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Goodbye, Lara Ep. 6
Finally, some major revelations for once. Lara’s light somehow sustains the mermaid’s palace, and without it, they must abandon their home. But what did they do before she came along? That duty fell on someone else? Her mother? Grace tells the mermaids that she has a safe haven for them, but Lisa didn’t believe her. As a result, she went off on her own. What exactly was her plan? We may never know. What we see next is her getting captured, then treated like a circus sideshow. She was imprisoned like this for years, which gradually nurtured her hatred. I don’t pity her, though. But I’ll get to that.
Eventually, she was rescued by Kota. He was a former anglerfish that she had befriended. He stole the witch’s potions, became a living boy, and tracked Lisa down all by his lonesome. How? Magic, I guess. Still, the two of them continued existing like this in the human world; Lisa chose to stick by her savior’s side. They would, however, require a steady supply of the witch’s potion, which Grace was none too willing to provide. As a result, Lisa and Kota had to rely upon a human researcher to try to duplicate the tonic. Unfortunately, his life was finite and he could not unlock its mysteries. And yet, Lisa and Kota were kinda dismissive of his efforts while simultaneously paying their respects to his grave.
In the present, Lisa currently works as a museum guide. We see her provide fish-related education to a gaggle of bright-eyed, curious schoolchildren. We also see her struggle, because the imitation potion that the researcher invented is losing its efficacy. But what does that mean? Can’t she just return to the ocean? Sure, her people are still asleep, and she needs Lara’s light. But is she going to die if Lara doesn’t hurry things up? Plus, Lisa ended last week’s episode by being adamantly against Lara falling in love with a human. Well, what are the alternatives? How else is Lara supposed to cultivate this light that the mermaids so badly need? And do we really want a society that is wholly dependent on a young girl’s mood? ‘Cause hoo boy, what a foolish idea!
Like I said, I don’t pity Lisa. Yes, she was treated horribly when she was first captured. But she’s lived alongside human for quite some time now. Centuries, even. She even interacts with kids on a regular basis. She should know then that evil is not innate — that humans are not born to hurt and mistreat others. She was simply unlucky. But if she can’t see that after hundreds of years, then she gets no sympathy from me. But fine, I can accept that some trauma can’t be undone; it might be impossible for Lisa to ever trust humans. But if that’s the case, she needs to get the hell away from those schoolchildren.
In the after credits scene, Lara fortuitously bumps into a guy who is a dead ringer for her prince. Wait, wasn’t her prince vaguely European? And now he’s just in Japan? Or is it a Japanese guy who just really looks like a European prince from centuries ago? Ah well, it’s a freakin’ show about mermaids. I should stop nitpicking. Anyway, just seeing him alone (temporarily?) undoes Grace’s magic, thereby causing Lara’s human legs to revert back to a fish’s caudal fin. So wait, does Lara share the same problem as Lisa? Will Lara need to continually drink the potion in the near future to keep her form? In fact, we still don’t know what Grace is doing up here or how she ended up in her current state. We got major revelations, but there are still plenty of mysteries left unanswered.
Iron Wok Jan Ep. 6
Flame guy faces off against Akiyama in the first round. He also has everyone on his side, but I think it’s fair. Akiyama did drug the judges. The thing is, this show is all about dumb gimmicks. After all, we can’t taste or even smell the dishes. Even our vision fails us, because what we see is just a 2D, anime representation of the actual dishes. So of course, the story has to rely on dumb gimmicks set these dishes apart.
The first round is a beef competition, so Sawada beelines for the expensive, marbled cuts. His gimmick is a giant griddle that is so hot, a piece of paper or cloth bursts into flames as soon as it touches the surface. Sooooo… you shouldn’t cook meat on it, then. But fine, let’s pretend the meat won’t be completely charred to shit and back. Sawada proceeds to whip up kebabs. Yes, just kebabs. I’d kill for some right now, but it’s just not very creative for a cooking competition. And how exactly does a giant griddle even help here? How does it enhance the flavor of the kebab? At least a regular grill might impart a charcoal flavor.
