Animini: That Time I got Reincarnated as A Slime -Episode 17- The Gathering

Dear Island Guests.. Last episode from Slime was a fairly weak one that was very much saved by it’s good first half. The second half of the episode was very bad and bland however and to be honest I half expected this week’s episode to be the same. I was thinking with Milim  being introduced this show might have lost his shine  for me.. but what is that.. this week brought a glimmer of hope.   For this week I found Milim.. quite entertaining.

The Summary

Rimuru city has rathered the attention of several groups of people, this includes the humans of two countries and some of the demon lords. In this episode we see a lord travel to Rimuru to speak with him followed by those three human adventures that fought the Efreet along with Rimura and Shizuna. Like always these adventurers get in trouble but this time they seem to be rescued by  the mercenaries of another country!  As they prepare for a big battle Gobta steps in wanting to eat the creature that is giving them trouble.  He easily defeats it and the surprised humans are invited to join them at the village.  Before they arrive though there happens to be a little scuffle in town as a henchman of another demon lord shows up.

Phobio punches the face of Rigurd.. angry that he hurt the minions of her besty Milim beats the living daylight out of him.  Rimuru, wanting to prevent war, scolds her for it and she cries as she has to miss lunch!  Eventually he allows her to have lunch anyways as negotiations start. They don’t go well as Phobio refuses to believe a slime can be that powerful and he just wants to rule over the village instead. This doesn’t happen of course creating tension between Rimuru and the Demon Lords. Milim gets tricked into telling what she knows about these people in return for a new weapon.  A little later the humans arrive and they start negotiations as well seemingly going quite peaceful, talking about establishing trade.  Rimuru also wants the mercenaries to become his underlings and pretend like they defeated the Orcling with a friendly monster ally that kind of helped them in order to give him more favourable propaganda. The Merc agrees and joins team Rimuru.  We end the episode with a conversation between a demon lord and female clown discussing the release of a creature whose power can rival that of the Demon lords and with an evil grin the episode ends.

The Positives

This was a much better episode than the one that came before and it has to do with a much better pacing. I might have told the story out of order a bit above but that was mostly done to put all events on a kind of similar timeline.   However since we are dealing with two events.. three if we count the final scene we have a much more narrative episode.  Apparently the creators here can only keep a single plotline interesting for about 10 minutes and that is fine…. because of the comedy element you can not overplay your hand and need to drop a situation faster than you would in a drama situation and this episode does that very nicely.  The last episode.. not so much where the first part was the battle with Milim and the second part her settling in.. however the flaws she had were the same source of comedy for both thus it felt stale. While Milim is still that same character, there is more comedy than just her. Gobta one-shotting an immense creature, Rimuru not being able to convince a guy he is so much more powerful, the shock of the humans when they discover a slime is in an alliance with the dwarfs. 

The Milim comedy in this episode is pretty nice! Her explosive character and immense power here bring a contribution to the escalation of a situation.. yet in turn also provides usefulness. It’s an exchange.. The character is not just a detriment to the city.  I do like how the city advances. I told it before. .and in this episode we do see that happening again. We also see Shuna take a bit of a role as Hostess for guests in town and diplomatic meetings, so it is nice to see her step up. Overall all the characters really progress for the better in this episode and that is where the strength of this show lies. It’s a show about progress, getting stronger and a prettier village better roles. The comedy  is there to make it “not boring”  the action is there to pick up the pace and make stuff happen.. but by now we are actually watching to see a slime build his little “kingdom”  This episode really plays into that and it’s a very good episode because of it .

The Negatives

It is not an excellent episode though! There are some oversights I am willing to forgive but the fact that Eren and her group almost get no attention from Rimuru and kind of act reluctant to go back to him in the first place feels weird. They were on quite good terms, bonded together and they cried over the loss of a mutual friend. Here they are just background sprites and that bothered me quite a bit. The episode is pretty densely packed with content so I get why it happened but at least acknowledge them a bit. Gabiru being fine when he was punched by a Demon Lord seems a bit odd to me as well.. it turns out he is actually hurt and just toughing it out sure, but I am not sure if that is in line with his character or skill level. Then again they do make their potions so okay..  There does seem to be some inconsistent power scaling though.  It makes sense since everyone is so powerful, but I wish there was a bit more logic.

Milim is mostly fixed for me in this episode. She loses the skimpy outfit, her behaviour is less obnoxious. She isn’t exactly great though. Her being more powerful then Rimuru is not played into very well, the fear they have for Milim isn’t done very well.. she gets really downplayed in this episode. Sure she is easy to control but basically it is the group sitting on on nuke with a short fuse. Yet here she is just being treated like a spoiled child that can be pacified with a Sandwich.. it kinda takes the tension and the role of the character away. I can get it fading over time but the second episode after her introduction it’s a tad fast. Now she more feels like an exposition bomb. I was also quite annoyed that Eren was glossed over completly! I really like her character and her party.. yet this week they are just means to and end to string other characters together.

The Score

A much better episode, than last week, yet still one that has it flaws. It is however a very feel good episode and this is just such a smile inducing episode. I really love how the village and the little country grows and these new alliances are great and making enemies along the way makes sense. I just feel like there could be a little bit more consistency and care into the details, into the roles characters have. Let Milim be that nuke and seriously mess up things.. don’t half and half it. Let Eren be welcomed back into the village as the adorable klutz that is Rimuru’s link to the human world. Let Gabiru be the loser that constantly gets punched around.. don’t let him though things out.. put him in the hospital.. make it so that they constantly need to use potions on him!

That however is much more a gripe with the series as a whole then with this episode specifically.. on their own these offences aren’t that big. Sure I know it could use a bit more care, but I smile widely still. I loved the clumsy Eren scene , even if she wasn’t talked to by Rimuru, I loved seeing Vesta being so proud of his achievement and growing into another person. I love the small fixes to Milim showing that this really is a show about progress. It all felt satisfying from beginning to end! All those other gripes I have .. just stem from taking the cheap way out just a TAD to much rather than going for the well written option. So it’s a great episode but to cheap to be a star.

Pinkie Interviews Pinkie for her Birthday…except it’s the wrong interview!

Helly my Island guests it is my birthday today and I am turning 34.. or as I prefer to say it. Turning 21 for the 14th time.  It’s a special day for me! So I decided to make a post that goes live on my birthday! Obviously I will have to clean my house to receive some family as guests so I can’t do a whole lot of editing. Arceus forbid that my family sees some crummies. So I took inspiration from my random topic generator posts and decided to interview myself! I wanted stock celebrity interview questions.. but those are dang hard to find.. so this interview.. in the journalist sense.. is a job interview in format! Weird huh! Yay!

You are a new Addition to the Crayon Box, what colour would you be and why?!

For this  list I used 36 interview questions that are actually fun to answer. I hope I am reminded to put the link here!  This is the second question on this list and an obvious one for me to answer. I would be a #Ff89CD Crayon.  Pink is not a colour we often see in pens/pencils or crayons, it really is underrated. If we DO get it it happens to be a super hot pink colour or one of those skin colour things. But I want a nice piglike/soft pink! That is a niche and I would stand out..if I stand out I can sell myself.  When there is no one like me.. and I get appreciated I know it is because of me!  I am not the generic lightbulb .. I am that one weird thing that is super hard to get.  People will flock over me and I will be in control of my own uniqueness.

If you could be any animal in the world, what animal would you be and why?

I would be a duck! I like variation in my life. As a duck I can waddle through the park and eat some bread from lovely old people, I could bite  annoying little kids wearing slippers in the toe and I could just mosey about. I could also swim on the pond! Just float around bobbing for a fish or whatever I think is a fish!  When it gets cold I could just take flight and move to the south! With my fellow ducks!  I could still have a cartoony avatar in the style of Ducktales and I could  make adorable noises all day long.  Ducks are great! Even as a pet! I’d be white which means my owner could put pink clothes on me! Which is lovely! I like the combination of white and pink!  You really have to be mindful of what images you want to have and I think I can still be me as a duck!  Also I REALLY want to follow my old doctor for a week and constantly call him a quack! That would be super fun!

What is the last gift you have given to someone?

Since these are job interview questions I am going to be a bit bold here and say that the gift I gave was myself.  When we think of gifts we always think in terms of material goods, yet once one time is up you are not often reminded as “the girl who gave me that delicious bottle of wine” or “that guy who brought me flowers every week” . In the end what is oftenly more appreciated than that is the gesture itself. It’s the tiny things that matter. Inviting a friend over for coffee when you know they are having a bit of a rough time, sending a little message to check up on someone going through something important. In the end I truly hope that to people I matter more than the gifts I give them. That sounds like such a wimpy answer but while I am soon to get a few nice birthday gifts that will improve the quality of my life, over all I am more excited to see people again. Spend time together.   I hope I invoke that same sentiment and thus I think I am the true last gift I gave someone!

What was the last thing you watched on TV and why did you choose to watch it?

It was a movie called Seeking Justice. A movie in which Nic Cage’s wife gets raped and a mysterious stranger offers to settle the score for him.. seeing to it that the rapist gets justice. However he then finds himself entangled in a vigilante organisation that doesn’t  just clean up the streets but all watching eyes as well. He is tasked to murder a child-pornographer.. but it soon turns out things are not what they seem. Why did I watch it? Well because the episode of Ghost Hunters or Ghost Investigation.. or whatever  ..they are all the same show anyway..  was one I had already seen. Nic Cage’s acting is the second closest thing to otherworldly entities that I could see that night. I’ve seen lots of movies so at times it’s taking the scraps! That isn’t bad either, it is part of the world, you can’t always have it all. The movie wasn’t great by any means but with a bit of wine, some snacks and a cozy blanket it was a perfect night. 

