Bofuri – 04 – Bird (Ice)Box

Maple and Sally’s foray into the sprawling second level is uneventful until the former falls through a hidden trap into a large cavern containing a club-wielding jester boss. The girls work together to defeat it relatively easily. Maple exhibits her new skill “Cover Move”, which enables her to finally keep up with Sally by mimicking her movements in exchange for double damage. Since zero doubled is still zero, it’s another NWO hack for Maple.

After one day they only have two medals, but when they encounter Kuromu and his party on the snowy but notably not cold mountain (a nod to RPG characters rarely bundling up in cold locations), he reports they’ve got zilch. Feeling indebted to him for his earlier assistance, Maple lets his party go through a one-time use teleport gate, only for the gate to almost immediately reappear, suggesting the boss made quick work of the Kuromu crew.

Maple and Sally use the gate, which takes them to the lair of Silverwing, their toughest boss challenge yet, featuring multiple attack vectors. For once, the usually OP Maple is pushed back by attacks, her HP is depleted, and even the outer layers of her armor is destroyed. Thankfully, ten Devours are enough in concert with Sally’s quick harassing attacks and Mirage skill, which enables Maple to slip in under the big icy bird and deliver a Hydra coup-de-grace.

For their trouble, the duo gains give medals for a total of seven, as well as two mysterious monster eggs. They head to warmer climes and warm them until they hatch, revealing a turtle familiar Maple names Syrup and a white fox familiar Sally names Oboro. Like their masters, Syrup and Oboro feature high defense and agility, respectively, and level up and gain skills as they’re used. They both make adorable additions to the party.

The familiars can also be stashed away when not needed, or in the case of Maple and Sally trudging through a desert inhospitable for either animal. Upon reaching an oasis, the two meet their first PvP opponent: a raven-haired maiden in pink samurai garb, brandishing a katana. She placed sixth in the previous event, and looks to rise in the player rankings and is perhaps thinking of adding Maple and Sally’s seven medals to her own collection.

3D Kanojo: Real Girl – 10 – Love is Painful, but Also Fun

I’ll admit the title above isn’t a particularly original observation, but one thing it definitely is is true, as anyone who loves or has ever loved someone else can attest. When 3DK started I noted the balance in its core couple, and I stand by that assessment.

Whatever they may feel about their situation, the fact is both of them are at pretty much an equal disadvantage when it comes to matters of love and intimacy. Before falling for one another, neither had any experience with intimacy. Hikari had never liked or been liked by someone like Iroha, and Iroha had never liked or been liked by someone like Hikari.

Their mutual lack of experience has made for a bumpy road as their affection for one another intensifies, but it also leads to some novel strategies someone with more experience than Hikari might not attempt, such as having Iroha present for his gentle rejection of Ayado.

It wasn’t even a stone-cold rejection of Ayado, so much as a calm and measured affirmation that he’s simply already in love with Iroha. More importantly, he showed his work, explaining how he used to feel and how those feelings changed when he learned more about her, and when his preconceptions were replaced by truths.

Iroha, who only wanted to hear Hikari say the words “I love you”, wants to hear them again later, and Hikari knows not to refuse her. Ayado feels bad about being turned down, and both she and Hikari find themselves weighed down by their 3D problems in the immediate aftermath, but after that both are fine; Ayado is refreshed.

Itou knows now is not the time to confess his love for Ayado, nor is he sure such a time will ever come. When making up with Hikari after yelling at him by sleeping over, Itou reveals to Hikari that there’s a girl he likes, but believes he’s already been given his answer.

I wouldn’t be too sure about that; Ayado is coming off a rejection, but given time, she might be receptive to someone like Itou’s feelings provided, ya know, she is aware of them, and that’s up to Itou. It’s up to him whether he can get past the fact she once loved Hikari. In any case, as Itou says, it’s painful being in love, but also fun.

Hikari’s tale of romantic ineptitude is a simple one: he buried himself in games after he decided interacting with people was too hard and painful. It was Iroha who brought him back to the 3D world, and showed him how it wasn’t only pain that awaited him there, but a good deal of joy as well. He also learned how well-equipped he was to live in such a world, owing to his basic decency and kindness.

