Gushing over Magical Girls – 08 – The Fault in Our Stars

Sayo owns up, at least partially, to her recent shortcomings as a member of Tres Magia. Without going into the sordid details, she tells Haruka and Kaoruko that she fought Baiser alone and was “totally dominated.” She never wants to feel that defeated again, so she asks them to help her train harder and become stronger.

Meanwhile, Utena, Kiwi, and Korisu are ordered to transform and report to Nacht Base at once, where they’re hastily introduced to the founding members of Enormita: Lord Enorme, Leberblume, Sister Gigant, and Loco Musica. They were just on a “Magical Girl Hunt”, and imagery suggests they are actually murdering girls—not what Utena signed up for … I-I mean, not what Utena was forced to sign up for!

Enorme believes they’re ready to conquer the world, which is at odds with Vena’s commitment to building up their numbers. Enorme decides to turn her back on Vena and Enormita and go it alone with her lieutenants. She then asks Sister Gigant to crush the newbies. She’s able to grow to super-huge size, breaking out of Korisu’s dollhouse.

Before Gigant can crush them between her boobs, Utena tells Kiwi to detonate all the explosives she’s got, then shields Kiwi from the blast at great personal bodily harm. The three and Vena escape the base, and Kiwi is beside herself with worry. But Utena simply starts laughing maniacally, declaring she doesn’t like this “Lord Squad” one bit, and she’ll see to it they’re all put down.

After excusing Kiwi and Korisu at the hospital where she’s healing up, Utena correctly deduces that Vena knew the Lord Squad would betray them. Utena also makes nice and sparkling clear that she won’t be allowing any further hunting of magical girls, which she believes to be treasures. It’s a passionate, fiery rant, beautifully delivered by Izumi Fuuka.

Loco Musica, not content to let the rookies off scot-free, asks Lord Enorme if she can go squash them like the weakling bugs they are. Enorme agrees, but warned Loco she won’t tolerate failure. When she calls the rookies out, Kiwi takes the bait, forcing Korisu to join the battle with her (and bail her out).

Both of them must then endure Loco’s absolutely dreadful singing voice (great work by the seiyu, who can probably sing for real), but with the power of teamwork, they’re able to use flash grenades to stun Loco and slip away. Kiwi and Korisu have a nice moment while hiding in the tree, as Kiwi apologizes for jumping into battle and breaking one of Korisu’s dolls.

Things do not go so nicely for Loco Musica. While she’s a deeply deluded and arrogant young woman who may well have murdered dozens of magical girls, I still don’t think she deserves the harsh punishment doled out by Lady Enorme.

Loco is made to strip, Enorme shoved the end of her crop into her mouth, and then she’s viciously whipped in a scene that frankly feels way too dark and serious for a silly ecchi anime. Maybe that’s on purpose: the kid gloves are coming off.

But the scene does establish one thing: Enorme rules with fear and pain. I wouldn’t be surprised if when she tightens her iron grip, her acolytes may just slip through her fingers, leaving her to contend with a seriously pissed Magia Baiser and her team all by her lonesome.

Mushoku Tensei II – 07 – Right to Remain Silent Fitz

Mirroring Rudy’s narration last week, this time it’s Sylphie’s turn to describe a typical day as Silent Fitz, Ranoa student and bodyguard to Princess Ariel. She goes on a morning run just like him, because it’s what she thinks he’d do. Indeed, the one constant in her description of her day is how much she’s thinking about Rudy. There’s the sense that something has to give at some point.

Rudy and Zanoba’s training of Juliette—whom Rudy makes clear is no longer a slave, but an apprentice, disciple, and little sister—is going well. She’s already able to conjure clay without an incantation. But “disaster” strikes when Rudy insists on seeing the Roxy figurine he made for Zanoba, and learns it was been smashed to pieces…by the girls from Doldia.

Rudy’s righteous, zealous side emerges, as he wastes no time confronting Rinia and Pursena and challenging them to a fight. When Rinia doesn’t rise to his initial provocations, Rudy makes fun of her saying “meow” to end her sentences, which sets her off like a bomb. While she’s quick and vicious, Rinia is no match for Rudy, and he ends up knocking out and bagging both beast girls.

When Rinia and Pursena come to, they’re tied up and gagged in Rudy’s dorm. They assume he intends to do naughty things, but when his Lil’ Rudy doesn’t respond after he gropes their breasts, so he abandons that tack. He shows them what they did (the shattered figurine) and why it’s a crime against his faith. He also shows them the holy relic of Roxy’s panties, which…is a choice.

After asking Fitz for advice on how to get retribution without continuing a cycle of revenge, Rudy and Fitz return to find the two have wet themselves, complain about being hungry, and have started to call him “Boss” unbidden. Rudy, inexperienced in keeping people captive (probably for the best) unintentionally brought them to heel.

After the girls are cleaned up, Fitz’s solution to properly punish them is to draw on their faces and warn them that a simple incantation will make the marks permanent tattoos.

