The first month of Steampunk Month has already come and went by! While the animini’s did not change, the look of our website outside the reader certainly did! Let’s look back on this week and see what sorts of stuff we did and of course what is up next! We will also discuss with you what is happening around the blogosphere! So strap in for a ride through all our posts as we bring you our fourth ever Paradise Weekly Gazette.
The Animinis
We had an okay week of Anime this week, with a really strong Digimon episode, a super charming Natsume and a new show which I .. kinda liked in the form of Revolutionary Girl Utena. Not exactly new I know.. but a lot of you seem to really enjoy me watching classics and I lack a lot of them and I am having a lot of fun with them! Two shows I really like have entered “drop” quality for me though so let’s hope they pick up again soon! Luckily both are nearly finished as well!
Digimon Episode 13: Garudamon of the Crimson Wings
Samurai Flamenco Episode 20: Boy from the Past
That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime Episode 19: Charybdis
Revolutionary Girl Utena Episode 1: The Rode Bride
Hikaru no Go Episode 24: Akira vs The Oza
Natsume Book of Friends Episode 4: Shigure and The Girl
Cowboy Bebop Episode 4: Gateway Shuffle
My favourite watch actually was Digimon, though Hikaru no Go came super close! I just liked the voice of Fanbeemon so much, and the colours and everything in Digimon that it really struck a chord that I really needed this week! My least favourite view is probably Slime.. though Samurai Flamenco really annoyed me as well.. the last one mostly hurts because they had a really good ending already and this is kind of wrecking it!
Pinkie’s Other Post
Of course we also had to create some Steampunk posts .. after all it is Steampunk month! On monday it was still november though so I had to pay my respects to my Senpai first! After that we could move ahead full steam.. that pun sounded way to corny I am so sorry! Here is the other stuff I did this week!
I made Irina into a Pokémon.. and also determined what type of trainer she would be!
I determined how my life would be had we lived in a Steampunk society!
I watched a city attack a wall and get beaten by a usb drive plus a million things!
I gushed about how amazing my favourite Final Fantasy game is in a love letter!
I wrote this post! So if you want you can click here to go to this post!
Camp Coconut Updates
No Kofi donations this week for me so no stories to tell about the Coconuts either.. they might be hibernating and saving their money for christmas.. I have been playing around with the idea of creating a Patreon.. with a few fun tiers but I need better reward for lurking people who don’t like to socialise and Pokémon Battle. So this is a work in progress. I might ask an audience with king Coconut to see what would be good tiers! Hail the Wise King Coconut!
You can sprout a Coconut based on you by supporting our Kofi once.. but supporting it regularly your Coconut will get into several adventures that will be mentioned here..and your Coconut might start to look a bit fancier.. though I still need to update the Shy Coconut’s art.. I have since chosen a design element I want to add! However we might change things up a bit when Patreon comes around.. so keep following the news or assure yourself of a coconut!
Posts that Impressed Pinkie
Now that we move from November into December, a lot of posts are summaries of the past month.. I will not share those.. I want you to explore these blogs for yourself. I just wish to wet your appetites.
I always like to include one activating shout out! Where you can participate in something.. or where a blogger is being celebrated. This week Amelia is starting her A Girl and Her Anime Awards and while I have seen virtually nothing on her list to vote for and was to lazy to figure out if Digimon was a Summer of Fall Anime.. so I backed out of voting. I am an old lady after all I watch past stuff! But for all you seasonal watchers out there! Vote on her amazing list so we can find the best anime out there! If I actually send you there .. vote for me for most influential blogger! That we all win…but mostly me! .. Uhm I mean Amelia!
Lyn really really enjoyed the Promised Neverland and he pretty much sold me on it as well! I already heard good things.. but this made me want to watch it more.. In fact I think I will replace Samurai Flamenco with it on my watch list whenever I am done with that. So I will probably pick this up soon! I do not like his post .. as in press the button. That often but that is because I usually read his reviews after he tweets them out.. on my phone .. and I am not logged in on WordPress there! I am waaaay behind stuff so I don’t read episode summaries of shows I want to see.. but seeing people enjoy shows I don’t like.. also gives me pleasure! Make sure to check out his reviews if you haven’t already!
Ospreyshire is such a good guy! He reviews movies and anime that tend to fly a bit under the radar so you might not have heard of him , I know my friends on the Scott-Jon Spencer front follow him but he always deserves more. I am a bit of a different kind of blogger but there is so much I can find in his posts I can respect.. but who better to explain what he is all about then the man himself. In this post he describes why he writes and it is amazing!
My blogging friend Joy is one of the most unique personalities you’ll ever see. She’s kind of like .. part Vulcan , part genius inventor, and a whole lot of programmer. Her ramblings on life are unique , spirited and playful! I do not consider myself a dumb person but when I read her quote Dante, when I see her tell her stories in her own way.. I feel dwarfed..and slightly attracted. I might be a Sapio-Romantic? Who knows! Joy discusses the heavy team of our own mortality and its implications.. but she does so in a very Joy way. The topic is something I am quite familiar with but her visions and her revelations at the end make for an interesting read for anyone. So do visit Joy .. and follow her blog.. she will be the president one day.. and remember a vote for Joy is a vote for love! So I assume a Like for Joy is like liking love as well!
Pinkie Away from Keyboard
I have had my ups and downs this week and the down is mostly been in my energy levels. I do have this a lot but the weather shifting to being super cold is flooring me and making my energy levels next to non existent. That also means I have done next to no exciting stuff! I am playing Dishonored for a Steampunk Review later this month.. and I am having an .. okay time with that so far. Not exactly my game .. but the setting is a lot of fun! I have also been feeling the call to return to Pokémon Shield again, do some shiny hunting and complete the dlc! But that will probably be something for a bit later. I really want to get my shiny Wooloo though! It will be fun to let Whippy the Allcreamie get a Giantamax form as well. Just so many games to play.
