I can’t quite believe we’ve reached week 8 in this season already. I think so much has happened in my personal life, that it seems like the weeks are just flying past not just in my personal life but also in terms of anime. The shows I’m watching are all ones I’m enjoying though, but it still feels a little weird that, in around a month’s time, they will all be over. Just feels so quick, that’s all. Can you also believe that I’ve begun a draft of my Spring preview post as well? But before thinking about the Spring, let’s jump back into the Winter season.
In/Spectre Season 2 Episode 8
We’ve had some pretty interesting short arcs in this second season of In/Spectre, but this new one looks like the most interesting one so far, and it doesn’t even involve as much supernatural activity as the other ones do.
The terminally-ill president of a multi-national hotel conglomerate approaches Kotoko for help. He became worried about her wife’s obsession with expanding the company too much too quickly; as she was the president at the time, he predicted that her obsession would cause the entire company to collapse, resulting in not only bankruptcy but the breakup of the entire family. And so he made a wish to an ayakashi who agreed to kill his wife in return for him developing his mountain. This arc plays out like a ‘whodunnit’, except we already know who killed his wife and his children’s mother, and while he himself did not do it, he was an accessory to it.
So why turn to someone like Kotoko? Well it looks like he wants to come clean to his children before he dies, and wants to play a ‘game’ with them: to provide proof that he really did kill her, no matter how wild or crazy the evidence is. Sounds a bit nuts, but as the president explains, he does not want his family to think that turning to the supernatural for wild wishes and dreams (like he did) is a good idea.
In this week’s episode, we are only given the barebones of the story and what the plan actually is. Right now, I have no idea who these three members of the family (youngest son, son-in-law, and granddaughter) will present; by the way they look in this episode, they have no idea why the president would choose to even bring Kotoko into the picture…oh, and Kuro as well, who seems to have just tagged along. Viewers have been quick to call In/Spectre a Monogatari-lite show, well I think that out of all the arcs we have seen in this season, this one looks like the most ‘Nisioisin’ one. It’s mysterious yet fascinating. We already know who killed her, but we’re still interested in what these three family members think and what they have to say.
NieR: Automata Ver 1.1a Episode 5
Last week I spoke about missing hype and excitement in this show, and I want to echo that this week. New episodes of this show come out, and we are that much closer to an ending, or where we are shown the multiple endings of the game. And yet the yearning to reach that ending just is not there. There is no “oh I can’t wait to find out what happens at the end” for me here. And it isn’t just because I already know, having completed the game; other game adaptations have been able to give this hook to people new to the story, but NieR: Automata Ver 1.1a just hasn’t been able to do that for me so far. Maybe it’s just far early to call; the long delay hasn’t really helped.
This week’s episode sends us off to the Machine Lifeform’s Village, another area in the game I like. We are also introduced to another key character in this episode; someone I’m sure we’ll see much more of in the future…maybe. Pascal is the de facto leader in the village of machine lifeforms who have been disconnected from the main network and strive to live in peace. After last week’s epic fight against the Lady Songstress/Simone in the Amusement Park, both 2B and 9S are very skeptical of why these machines would want to live in peace, especially after their kind have killed countless millions over the centuries. You know, it’s curious that when I arrived at this point in the game, this idea of machines living in peace was something I merely brushed off. Here in this adaptation, the idea feels much more real. War never seems to change, and yet there will always be one group who separate themselves and who will be waving white flags at their supposed enemies.
This feels like a filler episode though, even though we are introduced to Pascal. One other thing that anime-only people might not understand is when 9S hacks into Emil, the head in the tree below the village. In that we are teased with some shots of characters and moments from another game in the NieR series, NieR: Replicant. Now I’m not entirely sure why they would add this; some would simply brush this off as a very Yoko Taro thing to do, but it’s definitely left viewers with some hope that an adaptation of that game will come in the future. I say that and remember how, in one Monogatari series episode, SHAFT teased us with an image of Kyouko Okitegami, a private detective from one of Nisioisin’s other novel series. So far, an anime adaptation still has not surfaced, but it’s definitely something I would cover here should it ever arrive. We still have to finish off this NieR: Automata story yet, and if they’ve only just arrived at the Machine Lifeform’s Village, then they still have a way to go.
I think only word-of-mouth is what is going to make this adaptation more popular right now. I think the poor CGI in episode 1 left a bad taste in viewers’ mouths, who were expecting something 100% perfect. And then when the show was delayed for three weeks, it felt like people had stopped caring. Well the show is back now, and I’m still enjoying it very much. So I hope that said word-of-mouth will work out.
