A thoughtful response to current anime.
Last episode on Sankarea, Rea died and came back to life. Finally, we have the zombie girl romance we’ve been waiting for. I’m hoping that in this episode, we’ll get into the nitty-gritty of how zombification actually works. Not in the sense of, what mechanism it uses (although I wouldn’t turn that down, I’d sure like to live forever), but in terms of, do you still feel pain from that gaping hole in your stomach, how appetizing do brains seem, and that sort of thing. What I’m looking for in episode 4 of Sankarea is an idea of how much horror there’s going to be in my zombie girl romance.
…thirty minutes pass…
This is the last episode of Mirai Nikki. I’ve sort of put off watching it because Mirai Nikki’s a really good show and I’ll be sad when it’s over. Sorry about that. Last episode ended with Yuno in a pretty dominant position: she had beaten down Minene, had sealed Yukiteru in a pocket dimension, and was standing over her timeclone with a knife and a determined expression. What can possibly stop her now? Murumuru might. Last episode in order to defeat Minene, Yuno had removed Murumuru’s power seals. One imagines that perhaps her power was sealed for a reason? Maybe she’ll go into an indiscriminate rage, Yuno will die, and Yukiteru will become the God of the previous world? Let’s see how they end things in episode 26 of Mirai Nikki.
…thirty minutes pass…
Hyouka is Kyoto Animation’s new thing, I guess, now that K-On has had its six seasons and a movie. As I recall, it was about a mystery investigation club? We already have one of those this season, Tasogare Otome x Amnesia, and it seems pretty OK. But Kyoto Animation’s done some great stuff in the past, so it’s at least worth a shot. Let’s hope episode 1 of Hyouka isn’t as bad as Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai, because it doesn’t have the hilarious name to make up for it.
…thirty minutes pass…
Last episode on Tasogare Otome x Amnesia, we were introduced to the mystery investigations club. It turns out the president of the club is a ghost! Spooky! Due to reasons, the middle third of the episode was basically the same as the first third, so we didn’t get much past introductions. So who knows what might happen in episode 2 of Tasogare Otome x Amnesia?
…thirty minutes pass…
Last episode on Sankarea, Rea had been caught sneaking around in the night with her boyfriend, and had been grounded. This upset her so much that she tried to kill herself, not knowing that what she thought was poison was actually a Zombification Potion! The zombie apocalypse begins now, with episode 3 of Sankarea.
…thirty minutes pass…
Last episode on Fate/Zero, Casterthulhu had just been destroyed. Good work, everybody! I guess probably it’s going to be Kiritsugu who gets the free Command Spell as the reward, since he’s the one who killed Caster’s master and his servant was the one who struck the final blow against Caster. Anyway, that probably exhausts this show’s fight scene quota for the next couple months, so let’s settle in for a nice long boring conversation in episode 16 of Fate/Zero.
…thirty minutes pass…
Last episode on Mirai Nikki, Yukiteru and Minene had chased Yuno and Murumuru into the past, where Yuno had taken Yukiteru’s past-parents as hostages. Yuno seems to be acting as the final villain of the series, which is sort of a sad ending for her. I’m crossing my fingers though, there’s still time for them to talk things out and cooperate! They need to realize what a uniquely powerful position they are in as time-travelers from the future, and team up to rule the world. Why are they even still fighting? Maybe Yukiteru wants to save Yuno’s time-clone, but I think he had better give it up. The survival game can only have one winner, after all, either his time-clone or Yuno’s will have to die. Unless they can change the rules? Maybe episode 25 of Mirai Nikki will show them breaking into the mayor’s office and tampering with the prototype diaries so that everybody can win and the Earth is a utopia forever hooray! We’ll see.
…thirty minutes pass…
We ended the last episode of Fate/Zero partway through the battle against Caster. Or, it had started out as a battle against Caster, but by the end of the last episode it had turned into more of a sort of a general mixer for Holy Grail War participants. Saber, Lancer, and Rider were still trying to fight Caster and having trouble coming up with the necessary OHKO to deal with his monster’s regeneration, but away from the main stage, Archer and Berserker had paired up for a beautiful aerial waltz, and Tohsaka and Kariya were on the ground reminiscing about old times. And then the two socially awkward Holy Grail Warriors, Kotomine and Kiritsugu, were standing alone in their respect dark corners with throwing knives and sniper rifles, nursing their drinks and trying to find an opportune moment to break into one of the conversations. Let’s enjoy the rest of the party in episode 15 of Fate/Zero.
…thirty minutes pass…
Last episode on Sankarea, the male lead and the titular Sanka Rea met and became friends over a midnight necromantic ritual. There was a flashforward at the end that suggested she would be turning into a zombie soon. I hope they weren’t just jerking us around and it actually happens in this episode, because man, if I wanted to watch a living people romance there are a million other shows I could be watching instead. Let’s hope that Sankarea focuses on the things that make it special in episode 2.
…thirty minutes pass…
Jormungand is supposed to be a modern day action show, involving arms dealers, child soldiers, and that sort of thing. These are some weighty issues, I hope that they don’t make this show too much of a downer. I think Black Lagoon had a good balance between examining the world’s problems and showing unstoppable murder maids with automatic weapons. Let’s see where episode 1 of Jormungand falls on that continuum.
…thirty minutes pass…
