RABUJOI’s Top Anime of 2022

10. (tie) Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

I’ve only watched a handful of Gundam series, but I’ve loved them all, and this one brings a lot to the table: its first female lead, it’s first yuri-ish main couple, and a corporatocratic school dueling format that looks primed to escalate into a far more significant political conflict—Braverade

10. (tie) Akebi’s Sailor Uniform

Whatever the actual intent of the producers/animators lingering so much on particular body parts (like feet), I choose to adopt the same innocent outlook as the show’s characters, and it cannot be argued that this was one of the most ridiculously beautiful series of the year, and is a wholesome, heartwarming story of a lonely girl making friends—sesameacrylic

9. Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2

This cour of AoT asked the question “What if Titan never really ended?”, but simply continued to delve deeper into the world, lore, and psyches of its cast of characters…and also baseball? Titan may never really end, but if and when it does, the world will be worse off for it. Even with the switch from Wit to Mappa, there’s nothing quite as exquisitely harsh and bleak on TV—Braverade

8. Spy x Family – PART 1 | PART 2

It’s hard to top a premise like this: master spy dad, assassin mom, telepathic daughter (and eventually, precog good dog). Few series anime or otherwise could match its blend of badass action, political intrigue, family hijinx, school comedy, and heart—Braverade

7. Call of the Night

“Vampire shows are so played out”, it is sometimes said. Not here. New life is breathed into the undead genre thanks to the marvelously sultry/shy performance of one Amamiya Sora as Nazuna, her new human friend Kou, his concerned human friends and her busybody vampire cohorts. It’s about two people who don’t fit into any easy categories, and more than anything, it’s about the joy, freedom, and effervescence of the night. It’s also a jubilant blast from start to finish—MagicalChurlSukui

6. KAGUYA-SAMA: LOVE IS WAR – ULTRA ROMANTIC

Ungainly title aside, this third season of one of the best and most visually creative anime comedies of the century is taut as a drum, and also the culmination of one of the best drawn-out will-they-won’t-they stories of said century. Lofty praise, but watch these two insanely kooky elite high schoolers long enough and you’ll be made a believer too—sesameacrylic

5. BOCCHI THE ROCK!

Speaking of visually creative, there’s nowhere BtR didn’t go to illustrate the titular socially anxious protagonist’s flight-of-fancy-du jour, from puppets to stop motion to Tron-style CGI. It’s the combination of those bonkers visuals with the down-to-earth depiction of her real world and the people in it supporting one another as they start a band and put on a show that made Bocchi a must-watch. A second season can’t come fast enough—sesemeacrylic

3. (TIE) KARAKAI JOUZU NO TAKAGI-SAN 3

Like Kaguya-sama, Takagi-san kept teasing its couple until the third season when that couple could no longer avoid the fact that they totally loved one another and finally took serious steps in that direction. It’s will-they-won’t-they done right, and while the big-headed designs take getting used to, there’s no denying Takahashi Rie and Kaji Yuuki’s masterful voice work as one of the cutest romantic couples in all animedom—sesameacrylic

3. (TIE) MY DRESS-UP DARLING

How to a bodacious gyaru and a quiet grandson of a traditional dollmaker become one of the most rootable items of the last few years? Cosplay, naturally? Getting into the nitty-gritty of the practical matters of making clothes, along with the usual romantic speed bumps of miscommunication, misinterpretation, and misassumption, Marin and Wakana’s carefully-crafted love story was a must-watch—sesameacrylic

2. Chainsaw Man

I can’t speak to whether Mappa’s anime adaptation of the beloved manga was a good or faithful one, as I never read the manga. What I can say is that it was one of the best produced, directed, “shot”, and animated series in recent memory. It looked and felt like a movie—a damned good movie—about a kid who just wanted three square meals and the opportunity to cop a feel, and ended up with a family—Braverade

1. MADE IN ABYSS: THE GOLDEN CITY OF THE SCORCHING SUN

This was Abyss—and composer Kevin Penkin—at the height of their powers. Monumentally cruel and violent one moment, incredibly warm and hopeful at others, and with all the other emotions in between, it’s also a tour-de-force of a performance from Misaki Kuno, one that should earn her all the Seiyu of the Year awards. The tale of Vueko, Irumyuui, and Faputa, the cathartic Nanachi-Mitty denouement, and Riko’s refusal to stop descending to the further wondrous depths of the Abyss, all conspired to make this the very best anime of 2022.—MagicalChurlSukui

Honorable Mentions

Akiba Maid War

What if Akihabara of the 90s was a den of underworld activity, but that underworld all donned the costume of the animal-themed cafe maid? AMW not only took that premise and ran with it, but played it straight as an arrow, as if there were no frills or stockings at all.—sesameacrylic

SUMMERTIME RENDER

A sprawling, detailed throwback horror mystery about body doubles and time travel, STR marched by the beat of its own isolated island drum, and had a stirring tale of reconciliation and romance at its heart.—MagicalChurlSukui

Lycoris Recoil

An exquisitely executed girls-with-guns story by P.A. Works that also features one of the year’s best couples in Chisato and Makima and one of the best ensembles in the LycoReco café crew. The villain was pretty meh but that hardly mattered—Braverade

Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie

One of those satisfying rom-coms where the couple is already established and acknowledged by all as a couple, this was a great reversal of gender roles, with the accident/mishap-prone Izumi often being the recipient of heroic bailing-out by his extremely cool GF Shikimori. But rather than one-sided, these two complement and complete one another perfectly. Their friends are also adorable—sesameacrylic

Princess Connect! Re:Dive 2

What had started out as a lighthearted episodic fantasy/isekai comedy based on a gatcha mobile game of all things turned out to be one of the most epic fantasy action dramas of the year, with truly compelling character arcs and some of the best battle setpieces that could stand proud with the best of the genre. Through all the operatic bluster of the climax, the show never lost its heart or its charm—MagicalChurlSukui

Happy New Year Everyone!

