Tag: Saturday Adventure

Pinkie’s Saturday Anime Adventure 18

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 Saturday Anime Adventure (Week 5)

It’s time to for cereal and series again.. that would have been such a good name for this section.  Five Shows five reviews ONE post! Last week we had a bit of a dip in quality how will this week fair?! Like saturday morning cartoons no pausing is allowed.. I get a five minute break at the 11 minute mark of each anime.. playing some commercials to do everything else that needed to be done! Lets enjoy our saturday morning.

BNA
Episode 5

I have but one gripe with this episode but it is one with rather big implications. In this episode Michiru wants to play Basketball but since that is not being played there she is forced to turn to baseball instead. Something that has turned into a bit of a blood sport with killing being allowed for the sake of massive bets.  Okay.. these people are animals.. a bit of a forced metaphor but sure.. then Shirou is tasked to investigate the sudden increase in baseball gambling by the major?! Seriously guys! Again! That is SUCH lazy writing to connect to stories YET AGAIN. Let Michiru do her own thing for once, heck let Shirou go see her matches and discover the gambling?!  He cares for her so obviously he’d go see her matches at least once. This worries me for the quality for the show going on in the future. These analogies of people being animals is being taken a bit far as well. This society is just a bit TOO dystopian and stupid at times.

That said this episode was incredibly cute! So heartwarming to see Michiru play for a team called the bears. It sucks that one is called Winnie the Pooh , but at the same time it is amazing. Their catcher looks like something that can live in the world of Animal Crossing which is a great boon! He is adorable.. I have no idea on what he is called but I want to collect him.  Honestly there isn’t anything all that special about episode if you ever saw a sports anime or a sports movie you have seen this episode.  

Team sucks and is down on their luck , but a new ringer appears and suddenly luck turns around.. but due to some corruption in the sport their chances of victory seem to dwindle. When things are at their darkest the ringer unites the team through sheer passion and they lose the final match but can do so proudly! It’s nothing special.. yet it worked very well.. it made Michiru a stronger character, even though she should not use her powers she does because she cares about something. She has her passions and that makes her feel like real person. A tomboy sure.. but it all seemed right. Just a fun heartfelt episode with nice fun action and a bit of that same enigma I saw in other episodes.

It’s a really great episode to me but for the wrong reasons. I notice how much I like Michiru doing mundane things like going to a party and playing sports. I also noticed how I barely could care less about Shirou’s stuff. The way the show is building up to things means I will have a point where I will start to dislike it as all the elements being set up come into play.
I love this mundane beastman stuff with a bit of action to spruce it up.  I like Michiru adapting to her new life and making new friends.  I know her human friend who turned into a beastman will come into play.. well I assume so .. she is so heavily teased she can’t NOT be into this.. but at the pace Michiru is making friends I now think she will be granted an antagonistic role. Our tanuki is starting to have a life here.. friends here.. she isn’t dependent on her friend that much more..so by all rules of writing the only way her old friend will add is in a villainous role… I am not sure if I am ready for the show to turn into that. So all in all a weirdly got episode.. that makes me realise I will probably not like the entire series?!

Let’s judge it as a single episode though!

Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens
Episode 5

Another mixed bag episode for me! Yet kinda in the other way around. While I really did not particularly care for this episode I really like the style and grander choices they make here. Giving me faith that this series COULD go into more. We return to the story arc of Rush Duels disappearing from social media and even anime google. This means they have to find publicity through other ways. I do like the whole idea of rising to fame and promoting a ruleset as a storytelling crutch. It offers so much new scenarios we haven’t explored with Yu-gi-oh before themes that are relevant. Konami wants us to buy these new types of cards and by doing a story that is all about promoting the game.. it feels less jarring as a commercial because it’s actually part of the plot. 

However the episode itself is quite bad. The school newspaper writes an article about them and it says that Rush Duels are simplistic and for kids.. which is an opinion.. so it’s fair game to write! They have misquoted people so I get why the group would want it redacted.. but that isn’t really the issue they object. It is that their game is getting a negative review. Everyone in the school papers reads it and beliefs it.. so Romin distances herself from the group.. but only for a scene. Of course the dispute over whether or not this article should get a redaction is settled with a duel. To my pleasant surprise they decided to let Rook fight this duel instead of Yuga, which was great. The duel itself however might be the worse one yet.

