Tag: Episode 3

Pinkie Watches: Zombie Land Saga Episode 3 – Dead Or Live Saga

Yo Little Lights!  It is time for me to watch anime again!  I don’t know yet how to incorporate other anime in my blogging routine, but I am actually creating a pretty big supply of blogs, so expect them to return soon! In what shape way or form will remain the question!  Today however we will continue with Zombie Land Saga!  I will react to it as I watch!  So let’s hope we will have a lot of fun like we did last week.

Idol Noises

The episode starts,  with another pretty delicious recap! I do like text density into something silly like this.   We hear more about the rap and like the episode we begin with another briefing of the manager. Which is about as annoying as you expect. He does give everyone an applause though so I don’t want to turn his head into mush as I kill him with my laser beams.. I just want to slap him in the face for shouting at Sakura like he does in the first five minutes, so she doesn’t get too full of herself after he complimented her.. that’s kinda cruel though!  Like giving a dog a biscuit for being a good boy and then shouting at it for eating the cookie quickly!  I don’t like it! He also scares number six.. whose name still doesn’t linger for me but perhaps as we go along!  

The plot of this episode seems to be a Guerilla Live. Which is like a Flash Mob..for Idol Girls.. where you don’t tell anyone what you are doing and just try to gather a crowd. It reminded me of that scene in Now You See Me 2 , where the Four Horsemen do a magic show in several locations in London, I love that movie!   Sakura is afraid the police might stop them but Saki waves her arm and tells her she won’t be scared of some pigs! Making all sorts of squishy rotting noises as her arm flails.. that is kind of a neat touch!  We also learn that Junko has experience as a Solo artist.. the manager insults her by calling her a loner.  Jeez… This guy!  

Luckily he isn’t too much in the next scene! I finally found out the name of my beloved number 6!   Lily!  So cute! The group trains together but has no direction so Lily tells them they need a leader.  Saki steps up and no one opposes her, and a name has to be chosen. Lily wants to name everyone after her while Saki wants a super edgy name!  I really like that when she screams her voice seems to make bike noises. Much like that one episode in South Park.. but with actual Motor noises. It really shows you her origin and this is done repeatedly throughout, several characters, they all speak a bit .. extreme showing us who they are even if you don’t know them too well! I like choices like that. Especially in an idol girls scenario! Like I would be the moth girl. .if I was an idol girl! something with lamps or kaiju would happen! This is the way!

The Rise of Franchouchou

The naming skit continues with everyone pitching in showing their personality a lot.. Junko and Ai being much more in the background then Lily, Number 5, Saki and Sakura. Even Tae-Chan comes in and meddles with it.. mostly to eat the magic marker !  Sakura thinking eating pens is bad for you rips it out of Tae-Chan’s hands and it lands in Junko’s hands, so she is pestered by Tae-Chan again. Good , recurring jokes like this give it a bit of group dynamic. Look at Holo-Live EN.  Kiara is into Cali and Gura and Amelia have this whole thing going on. Ina does more of her own thing..and while that is semi scripted it also makes them feel like a real group of friends with interaction dynamics. That happens here as well. It’s still in infancy.. but it is definitely there. Sakura is being consulted for a name and she says the name should be something like Framboise or Frangipane and gets stuck on Fran.. when suddenly Tae-Chan begins sneezing due to sucking out ink from the pan. Lily thinks it’s more than just sneezing she is actually pitching in and thus the name Franchouchou comes up!  I love that name! I also love how the actual zombie took part in naming it! 

Number five is revealed as Yugiri .. well at least to me! The name never stuck until the next scene for me.. which vastly confused me!  It starts out with the girls going to practice a song and a dance for the Guerilla Live but no one has experience except for the two girls who aren’t motivated.  The other girls are one one of those spinny playground rides I may have thrown up in once or twice.. you know one with a wheel that you turn like in the Disney Teacups and it makes the thing go round and round but just the teacup.  Sakura gets launched out of it thinking about her idol experience and flies towards the sky crashing in the earth. She tells everyone she’s ready to practice again and will work hard and then she is slapped in the face by Yugiri who tells her not to give up and practice.  Sakura tells her she is about to say that but everyone sides with Yugiri as if Sakura didn’t say anything of the likes. Did she dislocate her jaw or something from the crash and does everyone here do something else?  I don’t get it! 