Iroha’s tale is one we hadn’t delved into, but I’m glad this episode finally does so. Iroha has a pretty face, and so she never wanted for the attentions of men of all ages, whether that attention was appropriate or not. When she pressed those who confessed to her what they liked, they gave only superficial answers.

What changed Iroha from an insular person not any more sure how to interact with people into someone approaching gregariousness was, apparently, a medical diagnosis. She decided she’d interact with as many people as she could, but she only managed to attract those like her; people only looked at the surface and never dug deeper.

In a way it’s hard to blame them, because like her it was all they knew. Then she met Hikari, someone who wasn’t simply looking to share in the kindred understanding of attractive people that your real self will always elude others. Hikari got past that, found the awkward person beneath the surface, and wanted to protect that person…and stuff.

Hikari is still nervous being alone with Iroha, particularly in his room, but after a day of karaoke and bowling during which Iroha discovers Hikari’s cool, intense side (going all out singing) as well as his delicate, nurturing side (clipping her nails when she breaks them while bowling), he comes to the realization he’s okay being with her.

When he and Iroha spotted his little brother holding hands with Takanashi’s little sister, Hikari lamented that he sometimes feels his life moves five times slower than average. But when you only have three months left with your girlfriend before she moves, he realizes that slowing of time is a good thing.

3D Kanojo: Real Girl – 09 – She Loves Me as I am; I Hurt Her as I am

Hikari manages to find Iroha, but their communication impasse continues unabated. Iroha knows she shouldn’t get so mad whenever he’s kind to others, but doesn’t quite know how. Hikari doesn’t know much of anything, just that something’s wrong and he wants someone—Iroha, Ishino, Takahashi—to give him all the answers.

Itou’s doomed pursuit of Ayado has him accompanying her into town for a post-fever hospital visit, but what with her talk of needing to confess to Hikari, he never gets what he deems a decent chance to tell her of his own feelings for her.

While on the train home (alone), Hikari dreams of Julia, the only other girl who ever interacted with him on a regular basis, in elementary school. She liked how he was good at drawing, but he didn’t know how else to get approval from others, so he kept drawing, even after everyone else, Julia included, moved on.

He repeats his assertion it’s a miracle someone like Iroha likes him, but decides a grand gesture like confessing his feelings for her might get things back on track. To his dismay, Iroha doesn’t want to talk, but Hikari only makes things worse by answering a text from Ayado when his attention should be on Iroha first and foremost.

I don’t care how indiscriminately kind you are; the person standing in front of you is almost always more important than a text or phone call. Hikari blows it, then gets completely blindsided by Ayado’s confession. So much so he runs away, engendering the scorn of Itou, who tells him he’s “the worst” for responding to Ayado’s courage with such cowardice.

Hikari surely looks like he’d like to go back to not having any friends at all, but it’s too late for that. He may not be on the best terms with some of them, but they’re still his friends. He may be on rough seas with Iroha, but they’re still boyfriend and girlfriend.

Ishino and Takanashi serve as sounding boards for Hikari and Iroha, and both find themselves giving out serious advice in spite of themselves. Like it or not, these two have become good friends with this dysfunctional couple, and so they’ll lend a hand whenever they can, because beneath Ishino’s rough and Takanashi’s douchey exteriors, they’re both good people.

Takanashi tells Iroha the only way to figure things out is to keep seeing Hikari and talking with him. Hikari, meanwhile, gets punched by Ishino…but at his request, leading him to properly respond to Ayado’s confession.

3D Kanojo: Real Girl – 08 – IT BURNS US, PRECIOUS!!!

In hindsight, the camping trip seemed doomed to failure. You had multiple parties involved who liked someone who didn’t like them back, whom I listed last week. You had the central couple just having forged their latest peace treaty after yet another misunderstanding. It all felt like so much tinder ready to ignite from the tiniest spark. Besides, we all know what camping leads to…FIRE.

Still, while things were all but certain to blow up before the episode concluded, it featured lots of good character pairings beyond the usual Hikari-and-Iroha. Ishino goes for it with Takanashi only to be turned down in sensational fashion (she asked what he didn’t like about her and he answered, holding nothing back).