The Doldia girls leave in peace, still calling Rudy “Boss” and impressed that his master was Rinia’s aunt, Ghislaine. Perhaps their next interaction won’t be so adversarial (or inappropriate). As for Fitz’s threat, it was a lie; the paint was just ordinary paint, and there’s no permanence spell. But hey, it worked!

Sylphie uses this opportunity to spend a little more time alone with Rudy in his dorm, even lying down on his bed (though he makes sure she doesn’t see the Holy Relic). Rudy thinks about what would happen if he reached over and removed the mask over Fitz’s eyes, and right on queue, Fitz asks if he wants to see his whole face.

Sylphie almost takes the shades off, but stops short, saying she’s under orders from the princess. They bid each other good night, both having walked right up to the point of no return before retreating. It’s perhaps the furthest Rudy’s come to learning Fitz’s true identity, but the ball remains in Sylphie’s court.

She knows this is Rudy. She only needs to take off the shades say the words and he’ll realize who she really is. She’s not quite ready, but I have to think at some point she will be, or her identity will be revealed accidentally. Either way, it’s looking more like the true cure for Rudy’s ED won’t be some spell or potion he’ll learn at Ranoa, but might be Silent Fitz, i.e. Sylphie, herself.

Vinland Saga S2 – 18 – Long Way Down

 

Content Warning: This episode of Vinland Saga contains an extremely disturbing scene of domestic violence. Extreme viewer discretion is advised.

King Canute is on the sea, headed to Ketil’s farm. Winds are favoring him so he may arrive in as soon as two days. If Ketil and his men submit, Canute will show them mercy, as he doesn’t wish to needlessly waste “assets”. But if they defy him, they’ll have none. His father’s head cackles in the shadows.

Ketil’s return home starts with a bit of slapstick, as Thorgil hucks the barrel containing his father at the retainers like he’s bowling. He then urges Olmar to come with him as they prepare for his first, and possibly their last battle. Olmar, it should be said, looks like he never wants to be anywhere near violence ever again.

Ketil comes out of that broken barrel a broken and spent husk of a man. Right now he is motivated by only one thing: the prospect of reuniting with his beloved Arnheid; of finding a small measure of comfort before Canute arrives and the pain begins.

Thorfinn and Einar are restrained at what passes for the farm’s fortress, which is in a sorry state of disrepair. Thorfinn apologizes for not being able to help Arnheid, but Einar is appreciative that Thorfinn broke his oath to help their friend.

Thorfinn still wishes a “first method” could have worked instead: one in which an issue is talked through, and violence is a last resort. You could say he did try to reason with Snake, but that consideration was outweighed by the death of five of Snake’s men.

When Ketil can’t find Arnheid in the usual spots, his wife tells him she’s tied up in the stable for trying to escape with her “old flame.” This news is the straw that breaks Ketil’s already strained back. When he arrives at the stable, a guard is rubbing her leg, telling her how things would go if the guests had a say in her punishment.

Ketil has a wooden staff in his hand, but it’s not for the guard, who he dismisses. He asks Arnheid if she tried to escape. Arnheid is his slave. She has no rights, no agency, and her life and the life of her child is in Ketil’s hands. There’s nothing she could say to him in this moment that would do her any good, so she remains silent.

Then the most gut-wrenching, brutal scenes in the entire series takes place. It’s so breathtakingly awful I had to mute my TV and only read the subtitles on the bottom of the screen with just a slight out-of-focus view of the rest. Suffice it to say, there’s no need to provide pictures of this scene.

As soon as Arnheid tried to escape and failed, that was it. As soon as Ketil learned she’d attempted to escape, that was it. He beats the everloving hell out of her, despite her telling him she’s carrying his child. He doesn’t believe her; he can’t anymore.

She’s only saved from death by Snake, who takes hold of Ketil’s staff and will only release it if Ketil completes the execution. Ketil lets go and stalks off. This is the absolute worst time in the world for Leif to ask Ketil about buying Arnheid from him in addition to Einar and taking Thorfinn.

Ketil tells Leif he’s keeping Arnheid, but he can do what he wishes with the other two. But Thorfinn and Leif’s reunion occurs off-camera with no fanfare. Thorfinn and Einar are allowed to see Arnheid, who is alive but unconscious. Pater, who did his best to tend to her wounds, doesn’t think she’ll make it.

As for Ketil, he’s now a different man than the one who flew out of that barrel. A worse man, if you were to ask me. An more evil man. He might not have done anything that anyone in his position and in this time period wouldn’t have done.

Or maybe this is who he was all along. After all, he bought and owned slaves. Every time he laid with Arnheid, it was rape, because she had no consent. The scene of her punishing her in the stable merely re-opened my eyes to the wickedness that had been hiding beneath the veneer of civility and kindness.

A battle is coming to Ketil’s farm. I don’t say this lightly, as someone who tries to live by Thorfinn’s newfound ideals of peace, but hopefully in the midst of that battle, someone will Ketil, fast or slow. It will mean there will be some justice for Arnheid. Because I’m done with Ketil.