The next scene is probably my least favorite scene and it’s about Ai and Junko not wanting to participate in all of this because it all seems so half-assed. I get that.. somewhere.. but at the same time.. it’s not like there is anything else to do and it’s not like they had issues being on stage with the awkward rap battle thing.. they looked bummed but they did it! So I don’t get why they are not invested here.. not really at least. I guess some of it may be idol pressure and perfectionism but they are dead and very much aware of it as per last episode. The manager actually gives them a great speech that he did not resurrect them for them to stay dead, the other girls are trying to live!  I like that speech.. a lot.. but at the same time it kind of feels like he should not need to do that. It feels a bit odd in their situation with literally nothing else to do! That same perfection  would make them not want to half ass this?!

The First Idol Song

The second half of the episode contains much less events as we move towards the Guerilla event.  The girls finally get ready to sing their first idol song! Of course it is performed super tiny and the idol girl costumes are missing. I like how the build up is so slow in this series, we really see  them become idols from the very bottom! The song is called Mazame RETURNER.  While it isn’t as sugary as I would have liked to see I guess this makes sense as an amalgamation. The girls even get their weird 3d animation dance you see in a lot of Idol Girl anime!  For the first time it feels like an actual idol show! That being said the 3d animation feels kind of laggy at times. As if I am watching a Bowling Alley Strike Animation.  It takes me a bit out of it.. but because they are zombies it also feels .. somewhat accurate. I love how Tae-Chan is also being part of it and participating.. did she actually kind of awaken but not really?! She does react to the beat and the more tricky dances so there is something going on.  

The act begins fairly well and the dance is cute! I really like  the shuffling animation all the girls make.. but then Lily crashes into Sakura again and she falls.  Since she is much younger Sakura is worried about her and forgets about the act. Thus the audience always walks. Junko and Ai watch this unfold and you can see them cringe at these rookie mistakes. As Lily gets up Sakura comes to a very text heavy part but seeing her audience walk away  causes her to get so flustered that she completely loses focus and forgets her lines. Just as things seem to get worse and worse, Junko and Ai join the group and help them finish the song.  While everyone is walking off they get an audience of one single girl who is absolutely loving it and that makes this worth it for them… and I LOVE that message. You can see the girl having such a great time and that is enough reason for these girls to continue.  That is also a big goal for me! Even if just a single person enjoys your content that be it a song , a video or whatever that will be worth it. It really was such a heartwarming scene!  Seeing Saki go to the kid and tell her, don’t worry next time we will do better. Super cute.

The epilogue  was uneventful and mostly involved Ai-Chan and  Junko talking about liking being an idol!  The other girls had a few cute moments as well but it’s mostly those two the focus is on.. and again.. I am not sure if I like how reserved they are.  A reveal at the end however might make it all a bit more interesting. It seems that Ai is/was part of that idol group that Sakura so adored but can’t really remember! I am not sure if that is correct but that’s what it seems like.  Her reservations seem to originate from having to start up all over again..which I can see would be demotivating… however I still think it makes little sense from where they are currently at.. It’s not like there is anything else for them to do and that has been established. Also why did they get bathrobes?!  The stinky question I had has been answered though! So props to them! I had a blast again!

Pinkie Plays : Moemon Emerald Extreme Radomiser Nuzlocke (Episode 3) A Brawl with Brawly

Hello once more little lights! It is time to continue my playthrough of a very special Pokémon game.. modded so instead of Pokémon it is all Magical Girls. We have had a great start so far and now are nearing the second gym with zero fatalities.. but a fair few close encounters! With our wonder guard Jigglypuff things are looking good for now.. but what about  the rest of the team! Will we be able to defeat Brawly.. what team and moves will he have.. and what will he be called! Find out in today’s episode..  or read back on the other Nuzlocke posts at the bottom of this piece.. Basics and rules are explained in Part 1. The entire series can be found in the post Carousel at the end of this post!

Poorly leveled!

