This Fall season has gone by incredibly quickly. My trip to Edinburgh to attend Scotland Loves Anime still feels like only a couple of weeks ago, when in fact it has been nearly two months. Since then, Promare has had a UK nationwide theatrical release, and Weathering With You has been confirmed for a release in January. Not sure if I’m even looking forward to 2020, though. I may have already picked my shows for the Winter season, but no show has really grabbed me like 2019 did (Carole & Tuesday was a show I was super-hyped for, and so many were happy to see the return of Chihayafuru, I know that much).
Azur Lane Episode 8
My general opinion on Azur Lane seems to come out like a broken record: there are too many ship girls in the show to keep track of, and as a result, the script feels like it goes all over the place and in too many tangents for us average non-fans to follow. I’ve even forgotten most of what happened in the last episode; all I remember is that Akagi went and did something stupid with her Siren-controlling project, and because of this, the fleets of the Sakura Empire, Royal Navy and Eagle Union are stuck in some alternate dimension filled with nothing but icebergs and frozen ocean. Akagi has been declared missing, and Enterprise has been brainwashed into thinking that everything is the enemy.
I remember asking myself, right at the start of this show, which of the 4 fleets I would cheer on for the most. Well, both the Royal Navy and Eagle Union have not really shown much in the way of unique character, despite them being portrayed as the central protagonists here. So I cheer for the Sakura Empire, but only because I have found them the least dull.
…and this sub-plot about Javelin and Laffy only wanting to be moeblob with Ayanami is getting incredibly monotonous now. If I were Ayanami, I would have snapped already and just told them to leave me alone for good, but now, thanks to this episode’s ending, this sub-plot will carry on until the end of the entire show, most likely.
We Never Learn s2 Episode 9
I do get something back from this week’ ep of We Never Learn though, as some more story has been added to the show, instead of it just becoming another filler episode. This week we come straight back to Fumino, and onto a topic that has been ongoing for the entire franchise: her estranged relationship with her father who, as we learn this week, is a university professor still mourning the loss of his wife, Fumino’s mother, and finally, we learn more about why Fumino wants to study sciences.
After a heated fight at the parent-teacher conference, Fumino leaves the family house, with Nariyuki willing to let her stay until things calm down, much to the disgust of his younger sister, who has a massive crush on him.
We’ve reached episode 9 now, and we start to picture who Nariyuki will end up with…seriously. Uruka is heading to Australia, that much we know for sure. Kirisu-sensei is a no-no, and they both know that. Asumi is only hanging around still because she enjoys his company at the maid cafe, and I just am unable to picture a Nariyuki x Rizu ship be taken seriously. So that leaves only Fumino, the one girl who is trying really hard not to get in a relationship with him, for the sake of the others. These two are newlyweds, and this was a good episode showing us some real progress in the story, as not only are we given a real antagonist at last (in the form of Fumino’s father), but we are given an end-goal…won’t be spoiling that part, but it’s rather sweet on Fumino’s part.
Houkago Saikoro Club Episode 9
This week’s ep of Houkago Saikoro Club is a bit of a filler ep, but it does give us a little insight on how Emilia got so into gaming; it’s because she wants to be a game author too, just as Midori does and that is the main topic of the episode.
We first get a taste of the board game Elfenland, which is a fantasy-themed role-playing game that gets players to travel across the board. Later, we learn that Emilia plans to design her own game too, with a traditional Japanese theme, which brings her to ask the others on what kind of games Japanese children play (that doesn’t require a console and controller)…which brings them to Daruma-san ga koronda, which has versions across the world – in the US, there’s Red Light, Green Light, for instance…or in France, there’s Un, deux, trois, soleil! It apparently has its own version here in the UK called Grandmother’s Footsteps, but I’ve never heard it called that. I’ve heard a similar game to Daruma-san ga koronda be called What’s The Time, Mister Wolf? though, and that was something I played a lot when I was much younger.
I won’t put down this week’s episode, even if it is a bit of a filler. It does make me think more on how Houkago Saikoro Club will actually end. Will it result in Midori completing her One Room game? Will Emilia get the chance to make her own game? Will Midori stop being all tsundere over Miki? (We see how she looks at her, you know…) Will Aya ever win any of the games they play? Lots of questions, and hopefully they’ll all be answered when this show ends.
Kandagawa Jet Girls Episode 7
Well after we finally got some progress in last week’s ep of Kandagawa Jet Girls, one would think where they would go from there. Well to noone’s surprise, the studio decided to go for somewhat of a filler. Has this entire week ended up becoming all filler episodes for me?
This week is the obligatory Japanese Cold™ episode, where Rin catches one, and it’s up to her lover/wife Misa to take care of her. I suppose an episode like this at this time in the show does have its perks, as it gives the two of them the chance to communicate some more. After Misa finally figured out why the two of them weren’t as coordinated as the other duos, they finally got around to exchanging numbers, and now they won’t stop texting each other. Now that Rin has caught the Japanese Cold™, Misa has the opportunity to talk with Rin some more and find out what kind of country girl she really is.
Bear in mind that even with Rin sick, this episode was yuribait incarnate, and also bearing in mind how ecchi this show has become, with a topic like this, there was so much NSFW material here that I was struggling to even find suitable screenshots that were okay to use here on the site.
And yes, you can watch an uncensored version of this show; HIDIVE have realized that now.
Girls’ Last Tour Episode 9
Episode 9 of Girls’ Last Tour was a little weird, as while the show has been extremely philosophical, it is this episode in particular that made me think some more. Once again, Chito and Yuuri are lost inside a dark and massive building. Eventually, they come across an industrial aquarium that is run by maintenance robots…that end up arguing with each other later on, causing Chito and Yuuri to intervene.
This episode talks a bit about life again, and Yuuri even ends up asking what life is again. I know I say every week that I believe this landscape the two girls travel in is some kind of purgatory, but you do have to think from the POV of these two. This landscape is the only world they have ever known; unlike the adults they come across from time to time, they don’t know any other world except this dying and decaying one they travel in for no real reason. I guess as I look at it this way, I sort of understand why some people didn’t like how bleak, miserable and depressing this show came across as. I still think that there is so much more to Girls’ Last Tour than what we see at face value.
I’m already thinking on what to do for the holidays. My father’s side of the family celebrate the Pagan holiday Yule from time to time, plus I need to save for my trip to my final anime con in March, and my trip to Atlanta in September. One thing that’s set in stone though is what my next out-of-season show is. The poll is over, and you guys have picked a show that I’ve seen in the past already: Flying Witch.
A bit of a meh week this time. How were your shows this week? Have you already picked out what you’re going to be watching in January? Feel free to hit that like button and air your opinions in the comments below!