While you could say Takanashi’s general feeling of being put out by being invited in the first place is a measure of comeuppance, he is also forced to endure as thorough a dressing-down from Iroha as he exacted upon Ishino. It’s not just that Iroha hates him for what he did to Hikari; she hates how he tries so hard to defend himself to the end.

Itou mostly keeps a respectful distance from his new crush Ayado, but when she calls him “cat-ears-senpai” one too many times he starts to suspect she doesn’t even see him as a potential mate. When she, convinced she’s a “below-average nothing of a girl” thinks no one is looking, she steals a gaze at Hikari talking and laughing with Iroha. But Itou is watching, and he can see—as could anyone with eyes—that Ayado is neither ‘below-average’ nor ‘nothing’.

Despite all this magma simmering just below the surface, it must be said that pretty much everyone is having fun on this trip, even if that fun is being somewhat marred by varying levels of heartache. Iroha even makes a point to tell Ishino how glad she is everyone is having fun. And then Ayado drops a teapot and burns her hand, and Hikari (who was in the kitchen with her) takes her to the sink and tenderly holds her hand under running water.

Seeing Ayado in Hikari’s hands—and seeing how she reacts to being in them—is too much to bear for Itou, who goes outside for some air. When Ayado goes so far as to make guilty eye contact with Iroha, it’s too much for her too, and before you know it, Iroha and Itou are outside for the exact same reason: Ayado and Hikari.

I don’t know if she’s on new medication to make her more sensitive and perceptive or if she was always like this beneath her rough exterior, but Ishino goes out and diagnoses Iroha’s mood with frightening accuracy, in addition to offer some worthwhile advice: if you don’t want things to keep getting weird, don’t be afraid to speak up on the spot.

The group reunites for cardplaying, but only Hikari and Takanashi actually seem interested in playing, while Ayado, who was accidentally pushed into the drink by Ishino, comes down with a fever. Tending to her falls to Iroha, which we later learn was Hikari’s idea, in yet another case of not knowing what he doeth.

Ayado’s pent-up feelings combined with her fever compel her to confess that she’s in love with Hikari, which is really the last thing Iroha needs to hear right there and then. The next time she sees Hikari, he pleads ignorance once more, and she blows her stack and runs off into the chilly woods. “Too dense. I’ve had enough of it.”

Hikari and Ayado are in trouble for the same thing: failing to properly gauge how their words and actions will be construed by the people they care about. Ayado’s poor timing and lack of tact set Iroha off, though she doesn’t deserve the reaming she gets from Takanashi.

Itou is there to put a stop it. Itou may never find himself being watched by Ayado the way Hikari has, but he won’t stand for Takanashi being overly cruel, not to mention hypocritical.

Meanwhile, Ishino accompanies Hikari to look for Iroha, who remains hidden (and cold) to the end of the episode. That’s one damn dark way to end! Honestly, I don’t know where Hikari and Iroha go from here. Hikari’s continued inability to understand anything is wearing thin, while Iroha knows that it’s not entirely his fault—his kindness for those deserving of it simply has no filter.

Sometimes it’s no one’s fault. Sometimes things just burn down, and all you can do is properly dispose of the ashes. Or will new growth (in their relationship) sprout from those ashes, like a Phoenix rising over Arizona?

Mahoutsukai no Yome – 14

In what has become a staple of Mahoutsukai no Yome, a cliffhanger that hints that Chise might be in big trouble this time turns out to be something else entirely, and something far less worrisome. In this case, Ashen Eye threw a hide over Chise that turned her into a werebeast, perhaps as a test to see what “home” is to her.

Both Ruth and Elias (also in Beast-Mode) catch up to Fox-Chise, who is having so much fun running through the forest she isn’t quite sure what’s going on unless they tell her. Elias brings her back by repeating his line about it being too cold without her. (Maybe he should invest in a better HVAC system for that house? I kid, I kid.)

In one of the clunkier transitions in this somewhat episodic show, the beside-herself Leannan Sidhe reappears. Joel is on death’s door, and there’s nothing anyone can do. Well, not nothing; Chise can make a faerie ointment that, when applied to Joel’s eyelids, he’ll be able to see the vampire who has been haunting him all these years. This is something both the Sidhe and Joel very much want.

