Tag: Sevens

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

Pinkie’s Saturday Anime Adventures Week 3

Hey Island guests, it is sunday for me again which means I spend my saturday watching some sweet sweet anime! Unfortunately I am rather sick so my rule of no pausing allowed and commercial breaks really came back to bite me in the touchee this time around! Yet Saturday Morning cartoons also comforted me in my misery. 

Pinkie’s TV Guide

I did not manage to work ahead enough to give myself an extra timeslot. I also don’t want to make these posts any longer as they already are so Hikaru no Go will be kept limited at one episode until I finish Bofuri and BNA my schedule will then change to give room for the classic show. For now the schedule is as follows. Which will also be the order of my reviews

9:00  AM : BNA
9:30  AM: Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens
10:00 AM :Bofuri
10:30 AM: Bofuri
11:00 AM: Hikaru no Go

I decided to abandon the colour review scores and the summary to  make these a bit more brief and searching for these colors can be a time consuming hassle.

BNA Episode 3

I love Studio Trigger and this episode was something I really could get into. The mystery of Michiru being human is properly set up this time around as we are introduced to an institution that may help her. But the terrorists from the first episode seem to be at it again, endangering the clinic and so a cure for Michiru. She and Shirou have to get over there to investigate.. but if there really is a sickness that can turn humans into beastman she will be a target, to Shirou’s great concern. In this episode we learn more about Michiru’s shapeshifting powers as she shifts animal parts to fit her situation a few times throughout the episode. A nice concept that really makes sense with the title.. she really is a brand new animal. 

We get some backstory about the tanuki girl which leaves rooms for new story hooks. Her friend changed into an animal as well and she was deported, when Michiru underwent the change she was forced to stay inside her room, but she felt that was no way of living so she came to animacity to be free until they found a cure. While not very original it makes sense and is an effective way to keep such a frail girl engaged with the plot, so I at least have to commend them for their writing there. Even though the mystery we are presented with feels somewhat cliché I felt very engaged, more so than the other two episodes.

I love the pastel colour scheme that is set throughout everything it softens everything , as if we are looking more from afar into a dream. I think that is a smart choice because obviously we can’t really relate to these characters and their struggles, by dabbling this form of surrealism I found myself expecting less to relate as well. The fight scenes look great and the fluidity  is something I really appreciated, there is this form of speed in there that really impressed me.  There was  a chameleon working as an antagonist and the way he moved his eyes to get visual info on an upcoming sneak attack really worked for me.

Favorite moment goes to the introduction of a possible main villain. The scientists recognized Michiru as being a former human, the implications of that are pretty amazing. Perhaps this thing was willingly developed..but why was she chosen?  The show barely gives you any answers just a strong hook with a mysterious pretty boy being set up as someone menacing. They sprinkle just enough detail for us to be interested but without having a clue what he is up to.. at least for me.  Least favorite moment would be the Deus Ex Machina that the mayor , who knows of Michiru also knows she is human , being a geneticist that can help her as well. That kinda felt forced. Still I am excited about what is to come.

Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens  Episode 3

Honestly?! This was a pretty sweet episode. While the pay off is not as rewarding as with the other shows I am watching taking a look into the mysterious Romin seemed like a sensible move that is set up quite nicely. Social Media videos of the new Rush Duel begin to vanish across the web so that means Goza the evil company is aware of it.. how does it know?
Yuga and Luke/Rook (as Tatsuhisa is called) is called begin to suspect the purple headed girl that is quick with her mouth but also quick with her smartphone might not be completely genuine in her intentions. 

I like the Romin character her design and generally aloof personality really speak to me , so given that this episode was about her really helped my enjoyment of this episode. We see Yuga invent some sort of lie detector to force her to tell the truth, which to be honest felt a bit forced. If he can make so many inventions that can really be used as a easy way to cheap out of troubles.. my least favorite moment of this episode.  Luckily they fix themselves right away and the invention breaks due to a dubious statement. Now with the invention gone obviously there is only one way to verify her intentions which obviously is a duel.

We get some nice comedy with Luke (according to the Wiki and Rook according to the sub)  getting his hair accidently washed and turned fabulous as well as him and Gakuto sneaking closer to Romin’s guitar case to find out if she is a super spy or not.  Using a duel as a distraction has been done before but this show kinda shows us how ridiculous that is, it made me chuckle at least. We also get some minor backstory for Romin.. turns a singer she idolises gave her that card during one of her concerts and even though she had no interest in dueling she kind of wanted to try the card out. Rush duels clearly more amusing to her and when making new friends.. she decided to set them up.. so she could try it out.. more or less.

The duel itself is my favorite so far. Romin has no deck of her own and has no idea on how to play the game so Yuga gives her his spare deck, which contains the same core cards without his ace.  The way he reacts to her putting a card of her own in there and how he wishes to pit ace against ace made him feel different from the more calculative Yu-gi, Yusei and Playmaker.   I am not sure I like the way they summon their aces yet. They give a speech much like with Synchro summoning which I loved..but these feel worse and the fact that their analogies are animated makes it a bit tacky. Romin’s ace card showing up and it’s effect was my favorite moment, by paying 1000 life points all 3 of her monsters gain 300 life points per monster the opponent has summoned for a turn. A card that really can be fun and actually useful in this format. I hope I’ll see her duel again..and since I want to see more..i’d say good episode.

