Ore Wo Suki Nano Wa Omae Dake Ka Yo

Taking a quick glance at the title, I thought Ore Wo Suki Nano Wa Omae Dake Ka Yo was something similar to that horrible sister series, Ore Ga Suki Nano Wa Imouto Dakedo Imouto Ja Nai. Still get somewhat confused with the title even till this day. But thankfully, no little sister fetish here. Romcom harem anime series. Phew. Better. My style, my taste. Heh. And as you would expect from a romcom harem series, love polygons and dramas ensuing left, right, up, down, centre and everywhere. Who loves who? Better keep a flowchart if you want to keep tabs on everybody’s relationship to each other. Just in case. It’s more complicated than falling in love with your own sister!

Episode 1
Amatsuyu “Joro” Kisaragi is a normal high school kid. I guess it is pretty normal for him to have a genki childhood friend too, Aoi “Himawari” Hinata. Must be pretty normal for him to be best friends with the school’s famous baseball ace, Taiyou “Sun” Oga. Oh yeah. There’s that hot cool beauty, Sakura “Cosmos” Akino who is also the student council president. Yup. Pretty normal life. Cosmos asks Joro out on a date this Saturday. Could he say no? At the end of the day, she wants to confess something. There is somebody she likes… That person is Sun!!! Shock! It all happened at some baseball game in which she saw him banging his head on the wall after a dejected loss. Uh, what? She wants his help to bring them together. Can’t refuse those puppy dog eyes, no? Next day, it is Himawari’s turn to date him. At the end of the day, she wants to confess something. There is somebody she likes… You’ve guessed it. Sun!!! Déjà vu! Damn it, same reason how she fell for him? And double drats, she wants him to help her get close to Sun?! Can’t say no to those puppy dog eyes too. It’s no wonder back home, Joro is so frustrated and f*ck this sh*t mentality! But he thinks he still has a hope. By helping them both, Sun will eventually choose one and he’ll be happy with whoever he rejects. And so Joro returns to his normal life. This time lots of sarcasm added to his thoughts. Yeah, that b*tch and minx. He does help Himawari and Cosmos get their chance to talk to Sun but with them blowing their chances, he just wishes they shut their trap and not ruin the effort he put in. Because the duo keep looking for him, Joro wants peace and quiet during recess. The only place he could find solace is the library. However he has to put up with Sumireko “Pansy” Sanshokuin. Despite being a quiet girl, she has a sharp tongue. His nightmare comes true when Pansy reveals he knows all about him trying to help his friends get along with Sun. She knows all about him too because she is his stalker! She threatens to reveal his other secrets if he doesn’t listen to her. Oh dear. Is this déjà vu again? Yup. Somebody she likes whom she wants to confess…. Sun, right? Nope. It’s you, Joro!!! Surprise! However Joro must continue to talk to her in this badass jerk way as she loves him in this mode instead of his normal gentle version. She wants them to continue talking here like this every day.

Episode 2
So Joro has to tell Pansy how he planned to help Himawari and Cosmos. Yeah, setting up Himawari to watch a movie with Sun as well as setting up Cosmos to have lunch with Sun is no easy feat. If only the girls would just shut up and play along! Thank goodness so far so good. But Pansy throws in the biggest question: What if Sun likes a girl. Damn! Hence Joro asks Sun directly if he likes a girl. Because he is his best friend, he will tell him. Yes, there is a girl he likes. Guess who? Pansy!!! Oh sh*t! Of all people! WTF is that baseball game scenario how he met her after his dejected loss?! Oh, Sun wants Joro’s help to get closer to Pansy? No can’t do. But Joro gives him some baseball metaphor advice. Joro meets with Pansy wan the moment he asks her about Sun, she catches on. Whatever he is thinking, no. She only loves him. As he tries to bug her, she tells him off, giving others the wrong idea he is trying to ask her out. Then Sun comes by and gets the wrong idea they are being close (because Joro said they aren’t). Thankfully, Pansy covers for Joro and says that he was just telling him about the student council spot check. While Sun is relieved, Pansy is apparently upset so Joro is freed from coming to the library for a few days. During that time, he helps plan for Himawari and Cosmos. One day, Cosmos calls Joro to meet. Oh no. Something wrongs. Look at that deadly aura! Apparently Sun told her he loves Pansy and wanted her help to get them close together! No sh*t! Also, Sun took Joro’s baseball metaphor the wrong way, hence Cosmos thinks Joro is a liar. Goodbye jerk. Don’t need your help now. Gotta go help my crush win the girl he likes. And then a call from Himawari to meet. Oh no. Damn right it’s déjà vu! Same thing. Joro told her about his love for Pansy and wants her help to get them together. Also, misinterpreted baseball metaphor. Joro, you liar! Don’t need your help anymore. Gotta go help my crush win the girl he likes. Joro then confronts Pansy. He is about to tell her off he has had enough of all this seeing that she hints she knows the situation with Sun. But she notes it is going to get more interesting now because Sun, Himawari and Cosmos walk in to see them together. Sh*t just hit the fan.

Episode 3
As the girls rip him apart, this is when Joro snaps. He tells them off that they used him for their own convenience. This makes them feel guilty. All that is left is to explain the truth. However Pansy turns up and says even if what Joro said is true, why was he encouraging a romantic relationship with her and Sun? Liar? Now that the tables are turned on him again, Sun punches him and forbids him to come near any of these girls. Just like that, Joro lost everything. Rumours spread and he becomes a bully subject. One day Pansy tells Joro to come to the library. On pretence to tell him to get her a book, shortly after Sun comes in. He looks happy talking to Pansy. That is when Pansy asks why he tricked Joro and trapped him. After talking to him for a week, she finds it strange that he should have noticed Himawari and Cosmos’ feelings due to the effort Joro put in to help them. It’s like he wanted to have bad blood with him and have his trust lost among the girls. Because Joro refused to help him when he asked for romantic help, that’s when he switched to find a way to trick him. As Joro’s contact with her wasn’t part of his plan, the reason he ‘enlisted’ Himawari and Cosmos to help out. Pansy pretended to be against Joro otherwise Sun would suspect she was on his side. She asks him again why he tricked and trapped Joro. Because he lost to him. Back in middle school, a girl asked Sun for a favour to help her get closer to Joro. He felt jealous and even told her about Joro’s true nature. Even so, she was okay with that. And of course that made him mad. Even knowing that Pansy likes Joro, Sun feels he has lost to him again. Normally it would be best for Sun if he shut up and left but he continues to brag how he wants to bring Joro down and badmouths Himawari and Cosmos trusting every word he said.

As for why Pansy likes Joro, I guess Sun hasn’t realized it. Joro’s true personality. Despite helping Himawari and Cosmos, everything he did was for Sun. Also, he wouldn’t have betrayed them just to ask Pansy to go out with Sun. And yet Sun betrayed him. So when did she first like him? Oh, that baseball thingy again. Before she went to see Sun, she saw Joro standing there at the gates waiting for him with his favourite food. Everyone who passed laughed at him. Because Joro is selfless and acts without jealousy for the sake of his friends, that is the reason she loves him. Normally it would be right for Sun to just leave. But this jerk threatens to do something to Pansy since nobody is around! I guess cue for Joro to pop out after hearing all that. Joro tells Sun off that he can say bad or laugh at them. But do not belittle their feelings because they were hopelessly desperately in love with him. Sun agrees to apologize to them but what now of Joro? He brought this upon himself so he is fine. Sun realizes he lost again to him. After the guys left, Pansy calls Himawari and Cosmos out of their hiding. In the aftermath, the bullying stopped after Sun reveals the truth to clear Joro’s name. The girls also apologize to him. At the library, Pansy reveals that Sun fell for her only because she told him her name. So the consoling was just a lie or exaggeration? Pansy will also reveal her true feelings to Joro. By stripping? Damn, without the glasses and braids, this plain girl is hot as f*ck!!!! Also she got boobs!!! Joro remembers her as that beautiful chick who talked to him while waiting for Sun after the baseball game. I guess this is more than enough reason for Joro to continue hanging out at the library. And to thank him for all his kindness, she pecks him on his cheek. That’s for being selfless. At this point, Joro must be sceptical for what he has gone through. She does look perfect on the outside, but what about the inside? Hey, why don’t you give her a chance?

Episode 4
Joro wants to be pampered too so Pansy seemingly is going to lift her skirt but actually it’s to allow him to lick her feet! Joro had to blurt out he wants her boobs but she mentions about needing to wear this ‘disguise’ for some demon is after her. Then she changes the topic and isn’t pleased why he hangs out with her too. Does he not want to reconcile with his friends? Is that why he comes here? She advises to just talk to them as he is and she is sure they will understand. Joro thinks she is speaking from experience, something she doesn’t deny outright. Back in class, he is approached by ‘journalist’, Hina “Asunaro” Hanetachi about the Flower Festival. Legend has it that if a male dances with 3 female partners one after another, he will certainly marry one of them. Joro trolls her by picking her name. Then he turns his attention to help Himawari having studying problems. But she runs away. He catches up and their silly argument eventually has them becoming friends again. They hatch a plan to challenge Sun. It is a studying challenge. Sun refuses them seeing everything that has happened. As this didn’t work, Joro just blurts out he just wants them to become friends again. Just like that, they’re back. Joro seeks Pansy’s help to join their study group but she claims there is one more… Yeah, Joro didn’t think who that final person is until he detects Cosmos’ deadly aura. Uh huh. She is sad she thought she would be next in his reconciliation spree but he never came. And she was eagerly waiting for him. Does he not care?! She practised hard with an anatomy model on how to make up with him! So Joro has to play along with her and before you know it, they’re back as good friends. Now the study group is in session, Cosmos has created 5000 maths questions for them to complete. By today! Pansy weasels her way out by teaching Himawari Japanese. I don’t know if the guys managed to finish it all but they manage to retain their sanity as they all walk home together. Joro lets us know he isn’t giving up on the girls. Yeah, he wants to make them his harem! Keep chasing your dream. It’ll come true… Eventually… Or not. And something sinister has started to move and crumble that dream because Asunaro is printing a hit piece of Joro making his move on 3 women.

Episode 5
Things are looking up for Joro and his women. Not content with his harem? Want to add more? Well, good news. Asunaro wants to speak to him privately and confess something. Oh yeah. But wait! That accursed bench! Zawa, zawa! Oh sh*t. Asunaro starts confessing… That he is a womanizer for stringing along 3 women! Oh, it’s that baseball game again that had her looking at his face. She thought it was the face of a pervert. She has printed the article but kept the 3 girls’ identity a secret. Yeah, some photo proof he is ‘flirting’ with the girls. But she is going to cut him a deal. She will follow him around until the Flower Festival and if nothing happens, she will not publish it. Otherwise on that day itself she will hand out to everybody including parents. Then fate starts testing him because Cosmos looks like she is flirting with him as she is happy Joro is the selected guy for the Flower Dance. Cosmos and Himawari are one of the 3 girls selected too. Normally Joro wanted to decline but seeing how much Cosmos is looking forward to it, oh well… Later Joro talks to his groupie about this problem. They are okay even if nasty reviews of him come about, they will not care and continue to believe in him. Because Cosmos wants Joro to accompany her so they could meet the other girl of for the Flower Festival, Kimie “Tanpopo” Kamata, Joro requests her to be strict. Yeah, this lame samurai act isn’t cutting it. The moment Tanpopo sees Joro, she freaks out. Looks like the rumours of him being a pervert isn’t totally gone yet. Thanks to this, Tanpopo opts out of the Flower Festival. Don’t worry, they just pick a new one. Uhm… Sun?! Oh sh*t. Are they trying to open up a new possibility here?! So all of them start practising for the dance but one day, a bunch of girls confront Joro for being a sleazebag. Oh my, that article is published! Cosmos tries to explain but this only makes them suspicious. How does she know unless she is one of the girls he is having an affair with? Luckily Asunaro manages to calm and rectify the situation, claiming she mixed up her article with the ones she was supposed to publish. The girls back down for now but warn Joro if it really turns true. Thanks to this, Joro is shocked that his friends want to keep their distance for the time being. Because their dance is cancelled, Asunaro feels guilty and offers to help Joro practice with the dance.

Episode 6
It has been a week. Joro feels the irony that despite reconciling with his friends, their situation is worse than before all the conflicts. Even some of the girls continue to suspect him. Only because of Asunaro by his side that this didn’t blow up further. More woes when a call from Sun saying that the PTA are arguing about this Flower Festival that it is a blasphemy to have 2 boys at the dance. It’s not tradition. Wait. Today is already the Flower Festival and they’re bringing this up now?! Sun will back down and find a replacement. With Joro asking Asunaro’s help, you bet she is more than happy to do so. Just in time because Cosmos wants to speak to her personally and not let Joro hear any of this. Eh? Something wrong? But they insist if this is in regards to the Flower Festival, he has all the right to hear about it. Okay. It’s your call. In the student council room, after Cosmos confirms Asunaro’s participation again, she then rejects her involvement and wants her to put all her effort in correcting the lies. In short, Asunaro has been deceiving Joro from the start. She had the ulterior motive to separate Joro from his friends during recess, an important time when they gather. She was also the one who spread the rumours to the first years, the reason why Tanpopo refused to further participate. Although Asunaro claims she was in her room working on the newspaper, Cosmos had further proof that despite she did not print that damning article that got accidentally circulated on that day, she actually printed it the day before. Show proof of the record? See, Asunaro’s name is not there. But that is a fake! Cosmos had the real one! It shows her name. On the day that fake article came out, Cosmos already suspected her. She went to the printing room to print out the log. Then she took a gamble. Knowing the girls will suspect her if she entered Joro’s class, this is to get Asunaro to return to the printing room and do her forgery. She hid a camera there and here’s the proof. Asunaro’s plan would have worked had she just completed her first objective to isolate Joro from his friends and be with him alone but then she got greedy and wanted to participate in the Flower Festival too. She wanted that bond with him. That’s why she was the only one who danced with him alone for the entire week.

Asunaro then admits she really loves Joro. Ever since that baseball game. He saved him from a stray baseball. More like he was just passing by and got hit. Yeah, he wanted to get a closer look at that beautiful babe’s boobs! All Asunaro wants is Joro and that she thinks he doesn’t need any other friends. After Cosmos advises her about the harsh facts of love, Asunaro tries to convince Joro she loves him. However he turns on his dark mode and tells her off. He has no romantic interests in her. Forget about him, what she did to others was unforgiveable. Do you know how much trouble she gave to Sun? Especially he had to cancel his baseball practice just for this dance. So as far as he is concerned, she can never be by his side and can f*ck off! Wow. Asunaro apologizes for all the troubles she has caused and gets out. Time to go correct those lies. But what about the Flower Festival? Cosmos knew that 2 boys wouldn’t fly from the start. That’s why she and Sun spent the last week trying to convince that girl to join. Make an intelligent guess who? After Joro dances with Himawari, next is Cosmos. She assures Asunaro will be alright since Sun is the only person who knows this awful secret. As a reward, she pecks him on his cheek. Good thing it wasn’t visible to the audience. Finally the last person to dance with him… Pansy! OMG! This hot babe so freaking stunning that the audience is scratching their heads who this hot busty chick!!! Never seen her before!!! Pansy asks Joro why he helped her to make friends and break the ice with them. That was the real reason why he had the study session in the library. It’s thanks for her help when he was in a bind. Pansy enjoys the dance and she hopes to continue being friends with all of them.

Episode 7
WTF, Joro’s mom looks middle aged but she sounds so squeaky?! Anyway, she knows her son’s plans to hang out with his friends today. How? Pansy is here! Right in his living room! Apparently she was stalking on him when mom invited her in. Oh, they’re best friends too since she recommended some favourite book. It’s a swimsuit episode with Joro’s groupie all at the indoor amusement pool. Joro is tasked to get drinks for everyone and as he queues, before him is Asaka “Sasanqua” Mayama. She is his classmate and one of the girls who mistakenly hates him due to that fake news. However he doesn’t recognize her. Then she asks him hypothetically for advice. It’s this close friend of hers who wronged a guy and wants to get back on his good side without apologizing. I think just an apology wasn’t the answer she’s looking for. Besides, isn’t she talking about herself? But with Joro still believing a sincere apology is the best because everyone makes mistakes, she’d think about it and even asks if apologizing in dyed hair is okay. Well, Joro likes neat and black hair… So Joro returns to his (unofficial) harem and now the girls are fighting over him. Woah, take it easy. One at a time. They decide to challenge each other over him. Hey, either way, Joro’s the winner, right? Himawari goes first with him on the water slide. Joro is expecting a nip slip but at the end, he is the one who loses his trunks! How the f*ck it ended on Himawari’s head?! Sun to the rescue by jumping in and protecting his modesty! So gay… Next is Cosmos riding a dolphin float. Joro expects those boobs will be touching his back but she got so deep in thinking about their future that Joro floats away alone. Don’t worry. Sun will ride with him! So gay… Finally he sits in the hotspring with Pansy. They talk about things but it seems she knows his dark secrets! Before she can even reveal the kind of porn he reads, Sun steps in! Thanks buddy. So gay… At the end of the day, which of the girl he enjoys the most? Why… It’s Sun! Because he is always there for him! Can’t deny that. Best friend > hot chicks. I’m so done with this gay sh*t… Don’t ruin this ecchi romcom, please!!! Back in school, with Asunaro publishing the truth, the group of girls who hate him now sincerely apologize to him. Yeah, he’s a good guy now. Even more shocking, Sasanqua has died her hair black and looks lovely! A sincere apology to boot! Can this get any better? Oh, doesn’t that trigger some death flag? Because soon a new student transfers in. Immediately Chiharu “Tsubaki” Youki recognizes Joro, goes up to him, gets on her knees and kisses his hand! Does he not remember her vow that she would do everything for him with all her heart without any conditions?

Episode 8
A year ago at that baseball game (here we go again), Joro was lost on how to support Sun. So happen he was at a skewer stand run by Tsubaki. She gave him some advice but she too thanked him for helping to encourage her. So now Joro freaks out at this hand kissing act and when Tsubaki finishes her introduction, only did he remember who she is. Of course this means experiencing being ostracized again but you know, he isn’t stranger to such controversies. Yup, here we go again. Because of his experience, he thinks Tsubaki is hiding her true intention. After all, such kind and convenient woman doesn’t actually exist. Hence he vows to expose her true nature. It’s hard to be devilish on the inside but putting up a nice act on the outside. In a few instances, Tsubaki seems genuine in helping him (including saving him from stepping on a banana peel) but is this all an act? She gets permission to join him with his groupie at the library. Now that Tsubaki is sharing her lunch with him, this crushes Cosmos’ plan to share hers. Eventually he still eats hers. After recess, Pansy wants to talk to Joro for a while. However it is not about Tsubaki as he thought. She points out a certain coward who wants to maintain status quo. He might think it is kindness but that is just running away. But this works fine for Pansy too. She lends him her favourite book to read. He leaves school and in town Himawari bumps into him just to bug him about her upcoming birthday. When he gets home, he realizes the borrowed book is missing. Realizing it could be during Himawari’s collision, he goes back to the spot to find. Strangely, a couple of girls offer their help to find (how they know what book?). When they do, it is all messed up. Joro is sad but the least they could do is tell him a friend of theirs sell this book but it is costly. Because of that, Joro becomes obsessed in finding a job, so much so he ignores Cosmos’ lunch once more. Tsubaki offers him to work at her family skewer restaurant since it pays well hourly and instantly Joro praises this saviour angel of his. Later Joro apologizes to Pansy and tells the truth what happened. She doesn’t mind it and prefers him to spend his lunch time with them instead of working. However he insists he needs to take responsibility and get her a new one. This old one? He’ll be holding on to it for now. Joro prepares his first day working at Tsubaki’s place.

Episode 9
Joro is getting used to his part time job but he still lacks confidence. Still thinking he is a background character? But Pansy has been sulking ever since he started working, though the rest assure things will go back to normal once Joro achieves his target. Not surprisingly, Sasanqua and her friends patron Tsubaki’s place. I think they’re hoping something would come of this but sorry girls, nothing. Things take a bad turn when Joro accidentally spills beer over a customer. Damn, he so mad but thanks to Tsubaki stepping in, nothing untoward happened. So as Joro walks home depressed, Pansy comes to talk to him. She heard from Tsubaki as she knows he is only doing this to prove himself he is worth something. He wanted to solve this by himself but it is more of self-satisfaction disguised as kindness. That is the worst kind of emotion she hates. This makes Joro even madder. What else does she want him to do? I don’t think he can just accept having her by his side is okay. And it ends with him telling her to get lost. Okay. Gee, really? So Joro puts up a fake happy face when with his friends. Otherwise, it is just so freaking obvious. So much so this guy, Yasuo “Hose” Hazuki could tell and talks to him. So just do what you do when you don’t know what to do? Yeah, great advice. And also if you really care about that person, you should also focus more on that person. Joro gets his groove back and apologizes to Pansy for taking it out on her then.

When Joro gets paid, he goes to buy the book but to his dismay, somebody bought the last copy. And then surprisingly Himawari shows up. She is that person who bought that book just for him. Despite all the excuses she gave, Joro can tell that she is lying. She has been skipping her tennis practice to find this book and used her money to buy it. She thinks he will become happy again but Joro doesn’t share the same sentiments. Eventually an argument as Joro thinks her tennis > this book. Himawari is in tears as she too mentions he lied to her and that both tennis and Joro are equally important to her. Thanks to them being childhood friends, they apologize quickly. The friends watch and support Himawari at her tennis match. She asks Joro if he has someone he likes but he maintains the same answer of none. But for Himawari, she has and to show her gratitude, she pecks him on his cheek. I guess that’s the power she needs for her to win the game. The friends celebrate at a private party at Tsubaki’s place. Pansy asks if Joro has read the book. Apparently there was a bookmark in it that has a hidden message asking if he would help her in her times of need. Well, if he is free. Good enough answer. Tsubaki believes Joro thought of himself as a background supporter role and that is why he put himself down and turned away from what’s important like the feelings of others and those who care for him. But thanks to him, everyone is together. And so Joro changes his mind set that he isn’t just a background character. Which background character is surrounded by a bevy of hot chicks (and a good friend)? So he’ll just settle to be a normal main character. That’s what they all say. He is confident he can solve any problem. And then this troublesome problem… Tanpopo asking Joro to help make Sun and Pansy a pair… Not this sh*t again!

Episode 9.5
Man, if you find it hard to follow all that has happened so far, maybe you should stop watching anime! But no fear! Don’t give up at this point! We have this saviour in the form of a recap episode to refresh your failing memories! Everything that has happened so far narrated by the one and only Joro and Tanpopo as his partner in crime. Yeah, it’s like they’re doing a director’s cut commentary with some sarcasm and jokes while they recycled the scenes of those previous episodes. Just the calm before the storm. Because next week, we will resume Joro’s disaster… Hope that little breather helps, Joro. You’ll be needing it…

Episode 10
It’s that bench again. It’s Tanpopo doing that dramatic confession troll. And as we know it, Tanpopo is seeking his help to make Sun and Pansy a pair. Oh no. That baseball game setting again, huh? Apparently she saw Sun and Pansy at the exit and was moved. Thinking they should become an item but nothing has progressed since then, that is why she needs his help to make this dream into a reality. Of course her goal is so when Sun is motivated by love, he will perform better in his games. The school will win the championship and she will become a famous manage which will lead to her becoming a famous idol. Wow. So complicated… Normally Joro isn’t interested but seeing Tanpopo leaves a sexy picture of herself and he will have more if the job is completed, you bet he is in! Also, Asunaro is in as she eavesdropped on them. She can help increase Tanpopo’s fame. Of course she too has an ulterior motive. With Pansy pairing up with Sun, Joro is all hers for the take. So the plan is to have Joro become Sun’s love rival by confessing to Pansy? Since that’s not going to work, Plan B is Tanpopo giving orders to him via earpiece and he regurgitates what she says to Pansy? Acting so bad that Pansy can even tell. Eventually the plan fails because the other girls join in and there are other guys admiring them in which they mispronounced Tanpopo’s name as some penis. Dick move?

Later, Joro makes it clear to Tanpopo that he will not confess to Pansy and that he only pretended to help her as he never had that intention to bring them together. She can’t say he lied to her because Tanpopo herself lied from the start. It seems Asunaro was also in cohorts with Joro to expose Tanpopo’s misdeeds. From what I understand, Joro sensed something wrong when she told her story from that baseball game. From her stand, she was cheering for the opposing team and not their team. She only came to this school because she fell ill and failed the entrance exam. Joro realizes her true goal is not to find Sun a girlfriend but to find Pansy a boyfriend. Another dead giveaway was how Tanpopo knew Pansy’s hidden beauty. Like as though she knew her before. With Pansy now joining the conversation, Tanpopo comes clean. She realized this was the Pansy she knew in middle school during the Flower Dance since Pansy didn’t disguise herself as a plain Jane then. Pansy dismisses she is in love with Sun. It is Joro. As for why she did all this, before the truth can be revealed, Tanpopo runs away with guilt. Since Pansy also refuses to say because she has unpleasant memories of people saying things to her, I guess it’s a mystery for now. Pansy then confiscates that sexy Tanpopo picture. In exchange, she trades it with a hot picture of herself. I think this upgrade is so much better. Meanwhile Cosmos is pleading to the teacher but he shoots her down that the decision made is final: The school library will close.

Episode 11
Pansy trolling Joro (and us) that she wants to give herself to him. Actually, it’s just a dance. Joro gets disappointed but spots an earpiece. He realizes she is in cohorts with Tanpopo who still hasn’t given up in hooking her up. When spotted, panicky Tanpopo runs away. But now for something serious. Cosmos tells her groupie about the closure of the library due to the lack of people using it. The friends decide to bring their other friends to use it to help prevent its shutdown. Of course, only Joro who has no friends can’t help much. On the way home, he bumps into Hose. After telling him his problem, Hose agrees to help because he also faced this situation before. Next day when they meet up at school, it seems Hose has also brought a couple of girls along to help. Joro recognizes them as they are the ones who helped find that borrowed book. And when brought to the library, instantly you can see the panic in Pansy’s face. From the looks of it, they could be ex-lovers. Hose introduces himself and his girls, Momo “Cherry” Sakuraba and Runa “Tsukimi” Kusami. Joro is worried because Hose reeks of everything main character and he is very reliable! You bet he is worried about his own status in this anime! With Pansy huddling close to Joro, Cherry and Tsukimi can tell so later they ask Joro if he likes Pansy. He denies he is. When the day is over, Cherry and Tsukimi try to set Hose to walk home with Pansy, something she is not so keen about. Asunaro could also read the situation and hence usurps the request and would walk her home.

Subsequently, Cherry and Tsukimi talk to Joro, Cosmos and Himawari. They admit they are both in love with Hose but he is in love with Pansy. As both love Hose and feel that something bad would happen if they both love him at the same time, that’s why they decided to stay as friends. This leads to them prioritizing Hose’s feelings. That’s why they seek their help to make Hose and Pansy an item. But how does Pansy feel about this? That’s why they asked Joro if he likes Pansy. Because Pansy likes him but he doesn’t reciprocate her love. Joro feels something is off and apologizes he can’t help them. Cosmos and Himawari too. Next day at school, Joro confronts Pansy as he wants to know the whole truth. You see, she views Hose as a demon. Part of that reason she adopted this plain looks and transferred to this school. Back in middle school, she was a very popular person. Many had evil intentions on her. Only Hose was indifferent and helped her. While she is grateful, she didn’t want to be with him. She views Hose having a major flaw: He doesn’t understand the other side of people’s feelings. His good intentions harm others. While everything works out well for him, his righteousness stifles others (like how Cherry and Tsukimi suppress their feelings for him). Pansy felt trapped in his world when he fell for her. Even more so he isn’t aware of what he was doing to those girls who lied to themselves just to be with him. Something she couldn’t forgive. When Hose confessed to her and she declined, he continued to protect her and resisted his own feelings. Now that Joro has put all the puzzle pieces together, he gets final confirmation from Pansy that she doesn’t want to be with Hose. He promises to do something about it.

Episode 12
The library is saved from being closed down. Though, the problem of Cherry and Tsukimi still trying to set up Hose with Pansy still persists. Nobody has the chance to intervene until Sun… Joro confronts Tanpopo and learns the truth why she wanted to set up Pansy with a guy. She is in love with Hose. So now you see the bigger picture? Since she isn’t giving up on him, she is counting on him to be Pansy’s boyfriend. Next time he meets Pansy, it seems she drops a shocker: She has agreed to date Sun! This is of course if his baseball team wins the Nationals. Pansy sounds harsh when she calls Joro for being useless and not doing anything and banishes him from the library for the time being. Later he confronts Sun and thinks this is all part of his act and plan. But Sun reveals his true nature that this is for real. The reason he remained his best friend and acted like one after his first rejection was to continue to get on Pansy’s good side. Now the time has come and it is Joro’s turn to play his best friend. He has done what he can, now it is his turn. Joro sinks into depression but thanks to Tsubaki overhearing all that, she hints to him to think deeper into what Sun and Pansy’s words meant. You don’t think Hose is going to back down without a fight, right? At first Joro understood the hidden meaning but has no confidence in seeing it through but realizes he still needs to do what he needs to do. If that’s not enough motivation, Sasanqua for the first time sums up her courage to talk to him and even tells him to act like his usual self. Those tears in her eyes must be the clincher. You bet Joro can do what he wants to do. So first, he confronts Sun and tells him he can’t support him for his game. There is something more important than a best friend. Sun is relieved with his answer.

Hose now blurts out he still loves Pansy and wants to date her. Even if she had agreed to date Sun, that is only if his team wins. If he doesn’t, please consider him, okay? Cherry and Tsukimi try to pressure Pansy for an answer but thank goodness our main character steps in at the right time. He is now in his b*tch mode as he talks about the women’s privilege that Pansy has: Selfishly indulging herself in manipulating him. Then he throws Hose a challenge. As his friend, he agrees to it. But this challenge also comes with a penalty. The loser must stay away from Pansy and cannot talk to her anymore! Cherry and Tsukimi try to intervene but with Pansy wanting to hear out more on Joro, he gets to stay dominant. This is his chance to crush Hose once and for all. Hose tries to back out and do some diplomacy but Joro won’t let him. Hence Joro lets his true intentions out that he can’t let him have Pansy. Is that his declaration of love? Joro continues to explain the rules of the challenge. Each girl will receive a hairclip. They will give it to the guy whom they think Pansy is worth being with. It will take place at the baseball finals and because there are 6 of them, there is a possibility of a tie. Hence another rule is that if Sun’s team wins, Joro gets an additional vote. Otherwise, Hose gets it. What do you say? Cherry and Tsukimi cry foul because the odds are stacked against them. Because definitely, Pansy, Cosmos, Himawari and Asunaro are going to vote for Joro, right? Damn right Joro has manipulated this! Heh. His win is surely in the bag. So much so he thinks he is going to win right now when Cosmos, Himawari and Asunaro want to give their votes now. Alright, here it is… Eh… THEY GIVE THEM TO HOSE!!! WTF???!!! Because they view Pansy as their love rival, hence they are doing this so they have a better chance to end up with Joro! Yup, their love declaration to him. OMG! THIS BACKFIRED!!! JORO IS IN SH*T!!! But Joro isn’t going to give up yet. And so is Hose. And hence spewing crappy and cheesy main character lines… Screw this romcom!!!

Love’s For Fools Wise Enough To Take A Chance
OMG! Why the f*ck it just ended on a cliff-hanger???!!! They sure trolled us good. Because it was announced that there is going to be an additional episode released in summer of 2020 and this episode will finally give a closure to what happened for this season. You mean we have to be patient and wait a couple of seasons just to find out who ends up with Pansy? Well, I think we already know the answer but since the chances aren’t zero, they still can surprise us and f*ck us in the back. Don’t laugh. Joro is your typical main character who already got that kind of treatment. This means the same will be done to us as typical romcom anime viewers. We’re all in the same boat, damn it!

The storyline is pretty much okay and standard. How far can you go when you story is of the romcom harem genre? The plot of having characters loving this character and that feels cliché and tried and tested throughout the history of this genre. It brings nothing new to the plate and it all boils down to how well the story and the characters are presented. For this series, it is a mixed baggage. I don’t find any of the mini arcs to be that boring and in fact that I enjoyed most of what I watched (like the twists in the plot especially the final episode scene that Joro’s fool proof plan eventually screwed him in the ass – he didn’t really think that one out thoroughly, huh?), although this doesn’t mean I love the series so much that it would be in the top tier of my all-time favourite romcom harem genre list.

I mean, it was pretty fun and funny at first seeing Joro’s character being played around until he literally snaps. Then once the drama of main harem is literally over, we have the rest of the lesser girls in the unofficial harem that plays out to somewhat a similar formula. You know, trying to get his attention or make him help out help somebody get together. The most mind boggling one which I find it hard to follow (perhaps because of my puny brain) is the final arc when Hose finally gets some decent screen time. So let me get this straight, Hose isn’t actually a bad guy. I mean, a real demonic character whose personality makes him sound like he is Hitler reborn, right? So he’s just a good guy but Pansy just can’t find herself to return his love. While this kind of complication isn’t anything new in relationships, at this point you’ve got to realize that there is no 100% fool proof solution to any kind of relationship. As such, there will always be winners, there will always be losers. You can’t have everything. No happy endings for everybody. If you try to satisfy everybody, it ends up nobody is happy. So I don’t get why Pansy who doesn’t like Hose, can’t she just say no and move on? I mean, she’s fine doing all sorts of cool stuffs and lessons towards Joro but not for Hose? Yeah, she says he is a demon but she also paints him like a saint. So which is which? I’m so confused. Because his good intentions are bad for others? I think something is off here. And there is something that I’m not seeing clearly either. It’s all about perspective on how you frame it so there might be more to this than meets the eye. Hence this love rivalry over Pansy has been blown out of proportion if you think about it. Oh well, for once it feels different to have guys fighting over a girl. Bring out all your best steps. May the best (main) character win.

The characters, I guess you can say they’re pretty okay but Joro as the main character, you either love him or hate him. He is one of those main characters who is weak and gets walked over by everybody else. Sure, there are times when he snapped but eventually, Joro is just being Joro. Many of the jokes come from him and sometimes breaking the fourth wall, especially about him becoming the main character. He ramps up all that funny drama with his over-exaggerating expressions. Cue to laugh. This is why all these bad stuffs happen to him. We just love to see his exaggerated reaction and sarcasm, right? Oh yeah, you bet that bench is going to be the benchmark and running joke, the harbinger of something ominous that will lead Joro into the next mess. You wonder if God put it there because it has this penchant to just pop up anywhere! Scary! Don’t even get me started with that baseball match! Yeah, that running joke has been done to death! Still funny, though. It’s like saying everyone involved with this mess went to watch that baseball match. Fate? Coincidence? Nah, just your twisted running joke. With the series already breaking the fourth wall at times, if you are sharp enough and have tons and years of anime viewing experience, you can spot some of the trivia littered across the series. Like when Joro’s facial expression becomes of that of the Kaiji character. Or that mini TV show that pays homage to Kikuko Inoue’s eternally 17 age. And of course, Joro has not many friends, hence Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai. Geddit?

You might have also guessed that all the characters’ nicknames are based on flowers. The girls, that is. I didn’t really realize this only after halfway because I thought that some like Cosmos and Asunaro aren’t flowers. Heck, I didn’t know they were types of flowers until I decided to Google them. Wow. Those really exist? Amazing how you can just learn a little more with the power of the internet. With the girls named after flowers, the guys are the ‘tools’ that nurture them. I didn’t think much of Joro’s name at first because I thought it was some reference to being a gigolo (that’s just me making that up) but eventually I found out his nickname meant water can. I only realized this when Hose came into the picture because like that metaphor, a water hose is definitely more superior to a water can, right? And you have the sun, yes, Sun to give out its light radiation and providing them with energy to grow.

As for the other characters, I think Pansy is the only girl who is interesting. Being quite an observant character, I like how she has a way in giving Joro advice. Mostly in a subtle, cool and calm manner and not obvious in-your-face. It took me a while to understand what she is saying since she is quite the intellect. Everything she said is not red herring and there is some meaning to all those words. You just need the right thinking to connect the dots. Of course, she is not perfect and has her own troubled past. It is indeed strange sometimes that you can help others a lot but can’t for your own predicament. Maybe it just goes to show that you need somebody to lean on? No man is an island. It takes two to tango. You get the picture. So it’s like this cool and capable beauty suddenly becomes incapable in the presence of Hose. It’s like he is her Kryptonite or something.

The other girls in the harem, they don’t really stand out well. Especially lively spunky Himawari and cool beauty Cosmos who are part of the main harem trio, I don’t see them doing anything impactful after their dramas and parts were played out and solved early in the series. It’s like they’ve become a bit like secondary characters and down the pecking order since well, they’ve changed the person they like. Obviously the main character, no? Sometimes you wonder why a harem has only a few girls. Adding more for the sake of numbers doesn’t mean making it more exciting. Because you know, screen time. You wonder why Tsubaki is even relevant. She claims to be somebody who would do anything for Joro. Joro claims to expose her. What happened to that? It all died down. She somehow becomes part of the groupie. The end. Sasanqua is forever relegated to be the tsundere that would never be officially part of the group as long as she doesn’t muster her courage to even do the minimum. Thanks to her ‘encouraging’ friends, I guess it finally paid off. May not be much but at least, it’s a start. Asunaro trying to clean up her act and rebuild her reputation again so she’s just playing the supporting role. Bratty Tanpopo just wants to hook up Pansy. Adding more to this already ‘bloated’ harem might be detrimental to everything in the series. Hence I am predicting that these extra girls won’t be as redundant as I said they are and will be the extra votes that will overturn Hose’s lead. Uh huh. You’re wondering why the initial 6 only has the rights to vote. Don’t forget, Joro’s harem stretches way beyond that! Hah! I’m already doing spoilers here!

Don’t forget about Sun. The irony how a plain normal looking guy like Joro is the main character while his good looking friend who excels in baseball plays the supporting role. Even when he threatens to become the main character and usurp Joro, I feel all that is just acting because it wouldn’t be so convincing had he not played the part. Sun will always be the main character’s best friend and reversing the role is more for the plot twist. Heh. Sometimes I feel that there is this twisted running joke that Sun is the person whom Joro would most likely end up with! Considering how the girls are somewhat ‘demanding’ and the ones who mainly screw Joro and give him trouble, the only person whom he can only always rely on is his best friend. Yup, I fear that there may be a secret hidden ending whereby Joro gives up on his female harem and goes with the gay route ending. That would be the ultimate shocker. Sometimes true happiness is found in places where you least expected. Hopefully not for this one… Please…

When Hose first appeared, something tells me he would become Joro’s rival. Yeah, he could really well usurp Joro’s role as the main character! It could happen. If they really want to shock us with some plot twist! Well, this guy got his own mini harem if you look at it in another light, whether he realizes it or not. This guy is so nice that it sends my sceptical senses ringing that if it is all just an act. You know, like what Joro quoted from a famous saying, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. If he is truly the nice guy he is, then it’s like what a said a few paragraphs above, then good for him. If not, well, you can predict that true love will save the day. Goes to show that in every story, you can’t have more than one main character. Even if there is a group of main characters, there is one who would be that chosen one main character.

Art and animation feel pretty standard. Nothing to complain about. But I keep thinking that because of the hair colour tone of Cherry and Tsukimi, it feels like they are this series’ Rem and Ram of Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu! Also, ever since Sasanqua dyed her hair black, I don’t know, I just somehow find her to be looking fake. Like as though she feels more original with her initial pink twintail style. There are also a few fanservice scenes considering what kind of target audience this genre is aiming for. Now you know why the girls are so cute and hot. And why Pansy’s main form is her plain braided spectacle disguise so that we don’t get a boner each time she pops up. This anime is done by Connect who did Senryuu Shoujo and Strike The Blood III. It’s one of those few series they went solo instead of pairing up with Silver Link to do series like Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism, Bonjour Koiaji Patisserie, Strike The Blood I & II and Death March Kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukokyu.

While I have no qualms with the voice acting overall, however there is one that bugged me. It is Yukari Tamura as Joro’s mom! While it is good to hear he trademark squeaky voice after a long time, the problem is that I find her voice to be not suitable to her character. It’s just so weird. A typical mom character having this high pitched squeaky voice? I’m not saying that Yukari Tamura is bad. I still love her voice and even more so these days since she is as rare as other veteran seiyuus I recognized who aren’t making much appearances in animes recently. But to match her voice to Joro’s mom… Something really feels off… It just doesn’t fit her character. That’s all. The other recognizable seiyuus are Jun Fukuyama as Hose and Haruka Tomatsu as Pansy. The latter whom I almost barely didn’t recognize since she was so soft spoken, even more so than Sword Art Online’s Asuna.

For the rest of the other casts, they include Daiki Yamashita as Joro (Midoriya in Boku No Hero Academia), Haruka Shiraishi as Himawari (Asirpa in Golden Kamuy), Sachika Misawa as Cosmos (Sakuyo in Mahou Shoujo Ore), Nao Touyama as Tsubaki (Chitoge in Nisekoi), Shiori Mikami as Asunaro (Historia in Shingeki No Kyojin), Yuuma Uchida as Sun (Ash in Banana Fish), Iori Saeki as Tanpopo (Maiko in Hachigatsu No Cinderella Nine), Shuka Saitou as Sasanqua (You in Love Live! Sunshine), Risa Taneda as Cherry (Yukina in Strike The Blood) and Konomi Kohara as Tsukimi (Chika in Kaguya-sama Wa Kokurasetai). The opening is Papapa by Shuka Saitou. Pretty catchy as the opener sounds a bit like scatting with a funky bass line. The ending theme is sung by the trio of Pansy, Himawari and Cosmos, Hanakotoba. Plays to a slower pace than the opener. Not that bad but not that catchy either.

Overall, even though with all the clichés and similar formulas that have been done to death in many others past titles, I still enjoyed this series. It’s funny and entertaining in its own right. Shows you how love is like a double edged sword, it can make your life better as well as screw it up. Not the most memorable series in the long run and most likely would be forgotten after a few seasons down (until I decide to look back at the year and do some nostalgic reviewing). But you know me. This kind of genre has been through a lot throughout the years. For better or worse, I will still continue to watch shows in this category for many years to come, as long as I live. Because eventually this kind of romcom harem genre is the one I will always love :-).

Watashi Nouryoku Wa Heikinchi De Itta Yo Ne

Oh my. You mean this is not just another typical isekai anime? Are you sure about that? What makes it so different? Unlike all other main characters who die and get reborn in another world, they somewhat become overpowered. But for our main character in Watashi Nouryoku Wa Heikinchi De Itta Yo Ne, in fact the main character doesn’t want to be overpowered and wants to be just your normal character. An average Joe. A plain Jane. As hinted in the title even. That’s it. Wow. So noble. I can’t believe any character would want to forgo having great powers when they are reborn. Oh my. Really much more different than other isekai shows around. Oh wait… What’s this? But that’s just her wish of wanting to stay normal. She is still indeed an overpowered character with a myriad of talents and abilities. Sighs… And I thought there was hope this would be different. How’d I wish more animes to be normal in the next season…

Episode 1
Mile just arrived in the capital and registers herself to stay at an inn. Lenny hopes she can be a famous Hunter so the inn will get more business but Mile just wants to be an average Hunter. She strolls around town and meets Mavis the androgynous female knight, Reina the tsundere mage and busty Pauline the healer-cum-merchant. Back at the inn, Lenny warns about kids going out alone because there seems to be cases of them being kidnapped. In her room, Mile has a familiar named Nano who is actually some nanomachine that normal humans can’t see. Mile reveals this is just her alias and her real name is Adele von Ascham of the Brandel Kingdom. However she has another true identity and that is Misato Kurihara. Back in her original world, she always stood out. Because of that she has no friends. One day she saved a child while crossing a road and got killed. So before she got reincarnated to this fantasy world, she asked God to make all her abilities average. It has been 12 years and she has yet to find her regular happiness. When Lenny goes missing, Mile goes to look for her. Right after entering the alley, bad guys try to kidnap her but is saved by Mavis. But Mile is able to put sleeping magic on them and interrogate them. Outside the base where kidnapped kids are supposedly held, more ruffians show up but this time Reina comes to their aid. Inside the room they find Pauline with other kids. Why is Pauline kidnapped too? Apparently she saw a kidnapping in progress and told the ruffians she would like to look after them. And they let her! However Lenny is not among them. Then they go face off with the boss, Arelady who is behind the kidnappings. She has got strong henchmen so Mavis and Reina can’t do much. Arelady reveals her intention is to have a loli harem. Yup. Lolicon. Because she praises Mile as the best type, Mile feels offended because she was just making a reference to her flat boobs. Really flat… Mile is so mad that she powers up and blows away everything! I think the mountain is partially destroyed too! If she is just average, why is she so powerful? Nano explains that the strongest creature here is a dragon. So taking half or the average of its power, it still really packs a punch. Hence Mile is still overpowered. Make 6800 times more powerful than the average!!! Hey, at least it isn’t over 9000! Oh, Lenny just went for a side trip and returned home late. Mile leaves for her Hunter prep school. Guess who are her dorm mates? Mavis, Reina and Pauline?! What are the damn chances?!

Episode 2
Mile tries to hide her real identity but this only makes the rest suspicious and want to know more about her. During training, Mile tries to not stand out. However the warrior she fights mocks her ‘washboard’. That sends her into a flying rage and knocks him out with 1 hit! During the magic stint, Mile also tries to be average but apparently Reina gets mad because she wants to know how she copied her original fireball after watching just once! Pauline then catches her creating some nendroid figurine and singing a song. How will she weasel her way out? Secret family technique! Mile is invited to tea but it looks more like an interrogation by the rest. I don’t think that secret family technique is going to cut it now. She even tries lying but too bad everyone has read that best seller story. Eventually Pauline understands that there are some things of the past that some don’t like to speak of. Remember, they’re here just to get better acquainted. The next training stint has them choosing a quest and succeeding it. The usual quartet will be hunting for horned rabbits. Sounds easy but hard to find and catch them. Normally Mile can finish it all by herself. But in order not to stand out, she trains the rest to become stronger so that they would stand out more than her. Because Mile accidentally breaks Mavis’ sword during training, Mavis is impressed and wants to be trained more. I don’t know what the heck this exaggerated training for Mavis is. Like as though she took it straight out from some kung fu training flick. Eventually they all get better and Mile even manages to ‘repair’ Mavis’ sword. Hunting the horned rabbits is now easy. However, rock golems appear and attack them. Mavis, Reina and Pauline manage to cooperate and take them all down. Must be the fruits of their training. Mile? She just stood there and admired the golems… In the end, only their party succeeded in the quest. Mile realizes this only makes them stand out but on the bright side, she made new friends. Meanwhile Arelady and her goons just got released from prison. She knows where to find Mile and is gunning for revenge.