Elias doesn’t want Chise to do it, but he’s never heard her demand anything before, so he doesn’t stop her. However, neither he nor Ruth can assist in the making of the ointment—a process that requires five sleepless nights—and he urges her not to push herself too hard.

The five days and nights pass, and the ointment is made. A very sleep-deprived Chise delivers a daub of it to Sidhe to do with as she pleases, and…it works! Joel gets to see the Sidhe, and tells her he knew she was there all along and can die and return to his late wife a happy man, not blaming the Sidhe for cursing him.

So, it would seem that Chise did one of her friends a big favor, no big deal, right? The Sidhe is going to continue living at Joel’s house…which should give pause to whomever ends up moving in there. All’s well that ends well!

Oh, wait, making a faerie ointment for such a purpose is a taboo and borderline crime in the faerie world, and Oberon comes to Elias and Chise demanding she hand over the jar. Before she can, she coughs up a good deal of blood. I guess she pushed herself too far after all.

3-gatsu no Lion – 32

Perhaps I denounced Junko for playing dirty against Nikaidou; turns out he respects the hell out of the round little guy, and was fully prepared to lose to him…until Nikaidou collapsed.

Between his clueless drinking buddies with their boorish questioning, his two downgrades, and losing his prized racing pigeon Sliver, we see that Junko’s loss to Rei is only the latest of many setbacks in his personal and professional life.

However, things look up after he sends hydrangeas to Nikaidou. Silver also returns, and with it, Junko’s fighting spirit, which he aims to use in the 12th Lion King Tournament.

While ostensibly a detour from the season’s main narrative of Hina’s predicament, it’s still an enjoyable and at times moving character study.

Back to Rei, who celebrates his Newcomer victory by treating the Kawamotos to anything they’d like at a sweet shop.

Akari and Hina end up scaring both Rei and Grandpa by managing to put away prestigious amounts of delicious dessert in complex combinations of texture, temperature, and flavor.

By the time they leave the restaurant, the girls can barely move, and Momo, in classic kid form, waits until they left the nearest restroom to declare she had to pee.

With Akari unable to exert herself too much, Rei carries Momo, while Hina stays by his side. Akari notices that ever since Rei visited Hina in Kyoto, she’s been smiling a lot more.

We flash back to their encounter by the river, where Rei is so kind and accommodating, Hina feels as if she’s back home. Rei and Hina are lovingly framed an rendered in this scene, looking for all the world like a romantic pair, particularly when Hina tries on Rei’s glasses.

But whatever the vibes they emit, Hina has been thoroughly cheered up, to the relief of both Akari and Gramps.

Mahoutsukai no Yome – 10

Lindel sends a selkie along with one of the young dragons (now big enough for a human to ride) to invite Chise to the Land of the Dragons so the “Robin” can have a wand made. For this journey, Elias will stay behind, though Ruth will remain by her side.

Chise’s dragon ride through the wind and clouds is appropriately epic in presentation, with stirring orchestral accompaniment to boot. It’s also nice, for once, to have an episode without any imminent or even perceived threats. There are more sides to Chise’s life than peril…procuring a wand, for instance.

Nevin’s Tree is as big and majestic as ever, and Lindel directs Chise to saw off a piece of it for her wand. Her lack of surefootedness in the tree results in a spill and a demonstration of how crucial it is she have a familiar nearby to, among other things, catch her. Back home, Elias notes how quiet it seems without Chise.

While she’s hardly a Chatty Cathy, she’s a motormouth compared to Silver. Then Elias receives a message via bird-intercom from Adolf Stroud of the College administration, who’d like to learn more about what Elias has in mind for Chise’s future.

That night, Chise arms and hands are covered in scrapes and scratches, which Lindel instantly heals with a touch. As a “bedtime story”, and because Elias hasn’t told her, Lindel regails Chise with the tale of how Lindel met Elias.

Lindel himself didn’t even have a name before his master found him, and Elias has a similar “birth”, one brutally wintry day simply appearing out of seemingly nowhere, nameless, without any memories or idea of what he was. Lindel gave him a place to rest and a meal, but its clear if either of them want any answers, the best bet is to take him to his master.

