Over the weekend, I got into a bit of a post writing high. I write for 2 other places other than here on The OASG, and ended up with a lot of post ideas. I won’t reveal anything but let’s just say that there’ll be some more review posts here coming soon.
This would also be the time where I’d start thinking about what I’d watch for next season. The Aquatope on White Sand will continue into the Fall, so what else is there? The usual big franchises and endless isekai shows don’t usually end up on my list, so I’ll need to narrow them down to two or three. Would Justin let me do 5 shows on the go though?
The Aquatope on White Sand Episode 7
It was inevitable. Something we’d be getting sooner or later. I mean how else can you enjoy a show set in an Okinawan paradise without having at least one beach episode. With the added still-image montage.
I thought it was funny how everyone was labelling Kukuru as a ‘crappy boss’ when they have this day off at the beach and yet she still wants to bring up work. Her grandfather insists that these youngsters take a day off to cool off from the stress of the aquarium potentially closing, but it’s like Kukuru wants to devote every hour of every day in trying to keep the place open. This kind of reminds me of another show I reviewed here on The OASG, Amagi Brilliant Park, where the main protagonist ends up getting roped into keeping an ailing theme park open. The show wasn’t really anything spectacular, and its ending was far too open-ended. Here in The Aquatope on White Sand, we get similar circumstances and I fear that Kukuru’s insistence on keeping this hard work ethic will be something that could drive people away.
Clearly her grandfather’s idea of her taking time off isn’t working, and we could well see her burning out completely. But I’ll say this: P.A Works might decide to play on this story of Kukuru burning out, and her cracking if her attempts to keep the aquarium all end up in vain. Maybe she really does need to act like the mature acting director that she needs to be, and get a reality check.
Despite all that, I don’t know what it was about this week though. While in past episode we see real motivation for them all to want the aquarium to stay open. Kukuru’s grandfather seems to have already accepted the fact that it’ll shut down, so a part of me is thinking that her optimism might be something that will bite her on the backside if the place really does shut down.
Also, while we get to learn a little more about Kuuya’s backstory, it hasn’t really made me like him any more than I already don’t. Maybe he will end up with a whole episode of his own that goes into more detail on how he ended up at Gama Gama. I should hold out hope on that episode coming, but if it doesn’t, it’ll be no loss for me, since he still kind of sticks out like a sore thumb.
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S Episode 7
I’ve really been enjoying how the side stories in this second season of Dragon Maid are becoming more prevalent, but at the same time not lessening the quality of the show. We often get these ‘second season blues’, where we worry that future seasons of great shows end up crashing and burning…like what happened with The Promised Neverland this year.
We begin this episode with Fafnir desperate to outdo Takiya at a doujin exhibition hall, by creating a manga about a monstrous being who has her eyes on an elementary school boy. Of course, who is the first person he turns to for help?
The fact that we get to see Lucoa actually able to pull off posing as a monstrous creature (that’s something I can’t quite describe here; just see for yourself) in the way Fafnir asks for is pretty remarkable. It’s just a shame people at the exhibition hall prefer Takiya’s Water Dragon Shrine story book and Lucoa’s cosplay picture collection than what Fafnir created. Funny, as I might have probably bought a copy out of curiosity.
But the overall theme of this week is about Tohru and co. blending in with the human world, and how the more they interact with them, the more they seem to have ‘conformed’. It begins with Tohru curious on how humans need so much sleep. Since it’s not something that dragons actually need to have (like humans do), she wants to know why it’s become such an integral part of human life. Dragon Maid has a lot of moments like these, and so it’s great that something like this (that doesn’t have humor dominate the scene) comes along to make Tohru and co. blend in more, or as Tohru herself puts it, conform.
Season 2 of Dragon Maid has been really wonderful and is so far on its own level, and not trying to compete with its predecessor. I haven’t really read much of the manga, so I’m in a lot of new territory here. To anime-only folk though, I’ll say that the manga is a lot lewder than what we see here in the show.