What do you want to be when you grow up?

So.. this is where I’d blow the interview completely because I would make a lame joke. I would look at myself and say.. well if I grow.. beyond this.. I’d probably want to be skinnier again later on…. Then  I would probably spout the most liberal thing imaginable.  I would say… that  I do not believe in planning out once life.  Tomorrow you might be dead, over focussed ambition will only lead to deception. It is important to think about these things on as much of a Macro-Scale as possible. If I want to be a writer right now.. I do not aim to be a writer in ten years, I aim to have improved my writing skills. That way I know I will succeed and keep my options over. Perhaps writing isn’t for me anymore but I instead can use those skills to YouTube or to go into sales.  When you are heading towards a hard set goal, everything you need to do that isn’t in the straight line of that ..hurts.  If you have your eyes on the horizon but not on a fixed point you make just as much progress if not more but you drive yourself less crazy in doing so. So if there is one thing I want to be in the future.. it’s is to be  happy! 

What inspires you?!

Irina Senpai obviously!   Probably Lita and Naja as well… Scott too although in a slightly different way…. but in all seriousness I do think inspiration can be gotten from just about anything as long as you keep an open mind. Calling back to the previous questions, if I would aspire to be a writer, perhaps I have to be inspired by Tolkien or George R. R. Martin, whose writing isn’t even that good.  Yet without a hard set vision of the future I could also get the inspiration from the next Anne Geddes,  who might put some flowers in  a typewriter.   If you are not inspired you might be apathetic I do not have to act on all inspiration, but even the most random person on the street may teach me something.

One might be able to teach me how to greet you in Armenian, another may be able to teach me how to recognise some bird calls while yet another can tell me how to break into a house. Depending on what future me wants I can find inspiration in any or none of these. However, it is really hard to find a nice picture too so I will just tell you where I won’t find inspiration and that is in religion. I am happy people can find support into their beliefs but I find it so that is we try to find shared answers to the big questions in our life they often fit less. So if you ever find me inside a church it is because of the fact that I do on occasion enjoy Gospel music. I will not be inspired but I will be amused.

If you woke up and had 2000 unread emails and could only answer 300 of them how would you choose how to answer them?

rpggame, rpgdice, Dice, gamingdice

I’d use a random number generator. Because I am going to assume this also means I can only read 300. If not instead of reading them all I would just read and answer half.  Is there a risk I miss something very important that way sure, if I do it by random number generator even more so. Yet importance is only in the eye of the beholder. A person asking.. hey I am feeling a bit blue, could you maybe send a cute cat picture might need that cat picture much more than Raistlin needs his answer if he can join my STAFF. We measure ourselves to common ideas so much that often we lose our way with those.  Yes it seems more important to answer your mother but who knows a stranger might be in mortal peril and just clicked on the first link on his dying phone to send for help from anyone really! While in reality it might not be so extreme .. appreciation is a subjective good. 

As long as you don’t leave everything to the final email someone will remind you of the really important stuff. That “reputation” you keep by never being late with a reply to colleagues is neat.. for you but is it for that friend who just got divorced asking if they can over to netflix and maybe a comfort hug?!  The same thing goes for things like charities, if I spend my money on Green Peace I can not spend it on Amnesty.. I can prioritise what I want but I am also aware that Amnesty still thinks I am cheap if I choose Greenpeace over them.. so if I decide by sheer randomness. I never chose against anybody and that is pleasant way to live.

House of Random - 209 Magazine

Estimate how many windows there are in New York

There are 8,336,817 people living in New York. I give an estimate of roughly twelve windows per person exisisting. A new York place in New York I’d Roughly estimated from childhood to have four windows, plus one window for their working space. This is shared with many people so hence the low average.   Two windows on average for their car.. but also those of taxis, busses and subways.  Four for all the commercial buildings a citizen uses.  Given that those are shared amongst many people but oftenly have sooo many windows I’d say this is fair. .  Then there is one window per new york citizen that is static.. between people. The window in a bus stop, the windows of a train station, between you and the person selling your ticket, the cinema guy, the drive through person. Then you add the Ctiziens of new York once more plus 50/75% if you count Microsoft Windows. Yet I do not! Thus this leads me to believe there are about 100,041,804 windows in New York.

Who would win in a fight between Spider-man and Batman?

It depends on how this fight unfolds, if Batman gets preptime and can research Spiderman before their fight starts he has a fair shot at the win. In a spontaneous fight.. with both having no idea of each other’s abilities Spider-man will win.  Depending on the version of Spiderman the match will be a close call or a beatdown.   An unprepared Batman has to analyse first and will endure blows in the first part of the match. Spider-man however can rely on his Spider-Sense and can keep his stamina up. 

Peter Parker also has great analytical abilities so while Batman would eventually pull ahead in terms of knowledge, the added mobility Spider-man has with his own mind will make it hard for Batman to compete.  If we take Sam Rami spiderman for example his web is near infinite, while Batman’s gadgets are very finite. Spider-man can just stall outl Batman. Once he tossed his last Batarang he has very little counter options.  Miles Morales  Spiderman even has some crippeling abilities that Batman has no counter for in case he does not bring the correct tools.  Like the bio-electricity punches.Almost all Spider-man-men have been people of great minds, including Otto Ocatvius so Batman’s biggest advantage against his normal foes gets partially negated here.  

However a prepared Batman..matches up to Superman and even has beaten Superman twice or and there is now way Spiderman  except for Cosmic Spiderman can be put in that league. He has tools for every type of enemy and can prepare for this in a relatively short time.. so if the fight is staged he will ALWAYS win. However in a random encounter .. assuming he has no knowledge of Spider-man as he does not exist in his universe, he will almost always lose. Realistically only standing a chance against Venom Suit Spiderman as he can easily defeat him with a single gadget. 

A penguin walks through the door right now! He is wearing a Sombrero, what would he say and what is he doing here?

Oh my Arceus.. that is not a regular penguin! That is El Hermano Pingüino Loco! He is here because I paid him to kill that last interviewer that would not hire me! I got really salty! He told me his job was not done in the end.. Please RUN RUN AWAY!.RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!.. He gets weaker if you Hopscotch! Please Hop away I will hold him off for now!  I will use my ultimate technique! KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA………
MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE……..HAAAAA….

I would get that job!  If you think I would be rejected for the job interview that I used as my celebrity interview then please support making a small donation to my Kofi! It will give you the job of Coconut! If you just pretended to have read my blog and have no idea if I would have gotten the job or not you can also consider supporting my Kofi as a birthday gift! I’ll take comments as well though! Happy Birthday to me and Happy Happy to you! I hope you have a great one!

Animini: Samurai Flamenco – Episode 18 – Flamenco in Space

Samurai Flamenco has always been a show that had hits and misses for me .. though it had more hits.  Now this episode does something I haven’t really experienced yet, it made me feel conflicted. On the one hand this is a stellar episode that concludes the story of Samurai Flamenco beautifully!  It could have been the perfect final episode… except… this isn’t the final episode… and it isn’t perfect either……. Had this been the final episode I would not have minded the imperfections and loved it to bits and would it not have been for those weird imperfections I would not have minded that there was more to this story still. 

The Summary

We pick up where we left off in the last episode with Samurai Flamenco and his allies standing outside  the government building staring at the flying saucer of Alien Flamenco.  The group discusses their action plan when the Alien shows up and shows them a vision. Our favourite Gadget guy recognises this as a vision.. which makes the Alien impressed. He invites Masayoshi over to his spaceship to  discuss the fate of the world. For this he summons a door that will lead the crimson hero into the spaceship! This is it the final fight!   The group discusses whether or not this is a trap , for some reason even including the Prime Minister in this debate. Eventually it is Goto who says that the fear of death never stopped Masayoshi before and it should not stop him now.. he is the only person who can save earth right now as he is the true hero!  This prompts Masayoshi to indeed go inside the alien spaceship and  soon he finds himself sitting at one of those typical Japanese Waterfronts.. you know green hills, a canal and a bridge in the distance.. the one you lay in to think about life with a sprig of green in your mouth!

Alien Flamenco reveals he wants to assimilate humanity inside himself.. he is actually 5 billion people that have evolved past the point of needing a physical body as such and his goal is to bring peace to everyone by evolving them beyond a need for violence, only then will there truly be peace. Masayoshi is given a stone .. the same he ripped from King Torture and it is told that it can make him evolve.  All he needs to do is focus on evolving and him and humanity will be at peace and be assimilated by Alien.  Of course our hero refuses this which prompts the spacemenman  to try and kill him. Masayoshi finds the evolution stone he tossed earlier and doesn’t use it to evolve but to grow giant. The two  Sentai then have a space battle.. on the moon. Which seems to have Masayoshi critically injured. However he realises why the offer of Alien Flamenco did not sit well with him.. Humanity needs to grow and learn.. not to evolve.. with this he gains a new special attack and Uppercuts Alien Flamenco away.. seeming dying himself on the moon. He then wakes up in Sunshine Sentai’s house who reveals he is not Sunshine.. but the will of the Galaxy! Offering some deeper insights and offering Masayoshi a choice. New enemies for the next billion years.. or going back to normal life. The hero chooses the later saying his job was not to fight evil but make the world a better place.. and he can still do that. He gets sent back to earth and tells Goto he went to the moon!