Meanwhile, out of all the cuts available to him, Akiyama chooses the shank. Now, they have two hours for this round, which is near impossible if he’s cooking the shank normally. He’d have to whip out the pressure cooker, but I don’t see one. I just see Akiyama with two woks. I’m sorry, but it’s physically impossible to properly cook beef shank in a wok in two mere hours. Plus, how does this work timing-wise? Sawada’s super tender kebabs would take mere minutes on the griddle — perhaps even shorter if it’s truly as hot as they claim it is. Realistically, the judges would be waiting around for over an hour between both contestants’ dishes.
Nevertheless, Akiyama somehow magically coaxes out the gelatin from the beef shank without a pressure cooker in just two hours. Not only that, he’s making guoba, which features puffed up, crispy rice. The judges are initially unimpressed. It’s like the mushroom preliminaries again. This time, however, no drugs are involved. Akiyama simply tells the judges to blindfold themselves. Without sight, their taste and smell are enhanced. All of a sudden, Akiyama’s dish starts pulling ahead of Sawada’s. That’s kinda inane, isn’t it? If we’re going to do this, then every dish should be judged blindfolded. Furthermore, it’s a goddamn cooking competition, not a freaking basketball game where one team mounts a furious 30-pt comeback. Stop it with this nonsense.
Ah well, Akiyama takes the first round. We then see a role reversal involving him and Kiriko. Normally in anime, the guy walks in on the girl when she’s bathing. She then screams, then gets violent. Here, however, Kiriko walks in on Akiyama. Buuuuuuut she still gets violent with him. Meh, it’s an over-the-top cooking show full of stupid gimmicks. We don’t need a romance subplot, especially when Akiyama is such a fucked up character.
The Insipid Prince’s Furtive Grab for the Throne Ep. 6
The battle against the vampires was over the second Arnold swooped in as Silver and saved Finne from certain death. It was extra over when he had them completely chained up via magic. Even so, the story drags this out for several more minutes. Elna has to summon her legendary sword from the ether while Silver charges up his ancient magic. It’s really quite ridiculous.
In the end, Karlos, the idiot brother who tried to make himself look good by working with the vampires, confesses to everything. The emperor asks his kids what they should do to him. Most of the older ones surprisingly leap to his defense, including the green-haired princess. Wait a minute, didn’t she hire someone to knock Arnold out of the contest? She might not have wanted him killed, but still! Leonard, however, argues for capital punishment. Oof, harsh. Karlos is his half-brother, after all. But I get it. Karlos didn’t just endanger his father. His foolishness cost soldiers their lives, and could’ve gotten several nearby towns destroyed. The law needs to be applied fairly. If the average citizen would face capital punishment, then so should Karlos. Hell, you could argue that he bears a greater responsibility as one of the emperor’s children. It’s like how you should come down harder on corrupt cops (though we all know that rarely happens).
What gets me, however, is that I don’t even think Leonard believes his own bullshit, and neither does the emperor. The emperor likely suspects that Arnold put Leonard up to this as a show of… power? Authority? I think they all know the emperor won’t really behead his own son. He just wanted to solicit his children’s thoughts. Leonard gets to look good by sticking to the law without having to bear the guilt of sending his half-brother to his death. It’s still dishonest as hell, and I don’t really like it.
In the end, Leonard is the official winner of the contest, so he’s like… ambassador extraordinaire or whatever it’s called. It’s still insane to me that a monster-hunting contest is what decides such a weighty role and title. Anyway, Karlos was technically in first, but he’s disqualified for, y’know, everything. Arnold was in second, but he is disqualified for breaking his tracking bracelet. This is where Elna tries to muck things up. She actually argues that Arnold should win, because he only broke his bracelet in order to send her and her troops to defend the emperor. It’s true, but Arnold denies it. He plays up the incompetence angle and swears he broke the bracelet by accident. The emperor believes Arnold, but much to the latter’s chagrin, his father still sticks him with the role of aiding his brother. Elna got what she wanted. Good, ’cause I still don’t agree with Arnold’s grand plan.