The Eminence in Shadow – 13 – The Beast Girl, the Witch and the Wardrobe

In the white void, Alpha sits back while Delta does her think as the “token musclehead”, rejecting the fact that being closer to the center of the sanctuary makes them weaker and Nelson stronger, donning a skimpy slime bikini, and summoning a gargantuan meat cleaver with which she splats all of Nelson’s clones in one go. It’s good to finally see Delta in extended action.

Meanwhile, Epsilon’s group encounters a memory that she’s able to purify, and they discover a library that holds all the knowledge on the possessed children held in the Sanctuary, as well as the means to open an exit. Epsilon briefly loses her falsies, but her underlings know better than to say they saw it.

Finally, there’s Cid and Aurora, who are like two peas in a pod and gradually build a genuine bond as they continue to explore her dark memories. Cid continues to treat her like no one else, neither as an adversary, underling, or hassle, but as a pal.

The two buds end up dead ended at the door that leads to the magic core. Cid knows his sword can’t break the chains, and also knows it will require a descendant (presumably of Olivier) to pull the key-sword out of the floor, Excalibur-style.

But while they kill time playing tic-tac-toe and pondering their next steps, Delta’s unhinged violence manages to shatter Nelson’s white void, leaving him no choice but to summon Olivier herself. That’s when Epsilon’s group meets up with Alpha’s to report their findings, and Alpha orders a withdrawal.

It speaks to just how damn powerful Alpha is that not only was her slime outfit not visibly effected by the power drain, but one stern look at Delta instantly cows the beast girl into leaving her prey and coming along. Alexia and Rose accompany Alpha, Beta, Epsilon, and the others through the exit.

Nelson receives an alert about Cid and Aurora, and meets them where they are with Olivier by his side. He orders her to kill Cid and while she’s extremely strong and is able to draw blood, she fails to do so. Cid, meanwhile, wears an involuntary smirk on his face. Nothing like a worthy opponent to lift the spirits.

Only Cid doesn’t necessarily consider Olivier that worthy; after all, she lacks a heart, and is simply a tool Nelson is using to try to kill him. Nelson tries to cut a deal with Aurora that will save Cid, but he rejects it, asking them to kindly not decide the outcome of his battle with Olivier before it’s over.

Nelson says fine, and sends Olivier to deliver a killing blow through Cid’s chest. But again, he merely smiles, and finally opens the right eye he’s kept closed this entire time, and not just because that’s what many anime characters do: he was suppressing an even greater power within him, which he will likely use to neutralize Olivier and continue assisting Aurora.

The question is, is Nelson right when he says the witch is just deceiving Cid and she’ll lead him to his doom once her memories are all back? It’s worth thinking about considering the Aurora with whom he’s gotten along with so famously is missing large chunks of her former personality…

Chainsaw Man – 12 (Fin) – Not a Bad Life

Last week introduced a bunch of new fiends who will surely play a role in any future seasons, but this week stripped everything back to Aki and Himeno and Denji and his wretched childhood—with a bit if Power and Kobeni being themselves for garnish.

First up, the Ghost Devil actually disobeys Sawatari and does not choke Aki to death. Instead it releases him, and in the moments he’s out, he recalls the day Himeno offered him a cigarette for the first time. Since he was under age, she promised to save it for him.

The Ghost Devil reaches out one of its countless arms to produce that very cigarette, with “Easy Revenge!” written on it. How exactly the Ghost was tamed after Himeno died isn’t important; what is is that Aki is able to destroy the Ghost, and he and Kobeni take Sawatari into custody.

Denji and Power really are the brother and sister to Aki’s big brother in their little found family, and even on the elevator ride to meet with Katana Man they can’t help but bicker over something petty. Power then gets off on the wrong floor because it’s full of zombies, and Power fucking loves killing zombies.

Denji carries on to the floor where Katana Man is. Unlike Sawatari, he’s given an opportunity to voice his grievances to Denji. Whatever the circumstances were, he blames Denji for the death of his gramps and others he cared about, and wants satisfaction.

As has been established, Denji himself is a little unnerved by how easily he was able to get over Himeno’s death, as well as all the other terrible things that have happened of late. But in this case? He couldn’t care less. This guy’s gramps tortured and enslaved him as a child just because he could. He can burn in hell. Katana Man don’t like that, Denji’s game for a rematch.

The two blast out of the building, onto rooftops, and finally onto a moving train, making for a particularly fun and cinematic setting for the final big battle of the season. Unlike the dark warehouse there’s plenty of light and dynamic backgrounds to soak in along with all the sparks and blood.

Katana Man also at least tries to understand what Denji is after, and isn’t impressed when Denji tells him it’s simply to preserve his new comfortable (by his standards) life and be praised by his boss. There isn’t enough nuance in their talk for Denji’s opponent to sympathize with his plight and why that life is such a precious thing to him; no doubt Katana Man lived a damned comfortable life as the grandson of a yakuza.

Their fight spills into one of the train cars and the innocent bystanders scatter (since this isn’t guest directed by Paul Verhoeven, they all escape unharmed). Denji has improved, but he’s still supposed to be fighting with Power beside him, and Katana Man still has his samurai move where he wooshes past Denji and lops off both his arms.

When he tells Denji to yield if he wants a quick death, Denji says he still has a chainsaw on his head, and charged him. Katana Man aims for Denji’s head as he rushes him one last time, but that’s exactly what Denji wanted. Borrowing a lesson he learned from Kishibe, he tells a suddenly cleanly sliced in half Katana Man never to trust someone he’s hunting.

Katana Man eventually reverts back to human form, and Denji chains him to the stopped train to await backup. Aki is the first to arrive, and Denji, who is not quite satisfied with having simply captured their target, proposes a contest…of nutshots. Whoever can make the guy scream more wins.

