Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy – S2 13 – The Thick of It

Having juggled between the separate stories of Makoto, the Demiplane gang, and the heroes Hibiki and Tomoki and their parties, Tsukimichi now aims to continue squishing all of these elements together. While the weeklong academy festival proves a financial boon for Kuzunoha Inc., Makoto ends up under the Church’s eye, which reflects the will of the hated Goddess.

While Tomoe, Mio, Shiki, and the Ogres eat, drink, and become increasingly merrier and more boisterous, Makoto has to fight off a flock of assassins, including the guy who had already been sent previously to kill him. None of them can put a dent in Makoto’s Mana Matter.

While the Church’s bishop is onto Makoto being far more powerful than he lets on, there’s a parallel political incident involving the nation Hibiki’s mage Chiya is from. They want her back. Princess Lily is also tailing Makoto and his cavorting party from the shadows.

With all these crossed agendas and allegiances, Tsukimichi story has never felt more complex … or volatile. We’ll see if Makoto & Co. can weather all of the myriad challenges that are sure to come while solidifying old bonds and forging intriguing new ones.

Gushing over Magical Girls – 13 (Fin) – Love’s a Game of Give and Take

Vena gives the Enormita girls a much-deserved day off at the beach. Utena rejects the tiny purple micro bikini Kiwi picked out for her, going with a cute lilac one piece instead. Turns out Tres Magia also got the day off, so Haruka, Kaoruko, and Sayo are also there.

Big Sis Haruka builds sand castles with Korisu, Kiwi competes with and shouts at Kaoruko (the two could either be sisters or lovers), and Nemo teach Matama swimming lessons. Sayo ends up with Utena under the umbrella, but perhaps wisely doesn’t bring up last week’s intense massage. Instead, she notices Utena’s Tres Magia bag, and Utena starts to gush about how cool the magical girls are, it gives Sayo a big boost. I can’t help but ship these two.

Unfortunately the peaceful day takes a turn when Kiwi witnesses two drunk girls butting in line ahead of Utena and transforming into Leoparde to threaten them. The Tres girls sense Enormita and transform. Since this is the seaside, Gushing finally has an excuse for Utena to summon a tentacle monster, which not only captures and has its way with Tres Magia, but Kiwi, Matama, and Nemo as well.

Kaoruko, who really hates octopi and tentacles, is almost at the end of her rope when Sayo breaks out her elegant and badass “Maiden of Hoarfrost” new form, much to Utena’s delight. When Utena tosses a couple of her own attacks Sayo’s way, Sayo catches the black bolt in her white shawl, seemingly to deflect it—only to direct the attack back onto herself!

This is the new-and-improved Sayo, who is now able to maintain her dignified façade while embracing her deep-seated love of the punishment Utena is doling out. Utena’s attacks are a form of love, so it’s only right and proper for her to not only take that love, but give some back in return. Haruka is confused, but Kaoruko knows what’s going on: Utena the sadist and Sayo the masochist are having an all-out S&M battle.

Even though Enormita regroups and throws everything they have at Sayo, she’s able to blast them all into the sky, which is just fine with Utena, who has always exhibited switch tendencies. Sayo’s win also allows everyone to transform back into their normal selves, with no one being the wiser about who they just fought (and did … other things too).

It all ends with a (relatively) peaceful night on the beach with fireworks and everyone getting along. Sayo notes how happy Utena looks, and she admits that she is: she has so many lovely friends, and when she’s Baiser she gets to interact up close and personal with the magical girls she loves so much. For all its ecchi raunchiness, Gushing closes out on a sweet note of joy and fellowship.

Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! – 12 (Fin) – Cool Like You

This finale starts, somewhat surprisingly, with Tsubasa and Minami sharing a hotel room together. Turned out they missed the last bus home because they read the weekday schedule on a weekend (I’ve done that too many times to count). But when Tsubasa calls his dad, he tells him a friend has a hotel he’s welcome to stay at to spend more time with his friend.

Whether his dad knows this friend is a girl or not, it’s clear his dad is looking out for him. His and Minami’s date essentially continues with a sumptuous dinner. Then Minami takes her shower first, and Tsubasa fantasizes about her coming out in a towel and kissing him. Instead, she comes out fully dressed, and he’s already fallen asleep.

Minami leaves him a note and leaves, presumably having been picked up by her mom. The next we see her, she’s dropping in on Sayuri, who was hanging with her kohai friend and her friend. Minami has her carry-on, so she must be on her way to the airport. She thanks Sayuri for the advice she gave, and is determined to come back from studying abroad “just as cool” as she and Tsubasa and Rena are.

Tsubasa, meanwhile, has spend much of break holed up in his room, believing from the note that Minami didn’t like him anymore. But when a little pink hairpin falls out of his backpack, Tsubasa takes it as it was intended: a little push he needs. Sayuri texts Tsubasa like the good friend she is, and fortunately for Tsubasa his dad’s able to reschedule a meeting and drive him to the airport.

