It’s rather crazy how this final season of mine here for Otaku Theater has flown by. These have been three shows I’ve really enjoyed, and it feels weird how two of them are now over. Oh, and throughout all of this, we got the news that NieR: Automata Ver 1.1a is coming back! July. 23 sees four episodes (9-12) being released in one go in a two-hour time slot. When I was covering it back in the Winter season, I enjoyed what I saw onscreen and liked how new elements were added that weren’t in the game. It’ll definitely be something I’ll add to the long list of ‘shows-to-catch-up-on’, that’s for sure.
Oshi no Ko Episode 10
Oshi no Ko won’t be ending until next week, but what do we have now? Well despite knowing this was a manga adaptation, it didn’t really occur to me that a show like this would have ‘arcs’. I guess it was just something I hadn’t thought about because the story has remained so solid and not had a single weak episode. We began with Aqua and Ruby starting new high school, then Aqua having a tiny part in a web drama and meeting Kana again, then him getting a big part in the reality dating TV show and having to deal with Akane, and now it seems like we are approaching the end of this arc: the new B Komachi arc.
Once again Aqua is on the back seat (sort of) while focus is put on B Komachi’s debut at the Japan Idol Festival. Kana eventually bows down to pressure to become the center of the group, after hearing the others sing so terribly. Strawberry Productions’ other big name, Pieyon, is brought in to build up their stamina and improve their choreography…except we all knew it was Aqua impersonating him. Why? Because deep down, he wants her to succeed? It isn’t really made clear, and I fear that by the time next week’s finale comes, we might not know unless a second season comes.
But this wasn’t his episode, nor was it B Komachi’s one; it was Kana’s episode. She has hidden her nervousness and anxiety away with coping mechanisms like experience and a sharp tongue, but the idol atmosphere is completely new to her. She envies Ruby for having such a big dream (which she actually talks about in her time as a terminally-ill girl in her past life), and after finding out that the Pieyon that had been training them up was Aqua the whole time, the pressure hits her like a wrecking ball. In a heartbeat, she is reminded of all the times she has failed, as a singer and as a child actor. As a youngster, her parents moved to be with gravely ill family leaving her alone in the house, and with internet forums flooded with posts saying that she is past her prime as a child actor, she feels like a failure. I suppose this is why she has been so secretly pining for Aqua; he is someone she knew from long ago, and is someone she is not afraid to be open with.
Now though, she is the center face of a rookie idol group, all of them with no idol experience (including herself). Mem-cho may know what it’s like to be a known figure with her internet celebrity status, but she is as green as the others are. So if Kana fails, the others fail too. But Ruby and Mem-cho all believe in her, so surely that’s enough right?
Next week will end the show, and I honestly don’t know what kind of ending it will have. This new incarnation of B Komachi will perform on this very small stage not knowing what kind of reaction they will get, or even if people will actually show up to watch. Oshi no Ko has never shied away from criticizing the entertainment industry, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t get a super-duper happy ending. On that same note though, right now it does feel like there could have been more of a story to tell. The show has impressed both critics and viewers (myself included) and will no doubt make the top 5 of 2023 for many people. But if a second season for this does come, will it be able to live up to what we have seen here? None of us expected that shock ending in the 90-minute-long first episode. And none of us really expected the show to go hard on Akane’s internet torment either. But I do know for certain that it won’t disappoint.
Tonikawa: Over The Moon For You Season 2 Episode 12
Last week would have been a great way to close out this season, with everyone being together and enjoying this random camping trip, but this final episode is just as good a one, despite it being far more muted.
Everyone comes back home, and Nasa has something on his mind, as Tokiko leaves him hanging a little since there was something very important she wanted to tell him but couldn’t find the opportunity to. So it’s only when after she has a tumble at home and is sent to hospital when she gets to do it. And no it isn’t that Tsukasa is Princess Kaguya. To be honest, I’d be rather disappointed if they revealed that story device to us, as it’s been so much more enjoyable to leave us hanging and speculating. Nasa has already surmised that Tokiko is approaching the end of her life, and has asked him not to break the news to Tsukasa. And also gives him the moon rock she had encased at her home, saying that she doesn’t really need it anymore.
I admit that I was a little slow in warming to this second season. I felt the same way about watching season 2 of The Demon Girl Next Door as well. And the reason for both of them was that it had just felt like so long between seasons that the connection I had with the characters had begun to disappear. So I was glad that to get that back here with Tonikawa. Newcomers to the show probably don’t know that Nasa and Tsukasa are staying in the building behind Kaname’s bathhouse because their old apartment burned down. Well Nasa’s landlord has told him the place has been rebuilt, leaving plenty of room for a third season, which this deserves. Five new characters came this season, all with their own very unique characteristics that make the show as humorous and enjoyable as it is.