Remake Our Life! Episode 7
So Remake Our Life! is back after its recap episode. Previously on Remake Our Life!: because Tsurayuki is getting sick by working his backside off due to his parents not paying for tuition, Kyouya has the great idea of the dorm house to make an eroge game. Now as I type this, I know it sounds a little ludicrous, and that’s because it kind of is. Even after the recap episode, I’m starting to get a little concerned at the direction the show is going on right now. Okay sure, I wasn’t really expecting anything stellar or groundbreaking from a show like this, but even still. Right now, I have the same face as Eiko there.
I really do like how the Kyouya x Eiko relationship is far more natural than the others; the ones with Shinoaki and Nanako just feel a little forced, and a little too…atypical for a harem show like this. But hey, what was I really expecting? More on Eiko later though, but the last episode left us on the cliffhanger that Tsurayuki is actually in engaged to new character Sayuri, a childhood friend/rich girl. Kyouya is trying to act like the true professional in the dorm house, but it’s blatent to see that the others all have their own issues. To be honest, I’m amazed they can actually keep up with the game work.
The Nanako vs. Shinoaki pay-per-view fight has begun in earnest this week, however. Some people who watch this show have already picked a side, and I guess it just depends on what kind of harem girl you would generally root for in a show. Nanako is by far the more emotional one, and would be far more prone to cracking if she lost the fight. Shinoaki, on the other hand, is a little different. She may put on a façade of oblviousness, but I think she has a secret plan up her sleeve to one up on Nanako somehow. We notice little moments where she is able to sneak in and grab Kyouya’s attention, no matter how; the scene where she asks him to model for her to draw thighs was just stupid, though.
Worth pointing out that neither of them might not win, because we still have Eiko to think about. I mention how she relates to Kyouya in a professional but casual manner. And while we might side with either Nanako or Shinoaki, we kind of know that Eiko isn’t just a third wheel; she is becoming a bookie’s favorite.
This week might have the air of a filler episode, but I think it’s quite the opposite. Maybe this is something I haven’t noticed in past episodes, but one thing this week is becoming far more apparent: the kind of pressure Kyouya is putting on himself. Way back in episode 1, before he travelled back in time, he and older Eiko put in everything they had in this one game they were putting together, and the whole thing collapsed, leading to the company going bankrupt and them out of the job. Here, Kyouya has the chance to ‘remake’ his life (sorry about that…), and so with this indecent game they are making, is he really that confident that the same mistake won’t happen again. Tsurayuki threw away his chosen career to be at art school, and both Nanako and Shinoaki are at each others’ throats now for Kyouya’s affection, and as the one cracking the whip in this project, he should take responsibility if it all goes wrong. This adds a brand new layer to the show’s story, and it’s definitely something worth thinking about.
Girlish Number Episode 7
For once, Chitose takes a step back for episode 7 of Girlish Number, and instead has both Kazuha and Momoko take the center stage. For this one, Kazuha’s mother, who is a very traditional person, just arrives out of nowhere, wondering about why her daughter would agree to take part in a swimsuit photo shoot.
I thought the contrast between Kazuha’s backstory and Momoko’s was interesting to watch. Momoko’s family have just let her make her own decisions, and I think that because of this, she is feeling more lonely, with noone to actually call to when things go wrong. Kazuha, on the other hand, has very concerned parents, and it seems like this is all why she has always been against doing things that aren’t voice acting…like swimsuit photo shoots. It hasn’t helped that Kuzu decided to step in and have what can only be described as the most cringeworthy phone call ever.
I know that episode 8, when both Kazuha and Momoko are able to have a long conversation of their own, that we’ll see that Momoko doesn’t have to live in the shadow of her highly successful mother, and Kazuha doesn’t have to pander to her highly traditional parents.
Anyway…I ended up bored, and decided to start my out-of-season poll early. If you want to choose what show I’ll be watching for the Fall 2021 season, take your pick in the poll below. I did something different this time, and picked 4 shows that all released earlier this year, but either haven’t gotten around to watching, or didn’t make the cut for Otaku Theater.
Are you eyeing up the big franchises’ sequel seasons though? Or will you just end up catching what you’ve missed this year? 2021 didn’t kick off so well for me, and since I had to step back for the Spring season, I have a lot of catchup to do myself.