The editor of the newspaper has a deck that is completely centered about journalism, the card art looked incredibly tacky and if this is not made specifically for this duel I think this is a horrible set. Every single card he plays feels catered to him and feels like it has a narrative flow as well. First he plays a scoop.. than live from the scene of the accident and then he plays a printing press.  It might seem clever but in duels .. it feels quite stale. Like if someone always goes 1–>2–>3–>4–>5 .. it is a logical chain of events that tells a tale.. but it takes away the tension of a duel.. this is always the order the cards are played in so their effect.. are just what the situation needs. That really was felt throughout the duel. If the game is not really being played there is no tension.

Comedy wise this episode was decent with Yuga’s promo bot becoming increasingly broken as he modifies it.. now chasing after girls constantly and some subtle shots of them disabling it now that Rook can’t use his Pauli Effect since he is dueling, yet that can not save this show. It feels like a very solidly constructed railroad with a bullet train that moves faster than ever before. The direction and the tech is solid.. but the stops this train makes are at Snooze-Town,  Forced-Ville, Fillage and some random places that just hold nothing to do. Where BNA feels like a great show that will falter in pay off , this feels like it COULD get a nice pay off but with  bad episodes. This week I seemingly caught up with the series. If it has been delayed by Corona and I need to replace the timeslot I will not be returning to it, if it goes on I shall give it next until next week’s episode to convince me.. after next week I will have to change my line up anyway.

Bofuri
Episode 9 and 10

With the end of Bofuri in sight we get two episodes I really enjoyed, from today on I will discuss double episodes in the same column to save us some time. Which easily works this these episodes because they handle the same event. The start of the guild competition, which I am pretty sure it will end on as well with maybe some minor epilogue. Both episodes did a great job in bringing this event to life in their own way. I was so invested that I nearly forgot to take my breaks. Yet I managed to sneak them in.. although a bit late.

The first episode mostly sets up preparations for the game, it will be a capture the flag game but with orbs. Obviously Maple is charged with defending Maple Tree’s Orb giving her May and Yui as back up in their defence.  Our beloved Rubiks Cube boy stays behind as well. Or at least that is the plan. First they go prepare, which is mostly a montage. They also visit a beach with tubes that have their own paterns on.. which is super cute. When Yui and May splash water they create huge tidal waves which was funny and charming. It all has become part of Bofuri’s charm to me. But we quickly move to the highlight of that episode to me. Sally’s fight with Frederica. Scouting for their rival guild Frederica wishes to get information from Sally who then challenges her to a fight..seeming equally matched Frederica gives up after Sally reveals her best techniques.. or does she?! It turns out Sally faked skills to give out false information to hide her incredible gaming reflexes I love these kind of mind games.


Other than that the first episode is fairly uneventful with people just doing their jobs and mostly taking on some lower tier guilds.  Iz finds a new robe that allows for on the go crafting somewhere but all in all it as all low key. There is some scouting here and there and some encounters but it is all set up for the much more exciting tenth episode! Still I really like the gamer feel this game really has to it.. much better done than Sword Art Online in my opinion, these characters have much more a gaming mindset. Which is amplified by Maple lacking this. The tenth episode is about big encounters with the two biggest guilds. We see Sally be overzealous and be cornered by Frederica.. about to die.  She has claimed a lot of Orbs which her team will then lose so the chances of their tiny guild getting a top ranking seem to go out the window. Which leads to my favorite moment of the 10th episode. Maple coming in to save Sally. Risking it all saying she will never allow Sally to die in game was quite touching. In a game we all think very lightly of death.. but Maple will never abandon her friends if she can stop it. 

However.. directly after May and Yui are left alone to defend the orb and they get killed after putting up a fair fight against Dread. Just before he can steal their orb though Maple returns and finishes off the already damaged Dread. It feels a bit conflicting with the message the show was telling earlier that Maple will never allow her friends to die.. but does highlight the reality of games. I kind of hoped Maple would save them all. By now we already established that this isn’t about fair fights. This show is about Maple being the most cute badass we have ever seen. Seeing how far she can push being so broken so I really wish she could have backed up those words she just uttered, or at least felt some consequence of not being able to do it. So the resolve with Dread was my least favorite moment.  Sally is super tired and can not go out anymore so now it is time for Maple to go on the offence. The episode ends with her facing the Flame Emperors. So I am pretty sure next two episodes she will be tangling with the top 2 guilds. 

