Last week, I submitted my post to the OASG overlords without writing a prologue, by accident. I won’t be making that same mistake again; I mean now that we all seem to be stuck indoors, we have a lot more free time on our hands. Sure, some of us have to work from home, and some of us have to think about how to handle our children who can’t go to school. Then there are some of us who are binging on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which came out on Friday. No doubt there will be people who have played it for so long now that they have build veritable castles on their desert islands.
This self-imposed isolation/quarantine/whatever you want to call it will be affecting the anime industry, that’s for sure. Spring shows have been announced and will be starting as normal, but as for any future episodes that have yet to be completed? I guess the only thing we can do is just wait and see. No point in worrying and panicking.
In/Spectre Episode 11
I said last week that this story revolving around the Steel Lady Nanase had stretched on for far too long, and I stand by that comment this week. I remember whenever I would be watching Monogatari arcs wondering whether SHAFT had padded out their stories a little too long; while some arcs lasted only one episode, others went on for at least 6. And those of you who remember the Endless Eight will know exactly what I mean about padding episodes out. Saying all that though, I think KyoAni just took a risk when it came to the Endless Eight, and realized that some Haruhi Suzumiya fans just didn’t like the idea of a Groundhog Day-like arc being adapted like that.
Anyway, back to In/Spectre…
I’d like to say that this arc is finally wrapping up, but something inside me is telling me that it still is not over, and that this will all in fact end next week, in the final episode. But this week’s episode has some significance to the plot, in that Kotoko introduces the idea that Nanase staged her own death using a lookalike, and just stole her identity afterwards. After all of those other ideas that Kotoko had planted on the forums (bitter father committing suicide to pin his death on her and tarnish her name, envious older sister, etc.), the users seem drawn more to this idea. It doesn’t even matter if the story is true or not; as I have said in a past week’s post, truth means very little on the internet, especially on open and public forums like these where anyone can put their opinions up.
I guess In/Spectre has been a bit of a slow-burner kind of show, and that we needed far more time to get to know all of these characters, unlike in Monogatari where main characters were brought in and had good moments almost immediately. Next week will the final episode, and as I haven’t read the manga, I don’t know what exactly will happen, and what Rikka will do now. Here’s hoping that In/Spectre is given the kind of ending we are all satisfied with; both those of us who got really absorbed in this, and those like me who ended up comparing this to far more successful occult mystery shows.
Azur Lane Episode 12
And so it ends at last. After 6 months, we can finally say that Azur Lane is over.
I said last week how impressed I was that the quality in animation had changed dramatically since the start of the show, so the studio must have used this extended time away for some good reason. Having not known anything about Azur Lane in the past, I had no clues as to what kind of ending it would have, although considering the amount of moeblob featured, I don’t think a sad or depressing ending would have suited. But alas, this final episode sees The Sakura Empire finally throw the towel in, and seeing the Sirens for what they really are.
Javelin, Laffey, Unicorn and Ayanami can carry on being BBFs afterwards, since all the 4 houses decided to club together to fend the Sirens off, and if you weren’t really following Enterprise sinking further and further into depression, it was these 4 that you were keeping an eye on. They did kind of annoy me as this show went on, and all the ‘filler’ episodes that took place only made it even worse, since I remember getting pretty frustrated at how no one was really doing anything except going to beach or the sauna or getting ice cream or doing things that a typical moe ship girl would do. I think I might have to ask any one of the Twitter casuals who watched both this and Kantai Collection (and play the mobile games)…perhaps they can help me there.
All in all, Azur Lane did not grip me as much as I would have liked it too. It felt like too much emphasis was placed on two houses (Eagle Union and Sakura Empire), so any of the other Azur Lane fan favorites who were all in the other houses (Royal Navy and Iron Blood) didn’t get as much screen time as the fans might have hoped for. We got our fair share of action, though, and I think it was that action that kept me going here; about halfway through, I almost stopped caring about most of these characters. Sure, Ayanami getting some Stockholm Syndrome after getting captured, Enterprise sinking into despair and Belfast snapping her out of it, and Kaga going nuts when she learns the truth about Akagi were all pretty entertaining to watch, but the rest of the show just did not do it for me. I wonder if I would have had this same opinion if I had watched Kantai Collection beforehand though; I still haven’t seen it, so I guess I’ll never know.
Asteroid in Love Episode 11
Yes, Asteroid in Love is a moeblob show too; even with all my huge praise on the character design and interesting main theme, it is still a moeblob show deep down. What has drawn me in, and kept drawing me in I guess, is how well progression has gone here. Not a lot of school/slice-of-life/comedy/moeblob shows would have their third-year characters graduate mid-show, and introduce a whole new year’s worth of new characters…and do it well, for that matter. This could gear us up for a second season, though, and it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if one came. I didn’t expect a second season of New Game! (another Dogakobo show), and yet it came, even if it wasn’t so good, and left us with an ending I wasn’t totally happy with.