We start the episode off with a Team Recap! Currently we have Sakura the Rhyhorn with the ability static, to paralyse her foes on contact. Currently she only has ground type moves which led her to be nearly killed by a Shadow Tag Zapdos.. a Flying Pokémon with an ability that prevents pokemon swapping out! Through the use of struggle she was saved and leveled to level 13.  We have Usagi the (C)Raichu  who is level 14 who can cry tears that causes effects if other Moe’s make physical contact with her. She only carries electric moves. We have got C.C. The Gardevoir who has the Huge Power ability and rolls with moves like Fake-Out, Psychic, Psycho-Boost and Mist Ball. Umara the Slowpoke has Keen Eye with some more basic moves like Water Gun and Bubble.. but she also rocks  Luster Purge and reflects! Murmur the Porygon 2  has the ability poison point and can attack our foes with Vice Grip and Earthquake while she also is the cut user of the team and can prevent swapping Pokémon by the use of mean look! She is level 13.  Our Ace is the Adorable Miku the Jigglypuff who with the Wonder Guard ability can only be hit by super effective moves (and thus fighting moves) She attacks with Crush Claw or Double Slap and can sing Supersonicly to confuse her foes. She also has the move Camouflage which can change her typing to get more mileage out of Wonder Guard …maybe!

Last time we were asked to deliver a letter to Steven Stone.. who hangs out in some strange cave in Dewford town and today’s adventure begins there.. with me strolling along the beach looking for hidden items, finding a Big Pearl AND a Big Mushroom! While it is nice to have some cash money Dewford town doesn’t actually have a Pokémart so for now they are useless.. it also means I can not purchase potions unless I travel back.. but then I would have to travel on the perverts ship again.. and an old man named Briney who has a very loving relation with a Moe Girl called Wingull.. so I decided to enter Granite cave. A hiker gives me the HM for Flash.. but without a HM slave to teach it .. this isn’t going on my main team! Time for our encounter.. with Umaru being on the hotseat of being kicked off the team things are exciting for her! She might become my flash user! That does turn out to be the case when I find out that my encounter is a Corphish (I love that Pokémon). I capture it  and since it is male.. looks like a girl and has twin tails I decide to call it Souji after Souji Mitsuka. Umaru disappears in the PC for now.. but not before finding a second encounter.. Squirtle.. darn that would have been better.

Souji has the moves Rock Tomb and Pain Split for now.. and is level 8 so we will need to grind her up!  Which is a cool way to discover what Pokémon I could have gotten. Umaru is quite happy to be in a PC with a Spearow I named Asuka. They have a little party with cheetos! In the cave I find Paras, Haunter, and Charmander as well as a Doduo.. I decide to forsake switch training and only use Souji to level up on Charmander and the Doduo. Souj almost gets killed by a Muk due to me using the speed up button a bit too much! I need to stop doing that.  Switching into Usagi she kills the Muk and levels up to level 15 while Souji learns Payday at level 10.. Free money for me.. but not a great move. It does allow me to grind on the Squirtle and Luvdisc that I encounter later as well and at level 13.. Souji learns the water move Octazooka! So now  he has a great move!  These Pokemon are hitting me hard though so I decide to grind the entire party out until level 15. The need for this is immediately shown because I STRUGGLE here.. at one  point Murmur gets poisoned with no more potions in my Inventory.. she would be killed for sure.. but apparently I failed to sell Morning sun! In a desperate attempt I teach it to Murmur and pray I encounter something before she dies of poison! It works. I heal her and barely make it to the Pokémon Center… I need to go back to get some potions!

The Search for Steven

I go back to Petalburg and Decide to level my weaker Pokémon in the grass there.. that other cave might just have level 8’s but suddenly Haunters and Dusclops started showing up left and right tearing my team to shreds. I pick up a couple of potions, a set of antidotes and some more Pokéballs… knowing fully well that Mr Briney is chasing the young girl around the table again! I can’t let this last too long! When everyone is level 14 I go back.. and will look for Steven. Things are going south fast.. as I descent further in the cave.. those Dusclops turn into wild Mewtwo encounters… who outspeeds Sakura so she can’t guarantee to run away. A hard fight later.. Sakura learned of the Earthquake.. and is on 2 hp!  I am trapped in darkness.. am I really supposed to take Brawly down first?! Well.. I am lost in the dark now! Might as well try to avoid using Flash whatsoever! Umaru is still having her party after all.. The wild Mewtwo is part of the same route as Souji was.. being in a granite cave.. so I can’t even try to catch it.. unless it is shiny.. but I think shinies aren’t in this romhack! (shiny clause is a special rule that states you can capture shinu pokémon even if the encounter is not eligible to be captured)

