Anime Characters Who Draw Lewd Manga For A Living

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021!!! I see that all of us made it through that year. I know that all of us want to start the new year fresh, filled with hope and change but I’m going to do a little experiment. I’m going to post the first blog of the year with somewhat a perverted topic. After all, last year was pretty twisted and perverted itself so it’s not going to make any difference or bring anymore surprises, right? Is this going to jinx the rest of the year? We shall soon see. Yeah…

For the longest time, men have always been fascinated about the act of sex. Or to be more specific, acts of porn. It is still a taboo subject in many parts of the world and society. But for the brave who are willing to defy the norm and provide us with such great materials, we salute them because here is the list of Anime Characters Who Draw Lewd Manga For A Living. Hey, not only porn stars rake in the cash, okay.

Kakushi Goto (Kakushigoto)
Trying to earn a living as an adult mangaka is already hard. Making it even harder is how he has to hide it all from his young innocent daughter and keep this secret like forever. Well, forever didn’t quite last…

Sagiri Izumi (Eromanga-sensei)
She is only 13 and she already is a prodigy in drawing erotic stuffs. It is no wonder she denies her Eromanga-sensei moniker when confronted by her brother, Masamune who is the author of an erotic series that she helps to illustrates.

Taketo Akutagawa (R-15)
Genius porn author! He is going to take the world by storm by becoming the greatest porn author ever! But first, he needs to attend a special school to fine tune all his creative juices. Porn will never be the same again. Although our carnal desires have remained so since time immemorial… He might not be making money yet but I’m sure he will once he graduates with flying colours.

Hanasaki Horie (Midara Na Ao-chan Benkyou Ga Dekinai)
Imagine your father who is the author of bestselling erotic novel series that would make any woman who read your works want to rush to bed and make loooooooove! And he had the gall to name his daughter based on some porn word…Definitely the Master Bait…

Otome Saotome (Shimoneta To Iu Gainen Ga Sonzai Shinai Taikutsu Na Sekai)
Commissioned to draw lewd stuffs as propaganda material to be distributed all over school, she’s the only one on the list who can skilfully draw lewd stuffs with her mouth!!! When your hands are tied, literally… And when she starts, she can’t stop her erotic passionate drawing fervour! Oh yeah. Her mouth game is so good!

Ahegao W Peace (Ore Ga Suki Nano Wa Imouto Dakedo Imouto Ja Nai)
Need the best erotic illustrator to illustrate and flesh out all the naughty bits of your story? She’s the woman for the job. Definitely satisfaction guaranteed. And her name even says it all!

Yuuki Aito (Mangaka-san To Assistant-san To)
You draw an ero manga but yet you don’t know stuffs and need some referencing. So how? The internet! Nah, just kidding. He ‘harasses’ his female employees to show their pantsu all in the name of reference material. Your guess is as good as mine the responses he’ll get. Seriously, the internet should’ve been way much easier, just saying…

Tarou Jiroumaru (Hanasaku Iroha)
Originally a romance novelist, but I guess just like any desperate writers facing the writer’s block, he had to turn to writing erotic adult stories just to pay for his seemingly permanent stay at the inn.

Miu Amano (Blend S)
Big sister type is the leader of a doujin circle that draws adult comics. Now, if you can blend in both tropes together, it’ll be the ultimate porn for those who love this kind of fetish. Fortunately or not, the anime didn’t go that far.

Kenji Aoyama (Futarigurashi)
Not much to say about this character since I stumbled upon it and didn’t complete watching the series. He’s just a guy who is aspiring to become an erotic mangaka but his gender bender cousin who is living with him, there’s a danger this might turn gay or something…

Jiraiya (Naruto)
Wasn’t a fan of this anime so I didn’t really see many episodes. But I did find out that he is the part time author of the adult novels called Icha Icha series that details his failed rejections by Tsunade. Yeah, he is so much more successful in making money out of this (cheque filled with zeroes?!) than getting his love through. Such sad irony…

Because Sex Sells!
This list is not meant to be exhaustive but that is so far those I could find. After all, it gets really hard trying to legitimately use the internet to search this topic because it’ll always bring up actual porn search results! No kidding! Sorry Google, not what I’m searching for! There are some I didn’t include like Hitoha Hongou (Araburu Kisetsu No Otome Domo Yo). Her editor pressured her into writing something erotic and not porn. With no experience, she eventually targets her own pathetic teacher and things get weird. And so I didn’t include her because she didn’t end up doing such manga. There’s also Hana Oshiroi (Ben-To) because this shy girl likes drawing erotic yaoi BL stuffs. This is just her hobby and as far as I know, she doesn’t do it as a job but for her own personal pleasure. Same case for Sora Tenkuuji (Dokyuu Hentai HxEros). She just draws erotic manga because it somewhat helps power up her H-energy. Don’t see her making money out of it. Does she?

Then there’s Itsuki Hashima (Imouto Sae Ireba Ii). He isn’t mainly an erotic writer. But Itsuki loves little sisters so much that he is willing to go so far at one point just to write erotic stuffs on them. Of course, rejected by his editor. Even his novelist colleague, Nayuta may be a pervert but it didn’t state she is mainly an erotic novelist. And Kaiko may love drawing pantsu on her characters but she isn’t also technically a main erotic illustrator. All in all, as long as we humans lust for desires of the flesh, there’ll be such mediums to provide and satiate our carnal desires indefinitely. And if books aren’t enough anymore, there are always the videos… Damn, so much to see!!!!!!!!!

Top Bishoujos of 2020

Tsk, tsk, tsk. It should be no surprise by now. Seeing how things went in 2020, nothing can shock me at this point. Or can it? If you have been following my blog, the last blog of the year is reserved for this special post. Yes, a shamelessly special blog post about the most beautiful 2D girls in animes I have watched for the year. Ever since 2015, the number has been steadily declining. It is no different this year. So you think it couldn’t get lower than last year? Well, it did. Guess who many made it to the nomination list? Yup. Only 15. Fifteen. Hey, got to be thankful that there is still a list for me to make. So without further ado and let’s get over this year already, here are the Top 10 Bishoujos of 2020 listed in alphabetical order:

1) Altena Elgard Ratis (Hataage! Kemono Michi)

2) Charlotte Roselei (Black Clover)

3) Chizuru Ichinose (Kanojo Okarishimasu)

4) Keine Kanzaki (Choujin Koukousei-tachi Wa Isekai Demo Yoyuu De Ikinuku You Desu)

5) Kotoko Iwanaga (Kyokou Suiri)

6) Mami Nanami (Kanojo Okarishimasu)

7) Mir Lotus (Geneshaft)

8) Sorane Matsuyama (Oshi Ga Budoukan Ittekuretara Shinu)

9) Sumireko “Pansy” Sanshokuin (Ore Wo Suki Nano Wa Omae Dake Ka Yo)

10) Veronica Thorne (Fairy Gone)

Congratulations to the top 10. As for the balance 5, they are (in alphabetical order of course): Ariadoa (Kono Yuusha Ga Ore Tueee Kuse Ni Shinchou Sugiru), Elise Katharina von Hohenheim (Hachi-nan Tte Sore Wa Nai Deshou), Lily Aquaria (Black Clover), Maria Campbell (Otome Game No Hametsu Flag Shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou Ni Tensei Shiteshimatta) and Ruka Sarashina (Kanojo Okarishimasu). What’s this that I should have just converted this to a top 15 bishoujo? Consistency is key, people! Just like how the number of hot 2D chicks keep declining year after year?! Oh well. Quality over quantity. Speaking of consistency. Sure didn’t forget about these 2 either (yeah, and they’re probably mad at 2020 too):

At this point of course there is a danger to even wonder if there will be a top 10 list. The chances are there but I am sure that when you hit the most bottom of the barrel, the only way left is to go up, up and up, right?! Unless I haven’t hit the bottom yet… That’s scary. Oh, blame it all on 2020. And somehow we’re all keeping that baseless positive faith that 2021 will be so much better. Lest 2020 was just a minor preview of 2021… Gotta stay positive now. Long Live Anime Bishoujos!

Anime Awards of 2020

Wow. What an eventful year 2020 has been. To some it must have been interesting. To others it must have been strange. And I’m sure to the rest and many, it was just plain sh*tty! Yeah. I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs of this wretched year too. Especially when there was a period of time when some of the animes that I was watching got delayed or postponed! Oh, the horror! Damn, first world problems. But thankfully, here I am now and I have got to see a bunch of series that I thought I might never have ever touched had not the Corona virus wreak havoc. So can’t say it’s entirely a bad year for me. So for the second consecutive year, let me roll out the top and best anime stuffs for 2020. And some of the worst ones too:

Best 2020 Anime Series:

Kimetsu No Yaiba

Michael Jackson lives! Just kidding. Interesting storyline, amazing characters and most important of all, the intense action scenes proves that there are other series out there that could rival Shingeki No Kyojin. Never knew that cutting down demons was also as good as taking down Titans.

Other notable mentions:
* Kono Yuusha Ga Ore Tueee Kuse Ni Shnchou Sugiru: Best isekai anime ever when you have an overpowered hero being overly cautious for his own good and to everyone’s detriment! Also, Aki Toyosaki such a darling as Ristarte.
* Hataage! Kemono Michi: Wrestler guy wants to open a pet shop in another fantasy world. Blonde princess gets German suplex and showed the whole world her pantsu. Oh, I know the series is more than that but whatever…
* Jashin-chan Dropkick S2: More dropkick and Jashin bloody massacre madness!!! What else do you expect?!
* Last Period: Owarinaki Rasen No Monogatari: Great parodies that left me laughing my ass out loud. Wiseman best characters of the series!
* Appare-Ranman: A couple of Japanese guys, a white, a black, a native Indian, a Chinese, an European white and a couple of Latino bros go on a road trip across America. Oops, I mean a race across America.

Worst 2020 Anime Series:

Maou-sama Retry

WHAT THE F*CK IS THIS ATROCITY THAT WASTED OUR TIME?! Bad story, bad animation, uninteresting characters that make us think that everybody on the production team didn’t want to do this and purposely made it so bad just to get fired. But they didn’t and we’ve got 12 episodes of revolting crap!

Other notable mentions:
* Hatena Illusion: Could have been sharing the top spot for the sh*ttiest anime of the season if not for reasons being gaugau gau! Gaugaugaugau gau gaaaaaauuuuuuu gaugau gau!!! DO YOU NOT SEE WHY THIS SUCKS?!
* Arifureta Shokugyou De Sekai Saikyou: THIS IS GETTING ANOTHER SEASON???!!! When the main character tried stuffing a huge pole in a horny dragon’s ass…
* Shin Chuuka Ichiban: What a way to destroy a legacy with this remake… Thankfully the original one is still resonating inside my heart.
* Samurai Gun: So episodic and unrelated that I’m not even sure what to make out of it.
* Gangsta: Okay, I know this is unfair. This is only here because of the FREAKING CLIFF-HANGER ENDING!!!!!!!!!!! Otherwise this is quite cool and good with its bloody violent gory action sequences.
* Tower Of God: Okay, very unfair for this series to be here. Shouldn’t be here at all. Only so because F*CK RACHEL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weirdest 2020 Anime:

Kurozuka

Uhm… Aside the great bloody action, do you understand what’s going on? Some guy looking for a hot chick for eternity… I think…

Other notable mentions:
* Rikei Ga Koi Ni Ochita No De Shoumei Shitemita: Trying to explain love via science? WEIRD!
* C: The Money Of Soul And Possibility Control: So this is what they do with loads of money, huh? Saving the economy of the world, huh? Money makes the world go round, huh? Truly, Money, money, money, must be funny, in a rich man’s world!

Best 2020 Anime Short & Ecchi Anime:

Anime De Wakaru Shinryounaika

Do you like dick jokes with sexy nurses? You’ve come to the right anime! What a way to highlight the myriad of mental illnesses with twisted and dirty minded nurses making sexual subtexts. How enlightening and entertaining! I guess all of us have some sort of mental illness whether we know it or not!

Worst Anime Short:

The Irresponsible Galaxy Tylor

THEY LITERALL DESTROYED HIS LEGACY WITH THIS SHORT GARBAGE!!!!!!!! SUCH IRRESPONSIBILITY!!!!!!!

Other notable mentions:
* Tenka Hyakken Meiji-kan E Youkoso: I didn’t play the game, I just didn’t get it. Enough said.

Weirdest 2020 Ecchi Anime:

Ishuzoku Reviewers

Not going to lie on you about this one. Watching guys humping all sorts of different species just made me feel weird out rather than horny. Doesn’t mean if one has a dick, one has to put it into all sorts of vaginas that walk the land.

Other notable mentions:
* Val x Love: Ugliest guy gets to molest hot beautiful Valkyries to power up to save the world. WHAAAAAAAAT????!!!!
* Dokyuu Hentai HxEros: Using the power of horniness to destroy alien bugs to save the world. WHAAAAAAAAT????!!!!
* Kandagawa Jet Girls: How do you turn jet ski into such a sleazy sport?! This is your answer…

Best 2020 Romance Anime:

Ore Wo Suki Nano Wa Omae Dake Yo

A bit misleading because of all the romance anime series that I watched, I guess I prefer this one. Some witty lines here and there, I guess it’s pretty good.

Other notable mentions:
* High Score Girl II: Oh well, it was a bittersweet ending for our arcade lovebirds. And not enough retro arcade games!!!

Most Boring 2020 Romance Anime:

Yesterday Wo Uttate

Definitely not one of the best (or near it) but at the same it isn’t the worst. Just boring. So if you ever get rejected and then friendzoned by your crush, just fall back on your backup girl.

Best 2020 Anime Song:

Daddy Daddy Do (Kaguya-sama Wa Kokurasetai S2)

Sequel does live up to the catchy tune of its first season. Like as though this is its spiritual successor.

Other notable mentions:
* Ikouze Paradise (Ishuzoku Reviewers): Imagine YMCA with sexy lyrics.
* With You (Gangsta): MAMIKO NOTO SINGING???!!! OH MAH GAWD!!! DIDN’T KNOW SHE SOUNDED THIS GOOD!!!!
* Good Night (Itai No Wa Iya Nano De Bougyoryoku Ni Kyokufuri Shitai To Omoimasu): Cool acoustic guitar pickings amidst the tropical samba feel is the only thing I look forward in this boring generic clichéd overpowered character in a virtual MMORPG.
* Tsuri No Sekai E (Houkago Teibou Nisshi): Fishing might be boring but this jazzy catchy piece might just make it all bearable.

Weirdest 2020 Anime Song:

Jikuu No Mayoi Hito (Hachi-nan Tte Sore Wa Nai Deshou)

WOAH! Did I just hear a song that summons the Demon King????!!!! Is this song what satanic cultists listen to???!!!

Other notable mentions:
* Hajimete No Kakumei (Choujin Koukousei-tachi Wa Isekai Demo Yoyuu De Ikinuku You Desu): What… WHAT?! I felt this song grabbed me by the balls…
* Easy Breezy (Eizouken Ni Wa Te Wo Dasu Na): Macarena with drugs…

That is all for this year. Thousand apologies if it is still somewhat incomplete and not much of a major improvement from last year. Yeah, I’m going to blame 2020 as the culprit. Everyone does! So hopefully that next year would bring better animes (based on my guts and experience, not very likely) but thanks to my on the fence stance, so much more animes are mostly lingering in the average zone. That’s why you don’t really see the animes I have seen for the year on this list. Not notable enough to be listed? Or have I forgotten about them? Oh well, this year is done. Better to quickly move on and look forward to the next. See you again then. Same time, same place, next year! 2021 will be the one! Hopefully…

Shokugeki No Souma S5

You know, when you’re done finishing the desserts, suddenly some more come out. But you didn’t order this. Oh, the waiter and chef insist you eat it. Not the kind who would want to waste food, you stay behind and try to finish it because it would be rude to the establishment to also refuse, right? Yup. And that is how many felt for Shokugeki No Souma S5. After munching through all the godly cuisines and delicacies over the years and seasons, it seems this series has already overstayed its welcome. They said this would be the final season since the manga has already ended back in mid-2019. Let’s hope it will be. Because I don’t know if we can take any more unwanted desserts and not risk having tummy discomfort.

Episode 1
Beach episode! Sorry, not filler fanservice. As Erina explains, Totsuki students will have to pass this exam by dividing themselves into teams and working at the beach house. After 3 days, they must make sales of at least 3 million to pass! This includes food preparation and all. To even the odds, the new Elite Ten will be their own team and are given a dilapidated hut as handicap. Also helping Erina administer this is a new teacher, Suzuki. Man, such hot handsome hunk. No wonder many girls are swooning over him. But looks like Suzuki and Souma are giving each other the rivalry eye. Please no BL awakening here! So as we see everyone getting up to business on the first day, the Elite Ten starts off fixing their rundown hut. Next day, they’re still at it and worse, arguing among each other for the pettiest things! Oh man. Can they do it? Because of this, Ken Dakekanba (the guy challenged Souma in many Shokugeki and loss in all of them) takes this chance to steal their customers and is raking in the profits with his expensive lobster. Man, people have the money to buy that? Oh well, it is limited edition only. I call it daylight robbery. Anyway, Dakekanba hopes Elite Ten will fail because this means other students including himself will have a chance to take their seats. But you know how it’s going to turn out, right? On the final day, suddenly the beach is empty. Why, they are all attracted by the addictive fragrant aroma of the Elite Ten. Despite doing yakisoba, it is the egg that is killing it. But can they get the desired sales? Not if Souma, Takumi and Ryou are working like mad horses. Yeah, many are buying multiple packets! Dakekanba is given a free sample. On the house. And you bet this guy now believes this yakisoba is worth billions! No, trillions! Damn, I hope this is not Zimbabwean currency. In the end, Elite Ten passes with 3.5 million. Hooray! As they talk about their plans for summer vacation, Dojima has to rain on their parade because looks like details of the prestigious tournament is out. Remember BLUE? This is going to be their summer vacation.

Episode 2
A team will consist of 3 members for those participating in BLUE. Souma thinks he is the top dog so he automatically qualifies, right? Wrong! While it seems unfair that Erina was already invited and hence is somewhat qualified (although not as part of a team), she initiates a preliminary round for all to participate. So with 100 judges, they are to make soup and the top 3 will participate in BLUE. Damn, is everybody going to make 100 dishes in a short time?! Anyway, we see the first half breeze through all the weird soups. Because we got so many characters, you bet they’re going to fast forward a few. Uhm, did they miss out a few? Like Kuga. Where’s Kuga’s part?! Anyway, the results: Third place: Souma! Oh geez, top Elite Ten barely made it?! Second place: Takumi! Oh geez, Souma lost to this dude?! First place: Drum rolls… MEGUMI!!! OMFG!!! WAIT?! REALLY?! I actually predicted her as a joke but I didn’t think it was going to be true!!! OMFG!!! HOLY SH*T!!! Yeah, something about her miso soup encompasses the taste of all of Japan. Eating-cum-drinking her soup is like touring the whole of Japan. Whatever. Credit to her fun times with her friends that she came up with this. Whatever. And though we see the rest lose be a very razor slim margin, I guess they’re still losers. Elsewhere, we see a horrifying result as Jouichirou lost unanimously in a cooking showdown to a mysterious guy whom I suspect is Suzuki! A few days later, Suzuki confronts Souma and wants to challenge him to a Shokugeki. Too formal? Okay, a friendly BLUE preliminary then. Hey, I thought Souma did away with all that red tape? Anyway, Suzuki’s goal is to marry Erina! So by beating Souma, this will ensure he is the best cook for Erina. Of course Souma won’t let him have her yet as he has yet to defeat her. Wanna bet Erina was just passing by and heard the tail end of it? Yeah, she heard the guys were fighting over her love! Can’t blame her for passing out in the middle of the hallway. Megumi is made the judge since she is the top BLUE preliminary girl, right? Souma knows he is no ordinary chef and is hiding something. So if he beats him, Suzuki must reveal his secret.

Episode 3
Souma goes first and presents his tonkatsu with cheese. Definitely good. Now it’s Suzuki’s turn. Also the same tonkatsu dish? But it is lighter in things so yeah, it blows them all away! Safe to say, Suzuki wins this and as part of the deal, he takes Souma’s knife. Souma is shocked to see him in possession of one of Jouichirou’s knife. Suzuki admits that he challenged him and beat him for it. Here’s another secret: His real name isn’t Suzuki but Asahi Saiba. So a relative? He takes Erina away but maintains marrying her is still real. Of course she rejects him. With Jouichirou making a rare return home to talk to Souma about Asahi, the same can be said about Dojima talking to Erina so we don’t have to waste time. Jouichirou first met Asahi 10 years ago during his travels to America. Asahi was from an orphanage and was taken in by his cooking. He wanted to be his disciple and he allowed it because his abandoned looks reminded him of Azami. So because of Jouichirou away taking care of Asahi, that is how Azami became abandoned and a monster? Hmm… Of course Jouichirou had to stop this as he realized he had a family to go home too. And yeah, Asahi was abandoned (although he did properly say goodbye). So is Asahi back for revenge? But here’s some additional info. There is a shady group of chefs known as Noir. You bet they’re the kind who resort to unholy cooking techniques, right? Anyway, looks like Noir is invited to participate in BLUE since some people thought that chefs from respectable side from society isn’t enough. Uh huh. Somebody wants trouble. And the current leader of Noir is Asahi. That night, Asahi and his Noir groupie sneak into Erina’s room so that he can officially challenge to her this proposal. He will marry her if he wins BLUE. After all, she rejected him the conventional way, right? Erina snaps by thinking he is trying to insult Totsuki and their cooking but looks like the aroma of Noir’s cooking is enough to bring her to her knees! Oh sh*t! Might as well get married now. Also this marriage will mean the cooking societies from both side of the divide will fall under his rule. Ah, now I see… Jouichirou is now ready to teach Souma the secret of becoming a great chef. I’m thinking if Souma hasn’t figured it out by this time, he isn’t cut out to be one…

Episode 4
Totsuki is here at BLUE. As explained by Bookmaster, the big boss of WGO, the chefs have to pass several gates AKA trials until they get to the main castle where the real finals will take place. Here comes Asahi and his Noir gang. Damn, are they a bunch of psychotic murderers?! There’s a killer clown, a killer punk and a hot killer bunny chick that could be a psycho butcher! However Souma won’t get his rematch with Asahi here. It seems there are a few that are seeded. As for Erina, she isn’t seeded but will take her special trial somewhere else? So the first trial has everyone split into different groups. Souma is in a group whereby the WGO adjudicator, Rantabi explains all they have to do is create a dish that satisfies this dying old dude. Yup, make his last supper. Oh, did I mention this guy was also a cook from Noir (he cooked for the underground worlds from his youth days)? Some chefs aren’t happy with the vague theme so they have a few minutes to ‘interview’ him. They think they got it and start cooking. The confident ones go first but instantly fail! Yeah, the Noir ones easily pass… Is this one-sided? Old fart thinks Souma is mocking him when he serves him a simple confectionary. But when he takes a bite, damn he turns into the Hulk???!!! Brimming with vitality! So apparently Souma put some monkfish whatever inside. Anyway, Souma doesn’t like his last supper idea. Even if he is too old to cook for himself, he should continue enjoying others who cook for him. Hence this is just an appetizer. He should explore more and if he is tired of it all, come to his diner where he will truly serve his last meal! I guess the old guy takes up his offer and then passes him. Unknown to Souma, he has a real gun behind his back to shoot himself once this is over. Because cooking is his life, he felt useless when he couldn’t stand in the kitchen anymore. But now Souma has given him the motivation to continue living. Souma reunites with his pals who also pass theirs. Takumi had to cook for babies and Megumi for pets?! I thought this is supposed to be the world’s fanciest and best gourmet competition???!!! Even for this stage! WTF???!!! But guess who is waiting them in the next trial? Why, it’s Tsukasa! So he is only seeded this far?

Episode 5
Tsukasa feels relieved seeing familiar people. This trial will have the chefs create a dish worth $100 from convenient store foods. It is going to be hard since convenient store foods are at low and affordable prices. Oh, you wonder why Rantabi mentions the special rule of each chef getting 2 tries. Because Souma creates his dish so fast and serves first. Yeah. He thought he is going to be a winner but Rantabi values his dish at -$14! WTF?! He just mashed up ingredients and wasted it. So that’s the cost of his ingredients? Try again. Tsukasa presents his dish and you can tell Rantabi got raped by it. So is she hinting that money isn’t enough to value it and is she going to pay with her body?! Anyway for the sake of this series, she values his dish at $583!!! Yeah, there’s some explanation how he brought out all the different attributes of the foods and make it work together but I don’t get it. With many others failing their second try, now it’s Souma’s turn. Rantabi isn’t impressed with his osechi set. Even her first bite she fails him. But what’s this? She can’t stop eating?! Something about the free flow of the food that has her want to eat more in no particular order. So does Rantabi have to pay with her body too?! Oh well, he just barely passed with $100. Meanwhile Erina has passed her first trial by defeating all the first stage’s losers. None beat her. Now she has to deal with the second stage losers… Also, Takumi and Megumi pass theirs with their dish valued over $100. Souma learns from Tsukasa that Rindou was actually invited to participate in BLUE but turned it down. She’s busy chasing off poachers of rare ingredients. Since it is rumoured those poachers have connections with Noir, it is a reason why Tsukasa entered BLUE to help ease Rindou’s burden. Before the next stage starts, Bookmaster ups the ante with the winner of BLUE becoming her personal chef. That’s a big thing, right? But in exchange, she will change the rules of the game.

Episode 6
Bookmaster explains she has tasted everything the world has to offer. She feels so bored now and that’s why she brought in Noir to bring cooking to a whole new level. She has this military babe from Noir, Sarge to demonstrate. Many mock her for using her chainsaw to cook! But wait till you taste her meat. Yeah. Absolutely delicious! No fight! Then the other Noir members also display their weird underworld skills and they too pass. Of course our heroes do their specialty and they also pass. Yeah, they fast forward this section that they didn’t even bother to explain or tell what dish they make. Now that they’re into the real finals, it will be a knockout tournament. The first match pits Souma against Sarge and the theme will be a Christmas cake. Sarge this time not only uses her chainsaw but her sledgehammer to break the chocolate and TNT to bomb the pastry in the oven!!! OMFG!!! Don’t worry, the oven is specially made to withstand the explosion. Her final cluster bomb cake of course has the judges in their usual super exaggerated reaction. It’s not only Christmas they’re experiencing but the New Year and their birthday all into one!!! Yeah, hope their stomachs don’t explode. Good. It didn’t. What’s Souma gonna do? So he is going to use a mini wooden ice cream spoon and stuffs he bought from the convenience store to make his perfect midsummer Christmas cake?

Episode 7
Souma explains how he used natural ingredients to make his cake, blah, blah, blah. The judges are having a tough time decide and this makes Sarge angry because it means Souma’s dish is on par with hers. But Souma’s dish hasn’t finished yet. Enabling the ‘fireworks’, I guess more fancy ‘explosions’ that send the judges into more ecstasy. Sarge is baffled where he got this strength of his. Cue for flashback how Jouichirou forced Souma to come up with impossible stuffs at the diner. Because they are not a fancy restaurant, they have serve common food as well as surprising dishes so as not to drive away their customers. And with that, because Souma took into consideration his customers’ feelings, that is the winning point for him. The next match pits Tsukasa against Asahi and the theme is poussin chicken. To make it more interesting, Asahi wants Tsukasa’s grater if he wins. Otherwise, Asahi will also give whatever he wants. Both guys finish cooking the same time. The judges deliberate. More sexy food rape for you all. No wonder the judges are all females this time. But it seems the judges cannot forget Asahi’s dish despite Tsukasa’s one also as excellent. With all that explanation, it seems Asahi’s crossed knives skill is to absorb the skills of others if he touches their tools. Previously he sought help from his Noir members but they refused as they aren’t loyal to him so he beat them down and stole their tools. Tsukasa’s dish may be perfect but Asahi’s dish surpasses perfection. WHAT THE F*CK DOES THAT EVEN MEAN???!!! WTF???!!! With that, Asahi wins and takes his grater. Oh Tsukasa looking real down after that. Here, a cup of tea from Souma to calm him down. Hey, at least he isn’t anxious. Because in all seriousness, Tsukasa’s message to Souma is not to lose to that guy. Goes without saying. Next match is Takumi versus Don Kama who is from Noir. This is a team match so the chefs are allowed to pick somebody to help them. Takumi picks Isami.

Episode 8
However it seems Don Kama’s ‘friends’ have taken Isami hostage so he’s not showing up at the venue any time soon. He then calls his hot chicks as his supporters. Wait. Those are trannies!!! Oh, I get it now. Don Kama… Okama… In this match, they have to create amuse-bouche via teamwork. So Don Kama and his trannies keep shaking the shaker to create their unique amusing amuse-bouche. They’re done and have let the judges taste them so Takumi still waiting? Apparently he has a backup and it’s Souma! Don Kama calls foul on this because changing supporters is against the rules and can be disqualified. However, rule change! Bookmaster allows it. And if Don Kama continues to insist, they’ll investigate why Isami didn’t show up… So it might look like Takumi and Souma are butting heads like always. Heck, they still are! But when they get down to real business, they’re just amazing. Don Kama cannot believe his eyes that Souma is as good as Takumi using his special knife. He thought only the brothers can make such miracle happen. You see, back at Totsuki, Souma and Takumi challenged each other to another Shokugeki after they lose. You win some, you lose some. Sore losers who don’t know when to give up. One Shokugeki after another. So you bet Souma has gotten at least better in using this knife. They come up with a dish that mixes terrapin and cheese. An odd combination but the foul smell covered up by those nuts. In the end, it is safe to say the judges unanimously went with Takumi-Souma’s dish. No second thoughts. That should shut the tranny up. Isami just arrived to congratulate his brother. Thanks to Kuga’s guys beating up those punks and bringing him here. The gang then get news of Erina’s whereabouts. They realize she has been defeating all the losers singlehandedly and is still doing so. With that, she is supposed to qualify for the main tournament but Bookmaster doesn’t seem pleased.

Episode 9
Erina heads for her first match and destroys the Noir opponent! Not even worth showing us! The final match for the day is Megumi against some Chinese medicine bushman? Despite all the dramatic threats that he is an assassin using poison, f*cking sh*t Megumi owns him with a unanimous win! Not even worth showing us! Souma and co didn’t like how Erina has been given unfair treatment so they sneak into Bookmaster’s tower and eavesdrop on her talking with Erina. Guess what? Bookmaster AKA Mana is her mother!!! It seems she doesn’t want Erina’s God’s tongue but Erina will prove otherwise. After she leaves, Bookmaster ushers her friends in. They find it weird she ‘eats’ via IV drops. She then summons Takumi because in the next round she will face Erina. She wants him to do all it takes to defeat her and if he wants Isami’s help, she will have no qualms in allowing it. Later Anne explains to them that Bookmaster’s identity is a secret so the public doesn’t know she is Erina’s mother. This means she also has the same God’s tongue ability. However it drove her to despair and that ability caused her unable to eat normally. That’s why she’s using IV drops and the reason she left the family when Erina was still young. For the second round matches, it will be a double show with Erina vs Takumi as well as Asahi vs Megumi. Asahi talks to Erina and knows about Bookmaster as her mother. He is confident with his powers, he can make a dish she wants. Erina disagrees and will be the one to win this. Megumi overheard this and wants to double their match as a Shokugeki. If she wins, stop hurting Erina. Okay, but if she loses, she must stop being friends with her. Anyway the gist of the matches: Despite Takumi’s gallant effort, a unanimous victory for Erina. The same can be said for Megumi. Yup, all the judges vote for Asahi. Asahi buoyed by his victory, sends a public message to Bookmaster asking for her ‘blessing’. Later Asahi tries to brag and instil fear in Erina about his win. Sewing doubts in her mind that because Erina’s skills are the same, the reason why she can’t make a different unique dish. That’s why he is so certain he will win. Any objections? Souma does.

Episode 10
Too bad. No bad boy showdown yet. We see Erina talking to Souma and Megumi about her potential marriage to Asahi. However Souma isn’t worried. Based on the tournament bracket, he will face Asahi in the semis first and only Erina in the finals. Still, Erina is more than worried. In fact, she is almost losing it because she is having thoughts that it might be better for her to lose to Asahi since he is the only one who can save her mom. Doing so might make them all happy. Of course all that doesn’t matter to Souma. He is going to defeat Asahi and that’s it. Souma is just upset she isn’t honest and can’t say what she wants to say to those she wants to talk to. And so we breeze through the other matches. All unknown chefs and Noir members just blast away like that! Thank goodness we don’t even care about them. With Erina booking her place in the finals, it is the semis between Souma and Asahi. Of course, some flashback why Jouichirou isn’t worried about Souma. Let’s go back to a time when Souma’s mom, Tamako was still alive and cooking. In fact, she was the one who taught Souma how to cook. But her cooking is like Russian roulette. Sometimes she is good and other times she just sucks. We know where he gets his bad sense of cooking from. One day she died and instead of wallowing in despair, father and son have their first cooking showdown. Jouichirou and Asahi meet for the first time at BLUE. More flashback shows Jouichirou told Asahi he has to go home because Souma just lost his mom and it’s only natural he has to be with him. Jouichirou invited Asahi to come along but he declined. And because of that he blamed Souma for taking Jouichirou away from him?! WTF???!!! And so Asahi is going to give his son a beat down. We’ll see. To show that Asahi isn’t just the crowd’s favourite, hence the return of Polar Star members and other Totsuki friends to rally behind Souma. The theme will be to combine the cuisines of France, Italy, China, India and Turkey into 1 dish. We see Asahi making a head start using his crossed knives from all the chefs he defeated. Yeah. Who the f*ck those chefs?! Asahi claims he can advance than a certain guy and create any dish he wants. Souma laughs it off. His skills feel like cheat codes and that they’re on the same level.

Episode 11
Souma has an idea. He is going to make all 5 different cuisines and mash them together! Yeah, the crowd sounds so flabbergasted and disappointed. Meanwhile Alice and Hinako are here to see Erina. Upon Senzaemon’s request, they brought Azami here. So I guess daddy has to take responsibility and watch through this, huh? Now their dishes are ready, it’s time for tasting. The judges are attracted to the great aroma of Asahi’s dish. It’s a pie. And when they put in their mouth, you bet all the expected praising and reaction will be flying. Even when Bookmaster tastes it, her Gifting is so great that the audience has their clothes swirling about in the air! WTF?! So good his dish that the judges don’t want to eat anything else? Yeah, Souma’s fried rice looks disappointing. Until Rantabi forces a spoon into their mouths, they can’t stop eating! With more praising and reaction flying, the clincher is that how each grain of rice is coated with some French egg, making each of them bursting like some omelette. I don’t know. I didn’t eat it. Bookmaster’s reaction also has her Gifting strip everyone! Souma explains that fried rice was the first dish Tamako taught him. It was a very risky one because mom often failed in this basic dish. Souma tells Asahi that he might have all tools and skills but there is one flavour he doesn’t know and that is the taste of failure. Asahi shrugs it off and doubles down that as the best he doesn’t need such crap. Okay. Now we’re done with that, more importantly… Who is going to be the winner?!

Episode 12
It seems Bookmaster’s Gifting is not an ordinary one. Because Gifting is merely disrobing of clothes, the clothes here get shredded into pieces! What’s this Bursting they say?! So with Souma’s dish having Gifting and Bursting combo, I guess you know what it means. Despite Asahi’s dish taste good, it feels empty if you removed all the borrowed elements. Essentially it isn’t even his own dish. The judges deliberate and give a unanimous victory to Souma! Asahi gives Jouichirou’s knife back to Souma but he doesn’t want him. He fought him fair and square so keep it. Asahi remembers Jouichirou told him the key to become a good chef was having someone who you can give all your cooking to. Jouichirou had Tamako. Asahi accepts defeat and leaves. Oh, he is leaving Noir too? His loyalists like Sarge and Don Kama also do the same. With Souma and co buoyed over his victory, Bookmaster cautions him that dish isn’t even close to what she is seeking for so don’t get ahead of yourself. You think everyone is liven up with Souma-Erina finals but why is Erina being gloomy and not talking to anybody? Hope it isn’t final jitters. We see Azami and Mana talking together. Time to reminisce old times? When he was a cook at her place, she hated his dishes for being empty. So Azami only had the goal to improve his dishes to make her accept him. Eventually he did and they got married. After giving birth to Erina, Mana became shocked that Erina too had God’s tongue. It despaired her to think Erina would also suffer the same fate. But Mana’s progression was too fast for Azami to help, that’s why she left. Now we hear Erina’s gloomy monologue that she thought Asahi’s crossed knives would save mom. But Souma defeated him and shattered that dream. Now Erina is worried she has to create her own dish to make mommy happy. And mommy didn’t even expect anything from her. No wonder she is so conflicted. The finals is here. Bookmaster will be the judge and the theme is to create a dish the world has never seen before. Now we hear from Senzaemon why he did all he did. He wanted to save Erina from such despair and decided to go against custom by not letting Erina study outside of Totsuki. With Soue’s help, they bring in all the prodigies around the world (Souma and friends) to Totsuki. He is going to save Mana by having her see that there is hope in Erina’s cooking. As Erina begins cooking, she gets more and more worried. You know this will affect her cooking, right? Cue for Souma to tell her off that if she’s going to cook like that, he won’t be happy with his win. Time to cook up a storm.

Episode 13
Souma cooks the first dish he cooked for Erina. But it’s not that tempura bowl but he incorporate it with Erina’s Eggs Benedict. We all know he put in the effort to make it way better so yeah. What’s the verdict? The reactions don’t lie so we see a new form of Gifting. In addition to everyone happily being naked, the building explodes???!!! So this is what you call the building ‘unrobing’???!!! WTF???!!! So will Erina finally be able to say it is delicious? DISGUSTING! Compared to the dish she is going to make. Thank goodness Erina is back in her groove. All you need to remember is to focus on the person whom you are cooking for. Erina’s dish must be so out of this world that we don’t even see it at all! Perhaps we commoners won’t understand. And just like that, Erina wins BLUE!!! Everyone celebrates this back at Polar Star Dorm but Souma is sulking because he lost. Typical of him. He wants to go on a journey to retrain himself. So if you’re wondering where the other characters of this series were, they were busy taking down Noir. How? Just cook a much better dish and those weak ass henchmen can’t resist! OMG! So easy! Now they’ll turn over a new leaf and disband?! WTF?! Just in time because that was when Souma defeated Asahi. Not only the local Noir but the international one too! Don’t know how Rindou did it but she did it. Erina isn’t here because she is welcoming Mana back to the mansion. Too bad Souma isn’t around and has left! With Erina being Bookmaster’s official chef, what’s this about Azami coming to say goodbye? Are you ready for this plot this? Asahi is Azami’s son or so it is hinted??!!! HOLY SH*T! Azami wants to leave the Nakiri family to help Asahi but Erina slaps him for being the worst. Instead, she goes to recruit Asahi to be her assistant chef for Mana. And so there are no more lonely people in the Nakiri family. Senzaemon’s plan paid off. 6 months later, Souma returns from his training journey around the world. He calls Erina to his diner to cook for her. Everyone is here to so he serves them that yucky peanut squid dish! Oh damn. Disgusting. Tentacle rape! Sure brings back the memories. That’s just the appetizer. Or appe-teaser! Hahaha! Because now the real cooking starts. Will Erina finally find his delicious cooking? One day…

Waifu Wars: Overstuffed! The Bill, Please!
Oh well… I hope there isn’t anymore. Is there?! Can we leave now? It’s already closing time and we don’t want to overstay our welcome. Seriously. Even if Erina and her mom were managed to be safe, they couldn’t save this series. Yeah, I know. It was a pretty normal and plain happy good ending. But I guess 2/3 things saved isn’t that bad! After coming all this way, you can’t really complain so much. After all, if it really sucked, you would’ve have not sit through all 5 seasons of it, right? Well… We always hope for the better… After all, the kind of food that tastes the best is always with your family and loved ones, right? The greatest missing ingredient was finally found. It’s no secret. Just that everybody was looking for the taste in the wrong sense. Not the taste of your tongue but the taste in your heart is that matters most! Damn, do I sound like a food philosopher now!

Many felt that this final season could be the worst since nobody asked for it and it’s like the producers had to do it just to have some closure for the series. It’s good if that was the reason but with such sentiments, I don’t think anybody cares anymore. Many felt that the series should have just ended at the first season but looking back in hindsight, had we not have more seasons, we would have been taking to the internet and complain that this series should get another season. GIVE ME ANOTHER SEASON. Our wish came true and look what we got? So for better or worse, the sequels that came out subsequently may not be able to top the first season but at least now we know in retrospect that this series is one of those shows that was only the best in its debut season. So for me, no regrets at all for this season despite not being anywhere near good.

Coming far enough, a long running series will have its usual set of problems setting is and the most obvious one being having a good story. This is what this season seems to lack and one of the many reasons why many do not like this finale. As you can see, the story of following the rise of Souma and friends, all the battles that they have fought were just internal battles. That’s right. They were all just inside Totsuki. Then you realize that the cooking world is just more than Totsuki itself and there’s the rest of the international world. Uh huh. What to do? Hold an international competition! And as cliché it might sound, they also throw in an underground cooking society called Noir. Oh. An evil organization using underhanded cooking tactics, huh? This is going to be interesting to see the Totsuki fellows take on an international criminal organization. And then… It just fizzles out like that! Oh dear. What happened?! And to think that Totsuki kids actually defeated them via cooking and not some violent force. What the f*ck sh*t is this logic?! Local enforcement can’t take this underground cooking down but a bunch of Totsuki young ones could?! I wonder how they even possess all those ungodly techniques in the first place! To see all their members give up like that, they’re just so weak ass. No wonder they were never a danger to anybody in the first place. No wonder it took them 5 seasons to finally show up as an ‘international’ antagonist. No wonder nobody every bothered to bring up their name before. Noir who? To think Noir never tasted any good cooking and food until Totsuki showed up… Pathetic. Serves them right getting disbanded.

Noir was never a threat in the first place. So it is such a shame that they were given this sort of treatment that it makes them just laughable. They make it sound like they are a danger and threat to all the legitimate cooks and chefs in the world but look what happened here at BLUE? Okay, maybe because of Asahi wasn’t a good leader and BLUE is just an insignificant portion to the entirety of Noir’s whatever other goals are. It would have been interesting to see Souma and co go around the world taking on Noir in life and death cooking competitions but if there is something that we have learnt from this season finale, I think we shouldn’t proceed anymore. And hence if you want to say that Noir are just useless here, so be it and I won’t blame you. After all, with BLUE’s tournament format, it doesn’t allow for Souma and friends to take them on in group matches. Could have been more interesting that way but then again, maybe not. Hence all those weird Noir characters were just forgettable. No wonder they dress so funny because that’s the only way you’re going to remember them if Noir’s name is mentioned. Jesus. The clown dude, that bunny killer with a strong arm babe, another dude like as though he came out from a Mad Max set… Yeah, I believe in the elimination rounds there were more Noir weirdos who look like they have potential but they just get defeated in a flash just like that! Thank goodness they’re characters we don’t care at all! And to think their ordinary members’ uniform is a black version of KKK! Yikes! And when they turned over the new leaf, their robe just turned white… Yikes!

And the other part of the story involves Erina’s family. Oh yeah. This girl is sure cursed. Last season we had daddy who wanted to monopolize her God’s tongue and hence all that Totsuki chaos thingy. And now, it’s mommy’s turn to torment Erina. I can’t blame her for having conflicted feelings and in some ways I do pity her despite her stuck up attitude. Her family has been broken ever since she was a young kid so it is no surprise that she wants to mend her family back. Behind the title of Bookmaster or having that God’s tongue ability, they are still mother and daughter. It’s not like they hate each other or they have some really sh*tty issues between them like other commoners do (say, gambling). So it’s just that stupid God’s tongue curse that made a mess out of the Nakiri family.

And that’s why the pseudo love war between Asahi and Souma over Erina. While Asahi is being obvious and bold to want Erina as his wife, we don’t hear it from Souma but we all know, right? Maybe. Hence sometimes watching at this BLUE competition is actually a tournament to win Erina’s hand in marriage. But looking at how it turned out in the end, thank goodness no marriage because no incest please. Imagine the unspeakable horror had Asahi x Erina happened. Erina hinting that Souma might be the person she is looking for in the end but we know her prideful nature at this point. Until she accepts Souma’s dish as delicious, no talk of marriage or even dating yet. Speaking of Asahi, this is yet another lost kid who is reeking familiar scents like Azami. Guess what? Again Jouichirou is the culprit! Damn, it feels like a running joke that this guy picks up kids into his care and had to leave them. Then those kids feel abandoned and decided to become the evil one to get back. But Jouichirou isn’t all the blame. Since Asahi is Azami’s kid, like father like son. Runs in the family that gloomy evil aura thingy. Like Mana and Erina having their own quirks too. Damn, the Nakiri family is just one big weird family. And in Asahi’s case, so this kid is just jealous of Souma, eh? Yeah well, he is Jouichirou’s kid and definitely your own kid takes priority, no? And perhaps making Erina his bride was just an excuse to rub it into Jouichirou’s face that he became a better chef than him? Thank goodness that in this series, it is your love filled cooking that wins the day. Not emptiness and borrowed abilities from others. Phew. So even if in the extreme case that Asahi beats Souma to face Erina in the finals, he still won’t win because he can only make dishes that are just improvements or combinations of the specialties of others he stole from. And oh, Asahi being the current leader of Noir, with him quitting (because big boss can do what he wants, I guess), is such great timing because Noir got disbanded. No need to fight to see who the next head is. Damn, I still can’t believe Noir is such a big pussy.

For a cooking tournament, it follows the same formula like before and there is only so much we can be amused. In this finale, I believe it has failed to stir up any new excitements. Even those in focus like Souma and co’s dishes, they’re the same ol’ formula of explaining their awesome dish with equally exaggerated over the top reactions from judges. Nothing really new at this point. Worse, there are so many other chefs that don’t matter that it makes you really wonder if this BLUE competition has any standard. Because they are so plain and unimportant that they don’t matter. Personally, I think it would’ve been a bit better had it been Totsuki vs Noir in one big group matches like they did last season with the rebels against the former Elite Ten members. So they only have Megumi and Takumi as side distractions and for variety, nothing else. As for their other friends, you will slowly notice how they will get to somehow join in as spectator in BLUE and express their usual comments and dramatic thoughts and expressions. So that we won’t feel awkward and their presence makes it feel like as though we’re still in Totsuki. Eventually all those characters from past seasons pop up to watch the finals, whether you remember them or not. Hence it is a waste not to see their talents this season except for the second episode whereby they breeze through everybody’s abilities as qualifying for BLUE. That’s the best you’ll ever get to see them in their cooking action. These characters should by now be better commentators than chefs!

The opening theme, Last Chapter by Nano Ripe almost sounded like it was in danger of turning gay! Especially the animation because right at the start we see cut out of the characters using kitchen utensils as music instruments! I don’t want another Hibike! Euphonium spoof like they did for Boku No Hero Academia S4’s opening! And like as though they fear us forgetting the character’s names, they pop up all over the opening credits. Just in case you forgot Alice or Nene or Ryou or whoever that you are supposed to remember but you couldn’t even if that character didn’t really appear in this season. The ending theme is Crossing Road by Mai Fuchigami. Sounds slow and dramatic but not to my liking anyway. This season’s familiar seiyuus lending their talents here are Jun Fukuyama as Asahi, Kenjiro Tsuda as Don Kama, Yuka Iguchi as Rantabi, Yuko Kaida as Tamako, Maaya Sakamoto as Bookmaster/Mana and Harumi Sakurai as Sarge (Lisanna in Fairy Tail).

Overall, this season finale is disappointing and not as exciting but it also brings in much relief because well, it’s the last one. Hopefully assuming there are not more sequel spinoffs and in worst case, a reboot! What needs to be said has already been said so it’s not nice to sound like a broken recorder. After all, this series itself overall isn’t actually that bad but it lacks the ingredients that would make us want to come back for more. Something new that we can look forward to. But instead we get more or less the same thing. Ironically enough, it has become an empty shell of itself. That’s why it is so true that variety is the spice of life. We’re just sick and bored of it that we’re not going to come back here until many years into the future and that revisiting is just for nostalgia purposes. As respect for this series, I won’t ask for my money back since this isn’t a total failure. It is sad that this series couldn’t reinvent itself into something new that the anime world has never seen before. Sorry people, no foodgasms here. Only an upset stomach and diarrhoea from food poisoning and overeating. I guess all that godly food they made has turned my iron stomach into some pretty weak ass one.

Appare-Ranman

Remember long ago the odd racing cartoon from Hanna-Barbera from the 60’s? Yes, remember Wacky Races whereby strange and varied races compete with each other across America? Oh right. I guess most of you aren’t as old as me :-/. But whatever. Yeah. The nostalgic memories. Anyway, I’m not talking about the reboot that came out a few years ago. I’m talking about its Japanese version, Appare-Ranman. Sort of. A pair of stranded Japanese need to win the grand prize of this race so they can return home. Yes, this means racing against the strange and varied racers along the way. Just that it doesn’t have Dastardly to try and sabotage the race. Oh wait. You mean there is one?! Oh, the racing is starting so let’s gooooooo!

Episode 1
The Trans-America Wild Race is about to start and with all the competitors gearing up to start this survival race, why the heck is Appare Sorano still tinkering with his machine?! Is he not ready? Then the flag off. Just finished in time so Appare’s team is propping up nicely at the back of the race. Hey, it’s going to be a marathon, right? Flashback a year ago in Japan, Kosame Isshiki is summoned by Lord Kuroda to his mansion. It seems one of Appare’s invention crashed and destroyed his garden. Although he is thrown in prison now, Kuroda orders Kosame to watch over Appare. If anything happens, they will be jointly responsible. After all, Kuroda has to be careful with this as Appare’s parents are wealthy merchants so this could backfire if he makes the wrong move. So Kosame rushes down to the prison. Too bad Appare already got himself out by unlocking the prison door and leaving all those hardened criminals in a lurch. Yeah. Brains over brawns any time. Appare returns home and his father is not mad he is causing trouble with his inventions rather than helping out with the family business. Appare has no interest in all that so father tells him to get out. Kosame comes by to Appare’s workshop and is awed to see all his contraptions. Since Appare won’t come with him lightly, Kosame bows his head and begs. You thought he was going to kill him, no? Appare then takes him to his underground lair to show his steam engine ship. Because Kosame laughs at it, Appare thinks he is no different than the rest. Appare’s sister warns him as there are men who are here to arrest him for escaping prison. She gives him her charm knowing that he is leaving. Kosame tries to convince the men he will convince Appare to come with them but he has taken off in his ship. Kosame hangs on for dear life and some struggle has the ship accelerate further out into sea until it runs out of fuel. I guess it’s too far to swim back now, huh? Kosame asks why he is so obsessed with such technology so he explains after watching huge ships from other countries cross over for the first time, it made him think that the sea connects all nations and that the sky connects to the stars. Hence the ship is just his first step into making his dream come true as he wants to go to the other side of the moon. With no water or food, I guess the duo have to lay waste as the ship floats to nowhere. Until an American ship passes by and brings them to America. Welcome to America! Land of the milk and honey! Oh my God, Kosame says?

Episode 2
Appare won’t fix his experimental ship since he is already at the next step of his experiment. Plus, that ship can’t sail all the way across the Pacific, right? Kosame then begs the captain to bring him back to Japan. Well, is he going to pay the fare? Plus, they’re heading to Panama so they won’t be going to Japan for a while. With no money, they try to find a job but none. At least there are no openings in the kind of jobs Appare wants to do. At the park, they get this idea for people to pay a small fee to hit Kosame in a minute. Being the great samurai he is, nobody could touch him and they earn handsomely. You’d think easy money is here to stay but Appare catches the attention of the racetrack and uses most of that money to enter. Easy come, easy go. He is impressed with the fast cars here. They also hear Seth Rich Carter from GM (part of B.I.G. Boss Automotive) sponsoring the Trans-American Wild Race as he challenges those who can beat his vehicle across the American landscape. You bet Appare wants to enter. As Kosame is pessimistic and worries about his family, I guess he has to join Appare and earn the big $1.5 million prize money to get home. Wanna spend 10 years working here? They spot a little Native American kid, Hototo trying to look for a man with a scar on his neck but apparently racism rearing its ugly head because f*cking whites brush him off. So Appare’s logic to get a better look at the cars themselves is to sneak into the racetrack at night? So trespassing is okay now? They see Jing Xialian racing and because Appare ran into the tracks, she almost crashed into him. Luckily only the engine blew. They learn she also entered here illegally to drive. She is a servant and works as a mechanic. Although her dream is to be a racer, apparently sexism reared its ugly head because the men didn’t think women could race. Appare is baffled because she is letting others decide how far she could go. Anyway, Xialian thinks she’ll be fired tomorrow when they find out the car is busted. But the next day, her boss is happy since it is working way better and setting new records! Could it be Appare’s tinkering? Elsewhere, Kosame sees whites ganging up on Hototo. He tries to protect him but gets traumatized when one pulls out a gun. Apparently that’s how his mom died protecting him. Luckily Dylan G. Ordin steps in. Nobody gonna ruin his drink.

Episode 3
The thugs recognize Dylan and scram. Hototo is still asking if he has seen a man with this snake tattoo on his neck but Dylan tells him to forget it or he’ll get killed. Also, Appare throwing him a challenge that his car will be faster than his. What a way to make more enemies. Hototo has nightmares of his people and father killed. Damn whites. He wakes up in the storeroom that Appare and Kosame are squatting in. Kosame doesn’t think he should try revenge while Appare is only interested in knowing the terrain of America. Hototo knows the land well and can give Appare the info he needs. Soon the captain is going to kick them out because this rich boy from overseas will pay a hefty price to rent the storehouses here. He is Al Lyon. With his fiancée, Sofia, he is going to enter and win the race and prove to his family that he has what it takes to run the family’s automobile company, BNW. So Appare challenges him to a race. He will fix his car in 10 days and if Appare wins, he’ll get to stay in the storehouse. Since the storehouse already belongs to Al, it wouldn’t make sense for him to do as he wishes if he wins. So Kosame will hara-kiri?! Are you joking, Appare?! Well, Al will settle for his swords. Oh sh*t. Appare heads to Xialian’s place to scavenge for parts. What a gold mine! Apparently Xialian is sad her employers won’t enter the race as they believe they do not have what it takes and the costs itself will threaten their team’s survival. Race day comes. No one is going to believe Appare’s huge clunky tractor thingy can beat Al’s race car. The race starts and as expected, Al speeds off leaving Appare in the dust. But his vehicle soon picks up speed. It is not enough to beat Al, though. Hey, at least this contraption can take a shortcut by jumping over the chasm! It’s still in one piece! Nearing the finish line, Appare then has Kosame pull a lever which is some super booster. So super the engine literally flies off and towards the finish line! Kosame then runs to the finish line, beating Al in a whisker. Everyone in disbelief Appare won. Al gives his car to Appare seeing he won. Al has another faster car for the race. Al admits his defeat since Appare created his own car and strategy to win while he got complacent and relied on his car’s performance. Kosame thinks Appare will use this new car for the race. Appare’s face says it all: You kidding me?!

Episode 4
Kosame gets this great idea. Just sell Al’s car enough for their ticket back to Japan! Genius! Only… Appare has dismantled it!!! FFFUUUU!!! Xialian pleads to her boss she wants to race. Despite he is still against her, David who is the team’s top driver challenges her to a race to make her know her place. More sexism as he berates her as a woman. She tries to fight him but is stopped. Boss agrees to the race but after that she is fired. Hence he will lend her the worst car ever. Hey, he is trying to save cost and has got no time for this silly showdown. Hence she brings the car to Appare to service it (since no one in her team wants to do it). Although he can boost it up, she doesn’t want to because it will be meaningless if she doesn’t beat David via her own strength. Hence Appare takes the car to Al for servicing. That night, Xialian asks Appare for advice but he is busy visualizing his prototype. Yeah, no time to build one so imagine he is driving one! Next day as the race starts, Xialian makes a great start but her lead is soon overtaken by David who has a more powerful machine. As the laps wither down, it soon dawn to everyone that David is not breaking away and Xialian is keeping real close to him. This is her strategy because since David is in the lead, she has wind resistance and this means fuel efficiency and her tyres will last longer. On the penultimate lap, she finally overtakes David. David can’t do anything to regain the lead since his aggressive driving has worn out his tyres. Then on the final straight, Xialian is obviously going to win but David plays cheat by slamming his car into hers. Though nobody is injured and no cars are damaged, Xialian is going over to sock it to him but boss is the one who did it. Could you have imagined had David crashed the best car?! Now get back to work! Boss praises Xialian for handling the car well when it spun, avoiding a total crash. Although he still believes racing is a man’s world and nobody will be happy if a woman wins, he still gives her hope to join the Trans-America race because she can prove everyone otherwise. Hence she gets to keep this car. The mechanics apologize for being mean to her and want to help soup up her car. Seth talks to Dylan about Crazy TJ and Gil the Butcher joining the race. Dylan has a history with them but unlike Dylan, they have a bounty on their head. The police have agreed not to interfere with the race but Dylan is sceptical. He doesn’t care about all the politics but doesn’t intend to lose. Seth needs him to win so he’ll become the next GM head.

Episode 5
It is the eve of the race and Appare still hasn’t completed his car?! And he is sleeping?! Oh, there’s this party too for all the racers and sponsors to attend. You bet they’re going to attend it for the free food. However a roadblock at the reception since they aren’t formally dressed. Seth tries to shoo away these monkeys but when TJ arrives and forces his way in despite his flamboyant attire, I guess Seth gives into thug rule. If this guy can get in, Appare can go in too, right? The host explains the route and along the way there will be supply points across the country in which one can partake and have mandatory rest times. Some know this is all just a ploy because B.I.G. Boss want to showcase their gasoline powered cars. This puts small teams at a disadvantage who don’t have the money and manpower to repair and resupply their cars. After Gil and his partner, Chase make a rude late entrance, the party continues by introducing the drivers and their cars. Yeah, just a very short spotlight on Appare’s team. Next! At the same time, Hototo confronts Dylan about the tattoo. He doesn’t want to say until Hototo asks him what he would do if he had his loved ones taken away from him. Dylan then mentions that tattoo is called Gil the Snake and is famous among outlaws. Those loyal to him have this tattoo so his target could be one of his men. During the race, he might meet up with them. He advises Hototo to be patient and wait. As the party proceeds to draw lots for pole position, TJ doesn’t want this boring event and to spice things up. So a shooting contest with Dylan? Damn, are they shooting or dancing? Do they have unlimited bullets cheat code?! Thankfully nobody gets killed… As for the others, it’s like some talent show? Hey, is this a circus?! I thought this was a high class event?! So that night Appare has finished his car. Apparently this is not even its final form?! And finally we can see some racing action as the participants make a roaring start. Of course as we already seen at the beginning, Team Appare propping up the back nicely.

Episode 6
Appare’s machine is great for driving on rough terrains, thus allowing him to take shortcuts and keeping up with the pack. Dylan, TJ and Al are the leading trio. But here’s the railroad crossing. Train’s coming. Al puts his brakes on by Dylan and TJ being the crazy daredevils they are step on it and actually go through! Can Appare do the same? With all those crazy equations and calculations, you think he is going to make the jump. Nah. Just calculating the end of the coach and that’s where he drives through. In the end, reaching the first pit stop first is Dylan followed by TJ and then Al. As they rest, Kosame spots Richard Riesman, the guy who cut them off near the finish, causing them to go off and losing a few places. Richard claims he had to avoid an animal so that’s that. But for Appare, he realizes his machine needs more tinkering and that he isn’t going to win just by taking shortcuts. Al is surprised that Sofia is here. He thinks she should’ve gone and waited straight at New York since the race is going to get more dangerous. Asking if she is a bother, he thinks not. Unlike Dylan and TJ who will risk their lives for the race, Al is nothing like them because he won’t risk his life for it since his policy is to protect those he loves. I guess this means Sofia will be staying next to him because that’s the safest, right?

Appare and co discuss the next route that involves driving through Death Valley. It is a small narrow valley and since it is not safe to drive through at night, many will sit out and wait till daylight. As Hototo tries to look for his father’s killer, he stumbles into Gil’s men as Chase explains how they’ll block the valley and set explosives at the narrowest point. Their car can bulldoze through anything and this will give them time to get ahead. Hototo is spotted and they’re going to put him with the explosives. With Hototo not back, Kosame is worried. Apparently not Appare. Everyone has their own thing to do so if Hototo doesn’t return by midnight, they will leave without him. That won’t do for Kosame so he goes look for him. He stumbles into Richard and talks to him about Hototo’s problem before stumbling into Gil’s place. Since he sees Hototo’s axe lying around, he thinks he is trapped in the nearby box. Chase dares him to open it and if it’s nothing, he’ll pay. Kosame opens and this critter furball… It’s Hototo?! This quick thinking saves Kosame’s life as he returns with a new pet. With the race flagging off, Kosame still can’t believe Appare is willing to abandon Hototo. So you mean Kosame is willing to stay back just for Hototo?! As fate would have it, Appare’s machine stops working. Time to tinker. This gives enough time and hope for Kosame to go find Hototo. Hototo finally breaks free. So he’s all by himself near a farm? Kosame finds him and brings him back as he spills the beans on Gil’s evil scheme. Looks like Appare also just finished upgrading his baby. Time to catch up.

Episode 7
Appare explains his hybrid steam and gasoline engine. It helps power up his baby but because it is still not perfected, he cannot strain it. His tactic is to ride behind Gil’s car to help conserve his engine. But Kosame and Hototo are worried and need to warn others about Gil’s plan. Appare has a change of heart and goes ahead of Gil to warn others. They follow Gil through Death Valley and only because of Dylan usurping Gil’s men on standby, the goons blow up the rocks late. By that time all the cars have gone through. Barely for Appare, though. As this has damaged his machine, Appare is going to pull it to the next pit stop to fix it?! Oh well. Better than waiting here. But luck has it, Al and Xialian turned back to help tow them. Appare refuses their kindness and doesn’t understand their logic to help a rival in a race. But as Al puts it, he wants to win fair and square. This is a long race so they still have time to catch up. After all, Dylan and TJ (who overslept) have to take a big detour around Death Valley to catch up too. After exiting Death Valley, they have to camp here since it is too dangerous to cross Bloodstained Pass at night. Everyone except Appare is useful in cooking. Appare is confused with himself over his recent actions. Kosame had to explain a little about the human heart. They’re not machines. Next day at the Nevada pit stop, Gil is about to flag off but here comes Appare and co blocking his path. They accuse Gil and Chase of their dirty tricks but do they have proof? Even so, is it illegal by the rules?! Al and others agree to settle this via racing. However Hototo won’t. He is still hell bent on his revenge as he tells his sob story his fun days with dad will never return. Apparently white racists couldn’t care less and start hurling rocks so as to get the race started. Appare and co protect Hototo. It is then Gil has had it and confronts Hototo. He then unmasks himself. Damn, he got a nerdy face! Gil is crying?! He can’t take this anymore as he reveals he is not the real Gil, but Tristan. The snake mark is fake and they’re taking this name so as to scare off others. I mean, you wouldn’t approach badass bandits casually, would you? Tristan and Chase AKA Bad Brothers claim they are not bad guys and did not kill Hototo’s father. The duo can’t resume the race since Appare dismantles their vehicle and it will take them 8 hours to reassemble it. Karma.

Episode 8
Appare falls asleep right before their flag off?! Oh boy. Can Kosame drive?! Thankfully the jerky ride won’t be long as Appare soon wakes up to take control of the wheel. The group comes to a dead halt when it seems all those racers ahead of them were killed! The only survivor is Richard as he claims Gil and his men ambushed them. He is probably left alive to leave a message to others. Hototo is dead set on revenge so the gang heads to the nearest town to seek a sheriff’s help since continuing the race in this fashion will be dangerous. It is obvious that they don’t like outsiders. As they ask about for clues, they are surrounded by Gil’s men. The biggest crook is the sheriff himself. Although he has a snake tattoo on his neck, he is not Gil. Because the real deal is much worse than this. All try to fight back but get knocked out. Kosame couldn’t draw his sword because of his trauma. Only Kosame is spared because he is deemed a coward while the rest will be hung tomorrow to set an example. So Kosame drowns his sorrows in a nearby bar? Good thing the bartender listens to his traumatic story. He still feels down he couldn’t protect anyone even after all the training. Cue for some good advice because it’s not like he could change the past and bring his mother back. So once Kosame overcomes his enslaving nightmare, he goes to face off the bandits. Wow. Appare had so much confident Kosame would come? Well, he never failed to leave one behind, right? It’s time for samurai showdown because Kosame draws his sword to cut their guns. Reading their movements to dodge the bullets as well as cutting them down with the blunt end of his sword. You think Hototo could throw weak punches and get somewhere so it’s cue for Kosame to be an adult to tell about his own tragedy. In short, just be a kid and let the adults handle it. So the final face off with the sheriff, not only Kosame dodges his first fake shot but also cuts his second bullet in half! I didn’t shoot the sheriff… The race resumes as they reach their next pit stop at Denver, Colorado. By this time Dylan and TJ have already overtaken and take top spots. Meanwhile Richard talks to a guy who is not impressed he pulled that unnecessary stunt. Because if the public finds out, they’re history. Richard doesn’t care. It’s his way of warning all that the new era won’t come. And oh, Richard is actually the real Gil! Gil T. Cigar!

Episode 9
Seth tells the remaining racers that a consensus has been made by B.I.G. Boss and the race will continue albeit they will take a different route to avoid running into Gil’s men. Only Richard decides to pull out from the race and the rest don’t blame him for not wanting to continue. For the time being, everyone will stay here for the night. Appare is concerned about his cooling mechanism for his hybrid engine and decides to check Dylan’s car. Seth is not too happy about it but Appare doesn’t find him useful if he isn’t going to give him ideas about the engine. Seth is shocked to hear Appare’s hybrid idea and doesn’t believe it. Flashback shows Seth once had Appare’s fervour and created some new stuffs. However his boss was concerned about the costs and told him to follow protocol. Hototo thanks Dylan for his hint and thinks of helping him about this Claudia lady he heard him mutter at the pre-race party. He doesn’t reveal much but it sounds like he couldn’t protect the person he wants to protect the most. And so Hototo gets some advice about protecting others from Bad Brothers but it isn’t much. They’re outlaws anyway. TJ is so bored so Al challenges him to a drink. Al falls after just 1 glass of tequila! Sofia takes his place instead and drinks until TJ goes out! And she’s just getting started?! Damn, this woman can hold her liquor! We also see Dylan getting a haircut, Xialian practising sparring with Kosame and Appare do deep in his thoughts that he didn’t realize he bumped into everything. Including Thomas Edison’s house???!!!! And then everyone gathers at the hotspring. Culture shock because the Japanese counterparts go in butt naked! You’re supposed to wear bathing suits! More civilized! Xialian talks to Sofia and learns she isn’t exactly Al’s fiancée but more of his chaperon since they grew up together. Now that Appare has thought it out properly, time to get to work and create the final ultimate hybrid engine. How far can it go now? It couldn’t be a better time to know as the race is about to resume.

Episode 10
The race restarts with Xialian taking the surprise lead. Bad Brothers got a badass gun?! Is that legal?! They’re ramming through property too to make up for lost time! Is this legal too?! With this new route that runs side by side along with the train where audiences and crew members can watch if cars can outrun trains, Richard is then called by his boss for a private talk. It seems he is not happy Richard didn’t do anything to stop the race as promised. As he is a railway magnate, he is of course against the rise of automobiles. Richard then throws him out of the train! He’ll take orders from nobody but himself. He then signals and calls his henchmen to hijack the train, killing police and the train crew. They also bomb the last carriages and this takes out the Bad Brothers. The henchmen also start shooting at the racers before making the train coming to a complete stop on the Missouri bridge. Richard comes running to them on pretence for help but gets shot. But when nobody comes to help him, he then reverts to his true colours and reveals himself as the real Gil. Al confronts him about Sofia but after seeing her bloodied hat, he gets angry. Too bad European kid gets beat down by this outlaw. No samurai sword, Chinese kenpo or Appare’s invention could even stop this guy! Dylan and TJ confront Gil. Let’s settle this. Gil also has his men surround them and kill anyone who tries to escape. Gil lock horns with TJ and gets the better of him. He only lives because Dylan intervenes. When a henchman tries to shoot Dylan for disobeying the rules, Gil kills him for disobeying his orders. Gil decides to call it quits today. He will be taking some of the train passengers as hostage. That includes Sofia. Hey, he didn’t say he is dead. He wants the race’ grand prize money and they’re going to get it for him. Appare tries to be a smarty pants and go against him but is given a warning shot.

Gil then shows off the power he has by disrespecting everyone’s car. This includes busting up Xialian’s car. Then he steals Dylan’s locket and mocks him about Claudia. Blinded by rage, Dylan gets beaten up easily as Gil further mocks and blames Dylan as the one who killed Claudia. It seems the orphanage she was trying to build got burnt down and it might not have happened had Dylan stayed by her side instead of fighting his battles. Not forgetting Hototo too. He remembers killing his dad. He will kill his mom next time and challenges him to get revenge. Yeah, his mini axe can’t do anything to Gil. Gil further brags that he is so powerful he cannot be stopped. It doesn’t matter what era, all that matters is power and it will be all his. After burning and destroying all the cars, once again Appare tries to deny all that so no more warnings from Gil as he shoots him. However Kosame takes the bullet. Gil and his men get the train moving again and reminds the racers to get his money quick. Kosame is losing blood quick. Appare is in panic mode as he tries to save Kosame. Strangely, it is Kosame now who is calm as he tells Appare that the race isn’t over. Just get going. He believes he can finish the race. Kosame then closes his eyes… WTF. No time for jokes!

Episode 11
Bad Brothers’ car is still moving so luckily they send Kosame to the hospital. Despite stopping the blood loss, he is still in coma. Appare is sad-cum-mad at Kosame for doing something illogical. Look who’s talking. He is so broken and lost that he has lost the motivation to fix his car. He doesn’t care about it now. Kosame was right racing was ridiculous. He can’t do it. I guess Al has to seek someone else’s help to fix his car to go save Sofia. More woes since the damage is far greater and there are lack of parts. Seeing Appare down is one thing, seeing Dylan and TJ sulking while talking about Claudia is another. Yeah, they really put that dead woman on a pedestal. Seth tries to get the police to help but the chief lambasts him that it was agreed they weren’t going to interfere. Also, his reputation is on the line and doesn’t want to fight Gil so you’re on your own. More Appare gloominess as we see him crying in the rain. Oh dear. What is he going to do? All he ever thought was his inventions but now what? Kosame not around to tell him things. More drama as Hototo tells Appare about Kosame… KOSAME DEAD?! Damn samurai dude pulled a fast one just to see Appare’s reaction. None really. They talk about things and when Appare suggests making a boat for him to go back to Japan, Kosame doesn’t want it. Kosame’s positivity gives Appare some hope. Because Gil said he can’t be stopped but look at this medical technology that saved Kosame’s life. This technology stopped his power. How far can Appare go? As Seth assembles the racers to tell the likelihood the race will be cancelled, Appare is here to say otherwise. He will help fix everyone’s car. They will go save the hostages, kick Gil’s ass and then return racing. This race only will end when one of them reaches the finish line. With that, everyone gets back into their groove. Seth also throws away his pride as he summons all his engineers to do whatever they can to help fix the cars. Spend as much as you want. He will take responsibility for everything.

Episode 12
One of the hostage pleads for his freedom because he has a family. Gil then throws him a gun. Whoever kills the other will be set free. The guys fight over it and the winner shoots the loser. Gil then sets him free and after he runs a distance, he shoots him. Sofia is appalled but Gil warns her he’ll kill her if she disagrees with him and the only reason she is alive is because she is his property. Meanwhile our heroes have their cars fixed as Seth briefs them on the info from the police. The train is found abandoned at an abandoned station and most likely Gil and his men are holing up in a nearby ghost town. There are at least 100 men and they need to rescue the hostages first before the police arrive and turn the town into a bloodbath. Thanks to Appare’s car that was once a ship, he gets to help make a makeshift bridge for them to cross the river. Outside the town, Al suggests they split into teams to find the hostages. Dylan and TJ get the ball rolling by killing all the small fries with their direct approach. Gil orders his men to slaughter the heroes so we see the face off from the teams. Appare-Kosame against the shotgun guy, Al-Xialian against knife woman, Tristan-Hototo against big dynamite guy and Chase-Seth against double gunslinger dude. When Chase gets shot, Seth surrenders and is brought to Gil to give the ransom. But this is just a ploy as Chase was wearing an armour beneath so as to make him lead them to Gil. Gil kills this dude for failing. Chase then sets off the smoke signal to indicate he has found Gil and Sofia. Cue for the rest to finish up their fight. Appare’s distraction has Kosame using his sword on shotgun guy. Xialian’s kenpo knocks the lights out of knife woman. Tristan using his brute force to slam out big dynamite guy. Everyone converges before the chapel but don’t rest now. Gunshots are heard.

Episode 13
Everyone lines up behind Kosame as he deflects Gil’s bullets! Is this a joke?! Apparently this is what they discussed on how to take down Gil. As his gun holds 6 shots, they have a small window to take him down as he reloads. They do that but oh damn, Gil still beats their ass and reloads! Oh well, back behind Kosame again. Yeah, feels like everybody vs Thanos too. It is revealed that Sofia is not here. She is on a one way ticket train to Chicago. The train is laden with explosives and when it crashes into the station, you can imagine what will happen. So will our heroes have time to fight Gil? That’s where Dylan and TJ come in. Time for adults to play and you kids to go chase the train. So I guess this proves gasoline cars are faster than steam powered trains. Al and Xialian recklessly hop on board to beat up the punks. But they can’t stop the train since the brakes are disabled. How? Appare is going to use his car as the brakes! Can it?! It’s a whole train he is stopping! JUST BELIEVE IN HIS MACHINE! Okay. His puny car isn’t going to be just the brakes. Remember his booster? He powers it up enough force to stop the train from crashing. At the same time, Dylan and TJ defeat Gil. So that guy finally ran out of power, huh? They won’t kill him and will let the law deal with him in honour of Claudia. So with this over, what now? Yeah, before we forget this is a racing anime, the race is back on a month later as we see all of them (except for Bad Brothers who are just taking a leisurely ride) neck to neck on the home stretch. Appare is propping up the back but can he catch up? Time for the booster to work its miracle again. So powerful this time that it flies! Kosame using his body weight just to help it turn! Like sailing?! Hey, his machine was a boat! That booster is enough to make Appare cross the finish line first! OMG! First Trans-America race won by Japanese! If you’re interested in the other rankings: 2) Xialian; 3) Al; 4) Dylan; 5) TJ; 6) Bad Brothers.

In the aftermath, Al and Sofia are going to returning to Europe soon since they have lost the race and have lots of work to do. Al offers Appare to come with him and can make all the cars he wants. However Appare has bigger plans because he now wants to make a plane. Okay. See you when you fly over the Atlantic! Kosame is happy to have found a ship back to Japan. But Appare tells him the bad news he isn’t going with him. He is staying behind in America since he has things to do. Even Hototo is staying with Appare. You can go back by yourself if you want. Okay then. On the day Kosame leaves, for some reason we all know too well, Appare chases after the ship. Too late to regret he couldn’t tell Kosame to stay because he really wanted him to. It’s more fun with him around! Oh boy. The ship’s gone. Tears not going to do you any good. Imagine his surprise when Appare is standing behind him! He didn’t leave? Yeah, he too decides to stay back to help Appare. He just sent a letter back to his family. More Appare-Kosame style jokes that feel a lot like home. Damn, Kosame learnt how to tell an American style joke? Appare and Kosame’s sisters receive the letter and are glad their brothers are doing well in America. Yeah, that group photo of them winning the race, you bet everything is alright.

The Amazing Race: Apparent Errant Running Man
Oh yeah. America. The land of milk and honey. The land of opportunities and dreams. It is no wonder our Japanese duo are staying behind to take their next step forward. It feels like Japan has no future. Maybe not in that era. Japan only became a technological powerhouse after the second World War. And before that, it’s still a backwater samurai country. I think. With such an amazing experience in America, racing and fighting off the most wanted badass villain in the country, it’s a good thing that the Japanese duo do not feel homesick and making good ol’ USA their home base. I know it’s inconclusive but with Appare briefly encountering Thomas Edison and possible the Wright brothers, he could become anime’s version of Forrest Gump and go on to meet great historical people and achieve greater heights! Who knows? That’s another story for another day when Appare becomes a legend!

If you’re hoping that this is entirely a racing series, you’ll probably be disappointed. After all, this isn’t any Speed Racer AKA Mach GoGoGo in Japanese. Nowhere even near it. Even trying to compare this to Wacky Races feel like a bit of a stretch once you’re done watching the series. I mean, it would be ultimately boring if the entire series is just about racing and the drama of some dastardly character trying to sabotage the race but it always backfires. This is entirely not a comedy centric anime either. So when the race takes a detour having the racers become heroes and turning the race into a rescue mission, I won’t say that this is really a bad plot. After all, you do realize that many of the main characters here do have some sort of fighting ability. So it’ll be a lot of waste if we just see them having driving potential but do not show off their fighting chops.

Well, if you’re still disappointed in the overall story, then please note that this anime is an original creation. Yes, not based on any manga or game. Therefore as far as we can see when the anime ends, there seems to be some missed potential. After all, it might be us getting the wrong idea in the first place when we read the synopsis about this anime going to be a racing theme. I am not sure if this Trans-America race will be an annual thing but you have to remember that Appare is the main character here. Heck, his name is on the title, that should give you a hint. Hence this race is just a stepping stone in his quest to see how far he goes, eventually he may or may not reach the moon. Therefore I am speculating that if there is going to be a sequel, it might not necessary be a racing theme. It might showcase Appare’s next journey to achieve his dream. Which of course would feel a bit weird since by the end of the show, we are somewhat used with the racing theme and characters so it will be awkward to see Appare in a totally new journey with totally new characters. Unless, race around the world! Oh yeah. Wacky Races. International version!

Yeah, this anime is so racist with racists being racists. Oops! Didn’t phrase that right. I mean, if a person who plays a piano is a pianist, a person who deals with chemicals is a chemist and a person who deals with mental states is a psychologist, why is it not a person who races a racist???!!! WTF, English???!!! Anyway, your diversity in this anime as we have all kinds of racists, oops, I mean racers in the fray. White Americans, Black Americans, a Native American, Latino Mexicans, a Chinese lady, a European Caucasian and yes, the obligatory Japanese characters. Wow. So much diversity. America truly a melting pot. So where’s the Arab and the Jew?! Not enough diversity, you say? We already have 1 female here to fight #MeToo sexism, so where are the trans people?! Well… It’s in the name, Trans-America Wild Race, silly! That should be enough for you people! Sheesh… Okay, enough of the dumb PC stuffs and jokes…

Speaking of the characters, they have potential here but as I have said this is an original work, it feels like there is room to improve upon them. Unfortunately this series only has a single cour so some of the back stories of the other characters feel a bit superficial. Like the Thousand Three, the past between Dylan and TJ feels like they needed to give these characters some character and let us know why they are badass outlaws. It is like as though in the event of a sequel, they might expand this lore. I mean, it was mentioned that originally there were 7 badass outlaws and now there are only 3 of them left, hence their current collective nickname. So if they want to do some spinoff story or something, this could provide some room to expand the story and give more depth to the characters. Otherwise, you won’t get much from what we have seen like Xialian, the Bad Brothers and Al.

Appare as the main character, he is of course an eccentric one. I have mixed feelings about finding his character likeable as well as annoying. You see, Appare isn’t your typical main character although he still has some qualities that makes a cliché main character. Because he is a genius, he is so ahead of his time that he is an outcast because yeah, nobody understands him. Socially awkward. Uh huh. Nobody understands geniuses because the common mass are just stupid. To put it bluntly. For most of this series, all that is on Appare’s mind is tinkering his machine and making it better. Nothing else. In a way, this makes him feel like a robot. And what makes his character annoying is the fact that he is very direct and blunt with you. There are so many instances that makes him sound that he doesn’t care but that is only because if you aren’t going to tell or give him what he wants, why is he going to bother trying to change your mind? Time is precious to him. He just lets it be and leaves. Hence many might not like this part of Appare and like yours truly who find it annoying because Appare doesn’t look like he has a shred of common sense for humanity inside. But bear in mind, he is eccentric in the first place.

