Insomniacs After School – 07 – Inside a Dream

Anamizu, Kanikawa, and Momo show up to distribute flyers for Ganta and Isaki. Anamizu proves the most adept at placing them in the palms of passersby, but even she only manages to hand out half of her share. Such is the business of flyer distribution. Ganta heads into the market to hand out more, but thankfully Ukegawa is there to make sure he keeps his promise to watch the fireworks with Isaki.

Later in the evening, Ganta figures he must have nodded off and strayed into a wonderful dream. If that’s the case, that dream begins when he happens to spot Isaki on a bridge, looking desperately pretty and cute in a white ykata with purple flowers. The two proceed to have a perfectly adorable festival date.

There’s that ever-present excitement of being at school after dark as they walk through the dark hallways. Isaki learned to move quickly in the dark from when she and her friends in the hospital used to sneak out. On the way up to the roof she tries to hide and scare Ganta, but he sees her little hair tassle and spooks her instead.

Once atop the roof, Ganta tells Isaki how he used to get anxious in crowds, but feels better tonight. When Isaki jokes that it must be because he has a cute girl in a yukata sitting next to him, he says she’s right, causing her to blush. They look into each others eyes just as the first of the fireworks go off, but before they can say anything more, the others arrive.

While their romantic moment is interrupted, Ganta and Isaki proceed to have a blast on the roof with Anamizu, Kani, and Nono, and take a bunch of fun and beautiful photos. When the fireworks end, Isaki’s friends depart, while Ganta and Isaki head to the observatory.

There, Isaki opens up the telescope hatch to reveal the gorgeous starry sky and fill their clubroom with a magical blue light. While downloading photos, Ganta tells Isaki how he once used to lie in bed wondering why he was the only one suffering. But thanks to Isaki and her friends, he now realizes that everyone struggles with one problem or another.

When Isaki climbs into the hatch to get a better view, Ganta is worried she’ll fall, but she assures him “something like this” won’t kill her. She outlasted miniscule odds of survival, having been born with a heart condition that required surgery earlier in life.

While the surgery was a success and she’s now able to live a normal life, she lies in bed petrified that her heart will stop in the night and she won’t see the morning sun. Then a wind blows her off balance, she falls, and Ganta catches her. In the ensuing position, Ganta can hear Isaki’s heart. She says “only half of it moves, so it sounds imperfect”, but to Ganta it must be one of the most perfect sounds he’s ever heard.

Ganta tells Isaki that she doesn’t have to suffer with her anxiety alone in bed. She can call him any time and he’ll pick up and stay with her until she feels safe enough to sleep. She embraces him and cries into his chest, his shirt absorbing her cool tears of joy and gratitude.

She only pulls away and hides her face when she gets self-conscious about the tears making her look “ugly.” The next day at school, her friends don’t seem to notice the signs she’d been crying

The only hitch in Ganta’s plan is that Isaki isn’t able to carry on a regular phone conversation with the thin walls in her house and a mom who’s strict about staying up late. Ganta finds a workaround with a broadcasting app that enables them to softly talk to one another as if they were next to each other.

They talk about a little of everything, telling each other more about themselves. And it works…for both of them. While Ganta eventually hears Isaki yawning and then sleeping and laughs gleefully, he eventually falls asleep as well. Now they know they don’t need to be snuggling together to doze off…but I’m sure they still want to anyway!

Hell, watching these two listen to each other’s voices during these quiet, cozy, tender, extraordinarily sweet moments a night made me a little drowsy, in the absolute best way. Insomniacs After School reached new heights of romantic charm, while also alleviating my worries about Isaki’s fate. After this week, I feel like these two are going to be alright. Watching their gentle love blossom is a mesmerizing delight.

TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You – S2 03 – Yanagi Brilliant Park

Ginga gave Nasa and Tsukasa day passes for the Muffy Land theme park, and Tsukasa is serious about having the best time possible. Tsukasa has been there before in his youth, so he’s hoping the park won’t disappoint. Things look grim when it’s raining the day of their trip, but Tsukasa finds a silver lining: adorable raincoats!

Nasa didn’t have to worry about the park coming up short, as Tsukasa is having a blast, from the haunted house to the Star Wars-esque rides (naturally she’s watched all the episodes). But the biggest attraction of all turns out to be Yanagi-sensei and her co-worker Taniguchi-sensei. It quickly becomes apparent Taniguchi didn’t “win” tickets, but just used that as an excuse to take Yanagi somewhere because he likes her.

That said, Yanagi is oblivious, thinking Taniguchi is just being nice because she doesn’t get out much. Tsukasa and Nasa make for a great soccer commentary pair in this little rom-com within the episode. Yanagi ends up scoring the first big “goal” by taking Taniguchi’s hand when they go on the scary ride. Nasa also learns a lot from Tsukasa’s perceptiveness that he’s possibly not as perceptive as he thought!

When an opportunity comes for Taniguchi to reveal his intentions (Yanagi comes right out and asks why he brought her to a place where people go on dates and even get married), he is actually about to tell her, but a high schooler in the exact situation beats him to it with his date. He says he likes her, she suggests they go out, he agrees, and Bob’s your uncle! Taniguchi is mortified, but notes that Yanagi found the exchange compelling.