Vinland Saga S2 – 07 – The True Master

When Einar and Arnheid are at the well for a few minutes each morning, they’re in their own little world. Neither is a slave, they are just a kind man and a kind woman making a connection that transcends the brutal, merciless world they were unfortunate enough to be born in. When Arnheid returns to the house, Ketil’s wife slaps her across the face for chatting. Arnheid’s dark expression shows she’s back in that world. Back in the darkness.

Einar and Thorfinn are faring quite well so far. Wheat seedlings have sprouted. Einar insists they pray and pray hard to a god…it doesn’t matter to which. As slaves, they have nothing to offer but their prayer. The dream of buying their freedom is alive and well. But Einar wonders if Arnheid has a similar arrangement (I assume she does not).

In the cold open, Snake and his mercs are investigating petty food theft, and declares that the culprits must be punished. When Ketil returns to the farm with his eldest son Thorgil (who is as terrifying and capable as Olmar…isn’t), they encounter Snake, and the two thieves in tow: mere children.

Tired from their journey, Ketil and his son sit down for a meal before dealing with the thieves. Thorgil regales his father and younger brother with “glorious” tales of battle and plunder, and also informs Ketil how well now-King Canute has done for himself, meaning maybe there’s hope for Olmar.

But Olmar hurts his case when Thorgil gives him a necklace of ears, and once he realizes they are ears, Olmar freaks out. Like a a normal, well-adjusted human would. Thorgil also tells Olmar that their father was once a legend on the battlefield, bare-chested, bare-fisted berserker his peers nicknamed the “Iron Fist”.

That brings us to Ketil’s sad duty as master of the farm to mete out justice against those who stole from him. If he doesn’t, it will encourage more theft, and he’ll be seen as soft to his retainers, the mercs, and his sons. But as soon as Ketil learns their names (12-year-old Sture and his younger sister Thora) and circumstances (ill mother, likely dead father), the man still lauded as the Iron Fist develops leaky eyes.

Thorgil quickly recommends each kid lose an arm. Sture says he’ll take both punishments, so Thorgil is fine taking both of Sture’s arms. Pater almost bails out Ketil by suggesting the kids work off both what they stole and what their father owed in rent. Ketil cannot mask how happy he is a non-violent solution is agreeable to all.

…But it isn’t. Ketil may be the master of this farm and an immensely wealthy and powerful individual, but even he is beholden to an even higher master in this world: the master that is burning through England. That master is violence and it demands its tribute.

Ketil must even go against his better nature in the number of stokes of an axe handle, going from five to ten. Sture again protects his sister, and will take all twenty. Thorgil volunteers, but his first stroke almost kills Sture, and Ketil, almost in a panic, takes the handle and completes the beating.

That night, Thorgil feasts with Olmar the mercs, while Ketil retires to his bed—a bed warmed by Arnheid. He weeps into her lap, confiding in her that the “Iron Fist” legend is a complete lie he made up. In reality, he’s as much a “coward” as Olmar, which is to say he would simply rather not commit violence to further his aims. Further, he fears Thorgil, his own son, for committing it so easily.

Arnheid, with a neutral expression, tells him what he needs to hear in that moment: that admitting to being a kind man can’t be a bad thing. But it is a bad thing in this world where his ultimate master demands payment for the life he lives. And lest we forget, Arnheid is not in that bed or on the farm willingly, she’s a slave, and slavery is a vicious form of violence.

That makes Ketil a hypocrite, and even if he’s a repentant one, if he wishes to maintain his wealth and power, he’ll have to continue to be a hypocrite. Notably absent from this episode was Sverkel, the first person on the farm who treated Einar and Thorfinn as humans, not property, paying them for their chores with his horse and plow.

Of the three generations represented by Thorgil, Ketil, and Sverkel, only the latter both talks the talk and walks the walk. Like Ketil, he’s long lost the taste for the kind of life currently enjoyed by Thorgil. But unlike Ketil, Sverkel trying to live an honest life free of trinkets and exploitation. In the waning years of his life, he has rejected the master that currently tortures Ketil and flatters Thorgil.

My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex – 04 – Staying Put

Yume cannot possibly fathom why Mizuto asked her out on a date, but at no point does she mind that it’s happening, even telling herself it’s a healthy part of any stepsibling relationship. She’s shocked to see Mizuto in a fetching vest and with product in his hair, giving off “intellectual yet charming young man with baggage” vibes, just her type.

But while Mizuto isn’t playing a prank on Yume, his intentions aren’t romantic. Rather, Kawanami convinced him that the best way to make Minami give up her fixation on marrying into their family is to show her a couple “madly in love”. Kawanami and Minami are watching him at all times.

As the “jerk trying to win back the ex he broke up to”, Mizuto feels stiff an awkward…and why wouldn’t he? He’s being watched and all his actions and words are informed by that fact. Despite this, Kawanami assures him he and Yume look like a real couple. And while Yume is confused why Mizuto is being so nice and sweet, she knows she likes it, and it’s preferable to their more usual prickly dynamic.