Lindel finds his master with a sprig of spruce and a red string. When they arrive, when Elias is too big to enter the house, he shrinks himself to child-size. The master, kind and curious, pegs the creature as almost a fairy; as close as one can get, yet still with a bit of human, which pretty much describes the Elias we’ve come to know.

She’d normally chalk his state to the result of a human transformed after abusing black magic, but she keeps her other guess close to her chest. All she can get out of him memory-wise is a color: red. She tells Lindel to take care of him, giving him the name Elias. Lindel is initially hesitant, but when Elias starts to take off (not wanting to be a bother), he agrees, though makes sure to call him his “acquaintance”, not his “apprentice.”

Back in the present, Elias’s bird-call from Adolf is interrupted by Renfred, who warns Elias that he’ll “ruin” Chise if all he does is let her live with him. Everyone from the college to Lindel wants her to spread her wings, but Elias is taking things slow, and Chise, happy simply to be wanted by someone, is being complacent on purpose.

Of course, this episode only provided part of Elias’ past, and we still don’t know exactly who or what he is, particularly before that scene in the forest where he had to fight back wolves. Ultimately, Chise’s future is up to her and no one else, but she’ll need more knowledge before making any concrete plans.

Mahoutsukai no Yome – 09

After the dispersal of Cartaphilus, life returns mostly to normal for Chise, who enters a nice, steady routine along with her new familiar Ruth. The part that isn’t normal is Elias: he’s confined himself to his room and Chise doesn’t dare enter. Eventually, Silky tires of her standing by Elias’ door and throws her and Ruth out of the front one with spending money.

It’s not long before Chise runs into Angelica, and the two do some sightseeing and shopping around town. Angelica first tells her she needs to learn to rely on people more, but later wonders out loud if she’s being too dependent and fixed on Elias. While Angelica apologizes for saying too much, Chise latches on to her latter point, and turns it into a larger criticism on her own perceived “selfishness” for not wanting to be abandoned.

Obviously, Chise’s being too hard on herself. Considering how much she’s already lost in her sixteen years (and how few years she may have), I’d say she deserves a measure of selfishness. Besides, even as an apprentice she’s touched a number of lives in meaningful ways. She’s a good person becoming a good mage.

As if she heard my words about her, Chise decides to do what she wants, which is storm in Elias’ room and ask him what exactly is going on. The Elias who she meets is even farther from human than usual, and he warns her (with a steady voice that belies his fearsome appearance) he’s having trouble controlling his body. I couldn’t help but think of Howl (of the Moving Castle) when he’s extended himself too far and become beast-like.

Chise was startled initially, but doesn’t remain afraid for long (thinking it’s because she’s cursed). In fact, she spends the night with Elias, during which she dreams of him on top of her turning into her mother, who tells her she should never have given birth to her. How creepy and messed up is that? She wakes up to find Elias gone and a note saying he’ll be back that night.

That’s not sufficient for Chise, who didn’t get all the answers she wanted, and initiates a search for Elias with Ruth. Along the way, they encounter an old man apparently in thrall to a leannan sidhe, a kind of vampire that gives their host talent in exchange for their blood – but she is invisible to him.

The thing is…while Joel Garland is a big reader and occasional writer, he doesn’t have the talent or fame one would expect the Sidhe to give him. Nor does she even take his blood, because he lacks the ambition that is usually the opening her kind uses to gain a host.

Instead, she fell for him, years ago, when they met eyes. They meet eyes again, and the Sidhe believes it’s because Chise, a sleigh beggy, is there. She gives Chise a couple of kisses as thanks and asks her to come see Joel again some time, but insists, almost tsundere-like, that she doesn’t actually love the guy, since she can’t give him talent or take his blood.

Chise doesn’t think she can talk of love when all she can think about is herself…but is she really doing that? Does she only worry about Elias because he saved her; because gives her a reason to live; because she benefits?

Ruth finds Elias resting in a pool and Chise races to him, demanding more answers even though she expects only a few mixed with half-truths and deflections. Elias always assumed a minimum of information was needed since she understands and accepts him so quickly.