Minami’s mom can tell her daughter is nervous about her impending trip abroad, but that’s not all. Minami is also watching her phone and waiting for Tsubasa to say goodbye. She’s walking into the departure lounge when he finally makes it, taking her by the arm before she leaves. He tells her he came to return her hairpin (just as she’d planned), but that’s not all.

He had to see her again before she left, because he wanted her to know just how happy he was to move to Hokkaido and meet her, and that whenever she comes home—six months, a year—he’ll be waiting for her. That’s when Minami tells him she’s be gone for—wait for it—two weeks. That’s it! Tsubasa totally misunderstood, but now that he knows she won’t be gone long. The relief washes over him, and he can wish her good luck with a genuine smile on his face.

He no doubt counts the days when Minami will be back, and on the day of her return, she’s late for class, arriving as the teacher is takng attendance. Tsubasa doesn’t wait until lunch, but hands her the gift of her favorite konbini chicken, which she starts munching on and even feeds him. I love how they’re just in their own little world. Not even the teacher making them stay after class can harsh their vibes. Minami’s back; that’s what matters!

While initially I wanted a confession to come out of this finale, the urgency of that was based on the fear she’d be gone a long time. Since she’s back after two weeks, there’s no rush there. It was actually a wonderfully stress-relieving revelation. All I ever asked of this show was to make me smile and experience some nice feels, and it never disappointed.

Ao no Exorcist: Shimane Illuminati-hen – 12 (Fin) – See No Evil

After all that battling and a tense meeting in Mephisto’s office, everyone’s head is spinning about Shima being a spy and a double agent. Rin thinks everyone still trusts Shima, but Bon only said that to save his ass from execution, while Konekomaru doesn’t have a clear answer. Shiemi thinks it would be nice if Shima could return to class with them like nothing ever happened, but even she has her doubts, and doesn’t like how that uncertainty feels.

As for Yukio, he’s setting up to be the next person to have split loyalties. Always the loyal soldier for Mephisto and True Cross (despite never really being able to trust him), Shima bringing up Lucifer calls to mind something we didn’t see back at the lab: Lucifer actually met with Yukio and asked him to join Illuminati. He told him he’s weak, but he can help him unlock his power. This weighs on Yukio throughout the episode.

During an early morning run, Shima and Bon happen to run into each other, and have something of a heart to heart. Shima isn’t lying about one thing: he’s pretty much true neutral, as he told Yukio. That means he can warn Yukio and not want Bon or Konekomaru or Izumo to get too badly hurt, but it also means he’s having a blast being a spy for both sides. Bon, who has always been like a brother to him, admits he still has “zero trust” in Shima, but still wishes him good luck, for at least he’s decided what he wants to do.

With Shura recovered, Mephisto sends everyone to a spa and waterpark for some much-needed R&R, and even Yukio can’t escape it. But he also pulls a prank on them, unleashing the Three Wise Monkeys to stir up some mischief. Yukio, Bon, and Konekomaru notice Shima acting strange and unusually serious and focuses, but it turns out he’s contemplating which girl to go down the water slide: Izumo, Shiemi, or Shura.

Rin, who also falls under the spell of the monkeys, declares that he wants to go down the slide with someone too, but that person can only be Shiemi, thus revealing who he has true feelings for once and for all. Unfortunately, Shiemi doesn’t hear it, as she and Izumo and Shura are already at the top of the slide stairs. Shima and Rin duke it out, collapsing the steps and nearly re-injuring the girls, but Bon uses a charm to cancel out the effect of the monkey and Rin and Shima return to normal so Shura can wreck their shit.

So, the spa trip wasn’t as relaxing as Mephisto had hoped it would be. Rin shows he’s not mentally still in elementary school by telling Yukio that he knows something must be on his mind, and that he can talk about it to him if he likes. But Yukio puts on a fake smile and just says he’s tired; it only exacerbates his inferiority complex to open up to his dumb little brother.

Yukio thinks he’s too weak and wants to get stronger, which means he could easily fall into the hands of Lucifer and the Illuminati. But that’s a story for another arc, which it seems will be coming far sooner than previous arcs. That must be why the series felt comfortable with these last two episodes serving as little more than an extended epilogue to Izumo’s story, and a sneak peak of what’s to come.

Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! – 11 – Symphony in Pink

This week opens with the first of many rare sights: Minami without any makeup. Of course, she’s still stunning. Watching her gaze into her mirror and wordlessly go about her beauty routine, putting extra care and thought into her appearance for her upcoming day with Tsubasa, it just felt so real and intimate.

Both that routine, and the day she’s planned for Tsubasa, are done with the amount of care someone would put in only because they care about the person they’re doing it for, and there hasn’t been any doubt about that for some time. As they hop on a train for the first leg of a three-hour journey north, they look every bit like a couple in love, finally going on a first date.

And honestly, Minami couldn’t pick a prettier place for their date than Higashimokoto Shibazakura Park, just as it’s in full bloom, resplendent in pink. It’s another instance of her wanting to show off how special Hokkaido is, while also enjoying it all the more by watching how hard it “hits him in the feels”. It means so much to her that Tsubasa is there with her, and having fun.

