Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku - Episode 4 [Review]

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Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku - Episode 4 [Review]

(Before I start the review in earnest, I just want to draw attention to how cute and relatable it was when both Narumi and Hirotaka cried at a rerun of Sailor Moon R. I didn't have a good place to put this in the review itself, but I didn't want to leave it unaddressed. Bless these dorks. Thank you.)

Passions flare in this extra spicy episode of Wotakoi. The growing pains of Narumi and Hirotaka's fresh otaku dating experience take a backseat as the spotlight shifts to the seasoned and tempestuous relationship between Hanako and Kabakura. Much of that spiciness comes from the first half of the episode dedicating itself to dressing the boys in cosplay—or more specifically, crossplay. Narumi starts the day all too pleased with herself, showing off her selfie with girl mode Hirotaka to Hanako and Kabakura. Hirotaka is understandably kind of embarrassed, but to his credit, he owns it and later brags about how cute he ended up looking. Kabakura is much more resistant to the idea, despite dating a famous cosplayer (or precisely because of that).

I get the impression that Hanako has been relentless in her drive to get her boyfriend to cosplay since they started going out, and their friends' impromptu photo session finally pushes her over the edge to rather forcefully persuade him into doing it. I do like that Kabakura's apprehension isn't solely based in some hackneyed fear of wearing girly stuff, but rather more general anxiety about his looks. Cosplay is about performance, and he doesn't want people to look at him because he doesn't think he's handsome. But Hanako does think he's handsome (come on, look at him), so she wants him to feel more confident and understand why cosplay is so important to her. Also I think she just really wants to see girl mode Kabakura, and the results are to be expected from somebody of her prestige and talent. Plus, Kabakura got a Kan Colle figure out of it, so it's a win-win for everyone!

The gang goes out for drinks in the second half, and believe it or not this is actually the first time they've all gone out drinking together. They have such a great rapport that it's easy to forget Narumi only started working with them recently, and they've been existing as a pair of otaku couples for even less time. However, Narumi quickly learns that Hanako is one heck of a lightweight, becoming affectionate and talkative the minute the buzz hits. She lets her proverbial guts spill almost immediately, reminiscing about the time she and Kabakura started dating, which quickly leads into an argument about which one of them asked the other out first. Despite Narumi's best efforts, the two of them get into an actual fight over this, but thankfully the evening ends with everything patched up.

Wotakoi was on some of its strongest game with these two storylines. The comedy succeeds because it's not just a parade of otaku in-jokes; the humor mostly comes from the pace of the dialogue. Everything's snappy, but it still manages to flow naturally, and everyone gets equal opportunity to throw out their jabs and japes. It can get a little mean sometimes, but it's playfully mean in the way that friendships and flirtations can be. Hirotaka's bone-dry zinger delivery often steals the show, but it's also wonderful to see Hanako's face light up with a devilish grin as she shows off her lovey-dovey phone background. Wotakoi doesn't have the virtuoso character animation of a Kyoani production, but it still has a good sense for the body language and expressions of its couples. Angry Hanako gets some quick cuts of getting ready to give Kabakura a piece of her mind (and fist), while a crying and vulnerable Hanako gets a series of lingering shots as she hugs Narumi. Both the storyboarding and directing were above average this episode, which went a long way toward making it so memorable.

Beyond the comedy part of its romcom equation, Wotakoi continues to be surprisingly thoughtful in its approach to nerd romance. The big pratfall it tackles this time is the concern over building a relationship purely out of convenience. Nerd communities tend to be insular, which can contribute to a culture of forging both friendships and romances out of a few specific shared interests. There's nothing wrong with this, and most relationships of any kind start out this way, but it's narrow-minded to prioritize these common interests unilaterally, especially when it's something like a shared interest in media. Just because someone likes the same anime you do doesn't mean that they're going to be a good friend or lover. Amusingly, Hirotaka did propose a relationship based on shared otakuness, but their success as a couple is based on a chemistry that goes beyond this. As this episode points out, even as otaku, the two of them have mostly non-overlapping interests, but that's okay! It's healthy to have differences, because you're different people, and learning new things from each other is one of the best parts of being in a relationship.

