The new girl, apparently from Makabe’s Past.
Weeks and weeks go by, and anime continues to exist. As such, reviews of it also exist. This is one of those. In this, the fifth week of the Winter 2017 series In this week, several exciting developments occur in our shows. Love triangles, or other geometric shapes may have formed! Fights may have occured, but in video game form! Dodging of balls probably happened! If any of these things interest you, then it is probably worth reading forward and getting a taste of the week.
Masamune-kun’s Revenge episode 5
The fifth episode opens with disaster! Makabe, just moments from a possible confession from Aki, is suddenly embraced by a mysterious woman in religious garb who claims to have been praying to meet him. This serves to ruin his plans of capturing Ika’s heart as she assumes he is just a player now. Naturally this leads to Ika storming off and refusing to hear him out. It is pretty clear that someone in the past has hurt Aki terribly, causing her to act the way she does towards all men, but it is unclear who or what caused this yet. Meanwhile, Makabe is stuck in his head about the mystery girl until, Shock! The mystery girl is now introduced as a transfer student, who just so happens to be transferring to his class! Who could have forseen this turn of events?
The new girl’s name is Neko Fujinomiya. Apparently she is from an all-girls boarding school. Makabe attempts to question her but is deterred by her immediate popularity, due to the fact that she is gorgeous and kind and everybody else also wants to talk to her. Eventually more is revealed about how the characters know each other, and the fact that she transferred to this school specifically to meet him again after a past meeting. Despite the plot being still generic, there are some very humorous moments to be had, and the characters are still likable enough. The mystery surrounding characters’ pasts is also enough to keep interest for the show. Sometimes cliche is common for a reason, and in this case it is working.
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Episode 4
When your child dragon seems listless and curious about the world, what is the best solution? Naturally, enrolling them in school. Episode 4 has Kobayashi enrolling Kanna in classes, but of course first shopping must be done. Unfortunately, none of the shops they visit at first have cute enough supplies for Kanna. Eventually this is remedied, though more of the dragon’s misunderstandings about the human world become apparent in their shopping trips. Things get serious for a while as they talk about uniformity, and how most people fear things that are different from them. This leads to some introspection from all parties as they remember times they were treated differently because they were different.
Fafnir and Tohru ready to duel for Kanna.
With much trepidation, Tohru follows Kanna around the school in secret on her first day. Fortunately, things seem to go quite well for the young dragon, though she is afraid of standing out too much due to their prior conversation and gets nervous when people say she is neat and unique. From here things take a terrible turn, as the children challenge a group of adults to dodgeball! Things go about as would be assumed, with Kobayashi wondering what happened to her quiet life. The show’s overlying theme seems to be that different is not bad, and that people should not fear what they do not understand. This is a message that is sometimes portrayed in silly ways, but despite this the show has quite a lot of heart.
ACCA: 13- Territory Inspection Dept. Episode 4
Jean’s audits continue in episode 4 with the Suitsu District, where the law seems to be much more strict than in any other district so far. Each district seems to be quite unique and different from the others, some having extreme proportions of food, some being far more rural, and so on. This district seems to be stuck in a far past era, with certain technologies even being banned from use. Seeing all of the different districts does a good job of building up the world, and gives a good idea of the mindset of their people, especially in relation to the heir to the throne, that nobody seems to like. The Suitsu District seems very strict, as Jean is not allowed to smoke, have his phone work, or fraternize with any of the citizens other than the man leading him on his tour of the district.
A country shaped like a bird.
Disaster strikes for everyone when Jean is kidnapped by Coup conspirators who mistakenly think that he overheard them plotting. Meanwhile it is revealed that Jean’s sister is also being tailed, by the rookie who had a problem with Jean who now has a crush on her, as well as the government. It seems more is going on than even Jean has been embroiled in, as there seems to be much unrest in the autonomous districts, so much so that even ACCA does not seem to be aware of it all. With each episode, the actual state of the country becomes more apparent, as there is turmoil in the shadows of every district, painting a clear picture that there is unrest with the officers everywhere. The mystery is high enough to keep viewers returning each week, as well as the diversity of each district.
Youjo Senki Episode 4
Campus Life is an apt title, as the fourth episode opens with Tanya six months into her studies at a military university, and quiet comfortable with the lifestyle of a student. Tanya seems to be quite smart, wishing above all to excel in her classes and show her worth, granting her the quickest path to officer training and a quiet, comfortable life. It would appear that word of her studies and her previous experience has paid off, as she shortly receives a meeting with high officers, who ask her to propose her thoughts on the war. She reveals that the war will lead to a worldwide conflict, and proposes her ideas to limit the strain on the country, as well as a strategy for winning the war. The brass are amazed at her grasp of the situation, and Tanya continues to manipulate things in a way she hopes will lead to getting her a one-way ticket to becoming an officer.
Always be prepared for the chance to shoot God.
As expected in this universe where Being X refuses to let Tanya be happy, this backfires entirely, and Tanya is tasked with building the force she recommended and leading it, a far more dangerous task than even the front line work she was previously doing. Poor Tanya cannot seem to catch a break as she is constantly shifted into one dangerous position or another. This episode was a little slow, without much happening beyond some exposition and build up for what is to come. That is necessary occasionally, but can ruin a show if it becomes too common. Hopefully things pick up again in the episodes to come.
Akiba’s Trip The Animation Episode 5
This episode is themed around Arcades, more specifically fighting games. Apparently some partnering with Capcom was done, as the primary game is Street Fighter, and they do not change the name of the game to some sort of Gonzo related pun, and use actual footage of the games when they play. As street fighter is the best fighting game, and anyone who disagrees is broken in the brain, the bias towards this episode is high. The episode begins with Tamotsu exploring an arcade, and “practicing” beating Bugged Ones by playing a strip Mahjong game. He soon loses interest and moves onto play Street Fighter II against a mysterious girl who destroys him handily. Shortly after this, his sister is kidnapped and he is sent a message that he must compete in a Street Fighter V tournament and win to get her back. In the clips that they show for professional tournaments, they play homage to one of the greatest moments from a real tournament, kudos to the animation team for doing their research.
Training to be a pro gamer is hard work.
After the expected training montage that has nothing to do with the game itself, Tamotsu feels ready to defeat everyone, and then is soundly hammered into the ground by Frog oZma, the US Zangief player (a parody of Snake Eyez?). Fortunately, his bracket is small enough that he only had to beat one or two more people to make it to the last match. An all-out brawl happens as the opponent reveals she is a master of a martial art that requires stripping off her clothes to build her sense of stress, causing her to perform better. Even though he may die if he strips, Tamotsu does the same in hopes of victory. With the constant cameos by top tier tournament players, and actual footage of the game to top of the normal level of silliness, this episode was not bad.
With that, the end of the week has once again been reached. Everything is reviewed, some shows are getting better, some shows are about the same, and others are slowing their pace, but hopefully only breifly. What exciting developments are in store for the characters? What is with all these new characters introduced this week? What are the odds a country would be bird shaped? Tune in next week, Lusites, and hopefully there will be more questions unanswered!
