I gave in, and have finally started watch Spy x Family. I’ll give my opinion about the show another time, but what I will say is that I’m kind of glad I chose not to pick it for Otaku Theater. I think it’s because I would probably have invested far too much time into it that I would likely neglect my other shows. I didn’t really do that for my last 2-cour show, The Aquatope on White Sand, but the reason for that is because there were quite a few things in that show I didn’t enjoy. Meanwhile there’s a lot I’m liking about Spy x Family so far.
Well this is the halfway point of the season, my summer shows have been chosen (depending on whether they go to Netflix or Disney+ or something), and soon I’ll be thinking about what my next out-of-season show will be, even if I am enjoying Iroduku more than I thought I would. But speaking of Disney+, while I’m not that fussed about Summer Time Rendering, I hear that Black Rock Shooter: Dawnfall is pretty much sci-fi apocalypse anime meets Mad Max, and that it’s very silly too. And that its viewers are questioning why Disney would want such a show in the first place. I have to find a way to watch it…I must.
Komi Can’t Communicate Season 2 Episode 3
The characters in Komi Can’t Communicate have been established now, so seeing them in this second season means a lot more is focused on the original source manga’s story as well as what we see in it. While I don’t really welcome the return of the ‘who would you date?’ segment (even with the Onemine fans getting their moment), I’m really liking how both Komi and Tadano are feeling more and more awkward around each other.
The sketches we see in this week’s episode are all ones that I couldn’t really get into however. As well as the return of ‘who would you date?’, which quite frankly is something we see so many times in school comedy shows, we get a ‘what is Komi thinking?’ and the ‘shy guy who looks like a Yakuza’ section. These are both fairly standard, and so what was it that I couldn’t see in them? Maybe that doesn’t matter so much, considering the final segment cancelled out all of that, and potentially sets the stage for what the rest of this season will be like.
Winter break is coming, and with these two feeling as awkward as they are, it’s funny to see how they both know they want to hang out together, but don’t know how to ask. Ultimately, we see that in a lot of cases, it’s just best not to overthink it, and just be natural about it all. This was something I sensed at the end of this week’s episode, where Tadano was initially struggling to ask, but then after the gift of a sweet potato, the question just came out naturally.
There’s the winter break arc of this season, and there is also a school trip segment coming as well. While season 1 was primarily full-to-the-brim with sketches, we’re getting more of a story here. Something very similar happened to my other sequel season…
Kaguya-sama: Love is War Season 3 Episode 6
I really liked what A-1 Pictures (and their SHAFT alumni) did for season 2 of Kaguya-sama, and it’s good to see they are going in the same direction for season 3. In between parent-teacher conferences (which sees the turn of Miyuki’s crazy father and the introduction of Hayasaka’s drop-dead gorgeous mother), an arc that will likely last until the end of the season is beginning to form.
They may be second-years but going to a well-respected private high school means the second years have to think hard about their careers right now, and so Miyuki’s decision comes as a bit of a bombshell; I didn’t even see it coming. He is planning on going to Stanford. This of course leaves our couple very stuck on what to do, even if it’s a fairly standard story trope that we’ve seen before. Although I do love Miyuki’s father’s wholesome advice to his son:
“If you have any unfinished business here in Japan, now’s not the time to hesitate.”
Miyuki is definitely following this advice and so it looks like he’s had enough of this silly battle he and Kaguya are going through, and so is taking the initiative…or sort of. The two of them are absolutely great together, and the misunderstandings these two have just make this show what it is. Even something as simple as asking the person you like out on a date is something she can’t quite understand fully…and so when she tries to backtrack, he becomes the one to misunderstand.
What it didn’t have in production, it had in story on a grand scale, which is why I will probably be re-watching this. This is a very important episode, and I don’t think that on my first watch I was able to absorb all the things I should have. Speaking of re-watching, it really ought to be something I should do for my third show…
The Demon Girl Next Door Season 2 Episode 6
I watch this week’s episode of The Demon Girl Next Door and I think to myself what was it that attracted me to the first season? If that season had the frantic fast-paced action that got me to like the show, then why is it that the same fast-paced action in this season is sometimes a little off-putting? Was there something in that first season I missed? Did I just have my eyes focused on one section, ignoring the rest? To answer that would mean me re-watching season one though, and to be fair, I’m really not for doing that right now.
