Crank

And then there is finally more of Tanya. It’s been too long after that speech at the end of the first season.

Just FYI, there was a movie after season 1 that is a direct continuation of the story

Definitely watching:

• Mushoku Tensei S3 - I love this series, so this one is obvious
• Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia - Naoko Yamada being involved makes this a must watch
• Saga of Tanya the Evil S2 - we only had to wait 7 years for this to come. It was fun, one of the most interesting isekais out there
• You and I Are Polar Opposites S2 - the first season was an unexpected banger
• The Ghost in the Shell - trailers were great and Science Saru is behind this
• Sparks of Tomorrow - I’ll watch anything from KyoAni
• Yani Neko - hilarious premise, great trailer
• The World Is Dancing - Cygames had a streak of some great productions lately (Cinderella Gray, The Summer Hikaru Died, Apocalypse Hotel) so even though it didn’t really catch my eye, I’m willing to check this out

I’ll try this out and see how it goes:

• Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You
• I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day
• Though I Am an Inept Villainess
• Goodbye, Lara
• Grow Up Show: Sunflower Circus
• Sekiro: No Defeat - if it’s possible to watch online

I think the show is finally finding its groove. The last two episodes were really good, and I think this comes with not narrating over the performances that much, which we might see less often going forward, given that the first part of this cour already served as an intro to rakugo terms and rules. I wasn’t very invested in this story but I’m slowly starting to like it

What a messed up pacing. To make room for dramatic conversations, the creators drag out certain events in a ridiculous way. How long can you keep talking while under fire? Apparently as long as you want – the insurgents will politely wait until you’re done, firing haphazardly in the meantime. There’s even room for a few flashbacks. The way they structured it actually made me laugh a few times. I’m really trying to like this show, despite its flaws, but this was too much

Whenever we get a look into the magic society of pointy hats, it feels so rotten. First the magic gestapo, now how discriminatory they are to people with disabilities. And it stings so much more because Coco proves that even a novice witch can make accommodations for people with accessibility needs

This was great for, like, half the episode, but then I started to feel like I was being forced to feel a certain way, and they overdid it again. This show would be so much better if they didn’t try to make me cry every episode and actually moved the plot forward instead of doing multiple flashbacks to the same event

It was very nice to see the girls keeping in touch with the Agent of Summer and her sister via group chat. It seems Sakura’s reluctance to meet the Agent of Winter doesn’t stem from still being offended by past events, but rather from her own guilt over how she treated them back then. Previous episodes had me braced for another tragedy to strike Hinagiku, but instead the bombshell dropped not on her, but on the Agent of Autumn. Holy hell…

I’m glad they spared us the weird tone shifts in this episode. I like the comedy in this show, but the previous episode had it in all the wrong places.

The way everyone is acting makes it feel like we’re watching rival mafias competing against each other, rather than groups where one holds the moral high ground. This is also highlighted by comments like Jin’s from the previous episode, where he said that daemon skills are useful for raids, hijackings, and terror attacks, and in this episode, Haruo talks about torture as if it were a daily occurrence. Not to mention how easily they resort to killing. On the other hand, we have Higashi Village, which imprisons Asa and later sends assassins after her. Honestly, at this stage, the only person we can sympathize with in good conscience is Yuru, who has been deceived his whole life and whose main goal is simply to find his parents.

Still no explanation of what lies behind the village massacre, but it seems we might get some answers next episode. I like what’s being shown about the daemons – that they all come in pairs and have their own personalities, even if at first glance they’re something like dumb fish. And look at those art skills!
Image

Everyone in the Village of Spring is a bunch of assholes, only thinking of Hinagiku as a pawn in a power play. The more we learn about them, the worse they look.

The way they portrayed Sakura’s and Hinagiku’s past and present makes me feel like there’s another tragedy waiting around the corner, and it makes me feel uneasy. And I don’t mean the kidnapping.

I’m happy to see the traumatic shit is back. This is what Re:ZERO does best

I’m having a hard time liking the characters in this show. So far, most of them have been presented primarily in a negative light. I probably don’t even need to mention Agott – she took on the role of the bully right from the start, and her ego led to a situation where Coco could have died. But I have a problem with Coco too. This episode in particular highlights her massive flaw: acting completely on impulse, which this time resulted in throwing the whole group into a very dangerous situation. Would it really have been that hard to notify Qifrey, who was in the same shop at the time? What was she even planning to do once she caught that witch? I know Coco is still a child, but she’s not a toddler anymore. Expecting some level of foresight, even just thinking one step ahead, shouldn’t be too much to ask. Especially since Coco already has experience with the consequences of her thoughtlessness. She could really use some self-reflection. I can’t even blame Agott for scolding Coco this time. From Agott’s perspective, she had to go to the shop for new shoes because Coco ruined her old ones, but instead, she gets dragged into a wild chase after Coco that ends with the whole group being teleported into a dragon’s labyrinth. And in the labyrinth, Coco destroys the sigil Agott was drawing to try and get everyone out of the trap. I’d be pissed off too if I were in her.

On top of that, we have Qifrey, who doesn’t strike me as a good teacher. His hands-off approach clearly isn’t working. He threw a new student into a room with a bully. He left them to their own devices, which resulted in a situation where someone could have died. After that, he didn’t impose any consequences on Agott. Not to mention how, at the very beginning, he entrusted a child fascinated by magic with making sure no one peeked at him while he worked. How naive is he? I don’t know the source material, but for some reason, I’ve seen frequent comparisons between him and Gojo Satoru. Maybe it’s just about the look and similar role, but at this stage of the story, Gojo was portrayed as a very charismatic guy, competent in what he does, and with a good sense of humor. He was extremely likeable. Qifrey, on the other hand, pales in comparison, stumbling at every turn. Of course, being a good person isn’t the same as being a good character, and I don’t intend to make the mistake of thinking these are the same thing. However, in my opinion, introducing characters this way from the very start doesn’t work as well as it could. They lack some balance.