When stopping by the gift shop, Tsubasa buys something for Minami, but misses a chance to give it to her, as she sees go-karts, watch a concert of the opening theme played live, enjoy festival food, and ice cream, dip their feet in pools, having their photo taken together by an elderly couple while also thinking about coming back here together years from now, and praying at a shrine whose deity Minami jokingly says is for fertility … but isn’t necessarily lying.

When the sun is low and the color palette becomes even more vivid and intense, Tsubasa finally gets his chance to give Minami her gift: a promise bracelet. Extra care is put into the animation of him taking her hand in his and putting it on. If the purpose of bringing Tsubasa here was to confess to him and/or ask him to be her boyfriend, you couldn’t ask for a more perfect time or place.

Instead, Minami says what Tsubasa has been thinking a lot during their time at the park: what do other people think when they see them together. Tsubasa wants to say what first comes to mind, but is too scared, so he says they look like “two very close friends.” 

After hearing Minami’s half-hearted agreement and watching her smile become sadder, he realizes he said something horribly wrong. Even worse, it could be that his response to her may have been the clinching factor in how she’d broach the matter she wanted to talk to him about all along: she tells him she’s leaving Hokkaido to study beauty abroad.

Now Tsubasa has two problems: thinking he’s a coward unworthy of someone like Minami by saying they were just friends, and not feeling like he has any right to tell her not to leave, but stay in Hokkaido with him. After all, she tells him meeting him and watching him work so hard to adjust to life there inspired her to better herself.

Telling her not to go for his sake would trample on that inspiration, no? But again, maybe a part of Minami wants to stay, and him friendzoning them in that moment made her think he didn’t see her as anything more than a good friend. But even if that’s the impression she got, his reaction to her announcement gives her another one.

After she thanks and praises him, he suddenly gathers her into a hug, which she doesn’t resist, and blushes as bright as the nearby flowerbeds in his arms. When they do pull apart, she sees tears streaming down his shell-shocked face.

Can Tsubasa say what needs to be said to keep Minami there, or is this pretty much it for them, and her going away is a done deal? We’ll find out in the can’t-miss conclusion of a show that’s suddenly become a lot more serious and dramatic than its playful title would suggest … and I’m not complaining!

Classroom of the Elite – S3 11 – Warmth through Contact

This week’s opening quote, from the 19th century French writer Stendhal, states There is only one rule in love: bring happiness to those you love. Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was born in the “White Room” facility. It was run by his father, who made it a point to tell his underlings not to go easy on his son, even if it broke him.

Ayanokouji was raised without love or happiness. One day Sakayanagi Arisu visited the facility with her father, who loved her and encouraged her to love others. She spotted Ayanokouji playing chess from the observation gallery, and she was immediately smitten, vowing to one day face off against him.

That day has finally arrived thanks to the circumstances of the final special exam, and while Ayanokouji is his usual neutral self, Arisu having an absolute blast. Class C jumps to a 3-2 lead with wins in basketball, typing, and archery, while Class A secures wins in English and Math.

When the Mental Math subject comes up, Kouenji doesn’t take it seriously despite likely knowing all the answers, and Class C loses. Ayanokouji took a calculated risk and accepted that he wouldn’t be able to control every element in the exam. This leads to a 3-3 tie.

The deciding subject is chess, of course, and not even Ayanokouji could convince Arisu that it isn’t destiny that they face off against one another in the final game. That said, they are represented at the physical chess board by their proxies, Suzune and Hashimoto.

The two novices begin play on their own, with Suzune only learning a week ago and Hashimoto only a few months earlier. The latter tries to psych Suzune out by talking about Ayanokouji, but she already prepared for that eventuality. Arisu starts issuing instructions first, and for a few tense moments, Suzune is left hanging, but then Ayanokouji issues her instructions, and the real match begins.

Unfortunately, the animation of Suzune and Hashimoto as well as the chess board itself are rendered in somewhat stiff and plasticky CGI. This was most likely a cost-saving measure, but I suppose I’ve seen worse, and it didn’t pull me out of the game. In fact, I was spellbound as the game went on and each move gained more importance.

To Suzune’s distress, Arisu ends up winning, but later she learns the match was rigged: an instruction Ayanokouji sent to Suzune was edited by Tsukishiro, likely on orders from Ayanokouji’s dad. While he loses, the protection point prevents him from expulsion. That’s no solace for Arisu, who is disgusted by the interference, and promises Tsukishiro that he’ll “pay a high price.” I’m just glad Tsukishiro didn’t knock her over again.

The adults can’t keep our two scheming geniuses down, however; they replay the match as it unfolded in person the library, but this time, with none of his moves edited, Ayanokouji beats Arisu. He probably would beat her every time. She’s satisfied with the result, and more importantly glad to have gotten closure on their competition. It’s her loss, and she can live with that.

But it’s also her gain, because she was finally able to compete against the boy she saw in that cold, loveless White Room, and learn something in the process: his genius wasn’t and isn’t artificial or manufactured, but simply a product of his birth, like hers. She likens herself to a childhood friend pining for someone she wasn’t able to find, but now she has, and she’s elated.