Bofuri Episode 5

My least favorite view of the day. It still was amazing!  While Bofuri episode 5 does that same thing with so many plotlines again that I disliked in episode 3 at least this time it feels cohesive. We pick up with Maple and Sally in a mexican stand off with a woman named Kasumi. While she thinks about attacking for a moment she decides that two against one might not go in her favor but Sally wants to kill her in order not to risk any more.  Their speeds are equal and they zoom off into a desert leaving Maple behind. A short half finished battle follows. Which would have been my least favorite moment if they had not committed a crime in this episode!

When Maple shows up who was surfing on her shield they accidently get knocked into a dungeon where their life is linked. However this dungeon holds no monsters, just snails with no hp.. get hit and you die . This dungeon is a test of agility so Maple is completely bypassed as we learn some of Kasumi’s abilities.  It was funny and I like these types of dungeons so I was pleased. We show Maple’s kindness again as she makes sure Kasumi gets some medals and gear as the dungeon reward and we move to a time skip, while Sally and Maple hunt to get 20 medals.

…..  *Sob*  ….. In this time skip the horror zone gets skipped AGAIN! We see a few still images of Maple playing with a skull and I wish I could have been there! Least favorite moment by far!  After that their medal count sort of racks up. Which ends up with a shot of Sally fishing. We move back to normal time and we see Maple playing on the beach with a level 5 boy named Kanade which tells them about a puzzle dungeon. The puzzle is quickly solved and we go to my second favorite moment.. Maple completely murdering a boss spamming the hydra Skill to pollute the ocean so much it has no chance.  I laughed as I felt bad for the poor squid.

After that we see why this episode is my least favorite view off the show so far. More convenience to get the pair 20 medals. Sally goes on a murder spree to kill as many players as she can, murdering out an entire camp just to get the perfect amount of medals she needs. Maple in the main time is training up Oboro and Syrup and OMG does THAT pay off. Syrup learns the skill Megamorphosis so Maple decides to spent her 10 medals on the psychokinesis skill..Now she can enlarge her turtle and fly on it.. it doesn’t really make sense but hey flying turtle I am in!  Weakest episode in my line up, favorite moment of the day! So  if that doesn’t tell you how good my Saturday view was , probably nothing will!

Bofuri Episode 6

The episode begins with Kaede instead of alter ego Maple and how her being so invested in the game has caused her life to be a bit skewed. Sally advises Maple to take a few days break, which is a very smart way of allowing Sally to feasibly fully catch up with Maple. Of course it also tells us to have a healthy game/life ratio but we all know that if VR games like these come out we will say farewell to the real world. Just put me on some IV drips to keep me alive and you can bury me for all I care! So I am not buying that message.

The sixth episode is all about setting up a guild. New Bugs have appeared and if you are highe enough level to catch one you can purchase property in the game.  This leads to Sally and Maple house shopping just to come across a super cute fifty people house inside a tree. It’s adorable and I would so love to live there! Since the house is to big for Sally and Maple alone they decide to found a guild and they invite Kanade, the smart boy who has a rubikscube that gives him a random skill each day and Kasumi.. who is pink so I do not object. Iz the crafting and Koromu join as well and Maple is made guild leader.

Since they live in a tree, they fly on a turtle named Syrup and their leader is named Maple the guild is named Maple Tree (though in japanese). Totally expected but it does fit, given how Maple is super famous now for how broken she is it feels deserved and very much in line with Maples naming conventions. I really appreciated that very much it feels really cohesive and while not surprising you have a hard time to disagree with the writers the story has to move this way. 

The episode ends with Maple recruiting May and Yui two girls who masked out offence and like Maple are becoming a bit broken. No one wants to party with them though because they wipe so easily and they are rather shy. This makes them a rather nice addition to the team and I do look forward to seeing what they do next. If I had to describe this episode in one word it would be wholesome. It’s nice of them starting their little guild and it’s done right. Not great, not exciting… but right. You nod and smile from start to end.. it is as it should be. That really makes this anime just a perfect Saturday snack.

Hikaru no Go Episode 3

Best episode in the line-up. It starts with my least favorite moment, Akira Touya completely losing it over a game like Go. Hikaru doesn’t take it very serious and the boy loses his marbles over it. It felt completely unreltable as it is something very much that I am not.It’s about Zeal and honour of a the game.. and mostly honour is a trait I absolutely despise.  People do such stupid things for that.. honour is a mock up word for pride in my book so I could not really support the little whining boy.

He challenges Hikaru to a angry game of Go where he is trying to play relentless and without joy! He has to prove a point. Sai then proceeds to remorsely crush the young boys spirit as there is no room to play a friendly game in this one.  This upsets Hikaru which shows his kind heart but also makes him think. Why does this matter so much. Which by now as a viewer I question as well. Why would someone really care about Go so much. I have trouble buying it with Yu-gi-oh and those live in a world where it’s set up. Hikaru no Go basically takes place in the normal world where Go means as much as it actually does here. I liked that this episode completely broke Akira as a character. It made me feel pain.. even if it was just a game.. clearly there are stakes here. While I can not relate to the importance of Go… I can relate to feeling so crushed.. and in doing so this episode got through to me. 