What he didn’t realize was that Chise cares about him to the extent a note and a little bit of explanation isn’t always going to cut it; she’s going to want more sometimes. Elias, taken aback by her “new faces”, now understands, but still needs more time to recover and gather his thoughts.

Just then, Echo’s familiar appears on behalf of Lindel, to invite Elias and Chise to the Land of the Dragons where he has “business” with her, revealing the setting for Chise’s next adventure.

Mahoutsukai no Yome – 08

When Chise goes down, Ulysse fears the worst as he recalls the fate of his sister Isabelle, chased into a street by bullies and killed in a car accident. Isabelle never woke up, but Chise does, could see his thoughts, and tells him she’s okay.

Meanwhile, an enraged Elias in his true(r) form tears the chimera of the ageless sorcerer (whom Elia later calls Cartaphilus) to pieces, while Renfred shoots him in the head, giving everyone a bit of time to rest and Elias to return to a less terrifying (and more importantly, shorter) form.

Cartaphilus heals quickly, however, and summons another chimera: this one with the body of a giant spider and the head of none other than Isabelle, to capture Ulysse.

Chise isn’t having it, using her masses of magical power to summon a swarm of tarantula wasps from the ether; Elias warns her not to mess with the laws of nature in such a way, and manages to hold her back, but she’s super cheesed-off.

A blue flame fairy spirits them away from Carty and the chimera to a safe place, and lends Chise a lump of his coal to calm her racing blood.

When Carty appears once more with his Isabella-headed chimera, Chise forms a pact with Ulysse in a stirring ritual to make him her familiar, whom she renames Ruth. Their hearts, minds, and lives now bound together, Ruth attacks the chimera without reservation, knowing the Isabelle he knew and loved isn’t there and won’t be coming back.

Alice shoots off Cartaphilus’s arm, and with Chise and Ruth now in a familiar pact, decides they’re no longer worth his time, and he apparates away. Being an undying force of nature more than a human or beast, may well return if and when his interest is re-sparked.

But for now the threat has passed, and Elias bids that he, Chise, and Ruth all return home, where Chise will be healed, scolded, and told more about everything that went down, as well as the ins and outs of having a familiar.

Tales of Zestiria the X – 03

Three episodes in (four if you count the prologue) and we still only know three of the eight party members in the OP, so the show largely skips past Sorey and Mikleo’s journey to the point where they’re at Ladylake’s gates, meeting the fourth (future) member. She’s got rosy hair, so I’ll call her Rose for now.

Were it not for Rose, Sorey wouldn’t be able to enter the city. That being said, Mikleo doesn’t do well around so many humans, who excrete a miasma of malevalence due to the worries about a war between Hyland and neighboring Rolance.

Princess Alisha’s non-aggressive stance, refusing to launch a preemptive strike, is only intensified by her experience in Elysia, where she say her dream of mankind (well, one man) coexisting with the Seraphim. Also, the hellion is also in Ladylake, though apparently not to kill Alisha, only to observe.

The rest of the episode takes place within the confines of a kind of great temple to the sacred blade, which is stuck in a rock smack dab in the center. No pun intended, the relatively close quarters prove a double-edged sword, compared to the more exciting hellion chase last week or earlier this week on Ladylake’s rooftops.

It’s good that things are so compressed in this one room, because it ups the tension. There’s also the sense that the assassin hired by frustrated warmonger Lord Bartlow is closing in and tightening the noose on Alisha.

Of course, there’s no mistaking Komatsu Mikako’s wonderful voice, so it was clear the moment the female assassin started talking that she was Rose, the girl Sorey met. The episode isn’t coy about this, also showing her piercing blue eyes a small glimpse of her rosy hair under the helmet.

Sorey and Mikleo learn that the Lady of the Lake is a Seraphim who dwells right beside the sacred blade, though no one can see her but them. After Alisha delivers a speech that goes over with the crowd about as well as Ted Cruz’s at the RNC last week, the Malevalence coalesces into a giant hellion in dragon form, at about the same time Rose attacks Alisha.

