I just wanted to include this lady in the post somehow, because she looks so goofy.
The Klutzy Class Monitor and the Girl with the Short Skirt Ep. 12
Poem and Togo finally decide to talk, which is what they should’ve done from the start. There was no reason why they had to wait this long other than to play up the drama. But fine, better late than never. So how do they resolve this conflict? By Togo proving once and for all that he’s an idiot. Sure, he’s a stickler for the rules, but what truly bothered him was that he was ashamed. Specifically, he was ashamed of his “illicit” desires. Like what? He thought of her sexually or something? Nope, not even that. Not even close. Ever since he and Poem started dating, he has been wanting to… shhh, he wants to hold hands with her. GASP! How scandalous! So Togo worked himself up into a fervor and assumed that Poem would hate him for this. Pfft, why did he assume she was puritanical as well? But that’s basically it. These two wasted most of the cultural festival because she was stubborn and he was an idiot.
Everyone else kinda pairs up, but not really. Kaoru couldn’t rain on everyone’s parade, because Nadeshiko basically kept him busy the entire time. In the end, he still hasn’t realized that she and her alter ego are one and the same. Yep, he’s just as dumb as Togo. Yu spends some time with Akina, and as a result, he now refers to her by name. Yep, that’s it. That’s the extent of their “relationship.” Last but not least, Rui and Seiichi bond over their love for manga, but because they’re too similar, they end up not developing any romantic feelings. C’est la vie.
So what can I say about this show? Eh, I was genuinely surprised to see Poem and Togo end up together. Poem is such a throwback to the classic tsundere archetype that I thought the series would milk the “will they, won’t they” dynamic for as long as possible. So yes, it was nice to see this show being more of a “Reiwa-style” romance. Unfortunately, the characters are just kinda stupid. I’m not saying they have to be geniuses — and even shows about geniuses in love can be annoying in their own way (see: Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It) — but when I look at a guy like Togo, I can’t believe that someone like him is real. Most of all, when the characters are dumb, their conflicts are equally dumb. What else can I say about a guy who avoided his girlfriend because he thought holding hands with her was wicked and shameful? This isn’t sweet and pure. It’s just ridiculous in 2026.
LIAR GAME Ep. 12
I had a good laugh when Nao legitimately asked if her acting performance was truly so bad. Girl… Anyway, this episode is all about introducing Yoyoya, the man who might actually serve as Akiyama’s rival in smarts and wits… or so we’re told. Every time Nao’s team would walk into the inspection room with an odd amount of money (e.g. 50.01 million yen), Yoyoya would see through the ruse each and every single time. Hell, he would even guess how much money they’re carrying to the dollar. He swears it’s because he’s clairvoyant. Meanwhile, I’m sitting here, thinking, Why is nobody considering the fact that he’s getting information from someone? C’mon, he’s obviously not a psychic. There’s a traitor on the team. There has to be. Oh well, you know how these rounds go. The “good” guys are always bewildered until Akiyama turns things around. He’s probably realized Yoyoya’s trick, but he’s just staying mum for… iunno, dramatic effect, I guess? Still, it would be a nice surprise to see Akiyama get fooled for once (or even outright lose a round).
MARRIAGETOXIN Ep. 12
I thought for sure this show would be over after this episode, but nope, we’re getting another one next week to wrap things up, i.e. serve as a bridge to a potential sequel. At its core, MARRIAGETOXIN is just a basic bitch shounen with all the basic bitch tropes, so the final battle plays out exactly as you would expect it to. Toshiro powers up, so Hikaru powers up. Like a JRPG final boss, Toshiro ascends to a new form just in time for a winner-takes-all clash. Unfortunately, Hikaru has fully mastered his poison whatever, so he wins. He just wins. In a last ditch effort to salvage some form of a pyrrhic victory, Toshiro tries to go after Mei, but just as he’s about to chomp down, he finds himself completely unable to move. We look up to see all of the beast masters hootin’ and hollerin’. Basically, hamster lady Kimie finally got through to them. They’re calling out to the spirits of their dead pets, which are now resisting Toshiro with all their… uh, ghostly might? So there you go: the power of friendship saves the day. And since this is a basic bitch shounen, Hikaru refuses to kill Toshiro. Y’know, the guy who has endangered his life, his friends’ lives, and countless others — the complete and utter maniac who might do the same in the future? But no, Hikaru is a “good” guy now so he can’t kill!