However, with differences comes friction. Hanako and Kabakura's penchant for silly arguments clearly comes from a degree of comfort they've achieved by going out for almost a decade, but that doesn't mean they can't hit each other's weak spots. She still has insecurities about not being desirable enough, or that the two of them are stuck settling for each other. These worries might be unfounded, but they stem from real raw feelings. That said, I wish we could have seen more of her make-up conversation with Kabakura. He plays it cool, but it's only fair that we should see some of his vulnerable and conciliatory side too. I'll just imagine that he managed to convince Hanako he loves her by saying there's no way he'd miss out on dating the hottest bishounen cosplayer in the country.

Narumi has similar worries, but unlike Hanako she doesn't have years of dating Hirotaka under her belt to assuage her. She does at least possess the gumption to bring it up to him, and he has the courage and clarity to tell her that he genuinely likes her for who she is. Their relationship might be one of compromise, but it's also one of mutual joy and respect. There's no one-size-fits-all equation for any romance, even otaku romance. What Narumi and Hirotaka do have is an indelible spark that's as brilliant as their pair of smiles in the episode's epilogue. And in a show that's full of adorable moments, seeing Hirotaka finally smile was perhaps the most adorable of them all. I'm really glad we have a show as funny, realistic, and tender as Wotakoi this season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHCS0kKNYDI

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Today's Menu for the Emiya Family - Episode 5 [Review]

Seasons change, the calendar's pages turn, and as April gives way to May, a new episode of Today's Menu For the Emiya Family drops into my CR queue for me to review. This month's premise is that, as thanks for feeding those folks at the temple last episode, Issei gives Shirou a bucket of freshly harvested bamboo shoots. Later in the day, Sakura is doing some grocery shopping and happens to run into Ayako. This encounter gives her the idea to make gratin for dinner, so she heads over to Shirou's house in order to make it with him. They combine their foodstuffs in order to create a tasty dish that succeeds in satisfying their servants' hunger—for now.

Unfortunately, this episode has something like the opposite problem of last month's in that it features popular characters, but little in the way of a seasonal hook to make their antics interesting. As a result, it comes off like a less focused version of the very first episode, in that it's just some people making ordinary dinner in Shirou's house again. I think this was supposed to be Sakura's spotlight episode, but I found it pretty disappointing on that front, as her interactions with other characters – from Shirou to Rider to Ayako – just weren't that interesting or novel to watch. It feels like we got more of that way back in Ilya's dedicated episode, which showcased stuff like Rider's protectiveness of Sakura or the lingering awkwardness between Sakura and Rin. This is a shame, since Sakura/Rider is the dynamic I'm most eager to see more of in this show. After everything that Sakura has gone through, it's especially nice to see the two of them living a happy, normal life together.

This brings us to the episode's conclusion. I don't even really want to talk about it, but I know I gotta, so here goes. It is an odd choice to say the least for this show to revise Sakura and Shinji's relationship into the form it takes in this episode, where Sakura happily cooks for her brother while hiding from him in fear/anticipation that he won't like it. Remember that in Fate/stay night, Shinji is at best Sakura's abuser and at worst her rapist. Unless he's just a totally different character in this canon, Sakura shouldn't be anywhere near him, much less trying to please him with odd trepidation. I don't appreciate the attempt to recast Shinji as a benign grouch who Sakura will eventually get through to with her earnest kindness. That's not the sort of thing that you can sweep under the rug in your iyashikei cooking show.

For the sake of my own sanity, I'll just pretend that Sakura slipped poison into his dish, and that that's why Sakura and Medusa were watching him eat with such anticipation. Hopefully, he won't appear again, so I can just quietly assume that he died without anybody noticing or caring.

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Tada Never Falls in Love - Episode 5 [Review]

The majority of this week's Tada Never Falls in Love follows the sweet yet bland formula the show has developed so far, focusing on one or two characters to show that they're slightly more than they initially appeared to be. This week, the spotlight fell on Kaoru Ijuin, Tada's annoying friend who likes to hang out at his family's café. Kaoru may have seemed like a self-centered goofus, but it turns out that he has a hidden heart of gold when it comes to his lifelong best friend. Deepening these supporting characters is all well and good since it makes us care about them more, but this pattern can only hold for so long. As charming as Tada's friends can be—and I was plenty charmed by Kaoru in this episode—they aren't interesting enough to carry the entire series on their own. They make for good one-off episodes, but I'm glad that we're moving back to the main couple next episode.

