I’m probably not alone when I say that I’m really glad that this year is ending in a couple of weeks. Maybe this is something that happens to us every 4 years or something. 2016 gave us Brexit and Trump, and now 2020 has given us this pandemic. Well we’re all crossing our fingers and hoping that things will go back to the way they were, but then after so long with life crawling to a stop, hope is in short supply. Some of us do have anime, and I guess that’s something to keep us going; of course we should all take our hats off to the anime studios and their staff for sticking to do what they love to do even in these troubling times.
This week will be the last legit column post before the holidays; I’ll be finishing up Assault Lily: Bouquet and Adachi & Shimamura in the Fall Review post. That, along with the Winter 2021 Preview post, will go up much closer to the new year. I know some of you may be wanting to see my final thoughts of both of those shows, but I think with what this entire year has been like, we could all do with putting our feet up a little, and so that’s what we at The OASG are planning to do.
Adachi & Shimamura Episode 11
We’re approaching the end of the show, and the end of these adorable two. For a change, this week’s episode is told from both perspectives: both Adachi and Shimamura. However, a lot of the focus is once again on Adachi, but deservedly so, given what goes on this week.
It begins with Adachi still feeling that twinge of jealousy; a twinge that she has had for so long, whenever she sees Shimamura with other people. We’ve always known Adachi as someone who is very lovesick, and that is something that we can just joke at, but we only understand now that it is this lovesickness and fear of being left behind that is really eating away at her…and is something that we really shouldn’t laugh at.
Those of us who have spent a lot of our time in school alone may not quite understand the lovesickness part, but anyone that we do find and want to be friendly with ends up being someone we want to keep all to ourselves. This I understand greatly, and so seeing Adachi be like this (to the point of not even considering herself a second-year because she interacts with no-one in class) is a little heartbreaking.
Meanwhile, Shimamura has a lot on her mind too. She has started to interact with other girls in her class, but they still feel nothing more than shadows to her. Perhaps she has gotten to this point because she comes across as someone so approachable in class – the very opposite of Adachi. Terumi has been different because she is someone she has known for a long time, and unlike Adachi, is someone who is far more positive and upbeat in life. Even though Adachi and Terumi don’t know each other, they still seem to be fighting for Shimamura’s affection. And so the question is: does Shimamura feel happy with two girls fighting for her attention?
This episode ends on something that really pulls at your heart strings, and if it doesn’t, then you either don’t care about the show, or are made of stone. I won’t spoil all the details, but it’s something that leaves Shimamura in an even more awkward position. She still wants to be good friends with Terumi and patch up what they broke when they were both younger, and she also greatly welcomes Adachi’s attachment. She knows that she has become rather possessive, but it’s something that she sort of brushes off, believing that this is the kind of behavior that a good friend would have. It’s only until the end of this week’s episode when Shimamura realizes that Adachi is being possessive for a reason and it’s this reason that not only leaves her feeling awkward, but also makes her think about how she has interacted with Adachi in all this time she has known her.
I can’t say that Adachi & Shimamura ends on a high note, because we still have one more week to go. Having watched this episode, it’s clear to see that we probably won’t get some cliched confession, and so I really don’t know how this will all end. I mean, Shimamura is not stupid and knows more than she lets on, and Adachi is letting her emotions take over logic and common sense. I never read the light novels…but I’m definitely looking forward to what this resolution will be.
Assault Lily: Bouquet Episode 11
So here was me thinking that the Yuri arc would be something that would end this show, but we’re getting something far more emotional instead. Last week saw the return of Misuzu, Yuyu’s former Schutzengel and someone that we originally thought appeared as a part of Yuyu’s PTSD. Instead we see that Misuzu has been appearing for a different reason. Misuzu has been a manifestation of her guilt as well as something that has come from a Huge. A better way to put it is that Misuzu’s Rare Skill, Charisma, has been a reoccurring thing that we’ve seen in both Misuzu and in Huge, leading us to think that this ghost of Misuzu might have arrived because of the Huge. Yuyu has done a very good job at hiding her pain, but in the time she has worked to be a good onee-sama to Riri, feeling guilt has been something that has always been there, even after two years.
And it’s something that becomes more visible just as the Huge launch their largest attack yet; sending three objects into orbit and have them crash down to create something that we’d easily see in something like Evangelion. Something like Yuyu’s Lunatic Trancer would work well against this thing, but with Lilies’ Magie being nullified by this thing, there’s little they can do. Won’t spoil too much here though, but the final episode looks to be something we didn’t expect when we saw these Lilies for the first time in episode 1. And of course we know what other SHAFT yuri show had something like that…
Right from the beginning of the season, I was very quick to say that Assault Lily: Bouquet wouldn’t go down the same road that Madoka Magica did, but now after watching this penultimate episode, I don’t know what to think. Once again we have a select group of teenage girls with extraordinary powers (Puella Magi/Lilies), an upbeat and selfless girl with short pink hair (Madoka/Riri), an experienced yet tortured girl with long black hair (Homura/Yuyu), an unknown enemy that needs to be eradicated (Witches/Huge), an entity that lives to bully our tortured girl (Kyubey/Misuzu), and now a gigantic end boss (Walpurgisnacht/whatever this thing is called). I promised myself long ago that I wouldn’t return to the Madoka Magica franchise…and I won’t. Even with all these glaring similarities, I’m still itching to know what the final episode will bring us. No more dead Lilies I hope, but this is SHAFT we’re talking about here, and so literally anything could happen.