Piichi was more than happy to get his hands dirty in Hikaru’s stead, but a naked Byakko suddenly zooms in outta nowhere and absconds with Toshiro. Yes, she has somehow miraculously survived. She’s the designated fanservice character, so she can’t die either. Piichi and Hikaru (why does he care?) give chase, but both Toshiro and Byakko are snatched up by a giant wolf. A woman then introduces herself. Not only is she Toshiro’s sister Tonako, she’s also the next leader of the Beast Clan. So on and on we go. Will Hikaru ever find love? No, he’s too busy fighting assassins. The escalation never stops. There’s always going to be a bigger baddie out there to replace the one he just defeated. And to keep overcoming them, he’s going to have to inject even stronger poisons into himself. At this point, do you even want to find love? Whoever he marries will forever have their lives at risk. Hell, just being his friend alone puts them in peril. Maybe the greatest love Hikaru can ever give these women is to give up on them.
I Want to End This Love Game Ep. 11
Miku has a moderate fever, so you know what that means: it’s the dreaded “let me take care of you” episode that is in almost every single romance series. Yukiya comes over, checks up on her, makes her rice porridge, so on and so forth. It’s always the same generic bullshit.
“But wait,” you might protest, “you weren’t pissed when this same trope played out in My Dress-Up Doll!”
Yeah, it’s easy to overlook cliches when the characters aren’t annoying. If I were their age, I could see myself getting along with Gojo and Marin. Could I say the same about Yukiya and Miku? Hell no.
Miku is mad at herself for making Yukiya worry. Then stop playing games! Stop ghosting him! She then gets the perfect chance to be upfront about her feelings — that she loves him and doesn’t want the Pocky challenge to count as their first kiss — but does she? No, she chickens out. Yukiya then gets the chance to be upfront about his feelings, but does he? No, he hedges. “Duurrr, here’s a list of annoying things about you, but I don’t hate you for them.” See? Obnoxious as all hell. Even so, the mood is somehow still right. It looks like they’re about to have their first “this is for keeps, no take backs” kiss… but at the last second, he whips out his phone to tease her about being sick. What a fucking chode. Still, that’s basically what it boils down to: you can get away with a lot if your characters aren’t losers. Sadly, that doesn’t apply here.
Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku!? Ep. 12
Takuya closes this series out by being incredibly pathetic. First, he gets anxious because he hears about a legend that guys and girls who win the pageant often start dating. It’s a legend. Then, he sees Kotoko and Kei onstage and decides that this is where they truly belong. You’re really going to come to that conclusion twelve episodes in? You’re really going to try and ditch your friends after spending all that time with them? I would be so offended. There isn’t even a good reason for this self-pitying bullshit. It’s not like they rejected him. It’s not like there was a misunderstanding. Literally nothing happened to cause this. Takuya’s just in his feels to drum up some fake conflict for the final episode. It’s also out of character for the show, because this anime had been so light-hearted and drama-free up until now. So why switch gears? Just because it’s the final episode?
So of course, he goes and hides out in a bathroom stall like a loser. He doesn’t respond to the girls’ messages or anything, ‘causing them to panic and look for him. Eventually (read: episode is half over), Takuya finally looks at all the pictures of him with his friends on his phone. As a result, he suddenly decides that he doesn’t want to lose them. Uh-huh, just on time. Whatever.
In the end, we just get some “I wanna spend more time with you guys!” ending. The trio awkwardly sits in a classroom while the fireworks are going off. If we had ended exactly here, then maybe there’d be some interesting The Graduate-esque subtext. But no, we can never have anything that tickles the brain, so the trio is back to smiles in a second. The status quo is maintained, and no one falls for anyone. But ultimately, that’s not even the show’s biggest problem. Rather, it’s just that all three of them are completely and utterly unremarkable. They have nothing memorable about them — nothing whatsoever. All I can really say about Takuya and Kei is that they both like the same Pokemon or Digimon ripoff. And I honestly can’t say a damn thing about Kotoko. Just look at her description on Wikipedia:
One of Takuya’s two gyaru classmates and a close friend of Kei. She has short golden hair and an outgoing, cheerful personality. She is very open-minded, quickly understanding Kei and Takuya’s interests and even developing an interest herself. She is also observant, noticing Kei’s otaku tendencies, her occasional slip-ups, and her growing relationship with Takuya. Outside of school, she helps take care of her siblings to support her mother, and appears much different—wearing glasses, with messier hair and no makeup—a side of her that Takuya has seen, much to her embarrassment. Deep down, she appreciates Takuya’s honesty and kindness, and feels bad that he has no close friends. Like Kei, she also seems to gradually develop feelings for him, but he is oblivious.