This episode already showed some movement in that direction. While Kaoru is the star of the show, the reasoning for his behavior entails revealing important information about Tada's past. We already knew that he had mysteriously absent parents, but now we know the full details; they both died on the same day, and this is ever-present in Tada and his sister's minds on the anniversary of their parents' death. Kaoru has been Tada's friend since he was young, so he makes sure to liven up that gloomy day by distracting them with fun activities. Awww. This also helps explain why Tada puts up with Kaoru so much. We're generally more tolerant of our friends' foibles the longer they've been our friends, but Tada understood that Kaoru had positive traits that others couldn't readily see.

I'll be honest though, this particular detail about Kaoru wasn't that shocking to me. He'd never seemed like a bad dude, just melodramatic and obnoxious. The worst you could say was that he was self-centered, but a lot of his histrionics seemed centered on impressing other people. So while the episode presents this as "shocking" new information, it doesn't really come as a surprise, any more than the gravure-idol-obsessed geek being secretly shy when he actually meets his celebrity crush. (I mean, who wouldn't be?) Perhaps the revelation about shy Hasegawa being HINA is more surprising, but it's hardly incongruous with her character. Heck, blending into the background at school is the ideal way to hide a Hannah-Montana-style secret.

You know what did surprise me? That Teresa is a princess.

For all that happened this week, none of it really stands up to this episode's last-second twist. I'd seen some comparisons elsewhere to Roman Holiday, but I hadn't quite picked up on that myself, given that foreigners falling in love while on vacation is basically a romance sub-genre on its own. As of this twist, the direct homage is unmistakable. Not only is Tada a reporter photographer (to be fair, photography plays a role in Roman Holiday too), but Teresa is really a princess. Some viewers may find this direct riff worrisome, but I think there are enough differences in Tada Never Falls in Love to avoid retreading the plot of a classic film. Tada is a citizen of Japan rather than another traveler, Teresa already seems far more integrated into his life and not like she's deliberately hiding her identity, and so on. If anything, I think this opens up more potential to explore their relationship.

We already got more exploration into Tada himself this week, so I wonder what we'll learn about Teresa next time. She seems just kind of happy-go-lucky and perfect, but certainly there's more to a princess who just decides to spend a year in another country for some reason. This also complicates her relationship with Alec. At first it just seemed like she was another student in her exchange program, but now it's clear she's probably some type of handler or bodyguard. And what does this mean for the fact that Alec might have romantic feelings for her princess? I'm not so convinced anymore that Teresa is only here for a "Rainbow Shogun" pilgrimage. This reveal raises so many intriguing questions.

The presence of Charles is another big question mark. As Teresa's suitor, what will he make of her life in Japan? Was she hiding this trip from him? Will he get in between her and Tada? Maybe he could force an epiphany for one or both of them instead? Next episode's preview suggests that Tada and Teresa will be on some romantic date, which is sure to complicate matters.

Tada Never Falls in Love has been cute and fun so far, but it was starting to seem like "nothing special" despite its initial promise. It was a fun weekly diversion, but it ultimately developed just like any other cute school comedy we've seen already. With this latest nugget of info, Tada Never Falls in Love could turn out to be something entirely different. It still probably won't set the world on fire, but I appreciate a good fish-out-of-water travel romance, and I'm glad that the show seems to be returning to that strength.

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Record of Grancrest War - Episode 17 [Review]

I assure you it was merely coincidence that we got to see Theo and Milza duel to the death with glowing red and blue sabers on May the 4th. (For one thing, by the time it aired it was already May 5th in Japan.) Of course, that didn't make it any less cool. We finally got to see the showdown that's been telegraphed for what seems like half the series. I've always thought that Record of Grancrest War was at its strongest during bouts of action, but I suspect this episode will be divisive with fans due to its use of multiple animation and art styles. At least two different artists lent their own perspectives to the making of this episode.

