Are you prepping for the holidays? I certainly am not. In fact, this is probably going to be the most low-key Christmas I’ve ever had. It’s likely a mixture of age and the fact that I don’t have any concrete plans. I’ll just likely end up watching a heap of anime and whatever my favorite shows are. Speaking of favorite shows though, my post of what anime I liked the most this year is coming soon.
Kandagawa Jet Girls Episode 8
Let’s get back to what is airing this season, though, starting with my favorite ridiculous show of the season, which just keeps getting more and more silly as time goes on.
I’d like to think that the bratty Hell’s Kitchen duo secretly hate each others’ guts; that would actually make an interesting subplot, shattering everyone’s expectations. Alas we don’t get anything like that; instead we get a bit of a filler episode, which involves Rin and Misa going into the sewers and finding a mythical river creature.
No really. That’s the plot. To think that Kandagawa Jet Girls had an early recap episode because they were running short on plot ideas. Of course I don’t know if that’s true or not, but to have this as a means of developing the relationship Rin and Misa have?
I know I do praise how ridiculous this show can get, especially in terms of how naked they are prepared to get all of these characters to be. That’s something I don’t especially care for personally, but I know it’s a selling point for a lot of anime watchers. Compare a show like this to something else that’s come out this Fall season – say, something like the new season of My Hero Academia. I have never watched that franchise, so I know nothing about who is who in that, but I do know that every character is taken semi-seriously. Here in Kandagawa Jet Girls, we’re left not knowing what to think.
We love Misa for being the disaster lesbian that she is; here in this episode, especially, we get to see her more adorable side. We love Rin for being a simple country girl who is pretty clueless about city life, and we find things to like in a lot of the other characters too. But ultimately, this is an ecchi show about a fictitious sport that gets girls to show off their cleavage. Ehh, I’m just thinking aloud here. Kandagawa Jet Girls has become the ridiculous show we all love to laugh at for being so ridiculous, and I suppose with the holidays coming up, we all need something to laugh at.
We Never Learn s2 Episode 10
We’re all supposed to laugh at the harem in We Never Learn as well, aren’t we? Well this week’s episode ended up finishing off the story arc of Fumino’s decision to study astronomy, and I’m happy that they took it semi-seriously too. The studio could have turned this all into one big joke, but not only do we see Fumino extend an olive branch to her father, but we actually see the Nariyuki x Fumino ship taken seriously.
Thinking all the way back to the first episode in season one, this was the ship that began it all. Nariyuki was charged to tutor both her and Rizu by the school, sure, but the relationship that Nariyuki has developed with Fumino is very different from what he has with the other girls. At first, she doesn’t want to get too close, choosing instead to let her comrades Rizu and Uruka have a go, but this sub plot where she moves out of the family home into Nariyuki’s home to show her father her commitment to study astronomy shows that she can only hold back for so long.
While the other ships feel forced, this one feels much more natural and plausible, and We Never Learn could easily have become a school rom com that has Fumino as the only love interest, with Rizu, Uruka, Asumi and Kirisu-sensei as secondary characters. Now that this arc is over, I’m sure that the remaining episodes will be just as the show originally was: one big harem mess that we all find entertaining. Heck, I was asking myself constantly back in October why I chose to come back to this franchise knowing how much of a big harem mess it is, but I’m glad I did come back.
Fumino has become the girl we all want to cheer for in this show now.
Azur Lane Episode 9
Unlike Kandagawa Jet Girls‘ ecchi-ness and We Never Learn‘s harem-ness, Azur Lane is a show with a plot that we are supposed to follow closely; it hasn’t worked for all of us, though.
This week carries on from what happened when Laffey and Javelin risked themselves to save Ayanami from death. Now, all four squadrons (Eagle Union, Royal Navy, Sakura Empire, Iron Blood), have somehow managed to escape last week’s alternate dimension. How exactly is a very good question, and it’s something that isn’t explained at all. It’s as if their problem in that weird Siren place never even happened. I am finding a theme here; one sub plot is immediately replaced by another, with next to no explanation. In this case, the Siren dimension subplot has been replaced entirely by this sub plot revolving around Ayanami’s rescue, and with everyone seemingly being so nice to her, she’s getting a bit of Stockholm syndrome.
I have managed to persevere with this show, and I passed the point of no return long ago; dropping it now would just be pointless, even if I don’t care what happens to any of them. But one thing is for sure: I will never watch a show like this again. I can only take so much when it comes to shows about moeblob girls doing moeblob things.
Houkago Saikoro Club Episode 10
Okay, time to get into talking about this week’s ep of Houkago Saikoro Club, and this was where I ended up being both surprised and not surprised at the same time. Allow me to explain this.
The studio behind this show, Lidenfilms, have made some very emotionally charged shows in the past; one big example being the last Lidenfilms show I watched, Hanebado!, which touched on topics of depression, parental neglect and obsession. Here in this week’s episode of Houkago Saikoro Club, Aya gets a backstory of her own, where we learn that her father hasn’t been the ideal parent to her. In fact, as this week’s episode ends, we find ourselves thinking how much of a douchebag Aya’s father is.
I’m glad that the show decided to not make this sub plot dominate the episode, as something like this could have really ruined what this show has built up so far, and its easygoing manner has been…well…exactly that. I’ve enjoyed the show purely because of how I don’t really have to get absorbed into any deep storylines (like this one). This week has also been the episode where the ships finally come out…and to think that our precious Miki would end up alone by the end. Yoshioka seems like a cool guy; despite being popular with the girls (due to him being part of the kendo club), he seems just as shy and reserved as she is, and so the two could easily gel. And while we all thought that Midori would find happiness crushing over Miki, Emilia comes along and ruins everything.
This was also another 2-game episode: games featured here were the very simple Blokus and the unusual Ladies & Gentlemen, which involves role-playing characters getting ready for an extravagant ball.
I think, after seeing these ships, I don’t really mind how this show ends. Everyone will be happy playing ‘analog’ games, Miki will come out of her shell completely and be happy with either Midori or this Yoshioka guy, and will Aya ever win a game? Ever?!
Girls’ Last Tour Episode 10
My run with Girls’ Last Tour is ending soon as well, and while I have enjoyed it, I’m happy to move on to my next out-of-season show (which will be Flying Witch, by the way).
Episode 10 sees the two boarding an industrial train that heads off into the unknown. Now one would think that, in an apocalyptic landscape like this, trains just would not work. But this one does, for some reason, raising more questions on what this place really is. After 10 episodes, theorizing over this too much might be just as bad. Apocalypse, afterlife, purgatory, alternate dimension, all of the above…ugh, my head hurts just thinking about it.
You wonder why I’m starting to lean towards shows that require me not to think so much? Well, all of the shows I picked that started in this season are all ones without deep storylines. Leave those shows to reviewers and writers that are better than me.
I do hope this season ends soon. That way I can not only take it easy for the holidays, but I can look forward to what’s coming for the Winter season, and I’ve certainly found some crackers to watch…but don’t I say that at the beginning of every season? Eh, whatever. Special posts by me are coming soon, all with varying topics. 2019 as a whole, what the next season hopes to bring, and a review of another past show as well. But it’s not long until these shows do end, so feel free to hit that like button and air your opinions in the comments below!