Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night – 04 – Odd Girls Out

It’s a Band (or more precisely “Art Collective”) Coming Together episode, interspersed with scenes of the SunDolls, about to start their comeback push with Kano replaced by a new pint-sized center. Kiui meets Kano and Mei, and quickly learns that they’re nice, cool girls she doesn’t have to worry about. Yoru wants to celebrate with trending tiramisu cups, but th JELEE girls have work to do.

That said, Yoru still understands the need for team-building, so she gets pizza and gives everyone a chocolate egg with a different sea creature prize. While she ends up with the jellyfish, she gives it to Kano, declaring her the leader of JELEE. But when Kano presents an ambitious plan that culminates in their releasing a second music video by next Wednesday, everyone, even her superfan Mei, balks. School and lessons are starting back up, while Kiui has her VTuber work.

Kano skulks out, and already, the group has hit a snag. Mei discovers the reason for the specific deadline: the SunDolls are also doing something that Wednesday and Kano wants to compete with them for buzz. Kano’s tipsy older sister Mion adds more context, as their mother is actually SunDolls’ manager. Despite not wanting to be an idol, Kano was a good soldier, but after the punching scandal, Kano’s mom had her “retire”. That’s rough!

While Mei thinks Kano may be headed to a SunDolls pop-up, Kiui doubts she’d go there, knowing her emotional state. Sure enough, she suspected Kano felt bad and went to the tiramisu spot Yoru suggested, and there she is. Everyone makes up and heads back to her apartment, where Yoru has cleaned and cooked what might be Kano’s first homemade meal in years.

After stew, the girls have tiramisu and share their secrets. Having previously owned up to lying about attending school, Kiui further opens up about her fall from grace. Mei owns up to being a terrible singer. Kano … admits she likes someone, but doesn’t say whom.

Once everyone has shared and knows a little more about one another, JELEE gets going and pulls an all-nighter together to get their second music video out ahead of schedule. While they all collapse from exhaustion not ten seconds after hitting “Publish”, and we once again watch the video run over the end credits, upon waking up they learn they’ve gone viral!

A Sign of Affection – 12 (Fin) – Their Time in the Sun

Itsuomi leaves their first official date out together to Yuki, and she picks the most beautiful spot for it: a park absolutely bursting with blooming flowers. She loves photographing flowers, and has always found it cute how each type of flower waits its turn to have its spotlight in the sun. The parallel here is that Yuki gets to have her spotlight here, with Itsuomi having fun soaking in how much fun she’s having.

During lunch, Yuki makes a sign about taking Itsuomi to Oushi’s house as “impossible”, but he almost mistakes it for the okay to kiss her. Turns out she’s not as comfortable smooching in public, but is fine with some cuddling if he’s okay with it. Itsuomi repeats the words she told him: if it’s her, he’s okay with everything.

Itsuomi saying that makes Yuki so happy she can feel her emotions getting out of control, which isn’t helped by how shaky much their swan boat ride is. But on the packed subway home, when he’s shielding her from a bump and some girls accidentally bump him and swoon at the sight of him, she totally gets it: her guy is supes dreamy, after all. It’s just that she knows the parts about him that aren’t related to looks are just as dreamy.

Earlier in their relationship Yuki asked him why he travels so much, and he told her he’d tell her when they’re closer. Now that they’re closer, she asks him again at the park, and he writes a long form text explaining it. He’d always loved planes as a little kid, but when his fam moved to Germany, he had trouble communicating.

It wasn’t until a soccer ball rolled his way that he was able to reach out and make a connection to a German kid and made a friend. Traveling for him is not just about studying languages and cultures, but living them, and teaching the next generation the value of that. Itsuomi follows this with a string of sweet nothings to Yuki that make her cry tears of joy.

As we close the book on Sign of Affection, we learn that Oushi is going to keep up with his signing to get certified, which makes his friend Izumi happy to see him motivated and not down in the dumps. Will it mean he’ll look her way? Who can say.

As for Shin and Emma, she decides to give it a go and ask him out. I’m sure it’s new and strange, but it looks like they’re going to be just fine. Same with Kyouya and Rin, who gets a ring from Kyouya to make it official that they are, indeed, dating, and that she doesn’t have to pinch herself.

Yuki works hard, saves up, and acquires a passport, which means she can finally travel with Itsuomi and see and experience the things he does in person. You can tell they’re looking forward to sharing a world together: Yuki because she’s never been abroad, and Itsuomi because he’s never been abroad with the girl he loves.

It’s a bright, colorful, cheery, and extremely positive finale for Sign of Affection, a show I’m exceedingly grateful to for making my heart soar every week, as it highlighted the beauty and magic of making connections, forming bonds, building trust, and finding love with others.

Chained Soldier – 06 – Eyes on Me

Having witnessed how “physically demanding” Yuuki can be on his masters, Shushu wants a piece of him too. She wants him to watch while she kicks the sleepy Sahara’s ass. Both hand-to-hand specialists, their first round is a classic wrestling match with some really niftily animated moves.