Who are the “Two Heroes” of this episode's title? Certainly one is Theo, who gets more dashing and self-confident every week. Now called the Earl of Sistina, this decorated lord is growing into the hopes that people have for him. He's a textbook hero who's clearly grown a lot over the course of the show—just look at the size of his crest at the end! And though we love to hate him, I'd say the second hero is Milza. He's sort of an idiot this week, opting for a suicide mission in lieu of waiting for Marrine's troops, but the show plays it off like a chivalrous act. (Not that Marrine herself is impressed; it's clear that she would have much rather had him come back alive.) When Milza meets his extremely telegraphed end, he does not lose his dignity with it. As Theo points out, it's Milza's inexperience with leadership that leads to his demise. He's a great fighter one-on-one, but he uncharacteristically shared his crest with his soldiers, leaving less strength over for himself. This feels like such a rookie error! RIP Milza, you were a fearsome swordsman and an extremely bad tactician.

I thought the duel looked fantastic, and that's partly because it was animated in a different style than usual. There were a lot of high-contrast shots, filling out Theo's murderous expression in broad black strokes and at one point depicting Milza as a black silhouette with one gleaming eye. It gave the battle a grittier look than usual. Sections of the skirmish also had a much looser and more fluid look. Remember that duel between Jana and Siluca in episode 14? We can once again credit up-and-coming web animator Nakaya Onsen for these scenes, characterized by fine-line drawing, flat colors, and character shapes that twist and morph onscreen. (Onsen has also been tweeting about his animation whenever it appears in Record of Grancrest War.) This style, along with the standard Record of Grancrest War look, made for an episode that was inconsistent but stunning in moments.

Watching this story shift between visual styles will be seen as experimental by some, but inconsistent by others. It reminds me of Samurai 7, a 2004 Gonzo show that suddenly altered its art style specifically for episode seven—fans debated whether it was intentional or a last resort. I liked seeing these disparate styles united by a stronger-than-usual episode plot, but it's hard to tell if this was the original vision or not.

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Megalobox - Episode 5 [Review]

After this episode opens on soldiers working their way through the dusty roads and ruined buildings of a war-torn country, you could be forgiven for thinking they were watching the wrong show at first. The faux-low-res haze and grimy aesthetic of MEGALOBOX are all there onscreen, but there's still something to be said for the way “The Man from Death” so capably upends expectations, and this cold open is just a taste of things to come. Once again, MEGALOBOX goes out of its way to take a familiar sports drama plot, where our protagonist goes up against his mentor's old protégé, and infuses it with enough style and drama to make the whole story feel visceral and compelling.

A big part of what makes “The Man from Death” such a fascinating episode is just how much it commits to selling the pain, both physical and emotional, that broke the foundation of Nanbu and Aragaki's relationship. Last week, I assumed that the scary-looking bruiser was someone who had been burned by Nanbu's penchant for chicanery and back-room dealing, but the truth turns out to be much more harrowing. Aragaki is a veteran who lost both of his legs and suffered terrible burns in a bombing incident that took out the rest of his crew, and for a long time he was thought to be dead. Before this awful incident, he worked with a very different Nanbu from the one we know today, a legitimate trainer who offered Aragaki the only home he could depend on. When Aragaki returns to Nanbu to challenge Joe to a fight, he isn't doing his old mentor a favor. Aragaki hates Nanbu for shutting down the gym and fleeing when he needed him most. Aragaki doesn't simply want to fight Nanbu's new protégé; he wants to destroy him.

Indeed, destroying his opponents is what Aragaki has become famous for, as Sachio ominously discovers after some internet sleuthing. The fighters who face off against him aren't just beaten, they're left broken, bruised, bleeding, and unconscious after just one round. This plot works on a number of levels. First, and most predictably, this conflict elevates the stakes for Joe, who has quickly risen up the ranks after his brief stumble in the ring last week. Beyond that, Aragaki's ruthlessness gives MEGALOBOX the unexpected opportunity to explore the depths of suffering that come from his physical trauma and PTSD. “The Man from Death” makes liberal use of both mabanua's electric score and MEGALOBOX's flair for surreal visuals to dive deep into Aragaki's headspace, including a particularly fraught scene where Aragaki has his finger on the trigger of a gun he's lodged in his mouth.

