BokuBen 2 – 09 – She Can Go Her Own Way

It’s bad enough that Fumino’s father fails to show up for parent-teacher conferences. It’s quite a bit worse when he does come to her school to court Rizu for her mathematical prowess, since he’s the professor at the open campus.

We learn he’s very much against Fumino’s dream to enter the sciences, calling it “the ignorant fantasy of an incompetent person” and saying she’s free to leave his house if she wants to pursue it. That’s when Nariyuki, already physically in the middle of this family squabble, says he’ll take Fumino into his house for now.

If Uruka was the protagonist last week, Fumi obviously fills that role here. She’s always worked to steer Nariyuki towards the two girls who have the strongest feelings for him (Uruka and Rizu) while undervaluing her own. Now we know why: since her mom died, she’s never felt like she’s measured up.

That’s why I’m so glad to see that circumstances conspired to bring her closer to Nariyuki than anyone else, almost as a challenge to her insistence on putting herself third (or worse) in the running. The two once had to share a hotel room together, which led to one of the more poignant moments of the series.

Now, with the endorsement of his mom (who adores Fumi) and the disapproval of his little sis (who may only ever consider herself worthy of him), Fumi becomes a temporary member of the Nariyuki household. That warmth and familiarity is echoed in a scene where the two are brushing their teeth together, and both note (Fumi in her head, Nariyuki aloud) that it’s like they’re newlyweds.

Despite Uruka being his childhood friend, her feelings are so intense that situations like the ones he shares with Fumi could never be possible without her quickly overheating. Fumino, who always tries to keep Nariyuki at a romantic remove, slips into domestic bliss as easily as Uruka swims a lap.

While studying together as the rest of the family sleeps, Fumino tells Nariyuki that her mother was a famous mathematician whom her father placed on the highest of pedestals. When she suddenly died, his grief was so great that he’d sooner slap Fumi across the face—and stop even looking directly at her—rather than properly deal with the fact his wife was gone.

Instead, Fumi’s face was a constant reminder of what he lost, and her attempts to “do math” in her stead only made him more bitter and angry. Sorry you lost your wife, dude, but that’s no excuse to be a complete and utter SHITHEAD to your precious only daughter!

While hiding (in very close quarters) from her dad after he came home unexpectedly (they were there to pick up *some* of her clothes), Fumino finds her mother’s laptop, which contains her password-encrypted thesis. I’d bet the password is “FUMINO” but because it’s that, her father never managed to unlock it.

But Fumino’s done feeling bad for her father for shit that wasn’t her fault. If she can only pursue her dream by leaving him and her home, so be it. It may not be the safest or most practical route, and all too easily dismissed as impulsive youthful rebelliousness, but…let’s not forget: her dad is a diiiiick.

Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld – 08 – Sacrifice on Both Sides

Alice just continues to be the biggest badass in SAOA, as it should be, since her name’s in the title. Fresh off of obliterating a sizable chunk of the enemy’s forces, Alice comes down to earth exhausted, but there’s no rest for the weary as she gets right back up.

When the chief of the Ogres emerges from the carnage, Alice learns that she’s the primary target of Emperor Vecta before sending him to the grasslands to where he wants his people to return.

Meanwhile, Eldrie comes before her consumed with shame and self-pity for not being able to live up to the standards of her disciple, but she’s just happy he’s still alive.

After a brief war council, Alice proposes and Bercouli agrees to split up their forces. Being the “Goddess of Light” the Dark Emperor seeks, she’ll gain the attention of a sizable chunk of his remaining forces, evening the odds for the Human Empire. She’s essentially bait.

On the other side, a discouraged Dee Eye Ell gets her second wind when Vecta offers her the lives of the 3,000 orcs in order to provide the energy necessary for a large-scale counterattack.

Like the Ogre Chief who simply wanted his people to return home, the orcs are painted in a sympathetic light, and the show is unblinking in their suffering as they give up their lives for a larger cause than themselves.

Alice doesn’t see the attack coming until it’s too late, but Eldrie is there to divert and absorb it with his Recollection, resulting in severe injuries that ultimately claim his life. While Alice is beside herself and orders/begs him not to die and leave her, promising to do anything for him, Eldrie couldn’t ask for a happier death, in the arms of the mentor he protected, valued and loved above all else.