The Positives

This would have been one of the best show endings i have seen in a while.. so obviously it means it also is a great arc ending/ episode ending. There is no doubt about that right?!  I am not sure really, the epsiode does some VERY amazing things that is for sure.  The way everything ends up full circle.. King Torture, From Beyond,  and Alien .. they all are linked in a manner I did not really find intrusive or forced even. It felt earned.  The journey of Masayoshi up to this point is explained and it has left me very impressed. The way things spiral out of control from simple to galaxy breaking reminded me of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, my favourite anime of all time so that never is bad.  There is so much good writing in it, even now still reminding me of Tarintino’s way of writing dialogue.. and since this episode is so dialogue heavy  that really makes it shine! Even the joke that Flamenco is eventually nothing special.. it is just a word that has a 0,00000002% chance of granting a wish…but mostly it’s something like the town Eromanga in Australia. Something that has a different meaning in another language and thus becoming something it is not.. that was pretty funny.

The sound design of this episode was stellar. The sound that plays when the group is talking under the saucer felt completely unworldly and sold  the whole space theme and strange  threat of the situation so incredibly well. Masayoshi’s voice acting this week also made an impression. He has to convey a very difficult emotion .. he has to disagree with someone..with a passion.. but not being sure why he disagrees. He just knows in his gut that what is being said is wrong. It comes out excellent, I don’t speak Japanese but I could still hear both the fire in his heart and the doubt in his mind. Truly excellent work. The use of colour underneath the UFO also really impressed me , giving everyone a bit of an unreal glow with a light that doesn’t fully seem to match with what we see making it even less feel of this  world.  The final attack, the little cues it for the most part was amazing. 

The Negatives

I hate that this is not the last episode though, I already had assumed it would go beyond this as I did not think they could drag out Alien Flamenco for more than a few episodes.. but this had me very conflicted. I felt so strongly about it that I even considered dropping the show at this point and not watching the final four episodes.. because no way in heck the show is gonna top this. So this leaves me a bit bitter and having lost confidence in the future.  It is a weird gripe to have that this episode is basically just too good to be in the middle but it is the truth.  Imagine adding the first 55 seconds of Queen’s Best friend at the end of Bohemian Rhapsody and making that the new Rhapsody.. it would not nearly be in as many hitlists then!

I said there were a few gripes I had with the episode as well and it all has to do with Alien Flamenco.  Taking Masayoshi to a japanese canal felt really out of place for me.. using a trope that is relevant only in Japan.. while he already has the entire rest of the world. I don’t buy it.  The setting isn’t even used that well.  Yet what is more annoying is Alien Flamenco’s constant use of Engrish..  “Sit Down”  .. “Listen to me” . Why?!  He did not do that before.. I mean sure he was using the American hero  as a disguise but even then he did not really do that. It just felt so annoying. Take Jojo’s adventure for example who also make Jospeh use a lot of English things.. first of all he is genuinely english unlike Alien.. secondly those moments are played for comedy and not during heartfelt talks where dialogue is super important.  I never cringe but this one made me do it.. to a point at the first 7 minutes that I thought.. well they compltely ruined this episode with that shit…. but then the show picks up and becomes one of the best episodes yet….. 

The Score

So honestly I am not sure what to do with this score. It both had some of the weakest and some of the strongest moments in the show.. and normally I deem an episode is good or not based on how much I want to see the next episode! I very much want to NOT see the next episode… but not because the episode was bad. This is complicated! The show genuinely made me feel.. and I do kind of want to see if Goto’s girlfriend will ever reveal her face.. but I am kind of done with Masayoshi’s story. I would have given this episode the benefit of the doubt if the Alien Flamenco dialogue wasn’t so cringe worthy. I actually hated that.. and I normally kinda enjoy Engrish in anime.

In the end I will base my grade by comparing this episode by comparing it to a very delicious and clear broth.  It is a very flavourful episode and it’s very clear as well, we see everything that is inside and how it relates to each other. This is a star quality soup! However it has been garnished with stale croutons. Something added to just to give it a little playful element floating in between backfires and makes it just annoying to fish those weak bits out.  It’s a bit of a hassle  but I might be able to forgive that still.. however the Soup is so good that you know in advance that chicken cordon bleu that is coming next will disappoint you.  It might not taste bad.. but it has less room to be amazing based on what it is.. thus the soup might not really fit the menu.. despite it being so tasty! If I had judge the menu.. the soup would be the odd duck out and I would mark it down for it.. and  that is why .. this episode is just fine…despite being amazing.

When Four Fish Beat Pokémon Sapphire

Hello Island Guests! Normally I don’t really do “news”  updates posts anymore! Yet last week a story happened in the world of Pokémon that is too fun not to tell! It might not be my most insightful post in the topic but with this post I will tell you how a fish beat Pokémon Sapphire. I might be wrong on some details because the stream was in Japanese and did not gather a huge audience. This information is a bit scarce or “google translatish ” So if you happen to be an expert on the subject.. let it be known that this is just an account from what I heard and experienced myself.

Pinkie?! How can a fish play Pokémon?

Well it all started in June when a YouTube channel named the Yutekimaru channel started streaming images of a fish swimming above what look like a strange sort of control scheme featuring several game boy advance button commands and what seemed to be Pokémon Sapphire.  It turns out that this fish, which is called Maurice and his friends already had been swimming in this tank for over 700 hours beating the first two gyms. Now let it be known that the version of Sapphire being played here is modded. Because of the fact that this translates very poorly I have no idea what exactly has been changed with the mod, but I would assume it takes complicated tasks such as activating hm’s away from the fish and it would cut down a tree and surf even if it doesn’t have the right pokémon.  Again.. I am not sure but that’s what I would do.

Because of how the stream only started SEVEN HUNDRED hours into the gameplay a few details were sketchy. And given that the stream itself lasted for 3185 hours still ..it is very hard to find a reference point on how something works exactly. It somehow managed to get a full team of 6 pokemon, beat all 8 gyms and even make its way through victory road and fight the elite four. All by random button inputs. It’s a lot like Twitch plays Pokémon.. just less chaos.. but also no sentient brain. It is completely random button inputs! But yes.. After many many hours of streaming the fish took down the champion.

That sounds kinda cruel to animals Pinkie?!

Actually it wasn’t that bad, the fish were allowed to go to sleep whenever they wanted, the keeper would swap them out if they looked tired or too confused, and several times during the stream he has made quality of life improvements for the fish based on crowd feedback.  For example the tank he used has increased in size since the start of the game when people commented the tank/fish ration was kind of wonky.   Evidence that emerged afterwards showed that Maurice and his friends were all doing really well and were quite happy little fish. People commenting would immediately have their comments validated and Maurice and friends were given proper treatment… the only one who was cruel to animals was Maurice!

You see Pokémon are animals too and Maurice hounded wild encounters down like it was nothing! It kept encountering so many new Pokémon that by the end he was nearly 20 levels stronger than Steven’s ace pokémon. It has hunted so many Pokémon that the Fish Squad encountered not ONE but THREE shinies!  Let it be known that I have been playing Pokémon ever since I was twelve years old.. and for 21 years now ( I am still 21 by the way)  and I have only encountered TWO shinies.  (Not including Shiny boosted fan games) .  The game Maurice played had NO increased shiny rates. So the chances of him encountering a shiny are 1 in 8195 or something close to that number

Meanwhile both shinies I have encountered so far in my life have been with boosted shiny rates. Counting all hours I have spent over all Pokémon games in my life, I think I would most likely have played over 3000 hours of Pokémon myself… well or something close to.Yet Maurice has more shiny luck then me!  Reee!  What is worse is .. A fish isn’t good at capturing a Pokémon. It is a miracle if he can catch anything.. so yeah when he faced the shinies.. he immediately killed them.. or even worse… he ran away. Shiny Zubat, Shiny Aron and Shiny Zigzagoon have all been passed that way… and to make it even more painful.. Shiny Crobat.. the evolution of Zubat is one of my favourite Pink shines ever.. and Shiny Aron is one of my favourite non Pink shines. ……

Wait Pinkie are you Salty at a fish?!

What… n-n-no! Baka! I would never.. it is just a dumb fish.. it just got dumb luck you know! Now  drop it or I will wack you with an aquarium or something! Baka! … Now if you are familiar with Pokémon.. you may notice something about the encounters i described.. these are all early route Pokémon.. and yes that is right.. all of these were encountered within 200 hours from each other……….Now I know I put more hours into pokémon than that!  With no shinies captured the squad moved further through the game. While the fish isn’t exactly setting any speed running records there is something that the aquatic creature did that NO ONE before has done in the game. That is right.. the fish accidentally discovered something NO one has ever managed to find in Pokemon Ruby or Sapphire.

Maurice and Pals discovered a stone duplication glitch.. that since seems to have been confirmed to be actually in the non modded version of the game as well…. Maurice.. is the first “person” in the world to discover a Stone Duplication glitch, in which a rock you roll around with strength instead of moving to the next tile stays in the tile it used to be in.. while creating a duplicate stone.. on the tile where it is going. This of course broke the puzzle and Maurice was stuck.. but it also caused the glitch to be acknowledged. So not only is Maurice the first fish that beat Sapphire.. it is also the first fish to find a “game breaking” glitch and will probably be marked as the one discovering the glitch… and it has encountered more shinies then me! How friggin unfair! Roughly around 2000 people followed it’s adventures near the end…so he even has more followers than me… 

How can a Fish beat the Elite Four?!