Arisu is positively glowing for this final scene, and Hidaka Rina’s voice has never been kinder, gentler, or prettier. She admits that she chose to be a captain so she could spend as much time beside him as possible. And since he showed her he was a true genius, she tenderly takes his hand in both of hers and impresses upon him the importance of the warmth of human contact.

In the end, Arisu wasn’t some conniving mastermind hell-bent on destroying Ayanokouji, but a surprisingly sweet, emotionally intelligent girl in love who refuses to accept that anyone—not even unquestioned geniuses—can survive without love, warmth, and happiness. Is Ayanokouji is truly beyond saving, or is there still hope he may one day grow a heart in that chest of his? I’m sure if you asked Arisu, she’d say anything is possible.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – 26 – The Ant that Slew the Dragon

So, about that attack Fern launched when Frieren gave her an opening … the replica blocked it. And so the battle continues, with Frieren and her replica flipping to the back of the playbook and executing some awesomely powerful offensive spells at each other while Fern flits around trying to find more openings. It’s stressful, but also gorgeous to behold, and at no point does Frieren seem remotely worried. On the contrary, she’s having a blast.

While she and Fern fight her replica, the others head out to face off agains the other replicas gathering at the bottom of the dungeon. They choose their targets based on how good or bad matchup they are against the replicas. Denken is quite right that their ability to work together and communicate means not only can they win, they should win. Even when Sense’s replica ambushes Richter and Lawine, and both have to break their golem bottles.

Ultimately, the only one who believes she can defeat the replica of Sense is Übel, who just shot up in the official Coolest Frieren Mages Ever ranking in my books for this reason. As Land, Denken, and Sense lament, Übel’s mind simply works differently than most humans. Growing up watching her sister cut cloth with scissors, she developed Reelseiden, a spell that cuts anything she thinks it can.

She could cut the indomitable magic cloak of a first class mage in a past test, killing him, because she saw the cloak as cloth to be cut. In the same vein, she’s able to easily defeat Sense’s replica (and Sense herself if she chose to) because hair can be cut. Reelseiden is the manifestation of her own personal intuition, which is separate from the typical rules of magic and logic. Put simply, she’s one deadly gal!

Methode makes contact with Wirbel, Ehre, and Scharf, asking them to take on Denken’s replica, while she’ll deal with Fern’s. She needs to be alone in order to maximize the sensitivity of her mana detection, plus in an adorable cutaway, we se her successfully testing her binding magic on Fern, complete with a friendly “Take that!”, Fern declaring she can’t move, and Frieren poking her face.

When replicas they’ve already defeated start to appear, it becomes clear the Spiegel can continue re-spawning them indefinitely until it is defeated. Frieren’s replica has to be destroyed soon to allow them access to the Spiegel, or everyone’s going to eventually be carted away by golems.

Rewinding back to before they confront the replica, Frieren tells Fern that she’ll give Fern the opening she needs by showing an opening to her replica, thus making it show an even bigger opening. Everything hinges on Fern being able to exploit that opening, and Frieren tells her if she thinks they can win, they can win.

Not only that, Frieren admits she “underestimates” Fern. This is the Age of Humanity, after all. Even in her relatively short lifespan, Fern can surpass Frieren one day, but again, only if she thinks she can.

Some truly heinous magic is unleashed by Frieren and her replica in the final stage of their battle, with Frieren cutting things so close her jacket is shredded and her shoulder singed. But the big opening works, and Fern is able to pummel the replica with offensive magic, blasting her arms off.

But then Fern is once again surprised by the depths and heights of Frieren’s magical knowledge as demonstrated by her replica. Fern is tossed across the chamber and slammed hard against the wall, her staff shattered … and Fern doesn’t even recognize it as a spell, nor can she detect any mana.

True to Frieren, the most powerful magic whips out is so elegant it isn’t even recognizable as magic. But as the replica prepares to finish Fern off, Frieren slips behind her and finishes her off. Fern had to take a bit of a lickin’ so that everyone could keep on tickin’.

Victory! I loathed the potential for an unaccounted-for replica to be hiding in the treasure chamber where the Spiegel resided, but Frieren’s replica truly was its final line of defense. Frieren shatters it, and all of the replicas vanish as if snapped away by Thanos. And just in the nick of time too, judging by the precarious state of the various battles.

Everyone arrives at the treasure chamber at the very bottom of the dungeon to a smiling, congratulatory Sense, who tells them all of them deserve to be first-class mages. As for the “ladies of the hour”, as Denken calls them, Fern once again watches as Frieren gets nommed by another mimic, shouting that it’s dark and scary.

But you know what? After being as badass as she was, she deserves to act a little goofy before the third and final test, for which only two announced episodes of the series remain to tell. More than anything, I’m already loathing an end to Frieren, even if it’s likely to get another season down the road. Few anime in history have succeeded so thoroughly in making magic look and feel so … magical.