Other than that I have had a good talk with my psych.. he did a good job but it did not help my fatigue. I had a good but heavy talk and that took me out of wednesday and a migraine crippled me a bit on thursday which reduced my ability to work ahead. Mind you working ahead does mean writing four posts per day so that might be asking a bit much on days like those but yes unless I find lots of energy today I might not be able to make that guest post for Irina’s blog I tried to make this week! Oh well I will find a way to make everything work.
On Saturday the 5th of December the Dutch and the Belgian people celebrate a tradition called Sinterklaas. It’s about a Saint Nick that comes bearing gifts! The modern western Santa is a mix between our Sinterklaas and the British Father Christmas. Though both outdate the tradition of Santa. Saint Nicolas will stuff your shoes with a present if you have been good.. or a bunch of twigs for corporal punishment if you were bad.. though of course concerned moms abolished those twigs called “de roe” a few years ago. Nowadays more of the tradition is being scrutinized.. for just enough reasons but the country is going made and being divided. So to celebrate the tradition this year I am going to visit my mom, we exchange gifts and share a meal together. No large gifts we will do that around christmas.. but just a nice little gesture. I will go out to do so right after scheduling this post so I can’t tell you what my gift just yet .. but if I am fit enough .. I might update this..probably not though.
Next wednesday I am going to Amsterdam for two days, spend some time in a hotel and do some important stuff while I am there as well, health stuff, but also take my time and enjoy a change of setting for a night. I might not be able to travel back so just making so booked a place to stay just in case and will make the next day an enjoyable one. We are going to eat some Tapas at the hotel, with some drinks at the hotel bar.. a friend is coming along to drive me and for support. And we will go to the Vondelpark or zoo depending the next day to relax a bit! Depending on how crowded the city is!
Plans
Depending on my energy levels I might skip a daytime post or two so I can relieve my workload a bit and work ahead a bit more.. if I am good with energy however, I do plan to bring you my interpretation of a Pokémon Steampunk Game. I want to talk about a Steampunk anime movie, and watch another Steampunk movie as well! I also managed to beat the super hard game Steel Empire for Americans.. but Empire of Steel for us Europeans so you can expect a review for that to drop soon as well!
Regardless of my energy levels the animini’s will at least keep coming! So that is seven posts of anime already! … As long as I don’t get murdered in Amsterdam at least! Who knows! Regardless on what happens I plan to make the next week a great one! And I hope you will do so to! Let me know how your week has been in the comments and onto the next! 2021 is drawing closer!
Yo Island Guests! So I’ve decided to give these things episode titles now! Why?! Well if you can’t guess from the title you don’t deserve to know! Teehee! So how was this week for me?! It was pretty solid! I haven’t heard of my new rental contract yet so I am a bit anxious for that. Dad quarantined himself so we did not get to see him again either. So instead me and my sister went to visit mom and we had a nice afternoon. Board Game night at Bean’s place was pretty fun as well and tonight my GBF is coming over and I am sure that might be nice! Speaking of Nice… this week’s anime… it was perfect.
Digimon Adventure Episode 7
Wow.. normally I’d rank my episodes saying which spot in the top 5 they take. This week however everything was really really good! It began with Digimon really impressing me and I was sure it was going to be my favourite episode of the watch as soon as I saw it.
In this Episode the Chosen Ones travel towards the sea in an attempt to cross it. Mimi is lounging in a chair enjoying the tea that her butler Palmon made for her. Having no sea worthy digimon in their team they decide to evolve Biyomon into Birdramon to scout ahead. When they encounter a strange vortex in the water , Bidramon gets hit with a mysterious attack and takes some serious damage. With a defenceless Biyomon the group has no chance but to retreat. They are helped out by a cheerful young Digimon named Gomamon who tells them he has a partner as well and he brings them to Joe. Joe Kido is the senpai of Taichi and Sora and they vaguely recognise him but something is wrong! Joe isn’t at all interested in being a chosen one. He knows he lacks the physical strength and the courage to be a hero and besides that his family RELIES on him to become the next generation of doctors to help people in a way where he CAN make a difference. He refuses a partnership with Gomamon because of this as he can’t let people down. Gomammon travels with the group and they decide to cross the canal but they have to deal with the tentacle digimon named Gesomon.
Since Birdramon got injured last time and used a lot of energy to keep her evolution up so long to scout the last time she is out of the fight for now. Thus Gomamon decided to be bait and lure Gesomon to shore so Greymon and Togemon can fight with an advantage. However because Gomamon gets injured the squid like digimon flees back in the water again and the group is at a disadvantage. Gomamon gets slapped around and Joe, who came to spy on them, feels responsible. Gomamon needs him just as much as his family needs him to become a doctor. Gomamon being aquatic is the only one who can help them here.. they have to rely on him. Joe realises this and talks to Gomamon, who tells Joe that it doesn’t matter if he isn’t;’t brave or strong, they are a group he can rely on others just like they can rely on him. Joe accepts this which causes Gomamon to evolve to Ikkakumon. Using his Harpoon Vulcan technique he alongside his friends defeat the evil squid. Joe joins the team and on Ikakumon’s back they travel across the water-straight.
Okay so that is a whole lot of plot.. but I had to because that was the strongest thing in this episode. I loved how everything was so connected into a compelling narrative where everyone was needed. Bidramon is established as a scout.. but also gets taken down for understandable reasons. This gives Joe and Gomamon a perfect opportunity to step in. Joe not having time for Gomamon was established as a problem in the earlier show as well but it came AFTER they had bonded so much which always made me hate Joe.. to make him start off with that trait and to burden him with his virtue however was such great thinking. It feels like a much healthier version of Joe. Early on he was amazing but after S2 was launched and especially in Tri he was this mean selfish bastard. This actually fixes Joe for me.