It's really dark and heavy material for a show about boxers with pistons attached to their arms, but MEGALOBOX pulls off this feat by drawing direct parallels between Joe and Aragaki's lives, with Nanbu caught right in the middle to reckon with his past. Like Joe, Aragaki was cast off by society, though his pain is amplified by both his physical scars and the psychological damage that comes from being tossed into a warzone, chewed up, and spit back out, only to be forgotten by the world you were maimed trying to protect. Nanbu may have thought that Aragaki was dead when he cut and run from his old life, but that offers little comfort to either of them, and Aragaki cannot help but bristle with rage and hurt when he sees that he's been replaced by a haughty young upstart. Aragaki needs prosthetics just to be able to walk, let alone fight, and here comes a kid who thinks he can become the next Megaloboxing champion without using any gear at all.

This is complex material for MEGALOBOX to throw at us out of the blue, and I can't help but be impressed with how well it turned out. The general outline of this story may be familiar, but the show goes to surprising lengths to examine the many ways its heroes have been tossed aside by the world and how they rely on acts of violence to fight their way back to claiming even a modicum of human dignity. Even though some of the imagery and direction is heavy-handed, “The Man from Death” succeeds in making Aragaki, Nanbu, and Joe's stories all gripping in their own ways, making even a routine matchup between the young blood and the ghost from the past heavy with real tension and emotional stakes. When Joe gets knocked down in the first round at the episode's end, we feel the hit land, and it ensures that the cliffhanger works despite MEGALOBOX's reliance on relatively predictable narrative checkpoints. If you were worried that the show might begin to lag as it neared the halfway point, “The Man from Death” is here to reassure you that MEGALOBOX isn't letting up any time soon.

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Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory - Episode 4 [Review]

Episode 4 brings to fruition the moment that you had to figure was coming ever since this season started: Kaname winds up in the hands of Amalgam, probably as part of some effort on her part to protect Sousuke. It's a classic scenario that we've seen from innumerable series over the years, but it works because it's so efficient. It shows the strength of the bond between the central couple, as they each try to protect the other before the eventual catharsis of a rescue mission. Frankly, I'm a little surprised that it took Full Metal Panic! this long to bust out this plot.

The triteness of Kaname's move to protect Sousuke when he's clearly being overwhelmed by Leonard's mecha is one of only a couple minor negatives in an otherwise a stellar episode. After so much focus on one side of the Amalgam attack or another, this one fully covers both angles. As Sousuke and Kaname execute a plan to rescue Kyouko, Tessa and her people have to escape Merida Island base. Of the two, the latter plot is more successful, with Melissa arriving back at base in the nick of time to save Tessa's butt. Tessa again acquits herself well with her aggressive push against an underwater Behemoth, although the scene where the Tuatha de Danaan launches out of the water with the rammed mech on its nose was my other minor nitpick, as the moment where I felt the CG animation of these massive war machines was truly inadequate. I also thought it was odd that Tessa wasn't showing more concern for leaving Kalinin behind as well, even though she knows from experience that he can handle himself. Unless the two of them had some scheme cooked up that wasn't apparent to the audience?

The sequence involving Sousuke and Kaname was ultimately far more harrowing. The close-range action scenes between mecha were excellent, and the rooftop scene where Wraith gets involved was engrossing as well. The new villain guy being thrown off his game was quite satisfying, as was seeing Kaname apply her burgeoning Whispered power to the cause, and it was somehow fitting that Kyouko would winding up badly injured out of the deal. Prior to this, FMP! has skirted around the potentially serious consequences of Sousuke's actions on his fellow students, so that scene made a strong impression, as does the follow-up where Sousuke reveals at least some of the truth to his classmates and deals with their reactions. The retiring Student Council President getting in one more good appearance was also welcome.

So that leaves us with the next big plot going forward, where a battered MITHRIL attempts to rescue Kaname. I'm definitely curious to see how they pull this off, and I'm eager to see if Kaname being taken into Amalgam's clutches will reveal more about them and their goals, since they've remained rather obtuse so far, unless I'm forgetting any major details from The Second Raid. Whatever ends up happening, it should be fun to watch things unfold.