Of course we can’t have Appare sounding and acting like so for the entire series so they need to inject some dilemma moments for his character. You will later obviously see him scratching his head and wandering the illogical things that he has done. This does not compute! Yeah, sounds a lot like a robot. So with him being irritated by these so called human emotions, it makes us believe that Appare is after all still human underneath that genius inventor façade. All that really blows up when Kosame was close to losing his life and it really sent Appare into a spiral downwards. It was also very weird to see Appare in this gloomy state since we are used to see the kind of brand Appare’s character is. The clincher is when Kosame left but didn’t. Despite all the pranks he pulled on him, I suppose Appare still values him a lot. Heh. But I guess that is Appare’s character development for us. More Appare trolling when you see confusing equations popping up on the screen. Like as though Appare using his grey matter to make the impossible possible. But eventually the answer is just freaking simple and nothing to do with all the calculations! Or maybe we’re just too dumb to understand it!

It isn’t unfair to label Kosame as a coward as initial synopsis puts him. Perhaps that is a red herring that they want us to believe and quickly form an opinion over his behaviour. From the kind of upbringing and tragedy that he encountered, I view Kosame as more level headed and cautious. Because you do notice that there are many times Appare is so deep in his thoughts that it could’ve put his life in danger. Had not Kosame be there just to warn him (mostly ignored anyway), it could have turned out for the worse (but thankfully it did not). This makes him play the role of a comic relief sometimes. Because Kosame is a cautious person, he sounds pessimistic. But that is also because he is trying to be realistic. You do know that Appare’s dreams are grand but if you don’t really have a plausible way to achieve it, they’re just castles in the air. Hence Kosame being the voice of reasoning sometimes make him sound cynical and distrustful when he is only just trying to be careful and look out for their wellbeing. In this point of view, you could say that Kosame is a much better character than Appare. Their personalities are poles apart and you can tell from their names, despite Appare meaning sunny and Kosame stemming from rain but it doesn’t generally is a good indicator of their personalities as I have already rationalized.

But what about that hypocrite thing he tried to tell Hototo not to seek revenge because it would not bring about any difference but he himself continues to be traumatized by his own mother’s death? Well, because Kosame has experienced something a kid should never have in his life, he doesn’t want Hototo to grow up the same way as he does. I mean, generally speaking if a person who has undergone something awful, many of them would not wish for others to undergo the same suffering they did. That’s why I believe Kosame isn’t being hypocritical trying to stop Hototo in his revenge plot. He doesn’t want him to end up like he is, shackled by his past. But thankfully Kosame has his redemption episode and it makes him way cooler and more respectable than before. Even Seth who started out as an arrogant character whom viewers would love to hate, has his own redemption and casting away his pride to do what is right.

Gil being the series’ main antagonist, I guess he is what Dastardly could have been had he been seriously a very evil character that is bad to the bone. Yeah, he is the Dastardly of the series but a million times more evil and much more despicably successful. They really want to make us hate his character when we see him having his way with the racers and doing as he pleases. It is true that he has the power to do what he wants. That is only because many allow it because of the fear he stokes in them. If Gil lived in modern times, he would be an even more frightening terrorists with modern gadgets and technologies at his disposal. Yikes, I hate to imagine a reboot spinoff of Detective Appare hunting down international terrorist Gil in a battle of wits and technology! Hope that doesn’t happen. But of course like in any other stories, good always triumph over evil so rest assured that they finish him up and even have time to finish the race. Yeah, feels a lot like plot convenience they make him lose like that. After beating everyone up so convincingly and this is how he goes down with a whimper? Okay then. Because in a way it is good too because it is embarrassing for such a powerful man like Gil just to run out of steam in the end. Heh. Can never beat the power of plot convenience!

On a side note, the B.I.G. Boss trio of companies, I think most of us will think GM is General Motors. But wouldn’t they get sued? No wonder the hilarious misspelling as Great Mortors! F*cking great misspelling. BNW is definitely a parody to BMW. But too bad it isn’t close to Bayerische Motoren Werke. Bright New Works! Sounds more like bright English than German definitely. Finally, Iron Motor, many speculate this reference to Ford since the closest American company with iron in its name is Hughes-Iron Motor Company that was established to sell Ford cars. And to think that these companies lost to a personalized Japanese car in this anime! Not even a Toyota, a Honda or a Nissan. A f*cking makeshift car from a boat! Oh yeah. Gotta thank the boosters. Saved lives and won a race! The real star of the race, those boosters.

Art and animation are pretty cool and good quality. The colourful designs of the characters and especially the cars, a reason why some like me would want to associate it with Wacky Races. I mean, you see Dylan and TJ’s car are so supped up and colourful, you wonder if they’re actually for racing or just for a car exhibition show. Heck, Bad Brother’s oversized tractor car or whatever that is, it looks like it came out from the Hollywood movie, Death Race! I don’t think they have or intended to roll over anybody but what the heck it has big spikes for?! For show?! Uh huh. Our main characters’ cars are so stylish and flamboyant that it makes them stand out from the rest of the other racers in the field whose car designs are just so freaking plain and boring! Seriously. Oh well, racing isn’t all about just speed but they need to be flashy too. So sup up those designs, baby!

As for the characters, they are all also colourful and flamboyant. Like TJ whom you’ll think he is more of a rapper than a racer with his dreadlocks and rapper accessories. Of course Appare is the weirdest looking character because of his design. Not only with his messy hairdo (because those with such wild hair can somewhat be associated with geniuses like Albert Einstein) the weirdest part about him is his, uhm, can I call it weird makeup dots on the edge of his mouth? Because of that, don’t stare too long at Appare because he looks like some killer doll clown! That’s scary! Coupled in with his robotic character, sometimes I wonder if that is an alternate version of Appare in another genre. And Tristan looks like a dork with that silly face. But you can tell he is a gentle giant when birds all flock to him! I guess this friendly smiling style is better than having a scary face like Richard because he could be a Terminator model in disguise! I don’t mean to offend Xialian but her main outfit exposes her midriff and it makes her look kinda fat… Whoops! Does TJ wear some sort of iron bra as his headgear?! Flashy is one thing but ridiculous is another. Oh well, can’t understand some people’s taste… This series is done by P.A. Works although I don’t find the characters here as beautiful as Hanasaku Iroha, Glassslip and True Tears. Oh well, this isn’t a modern day high school setting in the first place.

There are a few recognizable seiyuus lending their talents here like Natsuki Hanae as Appare, Takahiro Sakurai as Dylan, Tomokazu Sugita as TJ, Sora Amamiya as Xialian and Kenjiro Tsuda as Richard/Gil. Surprisingly I found out Aoi Yuuki as Hototo and it seems the more she voices characters away from her trademark style, the harder I find it to recognize her anymore. I mean, I still couldn’t believe it is her. And Daisuke Ono as Tristan? Damn, with such a dorky and gay voice, I sure didn’t expect him to be helming this role. The other casts are Seiichirou Yamashita as Kosame (Chris in Eromanga-sensei), Souma Saito as Al (Ray in Infinite Dendrogram), Tetsu Inada as Chase (Gamagoori in Kill La Kill), Fumihiko Orikasa as Sofia (Rukia in Bleach) and Kazuya Okitsu as Seth (Fat in Boku No Hero Academia. The opening is I Got It by Mia Regina. Your typical rock outfit with lots of fanfare that suits the fast pace racing action. But the one I prefer the most is the ending theme, I’m Nobody by Showtaro Morikubo. There is this catchy tune to it that gives this American cowboy/rodeo feel to this rock piece. Yeehaw! Howdy!

On a trivial note, I noticed that some of the episode titles take after or parody movie titles, though it might have nothing to do with those movies. The most obvious one being episode 8’s Heavy Rain. Then there’s also episode 10’s The Bridge To Hell which is a reference to the Italian war movie in the 80’s and curiously enough the final episode’s Over The Moon which is an animation feature released back in October 2020. Episode 5’s The Eve, And… could be a reference to The Eve and the first episode which is the only episode whose transcribes are in Japanese instead of English, Sunny With Occasional Showers might be from Occasional Showers.

Overall, this is a fun and enjoyable series and sometimes you might get confused of the genre this series falls into. Is it a racing show? Is it an action adventure flick? Is it some sort of comedy and drama? Kinda a bit of everything. Just like Appare’s contraption. Might not be a masterpiece but it is still enjoyable and overall good (don’t let the naysayers bog you down with their complicated criticisms!). It doesn’t have a very convoluted plot and there are some eye candy visuals and the characters are okay. Yes, it could have been better since it does have some potential but next racing season maybe? I wouldn’t say this series sputtered and limped towards the finish line nor did it cross the chequered flag as a winner but at least it did what it is supposed to do by entertaining us with its fair share of racing, action, funny moments and debatably character developing drama. How far can anime go from here? I’m not so optimistic but it’s not totally impossible either. Stay tune next time as Appare battles NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX via ultimate race to Mars! Oh yeah. Can’t wait for that. So what are we waiting for? Let’s gooooooo!

Gun x Sword

Stories of revenge never get old. From Gungrave to Code Geass to 91 Days and Gankutsuou, having the main character seeking out a certain someone for revenge and to avenge his/her loved one sounds like a typical cliché for a plot and to pile up the body count if it’s an action flick. What to do? That’s human nature. Only violence and death can ease some of that bitterness and pain. Hopefully. Or not. So it’s the same case for Gun x Sword. A man’s life turned upside down after his wife got killed on their wedding day. Ever since, he is on a vengeful hunt for the perpetrator. Nothing else on his mind. You’d think the entire journey would help make him reflect or change but what are the chances? Your wife’s killed. You’ll follow the devil to hell and back just for some elaborated payback, right?

Episode 1
Van just stumbles into town looking for food. What does he see? A bunch of guys gunning down others and a young girl, Wendy Garret. Of course she didn’t die since her turtle pendant blocked the bullet. Van doesn’t want trouble but seeing those bunch are troublemakers, he easily takes them out with his strange sword. Wendy then brings him to the mayor where he is treated food. The mayor hopes to hire him as a bodyguard from a bunch of baddies who are after their money. All the young ones have died while protecting this town and Wendy’s brother, Michael is missing. Then here comes those baddies and their leader, Lucky to give them 1 last chance to surrender or tomorrow he’ll unleash his armoured fury on them. Despite all this, Van refuses to get involved. Not his problem. Later Van stumbles into their bar looking for milk but is forced to play a card game with Lucky. Whoever gets the joker first loses. Van loses and is tossed out. However Lucky realizes Van ‘cheated’ because he picked up 2 cards instead. Wendy is mad that Van is strong but refused to help them. Van tells her to think and do something on their own. He is shocked when Wendy offers herself to be his bride. He tells her to be that only when she is happy. Lucky then shoots Van for ruining his luck. But it sees Van has some healing abilities? Next day, Lucky unleashes his wrath on town. Because he roughs up Wendy, Van comes to her rescue and has decided to crush all of Lucky’s luck. We see him kick ass with his agility and his sword. But the real clincher is that he too can summon a mecha, Dann and pilot it. Time to change Lucky’s name to Unlucky. And that’s the end of his lucky streak. As Van interrogates him about Michael, it seems they were ordered to bring him to a man with claws on his right hand. Apparently Van has a bone to pick with that guy and gets desperate to know his whereabouts. Too bad Lucky doesn’t know. Wendy decides to follow Van on his journey seeing they have the same goal. Hey, can’t leave your bride behind.

Episode 2
Arriving at Bridge City, Van stumbles into an old acquaintance, Carmen 99. So Wendy’s jealous woman instincts kicking in? Not sure why she even wants to stick with a man who can’t even remember her name! Don’t worry, he doesn’t remember Carmen’s too. Anyway, Wendy dislikes being treated like a kid despite being one. Take a good look at yourself… Anyway, crossing over to the other side of the continent is closed for now as Mayor Baron Meyer gave an excuse of a much needed repair and maintenance and it would be closed for weeks. However he will only allow a few hundred woman to cross at a certain time via underground tunnel. All Van wants to know if that certain man has crossed the bridge so he needs Carmen to find that info. You bet Wendy wants to also cross the bridge for her own reasons. Carmen can help take care of Wendy if Van helps to investigate Baron since there has been something suspicious going on. As Wendy, Carmen and the selected women head underground, it soon dawn to them that this is a trap. Baron and his moustachioed soldiers have taken them captive for his new kingdom. He has spent years building some hidden mecha and plans to conquer the world with this metal robot? So to build his new kingdom, he is going to impregnate all these women?! Sick guy. Of course he isn’t pleased with Wendy since she is just a child. Hit a nerve? When Wendy talks about freedom and the likes, he is going to teach her a lesson. Great timing as Van drops in to reveal what he has found. Too bad we all already know. Since Van doesn’t like how Baron treats women, he is going to crush everything. A few scuffle, the women run for safety, Baron and his men retreat to their mecha that detaches itself from the city. He is going to destroy Bridge City as his first step. I’m sure he didn’t take into account Van summoning his Dann and then pretend to get defeated so as to find its weakness. And then one slice through to end this man’s dreams and flow. In the aftermath, Van interrogates a man who confirms a certain man and a young boy did cross the bridge. They part ways with Carmen as Wendy bugs Van to say her name. Say it… SAY IT!!! Can’t… Remember…

Episode 3
Van fainted from hunger so poor Wendy had to drag him to the next town for food. It seems there is a bunch of old farts who were once mecha pilots who are fond of Van because he too is one and they’ve heard of his exploits against Wild Bunch and Baron. Because they are rowdy and talking about the past, the young ones don’t like it. So the old farts want to fight? Heh. The young ones are sensible not to fight with old people. Everything is calmed down when Yukiko, the bar owner and the granddaughter of late Chizuru, the old geezers’ mecha pilot partner, starts singing. The old farts are even thrown into prison when they further misbehave. The sheriff doesn’t want to do this to his childhood heroes but things have changed. Heroes aren’t needed and the police is enough. However, soon a monster mecha piloted by the disgruntled citizen Buchi starts tearing up the place. He claims he wants to help so how does destroying things help?! As Van doesn’t want to get involve, looks like it’s up to the old farts to settle this the old way. Yeah, amazingly their mecha still in good working condition! They combine into a giant robot and am I watching a Transformers show?! As they clash, it is obvious that the old geezers’ power is incomplete because they need the power of 5. Is this cue for Yukiko to ride the final mecha? Nope. She starts singing! That can only do so much to motivate the old farts but this has Van helping out by throwing the final mecha to combine with them. With that, they are able to defeat Buchi. In the end, Buchi repents his action and the town returns to its peaceful days.

Episode 4
After fighting off a baddie, Van becomes weak and collapses. Poor Wendy has to drag him out from the river he fell into, drag him all the way into the cave to take shelter from the rain. Of course he is reeling from some nightmare as Wendy tries to nurse him. Be strong, girl. Next day, she sets off to the nearest town to get a doctor. But it seems as Van hinted, he hasn’t been calling Dann for quite a while and he could be suffering from its effects. Hence he summons it to recuperate inside. Meanwhile Wendy has reached the town but the people look at her with scorn since she is carrying a gun. Even the hospital shoos her away. Luckily a kind nurse, Mary takes her to a small clinic run by Doctor Denehee. She describes Van’s symptoms but thankfully it is no more than just fever. She also describes a strange mark on Van’s body. Could it be a parasite? Since Denehee is wheelchair ridden, he can’t go with her and just gives the medicine for Van. Wendy makes her way. Wow. The way she traverses back, I wonder if the food Mary gave her will still be alright. Heck, she got attacked by a wild boar! WTF wild boar listens to her to scram when she points her gun?! Whatever. When Wendy returns, Van is gone. So disappointed. This is the appreciation she gets for her efforts? More bad luck as the baddie returns with his friends and attacks her. Lolicon. Luckily, Van returns and beats the sh*t out of them. Looks like he is okay. I guess he doesn’t need the medicine anymore. Wendy so relieved she faints. I guess now it’s his turn to look after her. But I guess she’s happy. Meanwhile Denehee remembers he treated a patient with this mark before. It is a man with an artificial arm. Mary leaves but she is hold up by a guy, Ray Lundgren who wants to know about the claw man.

Episode 5
Van and Wendy enter a mechanical village consists of twins. However both sets hate each other and are trying to kill each other. However as Carmen promised them to hire a bodyguard for each side to settle things. So Van is one of them? It seems their late father has left them some legacy. Both sides hold a set of key that is needed to open the door. Of course putting the key together to open it would be easy but you know how much they hate each other, right? Hence Carmen hiring bodyguards to fight on their behalf and the loser must hand over the key. Van only accepts the job because they have info about the claw man who is their father’s acquaintance. It seems the other bodyguard hired is Ray. Instantly he starts shooting at everything just to kill Van! He retreats but Van also returns the favour by going to the other side to attack. Meanwhile Wendy asks Carmen about Helena, the name Van keeps speaking in his sleep. She is supposed to be Van’s wife but on their wedding day, the claw man killed her. Similarly, Ray’s wife, Shino was killed by the same man and he is on a revenge journey. Ray even propose they team up since their goal is the same but Van has his principles and won’t. Carmen set this up knowing about Ray’s past too because I guess some things you have to settle it this way? Next day just before the duel begins, Ray shoots the enemy twin and takes her key. That should settle it, right? Opening the door, the legacy is a mecha. Then there is a video of their father reporting to somebody about his experiment. Apparently twins are needed to pilot this but because the experiment went wrong and they started hating each other, it is hinted they can be destroyed. Father is pleading for mercy and desperate for something. End of transmission. The twins realize their mistake as they go pilot the mecha just to prove to their father. This means Van and Ray’s fight is interrupted. Van summons Dann to fight them. Because he is too soft, Ray also summons his mecha, Volkein. Ray is more cruel and merciless as he destroys the twins without hesitation. This is his conviction. In order to get revenge, he has thrown away his humanity. Ray escapes as the entire place crumbles. Van and Wendy also manage to escape. Carmen too. I guess she got her payment. Yeah, she stole it anyway.

Episode 6
Mascotte and Honey Cherry are professing their love in the middle of public. How they’ll get rich and live the easy life. Cringe. So are they ready now to attack Van and demand for his mecha? Because they’ll sell it to Tony who is a mecha maniac in town and he’ll pay any price for it. Of course Van refuses but as you can see, these dumbasses are really easy to take care of. Hence the entire day we see these idiots not giving up and even chasing them with their mecha, Love Deluxe. Isn’t that just a supped up car? You bet Van is so freaking annoyed. In between their cheesy love drama and all. So in the latest attempt, they stumble into Tony. Turns out this is Honey’s father and she lied to Mascotte because she fear he would leave her upon knowing she is the daughter of a mafia head. But Tony isn’t happy Mascotte ruined his Love Deluxe. He has his men take them away but what about Van? Those idiots have been chasing him all day. Sorry, Tony got no time to play with him. Tony crucifies Mascotte so the latter tries to play the bad guy just to save Honey. Such beautiful love story. Tony agrees to forget all this if Honey kills him. Of course Honey won’t. Since when he cared about his daughter because he only cares about his mecha. Tony will kill them both but this is where Van comes in. On a surfboard?! Look at his frown! I guess he still can’t let go what happened today. As he beats up Tony’s men, Tony rides his own mecha to take down Van. Isn’t that just another supped up car? Of course Van easily destroys it. In the aftermath, the stupid couple have a quick wedding and get on with their happy love life. Ah, such simple bliss. Van and Wendy continue to ask for the claw man. Why, the waiter points out he is just at the next table! Oh, but he is gone. Something about catching a ship. Van angrier now. He goes to the dock but is filled with ships. Which ship? Curses. So close yet so far.

Episode 7
Van and Wendy take a ship to go after the claw man. However they are tricked and dumped on an island owned by Joe Lazzi. He welcomes them with great hospitality despite Van being very distrustful of him. He promises to make their stay as comfortable since the next transport ship will pass here in only 10 days. He even offers to ask his men back on the land to find info on the claw man. Joe learns about Van’s reason to go after the claw man so he too tells his story of betrayal and loss of comrades. He thinks it is better to let go of the past and not seek revenge. At the same time, he talks to Wendy and tries to convince her to return home because there is a chance that she might miss Michael and he doesn’t find her back at home. Joe goes back to convince Van about his revenge, if this was what Helena wanted. Because nothing comes out of revenge. Ironically, Joe’s enemies are now his friends since they have some info on the claw man. On separate occasions, Joe talks to Wendy and Van about going back and leave the rest to them. Van starts to think deep about Joe’s words. Then he realizes Helena is gone and there is no more happiness in this world. This is also when he realizes Joe is actually an accomplice to the claw man and he did all this just to stall them. Hence both guys summon their mecha to fight. Literally destroying the entire island! In the end, Van proves superior but Joe thinks he has bought his comrades some time. He thinks of taking out Van with his self-destruct but only Joe exploded to pieces. As they leave the island, Van realizes this is going to get harder as the claw man knows he is on to him.

Episode 8
While traversing the mountains, Joshua saves them from a mecha dragon. However because in the process Van loses his sword, he wants Joshua to be a decoy while he goes get it. Too scared? Wendy will go then. Joshua mans up to do it but chickens out and puts Van in danger. If not for Ray saving the day, they could’ve been done for. It seems Ray is Joshua’s older brother and despite Joshua’s calls for him to return, stubborn Ray will not. Van goes to do his own investigation but bumps into Ray at the restaurant. Joshua tells Wendy about Ray being a nice guy until the death of Shino He then changed of course. He also tells her how the dragon indiscriminately attacks anyone who crosses the mountains. It all began 2 years ago but at the same time it was also when the claw man showed up here. So could it be the one piloting the dragon is the claw man’s subordinate? It could explain why Ray is back here. So Ray is asking Van to cooperate and be a decoy while he aims to take down the dragon. Can they trust each other? Anyway both cooperate but the dragon gets the better of them. You think Joshua and Wendy in the battlefield would become a liability but Joshua who is a mecha maniac knows its weakness and how to take it down. So Van borrows Ray’s gun and shoots at its weak spot to immediately immobilize the threat. When they enter the mecha, they discover the pilot is dead for a long time. Since this is quite a good mecha, why would the claw man let this run loose? Apparently like those twins’ case, this is considered another failure because it locked the pilot inside. Van and Ray start fighting for the data. With Joshua’s pleading, Ray relents but he still won’t come back and only lives for revenge. Since Van has the data, he needs somebody to interpret it and the next town over might be a good start. Joshua thinks of joining them since there is a chance he’ll meet with Ray again. Yeah, he thinks Van and Ray get along very well! Don’t let Van hear that!

Episode 9
Van hitchhikes to Trinolia and as luck would have it, it is Carmen who picks them up. It seems Trinolia is Carmen’s hometown and she hasn’t been back for 6 years. The people still remember her, though. First thing, Carmen brings them go see her childhood friend, Haeta. She is the daughter of Findrey, the man who can decipher the data. Despite Findrey being old and frail, he is motivated to analyse the data. It will take some time so we see the Carmen and Haeta catching up on old times, Wendy and Joshua helping out to clean the place and Van just sleeping. Yeah… One day, Joshua spots a guest at Haeta’s place. He eavesdrop and hears something about the guest leaving medicine around since she’ll be away for a while. Also, it looks like both know about the claw man. Joshua quickly relays this to Carmen who is praying at her parents’ grave. Carmen wants to talk to Haeta in person first and doesn’t want Joshua to tell Van yet. Meanwhile, Wendy has collapsed and when she comes to, she is hysterical. Carmen talks to Findrey who reveals there is poison in the flowers that Haeta grows if you inhale it too much. The only cure is the antidote but if you take too much, it becomes overdose. Findrey is living proof of this. Anyway, he wants Carmen to save Haeta. Carmen knows where Haeta is (their secret garden during their childhood) and she sees lots of those flowers. She wants Haeta to burn them all but Haeta will not. She accuses Carmen of abandoning this town while she slowly became one with it. I guess Joshua couldn’t keep a secret so Van now interrogates Findrey about the claw man. He claims only Haeta knows about it. He has managed to crack the code but has not decipher the data. After Carmen and Haeta talk about why they love and hate each other, they see fire coming from Findrey’s home. Looks like Findrey decided to take his own life for being a burden to Haeta and the townspeople. Van wants to interrogate Hate about the claw man but Carmen will not let him. She’s her only friend. In the aftermath, Carmen takes the data to Jonet Junction to analyse since she also wants to find the woman who was with Haeta. As she leaves, she sees Haeta burning the entire secret garden down.

Episode 10
While waiting for a train to Jonet, suddenly a terrorist attack destroys the rails. Looks like they’ll have to find another way to Jonet. Joshua asks couldn’t they just ride in Dann? He doesn’t really know how it works in detail and he can’t stay inside it for too long. Vivian overheard this and wants to marry Van?! Too bad he is in love with another woman. Sorry, not you, Wendy. Anyway, Vivian needs their help. As she is from the underwater salvaging company, pirates have lately been attacking and sabotaging their salvage. At this rate they will lose reputation and business so she hopes Van can help protect them for this next salvage. In addition to getting a bonus, they’ll get an express train to Jonet. Deal? As the salvage gets underway, the pirates led by the flamboyant Captain Kaiji show up to cause problems. They freeze the surrounding sea area with the intention to steal the ruins. Cue for Van to summon Dann to go fight them. However he is at a disadvantage underwater since his movements are slow and the enemy keeps firing homing missiles at him. Joshua comes up with a brilliant plan to detonate the ice with his precise calculation. The destruction of the ice is successful and during this commotion, Van uses it to his advantage and defeats the enemy. After getting the reward, all they need now is to board the train. However at the station, Wendy is shocked to see Michael ahead.

Episode 11
Wendy runs across the tracks just to see him. Thank goodness she was faster than the train. Van and Joshua saw her jump over but don’t understand anything else. So they go look for her. Yeah, Joshua got arrested by the cops for looking inside the women’s toilet! Had Carmen not come here to bail him out, I don’t know what will happen to him. Van is also looking but a young loli, Melissa bumps into him and starts crying. Her twin brother, Carossa thinks he bullied her and beats him up. William Will Woo comes to pick them up and refuses to apologize to Van. Wendy is happy to see Michael but apparently he isn’t because she disobeyed him. It looks like Michael sent another letter to Wendy that he is fine and that she doesn’t need to come look for him. Of course she didn’t get that letter. He tells her to go home as he will not return with her. Wendy is shocked and thinks he has been brainwashed by the claw man. On the contrary, Michael believes he is a nice guy and despite he is aware of what his comrades did, he is now here on his own free will. Realizing both of them has changed, he throws away the gun she returns to him. He tells her to find her own gun. He then part ways with her and returns to his comrade, Gadved. The other members reuniting are of course those twins, Woo and Fasalina (the woman Haeta talked to at Trinolia). It seems they have received the ruins which is actually a huge coffin. They are going to repair and activate it to complete the revival of the Original Seven. Michael tells Gadved he spotted that man so the latter plans to draw his attention. When Van finally reunites with a depressed Wendy, he quickly snaps when she tells what happened. He is angry she didn’t ask where Michael went or even about the claw man. Man, Van obviously being too loud and causing a commotion. But Carmen and Joshua had to call him out for being insensitive. Hey, give her a break. She’s just a kid. Lost Wendy wonders on her next move so Van tells her the obvious: Go home. She has no more reason to travel. Wendy packs her bags and leaves… And Michael throws away his treasured photo of the siblings together. Time to move on.

Episode 12
Joshua talks to Wendy if she is okay with this. Well, she seems resigned to this fate… Carmen tries to tell Van about the decipher results but he is no longer interested. Despite Carmen telling him off, he just won’t listen. Soon Van bumps into Gadved and they know each other. It seems Gadved was the one who did the surgery on Van to fuse him with Dann’s system upon dying Helena’s request. Gadved continues to explain about the purpose of the Original Seven as to watch this prison planet but over the years after the mother planet Earth crumbled, so did Original Seven since they became corrupted. All that is left is their mecha. Gadved is the only one left standing and he is forming a new Original Seven to uphold their new ideals. Van and Dann are the strongest since they need to be regularly in contact with each other to heal. Gadved wants him to join Original Seven but Van refuses. This is when Gadved reveals Original Seven works for the claw man. You bet that makes Van mad. Throwing fists of fury!!! Yeah, no effect. Meanwhile Fasalina confronts Carmen and wants to talk. Elsewhere, Wendy stumbles into an old man as he talks to her about the meaning of life and dreams. So basically he thinks Wendy isn’t sad but jealous because Michael has found his dream. So how to make everybody happy? Why, everyone having the same dream! Big enough for everyone to risk their life and only then everyone can stop fearing. As Gadved and Van summon their mecha for their ultimate showdown, Wendy is horrified to learn the truth. Fasalina approaches the old man and gives him his repaired claw hand. Yes, this guy is the claw man!!! More craziness because here comes Ray going trigger happy.

Episode 13
Ray shoots but all he kills are the birds???!!! Damn bird killer!!! This dude so angry that Fasalina gets the better of him. Claw man tries to talk to him why he is so mad. It seems he doesn’t mind being killed but not now. He needs to do something first. He also points out that Ray’s dream to kill him is small and insignificant. Because of that, he will never kill him. I wonder how much longer Ray can hold his anger. Claw man invites Ray to join Original Seven and hopes they can share the same dream. Obviously rejected. Ray shoots but it is Joshua who takes the shot. Don’t want his brother to become a murderer? Damn, if Joshua dies, won’t he become one? But thankfully, Joshua isn’t dead. Back to the mecha fight, Gadved is disappointed Van has been fuelled by revenge and has not mastered Dann at all. He reveals he was the one who invited the claw man to Van’s wedding. So if it is all his fault, Gadved will gladly die here as his atonement. Otherwise, it will be Van’s punishment. Ray pretends to repent so that when the claw man gets close to him, he grabs him and summons Volkein. The claw man remembers this mecha built by Shino. It was to support his ideals and dreams. Because of that, Shino is still alive and finds Ray’s revenge odd. Do you avenge someone who is alive? Obviously this only pisses off Ray further. Michael has finished repairing the mecha in the coffin. So he goes to rescue his boss and Fasalina. As they fly back to base, Van spots this and you can tell from his orgasmic face that he is happy to have finally found the claw man. This means his journey isn’t a waste. This motivation powers up Van and in the final blow from both sides, Van wins. The lethal blow also kills off Gadved. Looks like another vacant spot in Original Seven. Ray has escaped and Joshua vows to continue chasing after him. Wendy claims Michael’s gun as her own. She reunites with Van and looks like they’re going to continue journeying together. This time she wants to decide and see for herself if Michael’s dreams are correct. Otherwise she’ll stop him.

Episode 14
Giovanni hires Van to be his company’s mecha fighter to fight against the other finalist, Pricilla. He wants to win this tournament badly to enhance the reputation of his company. He has approached Pricilla and tried to buy her out to lose on purpose but she rejected. Of course Van will get his fair share of the reward. So apparently Van agreed to this since Joshua is in hospital and they need the money. As you can expect, our gang eavesdrops on Pricilla to learn about her pitiful state of affairs. She runs an orphanage along with her sister, Johanna. They don’t have much but they’re happy. Of course Johanna is against Pricilla doing all this as she is risking her life. Sure, they’ll win big if she wins but they also stand to lose everything if they lose. She also points out how their mother worked to the bone until her death and it will be a shame if Pricilla suffers the same fate. Pricilla has lots of positive energy so you bet she is going to be fine. And with Wendy being so conflicted if they should win or lose for Pricilla’s sake, it’s simple for fun. It’s not my problem! That night, Van and Pricilla stumble into each other and talk. They find out they’re not so bad as they initially thought of each other. Come the finals, Van is of course superior by every means. But he is impressed with Pricilla as she is pretty awesome herself too. The fight is interrupted when this idiot, Zakoto enters the ring. He claims he is the real finalist and was late because the mecha delivery from Jonet was delayed. Being the stubborn guy he is, Van agrees to let Pricilla take over. Instantly she owns him and wins it all. While Van’s side doesn’t get anything, at least Pricilla gives him some food before they leave. You jealous, Wendy? Pricilla hopes to finish their fight one day.

Episode 15
No money. Van tries to get hired as a bodyguard but no takers. So I guess to make fast money, there is the casino. But turtle racing?! Damn, this is going to take some time… I wonder if the turtle understands Wendy’s threats. But I guess it did for at least Van when he threatens to make turtle soup out of it!!! And with that they won! At least enough to ride a luxury blimp to their next destination. Van being the uncivilized dude, mixes drinks and drinks them all at one go, passing out. Cue for flashback when he was a stray and picked up by Gadved to test pilot Dann (in which Helena was a researcher too). Wendy is all dolled up for dinner and Van can’t recognize her?! He is even brutally honest telling her she looks weird. In a good way. Embarrassed and confused? She might not be as refined as the other cultured guests but I guess it beats the barbaric Van mixing all his seasonings and eating from the floor! WTF?! Everybody laughing. So embarrassing! Next day, Woo makes an announcement to the blimp to hand over Van. Of course they refuse so Woo fires into it. Van jumps out to fight Woo in their mecha. However Van is in disbelief as he cannot find the same feelings he had when he fought Gadved. This only serves to anger Woo since he hated coming back to this place. But he takes heart that this means he has overcome whatever he needs to in order to be useful to the claw man. We take a detour back to Pricilla. Because everyone knows she is worried about Van, they tell her to go to him. And it’s also because Joshua was left back at the hospital! I guess now he has a ride to go meet up. Wendy thought Van has won his match but looks like he is down!

Episode 16
Because Van managed to damage Woo, he gives him 3 days for a rematch or leave this place. After all, he is trying to follow the claw man’s ideal of not taking lives needlessly. Woo returns to his castle as he reports happily to a portrait of his late mother of his victory. Wendy nurses Van until she becomes sick. Van tries to get medicine but there is no one in this town. Only machineries. Seeing Woo’s mecha standing on his castle irks Van a lot. More of Van’s flashback of Gadved’s weird advice and some puzzle he gave him. Also, we see Woo jealous that his dearest mom loved the claw man. He wanted to kill him but mother protected him and he killed her instead. So now it looks like in order to reunite with mommy, he must first love daddy? After all, if one is to be loved, one must first love. As Van trains, he realizes this is going nowhere. And this is where sh*t hits the fan. Because Van has turned into a coward as he tries to tell Wendy to run away from it all. However Wendy is just cool. Go ahead. Go run away yourself but leave her behind. This shocks Van as he starts telling his story to Wendy like as though she’s his newly appointed psychiatrist. About him being an orphan and never knowing his parents, the kindness of Helena, his failure to protect her and being a useless fool who only knows how to run away. Wendy tells him he can run away. Nobody will blame him. But for her, she wants to move forward and see if the path she picks is correct. Ironically she learnt this from him. Wow. Talk about shocking reversal of roles. So as Van ponders more of this by himself. He thinks of running away and forgetting the revenge. It is finally then he solves the puzzle and like a madman, declares his love for Helena. He goes to face off with Woo and his sarcasm is back. Now he can pilot Dann effectively. All he needs to do is not think. He becomes one with Dann and beats up Woo. So this is the power of love? Yeah, Woo fights back using the same but looks like Van’s power of love is greater and sends Woo to a crushing defeat. He doesn’t have to kill him because his mecha explodes! Bye. Looks like he can now reunite with his mother. In the aftermath, Van gives the puzzle to Wendy. It would look better on her as an ornament. Better than the turtle. Because he hates turtles. Say what?! Even turtle got flabbergasted!

Episode 17
The whole gang’s assembled. Not just Van, Wendy, Carmen and Joshua, but also Yukiko, those old farts and Pricilla. Thanks to Buchi creating a huge hovercraft base for them, they’re going to have mobility. Also joining them is Manson. Because their next mission is to remove the swimsuit queen, Catherine Nakata who has built her own kingdom and free the port she has been occupying. Thing is, no men are allowed into her kingdom so it’s a job for the women. So I guess this is your swimsuit fanservice episode. Unless you get the DVD version, be prepared for those annoying ass censors. Yes, donkey censors. On pretence they are running away from horrible men, Catherine lets them in but in order for them to be completely accepted into her kingdom, they have to undergo some trial tomorrow. So it looks like an obstacle course, huh? So as they deliberate who should go, it seems Wendy is the only one because the rest can’t swim! Meanwhile we hear Manson telling the rest that he used to be married with Catherine. They were researches in some clothing fibre and hit it big with some very elastic material. However the deal breaker was when Catherine designed some awful men’s underwear. Manson disagreed with it and Catherine became enraged. That’s when she hated men and started forming her own kingdom. He regretted what he did and that’s why he wants to stop her. Van calls his story blessed since his woman is still alive. Also, Fasalina is seen talking to Catherine about some materials she is tasked to obtain from her. Tomorrow comes, Wendy is up against a very fit opponent. I believe the rest are more skilled to traverse the obstacle course and not fall into the water but oh well. Wendy is having trouble but she doesn’t give up. Mainly because the punishment is to wear a very embarrassing swimsuit. I suppose being small has its advantages because she can crawl through small spaces. See the advantage of having small boobs! But when Wendy falls in, her turtle bites her opponent’s swimsuit. Being so elastic, it causes Wendy to spring forth and fly through the finish line. Though she wins, at the same time the kingdom is about to crumble since Ray is drilling through underground?! Too bad Carmen’s fight with Fasalina is again interrupted. When Catherine is brought back to Mason, she doesn’t believe he has repented. So he proves it by wearing that awful underwear. With that, they get back together again. What a weird love story…

Episode 18
After all the testing and tuning, Michael is now officially linked to his mecha, Saudade. But soon he gets into a disagreement with the head mechanic, Zapiero Muttaka about the claw man’s ideal. You see, Muttaka and his little bunch of mechanics realize that the claw man’s idea of ultimate peace is genocide. While the current world is run on despotism and totalitarianism, at least there is public order. Muttaka believes Michael is not corrupted yet and he wants him to take over this nameless organization and lead the world to a better place. The mechanics then kill a scientist and take Michael hostage on pretence to negotiate with the claw man. The claw man agrees to hear them out and even agrees to disclose all the details of the plan and even his successor. However he will not tolerate the changing of the plan. He views humans as combative creatures and it’s the reason Mother died. Muttaka will not trust his words and won’t allow this genocide. Genocide? The claw man thinks he misunderstood. He is just going to turn this world into a very peaceful place. When a mechanic tries to get violent, the claw man hugs him. So tight that he crushes him to death! Holy sh*t! He then becomes sad and griefs over this overdoing. That’s why to prevent from such needless deaths, he must make his dream come true. Muttaka and the others escape but looks like Michael chases after them to settle things. Fully in sync with Saudade, Michael realizes there is nowhere left to run. So he accepts his death as Michael tears the escape machine to pieces. I guess no use talking about what constitutes to happiness or how people can achieve it. Meanwhile Carmen and co has unlocked a secret path.

Episode 19
In order to get praises by the claw man, Carossa decides to summon his mecha and stop the invaders. Melissa doesn’t want to do this but is forced to go along. Carossa feels they need to do this because at this rate Michael will only be praised by the claw man while they will be abandoned and forgotten. Something that Carossa doesn’t want to happen again. As our heroes travel the long undersea tunnel, we see Pricilla trying to flirt with Van but obviously he is too dense to notice. Then there’s Wendy cooking for him but due to ‘interruptions’, I guess Van couldn’t get a taste of her food. Bummer. Time for some mecha action when a couple of mecha dragons attack their ship. Cue for the old farts and Pricilla to ride out in their mecha to show what they’ve got. Van has Joshua pilot the ship to the nearby area that has an opening to the sky so he could summon Dann. In this area, looks like it is a 3 way fight between Van, Ray and the twins. Van wants them to take him to the claw man. Carossa agrees to do so only after he has killed him. So as Van continues to engage in them, Ray fires a powerful shot at the twins. Melissa uses her barrier to block but it is only temporary. Melissa has taken fatal damage so she has some final words for her brother to just stop all this madness. Melissa’s death has Carossa going crazy. Now he turns his attention to avenging her death but Ray fires at this charging kid, effectively killing him.

Episode 20
Van’s team arrives at what seems to be an abandoned communications tower. What luck, they find a map and this allows them to pinpoint where the claw man is. They also picked up a couple of Muttaka’s men who barely escaped. They are seriously wounded but since nobody are doctors… Anyway, one of them sees Wendy and because of her striking resemblance to Michael, he gets scared and starts getting traumatized about the end of the world. Sadly, the survivors passed away and our groupie is left to ponder about Armageddon. While the claw man is giving a speech about his plan to all those attending the conference, Fasalina tells Michael what he needs to know. Better still, she’ll show it to him. So they had sex!!! Definitely easier to understand whatever crap about the world about to be reborn! Next day, it seems Michael and Fasalina come to talk to Wendy personally. Michael wants her to return to her hometown and has given her some cash to boot. If that’s not enough, he has more cash for her comrades so they can disband and end this useless journey. You think Van will agree? Well then, just let him go alone since Michael has always wanted to fight him. So what difference does it make of Wendy going home if the world is going to be destroyed? Michael corrects her they’re not destroying the world. If that’s the case, he wants her to join him then because he can protect her better. By this time, Van and the rest have arrived for the showdown. Before Van can unleash his fury, Fasalina explains about the claw man being terminally ill. So the plan is to use those flowers to dissolve himself into atoms. All life forms will also dissolve into one uniform and thoughtless substance. Everyone will think like the claw man even if he is truly gone after that. If they claim they have been violent, Fasalina also claims they have been killing members of the Original Seven. So the claw man saved his life into some file that can be distributed? I can understand why the rest call it BS. They’re not going to accept this crap. With that, negotiations end so Michael escapes while Fasalina stays back to stall them.

Episode 21
Van fights Fasalina but he finds her moves unpredictable. Not sure if there are some subtle sexual innuendoes since Fasalina is like pole dancing and orgasming while attacking and receiving blows. Carmen, Wendy and Pricilla make hates towards the main base and it seems the countdown to launch Michael into space has begun. A side distraction as Pricilla asks if Wendy likes Van. Because Pricilla herself likes him. We won’t hear Wendy’s answer since there is opposition before them to take down. Carmen then somewhat jokes she also likes Van and wants to be with him. After all, you wonder why she is has been following this groupie when there’s no money in it. Aside getting even with Fasalina, that is. Too bad Van still fighting her. That fight put on hold when Fasalina detects Ray trying to snipe at Michael. Because Ray was damaged with his fight with Carossa, he cannot aim properly. This allows Fasalina to deflect his shot and let Michael launch into space safely. Due to the early launch, Michael is in danger of colliding with Dann’s satellite. Well, just shoot it down! Destroying it now renders Dann immobile. With the plan on schedule, the claw man has everyone gather for the next phase of the ritual. So by the time Wendy and co arrive at the base, it is empty as f*ck. But what’s this? Wendy sees a message blinking on the phone and answers it? Like, why?! Oh, it’s the claw man on the other line. He is glad this is Wendy and he has a final request: Please date him.

Episode 22
So Wendy agrees to go on that date? She just needs to ask a few things and the significance of his plan. The claw man expresses his wish in the things he had done. Although he may have selfishly made Michael do things against his will, he is truly sorry for it. Wendy is starting to feel he isn’t as bad as she thinks he is. When he suggests to come watch the new world with him, she refuses. He respects her decision and laments if he only met her group very much earlier. Wendy returns to her group and they are shocked to hear she went to talk to the claw man. With Van still mad, she tells him off to go kill the claw man himself. She didn’t tell him because she wanted to ascertain things herself. She also relays him a message from the claw man: Sorry about destroying Dann’s satellite. Without it, Dann cannot move and Van will also die. Pricilla wonders if Dann can use other satellites left vacant by the rest. You mean nobody thought about this?! Hence a mission to send Van up into space. It’s a tough job for Joshua since he has to explain to the rest about space, orbits and all those technical rocket scientist stuffs! Might as well die trying. So everybody pitches in and even does experiments to set the launch for Van. Eventually they seek Ray’s help since Volkein has enough power to generate electricity. He refuses to cooperate until Yukiko slaps him and Joshua’s timely lecture. I mean, what else could he do in this state, right? In the end, everything is ready and okay to go. But before that, Pricilla tells her feelings to Van and hopes to hear his answer when he returns. I wonder what Wendy feels about that. Later, Van and Ray showdown trying to kill each other to see who gets the rights to kill the claw man. Since they’re both so clumsy in their attempts, they just give up and throw insults. Next day, Van is successfully launched into space. At the same time, Michael has reached the moon. As he approaches its back side, he is shocked to see its true form.

Episode 23
There is some system at base on the other side of the moon. Also, there are lots of dead floating corpses. The claw man explains this was once a spaceship. He was part of this crew that came from Mother. The crew got along at first but soon they ended up killing each other. That was when he realized no matter how advanced humans are, they will still regress to their basic instinct. It was also then he vowed to create a world without fighting and conflict. Michael has Saudade pull the moon back to the planet! Meanwhile Van is trying to use Gadved’s satellite to heal. Of course it doesn’t match. But easily enough, he forces the system to just heal everything. Everything! Ray talks to Joshua and he is still bent on going to kill the claw man. Surprisingly but not surprisingly, Joshua supports his decision. It’s not like he is going to listen, right? So the best he can do is help him the way he knows best. The gang goes to the centre of the island to fight the claw man but is intercepted by Fasalina and her mecha clones. The old farts and Pricilla take care of the clones to clear a path for Ray to get his revenge on Fasalina. Michael is almost back when before him is a fully recovered Van. Michael thinks he can get rid of Van before re-entering the atmosphere. Van and Michael fight it out as their ideals clash. Too complicated stuffs for simpletons to understand. And somewhere in between, about Wendy. Fighting interrupted when Michael has to re-enter so he activates the mechanism to protect himself while Van seemingly gets swallowed up.

Episode 24
The end of the world is night. So where the heck are the people evacuating to?! Continuing more mecha action of the old farts and Pricilla fight off the clones (WTF the old farts are going to force Van to marry Pricilla when all this is over?!) as Ray faces off with Fasalina. It looks like they’re both going all out to kill each other but eventually Ray gets the better of her since he got some help from Joshua. At the same time, the doomsday device is ready as the claw man prepares to take his final step to realize his dream. Ray talks to Joshua about Shino. After all that has been said, Ray considers himself a coward who is still running away. Otherwise he cannot accept her death. After killing the claw man, he’ll go back to his old self and face Shino again. After that he knocks out Joshua because from now on it’ll be too dangerous. As Ray nears the doomsday machine, Michael is also back in time to protect it. But Ray uses Volkein as a decoy to self-destruct along with Saudade. Ray then kills all the security guard as he makes his way to the claw man. Ray has him choose between his life and his dream seeing he has crushed many to achieve his. After all, Ray had a very simple dream until the claw man took it away from him. Ray shoots him but the claw man deflects the bullet. Call it dumb luck and plot convenience since the bullet gets stuck in the doomsday machine, causing it to malfunction! WTF?! WHY IS IT SO FRAGILE???!!! The claw man is horrified and his expression is priceless, something that Ray has been seeking. Reinforcements then shoot Ray but he can now rest easy that his revenge has been achieved. Oh Joshua, you can’t run fast enough to say big brother? And Ray’s final vision as he reunites with Shino and living the peaceful life.

Episode 25
The crew reports they can fix the system and resume operations. From despair to relief, the claw man. This only makes Joshua mad that Ray died for nothing. He is then thrown into a room. With Michael’s return, Fasalina contacts him and despite her mecha is destroyed, she is still alive and will make her way back to base. Joshua so mad that he is trashing things in his room? Oddly, he assembles the stuffs in the room to become a weapon and saves Yukiko who is actually tasked to rescue him. Yeah, the irony. Joshua then tries to cut the main line to put a damper on the end of the world programme. He sounds like wanting to sacrifice himself but Yukiko reminds him on what’s important. Carmen stumbles into a room filled with those flowers. And since Fasalina is back, time for a rematch. Slight interruption with the return of a certain someone. Oh yeah. Van’s back. Michael goes to intercept him and it’s another round of yelling, insulting and I’m-right-you’re-wrong argument. Since Van is the hero, he powers up Dann to defeat Saudade. He’s making look so easily. As we’re into the final moments of the world, the old farts and Pricilla resume consciousness to return to fight. Van finally faces off with the claw man. Revenge is only all on his mind. The claw man is feeling good that his dream will come true so he will give Van a present by resurrecting his wife. Meanwhile Wendy confronts Michael. Do they have time for this? That’s why Wendy draws out her gun (formerly his) on him.

Episode 26
Due to Mother’s technology, it is able to rewrite history and hence Helena will be revived. However Van calls BS on that because that would mean taking her death away. Helena is dead! And I will kill you! That’s what Van came here to do! Not to listen to his talk! That is when the claw man realizes he is an idiot and is impressed? Meanwhile Wendy shoots Michael. In the hand. She tries to convince him that despite this world is full of flaws, everyone still loves it. Really? She thinks he likes the claw man’s world and that’s why he didn’t stop to think about what others feel. Michael is not happy she is insulting the claw man and is about to strangle her but the turtle bit his hand. Ouch. Van is temporarily defeated but after flashbacks of images of his adventures, the one that wakes him up is his bride. Not Wendy. Helena! With Dann operating on Mother’s technology, he manages to do enough damage and with Joshua’s help of finally cutting the main cable, the plan comes to a halt. Michael is in despair but he doesn’t think his decision is wrong. He wants to walk his own path and hopes Wendy to do the same. The siblings part ways and say goodbye. The claw man is one positive dude. He believes he can restart everything together. Thanks to Van, this means he can’t die until his plan is achieved. Oh yeah, he wants to be Van’s friend! Sorry, the feeling is not mutual. More Van angst. The claw man feels reborn. Van just feeling angrier. Van opens a path directly to the claw man. No formalities here. He just cut him down. That’s the end of that. And now the entire place is crumbling. Everybody evacuate! Fasalina has no more reason to live and wants Carmen to kill her. She is about to oblige but Michael won’t let her. Carmen hopes this is her new reason to live. But WTF the slab comes crashing down on them! Oh well, at least they’re together in death. Our heroes escape thanks to Kaiji and friends. In the aftermath as everyone celebrates, Van leaves without saying a word. This upsets Pricilla because what happened to their date?! I suppose giving excuses like a man needs a new dream to follow won’t cut it for her. Though, she stays positive that she might be able to see him one day. Carmen leaves Wendy with Van. Carmen hinting she likes Van or is that just a joke? Wendy asks Van about his next move. Well, he’ll think about that. With that, they part ways. That was the last time she saw him. A few years later, a grown up Wendy is telling all this story to a reporter. Damn, her turtle is also huge! Wendy also confirms that some body found isn’t actually Van. And just the thought of hoping to see him again, here comes Van staggering in looking for some food.

He Who Plots To Hurt Others Often Hurts Himself
Uhm… That feels like an unceremonious ending. Sure, the world is saved, the world continues to turn. People continue to live their lives. Time skip to an adult Wendy for some reason telling her adventures with Van. What’s it supposed to mean? Couldn’t she have written it down in a book or something? And then they suddenly reunite just like that. I don’t get it. As long as they see each other again that is good enough? Well, Wendy is mature enough to be his wife now. Is that promise/claim still valid? Is Van ready to move on and marry a second time? I bet the claw man won’t be around to kill any brides. Yeah, speaking of which, seeing the claw man getting struck down so easily feels cheap. But I guess that shows that Van means business and he has achieved what he has set out to achieve. No nonsense and delay in killing the claw man. Uh huh. Probably the more positivism crap he hears from the old geezer, the angrier he becomes. Van beating Mr Death to take the claw man’s life first…

The story sounds intriguing at first despite the cliché synopsis of Van trying to seek revenge against the claw man for killing his wife. Hence the first half feels like standalone filler episodes because with Wendy, they go from one place to another while trying to find the elusive claw man but end up getting involved in the shenanigans of the town they’re in. Often by the end, realizing they just missed the claw man by a second or two. Pretty okay, I guess. Once we know how the claw man looks like, the second half becomes a bore. Yes, it becomes one long draggy affair to hunt and chase him down as well as to stop his plans to end the world. That’s why I suppose some of the characters that Van met during the journey, return to help him as to prolong the drama and provide some mecha action against the claw man’s comrades. It would’ve been utterly even more boring had the journey been just Van and Wendy so they add more characters to spice things up (not necessarily in an exciting way) and drag out the plot. How long can you prevent the inevitable that is the end of the world? Well, this anime showed us, didn’t it?

I know, being an armchair critic is easy. It’s my right as a viewer, you know! But anyway, all I’m saying is that this series is an original anime series and not based on any manga or novel in which many adapted anime series are based from. So while it is a good try that they came up with an original story back in 2005, sometimes there are a few plots that are just mind boggling and plain dumb. The one that takes the cake was Ray’s death as he makes his final charge of revenge against the claw man. Imagine his mere tiny bullet getting stuck in the cog works. Oh damn. That has got to be the most convenient of plot ever! Can the claw man deflect that so perfectly? Yeah, you could say it’s his own fault for letting that happen. So as to give Ray a farewell present and be satisfied of seeing the claw man’s face of despair. Now he can rest in peace instead of returning as a vengeful haunting ghost! Yikes. Thankfully that didn’t happen. Then there’s the purely obligatory fanservice episode of the ladies in swimsuits and the WTF love comedy story of Mascotte and Honey. And that Captain Kaiji one too. It’s just really silly if you think about it.

So everything boils down to destroy the world or rather change everything on this planet so that there will be no more conflicts and war, huh? Well, I still don’t really understand the sketchy details but it’s that age old irony and debate again that villains often want to change the world (whether or not it is for the good or the bad) and the heroes preferring status quo. Yeah, also the age old argument that we have to value individualism rather than the collective good for all. So better have everyone with different personalities (including accepting there will be bad people who will do bad things) than everyone being the same good zombie. You’re no human when you’re the latter.

As for the characters, I don’t think that there is anyone that is likeable. Even Van himself as the main character and hero (more like anti-hero). Because of his revenge driven goal and nothing on his mind but kill the claw man, kill the claw man, KILL THE CLAW MAN! It just makes him quite annoying. Especially in the final episode where he was all just rage, rage, RAGE!!! It’s painful to see him like this because the more he spouts about revenge, the more I see him hurting himself. Oh well, it’s prove that he is still alive if he can feel pain, right? Twisted. There was one point he was at his lowest and despite it was weird to see him this way of wanting to give up revenge, but it’s still not as irritating about him being stubborn in wanting to just kill the claw man. After all, we’ve come so far into this series so this is the best we know and ‘like’ about Van. I suppose it is not a laughable matter that Helena is the world to him so without her it is as good as the end of the world. An empty being without the only woman in his life so his only goal in life is to, wait for it, kill the claw man! I sympathize with his character but that is really all that has got it going for a character like Van. Nothing else.

Though, I have to admit that Van feels a bit different than other characters because of his anti-hero traits as he does what he wants and doesn’t care about others. Unless he is obliged to because of the plot. Oh yeah, more weirdness to add to his personality because he likes to drown his food by emptying all the condiments and seasoning! Grandma will definitely kill him if she sees how he kills the food. Oh well, nothing tastes better than a dish called revenge served cold! I suppose going around the world and finding new seasonings to dump on his food (with milk to go along with it) must be his new goal to live now, huh? Or is he still thinking and wandering about for a goal? And what’s this about him having so many nicknames before settling for Van of the Dawn? Van the Van-geance should be a better one! Haha! Oh wait. It’s Van the Invincible according to Wendy… Boring…

Even Wendy isn’t so likeable but at least she is more tolerable than Van. Is it because she’s a kid? I think it’s a running joke about her being treated as a kid and she doesn’t like that. Another irony about her is that she dislikes it when Van can’t remember her name but she herself cannot remember Carmen’s name! At least Van eventually managed to remember and say Wendy’s name but Wendy still can’t remember Carmen’s name at all? No wonder she’s a kid. Anyway, the chemistry between Wendy and Van is weird. Because of Van being angry and brooding, he has no space to let others, let alone other woman or a kid like Wendy into his life. She’s travelling with him with the thinnest of excuse to find Michael and after that, changes the goal post to see if his decision is the right one, if not correct him. It is obvious Wendy likes him but we all know what Van’s mind has been preoccupied with. Hence an annoying one-sided love affair. Don’t worry, Wendy. You’re not the only anime girl who has an unrequited love with her crush. And her pet turtle is just so forgettable despite being the series’ animal mascot. Is it not? Okay, maybe not.

Carmen started out as someone who only gets involved in missions just for the money. With her intelligence and resources, it’s a good way to make money. I feel that she has been dumbed down ever since she permanently joined Van’s group in taking down the claw man and his aides. Then there is Joshua who is the liveliest among the pack. Sometimes I think he is written as a joker character in some ways because of his sunny disposition (is it just me who feels his smile makes him look like an idiot?) who doesn’t hold any grudges (until Ray died) and is often neglected by Van just because he is Ray’s brother. Oh well, somebody needs to be the technical nerd of the team. The rest of the other characters joining them in the second half feels like it is only needed because a small quartet doesn’t seem plausible enough to save the world. Okay, I made that up. But yeah, it feels like the need of more friendship power to save the world. Yeah, that kind of stuff. Because otherwise why do you need the old farts (with one of them eternally sleeping) to make their return? Are they too old to play heroes of justice? It’s never too old to be the hero of justice! Pricilla? They need a love rival for Wendy, huh? Yeah, she’s more smoking hot in some department to kiddie Wendy as well as more outgoing. Otherwise it’s no fun and utterly boring seeing the dead never-ever-happening Van x Wendy. Yukiko? Somebody needs to cook and do the laundry, right? I mean, she has no fighting skills at all so why else would she join this group? Ray? Do we need another Van?! Overlapping characters! Not even likeable either. An excuse for Joshua to tag along.

In the initial episodes, they try keep the claw man’s identity a mystery. Is it so as to build up a certain biasness towards him? Because all we’ve got on him was from Van’s point of view. Somebody who kills somebody’s wife on their wedding day must be a despicable villain and an utter piece of sh*t. And then when he finally makes his appearance and we learn more about him, we start to question if he is really a bad guy. I mean, he isn’t as despicable as we thought he would turn out to be. At least, our stereotypical views of what constitutes a villain. Except for his twisted method of wanting to save the world, everything else about him just contradicts and confuses us about him being an antagonist. Honestly if I do not have the context of this anime, giving the choice to choose between Van or the claw man, I think I would have gone with the latter! Seriously! The irony that the claw man is more likeable compared to Van! Not saying that the claw man is a likeable character in general but in comparison to Van who is always mad, the claw man’s cool and calming demeanour is much more attractive. Do you not think so? I can see why Michael is attracted to join him and his cause. So it isn’t clear why he killed Helena or Shino but it could be the case of showing too much love so his unconscious overbearing strength accidentally killed them (as seen demonstrated on one of his crew member). That’s my theory but I suppose people like Van and Ray won’t want to hear any reasoning at all.

One of the more disappointing characters are the Original Seven. At least some of them. Especially Woo, Carossa and Melissa. It feels like these antagonists who side with the claw man are only necessary as to provide some sort of mecha fights. And then they get killed off! While Gadved has his history with Van, it is not the case with Woo, Carossa and Melissa. Their characters are shallow and even though they have their own history, it’s just scratching the surface and that you feel it is not worth investing in it. They just exist to provide some resistance and then getting killed off. Obviously Michael and Fasalina being the longest survivors of the Original Seven so as to keep dragging the plot for the eventual Wendy x Michael confrontation (it would render Wendy’s character and role useless if Michael had died so early on) as well as Carmen x Fasalina showdown for the umpteenth time (hot chicks need to fight it out somehow).

Action bits are okay and it never crossed my mind that this is a mecha genre after a while into the series. If you’re a mecha fan, I’m sure there are better mecha action series out there like the long running Gundam one. This one just feels passable. This coming from a non-mecha fan. After all, it is not clearly fleshed out the system regarding the Original Seven and its recharging satellite that orbits around the planet. I don’t know if they don’t know what to name this anime because there is hardly any gun or sword action. I mean, Van uses his flexible sword mainly to summon Dann and Wendy hardly uses her gun. At least Ray fired more bullets from his gun that looks like a sword. Is this the real Gun x Sword? So they don’t want to name it Mecha x Destroy The World because it will be too obvious and too silly as a name.

Art and animation feel okay, reeking mid-2000s anime style. Van being a lanky character, sometimes I think his design was inspired by Cowboy Bebop’s Spike. Sometimes I feel this is his alter ego if he was one fuelled by revenge and rides a mecha. Wendy has one of the silliest hair braids ever because to me it looks more like a pair of giant turds! Seriously! Not croissants. Turds!!! Mecha designs are okay too but at least they look cooler (as all of them are unique designs) than many other human characters that look weird sometimes. This anime is done by AIC A.S.TA. who did Sora No Otoshimono, Bamboo Blade, Jinrui Wa Suitai Shimashita and Persona 4 The Animation. Not sure if this company is dormant (last I checked, they aren’t closed down yet) since they haven’t been making any anime since 2013. Though, I did read that some of its divisions quit and formed new anime studios after that.

Voice acting also sounds pretty standard. Despite having lots of veteran seiyuus, I only recognized Takahiro Sakurai as Ray and Kikuko Inoue as Carmen. The rest of the other casts are Takanori Hoshino as Van (Serizawa in Mob Psycho II), Houko Kuwashima as Wendy (Sango in Inu Yasha), Junko Noda as Joshua (Kitsune in Love Hina), Kenyuu Horiuchi as the claw man (titular character in Guin Saga), Saeko Chiba as Pricilla (Natsuki in Mai-HiME), Satsuki Yukino as Yukiko (Otae in Gintama), Souichiro Hoshi as Michael (Kaoru in Ai Yori Aoshi), Masayo Kurata as Fasalina (Koyomi in Girls Bravo), Kazuhiko Kishino as Gadved (King Kinniku in Kinnikuman) and Chiwa Saito as Melissa (Senjougahara in Monogatari Series).

The opening theme is the same title as the name of this series. It is one of those titles that is fully instrumental. Except for that opera tenor acting as a background accompaniment. And I should have guessed from its tune as well as the opening credits animation that it sounds very much like a song for a mecha anime. But is it me that I find it annoying that there are lots of swooshing and sword clashing sound effects in this instrumental? Come to think of it, the opener feels a bit like a mess because they include those drums, giving an impression this is a jungle anime! Ooga! Ooga! The main ending theme is A Rising Tide by Shuntaro Okino and is entirely in English. Something about this song reminds me of those old British pop music. Heck, I thought this was The Associations! Because of that similar sounding drowsy singing voice, I also thought the special ending theme sung by the same person, Calling You was also The Associations! There are other different special endings theme like the angelic and lovely ballad of Paradiso by Hitomi, the very typical retro music style of S.O.S. by the quartet of Kikuko Inoue, Houko Kuwashima, Satsuki Yukino and Saeko Chiba. All not too bad. Including the insert song La Speranza by Hitomi that also resembles closely like a church hymn.

Overall, this anime isn’t near a masterpiece and has its flaws. Despite having fall short of its expectations, it is still not a bad anime and you can enjoy the silliness and mecha action. The plot is average and to a point draggy, the characters aren’t that all likeable, decent animation, some funny moments but usually WTF moments (like Van coming in riding the wave on a surfboard!), there are some obvious fanservice moments as well as forced cheesy romance trying to fit inside it all but just fizzles out before it could start. Ah yes, you could say the entire series is a mess. Just like how Van likes his food! Like as though they’re trying to dump everything, mix it all up to cover up the actual stuffs! And some may like it while others don’t. It’s all just personal taste. Thankfully it didn’t leave any bad aftertaste in my mouth. But I’d like something sweet and savoury to cover up all that if you don’t mind.

The God Of High School

In the previous season, we had a Korean webtoon called Tower Of God. Because it didn’t get any continuation, to satisfy our cravings for a Korean webtoon with God, I guess that’s why we got The God Of High School in the next season. Heh. Okay, I made at up. But yeah. If climbing towers are too fantasy-like for you, then let’s have something more modern and contemporary. After all, who doesn’t love teens and high school kids as young and vibrant, energetic heroes, right? So what’s the story for this God theme? Apparently high schoolers are set to compete in a tournament in which the winner will be granted anything they want. Yeah, sounds so cliché and unoriginal but what the heck. When you’re young and naïve, there’s so many unfulfilled dreams and the fastest way to grant them is… Yeah… Let loose all those raw power and energy!

Episode 1
A few guys are going to get back at the president, Park Mujin and show him who is actually running the show. Threats, corruptions and scandals, you name it, they got it. However a strange phenomenon soon occurs because a giant hand slams and flattens the entire island they’re on! Jin Mori made some promise to grandpa when he was young. But today, looks like he is running late for the biggest martial arts tournament for high schoolers. You bet he is going to fly there. I wonder if his bicycle is on steroids. Meanwhile Yoo Mira is asking a bunch of judo losers (because they’re stumped they didn’t get selected for the tournament) directions to the arena. Since she loves their muscles, they flex for her. Mori is already running late but witnesses a purse snatching thief before his eyes. He thinks granny needed the money for her grandkid’s surgery so you bet his sense of justice is kicking him. Damn, his bicycle can chase after the bike? Mori eventually slams into Mira and she wants payback. Till she hears that made up grandma story. Now she joins him to chase after the thief. The thief scatters some money to lose them. Mira almost got him but crashed into the signboard. But it is ultimately Han Daewi who took him down with a single punch. All 3 made it just in time for the tournament. The announcer briefly explains the no holds barred rules of the fights. Use any style or weapon till your opponent cannot fight or gives up. They didn’t mention about death. Is that outcome possible? The winner will be granted anything by the organizers. Each of the fighters got a bracelet that shows their vital stats. Some nanomachines technology in their bloodstreams thingy. Who cares about technicalities?! Start the fight now! But everyone is shock when this Seoul preliminaries starts off as a battle royale. Who cares?! Everybody starts beating up everybody. We see those with potential strutting their stuffs. This match has a latecomer and he is Kang Manseok. Despite having some handicap, many are no match for his strength and speed. Until Mira takes on him. Don’t count Mori out. He wants to have some fun with this guy too.

Episode 2
Well, the match ended prematurely. Because as soon as Mori was going to take on Manseok, Mira snapped his neck for taking her sword without permission! But thanks to those nanomachines, all injuries are repaired. The trio head back for the day and reveal their reason to win this tournament. Mori wants to fight all kinds of people and be the strongest. Mira needs to revive her family’s sword dojo. Daewi says he is in for the money but there is more he isn’t telling. Mori fools around with Mira’s sword and accidentally drops it in the river. As they go look for it, we hear Mira elaborate on her past. Father gave her the sword and told her to find a successor no matter what. Thus most of her life, Mira couldn’t join other girls doing normal girly things and instead practised her sword. The Seoul preliminaries begin and the winner will participate at the national level. In this elimination tournament, we see our main characters breeze through as well as others like Ma Miseon and Baek Seungchul. The big heavyweight match is between Manseok and Go Gamdo. As it begins Gamdo looks like he is overwhelming Manseok. Only when Manseok takes off his restrains and starts to get serious, Gamdo is now in trouble. He takes a beating and not even his greatest taichi move could turn the tables. Manseok is trying to force Gamdo to beg for forgiveness, something that Gamdo will not do. Hence Manseok continues to torture him with bone breaking moves. Not for the faint hearted. Until Mori jumps in and beats up this guy. Of course this move is illegal so the executives jump in to apprehend him. Manseok isn’t done yet. He jumps right back in to fight. Flashback shows he sought greater power but unfortunately he couldn’t attain it. More epic power moves by both of them but it is Mori who eventually knocks him out. The match is stopped by Mujin himself. As the tournament head admin, he apologizes to the crowd for Mori violating the rules. As he will be punished, he assures the tournament will proceed as usual. Mori is taken off the stage but there are many who are cheering for him.

Episode 3
As Gamdo is in ICU, clearly he is out. Manseok is having a mental breakdown so he too can’t participate. Judge P suggests he gets expelled for violating the rules but as Mujin realizes who his grandfather is, this is going to be interesting. We now focus on Mira’s match with Miseon. Sword girl no match for pro wrestler girl at first since her body is trained to be hard as iron. Miseon then lets us know her dreams of wanting a male harem. So much so she came all the way from USA to participate in this tournament. So there are no hot guys in America, huh? When Mira loses her sword, she then uses her bare hands as swords to defeat Miseon. Mujin sees Mori and tells him he will fight Judge Q tomorrow to see if he can be reinstated. However Mori throws a tantrum he wants to fight Judge R (the one who invited him to participate) as he thinks he is stronger. Judge Q punches him down to prove he is stronger so Mori now likes it? This guy a masochist? As Mori gets the greenlight to return home, Judge P wonders why Mujin let him eat some forbidden fruit. It is to see if he is the real deal or not. Back home, Mori vomits blood and collapses. We take a detour as we see Daewi visiting a sick friend at hospital. Then there are some bullies who try to badmouth them but Daewi is so zen he doesn’t fight back. Next day, Daewi is up against Seungchul. The latter can predict his karate’s moves because he studied all forms of martial arts. As long as has knowledge and violence, he will never lose. Hence participating in this tournament to test his theory. Despite his nerdy outlook, Seungchul packs a punch with just his baseball bat. Daewi could’ve lost but images of his sick friend fuel him to get up and fight back. I don’t know if those heavenly moves are part of karate, but it is what defeats Seungchul and destroys his theory. Now it is Mori’s redemption fight. He is not here. You mean he is still passed out back at his home?! But wait. Here he is! In this handicap match, if Mori manages to knock Judge Q down once, he wins. Before Judge Q could move, Mori takes off his glasses and pushes him down. THAT’S IT?! No wonder the crowd so angry. Are they joking? But Judge Q is so mad he unleashes his Gremlin joker familiar to fight?! WTF?! Mori is left to run and could’ve been defeated had the other executives not restrain him. Mujin declares Mori’s victory and punishes Judge Q by docking his pay. Mujin is now certain he is Taejin’s tiger cub and will not let him slip from his grasp.

Episode 4
The semi-finals will be Mira vs Daewi as well as Mori vs Byeon Jaehee. But first, more Mira drama. Because this cool handsome guy, Oh Seongjin comes up to her and proposes to get married right now! You see, the only reason Mira says yes is because he promises he can revive her Moon Light sword technique and make it famous throughout the world. Flashback shows her father died while she was young and although her uncle took her in and promised to help revive Moon Light, because he was so weak and got a beating by his students, eventually they left. Hence Mira views herself as the only one who is capable of being the successor. Although her uncle doesn’t like this, but I guess he has to give in. Uh huh. Seongjin claims he can make their dreams come true. But obviously Mori didn’t have the same idea. He marches right down to Mira’s place just to ask her if this is what she wants. I mean, marrying a guy whom she isn’t in love with just to protect her sword style? What sh*t is this?! Furthermore, she is dropping out of her semi-final?! Of course she kicks him out. Mira is all dolled up on her wedding day. Her uncle tries to have Seongjin change his mind and call off the wedding since Mira might think she made a good decision. But Mira assures this is what she wants and is happy about it. After all, Seongjin promises she can do anything for the sake of Moon Light.

As the wedding starts, uninvited Mori tries to barge in. Stopped by the guards until Daewi shows up. It is revealed that Seongjin belongs to a cult and they want him to find a sword who can rule God as well as a successor who can draw out that sword’s power. While Daewi handles Seongjin, Mori talks to Mira. For the umpteenth time, is this what you want?! She tries to attack him for running his mouth but accidentally hits her uncle. He realizes this is wrong and her father wouldn’t have want this either. So it’s just simple. Do what you want. With the deal sealed, Mira apologizes to Seongjin and wants to call off the wedding. That’s when he shows his true colours and just wants the sword and successor. He materializes some samurai ghost to fight them but Mira only uses her hand to take him down. Wow. She looks so happy. That’s the smile we’re talking about. Although Seongjin runs away with her sword, she is okay with it since her father’s spirit lives on with her. But now we move on to Daewi’s drama. As his friend’s condition has taken a turn for the worse, when bullies show up to taunt him again, this time he snapped. Badly bruised bullies + bloodied fists. Oh no. So during the semi-final match, Daewi beats the sh*t out of Mira! OMFG. Is he the devil now?! Daewi wins this brutal match of course. Damn, Mira bleeding like hell. I know it’s injuries she sustained from Seongjin’s fight but still, the drama…

Episode 5
A couple of years ago, Daewi and Woo Seungtae were always fighting. Because they’re friends? We breeze though Mori’s semi-final fight so that we know it’s going to be Mori-Daewi final. Of course the night before, Mori visits Mira in hospital. She admits she is weaker than Daewi and that’s why she lost. But it still doesn’t explain his violent demeanour then. It’s not like him. And now for the much anticipated finals. Both guys go on the offensive trading punches and kicks. Daewi makes a comeback as he trashes Mori. We see a short clip Daewi confronting Mujin. Because Daewi’s wish is to have Seungtae get those nanomachines treatment, he can’t wait till he wins this entire tournament so Mujin cut him a deal that if he can win this preliminaries finals, they’ll administer some. Meanwhile Mira is discharged and her getting lost to the ICU, I guess it’s for some convenience to see Seungtae breathe his last breath. More Daewi’s flashback. As a delinquent, he often got into fights. On a day he went to save a comrade alone, the rivals ganged up on him. Surprisingly Seungtae aided him. They won but not before taking some damage too. Because Daewi doesn’t believe in friends, Seungtae believes otherwise. The more you trust someone, the more they’ll trust you. And so that’s the start of their friendship. And right now Mujin comes by to whisper to Daewi that Seungtae is dead. The contract is null. Do what you want. Can he do that?! I mean he is the boss and can do anything but the match still isn’t over. Oh, it’s to bring out his true character when a man is at his lowest. Right now Daewi is just stunned, taking blows and blocking from Mori’s attacks. Until Mira shows up to show him a letter left by Seungtae. Can she just interrupt the match like that?! Anyway the letter states he is happy Daewi fought for him. He has no regrets and hopes Daewi the same. It’s time for him to fight for his own sake. With that, Daewi revives and now both guys beat the crap out of each other having fun with all smiles. That’s the spirit. In the end, Mori lands his original blue dragon kick to knock out Daewi (devastating half the arena too!) and wins it! Mori is no Seungtae but I guess Daewi has resigned to his fate he’ll always have idiots as his friends.

Episode 6
Taejin faces off with a whole bunch of cultists in the woods. Not that he likes it but he has too. Yeah, the scenery destroyed. More cultist dudes show up. What’s this about God? And they summon a giant sword from the sky?! Anyway, the tournament finals format is now changed to a team match. The top 3 of each regional preliminary will represent their region. Hence we see Mira defeating Jaehee to make it together for Team Seoul with Mori and Daewi. We see Mujin discussing with his judges about the change in rules because there might be other potentials in other regions possessing the qualities of the Key. Something about turning one’s strongest emotion into power that moves them forward. Also on the case of Seongjin, this guy is from a shady group called Nox and looks like they’re making their move with reports of their activities spotted all over the country. Hence Mujin has summoned the rest of The Six. One of them is Nah Bongchim who plans to take Mori as his disciple to see Taejin’s reaction. Mira bumps into Sim Bongsa (the announcer of the tournament). He is actually blind and talks to her that she hasn’t unleashed her full potential of Moon Light yet. He hopes she can do so when the time comes and not hesitate. Gee, why is he telling her this? Turns out he was blinded by this technique. After that, Sim is confronted by a Nox assassin. Elsewhere, Daewi talks to Mujin and plans to carry on despite the deal has been cut off. But he wants to know what kind of power is moving behind the scenes. Mujin explains about Charyeok. Apparently there will be people whom they will face who can draw the powers of the Gods. Drawing forth that power and making use of it as their own is called so and the real intention of this tournament. While Mori is helping others and training, he briefly meets Bongchim. The finals is here. Looks like Sim isn’t the announcer but somebody else. Well, he got killed! You don’t say when Nox has infiltrated the tournament because isn’t Team Jeju as shady as hell???!!! Oh yeah, looks like Judge Q also gets done in by that Nox assassin, Drake.

Episode 7
Team Seoul will fight Team North Chungcheong. First up is Mori against Nah Gidong. Mori decides to unleash his new move by pressing his pressure points as learnt from Bongchim. Too bad he pressed wrongly and paralyzes himself! Here’s the beat down. Easy win for Gidong! Baka. Next is Daewi against Jin Pumgwang. Of course we need to see the latter’s flashback since he is 38 years old! OMG! He still in high school?! Because of his past failures, he never gave up even if others mock him. When Jang Jangmi lost her kendo match and was about to throw in the towel, Pumgwang came to give her some hope and relate why he never gives up. It’s simple. He won’t give up on himself. Ever since, Jangmi helped him with his studies. Of course Daewi too won’t give up and as expected, he withstands Pumgwang’s might and knocks him out. Meanwhile Drake mocks how he also killed Sim’s family. So Judge Q gets pissed off and fights back with his joker monster. Fight interrupted when Nox buddies, Axley and Saturn are here to warn Drake about his mission. It was not him who was supposed to kill Judge Q but them. Whatever. Judge Q fights them and it might seem one-sided until Judge O comes by to his aid. Back to the final round with Mira facing off Jangmi. As you can expect, Mira holds the advantage in this sword maiden battle (did Sim’s lesson prove helpful?). Yeah, a kick to Jangmi’s face is all it takes to knock her out. Is that a Moon Light move? Whatever. It works. And of course Pumgwang’s advice that this isn’t over yet. Don’t give up. There’s always next time. At the same time, our judges finish their fight with the Nox side and force Axley to retreat with Saturn. Wounded Drake still thinks he can fight them but he explodes! As Judge P reports to Mujin, he knows that they have a traitor within their mist. Also, reports of Taejin’s dismembered arm is found and he could’ve been taken somewhere. Now we see the match between Team Gyeongsangnam and Team Jeollabuk. Jeon Jugok thinks he’s got it but he gets violently chomped by the shark Charyeok of Jegal Taek! The overkill has Jugok’s maid step in but she too gets abuse. Mira thinks Mori will intervene and stops him. But she didn’t Daewi would jump in to stop the fight! Of course the judges stop them. Jugok tries to fight back but gets further owned.

Episode 8
We breeze through the first 2 matches of Team South Jeolla vs Team South Chungcheong. The third match lasts a little longer since they need to highlight the antiquated martial arts technique of Park Ilpyo. Of course he wins it for his team. Mori notices the tiger emblem on his shirt which is the same as the military his grandpa is in. This has Mori remember Mujin summoning him and showing footage of a devastated site where Taejin battled with Nox. He has been missing since and due to the amount of blood at the site which is his, it is most likely he won’t live long. But Mori isn’t worried. Anybody picking a fight with grandpa, he is more worried for the opponent! Later Ilpyo meets and spar with Mori. It’s to tell him that Taejin is a person he respects, hence the tiger emblem. After his father died young and mother abandoned him at a dojo, much subsequently only Taejin came to see him. Ilpyo’s grandpa was Taejin’s friend and the former died while trying to save the world. Taejin wanted to give this book to Ilpyo’s dad about some ancient martial arts but I guess it’s too late. He hopes Ilpyo can grow up strong because his grandpa’s pride is inside him. The duo are then attacked by Taek. But Taek just gives up and goes away. Like he’s just teasing them. Judge Q confronts Mujin about the death of Sim’s wife and son but gets beaten up and his pay docked to compensate for the damage. Had he listen to Judge P earlier, this wouldn’t have happened. Sim’s wife and son are still alive and Drake killed marionettes she switched then. With no money, here comes Daewi asking him to teach him Charyeok in exchange he will cook for him every day. Mori further reminisces when grandpa left him because otherwise bad guys will come target him. Mori thinks he is strong enough but of course as a 6 year old, he wasn’t. To make it up to him, Taejin got him whatever he want for his birthday and that is the huge prized photo of them that Mori hangs up on his wall. He is surprised when Mira and Daewi come in to celebrate his birthday. Yeah, they got a message from their bracelet. They celebrate and renew their rivalry. But first, got to win this tournament. Next morning, Mori sees a letter left on his doorstep. It contains a map as well as a picture of Taejin brutally beaten and tied up.

Episode 9
Mori makes his way but promises to be back in time for the tournament. I’m sure he would. Because Team Seoul is now up against Team Jeju. You bet Mira and Daewi are worried about that idiot. Judge P reminds them that because Daewi is suspended for a match, as long as Mira wins hers and Mori returns in time for his, they still have a chance. Mira goes up against Lee Marin. Yeah, this muscular macho dude is so gay. However he is in possession of her real sword. Because the sword recognizes Marin as its owner, even if it is in Mira’s possession, the sword will return to Marin. Because of this, Marin mocks her as being powerless and a disappointment. Especially Nox initially having high expectations of her as the Moon Light’s successor to awaken this sword’s power to grasp the power of God. Meanwhile Daewi is looking for Mori but stumbles into defeated Pumgwang. The culprit is Ma Bora who is Taek’s teammate. She’s a Bruce Lee wannabe? She is impressed with Daewi and kisses him! This mess is stopped when Taek shows up. Nothing to see here. Move along. Elsewhere, Mori finds grandpa but it is too late because this is a trap as grandpa turns into some blob and explodes! The culprit is Peilong of Nox who thinks it is enough to kill Mori. Too bad, Mori still lives. Peilong uses his clones to keep Mori down. Peilong narrates about Taejin being their final weapon against the north and became a hero after he was the only survivor of the north’s death squad. After all, he is the only person who defeated everyone in The Six. Mori then sees the bodies of the real Team Jeju members. Mori now freaking mad. Mira looks like she is moments from defeat but it’s cue for her to deliberate with her inner self about her strength. Yeah. She’ll get stronger, right? And with that, she unleashes her Charyeok, Lu Bu (of Three Kingdoms fame) to send Marin to his defeat. And just like how they all believe in Mori, he is back in time. He will be up against Nah Hanseong who wonders what happened to Peilong. Well, he’ll soon find out. Because Mori uses the same crushing moves as he did to beat down Peilong. Oh yeah. The tiger’s mad.

