I certainly feel like the void when I watch some of these shows.
Oh Boy, Was I Wrong About Her Ep. 7
This show is so unfocused. It’s full of characters trying to be coy to each other all the time. First, you got Kaido once again trying to butt his way into the main characters’ lives. He reveals that he’s not interested in Haruki as a romantic partner. So then what’s his deal? Does he just want to be friends with them? Why not just come out and say so?
Meanwhile, Haruki is up to something. She even seeks advice from some of her female classmates. For what? Oh, the story certainly won’t tell us! Nevertheless, she teases Hayato later, asking him if he notices anything different about her. Look, man, you’re an anime character. Your human features have already been flattened and abstracted. Unless the change is obvious, no one’s going to notice a damn thing.
Finally, we get to meet Hayato and Himeko’s father. Haruki is also seeing him for the first time since she and Hayato were tiny kids. Suddenly, she gets all nervous, because he knows. Knows what? He knows about her family! What about her family? Nope, can’t tell ya! We’re going to hold that card close to the chest! C’mon, man.
Well, Hayato never told Haruki about his mother being hospitalized either. His logic? He didn’t want her to worry (which is stupid but I’ll leave this alone for now). So maybe Haruki is trying to protect Hayato! From what? A scary actress? Look, are you guys childhood friends or not? What’s the point of being close if you can lean on each other? It’s so ridiculous.
In the end, Haruki merely reiterates that Hayato is special to her. Yeah, well, you should’ve seen him with Minamo earlier. It felt like he was trying to troll her grandpa by holding her hand and leading her home. He also heaped praise on the girl, but we’ll just play the “dense anime protagonist who doesn’t realize he’s flirting” card. Yup, Hayato sure is special.
Also, I love how Hayato’s dad has food in front of him in this shot, but it magically disappears a few seconds later. Well, he’s probably an overworked salaryman, so he ate it before we could even blink. Ain’t got time to chew and enjoy your food!
Love Unseen Beneath the Clear Night Sky Ep. 7
None of Koharu’s friends have seen or heard from her for days until Ushio tells Kakeru and Yuko that he saw her entering a hospital. Kakeru runs off — literally runs off — and I’m just like, “Call a damn cab.” But hey, maybe he’s broke. I suspect they only have him running, however, because this will heighten the drama. He’s desperate and will do anything to see Koharu again!!! But already, I’m thinking to myself, They’re not going to let you see her. You’re not family. The hospital won’t tell you a damn thing. Sure enough, that’s exactly what happens. But then Kakeru and Yuko decide to split up and search the hospital floor-by-floor. Huh? They’ll just let you do that? People from the outside can just waltz right in and wander through the buildings unimpeded?
Eventually, Kakeru does find Koharu. He finds her playing the piano and singing to a bunch of kids. He texts Yuko, she comes over, then they both wait patiently until Koharu is done. When they finally get a chance to speak… well, it turns out Koharu doesn’t remember them. Not only that, we get a flashback revealing more details about her condition. It’s brain cancer. Plus, the chemo really takes it out on her. Sure, sure…
Alright, hold up. Hold the hell up. Even if she suddenly lost her memories of them, they’ve been texting and calling her everyday since she suddenly disappeared from their life. You mean to tell me she woke up one day with no memories, saw her phone ringing or filled with notifications, and just… what? Just said, “Fuck it, I don’t remember these people, I’m not even going to bother responding or asking them who they are.” She really did that? Or did her parents take her phone away from Koharu? And what now? Is Kakeru going to try to make her fall in love with him again? Jar her memories with fireworks? It’s also possible that her cancer came back, so she’s trying to distance herself from her friends. She’s lying in some misguided attempt to protect them. Either way, drama for drama’s sake, man. In fact, I’m quite annoyed with this development. I think I might have been lied to about this being light-hearted. I’m not really into this sort of thing. Life sucks enough as it is.
Saved by the Ice Cold Prince’s Embrace Ep. 6
Katrina takes her sister’s abuse for a little while longer, but Clarence eventually shows up and rescues her. Somehow, neither Charlotte nor her mother recognize the First Prince. They even try to attack him. Kinda silly, isn’t it? How do you not know what your prince looks like, especially when your father is a count?
Hana-Kimi S2 Ep. 8
What an inane question from Sano. Mizuki crossed an entire ocean and started cross-dressing just so she could illegally infiltrate his boys-only school. Like what more does Sano need? Durr, how does she truly feel about me? All those high jumps must’ve starved his brain of oxygen. Plus, he’s worried about her, right? He doesn’t want her to agree to the modeling shoot, because she might accidentally out herself. So this is when he should stop being a wuss and just confess that he knows everything! Does this guy want to protect her or not?
