You know something, the closer this Symphogear Challenge creeps up on me, the more anxious I’m starting to get. My plan is to watch entire seasons in one go, which means they would take up entire days. Makes me think back to when I ended up spending 12+ hours in watching the entirety of Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei for my own blog way back when. Justin called me a fool for doing it, and he was absolutely right. I’m not getting those 12 hours back. Hey, I should be looking forward to this Symphogear Challenge; I mean, it is a franchise that everyone is talking about, and I am actually interested in.
I have a bunch of other shows to regularly write about, but watch this space. The Symphogear Challenge is coming soon, and you can see how much binge watching entire shows affects my writing skills!
Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru? Episode 8
I should just accept the fact that Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru? has become my Summer Curse™ show, and just not fight it any more. Now if you’re reading this, I’m sure that you’ve found a lot of things to laugh at and enjoy in the show, but all of this fan service and unnecessary muscle flexing has just become so tiresome. You know one of my original out-of-season picks was to be Keijo!!!!!!!! (with 8 exclamation marks), and I may well have ended up growing tired of seeing so many boobs and bums. Well…
2 stories happen this week. The first being Tachibana’s work colleagues finding out that she’s joined the gym, and they decide to use a free trial to join her, which doesn’t really offer much of a plot point…or any kind of plot point for that matter, aside from introducing 2 new characters who may or may not show up again in future episodes. The second being all the second-years going on a mountain hiking trip, and three of the group (Hibiki, Tachibana and new character whose name I’ve already forgotten) getting lost…which can only mean one thing. Instead of doing the decent thing and calling for help, they take the time to break the fourth wall and teach us about the exercise benefits of stripping naked and tree-climbing. I’m telling you, this stuff is all just too dumb to make up.
I’m sure that there have been many more stupid and ridiculous shows that have come our way throughout the whole of 2019, let alone this summer season. I just so happened to believe that Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru? would actually be a fun watch. It has instead turned into a real cringe-fest for me. And again, I can’t stress enough: do not think that doing any of the exercises they teach in their edutainment skits will give you a better body. If you want a better body, form an exercise routine that works for you by going to a gym, or going on a diet, or just going on a jog or bike ride every now and then. Watching anime will not make you a fitter person or give you abnormally big muscles like Machio.
Okay, so maybe I’m going a little overboard on the criticism here, and maybe I’m just finding an excuse to reinforce the fact that I am cursed with finding a really bad show every summer anime season. You might find some cool things to laugh about here – I just…couldn’t, that’s all.
Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files Episode 8
Now, I won’t be calling Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files a Summer Curse™ show, because there are actually some things I’m really enjoying here, despite acknowledging that this is, to be fair, really only a show for the die-hard Fate fans. The art direction really is amazing to watch, and I will admit that, as the studio behind it (Troyca) were also behind last year’s Bloom Into You, I keep thinking that Touko or Yuu or Sayaka are just going to show up out of nowhere and tell them to not stress so much about dangerous magic, and just chill in a euphoric wave of yuri love. This just has to be because of the way they have all drawn Gray and Reines and all the other female characters, right?
This is only part 2 of this ongoing arc, but a lot ended up happening this week. Firstly, Olga-Marie’s companion is found beheaded, leaving everyone on board the train as suspects. Later on, someone from El-Melloi’s past as Waver Velvet arrives to taunt both him and Gray. It’s not really made clear whether she was the one who sent them the invitation to board the Rail Zeppelin train, but enough has been done to make me even more interested in this Fate spin-off show.
I admit that I was concerned that, as someone who is relatively new to the Fate franchise, I would find little to keep me entertained. I think some of the other Fate spin-off shows (Fate/Extra: Last Encore, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya) have that burden of responsibility too: keeping both hardcore Fate fans and newcomers entertained. It may not have worked so much for Last Encore (despite being an beautiful looking show), but it worked for the Prisma Illya series. Here in El-Melloi, we are treated to a collection of murder mysteries, with a heavy dose of old and new Fate plot points, and…it’s been more fun to watch than I had initially thought, and I look forward to how this arc and show will end.
O Maidens In Your Savage Season Episode 8
Once again this happens. When it comes to watching the next episode of O Maidens In Your Savage Season, I wonder what on earth is going to happen next? Considering last week was a bit of a filler episode, it was so good to see that that may have just been a fluke. Studio Lay-duce were really able to squeeze so much in the space of 25 minutes, and pulled it off too, as while so many questions have now been answered, whole new questions have now come into place, for all of them.
This week wraps up the school festival, and the Literature Club putting on a performance/reading session of the urban legend they wrote. From episode 1, we notice that the Literature Club in this school has had a bit of a poor reputation, but it seems that they have been able to redeem themselves…in the eyes of the school, at least. Within the Literature Club, the 5 girls are still battling their inner demons when it comes to pent-up sexual feelings. Kazusa’s devotion is severely tested this week when Niina begins to make some moves towards Izumi. Rika finally notices how much of an idiot she’s been to Amagi, and makes amends with him. Hitoha, on the other hand, still can’t seem to get her thoughts about Milo-sensei out of her head, and the woman he has eyes on (and has had eyes on for a while) arrives at the festival making Hitoha feel even more rotten. Meanwhile, Sugimoto arrives at the festival with some friends, with the intention of cheering on Momoko as a friend, and…wow…when you think Momoko couldn’t get any more stupid, you watch this week’s episode and think again. And as for Niina?
Saegusa decides to show up randomly at their reading session, which puts Niina off-guard, and forces her to let her emotions run wild. And I don’t just mean making moves on Izumi. I won’t spoil any more of this week’s episode, but I will say that our general opinion of Niina changes dramatically when the festival is all over. Is she an antagonist though, to Kazusa’s protagonist? We’ll see. We still have more episodes to go.
Astra Lost in Space Episode 8
In O Maidens In Your Savage Season, a lot of questions have been answered, only for more questions to take their place. And the same kind of thing has happened in this week’s Astra Lost in Space. We discover who the woman in the hibernation pod is: the only surviving member of a team of astronauts who were exploring deep space. She has been in cryostasis for 12 years, and is kind of shocked to be rescued by a bunch of high-school kids who have troubles of their own. Thankfully, they all find a way to fix the ship and leave the planet, to head off to the final planet on their list before they all have a chance of finding civilization again.
When I began this show, I had the initial hope that this would all become some psychological sci-fi terror show, and while I was initially disappointed to see that they would add a lot of jokes, I am nonetheless impressed with what I have watched. As new plot points arrive each week, the more you think that all of this (the 9 kids being selected, the ball of light, the abandoned ship that just happens to be where the light takes them) is all part of ‘the plan’. Don’t want to theorize too much in case I’m wrong, and I end up getting angry stans shouting at me again. But the bombshell at the end of this week’s episode might just make you agree with me.
Some very cool episodes this week, plus my Symphogear Challenge begins soon. But what do you think about this week? Have I missed out on anything? Do you still think I’m crazy for binge-watching the entire Symphogear franchise despite knowing next-to-nothing about it? Feel free to hit that like button and air your opinions in the comments below!