The way towards Steven is a gruesome trial , while my Pokémon are powerful.. My team is extremely weak to grass and has no good counters for ghosts yet.. and what do you know this cave is filled with these sorts of Pokémon!  It doesn’t help that I don’t remember this game very well.. but well on my way I at least encounter what Souji is going to evolve into.. for a brief moment I forgot Crawdaunt was dark type and I nearly got CC killed.. but luckily swapping into Miku is always the correct answer! Since I really do want experience on my Pokémon though I can’t constantly lead her. Every floor my HP is chipped of a bit more.. but I finally reach Steven. He gives me the move Uproar for delivering the letter.. which. .isn’t particularly useful to me!  I want to exit the cave with an escape rope I bought but I realise I have not taken enough screenshots in the cave yet.  I miss a few for my posts.. so I need to go back in and hope you don’t notice my Pokémon’s level… or read this line! While I do I encounter a Moltres..  Luckily C.C could one shot it with Psycho Boost. Well.. at least I found Steven.

Little Gym of Horrors

With everyone being at the abysmally low level of 15 .. it is time to face the gym leader. Note that the previous gym leader’s ace was this level as well so I assume that EVERYTHING here  will at least be this level.. if we face  Regi.. we might lose monsters here. Immediately I forget that Brawly’s Gym Puzzle in this game was darkness, I am more used to the “puzzle”  in Oras and I get in a Double Battle Unprepared for what is to come! As Sakura and Usagi come out, the opponent’s send in Swampert and Ampharos.. . This can kill Usagi!  I want to swap her out.. but Swampert has got the move Arena trap.. which basically means that Usagi is dead already! I need a miracle here! Round 1 I let Usagi use Stockpile to up her Defences.. the Ampharos Attacks her but the Swampert uses Water Sport … Bonemarang takes half of Swamperts Health… I am willing to lose Sakura here.. but Usagi is my Baby I need to keep her safe if possible! Round 2.. Usagi Stockpiles again.. the Swampert uses a thunderwave to Paralyse Usagi… thank Arceus! The  Ampharos uses minimize. Sakura finishes Swampert off with a second Bonemerang. With the taste of vomit in my mouth from stress I let Sakura sweep here.. while I swap Usagi out for Miku .. just to be safe because of the minimises.  This isn’t good I am way too attached to Usagi already! Looks like she won’t be the only one crying!

The next fight.. against a gym trainer which I make sure to battle Solo isn’t much easier.. the woman uses a Kyogre for crying out loud.. still leading Sakura I know I have to rely on Usagi to clutch this one! I need her to take a hit from a Legendary… she does so like a champ and did not even cry that much! The Kyogre lives a hit from Usagi though and brings her well into yellow health some tears flow.. but soon the tears are washed away by the blood of the slain enemy Kyogre.. The stress of it all is actually starting to get to me!  This isn’t an easy gym! The enemies are slightly lower level than me.. but these are all such powerhouses! The Third Trainer uses a Seaking.. he stands no chance against my team..but Sakura needs to swap out again!  This time I try to let Souji take advantage of Payday to rake up some extra coins .. I am going to need them! The final fight before the gym leader uses a Puppitar who has a sprite that has way too much work in it for a Puppitar! The Pupitar fight levels up C.C. and she learns Light Screen! I make room for it over Mistball! Praise be to  Baby Mew, I have both the barriers now! This will allow me to live so much more!  I just wish I had them on the same Pokémon!

I take a little breather before the Brawly fight before I move back in. Brawly tells me he would like the be called Bug Catcher Jill. I lead Miku as  I am  too scared to use anything else! His first Pokémon is a Houndour.. okay we can take that! It has the poison point ability and poisons Miku..so I am spending resources to keep her free of that status! Eventually Miku takes down the Houndour and she is up against a Wooper, who tries to put Jigglypuff to sleep.. how ironic. It is level 19 though.. I am 3 levels under!  I might need to grind again already! The last Pokémon is a level 16 Lombre! Since no one is super effective against it I decided to let Miku sweep the gym! What do I get as a reward for being scared to death half of the time?!  The Move .. Defence curl… Wow.. that sucks.. even for early gym standards!