As Hikaru pondered what about this Go thing.. so did I as a viewer, we are really taken on his journey and feel as he does. So far this has been consistent throughout all three episodes. Hikaru’s thoughts reflect mine and this episode I became very much aware of that.When he encounters Akiri and brushes her off I felt like.. Oh please.. not an Akiri scene right now. Even though I do like the character I wanted a resolution, I wanted to see Hikaru find his beliefs and discover what makes a go player tick. We get a scene which I bet you anime eyes enthusiasts would love in which Hikaru compares his own stare to that of Sai and the  Touya family. He discovered they had a passion something he has been lacking so far. He wants to find that passion. Thank you for that moment! That is character growth!

We end this episode with a match between Akira’s father and Hikaru.. testing the young boy and Sai out. Yet the focus is not on the stones or the plays , the focus in on the passion the drive. We see how stones are placed on the board. The difference between passion and being forced into this and this is where Hikaru breaks through and where I as a viewer also see the beauty of the game. With some pretty big effects in both the visual as audio department he copies his opponent in how they place the stones. His eyes have now changed! As the match heats up .. so does Hikaru’s spirit.. so did my investment in this show. I loved the mind games it played with me.. may I have some more of this please?!

Saturday morning viewings is really working for me!  Anime Saturday Banzai! I am already looking forward to next Saturday!

Pinkie’s Saturday Anime Adventure (Week 2)

Hi island guests. Saturday has come and past again which means I ate some more ceareal and watched some anime. Thightly set on time I might add. No pausing allowed, commercial breaks in between.. recreating those good old Saturday morning cartoons and this week I had a blast with it yet again.

Pinkie’s TV Guide

My Schedule hasn’t changed yet since not of the series have finished yet. Until than the series remains as follows.


9:00  AM : BNA
9:30  AM: Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens
10:00 AM :Bofuri
10:30 AM: Bofuri
11:00 AM: Hikaru no Go

Like last time, I am not allowed to pause at the 11 minute mark anime will be interrupted for some Japanese Commercials on YouTube (and to take bathroom and other kinds of breaks). If I run late I have to skip to the point matching the air-date as if it was shown on tv. Unlike last week though this week I was fully prepared.

BNA Episode 2

The second episode of the studio trigger anime Brand New Animal, or BNA might have been my highlight of the morning. I really liked this second episode. We learn our Tanuki girl is actual a human woman named Michiru.. or at least she claims to be. Refusing to be registered as a beastman because she got “sick” and turned into one. With no one believing her the evidence is in her wallet and this episode focuses on her getting it back. The show this time around is less in your face about racism and much more focussed on the characters while still putting in plenty of world building. Tonally a huge improvement from the first episode.

 Instead of opting for a complex hierarchy system like in Kill la Kill, the rules in Animacity are easy. He who is the strongest wins. It makes sense in the context and it helps give our Michiru some rough edges. Her being a former human makes it hard to understand some aspects of beast society,opening us to a softer form of exposition. There is no need for “As you all know” type of dialogue because Michiru learns alongside us. Mistakes she makes are because of her human nature and as she learns how different this world is so does the viewer. Which really works out in this episode.

Following the monkey that stole her wallet in the last episode a hint given by Marie the Mink  puts her in the visors of a criminal woman named Gran Granma who commands an all woman gang in an area called Rabbit Town. The build up towards this felt nicely paced telling us what we need to know such as character names for one.The crying wolf from last episode is named Shirou and he has a pet bird named Kuro. I bet a lot of grey matter was put to work to come up with that one. Shirou gets an order from the mayor to investigate some criminal trafficing. Of course Michiru ends up in the middle of this.

Gran Granma asks Michiru to teach some young beastfolk to learn how to read and write. Leading to my favorite moment of the episode. Michiru’s class. It was cute and innocent. A facade for what Animacity is not but also a great desire to reflect what Michiru desires. The kids learning to read is so cute and you can see the tanuki liking helping others out way more than fighting. A man who likes like he is based on Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin from Marvel pressures Gran Granma into selling the kids to pay of her debts to him. Since she is there she also decides to sell Michiru. The way this all is emoted gives you some amazing character to the criminal lady.. there is more to this story.

The episode concludes in a dock. where Michiru displays some of her powers, some being different than that of a regular beast man. She manages to break free of her cage but is no match for the combat trained henchwomen. Shirou saves the day and while confroting Gran Granma about her horrible deeds the woman smiles faintly, probably actually caring about these kids handing Michiru her wallet back and it is confirmed that she was once human.

I’d rate this show a with a Taffy Pink! It’s super sweet. The weird power thing felt like Trigger to me again, the fast moving plot, the subtle character and the mystery build on several levels it all stuck with me, and I did not mind that it did at all. That Taffy stuck in my teeth can stay there so I can linger on the sweet tastes.

Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens Episode 2

Where BNA was the high of the show for me, this second episode of Sevens showed the most improvement to me.While first episode was poorly paced, kind of lazily written and flat out unfunny this episode actually had some proper pacing,an enjoyable narrative and even some good jokes. This episode basically begins  with my favorite moment.  We get some dramatic build up to the road to be Duel King now opening. Yuga says he is not that interested and says Tatsuhisa can take his place. He overly dramatically accepts and begins walking towards the gate of light that opened. Yuga recognised it as a hologram which is why he trolled the blue hair boy. I have to hand it to the makers that was a funny way to make this exposition tolerable. 