On the other hand, I’m not quite sure what to make of Elna. She genuinely cares about her childhood friend. That’s not a bad thing, but I wonder if her feelings run deeper than that. I hope not. She gets irrationally mad when people call him the insipid prince. I mean, that’s the exact image he wants to portray. It’s not like the insult isn’t justified.
Last but not least, an exhausted Arnold falls asleep on the couch in front of Finne. She then goes on and on about how she dearly respects him, then gives him what looks like a peck on the cheek. I half-expected the show to reveal that Arnold was awake this whole time, but nope.
LIAR GAME Ep. 19
The results of this round are so convoluted, they have to announce it twice. First, Country of Day loses, then suddenly Country of Day wins thoroughly. To make an extremely long story short, Akiyama got three people from Country of Night to work for him. Not only that, Bandana-kun was never ratted out by his partner. It was all a ruse to trick Yokoya, who was too arrogant to realize he didn’t have complete and utter control over his team. The traitors defected easily too. Yokoya tries to have one last laugh by mocking their foolishness. He believes they will still be saddled with debt. It turns out, however, that both Akiyama and Nao will put themselves further into debt in order to free both their teammates and the three Country of Night defectors from the Liar Game. Yokoya can’t comprehend such blatant selflessness. I guess you could say this is one long, drawn-out metaphor of how authoritarian states eventually succumb to the power of hope or whatever. But this round has taken up so much of the season, the message loses much of its efficacy.
Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Ep. 6
In a flashback, the girls are thrown off by a recent patch update, which comes with a slew of balance changes. If your main gets buffed, awesome. If it gets nerfed, however… well, what can you do but adapt?
Back in the present, Aya and Mio put in even more degen practice hours. What makes me laugh is how they don’t even mute the volume despite it being four in the morning. Nor do they fight the temptation to bicker in between rounds. Good lord, at least be considerate of your friends. The two girls are arguing about parry timings, but all I can think is, “Man, you girls have a serious problem.” Besides, like cramming for a test, these last second practice rounds aren’t going to do much good. You’re not getting enough sleep nor are you giving yourself enough time for any of the practice lessons to sink in.
EVO Japan is finally underway, and it’s a double elimination. That’s probably why Mio loses her first match instantly. Hell, we don’t even get to see it. Instead, the story makes a big deal out of the two top players facing off. Yeah, we saw them at the end of last week’s episode, but I still feel like this is a strange narrative choice. I don’t really care how the top players do, especially since they’re fictional. Maybe if I was watching a real tourney, I’d like to see the best of the best showcase their talents. But what do I care about fake players in a made-up story? For better or worse, I want to follow the characters I’ve been watching all season. If they bomb out in the early rounds — or hell, even round one — then so be it.
Oh yeah, the girls discuss what they’re hoping to get out of this tournament. Obviously, none of them believe they’re going to win it all — except Mio, who is delusional — but what does success look like for each of them? Aya spews some platitude, which draws a little girl’s ire. Where the hell did she come from? Did she see a bunch of high school girls yapping it up in a group, so she decided to eavesdrop and shit-talk them? She also looks like she’s in elementary school — middle school at best. Would EVO Japan really allow a little kid to wander around like this without any adult supervision? Tsk tsk tsk.
Victoria of Many Faces Ep. 6
Victoria might not know for certain that the Kingdom of Hagl has sniffed her out, but she certainly has a sixth sense about the impending danger. Slowly but surely, she’s setting the stage for her next escape. She already has a hair color picked out as well as a horse to assist in her getaway. The only question is whether or not Nonna will be coming with her. That’s where things get tricky.
Some random baron and his wife lost a child recently, and Nonna is supposedly a dead ringer for said child. As a result, they want to adopt Nonna. What a wild request for the couple to make. Victoria wants to outright refuse them, but Nonna agrees to stay with the upper class couple for about a week. I’m not quite sure what the kid is thinking. Maybe she feels as though this is the only way she can definitively reject them and stay with Victoria, i.e. “I officially tried it, and I hated it.” Unfortunately, Victoria is crestfallen. She might even be more attached to Nonna than Nonna is to her.
