Free! -Dive to the Future- Episode 11 [Review]

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Free! -Dive to the Future- Episode 11 [Review]

There are shows that tell a story and shows that share a highlight reel, and right now, Free! Dive to the Future is the latter. Like flipping through an old school yearbook, this episode distills its story down to the casts' highest highs, lowest lows, partings and reunions. After a season in which everyone has been scattered around Japan and beyond, “Streamline of Unity!” united the full cast (or close to it) in Tokyo. With a lot of deep cuts for fans of the franchise, this episode was heavy on continuity. However, it was light on substance, reminding us that when push comes to shove, this is a story about relationships first and a swimming anime second.

After nearly three seasons, a movie, and several OVAs, Free! has a lot of material to rely on, and this episode took full advantage of that. Viewers might remember Rei and Asahi meeting for the first time in middle school, or they might not. Either way, there's a flashback just in case. Viewers might remember in season two when Momotaro saw Rin's chest muscles and thought they looked like cleavage. If they do, his sister Isuzu's comment to Gou about her brother's chest won't seem to be entirely out of left field. If viewers happened to watch Free! -Take Your Marks-, they'll recognize why the current Iwatobi members react to meeting Makoto and Haru the way they do—they remember them from the Arabian Nights-style recruitment video. The viewer certainly remembers Rei and Nagisa's three-year friendship, so that particular highlight reel is just nostalgia. In general, this is all capitalizing on the character and relationship development that Free! has been cultivating for years—precisely so it can make tiny nudges now for big viewer payoff. If you're a diehard fan, these moments are imbued with so much significance that it feels at least a little less low-effort.

Swimming is the reason the cast is once again united, but it's not the source of the action or the drama. Rei wins his race and Nagisa loses his, but it doesn't seem to have any point in the grand scheme of things. I have questions about how Rei can come in first in his race at the national tournament but still not advance, but I'm no high school swimming expert. We don't really find out about anybody placing nationally, and the plot indicates that it doesn't matter. What does matter? The power of friendship. See Rin and Haru hang out, minus the angst! See Rin and Sousuke hang out, also angst Free! Ditto for Nagisa and Ai, Nagisa and Rei, and so on. Forget about Albert, the other rival guy in the newspaper, and anything to do with Hiyori and all that drama. This was almost story-Free!, just a montage reel of beloved characters.

Overall, this reflects the same thing I've been saying all season. The cast is huge. There's tons of material to build on. Sometimes the series gets halfway cohesive by becoming more myopic, centering on just one swimmer and his relationships to other people in the cast. (We've seen this when both Makoto and Ikuya got episodes.) But most of the time, it's a potpourri of glimpses of your favorite swimming boys in seemingly random order. It's still cute and sometimes even heartwarming, but it's only because there's so much great stuff in the canon already that this show can afford to coast on.

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Overlord III - Episode 11 [Review]

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Overlord III - Episode 11 [Review]

It was pretty much a given that things were not going to go well for Prince Barbro at Carne Village, to the point that I didn't expect him to survive the scenario. (And really, would he be missed? Even his father, the king, seems to regard him more as a burden than a successor.) However, I doubt anyone who hasn't read ahead expected that he would be defeated in such a manner.

Him getting finished off by Lupisregina makes total sense, but things got to that point in an eye-popping manner. I liked the way things were handled up until the big reveal, with both sides making somewhat sensible decisions. The village having been saved from destruction by Ains assured their loyalty (he should probably care a bit more about the village as a whole, since it's the first population that he won over in this world without the use of force or bald-faced deception), but they also thought their strategy through, while on the Prince's side they were savvy enough to realize that some kind of deception might be going on when only five ogres showed and thus sent pursuers around to the back side. The problem was the Enri still had an ace up her sleeve, one much more potent than either she or Ains realized.

And man, what an ace! Instead of a small troop of goblins, this horn gets her a full elite goblin army that's plenty capable of taking on a 5,000-human army, all fully loyal to "General Enri." The seemingly-endless parade of all of the elite goblin units was a bit overdone, getting so ridiculous that it actually became amusing, but Ains' shocked reaction at seeing what all appeared was well worth it. The notion that one of his cast-off items had an incredibly potent hidden ability that only triggered under special circumstances (that he was unlikely to ever meet) is an interesting additional twist, though with only a couple of episodes left in the season and a major battle to be fought, I can't see that going anywhere. Still, the presence of the goblin army effectively makes Carne Village into a military new power and will inadvertently bolster Ains' position. I have to wonder at how the logistics for the army will be maintained, as this is a whole 'nother level of providing housing, food, etc. over the existing goblins, but I'm also guessing that's an issue that the series won't get to this season, either.

There were a couple of nice character moments too, especially Enri's embarrassment at being called Chief by all of the villagers and the first real romantic tension with Nphirea. The artistry, however, did not impress. While I've definitely seen worse in the past couple of years for CG, this definitely wasn't a high-end effort for massed troop movements. Ultimately it was only a minor distraction, and now we should all be set for the big battle against Re-Estize Kingdom.

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One Piece - Episode 853 [Review]

So we've now established the three battlefronts facing our heroes: Luffy's fighting Katakuri in the mirror world to keep the mochi man from interfering with his crew, Sanji, Pudding, and Chiffon are on Cacao island, baking Big Mom's replacement wedding cake as fast as they can, and the remainder of the Straw Hats sailing the waters of Totto Land to avoid a starving Big Mom and her massive fleet. There are a few ways in which these individual scenes can still interact and influence each other, like Katakuri's flunkies having access to the Sunny through its unbroken mirrors, and the plan to take the cake itself to sea once it's ready.

So far we've gotten episodes that have covered Luffy and Sanji's subplots pretty thoroughly, and this week we're putting our focus back on the Sunny crew and their naval battle. Sadly, the recent surge of quality for the One Piece anime is starting to simmer, and it's falling back into its usual stiffness. It's an extra shame because the centerpiece of the episode is adapting one of my absolute favorite scenes in the arc. Big Mom uses her soul powers to possess the water itself and animate a giant tidal wave (complete with a big cartoon face in the middle that's equal parts dopey and menacing), and Jimbei takes the wheel to steer the ship towards the danger and narrowly surf through the "green room", the open space within a collapsing wave.

With Jimbei's formal recruitment into the Straw Hats imminent, the audience has been wondering what his official job on the crew was going to be. Jimbei as the helmsman has always been the most realistic guess, but it's always been speculation based purely on the fact that we briefly saw him steering a ship hundreds of episodes ago. This episode makes it crystal clear that's where he's heading, and it makes perfect sense. It's a great confirmation scene that requires Jimbei to pull of a massive feat of technical skill. If he screwed up, they all would have died, so it feels nice to know our fish uncle is so reliable.

Unfortunately, as much as I like this scene in essence, it's barely a step above the rest of this chore of an episode. It's extremely underwhelming in execution and you can tell the anime's going to hit a rough patch while we wait for the next big exciting turn to get the anime staff enthusiastic again. The scenes that cut back to Luffy and Sanji's parts are also at risk of getting tiresome already, since they're easy padding for the episode. It always sucks when the anime can take something good and ruin it by repeating it too many times—which is where Sanji and Pudding are for me at the moment.

This is a limp episode that covers some good material that serves as a benchmark for Jimbei's painfully endless journey to Straw Hat Land. It's also a really novel use of Big Mom's powers, with a giant tidal wave being a perfect beat to really hammer home how aggressive and inescapable the villains are, but the heightened drama just doesn't come through enough this week.

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Gintama - Episode 364 [Review]

Even with the series' Big Bad purportedly vanquished several episodes ago, all is far from well in the Gintama-verse. With the Tendoshu rumored to be making a comeback and terrorist attacks occurring on planets with nationalized Altana, a brand new battle appears to be in store for our heroes. Although Gintoki is able to track down Takasugi (and inadvertently meet up with Matako and Takechi in the process), the two are soon set upon by a battalion of plain-clothes assassins who bear the mark of the Naraku. Through several ham-fisted attempts at teamwork, the duo is able to defeat the assassins before setting sail on a ship Takasugi prepared. As it turns out, the attackers were after Shoyo's heart, which Gintoki is currently in possession of.

Meanwhile, back in Edo, Sogo and “Kanna” continue to duke it out. During their skirmish, Sogo reveals that although the Shinsengumi are rumored to have disbanded, many of its former members are currently working in the shadows to eliminate threats to the country. He also claims that having Mutsu deliver Kanna was part of a larger plan to bring Gintoki, whose help is needed in combating a larger threat, out of hiding. When Sogo begins directing his attacks at Shinpachi, Kanna alters her age and size and reveals herself to be Kagura. Having somehow learned the technique used by the Yato elder from earlier in the season, Kagura opines that despite two years of searching, she hasn't found a way to awaken Sadaharu.

Three episodes into Silver Soul's third act, the action has already been turned up to eleven—even if the majority of it is humorous in nature. Gintoki and Takasugi's bickering and Gin's newly revealed (One Piece-esque) inability to swim set the stage for lots of humorous banter and creative fight sequences. It's always fun to see the perpetually stoic Takasugi brought down to Gintoki's level, and the duo's various methods of fending off their attackers while fighting one another make for some of this week's funniest gags. Matako and Takechi aren't given much to do this week, but now that they've confirmed their fearless leader's survival, they'll probably be able to rest a little easier. Their presence also facilitates what is arguably the best “Takechi impersonates Takasugi” gag the show has ever given us.

The revelation that Kanna is, in fact, Kagura isn't terribly surprising, but it probably wasn't meant to be. Although one of the main characters having a surprise daughter (after only two years) is an effective parody of other flash-forward epilogues, Kanna's presence stood to make Kagura redundant if the latter was indeed her mother. (Plus, Tamako already has the whole “miniaturized version of a regular character” schtick covered.) It's disappointing to learn that no progress has been made on the Sadaharu front, but the pup's eventual awakening will likely serve as an important plot point moving forward.

Each week, the proceedings feel less and less like an epilogue and more like an entirely new arc. If approached with this mindset, we may be looking at the beginning of one of Gintama's most promising storylines yet. In the past, the characters acknowledged that the show utilized a floating timeline, thus preventing the characters from aging, and taking the story into the future represents a bold move for any comedy. (The future presented in the second movie was a “bad end” scenario instead of the genuine article.) At present, there are too many plot threads and character arcs that need to be resolved before the series can reach a satisfactory conclusion. With the recent announcement that the parent manga failed to conclude as planned and will publish its real final chapters in Giga Jump, it's become clear that Gintama isn't going away any time soon.

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Banana Fish - Episode 11 [Review]

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Steins;Gate 0 - Episode 21 [Review]

When I review a series, I try to avoid comparing the product at hand to whatever innumerable versions of it could have been, but I almost couldn't help myself with episode 21 of Steins;Gate 0. The plot primarily focuses on Okabe making a series of arduous time leaps to get back from 2036 to 2011, and though Maho's improvements to the Time Leap Machine allow for two-week leaps up to a point, eventually Okabe will have to revert back to the old two-day jumps. This means that it will take hundreds, if not thousands of leaps for Okabe to get where he needs to be, and all the while he has to deal with the physical pain of reawakening from his coma over and over, not to mention the work of re-explaining his situation. While Okabe has been in a dire cycle of time-leaps before, this kind of bleak, Sisyphean struggle feels like an honest attempt at engaging with Steins;Gate 0's untapped dramatic potential.

So it's a shame that the story has to rush through it all in a single episode. Obviously, extending this particular vision of Okabe's repetitive and draining quest for more than just an episode or two wouldn't make for good TV; it would be as miserable to watch as it must have been for Okabe to experience. But with a few tweaks and some spiced-up drama to fill in the gaps between time-leaps, I could see this premise serving as a much more interesting and propulsive hook for Steins;Gate 0 than what we've gotten for the past twenty weeks, a version of the show that allows us more time to fully reckon with this ruined future while also giving our hero a more engaging narrative focus. I'm not arguing that all of Steins;Gate should have been about Okabe's right to salvage Operation Arclight, but consider how much time this show has frittered away on stuff like Daru's Date Night and the Kagari plot (which still has yet to go anywhere). If this storyline had been given even just a half-dozen more episodes to breathe and get creative with how it handled the usual Steins;Gate formula, the series as a whole would feel much more satisfying as a companion piece to the original series.

That isn't what we got though, so we'll just have to make do with an episode that does a decent job with the material it was given. The direction and writing is slightly improved in the episode's first two-thirds – the narrative stakes and Okabe's own anguished resolve feel earned, unlike last week's inert and manipulative outing. Future Daru and Future Maho still don't get much to do beyond offer exposition, and even a reunion with Faris and Rukako blows by with little fanfare.

Amadeus is treated a bit better, serving as Okabe's guide and anchor as he travels further and further back in time, but the attempts at wringing some pathos out of her relationship with Okabe don't work for me. The AI has more or less wasted her potential as a tragic echo of the real Makise Kurisu, and she hasn't been given nearly enough screen-time to work as a character in her own right. This late in the game, Amadeus mostly feels like an excuse for Asami Imai and Mamoru Miyano to keep performing with one another. The scene where Amadeus and the rest of the Future Gadget Lab work to fend off the Strafor Forces so Okabe can avoid being captured and killed is fine, I guess, but it doesn't provide the warm-fuzzy feelings of camaraderie and hopefulness that I think it's going for. It's just another dot for the plot to connect before sending Okabe back to where we last left him, bursting into the lab to warn Present Day Daru and Maho about the imminent attack coming from Leskinen and his goons.

What happens next does manage to deliver those warm-fuzzies, as Daru gives Okabe a compliant right-hook to the face, and Hououin Kyouma emerges from the crumpled heap on the floor. Yeah, the animation and cinematography of this long-awaited return was wonky, but I don't think that could ruin the scene for even jaded fans. Seeing Okabe cackle maniacally and don his signature lab coat once more was a treat, made all the funnier by Maho's bewildered reaction at all of this, because of course she'd be freaked out. The stoic super scientist she's been crushing on all series is now rambling like a bug-eyed madman.

Kyouma's return is appropriately punctuated by a lab-coat swoosh and a dramatic declaration of “El-Psy-Congroo”, and even the incredibly stupid Leskinen scene from a few weeks back gets a nice payoff when Hououin Kyouma manages to out mad-scientist the mad scientist, with a little help from a battle-clad Moeka, who has gone far too long with nothing useful to do. I'm not at all crazy about the ending though, which sees the time machine possibly getting blown up again. To pull out that cliffhanger now after spending weeks trying to come back from the last time Suzuha and Mayuri exploded just feels lazy and anticlimactic. Steins;Gate 0 may have managed to put together at least one more decent episode before the season wraps up for good, but that final shot is just another reminder that this show has been a bumpy ride indeed, and I don't expect that to change in the season's final weeks.

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Free! -Dive to the Future- Episode 10 [Review]

By centering on just one character, this episode was the most successful of all Free! -Dive to the Future- so far. Whether you like Makoto or not (and if you like Free!, how could you not?), it's a relief to see the story this week from just one point-of-view. In “The Grab Start of Hope!” Makoto is our avatar and connection to the Free! universe, but he is not a passive one. As Makoto interacts with the people around him, he grows too. After weeks of whipping around from one character to the next every other minute, this steady focus on one person's story and development is a relief.