Aki initially seems reluctant to play along—it’s against their mandate and he’s not sure Himeno would want it—then he takes out the cigarette that saved his life, puts it back away, and declares that he’s game after all.

In the beautiful, sublime, cathartic scene that follows, we cut from the aftermath of the successful operation to a positively giddy Denji and Aki kicking the shit out of Katana Man’s nuts. Aki asks if Himeno can hear the nutshot requiem they’re playing for her up in heaven.

After that, Makima delivers her report to the bigwigs: Sawatari was captured, but apparently automatically killed as part of her contract with the Gun Devil before any intel could be extracted. RIP Sawatari; we really barely knew thee, and I still maintain that’s a shame. On the plus side, the 4th Division now has enough Gun Devil flesh that it’s moving towards the main body. So now they generally know where to look.

As the low-key credits are displayed, we watch Denji, Power and Aki simply hanging out together like the three best roomies, chasing cats, swinging on the swings, and going to the grocery store to buy stuff for dinner. There’s no audio to these scenes, only music, which makes them feel more intimate and resonant. It’s also quite heartwarming to see that after all they’ve been through, they can still live life and have fun like three ordinary young people.

After the trio make dinner, eat it, and enjoy some down time around the table, Denji and Power fall asleep, and we get one last zen balcony moment with Aki as he lights up his “Easy Revenge!” cigarette and smokes it, providing a measure of closure and relief from his deep loss.

Denji, meanwhile, dreams a dream he says he always dreams and then forgets: walking through a dingy alley to a door, hearing Pochita on the other side of that door, then going for the doorknob, only for Pochita to say, with finality, he can’t open that door. The final scene is the most cryptic of all, with a heretofore unseen/unheard young woman with dark hair asking Denji what’s better: a city mouse or a country mouse.

Who this mystery woman is, how she’ll fit in to the ongoing search for the Gun Devil, and a host of other matters will provide fertile ground for a second season of Chainsaw Man. While none has been officially announced, I can’t see one not happening. But this was a pitch-perfect stopping point.

RABUJOI World Heritage List – 2022 Entries

When five out of five stars isn’t enough to express the excellence of an episode, that episode given a spot on our World Heritage List. With the eight new 2022 entries below, that list currently numbers 103 in the list’s ten years of existence. You can be sure that if you watch any of the below episodes, you’ll get your twenty-three minutes’ worth and then some.

Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 3 – 06 – It Was Spring When We Met

Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 3 – 09 – The Thing You Wanted Most

Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 3 – 12 (Fin) – Nishikata’s Quest

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War – Ultra Romantic – 02 – Better to Not Put on an Act

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War – Ultra Romantic – 12 (Fin) – Blossoms That Never Scatter

Made in Abyss – S2 10 – The Scorpion and the Frog

Made in Abyss – S2 12 (Fin) – The Cradle Falls

Chainsaw Man – 08 – Cry For Me

 

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – 13 (Fin) – The True Zangetsu Was the Friends We Made Along the Way

Ichigo is heading off, but Isshin asks a fair question: how will he get back? That’s answered by Mera, who appears and spirits him back to Hououden. There, Nimaiya allows Ichigo to re-take the Asauchi test, which he passes with flying colors now that he knows himself better.

All the Asauchi who aren’t his Zanpakuto bow before him rather than fight, and he identifies and reaches out to the one that is: Zangetsu. But Nimaiya warns Ichigo that forging a new blade will be the end of the Zangetsu he’s known.

As this is the final episode of the cour, there’s an obligatory check-in with the captains who lost their bankai. Each of them are throwing themselves into training and leveling up, casting aside the things that are currently gone and working with what they have.

In Toushirou’s case, that’s going back to sword school. In Sajin’s, it’s meeting with his clan’s Great Elder, who wants nothing to do with outside affairs. Captain Muguruma didn’t lose his bankai, but still insists that Hisagi gain one by fighting Mashiro, who is the Ninth’s “Super” Lieutenant. I like it.

Now that Ichigo has his zanpakuto back, it’s forgin’ time. Nimaiya summons his three comely bodyguards to prepare everything. The five women are colorful characters with very specific roles, from constructing the forge to conveying water, lighting the fire, creating a hammer from a tooth, and catching and restraining the raw zanpakuto blade.

Once everything is ready, Nimaiya removes his goofy shades and gets hammering. As he does so, Nimaiya asks him what the white blade reminds him of; Ichigo says the Hollow within him. That’s when the Blade King drops this on him: the Hollow within him is his Zanpakuto.

This conflicts with Ichigo’s extant understanding of the manifestation of his blade, who he always thought was Old Man Zangetsu. But now it occurs to him that that old man was really a shadow, or echo, of the Quincy King Yhwach from a thousand years ago. That’s why he was drawn to the king in Soul Society; he recognized the guy.

Faced with this revelation, the building on which he and the old man stand crumbles and they fall into a sea, which is a hauntingly gorgeous setting for what becomes their final talk together. Old Man Zangetsu wasn’t the full source of his strength. On the contrary, he suppressed Ichigo’s full potential.

He did this because he wanted to keep Ichigo from becoming a Soul Reaper, with all the pain, suffering, and likely early death that came with such a role. It was only when Ichigo ovecame adversity, perservered, and got stronger (with help from the Hollow within) that Zangetsu decided that maybe Ichigo being a Soul Reaper wasn’t such a bad thing.

When Old Man Zangetsu vanishes in that dark, monochromatic sea, he leaves a blue sword behind, representing the true Zangetsu. Ichigo takes hold of it, comes out of his mind space, and is grabbing the blade from the forge with his bare hands.

Only it’s not just one blade, it’s two. In his mind, his Quincy Zangetsu was as much his Zanpakuto as his Hollow Zangetsu. Together they grant him a unique combined power no one else has. And now that he has his true Zanpakuto and his true power is unlocked, he can fight the Quincy for keeps.