Personally, this show would lose all of its heart if Victoria and Nonna were separated. Like she said earlier in the episode, having Nonna around allows her to live a normal life. Maybe letting the couple adopt Nonna is the right thing to do. Victoria will soon have to be on the run. On the other hand, they can keep her safe. They can give her the best upbringing, the finest clothes, etc. But this isn’t the real world, and I’m not particularly interested in watching a former spy leap from one fake life to another with no attachment to anyone or anything. That’s neither particularly interesting to me nor remotely relatable for obvious reasons. I would simply drop the show.
The funny thing is, Victoria never would’ve gotten herself into this mess if she hadn’t tried to be kind by giving away her slice of pie. But she’s also doing her best to raise a child, so she has to be a proper role model. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Red River Ep. 6
This show’s plotting just feels so unserious. The king calls for a dinner party, because he wants to see Kail’s Ishtar for himself. At the party, the queen drugs Kail’s brother, enticing him to steal Yuri for himself. She did this before with Tito, and she’s doing it again with Zannanza. It must be easy, since they simply have to drink “rose water.” So why doesn’t the queen just mind control everyone?
Zannanza grabs Yuri and drags her off. The girl is unable to fight back. Gosh, she can’t do a darn thing! But didn’t we just see her take out Zuwa in last week’s episode? We even see her undergo sword-training at the start of this week’s episode. I obviously don’t believe a Japanese teenager can overpower a grown man, but what was the point of all of that then if she’s going to suddenly be this helpless?
Yuri finally remembers how Tito came back to his senses, so she tries the same trick on Zannanza. She knees him in the stomach so hard that the “rose water” he drank is expelled from his body. You mean the liquid he drank possibly hours ago? The same liquid that has somehow not intermixed with the contents of his stomach, possibly gone through his intestines, and been digested? That liquid? It boggles the mind.
And oh yeah, now that Zannanza is back to his senses, Yuri can somehow help him fight back against the invading Mitannis. She can’t fight Zannanza off — not even a token resistance — but she can totally go toe to toe with other men. I’m sorry, but this show is stupid. It feels like it’s written by an immature child.
The Villager of Level 999 Ep. 7
The casino finally opens, and everyone is pitching in to help make it work. They have Rex busing tables despite him being the hero. Takako is running a cafe full of beefcakes. They even built a chapel for some damn reason. Maybe people can get hitched here Vegas-style. Unfortunately, the casino is barely making any money, because the party fails to anticipate an everlasting truth about human nature: the rich do not want to mingle with the poors. See, you gotta build an island for the rich and stick them all there. Then nuke it. I kid, I kid… just tax their second house heavily.
So the gang needs a backup plan. This is when Alice suggests taking down the level 500 black dragon for its super rare, super valuable loot. What? We could’ve been doing this the whole time? Instead of some dumb casino, our RPG heroes could’ve just acted like… I dunno, RPG heroes?!
Meanwhile, we get Paruna’s backstory, but I zoned it out. Wanting to genocide an entire race just because one of them killed your lover is beyond ridiculous. This requires no further elaboration.
Also, the jokes involving Takako and David are really unfunny, you guys. It’s the same joke over and over, too. Oh my god, she looks like a man! Give it a rest.
Clevatess S2 Ep. 5
I don’t want to just provide a plot summary, nor do I care all that much about the inevitable clash between Klen and the elite students. Instead, I’ll just highlight a few points of interest:
- Evil church guy’s face almost sloughs off at one point, so he’s clearly not human anymore (or if he ever was). But is he really just a puppet of Vordin? I dunno, we shouldn’t really be introducing yet another evil mastermind, but Vordin is kinda unexciting as an antagonist.
