. But the people he saves are more lost children. This oaf is more like a dad than your typical self-insert male lead. And even though Vigo does eventually get his just desserts, it doesn’t feel as though the anime revels in it. This isn’t a revenge story. There’s a fine line between revenge and justice, and I think Dennis got his justice. I can appreciate that.
In the end, however, the show simply isn’t that exciting. Yes, Dennis is a good cook, but he never makes anything innovative. He churns out classic izakaya fare at a very high level of execution, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, again, it’s not exciting. Moving along, it’s nice that Dennis have taken all these kids under his wing, but their stories weren’t all that compelling. All in all, the show is inoffensively bland. It definitely could’ve used a bit of spice or MSG. If we’re going by Crunchyroll’s 5-star rating system, I’ll give it a generous 3. It’s watchable, but nothing memorable.
Also, please get rid of Polvo.
Tougen Anki Ep. 11
The dying Momomiya starts thinking about his best friend as he’s about to die. Basically, the best friend failed to protect both himself and his family when an oni went out of control. It’s important to note that said rampaging oni was being hounded by the Momotaros. Nevertheless, this incident has since been the fuel for Momomiya’s hatred. Cool motive, still murder. I’m not even joking. We literally just saw this guy torture and murder cowering oni children in previous episodes. The Momotaros aren’t even hiding the fact that they’re trying to commit genocide, so fuck your backstory.
The aftermath with Mei is beyond silly. We get to see her wave at Shiki with a huge smile on her face, but she literally just lost her parents. Yeah, Shiki saved her life, but I doubt any child would be this cheerful in similar circumstances. You can’t really tie a pretty bow on this incident. Tougen Anki‘s writing is a joke though, so whatever.
Then it’s back to school where the teacher drily tells his students to pair up for room assignments. Yawn. I’m done with this week’s episode. Remember the girl who has a fetish for babying her partners? Well, she naturally wants to shack up with the coward in order to fuck his brains out, so the perv gets all mad and jealous. To make a long story short, there’s nothing interesting left in this episode to talk about.
Kaiju No. 8 Ep. 22
No. 9 launches a massive kaiju attack all across the country. There’s actually a pretty tense moment at the start of the episode. One of the big beasties goes after Toku’s daughter’s wedding, and it’s about to gulp down her down. Even if she manages to survive this encounter, she may never use her legs again. Talk about a disaster of a wedding. Toku desperately tries to grab the kaiju’s attention by bleeding himself, but the kaiju doesn’t even notice him. For once, the anime is commanding my attention. Oh shit, is this really going to happen?! But then the heroes arrive.
After that, the episode feels like nonstop aura farming, but that’s not even the worst part. What took me out of the show was the constant chatter from the peanut gallery.
Kikoru quickly mobilizes and arrives on the scene in mere seconds.
“OMG, she reached the neutralization area instantly!”
Kikoru moves super fast.
“OMG, she’s moving so fast!”
Hoshina and No. 10 take a direct hit.
“OMG, he just took a direct hit.”
Hoshina powers up.
“OMG, he’s at seventy whatever the fuck percent!”
Bro, I’m watching it happen. I can literally see the action with my own eyes. Why do these shows always feel the need to cut to some nameless chump who has nothing better to do but repeat exactly what’s occurring onscreen? Not only does doing this disrupt the action, it’s so obviously useless from a narrative standpoint.
Anyway, the show basically hops from one major character to the next, each one flexing their muscles in combat. Right before the episode ends, we see Ashiro with a new weapon. Basically, more aura farming next week.
Scooped Up by an S-Rank Adventurer! Ep. 12
Lloyd comes up with a plan, so he tells his party to put their weapons away. We proceed to hear each individual member scream out “STORAGE!” It’s so dumb, I had to laugh. Anyway, Lloyd gets everyone off the doomed airship, but the persistent chimera is still chasing them through the wilderness. Lloyd cooks up a plan that requires him to amplify Claire’s ancient magic. In doing so, they might be able to turn the chimera back into its constituent monsters. Unfortunately, Merlin suddenly rears her ugly head just to voice her opposition. After all, she and her party lost a dear friend for trifling with ancient magic. My problem here is that she doesn’t even offer up an alternative. She comes all this way out into the middle of nowhere to try and stop Lloyd, but she has no solution for the imminent problem, i.e. the goddamn chimera on their asses. Way to go, master. Haven’t seen you in forever, and when you finally show up, you’re useless.
Well, the plan works, but Merlin was also right about it backfiring. Suddenly a portal opens up and pulls Lloyd into another dimension. Look, I’m not saying Merlin is wrong for trying to warn him in the first place. But again, what do you do about the chimera? You’re the freaking master. Try guiding your damn disciple. But it doesn’t matter anyways, because Lloyd’s gonna be fine. You can’t expect this show to have the balls to do something new or daring. All we get instead is a bunch of unimaginative loredumping from Merlin’s long lost friend. I don’t care about any of it, because I’m ready to move on from this anime. Essentially, the power of friendship saves the day, Lloyd and friends get rewarded with a big, fat house, and if there’s a sequel, Lloyd will be even more overpowered than ever. The end. Final thoughts? Boring show, annoying protagonist. If you’re going to have such a dull adventure, at least give me fun, likable characters. Sadly, none of Lloyd’s party members are remotely memorable. They really phoned this one in.
Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra: World Conquest Starts with the Civilization of Ruin Ep. 12
When we last left off, Isla defeated the enemy general, but because he’s from a JRPG, he triggers an unavoidable “death scene.” To make a long story short, Isla has to sacrifice herself in order to the protect the elf twins. But before she croaks, she hands her power over to them. The girls then proceed to go berserk and ruthlessly murder the enemy. Unsurprisingly, Takuto is once again useless. All he ever does is sit on his throne and yap. And even with all that yapping, he couldn’t help Isla avoid her grisly fate. He’s the most passive and useless isekai protagonist that I’ve ever seen.
Anyway, this would be a weird place for the series to end, so I assume there’s another episode next week. But let’s do some final thoughts, ’cause fuck it. I obviously think this show is trash. Takuto and Atou bill themselves as evil characters, but I have yet to see any evil being done. Even when the elf twins rip their enemies apart, they’re doing it against an invading army. It’s not that I revel in immorality, but if you want a show about gray protagonists engaging in nation-building and subduing their enemies, Overlord is sitting right there. I don’t particularly like Overlord either, but at least Ainz and friends can be real bastards at times. I’m not exactly sure what Mynoghra brings to the table other than mixing genres, a potentially interesting experiment that has thus far been completely wasted. Oh no, JRPG mechanics means a bug I just met is now dead. Boo hoo. The story should’ve introduced Isla way earlier. If Takuto had summoned her around, say, the third episode and steadily developed her bond with Atou and (later) the twins, maybe I would feel a thing or two from her death. But as it currently stands, I can only shrug and move on.
Gachiakuta Ep. 11
Well, we already know from the end of last week’s episode that Amo is bad news. I wonder why they didn’t hold off on that. They could’ve left it a surprise, but they didn’t. We go in already knowing that our group of heroes are in danger. Oh well.
Amo invites everyone into her home and immediately wants to chat about what everyone is lookng for in a romantic partner. When the group tries to get info that is actually useful, she snaps. Amo accuses them of trying to use her. One by one, members of the group start hallucinating. Amo’s special ability seems to trigger negative memories in her victims, but I don’t want to get bogged down with the details. All you need to know is that her scent allows her to “charm” her victims. A couple members of the group are smart enough to put their gas masks back on, but I’m afraid I don’t know what their names are. There are too many people in this cast already. I can recall Rudo, Riyo, and Enjin, and that’s about it.
We haven’t gotten Amo’s backstory yet, but I’m already dreading what we’ll potentially learn about her. I mean, just think about it. She can charm people and put them under her control, she wants to talk about everyone’s crushes (i.e. sex and romance), she has a really strange fixation on being loved, and she wears revealing clothes. Oh yeah, she hates the thought of being manipulated. She strikes me as someone who might be hypersexual, but the story can’t be too explicit about it since this is a shounen. And if that’s the case, it’s probably born from a fucked up childhood. I wouldn’t be surprised if her backstory involves sexual abuse of some kind. The fact that she reacts so negatively at the thought of being used means she has insecurities about her identity. She wants to be more than just a sex object, and yet she wears revealing clothes because she thinks it’s the only value she has as a person. Well, this is all speculation anyway. The point is, I’m not looking forward to her backstory.
Everything else about everything else:
- Regarding Onmyo Kaiten Re:Birth Verse, I was losing interest in the show. As a result, I took a peek at the final episode just to see where our couple ended up. Well, the evil Tsukimiya dies in the “present,” so our hero decides to go into cryogenic sleep in order to reunite with her in the distant future. And when does he decide to wake up? When future Tsukimiya is still a child. Christ… so yeah, that pretty much kills any remaining desire I had to watch the rest of the episodes.
- I’ve finally beaten Super Robot Wars Y. The story never got any better, so I turned on auto battle for NG+. I basically sleepwalked my way to the platinum, which I’m not going to complain about. The itch has been scratched! I’ve now officially given the series a shot, so I no longer have to worry about future games. I’ll probably still get them if they’re on sale since the gameplay in SRW Y wasn’t bad, but oof, this game basically confirmed that giant robots do nothing for me. Kinta and I would not be buddies anytime soon.
- I’m now finally playing Silksong and Silksong only. When you’re not particularly good at action games like me, you really need to pick your battles. If you can’t beat a boss or complete an area, come back later after you’ve found some upgrades. Unfortunately, I also tend to be rather stubborn, so I tried to clear Hunter’s March as soon as I found it. With just base Hornet at my disposal, I ended having a pretty bad time. Now that I have the ability to dash and float through the air, I’m just cringing at how much these two abilities would have helped with all the platforming in Hunter’s March. In other words, I used my gaming time pretty inefficiently. Whoops.
