Approaching August now – my birthday month. When you get to my age though, birthdays mean so little. It just becomes another day, and instead of actually celebrating, you end up doing the laundry or taking the garbage out. Or…you could just binge on shows; maybe I should do that this year, for a change.
Meanwhile over in Japan, the Tokyo Olympics are well under way, so we shouldn’t be surprised if we get some delayed episodes. I don’t just mean the three seasonal shows I’m watching, but every other show that’s out there. Love Live! Superstar!! is already a victim, with its third episode being pushed forward to mid-August. You see, despite a good percentage of the Japanese public not thinking the games should go ahead, they will air on TV regardless.
I guess I’ll just look forward to what I have right now before my shows get pushed forward a week or something…
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S Episode 3
I go back to what I said last week about this second season of Dragon Maid going in a different direction to the first. When characters like Kanna and Elma were introduced in season 1, they didn’t have much of a backstory, with Lucoa having next to nothing. That’s all changed here with Ilulu. It really does seem like the show is trying to put her front and center, with her backstory being so detailed.
Ilulu is in a hole right now, currently living and sleeping in one of the closets in the house. She still thinks back to all the fun times she used to have when she was playing with humans as a younger dragon, and right now she can’t forgive herself for attempting to destroy the city when going after Tohru in the first episode. These were the very same people she used to love playing with, and yet being influenced so much by others in her Chaos faction, she tried to kill them all. Even all the way back in the very first episode of season 1, Dragon Maid has had a lot of meaningful and touching moments scattered here and there, and this backstory of Ilulu’s is this season’s first one, and it’s very effective I think.
Staying with Kobayashi and co. will give her time to think, and whether she thinks playing with humans is alright again. Just as season one did, the show puts a fine balance between laugh-out-loud comedy skits with more touching moments. Some could say a lot of other studios couldn’t get this balance just right, and so I think it’s great that Kyoto Animation have been able to pick themselves up over the last two years and do it so effortlessly.
Not unusual for season one’s Dragon Maid to have some kind of ongoing story, and right now we’re looking at Tohru herself, with her suddenly realizing that her daily life has just been being a maid, and not doing anything else prompting her to ask for advice from neighbors. I thought it was very cool what her woodcarver neighbor said, in that it’s more so finding something challenging yet worthwhile, instead of just being good at everything. I’m fairly sure that next week (providing it’ll even air, depending on the Olympics) she will find something challenging and worthwhile. I mean all the way back in episode 1, she found herself at a maid cafe where she won the hearts of her fellow maid employees. Just putting that idea out there…
It’s also worth noting that, after this crazy little moment of Tohru’s at the end, we get a different ending theme. The lyrics are just how much Tohru loves Kobayashi and that’s about it, but what stood out was that it all used footage from season 1. Some could dismiss this as something put together at the last minute, but even if it was, I think it’s still a touching tribute to the late director Takemoto.
Remake Our Life! Episode 4
Switching over to Remake Our Life! now, and I’m already starting to have some reservations about the show. More on that later. Instead of centering around that one project the team does as I expected it would, the episode shifts instead to Nanako.
The team, with Eiko included, ends up winning the next class project, yet Nanako is left feeling confused. Her acting in their project wasn’t up-to-par, and yet they won? And so it’s left to Eiko to step in and tell her that she shouldn’t waste her gift of singing by hiding behind the shadow of wanting to act. Her professor also makes a point that the film they made was superior to the others’ overall, despite the sub-par acting Nanako put in.
I said it last week, and I’ll say it again: I originally thought that Eiko was going to be this insufferable know-it-all who would end up going full-on tsundere over Kyouya, but so far it’s been more than that, and that’s why out of all the characters in the show, I’m drawn to her the most. Out of all the girls in the show, Kyouya knows her the longest, as she was his superior in the gaming company that went under. We are given the impression that she is the ‘main girl’ in the show too. But while Nanako and Aki all want to chase their dreams of singing and illustration, we haven’t really seen anything in Eiko…just like we haven’t really seen much in Kyouya. For him, there’s game design, but is that what he really wants? Was game design a shadow for him, just as Nanako saw acting as a shadow for singing He has this second shot, and this second chance to chase after something he wants to do, deep down.