While the majority of the episode focuses on Makoto, it actually begins with Rin. Visual repetition makes the hand-off go smoothly. While Rin and Sousuke catch up and Rin asks an emotionally-charged question about Sousuke's surgery, a water droplet on a cafe glass is a stand-in for Rin's unseen tears. Almost directly after that, while Makoto and Nao discuss Haru's devastating (though informal) loss against the Swedish powerhouse Albert, a drop of pool water punctuates a heavy moment. It's the first of two effective instances of nonverbal storytelling. The second comes later, when Makoto lets a ladybug take flight off his fingertip, a gesture that only crystallizes for the viewer and Makoto all at once near the end of the episode. The ladybug represents the next generation of swimming talent right as Makoto realizes his purpose: to be the person to guide that talent into their future success.

Makoto and his extremely Dad chic outfit (complete with a purse) continue to be our window to the story throughout, offering a consistent thread to hold onto when the swollen cast of characters gets to be too much. He chats on the phone with Nagisa and Rei, and we learn that Shizuru calls Haru's coach “Grandpa?” (There's no way that guy is older than 45, and yet he somehow has a grandkid in high school. I get that the show is trying to connect its giant cast with lots of family ties, but that one is hard to swallow.) It's fun to see Rei crack a joke with his underclassmen—it's hard to imagine the uptight Rei from season one doing something like that, and it's another one of those moments that shows how everyone is growing up. Another moment comes when Haru takes Makoto's advice and ultimately does what his coach is telling him to do: work on polishing the basics of his technique. In the past, Haru might have gone all emo and inward for a few episodes before deciding to trust the people who care about him. Makoto understands Haru's mindset from a lifetime of friendship, but later he's able to tap into what his young protege Misaki is thinking too. This conclusion is particularly true to Makoto's nurturing character, while also showing his evolution into a more ambitious coach.

We have far more than twelve characters, but after this Makoto-centric episode, I think it might have been cool to focus each one on a different swimmer's perspective. A central focus did wonders for this episode, parting the confusion to add emotional heft while finally making me feel like I saw a character in this show grow as a person for once.

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Black Clover - Episode 49 [Review]

Well, now.

I'd be hard pressed to think of a way this Vetto fight could have hit my buttons any harder. It looked like things were wrapping up last week, but it turns out that Vetto let himself get stabbed on purpose as a way to nab Asta's sword, and you know how much I love hearing "one more thing" in my shonen pulp. It turns out there's one more final stretch of the fight, and this week's episode is an immaculately animated climax.

The Black Bulls are at their limits, and Vetto only appears to be growing more and more violent, contorting himself in wild and unnatural ways. Vanessa's still moving Asta around with her thread, but the show is leaning much harder into the exhaustion that our heroes are feeling. Asta's such a doofus that it too easily feels contrived when the other characters pontificate about how inspiring he is, but everything clicks this time around. You've seen these circumstances before, but rarely with this much purity. The "demon" inside Asta's grimoire is summoned, and the show's first opening theme kicks in as an insert song to score the final blow. For a series that so often struggles to feel sincere, this is as good a celebration of the genre you could ask for. It's so close to being Asta's Super Saiyan moment.

And the tables don't turn just enough for the good guys to win, they go so far as to wreck Vetto beyond repair. Asta is "A demon who devours even despair," (I love reminders that Asta's powers are evil, but in a good way) and Yami finally makes his appearance at the end of the battle to one-shot what's left of Vetto. There's a frustrating convenience to when Yami can and can't participate in this arc, but the last scene is so good it's hard to argue. "Consider this my thanks for looking after my squad." What a one-liner.

This is an astonishing finale for the Vetto fight that leaves the audience in awe of what the heroes are capable of. Long, strenuous effort is rewarded with a glorious smackdown. As we're closing out, we get a brief glimpse of Vetto's childhood, his devotion to Licht, and his reason for hating humans. In line with Asta's demonic powers, it does force you to pause and wonder who the real underdogs are. The Black Bulls are scrappy, and that's what makes them pure of heart, but shift the perspective just a little and they become a band of monsters who will crush anything that gets in their way.

For how clunky this arc began, it's turned into something amazing. This is some stellar material. I don't know if the show will ever stop being a punching bag as a messy pantomime of the shonen formula—and it's still really messy—but when it hits, it hits hard. Black Clover pulled out all the stops this week.

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Banana Fish - Episode 11 [Review]

If the last few episodes of Banana Fish were a bit much for you, episode 11 acts as a breather. Ash resettles with his gang in New York, he and Eiji get "comfy", and the focus shifts from plot developments to character revelations. Stuff still happens, but it's largely set-up for the next arc. After lots of action and tragedy the past few weeks, it's nice to relax for a bit and watch these boys comfort each other. And if you're along the ride because of the Ash/Eiji relationship—which I'm guessing is most of you—"The Beautiful and the Damned" is a real treat.

For all the seedy fascination its drug plot demands, this show keeps plugging along because of its characters. The heroes are so likable (even when they're doing awful things!), the villains despicable but (at least in Yut Lung's case) fun to watch, and the relationships between all of them so strong. Nowhere is this more obvious than its central pairing, which this episode seems set to explore. First, in a hilarious sequence at the beginning, we see the wildly different way that Ash treats Eiji from everyone else around him. Ash's gang is terrified of his temper, enough to refuse to wake him up from his two-hour nap on time. This surprises Eiji, who is used to the softer side of Ash. The gang members are likewise surprised when Eiji literally slaps Ash awake, and their boss reacts with little more than grumbling and this priceless face. Later, in a conversation between Ibe and Max, Max thinks it's curious that Ash and Eiji have gravitated toward each other when they seem so different. Ibe sees that Eiji has brought out the part of himself that's in Ash. Ash can only really act like a teenager when he's around Eiji.

Ash and Eiji also get some moments alone, where Ash allows himself to be vulnerable with him in a way that he can't with anyone else. He confesses a really silly childhood fear—pumpkins—which gets Eiji howling with laughter, given how incongruous this seems from Ash's hardened attitude toward everything else. It's yet another reminder that Ash is still a kid deep down, even if that only comes out around Eiji. Then there are some more physical moments between them that the show doesn't hesitate to hover over longingly. (For the record, this framing is straight out of the manga.) "Two bros chillin' in the hot tub five feet apart 'cause they're not gay" don't hold each other like this or fall asleep in each other's laps like this. Ash and Eiji may never explicitly state the nature of their feelings, but it's evident through their actions in a way that would never be in doubt if they were a man and a woman. Plus, there's the fact that Eiji gets more than a little excited at the thought of Ash dropping his pants.

Frankly, this central relationship is most of what makes Banana Fish work. The conversations about rape and abuse are better than some others in its subgenre, but I can think of plenty of other anime that handle these elements leagues better. (Granted, most of these have come after Banana Fish, so I can see why it stood out in the 1980s.) The drug plot, violence, and gang elements feel kind of silly and juvenile when you stop to think about them for too long. ("MK Ultra but For Real" sounds like a plot from a creative writing high school class.) It's the character relationships that elevate this show beyond its genre trappings, and Ash and Eiji form the show's beating heart. Their bond transcends even their other friendships and familial-esque relationships in the series. Love and desire don't need kisses or sex scenes to communicate themselves. Ash and Eiji show their love in everything they do. It's obvious if you've watched much romance anime how much the language evokes imagery of devoted couples. Denying the romantic implications makes Banana Fish as a show less interesting to me, and it also makes many of their interactions nonsensical.

I want to come back to the way that Banana Fish discusses rape and abuse, especially in these private conversations about Ash's history and trauma. There have been times when the story's really stretched my suspension of disbelief, as in the revelation about his rapist baseball coach when he was a child. The kind of victim-blaming he receives from the small town really doesn't feel like a believable reaction to an 8-year-old boy being assaulted by an adult man. (When people do take the perpetrator's side in child rape cases, they tend to blame whatever adults they think are "coaching" the kids, not the kid himself.) His homophobic dad's advice to "just take it" feels even more unbelievable. Banana Fish makes a lot more sense when you see it through the lens of its adult female writer and audience, reflecting and processing their female experiences with sexual assault through a male character. This is yet another thing it has in common with other BL genre works and a lot of slash fanfiction in general. There's been much ink spilled about how BL is a way for women to process their feelings about men at a distance, usually in the context of romantic fantasies, but I wonder how much that can be said about women writing about sexual violence against men as well. It's something I've started thinking about over the last few weeks, but I definitely want to explore further in future reviews as I see how Banana Fish further handles this topic.

Regardless, we get to see Ash be vulnerable in Eiji's arms. This makes it all the weirder in the later part of the episode when he transforms back into his precocious, super-hacker, genius mob boss self. At least the spyware is one of the more believable technology updates. (Though it begs the question, if Ash has had spyware on Dino's computer this whole time, why wasn't he aware of some of the mob's other plans? People put everything on computers these days, after all.) The theme of the episode seems to be how Ash can show so many different faces to so many different people. With some, he's the criminal mastermind, steepling his hands Gendo Ikari-style as he walks them through his latest airtight scheme. With Eiji, he's a normal, sad, hurt teenage boy, who can joke and sob and confess silly childish fears like pumpkins. It's the many sides to Ash that make this story so fascinating, giving viewers the hope that he can find a more authentic self underneath all that trauma one day.

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Boruto: Naruto Next Generations - Episode 73 [Review]

The mystery surrounding Mitsuki's disappearance grows even more complex as Boruto and Sarada seek answers from their teammate's elusive parent. Upon arriving at Orochimaru's research lab, Boruto is shocked to find two other Mitsuki clones in different stages of development. Despite being bothered by Orochimaru's seeming lack of concern over Mitsuki's disappearance, Boruto tasks him with running some tests on the messenger snake his wayward teammate left behind. When the tests fail to generate any helpful results, Orochimaru suggests having a figure known as the White Snake Sage extract and analyze the snake's thoughts. The next phase of their mission clear, Boruto and Sarada head to Ryuchi Cave (the Sage's home) but are quickly intercepted by Team Moegi, who are intent on bringing them back to the village.

With only minimal progress made on the story front, this week's episode is largely able to get by on its entertaining character interactions. For example, this is the first time Boruto and Orochimaru have met, and although their dynamic is about what you'd expect, it's fascinating nonetheless, with the brash youth having no patience for Orochimaru's enigmatic riddles and poetic turns of phrases. Even though Boruto doesn't appear to think much of Orochimaru, it's clear that his father's former nemesis sees a lot of promise in the lad and thinks he can help Mitsuki mature into a more rounded person. Since the gang is visiting Orochimaru's lab, it's kind of a shame to see Karin and Suigetsu relegated to brief cameos. Sure, Sarada's already met them, but it would've been fun to see them engage in some extended interactions with Boruto. Also a highlight this episode is Naruto's exchange with Konohamaru, which is surprisingly poignant, and it marks one of the few times a character from the previous generation has taken issue with Orochimaru's past misdeeds. While Naruto obviously had his reasons, Konohamaru's frustration at not being told that one of his pupils is the son of his grandfather's killer is palpable.

Boruto and Sarada's determination to bring Mitsuki back into the fold is somewhat reminiscent of Naruto and Sakura's attempts to bring Sasuke back to the Hidden Leaf. Like his old man, Boruto is willing to go up against his peers if it means locating his best friend. Orochimaru even states that Boruto is just like the Naruto of old. While it's highly likely that Boruto and Sarada will eventually convince Team Moegi to aid them in their quest, the prospect of a Team 7/Ino-Shika-Cho face-off is certainly exciting.

Although Boruto and Sarada only come a little closer to tracking down Mitsuki this week, they learn a great deal about their friend's pre-Hidden Leaf life. Despite criticizing Orochimaru's parenting skills, Boruto has a brief about-face when he discovers that he doesn't know nearly as much about his best friend as he likes to think. It's frustrating to see our heroes impeded by obstacle after obstacle—they now have to fight their own friends in order to continue on their journey—but this is hopefully in service of making the forthcoming payoffs feel even more rewarding.

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Overlord III - Episode 11 [Review]

Last episode the Baharuth Empire made a pact with Nazarick to recognize it as a sovereign state. This episode that leads to using Nazarick's new claim on the territory near E-Rantel to conduct their annual invasion of the Re-Estize Kingdom, with some participation from Ains and (as we see at the end of the episode) his small army of Death Knights. While most of last episode was shown from the perspective of the Empire forces, this episode switches gears and instead looks at how Re-Estize is responding to this crisis. That makes for one of the slowest and mildest episodes of the season to date, with no action or flashy uses of power before Ains summons his army in the episode's final minute.

Granted, the series has repeatedly proven that it can handle this kind of pacing and is quite comfortable with it, and the episode certainly ends at a proper dramatic stopping point, with the Empire/Nazarick combined force mustered and ready for the assault. Also, revisiting some key players from the earlier Re-Estize arcs is also nice, as Gazef, Brain, and Climb all have prominent roles in this episode. Seeing Marquis Raeven once again show his acute acumen for navigating both political and military matters is also a treat, though the scene showing how doting he is on his previously-mentioned young son was overplayed. Seeing the strategy meeting for how the Re-Estize Kingom will respond to Nazarick's claims and provocation is also worthwhile and important, as it establishes that at least most of the leaders of the Kingdom aren't fools.

The one other potentially interesting plot thread to spin out of those scenes is Prince Barbro, the warrior-inclined first in line to the throne whom even the king seems to distrust as a successor, being sent on an information-gathering mission to Carne Village. He demonstrates on the way there that he has not the slightest notion about the depth of trouble that he could be getting into by doing so, and seeing how he reacts to what Carne Village has become has some possibilities. With how hotheaded he's been shown to be, I can't see that winding up in anything other than a bloodbath. I also can't see the situation with Gazef ending well. He clearly knows that if a fight can't be avoided then he's eventually going to have to face off against Ains, and he knows that's a fight he can't win. I do have to give credit to the one noble who recognized Gazef's uncertainty over the matter and suggested rating Ains' strength accordingly. Given that no one has seen the fullest extent of Ains' power, he probably underestimated. I do find it a bit curious that none of the adventurers are getting involved, however, as in RPGs major skirmishes are traditionally a great time to make money.

So yeah, a lot of nice little scenes, but the whole episode seemed lacking in oomph and energy. Thankfully all of the set-up and lead-in is done, so we should be seeing a potent push of action and big events over the next couple of episodes.

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My Hero Academia - Episode 60 [Review]

At last, the Provisional License Exams come to an end, which means that our baby bird heroes can slowly begin to leave the nest. Those who passed the test may exercise the authority of a pro hero in emergency situations, meaning most of our main characters shouldn't have to worry about jumping through legal hoops like Midoriya and company did in the fallout of the Stain fight. I say "most of" our main cast because a few choice figures didn't make the cut. Todoroki and Inasa failed because of their fight, and Bakugo flunked because he's Bakugo. Basically, the kids who'd normally be a shoe-in on talent alone are finally facing a wall, and their inability to be team players is putting them behind the rest. These past couple of episodes have done a fantastic job making it crystal clear what these exams have really been about in regards to the big picture.