But it also reminds Yume of a time she’s not proud of, when she worked up the courage to ask Mizuto out, only to get lost when they went to a festival. She also gets lost at the aquarium in the present. But while she’d never felt so low as she did that night, she also scarcely ever felt as good as she did when he arrived with a can of royal milk tea, telling her she doesn’t have to be afraid because she can always rely on him.

As they continue their date, this time acting more naturally (that is, more nerdy) towards one another, it’s Mizuto’s turn to reminisce about when things started to go so wrong in their relationship. When one by one, his love for things she’d say and do turned to hatred. He feels now that they’re freed from their romantic bond, they have no obligation to love, nor reason to hate. He believes they’re in a healthier place.

That said, the date ends with Yume heading home first still having no clue why Mizuto chose such a “punishment”, but still had a good time. As for Minami, she apologizes for sneaking into his house, but doesn’t give up on trying to marry him after all. Well, at least it was a fun date!

When Mizuto comes home, it’s Yume’s turn to issue a punishment, and he has him pose for photos (…a lot of photos) while reading one of her favorite books while still in his handsome date garb. Her final request is for him to come from behind and whisper something in her ear. He obliges, and whispers “I’ve caught you”. All she can say in return is “You’ve caught me.”

Oh, and Minami and Kawanami used to date, and he ended up hospitalized! So we’re dealing with not one but two pairs of exes. But a date that was ostensibly meant to slow Minami’s roll ended up stirring up a lot of old feelings for Yume and Mizuto. The hatred that built up before their breakup has clearly subsided a great deal.

My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex – 03 – Lettuce and Cheese

Yume looks back with no small degree of unfondness upon her “old” self—from six whopping whole months ago—as an “exceptionally introverted” girl who would save everything Mizuto gave her in a small lockable treasure box. And yet here she is in the present, with Mizuto’s boxers in her hands, and she can’t help but smell them.

Knowing that if he ever caught wind of this he’d make her submit to being his little sister, she waits until the wee hours of the night for him to go to bed so she can return the drawers. But before she can open his door, he opens it…holding her bra. Looks like she wasn’t the only one charmed by the distant past.

To their credit, Yume and Mizuto have a seat in the living room and discuss things logically. They both have the exact same excuse for how they came upon each other’s undergarments, but also both agree that absconding with underwear no matter the circumstances, isn’t appropriate sibling behavior. As such, they agree that each of them gets a free demand of the other—within social norms.

Mizuto declares that within their home they’re to be perfect brother and sister, but outside said walls, they can do whatever they plase. Yume soon learns what he means when he spots him at a MgRonald chatting with a cute girl with black hair and black-framed glasses—virtually the “old her”! She goes to Akatsuki with this information, who can’t deny that Mizuto might just have what it takes to sweep a shy girl off her feet.

The plot thickens when Yume comes home to find a pair of girl’s loafers in the genkan. Assuming the girl is with Mizuto in his room, Yume calls him to ask him to run an errand—”get lettuce and cheese”—and hears footsteps leaving the house. But when she approaches his door, he’s in his room, and doesn’t know of any girl.

…Except he does. One day he was approached in the library by the black-haired girl, who immediately asked him out with the ultimate goal of marriage. She then reveals she’s actually Akatsuki in disguise, and that she wants to marry Mizuto primarily so she can become Yume’s sister, and do sisterly things with her … like bathe her and apply lotion to her body.

Honestly I had no idea Akatsuki had this in her, but when Mizuto calls her childhood friend Kawanami, he is told that this is how Akatsuki is: once she’s infatuated with something she won’t let it go. I agree with Mizuto that Kawanami saying Akatsuki doted so intensely on a previous boyfriend in middle school that he ended up hospitalized is far-fetched, the bottom line is that Mizuto doesn’t like hassles.

He wants to make it as clear as possible as soon as possible to Akatsuki that he’s not interested in marriage. To that end, he decides to cash in his demand of Yume, and asks her to accompany her on a date tomorrow. Yume is no doubt both surprised and flattered. After all, Mizuto is an idiot but he’s her idiot, and seeing him with fake old her was a blow that this invitation helps to mitigate.

Cardcaptor Sakura – 46 – Love Not Lest Ye Be Loved

Yue is in no mood for delays; he’s going to judge Sakura right here and now: she’ll either subdue him with her mastery of the cards, or she’ll lose and catastrophe will be unleashed. There’s just one problem: Sakura has no intention of fighting someone who just a few minutes ago was Yukito, a boy she deeply cares for. We learn Yukito never had any knowledge that he was really Yue, which only adds to Sakura’s reluctance to fight.

The thing is, Yue doesn’t care if Sakura cared about Yukito. If she won’t fight, then he’ll mop the floor with her, just like he did Syaoran. And holy crap does Sakura ever receive by far the worst beating of the entire series, getting tossed around like a ragdoll before being ensnared in the vines of the Wood card she herself summoned. The fact she doesn’t even know that Wood is controlled by the Moon (i.e. Yue) irritates him even more as he passes his final judgment: Sakura loses.

