Seems like the weeb rush to get Disney+ subscriptions to catch the new Bleach show worked, as they have finally got their butts in gear and are beginning to release their other licenses in the West. Black Rock Shooter: Dawnfall has begun here in the UK at least (I understand that Hulu are airing it in the US), and The Tatami Time Machine Blues will be coming out in a couple of weeks. No word on Summer Time Rendering yet though; your guess is as good as mine there. Considering how sought after both that and Bleach have been though, this might be motivation enough for Disney to consider perusing exclusivity for other shows in the future.
You know, a part of me secretly likes seeing some hardcore fans get upset over shows being locked in Disney jail or Netflix jail; what makes Sony (Crunchyroll) any less money-hungry?
Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 4
The writers of Raven of the Inner Palace are still presenting Shouxue as a fish out of water. Having been living by herself and not having to rely on ladies-in-waiting all this time has meant she has no clue on what etiquettes are among the ladies of the palace. But while here in this week’s episode they try and get Shouxue to learn some things about being less introverted, the script still feels rather wooden and not that emotional. I hope that as the story picks up, character designs will burst out some more. I’m glad that it is coming though, but more on that later.
I won’t lie when I say it’s pretty funny watching Shouxue act all awkward towards the girls around her, and tsundere towards Gaojin. Ever since she was ‘selected’ to be the Raven Consort, she has been taught to push people away and remain ‘neutral’. After all, unlike other consorts in the palace, she does not answer to the Emperor. A lot of people still see her as having these strange and ominous aura, and so I’m sure they feel just as awkward when she goes up and confronts them.
I do feel for poor Jiu Jiu as well though. This is sort of the first time she has become a proper lady-in-waiting, and of all the people, it’s the constantly awkward Shouxue, who still needs to work on her social skills. Even something like giving gifts to ladies-in-waiting has some kind of etiquette. This is all beyond me though.
But the real story is on its way, as we see towards the end of this episode. Even with the Empress Dowager executed, there’s still an ominous aura surrounding Gaojin, as if he has been cursed or something. Even a priest he visits this week tells him he looks a little pale. Perhaps this is one big reason why he always seems to be visiting Shouxue a lot; because he may believe she can help her with…whatever it is that may be affecting him right now.
There’s still a lot of things to come in this show, and while there are moments that feel a little wooden, I’m still enjoying this a lot. I would not normally pick this kind of show, and chances are that I will never again. Despite that, this has been a fun watch so far, and with the main story picking up, here’s hoping the action will get good.
Bocchi the Rock! Episode 3
The more you watch this show, the more evident it is how much fun Cloverworks had in putting it together. Even if the studio will be called out for overworking its staff, there’s no denying that the staff are still happy with the work they put out. This week’s Bocchi the Rock! brings us the final member of Kessoku Band, Kita, who as we discover, was the member of the band who was the runaway guitarist from the first episode.
Each of these four girls in Kessoku Band have been able to stand out in their own way, and Kita is no different. She is well-known in Hitori’s school, and quite the extrovert. She also gives off the impression that she is the type to be class rep, when that part couldn’t be further from the truth. As we discover, the one main reason why she flaked out of the band last time was that she had never actually played the guitar before, and didn’t know how to play. And now after hearing Hitori play some in her little cubbyhole of a lunchtime retreat, Kita’s itching for her to teach her, which is just the thing Hitori needs to build up her self-confidence and self-esteem…or not…
Well, there’s the other reason Kita was originally desperate to join the band: it was because of her crush on Ryo.
This was Kita’s introductory episode, and makes Kessoku Band whole finally. I bring up each band members’ individual quirks, and we see how much Hitori’s and Kita’s ones contrast. But this isn’t presented to us in a bad way. Kita is set up to be the vocalist of the group, and thus needs to be the most outgoing and forward of the four, while Hitori is just fine in her role as the other guitar player in the back. I honestly don’t know where the story will be going outside of the ‘cute girls doing cute things’ route; given how obvious it is that the staff at Cloverworks are really letting their creative juices flow in making each episode, I hope that this story won’t be anything too generic or mediocre.
As for whether we will see any real yuri in Bocchi the Rock!, well I really hope that it won’t be the dominating part of it. I think that when it came to a show like K-on!, the yuri we saw was pretty central and solid in keeping the story going, which wasn’t a bad thing in any way. I just think that, given how much effort they’ve put into making the show, perhaps the band and the music should take precedent, and not any yuri.
The Eminence in Shadow Episode 3
Finally we move on this show, which I am still very much undecided on. We were given a bit of a weird cliffhanger at the end of episode 2, when Cid’s harem said it was time for them to leave…but it turns out that, while he is spending his seven years at the Academy, they will be the ones out there in the field chasing down this Cult of Diablos that was originally made up but turns out does exist after all.
