Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Swordsmith Village Arc – 05 – Pretty In Pink (and Red)

Tokitou and Kotetsu meet up with Kanamori, who has a new sword for the Hashira. He leads them to his work shed, but Tokitou stops him short: something’s amiss. Sure enough, that foreboding pot appears, and out of it spills Upper Moon Five Gyokko.

Meanwhile in the village center, Kanroji Mitsuri finally arrives to make her much-anticipated first appearance in battle. She’s immensely fast, nimble, and strong, and her pink sword is long and flexible like a whip or ribbon, enabling her to quickly carve through the attacking fish monsters.

Mitsuri not only earns style points for her beautiful “Love Breathing”, but also for maintaining a positive, upbeat attitude throughout the battle. She ends up rescuing the village chief Tecchin from the clutches of the fish monster boss, and the old man is in good enough shape to swoon over being held by a beautiful young lady.

Gyokko has a lot of tricks in his pots, including his “artwork”: a grotesque human sculpture composed of five other swordsmiths in their death throes. When he twists a blade, blood spills forth from their faces and limbs. It’s a terrifying display, and Tokitou is sick of it, so he attacks. But for his trouble he gets a face full of poison needles.

Tanjirou comes to in Nezuko’s arms. She woke up before him and is buying time by running, but once Hantengu levels the entire building, she grabs hold of Tanjirou’s sword with her bare hands and doesn’t let go until it’s set aflame by her burning blood and turns red.

Tanjirou’s head scar morphs into a flame pattern—the same one that was on the head of Tsugikuni Yoriichi—and the three Hantengu clones recognize Tsugikuni in Tanjirou’s stance. He puts everything he’s got—and feels the hands of everyone who has helped him get this far on his back—and delivers a Hinokami Kagura strike that takes the form of a fire dragon, beheading all three clones at once.

Tanjirou appears to be in luck, as the fourth clone has also been beheaded by Genya. However, Genya does not look well at all. in fact, he’s looking very demonic, not unlike Nezuko. Will Tanjirou’s next opponent be a fellow slayer? Will Tokitou be able to overcome the poison from Gyokko’s needles? Will we get to see more Mitsuri kicking ass? We’ll surely find out soon.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Swordsmith Village Arc – 04 – In Their Feelings

As Tokitou is running past a Kotetsu about to be killed by a mutant fish demon, he remembers Tanjirou’s words about helping people coming back to help you, so he spares a few minutes to take the fish out. Kotetsu rides along as Tokitou heads back to the main battle.

Tanjirou is also isolated by the winged fragment of Hantengu. He gets hit by a sonic attack, but he learns that when he chops the demon up, their individual attacks grow weaker. The demon’s talons are a problem, but Tanjirou is hanging in there.

He’d really like to get back to Nezuko and Genya, who are dealing with the other three fragments of Hantengu: anger, pleasure, and sadness. Genya manages to knock off the Sad one with a combo of his shotgun, sword, and staunch refusal to die; he’s a tough cookie.

And then there’s Nezuko, who kicks the shit out of Pleasure and burns him with her blood. It’s great to see Nezuko actually fighting and doing a pretty good job of it. Her attacks and acrobatics are certainly some of the prettiest of the show, but she suffers a setback when Anger stabs her in the throat and starts hitting her with electricity.

Tanjirou finally uses Joy’s flight ability to his advantage, correctly deducing that the demon must be super light. He skewers him through the face and basically uses him as a glider to get back to the building where Nezuko and Genya are flagging.

Once back in the building, he slices off Joy’s foot and uses it to deflect Anger’s lightning, then slashes Anger’s tongue to buy time to free Nezuko. Anger nearly stabs Tanjirou in the throat, which would have been unpleasant, but Nezuko manages to stop the thrust with her immense strength.

Joy then swoops in and hits them with his big leaf fan thingy, which is essentially a wind and gravity-based attack that disables both Nezuko and Tanjirou. The timing of this is bad, as a huge horde of those mutant fish demons start to invade the village, whose swordsmiths are far better at making weapons than wielding them.

It’s fortunate, then, that Mitsuri was not stationed far from the village, and thanks to her crow, is on her way to spell Tanjirou, Nezuko, Genya, and Tokitou. She comes with a full head of steam and her trademark positive attitude, a ray of sunshine who will surely turn the tide.

Hell’s Paradise – 03 – Where the Rules Don’t Apply

Last week’s rundown of all ten convicts and all ten Yamada Asaemon executioners was a little intimidating, and had me worried the runtime would be too split between characters, but we got a satisfying ratio – mostly Gabimaru and Sagiri with a nice sprinkling of the other pairs.

No sooner do they leave the boat (never get off the boat) than Gabimaru is kvetching about his binds. Sagiri puts her blade to his throat and makes something nice and sparkling clear: they’re not friends or allies, she’s his executioner, and he will obey the rules. I love his nonhalant sigh of “whatever”.

No sooner are the binds back on him than he’s walloped by a giant ball-and-chain launched from a fellow convict, Twisted Keiun. The former priest collects weapons, and the immortal Gabimaru is the perfect canvas upon which to test them. As for his Asaemon minder Kisho, he couldn’t be bothered to fight with Keiun about keeping his hands bound.