Suddenly the vast interior of the temple feels like a suffocating braizer in which Alisha is fighting for her live against a very skilled opponent (who uses a very different style than a knight would) and a boss none of the people can fully see causing a right ol’ ruckus.

Of course, we know what has to happen here: Sorey must take grasp the sacred blade, form a contract with the lady (named Lailah), and pull it out of the stone. Sorey becomes Lailah’s vessel, transforming him into a dazzling dandy of a hero to slay the dragon with the blade.

The dragon is slain, and the assassin withdraws, but Sorey has been warned: being the Shepherd will be an exhausting, alienating, thankless, lonely job. I’m not so sure about that last bit, especially after seeing that ED featuring Sorey hanging out with Alisha, Rose, Mikleo, and the rest of the party he has yet to assemble.

So far, each episode has set out to progress Sorey’s story by a notch, and has so far succeeded. Alisha’s prologue set the stage. Then Sorey and Mikleo met Alisha. Then Alisha invited Sorey to Ladylake, where he met Lailah and became the Shepherd.

It’s a brisk, efficient pace that manages not to feel too hurried or contrived. The addition of Komatsu Mikako to an already strong voice cast is always welcome. And, as expected, ufotable’s visuals and music continue to be beyond reproach.

Tales of Zestiria the X – 02

The gorgeous landscapes and stirring score of Zestiria continue to immerse me deeply into its world; in this case, the land of the Seraphim, along with Alisha. Sorey takes her to his home village, Elysia, because he has no other choice; human or not, he can’t just ignore her or leave her there.

In a nice twist, being a human with no prior contact, Ali can’t see Mikleo or any of the other villagers, so it appears at first that Sorey is all alone. But Alisha still believes in the Seraphim, and is convinced that they, and the Shepherd in particular, are humanity’s only hope.

It’s a good thing Sorey is so nice and neither Gramps or the villagers press for her expulsion; what could she do by going back alone, now? The horrific events that transpired on her particularly bad day are now the stuff of her nightmares, but just when that fear makes her doubt her faith, Sorey shows her the exterior of the grand ruins she found herself in last week, including the mural and glove of the Shepherd (which he gifts to her). It’s not just legends.

I also like how Gramps and the others realize this human has a good heart and isn’t the kind of threat that would invite “calamity”, as they originally feared. You can feel how unwelcome Alisha feels at first, but as their attitude towards her softens, her stay becomes more peaceful.

Naturally, she can’t just stay in the clouds with the Seraphim forever, so she heads back the way she came to Hyland, hoping there’s enough of her world left to save. I was surprised she wasn’t asking Sorey to accompany her and participate in the Sacred Blade ceremony…until she did just that. If Sorey indeed wants a world where humans (not just him) and Seraphim coexist in peace and harmony again, this could well be the way.

Alisha leaves, her hope and optimism that a hero will rise restored (and likely of the belief it’s a good chance Sorey is that Shepherd), but the moment she’s out of sight, Gramps detects a hellion in his territory, and Sorey and Mikleo rush to meet it.

The fox-faced hellion injures a Seraphim and then tangles with the two young fighters, showing impressively explosive speed, nimbleness, and strength.

It’s a short but fantastic battle that came out of nowhere, and felt even more fast and chaotic due to my being lulled into placid “village time” to that point. Quiet and still, or frenetic action; this show can do it all.

After Gramps scares off the hellion, what it said about its “main dish” concerned Sorey, who concludes it was after Alisha all along. So he heads off on his own to catch up to her and protect her from what could well be a foe far out of her league.

To Sorey’s delight, Mikleo appears, and will accompany him on his journey to Alisha’s capital, with wise words from Gramps: be free, find your own path, and live life to the fullest. They strike out as the sun starts to come up, and the entire world seems to unfold before them in all its glorious majesty. This looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Tales of Zestiria the X – 01

(Disclaimer: I have never played any of the Tales games; my RPG experience is limited to Final Fantasy and Skyrim. Therefore I have no knowledge of Zestiria, its story or its characters.)

Last week’s prologue started relatively upbeat but grew very dark and sinister and apocalyptic very quickly. This week’s episode isn’t quite done torturing Princess Alisha, who faces grief, loneliness, a sea of bugs (which a cute little familiar she apparently can’t sense tries to help keep away), and then upside-down water she drops out of, as if passing from one world to another.