All Might's retirement has emboldened these transitional exposition episodes considerably. This is world-building in a much more literal sense, where the future is so uncertain that how the heroes and villains develop from here will shape society as we know it, and so each successive piece of information becomes pivotal. It turns out that weirdo girl Camie was actually Toga from the League of Villains in disguise (perhaps I should have seen this coming) and All Might has a frank conversation with an imprisoned All For One. They're two men operating on the extreme opposite ends of the hero-villain spectrum, both having to leave their ideals in the hands of successors. Even with All For One defeated and locked up, his actions with continue to eat away at All Might, who feels powerless and helpless in retirement. Though, All Might's declaration to not succumb to Shigaraki is still completely badass.

The final piece of this episode sets up a rematch between Midoriya and Bakugo, at the site of their last fight from season one. This episode plays into the attitude problems developed by the top students, and Bakugo contrasts nicely with Todoroki and Inasa, who were ultimately humbled by their failure. It's hard to imagine that Bakugo could ever demonstrate that humility, even if there's clearly a voice in the back of his head being drowned out by the profound insecurity. This is the kind of character work that I love; Bakugo isn't being as outwardly aggressive as you might expect. He's turned quiet as he shifts his anger back at Midoriya. It doesn't feel like a lack of self-control this time, but genuine malice.

Something that really sets My Hero Academia apart from a lot of battle shonen is that the protagonists' good qualities aren't just a means towards making them likeable for the audience. Their end-game is to be heroes and public servants, and so being a good person matters quite a bit. These recent episodes go a long way towards highlighting how few people are truly able to be the total package that All Might was. All Might was not only strong, but caring and free of ego. You get a sense that some of these kids can learn and grow, either by getting stronger or learning to care and empathize with others more, but Bakugo's strength is so much a product of his arrogance and personal identity. We've already ruled him out as a villain, but can he truly be at home with the heroes? The kid's got issues, and he's fascinating to watch.

MHA's post-arc transitions are getting better each time around. Good and evil are competing for the future of civilization, and both sides seem ready to collapse in on themselves at any moment. This episode is filled to the brim with material to get you thinking. In the end I really appreciate how these exam arcs serve as measuring sticks for our heroes' development, because it's becoming increasingly important that they're doing their best at all times. There's a sober realization after spending the early parts of the Provisional License Exams begging for it to get big and exciting instead of genial and by-the-numbers, and then for it to to finally do so and remind us that the exciting characters are Problems™ in this line of work. I'm really impressed.

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Gintama - Episode 363 [Review]

The time skip hijinks continue this week as more characters' increasingly bizarre fates are revealed. As Donald Zarump announces his plan to introduce a Japanese constitution (which he intends to serialize in Weekly Shonen Jump), Matsudaira and some former Shinsengumi officers orchestrate a failed assassination attempt on the newly-minted prime minister. Never one to give up, Matsudaira then strong-arms Shinpachi (who's still being followed by Tamako) into meeting some black market merchants at the docks and obtaining a special secret weapon he intends to use in his next assassination effort. Shinpachi is shocked to discover that these pirates are led by Mutsu, who reveals that Sakamoto lost all of the Kaientai's money after investing in cryptocurrency and is currently riddled with debt and entangled in a Kaiji-esque death game. Additionally, the weapon being delivered is a miniaturized version of Kagura, who claims to have been born when the real Kagura ate too many bananas and puked her up. Before Shinpachi has time to fully process this, the group is surrounded by a battalion of former Shinsengumi led by Sogo, who insists on testing the merchandise as he lunges for Mini-Kagura.

Meanwhile, in the countryside, Gintoki makes his way to the charred remains of what was once Shoka Sonjuku, where he finds Takasugi lighting incense at a grave he built for Oboro. Following a brief skirmish that ends in Takasugi revealing Utsuro-like healing powers, the men are surrounded by a group of police officers led by the recently demoted Hijikata. Shinsuke makes a hasty escape, but Gin is taken in for questioning. At the station, Hijikata reveals that the Tendoshu are rumored to have returned and are intent on reclaiming the Altana they lost. Even though they had become barely-functional meat puppets, they still possess Utsuro's immortal blood, and neither they nor Takasugi have been seen since the war ended. However, this revelation is quickly brushed aside when a Robocop-esque android officer (who goes by “Mobcop”) malfunctions and remembers that's he actually a robotized version of Yamazaki, whom Gin and Hijikata admit to having forgotten about in the war's aftermath. (Yamazaki's actual body is currently undergoing treatment.) Before departing the station, Gin asks Toshi how the Odd Jobs crew is doing, to which Toshi replies, “Go see for yourself.”

Two episodes in, and nearly every major character has made an appearance in Silver Soul's third act. Despite the abundance of featured players this week, the proceedings never feel overwhelming, and the jokes flow at an organic (albeit rapid-fire) pace. There's no shortage of laughs this week, and in true Gintama fashion, viewers are frequently left to wonder how far certain jokes will be taken. The birth of Kagura's “daughter,” Katsura's allusions to the 45th U.S. President, and the reveal of Mobcop's true identity are hilarious WTF moments that are both perplexingly bizarre and perfectly in tune with this show's outlandish humor. Sorachi has always enjoyed mining comedy from toying with audience expectations, and so far, this portion of Silver Soul has been an extended exercise in this. In light of how plot-focused Gintama has gotten as of late, it's easy to forget that at the end of the day, this is a show in which very little can truly be taken seriously.

Now that we've rejoined the majority of the principle cast, there's room for the story to continue moving forward, and at present, this feels more like the beginning of a new arc than the series' denouement. Although Gintoki and Mini-Kagura have shown up, we still have only a vague idea of what they've been up to during the time skip, but this is likely to change once the core group is back together. Terrorist attacks occurring on planets with nationalized Altana, Takasugi's new healing ability, and the potential return of the Tendoshu all sound like promising mysteries to build a new story on, so at present, this feels like anything but a wind-down.

While Gintama's unique brand of shock humor has always been outrageous, episode 363 has moments that border on full-on surrealism, making it clear that Sorachi intends to go out with a bang. As good as it feels to have madcap comedy return to the forefront, it'll be exciting to see all these outlandish elements gel into a cohesive story. Fortunately, this type of thing is Gintama's bread and butter.

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Attack on Titan - Episode 45 [Review]

“All hail the Queen!” That's my main takeaway from “Outside the Walls of Orvud District”, which is largely a transitional episode, wrapping up the “Rescue Eren and Historia” plot while setting the stage for the upcoming battle against Rod Reiss, who Levi appropriately refers to as the “Big-Ass Titan”. I'm not using "transitional" as a pejorative here, to be clear; there's a lot going on this week, from Eren finally breaking out of his captive funk to Historia taking her first steps to possibly inheriting the throne. It's just that, given the ebb-and-flow style that Attack on Titan's story arcs tend to take, this kind of important table setting isn't as invigorating or impactful as the high watermark of action and drama we got from “Wish” last week.

The first half of the episode is what I would call the most traditionally “exciting”. With Kenny's forces in retreat and the Big-Ass Titan slowly tearing apart the crystal caverns beneath the chapel, Eren, Historia, and the rest of Levi Squad have nowhere else to go. Eren in particular is convinced things would still be better if Rod just ate him already and took back the power of the founding Titan, so it takes a touching tough-love speech from all of his friends to convince him that he isn't some lone tragic hero that needs to sacrifice his life; they're a team, and they'll live and die by one another's resolve.

For all of the show's perceived emphasis on spectacle and lore-heavy plotting, I really love how far this core cast has come as both a military unit and a surrogate family. With his friends by his side and his verve reinvigorated, Eren finally bucks up and swallows a vial of presumed Titan spinal-fluid goo labeled “Armor”, which gives him the very useful powerup of being able to generate the same crystalline material that forms the underground caves and the interior of the walls. So not only does the group escape with their lives, but they have also found a way to permanently patch up the hole in Wall Maria.

What follows is mostly an extended conversation between Levi Squad as they regroup and head to Orvud, which is where Erwin suspects the monstrous, worm-like Rod Reiss is headed. Eren briefly argues that he still might need to be eaten, if only to undo Rod's madness with the power of the Founding Titan, but Historia and Armin correctly advise against it. It's possible that the First King's will infects anyone given the power, and there's no proof that Eren sacrificing himself would even fix Rod up again in the first place. Historia, once again proving her newfound resolve and agency, declares herself more than willing to take down her father and forge a new path for the human race. She admits that she honestly considered killing Eren to please the elder Reiss back in the cave, but she also believes that Grisha Yaeger's attack on the Reiss clan was motivated by a desire to rescue mankind from its own ignorant captivity. I've been seen concerns from some manga readers that the build-up to Historia's climactic denouncement of the Reiss family line last week has been too heavily truncated compared to the source material, but as an anime-only viewer, I feel like her characterization has been handled excellently, especially given this season's breakneck pacing. She's quickly grown into a confident, complex, and dangerously capable young woman, and each passing week has me more convinced that she might be one of my new all-time favorite AoT characters.

I also love how quickly Historia has integrated herself into the rest of the squad, seeing as she was barely even a character until halfway through the second season of the series. Conny and Jean get an excellent little exchange where they try to stand up to Erwin's plan for Historia to assume the throne as the rightful Queen, arguing that it's literally been hours since she's broken free from the bondage of her bloodline, so to set her up as a new head of state would just be shackling her to another political agenda. Historia points out that she's technically the only one who can decide her plans for the future, but it's a great moment that shows how close these men and women have become since they graduated from training camp, which seems like it happened a million years ago (though I'm pretty sure in terms of the timeline it's only been like a few weeks).

So regardless of whether or not Historia decides to reign as humanity's new monarch, I'll still gladly proclaim her the Queen of Attack on Titan, at least until Sasha is finally revealed to be the true savior of the story, which I've been predicting for years now. Until then, I'll gladly watch this ragtag group of monsters, revolutionaries, and anarchic princesses do whatever they need to do in order to take down the Big-Ass Titan that is slowly slithering towards them.

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Boruto: Naruto Next Generations - Episode 72 [Review]

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Boruto: Naruto Next Generations - Episode 72 [Review]

A new mystery begins to unfold this week as Mitsuki vanishes and the Leaf goes on high alert. Following a nighttime attack on the gate guards by a trio of mysterious shinobi (one of whom looks very familiar), every Jonin in the village is called to the main palace and multiple missions are canceled. Upon examining the memories of one of the injured guards, Ino recognizes Mitsuki, who hasn't been seen since the night of the incident, at the scene of the attack. This prompts Naruto to reveal that Mitsuki is the son of Orochimaru, much to the surprise of Konohamaru, Tsunade, Koharu, and Homura. Refusing to believe Mitsuki is the culprit, Boruto heads outside the village walls in search of his friend and finds a talking snake who claims to be Mitsuki's will. After reporting this to Sarada, the remaining two-thirds of Team 7 set off for Orochimaru's research lab in search of answers, fully aware that leaving the village without permission will result in them being branded as criminals.

This week's installment is focused almost entirely on Mitsuki, even though he himself is barely present. It's a perfect way to frame a story about an enigmatic character, although the pacing is too relaxed, and certain parts of the episode feel padded. Still, no scene feels outright superfluous, and there's a steady amount of plot advancement in the second half. While the revelation about Mitsuki's parentage is more a shock to the characters than the viewers at this point, it's interesting to see the adults react to the news, with the room divided between giving him the benefit of the doubt and regarding him as an Orochimaru-level threat. It's easy to understand where Tsunade, Homura, and Koharu are coming from (even though the latter two have always been rather heartless), and in fairness, the evidence against Mitsuki seems pretty damning. For his part, Naruto is strangely quiet and abstains from speaking up in the boy's defense, perhaps second-guessing himself for putting his trust in someone as dangerous as Orochimaru. Boruto, of course, doesn't doubt his friend for a second, although Sarada takes a bit of convincing.

While the previous installment was essentially a prelude to the latest arc, episode 72 can best be described as an exercise in table-setting. Fortunately, the mystery it sets up seems intriguing, and if not for this show's inconsistent quality on the storytelling front, the show's forthcoming payoffs would almost be guaranteed to prove equally satisfying. The Leaf being on friendly terms with Orochimaru has always seemed like a rocky marriage of convenience, and the sheer weirdness of this arrangement finally being addressed paves the way for what could be a fascinating story. If history is any indication, both Mitsuki and his parent are likely to be vindicated when all is said and done, but hopefully the show will find an entertaining way to get us there.

This week's Boruto clears the deck for Team 7's latest adventure with a reasonably solid setup episode. Although Boruto and Sarada are now aware of Mitsuki's origins, their opinion of him largely remains unchanged. However, as more details about their teammate's mysterious past come to light, relationships may be put to the test in the coming weeks.

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Grand Blue Dreaming - Episode 8 [Review]

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Grand Blue Dreaming - Episode 8 [Review]

The first of this week's two segments is yet another one of those sketches that seems content to land mostly within the “pleasantly watchable” range of the comedy spectrum, spending the majority of its ten minutes with the Peek-A-Boo gang just hanging out at the bar where Kotobuki works in his free time. There are a couple of chuckle-worthy jokes that involve Iori and Kohei getting raunchy ideas about the kind of part-time gig Kotobuki must have, but not much else is laugh-out-loud funny. The guys need to earn some cash for their upcoming trip to Okinawa, so the friendly bar owner lets them hang out and even practice their own bartending skills, while the girls get to be amused at how bad Iori and Kohei are at mixing drinks that consist of more than just vodka and whiskey.

It's mostly just nice hangout time with the crew, though it does consist of one exceptionally funny joke. Iori and Kohei have no idea what to make of even the most common cocktails, so when they see Azusa order a simple gin lime, they assume that all recipes can be sorted out based on their names. This of course leads to shenanigans when Aina orders a Screwdriver and instead of receiving vodka and orange juice, she gets a glass filled with vodka and a literal screwdriver. The real clincher comes when the boys recognize their mistake and fix it by replacing the Philips-Head screwdriver with a flat-bladed one, once again proving that repetition combined with proper comedic timing can make for a great one-two joke combo. The same can't be said for the way the sketch ends, with the bar owner mistaking Iori for gay and immediately assuming he's some kind of predator, just another of the dozens of crappy gay panic bits that Grand Blue Dreaming falls back on when it runs out of ideas.

The second story of the week is another one of those dreaded stories that involve Iori and Kohei's college buddies getting all weird about their inability to get laid, so you can imagine how surprised I was to find this week's variation on the premise to actually be funny. The show has always leaned into the boys' pathetic natures with these segments, but until now it never quite went far enough to justify the ugliness of the joke. The stories were too basic and familiar to successfully sell their crassness as funny.