Taniguchi may have hit the post on this try, but the beauty of a theme park is the opportunities keep coming, so he suggests they go get some lunch. Tsukasa and Nasa do the same, and Tsukasa decides to make a romantic game of it: who can make the better plate of the other’s favorite foods from the buffet? Tsukasa naturally nails it, and is almost telepathic in knowing Nasa probably put the curry next to the cakes, but it doesn’t matter. They’re both winners of this adorable game!

Throughout all of this, Chitose is shadowing Tsukasa and Nasa with Charlotte and Aurora in tow. However, at this point Chitose is resigned to the fact Tsukasa is in a committed marriage and isn’t interested in meddling, only observing. Along the way she and the maids have a lovely time at the park together, with large swaths of completely losing track of their targets. Call it Chitose’s deredere side simply wanting to bask a little in the marital bliss…and sink into the park mascot Muffy’s fluffy fluffy white fur.

When the nightly parade and fireworks take place, it’s Yanagi who ends up making the first move, telling Taniguchi what a fun time she had. When Taniguchi says he feels the same, Yanagi absent-mindedly asks if they should then get married, taking a page from her former student’s own remarkably efficient romance. She shakes it off, and explains that things just felt really comfortable and right today. They just make sense.

To that, Yanagi finally grows a pair, tenderly takes her hands in his, and just as a firework explodes above them, tells her he likes her. It’s just a sweet-as-hell moment. I was prepared for so many more episodes of will-they-won’t-they, but Tsukasa and Nasa helped paved the way for Yanagi to get out there, mix it up, and find a special someone. In this she was successful almost beyond belief … and almost as if Tsukasa and Nasa have a kind of cupid-like power to bring others together.

Three episodes in and we’re no closer to learning anything more about Tsukasa’s past teased in the OP, but just like last season, the need to learn more takes a back seat to enjoying her and Nasa, Yanagi and Taniguchi, and Chitose and the maids interact. Put simply, Tsukasa’s past is a bullet Tonikawa may never need to fire, should it choose not to. I’m almost leaning towards hoping the mystery remains just that!

Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World – 12 (Fin) – Dragonslayer Mitsuha

The dragon that shows up at the end of last week isn’t just a dragon, but a great ancient dragon, who is the force behind the Empire’s invasion. When talking with the dragon (with a giant drone-projected image of herself) fails, Mitsuha and her military contractors let him have it.

Small arms fire doesn’t do much, but heavy machine gun fire and a bazooka to the mouth does. Once sufficiently beaten up, the dragon flies off with its tail between its legs, and the imperial army retreats. It’s an unqualified victory for the Messenger of Lightning.

Because of her contribution to that victory, the king and nobles are very generous when it comes to providing recompence for Mitsuha’s use of soldiers from her homeland. She makes up a story about them fighting against the laws of their land, and sits back and waits for each and every noble to contribute enough.

The thing is, Wolf Fang didn’t even need Mitsuha to pay them anything, because the dragon fang they’re allowed to take home, along with the patent rights from Harvard research, fetch a more than hefty enough sum for their services.

Mitsuha and Alexis (who makes a “miraculous” recovery thanks to modern medicine) are both bestowed the title of viscountess and viscount, respectively. Her new lands happen to be just a half-day’s walk from Colette’s village, and Mitsuha pays her a visit to invite her to work as her retainer.

Colette is not only over the moon to see Mitsuha is safe and sound from the war, but delighted to come live with her in her territory; her parents are also fine with it. And so now Mitsuha finds herself a powerful viscountess in another world, responsible for the upkeep and development of a large swath of fertile land.

That means there will be quite a few more expenses involved than maintaining a small general store in the capital. As they say, more money, more problems. Mitsuha is now well on her way to that 80,000 gold she needs for retirement. Despite her new station in life and the riches that may lend, she seems determined to stick with that relatively humble goal.

There’s no news of whether there will be a second season of 80,000 Gold, and due to its animation and character shortcomings (Mitsuha’s a little too perfect), it’s not a given that I’ll be tuning back in if one were to be announced. That said, it wasn’t a bad show for what it was: an exploration of the economic and social intricacies one would face in a new world.

Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World – 11 – Bringing Guns to a Spear Fight

Though she can transport herself and Captain out of danger, Mitsuha doesn’t want to abandon the innocent refugees to be slaughtered by monsters. So Captain holds off the horde with bullets along enough to teleport home, grab all the firestarter paste, newspaper, and fireworks she can, and uses it to burn/blast away the remaining monsters and their human handler.

With the refugees saved and able to cross the river, Mitsuha and Captain return to the mercs’ base, where she dons a custom-made “battle gown” and delivers a stirring speech to rally the sixty men who will have to go up against 20,000 imperial soldiers and unknown number of monsters under their control. Captain is impressed by her ability to agitate, while she admits to no one that she borrowed the speech from a manga.

She teleports the entire mercenary contingent into the palace courtyard, then has the motorcade split off to defend the various gates. The cityfolk see the dawn light hit Mitsuha just right, and the legend of the “Messenger of Lightning” really starts to take off. Then Mitsuha has the enemy envoy wounded and takes out all the veteran soldiers and monster handlers, leaving the imperial army in disarray.

Their commander celebrates when their groundbreaking Wyvern Squaron arrives, and Mitsuha sweats her first drop of sweat. However, the Captain and his men have the skies covered thanks to their own personal “God”, an old half-track with twin 20mm anti-aircraft cannons. It once saved their asses in a past battle, and here it tears the wyverns to ribbons. Technically speaking, this show’s ambition is undermined by its limited production values; there’s an awful lot of panning across still frames.