You get the sense that in Sagiri Gabimaru is with the most hardass and rules-obsessed of the executioners, when the rules of society never mattered anyway to the other convicts, on an island where there may be no rules whatsoever. In any case, Gabimaru makes relatively quick work of Keiun, and Kisho is free to head home and take a bath.

Before he does, he identifies Sagiri as the lowest ranked Asaemon, apparently not just due to her age, gender, or inexperience, but because she’s so damn rigid and by-the-book. Their duty isn’t to follow every one of the Shogun’s rules to the letter, but to accomplish their top priority: the Elixir of Life. If they have to bend or break a few rules to get it, it’s better than following them and failing.

Kisho also warns Sagiri both of Gabimaru and the other convicts, which is where the nice sprinkling comes in. The eyepatched Eizen-dono, who I assumed was one of the higher-ranked Asaemon, watches his sword shatter against the arm of his titanic convict Rokurota, and meets a sticky end.

There’s also a nice switcheroo where it seem like the courtesan will successfully seduce and devour her Asaemon, but she ends up losing her head. We got a decent, restrained sampling of these characters, heightening the danger and establishing them people to keep an eye on, without detracting from the Gabimari-Sagiri focus.

Kisho also mentions that nothing is set in stone here: this mission will determine the next leader Yamada clan (and we know it won’t be Eizen), while messengers have already been sent to Iwagakure to recruit more ninja to the cause should this group fail. It’s upon hearing this last piece of news that Gabimaru suddenly pulls a sword on Sagiri as soon as Kisho is gone.

Gabimaru has made clear his priority is to be reunited with his wife. He can’t do that if they fail, or if the Iwagakure arrive on the island, and he believes Sagiri will be a hindrance, so he tries to kill her. She, in turn, tries to kill him too, not just because he’s breaking the rules, but because he’s simply too dangerous to be kept alive.

But here’s the thing: despite numerous opportunities, neither of them are able to kill the other. The source of their hesitation is their emotions. Gabimaru may claim to be hollow, and that’s how he was raised. The village chief killed his parents when they requested to leave the village after Gabimaru was born.

The chief, the first to take the elixir and become immortal, believes emotions to be a weakness that keeps you from protecting that which is most precious to you. For Gabimaru, that’s his wife Yui, who ironically brought Gabimaru’s emotions back out, where he had to face them and be true to them, not deny or reject them as the chief maintained.

Doing so, Yui told him, is true courage—and he believed her. Because she’s 100% correct that Gabimaru can’t possibly be “hollow” when he blushes so much when she kisses him!

Sagiri and Gabimaru have the same issue, as they’ve become weaker not by failing to repress their emotions, but trying to do so. It’s ultimately self-defeating, and it’s why even though Sagiri is on her back and Gabimaru has his blade to her throat, his hand is stayed by an ethereal Yui. While it’s not really Yui, it represents his love for her, and his desire to live by her teachings.

Sagiri can sense Gabimaru won’t kill her, even if she can’t see Yui. She realizes that his harsh upbringing led him astray by insisting he was a hollow monster, when deep down he’s a human being with the same emotions she has. She sees him enduring the weight every time he uses his ridiculous killing skills.

When he starts to tear up and say if he’s this weak he’ll never be able to protect Yui, Sagiri tells him that’s not weakness, but the seed of strength—one that needs to be nurtured and cultivated. She speaks from experience, since observing him help her stop averting her gaze. As she slides the scabbard onto Gabimaru’s sword, she decides she’s willing to help him reclaim his life. If he can do so, it means there’s hope for anybody.

It’s a beautiful, cathartic ending to what felt like the culmination of a 1-2-3 punch of an introductory character arc that established the two of them. They’ve come out the other side still perhaps not quite friends nor allies, but as two people who understand each other, and more importantly who don’t want to kill one another. Whatever comes for them, they’ll face it together.

The episode actually could have ended there, but I’m glad it didn’t, as this “uncanny paradise” immediately rears its ugly head. It starts with a butterfly floats over the hand of Tamiya Gantetsusai, but he notices the insect has a human face and a stinger. He slices off his hand without hesitation, and flowers immediately sprout from it.

From there it’s game on, as swarms of butterflies circle above, creepy giant centipedes with human fingers as manibles twist about the ground, and a gargantuan monster with a priest’s staff rises from the treeline. Gabimaru and Sagiri’s little coming-to-Jesus moment is interrupted by…a fish dude. These creatures are legit weird and unsettling, and now that I’m so firmly on the side of both Gabimaru and Sagiri, I very much want to watch them kick some fish dude ass.

Tenten Kakumei – 12 (Fin) – In Rainbows

Last week ended with the promise of an unprecedented duel between Anis and Euphie, to decide who will become queen by being made to suffer in one form or another: Anis having to give up everything she is, or Euphie losing everything she has. Both want the other to be happy, neither wants to hurt the other. The duel, while only occupying five minutes, is nevertheless epic in is presentation (like a great boss battle, only between two bosses!) and in the catharsis it provides.

The duel ends quickly because, well, Euphylia Magenta is the titular Genius Young Lady: even with her Dragon Power, Anis’ magicology is simply no match for its power or beauty. And as Euphie repeats when Anis comes to in her lap (a nice callback to a simpler time), she’s only this way because Anis is the one who helped unlock who she is today; someone who won’t hesitate to claim the throne.