But this week, things finally cross over into being so silly and stupid that the crudeness at last comes full circle back around to being amusing. We've seen how irrationally violent Shinichiro and crew get at the thought of Iori even cohabitating with an attractive woman, but things get really weird when they all discover that one of their comrades in perpetual virginity, Yu, has stopped hanging out with them because he's been having Actual Real Sex With a Human Woman™. Naturally, their first instinct is to interrupt the couple mid-coitus with a bunch of manipulative pranks.

I won't lie, I was just impressed to watch an anime where two adults were depicted having a regular sex life, and I'm willing to admit I found it pretty funny to see that healthy pairing utterly destroyed in mere minutes. It's one thing to shove Shinchiro's hundreds of porn DVDs through Yu's mail slot, or for Iori to send fake messages to his phone that almost get Yu completely choked out by his bedroom buddy, Rie. But the best bit of the whole vignette was how quickly Kohei's disinterest in the pranks turned into soul-consuming rage when he discovers that Rie is a childhood friend who just so happens to affectionately refer to Yu as her “onii-chan" in bed. This causes Kohei to bust out his secret talent, which is an uncanny ability to replicate the voices of the anime girls he obsesses over, which finally pushes Rie to her breaking point.

One of the reasons this sequence worked for me where similar ones from before failed is the gang's stone-faced commitment to completely ruining what seemed to be a perfectly good relationship. The episode's final moments see the men weepy and cheering when Yu gets kicked to the curb by his understandably furious ex-girlfriend, since it only takes him about fifteen seconds of being single to ask after Rie's friends. Iori and the others embrace Yu as a true blue loser just like them, and I'm much more willing to embrace more terrible members of Grand Blue Dreaming's cast when the joke is entirely on the absurd and sad antics these dummies get up to, and not so much on the poor souls who have to suffer on the receiving end of their nonsense.

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My Hero Academia - Episode 59 [Review]

When last we saw our youngling heroes, they were faced with a manufactured crisis situation meant to be the final test in their Provisional License Exams. The kids had enough of a challenge dealing with injured citizens, but at the last second we met Gang Orca, a pro-hero who looks enough like a villain to play the part in this simulation.

Even though this exam is designed to test the kids' heroism and teamwork, it quickly turns into a petty competition. You'd expect Bakugo to be the troublemaker here, but surprisingly it's Todoroki and Inasa from Shiketsu going at it instead, maliciously getting in each other's way during the showdown with Gang Orca. It turns out Inasa has beef with the Todoroki family, starting with Endeavor coldly rejecting an autograph when he was a child, and his icy-hot son demonstrated a similar brash attitude during the U.A. entrance exam (which Inasa passed and then rejected). It pisses Todoroki off to hear himself being compared to his dad, and I like how the real "fight" of this episode is Todoroki dealing with the fact that he hasn't grown past the issues that he thought he had.

This being the finale of the arc means that it's also the best-looking episode in weeks. We get those beautiful bold outlines, and I love the added visual effect of Todoroki's heat rising too. It communicates the anger that's building inside of him, while he and Inasa have to reconcile with the fact that their grudge match risks hurting those around them. I found myself pumping my fist when Midoriya emerged to save Shindo from their crossfire, shouting at them in genuine anger. It's a battle of hot tempers vs. sober logic. They both know they're mucking up, but they just can't help it.

The episode ends just before we see the results of the exam, which we know are tallied by number of mistakes more than anything. It's hard to imagine Todoroki and Inasa aren't about to face some real consequences for their sudden scuffle. The show had been hinting at something being up with Inasa, but seeing the truth derail the exams so much was a pleasant surprise. I'm eager to see where else the story wants take the unpleasant father/son similarities.

With the earlier episodes of this arc taking their time to flesh the exams out, I have a growing appreciation for episodes like this that just snap to the most important stuff. There's a rawness to how this show lets your expectations wander and then BAM, it's the climax already. It took me a few arcs to get the hang of it, but I feel like that's this series' hidden strength. This is a really great episode, offering plenty of action but more importantly offering some intriguing questions about where these kids are heading in their path to heroism. The hot-blooded wunderkinds tend to be my favorites, the kind of people most likely to botch their own potential.

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One Piece - Episode 852 [Review]

One thing I wish we'd gotten more detail on last week was the elaboration on Pudding's relationship with her older sister Lola. See, a lot of Big Mom's children are put in charge of the smaller islands within Totto Land and serve as "ministers": Katakuri is the Minister of Flour, Perospero is the Minister of Candy, and so on. We learned last week that Pudding is the favorite candidate to take over as the Minister of Chocolate, but she's been turning the role down over the years, hoping to keep it vacant in case Lola—the only surviving runaway of the family and the original Minister of Chocolate—ever returns. This is one subplot of many that goes tragically unaddressed by the end of the arc, but there's so much to unpack nonetheless. Ideally, we'd hope that Pudding could get out of this family, as opposed to asking for Lola to come back.

It's funny that the title and preview for this episode exclusively focus on the continued Luffy vs. Katakuri fight, which makes up such a small percentage of an episode that clearly belongs to Sanji and Pudding's side of the battle. The baking trio has arrived at Cacao Island, but Sanji has to be snuck into the Sweets Factory unseen and Chiffon has to be let in with handcuffs since she currently has criminal status. (They just blame her actions on her husband.) Pudding then has to wipe the memories of all the chefs they'll be working with, so they just think they're helping Sanji and Pudding bake their first cake as newlyweds, and they have no idea about the Big Mom vs. Straw Hats chaos going on outside.

This is where the general flow of the protagonists vs. antagonists story gets really goofy and mechanically complicated, since both sides want this cake baked, but for slightly different reasons. The bad guys want to help Big Mom and Katakuri crush the Straw Hats, but they don't want Big Mom to keep rampaging and killing everyone else afterwards. They're counting on Pudding to have this cake ready, but they don't realize she's playing double agent for the Straw Hats and that Sanji is helping her ensure it's the most delicious cake Big Mom has ever eaten. Mom doesn't appear to be especially nice to any of her children, but how much they're still playing for her team seems to vary from person to person.

For what's mostly a breather from the action, this episode is jam-packed with content. Sanji gets to strut his stuff as a cartoonishly talented cook, drawing up a recipe and blueprints for the new cake perfectly from the mere scent of the original. This is also the turning point where the gamble on Pudding's characterization starts to pay off. Her silly reactions no longer feel like a gaudy burden on the story, and now she's just a landslide of charisma. You really understand why she's so popular with the locals of Totto Land, and her pairing with Sanji turns them into a supportive and mutually attracted couple who make ridiculous goo-goo eyes at each other while working together on this project.

What really makes me feel good about where the anime is at right now is just how good it looks, even when there's little movement. This has been five episodes in a row where, at a bare minimum, the art has been wonderfully detailed and polished with the intent of breathing as much life into Eiichiro Oda's art style as possible. This continues to be true in the Luffy vs. Katakuri fight in particular, which is still bringing the goods. Katakuri has upgraded from imitating Luffy's gatling attacks to imitating his Third Gear attacks, only much stronger. By the end of this episode, Katakuri's siblings have found another mirror in the mirror world that connects to the Thousand Sunny, and now Luffy has to worry about shattering it to make double sure his friends are safe.

Somehow events feel like they're just flying by. This is a very plot-heavy episode as the cake-baking has to lay a lot of groundwork for the remainder of this climax. The actual baking is going to take several hours, and in that time Sanji has to trust his crew to survive while also strategizing about how they're going to get this giant cake to Big Mom in the first place. It's been a long time since I've found myself this eager to tune in to the One Piece anime every week, and we still have some of my favorite material in this arc ahead of us.

Feels good, man. Feels good.

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Attack on Titan - Episode 44 [Review]

I'm going to begin this review by talking about the episode's second half, since that's where the meat of the story lands this week, as Reiss offers his daughter Historia a terrible choice while Eren emits muted screams from his perch in the crystal cavern.

The main question at hand for the past few episodes is whether or not Historia would be willing to go along with her father's plan to be transformed into a Titan so that she can eat Eren and reclaim the Power of the Titans for the Reiss bloodline. Even given how much screen time she and Ymir got last season, we've still learned very little about her personal beliefs and how much she might value the bonds she's forged with her fellow soldiers when the chips are down. Seeing how traumatized Historia has been by her fractured upbringing, would she choose her paternal family over her brothers and sisters in arms?

After Rod explains to Historia that only a true Reiss can unlock the full Power of the Titans, including the memories of what human civilization was like prior to the erection of the Walls, Kenny arrives to throw a fit about his crushed ambitions. He tries to turn Historia against her father, but she won't have any of that. Historia holds the syringe of Titan fluid to her wrist and threatens to take charge of her destiny and consume Eren, though she balks when Kenny removes Eren's gag and sees that Eren still refuses to fight against her. Bloodied and weeping, Eren demands that Historia go through with the plan and relieve him of his life and his titanic burden with it.

This interaction between Eren and Historia is one of the most heartfelt and tragic moments of the series so far, because for Eren the real pain of the truth he's learned lies not in his father's betrayal, but in the many friends who died trying to protect him, despite his power being stolen through the murder of Historia's family. It's too much for Eren Yeager to bear, and in this moment he's weaker than we've ever seen him; the ferocity and vengeful drive that has defined Eren for all of AoT's run has been replaced with truly haunted remorse. Yuuki Kaji's performance as Eren has always been good, but I don't think he's ever been more effective than in this scene – the stifled rage and sorrow he communicates ranks among the best vocal performances that Attack on Titan has ever delivered.

Still, even better is what Historia does next. I've always liked her character as Ymir's cute girlfriend with a moving past, but she rocketed close to the top of the show's best character ranking when she slapped the syringe out of her father's hand before flipping him over her shoulders and defiantly striding up the chamber's steps to free Eren. She even smacks our protagonist around a little to get him out of his self-loathing funk, declaring her ethos as the heir to the kingdom's throne:

“Exterminate the Titans?! Who the hell wants to do that bullshit?! I'm starting to hate humanity! Let 'em get wiped out by Titans! I'm humanity's biggest enemy! Got it?! I'm the worst girl who ever lived!”

Even when you consider that Historia may or may not be declaring war on the entire human race, this is one of the most stone-cold badass moments to come out of this entire show, so much so that it overshadows the entire first half of the episode, which consists of a white-knuckle showdown between Levi Squad and Kenny's droogs. This whole sequence is pretty brilliant, and it highlights what I love so much about the new human-on-human battles of this third season. More than ever before, Levi, Hange, and the others have to figure out creative strategies to beat their opponents, leveraging the tactical differences between their swords and their opponents' guns in their favor while also taking advantage of the strangeness of the environment. Sasha uses her skills as an archer to explode some barrels of oil and take out a few of Kenny's fighters, while Levi and Mikasa take the lead in absolutely brutalizing their foes. The action here is exceptionally well-animated, and the choreography tends to be clean and coherent; there were a few beats where the direction failed to capture the intended speed and weight of the maneuvering fighters, but for the most part this stood out as one of the best action scenes of this third season.

Now for anyone who's impatiently waiting for more Human vs. Titan action, things look to be gearing up in that direction, since the episode ends with Rod deciding to slurp up some of his Titan juice, which immediately begins the process of generating a giant serpentine spine with a Titan's head attached to it. Given how much this season has reveled in opportunities to defy expectations, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a little while longer before we see another classic bout between humans and Titans. If the storytelling and acting continues to be this good, I won't be complaining about whatever the show decides to do next.

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Gintama - Episode 362 [Review]

After eight straight episodes of wearing its serious face, Gintama lightens the mood as it returns to its comedic and devastatingly sarcastic roots. With Utsuro vanquished and the Altana Liberation Army dissolved, episode 362 gives viewers a glance at the war's immediate aftermath and reveals what's become of some our favorite Kabuki District residents two years in the future. Although the Heavenly Bird was stopped from leveling Edo thanks to a last-minute save by Takasugi, the Kabuki District is largely in ruins, and Odd Jobs Gin-chan/Snack Otose is no exception. It's also revealed that Sadaharu made it out alive, but with every ounce of his Zen energy depleted, he's shrunk to a portable size and fallen into a deep sleep inside of a protective sphere of Altana. Since Ane and Mone have no idea when he'll awaken, Kagura decides to look for answers on other planets. Similarly, Gintoki informs the kids that he's “found something he needs to do” and leaves Shinpachi in charge of carrying on the Odd Jobs mantle.

Flash forward two years. Despite Shinpachi's misleadingly grim narration at the end of the previous episode, the people of Edo have become much stronger in the years following the war. (Even the ornery café manager takes a stand against the Chatorian ambassadors he once kowtowed to.) Gin and Kagura are still on their respective quests, and Shinpachi continues to run Odd Jobs Gin-chan by himself. Hasegawa has taken the lion's share of the credit for saving the planet and cashes in on his newfound fame at every available opportunity. Otae, having quit the hostess life, has gained weight and now commands a Ginyu Force-esque battalion of alien cabaret girls. Kondo has quit the Shinsengumi and become a dutiful househusband to Princess Bubbles, the third generation queen of Planet Gorilla and a literal gorilla. Gengai is still unable to repair Tama, but in her absence, he's activated Tamako, the Fuyu Number Zero's “mini version.” While Tama remains in sleep mode, everything Tamako experiences will become part of her memories. Princess Soyo has named Nobume Edo's first Commissioner-General of police, a position for which she's uniquely qualified. With the Meiji period dawning, Japan has moved to a parliamentary system of government, and the country's first prime minister has demoted and punished the core members of the Shinsengumi in various ways. This mysterious figure, who appeared on the political scene without warning and seized power in the blink of an eye, is revealed to be Katsura, who's taken on the name Donald Zuramp. Shinpachi ends the episode by musing that the country is doomed.

Gintama has always been a series that specialized in subverting expectations, and the latest installment is essentially an episode-length exercise in this. Within its first minute, the episode shifts from a thoughtful homage to Gintoki and Shinpachi's first meeting to an off-the-wall parody of that iconic scene. Expectations are turned on their head even more when it's revealed that the various indicators of Kondo and Otae being happily married are red herrings. (Kudos to Sorachi for not rewarding Kondo for his years of stalking.) Although these subversions sometimes seem excessively harsh on certain characters (particularly Shinpachi and Kondo), they're perfectly in line with the show's humor, which has always had a pretty brutal mean streak. In essence, this episode takes every natural narrative development and does a complete 180.

Episode 362 also functions as a pitch-perfect parody of shonen manga epilogues. Kondo's marriage to Princess Bubbles is a hilarious send-up of the random pairings that have been known to occur after time-skips, and Otose and Catherine's fear of being paired up with “randos” helps drive this joke home. Tamako claiming that Shinpachi is her father is another not-so-subtle dig at important developments that are glossed over in flash-forwards. However, despite all the laughs, the episode manages to work in a few emotional moments. The Odd Jobs trio going their separate ways immediately after defeating Utsuro is particularly hard to watch, especially after all the sacrifices they made to protect their home and stay together. It's probably safe to assume that the gang will be reunited by the end, but the dissolution of Odd Jobs Gin-chan truly marks the end of an era—for both the characters and viewers.