It probably sounds like I hate this show, but I don’t. I just have high expectations for stories that carry so much hype, and the quality of character writing is always something I pay close attention to. Visually, the series is still a beautiful spectacle and the world presented is very interesting. I’m hoping that with the next episode, we’ll dive a bit deeper into the plot.

Oh, and why is it always the bad guys who have the superior drip? Their pointy hats are way better than these bland cones

There was a lot of exposition in this episode, but it was presented in a way that wasn’t boring at all. The Hana-Dera duo is really fun, and it’s nice to have a main character who is neither dumb nor a genius, just smart and level-headed.

I get the impression that Sakura has never killed anyone before and she’s actually afraid of doing so, which is interesting given her position as a guard

Fortunately, it seems I was right that the pacing was fast in the previous episode because it served as an introduction and had to pack a bunch of different things at once. This episode is an improvement on that front – the story flows more naturally. As I said before, I love the art style, but I’m starting to have doubts about whether this kind of narrative can hold up in the long run. IMO, creating ‘smart’ characters by making everyone else around them dumber never works well and becomes tedious after a while. So far, nothing Aoteru has said sounds particularly smart or impressive enough to put the masses in awe.

Great episode. Turns out Yuru is way more pragmatic than I initially thought. Instead of the typical rage or despair we usually get from most shounen protagonists, he’s cold and calculating, even when his world is turned upside down. It’s actually kind of refreshing. I also like that, so far, there doesn’t seem to be a clear villain. Sure, Asa’s team basically executed every adult in the village, but it feels like she had reasons we just don’t know yet.

I think the sisters really need a heartfelt talk, and Sakura needs a machine gun.

Not everything is lost for Itechou! Sakura is putting up a front, but when no one can see, she still blushes when she thinks about the past with him. Image

It’s definitely very pretty, but so far I don’t really get where all the hype is coming from. For my taste, the pacing for this type of story was a bit too fast. I also feel like we just glossed over the tragedy of practically losing one’s mother as a result of one’s own actions and jumped straight into being amazed by magic, which makes the main character seem unconvincing to me for now. The newly encountered characters seem to represent common stereotypes found in school-based stories—the genki girl, the stoic rationalist, and the edgy overachiever. Pretty standard stuff. I hope it develops in a less predictable way, because at this point the show’s main strength is just that it’s visually very beautiful.

There are some interesting stylistic choices here. It looks very different from what you usually see – it has very strong line strokes, a lot of close-ups, some use of rotoscoping as well (not sure, but some scenes look like that), and lots of changing camera angles. I think it works, and I kinda like it. It’s quite original, that’s for sure. The voice acting is good, and the whole thing is quite fast-paced, but that might be just because this feels like an introduction to a proper story that was supposed to give us the background of the MC and the political theatre. It mixes some serious stuff with very ridiculous situations and characters, so right now I’m not sure where it’s going, and I’m not sure if this actually works in favor of the show. It’s certainly one of the more interesting concepts I’ve seen this season, and it could end up being great in the long run, but that depends on how they play this out

This is more action-heavy than I thought it would be. I didn’t expect that, given how emotional the first episode was, but I’m not complaining. I’m happy that there’s no drop in quality, which is often the case. The Winter team is just as interesting as Spring, and I’m curious how Hinagiku managed to make a comeback after the kidnapping when everyone other than Sakura and Rosei has given up on her.

It didn’t blow me away, and some parts were a little overdramatic, but it’s a pretty good start overall. It has potential, so I’ll be watching it

I’ve never been a fan of FMA, but this premiere was better than I expected. It’s a little fast-paced, but it has a very intriguing setup, especially the mix of modern-day technology with a village that seems frozen in time. The visuals look good, too. Hopefully, the characters will be more compelling than in FMA

It didn’t blow me away but there were some funny moments. It has some wild one-liners too
Image

Not much happened, but the episode served as a good introduction to some of the characters. It’s unfortunate that this is a Netflix exclusive because that means we’re stuck with typesetting that sucks by default, which is a shame because the show seems to use a lot of on-screen text

It’s very fitting that this show starts airing at the end of winter. I expected a lot, given that this is a story by the author of Violet Evergarden with music by Kensuke Ushio, and I am not disappointed. It looks like Wit Studio brought its A game to this. This was so lovely that it actually brought a tear to my eye. If this keeps up, it’s going to be one of my favorites this season.

Holy shit, what a feast. What a great finale to a great season. My stomach’s full.

Image

This and the first episode were great. The scene with Kivia confronting her uncle looked awesome. Rhyno turning out to be a homicidal demon lord makes the situation of the hero unit much more interesting. These twists and turns are far better than any fight I’ve seen in this show, and it’s a shame the rest of the season didn’t share this quality of writing. The last episode gives me some hope for improvement, so I’ll look forward to the second season

I think my only issue with this episode is that the music during the reconciliation scene was a little too on the nose. But other than that, it was great. I actually didn’t expect it to be as funny as it was, but I’m not complaining. Kana’s reactions were spot on. And now I know where all those wincest memes come from 😅
Overall, I really liked this season. There were some cringe moments, and I have mixed feelings about the supernatural angle, but generally I’m mostly in this for the insight into the showbiz industry and the character interactions, which were great.

TBH, I almost entirely forgot it. Now that I look at it, it had 2 or 3 cool shots. For me that’s above average but not yet spectacular, though (I know, I know, I’m a snob)

From what I’ve heard, WHA has actually finished production, so there’s hope this time there won’t be any issues. As for Zom 100 – the first episode looked incredible, but only that one episode. The rest of it was fine, I guess.