And Anis admits, she’s not okay with being queen. She was mostly doing it out of obligation to her parents, to whom she felt she was a “useless daughter”. After the duel, Anis father is holding back tears and her mother isn’t, drawing Anis into a warm embrace and insisting that no, it’s she who is unworthy of having such a splendid daughter.

That night, Anis visits Euphie in her bedroom, and decides the time is right to tell her, and no one else, her deep dark secret. No, it’s not that she’s gay; that’s quite established. Rather, it’s the fact she recalls having a previous life in another world. When she found herself in a world of magic, it felt like a dream, but then she became consumed with fear that she’d somehow replaced the real Princess Anisphia, and was a fake.

Euphie vehemently dispels that notion in no uncertain terms. There is simply no way in her mind that an Anisphia that delivered her from the depths of despair, and showed her what true freedom and happiness looked like, could ever be called a “fake”. She then takes the initiative and kisses Anis, surprising her. Anis insists that’s only something someone should do to someone they love, and Euphie says she does love her.

When Anis tries to qualify that, Euphie says she can be her friend and confidante and comrade, but she’d also like Anis to accept her feelings for what they really are. Before Anis knows it, she’s being thrown on the bed, and the camera tastefully withdraws out of focus.

However far these two lovebirds get that night, or what nature of pillow talk they engage in thereafter, by morning they’re ready to chart the course of the future of their kingdom. Euphie has successfully contracted with the spirit, so the king adopts her and then announces his intent to step back. Euphie will be queen, and Anis will support her as her “older sister”.

For some reason I envisioned undergoing to contract to immediately cause Euphie to not only forget everyone she ever knew but forget that she forgot, but that only happens after a number of lifetimes. With that fear allayed, my original plan for them to basically rule together while keeping their romance private seems to be the one they’ve adopted.

Euphie states in no uncertain terms she’ll be the last monarch chosen by traditional means, as she intends to end the nobility’s monopoly on magic and help Anis realize the dream of magic for everyone, everywhere. That said, Queen Euphie wishes to gently disassemble those old walls, not tear them down, so she and Anis prepare a gaudy, upbeat public demonstration of both the new flying machines and dresses that can enable the wearer to fly.

This is made possible after intense negotiations with the spirit faithful (who by their own precepts must grudgingly follow the will the monarch the spirits chose) and collaboration with Anis’ commoner craftsmen. But they manage to pull off one hell of a show.

As they take flight hand in hand, strike Magical Girl poses, and conjure a literal rainbow, we can see the immediate effect it has on the children of commoners. They run along the ground pretending to fly, but when they’re old enough, they’ll be able to fly too.

Now that the promise and possibility and potential of magicology is now out in the world and Euphie is firmly installed and accepted and celebrated as the new queen, her and Anis’ magical revolution can begin in earnest. It likely won’t be quite the instant success the demonstration indicated, but after that strong a start they can take their time making the world a place where freedom and happiness are available to anyone.

They can also take their time with their romance, as illustrated when Anis looks across the breakfast table at Euphie, Alia, and Lainie, the very picture of bliss. And as they run out for their next appointments, Anis gives Euphie a chaste peck on the cheek, to which Euphie responds with another kiss on the mouth.

Led by the love in their hearts for the kingdom, for magic, and above all for each other, Queen Euphylia and Princess Anisphia a poised to create a new and better world. And if we never see them in anime form again, I could’ve scarcely asked for a better way to close the book on their story. I just hope Anis’s research into immortality doesn’t take any macabre turns!

RABUJOI WORLD HERITAGE LIST

NieR: Automata Ver 1.1a – 08 – Sea Breeze

When they return to the Resistance base, 2B and 9S ask Lily if she’s ever seen A2, whom Commander White has ordered them to pursue, investigate and ultimately eliminate. Since A2 saved her life, Lily lies and say she never heard of her, but I imagine 2B doesn’t believe her.

The YoRHa duo asks the quiet twin redheads Devola and Popola, who sugges they ask Jackass. However, Jackass is currently scouting in the Flooded City. That gives us yet another gorgeous, haunting establishing shot, along with some scenes of 2B and 9S dwarfed by their surroundings as they run and leap about the ruins.

When 9S starts thinking and asking questions about 2A, like why she’s still fighting MLs if she’s a deserter, 2B tells him curiosity could get them destroyed, so best not to think too much. Then 9S suggests they take a break, and he removes his boots, socks, and even visor to play in the water. 2B grudgingly follows him (though wisely doesn’t try to pull off those thigh-high boots). It’s nice to see their eyes for once.

Since Jackass’ signature is hidden for some reason, 2B and 9S split up to cover more ground. 2B is the one to find Jackass, who is absolutely rocking a bright red bikini as she fishes for mackerel, whose oil can prove fatal to androids (but she wants it for research). Like Lily, Jackass claims not to know 2A (though she may be telling the truth)

When 2B fails to contact 9S due to jamming, we switch to 9S’s POV. Turns out he split of from 2B so he could contact Operator 6O, upload some photos for her hobby, and also hack into the Bunker’s monitoring systems. He eavesdrops on Commander White having an uncomfortable chat with Command about sacrificing someone (the Resistance, 2B, and 9S, possibly both). Then Command notices a security breach and 9S is cut off.

