A romantic trip to the beach is not complete without carbs.
Hello again, dear readers. Welcome to another week of anime reviews! What wonders and mysteries await in this week’s collection of reviews? To the surprise of this reviewer, everything in this season has been (mostly) enjoyable to watch. There have been hiccups here and there, but there have also been surprise turnarounds in quality for the better as well. Moving into the seventh week of the season, is this a trend that can be expected to continue, or will the peak of quality be reached soon, and will this reviewer be plunged down the proverbial landslide of cliche and bad writing? Well, dear readers, there is only one way to find out. Come now, as the journey into the seventh week of anime begins!
Masamune Kun’s Revenge Episode 7
The episode opens with the end, of school for the summer, that is. Makabe, thinking that he has learned something about how he should act with women from Neko (a very poor example of what should be considered normal behavior) decides to be aggressive and leave a note asking Aki to spend time with him this summer. Of course, as has been made evident the past few times he has attempted to be overly aggressive and act like a typical “hot guy bro”, it backfires in his face as Aki informs him that she plans to spend the summer at her family’s villa, on an island, which of course they have due to being filthy stinking rich. To spite him, Makabe invites the trap that sits next to Makabe to go to the beach house. Unfortunately, this leads to another backfire, as he says he will not go without Makabe there. Eventually, half the class invites themselves on the trip, and suddenly the typical “class trip” has been planned to happen while classes are not even happening.
Upon arriving on the island, another character is introduced, the secretary of Aki’s father. She seems to be having boyfriend trouble, and is seems quite upset to hear that Aki has a boyfriend, as Makabe’s plan to make things move in his favor is to blurt out that they are dating in front of everyone. Aki decides to go along with the ruse, only to keep the secretary from thinking that she is weird for hating boys still even now that she is in high school. The typical summer vacation things happen here as they go swimming at the beach, and Makabe asks the secretary for a fun thing for them to do while on the island. She suggests a test of courage which Makabe thinks is a great idea when he remembers how easily frightened Aki is. There are some decent reveals in the past of Aki in this episode, as it talks about her growing up from the perspective of the secretary, who has apparently been working for the family for quite a long time. With everything that happened, this ended up being one of the best episodes of the show so far. There is just enough setting the show apart from your average rom-com anime series to keep it interesting week after week, and the characters all seem likeable enough. This is still a recommendation from me.
Akiba’s Trip The Animation Episode 7
The episode opens with anger and heartbreak, as Tamotsu attempts to take a good photograph of a figure, and manages to get the shot, but also manages to break the figure at the same time. Unfortunately for him, the figure belongs to his sister, and she runs of crying after seeing he does not seem to care that it is broken and thinks it will be easy enough to replace. Eventually, Tamotsu realizes that the figure was quite important to his sister, and attempts to purchase her a new one in an online auction, though she is certain it will be hard to get due to the fact that it was a special item only available once. To his dismay, he discovers that someone is driving the price of each auction up to a ridiculously high amount, and discovers that he will once again need to contact the local part time work agency in hopes of getting a quick yen.
One of Arisa’s several strange cosplays.
Fortunately for Tamotsu, the agency has a job that is hiring, and just so happens to start at a very high rate. Tamotsu gets to try his hand at wearing a fancy suit, as he begins his new job at a maid/butler bar. The manager tells him upfront that he knows most people only come to the job because of the high pay, and that he is okay with that. He informs Tamotsu that they hire pretty much everyone who applies, which should probably make him suspicious, but despite all these he decides to take the job anyway and see if he can pull it off. Luckily for him, Tamotsu seems to be suited to the job, and even gets to be the photographer after showing his skill in doing so. Unfortunately, his new job does seem to be interfering with his nightly patrols, and seems to be very physically draining on him, which is odd considering he is supposed to be far beyond human now. Something that has not been mentioned yet, Every single time Arisa is in frame, she is dressed in a different cosplay. Each one is unique, odd, sometimes lewd but most of the time incredibly silly. For instance, in this episode, the first shot of her is in a teddy bear suit, and the next is dressed as a UFO. It is also worth mentioning that every episode has a different ending theme, and each one of them has been pretty good, and perfectly pairs with the episode that it follows. All in all, the show has become much better since the early episodes, which were mostly fan service.
ACCA 13-Territory Inspection Dept. Episode 6
More heartbreak in the next series, as episode 6 opens with a brief glimpse into the past. In this glimpse, we see Jean and his sister watching the news as a horrible train accident occurs, leaving several dead. Among the casualties, sadly, are both of their parents. A scene from the last episode, where his sister seemed quite nervous that he was headed onto a train, makes sense with the context now provided. Coming from such tragedy shows a bit more as to why the two seem to be so close, and also why they are alone. Even more is revealed after this, as it shows the reason that Jean was approaching Director Grossular at the end of the last episode was to discuss their past. It is a surprise to have some of the revelations that happen here, and does a good job showing the character of Grossular and Jean both, making for quite a good start to the episode. As if to put a cap on the dark thoughts, Jean seems to be unwilling to spy for Mauve anymore, and she tells him off for not being as useful as she had once hoped.
