While we’re waiting for Komi Can’t Communicate to come back, we have to make do with the shows that have already started. Interesting note: I had originally thought of covering the show Spy x Family here on Otaku Theater, but when I discovered it was going to be a 2-cour show, I changed my mind. I have no doubt whatsoever that it’s going to be a show that everyone is going to love; I was just not up to doing a 2-cour show this year, that’s all. The last 2-cour show I covered here was The Aquatope on White Sand, and while I enjoyed parts of it, it did grow to get tiring in places. Now whether that will happen in Spy x Family, I don’t know but we won’t find out here.
What else will 2022 bring? Looking online and I see a couple of things that catch my eye, as well as My Hero Academia getting a sixth season. Not surprised by that in the slightest. I will only be surprised when it makes it to its sixteenth season. And will we ever get the Disney+ shows this year? Who wants to put money on that?
The Demon Girl Next Door season 2 Episode 2
After what was an extremely fast-paced opening episode, I’m happy that things slowed down considerably for this week…sort of. There are still a lot of things that make me have to research what happened in season 1. I think this is one major flaw in this second season: it kind of requires the viewer to know everything that happened in season 1, and it aired a good while ago, which makes things sometimes difficult.
Picking up directly from last week’s episode, Shamiko, Momo and Mikan decide to make a trip to the factory site Sakura used to reside in, and Mikan too when she had her curse. It’s here where Shamiko makes a big discovery that, as she believes, can turn the tide into making Momo her vassal…and not her girlfriend…no, not at all…
If there’s one thing I can take away from this week’s episode, it’s that how much I forgot how the story in The Demon Girl Next Door loved to go off on strange tangents. These were tangents that were completely unrelated to the story too, which makes one think whether they were even necessary or not. Taking one example in this week’s episode, where we get to be with school classmates Anri and Ogura for like 3 minutes. It had no relation to the story whatsoever and was something I thought was wholly unnecessary.
Crazy pacing, story tangents, and a requirement to know the story of season 1 – I thought that catching up with The Demon Girl Next Door would be much easier, but it seems I underestimated what we’d be watching each week. Either that or I had totally forgotten what season 1’s episodes were like. Were they all this frenetic? I don’t want to put down this show like this, because the story that’s being told here is an enjoyable one. I want to know what Momo’s sister Sakura did that was so wrong, and I like how much Momo is trying to put things right, not just for her Light clan, but for the Demon clan too. Shamiko seems to be increasing her IQ more which is also a great thing, considering how much of a brick she was in season 1. I suppose I just need to keep up with all the chaos, that’s all.
Kaguya-sama: Love is War season 3 Episode 2
For Kaguya-sama, it does still feel like we’ve just picked up where we last saw them in season 2, however this week’s episode gave us a little more in terms of an ongoing story, as opposed to the slapstick comedy the franchise is known for. Outside of the opening sketch of Miyuki trying to get Miko and Yuu to get along, this was Hayasaka’s episode.
The franchise is, as ever, being very loyal to the source manga, and so to realize that something like this isn’t an anime-only thing is pretty cool. The context of all this is when Miyuki’s classmates invite him out for karaoke, only to later realize it’s a networking event that kids from other schools go to as well. Scared that her beloved president might find another girl there, Kaguya sends Hayasaka to spy on him. But as this sketch goes on, it turns into less of a comedy and more into something else.
If you know the franchise, you might know that Miyuki and Hayasaka already know each other (sort of), and here in this sketch, while away from the silly kids singing, they start to talk about how they feel compelled to put on acts to the people they know. Hayasaka puts on an act to disguise herself from the fact that she and her family are indebted to the Shinomiyas, and Miyuki feels compelled to put up an act to hide how he truly feels around Kaguya. Hayasaka is sent there on a mission, but their interaction is something she chooses to do herself, with the intention of making Kaguya panic. It’s almost as if for the first time we get to see the real Hayasaka, and not someone who lies to the people around her (including Kaguya) as easily as she breathes. The reason for her doing this is a decent enough one, and I won’t spoil what it is. But it has made me think a lot about what kind of direction season 3 is going to do into. Will it carry on into the style of episode storytelling that we saw in season 2?
Season 1 was all about establishing the characters, and so it looks like episodes beyond that dive far more into something that isn’t quite one ongoing story, but is instead something more loosely tied together. Kaguya-sama has gone far beyond when we met Kaguya and Miyuki for the very first time, where the show’s narrator boomed out his loud voice about the epic battle the two of them were having. Chika, Yuu, Miko, Hayasaka, and everyone else have just as huge a part of all this now. And it has been this that has kept me loving the show immensely.
Iroduku: The World in Colors Episode 2
On to my out-of-season show, and I have to say that I’ve grown quite conflicted with what I’ve seen in Iroduku so far. There are some things I’m really loving in the show, and there are some things that I’m really scratching my head over. Right now I’m finding Hitomi a very compelling character, and I’d love to know a lot more about her. Here in episode 2 we find out that she really really does not like using magic; this of course makes her mission to find out why she was set back in time all the more difficult. Speaking of this mission of hers, it’s become one big mystery so far, and I’m liking that a lot. Hitomi gets to find out a little more about her grandmother in this time, and how much of a troublemaker she actually was before she went off to England.
But at the same time, I’m seeing some traits from Glasslip in this show. I know that’s something incredibly harsh, but I think it needs to be said. Iroduku is right now not the bizarre show that Glasslip was, but I want to see some more energy from these main characters. This photography club of theirs might help Hitomi find out what her mission is, but things are still a little vague right now. I know this is only the second episode, and so I hope that we’ll see a lot more from Asagi, Kurumi, Sho and Chigusa. As for the other main character, Yuito, he just does not give off any ‘main character’ vibes right now. In fact, he is really living up to his school title of ‘The Depressed Guy in the Art Club’.
There is one thing worth noting, and that’s the fact that the magic that is fairly central to the story isn’t explained very well so far. This was something I noticed back in episode 1 and so I had been hoping that all the magic talk would be explained some more. It’s something that the people in this time have just accepted as a given, and so I’m hoping (pleading almost) that the magic in this show and in this world is something that is more visible and noticeable.
Iroduku really has hooked me in though, despite my criticisms so far, and Hitomi is just an adorable little muffin. More please.
This was a good second week. The Demon Girl Next Door has slowed down considerably, and goes at a level that I can finally catch up on, and Kaguya-sama had a very unique episode, even for its own standards. And I’m also itching to see what else Iroduku can bring. Komi Can’t Communicate is coming to our Netflix screens in a couple of weeks, and to be honest I’m expecting that to pick up where it left off too…which is of course not a bad thing.