- Zavtheir reminds Klen not to throw everything with Luna away by carelessly revealing himself like this. Again, this is what the story is missing: the heart that drives Clevatess to action. Otherwise, all he’s done for the past thousand years was, well, nothing. Unfortunately, Luna is still back home with his mother, so this connection won’t be developing significantly anytime soon.
- Zavtheir also makes it sound like Clevatess and Vordin are just two sides of the same coin — both yearning to make up for a “millennium of loss.” We know so little about Vordin, though. Good heroes also need good villains to bounce off of, and we don’t have that at the moment.
- I guess this scene represents all of Alicia’s insecurities — a former hero stuck obeying a lord of dark beasts. Well, I shouldn’t say former. She reminds herself that she’s still a hero despite everything, which gives her the power necessary to overcome her… snail doppelganger? I don’t even know, man…
- Alicia gets her head cut off… or does she? Ah, it’s the classic fade-to-black cliffhanger. Klen said he raised hell in order to help her break free, right? So maybe he’ll swoop in and save her. Then again, he’s also busy fighting the other students. But also then again, he’s a lord of dark beasts, so he can just pull anything out of his ass to rectify the situation. Besides, Alicia is technically undead anyway. All I’m saying is that this isn’t really much of a cliffhanger.
My Stepmother and Stepsisters Aren’t Wicked Ep. 5
Same role reversal stuff as always. Miya attends school for the first time, and one of her classmates is one of those classic ojousama characters with blonde drill hair. In any other show, she would probably try and bully Miya. At the very least, she would act like a queen bee and throw her status around. But no, they simply become fast friends.
By the way, don’t drive with your eyes closed.
Mebius Dust Ep. 5
It drives me up the wall when a conversation gets cut short. Stella wants to know what Araki has been dealing with. Friends helping friends. You love to see it. When asked why he so desperately wants to go outside the barrier, he replies, “Because I might be able to start over.” “Start over? Start what over?” she asks. “Stuff. Like myself.” Then the scene ends! It just ends! Did Stella ask him to elaborate? Did she just sit there in complete and dumbfounded silence? I hate this. I absolutely hate this sort of storytelling. I wanted to flip the table and stopped watching right then and there. But hey, we’re doing this at 3x speed, so god willing, this episode is only going to take me roughly seven minutes to complete and that’s including the OP/ED. I can skip those.
Afterwards, Stella bumps into Yuda, the researcher. He asks about her brother, especially a Kurusu-kun. The show then cuts to the pale-looking character who has been bugging Araki all this time. Stella reveals how her brother has an “unrequited obsession with Araki.” Sex-wise, they were a boy this whole time? Welp, that’s on me for assuming…
Stella runs into Suzaku later. They had a bit of a spat in an earlier episode — well, mostly from Stella’s end — but they’re willing to talk things through now. We learn how going outside means the mutated parts of your body will disappear entirely. For Stella, she would lose her legs. But since Suzaku’s lungs are “Ramus,” she would suddenly find herself unable to breathe. I guess that’s what the scientist person is trying to overcome. So… what about Araki? Would he just go braindead? Still, I kinda wish they had revealed this earlier. I mean, I knew it would be bad for the kids to go outside, but I didn’t know the full extent of the problem. If this had already been revealed and I just missed it, then why are they doubling down on this information now?
Like always, the kids compete in a contest. Stella has some sort of breakthrough, and she now wants to go outside with Araki. This seems to cheer him up enough to leave his room and rejoin his friends out in the field. Suzaku goes spelunking to find a giant deposit of meteor fragments. I honestly thought she might run out of dust and just drown. Luckily, I didn’t have to watch a kid die onscreen.
Am I closer to understanding what this show is really about other than kids dreaming of going outside their protective bubble? No, not really.
Chainsmoker Cat Ep. 6
The drunk cat was only trying to relieve herself, but she somehow ends up catching a cab all the way to Enoshima. Luckily, her friends stuck a GPS tracker on her. They even enlist the landlord’s help to transport her back home. He might fuck a blow-up doll behind closed doors, but he’s also pretty kind to these girls. Where would they be without him? Probably dead in a ditch somewhere. Case in point, drunk cat’s unruly mane catches on fire, and the rest of her girl friends are too fucked up to do anything about it. Landlord to the rescue again!