RABUJOI WORLD HERITAGE LIST

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – 25 – The Age of Humanity

The assembled mages are pondering how to proceed with so little information, but as others arrive, they gain more intel on the replicas, and with it the confidence to take on the Fake Frieren, who is terrifying in its stillness and patience. Dunste confirms it has no mind, while Lawine learned from her brother’s adventuring that the creature making the replicas is called a Spiegel, and is extremely weak once the replicas are defeated.

The third and most crucial piece of information is not only revealed, but demonstrated by Fern: whenever Frieren casts a spell, she ever so briefly stops detecting mana. I love how sheepish she is about it, as after all it’s a common mistake made by baby mages. But all her other strengths mean only a select few can exploit this weakness.

With sufficient intel to proceed, the group forms a strategy. Fern can tell from her smiles that Frieren is enjoying this, and she confirms that, as it reminds her of when she, Himmel, Eisen, and Heiter (if he wasn’t hung over) coming up with a plan to defeat a dungeon boss. Denken and the others are concerned that Frieren and Fern will be facing off against the replica by themselves, but Frieren has the confidence of someone from the party that conquered the most dungeons in history.

It’s rare for a show to come along that wields such mastery of restraint and elegance in the execution of its battle scenes. Frieren’s battles never last long, but they’re never too short. Instead, they are as long as they need to be. In the battles, Evan Call’s score rings out and time is compressed. So much action and invention and mayhem is conveyed in just a few brief seconds. It can jump from Slow Life to Turbo Chaos in the literal blink of an eye.

It can also make expert use of delayed gratification to lend its battles even more weight. Just as Repli-Frieren is about to zap Real-Frieren in the face with a spell, we cut to however many centuries ago when Flamme passed away and Frieren paid a visit to Serie to present her with her apprentice’s will. Now that the emperor has approved it, any human can now study magic, and Flamme wanted Serie to take over the training of imperial mages once she died.

Serie has no intention of doing so, and is angered by Flamme’s “greed”, but Frieren notes that Flamme predicted her master’s reaction with perfect accuracy. Before Frieren leaves, Serie asks her to take a walk with her. While she does, we have a glimpse of Serie’s headspace. She speaks rather coldly about Flamme, having trained her “on a mere whim”, but her attitude makes sense when you consider that the way Serie perceives time, Flamme’s entire life was equivalent to only a few days, or even hours.

I love how when they walk through a very elvish-looking forest, the spirit of a young Flamme follows Serie along, smiling, holding her master’s hand, showing her her favorite spell: creating a field of flowers. Considering how relatively briefly Flamme was alive, Serie was amazed she was able to bring magic to humanity. She warns Frieren not to neglect her training, as the “era of humans” will be upon them before they know it, and if Frieren is going to be killed, it will either be by the Demon King … or a human.

Knowing all of this entering the battle, Frieren keeps her replica focused on her as they fight to a draw. Fern conceals her mana and stays hidden until Frieren creates an opening. Replica Frieren, who has the same vulnerability as her real counterpart, cannot detect Fern’s mana until it’s too late. All Real Frieren has to do is move out of the way of Fern’s Zoltraak, which she can do because she knows it’s coming. Replica Frieren doesn’t, so it’s game over in a flash.

Elves like her predate Zoltraak, they’re unable to react to it as instinctively as a human like Fern, for whom Zoltraak is just a basic attack spell that existed long before she was born. But at the end of the day the replica lost because Real Frieren is a relic from an ancient time living in the middle of the Age of Humanity, and Fern is her adorable human apprentice who was able to best her.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – 24 – Their Own Worst Enemies

As Denken confirms in his lovely deadpan, fighting a replica of Frieren is going to be a royal pain in the ass. It’s all he, Laufen and Richter can do to escape her wide-area initial attack, presented with the usual Frieren panache with as the three gracefully twisting and dodging the beams of magic, any one of which would be the end of them, escape golem or not.

We check in on Land and Übel after their initial encounter with a replica of Ubel, which slashed Land in the chest and stole his golem. Übel can tell he’s in a bad way, so offers her own golem, which he refuses. She then correctly surmises that this wounded Land is only clone.

She rushes out and faces off against her replica head-on, even allowing it to restrain her. Such is the trust she had in Land’s distaste for allowing anyone—even her—to die because of him. Sassiness and craftiness … I fail to see how Land hasn’t proposed yet!

Watching Übel take down her replica with an assist from Land was cool as hell, but just as enjoyable is watching Frieren continue to skip around the dungeon like she’s a kid in a candy store. Rarely is she without a big goofy grin on her face as she locates an entrance to a secret passage and reveals the best preserved stone mural of its era Sense has ever seen.

Just as they’re nearing the bottom of the dungeon and Fern is thinking things have gone far too smoothly, they encounter Denken’s team outside the main hall where Frieren’s replica is standing guard. As expected, this only heightens Frieren’s enthusiasm, as this is exactly what conquering a dungeon should be … and she should know!