Now to become the Duel King people have to come and accept your way of dueling as the truth. Tatsuhisa beliefs this means they have to keep what they did a secret and Yuga agrees. The next day he however is telling everyone on what they did. This triggers a duel between the protagonist and the blue haired boy… but there is trouble.. recess doesn’t last that much longer, luckily a rush duel can  be held quickly. Romin the girl now works as the reason why rules are explained while Gakuto works as the one who explains, a synergy that works and doesn’t feel forced.What does feel forced though is the deuteragonist/rival using a dragon themed deck. Yeesz Yu-Gi-Oh we haven’t seen THAT before.

The Duel itself is mostly okay. Nice joke with Yuga using that yugioh protagonist power of awareness to explain some secrets of Tatsuhisa’s powers casually. It results helps keeping this series a bit grounded.  Props to the makers for having Yuga lose this fight. It gives him room for a journey as well.  He is not as overpowered as Playmaker was in the last part.  The loss felt fairly natural as well, though at the same time this rush duel felt kind of un-yu-gi-oh.  With at least 5 cards in his graveyard you would think he has an effect there to help him but no.. even the luck of the draw abandoned him. Great choice.. but with a simple combo like this it really felt off brand. The fact that Yuga used a drone to stream and promote his new game was nice and make him more unique as a protagonist. So even if it invalidated the duel..this series now begins to feel a bit “differently”

Still the lowest ranking of the shows I watched this episode was leagues better than his episode 1 counter part. I actually quite enjoyed this. Rating it Mexican Pink. The fishiness of the first episode is gone and the colour has deepend quite a bit. However it might be just a little bit foreign. I started to watch this show because I really like Yu-gi-Oh.. and I am not sure if this is that. They definatly spiced this up with some Jalepeno of cool but I have no real clue what I am going to get.. also that CEO.. looks way too weird.

Bofuri Episode 3

I really adore this little show, there is just so much cuteness in there.  This third episode however was my least liked so far.It’s adorable but has way to many little stories.  We get a brief glimpse of some characters that are in the intro arguing about if they should buy weapons with one of these twin girls going particularly murder hobo wanting to buy weapons above all. Obviously she will be Maple’s Hyper offensive counter part.  We see Maple and Sally shopping for new skills, learning about an event, taking up two dungeons/quests and going to two secret areas. It all feels a bit dense.

It does help create that cute sense of whimsy but in a way it feels like some of those five to ten minute anime where stringing two together is called an episode. I really wanted to see more of the scary area. Which was my favorite moment in the show, maybe one of my favorite moments in the series so far even. Sally quivering in fear with Maple being impressed by the colour of the ghosts. Because of Sally’s fear they have to hide in a house and a trap door is found, which leads to Sally learning a new skills and the quest resolving. This happens within a minute or four. After which a fireball teleports the pair to a beach where they find a ruby and splash water at each other.

World building falters for me a bit trough the fact that the girls can taste cake in virtualy reality.Given the concept of the show I can forgive it assuming the helmet can stimulate your brain so you can taste or feel pain…but also firing a fireball in a tree stump to get transported to a secret beach Sally nows off to get a useless item feels kinda odd. Sure that kind of stuff might be in some MMO’s but why not spend the extra time in that spooky wood! It could have been so much fun.

Maple is nerfed trough an update which makes the boss fight to reach level 2 where they can participate in the next event  a bit more interesting. The boss having special strats fits into the mmo concept and the battle does feel somewhat satisfying but the dungeon is glossed over again. In favor Sally transporting them to a restaurant in a starry sky where they can eat items that make their hair and eyes glow. It’s cute again.. but why insert 2 of these scenes in one episode it feels superfluous and give that we already had a scene with them eating cakes, and four self contained stories up to this point it kinda feels fragmented.

Time still flew by but I found this a bit lazy content wise. Instead of telling a full fledged story you tell a bunch of summaries of those seemingly not interesting enough for an entire episode. That is why I rate this episode China Pink. It works for me like many toys from china I once had. Yet there is something so streamlined to it that you can see the mass production of it all. It lacks the detail some of the finer products have.

Bofuri Episode 4

The fourth episode is MUCH MUCH better. We even get our first genuinely thrilling action scene and an amazing team fight. We also only get two main stories with a minor third one in the end which still is a logical follow up to what happened before. With some nice humor and the most adorable conclusion a girl like me could have wished for.. this is so far my second favorite episode after the first.

This episode resolvers around the first few days of the treasure hunt event , an ingame week long series where people can find medals but can also steal medals from other players.  Making Maple a target for ranking third in the first event. What begins a seeming pointles wander figureing out what to do.. I am pretty sure the writers at least have quite some MMo experience, all the things are in there and all the beats are hit.  Stumbeling upon a secret dungeon by accident the pair easily dispatches a jesterbos that was hyped up in the opening. Proving to me that the opening most likely is somewhat spoiler free and exaggerated retroactively making that same intro better.