The First Death

Before heading to Slateport I decide everyone needs to level up to level 18. I know the Gym in Mauville is a bit away.. but I am on the level of regular gym trainers right now .. if not a tiny bit over.. My team isn’t balanced enough yet to play around typings smartly and I do have a lot of unevolved Pokémon, only CC and Porygon 2 (in this Generation)  are fully evolved.  Well Usagi as well but she is my darling little baby! I don’t want to risk her! So a few levels on her won’t hurt! During grinding however.. something terrible happens! Sakura gets killed!…By A luvdisc! One of the weakest Pokémon in the game! It does outspeed Rhyhorn so Sakura failed to run from the Water Type which before I have only seen carry Water Pulse.. and my 2x it’s level Rhyhorn could survive one hit of that.. poorly but she could!  I was grinding and most of my other Pokémon were damaged so I felt running was the safer route.. when Luvdisk used Waterspout! A move that deals more damage the more HP you have. Since Luvdisk was at full HP.. Sakura got washed away… I am sorry girl!  You will be missed.. Asuka the Spearow joined the team for now.. which involved an awful lot of grinding! But I figured since I already had a Psychic Type and a Water type.. the Flying type would be better to deal with our weakness to grass.. though with Sakura gone.. the weakness was kind of fading already!

Usagi destroyed the Luvdisc and everyone caught up to the level of the Gym Leader we beat. Asuka learned Milk Drink which is one of the best recovery moves.. but other than that no real moves were learned. Jigglypuff learned Flail Over doubleslap. I told Flail is a bad move but if Miku gets poisoned I can let her take damage until she is really low health and use Flail with a high base power… yet low mortality rate (if I have staked out my opponents move) Wading through the mountain of Luvdisc corpses.. Sakura was buried looking out on the Gym.. she had saved her friend Usagi from the crazy Swampert before! The Gym where she pulled her weight hard but also was in danger a lot.. We all boarded the pevert’s ship again.. not even caring he was lewding his tiny girl again. We all felt empty and not just because we ran out of Power Points.. on the way to Slateport .. Usagi cried for the loss of her friend… and so did her trainer…..

Want to Read everything in this Series?!

Animini: Revolutionary Girl Utena – Episode 3 – On the Night of the Ball

Steampunk themed greetings are hard everyone! So let’s just say Hello today! Hello! The first episode of Revolutionary Girl made me question if this would be a show for me. The second episode of Revolutionary Girl convinced me that it would be a great show!  THIS episode of Revolutionary girl … made me feel both. There was so much of this episode that I love, yet I also found myself not being particularly invested. Will I continue watching this show?! Let’s find it by breaking down this episode.

The Summary

This is the first episode that dives a bit deeper in the social culture of the school! The theme is friendship. Utena wants Anthy to make some friends, who dismisses her claims of not having friends by saying she has Chuchu! Which Utena acknowledges but she adds a but everytime she does. Also showing Chuchu’s silly antics. Utena wants to make Anthy a bit less uptight and tells her to drop the honorifics around her! Unfortunately this fails to leave an when the entire school uses those same honorifics. Anthy tells her she has to because she is her bride. Utena doesn’t agree with that and says she might dress like a boy.. she still wants to find a regular boy. Really Utena?!  This for me feels odd, given how interested she was in Anthy in the first part and her self claimed mission is to be a prince that saves a princess. Before I had a bit of a role reversal fairy tale vibe and this moment really brings us back to the classical moment. Especially since she seems kind of, but not really ,  interested in Student Council President Touga Kiriyuu. Him having a ring really surprises her and makes her think he is her prince. Didn’t the green haired guy already tell her this?! Doesn’t he need a ring to enter that dueling grounds.. so would it not be clear there are more rings?!  Am I missing something here?! Why would she be into the kind of flattery he provides?! She snaps herself out of it to keep her image.. but it feels like she could go for this guy!

The second half of the episode starts with the introduction of Nanami , Touga’s sister.   She saves Anthy from being bullied, she informs the woman that she has been nominated for queen of the ball. Now I should probably think the student council and the battle of the rose has anything to do with it.. but there was only one word that popped up in my mind. Carry! Anthy will be bullied at the ball. I just knew it and after a lot of social debate whether she should go or not, that hinged on if Utena would come along in her Frilly dress or not  that’s exactly what happened. WHile Utena is distracted by Touga it is revealed that Nanami is jealous of Anthy as her brother keeps talking about the Rose Bride.. and she wants to embarrass her. So she gave the woman a dress that dissolves when it gets wet and spills champagne all over Anthy. Seeing her friend in trouble, Utena tosses off her dress revealing her male uniform beneath it. She struts to a now naked and embarrassed Anthy and pulls a tablecloth spilling all the punch and snacks!  She puts the table cloth over Anthy which becomes a pretty white dress! Together they dance and give Anthy a bit of a nicer social evening, while Touga gushes over Utena , Nanami will exact revenge upon her.