Well it wasn’t easy!  It took Maurice and friends roughly 16 attempts to have a winning run but the way Maurice beat the game is incredible…. he beat the game with a Water Type. Walrein was the victor! It chose Torchic as it’s starter so as far as I know there were little shenanigans on that front. There was also a Tentacruel and a Mightyena on the team.. and a Swellow I think so it wasn’t even that great of a team.. but by overleveling the first aquatic pokémofans managed to sneak on through!  Maurice’s strategy was to spam Iceball , a move that repeats itself and gains in strength. Perfect for such a randomiser.. While it seems too powerful of a move for Maurice to put on  this Pokémon himself.. he still managed to select the move and defeat all of Steven’s monsters in a perfect string. Right before that toxic ended the fish run… but yes a fish beat Pokémon with a water type. It feels so unreal to say.

Regardless of how much help the fish may have gotten, in the end it did manage to beat the game and do something quite unique. Depending on  if the 3185 hour mark is full game time or steam time, accounts differ a bit on that, that total amount of hours made it so that Maurice and his three friends needed 10x as much time to beat the game as Twitch plays Pokémon.. which already was pure chaos. If you have seen ANYTHING about that game  you know how much that game did NOT move forward. How much things did not pan out.. Well 4 fish are 10x slower than 35.000 people spamming in chat apparently. So the answer on how a fish beat Pokémon… Not Very Effectively. 

Was it entertaining to watch?

No! It was quite horrible! I stumbled upon it once and I think I lasted twenty minutes before I got sub-dermal itches and stuff. You know it’s like seeing your grandma play the most recent Doom game.  Stuff is happening but it hasn’t anything to do with the actual game and you can not help but to backseat the game a lot.. yet nothing changes.. You can yell … GO left! Left! All you want but that ain’t causing Maurice to stop swimming. He just keeps swimming, just keeps swimming.. and the entire Dory stick.. Maurice did! Is the stream worth the watch?! … No! Chat was nearly exclusively in Japanese so there were no interactions to be had,  and the fish beat the game about 100x slower than normal. Imagine Watching all extended cuts of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit combined.. played at 80 times slow motion with the rest of the screen time filled with extra duplicates of non exciting scenes. A few polish people are watching it.. but they only speak polish and already seem drunk and have a lot of insider humor because some seem to have watched so much of this… 

With that level of entertainment I can not recommend anyone in good faith to watch this. Even the summary news reports are kind of boring. Yet it is insane in the same vein.. it is completely random content and there is a market for that… not too big because Maurice did not even come close to the crowd that Twitch plays Pokémon drew.  Most of the times the number of viewers were in the hundreds. Plenty of fish activists , plenty of very hardcore Pokémon fans that stared at four fish for to long. This is one of those events that is incredibly entertaining for me to know .. yet it’s also something I would for the life of me not spend any more time on than I already did.  Imagine a magikarp.. as most of you know it has the move splash if you click it .. nothing happens. This game is the equivalent of a Magikarp using all his splashes and then struggling to make progression.. wiping out get his pp restored and starts splashing again .. for 3000 hours. 

For those of you who want to know.. this finally Maurice is a Siamese Fighting Fish.. It is a very pretty fish. It’s a fish that costs you about €10 or $12. It is also known as a Betta Splendens.. and making a fish play Pokémon I guess is a pretty Beta thing to do. You aren’t getting a lot of tail with those bragging rights! Yet Maurice has been featured on several gaming websites over the world , so at least it got its fifteen minutes of fame. I am not sure if fifteen minutes of fame are worth 191.700 minutes of random streaming action.. but hey! If you in your live have never beaten Pokémon Sapphire .. or a main-line Pokémon game ever.. know you will have to live with the fact.. that a fish beat you to it!.. If you have never beaten Pokémon Leaf Green.. you have about 3000 hours to do so because Maurice and his friends are now playing that game! He chose Bulbasaur as his Starter.. the madlad.. but we are 35 hours in and he hasn’t left Pallet Town since!

Animini: Digimon Adventure – Episode 11 – The Wolf Standing Atop the Desert

A new week, a fresh badge of Animini! We take it from the top and start again with Digimon Adventure. Where last week’s episode ended up to be one of the weaker episodes in the series, this episode is arguably it’s counterpart.. with some very interesting choices and development. I still stand by my point that a series as Digimon doesn’t have to be nearly as good as it is!  Yet this show ends up constantly surprising me!

The Summary

Last episode we saw the group encounter the black Miasma. It is in the way of the direct path of the stronghold the group is going for. Since the group HAS to make it to that location they split up to make sure at least one group will most certainly reach it’s destination. For this random names have been drawn.  Tai-chi leads group one followed by Koshiro and Mimi and Yamato leads the second group with Joe and Sora tagging along. Now I am not sure how random this is as both groups have .. A flyer,  a geek, a girl,  and a powerhouse… but sure!  It will be interesting to see Yamato and Sora interact.   This weeks episode focusses on the adventures of Yamato’s group…(who would have expected it with that episode title) .. the group has to cross a Desert…. They quickly find out small ADORABLE little digimon are being attacked by dragonfly digimon that can summon dust devils.. but also a creature that is lurking beneath the sand. While the Dragonfly’s get killed by whatever is beneath the sand the group realises that this monster.. might have the strength of an ultimate.

Taking shelter after being mostly outclassed the group discovers that more Digmon here are refugees from the evil creature that is known as Scorpiomon Apparently they attempted to flee towards a digmon called Leomon.. who is known as a resistance fighter taking up the fight against those responsible for the black Miasma.. and with that we get a huge reference and potentially later story point! I love Leomon!  Sora and even Joe want to escort these little guys to safety but Yamato  argues they are dead weight and will slow them down too much for their journey. When Sora insists on saving them he leaves the group! Gabumon tells him he should reveal his secret to the group.. but Yamato keeps on walking. Sora and Joe end up in a fight with Scorpiomon and end up on the losing side, just to be saved in the last moment by Garurumon. Seeing his Digimon in trouble.. and Gabumon being all Yamato says he needs.. makes him think of all the bonds that have strengthened him.. even those of his allies. He realises the power in friendship and this allows us to see WereGarurumon for the first time as the second chosen one gets his ultimate. The fight is won and Yamato reveals he used the group as bait and never planned to abandon his friends. He then tells the group of his secret.. he has a brother named Takeru (TK) who is his reason for fighting. 

The Positives

Where to Start?! This episode was amazing!  Mimi has an adorable moment with Palmon, when it is revealed that Mimi can’t climb once again showing this show goes out of his way to diversify the group. They can’t all do the same thing. The idea to pair her up with Koshiro and Taichi to which in the original story she has the “least” connection is also quite interesting.  Seeing Sora and Yamato travel together is interesting for a whole other reason!  
It also makes sense to let Taichi go for the shorter ..but more uncertain route while letting Yamato have the  longer but more controllable route. The way Yamato uses the group as resources yet cares makes his crest of friendship (even though they do not need to collect the item)  so much more interesting and earned this time. The way Gabumon is the primary instigator and the group in general.. more so then his relation to Taichi .. works! Sora having the crest of love makes her a perfect defender of the innocent and Joe wanting to be a doctor not being able to turn out these creatures in need of help and overcoming his fear yet again shows amazing commitment to these characters. Everyone is so much more fleshed out and this episode gives everyone a small moment yet again.. though pushing Taichi a bit aside.. which is perfect because the show needed that.

The music and the cinematography of this episode is amazing as well. The Ultimate battle theme was amazing and with the choreography of the battle added it really lifted the excitement of this episode.  The show is being quite creative with how wounds work on digital characters as well. While not new  to the series it is really used well here! I was also really happy to see Bearmon/Kumamon .. one of the available partners Digimon from Digimon World 3 and while I usually go with Kotemon in that game, I was very happy to see him acknowledged. The show isn’t afraid to dig into the expanded library of the current Digimon world!  The mention of Leomon is great as well! I look forward to seeing more about that! The show does something quite amazing in terms of visual references and other little easter eggs and snippets of knowledge and this episode had some really good ones.  I think it really showcases a great love for the franchise that at times is palpable and here it most certainly is. If the makers had a Biyomon I am sure it would be a Garudamon already!

The Negatives

So here I am fangirling about Digimon a lot, do I have any negatives? Well I guess I would have liked to seen a stock footage digivolution of anyone but Gabumon or Agumon.. but it doesn’t matter THAT much, that Digivolution animation still is really amazing and the way the show manages to make it feel hype and much more choreographed in the battles.. rather than the more stand alone digivolutions of the original. Still there is some favouritism here and once again it shows it’s colours.  Now this is a Gabumon focussed episode so this is no real gripe.. but I have to mention at least something. Another thing is why Takeru is hidden in the shadows. I know some people haven’t seen him yet.. but we only see a Silhouette when his brother remembers him.. which just feels odd.. you know what your brother looks like..  most of us watching probably will know as well.

 Another small gripe I have is how these new Digivices work. Besides evolving your Digimon they can also power it up, which I think is a neat feature. Yet the animation for powering it up also uses this glowing ring in a similar fashion that Super-Evolution works.  In this episode Birdramon gets a filled ring and it results in her getting a super powerful attack.. a Moba player would call it an “ultimate”   I would have liked to see it a bit more visually distinguishable.. The digivice has several segments of “led”  lights that light up in subsequent order and if they move fast enough and all are lit at the same time.. stuff happens.  Whatever the stuff is. I would have loved it if digivolution used that pattern while powered attacks had a single segment glow up in increasing intensity.. or several.. but at least something that conveys a difference so we can get what is coming next. That would make this show even better!