I didn’t really understand the car ride with him and Yakuko, though. What was that? Just a slice-of-life moment? I guess I don’t expect that sort of thing from a show that has been pretty much non-stop gross-out humor. But yeah, it just seemed like two people on the road. Awkward conversations about family, awkward pauses…
Maybe this episode is all about being awkward. We see the mangaka struggle to criticize her new assistants despite them messing up over and over. Her frustration then boils over, but even then, it’s pretty mild. Finally, she apologizes to them as they pull an all-nighter to get the manga done on time. And… that’s it? No punchline? What happened to all the poop and piss jokes?
Finally, we meet a hobo cat, who loves to pontificate about the need to shed worldly possessions or become one with nature. But in secret, she’s struggling to deal with her homelessness. Moreover, when a storm sweeps her tent away, owning stuff suddenly seems pretty important. I guess that’s the punchline? I’m sorry, but all of these stories have just been kinda depressing. I guess bring back the poop and piss, dick and pussy jokes, because I’d rather be grossed out than bummed out.
Dara-san of Reiwa Ep. 6
This is starting to shape up like Goodbye, Lara where I’m mostly interested in just one-half of the story. In the past, we get to see the younger sister trade her soul for two hours of life. She then uses that short time to enact her revenge on both her elder sister and their parents. Welp, couldn’t have happened to nicer people! But we also see Jurota, the man who triggered the elder sister’s mad jealousy, stumble upon the aftermath of the gruesome scene. He also returns to the younger sister’s hut to confirm her death and weep. This story isn’t over, so what now?
In the present, uh… Dara helps Kaoru shoot off light beams (they look more like electric currents) that do no damage? Oh yeah, Hinata helps a young boy investigate whether or not a local god has gone missing. Technically no, but a human-turned-evil-spirit had supplanted them. Like I said, I wasn’t too interested in this half of the show. In theory, the Hinata section should’ve been interesting, but the execution is too rushed. I also find Kaoru rather annoying to watch. He seems like he’s going to become a huge creep when he grows up.
Oh yeah, we meet the siblings’ dad. He’s just never around on a regular basis. Sounds like a deadbeat to me.
I Became a Legend After My 10 Year-Long Last Stand Ep. 6
The fight against the vampire high lord and his underlings doesn’t even last half the episode. It also feels kinda cheap. Apparently, there are female vampires. Somehow, they don’t lose their sexual characteristics like the male ones. One of them gets the jump on Eric and sucks his blood, buuuuuuuuut he’s fine. Heroes can’t get charmed! So that’s cheap incident number one. Meanwhile, against the vampire high lord, Lock has the advantage until his foe uses their… Divine Blessing? But you’re vampires. Ah well, it doesn’t matter. I think the gist is that Lock is on their home turf where they have an advantage. But the vampire lord loses anyway, because a bunch of religious types are praying somewhere. Basically, Eric’s wife is lending a hand… but we haven’t even met this woman, right? She’s the factor that tips the scales, but we don’t even know what she looks like. In fact, is this supposed to be her? Why are they so insistent on hiding her identity? Is this supposed to be a twist or something? Ah well, cheap incident number two.
The rest of the episode is just wrapping up this arc while potentially introducing the next one. As a reward for, well, saving the realms again, Lock gets a massive mansion. He gets to fill it with his “son,” the divine chicken, and oh yeah, he has a dog now. A wolf technically, but they domesticate themselves into dogs. Lock will probably get a “daughter” too, because we see a street urchin running and hiding from evil men in town. She might even be a slave since fantasy anime really loves that kinda thing. Eric, Eric, Eric… what kind of kingdom are you running? Anyway, Lock and Luccira investigate the basement of their new home, because they hear strange noises in the middle of the night. It’s just the girl.