Bofuri to me has become a show that I like for its simplicity and it’s lightheartedness. It’s a show that consistently makes me smile despite it clearly having it’s flaws. With these episodes I could really ignore those flaws, this is Bofuri.. I could wish for more but this is more than enough. I would not be able to remember these episodes if I would try to think back about it a few months from now but I do not need to.. it’s not that type of show.  Bofuri exists for the casual smiles and giggles and with very few exceptions it has consistently done so for me.

Hikaru no Go
Episode 5

Each time I begin to doubt if this show is for me, it pulls me back in with a very strong episode. We see Hikaru lose TWICE in this episode which are bold choices and we see Tetsuo , the popular Shogi kid re-embrace the magic of Go. Hikaru loses the Tetsuo which means he would have to jump in an Ice-cold pool.. but given how close he got to winning still Tetsuo decides to force him into something else instead a Go Team Tournament. Because of how things are set up.. if Hikaru’s teammates win he now is able to lose..so he wants to play for himself, a nice set up for an episode about putting coloured stones on a wooden grid if I have ever seen one. 

It’s just GO! Hikaru!

For the second time in this show we are introduced to a glimpse of brilliance Hikaru might have concerning Go as soon as he is able to step by step recreate a game.. after a guy fumbled some stones of the board. This pleases Sai , who for one of the first times I found a more welcome addition than an obnoxious mentor. The fact that Hikaru can render him obsolete one day is a nice promise. With Yugi the final duel against Atem felt somewhat unearned because we never saw  tiny Yugi duel instead of the pharaoh except for some mystical reasons. Hikaru is a much more fully fledged character and this stroke of brilliance makes me belief Sai can at one point even be taken out of the equation in this show. Great long time set up and very solid character building.

Immediately after we see him proceed to play Go, trough visuals he imagines building entire galaxies and star systems.. is this another sign of how genius he can be as a go player? The way it is framed certainly builds up to Hikaru discovering some latent abilities deep within him, of him beginning to enjoy the game for himself… but he totally washes out and loses badly. Getting called out by Tetsuo for it. Speaking of the latter, he dominates his match even if now he gets being bullied for a Shogi player. What a weird world… I guess  we do the same thing though… oooh you play PUBG instead of Fortnite.. poser! Well not me persé because I  think Fortnite sucks but you know. Still I would think members of unpopular clubs would stick together a bit more. If you play Shogi you might enjoy a game of Go as well but well let’s be honest none of these people should ever get laid..at least in reality.. so perhaps there is a lot of build up tension. Just something I will keep finding weird.

Best episode of the line up. My favorite moment was the Galaxy building scene that ends in Hikaru’s defeat.. there was no derpy music playing at the end.. it was all just subtle. It was a perfect illustration of a boy trying to learn the game, having a fun time with it. .but with a realistic result. Very good. My least favorite moment happened when Akiri’s moment with Hikaru was totally skipped. She just kinda vanished. She deserves better.

Round Up

Throughout the line up we had much better episodes than last week. Even Sevens improved though that only applied to the framework of the episode rather than the meat on the bones itself. Next week I might need to replace it from my programming anyway so please leave a suggestion for me to watch in its stead! Next week I will regretfully wrap up Bofuri as well which just might also get a series review from me but I am still undecided about that!

I had another great Saturday morning and I hope your weekends are all amazing next well!
Love you all!

Pinkie’s Saturday Anime Adventures (Week 4)

Hello everyone, it’s sunday again which means Pinkie watched anime! In my saturday morning program I have slotted 5 shows in time slots including commercial breaks! Today I review the episodes of my fourth week! Check the anime tab on my homepage to track down the originals!

BNA
Episode 4

At 9:00 I was ready for some more Brand New Animal. Studio Trigger’s show that I so far quite liked and this episode was certainly no exception. It spotlights Michiru even more than before taking Shirou out of the equation for a bit as the Tanuki girl gets a brand new phone..from her mink “friend” to get access to human internet.  This leads her to discovering a girl named Nina, living in anima city. She is streaming on Facelook as she desires to be part of the human world and.. while Michiru approaches her she gets knocked out and captured. My least favorite moment of this episode as I thought we would be in for another one of Shirou’s heroic  moments, but luckily this was quickly subverted.