Anime has had a constant deluge of otaku x gyaru pairings. We’re drowning in them. And yet, when you scan through that paragraph above, there isn’t a single thing that makes Kotoko stand out. You can’t be play it this safe. You might as well just hand the reins over to AI if you’re going to be this scared to try anything different.
Haibara’s Teenage New Game+ Ep. 12
In the first third of the episode, Natsuki walks the festival grounds with Uta then proceeds to reject her. I’m pretty sure we all saw this coming — all of us except for Tatsuya, that is. Remember how he had a beef with Natsuki early in the season? Remember how he said he wouldn’t give up on Uta? That he would totally win her over? He then proceeded to have no screen presence whatsoever. He might as well have fallen off the face of the planet. But then outta nowhere, he storms up to Natsuki, grabs him by the shirt, and threatens to punch the guy. Guess he was stalking them the entire time…? He was just waiting for Uta to confess to Natsuki? Weird, man. Not only that, he’s mad. Okay, fine, he’s mad because he cares about Uta. Even though Uta doesn’t like him, he’s mad because she’s sad. Still, the optics are a little weird. He’s basically pissed that he’s not being NTR’d. Alright, whatever. One subplot down.
Unfortunately, this means that the last two-thirds of the episode are all about serenading Hikari. No, literally. Natsuki and his dinky band get on stage and proceed to play songs after songs after songs. It’s not my type of music, so there’s no point in me commenting on it. But for the first time all season, I had to turn the playback speed up to 8x speed, and it was still painful to get through. To make a long story short, he confesses to Hikari and she accepts. Yay, the middle-aged loser traveled back in time and bagged his teen crush. What a hero.
But the show can’t help itself, because we still have one more plot twist! Right before the very freaking end, Miori and Natsuki are on a call. She’s now officially dating Reita like she always wanted, and Natsuki is dating Hikari like he always wanted. But then Miori quickly announces that their partnership (i.e. friendship) is over, and that she no longer needs to support him. After hanging up, she then cries to a picture of them as childhood friends. Sir, a second unrequited crush has hit the building. Jokes aside, really? That’s how you’re gonna end it? Whatever, the show’s over so who the hell cares anymore?
Petals of Reincarnation Ep. 12
Ugh, it’s not ending at twelve episodes. Why isn’t this show ending?! How can it be so rude? Well, first, it’s because evil Einstein has to torture good Einstein some more. Evil Einstein wants good Einstein to admit that the former is the true Einstein. I dunno, something like that. In the process, the latter loses her last remaining leg due to Newton still being mind-controlled. Bah, he’s just gonna wake up at the last second in the last episode in order to spare good Einstein her life. Maybe he’ll even sacrifice himself in the process. Y’know, for luuurrrrve.
As an aside, there’s something funny about how a bunch of soldiers with gas grenades can have more luck against evil Einstein than all of the other souped up Returners with special powers. But I digress.
Second, Toya still has to turn Haito back to normal by having a heart-to-heart with her, but of course, we gotta fight first! As a result, we squeeze an entire training arc into half of an episode. The show also makes a big deal out of Toya not stealing Yagyu’s sword skills. He just takes her special sight instead. That’s fine and all, but can’t he just steal Haito’s sword or whatever, and simply disarm her? No, no, no, we can’t do that! We need to watch him engage Haito in a battle of attrition before he can tell the girl that he loves her. Welp, see ya next week.