The Drops of God Ep. 18
Man, these sommeliers really have their work cut out for them. Not only do they have to identify the exact wine they drink, they even have to identify the dirt that these wines are grown in! And they do it by taste-testing said dirt! But seriously, don’t put dirt in your mouth, kids. It won’t actually impress your customers. Issei simply has this stupid idea, because Shizuku has an equally stupid ability to detect wine notes in the middle of the blizzard (see last week’s episode if you’re confused). As a result, Issei is pushing himself to the limit by literally eating dirt.
Well, it’s time to see where that crazy comes from, so we immediately cut to a woman on a jet poo-pooing the red wine she’s been given. Guess what? It’s Issei’s mom Honoka. Wait, the same woman who tried to choke him out on a mountain? Hoo boy.
Shortly after Honoka’s arrival, the sixth round begins. Shizuku has to win this one. Issei has won the last two, so they can’t let Shizuku fall too far behind. Well, they could. Shizuku could always mount a furious comeback through a winning streak towards the end… but I doubt that the story will take this route. It seems to enjoy having Shizuku’s raw innate talent clash against Issei’s obsessively-honed expertise.
As always, Yutaka’s descriptions of the apostles makes it sound like he was tripping on acid rather than simply enjoying a good glass of wine. If you told me drinking a glass of red wine would help me attain Buddhist enlightenment, I would think it was spiked. I’ve tried a lot of wines. At best, they give me a warm feeling in my core.
Needless to say, Issei immediately jets off to Kyoto to visit a Buddhist temple. Hey, at least he’s not trying to get anyone killed this time. Meanwhile, Shizuku gets some help from his coworker who loves Italian wine. Basically, he thinks you can get the feeling of enlightenment and the grand scale of the universe from a Barolo. So where does Shizuku head? To Asuka, where he finds an Italian bar and restaurant named Spazio. Literally space. It’s so hilariously on the nose. It’s the same as meeting a lying demon named Lugner. Now who would go and do something like that? And the same poem that Shizuku’s dad loved to recite when Shizuku was a kid? It’s the same poem that led the restauranteur here to Asuka.
The restaurateur proceeds to tell his life story. This is the true key to discovering the Sixth Apostle, but I don’t really care about that. I just love how batshit insane everyone is. Basically, the restaurateur met and fell in love with a Japanese woman. She returned to Italy with him where he tried to open his own restaurant. When she found out she was pregnant, he merely said, “But this had to happen now? It’s bad timing with the restaurant and all.” And just like that, the woman disappeared. She fucked off, never to be seen again. The restaurateur returned to Japan and opened up in Asuka in hopes of finding her, but never did. But seriously? Abandoning your husband and the father of your future child over a few throwaway lines? But that’s only if we can trust the restaurateur’s story. There are always missing missing reasons, if you know what I mean. People are not reliable narrators, especially when it comes to their own story. So c’mon, Leonardo Romano (did they pick the most Italian sounding name possible?), you can tell us what really happened! I kid, of course. Knowing this show, he’s probably just a normal guy who said something stupid once, and now we’re using his “romantic” backstory as a springboard towards discovering the Sixth Apostle. In the real world, however, people rarely leave their partners without even trying to work things out.
Meanwhile, we just see Issei kneeling in a dark room, staring at a statue. When he finally calls it quits for the day — only because the temple has to close to the public at some point — his mother accosts him. If you can’t even identify this wine, you’re not even as good as me! Sheesh, wine is his entire life, lady! You might as well choke him to death!
Everything else about everything else:
I don’t have much to say. Well, I kinda do. I’ve been blogging consistently for a year straight now, and I wanted to reflect on that. Not now, though. I don’t quite have the words to voice my thoughts. Other than that, I’ve been getting caught up in Final Fantasy XIV. I’m now current on the MSQ, so I’m just getting all the jobs to 100 through dailies and what not. It’s tedious but also mindless. Life is too stressful for me to invest my energy elsewhere. Like a lot of people, when I have a lot going on, I return to the familiar. Final Fantasy XIV is like comfort food. I’m also re-reading Bolano’s 2666 even though it’s subject matter is hardly like comfort food.