The way they kept in the princess Mimi thing with her having a luxury chair out of nowhere also felt funny and it made her stand out so much more yet again. Having Taichi rely on Mimi instead of Sora like he did before also spreads the screen time across the chosen ones and for every narrative problem that could arise in this situation they had a valid solution. This way you can unlock the Ultimate stage digimon way sooner as well as everyone really is working on that virtue they have so I expect this to be much better paced. Maybe not even needing a mc-guffin like the crests. I loved the animations and the camera angles for this one too. We got much more close ups which allowed for much more detail to be inserted here as well as it made the ocean more vast and the Digimon bigger! It really did everything right for me.
This episode did not really have any weaknesses for me that at least are not inherent to the genre. The monster of the week was a logical complication for a problem that needed to be dealt with the way things unfolded made perfect sense for what this episode needed to do and Gomamon and Joe got a fantastic introduction. This show seems to be way more focussed on the characters rather than just the adventure and it works out so great for this show. Now that they polished away last weeks cinematography/graphic issues nothing can stop me from giving this show my highest rating.
Samurai Flamenco Episode 14
After last week, thoughts of dropping this show came into my head if it did not pick up by episode 15. Yet by Arceus.. this episode improved SO much! It threw some amazing twists at us and it felt “fun to watch” again
Last week’s episode was a rather big downer for me tonally it seemed to grim and while this episode continues that dire situation there is much more a hint of positivity again. The Hero’s dilemma has been dealt with and Masayoshi is receiving positive feedback from it.. as well as negative but he stands by what he does. From Beyond will attack the next day and the government is not playing very nice only wanting to evacuate VIPS. This results in Masayoshi making a plea to the people to help the Flamengers out.. but mostly to stay safe. The president scolds him for his mistakes but it seems the choice is made and so we move into the final battle. A battle against the 60.000+ members of From Beyond. The group uses their Robo’s to fight them but quickly get overwhelmed. There are to many tiny monsters, and also a need for the combiner robo but they can’t do everything. When Flamen pink is about to die she gets rescued by Red Axe who recruited all the other Sentai who now have actual Sentai powers. I love that trope in Sentai episodes. They all fight together when the strongest member of From Beyond contacts the Flamengers requesting to meet with Flamen Red. It is then revealed he is From Beyond Flamenco.. Massayoshi’s brother.
This episode is gempacked full of sentai goodness. The Sentai cross over is always my favourite moment in any power ranger series and even though we only saw the other sentai as fictional characters in this world somehow seeing them show up still feels amazing and powerful. The monster designs as well as the silly sentai designs make sure that this episode is also gem packed with humor, even if there are no actual jokes. There are just so many visual gags that this episode is a delight to watch. The action is fun and I worried for Flamen Pink. We get a few great scenes where Mari is being picked up by her friends as well as Mrs Kaname finding that handkerchief revealing it is actually from Flamen Pink trying to convince Joji/Red Axe to commit adultery but he refuses it. So many characters here get a redemption arc just before Japan is destroyed and that is pretty amazing. The glum atmosphere is washed away with tons of fun references and a lot of negatives are revealed to “not be as bad” as they think! Yet with Japan at stake with a big monster in a Mount Fuji.we can’t rest yet! I am so excited for next week.
Do I have any negatives to this episode? Not really and that will be a theme across this installment of Anime Adventure. The only thing I will say here is that I am a bit dissapionted that Masayoshi’s brother was not hinted at before. In a way it makes sense because it’s always a mystery family member that shows up but I would have liked to see their twist on this rather than them doing this trope. This is only a nitpick though as I am happy with this one as well. The one sloppy thing I found a bit dumb is the fact that non of the Flamengers family decided to be rescued. Some have a great reason like just having triplets and thus the flamenger only having five spots to give away.. and not having room for the childeren.. but others felt dumb. “We do not want to be saved, because you are in love with a married man” seems like a stupid reason to die for.
The fact that both Sentai and human’s fought side by side paid tribute to what this series is about for me and it shows the two sides of Masayoshi.. this entire episode to me is a perfect mix between season 1 and season 2 and works towards a great conclusion of that story arc. I adore this episode not only for being vastly entertaining but also fixing some past mistakes! I know this series has a habit for that.. but today I was completely blown out of the water.. and that is why it earned today’s rating.
That Time I got reincarnated as a Slime Episode 13
I can’t believe they actually gave Gabiru a good fight, I also can’t believe how badass this episode was without Rimuru even doing a single thing. This episode made the “side” characters shine and shine they did in a very good episode that was the great buildup to an even bigger battle.
Now that Gabiru has betrayed his father and taken the crown he takes the offence to the orcs, not knowing about their Hunger ability that allows them to steal abilities from the dead. When a Lizardman gets eaten by the powered up orcs, suddenly they can move through the swamp without problems and any advantage the lizardmen have gotten is gone. Luckily Rimuru’s ‘dreamboat’ Souei saves Gabiru’s sister who then meets up with RImuru a bit later on. The slime names her acting chieftain and forms an official alliance. Now the ogres and Gobta can official step into battle. Ranga as well. While the dryad confronts Gelmud in the forest Ranga, Souei, Shion Benumaru and that old guy.. I forgot his name.. show of their skill. Which easily wipes the orc army of the map. The lizardman king is also rescued and he is glad to have these powerful allies. Rimuru watches from the sky and finally finds the Orc Warlord as Ranga effortlessly deals with an Orc General and evolves into a Star Tempest Wolf.
While nowhere near as narrative as any of the other episodes here, this was such a “power walk” episode. One of those HECK yeah. Where Digimon was one of the best written episodes, and Flamenco was the ultimate redemption and the best “on brand” episode. This one made me feel so good and it was such an epic feeling. I love how these creatures can decimate entire armies with a snap of their finger. The way it is all brought onto my screen is really good. The poses, the difference in height, the colours, the motions. It all felt very satisfying. Yet my favourite moment is when Shion reassures Gabiiru’s sister he is going to save her. Not only reflecting her perfect faith in him.. but also doing her job as his secretary. When she used her Getsuga Tenshou like attack and waved at Rimuru after having created a giant crater was great too. It had the perfect tone for such an episode for me.