Thanks to Eldrie, Alice can fight on, decimating the Dark Mages to the point Dee Eye Ell just starts sacrificing her own underlings in order to stay alive. Dee dreams of becoming Empress, meaning at some point she’d have to betray Vecta.

But Alice intends to skip over her entirely and go after Vecta directly. She knows at some point she must reach the World’s End Altar, she just has more immediate matters to attend to—not to mention a full head of steam after losing Eldrie.

Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front – Babylonia – 09 – Buying Off a Goddess

Upon returning to Gilgamesh with news of their great losses, he concedes that sacrifices are necessary in any war. Losing Ushiwaka and Leonidas wasn’t in vain: Uruk still stands, and they now know that Gorgon is a seething mass of anti-humanity rage can not be bargained with. They also learn that the only thing she fears is the other two goddesses, and Gilgamesh recognizes that as their path to victory.

With Gorgon out and too little known of the Jungle Goddess, that leaves Ishtar, the pseudo-servant who uses a human girl as a vessel. Gilgamesh is amused by the prospect of the alliance crumbling from within, and Ishtar is by far the easiest to turn to their side, because she can be bought off with physical riches. Gilgamesh does not want for those, and is prepared to offer up to 30% of Babylon’s treasury to Isthar in exchange for fighting for them.

When Ritsuka & Co. reach her ostentatious palace atop Mount Ebih, Ishtar rejects the idea of further “collusion” with humans, lest it damage her dignity. But in the middle of battling Mash and Ana (whom it’s strongly implied could be Medusa, the youngest of the Gorgon sisters), Ritsuka tosses a cloud of gems up in the air, dazzling Ishtar, then lays out the arrangement they seek with her.

Unable to resist the lure of the pretty gems, and having never received such a large offering from humans before, Isthar folds, agreeing to join them. After assuaging Dr. Romani’s ethical concerns about who and what she is (essentially, the human girl she was became Ishtar, rather than became possessed by her, and they are now one) her 70-30 personality split is tested when she gets some time alone with Ritsuka just before dawn.

Ishtar presents a much friendlier, more human side with Ritsuka than all their previous interactions, to go along with her already established tsundere nature. At first she asks if it was “love at first sight”, but when Ritsuka doesn’t understand she drops the matter. Simply being with humans has shown her that not all of them hate her, but she’s still skeptical of a world ruled by humans and not gods.

That’s not because it means her power as a goddess will diminish, but because she simply believes humans will have, at the end of the day, easier, less painful lives, compared with a human future of knowing all the answers. It’s not that different from wanting humanity never to leave the Garden of Eden: more knowledge, more problems, more despair…but more freedom and opportunity too.

RABUJOI’s Anime of the Decade – 80-71 – Hibike! at the Disco

Welcome to RABUJOI’s Anime of the Decade, a comprehensive and hastily-researched list of the 100 best anime we watched from 2010 to 2019. We attempt to provide one brief statement about each show, based in some cases on very fuzzy recollection and possibly guesses. This list is final. No reviews, no appeals, and no Gintama (but only because we’ve never watched it).—RABUJOI STAFF

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80. Shiki

Summer 2010

The character design is…interesting, but you get used to it, and I even grew to enjoy it—what strange hair color or style would show up next?—Because the bottom line is, Shiki made anime vampires scarier and more sympathetic

79. Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san

Winter 2018

Or: How I Learned to Stop Trying to Beat the Adorable Teasing Master and Just Fall In Love With Her Already

78. Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld

Fall 2019

Move over Kirito, Asuna, Sinon, and Eugeo: Alice is currently the shining star of SAO, and it would be a crying shame to lose her

77. Working’!! 2

Fall 2011

Working!! 2: Work Harder is more of the same great restaurant slice-of-life, only slightly better because our connection to the characters comes built-in

76. Mawaru Penguindrum

Summer 2011

A manic, dizzying feast for eyes, ears, and mind, as Ikuhara’s anime tend to be

75. Hibike! Euphonium

Spring 2015

High School life, love, fierce competition, and stirring brass music, beautifully presented as always by the incomparable KyoAni

74. Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans

Fall 2015

In our opinion one the best entries in the vast Gundam continuum, IBO centered on scrappy underdog heroes fighting for freedom with low-tech equipment…and the odd friend in high places

73/72. Durarara!! x2 Shou / Durarara!! x2 Ten

Winter/Summer 2015

After a solid 26-episode first season, we asked if a sequel to the Ikebukuro-set story about stories was needed, but the first two of three cours answered that in the affirmative

71. Kokoro Connect + Michi Random

Fall 2012

An example of a show that didn’t impress us much at first, but got better and better and drew us in deeper and deeper. Body-swapping is only the beginning

Kabukichou Sherlock – 08 – Adult Swim

Irene doesn’t know the password for the USB drive, so it seems like she and Sherlock will part ways for a time…only for her to end up at Bar Pipecat, ordering the other detectives to do chores and maintenance while Mrs. Hudson is laid up with a bad back (or as she calls it, “that time of the month”). When a new client comes in whose ex is trying to gain custody of their young daughter through blackmail, Irene decides to take the case, picking Watson as her partner.

When the girl’s mother suffers a fainting spell, Sherlock is left to babysit her, and while things start out rough at first (rice bowl with fried egg and a chocolate bar? NO GO) the two come to a sort of truce. Meanwhile Irene proves an astute investigator and gatherer of information, making more progress than all the other detectives and locating the blackmailer ex’s home, at the night swimming pool right next to the district’s famous Elephant.

Turns out the guy is a serial blackmailer, manipulator, and trafficker of underage women—a super bad dude. A woman Irene used to co-star with, who is also being blackmailed, ends up giving Irene the clue she needs to find the safe containing all of the compromising information, including the client’s.

At this point Sherlock joins the investigation (his rakugo is quickly dismissed by Irene as too slow), and the two end up sharing a tanning bed as a hiding spot, only for the blackmailer to be murdered by the actress in a crime of passion. Irene lets her get away, since she’s suffered enough, but when she returns to her hotel room, Irene finds the actress’s ear in a box. Jack the Ripper has apparently made Irene his next target.

Shokugeki no Souma 4 – 08 – Someone Having Fun is Invincible

After some objections from both sides of the bout (both the rebels and Rindou), Azami gets his way, taking his seat as one of the judges for the final two matches. He’s flanked by two pro-Central WGO Bookmen in Decora and Courage, who brought Anne up from a “cloddish” sprout and taught her everything she knows. Thus both Takumi and Satoshi face a far less impartial and more hostile panel, though Anne gets to remain.

Takumi starts off with a delectable Calamari Ripieni, which acutally garners praise from all of the judges, even Azami. However, Rindou’s Causa suplemented by the rare Amazon fish Pirarucu, is simply better on every level, and Takumi is beaten by unanimous decision. It’s an honorable defeat, but a certain one, as the change of judges probably wouldn’t have affected the end result.

That brings us to Satoshi vs. Eishi, and we actually don’t see Eishi the entire rest of the episode. Everything is focused on Satoshi, who uses a very non-Japanese traditional ingredient in wild rabbit to craft a traditionally very delicate dish in a clear Wanmono soup, which any kind of wild game could easily spoil.

As the judges take a sumptuous journey through his dish and its morphing textures and flavors that preserved all the umami but removed all the unpleasant gaminess, Satoshi’s closest observer is Nene, who has known him since they were kids and was always jealous of his natural talent.

Little does she know he never looked down on her; in fact, as he was being mechanically prepared to succeed his parents in a process devoid of passion and joy, it was watching Nene work her butt off at her family’s restaurant that first awakened the idea of actually having fun cooking.

If Nene is outraged that Satoshi can seem so happy and content and lighthearted under such high leverage situations as this potentially-decisive Shokugeki, she has no one to blame but herself, who Satoshi credits with “saving” him from quitting cooking altogether. The judges agree: his cuisine has what it takes to at least put up a fight against Der Weiss Ritter. But first we have to see what Eishi has come up with.

Chuubyou Gekihatsu Boy – 09 – Saved by Setsuna

When Mizuki gets a break from serving at her class cafe, Rei asks if she wants to wander around with him, but Futaba hijacks the opportunity by tagging along so the three can scout the competition. That includes Kazuhiro’s class’ haunted house, which wigs Rei out to no end. They then help the drama club hand out flyers advertising the impending play.