Episode 3
Mile tells the girls folklores from Japan. They are so interested that they want more. I guess she has to breach into the manga and chuunibyou stories now… Yeah, such awesome stories! 6 months down the road, looks like it will soon be graduation. The quartet are summoned by the principal. It looks like he wants them to represent their school for the mock battle for the ceremony. He also wants them to win against B-rank Hunters. Otherwise their school is forced to close down. At the arena, Mile stumbles into Arelady. Because she is a noble, she can get away with things using her status. It is also her who threatened closing down the prep school. She doesn’t mind changing the condition for Mile to be all hers. Mile accepts it since the school will be saved in exchange for her. But can they get straight wins against Arelady’s B-rank Hunter goons? Mavis goes up against the cocky swordsman. You don’t know who much she has improved as she beats him before she even warms up! Next is Pauline and she doesn’t like her mage opponent insulting her friends. Despite Pauline taking a direct hit, she can easily heal all wounds. Pauline can go on like this and even threatens to smack her with her staff. Opponent immediately surrenders! Wow. Next is Reina against the old geezer mage. He fires his hellfire enough to kill her but Reina has also mastered some ice power to nullify it. She is about to return the same hellfire but old fart is scared to die and surrenders! Wow. Finally it is Mile’s turn. Before the match could start, her opponent runs away!!! WTF?! Default win? Arelady jumps in to fight her instead. However she praises Mile’s flat chest and this taboo word sends Mile going all out at full force against her. A-rank hunter like her having trouble with this kid? Mile then shoots a devastating blast that would have killed her and the audience but she manages to change its direction towards the sky. Wow. Nice fireworks. Arelady is so scared that not only she gives up but confesses to all her wrongdoings! Wow. Yeah, she’s ready to go to prison! Wow! With their success, great Hunters try to recruit them individually. However they reject because of their promise to each other to form a party. Yup, they’ve got an embarrassing pose and special effects to go with. Herald Crimson Vow! They get even more famous with Pauline selling little dolls of them. It’s selling like hot cakes! Wait. There’s even more. They’re so famous that people are rushing to get their autograph! Aren’t they standing out too much this way?

Episode 4
Crimson Vow has got themselves a very cheap inn as their base. Because they’re somewhat insulting the dirt cheap price they’ve got, they get scolded by Lenny. Here she was helping them out with lodging since they got no money and is this the thanks she gets?! We’re sorry… Also, Lenny puts them to good use by working as maids in her bar. Crimson Vow tries to take up some quests and thought this lizard hunting would be a good start. Nobody told them the lizards would be huge! After running around enough, Mile uses her tokusatsu improvisation to kill it. Yeah, secret family technique… When they try to claim their prize from the merchant, he tries to cheat them and pay a lower pay out, claiming it is damaged. However Pauline is smart and she decides not to sell it to him. After all, they’ve caught a bunch of them too. The merchant is left to rue his breach of contract because Crimson Vow sells it to their guild and got it at market price value while the merchant’s reputation dwindles. They continue to take up more quests until Reina suggests they pick up harder ones so they can level up to A-rank Hunters. That job would be escorting merchants since recently they have been ambushed by bandits. While taking a break, Mile’s timely scan has her protect the troupe in time from attacking bandits. As usual, they underestimate Crimson Vow as a bunch of young girls so it’s no surprise they get their ass kicked. But the bandits have a trump card as they use a mage to summon a robot golem. When Mile seems to take direct lethal hit, this activates Reina’s trauma because this scene reminded her of how her dad died. She becomes enraged as she tries to burn the golem but to no avail. Good news, Mile is still alive so she gets back up and destroys the golem with more of her, uhm, secret family technique. The defeated bandit boss notes how he wanted to sell the girls at a high price. Once more this invokes Reina’s trauma because someone similar said that. Enraged Reina is about to burn and kill him only to be restrained by the other girls. They wonder if she’s gone mad but Reina is not amused. The previous dude who said that, yeah she roasted them alive. Then Reina throws them a hard question: Have they ever killed anyone before?

Episode 5
Reina tells of her past. She doesn’t know her mom but had a happy life with her merchant dad. One day merchants ambushed their wagon and not satisfied with their loot, they decide to take Reina and sell her off. Her father pleaded for mercy but was killed. It awakened some magic in her but luckily a group of Hunters, Crimson Lightning came to her rescue. Pitying her state, they take her in and Reina learnt magic under the guidance of August. She even gave Reina her choker that was from her late mom. One day as they were hired by a merchant for an escort, a large number of bandits overwhelmed them. The merchant sold them out and wanted to sell Reina too. Hence the bandits killed all the Crimson Lightning members and that was when Reina’s powers start to really awakened. She burnt all those responsible to death. Even with this tragic tale of hers, the rest cannot agree on her principle to kill because that might be her principle alone and it does not mean the principle of the entire group. Reina thinks the rest never had their family stolen from them so Pauline tells her story. Born into an average merchant family, one day a thief killed her father. While grieving, a merchant rival claimed her father left a deed to transfer all his property to his. Then he pestered her mom to be his mistress. And soon mom gave in. That was when Pauline decided to fulfil dad’s role as a merchant. Now it’s Mavis’ turn. Born into a count family, her father and brothers love her very much. But they wouldn’t let her be a knight. Hence she ran away so that she could prove herself as a Hunter. That’s it. And now for the main show. Mile, you ready to tell yours? Here goes.

She reveals the truth about her noble life as Adele. Her mom and grandpa died but she knew it was her dad who orchestrated their murder. Right after the funeral, he brought a new wife and step daughter to live with them. Mile was reduced to a life like Cinderella before finally being kicked out. She enrolled in a normal school and her magic abilities were exceptional as well as a few boys liked her. She even managed to summon Nano but because she had no form, she had it look like a certain Pokemon character. Now you know why Nano looks so familiar… One day this well-bred girl, Marcela confronted her to give her a piece of her mind about being a stuck up noble (or so she thinks). However she saw in her closet are plain clothes and her snack is a bone that is supposed to be for a cat?! A cat eats that kind of bone?! Man, must be a poor cat… Furthermore, Mile must not use or speak of her noble family or even come back for fear dad will kill her just like mom and grandpa! Because of that Marcela took pity and they become BFF. Ah, the normal life. A year or so later, when the third princess of the realm, Morena was passing by, a boy accidentally fell into her path. The guards take no chances and were going to kill him so Mile instinctively went to protect him with her barrier. Thinking she is the devil, Mile thought of an idea as she plays the goddess and scares everyone. Now that everyone is bowing before her, she hopes they can keep quiet about this. Unfortunately these people don’t know what divine retribution is and hence her manifestation reached all the way to the king. Because of that she had to leave her school and her friends behind and started her new life as a Hunter. Despite everyone having their own past, they are assured that they will get by with their unbreakable bonds.

Episode 6
Arriving in the merchant city of Amroth which is under the Kingdom of Tils, the merchant introduces to the girls his cute granddaughter, Anne. With their mission over, of course Crimson Vow has to return to the capital but Mile is hoping for some sightseeing tour. However, grandpa has an urgent trade coming up so he can’t guide them around. Mile won’t give up so Crimson Vow have their own tour of Amroth. Sometime later, they get word that bandits have ambushed their group of merchants. There is only a survivor and he is brutally injured as he tells how the bandits mercilessly slaughtered everyone. Oh dear. Isn’t Anne’s grandpa in that group? There is nothing Crimson Vow can do but Reina is fuelled with rage inside. That is why that night she ventures out to the woods alone. She spots grandpa’s token that Anne gave earlier on and she is even more enraged. Then as the plot convenience would have it, she overheard the group of bandits talking about their plans. She confronts and attacks them but is clearly not powerful enough. I guess you can’t fight hatred with hatred. Luckily her comrades are here to fight back long enough so they could escape. As they rest, Reina runs her mouth trying to justify what she did. Shockingly or not, Mile slaps her. She understands she is sad for not wanting a repeat of history of others losing their family. But if she herself loses her life, don’t you think it is the same and her friends will be sad too? Reconciliation on hold because the bandits have surrounded them. From their organized manner and weapons, they can tell they aren’t merely bandits but soldiers. I guess they are so spot on that the leader eventually admits they are elite soldiers from the neighbouring Albarn Empire and their goal is to disrupt trade between both nations. Part of the slaughter of innocent people is to make it look convincing. And so both sides attack but you know, our girls are somewhat better because plot convenience. Yeah, how can elite soldiers lose to them?! Eventually the leader dares Reina to kill him because he won’t live in shame. She seemingly looks the part to burn him alive but it is just to scare the sh*t out of him. With the bandits captured, suddenly Anne’s grandpa returns! How is he alive? He was taking a piss in the bushes during the ambush. He thought of fighting back but remembers Anne. Can’t die. Ah, happy ending after all. With more than enough sightseeing, Crimson Vow returns to the capital.

Episode 7
With Crimson Vow working hard, they agree to take a break tomorrow. So we see next morning, Pauline doing her bookkeeping and Mavis having a nice coffee at a local café. Since Reina never said where she was going, they thought she wants to be alone after that last incident. Actually, she is shopping for girly stuffs. This is her hobby and she can’t let the rest find out. Well, Lenny just did. Luckily she will not tell on her but she hopes Reina can advise her on some fashion tips. Mile must be bored to death since this world doesn’t have TV, games, internet, manga, etc. So she tries to practice this jumping dogeza. Later she suggests to her friends they should go bath in the sea. I guess this is an alien concept to them so Mile has to explain what it is. With that, Mile wants to take their measurements to buy the correct swimsuit sizes. Since they’re all girls, I suppose they sheepishly agree to her demands. At the beach, Mile introduces to them all the beach amenities that she has come prepared with. Giving them their swimsuits, they feel reluctant to put it on since it shows too much skin. So this is where her jumping dogeza comes into handy? Since she put in a lot of effort, I guess no harm. Win-win situation for us because we get to see them in cute swimsuits! But what’s this? Mile suddenly has boobs?! Reina feels betrayed! Actually Mile ‘cheated’ as she padded her bra. Crimson Vow has fun in the sun and sand. And as they relax on their beach chair, a crowd suddenly gathers. They start staring at them because with curiosity since it is not normal for girls to be semi-naked in public. It is then the girls start to panic in embarrassment. At the end of the day, Mile feels ashamed for not knowing this as Reina continues to blame her for this huge slipup embarrassment. As they make their way back, Pauline notices a soldier monitoring them. Once Reina has done admonishing Mile, they realize Pauline is nowhere to be seen.

Episode 8
The girls wonder where Pauline could be when Mavis receives a letter from her family. What’s this about her younger brother getting married to Pauline?! Speaking of her, she has been taken back to her hometown whereby her evil stepfather is in cohorts with viscount Boardman to marry her off to one of Count Austien’s son. They intend to make use of her merchant skills, the only reason they let her go to a Hunter school. Pauline can’t do anything since her mom and brother are held hostage. When Austien arrives, he talks privately to Pauline. It seems he knows she is from Crimson Vow and hence his daughter, Mavis is part of the group. He still doesn’t approve her to be a knight and hence this is a warning. The Crimson Vow trio arrive in town. So bad that some men want to rape them? Of course after kicking their ass and getting info out of them, they decide to infiltrate. As not to expose their identities, they become masked heroines! Seriously?! Immediately the alarm is sound. But you know, they easily kick ass. Meanwhile Pauline realizes the commotion outside and with no guards stationed inside the mansion, this is the perfect chance for her to rebel against Boardman and her stepdad. With Crimson Vow as well as Austien arriving, Pauline explains these bad people forged documents to commit injustice in this town including hiring thieves to kill her father. Of course they call it BS. Austien has them face a duel. It is without a doubt that Pauline owns them with her magic and the duo are arrested. Austien reveals he knows their evil deeds and was just waiting for the right time to bring justice. He is lucky this incident is coincidental although his intentions lie elsewhere. He calls out to Mavis and is still against her being a knight. Yeah, he sees through your silly mask. Since she is still bent on being a knight, he has his guards fight her. Instantly she defeats them. Not the same Mavis you know. She then thanks Mile as her master. Austien wants to fight and test her. At first it looks like Mile is just running away. But once she throws away her stupid obstructing mask, she turns into Superman! Or Superwoman! Austien is driven to a corner as he reveals his intentions of bringing up Mavis as a woman so that she could live happily as a woman in society. Austien loses and has to honour his word. Mavis thanks her father and vows to become a better knight than him. Yeah, Austien leaves Mavis’ care in the hands of Mile. When they leave town the next day, Austien is seen crying and chasing after the carriage! Mavis come back! No wonder she wants the driver to go faster! Pauline feels the company will be safe in mom and brother’s hands. They might be away from their real family but their current family is now Crimson Vow.

Episode 9
Maid service in full swing! Damn, these girls so good they should give up being Hunters and being maids! With Lenny laughing all the way to the back, Crimson Vow isn’t happy but they can’t complain. Because in exchange for cheap rents, they have to do this. Hence they think of earning some big money with this wyvern hunting. However they are warned to give up because nobody has succeeded in this. Even pro heroes. You see, the wyvern is smart and when faced with a stronger foe, it runs away. Its territory is wide and finding its den is tough. Also, it remembers faces. Yeah, you get only 1 shot. Even so, Crimson Vow wants to take this quest. The money is too good to pass up. They first use a cow as bait but the wyvern is smart and start dropping stuffs like logs or rocks. Since it is out of their magic range, Mile has this weird idea of tossing Reina as a missile! Failed. Pauline is next but with her being scared, Mavis volunteers. Up and away she goes! Also failed. Your turn Pauline. Oh, she’s missing… Went to find Reina and Mavis… When all gather again, this time Pauline agrees to be tossed. However she passed out in mid-air so Mile had to cover her in some hard barrier. Somehow the wyvern didn’t dodge and got hit. Both fall. The wyvern is injured and cannot fly but is still dangerous with its sonic wave. Mile then uses some nano carbon whatever net. Now it’s payback time. However this old geezer, Booneclift tells them to hold their horses. He was this wyvern’s master. Flashback time. When he was young, he found an injured ‘lizard’ and brought it home to nurse. Of course when it grew up to be a wyvern, his parents forbade him from keeping him and hence a tearful goodbye. I don’t know what has happened in between all these years but looks like Booneclift wants to be its master again. WTF Mile getting into an argument with the wyvern’s name?! For the last time, it’s Lobreth! However the villagers are still unhappy since many of their livestock were stolen. Don’t worry. Booneclift handsomely pays them off! All forgiven. Of course he also compensates the girls. Is he a rich dude? Well, he is a royal mage! With the money, Crimson Vow proceeds to the next phase of their plan. They tell Lenny they’re moving out! Lenny panicking. She tries to trick them into staying but it’s not going to happen. Lesson to be learnt, never ‘mistreat’ your paying customers! With the money, they build a bath in which they could all enjoy. Lenny is invited to join in and Mile and Reina realize they ultimately ‘lost’ because loli Lenny has boobs!!!

Episode 10
Everybody celebrates Lenny’s birthday. This has Mile remember Marcela and her friends threw her a birthday party back at school. Somehow hearing this story makes Reina jealous. Thinking of an occasion to celebrate, Pauline remembers their 200th day anniversary of Crimson Vow is coming up. This could be the celebration they need. So when Crimson Vow decide to take on the next quest, they leave out Mile and give excuse they need to do something else. This is of course to earn money and buy stuffs to surprise her. Because of Mile being in the dark, she starts to feel ostracized. What if her pals have realized she has been secretly eating their snacks, taking measurements and reading the picture diary? Oh sh*t. Mile, you one guilty girl. Hence she goes to bug Lenny if her friends say anything about her. Yeah, Mile sounds like a desperate psycho, sure to freak out Lenny. Worse, Mile thinks they are going to let Lenny join Crimson Vow and kick her out. All because they don’t need another flat chest character?! With Mile doing weird things and sinking into depression, obviously Nano tells her to go talk to them directly instead of speculating. Just right after Crimson Vow defeat this giant cockatrice, Mile shows up and accuses them for having fun without her. She starts getting emotional and her buddies are afraid because the defeated cockatrice is resurrecting and sneaking up on Mile. But then… Mile burns it to a crisp! Don’t interrupt when I’m talking! Oh sh*t. Mile so scary. It descends into awkwardness as she starts crying and all. In the end, everything goes back to normal after they reveal the truth. So that was it, huh? They thought of saving up to buy this expensive necklace Mile wanted. In actual fact it wasn’t that necklace but a few cheap pendants next to it. She thought it would match them all. Who would’ve thought everything was so easy had they just been honest an upfront. Thus Crimson vow holds another private party to celebrate their anniversary. Mile is very happy as she thanks a tsundere Reina since it was her idea for this. It could have been the best party ever had not Mile explained how relieved she was and hence admitting all the secret stuffs she sneakily did on them. Oh sh*t… Don’t worry, the party isn’t going to be over yet. Yeah, it’s going to be a long night… A very long tragic night…

Episode 11
Thanks to Crimson Vow taking down a wyvern, they’re pretty famous among the guild. They see a quest in which its reward is kept revising upwards. When they decide to take on it, Mile warns them about relying on her too much. Because she could die any time. Woah. Is that some jinx or death flag or something? Reina replies that it is precisely the reason why they need to take this quest. To show that they can rely without her. The quest has them on a rescue mission. When a group of investigators were sent to investigate something strange in the forest, they went missing. A group of Hunters were sent to rescue them but they too went missing. As they trek deeper, they defeat lots of monsters. This proves to Mile that they have been doing their own training. Now can you die easily? Woah. Easy with that jinx… They notice with the change in types of monsters, they deduce that some other bigger monster must have taken residence and hence the change in habitat. A group of beastmen ambush them. But no worries. Easily defeated. Then they stumble into a large excavation done by the beastmen. Holy cow! Is this Petra of Jordan?! Anyway, night fall and they sneak in to see the captured group. After putting the guards to sleep, they free the hostages. They are told that there is a professor among them but she has been taken deep into the ruins. Crimson Vow head into the ruins, fight more beastmen and then stumble into weird hieroglyphics. UFOs? Spaceships? They free the professor nearby. She is a small kid? Heh. They get insulted when others call them kids. Anyway, Cu Leleia might look like a little girl but she is older than all of them. In fact, she is of the elf race. She warns them they can’t leave this place. Why? Because the ruler of this place is an earth dragon. Roar! Crimson Vow fire all they’ve got but no damage at all. When the dragon smacks Mile with his tail, OMFG, is Mile dead???!!! Her comrades become distraught. Why is it when people are enraged, they power up considerably? Unfortunately all that mad attack just managed a tinsy little scratch on the dragon. Crimson Vow refuse to believe Mile is dead and will protect her till she recovers. You mean recover from the dead?

Episode 12
We see a short glimpse of Misato’s happy family life. Think of waking up now? Uhm, not enough strength. Back to sleep. Now we see a short glimpse of her life as Adele. Okay, time to wake up. Misato and Adele admonishing her to do so. Because Mile is complaining how she is no match for the dragon, hey, wasn’t it her wish to be normal in the first place?! With Crimson Vow relentlessly attacking, the dragon gets mad at their persistence and is going to kill them. That’s the buzzword for Mile to wake up and attack the dragon with all she’s got. OMG. She now injures the dragon? Damn, the dragon looking scared. As explained, Mile seems to be as powerful, if not even more than the dragon only because this dragon is not the most powerful. That is why she survived when taken a direct hit. And the ‘power’ that powers up Mile? Making her angry! But it gets worse as the dragon’s buddies drop in. They too witness first hand that Mile is super strong. Yeah, who this girl???!!! Must be a real shocker for dragons never to see a human this strong, eh? Mile then summons the strength of her previous incarnations to throw back a powerful bolt at them. Decimated! Mile prepares herself to be bombarded by questions but Crimson Vow has already made peace with the fact that it is probably her secret family technique! Now they question the dragons for their goals. It seems they are trying to find the lost civilization. Yeah, those hieroglyphics are it. Now, if that civilization is said to be prospering and had no wars whatsoever, why did it crumble? That is why its existence was in doubt and they’re looking for it. The dragons didn’t want to make it so obvious so they forced beastmen to do the excavating. However this site is a fake and seems to be worshippers of those lost civilization. The dragons promise to leave this area and go elsewhere. Crimson Vow returns as heroes and even more famous now. But Mile can’t help think of what the dragons’ true goals are. Nano actually knows but unfortunately it is classified information! Oh dear. How does it feel to have your own game back at you? Mile sinks into further depression thinking what God told her before her reincarnation here. Could it be that this is a world that there are no gods because they have abandoned it? Poor Mile have strange dreams and can’t concentrate on her quest so one night she decides to leave by herself because if she has to tell her friends her worries, this means revealing her reincarnation too. However her friends also leave with her! Yeah, her worries were so obvious and written all over her face. In short, they are Crimson Vow and will always be together! Aww! Group hug! Next day they leave for another adventure and since Mile can’t spill the beans, they’re going to go investigate the dragons. One big adventure coming up.

Everybody’s Normal Till You Get To Know Them
Well, well. Isn’t that a pretty normal ending? I suppose so. Mile having found friends and a purpose to exist so that pretty much is all Mile needs to get going. And as normal as another series ending on such note, they throw in some sort of enigmatic factor so that if there is ever a possibility of another season in the future, this could be the next plot in focus. Hence for the lost civilization that the dragons are trying to search, I have this conspiracy theory that everyone in this world came from other worlds but died and reincarnated here! Just that, everybody is as good as keeping that a secret like Mile! Uh huh. Classified information, people! I mean, how far do we know about the others since we are more focused on Mile who is the (average) main character? How convenient for excuses for things we don’t know. Just slap the classified information label on it and we’re good to go.

I don’t know if you can call this cute girls doing cute things but I suppose this can be classified as so because you see them doing all the adventuring in their cute girly way. So perhaps this counts. Thus the story isn’t anything new and just revolves around the Crimson Vow quartet and their adventures to become great Hunters. That is all. No greater conspiracy plot of shadowy people led by some megalomaniac wanting to overthrow the kingdom or the likes. No prophesized Demon Lord to come bring carnage to the land and some legendary quartet of heroes must rise up to the challenge and save the land. Yup. Nothing of that sort of story here. Just your average but not so average girls adventuring within their own means. Cute girls doing cute things. Adventure edition.

There is another one tiny reason why this isekai series is slightly different than others in the same category. Well, if you have noticed, all the main characters who die and become an overpowered one in the next world, they’re all male! Hence it is somewhat refreshing now you have a character of this genre who is actually female! Wow. You never actually see girls getting this sort of treatment and it feels a bit different. Sure, the whole isekai trend now is kinda boring and repetitive and having a main character who is female doesn’t make the whole thing better. It is just slightly refreshing. Slightly. Yeah. Who says girls can’t go over to the next world having all sorts of crazy abilities? I am pretty sure that Mile isn’t the first female character of this overpowered isekai genre but I am guessing that she could be the first in recent memories and anime seasons. I mean, I am trying to think real hard and I couldn’t really come up with any such shows with a female lead.

So I guess the characters are rather okay, especially the bonding between the Crimson Vow members. Each of them has their own past to deal with and facing them together brings their pact a lot closer. It’s not the deepest of character development but it’s not the worst either. If the lack of a storyline and actual plot bugs you, maybe the dynamic relationship and interaction among the quartet should amuse you. While it is pretty much cliché, I won’t go so far as to say that they are boring. Yeah. Just pretty average. Pretty normal. Heh.

So yeah, Mile pretty much feels like the glue that sticks the group together. She is yet another of those ubiquitous overpowered characters that you normally see in such genres. She claims she wants to be normal and tries not to flash her powers but more than often, circumstances force her to make her do the impossible. She might look like overpowered but bear in mind that she is still lower than a dragon and therefore much lesser than a God. Just that everybody else is such weak ass and that the dragon clan probably raised up the average score. Just like how when one of the smart kids in class do so well and raised the average score of the class. Or a really bad one bringing it down. I wonder how long Mile can keep playing that secret family technique excuse. That seems to be the running joke AKA excuse needed to avoid explaining the truth. The way she has displayed a myriad of them, not so secret now those family techniques. I guess the friends also don’t prod any further because they trust each other (unlike initially). Too much bugging can be annoying, you know. Ah, true friendship…

It would have been a bit more interesting to see Mile’s life in her previous life as Misato. Heck, having shown bits of her past life as a raven haired beauty is already good enough than most isekai series. Yeah, some you never even get to see what their life was, they get killed off or summoned. That’s it. Here we see snippets of it despite being far and few in between. But like I said, it would also be good to see that side of hers because we want to see how different she has become. Or rather, she’s still the same. Maybe it’s her fate never to experience a normal life. So, if she dies in this world (which she almost did), will she go to another world? Will she start anew again as the same thing or will she get her wish of just being normal? That would have been another interesting aspect to explore. Perhaps the lack of focus on her past is to tell us that we should just move on with her new life as Mile. Yup, want to know more of her life in the previous world? That’s classified information!

Mile also seems to be the comic relief character and at times you can hear her make comments that break the fourth wall. This is where most of the comical parts come from. Hey, main characters in overpowered isekai genres don’t usually do that! That’s not normal! Get back to your normalcy! I guess her previous life is hard to forget and there are a ton of cool entertainment stuffs in which she compares them to this new life of hers. But hey, at least she got overpowered magic and stuffs. I also don’t see the relevance of having Nano as he invisible pet mascot. Oh right, whatever nanomachine particles he is made out is supposed to help give Mile he powers. How convenient. I suppose they need to ramp up the cuteness because after having a bevy of cute girls, now you need at least a cute animal. Or beast. Whatever Nano actually is. His primarily role is to just sometimes warn Mile or explain to us viewers whatever that needs to be explained. A role that can be done by Mile herself since she is sometimes already breaking the fourth wall.

The rest of the other Crimson Vow members, well, they’re not anything close to Mile but thanks to their backgrounds, their characters are slightly more interesting. Reina isn’t just your fiery tsundere but her tragic past makes you understand her way of thinking and you can’t blame her entirely. Then you have Pauline who is trying to become the best merchant for the sake of her family and you don’t want to cross her path and she’ll make you a deal that you’ll regret. A deal between the devil and the deep blue sea. Please choose the lesser of 2 evils. Finally, Mavis the tomboy who is seemingly trying to break out of her traditional female role and take on her dreams as a knight. It is not that she isn’t feminine or anything, it is just that when you grow up in a house that is all just dicks, oops I mean, cocks, oh damn, men, house of men, you tend to get influence by the greatness that they are striving for.

Last and not least, Lenny. I feel that she is sometimes the fringe member of Crimson Vow but it could be just me. She provides lodging for the quartet to stay and now that Crimson Vow has made enough money for their own lodgings, a lesson to learn is never take your customers for a ride. But I’m glad they’re still friends. After all, Lenny despite being a loli has boobs that the flat chest alliance (that’s you, Mile and Reina) would really envy to have. Is this the part where they tease us with some little boobs fanservice? Oh Mile, your boobs size are below average. Hahaha! Oh wait. Is that classified information too?

Art and animation feel pretty okay. Everything is designed on a cute level so much so you might think that this anime is suited for kids. At least on the visual level. Even many of the scenes and backgrounds are bright and colourful, making this your truly happy fantasy world. If you watched Endro, you would know what I mean. This series is dong by Project No. 9 who in the same season also did Choujin Koukousei-tachi Wa Isekai Demo Yoyuu De Ikinuku You Desu. They also did Ryuuou No Oshigoto, Ro-Kyu-Bu and Tenshi No 3P. So if you are wondering why the cuteness of these girls look familiar, now you know why.

For the voice acting, didn’t recognize anybody. Pretty okay, I guess. The casts are Azumi Waki as Mile (Maika in Blend S), Sora Tokui as Reina (Nero in Tantei Opera Milky Holmes), Masumi Tazawa as Pauline (Kiriha in Rokujouma No Shinryakusha), Fumiko Uchimura as Mavis (Ren in Juou Mujin No Fafnir), Wataru Hatano as Nano (Gajeel in Fairy Tail), Hiyori Kono as Lenny (Kazusa in Araburu Kisetsu No Otome-domo Yo) and Maki Kawase as Marcela (Junko in Zombie Land Saga). You can tell how fun everything is going to be just by watching and listening to the opening theme, Smile Skill = Suki Skill by the quartet of Crimson Vow. Yeah, the whole song is lively and just reeks of fun. Even more so when you see Crimson Vow doing some weird group dance + tokusatsu posing (complete with explosion!). Oh yeah. Pretty epic in its own right. Mile sings the ending theme, Genzai Banzai, which plays to a slower beat that lacks all that craziness found in the opener but still sounding like another of those generic manufactured anime pop. Nothing really special. Just normal.

Overall, this show is just pretty normal. Pun intended. There are dozens of such series in the genre out there and there would be even much more in the future. While this one is nothing special, nothing near a masterpiece, it is not the worst isekai bunch I’ve seen. Yup, that Smartphone one still takes the cake. So don’t complain that this series is just pretty much average with all the cliché formulas of cute girls, their dynamic interaction, no convoluted plot, funny and weird moments, all that would satisfy and entertain viewers for the season. Once the next season comes around, this would most probably be forgotten deep within our hazy memories. Yeah, pretty normal for us veteran anime viewers to treat series like this. While the isekai fad won’t be dying out soon, I hope they don’t go overboard, trying to make their series stand out so much than the rest that it becomes just as bad. Please. Don’t. Didn’t I say to make more isekai animes average in the next season?!

Fairy Tail: Final Series

Nothing says hype and even more hype when you have the word final in your title. Yup, imagine the hype, excitement, hysteria and everything when Fairy Tail: Final Series came out in late 2018. Oh my. Is this going to be the final season of this long running series? Well, it couldn’t be the next One Piece or Naruto (or Boruto as it technically continues in) so I suppose it has to end somewhere. Oh yeah. Nothing like working on everybody’s nostalgia and those who have been following the series that first aired back in 2009. Yup. 10 years. That is a very long time in anime terms. And like every story that has a beginning, there has to be an end. Oh my. Are we getting nervous and teary eyed to finally see this (debatably) epic series come to a close after 328 episodes?

Avatar Arc
* It has been a year since Fairy Tail disbanded and Makarov gone missing. Lucy is on a mission to reunite her fellow guild members but so far she only got Natsu and Happy.
* Haven’t you heard? Wendy is now one half of the idol group, The Sky Sisters with Cheria! Oh, haven’t you heard too? Wendy is now a member of Lamia Scale!
* Think you’ve seen it all? Wait till you see Carla who is now capable to transform into her human form! Hot cat girl chick! Meow!!!
* After the disbandment of the Magic Council and the formation of the new Ten Wizard Saints a year ago, Orochi Fin, Lamia’s Scale’s bitter rivals launches an attack since Jura is no longer with the guild.
* Guess who’s back too? Bluenote of the previously Grimoire Heart has been hired by Orochi Fin to take down Lamia Scale. Of course the match up with Natsu is fast and short. So as just to show us how much Natsu has grown because his powerful single fire breath blows him away!!! Enough for Orochi Fin to immediately surrender.
* I guess it’s time for Wendy to say goodbye to Lamia Scale and rejoin her buddies in rebuilding Fairy Tail. Yup, lots of emotional loli BFF goodbye tears. Sob! Sob!
* Natsu and co stumble Juvia living alone in this rainy town. I don’t think she’s as happy to see them as much as she sees Gray. The story goes that she was living a blissful life with Gray here a year ago. One day he had black marks all over his body and he started acting strange. He would leave this place often and 6 months ago he left and never came back. Juvia searched around but to no avail and decided to wait till he comes back.
* Avatar Black Magic Cult: Apparently a group of weirdoes who worship Zeref. And yeah, Gray is a member!
* Natsu heads to Sabretooth to find out more details. He forcefully takes a job they’re doing (to hunt down Avatar) although he’ll let them have the reward. Now, how does Natsu think he knows Gray is in this group? Remember when future Rogue spilled the beans about Frosch will be killed a year later (which is now) and that the killer is Gray? Yeah. That. Even if the future is changed, he isn’t taking any chances.
* Avatar realizes that the Magic Council is on to them and believes there is a spy among them. They accuse Gray since he has no reason to revere Zeref and his closed ones were killed by Zeref related incidents. Gray makes his clear his end goal is to find and eliminate END. He will use Avatar as a stepping stone to achieve his means.
* Haven’t you heard? Levi, Gajeel and Lily are now part of the Magic Council’s Custody Enforcement Unit (MCCEU).
* Natsu and Lucy bust in. What a way to show how strong Natsu is by taking out 3 of Avatar’s members! Then with Gray showing up, is it time for final boss fight? Gray claims he is no longer part of Fairy Tail on his own volition. So the memories and bond don’t mean anything? You sad? You mad? Well, enough time for others to round them up and throw them in prison.
* Purification Plan: Sounds simple but it’s a nasty plan to purify souls to resurrect Zeref. Lots of souls. All of Avatar heads out to conduct this plan except Goumon who stayed back to interrogate them to find out who sent them.
* Goumon is going to cut Lucy in half when he is suddenly frozen! Gray? Change of heart? Apparently he was pretending all along till Natsu showed up to ruin all their hard work. Gray isn’t working alone, though. Remember Erza?
* Half a year ago, Erza was sought by Jellal to help uncover Avatar’s plan to resurrect Zeref. The investigation hit a dead end so she stumbled upon Gray and asked for his help. He agreed to this undercover mission and didn’t tell Juvia because the less outsiders know, the better. Because Avatar is big and has branches all over, the only way to wipe them out is during this Purification Plan when all branches gather.
* So you’re telling me Purification Plan is to purge the 30,000 lives of a city but it is not done by some grand magic or something? But rather everyone physically killing the people?! Damn, I think this is a cult who just loves to murder people! It goes without saying those small fries are easily taken out by our Fairy Tail wizards. Even more so the generals of Avatar. Damn, this is going to be easy.
* Natsu even has a go at Arlock, Avatar’s big boss. Uh huh. Just another showpiece to show how strong Natsu has grown. After even beating up the guy, looks like the real Purification Plan is here. Arlock summons a giant battle god to kill their own comrades! Apparently the lives of the devotees are more important ones to resurrect Zeref. Yeah, leave it to Natsu to lecture about friendship and the likes and the one single devastating blow to send the giant battle god crumbling down!!! Damn, he makes it all look so easy! With Avatar in shambles and losing motivation after seeing Fairy Tail’s might, I guess it’s good timing the MCCEU is here to arrest them all.
* When Zeref was young, he studied magic on life and death that was deemed too dangerous by the adults so they banned him from ever studying magic. But Zeref defied and continued so all because he had a younger brother who died and wanted to resurrect him. For many years this went on until the academic council decided to take action to expel him. With the hard hitting fact his brother will never return to life, that was when some curse possessed him. Everyone around him died. With this contradicting curse, the more he cares about life, the more it dies. Hence he goes about living not caring about anything. As he cannot age and is an immortal, he had time to study magic and everything else until he decided he wanted to die. Hence he created demons from the Book of Zeref to kill him but they couldn’t. Hence his final creation might be the one to do the job.
* That final creation is END: Etherious Natsu Dragneel. Natsu is actually that deceased brother of Zeref whom he preserved in this well state for this day.
* Fairy Tail is back in business! Because the whole gang received Lucy’s letter and reunite once more at where their HQ once stood.
* Erza becomes the 7th guild master.

Alvarez Empire Arc
+ Saving Makarov
* 10 years ago, Mest was requested by Makarov to invade the Council to find any info pertaining to the western continent, Alakitasia. He claimed it was to protect his family. After the battle with Tartaros, it seemed Makarov has got all the info he needed on Alvarez Empire, the empire that united all 730 magic guilds in Alakistasia. Long ago, they tried to invade and steal Lumen Histoire but only backed down because the Council flexed their muscles. Now that the Council is gone, they might invade again. Hence Makarov headed there to negotiate and told Mest to create a new Magic Council for this continent’s first line of defence. The reason to disband Fairy Tail was that he feared if something happened to him, his children might be next. It has been a year since so it could be Makarov might still be in negotiation, locked up or worst, dead. Hence Erza wants to do an infiltration and rescue mission with a small team of members who only knows about this.
* Gajeel forms his own team with the other Fairy Tail members to go look for Laxus.
* What’s this? Raijinshuu has joined Blue Pegasus?!
* God Serena is supposed to be the strongest wizard on the continent but he abandoned it to join Alvarez and become one of the 12 shields of Emperor Spriggan known as Spriggan 12. Oh wait. God Serena isn’t some celestial being but human? Some name. And he’s a man, not a woman?!
* Mest and co set sail for Caracol Island to meet a spy so as to get info to infiltrate Alvarez. However the island is sealed off by Alvarez guards as they are also searching for the spy.
* Natsu and co get involved in a brawl with one of the Alvarez’s military guys, Marin Hollow who controls the laws of space and Brandish who is one of Spriggan 12. Because Brandish doesn’t like troublesome stuff, she takes out Marin since he bested Mest. She knows what is going on and warns Fairy Tail to return. She assures them Makarov is still alive but will not guarantee that if they continue with this foolishness.
* Mest and co go meet up with the spy who is no other than Angel as she brings them to Alakistasia.
* It seems Makarov has been a guest at Alvarez and has been negotiating via Spriggan’s minister, Yajeel. Because Spriggan has been wandering over for a year, that is why Makarov has been waiting. Speaking of the devil, he has returned! Wait a minute. Isn’t Spriggan… Zeref???!!!
* Makarov finally talks to Zeref and it seems he wasn’t responsible for the invasion 10 years ago. Though, now he has decided he wants Lumen Histoire AKA Fairy Heart. He intends to bring war for and see who is fit to survive this extermination. The black wizard, the king of dragons and humans. Zeref wants to kill Makarov so that Fairy Tail will get angry to destroy him but luckily Mest teleports Makarov back to the safety of his children.
* As Fairy Tail tries to escape, Ajeel who one of Spriggan 12 is hot on their heels. Our young ones as usual show us why they can fight on par with him. But just enough for the cliché moment before they get swallowed by his sandstorm, here comes Laxus and Team B Fairy Tail members to save the day and bring home everyone alive.
* Now that Fairy Tail is back in business, Makarov once more becomes the guild master? This trend has got to stop… Knowing that Alvarez will come straight for them, Fairy Tail is more than prepared to take them on. But first, Makarov wants to tell everyone about Fairy Heart. How convenient Mavis resurrects just to tell everyone from her mouth the most secretive thing in Fairy Tail that the world must never know about that is so important that Zeref wants.

+ Invasion of Alvarez
* So it’s Fairy Tail Zero part 2? Going back 100 years when Mavis was Fairy Tail’s tactician during the trade war, after the treaty is signed, Mavis stumbled into Zeref again. They catch up on stuffs and when Zeref learnt Mavis is unable to grow or age, he realized she has the same curse as him. The reason others around her do not die is because she doesn’t know the value of life. Once she does, then everything around her will start to die. However Mavis refused to accept this and ran home.
* Right after Yuri’s wife, Rita gave birth to Makarov (whom Mavis named from a kind hearted character of a story she once read), Rita instantly died. Mavis is traumatized and with Zeref’s words ringing in her head, she ran away and never returned to the guild.
* After wandering for another year, once more Zeref chanced upon her. True to the curse, she cannot die. So Zeref tells her about his plans of creating a new empire on the other continent to start a war even though he hates fighting. Zeref’s contradicting contradictions has him in pain. Mavis assures she will not reject him. Then a weird kiss that started a weird romance between them. But don’t hold your breath because it soon died out. The ultimate contradiction of all as this takes Mavis’ life.
* Zeref then dumps Mavis’ body back at Fairy Tail’s guild. Since Purehito was the only one there, he sensed a faint magic power from her and sealed her in some healing lacrima in the basement. Eventually as he tried to resurrect her, he too connected the dots that she was responsible for Rita’s death as well as having that curse. He decided not to tell this to everyone and instead erected a grave for Mavis back at Tenroujima. He then became Fairy Tail’s second guild master. He continued to find a way to resurrect Mavis but during this period, Yuri died without ever knowing the truth.
* Mavis’ sealing throughout the years has combined elements and created a form of magic known as Fairy Heart. In short, it is unlimited magic. Zeref might want it to destroy Acnologia. So why can’t Fairy Tail just use it against Alvarez and Acnologia themselves? You see, its power is so great that even after using it, it will continue to rain down more magic and continue destroying everything. It’s like using poison to fight poison. That’s why Mavis is adamant that Fairy Heart must never be released to the world.
* Even if they defeat Alvarez, how do you defeat an immortal like Zeref? Don’t worry. Natsu has the answer in his right hand. It is a secret for now so stay tuned when the time comes!
* I know Fairy Tail has devised a few strategies to deal with Alvarez should they come from any sides. But they didn’t expect them to start the invasion from the skies?! Did Mavis overlook this? But nothing like Freed’s barrier and the Dragon Slayer trio to go buy some time. Hope they prepare just in time because somehow Alvarez has breached in and coming from all directions at full force!
* Erza vs Ajeel – Because Dragon Slayers can’t fight on a flying ship. Damn motion sickness… Ajeel’s sandstorm might be wreaking havoc all over the place but with Erza shining brightly so that Bisca can fire her Jupiter cannon and take out Ajeel, the skies are all clear again.
* Lucy vs Brandish – Not sure how getting in the bathtub together makes this a fight. But hey, great fanservice! A+!!! But when pollen suddenly fill the air, Brandish becomes allergic and is easily knocked out by Cana. WTF…
* Raijinshuu-Ichiya vs Wall Eehto – Spriggan 12’s Wall’s magic is to identify weaknesses and then create machines to deal with them. Furthermore, Wall himself is an evolved machine and is immune to lightning attacks. Instead, he charges up. But isn’t it easy to defeat them by just switching your opponents? Freed who has been busy concentrating in putting up a barrier around the town, once he heard news of Natsu’s side defeating the invading force, he is now free to use his magic and go all out. With Ichiya, they punch and destroy Wall. One Punch Men! MEN!!!
* Apparently Wall’s real body is in the next coming wave. He decides to fire a cannon directly at Fairy Tail’s HQ but Ichiya uses his ship to block the shot. This isn’t just Fairy Tail’s fight. No, senpai. This is our fight!
* Next wave is coming. Fending off from the north are Sabretooth and Blue Pegasus. Defending from the south are Lamia Scale and Mermaid Heel. To the east, they have to get past 4 of the Ten Wizard Saints that include Jura, Warrod, Draculos Hyberion and Wolfheim. It is believed to the east is Zeref and since this portion is moving slowly, until all other directions are safely dealt with, they can then focus all their strength in this final direction.
* But wait. Final boss fight already?! Because Natsu flies directly to fight Zeref! Showing off the might of his power, he takes out 973 foot soldiers! Wow! Definitely quality > quantity. Only 999,027 left… But all that don’t matter since Natsu faces off with Zeref directly. Unleashing his secret weapon, is it this super flaming right arm? OMG. Zeref takes a beating! Are you sure this is not the last episode of Fairy Tail?! Apparently this power comes from the last power that Igneel gave him. It is his tenacity. He has been training to use it for this moment and can only use it once. Zeref finally thought he could be killed…

* Zeref still lives but one more time and he could really die. Hence, he takes the liberty to tell Natsu the truth. The truth of Natsu being his brother and END. You see, their parents were killed by dragons 400 years ago. Naturally Natsu also died so Zeref tried to bring him back alive. Proof Natsu is related to END, Zeref shoots the book and Natsu reels in pain. Igneel was Zeref’s friend and one of the few dragons who didn’t hate humans. These dragons decided to teach 5 orphans to use Dragon Slayer magic and to be sent to the future to defeat Acnologia. Because back then, I guess there wasn’t so much nano whatever magic in the air. Celestial wizards, Anna and Layla via Eclipse, the former opened the gate while the latter opened the exit. So the day and year when the dragons disappeared was actually when they woke up in this era. Hence Natsu and the other Dragon Slayers actually came from 400 years in the past.
* The last kicker is if Natsu kills Zeref, he will also die because they are connected. Not that Natsu believes his story and his hell bent on defeating Zeref anyway. But then Happy doesn’t like the fact Natsu will die and brings him back. Stupid cat! You mean you let the whole world destroy than just let Natsu give up his life to protect the world?! Whatever. His Igneel magic is fast fading. You lost that chance. Now nothing can stop Zeref.
* You’d think Marin snuck into Fairy Tail’s prison to rescue Brandish. But he is here to kill her! So had enough of being her toy? Thanks to Lucy and Cana’s quick intervention, this girl didn’t have to die.
* I guess as thanks for that, Brandish reveals her connection to Layla. Her mom, Grammie was one of Layla’s servants. When Layla retired, she gave some of her celestial to some of her servants. Grammie received Aquarius’ key. But if Lucy got Aquarius’ key from Layla, there could only be one way how that happened: Layla killed Grammie to get it back!
* Time for Aquarius to reveal the whole truth. Anna who is an ancestor of the Heartfilia family, made a deal with Zeref to open Eclipse to send warriors to the future to defeat Acnologia. The one waiting at the other end of the gate was Layla. But to open the gate, she needed all 12 Zodiac celestial keys. Because Grammie was uncontactable and moved to Alakitasia, Layla compensated it with her own life. This caused her to develop some illness. When Grammie heard about it, she rushed to her side and returned the key, thinking she is not fit to hold it. When Grammie left, she was killed by Zoldeo (one of Layla’s servants who received Capricorn’s key). He blamed her for what happened to Layla. Grammie accepted her sin but in exchange for her life, she hopes he would spare Brandish.
* Now we get another problem because Happy brings Natsu’s body back! Is he dead?! Poluchka diagnosed some magic tumour inside him after using lots of magic. No medical technology can save him. Ah, but Brandish can. Just locate the tumour and she can shrink its size. It was that easy to save Natsu!!!
* 4 of the Ten Wizard Saints vs God – No contest, God beats them flat!!!
* God vs Acnologia – No contest, Acnologia kills him before he could finish his sentence!!!
* Laxus vs Wall – Time to get payback for hurting his Raijinshuu. It could have been easy for Laxus to deal with this robot alchemist had not the poisonous particles he inhaled during his fight against Tempester. But don’t worry. Laxus tricks Wall to use his ability on him because apparently it cancels out the poison. And then using red lightning which isn’t exactly lightning to dismantle Wall.
* Wendy-Cheria-Carla vs Dimaria Yesta – How do you even fight a Spriggan 12 member who has the power to stop time? Ah, don’t worry. Ultear is here to help them move in that space. But Dimaria turns into the god of time and how do you kill a god? Better hurry because Carla protected Wendy from her beam. Is she dead? Ah, don’t worry. Ultear once again just in time ejected her from this space. And then gives them some special technique that will allow to defeat this god but in exchange they’ll never be able to use magic again. So convenient yet so complicated.
* Cheria vs Dimaria – Apparently Ultear can only give her god technique to one of them. In the end, Cheria gets it and beats the sh*t out of Dimaria. Oh Wendy, please don’t cry like it’s the end of the world. Cheria can live fine without magic like a normal girl. After all, love > magic, no?
* Jason Statham, oops I mean, Jacob Lessio, one of Spriggan 12 just waltzed into Fairy Tail’s HQ. Apparently he is an assassin (not Transporter?) and why do they always brag they have never failed a mission? His magic is making things disappear so everyone in the guild disappears into some void. Because Mavis is a ghost, she is the only one left. Jacob can also somehow abuses ghosts to make them talk.
* Lucy-Natsu vs Jacob –Thanks to Horologium shielding them during Jacob’s disappearing magic, thank goodness Natsu has woke up and with Lucy they kick Jacob’s ass before Mavis dies again. Can she? Stupid assassin makes Lucy’s dress invisible but he himself can’t look at a naked lady. You tell me that isn’t a chance for the pair to own him? When Jacob decides to kill his hostages, he learns Brandish and Marin are among them. The moment he brings them back out, Lucy uses Gemini to copy Marin’s power and nullify the space area, effectively bringing everyone back. All that’s left is for Natsu to give one hot fiery punch to defeat this guy for good. First loss, I take?
* Mavis shows Cana her real body underground. Mavis has thought of a way to defeat Zeref and the first step is to remove lacrima from her real body. This means Cana must use Fairy Glitter to eradicate this ghost that would destroy the lacrima. Technically Fairy Glitter will only effect the projection and not hurt anybody else. Cana is worried it will still hurt the real body but you have to trust the first master on that. How deep is your faith? After all the spamming of Fairy Glitter, finally the lacrima is destroyed and Mavis’ real body freed.
* Spriggan 12’s Neinhart has the ability to see through the hearts and memories of others. Hence bringing back dead foes complete with their own minds and emotions for our wizards to fight. Well, if your will is much stronger, you can even scare them into vanishing or just beat the crap out of them!
* Jellal vs Neinhart – Once all that is out of the way, taking care of Neinhart is just easy. Jellal opening his sky magic and raining down whatever chariot on the enemy’s fleet.
* With the south liberated, it is opposite for the north. Sabretooth and Blue Pegasus have been pathetically routed by the Alvarez army led by Spriggan 12’s Irene Belserion, Bloodman and Larcade. To add insult, they got even crucified. Don’t worry, Gajeel’s team is here to help. Even Oracion Seis too.
* Brandish offers to negotiate with Spriggan 12’s strongest man, August the Wizard King and Spriggan 12 leader to avoid this conflict. Not going to be easy since he is very loyal to Zeref. Just when she seems to use some logical stance and August readily to give negotiations a chance, Mest mind controls Brandish to stab August! Old fart didn’t die. He just turned Dark Super Saiyan and melts everything?!
* Gajeel-Levi vs Bloodman – Must poisoned Levi die so Gajeel can defeat this grim reaper? Oh yes. The power of love has Gajeel absorb Bloodman’s poisonous particles, combine and mix in his body so he can fight on the same level as him. Is this magic or sci-fi crap? Enough to beat down Bloodman till he departs to the other world! But wait. For more added drama, Bloodman is going to drag him to hell too. And so the cue for a tearful and emotional goodbye between Gajeel and Levi. Uh huh. Gajeel admitting he has changed thanks to the power of love. Now he cares about others and the future, blah, blah, blah. Bye Gajeel. GAJEEL GONE?! NOOOOOO???!!! I wonder how long Levi will cry.
* Irene vs Acnologia – Irene doesn’t want Acnologia to intervene so that this war could end quickly. Hence she initiates some ultimate magic that restructures the entire world?