Not every episode can be a happy one.
From here, and after much drinking, the tone seems to lighten up a little as Jean nears a few days off. His sister says that they should have a new year’s party and invite everyone from his work, and so they plan to have just such a thing happen. Throughout the episode, more little flashbacks are thrown in involving Jean, his sister, and the accident. It is nice to get a little more information about the situation surrounding them, and to see the things that may have shaped Jean to be the way that he is. After the party, it is revealed that Mauve has had several people other than just Jean looking into each district and testing the waters for words about a coup that may be on the brink of occuring. While rumors are found, it does not seem that there is any imminent threat from what she learns. It seems that every high up person in the show has some sort of investigation going on, and it is unclear if any are actually honest about what they are doing. Whether they are or not, almost all of them seem to want Jean to be mixed up in their schemes. The poor guy just cannot seem to catch a break. All in all the intrigue in this show is still pretty interesting, and the promise of seeing some crazy things happen in the later episode makes the show worth sticking around and watching. Here is hoping that all the build up has a nice payoff and is not a let down in the end.
Youjo Senki Episode 6
The episode begins this week where last week’s episode had left off, with a report about the absolute massacre that happened in Dakia, the nation to the South. At a meeting of the higher ups, they discuss the plans to prepare for a world war, and how destroying the weaker powers first will let them focus on the stronger powers attacking in the north, as well as help them prepare for the eventuality of other nations joining the fight against them. They also discuss the approaching Winter, and how best to stock supplies to last through it without getting pushed to the limit by the two other wars they are currently fighting. The strategy that they form ends up involving Tanya’s rapid response force, naturally, and they are sent to the North to deal with the war up there, who they suspect to already be receiving help from foreign lands.
They were so close to an “over 9000” joke…
The war in the North (ha, jokes) seems to be going poorly as the foreign mages seem to have a lot of advanced technology on their side, from flying robotic mounts for their mages to actual bomber planes. Tanya arrives just in time to help as an attack is near breaking through their lines, her battalion spreading out to prove just how amazing they are. She even refuses reinforcement fighter planes, just to prove how great her group is. Has she finally decided to accept her role in this, and not just simply try to survive as long as possible? As the attack continues, Tanya tells her men to deal with the mages and says that she will deal with the bombers herself, a statement that of course causes quite a bit of shock among all present. The show so far shines at the moments of combat, though the story elements are all quite strong as well. Tanya is the only character with any real development, though there are glimpses into the other characters’ thought processes and past. Even with this, the story does not suffer, as Tanya and her interactions with “Being X” are really enough to carry everything.
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Episode 6
The episode opens with Kanna and her friend walking home after hanging out at Kobayashi’s house. Kanna’s friend asks her if she would like to hang out at her house instead next time, and she agrees, leading to the typical outburst of adorable squealing. It is pretty clear that she has feelings beyond friendship for Kanna, which is a little odd considering they are in grade school, but to each their own. The house visit is a chance for Tohru and Kobayashi to meet the rest of her family, which they are excited to do upon hearing that they also have a maid, who goes by Georgie. When they finally arrive, Kanna and her friend go off to play twister and other oddly sensual games, while Tohru, Kobayashi and Georgie spend the day discussing the value of maids in society and how amazing they are in general. Tohru actually feels a little left out as she is not as obsessed with maids as the other two.
A statement uttered by several anime fans over the years.
From here the episode brings back Quetzalcoatl, and reveals that she has decided to live in the human world as well. Her reasoning for doing so is that she noticed a small boy was attempting to summon a demon, and decided to protect him from actually meeting one by being summoned instead. However, the boy seems to think she is a succubus anyway, which is not helped by the fact that she keeps showing off her body to him in hopes that he will want her to live with him. The rest of the episode is mainly just visiting the various homes of the known dragons, and showing the progress they have made adapting to the human world (It was very hard to resist a “progress maid” joke there, be thankful it did not happen). Surprisingly, even Fafnir is doing well, and admits that there might be some decent humans out there. It is nice to see the development of all the characters as the episodes progress, and the lighthearted nature of the show paired with the feeling that there is some serious hurt behind some of the dragons comes together to make this one of my favorite shows so far this season.
And with that, the end of another week of anime has been reached. So far it would seem, dear readers, that this reviewer has been quite lucky in the selections of anime. A surprising thing, as when attempting to pick anime for this season, it felt as if it was going to be an extremely bare turn out for new shows just starting. Instead, each show so far has had something to offer, many laughs have been had, much mystery and intrigue is in some, and all in all the animation has been top notch. What say you, Lusi-tards? Are there any other shows this season that deserve a look at? Have the people also been enjoying the season so far? Is there anything coming soon that people are looking forward to? Leave a comment below with your opinion on these, and any other shows that you may be watching. Until next week, enjoy the anime and keep reading!