Just when Shushu has the upper hand, sleepy Sahara demands that they be allowed to use their abilities. Shushu blows up in size, but Sahara basically Super Saiyans into a ball of violent energy. Due to Sahara’s smaller size, she can dodge Shushu’s attacks, while Shushu is a bigger target for her attacks.

After Sahara beats Shushu with her eyes closed (in unconscious berserk mode) and also rips off the front of her shirt, Shushu returns to the barracks to rest and change, tears in her eyes from such a pitiful performance. But Yuki is soon there on the other side of her door to cheer her up. She rewards him with a kiss, but stops short of confessing until she makes him to like her more.

While Nei is partoling the area with her scanning ability, she spots two humanoid Shuuki, and all of a sudden the exhibition venue turns into a battlefield. Rivalries are cast aside, as Shushu returns to the lines and is backed up by Sahara, and the Azuma sisters prepare to take on the towering, haughty Rairen.

When her arm gun won’t work on the foe, Himari asks Kyouka if she can ride Yuuki with her. Yuuki kisses Himari’s hand having already kissed Kyouka, and he transforms into a bigger and much more powerful form, and is able to fire a cannon like his humanoid Shuuki sister, Aoba. This sharing means they’ll surely be giving him his reward together too.

By teaming up with Kyouka, Himari left Yachiho to deal with Rairen herself, but she only has to buy some time (the perfect goal for someone using time as a weapon) for her boss to show up. When Rairen tells her how she got through the army, Tenka calmly asks “What army?”, and the fog parts to reveal she’s already neutralized them all.

The exhibition matches might be cancelled, but make no mistake: Tenka and Kyouka will still be competing to see who can be the most badass squadron commander. Everyone else best sit back and watch them cook.

Insomniacs After School – 07 – Inside a Dream

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yuru Camp△ Movie – Adulting Outdoors

Rather than chronicle another fun camping trip in a new place with the Outclub while they’re still in school, Yuru Camp’s first movie takes place in the not-to-distant future, when Rin, Nadeshiko, Aoi, Aki, and Ena are now full-fledged young adults with jobs (though notably no romantic partners).

They stay in touch through chat, but compared with their time at school they’re very far flung and their daily routines have changed. Rin’s at a publishing office in Nagoya, Nadeshiko works at a camping store in Tokyo, Aoi is a grade school teacher, Ena is a pet groomer, and Aki works with the local tourism department after her life in Tokyo didn’t pan out.

It’s Aki who is the catalyst that brings the five Outclub members back together with a bold proposal: take a derelict outdoors youth center with a great view of Fuji-sama and turn it into a campground. After Aki has (lots) of drinks with Rin (all drunk by her; she’s predictably now the lush of the group), she takes them to the spot, and at sunrise, Rin gets it; it’s a good spot.

The challenge, then, is how the five of them are going to navigate their day job obligations and distances and make this thing happen. Aki assigns everyone a role and wisely picks Rin as the team lead, as she’s the most experienced camper and thus perhaps the best organizer of the group.

They start small and realistically; trimming the overgrown grass and removing errant shrubs while discussing ideas for what they want on the grounds. Once a farmer friend of Aki’s shows them the proper way to to these things, and they get their hands on some machinery, the cleanup work accelerates.

It’s exciting watching the adult versions of these characters, already having eased into their new adult lives, banding together once more over something they always loved sharing with each other—camping—with the goal of now sharing that love with others so those people will share it, and so on and so forth.

It’s also comforting to know that both the chemistry and the comedic banter among the young women is still alive and well. A different movie could have had its individual members much more isolated and/or estranged (or even having families of their own) but this is rather the evolution of Cute Girls Doing Cute Things—Cute Women Doing Cool Things.

Once all the major cleanup and grading is complete, they decide to give the grounds a whirl by being the first to camp there. They find areas for improvements, and also ease back into their old dynamic of preparing a perfect campsite and cooking the perfect camp feasts.

The fact that these five young women are now old hands at camp cooking—not to mention they have a lot more cash than they did as kids—means Nadeshiko and Aki really go all out with the (still on sale!) salmon, with a light yet hearty cream soup and a full-on hot pot. The fact that these five young women are now old hands at camp cooking.

But like Yuru Camp’s first two seasons, the movie is not entirely without conflict, which comes in the form of a setback. Ena’s now-old pup Chikuwa brings her an odd piece of broken pottery, which eventually leads to a full archeological survey and excavation, which first delays and then completely nixes the campground plan. Aki, who brought everyone into this plan, has to make the call to everyone saying all their hard work may have been for naught!

And yet, because they’re adults, this isn’t the end of the world for any of them. It’s definitely disappointing, even deflating, but everyone aside rom Aki finds solace and stability in their day jobs. Rin finds out her senpai at work has been supporting her a lot behind the scenes so she could work on the campground project (both as team lead and covering it as a print and online serial for the magazine) and vows to work harder.