But it isn’t command that jams his signal from 2B and Jackass, it’s 9S entering a weird room full of handmade drawings and paintings of him and 2B, including when they were wading in the water just moments ago. Unless previous versions of themselves did this same thing, someone here is not only watching them but is also a very fast painter. Very weird and intriguing.

9S catches glimpses of long silver locks, and so assumes it’s 2A, but the fact that Eve can’t sense his elder brother indicates that that long hair actually belongs to Adam, who is lures 9S down a dark, creepy hall before knocking him out. While this probably doesn’t bode well, I am glad the Adam/Eve and 2B/9S’s stories are finally connecting.

P.S. The post-ED puppet shows continue to make me LOL every week. It’s always nice to see that an otherwise quite serious show has a sense of humor. Also, we got a little bit of the Bunker theme again, which might be my favorite piece from Taro Yoko. It really does feel like you’re floating around a space station overlooking a ruined planet.

Tenten Kakumei – 11 – Can’t Throw It Away

During a lengthy meeting with the “Spirit Faithful” whose favor she must gain to be an effective queen, Princess Anisphia is praised for finally “growing up” from the carefree tomboy and dedicating herself to the kingdom. She is also treated like a heretic (for her magicology) and like a womb to be filled as soon as possible by someone of their choosing. I’m not surprised Anis has to vomit after the ordeal. But then, despite all evidence to the contrary all over her face, she looks at herself in the mirror and says “I’m perfectly fine.” Like hell, girl!

No, Anis is in a very bad emotional state, caught as she is between the responsibility now on her shoulders, the guilt of having pushed it upon Algard and all that wrought, and the fact that becoming the queen means ceasing to be who she is and who she’s always been…and even then the nobles might revolt if she puts a toe out of line. She’s wearier still when Euphie tells her she wants to meet with her, the king and queen, Ilia, and Lainie (now a maid-in-training) to tell her she now knows what it is she needs to do.

Before this meeting even began, and before I knew the true extent of who Lumi is and what that entails, I already knew it would fail. Because as much as Euphie loves Anis and wants to protect her, becoming an immortal spirit contractor who forgets all of her memories and feelings for others and becomes an ethereal husk of a person is definitely not what Anis would want! Indeed, by the time Lumi is done describing something akin to when Elrond told Arwen what would become of loving a mortal, suddenly becoming a queen doesn’t sound so bad!

Euphie is coming at this from a position of deep love and caring for Anis, but she badly miscalculates how she’d react to her requesting that the king adopt her after she enters into a spirit contract so she can take the throne instead of Anis. Nevermind losing Euphie forever; to have her birthright taken away feels, to Anis at this moment, like Euphie would be taking away the last bit of value she had. The challenges are immaterial to Anis: she is the goddamn Crown Princess, and she will be queen…or she’ll be nothing.

When Euphie offers a hand of comfort, Anis slaps it away—doing so for the very first time—and runs off in tears. She’s sulking in an alley in the pouring rain when Tilty finds her and takes her to her house to warm herself by the fire. At first Tilty goes with her usual aloof schtick but when she realizes how wounded Anis is, she too warms up, gives Anis a shoulder to cry on. She also gives her an alternative life: the two of them could travel the world plying their unique trade, free as birds. It’s sounds fun, but the bottom line is Anis can’t throw away her throne.

When Euphie arrives, Tilty gives them the room. Once again Anis slaps her hand away, and Euphie smiles softly and sadly, noting Anis has never expressed anger towards her before. Euphie worries that the nobles will never accept her. Anis tells her it doesn’t matter who accepts her, it’s her duty. She begs Euphie not to make her “somebody no one needs”, and tells her, with another face that insists otherwise, that she’s “perfectly fine.”

The two remain incredibly dedicated to one another, but neither will budge on their position. Euphie doesn’t want Anis to sacrifice herself to the throne, and Anis doesn’t want to sacrifice her so she can remain herself. However important Anis’ dream of magic is, it can’t begin to compare to Euphie’s life.

Anis is resigned to the fact neither of them will be able to convince the other with words…so she proposes a duel between them. Presumably, whoever wins will get their way…but considering both choices kind of suck, I still hope that after dueling it out these two can put their heads together and find a third way.

NieR: Automata Ver 1.1a – 02 – Blood and Lilies

In episode two, perspective shifts from the YoRHa in their pristine orbital headquarters to a battered but still operational Machine Lifeform (ML). Curiously, despite having apparently been created by “Aliens”, they have a very similar bootup and heads-up display as the humans’ androids.

This single ML unit starts to walk, creating a sense of scale and grandeur to the ruined landscape. Upon returning to a base, it finds a book, and in that book, a bookmark with the image of a white lily. Scenes of ML are interspersed with a childlike narrator telling the story of the MLs with colored paper compositions.

This particular ML develops an “emotional matrix”, deemed a critical error, and its red eyes turn yellow, denoting neutrality. It ;earns how to garden, and devotes its existence to growing flowers, gathering “followers” in the form of other yellow-eyed MLs.

