Steam Salutations .. and this time the steam is from a little bit of an unexpected ending! For a moment there my face went red as we concluded Samurai Flamenco. Last episode I was super hopeful.. the week before that I felt utter despair. I felt episode 18 was the perfect ending to a show.. and in a way it was.. but the ending in episode 22 is a lot more satisfying. Though also a bit less perfect. Goodbye Samurai Flamenco.. let’s review you one last time!
The Summary
The episode begins with an origin story for Goto, which is not a good sign considering he just had a gun pointed at him and the trigger being pulled. We see how he got his Girlfriends phone and slowly lost his mind trying to offer himself solace. One message in particular highlighted the last message she truely sent him. In retrospect it is kind of weird that so many years have passed and no one notices how old of a flip phone he was using..and the fact that a telephone survived for that lone.. but oh well. The shot misses and we see Hajii reveal his real plan. He wants to transform Samurai Flamenco into a Dark Hero, by seeing his best friend kill his rival. Causing him trauma he can not forget. So that means Goto has to kill Hajii to make this happen.. Hajii angers him by deleting all of Goto’s girlfriends messages including the final message she sent him. This causes the poor man to properly lose his marbles and he swears to kill the young boy and then Masayoshi steps in.
Hajii tries to force him into his Samurai Flamenco costume but Masayoshi refuses.. he instead gets naked! Saying the two have to find love together and he will fight Hajii as Masayoshi not as Samurai Flamenco! During their scuffle Goto gets the keys to his handcuffs and the gun and he wants to kill Hajii but Masayoshi stands in his way.. trying to talk him out of this. He does this by….proposing to Goto, still very naked. Goto calls Masayoshi stupid.. but doesn’t turn down the proposal, and the two call each other Baka and Aho for about 4 minutes or so. Masayoshi realises he truly loves Goto and can not allow him to be corrupted and the end their standoff. Goto lowers the run. Masayoshi goes to Goto but what happens then is blocked by Mari who pops into the screen and beats Hajii up! Goto and Masyoshi talk and we see the criminal boy get kicked in the balls by Mari. A timeskip later and we see everyone being happy again. A sentai museum is opening and the flamengers are all there, Mari and Moe and Mizuki are having concerts again and Masayoshi visits Hajii in jail.. saying he wants to see him change. When he exits Goto is waiting for him and the two walk to the museum together.. Goto has a new phone and when someone litters, Masayoshi transforms into Samurai Flamenco once more.. chasing the litterer leaving a smiling Goto behind
The Positives
So apparently there is a manga that is set after this where Goto and Masayoshi live together, there is also a card game that shows their wedding. I am not sure if it is canon but my does that make this twist ending delightful. Those two would make a great couple.. and it does give Goto some peace of mind. That smile he has at the end.. that is great! And YAY Hajii was real! Thank Arceus for that.. I would have cried if he wasn’t.. Goto and Masayoshi becoming an item at the end was not what I had expected for an ending.. but last week I already expected an ending I would not expect.. and BOY did that deliver. This really might be one of my favourite endings of a show. Which admittedly also might seem so amazing because I was kind expecting a trainwreck. But the ending is just so sweet and adorable.. and it is kind of neat that the final battle had to be fought as Masayoshi not as Samurai Flamenco it really was a nice turn that was properly set up.
The epilogue also delivered on the satisfaction. The opening to the museum works great as a visual callback , the walk of Goto and Masayoshi is super cute and a little bit loaded.. you want them to spill the beans and see if we can find out what happened to the proposal but it wisely never does. Even if Bromance.. with the B potentially between brackets is not for you, you can take the ending anyway you like. They could just be palls! The extended universe makes them more.. but it is totally up to you if that counts yay or nay! Smart! We see everyone happy, and that whole World President stuff is also conveniently dropped which makes it a lot more airy and digestible.. it keeps Masayoshi as an innocent young man who hasn’t changed all that much yet realised something very important in his life. While he hasn’t changed he has become a much more complete man and that is enough.. that is what makes this show great in the end. I still think episode 18 would have been a good enough place to end as Samurai Flamenco.. yet episode 22 is a much better place to end as Masayoshi.. and I like that there is a difference.
The Negatives
For me, Masayoshi did not have to go naked. The scene would have worked just as well in his boxers or even his underwear. Metaphorically naked would have worked as well. It would not have weirded Hajii out as much maybe.. but I am not sure if him being weirded out mattered that much. Was it just so Goto got to see him naked? Am I missing something here?! To be fair I do not get weirded out or shocked from a naked person because I don’t really believe in that Taboo. A naked person doesn’t go much for me let alone a drawn one.. and we don’t even get to see anything.. it’s more like the Austin Powers implied Naked that is cleverly covered up in each shot. Somewhere I get it.. as it is pure Masayoshi.. no hiding behind anything.. but again underwear would have been enough.
That stupid random adoption scene from ther last episode has no impact here, we do see the Flamengers, but mostly it’s just Lady Axe calling Pink a sow other than that they are just impressed with the Museum.. also Black’s Grandpa is fine which is nice but I can not help that because of that random episode this felt like the least conclusive and satisying endings.. the rest got all closed up nicely but there was a bit of unfinished buisness left. Like I said last week the parents of Haji indeed helped him fake his death as it turns out which makes sense enough.. but Kono only NOW finds out they are kind of worried about what he has been doing with this?! The boy has been dead for a year you know. It seems kind of weird that his parents would not have any idea. Where does he store his explosives, can they never hear any phone calls he makes, how does he learn to infiltrate an apartment. You can do a lot in a year but making the parents completely oblivious makes them horrible people in my eyes. Just allow him to do this or something because they are just as crazy obsessed with him as he is with Masayoshi or something. Now it is kinda hokey?!
The Score
I can rest at ease now and leave this series with a huge smile on my face. The twist ending was lovably weird but also quite in line with the show! A bromance moving into a romance….. which is how I take that ending is a great way to break up the stale trope of the hero being alone. Not only do we get closure, Goto get’s closure.. and while his behaviour in episode 20 still kind of disgusts me he has suffered enough. The fact that he doesn’t completely let go.. shows he is crazy enough to be with Masayoshi as well and the fact that almost all other people except for Goto have been using smartphones did kind make the scene better.. but still it kind of feels like someone is playing on their Iphone 10 next to someone with an iPhone 4…Mari, as shallow as she is would be bound to notice!
It’s a great final episode that has a few logic leaps that make the pay off not AS strong as it could have been.. but it’s one of those ending.. where you do not care about that. Is it perfect no! Have I seen shows with stronger endings.. I most certainly did… yet I have said this before.. I do distinguish BEST and favourite. If someone asks me for the best anime I have ever seen, I would struggle to find an answer and probably end up with Spirited Away or one of the Ghibli movies.. if they ask for my favourite I say Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. From what I have heard Cowboy Bebop has one of the best endings in anime.. though tragic, (I have yet to see it myself) but my favourite ending… it might very well be this one! So this end gets one heck of a subjective Star Fruit! Thank you for existing Samurai Flamenco! And Moe.. my sweet summer flower, I am glad you are okay!
Noooooooooo Moe-chaaaaan! Please be safe! Stupid Hajii deserves to die for what he did to you my sweet blue spring flower! He even scared me out of my Steampunk outfit because I am so worried about you! .. Where last week I nearly dropped the show.. two episodes before the end of the show, which shows up how messed up it was, this week I absolutely am blown away…but if they make Masayoshi the actual villain here.. this entire review is null and void! In fact.. if they go the stupid route.. this might be the first post I will ever delete.
The Summary
Episode 21 begins at Masayoshi’s hotel, we see him contemplate killing himself so that Hajii stops. He now seems a bit more certain that the boy is not in his brain.. but if there is no one for him to torment his friends are safe. He calls Mari and warns her about Hajii. Mari does not seem worried but asks about Goto and if they have made up again.. this does not happen. Too worried about her love interest and not happy about him missing his friend she misses the time to drink her coffee and they have to go on stage. Mizuki and Moe collapse.. their eyes totally white.. big foam on their lips.. my heart drops and I am about to chuck my laptop out of the window.. No one hurts my Moe! Luckily the pair seems to have survived.. their stomachs get pumped and now we have to wait and see.. and no it isn’t resolved this episode so I am not sure of my darlings fate! While Masayoshi watches the news report about the attack on MMM in relative silence.. he gets a call from the hospital. Joji is finally awake and he wishes to talk to Masayoshi.
Masayoshi and him have a heart to heart and the Mentor tells his pupil he saw the boy just before he got hit by the truck..He said to him “Give Samurai Flamenco my regards”. Thank you show! At least you have given him a distraction. Jojii tells Masayoshi to find out about love as it is the only way to defeat this foe. However Masayoshi being obsessed with being a hero has never known or experienced love.. or so he thinks. He doesn’t understand what love is. Here I am a bit afraid that Jojii wanted to speak to Masayoshi and say he saw him.. and that if he finds love in his heart he can stop doing terrible things.. but I really hope it is my over imaginative mind. Masayoshi talks to his agent who gives him a nice speech about love and gives us their cutest interaction yet.. I finally like her as a character a bit.. then she goes back to Tsundere all over Kono again and the admiration drops a bit again. Meanwhile Goto loses his phone at work.. he finds a new one on the spot where his old one would be and gets a text from his girlfriend.. which turns out to be Hajii. Goto gets captured..which makes me afraid it is Masayoshi beating him.. because a young kid might not be able to do it.. although there is a taser. The two talk about Hajii wanting to evolve Samurai Flamenco.. he pulls out a gun on Goto.. tells him he will see him tomorrow aims .. and pulls the trigger. The screen goes black in a huge cliffhanger.
The Positives
These positives only apply if Masayoshi doesn’t turn out to be the bad guy.. but I really like it how this episode actually steers away from that idea! I don’t mind AS much if Masayoshi imagined the entire thing and the show ends with the guy from the first episode having knocked his lights out or something… but making him the bad guy would kill the show for me. So I do like that at least it SEEMS like Red Axe saw the guy as well.. it at least seems like Goto is captured by an actual guy and it seems unlikely that Masayoshi would steal Goto’s phone.. then replace it.. use the spelling of his probably dead girlfriend , then imagine himself being called with Goto’s phone to be baited for a final showdown.. that seems a bit much! So if we judge it as an actual chain of events.. like I said last episode! I do like the Joker vibes.. from Haijii, I do like that I am super eager to find out what happend at the cliffhanger and I am more than eager to explore more! i even like the idea that Masayoshi must learn to love to break that Super Hero cycle.. or a rivalry would never end.. that feels like a clever take on the genre. I like how they went with a concept where everyone is at danger.. so no matter who your favourite character in the show is.. you have stakes in this last episode. I must see that my Moe is safe.. and some might have to see if Goto survived. Others might have to check what the super angry Mari will do.
I weirdly kinda like that they left the door open to that stupid shitty ending that I really do not want to see. Goto never says “I should have believed him” , Jojii never confirms he saw Haji just that he saw who was standing behind him. It leaves options open.. but the same goes for Hajii being rule.. one might wonder how an 11 year old or however old he is survived by himself out there.. but right after his funeral his parents went missing, perhaps he killed them and took their money, perhaps they support his crazy goal someway somehow.. and went along with it out of their blind love. If Masayoshi is the one that poisoned Moe and Mizumi and pushed Kanede under a truck the show will be ruined for me.. because I feel it goes completely against the spirit of the show.. but at least I have a stake in this final episode. Kind of like seeing your favourite V-Tuber play russian roulette or something and if they fail.. they delete their channel. You will not like it if it goes bad.. but you sure have to be there to see that it doesn’t. I really want to watch this final episode badly!
The Negatives
I really felt nervous this episode and that is a super good thing, so my negatives are mostly hypothetical.. and I will not include those, but yes this was an amazing episode. I felt super engaged and excited so there is very little for me to complain about. However there was one scene that did not make ANY sense to me. At one point Lady Axe in the hospital waiting room asks if Green considered her offer to adopt him.. which he declines, Blue then gets upset and asks why he isn’t getting adopted and the answer he gets is.. You are too dumb. Meanwhile Lady-Axe yells some petty things against Pink who suddenly holds a pair of divorce papers in her face. What the heck is up with that scene. If Masayoshi isn’t imagining what happens in the other room there.. this is just a really stupid scene. So either this is a very poor written scene or a sign on the wall that I will get a bad ending.. so it’s a negative alright.
There is also a lot of bad animation in this episode. Drawings that seem over-simplistic. Mostly around the hospital time. As long as a single character is in shot or two of them are in close up it is fine.. but if there are two or more full bodies it really shows in the animation. While I do not care for animation particularly this one feels so incidental and “not part of the same episode” as the rest that it REALLY took me out of the scene. When you look at the MMM concert you see a lot of love went into those shots. The shot from Mari laying there on the floor foaming from the mouth .. still haunts me.. and that scene in the ending with Hajii in Masyoshi’s apartment was done nice as well .. I truly felt the wind around that place. So it really felt as if the hospital bit did not matter. I am also kind of upset that Masayoshi did not visit Moe and Mizumi.. they helped him out on numerous occasions. The lackluster animation kind of carries over in the scene with Masayoshi being thought about love from his agent.. but not as bad. I don’t mind an episode with bad animation that much I guess.. I mind more when it’s fluctuating. It feels as if some parts lack love.
The Score
I adored this episode.. like it really is on Star Fruit level for me.. I was super invested, super entertained and besides that one throw away scene I really love what happened here. It was really good! Yet because the previous episode was SO bad .. I can’t fully enjoy it until I have seen the last episode! I will most likely not be able to wait a week before I watch this…. but never had a show been this high stakes going into the final episodes and it’s weirdly fantastical. I will either laugh or cry when it’s over.. maybe even both.
