Category Archives: Series

Sentenced to Be a Hero Ep. 2: The heroes yearn for the mines

We last left off with Xylo’s foreboding promise: “I’ll find you. I’ll find the one who set up me and my Knights. The one responsible for Senerva’s fate. I’ll find you… and I will kill you.” He said this as he was sentenced to be a hero. Buuuuuuuttttttt that’ll all have to wait, because he and his fellow heroes have a new mission: clearing out the nearby Zewan Gan Tunnels. After all, if he or any of the heroes disobey, they’ll lose their heads. It makes you wonder, then, if Xylo even has a plan. As long as the “Temple folk” have the power to detonate the seals around their necks, what can he do? How can he possibly even make any move against them? In fact, how long has it been since he was condemned to this fate. Does he even feel strongly about getting revenge anymore? Assuming he does, at some point, we need an arc where Xylo operate independently. Maybe that’ll be the final arc of the season.

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Tamon’s B-Side Ep. 3: Two-faced

Utage is now caught between wanting to keep her beloved Tamon pure versus acknowledging the fact that she has an indelible amount of influence over him. She can pick and choose what he wears (like that necklace). She can even influence how he acts onstage and on TV. I wish she was more of a corruptor even if she only does it inadvertently. That would make this show a lot more interesting. But instead, she just wants to be one of the countless, faceless fans he already has. On that note, do fans ever contemplate what the end would look like? Like you can’t keep stanning the guy forever, right? Idols retire and get replaced all the time. Idols get married all the time. At some point, your fandom has to face its mortality. But maybe it’s one of those things where you just don’t think about it until you have to.

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Journal with Witch Ep. 2: Taking the same journey

A lot of focus has been devoted to Asa’s grief, and that makes perfect sense. After all, she’s only fifteen. She’s a defenseless child who now has to cope with a tragic loss. But adults aren’t immune to trauma either. Life experience might have hardened us, but we can still get hurt. And while this episode maintains its focus on Asa’s healing journey, it also reveals that Makio has been on this same odyssey for years if not longer. Maybe she’s been dragging her feet this whole time, unwilling to take concrete steps towards her destination. But now that she has a child to worry about, there’s finally a sense of urgency.

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You and I Are Polar Opposites Ep. 1: A gyaru learns to speak her mind

On paper, this is just another nerd x gyaru love story. It shouldn’t be anything special, and it arguably isn’t. But as I’ve said elsewhere, I’ve read and enjoyed the manga series mostly because 1) the gyaru makes silly faces and 2) the couple gets together in the first episode. And thank god for that. It turns out you don’t have to read over a hundred chapters before two people officially date. Nor do you have to abruptly end the story when it happens either. I get the appeal of the former, I do. People like to see a relationship slowly develop from the word “hello.” But boy, does the latter piss me off. But I digress. We’re talking about You and I Are Polar Opposites, which is low stakes, fluffy fun. It’s cotton candy. I enjoy it once in a while, but it’s not something I indulge in every day, every week, or even every month. For this cold winter season, however, I’ll let this bright, saccharinely sweet series take over.

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Tamon’s B-Side Ep. 2: Reinforcing the delusion

Tamon has a meet-and-greet coming up, and he’s naturally freaking out about it. It sounds like he isn’t confident that he can maintain his cool, sexy persona for the entire duration of the event, so here comes Utage with the assist. She shows him the absolute heap of material she has collected and collated over the entirety of her fandom. By studying all the notes she has taken on the character he plays, he can hopefully keep up the facade through the meet-and-greet. In other words, Utage’s helping Tamon reinforce the fabricated side of himself, which she has paid top bucks to enjoy. Isn’t that a bit odd?

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