Dislikes.. well.. I am kinda sad Gabiru did not die.. but that is more personal. He had a pretty good fight against the general, which actually works as a great measuring stick to how powerful the rest is. Gabiru is slightly below the Orc General and Gobta can knock out Gabriu in one attack so he is most likely above.. and he is one of the lesser warriors of the village. Gobta not getting the kill on the general is a bit of a missed chance and maybe powering Ranga up more was not needed.. but man his special attack looked so great. So while I can come up with a few flaws I can also give a counter argument.
This episode is something slime really needed. We finally get to see what the evolved henchmen of Rimuru are capable off and despite them being so powerful I felt thoroughly entertained. It is a nice twist on the Isekai genre to not only see the protagonist overpowered but his side characters too! This episode just really worked for me and it made me a very happy Pinkie to be able to watch this. I could come up with flaws but I was happy so who cares.
Flip Flappers Episode 9
I never would have thought that I would like an episode with a negative mindset so soon after seeing Cocona restore from one, but this one really worked for me. I also begin to suspect some things here as the plot thickens.
Cocona is angry at Papika for calling her Mimi. Thinking she is insensitive for misremembering her. Papika isn’t aware of any ill actions on her behalf and gets angry at Cocona for ignoring her and treating her like filth. When they dive into Pure Illusion again they arrive in a scene almost like the loading room in the Matrix. Yayaka is send to deal with them and steal their Amorphous.. a new Amorphous sister who kinda looks like Papika is to be her replacement if she fails. When Cocona is trapped with the other two twins Papika and Yayaka fight over Cocona and the Amorphous. We find out how Yayaka and Cocona met over medical testing.. but we also find out their friendship has been staged as Yayaka is supposed to monitor her.
Papika gets pretty beaten up by Yayaka but despite the twins lying to her Cocona eventually finds out Papika really DOES care about her. Breaking the trap. The two are reunited but once more attacked by Yayaka. Papika gets taken down and the two childhood friends face off with Cocona losing. When Yayaka is forced to cut out the shard in Cocona’s leg.. she refuses and the twins attack and nearly kill her. Papika saves the pair and the twins leave with the shard. Papika and Cocona bring Yayaka to Flip Flap where she is about to be nursed back to health.. waiting for any news Papika has a drew and yels out for Mimi again revealing it was her former partner.
This episode was the most emotionally powerful of todays line up. I felt genuinely concerned for Papika , Cocona and even Yayaka. I understood this conflict as well.So I get why this became an issue. To me it seems to indicate that Cocon indeed is falling in love with Papika and coming to accept it more and now being mistaken for someone else hurts. Yayaka balancing friends and duty might not be a theme directly related to me as I would not be in her shoes but it is a place I saw some of my friends be in.I loved that Papika finally stepped up for herself and would not let Cocona treat her the way she does. She is indeed a super loving grl and she doesn’t deserve to be treated that way.
The empty world with the defective trap fascinates me.. I think this is once again a reflection of Cocona.. and with the mystery that has been building up, pure Illusion might resolve more around Cocona than we are led to think. That medical test that happened on her.. the fact that she has a shard in her leg. I also think Papika’s former partner is the third amorphous child. The other ones are called Yuyu and Toto so Mimi would fit that same namesake. Meanwhile Papika, Cocona and Yayaka also have a very similar naming convention. So I still think Yayaka might become a third Flip Flap girl if she doesn’t die.
Okay so these weren’t exactly positives about the show but any show that makes me thing this much must be captivating. I don’t see animated characters , I genuinely care about them! This episode made me realise that more than ever. I felt for all of them! It is structured in a way where it really does that very well. The fact that nothing except the characters exists in this episode highlights that.. Well there is the defensive trap which I think symbolises Cocona constantly putting up walls towards Papika. First because she is so dangerous, because she is so weird, because things happen she did not expect etc. I should be talking about the negatives in this paragraph but as you might hav guessed there are none.
I never like the break up trope, so when I saw how this episode started I was super worried, however unlike episode 7 I think this episode did it well. This fight stems from a bigger narrative that drives the plot further much more than the incident in episode 7 did. The fact that the fight was mutual this time helped that as well and the fact that these emotions feel earned. Not only is this is the first “our heroes” fight episode in Flip Flappers that I REALLY like., I think this one is an example on how it should be tackled for other shows. This is my new benchmark for that trope! So with that honour what other grade could I give…
Hikaru no Go Episode 19
After last week I was afraid that I would be shoved into an arc about Akira and Waya and I would not see how much Hikaru improved after the Internet Go arc. Luckily I was proven wrong.. I was so wrong.. and I am super happy about it!
The deals with Hikaru’s return to school and people noticing his growth during the holiday. He beats Mitani with a handicap in his favor and he beats Tsutsui without a handicap! Finally he seems to have caught up! Sai now wants to play Hikaru but there is one problem. Hikaru has no Go table. So he goes to his grandpa and ask him to buy one for him, he even wants to play Go with him to buy an expensive one.. or get the table that Sai possessed. His grandpa is astounded by Hikaru’s talent showing he was a prize-winning Go player himself. While grandpa would win he forfeits as he thinks Hikaru has become so good in such a short timespan that he deserves one of those go tables with legs.
This allows Hikaru to play Sai and after working out some “bugs” in their playing we see he grows stronger so fast that he can even beat Mitani on equal grounds. Akiri meanwhile gets a new female recruit for the Go club and gets confronted with her feelings for Hikaru..Mitiani become more serious and Tsutsui is having to graduate this year so we are introduced to the new rules of this year and a new “season” of Go.