It’s looking like it’s going to be a walk in the park for Mitsuha and her hastily mustered squadron of battle-tested mercs. But then a massive dragon starts stomping through the trees, and all of a sudden it’s looking like they may take some losses. The episode ends with this cliffhanger, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the big guy gets his ass kicked by Colette, Mitsuha’s freakishly strong first friend in this world who is worried about Mitsuha’s safety.

Tomo-chan Is a Girl! – 08 – The End of Now

This week was a non-stop smorgasbord of excellence, starting with a girl’s sleepover in which Carol perfectly imitates Misuzu when Tomo won’t. That is to say, Sally Amaki perfectly imitates Hidaka Rina, while Takahashi Rie voices Tomo with her usual exquisite blend of haminess and sweetness. Sweet ham!

When Misuzu wins “King”, she orders Tomo to ask Jun to go to the fireworks together—just the two of them. They all go next door, Tomo asks, and Jun agrees easily, but also seems a little out of it to Tomo?

That night, as Carol snuggles with Tomo, Misuzu is almost on the verge of tears as she rues the day she ever set Tomo on a path that would only take her further away from her.

And yet Misuzu also quietly declares there’s “no going back”, and probably wouldn’t even if she could. That morning, she mysteriously wakes up right next to Tomo while Carol is sleeping peacefully in the bed.

Carol also invites Misuzu to join her and Kousuke at the festival, and while Misuzu doesn’t want to be a third wheel, Carol won’t let her be alone. That said, Kousuke demonstrates how easily Carol gets lost in crowds, and how quickly he’s learned how to retrieve her. Misuzu says he must “have it rough”, but Kousuke would never say or think that.

As for Tomo, she shows up looking so damn good in her red yukata, she is briefly too dazzling for Jun’s eyes, and she causes a sensation with the festival workers who can’t believe what a beauty she’s become. She and Jun-bo are notorious for winning every game they can throw at them.

And yet, as tough as Tomo is, she still freezes up when a couple of older guys try to chat her up. She makes the mistake of saying she doesn’t have a boyfriend, which only makes them more interested. But when Jun firmly pulls her away, the guys can just tell that a real Capital-C Couple is walking away.

Tomo starts to think that Jun’s shift in behavior is because he’s finally starting to notice her, but the truth is he hasn’t stopped noticing her since she confessed her love to him. Turns out he assumed she didn’t mean that kind of love. These two…I swear to God…

Tomo decides she’s going to try to confess again before the fireworks, but then realizes that when she does, it will be “the end of now, and the start of something.” That’s pretty damn poetic for Tomo! But it also happens to be true: not being quite sure exactly what “something” means, it’s always easier to settle back into “now”.

But “now” is already long gone for Jun, as after Tomo says goodbye to him, he admits that while he hasn’t quite sorted out all his feelings, he knows for sure that he’ll never be able to punch Tomo in the face again.

The next day at school, Tomo is full of long, restless sighs, as ever since the fireworks, Tomo has seemingly treated her with kid gloves, only grazing her shoulder with his pinky in the morning (which I agree is creepy!) She tells Misuzu and Carol about it, and Carol later tells Misuzu that exactly what she planned is going down…and Misuzu doesn’t want to hear it.

She may have helped facilitate Tomo getting closer to Jun, but she’s starting to regret it, in part since it could mean less Tomo for her down the road. It’s not clear whether Misuzu has romantic feelings for Tomo, but you could definitely interpret it that way.

Needless to say, she’s in a sour mood, which is not improved when the thugs who Tomo and Jun beat up before decide to target her. Her sharp, venomous tone and dark aura momentarily stun them, but alone aren’t enough to keep them at bay.

When Carol shows up, Misuzu tells the thugs that Carol “has nothing to do” with her or Tomo. As they start to escor Misuzu away, Carol whips out a stun gun and zaps the hell out of the thug leader. But when Misuzu takes her hand for them to escape together, Carol twists out of her grip…and faceplants in a mud puddle.

Misuzu and Carol hide out in a warehouse, where Misuzu says she only said she had nothing to do with Carol to protect her, and even says the truth is she considers her like “something of” a friend. That’s enough for Carol to forgive her and try to give her an enormous Carol Olsten bear hug. But it’s also enough to give away their position the thugs.

Fortunately, Misuzu and Carol don’t have to stew in terror for long, as that terror becomes the exclusive property of the thugs once Tomo and Jun arrive. Misuzu actually called Jun and specifically told him not to tell Tomo, but of course Tomo could see the murderous intent in Jun’s face (even Jun has an amazing face game this week!) and insisted on coming along.

When Jun makes it about him and accuses her of not trusting him to handle a few punks, she immediately corrects him. This isn’t about her not thinking he can handle himself. It’s about how completely against her entire being to sit around in safety while her friends are in danger. Her friends, her fight. Jun does smack one of the guys unconscious with withering nonchalance before Tomo yells at him to stand down and let her cook.

I hasten to add that Kousuke also learned that Carol was in danger and followed Tomo and Jun. While those to are fighting, he looks for the girls, and finds Misuzu helping Carol take off her wet muddy clothes. Kousuke assumes the thugs did something indecent to his Carol and Tomo and Jun have to work hard to keep him away from said thugs before Carol clears up the misunderstanding. I see you Ko-chan!