The comparisons to WALL-E are obvious from the serene, gorgeous empty vistas ML inhabits to the way the storytelling takes place without dialogue (narration segments aside). But hey, if you’re going to borrow, borrow from the best.

Not far from ML’s growing garden is an embedded group of human resistance fighters led by…Lily. I immediately wondered if, like the stiff redheaded twin maintenance units assigned to the unit, she was an android in disguise. Regardless, she’s bitter about the “Council of Humanity” on the Moon ignoring all requests for badly-needed reinforcements.

Every encounter with the red-eyed MLs means at least one of her unit will be injured or killed, with no one to replace them. They’re ambushed when trying to gather resources to keep fighting, and have to abandon those resources when the MLs send in kamikaze units.

Little does Lily know that up in orbit, she’s about to get a helping hand, in the form of 2B and 9S. When 2B wakes up she tells 9S she finds the sound of his voice comforting, only to cooly head to the control room without him.

They may have just come back from a brutal battle that claimed 9S’s memories, but Commander White sends them back down to perform recon on the resistance unit. They had an android embedded with the unit, but there’s been a breakdown in communication.

2B and 9S can’t come soon enough, as a huge mass of red-eyed MLs trample and destroy the yellow-eyed peaceful bots and their garden on their march to kill the humans. Lily demonstrates that she’s a capable leader despite her youth, quick and decisive and maximizing the limited resources she has.

When they mine a bridge and lure the red-eyed bots across, the detonators fail to work. It’s here where Lily’s underlings spot the yellow-eyed ML we know and have grown fond of. He stands in front of the hundreds of red-eyes, seemingly to try to talk them out of further fighting.

But before he can turn any red eyes to yellow, the entire bridge is lit up by missiles from 2B and 9S’ flying mechas. 2B makes a characteristically stylish entrance, and Lily not only knows her as “Number Two” but is very shocked to see her, or indeed any Council reinforcements. That said, Lily’s bloody shoulder seems to confirm she’s a flesh-and-blood human, not a “tin man”.

As for our yellow-eyed friend, he didn’t die in vain, nor is he alone. Hundreds if not thousands of his kind are soaking up knowledge from the library of the civilization they toppled, and seem to be combining their amassed knowledge and brains into a single mega-brain.

While I’m not sure what this is quite about, from a visual standpoint I can at least guess that yellow eyes and books are, at least now, less of a threat than red eyes, kamikaze bots, and slaughter. The narrator also describes the yellow-eyed bot anomalies as “treasures”. Were they meant to evolve in this way, or was it just random happenstance?

Whatever the answers are, and even if they’re never revealed, I remain thoroughly intrigued, and the setting lends the show a welcome splash of color and life from last week’s largely monotone, industrial battles. The post-ED omake featuring a cloth puppet 2B and 9S answering fan mail provides humor and whimsy.

NieR: Automata Ver 1.1a – 01 (First Impressions) – Glory…to Mankind

Nier:Automata Ver 1.1a is an anime adaptation of a video game sequel to a spin-off of another video game series dating back to 2003, but for me it might as well be anime-original. With this adaptation, A-1 Pictures gives us a polished sci-fi action flick set in a bleak and gritty world decimated by alien invasion. The aliens use “machine lifeforms” (retro-looking robots) to fight sleeker (read: sexier) androids developed by humanity.

Our protagonist is YoRHa B-Gata H-Kei 2-gou B-gata, AKA 2B, which is super easy name to remember. Sporting a silver bob, eye mask, dark maid/knight outfit, katana, and slick-as-shit mecha, 2B is voiced by Ishikawa Yui, channeling Mikasa with an appropriately stiff, mechanical vocal performance. I also thought of early Vivy.

2B has the baroque look of a late-stage Final Fantasy character, which contrasts nicely with the more bare-bolts industrial setting. At times I wondered if Yuuri and Chito from Girls’ Last Tour might come running through the mist. She’s supported by a float “Pod” companion that keeps her informed about her surroundings and conditions.

2B has a mission, and despite being the only one of her squad to make it to the factory where her Goliath-type target is located, she is determined to carry out the mission or die (or rather be destroyed) trying. She’s aided by a far more “human”-acting intelligence android, 9S, voiced by Hanae Natsuki as if he were an affable high school character.

9S hasn’t spoken to anyone in a while, and is happy to be teamed up with someone, being a typically solo unit. 2B is less enthused, especially with 9S’ loquaciousness (she tells him not to call her “miss” and cuts his exposition short). But he also saves the “brute-force-first” 2B’s ass. As for the Goliath, it appears as a massive oil platform-on-tracks, with a face resembling the boss from StarFox.

This Goliath is a tough customer, but 9S has it handled: diving into its computer brain in a trippy hacking sequence that’s a nice change of pace from the external twisted metal and rust, and smoke. His hacking ends up being incomplete and he’s ejected from his mecha and seriously maimed, and Goliath is able to reboot and regain part of its autonomy.

9S urges a suddenly very human-like 2B not to worry about him and complete the mission. She runs up the appendages of the Goliath and punctures its core with her katana. The good guys have seemingly prevailed and defeated the big level boss. But then it wakes back up, and four other Goliaths awaken and rise, surrounding them.