Once Michiru wakes up she finds out Nina is the daughter of the gang leader of “The Family” lead by Flip.. which is a last name but he is referred to as Flip and he looks like a Flip to me. Flip in Dutch was a fairly common name for people of the Silent generation and before. Flipje is the mascot of the city Tiel and it’s jam factory and he is like a raspberry man so it sounds like a first name to me..This also results in me thinking Flip will turn into a raspberry but it looks like he is actually some kind of whale. As I get side tracked we move back to our story by saying that by being honest to Nina about her preferences  of the human world, she is able to take on her human shape. The two then decide to visit a party they saw on Facelook together. 

I am happy they are giving Michiru a friend and I do hope the character stays that as well.  It felt nice and needed for her character as well. I dislike  that the first friend she made is connected to the Family.. it feels so convenient again. The Major also has made some discoveries about Michiru’s condition which conveniently allows for some exposition on Beastman lore. While kinda cool to know the conversation is kind of nonsensical. “Michiru if A Tiger Beastman loves A Lion Beastwoman very much.. their kids take on the properties of one parent and can not become a liger. It has to do with your spirit and all. “Your cells can morph so it’s completely not like that”.  I mean I know Michiru might not be smartest .. it kinda felt off. 

Shinies?! *Readies her Pokéballs*

What I did liked about the episode is that it shows the other side of racism, people like beast people at the party so when they discover Nina is a beast person they revere her and want to play with her.. however apparently aquatic beastman can not breath under water or at least Nina can because she was tired so they put her in an aquarium and she ends up choking. The whole turn around showing that some people are supportive but not understanding made the show feel nicer. It did not hammer in “humans are racist butterscotchcandy-holes. Yet there is also danger in the unknown a lesson that prompts Michiru to go back to Animacity and learn. That was nicely set up!

I also liked the stand off with Flip and Shirou and how a random guy just got killed by Flip. Shirou did not stop it.. so clearly he knows something we do not know yet. Shirou is also said to be a beastman with an immortal body by the scientisty bad guy person.  So things are feeling like they are heating up! Still we do not get overfed exposition and each episode just offers us some puzzle pieces. All in all this was probably my most enjoyable watch of the day.

Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens
Episode 4

Ugh… Episode 1 was all about Yuga, Episode 2 introduced us more to Rook, Episode 3 was about Romin so that means Gakuto is up next right? Will they colour within the lines?  The first 10 seconds already tell you that you are going to get what you expect and nothing more. A narration of the fourth main character shows us this is his episode. Unoriginal.. but maybe needed.. yet he turns out to be not very well written as this episode crashes before it ever takes flight. 

Gakuto is the studious boy the one who plays by the rules. He arrives each day at school at 6:66:66 which make me think he might be the son of the Goha President or something later on as that is exactly the time they give you to redeem your flaws.The episode for this plot is that the student council president has trouble keeping up with his work now that he hangs out with Yuga and Rook a lot. (I know Rook might be called Luke but my translation says Rook so running with that one)  So obviously to make time for his duties again he decides to ban Rush Duels on School Grounds. Yuga challenges  him to a duel and if he wins there will be no ban on duels but if Gaktuo wins they will promise not to duel in the school.

This already creates a problem, the consequence to this duel is to limiting for the narrative to ever take fruit. In the duels with Rook and Romin , Yuga CAN lose because it would not block the plot, in this setup there is no way the main character can lose because it would not allow the story to continue .. or at least place it under severe restrictions otherwise. This is somewhat resolved by letting Gakuto place his title as council president on the line.. but why would they force their friend to lay down something he loves that much.. that is quite horrible. Of course it could be to give him some free time to join their adventure but that would be super convenient again.

The duel itself is the worst one so far. Gakuto’s ace card SUCKS! By changing mode it can prevent either side to tribute for a 7 or higher level monster on the next turn. The set up he has to do to utilize this is quite large and the pay off blows. You can still special summon a level 7 monster.  Since it’s Yu-gi-oh this is super easy and the boy gets his ass handed to him by Yuga. Sure he learned to enjoy himself a bit more during this duel instead of sticking to ceremonies and traditions, that  was a trait he did not need to have from the get go. His aides never showed up before and now they are everywhere where he goes.

This feels forced and as soon as Gakuto loses his Student President title he gives it up as he promised… then he runs for Student President again in the next election which makes no sense! Why would the school allow these shenanigans, he also gets reelected (in favor of his only competitor Rook) as well. Such a weak choice! This really was a weak episode and the only highlight is that Romin wore a cute new outfit! I really like her more and more.