Knowing this show the final episode will be yet another surprise for me.. so the two endings I suspect to happen will probably not even come to pass .. but it has been a wild ride.. I am left with one big leap.. it is a scary one.. it can ruin a show I hold very dear..or it can make it even sweeter. This episode gave me hope again! Lots of it! Yet the show has also run its course it’s time for this to end.. but as a ramp up to the finale this is one of the best episodes a girl can wish for!
Joyous Salutations , my dear Island Guests, we have entered Steampunk Month on Paradise.. however just because our palm trees have turned into metal and our pool is now heated by coal and steam vents.. doesn’t mean we will stop with providing you our weekly anime! The Animini shall continue.. however I will immediately admit.. that with this first episode within anime Month.. I am not that pleased. I am not that pleased at all. Where I liked the set up of the villain last week, I think it’s current execution is not something I particularly enjoy.
The Summary
The episode picks up where the last when finished. Masayoshi is greeted by a young boy named Hajii and that explosion we saw last time.. it turns out it was Masayoshi’s apartment. I did not realise it because.. I haven’t really paid much attention to the outside of his apartment building if it even has been shown before. I do try to pay attention to this show so I do feel that explosion at the end of the episode missed a bit of impact. I wanted to see Masayoshi react a bit more. The two have a mexican stand off and the boy tells Masayoshi a tiny bit of his background story before vanishing. He tells Masayoshi he plans to cause misery to Samurai Flamenco. Masayoshi is being taken to a hotel to spend the night where he orders a curry. Hajii calls hims room and tells him he poisoned the curry and will soon treat Masayoshi to a colourful chain of events. Plus offering a lot more backstory. He was the young boy that was part of the group of ruffians.. I even described him there I think.. Apparently he found the word Flamenco to be really funny.. and he decided to be his rival.. long story short he wants to be his complete opposite.. so no justifications he just is pure evil! To offer Samurai Flamenco the best possible foe he can have.
Because of the phone hint Hajii gave Masayoshi the model deduces his first target is the Flamengers.. and this indeed is true. Blue gets his cardboard cutout of Red Axe being torn. Blacks Grandpa gets pushed over, Green gets his book cut to shreds and given to his little sister, Pink gets her hair cut off. and Red Axe gets hit by a truck and put in the hospital. We also see someone get pushed off a stair and ..kind of hurt their ankle I guess. While I do like the power display here.. something feels off in how these are scaled and follow each other up. Masayoshi goes to the police but no one believes a highschool boy can do this. There is no trace of a bomb in Masayoshi’s apartment, no poison in the curry, and the boy is said to have died from a disease over a year ago. Even Goto won’t believe his friend and the two get in a huge fight.. causing Goto to break all ties with Masayoshi and throw him out.. because he found it unfair that Masayoshi called him out for being a hypocrite. Masayoshi sits on a riverbank and waits for Haiji to call who shows up on an island in the river. When Masayoshi swims to him to proof he is real and not a figment of his overworked mind.. he finds no one there.. we see Masayoshi lay there wondering if this villain is hin his head.
The Positives
I do really like how Hajii is set up as the Joker.. he is evil just because he can and he wants to be the opposite of Samurai Flamenco.. being evil just for evil sake is great. I also love the mind game that is being played here.. if that is the route they are going for.. Samurai Flamenco has very much dependent on all his allies, so the way to fight him.. is indeed by taking his friends away from him.. making him seem like a madman.. It will also reduce his chances to be world president.. which I already found dumb.. so I am all for that. Overall Masayoshi’s struggles in this episode have been done really well. I have so much empathy for him.. from simple things as wasting a perfectly good curry due to a tease.. to slowly losing his sanity.
I also like the fact that Moe did not get killed in this episode.. for some reason I had the feeling that she might be killed off and that would have completely ruined the show for me. While I do not like this episode .. they at least managed to keep it salvagable for me.. but given that I mention this as a positive might give you an idea for what is about to come next. To linger in the positives for a little while longer, I do like the idea that this young kid is just to smart for Masayoshi.. if he is not a figment of his imagination and faked his own death.. and is just playing the man I do think that is a really REALLY cool villain concept and probably something that I would see myself as .. as a villain as well.. that would be how I’d work as well. However I do not think the villain works here.. It works along with Masayoshi but not with the show, not with the universe.. not after that episode I should have kept as my final episode. I do love the concept .. but it’s like a concept car.. they all look really cool but if you look a bit closer it makes no sense at all! Still it does look super cool on a photo so that is still a positive.
The Negatives
I am sorry .. I have a LOT of negatives with this episode! I kind of hated it! Not in terms of flow .. but I just found it to have zero credibility and consistency. Let’s immediately drop in with the scene that utterly ruined this episode for me and that is Masayoshi’s fight with Goto. Goto believes Masayoshi is just overworked and is imagining this guy. Masayoshi tells him he is a hypocrite.. because he wants to cling on the illusion that his girlfriend is still alive and will come back.. but he doesn’t believe Masayoshi saw a real guy. That is hypocritical indeed.. and it would have been a super powerful scene.. had it made any sense.. but let’s look at this closer. Goto saw a guy transform into a Guillotine Gorilla while standing next to Masayoshi… he used a pink Hummer to dislodge a Missile made by a man who turned himself into a giant puppet. He has been saved by his favourite Sentai and he has seen an all American Hero turn into an alien. Had he had a telescope.. he could even see his friends IMPRINT on the moon.There in my mind is just NO way that .. a young boy .. flying under the radar is THAT unbelievable to him.. that it results in a friendship ending fight.
Then there is the attacks on the Flamengers.. which are all super petty and silly. It makes Hajii feel more like Butters from Southpark playing Professor Chaos.. ripping a cardboard sign and a book and cutting of someone’s hair.. tipping a grandpa. Then Joji is hit by a truck?! That just feels super inconsistent.. at least build up in gravitas over a bit of time if you do that.. but no everyone was hit almost at the same time..And they are HIT at the same TIME.. same day within minutes of each other. Yet the police and GOTO!!! Explain this as.. You guys go t some weirdo fans that will do weird shit. NO! Had it happened over days.. I could have seen them going that route but there is no way you can make Masayoshi the boy that cried wolf like this. It doesn’t fit into the world building at all.. the entire world wants this guy to be president for Arceus sake.. Even if I would belief Masayoshi himself is turning into a villian so much things would not make sense. The Flamengers fought monsters.. they are highly trained.. yet Red Axe can’t jump away from a vehicle.. Black doesn’t notice an intruder.. while his father is walking on soft soil.. Pink doesn’t chase the guy that cuts her hair and just screams?! They are basically meant to be like Masayoshi so this passive behaviour also is weird. The next two episode better offer me one Distortion World of an explanation because right now this feels SOOO badly written.
The Score
Despite me hating how this episode is written there are a few things going for it that keep it from getting the lowest score in my system. This might still be salvaged..I can see Masayoshi distracting the Flamengers.. to cause the atttack to happen.. if he really is the villain himself.. but then .. Joji makes no sense as he never answered.. So that route is out of the window for me.. I must hope Hajii is at least real.. and he is just tormenting Masayoshi but even if that happens.. everyone else here got the serious short and off the stick. I might be able to justify Goto’s action because he loves his girlfriend so much.. but I still kind of find it bad writing when you know that your friend saved earth from the aliens ..and you fought alongside him twice.. to prevent the end of Japan..that this whole girlfriend thing outweighs that. It doesn’t feel right we always seen Goto as a realist so to weigh this.. THIS heavy.. Eeh..
If you are simply out here to see Masayoshi’s adventures .. this is a good one.. if you are like me and think also from the mindset of the other characters.. this episode made SO little sense to me.. it kind of felt to me as if the show said.. “well this all isn’t relevant anymore lets toss it in the bin shall we” and I do hate this episode for it. For me this is the single most worst episode of the show so far. It doesn’t ruin the show for me but I do feel as if this was very very bad day for the writers. Sometimes a cool concept should just stay a cool concept.. I would have loved this as fan fiction.. but I hate that it’s part of offical Canon.
Konichi-holy-doodoo! I did not expect this episode of Samurai Flamenco to go as dark as it did my dear Island guests.. I mean Digimon bummed me out.. but beaver-dam I did not see this one coming. I expected a nice slice of life episode with maybe some elements of boredom.. but this… eeek! Unlike Digimon I did end up enjoying myself more.. though I still feel the series should have ended after last weeks episode.. I mean I did get closure for that thing I wanted closure about earlier.. I just did not expect that closure to be sledgehammered in.
The Summary
This episode starts with a 6 month time skip after the defeat of Alien Flamenco and Masayoshi’s encounter with the Will of The Universe. Like the latter said the universe has returned to normal.. or did it? The world is so peaceful that we are moving into some advanced negotiations for a joined “world” government. The one that enjoys the most votes to be it’s president is Masaysoshi himself.. even though he does not seem interested in the job .. Everyone else wants him to be the president of the world due to his heroic antics. While he is still training his combat skills, we see him discuss “settling down” with the rest of the cast. His agent and Mari in particular. With no more enemies to fight, the idea is brought up that Masayoshi should find a girlfriend, his agent should date Kono and Mari even suggest Masayoshi to date his agent himself. He doesn’t know what to do.. and he doesn’t want to be world leader so he goes to his best friend Goto. He sees on the calendar of the cop that it’s soon to be date night .. he finally goes to see his girlfriend.. whom he is in a long term relationship with. Curious Mari and Masayoshi plan to chase him to see if they can help.
This leads them to travel to Goto’s home town.. they lose track of him because they can not board the same train, but since Mari lived in his closet for a while during her great depression she snooped around and found his home address and remembered it. So she moves to the Goto family residence. Here they talk to Goto’s mother in the hope of figuring out where Goto went. Telling her he is on a date. The mother looks shocked and tells a story that Goto had a girlfriend only once in his life.. one day she disappeared while waiting for the bus. The bus was found empty with no driver.. evidence showed a single passenger had boarded the bus, leaving only an umbrella with a Takoyaki Tako strap behind. Goto’s girlfriend disappeared many years ago.. and he was never able to let it go. But who has been sending him these text messages then? Could it be some kind of trap?! Mari and Masayoshi go to find out.. Mari .. who feels a bit lovescorned, snatches his phone crossing the street when a bus blocks Goto’s path to find out who is responsible.. it turns out Goto had been pretending to be his own girlfriend all along.. unable to let her go.. he just imagined what she would text him back. Mari gets bummed out and invites the girls to stay with her at the inn she is staying at while Masayoshi wanders the streets.. bummed out he could not be there for his friend. A young boy shakes his head.. when suddenly an explosion goes off behind him.. This young boy.. seems to be A new enemy!
The Positives
I feel conflicted about this episode again.. because jeesz the truth about Goto’s girlfriend hit me hard! I always had expected her to be the final villain or something and I am pretty sure this new guy will find out and abuse Goto’s broken hard someway later on.. the building blocks are fairly set up for that.. but this?! I was surprised and I think it was a very strong choice to make. It balances out the sugarry , morale victories Masayoshi had lately! That basically always involved him being such a great hero that the situation he would get himself in more or less resolved itself. We needed a taste of bitter.. but I did not expect it to leave me with this much of a bleeding heart. I do think this is a great engine to keep Masayoshi , Mari and Goto involved together so as far as continuations go this is actually a quite briljant way to pull it off. Goto finally got his little moment, even showing why he became a cop and why he bites so much onto mysteries. All the events basically take place in the same day, where the sunshine is being used for when everything is perfectly fine. The peaceful world that Masayoshi is going to be president off.. but as they discover someone they love is in trouble we transition into dusk! Not everything is as bright as we would like to believe .. and when they realise Goto can not be helped right now.. we move into night! Where a terror attack happens as well.. showing things have gone bad once more.. it is all quite beautifully done.
There are also some great character moments for basically everyone that was once relevant , we see where everyone is. Even the Flamengers. Even the pink ranger got accepted back into her home again.. but she has to deal with regret of never getting the love of her life. The other rangers all get a neat little reference to! Kono is bored with the news being so peaceful and our adorable , best dude, gadget guy has become super famous and successful for contributing to Samurai Flamenco’s success so much now becoming the most successful stationery producer, like now one ever was. The episodes manage to nail both the peace and conflict images very successfully and thus doesn’t leave as sour of a taste in my mouth as the Digimon episode! That being said there are some odd choices in this episode I can not really get behind.
The Negatives
While I really enjoy the episode overall, there are a few choices I do not really like. For one the whole “making Masayoshi world president while he doesn’t really want to” thing I find very stupid and not an interesting conflict. I do get WHY he would get a majority of the votes, as people would only vote for someone not of their country if it’s a symbol.. Yet at the same time we see Masayoshi is constantly being interviewed and he is very open about not being interested in becoming the President. So I do feel that whole plotpoint really isn’t going anywhere. If the world is so peaceful.. Why would you make someone president against his will? He makes a fair point that he is not fit for the job.. as he isn’t all that political .. or smart enough to get that done..which again.. is a fair point. Kaname would make a better ruler that way and he would be a much better choice.
The second issue is that this new villain person is something I find very iffy! It’s a bit as if Masayoshi would be the Tony Stark from the Marvel Universe.. and this new guy is Spider-man is he felt inspired by Tony.. but to go in the wrong direction.. we get a little but seemingly very brainy .. kid as a villain. I do like the idea of a final villain that is grounded more into a harsh reality.. bringing the series back to the hero in Masayoshi and not in Samurai Flamenco.. but to make it a kid?! It feels like it’s a bit overshot.. like saying Rallo or Rollo or whatever the guys name was from Geass would be the actual final enemy.. or have Selmin Bradley be the ultimate bad guy in FullMetal Alchemist Brotherhood. The final thing that got me annoyed is that we do not see Moe react at all when Mari is feeling heartache that the cop she is pursuing dumped her for a figment of his imagination.. She is just supporting.. but she is clearly in love with Mari .. or she used to be at least.. why don’t we see any of that here?