Episode 10
4 years ago in a local martial arts tournament, Ilpyo’s friend, Seungyeon lost to Taek. Worse, Taek purposely broke her leg bones to pieces. Despite she can recover in years, she can no longer do martial arts. Raging Ilpyo went to beat up Taek and could’ve killed him had the police not intervened. Then he heard about this tournament that grants wish to winners. Hence he enters it to heal her leg. Mujin talks to Team Seoul about Nox and their purpose is to revive a certain God. They view all other Gods as heresy and their aim is to eliminate them, including Charyeok users who rely on their power. This is one reason why they target Taejin. However he warns Mori not to do anything stupid like go rescuing grandpa because they’re all weak. But if they win this tournament, he’ll tell them some useful info. Team Seoul will fight Team South Jeolla in the semi-finals. First up is Daewi against Park Seungah. She pushes her limits but Ilpyo fears she might end up the same like Seungyeon. Stop worrying, boy. She does what she decides to do. And yeah, eventually Daewi wins. Seungyeon talks to Ilpyo about fighting for her sake. She doesn’t like it but what’s important that he needs to fight for his own reasons. So I suppose that’s the motivation he needs as he goes into the ring to face Mori. The fight starts as Mori takes a beating because Ilpyo blurts out all his obvious weaknesses. However it’s like Ilpyo is teaching him and Mori overcomes them to fight back. Flashback shows Taejin left Ilpyo a favour. If he ever meets his grandson, he hopes he could teach him something. Meanwhile Mujin confronts Sang Mandeok, supposedly the big boss of Nox. He knows Mujin’s intention of holding this tournament to awaken the Key and thinks it is futile because that awakening needs a higher trigger. His Nox men initiate a ritual to unleash a sword and God to strike it down on the tournament?! Mujin uses his power to defend but he is also helped by Seo Hanryang who is from The Six. With his merry men of drummers, Hanryang starts dancing in a drunk manner to their beat as he unleashes weapons after weapons to stop the sword’s drop. Eventually they prevent the disaster and Mori sending Ilpyo to his defeat. However Ilpyo’s stats start to turn negative and he turns into some fox creature? Oh, so this is the Key awakening?

Episode 11
Legend has it that a 9 tailed fox was strong enough that heaven appointed it as its guardian. After successfully protecting heaven from its enemies, heaven started to get worried about its power. And like any stupid authority, they order its execution. Of course the fox got mad over this betrayal and destroyed half of heaven! It descended to Earth as it goes into slumber after exhausting its power, vowing revenge on the Gods… So with this fox creature inside Ilpyo, he could be the Key. We see Mori taking him on put soon he realizes that Charyeok isn’t just borrowing powers from others, you’re ultimately fighting with your own mind and body. And that means they’re on the same level. This also means Mori is able to dispel whatever power Ilpyo throws at him like a piece of cake. In the end, sending Ilpyo flying straight up to heaven?! Woah! Maybe just an illusion but yeah, Mori wins it. Seeing how the fox lost, Mandeok needs to take more precaution and escapes. Ilpyo recuperates at the hospital but we can see he is fine. Mori visits him and both are unsure if they both used their Charyeok. Mori then tells him about his goal to find Taejin, the reason he needs to win this tournament and get that info to save him. Ilpyo puts his faith in him that he can do it. Mori hopes that once all this is over, they can fight each other. Meanwhile Jugok is turning into a monster. He is seeking revenge on Taek and close to losing his mind. His maid tries to stop him but Taek uses this distraction to impale them together. It gets worse since Jugok then absorbs her to turn into a monster. Yeah, he also absorbs other MIBs to become stronger. The hospital is in chaos so Ilpyo is forced to fight to prevent his teammates from getting devoured. In the end, Taek devours Jugok entirely. But this costs Ilpyo’s teammates to lose their limbs (since they were almost absorbed by Jugok). Ilpyo becomes traumatized and mad. Déjà vu all over again as he beats down Taek. Mandeok then realizes angels of death or something as they swarm over the city. With this, Mujin declares the tournament over.

Episode 12
Jugok is dead. His grandpa, Jaesan who is part of The Six vows revenge. Short flashback shows mom sold a young Taek to somebody. This old bugger wants Taek because of his abilities and considers him his successor of his power, wealth and everything. He brainwashed Taek to become a winner and not become like losers like everybody else. Yeah, eventually he devoured him. Thus Taek became twisted as he is today. He fights back Ilpyo and wants the Key because it will give him everything he wants. With his scary Charyeok, he beats down Ilpyo enough to make him cough out the Key. But it changes several hands until it falls to Mandeok. Not! Mori punches him to get whatever this sh*t is. Mujin is busy trying to use his barrier and stop God from destroying the city. So what the f*ck has America got to do with this?! Yeah, I think the American president wants to tell the whole world that they’re the guardians of this world and hence human technology is more powerful than those of the ancient gods. So they’re firing missiles into Seoul???!!! WTF, AMERICA???!!! Taek fights Mori but some weird power sh*t teleports them to another different dimension. Because I guess we need to see Daewi and Mira fight Taek for a while as Ilpyo gives his permission to let Mori to keep the Key. Not sure how he got it but he knows it must not fall into Taek’s hands. With Daewi and Mira down, Mori is mad and another epic fight begins. Mujin’s barrier has finally been broken. Feel God’s wrath! Thankfully in the nick of time, Jaesan teleports every single person in Seoul away. Turning the rockets into scrap and summoning a comet much bigger than God and rams into him!!! He’s going to take him down with him as vengeance. OMFG!!! Mandeok, you don’t mean to look so scared? Have you no faith in your own God?! I guess this somewhat interrupted Mori and Taek’s fight as they are also brought back to reality. Unfortunately Taek has got the Key now and devours it. He turns into an angel? A demon? A demonic angel?! Uh oh. All losers will die, says he…

Episode 13
Seriously, how do you fight against God? Oh heck, just go all out and fight him! Mori uses Bongchim’s pressure points lesson to power up himself to fight Taek. He is mad and wants him to apologize for hurting all his friends. When Daewi takes a blow meant for him, we see some snippets that are possibly Mori’s memories. Hmmm… Some leader of some supernatural clan. Oh wait. You mean Mori is actually the Monkey King???!!! Seiten Taisei what?! And you thought his sleeping eye mask was ridiculous. Turns out to be his Monkey King headgear! Using his flexible staff, he beats down Taek. For Ilpyo! For Seungah! For Daewi! For Mira! Eventually raining down lightning to roast him! And that power is no joke because unlike others who borrow from gods, Mori’s power is the real deal itself! But it’s not over. Taek’s hatred has consumed and turned him into a huge blob monster. Can Mori handle this himself? Nonsense. That’s what friends are for. Ilpyo, Daewi and Mira join in as they help Mori pull off some combo move to eventually defeat Taek. Taek is being devoured by his own monster and refuses Ilpyo’s help. No help accepted from trash. And that’s the end of him. All that’s left is the Key. Suddenly Mori is beaten up by Kim Ungnyeo. She is unhappy that Bora got lost in some cave and accidentally awakened her slumber. Who is she? As the strongest among The Six, she is the one who grants the winner wishes. Anything except bringing back the dead.

And so Mori is the winner, what will be his wish? At first he wants grandpa back but seeing the rest, he holds back. With others telling him to wish whatever he wants, Mori wishes for everyone to be healed as they were before and just like that, everyone’s healthy again! Yeah, how selfless. But this has Ungnyeo shrink into a chibi version! Kawaii? Ungnyeo also assures that Taejin is alive as she can feel his faint presence. Mori so relieved that he can now sleep. Yeah, he slept for 3 months! In that time, Mujin has shifted his attention to becoming Korea’s premier and Mandeok has already made his move by making a deal with some bigwig. Oh, Judge R the traitor?! Daewi and Mira update Mori about Ilpyo’s gang going around the world to look for the scattered fragments of the Key as said by Ungnyeo. She also explains the Key is a power bestowed by humans to break that taboo that allows them to kill gods. Damn, if gods feared the power of humans and imposed such restriction, then aren’t the gods not as powerful as humans?! Anyway, Mori’s memories are sealed in his homeland and if he wants them back he has to return there. Mori is glad because it means more training to get stronger. And he’ll rescue grandpa too. Speaking of him, he is being held in some secret Nox prison and he is the sacrifice to revive a new god? Taejin is confident that Mori will win. He will defeat everybody including him.

Fight Of Gods
Okay, from the way the direction of the plot is heading, it looks like having a sequel in this same name would feel a lot redundant. Uh huh. No The God Of High School II. The tournament’s done with. Time to move on to killing the gods. Yeah, The God Of Gods it shall be known now if a sequel is ever intended. It’s going to get way more chaotic from now on. With no more such tournaments, there isn’t going to be the grand prize of wishing for what you want anymore. What a bummer for those hoping to get another chance next year. Unfortunately reading the response and comments from the internet, viewers aren’t impressed with this series and I can see why nobody is asking for a second season. Damn it Mori, you should’ve trolled us all by wishing for another season! Phew. Thank goodness! We are saved! For now. Hopefully.

Essentially, you want to have an action series but to have no story whatsoever will be pointless and ultimately boring. Because, might as well watch real MMA sports or something. Also, it needs to be more exciting than mere young high school kids beating the crap out of each other in the ring. That is why as you discover they bring in elements of God and deities and supernatural powers, it might sound a lot ridiculous and over the top but like I said, it’s better than having no story at all and just see a bunch of kids trading blows in a tournament. Still, bringing in supernatural elements feels a bit weird since this isn’t your usual fantasy setting on the get-go. I know, many other series and shows also have modern day setting and lots of supernatural crap in it. Seeing this turn from tournament based into some weird cult who wants to destroy the world or at least the non-believers, damn this tournament feels like a long drawn out process and distraction just to find the Key.

It feels even weird to think that Korea organized a tournament for kids to fight even if it was just a disguise to find the Key. And to think that loads of people come to watch the fight, I don’t know if Koreans are blood thirsty people? And to think only delinquents who often get into fights would stand a chance but I guess fighting is more than just raw brute power and force. And also here I thought if someone who never graduated high school could be the loophole to enter this tournament, damn they had a character who beat me to this idea! Thank goodness it is just confined to high school kids. Because I don’t think I can stomach if there’s another tournament for other categories. Say, God of Corporate Organizations! F*ck yeah, I don’t know if I want to see employees of Samsung take on the bosses of Hyundai! And here comes the management of LG to join in the fight! Man… Thank goodness for trade and labour unions…

Unlike previous Korean based manhwa or webtoons, this one feels a bit different. Okay, maybe that is not the accurate thing I want to say. Because what I wanted to say at first is how the setting is totally in Seoul and not in Japan. Therefore there are Korean words everywhere for realism with Korean culture at the fore and all the characters have Korean names. Uh, Jin Mori might sound so typically Japanese but it’s a valid Korean name too. Yeah, because this is Japanese production, naturally everyone speaks Japanese and they look like Japanese anime characters. Just put Korean writing in it. This shouldn’t be an issue because what about other past anime titles that takes place outside of Japan? Especially those set in America or Europe or in an alternate world. I do see words written in English or some other European languages so this shouldn’t be an issue but somehow for some odd reason, I had this sort of issue for this series. Perhaps this is my first time seeing a setting that is so fully focused in Korea. So yeah. A few more Korean adaptations into anime and soon this will be a non-issue to me.

The characters are so-so. They’re pretty okay and nothing to shout about. Like the main trio. They’re just rather okay. Somehow I just don’t feel the oomph to really want to throw my support behind them. They have their past and issues but nothing like an episode to give them a bit of focus to solve their woes. At least for Daewi and Mira. There is some dynamism between the trio but as usual, so as not to bore us with them being plain, hence their strange and peculiar behaviours albeit it won’t ring any alarm bells because that is what is expected. Like Daewi who is often calm and composed but sometimes he can be on the same idiot as idiocy as Mori. Mira on the other hand sound like the rational voice of reasoning between the duo but often gets disappointed how idiotic the guys in her group can be. Too bad she doesn’t realize how this makes her look like one too. And so it’s true what they say about birds of the same feather… At least the duo are more sensible compared to Mori who is your typical protagonist who leaps before he thinks. The kind whose punches (more of kicks) do the talking. It can’t get any cliché because this guy loves fighting the strongest, wants to get stronger and it makes him sound like a retard. Hmm… Where have I heard characters like him before? And yeah, don’t get me started about his strong sense of justice… Now you see why I’m not really impressed with the characters on this level? And the final revelation he is a god himself? Oh… No wonder. Should have sensed something when he always acts close to a monkey…

If that is what I said about the main trio, how does the rest fare? Unfortunately, not too well either. There are quite a number of characters in this series and it is unfortunate that they don’t get much screen time unless they are essential to the plot. Like in the Seoul preliminaries there seem to be a few potential characters but they soon fizzle out once the preliminaries are over. Gamdo, Miseon, Seungchul and Manseok have fallen into obscurity when the tournament moves on to the finals. Yeah, blame the opener focusing a bit on them for making me think that they would be at least supporting characters. New characters come into the fray of the finals and again it is unfortunate that teams from other preliminaries aren’t featured unless they’re fighting Team Seoul or Team South Jeolla. Even so, with only a single cour and the direction of the story at this point, they don’t even matter since they’re no longer integral to the plot. So I guess in a way it is good that they saved us from knowing more characters that don’t matter.

Initially it is hard to tell if Mujin was a friend or foe (that kind of face makes it hard to tell) but I guess it is safe to say that he is at least fighting on the side of humanity. If Mandeok is the big boss of Nox, man, I don’t know if I should feel disappointed because he feels like a brat in a robe trying to act big. Maybe I haven’t seen the full potential of his power yet. Okay, calling forth God may be his greatest power but considering I have seen his Nox assassins and how powerful they are, I thought Mandeok would be even more formidable but his ‘showdown’ with Mujin feels like a farce. I mean, Mujin already has his hands (palm, rather) full trying to use his barrier and prevent God from destroying Seoul, and if Mandeok was serious in eliminating him, he would’ve done so. Oddly, he just stands there and mocks Mujin, hoping to see him lose energy and fail. Like, WTF?! His assassins feel more badass than that! So the more badass antagonist would be Taek because they really make him a character whom we love to hate for his cruel and unforgiving ways. Sure, he has got a past to make us understand that he isn’t just a one-dimensional villain but it gains little sympathy from us. Eventually, making us throw our (reluctant) support behind Mori because he is the kid with the greatest sense of justice to turn this antagonistic loser into a real loser. And also Mori is the real deal god unlike Taek who became a fake one. And a fake god shall perish!

Basically many other characters are just misses and some like Axley and Saturn, you wonder what happened to them. Some played out more for jokes like Judge Q’s running joke is that when he goes out of control and starts smashing things, Mujin will dock his pay. I don’t know how many months pay he is now behind… Some are just forgettable like other judges such as Judge O and Judge R. You see them around but they don’t seem to have any integral role yet at this point in the anime. On a trivial note, you wonder if there could be only 26 judges at one given time since they are only identified by their alphabet moniker. Wait till you see the numbers version and the Latin version! Oh yeah, more judges. Thank goodness they didn’t appear here. Only will confuse the hell out of us and they won’t even really matter at this stage.

The strongest point about this series is its fight scenes. Yes, if you are looking for some martial arts action and with some supernatural powers imbued, you won’t be disappointed. Although I won’t go so far as to say the fights are a masterpiece, they are still nicely choreographed and it’s quite thrilling to see some of the fights. Of course some fights last only a few seconds while the more important ones may take longer. They don’t usually lasts more than an episode so that’s reassuring that we get to move on. I know that sometimes the supernatural elements may make the fight exaggerated and ridiculous, but hey, if you really want 100% realism, go watch a real MMA match on your TV right now. So yeah, I can live with all those flashy power moves because it increases the entertainment value. Like as though I’m watching a fighting video game clip. Like Mori pulling off his triple consecutive kicks or whatever blue dragon moves in mid-air. Awesome!

And with some calling forth their Charyeok, I’m wondering whose Charyeok is Jesus Christ! Damn, it would’ve been f*cking epic and insulting to see Jesus taking on Buddha and Vishnu and Zeus and Jupiter and Odin and Amon. But that’ll be too hot and controversial at this age to fly so yeah. Whoever borrows Jesus’ power must be so f*cking epic, I swear… Uh huh, turning water into wine in the middle of the match should be just freaking epic! Hahaha! By this point, you should know that fighting is violence so if you are weak in seeing the sight of blood, be warned this anime has lots of blood and broken limbs. Yeah, thank the fictitious nanomachine technology so that the young hot blooded kids can go all out without worrying about losing their life. Yes, have faith in them because I don’t see any worried parents about their kids being all beaten up and badly bruised…

The art and animation are good. Not perfect but there is some quality in it. Because the fight scenes are quite fluid although there are some that feel a bit jagged but overall it is still good quality. After all, Crunchyroll sponsored this and it is no wonder you can see their blatant name being advertised all over the rings in the tournament. Character designs, some look boringly plain (Daewi and Mira) while others look pretty weird for example Mori himself has stars in his eyes and just to distinguish him from other characters, he needs some sort of headgear. Which headgear accessory? A sleeping eye mask for God’s sake! Like, WTF?! I guess goggles are too common, huh? Why does Bora have that perpetual puckering lips that make her look like she is always ready for a kiss? That kiss with Daewi was just a troll, huh? Some characters look the same like when Peilong first debuted, I thought he was Judge Q! The designs of the supernatural Charyeok monsters range from weird to grotesque. It’s like your Halloween nightmare fuel come true. I hope I won’t have nightmares after seeing Taek’s one. CGI is used for these monsters but at least they’re good enough not to be so jarring.

But the one art trademark that I am sure that many of us would start to notice is that every damn characters’ nose has this red blush! At first I was like, WTF?! Are they drunk or something? Did somebody punch their nose or something? Not one or two or ten of them but all of them! Every character has it. It makes it look weird because if you don’t get used to it, you’ll always be staring at it all the time. And for those who are slightly more observant (like yours truly, oh yeah I’m so proud), all the characters have their top ear lobes also have this red blemish. Really, noting this art style is really weird but this is how it looks like in the original webtoon. This anime is done by Mappa who did Kakegurui, Shingeki No Bahamut, Zankyou No Terror, Banana Fish and Teekyuu.

Voice acting is rather okay. I recognized a few seiyuus here like Kenjiro Tsuda as Taek, Tomokazu Sugita as Manseok, Romi Paku as Ungnyeo, Yuko Kaida as Miseon, Nobuyuki Hiyama as Drake and Yuu Kobayashi as one of those sexy nurses for the tournament. And to think they cast Rie Kugimiya as Mira’s cousin and Bora, only amateurs will not recognize and catch that distinctive tsundere specialist! Oh wait. Did they do the same for Shinichiro Miki because Peilong and Seongjin sound suspiciously the same… The rest of the casts are Tatsumaru Tachibana as Mori, Kentarou Kumagai as Daewi (Theo in Grancrest Senki), Ayaka Ohashi as Mira (Saaya in BanG Dream), Daisuke Namikawa as Mujin (Waver in Fate series), Kouki Uchiyama as Ilpyo (Shigaraki in Boku No Hero Academia), Yuuma Uchida as Mandeok (Ash in Banana Fish), Kazuhiro Yamaji as Taejin (Bang in One Punch Man), Kenji Hamada as Judge Q (Jouji in Paradise Kiss), Asami Tano as Judge P (Saki in Zombie Land Saga) and Tomokazu Seki as Sim (Gilgamesh in Fate series).

If you love loud dubstep techno music, then the opener, Contradiction featuring Tyler Carter by KSUKE is going to be right up your alley. It feels so at home with the action pacing of the series. Especially the various BGM music that fits the fight scenes like a glove. Yeah, sometimes it feels they’re written for a video game. So don’t turn on your volume too loud if you don’t want your audio to explode! Heh. Just kidding. But you get what I mean. There are some slower pieces too but the dramatic techno wants stand out more. The ending theme is Win by CIX. Sounds like a K-pop group singing a slow R&B. Not bad but not my cup of tea.

Overall, this show isn’t that bad but because it was overhyped and didn’t quite live up to expectations as Tower Of God, many I read were really disappointed and calling this mediocre crap a total garbage. I agree if they’re talking about the story and characters that are so clichéd but at least I am entertained with the fight scenes. So if you really want to watch this, just stay for the mind blowing and over the top flashy exaggerated action sequences and nothing more. Everything else like the story and characters feel like overdone icing and decorations of distractions simply added just to justify the fight scenes. Nothing more. Come to think of it, having high school kids fight each other and the winner gets their wish exacted is a wrong way to teach this kids about hard work and perseverance. Yeah, not everything can be solved by your fists or kicks. What happened to the good ol’ days when finding and rubbing a genie lamp was the simplest wish granting device?

Uzaki-chan Wa Asobitai

Remember some time ago we had a girl who love to play pranks and tease a guy? Yeah. I’m sure we all had fun loving all those harmless pranks and the likes. But something in that series feels lacking. A lot lacking. Make that double barrels of loaded lacking. Oh right. Boobs! Uh huh. Uzaki-chan Wa Asobitai isn’t exactly Karakai Jouzu No Takagi-san v2 and although we have this college girl who decides to hang out with her college senpai so he doesn’t have to be alone, and by that she means poking fun and teasing him lots and lots and lots and lots. Now we can enjoy all the pranks and teasing all over again. But with boobs. Ah, glorious bewbs FTW! Ahem. Yeah, those humongous racks really teased us well, huh?

Episode 1
Hana Uzaki is a first year in college. She is glad to go to the same college as her senpai, Shinichi Sakurai. However for the entire year, she notices Sakurai hanging out alone by himself. Something not right. So come the next year, she decides to go hang out with him. Naturally he doesn’t want her to but with Uzaki screaming in public how he plays with her and dumps her when it’s all too convenient, you bet Sakurai is going to let her join him or else the public will get the wrong idea on their relationship. So the first place they hang out is the cinema. She starts laughing and teasing the shows he watch are for singles. Then he pinches her nose to shut her up. After the movie, they head to the electronics store. Time to show what’s in store for Uzaki fanservice because as she sits on the massage chair, she’s making all those ambiguous moaning voices! Damn, she could’ve been so good if this was another genre! Wink, wink! Next they try the VR. Uzaki swinging the console around (because VR zombies attack!) until she accidentally smacks Sakurai’s face. Then Sakurai tries it himself. Scary shark fest! So much so he accidentally gropes Uzaki’s boobs. Nope, not jellyfish or octopus… Then they hit the batting centre. Sakurai sucks and misses all the pitches. When Uzaki tries to show her stuffs, she goes all out and twists her back. Did I just hear her back pop?! Damn, she blames this pain on him because she tied to copy him?! Rather than going to the doctor, she goes to eat dinner with him. I guess she’s okay, looking at how she swallowed all the fried chicken. Yeah, even Sakurai’s portion! This is what you get when you keep complaining instead of keeping your own eyes on your own food! Even when they are given free dumplings, Uzaki sweeps them all! Too slow, senpai! Oh yeah. What a fun day. Next day, Uzaki wants to continue hanging out with him and this time he allows it. I guess it’s not that bad, right? He doesn’t have to be alone again. Until Uzaki says out loud the thing they did yesterday because her back still hurts! Oh dear. Public going to get the wrong idea…

Episode 2
Sakurai works part time at a coffee café and Master is teaching him how to make fine coffee. Until Uzaki drops in and says hi. Oh that scream… Today’s coffee is going to taste bad… He tries to kick her out but since she’s a customer… Master is in shock when he gets it wrong thinking she is an elementary kid! With those boobs?! Are you kidding me?! Yeah, I guess nobody could guess she’s a college girl. Uzaki demands his best service so I guess Sakurai has to drop his evil sarcasm to serve her. Even so, she starts laughing and mocking him because he’s so out of character! That’s it! He kicks her out. All the while, Master can’t stop laughing and looks like he is looking forward to see more banter between them. Wow, life must be so boring for this old guy. Next day, Uzaki is disgusted seeing Sakurai trying to pet a stray cat. He fails and after Uzaki manages to pet it, it runs away. Woah, Sakurai depressed because he didn’t manage to pet it? So he loves animals but can’t keep them but his place doesn’t allow it. Uzaki decides to catch it for him. Unfortunately she got stuck in the bushes. Fanservice time. Yeah, her butt and pantsu are showing so WTF Sakurai has to smack her ass just to cover it?! Now it gets weirder. Can’t pull her out too fast because her shirt might come off. So as he tries to do so slowly, you bet that when other girls pass by and see this, they’re going to get the wrong idea over this unholy act. Even more so when Uzaki is saying something about pulling out!!! In the end, Uzaki got out but it’s one of those embarrassing moments for Sakurai that he wished he is dead. In college, Uzaki is in total shock that Sakurai is not eating alone and with a friend! Can’t wrap her head around it, huh? So she bugs him via texting to see if it’s okay. Unfortunately this means her ramen is all soggy now. Boys and girls, this is why it is bad manners to play with your phone during meal times. Uzaki visits the café again and this time she is bugging Sakurai to help her finish her report. Of course he won’t but since there are no customers now, Master allows it. Of course he wants to see more of their comedy. So as she does her report under his watchful eye, she asks if she can come to his house. Instant rejection. It seems she wants to sleep at his place since it is closer to college. Embarrassed guy rejects this and he can’t say those boobs are the reason for rejection. Dense Uzaki continues to reason they can play video games all night long but this only blows Sakurai’s top. And the winner today is Master as he gets to enjoy yet another banter. Damn, this guy values Sakurai so much that he is considering giving him a raise to make him stay! What is life without such fun!

Episode 3
Ami Asai who is Master’s daughter, observes Sakurai at work. You bet she is fantasizing and drooling over him because he is her type. But then Uzaki comes in… Who this girl? Those Master know her? Damn, he’s doing high 5 with her! Ami continues to observe them and it seems they look like very good friends. Hmm… Maybe too good to be good friends. Ami goes to talk to her and finds out Uzaki is just hanging out with Sakurai because he is a loner and wants to avoid him doing gloomy loner stuffs. Now that she has an idea about them, Master knows she too loves watching them and hence it is best for them to just sit back and enjoy the show. Like this one coming up because the idiots bump into each other and spill cold water all over. Not even sure how Uzaki ended up sitting on top of Sakurai. Great show, huh? Yeah, Ami thinks she should take more shifts with Sakurai. But thanks to this incident, Sakurai is sick. But Uzaki not? Oh well, you know what they say about sickness and idiots… And you bet Uzaki is going to come over to visit him. Because he is really weak, Uzaki nurses him and cooks him a nice porridge. Then she teases him by stripping him naked just to clean his sweat. Ironically, Sakurai even more tired after this. At the end of the day, Sakurai is grateful to her. But too bad she won’t go home and keeps playing video games and being noisy. Not going back until she wins! Once Sakurai is well, everyone celebrates his recovery with Korean BBQ. Of course Master and Ami want to know the details of what happened. Sakurai brushes off their relationship is that sort of kind. Then it gets heavy when Sakurai worries if Uzaki is seen too often coming to his place, it might cause trouble for her since she is a girl. So I guess the best for now is just to let them be. Yeah, continue observing. Uzaki is not happy when she realizes Sakurai calls Ami by her first name. This is of course to avoid confusion with her father but Uzaki still not amused and eats all his meat! Next day, Uzaki tries to hypnotize Sakurai into calling her first name! Since she took care of him, he plays along. Yeah, she wants him to repeat several times. They look like a dumb couple, huh? She goes overboard thinking she can get him to buy stuffs but that’s it for him. He knocks her head and sorry to disappoint he was just pretending. Sakurai explains his uncomfortableness calling girls by their first name. Ami’s too but he can’t help it because of work. Uzaki understands and will not force it upon him. Sakurai doesn’t believe it but Uzaki gets easily hypnotized! Where’s the undo button?!

Episode 4
Since the café will be off during the Golden Week, I guess Sakurai will be home playing video games. Straight for 72 hours?! Until Uzaki shows up… Oh well. Time to give this junior some love. She suggests hanging out in town while playing this crappy Pokemon Go knockoff. Uzaki got lots of cats? Sakurai has gorillas? What sh*t is this?! Because of playing too much games, Sakurai’s eyes hurt so Uzaki suggests heading to the glasses store. Ami is also there browsing so this is cue for the ladies to make fun of Sakurai as they put funny glasses on him and laugh. Uzaki definitely enjoying herself a lot since she’s laughing her ass off so hard. Finally Uzaki puts on cute decent glasses herself. Sakurai mocks her. Argument starts. This is normalcy. Then on the train, slowly it gets crowded until some gorilla guy really compacts it all. Yeah, I wonder where those boobs go in such crammed places! Since Sakurai is conscious about those boobs, he tries to distract himself by mediating and thinking of nothing. Too bad this heightens his other senses so he faints while standing. This means on their stop, Uzaki gets off while Sakurai gets left behind. When he finally comes to his senses. He is unsure his whereabouts. But hey, he’s got this rare dog Pokemon thingy. Not sure how he got back but he is relating his ordeal to Master and he is trying hard not to laugh! Taking Ami’s advice to follow up on Uzaki, why is this girl depressed now? She realizes there is no more holidays this month! Sakurai tries to cheer her up by inviting her to somewhere. To her utmost shock, is this her senpai?! Did hell freeze over?! He never invites her anywhere! Now he does, okay, she’ll go anywhere! Just anywhere without trains, okay? That’s traumatizing… But when she learns about Ami asking him to follow up, she starts to pout. On a rainy day, looks like Uzaki has to stop by Sakurai’s place after doing errands. Cheeky girl is soaked so she teases him to come bath with her. You know the reaction. They have home cooked lunch and played some crappy Minecraft knockoff. Such fun. When the rain clears at night, Sakurai accompanies her to the train station. But looks like she forgot her pass. Hang out at his place round 2? I hope this doesn’t mean she’s staying for the night.

Episode 5
Sakurai tries to save a cat from the ledge of a beam. But the cat being a dick gives him a slip and he falls! OMG! Sakurai dead?! Thank goodness it’s just a dream. But he was sleeping in the middle of class? You bet Uzaki saw this and here comes the endless teasing. Furthermore, the lecture is about dreams. More Uzaki teasing even after class so much so she slips down the stairs. Luckily Sakurai catches her. Payback time. He psychos her about some sort of phobia falling down stairs and she starts believing it! Itsuhito Sakaki uses Sakurai as an excuse so he doesn’t have to go drinking with those cute girls. I hope he isn’t gay. Sakaki also thinks Sakurai’s life is damn boring and wants him to enjoy it. Then here comes Uzaki. She is shocked that Sakurai has a friend! And not an imaginary friend! Wow. She looks so happy. Seeing them interact, Sakaki gets motivated trying to hook them up now. On another day, Sakaki joins in and asks the duo if they’ve already done it. Of course Sakurai denies but Uzaki seems to be in despair that he might have forgotten about that. ABOUT WHAT?! What sexual harassment?! After the duo left, Ami then confronts Sakaki. It seems she is not too happy he is trying to meddle too much in Sakurai-Uzaki life. Sakaki believes that their goal is the same so they should cooperate to get them together. However Ami objects because the best is to simply observe from afar. Meanwhile Sakurai and Uzaki are outside. She offers him her choco mint but apparently after he comments it tastes like toothpaste, Uzaki gets offended. OMG. She’s really offended! Screaming and lecturing atop her lungs about the bias and prejudice choco mint lovers faced as well as its gradual acceptance in public over the years. Yeah, such a beautiful poetry about her love for the delicious choco mint. So much so all those around her start clapping! So beautiful! Sakurai has to be careful about saying the wrong thing because he isn’t willing to put up with her being offended again. So looks like his dislike for choco mint stems from his childhood trauma. That was then. Now is now. Care to try? She offers him but he realizes this might look like an indirect kiss. So as not to offend her, he takes a bite. Quite okay. After Uzaki eats the last choco mint, only then she realizes about the indirect kiss and starts feeling embarrassed. Awkward. Meanwhile Ami and Sakaki continue to argue about the meddling or observation… So Ami says she’ll live a thousand years if it takes them that long to get together, huh?

Episode 6
Master hires Uzaki to work part time. You bet this is going to piss Sakurai off. Besides, Uzaki doesn’t bat an eyelid to admit she’s here to see his tormented face! Also, she needs some extra cash since summer is around the corner. So as Sakurai shows her the ropes, evidently everybody gangs up just to piss him off. Wow. So much fun. Learning that Sakurai’s entire summer is just staying in and playing video games, Uzaki suggests going to the beach. And that is how our young ones arrive here. Master had to sit this out because he has thrown his back. And behold this sight! Uzaki in bikini. Oh yeah. No wonder Ami got so scared of those ‘weapons’. Since Sakurai is going off himself and treating the ocean like a swimming pool, Ami warns him this means leaving Uzaki alone and having guys hit on her. Don’t want that, do you? And also something to compliment about her swimsuit. Not Ami, but Uzaki, duh! He does so but gets pushed away. But the look on Uzaki’s face, she’s definitely happy. Then they split the watermelon with Sakurai blindfolded. Of course Uzaki misleads him with video game direction inputs. And then he slips and somehow has his hand on her boobs! WTF he thinks this is jellyfish?! Then why keep touching?! Yeah, he got the real ‘melons’ alright. So when he takes off his blindfold, Uzaki managed to swap it with the real one. This guy can’t even tell how hard the real melon is! BAKA! That night, everyone will be staying at Sakaki’s villa. Yes, he is a rich kid. Those poor college kids are fascinated by all the amenities. Even if they’re just normal. Then as they go play kimodameshi, Sakurai admits outright he is afraid of horror and scary things and wants out. While being honest is a good thing, looks like Uzaki is whipping up a devilish aura to get back at him. So first thing, she steals his handphone (only source of light!) and runs away! Who’s chasing who now? And you thought it would be the brave guy protecting the scared lady, huh? In the end, Sakurai got so scared and froze up, I guess they have to call it quits. So back at the villa, everyone is so tired that they fall asleep right away. Except for Uzaki. She thought of teasing Sakurai but he starts hugging her. Does he hug this tight in his sleep? Oh well. Might as well let him sleep in her bosoms since she scared him tired. Next morning, Uzaki feels a bit awkward and tells him to get a dakimakura. Of course Sakurai is clueless. Ami and Sakaki think they really missed something last night.

Episode 7
Suddenly Sakurai calls Uzaki and wants to go out with her. Say what?! As she meets up with him, turns out that he is too afraid to enter the cat café alone and needs her company. Disappointed? Get ready for those kicking combos… Inside, Sakurai is having fun petting the cats. Uzaki tries to remind him about her upcoming birthday but he isn’t listening. Since his legs are numb, Uzaki takes this chance to get back at him by kicking them. He can’t scream or he’ll scare the cats! Eventually the staff had to kick them out because no sick S&M play allowed at cat café! Not sure if they’re banned for life… After reminding him about her birthday, Sakurai is at a loss so he talks to Master and Ami about it. You bet they’re going to have fun with this. Sakurai comes up with some ideas but doesn’t think Uzaki will like them. On the contrary, the duo think the opposite. Anything he gives, she’ll like. Ami advises to go with his guts. As Sakurai is about to shop for a present, he gets a call from Uzaki asking she wants to go out with him. Uh oh. Sounds familiar. As he meets up with her, turns out she wants him to accompany her into this bar. Now she’s 20 and is going to drink. Yup, he is going to treat her. So lots of fooling around, eating and drinking. They stayed up so late that as they walk home drunk, they realize no train service is running and Sakurai is out of money. There’s the ATM but the taxi fare is going to kill him. As much as he hates it, he is forced to take Uzaki to stay at his place. Uzaki still wants to drink and play games but Sakurai ignores her and goes to sleep. Uzaki plays a prank, thinking she can wake him up with a kiss. Immediately he wakes up to defend himself. I guess the teasing tires them out. Next morning, Uzaki has a hangover. First hangover, so it’s bad. Yeah, she’s vomiting into the toilet bowl. Sakurai can lecture her now as she rests up in bed. Yeah, Uzaki now all a good girl being quiet. At least she thanks him for last night’s outing. It was a blast. And then she vomits again… Oh well, the futon’s wasted.

Episode 8
From last episode’s events, Uzaki feels terribly bad and she’s trying to compensate for his futon. Thing is, she is being ambiguous with her words and she’s doing this apology right in public. You bet the public is going to get the wrong idea this is some sort of extortion case! Due to this pressure, Sakurai also slips up and phrases wrongly and further has the public think he is some scumbag. Yeah, don’t worry, it was your first time so the futon was bound to get dirty! You dug your own grave, dude. Back at the café, the nosy father and daughter want to know all the details but seeing Sakurai being depressed and relating what has happened, although Sakurai didn’t specify about the futon incident, I guess the suspense is killing them. Hence Ami gives him a ticket to go see fireworks at the festival. Just STFU and take Uzaki with you! So Sakurai meets up with Uzaki there. Since she is still in that sullen mood, he starts praising her everything. In no time, Uzaki is back to normal! MOAR PRAISE! Well, at least she’s simple. But too many compliments make Uzaki embarrassed? Unintentionally she whacks him out cold! Oh sh*t! So we have a flashback when they were in high school. Uzaki had trouble in her swimming class but Sakurai was there to help her. Even with his help, she still struggles and it’s understandable her morale was low. But Sakurai was always there to somehow cheer her up. Sakurai wakes up and realizes he is sleeping on Uzaki’s lap. Boobs on top. Damn, I hope this isn’t claustrophobic. Sakurai sees Uzaki’s face and knows this is that sad look. So he talks about the things they’ve done ever since they met in college. Yeah, it was fun. He hopes they can go somewhere together for the next summer break. Okay. Wherever you go, senpai. Perfected with the nice timing of the awesome fireworks. Though, Sakurai can’t see a thing… Yeah, those boobs blocking the view may not be such a bad thing after all.

Episode 9
Since Uzaki won’t take back the excess money for the futon, Sakurai is going to her home personally to give it back to her mom, Tsuki. Mom is of course fearful of him because at first impressions, he looks quite the ruffian. After hearing him out, she then lectures her daughter because you know what it means for a girl to stay over at a man’s place, right?! But seeing them quarrelling, Tsuki is somewhat assured that they are close and get along with each other. However she starts to fear once more when Sakurai’s gaze are all over her boobs! He is actually looking at the cat on her lap. Do you want to pet it?! The boobs?! WHAT DO YOU THINK?! With ambiguous words from Uzaki herself, Tsuki really thinks he is going for them! Of course today’s not the day so he leaves so as not to overstay his welcome. Tsuki feels her heart beating fast?! Oh dear. The next time she visits Uzaki working at the café, she too didn’t think Sakurai works here. Master and Ami sing lots of praises about Uzaki and Sakurai as well. Because of the type of customers they draw in, this has Tsuki asking them if Sakurai is into older women! Though they dismiss it, at the back of their minds they know that trouble is brewing. As Tsuki is going to tell her daughter she is leaving, she overhears their ambiguous conversation in the storeroom. It’s about growing coffee beans but you bet Tsuki is going to really start thinking Sakurai is into older women! Did she just orgasm?! On another day when Uzaki kicks Sakurai’s ass in a video game, because of his comment that she is not like he mom who is quiet and nice, this makes Uzaki sulks as she spies on mom’s behaviour! Yeah, Tsuki even thinks her daughter is targeting her! Hence Uzaki is now all prim and proper! OMFG! So different! And we all know who to blame, right? Because Uzaki is so nice and polite, this is actually freaking out and traumatizing Sakurai! Bring back the old crude Uzaki please! OMG! Pleasant Uzaki is kinda creepy if you think about it… So after he apologizes, Uzaki is back to normal with that smug look. But since Sakurai is also back to his same attitude, the duo start their usual arguing. So much so a little girl had to tell them off not to fight. Here. Have this lottery ticket to make up. And what do you know? They win the grand prize trip to Tottori! Feast your eyes on Detective Conan themes.

Episode 10
Looks like Ami and Sakaki are also here to join them! What a coincidence! They’ve got a rental car to boot to help with their sightseeing. Of course they have an ulterior motive and by this time we already well know what it is. Yeah, got to this till the very end! First stop, some sand dunes attraction. Uzaki and Sakurai race to the beach. The loser treats the other. While Uzaki makes a head start with a surfboard, I guess it won’t do much once the curve is flattened. Yeah, Sakurai wins. Next up is a manga museum since Tottori is the birthplace of many mangaka. Then a site where it is famous for the White Hare of Inaba tale. Uzaki tricks Sakurai into buying a rabbit cake for her. Then she tries to eat his portion. She only realizes too late this looks like an indirect kiss. Next, they take their luck reading at the Hakuto shrine. Uzaki boasts her better luck than his. It then suddenly occurs to them that this place is filled with couples. Sakaki and Ami revealing their true nature as they plan to get them go further as a couple. After all, the things they have been doing, they look like a couple in the eyes of others. Of course the duo aren’t impressed but they feel awkward when they have to ride up the ski lift together. They think they can beat this by just enjoying what they came to enjoy in the first place. Only, more dumb couples in love all over the place. The quartet then rest in their rooms. Sakaki playing a wall slam prank on Sakurai when Uzaki comes in and sees this. Take a picture quick! As they take the sauna, Uzaki slips on Sakurai. Their ambiguous words has the tour operator misinterpret everything. More sightseeing like the kajika frog, the streets with all sorts of youkai statues and finally they arrive at the Shigeru Mizuki Museum. Will this be it?

Episode 11
Uzaki brings a huge frog cushion to Sakurai’s place. Apparently she is blaming him he doesn’t take care of his guests so with her always playing video games at his place and having to sit on his hard floor, you bet it’s his fault! Anyway, he wants her to also clean up all the stuffs she left behind. Looks like she doesn’t need them all in the first place. So his place is also a dumpster? When Master thinks of having Sakurai try to cook, looks like it came out charcoal! No wonder Uzaki can’t stop laughing. And hence he is at her house to do some training. Mind all the sexual innuendoes of them trying to knead the udon dough. Tsuki thought of leaving the young ones together but when she later returns, she hears her daughter trying to motivate Sakurai to pimp her?! You bet they’re talking about the cats. Poor mom. She’s so confused that she’s not prepared for all this and thought of going in to straighten them out. Then it turns out they’re all just eating the udon. Is she relieved or disappointed? Sakurai and Uzaki are out rock climbing. Sakurai is a natural while Uzaki struggles. Yeah, it makes Uzaki mad she can’t poke fun at him! Later when Sakurai is doing solo karaoke, Uzaki and Ami is caught peeping on him! Now he is sulking and won’t sing. So I guess to ‘apologize’ and get his motivation back up to sing, they cosplay in Chinese qipao. Then they flank him. Too close to comfort for Sakurai and what’s this? Uzaki a bit jealous? Since Sakurai is confused, Ami ups the prank with her in a police dress and Uzaki in sexy bunny costume. Flaunt those boobs, baby! Ami tricks Sakurai into making him blurt out he prefers Uzaki’s outfit. Now he wants to die in embarrassment. But the girls carry on having their karaoke fun. Next day, it is raining heavily. Uzaki stands outside Sakurai’s place. With tears streaming down her eyes, she says she can’t hang out with him anymore. SAY WHAT?! You serious?! THIS NOT A JOKE???!!! YOU TROLLING US???!!!

Episode 12
Uzaki has did something unforgiveable. Oh sh*t… Sakurai calms her down and promises to do anything to help her. In an instant, her face changes that of a sly look. Anything, he says? Apparently Uzaki forgot to do her summer assignment and got scolded by mom. So Sakurai will help her, right? Shut the door! Do it yourself! Phew. And just like that the non-existent threat passed… When Master accidentally sprained his back, Sakurai sends him to the clinic so the ladies close up. Ami takes this chance to ask how Uzaki about them in high school. She tells how her friend invited her to join the swimming club. The first time she met Sakurai, he was of course scary but once you get to know him, he is quite a nice person. Ami then realizes Uzaki isn’t talking in her usual accent. Does she do that only when Sakurai is around? This makes Uzaki very embarrassed as she takes her leave. Ami is now very interested to know more. On another day, Uzaki seeks Ami and Sakaki’s advice because she wants to see Sakurai’s drunk face! Not because she wants to do sneaky things while he is out but rather because Sakurai has seen her at this state too many times, she wants to get back at him. Such simpleton. Uzaki forbids Ami to get involved considering how it turned out the last time (that karaoke moment). Uzaki hangs out at Sakurai’s place and everything seems to go according as plan as Sakaki explained. Once Sakurai is drunk and almost passing out, Uzaki is now going to get cheeky. She asks his honest opinion of her. He likes her. Oh sh*t. Uzaki is so shocked that she starts drinking and passing out too! She didn’t get to hear Sakurai finish his sentence that he likes her cooking. Oh well… Sakaki comes by and sees this ‘mess’ so he puts them to bed in the same futon. Sweet dreams.

Next morning, they wake up seeing each other lying next to each other. I guess they’re still having a hangover and still in shock, that’s why no reaction. They talk to Master and Ami as they can’t remember a thing. So as they slowly recall, when they mention about waking up together, father and daughter close the shop just to hear them out more! They even try to push and make it sound like they’ve done something! Well, if they can’t remember, what can you do? Ami is so frustrated that she promises to be there the next time it happens! So no more playing the bystander? Uzaki thinks they can do it again tomorrow but Sakurai reminds her tomorrow is when their class resumes. Summer break’s over. Damn, she’s putting on a face like as though it’s the end of the world! Can she hibernate till winter break? Why not just quit college?! Anyway, Uzaki manages to drag herself college and meet Sakurai. She still feels whiny that she has to go study. She laments summer should last longer so they could hang out forever. That is when Sakurai says it doesn’t have to be just summer. They can hang out together whenever they want as they’ll always be together. This causes Uzaki to blush. Sakurai realizes too late the ambiguity of his words as he tries to correct what he means. Uzaki has the last laugh as she teases him about what he thought of her thoughts. With that smirk and grinning face, she takes this as a sign he wants her company so badly. Don’t worry pal, she’ll always hang out with you from now on!

Two’s A Crowd…
Well, if you still feel that this series isn’t long enough and that you want to hang out more with Uzaki, be glad to know that there is going to be another season! Hooray! More boobs goodness. Oops. I mean, more fun Uzaki company! Hooray! Now our summer will never end! We can hang out, play, eat, drink, watch movies, play games, have all the fun we want without any care in the world! As long as we’re with Uzaki, we’re alright! Am I right?! But too bad we now have to wait a few more seasons (or years) before we get to hang out again. Bummer. Ah well. I guess it is back to the much dreaded reality. Oh boy. Uzaki was sure a great way to escape reality. Heh.

All of the episodes feel like standalone fillers, giving each skit the feel that they aren’t necessarily related to each other. Because many of them feel so random and about the same. Uzaki trying to tease Sakurai and have fun because it is better to see him get pissed off than being a gloom lord. The lesser of 2 evils, I guess. But unlike in Karakai Jouzu No Takagi-san whereby the titular character 99.9% always wins, this is not the case here for Uzaki. Not every prank or teasing is successful. She wins some and she loses some. Hence the odds between Uzaki and Sakurai are pretty much even and it could be anyone’s game. Therefore the unpredictability of who gets the better of the other providing some much fun and comic relief instead of always expecting only a certain someone to always come up tops in the end. Though, usually Uzaki often has the upper hand.

The main pull of watching this series is the dynamism between Uzaki and Sakurai interacting with each other. Depending on your stance, it would either be a delight or a bore to see them taking jabs at each other for the entire season. As long as they make me smile and laugh, I’m okay with it. It’s hard for me to classify if they are both the same peas in the same pod or totally strange bedfellows. One thing I know though, they’re definitely for each other. That’s why all of us are like Ami and the rest, eagerly sitting back and watch them play out their shenanigans because it’s just so much fun watching them do so. Will they or will they not? The biggest question is of course when the pranks will turn them into lovebirds. There are the signs but my guts tell me not so soon yet but you’ll never know. Because of Uzaki being the crude girl she is, sometimes she takes her pranks too far just to have fun and see Sakurai’s reaction that she doesn’t realize until it is too late that those pranks and teasing make them look like lovebirds. And then when she does, it gets awkward and we get to relish seeing Uzaki in her blushing form. Is this the best or what?

And yeah, Sakurai having to play the straight man most of the time due to certain ambiguous situations and choice of words, I hope he doesn’t turn traumatic in the future. The dynamism between the duo is as such that they have a better chance of becoming doing natural manzai comedy together. Such fun. As hinted, Uzaki’s crude manner of speaking in an accent may be to mask her true feelings for her senpai. Since Sakurai is somewhat a bit crude too, so speaking in this manner perhaps a sign that they are on the same level? And imagine if Uzaki starts talking all feminine. Weird, right? Can’t imagine that kind of Uzaki.

And it goes without saying that the other main pull of attracting us to watch this series is because of Uzaki’s freaking huge knockers. Like yours truly, it is probably the main motivating factor on why we check this out in the first place. So much so that I think they literally ‘advertise’ those enormous jugs as you can see Uzaki wearing her t-shirt that blatantly says ‘sugoi dekai’ which translates to mean ‘extremely huge’. Is this where her growth went instead of her stature?! I hope not but I can’t help think of this possibility! I’m sure there are doujin Uzaki porn somewhere out there in the deep dark web… Well, if you think about it, when you have a title that literally means Uzaki wants to come play, without context it looks more like a shady hentai title! Or maybe sugoi dekai also refers to the big heart she has in keeping Sakurai company… Nah!

Considering the massive tits she has, it goes without saying that there are some fanservice elements here. However after the initial episodes of blatant fanservice (the one whereby Uzaki got stuck in the bush and her pantsu was obviously showing), then it started to tone down. If I’m not mistaken, the fanservice then ‘disappeared’ for a while. At least, it wasn’t as blatant as the stuck-in-the-bush one. I was expecting this sort of fanservice comedy for later episodes but I suppose they don’t want to dilute the series’ worth. We’ve already got those sugoi dekai pair each time Uzaki appears on screen, what more do you want? Don’t be too greedy. Of course the beach episode and the karaoke cosplay to display her mammoth jugs only come later.

I wonder if Uzaki’s name is taken after the word ‘uzai’, meaning annoyance or noisy. Because that is basically her gist of her character. Contrary to Sakurai’s name, I guess his gloomy face doesn’t represent the cherry blossom very well. I suppose this is to say that never judge a book by its cover. Sakurai is one of those guys who might be born with such a scary face and those who don’t know him well enough will be turned off. After all, despite having such looks, he has a soft side to it and that he likes cats. Too bad the cats give him the same eluding treatment too. Ah well, cats being cats so that’s somewhat expected.

As for the other characters, they’re not really anything much because of them just being bystanders and trying to enjoy watching the interaction between the best entertainers in their lives. Sometimes it is tempting to get involved and want to do something more to add spice to it all but watching such in their natural form is always the best. Because then nobody can blame you for interfering. All that doing is by your own accord! Still, I find it strange that Ami and her father, whenever they start enjoying watching the show, they start digging into their imaginary rice bowl complete with their imaginary chopsticks. Like, WTF?! Oh well, to each his/her own when they enjoy the things they love. I think Sakaki is mainly a redundant character. Except when the plot calls for someone who is rich and can provide them easy lodging or transport, he is your reason why our characters get to go places. And yeah, also to prove that Sakurai isn’t a loner Uzaki thinks he is but even so, it doesn’t really matter. I don’t know it Tsuki is turning into MILF material. But due to getting wrong ideas about Sakurai, what’s a lonely single mother gonna turn into? Especially when she often misinterprets her daughter trying to pimp her up. Better lay off those afternoon dramas for a while.

One of the weirdest mind boggling characters in this series is that cartoonish faced cat (what’s that its name is called Kusocat or something?!). I’m not sure if it is the series’ mascot but each time it randomly pops up, it has this flabbergasted and gobsmacked look on its face. Usually after Uzaki and Sakurai do something considered to be unbelievable, then they turn the scene to show us this cat’s incredulous looks. I don’t think it is their guardian angel but since this cat is literally everywhere, it’s like guardian angel cat can’t believe what it is seeing. Believe me, there are more ludicrous stuffs out there than seeing these 2 interact.

Art and animation are okay. Typical standard Japanese anime. Just want to point out that my minor complaint is that Uzaki looks so tomboyish that it is as though it is a trade off with her boobs. Personally, Uzaki looks more like a young kid than a girl so that’s the put off for me. Yeah, I know. Had she been more feminine, she would’ve been another one of those fapping materials. Honestly, she looks more feminine in her high school days with longer hair than her college days. I suppose it is to match her crude personality. And like I theorized, to hide her true feminine feelings since Uzaki all in all is still a girl, you know. Of course with her petite stature and whopping breasts, coupled in with her androgynous looks, she looks very much unbalanced. Is it me or when she starts doing her trademark smirk, she looks a bit like an alien?! While the backgrounds are also pretty standard, I can’t help that the Tottori episode’s quality was ramped up. Of course that episode feels like a blatant advertising episode for the Japanese prefecture and they better put on their best quality if they’re going to showcase some of the best tourist sites in the area. This anime is done by Engi whose only other work before this was Hataage! Kemono Michi.

For the voice acting, kudos to Naomi Oozora voicing the lead role of Uzaki. I really love her voice in making her character sound so crude and lively. In a way, it’s kinda cute too. So if you’ve heard her play characters like the titular character in Chio-chan No Tsuugakuro, Satania in Gabriel Dropout and Yuma in Soushin Shoujo Matoi, you know what to expect her from here. Good job. Ayana Taketatsu as Ami and Saori Hayami as Tsuki are the only seiyuus I recognized here. The other casts are Kenji Akabane as Sakurai (Arashi in Triage X), Tomoya Takagi as Sakaki (debut role) and Yousuke Akimoto as Master (Regius in Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode Oracle). The opening theme is Nadamesukashi Negotiation by Kano and Naomi Oozora, a pretty upbeat denpa song that fits the pacing of this series well. Suddenly the ending theme is Kokoro Knock by YuNi becomes a slow ballad. Not to say the song is bad, but after all the antics, hearing such a slow piece feels a bit out of place. A good song for reminiscing. Ah yes, thanks for all the good memories.

Overall, light hearted funny anime that anyone could enjoy. If you like to see funny character interactions between characters who are poles apart in terms of personality and physical appearance, this one might do the trick. I mean, it’s not like everyone is so lucky to have a well-endowed girl to go keep you company for the rest of your college life, right? Don’t let those boobs trick and distract you as tools of fanservice. Maybe they are but we should all see past that for the glorious interaction between Uzaki and Sakurai, right? Don’t blame/hate the boobs! Blame/hate the stigma! Sakurai can have Uzaki to thank for because now he can reminisce back to those college days and rekindle those annoying and bugging moments that could have been in place a quiet and peaceful life… Yeah… Tune in next time when Uzaki and Sakurai are now a married couple and life will never be the same ever again! I bet that won’t be funny anymore…

Gun Frontier

Imagine if Captain Harlock was a gunslinger cowboy. Oh heck, actually this was actually the precursor of what Harlock was before he was known as a famous space pirate. Yes, I’m talking about Gun Frontier. No, not to be mistaken with the Japanese side scrolling arcade shooter game of the same name. It’s Gun Frontier the anime! Before there was space opera, it was a western spaghetti. The barren desert wasteland of the wild west that is so unforgiving that it will make a grown man cry like a baby. That death is the only dream come true for the weak. Heh. Go ahead. Make my day. Oops. Wrong reference. But anyway, our cowboy dude here seems to be teaming up with a Japanese dude on a mission to find the latter’s lost clansmen across the landscape.

Episode 1
As narrated, Gun Frontier is a ruthless planet where the weak cannot survive. Ooohhh… I’m so scared… Anyway, a guy tries to sell his rifle for a high price. When denied, he tries to rob the pawn store guy. Luckily for him, his bodyguards shoot him dead. They are Franklin Harlock Jr and Tochiro Oyama. They are tasked to bury the body and they dig a hole right in front of someone’s shop?! Pick somewhere else! They thought a hot chick was watching them but in a blink of an eye she disappears. They thought another robbery occurred so Harlock returns and shoots that guy dead. Turns out he was just a customer so pawn store guy gets mad and fires them. Later the sheriff calls them to give them the reward for the first guy they shot because he is on the bounty list. They then go drink and celebrate their pay and notice that hot chick again. They think she is relate to the guy they murdered and is mad at them. So they go apologize, give her the rifle and all their bounty?! She notes they are real brave men and have no fear of losing everything. Even if they have a million bucks, they will still give it all to her. Yeah, now the guys regret they should’ve retained some money for food. Then they see that hot chick pawning the rifle for $500! After that, they are confronted by a couple of hitman. Harlock didn’t draw his gun because Tochiro didn’t give his permission?! Just draw it now! In an instant he shoots them dead. However, a sniper could’ve done them in had not that hot chick, Sinunora shot him. They thought she hated them. She doesn’t give a definite answer but thinks it is not time for them to die yet.

She hints that a couple of women are hiring men to kill them and to nip this at the bud. At the barn, they see those women seducing men to kill them. This will never end if they don’t take out the women. It isn’t Harlock’s style to kill woman but he won’t be killed either. First he fires warning shots. Those guys think they can be sneaky but Harlock is the fastest gunslinger! When the sheriff comes in, he sees Harlock’s gun and shoots the women! He will then frame these guys for murder. Those men are his deputies. To make an example of them, he is going to hang them all because apparently this town if you don’t have a permanent residence, you don’t deserve wealth. Yeah, return the bounty please! As they badmouth the duo, Tochiro thinks he can kill them all since they are the bad guys. Of course they laugh at this and before they know it, Tochiro draws his sword and slashes them all! No chance! This guy can even dodge bullets! Tochiro explains holding a sword is his style since his hands are too small to hold a gun. Sinunora is stumped if he is an Indian but Harlock claims his partner isn’t even a westerner. It doesn’t matters what race he is and thanks to Tochiro, Harlock is still living today. They pack their bags and leave town and looks like Sinunora intends to follow them whether they like it or not.

Episode 2
A group of bandits attack a carriage that is transporting goods. Seems Harlock and Tochiro are also riding it. They rob everything and even want to rape the hot chick that is with them. But I guess Harlock reminding them to take their stuffs too, yeah, goods > hot woman. Then they put all of them in the carriage and burn it down. They also fire some shots to make sure they stay dead. However the hot chick uses her body to protect them since they helped her. Oh f*ck. What a waste of a beautiful woman. The duo are pulled out by Indians. They claim somebody is misusing their name to commit crime. After the duo bury the victims, they return to Sinunora who is complaining they took their time and came back empty handed! Like, WTF?! She even thinks they are gay!!! Guess what? The guys just f*cking ignore her and go to sleep! Don’t make the day worse. To test if they are really gay, she strips before them! No reaction. So are they really gay?! They claim they can’t concentrate in a threesome so she is happy for them to take turns or fight over her! This is where they draw the line. Friendship > women. They’re not going to kill each other over one. Wow. True men. But okay. You missed your chance, dorks. Damn. Sinunora may be the one who got the last laugh.

Entering the next town with its own set of weird rules, looks like the administrator (is that what they call the mayor here?) is some sort of an environmentalist. Such a ‘clean freak’ too that the only saloon in town is dilapidated and at the outskirts. Our guys are happy to drink with the old bartender who is glad to have customers in 6 months! On the house! But before they could enjoy their drink, the administrator, De La Medam and his men shoot the bartender! That’s for flouting the rules. The duo are then locked up and will be hanged tomorrow. In prison, they know De La Medam is the bandit because of his unique European gun. Learning from the selfish warden he is from France and a wealthy dude, Tochiro then tricks him to hand his stick (which hides his sword) and then kills him to take his key. Meanwhile Sinunora and Medam look like they know each other. Something about they must follow orders from the organization and she won’t have those guys killed yet. But Medam doesn’t care and all he thinks about is peace via control. After some threats, Sinunora tells of Tochiro’s weakness of his eyesight and bad with guns. That was easy. After Harlock and Tochiro discover evidence of this group having Indian getup, Harlock then goes on a gun shooting spree, killing all of Medam’s men. Medam thinks he can run? Tochiro wants to handle this himself to avenge the bartender. Medam gets cocky thinking Sinunora’s info was right on spot as Tochiro misses. At point blank range, Tochiro stabs him. Yeah, stupid guy thinks Sinunora betrayed him for not telling this info! The townspeople are horrified that there will be no one to look after them. When Tochiro tries to reveal Medam as the culprit who robs from others masquerading as Indians, they get mad and kick them out. As they leave, Tochiro stumbles into those Indians and tells the truth. Even so, they cannot forgive the town for stealing their property as they descend and attack the town. Oh well, nothing to do with our vagabonds. Just get going.

Episode 3
While taking shelter from the sandstorm, Sinunora is curious about Tochiro’s origins since he is heading towards Samurai Creek. Of course he doesn’t say. Does it matter where he comes from? They agree not to be nosy on each other’s past so that means they can’t ask where Sinunora came from as she hints she is not from the west. Once the sandstorm is over, looks like their horses are dead! They didn’t bother protecting them?! Yeah, now the guys have to become horses to pull the carriage. At least they have horse meat. Suddenly they are attacked by a lone bandit named Muriguson. He has them even cook horse meat for him and has Sinunora strip and dance! He wants to get lucky with her too so he knocks out the duo to get his chance. However it is revealed Muriguson and Sinunora know each other and they’re just putting up an act. Sinunora tells what she knows about Tochiro and Muriguson will continue doing further investigation. Next time the guys wake up, their stuffs are intact. Just the meat gone. When they enter the next town, a sandstorm briefly hits them. A gunshot is heard. When the sandstorm passes, oh damn, a hot chick dead before them! This has the sheriff and the townspeople accusing them of killing her. Look, here is the wanted poster of them. Uhm, isn’t that Muriguson?! Tochiro claims it doesn’t look like him so the sheriff calls the drunk artist to draw it to look like him! If that doesn’t help, change Tochiro’s face!!! Yeah, they’re going to hang them and get the $35,000 bounty. WTF they also strip Sinunora to hang her?! Damn horny guys.

As they are about to drop the noose, Tochiro uses his hidden sword to cut them loose and kill the sheriff. He knows he was the one who shot the hot chick to blame them. What to do? They needed the money badly. Sinunora then has the drunk artist draw the sheriff’s face on the wanted list. There, turn him in and your money woes are solved. Hooray! Stupid people. As they leave town, they see a dying Muriguson before them. He claims he was attacked by wild dogs. With all that meat he is carrying, is he stupid? Anyway, he seems to know something about Tochiro. Before he could reveal a certain country across the Pacific to Sinunora, he dies. Oh damn. Harlock warns Sinunora of being too nosy on Tochiro’s origins. She’ll be dead if she sticks her nose too deep. No time to bury Muriguson. Let the vultures take care of the body. When they arrive at Samurai Creek, the wild dogs seemingly want to attack them. But upon seeing Tochiro, they back down like the good boys they are. Samurai Creek is now ruins. In shambles. Sinunora notices Tochiro crying. He then says just like her, he too is searching for something. What’s a woman got to do but give this shorty a big hug.

Episode 4
It seems Tochiro has gone off on his own to a town for a mission. A mission he might die from. Harlock doesn’t go with him because he doesn’t want to also die? So much about friendship. In this town, Tochiro meets Hedelnoiya who seems to know a woman he is looking for. Hedelnoiya warns him to keep his distance seeing this town is racist and hates other races not their own. If Tochiro manages to see this woman, he wants him to help out with a job. Tochiro sees that woman, Maya Tibacosl and claims that is not her real name and is supposed to be of the same race as him. But she denies and leaves. Her husband isn’t happy this midget tried to hit on his wife and is going to kill him. Of course with Tochiro being a lousy shooter (poor bird had to die!), Tibacosl gets cocky. Until Tochiro slices him up. The town then celebrates because this guy is ruthless and unforgiving. Apparently this is the job Hedelnoiya wanted Tochiro to do. More shockingly, Maya now goes with him. With Tibacosl gone, they can be together. Tochiro isn’t done talking with Maya yet but she promises to reveal things later. Then she shoots him! Hedelnoiya completes the job by pumping a few more bullets in him. Although Tochiro is a hero for killing Tibacosl, because he is not a white, they just dump his body. Meanwhile Harlock and Sinunora are so deep asleep they didn’t realize their carriage is being carried away by the flood?! Oh, they spot Tochiro’s body floating. Picking him up, Tochiro isn’t dead yet. Thanks to his cloak, the bullets missed all the vital parts. Tochiro mentions she was shot by the woman he was looking for and then asks Harlock if women like good looking guys. Of course! Damn, this guy is crying no woman would want a midget like him?! Harlock gives him hope there is more to looks for a man. Even Sinunora has hope that he is a man among man. Says the woman who is among woman. Damn this dialogue…

Hedelnoiya knows Maya’s real name is Maya Yukikaze. How? He has a katana and shows a scar by it on his back. Wait a minute. Didn’t they have sex just a minute ago?! Didn’t she see this? Unless it was missionary all the way… Long story short, this scar was given by Maya’s father since Hedelnoiya and his merry men were trying to pillage the village. Many died. Hedelnoiya survived and vowed revenge after learning he had a daughter who escaped. But since she found her way to Tibacosl, he had to be careful. Now he is gone, he can do whatever he wants. Hence he wants Maya to pinpoint the treasure. However she doesn’t know and claims she tossed away her name just to survive. She thinks she needs a strong man for that. Seeing she is useless, Hedelnoiya kills her! Right timing as Tochiro comes in. Revenge time? Hedelnoiya claims unfairness since he is unarmed. So Tochiro throws away his sword?! Yeah, the jerk tries to take the katana he stabbed Maya but apparently she is holding onto it tightly! Pry it from my cold hands! Tochiro then kicks this guy in the face! Not sure if that killed him but Maya is sorry for what she did. Revealing her true name to him, her last wish is to say it. And then another hot chick bites the dust. Tochiro is now resolved that since he found a kind of his own here, there must be others in other towns. Sinunora has an idea about Tochiro but he too has the same idea on her. Will he kill her? He hopes not to. But don’t get in his way if she doesn’t want to die.

Episode 5
Arriving in the next town, weird things are happening. Some guy fishing on the roof, some guy sleeping in the street and a guy taking a dump in the middle of the road! Apparently the mayor enacted a new law that allows anyone to do anything. Freedom! This means looks like somebody is sniping at them! While Harlock fights off the menace, Tochiro crawls his way to the bar for a drink. The bartender will serve whoever he wants and beats up Tochiro! Sinunora takes him to the doctor but Dr Surusky tries to rape her?! Of course she knocks him out. Apparently Surusky is the guy whom Tochiro is looking for. Surusky gets scared when Tochiro calls him by his real name, Madaravich. He is the guy who let the survivors out of Samurai Creek and was paid a gold coin. Hence Tochiro knows he has that map that also shows where he led those survivors. Surusky tries to deny it all but his daughter, Katrina tells him to just get clean. She understands why Tochiro wants to reunite with his clan. So as Surusky shows Tochiro the map he hid in his rifle (at the same time claiming he was only a soldier blinded by gold and the massacre at Samurai Creek was ordered by some organization), Katrina talks to Sinunora privately. Sinunora can tell she is from the organization since she knew their names despite not introducing themselves. Katrina reminds Sinunora about her mission to hunt down Tochiro’s people and kill them. Yet she is siding with one. Katrina shoots her. Don’t worry, just a warning shot that grazed her forehead so Sinunora is just unconscious. She is tied up but the lone guy watching her is thinking with his dick so Sinunora suffocates him with her thighs. And she isn’t even that thicc…

Meanwhile Tochiro takes Surusky away. He knows that Surusky is being kept alive because he knows the place of the survivors. Knowing that some will come to see him, the puppet master will follow them to that place. Surusky didn’t like this since he changed his name to escape from it all. Hence starts the weirdest gun fight between them. Yeah, they hit everything except each other! Joining up with Harlock, they make their way out of town as Tochiro continues to talk to Surusky about Katrina being the puppet master. Surusky knew it all along but couldn’t help it. He is just happy being a loving father even if it is all just pretending. Too bad the feeling isn’t mutual as Katrina snipes and kills Surusky. She even desecrates his body by spitting on him! She thinks of letting Harlock live to guide them to the place and kills Tochiro because he is ugly. Sinunora arrives in time to kill her henchmen, allowing Tochiro to cut her. Once again the cloak proved deceptive… Harlock throws her the map. It is only half drawn. The other half was in Surusky’s head as a way to protect himself and she killed him. She doesn’t care and when Harlock turns his back, she is about to shoot him but Tochiro effectively kills her. After burying Surusky, they continue their journey. Sinunora wonders if she can still follow since she might be their enemy. The guys have no problem. Because they’re real men!

Episode 6
In the next town, Sinunora sees Nogson about a missing person named Yamada in the papers. Looks like they both know each other since they’re from the same organization. However Nogson views Sinunora as a traitor since it’s her job to track down the Japs and yet she is with one. He is about to kill her but here comes Tochiro to the rescue. That failed because Nogson’s brother who is also the sheriff points his gun at him. Tochiro is thrown into prison while the sheriff plans to rape Sinunora before he kills him. How typical. Then he will release Tochiro in hopes he will lead them to his people. Of course all that won’t happen since Harlock is here to save the day. After rescuing Tochiro, Nogson holds them at gun point and reveals the missing person was a ruse just to lure in people like Tochiro. He is going to make a great new headline for tomorrow’s paper. He will kill them in pretence for trying to escape. After he shoots Harlock in his shoulder, Tochiro gets mad and damn he’s super fast in getting his sword and cutting their clothes! Now leave this town naked if you don’t want to die! As Tochiro and co leave town later, they see Nogson and the sheriff’s body being cut down. It can’t be Tochiro since he was trying to fetch water. This makes Tochiro happy knowing that his kind is still alive and protecting them from the shadows. Sinunora cautions they might not trust them and get the same death treatment. Tochiro doesn’t care since he is more than happy to be killed by his own people.

As they stay at the cabin for the night, while Sinunora takes a bath outside, this guy comes to kidnap her. Thank goodness Tochiro wanted to take a peek but he lost a gunfight with him. Harlock can’t shoot straight since his shoulder still hurts. Since it’s too dark, the guys will wait till tomorrow morning to rescue her! Yeah, they think Sinunora is too pretty to be killed! Just then, a postman arrives to deliver them a letter. Postman working at this hour???!!! Anyway, a letter from Baron De Noir F. Tartandare addressing to Tochiro and Harlock. Seems he wants to take back Sinunora and challenges them to a sword or gun duel. Oh, apparently the postman was lost and drunk and that’s why the letter arrived a day late. Sure, but how the heck this Tartandare guy know they’ll be staying here?! So as they sleep in for the night, a couple of samurai babes, Sanae and Ayame wake them up. So WTF they confirm they are Japanese like Tochiro but will not bring him to their group because they don’t trust them?! So why show their faces?! Oh, it’s to warn them of an impending flood. The guys move out right before the flood washes away the cabin. Meanwhile the samurai babes go face off with Tartandare. By the time Tochiro and Harlock arrive, the samurai babes have died! OMFG! Twin dead hot chicks! Sinunora is tied up nearby as Tartandare explains Sinunora once belonged to him but she ran away and changed her name. Not sure what this wealthy European dude wants because it’s like he will kill all of them and return alone. Tochiro wants to fight him with a sword and so he agrees. Can’t blame this guy who doesn’t know better. It just ended in a flash with Tochiro slicing him down. No chance. After freeing Sinunora, Tochiro wonders if Tartandare is her husband. She doesn’t want him to ask questions now and there will be a time she’ll reveal it all. Sinunora feels guilty the samurai babes died for her hopes to continue travelling with them. Tochiro doesn’t mind. Just stay by his side, he’ll be happy.

Episode 7
Tochiro is in town alone and he can hear all those racist whites calling him names. So he threatens to do his business in the middle of the streets! Yeah, that showed them. Now everybody runs back into their homes and hide! So as he reliefs himself in the alley, the sheriff arrests him for public indecency. Yeah, he’ll be hanged tomorrow too for that! While sitting in his cell, it seems the reason Tochiro is in this town is because he received a letter for a job to kill a man. To his surprise, it is a woman named Asaka who penned that letter to him. She thinks he has taken this job for he is here in this town. With her help, Tochiro is able to get out of his cell and tie up the sheriff in and indecent manner! Oh man, will he get hanged now? Asaka brings Tochiro back to her place. A wonderful Japanese house. Tochiro must be feeling nostalgic. Asaka gets down to business that she has no money to pay him but will be his servant once his job completes. Tochiro as a samurai has his honour so he doesn’t want that. However Asaka offers her body! OMG, they’re getting down to business! I guess honour has no place in this! Once payment received, Asaka tells her story. The person whom she wants to kill is her husband. Or rather, her captor. Thanks to a traitor named Utamaro, a cavalry decimated Samurai Creek. Survivors thought Asaka’s family had a hand in this and was banished. Hence Asaka was forcefully married off to the leader of the cavalry who is this town’s sheriff (speaking of which, he breaks free when his assistant rescues him but shoots him dead when the assistant threatens to report the indecency!). She waited for a chance to take revenge but realized she is too weak. But with Tochiro here, she has nothing to fear, right?

As she is about to show him the maps of the whereabouts of the survivors, the sheriff and his men surround the place. Tochiro goes into hiding but he can hear the sheriff abusing Asaka as he believes he is having an affair with Tochiro. Yeah, whose f*cking slippers are outside the house! OMG, you messed this one up, Tochiro? Asaka pleads for her life and freedom but he views her no more as a toy. I guess at this point Asaka just reveals her true love for Tochiro. Hey, what she got to lose? He threatens to kill her so that’s when Tochiro comes out of his hiding. I don’t know how the f*ck he could miss slashing and killing him because this allows the sheriff to take Asaka hostage! Give up or she dies. Tochiro does just that and then the sheriff orders his men to kill him. But wait! Asaka dives and protects him from the hail of bullets! Oh no! Another dead hot chick! Rage mode for Tochiro. Now he can kill everybody! As dying Asaka lies in his arms, I guess she’s happy she has met him even if it’s for a short while. Now she’s dead. Damn, the sex was good, no? Sad Tochiro cuts a piece of her hair as keepsake. He doesn’t care about the map anymore as the house burns down. Tochiro returns to Harlock and Sinunora. Poor guy hugs Sinunora and continues crying. He tells what happened and they give him words of encouragement. Yeah, he sure is going to miss that great sex.

Episode 8
In this next town, because there is a train, Tochiro throws a tantrum and wants to ride it. Oh well, might as well sell the new wagon they just bought. Or give it away since they don’t want money! Obviously Tochiro is not allowed to sit in the same carriage as the whites so out the back he sits. Sinunora accompanies him and soon Harlock too because he is associated with the Jap. It seems this train will take them to the next city where Utamaro resides. Soon, a guy offers to let Sinunora in. However he and his men know her and yes, they’re from the same organization and know they are after Utamaro. They think Sinunora is betraying them because she isn’t doing her mission. But when she mentions Tochiro is the same as them, they find this an insult. Before they kill her (why the heck do they need to strip her clothes?)!, she shows them a gold coin from Tochiro. She lies about Tochiro hiding hundreds of these and that’s why she didn’t make her move yet. Of course the greedy guys also realize that Utamaro has lots of this. They plan to get his gold too. As Utamaro knows somebody is after his life, he has beefed up his security and has a hot babe as his gun slinging bodyguard. They’ll let Harlock and Tochiro fight and kill Utamaro and then share the gold just to make them think they are friends. Once his guard is down, they’ll get Tochiro to reveal his gold’s whereabouts. Meanwhile an Indian has bombed the bridge ahead (for being built on sacred land). Because he sees Tochiro’s and recognizes an ally, he warns them about it. Damn, horse as fast as the train? The guys barge in to see Sinunora under attack. Helter-skelter as they take Sinunora and jump off the train. The organization guys think they’re stupid but look who will be having the last laugh as the train falls through the ravine! Thank goodness. There was a woman among that group who just keep screaming in her dialogue. Good riddance won’t be hearing more of that.

Tochiro and co trek to the next city. Hope it isn’t far. Regret selling their wagon, eh? Arriving in the city, can’t miss Utamaro’s residence. That huge luxurious mansion up on the hill. Filled with guards everywhere, thankfully that Indian stole something so all the guard go after him? Yeah, no more guards. Cue for Tochiro’s team to barge in. Hate to interrupt your sex with your bodyguard, Utamaro. Time for some sword slashing business. As Tochiro fights him, Harlock faces off with the bodyguard. Since his skills is unrivalled, it ends in an instant! OMFG! Hot chick just died like that! Tochiro demands Utamaro’s reason for selling out his own people. It seems he considers Japs to be barbarians and uncivilized. To him, only those civilized are qualified to rule and that person to rule them all is no other than their master, Dark Meister. Also, he hates how ugly Japanese look despite being one. And that is our cue for Tochiro to slice him down for good. After living the luxurious life, you don’t think his skills can top Tochiro, right? Revenge achieved. Rest in peace, Asaka and his people. They then discover a secret basement that houses Utamaro’s treasures. For a guy who hates Japanese, he sure has lots of Japanese treasures. Hmmm, maybe he just hates the people… Among them is a sword that is similar to Tochiro’s. He instantly knows this belongs to Shizuku, his sister. He never told this to Harlock because he doesn’t know if she is alive or not. After all, she was at Samurai Creek, the reason why Tochiro came to this land. Now his goal is to find and save Shizuku and his people from Dark Meister. Assuming she is still alive, that is. As they leave, the Indian gives Tochiro the gold he stole. He used to live near Samurai Creek but looks like he has no more friends there. So I guess he doesn’t need it anymore.

Episode 9
While traversing through the sandstorm, they pick up Oliver Winchester who got lost in the midst. Tochiro then rushes off to see a strange monument. Oh sh*t! It’s a corpse of a hot chick hung upside down! A hot chick already dead from the start! A few men then shoot at Tochiro. They didn’t kill him and want to torture him. Thanks to Winchester’s sharp hearing, he heard that they will hang Tochiro tomorrow morning. Arriving in town, since they don’t know where Tochiro is, they stay in a hotel to wait for dawn. So I guess Harlock and Sinunora have got nothing better to pass the time than to chat. Harlock relates the first time he met Tochiro. They were enemies. Harlock was a pirate and like many, came to Japan to pillage. After all, Japan was always at war. Harlock and Tochiro fought but suddenly Tochiro saved Harlock life. They became best friends since and since Tochiro expressed interest in the west, Harlock brought him here on his ship. I guess the talk was so boring that Sinunora wants to f*ck him. Tochiro isn’t here! Too bad, friendship > sex! WTF???!!! HARLOCK, YOU GAY?! Meanwhile we see those guys beating up Tochiro and stripping him naked. Damn, they hint something about him as the only thing not small! Do I think it is what it is?! But I guess we’d rather see Harlock smashing Sinunora… Only Sinunora changes her mind and doesn’t feel like it because he took too long!!!! WTF???!!! With that, they discuss why they’re in this town in the first place. It’s to find a guy named Colorman who has lots of women. Suddenly they are interrupted when the wall comes crashing down. A bunch of disappointed women who couldn’t get to see some copulating action! They hint that because Colorman looks like Tochiro, the reason they think Tochiro is that guy and lured him out by killing his wife! Yeah, those guys are jealous he has so many mistresses!

Next day, they see Tochiro already hung in the plaza! OMFG! Did they oversleep?! Sinunora is reduced to crying while Harlock is going to get revenge. Winchester passes him special bullets and as Harlock tries to get Tochiro down, those guys attack thinking he is Colorman’s ally. Some vengeful sharpshooting. When Harlock uses the special bullet, it shoots through the iron! You mean he is so surprised, he didn’t see the other baddies surrounding him?! But alas, cue for Tochiro to wake up, grab his sword (Harlock left it with him then), cut himself loose and slash everybody! Sinunora, you can stop crying now. Winchester is so amazed that his cigar accidentally lit up the gunpowder barrel. WTF?! BOOM! Tochiro is still alive is because the noose was hung around his waist. Apparently Winchester is a rich duded and he paid off the hangman for this. This is to repay his debt for saving him from the sandstorm. The explosion seemed to kill Colorman who was watching nearby. Oh shucks. Can’t question him now because he sold about 20 Japanese women and he might have some clues about them. Harlock notes about the special bullet. But after a use, it ruined his gun. Winchester is disappointed as he planned to sell it to the military as this special bullet was made by Shizuku! Oh Tochiro, don’t kill him if you want more answers! Winchester was in the organization when he met Shizuku. However he left since he doesn’t agree to their ways of using science and technology for evil purposes. But he doesn’t know about Shizuku’s whereabouts now. Tochiro hopes she is still alive.