I might just be overthinking there, but I have to say that we’ve gone 4 episodes in now, and while there’s a good portion of stuff that I’m enjoying here, it still feels like Remake Our Life! does not the same kind of ‘immortality’ that a show like The Pet Girl of Sakurasou has. In that show, we got to see memorable characters that we either really loved or hated; here in Remake Our Life!, we haven’t really gotten any of that. It’s about a third of the way in, and only Eiko has stood out for me. Back when I watched the extended first episode, I thought that our MC, Kyouya, was going to come out shining, but I still don’t see anything in him that makes him stand out like other main characters in harem shows do. Like Nariyuki in We Never Learn!, Natsuo in Domestic Girlfriend, or Junichi in the Amagami franchise all do.
I want this show to get much better. The plot is simple yet effective, so I think we just need to see more substance in the characters themselves. They are likeable, but at the same time, rather forgettable.
The Aquatope on White Sand Episode 3
Now P.A Works has always made sure to make their characters as memorable as possible, whether it be the angelic Kanade in Angel Beats! (for the right reasons) or the truly dire Kakeru in Glasslip (for all the wrong reasons). Have they made memorable characters here in The Aquatope on White Sand? Well they are carrying on with their modus operandi of telling meaningful stories for each episode, and for episode 3, it’s on Kukuru herself, and how the loss of her parents has made her want the aquarium to carry on. But this desire itself is pushing herself and others away.
One thing this episode touches on is the phrase “The First Penguin”. This refers to the penguin who dives in first into the ice-cold ocean looking for food, regardless of whether there could be dangerous predators down there. And Kukuru is definitely that first penguin. She has taken over the role of interim director of the aquarium not knowing all the ins and outs of running a large-scale business that simultaneously takes care of live animals and deals with members of the public. And on top of this, she still needs to graduate from high school.
Running the aquarium is something that Kukuru thinks that she can do single-handedly, and in this episode, we can see that she is very reluctant to ask for help. When her favorite penguin develops an infection, Kukuru calls the regular vet (who is days from giving birth) to check on it. But was calling a vet who is past her due date the best idea, or could have found another way to deal with the sick penguin? This was something Kukuru could have handled more responsibly, and by the end of the episode, she is left pondering on this. Does she really think she is capable of running this aquarium on her own?
The Aquatope on White Sand is going extremely well after only three episodes, and I’m very glad I picked it. The Okinawan countryside is just gorgeous, and while I still have a few reservations over Kukuru, I know it’ll all work out okay in the end. I’m also glad that the show will go on through the Fall season too, as there was no way this story could be wrapped up in a single cour. Likeable and memorable characters have already been developed, and we actually want to know more about them (unlike what we have in Remake Our Life! right now).
Girlish Number Episode 3
Girlish Number was set to parody the rottenness inside the anime industry. After only 2 episodes, we have gotten to see how much can go wrong in making an anime show. Just when you thought that episode 2’s mishap (reference sheets not finished) was bad, episode 3 just gives us more. Voices for the first episode of Millennium Princess x Kowloon Overlord haven’t even been recorded yet, and we find out that the series composition director has already quit. The sound team are already frustrated at how they have to use the bad lines they have been given to piece together episodes. And the light novel author, who is just letting all of this chaos happen while he watches from a distance, is too timid to raise his voice in protest.
Episode 3 is also where we get to hear Chitose’s voice acting in proper for the first time, and oh good lord, she is terrible. While we find her lack of talent something funny to laugh at, what we can also see is how little veteran voice actors Momoko and Kazuha care. One might think that someone who with no talent as a voice actor would be something that affects them, but this scenario is likely to be something both Momoko and Kazuha have seen time and time again in past projects. In their eyes, they are already getting paid for their parts, and that’s it.
As for Chitose? We start to get in two minds when it comes to her. We both want her to succeed and get better so she can land better roles in the future and be a better voice actor, but we also actively want mishaps to happen in the show. For people who are new to this show, Chitose still comes off as a rude brat with zero talent, but as you’ll see in future episodes, she becomes a very different person…even if she can still trash-talk the rotten anime industry. I also think it was a very good idea not to make an English dub for this show, as it just would not work, and just ruin the black humor that the show gives us.
The Olympics are here to stay, whether we like it or not, and so some show delays are expected. Are the shows you’re watching going to get delayed? Do you think they will? Feel free to hit that like button and air your opinions in the comments below!