+ Universe One AKA World Reconstruction
* So uhm, Fairy Tail Zero part, uhm, 3? Irene’s magic causes everyone to be scattered. Mavis is shocked to find Zeref in the guildhall and none of her Fairy Tail members around. Apparently this is what happened. Irene’s goal to hasten the war has scattered specific people throughout the continent. This means putting Zeref and Mavis together while putting Acnologia far away as possible. Because Fiore has become sizeably smaller, she wants Alvarez to clash with everyone on Ishgar as soon as possible.
* Thanks to this magic, I guess Gajeel is still alive and not dragged to hell. Just in time, huh? However he is next to Zera. So the magic also caused this illusion to become real too, huh? With everyone in the state of confusion, Zera uses her telepathy to communicate to her Fairy Tail members the direction of their guild and to head there now because Mavis is in danger. Because nobody knows her and some are distrustful, thank goodness Gajeel’s voice is all the assurance needed to let everyone know Zera is on their side. Convenient.
* What’s this? Angel and Yukino are sisters?!
* Mirajane vs Heine Lunasea and Juliet Sun – Irene’s b*tches beat down Mirajane. Until she uses her ultimate Satan Soul to return the favour. They revert to their true forms: Swords.
* Irene wants revenge over her subordinates but before she could kill Mirajane, August kills him for her. He wants Spriggan 12 to convene at Zeref. But don’t cry again if there’s another dead Fairy Tail member because nobody died ever since, uhm, Mavis? From what it is hinted, Brandish minimized Mirajane’s wounds till it’s gone. This isn’t magic. This is crap BS!!! So you telling me if you have a serious fatal injury, all you need is to just reduce that damage till it’s gone???!!! WTF???!!!
* Spriggan 12’s chief admin, Invel puts some freezing chain on Mavis to inhibit her movement and thinking. Zeref wants Mavis to remove Fairy Heart from Mavis. Mavis thought this is impossible? Well… Irene is believed to have that capability but it’ll take time.
* All Spriggan 12 (including the resurrected dead thanks to Neinhart) is reunited with Zeref and the entire Alvarez army are stationed outside Fairy Tail’s guild.
* Hence Fairy Tail, wave by wave return to take down all those mindless Alvarez soldiers. Showing us again that quality > quantity. Until the first real obstacle, God shows up and slow down their progress. Who can take on his multiple magic? What do you know? Gildarts is back!!! Where the f*ck have you been all this while?!
* Gildarts vs God – Because God is just a dead clone, he isn’t as powerful as his original self. Hence Gildarts easily pummels him. Another quick loss for God, huh?
* Mirajane vs Jacob – How can this assassin fight properly when Mirajane’s cleavage are so revealing?
* Rogue vs Bloodman – Not really shown but since the enemy is already dead to begin with, I guess it’s Rogue’s win with something happening later.
* Minerva vs Wall – Ditto. Like above.
* Elfman-Lisanna vs Ajeel – Ditto. Like above too but this time with family bond thingy putting the stops.
* Natsu vs Neinhart – Just when you think Neinhart has powered up after Irene released some seal of his, then Natsu just defeats him in one punch…
* Gray vs Invel – Battle of the frozen guys. However Invel’s winter ability to change everything into ice is way superior than Gray’s ice creation. Gray circumvents that by using some Dragon Slayer magic but risking his own sanity and falling into the dark side.
* Gray vs Juvia – In a slight distraction, Invel manages to chain Gray and Juvia’s mind. He has them fight each other to death. He calculates will win and hence crossing over to the dark side. This will awaken his dark power and will be the one to destroy END. Guess what? Both take their own lives simultaneously! Didn’t see that one coming, Invel?
* Remember, Fairy Tail doesn’t have dead members in the current era. So Gray lives because did some water blood transfusion on him.
* Gray vs Invel – Round 2 grudge match. No matter how power Invel is, nothing beats the power of love! Yup, Super Saiyan Gray demonic version beats him down. Won’t bring back Juvia, but that sure felt good, no? No? Okay. Invel tells him the truth about END and why he is the only one who can defeat Zeref’s greatest demon…
* Remember again, Fairy Tail doesn’t have dead members in the current era. So Juvia lives because Wendy and Carla found her in time to heal her.
* Because Invel was defeated, this allows Mavis to trick Irene with one of her illusions and allow herself to escape. She is rescued by Mest who told her about that mysterious female voice that gathered them all. Mavis realizes it is Zera. The moment she remembers her, some twisted logic means Zera ceases to exist in this world. I guess it is cue for them to have one last talk before she disappears.
* Lucy vs Brandish – After Brandish enlarges Natsu’s tumour again, both bikini babes duke it out. However Dimaria stops the fight and knows Brandish is only pretending to fight because she is being observed. Otherwise, Brandish’s powers could have easily killed them all. Dimaria kills Brandish and kidnaps Lucy and Natsu. Blaming them for corrupting her Brandish, she isn’t going to make death easy for them.
* Before Dimaria could do her worse, the next thing Lucy knows, the place is in a mess, Natsu is missing and a very traumatized Dimaria. I think we know who the monster she is referring too. Of course, cue for Poluchka to explain (also, healed Brandish because apparently such characters cannot be killed) that due to Brandish enlarging the tumour, it may have awakened something worse. Wait. Don’t say. Let me guess. END, right?!

* Gray vs Natsu AKA END – Literally a battle of fire and ice. Both going out ferociously because they think their loved one is dead. Gray thinks Juvia is dead. Natsu thinks Lucy is dead. WAAARGHH!!!! PUICH! PUNCH! PUNCH!!!!!
* With Irene turning the Alvarez soldiers into raging berserker zombies that feel no pain, our heroes once more find themselves cornered. Makarov can’t stand the fact his children are going to suffer and uses Fairy Law. Too bad, this spell drains his life force. The more enemies… Well, you can do the math and see where this is going. Hence lots of flashback and tears. They didn’t troll us this time. RIP Makarov… MASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
* You know real sh*t is going on when Natsu and Gray’s fight is stopped by a crying Erza. You better realize what’s happening when Erza starts lecturing about love and family. The guys finally lose all their strength when they realize their women are still alive.
* Crime Sorciere (Jellal and former Oracion Seis) vs August – Nobody could even touch August…
* Larcade casts his pleasure magic and affects many (but not all) of the people in the battlefield, affecting some of his own allies. What’s this? Larcade is Zeref’s son???! So this means Natsu is his uncle and his mom is… OMFG, MAVIS???!!! This family tree is starting to look weird.
* Sting vs Larcade – Any light or white magic has no effect on Sting. However Larcade casts some hunger spell on him. With no strength to fight, he sees Lectar as food and they try to eat each other? Sting manages to snap out from it and knock out the others from eating themselves. But still he is weak from hunger. Herald Rogue, letting Sting eat his shadow powers, Sting is now a fusion of light and shadow, ready to beat down Natsu’s nephew. Larcade’s turn to go to sleep then.
* Erza vs Irene – The battle of the scarlet hair. Wendy backs Erza by enhancing her powers to fight on par with Irene. If you have a hunch why Irene is similar to Erza, wonder no more because here it is. Can you guess it? Irene is Erza’s mom! Wow. How many more family bonds like this are they going to need to surprise us? Oh well, I guess blood isn’t thicker than water here as both sides refuse to acknowledge why they are blood related. And so we get Irene’s flashback. The former queen of dragons…
* 400 years ago, dragons and human coexisted on Ishgar. Irene had Belserion on her side and he was loyal to her. However the war on dragons soon came to be because on Alakitasia, dragons ate humans. Dragons on both the divide fought each other but the western dragons were superior in numbers. Hence Irene created a magic called Dragon Slayer that imbues humans with dragon powers to fight against dragons. Unfortunately due to the instability of the magic, many humans have gone berserk. Irene herself is slowly turning into a dragon and at that time she was pregnant with Erza. The war ended when Acnologia appeared and destroyed both sides. After Belserion died, her husband whom she was married to under a political marriage feared she would turn into Acnologia. She was imprisoned and tortured for years. He did not believe she could be pregnant for 3 years! Yeah, she casted a spell to put her pregnancy on hold but it’s still hogwash to guys like him. Before he could kill her, she turned into a dragon and killed him. She fled and tried to find ways to turn herself back but to no avail. That was when she met Zeref who easily turned her back. However it was only in form. Her body started feeling pain and misery. That was when she thought she could become human again but exchanging with the baby inside. However the process failed and because Erza was no longer useful, she tossed her away at some remote village.
* You think Erza could easily kill Irene. But Irene did some enchantment and now she possesses Wendy’s body. Now that she is in a human’s body, she is not going to give up on it and will stop at nothing to kill Erza. But luckily too, Wendy also did some enchantment and now she is in Irene’s body. Obviously Irene’s body has better magic so she uses them all to push Irene out of hers. Even if Irene tries to scar Wendy’s body, she still wants it as it holds lots of memories. I think forgoing those huge boobs is just a minor loss. Heh.
* Now that they’re both back in their original bodies, Irene gets desperate. So mad that she turns into her dragon form. One smack is enough to shatter all bones in Erza’s body. Then she could even use some high level magic sh*t to pull in a meteor and smash into the world!!! Not if Erza could muster all her strength to charge towards the meteor. Looks suicidal but shouldn’t Irene be happy Erza to be sacrificing herself?
* Holy sh*t! Erza could even slice the meteor and then drop down and slice the dragon???!!! Irene was probably shocked by everything she saw and got owned.
* You thought it would be easy for Irene to kill Erza now. Unfortunately Erza’s smile triggered her. Yup. Those old memories. And hence, Irene kills herself!!!! WTF???!!! I guess in the end, she is still her mom.
* Whatever tumour inside Natsu has him fallen into a deep state of unconsciousness whereby he talks to Zeref and he fills out some other details in their past that Natsu doesn’t know of. Like the scarf Natsu is wearing isn’t from Igneel but Anna.
* Inside Natsu is both the dragon seed and demon seed. As they are both merging now, this means his death is inevitable. However he can prevent that if he chooses one. Either a demon or a dragon. Of course we all know what Natsu is going to choose. He is human. And with that, both seeds disintegrate! Wow! WTF?! That easy???!!! And with that also, Natsu wakes up from his slumber.
* With Irene’s death, her spell dissipates and Fiore returns to its normal size and position.

+ VS Zeref
* Gildarts-Cana vs August – Well, with other Spriggan 12 members defeated, dead or given up, somebody has got to keep the final Spriggan 12 member company.
* Gray vs Zeref – Gray being the first one to reach Fairy Tail guild, Zeref explains his goals and all. Including killing Gray so that Natsu will be overcome with anger and fight all out with him. Gray’s trump card to defeat and not kill Zeref has him use some lost magic that involves sacrificing his own life, memories and existence. So how is this different than Zeref killing him? Ah, I see if you do it yourself, it’s okay. Time to freeze Zeref forever.
* Too much sadness, nobody to grieve over him if they don’t remember him anymore, huh? Oh well, if visions of Ul can’t stop him, maybe Natsu can. Uh huh. Let those flames burn everything away. Then one of the most touching and weirdest friendship reconciliations between Natsu and Gray. Friends can’t die on each other, right?!
* Natsu vs Zeref round 2. Natsu despite still strong, clearly he is not as strong when he first clashed with Zeref. Igneel’s power is gone.
* Better hasten the fight because time’s up. Yup, Acnologia has returned. First thing he did is to desecrate Irene’s body! Take that for giving humans Dragon Slayer magic!
* Larcade thought he could help Zeref by putting Natsu to sleep and make it easy for father to kill him. But Zeref didn’t appreciate this and kills Larcade for interrupting his fun! Zeref reveals he is not his son and was just the closest demon in the book as an experiment to create Natsu. Now he is just a failure. Flashback shows Purehito knew Mavis was pregnant. Not sure how he delivered the baby when Mavis was crystalized. In a dilemma to kill or let him live. He chose the latter but then abandoned him somewhere else. Gee, thanks?
* August threatens to kill Cana just to see Gildarts’ reaction. Being the caring father he is, of course he won’t let that happen as he gets really serious in fighting August. This prompts August to note that Zeref never loved his son. Gildarts becomes reckless enough and willing to bring him down just to protect Cana. But he just trolled us because he figured out August’s magic properties. He can copy and repel any form of magic but cannot replicate those magic that needs some sort of tool. Hence a single fatherly punch to send this old geezer into defeat. And those flashbacks you see of a young boy being picked up by Zeref, you thought it was Larcade, huh? Turns out to be August! So why doesn’t Zeref love his son? Because he never knew he had one, silly!
* August intends to sacrifice himself and take everyone with him. This devastating ancient magic could have actually worked had he not spot his ‘mother’. Yup. That’s you, Mavis. It’s like he just gave up and let himself be the only one to dissipate from this spell. Phew. Everybody else saved. I didn’t think a mother’s love saved the day, but whatever.

* Mavis rendezvous with Gray, Lucy and Happy. She shows them the END book which she stole from Zeref while she was in his captivity. She has a plan to eliminate Zeref once and for all. But first nobody is to approach the guildhall until Natsu takes down Zeref.
* Acnologia could have killed Erza and Wendy had not Jellal intervened. And then Wendy thought of playing the heroine and could have been killed had not Blue Pegasus rammed into that arcane dragon. The plan now is to lure Acnologia as far away from this place and to a certain spot where Ichiya is certain Acnologia can be defeated. Says who? Anna?!
* Yup, that’s Anna in the flesh. She explains to the rest all that we already know. Anna also came to the future to take care of the Dragon Slayer kids but due to some distortion, all were sent scattering. She took a few years to find them but realized they were living happily. As she continued her search, she found something strange. That strange thing that could seal Acnologia forever is this rift in time. Because of this time travelling thing, it gave rise to this distortion. Inside it, nothing could exist. Not even Acnologia. All that they need to do is lure Acnologia and let him just touch this orange sized rift. So why nobody ever found this rift? Anna hid it. Yeah, that simple, people.
* Zeref’s true ultimate goal revealed: He wants to reset time and go back in time before he became an immortal. To do this, 2 powers are required: Mavis and that rift in time.
* Just when Blue Pegasus has baited Acnologia to go through the time rift, he passes through it! Nothing happened! Oh sh*t?! Plan failed? Actually, at the same time, Zeref found that time rift and closed it so he could steal it. Any second plans, Anna? Sounds crazy but she’s going to try open it again.
* Zeref and Natsu’s fight is interrupted by Mavis. She claims she has a way to save Zeref. However he is uninterested and prefers his Neo Eclipse method. He extracts all her Fairy Heart and becomes God! Now he can cross time, go back to save humanity and prevent Acnologia to become as powerful as he is today.
* Natsu thought he had obliterated Zeref (and part of the guildhall. Sorry). Turns out Zeref can reverse time and revert things back to way they were. You’re screwed. And just like that Zeref kills Natsu. The end of END?
* Meanwhile Lucy opens and reads END. Condense words start flying out of the pages. She thinks it is linked to Natsu and will rewrite some of them.
* Because Zeref is using the time rift to open another portal, looks like the time rift is also appearing back in its original spot. So, 2 time rifts now? Jellal thinks of sacrificing himself to push Acnologia into it. I guess he couldn’t. Now that Acnologia is crushing him and Blue Pegasus’ ship has taken so much damage that it could explode, everyone abandons ship. Well, not everyone. Ichiya and Anna are going to ram it into Acnologia and push him into the void. Will they make it? Oh yeah. Now they’re gone.
* Natsu revives thanks to Lucy rewriting some of the missing words. Don’t look down on her, she memorized the whole thing. However it comes with a cost as Lucy is now possessed. Whatever demonic curse that is eating her, her insides are burning. But nothing like a bit of Gray’s powers to cool her down so she could help rewrite some of the words and give Natsu and even more awesome power. That fiery power is so fiery that Zeref’s God’s power is no match! You mean nothing beats the raging flame of emotion? Well, Natsu is carrying the feelings of his entire guild, so yeah. So powerful his single punch that Zeref now cannot move.
* Time for some really awkward emotional moments between Zeref and Mavis. Mavis making a lot of contradictions about loving him and hating him. So which is which? Make up your mind! You love him or hate him? So the key to Zeref dying is just to be loved? Well, that’s contradicting. And what’s dad about death = love? Yeah, Mavis probably is confused by everything. So am I. Are you? No wonder marriage = death! HAHAHA!!! Anyway, both decide to die together and with the power of Fairy Heart, damn, death never felt so warm and good?

+ VS Acnologia
* The biggest troll they’ve done so far: MAKAROV LIVES!!! OMFG!!! So Mavis and Zeref gave up their life force and this somehow brings this old geezer back to life???!!! Can’t they let this guy rest in peace already?!
* Lucy has rewritten enough of END and she doesn’t need to do any more since the book starts disappearing. The ultimate test if Natsu is still around. Oh yeah. Here he is. Wow. So super happy ending.
* And just when we think we could let our guard down thinking they’re going to wind up everything, suddenly somehow Natsu is nowhere to be seen.
* More surprise in store for us. Because the sky cracks! Acnologia bursts through and returns! He then absorbs Wendy and all the other Dragon Slayers as he wreaks havoc across Magnolia. End of the world is here.
* Natsu is also in this time rift and looks like he’ll be getting his wish to fight Acnologia. The other Dragon Slayers are encased in a crystal.
* I guess we need some good news too because Anna and Ichiya return from the time rift! We’ve seen this one coming! Anna explains that she miscalculated and because Acnologia devoured time and space, he possessed the ultimate power. But that comes with a price as he can no longer control it. Hence he is split into 2 forms. His physical form (the dragon) is in this world while his spirit form (the human) remains in the time rift. He is using the power of the Dragon Slayers to keep the balance. Since Anna and Ichiya weren’t part of the balance, hence they were ejected. I see, so they didn’t get to die then. Just ejected.
* The power of determination is what Natsu has (and always has done) to break free from Acnologia’s crystallization and regain his magic again. The same for the other Dragon Slayers. They heard the voice of the people supporting them and that was apparently enough to bust them out. Oh boy. Acnologia vs Dragon Slayers. This could get messy.
* 400 years ago in a country where dragons and humans coexisted, before Acnologia became a dragon, he was a human doctor treating the guardian dragon known as Acnologia. He heard of some troublesome Dragon Slayer magic that could rip apart this coexistence and went to further investigate. When he returned, Acnologia turned against humans. After the destruction, he became filled with hatred towards dragons for all the destruction. Hence he went to seek the Dragon Slayer magic to kill them all. He hunted them down one by one and the more he kills, the more insatiable for destruction and dragon blood he became. For all the obliteration he did, he forgot his own name and took on Acnologia’s name.
* Because Acnologia is immune to all sorts of magic, the Dragon Slayers have a hard time even touching him. It’s like everybody vs Thanos. But you know, their strong will and determination to protect their friends is going to be fuel that they need to get over this.
* Lucy has this idea to seal Acnologia. They are going to let it ride a giant ship and then seal it within Fairy Sphere, that barrier Fairy Tail members put up when Acnologia first attacked them on Tenroujima.
* They divide themselves into teams to get this done. Lucy’s side need to find the book in their library on how to cast Fairy Sphere. You mean the last time they did it on Tenroujima was a fluke? I thought you just need to hold hands around and wish very hard? Anyway, she finds the book among thousands of unlabelled ones. Yeah. Gotta get the plot moving. Gray’s team managed to secure a huge ship left behind by Alvarez. So they’re going to knock Acnologia down to ‘ride’ the ship? You think it won’t be destroyed that way? Why not somebody just fly the ship up to it? And Minerva’s team has led Acnologia towards the ship but upon arrival, Acnologia destroys all the ships! Holy cow! Now what? Don’t worry. Gray and Lyon will create a giant ice ship!
* Everything is in place to seal Acnologia in Fairy Sphere. Can they do it? Uhm, not powerful enough. Acnologia can still break out. But don’t worry. Meldy has linked everybody on the continent to lend their power to seal Acnologia. Woah. Hence every damn character that has appeared in this series to lend their help and power! DO YOU STILL REMEMBER THEM???!!! From those Edolas cats to those Jiggle Butt idiots and the rest of the bunch whom I honestly can’t f*cking remember!
* With the Dragon Slayers’ fight going nowhere, I guess now they’re going to channel all their energy towards Natsu. Yup, the only guy who can somewhat defeat Acnologia. Man, he has got some rainbow flames now!
* That single punch is enough to disintegrate Acnologia! Wow! And final lecture from Natsu that he doesn’t need anything else except his friends. I hope nobody takes that literally. I guess that’s his version of “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything”. I really hope nobody takes that literally.
* Even the dragon Acnologia vanishes. Oh hell, we know it wasn’t Fairy Sphere. It makes everybody’s efforts futile and as though they didn’t trust Natsu in the first place. But heck, at least it made them look like they did something.
* And our Dragon Slayers return falling from the cracked sky. Of course, Natsu on Lucy. Is this a sign? Hey, who fixed the cracked sky then? And where did everybody get enough confetti to scatter everywhere? Clean up is going to be one big mess.

+ Epilogue
* It has been a year since and Lucy wins the prize for best new author. I guess writing a book is easy when you based the protagonist as yourself and your life’s adventure as the setting. A party is held to celebrate her achievement but you can tell those rowdy guys are her Fairy Tail members. Yup, some things will never change.
* Lucy also narrates briefly what others are doing but I’m going to list those that sound ‘interesting’: What’s this? Levy is rumoured to be pregnant???!!! Cheria slowly getting her magic back???!!! I guess never getting to use magic again was just a lie, huh? Ichiya won most handsome man???!!! MEN???!!!! Do Blue Pegasus people have bad taste???!!! Hisui ascends the throne after her father the king retires. Her first step is to amend relations with Alvarez and also give Crime Sorciere amnesty.
* Are you waiting for the biggest troll ever? Mavis and Zeref spotted in the flesh at the party!!! OMFG!!! WHAT THE F*CK???!!! THEY STILL ALIVE???!!! Turns out to be some random strangers who look and sound so much like them. They are young budding writers, Mio and Alios. I guess that’s that. Nothing else here for us. Move along.
* And even though peace reigns over the land, Natsu still drags Lucy into his job quests. Probably it is a subtle way of saying that they will always be together forever. I mean, he did tell her again literally they’ll always be together but we all know it means more than that, right?

End Of A Fairytale Run
That’s it, guys. Until they adapt the next arc in the manga! Hard to say if that will happen because otherwise why have the final in its title? Are they trying to troll and clickbait us for the viewership?! Hey, they didn’t really put ‘Owari’ AKA The End in the final scene and instead they said ‘Mata ne’ AKA See You Again. So I suppose that throws everything up in the air, huh? But for now and as far as everything is concerned, this would be the final and last of the series. So goodbye, RIP Fairy Tail. For now. After all, all those who stick around and grown up watching this series, well, we might have grown up and out of it already. So time to end it. Please don’t reboot this damn series… Please. Don’t.

After watching this series for a decade, it is with mixed feelings that I have for this entire series. A great series? Yeah, sure. But not so great that I became anything near as an obsessed fan that I must know every single lore in this series. The thing that still irks me until the end is their brand of nakama or friendship drama that this series always played out. You know, the bonds among the Fairy Tail guild members that make them closer than any actual family unit related by blood. Sometimes you get really sick of it that it’s that same ol’ goody-goody my nakama style of drama that is always so prevalent. I’ll do anything for my comrades. Including sacrificing myself. But wait. You can’t do that. Because everybody else will be sad if you’re gone. So we gonna stop you from sacrificing yourself. And we’ll find another roundabout way to do it without sacrificing anybody! Wow. So great. So irritating. But I can’t give them all the hate because this is their brand and style. This is what makes Fairy Tail stand out from other guilds in the continent. If they had a different approach in treating their comrades, I don’t think we’ll like it either. So for better or worse, this kind of nakama style friendship drama thingy is what makes Fairy Tail, so Fairy Tail. It’s just them being them. Nothing more, nothing less.

Having said all that, I guess it is also annoying that this means that none of the current Fairy Tail members actually die. They have trolled us for so long that this character might eventually die and some of us (like yours truly) keep falling for it because well, it could be the plot twist that is supposed to shock us. And of course, the real shocker in the plot twist is that they didn’t die. Heh. The biggest troll goes to Makarov because just when you thought that old grandpa has finally found peace, by some miracle account this guy is resurrected back to live. He is going to be Fairy Tail’s umpteenth master for the umpteenth time forever. Running joke or not, that’s his fate. Heh. If Makarov can’t die in peace and even return back to live again, I think that was the last straw. I thought that nobody is going to die in Fairy Tail ever. Until…

OMG!! WHY THE F*CK THEY NEED TO KILL OFF MAMIKO NOTO’S CHARACTER AGAIN???!!! OH MAH F*CKING GOD!!!!!!!! Technically Mavis isn’t dead. Trapped in that lacrima for ages, you can’t say she is a dead character. It was nice seeing the first master of Fairy Tail meeting her future descendants of the guild. But in order to finish off Zeref, put an end to their weird romance, to show that both sides of the divide are somewhat draw in this big battle, hence both of them have to die for this part of the war to end. Hence Mavis remains as the only Fairy Tail member in modern times TO ACTUALLY DIE!!! Yeah, probably it’s time for her character to go seeing there’s a different set of people in this new era. But whatever. Then that last episode troll that she might be alive. Oh f*ck. Mamiko Noto Mavis really died, huh? I didn’t think it was somebody’s magic to make them reborn again. Of all the Fairy Tail characters, they had to pick Mavis. Mavis, voiced by Mamiko Noto. Yet another killed off character added to the list. Boy, I’m so sore. No wonder I didn’t really enjoy this series when it reaches the home stretch. Plot convenience saved Gajeel from permanent death. The same too when Gray and Juvia were about to kill each other. Heck, even Ichiya and Ana came back from the void! And Makarov, like I’ve said in the previous paragraph. F*ck. Mavis, poor Mavis. More like, Mamiko Noto, poor Mamiko Noto. I thought they would bring her character back to live again in the last episode somehow, but now I realized there could be a conspiracy theory all along that will lead to this when they made her play this Mavis character…

So yeah, the rest of the other characters, probably they are a hit and miss in this final season. The main ones get their fair share of the limelight and those favourite supporting ones get theirs too but to a lesser extent. And the not so important ones are thrown behind as background supporters. If I want to do a list of these characters, I might not finish it so I’m going to keep things short and just nit-pick. For instance, I thought Romeo is going to be at least playing a supporting role since this kid has grown up a bit. But nah. He is not the next generation of Fairy Tail we think he is to be. That goes for the other guilds such as Sabretooth, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel and Quatro Cerberus. Because this final season is mostly Fairy Tail vs Alvarez, it is understandable the rest of the other guilds are casted aside as the battle builds up to its finale. So the most is that they just help aid Fairy Tail in some ways. After all, this is Fairy Tail’s fight. As the main guild in focus, they have to show us that they are capable of taking out the enemy by themselves with the minimal of aids from the other guilds. I suppose that’s the problem when you have too many characters. Trying to make everybody matter will eventually fail. So just pick the main ones and a few supporting ones and forget about the rest. Because they don’t really matter. Like, Angel and Yukino are sisters? Uh huh. So what?

Probably the final season want to nail it in the family thingy because they brought in a few family ties from both the Fairy Tail and Alvarez side. Probably you’ll be sick by the time it reaches its end. Erza’s got a mum? Surprise, mother*ckers! It’s Irene! Who would’ve thought, right? August being the love child between Zeref and Mavis? Something weird happened in between but whatever. And Cana finally calling Gildarts as her dad instead of his name? Always daddy’s girl forever. Zeref and Natsu are brothers? Did you see that coming? So I suppose that is why the difference between Fairy Tail and the enemies is that they have love among them. Because of love, they live. Otherwise, you dead. Simple.

So speaking of the action sequences and the fight scenes, it is probably all within expectations to see the epic fights and match-ups. It comes to no surprise if you’re a veteran viewer and long-time fan of the series. So the other thing which irks me is how Fairy Tail makes it look so easy fighting the Alvarez side especially Spriggan 12. Unless they’re trying to be cautious and not get over confident, Spriggan 12 is actually more or less the same kind of powerful foes that Fairy Tail has faced and overcome in the past. They are nothing really special. So painting Spriggan 12 as the ultimate, the most devastating, fearsome and powerful foe that they have ever faced, well, that’s a bit of a stretch. Sure, the usual drama of losing to them initially (but not the kind of loss that would be a devastating blow to their overall morale, etc), but that is only they are unfamiliar with the enemy’s power. Once they get to know how it works, then it’s just easy to defeat them. Just find the loophole (sometimes known as plot convenience) and take the chance to defeat them. For example, you think Dimaria had the best and unbeatable power with her time manipulation. And then what the f*ck is this Ultear convenience to give some godly magic to take down god. TOOK DOWN A GOD THAT CONTROLS TIME! Can you believe this? And to think that Bloodman who looks the creepiest didn’t have his fight last longer than the rest. What a shame.

So yeah, the Fairy Tail members do grow in their skills and all over the years and all the training they’ve developed since they reunited again. Especially Natsu who has gained a few of them and of course I suspect it is to have the final showdown with Acnologia among with the rest of the Dragon Slayers. Hence the redundant Avatar arc just to show off to us how much our Fairy Tail guys have grown. Don’t mess with them! Think thrice! But the final fight with Acnologia feels rushed. Maybe it is because the entire year it has been a long battle with Zeref’s side so the final fight with Acnologia feels short. Yeah, we’re running out of episodes. Better end it. I suppose that’s the only way. But still, it feels a bit a downer for the greatest dragon, the Dragon King to get defeated (and get lectured) like that. Power of friendship in your face!

You know that Dragon Slayer weakness is vehicles or transports? I thought it was just some sort of running gag but it wasn’t really funny anymore when this was actually the catalyst that they used to defeat Acnologia the dragon version! It was just weird to think that anything they considered as a mode of transport, they get seasick. I believe it is all in their mind. If they’re in a house that transforms into a mobile transport, they will then get motion sickness. See the nonsense logic here? It’s all in your mind!!! So why don’t they carve the continent into a giant boat (not necessarily a grand looking ship) and then Acnologia will forever be immobilized! Or put the world on a giant skateboard. Like as though the planet is skating in its orbit. All Dragon Slayers seasick for sure! Gee, I’m so smart. Pat myself on the back. Not even Mavis thought about that. Oops, she didn’t live that far…

This season also trolled us with some of the romance and the pairings of some of the characters. Especially Natsu x Lucy, you’d think they would finally be officially an item especially that trolling scene of her needing to get naked to warm up Natsu when he was in coma fighting his inner consciousness. That’s the closest we will ever get to see them together like that! After all, isn’t Lucy the fanservice girl with her huge tits? Oops… I don’t know how many jumped ship to Brandish. Sexy huge tits girl parading around in leopard motif bikini? A+++, definitely!!! And of course, Gray x Juvia is already given seeing that the stalker girl’s persistence paid off.

Then there is also Gajeel x Levi. Finally this touch macho guy admits he loves her. Only when he faced death. Wow. And you thought love makes you do all kinds of silly things but death too. Good thing about Gajeel this time is that he doesn’t resort to that running doo-wop joke. Phew. But now they make him have this running joke because his favourite line now is to arrest everybody for the silliest of violations. WTF. Oh yeah, he got Levi pregnant somehow. Way to go, buddy. How do you arrest yourself for knocking up a cute girl? I suppose Erza x Jellal? Isn’t this why Ichiya gave his blessing? Well, we’ll wait and see. They’re still ‘passing’ each other. Unfortunately, Elfman x Evergreen didn’t play out, making us even forget that they had a thing for each other. Happy x Carla? Cat girl evolved into a hot human chick! You’re way out of her league, cat boy!!! Laxus x Lisanna rumour? Laxus x Mirajane rumour? I think there’s a higher chance with Laxus x Freed happening! Romeo x Wendy? Nah. Loli too old for him. Romeo x Asuka? Nah. Loli too young for him. After seeing his playboy father, you think he wants to live up to his Shakespearean name?

The Alvarez story might be a bit too long even if it is the ultimate final arc. At least for the TV series. But at least it puts to rest and solve some of the mysteries regarding the missing dragons and yeah, the relationship between Zeref and Natsu. At least it is better than being his father! Heh. And plot twist! Natsu and the other Dragon Slayers came from the past! I guess that’s why you have that Eclipse thingy, huh? And the Natsu vs Gray showdown? Felt like a big troll too. Goes to show that the future isn’t really fixed and all you need to do is change it with your own hands. And the power of nakama! I think I said too much on this topic. Time to close it and move on.

New opening and ending themes for this final season of course. Power Of The Dream by lol (yes, that is their group’s name) as the first opening theme sounds more like a dance song. Second opener, Down By Law by The Rampage From Exile Tribe has this hip hop and rap element in it. Not too shabby. Third opening theme, No-Limit by Shunka Shuutou is a hard rock piece. Didn’t really like this one although it suits the action battle pace of the series. Singer trying to sound like an American punk rock speaking her opening lines. Another rock piece for the fourth opening theme, More Than Like by Bish. Also didn’t like this one as it sounds weak. The first ending theme is Endless Harmony by Beverly. Feels like a song sung by a diva. I wonder if this is what Mariah Carey sounds like if she was Japanese. Pierce by Empire is the second ending theme. Not really impressed with this generic piece. Boku to Kimi No Lullaby as the third ending theme by Miyuna is the only slow ballad this season and it’s not that bad. Exceed by Miyuu as the fourth ending theme has some acoustic rock in it. Sounds rather okay. Nothing exceptionally special.

Overall, it has been one long ride. Especially the Alvarez story arc that is the second longest arc in the series (after the Grand Magic Games arc). So like I have said, I have mixed feelings overall knowing the series has ended. It has its good and bad points but still unfortunately, not anywhere near the top of my all-time favourites. And also, not anywhere near the worst or mediocre animes that I have seen. So I guess this series is still good, huh? After everything that we’ve been through, perhaps you can say that me and like other viewers of this series, we’re like family guild members of Fairy Tail, right? Hey, we ‘supported’ you guys by buying all the goods and merchandise! So with all the magic died down, where do we find our next fairytale of magic and legendary deeds? Well, they say Black Clover is the closest next thing but that’s another fairytale… Thank you all for giving us a great (albeit not a masterpiece) series for the last 10 years. At least we know that itself isn’t a fairytale.

Saiki Kusuo No Psi-nan: Shidou-hen

Hey wait a minute! I thought Saiki Kusuo No Psi-nan should have ended with that final arc. You know, that tell-tale sign in its title? Kanketsu-hen? Final arc?! Which part of that word do you not understand?! There should be no more episodes or seasons after the finale! So why the heck do we have another season, Saiki Kusuo No Psi-nan: Shidou-hen AKA Restarting arc? Well, you see, this is supposed to be the prequel to the Kanketsu-hen so technically, chronological wise, it isn’t the final arc. However, it is said that this is the continuation of the Kanketsu-hen so technically it is also the final season? Argh! I’m so confused right now! And it is so like Saiki to surprise and troll us when they release all 6 episodes in this season on the final day of 2019. Last day of the decade before we’re going back to the roaring 20’s! Anyhow, I still got my wish to get another season of Saiki! Yeah!

Episode 1A
Saiki and his friends stumble into a little crying. Apparently she lost her dog. Before you know it, Saiki is dragged into help looking for it. Hence Saiki uses some telekinetic thought process to burn images onto the paper. Of course a few weird images pop up before he finally locates the dog. He returns it to the little girl who is now very happy. But Nendou brought back somebody else’s dog and gets beaten up for theft.

Episode 1B
Saiki’s dad is playing an online game. Because he has to leave for work, he has his son takeover so as to get some rare item. Normally Saiki isn’t interested but since dad will buy him his favourite jello, this should be easy. Saiki logs online but soon his comrades leave after realizing he is male (dad purposely selected a female avatar just to get pandering). Needing to form a group to take on the quest, he soon gathers a bunch of weirdoes. But before they could start, they got kicked out or got banned. And you could have guessed those other guys playing at the other end are Kaidou, Toritsuka and Saiko. When dad plays again, he doesn’t know why his friends have banned him.

Episode 1C
Because dad is sick, Saiki is forced to swap with his body and go to work or risked being fired. His demon boss has him to go pick up the manuscript of some mangaka since today is the deadline. With dad working for him for many years, apparently he knows all his quirky habits. The mangaka seems to be tired and not interested to finish 5 pages of it so Saiki uses his healing ability to make him feel much better and work. Better, Saiki using his telekinetic thingy to quickly burn his thoughts onto the paper. Then he teleports back to the office to submit the work. The mangaka is shocked to realize it is already delivered.

Episode 1D
Saiki hangs out at the café but apparently the moms of Nendou, Kaidou and his own are also there. He eavesdrop on them talking about their sons among other things. Saiki thought everything is safe until mom accidentally blurts out about Saiki’s psychic abilities. Of course she can cover it up as a joke but the way she panics proves that it could be for real. But she manages to deflect this to her other son, Kuusuke that he is some genius. The crisis is averted and although mom feels sorry about not being able to keep secrets, it is Saiki who feels grateful that his secret is safe.

Episode 1E
Everyone makes some model out of clay and answers ‘questions’ on why they make so. So we have Kaidou making his fallen angel (literally he dropped it), Kuboyasu some big bike, Nendou some demon, Hairo some fearsome deity, Aiura decorating hers with ornaments and Teruhashi a simple model of her and Saiki. Everybody wants to see it and accidentally breaks it that it looks like the clay Teruhashi hugging Saiki! And the rest of the guys try to make some angelic Teruhashi model but they are disgusted by their failure that it isn’t anywhere close. And lastly, Saiki. Oh damn, he created this magnificent gigantic architectural cathedral masterpiece???!!! Isn’t this the one in Spain…

Episode 2A
Saiki’s limiter breaks but not completely. This has him do weird useless random abilities beyond his control like forming a barrier around himself, making others laugh, shoot lasers from his eyes and producing Matryoshka dolls. Not wanting to owe Kuusuke, he decides to fix himself but ends up doing more weird abilities. So much so it is also affecting others. Finally, the useless ability of creating something out of nothing has his limiter restored. Not so useless that ability, huh?

Episode 2B
All the kids are gathered around Kaidou. Seems they view him as some master of Valkyrie Breaker. It’s some card game. Nendou and Saiki are somehow roped into play the game. Nendou goes to get his own pack of cards and wow! He got lots of rare and powerful cards! The kids are so awed he is this lucky at first go. Unlike a certain master who had to spend thousands to get them. Apparently this is all a setup by Saiki so that they both can be playing partners and will leave him out of it. However, things might have gone too far as the kids are now praising Nendou and this is decimating Kaidou’s pride. So I guess there’s gonna be a card battle, huh?

Episode 2C
Kaidou tries to explain the rules of Valkyrie Breaker but obviously Nendou isn’t listening. This makes Kaidou snaps but before he could get violent, the kids protect him. Remember what you taught them on not getting violent? Better eat your words now. The card game begins and it could only be Saiki seeing weird violent and gory images of the deck monsters killing each other. Eventually, Saiki uses his power to reorganize the deck to make Nendou win and crush Kaidou.

Episode 2D
During PE, the guys are split into teams. Hairo being the passionate guy, pleads to the teacher for a more balanced team but it fell on deaf ears. When Saiki’s team is short a person, it is because Saiko sits out and doesn’t want to join the peasants in this lowly game. Until the teacher decides to take out Takahashi to even the odds, Saiko feels insulted as this means Takahashi is the same rank as him! WTF?! The game starts but Hairo’s team is losing because Kuboyasu got disqualified for committing fouls, Nendou is too stupid and Takahashi got bribed by Saiko. This is the last straw so Saiki uses his power to prevent Saiko from being awesome. In the end, Hairo’s team wins but he doesn’t feel like he actually won it. Now Saiko has a sudden change as he tries to practice hard on his own to regain his awesomeness. Rich guys can’t lose!

Episode 2E
Wow. Saiki celebrating its 5th serialization anniversary? Okay. However they are being upstaged by these characters from Heroes Studies who were in serialization for 10 years. Though, they already ended. Kaidou then recognizes the hero as some super famous teacher, Ken Haganeno. Apparently he is here to give the class a special lecture. But he ends up badmouthing the students and what they are lacking. Saiki realizes they are trying to take over this anime! It’s not funny! So when Haganeno throws Saiki a question, he teleports him to a fantasy world and throws back the same question to him. Guess what? Haganeno chickens out to let his comrade devoured while he escapes! Because of that, Saiki leaves him stranded in this world to level up. That’s for ruining our 5th anniversary. And thanks to that, peace is restored to the world!

Episode 3A
Takumi Iguchi is the new homeroom teacher. Although he is a very nice and caring teacher, the problem is that he has a perverted face! You bet everybody is going to judge him by his looks. Like Yumehara. First he tries to calm her down by showing he cares. Like how he knows her name. And then her address and other details! Creepy! Pervert! When Saiko is 20 minutes late for class, Iguchi admonishes him so Saiko bribes him. At first everyone thought he took the money but then Iguchi rejects it and warns him about trying to buy him off. Everybody feels bad about judging him. Time for a group hug? Uhm… I think it’s going to take a while to get used to that pervy face.

Episode 3B
Everyone takes their physical measurements and many realize they have no growth. As Saiki explains, due to the time loop thingy, everything is repeating as it was the same year ago. When there are screams heard coming from the female’s side, everyone is trying to figure out who the perpetrator. Kaidou thought he saw Iguchi heading there but only Saiki knows he was heading towards the toilet. It gets worse when Iguchi has this panicky face. Because he needs to go to the toilet! To save his reputation, Saiki realizes there is proof. Toritsuka was trying to film the female side but Iguchi is seen walking though and hence blocking his perfect view. Though Iguchi’s name is cleared, Toritsuka is now a dead man…

Episode 3C
When Nendou says he lent some yakuza dude some money, the rest don’t believe him. Kuboyasu brings his friends to his house. Looks like a rundown yakuza hut. Nendou and Kaidou look at his photo albums to see when he turned into a delinquent. My, at such a young age? Kuboyasu then explains how both his parents were from gangs but they are very different people today. So when his dad returns, Nendou recognizes him as that yakuza dude he helped earlier in the day. Yup, he and Nendou have a really friendly conversation, leaving the rest surprised.

Episode 3D
The friends gather at Kaidou’s house to do homework. Instead, Kaidou wants to show his manga he has been writing (for 3 years?!) in hopes he can be serialized. Of course they are not impressed. Even more so they could guess the surprise ending of his story. Heck, Kaidou had to lie and go with their own speculation of the ending which is somewhat even more interesting! Now that their delusions are all time high and want to spend more time on this than their homework, here comes Sora to bring them down to reality. She chides them for being noisy. And when she realizes the lousy manga work Kaidou is doing, she chides them even more they want to do manga but can’t even finish their damn homework? Give me a break. And with that, the guys quietly return to completing their homework. Ah… Reality…

Episode 3E
Saiki is looking forward to his favourite sweets programme. Too bad it is ruined with today’s guest: Mugami. Yup, this guy is ranting about his love for his sister than the sweet of the day. What do you mean his sister is not the sweetest sweet???!!! Normally Saiki won’t want to watch anymore but realizing the sweet of the day is his favourite jello, he keeps on watching. Too bad Mugami had to ruin it by half-heartedly tasting it (he doesn’t like sweets anyway) and giving boring simple comments. Saiki wants to know where this shop is but as the details are revealed, Mugami just couldn’t shut up and hence Saiki couldn’t hear the details. As he turns off the TV, he is shocked to see Mugami at his doorstep. Apparently he got into an argument with Teruhashi for talking too much about her on TV and got kicked out. So why should Saiki help him? Also, Mugami got lots of jello as compliments for being the TV guest. He is supposed to give them to Teruhashi but what now? Suddenly Saiki loves Mugami!

Episode 4A
Toritsuka’s class has a new transfer student: Hii Suzumiya. However bad luck is always following her. Hence a series of flashbacks as Toritsuka explains to Saiki all the bad luck the class has seen befall on her. From entering the class after being hit by a hearse to writing her name on the board with blood. Because he was trying to be considerate to her, the teacher put him in charge of showing her around school. Yup, her bad luck is also affecting him. Now she wants him to help her point the direction to the lab. Toritsuka thinks Saiki will help him but he went off to enjoy his jello. Traitor!

Episode 4B
Hii believes she is clumsy rather than bad luck. It’s pitiful seeing her blame herself and the troubles she will cause others. At the lab, she is supposed to get dangerous chemical as requested by the teacher! Luckily Saiki and Aiura are here to help. Worse, Aiura sees death in all of their faces. We’re all trying to stay positive until Hii holds bottles of nitroglycerin! Although she manages to put it all down safely, suddenly she sneezes! Luckily Saiki catches the dropped bottles. Phew.

Episode 4C
Hii hopes to be friends with Saiki and Aiura. Because the mark of death is still on her face, we see her experience close shaves with deaths only to cheat it thanks to Saiki’s quick thinking. Is this Final Destination?! Hii explains how she likes to carry a lot of things because she is clumsy and might forget. So why is she still carrying the nitroglycerin?! Too late! Explosion! Again, thanks to Saiki’s quick reflexes in putting up a smoke bomb and reversing time, everyone could have been dead. Hii thinks Toritsuka saved her and now she has fallen for him. Oh dear. Looks like she has bad luck with men too.