Episode 10
Arriving in the next town to find clues of a samurai sword, Tochiro is stopped by this guy, Henagum from entering because this town forbids short people! Discrimination! I wonder how this works out for kids and babies… Okay, but why the f*ck did he need to shoot their horse?! Tochiro waits outside while the duo go investigate. While cooking horse meat, a young lad and his sister come begging for food. Tochiro shares and being the big heart he is, gives them more horse meat to take back to their dad. He too is banished because of his height. Also, he is dying of a terminal disease. Tochiro wants to get some medicine to relief his cough so what is his medication? Liquor! You can’t be serious! As Tochiro goes into town to get some, the lad then mentions about seeing his mom. You see, mom left dad because of his height and married another taller guy. Yeah, how did they even marry in the first place? He doesn’t like mom for leaving but has no choice since dad is dying. So what’s her name? Yoneko. Sounds so Japanese. In town, Tochiro can easily find her. That’s because Henagum who is f*cking her is screaming her name out loudly! Can’t miss that. I wonder if she loves his tall dick too. Sorry to interrupt your sex but Tochiro has business with her. Please come with him. Too bad he let his guard down thinking they’re of the same kind so she clubs him from the back.

Next morning, Tochiro is going to be hanged. Not again! Harlock and Sinunora can’t do anything because they are outnumbered. Since Sinunora begs to do anything, you bet the horny Henagum tells her to strip! And so she did. Because all the horny men are enjoying the striptease, this allows Harlock to shoot the noose off. Henagum is confident they are still outnumbered. True, but Harlock will kill him first! The coward calls off the execution. As for Yoneko, since she continues to badmouth about her ex-husband, Tochiro slices up he clothes! He warns her she is dead and never to appear before her children anymore. As they leave, a punk tries to be funny but you know, nobody is a faster gunslinger than Harlock, right? Let that be a warning. Returning to the ailing father, Tochiro tells mom died after overworking for this medicine. The liquor, right?! He also lies that she didn’t marry a tall guy. Father understands anything and because he has no money, he only has this samurai sword to give. That’s the sword they’re looking for, right? It was given by Yoneko’s father in hopes of taking care of his daughter. He also knows that in Jama City which is reachable after a few train stops, there is a large settlement of Japanese. That’s where he met Yoneko. But be warned, the Japanese women there don’t like Japanese men! The irony. As Tochiro and co make their way to the next town and suddenly before them are Japanese samurai men! They have been watching Tochiro and although he isn’t the enemy, they don’t see him as an ally either. Thus they can’t let him join them although their goal is to head to Jama City and free their comrades. But it doesn’t change the fact Tochiro’s goal is the same so he hopes it will soon change their mind. Yeah, Harlock and Sinunora blaming themselves for being white for not helping out with Tochiro’s case! What’s race gotta do with it?! As they take the next time, Henagum is making a scene because tall people aren’t allowed in the carriage since the owner of this train is a shorty! Talking about freedom and equality, huh? What about you, f*cking hypocrite?! Sit right outside at the back! And more just desserts as Sinunora shoot him as payback to the striptease. That’s your justice!

Episode 11
Arriving at Jama City, uhm, there is no town! Did they just build a station in the middle of nowhere?! As they stay in the station for the night, they notice the mountain glowing. Tochiro goes to check it out but Harlock is afraid of ghosts?! Cue for Sinunora to wonder what will happen after their fight with the organization is over. Will she be abandoned? Tochiro then screams for them to come up here. Oh dang, the huge Jama City hiding behind the mountain! They learn that the one who rules this place is Shitalnen and he is from the organization. Yup, another guy ruling with an iron fist. Each time they ask for his hideout, somebody shoots and kill the poor chap! I wonder why they didn’t shoot Tochiro too if that’s the case! We see Shitalnen a slave driver, forcing the Japanese to complete some weapon. I believe Shizuku is among them trying to give her people some hope but those who don’t work, Shitalnen mercilessly kills them! Learning that the samurai group is here, Shitalnen and his men go face them. The samurai guys aren’t stupid since they are hiding and fire their matchlock gun when they refuse to heed to their demand. But Shitalnen isn’t cowering yet. Night falls as Tochiro and co prepare to sleep. Suddenly somebody fires with a matchlock into their room?! WTF?! The culprit is also left the gun at the door?! From how it is made, Tochiro can tell it is done by his people. But of course, a note stating Sinunora is captured and to come to a certain place. Meeting up, once more she is stripped naked and tied up. So the culprits are those samurai guys? They think they can ambush the duo but a stupid distraction by Tochiro has him slice some of them and Harlock getting in some of the action too. The rest soon flee in cowardice. Tochiro realizes they are not real samurai because of the way they handled the matchlock. But how do they get the kimono and sword then?

Next day, they see a guy selling a bunch of samurai swords. It seems he saw a bunch of dead samurai corpse out of town and collected their swords to sell. Tochiro rushes to the scene to see his fellow men massacred. With one of them alive, he recounts that Shitalnen used a gatling gun on them! I guess now this guy only views Tochiro as their saviour. Please save their kind. Because he is one of them. So it has to turn out like this for Tochiro to be accepted, huh? Shitalnen returns to brag about his kills and destroy any hope of those Japanese being rescued. Then he threatens to kill Shizuku because he won’t be taken for a fool if she thinks she can delay the completion. She promises to complete it in 2 days. Now Shitalnen and his men are chasing Tochiro’s group. Tochiro could have been done in by the gatling gun had not Sinunora been quick. It must be a lucky day for our heroes since they manage to run and escape from the rain of hell bullets and Shitalnen’s car is slowpoke. I know Tochiro wants to die avenging his people but Sinunora slaps him to at least retreat for today. His people can’t be saved if he dies now, right? And so Tochiro is frustrated but with simple motivational words from Harlock and Sinunora, don’t give up, there’s always tomorrow! Oh yeah. We’re gonna get stronger and finish this.

Episode 12
Sinunora feels bad now that she has betrayed Dark Meister? So she wants to leave the gang? Tochiro hopes she can tell her story because they’re friends. Hey, what happened about the no prying business? I guess we’re at this point so might as well tell. She reveals that Dark Meister wants to control all the science and technology in the world for evil. You see, every war that has happened, Dark Meister has a hand in it. As for why she is in the organization, she was actually studying biology in Europe and was fascinated by the organization’s ambitions. Only later she realized its evil intentions. It was then she was also ordered to keep an eye on Tochiro and extract info on him. At this point the guys just forgive her because it’s not like there’s any point if they separate now, right? Meanwhile Shitalnen realizes Shizuku is a girl after her getup accidentally comes off. He tries to rape her but luckily his wife is here! Meanwhile the trio discuss their strategy to take down Shitalnen but first they have to get pass his gatling gun. Tochiro’s idea is for Harlock to be a decoy and get shot while he sneaks up behind and slash him. Of course that won’t do so Harlock suggests Tochiro be the decoy and get shot while he shoots Shitalnen. Surprise, Tochiro agrees! It was just a joke, but heck, he’s going with this plan. Then they talk about Shizuku whose talents surpass many men. Because women in Japan do not get acknowledged, the reason she came to the west for freedom and equality to test her skills. For some reason, Tochiro and Harlock want to go see a striptease show. WTF???!!! I guess they need a break before the real fight. Because of that, Sinunora sees her real employer. Seems she wants out since she has given enough info about Dark Meister. However her boss wants her to keep monitoring Tochiro and Harlock and not reveal her true mission yet. She looks so disappointed…

The horny men watch the striptease. Isn’t that a Japanese chick? Of course Tochiro and Harlock get captured and are immediately sent to the gallows. Their hope is only Sinunora. She too gets captured! Worse, she gets stripped and her modesty outraged. Who gonna save them now? Suddenly an explosion! That Japanese stripper set it off as revenge. Seems she knows Shizuku and tells them her location. She was also from Samurai Creek as all technicians there were kidnapped here. But she claims herself as a traitor as she sold her body to Shitalnen just to survive. You see, Shitalnen’s weakness is women and he will get his hands on any pretty women he finds. As she has had enough of being defiled, she is going to kill herself by taking more men with her. You know, that guy who got charmed by her deserves to die! I mean, wanting to f*ck in the midst of the chaos?! Sadly, she burns herself with that stupid horny guy. Meanwhile Shitalnen hasn’t given up raping Shizuku when his man comes reporting about the blast. He doesn’t care until his wife shows up. Then he gives stupid excuses to go to the site. Because of his frustration, he is just firing randomly but here comes Tochiro. A showdown? Shitalnen isn’t stupid and he knows Tochiro is just a decoy. His men spot Harlock and Sinunora so they start firing. Tochiro fires at Shitalnen and although he misses the dude, his bullet hits his gatling gun and malfunctions it! Shitalnen is left crying like a baby with his toy broken! His men retreat. The trio then trek to his hideout but at this point Shitalnen has got Shizuku hostage and brought out a huge freaking cannon on a train.

Episode 13
WTF, Shizuku wants to test it but Shitalnen knows she’s up to something. Okay. We’ll test it. Fire at the trio! Now she refuses?! What’s more, the trio just stood there!!! Shouldn’t they be hiding?! They know it’s a cannon, right?! Shizuku gives a coded figure to Tochiro to close their ears. Then she pulls the trigger and the loud cannon noise has everyone temporarily deaf. Wow. It hit the rock behind the trio but they’re safe as long as they cover their ears?! BS!!! WTF, Shizuku now tells them to hide and they hide. But why she herself didn’t escape because Shitalnen and his men arguing they can’t hear each other! This is so stupid! Shitalnen wants to fire another shot but is reminded they need to delivery this to Dark Meister. While Harlock and Sinunora keep the men at bay, Tochiro runs after and jumps onto the train. He slices all the men till he reaches Shitalnen. Baddie claims he wants to fight fair and square. True to his sneaky nature, he springs a trap on Tochiro’s head. Then he goes beat him up while Shizuku tries to stop the aggression on her onii-chan. Shitalnen realizes they are siblings so he molests Shizuku just to rile up Tochiro. Yeah, he stabs his butt! Shitalnen so mad he beats them both up. WTF, Shitalnen’s wife getting turned on with this violence?! During all that, Tochiro pulls the trigger so the cannon’s recoil hit a hard one on Shitalnen’s back. Wife gets mad and wants to kill Tochiro but she is shot dead by Harlock and Sinunora on a horse.

More drama as the train is out of control, cannot be stopped and a broken bridge ahead. Tochiro tells Harlock to save Shizuku and his people at the back carriage. After doing so, they jump off. A weakened Tochiro is about to do the same but Shitalnen holds on to him. Dragging you to hell too. Sinunora then tries to push off Shitalnen?! WTF?! Shouldn’t she use a weapon or at least poke his eyes?! This is so stupid!!! I guess Shitalnen is already dead so he lets go but by that time the train goes off the bridge! Oh no! But yeah, luckily Tochiro and Sinunora jump off in time. Now, you’d think it would be a happy ending as Shizuku goes to reunite with her people when suddenly the carriage explodes!!! OMFG!!! What gives! Hovering above them is a huge blimp. Damn, it’s firing missiles too! Because of the fire barricade, it separates Shizuku from the rest. So I’m guessing this shadowy figure with a claw hand is Dark Meister? Yeah, by the time Tochiro jumps through the flames, Shizuku is being kidnapped as the blimp takes off. Tochiro manages to jump on board as Shizuku still struggles. Damn, this is dangerous. Seeing Dark Meister, Tochiro gets mad and tries to slice him but Dark Meister pulls a gun on him. Thanks to Shizuku’s shoulder blocking the shot, his aim is off but Tochiro falls off. The blimp flies away but Tochiro can be glad knowing that Shizuku is still alive. After burying the dead Japanese, the trio then continue their mission to hunt down Dark Meister.

Gun x Sword: The Last Samurai
Oh well, it seems pretty dissatisfying that it had to end that way but I guess most animes would have ended on a very similar note that screams, “And so their journey continues…”. Since there were no further sequels to this series, I suppose if you really want to know what happened, you have to go read the manga. The manga that came out way back in the mid-70s! Good luck trying to find if there are any copies on Amazon or any old timers keeping a copy hidden in their cupboard. All forgotten like the wild barren wastelands of Gun Frontier… Sheesh… I think it is going to take a while for me to stop trying to talk tough like the narrator of this series.

The story is pretty basic although the first few episodes few like filler and standalones because we see our main group hoping from one town to another, trying to find pieces of clues of what happened to Tochiro’s people. More than often, it feels like they’re going on a wild goose chase, having only bits and clues at their hands before moving on to the next town. Is it me or is every town in the west feel like they’re one strange land, each with their own rules? I mean, we got a town that has no rules, then a town that doesn’t like short people and a town at the very beginning that you don’t deserve wealth if you’re not a resident. The land of the free and equal opportunity, huh? More like the land of the strange racists! Oops. Let’s not go that far, shall we. As the story progresses we got a revenge plot for Tochiro to kill a traitor and then it also turns out he is looking for his missing sister. So my guess is that this will be the biggest and final mission our heroes will have to undertake because in order to save Shizuku, they will also have to confront the organization and Dark Meister himself.

Now, it is very obvious here that Harlock himself isn’t the main character and is playing sidekick to Tochiro who feels a lot like the main character with many scenes putting him in focus. Even more so, I can’t help feel that Harlock himself is a bit of a retard although I want to say that he is taciturn and doesn’t talk much. But the way he says his lines and dialogues, I don’t know, it feels a bit amateurish and in a way, makes him sound a bit of a retard. Even if his dynamism with Tochiro is amusing to watch (sometimes played out as a joke), sometimes you can see that way he answers back makes him sound like one. I don’t mean to insult his character but perhaps Harlock being a gunslinger means he does the talking with his gun and hands. Tochiro of course as the main character, he’s pretty okay and like I’ve said, being pals with Harlock makes their relationship feel a lot amusing. You don’t feel any gay bromance between them because I guess it’s back in the early 2000s so such concept is quite alien. It’s more a manly relationship between the duo. The irony that they mention they don’t know what the other think, well, did they not have this no prying business thingy and if you don’t talk, how would the other know? Am I right? That’s why we don’t really know much about their past except for what is explained, which I feel is just touching the surface.

You wonder how Sinunora as the third wheel fits into this. They need to add a hot babe to the group for some eye candy, I guess. Sure, she has her own agenda following the duo and her own secrets and past. It feels a lot about her is not revealed and that she could still be putting up a mask to hide her real identity. Tochiro and Harlock hint they have an idea about her but sometimes I doubt that and maybe they’re just trolling. Thanks to the strong friendship between the guys, Sinunora can’t really get in between them or break them down. To show that she is still human inside, we see her sometimes in conflict with her mission as she goes to see people of the organization that are just literally everywhere! She’s just told to shut up and continue her mission. Who knows if she has a loved one taken hostage and that’s why she’s so willing to continue this spying mission without further questioning.

With all the drama and the plot, I do notice that there is some sort of recycled joke throughout the series. One of them and the biggest one being Tochiro and Harlock getting captured and then being executed by hanging. Like as though this is their favourite pastime! By halfway through, each time I see them ending up in prison or going to be hanged, I’ll be like, “Oh brother. Here we go again…”. Yeah… But they don’t have to worry, though. Because they are the heroes, plot convenience is always here to save them from the gallows. Somehow. Because the bad guys are also too stupid. With that kind of face, I can see why. Which brings me to my next point…

One of the striking elements watching this series is the art style. Although it is definitely old school anime, the one thing that really annoys me and also makes me laugh like mad is the drawing of many other characters. In short, funnily ugly! Perhaps it is some sort of trademark because you can tell the character is just an extra background character or the villain if the character possesses one or more or all of this funnily ugly traits. You notice their eyes are small and so close to each other. Then they have big nose. And their mouths are huge like as though they have mumps or something. Like, WTF do they have this derp face?! Hard for me to take it seriously too when each episode opens with a narration of how unforgiving and tough the land of Gun Frontier is. And then I remember such faces… My smirk is faster than Harlock’s drawing his gun! The good, the bad, and the dorky!

Not only the humans, but the animals too! OMFG! Why the f*ck to horses have this dork face too?! Worse, the vultures! Oh dear. I don’t know if the vultures came out from some sort of cartoon because they look so cartoonish with these dork features. Therefore even when the speech is serious, it is hard for me to take it seriously because of the dork face. Just look at the Indian. Dork face Indian! It’s not because what he said is funny, it’s because of that freaking derp facing that I’m laughing at and finding it hard to take it all so seriously! WTF! WTF???!!! I know this anime is more of a comedy adventure but seriously, the face. Oh man. The face. And to think that Tochiro looks like a character coming from Charlie Brown’s Peanuts comic strip…

On the other hand, most of the women in this series are beautiful. Yeah, if they resemble like those from Galaxy Express, you know why. It’s the trademark. Man, look at those long gorgeous eyelashes. Too bad despite those hot beautiful chicks, they all look the same! Uh huh. Just put on a different hairstyle and voila! Different woman already. So much so I was confused and thought this was the woman from the previous episode. I know anime girls look the same in terms of you can’t tell that girl is of this nationality unless they mention it (you know, that typical anime girl look). It is the same case for here because I see no difference between western women and Japanese women. The only difference is that the Japs don’t have blonde hair so that’s a great sign. Other than that, the face still looks the same. Did they naturalize? I don’t think so. But like I said, just put on a different wig and you’ve got yourself a different hot chick character. Yeah, Shizuku so pretty I can’t blame Harlock for thinking that they might be step siblings instead of real blood related brother and sister!

Speaking of hot beautiful women, this series also has some mature theme and quite some fanservice. Yeah, every guy on this planet is just a pervert. Your cue for some naked fanservice. However with the women being stripped naked, I don’t think this constitutes to hentai because I do notice that no tits were drawn! Ah, the loophole. Not sure if it is because I am watching a very low quality video so the tits are not quite visible. This is especially the case with Sinunora who has no qualms in getting naked. Whether by her own accord or horny bad guys want a free show. She doesn’t bat an eyelid to just strip down but also let them make her do embarrassing poses. I suppose she has something worth protecting and hence getting dirty with such stuffs is no big of a deal. Could it be that she was an ex-prostitute? Damn, Harlock and Tochiro are the biggest losers passing up on Sinunora offering them sex… Don’t tell me they’re shy?!

As for the animation, it feels quite poor. Maybe it’s the version I watched. It’s not exactly BD quality but whatever. The colouring and hues also feel quite bland even if this is the barren wasteland. Then you see the explosions or the fire, it just feels like a joke. Because, still frames?! I mean, are they even serious in animating this? I checked this series is animated by Echo who only animated a few hentai anime and this is their only non-hentai anime. No wonder…

Now let’s talk about the action parts. This isn’t really an action adventure and although there are a few action scenes, they are very short and fast. It’s like miss and you’ll blink. Well, I suppose this is better than dragging out a fight scene for several episodes! Looking at you, Dragonball series! The ‘longest’ fight I believe was between Tochiro and Utamaro’s sword clash. But that by action standards is also too fast. Anyway, you do notice that after a few fights that end in death, the dead guy has no blood! Not at all! Yup, this series does not show a single ounce of blood at all. Wait, maybe there was one moment but that was Tochiro being beaten up and I’m not sure if that was his snot running down his nose miscoloured as blood. But overall, there is no blood from the gunshot or sword stab, rendering each baddie they kill like some sort of doll. It’s just weird. Oh well, just ramp up the body count. Also, animals not spared because horses die and they become horse meat… Yum?

Also I do notice that in every episode, they kill off a hot chick! Whether or not she makes a cameo for that episode or is just a side character, at least one hot chick killed off per episode is the quota. I don’t know, does the author have something against beautiful women? Only in 1 episode that a hot chick didn’t die and that was when our heroes entered Jama City. You may also argue that the episode featuring Yoneko, no women died but I suppose technically she is ‘dead’ because Tochiro said so. So metamorphic speaking she is considered ‘dead’. At least in the eyes of her son and family. Hey, at least Sinunora and Shizuku are still alive. But beware, beautiful women of Gun Frontier. As the opening narration wasn’t enough warning for you, it’s such a great sin to be a hot chick in this series. So unforgiving.

One factor that made me decided to watch this series is of course Kappei Yamaguchi as Tochiro. He feels a lot like home voicing many other characters I heard him voiced like titular characters of Ranma 1/2 and Inu Yasha. Loud and brash. While the voice acting is okay, it is the script that somehow makes the dialogue sometimes feel weird as I have pointed out a few paragraphs above. That’s why Harlock sounds like so. He is voiced by Eiji Takemoto (Drake in One Piece), Sunohara by Rika Masumoto (Satoshi AKA Ash in Pokemon series) and Shizuku by Chisa Yokoyama (Biscuit in Hunter x Hunter). The opening theme is Style by Grand Zero. Quite an upbeat rock music that I feel doesn’t quite suite the pacing of this series. If it was a shonen action piece like Naruto, maybe. But not this. The ending theme is a slow rock, Ame To Sanbika by Umeno Yoshizawa. I guess this one is a bit okay. I prefer many of the BGMs because they have this cool guitar pickings that really give off the feel of this wild west setting. Though, there is one funky piece but that’s not bad either.

Overall, this series had its potential but with its poor production quality and lots of dumb stupid moments, it is no wonder this series was never given a sequel and they went back in making more Captain Harlock centred series and movies while leaving this one to be forgotten in the echelons of time. Buried underneath all the dirt and dust accumulated. So I guess it is true when they narrated how Gun Frontier is a place where the dead are forgotten and the living run like hell, where those who risk their lives to chase the elusive dream they may never get. Yup, this series is definitely dead because those who watched it have all ran away, leaving this series all alone and lonely, never reaching the same heights as its Captain Harlock franchise. Gun Frontier… So Unforgiven…

Anime De Wakaru Shinryounaika

Damn prolonged lockdown and other social distancing measures in place caused by the Corona virus must be making us all sick and gloomy, huh? Your mental health is taking a toll the more this gets dragged on, eh? And you’re out of a job and have no money to see the doctor to help cure your depression? I’m sure some governments provided some hotline for people to help deal with this but WTF, do you trust your government?! Anyway, all I’m saying is that if you’re feeling the blues because of this pandemic, don’t panic because we’ve got Anime De Wakaru Shinryounaika to help explain some mental and health issues to you. All in 5 minutes. So do you like dick jokes? Even better, hot women in nurse outfits making lots of dirty jokes? Well then, you’ve come to the right place. Let the mental healing begin. I bet this will brighten up your day. AM I RIGHT???!!!! ARE YOU FEELING A LOT BETTER NOW???!!!

Episode 1
Ryou Shinnai and Asuna Kangoshi will be telling us all about psychosomatic (mental) diseases throughout this series. First they talk about the basics of mental disorders before jumping in to the main disorder of erectile dysfunction. Are we prepared for dick jokes? Oh please don’t be too hard on me! While we have physical conditions that cause ED, there are more rising cases of psychosomatic ED recently. So are they trying to tell us that current lifestyles like those preferring 2D over 3D is the cause of it?! Is there a correlation?! Anyway, they advise to take some pills and treatments if it gets too serious to reduce the psychological stress. But if all that doesn’t work, maybe you should go to a mental clinic.

Episode 2
Today, Ryou and Asuna touch briefly on how mental issues develop and it is basically mainly because of the environment. This leads them to talk about that dreaded disease known as lolicon! Oh, so its actual medical term is paedophilia? Ryou proceeds to quiz us with several scenes if it is considered as paedophilia but thanks to the very narrow definition of it, I guess most of them aren’t! So lolicons rejoice? So I suppose even if it is wrong in terms of social ethics, psychiatry wise it is safe?! Then they also talk about some of its treatments but I guess nothing beats the ‘treatment’ of calling the police. Lolicons, be warned!

Episode 3
Asuna’s grandpa is a guest star in today’s episode. I guess this means today’s topic is dementia. Oh wait. That term is offensive today? So it’s called cognitive impairment? Anyway, to determine if one has dementia, oops, I mean cognitive impairment, one is given a set of questions to ask. Of course if you have more wrongs than rights, it is a sign that you may be developing dementia. Oops, I mean cognitive impairment. So I think it is safe to safe that Asuna’s grandpa has one? And because that blood runs in the family, Asuna also showing the same symptoms? Maybe the entire family is just this kooky. So why to people develop this in the first place? One main theory is to escape the fear of death.

Episode 4
I think I have sleeping disorder too because of watching too much anime! Anyway, that is today’s topic and Asuna’s grandpa is having such problems. Or is he not? I don’t think not being able to sleep with not babes is a mental disorder… What’s this about REM sleep into ha-REM sleep or M(asochistic) sleep?! Grandpa sure has a very vivid imagination. Explaining the sources of stress, this leads to some Super Saiyan awakening jokes. But thankfully there are many available natural remedies rather than relying on medication. The important thing is to relax and not think too much. And grandpa is starting to ponder about the depth and meaning of his life at this point…

Episode 5
Today’s special guest is a goddess?! Oh, it’s just Asuna’s elder sister, Iyashi. Both sisters don’t hesitate to tease Ryou since today he is going to talk about the psychological effects of colours. Yeah, pantsu colours, right? Not! Anyway, each time Ryou talks about the effect the colour represents, you bet Iyashi is going to turn it into some obscene sex joke. In the end, the sisters wrap up for him since he is ‘too slow’. I wonder what the colour of frustration and depression is.

Episode 6
Don’t panic! Because today’s mental disorder is about panic disorder. Leave it to the sisters to make sexual subtexts just to panic Ryou. They talk about the symptoms and how many panic disorders lead to agoraphobia. If the panic disorder has not gone out of control yet, don’t panic because it is still treatable. Of course the biggest advice is not to handle it yourself if you’re facing one because you’re only putting more pressure on yourself. Can I run away from it all then? Or will it just increase my panic disorder! Such vicious cycle…

Episode 7
Asuna is depressed. And that is today’s topic. But since she starts making dirty jokes, this makes Ryou depressed. Man, this is going to be a depressing episode? Ryou starts with some of the basic questions that determines if one has depression. So basically if you have 1/4 you have depression. Then he talks about SSRI antidepressants used to treat people with depressions. For easier visualization, he uses the cabaret club scene (which of course to me doesn’t make any sense). And the advice as always, consult your doctors before taking any form of medication. Asuna thinks the best cure for depression is love! Only if she could stop making dirty jokes…

Episode 8
Beach episode! I guess it’s time to introduce another Kangoshi sister. She is Himeru the middle sister and unlike the other duo, she is quite shy with others. Today she is seeking advice because there are lots of patients asking her about ED. Yeah. We’re revisiting that topic. So no more beach fanservice as we now turn to dick jokes! Ryou passionately explains the causes of ED especially when there isn’t enough blood flowing and mental anxiety causing such stress to occur. Obviously, to reduce ED, you have to reduce your anxiety. There are drugs to help you too like Viagra but since there are lots of fakes around, it is best to get a doctor’s prescription. So people with ED, don’t stress over it and just open up to others! Uhm, I think that is going to be hard!

Episode 9
We are given a picture to spot the difference. If you can’t spot that leaf difference, do you lack concentration? So I guess it’s not a man in lingerie impersonating as Iyashi difference! Fueichi Shitaki admits he loves women’s lingerie and with that you might have guessed today’s episode is about fetishism. However based on the definition of this, fetishism is only towards inanimate objects. So those who are into boobs or feet, that doesn’t count as fetishism! Oh damn. Is that supposed to be a relief? Now I’m confused. But hey, remember you still a pervert! There is this caveat about fetishism that as long as it doesn’t cause trouble to others, it is okay. So yeah, no stealing women lingerie! Buy it online! Bad news: There isn’t really a cure for fetishism and treatments can only help to a certain extent. Lastly, we see Iyashi’s fetish about men… Men with money!!! I can see how this brings in ultimate satisfaction!

Episode 10
While Asuna and Iyashi are walking in the part, a flasher comes to flash! Asuna got traumatized but Iyashi just loved it. Anyway, Asuna bugs Ryou about this so you bet today’s topic is about exhibitionism. As they go over its definition, I don’t understand that it must be done in at least 6 months to qualify for exhibitionism? So that guy who flashed in 5 months isn’t considered as one?! I must be missing something here. Ryou continues to talk about the source and reasons why people (majority of them men of course) resort to this. As for how to treat this, Asuna is not impressed with some of the suggestions like ignoring the flasher because it’s like pushing the responsibility onto women. But don’t worry, I’m sure the last treatment is what many of us can agree on: Call the police. Yeah, the flasher got arrested but feels his battle has just begun…

Episode 11
As Asuna is walking on the streets, she sees a strange hole. Curiosity has her peek at it and she found out too late a hidden peeping tom has taken shots of her pantsu. So this time she comes bugging Ryou about peeping toms. Or a more correct term, voyeurism. Once again, as its official definition goes, it only involves nudism, removing clothes or sexual acts. Hence looking at pantsu isn’t part of the definition?! Also, it must be done in at least 6 months and so it must be a relief for those who did it only once. And yeah, it is not a problem if the other party isn’t bothered. Of course all this doesn’t sit well with Asuna as Ryou further explains the reasons why voyeurs resort this. Also to note, today’s cases are dwindling thanks to the internet. But I don’t think anyone would appreciate grandpa as he rants how hard it was in those days to get those sweet stuffs. Now it’s all too easy and available on the internet! As Ryou recommends several remedies and treatments, Asuna finds none that are assuring. Ah, but there is one. Yup, call the police.

Episode 12
Today’s topic is social anxiety and Himeru will be perfect to illustrate this. It seems she is very nervous since she is joining a new club. Hence she dresses up as a pig and puts on layers of masks! Isn’t this more embarrassing? Cue for Ryou to explain about social anxiety and she’s not the only one as it is quite a common phobia with public speaking being most widespread. There are some simple cures to help overcome that and to help Himeru overcome hers, they practice talking to her. Of course she continues to panic and her speeches comes off as ambiguous. It’s time for Himeru to meet her figure skating club members. Actually they are all otaku nerds skating with their figurines. Himeru closed her heart even further… I can’t blame her, though…

Episode 13
Himeru is worried that a family member is having difficulty sleeping. Due to privacy policy, she can’t say the name but it is hinted it could be grandpa. So Himeru sleeps with grandpa and he licks her in his sleep?! Anyway, Ryou diagnoses this as sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) whereby the main cause is usually the blockage of the air passageway. It’s also called Pickwickian syndrome because a story by Charles Dickens has a character with similar traits. Yes, obesity is one of the leading causes of SAS. Ryou mentions a few simple treatments to help cure SAS and if that doesn’t work, you have to of course see a specialist. Finally it is revealed the SAS family member turns out to be their pet python! Did it just swallow grandpa?! Isn’t that why it couldn’t sleep well?!

Episode 14
Blast to the past! Our good doctor and nurses find themselves in the past. Right at the moment Nobunaga realizes Mitsuhide has betrayed him and is burning down Honnouji. Today’s topic is about grief and Iyashi being a history nut is trying to flirt with Nobunaga. Do they even have time for this? Ryou explains the 4 stages of grief from denial to anger to giving up and acceptance to finally hope. In the end, Nobunaga won’t give up hope and will continue fighting. If he survives this, he’ll let Iyashi marry him. That would’ve been a dream come true but only if it’s not just a damn dream of Iyashi. Just a f*cking dream! What to do if you can’t accept it all as a dream? The grievance starts in 3, 2, 1…

Episode 15
Today’s topic is on seasonal affective disorder or its apt acronym, SAD. It’s basically split into summer or winter depression, each having their own symptoms. So I suppose those into those seasonal holidays don’t count. One of the basic therapy to help cure this is light therapy. Basically you just need to inject some fresh sunlight into your skin each morning you wake up and you’ll feel much better for the day. So are they saying to stop watching anime and go outside?! Not a chance! No wonder we’re so depressed… But don’t absorb too much sunlight because in Iyashi’s case who has been sunbathing all day at the beach, she is now darker than a negro!!!

Episode 16
Iyashi feels somebody is stalking her. The culprit turns out to be a young handsome kid, Kazuki Sutou. Instantly Iyashi likes him and wants to get married! Heck, Kazuki even admits that he is a stalker and is doing so because he likes to see her being scared! Of course we have Ryou explaining the reason people stalk and it is mainly to get positive and negative strokes. It serves somewhat like nourishment to the brain. Although many people would strive for positive strokes, sometimes negative strokes are desire in dire situations. Any strokes are better than none. So back to Iyashi who is ready to marry Kazuki and the kid is happy to stalk her forever, here comes grandpa who claims Kazuki is his childhood friend. He just got a cosmetic surgery to look like a young kid! OMG… Instantly Iyashi calls the police to take both the old guys away… Goodbye forever, my love…

Episode 17
Ryou and Asuna visit Himeru who is working part time at a healthy café. Contradicting its name, the staffs are anything but healthy. Himeru took up this job since nobody normal would hire her. After all, she always makes mistakes anyway. But isn’t she already a nurse? Turns out she needs extra money to buy a present. No, not an H-doll but a Hina doll! And of course she will be fired soon and she can’t help feel sad about it. Hence today’s topic is about anger and some psychological tactics to overcome it. One method includes to scream out all your frustrations for 10 minutes a day or to write them down in a diary. Research shows that those who did this will definitely have higher performance much later. So now Himeru takes their order but is brutally honest with all the unhealthy menu and methods the café has to offer. Turns out this isn’t a healthy café but rather a hell see café. As luck would have it, the café closed down before Himeru could get fired… Sad…

Episode 18
Iyashi is having a marriage meeting so you bet they’re going to take a peek at her. So it’s held at a maid café?! Well, she got turned down so many times, normal places won’t do for her. And the guy whom she is meeting as that peeping tom?! As expected, the meeting is weird since the guy is only talking about his fetish for school girls. But Iyashi is loving it and blushing?! Hence today’s topic of cognitive consistency theory which is basically people with high opinions of themselves will think so and those with low opinions will think poorly, leading to low self-confidence. So when insulted, they might think they are being understood and end up trusting them. So back to the meeting, the jerk tries to assert his dominance over his fetish since Iyashi doesn’t check his lists. Though, he is willing to accommodate her so and so. Iyashi blushes even more and does this mean she accepts his answer? Well, she does a German suplex on him! KO! So this is victory to her?

Episode 19
Himeru trying to seduce Ryou? As we all know better by now, she just needs some advice. So they head to the bar to talk but it seems it is that flasher who is running it! So he’s out on bail? There is a rule that if any mistakes is made, the wrongdoer must strip! Yeah, the exhibitionist purposely trying to be clumsy, huh? After Ryou makes him call off that rule, Himeru gets clumsy. What a waste! Anyway, Himeru needs advice on how to make her a woman! Of course we know from her phrasing, it’s something to do with her low self-confidence. Thus today’s topic of enhancing dominant response via visceral arousal. Ryou gives examples of how people psyche themselves up to tasks they think are impossible by starting small. Eventually this gives Himeru motivation to do what she needs to do. She calls the police to arrest the exhibitionist!

Episode 20
If you don’t know what a mental clinic looks like, you’re in luck for this episode. So Ryou explains what to expect and do at a mental clinic. You make an appointment, fill up the forms, talk to the doctor, he prescribes you something if there is a need, you pay and go home. Simple, right? But Asuna beats him up as this is too normal! No jokes at all! What is this anime for then?! Hence the other characters start giving suggestions of an un-normal mental clinic. Wild answers ranging from Spanish donkey chairs to receptionists are topless macho men to having big pills to writing names of illnesses with your butt and a whole bunch of wilder stuffs. This isn’t normal! It’s madness! Yeah, why do they feel so depressed after this? Time to visit a mental clinic…

Laughter The Best Medicine?
So did you get all that? I hope it was educational and enlightening as well as entertaining for you. Because you see for me, if you know me by now, by the time the anime ends, I would have certainly forgotten it all! Yeah I think something is wrong with my brain and better go see a mental clinic! But I don’t think being forgetfulness or absent mindedness is classified as some sort of disease since it is not featured here. So technically I’m still healthy and a-okay! Hooray! I’ve just given myself the clean bill of health! Don’t need to go see a mental clinic. No siree, I’m all fine and dandy. Also, thanks Dr Google! Best free doctor advice available ever! ;p.

The brief topics discussed here are interesting but they are just merely touching the surface and not anything very deep. Just the very basics. It is supposed to bring expose and make one know that there are such mental diseases and studies conducted. If you are of course so ever interested in them, there are a lot of references and materials to delve deeper into the complex mind of men. Yeah, today’s wealth of data and information over internet is so much easier these days. But word of caution, don’t believe everything you see and read on the internet! Especially about Asuna’s advice of quit watching anime and go out to improve your mental health! I may not be that healthy but I’m not THAT stupid!!!!!!!!! Screw that! I am sure that there are many more mental illnesses and psychological topics not covered here but I suppose there is only so much that can be adapted into anime because like I said if you’re further interested and want to know more, might as well go to college and university and earn that degree. That’s the best, right? For the rest of us, we’re just here to be entertained. Say what?!

Because it is like a double edge sword. Sometimes it is hard to take this series seriously and remember them thanks to the dirty jokes and other sexual subtexts the characters make. But if they make it so dry and boring, how are we as casual audience going to stick around? Even if each episode is just 5 minutes? That’s why they have to spam us with lots of fanservice and dirty jokes just to get our attention! Ah yes. That’s how you get us men’s attention. I’m pretty sure that you’ll remember the mental illnesses because of the dirty jokes. Worse, maybe we’ll just remember the dirty jokes and not even remember the discussed topics at all since that is how the punchlines are mainly delivered. Such a shame. We’re all just perverts. We all need to go to the mental clinic!

So it has become some sort of a running joke and a staple of the series that each time Ryou get serious in discussing the problem, it is the dirty minded and twisted thinking Kangoshi sisters who will end up giving some weird examples, the main source of the dirty jokes. Oh yeah, I’m sure we are giggling like innocent little kids upon hearing those sexual subtexts. This means Ryou also plays another role of being the straight man. Uh huh. He has to retort all those dirty jokes with his rebukes, in a way also turning him into some sort of comedian. Looks like we’re not the only ones who need to visit the mental clinic… You know you’re in trouble and screwed when your doctor prefers to tell more jokes than the real diagnosis. Oh yeah. I have a better one. That high bill you charge me for your consultation is really the biggest joke! HAHAHAHA!!! Oops… Can I make a mental clinic appointment?

Ryou seems to be the ‘strongest’ character because of all the mental abuse he has to put up with the Kangoshi sisters. It’s amazing he hasn’t lost his mind yet. I know it’s a cue to make some comebacks and enlighten us with his explanations but if you think about it, he is also a punching bag by the sisters and he can withstand them all and deliver to us his lectures. So do you not agree with me that he is in this terms the strongest character? Both physically and mentally! Yeah, you need to be really strong when you put up with those sisters who aren’t exactly the best nurses in the world. They have their own quirky personalities that ideally will only exist in the fantasies of men. Unlike Asuna, Iyashi and Himeru seem to live up to their names. Because Iyashi is the most perverted of them all while Himeru is the shyest. And maybe Asuna just wants to make jokes out of everything. Oh well, as long as she is happy… Even so, I don’t think the mental clinic will help for them. Might turn out even worse! Still, in the age of gender equality, it’s not fair that these hot babes get a free pass while the men from Ryou to their grandpa always bear the brunt of their twisted jokes! On second thought, maybe we like it this way…

The art and animation are pretty standard, in line with the comedy and edutainment they want to present. Hot nurse babes not good enough for you? Well, I’m a maid fan so yeah… Animated by Shin-Ei Animation who did Karakai Jouzu No Takagi-san, Denki-gai No Honya-san and Tonari No Seki-kun. I didn’t expect to recognize any seiyuus here but I did. At least for Shichiro Miki as Ryou and Yoko Hikasa as Iyashi. The others are Yurka Endou as Asuna (Lisa in BanG Dream), Maaya Uchida as Himeru (Rikka in Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai) and Kenichi Ogata as grandpa (Gran Torino in Boku No Hero Academia). The ending theme is Karappo Capsule by Maaya Uchida and it is quite fun to listen to this song in addition to watching the mix and match facial swaps of the characters. Pretty interesting combinations…

Overall, this anime is a great edutainment material. Wacky (by that I mean perverted) characters presenting in a fun (and perverted) way the various mental problems with a few creative (AKA perverted) examples that modern society is facing as well as some of the suggested solutions that may help in easing that problem. If you can look past the perverted style (which is meant to be funny for those of you out there who don’t have a touch of humour), this series is quite enjoyable and way much better than so many recent sh*tty animes that on average wasted 24 minutes of our lives! Problems in mental health will not ever go away. So as with raunchy humour, dick jokes, sexual subtexts and ecchi contents. So embrace it all and be happy with your life! That’s why I’m never going to stop watching anime and keep continuing to be glued to my monitors. Anime therapy for life! Anime is my mental clinic! Screw the outdoors and sunshine! Anime is my life! I’m so happy~~~~~~~.

Kanojo Okarishimasu

It’s not a new concept. Single loser guys without a girlfriend can actually rent a girlfriend! Well, as long as you have cash to splash, that is. So our loser boy in Kanojo Okarishimasu did just that. He rented a smoking hot sexy beautiful cute girlfriend just to get over his breakup of his smoking hot sexy beautiful cute ex-girlfriend. Wait. What?! He already got a girlfriend?! Albeit just a short time?! But anyway, I guess guys like him need some attention to soothe his broken heart and tada! Rental girlfriend is your answer as long as you can keep up with the price. Mind you, this isn’t entirely compensated dating so it’s totally legal and safe. Sort of. And of course as expected, you would start to deduce that as they put up their fake dating, the real feelings would start to get in the way. Tsk, tsk, tsk. People, please be professional in your job, okay! Imagine if Tinder starts losing business and closed down because people managed to get hooked up for real. Geez…

Episode 1
Before Kazuya Kinoshita could flaunt he has a girlfriend, Mami Nanami, she breaks up with him! BRUTAL! Poor guy is so sad and thoughts of his ex might already be fooling around with a new guy. That is when he saw this app to rent a girlfriend. Oh well, what has he got to lose?! So he meets up with his girlfriend for rent. Damn, Chizuru Mizuhara is one hot babe! Of course, please pay upfront first… This has got to be worth the money… The date goes on well but of course it is awkward for Kazuya. At the end of the day, she sees her put up mocking reviews of their date. This makes him mad that this was all an act. So he’s going to tell it to her tomorrow. Too bad, she’s too cute to be told off. The awkwardness continues as he asks if she even likes this job of dating guys she doesn’t love. Of course she does! Not to mention she gets paid, duh! Kazuya gets more and more depressed as he realizes they are just strangers while Chizuru puts up a more flawless act. Then he just snaps about this professionalism of hers. She takes him away from the public eye and starts scolding him! Well, she’s got a point that she’s just doing her job and that he was the one who agreed to the terms and conditions! Damn, she’s complaining her ratings dropped because of his complaints?!

Suddenly Kazuya gets a call that grandma has collapsed. Though she is hospitalized (for the umpteenth time), it is just a minor faint. Yeah, drama all for nothing. Since Kazuya brought Chizuru along, I guess he introduces to them his girlfriend? They don’t believe! It’s Kazuya they’re talking about! Not until Chizuru says so. Grandma gets lively and wants to be discharged soon to throw a party! Damn, she even gives her permission for them to have sex! When she goes to get her other friends, Chizuru panics because her grandma is also hospitalized here. They have to get out but find themselves hiding in a room. Underneath the sheets. In an ambiguous position. I don’t think this is part of the rental agreement… Eventually they get busted and both their grandmas find out. Before Kazuya could apologize this is all fake, Chizuru puts up another sterling act that they’re dating. Grandmas so happy their families are going to be together. Just the question of marriage day. Later the young ones rest outside, Kazuya apologizes for dragging her into this. Chizuru doesn’t blame him entirely as she kept this job a secret. Kazuya continues to elaborate on his family run business. Grandpa died young and grandma was left to run the sake store alone. She managed to pull through and is considered like a goddess in the family. Since Kazuya is grandma’s boy, he’d like to make her wish come true to get a girlfriend before she dies. He hopes to get a real girlfriend someday. So she slaps him for dragging her in too much? What corny act she talking about? What about herself? Being part of her job makes it okay? As they part, Kazuya is confident he won’t be using this service again. A new start? Hope he doesn’t get traumatized seeing his ex with a new guy now! Hey, he’s a new guy now! Fate sure loves to test him because now that Kazuya has picked himself up, to his surprise Chizuru is also in the same college!

Episode 2
Uhm, she might be a different person… Not! Chizuru pulls him aside and warns him not to tell this to anybody! OR ELSE! Wow. She’s like a totally different person. If that didn’t screw things up even more, Kazuya and Chizuru actually live next to each other!!! Damn, why she blaming him as though it’s like his fault?! You think that is bad enough? Grandma calls and will be over soon! Make sure to bring Chizuru! Kazuya goes to beg Chizuru just to play his girlfriend for a short while and he’ll even pay. However she starts talking about her employment terms and that he should’ve told grandma that they’ve broken up. You’re on your own. Grandma is here. All dressed up. Chizuru going to be late, huh? Kazuya rushes over to beg for help but I guess she’s still not buying it. As Kazuya returns, before he can tell the truth, grandma theorizes that Chizuru broke up with him because after all, what kind of girl could ever handle his sloppiness. Ouch. She isn’t mad at him, though. How could she be mad at a girl who fell for him? Guilt trip ends when Chizuru shows up. She was cooking something for them? Wow. You could see the tears in grandma’s eyes! Her angel has returned! So after a very satisfied grandma leaves, Kazuya tries to hire Chizuru to act as his girlfriend every Wednesday for an hour because that is when he visits grandma. Okay. But she attaches a lot of other terms and conditions too. Yeah, she’s doing it for grandma and not you. Okay. Good enough.

Next day as Kazuya goes to college, he bumps into Mami. But she just says hi boy, bye boy. That’s it. So you still not over her yet? His friends, Yoshiaki Kibe and Shun Kuribayashi tell him to forget her. She’s way out of his league. After Kazuya visits grandma with Chizuru (grandma sure the happiest grandma in the world), they bump into Kibe and Kuribayashi. They are shocked to see him with a hottie so they think Chizuru is some cultist trying to kidnap Kazuya?! Is that an insult? Until Chizuru puts up a flawless act to say she is his girlfriend. Those guys are frozen. Apparently the word girlfriend doesn’t exist in their dictionary… But once they wrap their head around it, they bow before their almighty! Never in Kazuya’s life has he felt so superior! You feeling top of the world now? Because of that, he couldn’t refuse their invitation to a drinking session with their senior. I guess he has to beg to Chizuru to extend rental time and play his girlfriend. Basically, continue the lying. Oh boy, this is going to get weird because in this mixer is also Mami! Oh sh*t. Since everyone knew they dated before, the room is just filled with awkwardness. Could this get any worse? Maybe. Because Mami starts mocking the dumb and bad things Kazuya did when they were dating. Suddenly Chizuru blows her top. She tells Mami off not to talk bad about her boyfriend. Oh God. WW3 gonna happen? But what does Kazuya has to say about that? WTF he just covered for Mami???!!! No wonder Chizuru’s leaving. And Kazuya didn’t go after her? Yeah, what an awkward end. As everybody leaves, Mami comes to talk to Kazuya. Looks like she is a bit drunk so she needs his help to get home. She thanks him for standing up for her and didn’t know he had such a manly side. Say what? Things escalated quickly as she invites him to stop by her place.

Episode 3
You bet Kazuya wants to do that but unfortunately her brother has brought his friends back. Damn. Wasted libido. Because Mami continues to be nice to him, Kazuya seriously wants to get back with her again. Yeah, can’t imagine other guys getting in her pants! However the thought of Chizuru still lingers in his mind. He can’t take the heat and runs straight home. Outside Chizuru’s room, Kazuya feels really bad for all that has happened and confused boy starts crying. Chizuru isn’t a cold hearted demon so gives him some hope that not letting go of Mami shows he still cares a lot for her. But don’t get that hope up too much and try to hug Chizuru! Not appreciated! Kazuya and his friends head to the beach. Surprisingly, it was Mami who suggested for Kazuya and his girlfriend to come. Though of course Chizuru can’t come due to circumstances. Yeah, it’s going to get expensive to extend this rental. And our suspicions confirmed because Mami has this ulterior motive to break up Kazuya and Chizuru. Just look at the yandere face… First, Mami tries to talk to Kazuya and the times they kissed and even they picked a name for their children! Kazuya wants to come clean about Chizuru but what’s this? Chizuru is also here with her friends?! No way! Since she is in her nerdy getup, nobody else recognizes her. Later in the toilet of a convenience store, Kazuya and Chizuru try to straighten things out so Kazuya thinks he can reconcile by thinking Chizuru will get mad if he reconciled with Mami. Boy, did he step on a landmine. Chizuru snaps at him but looks like Mami is looking for him. Kazuya is a bad liar so will Chizuru be discovered? Chizuru then turns up in her girlfriend form. I guess change of plans. She is forced to join the rest as Kazuya piles up more lies about her being from this area. So much so Kazuya runs away? So he wants to cool his head. While swimming near the rocks, Mami pulls him in on pretence to look for he lost bracelet. She loses balance and falls close to him. Before Kazuya could react, she turns around and kisses him.

Episode 4
Damn the kiss is so potent that we see Kazuya’s flashback of being introduced to lovely Mami the first time. He confessed to her and they started dating. Wow. What a lovely couple. They even kissed. End flashback. Mami apologizes that she couldn’t control herself. How does a guy interpret that? So rejoining the rest, after Kazuya gets a call from grandma saying she’ll finally be discharged this week, this is when Kazuya realizes needs to settle the lies. Hence he announces to his friends he is breaking up with Chizuru. After Chizuru sheepishly agrees, it seems Kibe is not happy and punches him! Kibe is upset thinking Kazuya let his dick dictate his love life. The guys start trading punches as Kibe even warns Mami not to lead Kazuya on. After the punch fest ends, Kazuya talks to Chizuru alone. She doesn’t want him to blame Kibe because he doesn’t know the full story. But hey, at least he came clean with the breakup. He can be a man if he tries. A short while later, it is Kibe’s turn to talk to Chizuru. Kazuya spotting them so he eavesdrops of course. This guy not going to ask her out, is he?! Kibe being Kazuya’s childhood friend has been watching him being a loser with life and girls. Such a great friend he is. However Kazuya never gives up as he narrates about the time they were kindergarten kids and the class competed to grow morning glories. Because Kazuya’s looked like a weed, he refused to give up or admit it isn’t a morning glory. He continued watering it until it grew up to be a beautiful hibiscus. He won. Had he gave up on that plant, it wouldn’t have bloomed so beautifully. Kibe thought Kazuya had found the right girl since Chizuru stood up for him at the pub. He hopes to give him another chance. To make this up for them, he hands her tickets for a ferry ride to talk things out. I suppose this has extra rental charges? Kazuya and Chizuru take up Kibe’s offer as they straighten things out over their breakup. Kazuya promising no more rental girlfriends for him and that this will be the last one. After all, Chizuru believes he still has feelings for his ex so might as well get back with her with full force. Speaking of her, Mami calls Kazuya and wants to meet. Well, he’s busy right now so he can’t. But Mami will wait for him. No matter how long it takes. Just then, Chizuru who has been feeling sickly ever since, for some reason she goes to the edge of the ship and because of the rocky waves, she falls off making it look like some suicide! Instantly Kazuya jumps in to rescue her.

Episode 5
Somehow both of them are washed up ashore. Chizuru wakes up first. Kazuya’s lifeless body next to her. Nobody around to help. Okay. Try doing CPR. If the chest one doesn’t work, how about the mouth one? And just like that, the magic kiss wakes up Kazuya. Aren’t we glad they’re still alive? When they are rescued, they get a real good scolding by the rescue guard and their friends. On their way home, Kazuya thinks Mami hates him since he didn’t turn up. After Kibe drops him off, he tells him to keep Chizuru. He believes they are in love with each other. But of course, Kazuya thinks Chizuru feels nothing for him. It’s just money in between. So back in his room, I guess he saw a sexy pic of Mami in his handphone and just like any other guy, he starts jerking off to it!!! Mami… Oh Mami! MY SWEET SEXY MAMI!!!! However thoughts of Chizuru keeps flashing in between his fantasies. I hope that isn’t the feeling of regret at the end of it. To celebrate Kazuya’s grandma’s discharge, the family head to a hotspring resort. It seems Chizuru’s grandma is also there so you bet Kazuya is wary. Since Kazuya is given a different room to stay, he suspects nothing until he realizes it is the same room that Chizuru is also staying. Woah. Chizuru in her yukata. Sexy. In that instant, Chizuru realizes this is a setup so the young ones march down to confront their grannies but they give excuses and the duo have no choice but to continue to be together. Yes, granny even encourages them to have sex! That word isn’t taboo for them. Lots of awkward moment between them in their room. Chizuru tries to forget it all by having fun herself. So she goes to soak in the hotspring but meets Kazuya’s grandma there. They talk about things and Chizuru hints she is not the person she think she is. But grandma will still love her even if she is an alien. But what if a lying alien?! Chizuru returns. She really lets herself loose so Kazuya watches her and feels awkward. Though, she is starting to look quite pretty especially when she laughs normally. Then it’s time for bed. I know. Kazuya has to sleep somewhere, right? But wait. Chizuru wonders why he can’t just sleep here. Wait. SAY WHAT?! Sure she not trolling?!

Episode 6
As you can see, Kazuya’s face is so obviously written that he thinks they’re going to have sex that Chizuru had to beat him up for thinking the obvious. They’re not going to sleep together but separately in the same room. It’ll be troublesome to others if he sleeps in the corridor, right? This is what happens when you let your dick do the thinking. Kazuya can’t sleep so I guess he needs to let out his feelings about being a trash and problematic client. The same ol’ problem about lying and dragging her into stuffs. But since this isn’t the best time to breakup, he hopes he can still rent her for the foreseeable future. She thinks the same too. With that, they let their friends know that they’re dating again. On the way back, it seems Kuribayashi wants to double date as he too has a girlfriend of his own. So he fixes the date and time and Kazuya has no say in it? Oh well. Looks like another job for Chizuru. As they part, Kazuya bumps into a cute girl, Ruka Sarashina. Because he saw her pantsu, she calls him a pervert. When the double date begins, Kazuya recognizes Ruka because she is Kuribayashi’s girlfriend. So today’s double date is indoor rock climbing? Yeah, girls in sexy climbing pose. Stare all you want! Chizuru is flexible while Kazuya is just dropping all the time… During the break, Kazuya learns from Kuribayashi how was a man to snag Ruka as his girlfriend, which is of course a total opposite of what Kazuya did. At the same time, Ruka confronts Chizuru and knows she is a rental girlfriend. Gasp! But how?! So when Chizuru tells this to Kazuya, don’t press the panic button yet. Chizuru is sure she didn’t give herself away. She tries to tell Ruka she misunderstood but Ruka wants prove. If they’re lovers, kissing should not be a problem. Chizuru fakes one by covering over his mouth and using her other hand to block. Ruka is not convinced since she didn’t get a clear view. Kazuya manages to give an excuse that Chizuru needs to visit her grandma so they part ways. Kazuya walks Kuribayashi and Ruka to the train station. After everyone parts, Kazuya can’t allow Ruka to spill the beans so he follows her. However she is waiting for him and this proves that Kazuya is a fake boyfriend.

Episode 7
Trying to get her, he accidentally touches her boobs. Stalking, now sexual harassment? He continues to bug her and even wants her to promise via recording she won’t tell anybody. When she refuses, all that excitement has her tumble downstairs. Kazuya leaps to save her. This looks awfully familiar. But nobody died. Just Kazuya looking like he is hugging Ruka. He then begs despite Chizuru is a rental girlfriend, she is the best girlfriend ever. This has Ruka reveal that she too is a rental girlfriend. Why am I not surprised?! Later Kazuya tells this to Chizuru and she is shocked. Indeed she is but from a different agency. As Ruka still poses a threat in exposing Chizuru’s job, they have to still keep an eye on her. Next day in college, it seems Ruka is here to specifically see Kazuya! And she wants him to hug her?! WTF?! Oh sh*t. Kuribayashi looking for him! Quick hide! Under the table?! I guess she got her hug. Eventually Kuribayashi discovers this. Awkward. However Ruka instantly breaks up with him as his rental girlfriend! Shocker! Poor Kuribayashi, not only his secret is out but he has no more girlfriend. Kazuya returns to tell Chizuru outside her place when Ruka tails him and is complaining both of them are living this close? She makes a promise not to tell anybody as long as Kazuya dates her! Say what?! Here’s your recording proof to go with it. And something about how Kazuya is the one because his hug is the first person who made her exceed 90 beats per minute. Huh?! Ruka continues to rant that if Kazuya cares this much for Chizuru as a rental girlfriend, imagine how much he’ll care for her as his real girlfriend. Well, she’s got a point even if it’s flawed.

Ruka tries to get one up with Chizuru with the sleazy things Kazuya did to her the other day. After all that b*tching, Kazuya manages to have Ruka wait outside while he talks to Chizuru alone. Firstly she asks if he likes Ruka. Don’t know. But seeing how bad he feels for Kuribayashi, he definitely can’t date her. However this would mean she would keep bugging him until he gives in. For now, Kazuya thinks he should tell Kuribayashi his secret too. Both guys will share this secret and this won’t put Chizuru’s job or college life in danger. After all, dating Ruka will not end this nightmare. Kazuya tries to escape but Ruka catches up. Since she is being persistent as usual, Kazuya has to beg and tell her off he actually likes Chizuru and can’t date her because that will be trampling on Kuribayashi’s feelings. Poor Ruka. I guess now all that’s left are tears. She starts crying her heart out, knowing all this too well, promising this and that, even agreeing to give their date a test run. Oh boy. Another round of Chizuru-Kazuya discussion. Might as well date her. After all, Chizuru doesn’t want her job exposed and Ruka did say this is just a trial run. Finally the tears got them together, huh?

Episode 8
Even with Kazuya provisionally dating Ruka, he is still a worrywart since it feels like his relationship with Chizuru means nothing and that it is still in danger of being exposed. Still, he tries to keep his distance with Ruka. Christmas Eve is coming up and Kazuya notices Chizuru’s rental schedule is fully book. Wow. Such a popular rental girlfriend. A loser like him is going to be alone on Christmas Eve. I’m sure he isn’t thinking about Ruka. On the streets, he spots Chizuru meeting up with a hot guy. At first he thought he is just one of her clients. Then it occurred to him that could it be her real boyfriend? Oh sh*t. They look pretty close together and could be more than just acting. Time to go into stalking mode. Try not to make it look so obvious, huh? So his name is Umi, huh? As he stalks them, his mind starts to wander further into the darkness. To a point where he thinks they may even have sexual relations. In the toilet while reflecting on his own loser life, here comes Umi. Try not to panic. However Kazuya hears him talking on the phone to someone about Chizuru. What’s this about checking her out? And her measurements? Something shady is going on. Thinking he is really a bad guy, Kazuya is going to draw out the power of his imaginary Chizuru (loser) fan club bros to stop this. Yeah. Just when he spots Umi about to kiss Chizuru, he trips and exposes himself. Whoops. Hi. So it wasn’t a kiss. Umi was just adjusting her earring. The more Kazuya speaks, the more he exposes himself as a stalker. Looks like everybody confused and not on the same page. So here’s the truth. Chizuru is an actress wannabe. Umi goes to the same acting school with her and a fellow actor. Since today is his only free day, she thought he could help her out on a script. As acting school costs a lot, it’s a reason why she works part time as a rental girlfriend. Yeah, that job really pays thanks to simps. Anyway, Umi was on the phone recommending a director about Chizuru. And yeah, Kazuya misunderstood everything. He feels bad and stupid. Worst Christmas ever. But all is not loss as Chizuru bought a Christmas present and is actually for him. It’s also her apology for making him get stuck in that Ruka deal. Kazuya so happy that he cries in public. Everyone thinks he got dumped… But no great ending tonight. She tells him to go home himself. Merry Christmas.

Episode 9
Kazuya is pretty happy Chizuru bought him a handphone case. Now, before his head can go into the clouds and think of himself as someone special to her, he realizes there are many of her clients who feel the same. And of course Chizuru herself clearing the air that it is part of the deal that girlfriends buy their boyfriends stuff, right? And when she asks if he has fallen for her, he sheepishly replies nope. See what she means? Since Ruka was ignore last episode, I suppose she is back with a vengeance to bug Kazuya for a date. If that’s not enough, she brings him to a love hotel! Oh sh*t! Kazuya trying to run away! Trolling us with sex, what Ruka wants is to hear the truth about him and Chizuru. Learning about the lie they have to keep up for grandma, Ruka believes he should just do away with Chizuru and introduce her as his real girlfriend. Simple, right? Apparently he can’t, citing grandma likes Chizuru a lot. Ruka then asks if he can have sex with Chizuru. Can’t, right? But Ruka is willing to go all the way as she is thinking about long term. So that’s why this love hotel thingy? Kazuya excuses himself to the toilet but after he comes out, Ruka is gone. Saved?

Chizuru meets up with Kazuya and his family for New Year. Could have been a pretty normal outing had not Ruka showed up! How she know?! Well, she saw a message in Kazuya’s phone. As Kazuya tries to lie about Ruka being Chizuru’s friend, Ruka makes it more complicated by announcing she is Kazuya’s girlfriend! Many times! OH SH*T! You bet grandma is going to talk to Kazuya in private. OH SH*T!!! She thinks grandson is cheating on Chizuru so Kazuya had to further lie that Ruka is a pathological liar. Meanwhile Chizuru and Ruka face off as the latter claims their lying only complicates things. Furthermore, she accuses of Chizuru of falling in love with Kazuya. That’s the reason why she can’t just walk off this rental girlfriend thingy. As they have lunch, Ruka being the only one very chirpy soon realizes something strange and goes to talk to Kazuya alone. Indeed everyone was just putting up a happy face and of course Ruka isn’t too happy learning that he told grandma she’s a liar. She is getting too close to comfort but saved again this time for the visit to the shrine. But soon Kazuya and Chizuru realize Ruka and grandma are missing. Oh dear. Better find them or this whole deal is off. Indeed Ruka confronts grandma and wants to tell the whole truth. But as she tries summoning her courage, grandma then asks Ruka all about Chizuru’s likes and habits. The way she puts Chizuru on a pedestal has Ruka realizes that grandma is really into Chizuru. Luckily Chizuru is here so they have to put this chat off to another day. So while the secret is safe for now, later Kazuya goes to apologize to Ruka about the lie but also thank her for not spilling the beans. Ruka asserts that she will not give up on him and one day grandma will accept her as his real girlfriend. More woes for Kazuya because the karaoke joint he is working at, Ruka just joined in too.

Episode 10
So this place is Chizuru-free and she can be with him all she wants? Kazuya isn’t too pleased so she’s using her womanly charms to get the manager to dock his pay if he gets ‘violent’?! When Kibe and co visit the place, Kibe talks to Kazuya about Kuribayashi. This guy is acting very strange. Any ideas? You bet Kazuya knows what’s happening. So Kazuya talks to Ruka about Kuribayashi. Too bad this is old news to her and doesn’t care. Besides, she has also stopped doing this rental dating ever since she started dating him. After Kazuya gets his first pay, he starts fantasizing about spending it all on Chizuru. However Kuribayashi pops up on his mind. Oh well… Then he calls Chizuru and needs a favour. Kuribayashi is forced to wait and meet Kazuya. As he rues his embarrassing pathetic life, all of a sudden, Chizuru is here to take him on a date?! She reveals herself as a rental girlfriend. Kuribayashi is shocked and sceptical but a little Google reveals the truth. So as they go around having fun on their date, Kuribayashi’s mind is filled with conflict and dilemma. Is this Kazuya’s way of cheering him up? Later, Kuribayashi catches Kazuya spying on them. I hope he wasn’t spying the whole day. Anyway, it is perfect chance for the guys to talk it out. They laugh and argue like best friends should. In the end, Kuribayashi understands why Chizuru is at the top of her game because she was never nervous and it made him forget all the embarrassment he had and they just had fun. Kazuya leaves for them to resume their date. Kuribayashi then asks if Chizuru would really fall for a client. Chizuru then thinks back when Kazuya asked her for a favour to date Kuribayashi. His reason for this request is so that they both have some sort of shared secret. I mean, this will be exposed one day. So might as well consider this a trial run. After all, this is to show that Chizuru doesn’t belong to anyone in particular. Chizuru leaves Kuribayashi hanging without an answer. You know Kuribayashi is back by the way he replies his messages now. Kazuya then panics when Chizuru wants to meet up. Cool it. It’s just outside their balcony. Yeah, he really dresses up for the occasion. So she’s asking him a favour this time for a rental girlfriend colleague, Sumi Sakurasawa who is so shy that she is receiving complaints from customers. Knowing his style, she knows Kazuya is a safe bet to ‘train’ her. Of course she also asks about Mami whom they haven’t been in contact since the beach incident. Since Kazuya did promise Mami this and that, just forgetting her won’t be easy. That’s why Chizuru assures she’ll be here until he does.

Episode 11
We see the daily life of Sumi. Quite the clumsy girl… As a newbie in this rental girlfriend business, she looks up to Chizuru who is as cool as a cat. Kazuya meets up with Sumi and her cuteness is right up his alley?! Don’t tell me he wants her too?! Judging by Sumi’s very shy personality, he knows she isn’t fit for this job. But promising Chizuru, I guess he has to make this work. Yeah, nothing like an icebreaker by taking her bowling? Punks try to hit on Sumi so Kazuya thinks of waiting this this passes?! WTF?! Of course that didn’t happen as he summons his courage to take her away while the punks badmouth this wuss. For the first time, Sumi ekes out a thank you, the first voice and line he hears from her. Then they have a few more outings together but Sumi’s the same shy girl. Before they could get on to the next, oh look, it’s Mami! Actually she’s been tailing them since she spotted them at the start of it all! Kazuya knows he is in sh*t. He can’t let Mami know she is a rental girlfriend or Sumi is his girlfriend. Maybe he’ll lie that she is his childhood friend. For once, Sumi tries to be assertive and cling on to Kazuya! I admit her guts but wrong timing!!! Kazuya in more sh*t! But Mami wants to talk with Kazuya alone. So is it time for him to die? Apparently Mami notes how he has changed ever since they’ve broke up. It’s now he’s a ladies man. Don’t worry, she’ll keep this a secret. Can we trust her on that?! Kazuya and Sumi end their ‘training’ with Sumi thanking him and the best smile ever she’s put up for the day. Mami is back home and she is obviously very sore. Why is she so f*cking fixated on Kazuya? Then she tries to look up on Sumi on the internet. Hmm… What’s this rental girlfriend thingy… Oh no… That night, Kazuya is happy thinking Chizuru wants to talk to him. However she tells him she has been thinking of quitting this rental girlfriend business as she might get more acting roles. She wants his opinion. He plays it cool in supporting her but his shaky voice tells otherwise. Of course since this won’t be immediate, she assures she’ll be his girlfriend till that time comes. Kazuya puts on a sad face. He knew this would eventually come. The time to break grandma’s heart. However the problem is that he needs to tell Chizuru that she is the one whom he really wants. Next morning, Chizuru waits for another date client. Guess what? That client turns out to be Mami! Oh sh*t…

Episode 12
I guess Kazuya is free so he goes on a date with Ruka. She knows he still likes Chizuru but that’s why she’s doing all this so she wants him to fall in love with her for real. At this point, this makes Kazuya ask himself why Ruka isn’t good enough for him. Yeah, why Kazuya, WHY?! Hence the need to stop using Chizuru. That’s right. He is going to make it official to Ruka when he spots Mami and Chizuru entering a karaoke room. OH SH*T! Chizuru is not in the mood but Mami clearly wants her to sing. Kazuya fears the rental girlfriend gig is busted. Put your ears closer, maybe you’ll eavesdrop on what they say… Of all the things said, the important one being Mami doesn’t care about her rental girlfriend job but wants to stop fake dating Kazuya. She’s the reason he can’t get a girlfriend. Also, her fake smile pisses her off. There’s your signal for the start of a b*tch fight. The duo then leave to go talk somewhere else. Kazuya fakes he is sick so manager quickly sends him home! He tails the girls talking on the overhead bridge. This time Chizuru questioning Mami if she likes Kazuya as she points out some of the things Kazuya said that he still loves her. But Mami throws the same question back at her. I mean, it’s been a year they’ve been ‘dating’ and there’s a chance she might fall in love with him, right? Chizuru dodges the question by saying she is his boyfriend. Mami ends the conversation but Chizuru obviously isn’t done. She has realized this job made her realize how hard falling in love is. Has Mami ever tried to consider Kazuya’s feelings? However Mami tells her to f*ck off because that’s none of her business. And with that, the conversation is truly over. Oh Kazuya, you heard all that? You must be crying a river now. When Chizuru returns home, Kazuya is waiting outside. He reveals he heard her conversation with Mami and apologizes for speaking up for him. But she too has to apologize to him. Whatever she says, I guess he’s not listening because he is sizing up how Chizuru is the one for him. So he confesses that he wants her. Unfortunately he chickens out and meant that as his rental girlfriend. Wuss. Chizuru is of course annoyed and reminds him of her acting career and that this rental girlfriend isn’t going to be forever. Kazuya retreats to his room, realizing that Chizuru’s support for him ignited his love for her. But since she isn’t into him, there is a chance she’ll go away and he’ll never see her again. So what’s it going to be? Hey, it’s your own fault for setting your own love life to hard mode! I say, extreme mode!

Girlfriend (Beta): Koi To Uso
Well, if the last episode didn’t really resolve anything, that’s because there is going to be another season! Oh yeah. And you thought the finale was just warming up to the b*tch fight showdown between Chizuru and Mami but I guess we’ll have next season to look forward to when things get more intense and messy. All because some guy didn’t have the balls to decide on what he wants and even if he did, he didn’t have the more balls to go get it himself. That’s why we couldn’t resolve things in 1 episode and instead we need to have another. Jesus. I know love isn’t easy but this guy sure made it harder. At this point I’m sure Kazuya wants to sing Haddaway’s What Is Love. Oh yeah. Baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more…

Honestly, the story isn’t anything special. Pathetic main character just wants to selfishly feel good about himself so he rents a girlfriend to also show off and assure others that he has also somewhat ‘succeeded’ in life. Not like this is a good plot to begin with. So I suppose the ‘fun’ part is seeing the deeper the grave he digs and sh*t hole he is slowly sinking into the more lies he piles onto this charade. All this under the guise of a romantic comedy, I guess. So either you enjoy this or you would cringe every time Kazuya and his partner in crime, Chizuru do this sh*t day in and day out every episode. And we all know too well that along the way, some romance and true feelings are going to bloom along the way because why not? It’s just the classic ingredient that is very much needed for genres like this. We all just want to scream to them especially Kazuya to tell the truth. Because the truth will set you free! To a certain extent. But once that happens, I guess that is where the ‘fun’ ends. So don’t blame this series’ story for being sh*tty. Blame ourselves too for being sadistic dick heads who want to be entertained by such shenanigans.

Aside the story, the characters aren’t really that interesting either and each has their own quirky habits to spice things up. So like Kazuya as the main character, we already know how pathetic he is and there is nothing else more to say about him. When your grandma doesn’t even have high hopes of you, you’re in serious trouble. So it’s like he needs to help enhance his image with a cool girlfriend to give her some peace of mind before she dies. But then more sh*t piles up and the only way out of this if grandma suddenly dies. Yeah, sad but that’s the only way this selfish bastard is going to get out of this problem if he is too chicken to tell the truth. But if you know grandma, she is a sturdy person and she’s not going to kick the bucket just like that. I mean, see how many times she checked in and out of the hospital?! She’s the perennial guest there! I don’t think grandma is a stupid person. I have a hunch she knows what might be going on but she just doesn’t want to heartbreak Kazuya. After all, he went out his way to put up this farce, might as well play along. Kazuya wants grandma to be happy, grandma wants her grandson to be happy. So if everybody happy-happy, isn’t it win-win?

I’m sure Chizuru being the hot and cute girlfriend, many would get jealous to think she is wasted on Kazuya. In some ways it would. But my veteran romance anime guts tell me that she too has a soft spot for him. Because otherwise, she continuing to pretend with this gig other than Kazuya always begging and pleading for her help. She doesn’t need to go out her way to do all this but I guess this transcends being professional. After all, it’s all part and parcel of her practice to become an actress. If she can pull this one off, she’ll definitely hit the big time in Hollywood and might win the Oscars! Just kidding. Well, as long as Kazuya is paying, I guess she has no qualms about playing his perfect girlfriend. Yeah, Kazuya really has deep pockets and could’ve put that money to better use. Instead, he did this. So do you not see that Kazuya is the series’ biggest simp?! I thought that we would see how much Kazuya spends on his rental girlfriend as the end of the opening credits show his receipt. Too bad it is just static at 12,000 yen. With taxes. Is that pretty cheap? Well, minus all the other hidden expenses not listed and I’m sure your wallet will be drained faster than the floodwaters…

The other mind boggling thing is this rental girlfriend concept. You see, with Chizuru being the most famous and popular rental girlfriend, it just boggles my mind about all the previous losers that she dated. Whenever Chizuru is dating somebody, she is bound to turn heads. This is evident when you see the crowd being awed who that lucky guy is having such a cute girlfriend. So this begs the question, what happened to the other guys she dated? Wouldn’t it be odd to find that those guys once had a hot girlfriend? And now she’s gone. And now she’s with another guy! I don’t know how many guys she dated on this concept but I guess all were never the type like Kazuya who wants to upgrade their rental girlfriend status to real girlfriend status. Maybe they do. But Chizuru wasn’t interested. Because they lack the ‘charm’ like Mr Kazuya and they might be fat sleazy otaku losers. Hey, when you’re in this line of business, you meet all sorts of scumbags.

At this point, Chizuru would have been ‘famous’ since those guys she dated would recognize her. It’s not like she moved to another town, right? It’s a small world. So such luck Chizuru has never bumped into any or those guys decide to keep quiet because they don’t want to know they rented a girlfriend, which doesn’t make sense because some might show it off to their friends or family so there would be others who know about Chizuru. Funnily, nobody looks up Chizuru on the internet like her social media websites and it feels like a weak reason why nobody suspects her she is from a rental girlfriend agency. Anyway, it is just mind boggling that Chizuru is the top agent and that nobody else knows about her. But on second thought, imagine if you’re dating a fairly famous porn star… I mean, how many of us look up and know about porn stars, right???!!! And to further ponder about this, it is even more mind boggling that Chizuru is doing this rental girlfriend thingy to cover her acting school fees. That’s just one step below to other unfortunate girls who entered porn for the money… Yeah… See how shadily similar this is?! I bet being a rental girlfriend nets her more money than her real acting career…

But also imagine the moment when Chizuru decides to actually settle down. Find a real boyfriend whom she can marry and settle down. Imagine what her boyfriend would think of as her past as a rental girlfriend. Break off right now! Sure, she can keep it a secret for her but that is going to be a tough one seeing trust is going to play an important factor between spouses. So her only chance is Kazuya, right? So unless there is a great guy out there who don’t care all the past guys she dated (maybe Kazuya), then it’s good for her. Or else this rental girlfriend agency literally ruins a girl’s future for marriage. Just like porn stars. Hope the money was worth it.

If the Kazuya x Chizuru charade wasn’t enough, time to throw in more hijinks because here is Ruka-chan! It seems like a weak reason for her to like Kazuya because this dude managed to set her palpitations to some record high. I don’t know, theoretically if there is someone else out there who could score higher, would she dump him? So Ruka is relegated to play the persistent and bugging girlfriend who really wants to be Kazuya’s girl. Of course problem could be solved if Kazuya had really gone with her (which he almost did but fate decided to play another cruel joke and show him the middle finger to carry on this farce) but we know the reason why he doesn’t is because his number 1 choice is Chizuru. Can’t blame him. She’s been there for him thick and thin.

So suddenly this Ruka pops up in his life and genuinely wants to be his girl, damn, this should have ended his girlfriend problem had he gone with her! But instead, Kazuya prolonged the mess and now we’ve officially got a harem so to speak. I feel sad for Ruka because even though I’m not a fan of her character, I really want to root for her to be Kazuya’s girlfriend. She has got the balls to try and be assertive especially during that surprise meet up with Kazuya’s family. Confusing and scandalous but it’s a pretty bold move that no one could have foreseen coming. She deserves some credit there. But instead that loser is waiting and hoping Chizuru would slowly look his way. Poor Ruka. I can see the looks on her face now when she eventually loses out to Chizuru…

Obviously the whole mess is partly because of Kazuya being indecisive and can’t decide which babe to f*ck date. Summary of chronological events: Dated Mami; Gets dumped; Hires Chizuru; Mami comes back into picture; Wants to cut off Chizuru because want Mami, Changes mind, sticks with Chizuru; Ruka comes into picture; Still has Chizuru on his mind, still wants Chizuru; Continues dating Ruka; Slight distraction, might want Sumi; Forget that, now wants Ruka; Hold that, changes mind, wants Chizuru now. Sighs… See where this is going? Yup. Nowhere. I hope this won’t end up in a harem route where he tried to get all but loses all! Then all of us will be laughing in his face he deserves it!

And then there’s this character whom we all love to hate: Mami. Ah yes. I think this girl gets her kicks dating losers like Kazuya and then dumping them afterwards. And then of course Kazuya being the special one, Mami starts to feel jilted because after being dumped, it’s like he upgraded to an even hotter girlfriend! B*tch jealousy arising! See her dead eyes, a sign that she’s in f*cking killer mode! One wrong move and you might be dead! I feel that her role in this series is so underwhelming that it doesn’t really matter. I don’t know, I was expecting some b*tch showdown between Chizuru and Mami and although it somewhat did happen in the final episode, it was just a very mild one. Like as though this is a preview before it blows up 1000% next season. If that actually happens.

After that beach episode which was really tempting and a sign that Mami might be back in his life again but after that ended, she went missing for a while. Like as though they forgot about her. I was also expecting that she would start to regain her love for Kazuya and a b*tch fight over him would happen. So much so that the feelings of her heart would be so overwhelming that she would break down in front of Kazuya and other people, begging him for a second chance for them to get back together again. Heh. Full drama on public display. That didn’t turn out either. What a bummer. At this point it is unclear if Mami likes Kazuya because she doesn’t make that clear to Chizuru. If Mami wanted to wrest Kazuya back from her, she could just say so and end this rental girlfriend charade. But she didn’t. So could Mami just be wanting to use Kazuya as a tool against whatever grudges she had against Chizuru? No wonder the most hated character of the season. So can we have Kazuya’s first b*tch girlfriend vs Ruka the real girlfriend getting into a catfight and Chizuru somewhat getting embroiled in this high stakes battle over a loser. Damn, this doesn’t sound funny anymore.

Not sure if Mami is a hypocrite because in the final scene, we see her with an older man. My first guess it might be her father but seeing what kind of anime this is, it might be her sugar daddy. Woah! So to tell Chizuru to stop dating Kazuya with the lame excuse he can’t get a girlfriend, I mean it’s not like Mami herself said she wants Kazuya back, right? So if that guy is Mami’s sugar daddy, it just makes her character a whole lot more hateful. Rental girlfriend, compensated dating, sugar daddies… No matter how you look at it, they’re just girls good at acting in exchange for your money, right???!!!

Last but not least, Sumi. This girl appeared in the opening and ending credits and at the pace of where this anime is heading, it is natural that one would wonder when the f*ck this final girl would actually show up! And only in the penultimate episode did she do so! Man, that’s already 5/6 of the season gone! Did they forget her or something? Or they couldn’t find the right plot moment to slot her in? So from her debut in the penultimate episode (which is by the way her only episode she really made a real appearance), Sumi feels pretty much like a filler. A character that doesn’t really matter at this point. If she didn’t appear, it wouldn’t have made a difference either. But I suppose it is to lead to the final episode of Chizuru-Mami showdown. Because had Kazuya been on a date with Ruka, this girl would be more confronting compared to Sumi who is just freaking meek in nature. Yeah, Mami-Ruka confrontation would’ve been explosive and WW3 would be right at our doorstep! So with Sumi, this sets the tone for Mami to stumble upon Chizuru’s real identity. Back to Sumi, her extreme shyness might not be ideal but I guess there are some guys out there who dig such overly timid chicks.