We encounter some old familiars who interact with Maple in different ways, her broken build and her results have led her to gather some kind of fame.. which again.. makes sense since the game had to be balanced specifically for her. Most are friendly for not wanting to get into trouble but some might prey on her medal. A mysterious new dungeon pops up and Maple allows another group to go in first as a thank you for the help their leader gave at the beginning of the game. Within seconds the dungeons opens up again, saying it might be a reward collecting instance.. or a boss wiped them in mere seconds.

It turns out to be the later and we get a spectacular fight against an ice bird fight which really pushes Maple to play the best that she could. It is nice to see that there are bosses n this game that can give her a hard time. The teamwork between Sally and Maple really works well and feels very MMO like. Albeit much less balanced than the actual thing. The fight is thought and they barely make it out but they do getting rewarded with a hand full of models and two pet eggs that they subsequently try to hatch.

My favorite moment and my least favorite moment of this episode are interwoven with another in the conclusion of the episode. Maple and Sally are training their new pets. Maple gets a turtle which hilariously has a higher speed stat than hers and Sally gets a fox. When Maple names  turtle Syrup so they can be Maple Syrup together I like squeee by adorableness. The pair uses their pets like pokémon and they get an ability to be dispelled and resummoned, but there is something about the phrasing.. about them being “reborn” if it were that makes me think  next time we see them they might be bigger. I very much look forward to that. However about at the same time we see some evil bunnies talking about how they made that boss to be unbeatable.I am not sure why they talk so evilly but if they are the villians things might get a bit weird.

I’d rate this epiosde a solid pink. This episode pleased me on just about every level. I got my dose of world building, I got my dose of epicness and I sure as hell got some great action and some amazing cuteness and is just about everything one can look for in an episode of Bofuri.I

Hikaru no Go Episode 2

Hikaru doesn’t actually play go in this episode which makes this the most uneventful episode I saw this saturday.  Yet it taught me  a bit more about Go. Not a lot but something. Like how bigger “boxes” of one colour can make points of everything inside. There really is not that much to tell about this episode as basically nothing really happened. We  see him go to school and Akari is trying to get his attention. I am pretty sure Hikaru in real life would not really be chased by any girl though but I do like their thing they have going on. Akari seems like a nice character. Sai is introduced to the modern world which leads to some funny enough dialogue .. but nothing we haven’t seen before with a time displaced person.

Despite nothing actually happening I did find this episode a pleasant viewing experience. The slow pace of the episode came at a good time after that big fight in Bofuri and this felt wonderfully casual and mundane.  It doesn’t suddenly turn Go into something hype like Summer Wars did with Koi-Koi. It makes this series feel genuine and heartfelt so far. That being said the series does show a few plot coincidences  that feel rather forced. Like Akira being the son of the man who is closed to the Kami no Itte. The divine move Sai is after. Or the fact that a piece about him is on tv just at the moment Hikaru puts it on. I dislike when series do that.

I’d think there is no reason to connect them that way. Both Akira and Hikaru would want to play this champion for their own reasons so making it a family tie makes it feel.. easy.  Yet when Hikaru visits a youth tournament they actually do something a bit more creative with it. Rather than making Hikaru the instigator in their encounter they make the father Koyo someone interested in Hikaru instead. Yet there is something eating at me.. something the way the character is designed and framed that makes me thing he might not be as important as this episode leads me to believe he will. His introduction lacks gravitas, their first encounter was glanced over quickly so I feel he might just take a more mentorly role to Akira who may become a rival .. not persé in matches but in a race to master the Divine Move?

I am not sure. What I do know is that I am already analyzing this show which tells you I am at least invested. Since there basically really weren’t any moments no favorite or least favorite scene. I’d rate this episode Fandango Pink. While it seems nothing is going on I think the gears ot this series are just getting in motion. A complicated progress is starting up. Pieces are moved on a game board. It might seem boring and overly complex at first glance but if you look deeper you can see there is thought in these movements. Surely this will go somewhere and on it’s own the setup is kinda fascinating to see unfold in it’s nothingness.

Summary

Favorite Watch: BNA (Episode 2)
Favorite Moment: Syrup used bite! (Bofuri)

Least Favorite:  Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens (Episode 2)
Least Favorite Moment: Evil Programmer Bunnies (Bofuri)

Cereal: Crownfield Choco Rice
Bowls Consumed : One small one
Favorite Japanese Commercial: Totally Fabulous Sega Guy!

Pinkie’s Saturday Anime Adventure (Week 1)

Hi Island guests! Earlier I talked to you about how having unlimited access to anime and media to critique it on, has opened it to nitpicking and devalued appreciation. Why would we bother with a 7/10 show when we can watch a 9/10 one.I said I would love to get a format reminiscent back of Saturday morning cartoons.

A format where I have to work myself around anime instead having access to everything at my convenience. For true love doesn’t bow to your every whim.. you have to put some effort into it. This is the story of that quest…

Setting Up

The adventure began with laying down some ground rules and a schedule. Like how I have my fictional tropical Island I would now have a fictional anime network as well. Anime of my selection would air the way I would want to, yet be sorted out in certain time slots. I opted for a five series time slot which I could expand upon later. Running from 9:00 until 11:30 (in order to fit it in with my medicine imposed insomnia or occasional night terrors, I put it a bit later in the morning). Five series would air at the full hour mark. Midway down a series (around the 11 minute mark for anime) I would pause the anime and play some Japanese commercials on youtube for about 5 minutes.