After the fight, Misuzu tells the others to buzz off so she can have a private chat with the defeated thugs. She explains to them that Tomo is the only daughter of the head of the Aizawa Dojo (whom they know to be a famous master delinquent) and promises the thug leader that he’ll be held personally responsible if any of the punks he’s gathered come near her, Tomo, or Carol again. It’s Mizusu at her most hostile, threatening, and scary.

Jun hangs back anyway to walk Mizusu home, citing the fact that scary she may be, she’s still a girl. Mizusu points out that so is Tomo, and immediately regrets it as Jun then starts talking about Tomo in a way Mizusu would rather not hear. She doesn’t want to hear it from him or “that squishy bitch”, which might just be the best nickname ever.

Balancing genuinely funny comedy with genuinely sweet romance and genuinely powerful drama…it’s just Tomo-Chan Is a Girl! and its immensely talented seiyuu firing on all cylinders.

In / Spectre – 17 – Stigmatized Property

It’s been a year since Kurou’s cousin Sakuragawa Rikka went into hiding, and finding her remains a priority for him and Kotoko. When we see her, she’s cheerfully interacting with her new property manager Konno Kazuyuki and his girlfriend, Oki Marumi, having moved to her new apartment just a week ago.

Rikka’s trip to the horse races is interrupted by an unannounced cameo by Truck-kun, smacking her head-on and sending her flying thirty meters. A mother tells Kazuyuki and Marumi that she saved her son from getting hit. Marumi calls an ambulance while Kazuyuki checks on Rikka…and is surprised to find her completely uninjured. Rikka even jokes about it being like a TV drama.

She thanks Kazuyuki and Marumi with a six-pack of beer, and they invite her for drinks and a light dinner. Turns out the apartment Rikka has moved into has a dark recent history, as the last three tenants committed suicide within three months of moving in. Rikka offers explanations for the first two when she hears the circumstances: an overworked office drone had a nervous breakdown, and a spurned young woman couldn’t get over a bad breakup.

The third tenant is the strangest, as it was the boyfriend of the woman that was dumped. Rikka understandably isn’t concerned by whatever conditions the apartment might serve up—like Kurou, she’s effectively invulnerable. When asked why she moved in, she tells them the story of her beloved cousin and his truly awful girlfriend, and is determined to break them up before she hurts him.

Rikka suddenly leaves late in the night, again thanking Kazuyuki for his kindness and leaving him her key and some cash for his trouble. The next day, just a hair too late, Kotoko and Kurou arrive. Initially, the couple sees the doll-like Kotoko and wonder how she could be so awful, but then she makes joke about Kurou drinking sake out of her crotch, and then they get it (to be fair, Kurou started it by calling her hairy).

Kotoko’s visit had been foretold by Rikka, since she knew Kotoko is looking for her, hence the need to skedaddle. And sure enough, Kotoko offers logical explanations for all three suicides. The third, which was the one that vexed Kazuyuki and Marumi the most, was simply a matter of the ex-boyfriend moving in to confirm that something about the apartment led to his ex’s suicide. When nothing happened, he became consumed by grief for his role in her death.

She surmises that may also have left no note as a small kindness to his own family, so they could explain his death to the apartment. Once Kotoko and Kurou leave, Kazuyuki and Marumi are satisfied by the explanations. Kazuyuki also thought that while Kotoko may be somewhat awful, he could tell Kurou cared a great deal for her. Marumi says that may be the case for now, but Rikka was concerned about their future together.

On their walk home, Kurou asks Kotoko if she told the pure truth, and she says she instead did exactly what was necessary: tell a believable story with the available info she had that could put Kazuyuki and Marumi at ease. She is also certain there are no supernatural beings in the apartment, as they’d be just as scared of Rikka as they are of Kurou.

That brings us back to a chat between Kotoko and Rikka a year ago when Rikka was staying at Kotoko’s house. Rikka asked what she fears, and Kotoko simply made a joke about a rakugo routine. When Kotoko wonders if Rikka told Kazuyuki and Marumi that she was some kind of awful woman, Kurou tells her that could be the impression some people get of her, considering she doesn’t seem to fear anything.

Kotoko says there actually is something she fears, but when Kurou asks, she simply gives him another Rakugo joke. But as fireworks start to explode in the sky above them and Kurou lifts her up for a better view, Kotoko’s eyes shimmer. I imagine the thing Kotoko fears most is losing Kurou, but is too proud to get serious and say so.

Instead, not knowing what the future holds for either of them, and Rikka still out of pocket, she tells Kurou that relationships between a man and woman tend to go better with a secret or two, then brings his lips to hers for a romantic kiss.

As with the Yuki-onna story, Kotoko and Kurou don’t show up until later, but with Rikka involved in this new “case”, they’re a lot more involved, since Rikka rejects them as a couple. Kazuyuki and Marumi are a nice realistic couple with a cozy, lived-in relationship. This season has shown that the more time we spend getting to know the folks Kotoko interacts with on her travels, the more fun and compelling those interactions are.

To Your Eternity – S2 08 – Baron Spring Roll

Bishop Cylira is on the ground, as is the entire assembled crowd for the execution. But Bon lies dead, his bloody severed head next to his body, so Ligurd!Fushi was too late, right? Wrong. Bon wakes up in the brick shelter Fushi built, flanked by his dead companions, but he himself is still quite alive, thanks to Fushi.