When the play is about to start, Sekiya takes the outdoor stage and poaches their audience, breaking the rules in the process. Futaba turns the tables by appearing on the screen behind them as the web-famous Setsuna Kirito, who urges everyone to head to the gym for the performance, which they all dutifully do.

The crowds are charmed by the cross-dressing princesses, as expected, but when there’s a sudden blackout, instigated by Futaba, they must call upon the audience to light the stage with their phones and help defeat the witch. A fun time is had by all (except Sekiya, who is punished with wood-chopping duty) and the drama club wins the competition, meaning they won’t be shut down buy StuCo.

That night at the bonfire, Futaba confesses he’s a full-fledged otaku, and vows not to hide it anymore, though that costs him a dance with two girls who like him.

Rei asks Mizuki to join him in the folk dance, but again she’s distracted by another friend. Perhaps she’s hung out with these attractive weirdo boys so long, she’s oblivious to the fact that one of them wants to spend more time with her and only her. With only two episodes left and the hero club’s future still in doubt, it’s unlikely that will change.

RABUJOI’s Anime of the Decade – 90-81 – From Family Restaurants to Generation Ships

Welcome to RABUJOI’s Anime of the Decade, a comprehensive and hastily-researched list of the 100 best anime we watched from 2010 to 2019. We attempt to provide one brief statement about each show, based in some cases on very fuzzy recollection and possibly guesses. This list is final. No reviews, no appeals, and no Gintama (but only because we’ve never watched it).—RABUJOI STAFF

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90. Knights of Sidonia

Spring 2014

One of the only full-CGI animes that works better because it’s CGI, owing much to its futuristic sci-fi setting. Gritty, bleak, and awe-inspiring, its characters don’t inhabit the uncanny valley, but the infinite void of space.

89. Mirai Nikki

Fall 2011

A cute but murder-happy stalker and a battle royale to determine who inherets immortality and omnipotence from a character literally named Deus Ex Machina…what’s not to like

88. Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt

Fall 2010

Notable for its distinctive American cartoon-style look and general raunchiness, this was the last great anime Gainax made before Trigger split off

87. Working!!

Spring 2010

An absorbing slice-of-life centered on the eccentric staff of a run-of-the-mill Japanese family restaurant, filled with wit, humor, and a couple will-they-won’t-they situations that would take three seasons to resolve

86. O Maidens in Your Savage Season

Summer 2019

Took an strong unblinking look at the lives of a group of very different young women and men approaching their respective sexual awakenings in different ways

85. Golden Kamuy

Spring 2018 and Fall 2018

Part treasure hunt using human pelts as maps, part documentary of Ainu life, culture, cuisine, and spiritualism, all badass

84. Inuyashiki

Fall 2017

The story of the world’s most depressing salaryman finally gaining the power to protect family and strangers alike (thanks to aliens) is full of body horror and black humor in equal measure

83. Knights of Sidonia 2

Spring 2015

Like Knights of Sidonia 1, only Sidonia-er. Things get a bit darker, a bit weirder, and, at times, a bit funnier. The only mark against the series is that it needed a third season

82. The World God Only Knows

Fall 2010

In one of the first harem anime we watched that we enjoyed, an dating sim expert must reluctantly date girls IRL to capture the evil spirits hiding in their hearts. It’s much better than it sounds

81. Saraiya Goyou (House of Five Leaves)

Spring 2010

An unglamorous but absorbing drama in which a timid ronin joins a group of bandits making their own way in gritty Edo-period Japan

No Guns Life – 08 – The Justice in Personal Motives

As she rides a taxi to the memorial with Tetsuro to help Juuzou, Olivier recalls when her MP father first told her he’d be assigned to Norse Scott, a job he said “someone had to do.” Olivier didn’t like how her dad was an MP at all, and dedicated herself to rising to the ranks in order to fire him.

Turns out she didn’t reach those heights in time; Gondry murdered her dad along with sixteen others, and all she got out of it was a bouquet and a can of very bad-smelling food. But Gondry was just a puppet, utilized by Armed, while Juuzou is another person he has to erase in order to preserve the progress he believes he’s made with Extended-Anti-Extended relations.