The Score
For what it is worth, I am happy they went this route for the “epilogue” of the show, this first episode of the final four does show some very competent writing and offers an idea to close this show out on that is of substance enough to justify its existence. Outstanding plot points are being resolved, and they are doing this in a bold and exciting way. I really loved this concept of Goto being super broken and his best friends being unable to see it! He always seemed so composed. Politeness and etiquette prevented Masayoshi to dig deeper… he wants to follow the rules after all and that fits him so well! It really is a great twist and a legit established conflict. So basically everything that would go into the episode synopsis is very amazing.
It is the rest though that still makes me wish that the show ended last episode. I do not find the idea of Masayoshi becoming world president to be even remotely in character, I do not think the new enemy is as strong as I would like him to be. I think it should have been someone more familiar to the cast.. like Kono wanting to create news, or maybe even Kaname becoming a terrorist because his student pushed him from the spotlight. Heck even Flamen Pink because she blames Masayoshi for ripping her and Kaname apart would have had more of an impact. This new guy now has to be established in three episodes and I feel like I can’t take him all that seriously. Alien was not build up.. but he was strange.. otherworldly he did not need the build up. Same goes for From Beyond Flamenco.. but .. with a normal human… I feel like they will stumble in the end. I really hope that Mari and Goto don’t end up together either.. because poor Moe! All in all an episode with a very sweet core but a rough exterior.. and I have just the fruit for that.
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.
Hello island guests this is my second Animini review! The series that used to be Saturday Anime Adventure.. but now in small parts! Today we pick up where I left off with Samurai Flamenco before my move started and that is episode 17! I was not disappointed.I have learned however that I should never play a Sentai in real life! I will get in way over my head! Poor Masayoshi!
The Summary
Masayoshi is welcomed by Goto who knows the police will soon strike to arrest Masayoshi so we are immediately plummeted into some action. Using some weaponised stationary he and Masayoshi manage to escape! Given a new suit Masayoshi is brought to the “base” of the resistance. Mr Justice as well as Kono are there and tell Samurai Flamenco that he has to stop the Prime Minister right now or every other Sentai will be locked up forever due to a new “Anti-Hero” act coming into effect. So Goto and Masayoshi try to disrupt his final speech! Going back to the stationary gadgets of old as well as a new Flamenco suit to get the job done!
However things are not as easy as they may seem! For the Prime Minister is not just a regular prime minister! It is revealed that much like From Beyond Flamenco .. he is a Flamenco too! The government building is on his side and creates a monster for him to combine with! Turning into a sort of Buddha Sentai! The power of his suit increases along with the support he has as a prime minister, thus getting 100% would give him the ultimate power. As he seemingly fights the terrorists the public recognises him as a strong leader and the suit goes stronger. Easily defeating Masayoshi and Goto! However in his final speech he confesses he fooled the public and it is revealed Kono filmed it all with sound.. and thus he quickly loses support. A half unconscious Masayoshi defeats his foe. Then it is revealed that they were all fooled! Mister Justice is actually “Alien Flamenco” an evil force that has took over the world leaders and a 100% powered Prime Minister seemed the only thing standing in between him and world domination! Can Masayoshi clean up this new mess?!
The Positives
I love this episode! I really really really REALLY do! It brings back that old classic Samurai Flamenco with the weird gadgets and the humanity behind the hero. Yet it also managed to combine it with the wackiness of the Flamenger part of the series, as what happened here was absolutely absurd. A roller coaster of plot twists keep the episode interesting and it is backed up with a pretty good fight! A fight that shows Masayoshi with his true friends and hits just enough callback buttons to old episodes to be super satisfying. The Flamen-girls join the fight and we see an improved Mari who willingly takes down the henchmen, finally showing the character has evolved. Moe has a cute moment of not doing anything which suits her very well but it is called out and I am grateful. Seeing Masayoshi and Goto fight the Prime Minister together is also very satisfying.. Even Goto saying he is a Flamenco Policeman felt great.. he finally is an official part of that team and I have been waiting for that.
The conclusion of this fight is also great. We don’t see the classical “hero finds more strength” trope that often accompanies this type of fight. Instead we see the enemy get taken down by a politician’s worst foes. The Press.. and Hubris. Of course Masayoshi still gets his finishing move but the Prime Minister already was done for through other means and that really works in this episode’s favour, sometimes you just have to be the smartest , not the strongest. The fact that there are many Flamenco in there and it has some deeper meaning reaching even into outer space gives some John Wick or Saints Row vibes.. where the plot in following installments keeps getting more and more ridiculous! Kind of like Machete and Machete Kills as well. I really like when a franchise/series has fun with their IP and I do really enjoy that vibe with Samurai Flamenco as well. Where the Flamenger part strayed too much from the core message this storyline is much more akin to the series core identity! So I am a happy little girl!
The Negatives
I don’t have a lot of negatives with an episode that I loved this much, let that be clear. If anything I would have to fault some of the music choices earlier in the episode. While the music during the fight is really great … The music leading up to the fight did not match the scene at all. In fact it fit so poorly that I found myself checking if maybe somewhere an add had opened up. It isn’t mixed in that well sometimes even overpowering the dialogue. The fight of the Flamen girls also seemed a bit sloppier in animation than what they used to be.. as if it was the rushed part of the episode. It isn’t bad but there is a lack of “impact” in their hits. When compared to Masayoshi’s fight or the earlier fight with Goto against the cops.
These are small gripes though and do not really affect how I feel about the episode. I am not sure if I like Alien Flamenco’s design.. and I know I dislike his spaceship’s design which are slightly bigger gripes but it would be something I just have to get used to. It’s a sligt bit “too” alien and too square. It doesn’t really remind me of a sentai villain. If anything I’d say it would be more fitting to one of those newer Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Series. I will probably get used to it but for now I find it a bit meh and generic.
The Score
This is definitely among the better episodes of the series for me! It had some really great moments so far and this episode is almost constantly great, except for maybe some elements I do notice but do not care for THAT much. The show goes into , what I would assume it’s final story arc, super strong and I look forward to seeing the show conclude on a similar level as this.
I do think with five more episodes there might be still a bit to much show left to let this Alien encounter linger for THAT long, so there might an arc where Masayoshi has to live without being a hero after.. but I do not know. I look forward to seeing the show conclude as I think the show is reaching its zenith, I am a bit worried about how things will be wrapped up as the show can’t keep up this Formula 1 tempo it has going right now so while this episode does take a risk for the future on it’s own I was very entertained! Highest score in my orchard.
Hello lovely Mortals! This sunday we will briefly take a dive back into regular content! Although I say normal! I am doing a lite version of my Anime Adventure as I had so much stuff to do I could not finish the entire block! I am very busy packing , making phone calls and setting everything up for my move! A wall of boxes is in front of my writing spot right now as more and more cabinets slowly become empty storage. My neighbour seems to be moving away as well! Regardless Saturday Anime Adventure for the time being will just be an episode of the shows airing on CrunchyRoll. At least until I have more time again on my weekends. In november I will see if I will split Saturday Anime Adventure into additional weekly content (thus more content per day with one short anime post and a longer post on other subjects). Would you rather see seperate reviews or continue to see them grouped let me know in the comments! Now onto the episodes!
Digimon Episode 9: The Ultimate Digimon Attacks
I still can not believe how good this show is and how much I like it. The show takes a very different approach to the old show but I feel this show could never be so good without the other show. It’s almost as if I am watching an “ultimate” remake of this story.
Plot
The episode begins with Ogremon getting a hologram mission from Devimon! The latter is not amused with Ogremon’s failed attempts to kill the Chosen Ones. Ogremon reacts coldly but once the cal is over he yells in anger over his broken horn swearing revenge. We then move back to the fortress our heroes have invaded in the last episode. Taichi is reading the digiscript and says that the holy digimon are in the hands of darkness. Which leads them to believe they are on the right continent now because these fortresses of evil were meant to kept them out from freeing the holy digimon. Kairi and Takeru are clearly not in the digital world so it seems like this time Angemon and Angewoman might have to be rescued before we even see them. Ogremon attacks right after the kids finish reading the script and challenges Taichi and Agumon to an honorable match. They agree but as soon as they bein Devimon’s troops attack. Which overwhelms the other chosen ones. Koshiro and Kabuterimon save everyone with the last of Kabuterimon’s energy; he has finally caught up to the group and is welcomed for their rescue. However the evil Digimon won’t stop and that is when they are saved by Ogremon.
Ogremon just wants an honourable fight with the one digimon he fought that managed to claim his horn. An honourable vengeance.. he wants to have fun with their fight! This chases Devimon’s troops off and the match between him and Greymon continues. Both seem to have great fun and in the end Greymon comes out victorious even going as far as breaking off another horn. But then a missile impacts and damages Ogremon greatly. An ultimate level digimon steps out of the water. Note that this is an Ultimate in the dubbing sense.. in the original Japanese name it would be called a Perfect. While the name Ultimate in Japan is used for what we call a Mega form! Greymon is a Champion in english and an Adult in Japanese, MetalGreymon is an Ultimate to the rest of the world but a perfect to Japanese while Wargreymon is an Ultimate in Japanese.. but a Mega in English! Confusing right?! While in english Digimon digivolve and in Japanese just evolve the subtitle of this series coins the term Evolve.. thus following the japanese rules, when it comes to forms the translation seems to follow the dub rules. Since I can not verify if they are renamed/reclassified in japanese as a rule I will use whatever my subtitle/translations says. This monster overwhelms the group quite easily and Ogremon uses his signature move to show them the way.. before jumping into the ultimate MetalTyranomon’s attack and detonating it point blank.
Strengths
I love how this show is paced, we know of the existence of Ultimates already so the show makes no real secret of it. It respects that a lot of it’s lore is already established but also doesn’t shy away from addressing it still. Just without the fluff this time. I do wonder how this will work with Devimon as it seems we might get Metalgreymon in the next episode. Devimon being just a champion, also seems to have control over some ultimate ones so could it be he will evolve into NeoDevimon or heck even evolve into Myotismon? Both are possibilities here and it could tie stories together so well! It has so much potential but is also risking overstepping and fumbling. For now I am super excited. Koshiro joining just before their potential biggest battle is great and it makes sense as a meet up spot. It’s nice to see him finally join the gang and get a safe that tops that of Yamato’s. Once again everyone plays their role.
There is also a good dose of humor in this episode. Joe introducing himself to Koshiro as the leader, Mimi trying to be in the foreground when meeting Koshiro, it feels so much more as if everyone constantly is in character now. Joe feels he is responsible for the group, Mimi much more keeps up with her princess thing and overall the level of consistency is great. This also shows in the battle scene. The group gets pinned down by an aerial bombardment. However they are in a fortress so they would have cover. However moments earlier Ogremon just trashes the tower they are standing in to make a statement and get their attention. Thus taking their cover away and creating the next problem. This is much more pleasant than say.. the same digimon also shooting away the roof.. as it would have given a very obvious window! No party was prepared and it resulted in trouble. Yamato and Gabumon managed to get away because they are much more battle-honed and have more of a focus on speed. Reasons are shown why he is slightly ahead of the pack!
The visuals were also very strong! The show does a great job showing the height difference between your average Ultimate and the Digimon as they currently are, making them immediately feel overwhelmed. It is also shown that even at the maximum of his strength Greymon can’t even make a dent against this monster. It is not said or spoken like in most anime.. it is simply shown! My favourite moment was the fight between Ogremon and Greymon. It uses aura’s , expressions in eyes, wind and other effects to tell a story! The fact that they don’t use special attack after special attack really shows they are having fun in this contest of strength and it feels like Courage is pitted against the sin of Pride here which leads into an interesting matchup and a great episode!
Weaknesses
Not a lot of noteworthy weaknesses for this episode from me. I slightly dislike how invisible Sora was this time but had Biyoman digivolve here I am sure it should have died so I can see why they did it.. I just feel so far they have put Sora a bit up there with Yamato and Taichi and her being absent from a chance to fight felt a bit of a miss to me. But timing and all. I am also worried about their ultimate villain being a champion level facing off against potential Ultimates plus Omnimon already being a thing. My negatives are nothing directly one this episode but more worries for the future. I would love to see a slower paced episode without a battle in here somewhere soon though.
Overall
Very strong episode! It doesn’t reach the perfect score for me as it is YET another action episode but it at least was one heck of an episode! Despite it’s focus on action the show does introduce some wit and lore each episode and I haven’t seem to much stereotypical events yet and those that do feel well earned or are explained good enough. The fact that Devimon seems to have possession over Angemon and Angewoman could lead into an amazing story given how Devimon was beaten with the help of Angemon in the first place and this time that outcome MIGHT not be available. Ogremon turning good early also seems to introduce the group with loss fairly early one as I doubt he can recover from this attack! Raising the tension. Death usually comes fairly late in a series of Digimon making the first half feel a bit “magical girlish” but here we are constantly learning new things and progressing. The fight between Agumon and Ogremon has Dragonball Z like qualities and I mean that in the good way. It has that Cinematic feel to it. While we can fault Dragon Ball Z for it’s writing the action shots oftenly were quite good so saying this took a page from their book is a very big compliment. This show continues to show it’s charm trough every episode!
Samurai Flamenco Episode 16: Wandering Hero
I love Moe so much! She is such a great character and she really is to good for this world! I love her! I might have found another potential Waifu candidate as this episode might have left me smitten.