Last but not least, Kibe as Kazuya’s best friend. He may not look like it but he certainly does look out for him and giving him timely advice when Kazuya seemingly is going to throw it all away. He could be the best character in the series because of this but too bad Kazuya is the one who is the main character. Despite both guys (along with Kuribayashi), they all look like your typical loser bros who won’t get laid by any chicks soon. Sometimes being virgin bros is better than having girlfriends but you know, when you use the wrong head to think, you ruin that relationship too. So thankfully the trio are still friends.

Art and animation are pretty okay. Everything is bright and colourful and my favourite eye candy is of course the cute girls. Yeah, you should all know by now how I am a sucker for cute girls. So that is one of the pulling factor that made me watch this series. And they really ramp up the cuteness of the girls during close up scenes. Wow. See how their big cute puppy eyes sparkle! Animated by TMS Entertainment who did Dr Stone, Detective Conan, D.Gray Man, Itazura Na Kiss, Kamisama Hajimemashita, Yowamushi Pedal, Baki and the new season of Fruits Basket.

Voice acting is pretty decent. I only recognized Sora Amamiya as Chizuru, Aoi Yuuki as Mami and Nao Touyama as Ruka. The rest of the other casts are Shun Horie as Kazuya (Enta in Sarazanmai), Rie Takahashi as Sumi (Mash in Fate/Grand Order), Yukari Nozawa as Kazuya’s grandma, Kaito Ishikawa as Umi (Iida in Boku No Hero Academia), Masayuki Akasaka as Kibe and Gakuto Kajiwara as Kuribayashi (Asta in Black Clover). The opening theme, Centimeter by The Peggies is your generic anime pop. Nothing special that I like. For the ending theme, Kokuhaku Bungee Jump by Halca feels more like a denpa song. Not that I like it anyway either. She also sings the special ending for episode 7, First Drop. A rock outfit. Not really to my liking too.

Overall, this series is cute but if you try to think of it as a romantic comedy, it gets messy. Even the concept of renting a girlfriend is a very shady concept. I mean, it’s like prostitution but without the sex. Thank goodness this is a light hearted anime, eh? Sure, it has its funny moments but nothing that extraordinary. Because what kind of hot girls would actually want to date a loser? Does not happen in the real world. This anime is so clickbait, giving us otaku loser guys some sort of hope but eventually reality will hit us hard. Why settle for those 3D women for temporary passion of the flesh when we have our 2D girls who has always been eternally there for us! I want to rent a 2D girlfriend online! Which site can I go to for this?! Oh… Oh… What’s this… Error 404: Girlfriend not found… FFFFUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!

Maou Gakuin No Futekigousha

Don’t we all just hate main characters who are overpowered from the start? Oh yeah? What if the main character himself is the Demon King? So don’t start complaining if he is just freaking overpowered all you haters! He can do just about anything with the snap of his fingers. Uh huh. But Maou Gakuin No Futekigousha: Shijou Saikyou No Maou No Shiso, Tensei Shite Shison-tachi No Gakkou E is not an isekai anime. I repeat, it is NOT an isekai anime. The great Demon King of this series sacrificed himself so that his brethren and enemies could live in peace and not prolong the miseries of war. But after 2000 years has past and he has been reincarnated into the world again, he finds the world has changed a lot. Furthermore, history as preached in the current times is not as what he remembered back then. And what’s this about that despite still being the most powerful badass in the land, the aptitude test of the high school he enrols in, rates him as inept?! What’s going on?! Some descendants are going to need a good whooping on their asses.

Episode 1
Anos Voldigoad and Misha Necron enter the Demon King Academy to take their enrolment exam. Zepes Indu mocks them because they aren’t of royal blood so Anos without sweat makes him submit. The first test is a battle whereby the winner advances. Anos is faced off with Zepes who remains cocky. Zepes is insulted when Anos claims he can defeat him by not using any magic of move. Zepes takes damage when Anos attacks just by using his heartbeat?! Zepes claims he is one who use compulsion magic to make others bend to his will. Hence Anos makes a contact to make him submit without using such magic. This means killing Zepes and resurrect him over and over again until this guy is scared sh*t that he gives up! Anos and Misha continue their tests and one of them is the power assessment. Anos’ power so great that it measures zero and the crystal breaks! Then there’s the history test in which Anos passes with ease. All too easy. At the end of the day, both of them passed. Anos invites Misha to his home because his parents will surely prepare a celebratory meal for him. We learn that Anos was just born a month ago?! Mother so happy he brought back a girl. So what does Misha see in Anos? His kindness?

Later as Anos accompanies Misha back, he is amused she called him kind hearted as no one ever told him that before. In fact, he was always being told his existence brings misery to everyone. Misha thought he is being bullied and pats his head. Suddenly they are surrounded by Leorg (Zepes’ older brother) and his men. Looks like he wants to teach Anos a lesson not because he defeated his brother but rather only pureblood royals like them can inherit some nobility crap. Leorg kills off Zepes for being useless. You think Leorg’s magic can defeat Anos? Well, no effect on him. Not even the forbidden magic. Anos then resurrects Zepes as a zombie to attack Leorg. But his intention is for the brothers to remember their bond so that they could fight against him. Of course Leorg has his pride and won’t. Until in the dying moments he finally calls out his brother’s name. But because of their weak bond, both become zombies? After Anos returns them back to normal, he reveals himself (and to those who haven’t figured it out yet) that he is the true Demon King of Tyranny. Behold descendants! Your original founder has returned! Next day as he steps into class and makes a joke how he is taking over and will massacre everyone who doesn’t obey him, nobody is laughing. Scared? Nope. So is everyone staring at him because of him beating down those brothers? Misha points out it is rather the rumour of the symbol he got after the power assessment. As the symbol is never seen before in the academy that indicates he is a misfit.

Episode 2
2000 years ago when the hero Kanon finally faced off with Anos, the latter suggests peace. Hard to believe but Anos is tired of it all. This war between their race as well as others like gods and spirits will never end until one side is entirely rooted out. Even if demons are gone, humans will just make new enemies. If Kanon believes in the goodness of the human heart, then why not trust him this once? Anos’ plan is to use up all his magic to convert himself into a wall that would last a thousand years. Don’t worry, he’ll reincarnate 2000 years later. Kanon agrees to end this war and ‘kills’ Anon for the sake of peace. And as Anos reincarnates 2000 years later, boy he sure shocked his parents by talking as he came out of the womb! Now, Misha explains he is labelled a misfit because he answered several questions wrongly during the aptitude test. How could this be? He is the founder and knows history perfectly. Then he discovers that what everyone believes the name of the founder is Avos Dilhevia. Who the f*ck is that?! Looks like history got distorted along the way and this means other parts of the history are also twisted as well. Emilia Ludowell is the homeroom teacher for this class as she announces volunteers for team leaders. Because Anos is a hybrid, he is discouraged but of course he begs to differ. Since he manages to tweak some magic circle to be more efficient, he earns that right. The other candidate is Sasha Necron who is Misha’s sister. Obviously everyone joins Sasha’s team and only Misha remains on Anos’ side. I guess he is friendlier. Sasha tries to put Misha down as she tells Anos that she is not even a demon or human but a magic doll. But Anos doesn’t care and even tells her to look deeper. Irked, Sasha tries to intimidate him with her destructive eyes but his eyes negate the effect. With the upcoming team tournament, Sasha throws a bet that if she wins, Anos will be her slave. Otherwise she’ll join his team. Okay. Since we all know how this is going to turn out, right?

So as the tournament begins, we see Anos just waltzing into enemy territory himself. They think they can outdo him but apparently they don’t know his strength. Yeah, he tosses up their huge fortress and throws it like baseball! Sasha then wants everyone to use the ultimate fire cannon. They have to acknowledge the enemy’s strength and even if this power has very small chance of success, they will not allow this shame on them. And despite their great efforts, Anos just cancels it out with the weakest fire magic! Naturally, Sasha’s team loses. So she rather be killed than live this humiliation? Don’t forget your promise. Okay, she’ll join his team. It seems Anos not only did this so that Misha can be with her but also he likes her beautiful eyes. Didn’t see that one coming, did you? Anos then brings the sisters back home and you bet his parents are going to be as dramatic as ever about him being a playboy. That’s their little boy. So grown up now! After Anos sends the sisters home, Sasha talks to him privately to thank him because she was able to make up with Misha. She asks his advice about changing a sealed fate. For him? He’ll just destroy it! Hey, remember nobody is a Demon King as powerful as you! We perhaps didn’t see this one coming so fast too because Sasha kisses Anos on the lips! Kiss between friends as thanks, huh? Then I suppose Anos must be her first friend since this is her first kiss.

Episode 3
The sisters are so good with each other that they can ask if they like Anos. Misha is direct saying she likes him. Sasha, not so. More tsundere. Next day, Misha asks Anos’ advice on what to give for Sasha’s birthday which is tomorrow. Because they are twins, Misha also shares the same birthday but she doesn’t want anything herself. Anos learns the class will be taught by one of the Seven Elder Demon Emperors, Ivis Necron. Anos remembers using his blood to create such 7 beings but everything else from there doesn’t seem to match up. As one of their goals is to revive the Demon Lord, hence the establishment of this academy. When Ivis enters, Anos casually talks to him like as though they’re good friends. This shocks everyone as this is seen as insulting and rude. Anos asks if he remembers him but unfortunately he has no recollection of what happened 2000 years ago. When Anos tries to let him see those memories, he soon backs down and they’ll talk about this later. Ivis was sent back 2000 years ago, however it looks like his memories just like others, their Demon King of Tyranny is Avos. Somebody must have rewritten history and there could be a chance that someone is passing off as the Demon King. Because Anos has no proof that he is a threat, Ivis will remain neutral on this stance for now.

Next day, there is this dungeon raiding exam in which teams can collect points depending on the magic tools, items, etc they collect. Anos knows that a sceptre deep within the dungeon will definitely earn them full points despite many believe it is only rumours. Well, this is his castle! Anos leads the ladies through secret passageways that he has clearly hid until they reach the room with the sceptre. While Sasha is in awe over it, Anos takes Misha to another treasure room so she could select a gift for her sister. She chooses a Phoenix Robe. As Anos insists, Misha chooses a ring for herself. Misha gives the robe to Sasha and this makes her a happy sister. However shortly after, Sasha stabs her! Sasha reveals her true colours that she was just acting all along and all this was so that she could ensure herself first place in this exam. Anos is bewildered because if she really wanted to kill Misha, would just a stab suffice? I mean, she would have chopped her body into parts and scatter them all over the world at least. Sasha continues to scream out her hatred over this magic doll and sets magic traps enough for herself to escape. But Anos immediately catches her. In fact, Anos started healing Misha the moment she got stabbed and everything Sasha saw was just an illusion he casted. He explains about noticing her demonic eyes and how she was just putting up a very coolheaded acting on the spot. Only because of Misha’s kindness, she wants Anos to let Sasha go. And so he does. He needs to ask Misha some questions too. Normally she won’t say but will tell him because he is her friend. It seem on the midnight of her 15th birthday, she will disappear. Not because she is a magic doll but rather she never existed in this world in the first place.

Episode 4
More explanations about Sasha’s soul being split into 2 during birth but I don’t really get it. It seems all this was part of Ivis’ plan since 2000 years ago so when both sisters merge, they will create some super demon race. Of course Anos won’t let this happen so they catch up with Sasha to make her spill the truth. So we hear from her side that thanks to Misha, Sasha was able to go outside and have a normal life. But in exchange, Misha became lonely. Thanks to that, she thinks 15 years of her life has been enough so Sasha will do some spell that will make Misha the original. That is why she has been making Misha hate her all this time. Because the only way for this to work is if Misha rejects her. Of course by now you think Misha want that? So instead of saving either one of them, Anos will save both of them! Remember, he is the Demon Lord. So what I understand is that he is going to send them back in time and change the past by allowing 2 sources instead of 1. All they need to do is to 100% believe in him and not that Avos fake pretender. Before he could do that, Ivis pops up to kill him so as not to disrupt his plan. By now you think that will kill Anos? Not a chance. Anos kills Ivis instead. As they go back in time, they are now faced with the Guardian God of Time, Eugo La Raviaz. He finds it a sin for them to change the past so he revives Ivis and gives some of his power to kill Anos. Gee, why not kill Anos himself? I think I know why… So we see a revived and more powerful Ivis trying to kill Anos but your guess is as good as mine, Anos always revives. Yeah, killing him isn’t enough to make him die! So with the sisters now truly believing 100% in Anos, they manage to change the pass and this allows Anos to power and take on Ivis. With his demonic sword of destruction, he slashes Ivis for good. Ivis is then revived but he is now the true submissive subordinate of Anos. Unfortunately, most of his memories are still gone and it is most likely someone murdered him, his source fused and taken over. That perpetrator may be working for Avos and took over his body then. Anos will report Ivis’ death and he wants Ivis to investigate this, starting with the Seven Elder Demon Emperors. Anos and the sisters return to normal time. Both sisters now existing on their own in current time and are thankful for their Demon Lord saviour. Until Anos decides to get cheeky and reminds Sasha about that kiss she gave him. A friendly kiss you say, huh?

Episode 5
2000 years ago, Anos had a very good swordsman subordinate, Shin Regalia. His wish was to reincarnate in the future with him. However, because his source magic was weak, this would mean he will not be able to transfer his memories and skills to his new vessel. I suppose that intro is necessary because Emilia announces a new transfer student of royal blood to be joining them later. As for the dungeon test, she announces Anos’ team will not get full marks because the sceptre has been stolen and pending investigation. Some students think Anos is trying to fake it. When Misa Iriologue speaks up to support Emilia, she is reminded of her place as well as the prohibition of Unitarian activities on campus. Anos then forcefully takes out the sceptre hiding inside from one of the students and passes it to Emilia. Whispering to her that if she had tasked that guy to steal the sceptre, she should’ve done a better job. Later Misa thanks Anos for standing up for her. She introduces herself and some of her friends in the Unitarian whose goal is to unite all demons regardless if they are of royal or hybrid descent. She takes him to their base and you can see all the fan girls just swooning till they faint seeing Anos. Yeah, there’s even some doujin artwork of Anos! Misa explains her father is demon while her mom is a spirit but she died after birth. Her father has never seen her since birth because of fear losing his royalty. But she did receive a half sword from him. As she believes the other half is with him, she hopes that she can be reunited with him one day. As the other Unitarians are also from similar backgrounds, hence this goal of theirs. Although they all believe in Anos as the true founder, he can’t have them join him yet and wants to test their resolve.

During a test to see which demon sword they can pick up so that they can be trained for the upcoming sword tournament, only Anos and the new transfer student, Ray Gransdori are able to pick them up and even defeat their trainers without a sweat. Much to Emilia’s dismay, Ray wants to join Anos’ group and be his lackey. But Anos rejects because he sees Ray’s intention of just wanting to have an easy time in his group. So he needs to prove his resolve. As the next team tournament is tomorrow, Anos has Misa and co join Ray. So if they win, you bet they can join his side. Anos and Ray duke it out in a sword fight while the other girls fight each other. Misha and Sasha realize they have power up tremendously because of their journey to the past and easily destroys Misa’s side. Meanwhile Anos and Ray’s swordplay is so powerful that they are destroying mountains, forests and drying up the river!!! WOAH!!! Ray doesn’t give up and learns from his mistake. Though in the end, despite managing to break Anos’ stick sword, he still loses. Ray then asks if they have met before because he has that feeling they have done so. Anos doesn’t discount that feeling. Maybe they did 2000 years before. After all, Ray looks almost like some guy he knew then. So even if Ray has lost, does this mean he can still join Anos’ group?

Episode 6
Even though Misa lost, Anos gives his blessings to join his group since her powers resemble closely to the water spirit. With Anos and Ray qualified to take part in the sword tournament, Anos feels suspicious because the royals definitely won’t want a hybrid to participate so why did they allow this? Anos is then brought to see Melheis Boran, one of the Seven Elder Demon Emperors. Melheis is glad to see Anos in the flesh as he reveals he too had his memories erased. However he still doesn’t know the real perpetrator. As for the sword tournament, he wishes Anos to drop out since not taking the bait might make Avos reveal himself. On Misha’s request, Anos takes her out to town and gets her a present. While at the cat café, Ivis in cat form comes by to report. The Unitarians are not led by Melheis and someone else is pulling the strings from behind. Nobody knows his identity either. There is also another unknown identity. The Lognorth Magic Hospital built by the Demon Lord Elio, he is just the figurehead and again an unknown identity is pulling the strings behind. He is unsure if both unknowns are linked together so Anos has him further investigate this as well as Melheis. Anos visits the hospital but he doesn’t see anything suspicious. He sees Ray who is here to visit his mother. When Anos mentions he might not participate in the sword tournament, Ray seems cool with it. But that slight chance in behaviour has Anos suspicious and will have Ivis investigate him too. Right before the sword tournament starts, Ivis reports back that today’s tournament is not setup by Melheis but other Seven Elder Demon Emperors, Gaois Anzem and Ydo Anzeo. Probably they want Anos to walk into some trap. As for Ray, his mom is close to death and suffering from a rare spirit disease that never existed 2000 years ago. For the first round of the tournament, Anos’ opponent is Krut Ludowell who is the strongest swordsman (and Emilia’s brother). Because Anos thinks of pulling out and doesn’t show his face in the arena, this has the royals badmouth the coward he is. Only mom tells them to STFU because her son can be the Demon Lord! Don’t mess with mothers! Anos’ dad then comes by just in time just to hand him an adamantine sword he made. Anos realized the err of his ways. He took a cowardly method trying to smoke out Avos. His goal is to make his parents happy and whatever traps come his way, he’ll just smash through them all. He goes face Krut and will end this in a minute.

Episode 7
Damn, the Unitarians got a theme song for Anos?! Fill ‘em with holes! OMFG. As expected, Anos defeats Krut in a minute. Ray also wins his matches and they are fated to meet in the finals tomorrow. But then Ray confronts Anos at the waiting room and it’s like he is being hostile. They try to test each other’s resolve and almost end up killing each other but back down. During that, Anos could tell that Ray has been bound by some magical contract in which he will die if not fulfilled. He thinks he may be taken hostage by the royals. After giving mom (Izabella) to keep his sword safe, Anos and Misa head to the hospital to check out Ray’s mom. They see her fading existence and even more shocking, she is a hybrid. Ray’s mom wakes up and knows about Anos because her son always talks about him. She reveals that Ray is at the beck and call of the royals in return for her getting treatment. Mom doesn’t want to be a burden to her son anymore so she doesn’t mind dying. But she tells them Ray is so good with the sword that he got bored. Ever since she became since, he has become lonelier. The day he lost to Anos, he was so happy about it. She hopes he can free him. Don’t worry. Anos can do something about it. Yeah, he just created some new magic and with Misa offering herself since they are both half spirits, they link each other’s source. It is also dangerous as both of them could vanish. Meanwhile Emilia confronts Izabella and the Unitarian girls to hand over Anos’ sword. Gee, was that part of the rules? Because they refuse, she shows her true colours and tries to forcefully take it from them. Definitely revenge for her brother’s loss. The Unitarian girls protect Izabella with all they’ve got but they’re no match for Emilia so they got fried. At times like this, it is when the hero comes in to save the day, right? In this case, the demonic son. Easy magic heals all of them as he is going to make Emilia pay. First he does a fatal damage to her that will kill her in minutes. He forces her to acknowledge and bow before him. It didn’t take long before she changes her mind. But he senses insincerity in her words so he kills her off and reincarnates her as a hybrid. A curse is also put on her that no matter how many times she kills herself, she will be reborn as a hybrid. Emilia in despair. Ray sees what Misa is doing so after talking to her and finding out that she truly wants to help, he knocks her out. But mom tells Ray not to worry. She knows everything and promises to always be by his side. Flashback shows Ray was kicked out of his original family and this current mom took him in and cared for him. Next day, Anos and Ray prepare to face off in the finals.

Episode 8
A special rule will take place for the finals. Both will wear a bracelet in which if it’s destroyed, that person will be considered as losing the match. A further handicap for Anos as the bracelet will slowly drain his magic power. While this gives Ray the advantage the longer this drags out, this is not what he wants. So he cuts his own heart to draw his own doom closer. He knows he will lose and die. His mom is beyond cure. So the only way out is to go out all against him. Anos is touched with his principles and tells him to forget everything. Just fight him with all he’s got. The match is so fast that nobody could see anything. The moment Anos stabs Ray’s heart, they are transported to another dimension. The culprit is revealed to be Melheis. He sets Gaois and Ydol to kill him but before they could step in, they get decapitated! Looks like this is part of Ray’s doing. But how? When Anos stabbed his heart, he only destroyed the contract binding it. There was no conspiracy among them because Ray believed in Anos 100%. Melheis tries to use Ray’s mom as shield but the guys already made their resolve. Go ahead. Kill her. Lose your only bargaining chip. He is about to do that as Ray jumps into the portal to go to his mom. Melheis is confident in getting rid of Anos by using the magic wall that Anos created. Melheis targets Ray and Anos continues to defend him. This is sucking all his magic so as per Ray’s request, he puts all his magic into creating a magic sword for him. However Ray weakens after a strike. He cannot go on. Don’t worry. Mom will motivate him. Risking her own life to give him that power, you bet all those flashbacks are going to help Ray get up and fight back. Ray is able to slash and mark Melheis, allowing Anos to track him. No matter what tricks Melheis does, Anos is superior. Eventually he destroys whatever device was controlling Melheis’ mind. With Melheis returning to his normal senses, he admitted he was attacked by an unknown assailant and mind controlled ever since. After resurrecting Gaios and Ydol, the source that controls them leads them to a shadowy figure believed to be Avos. However he escapes. Returning to reality, Anos is declared the winner since Ray is down. Anos then gives a speech about thanking his father’s sword filled with something more than love. A speech that will put every father in tears. Then a nice surprise for Ray because Anos easily resurrects his mom. Apparently her spirit source is of the sword. So by spreading the tradition with that speech all over, her source has been healed. Confusing but whatever. During the ceremony, Sasha presents Anos with a sword. Also a customary kiss!

Episode 9
2000 years ago at Gairadite, the capital of the human realm of Azeshion, Anos confronted Kanon and wanted peace. Although Kanon was doubtful, he did give it a thought. Until Jerga, Kanon’s master attacked Anos and was steadfast in not believing the lies of a demon. Although Jerga was ultimately defeated, he continued to hold a grudge against demons and vowed to kill them all even if it costs him his life. Anos told Kanon to come to his castle if he wanted to seek peace. Menou Historia takes over Emilia’s class as she tells them about the upcoming inter-academy class with the human realm. After that, Anos trains his comrades and gives suitable advice since they are still considered weak. Then Anos talks to Melheis about the remaining Seven Elder Demon Emperors who are clearly under the influence of Avos. Though, it is baffling that Melheis is the only one who didn’t have his source taken over. They also talk about the Hero Academy with classes held for only the reincarnation of Kanon’s soul. It is perplexing since the war is over, why do they even have a Hero Academy? Anos gives Ray his greatest sword from his collection since he reminds him of his old friend. Though, he still can’t determine if Ray is the reincarnation of Shin. The students are to trek to the Hero Academy. If they fail to reach there in 10 days, they are deemed unqualified to take part. Since Anos has been there, he teleports his friends there in a second!

While the rest wait for the Unitarian girls to arrive, Sasha follows Anos to scout the Hero Academy. What looks like a forced cheesy moment of Anos complimenting Sasha’s beautiful eyes is so that she will promise him to protect the rest with her eyes should he be unable to do his job. If that happens, she hopes he won’t treat her like a child anymore. That’s it? Okay. Outside the Hero Academy, they meet with Eleonore Bianca who is a senior of the Hero Academy. Since Anos would love to hear more about the heroic legends, she takes them to the library. However it seems their legend is distorted. Everyone believes it was Kanon who built the walls and driven the Demon King away. Sasha is about to blow her top but Anos plays it cool. When asked the name of the Demon King, she too replies Avos. Talking about Kanon having 7 sources, even if he had 1 left, he can still regenerate the remaining 6. Eleonore points out there are currently 4 reincarnations of Kanon. Oh, here are 2 of them, Ledriano Kanon Azeschen and Laos Kanon Jilfor. Because Anos doubts they are truly Kanon’s reincarnations, Laos cockily attacks him only to lose. Ledriano forces Laos to back down and admit defeat and hopes Anos will let them go today. As they leave, Eleonore tells Anos that Kanon was murdered 2000 years ago. So even if he does find him reincarnated via his original source, he is going to be disappointed. He is not the Kanon he knows 2000 years ago. I guess we have to wait next time to find out who murdered Kanon. But Eleonore hints it is a human who did it.

Episode 10
When the rest of the demon students arrive, many especially Revest Aynie believe Anos’ team got here by way of cheating. Revest goes as far as to admit that he hates him and will not acknowledge him as the resurrected Demon King of Tyranny. This inter-academy exam will also be presided by Diego Kanon Ijaysica who is the headmaster of the Hero Academy. First, both sides call out their best students to demonstrate their magic. Ledriano demonstrates his perfectly but it seems Revest struggles. This has the humans mock the demons being weak. Of course Anos can easily point out a hidden barrier that seals a demon’s magic. He easily destroys it and displays his own terrifying magic. Later back in his room, Ivis reports his investigation that there are no records mentioning about Kanon being killed by a human. Also, there is a strange legend passed down that indicates a holy sword will be forged to slay the resurrected Demon King. We take a side distraction to see Ray and Misa somewhat dating?! He gives her a necklace?! I suppose this is going to be important later? Next day, the inter-academy exam will take place underneath the lake. While it is obvious both sides will choose their best students, due to Revest’s pride, Menou has no choice but to select him instead of Anos’ groupie. As the exam starts, it is obvious to see that the demons are having trouble. And it is quite obvious to Anos that the holy water flowing through the lake is weakening their magic. Anos then hears Menou’s story about Revest being a kind hearted kid and underachiever until something changed his life. The exam puts the demon students’ life in danger. Anos easily rescues all of them after Diego washes his hands off and pushes back the blame onto Menou since it is her students who are weak. Due to the stigma caused by the holy water, Menou cannot heal Revest. When Revest refuses Anos’ healing, Anos tells him the truth about being weak and this will give rise to more trouble for Menou. Revest casts away his pride to seek Anos’ help just for today. With the next round of exams about to begin, the heroes taunt them they can wait till they drain out all the water in the lake. And of course Anos did that instantly! Diego panics and wants to call off the exam but his students defy him and want to go have fun fighting the demons.

Episode 11
Whatever barriers or plans, doesn’t matter, right? Just fight! So we see Sasha taking on Laos and in the end she wins because she manages to poison him. We also see Ray’s fight with Heine Kanon Iorg and of course he wins because his swordsmanship is incomparable. Now we see Anos taking on Ledriano and Zeshia Kanon Ijaysica who is the top ranked hero. The heroes resort to using the love of their millions of people to gain power. But Anos just needs 8 of his Unitarian fan girls to sing for him! OMFG! This cheesy idol song with arrogant lyrics… Sounds so dumb but yeah, it works! Far more superior! Proof that quality > quantity. A voice of utmost hatred is heard by everyone to kill the demons. Before it brainwashes some of the demons, the voice then stops. Ledriano then has Zeshia unleash a very dangerous spell just to kill Anos. Of course Anos is still standing but Zeshia continues to rinse and repeat this method. While Anos clutches Zeshia in his palms, the voice of Eleonore speaks to him. She wants him to come down to the shrine where she is for only she can stop this. Anos sends Misha in his stead but upon arrival, mad Diego repeatedly stabs her. You know it is enough when Anos steps in to give this bugger a beat down. Anos heals Misha while he interrogates Diego about his plan. Since he won’t talk, he turns Diego into his monstrous form. In this form he tries to brainwash all the heroes to kill all the demons but it failed since Anos stopped time in the battlefield? Anos then goes on to tell off Diego he is nowhere near like the hero Kanon. He is a true hero who actually sacrificed himself instead of sacrificing others. The hero who rose up and fought against him again and again. Even with his sources destroyed repeatedly, he still fought for the sake of humans. Anos kills Diego off and never wants him to so casually mention the name of the hero again. Anos enters the shrine to see Eleonore. What is she? She is magic!

Episode 12
Eleonore explains her role to create clones and heal all mortal wounds. With Anos’ help, she is able to stop this madness. Then she explains further that Jerga actually implemented this 2000 years ago. Because of his hatred for demons, he feared future generations would forget about it and hence twisted the laws of magic and transformed his source into 2 spells. One of them is Asc which is that brainwashing voice of hatred. Eleonore is the other one but since she is a bust, she is only reduced to creating clones. She also shows the memories of what happened to Kanon then. He was against Jerga using this since he doesn’t want future generations to feel such hatred. Jerga got disappointed and killed him off. Ever since, Kanon has never appeared in the world again. As long as this goes on, both sides will not find happiness so Eleonore wants Anos to kill her. With all the baby Zeshia pleading to save mama, you bet something needs to be done. Too bad the clone of Diego barges in with his men. Before he can do anything, the Seven Elder Demon Emperors of Medoin Garsa, Zorro Angato and Eldora Zaia pop up. However they aren’t under Anos’ command but Avos. Avos reveals his true goal to change the world and turn it into a world of demons, swallowed up by this deep darkness. Hence we see Diego and Avos relaying to their respective people how the upcoming war is inevitable and to rise up and crush the enemy. Anos and his friends are of course going to stop this. So while they rest for today, it is so that we can have a short detour or Ray’s romance with Misa? Taking her necklace as keepsake, huh?

Next day, Team Anos moves out to stop the stupid skirmish. Nobody must die or get killed. But he didn’t say nobody could get hurt, right? Anos and his Seven Elder Demon Emperors arrive at supposedly Avos’ castle. Damn, we didn’t even see how the Seven Elder Demon Emperors trio on Avos’ side lost! Before Anos steps in, he is contacted by Misa who is panicking that Ray went missing. Knowing that Avos isn’t in the castle but outside, Anos finally fights off with him. He could tell his real identity: Ray! Anos does some deduction about the necklace, proving Ray didn’t complete lose all his past life’s memories. Shin wouldn’t lie to him and Kanon wouldn’t conceal his identity. So who is he, really? Unless Kanon resurrected as a demon, that would make sense. He thinks Kanon is doing this roundabout way because he used his other sources on the Seven Elder Demon Emperors and there were many unforeseen circumstances like the sword tournament that was not part of his plan. Something must have happened 2000 years ago that he is trying to play the fake Demon King and save something. Ray claims that humans have gotten weaker.

Episode 13
Further revelations show when Kanon realized he was killed by Jerga and that he still plotted to wipe out demons with his hatred, Kanon used his holy sword to nullify destiny. That destiny was Anos’ reincarnation and that’s why when he reincarnated, history was rewritten and it forgot his name as the Demon King of Tyranny. So both guys fight just to preserve the peace? Twisted logic but if that’s the only way… Kanon takes a beating as Anos destroys his sources. With only 1 source left, suddenly Anos lets Kanon stab him. Anos then plays the villain as he claims he has lost and orders his demons to retreat, forbidding them to seek revenge until his resurrection 2000 years later. Kanon feels sad about it since Anos was the only one who helped him and ironically his hero. With the war over, however Diego isn’t satisfied. He believes this Kanon is fake and orders all the Zeshia clones to blow themselves up to kill all the demons. He then turns into Asc which then turns into Jerga. He is existing in magic form and will wipe out all demons. The demons try their best to diffuse all the Zeshia clones but there’s too many. I guess that’s cue for Anos to return! But how! There’s an explanation how he got resurrected but I didn’t get it. Jerga drains all his followers’ hope, turning him into some mighty justice world order thingy. Anos has the Unitarian girls sing for him to power up. Is this going to be another musical? At the same time, Anos and Kanon team up to take down hateful Jerga. In the end, after Kanon’s sword severs his destiny, Jerga is given some soothing vision of his past. Ah yes, the love. No more hate. He passes on in peace. Threat over. Misha and Sasha come crying to Anos because they thought he was dead. Oh girls, I thought you had 100% faith in him! Ray of course returns to Misa. Anos then converts Eleanore’s magic into his so she won’t be abused again. So she’s her property now? Well, I’ll be. Because he takes her home and his parents are sure shocked he brought home another babe! It’s getting crazy so it’s no wonder they’re looking forward to 10,000 grandchildren!!! Believe in Anos he can do it!

Unfit For A King But Fit For A God!
Finally true peace for everybody? Unless they wiped out every trace of the hatred. But to give them the benefit of the doubt, I suppose that Jerga who is the epitome of all the humans’ hatred is the one who has been confusing the humans so with this old master now dead and gone, it is safe to say that the realms will be a lot safer now. I mean, who is more stupid and stronger to take on Anos right now? And with his best friend Kanon-cum-Ray by his side, they’re an unbeatable pair. The world will now be a much boring place… ZzzZZzzzZZzzz… Just kidding. Anos needs to work hard and make those 10,000 babies! Will Anos be a misfit of a baby maker?! Tune in next time! If there will ever be one.

Actually if you think about it, the story and plot itself aren’t really that great or exciting. The Demon King returns only to find that things have changed and he is resolved to get to the bottom of it without stirring the hornet’s nest. After all, when you get resurrected after a 2000 years of absence, there are lots of things that have happened during that time so it is unwise to make dick moves just to uncover the mystery of these unwanted changes. Hence the only mystery that perhaps kept viewers drawn in to watch this series week after week is to find out the true identity of Avos. Who is this mysterious dude trying to change history as it is? Of course you know me, I had a few speculations who this enigmatic entity was. I was betting my money on Kanon. Surprised! It’s Ray! Nope! Gotcha again. It’s Kanon reincarnated as a demon! Damn. So close.

Other than that, the rest of the plot feels pretty much mundane as we see in the early half of the series, Anos establishing a group of people whom he can solely trust or turning others who can fully put their trust in him. Then we have the obligatory mini tournament arc and finally the inter-academy arc between both demons and humans. Nothing really special so you see. So they distract us with Anos being a powerful badass since he can do almost anything with the snap of his fingers, any spells he can counter with the recital of his mouth. We are so in awe with him that we forget that the story is pretty much bland.

So I guess that means the only character we truly care about is Anos himself. Because as already said and seen over and over again, this guy is just overpowered. Not sure if that is the right term to use seeing he himself is the Demon Lord and the one and only being occupying the top ladder of his demon brethren. It is only logical that he is cool and calm because by being the most powerful being ever, who else could actually beat him? It’s like he’s got an answer for everything. A book of cheat codes in his hands. I don’t know. Sometimes it’s like Anos is higher than God because of all the super power moves he pulled off. Don’t be surprised if God was even created by him! Because he is the main character, despite being the most top badass demon in history, we have to see him care about his friends and allies because why not? Better to root for someone likeable rather than arrogant royal purists who find rank and status are everything to them.

And of course at the beginning they tried to troll and tricked us with the confusion that he is a misfit just because he didn’t fulfil the criteria of what it takes to be a top student. Doesn’t it remind you of Mahouka Koukou No Rettousei? Definitely. I wonder if they copied this idea from there. And as you would already know, because of others measuring things in different standards, it gives rise to discrepancy, allowing them to stream those who fall in line within certain standards and those who do not. This would of course means those who do not, there are no other standards to measure them since they are ‘unfit’ or ‘below the average level’. This then serves as a precursor so that nobody would suspect Anos as their original Demon King so he can pretty much walk around without having waves of his brethren bowing at his feet everywhere he goes. Even better, those who look down on him will get a good whooping on their asses.

The rest of the other characters aren’t really interesting either. Especially those in Anos’ group like Misha and Sasha being the first members of Team Anos. The early episodes dedicate some time about their back story and all but for me, it wasn’t that particularly interesting. Sisters trying to be sisterly sister with each other. One being an emotionless doll and the other being a tsundere. Oh well, nothing that Anos cannot fix and before you know it, they’re good together again. Ever since, I felt that they’ve been relegated to just side characters. Although they do have their roles in helping out Anos, it is not as prominent during their initial stories.

Then there is of course Ray whom they try to confuse and troll us that he could be the reincarnation of Shin. They never actually confirm it and not even Anos himself but there were red herrings that were tempting to make us believe that Ray is the reincarnation of Shin. Which is of course not the case as the plot eventually uncovers. Ray also seems a lot like a secondary character only thanks to Anos being a super power badass who hogs the spotlight. You wonder why they even need to showcase Ray’s romance with Misa because even we think Anos x Misha x Sasha threesome is already by far a long shot fantasy delusion. But Ray x Misa? Something feels wrong. Oh well. Now we know. The irony that the Demon King and the hero are the greatest pals ever who understand each other well and they have to clean up the mess their descendants made. Good thing it all turned out fine.

Then you have the Unitarian fan girls who don’t really do anything much because personally it seems to me that they are just on standby in case Anos needs them to become his harem or something. Yes, they do help out as a singing choir but again nothing significant that I could remember. As for the Seven Elder Demon Emperors, I think they’re there just for the numbers. I don’t think they would be on par with Anos but to see them getting brainwashed and all, I don’t know, it just makes them feel weak. And of course, the ‘best’ characters in the series goes to Anos’ cool parents. They’re very supportive of their son no matter the circumstances and the only people in the whole wide world whom Anos can’t hold a candle to. It goes to show that good parenting can even make the Demon King bend his knees. For good reasons, that is. But it just boggles me that he had to be born into this world. Couldn’t he just appear out of thin air? I guess not. Nothing freaks you out like a talking baby when it comes out immediately of your mother’s womb. Oh honey, our little baby spoke his first words! Not sure if that is creepy or funny.

If there is one thing that I find it annoying in this series, it is the terms and lexicons used. I know it sounds awesome and magical, but when they start to spam too much of that gibberish, it somewhat gets to you. At least it got to me. Like as though they just pull those words out of the air randomly and then attach it to that particular spell. Of course this is to showcase Anos has a wide range of spells at his disposal as well as his knowledge of it all, hence all the magic terms and all. In the end, I wasn’t able to remember any of it. So forgive me if I mistakenly think Gyze is a term the demons call it as magic. There’s a website detailing some of that terms if you’re ever so interested to go look it up.

For the action bits, it is a mixed one. On one hand we are awed by Anos being able to pull off feats of magic one after another without any sweat with all the epic big grandiose flashy effects to boot but on the other hand he makes it look so easy that it isn’t fun anymore by the time the series reaches its climax. Every time there is some sort of threat, you know Anos will be able to neutralize it. They might troll us a bit he can’t handle it for now but if you’re a little patient, Anos will figure out the trick behind it and work his magic to solve it like a piece of cake. This is so that we could see the enemy being flabbergasted and surprised that there is an answer to counter it. Yeah. Better believe it. Hence you might be disappointed there is no intensity to it all but whatever. After all, magic and science and everything else have their own concepts behind it. As long as you understand its basics and core, you can manipulate it to your doing. That being said, no wonder dumb people like me don’t get all the explanation. Remember, this is not an isekai anime so don’t go hating Anos for being so freaking overpowered. So the big chunk of the action is focused on Anos. His groupie does have their moment of glory but is by far and few in between. They just show us some of the points and get over it before moving the focus back to Anos. After all, there is nothing Anos could fix so God might as well step aside and hand His title to him. Or is God cowering underneath His heavenly table after learning Anos has been reincarnated???!!! Oh sh*t! Please don’t lightning strike me!!!

Art and animation are pretty standard. Nothing much to shout about. Your typical fantasy setting so I guess the sceneries are pretty okay. Apparently I keep thinking the demon realm is hell so I was wondering why life there and in the human realm are just so familiar. Heck, you can’t even tell if one is a demon or human unless they mention it. Like Anos’ parents. Damn, I keep thinking they’re humans, not demons. Yeah, it would be pretty badass if Izabella was human and gave birth to Anos. Even more freaking awesome than Jesus’ birth from Virgin Mary! If you’re familiar with Silver Link’s line of work, you might see some of its trademark art style here in their previous works like Rakudai Kishi No Cavalry, Masamune-kun No Revenge, Busou Shoujo Maciavellianism, Kenja No Mago, Death March Kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku and Strike The Blood.

For the voice acting, Tatsuhisa Suzuki helming the role of Anos, I thought he sounded like Nanatsu No Taizai’s Ban but in a real demonic form. A few notable seiyuus lending their talents here whom I recognized include Aki Toyosaki as Izabella, Rie Kugimiya as Heine, Houchu Ohtsuka as Melheis, Ami Koshimizu as Emilia and Ayako Kawasumi as Ray’s mom. Because Zeshia sounds more like a retard, I didn’t identify Misaki Kuno behind the character. If she’s in that lively batty loli voice, then I’ll surely would’ve recognized her. The other casts are Tomori Kusunori as Misha (Hazuki in Marchen Madchen), Yuuko Natsuyoshi as Sasha (Himeko in Show By Rock!! Mashumairesh), Takuma Terashima as Ray (Shiroe in Log Horizon), Nene Hieda as Misa (Momo in Gundam Build Divers), Ryota Ohsaka as Kanon (Maco in Shingeki No Kyojin), Sayumi Watabe as Eleonore (Tachibana in Koi Wa Ameagari No You Ni), Aki Kakuma as Menou (Itsuyo in Val x Love), Akio Ohtsuka as Jerga (titular character in Black Jack), Kishou Taniyama as Avos (Jean in Shingeki No Kyojin), Makoto Furukawa as Laos (Banri in Golden Time) and Ryohei Kimura as Ledriano (Kodaka in Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai). Opening theme is Seikai Fuseikai by Civilian. Typical rock outfit that fits the pacing of this series but not to my cup of tea. Another rock outfit for the ending theme, Hamidashimono by Tomori Kusunoki. Also not really liking this one.

Overall, this series isn’t crap but seeing where we are right now in this era, we deserve something better than this mediocrity. Bland story and characters and to think flashy magic power action might cover all that up, I don’t think so. So you’re going to tell me to go make my masterpiece anime then? Well, maybe I should ask Anos’ help. Maybe he can churn out better masterpiece than this run of the mill fantasy garbage. Is there a spell to kill this series and resurrect it into a better one? No? Oh well, goes to show that even some things the mighty Anos can’t fix. Bad animes being one of them. Haha! Heh. So basically the title didn’t somewhat lie to us because it is indeed a misfit that shouldn’t be held on a high pedestal by anyone’s standards. I mean, seeing a main character who is a Demon King but having unrivalled powers like God and even acting with chivalry, it just feels a bit weird. But hey, still better than any clichéd isekai anime any time.

Peter Grill To Kenja No Jikan

Dear Perverts,

I’m sure all the guys have dreamt or fantasized that they are being the coolest, most handsome and/or the strongest so as they will have a bevy of beautiful babes flocking all around them. Yeah, which guy wouldn’t want to sleep with all the hottest girls around? Well. Keep dreaming for most of us. Anyway, Peter Grill To Kenja No Jikan has our titular character winning a tournament and earning him the strongest man in the land. Because of that, many girls are flocking to his side wanting to shag him so they could bear strong children! Uh huh. He may be the strongest man in the land and his fighting skills unrivalled. But when it comes to crazy desperate women who want to sleep with him… Oh boy, they didn’t teach that any of that in warrior school, did they? Good luck. You’ll need it. Every drop of it.

Episode 1
Peter Grill just won a continental tournament. With this, he is now able to keep his promise by proposing to the love of his life, Luvelia Sanctos. However winning the title and becoming the strongest fighter on land has its downfall. Because ogre girl, Mimi Alpacas wants his baby! I suppose it is ogres’ tradition to f*ck the strongest person but Peter remains faithful. What’s worse than an ogre girl trying to get into your pants? Why, 2 ogre girls! Yeah, Mimi’s sister, Lisa has the same line of thought. He manages to get away from them and meet Luvelia at the chapel. They are glad they can now get married. But Peter narrates that despite their 2 years of dating, as Luvelia has been sheltered and brainwashed by the guild master, Albatross who is also her father, Luvelia thinks babies come from storks!!! Oh well, this is going to be tough… But back in his room, he has more on his plate because the ogre sisters come bugging him. He kicks them out but since they are being noisy outside, he has to let them in. He tries to tell them off that he is engaged to Luvelia. However they know that they have never progressed from beyond holding hands. So they’re saying they’ve got way more experience than that, huh? Peter tries hard to keep his dignity and his resistance is strong until he accidentally touches Lisa’s boobs. So soft… And the next thing you know, he gave in to temptation and laid both of them! Oh yeah. Sh*t will be hitting the fan soon when Luvelia is heard knocking outside his door! OH F*CK!!!

Episode 2
Peter shoves the sisters into the closet and gives and excuse that he is training, the reason he is all sweating. Luvelia is here to tell him that they will return to the capital to inform her father of their engagement. Too bad he outright rejects! He hates Peter for deceiving his angel? Not until Luvelia threatens that she will cut ties and move away from him that he is forced to acknowledge this union. And with their engagement official, the entire kingdom parties away to celebrate this joyous occasion. You think the ogre sisters are here to congratulate him but of course they’re here to make babies! They think this secret arrangement is best. They’ll keep this tryst a secret and Peter will f*ck them until they get pregnant. At this point the sisters are naked and has pulled down his pants. Luvelia is heard coming so Peter has to think fast as he sits at the table to hide his lower anatomy. Yeah, the sisters hiding underneath the table too. Before Luvelia could talk to him, Albatross comes by to tell Peter to get out of his seat. He won’t. Because this is his proof of his devotion to her! While this only makes Albatross’ blood boil, he is forced to back down because Luvelia threatens him again. As Luvelia is praising Peter’s conviction, it looks like the sisters are playing with Peter’s dick! Luckily Luvelia soon goes off to appease her rampaging father. Peter asserts again that his love is for Luvelia. But the ogres wonder if he can stay true to that since his ‘little brother’ is saying otherwise. And before you know it, Peter makes the same mistake again of sleeping with them again! Damn, his resistance game is weak…

Episode 3
Peter finally making out with Luvelia! Wohoo! Psych! Turns out to be Albatross! OH F*CK! Double psych because he is almost making out with this loli elf? His buddy, Tim Robinson comes in to see what all the fuss is about. Oh sh*t. Cheating on Luvelia, huh? But don’t worry, he’ll take it to his grave! You bet Peter will be also heading to the grave if this is ever found out… Anyway, Vegan Eldorie is here as an ambassador. Peter’s fear comes true because she is also here to get in his pants! Of course there is a reason for it. This is to save her race. Since elves are not suited for combat, they have always done poorly in the tournament. Hence they’ve been ridiculously mocked and to avoid her race from being extinct, the council has assigned her for this job. Of course Peter rejects. Even more obviously, his junk isn’t even erected. Good thing he isn’t a lolicon. Vegan is insulted but since she won’t give up, she casts some forbidden magic spell on his crotch. By tomorrow night, he will be begging to bang her like mad. Vegan leaves but Peter thinks she is bluffing since his crotch looks alright. Meanwhile Luvelia and her men are travelling through the forest when they are attacked by a tentacle creature! Oh boy. I can see where this is going. Yeah, Luvelia getting tentacle raped. Peter hears about this and makes haste. Can he make it in time to save Luvelia’s chastity?

Episode 4
Too bad for us, Luvelia gets her wish as she screams out to Peter’s name to save her. Instantly this guy rescues her and he becomes mad at this monster for trying to defile his future wife. Basically no monster can stand up to his rage as he takes it down while everyone cheers and acknowledges him as the strongest fighter. As Peter rejuvenates at the hotspring, he notices something strange. His dick has been erected ever since saving Luvelia. Could it be the wiles of that elf? Sure enough, Vegan pops up to confirm that and an even more terrifying effect. With this eternal erection that has him experience some insatiable arousal around the nether regions, this will also cause its tissues to damage and before long, you’ll die without achieving that manhood. So the only way is to f*ck Vegan and deposit his juice inside her?! To put it in the crudest way! But Peter hears Luvelia’s voice next door. She is suggesting they bath together. Peter is surprised this is the first time Luvelia has asked something like this but at the same time also dismayed because of the curse. So what will it be? Unfortunately he has to turn down Luvelia. What wasted chance. But Luvelia understands since this came too suddenly. Poor Peter, his torture continues because now he has to beg to that prideful elf to f*ck her. Ready when you are… And so Peter shagged another woman for the record… Ah, such a beautiful morning, don’t you think?

Episode 5
Albatross hatches a devilish plan… Summoning Peter, it seems the orcs have sent an official marriage request to marry one of their kind with Peter. Although Peter and Luvelia’s engagement is official, this is of course just formality and after all that he can turn it down. After all, the orcs have funded a substantial amount of money into the guild so it would be unwise to turn this down without going through protocol. Luvelia knows this is a trap and knows Peter is only loyal to her. Oh dang. Only if she knew… As Albatross and Peter with their orc counterpart, Peter is very certain he will not get along with the ugly orcs because of their different taste in beauty. Can he say that when he sees how f*cking cute Piglette Pancetta is?! Is she really an orc?! They are both left alone and as they walk through town, Piglette starts to have panic attacks. It seems she was put up to this and doesn’t want to do this. She is also an outcast because of her looks that resembles closely to humans, other orcs ostracized her. Though she admires Peter skills during the tournament, she doesn’t think an ugly woman like her deserves to be with him. A few scumbags (hired by Albatross) try to bully Piglette but Peter easily defeats them. He also helps Piglette regain her self-confidence as he notes by human standards she is beautiful. At the end of the day, Peter declines this political manoeuvre. However the rest think they didn’t spend enough time together so they lock them up in a bedroom. Well, if it doesn’t work out, at least they know they tried. Yeah… Hope Peter doesn’t err in his judgment… But looks like his chastity is in danger since Piglette’s drink was drugged and she’s feeling horny.

Episode 6
Indeed, Albatross drugged Piglette’s drink and once he touches her, it’s all over for him and Luvelia. HAHAHA!!! And Peter is almost drawn to her boobs but manages to snap out when he sees Luvelia’s face! Thank goodness. He tries to talk about the person he is engaged to but apparently polygamy is okay with orcs. When he continues to resist, she starts crying and thinking she is ugly. Of course he denies and says she is beautiful. She catches him off guard with a quick kiss. He tries to clear his mind with this zen thingy but unfortunately those boobs are too good to resist. Yup… He f*cked her. Oh man, how he gonna get out of this one! He’s dead for sure! When she wants to tell her master of this, he tries to convince her otherwise. Something about not becoming the puppet of others and make decisions on her own free will. So when they report to their masters, Piglette gives Peter a miracle by claiming he did not touch her. Old men so disappointed. It could have ended just there but she continues. Despite last night’s inaction, she also felt some sort of connectivity to Peter. Hence she is seeking her master’s permission to join his guild and cultivate a better relationship. Oh sh*t. The miracle turned a curse. Later Piglette talks to Peter about this move. Although this is to prevent other orcs from having a child with him, this so that she could monopolize him, raise the strongest child and get revenge on everyone who tormented her! Oh dear. You’ve created a monster, Peter. Oh f*ck. She looking like yandere now… Oh sh*t, this is really a curse!

Episode 7
The real war begins. Yup. The orcs, elf and ogre are all here fighting over Peter. This is going to be real sh*t hits the fan! Menacing b*tching won’t get them anywhere so it is agreed that they establish the hierarchy via competition of using their feminine wiles. Using this artificial fairy counter, whoever gives Peter the most arousal will win. The ogre sisters start of great with their naked yuri act. High scores because those delicious boobs rubbing against each other! Although Vegan dresses in a skimpy bikini, because she has no boobs, a very low score indeed. Piglette didn’t do anything but just being in a naked apron has Peter arouse to the same level as the ogre sisters. I guess back to more b*tch fight. Peter pleads for Tim’s help to stop this but he makes it worse as he lets everyone drink alcohol! Party time! So you think Peter has had enough and puts his foot down that he will never betray Luvelia and never give in to that temptation again. Can he say that with a straight face since all the women are now parading their naked boobs in his face? Resist that! And so the next morning Peter wakes up feeling worse than a hangover. Yeah, he shagged them all so much so the counter was off the charts and got destroyed!!! OMFG… The nightmare isn’t over yet as the ladies agree to set official terms to avoid situations like this. Oh Peter…

Episode 8
And so the deliberation begins. You bet the girls can’t agree on anything because they feel the other is trying to one up the rest with bias rules. And no, Peter doesn’t get a say in it all. Yeah, basically they’re all fighting over his dick! Eventually I don’t know how, the rules are set. Unfortunately Peter has to follow them as he gets f*cked by all of them based on the treaty. But the day he is looking forward is his rest day. Yeah, no f*cking. Plus, a date with Luvelia! Such a happy outing for them until Peter spots Mimi passing by. Seems she wants to take advantage of his off day and f*ck him! Peter takes her away and reminds her about the treaty but clearly she has no intention of following it! Yeah, she’s ready to f*ck! Too bad he gives in. When he returns, Vegan is now at the table?! Oh sh*t! Same thinking! Yeah, shagged her too. As expected, it’s Lisa’s turn! Oh man, his off day is a disaster. So while Peter is away, Luvelia thinks about their past together. At the end of the date as he walks her home, he apologizes for the interruptions. She hopes that on their next day off, they could just go somewhere quiet. Just the both of them. Luvelia leaves but Peter feels awkward with this goodbye. He needs to think fast about getting out of this torture treaty or it’s the end of him with Luvelia.

Episode 9
Oh man. More of Peter’s tears. This dude is breaking down. He can’t even cry in peace since Piglette is here! Oh damn. However she hears him out over his ruined date with Luvelia and allows him to let out all his feelings on her. She’ll accept all his flaws! Yes. This guy can’t escape the gravity of her boobs and f*cks her!!! Oh f*ck! And guess what? The other ladies are here too and calling out over Piglette’s cheating! Are they the one to say?! But the short fight soon turns into some sort of understanding. They’ll all share Peter’s juice! Oh f*ck! He shags them all again! This time Peter has snapped. He tells them off the treaty is nothing but a useless piece of paper since no one is honouring it. And Mimi has the balls to say that is true. Because basically there’s no punishment either for anyone breaking it. And poor Peter. This time he has lost it. He runs out screaming naked in the rain. With his broken mental state, he takes shelter as a mighty ogre warrior, Antonio Spartokos joins him. He hears Peter out and he gives pretty good advice about not giving up on love. Because he too has been tracking the love of his life and has finally got clues about her whereabouts. Peter is grateful for his advice and will see it through but looks like this may be the start of yet another set of problems because he learns this ogre’s love is no other than Lisa who is the princess of the ogre kingdom! Oh sh*t! Did he f*ck many times the princess???!!! This is so f*cked up!!!

Episode 10
Peter confronts Lisa about being the princess of ogres. She admits to it and Peter gets mad because if this is found out, imagine the international scandal it will cause. Lisa assures him that his identity will not be at risk. She is just after his seed and after bearing the strongest child, she will disappear from his life and not even reveal the name the father. That’s why she is going to seduce him to f*ck her right now! Meanwhile Spartokos arrives at the guild to ask for Lisa’s whereabouts when he sees Mimi. She gives him directions to Peter’s place and what does he see? Peter and Lisa getting it on!!! This guy just died… And then reincarnate into a bunch of hate! Instantly he fights Peter who is naked and armed only with a banana! Fight is stopped when Lisa orders the men to stand down. Can’t disobey the princess, right? As revealed, Spartokos is their childhood friend and in love with Lisa ever since. However he is here to request her to return to their home since their clan’s morale is low without their leader. But she denies that request. Her journey of 3 years has led her to Peter who is her ‘official donor’ to make their species stronger. Lisa is brutally honest when she claims not one of the male ogres could defeat her, including Spartokos. This was the reason she left her homeland in search for a stronger heir. Spartokos admits this weakness. But he has undergone intensive training ever since and will show he the fruits of his labour. Therefore he challenges Peter to an official duel. So rumours start swirling how this duel started all because of a girl and the winner gets to become famous and propose to a girl, blah, blah, blah. Peter only knows he is in more sh*t but realizes something. If Spartokos wins, Lisa will be forced to return with him. This means less 1 b*tch in his way to Luvelia’s heart. Yeah, all he needs to do is just to lose…

Episode 11
Before Peter could have any further ideas, Lisa warns him if he does anything funny, she’ll reveal it all to Luvelia. By the way, she’s watching too! I guess Peter has to fight then. As both men prepare to face off, Spartokos notes how he could have just easily reveal this scandal to the world. But as an ogre, he will not use this cowardly method. He is bent on defeating Peter and prove his manliness to Lisa. Because the crowd realizes he is a virgin, they want Peter to lose! Tough call, eh? As the fight begins, no fight at all because Peter easily defeats Spartokos! Boos from the crowd. The winner is obvious but Spartokos begs Lisa for another chance. She gives him another but he will face her in one week’s time. Now Spartokos turns to Peter and begs him to train him. Peter isn’t into that kind of stuff but as Vegan and Piglette explain, if Spartokos wins, then the ogre sisters will have to give up and go home. Less (wo)men more share, right? And so Spartokos trains under Peter, gets magically buffed up by Vegan and is served by Piglette’s meals. Yeah, did he turn into some muscle monstrosity?! They also notice that the guild’s receptionist, Mitchie Peregrym has been bringing lunch to Spartokos every day. It is very clear she is in love with him. Or his muscles. Now it’s the fated showdown and will Spartokos reclaim his manly honour?

Episode 12
The rematch is here. Peter is confident that under his tutelage, Spartokos will win. However he realizes that Spartokos is following Lisa’s jiggling boobs! Damn, definitely will lose! I hope he didn’t learn this from Peter. And as expected, Spartokos loses. Later as he wakes up in another room with Peter who is trying to say a rematch with Lisa will yield the same results, here comes Mitchie to check on him. Peter then has an idea. He tries to hook them up together and claims that Spartokos needs some variety. In that sense he means to build up more experience with other women if he is going to stand a chance to fight Lisa again. Is he speaking from experience? Spartokos denies but Peter is smooth trying to connect how his weakness is only chasing after a woman. Mitchie interjects to confess she loves him. In an instant, they hit it off. Yeah, they even sleep together! There is nothing more for Peter to teach you… With this new ‘experience’, Peter hopes Spartokos will ask for a rematch with Lisa. However he is done with her and is now following his advice of true path of happiness with Mitchie! Oh Peter, your plans backfired. And here is Lisa to thank Peter for that true happiness path. She asks him this same question if he wants to be stuck with a naïve girl named Luvelia. Because if he goes with Lisa, he can be king of an entire nation. Think about it. Then here comes Luvelia. Ah, my lovely Luvelia. No time for reminiscing. There’s trouble. Looks like those sex maniac goblins are running rampage! Peter and Luvelia hope to be together after this ends. As for the rest of the women, they mock Peter and Luvelia’s love as amateurish. That’s why they can’t lose to Luvelia and no matter what path Peter chooses, they’ll get his juice! Yeah, what a foolproof plan indeed. But more danger for Peter because a group of hobgoblin babes are putting their focus on Peter. And what’s this? Peter’s sister too?! Don’t tell me buranko?!

The Biggest Loser: Ishuzoku Screwers
Well, I’m sure Peter do realize himself with his final episode revelations that as long as he is a man, he can’t escape the destiny of being tempted by a female’s body. Hey, at least he proves he isn’t gay! It’s going to be tougher now. Despite Peter making his steely resolve for Luvelia, as far as we have seen throughout this series, I don’t think that is going to last very long. Uh huh. Back to square one, my biggest guess. So load ‘em up on those juices. One day the strongest warrior shall be born!

There isn’t any real story in here. Just women who are out to get Peter’s seed and Peter himself failing in restraining himself while regretting everything thereafter. That’s all. That’s the basic premise of the entire story. Horny chicks wanting to f*ck Peter. And that itself is the guise for our seasonal fanservice and pseudo sex. Such plot reminds me of an old anime, Maburaho but without all the sleazy sex excuse. My only grouse is that I was under the impression that there would be hundreds of women who will be vying for Peter’s seed and that it would become a big chaotic mess as they try to get him to sleep with them. Instead, we only have a measly 4 women who wants to f*ck him. JUST FOUR F*CKING BABES. Where’s the fun in that?! Oh well, that is a pretty reasonable number if you’re going to turn this into a decent (oh the irony) little story (oh damn, another irony).

You see, the story’s direction could have taken a whole new direction and wouldn’t really fly if more horny women start to compete for Peter. Firstly, Peter wouldn’t be able to keep all the scandals a secret. This means whether or not Peter sleeps with them, everyone in the whole wide land will know about this and Peter can’t keep this entire scandal a secret. This will then lead to Albatross who will then be openly calling out for his blood and who knows even if Luvelia would still want to accept Peter as her fiancée. What about other husbands, fiancés, boyfriends and other men whose love of their life has abandoned them just to get into Peter’s pants? Madness definitely. Essentially the entire show would be about Peter running away from lustful women and very angry men. Thus just having a small mini harem would suffice at least in the context of this anime.

But it is still mind boggling to think that only 4 women in the entire land would want to bear Peter’s baby. Maybe they’re the only twisted ones. Even though I just said that it wouldn’t be probable for hundreds of women to fight over Peter’s seed, I was hoping there would be just a few more. You know, just to tick the checklist of every other race that Peter will shag! So I don’t see any vampire mistresses, fairy girls or beast women anywhere. I’m sure in this fantasy continent with races like elves, orcs and ogres, there would be other races too, am I right? Well, unless they never existed in the context of this fantasy or these races are too strong and hence don’t need to f*ck Peter. Oh right, those hobgoblins appeared right at the very end so I guess there are other races too. One at a time, Peter’s juices aren’t going anywhere!

Poor Peter. This guy might be the strongest warrior in the land but he has got the weakest libido resistance. I suppose they don’t teach that in warrior school or any sort of such chivalry. Maybe that’s supposed to be common sense. What is common sense in this world anyway? Peter is being painted as the victim here but if you think deeper about it, he is also partly to blame for allowing his life to be tainted with this unspeakable secret trysts. His weakness to boobs is the main cause of this downfall and that’s why it is not entirely the women’s fault that Peter fell for their seduction. Though, I just don’t get it, how many times are they going to try and f*ck Peter till they get the strongest child they want. I mean, can they identify after sleeping with him once that he fired duds or something?! Yeah, this part may be a no brainer and sounds more like porn logic. But whatever. He lived up to his name of being sexually grilled by these women.

Therefore the only person whom Peter wants to consummate will likely remain as the last person he will ever sleep with. Assuming if that ever happens. You’d think that seeing Peter in his pitiful state would make us sympathize with him because his heart is still oh so true to Luvelia. Well, unfortunately his dick is not loyal to anybody! HAHAHA!!! Thinking about this, it is hard to feel pity on Peter. Uh huh. Sometimes my sadistic side was just hoping the whole scandal gets exposed and see infidel Peter get his just desserts. My only worry is pure and innocent Luvelia. It can go both ways, though. If Peter’s scandal becomes known, she can become enraged, call off their engagement and become foul of love, never coming to love again and hating men for the rest of her life. Ooohh. That’s really a deep cut. But Luvelia being the nice girl she is, could forgive Peter and let it slide because you know, their love knows no bounds. So it’s a pretty 50-50 chance of Luvelia falling to either side.

For the rest of the other girls in Peter’s harem, oh boy, they sure have lots of time to bide as they wait for their next opportunity to pounce on Peter. After all, it has become their life’s mission to get his seed and bear the strongest child. Not sure how guaranteed is that because if they fail to do so and next year’s tournament Peter loses, will this shenanigan still go on? Anyway, these ladies know they hold the upper hand and that’s why they aren’t the slightest afraid of Peter or his empty threats. Uh huh. Too bad Peter, you’re just a tool. No love here. And who could ever forget the overprotective Albatross. I don’t think this guy just hates Peter. It could be anybody. He just doesn’t want to give away his daughter to anybody. The only thing stopping from him getting his way is Luvelia herself. The mere threat of cutting ties with daddy would send the old senile bugger into panic mode. Yeah, that keeps him in check. But the rage still burns inside strongly…

I’m sure we’re all here for the fanservice (the reason why we watch this, no?), especially those steamy moments when the girls are going to shag Peter. And of course seeing that this is aired over the TV waves, there are the censored and uncensored versions. You should know me by now which version I watched. Uh huh. My mental image is super strong!!! Anyway, if you are annoyed by those damn white censors because you want to see tits, asses and pussies, I’m sure the uncensored one will be a lot satisfying. Art and animation are pretty okay and standard. Nothing too shabby but nothing that extraordinary either. This anime is done by Wolfsbane, a relatively new anime studio and this is their debut anime.

For the voice acting, Hiro Shimono helming the role of Peter, he sounds like one of his usual joker characters like Shingeki No Kyojin’s Connie and Kimetsu No Yaiba’s Zenitsu. Pretty much at home here. Ayana Taketatsu as Mimi is the only other seiyuu I recognized. The rest are Yui Ninomiya as Luvelia (Ema in Aikatsu Friends), Hibiku Yamamura as Lisa (Azami in Shin Sakura Taisen), Akari Uehara as Vegan (Riona in Ousama Game), Sayaka Senbongi as Piglette (Julia in Dorei-ku The Animation), Kenta Miyake as Spartokos (Cocytus in Overlord), Ayaka Ota as Mitchie and Takayuki Sugou as Albatross (Wanyuudou in Jigoku Shoujo). Tsuranuite Yuutsu by Yui Ninomiya sounds pretty generic as pop idol music. I prefer much the ending theme, Yoridokoro by Hilcrhyme because of its catchy hip hop feel in its tune.

Overall, this anime might be garbage and trash by many because of its ridiculousness and blatant fanservice of pseudo sex, which of course are its selling points. Fortunately for me, I left my brains (and libido!) at the doorstep and with such low expectations I actually find it funny and fun! In an entertainment sense, that is. Seeing a guy trying to hide his infidelity but at the same time digging his grave deeper also serves as a great reminder why guys should always never use the wrong head to make decisions of the flesh. Not that I can get a single girl to go after my seed :’(… It is sad that this anime is just like Peter’s pride: Irredeemable. How fast can you run away from such baloney? Because how fast can you say this modified tongue twister: Peter piped her, picked and pecked those pretty pussies…

Dokyuu Hentai HxEros

No excuses this time. We all know why we want to watch Dokyuu Hentai HxEros. Heh. Even the name of the anime doesn’t hide the fact it has something to do with all the lewdness. Uh huh. They’re not even shying away from making a pun out of hero and ero. With Corona virus locking us down and making us feeling horny, even Pornhub has been giving free viewings to us! Oh yeah! Hope your horny lust has been satiated. Because anime too won’t lose out and hence this series. So what’s new? Nothing really. Because once again Earth is in danger of being invaded by bug-like aliens. And the only way to defeat them is with the power of hentai! Oh yeah! It’s not the first anime having such concept as we have Kenzen Robo Daimidaler and Fuuun Dai Shogun that also uses the power of perversion to power up our heroes. So get ready those wrists and tissue papers as we prepare to fap and convert our inner lewd horniness into power that could save the world! It’s all for the sake of humanity, people!!! I swear!!! Believe it!!!

Episode 1
Ah, such age of innocence. Kirara Hoshino teaching Retto Enjou how to do adult stuffs. Albeit just holding hands. As expected, shy boy is shy while cheeky girl is so teasing. From that day on, Retto wants to be… A SUPERHERO???!!! WTF???!!! WHERE’S THE CONNECTION???!!! Anyway, fast forward 5 years later. Retto is your typical high school kid but what’s this? A total change for Kirara?! She isn’t just a germaphobe but she hates men too???!!! Something must have happened. Even if Retto is her childhood friend, he is not spared as she wants him to keep his distance. Even when she falls down the stairs, he is forced to grab her. Of course he grabbed her boobs but this is to save her from greater harm. Gee, so she scorns him now? Thanks. That’s some gratitude there. On the news, we are enlightened of Earth’s current situation. It is believed that aliens called Kiseichuu invaded Earth many years ago and started stealing humans’ erotic energy. Victims are left in a lifeless state that are devoid of any perverted or horny feelings. We see one now in action. A Kiseichuu purposely cuts a showgirl’s bra open. Horny fans start welling up their erotic energy. Kiseichuu steals them. Everyone now barren zombies and thinking of doing actual serious stuffs???!!! But don’t worry. Retto is a superhero using such energy to defeat the Kiseichuu! Though sent flying, Retto’s clothes also get torn!!!

He returns to his uncle, Anno Jou who maintains his gear like this special watch that converts his erotic energy into power. We see a glimpse of what happened that day, when a Kiseichuu showed up, Kirara went to protect Retto and got her erotic energy zapped. That changed their lives. Now in school, Kirara total ignores him although he tries hard to apologize. On the way back, that Kiseichuu returns. With an even harder body her queen gave her, Retto’s power has no effect. Retto takes Kirara and run. Their hands touch. What’s this feeling she feels inside? It’s bursting out now! Together with Retto, they blast the Kiseichuu away for good! Turning naked in the process. Kirara is embarrassed with this as the flashback further shows after her erotic energy was zapped by the Kiseichuu, the Kiseichuu noted she has so much more hentai energy than the normal person! So much more that she herself cannot handle it and exploded!!! WOAH!!! Poor Kirara was so embarrassed after that, that she locked her heart away and started hating boys. If only there was a way to get things back to normal… Reconciliation put on hold when they are confronted by Momoka Momozono, Maihime Shirayuki and Sora Tenkuuji. They claim Kirara has the power and will be their newest recruit of their superhero team known as Super HxEros. Yes, Retto is part of this group. At least the Saitama branch. And yes, all of them live together and so shall Kirara from now on.

Episode 2
Kirara letting Retto do hentai stuffs to her because she agrees to use this power to save the world? Psych! Trolled ‘ya! Just a dream! So we see Retto waking up in the dorm. Naughty pet dog Runba just brought him Momoka’s panties. Momoka isn’t upset it is in his hands but rather she thinks he has no balls to go get it himself and used the dog!!! Retto realizes Retto mixed up her room again and slept with him. Maihime isn’t even spared from the fanservice as Runba starts rummaging through her boobs when food accidentally spilled over them. Apparently Kirara isn’t living with them. As explained by Anno that this would help team cooperation, looks like she didn’t accept this crap. She left and Retto is left with the impossible task to convince her. So in school, he tries not to be direct but wonders if their relationship would have been different had the Kiseichuu not ruined it like it has ruined many other relationships. Time to think deep, Kirara. This means a flashback of young Kirara teaching erotic lessons to Retto like putting his hands on her boobs and holding each other close. Man, did the lesson advanced that much? When a Kiseichuu turns up at school, Kirara notices a boy whom she just rejected is about to become the victim. The Kiseichuu is going to absorb all his negative energy so he doesn’t have to deal with love! Despite afraid, Kirara faces up to the Kiseichuu to let the guy run for help. Cue for Retto to jump in and blast away the bug (and their clothes too!). So I guess this is cue for them to reconcile so Kirara agrees to live with them but warns not to use her or the girls to accumulate his perverted energy. This is going to be a tall order… Except maybe for emergencies. Can every time be considered an emergency? The other girls welcome Kirara as Retto realizes he will be living together with the girl he loves. But no time to rest as a Kiseichuu alert rings. Not sure WTF this is because Retto is then scrambled down to the bath area where all the girls are being naked to deepen their skinship. Of course Kirara doesn’t like this and lets loose her power so much so it destroys that Kiseichuu flying over!!! OMFG!!! How in the world???!!! Oh well, I guess things are going to be okay then…

Episode 3
While chasing down a Kiseichuu who steals panties, because Kirara has no H-power to finish her off, the little alien got away. Momoka wants to help her build up some H-power via porn but I guess Kirara isn’t so into that. This irks Momoka because Kirara has got the goods but doesn’t know how to use it well. What a waste of resources?! Because all of them here has their convictions to be a hero. As Momoka is probably the one with the smallest bust, time for a flashback how her sister, Sonoka was more popular than her. All the men flocked to her. Even if Momoka is more athletic than her and got recommendations for special track and field events, all the attention was on Sonoka. Momoka tries to bust up via soy milk bath. That’s what the TV show says, right? I guess this is to have some ambiguous fanservice with Retto because she spent too long in it and starts feeling dizzy. Can’t think straight. Get your mind out of the gutter! Though Retto won’t tell anyone about this, Momoka notices that Retto’s H-energy is rising. She is glad that boobs aren’t the only potential for that power. And yeah, that TV show apologized for the fake research… The panties stealing Kiseichuu turns up in school to do her usual. This time Retto helps Kirara in chasing and crushing it. If not for Kirara vouching for him, Retto could’ve been mistaken for the panty thief. Later, Kirara goes out shopping with her friend. So need advice to buy some lingerie, huh? So that night she enters Retto’s room with this new sexy lingerie. So this is a sorry excuse to increase her H-energy? Okay. Whatever. As she sleeps close to him, this brings back memories of one of those innocent young days. Retto saw Kirara’s cute sleeping face and wanted to kiss her but she woke up and caught him in the act. Yeah, that face was priceless. In fact, she allowed him to kiss her but that shy boy backed out and gave lame excuses. Yeah, Kirara not amused. She was so disappointed! Kirara then realizes her boobs are being groped. Is Retto turning into a hentai monster now?! Oh, turns out to be Sora. Wrong room again, huh? Oh well, Kirara better get back to her own room then. And Sora continues to sleep in Retto’s room. Maybe they should just switch rooms. As Kirara rues this lost chance in her room, she accidentally releases her H-power that blows another hole in the ceiling! There goes the lingerie she bought too. What a waste… Anno isn’t mad at the hole in the ceiling. It just shows how great her potential is!

Episode 4
Looks like the Kiseichuu queen knows there are too many humans to eliminate. But her underlings have a plan and that first step is to eliminate Super HxEros. Now we see Maihime getting captured and tentacle raped by one. Turns out to be a wet dream because Runba is licking, uhm, down there… We get a peek in Maihime’s daily school life. She has low self-confidence because she claims she has no talent in anything except sensing H-energy. Well, if she always keeps comparing to her more talented and super popular tomboyish childhood friend, Chiya Houya. Chiya has given some good advice to Maihime but how far will that go? Until a Kiseichuu attacks the school. Maihime goes into action and gets tentacle raped! Luckily she manages to get out because of the dream this morning. Thank goodness for that wet dream? Then she realizes all the tentacles are students turned into one and one of them is Retto. Maihime then shoots a blast to destroy the Kiseichuu. This means all the students return to normal. Except for Retto, why is everyone girls?! You bet Retto still has to run for his life! Chiya has seen it all and notes that this is what Maihime is good at. Back home, Momoka does some prank that spills juice all over Maihime. Then Runba comes and starts the erotic licking… I swear this is going to be her ero running joke… But the highlight is Kirara stumbling upon a porn book on the floor. Turns out to be Sora’s and she’s very embarrassed to learn Kirara has learnt her dark secret. Of course Kirara isn’t such cold hearted person and understands everyone has a secret or two. Until Sora is ready to reveal, she promises not to tell anyone. Sora feels better but wants to make it even. Now that Kirara has seen her embarrassing moments, Sora wants to do the same. So she sketches a naked Kirara? Oh well. We win this one too! What’s this? She’s drawing an erotic manga of a threesome with Retto?! Erotic dreams put on hold as the Kiseichuu alert is sounded. Yeah, this time they are attacking Sora’s favourite bookstore. Thanks to Kirara’s motivation, Sora is able to power up and fight back with no shame. As Kirara leads the bookstore clerk away, turns out she is a Kiseichuu in disguise and kidnaps Kirara. She is brought to the queen who will use her as bait to lure the rest of Super HxEros and eliminate them. Only then they can proceed to their next plan of castrating the entire human race!

Episode 5
You bet Retto and the girls are going to save Kirara. But without them as a whole, how are they going to get their H-energy? Not sure about Momoka having the girls give their panties to Retto… Nothing happens… As Kirara is being held in a Kiseichuu’s underground nest, thankfully she manages to feign being horny and deal with that stupid Kiseichuu to break free. It is then she stumbles into a cat girl? Actually she is Chacha, the firstborn princess of the queen bug. She explains she is ostracized and imprisoned ever since because she is different from the rest. Now that she has come to know a lot about the human planet (especially, porn, uhm, I mean soap opera…), she wants to bust out of here too. It seems Chacha’s uncanny ability is to release pheromones that make it easier for other species to feel that H-energy. That power starts welling up in Kirara before she cuts it off. So what gives? Something about that feeling called embarrassment. This makes Chacha confused because it is how humans reproduce so why so shy about it? She thinks Kirara should be more honest with herself. The nest is under attack as our Super HxEros barge in to save Kirara and strut some of their H-energy moves. Kirara and Chacha’s moment ruined when a Kiseichuu takes Kirara as hostage. She even badmouths Chacha for trying to help a human and if she wasn’t the queen’s firstborn, she would have been killed a long time ago. With Kirara taken hostage, Retto can’t do anything and gets captured too. But gee, they’re kind enough to let them talk. This includes Retto telling her not to be ashamed of her H-energy. More flashback of when they’re kids. You think young Kirara is raunchy but is just tricking Retto into asking her for some candy. Where’s the sexual connotation in that?! Anyway, this leads to Kirara believing that she had those feelings once and had she still had them, she would have definitely lived a more (ero) life like having her own boyfriend and doing all the usual (ero) stuffs. This power is enough to break Kirara free! Enough to crumble the entire nest?! I don’t know how fast Kirara explained to Retto because he went in to save Chacha. Everyone is out safe and Chacha has mimicked Kirara’s body. This busty version of hers is trying to rape Retto???!!! Despite destroying the nest, this doesn’t mean defeating her mother queen. Hence Chacha is here to stay and will help retrain their H-energy.

Episode 6
Chacha is introduced to Anno and despite showing her mimicry form, he is still suspicious. Until Kirara had to embarrassingly say she can help with their H-energy and cue for clumsy Chacha to somehow pull down her pantsu. You convinced now? Okay. But looks like she’ll be staying at the dorm. Next morning, we see some pseudo sex between Kirara and Retto. Turns out to be Chacha mimicking Retto and I suppose Kirara can’t take the heat. So she wants Chacha to mimic Runba instead?! I hope she isn’t into beastiality. Later, because Retto won’t tell his H-energy source, Chacha uses another power of hers to merge their bodies together. This means Retto is now one with her and can feel the exact same sensations. You know what this means. That’s right. First up they visit Maihime’s room. Doggie molests her so good that it sends Maihime to seventh heaven! OMG. ‘Runba’ sure got the touch! Next is Momoka. But Momoka wants Chacha to mimic a busty version of her to see what it looks like. Then Chacha helps Momoka in doing exercise and you bet all that physical touching sends her into orgasm somehow. Next is Sora. Since she is drawing sexual poses, not sure how she ended up in one. Lastly it is Kirara in the bath. Something steamy is going on here… Until Retto realizes this is not the kind of H-energy he wants. Because he wants to do it on his own effort. With this, he separates from Chacha. But Kirara thinks they are in cahoots and too bad for them, looks like the dorm has another hole. Boy, that’s a lot of H-energy stored up there. On another day, after defeating a Kiseichuu, Kirara is splashed with weird liquid. Because of that, her state of mind regressed into that of a child. Not just any child because remember how flirty she is? Yup. Flirty Kirara can’t stop being cheeky with Retto. You making everyone jealous? One point she isn’t wearing bra so Retto thought of having her wear bandages to cover up. But this has her tease him even further and letting sleep in her boobs. Even a hint that they can do some bondage play. Retto panics and ends up tying her up in some bondage position even if he didn’t intend it. At this point, Kirara returns to her normal self so she tries to brush everything off by giving excuses that she was just acting to see their reaction. Wow. Best acting ever, huh? Oddly, she hears the voice of her young version telling her to be honest with herself.

Episode 7
It seems a Kiseichuu has been giving people the best dreams that they refuse to wake up as they continue sleeping. So I guess our HxEros team is baffled that nobody is coming to school. Chacha explains about the Kiseichuu doing this and that currently their queen is missing and that’s why the race is disorganized now. HxEros head down to the Kiseichuu’s base and after a mean mocking by Momoka, the Kiseichuu puts them to sleep. We see Retto’s dream. Kirara teasing him about kisses and all. But the best part is when he has got a harem of Kirara of different ages! He definitely doesn’t want to wake up from this one. Of course Chacha enters his dream to wake him up and promise that doing it with the real Kirara is way better than this delusion. With that, Retto gets ready to wake up. However it seems the Kiseichuu is done in by Shiko Murasame and Moena Wakakusa, HxEros from the Tokyo branch. When they spot Chacha with Retto, they immediately set sights to target Chacha. Despite Retto’s explanation that Chacha is on their side, they won’t listen. Retto will not give up so Shiko decides to play a game to see whose tenacity is greater. Whoever spills out their H-energy first loses. This means both of them engaging in some lewd hentai molestation game… Yeah… Retto looks like he is going to lose it so Chacha manages to break free and bites his neck. Did he turn into a vampire? Worst. Beast mode!!! Faster and stronger, he makes Moena orgasm first!!! Now Shiko can’t break his stranglehold. Some flashback about the emotions she held inside. Blah, blah, blah. Not interested. Can we just see her tits?! In the end, she also orgasms. Now she’s pretty tame compared to her badass first appearance. Wanna bet she’s now interested in Retto? But then another Kiseichuu pops up to attack them. Oh no. They’ve run out of H-energy juice. Are they done for? Don’t forget the other HxEros girls who have awakened from their slumber to defeat it. Of course ultimately it is Retto who saves Shiko once again. Mind the lewd position. In the aftermath, it seems Momoka and Moena know each other since they’re from the same middle school. Moena notes Momoka is still the same. At least the boobs part. The Tokyo girls back down for now but they aren’t giving up yet. And by that I take it as they’re referring to Retto, right?