Tomo-chan is a Girl! Episode 8
This is an episode that pretty much continues where last week’s episode has left, where Jun is growing more and more distant after the trip to the beach. He got to see Tomo in a swimsuit and have fun while he mostly sat on the side. He is beginning to wrestle with his own adolescent emotions at last, but to me it still feels a little forced. Tomo is ‘ordered’ to take him to the fireworks party in town, and while he feels odd walking Tomo around in a pretty yukata, their behavior doesn’t change. They are still feared by the stall holders, who have to surrender their prizes to the two of them as they are that good at shooting targets and catching goldfish. So I suppose the question is whether Tomo should make these drastic changes in order to get his attention. Both Misuzu and Carol are pushing the idea that she be as feminine as possible, but it hasn’t been working so far. Tomo doesn’t feel comfortable doing it, and Jun can’t seem to understand why she’d want to do it. I hope that in future episodes, we will get to see Tomo be far more comfortable and natural; the other two trying to force a confession out of her is making her feel worse and worse now.
The second half of this week’s episode puts Misuzu and Carol in bad positions when they are confronted by the third-year punks we now seem to see on a regular basis in this show. While I consider this to be the weaker half of the episode, it has still shown us what Misuzu really thinks of how Tomo is progressing with her mission to win Jun’s heart. She acts like some sadistic love doctor, but the truth is that she is envious of how much closer Tomo is getting to Jun and how their relationship is shifting from bros to potential boyfriend/girlfriend. A while back, I compared her attitude and behavior to that of Daria Morgendorffer from the MTV show of the same name; a misanthropic and cynical high-schooler who craves for compassion but knows only sarcasm and black humor. Well here in Tomo-chan is a Girl!, Misuzu is doing an extremely good job at getting everyone to dislike her so that she won’t feel so bad when she finds out that they actually do…or so she thinks anyway. She clearly has people who care for her, and even though she probably knows this, the attitude and behavior she has developed over the years has prevented her from showing real and genuine compassion to them – on the level of her compatriots anyway.
Misuzu has been someone I have been very slow to warm to, but now as the story has developed that much more, we are beginning to see a new side to her. Not just some cold and heartless girl who is bitter about potentially losing her best friend to the one guy who broke up with her. Carol may seem to be sticking around for comic relief, but Misuzu on the other hand is someone else entirely.
Dorohedoro Episode 8
Focus is shifting more and more on what is happening (and what will happen) in the Sorcerer’s realm now, as episode 8 of Dorohedoro comes along. After what happened to Nikaido in the previous episode, Caiman doesn’t want to put her in any more danger (let’s remember he still doesn’t know how powerful of a Sorcerer she really is…), and decides to venture into the Sorcerer’s realm alone to find the one who gave him the lizard head – Ebisu, although he doesn’t know that yet.
His arrival comes just in time for an important festival in the realm. Blue Night is a multi-day event where Sorcerers go to look for new partners. Meanwhile, Risu (still in his new mechanical body) arrives back at his old apartment with everything covered in dust and mold. It’s interesting to see his memories finally come back, as I’m getting the feeling that they will be important plot points. From what we see, it looks like he was double-crossed in his Cross-Eyes gang and murdered by one of his own kind. We aren’t seen who exactly it is, but this will clearly lead him on a vengeance mission as well. The En family have clearly been unable to help him, so now he is on his own.
Nikaido knows that Caiman can defend himself, but I’m more than certain that she’ll end up chasing after him and putting herself in even more danger to try and save his backside…once again. And Caiman couldn’t have picked a worse time either. Countless Sorcerers have all gathered in one place to look for new partners, and with Caiman still on his own mission to find who gave him the lizard head, he going to be pretty stuck when dozens (or even hundreds) of Sorcerers find out why he is there. So while he sneaks into the festival and ends up being forced to clean toilets, Noi is attacked by a mysterious Sorcerer, and Nikaido is about to be discovered as the person who trashed the smoke shop many episodes back.
From where we are right now, it looks like this could be where the story in the show is reaching an end. I mean, we now know who gave Caiman the lizard head, and so it’s just a matter of time before he finds out it was Ebisu. There’s also the matter of Nikaido possibly being hunted herself. Ugh, so many plot points now and yet I’m so terribly eager to know what happens in all of them. Perhaps that is what the draw of Dorohedoro was the whole time.
Spring looks to be packed. Attack on Titan finally ending (or so some of us hope), the next season of Demon Slayer, the brand new incarnation of Pokémon with entirely new characters, Tonikawa, Dr. Stone, The Ancient Magus’ Bride, and Gundam: The Witch from Mercury all returning…people are going to a little spoilt for choice. That is of course unless you want to watch ALL of them at once. My poor and tiny mind could not cope with all of that sadly, but you are more than welcome to give it a go. As for what the rest of the Winter season has for us, well let’s just enjoy the remaining episodes we have left.