Plot
Masayoshi is the wandering Hero from the title accused of terrorismn and with a nation wide search going out for him he is scared to turn to Goto. He does not want to endanger his friends now that everything he fought for seems to be worth nothing. Meanwhile the Flamenco girls reunite and we see Mari snap against her two friends telling them she is sickened by Moe’s face for embarrassing her. Moe because she would give her life without a second thought in her mind to save the woman she loves made Mari look bad because she could not do the same. She realises Moe was the true hero and not her and it sickens her to the core that she is that bad person.It sickens her she can not be a hero! So she tells Moe to never show her face to her again or take it off if she ever wants Mari to look at her again. Mari runs off to the base of King Torture to reflect on things .Having a mental breakdown where she vommits on the floor crying disgusted by herself .. much more than by Moe. When her two friends sneak up we see Moe wear a paper bag over her head.
Moe knew exactly where Mari would be as she loves her so much and knows her better than Mari knows herself. She .. in the paperbag and all tells Mari that she did not make a heroic choice but a selfish choice just like Mari did.. because she loves Mari so much that there was no way she would want to go on living without her. Bless that girl… Mari reconciles with her and the two begin to violently make out while Mari is covered in vomit and Moe is all teared up. Mizuki is asked to join in the group hug.. and potentially into the kissing as well, I am not sure. Meanwhile the flamengers are interrogated and we hear how they are doing trough the mouth of Jouji’s wife. She doesn’t acknowledge Sakura as a Flamenger though and doesn’t offer her any support in these tough times. She tells her husband she might have to bake him cake if she has to. We cut away and next we see Masayoshi finding a newspaper saying that Jouji is to be executed for his crimes against Japan. Soon after the desperate former hero passes out from starvation.
He wakes up in a homeless man’s tent and finds out that this in fact is one of the guys that he rescued as Samurai Flamenco when he just got started. It seems that the man is in the know that he indeed picked up Japan’s most wanted terrorrist who is his hero but not a lot is revealed. The man tells him a story on how is was framed by a buisness associate and friend and then lost all his money.. when his eyesight got bad he could not get his money back and his family left him and he had no one left to turn to. He was unhappy but trough Samurai Flamenco’s selfless risk he began to help others around him, who began to help him in return and now he lived much happier. Reinvigorated by these words Masayoshi gets asked if he has people who support him and he answers yes! He flees the tent when police show up aided by the old beggar man, and goes to Goto’s house who welcomes with open arms.
Strengths
I cried happily in this episode! I was so happy to see Mari and Moe make up.. but I also cried when I saw Moe suffer so much! She is such a amazing person! She is a true little angel! A very gay little angle! The scene with her with the paper bag over my head was my favourite thing this episode. It felt so unreal to see such a cute voice come from a paper bag and it is great to see Moe despite how much she has been through to choose for Mari still. She chooses her words to comfort Mari but also to defend herself. She reveals that you don’t have to be a hero to do the right thing but also that even in doing the right thing you can still choose for yourself. Moe isn’t a hero who does things to be a hero, she is a hero because others matter to her more than herself and no matter what happens she will always be there for them. Mari before her breakdown was equally a hero but on other terms. Even if she had been trough a lot she always found the strength to get back up on stage or in the Flamenco girl costume and that is something Moe would never be able to do. A hero can exist in many ways!
Masayoshi’s talk with the homeless man who was just a background detail in an older episode was also great. We had this amazing shift in scope when he became an actual Sentai and he had to save the country and to an extent t he world even, but now that he has been tricked It all seems to have been taken away. However this episode shows us how Masayoshi already changed the world as a hero on the smaller scale. It doesn’t matter what you are called or what title you have. It is your actions that define who you are. If one calls you a villain doesn’t mean you are that to everyone. A person is bigger than just a title the state slaps onto him. That is what I got out of this at least and it is a powerful message that is much more in spirit with how this show started out than the mediocre Flamenger arc. This is what I want this show to be! It is not a story about people constantly bettering themselves it is people fighting for what they believe in and finding a worth in that belief even if it isn’t widely embraced. Very strong episode!
Weaknesses
I would lie if I said I had none because there was one plotpoint that annoyed me to no end. It was the fact that Jojii’s wife did not acknowledge Sakura as a Flamenger. Yes I get she tries to sleep with your husband but it was shown he never did anything with that..at least to my knowledge. Sure she tries to do something unsavory and harmful to the person who is trying to help.. but these people are scared and might be executed, she still fought for the safety of Japan which I feel is bigger than her trying to snipe your romance. Given how she is referred to as Lady Axe I feel she should have at least that bit of hero spirit to show Sakura who the bigger person is. Perhaps I am strict here because Sakura is the Pink Ranger but I do feel it is a very poor choice on Lady Axe’s end to make Sakura suffer, given that she already had to live with the fact that her family cast her out for being an adulterer..let alone now that she is a terrorist. In an episode that is all about friendship and reunions this sticks out to me like a sore thumb. Understandable sure.. but bad in this episode.
Overall
Another perfect score for Samurai Flamenco! It is great to see it return to what made this show so amazing to me in the first place. The fact that the president’s plans are very vague and Lady Axe was super selfish do not ruin the episode for me. Perfection does not exist and if an episode has to be flawed I rather have it slip up with Lady Axe than with Moe and Mari or Masayoshi. This episode me me cry with joy and I feel truly touched.. if that happens I was so invested that minor offences do not matter. Mari’s moment of glory will be in my head for a while! It was really beautiful! Memorable and engaging?! Highest score!
That Time I reincarnated as a Slime Episode 15: The Jura Forest Alliance
Slime has an odd way of satisfying me, in the same way I like building villages in Sim City or maybe more an RTS like scenario like Warcraft 3, growth is an amazing thing to experience in Slime, even though we know how powerful Rimuru is we see the progression of his little town. I want to see more of that!
Plot
This episode is told in a more narrative shape with Rimuru telling the viewer what happened after the fight with the Orc Disaster. We see him welcome the Orcs in his ranks as well after a meeting with both the Lizardman and the Ogre’s.. of course Treyni is also there. Since Rimuru took the since of the orcs upon himself everyone agrees that they can stay as long as they make themselves useful to Rimuru. This leads to the great Jura Alliance being formed. Rimuru names the son of Geld, Geld in honour of his father and that piglike creature then becomes the Orc King instead of the Orc Lord. He also names all the other 15.000 Orcs and goes into sleep mode again. When he wakes up he continues to tell us what new features his now small city has. They have a sewage system, they are making roads , they are establishing trade with other nations and there even is some sort of “government” in place with the Ogre’s having titles. The only thing the village seems to be missing is a name…and roads.. cause they are still just starting to make it.
Then Souei shows up and tells a 100 pegasus knights are almost in the city. They are led by the Hero King of the Dwarven nation Gazel Dwargo. He wants to find out Rimuru’s motive and while Rimuru offers collaboration from the start the king wants nothing off it. The only way Rimuru can prove his heart is by honourable combat. If Rimuru defends against Gazel’s chain of attack he wins! The man turns out to be a student of the old man Ogre, who also thought Rimuru so being familiar with this technique Rimuru stops the attack. This convinces King Dwargo that Rimuru is not evil and he offers Rimuru a treaty not only acknowledging his little town but even acknowledging the Jura forest as his domain/country. This forces Rimuru to name his country and decides to call it the Jura Tempest Federation. Benimaru then tells him this town and the nations capital should be called Rimuru..
Strengths
I can be a lot more brief about this episode as it was a nice and simple episode. It was an exposition episode done well. Not a lot happens yet a lot happens. We just fast forward to the slow progression stuff and now actually see RImuru’s village becoming more. I still really like the concept of having a nation of monsters and that idea is expanded upon here. I am also happy to see that Gabiru got exiled for trying to usurp the throne. His father gifts him the magic trident thing though to keep him safe on his journey! A touching end.. that still gives at least some punishment to the horrible ..but deep down not so terrible Lizardman. I like how this series feels a bit like the map part of a total war game or the city management aspect of one of those mobile games with alliances and sending armies and such. Just with some spectacular action from OP characters to make it less stale.
I also like how surprisingly the humanoids doesn’t seem to be Rimuru’s enemies. Instead the focus lies on this mysterious demon lord whose eyebrows do not math his hair. The one who wields the crystal ball. It seems he is being set up as the season finale boss but what do I know! It is nice to see this approach as it does avoid a bit of cliché Warcraft like thinking. I like how Treyni functioned as a judge and it reminded me of an almost pokémon like match when Rimuru fought Dwargo , it gives the combat a more playful element and some good spirit. A very nice exposition episode and I was proud to see the village grow almost in a manner as if I had build it myself. So I guess Rimuru is “my boy”!
Weaknesses
I had a few gripes with this episode, for example every Ogre’s function is explained except for Shuna’s function she is called a Princess .. most likely because the title was preexisting but what are her tasks?! Treyni’s role in this alliance is also unclear. Her goal is to protect the forest and Rimuru can do that but the fact that they have to build homes for 15.000 would harm the woods because a city is built in them would it not?! Also 15.000 orcs that means there are so many orcs that they would take up the major demographic in the city but that is never shown. There are quite a few elements that seem rather sloppily tagged in in this timeskip.
What is this demon lords goal?! Why do we care about him?! Why does that clown figure that worked with Gelmud teleport out of a conversation while he still has a full glass of wine on the table. It isn’t exactly bad but a lot of details are glossed over in this episode. If you want to emphasise a conversation is at an end let him drink his final sip of wine instead of depicting him next to a full glass. If you tell what everyone does don’t skip on one! Wasn’t the crafting Ogre a leather and hide expert? Why is his rank Sword Smith. or something like that. Again there are no major flaws, just a series of pinpricks that all seem to address the same little annoying little spot. It makes sense that these things happen given how this show is paced over days or weeks of development even though there is clearly a bigger story being told that the small story doesn’t matter as much.. but it does stand out.
Overall
I enjoyed myself a lot with this episode but I am not sure I could actually call it a good episode. There are things …. off about it. Not only the inconsistencies but a few plot beats being awfully convenient as well. Yet while these flaws are clear to me, this really had a good quality! I felt pride.. an emotion that is almost strange to me, that this village has come this far. I liked the idea of roads so much that I was almost disappointed that I did not see it this episode. For some strange reason the faith of the town of RImuru is something I really care for.
As if it is my own little Minecraft project. Just more entertaining, better looking.. and without Smash Bros representation. It is a nice change of pace to see a hero shift from protecting a town to establishing one. There is something powerful about forming new friendships and opening your heart to new people and growing because of it that just makes my kokoro swell with satisfaction and pride! That is the way Rimuru! You are the hero we all need! I never thought Village builder the anime would be for me.. but apparently it very much is!
Berry good is the score based on entertainment value, it would score a Fineapple from a more objective stance.
Unfortunately that was all the time I had for anime this week and probably the next coming weeks. Tuesday will most likely be a skipped post day as my family will come on over to help me pack, clean and move things to the trash all day and with tabletop role-play evening on Monday planned I do not think I have the time to schedule that post ahead. I have a cute little Halloween story readyish but I still need to do image work so you will most likely see my Halloween story in the week of the 19th. For the coming week I will create new Pokémon life, review a movie about a killer condom and I play yet another scary game! Like I said earlier I am considering splitting the Saturday Anime Adventure into smaller individual reviews for extra ..more bitesized content! Let me know how you feel about that in the comments! if they work again!Have a great next week!
We had Sunny’s first post this week! I signed my lease and now per November I will officially be moving and I can already tell it will cost me a few blog posts here and there! There is quite a lot to do and I am super excited for it but it is also quite stressful. So much to do so many elements I need to account for! Just one more month! So… it is also important to relax! Luckily I could kick up my feet and enjoy 100+ minutes of great anime! In this week’s instalment of my anime adventure!
Digimon Adventure Episode 8
I love this show, it really is great! there is no doubt about it! Once again this episode managed to show us what a character really is about while also making great narrative progress and the choices being made here are pretty smart and exciting again. However a few odd choices make this episode a bit harder to believe than last week’s episode.
Riding Ikkakumon, the group of Taichi, Sora, Mimi and Joe make it across the water. However a Fortress is blocking their way. A military grade blokkade. A pair of Solarmon which are a recolour of Hagurumon will lead to an apelike digimon to fire at them with his special attack as well as summon hordes of tankmon! When the group gets in trouble they are saved by Yamato (Matt) and Gabumon. Lone ranger style, he plans to sneak into the fortress and take down Gorillamon. However with the hordes of Tankdramon out there he finds himself overwhelmed and has to rely on his newfound allies. Experiencing something new to him.. he thinks of them fondly as everyone helps Yamato get closer and closer to Gorillamon. Empowering Garurumon with the power of friendship he eventually manages to take down the threat Together they took down the fort and with a proud roar of Garurumon atop of the tower. Mimi and Joe now can take down the Tankdramon.. using their abilities to attack bigger crowds to their advantage and also giving us a cute Mimi and Joe moment that reminded me of Chopper and Usopp from One Piece! Yet there also is a fair bit of interaction with Mimi and Yamato! Could that be a thing?! Inside however Agumon finds a secret lab that seems to contain a part of the ancient tablet with more information about the holy Digimon.
So this episode was Yamato’s episode and the way they let him use his crest .. at least the one he had in the old series of friendship was pretty sweet. The visuals used for the pacing and even that awkward focus on Taichi flickering smiling in Yamato’s eyes.. it feels much less like a rivalry and the beginning of an actual friendship here. In fact I believe we might be setting up to get “Ultimate” evolutions already. Everyone seems to possess the ability already this time their digivice has the symbol of their crest and the threat that is created this time seems much more real. While I like that concept it does worry me for Devimon, will he pose a challenge… will he evolve?! Was he just an easter egg?! Regardless we see the kids grow in a rapid pace and I really do like that.. given the circumstances they are in it seems like they pick up stuff at a believable pace. The fact that we also immediately establish Yamato’s roll as a sort of speedy infiltrator who breaks through the enemies lines really works wonders. However once more it is established he can not handle this alone from the get go.. everyone yet again has their role to play. This episode is action packed and the way the music is used was amazing. It felt so satisfying! Mimi got a good joke again where she got attached to the luxury of a towel.. Joe gets it destroyed by trying to use it as a white flag and while Mimi mopes, Palmon reveals it was actually Sora’s towel that Mimi just “took” for herself. Keeping that queenly quality intact.
