Us OASG folk communicate with each other (sometimes), and it seems that this opinion was pretty much universal:
Well you got me there…but it’s not like I’m mad or bitter. Come on, I always choose a bad show for every season. Always. It’s not like it’s deliberate or anything…honest…but I have dug myself a bit of a hole in this one. A big one. So big in fact that I think I’ve reached my limit.
This reviewer has suffered the likes of Glasslip, Charlotte, Occultic;Nine and Fuuka, but eromanga sensei will be the very first one I will drop for this column. I thought that a so-so story about getting a middle-school girl/ecchi artist out of her room was one thing, but now the arrival of an unknown who immediately begins to flirt sexually with onii-chan immediately reinforces the theory I put forward last week, in regards to the male MC immediately being painted as the bad guy, just for being male. I put up with Oreimo‘s constant sexual references and innuendos, and while I was toying with the idea of watching this, I thought that I could live through all of it again. Well, I was wrong…
There hasn’t been as many shows that have given me facepalms, and so eromanga sensei has done a very good job at doing that. I will choose a new show to take this one’s place, and will begin on that next week.
I’ve been sitting here for 2 weeks now, hoping that Sakura Quest can be saved from the ‘opening episode blues’…well it is getting better, I’ll say that much. Yoshino has more or less accepted the fact that she is stuck in this backwards town for a year, doing this Queen job she didn’t ask for, and sticks with anyway because no-one in Tokyo will hire her. The dynamic between the 5 girls is starting to show through more now, which is a good thing, and has really lifted my spirits. I want to enjoy Sakura Quest, but it didn’t get off to a good start so seeing some meat on the bone finally has got me thinking more positively for this season, especially now I’ve dropped a show. Yoshino’s speech in this episode was very nice, honest and touching. I didn’t expect this to be a 2-cour show, but you know something? I don’t think I mind.
People will still compare this to Hanasaku Iroha and Shirobako. I don’t think this will compete with either, but I am finally beginning to enjoy it.
Moving on, Little Witch Academia was a page-turner last week, and introduced what is potentially the final antagonist, Croix, who is fixated on turning Luna Nova into a school addicted to technology. With Chariot back at school after her rather pointless trip, she’s had to work hard to get her Akko back, and it’s rather adorable as well. This week shows that Chariot is just as important to the main cast as Akko is, and that she is not restricted to the back row when she was hiding as Professor Ursula. Also, I really love how passionate she has become to watch over Akko; as we still don’t quite know the reasons for her initial disappearance, we don’t know if Chariot’s attempts at watching over Akko is some kind of redemption for a past sin, or merely a sign of growing up.
This week saw much more action, with the focus drifting away from Akko and more towards the friction between Chariot and Croix. Both of them were alumni of the academy who both went on different paths that orthodox witches did not approve of. Chariot has almost accepted that she won’t be the person she was. I think by telling Akko everything about world reconstruction magic has lifted the second biggest weight off her shoulders. Need she tell Akko that she is really her idol? I don’t think she does anymore. She wants Akko to carve her own path, and not to mirror Chariot’s.
Oh, but the fans are already lapping up Chariot in action mode.
Haibane Renmei is making some small progress. Watching this all again has brought back so many memories too. This week, Rakka and Hikari make a trip to the other side of the ‘town’ to the Haibane Temple, to pick up Rakka’s book. Later, after a craving of pancakes, Rakka finds out why Hikari was so eager to be the ring-bearer: she wanted to use the mold for her bakery to make special ring cakes. This is a very laid-back episode, and plenty more are due in the weeks to come, but about halfway through, I know the show gets more serious, when Rakka finds herself a job to do, and especially when Reki becomes more and more distant to the group.
I know I moan sometimes about episodes being too laid-back and without any real action, well I suppose I only do that when I feel the show needs said action; Haibane Renmei does not. The setting, the characters, the plot…the show itself isn’t meant to be filled to the brim with action, and instead any drama story (that is coming soon, btw) is delivered to us at a slow and steady pace. That was one reason why I loved this show so much. Unlike the other world set in Attack on Titan, the action and drama isn’t thrust into our faces in episode 1, the pace reflects the lifestyle of the Haibane; relaxed, laid-back, but mysterious at the same time.
I’ll find a good show to do in place of eromanga sensei. Honest.