Following its longest foray into seriousness, it's great to see Gintama back in comedic form, and there's no better character to be at the center of all the insanity than Shinpachi. Though the characters make quips about the series coming to an end, it seems like Gintama has a fair amount of gas left in its tank before curtain call. In many respects, episode 362 feels more like the beginning of a brand new story than an endcap.

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Attack on Titan - Episode 43 [Review]

There were a lot of big twists and revelations this week, but we obviously have to get the big one out of the way first: Little Historia got the name of her alter-ego, Christa, from a children's book that her older half-sister Frieda used to teach her to read. Isn't that just the most precious thing to come out of Attack on Titan in maybe ever?

Oh, and the reason Historia forgot about her sister was because of the memory-altering Power of the Titans, a supernatural gift inherited by all members of the royal family, which they have been using to pacify and dominate the human race for an untold number of years. That's pretty important too, I guess.

In all seriousness, “Sin” was a very important episode of AoT, one that unearthed a number of new secrets and clarified old theories, expanding the scope of this new arc's conflict and setting the stage for the strange battles to come for Eren and the rest of our heroes. It's also kind of a mess, structurally speaking. It begins with Rod and Historia unlocking an incredibly juicy flashback that brings Grisha Jaeger's role in the story roaring back into the light, then slows down severely for the more personal memories that Historia and her sister shared, before switching gears altogether for a frankly bizarre check-in with Erwin and Pyxis' revolution, all while managing to sprinkle in even more revelations about the true history that binds Levi, Kenny, and Mikasa to the Ackermann name.

It's a Whole Lotta Story, and that's really saying something given Attack on Titan's already high standards of narrative escalation. Ultimately, “Sin” ends up feeling more liminal than expected from an episode that's ostensibly designed to thoroughly shake up its characters' place in the plot, although Eren's flashback gets across the most emotional impact. Ever since Ymir's story revealed the mysterious syringes that transformed her people into Titans, it was pretty clear that Eren's father was the one who instigated his son's monstrous transformation way back in episode 2 of the show's first season, though actually seeing poor little Eren suffer his first shift into Titan form was still an effective and powerful moment.

At the same time, the events before and after Eren's abduction were the most narratively interesting. Rod Reiss tells his daughter that the reason the rest of her family died is because Grisha Jaeger used his own Titan shifting powers to ambush the family and kill them all. His goal was to consume Frieda, since according to Rod she had the most powerful Titan abilities, including the Scream that could control other Titans. When you factor in Eren's abilities and the fact that he was able to recover his human form, there seems to be no other explanation but that Eren ate his own father. That's heavy stuff, and I'm very interested to see how this affects both Eren and Historia going forward.

Then comes the visit to Zachary's Fun With Science Corner, which is certainly something, I'll say that much. While Erwin and Pyxis have begun picking up the pieces of the last regime, Zachary's been living his best life and making his long-time dreams of cruel and mechanically creative revenge a reality. Specifically, he's strapped Aurille the nobleman upside-down to a chair, with a funnel shoved right into his rectum, so the whole kingdom can watch him be force-fed through his ass while a tube runs into his mouth and forces him to swallow some manner of his own bodily secretions – The exact nature of the machine is somewhat unclear, but you can be damn sure it's really gross. At the very least, it's gotten the former upper-crust shaken up enough to spill the Reiss family's secrets, especially since some of them still believe that they'll just be able to wipe humanity's collective memory and take over once the dust settles.

It's an "interesting" scene, and I'm definitely curious about where the revolution is headed in the coming episodes, but there isn't anything revealed in this C-plot that we don't already learn from Rod Reiss in the first half of the episode – it mostly just exists to establish that other characters are catching on to what Eren and the audience have learned, and that kind of checklist-based storytelling is a downside of having so many moving pieces running through this story at once.

The same narrative wobbliness can be felt in the other major story beat of the episode, where Levi confronts Mikasa about her relationship to Kenny. Mikasa reveals that the only thing she knows about her family name is that they lived in exile before they were murdered because of prejudice against their family name, as well as his father having married an “Oriental” woman. I'm still not entirely sure how ethnic histories and racial politics work in AoT's world, so putting aside how all of this may or may not connect to the ethnic prejudices of our real-world civilizations, introducing racial divides into Attack on Titan's narrative is still a big deal as its own sort of reveal, and it isn't even the main point of the scene.

The real focus of Mikasa and Levi's conversation comes when Levi asks Mikasa if she ever found herself awaken to a new kind of power within her, which she confirms happened the first time she killed after meeting Eren. Levi then reveals that he and Kenny had similar experiences, and that the trio's prowess in battle can be traced back to the Ackermann lineage, as they once served as the King's most loyal protectors. Given how stylized AoT's action has always been, it's tough to tell just how much disbelief we're supposed to be suspending when our heroes are careening through the air and slicing up Titans, but apparently Levi, Kenny, and Mikasa might actually have some kind of superhuman abilities, further complicating an already convoluted web of Titan powers, mysterious serums, and stolen magic.

The show gets so lost in this side-story that Levi Squad's arrival at the broken church that supposedly stands above the crystal caverns feels almost anti-climactic. Even though the very last scene tries to build the hype back up by showing Kenny's goons lying in wait for Levi's squad, I can't help but feel like this episode tried to cram too much into a single half-hour. The material itself was good, but it probably could have been presented more cleanly. Still, I can't wait to see what goes down next week, though I can only hope that Zachary and his Machine sit episode 44 out. And maybe for the rest of the show too.

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One Piece - Episode 851 [Review]

In many ways, Charlotte Katakuri is the perfect opponent for Luffy. He's the embodiment of the "everything you can do I can do better" mantra. His mochi powers give him the same malleability as Luffy's rubber, but even more troublesome is his extremely adept Color of Observation that allows him see further into the future than your average Haki user. No matter how hard Luffy tries, Katakuri can dodge his every attack.

Visually, the show is still going strong. It definitely feels like the anime staff wanted to make sure to do the arc's big title fight justice, although Luffy vs. Katakuri will eventually go on for so long that I'm certain we'll see several peaks and valleys in the production values. Spiritually, this fight evokes Luffy vs. Rob Lucci, the only other big villain fight in the series to offer this much blunt physicality. It's just two dudes putting their dukes up and punching each other. (Or at least it will be as soon as it stops being so one-sided.) I was worried a few months back about how the anime might handle the comical size difference between the two fighters, but so far so good. They're currently zipping around like DBZ characters and making good use of the mirror world's three-dimensional space.

Elsewhere, the Sunny crew has gotten some distance between themselves and Big Mom, as they lick their wounds in response to Pedro's sacrifice. This is clearly where the episode is trying to buy time, getting saccharine with repeated footage of Pedro's role in the arc, but it's a good chance to see how the different Straw Hats deal with grief. Brook collapses and blames himself for being too weak, while Jimbei has to play Mr. Pragmatic and remind the others that they can't let their feelings slow them down, because they've still got a long fight ahead of them. And boy, do they! Coming up on their rear is none other than Big Mom herself, now walking on water with the aid of Perospero's candy powers. Even the ocean can't get in Big Mom's way.

We also continue to follow Sanji, Pudding, and Chiffon flying their way to Cacao Island on Pudding's magic carpet, Rabian. Pudding remains conflicted about Sanji, so she's choosing to hide in the carpet's roll, lest the two of them be seen still dressed as a bride and groom. She could fall if she's not careful, but she's willing to risk it. We also briefly see Pound (Lola and Chiffon's dad) for the first time in ages, though he's in a dinky rowboat heading in the opposite direction.

This episode is asking the audience to take a deep breath and pace themselves. It's extremely indulgent on the story's end to constantly be introducing new problems and obstacles, each one practically announcing itself as the real beginning of Whole Cake Island's climax. I really enjoyed this week's episode, since I think it succeeds in priming the viewers for a lot of classic shonen brawling, and the animation looks great in the final stretch, but as usual there's the caveat that this show is asking a lot of its audience. We're over 60 episodes into this arc and only just now beginning a Goku vs. Frieza-length fight. At the very least, this kind of episode makes me excited to see how a "One Piece Kai" might look.

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My Hero Academia - Episode 58 [Review]

So I wasn't aware that My Hero Academia was going be participating in a 24-hour Japanese charity program this week and would be detouring from the main story as a result. I suppose the alternative would be for the show to just take a week off entirely, but instead we're getting a bonus filler episode where the students of 1-A are tasked to solve a jewelry heist murder mystery orchestrated by their teachers.

This is not a bad episode by any means, but it's a little frustrating to take a break from a low-key exam arc about role-playing heroism for an even more low-key filler episode about role-playing heroism. Arbitrarily, the teachers pick out six students to participate in a special class, and the six kids just so happen to be the most popular and recognizable characters from 1-A. The most delightful spin on this scenario is that All Might is actually playing the the villain, going so far as to dress the part and look unrecognizable. (But really, who could mistake those boulder cutters he calls shoulders?) As the scenario goes on, the villain is struck by a knife, and the kids must determine who the murderer was among the hostages.

Somehow Midoriya is able to make the leap to deduce that the hostage played by Midnight was actually in love with the villain, and not wanting to let his misdeeds stain her reputation, the villain stabbed himself and committed suicide. The joke is that it's all make-believe, but the teachers have to play along like it's completely legit. Bakugo seems to be the only one uninterested in humoring any of this. The final punchline turns out to be that the villain wasn't actually dead, something the kids would have been able to determine if they didn't just assume All Might was breaking character when Tsuyu tickled him with her hair. So All Might was pretending to be a villain who was pretending to be dead.

Even for a visually conservative episode, this is still nice to look at. MHA has yet to make any kind of outright bad filler, but I still think I'd recommend your average viewer skip this. It suffers mostly for being redundant to the arc that it's interrupting while also being an advertisement for the upcoming movie, with a few brief snippets outlining All Might's relationships with the movie-original characters. The episode ends with what I presume is the moment before Two Heroes's opening. This episode is enjoyable enough for filler, but it's nothing special.

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Gintama - Episode 361 [Review]

Silver Soul's latest chapter wraps up the battle against Utsuro and sets the story on an unexpected new trajectory. Despite being weakened by the crystallite shards in his bloodstream, Utsuro continues to be the gang's most formidable opponent ever. As Gintoki, Shinpachi, and Kagura fight on, Sadaharu rapidly expends his Zen power in an effort to bring the ley lines under control. While recalling fond memories he shared with his owners, the loyal pooch uses his last ounce of strength and fades away into the Altana ether. However, with Ane and Mone acting as mediums, the denizens of the Kabuki District are able to convert their life forces to Zen energy, which Komako uses to calm the ley lines. Soon after, the Odd Jobs crew is joined on the battlefield by Nobume, Kyubei, the core members of the Shinsengumi, Sa-chan, Zenzo, Umibozu, and Kamui. As Utsuro is gradually worn down, he's forced to acknowledge that he fears Gintoki, the person who caused him to give birth to a separate personality that loved humans. As the group goes in for the kill, Utsuro is embraced by the spirit of Shoyo, prompting him to realize that he had been a fragment in Shoyo's life, not vice versa. However, before he can be finished off, the Heavenly Bird appears directly above Edo. Moments before the massive ship makes contact with the city, Utsuro throws himself into the exposed Gate as he opines that there's no one left who can save Shoyo.

Following a fade-to-white and an extended end credits sequence, the story resumes two years in the future. Edo, which is once again overrun with Amanto, is being rebuilt, and it's revealed that Japan depleted its resources in the war against the Altana Liberation Army and Utsuro. In a sequence that mirrors Gintoki and Shinpachi's first meeting, a young part-timer at the restaurant Shinpachi once worked at is mocked and demeaned by the same short-fused manager and Chatoran ambassadors who once harassed the show's most prolific tsukkomi. In much the same fashion as his mentor, an older Shinpachi comes to the boy's rescue as he rattles off Gin's iconic line: “Are you in heat or something?”

While this cour's relentless breakneck pacing worked well for the previous installment, it's something of a hindrance this time around, since this episode has so much going on (both literally and thematically) and contains a multitude of important moments that aren't given sufficient time to set in. Sadaharu recalling all the times he's welcomed the gang home is downright heartbreaking, but once he's gone, the audience has mere microseconds to mourn him before the next phase of the battle begins. (To a point, this also rings true for Bansai and Nobunobu's deaths.) This is hopefully a sign that he somehow survived his ordeal, because it's hard to picture Gintama glossing over the death of such an important character. Similarly, Otae, Otose, and countless other Kabuki District residents loaning their life energy to the cause is a great way to include the non-samurai characters in the final battle, but the sequence isn't given enough time to have the intended emotional impact. Since Utsuro's life energy comes directly from Earth's Altana, the question of whether he's truly been vanquished is still up in the air, and the Heavenly Bird appears to have leveled Edo, so the culmination of the gang's collective effort doesn't feel as satisfying as it ought to have—although this may have been the point.

Of course, episode 361 still manages to do a lot of things right. The action choreography is as on-point as ever, and only the most hardhearted of viewers wouldn't become emotional during the Sadaharu and Shoyo flashbacks. Fully aware of what's at stake, Gintoki no longer expresses any hesitation when it comes to killing Utsuro, and the Shoyo persona ultimately leading to his downfall is yet another interesting full-circle move. (It also raises the question of whether the goal of Shoyo's training had been to prepare Gintoki to face Utsuro.) Interspersing the first act with flashbacks of Sadaharu interacting with his owners one-on-one effectively illustrates the anti-mascot's personal motivations for sacrificing himself. (It even paved the way for the return of the monja joke.) Ever the loyal pet, Sadaharu aimed to create a comfortable home for the Odd Jobs trio, and even if it means making the ultimate sacrifice, he remains steadfastly committed to that goal.

Although the climactic final battle is at an end, the story is far from over and will now continue two years in the future. Shinpachi's narration and the parallels to his first encounter with Gintoki help give the show a sense of coming full circle, but at present, there are too many unanswered questions for Gintama to bow out just yet. Where the story will go from here is anyone's guess, but given its track record, it's a safe bet that Gintama will manage to stick the landing.

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Black Clover - Episode 46 [Review]

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Black Clover - Episode 46 [Review]

Now this is more like it. While the strength of episode 35 (the only other episode I've given an 'A') was being slickly animated, this week's installment has something completely different going for it. Animation-wise we're still pretty stiff and repetitive, but now there's finally enough energy and personality to pick up the slack. This episode is dirty and violent and weird in all the right ways.

We continue where we left off last week with Noelle and Kahono breaking in on Asta and Kiato's fight with Vetto. This is the first time we've gotten to see Kiato and Kahono, a dancer and a singer respectively, fight in unison. I love how Kahono's singing actually impacts the soundtrack of the episode. Her lullaby makes for a solid insert song to punctuate the fight. Unfortunately, neither are a match for Vetto, who proceeds to cut Kiato's leg off and beat Kahono within an inch of her life. The modern Shonen Jump pillars rarely feel as indulgently violent as they used to, so seeing a safer one like Black Clover go for the carnage was a nice change of pace, and Vetto feels threatening in a way he didn't before.