Appearing as Rynn, Fushi explains that she studied Tonari’s journal and developed an easily-replicated poison that knocked out the execution crowd and gave her time to rescue Bon and replace him with a dead copy. Fushi makes clear that he wasn’t clever enough to come up with such a plan, but his vessels’ assembled knowledge (not to mention wings) aided him.

While the Uralis royal family initially believes their son dead, and Bon watches from on high (a bit like Huck Finn at his own funeral) Rynn!Fushi presents them with the still-alive Bon, and they gang-tackle him with elation and relief. That said, now that the church believes him to be dead, he can no longer carry on as Prince Bonchein.

That’s fine with him, as he cuts his hair and shaves to hide his past identity. He now realizes that he’s happy just to be with his family, and no longer thirsts for the throne. Todo is also reported to have died serving his prince, so the now skinny-from-malnourishment Iris sees no further need to hide her true self.

Meeting Iris, the girl he met at the palace who gave him the flower handkerchief, briefly breaks Bon, due in part to how he treated her when she was Todo. After meeting with Chabo, he sulks in his bedchamber, then chews Iris out, as he can’t believe she and Todo were the same person.

This leads Iris to run to the tea table to scarf down enough food to get fat again, but Bon stops her, apologizes for his harsh words, and asks her to stay at the castle with him and his family.

Fireworks memorializing Prince Bon light the skies, Iris agrees, and the two commit to taking care of Chabo; a new found family of three. It’s a beautiful, fairy tale ending for Bon, now known as Baron Spring Roll, Iris, FKA Todo, and Chabo. All thanks to Fushi.

As Rynn!Fushi prepares to depart for her next destination, Bon mentions how he said he’d reward her for her service. Bon probes her by asking how she’d feel if all her lost friends were immortal. But after asking this, Fushi feels a pang of pain—it’s Kahaku.

Distraught over the fact the Guardians are disbanding due to Fushi’s condemnation as a heretic and how he was rejected by the woman he loved (Parona!Fushi), Kahaku got ruinously drunk in the stables and tried to cut his Nokker arm off, but failed. The Nokker arm then grabs a knife, not to hurt anyone, but to communicate with Fushi.

It tells her that the Nokker are simply trying to “help everyone”, including their brethren imprisoned by the Beholder. Nokkers are souls, and wish to free the souls of humans from their bodies. “In death you can be free,” etc.  It also says that Fushi can revive the dead, but Bon erases those words from the dirt before they sink in for Fushi.

Finally, the Nokker arm reports that the next target for the Nokkers will be the head church of the Church of Bennett. That means the church’s only hope is the one they just executed for being a servant of the devil. Fushi heads to the church regardless; humans are humans, and they need his help.

Bon prepares to leave the palace for a while, perhaps to help Fushi, and Iris tells him she’ll wait as long as it takes for his return, which is hopefully before Chabo gets lonely. Bon also says that Fushi said he’d be happy if all his lost friends were immortal. If only he knew he could bring them all back if he wanted…

Summertime Render – 25 (Fin) – Good Karma

After all the trials, blood, death, loss and increasingly complicated “rules” of the Shadows that Shinpei has endured, it all culminates in a hard reset to the beginning, with him on that boat with Hizuru. From her perspective, they’ve never met, but she’s clearly intrigued (and a little disturbed) that he somehow knows her pen name.

When Shinpei arrives on the pier, he feels a sense of deja vu. When Mio comes streaming towards him on her bike, he instinctively prepares to catch her…but her brakes work fine. Mio’s fine, as are Tokiko and Sou. Shinpei knows he felt worried about them, but doesn’t quite know why; they’re understandably confused and a little hurt by him saying this!

And then there’s Ushio, who remains very much alive, because a Shadow never copied and replaced her. In this timeline there are no Shadows, and never were. He was brought back to the island by a voicemail from Ushio, which he somehow could sense had the same sense of uncanny worry he himself was experiencing.

He stops by the Kobayakawa konbini, which Shiori is minding (and yelling at the other kids to shut the dang ice cream chest). It’s just good to see her not as an instrument of dismemberment and death, ya know? She also says Ushio has been talking about him for a while now, insisting he was coming this year. The kids also note that the upcoming festival is lining up with “Haine’s” birthday.

After visiting the shrine, where an elderly (and not unnaturally youthful or evil) Karakiri is passing the role of fire-lighter to his son Yamato, Shinpei heads to the beach, where Ushio happens to be standing in a long white dress, looking lonely. When she spots him, Shinpei promptly apologizes for how he suddenly left the island.

Ushio admits that she too didn’t handle things right, and that the voicemail she sent was sent because she was suddenly desperately worried about him. Their making-up session is capped off by Shinpei fortuitously spotting her lost shell pendant in the sand. Ushio lets him tenderly tie it around her neck. All is well with the two now; water under the bridge.

At the Kofunes’ café, which is not Shinpei’s home and never was, since his parents are still alive, he discusses his “dream” with Hizuru, who is the only one on the island weird enough to think there might be something to it, like a shared memory of the island or memories from parallel worlds (in truth, it’s a little of both).

It’s here where we meet Haine, who is a grown Ryuunosuke’s daughter and friends with Shiori. Mio comes down in her yukata and Ushio in her portable shrine garb, and the whole gang poses for a photo. Many among the group throw up peace signs, but they could also be victory signs.