Aoi’s work story might be the most bittersweet, as the school where she’d started teaching just a couple years ago is closing down (possibly due to there simply not being enough kids to fill it), but gives the kids who are there all the love and attention she’s got. And I love how three high schoolers from Bizarro Yuru Camp come into Nadeshiko’s store again, looking to dip their tows into camping. Nadeshiko truly was born to get people into camping!

Those three kids’ simple but very doable plan to have a day trip with cup noodles inspires her to invite Rin to a special new spot: Rin has to endure a lot of climbing in the snow and ice, but the reward is the highest hot spring in Japan, which is tiny, but also breathtakingly beautiful, not to mention the absolute best thing after all the exertion.

There, the two old friends discuss how they really have become proper adults, who can do a lot more than they used to, not just regarding camping, but life in general. Nadeshiko also notes that even adults can’t do anything, but they can do what they can. She doesn’t regret the time they spent trying to get the campground off the ground, even if it didn’t work out. Neither does Rin.

It’s fortunate, then, that the campground plan isn’t entirely dead. With help from Ena, Aki prepares a new proposal that integrates the archeological site with the campground. The video presentation shows footage of the five women working hard and also relaxing and enjoying the outdoors, and is extremely persuasive.

The council votes to approve the plan, which means the Outclub is back in business, having only lost a couple of months. They cut the grass back down, the dog run is completed, they put a coat of paint on the distinctive aviary frame, and Aoi procures all the stuff they’ll need for the kid’s area.

When Aoi brings the fancy and very professional sign made by Akari (who is now in art school) and the five mount it to the entrance, it lends an immensely satisfying feeling of completion. They adulted the hell out of shit, and weathered the challenges that came their way. They did it!

Mind you, while getting caught up in all the excitement, they forgot to post the signs leading to the campground, so their first group of campers (many of them family and friends and thus more forgiving) get lost on their way there!

Not a problem, as the women work together to communicate with Rin while she rides out (not on her gramps’ motorcycle, which is in the shop, but her old moped) to locate and guide everyone safely to their destination. Crisis averted!

Once the sun sets and everyone is settled in, the five women stand at the top of the hill and admire what they’ve accomplished. Earlier, Rin’s Gramps gave the site his blessing. The group makes plans right then and there to reunite and camp there for New Years, when the sun rises out of Fuji-san’s peak. Rin, to the surprise of the other four, says she’ll also be joining them (albeit tentatively). Of course, she told Aki she’d “think about” helping with the campground too!

As the credits go by we get snapshots of that trip, on which Rin indeed accompanies the others, while we also get snapshots of them continuing their adult lives at their jobs. Aoi’s at a new school, Nadeshiko is still being the best dang camping store clerk ever, Rin is hard at work at the magazine, Ena’s grooming pups, and Aki is sticking with the local tourism.

A planned third season of Yuru Camp will likely return us to the present when they’re all still in school. But it was great to see everyone doing so well in the future. I got the same warm, fuzzy, cozy, calming, healing feelings I got from the show, only a little more adult-y. I honestly wouldn’t mind if season 3 picked up from here!

It also had some low-key poignant commentary on the preservation and revitalization of existing things—as well as the need to preserve and occasionally revitalize one’s old friendships! What better way to do that then to go camping, when we can be one with ourselves, rely on one another, and of course indulge in lavish outdoor feasts!

Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 3 – 09 – The Thing You Wanted Most

Once, in a blue moon, an anime gives you exactly what you want. This was one of those times. All I wanted was to bask in the adorable bliss of Takagi and Nishikata’s 100% Unrequited Love: The Movie Date, and that is what I got. No school, no ancillary characters…just our main couple, together, like they were always meant to be.

The show teases us a bit by starting with Nishikata’s dream of “SanTa-kagi” visiting his home in the middle of the night and giving him a gag gift, then shows us Takagi at the ferry pier looking lonely and a little worried…until she spots Nishikata running to her, late and apologetic.

Nishikata realizes that with the year about to end he hasn’t scored a single victory against Takagi; a wrong he’s determined to right. After the ferry ride, he suggests they kill time at an arcade, and come across a new 100% crane game. His heart is set on the Kyunko+Ikeo plushie set, but tries to go for the easier score: a puzzle.

He fails, losing both to Takagi and to himself for trying for the easy win at the cost of what he really wanted. Then it’s Takagi’s turn at the controls and she quickly and effortlessly acquires the plushie set…which she can tell was the thing Nishikata really wanted, and so immediately gifts to him. She’s simply happy to have done something to make him happy.

When the two move on to the movie theater, Nishikata is very cognizant of the fact that some “couples” there might be fake couples who are only putting on airs so they can get the special gift for couples. While he considers himself and Takagi to be one of those “couples of convenience”, he’s determined to pass them off as a real couple (which of course they actually are).