The standard strategy when dealing with a superior mage is to use restraint or hypnosis magic, but when Methode, who is the best of Denken’s group at both, attempts to cast such magic on the real Frieren, she fails; Fern does not like how she hugged Frieren and pulls her away.

But while Frieren is highly resistant, Methode believes a hypnosis specialist could at least buy them some time in a battle with the replica. That specialist is Edel, who along with her party is being cornered by a replica of Sense, who unlike her template is probably not a pacifist.

Edel, who is voiced by Kurosawa Tomoyo with a slightly haughty playfulness, assesses their very bad situation, and decides to try using her hypnosis against the replica, with her two mates giving her the fifteen or so seconds she needs to capture its mind and force it to kneel.

Unfortunately, the coin toss didn’t favor Edel, as the replicas have no minds to be captured. In her moment of vulnerability Edel is stabbed through the chest by the Sense replica’s hair. Her hypnosis wouldn’t have had an effect on the Frieren replica either, even if she’d ever gotten to where Frieren and the others are. Badly wounded, she accepts defeat and breaks her bottle. The golem immediately shields her from further attacks and whisks her back to the surface.

But her two party-mates are able to fall back, and are thus still in the mix. So too are Lawine and Kanne, Land and Übel, and the loner guy who came in first. We check back in on Wirbel, Ehre, and Scharf, who manage to take out the Ehre replica by collapsing the ceiling above it. Wirbel has them working like a well-oiled machine.

That’s the key to this dungeon: teamwork, along with cool-headed analysis. It’s not impossible to clear, even with Frieren and Sense replicas stalking about. Thus far, no one has been able to defeat a replica without the aid of someone else. But when Frieren decides to correctly assume her replica doesn’t have a mind to hypnotize, brute force is the only option.

To that end, Fern volunteers to provide the brute force needed to defeat the Miss Frieren replica, and Frieren smiles with the obvious pride of a master confident her pretty young student has the strength, imagination, and resolve to prevail.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – 23 – Dungeon Raiding, as a Treat

Sense, First Class Mage and proctor, explains the second exam to the eighteen remaining examinees: All they need to do is reach the deepest level of the dungeon of the King’s Tomb.

She’ll accompany them down there, so she’ll know if and when anyone accomplishes this goal. With her prehensile hair she issues everyone a bottle containing a rescue golem, which if broken will return them safely to the surface, but also result in them failing the exam.

Denken urges everyone to work together, but one particularly arrogant young mage forges ahead alone; Wirbel only feels comfortable continuing to work with Scharf and Ehre; Ubel wants Land all to herself, and Lawine and Kanne also head in together.

Naturally, Frieren and Fern pair up, and Sense decides to accompany them, assuring them she’ll neither interfere or assist. This isn’t Fern’s first rodeo, and Frieren has likely been to more dungeons than everyone else put together.

As they proceed with caution, Frieren recalls Himmel loving dungeons, specifically exploring every nook and cranny of them. It wasn’t just completionism, either: he wanted to make the most of the time he had with Frieren, Heiter, and Eisen, while also leaving room to have fun.

Frieren, who last week did what a First Class Mage does on the regular and “made the impossible possible” may be cautious in how the dungeon is explored, but exposes her weakness for suspicious treasure chests and grimoires, and ends up glomped by a mimic.

As Fern tries pulling her out, Sense wonders if she chose the wrong party to accompany. But at no point does Frieren panic; she simply instructs Fern to push her further in so the mimic will cough her up. She avoided using magic to destroy the mimic because it turns her hair into frizzy ringlets.

Besides his First Exam buds Laufen and Richter, Denken is only able to persuade two others to team up with him: Methode and Lange. Unfortunately, when their party comes afoul of some gargoyles, Lange is sealed in a room with moving spiked walls, and has to break the bottle to escape with her life.

Before that, we get some excellent offense, defense, and teamwork from Denken, Laufen, Richter, and Methode. But Lange’s quick exit is a sobering reminder that letting your guard down for only a moment could spell ruin.

Frieren and Fern apparently have so little trouble with the gargoyles the episode doesn’t bother showing them destroying them. Instead, whlie Frieren pores over all the magical junk she’s found and collected, Sense asks Fern what her deal is. For her age, Fern is the most skilled mage Sense has ever met, but “senses” not passion or determination.

Fern wonders if both of those things were used up when she was trying so hard to pay a debt to someone by becoming the mage she is. And yet she keeps going on in search of magic because watching Ms. Frieren smile makes her smile. She likes seeing Frieren happy, and it makes her happy. This changes Sense’s previous doubts about following them.

But while things seem to be going relatively easily so far, it was a given that the dungeon’s difficulty level would rise as everyone descended deeper. Wirbel, Scharf, and Ehre are suddenly ambushed by what look like clay replicas of themselves.

Denken’s party is also attacked by a copy of Laufen. It takes all four of them to defeat it, but Denken notes that he’s never encountered such a perfect copy of a mage, complete with Laufen’s looks, moves, and mana.

Of course, we know where this is headed: Laufen is one thing, but a perfect replica of Frieren? That’s a trickier proposition. Even if Denken, Laufen, Richter, and Methode work as a perfectly oiled machine, I wouldn’t be surprised if the only one who can truly defeat a copy of Frieren is the genuine article.

Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! – 02 – Trusting in a Smile

In a welcome acknowledgement that she’s neither a MPDG (Manic Pixie Dream Gyaru) nor a figment of Tsubasa’s imagination, we get a slice of Minami’s family life as she shares a meal with her gorgeous mom and adorable little sister Momo. They’re going skating tomorrow, but Minami has to pass, as she’s going to the winter festival with Tsubasa.

Because she hasn’t been to the festival since elementary school, at first Minami is worried about whether she’ll have as much fun as she did back then, and is also worried that a Tokyo kid like Tsubasa would ask “Is this it?” But while the snow sculptures seem smaller (since she’s grown), she had nothing to worry about. Tsubasa’s reaction to the whole festival isn’t  “Is this it?”, but “This is IT!”

After sharing an indirect kiss-via sugared corn dog, snowball fights and snowmen making, and sledding down a hill together, Tsubasa gets them some hot amazake. But Minami doesn’t even need that to be warmed up by Tsubasa’s radiant smile, as he vocalizes how much fun he had and glad he is she came with him.

These vulnerable, blushing moments Tsubasa doesn’t seem to notice may be Minami’s cutest. Tsubasa’s easy to read, but so is she, if he’d just pay closer attention! That said, Minami does admit that being with him makes her appreciate and love her quiet Hokkaido town even more, so she’s glad she came too. Then she slips in the snow and he catches her. Daaaaaaaw.

With the promise of a visit to the bigger Sapporo festival sometime, Tsubasa and Minami are hitting it off splendidly. At school, she suggest they eat lunch together, and inadvertently gives him his very first taste of instant yakisoba. Turns out she remembers the corn dog indirect kiss too.

When he shows her his pristine homemade bento in a lacquered box, and he admits she’s exposing him to so many first times, does Minami dismiss him as a loser or a virgin? My friends, she does not. Instead, it confirms to her that he’s a spoiled rich kid!

Tsubasa doesn’t think his family is particularly rich, but Minami asks to visit his house to confirm, and he can’t say no. On the way, while Tsubasa is worried about his his granny will react to him bringing a girl home, Minami spots a snow cave made by some kids.

She climbs in with no regard to the length of her skirt and pulls Tsubasa in with her so they can escape the chill and get nice and cozy. Many double entendres ensue, culminating in a flustered Tsubasa asking her not to moan like that and climbing out.

As he does, he notices his granny standing there in the road, having overheard all of that misleadingly raunchy dialogue. Minami clings to Tsubasa and jokingly tells him he was “way too quick” and should have “enjoyed his first time [in a snow cave]”, and when she learns the woman is his granny, she enthusiastically introduces herself.

When Granny asks Minami what her relationship is, she starts to say “friends”, but Tsubasa interjects with “we’re just classmates.” Needless to say, this hurts Minami’s feelings, and he hurts them more when he hastily says goodbye and goes off with his Granny, certain that she’ll never accept Minami as a friend of his.

Rather than accept this, Minami sticks around, warning Granny about carrying an umbrella in the snow; turns out it’s dangerous to do so as one must keep their hands free in case one slips and falls. She also shows Tsubasa and his granny an alternate route that avoids black ice.

On the way, Minami makes Tsubasa understand that it wasn’t cool calling her “just a classmate,” and he admits it was hard to tell Granny what he truly considers her to be: a very important friend. When he whispers this in her ear, she blushes once more, and their first little conflict is resolved.

She ends up getting them to their giant palatial home with time to spare before an undisclosed appointment, so Granny invites her in for a cup of tea. While she may feel like she’s “getting soft” with age, Granny considers that Minami, bodacious appearance and untraditional manners aside, may actually be a lovely girl.

When she walks into the parlor to find Minami snapping photos of everything, her opinion of her is again tinged with doubt, but only until she notices how much Tsubasa is laughing and smiling as he interacts with her. She hasn’t seen him smile so brightly since he was a little kid, and she’s willing to trust in that smile, and in his choice to befriend Minami.

With the announcement of an upcoming class skiing trip, Tsubasa is happy to find that Minami is close by on the bus, but also learns he’ll be sitting next to someone named Akino. So after two episodes exclusively with Minami, he’s poised to meet the next adorable Hokkaido girl.

Synduality: Noir – 13 – The World Today

One thing we learn right away is that Kanata is most assuredly not an M. If he was, he’d relish the opportunity to be constantly run down, insulted, and belittled by Mystere, Noir’s bad-tempered alter-ego. But while he’s irritated by Mystere’s constant verbal abuse (she only ever calls him “Hack”) he mostly misses Noir and wants to find out how to get her back.

To that end, he takes her to Maria, who pretends to have uncovered nothing from her investigation while trying to provoke a strong emotional response in Mystere. She confirms that Mystere’s original Master was someone named Pascale. When Mystere leaves and is pestered by Flamme, Maria tells Kanata that she found a black box, but otherwise can’t learn more without the same equipment used to create Type Zeros.