Last week saw us with Mira and Endou jetting off to Okinawa to be a part of an Earth Science special event, only to realize that Ao (who did not qualify) only went and followed them. This ambition of theirs to discover a new asteroid and name it after Ao seems to have meant Ao flying all the way out to Okinawa unsupervised without letting her parents know and keeping it secret from her precious Mira…well, we later find out that the Earth Sciences club and alumni had been planning for her to go anyway, and they just didn’t let Mira or Endou know. Only in an anime, folks.
This is the penultimate episode in Asteroid in Love, and somehow I felt a little letdown this week. Once again, I am comparing this week to past weeks’ episodes and how great they have all been. Mira and Ao are so close to their goal, and even despite this, a part of me feels a little disappointed, and a little worried that the final episode won’t be as I had hoped.
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! Episode 12
A lot of us will be very very sad to see this show end. I’ll be giving the show another analysis next week, in the season review post, but we were all wondering how it could possibly end, well here’s how it did.
Last week we learn that the Student Council have put in a rule stating that no school club can make profit from doing work outside of the school, but we discover that this isn’t Eizouken’s biggest problem right now. Their big problem is that the audio for their final scene, a dance party between the two warring factions, doesn’t match, and they have next to no time to fix it. Since they can’t replace the audio with new sound, they end up piecing together old frames and rewrite the ending. Makes one wonder if a lot of real-life anime studios do this on a frequent basis.
In this final episode, we finally get a full glimpse of this project of theirs: Shibahama UFO Wars. One thing I’ve noticed only now is how, in past episodes, we’ve only gotten small glimpses of how the short anime could look like once finished; we see small cuts, still images, and pieces of audio, along with Miyuki’s insane imagination trying to piece it all together. It reminds me of the final episode of Sound! Euphonium season 1, when we hear the band’s performance in full for the first time. Past episodes showed us the band practicing their piece, and every now and then we’d get to hear what the trumpet section would be like, or the double bass section, and so on. Here in Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! we get a similar thing, and we get to react seeing this for the first time along with everyone else who bought the DVD at the comic event.
This wasn’t the finale I was entirely expecting, but I’m still very pleased with it. Some could say it has left room for a second season, but I honestly do not think one is needed. I’ll be speaking a little more about my time watching Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! in next week’s season review post though. I will be in that camp of people who will miss this show dearly.
Flying Witch Episode 12
I got to catch the final episode of Flying Witch this week as well, meaning I’ll be all set for my next out-of-season show when the Spring season begins.
The final episode sees Makoto dig out her old witch robes, only to find them worn out and shredded by Chito, so she takes this opportunity to get some fabric and make some new ones, for both her and Chinatsu too. Later on, as Makoto and Akane go hunting for another mandrake root, they encounter some ground fish…like normal fish except they swim in the ground. Akane end up feeding them some sake (because that’s exactly what Akane would do), and they float in the sky like lanterns. All rather charming, and probably the best way to end this show.
Some will argue that Flying Witch started off very slow, and gradually got better and better almost to a state of perfection, almost by…well…magic. Even with all my love and praise for the show, I won’t call it perfect; there is no such thing as a perfect anime (there really isn’t…). In all the episodes, we are always teased with something; it doesn’t matter how big or small it is, we are dragged in and we embrace what we see. I think this is largely down to the great character design. Makoto is that airhead trainee witch we all want to support, Chinatsu is that adorable child with a big imagination, Kei is that token-male-who-is-not-a-love-interest, and Akane is that big sister who is both wise and completely bonkers at the same time.
If you’ve never ever watched a slice-of-life show in your life and are curious about the genre, Flying Witch would definitely be a show to watch first.
Everything has become so hectic in the world right now, and I hope that all of you are doing the right thing by keeping good hygiene. One thing I’m doing to help my mental health in this state is to just avoid the rolling news that comes in hourly, and just pay attention to one news programme. Constant stories/rumors/theories coming in can make us think all sorts of things, and make us only worry even more. 2020 has certainly not started the way we had planned, and anime has definitely been a bit of an escape for a lot of us. Next week will be my Winter review post, and soon I’ll be starting the Spring season. I have my shows all picked, and will announce them in time.
I also hope that this season has been kind to you as it…sorta has to me. Shows we enjoy are ending, so what has been your favorite moments in any of them? Have you picked any best boys or best girls this season? Feel free to hit that like button and air your opinions in the comments below!