The Positives

There was a lot to like about this episode! Utena being forced in a dress is the first time we see the character really outside the comfort zone. She has always stayed quite composed  even when it was announced Anthy is now her fiancée .  She just ignores it and cool headedly walks on. However walking around in a cute pink frizzy dress sends her over the edge a bit. We also see her a bit embarrassed by all the flattery of the girls earlier, so it is quite nice that for once we don’t just see “powerchick” Utena. Her concern for Anthy’s lack of a social life is nice as well but it would be more compelling if we see Utena do fun stuff with her friends before. Now we mostly see her classmate and friend bother her a bit and nearly kill her  by jumping on her back while Utena is looking at Bishounen Men!  Still quite cute and it makes her such a good guy character.  I also really like how she still refuses to play by the rules of some silly game, even if everyone else takes it super seriously. She lacks the context so she doesn’t believe in it.  The mystery of the rose ring is kind of being made more compelling as well now.. though I really think she should have noticed the ring on the green haired guy as well! From a narrative stance I also like Nanami as a rival of sorts. The game of the rose kind of made this a bit tricky before, as everyone just plays so neatly by the rules there was no sense of a threat. While petty pranks might not be severe it at least adds some tension!

What I like best is the second half of the episode!  It’s great to see this type of show deviate early from the “monster of the week” format. It could have been easily done that Utena just has to fight duel after duel and I had come to expect that and this episode shows me, it doesn’t do that. There are some heavy cinderella vibes in here as well and I really like fairy tales mixing with anime! This episode really warmed my heart.. mostly. Utena just doing right, the cute dance scene. Even that weird Black Butler like.. voila.. this table cloth is now a dress , thing.  I really dig it and enjoy myself just watching stuff unfold!  A lot of stuff happening is really pleasing to me! I am enjoying myself.. yet I do not find myself as captivated as with other shows still.

The Negatives

I oftenly measure how good I think an episode is based on the number of times I made a screenshot! I do that as I watch I just capture the screen a few times. The less I do this the more engaged I am.. sometimes resulting in the relatively bad screenshots! As I have little to work with! Utena however I consistently have lots of screenshots for and the reason is .. I am not THAT engaged.  I am having fun.. but I am not sucked in. The feeling stems from what I feel like is a bit of an inconsistent main character.  The first episode I could have sworn Utena was all over Anthy.. now she almost takes a motherly role, while in the second she takes a shine to Chuchu more then to Anthy..but Chuchu sleeps with Utena?!  She wants to find a boy despite her mission of being a prince ? She also wants to find her prince?!  THat is not really what the opening narrative told us.  I get why.. because the prince depicted in the story is clearly related in some shape or form to Anthy.. having the same skin tone and almost the same hair… but this is why I do not believe this curveball works! At all!

When I compare this to Cowboy Bebop which I will classify as Timeless, Utena has a much more 90’s feeling into it! While seemingly having a progressive message, I find the story telling to be less careful. A dress that dissolves when wet?! I have never encountered such a thing .. I am sure it exists but would you not feel something being off with the fabric.   While I get why Utena thinks Anthy has friends, why does Anthy blindly trust in the legitimacy of this?! Touga’s design seems quite Pegasus like (the yugioh guy)  it might be because of his mysterious council and the dark music that plays around him but I can NOT see him as a viable partner for Utena..all the warning flags are up that he will not be a good partner for her. If it turns out he is good and being her partner I will stand corrected.. but it feels so telegraphed that it’s not.. so I am not invested in that fake out! One again this show is very obvious and I am not sure if that is my thing.

