December means that the supermarkets prepare for the masses of customers shopping for big parties, the media go nuts and begins showing back-to-back Christmas movies, and I…have to think about what I’m going to watch in the Winter season. Well I’ve actually got my shows all picked already, so that’s something I guess. But really, the holidays mean very little to me now. Heck, I don’t even have room to put a tree in my apartment. Maybe I just spend this entire freezing month curled up watching shows, like many many other people will end up doing, I’m sure…
Tonikawa: Over The Moon For You Episode 10
I am happy with a show like Tonikawa has come in this Fall season – it’s something that’s very fun to watch, and we can look forward to each new episode, regardless of whether they turn out to be filler episodes or not. With the plot being the way it is, though, it’s kind of hard to tell what would be considered as main story and what would be ongoing gags.
A bit of a filler episode this week, though. Nasa and Tsukasa are still living at the back of Kaname and Aya’s bathhouse, and still looking for a new home for themselves. While we get to see some more of how lovely Tsukasa is as a wife, and how much of a catch Nasa is, this week’s episode goes in another direction, with Kaname being in the center.
We’ve all seen in the show that she gives off this cheeky and amiable kohai persona, and loves poking at her Nasa-senpai. Early on in the show itself, we find out that it was Nasa that was responsible for making sure the bathhouse didn’t go under. He didn’t just reorganize their finances, but installed new equipment and a new boiler. So while we have often seen Kaname as someone who like to amicably pick on Nasa, she admits to Tsukasa this week that she is eternally grateful to him that he was able to save her family from going in the red. But of course, that’s something she can’t tell him directly, can it?
Not long now before the season ends, and we’ll see these two move into their new home and live the newlywed life they’ve been itching for. Heck, for all we know, this might end up getting a second season. Something that’s very possible given how much of a long-running manga Tonikawa was.
Assault Lily: Bouquet Episode 9
If you stuck around for the epilogue in last week’s Assault Lily: Bouquet, you’ll know that we were given quite the cliffhanger. The big corporations are closing in on capturing new charge, Yuri. The fact that she came from an egg suggested that she was artificially created, hence why they are so desperate to get ahold of her. One of said corporations, though, is Grand Guignol, one of the biggest CHARM manufacturers in the world, and with the CEO’s daughter, Kaede, attending the Garden, what were we to think? Was the show going to make her some kind of double agent? Or would she keep her commitment to the Garden and to the Legion and go against her father? It was something to keep us on the edge of our seats…well, it’s interested me, anyway.
Some viewers have been asking when the action and sci-fi will take center stage, well this week they finally get that wish. It’s also this week where we see more of the SHAFT/Kyoani marriage unfold. With the ruling that Yuri is in fact a Huge due to what the big corporations have done to her, an arrest warrant is issued, something even the Garden cannot go against. This prompts Riri to take Yuri and flee into the outer forests.
With the show getting more serious now, those philosophical questions that have come up here and there are more visible now. If the only people capable of defeating the Huge are Lilies, do the governments of the world see Lilies as a threat too? And if Yuri really was artificially created, is she more human than Huge? And when the Huge is finally defeated, will humanity really turn on each other once again? After some more light-hearted moments, this show really is turning into something fascinating and enthralling to watch.
However…given how much good I’ve been talking about Assault Lily: Bouquet, I can finally understand what it is that puts some people off it. Well, two things actually. One is whether it was necessary to add so many characters and flesh them out, when the show could well have been better with only half a dozen (say…Riri, Yuyu, Kaede, Fumi, Yuri and maybe someone else). These remaining girls in the Legion are fine enough, but the question is whether we asked for them or not.
The other bigger thing is whether yuri even needed to be in the show in the first place. A lot can argue that yuri can make any show better, well that’s not true at all. The dynamic that Riri and Yuyu have is more of a sister thing than anything else; the Schutzengel system they have is pretty self-explanatory after all. Also Kaede can fawn over Riri all she wants, but that can still be seen as an ongoing gag; she’s never going to get Riri, and she knows it. And so with Yuri (as in the Lily) being brought into the show, and the final arc in full swing, yuri really is only secondary compared to the action/comedy/sci-fi that happens in the show. That doesn’t deter from the show though; instead it is only something that wasn’t really needed.
A tricky one, this. No show is 100% perfect, despite what some hardcore weebs like to think. And as an anime writer/critic/trash-talker, there will always be something I’ll find to nitpick at – always.
Adachi & Shimamura Episode 9
So if people have been concerned/annoyed/frustrated that Adachi & Shimamura is too much of a slow burn for them, well it is this episode that will hopefully sway them.
Valentine’s Day finally arrives, and we look at the perspectives of both of them, for a change. Adachi hasn’t been able to sleep due to being so excited, and ends up sleeping through most of the school day. She hasn’t gotten around to getting her chocolates yet, and is still mulling over the thought of whether this is a legitimate date, and whether they are actually ‘going out’ here. Shimamura, on the hand, has her own issues…with old elementary school friend Terumi.
This was the same girl who didn’t return Shimamura’s loyalty back then, when Shimamura was looking to get close to one person. Now that the both of them are in high school, Terumi has had time to think it all over. When the two find time to hang out, it’s plain to see that neither of them are comfortable about things. Shimamura isn’t the free-spirited and clueless young girl she was way back when, and with Terumi hoping that she still is makes her feel extremely awkward. Some might look at their scene in this episode and think that Terumi was hoping for something…more, but I personally think that was nothing more than a catching up moment. These two are practically strangers now, and the fact that Shimamura feels this awkward here and makes the amount of effort she does for the next day for Adachi (no spoilers there, but it’s extremely sweet) is something to note.
This week’s episode is more focused on Shimamura than Adachi. She has had to mull over whether it’s best to think about what once was (her time spent with Terumi) or to think of the present (with Adachi). Choosing Adachi shows that she wants to live in the present, and move on from that naïve girl she once was to someone who can turn a new leaf. It appears that all this time of self-reflection she has had over these episodes has culminated somewhat.
BNA – Brand New Animal Episode 10
The real fans of BNA will notice that it’s episode 10 where the real meat of the show comes, but to someone like me who hasn’t really found anything to enjoy, it just becomes another blurry mess.
Something called ‘Nirvasyl Syndrome’ is introduced in this episode, and for all I know, this could be the one thing that is the meat and potatoes of this final arc. It’s something that Alan has apparently been working on, and finding some kind of vaccine for. This vaccine, however, would end up meaning beastmen turning into humans, something that Shirou is highly against…and considering how much fun Michiru has been having in Anima City, I would think it’s something she would welcome. And as for Nazuna? Well, she has just become too unlikeable by my standards, so to be honest, I no longer care if she rejects the vaccine and stays being some poster girl/idol for this beastmen cult.
I think that, given the recent news of vaccines finally being mass-produced and distributed to countries around the world (my own one included), my opinion of BNA has changed even more. Yes, it’s a very political show, but I sometimes wonder whether I’d find the show more enjoyable if all these socio-political connotations weren’t here, there and everywhere. I’ll never know the real answer to that, though, and so what am I to do? Do I just watch these final 2 episodes and ignore every single political message it gives out? That would probably be better said than done, though.
This has been a good week for me. I’ve really found something to love in Assault Lily: Bouquet, Adachi & Shimamura and Tonikawa. Now I’ve already picked the shows I want to watch for the Winter 2021 season, so I wonder if something similar will happen then. Well, in other news, the final season of Attack on Titan has started, and while I’ll be staying as far away from it as I can, I wonder how the fans will react considering their favorite show is going for good. Will they even like the finale they get? Feel free to hit that like button and air your opinions in the comments below!