Oh, and Uryuu is apparently joining Yhwach and the Quincy. Wait…what?! I’m not sure he got enough character development in this cour to justify turning his back on his friends, but then again, he is extremely proud of his heritage. At this point, before there’s a rematch between Ichigo and Yhwach, I have to believe Ichigo and Uryuu will be facing off.

Between Uryuu’s cloak-turn, the captains and lieutenants leveling up, Ichigo at full power for the first time in his life, and maybe(?) Rukia, Renji, Orihime and Chad showing up, the Summer 2023 cour of Thousand Year War should be a good one.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – 12 – Tears of the Sun

After finishing the first of this week’s two-episode finale, I maintain that an entire arc devoted to how Ichigo’s parents met and fell in love would have been just fine with me. And indeed, the two-part flashback feels a bit rushed at times. But I’m still grateful for what we got, which is nothing less than the most beautiful and heartrending story Bleach has ever told.

Due to the fact no one has harmed and minimal damage done, Isshin is not punished by Old Man Yama for his unsanctioned excursion to the World of the Living. However, Isshin lies when he says there was “nothing else of note” to report … like, say, he discovered that some Quincy were still alive.

Both he and Masaki don’t want to be done with one another, but Masaki is feeling the ill effects of being bitten by that weird hollow, and even bumps into none other than Urahara Kisuke when she momentarily faints.

Masaki comes home and is read the riot act by Ryuuken’s mother, who found out from Katagiri that she got in a hollow battle and was injured, all to save a hated soul reaper. Ryuu first rushes to Katagiri to castigate her for snitching, but Katagiri only did what thought she needed to to prevent the tainting of the Ishida bloodline.

Indeed, if it wasn’t for Katagiri informing Mrs. Ishida, Masaki may have well collapsed somewhere other than the entrance to the house, and it would be too late by the time someone found her. Because as a result of being bitten by the hollow, she’s undergoing the process of hollowification.

Ryuuken carries her out and flies through the sky, unsure where to go or what to do. A giant hollow sneaks up from behind, but is bisected by a returning Isshin. Ryuu exchanges some harsh words, but ultimately, the two men want the same thing: to save Masaki. Unfortunately, neither of them know quite how the hell to do that.

But Urahara does, and he introduces himself to both Isshin and Ryuuken as the only person who can save Masaki. He was banned from Soul Society for the very research he’ll draw upon to do so, warning that while he can save Masaki’s life, she’ll never be the same again. Meanwhile, Masaki is lost deep within her mind, descending into the mouth of a giant hollow.

Urahara describes what must be done to save Masaki—bind her now half Quincy, half Hollow soul with that of a half-Soul Reaper, half- human. Isshin is full Soul Reaper, but if he uses a special gigai developed by Urahara, he can become half-human, but will have to say goodbye to his life in Soul Society forever.

Both Urahara and Ryuu are amazed how quickly Isshin says he’ll do it, but I’m not. This is Ichigo’s dad we’re talking about, and even if Masaki isn’t his family yet, he can’t deny the two of them already shared a sense of justice and altruism that transcends their opposing factions.

He also admits that he’s not sure he really wants to throw his current life away, but he also knows that his future self will laugh at him or worse if he refused to save the person who saved him. The procedure commences, visualized by Isshin saving Masaki and getsuga tenshou-ing the giant mind hollow to hell. Masaki comes to giggling, wanting to know Isshin’s name.

Ryuuken heads home in the rain, knowing that while his potential future bride Masaki did not outright reject him, in a way fate and the universe did. He regrets not stepping in sooner before Masaki was injured, which turned out to be the beginning of the end of her being a suitable wife. Now her soul is literally bound to that of his historical mortal enemy of the Quincy.

Back home, Katagiri is waiting for him in the rain, and he tells her to inform his mother that he is no longer worthy or able to protect the Quincy anymore. But Katagiri, who met Ryuu when she was a small girl and has grown not just to dutifully serve him, but love and care for him, tells him that’s not true. She sheds tears that mingle with the rain; I’m sure she’d long hoped to be his wife one day, but probably not like this.

Isshin starts to wrap up the tale of his wife to Ichigo, their son, by saying she left the Ishida family when she graduated high school and would visit him as a college student when he opened up his medical clinic. He told her he’d been banished, but always assumed she immediately saw through the lie. The two soon fell in love, became inseparable, and she had Ichigo.

Again, I wish we could have watched more episodes of Isshin and Masaki getting to know each other both before the attack that would bind their souls and afterwards when he began his human life. The two are such compelling, rootable characters. Isshin is absolutely right that Masaki radiates light and warmth like the sun.

But there’s also a romantic quality to just how goshdarned fast everything happened to these young people, how they rolled with the punches, and came out of it living different but probably better lives than the ones they would have led had they never met. A life neither in the Quincy or Soul Reaper way, but in the middle way.

But that too had its cost, as Isshin wraps up this epic tale to Ichigo. The day Masaki died protecting a 9-year-old Ichigo, she shouldn’t have died. She was still part Quincy, and her Blut Vene should have been able to not only defend against Grand Fisher, but defeat him easily.

But she didn’t, and died instead, because her powers failed her. Rather, they were taken, by the awakening King of the Quincy, Yhwach. Uryuu’s mother Katagiri met the same fate, becoming frail and dying too soon as, like Masaki’s, she was deemed unworthy of keeping her powers by Yhwach.

That Yhwach is the father of all Quincy, and his blood runs through all their veins, means he was Masaki’s progenitor, and thus Ichigo’s as well. There may be no ecaping that. And like her mother, he inherited the part of her soul that had become Hollowified.