This results in him strutting up to one of the attendants and declaring “two tickets for the Nishikata couple”—rather than Nishikata reservation—both surprising and delighting Takagi in the process. They also decide to go in on a “100% In Love Set”—two sodas and a large popcorn to share. Before heading into the theater, Nishikata hangs back to go to the bathroom, but he really just needs some time alone to write a Christmas card for Takagi.

When he enters the theater and spots the familiar back of Takagi’s head, he thinks to himself “I’m gonna sit…right next to her?” Yes you are, Nishikata, and you’ll like it! The two unwrap the special couple gift, which turns out to be a set of miniature figurines of a Santa Ikeo giving Shunko a Christmas gift.

The movie starts, and as the two lovebird dip into the popcorn their hands touch. As we know, the same voice actors who voice them also voice Shunko and Ikeo. The two thoroughly enjoy the movie, with Nishikata unable to hold back tears as the credits roll.

After the movie, the two stroll around town a bit, with Takagi asking Nishikata what kind of girl is his type, guessing that it’s someone like Kyunko—a bit of a klutz but also earnest and kind and always trying her best. Nishikata says he doesn’t think of Kyunko quite that way, and that’s to be expected, as he’s the Kyunko to Takagi’s Ikeo in their relationship!

Quite suddenly, Takagi challenges Nishikata to a race to an electric pole, which he wins easily, netting him his first and only “win” of the year, just what he wanted. Naturally, he gets totally full of himself and believes he simply cannot lose to Takagi, proving it by having her guess which hand he has a coin in.

Later, she bumps into him from behind, and, sensing something’s up, asks her straight-up what’s up with her. Turns out she decided to try acting like the klutzy-yet-earnest Kyunko for a little while, hoping he’d think she was cute. But Nishikata likes Takagi the way she is, teasing and all.

Takagi just happens to pose in front of the town Christmas tree as it lights up, spurning Nishikata to produce his Christmas present to her: a pair of gloves to keep her hands warm. Takagi can’t hide her surprise, nor her joy, at being given a thoughtful gift by the boy she likes. Nishikata notes that this isn’t turning out anything like his dream…which is good!

Takagi then gives Nishikata her Christmas gift to him: a scarf she made for him, partly while they were on library duty. Then they board the ferry back home, and Nishikata walks Takagi to her house, and they wave goodbye to each other. There’s no classic “confession” scene…but there doesn’t have to be one.

Nishikata walks, then runs home full of joy, having experienced perhaps the best day of his life. The Christmas card he bought and wrote for Takagi was advertised at the store as something “to someone you care about!” Turns out Takagi bought the very same card for him.

So while the actual messaging on the cards is somewhat cordial—he writes “Thanks for everything today”; she writes “Thanks for another fun year”—the more important message conveyed to one another is that they wrote those messages on a card they bought knowing it was for someone they cared about. Someone they love spending time with.

I don’t see how Nishikata can ever dare to deny who Takagi is to him anymore. Not after he, and Takagi, and all of us got everything we could have ever asked for, and more, out of the Best Date Ever.

RABUJOI WORLD HERITAGE LIST

Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 3 – 03 – It’s a Nishikata Thing

It’s a hot October morning, so much so that both Nishikata and Takagi arrive at school early, and find themselves the only ones there. When Nishikata proudly whips out a fan and starts fanning himself, I knew it would only be a matter of time before he was fanning Takagi.

First she asks him straight up to fan her. When he won’t, she makes up a game to see who can move her eraser across her desk further with the fan. Nishikata, like a dolt, furiously fans the eraser, causing it to move…a few millimeters. In the process, he fans Takagi. Then Takagi beats him by pushing the eraser further than him with the fan.

That said, Takagi repositions herself for his fanning so that a.) he gets a bit of the cool air too, and more importantly b.) she can be closer to him!

Takagi’s desire to be closer goes beyond physical proximity. She knows Nishikata and his friends love a new baseball manga, so she baits him with a ping pong ball, then uses a broom to play the role of hitter to his star pitcher. Nishikata allows the fantasy of the manga to wash over him, with the rest of the cast playing the roles of other characters.

Takagi swings through the first pitch, but Nishikata isn’t even able to get her into an 0-2 count as she belts his next pitch “over the wall” for a homer. She said she wouldn’t tell anyone what she saw if he struck her out, and he couldn’t, but when he asks again nicely for her not to tell, she says fine; in exchange, lend her the baseball manga. She wants to know as much as possible about what he likes!

After an interlude featuring the three girls and a supposedly stuck fat cat who turns out to just be fluffy (and I loved that cat’s design and voice), the final segment—simply called “Rain”—has Nishikata in the driver’s seat. Before class is out it starts to rain, but he forgot his umbrella.  Moments after the bell rings, he rushes to the lost-and-found and is in luck: there’s one umbrella left.