But this week’s episode follows on directly from Sakura’s reveal last week. And because it was merely an apparition/phantom in Shamiko’s subconsciousness, I think it’ll still be a very long time before the real Sakura arrives. However what was more important was the reveal of something I think the hardcore Demon Girl fans have been waiting a long time for: Dark Peach Momo.
Because Dark Peach Momo was something a lot of people were expecting, it didn’t really have the impact that last week’s reveal have. Instead this episode is more about establishing why Sakura is in Shamiko’s subconsciousness in the first place; like I said, it carries on directly from where last week ended. From what it looks like, Sakura had used the last of her own energy to fuse her core with the younger Shamiko’s being, so she could recover better from the horrible curse that her family had been inflicted with. There wasn’t just this either; apparently Shamiko’s poor health also came as a result of her carrying the curse that Ryoko would have had too, which explains why she is the most healthy one in the family.
It’s all quite a bit to take in, and maybe those who don’t really know the Demon Girl story well might find it rather overwhelming. Then again, a lot of viewers are a little more concerned with the Shamiko/Momo relationship as it is. And so the fact that Momo is completely fine with switching over to the dark side and becoming Dark Peach Momo to rescue her dim-witted and physically frail girlfriend is something in itself.
With the way this episode ends, you’d be forgiven in thinking that this might as well have been the show finale. And so if this wasn’t, then it’s a wonder on what the second half of the show will bring us. More fast-paced action and short sketches and flashing text for me to try and catch up with, for sure. And as for the story? Well an anime-only person like myself can’t answer that, and to be fair, I have no idea on how it could continue. Will we ever see Sakura in the flesh?
Iroduku: The World in Colors Episode 6
These past few episodes have launched grandmother Kohaku into the spotlight, and in those episodes, she didn’t really win me over, but I think that’s only because I’ve gotten too used to seeing granddaughter Hitomi take the spotlight. I’m at the halfway point of the show now, and even with these likeable characters, there’s still so much I don’t wholly understand. Taking this first half of episode 6 as a big example, a photo shoot; we aren’t really told why we are here at all.
Why did they choose to do it? When did they plan it? Is it for some club project or are they just having another fun adventure with costumes and cameras? This isn’t been the only example in Iroduku; there have been a few times where I can’t understand why these guys got to where they were. It’s almost like we are thrown into scenes without any real context. Even the romance that is obligatory in school shows; I don’t really know where all of the arrows are pointed, and who’s the more oblivious one of the guys.
This feeling really sucks. Outside of these little things, the story is looking to go in a different direction. Yuito is still being a bit of a douche, and now I feel even more sorry for Hitomi when he snaps at her when she unknowingly uses magic to enter his drawings. As I watch this episode, I’m getting the impression that Hitomi is slowly discovering what kind of magic she is actually good at, even if she hates being a mage. As for everyone else, well the other characters are disappearing more into obscurity and may only have their big moment in one episode – that’s the pessimist in me talking though. And while I have been conflicted in what to make of Kohaku’s behavior, I can sort of understand why in episode 6. She has met her granddaughter, and so is trying to be the best ‘elder’ role model she can be, despite them both being the same age. Even if it means going down to her level and trying to bring her out of the depression and solitude she has felt ever since she arrived in this timeline.
Scenes happening out of context in Iroduku is something that is bothering me quite a bit. This is a very ‘P.A Works’ show though, and even if I’ve seen some very garbage ones by them, this is certainly not one of them. Even with my criticisms, this is an enjoyable watch, and I do look forward to future episodes, because I genuinely do want to know how this will all turn out.
Reached this halfway point in the season, and it honestly doesn’t feel like it; instead it feels like only a handful of episodes have passed. And on that point, it really does feel like 2022 as a whole is flying by…just like 2021 did. I have not quite found a show I am 100% certain I want in my top 5 of the year yet. Is that to say that this year will bring us some mediocrity? Or will the shows I love will end up coming in the second half of the year? We’ll have to wait and see I guess.