The catastrophe that shall occur due to her failure? Everyone in the world will forget about the person they love or care about most. Kero-chan was right: it isn’t a “world-ending” kind of apocalypse. After she’s completely enveloped in vines, Sakura wakes up in bed, and there’s even the Cardcaptor Sakura doll on her headboard.

She has her normal morning routine, but Yukito vanishes when she spots him, while Tomoyo and Syaoran are no longer warm or friendly, but mere acquaintances. Same with Chiharu and Yamazaki…and Rika doesn’t even like that teacher she likes!

Having had adequate time to take in this horrifying bad future (or at least the equivalent of such from her perspective), Sakura runs to Yukito’s gran’s house, only to find it abandoned and in poor repair. She breaks down in tears in the bamboo forest, but then something happens: she starts hearing the voices of everyone she loves, first calling her name, then singing the song Tomoyo sang (and which Song copied).

Then she hears Mizuki’s bell clang, and she bursts out of the vine prison, waking from her helldream and returning to Tokyo Tower. Turns out the bell was also furnished by Clow Reed and used by Mizuki to give the Cardcaptor one—and only one—last chance against Yue.

This time, Sakura uses her own magical power to draw not from the Sun or the Moon, but her own personal stars, and a new wand is forged that allows her to summon Windy—the first Clow Card she ever captured—and restrain Yue without him being able to counter.

Sakura tells Yue what he never thought he’d hear, that she understands now how much Clow Reed meant to him, and why he never wanted another master after Reed died. However, Sakura isn’t offering to become Yue’s master or a replacement for Reed; she wants them to be friends, plain and simple, making the world better together.

Yue thus judges Sakura to be the winner of their little duel, and she has a brief stop up in the stars to meet with Clow Reed, who is grateful Sakura was able to locate and follow the path of “necessities disguised as coincidences” he had set out—her own way.

After that, Sakura returns to the shrine grounds and is reunited with Tomoyo and Syaoran, taking both of a surprised Syaoran’s hands and dancing with him in pure unadulterated joy.

Kero and Yue acknowledge that due to her youth, Sakura isn’t quite ready for their true forms full-time, so they agree to return to their disguises for the time being. That means Kero-chan is back to being a pint-sized plushie, while Yue returns to the form of Tsukishiro Yukito.

Sakura’s adorable dance with Syaoran, paired with her far more understated reaction to Yukito’s return seems to signal the start of a transition from her feelings for Yukito/Yue—whom she knows will always love Clow above all—to Syaoran, who is, well, an actual human being.

And that does it for the grand Clow Card arc and the second season of Cardcaptor Sakura! My stars, has this show been a balm in these times. While this finale wasn’t my absolute favorite of the series (that might be “Sakura’s Dizzy Fever Day”) it definitely makes the top five, merely by dint of its vital story, cinematic scope and utterly gorgeous animation. On to season three!

The Misfit of Demon King Academy – 07 – The Prey Dances

Emilia’s brother (whose name I’ve forgotten) proves to be no challenge at all to Anos. His fan club unveils their new fight song, the lyrics for which include such choice double entendres such as “we are blessed with the sword of our noble Sir Anos” and “You’re below me, and I’m on top”. He credits his newly forged sword holding up to the amount of love his dad poured into it. Emilia-sensei is notably pissed that Anos embarrassed her brother and noble family.

After also easily defeating his first opponent, Ray visits Anos and Misa and tells them they can no longer be friends, as he’s officially a Royalist now, and vows to kill Anos. Anos tells him to try it right there and then, and in the resulting fracas, learns that there’s a contractual magic sword implanted within Ray’s body as a form of control.

This essentially makes him a hostage whose heel turn was orchestrated by the Royalists, and both he and his mom die if he defies them. In a move surely designed to put her in danger later on, Anos’ mom takes charge of his sword, with the fan club serving as her bodyguards.

This leads Anos and Misa to visit Ray’s mother, and while Anos determines there’s no way he can save her by giving her some of his life, the same doesn’t go for Misa, who like Ray’s mother is a demon-spirit hybrid. Despite the risk to her own source and life, Misa is determined to do what she can for Ray’s mom so he’ll have no reason to cooperate with the enemy.

As for Anos’ mom, she’s confronted by Emilia (who is drunk on power but not booze) who orders her to surrender Anos’ sword. Mama won’t do it, so Emilia gets rough. I should be shocked Emilia would be so brazen in her villainy, but then as a pureblood Royalist she considers any and all non-Royalists to be scum. The fan club does their best to protect Anos’ mom, even singing the fight song as Emilia slowly roasts them with her superior magic.

Anos shows up in the nick of time to save his mom, resurrects the eight fan club members, learns their names and promises to remember them, as he’s indebted to them all. As for the girls, I’m sure they’re just happy to have been of service to their noble Demon King.

Emilia does not get let off easily, and frankly I can’t blame Anos for getting particularly sadistic; Emilia went after his mom—who would never hurt a fly—and murdered eight of her students. As punishment, Anos kills Emilia, resurrects her as a hybrid, and ensures that no matter how many times she dies, she’ll always come back a hybrid. Yikes!

