Winter Anime Catchup
Inari, Konkon, Koi, Iroha 4-5: This show is just so cute! And...not the series of the season that I expected would go the canon f/f route, as it seems to be starting to. I'm enjoying all the focus on Inari and her friends, and am curious to see what they're doing with Uka (Uka's love for visual novels is also starting to make me curious about them), as well as what they're up to with her and Inari's brother. I am considerably less charmed by Uka's brother, and won't miss him at all if he magically disappears.
Magical Warfare 5-6: Episode 5 was annoying with all the focus on annoying romantic triangles. Episode 6 was much better with all the "friends/siblings/mentors as enemies" flying around. However...
"I'm jealous that the girl I like likes my brother so I'll join the enemy nd kill people" is a much much less interesting iteration of "siblings as enemies" than "My brother was abducted and brainwashed and doesn't remember me and thinks we're enemies and is trying to kill me, BUT I WILL SAVE HIM."
Just saying.
Nisekoi 4-6: I was very amused by the mtchmaking gangsters who get sparkles in their eyes as they plot. I was less amused by the swimming episode, which was largely an excuse for fanservice. But I'm very much in this one for the fakedating hijinks, of which there are plenty.
Noragami 5-7:
These episodes were mostly about Yukine trying to deal with being a regalia and relating to Yato and...I like Yukine quite a bit, but find him less interesting than Hiyori or Yato, and for god/regalia relationships, I am currently mostly interested in Bishamon and all her regalia, and how they work together. I did like, though, that Yukine's instinct was to abuse his newfound superpowers once he realized he had them.
And none of the above should be taken as a criticism! Because this is a delightful show on almost all levels, though I'm going to be very unahppy if it ends with Hiyori no longer able to see any of the rest of the cast once her connection to her body is fixed. Assuming the anime actually gets that far. i don't know how far ahead the manga is or what's been done, but i suspect the main arc of the second half of the anime is going to primarily deal with Yato's past and his history as a "god of calamity," and what happened between him and Bishamon's regalia.
The Pilot's Love Song 5-7:
-I think I enjoyed Claire's angsty backstory flashback more than Kal's. Which is not to say I disliked Kal's, but it was...standard "angsty exiled prince" fare. Granted, Claire's was a bit standard, too, but I'm curious to see what it was like growing up the figurehead of a government I'm not sure she completely believes in, and why she lost her powers. Though I'm betting it was having her sense of self affected when seeing wee!Kal's hatred made her realize she was there because it was the first time someone said her powers were a good thing, as opposed to being there beause it was the right thing to do. Though I'm not convinced it was the wrong thing to do, either, since I get the imopression that Kal's father wasn't exactly a good ruler to start with.
-Since this is supposed to be set in the same world as Rememberances for A Certain Pilot, though a number of generations later, I wonder if the silver wig is/was meant to make people think of Fana, who was supposed to be the greatest empress ever or some such.
-Ignacio, if you're supposed to be Claire's bodyguard, why are you spending more time with the redhead? (The answer to which is probably that Ariel drags him to all social things in a quest to obliterate his angst.) You'd also think that it would have been arranged for claire and Ignacio to be partnered up more if he's her bodyguard.
-All the fluff and fun with the kids and their restaurant insterspersed with the adults being GLOOM AND FUTURE DOOM should have clued me in that it was time for the Obligatory Death Of A Lovable Supporting Character.
-At last, we get to the airship battles. Which...are good, so far, save for that thing where bombs ounch all the way through a ship and THEN blow up. SUCH INTERESTING WEAPONRY THEY HAVE THERE. PHYSICS? WHAT PHYSICS?
-The "Holy Spring" stuff makes me think we're headed towards overlapping/linked worlds. (Maybe it's like Last Exile in more than general feel...)
Silver Spoon 2.3-2.6: Needs more of Hachiken spazzing over food. Seriously though, largely like season one, which is a good thing. The angst plot that threatened to rear its head in the first episode of the season has been backburnered, but will no doubt make a return for the last few episodes.
Wizard Barristers 4-6: As discussed in the comments on my previous post, this show could really stand to lighten up on the sexual harassment. Most of the worst of it is the talking frog (Why does he exist? WHY?) and the rest would be relatiely moderate for this type of anime, save that it;s from adults towards a teenager, most of that because she's a teenager, and so is young and cute.
That said, I'm very curious about what's going on, and am interested in most of the characters (even if I have yet to learn half the lawyers' names).
They hinted that Shizumu was bad in ep 3, but I wasn't expecting them to confirm it so quickly. I am noe sitting back, waiting for The Reveal and anticipating the "my partner is evil and now I must stop him" angstplosion. (And they can't keep the others in the dark for much longer, at the rate he's going.)
I also hope they get into what it's like to be sister's and one of you grows up to be a wizard who defends wizard criminals, and the other is a chain-smoking non-wizard who hunts wizards and likes probably-illegally-acquired-weapons. At least, I assume Ageha and Seseri are sister's, as they have the same family name according to wikipedia, and identical character designs, once you look past the fashion choices. I can't recall the show itself commenting on that, though.