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Hinamatsuri - Episode 5 [Review]

This episode focuses on the younger half of Hinamatsuri's cast, and the results are remarkably funny. Anzu gets the ball rolling by enlisting Hina to help her find discarded electronics, which she's discovered are worth much more than cans and bottles. Even when Hitomi joins the search, the “help” that Anzu receives is of dubious value. Later in the episode, we spend some time with Hina and Hitomi's middle school classmates, who suspect that something is awry when they see both Hitomi and their teacher walk into the same bar. The ensuing investigation might not be well-organized, but it's effective enough to cause Hitomi plenty of stress.

The search for old televisions is the less impressive of these two storylines, but to be fair it's facing some tough competition (more on that later). Taken on its own merits, this is a solid little sequence that makes good use of the characters' personalities. Hinamatsuri's sharp comedic timing comes into play yet again as Anzu boasts about having made a friend, only for Hitomi to show up in response to Hina's summons. Both Hina and Hitomi create some fun moments as they gather TVs for Anzu to “find,” and these scenes are well-matched to each character's comedic strengths. Hitomi's terrible luck sets up a delightfully awkward encounter with a police officer, and Hina's deadpan dialogue allows her to get her way while confusing the living daylights out of every adult she encounters. All that humor is capped off with a nice little moment of friendship between the three girls, which leaves the door open for more tales of Hina, Anzu, and Hitomi getting in and out of trouble in future episodes.

As neatly-told as that story may be, it's the investigation plot that makes the most of Hinamatsuri's inspired lunacy. The basic premise of other characters trying to make sense of Hitomi's bartending gig is funny enough on its own, and the show builds on that foundation by portraying her classmates as a bumbling group of wannabe detectives. Considering we haven't seen much of these characters before, there's some impressive comedic chemistry on display from them. Kengo and Takashi lean hard into their ill-informed enthusiasm, and Aizawa balances them out as the voice of pseudo-reason. The fact that all three of them are doing this as much for their own reasons as they are to help Hitomi adds yet another layer of humor to the story. Of course, Hitomi ultimately steals the show as the target of the investigation, and her utter inability to maintain a poker face proves to be one of her greatest comedic strengths. The show's great eye for exaggerated facial expressions certainly helps in this regard, and a mix of strong writing and direction help to sell her desperate attempts at misleading her pursuers. Who would've thought that one of Hinamatsuri's saner characters would be such a good match for its crazy sense of humor?

What I find both interesting and encouraging about this episode is that it relies so little on the core duo of Hina and Nitta. Sure, they both have their parts to play in this episode, and the two of them do have a couple of brief interactions when Hina hits Nitta up for money to buy a TV, but the basic dynamic of Nitta trying to deal with Hina's super-powered whims is hardly employed at all. Instead, the two of them take on more of a supporting role, especially in the second half. Hina's main job is to repeat her initial question about what's going on whenever the opportunity arises, and Nitta joins Utako as a horrified bystander when the middle school crew confronts Hitomi at the bar. They're certainly effective in these roles, but the jokes they provide are essentially just icing on the cake. Hinamatsuri's ability to deliver strong comedic material while keeping its lead characters on the sidelines says a lot about the strength of its ensemble cast and its ability to draw humor out of any situation.

Altogether, there are many positive signs for this show's long-term potential. Instead of waiting for its initial premise to wear thin, Hinamatsuri is actively seeking out new ways to make the audience laugh, and that search has already yielded some hilarious results. Anzu and Hitomi are developing into leading characters in their own right, and minor players like the middle school crew have proven capable of pulling more than their own weight. I'm excited to see what will happen as the series continues to refine its comedic voice, and I hope it'll continue to push its creative limits as far as they'll go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADnruW2t1OI

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Comic Girls - Episode 5 [Review]