Episode 4D
Aiura’s fortune telling is getting more popular because of its accuracy, something Saiki doesn’t like because it might connect to and reveal his own abilities. When he tries to tell Aiura to do less of it, she scoffs that she is trying to help others unlike him being selfish. Of course Saiki isn’t going to let this go. He goes to spy her at work. This fortune telling place looks like some shady red light district… Then we see a customer who wants to commit suicide because he lost documents that are worth billions for the company. Aiura easily manages to locate it. She does her fortune telling to many other weirdoes. Suddenly, a group of mafia barges in and threaten her to reveal some treasure location or they’ll kill her. Luckily Saiki beats them all up. He hopes she would learn her lesson now. Though she’ll be careful now, but what about those clients she helped? They’ll surely spread the word. Don’t worry. Saiki has made sure her predictions won’t come true by messing with it. I guess all of them are going to have a bad ending…

Episode 4E
Saiki is admiring normal boy Satou as usual. However he notices his normalcy is off a little. Because he is sitting next to Hii! He is observing if Hii’s bad luck will affect him. For example, when somebody accidentally splashes water all over Hii, Satou gets wet a little. However he gets to see through her soaked shirt. Hence Saiki summarizes although Satou temporarily gets bad luck, soon his good luck of normalcy will offset his bad luck. More explanations how his normalcy can defeat her bad luck but I’m so lost. Anyway, that normalcy can only negate her bad luck as long Satou is with her. The problem now is that Hii likes Toritsuka but after the ceiling crashed on her and Satou somewhat saved her, this is going to be a problem since Satou is starting to like her. So you bet Saiki is going to hatch a plan for Hii to hate Toritsuka!

Episode 5A
Iguchi thinks Nendou is being bullied! He observes how others don’t talk to him and probably Kaidou and Kuboyasu are his tormentors! Yup, Kaidou may be practising his uppercuts on his chin that’s why it is ‘swollen’! He observes them to get further details. But don’t make it look like you’re stalking… He thinks the guys want to beat him up at the gym when they’re just going to play basketball. Hence he mistakes the bouncing ball as Nendou being beaten up. Then an accident as the ball hits Nendou’s groin. When Iguchi opens the door, the thought everybody ganged up on him. Of course the misunderstanding will soon clear up.

Episode 5B
Kaidou wants to invite his friends to play a real escape game. Hairo and Kuboyasu are in but they don’t want Nendou. They want to draft Saiki but he manages to escape this escape groupie. Hence no choice, Nendou joins in. Saiki is at him as he uses his telepathy to peek on how they’re doing. Looks like they’re stuck in an elevator. Oh wait. Is this supposed to be a real escape game in the first place? Could it be they lost their way in some abandoned building?! Ironically, Nendou is the calm one and the rest panicking. Because he wants to take a dump now! Panic intensifies! Of course Saiki uses his powers to subtly help them until they get out. Once they do, they’re still up for another escape game! I guess dumb people don’t learn…

Episode 5C
Akechi is here to visit, much to Saiki’s dismay. Since mom takes a liking for him, I guess he can’t shoo him away. He hangs out in his room and Akechi suggests if he can guess the winner of the horse race, Saiki will offer him cake. Surprisingly, Akechi guesses right. Sore loser Saiki offers him a thin slice. They challenge each other to guess the next horse race winner. Saiki is using all his powers to determine who has the best chance to win. Unfortunately, Akechi wins again. Akechi hopes to be his friend and wants to visit him again. Of course Saiki rejects. But you bet Akechi will return.

Episode 5D
Once more, bad luck for Hii. But with Satou helping her out, it’s not so bad. Of course Saiki is deliberately showing this to Toritsuka to make him mad. Trying to claim Hii as his, he tries to show off but takes in damage that decreases his luck meter to negative! He gets desperate to ask Hii to go out on a date but she rejects him as she has to go to the stationery shop with Satou. Toritsuka is beyond recovery. But he still follows them. Although Satou’s luck increases, his normalcy means bringing it back down to normal level. At the shop, Hii’s bad luck almost injures Toritsuka. He gets scared and decides to give up on her and leave her in the hands of Satou. He’ll make her happy, right? Yeah, he makes it sound so sentimental and mature. BS! He just chickened out! Of course they realize this unkempt drunk hobo spirit guide who is giving Hii all the bad luck. So only now they noticed?

Episode 5E
Toritsuka has this idea to regain Hii’s love and needs Saiki’s help. Saiki will only do so if he gives up on Hii. What?! Oh well… With Akechi here, Saiki channels Toritsuka’s powers to him to figure out his origins. After that, Nendou’s dad decides to help this hobo guy and help him cleanse himself a bit. New loincloth? Still looking like an idiot but way better than before. His character also changed as he will now be a good spirit guide. Aiura then checks Hii’s aura and it seems there is no more death mark and she is teeming with brilliance. Toritsuka regrets that Hii could have been his had he knew the solution was this easy. Saiki adds to the sarcasm that it won’t be the case. Because Hii would’ve rejected him anyway. Jerk losers will always be jerk losers…

Episode 6A
Saiki narrates he is now an ordinary person after sealing his psychic abilities. Because he doesn’t rely on them anymore, he is somewhat easily spooked when people talk to him. Yup, can’t predict that they’ll come up close to him or something. Even so, he still dismisses that there is no more use for his psychic abilities. For the class project, they are supposed to do research on one of the G7 countries. He hopes not to get paired with Teruhashi as she will get all the attention in class. Had only he had his telepathy to see through the future. Because I don’t think that even using maths and probability can beat fate as he eventually ends up with her!

Episode 6B
You bet a lot of people are jealous of them being paired. At the library, Saiki feels inconvenienced without his abilities but still thinks this is better than before. He is confronted by a couple of punks who warn him not to get too close to Teruhashi. Had he had his powers, he would have easily wiggled his way out. But now, he has to wait for fate. That is, Teruhashi coming by so the punks back down and pretend to be his good friend. Teruhashi is about to get cosy being alone with him but that Nendou jerk came to interrupt and show off his finished work. You call this finished?! Meanwhile those punks decide to get back at Saiki and push the shelf over him.

Episode 6C
Because he didn’t see this coming, Saiki couldn’t escape. But wait. He is safe. Why? Because Nendou covers for him! Of course the punks meet their fate when Kuboyasu beats them up. Saiki feels odd and especially useless because without his abilities, now he needs to be protected. But Nendou doesn’t think like that. We protect each other. That’s what friends are for! OMG. Nendou, you da man! Back home, Saiki confronts Kuusuke because it seems that he is experiencing a few psychic abilities and fears it might be coming back. So it wasn’t 100% sealed? Kuusuke explains how he might not be a psychic, just that his body might have evolved and adapted into another kind of human. He shouldn’t be worrying so much as his body is in the process of becoming normal.

Episode 6D
Of course Saiki feels sceptical. He thought he could hear thoughts of other people and even see some ‘illusions’. The missing books from the library is somehow found in the classroom’s closet as he envisioned and Kuboyasu’s lost keys somehow popped up in his mouth. All in all, he tries to psycho himself these are just pranks. Even more so when Toritsuka thinks Saiki’s psychic powers are back when he seems to be talking in his usual telepathic way.

Episode 6E
Saiki thought it was all a dream when he finds himself back home. However Kuusuke points out he teleported here. So his abilities are coming back? Saiki continues to refute all that and he is just an ordinary human being. In that case, Kuusuke will have to handle this upcoming case by himself. What does he mean? You see, a meteor is going to crash into Earth in 2 hours! Is humanity going to be extinct?! So part of Kuusuke’s plan is to sacrifice is oblivious dad into space? Well, this is no Armageddon… It is then Saiki hears all the thoughts of his friends. Some panicking, some making useless comments, some surprisingly caring (Saiko wants to take his friends to his shelter?!). The clincher is when Teruhashi refuses to believe she will die because God loves her so much that she won’t be killed by this. So do something, God! Goddamn! With that, Saiki accepts the return of his full psychic powers. He also admits he prefers this kind of hassle to the mundane ordinary life of an ordinary person. What was the title of this anime again?

Yare, Yare, Yarinaosu. Saiki-sama, Retry!
Oh well. If this is how it all ends, honesty I am a bit disappointed. No, seriously. I am not saying that this final season (if it really remains to be the final one) is bad but it lacks all that oomph, especially all that had happened in Kanketsu-hen. Overall, this series has been one really crazy and nonsensical ride and although this final season still has not lost its touch on that, the final episode of portraying Saiki as a normal human being somewhat diminishes all that. I mean the last time we had Saiki trying to save the world from some terrible volcano eruption and hence using his powers to restore and restart time to a year. Then we had him somewhat trying to tell all his buddies about his psychic powers and also the possibility of some love triangle, the ‘fight’ between Teruhashi and Aiura (this is just my wishful thinking). What happened to all that?

So this final season compared to all that feels like a downer. Like as though it is trying to come to terms that Saiki is and will forever be one who will be using and relying on his psychic abilities. Which is of course that something that all of us would prefer to see Saiki as. After all, we have seen him the way he uses his psychic abilities to TRY and lead a normal life and with both much success and failure. Whether he likes it or not, he still uses his power. This is the Saiki we all know. This is the Saiki we all want. Otherwise we’d just be rooting for Satou. Haha! Therefore I think that is what this Shidou-hen really means. Saiki ‘reborn’ or ‘restarting’ himself to become a psychic once more. Only with that can Saiki along with everyone else could live their normal lives. Until the next volcano eruption or meteor from space.

Having reached this far and already towards the end, this series as usual pulls off yet another crazy feat by introducing to us a couple of new characters. Of course like many other characters, their personality becomes the running joke and you’d expect nothing more from that as it will be played out as gags. This means with the expansion of the character roster, there is bound to be characters who will have very limited appearances. Even those regulars like Nendou, Kaidou, Kuboyasu and Hairo are already having limited screen time. What more like others such as Akechi and Mugami who appear even less. Like as though they appear just to remind us that these characters are still around. I would have even forget about that Rifuta girl had not she made that 1 second cameo during the final hectic meteor scene. Not enough episodes to play out her running joke as an obsessed Mugami fan.

Although Mera also makes very minor appearances, she is only confined in the background and hence her running joke of trying to do anything for money is not even featured. I guess that cat Amp died, huh? Didn’t even see him once… Yeah, many other characters are not seen (Chouno, Shiragami, Jouten, etc) but they’re so minor I guess we can’t really care for them all. I mean, I’m not saying that I’m disappointed that these characters have lesser screen time. It’s not like we’d expect some character development anyway. But just that since this is the final episode, I thought it would make us feel that all these characters are like one big family. Yeah, family. Oh heck. Who am I kidding. Saiki accepting and coming to terms with reality that he is a psychic is what is more important, right?

When I heard the instrumental ending theme for this season, I find it really epic. Why? Because it somewhat sounds like a spoof of Europe’s Final Countdown!!! It is so freaking catchy especially with that funky bass line and electric guitar to go with the special effects. OMG!!! This is so epic!!! I believe I’m addicted to it because I can’t stop listening to it. Unfortunately I can’t find the name of this song as it is not listed anywhere in the credits (maybe I didn’t look hard enough) because I am sure I would love to hear the entire full song. Or maybe this is the full song itself. Ah heck, I’ll just make do with this one. Take it from the top again!

Overall, it has been one really long and crazy ride. This season feels a bit less great than its predecessors but it is still a good watch. The same ol’ crazy wacky formula is why old fans and viewers flock to see this. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. An advice we all want to tell Saiki too! Don’t be a normal high school guy when you can be a powerful cynical psychic! I’m not sure if they are going to troll us again and put out a few more episodes in the future. After all, Shidou-hen might be the extended chapters for the Kanketsu-hen but name wise it isn’t technically the end. Until we have the final of the most final of final Kanketsu-hen. Well, I have come to terms that this is the end of the series and I am happy to leave this series with happy and wonderful thoughts. Because I certainly don’t want to see another reboot of this series in the near future. Not the kind of Shidou-hen that I would really want! Please, you people out there. Please don’t you ever think of restarting Saiki like that.

Val x Love

Imagine the world is on the brink of destruction from demons. God somehow can’t save it. Instead, he sent his daughters down to do the job. However it is not their raw powers that will help save the world. Because they have to go an extra step of finding love. Yup. They said love brings out the power in the maidens as love is their source. What kind of love? Perhaps one of the most ugliest and scary looking kids in Japan to make love with them and prove that it is love that will save the day. I kid you not, this is actually the premise of Val x Love. It is one of those cheesiest and twisted of excuses to bring about your typical fanservice. Of all things… Of all things! Anybody could have thought up a better reason, excuse, plot, story, outline, whatever. But they come up with this. Are you serious?! Did anybody think that they seriously thought this could actually fly? Yeah, it did. Oh well. A fanservice harem, huh? I guess it’s better than overpowered isekai genre. Heh.

Episode 1
The guys are talking which girl will be the one who will win this year’s school beauty contest. Will it be the doll-like Natsuki? Or would it be the student council president, Itsuyo? Perhaps idol Mutsumi will take the crown. But when suddenly a ‘demon’ stands up, everyone cowers with fear! Actually, Takuma Akutsu just wants to go home but because of his big size and scary face, they think he is going to kill them! Yeah, some even jump out of the window! The scariest teacher is even afraid of him! Some think he is that serial killer because there have been incidents of the killer wearing a demon mask going around killing people. Takuma is actually a gentle giant. Just because of his frightful looks, others stay away from him. He too developed a phobia of humans and thinks the only thing he needs is his books. Yeah, he doesn’t need friends. He returns home only to see those aforementioned hot chicks changing. Some are pleased, some aren’t. It seems not only they are residing in his house but the rest of the other Saotome sisters including Futaba, Misa, Yakumo and Kukuri. He really wishes they would leave but can’t find a way to tell it to them nicely. Futaba thinks Takuma is interested in Natsuki and sets them up to study together. Cliché moment when his eraser dropped between her legs and he had to go pick it up! What does this pervy scene look like?! We all know he doesn’t have a dirty mind. His dream is to fulfil his late mom’s wish to study hard and become a respectful person. Futaba then sends them out to do errands. Suddenly a real demon pops up and starts attacking. Natsuki manages to put up a barrier but cannot hold much longer. Because of Takuma acting like a coward, she feels disappointed in him. Until he shields her from an attack. She realizes nothing has changed and hence this weird make out scene so she can power up and transform into her Valkyrie mode and defeat the demon. Yeah, some Norse legend about how the Valkyries are powerful the more love they have. That is their source of power. Why does this sound like a porn setting? The sisters are glad with this outcome as Futaba calls the eldest sister, Ichika to accept Takuma. However she still refuses to accept that weakling. Flashback sees Odin, the ruler of Asgard communicating with Takuma. Midgard will be engulfed in flames in a few days from demons and he wants Takuma to help. Don’t worry, he won’t go empty handed. He bestowed him his 9 beautiful daughters, the Valkyries so that he would grow and become stronger by falling in love with them. Love will save the world! Told you this sounds like a porn plot! I guess Thor is busy away at MCU saving the universe with Avengers from Thanos! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

Episode 2
Itsuyo is the top scorer across her grade for the exams. Mutsumi also does well but Natsuki not so. You think Takuma’s grade would be good too since he studies a lot. Wrong! He is dead last! Thanks to his phobia of people, he can’t concentrate on studying. Natsuki sounds mad at him not because she is so but rather she is frustrated he worked so hard and yet he still failed. Takuma is called to the AV room. Suddenly Itsuyo binds him with his chains. So she intends to power up now by dating him? Okay. Whatever. It seems Itsuyo doesn’t really care about Takuma. All she cares about is becoming the strongest Valkyrie and then earn Odin’s praise. Basically, father complex. However everything she tries failed because Takuma himself is nervous with this close proximity. Later a demon is spotted and realizing she is not strong enough to tackle it yet, Itsuyo wants Natsuki to fight it first to buy time for Itsuyo to power up and then join in to help. So this is all part of Natsuki’s sly plan to get even more intimate with Takuma. She thinks she can do better than Natsuki’s kiddie kiss on him. Oh yeah. Sexy time. Is this were they start f*cking? Unfortunately as we know, Takuma isn’t stimulated but he is getting so nervous that he is getting a headache! And of course after all that mature adult talk, Itsuyo baulks and slaps him! WTF. She feels she has not changed and is still a cry-baby as always. Takuma seeing the tears in her eyes remembers how mom used to pat him when he is sad. He does the same on Itsuyo. His giant hand felt like Odin’s warmth. I guess a kiss is enough for Itsuyo to turn into Valkyrie mode. Just in time because Natsuki almost got tentacle raped by the demon! With Itsuyo’s chains binding down the demon, Natsuki easily destroys it. In the aftermath, things return to normal. Natsuki notes something intimate must have happened between Takuma and Itsuyo and hopes he could keep this up and cure his phobia. Why doesn’t she look happy? One of the student council members, Tooru Inukai AKA Garm is actually a watchdog and he is not happy this is how the lover of Einheijer presents himself.

Episode 3
It’s Mutsumi’s turn to date Takuma. In order to level up, she has to successfully finish this date without anyone recognizing her as the famous idol. At the café, a classmate Yamada brags about being the tough guy and badmouths Takuma. Once he realizes Takuma is sitting behind him, that guy apologizes and jumps out the window! However everybody else thinks it was Takuma who threw him out. Although Takuma is used to this, Mutsumi feels bad for him and only by the fact that everyone is afraid of Takuma that is keeping their focus away from her. Their date continues and Garm is watching them. He intends to break their date up but has a better idea. Instead he unleashes a mini demon. It doesn’t have battle abilities but it blurts out that Mutsumi is here. This gossip lover demon has everyone in a frenzy to look for Mutsumi. Takuma takes Mutsumi’s hand and run. She loves this feeling despite the chaos? Trapped, the duo hide in a locker. Yeah. A very tight space. Oddly, Mutsumi is really having lewd thoughts and is hoping Takuma would get it on with her. Too bad. Your guess is as good as mine. This guy is so nervous that he is reciting his studies! Oh Mutsumi, you sound so disappointed. Mutsumi needs to kiss Takuma so that she could power up and use her wings to fly away. However their height difference means their lips can’t meet! So how? Unbutton his shirt and start kissing his chest?! You see, there’s this kiss chart whereby the further the body part a Valkyrie kiss, the longer it will take to activate her powers. I guess blowjobs are out of the question in such desperate times, huh? F*CK THIS LOGIC!!!!! And the mob is starting to notice something strange going on in the locker. Will they make it? Yes they do. Whoosh! Out they fly into the sky. Best part of this date is the view of the beautiful sunset. Takuma has fond memories watching this with mom. The date is successful and Mutsumi gains more experience points. It seems Ichika was there and partly help distract the mob to let the duo get away. Garm also realizes Mutsumi had a bodyguard and felt right not to head straight for her. Ullr warns him to quickly rid of the Valkyries but Garm tells him he needs to perfectly prepare them to be devoured. Speaking of which, the upcoming school cultural festival will be the ideal Valkyrie hunting ground.

Episode 4
All work and no play makes Takuma a dull boy. Hence the sisters try a change in pace by playing a game of tag. But with a twist. The person who is it must snatch panties! WTF?! And it’s everyone’s worst nightmare when Futaba becomes it. I suppose this is to let Takuma have some weird moments with some of the sisters like him petting Itsuyo’s head (because she ‘allows’ him). And then he gets blasted away by Misa so that she and Itsuyo could take on Futaba, this lands him in a very compromising position with Yakumo. Loli doesn’t appreciate his molest and tells him to go die! While Yakumo and Natsuki fend off Futaba, Takuma thinks of hiding in the storeroom but he hears the voice of Shino from inside as she tells him about some story of a coward. Eventually, it’s some lesson to tell him to fight and reach for his goal instead of running away. Game is over when it is revealed this whole tag is to give Takuma a study charm. Eh, I don’t think he feels refreshed after all this tension. I don’t even know panties got involved… With the festival around the corner, the girls want to take this chance to level up. They are concerned with Odin’s recent wrong oracles. Are there any suspicious people around lately? Not that they could think of. Natsuki looks forward to the festival but she is somewhat irked that Takuma doesn’t pay attention to her? Yeah, just staring at his books. Since their class is doing maid café, she gets the honour to dress up and test out the maid outfit. Not bad, I approve! So they have to test out whether it works too? Like Natsuki have to serve Akuma?! Yeah, lots of jealous guy. Demon guy so anxious. Maid cutie anxious. Inukai doesn’t even know WTF he is doing here. He must be cringing inside although on the outside he puts on a very nice face. As you can expect, Natsuki tries to serve him but with both being nervous, cue for this cliché ambiguous scene of cream dropping all over Natsuki’s face and she over him. Inukai then releases something that turns all the jealous guys into attacking demons. WTF Natsuki gets weak when one of them licks her feet?! And when she calls out Takuma’s name for help, instantly he becomes Superman and beats the crap out of all of them. Yeah, who needs Valkyries. No wonder Inukai is relishing their human form is so weak. On the way home, Natsuki once more chides Takuma for just studying. Until he notes she was cute in the maid outfit. That caught her off guard. Embarrassed Natsuki runs all the way home while poor Takuma is left to wonder if he said the wrong thing.

Episode 5
The cultural festival is here. Yakumo must be a sadist as she forces Takuma to lick her dripping wet hand. And then when he gets clumsy and spills all over her, she undresses and wants him to lick all the wet parts! Thankfully (or not) Natsuki is here to stop this unholy act. With the other sisters here, Futaba asks if Takuma would like to be Natsuki’s partner for the dance party. Because he fears others would hate him for it, he thinks she would be better off with someone else. Of course Natsuki takes that to heart and she’s not pleased. Hey, wasn’t it her fault being a tsundere and said she haven’t thought of dancing with him? Then Takuma joins Misa and Kukuri in the haunted house. Big strong guy scared of ghosts or people? Kukuri as a goddess scared of ghosts? Misa tries to talk to him about Natsuki. Apparently some jealous guy had his eel slipped and it entered Misa’s clothes. I don’t even know how it swims around like that. You want Takuma to take it out? Don’t be mad when he feels you up. Greatest molestation scene for now. Once he grabs the eel (too bad it wasn’t her pussy!), he rushes out and lets it go in the pond. He is then approached by Inukai who then slices a hole in his guts! Because it is cue for the demonic party to start. A huge demon pops up and some of the guests are being controlled by the demons. The Valkyrie sisters rush to contain the enemy but they are puzzled that Takuma is nowhere to be seen. Could it be he fell victim to the enemy? With more and more demons attacking, I guess we need the obligatory tentacle rape scene. Yup, those demon hands outraging the modesty of Itsuyo and Mutsumi. Best feast ever for now. Meanwhile Takuma is with Garm who is enjoying this entertainment. Takuma is weakened and being pessimistic, believes for the umpteenth time he can’t keep his promise. And of course a flashback of having an argument with Natsuki about his uselessness. Even if all that was true, he has come to her rescue many times. That is why she will keep continuing to believe in him because she believes inside his soul resides a sword that is greater than everyone else. I hope she didn’t mean his dick… Haha! Anyway, this gives Takuma the strength to stand back up but still Garm pounds him. Don’t interrupt his meal. Sorry, Futaba is here to interrupt. She found him thanks to Ichika tagging everyone at the festival. Boy, it sure took some time, huh? You know she’s serious and badass when she puts on her glasses. She doesn’t want his pantsu but his life. Wait. Garm wears pantsu?! Of course not, silly!

Episode 6
Futaba keeps Garm busy while she lets Takuma escape. However Garm’s fangs shred open his stomach till his body rips apart! Fortunately, his charm turned into some Misteltein tree and put him back together again. He fights his way through the demons (with some help from Ichika) to get to Natsuki. Girl slaps him for being so late. Then she hugs him and is relieved he is fine. He just went through sh*t, you think he is fine?! In order to power Natsuki up, they must enter this Val Love ritual in which they must ‘embrace without a stitch of clothing and kiss deeply for 5 minutes’. Gee, glad they specified this part. But they didn’t say anything about penetration… Yeah, somebody wrote this sick part so we can have our twisted fanservice. So the duo start off by wiping each other’s body. Yeah, it’s a slow start since they’re anxious. But better hurry, the sisters are going to get tentacle raped! Once they’re done, it is the deep kissing we’ve been waiting for. Okay… Natsuki seems to be feeling uneasy. So the kiss isn’t working? Then it’s like Takuma is so worried about being her lover that some magical book pops up, he starts making out with her that makes her all warm inside. Oh yeah! Too bad we cut to the chase because here comes powered up Natsuki to save the day. After the monster is destroyed, Garm escapes by the skin of his teeth. Garm is chastised by Ullr for his failure. He notes Takuma’s restorative ability and they need to do something about this or it will get really complicated. Mutsumi won the beauty pageant and is supposed to dance with Takuma. But some flashback thingy with Natsuki, I guess that guy wants to dance with her. Of course Natsuki is shocked, her thoughts are all over the place why he is doing this. He ‘rejected’ her, right? Maybe it is to dance one last time with her so he could be with Itsuyo and Mutsumi? How did this even come about? So as she tries to assert her own worth, Takuma clears the air and explains himself. So misunderstanding over? Then she kisses him. Tsundere says this is so that she can level up. I don’t see any demons around… The dance went smoothly. No jealous people looking so I guess it’s a good ending.

Episode 7
Kukuri created some doctor kit. I guess the Valkyries need to learn to take care of their bodies, huh? So this is part of Futaba’s request so they could play doctor? I don’t think it will- WTF Takuma agrees to play doctor?! Apparently he felt guilty for what happened to them during the festival. So is this how he really wants to make it up to them. Dr Takuma now in session. Futaba is up first. Too bad this turned out to be some boring history lesson so she leaves. Misa disagrees with this doctor game but as she leaves, Takuma accidentally pulls down her pants?! So this was assertive enough to get her play along? Yeah, not sure what lube he is rubbing on her. Itsuyo’s turn… Take a urine test… WTF… Mutsumi… Got a dental check-up. I wonder if she’s enjoying the deeper he goes… Natsuki… How is taking 3 sizes a check-up? Despite commenting on her cute undies, he still gets punched. Yakumo turns the tables on the poor doctor because she molests him just to check him up. Kukuri hears Takuma’s woes and adds something special to the suit that enhances the abilities. However it overheats. To avoid taking everyone down with him, Takuma jumps out and explodes by himself. Yeah, despite being bandaged all over, now the sisters play doctor with him by treating him with goodies. Not so bad after all… Itsuyo seeks Misa’s advice on how to date, thinking she is the master of romance. Of course Misa doesn’t know how that rumour got its way around. She remembers she was either pushed around by her older sisters or busy taking care of the younger ones. No time for love. But so as not to disappoint Itsuyo, I guess she agrees to show her how. Hopefully. With Itsuyo outside and taking notes feverishly, Misa and Takuma go do the laundry. Not sure how this would translate into some date but Takuma gets loads of panty shots and boob shots. He manages to point it out to her and despite acting cool, she is flustering inside. She is having too much on her mind and I don’t know how this happened but it’s supposed to be some fanservice cue so that she could end up entangled with Takuma naked. I don’t even… In the end, the chores are done and Misa feels a bit foolish dragging Takuma into this after hearing him thank her because before the sisters came, he had to do everything by himself in this huge house. And Itsuyo thinks it was such a brilliant date…

Episode 8
The sisters receive another oracle from Odin that a demon will attack. Futaba hopes Natsuki will practice transform but nothing happens when she kisses Takuma. You call that a kiss?! No wonder nothing is happening?! Not even a deep kiss! Just got some of your sisters jealous, that’s all. Oh, just in time for Kukuri to show off her invention that shows the sisters’ stats. You mean they didn’t have this before? Thanks to the recent festival incident, Natsuki’s AP is at zero. Right now the only ones who can properly transform are Mutsumi and Yakumo. Yup, date time to increase their stats. I don’t know how holding hand for an hour can achieve that but Yakumo isn’t pleased. Yes, she doesn’t see how father considers this loser to be the one to save the world! Takuma tries to be considerate seeing Natsuki told her that Yakumo is very sensitive of sound. Because of Takuma’s nervousness, this means his heartbeat is very noisy to her. Unfortunately the date fails when he got distracted. Loser. Next he has to date Mutsumi in some private photo shoot. In a skimpy swimsuit. Yakumo being the cheeky devil tries to spice things up by telling her to flaunt her boobs as well as giving a popsicle to lick!!! And then a demon attacks. Futaba and Ichika keep it busy, enough time for Yakumo and Mutsumi to barely make out with Takuma to transform. Apparently the plan is to keep running from the demon because for prolonged time, their AP will diminish and in the end they will disappear. Yeah, would have done this all the time had the demon’s AP not been so high and our sisters’ level so low! No wonder this is going to take a while. And then some arrow hits the demon. It explodes but also hits the sisters. All take considerable damage. And Yakumo is not pleased that Takuma’s heartbeat is too noisy for her to hear anything. Then Takuma seems to be standing in harm’s way. He remembers what Futaba said about his Einheijer reviving ability and hence the only one who can heal the sisters. And it’s like this gives him the power up to fight back. One punch into the demon! And finally successfully summoning the book to heal the sisters for them to finish off the demon. The one who shot the arrow was Ullr. He can’t take any drastic action to kill the sisters off because Ichika and Futaba could easily kill him then. Finding the revival of Einheijer to be troublesome, he thinks of summoning a certain person. In the aftermath, Yakumo tries to be nice and share her drink with Takuma. But since Natsuki got to him first, poor Takuma got is her usual insults. So mean :’(.

Episode 9
I don’t even know how this is supposed to help Itsuyo level up. In a crowded train, Natsuki is supposed to grope her. She’s doing it real hard because she noticed how developed Itsuyo’s body is. It is supposed to end with Takuma ‘saving’ Itsuyo from the ‘groper’ at the next stop. He manages to somewhat do so but finds his hands groping hers. WTF… I guess that’s enough groping for Itsuyo for today. Ullr and Garm prepare for their princess to arrive but looks like she is already here. Skuld and her maid, Roskva give their initial commands to destroy the Valkyries and acquire Misteltein to save the world. As Takuma walks home with Natsuki, suddenly somebody attacks them. Natsuki protects him but feels she can die from it all if this persists. The attacker turns out to be Ichika who is just testing her. She praises Natsuki for holding out longer and improving. However she is not so kind to Takuma. She berates him for being a weakling. I mean, after all those dates with her adorable sisters and they are still this weak? So apparently as Futaba puts it, Ichika is to be Natsuki’s temporary role as the offensive as Natsuki is still weak. And so this level up task has them scrub each other’s back? Because Takuma cannot summon his book, Ichika is unimpressed of him. Because he isn’t playing the role of the lover, her sisters cannot become stronger. What he feels towards them isn’t love but obligation. To reduce the tension, Futaba sends Natsuki and Yakumo in. I think it’s only worsening things… So as Takuma scrubs Ichika’s back, we hear some narration that the strongest sisters who have mighty powers to fight on par with high level gods have abnormal conditions. Like Shino’s sensitive hearing, Ichika has sensitive skin. Yeah… She’s trying to hold it in… Then it’s her turn, using her body to scrub all over his. WTF this lewd scene… Hold in there, Ichika… If this is too painful to watch, then cheeky Yakumo has a great idea as she does yuri stuff with Natsuki just to tease her! Oh yeah. We prefer this one! In the end, Ichika powers up but due to her low AP, she can’t move after she is transformed. Still trying to talk big when her face is down on the floor, huh? Meanwhile Skuld has a plan to infiltrate the enemy’s base and kill Einheijer in a single blow.

Episode 10
Skuld and her team are on her way to kill Einheijer. They talk about the 3 pieces of Yggdrasil Ea that includes Misteltein, Blot and Mokkerkalfe that consist of very dense aether. Safe to say, it boosts all your abilities. The problem to them is that all the main gods have it and it would be suicide to even sneak in and steal them. However Odin put Misteltein in a human and this is within their reach. Why? Beats me. They are intercepted by Ichika thanks to Futaba’s foresight. Skuld sounds like she is a threat but before she can order Roskva and Garm to kill her, in a flash, Ichika owns them all! Make one move and she’ll kill her underlings. Ichika can also sense Ullr sneaking up on her but when she ambushes him, turns out to be just a normal human. This distraction allows Skuld to kiss Roskva as she transforms into her battle form and summon multiple demons. Thanks to Itsuyo backing up Ichika, they have a chance. However Skuld notices her subordinates have also taken a beating and retreats for now. So this is just a warning? Back home, Takuma’s help to level up Ichika succeeds but unfortunately she gains no AP. So breast fondling didn’t do the trick? Not even shopping? The sisters then discuss on the next action to be taken and they have to be fast since Skuld belongs to the Norn sisters, elite troops for the malevolent gods who stormed the Grasil Palace a couple of years ago. Then the meeting gets side-tracked. Not sure suddenly why Natsuki feels worried about the book Takuma just bought could be a porn magazine. So worried she drank Kukuri’s gadget liquid and becomes drunk. I don’t even… Because this is cue for Takuma to be tasked to put her to bed and hence a cue for Natsuki to start stripping herself so as to flirt her kiddie body with Takuma. And they try to make her sound so disappointed thinking he likes porn mags more than her real body. Yup. They’re also trying to force it with Natsuki trying to feel up to him. Stupid Takuma… Reciting to shoguns of the Tokugawa era… So when the drunk mode is off, Natsuki realizes it wasn’t a porn magazine he bought but a magazine on how to date? Yeah, I guess he is trying to understand his role as a lover better but unfortunately he asked the wrong thing (if she had a lover back in Asgard) and gets beaten up. She gets disappointed he isn’t that brave guy her saved her then because she really wanted to confess her feelings to him. She fears he might reject her if she does so now. Because he continues to be dense, poor Natsuki has to give him a beat down. With Skuld ready for the next attack, it is Futaba’s turn to take to the frontlines.

Episode 11
We see the sisters strategizing over how to defeat Skuld. I guess no use trying to think too hard because it’s time for some Takuma x Futaba fanservice scene. I guess it did power her up as we now move onto the scene whereby Skuld and Roskva have summoned demons to breakthrough Futaba’s great castle defence. Ichika and Takuma are scurrying on the ground trying to find that chance to attack as Ichika explains about Futaba’s abilities that in a way makes her the weakest to fight against enemies. I guess it is cue for Takuma to feel bad and call himself worthless only. Uh huh. The guilt of not being serious enough to help power up the sisters in the first place. You wanna b*tch about this now? Futaba provokes Skuld to attack. When she does, it is perfect timing for Ichika to separate Skuld and Roskva. Her aim is to attack Roskva and sever that power she is feeding Skuld. At this point, Takuma who has been feeling something wrong all the while, he realizes that a demon egg is missing. Yup, he counted them before and now he noticed it. He goes to save Ichika right before Roskva attacks her. Apparently the last demon egg was hatching inside her and the plan was to let Ichika attack and be devoured by the demon. Thanks, Takuma? Takuma is left to carry Ichika and run. Because she wants him to leave her here and return to the sisters, Takuma can’t do that. I figure it’s time for that cheesy make out scene in an attempt for desperate Takuma to power up Ichika. In this dire time, can anybody feel good?! Making out interrupted when Skuld and Roskva attack. No worries. Just run and then continue to make out in a safer place! I don’t even… Then a flashback when Odin asked Ichika if she has an ideal guy. Despite all her doubts and contradictions, she does have one. And that’s supposed to be the catalyst that activates her power? Yeah, love making successful. Not only Ichika has powered up to unbelievable levels, Takuma too has powered up as God! OMG! Does this uniform come with the package of becoming Einheijer?

Episode 12
With Ichika going on the offensive, I guess Natsuki has recovered well enough for this dramatic moment of flying towards Takuma, kissing in mid-air and voila! Transformed! Now we have 2 Valkyrie weapons on the battlefield. Skuld becomes agitate and tries to hasten the attack. The power up does break through the barrier and castle walls. Now that the fight is made public, a soul devouring demon tries to devour the public. Mind boggling Takuma manages to stop it just because of his stronger feelings to protect everyone with his soul? This effect also costs Skuld to lose formation with Roskva who is also weakening due to some illness. Ichika would have no mercy in killing her but with Takuma’s soul worn out as distraction, Skuld takes Roskva to escape. It seems this is just a decoy because Ullr and Garm have infiltrated the castle and stole Misteltein. Because Misa has been protecting the other sisters, Garm doesn’t want to leave empty handed and kills Misa. Sort of. Back home, weary Takuma is trying his best to heal Misa. However he cannot feel her soul. Speaking of which, it is floating in some limbo. Not sure how Takuma does it but he goes to rescue her! If only Takuma could continue to be such a manly man like this all this time… Misa returns to life, turning some of her sisters into big cry-babies. Shino for the first time introduces herself to Takuma. With the recent developments, looks like she will be vital as she is the strongest Valkyrie. I take it she has fully recovered? Back to normal life, finally Takuma has got top spot in his grade. It’s no surprise. Not only he burnt the midnight oil to study but he has hot babes living with him as distraction. Plus, he has to save the world! So do you not think he deserves being number one???!!! And for some strange reason, the timing of him declaring he loves the sisters could’ve been worse. Yup, he does it while they are changing clothes. WTF???!!! No wonder Natsuki gets mad. And of course we hear them think that they know he loves the sisters but eventually would choose only 1 as his lover. Ah, I hope this won’t be the start of the breaking up of the sisterly love all because of a love for a guy.

Fail x Laughable: The Fanservice Maidens
Uhm… That’s it? That is how it ends? So what’s the next plan for the Valkyries and Takuma to fight the malevolent gods? Heck, they didn’t even lay out any plans to take back Misteltein. I am going to assume this is the next plan so why is everyone still living with Takuma? Shouldn’t they go back to Asgard or whatever Skuld and co want to steal next? Oh right. There’s still Einheijer inside Takuma. Doesn’t seem to be all that important to Misteltein. Takuma finally declaring his general love for the sisters gives everyone an excuse to continue staying with him. Because Japan is way more fun that Asgard, right? You bet your money on it, it is. And the big guy who wins this lottery is Takuma. Top on his grades and gaining the hearts of the sisters. Sob, sob. I just love happy endings! ;p.

As you can already see for yourself, the plot itself is just laughable and absurd. It doesn’t really make sense if you think about it. No, seriously. Think really, really, really think hard about it. Odin sending his beautiful daughters to an ugly Japanese kid to prove that love will save the day?! Like, WTF???!!! No, seriously. I mean, really, like WHAT THE FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU???????!!!!!! Something feels so wrong. And like I’ve said somewhere in this blog of mine, he could have sent his son, Thor to just do the job but I guess he joined Avengers and saved the universe from a more dangerous threat in the name of Thanos. That is why Japan and the rest of the world still exist! Thor and the Avengers prevented Thanos’ snap!!! Takuma and the Valkyries are just side dishes, a smaller plot that the rest of the world and even a big part of Japan don’t really care about!

Hence everything tries to point towards the fanservice factor. The fanservice here also feels somewhat like they are shoehorned in. Veteran viewers like me just find it meh. Maybe amateur viewers who just started anime may find those hot babes stimulating. You’ve got the cheesiest and lamest of excuses for Takuma to make out with the Valkyries all in the name of levelling up their AP or whatever. Hence leading to these really weird fanservice scenes. Some of them steamy enough to look like porn scenes. If only somebody had a camera recording all this… Uh huh. It really makes Takuma look like engaging in some sort of amateur porn with the Valkyries. Wow. What a fall from grace. Odin’s daughter engaging in lewd stuffs…

I also find it very strange that in order for the Valkyries to actually level up, hence that is why they engaged in this pseudo sex act. I mean, holding hands for half an hour or taking private photo shoots for an hour? You mean it is that simple?! Like of all things, why these???!!! Yup, your lousy excuse to get steamy. Fanservice logic. I know there’s some explanation on why they have to do this and especially these sleazy-like acts but I wasn’t paying close attention. I was being appalled by all the fanservice. And also trying to enjoy it. Yeah, I’m just as guilty. Whatever. Still, it really doesn’t make sense to have these kinds of acts to level up the Valkyries. I mean, if you really, really, really, think hard about it. Yeah, who the f*ck decides on these pseudo sex acts anyway???!!! And if you fail them, no levelling up. Try again. Oh, an excuse to have more fanservice scenes next time if your Valkyries stay weak. I’m just waiting for the moment that they need to engage in real penetrative sex to power up. That would have been the ultimate power boost.

Thus the characters are in a sorry state and the only reason you care about them is to wonder how Takuma will sex them up. No, seriously. I believe Takuma’s case for being a gentle giant is a classic case of not judging a book by its cover. My guts tell me that he isn’t the best guy there is in Japan even considering his kindness and all. Therefore my conspiracy theory is that Odin got lazy in just picking the guy who will power up his daughters. I mean, he came all the way from the Norse side, all the way to Japan, hmmm, lemme see which guy to pick, eenie-meenie-miney-mo, aha! You ugly kid there. You are chosen to save the world and have the honour of f*cking my daughters while doing so! Haha! Yeah, that’s how I felt it all went. In addition, Takuma’s real character is a really meek wuss who is anxious around other humans. If Odin was in a hurry to save the world, could he at least have picked somebody not having this sort of anxiety? It inhibits the love making and in turn the levelling up of his daughters delayed. It’s a sorry excuse to have those embarrassing fanservice moments. Again and again. And that’s why the Valkyries remain so weak in even trying to defeat a single demon every time. And there are 9 of them! Oh Takuma, you better count your blessings because you are one hell of a lucky bastard to have 9 Norse women to be on standby as your lover! Uh huh. What a weird case of Beauties and the Beast, if I should say.

I suppose there is something amusing in watching Takuma being berated and a punching bag by the sisters. Is this some sort of running joke? Heck, even that stupid running joke of that Yamada guy who keeps jumping out of the nearest window whenever Takuma is around, was nowhere to be seen. I understand that Takuma has some sort of trauma and it is hard for him to just change. But from what I can see, it’s not like he is improving at all. He is still the same scared wimp, having low self-confidence in fear of things not turning out right. Only in such dire straits that he is able to do something. Dire straits AKA plot convenience. Only then he is able to draw out his Misteltein. This guy is one weird case of Dr Jekyll and Hyde.

The rest of the Valkyries fare no better and my guess is that there are 9 of them so that we can have a variety in fanservice. Can’t always be making out with Natsuki, right? Because of that, we don’t really care for them either. Sure, some of them got their back story to tell but I wasn’t really interested. My mind was already shut off. Just give me the fanservice. Heh. So anyway, the sisters do have their own personalities but it’s just the minimal. Like Ichika dotes on her sisters a lot that she feels like the tsundere of the bunch when she gets strict on Takuma. After all, somebody needs to get really harsh on him when many of the sisters are just too kind. Like Futaba who is playing the big sister or rather the mother of the group. And Misa, uhm, I think another sister role but she is more tomboy. Then there’s Itsuyo who has daddy complex and possibly the other tsundere. Mutsumi, I have this feeling she is a slut because from the way she feels the passion whenever doing stuffs with Takuma, it’s like she’s going into orgasm or something. She may be the horniest of all the Valkyries but her idol status prevents her from being a total slut. And my guts tell me Natsuki another tsundere is most likely the one who will end up with Takuma.

Not all the sisters Takuma makes out with. I guess MILF materials are okay in addition to those girls who are of his same age. But it’s a no-no for underage girls. Yup, being lolicons is against the law. This is why Takuma is never seen making out with Yakumo or Kukuri. Imagine this, Takuma making out with Yakumo or Kukuri. It would be super disturbing, I guarantee. Hence, they turn Kukuri into some sort of inventor genius because she creates a lot of stuffs for the sisters. Not to say her inventions are brilliant or anything. It’s just to give a reason why her character has to exist.

Now, my ‘favourite’ character among all the sisters is Yakumo. The way she despises Takuma somewhat also mirrors same kind of sentiments that I have for this series. Unlike Ichika who is just one big tsundere, there is a chance that Yakumo’s scorn for Takuma may be valid. She might not hate him 100% but just that she isn’t too enthusiastic about the circumstances that the sisters ended up in. Yeah, if I were her, I would feel the same way. We don’t know if she’s really a good poker face player but I believe that Yakumo is the one who is being the most realistic among the sisters. She knows this guy is useless and there is nothing she herself can do about it. What else? Just sigh and mock this wuss! Add to his trauma and anxiety! Oh yeah. In fact, Yakumo could have been the best character of the series had they not put those prettier and sexier triplets as the main girls. What a waste. Yakumo should have had more screen time to spout her cynical sarcasm.

If you have been counting, you realized that one of the sisters is ‘missing’. Well, not in that literal sense. I feel that Shino’s character is such a waste as she is stuck in the storeroom recuperating from whatever. Not that I care how she got injured in the first place. But to have her recover there and wearing some weird helmet that makes her look like some discount Goblin Slayer, it’s like why the heck do we need this character for? Sure, she did something to help Futaba during her fight against Skuld (albeit remotely from the storeroom) but at that point it was too late. Like does she even matter? Probably they don’t want to waste it because as you would have guessed, the sisters’ Japanese monikers are based on numbers and their seniority. They have their original Norse name but that would be too hard for many of us to pronounce or remember ;p. So when she finally shown herself in person, oh sister, you’re a little too late, don’t you think?

Skuld as the antagonist feels like a bratty kid trying to get what she wants. She too lacks a back story and it would have been a lot more interesting to know about her Norn sisters. It would have been better if this turned into some shonen style group fight. You know, Valkyries vs Norn sisters. Something like that. It would be interesting to see their side of the story too because Skuld isn’t as bad as the plot paints her to be. In her own way, she protects Roskva as much as her maid protects her. But for now, she looks like some rich imposing oujo-sama. Yeah, notice how she has Roskva that notes of what she says? Well, we better take note too that brats like her will never ever get her way. Especially if they are on the wrong side of the plot.

The action scenes are just mediocre. Because when you have a cheesy reason to have fanservice, what follows next is some cheesy battle to fight demons. That’s why they make out, right? Killing 2 birds with 1 stone. I suppose Takuma isn’t strong enough yet to power up all Valkyries to fight together. That is why only 1 of them can fight a demon at the same time. At the most, 2 of them. Anyway the fights aren’t memorable even though each of the Valkyries has their own special weapons and moves. Heck, they have trouble fighting off 1 demon already and they’ve been freaking lucky so far that the worst has not happened. So as not to let Natsuki hog all the action screen time, hence they rotate and some of the sisters have their share of the battle limelight. But Natsuki has been out of action for so long since the school festival and my guess is so as to give the other girls to shine. Not that it makes any difference whatsoever. Oi, Takuma! Are you sleeping on the job?! Even better, the Valkyries can form some barrier to limit the damage from the demons and let the fight take place within it. Hence not interrupting the ordinary lives of ordinary people who have no idea what the f*ck is going on. Oh yeah. So considerate. So convenient.

Art and animation feel pretty standard. Valkyrie girls looking a lot like cute Japanese anime girls even when they were young kids in Asgard. Takuma obviously being drawn to be ‘ugly and scary’ but he isn’t the worst looking kind of main character around. Worse, sometimes his chibi mode feels really weird. He is just some hollow outline with somewhat appalling looks on his face. Yeah, like as though this feels like his second form as he goes into this mode quite often. Among all the Valkyrie sisters, I feel Ichika looks the most cartoonish because of her big cartoonish eyes. Isn’t that why they ‘blacken out’ her eyes in the initial episodes when she was protecting her sisters from the shadows? The Valkyries’ uniform feels so military-like that I was wondering if this is Kantai Collection or the recent Azur Lane. And the demons they look pretty hideous, befitting their demonic nature but nothing that will give you sleepless nights and nightmares. This anime is produced by Hoods Entertainment who did weird fanservice shows like Nazo No Kanojo X, Seikon No Qwaser, Aki Sora, Hantsu x Trash and Manyuu Hikenchou. Okay, not entirely ecchi series as they also produced Drifters and 3D Kanojo Real Girl.