The Score

On the one hand I got a delightfully entertaining episode that on it’s own kept me quite entertained. Without having seen the opening, without having heard the villainous music that plays when he is sitting with his council members, without his fairly evil-like design I might be into this more. If the show is teaching me not to judge a book by it’s cover by baiting me into believing he is a bad guy…credits to them! It is working! So maybe this is really good..  The story beats this episodes follow on it’s own are great and the Ballroom dance was quite touching! I was happy to see Anthy smile like that and to have fun with Utena at the prom! I even liked the introduction of Nanami.. it prevents the show from becoming mostly a “boys versus girls” type of show. I also like the Oujousama type and she seems like she just might be one!  I am curious to find out what happens with her.

Yet I can not shake this feeling the show isn’t doing enough to keep me pulled in. I feel adrift , not knowing what to expect from Utena because I ‘ve seen three pretty different versions so far.  Some choices the show makes are seemingly too obvious! I might be deceived here.. but if I am not.. they are really not doing well on the subterfuge end. It’s like having Maine Qaraqtar as a lead.. and she has two options for love Rho Mance and  Red Harrington.  Then you ask your audience to be engaged with the “totally real” romance between Maine Qarqtar and Red Harrington!  Yeah Right! I just don’t believe it. Regardless of the show is fooling me or Failing to fool me, the fact that I don’t buy Touga x Utena knocks this episode down to just being fine.

Animini: Natsume Book of Friends – Episode 3- The Mysterious Person at the Eight Fields

Konichi-Well the second part of my anime week is a lot  stronger than the first half. While Natsume gave me the least impressive episode I’ve seen so far I must say I am really starting to enjoy the message this show packs in it’s end of the episode! I took a fist full of feels to the face yet again.. albeit maybe a little girl first this time! I still felt the impact though and as I heard this show really picks up in a few episodes never to let me go again.. so if this is the weakest punch.. I am sure to be in for one heck of a ride.

The Summary

Natsume is tired and depressed, giving Yokai their name back has completely drained him of all his energy. Since the friendly ones tend to come visit him at night and beg for their name back he hasn’t been sleeping much either. Nyanko-Sensei is still upset that Natsume is making the book of friends thinner every night and throws a tantrum as it will lose it’s power to control these spirits little by little.  To make Natsume’s situation even more annoying for him he can’t sleep in class either because a strange person has been asking for him. A boy going by the name of Tanuma.  For some weird reason though each time Natsume gets kind of close the boy disappears. Natsume hopes this man can see Yokai too.. and remembers a woman he once met who seemed to be able to see Yokai as well.

A cow and a cyclops Yokai knock on Natsume’s door but unlike the others they do not want their name back. There is a Yokai killing humans on the prowl blessing areas with holy magic.  Since Natsume has the reputation to help Yokai they ask him if they can kill this human. After a bit of investigation Natsume begins to believe this Tanuma boy is responsible for causing serious pain to the Yokai .. killing some and banishing the weak from their home. Taking pity on them he decides to confront the man responsible for this. Meanwhile he flashes back to that woman he met before .. telling the audience in a way about how she was not actually a woman but  Yokai trying to connect with him.. he feels betrayed and chases her off.  Yokai always made his life so difficult so he is not sure who to side with. There are some good Yokai out there.. that do not deserve to be killed but he doesn’t exactly like them either.  A huge cow geisha Yokai joins him in the quest to kill this Yokai hunter.. forcing Natsume to compel it by using its name to save Tanuma.. but then he discovers it was just a weak priest. Tanuma’s father.. who tried to keep the place safe for his son.  When Natsume confronts the young man in the hope to form a genuine connection the man admits he can’t see Yokai either.. but sometimes he sees shadows. Natsume tells Tanuma his secret.. including fondly remembering that woman from before.

The Positives

The episode is a bit boring, in the sense that the conflicts all kind of just meander on.  There is no real sense of threat and in a way that is this shows and this episode’s great strength.  We get a rather vanilla story.. that doesn’t really matter in the long run that provides a very form of subtle exposition and  character development. It truly is unique. During this episode Natsume stands and a proverbial crossroads several times and takes the less interesting path of the two a few times and when it happens I feel kind of frustrated.. yet five minutes later there suddenly is a payoff to this thing that seems like a wrong choice. Ah.. so you wanted to highlight that Natsume is seeing Yokai less and less like evil spirits and more and more like humans.. and the journey he goes trough in this episode is him coming to terms with that fact.  Getting a hindsight on his past actions and seeing it through the lense of new found discoveries. That is a very static approach but it also is very interesting.