The Score

So it should be quite clear that with negatives like those that this episode will get a high grade. I oftenly found myself leaning into the screen in excitement! This show captures that childhood spirit but at such a high pace that almost every episode feels rewarding and this Episode packs more punch that most of the previous episodes and I am not even that much of a Yamato person.  I bet you all can guess my favourite character quite easily!  Based on the cliffhanger this week I might be in for a treat next week! So if I wasn’t exicted enough this episode also gave me next week to look toward too a perfect ending for a nearly perfect 20 minutes.

Thus it should come as know surprise that this one will get the highest grade in my flavour meter. While not flawless it comes darn close, and while I would love to see an episode of peace and calm.. it just isn’t that type of show. It is something I disliked in the past but if the action is done like THIS  and they keep making smart choises I certainly will not mind.

The Paradise Weekly Gazette 1: 9 to 15 November

Konichi-what’s up Slappers and Island Guests. It is sunday so usually we would feature the Saturday Anime Adventure Post here! But I tore that to shreds and started something new! With Daily anime reviews plus additional content most days we are more lively then ever! Today we will look at that content as well as some updates on the personal front of yours truly!

The Animinis

This week was the first week we featured the torn up variant of the new series, Animini. Following the old shows of the Saturday Morning Adventure as well as two brand new ones! I will  feature them all here in case you missed them! Click on the cocktail to revisit them!

Digimon Adventure (2020)- Episode 10 – The Steel Solid Super Evolution

Samurai Flamenco – Episode 17 –  Ultimate Prime Minister

That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime – Episode 16 – Demon Lord Milim Attacks

Flip Flappers – Episode 11-  Pure Storage

Hikaru No Go -Episode 21- Haze Middle School Go Club

Natsume Book of Friends -Episode 1-  The Cat and the Book

Cowboy Bebop – Episode 1- Asteroids Blues

My favourite watch this week was Flip Flappers but overall we had a very strong anime lineup this week. Digimon took a bit of a dip for me this episode and Slime left me unimpressed due to relying too much on boob jokes and a non progressive episode.  Overall I had a great week! Cowboy Bebop offered the biggest surprise for me, but it also made me snack the most!

Pinkie’s Other Posts

I have been the only one posting this week so normally I would post the staff’s post after the Animini’s and before my own.. ..as that’s how I formatted it but this week we jump straight into my other posts.  Overall, maybe nothing that special but I had a lot of fun making these.
What did I do this week?!

I played Pokémon Rejuvenation and really REALLY liked it.

I  showed people what my new house looks like!  Including a little summary of all the pink Elements.

I talked about the types of games that I really like!

I wrote the fifth part of my own Isekai series..  set in a world that is loosely based on the world of Blogging.  

I wrote this summary! If you feel like linking back to this post.

Camp Coconut Updates

The Coconuts have been keeping rather quiet this week! King Coconut the Holy Mailman is doing a fine job keeping the others in line. Yet the Shy Coconut  made a serious attempt at the throne a few weeks ago before these updates started so that had to be said.  We also have gained the bookworm Coconut fairly recently! So there is that.  The Shy Coconut is due for a costume update but I need to find a set up in my new house that lands itself to using Photoshop a bit better.   It will follow soon though! 

Thanks for all the Coconuts for being there for me and your continued support If you want to learn more about Camp Coconut you can click on this link! With a little love you can  even become a coconut yourself! 

Posts that Impressed Pinkie

These are some of the posts around the interwebz that really impressed me! To keep it in the style of my other reports click on the picture to visit their posts!

Curstis , The Iridium Eye, Ospreyshire reached 400 posts on his blog this week!  Please all visit him to say congrats!  And check out some of his amazing foreign movie content!

Everybody loves Scott.. and now we finally have an explanation as to why!  Scott tells us the secrets to his blogging awesomeness

Nabe talked about Angelic Layer! Another classic I have never seen! Yet a Hotpot of all people made me want to take a peek at it!

Raist alongside Mallow are our resident good guys! The bearded one of the two however REALLY seems to dig violence at lot as well and I love it! He has a great taste in action movies! In movies in general! There is something deliciously popcorny about his reviews and this one is no exception.

Pinkie Away From Keyboard

In my real life things have been looking up for me a lot. I have settled into my new place in comfort now and am happy to report that I am good as done with tasks in the house. After I write this I will go out and look for some Christmas ornaments and little knick knacks to decorate my house with a bit further. I am so happy I finally have space, and there are no stabbings, murders  or assaults happening in my flat.  There is not even any drug trafficking in the parking lot! Woot!  This has come to an advantage of my bed rest. I am happier in my bed again… which results weirdly in me feeling that I need to catch up with lots of sleep. 
In my old apartment I never felt as relaxed.. so awake was awake.. here I just crawl back in again and sleep for another hour! .. I am also having a lot of fun in my living room so it does help as well.. I stay up a whole lot longer.

This weekend I had some people coming over to visit my house and celebrate my birthday! It’s busy..because Covid prevents me from inviting big groups of people over.. yet all my friends and family also mentally need to see me a bit so there is a weird situation I am in now. Not to much people.. but all these people wanting to see me.. need some contact so it’s a bit of work to plan people in..but do it safely! Yet I am mostly pulling it off!  I try to combine it with something practical such as a friend helping me do bigger groceries, because I lack a car, a friend helping me do the electrics etc. I would need people over for that anyway.. so this way I do it once instead of twice.

My online text based tabletop returned this week and I was very happy about that, some people make way to many assumptions and get the group into trouble .. which can be annoying since they basically want to make sure they have a central role in the story.. while we are currently discovering the backstory of another character and confronting the bad behaviour of another. I tried to discourage it but this player needs to be in the spotlight a lot and tends to stall the plot a lot of complicate actions a lot to make use of their powers.. to a level that they would use it to open a door.. basically.  Which is kind of vexing!



I’ve been cooking a lot more.. in my new Kitchen.. I can do that! Which is another huge plus of my new location! I made some great spicy spaghetti this week .. and I almost set myself on fire. One burner is broken in my new house so I leaned over to hear if I could at least hear the gas coming out.. I forgot however I already  lit the burner in front of it since there was a dry pan on it… I smelled something bad and saw a flame in my hair.. Which I need to get fixed at the Salon at some point but for now I can just camouflage it by wearing my hair in a ponytail. I do love the fact that I can rummage around in the kitchen again.. but I also notice it does eat a bit away from my day! And I spend more on groceries! I feel healthier though as I get better food!

In being here I already had more contact with my neighbours than I had in six years in my old flat. Which is kinda weird.. I do feel totally socially awkward because of it though.. people actually wanting to talk… NANI?!  I am sure it will be alright though! Over all I am having a lot of fun at the new place.. my walks have made me become lost quite a few times.. *cough 60%*  I soon will know the entire environment though. 

Plans

So for the next week I might be a bit short on posts. Birthday stuff and all! I did a few posts already ahead of time.. but with my vacation. in setteling in.. most of my pre-worked stuff got eaten! I am playing Deponia and I do plan to finish it this week.

Other than that December will be a themed month! I am currently in the search for themes. I am just not getting anywhere.. not knowing if I want to go to Christmassy for the theme… that feels a bit cheap. I am currently playing with ideas of a Space theme, A Steam Punk Theme or a Pirate Theme. Of course all of you can suggest themes as well! Next week the Twitter of Paradise will have poll of topics! This week.. you can determine what kind of theme month we will see on Paradise! So don’t be a stranger and let your theme suggestion be known in the commens! Keep it broad.. I can’t really do a lit with Pink Loafs of Stale Bread as a theme!

Now.. it’s time to leave you, for the week! I hope you had a great week, both on Paradise and outside Paradise and I hope you will have an amazing next week! If you are like.. Jeesz.. I really want Pinkie to keep me in mind this next week.. consider supporting my Ko-Fi! Not only will yoy become a Coconut and I have to make you an avatar and text.. I will also be really grateful. Yet a sweet comment might also do it!

Animini: Cowboy Bebop -Episode 1- Asteroid Blues

It’s the end of the week again my dear island guests. Concluding my weeks worth of anime daily reviews should be something special! So I decided to fill the 7th slot with classic anime I haven’t watched yet.  The first one Cowboy Bebop! I didn’t even know it was set in space before I watched this episode!  So I was very surprised. I was also surprised that the gritty thing isn’t normally for me.. I must say I quite enjoyed this first episode.

The Summary

We are introduced to Spike and his Co-Worker/ Bounty Hunting Fellow Jet. They live on a spaceship called Cowboy Bebop. Down on their luck they take a lower end bounty to hunt a man named Asimov. A drug runner type who killed all his friends and took off to some asteroid thing… I think!  Jet tells Spike he made Bellpeppers and Beef but unfortunately they are too poor to afford beef, so they just eat noodles and bell peppers. This prompts a reluctant Spike to take on the bounty that he did not deem worth his time before and he travels to a world/place with heavy Western themes. Here we find out that Asimov is trying to sell drugs.. called Bloody Eyes or something.. An Eyedrop drug that makes you hyper aware.. it’s not said to be drugs… but it’s drugs!  He clearly is addicted and tripping out on them.. killing people in a bar brutally! He is accompanied by a woman who looks to be pregnant. Of course it doesn’t take too long for Spike to track them down! Mostly because he had a Indian Vision Quest.. of sorts right before with him having his fortune told by and old Indian lady! She warns him about the Red Eyed Coyote and a Woman coming in his life that would also bring death.