Unlike last time however I do have a gripe with this episode. Joe and Mimi fairly easily took down 20 Champion form Digimon. Tankmon even! These are Data Attribute Digimon who should be resistant to Vaccine Attribute digimon like Ikakumon. Togemon CAN be a virus attribute and thus be more effective but it more often than not is a Data attribute. So it does feel weird how 2 champions and take down 20 without much effort. They do make smart use of their Area of Effect style attacks..but it feels a bit much. Where before all Digimon more or less can take down one digimon of their level. They do fix this somewhat by seemingly giving the “wild” digimon less special attacks to work with and we can see the chosen ones empower their digimon trough their digivice but I think 5 tankmon would have been enough.It is a bit of a shift in digimon logic towards more of a situation how Digmon works in the Digimon World or Cyber Sleuth games and while I appreciate that I felt it lacked precedence. Had the Digidestined commented.. wow we are becoming really strong, I would have been fine with it but now a sense of the “frailty” of the classic Digimon is gone.
The frailty however is traded in for some pretty epic scenes and much more grand scale battles. You really sense someone wishes to see the Chosen Ones dead. It becomes bigger than your average monster of the week and I do really like that feeling. The chosen ones feel much more in the control seat this time around and this episode did make me miss the humility of the old show a bit! Yet never was I not entertained.
Samurai Flamenco Episode 15
This episode both made so much sense to me and not much sense at all. It really does feel like something that would happen in a season change between Sentai shows again and while super clever from a Meta Stance.. in universe I could not help but to have some questions.
Masayoshi faces off against his look-alike who is revealed to only be his metaphorical brother. He has a tail! They talk for a bit and after Masayoshi convinces From Beyond Flamenco he has a right to be there and the will to fight, From Beyond Flamenco commits suicide by letting Masayoshi shoot him. This causes all the evil to vanish but the drilll inside mount Fuji! By sacrificing Flamen Robo the group manages to stop the drill before Japan is destroyed. We see the classical ranger season close up with people giving up their power and returning to their daily life.. when suddenly the government comes hunting after the Flamengers. Pink Green and Black get arrested and Blue suffers a off camera defeat at the hands of the Prime Minister of Japan… being completely beaten. The only one who gets away is Masayoshi who is aided by an american hero! He is declared an enemy of the state and we see people he used to be close with react to the news. Something is very wrong! The Prime Minister wished to use the disaster to get re-elected..but now has a too low approval rating..but at 72% it seems he should be good! What is he actually planning! The show keeps us in the dark as Masayoshi tries to go into hiding.
This episode was fascinating. It had all of the elements of how Sentai shows usually wrap up! It felt rushed, with a very odd plot-twist and with a ban on all vigilante activities in effect, Samurai Flamenco seems truly defeated. It is a great way to go into a “third” season of sorts and it very much reminded me of the narrative structure of power rangers. The Tarantino like dialogue returns and their is plenty of enjoyable action and mystery. My favourite scene is how the flamengers say goodbye to each other in front of their decommissioned base with an epic power walk.. just for Masayoshi to return to visiting his grandpa’s grave. The new hero introduced is hilarious as well. Trying to get Masayoshi away from the police safely he drives this super garish american truck! He sings the american anthem to calm Masayoshi down and in a way he really reminds me of All Might.. but with more Sentai camp.. there is a lot that works here.. if we view this as a Sentai show and watch it on a very meta level. It does indeed remind me of why Akiba -Rangers worked so well for me …but where that show stays very ridiculous this one sometimes tries to eat a cake and have it to.
There are so many logic leaps in this episode. Why did Fron Beyond Flamenco commit suicide, if the goverment wanted Japan to be in trouble why not decommision vigilantes as soon as Samurai first showed up, why give them award first and then brand them as enemies of the state.. that sounds like you weren’t clever enough to notice at first! It really does seem that the government had better options to betray the flamengers before. If you want viewers’ approval why not evacuate innocents before VIP’s then you say it could not happen because the Flamengers asked people to fight with them.. I do not know but I felt like there were more effective plans. Overly complex plans are part of the Sentai Tropes, sure.. but the show always puts these tropes more in the context of the real world.. so this just felt weird to me! I bet all will be explained before long..but right now.. I feel things are becoming a bit messy.
While I deeply enjoyed the events that unfolded I had very big trouble with how everything unfolded. The villains were defeated very easily and Japan just turns hostile against Flamenco while he saved the town first. He goes from idolised to being completely hated again, and the evidence the provide for this is his conversation with Beyond Flamenco. Which proves he looks like a bad guy!? How?! A guy that looks like an orange disolving people with extremely acidic OJ exists as well as a monster that is the AK48 of monsters. Why would you assume that the fact that a copycat with a tail existing means the other guy is evil?! So many weird monster abilities have been shown yet no one in Japan thinks.. maybe this monster can mimic faces? Maybe they took his face to confuse us?! I had a hard time believing it all and as a result never gotten that settled into the episode! It’s a good episode..it just lacks that golden touch that makes this show into what it is.
That Time I got reincarnated as a Slime Episode 14
I thought Gabiru was going to die… but he did not! He got saved by Rimiru.Which is a shame! He gets a bit of a redemption arc this episode alongside the one he got last episode but I still really do not like him! It seems we are nearly done with him though! As the Lizardmen War arc is wrapping up.
Gelmud appears on the battlefield and explains to Gabiru he needs to die! He wants to feed the orc so many people so he can evolve once again.. into a full Demon Lord. Transforming form an Orc Lord into an Orc Disaster. While Rimuru easily wipes the floor with Gelmud we see the Lord just stare at the one sided fight. Geld the Orc .. likes the idea of becoming an Orc disaster and decides to eat what he thinks will get him there fastest. He decapitates and eats Gelmud! Who has been hinting at doing his masters bidding! Keeping that identity secret and taking it to his grave. Now an Orc Disaster Geld is only consumed by hunger even more! This means Rimuru has no chance but to kill him.. and aided by the Ogre’s who now can’t damage the Orc enough because he is super regenerative …Rimuru at first struggles with this fight. Showing us a new trick of letting the great Sage fight for him Rimuru becomes a dominating force once more but after the Great Sage makes a misplay and tries to burn the orc with the power of the Efreet.. to which he is immune, Rimuru has to take over. His plan .. Devour the devourer! Thus as Geld becomes more and more covered in slime and falling prey to Predator.. we see a flashback of him being a pretty good guy! But falling to sin! Rimuru reassures him he will take on that sin but that Geld needs to die! After an argument we see Geld’s skin dissolve and with Rimuru promising to do his people right in the end..he gives up and gets consumed! People cheer as Rimuru is the victor.
This episode delivered on a lot of good action! The Gelmud vs Rimuru fight was cathartic and the Majin got what he deserved. The Ogre’s versus the Orc disaster was futile but had amazing visuals and shows how amazing the Ogre’s are once again as they could damage him pretty bad…he could just regenerate faster. Great Sage versus the Orc Lord was visceral and filled with all sorts of clean special effects that made it look very spectacular. We see so many abilities being used it really feels like a battlefield, even if we are only seeing one versus one fights the scope of the battle is much bigger. While one sided like most Isekai the visuals still made it all feel exciting and I think that is important for an overpowered Isekai like this. It’s fine to have an untouchable main character..but if we can not get the thrill of an equal fight just go ham and display some crazy abilities! Something Isekai Cheat Magician does wrong for example. We get lightning bolts, dark fire, “Ultra Instinct Sign Rimuru” , We get Efreet Mode Rimuru , We get a clash of noxious Orc aura with a bright silver slime. While it might not be thrilling what we see on screen it certainly is badass.
I did enjoy the episode and the pretty visuals, I liked how Gabiru was touched by his allies giving their lives for him, the orcs doing the same for the king they believed in and Gabiru really wanting to save his allies rather than get himself to safety.. I liked the badass action.. but I missed the humor of the show. The only real joke that was made was Rimuru having his face resting underneath Shion’s boobs again. Other than that it is mostly just a bit “witty” spiderman like banter. I missed those moments of Rimururu fawning over Souei, or people looking stupefied over how easy he actually ate a Demon Lord class foe. I also kind of disliked how both Geld and Gabiru both got completely redeemed. It’s nice that Rimuru doesn’t have a bad person in him ..but please let someone be a bit more flawed. Have Gabriu stay a selfish bastard and let him rot in jail.. let Geld actually be a war hungry ORc who did not rip off his own arm to feed children.. but lost it in a fight to eat a pair of children. It almost felt a bit “christmassy to finish this episode and during the flashback I did find myself losing interest in this episode”
The badass action kept me glued to the screen for most of the episode so I can not say it’s bad.. it is better than fine actually, as the issue I had with this episode might have just been something I was not in the mood for! I wanted more badassness as a drug, but it ended with a moment of wholesomeness that just stopped it being perfect for me! I love Christmas, don’t get me wrong.. I just don’t want that christmas spirit all year long.
Flip Flappers Episode 10
Okay I was wrong about Mimi but the moment I saw that flashback I knew exactly how things went! That’s amazing! And the implications! The implications! Well I am not sure about the implications actually .. but it ‘s nice to see it’s all connected.
This episode has a much simpler plot than most episodes! So here we go! Yayaka is recovering in the medbay and the evil organisation she belongs to attacks Flip Flap to get her back and also takes Cocona to get the shard that is embedded in her leg! As the base is overrun the Amorphous twins reveal to Cocona that Yayaka became her friend for fake reasons while Papika got her memory back and remembers Mimi finally! This leads Cocona to believe she is also just a replacement for Mimi to Papika and no one really cares for her.. as she flees the base and leaves everyone who betrayed her behind.. we see a flashback of Papika and Mimi bonding and discover Mimi is not that amorphous girl.. no she looks very very much like Cocona.. hanging out with Salt the three have fun together.. with Salt romantically interested in Mimi. Mimi and Papika partner up in the past as Papika and Cocona break up in the present. When it turns out that Cocona’s grandma is secretly a robot belonging to the evil organisation and she orders her to be captured and anxiety attack triggers all the amorphous shards not fed to the evil machine to fly into Cocona destroying robot grandma and the other evil robots.. from a broken mirror we see Mimi talking to Cocona that Mamma will protect her now!
Wow.. Mimi is Cocona’s mother .. so I was right that Pure Illusion is very much linked to Cocona.. I was wrong about Mimi being evil though! But this probably means Salt is Cocona’s father?! He isn’t a very good dad then! But well I bet he shares her (old) eye colour hidden behind those sunglasses. I am almost certain of it! I am slightly annoyed that it was yet ANOTHER break up episode.. that’s like 3 in 10 episodes or so and now Papika has to swoop in again.. but this time I completely understand! I get she felt like this. She is a test subject to both Flip Flap and the other organisation. I do not get why that other organisation exists yet though and this episode really made me intrigued. It’s like I have been tossed a very tasty worm and I am about to delve into it, hook line and sinker, I am a fish in this case by the way! It feels like we are really picking up in terms of story. Since the amorphous pieces allow you to control pure Illusion I believe these shards are part of Mimi?! She seemed to control Pure Illusion, and once they flew to Cocona she got her mother’s eye colour?! I do like this feeling of being so invested into something and I really hope she and Papika can work things out and that Yayaka is safe! I was so invested that I forgot to pay attention to what I particularly liked.
I do dislike how often Papika and Cocona split up though! I do get that Cocona feels deceived here.. but Papika has also proven to care for Cocona several times over. I get our protagonist feels betrayed. I just feel really REALLY bad for Papika. She tries so hard and gets so far.. but in the end it doesn’t even matter. I really would have preferred to see the conflict go in a way where Cocona wants nothing to do with Flip Flap but Papika can’t give it up and then Cocona taking her leave. Telling Papika she hates her feels a bit much after all the love the girl showed her.. and love I think Cocona should realise is sincere. The conflict of the last episode even dealt with that. That being said Cocona seems least aversive of Papika and I am glad at that, I just can’t escape the feeling that for a two protagonist series The orange haired girl sometimes becomes to much of a side character and her actions “stick” less.
I really adored the episode overall, there was a lot of enjoyable action and reveals and I was thoroughly entertained. My gripe seems big but I am also fine with this turn of events.. It’s more that I really would have liked Papika to be appreciated. It reminds me of a friendship I had and while I did not use my friends for a weird organization led by their dad.. I did a lot for a few friends and then none of that mattered..because I went to an event I really REALLY liked while they had to work. I was so villainized for it. Like myself I think Papika should have more leeway here.. and because it felt the past did not matter I like this episode slightly less than I could have.
Hikaru no Go Episode 20
This was a very interesting episode to me! It clearly sets up events for an upcoming arc and it also feels like we finally have arrived at the meat of the story. Hikaru’s chase of Akira is brought to new levels.. but it comes at a price.. and I like it.
After meeting with the First Board of Kaijo School Hikaru is called out for being too whimsical! He finds out that Touya Akira already has become a pro and that if things do not change soon he will completely be out of his reach. Hikaru has to get serious. To do so he has to become an Insei.. with no patience in his heart he tries to register for the “december” exam. Given that we see it being fall during a few walking sequences that is only a few months away. There are problems though! The registration has closed, Hikaru lacks a sponsor and he needs to log three games at least, to participate. A big wig in the Go world, whose name I keep forgetting, but we’ve seen him before around Touya Senior, takes interest in the boy and decides to sponsor him. When Hikaru goes to tell his friends they tell him he can’t be an Insei and participate in amateur tournaments. Now he has to face a dilemma to chase his “rival” or continue to stick with his friends. With Mitani seeming to push him towards the tournament but Tsutsui being a bit more silent.