I love the Alice in Wonderland sense of awe and, well, wonder in Zestiria’s many imposingly beautiful-vista money shots. Alisha gets a brief respite on a sunlit grassy cliff beside a dramatic waterfall. She inadvertently activates a pillar that reveals an entrance to another ruin behind that waterfall, and her lonely quest continues.

Meanwhile, good friends Sorey and Mikleo have a hobby much like Alisha and her friends of yore: exploring and investigating ruins. On this day they discover what they believe to be the mythical capital of Seraphim, breathtakingly perched off the face of a mountain. At this point, it’s pretty clear these two and Alisha are on opposite sides of this ruin, and will ultimately meet at some point.

The thing is, Mikleo isn’t human, and Sorey a human raised by Mikleo’s kind, while Alisha is human. That doesn’t stop Sorey from having the same book Alisha has, and the same thirst for ancient knowledge about the Seraphim who foster him.

Their aged master warned them not to stray too far into the ruins, but curiosity gets the best of the lads, who end up being attacked by lightning that seems to be summoned by the ruins themselves as a defense system. But their only escape from the lightning is to go inside the ruins, where a platform Alisha was standing on was obliterated by the same lightning.

The ruin is a great RPG-style dungeon with multiple levels, obstacles, and hidden paths that are revealed with Mikleo’s magic. As predicted, Sorey and Mikleo do spot an unconscious Alisha and Sorey rushes to help, against Mikleo’s warnings to stay away from humans.

When Ali comes to, her first question is whether Sorey is “The Shepherd,” and with that, the party swells to three, and she’s not alone anymore. But it’s also clear she’s far she was in the smoke-and-flame-wreathed prologue, down (or up) the proverbial rabbit hole; a stranger in a strange land; etc.

I’m eager to see who she fares here, with the two who will become her quest companions, as well as the assembling of the rest of the colorful party we see in the OP and ED. So far, it’s a fun, gorgeous, richly-detailed show that is still managing not to bury me in lore or jargon.

Flying Witch – 12 (Fin)

As I wrapped up Flying Witch with these last two episodes on a Sunday afternoon, I noted how similar in speed and atmosphere my lazy day was to this final outing (alas, I did not explore a flying whale earlier). FW was fine on a Saturday, but I think Sunday is its perfect timeslot.

Episode twelve gets started with Mako simply organizing her things and trimming her broom, but she finds her old handmade robe from junior high, and decides it’s time to make a new one. Chito accompanies her for style tips (and navigation).

While on her trip, which serves as a kind of farewell tour to various parts of the town, Mako catches a glimpse of her heavily-drinking sister and an Inukai and Nao hard at work telling fortunes and delivering booze, respectively.

Back home, Mako tries to keep the fact she’s making a red robe for Chinatsu first a secret, but Chinatsu is too curious, and Mako doesn’t really see the harm in her knowing now rather than later.

That turns out to be a good move, since Chinatsu isn’t just handed a completed robe: she closely watches the process of making one, something she’ll want to do when she grows up in order to get the style she wants for cheap. Akane orders her robes online, because of course she does.

Akane also ends up treading on poor Inukai just as she’s closing up shop. Inukai is hesitant to hang out, but when Akane presents a fine bottle of sake, she sighs and drops her guard. These two have always been very Yin and Yang.

When Akane stumbles home, she finds one of Mako’s mandrake roots. While searching for another, Kenny discovers it’s being chewed on from below the earth by a blue earthfish, one of the more adorable creatures in FW to date.

The fish are tricksters that eat rice crackers and turn red when they drink Akane’s offering of sake, but when everyone is asleep except Makoto, they start floating about like cute little round lanterns (or giant red fireflies). Just one of many things Makoto has seen, heard, and experienced to add to her first association report.

I can report that Flying Witch was an immensely relaxing and enjoyable magical realist slice-of-life anime: bursting with warm characters, sights, smells and tastes; perfect for a lazy weekend afternoon…or twelve! Part of me hopes this isn’t all the FW we’ll ever get.