The photoshoot happens anyway. Mizuki looks like a goober, and Sano somehow looks like he knows exactly what to do. Maybe he’s had to do photoshoots before? I don’t remember. Sano then gets jealous when Mizuki merely smiles at Akiha. He’s gonna be that type of boyfriend.
There’s an inadvertently funny moment where Mizuki marvels over a photo of a topless woman. Akiha reveals that it’s his ex-wife. This confuses Mizuki, because she just saw him cling to Umeda. It doesn’t occur to her that Akiha could be attracted to both genders. Bi-erasure rears its ugly head again.
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You Ep. 6
Apparently, employees in Sasaki’s company — and maybe all of Japan — have to do regular health checkups every year, and at his age, Sasaki is sorta dreading it. I understand the feeling. If the doctors find out there’s something seriously wrong with me, it’s not like I can afford to do anything about it. And if there’s nothing seriously wrong, I might as well save a few bucks and tough it out!
Sasaki is initially told his results aren’t great, so he might have to quit smoking (even though we know he won’t, because this show’s entire premise depends on it). As a result, they’re both a bit bummed out, because they think they won’t have a reason to keep hanging out if they don’t smoke together. Am I the only one who thinks this is weird? Would you stop hanging out with your friends just because you quit drinking? C’mon, you guys could simply start hanging out for the sake of hanging out. I know it’s a crazy idea, but try it! Yamada’s manager thinks she would have to come clean about her alter ego, but I don’t think so. There’s no reason why Yamada can’t keep up the charade and still spend time with Sasaki. Just do it. You’re adults for god’s sake.
Maybe doing so would be seen as a bold move, but is that such a bad thing? We have so many reasons to be cynical and pessimistic these days. When there’s finally a chance to be earnest, why not seize it? “I enjoy your company and I want to spend more time with you.” Bam. Done and done. How can this be a bad thing? Seriously, how? If anything, continuing to spend time together without using the nasty habit as an excuse just means they have a genuine connection.
But it’s all moot, ’cause he was apparently misdiagnosed. Sasaki then immediately fires up a cigarette. Fucking gross. Don’t judge? Pfft, puh-leeze. Smoking is nasty and I’ll never not judge people for slowly killing themselves.
By the way, Sasaki’s coworker’s food looks like a chore to eat. Plus, you can’t cut meat and fat out of your diet completely. Your body literally needs both to function properly. If you seriously want to change your diet, you need to consult a proper nutritionist, not just replace everything with vegetables and assume that it’ll work.
Last third of the episode is all about how Yamada used to have a tough time smiling. It didn’t help that one of her customers kept targeting her. He would come back everyday just to berate her. I dunno, probably an incel projecting his insecurities or whatever. The fact that this was a pattern is kinda sad. Management should’ve stepped in and banned this guy a long time ago. You can see where this is going, though. Outta nowhere, the gallant hero Sasaki descended from the heavens high above us (’cause he’s so tall) and defended the poor maiden! This flashback kinda makes me laugh, because he still couldn’t tell the guy off. That would be rude and uncouth! You can’t do that in our polite society! So from my perspective, it was such a limp dick attempt: “There are other registers here, so why do you go out of your way to do this every time I’m next in line?” Sasaki sounded like he was about to cry. But hey, Yamada was impressed, and her opinion’s all that matters.
Back in the present, however, Yamada makes it sound like she doesn’t realize Sasaki is the one who defended her: “I wonder if he’s still smoking somewhere else.” Oh my god, smoking must lower your IQ or something.
Please Excuse My Younger Brothers Ep. 7
What’s got Ito so worried this week? Well, all of the major “bosses” have been defeated. Gen was standoffish at first, but he eventually came around. Syu was a shut-in, but no more. Raku… well, Raku didn’t even have a problem to solve. So with no pressing family issues left to tackle — we’ll just pretend their parents ignoring them is normal — Ito can’t help but start feeling weird about Gen. Actually, she can help it. She can simply tell herself that they’re family, so any thought of romance between them would be wildly inappropriate. But this is anime, so she’s got her own best friend whispering in her ear, feeding her nonstop brain rot.
When two people can’t quite admit to themselves that they like each other, what do cheap romances usually do? Make it a troubling threesome! Not a full blown love triangle, mind you, but there’s always a non-trivial threat to force the main couple to confront their true feelings. As a result, Ito has to work with this lazy ass playboy for the upcoming cultural festival. He tries putting the moves on her, and none of them work. But they do have two notable side effects: 1) Gen gets all jealous and overprotective, and 2) Ito slowly realizes that those moves would work on her if they were coming from Gen. So yeah, very ho-hum, bog standard romance anime development. I see what the show is doing, and it’s nothing original. Normally, I’d just brush it off, but they’re family.