Spike meets this woman and the Red Eyed Coyote at a seedy gas station. Helping the woman take care of groceries but eating her sandwich. He charms her up quite nicely as he offers her cigarettes in return. Claiming to her to be some cowboy! However once she sees his fighter jet she quickly realises he is a bounty hunter. He tells her has lost interest in the bounty again as Asimov is sick and he has no interest in weaklings. Insulted Asimov chokes him.. to unconsciousness.  His life was spared by the plees of the woman.  When the druggy man that has more bulging eyes then Nicolas cage  goes to sell the drugs. Spike has replaced the buyer. A fight breaks out and we see  Mister Spiegel ‘s ‘excellent footwork and combat ability, overwhelming Asimov. However when other criminals come in to shoot up the place the Cyberpunk Bonnie and Clyde manage to flee. Leading into a final space chase. Here we see Asimov is so consumed by his drug that he loses control entirely and rushes himself and his woman into death. To prevent Asimov from being taken down by his enemies his woman finishes him off.. after which she lets herself be killed by space cops!  As her body is jettisoned into space we see the pregnant belly was nothing more than a way to hide the drugs. Having not collected a bounty.. Spike and Jet eat “special” beef and Bellpepper again.

The Positives

On paper this should not be my type of show! It combines genres that usually are less my cup of tea. I am not the biggest science fiction fan in the world.. though I do enjoy Star Wars and Star Trek.. but in anime terms .. it’s usually too bleak and political. It has some heavy western elements.. which makes sense given Cowboy is in the name of the title and it’s about a Bounty Hunter.. which aside from the Mandalorian I find a horrible profession to make a show out of. Yet somehow the spunk of Spike, the low tech level..with bullets instead of lasers, and a very varying world makes it a lot more interesting than I thought it would be.  It is very much helped by the mentality of the two bounty hunters. To me falling more in the “Firefly” like types of characters. It gives the show a level of “airiness” while keeping lines such as Adios Cowboy, impactful. We see a cowboy tavern, a spaceship interior, a french Bistrolike restaurant and a seedy gas station , and have gunfights,  fistfights and a slaughter in space, so I  think this first episode does a tremendous job showing what this show will be and what we can expect.

It also sets up some interesting mysteries, Spike claims he already died once because of a woman.. what does he mean with that?  What is he so desperately training for. How is he able to take down a drug induced hulk life figure that can dodge bullets and crush people. Was Asimov that weakened from overdoing it on the drugs, or is there more. What is with that weird footwork Spike does when he is fighting. The show offers us a lot to unpack, but also nails showing us what characters like Jet and Spike are. After one single episode I feel like I have a pretty good idea I know what type of people they are.. and I don’t mean that in a way that they are shallow. The written story here just really hits some key points and uses the right dialogue that still feels natural but also tells us so much. The Bonnie and Clyde ending really worked wonders for me as well giving the show a sense of realism and real stakes straight of the bat. The good guy clearly doesn’t always win in this show, not everything is going to be alright at the end of an episode. Every choice this show makes so far is done with a reason and it feels legit. 

The Negatives

That being said, this also lies in this episode’s greatest weakness. I always saw the pair as a Bonnie and Clyde , it makes the link very clear for me.. so the outcome here felt a bit “set in stone”. There is nothing wrong with that for a single episode but I was never surprised by this first episode… and I did not even know it was a cyberpunk like setting, so that is saying something. It is set up to be surprising later on but for now I can not escape the feeling that it felt a bit predictable. I like how human the characters are generally being depicted and how their skills all seem very human. However when the eventual gruns show up those have StormTrooper accuracy.  The grunts also clearly have a more generic design, so when they show up .. it slightly undermines tension. It’s not a big flaw.. but we know Han Solo isn’t going to be taken down by two StormTroopers.. and we know Spike isn’t going to be taken down by the orange coat and green coat mafia. It’s not bad.. just not that exciting.

Another small pet peeve I had was a logical flaw. The woman is revealed to carry the drugs in her fake pregnant Belly.. but there is nothing protecting the little bottles. Which are made out of glass. When she would walk she would make a lot of jangly noises and no way she would get it to look that smooth. This is a nitpick.. but if you make Spike someone who has a big attention to detail.. I feel conflicted about this. At least show us she is wearing a satchel underneath the dress or something.. but no. .as soon as her dress rips the stuff just pours out! That would make noise you know. It’s just a weird little thing that does not add up. Note though that I did not really mind while watching.. just in hindsight it seems silly and conflicting with what is established about the vials elsewhere.

The Score

I had a much better time with this episode than I figured I would. I thought this show would be very much  in my face “Not for me”  but I actually got quite a lot of enjoyment out of the very good writing. It’s thus weird that it’s great writing also is for me it’s biggest hindrance right now.. what I want to happen happens so I am very satisfied.. but I am not “enchanted” It might be weird to say a show is written too well… but  yeah.. that kinda is my beef with it. The weird little jangly bottle plot hole I do not really mind.. I just structured this post thatI have to nag about something! Being a sucker for details this irked me enough to mention it. Again had the bottles been plastic or the containers be soft.. I’d been fine but they make a point of how fragile and glassy these things are! 

In the end I’d compare this episode with a REALLY REALLY REALLY good colour by numbers painting.. or one of those diamond paintings and those are more modern these days. It looks stunning, pleasing and you can clearly see that every element is carefully placed in the right way.  Even with some sparkles added to it that get you excited for the next canvas to come. Yet it is also exactly what you expect when you start the project. You won’t suddenly find a surprise unicorn in your painting when you’re done..so when you’re done you just end up with what you knew you would end up with all along. Thus it reaches the top of great for me.. but it fails to push into amazing.

Captured! What Bad Luck! I got Reborn into another Life and now I am a Side Character 5

After Halloween Month and a small vacation we can finally pick up my D&D Isekai Story again! In this story I fall off some stairs and get Isekaid.. wanting to be more of me! While reborn in the character of Elle.. all my traits get amplified. I became kinder, smarter.. but also A LOT more Unlucky! To make matters worse! I am not even the Main character!

Episode 4 -Recap

In the last Episode Elle finally got her first real quest for the Owls Nest! To disrupt a gambler in the city of Twiddir. Unbeknownst to Elle she is merely used as a distraction for a heist. Elle gets injured and actually kills a guy and her companions Mirina the drunken fist monk and Ynaja the dark skinned cleric that is very into romances take her back and leave her in her own bed.. yet the guild leader of the Owls Nest seems to think very lowly of Elle. Read up on part 4 by clicking here.. or check out the post carousel featuring the series at the bottom of the post.

Day ?? Time Unknown!

Dear scraps of clothes from the dead person in my cell remind me to add you to the diary later if I ever make it out! I have been kidnapped. I have deduced we are one a ship.. one that is still docked. I have reached this conclusion by the sound of seagulls flying over on a fairly regular basis. My nausea and vomit also is equal to that I would have on moderately still water.  I have been here for .. I think I have been here for I think two days now.. based on the guard routine.  These men are cloaked but I hear them speak Infernal.. which leads me to believe they may be Tieflings.  There is a guy.. who takes me out of the cell and he sticks needles in me.. but he is wearing on of those plague doctor masks… when he does I am strapped to a table so I can not deduce his height properly. 

Being stabbed with those needles really hurts!  Yet I find myself without much fear?! Why?! Because I am a side character.. I fall into these tropes…ever since I have been Isekaid.. that means rescue will come as soon as I am on death’s door.  For this reason I have not eaten.. I want my health to deteriorate as fast as possible.. as I feel it will expedite my release. However I feel my mental capacities waning….so I will write what I will know now that I still can. Sorry about the smell.. dear diary if this page is inserted in between. All I had was vomit and dirt to make some ink.. well and some blood.. but that felt needlessly edgy! 

It all started when Maine got back into town.. a new quest showed up. Tiefling girls with more or less my description have gone missing. All a bit prettier than me..and non had glasses.. but still!  I of course offered to take the quest along with Maine.. with me being bait. She refused saying that  she would take this quest alone.  I should not be put at risk.  Which left me without a quest again! I tried to tag along with Oscott the knight who had to fight a bunch of artificers up in the town of Reh’dyt. He seemed to be okay and then he told me he left his “thingamabob” at home and he needed to get it first. He told me to wait at the port and he would come get me. I think he must have forgotten to pick me up because I waited for over 18 hours for his return. Maybe this item required some grooming! I would have waited longer.. but I heard a voice from an alley asking me for help. It was a man with a plague doctor mask who told me if I could help him. He was doing an experiment.. he told me to pick a card.. he had made 13 of them.. the higher the number i would draw the better.  I drew one… then I felt a hit in my neck.. and I woke up on board of this ship.

A day after the previous entry..somewhere early I think!

Sorry dear cloth.. I had to stop writing yesterday.. The sickness got me.. the smell of decomposition of the body next to me is getting worse. It’s a girl that looks a bit like me… Well the facial structure of her half decaying face shows we have a lot of similar features.. like eye distance, cheekbone height and horn structureI was also taken in for another test. This time he had a mage next to me as I was strapped to a chair! I am pretty sure the Plague Doctor is a tiefling as well.. his height matches and while he does wear shoes.. it is a type that would support fooves!  Which are foot hooves if you haven’t been reading along. Regardless.. he had a mage with him.. donned in black.. half orc but of a darker skin tone.  The doctor who was referred to as Lord Febricitantem would flip a coin.. if I get it right I would get the coin.. if I got it wrong I would be Shocking Grasped. We played this game for 20 rounds.. I am back without any coins.  There was a lot of pain.  At one point the doctor told me I could guess both..so I did.. and then the coin fell through a crack and landed sideways! What bad luck!