To that end, he crushes the last of Juuzou’s medicinal cigarettes, which results in Juuzou going berserk and revealing heretofore unseen arsenal of weapons and directives. Once he’s in battle formation, the protocol governing his operation awaits “authorization” from an operator called “Hands.”

Ironically, he remained utterly harmless until Armed attacked him, after which the berserk Juuzou mops the floor with him. Olivier eventually arrives, having heard Armed blab about his grand corrupt plan and his inherent egotism; but manages to wake Juuzou up by lighting up one of the cigs Tetsuro brought and blowing the smoke into his mouth—in other words, kissing him.

The awakened Juuzou regains his senses, and resists the urge to kill Armed, even though it’s what his client Olivier wants in the moment. Instead, he’s to face a court, while Juuzou is carried off by Tetsuro. But as he rides in a paddy wagon with Olivier, he asks what court would try him?

Olivier and Juuzou have stepped into something probably better left alone, now that they’ve come to the point where there will be no true justice, since powers far above her authority have already tacitally (if not directly) approved Armed’s actions.

Additionally, since Armed has info that could harm those powers that be, he is killed by Pepper—using Harmony to operate a Gun Slave Unit whose name we learn is Seven—by blasting a huge hole in the wagon. It’s just one thing after another…

Assassins Pride – 08 – Heart of Darkness

Attacks on innocents increases, and they look a whole lot like vampire attacks, so with Kufa suddenly vanished and the blue aura a distinguishing feature of the culprit, it’s looking increasingly bad for Melida’s instructor. Rather than continue with her school’s training, she decides to sneak off and investigate matters for herself, notably leaving Elise behind.

Instructor Laqua predicted Melida’s actions and tags along, in part because Kufa told her to look after his charge if anything were to happen to him. Whether he’s responsible for the attacks or has gone dark in order to more effectively track down the true culprit, the bottom line is that he’s not around.

Melida and Laqua search the most forbidden of the “mystery spots” and learn there’s not strange phenomenon at all, just a secret dungeon where Marquis Pricket has been experimenting on townsfolk. The increased restrictions on movements were all to hide his dark operations.

Upon returning to town, Melida and Laqua find Rosetti killed, apparently while protecting an injured Elise. When the Marquis himself is attacked, the townsfolk turn against Kufa and seek to use Melida as a hostage to snag him and no doubt exert mob justice.

Shenfa helps Melida escape, and suddenly she’s all on her own. She investigates another mystery spot that turns out to be the bad guy’s library and office. He sics a vampirized Rosetti at Melida, and that’s when Kufa finally shows his face to protect his student, begging Rosetti to snap out of it.

At this point it’s pretty clear Marquis Pricket is the baddie, and is trying to create his own army of lancanthrope-human hybrids. We’ll see if Melida and Kufa can foil his plans and save Rosetti from an awful fate. In any case, I imagine the fake-boyfriend angle has been shelved indefinitely!

Cautious Hero – 08 – Does A Goddess Smell?

Rista quite suddenly learns through Aria that Seiya may be in grave danger, as the archery goddess Mitis was exiled to the forest because she’s a nymphomaniac who preys on human men. When she, Mash and Eruru arrive, however, Seiya already has the situation well in hand.

Not only does he decline her taboo offer to copulate like there’s no tomorrow, but he’s able to deliver a five-arrow attack that “satisfies” her anyway. And so Mitis joins SAOA’s Administrator as the second woman antagonist in recent memory to fight a battle while buck naked.

Now that Seiya is perfectly prepared to fight Beel Bub, Cautious Hero takes to the skies, where the bugman has already taken Roselie hostage after she recklessly demanded a fair fight from him. Seiya calls upon Rista to provide a diversion so he can snipe Bub, as well as catch Rose when Bub drops her.

The aerial setting is a nice change of pace for a show that’s already had boss fights on fields and in caves, and as Rista says (or rather is told to say by Seiya), it is a really nice day—especially above the clouds!