That night at the festival, Hizuru is typing up a storm while laughing creepily and stuffing rice into her maw; Shinpei’s regaling of his “dreams” have cleared her writer’s block; we see her writing a novel called Summertime Render. Sou works up the nerve to confess to Mio—again—while Toki watches from the shadows. This time, Mio doesn’t automatically say no?

Shinpei meets Ushio on the beach with the takoyaki she ordered him to bring. When she sees he only brought two trays for the two of them, she recalls a promise he made when they were trying to “get through the little gap in the hospital”—something that might not have even happened in this world. They recite the promise in unison, that he’d “buy her 10 or even 100 pieces”, and a galaxy of fireworks erupt around them.

Whether in that moment they suddenly remember everything they went through to get to this time and place, or they’re simply glad they’re together again after two years in this timeline, they lean into one another in elation and relief. After lifting a three hundred year curse, they goshdarn earned a happy ending as a reward. They deserve it, and I couldn’t be happier that they got it.

Lycoris Recoil – 13 (Fin) – Deciding for Themselves

Chisato ends up alone with Majima at the top of the Enkuboku for a final round. Majima makes things even more interesting by activating a 60-minute timer on a bomb that will presumably bring the tower down. Why Chisato doesn’t just repeatedly shoot Majima right next to his ears is unclear, but the duel that ensues is pretty evenly matched.

Meanwhile, the power goes out on the whole tower to ensure no hackers, friend or foe, will be able to interfere with Majima and Chiato’s fight. The elevator still has aux power, so Fuki heads down with a seriously injured Sakura while Takina asks her to let her climb back up to help Chisato. Fuki decides that she and Takina should get to decide what they want to do for once.

After pulling off a particularly tricky acrobatic move on Majima, Chisato suddenly finds her artificial heart starting to give out. Majima, who may be a jerk, has no interest in fighting her in this state, so he shoots open a vending machine, offers her a juice and the two have a short break. Chisato want him to stop the clock, but he won’t.

Whither Mr. Yoshi? Helped along by Himegama, he continues his retreat, but is confronted by Mika, who actually doesn’t have a bum leg. Himagama charges him, but he wallops her with his cane, then riddles her with non-lethal bullets. Left unprotected, Mika has come for Yoshi’s briefcase, to tell him it’s time to let the kids make their own choices, then kills the man he clearly never really stopped loving.

After engaging it some philosophical sparring regarding who is the hero, who is the villain, and what constitutes a properly-lived life (Majima is resolved to restore “balance”, Chisato is fine with the status quo) their fight resumes. Chisato is feeling better but still far from 100%, and the clock is still ticking.

Eventually one of Majima’s many bullets grazes Chisato, and she goes down. Majima steps on her and prepares to shoot her, but just then Takina appears, and Chisato uses the moment of distraction to pull Majima head-over-heels.

The two hit the glass, which cracks and then shatters (in reality, glass in a tower like this would be several inches thick, like that in the CN Tower, but whatever); the two begin to fall. We don’t see what becomes of Majima, which means he’s clearly not dead, while Takina ensnares Chisato with her restraining wire.

The phone countdown hits zero, and the “punishment explosion” turns out to be a massive fireworks display, which was likely meant to cap off the Enkuboku opening anyway. Majima, while likely not dead, is at least out of their hair for the time being, and both Takina and Chisato are alive.

In the first of two epilogues, Sakura has made a full recovery and is back to her exuberant, poop parfait-lovin’ self, Fuki is still meekly deferent to Mika, and life at LycoReco has returned to normal,  except that Chisato has not been around, while Takina is out on a job.

That job turns out to be traveling to Miyako to find Chisato, but the mission is first portrayed as her tracking down and eliminating a target. The two end up trading gunfire in the forest and then shooting each other with restraining wire, and when they realize they’re…each other, they hop into each other with joy (while also scolding each other for coming at each other so hot).

Takina explains to Chisato how a regular café patron happened to capture Chisato in the background of a photo of her and her boyfriend, and so even with no internet or cameras, they were able to find her. Takina also notes that she’s glad Chisato is alive and well.

Chisato actually slipped out of the hospital and traveled to Miyako not sure about the nature of the operation she underwent. Turns out Mr. Yoshi was lying; the heart wasn’t in his chest, but in the briefcase. Now that it’s in Chisato’s chest, she’s going to live a long, healthy life.

The scenes at the seaside café and then on the beach are some of the most richly-colored and beautiful of the series, and really lend a lovely gravitas to what these two have been through…and what they mean to each other. When asked what she should do with the extra life she’s been given, Takina proposes she do something she’s always wanted to.

That brings us to the bonus epilogue: LycoReco Hawaii! No doubt thanks to Kurumi’s skills, the whole gang is able to travel to the states and set up a café truck by the ocean. Everyone seems to be doing their part and having fun, and we also learn their side hustle of helping people out is still going on as well, only now in adorable Hawaiian garb.

It’s a cute and satisfying all’s-well-that-ends-well ending. Sure, there are still a lot of guns still in Tokyo, and a heavily-bandaged Majima out there egging people. The moral quandary that is Lycoris and the DA is still hanging out there too.

But Chisato and Takina are where they want to be, doing what they want to do. They who were tools for the adults are now free to live their lives how they see fit. For that reason alone, I can walk away from this show with a smile.