Rich Girl Caretaker Ep. 7
Well, we learn this week that Mirei is adopted, so she feels the need to do whatever it takes to help her family. If that means marrying herself off to another rich family, then so be it. But this whole premise is stupid from the get-go. What does an arranged marriage have to do with modern businesses, corporations, and conglomerates? Yes, members of royalty in the past would organize these unions in order to foster cooperation and consolidate power. But this is not the past. No one should be making billion-dollar business decisions based on who is married to whom, and if they did, the board would have their heads. I can’t take any of this seriously. All I see is a trumped up excuse to keep these young girls in bondage. I’m not even going to engage in this story.
All you need to know is that Mirei is obviously in love with Itsuki. So now what? Is he going to try to talk her out of the arranged marriage even though he has no intention of marrying her? That sounds pretty shitty, too. It’s also wholly unnecessary. You could simply roll Mirei’s story into Hinako’s. There’s no need to have multiple girls playing functionally the same role other than to create a pseudo-harem setup.
The Duke’s Son Claims He Won’t Love Me Yet Showers Me with Adoration Ep. 7
Most of this week’s episode is about Elsa’s birthday. Unsurprisingly, Julius had no idea it was coming up. Hell, he didn’t even think to ask. Then on the day itself, he is late to meet Elsa because he’s just so swamped with work. Bro is a Japanese salaryman disguised as European nobillity. The thing is, the crown prince seems to take a keen interest in Julius’s marriage. But if he cared so much, then give the man some time off. No organization, government, or kingdom should fall apart because one person can’t come into work.
Anyway, Elsa comes across a church full of orphans. They need a teacher, so she signs herself up for the job. She has to, because if she didn’t, some asshole would’ve forced the orphans into child labor. For some bizarre reason, however, she holds off on telling Julius about this. She tells herself she’ll do it once his work calms down. I don’t understand the logic. What does his workload have to do with her picking up a part-time job? What, would it be too stressful or something? He’s so busy that he can’t process a five-minute aside from his wife? It’s so ridiculous. Nevertheless, the story will probably use this development to stir up drama, because we soon see one of Jarmo’s spy inform him about Elsa’s job. What else does Jarmo know about that Julius doesn’t? Did Jarmo know the date of her birth as well?
The Ogre’s Bride Ep. 7
At first, it sounds like Sakurako simply wants to stir up trouble. She tells Yuzu to give up on the idea of being loved by Reiya, because he already has a secret lover. Immediately, doubts start to fill Yuzu’s head. Right, he doesn’t actually love you. He just creepily demands a kiss from you every minute of every day, because he’s secretly gay. That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. And yet, this is exactly what Sakurako believes. It turns out she’s just a smelly fujoshi who ships Reiya with his secretary. She’s so dedicated to her delusion that she was more than happy to serve as Reiya’s beard. And now, she hopes to pass her responsibilities onto Yuzu. She even hands Yuzu an album full of (drum roll) photos of Reiya platonically interacting with his secretary. But Yuzu buys it. She actually believes Sakurako. Why would you trust someone you just met for the first time? Because she’s a big fucking idiot teenager in way over her head. See, kids, this is why you don’t get married at a young age. Just keep your head down and study. God, I wish I could stop watching anime for the day. Sometimes, you just wanna throw your hands up and call it quits. But I still got one more show after this. Luckily, it’s pure fluff (it’s that Hanaori show). Ah well, time to jack this episode up to 4x speed and get it over with.
Uh, Yuzu’s grandmother assuages her fears. Meanwhile, her parents try to figure out a way to drag her back home without breaking up the engagement. Reiya thinks Yuzu is a helpless little baby who can’t protect herself. Well, her sister Karin makes her fox fiance fool the guards into abandoning their post. This way, Karin can see Yuzu alone and probably bully her some more. And I bet you Yuzu will let it happen, which will just provide Reiya even more justification to be even more overbearing and creepy.
Hanaori-san Still Wants to Fight in the Next Life Ep. 6
Three short stories again. In the first one, Minto turns Meteor into a cat, so our heroine gets to spend time with Ryusei without any of the awkwardness. Basically, he gets to freely praise Meteor because he has no clue she’s literally on his shoulder. Or, y’know, we can just compliment the people we care about without being weird about it. Naturally, the spell wears off when Ryusei is in the middle of petting the cat.
In the second story, Meteor tells Minto that she prefers “The Little Mermaid” over “Snow White,” so the latter robs the former of her voice via a silencing spell. Meteor can still talk with Ryusei, but she needs to get up close and whisper. Somehow, they end up being chased by a monster with… uh, what looks like vagina dentata for a face. Well, this seems to bring Meteor closer to Ryusei somehow, so whatever works for them, I suppose.
In the third and final story, a mahou shoujo from an alternate dimension tries to accost Ryusei. Meteor immediately jumps to his defense. Not much to say here other than that the mangaka seems to have a thing for thicker female characters.