Let’s just hope that Nasa gets better at hugging in the next season; watch this week and you’ll understand…
Skip and Loafer Episode 12
Like I said last week, it would be way too easy to just dismiss Ririka as a bitch and an antagonist in Skip and Loafer, but I have to put out the argument that her character is far more complex than people think. It was her choice to go to this party way back when despite being warned not to, and the biggest reason she is picking at Shima is out of pure jealousy. He made the attempt to press reset on his life and attempt a normal school life, while she wallows in self-pity. Largely due to the poor choices she’s made in life, she’s been seen as a trashy celebrity to some. So if in her shoes, you’d be bitter with Shima too, right? But later on in the episode, we learn that she intentionally went to the festival to guilt-trip him because she wants him to notice her again like he used to in the past. She knows he has a good heart, and so just wanted the ‘old’ Shima back.
But he makes an interesting point in that he can’t really think about anything he wants for himself because it’s easier for him to please others. This would apply to a lot of things, from his child acting days, to making his mom happy doing it, to being goaded into going to a seedy party, right down to helping others out in class. This is where I think people being too selfless brings out a great weakness in them. He has found his comfort zone in being a people-pleaser, and so the idea of doing something purely for himself comes as a real shock and makes him doubt himself.
He has been hiding in the cloak of selflessness because he is too afraid to see the great anxiety he has deep within himself. But he also finds a real distinction between himself and Mitsumi. She has a dream to become a civil servant to help her hometown out, while he just lives through life by the day with no real end goal in sight. Sure, this is something that is pretty evident throughout the show; the two are pretty polar opposites and yet are able to befriend each other so well.
Once again, like last week, the school festival is secondary while we see the actions and thoughts of the main characters. Kanechika’s drama club ends up winning the best play in the end, Takamine finally receives some recognition for her hard work from the incredibly vain student council president, and the girls are already planning their next sleepover, despite finals coming up.
I can’t really tell if this is building up for a second season though. There is plenty of things left unanswered or untouched that could be put into future episodes, but at the same time we were given a ‘this-is-me-and-this-is-my-new-life’ line from Mitsumi which sounded more like closing the story up than anything else. I’d have liked to have seen more of Shima’s childhood friends, and of Mitsumi’s old life in the countryside. Also on a tangent, I almost forgot how a lot of studios like to just fill up final episodes of shows with still images so they can meet deadlines quicker, and P.A Works is no different here. I’ll be speaking a little more on what I think of the show as a whole in next week’s post, but in the meantime let’s wrap up my last out-of-season show.
Lycoris Recoil Episodes 12 & 13
I made the decision to cover the two last episodes of Lycoris Recoil in this post, to make space for what will be the season review post this week. Things pick up directly where we left off in episode 11, with Takina crashing in and the two of them disarming and securing Majima. But it might be a little too late, as Robota has already relayed footage of Lycoris agents to the public, who had no idea they even existed. I suppose in all reality seeing high-school aged girls acting as trained killers that operated under our noses would unsettle me too. Anyway…
…where we thought Majima had kidnapped Yoshimatsu in an attempt to lure Chisato out on her own turned out to be not quite as we thought. Yes, it lured her out, but we find out that Yoshimatsu had actually been the one using Majima all along, as a tool to get Chisato to kill again. He had possession of the new artificial heart, but says that he put it in himself, and that to get to it, Chisato would have to kill him.
If you want me to be perfectly honest, now that this show is over for me, I have some mixed feelings about its ending. The final episode sees Majima break out of his ropes and have a face-off with Chisato alone at the top of the new tower. Here we see that he doesn’t really want some revenge, but instead wants what he claims as ‘balance’. I’m sure this is a line a lot of villains and antagonists like to use, as they see themselves as the one doing the right thing. We get a predictable yet fun outcome, with Takina diving in alone, Majima defeated, Mika killing Yoshimatsu (who actually had the heart in a briefcase instead) and the public given some elaborate and well-detailed cover story of the Lycoris agents being a part of a upcoming public attraction…or something. But that’s not what I have mixed feelings for; instead it’s for how the final episode left us.
Majima is still alive, albeit gravely wounded. DA is back the way they were, still looking for the missing guns. And Chisato seemingly has the new heart and has gone in hiding, only for Takina to eventually find her, and the two of them planning for go to Hawaii. It leaves room for this new ‘animation project’ they have been teasing for a while, and I know a lot of people will want to see Chisato and Takina back on the screens again. I guess I just wanted a little more of a impactful ending. Or maybe I was just too picky. I’m still happy I watched this show though, and I totally understand why the fans love it so much. Will I return to the franchise? Probably. Heck, I may even give this season a rewatch when the new material comes out.
I’ve been talking a lot about sequel seasons in this post, I know. Oshi no Ko possibly getting one, Tonikawa maybe getting one, Lycoris Recoil definitely getting one, and Skip and Loafer probably not getting one. The question though is whether these sequel seasons will give us the magic and spark we got when we watched original seasons. Some sequels have done well, while others have failed spectacularly. Time can only tell I suppose. Next week I’ll be finishing Oshi no Ko and be talking about the Spring season as a whole. Maybe I’ll even talk about some stuff I didn’t catch, who knows?