For the voice acting, perhaps the ‘best’ one goes to Yuuya Hirose as Takuma (Yuuta in SSSS.Gridman) because he really makes his character sound like a retard and wuss. Like as though at any moment he could just die from asphyxiation. Seriously. The only recognizable seiyuu is Rina Hidaka as Mutsumi because this is what happen when Last Order is in her slutty version. Seriously. The rest of the other characters are Kaede Hondo as Natsuki (titular character in Tejina-senpai), Ai Kakuma as Itsuyo (Rossweisse in High School DxD), Yumi Hara as Futaba (Albedo in Overlord), Ayaka Shimizu as Misa (Masaki in Sasameki Koto), Yumi Uchiyama as Ichika (Momiji in Binbougami Ga), Maki Kawase as Yakumo (Junko in Zombie Land Saga), Kotori Koiwai as Kukuri (Renge in Non Non Biyori), Rikako Aida as Shino (Riko in Love Live! Sunshine), Atsumi Tanezaki as Skuld (Chise in Mahou Tsukai No Yome), Mao Ichimichi as Roskva (Bada in ClassicaLoid), Daisuke Hirakawa as Garm (Makoto in School Days) and Misato Fuken as Ullr (Yami in To Love-Ru).

The opening theme is For… by Rikako Aida. Nothing special. Generic anime pop. The ending theme is Up-date x Please. If you are wondering why there are version numbers of the song that makes it look like some programme software update, if you’re sharp enough you would realize that the numbers correspondence to the seniority of the sisters. So ver 1.7.8 is sung by the trio of Ichika, Natsuki and Yakumo, ver 2.6.9 by Futaba, Mutsumi and Kukuri, and ver 3.4.5 by Misa, Shino and Itsuyo. Other than that, the song sounds robotic. I don’t think it’s a bad piece, just that it sounds one kind.

Overall, this is a poor series and a sorry excuse to adapt one with the lamest plot in the name of fanservice. Hot chicks with no character at all, levelling up via making love with the most unwanted (forever alone kind of) bachelor in Japan… Your what-the-f*ck-is-wrong-with-this-sh*t senses will be ringing like mad. Oh well, at least this isn’t another isekai series. Reverse isekai maybe. Goddesses from Asgard coming to our world and saving it (barely). I guess no matter how bad this plot sounds, perhaps it is much better than Odin himself coming down to the world and saving it via making out with somebody! HOLY SH*T!!! Don’t want that gay sh*t plot anytime! The world’s destruction would be accelerated if we are to make out with an old Norse God. He’s no Zeus but still… And that is why it goes to show that sometimes love still isn’t the fool proof answer that can save the world. But porn maybe could. And have a higher chance!

High Score Girl II

Just when you thought you finished a game and watched its ending, little did you know that when you played it again, another secret ending is revealed. And just when you thought that was the real ending, another true ending emerged! Uh huh. That is how I felt when High Score Girl II came out. Although the TV series didn’t really end or tied up the loose ends, I never expected it would come out another season. At least, not so soon right after those extra special episodes were aired. So it was a pleasant surprise to me because I get to relive all those nostalgic memories of the fighting video games even though mostly most of them I didn’t play at all. Ah yes. Street Fighter II, Virtua Fighter, Tekken, even my all-time favourite Mortal Kombat (though this one wasn’t really featured). Oh, what’s that you say? Some love triangle between the gamer kids happening? Oh right. That too.

Episode 16
A more elaborated flashback on Oono’s past. Gouda is chastising Makoto to act like the heir of the family but she doesn’t give a crap and doesn’t want to be stifled by the family’s policies. Hence, she dumped all the responsibilities on her little sister. Poor Oono. She undergoes all the rigorous studies and ‘cultured’ activities. Every day she is so tired and one day she just had it and ran away from home. She stumbled into the arcade and was amazed by everything. As Street Fighter 2 was just out, many didn’t like Zangief because of his impossible moves. Yeah, I think he had no projectile skill like the rest. Hence out of pity, Oono chose him. She amazed the crowd by beating the game! Now everyone can see Zangief’s ending! Next is Final Fight. Because everyone mocked Haggar’s clumsy abilities, again she picked this character out of pity and owned the game! Not until her butler finds her and brings her back. But this left Oono happier. Now she has games on her mind. Of course that fateful meeting when she first played against Haruo. He used some cheap move against her and won. She socked him in the face! Real street fight! Followed by a few snippets of scenes that Oono spent with Haruo in the last season. Now we see Haruo hanging out with Miyao. The latter suddenly asks his progress with Oono. Of course Haruo can’t answer and then asks him back on how to date girls?! Naturally this has Miyao embarrassed so he decides to go to his home and talk things out, man to man. They stop by the shop to get some snacks. Oh, this is the shop run by Hidaka’s family. She’s not in a good mood… And because Haruo makes some snickering comments, she slaps him! Damn, she’s hostile. She’s changed. To quell this, Miyao invites her to Haruo’s place since they’re going there. You bet she’s coming. Though, still with that pouting face. As they reach home, a vision of Guile tries to warn Haruo not to come home now but is ignored. Because it seems Oono and Makoto are also there! Hence as all the ‘main players’ are gathered in Haruo’s room, there is this very heavy tension. Very heavy indeed. Makoto close to panicking as she wonders if Haruo is a Playboy. Heck, Miyao is even more worried than Haruo! Does he not see the gravity of this situation?! Oh my, I fear one spark is all it takes to ignite… And then Hidaka has something to say… Stay tune next time if there will be casualties!

Episode 17
Miyao baulks first. He runs away crying like a baby! Can’t take the tension! When Makoto puts the equation together, she starts to overthink. Before she ends up frying her brains, she decides to escape and go mingle with Haruo’s mom. Not after smacking Haruo. So the thing Hidaka is asking… She wants to play a game with Oono. In the first round of Virtua Fighter 2, Oono masterfully beats Hidaka. Hidaka makes a comeback in the second and in the final set, Oono wins it. Haruo is only shocked that the girls have grown stronger. Gaming wise. I believe it is more than that… The girls leave and Hidaka hopes to have a rematch with Oono. Hope Makoto didn’t get the wrong idea. Oono then stomps on Haruo’s foot. Yup, women are mysteries that men must unravel. As Haruo hangs out at the arcade, he is being harassed by MF (Mother Fuc-, I mean, Mizunokuchi Force). Basically, Hidaka’s gamer guys supporters. They try to make him stay away from Hidaka and their morale boosted when Hidaka thinks the same. Haruo leaves and Hidaka regrets it. She realizes her character changes whenever she is with him. Yeah, she wants to punch and kick him! Oh sh*t! Say it isn’t violent fighting games that turned her into a sadist! Hence Haruo hangs in a seemingly bad part of Shibuya. Seeing a few guys play Kaiser Knuckle in which the final general boss is just too tough to play, the arcade punks think he is looking down on them and force him to play and win it. Haruo remembers Oono losing by a narrow margin so he employs her tactic and it pays off. They get to see the true ending. The guys are amazed and want Haruo to join their team, Shibuya Squad. It seems MF is trying to take over their area so they are organizing a team to fight back. Haruo has settled in Shibuya that he looks like he is part of the hoodlum? Miyao and Doi try to get him back but he is giving excuses that Oono doesn’t come to the arcades lately. Suddenly Doi gets mugged by a few ganguro gals. The friends try to fight back but they got owned! Useless! Oh, Numata is here to settle! Old guy also gets owned! Useless! Oh, Touno’s up next. She must be some master because she defeats the gals with invisible moves?! The guys go free after the teachers lecture them about their responsibilities as a student. As Shibuya Squad figures what games to play for the fight back, Nikotama tells Hidaka that Shibuya Squad’s first player is Haruo.

Episode 18
Makoto slaps Haruo for falling this low. She claims Oono has been going to arcades since Gouda has been relaxing the rules. Could it be that they just missed each other? Learning that Oono has been practising SF Alpha 2 a lot, Haruo worries he might be falling behind her. His Shibuya buddies are here to pick him up but Makoto goes to karaoke with them followed by shopping! The destined match between MF and Shibuya Force is here. Because Mayu clings too close and gets flirty with Haruo, this makes Hidaka mad as she wants to be the first player. And hence she bulldozes her way through all the Shibuya players! It’s not that her skills have increased. It’s just that she’s gotten angrier! Haruo is the final player and Shibuya Force’s last salvation. Can he redeem it? Because Mayu keeps flirting with him, Hidaka’s anger peaks. She beats him! 10 consecutive victories! MF wins! Hidaka even warns Mayu to stay away from her boyfriend! Later Hidaka and Haruo hang outside. Hidaka feeling sorry for what she said the last time. Haruo doesn’t want to hold that old grudge. So does this mean they can date now?! Okay, just downgrade it to hanging out. Meanwhile the others are probably reeling from the shock that Hidaka and Haruo are an item. Mayu is cursing she really wanted to take Haruo’s virginity! Oh, Oono is there too. You can tell she isn’t pleased by her frown. And she shows it when she beats Kaiser Knuckle with a less fashionable character! Not wanting this night to end, Hidaka has Haruo take her out to eat. This weird moment of Hidaka flirting with him and her body language speaks the part. Yeah, he’s trying to talk about games but she won’t let him. Heck she even admits that she is a pervert and it’s pretty normal kids their age think of something like that. Then she says she’s tired. She wants to sleep. Let’s find a room where a man and woman can sleep together. Gulp. I don’t think this is part of the game… Not sure what happened because the next morning as they’re walking together, it’s another one of those Hidaka mood swings. Suddenly she hugs him, crying and saying conflicting stuffs. I love you. I hate you. WTF. Can’t blame Haruo for being confused. She wants him to hold her tightly. You’re probably why she’s pulling this charade in broad day light and public and most probably it’s to assert her authority and claim. Because don’t look now, Oono is right before them!!! OH SH*T!!!! GAME OVER???!!!

Episode 19
Because Haruo lets go, I guess this means Hidaka lost? She runs away in tears but Oono won’t let her. Then they all take a train home. Weird… With the start of the new school year, Miyao and Doi are getting jealous at Haruo for taking the next step to adulthood. Miyao isn’t wrong that he is advising Haruo to decide because staying on the fence will just end up in a painful situation. Does Haruo understand all that?! When Haruo returns home, he is hounded by his mom and Makoto for trying to two-time the girls. He explains that nothing happened during the night since the trains stopped so they had to rest somewhere. Makoto then lets him know that Oono was looking for him all over Shibuya and slept at a manga café. The ladies continue to torment him, even admitting they only pretend to care just to tease him more! Time for Haruo to leave. Suddenly he is kidnapped by MIBs! He is brought to Oono’s room. Is this a conspiracy? Are they going to talk? Nah, going to feel more like Haruo talking to himself… First she trolls him that he is here to be punished by Gouda. She is actually on leave today and this is all part of Oono’s elaborate plan to spend some time playing video games with him. Yeah, even his mom gave consent for him to stay. This means Makoto is at his place listening to mom’s ‘romantic’ tales of her first husband… Damn, she’s going to be traumatized by the way mom screams at night!!! WTF she’s chanting in her sleep!? WTF video game characters popping up and fighting each other?! This is one hell hole! Meanwhile Haruo and Oono play all the Final Fight series. This gives Haruo to chance to apologize for that Shibuya incident. Next morning, Haruo returns home. You bet mom and Makoto want to know the details what happened. Nothing happened. Boring! When they learn that Oono already left the house before Haruo, it could only mean 1 thing: Yup, to settle the score with Hidaka. After all, Hidaka upped on him that night so this is Oono’s way to even the score. Now it’s the decisive match! Yeah, mom and Makoto really love teasing Haruo that they feel pity for the winner of this fight. Haruo not even consolation prize worthy!!! OMG. You ladies just killed him. Hidaka is being sceptical Oono called her out just to hang out at the arcade. Realizing this is related to Haruo, this could be the competition that makes things clear once and for all. In that case, she accepts her challenge.

Episode 20
Hidaka needs to find a game that will beat Oono. Suddenly a vision of Akuma pops up. Seeing her determination, he is willing to lend his power. You bet she’s going to get all that she needs. Narrating that her love for Haruo is the reason why she wants to win and unless she beats Oono, that wish won’t be granted. The girls play Street Fighter II: Grand Master Challenge. Hidaka fails to select Akuma and got Ryu instead. Then she notices Oono also gunning for Akuma. If she chooses him, she’ll be screwed! Fortunately, Oono also messes up! The girls agree not to make this round count. In the next round, Hidaka successfully chooses Akuma. To her surprise, Oono goes for Zangief. The odds are stacked against that Russian character. Hidaka becomes the demon as she pulls off the cheap hadouken move to slowly chip away her life. She wins the first round. By the second round, she does the same thing but keeps wondering why Oono continues to do the same futile stuffs. This leads to her overthinking about what it means to be a true gamer. And then stupid Haruo’s face pops up. Something about not wanting to lose to those who don’t want to lose. This distraction proves fatal as Oono manages to close in and deliver the finishing moves. In the final round, Hidaka starts to panic when her cheap moves don’t work anymore and Oono is literally doing impossible moves to fight her. Hidaka realizes her amazingness is why Haruo probably likes her. In that case, what does this make of her cheap love? Oh well, the results of this match… Probably they’ll tell us the next time! Miyao is talking to Haruo about love propelling forward. Probably this guy is thinking too much because Haruo is studying to get his motorbike licence so as to cover long distances easier. That means he can’t spend on video games and has to save up on the licence. I don’t think playing a motorbike racing game is supposed to give him the right mental training… Only if Haruo can stop thinking video game terms when he is riding for real. The real reason he is trying to get a licence because Makoto told him he should also try to do something other than video games. Because Oono can do almost everything and they’re like rivals, if that gap widens, he might feel inferior again. Eventually Haruo gets his licence. You wonder where he got the money to buy a bike. Actually, Makoto gave hers to him. He rides to Oono’s place to brag. He feels bad since there were some truths in what Miyao said about this. Haruo tells Oono that if she ever needs him, just give a call and he can come in a flash. You’d think she’d be happy but wait. Why is she looking sad and backing away?

Episode 21
Haruo realizes he has been slacking. Imagine a few months of non-practice and his skills deteriorate this bad? Of course the actual reason is Oono on his mind and that painful expression she made. So when he relays his problems to Miyao, that guy is in shock. I mean, this guy never thought Haruo would be in this state after admitting he was scared to realize his true feelings all this time. Could it be for real this time? You bet, because Haruo confesses he does like Oono! Hence the ‘committee’ of Miyao, Doi, Makoto and Haruo’s mom all congregating in his room just to discuss about this. Now that it has come to this stage, Haruo must do something and not just let things be. Heck, even Guile is telling him to commit to this love! As he is a noob in love and not sure what to do, he even admits his own cowardice, having the rest to really think he is seriously in love. It could be that before he becomes romantically involved with her, he must first beat her as a rival. Yup, back to video games. After all, that is the only deep bond they share that no one else can interfere. Surprisingly, Doi suggests a tournament to settle it. If Haruo wins this Super Street Fighter II national tournament, he will confess his love. However it is at Osaka. Yes, that place brought back memories when Haruo beat Oono in the finals but it was only because her controller was damaged. It will be different this time. With Haruo determined to do this, Makoto returns to tell this good news. She hopes her little sister can accept Haruo’s seriousness. But something still bugs Oono… She’s not happy… So we see her having lots of thoughts. Basically, Zangief and other video game characters advising her as this could be her final memories with Haruo! When they let Gouda know about this, she finds it preposterous for a boy and girl to go on a long distance trip. But it seems on that day she will return to her hometown… I guess that’s the signal that Oono is free to go with Haruo! And so Oono leaves with Haruo on a train to Osaka. When her butler returns, Makoto is crying. She just found out that Oono will be leaving for Los Angeles at the end of this month! Apparently Oono and her butler knew about this decision that their parents made quite a while. Hey Makoto, you were the one pushing all this on your little sister, so you’re starting to regret it all now? The butler believes Oono placed her parents’ feelings and the household state to be important. Hence, knowing about Haruo’s case, this tournament if she wins, she’ll cut ties with him.

Episode 22
Flashback shows already back in April, Gouda told Oono that her parents has arranged for her to stay with them at Los Angeles. This means she will attend a new high school, college and even an arranged fiancé. From an instructor’s point of view, she has no objections. But personally, she is sad. Arriving in Osaka a day earlier, the duo explore the city. They only recognize landmarks that appeared in the video games they played. They also played various fighting games at different arcades. Seems Oono hasn’t lost the touch and Haruo continues to lose to her! But this time it is different. He doesn’t feel hate or disgust each time she wins. Wow. Has he matured? However, too many losses has him thinking this might be bad for his morale at tomorrow’s tournament. Hence he doesn’t want to play fighting games anymore and instead they go play some co-op game. Their streak is cut short when some morale police come in to look for kids overstaying their curfew. Now kids at arcades after 10pm, huh? Haruo takes Oono’s hand as they escape. The night is still young but they retire to their rooms. Haruo is bored to death since his TV isn’t working and he didn’t bring his handheld. So he is left contemplating about tomorrow as well as about Oono. Don’t mind if Guile comes in to talk with you too. And it turns into something about wanting Haruo to go barge into Oono’s room because she is waiting for him! But a loud crash is heard from her room. He goes to check it out. The mirror is broken. Could her room be haunted? There’s a talisman behind the mirror too, you know. He cleans it up and thinks she should go back to sleep since the tournament is tomorrow. Apparently not the answer she’s looking for so she beats him up. Now it is awkward as both of them are in his room. Oh Haruo, you mean you prefer to run away and sleep in the haunted room than with her???!!! WTF???!!! Of course Oono won’t let him. Those begging puppy dog eyes… He starts to think about things and eventually they sleep in the same bed. He can’t sleep. Well, because Oono keeps staring at him. Something might happen tonight…

Episode 23
It’s creepy that Oono keeps looking at him. He tries to ignore and sleep but she keeps jabbing and tickling him! WTF?! She also bites him?! I don’t think it’s considered love bite… Woah! Not a dream when they hold hands and Haruo claims she looks cute! And then more biting… Oh Oono, you shy girl? Tournament day is here. Haruo hardly has any sleep and blames Oono who dozed off herself. But he can’t lose now. The players are divided into several blocks for the preliminaries. The winner of each block will advance to the finals. We see Haruo stronger than ever as he blows away his opponents. His love for the woman he loves is on the line! Haruo wins his block and goes to see how Oono is doing. Eh? Oono lost in the first round???!!! WTF???!!! OONO, OH NO!!! We see Oono sitting outside as Zangief and co admonish her about her pitiful state. Can’t be that haunted room curse, right? After chiding her that this means her match with Hidaka was pointless, Oono gets renewed determination and strength. Meanwhile Haruo is feeling disappointed. All that he has done was for naught. Is there any point to continue this tournament? Oh yes there is. Because all the losers will play in a special block and the winner will join the block winners in the finals. And we see Oono breezing through all her opponents! This is the Oono we know! Welcome back! You scared now, Haruo? Oh, but he is so fired up. The finals begin, Haruo and Oono win their matches. This means they will meet in the semi-finals. A fist bump before their match begins. Haruo realizes this girl whom he once hated and unapproachable, now he is totally in love with her. He can’t lose this, right?! Whatever the chart says about the odds stacked against Zangief against Guile, Oono blows it all away like nothing. Hence she easily corners him and takes the first round. Time for Haruo to get real serious.

Episode 24
Haruo wins the second round due to a cheap unmanly move. But that’s okay. He is going to do what it takes to win. In the final round, both are neck to neck and their health bar is at danger point! So close! Who is going to get it?! And to Haruo’s dismay, Oono nabs the final point. Haruo is left devastated that for the next few weeks, he stayed away from video games thinking he failed in his mission. Obviously depressed. Although Oono went on to the finals, she lost. A sign that it wasn’t even an important match to her. However Haruo only realized too late about Oono’s feelings as well as her leaving the country. Makoto comes to cheer him up and tell him the date of Oono’s departure. She won’t say he won’t see her again but it will be very difficult. Before she leaves, she gives him Oono’s ring. This adds to his devastation as he thinks his 5 yearlong battle with her has ended. On the day she is leaving, Haruo is still uncertain. Even mom scolds him for not making a decision but sorry, he still can’t. As he walks, he stumbles into Hidaka. Another makeover? She cuts her hair short. She tells him about the duel she had with Oono and how the fight showed how serious Oono was about him. It also gave an impression that she was retiring from the battle but in the final round, she could feel Oono just couldn’t renounce her feelings for him and it was painful. Although Hidaka won the match, she lost the war.

She also heard about their Osaka trip because Oono came to personally ‘talk’ to her about it and hoped she would give ‘permission’ to have some last memories with him. When Hidaka learns he has received Oono’s ring, she slaps him for getting the wrong message. After all these years and he still doesn’t understand a woman’s feelings (that’s true! No men ever will!), this is actually a sign that she is waiting for him to return it to her. So what are you waiting for! Go now! Hence Haruo runs back to get his bike (mom got it all ready for him). Yeah, time to just cry to the wind. As Haruo speeds up, he narrates about his love for Oono while the video game characters pop up to stop traffic and give him a big push! WTF???!!! Is this hallucination! Oh, don’t f*cking tell me they also make his scooter fly up to the plane just to see Oono!!! Nope. He crashed his bike at the airport. But too late, Oono has left. But good news. Some turbulence caused the plane to turn back. Everyone alights the plane. Second chance! Haruo and Oono run and give each other the biggest and most emotional hug ever. This time Haruo vowing never to let her leave again and he’ll find her the next time. Somehow. Their battle hasn’t ended yet. He gives her the ring and confesses he loves her. Keep it. So that he will find and bring her back. She accepts and all the video game characters cheer in the background. Though Oono eventually leaves on her flight, Guile tells Haruo that this isn’t the end yet. He has just finished another stage and advanced to the next. Use this strength for this new battle and they’ll help him find the best ending.

Final Fight: Levelling Up The Game Of Love
Oh damn. What the f*ck is this bittersweet ending. Not again! Oono leaving Haruo for the second time! Damn I hate this. It feels like that damn Mario game whereby each time he defeats Bowser in his castle, only to find that this castle doesn’t house his kidnapped princess but that stupid Toad character telling him she is in another castle. Yup. Not the true ending, but definitely the best ending will be reached. Eventually. So stay tuned for the secret ultimate true ending: Young adult Haruo goes to America and looks for his gamer girl childhood sweetheart!

I was wondering why this season had a really odd number of episodes. I mean, only 9 of them. I’m sure they didn’t want to put in fillers and waste a few episodes going nowhere. Then I realized that this series actually runs for 2 cours. 12 from the first season + 3 extra episodes + 9 for this season = 24 episodes in total. Well, if you pay a little attention to the episode title which are just the episode numbers, you won’t go wrong.

I guess when you have the romance taking a serious direction, the video games become somewhat secondary. I mean, there are still some good ol’ retro fighting games for us to view but I feel it isn’t as prominent as before. Even more so when the next episode preview doesn’t introduce to us anymore retro arcade games and instead they show us some rotating 3D items. Like, WTF???!!! WHERE ARE MY ARCADE GAMES???!!! I WANT TO SEE SOME OLD ARCADE GAMES!!! Not some tasty snacks from the festival, a jar full of coins, and WTF is this onigiri eraser?! But it is not as bad and weird as this chocolate cake (or is it mud cake?) made in the head of some ugly girl. Man, that one was really weird. You could say it takes the cake in being the weirdest of all the featured items. This means the mid-intermission also leaves out introducing new and current games. What a bummer. I’m no there to see Haruo riding a scooter as the mid-intermission! GIVE ME MAH GAMES!!! Speaking of scooters, looks like they ditch the running joke of Haruo being hit by Oono’s butler’s car. Yeah, that is now a distant memory.

With this season ramping up the romance between our main characters, it feels that this is mostly Oono’s season. Remember, Hidaka already had her chance for Haruo in those extra episodes but she blew it. Even her comeback here to challenge Oono was just a side distraction and perhaps to make it clear that she isn’t as worthy as she thinks she is to be next to Haruo. That is why after Hidaka’s challenge to Oono and lost, you don’t hear much from her. Like as though she went missing. Casted aside as the final stretch tries to play out Haruo x Oono. Perhaps she was hiding in her family store and crying and regretting what should have been. Oops. I don’t think Hidaka is as weak of a girl but there may be a chance. After all, she lost the only guy she ever loved. No wonder that makes her mad. Uh huh. She wants to punch and kick him each time she sees him? Girl, I think that’s the fastest way to lose a guy. She needs some anger management. And then maybe some emotional management too.

Besides, Hidaka and Oono felt like they are being weird and creepy in trying to get Haruo’s attention. For instance, that short date between Haruo and Hidaka after that MF vs Shibuya Force fight, Hidaka was really acting and talking strangely. Her flirty body language sometimes shows that she might be desperate to secure him in and she’s trying to use her womanly charms (something that Oono questionably isn’t good at) to bait him. That hug before Oono might be the do or die moment. Oono was already a weird person not speaking a word but seeing her pulling small pranks on Haruo, it shows her weird and cheeky side. That time they slept together and she kept pinching, tickling and even biting him! Yikes! Is this what you call desperation move? Because of that, the more I stare at them, the creepier they look. Because now I can’t seem not to ignore Hidaka’s bushy blonde eyebrows. And also, Oono has that dead fish eyes. Yup, things are really getting weirder and weirder when you’re in love.

Just like last time, I was hoping that Oono would surprise us and say something. One short sentence or at least in the most minimal of cases, one single valid word. I was thinking this would be the ultimate plot twist and shocker that they will give us. Unless you’re like me who is kinda expecting and waiting for it. But as the episodes dwindle down, Oono remains the speechless retard and this has me really thinking that she has some sort of condition that makes her unable to properly talk. Hence, everybody else doing the talking for her or assuming her thoughts on her behalf. Everything would have been so much easier had she just put it in proper words but like Guile said, women are a mystery and mysteries that men must solved! Holy sh*t. I bet that is not part of his phrases in his video game appearances but whatever. I have this feeling that Guile and Zangief are the guardian angels of Haruo and Oono respectively. Damn, it’d be so cool that video game characters act like your guardian angels.

As for Haruo, realizing his feelings is one step closer in being a true man. It’s okay for him to keep loving video games as long as he lives but he also needs to be realistic. Using video games as an excuse to maintain status quo and be (naturally) ignorant at the concept of love, perhaps that is why things has got ‘complicated’ to this stage. This challenge to Oono comes a bit too late but it’s better than never. We have seen him changed a lot for the better. He doesn’t get mad now whenever Oono beats him and learns to lose graciously. I don’t know. Maybe all that losing streak makes him go crazy so he has learnt to accept he is a loser and hence no use getting mad. This is my extreme conspiracy theory. After all, he can’t punch a girl like how Oono has that special privilege to sock it in his face, right? And I keep thinking that Oono is so good in video games not because she has the talent to excel in other ‘cultured’ activities but sometimes she is so damn talented that you’d think she was the one who created the video game, programmed its characters and skill set. Yup, she makes it look so easy without any effort. Definitely the dream gamer girl every guy wants! If she could only just talk! But then again, many guys prefer girls who don’t talk much! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oops… Now Haruo has video games and Oono on his mind, I hope his mind can take it and not explode! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

And the rest of the other characters are just biding their time hoping something interesting would happen between Haruo and Oono or Hidaka. Heck, mom and Makoto are partners in crime and they have no shame to even admit that they care so as just to tease him. I can see why it is so much fun. But be careful not to bite off more than one could chew. Like when Oono and Hidaka in Haruo’s room at the same time. Definitely, High Tension Girl!!! Even waiting for the results of your entrance exam isn’t that stressful. These 2 can form a manzai comedy team because they are equally hilarious and sometimes make stupid facial expressions. Miyao continues to be Haruo’s best supporting friend in any way he can while I don’t see how Doi has become part of this groupie. Is it me or is there a mini joke that he gets stripped till his boxers? Once by those ganguro gals and another time by Haruo just for being somer berserk dick. And then his dark sparkles become clean bright ones after he accepts Haruo x Oono? Good for him, I guess.

Gouda also doesn’t feel as bad as the first time we were introduced to her, thanks to the last time they reconciled her side of the view. It comes a bit too late that she is supporting Oono so I guess the ‘true antagonists’ are Oono’s parents whom at their whim and fancies just decide to recall their youngest daughter all for the sake of their family’s future and prestige. Oono is a great child trying to live up to their expectations but I was hoping that Makoto who volunteered to not be part of their system would really go out her way to do something if she was serious in protecting Oono’s precious time. She might lack the resources but what does this say about her determination? Otherwise she’s just all talk and some useless bum who only knows how to have fun. All at Oono’s expense :’(. Don’t you feel bad, girl? Oono’s departure to Los Angeles may be the unscrupulous chance Hidaka needs for a comeback. It’s not the best way to settle things but hey, at least she’ll get her man. I don’t believe that she has made her peace over her feelings with her final fight with Oono. It was just to give them some space for goodbyes. Things are already so high tension and it would be just messier if Hidaka got into the picture in the midst of all that. So as not to forget her, hence her final appearance just to give Haruo that push to make that tough decision. You know what they say about time healing all wounds. So give her some time before those complicated feelings of love starts to creep back…

This season’s opening theme is Flash sung by Sora Tob Sakana (who also sang last season’s opener). Just like last season, the song seems pretty fitting for a video game based anime as it is filled with some video game-like sound effects. Also, the singer’s voice sounds flat as always. But the weirdest part is how everyone is doing some weird synchronized arcade dancing. Also, Haruo along with Oono and Hidaka playing some weird hide and seek with the arcade machine? Huh? Notice that the opening scene Zangief defeats Guile? Is this a foreshadowing that Haruo can never beat Oono???!!! And Russia > America???!!! Etsuko Yakushimaru who did last season’s ending theme is also retained for this season. Although Unknown World Map sounds a lot better than Houkago Distraction, I still can’t help that her voice sounds as flat as the last time. I have to keep reminding myself that this isn’t the voice of Oono…

Overall, I hope this isn’t the true ending for this series and there could be another sequel in the future. I don’t know. After they surprised me with having extra episodes and a second season after the first, now I’m prepared for the unexpected. And then the third season never comes. Bummer. But looking back at both seasons, from a general point of view, the love triangle and romance aren’t anything much. Some funny moments, some weird moments. Weird Flash-like animation and a main character who doesn’t even talk. I guess only gamers might appreciate watching this but only if you’re old as me because the nostalgic arcade games are really, well, nostalgic. It is no wonder that so many simple retro games continue to win our hearts compared to big cutting edge advanced gaming technology games. That is why simple pure love still is in many ways better than big flashy and flamboyant passion. The best ending ever definitely.

Anime Characters Who Are Normal

Nothing extraordinary to see here… Move along… This is just a normal blog post about normal anime characters. Nothing special. Nothing extraordinary. Nothing outstanding. Nothing exceptional. Nothing great. Just normal. Just plain. Just ordinary. Just common. Just average. So if you do not want to be bored to death with the normalness or normalcy or fear turning into a normal person, please skip this post. You have been normally warned.

Anime: Pani Poni Dash.
Normal character: Kurumi Momose.
Normal seiyuu: Kana Ueda.
Normal class: 1-C.
Normal thoughts: When normalcy becomes the running joke of your character, can you not blame her for sulking and going into depression each time others call her that? So much so the only place she could find solace is the rabbit pen. I’m sure rabbits find it normal for sulking normal girls to sit it out till the depression is gone.

Anime: Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.
Normal character: Nami Hitou.
Normal seiyuu: Ryouko Shintani.
Normal favourite food: Ramen.
Normal thoughts: Here is another character whose role is played out as a running joke despite how much she hates it. Heck, even her name means so. That’s what you call living up to your name. Because each time she tries to do something to stand out, somehow her plans end up being backfired.

Anime: Working!
Normal character: Maya Matsumoto.
Normal seiyuu: Akiko Kawase.
Normal job: Waitress at Wagnaria.
Normal thoughts: Unlike other normal characters who hate being called that, this one strives to be one. To the point that she is obsessed with just being a normal character. She takes great steps and actions just to be normal but because of this, this might cause some ironic contradiction since it makes her more abnormal than normal. Oh well, it doesn’t hurt to keep constantly reminding everybody how normal you are.

Anime: Saiki Kusuo No Psi-nan.
Normal character: Hiroshi Satou.
Normal seiyuu: Kenshou Ono.
Normal club: Baseball club.
Normal thoughts: This guy is so normal in every imaginable possible ways that even our titular character looks up to him as he aspires to one day be as normal as him. Yup, the most respected character ever in the eyes of Saiki. So normal that he cancels out all the bad luck but this also means cancelling out all the good luck.

Anime: School Rumble.
Normal character: Kentarou Nara.
Normal seiyuu: Yuuki Tai.
Normal crush: Tenma Tsukamoto.
Normal thoughts: Your typical normal guy in the background whose purpose just like many others, his role is to provide comic relief. This means he can never get the girl he likes to like him back as his attempts are often thwarted by Harima the main character. Also, airhead girl doesn’t really like him so I guess that sealed his fate.

Anime: Daily Lives Of High School Boys.
Normal character: Tadakuni.
Normal seiyuu: Miyu Irino.
Normal club: Handicrafts club.
Normal thoughts: He is supposed to be the main character but as more episodes passed, his character seems to have less and less appearance. His normalness seems to have turned him into a neglected character. After all, nobody appreciates the voice of sanity whose advice often goes unheeded.

Anime: Hayate No Gotoku.
Normal character: Ayumu Nishizawa.
Normal seiyuu: Mikako Takahashi.
Normal hobby: Eating food.
Normal thoughts: This one is a bit controversial. Because Nagi views her as the most normal girl and that Hayate’s preference in women leans towards ‘normal’, who else better than this hamster normal girl to be the role model and guide for Nagi just to become one. Ouch.

Anime: Joukamachi No Dandelion.
Normal character: Misaki Sakurada.
Normal seiyuu: Eriko Matsui.
Normal middle school position: Student council president.
Normal thoughts: Another controversial debatable entry. Although she has the power to clone herself up to 7 replicas, compared to those clones, Misaki feels herself as inferior and hence ‘normal’ in comparison to all of them. After all, her clones excel in many things that she can do. Who else to listen to your complaints and depression but yourself? Yup, talking out your problems to your clones is like talking yourself. Hey, nobody knows you better than yourself.

Anime: Youkai Watch.
Normal character: Keita Amano.
Normal seiyuu: Haruka Tomatsu.
Normal goal: To be friends with all youkai.
Normal thoughts: I didn’t watch this anime but I read that he hates being called average but that’s what his friends always do. After all, he is your normal average teenager who does average stuffs that normal teenagers do.

Anime: B Gata H Kei.
Normal character: Takashi Kosuda.
Normal seiyuu: Atsushi Abe.
Normal hobby: Photography.
Normal thoughts: Wow. This sounds like a porn setting. Hot flirty chick who wants to lose her virginity, views the plainest and most ordinary guy as her stepping stone for this ultimate goal. Poor guy gets so confused with the mixed signals Yamada sends him all the time. All that foreplay without any sex… Hope he doesn’t get sexually frustrated.

Anime: Minami-ke.
Normal character: Shuuichi.
Normal seiyuu: Momoko Ohara.
Normal sibling: A younger sister.
Normal thoughts: Two words: Plain yoghurt. Period.

Abnormally Normal…
This list is not meant to be exclusive as there could be many more average anime characters out there that I haven’t discovered. Because they are so normal that they don’t stand out and it is easy for me to miss them. Heh. So everybody here on this list that caught my attention, I guess they’re not so normal by normal standards, huh? So you might have noticed that this list mainly lists down characters whose normalcy is played out as the running joke. Does not include characters from animes who really wishes for the normal life but ends up in some extraordinary role or doing something out of the ordinary. For example, the titular character in Space Patrol Luluco and Shoushin Shoujo Matoi. These girls wished to live a normal life but were unfortunately thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Same goes to a lot of typical shonen animes like Bleach, Naruto, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Fullmetal Alchemist, Nabari No Ou, Kimetsu No Yaiba, etc. Yeah, it’s a pretty long list if you think about it. Also, Watashi Nouryoku Wa Heikinchi De Tte Itta Yo Ne was also omitted because despite the main character wanted everything to be normal and average, she is actually still quite overpowered. Then there is Yoshino from Sakura Quest. She hates being called normal but that is just for a particular project she was doing and not the entirety of her character, if I remember it well. It all boils down to the factors as society sees to what constitutes as normal or not. Sometimes so normal that it stand outs. Sometimes everything stands out that it is normal. Oh dear. I’m so normally confused right now. But that’s normal, right?

Choujin Koukousei-tachi Wa Isekai Demo Yoyuu De Ikinuku You Desu

Oh no. Not again. Here we go again. Not another isekai genre with overpowered characters. Heck, not just one or two or three characters but 7 of them! Yes. Count them. Seven high school kids! However, Choujin Koukousei-tachi Wa Isekai Demo Yoyuu De Ikinuku You Desu (AKA Choyoyu if that’s too freaking long for you to pronounce) can’t be considered a typical isekai just yet. Using that roll safe meme, why, you can’t be considered as overpowered characters in the isekai world when you are already freaking overpowered in your own world!!!!!!!!! So it’s not technically cheating, right?! Yes, people. And so these high school kids who somehow got teleported to this new other world, they’re going to save the oppressed people with their talents, fight the oppressors, bring down the oppressive and feudal regime, bring democracy and freedom!!! We’re going to change the world, people!!! Oh yeah. Typical isekai ingredient from then onward.

Episode 1
We are introduced to the world’s top prodigies despite only being in high school. Folks, meet Ringo Ohoshi (world’s top inventor), Aoi Ichijo (samurai), Keine Kanzaki (doctor), Masato Sanada (entrepreneur), Prince Akatsuki (magician), Shinobu Sarutobi (journalist – holy crap! You mean it’s not ninja?!) and Tsukasa Mikogami (politician – yikes! He just got re-elected for a second term as Japan’s Prime Minister?!). So where’s the top gamer?! Anyway, one day God decided to pull a prank on them because that’s what happen when you put all your eggs in 1 basket. Yup, a plane crash. Tsukasa wakes up and is being treated by this bust elf girl, Lyrule. He is glad that all 7 of them survived. I take it that the plane was on autopilot. I wonder if this is the village’s custom to feed a sick person via mouth AKA kiss? When horse girl, Winona enters, Tsukasa’s suspicions are confirmed. Yup, those animal parts are real. What’s this? They’re in Freyjagard and all of them are speaking the same language known as Altan? Requesting them to take him to the crash site, boy, the wreck is nasty and it’s a miracle that any of them survived. A month later, the magnificent 7 are recovering and blending well with the villagers of Elm. Only Akatsuki seems to have troubles accepting reality. Yeah, too many illusions he has dealt with in life… What better way to get on the good side of the villagers as Tsukasa introduces them to mayonnaise! Tasty! We learn that Byuma are those with animal traits and have strength. Those without are called Hyuma (human?) and some have magic properties and Hyuma are rare in this world. Winona talks about the legend of 7 warriors being summoned from another world to fight an evil dragon. Though, that is just merely a fairytale. Unfortunately, Elch, Winona’s son despises the guests as he considers them as useless mouths to feed. Hence Tsukasa discusses with his team the need to find more info about this world, find a way back to their own world and help rebuild this village’s finance. Soon, arrogant Imperial Knights come looking for trouble. Tsukasa tries diplomacy but I guess they only understand violence. Aoi and Shinobu easily defeat the lowly soldiers and Tsukasa himself overwhelms the captain. They are forced to flee and just to be safe so that they don’t rant on their lord, Akatsuki does some cheap magic trick to scare the sh*t out of them. That should keep them quiet.

Episode 2
Masato rejects the deal given by Jaccoi of Neutscheland Company. Jaccoi warns Elch if they do find another business partner in Dormundt, do tell because it is illegal to do business here without a permit. Elch is puzzled over Masato’s actions. Of course he is lectured about doing business 101 and Masato wants to take charge of this business trip and teach Neutscheland a lesson. Masato easily sets up their own company, Elm Trading Company (ETC). Thanks to Shinobu’s info, Masato went to see the mayor directly and some little blackmailing of his shady accounts got him this permit. With Masato giving more money lectures, this attracts a poor girl, Roo. She is desperate to learn in making money because she is tired living off others. Masato likes the greed in her eyes and accepts her. Masato then talks to a few villagers that ETC will set up shop in the central plaza and do consignment sales. In short, ETC will allow them to sell whatever goods through them with 10% of the cut as hosting fee. Masato explains it really nicely to those business illiterate folks and of course when compared to Neutscheland, ETC is giving them a better deal. You bet they want in on this and will tell their other friends. Thanks to this, ETC now has got abundance of stock without even spending money. Business lesson 101: The most important thing in business other than stock: Trust. In addition to having no risk and not spending a cent, ETC as a small company can expand as part of the rules is having a man manning the stalls. They make a killing on the first day that Roo must be in seventh heaven never having seen so many coins in her life! When Jaccoi learns of this, he brushes this off and believes they will go out of business soon. ETC’s top selling product: Mayonnaise! It’s a sell-out! This attracts the attention of Klaus, commander of a maritime merchant fleet, Sea Serpent. Jaccoi starts to worry when Sea Serpent has switched its trading partner to ETC. Too late thinking of going to war with ETC at the central plaza now. Masato has anticipated this move that they will come and buy up all the goods and sell them with profit. It wouldn’t be a bad move had they gone with it from day one. Because now ETC has the ‘blades’ that will kill off Neutscheland.

Episode 3
Jaccoi’s plan to buy up all products fail because he can’t get anything at all. The merchants who are now siding with ETC are those who were laid off by Jaccoi so that he could cut cost and monopolize some routes. Even if Neutscheland will sell them at a better price than ETC, the merchants will not accept because they’ve lost their trust. They think once this war is over, it’s back to the same old tactics again. With Jaccoi’s loss, Masato won’t completely crush him yet and wants to discuss their future economic plans. It seems there are more drawbacks than completely destroying Neutscheland because ETC might not be able to handle more merchants and he intends to throw some back to Neutscheland. When some guards try to take back Roo because she is supposed to be a slave and property, when Masato asks if she wants to be saved, she says yes but only after she breaks free and proclaims how she wants to be a merchant so she could buy back her parents. With that, Masato buys Roo a 100 times the market rate. Roo’s willpower is worth a thousand times more than the money they earned and this would be a splendid investment in the future. Shinobu reports to Tsukasa on Masato’s victory. She also reports what she has discovered such as the elements of this world. Communicating with them allows miracles to occur. Mages are rare in this world and those who can now reside in the territory of Marquis Findolf. Regarding about the legend, there was a faith called Seven Light Faith but they were routed by the empire centuries ago. Also, other religions were destroyed because the empire believes nobody should be above them. Even more troublesome for them is that if they want to leave this area, they need the permission of Findolf who himself is a real sh*tty person. Elm villagers who were out hunting are attacked by some monster. Nothing that Aoi could handle, right? See? Easily decapitated. But Mayor Ulga is fatally wounded and close to death! Nothing that Keine could handle, right? See? She easily fixes all ruptures, broken bones and sews him back to life! Good as new! Now comes the sh*t part. Guardian Knights under Findolf led by Inzaghi are here to burn them all. They view peasants touching gold coins as treason to the state! But don’t worry. How to get out of the burning house? Akatsuki’s magic! Voila! Although everyone is safe, Tsukasa realizes that Lyrule is missing. Yup, bad guys got her.

Episode 4
Sure, we want to rescue Lyrule but going in without a plan is suicidal. Even if they manage to rescue her, the empire will send a stronger force to crush all of them. Tsukasa guarantees he will do negotiation but since Winona is pleading for his help that they too want to help out, Tsukasa agrees they will lend their power if they are willing to take responsibility of the consequences. With that, Tsukasa hereby proclaims they will advance this world’s civilization by 500 years. They are going to destroy this old world and rebuild it with new economics, politics and values. Findolf looks like a typical perverted fat ass. You wonder why Lyrule is easily submitting to be his whore and that’s because Inzaghi made a deal with her that if she does so, he’ll never touch her village again. At the moment before he kisses her, some spark blows him away. Findolf is so enraged he is going to punish her. Thank goodness for auto virginity protection? Tsukasa and his team as well as Elm villagers raid Findolf’s domain after Ringo’s rail canon blows a hole in the wall. Don’t worry, they have very light and durable aluminium shields and swords to easily overwhelm the guards. Even their arrows are made of the same material and snipers can shoot from a great distance with great accuracy. And then the greatest show time with Akatsuki dropping coloured poisonous smoke bombs to send the remaining guards running. Shinobu has great knowledge of the secret passages as she leads Tsukasa in. But first they have to take care of Gale Stafford, the imperial mage officer. Of course his magic is so basic that even Shinobu defeats him easily. Tsukasa enters Findolf’s room to see Lyrule crucified. And then Findolf shoots him from his hiding! So now he wants to take out his perverted fancies on her? If you’re wondering why Tsukasa stepped right in like that to get shot, it’s because he is wearing a bullet proof vest. If only Findolf aimed at his head… Findolf being the coward he is, pleads for his life and is willing to give riches. Tsukasa doesn’t want all that. He talks about the new democratic nation that he will be creating for all. Justice for all! Equality for all! Findolf laughs at this idea as the emperor will not accept and would have them all killed. In that case, they will just kill the emperor first. Tsukasa fires right in Findolf’s forehead. Don’t worry. It’s just rubber bullet. As Tsukasa gets Lyrule, a strange voice possesses her. She claims the world is on the verge of being destroyed by some evil dragon and hopes the 7 summoned heroes will save it. Lyrule then reverts to herself and learns what has happened. She feels everyone has done something terrible but couldn’t be happier. Ultimate victory when Tsukasa emerges before his comrades with Lyrule secured.

Episode 5
Akatsuki puts up a magic show to charm the crowd and then gives them mayonnaise! Yeah, that will be the clincher to make them worship this new God! This is part of Tsukasa’s plan to use religion to unite everyone. They will be calling themselves Seven Light Faith and hopefully they may come into contact with the real deal. Walter Von Haizerad as the mayor of Dormundt knows he is numbered and tries to flee. Ah, but Tsukasa confronts him and wants him to continue serving as mayor and pledge his allegiance to Seven Light Faith. It’s better than running away and living in some unknown land in fear of repercussion. With the mayor doing that, the people rejoice. The guards of Dormundt also welcome this but it seems their captain, Zest Bernard calls it quits. It’s like Tsukasa knows what he’s thinking and goes to talk to him so as the request him to be the captain of the knights. Sorry no can do. He made up his mind to quit as there is something he needs to do. So has Tsukasa’s plan fail? He is no politician if he has no backup plan! Yup, this means going to talk to him again the next day. This time outlining the details. Bernard still sticks to his guns because of his daughter. His wife died of an epidemic so I guess he realized that with the Seven Light Faith ‘bringing trouble’, the empire will launch an attack. If this place becomes a battlefield, he won’t be able to live with his daughter anymore. Hence, there is no more reason to remain as a knight. Now it’s Tsukasa’s turn to put in some smooth operator convincing. We’re not after loyalty, just comrades who will fight alongside them. He can always put his daughter’s priority first and that is never something pathetic. And they need people like him to drive this revolution and change this world. It is their world after all. Their freedom! Oh yeah. You bet he is now in. But all is not going smoothly as Tsukasa expects some opposition especially the nobles who are losing grip on their power. He will keep a close eye on them. Shinobu uses her sexual appeal to get info from soldiers about Oslo El Gustave. A merciless perfectionist who kills all those who oppose the emperor. Yeah, nothing like doing more research by going to meet that guy. Speaking of which, Inzaghi pleads to Gustave for help to restore the lands from the rebels. However he got decapitated for shameless clinging to life despite being an Imperial Knight. Time for Gustave to go burn things down himself. Oh damn, he’s got fireball power???!!!