This episode was the most rewarding viewing experience of all the five to watch. You finished the Internet Go Arc “here you go.. all the character development that happened during that arc will be neatly presented to you” Once again I love it! This is what I said I wanted to see last episode and it is exactly what I got. While it lacks the spectacular imagery that the previous episode had it was a great touch to show the next tier of this story to begin where it all began. At Hikaru’s grandpa’s house. To show the progress by taking him past the Go club he used to visit by making him face both Mitani and TsuTsui! There is cleverness in that design. We know how weak Hikaru was at the Go Club as he got kicked for his weird behaviour and barely could follow, now he can beat their strongest student. We can see him face Tsutsui and Mitani and they acknowledge him for his own skill not Sai’s now! We see the passion he has gotten for the game. This episode did so much for Hikaru!
The title of this 19th installment is not for nothing. This anime also gets my highest score! I had little to no gripes. Seeing Akiri do her thing was nice and we even got to see her develop and recruit a female friend. I am so happy for her. However there is one gripe I had with this episode and that is how Sai is depicted. He has been depicted like this before but he is obnoxiously playful when begging for a game. His awkwardness around the board feels unprofessional. His demeanour doesn’t fit that of a ghost who commited suicde over losing a rigged match in front of the emperor. I don’t mind if he gets like this sometimes but this guy is supposed to be the absolute zenith. He displays this whimsical a bit too often and when facing an extremely strong opponent I get it.. but for facing Hikaru it seems a bit much! Still a nitpick but it was an actual gripe I had here.
The fact that Sai can be a tad annoying did not make me think that much less of the episode though! It is still very good and I do get why it happens. This show needs that kind of flavouring as well. I just wish I could respect him a tiny bit more! Now I just like him/ I like him well enough though so all in all I am still very happy with what unfolded for me today! This weekend was the perfect weekend! When it comes to anime at least!
And my weekend ended perfectly! At least when anime is concerned! Besides a bad migraine on Monday I had a great week! For the next week I will actively pursue my rental contract for my new home! So it will be an exciting but also kind of stressful week. I would see my dad again but he cancelled out yet again, which this week is actually nice as I have more liberties to chase that contract I want so bad! I am so happy if I can get out of this place! We have a verbal agreement already just waiting for the paperwork!
For the blog next week! I am going to tell you about the adventures in my Pokémon Heart Gold Randomiser Nuzlocke started this week, I watch a movie about a very jumpy prince person and I play a retro game one again! We will also see Sunny’s first post go live! Telling us an amazing story about fishing! So you can look forward to that! Speaking about something fishy!?! Did you know the fictional museum of Paradise holds a cursed jewel that is said to be worth a lot of money?! Well I know of a shady guy who really wants it! If you don’t want me to do anything FISHY, like that please consider supporting my Kofi page!
My dear island guests! Yet another week of the less beloved year of 2020 has come and gone! It has been an interesting week in which I experimented a bit with post order and I will continue to do so in the near future! I want a bit more liberty with writing and all! I started doing a Pokémon Randomiser Nuzlocke, picked up Oblivion again and started Fall Guys! I watched another video game movie and this week the blog featured Kuro’s first ever post! Check it out if you haven’t already! I also finished a random anime and loved it.. and then I watched 5 anime I always watch and that is why we are here today!
Digimon Adventure Episode 6
The introductory chapter for Mimi sure left some impressions. Some good, some bad, some a tiny bit ugly! Yet like these past few weeks this series is yet again among my favourites of week! This week though it had some stiff competition and it fumbles just a bit too much to end up as my favourite but still taking a very honourable second!
The plot of this episode as predicted deals with Mimi joining the group! Sora and Taichi are trying to find the holy digimon while Japan is drawing closer to their power outage. However spending so much time in the digital world has already made the group hungry! When they discover purple trees with golden pumpkins they get trapped by Mimi and Palmon who are defending the trees from some monster called Tuskmon! Revealing Mimi is a princess of a village of Tanemon and Palmon is her butler we see classic Mimi.. but with a twist. The group does not know her and thus she mistrusts these new people thinking they may work for the Tuskmon. When Ogremon wants to kill the children he uses the Tuskmon and a Drimogemon to attack. Taichi and Sora fight the Tuskmon but Palmon gets nearly killed by Drimogemon.. Mimi who through some of Kochiro’s tech saw her Grandpa is in danger in the real world and now is about to lose her friend.. as Palmon lays dying manages to activate her digivice and evolve Palmon into Togemon. Defeating the boss monster of the week with Coconut Uppercut! A second technique! Greymon breaks off Ogremon’s horn who cries out in revenge as we leave this week’s episode.
This episode is amazing yet again! I love the way Mimi is introduced to the group! Being a princess of this village and it all feels very happy and very Mimi! While a bit snooty to call Palmon her butler it feels more like a childs play than actual belittling.. and through her we can see .. “oh that’s right these chosen ones are only children” Mimi likes protecting these girls and is clever and shows great tactical insight. Which could bounce off nicely of Koshiro’s insight, Taichi’s bravery and Sora’s powerful support. She adds to the group instead of just being there. I don’t know if it will last but for now.. she has a role! Something else she has is a REASON to be involved. She has her own goals and missions. She sees her grandpa is working hard and is stressed trying to save Tokyo.. so she wants to help him. She isn’t just a girl that got teleported to a mysterious world and now follows the group. Mimi is an established character! Yay! Palmon laying on the ground dying was a very powerful moment in the show and through a strange form of sincerity that did not feel forced we see her identified as the Crest wielder she is! Kudo’s! The time slow down is also introduced in this episode which is a great choice as it gives so much more pacing options!