He heads home alone with the borrowed pink umbrella, eager not to miss a minute of the baseball/soccer anime crossover where the two teams play kickball. But in his haste to secure an umbrella for a dry walk home, Nishikata neglected to ask Takagi if she had one, and concludes that he can’t be sure she didn’t forget her’s—especially when it’s happened before (back in 2018!).

Sure enough, Takagi is waiting out the rain by staying at school and doing her homework, when Nishikata enters and is surprised to find he didn’t worry needlessly: she did indeed forget her umbrella again. So Nishikata, blushing like a tomato the whole way, manages to ask her if she would “like to go together”. We only see the bottom half of Takagi’s face when the sides of her mouth turn up as high as they’ll go.

Takagi teases him about wanting to “get cozy” under his umbrella again, but checks herself, seeing as how he was kind enough to come back for her. She even knows he missed his special anime episode for her sake, and when he asks her how she knows that, she replies “that’s easy. Because I know everything about you.” She then plans to forget her umbrella next time it rains, too.

The title card parting shot of them walking together under the umbrella is a snapshot of where they stand right now as a couple: Takagi is all-in and having a gas, while Nishikata, all flushed cheeks and elusive gaze, can’t quite temper his self-consciousness. But he’s under the umbrella—this time of his own volition. He went back for her! He put her before anime! I tell ya, the kid’s learning.

Slime 300 – 02 – And Then There Were Four

When Azusa tells Laika that all she did to reach her level was kill around 25 slimes per day, her pupil is a little surprised. She expected Azusa had worked hard enough to sweat blood. That’s when Azusa reiterates that if you are sweating blood, you’re doing it wrong; “it” being life. And she should know.

As for cooking, Laika’s portions are understandably dragon-sized. Azusa’s appetite shrinks before an omelette the size of an average dog, but one taste and she’s convinced of Laika’s skill. Laika also draws a magic circle for Azusa to cast a protection barrier around Flatta, earning the love of the townfolk.

Yep, Azusa and Laika’s slow life in their newly-build log mansion is pretty sweet. Then one day, a little girl with blue hair and green eyes knocks on their door, declaring herself to be Azusa’s daughter, Falfa. She’s there because her twin sister Shalsha is plotting to kill Azusa.

More precisely, Falfa and Shalsha are twin “slime spirits” born from the souls of all of the slimes Azusa killed over the years. While Falfa harbors no ill will, Shalsha has been training her mind and body to destroy Azusa the first chance she gets, and when she demonstrates her Smite Evil spell that negates all of Azusa’s magic, it looks like she just might succeed!

That is, if Azusa were all alone. Even though Azusa is ready to meet her fate, satisfied she lived a good slow life for three centuries, Laika won’t allow Shalsha to hurt her master. Shalsha folds like a manila folder once Laika hits her with a single Dragon Punch.

In her fifty years of existence, Shalsha poured all of her effort and mana into the Smite Evil spell targeted at Azusa, so she’s extremely weak against anyone other than Azusa. The spell also only lasted around an hour, which expires once she comes to, so she’s also harmless. Falfa manages to talk Shalsha down from her grudge; after all, everyone kills slimes every day!

With two adorable new daughters in her lap and a huge house built for her by Laika, Azusa suggests they move out of their shack in the forest and move in with their mama! The sisters agree, and the quartet hits the town for some shopping to prepare for a welcome party. On the way, Shalsha tells Azusa that there are both good and evil slimes, and she has no trouble killing the evil ones herself.

The new family of four sit down to another massive Laika feast, although this time the amount of food is more appropriate. Azusa makes sure both the sisters and Laika eat their celery soup, and while she wasn’t expecting a slow life with a big family, it’s nice in its own way, making things more fun and lively. It also means a lot more chuckle-worthy gags!

Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina – 09 – Estelles;Gate

Last week’s doll-and-face fetish episode, and the grape-stomping maiden episode before it, made for some particularly goofy Journeys of Elaina, making me wonder when and if show would get dark again. Sure enough, this episode arrives with an “Explicit Content” warning, opens on a starving, broke Elaina, and no OP! What the heck are we in for? At the time, I had no idea.

Elaina finds a flyer promising good pay for “ultra-short-term” work, and encounters a fellow Witch, Estelle. Through meeting her, Elaina is pleased to learn that while Estelle became an apprentice when she was younger, it took her longer than Elaina to become a full-fledged Witch. Wand-measuring aside, Estelle is offering a giant sack of gold coins for the job.

What is the job? Well, first, a sad story: Back while Estelle was training abroad, her dear childhood friend Selena’s parents were murdered in a robbery. Selena’s uncle took her in, and proceeded to abuse her. Selena eventually snapped, murdering her uncle, and then several others. It ultimately fell to Estelle to apprehend Selena…and execute her.

Estelle seeks to use magic to go back in time so she can save Selena’s parents and prevent the chain of events that lead to her having to kill her own best friend. Time-traveling requires more magic than any one witch has, so Estelle has been gradually draining her blood to augment the spell.