As if Ichigo needed any further motivation to defeat the guy, he can add “ultimately responsible for his mom’s death” to the list. When an uncharacteristically docile Ikumi stops by to give him his Soul Reaper talisman, Ichigo takes it, thanks her, then tells his father he’s headed off.

Now that he knows more about who he is and where he came from, there’s much work to be done … I just wish he’d at least said hi to his sisters!

To Your Eternity – S2 10 – Eko From the Beyond

Fushi has been hard at work training on the beached galleon, but is running into problems replicating something so big and complex. He’s able to summon forth each and every part of the ship, but not the ship in its entirety. The Beholder advises him to develop better “awareness” that the objects he creates “belong to him.”

Prince Bon and Kahaku are also hard at work, defeating Nokkers and warning the crown princess of Renril that a Nokker attack is coming. While the masked, obscured princess refuses to abandon the castle or town, she does agree to an alliance. Taking a break from training, Fushi discovers a town.

There he finds new fruits and vegetables at the market, and pays for them with money. He then finds poor and starving people and gives them the food he bought, but when he tries to give money to a woman and her kid he’s met with resentment and suspicion. The woman won’t let him “control” them with his money.

Fushi then senses intense pain coming from a filthy girl with big eyes who is trapped in a cage in a circus tent. He breaks her and her little brother out in the middle of the night and rides back to his galleon base, but on the way the boy dies and he buries him.

Back aboard the ship, Fushi ensures the girl doesn’t meet the same fate, as he feeds her, shows her his menagerie, sews her a dress, bathes her, and cuts her hair. Since the only word she says is “-eko” in response to the presence of a cat (neko), Fushi decides to address her as “Eko.” She stays aboard while he continues his training.

When she senses her falling after trying to plug a leak, he transforms into her brother, and is able to communicate with her through her clay pot, which is apparently a particular ability of her people. This experience helps him to better understand the Beholder’s advice, and he rejects the idea that he “controls” anyone or anything.

Rather, he has to look at things as having always been a part of him. Everything he sees or has ever seen is not merely a collection of possessions, but his very existence itself. He surrounds the ship with an elaborate tangle of vines from his body, and from his spot below deck is able to achieve a number of tasks remotely.

After a while without any contact, Kahaku and Bon decide to return to the beach to check on Fushi, and find that he’s essentially created his own little mini-world. His face covered and body constrained by vines, Fushi confirms that everything within a 3km radius of him…is him. 

He’s also able to teleport, after a fashion, by creating an ambulatory copy of himself through the network of vines. He prepares tea and pastries for his friends and introduces them to Eko, whose people Kahaku is aware of. Fushi communicates with her again as her brother, and learns she has no home to return to, so she’ll be accompanying him on their mission to protect Renril. She seems fine with that!

Bon heads to Uralis to try to find “Immortal allies” that will help them, while Fushi, Eko, Kahaku and Horse head to the beautiful and imposing palace city of Renril, where they’ll likely meet with the crown princess and some of her trusted officers.

Considering her prominent presence in the ED, I was looking forward to Eko’s introduction, and was not disappointed. She rivals March and Rynn for cutest character in TyE, and I feel both we and Fushi have only just scratched the surface of her clay pot abilities.

More than a married couple, but not lovers. – 12 (Fin) – Double rainbow

Akari knew she faced an uphill battle to win Jirou’s heart before he and Shiori arrive back at the beach house looking very suspicious. As summer break continues after the beach trip, She offers a thousand-yen bill to the shrine of romantic success. But because Shiori’s sudden kiss in the rain wasn’t a 100% confession of love (she apologized profusely after it happened), Akari isn’t as long a shot as she fears.

Shiori can think of nothing but that kiss, even smelling the dress she wore when it happened, and wants to know what Jirou was feeling. Jirou, in turn, wants to know what Shiori was feeling, and why she apologized. In any case, both of them realize they need to talk about this more, which is definitely the right instinct! They just didn’t expect to bump into each other at the manga store.

Remembering Mei’s advice, Shiori once again takes the initiative, inviting Jirou to her practice dorm. The fact the furniture and layout is the same as his lends a built-in comfort just like the one he has with his childhood friend. When she goes in to make sure it’s not a mess and returns to the door with a “Welcome Home, Darling!”,  I just about squee’d out of my chair.

When Jirou says [the tea] “smells so good”, Shiori briefly thought he was talking about her. They proceed to just hang out on the couch and read, but neither is actually reading their books so much as one another. When she notices him watching her closely, she has to retreat to her room, where she looks in the mirror and worries whether he might hate her, he worries the exact same thing.

The building awkwardness is softened by the auspicious appearance of a double rainbow in the sky, which Shiori says brings happiness. The selfie of the two of them with the rainbow behind certainly brings it too, and Jirou is about to take a step and bring up their kiss in the rain when Shiori shows him another photo: a photo of all of them. A photo of friends.

Presented with a photo like this where it’s not just the two of them, Jirou admirably asks himself the right questions: Which feeling is friendship? Where does love start? He knows he has feelings, but can’t quite understand them yet. But he should also know he’s not alone in this.

After a Jirou x Shiori summer break segment, it’s Akari’s turn. She’s bored, Jirou’s bored, so she LINEs him and nonchalantly schedules a date. He has no earthly idea just how nervous she really is, or how important it is that she look just right for him, which is why she’s fifteen minutes late.

But when she arrives, she’s wearing the kind of demure (for her) dress she believes to be more his taste (which is also generally how Shiori dresses). It’s a little thing, but the fact she wants to suit his tastes while remaining fundamentally Akari is sweet as all-get-out, and even he starts to realize that this gyaru isn’t just messing with him.

Jirou also shows he’s a Good Boy Who Remembers Things, as Akari takes them to a café she’d mentioned before was a favorite of hers. Akari is touched that he remembers, as it bodes well for her overall mission.