That being said, it was introduced in a bit of a weird way. I can understand how Koshiro does not experience it because he isn’t deep enough in the network yet but because they communicate through their digivices the fact that it is “patched” out seems a bit of a cop-out. At least it IS explained which is great but it feels slightly cheap! It has implications that all the digidestined should be in the digital world and Koshiro is the last one heading there and if that turns out to be true ..credit where credit is due but for now.. I found it just a bit meh! Taichi gets a spotlight again and once more the only stock footage evolution and that is a shame. Sora using Birdramon would have made more sense in the moment but she was passed up for the hero! She joins in later.. but much less spotlighted. Taichi doing his thing was my least favourite moment! That however did not affect my appreciation of the show however and it would have gotten a maximum score if it was not for … weirdly enough. The animation. I noticed this episode had worse animation than before. Not persé in battle.. but because of all the Tanemon a lot of wide shots were used. These very much lack detail, not uncommon but when you hold on shots like that or have conversation IN shots like that it really stands out. I actively questioned many shot choices and it took me out of the episode.
I love what this show does with it’s writing.. even the parts I like less I am still glad they include. It’s like an extremely detailed figurine. Sure you might see a slight imperfection here and there but you still get a lot more detail than from a basic Funko Pop! This show really feels as if the original series was just a Funko. This episode contributes a lot to this new world so I love it! It doesn’t look very pretty this week though! Which makes drop it from a perfect score to an almost perfect score!
Samurai Flamenco Episode 13
For the second time in a row this show offered me my least favourite watch of the day, with quite a bit of distance to the other four! That being said this episode is a lot better than the previous one! Yet it is also less special! I am glad it returns more to its roots and offers some interesting choices but what this episode really lacks is charm.
We skip ahead in time yet again and we see the Flamengers deal with the aftermath of dealing with the Four Generals of From Beyond. They were only rookies. Part of the 64 ..Elites or something.. who are nothing compared to the 256 .. other words. The group discovers that the evil army has about 65.000 monsters or something! Forgive me for not knowing the exact number.. but let’s just say! They will be overwhelmed and they will lose. So for that reason they want to try and evacuate Japan when the Prime Minister steps in and tells them not to tell people! He wants to ready the police and evacuate some VIP’s first before wide panic ensues. He pleads with the group to let him do this and talks about the politics and the purpose behind it. He looks insanely evil though for some reason! But he grovels for the group and they decide to trust in his instincts. As a flamenger they all can save five people important to them.. and Masayoshi wants to save 7. Who will he not warn.. who will he put in harm’s way?! We see him struggle with this.. and his doubt about the politicians view. His mentor tells him he will go down fighting and not evacuate and he will not tell anyone but the next day he is gone! Tossing a memento of his wife. While Masayoshi deals with more of the responsibilities and the real politics behind being a hero.. he cracks and on live tv warns the public of their upcoming disaster.
While it lacks the charm of the first 10 episodes this episode at least follows it’s themes a bit closer again. It is about how real heroes have to make choices that aren’t always “morally white” and Masayoshi’s inability to cope with that. What the Prime Minister said to get the police ready for the chaos that is to come makes a lot of sense, to evacuate VIP’s first to keep structure in these times does make sense.. but is it right? Is it the hero way? Is putting those people endangered to save everyone more heroic or is that actual evil?! It is good writing. I like to use this trope in my roleplaying games and I do like it here! I also like the fact that the enemy doesn’t blankly send out monsters one by one as they know they will get slaughtered like this so now they go for an all out attack instead. Goto’s talk with Masayoshi was my favourite scene, really reflecting the struggles very well! But why doesn’t Goto know about anything?! He is a cop right?! Should they not be getting ready?! Is the Prime Minister up to something here?! I am curious to know so at least the show has me eager for the next episode again! We are only half way through the series so a new enemy has to come at some point still and we still have one form of Flamenco to be introduced! The real form! The one we see in every opening!
This episode though is extremely glum! Only the first two minutes have a hint of a joke.. unless Mari walking out of the bathroom of Goto counts as one. It feels so somber. It fits.. but at the same time it doesn’t. There is an energy to this show that is completely lacking in this episode. It makes sense that it is.. and it has somewhat done it before..but at least then we had Mari or Yun or Red Axe to balance it out. Here I felt as if I had been punched in the gut. It just goes on and on about this choice and shows us how hard the choice Masayoshi has to make is. It shows all these lovely people who care for him.. and him throwing up at the stress. We see him have nightmares of children being crushed to death, we see him struggle with the fact if he wants to save his agent or Goto’s girlfriend. These types of choices should not be taken lightly so I get why there is no comedy from him.. but alleviate it a little at least. A brief Mari in the shower scene doesn’t recharge our battery. It feels as if Christoper Nolan (Batman Begins) suddenly took over directing this series from Joel Schumacher (Batman and Robin)..same IP but the tone just flipped!
In the end I do think this is a lot like my feelings about Flip Flappers last week! It is a needed episode, but it is not a fun episode. It makes the story stronger but I found only appreciation and no entertainment here. So I will rate it as fine! It does everything it needs to do and it works.. it really does.. I just do not care for it that much.
That Time I got Reincarnated As A Slime
I HATE the Gabiru character so much! I find him so annoying and of course this is the episode where he ruins everything for Rimuru and friends. To make things harder for them! I really REALLY hope he dies! No redemption please just kill him! Please! While I did find enjoyment in this episode it is only on the 4th spot of overall enjoyment because of that stupid lizard!
The Dryad we met in the last episode enlists Rimuru for aid, confirming what we have known for two episodes now! And the Orc Lord is coming! But he has a unique skill! Starved! In which he is very hungry and consumes everything on his way gaining their ability. Thus mimicking RImuru to an extent. This prompts the slime into a call to action and he sends Souei to form an alliance with less idiotic lizardmen than Gabiru. When the idiot lizard wakes up he finds there has been a jester in his camp! Someone who tells him lord Gelmud thinks Gabiru needs to step up if they wish to defeat the Orc Lord, confirming this new threat to him. in order to make him believe his father is weak. The Lizard King does not wish to accept an alliance with these strangers unless he meets Rimuru so arrangements are made. Souei asks the lizards not to fight alone because their dead will fuel the enemy army and the king gracefully agrees. However since it takes 7 days for RImuru to get to the marshes.. Gabiru shows up before and overthrows his father. He fights the orcs out in the open and sees them power up as they devour their dead while the narration tells that the man has made a horrible mistake.