Episode 7.5
WTF?! Did we fap too much that we forgot the story and hence the need of this recap episode?! Oh wait. This anime has a story???!!!! Oh well, never hurts to fap again…

Episode 8
Ever since, there is this little devilish Kirara AKA Dark Kirara following and lecturing Kirara about doing sexy stuffs to Retto. Because only she can see this, whenever others see her ‘talking to herself’, they think she is all stressed up. Poor Retto, he thinks Kirara is taking it out on him when in actual fact she is trying to fight off Dark Kirara. Though, Dark Kirara claims that all her actions are Kirara’s own doing and she is just an embodiment of her dark desires. Retto leaves school and bumps into Shiko waiting for him. She is here to apologize for hitting him the other day. Also, she asks if Kirara is his girlfriend. Not really. Wow. Look at how happy she reacted to that. She hopes they can be H-friends. You mean, friends with benefits? Nope. H-friends are those who help replenish each other H-energy. Okay. Whatever. So at home, Shiko tries to take sexy pics of herself. A distraction has her accidentally post herself in the nude and sent it to Retto! Oh dear. Next day, Shiko tries to give him her bento but here comes Kirara to stop their flirting. B*tch showdown? It ended before it even started since Shiko reminds her she isn’t even his girlfriend so why so defensive, b*tch? With Dark Kirara putting weird ideas into her head, Kirara pretends to go take a bath with Retto but gets assaulted by him in beast mode! Luckily he comes to his senses as he apologizes and explains this dangerous mode he turns into whenever Chacha bites him. She forgives him but accidentally shows him her ass. Is this a win or loss? Retto wakes up from a dream of Chacha telling him to give in to his physiological urges if he wants power! WTF?! Because of that, he is late for school so he grabs the only drink available on the table. Had Momoka been a little earlier to explain it was a sample sent by HQ to test this energy drink containing H-energy, oh well, we know what will happen. So as he takes a break, Shiko once more comes to bug him. No friends, huh? Oh, here is Kirara too. Because both girls accidentally drank the energy drink, both get drunk and it’s b*tch showdown round 2. This time fuelled with H-energy! Good thing the competition is karaoke. But everything else goes downhill from here. The girls dress up in cosplay as they fight to sing to get Retto’s attention. Yeah, even putting their mic in tantalizing places! Wow. Is Retto’s H-energy going through the roof?! 69%?! 300%?! UNMEASURABLE???!!! In the end, they get a hangover. Back home, Dark Kirara tries to put more ideas in Kirara’s head. However, she also reminds her about the promise they made that day. Has she forgotten? The promise to get them both together.

Episode 9
Time for a real beach fanservice episode. Anno drives our young HxEros to the beach so they can relax. Oh, don’t worry about leaving their base behind because Chacha and Runba are holding down the fort. I can guess what’s in store for our young ones here when they arrive at the beach called Hadakana Beach. Yeah… Oh, what’s this about being the first nudist beach?! Anyway, there’s a strange sea cucumber that squirts strange liquid. Yeah… One may be just odd but what if the entire beach is filled with them?! Now that the beach is contaminated with this little perverts, they retreat to the inn only to be told by the hostess that thanks to its invasion, it has driven customers away. You bet she has called the extermination and looks like they’re the Tokyo branch HxEros! We are also introduced to a couple of new faces of this Tokyo branch, Yona Ichogi and Touma Taiga. The latter seems to be quite a fan of Retto. Both sides join forces to rid of the sea cucumbers. So the only way is to squeeze them dry in hopes this will smoke out the real Kiseichuu behind this? Okay. But why do they have to squeeze it all out on their face or boobs?! I WONDER WHY!!! We also learn Touma wants to learn from Retto how to collect H-energy since he himself has low H-energy. The last time he saved his comrades is the reason why he is now his hero. Retto doesn’t know if he should take that as a compliment. But don’t look now because the Kiseichuu has rendered the girls immobile with pervy sea cucumber sucking all their H-energy! Retto’s goal is to attack the Kiseichuu directly so Touma could save the girls but since he didn’t realize a few sea cucumbers sucking on him, looks like it’s all up to Touma. Touma looks shy at first until he reveals his most efficient way of gathering H-energy is via voyeurism. This means he shoves Retto into a compromising position with the girls and this builds up his H-energy to blast away the Kiseichuu! In the aftermath, they enjoy their much deserved hotspring bath. No slipups here. Girls just watching the nice scenery while Retto witnesses quite a ‘scenery’ because if you’re wondering why Touma is always covering up not only to troll us his gender, but rather he has big nipples!!! HOLY F*CK! Retto got an erection!? Nope. Trolled us with that stray sea cucumber… More gay trolling because next morning Retto realizes his hand on Touma’s chest! Shiko and Momoka come in and get the wrong idea so they strip for him! Best breakfast ever???!!! Itadakimasu!!!

Episode 10
The gang now tour the city. But Shiko has a brilliant idea. Citing that touring in a big group makes them look like idiots, she suggests splitting into smaller groups and the one with the lowest H-energy gets to choose which group they want to be in. This is quickly shot down by the rest who don’t want to reveal their H-energy so they settle it via rock-scissors-paper. And you’ve guessed it, the plan backfires on Shiko since she is in the same group as Kirara, Momoka and Moena. While Retto’s group visit the owl café, Kirara’s group visit a sex shop???!!! Obviously Kirara is embarrassed. Shiko after watching her knows what this means. So she declares that she is going to really seduce Retto next time. Oh, there might be other girls after him too so better be on your guard. Retto’s group now visits the VR centre. Yona has Retto try a dating VR. Little does he know, she plans to strip herself before him and let him feel her! So Retto is wondering why the VR is so freaking real when he realizes he is groping Yona instead!!! Yona apologizes and explains this is her H-energy. Then she gets embarrassed and realizes Shiko tricked her because Retto isn’t a depraved dog who does pervy things to his girls. But she is still amazed the Saitama branch can still fight Kiseichuu without resorting to this. She hints she is envious of the girl who likes him.

After the groups part, Retto and Kirara get lost and bump into each other. So yeah, they take the train home. On the last train, Kirara realizes her hair accessory is missing. While she doesn’t mind, Retto goes his way to seek the train station’s help to get it back. As they walk home, curious Kirara wonders about the hair accessory since she doesn’t remember how she got it. Retto reveals he gave it to her as a proposal present. Flashback reveals he wanted to trick her by making her misread the word marriage for battle (its kanji is written almost similar) but Kirara was a cool cat and hinted more ambiguous stuffs and turned the table on Retto. Panicked, he then give the present to her but of course it backfired since she’ll take care of it. Now Kirara has realized she has been somewhat engaged all this time to him. Embarrassed? When something seems to stalk them, turns out to be a raccoon. Cheeky raccoon reveals the sex toy she bought?! Though Kirara blames it on Shiko and was supposed to return it to her. The panic has her H-energy increase and her clothes ripped! They troll us by showing us Kirara shoving Retto to the ground and make him sleep in her boobs. It’s just to hide from a passer-by. Kirara then hints she’ll give her confession answer to him after the last Kiseichuu is defeated. So if he falls for another girl then, she won’t forgive him. Is that a threat? But Retto’s panicking this time. More panic when he realizes it is already late and the only accommodation nearby is a hotel!

Episode 11
Time for some bad news. Yeah, the bug queen’s back. But first, after Retto defeats a Kiseichuu, he got stung before she dies. Is there a side effect? You bet there is! Because his dick turns into a weasel and runs away!!! Now I’ve seen everything!!! Retto has to quickly get it back or he’ll forever turn into a woman and never turn back! And yeah, this is where our usual fanservice comes in. The weasel runs around the dorm as Retto who is now fully a woman tries to go after it. The other girls don’t recognize Retto so he introduces himself as his little sister, Hiiro. This isn’t a lie as he does have a little sister by that name. The weasel weasels its way into the bath. I can see what’s coming. Hiiro is invited to take a bath as the girls want to know Retto’s weakness. Does that include who he loves? So with all the clumsy fanservice and all, finally he manages to stick the weasel back. And of course as expected when he transforms back into a guy, we all know what’s coming. On to some serious ‘plot’, on the news it seems Anno has been the first person arrested under some indecency law. However he left a new gear that allows the transformation into outfits that will not rip. Finally! This is only possible after experimenting using Chacha’s hair. More woes as a call from HQ claims that Super HxEros is disbanded and no one can live in the dorm anymore.

With everyone returning to their own home, Retto gets depressed. So much so Kirara ‘steals’ his gear and will only give it back to him if he cheers up. In school, Kirara’s friend hopes to ask Retto and his friends out to the fireworks festival because she too has someone she likes. So everything is set and on the day of the festival, looks like Retto is running late. Kirara excuses herself to the toilet but since it’s a long queue, she does it by the pond?! Oh yeah, Retto is there all bruised. What gives? Turns out he was trying to stop a Kiseichuu but he forgot he didn’t have his gear. He knows the Kiseichuu is going to ruin the fireworks and is hell bent on stopping this. Kirara is in a dilemma because didn’t HQ also ban their heroic activities? Retto explains the real reason why he joined Super HxEros. At first it was to avenge for what they did to Kirara. But then he realized that they are people protecting the romance of others. If he can’t protect that, how can he protect his? Sounds great to Kirara but cheesy to us. But that’s enough for Kirara to summon help from her Dark Kirara so that she could kiss Retto on his cheek and power up using the gear and turn that Kiseichuu into part of the fireworks. Tamaya! They are reunited with the rest of the Saitama girls who were also tracking down this Kiseichuu. They never planned on giving up on their justice. Chacha then feels the new governor’s face looks familiar. I bet I know who she is… Anyway, if you’re too dumb to figure out, Retto’s wild speculation is spot on because it could be a Kiseichuu camouflaged as a governor and enacted laws to disband Super HxEros and arrest Anno. Yeah. I bet it is. But better be safe than sorry since they’re going to meet her to make sure.

Episode 12
Because Chacha can only tell if a Kiseichuu is disguised as a human, it is a dangerous job for her. Hence they tail the governor all the way to her home. Yeah, the taxi fare is going to kill Retto’s wallet… Chacha disguises as a delivery person. As the governor answers the door, when their hands touch, it’s like Chacha gets hypnotized and soon she follows the governor in. Our HxEros can tell this is trouble so they rush in. Isn’t this trespassing? When they find Chacha, they also discover the mayor is her mother which also effectively means she is the bug queen. Her ability is to mind control others. Retto tries to attack but it is futile. She locks them in this room that is H-energy proof so struggle all they might, they can’t get out. Bug queen talks to Chacha about their goal in farming humans as cattle. Because they have always driven other races to extinction so with humans having high H-energy, they can feed on them forever. Meanwhile Momoka suggests an emergency tactic to increase their H-energy and bust out: An orgy! Only Kirara and Retto disagrees. Too bad, majority wins. Kirara’s only condition is to turn off the lights and let their imagination go wild. Yeah…

In the dark, Retto can tell Momoka is groping him. I mean, who has the smallest boobs?! He gets away so Momoka sexes up Maihime instead. Retto thinks he can use his nose?! WTF?! CAN HE?! Didn’t work but Sora got her ass sniffed… Dark Kirara is trying to teach Kirara how to masturbate?! Then here comes Retto clumsily crashing into her. Is this the moment we’re waiting for? Chacha is trying to escape but her mom won’t let her. Chacha claims she might not be a Kiseichuu or human but she is part of HxEros! Cue for our heroes to bust out of the room! Yeah, their H-energy is shooting through the roof (and walls) literally. We get to see them beat down the bug queen before she unleashes a giant octopus for our tentacle rape fanservice while she escapes. Retto and Kirara go after her. The rest stay put to take care of this tentacle threat but their H-energy is being drained. Don’t worry. Chacha bites them to turn them into beast mode! So much H-energy that the octopus explodes! Elsewhere, bug queen bites Kirara to hypnotize her. Then she forces Kirara on Retto. More fanservice? The only way Retto can snap her out of this is to explain how he prefers the tsundere Kirara. Because that Kirara is the Kirara he knows. Also, he likes her smile. And with that, she snaps out. The duo power up to destroy the bug queen once and for all. Too bad she realizes this is the H-energy she is looking for but gets done in by it. Retto wants Kirara’s answer since they’ve technically destroyed all Kiseichuu, right? But I guess she thinks he is pushing his luck and beats him up. A few days later, Anno is released and all charges against him are dropped. Better, HxEros team is reinstated and let the pervy ways of the dorm return!

Lust For Power? Lewd-icrous!
Oh well. I guess all of us didn’t fap enough and contribute enough H-energy to get another full season! So sad… But yeah, by most of our standards, we’ll be all dried up by now! Can we survive till the next ecchi fanservice anime hit our screens?! Anyway, the ending feels rushed and doesn’t really tie up anything. Like as though it just reverts everything back to square one and status quo. You know, our HxEros continuing to be a team and more ecchi fanservice waiting in store? With the bug queen gone, but because there is still HxEros, does this mean there are other bugs on the loose? Or is there a bug goddess somewhere? Oh well. It doesn’t hurt to have more H-energy on standby.

Basically there is no real plot whatsoever. What do you mean using the power of perversion to destroy evil bugs from the face of the Earth is a plot?! That is just an excuse and a stepping stone to set up tons of sleazy fanservice that the producers can think of! So are we not entertained, you horny perverts?! I mean, what kind of evil bugs harness the power of human’s energy of perversion as their fuel?! I say that is more of a flaw in evolution more than anything else and a convenient tool for fanservice entertainment! So to fight H-energy eating bugs, we use our H-energy to destroy them. That’s like fighting fire with fire. I don’t know. Seems like a far stretch to me. Using perversion to fight perversion should result in more perversion theoretically. But whatever. As long as it works, it isn’t stupid to begin with. Sort of. So there’s your ridiculous (and funny) plot if you can call it so.

Everything here is trying to scream fanservice because that’s what the fans want and that’s why we’re watching this in the first place. Although this won’t be the cheesiest fanservice anime ever, this isn’t technically one of the better ones either. But it’s the only heavily fanservice-y anime of the season so I guess we have to take what is given. You know how it is freaking blatant fanservice when HxEros does the Hulk effect by having their clothes ripped to pieces each time they use their H-energy. That is after all the fastest and most effective way for the characters to lose their clothes in a blink of an eye. Then cue whatever cliché fanservice that needs to be executed. So easy. It’s all for the sake of humanity and planet Earth!

Man, the clothing industry for high school kids must be booming and I bet the highest costs for the HxEros organization would be clothes compensation. No wonder our HxEros don’t even try to take off their clothes when they fight Kiseichuu. I know it is emergency but with their clothes being reimbursed all the time, you’d think there is no incentive whatsoever to lose them. If they only had spent their R&D funds to make clothes that do not explode upon using H-energy, that would be great. Oh, Anno finally found it via Chacha’s hair. A bit too late. Not that we care at this point. But I’m sure that our HxEros erotic energy is so great that even these new clothes will eventually reach its limit and explode. I guarantee. Back to square one again. More nudity never hurt anybody, right? Well, unless you don’t have a nice body… Heh…

Speaking of all the blatant fanservice, I believe there is the censored and uncensored version out there. Yes, those unholy light censors prevent us from getting a good fap each time we see. But if you know me, I watched the uncensored one because my imagination is so freaking superior! Many of the complaints are read regarding those unnecessary censors over lingerie. Bare tits and crotch areas are understandable. But over bras and panties too? I thought this is supposed to be blatant ecchi anime! Like as though they really want your money and to go out and buy the BDs. Oh well, definitely those BDs will come. You just need to be a little more patient. But hey, at least they didn’t censor the entire screen with that mocking statement of “Please wait a while…” or “Please use your imagination…”.

Ooohhh… The characters are so deep. Just kidding. Just as shallow as your ankle deep stream. At most, they try to play up something between Retto and Kirara. Childhood friends. Horny girl now turned b*tch. Nice boy still trying to be a nice boy but turns out to be pretty average for a main character. One day hoping his crush would regain his love for her, which isn’t very far from the way I see it. Keep waiting. One day you’ll get there. Because mind boggling stuff if the Kiseichuu could take away all of Kirara’s lust, it also took away her love? So it means that Kirara’s love for Retto is all about sex only, huh? I know lust and love are used interchangeably in some context but in this case, it just feels weird. So over time Kirara just replenished her H-energy which isn’t exactly her true love but with all those bonds and connection, those feelings of true love will finally surface? Bet on that it will happen. So Kirara being a b*tch is just part and parcel of the cliché that it is more fun watching a girl blush and resist accidental perverted situations (which she may come to enjoy) since it is too easy if Kirara was her young horny self. Busty mature Kirara to horny loli Kirara, we’ve got your preferences covered! Now just waiting for MILF Kirara…

The rest of the other characters are just mediocre. Especially when you think about it there are more females in HxEros team than males. Ironically males are the one who are hornier than their female counterparts so they should be more suitable to be part of HxEros, defender of humanity’s romance! But nope. These bunch of girls will do. They don’t have a deep story and in a way it is a good thing because you don’t need to invest too much in them except their bodies. Oops! So we have the energetic Momoka who has the smallest boobs and hence the need for her small boobs complex, Sora the ditzy sleepy loli who is also an erotic mangaka, the friendly Maihime who has some self-esteem issues and the series’ pet mascot Runba just in case we need some naughty dog action. So each girl has their own secret fetish and embarrassing activation mode so as to give us some variety to see their orgasmic face. That enough character for you?

On the Tokyo side, we have Shiko who is Kirara’s rival for Retto because we need somebody to up the game or else Kirara will never get anywhere, and the couple of other Tokyo girls I can’t remember since they don’t really stand out. The more girls the better. It’s a numbers game when it comes to harem genres, right? My prediction that Touma was going to be a girl disguised as a boy was off. Can’t have it all straight fanservice. Need to have some gay moments too… Now I can see why the lack of guys is making many of the female characters fall in love with Retto. Finally there is Chacha as the new addition who doesn’t contribute much either except when the time calls to initiate some cheeky fanservice. It’s like they need to show that not all bugs are bad.

I don’t think we really care about the Kiseichuu side because their appearances are usually short and bizarre. Is it to somewhat reflect a bug’s short life. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that it is as though the series is trying to give these Kiseichuu bugs some sort of personality with at least all of them that have appeared actually have a name! Not that I remember their funny names anyway. But I suppose it is to show that they are more than just soldier bugs and despite their very short appearance, they still can do some pervy damage to our HxEros. Wow. Imagine billions of bugs all having their own unique names. How to remember? You don’t. Then when they die, it’s over for them. You forget them forever. RIP, Kiseichuu warriors. Is it me or do I notice all the Kiseichuu are females? Maybe for these aliens, there is no concept of gender but for us watching this ecchi series, they sure hell look a lot feminine but with bug-like features. On a trivial note, I thought there was a missed opportunity to call the Kiseichuu as In-sexts. Damn…

Talking about the action parts, it is one of the paltry moments of the series. Because the worst parts are how many of the Kiseichuu just stand there or do minimal action to get wiped out. Uh huh. Like as though they got the script that tells them to just do nothing so that our HxEros can pull off some weird sh*t move to take them all out. After all, nobody cares about these bugs in the first place despite having names. And since they’re going to die and never be seen again anyway, let’s just make our heroes look good! There’s your explosion effects too. As for the HxEros, it’s not that their special moves are memorable anyway. Because we’re just waiting for the moment their clothes rip and that’s all that matters. We’ve got your fanservice, we’ve got your power fights. What more can you ask for?! What’s that again about a good decent story?! Don’t make me laugh. Indecency is the theme of the series! Still waiting for Retto to pull off some amazing dick move! Seriously.

The art and animation are pretty standard although some scenes look a bit choppy but it isn’t a huge detriment to the overall. Produced by Project No.9, there is a bit of art style trademark that you might see in other works of theirs such as Momo Kyun Sword, Watashi Nouryoku wa Heikichi De Tte Itta Yo Ne, Netoge No Yome Wa Onnanoko Ja Nai To Omotta and Shironeko Project: Zero Chronicle. Also to note, the Kiseichuu designs feel a lot laughable than anything menacing. Well, I understand the genre this series falls under but it feels like somebody made bad cosplay designs on bugs that were outright rejected and poor women who needed the cash had to force and wear them out in public. Uh huh. That is what it feels like. I think they’re supposed to resemble closely to typical villains in sentai series but the more Kiseichuu you see, the weirder the designs are. And for our HxEros, their uniform I think it’s also supposed to take after the sentai genre but it comes off more of sexy fanservice. Who designed this sexy sh*t?! Is the sexy circus in town right now? Oh well, better than fighting naked? I don’t think we have a problem with that too :-).

For the voice acting, it is hard to really separate Yoshitsugu Matsuoka from his stereotypic role as Kirito. As Retto, one cannot help feel that he sounds like the high school sentai version of Kirito. I know he has other iconic roles too like the titular character in Shokugeki No Souma and DanMachi’s Bell, as long as he doesn’t try to differentiate his voice, this trademark voice will always be associated with Kirito. And so in this anime he is Ki-Retto. Sorry, bad pun. Other seiyuus I recognized are Ai Kayano as Mai Hime, Miki Shinichiro as Anno, Kikuko Inoue as the bug queen and Rikiya Koyama as the narrator. There are other veteran seiyuus I noticed making their short cameo as the Kiseichuu-of-the-episode like Ayako Kawasumi, Mai Nakahara and Shizuka Itou.

The other casts include Ai Kakuma as Kirara (Rossweisse in High School DxD), Sayuri Yahagi as Momoka (Suzu in Seitokai Yakuindomo), Yuuki Kuwahara as Sora (Tooru in Kobayashi-san Chi No Maid Dragon), Lynn as Shiko (Jennifer in Kandagawa Jet Girls), Natsumi Takamori as Moena (Mei in Another), Yuuki Takada as Yona (Aob in New Game) and Ayaka Ohashi as Touma (Momoka in Sabagebu). The opening theme is Wake Up HxEro! by Burnout Syndromes featuring Yoshitsugu Matsuoka. A pretty cool song if this was actually for a sentai or action hero series. At least the song has this feel to hype you up. The ending theme is Lost Emotion by Ai Kakuma. Not as epic as the opener and it sounds a lot generic especially with all those weird (and annoying) synthesizer sound effects in the music.

Overall, don’t expect much from this series. We came for what we came for and got what we wanted. That’s it. No confusing stories to worry about and no deep characters to relate to. Just the explosive bug genocide action and tons of clichéd by pleasing fanservice. So simple and uncomplicated that it’s even made for you strict moral police out there! Heh. But anything more than all that, you’ll have to prowl the dark web to satiate your porn addiction. I won’t be surprised if there is a bootleg porn version of this series, though. At least only in this anime is where perversion and horniness are being put to good use. One day, fossil fuel and even renewable energy will run out but hentai energy will always be eternal! Never under estimate the power of horniness, the greatest lesson ever learnt from this series! That’s right, people. Sing it again once more. Keep protecting love, everyone is a hero, wow oh!

Monster Musume No Oisha-san

Time again for a monster harem. Many years back, there was one series whereby a guy took on a homestay programme and had a bevy of monster babes living in his house. To avoid such a cheesy situation again, what kind of other circumstances would have a guy meeting all sorts of monster babes? Well, unless you’re a doctor! And so that was how I thought of an excuse of why a monster harem was needed and made in Monster Musume No Oisha-san. So I guess by being a doctor who is well versed in the biology of monsters, it gives a better reason to meet and also ‘examine’ the variety of monsters that mankind made up in their traditional folklore. Hey, even monsters also get sick and need treatment, you know. Uh huh. So I guess there are no doctors of their monster kind to diagnose diseases and prescribe medicine but a human? No wonder the monster babes love this human doctor… Not as in the food kind of love, mind you!

Episode 1
It is narrated humans and monsters once went to war. So long ago that they forgot about it and now they’re tired of fighting and just gave up. Yeah. Peace now. Humans and monsters are now interacting like friends. Dr Glenn Litbeit might look like he is groping all over a minotaur girl. But he is finding symptoms of her illness. Good news: She is not sick but rather expecting! Congrats. But his assistant, Saphentite “Sapphee” Neikes doesn’t like the idea of him being too close to female patients. One day, they receive a letter from Dr Cthulhy (his mentor). It seems because she will be away, she needs their help to take physical measurements of arena fighters from Lindworm. Among them is the prideful centaur, Tisalia Scythia. While examining her, she talks about being the heiress to her transport company and trying to find a suitable suitor for her marriage. Uh oh. When all the examining is done, Kay and Lorna, attendants of Tisalia come to talk to Glenn about their worries for her. She was once a top fighter but is recently on a losing streak. They worry if she has some illness. That night, Glenn and Sapphee talk about this. It might be Tisalia in a slump but Glenn ponders further if there is something that he couldn’t detect as a doctor. A short distraction because Sapphee gets drunk and wraps her tail all around Glenn, warning him not to flirt with other women and the likes. Don’t worry, he is just going to treat Tisalia. That not enough to make you trust him? Next day after Tisalia experiences her 10th straight loss, Glenn approaches her to tell her why she has been losing. Something about her hooves. Because she has been fighting without horseshoes, this gives her some imbalance thingy. Tisalia doesn’t want horseshoes and refuses treatment but looks like her attendants have already paid for the services. So they hold her down as Glenn treats her hooves and makes the right horseshoes for her. She claims it is painful but that orgasmic face? Confused I am. The more she struggles, Sapphee just constricts her and put a sock tail in her mouth! Thanks to that, Tisalia is back to winning ways. Sapphee comments Cthulhy may have been sloppy but Glenn notes that it might be she was testing them. After all, Cthulhy’s policy does not allow her to examine patients without their further consent. More Sapphee jealousy because she thinks Glenn has been charmed by Tisalia. He just waved at her to acknowledge her win!

Episode 2
Sapphee narrates when she first met Glenn. While they were kids, Sapphee was taken to Glenn’s household as hostage. It was a time when humans and monsters were at war and both their families ran some trading company and were trying to secretly trying to open a trade route. Taking Sapphee as hostage was to ensure her family will not betray the company. A year later, the war ended and since there was no reason to take Sapphee hostage, she was released. Glenn was the saddest kid to see her go. Many years later, Sapphee was delighted to reunite with Glenn again as he enrolled at Nemea Academy to study monster medicine. Now the duo are in the Venice-like waterways to get some purified water. After that, Sapphee insisted in getting some souvenirs. They encounter this mermaid, Lulala Haine and Sapphee likes her since she describes both of them as a loving couple. But Sapphee gets jealous when Glenn stares at her?! WTF?! Lulala tries to calm them down by talking about the legend of a bridge whereby if lovers commit suicide, they’ll be together forever! I can see why… Yeah, a certain yandere might love the idea. Or, they could listen to her singing and be blessed forever. Lulala feels insulted when Glenn seems to pay her less as she considers her voice magical. As she sings halfway, he stops her. Looks like he has sensed something wrong and wants to diagnose her. So I guess he has deducted his fee from her singing charge already, huh? He examines her and sees inflammation in her throat and notices something wrong with her gills (that orgasm face she makes…). In short, her symptoms means she is not spending enough time in water but on land. Lulala explains she needs to make money since her dad ran swam off so she needs to help her family earn a living. Just then, a nearby boy gets swept by the current. Lulala dives in to save him. After Glenn does CPR on him, he realizes Lulala not around. Fearing the worst, he jumps into the waterways. What’s this about mermaids drowning?! In rare cases, they may die if they use lungs to breathe underwater, which is what is happening in Lulala’s case. So Glenn ‘kisses’ Lulala to transfer some air so that she can get her gills work again. Now he’s out of breath. Amazingly, Sapphee pulls them out. In the aftermath, Lulala draws the crowd with her singing and is making a decent living. She is doing fine now after taking Glenn’s recommended cough drops. Though she is grateful to Glenn, she still flusters whenever she thinks about that ‘kiss’.

Episode 3
The mayor of Lindworm, Skadi Dragenfelt visits Glenn’s clinic. Since she is so soft or perhaps she’s talking on a different frequency range, her attendant-cum-bodyguard, Kunai Zenow translates on her behalf. It seems when Kunai was chasing bandits last night, she lost her right arm in a scuffle. She wants Glenn’s help to find and reattach it. So why him? She went to Cthulhy and was turned down immediately. However the octopus doctor suggested Glenn in her stead. As explained, Kunai is a flesh golem. Is that a politically correct term for a zombie? She was once human and was a subject of experimentation in the far east to create artificial life. In other words, she hates doctors. So she’s basically Frankenstein? Frankenstein the monster, that is. Yeah, those tormenting cliché doctor operating scenes come to mind? Later Kunai insists she needs their help and goes off to find her missing arm herself. Glenn also searches on his own but hears Tisalia’s scream. Yeah, she spotted Kunai’s leg! Earlier on, Kunai stumbled into one of the bandits and they knock her out. Funny, now she’s crawling up some alley and I wonder why she didn’t take her leg after getting dismembered. Not like she could run after the bandit, right? Tisalia explains to Glenn about Kunai being the top fighter in the arena, the reason why she was appointed as Skadi’s bodyguard. With Glenn feeling those detached limbs, Kunai can also remotely feel them? Later Glenn stumbles into Lulala. Looks like rumours have spread that Glenn is trying to assemble a monster. Anyway she is here because she found Kunai’s arm dropped in the waterways. Because the parts are still connected to her, she suggests asking it where the real body is. Yeah, it’s starting to point in that direction… So eventually Glenn finds Kunai who still has the gall to despise doctors, he really goes all out to try and attach her blood vessels and nerves properly. Otherwise the parts will belong to someone else. With that, Kunai becomes a good girl and lets him operate. Weird, she claims she can feel no pain and thus no need for anaesthetics. But as he is reattaching, she can’t help moan in an orgasmic way. So she can feel pleasure and embarrassment but no pain? No wonder her creators called her the perfect human! With Glenn’s honest view of helping others, Kunai starts to believe in him. But I guess she can’t forgive him for making her moan like that and in an embarrassing pose! I suppose as thanks, she’ll delay whatever punishment for this humiliation. No need to thank the good doctor. All in a day’s work. Glenn returns to the clinic and what drama happening now? Sapphee claims she is pregnant!

Episode 4
Further flashback shows when young Glenn was most affected by Sapphee’s departure, that made him wanted to know more about monsters and their livelihood. This would him to become the first human to live in the monster dorm and reunite with Sapphee. Back to current time, Glenn knows Sapphee is pulling his leg because lamias can’t get pregnant like that. They lay eggs, silly! True enough, she was just joking. However somebody left this harpy egg. Just then, shady people are spotted outside the clinic. The bandits attack but thanks to Sapphee fighting back, this gives them time to run away. They then stumble into Kunai who explains that the bandits think Glenn is working with Kunai and may have intention to kidnap him. The bandits are illegal traffickers and are forcing kidnapped harpies to lay the eggs to sell to others. Since tonight Kunai and her team are busting them, hence she cannot provide bodyguard service to them. So I guess they have to follow her on her mission. That’s the safest. They meet up with Skadi as well as Lulala who guides them to the bandits’ hideout. Glenn is not happy that Lulala is also roped in for this in exchange for being allowed to sing at the hall. It’s like taking advantage of her poverty. Skadi doesn’t deny this and since Lulala herself says she wanted to do this, Glenn can’t oppose. More bandits attack but Tisalia and her centaurs come to their rescue. Some bandits are ex-mercenaries and they think this peaceful times put them out of a job. Tisalia won’t let them destroy this peace. At the hideout, Kunai fights the bandits’ boss while the rest head in. Skadi and Sapphee are capable fighters taking down the other bandits.

Inside the room where the harpies are held, it seems one of them is in extreme pain. Glenn diagnoses her and discovers due to stress, the egg she is laying is stuck in her abdomen. He must perform surgery now. As he does so, Skadi and Sapphee continue to fight off waves of bandits. We hear Sapphee’s narration that she has 2 secrets. One being an incurable disease since she met Glenn (I think I know what it is) and the other is that her clan is also good in assassination techniques. In fact, when she was sent to Glenn’s household as hostage, mom told her to kill the Litbeit family should negotiations fail. Thankfully it didn’t happen but she wonders if she could bring herself to kill Glenn. Sapphee passes out when a poison knife cuts her. The next time she opens her eyes, she is in bed in the council’s hall and Glenn by her side. It seems the poison might be fatal on humans, but not on lamia. It’s just like sleeping potion to them. The bandits didn’t know they were going up against a lamia so they didn’t had time to prepare. Glenn discloses the good news of the harpy’s successful surgery. When Sapphee is about to tell her secret, Glenn actually already knew when Sapphee first became the family’s hostage. His father did some research of course. What a bummer. Sapphee’s biggest reveal moment came crashing down like that. Then he talks about the time she was first sick at his home. It was actually a servant poisoning her food. It was also Glenn’s first foray into medicine trying to treat her. With Glenn putting more good words for Sapphee, she now can’t control herself and wants to f*ck him! Luckily, she is still reeling from the drowsy effects of the poison so looks like she has to rest up. No mating tonight. But she notes her incurable disease won’t be cured soon.

Episode 5
The centaurs are pulling the carriage of the doctors to the harpy village. Along the way, a mini landslide occurs. The only damage is Kay spraining her leg. Luckily the harpies are here to take her to the village so Glenn can further examine her. Thank goodness it is just a sprain and not a fracture so she’ll heal up in a few days. With the harpies making a queue to see Glenn, I see he is also quite a hit with some of the harpy girls. Oh Sapphee… Later Glenn talks to Lorna and learns she and Kay are war orphans and were taken under Tisalia’s family. Tisalia is worried for Lorna as she has been clumsier and absent minded than ever. She fears that at this rate, the negotiations to seek the harpies’ help to be part of their business expansion via air courier will not go well. While Glenn thinks there is nothing that can’t be done until Kay heals up (thinking it might be Lorna just worried for her), Tisalia feels she can’t last that long without her attendants! Tisalia then gives Sapphee a high grade wine and instantly she pleads to Glenn to see what’s wrong with Lorna. Tisalia further explains that despite growing up like sisters, their relationship remains as master-servant and that’s why she wants Glenn to help Lorna. So as Glenn tries to read up on centaur behaviour and personality, Sapphee comes up with some idea about trapping sensitive characters. Basically from what I can see and understand, Glenn imposes some dominatrix BDSM on Lorna! Apparently this is her fetish (not sure about this being used as a method to discipline young centaurs) and this also helps in straightening her bone structure. This is quite effective and Lorna is back to her normal ways. And yes, she will be following Tisalia everywhere in this blindfolded and bound manner! Then we see Tisalia and Lorna reconciling with each other. Later as Glenn takes a look at Kay who is almost healed up, it seems both centaurs are trying to get naughty and pay back Glenn more than what Tisalia has paid. So they’re going to f*ck him! They claim that once Glenn marries Tisalia, they will also be his attendants since in their culture, attendants are equal to a master’s belongings. So this is also part of their ploy to make him take responsibility to marry Tisalia for making a move on the attendants?! Since one day he will become their master, so this is just a little taste of that?! Damn, these horse girls sure know how to horse around!

Episode 6
Glenn and co go to see Illy, the harpy whom he saved and did surgery on during the traffickers’ episode. However she seems withdrawn because she can’t fly anymore and her place is messy with her feathers. He diagnoses her to see what kind of illness she has. Glenn uses his bare hands to take her temperature?! Because this is more accurate than the mercury based one?! Whatever. Time to stoke some Sapphee jealousy. Anyway, Glenn diagnoses Illy is just moulting as a natural process and not because of any illness. However Illy refuses to believe it because she could still fly when she was moulting. She then throws a tantrum and even attacks him?! Eventually she runs away. Tisalia goes to talk to her and it seems Illy harbours dreams of wanting to become a warrior like her in the arena. Tisalia warns her that being a warrior is more than just fighting. But stubborn Illy thinks she knows it all seeing she came from the slums. Tisalia tests her abilities. Despite losing badly, Illy still managed to scratch her face with an underhanded tactic. Tisalia reports this to Glenn. She feels that Illy just wants to get away from here. She can tell Illy is not one who tries to fit in. Hence being a warrior might just be an excuse for her to leave the village. If that fails, she’ll find another excuse to run away again. Glenn notices something about Illy’s feather. Hence with Sapphee and Tisalia, they go gather up her shed feathers all around. Then word has it that Illy is missing. Oh boy. Time to go find her. Thanks to Sapphee’s heat visions, she is able to find Illy quickly. So just hanging out in the woods all by herself, huh? Still throwing a tantrum, Glenn then further explains his diagnosis. Indeed she is moulting naturally and not of any sickness. However her feathers are transitioning to those of an adult. You see, Illy has the blood of the phoenix running through her veins! Though this doesn’t mean she is a phoenix, at least she inherited those beautiful feathers. I guess that’s good enough to convince her to come back. Next day, Illy’s feathers are now all colourful and beautiful. She decides to go around the village to show them off. As for why she was on her guard when Glenn first came to see her, well, he saw her lay an egg then.

Episode 7
Uhm… Glenn teaching harpies how to groom their wings to stay clean and healthy? Yeah, I don’t think it’s just the brushing itself that those harpies are now harping over Glenn to brush them! Later, Illy flies in complaining of this sticky liquid all over her. Before you can jump to conclusions, Glenn diagnoses it as silk threads of an arachne. With more harpy girls having the same problem, you bet the doctors need to solve this before they leave. As they search the forest, Glenn gets caught in a spider web. The culprit is no other than Arahnia Tarantera Arachnida who is also Sapphee’s friend. Her clan makes clothes for monsters and Sapphee’s special dress is also done by her. It’s the reason why they became close over the years. Arahnia is here because she heard of some legendary phoenix and wanted to catch it for her fashion ideas. She thought it lives in the wild until the doctors bring her back to the village to introduce her to Illy. Oh boy. Spider woman harassing phoenix girl… With Tisalia getting caught in the same problem, a minor squabble with Sapphee. Glenn tries to calm them down but this only irks Sapphee. Tisalia comments he might be a great doctor but dense when it comes to such love matters. When Sapphee is away, Arahnia comes to see Glenn on a pretence she is sick. He diagnoses her but couldn’t find anything. Then she has him accompany her for a walk in the woods. When Glenn decides to go back, he gets caught in her trap again. As revealed, she faked her illness so as to get him. In short, she wants to do fun things with him just to annoy Sapphee. It’s not like she’s going to steal him because as best friends, her twisted logic has her think they should share their stuffs.

Before the ‘fun’ can begin, it is Tisalia who saves him. The centaur berates the arachne for trying to do such unholy things but Arahnia points out they’re the same because they want Glenn for themselves. Tisalia objects to this because her love for Glenn is real. But when Arahnia points out she is only doing this because of her heir (I mean, if her responsibility wasn’t the main factor, she could have just eloped), this confuses and panics Tisalia. Before it could be a horse vs spider showdown, Sapphee rescues Glenn. It’s not like the doctor can stop the monster fight anyway. But Sapphee sounds sad and serious none of them understands Glenn. This doctor has no time for courtship! Glenn realizes because lamias have no tear ducts, they cannot cry and thus his mistake never to notice her sadness. Oh dear, Sapphee strangled Glenn to hard! Don’t worry he didn’t die. Back at their room, he is fine as she apologizes for going overboard. With Sapphee confessing she loves him and the likes (she isn’t worried about Arahnia because she knows her love isn’t real. Her worries are for Tisalia), woah, Glenn needs a stronger drink to go with that?! I guess it’s his way to say his thanks to her because she’s been a great help at the clinic. I’m sure that cheesy line isn’t the cause of this tremor. As explained by the village elder, it might be the rage of giants AKA gigas. Because of their strength that destroys everything in their path, the gods sealed them away. Their village was destroyed 300 years ago when they forgot to pay their offerings. So did they forget again this time?

Episode 8
Attack on gigas?! Before panic sets in. Tisalia takes command on what to do. She has Illy fly to Lindworm to seek Skadi’s help while everyone else prepares to evacuate and Glenn to tend to those who cannot fly. As the final group finally leaves the village, Glenn notices Tisalia not around. Indeed, the centaur plans to fight and stall the giant to buy time for others to escape. She has resolved she might die here but if she survives, she will propose to Glenn. To her surprise, Glenn and Sapphee have caught up to her. They learn about her plan but their intention is not to stop her since it’s not like she’ll listen anyway. They plan to help her by first talking to the giant. If that fails, the monster girls will inject some poison to slow her down. The giant is now before them. Glenn tries to talk to her but she sneezes. That sneeze so powerful, they didn’t fly away? Meanwhile Illy has reached Skadi but the latter believes the giant whose name is Dione Nephilim is a kind one and will not attack. Now we see Glenn attending to Dione who has just a little cold. She started having it 10 years ago and that time it was Skadi who came to see her. She just thought having a little rest would cure it. I guess it didn’t. Glenn will prepare some medicine to help. Since it is cold in the mountains, Glenn has Arahnia make clothes to keep her warm. She’s going to need lots of materials. A little fanservice distraction since Glenn keeps sinking into Dione’s cleavage. This is worse than quicksand… With this threat over, the village elder apologizes for the trouble. Looks like the legend was passed down wrongly. Back at Lindworm, Tisalia tells Glenn that she has hired Illy as an air messenger. Sapphee somewhat acknowledges Tisalia’s bravery because she doesn’t know if she could do that if she was in the same shoes. So that’s the excuse why she needs to keep watch on her so Glenn won’t fall for her?! Rivalry renewed? Oh wow. Glenn thinks they’re getting along just fine. Glenn and Sapphee are invited for the opening ceremony of some waterways commemoration ceremony. Skadi begins her speech about naming this town so not because she plans to take over it. With a dragon’s name in it, it is no doubt her dragon kin will forever protect it. Suddenly Skadi collapses.

Episode 9
Thanks to Glenn’s quick action, Skadi is stabilized. However details of the cause is not revealed so Glenn and Sapphee have to go see Cthulhy personally for answers. Aside the inevitable b*tch showdown, it seems Cthulhy is not willing to divulge info on Skadi’s illness. All she can say is that she has a very rare illness that has spread throughout her body. Cthulhy laments the irony that dragons are majestic creatures and could survive lethal illnesses that kill other races. However this would also mean prolonging their suffering. Even if by chance they can heal it, the problem is Skadi herself since she is refusing to be treated. Later Kunai visits the clinic to tell Glenn that Skadi has returned home since she refused further treatment. Since Kunai is indebted to her, he is asking Glenn’s help to examine her. So the only way is to help sneak into her room at night where she isn’t wearing her veil and examine her? Okay. Glenn enters her room alone and she is surprised to see him. Thankfully we can now hear her voice so we don’t need a translator. She shows him a heart shaped tumour on her chest. It has already taken over her veins and in time it will kill her. As Glenn further examines other parts of her body, Skadi further explains that she knows this cannot be cured, that’s why she refused treatment. She thinks because dragons who are like gods came down to Earth and got affected by its miasma, hence their shape changes. Thus she thinks this is a curse from the war. Oh damn, Glenn touching here and there so we get to see Skadi’s orgasmic face?! Oh sh*t?! She’s crying?! Cue for Kunai and Sapphee to barge in and they could’ve killed him had not Skadi stopped them. Examination is over. Go home.

Soon, Glenn goes to see Cthulhy and needs her help in the surgery he wants to perform on Skadi. Because Dr Octopus has multiple hands, this will help in the surgery. You know what they say about many hands, right? Instantly Cthulhy shoots this idea down since Glenn hasn’t even gotten Skadi’s permission. Glenn remains persistent since she herself has persuaded Skadi so many times but she remained stubborn. She’s even talking about a place to die in this town. So if Cthulhy can’t even save her, why is Glenn going so far to do so? Because nobody wants to save Skadi more than Cthulhy does. And if that’s the case, Glenn will gladly help her. Cthulhy is happy to hear that she wraps her tentacles around them. Yeah, why is it that only Sapphee got tentacle raped?! However despite Cthulhy providing many hands, she still things the surgery is short of a pair. If only there is someone who is good with their hands and can match their rhythm. Glenn has an idea. He goes to talk to Arahnia about this but she instantly rejects him. She doesn’t have the confidence despite Glenn assuring he will guide her all the way and will take all responsibility. Even so, Arahnia says now. Not until Sapphee says she will be staying over and the clinic and wear the same uniform as her. They’ll be equal. Instantly Arahnia is sold! Yeah, she was just putting up an act and was actually going to accept it all along.

Episode 10
Glenn sees Meme Redon the cyclops who works in a crafting workshop. Because of her very low self-esteem and pessimism, you bet she’s going to have lots of issues especially when Glenn gets too close to her. So she rips her own clothes and she blames him? As expected. Anyway, Meme takes Glenn to see their head. Glenn wants him to make special hardy tools for Skadi’s surgery. The boss accepts the job and tries to make it within 1 month. As for the special needles, he wants Meme to make them. Of course Meme feels she can’t do it, going so far as to think they’ll pin the blame on her if she fails and will be kicked out of town! Anyway, she has to do it. Meanwhile Arahnia is practising her surgery on Kunai. She’s still an amateur so cut her some slack. Kunai notes that Skadi remains stubborn about the surgery so Glenn hopes to come next time to help convince her. When the special tools are ready, Cthulhy goes to test them and they don’t disappoint. However the needles aren’t ready yet. Meme has been holing herself up in the workshop trying to figure things out. Everyone agrees and hopes Meme can pull this off by herself. But soon, Meme collapses in the workshop. Glenn is rushed to the scene to diagnose her. She doesn’t seem to have any illness. So could it be heat stroke since there is intense heat in the workshop? Yeah, cut open her shirt just to let those boobs breathe!!! So while Meme is out, we see her flashback on how she was inspired by Skadi’s words to craft tools as an artisan and live a normal life in Lindworm. She wakes up in Glenn’s clinic, still a bit dizzy but not so when she realizes her top is cut open! Cue for Sapphee and Arahnia to lecture… Anyway, Glenn has come to a conclusion that Meme was experiencing motion sickness. From what I understand, because of their depth perception, any spinning movements will cause them to have motion sickness because of their semi-circular canals in the ears. It is revealed that Meme has created a very sturdy spinning machine to make the needles. Blah, blah, blah on how this method is most efficient for the surgery. Whatever it is, Meme’s a genius and has done it. With all the praises, for once Meme feels happy. As the doctors leave, Meme reveals her weird eyebrow, the reason for her low self-confidence. I guess even when Glenn tries say everybody’s eyebrows are unique and weird, it’s an excuse for Meme to be a tsundere and ‘threaten’ to sue him for sexual harassment! So she knows more than just being an artisan, eh?

Episode 11
While Glenn is still out convincing Skadi, it looks like Sapphee, Arahnia and Tisalia have a night out together. Sapphee talks about the success of obtaining some sort of anaesthetic from the far east thanks to Tisalia’s company. And of course, they also talk about love. But for Arahnia, she doesn’t care if love is real or fake. Male or female, it’s all valid to her. That night, Sapphee catches Arahnia red handed trying to steal a dragon’s scale from Glenn’s drawer. She also knows that she is the one who played a few pranks like misplacing Glenn’s equipment since she started staying here. Arahnia escapes but Tisalia is waiting for her. Arahnia is forced to give up as Sapphee knows she would return to her old ways of stealing things when she is under tremendous stress. Because trust is always an issue for her, Sapphee also knows too well back at the harpy village she was testing her by pretending to steal Glenn from her to see if they would remain friends or not. Sapphee assures her they’ll always be friends. Arahnia’s attempt to steal the dragon scale is also another test on Glenn. After all, she is confused with his behaviour because despite what she had done to him, he continued to act like it was nothing and thought her a lot of things. After they ‘test’ her about her thoughts on Glenn, they easily diagnose the ‘illness’ that she is having. It’s love. Because Sapphee and Tisalia have gone through it themselves. Now we return to see Glenn trying to convince a stubborn Skadi. She explains her reason of refusing the surgery. Uhm, nothing that we not know of. Trying to create a place for monsters and humans to live. So having this illness means it’s her time to go. But Glenn views it differently. Because she has put in so much work to create this town and make it a city that won’t go to war, he wants her to continue watching this city grow. Isn’t that enough of a motivation to continue living? But she claims living a long life is boring. Any suggestions? Glenn suggests from eating to dressing up and even romance. Ah. I see there’s your biggest motivation. With that, she okays the surgery. Now we see the biggest surgery in Lindworm going on. All is going well until of course Skadi’s natural defence as a fire dragon starts kicking in. Her temperature is rising and could go into spontaneous combustion. Glenn can’t chicken out now. Cthulhy bears the scorching on her tentacles while Glenn has to quickly sever the tumour. In the end, the surgery is successful and the town welcomes this great news.

Episode 12
Skadi makes her first public appearance to announce she is well enough to resume her duties. The crowd cheers. However, Skadi prefers to skip the rest of the ceremony and go visit onii-chan. Onii-chan?! You mean Glenn?! She looks like a little girl with such hope in her eyes to go see Glenn! Meanwhile Sapphee is sick so Glenn is nursing her. Oh yeah. Time for that Glenn’s touch to make her feel comfortable-cum-uncomfortable. Some sore in her tongue. Nothing like a bit of honey to fix it. With Glenn being so close to her, I think she might take a while to heal. As Glenn goes out for a house call, he stumbles into Skadi who really wants to go play with him. Damn, this girl has no shame anymore. She’s like clinging so close to him and even stripping herself just to show her body is fine! In public! From the looks of it, nobody cares about the scandal… Anyway, because the carriage broke, it’s a reason why Skadi couldn’t come to his clinic in time. Thankfully, Meme is here and she helps fix it. As thanks, Skadi leaves them a couple of huge wine barrels. Probably that’s the cause of the breakdown. Glenn leaves the wines to Meme as he has to go to his house call. Meme waits there and has to experience the misfortune of being stared in embarrassment. You bet she’s going to blame him when he returns. Also, he has Tisalia and her friends come by to help transport the barrels. Tisalia takes this chance to plan their engagement but Glenn isn’t so into that yet. As Sapphee is already healed thanks to Arahnia’s help, the spider lady of course tries to tease the lamia that Glenn is perhaps flirting with other girls, the reason he is late. Sapphee won’t fall for that one. After Illy and her harpies come by to deliver some food, Glenn returns. All the girls rush to hug him! Sapphee has to show who is at the top of the pecking order. But what’s this? Glenn has received lots of food? On his way back, he stumbled into many who showed their appreciation by giving him their food. I think it’s enough to feed the entire town. And so tonight they feast and hold a party. Skadi thinks she can get some personal time with Glenn but looks like jealous Sapphee is throwing her tantrum and demanding things. Tisalia and Arahnia come by to increase the rivalry and before you know it, it’s a game of who gets Glenn. Having fun? May the best monster girl win?

Medicines Cure Diseases But Doctors Cure Patients
Oh my. What a boring end… I guess they need to wrap things up and show how things in Lindworm are carrying on as usual. And of course our prized Dr Glenn as the main star, the reason why a lot of things have happened and come this far. Everybody is doing fine thanks to Skadi’s leadership and the support of Glenn in the background. Yeah, for every successful city, there’s a doctor behind it. Just kidding. Made that dumb idiom up. I suppose there also isn’t a deeper and darker trafficking organization out there waiting to get their hands on the melting pot that is Lindworm. No threat like that when a dragon watches over the town. Everything so peaceful as it is. Nothing to worry about. War between humans and monsters over, Skadi gets to continue serving her term, the real battle is now over Glenn. No wonder his legacy is just beginning.

There isn’t anything much to the story. Different from monsters from all walks of life seeking Glenn’s medical services and this becomes the basis of Glenn being able to examine different kinds of monsters albeit ironically and coincidentally they are all females. Because of his kindness or rather his touch, they somewhat take an interest in him so that’s your reason for a monster harem. That’s pretty much about what this series has going for. For some reason, I keep thinking that the war between humans and monsters lasted for a very long time. As in centuries ago! Even more so I thought the war stopped like at least half a century ago instead of a mere 10 years. That sounds like too soon. I don’t know, it just feels a bit unreal that suddenly everyone is so happily getting along together. Because 10 years just feels like yesterday that everybody was at each other’s throats. It’s like after being at war for so long, they just got tired and decided to f*ck fighting. Let’s just live in peace together. Perhaps it is possible for Lindworm thanks to Skadi’s relentless efforts. And perhaps the concept of time is different for monsters. As far as I can also see here, the monsters aren’t racist but those ex-mercenaries, making humans entirely the only racist species ever! No medical cure for that. Yeah, a bitter pill to swallow.

Initially I was confused to think that this series was a sequel spinoff to the previous monster girl series that came out back in 2015, Monster Musume No Iru Nichijou. I was stumped when I couldn’t find any links or info that could verify that both series were connected together. Because eventually I found out that they weren’t in the first place! Both series are written by completely unrelated different authors and it is mind boggling that there are some elements that both sides had that looked so familiar that might cause one to think that they are related. The obvious one of course being a human male being surrounded by a bevy of monster girls. Then there is the lamia girl who is somewhat the main supporting character to the human character. Other featured monster girls include a centaur, a harpy, a mermaid, an arachne, a zombie and a cyclops. Just no slime girl here (although just a very short and unimportant cameo that is very much forgettable).

Personally if I were to compare which of the 2 monster girl series is better, this doctor one I would give the slight edge. Monster Musume No Iru Nichijou takes place in the current modern era and it mostly played out almost like a high school romance comedy but a monster version of it. It’s a bit cheesy if you ask me despite I honestly don’t remember much of it as of today. It had a few blatant fanservice sexual innuendoes as some monster girls want to get into the pants of the guy whom they’re staying with. This one here isn’t as obvious although many of the fanservice comes in the form of Dr Glenn touching and examining them and for some odd reason they feel orgasmic because why not. The one taking the cake is Skadi’s orgasmic face. Yeah, that one felt weird just watching it… A human just tamed a mighty dragon!!! And despite being monsters and all, the monster girls have at least the minimum ‘human parts’ like human boobs. Like as though these are just women in elaborate cosplay costumes. All part of the fantasy fanservice. Soft porn masquerading as a doctor series. I mean, why does an arachne even need a pair of huge human boobs?! Who is going to suck on them???!!!

If you look at Glenn himself, he is just a very ordinary and plain character. There isn’t actually much to be excited about him. Just like many other clichéd main characters, he has his principles and he sticks to them, often the reason why chicks in shows always stick around such guys. And of course the trade-off for him being a talented doctor means he is dense when it comes to the romance department. After all, this is something that science and the medical profession have not been able to solve for ages and something not taught in classrooms! I don’t think Glenn is putting on a poker face when some of the girls try to make their advances on him. He is just too focused on the job at hand to be distracted by unimportant stuffs! Which is a good thing for a doctor like him. Because distractions could mean the life of death of a patient. So when Arahnia is being cheeky about stealing him from Sapphee or Tisalia proudly proclaiming to propose to him as her marriage partner, Glenn just looks pretty chill and not flustering like many young innocent boys like his age should. Like as though he doesn’t get what they’re talking at. Or he just thinks it’s just whimsical talk. Glenn and Sapphee’s past looks interesting but somehow I feel that it’s not deep enough to convince me of their bond and trust today. I mean, despite their family’s circumstances, they just spent a few years together and grew so close just like that. Wow. I thought humans only do that for their pets! I don’t think Glenn views Sapphee as a pet but whatever.

It also boggles me that in the big town of Lindworm, there are no other doctors and clinics outside the general hospital. Okay, to be fair, the series only focuses on Glenn’s little clinic so we do not see other clinics in town. To say that everyone goes to Glenn’s clinic is inaccurate because it’s not that we see a long queue outside his clinic 24/7. Otherwise, do you not see why Glenn is so free to go on trips outside the city and take on other tasks as per his mentor’s request? But for those who do come to Glenn’s clinic, I guess they must be pretty lucky, huh? I don’t know if there are other humans who specialize in monster biology other than Glenn and assuming he is the only one in town who is so, it gives all the more reason why those monster girls examined by him are further interested in him. That magical touch, I suppose no monsters of their own kind could make them moan and orgasm like that! Wow. A mere human turning mighty monsters into feeble submission? No wonder Glenn’s the man. He’s taking the typical doctor phrase of, “Does it hurt when I press here” to a whole new level!

I don’t know if humans and monsters can procreate together because that’s another headache altogether thinking if DNAs of humans and monsters can actually produce a hybrid offspring! Because just imagine if Tisalia somehow manages to marry Glenn. How the f*ck is she going to f*ck him???!!!! JUST HOW???!!! Is f*cking monster girls the same as beastiality? And if Sapphee really gets it on with Glenn, will their child be born in an egg?! Damn, I just can’t wrap my head around this anymore!!! It will look more like horror the more I think about it! Especially if Glenn and Skadi procreate, will their child become some sort of demi-god?!

With Glenn being a pretty standard character, how about the rest of the other monster girl characters? Well, it is hard there’s a certain stereotype that is hard to do without on these characters. Like Sapphee who is a lamia which is basically a snake so you bet there is some sort of yandere personality waiting to burst out since it really gets to her with the mere mention of Glenn ‘cheating’ (although he isn’t). Jealousy runs in her blood, I suppose. Cue to see cute lamia girl pouting and sulking. Then there is the stereotype of centaurs being prideful and arachne being deceptive. Also, the harpy here isn’t as retarded as in Monster Musume No Iru Nichijou but you can still see a bit of silliness in her (is it because you know, birdbrain?). Mermaids and voices go together so they’re good at singing, right? Are cyclops creatures with low self-esteem? I don’t know, I never heard about it and it might be coincidence as both series has the cyclops character with this feature. So as these monster girls have their episodes in focus to flesh their monster personality out better, it still feels like just touching the surface and nothing too deep. In fact, I forgot to mention that perhaps in terms of the characters for the monster girls, Monster Musume No Iru Nichijou probably had the edge over this series (since its manga debuted a few years before this one).

I never knew there were octopus girls as a type of monster until recently (when I watched Ishuzoku Reviewers) and I didn’t think I would see one again so soon here in the form of Cthulhy. No steamy tentacle rape scene here (okay, maybe that one on Sapphee) and because octopi are the epitome of hentai depictions, is it why this mentor doctor is flirty? At least only to Glenn? Cthulhy is painted (at least by Sapphee) to be a lazy mentor because she pushes some of her responsibilities onto Glenn. But as we all will come to know, it is to help Glenn grow into a better doctor because if he can’t figure things out on the spot, he isn’t suit for the profession in which split second decisions could mean life or death.

With Glenn’s successful operation on Skadi, I suppose his status is now elevated to being the legendary Black Jack but for monsters, huh? It seems mind boggling that Glenn is able to pull off a miraculous tumour surgery on Skadi. A bit of some panic we saw but that’s just for dramatic effect. I know Cthulhy trusts him but are there no other more skilful doctors than this newbie? Only reinforces my conspiracy theory that there are no other doctors in Lindworm. Or at least a freaking good one. Skadi has been so stubborn and reluctant about going under the knife and was even prepared to die. And all it took was Glenn to say the right words. Maybe Skadi knew. She just wanted somebody to say that. Wow. I still can’t believe they make it all look so easy from the convincing to the surgery. Also, I’m sure they don’t want to bore us with all the gore of the surgery so they skip it and that’s why it looked like the toughest surgery in Lindworm went on so fast without a hitch and make Glenn look like now he is the greatest. I find it interesting that there’s this lore about dragons being gods and if such higher beings exist, I’m sure demons too. But since Skadi has taken this form, is she a fallen god or is now just a monster? Sorry, I didn’t study monster science so I’m completely ignorant and no monster expert.

Speaking of her, Skadi being the most shocking character change in the end. Using Glenn’s words of encouragement as an excuse to regress herself into a child-like state, I don’t know, is this how gods are supposed to act? I really don’t know. She now looks like a fallen god to me. A retard. True, she looks much better doing what she wants compared to her pre-surgery gloomy outlook. But she has to remember that she is still the mayor of Lindworm, a position that requires some maturity and respectability. I don’t think the townspeople will care as long as she gets her job done but if this personality is going to be the mainstay for Skadi, this is sure going to feel very weird. Even weirder, Skadi is way older than Glenn and yet she is so comfortable calling him onii-chan… Just saying… Perhaps it’s not the age but the role… Oh well, I’m a human, what do I know about dragons anyway?

The art and animation are quite high quality. The colouring and hues are also bright and colourful, not rendering this anywhere close to a horror genre. Although there are some CGI effects but it is mostly hand drawn and it is one of those few animes where they really put in the effort. The character designs are okay and the monster girls look mostly cute rather than frightening. Yeah, fanservice needs to be pleasing to the eyes. Even for Arahnia who has a few pair sets of hands. I thought she already has 8 legs but another set of arms? So like 4 arms + 8 legs, I don’t think Cthulhy has even this much tentacles. The fantasy medieval setting provides a refreshing variety to the backdrop with the buildings in Lindworm taking designs from old European styles. This anime is done by Arvo Animation whose only other work at the moment is Bokutachi Wa Benkyou Ga Dekinai.

The voice acting department is rather okay. Didn’t recognize anyone in particular but I do find Arahnia’s voice to be a bit weird since her character has an accent and it made me think she came from a certain part of Japan. She is voiced by Yu Shimamura (Annie in Shingeki No Kyojin). The other casts are Shunichi Toki as Glenn (Leo in Yuri On Ice), Saori Oonishi as Sapphee (Aiz in DanMachi), Sarah Emi Bridcutt as Tisalia (Yuzuru in Date A Live), Atsumi Tanezaki as Skadi (Miu in Blend S), Maki Kawase as Kunai (Yakumo in Val x Love), Yukana as Cthulhy (C.C. in Code Geass), Yukiyo Fujii as Lulala (Harumi in Citrus), Sayumi Suzushiro as Illy (Oono in High Score Girl), Miho Okasaki as Meme (Mary in Hamefura), Hisako Kanemoto as Dione (titular character in Shinryaku! Ika Musume), Ai Fairouz as Kay (Hibiki in Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru) and Mao Ichimichi as Lorna (Bada in ClassicaLoid). The opening and ending themes, Campanella Hibiku Sora De by Arcana Project and Yasashisa No Namae by Aina Suzuki respectively are pretty generic anime pop, nothing special to my liking. Hence I prefer some of the medieval-like BGMs peppered throughout the series.

Overall, not really a bad series and if you’re tired of human girl harem, monster girl harem might provide some variety. They’re still females anyway. Different certain body parts (mostly the feet, or tail rather) but still all of them have boobs and I’m assuming they also have a vagina. Really. It’s still a harem genre anyway too so expect the clichés of females subtly trying to vie for the good doctor’s affections. If you don’t like all that because love dilutes the worth of such animes and give monster girls a bad name, I prescribe to you the more boring and very dialogue filled Centaur No Nayami and Demi-chan Wa Kataritai. Yawn… And if you feel too horny and want to f*ck your monster girl but not sure about it all, I recommend Ishuzoku Reviewers. Just what the doctor ordered…

Also, unless you know your monster lore, some of the diagnosis from Glenn and Sapphee might sound like hogwash (because I certainly never knew that lamias are immune to so many lethal poisons!). Sorry people, love isn’t a disease… Medically speaking, that is. Seeing monster girls get molested, fingered and hearing soft moans of pleasure, that isn’t entirely sex therapy either. Interestingly that is how many will remember this series as the seasons pass by. Dr Glenn. Exclusive sex therapist for monster girls. Yeah. I read many didn’t like this series because of its poor execution and all. I don’t know, maybe I’m a simpleton so I didn’t find it all that annoying to the bone. So while this series is still averagely enjoyable to me, it might not to you so feel free to get a second opinion. Or a third. Don’t want to have regrets later down the road. Because prevention is still better than cure. Google doctor told me that ;p.

Houkago Teibou Nisshi

Time for another season of cute girls doing cute things. What’s the theme for this season gonna be? Fishing. Wait. What? Say that again? Yes, fishing. You mean that boring, time wasting activity that old men do as pastime?! Hahaha! Don’t kill me. I suppose fishing isn’t one of the very exciting and trendy activities there is in the world and that’s why Houkago Teibou Nisshi is this season’s theme to help bring some enlightenment and awareness about the wonders of fishing! I think so. That’s why they use a bunch of cute high school girls as their main characters, right?! I mean, really. High school girls having such great enthusiasm in fishing? Sounds a like a fairytale… Okay, there may be such in the real world but I believe it’s rare.

Initially, I didn’t want to watch this series because you know, fishing. Boring. Yeah, you know me. High school slapstick ecchi romance harem comedy is always my style forever. So yeah, sorry fishing girls, gonna pass you up on this one. And then… The damn Corona virus hit. Lots of animes of the season got postponed. Oh well. Maybe this is fate. I’m fated to watch this series after all. And so I put it on my watch list. Only for this series too to get the postponed treatment after 3 episodes!!! Oh sh*t! You mean now I’ve got to play the waiting game just like fishing if I want to really finish the dozen episodes?! Oh man… Gotta be patient… It’s a fishing theme after all…

Episode 1
Hina Tsurugi just moved to the small seaside town. As she takes a stroll, she tries to enjoy the new environment. Too bad the sea bug had to freak her out. Later, she thought she saw somebody having stroke. She tries to rush to her aid but falls flat on her face. Turns out that Yuuki Kuroiwa is just preparing to fish and her line is all tangled up. As Hina is good in handicraft, she is able to untie it. Kuroiwa then invites her to try fishing. After a while, Hina pulls up an octopus. She is frozen in fear as the octopus is stuck on her leg. Kuroiwa gets this devilish idea. Please join her fishing club if she wants this octopus off her leg. Better make a decision quick before this turns into tentacle rape! And so Hina is forced to say yes. But it is too much for Hina to handle when Kuroiwa kills the octopus since she’s going to make sashimi out of it. She wakes up in the clubroom but once again faints when she sees her cooking the octopus. After the opening ceremony at Umino High School, Hina intends to reject the application but can’t bring herself to do it. Outside the clubroom, Natsumi Hodaka is glad to see Hina and hugs her. Who this girl?! Don’t remember her? Natsumi refreshes her memory during their childhood days. Yeah, she was way tanned those days. Hina is introduced to the other member, the taciturn Makoto Oono who is not only physically big but also big with those ‘twin peaks’. With Kuroiwa joining in, the Teibou girls introduce each other. Yes, the quartet just make up the entire fishing club. Hina finally gets the courage to decline the application. Kuroiwa is cool with it but please try fishing out once, okay? Hina may regret it since she said yes too soon. And so we see Hina’s official fishing debut. Being a noob at fishing, of course you’re going to hear her complain as she is taught how to mix the chum and bait as well as the stinky fish smell. But once she gets the hang of it, Hina looks like a natural in fishing out those small fish. And she catches a bunch of them. Then they fry and eat their catch. Yum. At the end of the day, Kuroiwa asks how it was. It was fun. And definitely we all know this has been the hook, line and sinker when Hina says she wants to stay here a little longer. Yeah. Welcome to Teibou. Hina might spoke too soon because that sea bug once again freaks her out. So she changed her mind and wants to quit?! Not so fast!

Episode 2
Hina’s mom is surprised Hina caught lots of fish. What about the handicrafts club she wanted to join? Oh well… It just happened. Whatever makes her happy. Even dad remembers during his time Teibou already existed. Probably the same time when the school was established. He remembers lots of weirdoes in it. Yeah, Hina can relate. We all know Hina isn’t the athletic type so she sucks during the physical tests. Then she realizes the clubroom is far away from the school and that she has to cycle quite a distance. The young ones enter the clubroom only to see Kuroiwa lazing around. What excuse of today’s physical tests she said? Before Hina starts to have disappointment over this club president, Kuroiwa gives Hina a few tangled reels to untangle. This is the club’s tradition for newbies to join. You bet Hina is all excited to do it. Also, Natsumi teaches her how to disassemble the reel so as to clean and maintain the inside. When Oono arrives, she puts a stop to Kuroiwa’s dastardly plans. There is no such tradition. Kuroiwa was just lazy and trying to use Hina to untangle her mess. To appease the situation, Kuroiwa gives Hina her own rod and reel. Wow. But sorry, none for you, Natsumi. Hina gets her first fishing lesson from Oono. She tries to cast but the hook ends up on Natsumi’s skirt! Is this your fishing cliché moment?! Because Oono’s technical terms explanation is confusing the hell out of the newbie, Kuroiwa explains and demonstrates it in an easier way. Yeah, shockingly she can sound this reliable. There seems to be some sort of conspiracy because each time Hina casts her line, it somehow finds its way to Natsumi! Does she have some sort of homing device?! Does Hina have a grudge on Natsumi?! It might sound silly but the seniors borrow a buoy, draw Natsumi’s face on it to make it Hina’s target. And what do you know? Hina can actually cast straight now! Unbelievable. Then they continue fishing until sunset. Natsumi thinks she has got a sea bass although it got away. The seniors think big fish might scare away Hina so to be considerate, they claim it might be a small fish. They return home and everyone is dead tired. Natsumi has the last laugh as she shows Hina a scary picture of a frilled shark instead of a flathead.

Episode 3
Hina does research on the flathead since the Teibou girls will be fishing for one tomorrow. They load up their trolley with all the necessary tools to head for the sandy beach as that is where the flatheads usually are instead of the rocky base where their clubroom is situated. There, Hina gets more lessons on the hooks as well as how to tie the line for her rod. Hina starts to get traumatized thinking if the flathead will be a big one. The rest assure to only worry about catching it first. And of course, with her weak physical, there’s no way she could catch a big one, right? Isn’t that assuring? So as they wait for the elusive flathead, it seems all Hina ever picks up are just seaweed and trash. Not making any headway, Kuroiwa gives her some advice on how to fish since fish aren’t as dumb as you think. So make the bait less lifeless and make it move in a more irregular way. Time for Hina to close her eyes and use her imagination to catch the flathead. All is going well and will she reel it in finally? Nope. Just another seaweed. Thank goodness she’s a bad loser so she’s not giving up. Oh Hina, you cursing the flathead? And then finally when a catch puts up a real struggle, it is confirmed that it is a flathead. Hina does all she can to reel it in. Could have fallen into the water had Oono not catch her. Is there a pun to this? Hina managed to reel the flathead in after it tires out from the struggle. Everyone praises her for a good catch but Hina starts crying because she was scared over the whole ordeal. Yeah, everyone probably so confused that they laugh it off. You guys, this is serious! But the ordeal isn’t over for Hina yet. Since she caught it, she must fillet it. Since she is too scared, Kuroiwa allows Oono to do it on her behalf. However she must kill it. Oh sh*t. Hurry up. Don’t prolong the fish’s suffering. Can this weakling do it? Or are they going to starve tonight? Well, we didn’t see how she do it but she did it. Because now they all have a great meal. Say your thanks to the great catch of the day! It’s all worth it when we see Hina’s pleasant face tasting the delicious fish. They thought of honouring her by giving her a flathead’s head soup. WTF this ugly mothef*cker?! Yeah, this only scares the sh*t out of her. Oh well. Enough trauma for today.

Episode 4
When Hina mentions she doesn’t have a hat or jacket, Kuroiwa shows off hers. Because it is such lame fashion, Hina won’t be caught dead in wearing one even if Kuroiwa wants to give it to her. So you bet the Teibou girls are going to accompany Hina to town to shop for a set. Wow. Such variety. Spoiled for choices. But they’re all too expensive! Welcome to the real world and capitalism! Then she spots a cute jacket that is just slightly cheaper. If she gets this, she won’t have enough for the hat. So the rest tell her to buy just the jacket and get the hat next time. On their way home as Hina thanks them for accompanying her, they then hand her a hat which Natsumi bought just for her. How nice. Until Natsumi mentions that she bought it in hopes Hina won’t leave the club! That sure ruined their mood. The seniors are smart enough to at least lie they truly meant it as Hina’s present. Natsumi dug her own grave… We see Kuroiwa explaining and showing Hina the bait and line needed to catch a squid. Natsumi demonstrates and she thought she got it on her first try. Turns out her line snapped. As they patiently fish the whole day, no squid turning up. But right before they head back, they spot one. The juniors try to bait it but apparently this squid is smart. Or they’re just not good enough to trick it into taking their bait. Hence Oono shows it to them how it’s done and voila! She’s got the squid. Be careful not to get too close or its ink will splatter all over. Oops, too late for Hina. But hey, didn’t the jacket served its purpose? Okay, okay, luckily it is washable. With the catch, the girls are going to have squid sashimi. But they have to kill it first, right? Yeah, thankfully it is Oono’s catch so she kills it. And such a delicious fresh squid sashimi they have. Mmm…

Episode 5
Hina is happy the stain on her jacket is finally washed off. With the low tide, Kuroiwa takes her girls to go catch some clams. Hey, not fishing but still technically part of fishing. Geddit? Natsumi tries to be funny and rub her hands all over Hina. Hence begins one of the slowest and weirdest chase through the mud. Suddenly they both get stuck. Kuroiwa won’t help them since they didn’t listen to her so she warns them to get out fast or else the tide comes back in and they have to call a helicopter to pull them out! Yikes! After lots of panic and falling into the mud, they somehow manage to get out. Hina realizes at first the mud felt yucky but she is now starting to like its feel. Hina then catches the biggest clam ever. This sure certifies her as a lucky fisher. Then as they head back to grill their catch, Kuroiwa hears a certain sound and has everyone pack things up and just bum around. Entering the clubroom is their advisor, Sayaka Kotani. She thinks the girls are hiding something and because Oono is a bad liar, eventually the clams she is hiding is busted. Now Sayaka wants to eat them. The juniors doesn’t see what’s wrong and invite her to join. Bad move. Because Sayaka now calls off work and gets her supplies of beers! Yes, she is obsessed with beer and is only here because she has no money and can get her snacks for free! Kuroiwa has the juniors take responsibility as they are forced to serve her. Damn, Sayaka so drunk. This is like a horror movie! Hope Hina doesn’t get traumatized and think of leaving the club… Oono finishes cooking them and in no time Sayaka eats them all! OMFG… True to her drunken demeanour, Sayaka starts crying and wants to kiss and marry?! Ah, I see. She’s still single… After she falls asleep, only then the Teibou girls get to eat what has remain of their catch. Hina has the honour to eat that giant clam of hers. However she stalls too long as Sayaka gets up and devours it in 1 big mouthful!!! OMFG… Then she leaves like as though this is her father’s house. Thanks for the free food. Hina close to tears. Let it go, girl. Hope she doesn’t get traumatized (again) and think of leaving the club (again).

Episode 6
Once again, Sayaka barges into the club to beg (demand is more like it) that she wants to eat horse mackerels. Yes, it’s that time again when she is broke and is not showing the slightest remorse that she needs to secure tonight’s dinner. After all that bugging, Kuroiwa relents but it seems Hina has that bad feeling since she is looking with her with those foxy eyes. First they head to Takohigeya to get the supplies. I think he is Natsumi’s grandpa or something since he knows her quite well. Once done, they head off fishing and they manage to get a great haul of around 300 of them. Of course here is the part that Hina dreads. She is going to have to gut them. Oono demonstrates and to a newbie, tearing out fish guts looks like a horror move. So in between screaming and freaking out, she better hurry if they want to eat those horse mackerels. More freaking out when Natsumi helps Hina’s hands to tear them! And then Hina psychos herself to make the fish look like stuffed handicraft dolls. Yeah. Just dismantle and take those parts out. Hey, she might look like an automated zombie but at least she is no longer freaking out. On another day, Hina’s parents plead to Hina to catch more horse mackerels for them since they’re hooked on it. More work for Hina but since they praise her a lot, I guess she’s going to prove it to them. She heads down to Takohigeya to get supplies herself before doing the fishing alone (she suddenly realizing how heavy the stuffs are. Better be thankful to Oono). To her shock, none of the fish take the bait. This happens a few more times until Natsumi calls her to find out she is fishing alone. In that instant, Natsumi arrives. Yeah, her house is just nearby. Got bored playing video games with her brother, eh? WHAT DO YOU MEAN FISHING > VIDEO GAMES???!!! Anyway, Natsumi could clearly tell Hina used the wrong and bigger hook size as well as a more rigid rod, the reason why she couldn’t catch any. Hina doubts Natsumi’s advice but when she tries it out, it works! Now you believe? Natsumi remains humble since Hina is an amateur. One day she’ll get better. But of course it’s good to have fun too. Hina returns home but is dead tired from dragging her haul.

Episode 7
Hina found a weird bait from her grandpa’s fishing toolbox. So she asks Oono about it and she happily explains all she knows that it is a special bait for rock fishing. Certain fish like scorpionfish love hanging out in the crevices of rocks and this is where this special bait comes in. You bet the Teibou girls are going rock fishing next. Since they have to do rock fishing at rocky places, safety first so please put on a life jacket. Hina is disheartened when she learns the usual bait is worms. WORMS! But thankfully they can used sliced squid today. Phew. Hina couldn’t catch any so Oono’s advice to catch at places where many often overlooked, especially gaps near the pier. Instantly she snags one! As she has trouble taking the bait off, Natsumi shows-cum-teases her in doing so. Need to hold the mouth. Here comes the usual trauma again. With Hina struggling, Natsumi relishes the priceless facial expressions she puts on. That’s one for the album. In the aftermath, the girls learn Oono is always wearing a life jacket because of an unfortunate incident whereby she accidentally fell into the sea. Luckily her dad saved her. Ever since, she is always wearing one but unfortunately because of that she can’t swim. On another day, Hina is suspicious of studying at Natsumi’s place but the latter is actually a smart girl so Hina is going to be under her guidance. At her place, Hina is surprised to see Natsumi in glasses. Looking smart, right? Natsumi’s mom is glad to see Hina, though Hina doesn’t remember her much. It’s that moment where all kids just feel their parents just want to embarrass them in front of their friends… The duo study, get some lunch and then return to more studying. Hina also shows Natsumi handicrafts she made from her fishing lessons. Quite creative. Then they watch a video of some guy fishing using yarn bait. It makes them interested to try it out.

Episode 8
With the rainy season, it’ll be dangerous to fish at sea. Natsumi and Hina are shocked to hear from Kuroiwa that they do have a clubroom inside the school compound. Turns out she was just trolling them and the ‘clubroom’ is actually just borrowing Sayaka’s infirmary. With some of their fishing gear here, the young ones are glad to hear that they will be going to fish for freshwater prawns. If you’re interested, they talk briefly about it and the kind of bait that is designed specifically to catch it. It’s payback time as Kuroiwa raids Sayaka’s fridge to take some food as bait for the prawns. Whine and b*tch all you want! But I guess they have to give her their share of catch later. First, they head to the store to get a fishing licence. Apparently certainly rivers are off limits. No casual fishing as it is observed by the fisherman’s union. So once they get that in order, it’s prawn catching time. Under the bridge, Hina is devastated as her bait gets easily broken. Kuroiwa shows her the tricks and ropes of this patient game. Hina returns to her fishing but the same thing happens over and over again. So this is what frustration feels like. Of course she doesn’t give up and with more advice from Kuroiwa, finally Hina nails it. Too bad she keeps bragging in-your-face to the prawn that it breaks loose from its bait. Next time don’t fool around. Now that Hina properly catches one, she has to touch it with her hands to put it in the box. Squishy… As the rain picks up, they call it a day as Kuroiwa calls Sayaka to come pick them up. Initially she refuses but after hearing they will share some prawns with her, she’ll be right there now! Though, they can’t eat it today and must at least wait till tomorrow so as the dirt within them is filtered out. Hina and Oono ‘host’ a cooking show with the prawns as the stars. Ironically it is Oono who is doing most of the cooking. I guess Hina still can’t stomach killing those prawns and cooking them alive! As they enjoy their food, Kuroiwa tries to get sneaky and get Sayaka to help sponsor yearly permits. However when she talks about getting beer too, she drops the subject and the girls quickly hope to finish their food and go home. Yeah, nothing comes good from a drunkard!