The Barbarian’s Bride Ep. 11
Last week, I balked at the sight of torii gates, because this is supposed to be a fantasy, medieval-ish anime. Now we understand why. The dwarves hand Serafina a helmet that can morph simply through her sheer willpower. Basically, it looks like cutesy animal ears normally, but when she’s ready for battle, it turns into a full blown helmet. But how? Apparently, it’s super advanced technology. When the dwarves first came to this land, they found a cave full of futuristic weaponry. Yes, tanks, jets, and even a freaking mecha. What the torii gates imply then is that this story takes place in the far, distant future where Japan is no more. Dude, this show has gone completely off-rails. I thought it was just gonna be a romance between a so-called barbarian and a knight from the west. Fine, sprinkle in some “we must honor nature” nonsense with how irresponsible use of magic can attract memory-eating fiends. A bit fantastical, but still typical of anime. But now we’re squeezing in mechas and machine guns? It’s like the author got bored of their own story midway and started shoving anything they could think of into the plot. Sure, Metaphor Re:Fantazio did the same “this was Japan all along” twist, but it was foreshadowed from the beginning of the story. You can’t convince me you thought a mecha would eventually show up after watching the first episode of this series.
Scenes from Awajima Ep. 11
Isn’t it peculiar how things just line up so perfectly? Throughout the previous episodes, we rarely got to see what Wakana’s time was like at Awajima. If there was truly drama, however, why would the show keep it from us? It has never shied away from this before. Nevertheless, she tells Katsurako that she isn’t sure whether or not she regrets attending the school. This thus makes her the perfect person to take up Katsurako’s burden. Y’see, the old woman is practically on her deathbed, and she has all these regrets still weighing down her heart. What more can she do but to try and grasp some form of penance before she breathes her last breath? And what better way to accomplish that than to confess her sins? Even better, she’s confessing to an established writer, who can then turn those same regrets into a book. Everything is coming together well — almost too well.
But does Katsurako deserve penance? This doubt creeps into my mind as I watch Wakana pursue the truth. Of course, I pity the woman. What she did to Emi was horrible, but did she truly deserve to live a life devoid of joy? But no, that isn’t the problem. The problem is that Wakana is now facing the scrutiny that Katsurako should be facing. The pursuit of truth is never easy. People will naturally ask, “Why are you stirring up trouble? What if this stains Awajima’s reputation and legacy? Have you considered how the families might feel? What does Emi’s family want?” These are all legitimate questions, but they are questions for Katsurako. Instead, Wakana has to suffer in the old woman’s stead. So I ask again — does Katsurako truly deserve penance when she’s doing none of the work?
Wakana ultimately decides that she doesn’t want her book to be either a whistle-blowing expose or something to merely alleviate her instructor’s guilt. No, she wants to let the world know that Emi Okabe existed and what the woman might’ve become had things at Awajima not turned out so tragically. I can’t fault that; this seems like the right mindset.
In the end, Wakana finishes the book, and wouldja look at that! The title of her book is also the title of the anime series. Does this count as the story coming full circle?
Killed again, Mr. Detective. Ep. 12
Really haphazard ending, if you ask me. Char’s missiles sends them all crashing into an underground cavern where the report on the immortality medicine just happens to be sitting in a shallow pool of water. It’s right freaking there! What a coincidence! In the ensuing struggle, Katya mortally wounds Lu with a gunshot, so the latter’s albino whale pet proceeds to drown the former. Realizing that she won’t survive, Lu heads to the depths of the ocean with her pet. Okay, whatever. Typical tragic end to a mystery. The detective can solve everything, but that doesn’t mean he can save everything… or, well, anyone for that matter. What cheeses me is the flash of Lu’s hair at the end as they leave the island, suggesting that she might still be alive out there. Yeah, no. I’ll simply assume Sakuya is hallucinating from dying and coming back to life so damn often.
Meanwhile, Ursina reveals that she was secretly Lu’s older sister all along. She never told Lu, though! First, she claims that she needed Lu more than Lu needed her. But as the gang departs the island, we look back to see Ursina smiling and waving at everybody. Uh, your sister just died, lady. Literally just died moments ago.
We still have half an episode left, so you know what that means: plot hooks for a sequel that may or may never come. So of course, we get introduced to a bunch of new faces. They’re all members of the “Seven Old Men,” mind you. One of them is a lady getting married? Another new “face” is literally just a talking metallic ball — an Android, supposedly. Well, it claims that Sakuya’s father is still alive, and it needs to speak to Sakuya urgently. Of course, we never get to see that conversation. Stay tuned for the sequel!