As I said, the punishment is tough, but fair and justified; hopefully Emilia will develop a less prejudiced perspective on the world going forward. Meanwhile, Misa has been working on Ray’s mom this whole time, and while he pulls a knife on her when he arrives, once he learns Misa is helping his mom he stands down.

When Ray tells her the day may come when she’ll have to put her life on the line, Misa pointedly replies that that day has already come. If she can’t stop one person’s suffering here and now, she’ll never be able to do it later. If Ray hadn’t put her to sleep, she probably would have sacrificed her life. Instead, Ray and his mom get to talk to each other one last time.

While it’s uncertain whether his mom will ever recover, Ray appears at the tournament finals with clear eyes and a smile, apparently no longer under the heel of the Royalists (though we’ll see if that sword inside him comes into play).

As expected, he and Anos are the finalists. The result probably isn’t in doubt—an Anos win—but no doubt Ray will make it interesting, and in the process perhaps reveal how he knew the Demon King back in the day.

Deca-Dence – 06 – The Shaw-Clank Redemption

When Hugin zaps Kaburagi, it doesn’t result in his death; he’s not even sentenced to be scrapped, despite becoming one of the bugs Hugin loathes so. Instead, he’s sent right back down to the surface to spend the rest of his existence in a Bug correctional facility. From the moment he gets there, all of Kaburagi’s thoughts are bent getting back to Natsume—if she’s still alive.

Note the background cameo by…the Coronavirus?!

One minute I thought the hand-off to Natsume—the “true protagonist” of Deca-Dence and “hopeful future of bugs” personified—was complete, and the next we have an episode entirely dedicated to Kaburagi’s time in prison. Mind you I’m not complaining, as the show has shown a penchant for subverting expectations in clever and satisfying ways.

There’s also a wonderful symbolism in Kaburagi having to reach rock-bottom—in this case a prison underneath a lake—before he can rise again to reunite with and support Natsume. There actually is a time when Kabu seems to lose heart, but he knows exactly what to do to restore hope: listen to a stored recording of Natsume telling him she’ll push herself to the absolute limit. He can do no less.

The warden says to work hard and you’ll be treated well, and so that’s what Kabu does: even if all he’s doing is shoveling rock-hard Gadoll shit into a giant hole, he’ll stand tall and proudly and diligently do that duty without complaint…even when other inmates tell him no one ever leaves.

One of those complacent inmates is also his bunkmate, Sarkozy, who tells Kaburagi that not only is Natsume probably still alive, but the Gadoll attacks have paused. We later cut to the Gadoll factory to see Gear-like scientists growing and raising a fresh batch of Gadoll.

All Natsume and Kurenai can do back at Deca-Dence is keep doing their jobs, stay alive, and hope Kabu is alive and will come back soon. Sure enough, he’s on his way to doing just that, as thanks to Sarkozy he encounters a group of hard inmates with access to a contraband Deca-Dence terminal.

The leader of those inmates is his old comrade and fellow ranker Donatello, who initially regards Kabu with contempt and distrust, as he chose to obey the system rather than being imprisoned. Kabu declares the past is past, and he’ll do and risk anything necessary in order to get back to Deca-Dence.

Even though Donatello and the others find Kabu’s attachment to a “novelty” Tanker is laughable, he agrees to give his old friend a chance, but first he must defeat him in a “death dive”, a duel in which the two will fight with shovels and try to knock each other into the giant vat of Gadoll dung.

I have to say, it’s an immensely entertaining fight, with Donatello attempting to use brute force and familiarity with the surroundings to overpower Kabu, and Kabu using his speed and agility to get onto Don’s head so he can rip off his horn and threaten to stab him with it.

The two end up both falling into the poo, but survive thanks to Kabu’s operational jet-packs. Donatello accepts defeat and agrees to give Kabu access to the equipment—after the two wash off all the poop. He’s warned that he won’t be the old Armor Repairer Kaburagi anymore, but inhabiting an avatar who will likely be a stranger to Natsume.

Kabu doesn’t care. This is his only chance, so he’ll take what he can get, as he always has. The episode ends with him selecting to start a New Game on the main menu, leaving us hanging until next week to learn who he’ll ultimately become, where he’ll end up, and whether he can stay under Hugin’s radar this time.

Deca-Dence – 05 – What the World Needs Now are Bugs Sweet Bugs

Squad 6 enters the Gadoll nest to find a gruesome mess of dead Gears floating in Gadoll alpha’s zone. Despite none of them being able to score a hit on the beast, an angry Natsume charges right in—and almost gets herself killed. She’s saved by her CO Mindy, who declares she was sick of seeing kids charge in and get killed.

Mindy ends up dying from her wounds seriously wounded and out of action, but Natsume charges right back in, and even manages to score a hit with some acrobatic harpoon action. Once again, she’s nearly killed but for plot armor a second savior in Kaburagi, who saw her boarding the transports on TV and rushed to her side, determined not to let her die.