Episode 6
Tsukasa puts into action his reform plans. Haizerad wonders if he does get any rest because like the rumours say, the Seven Light Faith do not sleep. Tsukasa assures him he does rest but only after the work is done. Technically a politician’s job is never done so… Of course Tsukasa is making the nobles work hard so he has to play his part and can’t be taking rests, right? Ringo has finished creating the power plant and weapons factory. Tsukasa hopes her aerial defence will be ready because they need to be prepared from attacks from the sky. He heard some disturbing news from Shinobu regarding Heaven’s Flames that could obliterate an entire city. It was used in the last war by Gustave. Lyrule tries to help around but there is nothing Tsukasa has for her. This makes Lyrule wonders if he hates her because recently he has been distant too. Oh please, don’t cry… So what a desperate girl to do than to barge into his quarters to convince him that he is a special person. He tries to scare her off that he killed his own father. Flashback shows Tsukasa admired his father who was a politician. However he found out his wealth and power were made via corruption and deception. With the help of Masato and Shinobu, Tsukasa brought him down and he was sentenced to death. Naturally mom hated him for that but Tsukasa still cannot forgive his dad’s crimes. After Lyrule sheds some tears, she assures him she will never come to hate him. And like how politicians must bend their will to their people, he relents and gives in. So he starts off by sleeping on her lap. Hope no scandal… Oh dear, Ringo is watching and she looks pretty jealous! Roo is having a hard time with the multiplication table so Akatsuki, Keine and Aoi motivate her with stories of their own childhood, how they memorize and practised things and became good at what they are now. To further motivate her, why not visualize money? And with that, she can actually make multiplications faster than a calculator! Future merchant guaranteed… But Roo is soon depressed. Why? Now she has to do divisions. Money all going away… Sad Roo so sad…

Episode 7
Shinobu and Elch are being treated to great hospitality in this small village. After they retire to their room, Shinobu then drops he drunkard act and reveals her observations. She noticed the villagers are starving and have signs of malnutrition. Yet they didn’t touch the food they offered to them and pestered them to keep eating. Shinobu then leads Elch to the basement of the inn to reveal this village’s true nature. They kill and steal from travellers and sometimes even eat them! The villagers are rounded up for an inspection by Silver Knight, Jeanne Leblanc. Everyone puts up a nice smile and greeting. After everyone is dismissed, she spots a child having a small dirt on her clothes. Because this is a violation, she has her punished. Her mom begs for leniency but is only told to smile. Elch wants to rescue her but Shinobu reminds him the villagers tried to kill them. But of course they can’t wish death upon their enemies, right? So Shinobu pops up and offers a deal to Jeanne. Let the child go and she’ll surrender to them without resistance. Thinking she is from the Yamato Empire of the east, Jeanne agrees. Later that mom thanks Elch but he cannot forgive them for what they have done. The mother explains this was a small wheat growing village but ever since it became under Gustave’s domain, he enforced a beautification plan upon it and worse, the villagers do so out of their own pockets. Naturally they starve as they cannot get their hands dirty to farm so they had to eventually resort to this dark tactic. Jeanne is about to torture Shinobu but of course she slips out easily. However Jeanne thanks her for saving that little girl. She reveals she is from Azure Brigade and in service to Count Blumhardt and is worried for the future of Gustave’s region. Because it seems the Yamato Empire also views Gustave as their enemy. So the enemy’s enemy is my friend? She wants Shinobu to help he alleviate the suffering of the people. Gustave is amazed with this huge golden statue of the emperor and wants 4 more statues to be made. However his attendant advises the people will die as they will not have enough to eat. Gustave doesn’t care because it is their role to die for his majesty. But when he learns the uprising on Findolf has not been quelled simply because they are waiting for winter to be over, Gustave goes into rage! Hey, don’t taint the statue with your blood! Hence he takes his hot burning spear and throws it at Dormundt’s direction. Ringo’s radar detects it in time. However her anti-air missiles fail to stop it. Tsukasa has researched Heaven’s Flames and believes it to work like a bomb and wants her to change its trajectory. Well… the spear evaded that too! Brace for direct impact!

Episode 8
The spear hits the centre but the entire Dormundt didn’t explode. Just go up in flames first. And there’s a giant fiery spectre of Gustave cursing everybody. Thanks to the fast action of the people, the damage is limited for now. The fire stops spreading thanks to the wider streets but that won’t stop Gustave as he sends fire zombies to attack! Don’t get touched or you’ll be engulfed in flames! As everyone retreats, Lyrule mentions the only way to stop all the fire is to destroy its source, the spear. That is what is binding the fire spirits. Unfortunately she doesn’t know how she knows about this and the moment the fire started, all the details were ‘downloaded’ into her head. Tsukasa’s idea is to use a guided missile by Ringo’s AI mascot, Kumausa to destroy the spear. Aoi volunteers to guide it there. You’re wondering why she is running along with the missile instead of riding it. Ah, I see it is to brake and turn it whenever there is an obstacle. I’m still amazed that her bare feet isn’t f*cking destroyed by all the braking yet!!! When she gets to the centre, she has to deal with Gustave’s spirit. Hey, she can ride it and guide the missile as well?! When she locates the spear, all that is left is to let the missile lock onto it. When Gustave’s hands try to stop it but Aoi cuts them down with her wind slash. Wait a minute. Won’t air feed the fire?! Whatever. A direct hit and instantly all the fire is doused. The real Gustave is reeling from this painful defeat. Uh huh. His real hands are cut off! But he is so mad that he materializes a pair of fire arms???!!! Tsukasa thanks Lyrule for her help and even quells her worries that it was somehow her fault (because there were a few casualties). Hey, if this is the future and freedom you’re fighting for, it isn’t going to be 100% flawless victory, you know. Lyrule then reveals about that strange voice in her head that told her everything. Because of that, she wants to study magic to be useful in the future. Later, Shinobu calls Tsukasa and is ashamed of herself that she didn’t know Gustave would fire the spear so soon. But she assures him that he won’t be doing that again soon or firing multiple times because of the amount of time he needed to bind the fire spirits. Tsukasa also wants her to investigate more on Azure Brigade since they aren’t entirely certain if they are their allies. With Bernard’s modernized armed forces ready, Tsukasa is ready to strike back.

Episode 9
Gustave is so mad that he is ordering the soldiers who are supposed to march into Dormundt after winter, to march there right now or die! Hence Marquis Arclide and Marquis Buchwald are forced to take their soldiers and trek to the next checkpoint in this brutal blizzard. But before arriving, they are being sniped by Bernard’s team who have already taken over the checkpoint. Arclide immediately calls for a retreat. He also makes a false report that all his troops are dead to deceive the enemy so that when they are lured out into the open, they will encounter his heavy armoured cavalry. So if bullets can’t harm them, what can? Grenades! Yeah, everything just as planned by Tsukasa… Arclide has no choice but to really retreat this time. You think his own kingdom walls are safe? Then drones fly in to demand their unconditional surrender or else you don’t want to be like this tower taken out by their homing missile! Meanwhile Gustave gives a rousing speech to his troops to kill every traitor. That is when Jeanne tries to assassinate him but it failed. However Jeanne then calls her Azure Brigade to rise. You mean the entire Gustave’s army belongs to Azure Brigade? Jeanne and Shinobu fight Gustave. You can tell he is never going to surrender. A tough fight. Jeanne’s stab can’t kill him. Chandelier couldn’t kill him. Well, so as not to make our heroines dirty their hands, Gustave uses his own blood as bomb and self-destructs! Of course our heroines escape in time. In the aftermath, Shinobu reports to Tsukasa. It is unsure if Gustave is really dead because his body was never found… Arclide humbly joins Seven Light Faith. It’s the only way. They have superior technology and all the strategies he thought he had, Tsukasa read him like a book. Yeah. Like as though he is God! Our reward for watching all this: Seeing the girls getting a good massage in their birthday suit! I guess Ringo is the only flat one around so she doesn’t want to lose out and allows Shinobu to do some breast enhancing massage on her. Not sure if it works but it’s a win for all of us! Banzai oppai! Not even sure why Akatsuki is forced to join in. You’re supposed to rejoice and not complain! Are you gay?! Tsukasa and co meet to discuss the current situation. Lyrule is progressing well in learning magic and there is this trust issue with Azure Brigade. They might be on their side ever since but it is hard to tell. Even Tsukasa lays down the truth: It is impossible to get along with them.

Episode 10
Rommel Von Conrad, the leader of Azure Brigade may look like a nice guy but Tsukasa realized he has lied. The statue from Gustave that they need to rebuild the lands, when asked, Conrad says he didn’t know its location. Judging from all the tell-tale signs, the statue must already be in his control. This is bad as Gustave’s death is not confirm, he might come back for it. Also, publicizing Azure Brigade’s corruption may not do them any good as the public’s opinion is in favour of them. For now, they will work hard to earn the people’s trust and then expose them when the time is right. Let Azure Brigade line their pockets as much as they want. After all, money can be taken back easily unlike people’s hearts. Before they can move on to their next plan, Keine wants Tsukasa and Ringo to rest up because she can even tell if they continue to work like a horse, they will fall ill of a certain disease! If that’s what the doctor says… Ringo is flustering since Tsukasa asks her out. Like a date? Hence she seeks Aoi’s advice on how to get close to a man. The shocking thing is not how Aoi is very good in dealing with men and that she is also a good kisser, it’s how her method of dealing with them: Grab them by the balls!!!! OMFG!!!! GRAB THEM BY THE BALLS!!!!!!! Ringo seeks Keine’s advice next. What sounds like a slow romantic act, turns out to be some rape scene of taking off his clothes and then… Uhm… Uhm… Sex ed? You bet Ringo is confused. All that is left is Shinobu. Love is like hunting, eh? Okay. Sounds most plausible. Next day, Ringo’s date with Tsukasa begins. They dress up like lovely Byuma nobles and they’re turning quite the heads. She’s trying to apply what Shinobu advised. No such luck… And now we get a flashback of Ringo’s tragic genius life. She was born a prodigy and won many consecutive awards at a very young age. Unfortunately her mom got jealous till a point she left! Worse, she regretted giving birth to this ‘monster’! Poor girl. She started questioning her own existence and that is when she met Tsukasa who was also her same classmate. In short, he gave her a reason to exist and that her talents are not a waste. At the end of the day, it probably wasn’t the date Ringo had envisioned but at least it was good enough as she got to be with him. And then suddenly it gets serious because in Tsukasa’s bid to protect this town further, he needs something that only she can do. Back to work so fast?

Episode 11
Some Hyuma are being infected with a fatal disease. With Keine running out of antibiotics, some are pleading to Akatsuki to save them but can ‘God’ really save these people? Then herald a group of wicked men from the medical guild that serve under Gustave. Led by Count Serentius, he offers to relief their pain via opium. Of course this is banned under the Seven Light Faith. He dares them to resent that faith if they want this medicine. Akatsuki gets mad and tells them off that he will save these people. His angel Keine will do it. And yes, Keine has found a way. This coal? Those guys laugh and will let her do what she wants. If she fails, they must lift the opium ban. And so we see Keine with Lyrule making this super medicine. Sounds like making poison. Sulphuric acid, ammonia… Damn, they make this without wearing any mask or gloves? Oh well, she’s a super doctor. Eventually everyone is healed from this super medicine. You bet those guild guys aren’t happen and plot to do some threatening and poisoning. Don’t bother. Keine is here to give them a few lessons. After paralyzing them, when called a demon, she relishes in this nickname. Because she thought of killing God for making human so weak. Hence her plan is take down God and help create better bodies for human where everyone is free of flaws and deficiencies! Damn, she’s so scary that Serentius becomes so scared of her and now becomes a goody-goody wimp follower of her. Yes, ma’am. Anything you say! Meanwhile Conrad reports to General Neuro. Knowing that Azure Brigade has no capacity to fight Seven Light Faith and the reason they are just cooperating now, Neuro intends to crush those fakes by lending his forces. His adjutant, Tanganika is even more powerful than Gustave. Jeanne is surprised Raisenach isn’t with Conrad for the meeting. Change of plans. He tries to kill her! He also admits he killed Blumhardt. Jeanne is defeated and you know their weakness is never killing on the spot. Because those horny men want to rape her, this allows Shinobu to kill them all and Jeanne delivering the fatal blow to Raisenach. Shinobu then shows Jeanne a secret room underneath the castle. This is where the golden statue is located. Jeanne is enraged Conrad lied to her. She is sad that the ideals of Azure Brigade to fight for the people have changed. They have to hide since Conrad and Tanganika are coming in.

Episode 12
When Conrad says he broke down the statue, Tanganika is not pleased. Does this guy sound familiar? You bet. He is Gustave! Damn, I knew he wasn’t dead. He burns Conrad alive for this blasphemy. Now he is going to burn everything else. Shinobu and Jeanne better run. Gustave so mad that he burns everything in the castle, including his own men! I don’t know how long Gustave has been ranting about long live his emperor and burning everything but it was enough for Dormundt. To send a ballistic missile to blow up the entire place!!! WOAH!!! When Tsukasa talks about diplomacy and all, Ringo now understands why he worded things in such a way. So that he could take the blame for being useless that he could resort to such action. Ringo assures that he is always working hard for the sake of others. Next day, everyone gathers as Tsukasa announces that Azure Brigade has surrendered the lands Gustave ruled over to Seven Light Faith. Now that they have the northern states, Tsukasa wants the people to form a new nation: Elm Republic. Sorry to rain on your parade but Gustave is back! Not again! After evacuating the people, Gustave turns into a monster to kill them. Oh look. That giant gem in his heart. Gotta get rid of it. I guess only Aoi and Shinobu have the skills to tackle him but clearly not quite enough. With Aoi’s sword broken and stuck in the gem, Gustave now charges at Tsukasa who is taking pot shots at him. Finally his last bullet destroys the gem. Rampaging stops. Phew. Looking at Tsukasa, Gustave knows he is a leader and a fake. He mocks his ideals of equality and men like them cannot save the people. He will eventually come to realize that everything is to be ruled by the emperor chosen by the heavens. Gustave disintegrates. Good riddance. Later Tsukasa reflects on this. There is some truth in Gustave’s words. Tsukasa views himself as an imposter. Unlike his comrades who possessed true skills, Tsukasa as a politician only uses methods anyone else could use. Is he implying politicians are useless and only good for using others?! So true! He is worried because he is not a prodigy, how can he beat the emperor? But don’t fret over that. Because he has friends with him as they all celebrate to Ulga’s newly renovated house. With mayonnaise! Lots of them!

Isekai Cheat Geniuses
Oh shucks. Thank goodness it ended. It is just too bad that it got just slightly interesting when Gustave made his final words that were actually food for thought. But that’s about it. Unfortunately no really big foreshadowing of the next threat and from the looks of those oriental babes trio at the end, they look more sexy than threatening. Yeah sure, looks can be deceiving but whatever. They also kept this emperor a big mystery and we have not seen his face a single time (sorry, that statue wasn’t clear enough to make things out). You’d thought this guy who rules the land with his iron fist and his fearful reputation echoing throughout the land would at least let us have some visual on how he looks like but I guess if we have to settle all the generals first before coming to face the man who is chosen by the gods. There is an order to everything. Including democracy. Hence, no point for Tsukasa to be worried about this first. Better discuss the governing policies for Elm Republic first. We’ll cross the bridge when we get there. Meanwhile their original world must be crying where their geniuses have disappeared too… Uh huh. The economy has collapsed! Nations destroyed! People dying! Riots everywhere! Oh dear. How fragile our own world is. Seven Light Faith is going to have another tough time on their hands when they return to their original world. Yup. Round 2 to fix this wretched planet.

Sometimes I feel that this is like Danganronpa but with all the flawless cooperation and coordination they put together without all the killing among each other. Not the first feeling I had. Also had that same feeling when I saw the recent Nakanohito Genome [Jikkyouchuu]. We have a super duper politician, a super duper businessman, a super duper doctor, a super duper samurai, a super duper inventor, a super duper magician and a super duper journalist all together in one basket. I guess there isn’t any super duper gamer. Uh huh. It is one of those super professions not needed when you actually want to change the world. Sorry gamers. Your talents of being champions of Fortnite or Call of Duty are not appreciated in the new world order :’(.

And as you can see, the plot of the story is pretty much cliché and predictable. Powerful foreigners from another land (world in this case) breaking up the ironclad rule of the nobles and royals and giving the people the voice. And they are continuously being successful at it. Sure, they look like making it so easy and putting in effort that doesn’t seem to make them break into any sweat. For this kind of strategy to work so well, this world has to be primitive and backwater in almost every aspect. Primitive technology, primitive science, primitive thinking and ideals. Voila. Even if this world has magic, it is still quite primitive if you think about it. Because if technology can actually overcome your magic, you’re pretty much screwed in the end. So you’ve got the perfect setting for ‘more advanced culture and civilization’ to bring about tantalizing changes. And of course the common people would jump on board. Sounds like a fair deal to them. They’ve been oppressed for as long as their ancestors have existed so what have they got to lose by jumping on this bandwagon?

So now you see why our other worldly geniuses are so successful? If this world was some futuristic dystopia, they would be the ones having their backs against the ropes. No doubt that they will eventually rise with that kind of super talents but it’ll take a much longer time compared to this one. I might be wrong but I’ve got a hunch when our magnificent seven came to liberate the people of this world and have them believe in a new faith, doesn’t this feel familiar like when white men went to conquer and spread their gospel through other parts of the world? You know, that White Man’s Burden?

Sometimes you want to think that it is all nonsense and garbage that our heroes can pull off solutions and miracles so easily but then again, remember the primitive setting of it all. Also, it is a good thing and in a way mind boggling that the basic sciences in their original world as well as this world work the same. Phew. Thank goodness. Otherwise, how would they ever use their knowledge and create such simple solutions that we take for granted every day? This is why Tsukasa and co are able to build such huge modern complexes out of nothing. Thank Ringo for that too. Somewhat. Incredible yet incredulous if I should say. You have modern day amenities and facilities sticking out like a sore thumb in this primitive world and with all that in hand, it kinda makes them look invincible. Oh, so convenient about the legend talked about the Seven Light Faith coming down to save the people. Just wow. Everything works in favour of our geniuses. I mean, how can Tsukasa and co make mayonnaise in this world so easily? I am guessing they have those ingredients and raw materials here. But the people never actually figured this out? Seriously, no? Something wrong… Yeah, blame the oppression for impeding their creativity!

Personally if you ask me, the character development for our septet feels weak. I guess with limited number of episodes, there is a need to balance between the heroes as well as what they are going to achieve in this world. We have short and brief narrations of Tsukasa and Ringo’s past. It feels just like skimming through and it could have been elaborated further had this series had more episodes. And because of that, the rest of the other characters feel like they don’t really have a back story to their name. I’m sure we want to know how Masato became such a ruthless business. You want to know if he can top Bill Gates or Warren Buffet without a fight. Same thing I want to ask about Keine, is she the new Black Jack or something? What about Aoi and her exceptional swordsmanship? Was she born with this talent or did she hone it through years of training? (But because she is a genius, it shaves a lot of years and that helps). What is Akatsuki’s real name? Does he even have one? Is Shinobu’s intelligence gathering skill that good? Maybe she could read minds, you know. While all these characters do have their moment, it feels insufficient. Like when Masato had his turn early in the series, after his business venture was successful, that’s the end of his role. That is the most prominent part you’ll ever so of him ever. He may be running his business thingy in the background but as far as the progress of this series is concerned, he turned into a background supporting character after that.

Interestingly, Keine sounds like she has a hidden personality. Especially about her goal in wanting to make the perfect human and hence she wants to kill God. Not sure if she was just putting up a show and trolling us or if this is her dark nature that nobody else never knew. It is a shame because it sounded like it had a lot of potential since Keine is one of the very calm and cool characters of the group. Like as though still waters run deep.

It’s hard to believe that Tsukasa is being such a good politician. In today’s era, such good statesmen are equivalent to unicorns! They’re a myth and impossible to find! Haha! I really want to believe that Tsukasa is such a talented policymaker but my sceptical guts prevented my otherwise. Because if he was that good, why is Japan now still a mess? Sure, he won a second term as Japan’s (possibly the youngest) Prime Minister but nothing else is said about his achievements back in his home world. Maybe Tsukasa is not one to gloat. But still, sceptical guts remains… So in this world, it’s like he can test out his resolve and resolution before tackling on the harder issues back home. Yeah, it’s like this world is on easy mode and for practice.

But there is some truth that Tsukasa might not be as a great prodigy that we all think of him to be. After all, what is a politician’s role anyway? Tsukasa just has the charisma to rally people on and this could be debatable if you want to argue if this is a real skill or not. But as long as Tsukasa is doing a good job and stay clean, I guess nobody is going to complain. Yet. Just like the rest, Tsukasa has some sort of past that is clearly not explained and the one shown here is just merely the tip of the iceberg. Like as though Gustave saw through him that he is hiding more than meets the eyes. Something a typical politician always has.

Somehow Akatsuki feels like the weakest among the septet. Because among the septet whose skills and expertise are very relevant and useful, I suppose performing magic tricks and illusions might feel like just some sort of entertainment but I’m guessing that Ringo could have created video games and Disneyland amusement parks if she wanted too. Had she not being busy herself with whatever Tsukasa entrusted her. Hence Akatsuki now becomes the figurehead and poster boy for Seven Light Faith. So to speak. Thanks to Aoi and Keine always accompanying him as his angels, even into baths, now I am having doubts if Akatsuki is actually a boy. What if he is a girl and his shy-shy reaction when those bold busty babes dip in the same bath with him is because he is trying to hide his tiny boobs and vagina? Holy sh*t! I don’t think I want to know any further…

Even some of the denizens of this world feel like they’re somewhat forgotten. At least for now. Like Roo. She is now Masato’s disciple and steadily making progress as a trader. What happens to her after that? Like, why do we even need this character for? Is she a stepping stone to show us why Masato is such a good guy, a successful businessman despite also being a ruthless trader? I thought you can only be either one. Hey, maybe in this world you can be both! So what is Roo for again? Maybe we need a cute pet mascot to show us how to eat mayonnaise in a cute adorable way! Then there is something about Lyrule. Ever since after kidnapping incident, her role too has somewhat become insignificant. More accurately, taking a backseat for now. Because we are sure curious to know what that mysterious inner voice is. Something that we all believe that could link the heroes with this world. For now, let’s just keep that at the back of our minds.

The antagonists are also one dimensional and predictable. After all, this is a feudal world with backwater thinking. Because a big majority of nobles and royals want to keep their stranglehold on power, that’s one some of them like Gustave are turned into manaics. Wanna bet he is still very much alive even after that disintegration? Maybe ghost mode… Due to the primitiveness of this world, understandably those in power do not understand how powerful the heroes are. Until they come face to face with their technology. What else is there to say? So far, Seven Light Faith has encountered not so powerful foes and even Gustave himself despite powerful, their technology thankfully still wins in the end. So imagine if they finally come face to face with the emperor. It could be a whole new different story. That’s why Seven Light Faith should not be carried away with the liberating victories they have so far. It’s like they’re also trolling us to get used to their victories and when they face off with the final boss, we’re going to be in for some real shocker.

Art and animation are pretty standard. There are some blood and gore in the few fighting scenes but nothing that will cause you to be traumatized for the rest of your life. Unless this is your very first time watching TV. This anime is done by Project No. 9 who did Ro-Kyu-Bu, Ryuuou No Oshigoto, Netoge No Yome Wa Onnanoko Ja Nai To Omotta and Saikin Imouto No Yousu Ga Chotto Okashinda. Maybe that’s why the character designs look a bit one kind and similar.

Voice acting, because I was just fresh from watching To Aru Kagaku No Accelerator, Rina Hidaka who was the voice of Last Order, lends her talent here as Ringo. That is when Ringo speaks, she reminds me of that character. Albeit minus all that spunky loli attitude in Last Order. But then again, since Rina Hidaka also voices Kumausa, yeah, this sounds pretty familiar to Last Order. I don’t know. Last Order reincarnated? The recognizable seiyuus include Jouji Nakata as Gustave, Mai Nakahara as Winona and Hiro Shimono as Elch. The other casts are Yuusuke Kobayashi as Tsukasa (Subaru in Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu), Junji Majima as Masato (Kinji in Hidan No Aria), Hisako Kanemoto as Keine (titular character in Shinryaku! Ika Musume), Sayaka Kaneko as Aoi (Sora in High School Fleet), Natsumi Hioka as Shinobu (Tsukuyo in Busou Shoujo Machiavellism), Shizuka Ishigami as Akatsuki (Renge in Kyoukai No Rinne), Yuuki Kuwahara as Lyrule (Konoha in Gamers), Sayaka Senbongi as Jeanne (Shuna in Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken) and Chinami Hashimoto as Roo (Chiyo in Prison School).

One of the weirdest things to happen in this anime is the opening theme, Hajimete No Kakumei by Dialogue+. This song is such a lively fanfare that it doesn’t fit the theme of the series at all. This is a song that feels like when you’re doing a show opening or something. It doesn’t reflect the grim struggle, the setting and the pace of the series in any way. Sometimes I feel it’s like an insult. You know, our main septet are so powerful and godly. Hence this proclamation song that feels like they can just bulldoze over everything with ease. Yes, it is that bizarre. At least the ending theme, Dear My Distance by Akari Kitou sounds better suited even though it is just generic and not really attractive to me.

Overall, Choyoyu somehow sounds close to a Cantonese saying of fried squid which means ‘fired’. My final sentiments for this series. And once again we decided to show how capable and reliable we are by flexing our muscles and imposing that our idealistic ideals are always the best (even though in reality we rarely preach it – do what I say, not what I do, literally). There is this dilemma for this kind of genre to really go beyond the bias perception that it has already gotten and do better. We want to show that that we can really free the oppressed but at the same time, we make it look so easy and effortless. I think most of us will be sceptical no matter how pure the ideals of these characters are. Maybe this will work in a world where anime doesn’t exist. And to the rest of us, these geniuses are just arrogant and conceited. Oh yeah? I dare you to change my mind (meme)!

P/S: When everything fails, just… GRAB THEM BY THE BALLS!!!!!! Best advice ever!

Bokutachi Wa Benkyou Ga Dekinai S2

I guess the lesson from the previous season hasn’t finished yet. Or rather, we didn’t learn from the last time. That is why we got Bokutachi Wa Benkyou Ga Dekinai S2. Can our trying students finally nail what they are aiming for? Or are they going to have to return to take the path that society expects them to take? Admit it. We’re not really interested if the maths genius becomes a literature expert and vice versa. We’re here to see if the lone boy tutoring them ends up with any one (or more) of them! Though, most likely we know what the outcome will be. But it doesn’t hurt dreaming and hoping. Ah, that’s why we never learn.

OVA 1
Finally a beach episode! We see Yuiga and Kominami at the beach simply because her dad has been pestering her about some lovey-dovey pics of them. When taking those pretend selfies weren’t enough, he suggested the beach before summer vacation ends. And here they are. Of course Kominami can’t help tease this pure boy and giving him weird nicknames. As expected, the wave capsizes their boat. Kominami loses her top. Yuiga already trying to catch his breath is going to have to catch a lot more. He lends his shirt but the thanks he get is still more teasing from her. Then they spot her top floating by some rocks. As she is about to get them, a few divers pop up. Not sure what the logic is that they had to hide until they’re gone. Hence cue for some very close moments of Kominami cuddling up to Yuiga. Once done, they also notice another top. Yeah, this one must have some huge tits. And then a pervy dolphin snatches it. How the f*ck did this even happen?! Kominami has to leave since she has work. Yuiga notices the queue at the changing room and decides to change behind the rocks. Then he sees topless Kirisu hiding. Oh my. Can’t lend him his shirt as he forgot he left it with Kominami. Flashback shows the teachers came here for BBQ. Kirisu didn’t want to interact and went off herself. Then a pervy crab untied her top, the pervy wind blew it away and the pervy wave washed it away. I guess you know whose top that belonged to now, eh? They can’t stay for long as the tide is rising. Then she steps on a sea cucumber. Short panic ensues. Yuiga slips and breaks his own glasses. Oops. Now can’t see. Kirisu now short of a hand as she has to guide him. Luckily there is a shop nearby so Yuiga goes to get swimsuits. Either extremely revealing one or this school swimsuit. He picks the latter and she’s not happy? Hey he can’t see! Is this the thanks he gets?! Then she has to hide because her male colleagues are nearby. They recognize Yuiga and wonder if he has seen Kirisu. Nope. Okay. Yeah, they really want to see her in a swimsuit. So I guess Yuiga and Kirisu have to continue hiding, huh? Then they talk about things, Yuiga thought she smiled and tries to have a closer look. She misinterprets he is trying to see something else but manages to hold back her fury. Kirisu manages to change back to her suit and her male colleagues are so goddamn disappointed. She leaves and will bring Yuiga home. In her car. Oh sh*t. You mean walking back half naked is safer than this option? You bet. Because Yuiga is half blind and her dangerous driving just amplified the danger! Meanwhile we see the other girls in their swimsuits. Can’t be left out, eh? Because they have to study and can’t go to the beach, this is the least they could do. Study in their swimsuits. Oh, you girls really will go this far to please us viewers, huh?

Episode 1
Ogata got E in her tests! So you bet there’s going to be lots of miscommunication with the other girls because they’re talking about bra size! We’re not on the same page here! Once they are, eventually they think all guys think about are boobs. So during Ogata’s next tutoring with Yuiga, she can’t help think if he is a pervert. Once more, they’re not on the same page as Ogata thinks he is talking about bra size while he thinks she is talking about her grades. Yeah, is there G grade?! Is her grade that bad?! Because he tries to encourage her but her words are really ambiguous (“Let’s grasp what we want!”) eventually Ogata allows him to touch and this confuses the hell out of him. Worse, Ogata’s dad thinks he is going to do something to his girl! Eventually they clear things up but since Ogata caught him looking at her boobs, she still thinks he’s a pervert. During the group tutor, because Furuhashi accidentally says Yuiga’s first name, this has the rest curious. She manages to blow it over that they were playing siblings (technically not lying). Though they bought it, now they want him to call them by their first names too. After studying, they head to the public bath. Why is it that the one responsible of switching the sign didn’t check if there are others inside? Because of that, Yuiga heads in only to see the girls naked! Did he? Can he see with all the steam? They are about to blame him but after hearing Kominami’s voice from the other side, they realize they are in the wrong. Better leave. Furuhashi is pouting because Yuiga claims he didn’t see her body and even so he didn’t know it is a girl! Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. But the girls have to jump back in because Yuiga’s male friends come in. Because of the small hole in the bamboo fence, they want to make it bigger and peek. The perfect chance for the girls to escape. But one of them wants to know which girl Yuiga likes! Curious to stay and know, huh? One of them says he likes Furuhashi because of her elegance. The only drawback is that she has no boobs! Taboo word! She throws the bucket at him. Suspicious that somebody else is in the bath, he is going to check it out. Luckily the hole is done so the guys resume peeping. They got their eyes poked by Kominami. Got what you deserved. The girls meanwhile make their safe escape. Yuiga leaves later but realizes a tiny problem: Somebody’s bra left behind! Later he asks if it’s hers and she is fuming how he knew that!

Episode 2
With the maid café doing special service of going to people’s house to clean, due to maid power shortage, I guess the rest set up for Yuiga to help Kominami for her rounds. First up is Kirisu’s apartment?! She won’t let them in and even pays them to go away. Kominami’s pride as a maid won’t allow it so Kirisu grabs Yuiga and has him clean her place for 30 minutes. Nothing much Kominami can do. Next on the list is Takemoto’s house?! Apparently her mom is sick. But once she realizes the maid service at the door, she panics and starts cleaning and cooking enough for them! Yeah, nothing to do too. Next on the list, you’ve guessed it, Furuhashi’s mansion. She flopped her cooking. But looks like it’s come down to this, she calls Ogata’s takeout delivery. At the end of the day, Kominami is vexed that she didn’t do anything. But don’t worry, there is still one place she can clean. And that is Yuiga’s house. Yeah, she even pampers his younger siblings before giving Yuiga a lap pillow service. She hints she can do this for free just for him every day but he isn’t going to fall for her trolling this time. Kirisu just lectured Furuhashi who started dozing off during her class about short term memory. That night as Kirisu is doing questions for tomorrow’s quiz, her laptop ran out of battery. So you bet the next day she is pretty tired but she looks menacing. Students better not get on her bad side! She almost dozes off and Yuiga notices this. Then a sudden afternoon assembly and the headmaster is ranting away. In risk of dozing off again, Yuiga purposely gives a loud sneeze to wake her up. Hell is not over for her because when she returns home, her keys are missing. Then Yuiga stumbles upon her and helps her to find. Nothing. Requesting to look in her messy unorganized bag again, what’s this? The key is inside her fancy USB holder! Flashback shows after burning the midnight oil to redo the quiz, she was worried she will forget the USB and held it in her hand, thus swapping the key in its place. And that is how we learn short term memories are unreliable. The moment she enters her apartment, she drops like a rock, sleeping on the floor. Yuiga the gentleman has to carry her to her bed. Next morning, Kirisu doesn’t remember what happened. She thinks it is willpower that made her go to bed and also cleaned the place! Impressive?

Episode 3
Ogata tries to trim her bangs a little but stupid daddy comes marching in with his loud voice and she snipped a little too much. Although Ogata doesn’t mind it, to Furuhashi and Takemoto, she does look a bit weird. Ironically when Yuiga comes by, Ogata tries hard to hide her face and even runs away. I guess she does mind after all. Because her short bangs even brought Sekijo to her knees, she decides to wear a mask. This has Yuiga think she hates him due to that public bath incident. Furuhashi can’t take any more of this and unmasks her. Guess what? Yuiga doesn’t even notice and believes it’s the same Ogata! Girls, you mad?! Heck, having him look at her face and guess… No, it’s not her ribbon!!! Ogata feels sad now that he didn’t notice but Yuiga pleads for a second chance. I guess random guessing won’t cut it. She won’t be happy even if he guesses right. However, he says what has changed is her facial expression because when they first met, she used to be more sullen. Not the correct answer but the one she approves. Sekijo notices Ogata’s worn out pencil case and offers to accompany her to go buy one. Sekijo is very excited for this but during the outing, it just seems normal. With Yuiga passing by, Sekijo purposely lets them hang out together. Inside, Sekijo is heartbroken. She thinks this is best for Ogata’s happiness. Flashback shows Sekijo is a smart girl. Because of that, she pulls up the class average and some dislike her for that. A teacher told her to take some prep class exam. She finished fast and noticed Ogata too did the same. Some candidates thought Ogata was showing off but Ogata who has no clue about human relations was brutally honest about what she did. From then on, Sekijo decided not to care what others think about her and follow Ogata. But it took her till her third year in high school to finally talk to her and that was the same time she heard Ogata was trying to change her study course. Yuiga wants to know the deal of Sekijo dumping Ogata to him. He knows she is looking forward to this day because he saw her Tweet. Yup, hourly Tweets of how she is excited to go out with Ogata. Sekijo then tells Yuiga the story. Apparently Ogata also heard it. As Sekijo wants to continue her outing with Ogata, Ogata is glad because she thought Sekijo hated her after running away. Sekijo tries to dismiss ever hating her but trips and has her hands all over Ogata’s boobs. Will this change Ogata’s mind of hating her? And Yuiga has a fine view of Sekijo’s ass… Is this what you call killing 2 birds with 1 stone?

Episode 4
It’s that season where girls have their makeover. Ogata is reminded by Furuhashi not to do it herself this time but go to the salon. And of course you can tell the passionate salon owner is going to give her a hell of a makeover. Ogata then goes to meet up with Yuiga at the library for a study session. This guy doesn’t recognize her and thinks who the f*ck this hot babe?! I guess he got so nervous thinking he is being hit on that he doesn’t even recognize her voice or her study materials. He gets nervous enough to text Ogata. Since he ambiguously put it as she is stuck (in traffic), Ogata misinterprets it as stuck in a question. Ogata’s response is due to the salon owner giving her twisted take of relationship advice so you bet it gets even more awkward. Yuiga then describes all the good points of Ogata (without naming her). Uh huh. Not even Ogata realizes that and wants to know more. In the end, Yuiga compares Ogata’s cuteness to a squirrel and at first Ogata is anxious followed by relieved but can’t help feel annoyed. When he goes home, he can’t even fathom why she is still following him and the real Ogata didn’t show up. And then when she tries to invite him to her house, he thinks it is wrong for a pretty girl just to ask any boy for that. He agrees to come in hopes of lecturing her parents to straighten her out. So what you going to say to Ogata’s papa, eh? Yeah, Yuiga is one big piece of embarrassment realizing who this hot babe is finally.

We see Takemoto confronting Yuiga with a serious expression. Confession time? Actually, they are speaking English passionately. It all started when Yuiga noted her English has improved. He suggested she should talk in English but after hearing her Engrish and chopping it up with lots of Japanese, he throws down a challenge for them to do so. And now, Takemoto seems to be talking good English. Despite it’s to a puppy. She misheard Yuiga’s ‘language skill’ as ‘lingerie’ and hence a little argument in English pops up. So this is how hentai sounds if it is dubbed… Eventually she loses because she starts speaking Japanese. As she waits for Yuiga at the convenience store, a couple of foreigners ask Takemoto for direction. Panic at first, she manages to give them decent directions. The foreigners are glad and even invite her to their friends’ party now. She panics. Yuiga just come out and misinterpreted this scene. He goes to defend her and the foreigners asks who she is to her. Yuiga meant to say his precious study friend but slips up and says his precious steady. The foreigners rejoice his hot chick and leave. Yuiga doesn’t understand what they said but apparently Takemoto understands what steady means. She gets the wrong idea and runs away in embarrassment. Damn, English such a hard language!

Episode 5
Furuhashi is studying at Yuiga’s house but receives a piercing stare from Mizuki. Oh no. How to focus? Once over and she is about to leave, Yuiga gives her a present since today’s her birthday. News for you buddy: It’s tomorrow! So embarrassing! But she is glad with anything she gives him. So what he got for her? A bra! NO KIDDING!!! OH SH*T! Furuhashi so conflicted! It turns out the present was meant to be a ballpoint pen and the bra was mom bought for Mizuki. Hence the next day it is very awkward for Furuhashi. Right off the bat, Yuiga asks her if she’s comfortable with it! Yeah, after sticking 4 pads into it! The other girls also got Furuhashi a gift and wants to know what she got from Yuiga. Since she won’t tell, they ask Yuiga straight. Each time he is about to say, she smacks him. I guess they need to talk to put an end to this charade. Of course you can tell they’re not on the same page as Yuiga gets depressed thinking their friendship is not close enough to warrant her buying a pen! And then they realize what they’re actually talking about. Awkwardness increases. Later Yuiga apologizes and gives her the actual gift. Somehow he mixed it up because both were put in the same bag design. I suppose you can’t ask her to give back the bra, right? Either way, Yuiga is damned because now she blames him for thinking about boobs.

It’s déjà vu again because Yuiga is once more called to help out mom’s friend opening a new massage parlour (they call it hand rub relaxation – hope they won’t rub this the wrong way!) in a mascot outfit. And then she gets a call that her daughter is sick and must leave. It’s all up to you, Yuiga! Oh yeah. Déjà vu really playing a cruel prank on him. Because as you would have expected… The first customer is Kirisu. Looking angry, huh? Not like a little hand job will loosen her up. Oh damn, she’s moaning and giving that orgasm face! Yuiga, you’re f*cking good! Folks, a preview of what this series would have been if it is porn! Next is Ogata and Furuhashi! Oh yeah. More ambiguous moaning and orgasmic faces. This is followed by Kominami who is here for a foot massage. You’re wrong if this is going to look like some dominatrix scene because Yuiga is dominating all over her! Kominami tries to hide her orgasmic voice and this has Yuiga think it isn’t enough so he applies more of his God’s hand! Is her orgasm going to spike through the roof?! And then Takemoto and friends are here. They notice a commotion coming out from a certain cubicle. To their horror they see this weird porn scene of Yuiga giving it all on Kominami’s foot! Yeah, somehow she unmasks his top. Oh sh*t! Now that it is Takemoto’s turn, I guess she’s not impressed. No God’s hand can ever heal the heart of hurt maiden. Oh Yuiga, better move your hands more than your mouth… The only consolation Yuiga has is back home where Mizuki gives him a shoulder massage. Oh, it’s so stiff and hard… And that’s it folks. Today’s preview of this series porn. Bokutachi Wa Hentai Ga Dekinai! Dakara Boku Wa H Ga Dekinai!

Episode 6
The gas heater’s under maintenance so Kirisu has to go to the public bathhouse. Coincidentally, also there are Kominami, Yuiga and his terrible twins, Kazuki and Hazuki. Right off the bad, the terrible twins comment how beautiful Kirisu is and wants her to marry Yuiga! If that isn’t enough, while preparing to head into the bath, the duo steal her lingerie!!! And then Kominami has her way teasing ‘sensitive’ Kirisu. Kazuki somehow snuck her way to them and bugs Kirisu to marry Yuiga. Because she is mad, Hazuki starts crying. Kirisu relents she will. One day. Oh dear. Hazuki then wants to go tell big brother so as panic Kirisu tries to stop her, she slips on a soap and passes out. Since Yuiga is the only young guy around, he is tasked to carry her out. Kirisu wakes up and sees this and another struggle ensues. Then he gets lectured for doing that. Yeah, not even his fault. Hazuki tries to defend her brother. By unrobing Kirisu’s towel?! Another knockout. I think we’ve seen enough today. Later Kominami explains what happened so embarrassed Kirisu apologizes. As they part, Kirisu whispers to Kominami that she is not wearing her lingerie because somebody stole them. Oh dear. The terrible twins still have them!!! Today is the day Ogata and Furuhashi will have a mock university interview. Unfortunately the kind Ms Fujita is not around and they got demonic Kirisu. Oh sh*t… Ogata is first and she gets chewed out so much so she is close to tears. Next is Furuhashi. Same thing. I think this is what her zombie mode looks like. It’s not over because Yuiga also has a go. Remember, he also trying for the recommendation. She starts off her harsh usual ways so Yuiga decides to calm himself by imaging her in different outfits?! WTF?! Can you even concentrate?! Eventually he apologizes and will do better next time. This is when Kirisu somewhat praises him for acknowledging weaknesses and that is his strength. Yuiga now imagines her in a sister outfit but points out he would fail the interview if he had really said that. Sister condemning him to hell… In the aftermath, Ogata and Furuhashi are fired up to get back at Kirisu as they study hard to ace university interviews. Good luck.

Episode 7
Coincidentally, Yuiga and Sekijo ask Ogata to an open campus this weekend. As Ogata waits, Sekijo thought to let Ogata be with Yuiga and texts she has a stomach ache. Apparently Yuiga also has the same idea and did the same thing! And what a big coincidence that both of them are hiding in the bush next to each other, surprised only to find out that they both had the same thinking! As they walk around campus, both even try to compete to go to the toilet so as to leave the other with Ogata! WTF?! Eventually Yuiga wins so Ogata and Sekijo sit in some maths class. Because Ogata is dozing and leaning on Sekijo, the teacher thinks they are fooling around and has them answer a high school question to see if they are worthy of maths. When Yuiga returns, he sees a commotion. The teacher trying to beg Ogata to join his department! Remember, she’s a math genius. However she dismisses him and says she is here for the psychology class. Teacher in despair… Now Sekijo manages to ditch Yuiga with Ogata. This psychology class talks about retention of memories so the teacher gives an example of first kiss. This has our duo being awkward after remember their ‘first kiss’. Ogata and Sekijo continue to ‘battle’ each other so Ogata is left with a few campus students who invite her over BBQ. When they return, Ogata is drunk! Apparently the fumes of alcohol is enough to make her drunk! As they bring her back, obviously she is throwing a childish tantrum due to her drunken stupor. She blames them both for being idiots for taking off one after another. It was a terrible experience. They apologize but apparently Sekijo is also a bit drunk and tries to strip as apology. Ogata and Yuiga spot Kominami and her maid colleague handing out leaflets. The maid café is holding some board game event. Ogata is excited because there are some board games she is interested. Because they are short on hands, they agree to give her those board games if they help out. And so Ogata becomes a maid… Why does her chest area feel so tight? Why must she ask Yuiga and not Kominami?! Ogata is so cute that lots of guys line up just to play her. But remember Ogata’s bad luck in games? Yup, she’s on a losing streak. 42 consecutive losses! Man, she’ll ruin the café! Kominami steps in to recoup some of the losses. Yuiga gives Ogata some advice to get her mood back. And that is when she wins for the first time! So happy that she’s kicking up a tantric fuss! But it’s a win-win because the customers despite losing, love how cute she is. The event is a success and later Kominami praises Yuiga for coaching Ogata well. Ogata still reeling from the shock now collapses… Gonna take some time getting used to this…

Episode 8
Yuiga is going to fail… Physical education! Especially swimming! Takizawa tries to train him but since Yuiga is obviously doing so badly, she has one of the swimming club girls take over. Yup. That’s you, Takemoto. Of course she’s bad at teaching so Yuiga understands nothing. When Kirisu reminds Takizawa to hand in something, she realizes she forgot all about that and leaves the training to her. Kirisu might not like it but she is a pro in teaching so you bet Yuiga learns something. Later Takemoto talks to Kirisu about her calm and collective demeanour. Takemoto also mentions about her worries, the responsibility she is shouldering for her swimming club at an upcoming meet. Though Kirisu might sound harsh, she is realistic about one being nervous and stressed during points of competition. This motivates Takemoto and when the swimming meet arrives, she wins it big. So much so an assembly is held to honour her! Thanks to this achievement as well as her improving English, the principal offers her an option to study abroad. Of course she can’t decide now. Later Takemoto talks to Furuhashi about long distance relationship so Furuhashi is shocked that she might be going overseas despite swimmer girl talking hypothetically in third person. When Yuiga comes by, Takemoto goes into hiding and doesn’t want Furuhashi to say she is here or about that overseas thing. Yuiga of course praises the amazingness of Takemoto but is also worried since Takemoto is recently avoiding him like a plague. Furuhashi then asks hypothetically how he would feel if she is dating someone. He isn’t sure but would hope they would be happy. Also, he might miss her a little. While Takemoto might be satisfied with that, Furuhashi isn’t. So she goes to hint to Yuiga that Takemoto isn’t dating anyone now but it is up to him to think about the rest. So confusing… In the end, it seems Takemoto chooses to study abroad but wants the principal to keep it a secret from Yuiga. Because she still wants to be tutored by him till she finishes high school. And when Takemoto hopes Yuiga to be tough on her with English, that guy is so happy she is finally taking her studies seriously. Yup, he cried. Such music to his ears?