He seemed to be very pleased though! I told him if someone could please feed my cat. He told me I would soon be able to myself.. well a part of me would. Soon Lady Doom would inhabit the body of her daughter and she could finally walk the earth again. I told him that I do not believe my mother was called lady doom! Such a person would clearly be shunned by society and Elle ..before I inhabited her or maybe I merged with her.. seemed to have a normal life. Of course I did not tell him about the last part. He told me Lady Doom was my mother. He told me I could destroy the world. I .. told him I destroyed a lot of things by accident but I would never do so willingly and if he was wise he would let me go ..because attempting to put someone else in my body surely would count as a death flag for him! I am just a side character after all and those always get rescued..I would be powerless to stop that. He did not believe me! He himself used a shocking grasp on me. It hurt but I remained awake… this is odd.

You see , given how much experience I have earned during my quests so far I would say I could not be a mage of higher than the third level. Which means my maximum health points according to Dungeon and Dragons logic should put me at 18. Now given that I am so prone to self hurt I am willing to believe my constitution is slightly higher than that of an average mage so I assume it would be around a +2.  That would put me at 24 health points.  I have received 21 shocks and a Shocking grasp deals 1d8 HP. Meaning they would have rolled a 1 on every bit of damage..because I do not feel that close to fainting.. close enough.. and I am in a lot of pain.. but I feel I could take at least one or two more of these..does that make them unlucky for rolling bad or me.. for not getting the blessing of being knocked out?! Lord Febricitantem seemed very interested in this when I told him! He said the ritual to resurrect Lady Doom would take place tonight?! Oh I hear the guards coming for me!

Day 52 Night

Dear Diary.. I have been reunited with you…. I do not know what happened as I lay on a ritual stone table.. a broken horseshoe.. a five leaf clover.. some broken glass and the fur of a black cat were placed around me.. when suddenly we heard screaming from the upper deck! The Lord began to chant and my vision began to blur.. as if I was looking at two places at once.. I saw something.. I saw Maine.. but not in this world.. but in mine. She worked in a call center and was in a Wheelchair… she was very depressed and cried looking at herself in the mirror. Then I saw a woman.. she wore a dress.. well one of those weird ones which show your legs, and only hide your backside.. She also had a grey skin.. similar to a drow like Carlita but with a lot more humanoid features. Her hair is as white as snow! Her clothes had all sorts of holes in them.. like moth bites .. but in a fairly regular pattern.. dare I say the outfit looked kinda skimpy! She called me daughter… and I said no! We are genetically too diverse to be the same.. I could barely hear her answer as right above me someone was impaled on a big sword and blood began leaking below the deck all over my face… The doctor lord got distracted by this and the sigil I was laying on as well… so he polymorphed himself into a big bug .. I think.. my glasses were knocked off and what part was still left on my face were covered in blood. He fled the scene and Maine showed up.. just as I expected.. However she also had another companion along with her.

Maho the Drow Sailour that looked like Carlita was with her. “See there is the pretty little thing.. told ya I spotted them draggin her onto Beshabas’Pearl… no sign of the creeper that was with her  though. Maine freed me from my bindings and Maho greeted me first. “Nice to see you again lass, thought I had lost my chance with ya there for a bit.. luckily tha town members remembered a girl smelling like fish walking to yer guild.. or I would not have been able to get ya the help of blondie here! Great swing to her sword.. but not much in terms of an investigator is she?’   I asked her what kind of chance she missed..  and she just smirked telling me I owed her a reward for finding me. She would tell me soon enough. She told me to take a bath before though.  She helped me off the table  but in her attempt to lift me she must have accidentally pinched me in the posterior. Maine asked me about details of the man who held me.. I told her everything I knew.. but she asked I knew where “the antlers” were. I don’t know anything about it and she snapped a bit at me.. making me cry.  I did not want to disappoint her.. I just did not see any antlers. I told her about my vision.. but as soon as I mentioned her in the wheelchair she told Maho.. to take me away.. she would look for Lord Febricitantem. I told her he changed into a bug thing and he flew out a porthole.
She softened up a bit after that.. telling me to not worry she would wrap this up. 

Maho took me home and even helped me get a fat fish for Summer. I wasn’t sure how long I had been missing. Maho confirmed it was about three days. Summer apparently found a way to go out a window I broke earlier and kept herself nice and fed. She was happy so see me return though.  Maho asked me if I wanted three pussies in my bed tonight and I told her that I barely could manage to look after one cat.. Maho said that was not what she meant and winked at me. I told her I was confused and she just chuckled calling me adorable. Giving me a careful hug. She asked me on a date.. as a reward for helping me save me. I agreed, but I might need to do another quest to be able to afford the date.. she told me she would pay..she would use the money she looted from the Tieflings of the Beshaba’s Pearl.. so  we agreed on seeing each other in three days. She asked me if I put out on first dates. I told her that I put out fires on a fairly regular basis.. as I knock over candles all the time. She wanted to say something but then did not and gave me another hug.. I guess my back myst have been slippery from all the blood ..because her hand slipped to my butt.

So that was a few missing days.. I really want to talk to Maine about her being Isekaid as well. It fits her behaviour pattern.. but if people try to put a demon in my body it might be wise if we look for a way home again.  I am not sure if it is possible but I should try. Rho stopped by telling they were throwing a party for Maine to celebrate her rescuing me.. asking me if I was fit enough to party.. I told him I was.. and I would come soon.. then I slipped in my bath and hit my head and I guess I must have dealt myself three damage because I woke up a lot later with Summer licking my head!  Oh well.. I did not really feel like a party anyway!  I feel a bit sad.. but when I think about three days from now.. about having a nice evening with Miss Maho.. I can not help but to stop wagging my tail… that’s kind of weird huh?! Oh yes reminder to myself to really look into this Lady Doom thing a bit as well!  That’s it I am going to sleep! Good night diary! Good night whoever reads it.. .I really hope it’s me.. or anyone I pass it down too!

Animini: Natsume Book of Friend – Episode 1- The Cat and The Book

With Pinkie’s Saturday Anime Adventure I was doing 5 anime reviews in a single day.. so now that I split them across the days I had two days left.. should I take it easy on those days?! Of course not! More Anime for me to watch! So I already had a “nostalgia” show, a show that got recommended by community friends, a magical girl show, an Isekai and a tournament/ analogue gaming show… so else could I watch. Why not something Senpai loves?! You gotta respect your blogging elders according to Japanese culture! So here we go.. starting from today each week I am watching an episode of Natsume Book of Friends… and  I never even knew what it was.. I did not expect it to be this!

The Summary

We meet our main protagonist Natsume in this episode. He was born with a special gift! The ability to see Yokai! While this might seem like a blessing to some, most Yokai don’t seem to take kindly to him.  Either they chase him, he reacts to them or something of the sorts happen that alienates him from all the other humans.  Seemingly having no more friends nor any living blood relatives, the boy seems lonely as a cyclops witch and a ghost with a yukata chase him… pardon me for not knowing the proper Yokai names of these.. but I feel like if I had to look all those up this post would take so much longer… if you recognise what Yokai they are tell me in the comments and teach me something!  Natusme flees towards a shrine but in doing so trips over a rope containing seals and this breaks it. Now that the seals have become undone a Mani Neko is released!  He is called Nyanko-Sensei and he recognises Natsume.. saying his grandma used to be like him and she has something called “The Book of Friends”

This is a book containing the names of Yokai she bonked on the head with a bat and forced them to give up their name.. under the guise of a duel. Nyanko-Sensei wants the book.. but Natsume refuses and gives him watermelon instead and a friendship of sorts begins to bloom. When the one eyed witch and ghostly man invade Natsume’s house the two have to work together to stop the spirits. Natsume decides to return the names to the Yokai his grandmother bonked and Nyanko teaches him how to do that.. on the terms of that if Natsume dies while doing this.. Nyanko gets the book of a friend and can do “weird stuff” with it. We see Natsume’s grandmother bonk the Cyclops Witch.. as soon as Natsume starts the name return ritual.  Talking with the spirit about yeast buns.. after she is sent away.. Natsume and Nyanko stop at the place his grandma claimed had the best Yeast buns.

The Positives

For as many times Irina has told me on her blog that Natsume Book of Friends is great, she never really told me what it was about! I assumed it was this slice of life like show with a boy making friends in high school with a comical relief cat that can drink booze. I was pleasantly surprised that there was a lot more to it. Had I known this was what the show was about I might have taken on the last tour of the OWLS in the Folklore topic and watched it earlier! Now however I can enjoy it at a snail’s pace with an episode a week!  I do like this concept of “reverse”capturing a lot.. I mean in a way this is kind of like a reverse pokémon so far where a boy gets a pet..that actually can EVOLVE ..sort of.. he seems quite capable himself.. and his goal is to release ALL the creatures in his book. It still hits close enough to home for me to be my jam while being different enough for me to see it as its own thing.

I do like the creature design a lot so far. Nyanko-Sensei in particular is adorable in his cat for and his dragonoid form or whatever that seems quit impressive. It reminds me a bit of that dog dragon from the NEver Ending Story..Falcor I think his name was.. just more Japanese.  But I also like the witch and the smiling dude.  I also like the sound design a lot, the cicada’s  give the atmosphere a sense of serenity which helps sell the whole idea of Natsume living in a different world than us .. sort of speak as we see a tranquil world and his one is quite a bit more hectic. The voices are fun and I find them very fitting and I do look how things are framed. The way Nyanko-Sensei tumbles around.. but also the way how a  punch to Nyanko from Natsume cuts away to a sound effect.  From the position he was in.. there was no way to sell the effect visually I think.. yet this way I can suspend my disbelief easier. So it is nice to see that. The episode has a pretty good story to set things up but for now I can’t delve to deep in it.. I felt it had the perfect length and a satisfying conclusion showing us the fact that spirits can be appeased with their name.. or properly manhandled to be sent away. I like that. 

