No Monogatari this week, so I only had two thirds of the great shows I normally do. That turned out to be fine, though, because the second-strings were in extremely good form.
Free! – Episode 11
I have no conceivable preamble for this stupid show left in me, so here, have some adorable Madokittens .
Attack on Titan – Episode 20
Alright, episode 20. Last one was bad, not gonna lie. The sum total of its progression was “Eren runs through forest, decides to actually follow orders for once,” it engaged in a bunch of redundant characterization, and the characters finally learned Titanification is triggered by injury PLUS a specific goal. That’s… not a lot of content, for twenty minutes of anime. I guess if I watched more shounens I’d be used to this, but I don’t, and I’m not. The pacing sucked.
However, when this show is good, it can create either solid dramatic moments or at least sweet action setpieces. So let’s get to some of that.
Attack on Titan – Episode 19
Yep, fell behind again. What can I say, I’m pretty lukewarm on this show, and it comes out right in the middle of the Gatchaman->Monogatari->Uchouten Kazoku time frame where my anime-watching time is actually monopolized by serious business shows. Plus, like most shounens, the show just works better when you build up a few episodes anyway.
Anyway. Big female titan in the trees. What do?
The World God Only Knows S3 – Episode 11
Very excited for this one. Glorious confrontation, glorious consequences. Chihiro actually learning what Keima is has to be one of the best possible directions they could take this – she’s always had one of the best honest rapports with Keima, and I think promoting her to series regular would make the usual dynamic much more entertaining.
Either way, Keima’s probably gonna get hit again. Win-win!
Uchouten Kazoku – Episode 11
So. Three episodes left. Three brothers and mom in captivity, Kaisei captured as well, with the fourth brother still down the well, still unaware his father’s death was not his fault. There are a bunch of relevant pieces still on the board, of course – it’s unlikely Kaisei will be watched as carefully as the family, Yajiro is likely one “it was a trap!” short of busting out to rescue the family (and considering both his train trick and the fact that he’s remained a frog for god knows how long, he’s apparently extremely good at transformations), and both professors and Benten are still out there and still involved in the day’s proceedings. Granted, Benten’s turn will probably not be this easy – her position in the plot is too complicated for that.
Let’s talk about Benten for a second. Clearly we haven’t gotten her entire story – this show often mentions threads without fully explicating them, but it always comes back around to explain things when it hits an episode focused on the relevant character. And the key question with her is – why the Friday Fellows? What made her so intent on joining their group that she essentially killed a man? And what is the exact nature of her regret now?
Gatchaman Crowds – Episode 10
So yeah, last episode the Gatchamen abandoned their creator in favor of starting up a sweet Youtube channel. Don’t bother asking me what they’re gonna do this week.
C3-bu – Episode 11
Yura we still love you don’t go towards the light.
Man, growing up can really, really suck. Kinda funny to me that the season with Watamote secretly also contains an actually vivid, empathetic, and development-friendly articulation of crippling social anxiety. Hopefully C3 will get their heads out of their asses and sacrifice a little bit for her sake – they’re all very stable people, and Yura needs to know it’s okay to figure out who she is. Man, I feel for this poor kid. Didn’t think moesoft would ever amount to much, but it’s really built itself into something worthwhile. Let’s see where it goes.
please be nice to Yura C3-bu life is hard let’s just be nice to each other
C3-bu – Episode 10
Well this show just got like fifty thousand times better. Still catching up, and episode 11 actually just came out, so I ain’t got time for chit-chat. All I know is that Yura is through with the petty joys and insufficient power of the C3 club. She is stronger now, wiser, hungrier. The fire is in her, and it will not be sated with tea and cakes. Now there shall be a reckoning.
Oh my god so good. Every moe show should end this way. This is amazing. Roll the episode!
C3-bu – Episode 9
Alright, catching up on moesoft. Actually, that’s not fair – C3-bu is far more of a sports show than a blob show, and the work they’re doing with Yura is definitely pretty solid. But anyway, two episodes behind at this point, so no time for chitchat. Show us the dark side, Yura.