Episode 9
Today the school has CPR practice sessions. Hina sucks at it. But the next one is the swimming practice with their clothes on. This is the big one that Oono dreads. But don’t worry. Sayaka will guide the Teibou girls. She has the necessary skills to train them so don’t be afraid, especially you, Oono. Easier said than done. After having Kuroiwa demonstrate how to relax and float in the water with clothes, Oono is still a scaredy cat. Seeing her clinging on to Kuroiwa reminds me of Shaggy holding up Scooby Doo… Kuroiwa tries to convince her that her big busts are good floatation devices! But I don’t think that’s going to cut it. Even with a bottle float, Oono is still scared and almost crushes it. Sayaka then introduces some floatable belt. Basically if you drop into the water, like an airbag, it will pop up into a floatation device. Oono summons up her courage to jump into the water. The belt works. Too bad she had to jump ON Sayaka! KO! I think Oono’s fear of the water is reduced a little. The belt looks like fun so the rest put it on and jump in too. But again ON Sayaka?! Triple KO! However the Teibou girls will be paying dearly because Sayaka only had budget enough for just 1 tank and since the trio used it, better pay her back 3 times! Later as the girls fish by the pier, Hina being clumsy as usual drops her fish. A heron swoops nearby. Hina lost the stare down as the heron steals her catch. Oh, going to be rivals with the bird now? As explained, herons usually wait nearby humans to steal their catch. Then another clumsy move has Hina letting the same heron steal her catch again. Grrr! However upon closer look, she realizes the heron has several toes missing and somebody’s line is stuck on its other leg. Kuroiwa explains irresponsible fishing has led to many such birds becoming victims. With that, they all lost their mood to fish and head home while picking up trash. Hina searches online and is shocked to see the kind of stories on this. Yeah, it’s like looking at war time articles, eh? You bet she can’t sleep and is going to do something about it. In short, she needs the help of her Teibou girls to help catch the heron and get the line off. Yeah, just need to put her mind at ease. Kuroiwa already got the permit to catch wild birds and necessary equipment so they’re good to go. The rest hide nearby while Hina plays the bait. I don’t think the heron cares about her bad acting but it fell for the trick. The rest catch it as Hina quickly removes the line before releasing it. Happy ending. Next day, Hina’s rivalry with the heron resumes since the heron is back and has that anticipated look on its face that Hina might feed it something. Yeah, the bird is the smart one.

Episode 10
So… Hina is bored fishing the same fish? Wanna fish something different? Looks like Kuroiwa has an idea but look at that foxy looks in her eyes… You better be prepared, Hina. You asked for it. And so our girls try bobber fishing. Basically it is fishing without a reel and it is usually a very long rod and line. As usual, some basic lessons about it and since they only have 2 such rods, the seniors let the juniors gain some experience. Because of the variety of fish that Hina fished out, cue for Oono to give basic explanation about its species and its colours like the wrasse or sea bream. And the most ‘hated’ fish in such bobber fishing is the puffer fish because it has teeth sharp enough to snap your line and even when you catch it, it’s not like you have the expertise to take out its poison, right? At the end of the day when they seemingly didn’t catch anything, before Hina could pack up, Kuroiwa gives her a longer rod for her to cast it deeper at the bottom. Something bites Hina’s line and seeing how much she struggles and finally pulling it out, it is a big horse mackerel. Apparently Kuroiwa was waiting for this moment since it is the time when it usually comes out to feed. So waiting it the entire day has paid off. Heh. I would have just arrive at this hour and fish it out… In the aftermath, Oono has to carry Hina back to the clubroom since she got woozy from the tension of trying to put the fish out of the misery. Yeah, she snapped its neck and lots of blood oozed out. Hey, at least she didn’t faint. So it’s a big improvement. With their big haul of horse mackerels, they plan to make sashimi out of it. As usual, Oono and Hina guide us in doing so but of course, Oono doing most of the presentation and the part that needs to cut and clean out the guts still horrifies Hina. Oh dear. It’s her turn. Time to psycho herself… Ah damn, didn’t go well… Part of the plan is to dry the rest overnight so they can eat them tomorrow. Just when they talk about not letting Sayaka know about this, here she comes!!! BUSTED! OMFG! WHY YOU JINXED IT???!!! Looks like the taxwoman is here… Next day, you think the Teibou girls coming in early to get a head start is a good idea? Why, Sayaka too comes in early for she thinks they might get a jump on her!!! She’s going to get her share still! This time she has brought a box of drinks. Though, most of them are beer. Also, she created her own little smoker to smoke some meat. Wow. You mean Sayaka is a hunter?! I never would have guessed… Time to dig in and enjoy the sashimi.

Episode 11
Hina catches a spiney. Natsumi thinks she should throw it back since it is poisonous and it stinks. After doing so, it is much to Kuroiwa’s dismay. Of course, lesson time from Oono on how to remove its spines and the likes. After surviving that ‘horror cutting’ lessons, now you can see why this spiney isn’t as bad as you think. Yeah, don’t judge a fish by its scales! Back home when Hina’s parents made tempura for dinner like how they used to when grandpa was around, this makes Hina interested in wanting to catch some whiting. Telling this to her Teibou girls, they put up a strange reaction. Hina thinks it is time to be assertive here so when they bring her to Takohigeya to get the bait, now Hina is squirming in fear. Yeah, live ragworms as bait!!! HORROR!!! Eventually Takohigeya tells her there is an artificial bait for those who are afraid of real bugs. Next, Hina is tasked to pick up some gear but since she knows nuts, Takohigeya is ready to help. Explaining the whiting’s habitat and the kind of gear that one uses to catch it, Hina and the rest are ready to catch some whiting. As it lives in the shallow end of the beach, the girls can’t help play in the water until Oono remembers them about fishing. Hina is almost spook to death since the artificial bait almost looks like the real thing. Yeah. Realism. She manages to pass this stage and gets straight to fishing. All she needs to do now is wait for them to take the bait. But by the end of the day, she catches nothing! Hina gets depressed even more so when the rest managed to catch a big haul. This is serious. Hina really depressed and actually thinking of giving up fishing whiting! With the stares of the rest, cue for Kuroiwa to give her pep talk. It seems today’s lessons on how to catch whiting is only suitable for those using live bait. There must be a way for those using artificial ones, right? So back home, Hina uses the trusty ol’ Google to look up for answers. It’s a treasure trove. Now she’s so enlightened, she can’t wait till tomorrow to catch some whiting.

Episode 12
You bet she is so eager that she has already made preparations, leaving her Teibou mates just dumbfounded. Damn, she even talks to them on what she learnt from the internet! Well then, in that case you go catch first. And certainly eager beaver Hina casts her line while the rest watches. However despite getting lots of tugging, none take the bait. Because Hina has been so at it ever since, Natsumi has to stop her to take a break or she’ll pass out from the heat stroke. From Natsumi’s words, Hina somewhat gets a hint that there might be something different to what she’s doing compared to the video, that’s why the whiting aren’t biting. Something about the size of the whiting here are smaller so she adjusts her bait and before you know it, she catches her first whiting! Yatta! They have a good meal and nothing tastes more delicious than the fish you catch yourself. Kuroiwa is glad that Hina is able to have fun because figuring out the ropes oneself is all part and parcel of learning. After the midterm exams, Natsumi heads to Hina’s house as promise to make a mackerel plushie with her. Speaking of which, ever since Hina’s family moved back here, this is the first time Natsumi comes to visit? Yeah, Hina’s mom so happy to see her. In her room, Hina teaches her some handicraft work. Well… Not bad for a first timer. Barely. Natsumi wants to give this to Hina as thanks but obviously she wants Hina’s better made handicraft. Next day, Oono is impressed with the plushies and wants to learn how to make one too. Since when did Hina has a set of handicraft tools in the clubroom?! Kuroiwa sees this and although she’s not interested in making them, she thinks of selling them! Hey, got to think of ways to increase the club funds. Hina then tells them about the handicraft club she wanted to join. Well… She was shocked to see all of the members are guys! Hardcore! Damn, so out of place! So was it a good thing she joined Teibou?! So as the Teibou girls happily think of what to fish next, oh boy, here comes Sayaka complaining she has been left out. So she wants a plushie too, huh? And so our Teibou ladies continue to happily fish for the rest of the semester.

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait, But Better Things For Those Who Work For It
Good news: I didn’t fall asleep at all while watching this! Bad news: I didn’t learn nor remember a single fishing lesson right till the very end! It is quite expected for a series to ‘end’ this way. Not really an ending since life goes on as usual for them but what else could have happened? Too bad no new members joining the club so it saves the headache about the club’s existence for next year. Hence no need for some unwanted drama that is not related to fishing. You know, the emergency crisis of the club shutting down! Phew. Just nothing but mostly fishing all the way till the very end.

I don’t know if it’s a joke or sarcasm or actually the real thing because I read quite a few anime watchers calling this series the anime that saved the season and it’s in line to be up for the anime of the season award. Heh. Are they trolling us or are they really fishing enthusiasts disguising themselves as anime fans to prop up the score of this series and make more people believe that fishing is really a good thing? Either way, the storyline and plot are relatively simple and it is not something that one should rack your brains over. It is either relaxing or boring, depending on your stance on this fishing theme. After all, by reading the synopsis already, one would have a general idea on how this series would turn out. A group of happy girls fishing. That’s all. A couple of newbies joining the club for good measurement so that viewers who aren’t well versed in the fishing line can also have some explanation. That is all. What more do you want or expect?

Because of how calming and down to earth this series actually is, I suppose for older audiences like myself, one could have easily remembered another fishing themed anime that came out way back in 2012. So you older people out there remember about Tsuritama? Yeah. That was one weird show. Instead of having cute girls, we have, uhm, hot guys? Sort of. Even more bizarre, while fishing might be the main theme of the series, the series itself deals with a lot of aliens, the supernatural and conspiracies! Yeah, it was one really weird and messy show. It wasn’t a real fishing show, I guess. So with Houkago Teibou Nisshi, I guess this is officially the first real fishing series? Sort of. But yeah, like I said, it is more down to earth and relatable to Tsuritama anytime. No mysterious immediate danger from the ocean threatening to destroy the world!

Like I have also said, this series brings some exposure and enlightenment on the world of fishing. As I can see, there are some very basic lessons and tips on how to fish certain fish, the different types of gears from hooks, reels and baits to fish different types of fish. Because I am not a fishing enthusiast, what they said are all alien to me. Though, I’ll mostly be somewhat in ‘awe’ because, yeah, I didn’t know you need that kind of gear for this kind of fish. I thought one fishing line fits all! Uh huh. How ignorant of me. Nevertheless, if this series managed to get you hooked on the world of fishing, I’m sure there are other dedicated websites and magazines out there in the real world to further gauge your interests. So good for you. Now you can waste your time going fishing outdoors at the nearest beach or lake instead of watching anime indoors in the comfort of your room! You know me, I’ll still stick to the latter ;p. For more variety, at the end of every episode just before the end credits, the characters will recite a haiku regarding the etiquettes and tips about fishing. Remember to mind your fishing manners and responsibilities when you cast your line and even after!

Character wise, it is safe to say that the main characters have their own unique quirk and charm. They might not have a very deep history but at least they are likeable for a series like this. For instance the newbie Hina, she’s your typical newbie who is totally new in the line of fishing but also somehow possesses an uncanny talent for fishing. Her running joke is that despite her love for her new hobby, she is still afraid of some of the basic things that are necessary in fishing such as handling of those yucky baits as well as filleting a fish. It’s like a person who wants to be a surgeon but is scared of blood and cutting up. Yup, that’s Hina. Surgeon sturgeon Haha! Oops, sorry bad unrelated pun. So I suppose every human in this world isn’t perfect and has their own weaknesses. For Hina, it’s those squishy bugs and the part she needs to gut and clean the fish. Hey, you can’t taste the fruits of your success if you don’t work for it, right? At least from what I can see, Hina is getting better at handling this since she doesn’t faint and has found ways to bypass it. Though, she is still very much horrified by it all. Oh well. Be patient. One day you’ll definitely overcome it.

An advantage of Hina bringing home the catch, mom can save money on food and cook lots of delicious fish dishes! Of course from time to time we need to be reminded her of Hina’s original favourite pastime since she hasn’t totally discarded her handicraft hobby. Even so, her new works are all fishing based. Something she can fall back on if there are no fishing days due to bad water or something. The irony that the handicraft is filled with males while the fishing side has all girls. It’s such a topsy turvy world today where the stereotypic gender lines are blurred or erased rather. I can’t imagine the direction Hina’s life would have taken had she really joined the handicraft club. Maybe she’ll become the head honcho and turn those manly guys into effeminate trans! Thank goodness for fishing, eh?

Then there is Kuroiwa who looks like the biggest slacker of all. It feels like she is only in this club so that she could laze around and do nothing. Because you do notice that most of time that is what she does. Even when the club is out to fish, she’s just sitting on her lazy chair and lazing around. It’s like she’s just playing supervisor or something. However to give her credit, she actually knows her fishing stuffs well. My guess is that if she has to tell the young ones what to do, they’ll never learn. So letting them figure things out and only advising them when necessary, I guess it’s her style of leadership. Then there is Oono who is like a giant gentle. Thanks to her, Hina can get by most of the filleting. Her running joke is that she can’t swim despite loving an activity that involves being near a body of water. This is the same case like I mentioned about the surgeon who fears blood. Also, it’s like as though Oono is like a One Piece’s Devil Fruit eater. Heh. Her special ability is her fishing but she can’t swim in exchange. So I guess that takes care of the reason why she always wears a life jacket whenever she goes fishing. Other than visual variety of course. It’ll be boring to see the Teibou girls all wearing exactly the same uniform, no? Not forgetting Natsumi, can’t say much about her as her tomboyish nature has her love to tease Hina and see her squirm. Kuroiwa too but she’s more passive. Natsumi is bolder and more daring but she doesn’t have as much fishing luck as Hina.

Last but not least, Sayaka. Oh man, where do I start? In terms of character, she is even worse than Kuroiwa since she actually doesn’t hide the fact she likes to leech off the girls’ catch. No money? I guess saving is an alien term to her. I guess the club girls have to deal and put up with her because which other teacher would gladly be the club’s advisor? If only she could just slow down on her beer drinking fest but I suppose that won’t work on a hardcore beer lover. I believe Sayaka has her own merits too but all these obvious bad points cover them up and that’s why she’s never going to find anyone suitable to be married to. Oh damn. Another subtle running joke about single women like her, huh? So those in the fishing line or even hunting crazy guys not attracted to her? I guess it says a lot about her then.

I know fanservice isn’t the main ingredient in cute girls doing cute things genre and it still isn’t so in this series. But I can’t help feel that they try to troll us in some of the very few scenes like when Natsumi tries to pull down Hina’s pants when both were stuck in the mud. I suppose that was the most ‘exciting’ feel we’ll ever get to encounter other than the thrill of fishing. Will she pull down her pants or not?! Come on… COME ONE! Nope. Trolled us good. But it got our attention. And technically the pool episode… Just a lifesaving drill. I don’t know, anybody out there feeling the hots for Sayaka in her swimsuit? I know I didn’t… What’s this again about Oono’s boobs being a good floatation device? Trying to get our innocent giggles, huh? And who could forget Hina’s line hooking up Natsumi’s skirt the first time she tried to cast. Did that make us subconsciously hoping to expect more of such clichés in the future? Or maybe it’s just me…

Art and animation are pretty fine. This is after all a very calming and relaxing anime. You can enjoy the picturesque backdrop and sceneries if you find the fishing activity a bit boring. But yeah, the art and animation may be simplistic but it’s also quite nice to look at and sometimes a bit surrealism. Same for the character designs. Cute and plain. Hina looking like your typical wide eyed heroine, Kuroiwa the cool slacking vixen, Oono the taciturn bespectacled character and Natsumi like one of those tanned little brats like Love Hina’s Kaolla. For some odd reason, in rare cases when Sayaka opens her eyes, I can’t help think that she looks like that certain girl from High Score Girl… Characters like her better have her eyes closed because when they open them, you know some magical spirit will summon a demon to shatter the earth! Just kidding. You know sh*t will hit the fan when she opens her eyes. Not forgetting the fish and fishing tools that are supposed to be the star of this series. They are given the focus and detail too but you know me by now. Still can’t remember what a horse mackerel looks like…

For the voice acting, using relatively unknowns are the best for this kind of anime. Kanon Takao (Aku in Maou-sama Retry) helming Hina may sound a bit raw but it gives her character some sort of realism especially for a newbie who just got into fishing. The rest are Yuu Sasahara as Kuroiwa (Akari in Tonari No Kyuuketsuki-san), Satomi Akesaka as Oono (Esdeath in Akame Ga Kill) and Natsumi Kawaida as Natsumi (debut role). It’s nice that I could find veteran seiyuus I recognized here such as Ami Koshimizu as Sayaka and Shigeru Chiba as Takohigeya. The Teibou quartet sing both the opening and ending themes. While Sea Horizon as the opener sounds more like your typical lively anime pop, it is the ending theme that takes the cake. Tsuri No Sekai E is quite a catchy and funky jazzy piece with its cool bass lines and piano accompaniment. It makes you want to snap your fingers and shuffle your feet. Not necessarily get you into the mood of fishing but at least you can enjoy this song if you’re still not into all that fishing. There are also a lot of soft and fun BGMs peppered throughout the series for your calm and easy listening. And I think there is one with Celtic based. Cool.

Overall, this is one of those calming series that is on par with Aria The Animation and Amanchu. An easy simple pacing anime that is easy for anyone to enjoy even if you’re not a sliver into fishing (unless you’re hardcore corrupted and beyond saving). It has this healing effect to cleanse all that toxicity in your soul after watching crap animes. I might not understand the calm and relaxing feel of the real fishing but I do understand the ones I watch from this kind of series. I don’t think this series might get another season just like how many of the previous cute girls doing cute things never did. Just a passing fad. I would be surprise if they did, though. And just like my past records and history, after watching such a relaxing series, I’ll go back and fish out more toxic and weird crap to consume. This haiku perfectly sums up my sentiments…

Fishing such a bore,
Waiting feels like forever…
Give me fanservice.

Now you know why high school slapstick ecchi romance harem comedy is the hook, line and sinker for me! I’ll always fall for that bait anytime!

Kurozuka

Not sure if my memories were right. I remember reading somewhere that Kurozuka was filled with some sort of bloody action violence and shows like these are usually up my alley. Probably it was the lacking and confusing synopsis, the old period setting and some supernatural stuffs that put me off then. Yeah. Don’t remember how long ago that was. Not sure if my memories were right either. So I suppose with the Corona virus still wreaking havoc and we’ve all begun to adapt to the new normal, my brain one day just somewhat reminded me about this series. Not sure why or how my brain remembered this, though. But okay. Just check this out and put to rest this issue or it might come to haunt me in the future. Yes, seriously. The dumbest reasons why I decided to watch a (nearly) long forgotten anime…

Episode 1
Kurou is running away from his pursuers through the thick of the jungle. Uhm, samurai zombies?! He easily flees and fends off against them and could’ve gotten away had not his trauma made him hesitate. Luckily his companion, Benkei finishes the job. It is explained that ever since the Minamoto clan took over, Kurou’s life has largely been in danger and there are lots of people who want to kill him including his own brother. Kurou is set on giving up and willing to die here but Benkei will not allow it. Seeking refuge, they stumble into a home of Kuromitsu. They seek her permission to stay. She allows as long as they do not enter or take a peek at the room she sleeps at the back of the house. Keep that promise and she’ll let them stay as long as she wants. Next day, because Kurou is sick, Benkei leaves to go get medicine. With him in the care of Kuromitsu, did his fever just go away? Then one thing led to another and they start making out! Luckily their senses came back. Kuromitsu isn’t mad although she laments they are not meant to be together. That night, Kurou senses people approaching the house. He makes his way to the back and sees Kuromitsu drinking the blood of a dead man in her room. Oh dear. Peekaboo. I thought she will turn into a raging monster and kill him but apparently she thinks it is better this way. Before Kurou can promise he won’t tell anybody this, both of them get killed! Oh sh*t! Then archers set the house on fire! But Kurou is not dead yet as he kills his enemies but the last boss takes him out. To Kurou’s surprise, Kuromitsu is still alive and crushes the baddie with her brute strength. We hear the enemy narrate that Kuromitsu is an immortal and some clan has been chasing her for a long time. Their goal is to get her and learn the secrets of immortality. Is Benkei the traitor?! As Kuromitsu laments about her shameful body, dying Kurou doesn’t have much time left and tells her that he came here to flee to somewhere else. So she asks him if he wants to follow her to eternity.

Episode 2
We see Benkei killing samurais just to steal their money? And then he kills Kurou who saw his atrocity? He runs and stumbles into Kuromitsu’s house. He forces her to give him food in which she obliges. She also lets him stay but warns him about that no peeping rule. Benkei passes out and when he comes to, he finds his way into Kuromitsu’s chamber and to his horror sees Kurou’s talking head! Kuromitsu caressing it and saying how this is all Benkei’s undoing. More weird inception stuff as Benkei finds himself in some weird place and some guy questioning his identity. Benkei then gets confused because that guy tells him he is Kurou. And then we hear Kurou talking bad about Benkei being a lowly servant and all. So when Benkei accepts he is Kurou, he is told he is not! Confusing! But it looks like Benkei is now serving under him? We return to Kurou and Kuromitsu’s fate. Because he wants to follow her, she tells him to suck her blood. I don’t know, did this turn into sex? Are you sure it is the blood that tastes good? Kurou starts feeling pain as Kuromitsu tells him this is pretty normal for those who suck her blood and will only last an hour. Gonna feel like eternity… Suddenly samurais attack and kill Kurou. The zombie faced boss who is obsessed with Kuromitsu’s immortality tries to gorge out her belly, thinking this is where her immortality lies. Everyone is shock when Kurou revives and slaughters everyone with ease. Kurou asks the power he just got and Kuromitsu tells him it is the power of her blood. Immortality maniac guy now knows the truth and tries to get her but is decapitated by Benkei. On a pretence of asking Kuromitsu a way out of this place, when Kurou lets his guard down, Benkei kills him! The next time Kurou wakes up, he wonders what happened to Kuromitsu but he sees before him ruined buildings.

Episode 3
Homeless people. Slaughtered mercilessly by military men and, uhm, a monster?! Kurou walks into this dystopian town known as Asuka. Of course he stands out as he catches the eye of Karuta. He tries to be friendly and talk to him but Kurou realizes his sword has been stolen. How did this pickpocketing even happen? While Karuta uses his connections to find out who stole it, Kurou managed to find the thief who is about to sell his sword. He forcefully takes it back and the gang is about to fight him but thankfully they know Karuta who claims he bought the sword. Karuta will give it back to him if he comes to his bar and drink. I’m sure Kurou isn’t much of a talker seeing he is having culture shock. He notices a strange mural so Karuta explains the disaster that happened 20 years ago. An asteroid was projected to hit Earth then. Nations began firing missiles at it but it didn’t end up like Armageddon the movie but rather Armageddon the hellhole. Because some nations accidentally fire it at other nations and you can see how a nuclear fallout happened then. Great nations wiped out but great news, at least 70% of the world survived! Unfortunately the fallout was so bad that winter lasted for a year and sunlight only came 2.5 years later. And yeah, Japan’s population reduced to less than 1%. Kurou then remembers Kuromitsu telling him this before she got gunned down by those military guys. Kurou goes insane and scream. Don’t look now but those military men and monster known as Red Imperial Army have come to Asuka and slaughter everybody! No mercy! Karuta receives this tip from his comrade, Rai. So they’re able to hide behind the mural since those military guys use heat seeking sensors to smoke out their target. However Kurou won’t stay silent and slaughters them all! I guess no bullet is faster than his rage! Just then, a high ranking general fights and fatally wounds him. Looks like he knows of his immortality so he tells Kurou to regenerate and come fight him again. Karuta sees the shocking truth of Kurou as he sucks the blood of a dead man to regenerate.

Episode 4
Kurou wakes up in a room with Kuromitsu. He doesn’t remember the weird dreams he has. She promises to tell him the truth once he gets better for telling it now may only confuse him. Suddenly they have to run and hide as an air raid is happening. Could this be WWII since Japan is at war with America? But an assassin barges in to kill them. Woah! Fatty dodges a bullet Matrix style when Kuromitsu fires! More Matrix reference with Kurou stopping the bullet with his finger and slicing them away with his sword! Eventually they finish off the assassin. They continue running as Kurou feels they could have been doing this over and over again. When they emerge from the wreck, Kuromitsu views the destruction of mankind as beautiful since man will not pollute anymore. It is then the Red Imperial Army shoot Kuromitsu off the cliff. What can yelling do? Kurou also gets shot off. But he sees men in spacesuits taking Kuromitsu away. Now Kurou wakes up in Rai’s place. She believes the Red Imperial Army will be out to get revenge after what Kurou has done. She hints she can tell about Kuromitsu only if he joins them. Too bad that deal is not good enough for Kurou as he leaves. But she hints to him some butcher shop if he changes his mind. So I guess he did change his mind as he heads there and after saying the secret password, Rai is waiting for him. She takes him to see Izana who wants him to join them to fight against the Red Imperial Army who have been kidnapping people and doing experiments on their blood in search for immortality. Then he brings him to the rock splattered with Kuromitsu’s blood, the last time where Kurou saw her. Traumatic scream. Izana claims the Red Imperial Army have taken Kuromitsu and that’s why they need him to get her back. But Kurou calls his bluff. He remembers Izana is one of those in the spacesuit so it is them who actually have Kuromitsu. He cannot trust Izana and demands the return of Kuromitsu. But Kuon starts attacking him to make him know his place. Izana stops them both and advises Kurou that Saniwa will decide if he gets to see Kuromitsu or not. So you better be on your best behaviour. He then assigns Karuta to take Kurou to see Saniwa tomorrow.

Episode 5
Scrawny men are being experimented on. When injected with Kuromitsu’s blood, they explode! Incompatible. It seems mad scientist Hasegawa is trying to find those who are qualified to evolve and those who aren’t will be weeded out. He reminds the Red Imperial Army general to get him more of Kuromitsu’s blood. That is his duty. Failure means he is of no use and will be eliminated. We get more glimpse of Kurou and Kuromitsu together. Then we see Kurou being taken blindfolded to Saniwa’s place. Saniwa will be the one to test him as she can see through a person’s heart. Inside the place, Kurou sees weird horror visions. Then in the next room, he hallucinates Kuromitsu who claims she is not real. She warns there are those trying to keep them apart. She believes they will see each other soon. Once the hallucination ends, Kuon tries to kill him. Kurou dodges and the fight is stop by Saniwa’s orders. Kuon claims he is merely testing him to see if his worthy as their ally. Saniwa explains about the hallucinogen in the candles to bring back his memories. Then there is some flower that bonds Kurou and Kuromitsu together as they wish to be together forever. Saniwa agrees to take him to Kuromitsu but looks like the Red Imperial Army decided to crash in and slaughter everybody.

Episode 6
While the resistance fighters get owned, not for Kurou and Kuon. They mercilessly give the Red Imperial Army a taste of their own medicine. It’s a slaughter fest for them. But with the army invading the central command base and slaughtering more rebels, Izana goes to fight them. He is disappointed his men can’t even do a simple kill! Rai reports to Saniwa of what’s happening. She orders to seal off and abandon half of their territory to prevent more casualties. However Izana doesn’t like this idea and reopens the gates. Yeah, more rebels dead. Saniwa thinks Izana is going to use Miitsu, blood samples of Kuromitsu. Short flashback shows Saniwa was against Izana having Miitsu because it will make them no different from the Red Imperial Army and this will thwart their efforts to hide Kuromitsu. However Izana became blinded by the blood to see the truth. So as the Red Imperial Army arrive at where Izana is, he already injected himself with Miitsu. Too bad looks like he isn’t the chosen one. He turns into some blob abomination before exploding. The general is going to kill Rai who witnessed everything but here comes Kurou and Kuon the rescue. Both are no match for the general until Kuon fires into the inflammable tank (revealing the general to be some cybernetic monster), Kurou powers up via his trauma and decapitates the general. In the aftermath, the rebels have been wiped out. Saniwa, Kurou, Kuon, Rai and Karuta are the only survivors. Saniwa’s next step is to head to Suruga where Kuromitsu is held to get some answers.

Episode 7
Saniwa briefly explains there is a hidden village called Kagura at Suruga. Her friend, Tomba has been guarding the place as well as keeping Kuromitsu there for the past 20 years to keep her away from the war. As Saniwa is the only one who has seen Kuromitsu, Kurou wants to know about Kuromitsu. Apparently he doesn’t know anything about her. She assures Kuromitsu is all that he knows of her. After reaching Suruga, they trek through the dense jungle to reach the hidden entrance of Kagura. Is it me or why does this place reminds me of where the Hobbits dwell? Heading inside, they are shocked to see everyone dead. All killed by vines. Saniwa knows a person in the Red Imperial Army to have such skill. The only survivor is seemingly Jesus Christ. Oops, sorry. I mean Tomba. This guy is so chill that he gets back up and continues his wall painting! The rest split up to go find if there are other survivors. When Kurou feels tired, Kuon gives him a vial of human blood for him to drink. Kurou then returns to Tomba. He starts feeling weird. Taking a closer look at the painting, he can now see a picture of Kuromitsu. Flashback shows both of them were running away from their samurai pursuers. Eventually they faced, fought and killed all of them. Because Kurou felt heavy after that, Kuromitsu noted that his regeneration isn’t complete yet and that his body hasn’t caught up to it. After assuring him, she then decapitated him! Kurou snaps out from this shock as he wonders who Kuromitsu really is. As he pesters Tomba for answers, this guy starts acting weird and then turns into attacking vines. With the vines attacking all over the place, everyone manages to run out in the nick of time. But before them a couple of Red Imperial Army weirdos and they’re impressed they managed to survive the onslaught.

Episode 8
When Kurou was in Asuka, a beggar approached him for money and in exchange he will tell a useful information. After he pays, the beggar explains there are 2 assailants following him. He describes them and then has Kurou do him a favour to throw his faeces into the river. Yeah, they make it so dramatic like as though there’s some trap in the bag of sh*t. Nope. After that, Kurou asks for directions to the butcher shop but the beggar warns him if he wants to go because there is a chance he might not come back and lose his life. In reality, it seems the beggar is one of those Red Imperial Army weirdos, Kurumasou. Kurou seems to be hypnotized by his words but is snapped out when Kuon fires a shot. Kurumasou is gone. Meanwhile Saniwa has been pierced by the vines of Kagetsu. Kurou comes by to attack her but she will clearly put on a show to let him know what happened in their conversation. After the show is done, Kurou attacks her. Elsewhere, Kurumasou has hypnotized Karuta and Rai to shoot each other. But that didn’t go through when screams of Kagetsu is heard. Damn, we didn’t see Kurou cutting her down. As he is about to strike the final blow, her vines bind him. She can’t land the final blow too because Kuromitsu strangles and crushes her neck! Kuromitsu then checks on Saniwa and is grateful to her efforts that she is able to move freely like this. Kurou is shocked to see Kuromitsu and no matter how much Kuromitsu misses him too, she notes they can’t reunite yet. She tells him to go to the Red Emperor’s castle as that is where all the answers lie. After she parts, Saniwa’s last words to Kurou is that he is the only one who can undo this curse of time and fate and find the light. The rest regroup to discuss the only entrance into the castle is a drawbridge that opens once a day to let the tanks out. It’s their only chance to break in.

Episode 9
Flashback shows Kurumasou is one of Hasegawa’s prisoners. While in his cell, he managed to ‘convince’ the sole guard guarding him to prove himself if he is alive. If so, kill yourself to prove it. The guard does so and Hasegawa is impressed. Kurumasou is injected Kuromitsu’s blood and he evolved into this twisted ninja turtle monster he is now. He kills those who can’t answer his question satisfactorily. Only Kagetsu was able to do so and they became a pair like yin and yang. But now that she is dead, Hasegawa asks Kurumasou some question on how Kurou will be killed. Kurumasou rejects them both and answers his own style on how to kill him. Hasegawa likes it and orders him to bring Kurou’s head. Meanwhile we have a side comedic relief with Karuta making stew for his comrades and Rai isn’t so looking forward to it. But since Kurou finds it delicious, see Rai’s dumbfounded face! This is supposed to be funny?! A short history on Yamato Financial Group who had a hand in controlling every sector in Japan. Its success can be credited to the backing from the Red Emperor in secret. After the disaster, they took over the Kanto region and now Tokyo is their stronghold. Of course the plan is still to break through the enemy lines and get to Kuromitsu. Upon entering the area, they are attacked by helicopters. Can’t say they didn’t expect that. In order to give multiple targets, Kurou borrows Rai’s bike and rides out. So it’s the same like riding a horse?! I wish it was this easy as he said it. Woah! Kurou even manage to jump up to the helicopter, destroy it and jump back down onto the bike?! Best horse ever! Of course now he faces off with Kurumasou who is a raging spinning turtle hot on his tail. Kurou’s parting give is ramming the ‘horse’ into his face to explode! But that’s not enough to kill him yet. As Karuta steps on it to make it through the bridge drawing back up, is this supposed to be a funny part whereby Kurumasou pops up in front of his face and Karuta is like just screaming!!! At that angle, Kurumasou gets thrown off. With Karuta being the best bus driver, you bet they make it inside the castle. Kurou then faces off with uncle turtle. It ends swiftly as he cuts through his shell and through his throat! Yeah. You lose. Finally. And to answer his question if Kurou is dead or alive? It doesn’t matter to him! Meanwhile we see some Rai tears because Karuta has died from his injuries… :’(. No wonder he’s so ‘funny’ this episode. Didn’t think it was his death flag!

Episode 10
Walking inside the castle, the duo are stunned by a deafening sound. A hologram of Hasegawa pops up, welcoming to the castle and has been expecting Kurou for a long time. He won’t kill him now and wants him to suffer more. So a flashback of Kurou and Kuromitsu running and hiding in a snowy land. As usual soldiers are cashing them. Kurou kills them all but takes one by a sniper. When Kurou wakes up later, he sees Kuromitsu doing something with a decapitated body of a soldier. She looks stunned that he has seen what she’s doing. Now Kurou wakes up tied onto Hasegawa’s experimental chair. He also sees exact footage of those memories. Hasegawa explains those were the only footages of him and that was from 20 years ago. Soldiers then carried cameras with them to record their hunt’s victory. Hasegawa shows a picture of Hiroaki Yokoyama. Don’t recognize him? He was one of the Red Imperial Army’s soldiers. It seems Kurou has exact fingerprints with him. However back then in that footage, his fingerprints were different. What does this mean? Kurou and Yokoyama are the same person. Furthermore, his DNA is over a thousand years old. Hasegawa comes to a conclusion that the only reason Kurou continues to live is because he swaps bodies every 100 years since the body will eventually become frail and old. But in this process, he loses his memories. Hasegawa become interested in obtaining that kind of body since and has tried creating it. Hence Kuon is actually his 48th masterpiece of immortality! We see Kuon being confronted by what is supposed to be his original self. Original Kuon gets cocky, claiming he is only so because of the genes he inherited. After praising him for all the things he has done, he shoots him! So it’s like killing himself, huh? More flashback shows Hasegawa and Kuromitsu in some sort of cohorts. It seems Kuon must go through some ordeal if he wants Kuromitsu’s love. Kuon the clone gets back up and turns Super Saiyan to kill his original and the guards! Hasegawa collects Kurou’s blood and is going to inject into Rai and see what happens. Before that could happen, Kurou breaks out of his chains to punch him! Couldn’t he have done that earlier or must he be in some cornered state? Anyway, Hasegawa is so mad he touched him that he injects himself with serums and turns into some discount Freddy Krueger monster.

Episode 11
Hasegawa’s goal is to transcend the meaning of life and death and to do that, he needs Kurou’s head to replace his to become the ultimate being. Thanks to Rai giving Kurou directions, he is able to fight Hasegawa and tell the direction he is coming at. Because of that, Hasegawa turns his attention to Rai and tortures her like hell. Before he could kill her, it’s about time Kurou picks himself up and throws this dude into the waste disposal grinder for good. A few weird moments as Kurou ponders about his true self. And when Rai seemingly tries to flirt with him, she gets a bullet right in her forehead! Kuon?! This guy then becomes mad as he shoots the windows and disrespects Rai’s body by kicking her off the tower. Then we hear Kuon complaining about all the things he did just to make Kuromitsu happy but all his efforts were in vain. Then he fights Kurou before more depressing monologue that he realized he was never the object of her affections. More crazy Kuon until somebody bombs the tower?! Kuon is only hanging because Kurou got him by his hand. Kuon asks if the Kuromitsu he saw was just his imagination. What about her 3 moles? Once again back to his mad mode when Kurou puts up some weird expression. I guess enough is enough because Kuon’s maniacal laughter has Kurou just drop the mad guy down. Kurou then goes to face the final boss.

Episode 12
The guard stops him. Kurou warns him to move or he’ll cut him down. The guard tries to be funny. Let’s not fight with swords. But with flutes and drums! Kurou doesn’t give a f*ck and cuts everyone down!!! No mercy! Then he faces off with the kabuki boss. A formidable fight before landing right in his forehead. So now the entire place is flooded with blood and crumbling? Kurou presses forward. He reaches an area and remembers this place. It is Kuromitsu’s home and how it all began 1000 years ago. Peeking into the hut, he sees Benkei talking to Kuromitsu. It seems he is an immortal because of Kurou’s blood spilled on his face when he killed him. He betrayed Kurou because he was in love with her. He became jealous then and wanted to kill him. Then he found his way to those cult people who told him above the mysteries of life. With their curse, that’s when he slew Kurou. Although it was then he became immortal and cannot die, he isn’t exactly one. His body has become old and needed to do something about it. Hence he had Hasegawa research about immortality and had him help Kuromitsu with her plan. But Kuon was made to replace Kurou’s body. Benkei has remained alive for the past 1000 year so that he could see her again and tell her his feelings. Now that Kurou has heard everything, what is he going to do? He doesn’t hate Benkei but they need to settle this. Hence the guys enter a showdown. They troll us with Benkei slicing Kurou down. An illusion or just his thoughts? Because the real result has Kurou killing Benkei. Kurou still feels weird so Kuromitsu says he is still incomplete. After assuring everything will be alright, she decapitates him. Again. Kurou realizes he is just a head and being embraced in her bosoms. Each time he is in this mode, he remembers everything. He thinks of stopping this and let him die. Of course that won’t do for Kuromitsu. She doesn’t want to be alone. Didn’t he return safely to her every time? As long as he keeps looking for her, they can head into eternity. Next time Kurou wakes up, he isn’t sure how long he has been asleep. He finds himself in a modern city. It’s like déjà vu again. He is on the run from enemies who are after him while searching for Kuromitsu. Some characters reincarnate in slightly different forms and their roles remain somewhat the same. But could all this just be some premonition Kurou had right before he first stumbled into Kuromitsu’s home and running away from samurai zombies with Benkei? Or is this all happening exactly over again?

Have You Seen Her, Tell Me Have You Seen Her…
Wait a minute. Did you get what happened? Did anybody understand what happened in the end? Don’t tell me that the eternity that Kuromitsu is talking about is an eternal game of cat and mouse? Rinse and repeat the process of Kurou setting out on a quest to find Kuromitsu after she decapitates him and provides him with a new body. Because it has been a thousand years and don’t tell me their blood fusion isn’t completed yet. Kuromitsu might be taking Kurou for a ride because every time this happens, she’ll just kill him off and restart the whole thing again. And Kurou is doomed to repeat this cycle forever. FOREVER. A fate worse than death.

Honestly, the plot is kinda confusing. Actually I don’t really get it except maybe for the general idea that Kurou is trying to look for Kuromitsu. I think that is the entire premise of this series. The flashbacks in between just made it more confusing since they aren’t really connected in a smooth way. Though it is supposed to shed some light on what Kurou really is and it doesn’t really help since it’s that cliché ingredient that his memories are fuddled. Sure, we eventually do know the story behind his immortality and then when I think back about it, the whole story now feels kinda draggy. Like as though the whole series was just one really long dragged out plot for Kurou to search for his beloved as well as the truth behind his form. Whatever the other plot about baddies trying to look for Kuromitsu’s blood, I guess that didn’t matter. When everybody is dead, immortality doesn’t even matter anymore. Yeah, sometimes the series doesn’t even know the direction its heading. The last scene adds more to the confusion, like as though they want you to draw your own conclusions. My conclusion is a big question mark hanging over my head! Make that question marks!

So I take it that when Kuromitsu turned Kurou into an immortal like her, the ritual wasn’t completed. Or was it? Because they have to go for body hunting to replace his withered body every hundred years or so. Which feels somewhat weird because it’s like as though the body feels like a separate entity and an annexation overall. Maybe I am missing something here. And the weirdest part is that every time this ritual happens, he loses his memories. Feels like an excuse to just ramp up the whatever drama and turn Kurou into a cliché amnesiac character. Oddly, you change body and you forget your memories. I am very sure the brain is inside the head. THE HEAD! The same head that Kurou has since the start. So that’s why I’m confused of this side effect each time he switches body. After all, it’s not like they said anywhere that Kuromitsu was a vampire. I just assumed that because she was seen sucking blood and then Kurou sucked her blood, aha, that should be the hypothesis that she is a vampire. I guess I was so wrong. Maybe she is the devil herself. It’s not that we know anything truly about her, right? Plus, a few men from Benkei to Kuon fell in love with her beauty and they did stupid things in hopes to get her affection. Oh well, the madness. At least they got the best part of being dead.

Even more confusing is the kabuki play at the start of each episode. I think it is supposed to narrate what happens previously in the previous episode (my guess is the clips) but speaking in such poetic kabuki style, a person like me just won’t get it. Unless you’re a kabuki fan or have some knowledge in this classical Japanese stylized drama, you’re going to find this part quite disjointed. I read this series took some inspiration from this as well as a historical figure, Minamoto No Yoshitsune (which is Kurou here) but as usual, I don’t really see how it is connected. Lest you tell me this whole story is just some sort of dystopian style kabuki play? Nah. Yeah, good move Kurou even killed the kabuki boss. His play was getting kinda annoying.

If there is the only thing in this series that I could really ‘understand’ and enjoy, it’s the bloody action and gory violence. However they are sparsely in between the draggy moments. Like as though it is our reward for sitting through the confusing and draggy drama, and then they decided here, now it’s time for your mindless action killing and blood spilling. Good boy. Now sit back and continue watching more draggy melodrama. So I figure that perhaps the action parts were worth the wait? Uh huh. Feels like the only parts of the series where I’m just totally awed and ‘relieved’. Yeah, something that I could finally understand! Just let the body count pile up and let all those limbs of those hapless men fly all over! Let me see those blood splatter all over the walls and floor! Oh yeah. That’s what I’m talking about. Oh dear. Back to more draggy drama. When does the next blood spilling violence? Somehow it’s the only thing I really look forward as I sit through each episode… Sighs…

As for the characters, I just feel that they are lacking. After all, everybody else except the main duo dies, right? Personally, some are just shallow and don’t bring much to the table who seems to be some crazy dude obsessed in getting Kuromitsu’s blood. And then he gets killed off in such an unfashionable way. And then some are just for the plot twist like Kuon who is an agent of the Red Imperial Army tasked to infiltrate the rebels. They’re nothing that much and wanting to say that the dozen episodes aren’t sufficient to flesh them out, well too bad it could have been better had they not drag out the draggy parts. But who knows? Because of how confusing it is, fleshing out the characters may confuse us even further. So I don’t really know. Ultimately it’s not like they’re very pivotal to the overall story or anything. Although they give Kurumasou some background, there were none for Kagetsu since I was under the impression she was also an important character at least as an antagonist. Too bad she got killed off quickly.

And yeah, Kurou. Thanks to him being amnesiac, I can’t blame him for having that sort of blur look on his face. Like as though he is staring into space for most of the time. Only finding Kuromitsu is the only thing that matters to him. Because it feels like something more than meets the eye that they can’t be together and each time she has to leave him and give him the slip. His memories are jumbled up and all over the place, contributing to making us viewers confused too. After all, Kuromitsu did ask Kurou if she wants to follow her into eternity. Read that carefully because it didn’t really actually mean that he could be with her for eternity! So to follow her into eternity is to chase her forever? And also note, she did say HER eternity. Yeah, Kurou might just be a tool. Perhaps Kuromitsu gets her kicks knowing that she has a man chasing her forever. Heh. Stupid conspiracy theory but it could be so true for all we know. Look at all the illusionary teasing she leaves for him. Not fun for Kurou but it may be super fun to her. Well, hope he is ready to play this cat and mouse game over and over again for eternity.

The other good thing is the art and animation. They are quite top notch quality from the characters to the backgrounds. Some really weird angles to boot but this series itself is already strange. Although many of the scenes are quite dark. This fits the dystopian atmosphere quite well. Though, I noticed the penultimate episode, the quality dips a little. Not sure if they’re experimenting some type of visual style here. There is also some CGI involved but they aren’t very jarring and blend quite well (although not perfectly) into the animation. Though the character designs are quite okay, my only question is about Rai. I was wondering if her character was the base inspiration for the future anime of Shingeki No Kyojin’s Armin and Mikasa! I don’t know, I can’t help feel that Rai is like a blend between those 2 characters. This anime is done by Madhouse who did One Punch Man, Death Note, Overlord, No Game No Life, Black Lagoon, Highschool Of The Dead, Paprika and Trigun.

There are a few recognizable seiyuus lending their talents here like Mamoru Miyano as Kurou and Romi Paku as Kuromitsu. However due to the nature of this series, it doesn’t really flesh out their voice acting chops so you’ll mostly here them voicing quite reserved characters rather than flamboyant ones in other animes. The rest I recognized are Jouji Nakata as Benkei and Keiji Fujiwara as Karuta. The others are Houko Kuwashima as Rai (Sango in Inu Yasha), Miyu Irino as Kuon (Syaoran in Tsubasa Chronicle), Toru Ohkawa as Hasegawa (Roy in Fullmetal Alchemist), the late Toshiko Fujita as Saniwa (Hilda in Outlaw Star), Kazuhiko Inoue as Izana (Gildarts in Fairy Tail), Banjou Ginga as Kurumasou (Senzaemon in Shokugeki No Souma) and Kaori Yamagata as Kagetsu (Oshidori in Katanagatari).

If you really like hard rock punk metal music, then you’re going to love the opener, Systematic People by Wagdug Futuristic Unity featuring Maximum The Ryo-kun (Maximum The Hormone) (is this the f*cking name of their band?!). With all that screaming and black metal music, it’s going to feel like you’re in some Satan worshipping cult and even more so if you’re high on drugs and you can just some head banging trance while turning up the volume and blasting away! Yikes. Not my cup of tea and this song only seems fitting when I think of all the cool bloody action scenes. Otherwise, it’s just so out of place in this draggy drama. And then a complete u-turn for the ending theme because Hanarebanare by Shigi is now a slow ballad. Could have been a nice song had not the singer sound like she is trying so hard to sing it. Is she trying to sound really emotionally dramatic? Just weird.

Overall, this is quite a hard anime to understand let alone enjoy. Definitely not for the average viewer. The draggy parts compounded with the confusing and not so clear plot without clear answers may drive viewers away. It’s like as though the only saving grave is the action sequences and to a certain point the artistic visuals. That’s about it. I know there’s more to just spilling blood and that there’s even more to the characters than meets the eye but too bad I’m just a simpleton who can’t see beyond the complicated stuffs. Note how complicated and messy the promotional poster of this series. Just like reflecting my overall sentiments after finishing watching this. Yeah… If only getting and replacing my brain to have more brain cells to better understand complicated animes was a real concept…

Sword Art Online: Alicization – War Of The Underworld part 2

Finally it’s here. After a long ride with the Alicization project (as well as the damn Corona virus delaying the suspense by a season), it’s time to finally get it over with Sword Art Online: Alicization – War Of The Underworld part 2 (the second part of the second half which makes it technically the third season overall?). After all, when this arc was announced, we were all prepared for the long ride when the first season came out late in 2018. Almost 2 years feels like a long time for such a series but I guess it beats spending like forever inside a virtual game! Gee, time really flies, huh? And also, we’re dying to find out the thrilling conclusion to the waifu wars. Will it be Asuna or Alice? Or some of the other girls? Or Eugeo?! Just kidding. We just want to finally have a conclusion for this story.

Episode 13
After Shino says hi to a very much relieved Asuna, she is brought to see Kirito. Is her heart ready for this? Apparently like any girl seeing Kirito in this state, she breaks down in tears. She hugs him and even pecks him. Will that change anything? Well, it’s too early to tell. Meanwhile Lilpilin (orc boss) is mourning over the death of his wife when Leafa crashes into the area. Lilpilin is suspicious of her but apparently Leafa for some reason isn’t an inch suspicious and be friendly with him. After all, she sees this pig as a fellow human. I’m wondering if she has a screw loose in her head after that crash because she agrees to be his prisoner to be taken to Vecta! Unfortunately Dee Eye Ell (dark mage boss) usurps him and takes Leafa as her prisoner. Is it too early for Leafa fanservice because she uses tentacle rape on her to suck out her life force! I mean, really?! Leafa just helpless orgasm as her life force being drained. When Lilpilin tells her to stop, Dee Eye Ell becomes mad for trying to order her. She can give Leafa to him in exchange for stripping naked and squealing like a pig. Lilpilin does so in hopes to save Leafa but then he starts to defy and breaks the seal in his left eye. He manages to scratch Dee Eye Ell so this infuriates her even more as she tosses away Leafa and beats him up. But before anything serious can happen, Leafa cuts off her hands. I swear, she might have some sort of feelings for this piggy boy… While Asuna and the soldiers take on more bloody American players, Bercouli has caught up to Vecta and cut down his dragon. We know it is too soon to be the final boss battle because as we can see and expect, Vecta dodges all his mighty moves with ease and can perhaps even absorb and repel his sword skills. Worse, there are times when Bercouli finds himself spacing out, allowing Vecta to just waltz up to him and cut him. Realizing that this might be Asuna’s prophecy that he will die here, no point holding back. He goes all out to kill this monster. Back to the battlefield, Asuna has slashed so many American players and it is starting to wear her down. I guess she’s not so immortal. When are those damn Americans going to realize this game sucks and log out?! But now fear, a bright flash of light crashes in taking out those stubborn Americans. Who is it this time? Be glad it is not another Kirito’s girl’s turn. It’s Klein!

Episode 14
Not just Klein but also Agil, Lisbeth, Silica and the rest of those convinced ALO players. You Americans now will pay! This is all possible thanks to Yui. Wow, Asuna so happy that the thought of Yui heals her?! Asuna further instructs the creation of a support unit to heal the wound while she goes to join the slaughtering of the Americans. Everybody here now, can’t lose, right? Back on Ocean Turtle, Higa realizes some reaction on Kirito’s monitor. Could it be coincidence those times are when his girls dived in? Yeah it gets freaking technical that I don’t understand what they’re explaining! Oh screw it! Basically, I think (I THINK!) that Higa deduces that Kirito’s Fluctlight has a backup and it exists in the Fluctlight of his girls. So they can extract this ‘backup image’ and restore Kirito’s damaged areas. The problem is that it is in the main control room and they can’t wait till the raid is over because by then the destroyer will attack, cutting the power, blah, blah, blah, more technical stuffs, basically Kirito will not regain consciousness anymore. The plan is for Higa to go himself to that room to do the necessary stuffs. I guess this is where Ichiemon comes in because this robot will serve as distraction while he sneaks through the duct and all. Of course he won’t go alone as Yanai the cable guy will go with him. Meanwhile we return to the epic fight between Bercouli and Vecta. Obviously the former has taken a lot of damage but he seems to be buying time and trying to find their past afterimage. Something about his secret sword skill that can slash the past and this will effectively kill Vecta. At first he fails because Vecta is smart. But thanks to his dragon buying time and getting killed in the process, Bercouli finds that past afterimage and slashes it. Vecta gone! So this was the final boss fight???!!! Alice wakes up and sees Bercouli dead and starts crying. But he’s smiling, right? No tears, please… Oh damn, this world also got ghosts because we see Bercouli and his dragon ascending to heaven while saying his last words. Heck, even Administrator is a ghost?! What’s that she said? She’s just his image of her?! Whatever. They’re still ghosts in layman terms, right? So after ascending to heaven, looks like Fanatio could feel his death and cries because, damn she’s pregnant with his child?! Miller returns to reality and gets updated by Critter. But upon learning how Vassago died and returned to the world with another converted account, looks like this sneaky dude is going to do the same with his GGO account.

Episode 15
Sinon arrives too late to help Alice and Bercouli as per Asuna’s request. Alice wants to return to the battlefield but Sinon reminds her to head to the Altar. Alice is shocked to hear Vecta isn’t dead yet. At least when those from the real world dies, they will come back again in another form. This makes Alice frustrated that Bercouli’s death was for nothing. And then Sinon had to bring in Kirito’s name. Yeah, she likes him too. And so the other girls. Thing is, Kirito’s pain and suffering are real. He did it to save her. The same goes for Bercouli. I guess enough crying and let’s get a move on. Meanwhile we see a short detour of Iskahn (pugilist boss) and Scheta. Man, is there some weird romance coming up between them? Because they’re like realizing what’s important and talking about what if they started a family with each other?! Can we put this on hold until you take out those darn Americans? As Asuna and Klein are resting, it seems a familiar face pops up to stalk them. Though this is Vassago, he is now using another account and this avatar is the leader of the Laughing Coffin, PoH. You think there are so Americans logging in now, huh? Actually, turns out to be Koreans and Chinese players! You see, those players received a message that this VRMMO has been hacked and attacked by the Japanese players and thus require their help to destroy them. Vassago then rallies them all with more lies that the Japanese killed the test players and hence he needs their help. While many take this chance to just go all out and kill those Japanese players, some with suspicions like Moonphase and Mei Mei Xiang remain cautious. If that was the case, why didn’t they just shut down the server? Oh dear, Asuna better not lose faith seeing her comrades getting killed one by one. Elsewhere, Vecta revives. However Miller is using his avatar from GGO. But this time with magic? Yeah, he kills Sinon instantly! So much about waiting for Vecta’s revival, huh? Meanwhile Higa has successfully connect whatever he needs to connect. However Yanai pulls a gun on him.

Episode 16
Apparently Yanai’s boss is Sugou and he is pretty adamant in preserving his legacy. Though that bastard isn’t dead yet and is rotting in prison. He is also the one who leaked info to the Americans about this Project Alicization. By doing so, he is promised some big bonus and position overseas. The shock must have made Higa move carelessly so Yanai shoots him. Sorry, Sinon not dead yet. She recognizes him as Subtilizer from GGO and he too recognizes her the same. He then forcefully hypnotizes her and tries to steal her soul (something he wanted but couldn’t do back at GGO and BoB) but luckily our Sinon is saved because of a charm she held from Kirito. After breaking free, both engage in a gun shootout. Looks like the Japanese side is at their limit as they are getting slaughtered too. Sinue manages to get Moonphase and Mei to listen that they have been duped. Before the Americans could buy her story, Vassago interrupts to tell them otherwise. His lies are more believable since the Japanese side have better weapons and it will not be in anyone’s right mind to simply convert their main characters into a beta server to lose it all. Oh well, dumb Americans want more blood, what can we do? Before we see the end of Iskahn and Scheta’s weird love story, they are saved by Leafa and Lilpilin’s orc army. Back to Ocean Turtle, Kikuoka and Rinko are talking more technical terms I don’t understand. Something about the appearance of another Alice but not the same level as the original. Because Higa’s report is strange, he left a strange code in which our brilliant scientists realize the traitor is Yanai. Speaking of them, Yanai’s bullet only injures Yanai’s arm. Yanai is happy if Kirito gets killed because he killed the Administrator. Looks like he sounds like a crazy fan of hers (wants to be her slave if he brings her out?!) and possibly the one who brought corruption into this world. He was the one who helped Administrator assume absolute control over Underworld and he sometimes visited her via some secret Lightcube. This guy so twisted that he thinks he needs to make up to her by killing Yanai too. I know Asuna has seen too much of deaths and war. But at this point she is getting really traumatized. Could have been killed had not Vassago ordered the Americans to stop. Because of that, Asuna values everyone’s lives and has them surrender to Vassago. Time to play some mind games with her. He reveals that he was the one in SAO who tipped off her team to kill Laughing Coffin’s hideout so that he could make Kirito feel despair in killing others. He doesn’t think Kirito repented at all because he would’ve not touched another VR game after that. Speaking of him, he knows he is here and forces him out of his hiding. Oh my dear Asuna, her trauma level is going to shoot through the roof.

Episode 17
Vassago looks disappointed that Kirito is a vegetable. He abuses the kid and no reaction. So who has the balls to drop in and stop Vassago’s brutality? Who the f*ck this Eiji dude? Apparently he was from Knights of Blood from SAO. Don’t remember (because I didn’t watch Ordinal Scale). He fights on par with Vassago before the mean bastard gets the better of him. But don’t worry, Eiji has this popular idol, Yuna who has also dived into the game to sing and heal his wounds (as well as breaking free the hypnotic spell Vassago casted on the Americans). Now for some Vassago flashback. Looks like he was born on the wrong side of life. Mother blamed him for being a devil’s spawn and regretted giving birth to him. During his teen years, his missing father suddenly showed up. Looks like he needed Vassago to do a kidney transplant to his Japanese son and Vassago’s half-brother. Otherwise he will stop sending support money to his mom. After the successful transplant, that is when he hated Japanese. So when he heard about that SAO incident, he stole a NerveGear to dive in because this is where he can slaughter Japanese as much as he wants. He chose the nickname Prince of Hell but shortened it to PoH. Vassago manages to defeat Eiji. So he logs out. Yuna too? Is she linked to him or something? Anyway, Eiji’s efforts helped reveal Vassago’s identity from Laughing Coffin. The players are now wary but Vassago’s madness continue to hypnotize many of them as they start killing each other. We return to see Sinon losing her fight with Miller because her gun holds less bullets than him. Likewise, Leafa getting brutally owned that it just hurts watching her getting hurt. But of course. Don’t give up! Miller’s last bullet hits Sinon’s Kirito’s charm. With that, she manages to shoot out another powerful blast. It didn’t kill Miller but she did a lot of damage to him. Likewise, Leafa keeps thinking about her onii-chan and after regenerating so many times, she finally wins over her adversaries. Back on Ocean Turtle, Rinko drops a spanner. This startles Yanai so a misstep, he falls to his doom. Higa then does his stuff to connect the STLs. Time for Kirito to wake up.

Episode 18
We see Kirito in a dream of reality. His daily life. Like he is forgetting something. Guess who the first person he recognizes? Sachi! Man, still can’t let go of her, huh? When Vassago tries to kill a soldier to wake up Kirito, the spirit of Yuuki powers up Asuna to fight him. Trying to find out why he hates Kirito, in fact Vassago loves him. I believe that is not in the gayest sense, no? He ‘loves’ Kirito because no matter how much he tormented him, he never broke down. He is his hope. That’s why he was so disappointed seeing him in this vegetative state. Knowing how this world works, the souls of the dead are flooding the battlefield. Hence he will kill everyone and their Fluctlight in Underworld just to wake him up. Of course he won’t kill Asuna. He needs her to witness Kirito’s awakening and only to die by his hands. Time for Asuna’s comeback because Yuuki’s ghost now turns her into an angel to fight back. Double the power up as her friends cheer on her to beat the carp out of him. And don’t you just love it the way she beats him up and sends him flying? But don’t rest on your laurels yet. He isn’t dead and using his sword to absorb more sacred resources. Now he turns the battlefield crazy and brainwashes the Americans to kill all Japanese! We return to Kirito’s trauma as he watches Sachi’s death again. Not only this but other torments in past SAO seasons to add to his trauma. Believing he is the one who should have died, he feels guilty and cannot take it all anymore so he tries to rip his own heart. Not even the vision of Asuna, Sinon and Suguha could help him? As Higa said, only need 1 more person with deep bonds. Who could have guessed it is Eugeo! Damn, don’t let me believe that gay theory was real! It took Eugeo to point out the memories they had and that everyone will always be with him. Yes, we’re connected. Yes, we believe in you! And with that, you know Kirito is coming back in grand style. He freezes all the enemies on the battlefield! Vassago is so happy he is back that he starts attacking his friends first? I guess this is to show how some godly powers Kirito has to protect them and that the saviour has returned. Okaerinasai. Tadaima. Man, even Jesus wasn’t this dramatic in his return. HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! Oops…

Episode 19
We can say for sure now that KIRITO’S BACK!!! He goes head to head with Vassago but you know fighting him with his own power isn’t going to do anything. That’s why the ghost of Eugeo is here to help him give strength! Technically, 2 guys are better than 1. Now Kirito has got the strength and more so, ungodly powers! Wow! You mean Kirito manages to resurrect Eugeo’s broken sword, log out those foreign players for their own safety and upgrade himself to SAO version?! Whatever. It’s Kirito we’re talking about. After a lot of clashing and manly scream, Kirito wins his fight. You can tell with a big hole in Vassago. Vassago threatens he’ll continue to target him as long as he lives but Kirito is unfazed. Using his ungodly powers again, he makes Vassago unable to logout and that is by turning him into that cedar tree. When settlers build a village around here and cut him down 200 years later, yeah, only then he’ll be free! More ungodly Kirito powers as his shower of light heals all survivors! Oh man. No wonder all his friends are crying and glad for him to be back. Save the best for last. Because the emotional reunion with Asuna. However, public display of affection have to put on hold as they need to get Alice. Kirito flies there carrying Asuna. Oh man, Kirito is so godly, can he just end all this damn farce with his verbal command? As Kikuoka updates Higa on what is happening, the alert sounds. Critter is trying to accelerate the Fluctlight. I don’t understand the technicalities but I know it’s bad. Real bad. This means Higa has to go back down there to disconnect it but this time Kikuoka will come with him. Before that, Higa mentions he managed to hook up Kirito’s communicator. How convenient because Kikuoka connects to Kirito and warns him about the time acceleration in Underworld. They have 10 minutes to fix this sh*t. Otherwise 200 years will accelerate and in real time this means a human’s soul will be 200 years old! Can you survive that! I think God Kirito could but oh well… Alice reaches the Altar. Too bad Miller has caught up and before she could make Alice cry by annihilating her dragons who are protecting her, guess who comes in between? WHO ELSE, DAMN IT! GOD KIRITO!!! Oh yeah. Another set of tears for Alice.

Episode 20
While Asuna takes Alice to the Altar, Kirito fights off Miller to stall for time. Kirito gets hypnotized?! Oh damn, but don’t worry. Voice of Eugeo has him break free! More power fight as Miller transform into his hideous powerful form. Is this his final form? I guess it is powerful enough to freak Kirito out that he starts thinking that he really wanted to spend 200 years here and never thought about the feelings of others. But then… Voice of Eugeo! Time to dismiss that thought. On the contrary, it’s not Kirito doesn’t understand the feelings of others, he doesn’t want to leave this world is because he was thinking about others. He is unlike Miller who only knows how to steal and destroy. He is the one who doesn’t think about others because he fears the human heart. As Miller tries to kill Kirito, I guess Kirito pulls off some move that turns the sky into night. All his waifus can tell this is a reflection of Kirito’s heart and send their prayers to him. Not just them but the other players. This soon expands to the human civilization and even all those other monsters?! Really?! This is going to be a very powerful prayer. Even more so when Alice and Asuna send theirs. Kirito is powered up and ready to strike Miller. Oh yeah. Hear more voices from the dead characters as motivation. For the umpteenth time they troll us again that Kirito fails. But then… EUGEO!!! Eugeo backs him up and supports Kirito by helping him to strike his sword. Miller so hysterical that he gets the extreme version of Team Rocket, blasting off and exploding into the sky!!! All just in time as Asuna manages to have all the players log out. So Kirito is the last one left in Underworld? I guess time to say goodbye to Eugeo. Then he heads to the Altar. Can he not log himself out? Oh well. 200 years here. I can understand why he starts crying. But surprise! He won’t be alone. Because… Nope. Not Eugeo this time. Because it is Asuna who stayed back!

Episode 21
After Rinko has secured Alice’s Lightcube, it seems Asuna tells her intention to stay back with Kirito. Kikuoka carries Higa down to the room to expedite their logout. With the hatch opening, Critter is puzzled that they are trying to do something instead of waiting for JSDF. With Brigg, they head to that room to investigate. Was it dangerous of Kikuoka to just shoot like that?! What if they damaged the computers?! Thank goodness no computers were damaged. Just Kikuoka taking a hit and Brigg dead. Critter retreats and decides to wake up Miller for their next move. Meanwhile Miller wakes up but is horrified of seeing a shrivelled corpse of himself next to him. Then the ghostly vision of Alicia drags him into this watery grave. They’ll be together forever. When Critter arrives, he is shocked to see the shrivelled corpse of Critter as well as Vassago. Letting the rest of the men know, it seems they have no more reason to fight. However Hans still believes they have a mission. With the terrorists retreating, it seems they have also planted a bomb at the base of the shaft of the water reactor. No prizes to guess what that will do if I goes off. Nakanishi volunteers to go dispose the bomb himself (hinting a suicide mission) and at the same time Kikuoka leaves Higa to do his thing and goes to check things out himself. When Nakanishi arrives, he gets shot (but not fatal) by Hans who surprisingly stayed back. Then walks in this discount Robocop, Niemon?! Taking all the bullets Hans throws at him, he then contacts with Rinko and it is revealed this is where Kayaba’s conscious has been. Thanking her as such, he hopes she can link both divided worlds. After Kikuoka comes in like a Hollywood action hero, shooting and killing Hans, Nakanishi drags him out to safety as Niemon goes to diffuse the bomb. However with too much damage, he goes offline. Rinko then screams for a miracle and because this is anime, you get your miracle! It’s like discount Robocop repairs itself to move itself enough to tear out the bomb! Boom it goes! So the only thing that the explosion got was its hand?! Okay. Whatever. As Critter and the rest escape via submarine, he finds it odd that only the corpses of Miller and Brigg were retrieved. His men recalled they didn’t see Vassago’s body anywhere. More haunting mystery because the team tasked to retrieve discount Robocop’s body, the scrap metal is missing too! Before we forget all about Kirito and Asuna, we see them finally spending some quality time together. I mean, hey, they’ve got all the (digital) time in the (digital) world, right? Okay, hope they log out fast if they don’t want to end up like Miller’s case…

Episode 22
Rinko is now the head of Rath as she holds a press conference and introduces Alice to the world! Apparently Alice is a robot but not exactly a robot. There’s an explanation why she is different than one but you know, I don’t really get it. When a reporter asks for her brains to be open up to prove so, Alice replies back to prove himself as a human. Yeah, just open your brains too! Brutal. Another reporter asks about using robots like Alice in the industry in which Rinko declines. In short, she hopes such AIs will have the same human rights recognized. As for their existence too different than humans, time for Alice to brutally rip her apart with this thought about humans having their own creators suddenly before them and then demanding subservience. Would you like that? I rest my case. Of course she has to go on talking about the many interactions she had with real worlders and yeah, hint about the single guy whom she can’t see right now. On other news report, it seems Kikuoka has died but it is just a fake death. He knows he’ll be blamed and targeted eventually so this is for the best. While this proved Japan’s vice minister was taking money from the American side, the press conference also derailed Rath’s ultimate goal to develop some autonomous weapons loading project. This means with the public knowing about this, the weapon manufacturers cannot force them to go public under the pretext of joint development. Alice leaves the press conference because she feels something awakening. Well… It’s Kirito awakening!!! HOW?! Don’t know. But aren’t we all glad that he’s back?! Kirito tells Alice that Selka is now in slumber awaiting for her return. He also wants Higa to erase his memories of their last 200 years in Underworld as his role as king is over.

Asuna visits Kirito in hospital. Very short clips how they become king and queen of Underworld after everyone logged out. He still can’t help cry since he still remembers them. Kikuoka visits them and updates them on the situation. The government is still trying to find someone to blame and eventually, all the related technology will be absorbed by major conglomerates and the Lightcubes can’t be saved and Alice seized. Kikuoka’s ‘plan’ is to have many people from the real world interact with artificial Fluctlights while the government is still negotiating. It’s probably the purpose of Seed Nexus. For that to happen, very high speed connections are needed to connect to Ocean Turtle, which is not possible since the government has cut off the satellite connection. Hence the press conference was to buy some time to try and reconnect it back. Meanwhile Higa is back home as he is talking to a copy of Kirito’s Fluctlight. It seems he couldn’t delete him since he is the first human who survived 200 years. This Kirito has thought about this and the various scenarios that could happen. In this case since Kirito’s Fluctlight is only copied, he’ll stay back and protect Underworld since he is their saviour. He knows Underworld’s existence is unstable since people in the real world is needed to keep its infrastructure operating. Kirito believes Underworld can continue operating for a longer time if there are no outside interferences. The only connection to Ocean Turtle is Kayaba. Higa is interested what will happen if these 2 copies meet. He’ll use his connection to open this Pandora’s Box. Kirito returns home. He can’t help cry over Eugeo and laments he should’ve had his entire memories of that purged too. Oh well, Suguha is here to hear him out. Let’s start from the beginning…

Episode 23
The much needed Kirito x Alice episode? Oh well, they both weren’t together since the start of the Underworld arc. Anyway, Kirito gets a call that Alice is missing. Before he could go over there, he receives a huge package. Why, it’s Alice inside?! How the f*ck does this even happen?! Anyway, Alice is mad he bade farewell to her at the Altar the other day. Because it meant like he didn’t trust her. So what is he to her? She is their hope. And with so Kirito-like words, you bet Alice will calm down. Then he gives her a tour of his place. Ah, the dojo. Time for a rematch. Typically it’s to force this scene so that they could almost fall on each other. Don’t worry they didn’t kiss. Alice claiming she won because of her new head butt move. Oh Alice, no wonder she is now confident she can live in this world. Alice is then introduced to the family. But father is not pleased with Kirito causing the stress to the family during his disappearance. Reminding him of his duty as a student, Kirito apologizes and then mentions he wants to change his intended course. Sounds like he wants to study in some electrical engineering department and work at Rath. Alice, you mean to sound so happy? She even voices her support to father (she’s calling Kirito’s dad so?!) about Kirito’s choice. But don’t worry. Dad’s not a strict stuck up. As long as Kirito makes the choices he doesn’t regret, it’s okay. Later in 3am, Alice goes to Kirito’s room to wake him up. You mean nobody came to pick up Alice?! Anyway, she receives some strange coded message. Kirito wakes up Yui (she needs to sleep?!) to help decipher it. Taking the floors from the cathedral and putting them together, it looks like an IP address. Could it be a link to Underworld? Alice is happy she can return but when Kirito mentions he wants to bring Asuna along, oh boy, can you just feel that womanly annoyance?! So the trio log into this IP address at Rath. So we’re back at… Oh my, outer space?! They’re overlooking the planet that is Underworld? Alice proclaims her return. Can they hear? But Star Wars! Integrity Pilots trying to fight off this space horror and Mythic Spacebeast known as the Abyssal Horror! If lasers can’t defeat it, you think Kirito’s swords can? OF COURSE!!! It’s Kirito we’re talking about!!! Before its remnants could get away, Alice finishes it off. The pilots recognize the heroes. Yeah, it’s bringing them to tears. Oh sh*t, ghost of Eugeo next to Kirito too?!

Binary Lives Matter!
So looks like there is going to be more. Uh huh. More battles for Kirito and his waifus to fight in the future. Yeah, you bet Kirito will be back. After missing 1.5 seasons, you bet he’ll be! And with ungodly powers too! There’s nothing that Kirito can’t do! At least in the virtual world. With a couple of final episodes setting tantalizing things up for the next (I have this feeling that Kirito will have to face off with his other cloned Fluctlight Kirito), it is very much expected and inevitable there’s going to be more of it. We can’t get enough of Kirito-sama eventually. So Sword Art Online Progressive, huh? Oh well, now that we’re done with the ancient land of sorcery, sword and magic, time to move on to futuristic space and technology! That’s what they mean by Progressive, right?! Oh… What’s that about retelling of the Aincrad arc… Oh damn…

Sorry folks, but I’m not really a big fan of the SAO franchise despite the irony that I have been following the TV series since its inception back in 2012. Of course I missed the 2017 movie and not played a single of its endless video game titles so I blame me if I’m missing out on a lot of things here as I continue to not understand what the heck is going on. At least on a deeper level kind of understanding. You know, the kind of deep level of fandom knowledge when one considers himself or herself as knowing every single damn thing in the series like Star Wars or Star Trek or even the Fate series. So for casual viewers like me, this entire Alicization arc feels just okay. You get your story, drama, fights and the likes and by my standards it’s already good enough (I guess to others it will never be enough). So yeah, this season is passable in the sense I’ll rate it above mediocrity but below good. Hah. You hardcore SAO fans can scream your heads off with this passable score but I’m done with this series. Until they adapt the next arc or chapter into a TV series then I’ll be back.

So the story has been within expectations. The good guys making a triumphant victory over the evil ones at the end of the day. The series’ greatest lovebirds are finally reunited and back in reality together. Yeah, feels like a long time in anime timeline. Those who have read the novels would have known what to expect. I’m not sure if they deviate anything but my guts tell me that even if there are, many of the things here are followed quite closely to the source material. Till the end of this series, I am still struggling and grasping with some of the terms that one should be familiar with such as STLs and Lightcubes. I generally get the idea but if you ask me to write a paragraph to describe it, I definitely would be lost. So this terminology thingy has been a thorn at my side not only since the Alicization arc began but going way back to where the entire SAO series started. It’s all that digital and technology mumbo-jumbo stuff and it is probably those jargons in which some have their deep explanation that put me off. It might sound simple for the characters to explain them (like as though pulling it out from the air) but like I said, I’m a casual viewer so I’m too dumb to understand those technicalities even if they simplify it for me already here, which I’m not even aware of. Am I even paying attention???!!! After all, if you can’t understand something, how are you going to enjoy what is going on and proceed further? Yeah, somebody should open my head and see if my brain is of a human!

Of all the technical mumbo-jumbo and possibilities, what strikes me most interesting is when Alice was brought into the real world. No, not the weird forced plot convenience that we need to have Alice appear in the real world so she could reunite with Kirito. But rather the food for thought if ever artificial intelligence like Alice would one day walk the same earth as us organic humans. Hence that very short press conference with Alice giving those racist uneducated reporters her fiery tongue is the other and only interesting thing that I find other than the fight and battle scenes. I thought they would dedicate that entire penultimate episode about this but looks like we still need to be reminded that Kirito is the star and what needs to be done in the aftermath. The subject of artificial intelligence having the same and equal rights as us humans will definitely cause ripples and divides in the opinionated world. It is a good debate because it also allows us to take a look at ourselves as artificial intelligence is actually somewhat a mirror and representation of ourselves. Imagine if the real world is just a VR game like Underworld. Wouldn’t that be shocking and unbelievable? Yeah, I’m having doubts whether I can even accept something like that even as I write this. Maybe I’ll just sleep on it for now… Because I don’t ever want to think about playing hentai games now may even constitute to actual rape… I hope it won’t get to this!!!

Well, there’s nothing really much for me to say here. Maybe a thing or two about the main characters. Like Kirito, it is very expected of him to bounce back this season and return to his heroic ways because, Kirito-sama as always. After all, he has been vegetable in the first part of the Underworld and even in this second part, he only came back to life halfway! But I guess for all his girls and friends, the wait is worthwhile because now they can cry and scream their beloved Kirito-sama all they want. It’s a compliment, FYI! Asuna was in danger into turning into a character who has lost faith. What do I mean? During the battle with the hordes of Americans, the way they portrayed Asuna, it feels like as though she is about to break and lose it anytime. I don’t know, is this supposed to help build some emotion in her character to us? I don’t think she would snap and give up but the way they show us it’s like she’s on the verge and could actually give up. Thank goodness Kirito-sama returned in time, eh?

I suppose the same can be said about Kirito in his vegetative state seeing he feels so guilty that a lot of those he knew died except him (oh no, not that Sachi trauma again) and that it is the best seasoning and plot device to remind him and us all that the bonds of the living he made are equally, if not more valuable and worth his existence. So are you glad you’re alive right now? A minor question I have always wanted to know: Since Kirito and Asuna were stuck in Underworld for 200 years, had they try out that pseudo sex they tried to troll us back in season 1 of SAO?! It must have crossed their minds, haven’t it?! Oh well, I guess it’s not for us to know then… But we do know how true their love is, right? Always by each other’s physical side even when the other is stuck in VR. Not to mention being king and queen of Underworld for 200 years, man that’s the longest lasting reign and love, a record that no living humans could ever break! Yeah, true love transcends time! And now he’s got Alice to ‘deal’ with but that’s another battle story for another time… Real waifu wars when?

And for the rest of the Kirito harem-cum-friends… It’s part and parcel of the formula to show Kirito’s friendship with these people are so strong that they are willing to erase their avatar stats just to dive in to this world and save their friend. That’s at least how I feel their roles in this season are. I know they didn’t do much in the previous seasons of this arc so the only way to slot them in here is via this chaotic battle. Some of the Underworld tribes like Lilpilin and Iskahn, I suppose it’s to show that not all the dark tribes from the Dark Territory are really bad people. Somehow I can’t help but think it’s to also showcase diversity and inclusivity because that weird Iskahn-Scheta romance feels really out of place. It’s not like this is a prominent plot in the series to begin with either. And then some screams plot convenience because they briefly bring characters from the movie and also a certain dead girl from Mother’s Rosario arc. Like, WTF?! Shows how deep these people’s bonds are, huh? In the end, they don’t really matter to the plot. Alice just needs to get her ass to the Altar and voila! Game over.

One of my biggest personal gripes is how Miller is killed off. I don’t understand how his soul accelerated. I’m definitely missing something here because I thought if he was defeated or even killed in Underworld by Kirito, shouldn’t he just get logged out? Unless he Super Saiyan too much and he can’t log out normally and had to die. I understand Vassago because he was cursed to be stuck in a tree so yeah, time accelerated for him. The weirdest part is how Miller is unceremoniously killed off by the ghost of his past. Like as though they didn’t want Kirito to dirty his hands so little ghost girl Alicia had to bring just desserts for him. Hi Miller lover boy. Remember me? It’s time for me to drag your soul into the pits of hell. Weird. But this is also somewhat reasonable since Kirito and Miller’s rivalry only exists in the digital side, the virtual world. It wouldn’t be fair for real world Kirito to face off and fight real world Miller. Then they’ll open Pandora’s Box of the dilemma of needing something to put this guy down forever because if I know a thing about villains like Miller and Vassago, they’ll never stop being evil. Hence this weird way of Miller being killed off is justified in this sense. Though, I don’t understand why Kirito and Asuna’s soul didn’t age and affect their real life bodies. Is it because they are main characters and the heroes? Okay. Good enough reason. After all that we’ve seen in this epic godly fantasy comeback, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. And the other gripe of mine is Kayaba’s artificial life inside discount Robocop. Plot. Convenience. Enough said. And because Vassago’s body is somewhat missing, I am counting they’ll bring his ghost back to haunt our heroes. It’s not surprising. He is the Prince of Hell anyway. Because at this point I won’t be surprise if they bring in the concept of digital ghosts. Just saying…

The action bits remain the biggest attraction of this franchise. They don’t disappoint with all the big epic power blasts and explosions, be sure to turn down your volume speaker or the bass subwoofer is really going to hit the roof! I’m not sure if this season is more violent than the previous one but I can safely say that this season’s violence is quite brutal. Especially when Kirito’s girls dived in to help stave off the bloodthirsty Americans. I’m sure we all don’t like overpowered characters at this point. So to see them swooping down and taking out waves and waves of endless enemies, that’s not going to cut it, right? So to show how ‘human’ these characters are, they are not totally invincible and are also prone of taking damage. Because I clearly remember (and this scene is still stuck in my mind after the season ended) the horrifying screaming face of Leafa when weapons were pierced through her f*cking face!!! OMFG!!! This is horror fuel nightmare!!! You thought Sinon getting her limbs cut off was bad enough, Leafa’s gruesome facial expression of pain takes the cake! Yikes. Don’t want to see that one again. All for the sake of her onii-chan. As for Alice, I guess she had her fair share of fighting last season so she didn’t do any fighting here as she was focused mostly on getting to the Altar. Fans of kickass Alice must be disappointed…

Just like last season, the art and animation are quite good and of high quality standards. Last time I said the CGI was lame but somehow I didn’t feel it so this time around. Maybe I didn’t really care this time. Especially with all those American players looking the same, at least it answered my question from last season why they all picked the same avatar and weapons and not have any f*cking variety. All Americans look the same to the Japs, huh? I bet lots of Americans are going to be dissatisfied with this game and give lowly game review scores and some would even sue! Well, hopefully there won’t be a story arc that arose from that. This season’s opener, Anima by Reona is your usual fast paced rock outfit that fits the genre. However, personally I don’t really like it. The ending theme is also another rock outfit, I Will by Eir Aoi. Didn’t like this one either.

Overall, this season brings a closure to the long Alicization arc. Just like the AI dilemma, the series itself is going to divide fans and non-fans of the series. Those diehards who love the works will defend how good it is to the end while those who aren’t won’t find anything special. Since I’m a fence sitter, I’m going to say that it has its flaws (those seemingly confusing technical terms) but not entirely bad either (can’t say I didn’t enjoy the action sequences).While the Alicization arc is over, SAO as a series is far by over and there are more story arcs from the main story that come after Alicization (Alicization’s novel works ran from 2012-2016). I’m sure they would. It’s too good of a chance to pass up right now but I’ll wait and see if those arcs will get adapted. After all, so many digital and artificial lives have died for our entertainment so what’s a few hundred, thousands, millions and perhaps billions more, right?! Relax, people! It’s just binary, 0s and 1s!!! No wonder digital girls don’t even like me… :’(.