It looks like it’s going to be Game Over, Man for both 2B and 9S, so after she thanks him for saving her, the two take out their Black Boxes. When these boxes touch, they self-destruct in a massive explosion that consumes all of the Goliaths. Even with 9S by her side, this was always going to be a suicide mission as soon as 2B arrived without any of her fellow squad units.

But while that’s the end of her body, her mind, memories, and data are all transferred back up to the massive orbital human stronghold called the Bunker, and she wakes up in a new android body. It’s the first time we see her eyes, and because of that the sight of them really packs a punch.

When she reunites with a revived 9S, he confirms that the mission was complete, but that he must have only had time to transfer her data back to the Bunker. The 9S before him has no memories of their joint mission down on the surface. When this new 9S dutifully utters their motto—Glory to Mankind—2B clenches a fist and repeats the words …but grudgingly.

We don’t see a single human being or alien in this episode, only their tools. If we never see either, I probably won’t mind. Their absence contributes to quite a compelling atmosphere of loneliness, isolation, and even a tinge of resentment and brooding in the androids. They were built and programmed to say that motto and fight and sacrifice their bodies and minds, and while emotions are forbidden, they are also definitely there.

2B wonders if her unending cycle of life and death is a curse or punishment from the gods who created her. None of this is groundbreaking stuff, but it is admirably executed, and looks and sounds awesome (Aimer sings the OP and the score is boss), which is why I’ll be continuing to watch.

The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague – 01 – Baby It’s Lukewarm Outside

Fuyutsuki is a cool beauty who lives with her cat. On her way to her first day at her new office job, she encounters a handsome fellow with silver hair; his legs frozen in a block of ice of his own making. His name is Himuro, and he’s descended from a yuki-onna.

When pouring her hot tea on the ice doesn’t break it, Fuyutsuki offers some tea for him Himuro to drink, and combined with the cherry blossoms, he calms down enough that the ice cracks. He thanks her and they go their separate ways, each of them charmed by their encounter.

Of course, that’s not the last time they meet, or there’d be no show! They meet again immediately, as they’re employees at the same office—their desks are even adjacent. Neither of them mind this arrangement.

One of their co-workers is descended from a fox spirit, and sprouts ears and a tail when excited. Himuro, meanwhile, causes a little mini-snowstorm in the office every time he gets fired up or blushes over Fuyutsuki. Unfortunately, the gimmick grows a little repetitive as the episode goes on.

While it’s competently made, features decent character designs (I particularly dig the leads’ eye colors), a cute kitty, and Ishikawa Yui, Ice Guy ultimately lacked sufficient energy and verve to propel me to keep watching. To be brutally honest, it was just a bit dull.

 

Spy x Family – 04 – True Elegance

From the moment the Forgers enter the gates of Eden College, they know they’re being observed. Loid and Yor’s respective special sets of skills tell them that Eden instructors are watching from every angle, failing families just for walking or looking sub-elegant. Loid leads the way in putting on as elegant a show as possible, while warning Yor and Anya to keep their guard up.

The pre-interview trials continue with a plump Eden student stuck in a muddy drainage canal. If the Forgers help the kid they’ll get their clothes soiled and won’t be admitted inside the school. But Loid prepared for a number of contingencies, and the three of them have a change of clothes ready once the planted fatty has been extracted.

After that, the Forgers face an even more ridiculous test when the school’s farm animals escape from their enclosures en masse. Once Loid identifies the lead cow, Yor springs into action, leaping over the charging animal and hitting its pressure points to stop it dead in its tracks. Anya then notices the cow is scared, and uses her esper powers to comfort it and send it on its way.

These feats of heroism move one of the housemasters watching the Forgers, a walrus-bearded, monocled gentleman obsessed with elegance. He’s doubly impressed by the fact that the farm animal escape was not intentional, but a legit accident, and that a number of important people were among those the Forgers saved. He rushes out and declares the Forgers have earned the right to interview for Eden.

After Loid and Yor change their clothes a second time, the interview commences. Loid remarks that even though he’s dealt with infiltrating terrorist groups and deactivating nuclear bombs, by far the most nervous he’s been is this pauncy school interview. But the Forgers have practiced this ad nauseum, and both Loid and Yor are ready with detailed, elegant answers to the three housemasters’ questions.

Anya, being a little kid, is the weak link in the family, partly because she only barely passed the written exam, but also flubs her words and makes some questionable improvisational choices when unexpected follow-up questions are asked.

I love the detail that goes into their responses, and how the three very different interviewers react, how Yor reacts to Loid’s praise, and how both of them react to how Anya wants to be with them forever. Anya’s ability to read Loid’s mind also gives her access to quick (if out-of-context) answers that the interviewers accept…but only to a point.

The Forgers are undone by the Eden housemasters’ Good Cop-Bad Cop-Elegant Cop strategy. The kindly housemaster and the elegant housemaster are all but won over, but the third is Murdoch Swan, arrogant, callous, and recently divorced  son of the former housemaster.

He has an axe to grind, and does everything he can to trip up this disgustingly perfect family. And he succeeds, asking Anya whether she loves her old or new mamas more. Yor almost kills him, and Loid smashes a table and storms out.