I am not allowed to pause the anime earlier, nor am I allowed to go backwards if I miss anything. If i need to get something, I need to step away and let the anime run.. except for during commercial breaks. During the commercial breaks I would make notes for the blog, refill my drink and schedule bio-breaks. Obviously I can not skip ahead either. With this set up I have about 3 minutes to make some final notes and set up the next series. If I am late for example I start at 9:05 I will have to skip my episode until the anime runs as if it was started at its original time slot. So in this case five minutes in. Each Sunday I report to you all about my little adventures.

Pinkie-TV-Guide

Originally I browsed for the first five random picks I wanted to watch. Which ended up being Hikaru no Go, BNA, Bofuri, Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens.. and the second season of Ducktales, (from where I left off). Turns out the the second season of Ducktales isn’t on Disney + yet, which I discovered in the middle of my watch, so as a sensible tv network I had to fix this by adding in a double episode of what came prior. So for the next six weeks my schedule ended up being the following.

9:00  AM : BNA (I really love studio Trigger Stuff)
9:30  AM: Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens (Because I love card game anime and YGO)
10:00 AM Bofuri (Because cute girls with shield sound adorable to me)
10:30 AM Bofuri (So the Pink Network could correct their stupid error)
11:00 AM Hikaru no Go (Because I read Iridium Eye’s compelling review about it)

Having bought some cereal the day before, I was ready. The japanese commercials were set up, my phone was on silent as Saturday morning cartoons were back! Sitting on the couch I eagerly waited for the nine minute mark and pressed play.

BNA Episode 1

The moment I pressed play I realised I made a pretty rookie mistake. I forgot the milk with my cereal, so I ran to the fridge while the opening credits played. It was weird to see how a first episode had an opening in the first place. That isn’t that common.I couldn’t tell you if I liked it because I had some cereal prep I forgot. Luckily I was back before the main action started.

A Tanuki girl that looks kinda to human compared to the other beastman out there is fleeing from some racist humans. They end up trying to kill her when she is fleeing to some sort of beast city. Mind you guys that I am telling this from my headspace while viewing this. I know the name of the character now but not at the time.. nor do I think the first episode ever told us. When things seem dire for the main character a weird scientist lady shows up.. which suddenly is a weasel like creature, which we later find out is a mink. She has some henchmen as well. A fight breaks out between humans and the animal-people and the tone for the series is set. 

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this episode, though I can not help but feel it is kinda heavy on the racist allegory. In the same way X-men can be a bit jarring in it’s world building as well. Even in the first half of he episode. After the rescue I am positively surprised that the mink isn’t like a best new friend but some sort of shady figure who extorts those she rescues for all their money. Like what we see in a few american shows when they smuggle chinese or mexican people inside the United States. We then are introduced to Animacity home of the animals as some happy place, but what seems like a terrorist attack happens just as the little Tanuki girl enter, which leads to my favorite moment in the show.

A huge tv screen drops down on the crowd in the city which were looking at the screen for the cities tenth anniversary.(Which kinda felt a bit exposinatny for my taste) and the Tanuki girl tries to save an old goat.. the face on that goat made me smile so hard. Also when she is yelling crap crap crap.. when she is about to get crushed really amused me. She is saved by a crying wolf who is blisteringly fast while the old goat still has his 10/10 face. Amazing I loved this moment. Tanuki girl is accused of the bombing by the wolf, who seems like some sort of private detective but she convinces him it was some sort of other wolf she saw earlier. Using his nose, which was a really cool visual, he pursues the actual terrorist.

The episode concludes in a big epic fight that like other Trigger feels quite over the top. Yet I feel could have been a bit bolder. It felt very visceral and violent though and the punches have this nice connecty feeling and characters can bulk up to the extreme. Visually this is why I love Trigger so much. The bad guys are hired by humans which triggers the wolf into wanting to kill them. The Tanuki girl catches up and stops him.. revealing she was once a human to setting up  a mystery for the next episode.

All in all a fine first episode. I wasn’t as amazed as I would like from Trigger but it is definitely I will enjoy seeing again next week. There is plenty of stuff. My rating of this episode is a Peach out of Pink.. it’s on the right track but it could be pinker!

YU-GI-OH SEVENS EPISODE 1

The moment this started up with a big commercial for a new form of card game named Rush duel I knew I was going to have a rough time. It did not help that my second serving of cereal had to much rice thingies with to little milk. My mouth was getting dry as in horror I saw the main character bursting through something.. with a giant mecha..while holding some Yu-gi-oh cards. In the second scene we see him trying to install some new duel rules and I began to really regret putting this on the list. I could have put the new pokémon season here.

The opening did not help either, many of these characters look super generic and referencing to old shows a bit.  I liked the girl with the purple hair in it though..so perhaps there is some hope. After the intro we get a glimmer of hope though, the world building seems quite interesting with a Kaiba Corp clone really bogging people down with super strict rules, enforced by camera robots. Breaking these rules will get you a strike and getting six strikes will get you banned from dueling.  While trying to install the new rules.. and he failed Yuga the main character failed and now has five strikes. All in all fair.