The other problem is that once they’re actually in the past, Estelle will be drained of all magic, which is why she needs Elaina. By wearing matching magical rings, Elaina will be able to share her magic with Estelle. This job is not without its risks and inconveniences—hence the generous payday.

Elaina, confident and cocksure as always, proudly proclaims herself to be a traveler, and so the next logical step in her journey is to travel through time and see how things used to be in the past. So she slips on the ring, Estelle activates the spell, and off they go.

The witches safely arrive ten years into the past, but only have one hour to do what needs to be done before being sent back to the present. Estelle makes it clear that the timeline in which she executes Selena has happened and can’t un-happen; changing events will create a tangent, but that’s enough for her, as long as there is a timeline in which Selena gets to live on.

Their broom-flight to Selena’s house is interrupted when Estelle spots young Selena walking down the street, and can resist giving her a big hug, no matter how much it weirds the girl out. Elaina notes that Estelle got quie the cold reaction from Selena, but Estelle insists that deep down Selena is very kind.

Estelle proceeds to get Selena’s parents out of the house under the guise that she’s Selena’s half-sister and has business with them. Elaina stakes out the house, waiting for the robber to arrive, but it dawns on her that the murder of the parents was too grisly for a mere robbery. Then her magic-sharing ring glows and shoots a red beam in Estelle’s direction: she’s engaged in battle.

When Elaina arrives, she finds a horrifying sight: Selena has viciously attacked Estelle, and has blood on her mouth just like her photo in the future papers. It turns out Selena’s parents abused her long before her uncle had the chance, twisting her into homicidal mania, even sadism. It doesn’t matter whether Estelle was her best friend or she and Elaina are trying to “help”—Selena is already beyond helping.

While the blood and gore on display in this scene is indeed explicit, I for one am glad we didn’t have to witness the abuse Selena suffered at the hands of her parents, and the warning was meant for the violence. And there is a lot of it—the most in the series’ run for sure.

When Selena prepares to attack Elaina, Estelle gets up and stops her in her tracks. Having worked so hard and sacrificed her own blood to try to save Selena, she is overcome by heartbreak and despair, and there’s nothing left but to kill Selena again before she can kill Elaina or anyone else.

Elaina tries to stop this by removing the ring, but Estelle simply sacrifices her memories of Selena in order to summon enough magic to explode her head off. The hour is up and the two witches return to the present. Sure enough, Estelle doesn’t remember Selena, and barely remembers Elaina. She’s a ruined husk of a witch, and Elaina is so upset by the experience she runs out of Estelles house, pointedly leaving the bag of gold behind.

That, and Elaina’s subsequent breakdown on the bench in front of the clock tower, shows that the effects of this particular journey will (or at least should) last beyond just this episode. Elaina weeps uncontrollably, her confident façade utterly shattered. She no longer thinks of herself as a special or exemplary; only an “ordinary” traveler and witch, inexperienced and unable to do anything.

She’s being a bit hard on herself, as who the heck could have handled that situation better? It was largely out of her hands. The best thing to do would have been to refuse the job, but she really needed money and was intrigued by the prospect of a different kind of traveling. The episode fades to black and the credits roll without images. Black Friday, indeed.

Read Crow’s review of episode 9 here!

Adachi & Shimamura – 03 – Chipping Away

Shimamura isn’t sure why Adachi suddenly ran away from her, but it looked to her like she had something to say but couldn’t say it. Unlike Adachi, who is increasingly obsessing over Shimamura in her inner thoughts, Shimamura is more introspective about herself, whether it’s the way she keeps “having regrets” or starting to “catch on to [her] lack of interest”.

Is Shimamura naturally just not interested in anything? Could Adachi be changing that part of her? When Adachi is absent for school and doesn’t answer her texts, Shimamura heads to her house. On the way, she meets the astronaut girl without the spacesuit, who thinks it’s “fate” that they keep meeting. Thankfully the spacegirl splits—I still honestly don’t know what her purpose is—and Shimamura’s unannounced visit is rewarded by seeing Adachi in her jammies.

Shimamura agrees to Adachi’s request to go out on Saturday—though Adachi’s original intent was to ask Shimamura to formally go out with her. Unfortunately the spacegirl is already with Shimamura when Adachi arrives, and proceeds to be a glittery blue-haired third wheel the whole time. Due to her little sister-ish size and demeanor, Shimamura can’t ignore the spacegirl’s attempts to grab her attention, which means Adachi gets less attention.

Moreover, the fact Shimamura so readily engages with the spacegirl makes it seem to Adachi that she’ll “take care” of anyone small and cute—including her—without thinking much of it. Adachi is thinking very much about Shimamura and Shimamura only, yet Shimamura is cognizant of everyone she spends time with.