Episode 9
During the PTA conference, Yuiga’s teacher commends how hard he is trying and hence gives him a list of good universities and the course they offer. Immediately he wants to know which has the steadiest earning power. After the conference, mom is worried and wonders if their financial woes is holding him back or something. He denies. Whatever it is, mom will support him. Yuiga also sees Furuhashi coming out. However she claims she is alone and her father is not here, giving all sorts of excuses. When they leave, they see Ogata in ‘trouble’. Remember that teacher from the open campus? Yup. He is here to bug Ogata to join his maths line! Persistent! Of course the big revelation is that this guy, Reiji is Furuhashi’s father!!! Reiji doesn’t bat an eyelid to think his daughter taking up maths is useless and that she is still better off with humanities. Yeah, back to bugging Ogata. Furuhashi holds him down so that Sekijo could take her to escape. Reiji continues to berate her dreams as delusion. He will not support her financially further and if she doesn’t like it, she can leave the house. Oh yeah? Furuhashi agrees and will leave! Oh, but where will she stay? How will she pay her rent? Who will be her guarantor? Oh sh*t… And with that, Yuiga offers to let her stay at his place. WTF?! DOES HE KNOW WHAT HE IS GETTING INTO?! And because of that, Mizuki can’t play his ‘wife’ anymore… Those piercing dagger stares… Yuiga’s mom hears her out and understands the situation so she lets her stay. Mizuki so annoyed now… I guess the only thing that Mizuki can ‘win’ against her are her boobs… Yeah… We learn Furuhashi’s mom is a maths genius and is said to be able to solve Millennium Prize problems. Hence it is a great tragedy when she suddenly died. Furuhashi tried her hands at maths and when she tried to show father, he slapped her!!! OMFG! At school, because Takemoto can somewhat tell Furuhashi is wearing the same clothes, I guess Yuiga has to become her porter and help carry her luggage. Is she going to bring her whole wardrobe back to Yuiga’s tiny house? As they leave, Reiji comes back! Oh no! At this hour! Why do they always pick the tightest space to hide? And in the most ambiguous position? Thankfully saved by the phone call as Reiji goes out. As they get out from their hiding, Furuhashi realizes this is where dad stored mom’s laptop. It must have some amazing theories in it. However it is locked by a password and they only have a single try. Wrong on the first go and all data is wiped out! But this fires up Furuhashi. She is going to show dad she can do it and not rely on him!

Episode 10
How do you like it? Furuhashi acting like Yuiga’s wife? Apparently the rest of Yuiga’s family is out, leaving them to guard the house. I wonder if this is mom’s doing… Anyway, Furuhashi fails in a lot of household chores. Like her cooking. But seeing she tried her best, Yuiga eats her food anyway. But she’s clumsy for the rest of the day… Then when she comes in to wash his back (don’t get your hopes up), mood ruined when she has flashbacks of happier times with her dad. Yeah, she fell asleep on his back? Later when she wakes up, she gets panicky to start studying so Yuiga suggests they go on a date. Don’t get your hopes up too. So in this open wilderness space, he shows her the starry sky. Trying to show off naming some of the constellations? Then the cliché moment of she slipping and he grabbing her. In the end, he gives her words of encouragement that he will always stand by her. When she returns home, once again she tells Reiji her dreams and once more he brushes it off. Despite her words now sound like what his late wife says, he still cannot accept her choice. Because it is like a waste of talent. In that case, why not ask mom? How? Furuhashi has unlocked the laptop’s password. Inside, there are no thesis but only a video confessing she is not good at maths! Because Reiji misunderstood and praised her, she got carried away. All that was left was to try her best until she succeeded. Hence mom supports her daughter in doing whatever she wants and loves. Another video shows how mother and daughter wanted to find a star and named it after daddy. Later Yuiga visits to check on Furuhashi’s progress. Furuhashi remembers a moment with mom (not recorded) that she told her she will one day find a man who will support her. Could it be? Furuhashi lies on his shoulder and hopes to stay like this for a while. Next PTA, Reiji accepts Furuhashi’s endeavour into astronomy. Yuiga also lets Furuhashi know that during her stay at his place, Reiji met with his mom to apologize for the trouble. He also admitted he had trouble raising her because he was at a loss after his wife died and felt guilty in taking it out on his daughter. Hence the person who called Reiji that time could be Yuiga’s mom. Reiji wants to know how far Yuiga’s relationship with Furuhashi is. I mean, they lived under the same roof for a few days, right? Oh dear. The toughest question that no maths or astronomy can even solve!

Episode 11
With all the girls’ future set on course, the issue is now Yuiga. What is his future? Yeah, this guy is having a sleepless night thinking about it. The school festival is around the corner and all are busy helping out with the preparations. Kashima then spew rumours that if a boy and girl hold hands when the first fireworks go off, they’ll be together. Of course Yuiga explains logically that they are already couples for that to happen. But you bet his girls are bent on trying something like that. Furuhashi is not happy that her class is doing a Sleeping Beauty play and she has been unanimously voted to play the leading role. Kashima assures her everything and that there is no kissing role. But behind the scenes, you can see that she and the other girls are really deep in the plotting. They really want to make Furuhashi kiss and that mysterious prince who will play that role is Yuiga. On the first day of the festival, Ogata’s dad who is bad with maths, screws up the order. Yeah, he brought 1000 udon orders. Yuiga being the freest guy, offers to help sell. Then he spots Kawase and Umihara. Oh, they’re in the Full Pure magical costume for a play later. However, this magical girl series has trio in the lead. The other is supposed to be Takemoto but apparently her costume has been misplaced somewhere in school. You bet Yuiga the free guy is going to also help look for it. When he heard a kid spotting a magical girl on the rooftop, his hunch tells him to worst. Yup, Kirisu posing in that Full Pure cosplay! Don’t get the wrong idea! This was what happened. She was picked to do this year’s teacher’s representation and the teachers already had a costume ready for her. Of course as we can see, it got mixed up with the Full Pure costume so she obviously wore the wrong one. I’m sure Yuiga needs to add a few more words before he just tells her to strip now! Since she can’t unzip the back herself, he has to help. Oh dear. He feels the costume might rip! Can’t go any further. He then listens to her lament how she never participated in any festival during her youth because she was so focused on her figure skating. Meanwhile Furuhashi is furious. She is looking for Kashima as she found the real script that has her do the kissing scene. Also, Full Pure show is starting. We present to you the magical girls, Kawase, Umihara and… Kirisu???!!!

Episode 12
Oh damn. Kirisu rocks!!! She’s dancing like a pro! Or is it? Apparently she could perfectly memorize the video after just watching it once! But if you’re wondering why the horrible CGI is even further horrible, that’s because Kirisu refuses to sing and not even play the part of lip synching! To add more spice, Takemoto drops in as a new Full Pure character that just debut this morning! WTF Yuiga had enough time with the leftover materials to sew this perfect costume?! Unbelievable! End of performance is even better with Takemoto help selling udon to all the starved audience. The gang celebrates backstage after a successful performance. Yuiga spots a loose thread on Kirisu’s costume and tries to pull it out. Damn the whole costume just fell apart! THIS IS NOT A TRANSFORMATION SCENE! Yuiga returns to selling udon but Kashima has him help out with her play. Can’t say no. He is made to change into this costume. Hmm… Cat Napoleon? Nyapoleon? So of course when he goes out, Kashima’s friends who were supposed to be on guard, didn’t recognize him. The other teachers then start chasing Yuiga, thinking he is Kirisu in that costume. You bet Kashima is distraught that the prince is missing. At this crucial time when the play is about to start? Find him! Meanwhile Kominami is also at the festival, helping out some light music club. Damn, this girl also rocks! She stumbles into Yuiga and offers to help him get away from the teachers. Since she is a graduate, she knows every nook and corner. Yeah, crawling through the ventilation? Is the school’s duct this big? Cue for Yuiga to have his face up her ass. Eventually, Kominami has to go ‘flirt’ with the teachers so Yuiga has a clear path to get into the gym where the play is held. At the same time, the play is already at its climax. The prince is nowhere to be seen and the crowd is restless. Hence the headmaster calls for improvisation. Would anyone of the guys like to step up and be the prince? You bet it’s going to be a chaotic mad rush to kiss Furuhashi!!! Yeah, princess already wide awake and in shock. Luckily, Kashima and her martial arts buddies kick them away. You want Furuhashi’s lips? Gotta get pass them first! Heeyah! Yup, the power of boners has those desperate guys try. And fail! Meanwhile Yuiga is already there but he can’t intervene. During the kung fu commotion, the backdrop threatens to fall on Furuhashi. Yuiga instinctively saves her. Probably Furuhashi wants to end this fast so she kisses Yuiga. Hey, technically the cat head gear is in between, right?

Episode 13
Yuiga escapes and Furuhashi does an ending improvisation so well that the audience is so touched. After Yuiga gets out from his suit, the teachers spot and confiscate it. They want to give it to Kirisu but she’s already conducting her speech and everyone is paying close attention. I guess the suit is useless now. Yuiga’s sincere apology to Kashima means she can’t be mad at him despite him ‘not turning up’. Yuiga realizes he must take his identity under the suit to the grave because there are many who want to know his identify and beat the sh*t out of him! Furuhashi goes to thank Kominami. She thinks she is the one in the cat suit because see saw her carrying her guitar. Unfortunately she claims she left her guitar somewhere and is looking for it. Cue for Furuhashi to panic whom she gave her first kiss! Yuiga returns to help Ogata. The crowd has increased because they think the mysterious person in Nyapoleon could be here. Because Yuiga and Ogata are eating together, this prompts a kid to note they look like lovers. This gives Yuiga an idea. Using this concept and Kominami’s PR skills, they manage to sell off the remaining udon. On a side note, the prince suit actually ended up in some haunted house. Did that ‘ghost’ become the main attraction for looking so princely? Anyway, with the end of the festival, the students gather for the fireworks. Time for the conspirators to push one last jinx. Hence as the first fireworks is about to go off, our desperate conspirators push our concerned parties, hence Yuiga ends up falling all over his harem. However this fireworks is a dud and didn’t go off! Saved? Looks like they have some explaining to do with the pushing. As the next fireworks go off, somebody takes Yuiga’s hand to help him up. Stupid lighting cover her face. I hope it’s not his mom! In the aftermath, Yuiga attends an interview with Kirisu. In short he passes. We also see the rest of his girls passing their desired subject. Everybody gets what they want! Hooray! After graduation, everybody sees off Takemoto at the airport. Yuiga is running late because the train broke down. Go on foot? Nah. Thankfully Kirisu is here to give him a ride! So driving safer means stepping more on the accelerator?! Thank goodness he reaches in time and in one piece. Probably all that excitement has made Yuiga trip somehow. Takemoto helps him up. The way they show this scene indicates she might be the one who held his hand during the fireworks.

Dakara X To Bokutachi Wa H Ga Dekinai!
So I guess this means everybody has gone their separate ways and it’s the end of the study-cum-romance jinx? Oh well, it was good (or bad, if you’re from Yuiga’s point of view) while it lasted. I guess in the end, it is still up to us to want to believe whoever Yuiga ends up with. After all, that is still very much up in the air. They’ve just started on their first step to achieve their dreams. Once they have settled down, maybe they can start thinking of romance. But don’t take too long or it’ll be too late, if you know what I mean.

This season doesn’t largely stray away from the usual formula. A lot of things primarily stay the same and this season could be just more of an extension of the first season than a ‘real’ sequel. Heh. Like I even know what that means. This second season doesn’t introduce any major new characters and perhaps I’m partly to blame for thinking that they would add at least 1 more girl into Yuiga’s (unofficial) harem. After all, some animes do add a new character in their new season just to spice things up but I guess if the original formula for the series works and isn’t necessarily broken, why change and make a total overhaul?

The ‘biggest change’ that this season has is for Furuhashi’s side. It is by far the most memorable story on focus this season (aside from all the cheesy shoehorned fanservice). It gives a closure, or rather the permission to the thorny issue that has been bugging her ever since she decided to do a major switch over to maths. Goes to show that being a genius in something is pretty much just perspective. Like they always say, genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. With Reiji giving his blessings to his daughter to pursue her dreams, hopefully Furuhashi will now have a clearer path and mind in achieving that goal. Doesn’t necessarily have to be the best rocket scientist that would shake and change the mathematics world. That’s not her original goal in the first place.

Of course not only Furuhashi has been closing the gap and is much nearer to her dreams than when she started, Ogata and Takemoto are also making the same strides as well. As long as they continue putting in the effort, they’ll surely get there. I’m sure this is also the same for Yuiga. So I’m not sure why he is fretting over his future because I thought he already had a set goal in mind. You know, the special VIP recommendation? Remember? Probably he is worried by comparing himself to the achievement of his girls. As many of the focus is on them and we see them make great improvements, what about Yuiga’s own achievements? From a general perspective, there seems to be not much change, right? Can’t blame him if he is worried that he can’t see any progress made at all. But that’s the thing about Yuiga being Yuiga. He puts the well-being of others first ahead of himself. Before he can achieve his own goal, he must see to it that others reach theirs first. This is evident as we see him more than often helping the girls in need even outside their studying needs (some may call it plot convenience). But thankfully in the end, everybody passes so it’s safe to say that Yuiga’s fruits of labour paid off.

Because he worries so much about others, who is going to worry about him? You bet his girls would. But for now, the ‘complication’ of them wanting to stay a little longer with him could be the biggest stumbling block for them to achieve their goals. It seems like romance would be the biggest hindrance that would threaten to undo all the effort they have put in. Like as though they’re trying to prolong the study session as long as possible. My conspiracy theory says that they’re just pretending to be dumb just to be with him. Oh my. What girls would do for romance…

Each of the girls has their fair share of screen time to be with Yuiga but your guess is as good as mine of how mostly it will end up. They get closer to him but not entirely close enough that you are dead certain that they’ll become an item. Just like in past seasons, all that romantic certainty is brushed away in some form of comical fanservice or something like that. Sometimes it feels like all the mishaps and accidental perversion that Yuiga and the girls get into, like as though some higher being is trying to test their mettle and see how they handle it all. So far so good. Phew? Last season we had the lingerie shop thingy, the OVA had the beach episode and this season we got all touchy with the massage job. Is there no one cliché fanservice scene that Yuiga has not experienced?! The girls didn’t report him because they like him so it’s like a free pass. If it was other guys, they’d be dead by now. So having that in mind, Yuiga is just like one step away from doing lewd stuffs with them! I’m sure there is a porn version of this series if you look harder over the dark web. It is one thing that the girls secretly like him, it is another thing if their fathers give their blessing for them to be a pair. With Kominami and Furuhashi’s dad already giving theirs (I can assume Takemoto’s friends are playing her substitute father), once Ogata’s dad also falls in line with this, then true hell begins. You know everything will be so screwed up by then.

The rest of the other characters didn’t really change nor matter much. I’m partly to blame for having such expectations in the first place. Like Mizuki, I thought she would be given more prominence this season since she has big brother complex. She would up the rivalry among the girls to fight for Yuiga’s attention (and affections) but unfortunately, she continued to remain a side character who is made to be remembered for her acute sense of her big brother. Basically, an onii-chan stalker. So any girls who want to get to her onii-chan must get through her first! I am the protector of onii-chan! Nobody gets through! Heeyah! Sorry Mizuki, even mom is probably vouching for her son to be with another girl. Just not you :’(.

Kominami also doesn’t play much importance here. Most probably she isn’t one of the front runners of Yuiga’s harem and her role is just to fill in the gap if the other trio are unable to. Otherwise she is still the same teasing senpai. Likewise, I was hoping to see a further elaboration on Kirisu’s past as a figure skater. But maybe last season’s fleshing out was all there is to it, explaining why she’s such a gloomy looking strict resting b*tch face teacher. Though, she won’t want the school days of her students to be robbed or stolen and hence she’ll still do whatever it takes to protect their most important days of youth. Well, you can only be young once. Still, it doesn’t spare her from Yuiga’s (Accidental Pervy) Hand of God! It’s like fate is testing her to just open up or something. But for better or worse, her strictness remains the same. And Sekijo, is she still not Ogata’s best friend already? How long her friendship probation gonna last?

This season’s opening theme is still sung by the trio of Yuiga’s study group. Can Now, Can Now probably reflects on the progress the girls made and the song also sounds a lot more bubbly and fun. Yup, definitely can now, can now. But this time the trio doesn’t sing the ending theme. It is halca now and Houkago No Liberty sounds equally as bubbly and fun. Probably with all the cute animations and the characters in chibi form, yeah, this sure looks like a fun series!

Overall, this season offers nothing relatively new and if you enjoy the first season, you’ll most likely enjoy this one as well. If you don’t like shocking changes or developments that are too hard to follow, this simple romcom harem comedy might be just your cup of tea. Even if everything is so filled with cliché, it is probably the safest because everything else is pretty much expected then. You know the kind of fanservice our characters will get into. You know the kind of ‘screen time romance’ that the characters will get. And you’ll definitely know the kind of status quo outcome at the end of it all. Ah, all so safe. Nothing that rocks the boat. All within expectations. That’s what I’ve learnt after watching countless of similar animes in this genre. And maybe that’s why I never learn too. That’s why they keep churning out such animes throughout the years. Looks like I won’t be graduating to a higher level and be staying back repeating the same ol’ stuffs… Boy, I really never learn, do I?

Karakai Jouzu No Takagi-san S2

Oh wow. There must have been too much to tease that there needs to be another season. Uh huh. You can’t finish all the teasing in one season. And hence, Karakai Jouzu No Takagi-san S2. Our titular character is a master in teasing and playing pranks on her childhood friend-cum-classmate because he always gives the desired reaction. All the time. Maybe, just maybe at the end of this one big long teasing drama, it is just one big long attempt at confession at love. Where’s the fun in going up straight to the person you love and say those magical words? Lots of pranks must happen in between to soften up and break the ice first! I think. Hey, don’t ask me if that’s true. Never had any sort of romantic experience in my life! Sad… :’(.

Episode 1A
Nishikata has forgotten his textbook. Obviously Takagi offers to share with him but this guy won’t lose out and goes to ask others to borrow. It seems only their class has English today! Conspiracy! And so he is forced to put his table next to hers and share. It’s not over yet as she writes messages in the book and he thinks it’s one of her teasing. Then he realizes lines in the textbook coincidentally line up for some punch line. He thinks of using it to get back at her and see her reaction face. However she writes back a reply and it seems her texts also has a punch line properly lined up! Smooth. Then she just writes another reply that she is just happy he wrote a letter to her but he still keeps thinking there must be something hidden in it. Keep on looking. You won’t find any.

Episode 1B
Nishikata saw a show last night on hypnotism and tries it out on Takagi. At first he thought she was just acting to fool him. But wait! She seems to be doing simple tasks he asked without question. Is she really hypnotized? Could this be his first victory? He thinks of making her do something embarrassing like dig her nose but backs out. At this point Takagi pokes his ribs! Yeah, she was just trolling him all along. But she calls it even since he chickened out in making her dig her nose. Now she wants to hypnotize him. Oh sh*t… Say no!

Episode 1C
Mina stayed up late to watch that hypnotism show and now she’s sleepy and her hair is all messy. Yeah, she ended up getting hypnotized. Because Yukari thinks she sleeps so much, she is shocked to find that Mina wakes up earlier than all of them at 5 o’clock. Why so early? She has to make breakfast and lunch for her family. And also walk the dog. Well, just don’t fall asleep in class.

Episode 1D
Nishikata challenges Takagi to see who can skip stones better. Takagi asks his record and despite his best is 10, he lies 15. Takagi doesn’t sound surprised. She did 30! That was enough to throw Nishikata off when he throws his stone! Sank like rock instantly. Takagi reveals that 30 times is just her wish and her best is like 3. She throws that and technically she still wins. Nishikata wants another challenge but as he is obsessed finding the best rock, accidentally he bumps her into the river. Luckily he manages to grab her and switch places. Yup, he’s all wet. On the way back, Nishikata thinks she is trying to tease him that they were holding hands then. Since he won’t admit it is so, I guess that’s that. Because of that, Takagi thought she actually lost back then.

Episode 2A
Another challenge. Whoever can hold this puddle of ice to school without dropping wins. Nishikata thinks all his training is for this day. So he holds a big chunk while Takagi only holds a small one. Of course Takagi ‘warning’ him he might break it if he holds too tight, the startled kid drops it! Smashed! As the loser, he has to give her his hand warmer.

Episode 2B
Nishikata has trimmed his hair a little and challenges Takagi to tell what is different. Of course she takes a closer look at him and asks questions that makes him feel nervous. Yeah dude, you’re being teased at this very moment. Could it be she knows the answer but is just trolling him? Or does she not? Yes she does when she mentions his hair. Because logically when he said he changed his appearance, the only thing that can be quickly done are either hair or nails. Since she didn’t see any changes on his nails, got to be his hair. Once more Nishikata loses…

Episode 2C
Yukari trimmed too much of her bangs and now she looks weird. Mina can’t stop laughing. But then Yukari comments her ugly bangs and this sends Mina into depression. They reconcile as they shouldn’t tease each other as friends. But Mina looking at Yukari’s bangs once more, she continues to laugh. Great friends…

Episode 2D
It’s Valentine’s Day and Nishikata is waiting for the moment Takagi hands over her chocolate as a prank. Well, it didn’t happen. Meanwhile Mano wants to give her chocolates to Nakai but is nervous. Mina is giving free chocolates to everyone (is she whoring in this sense?!) but gets them confiscated by the teacher. Mano then sums up her courage and tries to give it to Nakai. I guess no better way than while he is in the middle of talking with his friends! Of course they started teasing and Mano loses it and runs away embarrassed. While lamenting this fate, Nakai comes after her and wants her chocolates. As she gives her, the teacher sees this and is about to confiscate. Quick thinking has Nakai says she is just returning a book. Phew. Mano is happy but is still mad that he is dense. As Nishikata leaves, he finds a chocolate in his shoe locker. Coincidentally (or not), Takagi spots him. Want to guess who is it from? When she gives him hers, Nishikata wonders if this one isn’t from her then. She teases him if he wants to know who is it from but he is fine not knowing.

Episode 3A
It’s April Fool and Nishikata thinks of tricking Takagi that the candy store is holding a special sale which of course it isn’t. But the joke is on him because the store is holding a special sale! He won’t lose so he thought of buying a yucky candy and letting her eat it under the pretence that it is delicious but it backfires because this yucky candy tastes delicious. Soon she can tell he is trying to trick her because it’s that day. You think you can fool the master, eh? Now she gets back at him because she thought she was happy he invited her out. So she asks him if he ever blushed before. And no lying. Yeah, this guy is already hiding his face… So he admits lots of times? You mean not every time?! Then she asks if he would like them to remain in the same class. Because she heard teachers saying the possibility of a class change. Worried, he thinks it’s the only way to get rid of her teasing but alas you know, how lonely it will get so he says he wants to. Then she reveals the class change is only for third years. Gotcha! She hopes they can sit together again next year. What are the chances?

Episode 3B
The 3 Stooges are doing hanami. Mina trying to exercise because she doesn’t want to be fat despite she is thin. She claims the trend is thin because she saw everyone on TV is thin. But with Takagi and Nishikata joining in and bringing sweets, Mina is all for it. So no more dieting? So she’s being selective because her favourite model said eat as many sweets you want?

Episode 3C
Flashback shows Nishikata lost to Takagi was probably of the honorifics he used to call her. Because his friends thought not using them would sound intimidating, Takagi got this idea to do the same. Of course he fumbles and this caught Takagi’s attention. Did he just tried to drop an honorific? She bugged him until he is forced to reveal why he is doing so. Hence she encouraged him to call her without using one. He can’t. But I guess she can and so that’s how it’s been ever since.

Episode 3D
Now that they are into their second year, Nishikata thinks he is a senior and will not let Takagi get her way with him. So is he ready to drop her honorific? He tries to act like a senior but since he is nervous, she teases him if he can’t handle being one, he loses. Then he tries to say and act out lines from 100% Unrequited Love. Because she is giving him the desired response, the thinks it is working. Till he realizes that she too is following the lines from there! This is bad because what comes next is the characters end up kissing! Now he is flustering like mad. But then he manages to say her name without an honorific. He apologizes but for what? She wants him to do it again. I mean, he is already senior so he should be able to, right? He tries… And fails. Takagi laughs and finds him interesting even though he is in his second year. In that case he can call her Takagi-senpai then. Until he graduates! Hey, at least it isn’t forever.

Episode 4A
Nishikata beats his friends in arm wrestling. Yeah, all those push ups must have helped. Since Takagi spots this, after school she challenges him. Nishikata feels confident… Until he realizes it’s like holding hands! Oh dear. Takagi looks like she is struggling to move and this makes Nishikata confident this will be easy. But that let his guard down and she easily pushes him over. Second round? You bet. This time Nishikata is going to go all out but once more, right before they start, Takagi asks if they want to go home holding hands. Instant loss! I guess that’s it for him. He can’t believe he lost to those weak hands…

Episode 4B
Mina thinks she sounds like a grown up as she talks to friends about how things are fleeting. Like food with expiry date. Yeah, nothing lasts forever. But her friends laugh since it sounded like a joke. Mina feels sad and is about to cry. Yukari tries to cheer her up that it sounds good and with Mina being so happy about it, Sanae notes she is acting like a child.

Episode 4C
Some girls like guys who are mature. So what makes you mature? Well, Kimura thinks he has the answer. Black coffee! Hence this is the reason for Nishikata’s purchase at the vending machine. He thinks by acting like a grown up, Takagi would stop teasing him. Of course it is bitter as hell and he fails in trying to hide it. The teasing continues including Takagi buying a melon soda for herself. Want some? If you don’t mind the indirect kiss. Better not then. In the end, Takagi reveals she knew what he was doing and even if he was acting all grown up, she will still tease him harder!

Episode 4D
One day, Takagi walks with Nishikata to school but this time she isn’t without her bicycle. Right off the bat she teases him it’s because she wants to hold his hands walking to school. The challenge is to guess why she didn’t bring her bike. Nishikata is confident because he overheard her saying about the brakes not working. Before he could answer, she warns him to think carefully. Wrong answer means instant loss. So they walk through places where she couldn’t push her bike before like up the stairs, some hopscotch area and cats. Nishikata then answers it is her brakes and all this is just a distraction. Wrong answer, buddy! The real answer is she wants to see his reaction from guessing. She hints there is another answer but will not say. He keeps bugging her but her mouth is sealed. I guess we viewers only know the other true reason…

Episode 5A
Nishikata thinks he can avoid being teased if he just act like Dandy of the old western cowboy show he saw yesterday. Too bad Takagi still pokes his ribs. Since she too saw that, she continues to poke them. Striking the enemy’s weakness is not cowardly! It’s a simple strategy! Since he can’t poke her back, he suggests playing a game just like Dandy. Alternately they ask a question and the one failed to answer gets punished. Takagi goes first and asks who her crush is. Oh sh*t. Can’t answer? Rib poking! Then she goes again. Is her crush in this class? Nishikata says no since he doesn’t want to think too much. Multiple ribs poking! He doesn’t want to play anymore but can’t help think her crush is in this class. Hmm… Who could it be… And then more tickling…

Episode 5B
Mina thought her friends are making fun of her eyebrows. So she starts mocking Yukari’s bangs but before she can tell off Sanae, she tells her they were talking how people with thick eyebrows are kind. Mina is happy but apparently damage done to Yukari… No more mercy. Yukari teases her thick eyebrows…

Episode 5C
Yukari sees Nishikata counting his fingers. He is actually counting how many times he got teased today and is glad it hit a record of single digit! However he realizes that is only because of his committee meeting and they don’t walk home often together. But Yukari misinterprets that she might be tearing up their relationship since Nishikata also looks sad.

Episode 5D
It is Nishikata’s birthday and mom has him go over to the cake shop to get a birthday cake. Along the way, he chances into Takagi. He thought he won when he guessed right that she too is going to the cake shop. However she too could guess he is on his way there. Furthermore, she details his thinking process! Spot on! What is this girl?! Can she see his future???!!! At the cake shop, Nishikata fears he will be found out but luckily Takagi requests to order first. At first he thought he is safe but then it’s that overthinking again. After Takagi is done, she hands him her gift she ordered for him. Eh? So yeah, back home, Nishikata opens to find a cookie present and a keychain. Nice.

Episode 5E
You know, it’s a cultural belief that Japanese thinks somebody is talking about you if you sneeze. So when Nishikata sneezes, Takagi thinks somebody is teasing him. Don’t worry, only she does it. So we see the loop of sneezes as their conversation leads from one to another: Nishikata -> Yukari -> Mano -> Houjou -> Kimura -> Takagi. So somebody talking about Takagi, huh? Maybe that person thinks she teases too much? Nah. She only teases him. Nishikata finally sums up his courage to thank her for the present. Happy girl so happy.

Episode 6A
Nishikata challenges Takagi to a physical examination test. Whoever scores highest wins. This means if Nishikata wins, she must stop teasing him forever. But if he loses… Yeah, she’ll tease him forever! Nishikata seems to be doing well. But the stretching one he losses out and he thinks Takagi made up some ground there. In the final hand grip one, Takagi suggests to face each other while doing it. Nishikata concentrates while Takagi roots for him. And then she tells him to imagine holding her hand. Oops. What a weak grip. Nishikata is sad and admits he lost. Sure? Because Takagi is glad since her total score is actually poorer than his. Damn. But she thanks him for thinking of the grip as her hand so he didn’t grip it hard.

Episode 6B
Nishikata and Takagi challenge each other to dodgeball. She goes first and takes her time. Thus he tells her about the time limit she has to throw. And so she tricks him and gets hit. Of course she is willing to give him another shot if he removes the time limit. For you, of course. Nishikata thinks she is trying to provoke him by asking if he would catch the ball no matter what. But you know him, panicking in the last minute wondering if she is referring to dodgeball as he eventually tries to grab it. It’s his loss.

Episode 6C
The 3 Stooges have bought snacks for their upcoming school camp. Yukari doesn’t want to eat her snacks now but her friends are tempting her. Even more so her growling stomach. Mina wins an extra snack and gives it to her. I guess she’ll eat it now. Suddenly a cat snatches it! After that cat! Yukari tires out and Mina is too short to traverse the obstacles. Eventually Sanae finds the cat and it is feeding it to its offspring. She returns emptyhanded and gives an excuse the cat got away. Yukari, you sure you want to eat that snack after where the snack was dragged all over?

Episode 6D
Nishikata and Takagi are at the snack store. After buying snacks, Nishikata feels hungry so he buys a ramen cup and Takagi joins him. Of course you can tell he is flustering by the thought that this might look like a date. Whatever it looks like, Nishikata believes he can deny it when asked. And then Kimura and Takao enter. Oh no. What does this look like? As expected, crazy scenarios run through Nishikata’s mind and the way he would respond to them. In the end, the duo bought their snacks and just left without a word. But they can be heard snickering outside. Of course nothing is worse than Takagi’s teasing. She asks if he really hated it if he thought it was a date. Oh well… If it actually isn’t… If Nishikata says so…

Episode 7
During this camping trip group photo, Nishikata thought he could get back at Takagi by doing some hand signal behind her back. But then just before the photo is snapped, Takagi makes a funny face to him and the photo captures his funny face. During the trek, Mano is tired and wants to rest. Apparently Nakai didn’t get the hint so he is willing to go ahead with Nishikata. Nishikata could guess what is going on. Takagi too. So they both make an excuse to go ahead and let Nakai stay with Mano. It then rains but luckily they take shelter. Nishikata is glad he can do his pranks on her. Of course she still manages to get him flustered that they’re alone like this. Nishikata’s idea of a prank is to guess a snack the other will feed you? So he is surprised when Takagi agrees to play? And of course the mind games begin as she mentions his fingers might touch her lips or something. He manages to let her eat one without all that contact but Takagi guesses the snack correctly. You lose. Again. Oh look, the rain has stopped. After eating dinner, the students are to gather at the open filed for the campfire dance. Nishikata is trying to plan a prank and of course, Takagi not only can read his mind but also tells him the rumour that the last person’s hand you hold at the dance, they’ll both fall in love with each other… Here’s the catch: If Nishikata holds her hand last, he wins! You’re damn right he is going to fluster when that happens. During the dance, Nishikata thinks a lot. Even keeping count how many more turns till Takagi becomes his partner. And when that time finally comes, the dance is over. So is he relieved? Is he disappointed? Yeah, so awkward. On a side note, Nakai ended up with Kimura… I don’t even… Oh Mano my dear girl… When it is bed time, Yukari sends flashlight messages to Sanae and Mina. Apparently they are just guessing what the other is saying. Way off the mark! Yukari tries to warn the teacher is coming. Obviously message not received and the duo got busted. With Kimura snoring and Takao having some traumatized sleep talk, Nishikata goes out for a walk. He spots Takagi on a rock watching the stars. Coincidence? But they have to hide since the teacher is coming. So huddling close together underneath the rock… You can guess how Nishikata is feeling. But distracting this is their talk on the stars. Yeah. So beautiful. Isn’t it romantic?

Episode 8A
Takagi and Nishikata are putting the equipment away in the gym storeroom. Nishikata pretends the door has been locked so as to trick her they are stuck. However she is cool about it. Then she goes to reorganize the equipment and take a nap. Nishikata tries to set a prank for her. Then it’s like she knows what she is doing and says she is okay with him doing a prank on her but take too long and others will have the wrong idea on them. Nishikata flusters and trips himself. Takagi also knows the door isn’t really locked. Yeah, this guy really got busted. As he tries to open the door, now it is locked. He starts to panic but Takagi points out she wedged the broom on the door. Gotcha!

Episode 8B
Nishikata fell and bruise his knee. Takagi teases him he fears the antiseptic and that’s why he won’t go to the infirmary. Because he denies, looks like he is going there. Because the school nurse isn’t around, Takagi will administer the antiseptic. However the challenge is if he screams pain, he loses. After trolling him, she finally dabs on his knee. What do you know? Not pain. Nishikata gets confident as Takagi talks to him about certain things. He didn’t realize it is a trap to make him said that pain word. You lose. Now, what must he do? If he holds her hand, he wins. You know he can’t… Then she suggests staying here and skip class. Him only. This shocks him and accidentally hits his knee on the bed. Here comes the major pain. Pain all the way. Sadistic Takagi continues to laugh…

Episode 8C
The 3 Stooges find a thrown away lottery. Yukari is torn in handing it to the police or claim it for her own. Yeah, her friends are playing the devil so the devil naturally wins. Then they realize the grand prize is all alcohol. Better hand it to the police then. Nishikata and Takagi talk what they would buy if they won a million yen. The winner is the one with the best dream spending all that money. Nishikata goes first as he passionately says how he will buy all the games and comics he likes. Which isn’t exactly any different than before. He thought his fervour would demotivate Takagi but nope. Then it’s her turn. Starts off pretty similar. Buy new clothes, shoes, books, etc. Then it starts to sound different. Like going on a holiday with the person she loves and do all the things they love. Wow. Does this sound like her future plan with a certain someone? Nishikata thinks all this is just part of her trolling. Then Nishikata ups the ante what if it is 10 million yen. So he is going to build a big house to house his games and comics collection? Poor kid is so confused when Takagi can’t stop laughing. Yeah, boys are such simple creatures, no?

Episode 9A
Nishikata thinks he can win Takagi in this ‘look over there’ challenge. Thanks to some psychology show he watched last night, he thinks he can predict her moves. Nope. Unfortunately she uses it against him and it worked! One more time. Nishikata realizes that he is on the verge of losing again and decides to do a reverse of a reverse psychology. Too bad, Takagi sees that coming too and once more, Nishikata loses for real.

Episode 9B
The 3 Stooges are having a pool class. Because Yukari can’t swim, she has to sit out. This has Mina asking about her special talents. None really special. Lazing around and read manga. More lazing around. That bad, huh? Mina cheers her up that her special talent is not having any talents! I don’t think that made her feel any better.

Episode 9C
Nishikata has revised his surprise box to well, surprise Takagi. However, he feels something strange. He just doesn’t feel the mood to give it to her. Even until the end of school, he can’t shake off this weird feeling. Then he realizes. She hasn’t teased him all day! OMG! You sure?! Later he spots her sitting behind the shrine. Not sure what she’s doing here but he accidentally drops his box. She picks it up and what springs out are surprise cottons. Of course she isn’t surprised and she also laughs at him when he says she didn’t tease him today. You really want to get teased? Takagi thanks him as she feels a lot better. When he want to leave, she wants him to stay a little longer. Awkward? And then she asks if he wants to get teased. Hey. You asked for it!

Episode 9D
When Kimura sends Nishikata a picture of his butt, it is just actually his arm. He gets this idea to send this same trick to Takagi but she can obviously tell. Then she starts asking him a series of trick questions and this time he is wise enough to realize and avoid answering in a predictable way. Then it seems Nishikata beats Takagi in asking this trick question. Does she like a kiss? Actually he meant kisu, a type of fish. Because she didn’t reply for a while, he starts getting worried what if she really thought it was a kiss? Then she finally replies. But it is a video of herself saying she loves it. This is followed by a comment that she knows he is blushing. Of course he is but he won’t admit it. Okay. Send picture proof. Nishikata realizes he has lost. Takagi wished she could have seen his blushing face but can imagine how he looks. After all, Takagi also ‘lost’ since she is also blushing.

Episode 10A
Nishikata can’t administer eyedrops since Takagi keeps distracting him. So this is a challenge? How about she administer for him? She loses if she can’t. Hence Nishikata thinks he is smart by not opening his eyes. He tries hard not to give in to her distractions but eventually after poking his tummy, the moment he opens his eyes, the drop goes in. Now it’s his turn to administer for her. He loses if he can’t. Furthermore, she closes his eyes and adds pressure by counting down. Nishikata is going to force her eyes open then. At this moment, Yukari walks in and from this angle, she misinterprets them as kissing! Sorry to bother! Bye! Anyway, Nishikata lost…

Episode 10B
Houjou wonders why Yukari is waiting outside. Well, there are people kissing… Not Nakai and Mano but Nishikata and Takagi. She thinks. Want to go peek? Is this her way of asking Houjou to do the peeking on her behalf and tell what’s going on? Houjou does so and hears them arguing (basically Nishikata being worried of Yukari having the wrong idea but Takagi is just playing cool). So what’s it like? Houjou won’t tell and instead has Yukari see for herself. Later Yukari tells Mina and Sanae about this big scoop. However because she didn’t see it clearly and is not 100% sure, they tell her off it isn’t a scoop then. Then they give examples of how a scoop is supposed to be. Basically, facts. So proud of you girls. Yukari should have known better and gives up.

Episode 10C
Nishikata will win if he can hide from Takagi in this hide and seek game at an empty land. He thinks victory is his by hiding behind the barrels but apparently she finds him. As she sits next to him, Hamaguchi and Houjou come by to rest. Are they flirting? This means Nishikata and Takagi can’t leave without giving them the wrong idea. But Takagi knows of a way to avoid having that misunderstanding. She inches closer to Nishikata until he falls out from his hiding. Immediately he explains they’re just playing hide and seek. Takagi trolls everyone by saying it was a quick one.

Episode 10D
Nishikata and Takagi find a treasure map on the roadside. Treasure hunting time. Following its steps, of course she tries to distract him if the treasure is porn magazines. He will not be distracted from his counting! They arrive at a tree. The ‘treasure’ is a love umbrella carved on it. Takagi thinks this might be the place where those people kissed since this ambiguous writing seems to indicate so. Takagi then wants to rest here. Must he also oblige? Then she trolls him if they should… Listen to music! Haha! Disappointed? Expecting something else? So what music? She recorded cats fighting in her backyard last night. Cacophony alright.

Episode 11A
Nishikata knows Takagi will be passing here and waits. When she does, he feints it is coincidence and challenges her to counting the number of steps to that nearest pole (which of course he already counted). She agrees but only to the second nearest pole. Damn. As they start counting, Takagi then suspects if this was all coincidental. Because if it was, why suddenly start a challenge? Oh no. Panic starting to set in. He tries to hurry but makes the mistake of revealing what her next plans. He fears he will be labelled a stalker but Takagi asks if he likes her. Of course he denies, denies and denies. She tells him her family will be going on vacation and asks what he wants as souvenir. Whatever she can get. Because Nishikata knows he already lost anyway.

Episode 11B
Yukari sees Mina’s messages that she is at her cousin’s place. Each time she tries to ask about her cousin, it seems Mina and Sanae can type too fast before Yukari could even finish. Yukari ignores her poor little sister’s plea to play fireworks. Eventually Yukari failed to ask about the cousin as the conversation ends. Uh huh. They think they should meet up for the fireworks festival. Yeah, Yukari imagining a good one with her little sister. Oh girl, that chance just slipped…

Episode 11C
Nishikata gives Takagi a souvenir since his family also went on a trip. Takagi teases him that he came all the way to give it to her. Miss me that much, huh? After she gives him hers, he wants to go home but she has him accompany her to the shrine so that they can enjoy their souvenirs. More teasing so much so he can’t wait just to get over with this. But she notes him getting her a souvenir, it made her really happy. Thus he reveals the souvenir is a sour candy (there goes his plot to see her facial reaction). Yeah, she lets him try it first. Sour! Then she hints she is free on the day of the fireworks festival and perhaps somebody could invite her. Just maybe. Oh Nishikata, you thinking hard about it?

Episode 11D
Nishikata is on his way to meet up with his friends for fishing when he stumbles into Takagi. Instantly she borrows his bike to put her stuffs she bought. She asks him if he has done his homework. Didn’t. She too. Trolled. The rest feels like one long drama as Nishikata tries to ask her something but couldn’t and asks something else. When she arrives home, she gives him a can of drink as thanks. Before she goes in, Nishikata returns. This time he has finally summed up his courage. Long drama finally ends when he finally asks if she would like to go with him to the festivals. Had he not been looking down, he could’ve seen her shocked face. Takagi is so happy that she gives him all her can drinks. After he leaves, we could see Takagi’s face, barely containing her nervousness. Nishikata is so over the moon that he doesn’t respond to his friends or notice his rod has got a bite.

Episode 12
Nishikata and Takagi head for the festivals. Because they look like a couple on a date and Nishikata keeps denying, Takagi throws a challenge. If people say they are dating, he loses. Nishikata tries to have kids exempted since they will tease anybody. Sure, but even the old people think they’re a cute couple. Damn… Then the first stall they go buy food, the owner compliments them as a cute couple. Ah well… Takagi throws another challenge. This time Nishikata will win if they do date-like stuffs. HUH?! So he thought this goldfish scooping could be it. However she got more goldfish than him. So it’s a draw. Then she hints to feed her takoyaki. But shy boy can’t and eats it himself. There goes an easy win. She teases him he doesn’t know what dating is. Oh yeah. He says he does and would do so if he felt like winning. You sure? As the 3 Stooges are around, Nishikata tries to hide and almost loses Takagi. Next is the ring toss. Takagi won. Enough said. Nishikata did win a prize. But he selects a hairpin and gives it to her. Because he is looking at her hand (probably trying to copy other couples holding hands), she notices it and he gets embarrassed. Nice mask to cover his face. He thought it would be good cover to hide from Kimura and Takao. Too bad they recognize him but they’re more interested to get some grub. But at this point, Nishikata has lost Takagi and the fireworks has started. Kimura sees Takagi going up to the shrine. Subsequently he spots Nishikata. Can’t miss him. The only guy not looking up and looking around. He points to him where Takagi went. Nishikata rushes up the stairs and by the time he reunites with Takagi (close to being a sad cat), the show’s over. Then he holds her hand. Of course, it is to avoid getting lost again. Oh well… So close… In the aftermath, they play sparklers and Takagi calls it his win since this is date-like. He denies since he was on a losing streak and thought he could beat her this time. But she notes he hasn’t been losing. Geddit? Oh, his sparklers went out first. I guess he lost.

Natural Born Prankster
OMG! The real hero in the final episode was Kimura! We never think much about this fatty but he is the true hero for the finale! Without him, Nishikata and Takagi would never have gotten together and it would have been a very bad night to remember. Oh damn. Kimura, you da man! Here, have more baby castellas as your reward. Or falafels. Heck, have them both! Because of his ‘heroics’ our main protagonist pair’s night have been saved and possibly their entire future too. Yeah, it was nice that the final episode brings them a lot closer but without crossing the line and making it obvious. It always still has to go back to the usual Takagi teasing the gullible Nishikata. Ah yes. That is how it should be. I’m sure they wouldn’t have it any other way either even though Nishikata won’t admit himself for a million years.

The standalone stories don’t stray from the typical formula that we are familiar with from the first season. It is more or less the same but only shown in a different manner to keep things fresh. After all, you would notice the same kind of pattern in many of the skits. Nishikata thinks he has thought up of a challenge that would finally earn him victory by seeing Takagi’s embarrassing side. The challenge goes on but Takagi always distracts him with something or outsmarts him. Cue for Nishikata to overthink and panic. Nishikata loses. Rinse and repeat. So while this formula isn’t particularly boring as we get to see the different ways Takagi is always superior to Nishikata, it is all generally the same if you think about it and if you want something really ground breaking and fresh, unfortunately you’re not going to find it in this season.

Basically the same formula works simply because Nishikata remains the same panicky kid we know from the first season. It isn’t like Takagi is some version of herself from the near future and knows what will happen next. Is she? That’s why she is able to read his thinking and movements like a book. Nishikata makes it so obvious whenever he is on the verge of being found out. Well, it’s a good thing that he doesn’t lie but after all the teasing and pranks, you would have guessed he would at least level up a little bit. Nothing. So it’s like he never improved for the sake of our amusement. No wonder his push-ups are going nowhere too. After doing it for so long, you would think he would be a little bit stronger and muscular. I don’t blame him. I did some exercises myself too and until this day I’m still out of shape! Anyway, with Nishikata always being Nishikata, Takagi too will always remain as Takagi. So if there is ever an award for the most blushing male character, Nishikata wins it hands down. Yeah, this guy is guaranteed to blush in every skit so much so I lost count. Uhm, was I even counting in the first place? Therefore the only times you get to see Takagi’s really embarrassing side is just through his vivid imaginations. Yes, she does put up that kind of face too but if Nishikata didn’t see it, I suppose that can’t be counted.

But if you think about it too, just like how last time I theorized in my previous blog, Nishikata can’t really change much and eventually always gives way to Takagi. Yup, that gender role thingy. Nishikata as a man has to be considerate over Takagi. In many instances, it is between the devil and the deep blue sea. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. Takagi also has the option of gaining advantage in both outcomes whether he passes or fails. If he passes, he gets labelled. You bet that is going to set off some trauma. This is why Nishikata although despite looking a lot like a loser, he is actually more of a gentleman. Because he cares for her. Because he likes her. Yeah, we’ll get to that soon. And it is evident that Nishikata lives for Takagi’s pranks because he even notices the drop in quantity and gets worried! It’s like to reassure his existence, that’s why Takagi’s god-like pranks. You sure it isn’t just a lousy excuse that you like her?

Of course in many of these pranks and instances, the goal is to make Nishikata and Takagi close together that this will eventually look like one weird courtship. Yeah, I know it’s weird. Love is also weird if you think about it. There are lots of moments that we see them both together eventually at the end of the prank. Not to say that we can officially declare them as a couple but the end result of Nishikata ‘suffering’ from Takagi’s pranks is that it brings them closer together. All of us know that they like each other. Just that all the teasing got in the way and twisted this whole romantic experience looking like a one-sided bullying. And maybe some of us are like Nishikata who won’t learn because we keep hoping that eventually they will confess to each other and become an item but each time they trolled us. Not yet time for them to be a couple yet. So bear with us all the pranks and much more. Oh boy. If they really end up as one for real, that would be the biggest reward and endgame for the series. And as we have glimpsed one short ‘future’ scene of adult Takagi, she seems pretty happy but we are still unsure if she married Nishikata. That is still up in the air. Uh huh. That feels like the producers pranking us with this future teaser!