This attracts the attention of three peers. Gakuto looks like the Seto Kaiba from season 1.. but with purple hair and the demeanour of Bastion Misawa from GX.. but more snively and whiny. He is the type that is afraid of breaking the rules and he annoyingly yells it out all the time. Tatsuhisa is a blue haired kid who has the power.. to do a sparky thing to disable electronic devices. He duels an ancient tablet under the city that spawns a crowned man .. but he lost and got six strikes due to it..due to the prophecy written on this tablet he now thinks Yuga might be the one to activate it. Romin is the purple haired girl.. she plays music and doesn’t know how to duel.

That is all the characterization we get in episode 1 because we have to move into a rush duel. Yuga installs his new rules but they have to be implemented or such.. but a guard droid spots him and he has 6 minutes and 66 seconds ( which ISN’T even a legit time expresion and just is there to tell us this new Kaiba Corp is evil i’d guess) to implement the rules by a live action programming. Luckily his duels can be fought in that time he says. Which basicly involve a weird form of dueling with three zones instead of five and where you can always draw five cards, and summon and tribute as much as you want in a single turn… like Yu-Gi-Oh needed more speed?!

While the duel itself was entertaining enough, the ace monster of the main character feels insanely gimmicky (it powers up 300 points per any of the seven attributes) an ability Yuga called road over 7 or something. The duel disks also changed into a seven, It’s the seventh series and the series is called Sevens. Well Sevens is correct as there are a lot of them not subtle either. My favorite moment came just before the hero summons his ace though, when Blue Eyes white dragon makes it return. Too bad it’s massive 3000 attack gets hit by a 7000 attack ending the duel in one turn after it was summoned. This show is going to have some serious pacing issues.

Now this might sound super negative and in a way it is, but there is some merrit behind the concept of rush dueling. If they make better duels than this, the format could be interesting for the anime allowing for some more storytelling on the side. It’s like a really ugly oyster.. it still might hold a pearl. For now however this gets a Salmon out of Pink. It can be called pink.. but you could also say it’s a soft shade of orange.  There is a charm factor in there.. but something about it is really Fishy.

BOFURI EPISODE 1

No more cereal, I can pay some serious attention to this one!  Immediately I find the main character Kaede very appealing. There is something about her mindset that I really dig. Gaming with your friend but then being left alone to your own devices is something I can relate to fairly well. While I have absolutely zero interest in her school live, we jump into the virtual world of the mmo she is about to play very soon and I really enjoy the way she over simplistically builds her character. I like the concept of being so Noob in strategy  that the devs would not realise how broken this is. It’s nothing special.. but it brings me back to the age of classic Dragon Ball. Which is a good thing.

Kaede choose the handle Maple, because I assume that is what her name translates into? Unsure though.I enjoy how she is depicted as a newbie in the style that I would act as well. While I am a gamer MMO’s can at times feel overwhelming to me and instead of reading a 40 page guide on how to Cleric I prefer to pick up  skills as I go. Also I love the concept of this MMO not having a tutorial, it would bring some sense of community, which I feel a virtual MMO should be about.. so points for world building. We see how Maple is super slow.. she doesn’t want to feel pain so she goes for a full defensive build..which makes me wonder why they even feel virtual pain in the first place that seems kinda cruel.. point retracted from world building.

Soon after we get my favorite scene in the episode. Maple encounters a cute bunny enemy which she completely outstats. She is just having a lot of fun letting it attack her and playing with it, just enjoying how it relentlessly tries it best. I would play an MMO like that as well. Just having fun, enjoying the animations and the cute creatures.However in this MMO your skills are developed situationally which I think is a cool concept. When she after a long time of playing accidentally kills it she is actually upset as she bonded with it.  That did happen to me.. when I played a MMO once.  Since Maple plays at night she dozes off while playing which triggers a number of defensive boosts. I found this set up pleasing throughout the entire episode.

To gear up she is told to go to a dungeon as she lacks money to buy crafted items, under explained that you should not clear dungeons alone we see her do exactly that, locking her up into some more insane upgrades ending up with her getting some amazing gear since obviously all drops are now for her! I would love to be able to play an MMO that way! This is how I want to play I absolutely adore it.  Her eating the monster because her weapon broke was funny to me to and felt as if the cooking mechanic kinda was exploited. Fun fun fun fun fun!

I’d rank this episode a Bubblegum out of Pink. Cute adorable and exactly in line with my mindset, there is little gripes I have against this one.It might be a bit to pastelly and lack true colour depth.. but  for a Saturday morning “cartoon” this is what I want.

BOFURI EPISODE 2

Forgive me for the length of this post, this is about a whole weeks worth of blogging in one. But starting from second episodes I can be a bit quicker so next weeks installment will be a bit more brief. As now I do not need to talk about set up as much.  Episode 2 of Bofuri  started with me missing the first minute. Due to set up issues.  I dropped in to see Maple eating some bugs to raise her explosive awareness and acquire an enemy devour trait she puts in her shield.