Bofuri
Episode 7

Ah that is better, a nice dose of Bofuri cuteness. The seventh episode is all about preparation for the third and fourth events. Mostly the guild competition. We see Maple grind a dungeon with Yui and May, the one with the Hydra she ate to get some levels on the two. Because of one Maple’s ridiculous plans to speedrun it the group manages to complete it under two and a half minute which allows them to gain a skill that doubles their attacks. Putting them on a similar track as Maple. Iz makes new hammers for them which they now also are able to dual wield..because of another skill they unlocked. For the most part I think this part of the episode worked quite well as they are a sort of reflection of Maple.  They also finally use a montage without skipping some sweet parts this time it skips grinding! Yay!.. Also I am happy grinding is a thing it makes the game more legit.

The white hammer girl is my favorite! She has pink details!

The second part relies on the guild members doing their jobs, gathering materials helping each other train etc. Kuromu is the only one who died enough times to unlock a secret dungeon from which he gets a pretty edgy armor that seems pretty good. He kind of feels like the Yamcha of the group.  Kasumi goes hunting for wool so Iz can craft robes for the event, which gives the group some bonus event drops. She encounters Maple while doing this who was playing with some sheep and learned the Wooly ability. An ability that allows her to turn into a ball of wool, or a poisonous ball of wool. Shielding her from attacks. It does seem to trap her though which results in some cute wholesome comedy. 

The final act of the episode has Maple wandering in town figuring out how to be useful once more when she encounters a quest.  What actually should be a high level escort quest becomes easy as Maple just flies with Syrup, This entire questline was my favorite part of the episode. The NPC spouts random dialogue based on their location which confuses Maple as she is totally immersed. The npc is startled by npc’s they fly over, the program thinking she is on ground level. I like this a lot, it contributes to the MMO feeling of this game, this episode that that very nicely throughout. The fact that Maple found the item needed as a follow up already and can finish it then and there is something that happened to me in MMOs as well, so that is some relatable writing. 

This ghost encounter…obviously ends up getting skipped…………….

Of course the questline awards maple a skill that breaks her even further, into complete unfair territories. She gains a skill named Loving sacrifice. By giving up a chunk of her HP all her guild members standing in the light share her defence modifier which by now has surpassed the 1000 mark due to her finding modifiers. While it is cute to see her transform into a golden haired angel I dont think this form has much to offer in the form of great moments that I love this show so dearly for. All in all quite a good episode.

Bofuri
Episode 8

An episode that I liked significantly less, than the previous episodes.  I likes Syrup Hyper Beaming a boss into oblivion but this episode to me waaaaaay overdid it in terms of hand me outs to Maple.  Let’s begin at the start though. It’s the day of the third event and the guilds can now hunt ..cows… for medals titled cow. Since these cows are kind of fast. Maple or the guild for that matter is not very geared up for it.  So Maple tries to find spawn spots where no one else can come using Syrup’s flight. Clever enough.. but she falls off and stumbles into a dungeon and a secret boss again. Using Wooly she survives his onslaught of Attacks while Syrup uses its new beam attack. Wiping out the boss first form.. the second form absorbs Maple and would deal her poison damage.. but since she is resistant.. she eats him up from inside. Thus Maple gains a demon form.

Like always we see Maple demonstrate the abilities to her group, who all acknowledge that Maple now officially has transcended into something that is not human anymore, completely leaving her humanity behind. While it sure is another funny, her getting a new form this close after her Angelic form and having it feel almost just as broken feels a bit wrong. Rather unrewarding. I still had some laughs for Maple sounding very ridiculous as a demon so it was still great for laughs it just didn’t feel clever or compelling. Slapstick if you will. Demon voice Maple still is something worth your time so do not mind me nagging on semantics though. 

After the event the third level opens which now is a steampunk , cyberish city which delights Iz for having so many new crafting Materials. As everyone goes explores we go into another montage which includes great things such as the “Do Not Push” button. I love this trope! I am sad yet again we did not see what happend.  By now I begin to notice how far Sally is relegated away in importance in these last two episodes. She barely said a line and even when Maple become an actual demon she was just there in the background. The whole real life thing also has kind of extinguished , which by now I kind of yearn for.. to see Maple normalise just a bit.