The episode sets up a very interesting Dilemma and I really appreciated the weight this episode had. It feels like we are finally not just getting an arc but also as if we are finally reaching the next stage of the “main” storyline. Where the first few episodes almost feel like a first act, the high school tournament arc functioning as the inciting incident/ second act and where the internet go arc “wrapped up” the introduction part…. this feels like the first act of a “meatier” story. As a result this episode has so much weight. Becoming my favourite watch of the day as a result. Hikau’s character traits make him very different from the other Insei candidates which results in him finally coming more into the role of the “actual” protagonist. While I liked the tiny arcs it feels as if I could really use a bit of a bigger story. This episode provides that for me with some interesting visuals again to convey a time pressure and we got a very solid episode.
This episode once again had very little lows for me. I like the direction it has taken throughout. The only dislike I have is how the third Go girl is introduced. She is a bitch of a bulky chubby..masculine female and the animation lingers on displaying her “ugliness” as a form of comedy and I would think this show is above those cheapshots. Sai does his childlike thing again…but this time I do think it makes more sense. I like how he gets excited about silly technology! I do not like it when he gets childish over Go! It feels conflicting with what we have seen of him before. This episode knows when to make him serious and when to make him silly better than the previous one. Another mild issue I had is something in the writing that almost feels like a mistake to me?! It’s the fact that everyone is so shocked that Hikaru is taking the exam because Insei can’t participate in amateur tournaments. However becoming an Insei is hard and Hikaru at this time is not at that level yet. From what I understood at least people usually fail their first Insei exams as most do not pass their first Pro exam.. it feels more like an experience they need to go through to get good enough? So why does everyone assume Hikaru will become an Insei first try?! It feels a bit foreshadowing.. as if the characters have knowledge they should not have. As if I enlisted to get a house somewhere and people already started giving me housewarming gifts.
Most of my issues are mostly ponderings though, the only thing I did dislike is the “ugly focus” but since we haven’t seen anything of the character yet I will let it slide for now! Hopefully they keep focus on her and don’t repeat the joke again and she is just a token to fill in a spot so the girls can play. Who knows if Hikaru becomes an Insei this early there might not even be a school tournament. I am at least very happy that the story is getting some serious meat on it’s bones!
That was a pretty great watch still! Obviously after perfect week I would have a few minor issues here and there this week..because in the face of perfection you can not help but stand out! Still it was amazing! Next week I will meet my sister and we will trash some of my old stuff I do not need to take to my new place. With the move happening somewhere in the next month you can expect me to miss a post here and there because real life stuff will get in the way.
As for blog content, you will see a new Anime versus Western TV show Cross-over (Part 1 out of 2) we will discuss the final Blood Rayne movie and we when October starts I will start doing a lot of Halloween themed content. Most of my content wil be about Spooky Stuff! Saturday Anime Adventure will keep going .. during the month.. as long as I am not doing moving activities..and since people mostly can help in the weekend, expect to see a few skips on that in the weeks to come! I will try to have a replacement ready though but time will tell! I hope you will have an amazing next week!
Yo Island Guests! So I’ve decided to give these things episode titles now! Why?! Well if you can’t guess from the title you don’t deserve to know! Teehee! So how was this week for me?! It was pretty solid! I haven’t heard of my new rental contract yet so I am a bit anxious for that. Dad quarantined himself so we did not get to see him again either. So instead me and my sister went to visit mom and we had a nice afternoon. Board Game night at Bean’s place was pretty fun as well and tonight my GBF is coming over and I am sure that might be nice! Speaking of Nice… this week’s anime… it was perfect.
Digimon Adventure Episode 7
Wow.. normally I’d rank my episodes saying which spot in the top 5 they take. This week however everything was really really good! It began with Digimon really impressing me and I was sure it was going to be my favourite episode of the watch as soon as I saw it.
In this Episode the Chosen Ones travel towards the sea in an attempt to cross it. Mimi is lounging in a chair enjoying the tea that her butler Palmon made for her. Having no sea worthy digimon in their team they decide to evolve Biyomon into Birdramon to scout ahead. When they encounter a strange vortex in the water , Bidramon gets hit with a mysterious attack and takes some serious damage. With a defenceless Biyomon the group has no chance but to retreat. They are helped out by a cheerful young Digimon named Gomamon who tells them he has a partner as well and he brings them to Joe. Joe Kido is the senpai of Taichi and Sora and they vaguely recognise him but something is wrong! Joe isn’t at all interested in being a chosen one. He knows he lacks the physical strength and the courage to be a hero and besides that his family RELIES on him to become the next generation of doctors to help people in a way where he CAN make a difference. He refuses a partnership with Gomamon because of this as he can’t let people down. Gomammon travels with the group and they decide to cross the canal but they have to deal with the tentacle digimon named Gesomon.
Since Birdramon got injured last time and used a lot of energy to keep her evolution up so long to scout the last time she is out of the fight for now. Thus Gomamon decided to be bait and lure Gesomon to shore so Greymon and Togemon can fight with an advantage. However because Gomamon gets injured the squid like digimon flees back in the water again and the group is at a disadvantage. Gomamon gets slapped around and Joe, who came to spy on them, feels responsible. Gomamon needs him just as much as his family needs him to become a doctor. Gomamon being aquatic is the only one who can help them here.. they have to rely on him. Joe realises this and talks to Gomamon, who tells Joe that it doesn’t matter if he isn’t;’t brave or strong, they are a group he can rely on others just like they can rely on him. Joe accepts this which causes Gomamon to evolve to Ikkakumon. Using his Harpoon Vulcan technique he alongside his friends defeat the evil squid. Joe joins the team and on Ikakumon’s back they travel across the water-straight.
Okay so that is a whole lot of plot.. but I had to because that was the strongest thing in this episode. I loved how everything was so connected into a compelling narrative where everyone was needed. Bidramon is established as a scout.. but also gets taken down for understandable reasons. This gives Joe and Gomamon a perfect opportunity to step in. Joe not having time for Gomamon was established as a problem in the earlier show as well but it came AFTER they had bonded so much which always made me hate Joe.. to make him start off with that trait and to burden him with his virtue however was such great thinking. It feels like a much healthier version of Joe. Early on he was amazing but after S2 was launched and especially in Tri he was this mean selfish bastard. This actually fixes Joe for me.
The way they kept in the princess Mimi thing with her having a luxury chair out of nowhere also felt funny and it made her stand out so much more yet again. Having Taichi rely on Mimi instead of Sora like he did before also spreads the screen time across the chosen ones and for every narrative problem that could arise in this situation they had a valid solution. This way you can unlock the Ultimate stage digimon way sooner as well as everyone really is working on that virtue they have so I expect this to be much better paced. Maybe not even needing a mc-guffin like the crests. I loved the animations and the camera angles for this one too. We got much more close ups which allowed for much more detail to be inserted here as well as it made the ocean more vast and the Digimon bigger! It really did everything right for me.
This episode did not really have any weaknesses for me that at least are not inherent to the genre. The monster of the week was a logical complication for a problem that needed to be dealt with the way things unfolded made perfect sense for what this episode needed to do and Gomamon and Joe got a fantastic introduction. This show seems to be way more focussed on the characters rather than just the adventure and it works out so great for this show. Now that they polished away last weeks cinematography/graphic issues nothing can stop me from giving this show my highest rating.
Samurai Flamenco Episode 14
After last week, thoughts of dropping this show came into my head if it did not pick up by episode 15. Yet by Arceus.. this episode improved SO much! It threw some amazing twists at us and it felt “fun to watch” again
Last week’s episode was a rather big downer for me tonally it seemed to grim and while this episode continues that dire situation there is much more a hint of positivity again. The Hero’s dilemma has been dealt with and Masayoshi is receiving positive feedback from it.. as well as negative but he stands by what he does. From Beyond will attack the next day and the government is not playing very nice only wanting to evacuate VIPS. This results in Masayoshi making a plea to the people to help the Flamengers out.. but mostly to stay safe. The president scolds him for his mistakes but it seems the choice is made and so we move into the final battle. A battle against the 60.000+ members of From Beyond. The group uses their Robo’s to fight them but quickly get overwhelmed. There are to many tiny monsters, and also a need for the combiner robo but they can’t do everything. When Flamen pink is about to die she gets rescued by Red Axe who recruited all the other Sentai who now have actual Sentai powers. I love that trope in Sentai episodes. They all fight together when the strongest member of From Beyond contacts the Flamengers requesting to meet with Flamen Red. It is then revealed he is From Beyond Flamenco.. Massayoshi’s brother.
This episode is gempacked full of sentai goodness. The Sentai cross over is always my favourite moment in any power ranger series and even though we only saw the other sentai as fictional characters in this world somehow seeing them show up still feels amazing and powerful. The monster designs as well as the silly sentai designs make sure that this episode is also gem packed with humor, even if there are no actual jokes. There are just so many visual gags that this episode is a delight to watch. The action is fun and I worried for Flamen Pink. We get a few great scenes where Mari is being picked up by her friends as well as Mrs Kaname finding that handkerchief revealing it is actually from Flamen Pink trying to convince Joji/Red Axe to commit adultery but he refuses it. So many characters here get a redemption arc just before Japan is destroyed and that is pretty amazing. The glum atmosphere is washed away with tons of fun references and a lot of negatives are revealed to “not be as bad” as they think! Yet with Japan at stake with a big monster in a Mount Fuji.we can’t rest yet! I am so excited for next week.
Do I have any negatives to this episode? Not really and that will be a theme across this installment of Anime Adventure. The only thing I will say here is that I am a bit dissapionted that Masayoshi’s brother was not hinted at before. In a way it makes sense because it’s always a mystery family member that shows up but I would have liked to see their twist on this rather than them doing this trope. This is only a nitpick though as I am happy with this one as well. The one sloppy thing I found a bit dumb is the fact that non of the Flamengers family decided to be rescued. Some have a great reason like just having triplets and thus the flamenger only having five spots to give away.. and not having room for the childeren.. but others felt dumb. “We do not want to be saved, because you are in love with a married man” seems like a stupid reason to die for.
The fact that both Sentai and human’s fought side by side paid tribute to what this series is about for me and it shows the two sides of Masayoshi.. this entire episode to me is a perfect mix between season 1 and season 2 and works towards a great conclusion of that story arc. I adore this episode not only for being vastly entertaining but also fixing some past mistakes! I know this series has a habit for that.. but today I was completely blown out of the water.. and that is why it earned today’s rating.
That Time I got reincarnated as a Slime Episode 13
I can’t believe they actually gave Gabiru a good fight, I also can’t believe how badass this episode was without Rimuru even doing a single thing. This episode made the “side” characters shine and shine they did in a very good episode that was the great buildup to an even bigger battle.
Now that Gabiru has betrayed his father and taken the crown he takes the offence to the orcs, not knowing about their Hunger ability that allows them to steal abilities from the dead. When a Lizardman gets eaten by the powered up orcs, suddenly they can move through the swamp without problems and any advantage the lizardmen have gotten is gone. Luckily Rimuru’s ‘dreamboat’ Souei saves Gabiru’s sister who then meets up with RImuru a bit later on. The slime names her acting chieftain and forms an official alliance. Now the ogres and Gobta can official step into battle. Ranga as well. While the dryad confronts Gelmud in the forest Ranga, Souei, Shion Benumaru and that old guy.. I forgot his name.. show of their skill. Which easily wipes the orc army of the map. The lizardman king is also rescued and he is glad to have these powerful allies. Rimuru watches from the sky and finally finds the Orc Warlord as Ranga effortlessly deals with an Orc General and evolves into a Star Tempest Wolf.
While nowhere near as narrative as any of the other episodes here, this was such a “power walk” episode. One of those HECK yeah. Where Digimon was one of the best written episodes, and Flamenco was the ultimate redemption and the best “on brand” episode. This one made me feel so good and it was such an epic feeling. I love how these creatures can decimate entire armies with a snap of their finger. The way it is all brought onto my screen is really good. The poses, the difference in height, the colours, the motions. It all felt very satisfying. Yet my favourite moment is when Shion reassures Gabiiru’s sister he is going to save her. Not only reflecting her perfect faith in him.. but also doing her job as his secretary. When she used her Getsuga Tenshou like attack and waved at Rimuru after having created a giant crater was great too. It had the perfect tone for such an episode for me.
Dislikes.. well.. I am kinda sad Gabiru did not die.. but that is more personal. He had a pretty good fight against the general, which actually works as a great measuring stick to how powerful the rest is. Gabiru is slightly below the Orc General and Gobta can knock out Gabriu in one attack so he is most likely above.. and he is one of the lesser warriors of the village. Gobta not getting the kill on the general is a bit of a missed chance and maybe powering Ranga up more was not needed.. but man his special attack looked so great. So while I can come up with a few flaws I can also give a counter argument.
This episode is something slime really needed. We finally get to see what the evolved henchmen of Rimuru are capable off and despite them being so powerful I felt thoroughly entertained. It is a nice twist on the Isekai genre to not only see the protagonist overpowered but his side characters too! This episode just really worked for me and it made me a very happy Pinkie to be able to watch this. I could come up with flaws but I was happy so who cares.
Flip Flappers Episode 9
I never would have thought that I would like an episode with a negative mindset so soon after seeing Cocona restore from one, but this one really worked for me. I also begin to suspect some things here as the plot thickens.
