Shin no Nakama – S2 07 – Children Are the Future

Red, Rit, and Ruti overhear the voices of a bunch of cute kids practicing their spearwork for their Blessings, and decide to help out. The three of the prove to be personable and engaging instructors. If he didn’t own an apothecary, he could probably open a dojo and teach the next generation. When the town watch reports Ogre Kings in the area, the three insist on helping, with Ruti proving they’re pretty strong by smacking her greatsword on the base of a tree and halving every leaf that falls.

Hero Van also ends up meeting with some children, and his willingness to talk with them and his patience  surprises Esta. Alas, he’s only nice to them because their blessings haven’t awakened yet. Once they do, he essentially warns them that they will have no free will to pursue the lives they want, only lives dictated by the blessings bestowed upon them by Demis. Lavender is the quintessential toadie and enabler, believing Van to always be right and everyone else is a nuisance.

The less said about the “animation” of Red and Rit’s battle, the better; it’s essentially a slide show with some shaky stills and pans mixed in. The battle lacks urgency and danger, despite both Red and Rit determining that these are very strange Ogre Kings, using stealth, weapons, and even magic. In the end, Red and Rit take out over two dozen, but the scale of that feat isn’t really captured by the visuals.

It was only a matter of time when Tisse had to reveal herself to Van, what with him nosing around Zoltan and Lavender having spotted her snooping. Tisse has a calm answer for all Lav’s questions, but she’s still suspicious, because Lav is an inherently intolerant, impatient, and paranoid pixie.

Van remains big, big problem, and despite her strength and cunning, Tisse is in very real danger, especially if he learns she’s concealing her identity and assassin’s blessing. That’s why when Mr. Crawly Wawly stops by for a report, Ruti decides they’ll head back to Zoltan.

She doesn’t care what church or hero stands in her way, she’s going to protect her best friend with everything she has. Hopefully that will be enough against Van. Mind you, I’d prefer if they avoid fighting him altogether but that seems unrealistic at this point.

TenSura – 10 – Maybe I’m Actually Pretty Great?

During the village feast, Rimuru offers to help the Ogres get revenge on the orc army that destroyed their village and killed all but the six of them. After sleeping on it, the Ogre leader agrees that they’ll serve as his subordinates until the orcs are dealt with.

Rimuru then names the six Ogres, but comes to learn that while there are only six of them, they were far more powerful to start then the goblins he named, and he passes out from magicule depletion much faster than expected.

But with their new names the six Ogres evolve into “Kijin”, more human and less wild-looking. Now the posse we see during the end credits is complete, and Rimuru now has some very capable subordinates. Looks like he’ll need them!

Scouts of the Lizardmen who dwell in the marshlands in the center of Jura Forest report back to their chieftain that a massive, 200,000-strong army of orcs is making its way through the forest, no doubt to conquer the territory. The chieftain muses that an Orc Lord must have been born to be able to control an orc army so large.

And now we know what that business with the big-man was all about a couple episodes back: A Demon Lord Army officer named Gelmud named an Orc, resulting in its evolution to Orc Lord. That same Gelmud named Riguru’s big brother, as well as the son of the Lizardmen Chieftain, Sir Gabiru.

Gabiru is sent by his father to seek aid in their defense of Jura from the Orc horde. His loyal retainers convince him that this is the perfect opportunity to prove to his father that he can retire and let him take on the mantle of chieftaindom. Souei, Rimuru’s new Kijin ninja, reports the presence of Lizardmen nearby. These two groups will likely have to come together to overcome the threat of the orc army.

TenSura – 09 – Adult in the Room

With Shizu absorbed, the adventurers gone, and the village on autopilot, Rimuru explores his new human-mimicking ability, and learns that his default form has no gender.

He can make it any age and as masculine or feminine as he likes, but steers clear of the latter (looks too much like Shizu) and maintains the default form, continuing his practice of looking deceptively twee.