The final act involves Maple stumbling upon a questline again, falling of Syrup landing in a dungeon with a new mysterious boss with lasers that seems to knock her back quite a bit.  Trough an item she found during the last event she now manages to unlock a mecha form, with  big lasers and all sorts of guns going off. A well animated fight.. but TWO brokenly OP new forms in ONE episode. I mean I get that is part of the joke .. but the fight is also set up in almost the exact same way?! Again.. unlike Yu-Gi-Oh it wasn’t bad but it just is not memorable at all. I had trouble memorising this 3 hours after I’ve seen it. So Bofuri for me was a bit Meh! I totally want a Syrup though! Since this episode it talks and says Kame Kame.. so I am pretty sure it’s actually a Pokémon as Kame is turtle.

Hikaru no Go
Episode 4

Unfortunately even the fourth episode of Hikaru no Go could not stop this saturday viewing experience from being mediocre. As I feared Hikaru backed out of is fight with mister Touya thinking that placing the stone as epic as he did was because Sai took over his body. Mistrusting the spirit for a bit, this is quickly resolved.  I mostly noted that Sai at one point seemed to address us as the viewers, though it was probably just him thinking to himself, which felt a bit to in your face exposure like. Hikaru is beginning to like go and that is scaring him?! Alright?! Sure. Touya Senior seems intrigued by the boy but has not played him long enough to judge his skill.

He meets up with Akari and she invites him to some sort of fair.  Hikaru refuses not liking those kind of things. This is the scene I disliked the most because Hikaru really is a rASSpberry here. Maybe he is stressed ? Maybe it’s because he is so young? I am not sure. What’s even stranger when he finally decides to do what is right Akari doesn’t show up at all. I mean I would not wait for him either if he said he would not come.. but still it felt like a very clunky setup  Sai hints at possible romance but he gets the typical girls have cooties kind of reaction and both Hikaru and Akari seem to react against the character previously established. Hikaru seems a lot more prickly and Akari  seems much more spiteful towards the boy. She still sees him talking to himself and notices his behavioural changes, if you really like someone I’d say after being hospitalised and claiming to have a voice in your head you can at least give them a few days.

She’d even buy him Takoyaki! I’d travel to Japan for that offer!

Luckily the second half of the episode picks up the slack of the first half.  First we see Hikaru take some interesting puzzles, which remind me of the duel puzzles in Yu-Gi-Oh games, before a guy solves the final problem for him.. with gum! Uh-Oh! It’s a Go bad boy!  He looks like your standard Vagrant and bully and in a way he is. I squirted milk out of my nose laughing when he told his new passion though. This bad boy.. who looks like danger.. or a villain.. now is into SHOGI. He used to be into Igo but now Shogi is the shit, even if he has beaten Akira in a game.  Why is this so funny?! Because it is basically your high school bully, or standard movie bully if you never had one, saying I used to play checkers but that wasn’t bad ass enough so now I play Chess.  The way how menacing they made him sound while saying this was just hilarious to me. 

If Chess club looked like this.. they’d have Cheerleaders!

Obviously the two eventually decide to settle their difference over a game of Go, making some wagers that involve Hikaru jumping into a pool if he lost?! Seriously how uncool is man. Why do they try to make him so cool?! In every other show he would have a bowl cut, a buck tooth and super thick glasses. If he is the cool one.. how uncool is Hikaru?!  Regardless of this brainworm I had to yank out, their showdown is pretty well set up and seems very intense. Sai enjoys playing this boy so he doesn’t give it his all.  Once Hikari gets distracted by Akiri walking by he places a wrong stone allowing mister cool guy to get 5 Moku.. Will Hikaru be able to come back from this?!  Or will he have to .. jump in a pool.. find out next saturday.. I can hardly wait. 

In Closing

Now that last line sounded sarcastic and in a way it was meant like that.. but in a good way.. I find it funny how enthralled I can get by the little stuff in this show.

Overall all episodes where quite okay with BNA being the only one that really sang for me. It makes sense though I have been singing praise on Bofuri for three weeks now, at some point I will not see episodes that top the best. Hikaru fizzled were I think it could have popped and Yu-Gi-Oh.. I might drop that one at the 6 episode mark and first line up change.  Now that all characters are in play it has until Bofuri finishes to impress me or it will be pulled off the pink network!

When Bofuri is done one time slot will go to Tower of the Gods and one to another episode of Hikaru. If you have any good suggestions I could replace Yu-Gi-Oh with?  Let me know in the comments!

https://ko-fi.com/pinkiesparadise