Last but not least, we see our protagonist blow himself up then come back to life one last time. Yep, that’s how the show ends. All in all, a pretty unsatisfying show if your goal is to take in intriguing, mind-boggling mysteries. Killed again, Mr. Detective certain has grand ambitions. It has this overarching, globe-spanning plot full of all-powerful, sexy ladies and gentlemen (and one Android), but it mostly gave us episodic Scooby-Doo-esque mysteries. Why are we solving a simple murder when there are a bunch of supervillains running around? I don’t get it.
The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten S2 Ep. 12
I think this was the last episode. If not, I certainly hope it was. The show ended exactly how it started: just Mahiru and Amane saying corny, sappy shit to each other every second of every minute. And considering how they dominated like 99% of the screentime, there was no escape. No one ever changed, no one grew even one iota during this entire season. This anime was a single flat line from beginning to end. Oddly co-dependent, too. We barely ever turned our attention to any of the other characters. Wasn’t there some subplot about how Itsuki’s father didn’t approve of his girlfriend Chitose? Did we ever resolve that? No, it doesn’t matter. Only Mahiru and Amane matter. They are the center of the universe. How dare you even look away?
Snowball Earth Ep. 12
This episode is frustrating, because it shows you what Snowball Earth really could’ve achieved if it wasn’t so goddamn generic. Riko, the girl who appeared to have died to Land of Men’s flames a couple (or several) episodes ago, suddenly emerges from the ruins seemingly none the worse for wear. But her “skin” begins to crack and chip off. She reveals that she’s really the humanoid kaiju all along. We then get a flashback where the original Riko was consumed by the kaiju a loooooong time ago. There’s a gnarly moment when the fake emerged from the body of the kaiju. Neat body horror, essentially.
But then the cliches start rolling in. The kaiju also reveals that it had posed as Nadare, i.e. the scientist who helped Sagami sabotage E-RDE and enable the Big Freeze. It’s an age-old trope where the bad guys were really just being manipulated the entire time! I hate this sort of thing, because it robs characters of their agency. All those horrible acts and crimes they committed? Well, maybe they wouldn’t have done those things if they weren’t under the influence of an even bigger, badder evil! And this partly plays into why the story tries to sell us (poorly) on Sagami’s “good” side.
Let’s take a few steps to the start of the episode, i.e. before the humanoid kaiju had revealed itself. Basically, after Tetsuo offered up his title, Sagami realizes the errors of his ways, so he wants to die. Obviously, Tetsuo is too much of a goody-two-shoes to do such a thing, but if Sagami had tried to take his own life, I wouldn’t have stopped him. But somehow, one of his child followers is still alive, so she rushes to his defense. Then we get this flashback showing how he had saved and protected them during the Big Freeze — how he proceeded to raise them as if they were his own children. Cool story. Still doomed the rest of humanity, or did we just conveniently forget that? C’mon, who caused this big mess to begin with? But of course, when the kaiju charges up its attack to kill Sagami for good, Tetsuo comes flying outta nowhere to save the bastard. No, man, no. He doesn’t deserve a redemption arc. He doesn’t deserve a second chance. He fucked over the world, and if Tetsuo hadn’t beaten his ass, he would’ve fucked over the last remnants of humanity. What is this anime bullshit?
The Drops of God Ep. 11
Ah, that’s why they rushed the third round in the last episode: it isn’t actually over. The initial judging ends in a tie, so we have to start over. But why didn’t Shizuku and Tomine realize beforehand that they had picked the wrong wines? Why didn’t they actually taste what they had brought to the competition?
As usual, the two men take drastically different routes to the answer. Shizuku gets a waft of nostalgia from a sculpture made out of wine corks. This leads him to an artist who is bedridden from a recent stroke. Since the artist can’t directly help Shizuku, he has to roll up his sleeves and start sleuthing. He checks out the artist’s atelier, where he finds a paintbrush that smells like wine. He learns from the artist’s family that the artist would sketch with wine, but those sketches have never been found. They assume he had destroyed them. But then the artist’s granddaughter remembers how he would always give her a wood carving on her birthdays, and upon closer inspection, Shizuku smells the nostalgic wine coming from said carvings. And wouldja look at that, it turns out the wood carvings were secretly hiding those sketches after all. Finally, on the back of one of the sketches, the artist had written down the name of the nostalgic wine. There it is! Wow, what a circuitous investigation!