Like "Shizumu is secretly plotting and meets with killers/conveniently manages to kill all the baddies of the week who know he's bad," the "Cecil is superspecial and has lots of extra powers and is a once-in-half-a-millenia-wizard" thing will get old fast if not resolved. i'd actually rather they focused more on her mother and why she's in prison, and Cecil trying to save her.
Magical Warfare 5-6: Episode 5 was annoying with all the focus on annoying romantic triangles. Episode 6 was much better with all the "friends/siblings/mentors as enemies" flying around. However...
"I'm jealous that the girl I like likes my brother so I'll join the enemy nd kill people" is a much much less interesting iteration of "siblings as enemies" than "My brother was abducted and brainwashed and doesn't remember me and thinks we're enemies and is trying to kill me, BUT I WILL SAVE HIM."
Just saying.
Nisekoi 4-6: I was very amused by the mtchmaking gangsters who get sparkles in their eyes as they plot. I was less amused by the swimming episode, which was largely an excuse for fanservice. But I'm very much in this one for the fakedating hijinks, of which there are plenty.
Noragami 5-7:
These episodes were mostly about Yukine trying to deal with being a regalia and relating to Yato and...I like Yukine quite a bit, but find him less interesting than Hiyori or Yato, and for god/regalia relationships, I am currently mostly interested in Bishamon and all her regalia, and how they work together. I did like, though, that Yukine's instinct was to abuse his newfound superpowers once he realized he had them.
And none of the above should be taken as a criticism! Because this is a delightful show on almost all levels, though I'm going to be very unahppy if it ends with Hiyori no longer able to see any of the rest of the cast once her connection to her body is fixed. Assuming the anime actually gets that far. i don't know how far ahead the manga is or what's been done, but i suspect the main arc of the second half of the anime is going to primarily deal with Yato's past and his history as a "god of calamity," and what happened between him and Bishamon's regalia.
The Pilot's Love Song 5-7:
-I think I enjoyed Claire's angsty backstory flashback more than Kal's. Which is not to say I disliked Kal's, but it was...standard "angsty exiled prince" fare. Granted, Claire's was a bit standard, too, but I'm curious to see what it was like growing up the figurehead of a government I'm not sure she completely believes in, and why she lost her powers. Though I'm betting it was having her sense of self affected when seeing wee!Kal's hatred made her realize she was there because it was the first time someone said her powers were a good thing, as opposed to being there beause it was the right thing to do. Though I'm not convinced it was the wrong thing to do, either, since I get the imopression that Kal's father wasn't exactly a good ruler to start with.
-Since this is supposed to be set in the same world as Rememberances for A Certain Pilot, though a number of generations later, I wonder if the silver wig is/was meant to make people think of Fana, who was supposed to be the greatest empress ever or some such.
-Ignacio, if you're supposed to be Claire's bodyguard, why are you spending more time with the redhead? (The answer to which is probably that Ariel drags him to all social things in a quest to obliterate his angst.) You'd also think that it would have been arranged for claire and Ignacio to be partnered up more if he's her bodyguard.
-All the fluff and fun with the kids and their restaurant insterspersed with the adults being GLOOM AND FUTURE DOOM should have clued me in that it was time for the Obligatory Death Of A Lovable Supporting Character.
-At last, we get to the airship battles. Which...are good, so far, save for that thing where bombs ounch all the way through a ship and THEN blow up. SUCH INTERESTING WEAPONRY THEY HAVE THERE. PHYSICS? WHAT PHYSICS?
-The "Holy Spring" stuff makes me think we're headed towards overlapping/linked worlds. (Maybe it's like Last Exile in more than general feel...)
Silver Spoon 2.3-2.6: Needs more of Hachiken spazzing over food. Seriously though, largely like season one, which is a good thing. The angst plot that threatened to rear its head in the first episode of the season has been backburnered, but will no doubt make a return for the last few episodes.
Wizard Barristers 4-6: As discussed in the comments on my previous post, this show could really stand to lighten up on the sexual harassment. Most of the worst of it is the talking frog (Why does he exist? WHY?) and the rest would be relatiely moderate for this type of anime, save that it;s from adults towards a teenager, most of that because she's a teenager, and so is young and cute.
That said, I'm very curious about what's going on, and am interested in most of the characters (even if I have yet to learn half the lawyers' names).
They hinted that Shizumu was bad in ep 3, but I wasn't expecting them to confirm it so quickly. I am noe sitting back, waiting for The Reveal and anticipating the "my partner is evil and now I must stop him" angstplosion. (And they can't keep the others in the dark for much longer, at the rate he's going.)
I also hope they get into what it's like to be sister's and one of you grows up to be a wizard who defends wizard criminals, and the other is a chain-smoking non-wizard who hunts wizards and likes probably-illegally-acquired-weapons. At least, I assume Ageha and Seseri are sister's, as they have the same family name according to wikipedia, and identical character designs, once you look past the fashion choices. I can't recall the show itself commenting on that, though.
Like "Shizumu is secretly plotting and meets with killers/conveniently manages to kill all the baddies of the week who know he's bad," the "Cecil is superspecial and has lots of extra powers and is a once-in-half-a-millenia-wizard" thing will get old fast if not resolved. i'd actually rather they focused more on her mother and why she's in prison, and Cecil trying to save her.