She also casually leans in for an indirect kiss (“there is some bitterness, but it’s good” is a resonant line) and when she calls Jirou out for being embarrassed about it, he’s honest, and so is she: she’d rather they get used to this kind of thing than lose their minds about it, because if all goes well they’ll be doing a lot more of it!

The date continues at a cat café, where Jirou gets to see the side of Akari who squees to the max in the presence of fluffy animals. When she shows him a picture of them as she’s holding a cat, he notes that it looks kind of like a family photo, which makes Akari laugh rather than creeping her out (she’s also clearly elated to hear him say that).

While he hews to his standing opinion that spending summer days gaming is best, he admits days like this are nice too. And it’s weird when they prepare to say goodbye at the station, since they’re so used to going home together. That’s when she suddenly heads back to the shrine, and as he follows behind her they run into Shiori. What a coincidence!

Shiori can see what’s going on here, and what needs to be done, but is aggressive and assertive in the best, sweetest, most Shiori way. She happens to be on her way to the shrine too, and challenges Akari to a race to the shrine. Akari, of course, is game, they make Jirou schlep their stuff, and off they go.

As they run with everything they’ve got, they pass a number of people who reflect their past, present, and future. Two childhood friends, a boy and a girl; a young couple, a couple getting married, having kids, and finally, at the top (where the two tie, of course), and old elderly couple, the husband of which is named Jirou!

I love how their competitive pursuit of Jirou goes unspoken, but is clear to both women all the same, even if it’s still somewhat irritatingly less clear to Jirou: this isn’t really the finish line, only the end of the first leg. And both Shiori and Akari are in it to win it.

Thus Fuukoi ends without a clear resolution to who Jirou will choose, and it’s to the episodes credit that it does not try to rush towards one after so much careful deliberation and development. Rather, this feels like a solid culmination of the episodes that came before.

It’s also a credit to the series that after twelve episodes I am myself still on the fence about whom Jirou should end up with, as both women make very strong cases for themselves this week, and there isn’t the slightest hint of mean-spiritedness to their competition. While not a tearjerker, my heart felt fuller for watching Fuukoi, and hopefully we’ll be blessed with a second season in which the three face their next adventure.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury – 11 – Renewal of Vows

As GUND-Arm arrives at Plant Quetta to retrieve Aerial, Suletta has never felt more isolated or useless, both from her bride and her colleagues. Her mother Prospera, meanwhile, has made inroads with Delling, possibly at the wrong time considering the multifaceted plot against him.

Dawn of Fold holds the transport Guel is on and order them to carry on like nothing’s amiss while they hitch a ride to Quetta. Guel notices they’re using Jeturk mobile suits, thus doing the one thing a capable captive shouldn’t do: draw attention to yourself. Sophie, one of Dawn’s pilots, now knows he’s someone to keep an eye on.

Suletta has withdrawn so much into her own insecurities and fear that she ends up without a lunch, and ends up sitting in the space bathroom alone. Guel’s father gets fed up with Delling to the point he’s escorted away by his guards, but that turns out to be intentional, as he plants a transmitter on one of those guards.

It’s all part of the scheme he’s carrying out with Shaddiq. But while Jeturk wants the Earthians they arranged to commence the attack in two hours, Shaddiq has other plans. Ultimately Jeturk is just a pawn in his game. He gives the go order immediately, and Dawn of Fold springs into action.

While this is going on, Suletta is withdrawn into her depression spiral, and calls her mom to say she’s become scared of everyone and everything. Prospera tells her to come to the hangar where she and Aerial, her family, are waiting. But when Miorine learns of Suletta’s location and that’s she’s been avoiding her, she forces open the bathroom door and blocks the way. Suletta flees and a zero-gravity chase ensues.

Miorine ends up tricking Suletta by pretending to be out of breath, knowing she’ll come to her aid. When she does, Miorine grabs her tight and doesn’t let go, and the two have a much-needed reconciliation. While Miorine doesn’t own up to how distant she’s been due to GUND-Arm business, she tells Suletta that she needs to reach out and say something when something’s troubling her.

The only reason Miorine is there and GUND-Arm even exists is because of Suletta’s motto to move forward and gain two. Because of that, she will continue to rely on Suletta to help her with this new life. Moreover, she needs her groom to tell her she can rely on her, and that she won’t lose any duels, and she won’t leave her side.

It’s a beautiful cathartic scene that reaffirms their relationship. I’m immensely glad these two made up before shit hit the fan, which happens almost immediately after. Unidentified mobile suits disperse jamming pods to isolate Quetta, and a plant-wide emergency is sounded.

Jeturk’s dad knows Shaddiq backstabbed him, while Shaddiq tell his Grassley housemates that even though Miorine is on Quetta, if luck is with her (as it was with him, an orphan), she’ll survive the strike.

There’s also a knowing cut to Nana, who has betrayed Suletta, Miorine, and her Earth House/GUND-Arm family and friends. She was the key to Shaddiq getting in touch with Dawn of Fold, and will carry a fair share of the responsibility for the impending consequences.

There’s also the little matter of one of Dawn of Fold’s two Earthain witch pilots, Sophie, being a complete loose cannon. She starts her cutting laser before her fellow witch Norea despite that not being the plan, and then refuses to be a mere distraction in the operation. It’s clear she’s going to do what she wants, adding a chaotic element to Shaddiq’s careful planning.

As for that luck Shaddiq mentioned, Miorine and Suletta end up separated on opposite sides of an emergency bulkhead. While no longer emotionally isolated at episode’s end, now she’s physically isolated, both from her bride and from her Gundam.

Luck ends up on Sophie’s side, as she gets to meet the Witch from Mercury earlier than she expected. And while she acts like a swooning fangirl for Mercury’s abilities, it’s clear what she really wants is to fight against her in a Gundam duel. Whatever socio-political considerations are in play, Sophie just wants to play.