Mystere scoffs at fellow Type Zero Flamme and says both Masters and Magus have become “wimps” in the 20 years since she was last online. But Claudia tells her if the world has gone from being a place where it’s all you can do to survive to a place where you can be “a bit of a wimp” and still go on living, there must’ve been some progress made. Kanata then gets Mystere out of the garage and takes her on a tour of the world today.

That tour is one surprise after another for Mystere, who cannot believe there’s a whole town, open-air market, and water park. She’s also struck by how Magus are for the most part treated equally, and shocked by the fact that humans come in droves to hear Ciel, a Magus sing. She quietly notes that “Master’s Project” wasn’t in vain.

After the show, Ciel shares a shower with Mystere, and tells her that Kanata isn’t just thinking about Noir while interacting with her. She tells Mystere that Kanata is a good person who views humans and Magus equally, and thus deserves a chance. Mystere, perhaps a little to eager to speak to Kanata, runs out into the garage naked and tells Kanata that she may be inadvertently blocking Noir from resurfacing due to her desire to meet her Master again.

Kanata agrees to do what he can to help Mystere learn more about what might have happened to Pascale in the last two decades. He and Ciel take her to the place where he found Noir, only to find the Coffin missing. He then gives Mystere the camera, which dredges up a memory of her and her Master taking photos together.

Certain her Master wouldn’t abandon her, Mystere concedes that she must have died. Kanata apologizes to Mystere, who calls him “Kanata” for the first time before telling him that’s why he’s a hack, then reverting back to Noir. Apparently satisfied that reuniting with her Master wouldn’t be possible, Mystere was able to lift whatever was blocking Noir from awakening.

That said, no sooner do Kanata and Ciel get Noir back home does Kanata mention offhandedly that the fact Mystere didn’t laugh at his mention of Histoire must’ve meant she wasn’t all bad, Mystere reawakens once more, pulls Noir’s coat back over her shoulders and activates its plug-suit like form-fitting vaccum, and orders Kanata to get ready, because they’re going to Histoire. Apparently, she’s remembered the way.

If you enjoyed Synduality: Noir’s first cour, which was a bright and colorful throwback to early 2000’s quirky mecha anime, you’ll enjoy the start of Part 2. Koga Aoi puts on a clinic voicing Mystere (who a lot like a pissed-off Love is War’s Shinomiya Kaguya), but it’s also satisfying to watch her hard edges gradually wear down in the fact of Kanata and his friends’ earnestness.

Now that she can come and go at will, I’m looking forward to going on an adventure with her, and learning more about the Histoire Kanata is so obsessed with. At the same time, we know that Ciel is an operative for Macht, while Tokio is getting into fights with unsavory groups looking for someone, so there’s a lot going on.

Spy x Family – 35 – Island Time

With the bombs defused and the bad guys eliminated, all that’s left is for the Forgers to enjoy a day together off the ship on a picturesque island. Naturally Anya makes a big deal of alighting from the ship, complete with superhero landing, and gets Loid to run along with her. When he realizes Yor is waiting for them and watching him running towards her, he immediately blushes.

I can’t tell you how nice it is just to see these three people back together again, even if they’re still a long way from being honest to each other about their jobs and abilities, we’ve rarely seen them so relaxed and happy. Even at home there’s a sense of keeping up appearances, but this excursion is all about having genuine moments of fun as a family, and they’ve never looked more real.

That said, between pedaling a tandem bike 50 mph, spelunking, snorkeling, and walking all over the island town, all of Yor’s exertions and complete lack of sleep the last couple of days finally catches up with her. Fortunately, when she passes out it’s right into the safety of Loid’s shoulder. Anya is also tuckered out, which means he has to carry them both back to the ship. But while he initially looks put out, he allows himself a smile, as if to realize hey, this isn’t that bad!

When Yor is back in the office, her dubious sense of taste in souveniers is exposed when her co-workers bristle at their skeleton keychains. It’s the thought that counts, gals—check your attitudes! Yuri is also super-cheerful knowing Yor is back, and makes immediate plans to visit.

Back at school Anya tries to act like a big shot, but when Becky learns she was “just” aboard the Lorelai, then wows the classmates with her break spent with a celebrity, Anya resorts to lies (Octopeople) sprinkled with unverifiable / unbelievable truths (Barnaby is a celebrity … among assassins!).

Anya gets laughed at for her embellishments, but after class Becky has her back, telling her that to be a proper lady she has to live her truth. Damian commented that if nothing else, Anya is never boring, but they could be good friends if they dropped their respective acts and just acted normally around each other.

When Anya reports her bad day to her folks and Yuri, both Loid and Yuri launch into inner-diatribes both promoting proper lying (Loid) and condemning it as the resort of trash people (Yuri) before being much more succinct out loud (Loid: “lying is bad”; Yuri: “liars are trash.” Yor and Bond are stuck in the middle, and the episode ends on a somewhat tense and awkward note, but not so much that it detracted from all the lovely family moments that preceded it.