Recently I noticed something on my Twitter feed that has stuck with me for a while, and made me think a lot about how I want to approach my reviews of shows, not just for this regular column, but for future review posts I have planned in the future.
Sounds like common sense, sure, but I think some of us still tend to go a bit overboard in our reviews. This is advice I myself should be taking, I know, and I hope to be just that little more careful in my words.
In/Spectre Episode 8
Like here for instance, in In/Spectre. I know I have talked this show down a lot, calling it some Monogatari wannabe, and saying the main characters are pretty boring, but I know this is still a popular show on Crunchyroll, and so it must be popular for good reason, right? Well considering how much mud I’ve slung at past episodes of this show, this week has actually made me think twice…just as a new character is introduced: Kuro’s cousin, Rikka.
This week’s episode begins with Saki meeting her for the first time, at the hospital. Here in this adaptation, Rikka is given the darkly beautiful look, with a mysterious and disturbing manner. The show also appears to paint her as the main antagonist straight away, and as time passes in this episode, we discover why. All this time that the three of them (Kotoko, Kuro and Saki) have been pondering the how’s, who’s, what’s and why’s of the Steel Lady Nanase spirit, it comes out that Kuro knew everything all along, and just chose not to share any of that information with Saki, possibly out of safety.
With this, my theory of the Steel Lady Nanase being just an ‘arc’ in In/Spectre is thrown out the window, since at this rate, this whole story will take up the entire show. But you know something? I’m actually okay with that, and I’ll tell you why. Despite the rather dull and uninteresting episodes that have come and gone here in the show, the story behind the creation of the Steel Lady Nanase spirit is a very fascinating one, and something that I’m sure Nisio Isin (writer of the Monogatari light novels) would be proud of. A spirit that gets stronger by the spread of internet rumors is something that can only be thought up in this modern era, and is certainly something that would get the average mystery anime fan curious about.
As someone who was a huge fan of the Monogatari series and the various stories in it, this has made me curious. I suppose the only thing that has made me so hesitant is that I can’t really warm to any of the main characters.
Asteroid in Love Episode 8
A lot of decent-to-excellent episodes have come and gone here, but despite this, I still had that niggling feeling that the final episodes of Asteroid in Love are going to be lackluster in comparison. That feeling started last week when Inose was picked to be the Earth Science Club president, when Monroe and Sakurai both stepped down to concentrate on getting into college. By the end of last week’s episode, we saw a different Inose – one that wasn’t so reliant on her Sakura-senpai. She has the chance now to make the Earth Sciences Club into what she wants; this is a pretty excellent chance to do so for her as well, considering how young this club is.
This week we discover that she is taking part in a national Earth Sciences competition all by herself, without any help or assistance from the others. The studio, Dogakobo, are certainly portraying this as some major step for Inose; as someone who has been holding Sakurai’s hand for so long, she feels able to take our own steps now.
Back to my original topic of how future episodes will pan out, well even with these hi-jinks and Christmas/New Year theme, another big bombshell comes at the end of this episode; one that will affect how this show ends. And here I was worrying that the rest of Asteroid in Love was just going to be 12 or so episodes of Earth Sciences hi-jinks. Considering what the circumstances are (I won’t spoil what this bombshell is…yet), the remaining episodes could literally be about anything. Makes me think once again back to how season 2 of New Game! (also by Dogakobo) ended – considering what the circumstances were of that bombshell, we as the viewer could imagine the finale to be anything.
Unlike with the ending of New Game!, I really am looking forward to how Asteroid in Love will end. This has largely been down to how well the character design has been, and that we care about everyone.
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! Episode 9
Words can’t possibly describe how excellent last week’s episode of Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! was. We got to see a sneak peek of what their anime will finally look like, Tsubame finally got to confront her parents about what she wants to do in the future (work in animation), and we saw some more weird and crazy school clubs too.
After last week’s amazing episode, it would be hard-pushed for episode 9 to go on a similar level…so I don’t quite know how Science SARU have managed to make a ‘follow-up’ episode that is just as enthralling.
Sayaka will still be everyone’s favorite in this show though, purely because of how intimidating and understanding she can be. Well this week, we get to see a little more of her, and how she became the business-minded girl that she is now. Turns out her relatives owned a liquor store/convenience store far out in the city’s suburbs, but circumstances meant the place had to close.
The main theme of this week’s episode, however, is what Eizouken are going to do after their anime for the Robot Club was such a massive success. They receive a huge amount of proposals from other school clubs, but Sayaka has another idea in mind: one that can potentially put Eizouken on the map outside of school. This would, of course, be something that the Student Council would end up contesting, and I can already picture them being the bad guys here.
We also get to see some more of Midori’s imagination this week, and so while we have had episodes for both Tsubame and Sayaka, I’m looking forward to what kind of episode Midori will have.
And along with this, I’m happy that some more crazy school clubs are added: the Boiled Tofu Club, the Hula Dance Club, the Choju-giga Art Restoration Club and the Sepak Takraw club. I tell you right now, after seeing some Sepak Takraw matches on Youtube (it’s an Asian volleyball sport involving kicking), I can easily picture an amazing Haikyuu!-style anime about this. These clubs alone are a reason I’m happy I chose this show, and no doubt I’ll talk about them all in great detail in the final Winter 2020 review post.
Flying Witch Episode 9
The cafe episodes have passed in Flying Witch…unfortunately, because that cafe was something that really made this great show what it is, but episode 9 does have one thing: we get to see Inukai again!
In case you hadn’t guessed already, or don’t remember, this isn’t the first time I’ve watched this show. Flying Witch really does have a uniqueness in that it has made every episode fascinating to watch, regardless of the topic. For episode 9, we see Inukai return and read fortunes for Makoto, Chinatsu and Kei. Later on, Akane returns from her trip to Africa, and Nao comes over to pick radishes after Makoto tells her radishes help keep a body healthy.
One thing I did think about as I was watching this episode was whether the studio (J.C. Staff) would ever consider making a second season, or does it even need one? There is a saying that all good TV shows know when to end, and so perhaps only the one season of Flying Witch was fine enough, and it is this single season that has made people like it so much. Another season might not be so good. Of course this saying doesn’t apply to every anime; I mean the second season of K-on! was pretty darn amazing, compared to the first season.
I don’t think any of the shows I’m watching this season would dare to have a second season, even Asteroid in Love. But for all I know, the studios might end up doing them. How about you? Do you think any of the four shows I’m watching even need second seasons? What are your thoughts on sequel shows in general? Feel free to hit that like button and air your opinions in the comments below!