Cid is doing a real stellar job in being as unremarkable as possible here at the academy, where only the remarkable fighters and warriors are rewarded. As we see in this week’s episode, things go a bit pear-shaped when he loses a bet and is forced to confess to the princess of the academy, Alexia Midgar, who decides to accept it.
She is already betrothed to what the show is presenting as a ‘perfect’ main character. He can fight, he is popular with the girls, has status, and is loaded. To Cid’s surprise, Alexia has more in common with him than he thought. She is living in the shadow of her older sister who is exceptional with a blade, which means she is quicker to see the darker sides of people. And so she dislikes how her betrothed is seemingly too perfect to be true. But I think one thing Alexia is unable to see in Cid is how he is purposely going out of his way to make himself look worse instead of better. And when we get another cliffhanger at the end of this episode, I myself am not sure on what kind of reaction Cid will have, in comparison to the rest of the academy.
This show has gone in such an unexpected direction in such short a time, and it’s not the kind of show I was expecting to see, to be honest. Now I want to make one thing clear before you all start sending any rage comments: The Eminence in Shadow is not a bad watch at all, and I hope that’s not coming across in my critique, but if you are looking for a nondescript mainstream isekai pick with an easy story, then this is absolutely not the show for you. It’s the kind of show that demands full attention too, I think. So was I really so naïve in thinking that this would be an easy watch despite having read the synopsis beforehand? I guess so…
…or is it purely because I don’t jump to isekai shows each season, and the one I do pick stands out for all the unexpected reasons? I am still unable to like Cid’s character, even if he is being portrayed as a manipulative conniving ass. He’s not really being portrayed as some anti-hero either. In fact, I am still unable to like any of them. This is a well animated show that gives an interesting take on the isekai genre, but will this be another one of those shows that will take me weeks into getting to like?
Odd Taxi Episode 4
Episode 4 of Odd Taxi is a very different one than the past ones, in that the focus is off Odokawa and all of his trials and tribulations completely. And is instead on one secondary character who appeared in less than 10 seconds in a past episode: Tanaka.
Tanaka is an office worker for a games company who makes free-to-play gacha mobile games. His job is to play rival games, to get an idea of the competition so they can make their games better. The job means he gets to spend extortionate amounts of money on rolling for items in said games too. And with a little flashback story, we get to see what made him so obsessed with gacha games. Ever since he was a child in grade school, he has enjoyed collecting things, especially rare and hard-to-find things. All of this collecting moves onto obsession, when he gets scammed by a limited-edition piece of stationery worth 100,000 yen (about $700) only for it to never arrive.
Gacha games are predatory by nature. They offer you those chances of rolling rare items/weapons/characters/skins/etc., and those chances are often extremely small. I play Genshin Impact every now and then (thankfully not all the time), and I choose not to spend money on it, and instead roll for items using only currency I’ve collected in playtime. But games just like that one are designed to make its players more than happy to empty their wallets and hand over their credit card details. It’s something that becomes an addiction for some, and having worked in a casino myself, this gambling addiction is something I have seen firsthand, and believe me when I say it is not pretty. It is also not covered as much in the media as it ought to be, especially when it comes to loot boxes and gacha games, which are available for children to play.
Characters we’ve seen in Odd Taxi all have their own moral compass of sorts, even people like Dobu who just wants to please his Yakuza boss without anyone getting hurt. Tanaka is a different kind of character though. His long-term gacha obsession has driven him mad, meaning some of his morals are going out the window. After he and Odokawa encounter each other (by chance and by accident), the hard work he’s done on rolling for a rare item on his phone game all disappeared when his phone is knocked into the drains. And so his anger is squarely on Odokawa now; some guy he’s never met before.
This was a really amazing episode to watch. I was worried that we would get a completely different storyline here, but I’m glad that Tanaka’s story is linked to the main one. Our focus goes away from the main story, goes in a second direction that will ultimately link to the main one. His character design is way too good to just discard after one episode, and I’m looking forward to what will happen when he meets Odokawa again. Especially now he knows where Dobu’s buried gun is…
Tanaka’s arc is something I’m going to be watching very closely now. And as well as this, I’m curious to know what kind of curse Gaojin may or may not be affected by. I think it will take me a very long time to warm to The Eminence in Shadow though, and considering it will be going on for a while, I don’t know if I even want to carry on watching it through the Winter 2023 season. I mean me being me, I have already looked at that season’s shows and picked out some ones that pique my interest. And The Eminence in Shadow is not in that list.