That leads to a somewhat dark ending where she admits she allows “pieces” of herself to chip off in an attempt to keep herself “afloat”. These are the things she should be telling Adachi! I wish spacegirl would either explain her business with Shimamura or go away and give the main couple some space.

BokuBen – 13 (Fin) – The Lights in the Sky are Stars

This is it—The episode we’ve all been waiting for: when Nariyuki finally chooses which of the girls he’s going to go out with! Pfft, sure. If only it were that simple! Every girl has good qualities—though as discussed ad nauseum last week, some people have a particular preference, depending on their own type—but however Nariyuki feels about them, he’s either unaware of their feelings for him (in the case of Fumino and Rizu) or has been misled or messed with so much he doesn’t know what to think (Uruka, Kirisu, Asumi).

While she’s serving as a kind of “substitute Nariyuki” at an all-girls pajama study session at Rizu’s, Sekijo Sawako impresses upon them how lucky they are to have such a dedicated tutor, though she’s not sure if it’s because he’s a pushover or simply gets “caught up in stuff so easily”—the answer is somewhere in the middle. Alas, that’s the last we see of Sawako, one of BokuBen’s more intriguing but underutilized supporting players.

Later, Nariyuki intends to help his mom with his littlest brother and sister at the summer festival, but when his fam sees his two cute friends in yukata, they quickly ditch him, and Fumino soon follows, leaving Nariyuki with Uruka, which came as a bit of a surprise considering they arrived at a pretty good stopping point last week.

Aside from her showing him her tongue (stained pink from shaved ice) and offering some to him (for an indirect kiss), there’s no further romantic awkwardness between them, as they chip in to help an overworked Rizu and her dad at their udon stand.

Kirisu ends up attending the festival in disguise to keep an eye on students, but when Nariyuki makes her, she runs away, trips, and injures her knee. He has to give her a second piggyback ride (only this time she’s not sauced) to the first aid tent, which of course is being tended by Asumi and her dad.

Asumi leaves Kirisu’s skinned knee to Nariyuki, but he ends up helping out the rest of the night, showing that Sawako is indeed correct about him being a bit of a pushover and easily caught up in things. But hey, if he enjoys helping everyone out, so what if he’s not the one instigating these scenarios?

Fumino, who split off to let Nariyuki and Uruka be alone, ends up losing track of time gazing at the stars, and on her way to the last train, she has to corral a little lost girl and get her back to her mom. Nariyuki also loses track of time at the first aid tent, and ends up finding the little lost girl’s twin sister.

With the twins back with their mom, Fumino and Nariyuki end up missing that last train, and encounter one other at the station. With no taxis (or indeed any cars) around and only an inn to turn to, the do-gooders have to consider an action that, if taken out of context of their situation, could be seen as very bad.

That action, of course, is spending the night together at a ryokan, which only has one room left, and that room has only one futon, and because it’s a chilly night they have to share it. These two have clearly never heard of sleeping head-to-foot to avoid awkwardness, but that’s rarely a comfortable way to sleep anyway.

For the first time, Nariyuki and Fumino find themselves sleeping in a bed with a member of the opposite sex, and it’s tough. Thankfully, it’s a gorgeous, clear, starry night, so they manage to find a topic that sets them both at ease; the very subject Fumino intends to pursue: astronomy.

Fumino tells Nariyuki about a book she first read when her mother was on her death bed, about an old astronaut continuing to chase his dream and conquering his weakness—something she, Rizu, Uruka, and Asumi are all doing. Nariyuki points out how cool he thinks they are for doing so, and expresses envy for not having any particular personal goal of his own.

Fumino tells him she doesn’t consider herself particularly special for having a dream, and it’s clear she doesn’t think he should discount his desire to help make his family more comfortable and prosperous. But if he ever comes up with another dream, she promises to help him, as his “big sis” (they checked in to the room as siblings).

Fumino ends up falling asleep while grasping Nariyuki’s hand, and he doesn’t have the heart to wake her up. Turns out she’s dreaming of that day she read that book with her mom, and when she wakes up, her hand and his are still intertwined. While initially surprised and bashful, she doesn’t see any need to break their embrace, and so curls up a little closer to him.

The night after on the train, the two are mortified by the choice they made last night, but as they part ways, Fumino, back to calling him by his family name Yuiga, smiles and tells him simply that she’ll see him later. And indeed we shall, as a second season of BokuBen is coming this Fall, where I’m sure we’ll be presented with more adventures both wackily comedic and poignantly warm between Nariyuki and the girls he tutors.

I can’t see why I wouldn’t be around to keep watching them. After all, it seems when it comes to this kind of show…I never learn.

Goblin Slayer – 03 – A Fellowship Forms

A High Elf, a Dwarf, and a Lizardman walk into the guild, and then into the lives of the Priestess and Goblin Slayer. While they have far loftier goals in mind—defeating a horde of world-ending demons—the Slayer won’t give them the time of day until they propose he kill goblins, to which he asks how many, how strong, and where.

