The Fall season is only in a couple of weeks, and it really doesn’t feel like it to me. By that I mean that I can’t believe that this Summer season has flown by as quick as it has. The curse didn’t hit me this year, but of course that’s not to say I won’t get it in 2022. As for the next season, streaming services are already announcing their licenses, and while some of them we kind of knew would happen anyway, others came as a surprise. And by this I’m talking about Komi Can’t Communicate:
The term ‘Netflix Jail’ has already been cried out, except Netflix is taking the very unusual route of releasing it on an episode-by-episode basis. So the question remains: do they want to be taken seriously as a player in the anime streaming scene? People may flock to Crunchyroll and Funimation, but surely they can’t dominate entire seasons, right? Well let’s just see what happens. Heck, if this experiment of theirs turns out to be a success, Netflix could make this a regular thing with shows they get licenses for.
Remake Our Life! Episode 11
This week’s episode of Remake Our Life! was a bit difficult to review, I have to admit. A couple of people I know and follow who have been watching the show have begun to get annoyed at how Kyouya has been acting like the great know-it-all who has solutions for everything. Well after the cliffhanger we had last week where Eiko got an earful from the company president on how bad their game, Mystic Clockwork, was received, Kyouya comes up with a million and one things to fix the game, from introducing a brand new game engine, to offering free microtransactions to gamers. It all seemed too amazing to be true, and it was this first half of the episode I found a bit frustrating; how he was able to pull all of this off with a big smile on his face.
But it was the second half of the episode that was most definitely the better half. Remember all the way back in the art school timeline when the gang were able to finish their game in the most amazing of ways? And then they went on to drift away from the things that made them want to attend art school in the first place? Well Kyouya has felt this regret for so long, and as Mystic Clockwork has won back the hearts of gamers, he starts to worry that that will happen again.
And it’s here where we see that it was never Kyouya’s fault that they drifted away from their initial passions. Shinoaki made the decision to stop drawing all by herself, to marry Kyouya and have a daughter with him. Nanako made the decision to step away from singing (only to decide to come back later). And Tsurayuki made the decision to stop writing himself. None of that was Kyouya’s fault, and it had to take Eiko to give him the good slap he needed to understand that.
I have to say that was a very touching scene at the end, and makes for a fitting conclusion to the story. Kyouya will carry on with a happy life working for a games company with a good family, and Eiko will be working alongside him and be a helping hand if he needs it…or is it the end?! We are teased in the epilogue of something that we probably had guessed already, but leaves us room for speculation on what the final episode will give us.
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S Episode 11
An unusually serious episode this week, just as this great second season is coming to an end. It begins with Kobayashi trying to find solutions to back problems she has begun to get after sitting on awful chairs at work, but this was a backstory/development episode dedicated to Tohru.
Her father, The Emperor of Demise, makes a return to the show, as it turns out he is friends with the company director…because of course he is. The core part of all this is why Tohru made the decisions she has ever since she was a baby dragon. Being a daughter of the figurehead of the Chaos Faction. Being tempted by the Spectator Faction (Lucoa). Being a travelling companion with a dragon of the Harmony Faction (Elma). And how this made her way to the human realm in the first place where she originally met Kobayashi.
As we hear stories from both Tohru and her father, I think I got a better understanding on why Tohru did what she did. In terms of serious story in this season, I think it will end here. As much as I thought season 1’s finale was awesome, now’s the time to get back to joviality. The flashback stories we’ve had this season have been great to watch. While Ilulu’s one was an excellent way to introduce a new main character, Elma’s was my favorite one. And now with all of these flashback stories told, we have a much better understanding of all of them; I mean, who would have thought that Tohru and Elma were originally very close?
The Aquatope on White Sand Episode 11
This week’s episode was the kind that I wasn’t quite expecting, but at the same time should have known was coming. I’d say it was a very ‘P.A Works’ episode, in that it generates a lot of high emotion in one short space of time while both giving us an very unexpected plot point and keeping very close to the story. In all this time I have been chastising Kukuru for acting so immature and stubborn, it seems to all come to a head when a typhoon arrives on the island and Gama Gama is hit hard by it. And even in all of this, Kukuru decides to barricade herself inside on her own, not answering the phones and refusing any offered help.
The aquarium is the only place Kukuru has ever known, and the only real memory she has of her parents. I might well be alone in my opinion of her behaving the way she is, but after watching this episode, I get it now. It’s only taken me a whole 11 episodes to realize it. Her high emotions are understandable, but as I said in last week’s column, she needed to accept the fact that Gama Gama will be closing down, and there is nothing she can do to stop it. Not barricading herself refusing any help. Not lashing out at other people. Did this episode give her the wake-up call she needed? Yes, it did.
Kukuru finally realizes that she has put all of her high emotions and nostalgia before the marine life of the aquarium. If she really loved the aquarium and wanted it to remain going, then she should have accepted outside help, instead of bottling her own emotions and past memories up, and shutting herself from anyone else. Fuuka comes in eventually and is able to talk her into accepting her help in barricading broken windows, moving marine life to smaller tanks, and so on. But by the time this week’s episode ends, we see that Kukuru finally accepts the truth.
Another question will be if Fuuka will accept that movie job. She has already been told by her family to return to the mainland so she can finish school and possibly reinvigorate her idol career, but other things can happen of course, like she might stay in Okinawa out of some newly found attachment there, which I get completely. This all makes me think on what the second half of the show will be like. Gama Gama will have been closed by then, so what will everyone in the show be up to? Kukuru will be back in school, Gama Gama’s staff will have moved on to other jobs (possibly working in Tingaara even), heck we may even get some weird 5-year time jump like A Lull In The Sea had. The Aquatope on White Sand needed a second cour; no way could this story be told in one 12-episode season.
Girlish Number Episode 11
Episode 11 of Girlish Number acts pretty much like a part 2 of what happened in episode 10. Chitose continues in her downward spiral of depression after realizing that she isn’t really as outstanding and critical to the show as she thinks she is, and can easily be replaced by younger talent (like Nanami). Adding to this, Gojou has felt utterly powerless. As we saw in past episodes, he definitely gave off the impression that he did not want to be Chitose’s manager, but now he has been moved over to be Nanami’s manager, he finally understands that his tough love has not helped Chitose progress as a voice actress.
The other characters in the show take a backseat in this episode, as the focus is squarely on Chitose, and what she can possibly do to get out of the rut she is in. Interesting how we are not given any clues on how Gojou left the voice acting business, but to be honest, the how’s and why’s are not that important. Seems that Koto knows, as it’s revealed in this episode that the two of them were classmates. So maybe it could be seen that he was trying desperately not to let Chitose make the same mistakes that he may have done.
We already know that she doesn’t have that much in the way of talent, and is incredibly self-centered and craves attention, but episode 11 is where we see that the attention that matters to her the most isn’t really the fans of the show, but her brother. Compliments given by the people around her can be hollow and empty, but if they ever came from her brother, it would mean so much more, and make her actually want to get up and do something.
I’ve been enjoying these final episodes of this season. We’ve had Kyouya work his magic once more to make Mystic Clockwork be a great game, we’ve had Kukuru finally realize she’s been doing more harm than good, and Chitose finally gets the hugs and attention she has been truly craved for deep down inside. Next week will be the Summer review post, and the Fall preview post is coming soon too, and I can finally say what I’ll be watching as Christmas comes along. All I’ll say is that the choices I made for Fall weren’t entirely what I’d normally pick…