Meanwhile, Tomine rents out an amusement park and rides one of the attractions for three whole days until he finds his answer. Right…
Well, don’t keep us in suspense. Who wins the rematch? Unfortunately, the episode ends there. Find out next time on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z The Drops of God!!!
Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring Ep. 13
This screenshot from the final minute of the anime tells you everything you need to know: Rosei still hasn’t moved from his spot since last week’s episode. I literally do not care about anything else until he and Hinagiku meet.
Scum of the Brave Ep. 23
I bitch about these shows every week, so I wouldn’t fault you for thinking I don’t give them a fair shake. I really try, though. I do. I start off every episode at the default playback speed. I invite the show to entertain me. Unfortunately, my hopes are always quickly dashed. The Coffin Count of Storm has Yashiro and his apprentices on the ropes. Yashiro tries to quickly figure out what he can do. This inner monologue takes time. Even though Jogamine is pinned down, she starts yapping. She’s obviously stalling for time so she can sense Coffin Count of Storm’s ether, but by its nature, stalling for time takes time. In the middle of this, the Coffin Count of Storm tries to taunt Jogamine back, explaining how the girl is nothing more than her father’s sin. Jogamine rebuts this. This takes time, but it’s the only part of the exchange I’m honestly interested in so I’ll excuse it. After all, the girl reveals that she’s always known about her identity as a fake. Duh, she can read minds. Her father can’t keep anything from her. Finally, she understands the trick behind the big bad’s powers, which then gets explained to us via diagrams and such. This takes time. As the result, the heroes finally turn the tables on Coffin Count of Storm, and Yashiro can finally fight her equal footing. At this point, I have had to crank the playback speed up to 4x. Ironically, this is the one part that doesn’t take any time; he takes her down in seconds. Bit anticlimactic.
I’m not sure what exactly happens to the Coffin Count of Storm. Yashiro seemingly gives her three options, implying that the last one is what she’ll likely choose. But we cut immediately to him at the girls’ academy, because he’s there for some exhibition test they’re doing. But you’ll notice that this is only the 23rd episode, and anime series usually don’t end on such an odd number. As a result, we get one last plot twist: Sara’s father is the leader of Half Dragon. Sigh, from one villain with barely any characterization to another villain with even less. Sure, let’s end this once and for all in a week’s time.
Akane-banashi Ep. 12
Despite this episode being the season finale, it’s really just a bridge to the future sequel in the works (slated to air in 2027). We get all the usual hallmarks: introducing a cavalcade of new faces, i.e. “foes” and detractors that Akane will need to face or impress as she climb the ranks, our heroine finally shedding her amateur status by graduating from high school, the wizened master reminiscing on the past and appreciating how far Akane has come, so on and so forth. The show is basically screaming at the top of its lungs, “The prologue is over! Now we can truly get serious!”
But don’t get me wrong, because there are some sweet moments sprinkled throughout the episode. Akane’s victory has made her a minor celebrity at her school, so everyone wants to take a selfie with her. The principal even goes and hangs a giant banner in front of the school to honor the girl. But more importantly, she has inspired her friends to find their own paths in life. For example, one of them wants to forgo college for trade school, but she never had the courage to inform her parents about her plans. Well, that’s all changed thanks to Akane blazing her own path. Still, this moment would’ve hit a lot harder if we had spent any time with these friends of hers at all.
Finally, Akane officially becomes Shiguma’s apprentice. The boys proceed to come out of their hiding spots with instruments to celebrate. It’s cute. I still don’t really get rakugo, and if the show’s goal was to convert me, then I suppose it arguably failed. Even so, I can appreciate the human side of Akane’s achievement, and it would’ve been a lot sweeter if her interpersonal relationships had gotten a little more attention. Will I watch the sequel when it comes out? Eh, sure, why not? As you can see from this post, there are far worse things I could and have been watching.