Here’s hoping Suletta can get to Aerial to oblige and humble this wild child from Earth. Maybe Guel can help out in some way from his position on Dawn of Fold’s ostensible command ship, or Miorine and the GUND-Arm team can pitch in, and Nana can redeem herself in some way.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from RABUJOI

Whether it’s Christmas or Hanukkah or another holiday or just another Sunday, we here at RABUJOI are hoping you have a good one. Take care of yourselves, and each other! ❤️🎄❄️RABUJOI STAFF

Spy x Family – 25 (Part 2 Fin) – The Front Line

Disguised as a professor, Loid assesses the current situation as the Eden College Social Gathering commences. There is no way to infiltrate the gathering without actually belonging there. Since Anya earning enough Stella to become an Imperial Scholar is probably out, that leaves Plan B.

Like Loid, Damian longs to be in the presence of his father (for obviously very different reasons). But while his older brother says he’ll tell their dad Damian wants to see him, he also tells Damian not to get his hopes up. Damian probably doesn’t need to be told this. But he has to try.

Anya has to try too. She can read Loid’s mind since he’s in range, and doubles her efforts to be close to Damian so that she can face the “final boss.” Of course, this gives both Damian and Becky the impression she’s stalking him. And she’s not not stalking him.

Loid, who is far better than Anya at staying hidden, watches Damian head to the place where he said he’d be waiting for his father. But when Damian reconsiders since he’s so sure his dad won’t show, he can’t do anything about it.

But Anya can. She tells Damian she can tell he’s scared (and he suspects she can read his mind…which he can…) just as she was scared to show her dad her low test scores. But she also knows her dad loves her, even when he’s mad at her, so she’ll keep showing him her tests scores. While he tsunderes Anya off, Damian gets her, and heads to the meeting place after all.

Anya waits with him from afar, and Becky waits with her, assuming she’s in love with Damian and wants to meet his dad. But Anya soon falls asleep. As Becky has Martha carry her to the car to take her home, Loid walks past in his professor disguise, carrying the same keychain she has on her backpack.

It’s that keychain that provides Loid the excuse to speak to Damian. He planted it in the meeting place for Damian to find, then takes the opportunity to take a knee and profusely apologize on behalf of his daughter, being nothing but submissive and deference.

While he’s apologizing, Desmond shocks his son by arriving. Loid then introduces himself formally apologizes. In these first critical moments, he takes as much of the measure of Desmond as he can, while formulating the right conversational path to get the most out of their encounter.

Once, then twice, Desmond cheerfully tells Loid that he needn’t go so far to apologize for a trifling quarrel between children. Loid knows not to push further against such a man as cautious and wily as Donovan, so he doesn’t. But Damian is another matter.

Loid proceeds to elegantly and expertly make use of Damian and his justified daddy issues as a conduit to open a meaningful dialogue and make himself memorable and appealing enough for Donovan to take notice. Damian is angry his dad isn’t angrier, but Loid and Donovan bond over their shared inability to truly know or understand what their kids or thinking.

Loid doesn’t really agree, but Donovan’s comments help him to better understand Donovan’s political philosophy, which is the first step to steering him towards one less likely to lead to the East-West cold war going hot. He even gets a solid dig in by assuming Donovan makes time for Damian when he’s never done any such thing.

Even so, Donovan notes that this is an oversight he hadn’t considered, but acknowledges. After Loid showers praise on Damian for a report about his father that he claims Anya really liked, he prepares to take his leave. His final request to Damian is that he try to be friends with Anya, as she likely wants to be his friend. In an unguarded moment, Damian says he feels the same way…before turning beet red and rejecting the idea.

Once Loid departs, Donovan turns to Damian and asks what he wanted. Damian says it’s nothing, but then remembers Anya’s words about having to show your test scores, and stops his dad to tell him all of the good things that have happened to him so far in class.

Then, to Damian’s surprise and boundless elation, his father says “well done, keep at it.” Simple and boilerplate they may be, hearing his father say them absolutely makes Damian’s year. And if he’s on better terms with his dad in no small part thanks to words from both Anya and her dad, then perhaps in future he’ll be less inclined to call her a stubby-legged uggo stalker.

That helps Loid’s cause. But what’s so great about his discussion with the Desmond is that he’s not simply operating as a heartless agent of the state trying to manipulate an enemy VIP and his son. I mean, he kinda is, but he’s also uses his experiences as Anya’s father, not a spy, to actually improve the relationship between Damian and Donovan.

It works like a charm, and it was thrilling to watch. As for Anya, she must’ve needed to catch up on some sleep, since she’s still out cold when Loid comes home, her having been delivered there like a package by Becky earlier that afternoon.

The long-awaited first meeting of Twilight and his primary target marks the end of Spy x Family Part 2, ending on a high note. Whenever Part 3 comes around there will be plenty to chew on, from the continued development of the Forget family and Anya and Damian’s friendship, to the potential for the family’s mutual secrets to be revealed to one another. I shall eagerly await Part 3—and hopefully not fall asleep on a stoop as Anya did while staking out Damian.

Bocchi the Rock! – 12 (Fin) – Ultra Super Bocchi-chan

It’s time to play, and BtR get’s right down to it. But while I was relieved Bocchi was on the stage, but there were still things to dread. Would her dad’s old guitar break, or Kita’s voice fail, at the worst possible time? Turns out, it’s the former.

Their first song goes off without a hitch, but early in the second, a string gives out just before Bocchi’s big solo. Before it happens, everyone (especially Kikuri, who breakes out of her drunken stupor) can tell something’s off, even though Bocchi’s playing is okay.

After it happens, Bocchi is ready to spiral into a full-on meltdown, but Kita has her back, ad-libbing a  sort of rhythm solo for just enough measures to allow Bocchi to pick up one of Kikuri’s empty glass sake bottles and pull off a pretty rad bottleneck slide guitar solo.