In a similar vein to last week's Ruki-centric outing, this week's Comic Girls shines a character spotlight on Koyume. As the most boisterous and outgoing member of the group, Koyume often acts as a foil for the eccentricities of her housemates, but as episode 5 illustrates, she can also be a compelling character in her own right. This week's first segment finds the girls going to the beach at the behest of Koyume, who's instantly able to make new friends and enjoy herself while her fellow mangaka go out of their way to avoid social interaction. In the end, Koyume's enthusiasm proves infectious and draws each of the girls out of their respective shells, although Tsubasa and Kaos are too tired for any more summertime outings. In the episode's second half, Kaos, Ruki, and Ririka engineer an amusement park date for Koyume and Tsubasa. Not only will this enable Koyume to collect some research for her romance manga, it will provide her with a prime opportunity to get closer to her crush. Although Koyume is ultimately unable to confess her feelings, she winds up receiving invaluable words of encouragement from her regularly published peer.

Koyume's turn in the spotlight is decidedly less focused on her manga-making experience than Ruki's. True, she's essentially trying to get life experience to make herself a better shojo mangaka, but actual manga creation takes a backseat this week. Unfortunately, in the absence of its usual focus on the creative process, Comic Girls becomes a run-of-the-mill CGDGT show in many regards. The girls go to the beach, show off their swimwear to the viewers, and as far as Ruki is concerned, spend unrealistically long amounts of time comparing boob sizes. Two of them go shopping while the other two stay at home and game. Then Koyume sort of gets Tsubasa to go on a date with her, though she never makes it clear that's what she has in mind. At least her crush on Tsubasa is endearing—albeit vexing due to the whole "we can't date! we're both girls!" cliché.

Perhaps if we saw Koyume work on her manga more often, this kind of respite would make more sense. Instead, Koyume is known primarily for her shapely body and bubbly personality, with her interest in manga coming off as secondary. The second segment makes a good effort at tying manga creation into the main story, but at this point, not enough is known about Koyume's creative process for the emotional beats to have their intended impact. While episode 5 certainly helps add depth to her character, Koyume still comes across as a vehicle for fanservice.

Koyume's episode may not be as compelling as Ruki's, but getting a glimpse of the girls in different settings makes for an interesting change of pace. Still, taking an episode-long break from manga creation this early on may not be the wisest course of action. Unlike Tsubasa and Ruki, Koyume doesn't have a serialization, but seeing more of her actual manga may have made certain parts of episode 5 more meaningful on a number of fronts.

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DARLING in the FRANXX - Episode 16 [Review]

“Days of Our Lives” picks DARLING IN THE FRANXX up after a two-week break with a new OP and the Parasites living in an unfamiliar status quo. Not only has Zero Two's attitude toward the other pilots completely turned around, but all the kids have essentially been abandoned by their adult guardians. With only a small ration of food and a quickly dwindling fresh water supply, The Parasites must deal with running Mistilteinn themselves as they wait to be called back into battle. When even the food begins to run out, the kids have to figure out how to hunt and cook for themselves too, which turns out to be quite the bonding experience for the group. This is all perfectly fine to see unfold, and after the supercharged climax of episode 15, it makes sense that DARLING in the FRANXX would want to afford its cast a break, but at this point I have to wonder if this series can really afford to spend more time exploring the Parasites' interpersonal dynamics when its plot and world-building remain frustratingly hazy.

I will admit, it's nice to see all the kids finally getting along like friends; even in their struggle to fend for themselves while they wait around for orders, they seem happier than they've been in a long while, and that's an admittedly infectious feeling. Nobody is enjoying this newfound freedom more than Zero Two, who works tirelessly to befriend the others and uphold their rules, and even Ichigo can't help but be pleased to call Zero Two her friend. While it's nice to see these once-contentious pilots enjoying time together, the sudden shifts they've undergone over the past couple episodes feel pretty toothless, dramatically speaking. I can see how the show is getting them from Point A to Point B, but the actual development of Ichigo and Zero Two's arcs has felt too driven by narrative convenience, and I feel like some of this episode's pathos is hampered because of that.