It looks like everything’s over, but with Anya clearly in Eden uniform in the end credits, Swan probably wasn’t going to have his way. In fact, Mr. Elegant, Henry Henderson, does what Loid wanted to do and punches him for disgracing the school.

Back home, the Forgers are in a funereal mood, certain that not only did they fail the mission, but apprehensive that it could spell the end of their family. It’s ultimately Yor who pulls Loid out of his funk. The three will leave it in the hands of the two good housemasters. Hopefully fate will smile on these three beautiful people.

Shin no Nakama – 13 (Fin) – Warm Milk with Honey

Last week certainly ended about as distressingly as it could, what with a sword-hypnotized Ruti having just gravely, possibly mortally wounded Tisse and looking for her next target. So I was both surprised and satisfied with Red’s elegant solution: getting Ruti’s sword caught in his butter-soft bronze sword and flinging it away, thus snapping his sister out of it.

Could the solution have been more difficult and drawn out? Absolutely, but more action would have taken time away from the emotional fallout of what had just transpired. Instead, the awakened Ruti sees her only real friend with a gaping wound and can’t do anything about it; her Hero’s Blessing ignoring her call. Thankfully, Theodora has the power to heal Tisse.

Theodora doesn’t ask Ruti or anyone else for forgiveness, because she was doing both what she thought was right and what her own blessing demanded. However, recent events opened her eyes to the cruelty and crushing loneliness of an unwilling Ruti’s Hero Blessing, and she that even if Red hadn’t left, she simply didn’t need a party anymore. I have to concur with everyone else that Theodora would make a better hero, because it’s what she wants.

Turns out Ruti’s new Blessing is called “New Truth”, with a skill called “Ruler” she’s using to suppress the Hero’s Blessing, losing its boons along with its burdens but in the exchange, becoming the ordinary girl with free will to choose her own future. Feeling the cold and sneezing from it is an amazing new experience; Ruti even looks forward to her first cold! I can’t tell you how cute that is, or how lovely it is to see her finally enjoy being able to taste food again.

After so much excitement earlier in her life, she seems to want the same thing as her brother: a slow, quiet life. In her case, that means starting a farm that grows medicinal herbs, thereby not only doing what she wants, but doing it in part to help contribute to Red and Rit’s business. Naturally, Tisse will be by her side the whole way, supporting her, because Tisse is unassailably The Best…as is Mr. Crawly Wawly.

Before heading off with Tisse to find some suitable farmland, Ruti joins the others at Ares’ funeral. It’s to the credit of this mild-mannered and decent series that he doesn’t suffer eternal agony; indeed he is someone to be pitied and not hated, for his plight wasn’t much different from Ruti’s. The fact the First Hero had six swords lends credence to the possibility they were an Asura Demon—with no blessing, which means they were a hero by their own free will.

The episode’s title is “Guide”, referring to Red’s Blessing, which I’d honestly forgotten until it was brought up several times this week. After Gonz and Mido help Red and Rit fix and clean up their shop and home, Rit confesses to often freaking out at night, worried Red won’t be by her side when she wakes up, because he’s the Guide, and one day he may have to guide someone else. Red assures her that won’t happen; that his journey has ended, and that she is his one, only, final destination, because he needs and loves her as much as she does him.

“Really? Then prove it!”, one might ask. Well, they proceed to do just that. After some adorable awkward fumbling attempts at foreplay, Red and Rit disrobe, hop into their big, newly-repaired bed, and make love for the first time. As one would expect of this show, it’s handled gently and tastefully. They even have a bit of profound post-coitus pillow talk, as Red admits his previous journey may be over, but he’s looking forward to a new one with Rit and the family they’ll have in the future.

Such is the narrative efficiency of this episode (without feeling rushed at all like a couple of previous episodes), we still have time for Red to take Ruti on a tour of Zoltan’s sights, sounds, and tastes. Thanks to New Truth she’s able to experience so much that feels like the first time, and is simply grateful she can be with her brother like old times…and sleep! Red promises he’ll always be there for her.

This leads to a potentially cliché scene where Ruti sits down next to Red at the shop (because she’s tired…and appreciates how good it feels to sit down when you’re tired!) and gloms onto her dear brother. Rit, suddenly jealous, proceeds to grab Red’s other arm. The two glare and growl at each other…and then break into laughter, all while a bemused Tisse watches.

Suddenly, the guild girl arrives at the shop to report an emergency: some demons have captured the adventurers sent to deal with them. She doesn’t need the Hero, just a hero, which Ruti proves she is regardless of Blessing when she picks up her sword and goes with the guild girl…because it’s what she wants to do.

This was pretty much a pitch perfect finale and the perfect way to end the series: by giving me what brought me to keep watching in the first place: a warm, cozy, almost iyashikei atmosphere to an isekai setting. I now appreciate the more action and plot-oriented penultimate episodes more knowing they were meant to make us long for the slow life, just like Red, Rit, Ruti, Tisse, and Mr. Crawly Wawly.

If they make another season of this mug of warm milk with honey in anime form, I’ll watch it in a slow heartbeat. The post-credit scene with Yarandrala and Godwin hints that that’s the plan.