My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex – 12 (Fin) – Weaving a New Tale

As predicted, Yume knocks it out of the park with her festival yukata and hair, but it’s her who wants a picture of Mizuto in his the second she sees it. Instead, he snaps a pic of her, and happens to know her phone’s password.

In her thoughts, Yume admits to feeling considerably lighter after having a good cathartic cry. Now she can hold hands with her stepbrother without embarrassment, and mimics Madoka’s treatment of Chikuma by helping “steady” Mizuto during the shooting game.

Just when the fireworks are about to start, Mizuto disappears, something Madoka says he always does around this time. All of his relatives have told her to make sure to look after him, like he wouldn’t be able to “survive” without someone watching over him. But as she volunteers to go find him, Yume celebrates how she’s been able to see all these new facts of Mizuto since becoming family.

When they were merely in puppy love and dating, she idolized and glorified him, projecting her ideal of a Boyfriend^TM without looking deeper. Meanwhile, while sitting alone at a shrine, Mizuto muses about how he considered the world of books to be the true reality, and the outside world a mere illusion.

The first thing in the world that felt real was Ayai Yume, who was also the first person to evoke the same sentiment everyone had for him: that he would not survive if left alone. That’s why Ayai Yume still occupies that “slot” in his heart that even Isana could never hope to replace.

Yume finds Mizuto at the shrine, and the two have the mother of all passive-aggressive verbal duels with one another, all the while happy they were on the same wavelength. She recounts the phone call they had that he ended abruptly, and she gathered that he called her from this very shrine.

Yume also gathered that Mizuto knew her phone code because it’s 1027, the day of their first kiss, a day they both remember with fondness. Then Yume asks Mizuto why he went out with her, and he says it really just amounted to her finding a seat next to his in a game of musical chairs.

Sitting side by side as the fireworks begin—the fireworks they never got to see together until now—what initially stirred in Mizuto towards Yume stirs again. A tear falls down his cheek before Yume takes his face in her hands and kisses him.

It’s her second first kiss, and with it comes a vow that she, Irido Yume, will eventually win him over, defeating Ayai Yume for that single slot in his heart. The next morning, and then back at school, the two are back to their playfully adversarial selves.

The happiness of the past will never leave either of them, etched into their souls as it is, and they will never feel that particular novel happiness ever again. But that doesn’t matter, because now that they’re both a little older, wiser, honest, and clear-eyed they can now achieve a new happiness; weave a new tale together.

The Devil is a Part Timer!! – S2 E05 – Change of Scenery

After last week’s huge battle, you’d think a laid back rest episode would be in order…right? WRONG! On the very same day, Maou learns he’ll be without a job as their MgRonald is closing for two weeks to be remodeled (though apparently not with those horrid self-service kiosks that sap vital jobs!) and that he’ll be without the Devil’s Castle for the same period of time due to the need for repairs.

Even worse, Maou would have known about this much earlier, but he was too distracted by the potential of having lost Alas Ramus forever that he paid no attention to the warnings about these changes. That said, his globetrotting landlady sent him a mysterious package wrapped like a mummy, which only Emi has the balls to open, revealing…a VHS tape??

Chiho’s family still has a functioning VCR, so she invites Emi and Maou to her place to watch the video. In so doing, she can’t avoid having her mother finally meet Maou, on whom she’s well aware her daughter has a crush. The video is of the Landlady telling Maou about an opportunity to work for room and board at her relative’s beach shack in Choshi City, Chiba.

Maou calls the number on the video, and by the end of the call he’s got himself a job, as well as Ashiya and Urushihara. Maou returns home with the good news, while Chiho’s mom can tell that Chiho is worried about Maou leaving her behind. She tells Chiho that she can do as she pleases as long as she does things “the proper way”.

Chiho, who knows all about the ongoing feud between Maou and Emi, would prefer that all her friends got along. That said, she also wants to be useful to Maou, even if she can’t fight like Emi or Suzuno. She calls her mom and is granted permission to go to Choshi…with Emi and Suzuno, on a girls’ trip.

Emi and Suzuno are all too happy to go along with the pretense, as they were as uneasy as Chiho about the status quo changing. After a ride on a charmingly retro train, they arrive at Choshi and are picked up by the Landlady’s relatve, Ohguro Amane.

When they arrive at the beach shack, it is in horrendous condition after an off-season, which suddenly turns right the ef back on tomorrow. Needless to say, she’s in a bit of a pickle, and Maou, Ashiya, and whatever manual labor they can get out of Urushihara may not be enough.

Demonstrating that at the end of the day they’re both angels, Emi and Chi-chan pitch in to bring the shack back into presentable professional condition. Maou impresses Amane with his ability to organize and delegate tasks, a product of both his past as an overlord and his experiene at MgRonald.

Emi purchases supplies needed at cut-rate prices, Chiho polishes the beer taps, and Urushihara removes the foam from the stools so they’re more inviting. Even Suzuno, who serves ostensibly as Alas Ramus’ babysitter during the cleaning, reveals a heretofore unknown-to-Maou talent of building perfect elaborate Japanese sand castles, which he knows will be a draw for customers.