Cocona is angry at Papika for calling her Mimi. Thinking she is insensitive for misremembering her. Papika isn’t aware of any ill actions on her behalf and gets angry at Cocona for ignoring her and treating her like filth. When they dive into Pure Illusion again they arrive in a scene almost like the loading room in the Matrix. Yayaka is send to deal with them and steal their Amorphous.. a new Amorphous sister who kinda looks like Papika is to be her replacement if she fails. When Cocona is trapped with the other two twins Papika and Yayaka fight over Cocona and the Amorphous. We find out how Yayaka and Cocona met over medical testing.. but we also find out their friendship has been staged as Yayaka is supposed to monitor her.
Papika gets pretty beaten up by Yayaka but despite the twins lying to her Cocona eventually finds out Papika really DOES care about her. Breaking the trap. The two are reunited but once more attacked by Yayaka. Papika gets taken down and the two childhood friends face off with Cocona losing. When Yayaka is forced to cut out the shard in Cocona’s leg.. she refuses and the twins attack and nearly kill her. Papika saves the pair and the twins leave with the shard. Papika and Cocona bring Yayaka to Flip Flap where she is about to be nursed back to health.. waiting for any news Papika has a drew and yels out for Mimi again revealing it was her former partner.
This episode was the most emotionally powerful of todays line up. I felt genuinely concerned for Papika , Cocona and even Yayaka. I understood this conflict as well.So I get why this became an issue. To me it seems to indicate that Cocon indeed is falling in love with Papika and coming to accept it more and now being mistaken for someone else hurts. Yayaka balancing friends and duty might not be a theme directly related to me as I would not be in her shoes but it is a place I saw some of my friends be in.I loved that Papika finally stepped up for herself and would not let Cocona treat her the way she does. She is indeed a super loving grl and she doesn’t deserve to be treated that way.
The empty world with the defective trap fascinates me.. I think this is once again a reflection of Cocona.. and with the mystery that has been building up, pure Illusion might resolve more around Cocona than we are led to think. That medical test that happened on her.. the fact that she has a shard in her leg. I also think Papika’s former partner is the third amorphous child. The other ones are called Yuyu and Toto so Mimi would fit that same namesake. Meanwhile Papika, Cocona and Yayaka also have a very similar naming convention. So I still think Yayaka might become a third Flip Flap girl if she doesn’t die.
Okay so these weren’t exactly positives about the show but any show that makes me thing this much must be captivating. I don’t see animated characters , I genuinely care about them! This episode made me realise that more than ever. I felt for all of them! It is structured in a way where it really does that very well. The fact that nothing except the characters exists in this episode highlights that.. Well there is the defensive trap which I think symbolises Cocona constantly putting up walls towards Papika. First because she is so dangerous, because she is so weird, because things happen she did not expect etc. I should be talking about the negatives in this paragraph but as you might hav guessed there are none.
I never like the break up trope, so when I saw how this episode started I was super worried, however unlike episode 7 I think this episode did it well. This fight stems from a bigger narrative that drives the plot further much more than the incident in episode 7 did. The fact that the fight was mutual this time helped that as well and the fact that these emotions feel earned. Not only is this is the first “our heroes” fight episode in Flip Flappers that I REALLY like., I think this one is an example on how it should be tackled for other shows. This is my new benchmark for that trope! So with that honour what other grade could I give…
Hikaru no Go Episode 19
After last week I was afraid that I would be shoved into an arc about Akira and Waya and I would not see how much Hikaru improved after the Internet Go arc. Luckily I was proven wrong.. I was so wrong.. and I am super happy about it!
The deals with Hikaru’s return to school and people noticing his growth during the holiday. He beats Mitani with a handicap in his favor and he beats Tsutsui without a handicap! Finally he seems to have caught up! Sai now wants to play Hikaru but there is one problem. Hikaru has no Go table. So he goes to his grandpa and ask him to buy one for him, he even wants to play Go with him to buy an expensive one.. or get the table that Sai possessed. His grandpa is astounded by Hikaru’s talent showing he was a prize-winning Go player himself. While grandpa would win he forfeits as he thinks Hikaru has become so good in such a short timespan that he deserves one of those go tables with legs.
This allows Hikaru to play Sai and after working out some “bugs” in their playing we see he grows stronger so fast that he can even beat Mitani on equal grounds. Akiri meanwhile gets a new female recruit for the Go club and gets confronted with her feelings for Hikaru..Mitiani become more serious and Tsutsui is having to graduate this year so we are introduced to the new rules of this year and a new “season” of Go.
This episode was the most rewarding viewing experience of all the five to watch. You finished the Internet Go Arc “here you go.. all the character development that happened during that arc will be neatly presented to you” Once again I love it! This is what I said I wanted to see last episode and it is exactly what I got. While it lacks the spectacular imagery that the previous episode had it was a great touch to show the next tier of this story to begin where it all began. At Hikaru’s grandpa’s house. To show the progress by taking him past the Go club he used to visit by making him face both Mitani and TsuTsui! There is cleverness in that design. We know how weak Hikaru was at the Go Club as he got kicked for his weird behaviour and barely could follow, now he can beat their strongest student. We can see him face Tsutsui and Mitani and they acknowledge him for his own skill not Sai’s now! We see the passion he has gotten for the game. This episode did so much for Hikaru!
The title of this 19th installment is not for nothing. This anime also gets my highest score! I had little to no gripes. Seeing Akiri do her thing was nice and we even got to see her develop and recruit a female friend. I am so happy for her. However there is one gripe I had with this episode and that is how Sai is depicted. He has been depicted like this before but he is obnoxiously playful when begging for a game. His awkwardness around the board feels unprofessional. His demeanour doesn’t fit that of a ghost who commited suicde over losing a rigged match in front of the emperor. I don’t mind if he gets like this sometimes but this guy is supposed to be the absolute zenith. He displays this whimsical a bit too often and when facing an extremely strong opponent I get it.. but for facing Hikaru it seems a bit much! Still a nitpick but it was an actual gripe I had here.
The fact that Sai can be a tad annoying did not make me think that much less of the episode though! It is still very good and I do get why it happens. This show needs that kind of flavouring as well. I just wish I could respect him a tiny bit more! Now I just like him/ I like him well enough though so all in all I am still very happy with what unfolded for me today! This weekend was the perfect weekend! When it comes to anime at least!
And my weekend ended perfectly! At least when anime is concerned! Besides a bad migraine on Monday I had a great week! For the next week I will actively pursue my rental contract for my new home! So it will be an exciting but also kind of stressful week. I would see my dad again but he cancelled out yet again, which this week is actually nice as I have more liberties to chase that contract I want so bad! I am so happy if I can get out of this place! We have a verbal agreement already just waiting for the paperwork!
For the blog next week! I am going to tell you about the adventures in my Pokémon Heart Gold Randomiser Nuzlocke started this week, I watch a movie about a very jumpy prince person and I play a retro game one again! We will also see Sunny’s first post go live! Telling us an amazing story about fishing! So you can look forward to that! Speaking about something fishy!?! Did you know the fictional museum of Paradise holds a cursed jewel that is said to be worth a lot of money?! Well I know of a shady guy who really wants it! If you don’t want me to do anything FISHY, like that please consider supporting my Kofi page!
My dear island guests! Yet another week of the less beloved year of 2020 has come and gone! It has been an interesting week in which I experimented a bit with post order and I will continue to do so in the near future! I want a bit more liberty with writing and all! I started doing a Pokémon Randomiser Nuzlocke, picked up Oblivion again and started Fall Guys! I watched another video game movie and this week the blog featured Kuro’s first ever post! Check it out if you haven’t already! I also finished a random anime and loved it.. and then I watched 5 anime I always watch and that is why we are here today!
Digimon Adventure Episode 6
The introductory chapter for Mimi sure left some impressions. Some good, some bad, some a tiny bit ugly! Yet like these past few weeks this series is yet again among my favourites of week! This week though it had some stiff competition and it fumbles just a bit too much to end up as my favourite but still taking a very honourable second!
The plot of this episode as predicted deals with Mimi joining the group! Sora and Taichi are trying to find the holy digimon while Japan is drawing closer to their power outage. However spending so much time in the digital world has already made the group hungry! When they discover purple trees with golden pumpkins they get trapped by Mimi and Palmon who are defending the trees from some monster called Tuskmon! Revealing Mimi is a princess of a village of Tanemon and Palmon is her butler we see classic Mimi.. but with a twist. The group does not know her and thus she mistrusts these new people thinking they may work for the Tuskmon. When Ogremon wants to kill the children he uses the Tuskmon and a Drimogemon to attack. Taichi and Sora fight the Tuskmon but Palmon gets nearly killed by Drimogemon.. Mimi who through some of Kochiro’s tech saw her Grandpa is in danger in the real world and now is about to lose her friend.. as Palmon lays dying manages to activate her digivice and evolve Palmon into Togemon. Defeating the boss monster of the week with Coconut Uppercut! A second technique! Greymon breaks off Ogremon’s horn who cries out in revenge as we leave this week’s episode.
This episode is amazing yet again! I love the way Mimi is introduced to the group! Being a princess of this village and it all feels very happy and very Mimi! While a bit snooty to call Palmon her butler it feels more like a childs play than actual belittling.. and through her we can see .. “oh that’s right these chosen ones are only children” Mimi likes protecting these girls and is clever and shows great tactical insight. Which could bounce off nicely of Koshiro’s insight, Taichi’s bravery and Sora’s powerful support. She adds to the group instead of just being there. I don’t know if it will last but for now.. she has a role! Something else she has is a REASON to be involved. She has her own goals and missions. She sees her grandpa is working hard and is stressed trying to save Tokyo.. so she wants to help him. She isn’t just a girl that got teleported to a mysterious world and now follows the group. Mimi is an established character! Yay! Palmon laying on the ground dying was a very powerful moment in the show and through a strange form of sincerity that did not feel forced we see her identified as the Crest wielder she is! Kudo’s! The time slow down is also introduced in this episode which is a great choice as it gives so much more pacing options!
That being said, it was introduced in a bit of a weird way. I can understand how Koshiro does not experience it because he isn’t deep enough in the network yet but because they communicate through their digivices the fact that it is “patched” out seems a bit of a cop-out. At least it IS explained which is great but it feels slightly cheap! It has implications that all the digidestined should be in the digital world and Koshiro is the last one heading there and if that turns out to be true ..credit where credit is due but for now.. I found it just a bit meh! Taichi gets a spotlight again and once more the only stock footage evolution and that is a shame. Sora using Birdramon would have made more sense in the moment but she was passed up for the hero! She joins in later.. but much less spotlighted. Taichi doing his thing was my least favourite moment! That however did not affect my appreciation of the show however and it would have gotten a maximum score if it was not for … weirdly enough. The animation. I noticed this episode had worse animation than before. Not persé in battle.. but because of all the Tanemon a lot of wide shots were used. These very much lack detail, not uncommon but when you hold on shots like that or have conversation IN shots like that it really stands out. I actively questioned many shot choices and it took me out of the episode.
I love what this show does with it’s writing.. even the parts I like less I am still glad they include. It’s like an extremely detailed figurine. Sure you might see a slight imperfection here and there but you still get a lot more detail than from a basic Funko Pop! This show really feels as if the original series was just a Funko. This episode contributes a lot to this new world so I love it! It doesn’t look very pretty this week though! Which makes drop it from a perfect score to an almost perfect score!
Samurai Flamenco Episode 13
For the second time in a row this show offered me my least favourite watch of the day, with quite a bit of distance to the other four! That being said this episode is a lot better than the previous one! Yet it is also less special! I am glad it returns more to its roots and offers some interesting choices but what this episode really lacks is charm.
We skip ahead in time yet again and we see the Flamengers deal with the aftermath of dealing with the Four Generals of From Beyond. They were only rookies. Part of the 64 ..Elites or something.. who are nothing compared to the 256 .. other words. The group discovers that the evil army has about 65.000 monsters or something! Forgive me for not knowing the exact number.. but let’s just say! They will be overwhelmed and they will lose. So for that reason they want to try and evacuate Japan when the Prime Minister steps in and tells them not to tell people! He wants to ready the police and evacuate some VIP’s first before wide panic ensues. He pleads with the group to let him do this and talks about the politics and the purpose behind it. He looks insanely evil though for some reason! But he grovels for the group and they decide to trust in his instincts. As a flamenger they all can save five people important to them.. and Masayoshi wants to save 7. Who will he not warn.. who will he put in harm’s way?! We see him struggle with this.. and his doubt about the politicians view. His mentor tells him he will go down fighting and not evacuate and he will not tell anyone but the next day he is gone! Tossing a memento of his wife. While Masayoshi deals with more of the responsibilities and the real politics behind being a hero.. he cracks and on live tv warns the public of their upcoming disaster.
While it lacks the charm of the first 10 episodes this episode at least follows it’s themes a bit closer again. It is about how real heroes have to make choices that aren’t always “morally white” and Masayoshi’s inability to cope with that. What the Prime Minister said to get the police ready for the chaos that is to come makes a lot of sense, to evacuate VIP’s first to keep structure in these times does make sense.. but is it right? Is it the hero way? Is putting those people endangered to save everyone more heroic or is that actual evil?! It is good writing. I like to use this trope in my roleplaying games and I do like it here! I also like the fact that the enemy doesn’t blankly send out monsters one by one as they know they will get slaughtered like this so now they go for an all out attack instead. Goto’s talk with Masayoshi was my favourite scene, really reflecting the struggles very well! But why doesn’t Goto know about anything?! He is a cop right?! Should they not be getting ready?! Is the Prime Minister up to something here?! I am curious to know so at least the show has me eager for the next episode again! We are only half way through the series so a new enemy has to come at some point still and we still have one form of Flamenco to be introduced! The real form! The one we see in every opening!