Tonikawa: Over The Moon For You Episode 12
Well, there’s at least one show that’s ending before Christmas. The finale of Tonikawa sees two main plot points: one being Nasa working himself so hard that he gets a summer cold, and the other being the summer festival. In a lot of anime shows, it can often be the other way around, with the cute girl getting a cold out of nowhere. However, this is just another moment in the show where we see how selfless Nasa really is; he is far more concerned that Tsukasa might catch it than take better care of himself. And we notice more how this can frustrate Tsukasa, making us think all the way back to episode 1, where they first met and Nasa ended up stumbling across a winter road bleeding and with broken arms, just so he could ask Tsukasa out.
Summer festival moments are things we do see a lot of in shows, and this is no different. People changing into yukata, fireworks, offering prayers at the local temple, getting takoyaki, and so on. What stood out for me a little is how everyone (including Chitose and her maids) all seemed to gather together for this one night, leading me to think that this story will not be over, and we may get a second season in the future. This show has been immensely successful, thanks in part to it being a ‘Crunchyroll Original’, and people may well end up disappointed if this story doesn’t continue, and we see more of Nasa, Tsukasa, Kaname, Aya, Chitose and co. This was based off a long-running manga after all, so it makes sense.
Tonikawa has really been a great watch, and something really uplifting in these sucky times. The character design is great, the comedy keeps on going without it being cringeworthy or complex, the references to real-life stuff actually works…we really needed a show like this to lift us up from what has been a pretty gosh-darn awful year. This whole question of whether Tsukasa was some kind of Princess Kaguya figure for Nasa is something that remains in the air, but to be honest, as we reach the end of the show, it no longer matters. Both Nasa and Tsukasa are people you want to love and do love without being forced to. Tsukasa is this wonderous beauty figure who has seemingly escaped from a rich household to live an average life, and someone who agreed to marry her here and then just happened to come along. Nasa, meanwhile, is an absolute catch who clearly cares more about others than himself; something that’s refreshing for a anime male lead character, and far from the dime-a-dozen male leads who give off this pervert (or closet pervert) aura. A second season would be something so many people would love to see, myself included.
BNA – Brand New Animal Episode 12
BNA‘s final episode gives us a lot of plot resolutions, like how Alan was in fact an ancient beastman all along, who believes in using humans to eliminate hybrids to make some kind of perfect species. Of course we all know what happens to societies that try and do that. There was a hell of a lot to process in this final episode; almost like it tried to cram as much as it would so that every plot point in the entire show could be resolved – from how Shirou was Ginrou, to Nazuna’s great wish to be an idol. That final one is something that actually made me chuckle, though. Nazuna has been incredibly unkind to Michiru in the whole show, having been blinded with this great dream of being a poster girl for a massive cult. It’s only when this all comes tumbling down so quickly when she sees how horrible she’s been to her best friend, and being someone whose character I did not like in the first place, this was pretty entertaining to watch. There, I said it: something I really liked…and it only came right at the end.
I decided to watch this final episode a second time, to think some more about what I genuinely felt about the show as a whole. I may have been whining every week about all the things I disliked about it, but in that second watch, I thought about Trigger’s past shows, and how they can be compared to this…and one particular show came in mind: Little Witch Academia.
Another Netflix show, Little Witch Academia went on for longer; 2 cours long. But with the story it told, it needed to be that long, and we were okay with that. Why? It was because the world it build was so engrossing and fascinating to watch. It didn’t make us think that it was essentially Harry Potter with cute anime girls; instead it gave us a world where magic and modern life could co-exist, but not in some cheesy and faux whimsical way. Anyway, BNA was only 12 episodes long, and trying to build as large a world (Beastmen, Anima City, the sociopolitical messages, etc.) in that amount of time just did not work as well. What I think the show also suffered from was characters that we couldn’t really love, like we could in other Trigger works like Kill La Kill, Darling in the Franxx, SSSS Gridman, and the aforementioned Little Witch Academia. I won’t deny that the show is visually spectacular to watch, and has a chirpy soundtrack to boot, but this could have been so much better.
A pretty epic week to get us hyped for final episodes, I’d say. But I’m already looking forward to my picks for the Winter 2021 season. Once again, we’ll be seeing some more sequel seasons; Attack on Titan will finally end, as well as Evangelion…unless some other studio decides to resurrect it, which isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Also, yet another My Hero Academia season; I swear this show will just keep carrying on until these kids graduate not just from high school, but from college and get office jobs. And unusually, my Winter shows were easy picks; I have such picky tastes, don’t I?
Well, Otaku Theater will be back in 2021 so, from this side of the Atlantic, I wish you all a happy holidays, whether you choose to spend it with family and loved ones, or to just stay in your room and watch anime all day.