After Bub is defeated, Roselie naturally doesn’t show the slightest bit of gratitude, while Seiya is content to “let the dog bark,” as it were. This time, Rose is able to control her temper, and tells him about the sacred legendary armor located in the vilage of Izale.

Seiya assumes it’s sacred legendary cursed armor, but the party heads to Izale to find it anyway, hoping to rest after two consecutive tough battles. What they find instead is an Izale in flames and the armor destroyed by an Adamantoise summoned by the third of the Heavenly Kings, Kilkapul, who has been watching Seiya and is confident he can put him down for good.

Oresuki – 09 – Not Just a Background Character

Joro has gotten the hang of his new gig at Tsubaki’s family’s restaurant, and even Sasanqua comes by to have the guy in which she suddenly has interest server her and her gal friends. But when Tsubaki’s praise of his performance starts to sound like too much, Joro reveals his inferiority complex: he feels he’s just doing what he can as a background character while his more impressive friends accomplish greater things.

Since Joro’s job eats into his library time with Pansy, lunches are tense, especially with Himawari not there to lighten the mood (she’s prepping for a tennis tournament). Then, one night, Joro messes up at work, gets yelled at by an angry customer, and has to be bailed out by Tsubaki.

Pansy is already on record in her opposition of him working solely to repay his debt to her, since it’s nothing more than saving face. When she meets him after work, she says as much, and tries to assure him he’s okay and he’s already a good person. This isn’t a good time for him to hear this, so he snaps at her, something he immediately regrets.

This naturally makes things even more awkward in the library, but a chance meeting with a young lad named Hazuki Yasuo raises his spirits by reinforcing what Sun-chan tried to tell him. Basically, he can’t be afraid of “swinging and missing” or getting hurt, but has to “go all out” his own way.

The next day Joro apologizes to Pansy, but also tells her he’s going to keep working—not to repay a perceived debt to her, but because he simply wants to buy her a new book, something she not only accepts, but supports. But when he finally gets enough money, the book has already been sold—to Himawari.

All this time, she’s been putting off practice and saving up to buy him a book. What we have here is basically a “penance triangle”, with Himawari working to pay back Joro, who was working to pay back Pansy. At first, Joro is angry at her for risking everything, but as Himawari tells him, he matters to her as much if not more than tennis.

Himawari ends up winning her tournament anyway, reinforcing how awesome she is. Before her first match, she shocks Joro, Pansy, Cosmos and Tsubaki by stealing a kiss from him, not-so-cryptically telling him there’s “someone she likes” now, complicating matters for the others.

Tsubaki also manages to subvert expectations by not having any dark ulterior motive to getting Joro to work at her restaurant. Turns out she wanted the job to help him build confidence in himself as someone other than “second banana”, but the main character which some truly awesome and amazing friends.

That brings us to the situation at episode’s end, in which Joro is back on that damnable bench, being asked by Himawari Tampopo to hook Pansy up with Sun-chan…here we go again…

Chihayafuru 3 – 08 – Master of Self

Chihaya doesn’t head back to become a last-minute entrant in the East Qualifiers after all, though I wonder why she bothered to go on the class trip if she’s going to just mill around inside her own head, completely ignoring her purported best friend.

The qualifiers go on without Chihaya (and unfortunately, with far more Retro-kun than I’d care to see…that character just rubs me the wrong way). Master Suo and Queen Shinobu attend to watch their future challengers, though the soft-spoken Suo says after he wins his fifth and latest championship (confident bastard) he intends to retire.

After watching Arata win his first game, Suo tells him he’ll be Master one day…just not the next one. Just when he managed to envision his victory, the Master knocks him back down into the realm of doubt and inferiority, even as all the graybeards see the old Master Wataya in him.

As for Mashima, he briefly wonders what he’s doing at the qualifiers, and if everyone there thinks they can be Master or Queen. When Mashima’s mother finds him there, Sumire abandons her plans to win her way into her good graces and instead makes an enemy of her by physically blocking her from entering the building where Mashima is still competing.

Mashima actually watches this unfold from within and recommits himself to doing what he came there to do: to be himself, and yet someone else—certainly someone other than the person his mother has already chosen for him to be, and someone worthy of Sumire’s bold gesture. He’s already become someone who isn’t just playing because Chihaya is, as Arata always believed.