This episode functions as an exposition episode and those usually aren’t good..but by using the skills of the dryad the show does manage to do some exposition spam without it feeling forced.. it is just her ability! It also does a great job at keeping Rimuru’s neutral stance intact. By offering him a treat he can not ignore he is forced to intervene as the threat becomes to large to ignore. It really establishes Rimuru’s thinking style more as that of a regent of sorts rather than an OP hero! He doesn’t want to lose anyone so he does not want to take needless risks! This episode all brings it in balance without feeling to “change of heart like” My favourite scene is Rimuru having a massive man crush on Souei calling him a Dream Boat.. to me it shows how Rimuru’s mind is changing and how he likes it not having to be the one who always tosses the first stone! I laughed a lot! Shizune was cute in the brief moment she shined and all in all I did get those good old feelings the good episodes of this show gave me.. I just got a whole lot of other stuff as well.
All the Gabiru stuff is pretty bad, I really hate the character.. not in the good way as in I hate his qualities.. no I hate that the character exists. I hate that for no reason at all his followers keep clapping for him no matter how often he gets his but kicked or how often he is made to eat his words. I hate how he basically is named in SO much forsight for this weird plan of Lord Gelmud whatever it is. I hate how his father’s weapon actually recognises him! With everything that happened so far it just feels SO un-earned. The show goes out of his way to show he is weak, delusional and not very tactical yet expects me to buy that he has so much respect because Lizards are a warrior race?! A warrior race knows when to fight it doesn’t just like to fight there aren’t barbarians! When another army approaches that will chop you to bits a warrior race would fight tactically.. look at the spartans..but no! Just because there needs to be a complication everyone follows Gabiru! The father barely tells him he is waiting for a super powerful ally that can resolve this situation much better than they can. He doesn’t tell the orc lord can consume the dead so he must not attack.. he just gets send to jail so Gabiru can make the stupid mistake. Everything about the whole character is dumb!
While the episode does a lot of clever things with Rimuru and raises the stakes it also enforces complications on the story that are completely not needed. Just raise the base power of the orcs a bit to give the same level of difficulty from the get go .. and you could have the exact same story. Heck tell the orc army ate half of their own so instead of fighting 200.000 average soldiers you fight 100.000 that are twice as strong that is still pretty darn scary those numbers are scary enough! There is no reason for Gabiru to exist here other as to make the plot trample. While I did enjoy myself with this episode more than I did with Samurai Flamenco this episode feels pointless to me.. pointless but entertaining versus useful but no entertainment. The fact that I enjoyed it more..keeps it just a smidge above the formers grade as I mainly want to be entertained.. but please let the show pick up again!
Flip Flappers Episode 8
Lasers, Gatai, Aeroplanes and buff bodybuilding pigeons! Apparantly that is what I needed to give Flip Flappers my number 1 spot of the week again! After the slow paced episode of last week and the somber Cocona this high energy , positive episode was just what I needed. Thank you Flip Flappers!
Cocona , Yayaka and Papika are playing by the pool! Yayaka is glad to see Cocona seems to be a lot better than last time! Showing she truly cares. When Papika gets a little too playful she and Cocona end up in the swimming pool but instead of taking a dive into the cool water, they are plunged into deep Illusion. We see a cold and sterile world.. very cyberpunk like. I would assume this is a look in the mind of Yayaka but as always I can’t be sure. While Papika tries to eat some electric cables Cocona gets attacked by a laser spitting pidgeon monster with more muscles than a Jojo’s character. Papika saves her and together they go Flip Flapping. The monsters are a bit much for them though so Yayaka steps in to save them much to the dismay of her partners. Failing to get the amorphous shard she retreats. Laser Pigeon gets back up again and gets killed by a tiny professor guy who claims to have built this city. It turns out his city was a utopian paradise filled with tech and cyberpunk coolness! But it all changed when the laser bodybuild animals attacked. Lead by something he calls a big creature that he fears.
Papika and Cocona who are double the size of the scientist think they are big as well and step outside to fight the creature.. that is about the size of a Kaiju! With their magical girl powers unable to do enough damage.. they get into tiny mechas.. that can Flip Flap into a combiner robot! The girls are easily defeated though so Yayaka meddles in and Flip Flaps along them into an even bigger combiner robot that destroys half the city in a giant beam attack.. but also the Kaiju! Of course all these mecha’s have a golden eyebrow thing because.. it’s mechas! When the bad guy lies defeated the twins Yayaka tags along with snatch the Amorphous but the tiny professor steals it back and hands it to the girls who earned it. Yayaka lets them have it and the twins swear to tattle on her! Post credits we see Papika call Cocona Mimi by accident which triggers her and that is yet another episode that required me to summarize the plot in two paragraphs.
This episode was bonkers again and I needed that! After the last two humble episodes I needed magical girl transformations and little did I know I needed combiner robots as well. I theorise these stand for Yayaka’s feelings towards teamwork. Her old team is clean.. uses hi-tech stuff and operates with precision and a sterility that is not seen from the girls. Yet somewhere she really wants to work as a team. And so the combiner robots come into play! Who only works to their maximum potential if you shout and let go! Emotion is needed as that is what really makes a team work, you can strategize all you want but if you care for each other you can achieve more than what you thought was possible! I love how this message is combined with very Gurren Lagann like visuals! The way fusion is first achieved, the whole shouting thing, it seemed very similar. Even the way the golden eyebrow thing is more a crescent than a certain v shape like in Gundam made me think of Gurren Lagann a lot. The ridiculous combinations helped. And Since Tengen Toppa is my favourite anime ever.. this episode almost seems as a tribute to it REALLY sang for me! These are the messages I like to see in a magical girl show and no one was really depressed for once! Great! It looks like Yayaka might switch teams and might become a third magical girl maybe..and I really hope that she does but I will have to find out in the future! I am looking forward to it at least! The Mimi thing in the end could maybe give Papika something to go through instead of Cocona all the time! So yay for that as well! Oh and I loved loved LOVED the visuals of this episode! The tiny professor was also very cute and the cramped mechas made me laugh!