As for the other characters, I guess they’re still pretty much insignificant and close to forgettable since we don’t want the focus to stray too much away from the Nishikata-Takagi pair. So it’s too bad that I didn’t get my wish for the 3 Stooges having their own spinoff. However they have very short segments in between of their own in the episodes so I guess that’s okay even if it doesn’t amount to anything much. Since Nishikata and Takagi aren’t really official, and so will Yukari’s anxiety about them being an item. Yeah, maybe she is craving for a romance of her own? This season also adds a pair of new characters, Hamaguchi and Houjou. Of course as said, as not to take away the limelight from Nishikata and Takagi, that is why this pair also feels lacking. Well, it’s just refreshing to see a bunch of new characters but that’s just it. After all, Hamaguchi and Houjou could be like Nishikata and Takagi but without the teasing. Because Hamaguchi is always nervous in trying to live up to whatever mature type Houjou likes. And Houjou is patient in letting him do whatever as she remains cool and collected. Hence this pair is like in between Nishikata-Takagi and Nakai-Mano. Yeah, the latter pair are already well known but because Nakai is just being dense, Mano is always left frustrated. I hope her high forehead isn’t an indication that she’ll get a big headache or something…

Many of the other segments feel pretty similar to last season. Like the bright and simple art and animation to the seiyuus retained from the first season. I was surprised to find out that Houjou was voiced by Aoi Yuuki. As her character is quite soft spoken and she like other minor characters only make limited appearance, you bet I didn’t recognize her until I finished watching this series. Hamaguchi is voiced by Kouki Uchiyama (Shigaraki in Boku No Hero Academia). Also just like last season, there are multiple ending themes and only 1 opening theme. Rie Takahashi and Yuiko Oohara reprise their roles singing them respectively. Zero Centimeter as the opener sounds like a nice and lovely pop piece. As usual, with different ending themes, there is a variety from the slow ballads of Kanade (first ending theme), Arigatou (fourth ending) and STARS (fifth ending) to the slow rock of Konayuki (second ending) to the hip-like Kiseki (third ending) to another catchy rock of Anata Ni (sixth ending) and the happy pop piece befitting for the final episode , Yasashii Kimochi (eighth ending). Last season’s opening theme, Iwanai Kedo Ne has been modified a little as the seventh ending.

Overall, if you like the first season, you’re going to love this second one too. But just don’t put your hopes up too much in the romantic development in our main pair. Because when that isn’t officially confirmed yet, at least there would be many chances for future pranks and teasing! Otherwise if you aren’t so keen on this, this is just one long extension of the first season. For now, there isn’t any word of a third season but I can guess it will be more or less the same. Unless they’re going in with some shocker but I doubt that will happen. Just like how I always doubt Nishikata will ever win over Takagi. Sure, he does have his moment of actually besting her. Only, he was too busy being distracted and not acknowledging it. Ah, victory is only a victory if you really acknowledge it. But even monkeys fall from trees. One day, just one day we’ll get to really see Takagi’s embarrassing face. That will be the ultimate reward for following this series, right? We just got to be patient. Season 100 of Karakai Jouzu No Takagi-san and thousands of episodes later…

Arifureta Shokugyou De Sekai Saikyou

Oh no. Here we go again. Yet another isekai genre anime. Arifureta Shokugyou De Sekai Saikyou is another one of those abundant isekai series that tries to distinguish itself from other similar series in the genre but comes out as mostly the same (or worse, depending on your mood of the day). Uh huh. Wanna bet that the main character who is pretty average and normal, becomes overpowered and easily overcomes his obstacles with his ‘intuition’ due to ‘circumstances’? Oh yeah. You bet they’re going to throw in some harem trope as well. Which girls do not want to be with such badass powerful hunk? Yeah. Oh, you bet I wanna throw myself into his arms and be protected by this reincarnated tough guy. KYAAA~ KAKOI SUGIRU!!! <3. Oh yeah. Bring on all your isekai clichés! I’m gonna take them all! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

Episode 1
Hajime Nagumo has it real bad. He has fallen real deep into the Great Orcus Labyrinth and barely alive. If you think seeing a killer rabbit is bad, wait till you see the killer bear eating the killer rabbit! Oh f*ck! It ate his arm too! Hajime runs as fast as he could and using his transmute ability to protect himself. Hiding inside some hole, it is the miracle of some holy crystal nearby that keeps him alive. Flashback shows his party were training hard to enter this labyrinth. Clips of Hajime getting bullied? Then when they first enter the labyrinth, somebody accidentally touched a trap crystal that transported them to a bridge on the 65th floor. A behemoth charges at them as they try to run for safety. Hajime tries to cover for Kaori Shirasaki and when everyone else has run to safety, the plan is the attack the behemoth to cover Hajime so he could run. However one of the blasts directly hit Hajime. The bridge collapses and he fell along with the behemoth. Hajime realizes he has been betrayed. Somebody in the party wanted him dead. Furthermore, previously Kaori warned him not to go as she had a premonition something bad would happen to him. Because he was adamant, Kaori vowed to protect him. But now Hajime is bitter that nobody is going to save him but since he isn’t going to die in this sh*thole, he just has to kill everything that gets in his way! Wow. Suddenly he turns from a wuss to badass? He uses his abilities and brains to trap monsters for food. However eating them, he starts to feel something inside him transforming. Sure it isn’t the case of food poisoning? Wow. Now he transforms into something more badass! He thinks it is because of this holy water that is keeping him alive. Not only that, his stats all jumped and now he has the ability to manipulate mana. So the more different monsters he eats, the more abilities he gains as well as his growth in stats. Heck, he even crafted a gun so this can turn into some shooting anime? Donner, that’s what he calls his gun? Then he goes to have his rematch with the killer bear and kills it and eats it. Tastes like crap but the victory tastes sweet! Since he can’t go up, he is going down. He is going to survive this and find his way home.

Episode 2
Eating the same monsters many times will not have any significant increase. So, variety is the spice of life? Back in Heiligh Kingdom, the king is informed of this tragedy but gives the gag order not to talk about this anymore. This puts Kaori in despair. Because she promised to protect him and when she was desperate to go save him after he fell, Meld Loggins had to knock her out. He can’t risk losing any more of them. Further flashback reveals Hajime, Kaori and their entire class were summoned to this kingdom as heroes. History has this world having 3 races: Humans, demons and beastmen. So now angels? Humans and demons were at war for a very long time but the demons controlled the beastmen to tip the favours in their scale. Humanity at the brink of destruction had to summon heroes from another world to save them. Kouki Amenogawa is probably a popular guy and probably loves playing the hero of justice. Can’t sit by and see a kingdom go into extinction, can he? So that’s why nobody listens to loli teacher, Aiko Hatayama when she tries to veto they can’t go on this dangerous adventure. Shizuku Yaegashi (Kaori’s best friend) trains as she too feel something is off. Noting Daisuke Hiyama is acting strange, this has her remember he was always picking fights with Hajime and Kaori always intervened. Is there some love triangle going on? Shizuku feels bad that Kaori is still reeling from the fact they couldn’t save Hajime. She continues to believe he is still alive. Hajime arrives at a place with a huge door. Must be something important, huh? But first he has to fight 2 giant guardians. After defeating them an unlocking the door, he hears a voice asking to be saved. Seeing a loli trapped in a cube prison, Hajime does what any sane person would do: Get the hell out of here! But the loli pleads she will do anything! Don’t be tempted! Get out! After all, he suspects she must be somebody dangerous to be sealed here. However she says the buzzword. Yup, she was betrayed and sealed here. As a powerful immortal vampire, one day she was told she was no longer needed and her uncle was to take over ruling. She was fine with that but they told her she was too dangerous and was thus sealed here since she couldn’t be killed. Hajime breaks her out from her prison. She wants him to name him since she doesn’t need her old name anymore. He calls her Yue. Because her hair and eyes glow like the moon. So it’s not Tsuki? Just saying. Suddenly something attacks and Hajime protects Yue from the incoming projectiles.

Episode 3
It’s going to take more than this giant scorpion’s stingers to kill him. He fights back but is not making any headway. This is when Yue sucks some of his blood as she lands some giant ball over the monster. But good for only 1 use. Although her next attack is weakened, with Hajime’s shooting skills, they kill the monster in no time. Hajime eats the monster as he explains why he didn’t abandon her and run. Yeah, it would be just bad for a guy to just free her and then abandon her. Remember, no betrayals. Yue explains the rumours that the labyrinths were built by Mavericks. They once tried to destroy the world but failed so they built labyrinths to escape and hence it is believed that Mavericks reside at the bottom of each labyrinth. With Hajime’s mana increased, he is now able to make a railgun rifle. Schlagen, he calls it, huh? Hajime also tells his betrayal story. Because of his powers as a synergist, his role isn’t suited for combat. Everyone said he was useless. They teamed up with the royal guards to clear the labyrinth and the rest is history as we know it. Though he doesn’t want revenge, he just hopes to get better and go home. Wow. Yue crying at his sob story? Okay. Even loli vampires have feelings. And since Yue also has no home to go to, he offers she could join him. Next scene, we see them being chased by… Dinosaurs with flower on their heads?! Actually, parasitic flowers. Killing them won’t be effective unless they take out the source. So when they final do, it seems this plant lady monster has gotten Yue under her command and forces her to attack Hajime. Somehow parasitic plants wither on Hajime since he ate too many monsters and has developed some immunity. Until Yue tells him to just shoot, he gets happy and blasts through and kills the monster. Now Yue is mad that he didn’t even hesitate to shoot?! Heh. He was reluctant at first because he knew she would be mad and he thought it was okay since she gave her ‘permission’. By the way, isn’t she a vampire and can’t die? Okay, still not good to shoot a loli. Hajime eats the monster but Yue now wants to feed on his blood. And she gets naked?! WTF is this reverse rape?! Trekking further downwards, they finally reach the 100th floor. You can sure tell something is important behind this huge ominous door.

Episode 4
They face off with a hydra. You can easily tell their coloured heads, each having their own roles and abilities. Like the white one heals, the yellow one defends, etc. Then there is the black one who hypnotizes Yue and plays her trauma of being abandoned by Hajime. Nobody does this to his loli so Hajime snaps her out. I think the deal breaker was the kiss on her lips. Because the second time it hypnotized her, all she needs to do is remember the kiss and she won’t be hypnotized! Damn, the kiss was so damn effective! Hajime can’t be hypnotized too because he is so hard bitten, he is afraid of nothing! Finally he is going to use Schlagen on the hydra and has Yue cover him. Though he manages to get a good shot, the final head fires at Yue. I understand why Hajime uses his body to protect Yue but… Isn’t Yue an immortal?! I guess nobody hurts his loli, huh? Hajime is fatally wounded. I’m guessing she is kissing him to transfer some healing potion is because she wants to kiss him. Could have just poured the bottle straight into his mouth… Then she wants to avenge him by using his Donner. Can she? Nope. Loli failed. Loli going to get owned again and that’s when Hajime wakes up to play the hero again. Yup. His loli must not be hurt. Can’t lose his beloved loli. With Hajime now having the ability to slow down time (or is he speeding up?), he makes his final move. He plants bombs all over the ceiling and in great timing shoots at them for it all to come crashing on the hydra. I guess the hydra has no more strength to get out from its crushed state. Hard fought victory. Well done. Meanwhile Aiko threatens a priest that she will stop using her farming ability if he continues to force students who don’t want to fight to continue fighting. He relents since he views her farming to be valuable. Finally. Somebody listens to her!

Episode 5
What’s this? Hajime and Yue naked in bed together?! Since Hajime is alive and kicking, I suppose he is alright but I doubt sex had any part in his healing. Yue reveals after defeating the hydra, the door before them opened and there is this beautiful underground garden. This could be the Maverick’s lair. She put him on the bed and let his holy water do the healing. Phew. Told you there was no sex involved. Exploring around, they enter a mansion in which the throne room sits a skeletal corpse. Hajime stands in the insignia to test if this is a teleport but he activates the corpse’s ghost! Actually, it is just a recording of Oscar Orcus. He is a Maverick who built this labyrinth. Meanwhile Meld and the rest head back down to face the behemoth once more. So monsters here respawn? Just like the bridge too? This time they are more coordinated, more powerful and more determined in taking down the behemoth. Orcus says that as a reward for passing his trials set in the labyrinth, he will give his power. Just don’t use it for evil, okay? Hajime then feels like some ancient magic spell being imprinted into his head. Also some memories about the truth about Mavericks. They’re not bad guys but liberators. I guess we’ll have to wait for later to hear this. So it seems Hajime has the new power to do some creation magic. Add energy to raw minerals and give them special qualities? Holy crap. That sounds like becoming God! After burying the corpse, Hajime realizes that there are lots of things he can learn here. Hence, delaying his journey back to the top. So with his new magic, he is able to create lots of new things. Like his new prosthetic arm. More cool weapons. More cool vehicles. Only imagination’s the limit. Forget that cheesy fanservice scene of Yue trying to do something to Hajime in the bath… So after 2 months of learning and getting what they can, it’s time for them to head back up. Their goal now is to find other labyrinths because each has their own ancient magic to learn. That way, he might be able to find a way to return home.

Episode 5.5
Eh? Recap episode?! Well, if you didn’t pay attention to what happened previously, Hajime nicely summarizes up some of the important events that has happened so far. Pay attention next time so we don’t have to waste a week of recap episode! Or maybe the production should just buck up… But at the end we get a new scene: Some stupid sexy bunny girl, Shea is waiting for someone to pop up. Better hurry because she almost got eaten by a dinosaur!

Episode 6
Just in time. A grand entrance for Hajime and Yue. With Shea so glad to see them, the duo pretend not to see and walk away. But Shea is begging for them to save her village and even tries to use her sex appeal. I guess she has never died before since she is confident her bustiness beats Yue’s flatness! You know Hajime is in a bad mood when he easily kills the dinosaur! Persistence is key so with all that bugging, Hajime is willing to hear her out. Although beastmen cannot use magic, she is the rare type who can. She has clairvoyance and some of her magic is that only used by monsters. As Because of that, she was kicked out of her tribe but a small group and her family followed her. However they are too weak to survive on their own. In her clairvoyance she saw them saving her family. Hajime is still not interested seeing he gets nothing out of it. Shea thinks she can be their guide to the Great Tree. Anyone who approaches it will lose their senses. Only natives can navigate through. Yue has some heart and has her tag along. Upon arrival, Hajime gets down to business by killing the monsters threatening the bunny people. Yeah, using Shea as bait. With the bunny people wanting to get stronger, Hajime trains them. Shea has her bouts with Yue but you know who always ends up tops. Hey, take it as a learning experience. At the end of the training, those bunny people are now bloodthirsty savages! OMFG! Where did those cute flower loving people go?! Arriving at the Great Tree, there is a monolith that bears the same design as Oscar’s. From what I understand from Yue’s deciphering, if they get 4 more symbols from other labyrinths, they get the power of generation. Wow. Time to go dungeon raiding. Yue wants to come along because she loves Hajime and also she technically beat Yue in a duel. She hopes that by working hard, she can change the future and not have any regrets. Her family will stay behind since Hajime might come back and he might need a guide then. Whatever the boss says.

Episode 7
Hajime and co find themselves at the labyrinth of Miledi Reisen. The deeper they go, there is this cheeky bratty voice trying to annoy them and play pranks and tricks on them. Usually, Shea bearing the brunt of most of it. It gets frustrating enough that the labyrinth leads them back to the first room! Finally they find the room where Miledi supposedly resides. So this giant knight is Miledi? Hajime is forced to answer her questions of his goal and intentions if she is to answer his. Too bad she didn’t keep her end of the bargain and won’t tell if she has the ancient magic she wants. Miledi looks down on them and I’m guessing that’s why she lost despite being so powerful. Nothing like a little teamwork to take down the giant. Shea getting the lion’s share of finishing her off. Before Miledi disappears, she sends a warning to Hajime since he is going to raid other labyrinths. They are the real bad guys so it is going to be tough all the way. Because one day he is going to be the God Killer. She believes his decision will make this world a better place and hopes he will live as freely as he chooses to. On the way out, they stumble into the real Miledi. Just a little pipsqueak, huh? Why does she remember me of Mario’s Shy Guy? Still as bratty, though. Nothing like a little beat down to show her place. It seems the only magic she has pertains to gravity in which Yue is most suitable. Not enough, Hajime tries to loot her but she flushes them out. Because Shea is not breathing, Hajime administers CPR. Yue jealous… Horny bunny’s feint to give Hajime a good French kiss! Then when they try to rent a room at an inn, Yue and Shea argue who should share a room. It ends with Shea declaring she wants to sleep with Hajime and let him take her virginity! I think the whole town heard that… Oh Shea, Hajime is going to f*ck you alright. Not of the sexual kind, that is.

Episode 8
Ilwer Chang, the head of Fuhren Adventurer’s Guild would like Hajime to undertake a quest. Will Cudeta, the son of a count has gone missing after he and his group when to the northern regions for survey. He wants Hajime to rescue them. In exchange, he promises to get him out of any trouble with the guild. He also agrees to Hajime’s conditions of making them status plates and doing anything else they ask for. They arrive in a town that coincidentally Aiko and some of her students are here to help with the farming. In the restaurant, Aiko realizes this is Hajime because his girls keep calling his name. I guess a teacher knows best despite Hajime looking totally different. She confronts him but he tries to pretend she got the wrong person. Although he admits, he continues to ignore her. Aiko might be small but she is persistent as she keeps bugging him. Shea should shut her mouth and not saying ambiguous things like she is Hajime’s girl and he stole her first kiss. Ai wants to lecture him but Hajime continues to ignore. Sensei, your threats mean nothing! And then the knight accompanying Aiko lost his patience. He tries to tell off Hajime for being rude and then continues to badmouth Shea as a beastman. When he crosses the line, Hajime shoots and wounds his shoulder. Try again and die. He tells everyone he won’t tell anything that has happened or going to happen to him. Just stay out of his way. Later that night, Hajime visits Aiko’s room. He tells her the true history of this world. After the Age of Gods, the world was plagued by war. A group of people came with an intent to stop it and the people believed them as God. But God were just using them as pawns and everything was just a mere game. Hence a group of heroes called Liberators united to stop them. However they failed because the people tricked by God rebelled against them. They can’t fight back against the ones they sworn to protect. Now labelled as Mavericks, they were slowly taken out and the survivors scatter and hid in labyrinths. They prepared trials and those who overcome them will be granted their powers in hopes they will use it to defeat God. Though, Hajime doesn’t care about this world and just believes labyrinths are the key to send him home. He also reveals the truth that his ‘death’ wasn’t an accident but one of her students had intention to kill him. Next day as Hajime prepares to leave, Aiko wants to travel with him and hear more stories. Knowing how stubborn she is, he relents. But is his bike enough to take her and the students? Instantly he creates a Humvee!

Episode 9
Arriving at the site, they see huge footprints. Trekking further into the cave, they finally find Will cowering. He claims a black dragon wiped his team out. When Will feels bad he only survived, here comes that lecture from Hajime about being a wuss. The moment they leave the cave, the black dragon attacks them. Time for Hajime to strut his stuff. Because the black dragon keeps targeting Will, Hajime has to find a way to attract its attention. Just be more powerful! Eventually he manages to bring it down. And now here comes the mind blowing part. Because a dragon has scales on its body and is hard to penetrate, logically it is weak in places without scales. And that place? Hajime shoves a pole down the dragon’s ass!!! OMFG!!! SO BRUTAL!!! The dragon screams in pain in her silly voice! She pleads for mercy and will explain everything. Just take that thing out! Too bad Hajime wants her dead and keeps shoving it in!!! OMFG!!! SO BRUTAL!!!! She mentions that it was not her intention to attack Will. Some shady robe guy casted a spell on her and made her go violent. She will accept her punishment but only after he gives her a chance to repent her actions. Unfortunately Hajime doesn’t care and continues this painful ass penetrating act until Yue points out if he kills her, he will be breaking an important rule. He takes the pole out in time before her mana runs out as she reverts into her human form. Yeah, imagine that pole ripping apart her ass… Don’t want to see that kind of horror story. And was she orgasming while he took it out of her ass?! Introducing herself as Tio Klarus of the dragonborn clan, she further adds the shady robe guy’s intention is to unleash an army of monsters upon the town. Hajime’s drones picked up about 60,000 monsters on their way but no shady robe guy among the ranks. Will hopes Hajime can do something about it but Hajime won’t because the deal was only to bring Will back safely. Also, it would be better to go back and warn the town. Tio sounds like a pervert as she hints she wants to come along with them so Hajime drags and treats her roughly. This new sensation… She’s loving this new awakening?

Episode 10
When Aiko hopes Hajime could do something about the invading army, he points out the irony that she always places her students first but now she is asking him to risk his life. True, but she also doesn’t want to see innocent people in this world die. I guess he can’t disobey sensei’s words so I take that as a yes he is going to help. He makes preparations and turns the village into a fort. Some boring moments of certain people talking to him before the big fight. But ruined by Tio because she’s just being a masochist trying to rile him up so she can get a bigger orgasm from his harshness. As the enemy nears, Hajime gives a rousing speech that makes Aiko into a goddess. As long as she is on their side, victory will be theirs! And now we see Hajime and his harem easily take out the horde with magic or modern weapons. When they run out of ammo, it is up close for melee combat. I guess they’re so cool that some monsters even retreat. Heh. Number mean nothing. Heck, Hajime even confronts the shady robe guy and easily brings him down! His identity turns out to be Yukitoshi Shimizu, his (former) classmate and one of Aiko’s students. Aiko hears him out why he is doing this. Apparently he isn’t being acknowledged. So he went up north and stumbled into some demon clan. They acknowledged his power and made a contract with him to kill Aiko. Doing so, he will be recognized as a hero. Aiko tries to talk to him that what he is doing is wrong but also promises to protect him. But Shimizu didn’t have a change of heart. He takes Aiko hostage and wants Hajime to hand over all his weapons and secure a way out for him. Hajime won’t do it. I mean, taking Aiko back to the demons, they’ll still kill her, right? He even dares him to kill her. Suddenly, a sniper shoots Shimizu. Thanks to Shea, Aiko is spared although Shimizu’s poisonous needle got injected into her. The culprit escapes (not before Hajime fires a wounding shot). I just wonder why can’t Hajime pour his healing potion into Aiko’s mouth directly? Must he give it via his mouth? She is cured and wants him to help Shimizu too. After he tried to kill her? Hajime asks if Shimizu is his enemy. Fearing death, he pleads his fealty to him. Hajime shoots him dead! Aiko is in distraught but Hajime stands by his policy of not showing mercy on his enemies. As Hajime leaves, his comrades know that Hajime was just playing the villain. Shimizu would have died anyway and Hajime killing him is to ensure Aiko will not blame herself over her student’s death.

Episode 11
In this shady city, Hajime knows something is going on but will not get involve. Unless they want to make enemies out of him. Next day, he goes out on a date with Shea. In the aquarium, there is this human faced fish, Lehman who can talk. WTF, did the guys bond over Hajime’s tragic story?! Because they realize it is partly their fault that Lehman got caught after they were flushed out from Miledi’s labyrinth, they feel guilty and release it. Not sure how they did that but I’m sure nobody would stop badass Hajime from it. Lehman warns them that he saw a mermaid being kidnapped and being sold. After all, this city is the hideout for some organization in the slave trade. And then they stumble upon that said mermaid, Myu. Somehow she escaped. After cleaning her up, the plan is to leave her with the authorities so she can go back to her family. However, Myu doesn’t want that and wants to be with Hajime! Will his harem increase? Hajime isn’t fazed and leaves this screaming loli with the authorities. But shortly, the authorities got attacked. Not only Myu is kidnapped but a warning message to also bring along the bunny girl. That’s it. You’ve pissed off Hajime. Now all of you are going to die. So he starts busting every suspect to dig out whatever info they have that will lead to the big boss. The city is going to be destroyed at this rate… Just in time before the auction to save Myu. Yup, the jerk boss continues to abuse her so she could scream and entertain the people but Hajime shoots him dead! And then he lets Myu watch the fireworks as all of the baddies’ hideouts get decimated by Yue’s power. In the end, Myu wants to upgrade and call Hajime from onii-chan to papa since she doesn’t have a father. Yeah, she throws a tantrum that she wants him to be her papa! Now the rest of his girls want a baby…

Episode 12
Hajime and co return to the capital to hand a letter from Ilwer to Loa Bawawis. Just then, Kousuke Endo barges in, pleading for help or else all his friends will die. At first he is shocked that this is Hajime before him. He must be desperate enough to think that if Hajime somehow survived and become this badass, he must be one powerful tough mother. Yeah, please help. Endo narrates that Kouki led his team deep beneath Orcus. They were shocked to see monster blood everywhere. Is there another monster hunting monsters? Then showing up before them is a demon babe. She offers them to join their side like one of theirs did. Kouki declines and since demon babe views them as useless, she summons monsters to kill them. The monsters are tough so Shizuku suggests Endo using his stealth ability to sneak out to the surface and get help. When Suzu Taniguchi is fatally wounded, Kouki becomes mad. He wants to fight back but Shizuku slaps him to his senses. Retreat is the best answer. Endo returns to Meld who is protecting the teleport device to the surface. Meld has to fend off a monster so Endo can return safely. As Kouki and co make their retreat, some of them think to join forces with the demon side just to survive. The debate rages on until they see Meld get killed before their eyes. Enraged Kouki powers up and slices through everything. Could have killed the demon babe had not his consciousness made him realize he is going to be a killer. Shizuku takes over but she too gets wounded. So now Endo is pleading for Hajime to save their friends. But hold up. He doesn’t consider them friends. Oh brother… But you know… After all those flashbacks… So just when his old friends are seconds before being killed, Hajime drops in to the rescue. Missed me, guys?

Episode 13
Time for Hajime to show everybody how powerful he is and kick ass! Singlehandedly! No matter what tricks the demon babe throws, Hajime is superior! Of course, to show that he isn’t just a one man show, his harem also fight back monsters who threaten his former classmates. Everybody is in shock that Hajime is so different. Especially Hiyama whose guilty reaction hints us he might be the one who tried to kill Hajime. Because he was so sure that Hajime had died! Anyway, the demon babe tries to escape but Hajime won’t let her. Since she won’t talk, he deduces her goal. Believing the demons have achieved some ability to gain ancient powers if they clear the labyrinth, the reason she is down here exploring it. She warns him her lover will find and kill him. So be it. He’ll kill demon or gods who stand in his way. WTF Kouki tries to virtue signal and doesn’t want Hajime to kill her? Too bad, Hajime shoots her dead! Now we get to see Kaori so relieved he is still alive that she can’t stop crying. Amp up the drama by hugging him. I think Hajime’s harem might turn yandere for this. As Hajime leads them out, Kouki still tries to virtue signal. But Hajime doesn’t give a damn and even threatens to kill him if he gets in his way. You scared now? Better shut up if you know what’s good for you! Once reached the surface, Kaori has finally decided. She wants to come with him. Because she loves him! Unfortunately he rejects her because he is already in love with Yue. Even so, she still wants to come with him. Why do girls like her always get that confidence they can change men like him and see them their way? And so begins Yue-Kaori rivalry that they are going to show the other why their love is much greater for Hajime. Oh boy, Hajime’s toughest battle is still ahead… Next morning, Kaori says goodbye to her friends and leaves with Hajime. I guess Shizuku doesn’t want to come and intrude in this harem. Love > best friend? Hajime drives his Humvee and his girls are arguing over this sitting arrangement… This is not even the toughest battle yet.

Special 1
Hah! You thought this is going to be a hotspring fanservice episode, right? Not exactly! While Hajime’s harem is ready to get into the bath, they stumble upon Yue’s diary and read it. After all, they’re curious to know what that vampire loli thinks about them. They’re not pleased that the first big part of the entry only consists of Yue and Hajime. Well, she’s his first girl, right? So she’s like their senior. The first other girl in the entry is of course Shea. Yue didn’t mince her words to call her a pathetic useless rabbit and all. While they’re mostly mockery, there are a few lines that express her respect and admiration in some ways. Despite all that’s being said, in a way Yue still holds some value in her. Yeah, bunny girl so touched that she cried. Then the rest of the other girls are like just briefly skimmed true like Tio the pervert, Myu the child that probably prompted Yue to really want to have a baby with Hajime (yeah, 5 pages dedicated to wanting his baby!), and of course the recent addition and perhaps the biggest rivalry to Yue, Kaori. Basically, Yue views herself as a woman of high standards and unparalleled to the rest, blah, blah, blah. Indelicate act of reading one’s diary is put to a stop when they realize angry Yue is behind them. Feel the wrath of the punishing woman!

Special 2
You thought the bath episode wasn’t enough, huh? Well, here comes the real hotspring fanservice episode! Kaori is trying to force everyone to listen to her story on how she first met Hajime. Basically to score some brownie points but don’t get your hopes up. Anyway the first time she saw him, despite being very weak (unlike now), he helped apologize for a grandma and her grandson by prostrating himself before heartless punks. After all, only the strong can use violence to resolve things. At that time, Kaori felt helpless but also struck by the sheer humility and strength Hajime showed. It was ever since then she started watching him. Like a stalker? Then the rest of the girls, Yue, Shea and Tio also tell how they first met Hajime. Basically a short recap with recycled scenes of their first contact. I don’t think Hajime wants Myuu to hear Tio’s story of how he punched the pole into her ass!!!!!!!! The awakening of the love! So basically everybody is in love with Hajime but are too proud to admit it. It’s a secret, you know. All this embarrassing talk is over because Hajime signals it’s time to get out. Yeah, the rivalry has only just begun…

From Common Clichés To World’s Crappiest
Woah. OMG. How the f*ck can this series get another season?! You know, I thought bad isekai animes will never get a sequel. But maybe I’m wrong. Everybody else loved it or whoever sponsored this sh*t decided to throw in more money so that they can have the budget to make another season. Yeah, I read that this show was delayed up to a year before being released and it could have been even worse had they delayed it further. I just wonder if these people now how to cut their losses. Uh huh. We’ve invested so much in this and we just can’t give it up! No matter how bad it turned out!

I have this feeling that this series is trying to be dark and badass like Tate No Yuusha No Nariagari. You know, a seemingly okay and ordinary guy becoming bitter and distrustful because of the unfair persecution he faced. Then because he put in his own effort, hence his overpowered abilities are justified. Unfortunately here doesn’t feel the same. Just the fact that Hajime has been ‘abandoned’ and gone through sh*t, from what I see all the hardships he went through to become badass feels like a flimsy excuse to become an overpowered character. Remember, Hajime just suspected that somebody betrayed him. There was no outright proof. And even if that was true, it wasn’t like everybody betrayed him, right? Only one or maybe two. Then he decides to put a blanket assumption that all of them are bad. Yeah. Real badass there. Feels like some weird excuse sh*t to turn him into a badass character who seemingly doesn’t care. And as for how he powers up by miraculously defeating monsters and eating them, oh yeah, that feels like some weird excuse sh*t to power up his character the easy way. It wasn’t the kind of real hardship sh*t that the shield hero went through.

Therefore the story and plot for this season feel boring and out of place. It’s like they’re all over the place. Sure, Hajime having his goal to return to his world and in order to do that he must raid labyrinths and get ancient magic spells. That is generally what it looks like. But when you sit through and watch each of the episode, honestly they are somewhat boring and doesn’t really make you feel like you want to root for Hajime. Firstly, he is so powered up and you will know that he will somehow find a way to overcome it. Even if he is in a pinch, he will surely find a solution. After all, he is overpowered and it would be a slap in the face if he couldn’t. Why make him so overpowered in the first place if he couldn’t solve the problem?

This isekai world also has its own lore and legends and it was briefly skimmed through about the war between humans, demons and beastmen. Also some insights about the labyrinths and Mavericks but they are just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe that is why they need another season and I hope they can flesh this out better. Because this season sure doesn’t feel like our summoned heroes being summoned to fight against the demons at all. And the demon clan whom the humans are supposed to be fighting mainly against with, they didn’t even show up! Only mentioned during Shimizu’s time and then finally one of them popped up in the penultimate episode. And then she died. Good riddance. Oh well, I’m sure the demons will come looking for Hajime instead of him looking for them once he becomes powerful enough to be a threat to their goals.

So it’s like Hajime travelling from place to place to find labyrinths but he ends up accumulating a harem instead. Uh huh. This is what it typically feels like the plot for this season. Not just your average harem but a monster harem. I thought having a vampire loli was going to be his only companion. Why do I have a feeling Yue is a discount version of Monogatari Series’ Shinobu? I didn’t expect to have a dumb busty bunny girl to follow him. If double trouble wasn’t enough, they have to add this sick perverted nympho dragon lady to the mix. And even so I thought that was the end of it. F*ck! Now they added a loli mermaid to the pack and with her playing his daughter, Hajime wholesomely embraces his role as her father! Like, WTF?! Oh yeah. No matter how badass a guy is, to increase his badass status, he must have his own harem of hot chicks. Oh Hajime, you feeling so badass and proud now? Now, with Kaori joining the pack, she is the latest addition to his ever growing harem. She looks like she has the potential as she has jumped the queue of the pecking order to be a Yue’s rival. The only human among the monster girls. This is going to get messy. I don’t think loving Hajime for a long time would be a valid argument against Yue but we’ll see. Screw Myu being his daughter. Let’s have our own baby! Haha. Not sure if I want to see that cheesy cat fight moment.

Therefore there are a few cheesy fanservice moments in the series. I guess they want to make us giggle with all that sexual innuendoes but more than often it makes us roll our eyes. Like Shea being just a simpleton, hence the way she straightforwardly says certain stuffs to Hajime can be really ambiguous. Is that why she is blessed with big tits? Only when Tio joined the troupe, she becomes the masochistic nympho and Shea’s retard sexiness is nearly forgotten. And then some naked bathing moments in the earlier episodes with Hajime and Yue. Is this supposed to be their bonding moment? Oh well, if you’re the kind interested in flat washboards, be my guest…

The only time when the plot got interesting was when Hajime killed off Shimizu. Even if Hajime is just tough badass, I didn’t expect him to really kill especially one of his own kind. You know, goody-goody heroes can’t take lives. Says the unwritten law of the reel code. Oh right, Hajime isn’t your typical goody-goody hero to begin with (he did after all kill a human slave trader to rescue Myu). And seeing how much he has done to get this far, it shouldn’t be surprising that he would resort to this. Hence this is the only darkest moment of the series. Still, not enough to change my overall sentiments for this series. It still sucks.

The characters themselves aren’t inspiring nor are they intriguing. With Hajime being able to do almost everything, it is like as though he is just one step away from being God. And because he is not, I guess there is your flimsy excuse to show that he is still human. Still has a human heart. Had he not, he wouldn’t even give a damn and not do all those rescue missions. Maybe he is just acting tough upfront and deep down inside, he doesn’t really want what happened to him to happen to others. I hope. Perhaps Hajime is just not sure if he should help. The dilemma of whether he should go or not. That is why his harem played an important role to help him make the decision. They didn’t say outright that he should help but you can tell from the tone of their voice (“I will do whatever Hajime wants to do”), you can tell that is pretty much a plea that he should help.

Because now Hajime instead of looking like a genuine badass character, at this rate he just looks like some guy playing chuunibyou or something. Nobody says anything about this particular change in his character because his harem also twisted in the head and view this as pretty normal. Yeah, my conspiracy theory says that he is just putting up all this tough act because he really wants everybody to notice him. At least he got the attention of a few girls. Now that he is so badass, he has to keep up his charade and continue being a badass. Heck, it’s better than his original wuss personality. Now you know why girls like such bad boys, huh?

While we see Hajime taking his adventures to various places, the other classmates who were whisked away to this world felt like they were being ignored. They lack a lot of back story or whatever that is necessary to make us care for them. It is like as though they are extra unimportant characters to begin with. I guess that is why there is another season and hopefully they will be given more fleshing out especially some of the main ones like Kaori, Shizuku and Kouki. But as far as this season is concerned, they do not even matter and the final arc having Hajime somewhat reuniting with them feels like a reminder that, uhm, we came from the same world and that we are still friends? Okay. Not. Kouki trying to be a jerk with his virtue signalling (that kind of goody-goody heroes don’t exist anymore!) and Shizuku forgoing any potential yuri with her best friend. Whatever. Seeing how powerful and awesome Hajime is, don’t you think at least the rest of the classmates should want to follow him too? I mean, to get back to their own world? Gee, not sure why they decide to stay back. I’m sure trying to be considerate and not ruin Hajime’s harem isn’t even on the plate. Aiko could have been an amusing teacher because of her small stature and her stubborn persistence to look after her student can be annoying as well. It’s a good thing they didn’t turn her being ignored into some sort of a running joke. That would be disrespectful to a teacher, wouldn’t it?

The action scenes are mediocre at best and it’s like just the reason needed to show off and showcase Hajime’s overpowered abilities. Sure, it isn’t that he could come up with a weapon that is instant kill, he just needs to figure out the right strategy and all first. Of course putting up some drama in between. To also show Hajime is not alone, that is why his harem are made to become his assistants. Yue’s lightning spells, Tio’s dragon abilities and Shea swinging her giant hammer around feel like these girls need to do some exercise themselves and lessen the monotony of Hajime doing everything himself. Hey, it’s a harem teamwork. Wohoo! Go, team Hajime!

The art and animation are also pretty mediocre. The worst of the lot being the CGI animations of the monsters. Those are horrendous! Maybe monsters are supposed to look ugly but I didn’t know they were looking this bad. Like that hydra and that chimera monster that demon babe summoned. Because many scenes are located in the labyrinth, they are pretty dark and sometimes I would be straining my eyes to see things. So if this is their idea of hiding the bad CGI effects, too bad I spotted them. Still horrendous. The human characters, I thought they have this one kind look on them like the female characters they have this one kind cute looks on their face. And Hajime in his badass looks, I thought he was taken after Dr Black Jack or something. I wonder if Yue is taken after Monogatari Series’ Shinobu. Because you know, blonde loli vampire. Just more subdued. This anime is jointly animated by Asread (Mirai Nikki, Minami-ke, Shuffle) and White Fox (Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu, Steins;Gate, Akame Ga Kill, Goblin Slayer). Yeah, these studios could have done a lot better with this one and leaves much to be desired.

Voice acting, I guess Youko Hikasa takes the cake as Tio especially when she goes into that nympho mode. Imagine if Seitokai Yakuindomo’s Shino been sexually charged up to a dragonborn level… Then there is Yui Ogura who is eternally specialized as loli characters and is no different this time as Myu and also Tetsuya Kakihara as Kouki although he is no Fairy Tail’s Natsu here. The other casts are Toshinari Fukamachi as Hajime (Clause in Hataage! Kemono Michi), Yuuki Kuwahara as Yue (Tooru in Kobayashi-san Chi No Maid Dragon), Minami Takahashi as Shea (Megumi in Shokugeki No Souma), Ai Kakuma as Aiko (Itsuyo in Val x Love), Saori Oonishi as Kaori (Aiz in DanMachi) and Yumiri Hanamori as Shizuku (Seth in Radiant). The opening theme is Flare by Void_Chords featuring LIO while the ending theme is Hajime No Uta by Dracovirgo. Nothing really special.

Overall, this is another one of those ubiquitous isekai genres with an overpowered main character that is just boring and bad. However, because it is announced that there is going to be a second season, hopefully in this sequel they can better flesh out the stories and the characters since there were basically none right here. So you can say it’s unfair to say it is bad because such developments haven’t been shown yet. But you know what they say about first impressions… Yup, even if there is a remote chance the next season would be better, this doesn’t hide the fact this first one was just terrible. I mean, there are lots of supposedly funny moments but they turn out cheesy if you think about it. Like Shea being written as a dumbass character with tits and who could forget about that part when Hajime stuffed a pole into Tio’s dragon ass!!!!! Yeah, it was funny at first but looking back at it now, it was just embarrassing. It’s the same thinking I had about snuffing out the life of this series but that’s the problem when you decide to give things a second chance. It could come back and bite you in the ass. That’s when you turn from the world’s biggest badass to a common wimp.

Girly Air Force VS Kouya Kotobuki No Hikoutai

It’s time to take to the skies! After a long hiatus, I guess it is time for me to go do my versus variety thingy before I lose touch. Hahaha… Yeah, damn lazy excuse is that I have no anime to compare until a couple of flight and aviation themed animes started airing in the same season. The winter of 2019 season, that is. Hmmm… Suspicious… Just like how Antz and A Bug’s Life were released very close to each other. Anyway, this gives rise to an excuse, erm, I mean reason, oh wait no, motivation for me to do another versus blog. And so today we are going to see what makes Girly Air Force (GAF) different but yet so similar with Kouya Kotobuki No Hikoutai (Kotobuki).

World setting:
GAF: Current modern Earth. Japan particularly.
Kotobuki: Another parallel world. Town in focus is mainly Rahama.

The sea:
GAF: Since most of the setting takes place over the oceans, I guess it is water, water everywhere…
Kotobuki: A dry desert wasteland world where the oceans somehow dried up a long time ago and are being reduced to just fairytales in storybooks.

Type of planes:
GAF: Futuristic jet planes.
Kotobuki: Single engine propeller planes.

The heroine squad:
GAF: Independent Mixed Test Unit (IMTU).
Kotobuki: The Kotobuki Flight Corps. Duh…

Team members:
GAF: Kei Narutani (team leader, somewhat), JAS39 Gripen, F-15J-ANM Eagle, RF-4EJ-ANM Phantom II and somewhat Viper Zero.
Kotobuki: Reona (team captain), Zara, Kate, Emma, Kylie and Chika.

The boss:
Technically the crew’s employer.
GAF: Haruka Yashirodoori.
Kotobuki: Madame Loulou.

Other allies:
GAF: Anima and military from other nations like America and Russia.
Kotobuki: Other flight squadrons like Camilla of Shouto Vigilante and Adolfo Yamada of Nazarene Air Force.

The main enemy:
GAF: An unknown entity known as Xi.
Kotobuki: Air pirates.

Thought you were a good guy but turns out you’re a baddie…:
GAF: F/A-18E-ANM Rhino.
Kotobuki: Isao.

Wild card? And not team player to boot?:
GAF: Viper.
Kotobuki: Naomi.

Technical person:
GAF: Yashirodoori.
Kotobuki: Natsuo.

Loser at love:
It’s so one-sided…
GAF: Song Minghua.
Kotobuki: Adolfo.

The child-like brat:
They also like to brag…
GAF: Eagle.
Kotobuki: Chika.

Emotionless girl:
GAF: Gripen.
Kotobuki: Kate.

B*tch girl:
GAF: Phantom.
Kotobuki: Councillor Julia.

Sexy girl?:
GAF: Gripen. Sort of. No qualms undressing before Kei.
Kotobuki: Zara. Ex-dancer with exotic moves that could hypnotize any horny guys watching.

Dead elder person:
GAF: Kei’s mom. Killed in a raid by Xi during an air show.
Kotobuki: Kylie’s mentor, Sab. Went missing and greatly hinted was shot down by Isao.

The dynamic relationship:
GAF: Kei and Gripen. Some crap about the latter’s brainwaves stabilizing and synchronizing with the former, increasing her efficiency and focus, blah, blah, blah…
Kotobuki: Kylie and Chika. The often quarrel and their petty banter is such an amusement to watch.

Autopilot:
GAF: Kei is in fact a better pilot than Gripen. So while he mans the control, this gives more room for Gripen to focus on radar and weapon systems.
Kotobuki: Sab’s age old advice, “You don’t fly a plane. It flies itself”.

Harem potential:
GAF: Yes. Cheap and sleazy as it is.
Kotobuki: No. Thank goodness no lesbo hints too. Phew. Oh wait. Reona and Zara, Julia for Loulou…

Heavy bomber planes:
GAF: Xi has a type of craft that not only serves as heavy bombers but act as an aircraft carrier to carry other smaller Xi crafts.
Kotobuki: Heavy bomber planes try to attack and disrupt a meeting in Areshima. Also later, Isao sends several heavy bomber planes to attack Rahama after accusing them of hogging a portal.

Tactical retreat:
Sometimes you don’t succeed at first, it is best to regroup and rethink the strategy…
GAF: The first charge to attack an island where Xi is building their forward operating base. Because of too many enemies and not enough ammo (also, Phantom being a b*tch not being cooperative), a retreat is necessary.
Kotobuki: The first charge to attack Ikesuka has Loulou ordering a retreat. Do you want to take a gamble and lose more of your men to 200 plus enemy planes?

Deception:
GAF: Electronic Perceptory Counter Measures AKA EPCM blurs your vision when you get too close to Xi. Also, Phantom has this ability to feed false info to others.
Kotobuki: Elite Industries try to sell fake paintings to the town of Rahama in exchange for an old Raiden plane in their possession.

Taken hostage:
GAF: Kei was kidnapped by the military after they think he is some sort of spy. Only freed because his presence somewhat activated Gripen.
Kotobuki: A group of pirates hijack Hagoromo and demand Isao’s resignation as the mayor of Ikesuka and the disbandment of the Brotherhood. Otherwise they’ll blow up the blimp. Freed after Johnny’s insane gunslinger skills!

Suicide move:
GAF: At the start of the series, Kei risking his life to save a crashed Gripen at sea when no other refugees would sanely think or do the same thing.
Kotobuki: At the end of the series, Saneatsu rides his Hagoromo blimp to blast and seal close the portal. Luckily it’s not just a blind kamikaze mission as he escaped via mini plane in the final moments.

Another dimension:
GAF: Unphysical Layer. Kei and Gripen almost got trapped forever in Rhino’s spell.
Kotobuki: Strange portals randomly opening up over the airspace, believed to lead to the other world known as Yufang.

Final charge:
GAF: A joint effort by the Japanese and Americans to retake the Asian continent by counterattacking and overwhelming the Xi with unmanned Brawler clones.
Kotobuki: A joint effort by Rahama and Porokka to attack Ikesuka and prevent Isao and his Brotherhood from controlling the portal.

Dogfight and aviation action style:
GAF: Fast and furious! Loud in your face! Fast missiles everywhere! Boom! Boom! BOOM!!!
Kotobuki: First person view makes every flight experience exhilarating and thrilling!

Music style:
GAF: Heavy and loud techno music. Might go crazy after prolong exposure.
Kotobuki: Typical military marching-like fanfare that complements the aerial action.

Animation style:
GAF: Mostly 2D except for some dogfight scenes.
Kotobuki: Mostly, if not entirely in CGI.

Studio house:
GAF: Satelite.
Kotobuki: WAO World and Gemba.

Adaptation:
GAF: Light novel.
Kotobuki: Original anime.

Conclusion
It is without a doubt that Kouya Kotobuki No Hikoutai is superior to Girly Air Force in so many ways (rather, in all aspects) that it is a no brainer to do this. But it has to be done so as to continuously sing and shower praises for the former. I also hope they get a sequel. So it goes to show that sometimes old is gold. Rather, sometimes all that futuristic high technology doesn’t necessarily guarantee a good show. It all boils down to execution and the former nailed and pulled it off flawlessly (well, almost) with its simplicity. While Kouya Kotobuki No Hikoutai is flying high into the sunset, Girl Air Force on the other hand is sent flying away, took a nose dive, then crash and burn. Barbie 01, bail out, BAIL OUT! Kotobuki… Still soaring to greater heights.