Working together as a unit, the denizens of both Heaven and Hell manage to restore Ohguro’s to peak beach season condition, while Maou secured a bonus from Amane if he could fill the shack to full capacity. That night the group kicks back with fireworks on the beach, but are suddenly unnerved by the foghorn of the nearby lighthoue, along with strange lights on the ocean horizon.

Amane tells them the story of dead sailors creating those lights in hope of making “new ghost friends”, but considering the presence of Maou, Emi, and Alas Ramus, the fog that suddenly rolls in could also spell additional trouble for our pals.

That said, this was a fun outing that shook up the status quo. Unfortunately, it loses a half-star for being distractingly janky-looking throughout its runtime. I honestly don’t remember the first season’s animation being so rough…fortunately, I love these characters enough to mostly overlook it.

A Couple of Cuckoos – 15 – Alliance of the Engaged

This episode sidesteps the cliffhanger of Hiro wanting to know why both Nagi and Erika called Sachi their sister, and for most of its running time focuses primarily on Nagi and Erika’s time together at the festival, which was encouraged by Nagi’s parents.

Erika’s never experienced a festival like this, and while she tries to pay for goldfish scooping with a credit card (even though she actually has a wad of cash!) it’s clear she’s having hella fun. Even if Nagi would rather be having this date with Hiro, he can’t deny he’s having fun too.

Of course, they’re not having this festival date in a vacuum. Sachi’s friends tease her for having a brother complex, since they peg Nagi as a drab studyholic (pretty close to the mark!). Erika’s InstaStans also notice her at the festival and try to chat her up again.

Nagi doesn’t want to cause a scene by beating them up again, so he grabs Erika and runs until they lose their pursuers. They happen to stop on a pedestrian bridge with a perfect view of the festival fireworks, another first for Erika.

That’s when Hiro shows up, having finally finished the work her family had her doing. She again broaches the topic of them both saying Sachi was their sister, so they take her to a family restaurant to sit her down and tell her the truth: that they were switched at birth, and that they’re now engaged.

Erika worried Hiro would hate them if they told the truth, but Nagi knows her a little better and knows Hiro wouldn’t be like that, and so she isn’t. In fact, as she’s “engaged” herself thanks to pushy parents, she feels a kinship to the two of them. If anything, they’re now closer than ever thanks to this new knowledge.

When Erika suddenly rushes off to buy a gift for Sachi at the festival like she promised, Nagi offers to walk Hiro home, but she says she’ll be fine, and they part ways for the evening…or so Nagi thinks. No sooner does he turn his back than Hiro grabs his sleeve and solemnly tells him: “No more secrets.” With the look Hiro has in her eyes, Nagi can only promise this.

Sachi happens to watch this scene unfold, and suffice it to say she’s not a fan of it. Her brother being engaged to Erika is one thing; Erika is her blood sister, and her parents arranged it. But Nagi being all lovey-dovey with this third girl? That’s something that sticks in Sachi’s craw. That sad, Erika loves Hiro too, so there’s no easy answers for how to simplify or untangle this romantic web.

Aharen-san wa Hakarenai – 08 – Esteem in the Bloodstream

Toubaru-sensei has taken note of the supreme squeeness of AhaRaidou and its deleterious effects on her health, which is why she’s made a habit of imagining the pair in all manner of adorable romantic situations while safe in her bed at night. Unfortunately, the real thing proves far more esteemed than she could imagine, as she watches the “nuclear esteemed family” dynamic of the two plus Ooshiro play out on the rooftop.

It is fortunate that Toubaru’s, or should I say Momo’s friend and fellow teacher Miyahara-sensei is well-equipped to deal with her reactions to the pure innocent romance she watches unfold. That night, she tries to imagine ever more ludicrous scenarios (with Aharen and Raidou’s characters changing completely) and almost bleeds to death in her sleep. Thankfully Miyahara had a spare key!

Ishikawa and Satou may not be the most dynamic side characters (honestly they’re bland as wallpaper paste, and probably intentionally so to serve as amiable straight men. But one thing they do do is give Aharen and Raidou an opportunity to go to a festival together, so they’re not all bad! Aharen looks appropriately angelic in her yukata.

She’s also appropriately ravenous, visiting every food stall and spending all her money before Raidou can finish explaining his grand strategic plan for “winning the festival”. Meanwhile, Toubaru and Miyahara-sensei also attend the festival, and Toubarou proceeds to lose a lot of blood for the second day in a row.

Otherwise it’s a perfect evening for our main couple, until it’s not; Raidou not only loses his phone, but Aharen, as Futaba ended up holding his hand believing him to be her dad. After taking Futaba to the lost child desk and reuniting her with said dad (after which she properly expresses her gratitude for once) the gods smile on our couple, as Aharen appears right beside him at that very lost child desk (naturally, the guy assigned to the desk assumes Raidou is her guardian.

Aharen is so happy and relieved to see Raidou, she sheds a tear. After all this dilly-dallying though, the two have to book it to get a good fireworks viewing spot. Ultimately, any spot is good for the nearly 2-meter-tall Raidou. When Aharen can’t see due to being small, he hoists her onto his shoulders, and she experiences a whole new world.

Later, after he daintily repairs her broken sandal strap, he offers his hand so they can go find the others. She hesitates, but ultimately takes it and proceeds to blush profusely. She’s grabbed him so many times, but in this time and place, it feels different. If the show is serious about progressing these feelings further, I’m looking forward to watching it happen…while making sure I’m more prepared than Toubaru-sensei was this week!