That determination unlocks Kabu’s limiter, and he makes quick work of Gadoll alpha, despite the fact he and his veteran ranker comrades aren’t supposed to be in the battle until alpha has killed most if not all of the Tankers and Gears. He messes up the storyline, and then something even Commander Minato didn’t forsee: the giant Gadoll prototype Stargate emerges from its slumber.

Stargate is a genuinely creepy giant monster, with visual elements that call to mind the giant warriors in Nausicaa and the queen in Alien. It’s also as of yet incomplete, so despite its terrifying oxyone laser, Kabu is able to knock it off balance by attacking one of its spindly legs, which buys Minato time to maneuver Deca-Dence into position to punch it into oblivion. It’s all A+ large-scale spectacle, with hand-drawn and CGI elements seamlessly integrated.

Even when Natsume and the Tankers think the day has been won and the Gadoll are done, the very sky itself transforms from sunset to midday, and reveals at least three more gargantuan Gadoll looming on the horizon, and clouds of lesser Gadoll buzzing in their enormous eyes. A shocked look of defeat washes over Natsume as she remembers Kabu’s words about the war never ending.

Before she can ask if he knew all this would happen, he’s vanished—and reporting to Hugin, making his first appearance in the game world. When Kabu refuses to repeat that the world must be rid of all bugs—and instead says the world needs bugs—Hugin zaps him. Whatever punishment for Kabu follows, it looks like Natsume will be on her own for what’s to come.

The God of High School – 01 (First Impressions) – Stand Tall, Smile Big, Strike Hard

Fresh off the heels of Tower of God—which Hannah enjoyed, though admitted frustration that it was essentially just an extended prologue—comes The God of High School, another Korean webtoon-based anime with “God” in the title and an appealing blend of action, comedy and drama.

After a ominous, cryptic cold open that doesn’t even pretend to explain what’s going on (suffice it to say some guy on an island with designs on blackmailing the prime minister is literally wiped off the map), we dive straight into one of three main would-be Gods of High School, Jin Mori, resident of Seoul.

Waking up from a dream in which he was encouraged by his gramps, Mori realizes he smashed his alarm in his sleep, and must race to the GoHS preliminaries at KORG Arena. He takes a shortcut by riding his bike off a cliff, and immediately it’s apparent that these are no normal humans.

There’s a lot of influence from Durarara!! in the ensuing action, and not just because there’s a purse thief on a motorcycle whom Mori feels compelled to chase (he makes up a sob story about the elderly woman who needs the cash for her grandson’s surgery or some such). The mere fact Mori can keep up with a motorcycle on his bike, and the reasons for doing so, are great shorthand for the kind of character he is: as relentless as he is just.

His first encounter with fellow GoHS contestant Yu Mira is kinetic, to say the least: while she’s admiring the ample muscles of some martial artists who failed to make the cut, she’s absolutely obliterated by Mori (accidentally, of course). Mori attempts a quick apology, but Mira uses her trusty wooden sword to stop him in his tracks.

When she hears he’s chasing a thief, Mira tags along, and provides more offense against the biker as Mori keeps up. She’s about to deliver a decisive blow to the baddie when a road sign jumps out at her and her face is driven so deeply into the metal it creates a ghoulish mask.

The cartoonish amount of punishment these characters can take is matched by the utter hilarity of the way the violence and various acrobatics are rendered. I suddenly realized the episode was almost half-over, but things were so non-stop from the moment Mori jumps on his bike, events fly by effortlessly and breathlessly, evoking shades of Mad Max: Fury Road.

While Mira and Mori fall behind, the motorcyclist’s face ends up meeting the fist of a third GoHS contestant in part-time convenience store employee Han Daewi, and the impact of his punch is akin to the superhuman strikes of Durarara!!’s Shizuo. Daewi knows who to punch and why thanks to a roving rapper live-streaming the chase online.

With the chase finally complete, the three contestants head to the locker rooms of the arena and formally introduce each other, having already demonstrated from their actions in the streets that they’ll be tough competition in the prelims—and perhaps useful allies as well.

The preliminary is wonderfully simple: a battle royale of all the assembled fighters, and the last people standing move on to the tournament proper. There isn’t really any doubt that Mori, Mira, and Daewi will advance, but when a convict with the title “King” enters the battle late, the three seem to meet their match, with Mira giving her best shot and Mori answering the challenge.

This is a show that is deliciously simple in premise, wonderfully energetic with its trademark Studio Mappa action, and as moves along at a rapid clip without causing whiplash. The three main characters look poised to complement one another, while the way the episode ends in mid-fight guarantees I’ll be back for more rock-em, sock-em madness.

All that said, I do find it odd how red everyone’s noses and ears are in closeups…it’s like they’re all suffering from colds!

Re: Zero – Frozen Bonds

There’s one more piece of business before we begin the months-long wait for Re:Zero Season 2: a second OVA that takes place before Subaru is transported into this new world from that convenience store parking lot. It’s a prequel that focuses on Emilia, prior to becoming a candidate. She lives alone in a treehouse in the forest, surrounded by ice sculptures of people she carefully tends every day. This begs the question: did she turn them to ice? Is this penance?