Bocchi may be mortified, but both the adults and the kids love it. The former are super amused Bocchi thought to go bottleneck, while a lot of the latter didn’t even know what she was doing, but thought it was freaking awesome.

With their set complete, the band takes a bow, and when some in the crowd call out bottleneck Bocchi, Kita shoves the mic in her face. Bocchi locks up, unable to speak without prepared remarks, then asks herself What Would Kikuri Do? … and leaps into the crowd.

While she almost certainly would have been caught at a club where it would have been more expected, here she hits the ground with a punishing thud. Kikuri, Seika, and Ryou think it’s hilarious and Bocchi is now a rock legend while Nijika and Kita are more concerned.

When Bocchi comes to in the nurses office, Kita is by her side. Bocchi takes the time to thank Kita and to tell her how good she’s gotten in such a short time. Kita’s response is a little somber, since she’s resigned to never being good enough to be a frontman like Bocchi, Kit-aura or no. But Bocchi will happily keep teaching her.

It’s here where Kita officially starts calling Bocchi Hitori-chan, which is incredibly sweet. Bocchi delays the after-party to a date TBD, and back home apologizes to her dad for “breaking” his guitar. He tells her no such apology is necessary, but since his guitar is so old it may be time for her to buy her own. When she says all her STARRY pay goes to quotas, her dad produces a fan of 10,000 yen bills.

At first I thought he and her mom had been saving her weekly allowance for a social life she never had until now, but these are Bocchi’s legitimate hard-won advertising earnings from the clicks her videos receive. That’s right; she’s been posting to the Gotou family account, and they all know she’s guitarhero!

Suddenly having 300,000 yen burning a hole in her pocket, Bocchi gets all psyched up about quitting her job, since the cash will cover not only a guitar but her quotas. But when it comes time to actually bring it up to Seika, Bocchi folds like a cheap suit and issues a declaration of commitment to her current job.

She also considers that Seika might let her quit if she buys her a guitar, but when Nijika asks Seika what she’d want Bocchi to get her she says nothing (while privately blushing over how nice Bocchi is). With that, Kessoku Band is off to Ochanomizu, a historically musically-oriented district, to shop for a new guitar.

Once there, Ryou is annoyed when Kita and Nijika focus on the cute accessories, then unassumingly asks if she can try out a certain bass and proceeds to slap the shit out of it, impressing the store manager (and Kita).

When Bocchi spots a sleek black Yamaha, the manager approaches her and she goes to pieces, but Kita is there to operate Ventriloquist Dummy Bocchi, Oddly, even though the point of going to a physical store was to handle a guitar before buying it, Bocchi buys it without handling it. She even flees the store without the guitar, but her friends bring it out to her.

With that, Bocchi straps into her new guitar which she bought with her own hard-earned cash, and she does indeed look awesome, though her family witnesses her promising her dad’s old guitar that she won’t neglect it. Leaving her heavily bookmarked practice books and closet studio, Bocchi puts her new guitar on her back and heads out, saying Be back later not just to her family, but to us, as that’s the end of Bocchi the Rock!

While this was a pitch-perfect ending to the season, I for one hope we get an encore soon, featuring more confidence, more comedy, and more concerts! Until then, Bocchi the Rock! is a late but deserving addition to the conversation for Anime of the Year.

Urusei Yatsura – 11 – The Trickster Ojou

When another slow-moving oxcart escorted by ninja rolled through town, I assumed it was Mendou’s mom again. It turns out to be someone who speaks loudly enough to be heard, and who makes the effort to throw a handkerchief out of the cart so it happens to land on Ataru’s face. He uses his lecher’s sense of smell to track down the owner, and is rewarded with a damn skeleton arm.

The next day, the girl arrives at school resplendent in her kimono and wowing boys and girls alike. She initially introduces herself as Mendou’s fiancée, which gets all the girls fuming and weeping. But she’s really Mendou’s little sister, Ryouko, who loves playing elaborate tricks on people for her own amusement.

She’s come to deliver her dear brother his lunch that he forgot, but he tells her he forgot that lunch five days ago. As the lunch is composed entirely of raw seafood, it is now essentially toxic waste, but that doesn’t stop Ataru, eager to get into Ryouko’s good graces, to try to eat it. When Ryouko sees how lovey-dovey Lum is, she ups the flirtation, and locks Mendou away in a dark cabinet.

Ryouko’s introduction at school is followed by her inviting Ataru to her home for a New Year’s Party, but most of the rest of the cast was invited as well, including Sakura, Oyuki and Benten. Everyone’s in their best New Year’s finery, but I personally think Lum wins for best kimono—the colors are just sublime.

Of course, this is no ordinary party. Not only is the Mendou residence ludicrously huge and complex, but the partygoers are unwitting living game pieces in an elaborate board game being played by Ryouko and her parents. This results in trap doors and hidden passages and various obstacles shifting everyone all over the place and doing all sorts of things.

We get mochi eating contests, badminton, spiked walls, 100,000 and 200,000-kg weights being dropped … it’s a little bit of everything. The chaos all serves one purpose: entertaining Ryouko, a girl with far too much money and far too much time on her hands.

By the time everyone (or most everyone) arrives in the actual party room, they’re all so exhausted from being pushed and prodded around and made to carry out various tasks they can barely sit up. But it’s still not over, as Ryouko presses a red button that sends her brother and Ataru up in a giant bamboo rocket that explodes with fireworks to ring in the new year.

It’s here where I’ll note that now that Lum is back by his side, Ataru is right back to being a lecherous ass, despite being genuinely devastated by her absence which for all he knew was caused by his neglect and constant two-timing.

It wasn’t, and Lum will probably never leave the guy’s side, and maybe I was a fool for thinking any character development would stick around for the next segment, let alone episode. That said, I enjoyed Ryouko as an unapologetic agent of chaos and general shit-stirrer.