Shin no Nakama – 12 – Life Comes at You Fast

Even in his twisted current state, Ares believes what he is doing is both right and righteous. He was born to serve the Hero, but to do so, there must be a Hero, and it’s Ruti. He and Shisandan defeat Danan and make it to the chamber deep in the futuristic/ancient ruins where five of the six “Sacred Avenger” blades reside. They only need Ruti to touch one in order for the Hero’s Blessing to take hold once more.

But Shisandan, who like Ares wants nothing more than for Ruti to return to being the Hero, knows that won’t be enough; they’ll have to kill the one thing making Ruti not want to be the Hero most: her brother Gideon/Red. Neither Red, Rit, nor Ruti make it easy, as the three have no intention of letting Ares or Shisandan get their way, but those two find an odd ally in Theodora, who likewise defers to the Almighty’s Will.

A wyvern or two show up in the ensuing battle, and a magically-chained Rit rejects Theodora’s strict dogma that places so heavy a burden on unwilling shoulders. Ares, becoming more undone by the minute, conjures a giant iron cube that sends Red and Rit flying down the elevator shaft to their deaths, causing the biggest emotional outburst from Ruti yet.

Danan, who has recovered from his fight with Shisandan and Ares, uses “Rising Dragon’s Roar” to halt their fall and fly them back up to where Ares is. Ares, meanwhile, turns his attention to Tisse, and even squashes Mr. Crawly Wawly! Fortunately he’s fine, and he manages to clandestinely bind Ares’ hands with his spider silk, allowing Red to chop off his hands and deliver a near-fatal blow to his former comrade.

Ruti and Shisandan, who at some point fell down a level or two, continue to battle each other. The angrier Ruti gets, the more powerful she becomes, until she wrests one of Shisandan’s swords from him, slices him to bits, and beheads him. The animation and lighting here really bring the scene to life and lend it an epic quality.

Of course, it wasn’t Shisandan’s intention to win a fight against Ruti, but to get her to touch one of the Sacred Avenger blades. She does so, and almost immediately, it re-takes a hold over her mind and stifles both emotion and free will. After watching a Ruti enjoy her independence, it’s a gut-wrenching moment seeing it all snatched away in an instant.

Things get even worse when she ascends to where Red and Rit are, he greets her warmly, and without warning she lunges at him, sword drawn. It’s only thanks to Show MVP Tisse Garland (never thought I’d write that!) putting herself between Ruti and Red that he’s not killed right then and there. But things don’t look good for Tisse, while nobody who tried to wrest Ruti from her blessing is safe now that she’s been re-brainwashed by the sword.

This is all very intense and dramatic and I’m not sure how our happy couple (or poor Tisse!) is going to get out of it alive, let alone content to return to their slow life. There’s only one more episode to sort it all out.

Shin no Nakama – 11 – Our Own to Live

Tisse’s first act as savior and protector of Ruti is to go to those who care about her—Red and Rit—and let them know what’s going on: how a contract demon met with Ruti, gave her a drug that weakens her Hero’s Blessing, and broke Godwin out of jail to make her more of it.

Meanwhile Ares, Theodora, and Albert have returned to Zoltan, presumably to retrieve their wayward hero. Ares and Albert make themselves invisible (which is something you’d think Red could detect) as Red chats with a one-handed Danan. It doesn’t take long for Red to make clear that a.) he left the party of his own free will, and b.) he’s now found where he truly belongs.

Ares ends up tangled up with a second Danan, this one with both hands, who seems a bit too sharp to be the real Danan. It’s also pretty clear Danan wouldn’t lead Ares right into Red and Rit’s unattended apothecary so he can wreck up the place. He even ruins their big bed! All while “Danan” kinda looks on and scoffs. He’s clearly got plans for Ares.

Red and Rit are out, because they decided together that they can’t continue their quiet life while Ruti is in turmoil, and if Shisandan is still alive and assuming the form of Danan and others, they can’t stand by and do nothing. Red rushes ahead to the ancient elven ruins where Godwin is being held, and lures Ruti stright to him by threatening to harm the alchemist.

Now that Red is no longer ignorant to her situation, Ruti is prepared for her brother to hate her, and demand she return to her duties as Hero. Naturally, Red doesn’t do this; if he did anything like that, he’d be a real hypocrite! On the contrary, he’s been studying ways to lesson her Blessing’s effects for years, for a time when she wants to go on her own journey. It seems that time has come. As far as Red’s concerned, just as his and Rit’s lives are theirs to live as they please, so too is Ruti’s.

Ares…doesn’t believe this, and when he arrives at the ruins and tries to order Ruti around, Red can’t hold his tongue. This makes the already unstable Ares go a bit nuts, casting a spell that slams Red into a stone wall hard. Ruti responds by stabbing Ares with her sword, but missing his vitals, assuring him that if he hurt or tries to seriously hurt Red, she’ll slay him and not bring him back.

In a show full of complex personalities and motivations, Ares is probably the least interesting character—even moreso than Theodora and Danan, since at least they have honor. This guy is just a pathetic brat, and now it seems Shisandan (in the guise of the adventurer Bui) wants to make a new party with him to search the ruins for a relic of the First Hero.

Bui is certain Ruti will return to being the hero if Ares gives this relic to her, which makes me think it’s the kind of relic that messes with  free will. In any case, I hope Ruti doesn’t regret not finishing Ares off when she had the chance…