First most busy week of anime watching and discussing this season so far. Especially with Kubo and Golden Kamuy returning now. Mashle was on break this week and Hell’s Paradise will be break next week here. A lot to think about here.
Table of Contents (Click to see thoughts on a show/episode from last week)
Vinland Saga
Golden Kamuy
Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible
Heavenly Delusion
Skip and Loafer
Tokyo Mew Mew New Season 2
Hell’s Paradise
Mashle
Birdie Wing
A Galaxy Next Door
Soaring Sky! Precure
My Home Hero
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury
Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage
Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 19
Vinland Saga, Vinland Saga, Vinland Saga. Man, this show is just incredible at everything it does. Especially showing how brutal combat is with some minimal effort. The main thrust of this episode and arc are Kanute and his 100 well trained vikings against 350 villagers in which some of them know how to fight. It is so clearly evident that villagers failed at hitting a viking ship at a fair range with bow and arrow and then the vikings just hit their targets on point. Then that conflict continues on land where it’s going where you would expect it too.
Snake even got into some deep stuff as he heads out to save as many people as he can while going to his death and somehow his small amount of men are going with him. Leader Ketil is harassing his people to their deaths while Thorgill is sneaking up on Canute in the middle of that conflict. It’s some crazy wild stuff that I don’t thing will move into Thorgill’s favor. It’s a blood slaughter out there even with the animation no longer being as hype as it was in the first season which honestly sells the brutality even more.
Then there is Thorfin, Lief, and the others sneaking out Arnheid while everyone is busy dying. It’s some wild stuff as Arnheid is barely surviving after being beaten to death. Major sort of uh oh all over the place here too. Uh oh.
Golden Kamuy Season 4 Episode 7
I’m so glad this show is back because we return to a point that makes sense for the series to return to wild wild action that is really heavy and brutal. It is essentially an episode of Asirpa, Sugimoto, and friends escaping from Lt. Tsurumi and his men as his snake like charism is no longer working and his skill sweat keeps happening. But the escape was brutal from Asirpa and friends running through the small city of Karafuta and then moves onto to see then the ice. All for Asirpa using the gold in how it was supposed to be used, helping the Ainu people. This show is going to just be heavy now isn’t it? I just hope it also continues to be weird too.
Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible Episode 7
Kubo is back too now and honestly, I didn’t feel that much from this episode because the production values don’t feel as strong as the first part and it felt all over the place. The key is still Kubo still putting her plots on Shiraishi like the umbrella shaming or the matching pen switch after Shiraishi ruined his pen in class, so that was fun. I think Shiraishi running into Kubo’s cousin randomly or Kubo and her friends ahving a sleep over before the next year of school. So lots of good stuff, just all over the place without any connection tissue.
Heavenly Delusion Episode 8
This show continues to be surprising in good ways. In this episode, the arc of the Liviuman and the Immortal Order ends as well as the interaction between Kiruko and Maru between the mysterious Dr. Usami. The majority of this episode is Dr. Usami, Kiruko, and Maru giving this girl stuck on life support a last look at the sky before she demands to be killed by Maru’s special ability. It’s a moment of melancholy knowing that Maru is going to kill a human being with a little bit of man eater in them that has one really quick humanizing moment of her calling Usami an idiot.
There is also the protest of Liviuman outside of the Immortal Order becoming a full mass riot after one rock killed their leader and we only see the beginning and end of that because it wasn’t a point of the episode. We just know that one crazy group now has enough generators to power a city perhaps and Liviuman is on the. The main point of this episode was about Usami and the patient that was just killed as this very stereotypical doctor cries over her death and then commits suicide leaving Maru more vulnerable then ever.
How did this episode do this? The whole show is full of these weird corners and encounters that somehow becoming more meaningful even if Maru and Kiruko just met them. It probably has something to do each of these moments given their time to be so much more human then just encounters even in this lost space where nothing is as familiar at it seems. I’m so curious about how this show can continue to do that moving forward because of how everything has to connect in the end. I really do love this show though so I don’t any of it will be disappointing at all.
Skip and Loafer Episode 7
Who would have ever expected a cute episode from Skip and Loafer, but here we are. Mitsumi made her way into the student council as a secretary and honestly, perfect position for her. Especially with some drama from her senpai Takamine making it as Vice President instead so Mitsumi just comforts by just being around her. Then there is the drama of Mitsumi returning home for vacation and her successfully asking Shima out on a friend date to the zoo before some girl important to Shima shows up. I bet she is Shima’s cousin. Either way, I’m curious to see more honestly.
Tokyo Mew Mew New Season 2 Episode 7
Ok, this is my least favorite episode of this show because it’s focused on the lamest people possible (Ichigo and Aoyama) who are the center of this show. At least when they are together because Ichigo with the girls is great fun. But this was the episode that Quiche attacks specifically Ichigo to summon Blue Knight who is obviously Aoyama and of course Ichigo can’t do anything in her magical girl form because it’s a guys show not it seems. So that drama of Ichigo telling Aoyama that she is a Tokyo Mew Mew that was there? Also apparently for nothing. Their romance is so thing man. Please show me Ichigo with the other girls please.
Hell’s Paradise Episode 8
This is an episode that I watched I guess. I’m not saying that because its bad at all, but it is a very cliche sort of episode that didn’t do much beyond the cliches besides the ending. It was an episode of a master and apprentice, with one guest member inmate, trying to survive in the forest with godly beings and the apprentice died while allowing the inmate and master to escape showing how much the guy has grown while also dying. It feels like more of a tension building episode because it was focused on our main crew so they were a bit more expendable. Yeah, just another fine episode.