The first half of the episode revolves around a PvP event, I love how Maple due to being such a Noob is able to  outplay many enemies, simply based on how her mindset is so much simpler. Enemies strategise wrongly against her, and she ends up easily being able to take them down due to her non gamer build. That really is something special about this show to me.  I also really love the set pieces. The locations are quite pretty, nothing to special but there is a way they work with lighting here that really makes it stand out to me.  I also really like how Maple starts drawing in the sand during the PvP event .. Jeesz I wish we could get mmos like these. That concept of “just have fun” is something I deeply DEEPLY appreciate in Maple. The drawing scene while she casually dismisses some enemies just to say “back to drawing” was my favorite moment of the episode.

Which is why I like the second half of this episode significantly less. This focusses on Risa or Sally as she is known inside NewWorld Online.  It’s about her start in the game and while obviously that was a point that needs to address this feels like a more normal brand of gamer. Sally doesn’t dump everything into a stat. she is more of a min-maxer that tries to go for an optimal build. This vexes me for two reasons.. she sees how powerful Maple is.. so if your goal truly is to never get hit by anything, why not try to experiment in the same way as Maple did?! Secondly we see her solo a boss as well which invalidates the whole concept of Maple being so strangely OP.. it kinda feels like it’s “Just an easy game” now.

That being said, I do like how they play together, like true friends should. Maple even wears her newbie gear to they kinda look like they belong together, which I appreciate. Sally helps Maple fish because her dex is to low.. and Maple needs scales to get  cute white shield she wants. It felt wholesome .. the idea of discovering something cool while doing that fishing also quite appealed to me. I hope Sally doesn’t rub of Maple to hard and she will do her own thing in building her character.. but I do not mind them having moments. I am also surprised how the anime keeps putting in a lot of content in each episode. So far both episodes feel like 2 smaller episodes strung together .. and it’s pacing that really pleased me.

Not as good as the first episode but still among the best I watched this saturday. I rate this one a Seashell Pink out of Pink. It’s like a mario game! It’s cute, it’s fun and you want more of it… but when you find out this is a water level, you can not help but to prefer to have seen something a bit different.

HIKARU NO GO EPISODE 1

A young boy with two shades of hair finds an ancient relic from their grandfather and then becomes possessed by an ancient spirit which prompts them to become the king of games, by creating traps for their opponents.  Haven’t I seen this plot somewhere before? It even ran around the same period as Yu-Gi-Oh. Starting in 2001.  Come to think of it Shaman King aired in 2001 as well. I guess ancient spirit buddy cop series were the Isekai show of 2001.

Now unlike Yu-Gi-Oh I have not a clue on how Go is played.. and after this first episode I think it’s about surrounding an enemy stone with your own and you win if you get 4 or 5? But I am not sure yet. Anyway this first episode of this anime felt like  a bit of a mixed bag for me. With some highlights and some lows.  The lows mostly taking part in the first part of the episode. We see Hikaru find a go Board in his grandpa’s attic along with a girl.. he sees blood stains on the board while she does not.. he then hears a voice and gets a vision of this spirit.

An ancient Go player that got cheated out of a coveted position in the king’s court, which made him drown himself.  Having last possessed an ancient Go player from the Edo period this spirit now wants to be able to do some divine move so he can rest. While a fair set up I can’t help but feel what an incredibly sad figure Sai is. Not sad as in tragic but as in pathetic. His suicide is something that really made me dislike him. I get that I might miss a cultural significance of importance and honor here but man. The way he cries when he can play a match again trough Hikaru, his goal.. it all just feels kinda.. meh.

Hikaru on the other hand I understand, playing games to get the spirit that possessed you out of your head while also letting him help you with your homework, I really like that form of synergy as  base to start a show out of. I personally do not buy that you are send to school just hours after you collapsed into a catatonic state that lasted long enough for paramedics to come pick you up and rush you to a hospital even if it  had no medical but spiritual grounds. I’d figure people would tell him.. take it safe stay home today.Even when he starts to vomit  out of nowhere and talk into nothing.. he is still forced to make a test….  So I had big credibility issues with the first episode. Which could have been simply solved by establishing Hikaru as a “Boy who Cried wolf” type of character, as is though this is one cruel school.

The second half focussing on a match against youth prodigy Akira whom he randomly encounters in a Go Café.  The way things are framed, the way the game is paced out, the back and forth from camera angles the way we take a peak in both players heads as well as Sai’s really makes for an interesting mixture for matches.  It feels like what makes Yu-Gi-Oh  great.. without the stupid shenanigans which dragged it down again. The fact that Hikaru can count so fast on a Go Board and picks nuances up quite fast gives potential for the future as well.  I love the character design so far as well. It doesn’t feel as lavish and zany as some of the other early 2000 stuff. Making it much more based in reality. In a way making the characters, except for Sai much more relatable. Not an amazing first episode but a nice solid first match.

I’d rate this a Piggy Pink out of Pink. At first glance it looks a bit dirty but than you stare in it’s eyes for a bit longer and you can not help to be endeared. If the tone moves more towards that of the second half of this first episode.. this show can bring home the bacon for me.

Week 1

Now with a Whole  weeks worth of blogging we end on a quick sumary.
Favorite Watch: Bofuri (Episode 1)
Favorite Moment: USAGI SAAAAN! (Bofuri)

Least Favorite Watch:  Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens (Episode 1)
Least Favorite Moment: Sai Crying (Hikaru no Go)

Cereal: Brandless Choco Rice things.. with a monkey on the box!
Bowls Consumed : Two
Favorite Commercial: Sweater Chicken