Michiko to Hatchin – 03

Michiko consults with a fortune teller who gives several prophecies to both her and Hatchin, she also sells a “miracle stone” that Michiko gives an unconvinced Hatchin. When Hatchin steps in dog doo, Michiko steals her a new pair of shoes. Hatchin convinces a Chinese restaurateur to give her a chance. As Michiko asks around for Hiroshi, Hatchin works for free to prove she’s serious. She runs after a dine-and-dasher to his favela (going against the fortune teller’s warnings) and is then chased by his friend with a gun. Cornered, she stuns him with her stone. Michiko arrives to pick her up and scare the others off. They go to the shanty where Michiko believes Hiroshi lives, but when a woman answers the door, Michiko storms off with Hatchin in tow, insisting it wasn’t her dad after all.

After shooting down helicopters riding motorbikes through windows and Rube Goldberg-like police chases through town, this episode is a lot quieter (there are some gunshots, but they’re poorly aimed). Now in a relatively safe place where they don’t have to be in survival mode, Michiko sets about her mission to find her man. It’s charming how much faith she puts in the old lady compared to Hatchin’s naked skepticism, and we knew when she started spouting off vague prophesies in her trance, that the episode would unfold much as she said, only with results different than Michiko and Hatchin interpreted them. We also see that Hatchin is still not ready to lead a life of crime, refusing to wear her shiny new shoes until she’s paid for them with a part-time job.

Hatchin’s oppressor-of-the-week is Ramu, but it’s different that she’s there by choice. Being a little kid with no ID, Ramu’s about as kind to you as you’d expect someone in his position to be (he also has a daughter). We also liked Hatchin shearing her pom-poms, a gesture symbolizing that the old put-upon Hana is gone (even if that’s not really true, at least not yet). Her enthusiasm in her quasi-job (she’s never actually paid) and her failure to heed the warning about “climbing the mountain” almost got her killed, but she finally gives in to the superstition, and her miracle stone flies true. As for Hiroshi, we’re guessing that really wasn’t him – just a white guy who resembled the sketch – we’ll know for sure if Michiko continues her search.

Rating: 9 (Superior)

Stray Observations:

• This is a show that keeps track of its days and locations, so we know it’s been nearly two weeks since Michiko escaped and not even a week since she and Hatchin teamed up, which explains why Hana and Michiko aren’t quite best buds yet.
• Hana’s cat-and-mouse chase with the boy who stole lunch (and her shoes) was excellent, especially when the tables were turned and Hana became the mouse in the favela.
• Where is Michiko getting all these outfits? Never mind, we won’t ask…
• Like the previous episodes, the built-up, lived-in environs are exquisitely detailed. It’s clear Brazil itself (at least an animated version of it) will be a major character in this series.

End-of-Month Rundown – September 2013

This month’s rundown is also an end-of-season rundown, as both Spring series and eleven of twelve Summer series all wrapped this past week. Only Monogatari is continuing on (and it has a strange structure due to its multi-arc format). That’s a lot of Fins!

There were couple of series we might not have stuck with were we not obsessive completionists. Aside from a handful of standout episodes, Danganronpa, Love Lab, and Servant x Service weren’t necessarily bad, but they never quite met our admittedly high expectations, hence their sub-7 finishes.

While Uchouten Kazoku remained the unchallenged King of the Season, Gatchaman, Free! and Tamayura also impressed with 7.8s or higher, while Monogatari and Stella hit some nice second winds. Three familiar franchises (Tamayura, Railgun, and TWGOK) also produced perhaps their best all-around seasons yet showing they have staying power.

We’re going to try to be a little more harsh on the Fall season, definitely keeping our watchlist under a dozen and ideally under ten in order to give all the casts and stories a fair amount of attention. That being said, it looks like a good season, which will make our task that much tougher.

14. Danganronpa: The Animation –  Complete (6.615) – In a somewhat rushed ending, the mastermind was revealed as Junko, who pulled the twin switcheroo. Naegi outhopes her despair (and crazy) and the students escape. Unfortunately, where they go and how they fare could be left to a future season

13. Love Lab –  Complete (6.692) – Realistically shows how a little lie can grow into a big problem, but because the lie wasn’t why everyone was friends with Riko anyway – and Riko was, beyond the lie, a good person – she was forgiven by all

12. Servant x Service –  Complete  (6.769) – The climactic date between Hasebe and Yamagami was well worth the wait and the standout episode we were looking for. We particularly liked how it was played relatively straight and it helped reinforce to Lucy that Hasebe really was a good guy

11. Blood Lad –  Complete  (7.125) – For all the supernatural elements, a major theme of this series was family: Staz reconnecting with his, Braz fighting to avenge his dad, Fuyumi meeting her sister and half-mother. But a rare series that simultaneously felt too short but we’re glad wasn’t longer

10. Majestic Prince –  Complete  (7.083) – We got the massive space battle we thought we’d get, but at the end of the day the Wulgaru’s hearts weren’t in it. They were fairly easily beaten back, and one Star Rose plus one gate equaled Wulgaru defeat, at least for the season

9. Kimi no Iru Machi –  Complete  (7.250) – We were wrong last month: the series was interested in bringing Eba and Haruto back together, but Eba didn’t change her mind until Haruto was already in a servicable if safe relationship with Asuka, who unfortunately has to be cut loose. If nothing else, a series that starkly lays out how much location and timing determine who ends up with whom

8. The World God Only Knows III (Goddesses Arc) –  Complete (7.500) – It was pretty much the ending we wanted: the goddesses are released, the world is saved in a battle involving pretty much everyone, and Keima is not entirely content with the end, as he appears to still harbor feelings for Chihiro and he starts to wonder if maybe games alone aren’t enough

7. To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S –  Complete (7.500) – The Febri arc took a lot of leaps in plausability, and the smorgasbord ending was very similar to that of the Index film we just saw, but it was still a hell of a lot of fun to watch the positive results of people relying on each other rather than bearing burdens alone

6. Stella Jogakuin Koutouka C3-bu –  Complete  (7.692) – Yura’s exile is short-lived, and after hitting rock-bottom she’s welcomed back with open arms, and utilize her powers to turn the entire school into airsofters for one last battle with Kashima

5. Monogatari Series: Second Season –  13/- (including 2 recaps)  (7.727) – The second season has hit its stride, as the time travel arc was better than Hanekawa’s, and Nadeko’s medusa arc is just as engrossing, as we watch her slow descent into the monster she becomes in the prologue

4. Tamayura: More Aggressive –  Complete  (7.833) – Between a second We exhibition, a bittersweet new year’s celebration culminating in Kanae’s departure from the club and steps toward the future, and Potte’s roadtrip with her mom, there were plenty of opportunities for tears to form right up to the end

3. Free! –  Complete  (7.917) – We finally learn why Rin has such a chip on his shoulder; he didn’t do well in Australia. Even so, Rei proves his salt when he arranges for Rin to swim in his place at the regionals. They’re disqualified, but what mattered was the friends reconciled and had fun

2. Gatchaman Crowds –  Complete  (8.250) – Rui gets X back, and O.D. chips in to get his note back. He makes a leap of faith, convinced unlike Berg, that if everyone is given the power of Crowds, mankind won’t destroy itself, but will self-regulate, with the good overpowering the bad. It works, and society learns to live with the crowds

1. Uchouten Kazoku –  Complete  (8.769) – Soun’s sins are finally uncovered and he is deprived of the Nise-emonship, but more importantly the Shimogamo family is reunited with no one being cooked in a hot pot. Benten shows in the end she’s no villain, and Yasaburou keeps living a fun and interesting life with ambitions in check