The trio of adventurers adds much needed new personalities to the show, and I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings-style banter, with the Elf and Dwarf going at it about any number of things while still tolerating their company, and the stoic Lizardman floating above the fray.

The Elf doesn’t think much of the GS at first, but the Dwarf can see much practicality in what he does and how he does it. We also learn why the GS never cleans his arms or armor: the goblins would be able to smell clean metal, putting him at a disadvantage.

The GS would probably be content rushing into a situation where there were so many goblins he’d end up getting killed, but he’d certainly take a lot of goblins with him. He’s not quite sure that’s what the Priestess wants, however, and so prepares to leave her behind to “rest.” However, the Priestess doesn’t like how he’s making decisions without her input, and voices her desire to come with.

And so the group of five adventurers set off to their first goblin target. But before that, they make camp and have a meal, in which everyone introduces themselves and offers a gift to the others. The Lizardman provides the meat, the Elf some elven bread, the Dwarf some firewine (that gets the Elf tanked), and GS provides some cheese from the farm where he hangs his hat (so to speak), which the others love.

He even opens up, but only when the subject of conversation turns to, what else, goblins. Specifically, how they come from the desolate green moon, and live their lives envious of the riches of Earth. It’s a story his late sister told him, and it’s clear he treasures it. As for the priestess, her contribution to the evening is insight into the GS, whom the others find particularly inscrutable.

At dawn the five strike out, and the High Elf demonstrates her prowess with the bow by sending a single homing arrow through the heads of two goblins at once; very Legolas-esque. They move with accompaniment of a metal riff, indicating that the goblins within the lair they approach aren’t going to be much of a problem; the main question will be how cleverly and awesomely they can dispatch them.

Watashi ga Motete Dousunda – 03

R to L: Snow White, Eren Yeager, Shion

The Japanese government mandates that at least one episode of romantic comedies must be a cultural festival episode, but Kiss Him Not Me didn’t treat it like legal compliance; it put quite a bit of effort and its own wonderful brand of energy into it, making for twenty minutes of television that felt much longer, but had me wishing by the end it was longer still. All the positive aspects I mentioned in the first two eps apply here, and then some.

This KHNM took its real life otome game theme to its natural next step: growing mutual resentment among the boys. The four of them are only together because they like Kae. Kae, a fujoshi, its perfectly content to keep things this way, but they aren’t. They want to court Kae properly, which means they need alone time with her (the last thing she wants).

It’s a great dynamic, and I’m glad it comes to a head so quickly in the series, and so organically, as a result of the give-and-take of the otome scenario. Kae formed a coalition so her class would vote for a cosplay cafe, and she gets to dress up all her boys the way she sees fit. But in exchange, she has to tacitly accept it when they set up time slots for alone time with her during the festival.

To the show’s credit, despite her amazing physical transformation, Kae remains steadfastly Kae, even if she often manages to hide her baser instincts from the lads. She worries she won’t do well alone with guys, and then she goes and doesn’t do well alone with the guys. It’s the English title in a nutshell: She wants them to Kiss (or do other romantic things with) Him, not her.

It doesn’t help that the guys are a little overeager. Nana backs her into a wall and they come close to a kiss, Mu achieves an indirect kiss through chopsticks; Iga takes her hand in his, then puts it on his knee; and Shi leaps into her arms in the haunted house, resulting in a fall and his face in her bosom.

It’s all just too much for Kae, who is completely un-inoculated against such romantic gestures. She rushes into the arms of her friend Akane, lamenting how impossible it all is. A-chan was initially amused that Kae had four dates with four hotties, but she’s quick to drop the ribbing and offer support when it turns out badly.

But while A-chan is grabbing Kae a drink, Kae is accosted by three less-than-savory classmates, who make her guys’ aggressiveness seem coy by comparison. These guys aren’t even trying to be subtle: this girl’s hot and they’re going to get as much out of her as they can.

Then she gives one of them an uppercut, which both he and she thought was overreacting…but how the hell else is a girl supposed to act when there are hands all over her and a crotch in her face?

They chase her down the hall, but she’s rescued by Iga and Nana in the nick of time. Soon Mu and Shi are also there and the four locked in combat with the punks. Kae stops gawking and spluttering and yells, at the top of her lungs, “KNOCK IT OFF!” 

Kae’s four guys hear her, and realize that and how they erred, and apologize, and all agree to take things slower so as not to overwhelm her again. Thus we return to the status quo, as expected, but it was a fun ride. The show didn’t want us to forget not just that these four guys really like Kae, and not just in a buddy-buddy way, but that when it comes down to it, they also don’t hate each other’s company.

When the time comes for the bonfire dance, the four agree to drop the romantic pursuits for the day and give Kae a little something for tolerating their forwardness (and the brawl, for which there was somehow no punishment). That something turns out to be another dream come true not just for fujoshi Kae, but her fujoshi BFF Akane: the four pair off and dance with each other.