The Negatives

Now I am treading on quicksand here!  What can I say about Natsume that will not get my head severed from my torso in terms of negatives. In terms of this first episode I will admit the opening wasn’t my thing. I really like a bit more peppy intro’s and I did not think the song was too catchy.  A bit unfair to call the first episode out on that.. but it will be the only time it bothers me so I still have to mention it. Other than that I do find the human characters a bit generic. Natsume is okay design wise.. but unlike for example Soul Eater, Watamote or No Game No Life I think it will take a bit for me to recognise the main character. I’d recognise Nyanko but Natsume.. I am not too sure yet! It isn’t a bad design..but I would have given him an odd eye colour or a spot in his eye or something that makes him see this Yokai.. or something.. maybe he wears a special necklace over his uniform… it’s nothing I will not get used to but he’ll never get a second chance to make a first impression again.

I have no strong negatives other than that, and even those are very excusable, I watched the show on Crunchyroll yet for some reason the quality was a bit low for me, it felt as if it was too “bright”.  I am not sure yet if that is the anime’s age, it’s style.. or just a bad version uploaded on Crunchyroll.. but it felt a bit too “pastel” colour to me at times. Another nitpick I have is that we see a scene where two friends are strolling. They encounter Natsume and then continue to talk about how weird he is.. however the story is told from Natsume’s perspective.. while he is being chased.. yet for a brief moment we cut to their dialogue about him. That to me doesn’t fit…if we are being told things from Natusme’s perspective I would have preferred to let him thing “They must think I am super strange”.. and for the most part.. that’s how it is handled. That felt a bit too “in you face exposition” for my tastes. Not horrible.. but a bit inconsistent nonetheless.

The Score

I did have a great time watching this first episode, and I do think it will be a show that I could grow to like a lot. It has a lot of hype to live up too.. but that is also exactly why I read nothing about it except for Senpai doing the wobbly lag fan girl thing for it on a regular basis. That really helped me enjoy it a lot more as it can still surprise me! Unlike the anime I am going to watch tomorrow I know nothing about it and I intend to keep it that way. I do not have a clear idea where this show is headed yet but it does intrigue me! I want to see more! So that is a great thing for a first episode to achieve.

I wasn’t as mesmerised by it as something like Flip Flappers or Samurai Flamenco which both had REALLY good starts. I do feel Natsume is a bit more of a slow burning type of a show though, there is more to set up, it requires a bit more insight so I expect to fall in love with it a few more episodes in. Which is fine.. Hikaru no Go was a similar type of show for me where I wasn’t head over heels from episode 1 but by episode 20 I am hooked. A lot of my favourite shows of all time were slower starters. Also that seems like I hated this episode which is completely not true because I think it is REALLY Good.. it just is not the most captivating first episode I’ve ever seen.  The show can still grow for me and grow on me.. and I feel like it will.. so for some reason I am happier that I can give this a Berry Good.. as I would be giving this my higest score.. we  have a long journey ahead of us with this one but I feel it will be an amazing journey..Where Flip Flapper takes me on a journey on an item that should not even be a vehicle leaving the driveway is slightly more interesting as in the packed car Natsume provides.. but I do feel that with this one I am going to be more comfy and I will see plenty of amazing things!

Animini: Hikaru No Go -Episode 21- The Haze Middle School Go Club

Hello again my sweet Island Guests. It is time to watch animated characters place some black and white stones on wooden boards again. My return to Hikaru no Go did not disappoint! It also did not blow me out of the water, we get a very good development episode that leads us into a new arc. 

The Summary

In this episode we pick up immediately after the realisation that if Hikaru becomes an Insei he can not play in School Tournaments anymore. Mitani takes this particularly hard saying he was forced to play with them in the first place. Refusing to believe that Hikaru is going to leave them.. clutching on to the idea that this is all a mistake. This forces Hikaru to freeze up!  His friends all want him to stay and sacrifice his dream. Then Kaga shows up and supports Hikaru’s dream.. to demonstrate how far he has grown Kaga suggests Hikaru does three simultaneous matches against Kaga, Mitani and Tsutsui. Hikaru wins against Mitani and Tsutsui but loses against Kaga. However during these matches we see a small visual cue in a blink and you miss it moment. During his match with Kaga.. . Hikaru shows the same type of look on his face that Touya has.. cueing us in on the fact that he is VERY serious.

We see Akiri be determined to learn the game more since Hikaru won’t quit Go .. just the club, and so  in this final match we see how strong Hikaru actually is. Not only did he win 2 out of 3 matches, he also   remembers them  one by one, stone for stone in the order they played out in. A talent that may be useful to him later on. We then see Hikaru head to his Insei exam and are reintroduced to Waya, who by just glancing at Hikaru thinks he will pass the test. The examinator however does not seem to be very impressed by Hikaru and his written matches. As Hikaru is given a three stone handicap for this match we see his gaze turn all serious again as he places his first stone and the exam has begun. Which is something we will see in the next episode.

The Positives

A very strong episode once more for Hikaru no Go, while I had trouble with it’s pacing earlier on, the show has been on a streak lately of setting it’s pace very nicely and making all episodes relevant. This episode once again does an excellent job on providing us a measuring stick on where Hikaru is in terms of “power”. The show has been doing an excellent job at this lately! Since the exam is held in December, and summer vacation usually ends in September, we are at least 3 months past the Internet Go story bit. Last episode we got the amazing fall visual and now we have the impending deadline telling us the progress of time.  By spreading these events over such a large span of time you really get the feeling Hikaru’s skill increases are earned, compared to for example Yu-Gi-Oh or Saki where skill levels get boosted out of nowhere. 

The strongest moment in the episode was of course Hikaru showing that look he knows Akira for, we see that the boy who thought it was just something to appease Sai has vanished and now we see an actual Go Prodigee who wishes to delve deeper into the world of Go. The Hikaru we see now is not the same Hikaru from episode 1 .. not even the one from Episode 18 even. This Hikaru is what  our protagonist wanted to be way back in episode 2 and in just a few frames that is made perfectly clear to us! Once again this same emotion is reflected in the cinematography of the matches.  When Akira faced his “boss” we saw a colossal hand on a board aglow.. These matches..we barely see any stones… it symbolised Touya feeling overwhelmed.. and out of his league. This time .. we do not even see the stones being placed on the board.  We just see Hikaru mostly calm.. but feeling the tension between the people playing.. by seeing them depicted in a face off. The only match we see stones placed is the one with Kaga.. his skill matters.. but  Hikaru has outgrown the other two.. This is very nicely depicted once again. The show is great at that.

The  Negatives

The episode does have a few downsides for me which mostly come to play in the second half. The first half only makes me wish that we would see an episode that is focussed around the females of the Haze Middle School Go Club, showing Akiri’s determination to keep on learning.  Yet Akiri is somewhat more of a background character with text.. which is a bit of a shame. The second part makes Hikaru go to the exam with his mother .. who is completely under utilised..  he went there alone the first time and now she just tags along to go drink some coffee. She has no real role there other than shifting the camera perspective on Waya for a brief moment.  She doesn’t feel very supportive yet she isn’t unsupportive either.. she is just there. We have seen her show up a lot lately which I would have assumed would hint that she has some role to play or will see her son play.. maybe reveal she was very good as well.. but nothing happened causing a bit of  a “filler dialogue” feeling when she is around.

Other than that there are a few moments  where characters shift facial expression to a more cartoony comedy expression. While I do not mind it on Hikaru, I already said I disliked it on Sai and this time they use it for Kaga. The comedy moments aren’t funny as it is just a teacher looking for the guy and him making a funny expression for it. I get works as a reintroduction for Kaga and establishes a motive for him to be where he is.. but after they return to it and to me it really doesn’t fit the moment, nor the character. I told it once before the show isn’t that good at comedy. I get why they would think they need it ..but the way it is utilized clashes with the rest. Hikaru can be funny.. but the others.. I remain unsure.

The Score

A very good episode that very well did what it was supposed to do, yet at the same time due to some strange choices surrounding a few characters it wasn’t as compelling as it could have been. It does everything it needs to do and it does it well yet ends up somewhat restrained. I had a lot of fun with this episode and i am looking forward to the next episode.. but I am mostly interested in just “one” thing.. aside from seeing the Akiri centered episode.. which I doubt i am going to get anytime soon. It’s Hikaru’s exam. It’s a very straight path forward and that means I enjoy it a lot .. but also I feel it has less potential to surprise me in the future. 

I would have loved it if Mitani’s plight had been played up a bit more.. but a comedy moment of Kaga smashing him into the floor kind of ruined that thread for me. He just got knocked down and was told to get over it.  Hikaru is a friend and they should support him.. deal with it. We may still see Mitani’s character come into play surrounding this but now I am not sure. This is where the show drops of from the highest grade to one step lower for me. It feels as if comedy shut of a plotline I was quite invested in and it annoyed me a bunch. I’ve come to love all these characters and would love to see them stay at least a bit relevant as time comes. I get phasing out Tsutsui after all he is graduating but snuffing out plotlines with comedy.. feels a tad iffy.. It might not have happend but it is the feeling I got.. which is enough down to bump it down JUST a nodge.