While practicing some of the new abilities he got from Shizu, Ranga reports in: the hunting party is under attack by a group of six ogres. These ogres (or oni) don’t match Mikami’s idea of the hulking, ugly brutes, but one thing’s for sure, they’re confident in their abilities.

Their red leader believes Rimuru is responsible for the destruction of their village and intends to get revenge. Rimuru leaves only the pink mage to Ranga and quickly dispatches three of the remaining five.

But the white ogre knows the skills he’s using and where he got them, and can even slip past magical sense. The red one also has a fire attack, which is obviously useless against the immune slime.

Rimuru decides to remove the aura-concealing mask and show them his true power by breaking out one his newest abilities, Black Flame. Red is impressed and scared, but as the leader of his people he’s not going to back down just because the cause is hopeless. It takes Pinky, who also happens to be his sister, to be the voice of reason among the ogres.

Everyone stands down and they work through the misunderstanding. Both sides’ people are healed up and Rimuru invites his new horned friends back to the village for a feast (which he’ll now be able to taste in human form). And now I know who all those horned folks in the OP and ED are!

As for what their story is, that will have to wait for next week. Until then, I welcome the introduction of six more very cool-looking characters.

Overlord III – 11 – Enri the Golbin General

While his father sent him on an intel-gathering mission to Carne ostensibly to protect his heir, First Prince Barbro is determined to earn the throne through distinguishing deeds, not simply sit back and inherent it (also, he must suspect either the nobles or his siblings will ultimately plot against his succession once daddy’s dead).

This would be all well and good if Prince Barbro were good at anything. But reader: He is not. Scratch that: he’s good at making increasingly bad decisions and only quitting when it’s too late to save either his army or his own hide. And it didn’t have to be this way; had he negotiated peacefully with Carne rather than try to kill her, she wouldn’t have blown the little horn Lord Ains gifted to Enri.

When Barbro’s troops reform after initially getting their clocks cleaned by Carne’s trained ogres, he forces Enri’s hand, and with no other options and Barbro’s horsemen nipping at the heels of the escaping children, Enri blows the horn, not quite knowing what it will do.

Well, the Horn of the Goblin General does no less than summon a massive, 5,000 strong goblin army, extremely well-equipped, well-trained, and unquestionably loyal to the person who blew the horn. We’re presented to wave after wave of (somewhat shoddy) CGI columns of all the various units kitted out in splendid battle attire.

Even Momonga/Ains is caught off guard by this sudden development; he had assumed the horn would summon twenty decent goblins at best, but nothing like this. He deduces internally that the size and strength of the army must be determined by the individual blowing the horn; in this case Enri.  She already had the loyalty and love of her village and its goblin garrison; the horn thus conjured a suitably badass force.

Needless to say, Barbro’s forces are routed and thrown into retreat, though as I mentioned, the order to flee is given too late. Later that night we learn the truth of the matter: Beta “added her voice” to Enri’s horn blow, resulting in the overpowered goblin army (even she was surprised by how big it was).

She also nonchalantly (as befits one of the Seven Stars) breaks the bad news to Barbro that his existence isn’t part of Lord Ains’ plans, and so he and his entire force will be massacred forthwith.

So it’s R.I.P. Barbro–it’s probably better for the kingdom that he never ascended the throne–and all hail the Glorious Goblin General and victorious Chief of Carne Village, Enri Emmot. May she and Nphirea someday get to roll around in the hay without interruption from incompetent princes.

Overlord III – 05 – Battle of Carne

With her village about to be invaded by monsters, Enri is sure some kind of “evil god” is watching over her, testing her as soon as she takes up the mantle of leadership. But whatever shortcomings she may think she has, she’s stand and fight for her village.

As the civilians flee to a safe-ish gathering place, Enri’s Goblin/Human/Ogre army prepares for an opposing force of other ogres, wolves, and with a combination of archery and siege tactics, they make quick work of the dumber among their foes.

Then the Giant of the East shows up and they start to wonder if they can win this thing. Funny how someone who seemed so powerless last week against Ains is such a fearsome enemy this week. It’s all relative.

