Tsuredure Children’s ninth episode seemed to be themed around “what do you do when your relationship’s moving backwards,” which resulted in a very realistic but kinda inevitably frustrating viewing experience. This cast is so charming that it’s tough watching them all screw up this badly. Good luck, Tsuredure kids!
You can check out my full review over at ANN.
Let’s get back to Chihayafuru! Chihaya has her team now, the full squad of five necessary to actually make a club. In spite of that, her new crew haven’t really interacted in any meaningful ways yet – we’ve basically just put each character on the roster and then moved on to recruiting the next one. Chihayafuru’s heavy character focus makes me think we’re likely to see some bonding before we return to the initial love triangle, but that bonding could come in the form of any activity that forces the group to approach a challenge together, be it finding a faculty advisor or training for their first tournament. Either way, this last stage of Chihayafuru was an altogether strong one, so I’m ready for whatever’s next. Let’s get to it!
This week’s Tsuredure Children was more focused on relationship progression than gags, but I’m already fully invested in these relationships, so I certainly didn’t mind that. The show’s balance of comedy and narrative would be impressive even if we were only focusing on one of these relationships – the fact that we’ve got so many couples and they’re all so strong is really something. Tsuredure Children continues to own this season.
Tsuredure Children – Episode 8
This week’s Classroom of the Elite was stupid in ways the show isn’t normally stupid, but not particularly surprising ways nonetheless. This was a goofy pool episode, meaning it was full of fanservice and even some jokes riffing on the show’s own usual absurdity. I’ve basically lost all expectations for this show, so eh. Do your thing, Classroom.
Classroom of the Elite – Episode 7
The very cover of One Piece’s thirteenth volume filled me with skepticism. Emphasizing a balloon-shaped Luffy and the Baroque Works baddies, it seemed to promise a volume filled with meaningless battles, where Luffy’s buddies fight inconsequential enemies while Luffy sleeps off his meal. “Luffy is incapacitated” has already become something of a warning sign in this manga – though Oda’s art is strong, the tactical interplay of One Piece’s fights can’t really aspire to the heights of something like Hunter x Hunter, meaning its battle scenes are less likely to be rewarding for their own sake. And after a volume dedicated largely to One Piece’s actual specialties (discovery! adventure!), a volume of empty fighting seemed like a bit of a letdown.
Let’s get back to Ojamajo Doremi! I have no idea when this post will actually go out, but I’m currently sitting at the end of what unwillingly became a three week break from writing Current Projects articles, with a combination of family obligations and an extended preview week leaving me relying entirely on my buffer. That break definitely underlined the fact that these writeups are my favorite part of my work; weekly reviews and Why It Works articles are fun, but I love watching and writing about the stuff you all pick for me. It is extremely good to be back.
Anyway, reunions aside, we’re starting off with Ojamajo Doremi. Last episode was easily one of the show’s highlights so far, going to darker places than usual to illustrate the emotional complexity of loss. One of our stars was actually put in real danger, and though we arrived at a happy ending, Hadzuki made some serious wrong turns along the way. It’s possible this episode will follow up on that ending by emphasizing Hadzuki’s current lack of magic, and also possible it’ll be counterbalanced by a much lighter episode. Either way, I’ve come to have great trust in Ojamajo Doremi’s storytelling, so I’m on for the ride. Let’s get to it!
Flip Flappers’ second episode begins with Cocona waking up in her bed, as if her adventure with Papika were all some strange dream. The sequence of shots here directly echoes the last time she woke up, further emphasizing the unreality of the moment – and even her glasses are intact. But beyond just casting doubt on the reality of the previous episode, this opening’s sequence of precisely repeated shots emphasizes Cocona’s sense of complacency in this life. In comparison with the first episode’s dreary tone, the frightening excitement of Pure Illusion now makes her everyday life seem like a kind of comfort.
And then Papika arrives, and so much for all that.
One Piece’s fifteenth volume offers a rich sampling of pretty much everything that makes this manga great. After a couple of Baroque Works-focused volumes that were frankly a little below par for the series, the team’s exit from Little Garden and subsequent steps offer action, comedy, and even some smaller character-building moments. One Piece may be at its best when fully embodying a spirit of adventure, but volume fifteen demonstrates it’s entirely comfortable operating within any number of dramatic and genre modes.
Let’s mosey on back to Ojamajo Doremi! Last episode saw Doremi in its most reliable and frankly rewarding mode, using the focus on a new member of Doremi’s class to articulate great points about growing up and finding people you can rely on. It also featured one of the show’s most aesthetically powerful sequences yet, with Masaru’s flashback to his father demonstrating this show still has a fair number of execution tricks up its sleeve. Doremi’s little visual flourishes are as reliable as its moral punchlines, and I’m happy to be back on board. Let’s see what our witches get up to today!
Episode 18
Alright, we’re storming right into Koi Kaze. Koi Kaze has a very unique reputation in my anime circles – in short, it’s basically “the show that does incest right.” Instead of using incest for immediate fetish material or gags, it’s actually a character drama about two siblings that have romantic feelings for each other, and the consequences of those feelings. It’s not just “an incest show,” it’s a romantic drama that happens to center on an incestuous romance.