Ghost Concert – missing Songs Ep. 12
What a bizarre ending to a bizarre show. We kick things off with a pregnant woman giving birth to a girl. Yes, we’re getting Seria’s origin story now. Why would you not do this at the start of the series? What is wrong with these writers? Well, she always had spiritual powers, which freaked her parents out. I had to laugh at this, because it felt like such an overreaction. Seriously, if your kid could talk to ghosts, would you really slap them over it? I’m not even a parent, and I’m aghast at their behavior. Sure, if I were in their shoes, I’d be a bit perturbed, but I wouldn’t hit my kid. That’s not gonna stop the ghosts!
So… what happened to her parents? Well, that’s what the second half of the episode tackles. Basically, her dad was a musician, but he was no Taylor Swift. As a result, he had trouble making ends meet. When MiucS came along and offered a giant lump sum for just a handful of songs, he happily accepted. But that was just a trap! MiucS proceeded to buy everyone’s music, and proceeded to ban music worldwide! This is the hilarious part: her parents were part of an Austrian resistance group…? And they protested and kept singing music until the Austrian government eventually capitulated? So her parents have been in jail ever since. Right. A music app bought everyone’s music, made it illegal to sing their music, and people became political prisoners because of it… this show is so absurd.
In the end, they get out of prison, go back to Japan, and reunite with their daughter. But not for long, because Seria has decided to go into cryogenic sleep, so she can, uh, lemme check my notes… continue fighting for peace in the Phantom Realm. What the fuck? Huge decision, and it only gets a perfunctory explanation at the dinner table. I mean, does she not want to spend more time with her long lost parents? Well, they did slap her just for seeing ghosts… Anyway, the last shot is her leading a bunch of historical ghosts into battle. I heard that this was supposed to have a gacha game tie-in, so hey, this makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is well…
gestures wildly at everything
Personally, it’s a good thing that the gacha game never saw the light of day, because the premise sounds utterly terrible in an already oversaturated market. It would’ve been a complete money sink followed by a quick “end of service” announcement.
Mission: Yozakura Family S2 Ep. 11
This is a hard watch for a Kyoichiro hater like myself. Obviously, Taiyo and the Yozakura family can’t just leave Kyoichiro alone. They’re family. Nevertheless, the group takes literally six minutes to decide what to do. Some of them want to storm off and look for him right away, others want to regroup, blah blah blah. A quarter of the episode just gone. After the OP, everyone splits up to do what they do best. This means each member of the family (including Taiyo) has a positive recollection of Kyoichiro. Yeah, yeah, he means a lot to them. Still a creepy, condescending, and overbearing siscon in the present, though. And just like that, the episode is half over. But wait, there’s more! Taiyo meets the president of the Spy Association, who has his own Kyoichiro story to tell!
Eventually, Futaba rings Taiyo up to let him know that the rest of the siblings have not only found Kyoichiro but also have him completely surrounded. With only six or so minutes left, the show has no choice but to get to the point. Basically, his blood is now contaminated with Tsubomi’s blood, and his body will eventually succumb to her poison. He’s playing keep away from the rest of the family to avoid tainting them. So… why not just kill himself? Why even stick around to let himself be found by them? Maybe deep down he believes that they can still save him, because Taiyo sure does. And that’s where our episode ends. Yeah, it’s gonna be Taiyo’s white blossoms against Kyoichiro’s black blossoms. I’d be lying if I said I was excited for their upcoming clash, because I just know the story will pull something out of their ass to save Kyoichiro.
Wistoria: Wand and Sword S2 Ep. 11
So was my prediction right or not? Unfortunately, the jury’s still out, because the show wastes this entire episode on fighting over Will. Yes, two Magia Vanders clash over Will and Will alone. No, I will not get into the nitty gritty of the fight nor will I comment on Zeo’s very brief backstory. Who the hell cares? So come back next week to find out that I am (of course) right: Will will end up with Zeo. C’mon, the last episode of the season is gonna be called “A Story of a Dream with No End.” That pretty much epitomize his relationship with Elfie. Always yearning, never to be requited.
Everything else about everything else:
I dropped Digimon Story Time Stranger ’cause it was kinda boring, but I might try it again now that there’s a 60 fps patch.
I think I might switch up how I do “Everything else” posts for the summer. At the moment, I publish this gargantuan post that tracks every show I’m watching casually. When there’s over 15 shows, however, it can become a bit unwieldy. So maybe for the summer, I’ll experiment with daily “Everything else” posts. On any given night, I might have a post about just two or three series.