I loved the Yokai designs for this episode as well. The priestly cow.. the mid tier cow was adorable and the cyclops old man would make for a fine cookie serving minion!  The high level cow thing  felt intimidating and I love how the studio plays with its shape to make it feel intimidating. Those steel blue eyes give it a heartless quality it does seem to possess.. yet it’s cow nature also gives it something tranquil.. which it also seems to possess as it doesn’t seem to have intentions to hurt Natsume.  The classical scuff marks on the mid tier Yokai made me feel compassion with them.. normally that.. slightly singed look is played for comedy.. and while it is slightly the case here as well it also really conveyed there creatures were helpless and meant no ill will. Seeming them suffer the same stuff as Ash does in the Pokemon anime.. invoked a completely different reaction and that is creditable to the solid world building this show does.  It still is funny.. but in a N’awww .. you guys way instead of a “Hahaha Oh my Arceus Ash you never learn.. kind of way”..  I also REALLY ended up caring for the Yokai pretending to be a human just to be social and help Natsume.. her look was just weird enough to suspect something is up.. and her voice acting when she begged him for forgiveness felt sublime.. I really felt that she did not want to lose her precious friend.

The Negatives

The episode is a bit boring, in the sense that the conflicts all kind of just meander on.  There is no real sense of threat and in a way that is this show and this episode’s greatest weakness. While there is an impact to what Natsume does, it really all just pan’s out in the last five minutes.  Especially the first 9 minutes felt a bit like a slog to me. In hindsight not as much but during those first few minutes I wasn’t all that entertained.  The long Neck Yokai looked pretty amazing yet at the same time she invoked a sense off “I really wish that chased him or tried to harm him”  for a bit. It’s a very cool Yokai design.. I just loved to have it do something. In a way the same goes for the big cow.. but it gets “sit boy’d”   before it can do anything. Again that isn’t bad.. persé.. a golden gun is still worth a lot.. but it would be kinda cooler if you saw someone fire a golden bullet out of it.

The only Yokai that actually get to do something is Ushi and the Old Man.. again I have no idea how to call them.. but the mid tier priesty looking fellows I… felt bad for them in the end.. but I will be honest and tell you, there were minutes I have wished for some gruesome fates to befall them because they can REALLY be annoying in the first half. They function as Natsume’ cheerleaders and are just being loud and telling him how amazing he is.  In the end it feels earned but before that it just feels insincere and irksome. They are just being loud! That’s a trope I really dislike..  but well like I said I did feel bad when they got hurt so somehow they ended up growing on me. In a way negatives also a strength and we can see it that way. Still imagine me really wanting new shoes.. but the pair I have is still too good to  reasonably to replace and I am maxed out since my shoe cabinet is full. So my best friend Bean decides to stick a huge meat fork in my foot.  I bleed all over the shoes and finally can throw them out.. after a while I don’t feel the wound anymore and I got the new shoes and they are amazing.. but do I really say Bean.. you did a good thing? Or would I also be sour for those first few minutes of pain?!

The Score

Last episode I explained how I normally dislike “second episodes” of a show.. their exposition heavy, character establishing and world building plots often feel a bit “mandatory” ..we see the main character decide they will follow the “heroes path”  we see the elements we can expect.. in other words it’s kind of like looking at the solution of a jigsaw puzzle by looking at the front of the box. It can be pretty but it doesn’t feel all that satisfying. This third episode is THAT second episode.. just in the end we open the box as well.. pour the contents out on the table and lucky us we find a corner piece straight away! What a delightful feeling that is! I still feel kinda weird for staring at the box of the puzzle for a good 10 minutes I wish I would have taken more puzzle time.

This is one of those episodes that tells me I will love the frig out of this show.. but it does lose my love a bit because it has the one that explains to me why I will love it. Like an entertaining synopsis.. or the Star Wars title crawl.. there are amazing elements but when is all done and over no one will say that their favourite part of Star Wars was the title crawl… although with The Last Jedi… I kinda liked it most.. but you know what I mean right. This episode does a great job at establishing Natsume’s mindset.. but as a Pokémon fan.. and a creature fan I kind of wanted to see the amazing creatures do more things instead.. It’s brand Vanilla flan.. it’s the best you can do with Vanilla Flan.. but it’s still just Vanilla flan. I prefer chocolate!