As her soldiers fight, Enri ensures everyone is evacuated, but she and Nphi end up cornered by a big blue troll with an excellent sense of smell. The two play a game of cat-and-mouse with him (he’s dumb, but not as dumb as an ogre) but eventually they run out of options and Nphi volunteers to stay behind and buy time for Enri to get reinforcements.

He also picks perhaps the perfect time to finally confess by very cooly asking her to let him protect the woman he loves. Between his potions and spells, Nphi hangs in there, but he always knew one good blow is all the troll would need to kill him. Thankfully, the one good blow he is dealt doesn’t kill him, but he’s definitely in the red.

Enter Beta Lupusregina, for whom neither the Troll nor his boss the Giant are any match. She stops his blow with one hand, thus fulfilling the duty Lord Ains assigned her. Enri returns with unneeded backup, and she embraces Nphi, happy beyond words that he’s still alive. I love how their lovey-doviness is interrupted by Beta showing them a very gross flaming mass of dead troll.

Later that night (the goblins give the couple some time alone), Enri gives Nphi and answer, which is that she’s not quite sure what love is, but she does know she never wants him to leave her side, so if that’s love, she’s in love with him. That’s good enough for him.

The next morning, Enri, Nphi and Nemu are escorted to the Tomb of Nazarick by Yuri Alpha and Beta, and Nemu absolutely loses her shit with how big and clean and awesome everything is. Lord Ains, his skeletal form hidden by a mask and cloak, is perhaps the jolliest we’ve ever seen him, like a proud rich uncle. He makes a note to tell Beta that Nemu is also on the list of people he wants protected.

Among such power, splendor, and charm, Nphi feels a bit outmatched, and that admits that he never had a chance in the first place. But while Ains may be a superior man in many ways, he is inferior in the most important one: he’s not Enri’s type. Nphi is, and so they walk into the dining hall for their George R.R. Martin-esque multi-course bougie meal with hands intertwined. Glad to see these two figure it out!

Overlord III – 04 – Underwhelming Monsters

Despite Beta being scolded for not reporting about the Giant and Snake of the East and West, at least for now it would seem she was correct: they weren’t really worth reporting, at least as credible threats. Sure, they could be a problem for the humans and goblins of Carne, but like Hamasuke they’re not really worth their lofty directional titles.

Maybe, like Beta, I’m underestimating their relative power in this world, but when Ains and Aura (whom he worries isn’t eating enough) actually visit the lair of these apparently fearsome monsters, what they find is pretty underwhelming.

The “giant” is just a troll and the “demon snake”, an old naga. His attempts with the former lead to him using an Aura of Despair spell to knock the troll and his cohorts out, but the naga is willing to submit himself to Lord Ains after witnessing just how pointless it is to try to resist him with physical attacks or even flee with invisibility magic.

Meanwhile, Ains has sent Beta back to Carne with the mission/test of protecting not the village, but the three people he values there: Nphirea, Enri, Lizzy (Nemu isn’t mentioned). Aside from them, Ains doesn’t really care about anyone else. Pretty quiet incremental episode; we’ll have to see how Beta fares in her mission next week at the earliest.

Overlord III – 03 – No Mere Village Girl

This week dispenses with Nazarick entirely and stays focused on Carne and Enri in particular as she suddenly faces a multitude of challenges as its de facto leader.

The young goblin Agu reports that he and his fellow tribesfolk were running from the Giant of the East and the Great Snake of the West, who in the absence of the Great Beast of the South (AKA Hamusuke) are gathering armies to fight the King of Ruin.

Carne Village may well be unable to escape getting entangled in such a conflict, and when the battle comes to its boundaries, they need to be ready. In an odd bit of timing, Beta Lupusregina has paid Enri a visit, and offers to ask Lord Gown for help, but Enri wants to first see if the village is capable of handling its own affairs.

Later that night, the Goblins capture several Ogres who Enri is able to convince them to fight for her, thus bolstering the defense of the village.