This episode though is extremely glum! Only the first two minutes have a hint of a joke.. unless Mari walking out of the bathroom of Goto counts as one. It feels so somber. It fits.. but at the same time it doesn’t. There is an energy to this show that is completely lacking in this episode. It makes sense that it is.. and it has somewhat done it before..but at least then we had Mari or Yun or Red Axe to balance it out. Here I felt as if I had been punched in the gut. It just goes on and on about this choice and shows us how hard the choice Masayoshi has to make is. It shows all these lovely people who care for him.. and him throwing up at the stress. We see him have nightmares of children being crushed to death, we see him struggle with the fact if he wants to save his agent or Goto’s girlfriend. These types of choices should not be taken lightly so I get why there is no comedy from him.. but alleviate it a little at least. A brief Mari in the shower scene doesn’t recharge our battery. It feels as if Christoper Nolan (Batman Begins) suddenly took over directing this series from Joel Schumacher (Batman and Robin)..same IP but the tone just flipped!
In the end I do think this is a lot like my feelings about Flip Flappers last week! It is a needed episode, but it is not a fun episode. It makes the story stronger but I found only appreciation and no entertainment here. So I will rate it as fine! It does everything it needs to do and it works.. it really does.. I just do not care for it that much.
That Time I got Reincarnated As A Slime
I HATE the Gabiru character so much! I find him so annoying and of course this is the episode where he ruins everything for Rimuru and friends. To make things harder for them! I really REALLY hope he dies! No redemption please just kill him! Please! While I did find enjoyment in this episode it is only on the 4th spot of overall enjoyment because of that stupid lizard!
The Dryad we met in the last episode enlists Rimuru for aid, confirming what we have known for two episodes now! And the Orc Lord is coming! But he has a unique skill! Starved! In which he is very hungry and consumes everything on his way gaining their ability. Thus mimicking RImuru to an extent. This prompts the slime into a call to action and he sends Souei to form an alliance with less idiotic lizardmen than Gabiru. When the idiot lizard wakes up he finds there has been a jester in his camp! Someone who tells him lord Gelmud thinks Gabiru needs to step up if they wish to defeat the Orc Lord, confirming this new threat to him. in order to make him believe his father is weak. The Lizard King does not wish to accept an alliance with these strangers unless he meets Rimuru so arrangements are made. Souei asks the lizards not to fight alone because their dead will fuel the enemy army and the king gracefully agrees. However since it takes 7 days for RImuru to get to the marshes.. Gabiru shows up before and overthrows his father. He fights the orcs out in the open and sees them power up as they devour their dead while the narration tells that the man has made a horrible mistake.
This episode functions as an exposition episode and those usually aren’t good..but by using the skills of the dryad the show does manage to do some exposition spam without it feeling forced.. it is just her ability! It also does a great job at keeping Rimuru’s neutral stance intact. By offering him a treat he can not ignore he is forced to intervene as the threat becomes to large to ignore. It really establishes Rimuru’s thinking style more as that of a regent of sorts rather than an OP hero! He doesn’t want to lose anyone so he does not want to take needless risks! This episode all brings it in balance without feeling to “change of heart like” My favourite scene is Rimuru having a massive man crush on Souei calling him a Dream Boat.. to me it shows how Rimuru’s mind is changing and how he likes it not having to be the one who always tosses the first stone! I laughed a lot! Shizune was cute in the brief moment she shined and all in all I did get those good old feelings the good episodes of this show gave me.. I just got a whole lot of other stuff as well.
All the Gabiru stuff is pretty bad, I really hate the character.. not in the good way as in I hate his qualities.. no I hate that the character exists. I hate that for no reason at all his followers keep clapping for him no matter how often he gets his but kicked or how often he is made to eat his words. I hate how he basically is named in SO much forsight for this weird plan of Lord Gelmud whatever it is. I hate how his father’s weapon actually recognises him! With everything that happened so far it just feels SO un-earned. The show goes out of his way to show he is weak, delusional and not very tactical yet expects me to buy that he has so much respect because Lizards are a warrior race?! A warrior race knows when to fight it doesn’t just like to fight there aren’t barbarians! When another army approaches that will chop you to bits a warrior race would fight tactically.. look at the spartans..but no! Just because there needs to be a complication everyone follows Gabiru! The father barely tells him he is waiting for a super powerful ally that can resolve this situation much better than they can. He doesn’t tell the orc lord can consume the dead so he must not attack.. he just gets send to jail so Gabiru can make the stupid mistake. Everything about the whole character is dumb!
While the episode does a lot of clever things with Rimuru and raises the stakes it also enforces complications on the story that are completely not needed. Just raise the base power of the orcs a bit to give the same level of difficulty from the get go .. and you could have the exact same story. Heck tell the orc army ate half of their own so instead of fighting 200.000 average soldiers you fight 100.000 that are twice as strong that is still pretty darn scary those numbers are scary enough! There is no reason for Gabiru to exist here other as to make the plot trample. While I did enjoy myself with this episode more than I did with Samurai Flamenco this episode feels pointless to me.. pointless but entertaining versus useful but no entertainment. The fact that I enjoyed it more..keeps it just a smidge above the formers grade as I mainly want to be entertained.. but please let the show pick up again!
Flip Flappers Episode 8
Lasers, Gatai, Aeroplanes and buff bodybuilding pigeons! Apparantly that is what I needed to give Flip Flappers my number 1 spot of the week again! After the slow paced episode of last week and the somber Cocona this high energy , positive episode was just what I needed. Thank you Flip Flappers!
Cocona , Yayaka and Papika are playing by the pool! Yayaka is glad to see Cocona seems to be a lot better than last time! Showing she truly cares. When Papika gets a little too playful she and Cocona end up in the swimming pool but instead of taking a dive into the cool water, they are plunged into deep Illusion. We see a cold and sterile world.. very cyberpunk like. I would assume this is a look in the mind of Yayaka but as always I can’t be sure. While Papika tries to eat some electric cables Cocona gets attacked by a laser spitting pidgeon monster with more muscles than a Jojo’s character. Papika saves her and together they go Flip Flapping. The monsters are a bit much for them though so Yayaka steps in to save them much to the dismay of her partners. Failing to get the amorphous shard she retreats. Laser Pigeon gets back up again and gets killed by a tiny professor guy who claims to have built this city. It turns out his city was a utopian paradise filled with tech and cyberpunk coolness! But it all changed when the laser bodybuild animals attacked. Lead by something he calls a big creature that he fears.
Papika and Cocona who are double the size of the scientist think they are big as well and step outside to fight the creature.. that is about the size of a Kaiju! With their magical girl powers unable to do enough damage.. they get into tiny mechas.. that can Flip Flap into a combiner robot! The girls are easily defeated though so Yayaka meddles in and Flip Flaps along them into an even bigger combiner robot that destroys half the city in a giant beam attack.. but also the Kaiju! Of course all these mecha’s have a golden eyebrow thing because.. it’s mechas! When the bad guy lies defeated the twins Yayaka tags along with snatch the Amorphous but the tiny professor steals it back and hands it to the girls who earned it. Yayaka lets them have it and the twins swear to tattle on her! Post credits we see Papika call Cocona Mimi by accident which triggers her and that is yet another episode that required me to summarize the plot in two paragraphs.
This episode was bonkers again and I needed that! After the last two humble episodes I needed magical girl transformations and little did I know I needed combiner robots as well. I theorise these stand for Yayaka’s feelings towards teamwork. Her old team is clean.. uses hi-tech stuff and operates with precision and a sterility that is not seen from the girls. Yet somewhere she really wants to work as a team. And so the combiner robots come into play! Who only works to their maximum potential if you shout and let go! Emotion is needed as that is what really makes a team work, you can strategize all you want but if you care for each other you can achieve more than what you thought was possible! I love how this message is combined with very Gurren Lagann like visuals! The way fusion is first achieved, the whole shouting thing, it seemed very similar. Even the way the golden eyebrow thing is more a crescent than a certain v shape like in Gundam made me think of Gurren Lagann a lot. The ridiculous combinations helped. And Since Tengen Toppa is my favourite anime ever.. this episode almost seems as a tribute to it REALLY sang for me! These are the messages I like to see in a magical girl show and no one was really depressed for once! Great! It looks like Yayaka might switch teams and might become a third magical girl maybe..and I really hope that she does but I will have to find out in the future! I am looking forward to it at least! The Mimi thing in the end could maybe give Papika something to go through instead of Cocona all the time! So yay for that as well! Oh and I loved loved LOVED the visuals of this episode! The tiny professor was also very cute and the cramped mechas made me laugh!
Was there anything I did not like? I am not sure actually! Maybe the fact that they could not keep up their Flip Flap form in the mecha and were instead there in their bathing suit?! Then again the suit most people wear in mecha feels kinda bathing suit like so that might have been a joke?! Papika trying to eat electricity cables was a bit dumb.. she is still a person people , she isn’t an animal?! At least I think! She might be an alien or something! I have no idea anymore! She has a weird thing around her foot she can not remove. I am not sure what that was about! That felt kind of random. But yeah really that it’s this was one heck of an episode! Not my favourite! I still think that goes to episode 3.. the Mad Max looking one but this is pretty much in my top 3 so far!
I do not mind the more humble episodes this show has but I am really glad they steered away from Cocona’s constant doubt, she took on a more pragmatic stance in this episode and for such a short series I love that. In a 100 episode series sure let your main character doubt about their mission but in a 14 episode one..this feels so much more like the way to go.. I felt like actual progress is made instead of being put back on course and it is what I want to see in Flip Flappers.. it is short so please blow my mind! Treat me to these fantastical landscapes as much as you can! I love this!
Hikaru No Go Episode 18
Sai versus Akira, we have been waiting. I wanna say 14 episodes for this now?! And it is finally here! I did not expect it to be As I really felt Touya’s father was being build up to something.. but here it is! And it was handled sublime! At the very least in the cinematography department.. The aftermath though made sure this one ended up on my third spot.
The big rematch is finally here.. but Akira is not sure if it is a rematch or not! It is at least important enough for him to skip his match to become a pro! Apparently there are more of them but Waya has a great point in thinking this shows Akira thinks very little of them. Sai plays Touya and ends up winning yet again. It leaves Akira conflicted. Was that Hikaru he faced or was it not. He is unsure, so he goes back to the Go Parlor where he first met Hikaru. He finds out Hikaru spends time at the internet cafés somehow and now is convinced that he is Sai. So he runs towards some local internet cafés and finds Hikaru behind a computer… reading webcomics. Hikaru gets told by Akira everyone is looking to find out who Sai is because he is so good. Not being able to live with this kind of pressure Hikaru decides to pull the plug on his little internet arc. Touya also seems disgusted by Hikaru’s mentality and promises that he will never see him again after some intense staring again.
Once more it’s a plot that I can fit in a very tiny bit of text but my oh my is that first half presented beautifully visually. We see Touya stand in front of a big blue glowing Go Board placing his stones. The environment is pitch dark. From the darkness with an accurate thinking pause Sai’s hand is shown placing a stone on the board. As he plays white the board seems to get brighter and brighter as he is closer to victory, while for Touya it feels almost as if he is encountering one of those retro video game final bosses. I loved it! This is my favorite match so far, and Sai’s conclusion that both he and Hikaru grew but Akira did not is very strong! Touya chased something and became so obsessed that he did not really progress. He just wants to face that demon of his and it changed him as a player. I like that. The doubt he has as he now can see the playstyle from an adult but with some of the choices he knew are from Hikaru’s playstyle are great as well. The stakes, the outcome and how it is all brought to live is done amazingly well! The fact that the greats in the Go world know about this loss can become important as well.
What I like less is the second half. Akira finds the exact right internet café , Hikaru, to be reading webcomics instead of playing Go at that time.. and their logic in that part seems off. Hikaru now feels like if so many people search for his identity he better stop now.. but if he stops right after Akira confronted him would that not confirm to Akira that he IS in fact Sai?! The fact that Akira seems to blame Hikaru for not taking the sport as seriously as he does seems very hypocritical when the day before you skipped a tournament. Akira seems to really sever his bonds with Hikaru here and burn those bridges which makes it a bit hard to see where the show is going next. Why set up all these pro players if they do not get to play Sai anymore. Touya’s father also gained some focus and now it all seems tossed away?! Surely this can not be the end for them playing on the internet?! Can it?! Will we take a break from Hikaru and see the story of Waya and Akira placing for the pro’s maybe?! Yet when will we see Hikaru’s results from this training then?! I just don’t hope they will give us a proper payoff!
Strong first half but the second half squanders a bit of potential in my opinion! It seems again like some trouble only arises for it to be called trouble! I think after having played so much Go on the internet Hikaru does realise he can just switch nicknames to keep Sai playing but it does not seem to be the case. Summer vacation is almost over .. so it would be nice to see him go back to school and suddenly completely outclass Mitani and Tsutsui! Yet everything in that second half of this episode to me screams that they are blocking off to much content for themselves.. much more than I would like! So while it is still a very good episode I liked it less than my number 1 and 2 of this week.
Tonight a friend will come over and treat me to dinner, tomorrow I will host my online tabletop! They are playing trough a Kingdom Hearts themed arc and just destroyed the world of Beauty and the Beast by removing the rose from their story. They looted it.. now they have to deal with the fallout and take their anger out on some Huns when they venture into Mulan’s world. I have a family day on Tuesday, also meeting my father, something I look less forward to and on Friday I should meet some friends for board games, we are gonna play Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards and Gloom, amongst some other thing! I really hope the contract for my new apartment will come soon so I can start cancelling things here!
On the blog we will conclude the Favourite Top 5 with the final type, the Fairy Type.. my favourite Type! I got the next chapter of What If Raditz Turned Good already written out and we will discuss another Uwe Boll movie with my review of BloodRayne 2! Indigo’s first post should drop as well so yay for geeky content!Speaking of content! I would be very content if you decided to support my Kofi down below or leave a nice comment below! Thanks for reading and I hope you have an amazing next week!
Pinkie's Paradise 