I already liked Kahono just fine, but seeing her "yeah, screw you too" face while she's at the villain's mercy made me really like her, and from there the fight rests on Noelle's shoulders. This is our chance to see how much stronger she's gotten after the past few arcs, giving it her all with a final water spell that blows Vetto's arm clean off. I enjoy how even Vetto remarks on the Silva family's corruption, implying that he thinks Noelle's royal power is an extension of the evil that he and the Midnight Sun is trying to fight the Clover Kingdom over. Of course, we know that Noelle's power is her own and that she's fighting on the behalf of her friends, not her clan.

Despite taking the brunt of Noelle's attack, Vetto has an awakening of his own: a third eye that opens along with a boost in power. The end of the episode sees Asta using his anti-magic to protect Noelle from Vetto's counterattack, and the shot of him standing in front of her with the ground carved out around them from the energy blast just screams "iconic". Asta and Noelle both come across marvelously heroic this week.

This is such a good episode that it makes me wish the lead-up to it was better constructed. I still think the way the battle royale game transitioned into the Midnight Sun fight is clunky as hell, but this is a rare moment of clarity where Black Clover succeeds at being the kind of shonen action show that it's trying to be. There's a great push and pull between the heroes and villains, and the show finally feels like it has an ounce of personality that isn't just an echo of shonen battle manga before it. This is Black Clover's best episode yet.

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Boruto: Naruto Next Generations - Episode 70 [Review]

Team 5 takes center stage this week as Metal once again finds himself at the mercy of his pervasive anxiety. Upon discovering that his son is using a phony amulet to keep his nervousness in check, Rock Lee decides to put Metal's Eight Inner Gates training on hold. Hoping to get some pointers from the master, Metal, Denki, and Iwabe assist Guy in giving a demonstration to Shino's new class at the Academy, only to have Metal's anxiety mess things up once again. In an effort to help Metal get a handle on his anxiety, his father decides to try immersion therapy and challenges him to a match—one that will take place in front of the same group of Academy students from earlier. To keep things fair, Lee agrees to admit defeat if Metal is able to land a single hit. With his anxiety in overdrive, Metal initially makes a number of mistakes and once again embarrasses himself in front of the audience. However, after incurring a few blows and being laughed at by his younger peers, Metal is able to own his embarrassment, open the First Gate, and hit his father with a Leaf Hurricane. However, Metal's most prominent quirk isn't about to go away overnight, and by episode's end, he's returned to his usual state of perpetual (comical) anxiety.

Although the lesson Metal is being set up to learn is clearly spelled out within the first minute of the episode, the story does a good job of chronicling the younger Lee's path to anxiety relief. Sure, Metal's problem is still played for laughs, but the episode is careful to never go overboard with this, opting instead to present a semi-realistic picture of anxiety in an adolescent. Spending time with the disabled Guy is a creative and narratively appropriate way to teach Metal that accepting oneself—even the parts that make life difficult—is key to dispelling self-doubt. Sure enough, the “anxiety-fu” he cobbles together makes his attacks unpredictable and hard-hitting (much like Lee's Drunken Fist), enabling him to best his far more experienced father in combat.

While it doesn't really make sense that Guy's disability is the only physical injury no one in this world is able to heal—heck, Naruto cured Kakashi's blindness, and Tsunade put herself back together after being sliced in half—keeping him disabled serves as a reminder of the war's consequences and provides the audience with a positive role model. (Though it is weird his leg is in a cast all these years later instead of a brace.) Despite one of his legs being out of commission, Guy is still able to fight—he's just adapted his fighting style to accommodate his limitations and has grown stronger in other ways. True to life, however, things like stairs still pose a challenge for him. In works of fiction, magical cures too often erase representation for disabled persons, so it's nice to see the Naruto-verse stick to its guns in this area.

Well-paced, uplifting, and intermittently amusing, Metal's tale is one of the show's best side stories in recent memory. Not only does the episode present a practical message, it also features enough action to please viewers who are only here for the combat. A far cry from Cho-Cho's three-week turn in the spotlight, episode 70 makes for an all-around diverting installment.

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Overlord III - Episode 7 [Review]

Last week we learned about a bunch of freelance adventurers who had been hired to raid a newly-discovered tomb. This episode confirms that the so-called tomb is indeed Nazarick. (So much for the mock-up tomb to be a distraction!) The real question is how much of this is damage control by Ains vs. some kind of setup orchestrated by him or his people, since the source of the raid and the amount of gold behind the quest is rather suspicious. After all, Nazarick was set up as much to be a death trap for unwary adventurers as it was to be the guild's HQ, and what proper dungeon master wouldn't occasionally want to test his stronghold's defenses with the sacrifices of some low-level adventurers?

It's suspicious how easy this endeavor starts out for the victims. No outside traps? Treasure laying out in the open? The lowest form of undead foes sent out for a first encounter? Something smells, and it's not the skeletons. In fact, this reeks of a sucker play, and the adventurers are the suckers. Given how overpowered Nazarick is, the adventurer slaughter that ensues is utterly unsurprising. This was really more of a way for some of the tomb's lesser denizens – the cockroach guy and the unfathomably gross torturer – to introduce themselves and show off their skills, providing an object lesson in all of the unpleasant ways that adventurers can go down. The best scene was definitely the arrogant swordmaster with the half-elf slave girls being soundly trounced by the combat-ready Hamusuke, who puts in some pretty impressive moves for a hamster, although the following scene of the slave girls kicking his corpse while the lizard men and Hamusuke try to figure out what this "ritual" might be was rather satisfying too. I have to wonder if these girls aren't out of the frying pan and into the fire though, since Sebas isn't around to take pity on them.

That just leaves Foresight, which was always destined to get feature treatment since they show up prominently in the opening theme. Last episode spent some time time developing them, and while that doesn't necessarily prevent them from being expendable, I have to think there was a purpose beyond the cliche trick of giving characters backstory right before they're killed off. It's a mystery as to how they might survive this scenario, especially when they're facing down Ains himself. Actually, that probably increases their chance of survival, since he's more likely than most of his denizens to see some value in their lives. My suspicion is that he's going to discover the little mage's ability to judge people's power levels and find that to be potentially useful, since exploiting it would allow him to ferret out potential powerhouses. Besides, she has more specific and less greedy motives than most of the other adventurers. How many of her companions will survive is more up in the air.

With some pretty good fight choreography, strong musical selections, and a little extra effort put into giving these bit players personalities, Overlord delivers another solid episode. The only major flaw is some minor breakdowns in the animation quality, but that's easy enough to overlook given how much is going on.

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Free! Dive to the Future - Episode 7 [Review]

Everything I've been predicting about Free! Dive to the Future has been coming true, but I'm no psychic. It's simply that with a cast this enormous, the plot has got to buckle at some point. The show tells a story from a dozen different perspectives, and in order to piece it together into something intelligible, it has slowed down and been simplified to the extreme. That said, although it's been signaled from miles away, it was great to see Haru undergo some significant character development this episode. Even in the middle of so many perspectives, he manages to stand out as the protagonist by becoming more talkative than we've ever seen him before.

There was nothing solitary about “A Solitary Medley!” Instead, it was filled with scene after scene of no more than two (2) characters interacting, just talking about the plot every time. One distinctive exception was Haru's wordy flashback, a response to a teammate who asked if Haru has always aspired to swim on the global level. Just like with his monologue at the start of this season, it's another indicator that Haru has taken control of his own story, and this socially-awkward swimmer has become more comfortable talking about himself. “Free was my specialty” is a very telling line. Yes, past tense. After two-and-a-half seasons, Haru and his informal coach have somehow worked through backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly—styles that other swimmers devote their careers to—within half an episode.

This theme of quick resolution continues for Ikuya. After a brief talk with Asahi (who's been trying to find Ikuya all season and suddenly happens on him by chance), both of them find that their angst is nearly cleared up. It's a good thing too. Now that this season is more than halfway over, what other choice do they have? That's why I don't feel too bad for Hiyori, even if last episode was a doozy, and in this episode Ikuya isn't sure anymore if Hiyori is his friend! Sousuke, Natsuya, and everyone else we see for about half a second are going to either figure out their problems or fade into irrelevance forever. There's just so much that has to be crammed into what remains of Free!'s run. Even though Rin doesn't appear, our high school cast (also pretty neglected) has a conversation specifically to imply that he's still relevant to the story. In the end, a cheap cliffhanger is what amps up the suspense to get me excited about next week, even in the midst of all this chaos.

Free! Dive to the Future really should have been two different shows, one about our college cast and one about our high school cast. Perhaps it could have worked in the style of Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School, in which the show offered an update on an alternating arc every other episode. Maybe then we could focus on just a few characters each episode and really have their stories matter. There are still some great scenes (I loved Kisumi and the baby and Makoto's “bless your heart” iciness toward Haru's new coach), but so much of what exists here is just stacking on plot, not building character. Haru's fascinating new role as his own agent for change in his life is what most strongly makes it still worth watching.

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Gintama - Episode 360 [Review]

After several seasons of buildup, the Odd Jobs crew and their strongest allies kick off the final battle against the seemingly unkillable Utsuro. Having been gifted Ane and Mone's remaining Zen energy, a beleaguered Sadaharu is grievously injured by Hitsugi upon arriving at the Gate. An enraged Gintoki then lops off one of the emotionless killing machine's arms before promptly being beaten back by Utsuro. As more ley lines go berserk, a massive hole in the Earth forms right outside of the Terminal, and before Shinpachi and Kagura can get to him, Sadaharu is consumed by it. However, being an Altana mutant, the trusty pup is able to cocoon himself in planetary energy as he attempts to bring the ley lines back under control. In the continuing battle against Utsuro, Gintoki breaks out his new crystallite sword and stabs his enemy in the eye, but the all-powerful immortal is able to shatter Gin's new weapon with little effort. With his last ounce of strength, Gintoki manages to drive one of the crystallite shards through Utsuro's remaining eye.

Things continue to heat up when Umibozu, Kamui, Abuto, the Seventh Division, and the Shinsengumi arrive on the scene to throw their hats in the ring. Not at all fazed by his temporary blindness, Utsuro effortlessly kills scores of Kamui's crew and nameless Shinsengumi members. (At one point, he even appears to slit Yamazaki's throat, but whether this wound proves to be fatal is currently unclear.) With the series' strongest fighters out of commission, Shinpachi and Kagura attempt to prevent Utsuro from reaching the vulnerable Sadaharu. Much to Utsuro's surprise, he's unable to immediately recover from the damage the kids manage to inflict. Gintoki then appears and reveals that his aim in taking out the villain's second eye had been to get the crystallite shards into his bloodstream, effectively impairing his superhuman healing abilities. With Utsuro finally at a disadvantage, Odd Jobs Gin-chan prepares to take this epic battle into the homestretch.

Even though Silver Soul has put nearly every major character through the wringer, seeing Sadaharu repeatedly stabbed and nearly impaled is particularly hard to watch. Despite being left out of many of the show's later stories, Gintama's adorable anti-mascot remains as easy to love as ever, and given the track record dogs have in fiction, it's hard to definitively place him in the “safe” camp. Still, it's touching to see how far the Odd Jobs crew goes to protect him—and how he repays the favor by saving Gintoki (his least favorite member of the team) without a second thought. In spite of all his bellyaching about the tribulations of owning a comically large, destruction-prone dog, Gin becomes downright bloodthirsty when he sees what Hitsugi did to his pet. Even Shinpachi, who's physically the weakest of the main trio, is able to overcome his (justifiable) fear of Utsuro and will himself to take action when Sadaharu's life is on the line. Coupled with Kagura's subsequent assist and Gintoki's long-game shard attack, this is the perfect Odd Jobs Gin-chan combo attack.

Although the animation is fairly choppy for an action-heavy episode, the latest installment does an excellent job of showcasing Utsuro's seemingly limitless strength. Sure, we've seen him in a few fights prior to this, but watching him topple the Gintama-verse's most seasoned warriors while barely lifting a finger truly drives home how powerful a threat the gang is now facing. Portions of the episode even feel downright horror movie-ish, especially when Utsuro takes out an entire Shinsengumi battalion with a well-choreographed leap and a single sword swing.

An emotional, action-packed rollercoaster ride from start to finish, episode 360 feels like it's over before it's barely begun. Utsuro is no longer a Big Bad whose comeuppance is dozens of episodes away; he's now an immediate threat who can't be defeated through anything resembling normal means. Earth's destruction is no longer a far-off scheme that's still in the planning phase; it's happening as we speak. If our heroes don't act quick and exhaust every possible trump card, everything will come to an end.

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Attack on Titan - Episode 42 [Review]

Leave it to Attack on Titan to make a military coup d'état feel relatively subdued and low-key. The past four episodes have been all about building up the political unrest that threatens to tear human society apart, and while most of this episode is about watching Erwin and Pyxis make their final play against the corrupt cabal of nobles that hide behind their sleepy regal puppet, there is very little bombast or catharsis to be found when everything is said and done.

This makes sense though, and I don't mean to criticize the episode for playing with a more muted tone than usual. The actual sequence of the coup is well done – Erwin and Pyxis' ploy is to expose the nobles' cowardice and selfishness by faking a breach in Wall Rose, and it works perfectly. Erwin uses his final words to sow images of discord and chaos in the minds of the nobles, explaining that without the Scouts, another Titan attack could lead to rampant riots and an influx of refugees that would spell the end of the status quo. This is initially framed as Erwin trying to argue for his own benefit, but the minute it's announced that a breach in the wall has conveniently occurred just before Erwin is to be executed, it's obvious what he and Pyxis have really been sowing in the nobles' minds. They panic and ordered the city doors to be shut against any refugees, and that's all the other soldiers need to justify tearing down this regime for good.

It's a solid play on behalf of our heroes, and the sequence of quiet revolution is handled smartly. I wouldn't have minded getting to see more of the process of rounding up the MPs and getting the pieces in place to fool the aristocracy, but it might be for the best that the show didn't extend this plotline any further. Given how crucial the coup is to everything else happening in the plot right now, it was never in much question that the plan would go through, so I can see why AoT opted not to play up the twist of Erwin's scheme more than necessary.

Besides, I think it speaks to Attack on Titan's growing thematic complexity that this coup is only treated as another step in a much more complicated path to victory. Nobody putting this plan into action was under the delusion that it would solve all of their problems; Erwin still has to dig up the truth that caused his father to be silenced so many years ago, and Eren and Historia are still missing, so it isn't like they can move forward immediately after the king is deposed. One of Erwin's co-conspirators, Premier Dhalis Zachary, even admits that the coup was more of a personal vendetta than anything, done purely for the sake of shaking up the system. That it was successful at all is a minor miracle, but the times ahead are more uncertain than they've ever been.

Outside of that critical plot development, there isn't much more to this episode that isn't just necessary setup. Eren, who has been chained up in a cavern of crystal, seems to be having visions of Rod Reiss' eldest daughter Frieda, who was supposed to have perished with the other Reisses in a bandit raid from years earlier. Hange and the others find the exact nature of the Reiss clan's slaughter to be suspicious, so they are investigating the chapel where it happened to see if there are any clues to Eren and Historia's whereabouts. Eren's visions are odd in and of themselves, and the episode isn't at all subtle in the way it frames the vision of Frieda directly against Levi Squad's investigation, with Armin wondering just who Eren must have eaten to gain the ability to shift back to human form.