When Nphirea informs Enri he won’t be able to accompany her to E-Rantel tomorrow, Enri laments that she may be the only one in the world in her current situation. When they cut to another person in such a situation, Lord Gown, I half-expected him to sneeze, since someone was talking about him.

When Enri reaches the gates of E-Rantel, she’s quickly arrested and brought in for questioning. The wizard on duty identifies some powerful magic both in Enri and in the trinket Lord Gown once gifted her, which she learns is worth thousands of gold.

Just then, Momon enters the room, has a quick side-chat with the wizard, and Enri is released, just like that. It’s nice to have friends in high places, and nothing is higher than Adamantite.

Enri visits the very bureaucratic Adventurer’s Guild having to plead poverty, or at least tell them her village can’t bear the cost of the protection it will need without a subsidy from the city, acknowledging it won’t cover the entire cost. Enri drifts off while waiting, but when she wakes up, everything seems to be arranged, almost as if the attendant had been threatened to assist Enri or else…

Upon exiting the city (where goblins dare not enter) Enri gifts her protectors with stout new weapons. Upon returning home, she discovers a kind of “reverse coup”: everyone has conspired to agree that she and she alone should lead the village. It’s an honor she never asked for, but one for which no one else is better qualified.

Even Beta believes that, but as Enri is being officially installed, Beta hovers high above, laughing, when Yuri Alpha arrives beside her. While we had witnessed Beta being all buddy-buddy and helpful with Enri, here we see a different side of her; a sadistic side.

Now that things are going so well for the village, she really wants to burn it all down to see everyone’s faces. I wonder if Lord Gown would approve, if Beta is just having a moment, or if she truly hopes to watch the village perish. I for one hope she’s disappointed, and Enri and her ragtag defense force can hold off whatever’s coming from the forest.

OverLord – 07

This new world Momonga finds himself seems a little smaller this week, as the girl Nphirea likes (and is sadly unable to propose to) turns out to be Enri, the girl Momonga saved. She summoned helpful goblins who help keep the village safe and are even training the villagers to defend themselves. I for one am glad not all goblins are bad. Of course, Nphirea former knows him as Mr. Momon, while Enri knows him as Lord Gown.

Thus Momonga ends up getting caught in his own web of lies. Fortunately, Nphirea doesn’t have a malevolent bone in his body; he just wanted to follow and learn from Momon, and promises to keep the fact he has multiple identities a secret. Nabe offers to kill herself for blabbing about Albedo, but Momonga considers the incident closed and all is forgiven.

Nphirea asks Momon not to kill the Wise King of the Forest if he encounters it, lest the power vacuum of the forest lead to an uptick in monster activity (the King is the lesser of two evils). His domain is a lovely, lush, dense forest primeval that reminds me of Mononoke-hime, and Aura’s giant talking beast friends continue that theme…

…As does the unveil of the Wise King himself: a giant talking hamster. I…was not expecting that, though when I first saw the squirrel-like eyes in the dark I suspected something rodent-y. This is absurd and a little trippy, and Momonga, knowing an ally of his had a similar pet, doesn’t really want to deal with this guy, so I really like how everyone else is so in awe of this Wise King, despite being a giant hamster. Even Nabe sees power in its gaze (I didn’t catch a gender).

He also achieves what he wanted originally: to gain prestige and create buzz back in the city by capturing and registering the legendary beast, while inspiring Nphirea to ask if he can join his team. Momonga gently refuses, but promises he’ll help protect Carne, and in the meantime Nphirea is welcome to keep observing and learning from him.

Back in town there’s the sense that everyone had just undertaken a great adventure and are now back home sweet home. Nphirea himself is ready to settle in for the night when he notices his grandma isn’t around, and that’s when he finds Clementine lying in wait for him, offering her chilling sing-song “Hiiii.” This is not good news for our long-banged pharmacist, but it is good news for the show. Things are moving along, slowly but surely.