If it is, she doesn’t know it. We actually get a good amount of Emilia simply wordlessly going through her daily routine, and it’s clear she’s as good a good girl as she is in Re:Zero. But then there’s the issue of her appearance, and her resemblance to the Witch of Envy. Everyone dispises that witch, and Emilia has exhibited magical powers, so everyone in the nearby village is afraid of her and hates her. Everyone except Puck, of course.

When a band of thugs attacks her with the intent of capturing her and selling her into sexual slavery, Puck isn’t around, so she has to rely on her own powers, as well as the cooperation of lesser spirits Puck taught her how to summon. She begs the thugs again and again not to escalate, but they ignore her. A giant yeti joins the fray, and her powers go out of control. Puck intervenes, calming Emilia down, but only because he’s respecting her wishes not to kill anyone.

There’s an “arbiter” spirit named Melakeura who is intent on eliminating Emilia simply for resembling (and being descended from) the witch. He’s stubborn as a horse (and looks like one too!), and Puck can’t dissuade him. Not wanting Puck to take on everything himself, Emilia leaves the safety of her treehouse and sets off on her awesome ice snowboard. Melakeura confronts, condemns, and attacks Emilia, but Puck arrives in time to slow him down.

A multi-stage back-and-forth battle between the two occurs, with Emilia demanding the arbiter to judge her for who she is, not some different person, and Puck insisting she be allowed to live a happy life in peace. Melakeura isn’t having it, so after Puck is nearly KO’d, he forms an official contract with “Lia” and takes his notorious monster form for the first time to defend her.

Melakeura also grows to monstrous size, making this almost a kaiju battle ending. But when the dust settles, Lia and Mega-Puck are none the worse for wear, and commit to their bond as father and daughter before a gorgeous sunset. Frozen Bonds felt 20-30 minutes longer than it really needed to be (some of the battles and Melakerua’s halting dialogue got repetitive at times) but it was nevertheless fun to see a glimpse of Emilia That Was, and how she came to be the exceptional person she is in the present.

Cautious Hero – 12 (Fin) – Who Cautions the Cautious?

Determined not to let him die alone, Rista opens a gate in the final area of the Demon Lord’s palace. It’s against Divine regulations, but she doesn’t have time to trudge through a dungeon. When she, Mash, and Eruru arrive, Seiya is already trapping the Demon Lord in the Gate of Valhalla.

The only problem is, time and time again the gate fails to close. The episode plays with our emotions as just when we think everything is over (Rista and Seiya even return to their antagonistic repartee), a more monstrous version of the Demon Lord spills out and fights on.

Rista manages to unlock all of her divine healing power—another instance of breaking the rules—but suceeds in fully healing Seiya, only for the Demon Lord to burst out of the gate once more. Seiya is prepared right to the end, summoning a second, bigger Gate of Valhalla to swallow both the Demon Lord and the smaller Gate.

The gambit succeeds, but this Gate can talk (and laugh), and insists upon collecting its payment immediately: Seiya’s life. Rista’s healing can only slow down his deterioration, until all she can do is let herself be drawn into Seiya’s resigned arms and say goodbye. Before he disincorporates, Seiya recognizes Rista for who she once was—Tiana—and his last expression is a smile of relief he was able to save her this time.

Rista leaves the knighted Mash and Eruru under Queen Roselie’s care and returns to the Divine Realm. She’s momentarily haunted by a ghost of Seiya—a low blow for the show, to be sure!—but more than anything you truly feel his absence and a sense of emptiness and emanating from Rista and her house.

The other gods and goddesses try to cheer her up in their own goofy ways, but they can’t change the fact that in saving the S-Class world Gaeabrande, she lost her hero, someone whom she loved implicitly. Aria also has the unhappy duty of bringing Rista before Ishtar, who announces her punishment for violating regulations.

At first, the punishment seems almost too cruel: she must liberate the SS-Class world Ixphoria, the world where her human self died, and where the Demon Lord took over and transformed into a Demonic Realm. Furthermore, her healing powers will be locked away, preventing her from offering any support for her hero. If she fails, she’ll be stripped of her godhood forever.

Just when we (and Aria for that matter) think Ishtar is needlessly piling on poor Rista, Ishtar reports that Seiya’s Double Gate of Valhalla ended up swallowing not only the Demon Lord, but the Chain Destruction effect that would have prevented him from returning to his own world upon dying. She then hands Rista a letter with the name and stats of her new hero.

She’ll be reunited with Ryuuguuin Seiya, albeit with a thousandth of the power he once had. She’ll have to somehow support him without the use of her divine powers, and he’ll more than likely have no memory of his previous lives with her. He’ll also be just a ridiculously cautious.

Cautious Hero took a very bold turn towards the serious and dramatic in its final two episodes, but it was an incredibly effective turn that felt both earned and necessary. All of the previous clashing of hero and goddess was suddenly placed in proper context, while the emotional stakes shot through the roof.

I was glad for a happy compromise of ending. Ristarte and Seiya will be reunited, but face a far greater challenge than Gaeabrande. If a second season is produced, I’d definitely want to see how they manage, and who will help them.