The biggest issue that “Day of Our Lives” struggles with is that its script is just too focused on performatively indulging surface details; it's so devoted to foreshadowing all the Serious Business that each character is (not yet) facing that it becomes distracting. Miku is sprouting some conspicuous grey hairs, Futoshi has developed an eating disorder, and Ikuno seems to have fallen ill out of the blue. Mitsuru has Kokoro cut his hair before sharing an unexpected kiss with her, which is like a double-whammy of death flags. “Days of our Lives” even brings back Zero Two and Hiro's picture book at both the beginning and the end of the episode, making sure to bookend the story with reminders that our central couple is almost certainly doomed. A few minutes per episode spent on all of this portentous imagery and storytelling is usually tolerable, but devoting an entire half hour to this teasing feels gratuitous.

We've been reminded time and time again that the Parasites are designed to die young, so the audience can only watch the kids develop signs of their inevitable destruction for so long. Dr. Franxx insists that the Parasites' isolation is a part of his larger experimental goals, but we still have no clue as to what any of those goals are, and the series is well past its halfway point. DARLING's usual penchant for teasing out plot developments as slowly as possible feels frustrating rather than intriguing at present; this might not much bother the binge viewers who come into DARLING in the FRANXX late, but it certainly affects the experience of watching the show on a weekly basis.

When I'm just absorbing “Days of Our Lives” in the moment, there's a lot of fun to be had in seeing the Parasites bond and become more independent. For being such stock archetypes, the DARLING in the FRANXX cast ekes out just enough charm and chemistry to stay engaging week after week. Plus, the visuals and direction are strong as always, which means the episode is never painful to look at. But as a piece of the show's larger puzzle, “Days of Our Lives” is disappointing, an aimless and interstitial chapter in a story that cannot afford to kill any more time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O90sRP1A73U

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My Hero Academia - Episode 43 [Review]

We've gotten a big fight out of our systems with Midoriya trying to protect Kota from the villain Muscular, but the Vanguard Action Squad's attack is far from over. Last week was about as much as I could ask for from Midoriya, so the fact that he's still running around and trying to help his friends given his injuries really adds a sense of urgency to the remaining fights. Aizawa mentions that Midoriya's now fueled entirely on adrenaline, and the second he stops moving he'll be a sitting duck. His job now is mostly to convey information from group to group, but even then that feeling of his exhaustion competing with the barreling momentum of the story is exactly my jam.

This is as traditional Shonen Jump as My Hero Academia gets, where you've got the big cast sprawled throughout the scene and organically crossing paths with villains while each group strategizes on how best to deal with their circumstances, using their powers as practically as possible. Midoriya's gunning for Mandalay, who can send messages telepathically to the whole class, and the hot shots Bakugo and Todoroki are teaming up, but they have to be careful about their Quirks setting fire to the wooded area surrounding them. Muscular mentioned last week that he was looking for Bakugo, and he seems to be the League of Villains' primary target, so everybody has to be super careful about that (not to mention the implications of the League thinking they might have something in common with our ratty little anti-hero).

This is yet another case of MHA doing some pretty basic stuff for its genre, but doing it shockingly well. My attitude when it comes to the lesser-known side characters is that I'm not actively looking for them to impress me—I'd much rather just let the surprises happen over demanding that every character be fully fleshed-out—but the efficiency and confidence with which this show manages to do exactly that astounds me. Between the Class 1-B students who get a moment to shine, the swarm of memorable villains, and ending on a cliffhanger involving kids like Shoji and Tokoyami, this episode continues to make balancing this large cast look so damn easy.

At this point I'm just waiting for the day that season three delivers an episode that's simply decent, but so far it's still going as strong as the best-executed swath of long-running shonen series I think I've ever seen. We've got world-building, intrigue, small character moments, big action scenes, an ebb and flow that coherently links all the thematic elements together, and so on. I'm impressed at how much I'm enjoying a show that I already loved. If I had just read a plot synopsis of this Forest Training arc, it would probably have seemed pretty rote, but I'm head over heels for every second of the ride.

For a sprawling battle episode, you don't really get better than this. The variety in characters and fighting styles is pitch perfect, and while it isn't going for the emotional highs or bombastic animation of last week's episode, you feel the consequences of the Muscular fight all the same. Everything feels like a reaction to everything else, and Bones is doing such a fantastic job capturing the flow of the story that it doesn't leave me with much to say beyond "it's really frickin' good."

So it's really frickin' good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KhMD7h2Tns

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