OverLord – 06

OverLord continues to plod along at a leisurely, deliberate pace, but there’s something to be said for a show of this genre to not move at such a breakneck speed that nothing that happens matters as much as what happens next. Momon is playing the long game here, so it makes sense for the show to focus on his first job as an adventurer, protecting Nphirea alongside the Swords of Darkness.

This episode was almost assured an 8 just for the scene of Demiurge walking in on Albedo in Ains’ bed with her recently-crafted Ains body pillow. Utterly ridiculous? Sure, but I won’t deny I laughed out loud at that ridiculousness. And Demiurge’s casual reactions completed the sale. Momonga’s changes to her character are locked in, he must reap what he’s sown. I wonder if Albedo’s obsession will only get worse to the point it becomes a crisis…but considering the comedy angle with the pillow, I also highly doubt it.

Back in the field, Momon gets a chance to both see the DarkSwords do their thing, and to show them what he’s capable of, which is bringing down a giant ogre with one swipe. Nabe takes two out with one lightning bolt, not even having to unsheathe her sword. The Swords don’t embarrass themselves either, as Momon notes how good of a team they are because they know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and work to close each others’ gaps. The ogre/goblin mob didn’t have a chance.

That night, the team feasts, and Momon runs into a practical problem, as he can’t eat or drink without exposing the fact he’s just a skeleton beneath his armor. But he has a bigger issue in that spending all this time with a tight-knit team of adventurers is incredible nostalgic, to the point of wistfulness and melancholy. He remembers he used to be like this with his comrades, and is resigned to the fact they may all be dead now, and he alone ended up in this weird new world.

It’s also nice to see people acknowledge responsibility for what they carelessly say to each other, whether it’s the flirty guy asking if Nabe is Momon’s lover (causing her to carelessly blurt out Albedo’s name) or the boy mage carelessly telling Momon he’s sure he’ll see his friends again when he doesn’t know that.

As for Clementine, she prowls the streets of E-Rantel, killing and torturing and un-killing for intel on Nphirea. But when she visits Khajit, the two don’t seem on the friendliest terms. Khaj wants to turn E-Rantel into a city full of undead, but doesn’t that mean Clementine won’t have anyone left to kill, torture, and turn undead?

How will she satisfy her “corrupt personality” in Khaj’s undead E-Rantel? The clash of Lawful (Khaj) and Chaotic (Clem) Evil makes for a good antagonistic duo, and Clem’s Yuuki Aoi really chews the scenery well with her up-and-down voice.  I just wish one of them would encounter and face off with Momon already.

Ore Monogatari!! – 01 (First Impressions)

A giant boy with ogre-like features lives in the shadow of his more popular male friend, until one day the the ogre rescues a girl on a train and, despite his looks, she seems to have fallen for him.

And his friend, who has never cared for any girl, has an eye for her. A love triangle, a story of social justice, and a damn fine comedy ensues!

You should watch Ore Monogatari!! because its protagonist is unusual and the fact that the show treats him with reverence, instead of as a joke, shows a degree of social conscience not too frequent in anime or, bluntly, Japanese culture.

As with Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun’s unstated presentation of autism, and the un-importance of that mental state in regards to a person having value, strengths, and above all else deserving love, Ore Monogatari!! gives it’s unstated mixed protagonist social justice.

It’s hella funny too, not surprisingly for the same reasons GSN-k was chokingly funny.

If you need an excuse not to watch this show, like GSN-k, it has intentional moments of rest between the comedy, and is unlikely to present much action. Likewise, it isn’t overly pretty to look at—not ugly—just plain looking.

OM!! can be subtle too, which I guess you may not like. Or, perhaps, you’re fried on all the high school dramas out there or find the socially awkward things teenagers do is too cringeworthy to watch?

Honestly, all those criticisms feel like a stretch to me. The cringes were never that great and, to me, they were counterbalanced by the geniality of the three central characters.

The dialogue is tight, the humor well-timed and amusing, and it all has heart. What else can you ask for from a Grade-A comedy like this?