Fall 2016 Week 8 Recap

No Sangatsu this week, which is a major shame. In brighter news, I finally managed to actually motivate myself to watch anime again this week, and so I can finally stop procrastinating my anime watching, which should force me to actually get my Monogatari post out. It’s been a while since I posted an actual essay or article, but I’m eager to do so, and if I continue to actually be motivated to watch anime now, I should have a lot more posts coming soon.

Flip Flappers – Episode 8

A super robot battle was the perfect way to show Yayaka’s clear movement towards Cocona and Papika’s side. Transforming robots are often based on combination as they were in this episode, and that combination requires a unity of will by the pilots. Yayaka had to put aside her pride and admit that she wanted to work with them in order to win, and that clearly took a lot of effort. She still hasn’t completely defected but that’s to be expected; this show isn’t one to have things like this resolved in one episode, as we can tell by Cocona’s remaining uncertainty in regards to her feelings towards Papika. The Mimi thing in the end is obviously part of the set up from the last episode, but without any major clues I can’t really say anything important about it. This episode didn’t reach the heights of the last three, but nothing this year really has. It was still a fantastic episode, and I can’t wait until next week.

Yuri on Ice – Episode 8

The show’s been too happy so far, so I knew drama would have to start. Yurio’s struggles due to his grandfather not being there very closely mirror how Yuri feels when he doesn’t feel like Victor is there for him, which is cool. The characters added in this tournament aren’t nearly as interesting as the China Cup’s characters, except for JJ, who was so over the top that he was hilarious. The incest brother was funny, but not actually appealing for fairly obvious reasons. I’m happy they didn’t walk back the kiss or anything, and even kept the tension going with the close faces and the kiss on the foot. It’s hard to see how far they’ll go, but I hope they keep pushing the boundaries. Another solid episode.

JoJo Part 4 – Episode 35

I’ve been waiting for Bites The Dust this whole time, and it sure delivered. The shift towards Hayato as the viewpoint character is an effective idea, because it makes Kira all the more terrifying. Hayato lacks a stand but still is aware of how threatening Kira is, which makes us sympathize with him much more. When Josuke and the gang are going after Kira there’s a sense that they’ll absolutely win in the end, but that isn’t the case when Hayato is in the leading role. Combine this with Bites the Dust’s actual power being totally broken and nigh unbeatable, and we end up with a truly frightening Kira. JoJo villains are at their best when they’re both fun and frightening, and Kira nails that better than any other in the series so far.

Girlish Number – Episode 8

This episode was definitely the most emotional one of the show so far, and it worked. I said last time that Kazuha and Momoka’s family struggles were just as if not more compelling than Chitose’s issues, and that continued here. We really got to see the resolutions of those arcs in a way which fortunately managed to avoid the show’s trademark cynicism. That said, I’m wondering at this point if this is a two cour series. If we’re going to get more focus on Koto and Yae while also having Chitose’s arc actually progress, we’re gonna need more than the third of a show that’s left. I can’t really see how things can resolve neatly at this point in 4 or 5 episodes, so I’m really hoping the show has a second cour planned.

Vivid Strike – Episode 9

We’re really getting to the point where Fuuka is going to save Rinne, and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s true that the whole “save them by fighting them” thing has been almost the exact same in all the Nanoha series since the original, but it still appeals to me on a very base level. Fuuka is no Nanoha, and Rinne certainly isn’t Fate, but they’re still appealing enough as characters to make me eagerly await Rinne’s redemption. Rinne’s current depression was an effective decision since it fits with her established character and also makes it possible for Fuuka to beat her. Vivid Strike really is making me fall in love with Nanoha again, and I couldn’t be more happy about that.

Hibike Euphonium 2 – Episode 8

As I said last time, family drama is reliable and relatable, especially when done well, and it’s done well here. Drama between families inherently gets more heated just due to the closeness of the relationships, and the awkwardness that it causes is really well portrayed. Young Kumiko is adorable and it was great to see how she was inspired by her sister. Those scenes gave the fights between them much more impact, since it made it clear how much Kumiko looked up to her in the past. I still don’t like Shuuichi’s involvement, but I can tolerate it for now. Next episode looks like it’ll be heavy on the Asuka drama, so there’s more family drama awaiting us.

WWW.Working!! – Episode 9

The new relationship is just as cute as funny as when they weren’t a relationship. I’m still pleasantly surprised with how quickly the romance is moving in this show, and I hope it continues with the other pairings. This episode avoided the chocolate jokes, which should help them to be more funny in the future. Solid episode.

Gundam IBO Season 2 – Episode 9

Conflicts continue to expand as we approach the halfway point. The new Gundam is incredibly cool, though it’s so strong that it makes me worried the power creep will become overwhelming. Not a ton actually happened this episode, but it was decent setup for the soon to come major conflict of the season.

Kiss Him, Not Me – Episode 8

This wasn’t the show’s funniest episode yet, but it did do something I wasn’t expecting. So far Kiss Him, Not Me has done a much better job at actually engaging with fandom and the medium than I expected it to, and this episode was no exception. Rapey-ness and sexual assault are incredibly prevalent in BL, and this show managed to actually make it clear that a lot of the behaviors in BL aren’t okay. Even after being assaulted(on accident, but it still happened), Serinuma still enjoyed reading BL which were rapey, but it’s made clear that she reflected on how bad it actually is. It’s an important message to send and I’m glad the show actually tackled it.