Since I'm not caught up on the manga, I can only speculate, but my guess is that Eren and Historia's pasts are more intertwined than they might have guessed. Given that the preview implicates Eren's father in the titular “Sin” of next week's episode, we might even be approaching an answer to what's going on with that damned basement. Now wouldn't that be something?

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One Piece - Episode 850 [Review]

As glowing as I was toward last week's episode, I was kind of conceding to its choice to frame Pedro's sacrifice as entirely heroic. I figured that either the anime wasn't interested in committing to the darker atmosphere and opted instead to play things completely straight, or that the murkier flavor was just me reading too much into things. So I'm elated to come back this week and see the show indulging in as much of that darkness as I could have reasonably asked for.

It's noteworthy that these days we have a show like My Hero Academia, which puts so much emphasis on asking its heroes to take care of themselves. It's a notorious struggle against overwork for manga artists and animators, which can so easily cast themes of self-sacrifice and tenacity in shonen manga in a new light. Eiichiro Oda is pretty infamous for an unhealthy commitment to his work. A series like MHA says don't get yourself killed. Think about how much pain you're putting your loved ones through by romanticizing that kind of overwork. Whole Cake Island feels like the most that Oda has ever empathized with that kind of message (appropriately at a time when the manga is taking more frequent breaks for this very reason), but in doing so, he seems to also acknowledge that his characters might be incapable of ever learning that lesson.

"I have to live up to the expectations that made you sacrifice yourself," is what Carrot says to herself in the wake of Pedro's death. The smoke from Pedro's dynamite blocks the daylight. The sound design is straight out of a horror movie. There's a jaguar-shaped hole in our crew now, and sympathy for the dead is just twisting the knife. I love how the Straw Hats are still glancing at the shoreline, expecting Pedro to have survived just as much as the audience, but instead it's that damned Perospero walking the explosion off with only a missing limb. The sickening mixture of emotions is so potent.

For how slow the anime adaptation can be, this is one of those episodes that feels like it's over within five minutes. On top of the Pedro fallout, the problems continue to stack up with Katakuri's counter attack, the Coup de Burst's warm-up time, and Big Mom already chewing on the back of the Thousand Sunny, looking even more like an actual monster. Luffy doesn't miss a beat in securing his role as captain of the ship. When the Sunny finally does blast off, he yanks Katakuri into Brulee's mirror world with him and smashes the mirror so neither of them can escape back to the Sunny. He's leaving the naval battle to his crew, the cake-baking to Sanji, and the fight with the one billion man to himself. The whole situation is so thrilling and badass.

The One Piece anime is firing on all cylinders this week. This is an alarmingly good episode, a cut above what I've gotten used to expecting. It's atmospheric, visually detailed, and rich with a plethora of emotions vying for the audience's attention. I know the show can't stay at this level of quality for long, but I desperately wish it could. Carrot gets a lot of focus this week, to my delight, and we see a version of Luffy that's been absent for a while—the underdog with balls of steel. The crew is willfully throwing themselves into those big one-in-a-million chance scenarios and my blood is on fire with excitement as a result.

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Boruto: Naruto Next Generations - Episode 69 [Review]

This week, Boruto's latest storyline reaches its obvious, belabored conclusion. Shortly after filming for Romy & Jule resumes, the masked assailant abducts Tomaru, leaving behind a ransom note. Ashina, whose character is about to be killed off, insists on delivering the ransom herself, a condition the Leaf ninja cautiously agree to. However, upon arriving at the drop point (a seaside cliff that mirrors the show's set) and making the swap, the kidnapper reveals himself to be Konohamaru in disguise. As it turns out, the real culprit, who'd been apprehended by our heroes off-screen, had been working with Ashina, who was hoping to use the “rescue” as a way to drum up positive press. Defiant, Ashina sets off several explosion tags, causing a rockslide that injures Tomaru. In order to protect him from falling rocks, Cho-Cho has no choice but to use the Partial Expansion Jutsu and return to her original weight. Although Cho-Cho's actions cause Tomaru to rethink his position on “fat girls,” she ultimately rejects him in the interest of remaining free. However, as she makes her exit, she gifts Mitsuki with a bag for chips for teaching her that “a chip's flavor doesn't matter so long as the ingredients are good.”

Although Cho-Cho walks away from the story with a valuable lesson, it isn't necessarily a lesson this character needed to learn in the first place. It is nice of the show to reinforce confidence in one's natural appearance, but Cho-Cho, the only overweight member of the main cast, being at the center of such a story is tiresome and tropey and slightly undermines the message the arc is trying to teach. Had she struggled with self-image issues throughout the series, this would have been forgivable and more narratively appropriate. The blossoming friendship between Cho-Cho and Mitsuki is arguably this arc's only noteworthy contribution to the show's bigger picture, and hopefully those two will be paired up more often.

While better paced and slightly more cohesive than the previous installment, episode 69 features considerable padding, with certain exchanges continuing for much longer than necessary and the moral being repeated at least three times. In addition, the Leaf ninja appear uncharacteristically incompetent at certain points. Jonin and Genin alike simply freeze for several seconds when a flash bomb is right in front of them, which seems like a rookie mistake. Even though they're able to apprehend the kidnapper off-screen, it's amazing that one person with a gas mask and a small assortment of explosives is able to continuously elude two teams of Leaf shinobi. Furthermore, allowing the freshly rescued Tomaru to climb down a cliff unaided seems like a tremendous oversight, regardless of how big a jerk he turned out to be.

Needlessly drawn-out and not particularly effective at conveying its core message, Cho-Cho's arc is a low point for this series. Since Cho-Cho has made for a dynamic secondary character in episodes past, it's a shame that her first extended turn in the spotlight was predicated by something as tropey and out-of-character as weight issues. As a show whose target audience is elementary school-aged children, it makes sense for Boruto to feature a story about the importance of a healthy self-image, but like some of the previous series' worst anime-original outings, it approaches the material in a clumsy, roundabout manner.

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Black Clover - Episode 45 [Review]

Something that had become confusing since the beginning of this arc was the true nature of Grey, the transformation user of the Black Bulls. Grey has the ability to take on other people's likenesses, which they had been using to be fun and mischievous, but it just seemed odd that this person, who had always defaulted to the form of a big vacant-eyed scary dude, was now suddenly taking any shape but that one. We learn this week that Grey's actual true form is a blue-haired young woman. Okay yeah, I can roll with that. It just seemed really unmotivated for the show to highlight her constantly changing appearance as a limp joke before the final reveal. The setup is a little messy.

Leaving off from last week, it's now up to Asta and Kiato to fend off Vetto (a.k.a. "The Despair") in Luck and Magna's stead. This fight is pretty straightforward, with at least one stellar cut of animation between all the stiffness. I think my toughest times with Black Clover are when it feels like it actually does have a pulse beyond the generic shonen clichés, but can't successfully rise to meet its own ambitions. Within a single arc, this show can range from exciting and incoherent to bland but functional. This week is bland but functional.

I think I enjoyed the Gauche/Charmy/Grey side of the episode most, as they pick off a few of the Midnight Sun's henchmen. I always like being reminded that the Black Bulls are some of the strongest magic users in the Clover Kingdom, and that the only reason they don't get to be a part of more prestigious squads is because they each have some kind of crippling attitude problem. It's an underdog-but-not-really scenario, which I eat right up. It also feels natural for Gauche and Grey to use their powers (mirrors and transformations, respectively) in tandem, since the villains will have no way to keep track of who's who. Seeing these doofuses bounce off each other proved mildly entertaining.

The cliffhanger is also solid this week. Just as Asta is starting to lose his fight, Noelle and Kahono arrive to save the day. Vetto can't understand Asta's mumbles while the poor kid is chewing on his arm, but the girls hear him and emerge to declare his shonen protagonist speech on his behalf. It's a cool final shot with the two confidently teaming up after their non-fight, and I'm eager to see what happens next. This is overall not a great episode, but it gets the job done. It's still pretty flavorless, but it has just enough strong points to keep its head above water.

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Grand Blue Dreaming - Episode 6 [Review]

 

Grand Blue Dreaming - Episode 6 [Review]

Even just six episodes into its twelve-week run, Grand Blue Dreaming has fallen into the familiar groove that most silly hangout comedies will eventually hit, whether they last for a dozen episodes or a dozen seasons. The cast and their dynamics have more or less fallen into place, and the series' trademark histrionic banter and grotesque facial expressions has become relatively predictable and familiar. Depending on your perspective, this can be either a good or bad thing. Familiarity can prove fatal for comedy that isn't able to compensate with strong character writing or interesting stories, but there's also something to be said for getting to spend time with characters you like for a half-hour of shenanigans each week. In situations like that, knowing what to expect can be a part of the charm, like watching reruns of a classic sitcom that you've grown up loving.

Grand Blue Dreaming is a bit too janky and new to mine that kind of comfortable nostalgia, but this episode does just barely fall on the right side of the line that divides comfort and staleness. It lacks the mean-spirited tone that dragged down so much of last week's outing, and it doesn't waste time or energy setting up a high-concept plot to hang its jokes around. We open with a mildly funny cold sketch that show's Iori and his classmates trying (and failing) to cheat their way through a difficult German test, and then the rest of the episode is spent with the Peek a Boo Club cracking open a few cold ones and celebrating Aina's official induction into their band of would-be divers and exhibitionists.

What makes this episode more enjoyable than last week's is that its central joke can gently make fun of its characters without just turning them into assholes. As Aina and Chisa talk shop about what it takes to be a diver, most of the gags this week revolve around how the guys have thus far failed to engage in any kind of diving whatsoever. As Aina continually points out, Iori and crew are much more likely to get wasted and play Naked Rock Paper Scissors, or Naked Pocky Game, or Naked Karaoke. It's absurd, and most everyone involved is definitely acting too immature and ridiculous for their own good, but this version of Grand Blue Dreaming doesn't have to play up the cast's worst traits to be entertaining. Azusa's insistence on getting Iori and Kohei to make out is funny because she genuinely thinks Iori is into both men and women, and thankfully the eventual punchline of their Pocky Game contest isn't a lazy gay panic bit; instead we laugh at Iori and Kohei falling victim to a comically oversized Pocky stick before everyone gets naked and drinks some more.

At this point, Grand Blue Dreaming remembers that it is technically a show about a diving club, with Tokita and Kotobuki reminding Iori and Kohei that they do actually need to demonstrate some basic knowledge of diving signs and procedures. The boys' comical inability to remember even the most basic signs is an alright bit, but the funniest joke of the episode comes when a deceptively sweet Nanaka confronts Iori about his rumored romance with Chisa, and Iori has to frantically put his new knowledge of emergency signals to the test to escape her jealous wrath. I still find the incestuous dynamics of both Nanaka and Iori's feelings for Chisa to be a little strange, but I can roll with it when the show isn't taking Nanaka's forbidden love for her younger sister too seriously.

Unfortunately, the sequence that doesn't work well for this week's episode is the ending, where we finally see the club go diving in the ocean for the first time. Outside of Iori making a dumb comment about Chisa's butt at the very end of the scene, this whole scenario is played completely straight, with Iori taking in the beauty of the ocean and Chisa genuinely appreciating his newfound love for her lifelong passion. The problem is that the show is just too poorly animated to communicate any of these emotions particularly well. As a whole, the show has the depth of a kiddie pool that's started to deflate from being out in the sun for too long, so I find it hard to buy into its more serious storytelling. I don't think we need to explore the burgeoning love affair shared by a hard-partying college freshman and his attractive but aloof cousin – I think Grand Blue Dreaming can get by just fine with slapstick and broad sitcom banter.

Frankly, Grand Blue Dreaming's own worst enemy is its commitment to formula; even the club's newest member only needs a few minutes to recognize that almost every single thing the club does invariably ends with people getting naked and yelling a lot. Grand Blue Dreaming lacks Nichijou's top-notch aesthetics, Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun's affable sweetness, or Asobi Asobase's demented commitment to its characters' absurd misadventures; it's a simpler and less ambitious comedy than its top-shelf peers. As a result, some episodes will be fairly entertaining, while others will end up more irritating than anything else. Like most of its predecessors, “First Buddy” is a perfectly fine way to kill some time, nothing more and nothing less. At this point, that's the bar I'm hoping every episode of Grand Blue Dreaming can clear.

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My Hero Academia - Episode 57 [Review]

 

My Hero Academia - Episode 57 [Review]

As we move into the second half of the Provisional License Exams, we're finally getting to the material that this arc was born to play with. Round One was a fancy game of tag, but Round Two is an actual heroism simulator, complete with actors pretending to be injured victims in the middle of a crisis, and it's up to our would-be heroes to put their skills to the test in an practical manner.

Rather than feeling like a simple pass or fail game, this exercise actively invites the audience to think about how prepared these kids are for field work. These actors (provided by the "Help Us Company" or "H.U.C.") are very particular about the heroes' methods, and we realize quickly that it's not enough for Midoriya and friends to be thoughtful and well-meaning. They have to be efficient and prioritize their actions to best accommodate the scenario that's been laid out for them. They're not perfect at it, and that only covers the students who do mean well. The Bakugos of the world have a completely different problem ahead of them.

I like this because it explores an aspect of heroism that easily could have been shrugged off by the show, and as a result the story gets to stay fresh. We've seen Midoriya fighting to rescue people before (like with Kota at the beginning of the season), and the audience is sure to admire his headstrong commitment, but now we're learning that any kind of sloppiness is going to be an issue for somebody whose job it is to look after other people's well-being. Throw some play-villains into the mix to make the students' job even harder, and now these exams are finally starting to feel like they serve a purpose in My Hero Academia's grander story.

Cycling through some of the B-plots of this episode, we're starting to learn more about Shiketsu High's Inasa Yaorashi, who appears to have a grudge against Todoroki and his family. We're also diving deeper into Ochako's crush on Midoriya, which leaves me conflicted. I thought her blushing infatuation was adorable up until now, but this week we're putting a much more dramatic focus on it, and it doesn't feel right. The romantic subplot feels token to me, and as such I think her crush is much more appealing as a comic-relief stress valve rather than something that dominates her character, which is how it's starting to look for now. There's some lip service to her burying her feelings in order to focus on heroism, but I don't get the impression that actually goes anywhere, nor is "burying your feelings" a healthy example of character agency in my opinion.

Round Two of the Provisional License Exam arc is a pretty solid summation of My Hero Academia. It's a pantomime of the kinds of conflicts our protagonists are likely to face elsewhere in the series, but that doesn't butt heads with the story's exploration of responsibility. The stakes are still low, but this new round is a massive step-up as a playground for character writing. Between the humor, action, and theming, the show offers a lot more to chew on at once. If we're going to have an exam every other arc, this is a pretty good way to do it.

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Overlord III - Episode 6 [Review]

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Overlord III - Episode 6 [Review]

The business with Carne Village may not be entirely done for now, as it's referenced in this episode as a possible destination for certain characters. However, it's at least on hold for the moment while the story shifts its focus to what's going on outside of the immediate sphere of Nazarick, setting up a big and fairly complicated story arc.