Mashle: Magic and Muscles Episode 7 (Next Week)
Boooo
BIRDIE WING -Golf Girls’ Story- Season 2 Episode 7
The most normal episode possible about golf perhaps. Especially since this episode is purely about Aoi overcoming all odds to become the Japanese Open Champion against the Prize Queen Reika. So it was very normal in that regard. Very good, but lacking something to make it more special besides Aoi’s caddy somehow becoming a trained and certified weatherman to predict how the rain would change the game despite her having no actual control on it at all. So that ridiculous element was still there as well as Aoi really loving her caddy as she goes pro. Very safe episode for this show, but the ending stinger was certainly something that make me excited.
A Galaxy Next Door Episode 7
A lot more of a sentimental episode then I expected, but it’s great as Goshiki is invited to Ichirou’s, Fumio’s, and Machi’s visit to their family grave site. Oh, the cousin Chibi-san is there too. While the event is an attempt to be more positive as a family moving forward reporting how the kids have grown, there is still an undistilled trauma of the father figure never telling anyone that he wasn’t doing well medically until he passed away. Plus a lost Ichirou who doesn’t know how to live up to that and it’s decided taht he shouldn’t have to. Then that was followed by a softer part of the episode with Ichirou watching over a sick Goshiki all night. Very cute. Great episode.
Soaring Sky! Precure Episode 16
I’m just waiting for Ageha to become a precure because she supports the time so much. Especially with all the trauma that each of the girls (and Tsubasa) faced after leaving Skyland in shambles. Even poor baby Ellee who read the tension of the room and thought the story of Momotaro turned into Elleetaro through puppets would solve everything and it just didn’t because it was Ellee who had to lift them up. Even after coming into horrible turns against Battamonda’s ranborg in the form of an ogre after they all took major hits. This wasn’t the cool down episode I thought it would be, but it was great none the less.
My Home Hero Episode 8
The match between Kyouichi and Tetsuo continues this episode with a very personal touch. As in, it’s first Tetsuo’s approach of trying to frame Kyouichi by attempting to break into his room to place evidence and failing. Then it becomes a match of Tetsuo trying to jam every single one of Kyouichi trying to find evidence of the death of Nobuto at Reika’s apartment and then a look at Kyouichi’s apartment for an attempt of evidence really. Not much else to say about this episode because I’m waiting for this match to turn out somehow.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Season 2 Episode 6
This episode was a lot once again. You know, just like the rest of them. The first thing, even if its not the most impactful thing of this episode, is the politics of the situation at hand here. The chaos on Earth is growing and the election for control of the Beneritt Group in play. Shaddiq is obviously gaining a lot of votes for his election and Miorine now plans on going to earth to resolve the conflict with the Aeriel. Also, the Jeturk House isn’t going to recover that easily either. The Prospera/Guel/Miorine group isn’t doing well right now.
Then there is the situation with Suletta who is actually showing going to school and working hard as a distraction with her Earth House friends, including Chu Chu, notices how Suletta is distracting herself to keep going. The worst part of this is Earth House trying to help Suletta seeing Morine and Aerial again and the sadness of this episode comes from Aerial with all the Eri’s letting Suletta go and telling her not to return anymore. Then Prospera moves in letting Suletta know she shouldn’t in Aerial or anywhere either.
The sad thing about this is despite how mean everyone is to Suletta in these past two episodes, at least two of them were out of genuine concern and love. I was so shocked in that one moment of honestly that Prospera has shown for her daughter Suletta when she actually cries about letting her go out of this. I don’t think that Suletta is going to see anything that way because this is anime and Gundam, so it’s going to be interesting to see how Suletta returns from this now that her entire world is leaving her behind. Gives a lot to think about.
Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage Episode 6
Oh, maybe there is going to be some sequel material in this show. I like that honestly. The first part was with Bojji as the kind of king who would give an undressed person the clothes off his back while also feeling disconnected from the world and Kage because he isn’t the kind of character to sit down and discuss politics. At least not yet. The second portion was actual sequel material with Daida as King and Miranjo as his wife and it was great seeing how both of them have actually changed and Daida showing how much he cares about his people by building a school at where an old barracks was. Just another really good episode.
Mechanical Anime Reviews 
Yeah, we’re at the midway point of the Spring season, so I think almost all the anime series are slowing down a bit before the big ramp up at their finales.
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Heavenly Delusion:
It’s pretty clear that the new leaders of Liviuman finished off their old leader and are just looking to take power. That won’t get very far, though, now that the surviving man-eater has woken up in the basement.
More urgently, if man-eaters are people who have been killed and mutated by some sort of infection, and Maru is able to use his touch on the infected, doesn’t that mean the hotel owner girl they met recently is also infected? Furthermore, is this the same disease that is killing the children in that facility? Did it start there, and these are events of the past, or is there some other connection?
And how is Robin suddenly a doctor when I’m pretty sure he wasn’t one before? Did the other doctor put his brain in Robin’s body?
Witch from Mercury:
This is the second episode in a row where they left Suletta crying in misery in the end. If they go for a third, I am going to lose it.
Hell’s Paradise:
So they introduced us to the brothers, and the next time we saw them, they were getting beaten and thrown into a man-eating pit. They also introduced us to the people in this episode, and now, also the second time we see them, they kill one of them off. The extra cast members are suffering severe casualties, yes. But if they manage to find a way to kill these so-called gods, the girl and the mentor in this figure had better be getting a bit of payback.
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