Was there anything I did not like? I am not sure actually! Maybe the fact that they could not keep up their Flip Flap form in the mecha and were instead there in their bathing suit?! Then again the suit most people wear in mecha feels kinda bathing suit like so that might have been a joke?! Papika trying to eat electricity cables was a bit dumb.. she is still a person people , she isn’t an animal?! At least I think! She might be an alien or something! I have no idea anymore! She has a weird thing around her foot she can not remove. I am not sure what that was about! That felt kind of random. But yeah really that it’s this was one heck of an episode! Not my favourite! I still think that goes to episode 3.. the Mad Max looking one but this is pretty much in my top 3 so far!
I do not mind the more humble episodes this show has but I am really glad they steered away from Cocona’s constant doubt, she took on a more pragmatic stance in this episode and for such a short series I love that. In a 100 episode series sure let your main character doubt about their mission but in a 14 episode one..this feels so much more like the way to go.. I felt like actual progress is made instead of being put back on course and it is what I want to see in Flip Flappers.. it is short so please blow my mind! Treat me to these fantastical landscapes as much as you can! I love this!
Hikaru No Go Episode 18
Sai versus Akira, we have been waiting. I wanna say 14 episodes for this now?! And it is finally here! I did not expect it to be As I really felt Touya’s father was being build up to something.. but here it is! And it was handled sublime! At the very least in the cinematography department.. The aftermath though made sure this one ended up on my third spot.
The big rematch is finally here.. but Akira is not sure if it is a rematch or not! It is at least important enough for him to skip his match to become a pro! Apparently there are more of them but Waya has a great point in thinking this shows Akira thinks very little of them. Sai plays Touya and ends up winning yet again. It leaves Akira conflicted. Was that Hikaru he faced or was it not. He is unsure, so he goes back to the Go Parlor where he first met Hikaru. He finds out Hikaru spends time at the internet cafés somehow and now is convinced that he is Sai. So he runs towards some local internet cafés and finds Hikaru behind a computer… reading webcomics. Hikaru gets told by Akira everyone is looking to find out who Sai is because he is so good. Not being able to live with this kind of pressure Hikaru decides to pull the plug on his little internet arc. Touya also seems disgusted by Hikaru’s mentality and promises that he will never see him again after some intense staring again.
Once more it’s a plot that I can fit in a very tiny bit of text but my oh my is that first half presented beautifully visually. We see Touya stand in front of a big blue glowing Go Board placing his stones. The environment is pitch dark. From the darkness with an accurate thinking pause Sai’s hand is shown placing a stone on the board. As he plays white the board seems to get brighter and brighter as he is closer to victory, while for Touya it feels almost as if he is encountering one of those retro video game final bosses. I loved it! This is my favorite match so far, and Sai’s conclusion that both he and Hikaru grew but Akira did not is very strong! Touya chased something and became so obsessed that he did not really progress. He just wants to face that demon of his and it changed him as a player. I like that. The doubt he has as he now can see the playstyle from an adult but with some of the choices he knew are from Hikaru’s playstyle are great as well. The stakes, the outcome and how it is all brought to live is done amazingly well! The fact that the greats in the Go world know about this loss can become important as well.
What I like less is the second half. Akira finds the exact right internet café , Hikaru, to be reading webcomics instead of playing Go at that time.. and their logic in that part seems off. Hikaru now feels like if so many people search for his identity he better stop now.. but if he stops right after Akira confronted him would that not confirm to Akira that he IS in fact Sai?! The fact that Akira seems to blame Hikaru for not taking the sport as seriously as he does seems very hypocritical when the day before you skipped a tournament. Akira seems to really sever his bonds with Hikaru here and burn those bridges which makes it a bit hard to see where the show is going next. Why set up all these pro players if they do not get to play Sai anymore. Touya’s father also gained some focus and now it all seems tossed away?! Surely this can not be the end for them playing on the internet?! Can it?! Will we take a break from Hikaru and see the story of Waya and Akira placing for the pro’s maybe?! Yet when will we see Hikaru’s results from this training then?! I just don’t hope they will give us a proper payoff!
Strong first half but the second half squanders a bit of potential in my opinion! It seems again like some trouble only arises for it to be called trouble! I think after having played so much Go on the internet Hikaru does realise he can just switch nicknames to keep Sai playing but it does not seem to be the case. Summer vacation is almost over .. so it would be nice to see him go back to school and suddenly completely outclass Mitani and Tsutsui! Yet everything in that second half of this episode to me screams that they are blocking off to much content for themselves.. much more than I would like! So while it is still a very good episode I liked it less than my number 1 and 2 of this week.
Tonight a friend will come over and treat me to dinner, tomorrow I will host my online tabletop! They are playing trough a Kingdom Hearts themed arc and just destroyed the world of Beauty and the Beast by removing the rose from their story. They looted it.. now they have to deal with the fallout and take their anger out on some Huns when they venture into Mulan’s world. I have a family day on Tuesday, also meeting my father, something I look less forward to and on Friday I should meet some friends for board games, we are gonna play Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards and Gloom, amongst some other thing! I really hope the contract for my new apartment will come soon so I can start cancelling things here!
On the blog we will conclude the Favourite Top 5 with the final type, the Fairy Type.. my favourite Type! I got the next chapter of What If Raditz Turned Good already written out and we will discuss another Uwe Boll movie with my review of BloodRayne 2! Indigo’s first post should drop as well so yay for geeky content!Speaking of content! I would be very content if you decided to support my Kofi down below or leave a nice comment below! Thanks for reading and I hope you have an amazing next week!
Pinkie's Paradise 