In the Re-Estize Kingdom, they're still picking up the pieces from the Jaldaboath affair, and we finally learn the startling scope of the citizens that Demiurge absconded with. (Frankly, it's an unbelievable number unless Nazarick is far vaster than it appears to be.) Gazef Stronoff is still raising some tensions over his lack of nobility, and I have to think that this will lead to something down the line. Brain stepping into the role of his successor is interesting but hardly unexpected. Renner barely makes an appearance, but her eldest brother looks like he'll be the most trouble going forward. Meanwhile, much is going on in the Baharuth Empire, where the chief wizard Fluder is doing experiments with undead that might pique Ains' interest if he knew about them and the Emperor – the fellow we saw at the very end of last season – is taking an interest in Nazarick himself. He's also apparently progressive in his reforms, having deposed some inefficient nobles, which naturally doesn't sit well with them.

More immediately relevant to the plot is what the adventurers in Baharuth are up to. The notion that non-Guild-affiliated adventurers are called Workers is intriguing, and we get introduced to one quartet, called Foresight, which is featured prominently in the opener and has an involving set of relationships and problems. They're going to be part of a greater mission to investigate a recently discovered ruin with a village nearby. Clearly it's either Nazarick or its stand-in, as Ains shows up as Momon with Narbarel to be the security detail for the mission's base camp. So is this a scheme that he's running, or is he just positioning himself to deal with a potential problem?

What I liked most about the way this episode laid things out is how interconnected everything already feels. One of the members of Foresight is the eldest daughter of a deposed noble family who is saddled with incompetent parents, to the point that she seeks to move her younger siblings away, quickly connecting her to the bigger problems in Baharuth. She also has the ability to sense the level of someone's magical power on sight, which could prove quite troublesome if she ever meets Momon and Narbarel. All of this contributes to fleshing out a more complex picture than we've seen before. Added to that is the first appearance of an elf in this setting (or more precisely, a half-elf) that I can recall. The series generally continues to shine in its introduction of new characters, who may have some flavor of traditional archetyping but still clearly come off as individuals. Just one episode into their appearance and I'm already starting to get invested in what happens to Foresight.

In other words, this is all setup, but it's setup done well.

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Gintama - Episode 359 [Review]

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Gintama - Episode 359 [Review]

The decisive battle with Utsuro draws ever closer as our heroes get the trump card they've been waiting for in an action-packed Gintama. Hoping to replicate the strategy he used on Rakuyo, Umibozu reveals that he's collected Altana crystallites from planets across the universe and created Shoryumon, a weapon that fires concentrated blasts of the Altana extracted from the crystallites. (He also used the crystallites to create a hair-growth gun, which helped him regain his glorious mane.) By hitting Utsuro with a heavy dose of incompatible Altana, his immortality can be nullified, thus providing Gin and company with a chance to kill him. Before the Odd Jobs crew continues their trek to Sadaharu, Umibozu entrusts Gintoki with another weapon he threw together: a sword created with steel that was imbued with the crystallites.

Even though the Dragon God priestesses and Dog Deities were able to get most of the ley lines under control, their efforts are rendered useless when Utsuro destroys the Gate found in Edo's Terminal. As Nobume puts it, “Nobody can stop it anymore. Not Utsuro, not anyone.” To make matters worse, both Sadaharu and Komako have expended a tremendous amount of Zen power, making them both weaker and causing them to shrink in size. Things continue to take a turn for the worse when the group is pursued by undead Naraku and both priestesses are injured. Meanwhile, with the Heavenly Bird on an out-of-control collision course with Earth, Prince Hata makes the tough call to destroy the ship, but before he can do so, Hasegawa brings him to his senses in a manner that mirrors their first confrontation. Taking Hasegawa's advice, the prince tasks his entire fleet with getting in front of the Heavenly Bird and deploying anti-impact shields. Although this barely slows the ship down, the remnants of the Liberation Army are so moved by Hasegawa's efforts that they offer the assistance of their own ships and shields.

Since just about every member of Gintama's massive cast has gotten a chance to make their mark on this epic final battle, it's only fitting that Hasegawa finally lives up to all the bluster he showed in Silver Soul's first episode. All the hardships he experienced after losing his job at the Immigration Bureau appear to have led up to this moment, and his time as the show's Meg Griffin has ultimately turned him into the savior his planet needs. Although his speech about being unemployed contains comic undertones, it comes off as more inspiring than funny in the moment. Intertwining his fate with Hata's is another satisfying full-circle move, as both men are high-status buffoons who experienced hilarious falls from grace.

Umibozu's reemergence makes for the some of the funniest moments of the season and facilitates the return of the tsukkomi/boke routine that accounts for much of the show's humor. The revelation that Shoryumon came about as a byproduct of the hair-growth gun is particularly funny and helps reestablish Umibozu as a comedic presence after the character's dark turn in the Battle on Rakuyo. (Arguably, the Kagura's Boyfriend arc served the same purpose, even though it took place prior to the endgame arcs.)

As usual, none of the small victories the gang experience come easily. Things never coincidentally or serendipitously come together in our heroes' favor—the characters earn these payoffs and play active roles in each other's successes. Getting to know these characters for the past twelve years makes it easy for viewers to become emotionally invested in each battle and ensures that each victory feels meaningful. It's almost surreal watching this relentless melee throw obstacle after obstacle at the cast, only for them to blast through them by the skin of their teeth.

Silver Soul continues to excite, amuse, and provide an all-around satisfying experience. Episode 359 not only finds the entire Kanko/Kouka family uniting against a common enemy, but also Hasegawa and Hata coming together to save the planet. This arc has consistently brought out the best in each character and forced them to set aside personal differences to discover new strength.

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My Hero Academia - Episode 56 [Review]

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My Hero Academia - Episode 56 [Review]

And thus we end the first part of the Provisional License Exams, as all of Class 1-A manages to swoop in and secure their place in the batch of one hundred students permitted to continue. What this arc lacks in scope, it aims to make up for in small character moments and an affirmation of 1-A's growth and companionship. Even Bakugo is showing signs of change, where he's been developing his attacks so that they don't cause needless friendly fire, and his assessment of Midoriya's ever-developing powers is at least one notch less condescending than usual. When the entire class makes it just barely under the wire, their cheers of relief are genuinely heartwarming.

The biggest stand-out of the group this week ends up being everybody's favorite sparkle boy, Aoyama, who attempts to use his belly button laser to draw enemies to him and give his classmates a chance to escape. However, instead of that being the case, his peers decide to use his laser as a beacon to follow in a 'no man left behind' kind of way. He tries to sacrifice himself, but his friends just aren't having it. Just to drive me crazy, there's a teasing of his backstory and motivations, and it really had me hooked! I wanted to know more about Can't Stop Twinkling, but alas that will have to wait until another day.

It's like I'm at a perpetual standstill with this arc, where I can appreciate it as a respite from the larger story and an opportunity for character writing above plot and spectacle, but it's still a mild and unambitious experience. Seeing the show rotate between Kaminari and Aoyama and company put it in perspective why the filler with Yaoyorozu and the others was necessary, since the heart of this arc is in the small things; we get a chance to see how the larger class is growing beyond just Midoriya. But that's also kind of my problem. The whole thing still feels like nicely-animated and well-written filler.

What I'm hoping to see as we transition into the second phase of the exam is a greater emphasis on the "everybody versus U.A." angle. The rivalries between schools haven't impacted the flow of the story in a meaningful enough way yet. We see that our kids are comfortably on top of the hurdles that come with being mini-celebrities, and the story hasn't explored much beyond that. We also didn't get to see the rules of the ball game create many unique scenarios either. It got various students to cross paths and fight a little, but most of 1-A passes simultaneously at the end simply because it was time to move on to the next thing.

The past few episodes have been feel-good and easygoing, so audience who wants to see the students just being generally kind and supportive of each other will have a lot to enjoy. It's hard to argue with the appeal there, but for my money I'm still waiting on something more.

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One Piece - Episode 849 [Review]

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One Piece - Episode 849 [Review]

So we've managed to survive long enough in the Big Mom chase to finally board the Thousand Sunny. Things will never be easy, however, and now our heroes' next priority is to actually set sail, which is a real challenge while continuing to deal with Perospero (who this week proudly announces his 700 million berry bounty) and Katakuri (Mister One Billion). Big Mom's rampage is pushing the Straw Hats off the shore, and an entire enemy fleet is arriving to challenge them at sea.

It's hard to call this the official start of the Luffy vs. Katakuri fight, since it's a momentary skirmish so far, but there's a unique air between these two as Luffy tries to plow through his opponent's Mochi-Mochi powers. The real meat and potatoes of this week's episode lies on the shoulders of Pedro's fight with Perospero, since Perospero is adding his candy powers into the mix and locking the Sunny on the shore to block the Straw Hats' ability to use the Coup de Burst and fly away.

Long story short, this is the "death" of Pedro episode. This is yet again about half a chapter's worth of material being covered, but it's a rare instance where I don't mind so much, because the show does such a good job sucking you into the moment and helping you forget how long we've been in Big Mom's territory and how much needs to happen before we're out. The artificial pacing isn't at odds with the sense of power and scale they're trying to convey. This is Pedro's episode through and through, flashing back to his childhood admiration of Gold Roger and connecting that to his mission in favor of the Straw Hats.

The Alice in Wonderland influences in Whole Cake Island feel very appropriate, because there are a number of what I'd call "through the looking glass" moments—turning points where the audience can feel their expectations crumbling to dust in their hands. Pedro's sacrifice (using dynamite to blow himself and Perospero to smithereens) feels like it's been telegraphed for months, and yet it feels so sudden when it actually happens. I think the tragedy is in how much time and effort we've spent trying to save Sanji from throwing his own life away for the benefit of the crew, and then Pedro goes and does exactly that. The rest of the cast doesn't even have time to grieve. If they don't immediately embrace this new opening as a gift, they'll be next.

I have to put "death" in quotes because this is still One Piece, after all. With few exceptions, characters who commit a heroic sacrifice usually get up and dust themselves off in the post-arc or have their survival teased in the story years later. As of the manga, Pedro is still presumed dead, but anything's possible for this series. I think if he was for sure deceased, the story could get a lot more explicit and save the audience a debate, but on the other hand I think the mystery gives us an optional safety net from the arc's more sinister subtext. Whole Cake Island to me is at least partly about the ever-blurring line between noble self-sacrifice and pathological self-destruction. The arc began as a detour from the Kaido storyline, a quick adventure to get Sanji back and see the crew whole again, but now we'll be leaving it with more lost than gained.

This episode is notably strong in execution as well, sporting a lot of great art and indulging in a myriad of legacy OST tracks. I can't think of the last time I heard 'To the Grand Line' in this show, and it cements Pedro's death scene as an instant classic in my mind. This really feels like the anime staff going above and beyond to make something that feels just a little bigger than the source material, and I believe they have succeeded wonderfully.

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Attack on Titan - Episode 41 [Review]

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Attack on Titan - Episode 41 [Review]

Given that it feels like Attack on Titan's first season concluded a lifetime ago, and the more recent second round was such a tightly wound gearbox of dread and grim fights for survival, I'd honestly forgotten what it felt like for the show to breathe a little and revel in slighter shades of plot and tone that long anime epics like this usually indulge. The first few episodes of this third season were all about dousing our heroes' support systems with all the narrative gasoline that's going to fuel this world's impending political firestorm. That's all well and good, but “Trust” made me realize how glad I am that this more ambitious arc is giving Attack on Titan opportunities to pause and decompress. We even get some jokes, which are more than welcome at this stage of the game, considering that all signs point to nothing but bad news further down the line.

This episode offers little victories to balance out the plot's increasingly dire stakes, where soldiers and common folk alike demonstrate their own strength of character as the world around them becomes more clouded with political strife. The opening scene re-introduces us to two young members of the Military Police, Marlo and Hitch, who have been tasked with patrolling the forest in search of Levi's fugitive squad. It's easy to forget that, in the world of the show itself, it's only been days since Annie's rampage destroyed much of Stohess District at the end of the first season, and nobody outside of the main cast knows the truth about Annie and the rest of the Titan shifters. Marlo already suspects that the government's witch hunt for the Scouts is bogus, but Hitch is understandably still rattled over the Scouts' battle with Annie destroying her home.

As viewers, we have the advantage of knowing the truth about the real good guys and bad guys, at least for now, but so much of this episode is about how the Powers That Be have more than enough influence to cover up the truth and shape the narrative of this struggle to their own advantage. One of the emerging themes that I find most interesting about this arc is how the onus of heroic self-determination that's usually reserved for the main hero of a given story is now being passed on to everyone. When Marlo and Hitch get captured by Squad Levi, they both have to decide whether they will believe what the government has told them or risk everything to fight on the side of revolution. The actual trial that Jean puts them through is hilarious on its own; he wants to test their resolve by pretending that he's going to execute them in the middle of the woods, but he's just so bad at it, tripping and falling like a doofus before getting cold-clocked by Hitch with a stick. Not only does it demonstrate Marlo and Hitch's trustworthiness, it also serves as a potent reminder of how far Jean has come since serving as the Draco to Eren's Harry Potter back in training. Even in times as desperate as these, he's willing to stick his neck out for people he feels he can trust.

Speaking of sticking one's neck out, the best little arc of the episode shockingly belongs to Flegel Reeves, the perpetually sobbing progeny of the late Dimo Reeves. Hange pulls a Spider-Man and rescues the poor guy from the gang of MPs that have been hunting him down so they can prevent him from revealing the truth behind his father's death, but the junior Reeves is very reluctant to put his life on the line to help the Scouts clear Erwin's name. But he manages to find his own spark of heroism when he uses himself as bait and tricks the MPs into revealing their cover-up in front of a whole mass of listening civilians. It's a predictable trope, but this scene delivers both a badass moment of bullet-dodging for Hange, as well as the instantly classic image of Flegel announcing his noble intentions while using a soldier's face for a chair, so I'm more than ready to forgive the show for dragging out such a well-worn cliché.

Outside of those two funny beats, much of this episode is dedicated to setting up more pieces for the plot to come. Erwin is being led to a final audience with the King before his execution, and Levi's Squad are taking out small bands of soldiers to try and scrounge up Eren and Historia's whereabouts. The only “reveal” that these threads have to offer this week is Levi and Mikasa discovering that Kenny is also an Ackermann. Personally, I find it hard to be particularly interested in either Levi or Kenny's newfound connection to Mikasa's family name, since the twist doesn't mean much for the characters yet. Levi and Mikasa have barely interacted throughout the past 40 episodes, so it isn't like this completely changes their relationship or anything. I'm sure all of this groundwork is being laid for future mysteries and drama that Mikasa, Levi, and Kenny will have to reckon with, but it isn't much to go on at this point. Levi is already going to some pretty dark places this season, so I imagine that whenever he and Mikasa do finally cross path with Kenny again, it'll contain a lot more gunshots and stab wounds than your typical family reunion.

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