Umayon

I guess it is a trend for some shows. After the TV series has ended its run, that series itself will have a chibi spinoff short. Just like in the case of Toji No Miko having Mini Toji, Shingeki No Kyojin having its Shingeki! Kyojin Chuugakkou, BanG Dream and their Garupa Pico, YuruYuri got their Mini Yuri as well as Ansatsu Kyoshitsu’s Koro-sensei Q, I suppose Uma Musume: Pretty Derby too is going to have their own chibi spinoff short, Umayon. Your guess is as good as mine what is going to be shown here. Uh huh. No need for any rocket scientist or Einstein prodigy to deduce the kind of content that we’ll be up to. No, siree. Just sit back and enjoy the chibi silliness.

Episode 1
Teio and Suzuka narrate a make-up exam taken by Glass Wonder, El Condor Pasa and Special Week. Special Week looks awfully sleep deprived. Did she do last minute study and cramming it all in? The exam begins and we see Glass Wonder and El Condor Pasa off to a good start. Special Week struggles but then starts to buck up and catch up by using her special dice pencil to decide the answers! In the end, it is Special Week who finishes first! Hooray! Of course may I remind you that this is an exam and not a race so it doesn’t matter who finishes first. What matters is your final score and looks like Special Week failed!

Episode 2
We see a PR video of Tracen Academy as narrated by Rudolf. Typically, she explains all the great facilities and school life this academy has to offer. If only Teio can shut up about he jokey comments. In the end, this promotional video is all great except for the fact that Teio can be seen in almost every scene trying to get some obvious screen time attention. Yeah, reshoot the whole damn thing again.

Episode 3
Mayano Top Gun and Yukino Bijin are talking how beautiful Gold City is since she is a model for a fashion magazine. Speaking of her, here comes the person in the flesh. They think it’s so cool for one to be a celebrity but City doesn’t think it of a big deal. She invites them to her next photo shoot. They are sceptical since why would a celebrity bring nobodies like them. And with just a call, City informs her manager she’ll be bringing a couple of friends to her next shoot. The power of celebrity… So the duo watch City in action and are of course awed by everything. So I guess the lesson City is trying to tell them is not to be afraid to follow your dreams. It won’t feel right to give up without even trying. Pretty simple. The next fashion edition, the duo are featured with City in the middle spread. Such gorgeous smiles.

Episode 4
A change in pace, we see a Broadway musical sung by Maruzensky, Fuji Kiseki, T.M. Opera O and Smart Falcon. A song about who loves who better and more. But I guess at the end of the day of such typical musical, everybody just loves everybody because love wins it all. Not too sure if this is going to be a smashing success…

Episode 5
Today’s race is a ramen eating contest. And our gluttons contestants are Special Week, Oguri Cap and Taiki Shuttle. As they start off, we see them each having their own method in chowing down the big bowl of ramen. But halfway through, Taiki is already full and is slowing down. So it is down to Special Week and Oguri Cap. Both are neck to neck and ultimately both of them finish at the same time. A photo finish reveals that Oguri Cap drank more soup than Special Week so she wins it. Our horse girls leave satisfied and with a huge stomach to boot. Gochisousama!

Episode 6
Fine Motion invites King Halo and McQueen to fine dining. Turns out the place is a pretty normal beef bowl shop for normies. Had it not been for their guide, Ines Fujin, it would have been embarrassing. So we see how the high class horse girls being stumped with all the normalcy from the menu and even to the ordering of the food. Shocking, eh? Eventually they manage to get by and enjoy their food. King Halo getting a champion sized serving… Can she finish it? Of course. With a bloated tummy now… Finally they’re going to pay with their credit card?! Ines will just take the bill and pay by cash. So our high class horse girls get a taste of ‘fine dining’ at its finest. Yeah, they can’t wait to try the monjayaki place next. Oh boy…

Episode 7
Ticket suggests Hayahide and Taishin to come join her in hunting rhinoceros beetles in the morning. Ticket is quite confident with the tips she got from the internet the place where they can snag a lot of those beetles. On some trees in the forest, they found a few. Want more? They start kicking the tree to dump more beetles out. Wow. What a catch. Loads of them. However one of the kicks then stirs the hornet’s nest. Oh sh*t. Run! So who runs faster? Hornets or horses?! Well, the horse girls run like they’ve never run before and finally lose the hornets by diving into the sea. Phew. They bet they even set their new personal best record.

Episode 8
It’s time to spoof the sentai genre! Yes, a mad scientist unleashes a monster to terrorize the streets. Uma Soldier V is here to save the day. But what’s this? 2 same pink members? Must be something to do with their name… Unfortunately group fight is negated when their commander prefers 1 on 1 fights! So the 2 pink members against the monster is considered that? Eventually they unleash their secret carrot cannon to blast away the monster. Mad scientist won’t admit defeat yet. If her monster drinks this black tea, she’ll revive and turn giant size. Only downside: Monster doesn’t like black tea. And with that the baddie is defeated! Is this the power of justice? More like power of crap because you can’t blame the green member for being traumatized from all this crap and runs away!

Episode 9
Presenting the idol group, Getaway Sisters! Original it was made up of Falcon, Suzuka and Mihono Bourbon but Falcon saw in her dream that they should add 2 more members. While searching for other members, Maruzensky has been waiting for the moment to join them but is accidentally usurp by Ines who is in a hurry. Falcon takes this as a sign that Ines should be the new addition. So they chase after her and Ines throws down the challenge if they can keep up with her, she’ll listen to what they have to say. So this was just a race to the cheap sale? Anyway, Falcon tells her intentions and Ines isn’t so sure since she isn’t into that sort of stuff. Until Falcon mentions about getting paid so she’s all aboard. Suddenly Maruzensky comes by to beg to join their group. Not sure about her twisted reasoning but I guess it was good enough for Falcon to accept her. And so the new quintet of Getaway Sisters start prancing away on stage for their fans.

Episode 10
The horse girls are going to do kimodameshi. Vodka and Scarlet trying to outdo and challenge each other that they’re not scared but let’s see when the real deal comes. The one who will judge them is Matikane Fukukitaru so as she follows the duo as they enter the dark forest to begin the challenge. As Fukukitaru leads them to different forks, it soon dawns to the duo that something is wrong. And then of course they get spooked by other horse girls as they run for their lives. Eventually they made it back out to the starting point. What a big relief, eh? However Fukukitaru seems to be annoyed that they started without her. Eh? But she has been with them all the time, right? Apparently other horse girls point out they only saw the duo enter the forest without Fukukitaru. So the one they’re with means… OH SH*T! Furthermore, the path is all straight and not forks. DOUBLE SH*T! With the duo spooked out of their daylights , so it’s safe to say this challenge is a draw.

Episode 11
Time for a detective mystery suspense. Nice Nature and Mejiro Ryan confront Eishin Flash regarding the attack on Hayakawa Tazuna. They deduce that her times and speed she is able to make it back and do the crime. Flash dismisses that possibility. Because do they have proof? They admit they don’t! Heck, she has to even hint about Air Shakur who keeps all the data so if they had just asked her, maybe they would’ve gotten their proof! But they didn’t. Yeah, the irony Flash chastising them for a sloppy detective job! Even more so when Flash reveals why and how she did it to take out Shakur and Tazuna. The duo want to take her in to the station but that won’t be necessary since Flash jumps off the cliff. They claim this extreme move is due to her being a genuine perfectionist. Then they rue they forgot to ask why she attacked Tazuna…

Episode 12
Finally! An episode about horse girls racing. But it’s not going to be a straight race. Tamamo Cross, Super Creek and Hishi Amazon have to go through obstacles like, uhm, face in powder obstacle? Then they have to get dressed in an embarrassing cosplay before a scavenger hunt. Before the final stretch, Gold Ship appears and the trio are mad at her because she set all this up to embarrass them. In the end, Gold Ship crosses the finish line and wins it. Legal or not, who cares?! Oh, our disgruntled horse girls are! Get back here!

My Little Ponies…
See you next series? So does that mean there is going to be another season of this chibi madness or actually the second season of Uma Musume the TV series or another unrelated spinoff? Or is that just red herring to troll us into doing a wild goose chase and come up with our hands empty? After all, we had our fun horsing around so we don’t even know if they’ve been leading us astray all the while. Uh huh. Don’t think those chibi horse girls are innocent! They’re up to something… I know they are!

While the shorts are pretty simple and enjoyable in its own mini rights, I guess that you have to be a fan of the series to fully appreciate it. Because take it from me who isn’t really close to a fan and more of a casual viewer watching this series just for completion’s sake. I find the little random skits to be funny but it’s not that it made me look forward and wanting more. It’s not like I was laughing my ass off every time either. It’s just something to pass the time and I’m ‘obliged’ to do so since I have watched the main TV series and since it’s just 3 minutes long how is that going to waste my time? Heh. Maybe I just did. But I didn’t care. At least it was still pretty enjoyable. That in the loosest terms :-).

Remember how the original TV series had so many horse girls and that so many only had like a few seconds cameo and some never reappearing again? Well yeah, my guess for having these shorts is to introduce more horse girls! OMG. I believe that they introduced more of them and those who did not appear in the TV series at all. I don’t know. I may be wrong but not entirely. There may be some horse girls whom I don’t remember making their appearance here and in the TV series but I also believe there are some really new ones appearing in the shorts for the first time. Hence if there is a small fry horse girl you like that didn’t pop up in the TV series, chances are they might here. And yeah, too bad a lot of them only appear for 1 episode and without reinforcement, looks like I’ve already forgotten the earlier bunch in initial episodes… Damn, my memories so bad… And I don’t even know if there are those who didn’t even show up here. I think those who didn’t got screwed over…

Hence the characters come and go per episode and it’s like as though they just want to give them a few minutes of the spotlight. Hey, it could have been any other horse girl. Imagine an episode, replacing that horse girl who appeared with another one. Do you think it would make a difference? I doubt it. After all, many of them look pretty much the same to me! Therefore it is my own silly conspiracy theory that the producers spun the wheel to randomly pick a horse girl o two to be featured for that episode. After all, the random satires that mocks and parodies almost every genre thinkable, the characters and the story don’t really have to match! Think about it! For instance that sentai parody, imagine other horse girls replacing those that we have seen as Uma Soldier V. No difference, right?

Art and animation are okay, characters in their chibi format gives the whole thing a funny and light-hearted feel. Nothing to complain about. It’s only 3 minutes long so there’s no excuse for bad animation. This short is jointly done by DMM Futureworks and W-Toon Studio as both are masters in doing short animations together like Nora To Oujo To Noraneko Heart, Mini Yuri and MahoYome. For a short series, they sure have a bunch of ending themes. Though, they just last about 30 seconds. After all, remember the winners of the race do go on stage and sing. So we have Pyoitto Halleluyah as the first one (typical genki denpa song), Ring Ring Diary as the second (typical idol song) and Nigekiri! Fallin’ Love as the third (even more denpa idol combo song upping the ante on the dubstep effect).

Overall, mostly simple and fun. It served what it was supposed to do and nothing more, nothing less. But still, not really anime of the season material. Heh. Not sure this would lead to another season in terms of another sequel for the TV series or the spinoff would get a continuation. But that would be a different story altogether. As far as this season is concerned, we had our fun horsing around with these cuties. Umayon was definitely a sweet little umai dessert course. But alas, it would have been a little bit perfect, icing on the cake with cherry on top had it had a beach fanservice episode… So yeah, maybe this in the next series?

Yesterday Wo Utatte

Yesterday/ All my troubles seemed so far away/ Now it looks as though they’re here to stay/ Oh, I believe in yesterday. Hey. Isn’t that what they told me to do? I mean they asked me to sing about Yesterday. Isn’t that what Yesterday Wo Utatte literally means? So what do you mean this series also doesn’t have anything to do with The Beatles and this amazing hit song of theirs?! Oh. I see. It’s one of those romance dramas about some loser guy with a bleak future somewhat reuniting with his college crush and a high school girl who has a crush on him. For me to pick this up, must be one of those slow Corona virus seasons, huh?

Episode 1
Rikuo Uozumi works at a convenience store. I guess life is so boring that he is feeding crows with bento?! Man, must be some upper echelon crows and regular customers too since they tap on the window for food! Because of that, Haru Nonaka also wants some. Might as well. Later his friend, Takanori Fukuda drops by to ask him if he is going to turn up for the reunion. Rikuo doesn’t want too since he doesn’t want to be labelled as failure for not landing a job since graduation. Though, Fukuda claims he never went job hunting and gave up too early. He also mentions Shinako Morinome will be at the reunion too. The girl he has a crush on? Oh well… While at his job, Shinako pays a surprise visit. After his shift is over, he joins her to chat. She became a teacher and transferred here. Rikuo keeps thinking of himself as a failure and that Shinako is out of his league. Though she notes that she couldn’t imagine him wearing suits and working in a proper job, he does give an impression that he is someone who needs to be taken care of. Another day, Haru comes to hang out with Rikuo. Obviously she is flirting with him but he isn’t really interested. She hints she knows him for a long time. They met 5 years ago. Time to dig back those memories. On another night when Haru comes to bug Rikuo at his job, he isn’t in so his colleague, Kinoshita hints he left with a pretty babe. Haru then catches up and hugs him, trying to create some drama. But when she sees Shinako, she tries to run away. Apparently the ladies know each other. Haru was her student. Shinako regrets for what happened although Haru claims she quit school because she got fed up. Rikuo in the middle, what the f*ck is happening? Anyway, Shinako explains about Haru being caught by the school for working at some bar and got suspended.

After Rikuo sends Shinako home, Haru comes out from her hiding to tease him and she can easily tell this unrequited love. He changes the subject that he still can’t remember her from before. That’s because she had a makeover. Back then she had this nerdy look. When Rikuo was rushing for some entrance exam, he dropped his slip. She was the one who picked it up for him. So for the last 5 years, she’s like stalking him?! Hope she’s joking… More life lessons for Rikuo when Kinoshita tells him straight about his self-depreciating ways is just an excuse he won’t hurt himself no matter what happens. So he thinks hard about it until he gets the balls to go to Shinako’s house to finally confess he loves her in the romantic sense. Awkward. And so she apologizes. More awkward. Oh well, he excuses himself he needed some closure. It’s a long outstanding issue since college days. Poor guy wants to quit life! You can’t! Unless… Next day, Rikuo decides to take up Kinoshita’s offer to take some amateur photo for his amateur band releasing their CD. Look, there’s Haru. Rikuo puts in long fancy words about what happened last night. So Haru notes she admires him and that liars don’t lose but they also don’t gain. She is a liar just like him, probably trying to find a place to escape. Rikuo gets this idea to photograph her for the CD. Say cheese.

Extra 1: Haru is excited to see how the photo turned out. Guess what? Rikuo actually focused the picture of her pet crow on her shoulder! Disappointed?

Episode 2
Haru is here to bug Rikuo again. Until Kinoshita spoils it by saying he still gotten over his rejection. Bummer. Shinako is about to leave for a teacher’s party when she spots Rou Hayakawa making a classroom like his own home? This is art? Apparently his dad moved here for his new job so naturally he tagged along. Later that night as Shinako walks home, she bumps into Rikuo at the park. They talk about things. Especially Shinako feeling she isn’t really moving forward. Rikuo asks about the thought of them being friends. Things get complicated with Haru here. Don’t get the wrong idea. This is so awkward. It’s going to be even more so when Rou sees this. Next day, Rikuo asks Kinoshita about the idea of a man and woman becoming friends when Rou comes in to ask Rikuo directly about his relationship with Shinako. So Rou is trying to play the childhood friend card that he knows her more than him and grew up with her at Kanazawa, huh? It piqued Rikuo’s interest that something happened back at Kanazawa. Meanwhile Haru has Shinako hang out with her just to declare and throw a contest between them. It’s about Rikuo, right? Shinako explains it isn’t about that. In fact, she has somebody she loves but he is no longer in this world. Same story told by Rou to Rikuo too. Apparently the person Shinako loves is Rou’s brother, Yuu but he passed on 6 years ago. As their mom died young, Shinako who lived next door often came over to cook for them. The night he died, Shinako spent the entire night staring at the sakura tree in their yard. Hence whenever it is sakura season, it always reminds her of him. So with Shinako assuring she is through with love, I guess Haru didn’t listen or she interpreted differently because now she is declaring war on Shinako. Shinako returns home to see Rikuo waiting outside. He tells her what Rou told her. This is awkward. But Shinako apologizes for not telling him because it’s not like she wanted to hide it and she didn’t want to make an excuse about it. She wants to stop being friends since it won’t work out with only 1 putting in the effort. Rikuo also has the same idea but hints some ulterior motive and other strings attached. Somehow Shinako felt relieved. Next day as Rikuo heads in for work, looks like Kinoshita filled in Haru about his rival. That cheeky smile… Wiped off when Rikuo says it’s none of her business.

Extra 2: Shinako remembers Yuu sometimes helped her in class like when she forgot stuffs. Then there was one time their pet dog died and Rou was inconsolable. But Yuu told him to just let it go because eventually all living things will die. It was then Shinako understood him since he was always living near death’s door and always acted cold towards those who looked after him. It’s probably why she fell for him and not because it was out of pity. It’s also the reason she didn’t cry at his funeral. And those feelings she had for him, she had none for Rikuo.

Episode 3
Haru continues to visit Rikuo’s workplace. She even tells him about her war declaration with Shinako. He tries to brush it off he isn’t the kind of person she thinks but I guess she is as stubborn. In short, she’s still not giving up. For a few days, Rikuo didn’t turn up for work because he got a cold. Haru feels bad because that talk that night they had was in the rain. Kinoshita gives her his number but she doesn’t have the guts to call him. Rikuo must be feeling a lot better when Shinako comes to give him some rice. When Rikuo is better, Haru hands him a movie ticket for a monster movie. She feels bad for getting him sick. We see Haru working as a maid at some Milk Hall and she too has some personal issues with her family. She goes back to see mom whom she hasn’t seen for 3 months and something that happened 5 years ago with a creepy mass media type dude who was her teacher. On the day Haru and Rikuo are supposed to watch the movie, Haru waits but he never showed up. Some dang guys try to even flirt with her but her power of ignoring is strong. Rikuo is actually nursing Shinako who got sick. So when he finally realized he is late for his movie date, he rushes over but Haru is nowhere to be seen. Oh my, walking home in the rain? Going to get sick again. He sees Haru outside his place. He apologizes but Haru is glad nothing bad happened to him. So as he explains himself, Haru feels sad. She knew Shinako had priority but then calls him an idiot for being too honest and that he should’ve at least told a white lie?! Wait a minute! If he did that and she found out the truth later, she would still berate him for lying to him! OMFG! There’s no way to win this! NOW YOU UNDERSTAND WHY MEN CAN’T UNDERSTAND WOMEN???!!! We see Haru deep in thought about this. So much so see screams out about that guy needs to at least keep his promise. Luck has it, Rikuo is just nearby. He goes to talk to her. Uhm, can you both take this sappy drama to the side? You’re holding up traffic… Awkward at first, Haru then starts telling him some personal details. It’s her way to introduce herself because she’d like him to know a few things about her. So he takes it she is still pissed about being stood up. Haru trying to feign a fever coming so he can come over to take care of her? Don’t play this game, Rikuo!!! YOU CAN NEVER WIN!!!

Extra 3: Rikuo visits Milk Hall and talks to Kyouko Sayama who owns and runs the place. By day it is a café but by night it is a bar. It is probably what got Haru into trouble in the first place since she didn’t make clear her context. Kyouko knows a lot about Rikuo because Haru can’t keep her mouth shut about him. Haru just arrived for her shift and is delighted to see Rikuo here. She is happy to brew him her special coffee.

Episode 4
Rou is glad that Shinako is at his place and cooking for him since her family sent her too much vegetables. You know that feeling when a girl you like starts comparing you with your dead brother… It’s that kind of talk… Anyway, the talk is diverted with Shinako learning he is trying to take cram school for arts but is having problems. Competition is tough. Flashback shows Rou is good in drawing and is the only thing he is better at Yuu who was always at the centre of attention. That’s why he kept drawing even if people acknowledged him just for the moment. Then the talk goes back to the dead brother. Rou being honest with her if she will be able to get over him. Because Rou is not his replacement. He is seeking her approval but I guess she can only see him as a little brother. Is that a rejection? Rou blows his top asking if she is confusing sympathy with love. She isn’t. Really? I’m not too sure either… Rou continues to struggle at cram school. Before we forget Rikuo-Rou rivalry existed, here is one now. With Haru coming in, this going to get a little complicated. She realizes Rou is Rikuo’s rival (both guys deny with perfect synchronicity). Since she is bugging Rikuo to walk her home, Rou gets the wrong idea he has a backup. He threatens to rat this out to Shinako. Unfortunately Rikuo is too busy with work so Rou walks Haru home. So do they have a chance? I guess they have to hang in there for each other’s sake. With Shinako and Rou’s dad returning to their hometown for the Bon festival, Rou reminisces the past. One including he threw a tantrum when Shinako couldn’t leave Yuu just to go watch fireworks with Rou. Rou realizes Shinako left for Tokyo trying to look away from reality, a life without Yuu. We see Rou’s dad packing up Yuu’s belongings as he plans to rent out the house. He thinks they need something to move on and they can come back once in a while to remember Yuu. Can she? She wants to escape reality but doesn’t want to forget him. Yeah. See her reminisce those times and crying. Looks like it’s not over. As for Rou, he can’t give up after a single rejection. Gotta be serious. Life only begins then?

Extra 4: Fukuda talks to Rikuo about working for a day at an exhibition run by his friend. Rikuo isn’t so sure because of his shift so Fukuda adds that it has cameras and stuffs he likes. Though Rikuo admits he likes tinkering with cameras, he doesn’t like looking at the pictures. Fukuda thinks he can be inspired if he checks out the work of pros. Does Rikuo need more time to think about it?

Episode 5
Rikuo takes up Fukuda’s advice so now he is also working part time in a gallery office job that deals with photography. He also has a new colleague joining, Kouichi Minato who is a college sophomore. When Haru comes to visit Rikuo, it seems Minato knows who she is. Surprisingly she doesn’t remember him. He is actually her high school classmate. Now you remember? As they hang out, it seems Rikuo is starting to dislike Minato because of his very straightforward arrogance. Though, he is quite down to earth. Haru tries to tease him about it but I don’t think this will make him jealous. Minato seems to be hanging out with Haru more often and one night while walking her home, they stumble into Rikuo and Shinako just finishing their drinking session with college buddies. Will they get the wrong idea? Well, Rikuo sounding jealous she is hanging out with that guy. And Haru mad that Rikuo not even asking why she is with Minato. So mad that she has Minato accompany her further. So he learns about this ‘complicated’ relationship among the related parties. Haru asks if he has a girlfriend. He hints he does but she is in love with someone else. Yup. Haru too feels the same. Oh boy. I didn’t think she would be this dense! Next day at work, Minato asks Rikuo if he is dating Shinako or even likes Haru. He gives sheepish answers… Haru tries to tease Rikuo more about Minato but that jerk continues to give her the cold shoulder. She doesn’t give up. Even one day hinting about him working hard to save and buy an engagement ring for her! Remember her ring size too. Another day, Minato asks Haru to accompany him for an outing. Long story short, he finally manages to confess he likes her and hopes she can date him. This of course he is aware she likes Rikuo. Haru replies about Rikuo being a jerk who doesn’t know her feelings and thinks she might be okay being his backup. But she won’t give up even if it will never happen since she doesn’t want to regret. Hence she turns him down but Minato is okay with it since he expected it. This is when Minato reveals he just quit college. Studying and then going into the work force doesn’t feel like his style. Because his plan now is to travel the world with his camera, he might regret if he didn’t tell her his feelings. Not sure if Haru is happy or relieved. So they part ways and she shakes his hand. Haru bugs Rikuo at the gallery. This guy is more irritated than ever. Not only Minato has quit but the photo he submitted for a competition won first place! And that picture is a side profile of a forlorn Haru! More Haru teasing of course that she might be such a beautiful person but I don’t think Rikuo is in the mood.

Episode 6
Chika Yuzuhara is seen hanging out behind the convenience store. She knows Rikuo. Who is she? She was once his high school classmate. And they once dated. THEY ONCE WHAT???!!! Yeah, she dumped him after 4 months. FOUR MONTHS???!!! Apparently she’s crashing at his place for the time being since she couldn’t pay her rent so she got kicked out. Why him? I guess she doesn’t have any female friends and her other exes all have girlfriends. Looking at his room, she can tell he is single. Damn! Oh, despite being a diligent girl back in high school, she got into various relationships with other guys. Yeah, it’s complicated. Even as of now, every band she joins eventually breaks up! Oh man, this girl is bad news. One day after working too hard, Rikuo collapses on her. Want to troll us that he’s trying to rape her? Turns out he is sick so the least she could do is nurse his health back. Now the interesting part is coming. Shinako and Haru try to pay a visit at Rikuo’s workplace only to be told he is sick. So when they visit his place, imagine the look on their face when they see a woman answering the door! Who this b*tch?! Sure didn’t get the wrong place? Although Chika tries to explain she is a freeloader, Shinako ‘understands’ and takes Haru to leave. Haru is mad that Rikuo is ‘cheating’ on them but clam Shinako notes that it’s not like they’re dating him. After all, she rejected him. Can’t blame him. Hell is upon Rikuo when Chika tells him about a couple of women were here. Think hard to explain yourself. Next day back at work, he can tell wrathful Haru is coming and tries to escape but eventually is caught. Because he’s being a weak pussy and can’t tell her to get out, Haru throws a fit! Throws the plastic crate at him! Oh sh*t! She runs away crying. So how is this his fault?! Don’t worry. He still alive. This guy isn’t scared of death yet. Because he waits outside Shinako’s house trying to explain. But she claims she wasn’t at his place and was drinking with friends. See that scary face? Yeah, she’s mad. Don’t even think about asking further. Just go away! So I guess Chika is the only one he can fall back to. They talk about things. Chika admitting she probably just wanted to be liked and never been one to fall in love or invest deeply in anything. Another day, Shinako stops by Rikuo’s place. Not home. Chika sees her and before she could leave, she takes her in to properly explain nothing happened between them. There. Feel better? When Rikuo returns, Chika has left and a note explaining she managed to land a paying job. Thanks for everything. Phew. This nightmare is over. Hopefully.

Episode 7
Haru gets her revenge. Yeah, she’s ordering lots of stuffs from the menu. Hey, Rikuo says it is his treat. He is here to explain that he won’t be doing the job at the gallery anymore because his boss hooked him up at a photo studio to help him learn photography. With this happy news, Haru orders beers to celebrate. It’s on her. So the entire treat or just the beers? But Haru is still underage!!! Meanwhile Rou tries to ask Shinako on an outing. Obviously she needs to finish up her school work but I guess this irks him as he rants his mouth about him doing all this so he could catch up to her. I guess Shinako is at a loss so she talks to Rikuo. This guy? Yeah well, he just says to let him experience life. He has got to learn that things won’t always go the way he wants. So when Rou has calmed down, Shinako talks to him about how she is watching him carefully to become what he wants. Fukuda asks Rikuo about his chances with Shinako. That came out from nowhere. But Rikuo didn’t expect this because Fukuda mentions he will be getting married soon and wants him as his wedding photographer. Have you see Rikuo with such big shocking eyes? So Rikuo seeks advice from his boss and to a certain extent, Haru. Wedding came and went. Nothing extraordinary. One day, Shinako notices Rou getting taller. She never looked at him properly, huh? Then the white of his arm starts to invoke memories of Yuu. She tries to leave but is that a tear in her eye? Rou catches her only to see her crying. She admits how his arm looks exactly like Yuu’s. She tries to brush off she is okay but he hugs her and claims he is the only one who knows how important Yuu is too him. He was part of their lives. So Rou is now going to take Yuu’s place? Poor Shinako so confused so she goes to talk to Rikuo. That guy again, huh? So it’s about Rou, huh? Oh. That kid again, huh? The best option now is to avoid seeing Rou but Shinako has to come to terms that she may no longer see him as a childhood friend. This has Shinako start thinking that she has not been thinking about the feelings of Rou and Rikuo. All she was seeing was Yuu. An excuse to run away and not come up with answers. Hence her dilemma of waiting but also fearing she would end up alone. Can she move on or not? Since it is awkward talking outside her place, she invites him in. So finally Rikuo scores?

Episode 8
Never refuse a good offer. But right before she lets him in, she decides she has changed her mind! Oh well. Okay then. Nothing much ado. So both sides talk out to their friends who are just flabbergasted at this incredulous weirdness. So Morita (Shinako’s teacher colleague and friend) just tells her to go date him. I mean, she almost invited him into her home just to talk about things so that’s a start. Apparently Shinako still not ready and we all know she’s trying to come up with some excuse not to go ahead with it and continue to delay. Both haven’t seen each other ever since as they focus on their work. Haru and Shinako patron the convenience store a few times and don’t see Rikuo on his shifts. Could it be he has quitted? Fate has Rikuo and Shinako stumble into each other again. Awkward. He updates her he has quit his convenience store job and is now hired full time in his photography work. It made him realize he loves the camera so he decided to go further with it. Shinako is happy for him. Yeah, they dodged the ‘important’ subject so as they leave, they now rue they missed that chance. Sighs. Is it so hard? Apparently it is for them. And then it’s time for Rikuo to meet with Haru. He updates her too. Then he tells her that since he will be working late more often, he doesn’t want her to just wait for him. Is he trying to hint something? Though, Haru says she still enjoys doing so on her own free will. So don’t mind me. Yeah. Awkward.

Episode 9
Rou returns. He feels bad what he did to Shinako that night. He apologizes. A little awkward so Shinako assures that their status quo relationship will never fall apart because she loves him and his father (family wise) and doesn’t want it all ruined. Meanwhile Haru is feeling conflicted. With Rikuo no longer working at the convenience store, she has no reason to conveniently see him. Then there’s the thought of being rejected by him as well as Shinako’s thoughts on him. Frustrating indeed. Yeah, and it’s showing and written all over her face. I’m sure Kyouko can give some advice but ultimately it is her who must decide. Rikuo reminisces over the old photos during their college days. Shinako happens to come by and she too was reminiscing the same thing. He tries to change the subject since this is getting awkward about the Christmas party Fukuda is organizing. Too bad she can’t come as she is busy cooking for Rou as his exams are coming up. So while he walks her home, Haru comes by his place. Not in. Oh dear. Don’t get depressed again… When Rikuo returns, he knows Haru is here because that damn single crow feather on the ground. Woah. Rikuo’s colleague got rejected by his girlfriend. So he gives him a mini present he is supposed to give to her. For a fee?! Rikuo thinks of giving it to Fukuda for his wife since he can’t bring it himself to give it to Shinako. Okay, at least she doesn’t mind. Shinako remembers Rou used to draw a portrait of her but hasn’t done so since Yuu’s death. So he picks up his pencil and starts sketching her. Because she is quite tense, he tries to joke around. Apparently she didn’t find striking a sexy pose to be funny. So goodnight. Bye. Since it’s too early to go home, I guess she goes to Rikuo’s place. But since he is at Fukuda’s home, here’s your surprise Shinako appearance!

Extra 9: Haru delivers to a group of college students. With the stress of the exam, they’re elated to see her especially in a Santa outfit. When she returns to Milk Hall, she sees Kuma waiting outside. He is one of those college students but wasn’t he supposed to have gone back to his hometown? Noticing he is staring longingly at Kyouko, Haru understands what is going on and invites him in.

Episode 10
With Shinako joining in, Fukuda and his wife try to hook them up. Meanwhile Haru returns to Milk Hall and Kuma just left. Kyouko is being noticeably clumsy and spacing out. Not sure about what his family problems has got to do with her but I guess it’s to dispense some adult advice to Haru. After Rikuo walks Shinako home, he gives her that present. She likes this necklace gift but Rikuo can’t be a liar so he tells the truth about the present. He thought she would be disappointed but she laughs. It’s just Rikuo being Rikuo. Since both aren’t going back for the New Year, she suggests hanging out together. Rikuo goes home and sees Haru sitting outside his doorstep. Been waiting long? I guess so because she gives him a good hug. I wonder how much of this recharged her. Anyway he invites her in, they talk about things. Nothing really interesting. Nothing. I know he tells her to stop doing this but I don’t think she’s the kind to listen. We all should know by now. Then more Rikuo and Shinako pondering. He finally calls her. Hey. Have anything to do now? The usual hanging out for the day. Then she invites him to her place. Nothing much happens. Nothing. The most dramatic thing that ever happens is Rikuo spilling his coffee. I know he is nervous but I don’t even know how he could even spill it. Shinako cleans up. He wants to leave. Can’t take the tension? Some talk. A bit awkward. Not sure if she’s trying to imply Rikuo is not and not aggressive because of Haru. Huh? But Shinako hinting despite she still has feelings for a certain person long time ago, there could be that same feelings for a certain someone now. She wants to move on even if she has to take it slowly. And with that, Rikuo hugs her. Slow hug. Then the stare. Then his hand on her cheek. And then he calls it a night and goes home. Damn, that tension killed us! They really wanted to take this real slow, huh?! When Rikuo returns, he receives a distress call.

Episode 11
It seems someone broke into Haru’s place. She is a bit in shock and since it is too dark, the police can only investigate tomorrow morning. I guess we all know Rikuo’s behaviour by now so it’s no surprise that Haru takes advantage of his kindness of not letting a scared girl to sleep all by herself. Yes, he’ll be staying over. But don’t worry. Nothing much happens. They have dinner and WTF he is thinking about telling her about Shinako?! Thank goodness he chickens out because boy, it could’ve been real unnecessary sh*t drama. On another day, Rikuo is at Shinako’s place. A call from Rou about something but nothing pressing. Noting something amiss, he thinks somebody is at her place but she lies that there isn’t anyone. So Rikuo has to go home early. So the next time she makes it up is by visiting his place. As she is about to leave, Rikuo tries to kiss her?! WOAH! Too fast! TOO FAST!!! Luckily or not, Shinako isn’t prepared yet. Meanwhile Haru thinks of surprise visit Rikuo. And then of course the drama that we’ve all been expecting, Haru sees them both together. What’s the meaning of this? WTF, Shinako hiding behind Rikuo?! Could she not make it any more obvious?! Haru realizes what this means. Is it time for the knives to come out? Not really. After those tears, she just goes away. One night as Shinako is walking with Rou, he talks about moving closer to her since it would be a pain for her to come so far to cook for him. She sounds surprised that he expects her to cook for him all the time so Rou gets disappointed that she is doing this out of responsibility. The next time Shinako and Rikuo meet, Shinako is clearly stressed over their current relationship. They can’t keep it a secret forever so the next time she helps Rou move, she’ll tell him about them. But that won’t happen because Rou spots them outside her place and wants to know what the f*ck is going on between them. Finally the other much needed drama…

Episode 12
Since Shinako cannot answer, Rou gets the idea and leaves. Shinako goes after him and apologizes for not telling him because it might upset him and that she valued their relationship. Rou of course has to tell her that what is important to him is her happiness. Their relationship goes more than that. He admits his mistake of not noticing this. Shinako is now sad as she thinks back of their times together, yeah, maybe she ruined it. And not forgetting Haru, we see her depression continuing. It’s going to get lonelier from now. Rikuo and Shinako meet on another day. They talk things out. He says he can’t confess to her because of their awkward situation. So is he asking her to choose between him and Rou? Oh damn. Now she’s starting to cry! Actually, she regretted not taking a look at Rou despite being with him for so long. And yeah, there’s the case of Haru too. It’s pretty confusing. They’re crying, they’re laughing. Feel better? Eventually they realize they are similar to each other and kept worrying about what others thought. In the end, Shinako hopes he’ll be friends with her. Is this a rejection? Next we see Rikuo taking the bus. Now he has to deal with Haru as he thinks of the scenarios and thinks he needs to say to her. I can understand his anxiety… Could’ve been the greatest missed-each-other moment as Haru is about to alight the bus that Rikuo has gotten off. Finally something useful her pet crow does. Cawing away so noisily so she won’t get on. But now she has to face Rikuo. First thing she did? Punch him in the gut! OMG. You trying to kill your chances?! As they talk, he tells her that Shinako dumped him. You might think Haru would feel happy hearing this (in a way she does), but she is also mad because she is under impression that since he has been dumped, he is now going for his backup girl? So after some awkward ‘explanation’ by Rikuo why their relationship didn’t work out because they were just confused, basically he is saying that he loves her. The words Haru wanted but did not expect to hear. So happy that she kisses him! I think the bus didn’t stop and just drove by to let them be! So Haru is the winner, right? Being greedy, she wants him to redo his confession! In the aftermath, we see Rou’s friends celebrating at his place to congratulate him for living on his own. Shinako is at the door so a female friend answers it. See Shinako’s shocked face upon seeing a hot chick. Better dispel the misunderstanding. Haru is happy Kyouko is getting engaged and hopes Rikuo would one day propose to her too. But for now, their silly lives go on.

Extra 12: We hear Rikuo narrating his personal views on relationship, his passion for the camera and the change that he needed badly but was afraid to take. So after all the overthinking and silly actions he took, he finally realized he hurt the one he loved. He might make the same mistakes again but hopes she will accept him. So… This is a confession letter to Haru?! Unfortunately it isn’t perfect and wants him to redo it again! How many times has it been already?! Yeah, Haru complaining, his first part was all about Shinako and excuses. Nothing about their future, damn it! Oh dear, why do I have a feeling she just delayed him popping the question…

Baby, Baby, Feels Like Maybe, Things Will Be All Right…
Yesterday/ Love was such an easy game to play/ Now I need a place to hide away/ Oh, I believe in yesterday… Gosh… Sighs… Oh… Did the whole series just waste our time with this nothing burger? Okay, okay. In the end Rikuo decided to go with Haru because he also admitted he likes girls who treats him nice. I mean, which guy wouldn’t?! But it still feels really weird that Rikuo went with Haru in the end because from the way things played out, it’s like telling us Haru was the backup plan all along. But whatever. At least somebody got together which is still much better than nobody gets together and everybody ends up being depressed as f*ck. So yeah. Congratulations. You did, Rikuo! You did it, Haru! Hooray! In the event if this fails, I hope that Rikuo doesn’t fall back on his other unofficial backup girl. You know? Chika! Oh sh*t! She’s his ex, baby! What are the chances of exes getting back together?! Great cliché recipe for more romance drama. Lest they’re singing that Taylor Swift’s hit we’re so never ever getting back together again, I don’t think I want to open another can of worms with this twisted possibility!

Unless you are into this kind of romance drama, and I mean really love this kind of genre, you’re going to find this boring and draggy. I can’t believe that I actually sat there for a dozen episodes and watch this thing. In actual fact, it was so boring and draggy that I caught myself being distracted by other stuffs happening in real life! Oh, is that the water boiling right now? Yup, it is. Oh, is that some mad racer idiot hitting the metal to the pedal, shattering the peacefulness of the neighbourhood? Yes, it is. Did somebody just WhatsApp me? Nope. Just some stupid SMS spam. Oh look at the time. I can’t believe I’m still watching anime this late although I do this every weekend. Ah yes, I am. So yeah, there could be a big possibility that I may not understand correctly what is going on because of me being distracted far too often and only forcing myself to focus out of ‘responsibility’. Heh. Hey. I decided to check this out so I have to see it till the end.

Initially before I started watching this, I was a bit confused to how many episodes there was to this series. They said that there were going to be 6 additional episodes that will only be specially streamed on a certain website. So from what I understand, there will be extra 6 full length episodes after the series ended. But those episodes never came and there were only 6 shorts that lasted about 2 minutes. So these extra shorts were the extra episodes?! Even more so they aren’t continuous and are scattered randomly over the season (at least the first 4 were continuous). Wow. How misleading. I wonder if the actual real episodes got cancelled so we have to settle for these shorts acting as its substitutes. So while the extra shorts may not bring much to the table but it gives some sense of additional info to what happened in that episode or the next. Not to say that they are important or unimportant but it gives a sense of completion so it is best to watch them too after you’ve watched that episode.

Anyway, back to the boring plot. I’m not really a veteran in this kind of genre but I have my fair share of having watching such romance drama because I can’t be watching slapstick comedies and ecchi animes all the time, right?! The drama is prolonged mainly because of Rikuo’s indecisiveness. He can’t really decide now and he just let things happen and flow as it is. The drama is further prolonged by the fact that Shinako is in love with a dead man. So yeah. There is your draggy romance drama with lots of awkward moments in between until they decide to ramp that up with the usual ingredient of third party members getting involved. So that’s mainly Haru and Rou’s role, right? Because you do know how boring and draggy this series is with Rikuo and Shinako maintaining their distance and status quo until finally they decide to move on forward a little. That’s when the much needed love triangle or quadruple drama starts to go up a notch. I mean, can’t be doing this charade forever, right? Somebody has got to give in. Somebody has got to lose. And they would’ve actually gotten away and forward with their relationship had it not been for those meddling kids! Yeah. Those darn meddling kids made them put the brakes on their relationship and revert it to friendzone. Oh well. Easy come, easy go.

Also, the characters are nothing special and just ordinarily clichéd. Like Rikuo. We were already told he accepted his bleak future from the synopsis. So he doesn’t do much. But because of his kind nature, he can’t really say no and that’s why he is partly responsible for this boring mess that dragged out the drama until that ‘boiling point’ (if I can call that mild dramatic showdown as such). Using the excuse of Shinako’s first rejection to just mope around and do nothing until Shinako has her own set of problems to deal with. Yeah, another cliché character who cannot move on because of her love for a dead guy. Yes, this cliché trope of a girl can’t move on because she’s still in love with a deceased guy goes all the way back to Maison Ikkoku’s Kyoko. Oh yeah. We old folks sure remember that one. Brings back the nostalgic memories, doesn’t it? So with Rikuo’s second rejection from her, I guess this time he could handle it much better, huh? I hope it is not because this time he knew he had Haru as his backup…

Also, being in such cliché fashion means Shinako doesn’t have to face whatever problems she needs to face and can use this as an excuse to avoid them. Say, love. So it’s like she can stay currently like yesterday? I can see how this title came about now. It really took a long time for her to finally try to get over him. I know it then gives rise to cliché romance conflicts but that is what moving forward is all about. She can only get stronger if she gets through this. And yeah, both of them seem to be better at opening up their emotions for each other but at the cost of us watching their draggy drama. So, uhm, persistence and perseverance pays off? Because normally after the first rejection, normal common sense has it that the people would just avoid and never see each other again. But yet these 2 continue to meet and hang out. Odd, right? Like as though the rejection was just a joke and never actually happened.

Then there is Haru and Rou to add to that conflict but so far nothing much has happened. Haru started off as quite a lively girl who is at her own pace. I mean, not many people can have a crow as a pet, right? What a disappointment the crow was nothing to crow about. Pretty forgettable and not even series mascot material. Despite firing those friendly warning shots and challenge to Shinako about competing over Rikuo (not that Shinako officially agreed to it anyway), I feel that Haru has been digging her own grave ever since. I mean, if she really wanted to make Rikuo hers, she would have been more aggressive in pursuing her love interest rather than being this meek. Like as though she is satisfied with playing this game forever. I mean, perhaps Haru doesn’t want to be as pushy and aggressive so as to turn off Rikuo (yeah, who knows if that pussy will reject her if she acts so) and hence this long draggy affair of visiting him and the likes. But nothing much happens. Seriously. Then slowly we see her feeling more insecure and then bam! Hard hitting reality hurts when she prematurely realizes Rikuo has chosen Shinako over her. Somewhat. After all, Shinako holds a lot of disadvantage over Haru. I mean, she is his college crush. That already gave Shinako a handicapped head start in this draggy love game! So you’ve only got yourself to blame for acting more like an annoying friend who loves to play come over than anything more than that. And didn’t Haru have her own household problems as well? I guess that wasn’t important. Oh well. She came from behind and took the win so that’s that. I wonder asking Rikuo to redo his confession is some sort of punishment for the heartbreak she had to go through… As for Rou, we need that cliché character who needs to break out from his brother’s shadow. Yes, childhood friend trope. Because of their relationship, it is hard for Rou and Shinako to break down that barrier and look at each other differently as a man and woman. What are the chances going in that direction? Not in this anime at least.

So boring and draggy that they had to introduce Minato and Chika midway just for a slight change in pace. I mean, what the heck is their single episode appearance for other than that? Just to settle some unsettled feelings in their heart for their old flame before moving on with their life, never to be heard again. Speaking of which, I guess these characters are better than the main ones because they eventually decided to move on instead of dragging this out. Heh. Rikuo not such a loser after all since he dated Chika. I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE THIS! I suppose this series doesn’t have enough episodes or they’ll do one for Kyouko and Kuma also. Uh huh. That short drama that ended without even starting felt like a red herring. It might be me just overthinking but thankfully it didn’t start because oh boy, I don’t know if I can stomach another draggy romance that amounts to nothing. So I’m assuming Kyouko got proposed by him that we didn’t even see. But I figure it wouldn’t f*cking shock us to suddenly see Kyouko wearing an engagement ring at the end and we at least have a pretty good idea whom it came from. I had to pick Kinoshita as the ‘best character’ because he just loves watching the drama unfold but Rikuo. But ever since they quit their convenience store jobs and now he is on a rock band tour, oh well, it was good while it lasted.

The art and animation is quite simplistic. They’re quite plain and basic. Nothing to crow about either. Because of the ‘realism’ of this romance drama, I guess the colours and hues too are at the mundane and boring tone. Sometimes the backgrounds look like sketches and there are certain instances they used real and still pictures. Not too bad, really. Character design, Rikuo and Shinako look pretty plain. While Haru’s hairstyle resembles crow wings but I guess the most eyebrow raising one is Rou who has a safety pin as his earring. A SAFETY PIN!!! WTF???!!! Is this art?! No wonder Shinako unconsciously still treats him like a little baby brother. HAHAHA!!! Side note: Should have more Haru in maid outfit! Shockingly, I couldn’t have guessed (not that I could anyway) that this series is done by Doga Kobo. F*cking Doga Kobo! The anime studio that specializes in animating cute girls doing cute things genre like New Game, YuruYuri, Himouto! Umaru-chan, Mikakunin De Shinkoukei, Sansha Sanyou, Koisuru Asteroid, Gabriel Dropout, Watashi Ni Tenshi Ga Maiorita, Uchi No Maid Ga Uzasugiru, GJ-Bu, Anima Yell, Hidan No Aria AA, Hina Logi: From Luck & Logic and Houkago Teibou Nisshi. Okay, okay. So they’ve done a few other animes not in this category but I still can’t believe it’s by them since it lacks that kawaii anime girl cuteness trademark anywhere.

Voice acting feels pretty standard. This is a romance drama after all and that’s all there is to expect. So yeah, partly it was Kana Hanazawa as Shinako that motivated me to watch this series. She’s pretty okay and within expected range but nothing extraordinary. Other recognizable seiyuus include Natsuki Hanae as Rou, Eri Kitamura as Chika and Tatsuhisa Suzuki as Kinoshita. Again, just pretty okay and nothing extraordinary. Yume Miyamoto as Haru (Hitomi in Murenase! Seton Gakuen) being the liveliest character sounded okay at first until she start getting depressed and losing out, it wasn’t the same Haru anymore. The other casts are Chikahiro Kobayashi as Rikuo (Sugimoto in Golden Kamuy), Maaya Sakamoto as Kyouko (Ciel in Kuroshitsuji), Takuma Terashima as Fukuda (Shiroe in Log Horizon) and Yuuki Ono as Minato (Isami in Shokugeki No Souma).

I think I know why this series is a little draggy. It has no opening song! Hah. Just a stupid theory of mine. But anyway, this is a very rare full length series without an opener I guess because they need to really drag the drama out. Heh. Just another dumb theory. But it has 3 ending songs to compensate for it. The first one being Kaga No Naka Ni Tori by Yourness. Your typical slow sappy ballad that fits this series like a glove. But I have to admit that it isn’t all that bad. They should have maintained this one instead of replacing it halfway with Aoibashi by Sayuri. This one just sounds pretty generic. Not sure if they copied High Score Girl since the ending credits animation is like an arcade video game. Weird Invaders knockoff with Haru and her crow buddy shooting UFOs. But still ultimately lose and game over because she can’t get to Rikuo who went off with Shinako. Oh damn. Is that a foreshadowing?! My personal favourite is the final one, which is the same name as the title of this series. Sung by Agehasprings featuring Tanabata, this song reeks retro pop style with cool acoustic strumming. My only gripe is that the lyrics keep spamming the title’s name in its chorus. Like a broken tape recorder. Also, the ending credits animation here has the character designs in better and higher quality since it is drawn in a slightly different shade. Maybe the series wouldn’t have been such a bore had they used this art style instead.

Overall, this series is definitely not for everyone. You have to really love this romance genre to appreciate and enjoy every second of it. I won’t go so far as to say this is the worst and most boring show of the season or the year because this series is what it is in actuality. Maybe I haven’t experienced such a crossroad in my life so I can’t really relate to the problems here. Yeah, watching many of such animes doesn’t qualify me either. It’s so much different in real life. But anyway, I can’t blame you if you feel frustrated at the actions of these characters because most of them usually amounts to nothing much ado and the much needed conflict needed in such genres don’t happen to often until the very end. I know showdowns and confrontations over love interests are so cliché and common but that’s the essential ingredient in such genres. Hence turning this simple anime into a really boring one. Sighs. I’m just going to chill myself and move on by singing yesterday once more…

Every sha-la-la-la/ Every wo-o-wo-o, still shines/ Every shing-a-ling-a-ling, that they’re starting to sing, so fine/ When they get to the part/ Where he’s breaking her heart/ It can really make me cry, just like before/ It’s yesterday once more…

Solty Rei

It’s one of those dystopian futures where human civilization is once again divided by class, wealth and the likes. And there’s this bounty hunter thingy too. Uh huh. People being such bad boys and bad girls in the future that they need to have a bounty on their head instead of an arrest warrant. So yeah, Solty Rei has been on my low radar watch list for quite a while but I never got into watching it until recently. Yeah. You’ve guessed it by now. Corona virus. So anyway, we’ve got the titular character who is an amnesiac robot (I guess she’s too advanced to have a reset button) who is somewhat being hunted by the authorities. And also, she somewhat gets adopted by a tough cookie macho bounty hunter and they start playing family. Weird. Maybe now I remember that’s why I kept procrastinating watching this…

Episode 1
Bruce Willis Roy Revant is a hunter but he doesn’t play by the rules. He hunts down Dale Boyd but even if the criminal tries to pull a fast one, he still doesn’t kill him. Just beat him to a pulp. Meanwhile Silvia Ban and Celica Yayoi are hunting down a target but they underestimate her strength and get owned while she got away. Miranda Maverick to do a commercial video to boost their image. Her daughter, Kasha is the director?! Sorry to cut your shoot short but Roy is here to claim his reward for Dale and replenish his supplies. Kasha scolds him about not being too reckless that will affect their image but he doesn’t give a damn. A short story shows his daughter, Rita was killed in some Aurora incident. Since her body was not found, he thinks she is still alive and has continued to search for her for the last 10 years. Out in the streets, Dale’s partner shoots him in the leg just to get revenge. Luckily, a Resemble girl falls on him and ruins his mechanic arm so he is forced to retreat. Roy brings her back to his place just to stay for the night but once her gone by morning. Well, she keeps following wherever he goes. Then as they talk about the topic on family, looks like Dale and his partner are back to give Roy nightmares. Yeah, they stole some giant mecha just to kill him! Roy saves Resemble girl despite being injured so she returns the favour by fighting the mecha. Damn she so much stronger than it! One punch girl! Sends it flying into the sky. Apparently you can’t fly too high or else the Aurora thingy will zap you to nothingness. Yup, what those guys deserve. Roy answers her question about family. He has a wife who died from an illness since she had a weak body to begin with. He also has a daughter named Rita. Yeah. That’s his family.

Episode 2
A narration of that tragedy 12 years ago caused by some Aurora thingy that killed many called Blast Fall. Miranda escapes an assassination attempt and because of that, Roy agrees to be her bodyguard because the cops don’t give a f*ck. Luckily they live in the same apartment. Roy thought somebody broke into his place but it turns out to be that Resemble girl. Miranda and Kasha meet her for the first time and you bet they take a liking for her. Not Roy, though. Shopping for her clothes > own life so they do just that. Why even ask a man for his opinion on clothes? Even if Roy nonchalantly picked the lamest outfit, Resemble girl loves it. During lunch, another assassination attempt but this time Resemble girl is able to protect Kasha. Before Roy can act, Resemble girl sensed the culprit has escaped. Complaining to the cops again, Kasha blows her top at their lackadaisical attitude. Then here comes Silvia and Integra Martel from RUC to take over the investigation. Immediately they arrest Resemble girl for being an industrial spy. They even show proof that was deduced by their computer. 89% match proof, huh? Roy doesn’t even defend her until they get rough in taking her away. When they get rough on Roy, she wants to fight back but Roy won’t allow it. Suddenly there is a fire alarm. Everyone is to evacuate. When a cop comes in to escort them, Resemble girl recognizes him as the assassin and easily pins him down. Gee, how stupid he is to wear an ID tag that tells he is from a rival hunter’s office. RUC babes get confirmation from HQ that their match was wrong! WTF?! So just abandon mission? But still, they point out Resemble girl is an unregistered civilian and if nobody will take her in, she’ll have to be sent to the custody bureau. Why everyone looking at Roy?! Will he have a change of heart? Well, no f*cks were given because he says he doesn’t intend to take care of her! Sad day. Next day as the custody bureau take her away, Roy sees a sad Miranda and Kasha. So somehow he tells those custodians to hold up. Change of mind. What a happy ending. Though Roy maintains it will be Miranda who will take care of her. Whatever. They need to name her. Why everyone looking at Roy?! Looking around quickly… Aha! Solty! Lame name but Solty it is!

Episode 3
Solty now more stubborn, huh? Still hanging out in Roy’s place? Looks like the bureau has registered Roy as Solty’s foster parent. Oh boy. She is also to head to the hospital for a physical check-up. Similarly, Roy has a job at that hospital too. The hospital director needs him to protect some suitcase that he will bring tomorrow for some exchange. No need to know what’s inside. Just guard it. Suspicious… Roy spots a couple of suspicious people entering the power room. Turns out to be the famous thieves Larry and Andy Anderson. They manage to hold Roy at gunpoint and it seems their job is to turn off the main power just for a second. As the hospital has backup generator, it won’t affect the patients. Meanwhile, Yuto K. Steele is examining Solty and is amazed with her Resemble stats. He wants to examine her more and increases the power output. I can’t believe this is what causes the hospital to get an outage! This commotion leaves the Anderson brothers confused. Roy takes advantage but he gets shot in the arm and the brothers got away. The director scolds Roy for being useless and will employ more hunters tomorrow. Next day as escort mission begins, we see the Anderson brothers making fun of the other useless hunters and easily taking the suitcase. Only Roy is left. Solty helps out as she steals the suitcase. The director’s assistant throws away her disguise. She is actually Rose, the foster sister of the Anderson brothers. She steals the suitcase from Solty. A stupid hunter wants revenge but misses his bazooka and shoots the sign. Gonna fall on Roy… Nothing like Solty to power up and destroy it. The Anderson brothers then destroys the suitcase and its contents revealed to be insulin. This is their intention as they reveal the director’s goal to sell it on the black market. The Andersons leave so Roy apprehends the director for violating drug laws. Roy so happened to be at the centre and got Solty her ID card. Gee, I wonder why. Miranda introduces their new tenant: Yuto! Damn, he really wants to examine Solty more but Roy beats him up for being a pervert. Nobody touches his daughter!

Episode 4
Yuto explains how some people lost limbs during Blast Fall. Hence mechanical parts called Resemble are made as substitution. However one is still human despite being attached with Resemble parts unlike Solty who is 100% manmade. I guess because she is so human-like, she can’t be considered a robot? Because that’s racist? Anyway, Solty is out on her usual walk and meets a lost girl, Meryl. They become friends as Solty accompanies her home. Wow. Solty making her first friend? Damn, is Roy going to be happy or sad when he hears about it? In his usual grumpy mood, Solty thought of saying I love you to him as what Meryl taught her. Well, he got freaked out that he ran all the way to Miranda’s room! Freaky indeed. Meanwhile, RUC is hunting down a criminal, Jack McQuinn. However he gives them the slip. These RUC babes has got to do better than this. They grow up so fast because now Solty wants to hang out with Meryl! Hope Roy doesn’t have empty nest syndrome. When Solty goes to buy stuffs, Meryl happen to bump into McQuinn. He kidnaps her but is trapped underground. RUC cannot make a move since he has a hostage. Solty returns and her super ability allows her to track what happened to Meryl. She busts in to save her but McQuinn manages to zap her power out. But it is when he is going to make some desperate move on Meryl, Solty reawakens and so Super Saiyan that the lightbulb pops! Solty doesn’t bat an eyelid to tell him how much she hates this guy. Then she punches through his guts! OMG! That should kill him… Sadly, in the aftermath, Meryl is distraught over what she saw. Don’t want to be friends anymore with this monster, eh? Solty also feels sad. Meryl was her first friend… Ah well. There’s always Roy to comfort her. There’s nobody else like daddy.

Episode 5
Pool episode! Roy and the usual gang are here to relax. But what’s this? Rose is also here? She’s bugging them?! WTF she doesn’t want to be ignored but she’s here to tell them to not get in her way?! Yeah, Roy doesn’t give a f*ck. Apparently she had a failed heist of some emerald at a museum. But why the f*ck did she hide it a pepper container at this pool park?! Of course Rose has to hide from the RUC babes who are also here vacationing. Rose realizes she picked the wrong container and it’s the container at the RUC babes’ table! Then Solty hears the sad story of why she stole the emerald. It is worth millions and could help those unregistered people living underground. You bet Solty is going to confront those RUC babes and demand the emerald be given to her! And then it begins one of the wildest, craziest and most dumbfounding game of catch and pass. Yeah, I didn’t know a little emerald is so bouncy as it changes hands throughout. Roy doesn’t give a damn and tries to ignore everything. That’s the spirit… Somehow it ended up in some circus show and the girls do some awesome acrobatic trapeze?! Eventually Rose had to save Solty from being electrocuted and sacrifice the gem that has been electrocuted to pieces. So this is how it breaks? Solty is sad but Rose says she was partly lying about those underground people. They’re living happily. Ah yes. Fun’s over. Time to go home. Rose invites Solty to join her thievery gang if she ever gets so fed up of that old dude. Maybe next time. Oh Silvia. Still a sore loser trying to catch Rose…

Episode 6
Before Shingeki No Kyojin had a wall, this series also had one! But it’s to separate Competenters (registered citizens who have access to everything) and Incompetenters (unregistered citizens with no access to anything). As Roy is about to take up the next job, he receives a call that his daughter has been found! This leads him to a house in the countryside. However this blind wheelchair ridden girl, Rita is not his daughter. She just happened to be given that surname. Turns out she was one of those kids who lost her parents during the Blast Fall. Kids like her were sent to the orphanage and such Newlight orphans have easier access to become registered citizens. Luckily she has the help of her uncle, Vincent who helps her from time to time. Say, isn’t he the guy whom Roy is supposed to arrest on his next mission? Turns out Vincent is actually Rita’s real father. He can’t say it to her or anybody because of fear her citizenship will be revoked. He has committed some crime stealing P10 crystals to pay off for her surgery. He’ll do anything to let his daughter get her sight back. Sob story allows Vincent to escape? Vincent then sees Kelly Jones who is the middle man for Rita’s surgery. He promises to take care of everything. Roy gets more info about Vincent from Miranda. He saves Yuto from a sniper shot. He is hospitalized but okay. Solty defies Roy to go help Vincent?! Roy wants to arrest him but Solty protects Vincent?! Has Solty become disobedient?! Roy doesn’t think Rita will like this if he resorts to crime but Vincent is adamant to do anything for Rita. Suddenly Kelly shoots Vincent! Looks like he used this guy to steal the crystals so he can sell it off himself. He will kill them and frame them too. Solty mad. No P10 crystal bombs can blow her apart! Roy had to use the last P10 crystal Vincent gave him for Rita, to use on the baddies. Otherwise how the heck can they get out alive with them having unlimited ammo? Damn, Solty so sad Vincent is dead, don’t tell me she has resurrection powers now???!!! In the aftermath, Roy sees Rita and laments Vincent has gone missing but has left him in charge to proceed with details on her surgery. Rita is sad but accepts that proposal. Turns out Vincent is still alive and has turned himself in. It is his bounty that will be used for Rita’s surgery. Oh well. Happy ending? Roy and Solty find Rose in their place. She’s going to stay here from now?!

Episode 7
Apparently the cops busted their hideout so she got separated by her brothers and nowhere to go. Damn, she’s already making this place as her home and ignoring Roy! Yeah, make Solty your lackey while you’re at it. Roy doesn’t give a f*ck and wants her gone when he comes back. But throughout the day, Roy bumps into bad luck. More bad luck when he comes home since Rose has made his room hers and remodelled it! She ordered lots of furniture too! Get out! Roy still wants her out so Rose suggest playing a game of chess. She lost. He got his room back but it’s a ploy so she can stay in Solty’s room. As part of the bigger plan, Rose is actually planning to hijack a shipment of antibodies for the unregistered citizens. First, she tricks Solty to do a midnight run just to measure her physical abilities. I know Solty is dumb and the streets are dead. But does she have to run that hard till the road is damaged?! Roy talks to Rose and despite he has not taken up this job to protect the shipment, he warns her about involving Solty. Not like she’s going to listen right? And then Solty just runs… I know she gets distracted by Roy looking for her but WTF she crashes into a shipment hard?! With one down, Rose is able to hijack to other one easily. She and her brothers manage to take the antibody. Roy looks pretty mad and scolds them. Gee, Rose feeling bad now? And then like as if nothing happens, he just tells Solty to go home. Yeah, better listen to him. Daddy’s mad. See you.

Episode 8
Rose still living at Roy’s place and bugging Solty to be a thief! Of course Roy will not allow that and you bet Solty is going to be a good girl not to defy Roy. It seems Rose really intended to make Solty part of their gang but because Roy is their enemy, Larry gave her 3 days to do it or they forget about Solty. If Roy isn’t willing to listen to Rose, what’s this about Kasha coming in with tears and pleading that Rose is not a bad person?! Oh… She got bribed with a huge diamond ring… So close… With Rose making no headway, she stumbles into an RUC guy, Ashley Lynx. WTF Rose getting mad at him despite she is the one who almost fell for his cheesy charms?! Anyway, Rose gets back to her futile persuasion and she is desperate enough to pull a gun on Roy in public!!! Wow. Nobody cares. And then it’s like Rose saw somebody she knew in the crowd who is supposed to be dead but apparently not. But because she got traumatized, she just stood there and complained he got away???!!! If she had just sprinted and went after him… With Rose taking things into her own hands, I guess Roy has to do something too. Rose’s dumb persuasion has left clues where her brothers’ whereabouts. So from the awesome public camera, he wants to know if they recognize any of the guys in the photo that they might recognize. Well, what do you know? It’s John Kimberlin! Still alive, huh? Apparently 8 years ago, this dude killed Rose’s best friend and family before her eyes. Police didn’t do much because he is unregistered and he also killed only unregistered citizens. It would be bad if Rose and Kimberlin meet… You don’t say because somehow she finds him. Of course this dude has killed so many people he can’t remember. Rose tries to fight him but loses. Cue for Solty to come to her rescue. Yeah, I don’t even know how they found out where Rose is. Because they hear Rose’s sob story of because of this traumatic past the reason she steals for unregistered civilians (the law doesn’t protect them anyway), Roy gives Solty the permission to look for Kimberlin. And she owns him properly. Rose is moments away from running over his head with her bike. Now, can’t be a murderer like him, eh? Despite Kimberlin screaming for his life. All she can do is just scream. Feel better? In the aftermath, I guess Roy allows Rose to stay at his place for a while till the trauma subsides. Larry and Roy think they can trust each other for jobs like this. After leaving, Larry kills Kimberlin.

Episode 9
I guess Rose is bored. She wants to hang out with Solty but she is busy trying to improve her cooking. Yeah, later on Solty will make a mess out of the kitchen, turning it into some battlefield so much so she has to call Miranda for help. So Rose even tries Yuto?! Too bad he is busy obsessing with his programming whatever. Aha. What about Ashley? Still at his usual spot. So this girl isn’t shy to ask him for a date?! Ashley agrees to take her out seeing this is much better than slacking on his job. Hence Kasha and Silvia see this and become very curious to know what is going to happen. Yes, they’re going to play detective and tail them. Because it’s just pathetic to see them tailing on foot (Ashley and Rose got into a car), Integra helps out by giving them a lift. It is only then Kasha remembers they are from RUC and it would be bad if they find out about Rose. She tries to give excuses but Integra takes this as a challenge and now becomes a demon driver. Then they spy on the ‘couple’ having a fancy dinner restaurant. Of course the RUC duo realize it is Ashley, one of the high ranking members of RUC. Damn, Rose not used to eating in such restaurant that she fumbles with the utensils?! Not very high class, huh? The tailing stops when Ashley takes Rose to a private place only accessible for those with VIP status. Oh well, use your imaginations. Turns out it is a place he booked that has a great scenery of the city. Meanwhile, Roy visits the grave of his late wife, Sara. Solty goes out shopping and bumps into Accela Warrick (of RUC). Accela remembers Solty but the latter not so. She helps her out since she has trouble doing her errands. Once Rose’s date ends, she hopes that they can do this again. So is she really in love or just want free lunch? Anyway, Rose calls out Kasha in hiding and has known she was spying on them from the start. Silvia and Integra has left and the former so frustrated of not knowing what happened that she made Integra drive dangerously! Look out! Solty’s cooking has levelled up that it reminds Roy of Sara’s cooking! Of course he can’t admit it. Just decent. But Solty happy anyway.

Episode 10
Solty and Rose are trapped in some abandoned underground city or something like that. You see, together with Roy when they cornered their target, the ground suddenly gave way. The ladies along with the criminal got swallowed and Roy can’t follow because the rubbles caved in and are blocking the hole. But don’t worry. Resemble Rescue Team (RRT) is here to save the day. Well, if they can work fast enough. You can tell Roy is so f*cking worried by the cups of coffee he had. And Kasha keep bugging the men to work faster?! Let them do their job! Of course we see Solty and Rose okay. But they have to find their way out. I don’t know, isn’t it just odd there are some jewellery lying around? No wonder Rose wants to take her time. And it’s mind boggling too that there are some electronics working. Isn’t this whole area abandoned? Anyway, more drama to add to the tension when RRT pulls out the criminal’s dead corpse. Then they find Rose’s bloodied gun. Time to fear the worse? Then a second quake causes the building to collapse so RRT and everyone else must evacuate. At this rate, the search and rescue is impossible. Roy not happy. So how? Now it’s time for the Anderson brothers to shine. The reason why they pop up so late is because they managed to get the blueprint for this underground area. I don’t know how they did but everything screams plot convenience. They pinpoint some point that has a large ventilation unit underneath. More plot convenience as Andy uses his hacking skills to detect fire underneath! Oh no! Like as though the electronics just want us to know what is necessary. WTF access denied?! Everyone worries how to break through the thick steal but to cut this long drama short, Solty bursts out like nothing! She is carrying unconscious Rose who might have inhaled too much of the smoke. But thank goodness she is alright. Wow. What a relief. Everybody can go home now.

Episode 11
Solty is quite chirpy today because she plans to do a surprise birthday bash for Roy. Before you can scream this is another filler episode, this is where it starts to get grim. The RUC girls are investigating an RUC facility that has been destroyed by an explosion. Yeah, blood everywhere! Worse, there’s a bomb right now and it has just gone off! Meanwhile Roy sees Larry for some really classified info that might contain details about his daughter. Suddenly a mini robot goes up to them and starts to explode! That won’t be enough to take them out, right? The telephone rings. Who could it be? Roy recognizes this man as Ho Chuu. Looks like he escaped from prison and is going to play a game with him. He means business as he delivered a bomb package to Solty and planted one in Andy’s car. Boom! Don’t lose hope because my guts tell me they’ll be alright. Heck, we see the RUC girls recuperating in hospital. Their injuries not so grave. They have did some investigation on this Ho guy and you bet they’re going to track him down. Roy and Larry are distracted when Ho plants a bomb on an innocent man and on a kid’s toy. Both must disarm them or else. Gee, nobody around gives a f*ck. Oddly, Ho giving them instructions on how to disarm it?! Where’s the challenge?! Even more mind boggling how can Ho’s voice be heard from the phone receiver?! THE PHONE HANDSET! So they panic when he didn’t give the last clue? Then turns out there was no bomb at all. Yeah, he really played them. Roy returns home to find Solty and co safe. She threw the bomb out upon Miranda’s instruction. Roy then hears Solty hum a familiar song. Rose taught her. Well, isn’t that the song his late wife used to sing to his daughter? Roy then receives a disc. The video shows Ho has captured Rose and wants him to come alone to a certain building.

Episode 12
Roy remembers his wife often sings this song to Rita so as to put her to bed. So you bet Roy is going to be a hero and rescue Rose alone. Macho men don’t need help, right? Meanwhile Andy tells Larry about some report he got pertaining to the Blast Fall. Some girls experienced some genetic change and it could be that Rose could be Roy’s daughter. Hence Larry tells Roy about this but this doesn’t come as a surprise to him. So I guess it’s all for convenience because this phenomenon is still unexplained as Larry further elaborates Rose isn’t actually blood related to them and their parents brought her home one day. She lost her memories and couldn’t talk and that’s why they just call her Rose. Proof that Rose is Rita when Larry shows the clothes Rose wore the first them she was brought back. Exactly Rita’s clothes. Wow. Still in good condition? So I suppose no other girls were wearing them then, huh? Now we hear Ho’s reason for doing this. Apparently Roy used police brutality to shoot and damage his right arm. He believes Roy was frustrated over his missing daughter and took it out on him. So his goal isn’t to kill him but to torture him and make him feel that fear of which he will never recover from. Roy enters the area and has to dodge all the bomb traps Ho set. The explosions aren’t enough to seriously wound him but the pain is there. WTF Solty thinks she wants to help so she stubbornly enters the area and sets off traps herself! Finally Roy enters a room where Rose is being held. As Ho tells him, there are pressure plates that would set off bombs around. But there is a timed bomb under her that has to be diffused. He has a choice to save her or go up the next level where Ho is. Obviously Roy braves the bombs to go rescue Rose. Ironically Rose who was complaining she wasn’t part of this now feels sympathy for Roy and wants him to save her later? Meanwhile Larry confronts Ho and wants him to disarm everything. Since he won’t, Larry is about to kill him but Integra intervenes. She wants to arrest this man. I don’t know how but Larry was faster to shoot Ho before he could pull a fast one. Ho can’t die because his entire body is Resemble. But Larry shoots him off the building and the fall killed him?! Strange. Roy gives up?! There is no way to disarm this so he resigns to fate he can at least be with her? This is where Solty comes in to rescue them as the bomb goes off. When Rose is told the truth, she throws a tantrum she can’t accept it because does this mean her life as Rose is fake? Of course not, right? And because Roy doesn’t say a word, poor Rose so confused that she starts crying. Damn, Solty too?! Enough drama for today.

Episode 13
Things are really awkward between Rose and Roy. She’s the daughter he has been looking for but Rose is not ready to accept that. Even as she talks to Larry about it, he is fine if she chooses to stay with Roy or return to them as thieves. Since she chooses the latter, he reminds her initial mission of staying at Roy’s place. This means trying to convince Solty to join them as thieves. However Solty continues to reject and even tells off Rose for being too selfish. Instead of moping around, I guess the girls gather to discuss about doing something for Roy’s birthday. Oh right. That’s still on the cards, right? Rose still finds it unacceptable and leaves. But she goes to buy a watch for Roy’s birthday? She thinks about things and comes to realize that she is still she so there’s nothing to actually worry about. Roy then receives a distress call from Yuto. It seems his fellow researcher, Jeremy Kolbel plans to rebel against RUC with a dangerous experiment of tapping a new energy source. As RUC controls energy, water and politics, researchers must submit their projects to RUC for review. Jeremy plans to break that stranglehold with this new energy in the sky. However doing that may cause a similar event like Blast Fall. Roy and Solty rush to the scene. Coincidentally, Rose is passing by so she has something very important to say to Roy. She acknowledges that she is his daughter. However not as Rita but as Rose. Roy is happy and doesn’t care if she leaves or becomes a thief. All that matters is that she lives. Well, that settles it, right? Too bad that becomes a death flag because Jeremy has activated the experiment and Solty is too late to stop her. The explosion causes the building to collapse. After Roy and Solty pick themselves up, they see Rose crushed underneath the rubble. Father’s agony round 2.

Episode 14
Roy and Solty are at the morgue to identify Rose’s body! OMG. Those are her stuffs… Could it be?! Say it isn’t so?! Oh damn, Roy’s scream means… And now we see everyone gathered at Rose’s grave!!! OMFG!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE SHE ACTUALLY DIED!!! Oh sh*t. I guess history repeating itself again because now Roy has sunk into depression. This time much worse. Yeah, had to watch his daughter die the second time! So Roy being depressed is also affecting everyone around him. Yeah, everything so gloomy! Are they going to drag this out for the rest of the episode?! And then on the news that Jeremy who was in coma has now awakened. Roy becomes angry that this is her fault. Oh sh*t. Am I thinking he is gonna do what I think he is going to do?! He marches down to the hospital and poor Jeremy… Well, the nurse finds her cowering and apologizing. I guess Roy hasn’t sunk that low yet. On the way back, Miranda and Solty try to help Roy but this guy just snaps. He crosses the line calling Solty a mechanical doll. Oh dear. Now Solty’s hurt. F*ck. Things are getting gloomier. While crying in the park, Accela spots her and takes her back to her own home. She treats her nice until Solty breaks down and is ready to tell her problems of being hated by a certain ‘dad’. Looks like she’ll be crashing at Accela’s place for a while. More Roy depression. I don’t think alcohol can even solve this! Oh, more Solty depression too. Man, what a depressing and draggy episode.

Episode 15
Damn, how far did Solty walk? Because she’s in the middle of the American desert! No wonder she collapses. Meanwhile Yuto is trying hard to find Solty’s whereabouts whereas Roy has turned into a living zombie. When Solty wakes up, she finds herself in the home of Joseph. Despite his kindness, Solty remains closed in her heart. As she tries to leave, she bumps into Will. This young lad was the one who picked her up when she was out. Will then shows her his airplane he made. He also has her help her test flight this thing. But after lifting off, the plane breaks apart! Poor Solty. She got traumatized seeing Will’s lifeless body. Although it was just a prank, I guess he went too far because Solty faints again. When she wakes up, Will thought of cooking for her as apology and also to cheer her up. Too bad his cooking sucks. Solty offers to cook and you bet her dishes are 100 times way better than his. Will thinks that if she has no place to return, she can stay here. Forever. Because Solty continues not to smile, this has Will pester her to tell her story. Eventually the cat is out of the bag so Will tries to stay positive that being a mechanical doll isn’t so bad. I mean, humans will eventually die and they get injured easily. Even if she doesn’t like the way she is now, she can just change, right? It seems that Will is also suffering from some sickness. Yeah, coughing blood. Must be serious. Meanwhile Yuto has receive news of people spotting Solty’s whereabouts. Miranda talks to Roy about this but this guy doesn’t want to do anything. Don’t want to lose another daughter. Miranda has had it with this slob so she punches him and tells him off that he isn’t the only victim. And also remember all the times Solty was with him. Now you gonna do something? On another test flight, this time it is successful as Will treats Solty to the beautiful aerial view of the desert. But fate says time’s up so Will coughs up one big bad mother blood ball and crashes the plane. Solty survives but what about Will?

Episode 16
Will’s dead. Solty’s at his grave. Oh sh*t! That escalated quickly! Not another death! Joseph explains that Will was a victim of Blast Fall. At that time, Resemble technology was relatively new. Due to shortage of parts, Will was fitted with inferior ones. By the time he discovered it, it was already too late. He wandered here and Joseph let him stay because of his position as a bystander who just watches and will not say or tell others anything. After all, Will knows his days are numbered so why not live the rest of his life with a smile? So Solty is going to carry on Will’s will (pun not intended) by recreating his plane? With that brute force and assuming an easy manual, it’s going to be a piece of cake for Solty. Meanwhile, Roy has finally realized (after that ‘painful’ punch from Miranda) that he needs to go look for Solty. He cleans himself up and gets going his investigation. Better late than never. We see Joseph reminiscing his past. He was part of RUC and Ashley was most likely his partner. However he gave everything up unlike Ashely who continued to pursue his goal of trying to reach the heavens. Solty finally finishes the plane and with lots of memories of Will (including one of him confessing he loves her), the plane takes off. What great convenience because here is the ghost of Will to come talk to her! Yeah, she too confesses she loves him. Or at least half of it. Or just joking? Because Solty still feels she can’t smile yet, Will suggests she throws away everything. She still doubts she can but no easy answer from Will. Because here is sunrise and ghosts don’t stay around in the day, right? Yeah. Solty starts crying. Can’t blame her. She’s too confused. In the end, she decides to leave this place but will not forget everything. She’ll shoulder everything. Ashley summons his RUC girls and introduces them to their new superior: ROSE????!!!!

Episode 17
Silvia reminds Ashley that she is a thief but like he said, he doesn’t care about backgrounds. Because Rose showed potential, that is why he hired her. So on the first day, Rose seems pretty lax in her duties and this doesn’t sit well with Silvia. Then they go intercept some terrorist hideout. Only because of Rose’s brazen actions (that could’ve put the RUC girls in danger too) that they manage to apprehend the criminals. Roy must be a lucky man to ask the right people that leads him to Joseph. So where’s Solty? You just missed her. She returned home. Yeah, they really missed each other since she is back but Roy is not in. So she goes to say hi to the others and they’re so happy she’s back. Kasha and Yuto fighting over Solty. Since when she is their property? Of course Kasha has more ‘privileges’ so she technically wins and takes Solty to bathe. Solty confuses her because she admits she has someone she loves. Silvia is not too pleased that Ashley is paying more attention to Rose. So she challenges her to a mock duel in which if Silvia wins, she’ll take over her post. At first Silvia seems to be winning. This is only because Rose hasn’t got used to her suit. When she does, she turns the tables and defeats Silvia. She tries to stay positive about her loss but on the inside it hurts like hell. Next day, Accela cannot access certain rooms. She is being told she has been taken off the programme. And soon, Celica is shocked that she has received a notice that she has been fired for insubordination. Silvia confronts Rose about this but the latter is unaware. Better ask Ashely directly. Silvia does that despite Accela’s advice not to. So Silvia talks about they’ve all trust him with all their heart, blah, blah, blah. Ashley being the smooth talker manages to touch her heart by speaking sweet words like he knows about her feelings. And when her guard is down, he tells her despite all that, what he needs are perfect subordinates. Then he kills her!!! OMFG!!! Perfect timing for her comrades to enter and witness this. Ashley then tells them that they too are not needed. Only Rose will be allowed to exist.

Episode 18
Roy returns. Happy to see Solty back? I guess. A bit awkward. A bit of apology. Then they’re back to normal. Meanwhile we see Rose being the strict RUC b*tch because she has the cops arrest a child for stealing. I know stealing is wrong but isn’t this a bit overboard? Even the fruits seller feels bad. Integra, Celica and Accela are on the run and hiding. Their plan is to get an alibi to prove their innocence. Flashback shows after Silvia was killed, Celica went berserk. The trio then escaped. As Accela hacks into RUC’s log to find evidence, Celica goes to buy all the weapons she can get. Trying to start a war? So this is where all her pay went? News of the RUC trio is wanted for murder as footage shows how they shot and killed Silvia. Definitely fake footage but it’s so well done. Integra rues that she should’ve done something ever since the day Rose died. Weird things have been happening ever since. In fact, it was Integra who saved Rose from being crushed by the rubble. Andy and Larry try to find Roy but he is out for a job. So they tell the rest about the rumours that Rose is alive and working for RUC. RUC soldiers hunt down the trio so they run and got separated. Celica is of course going guns blazing with her new toys. Feeling good, huh? Rose is then called in to stop Celica. On the rooftop as they face off, Rose tries to tell Celica to stop it but the latter can’t trust her anymore. I don’t think Rose was shouting so why did Solty pick her up her voice? Does she have super hearing? I know Roy’s job was nearby but really? After Rose shoots off Celica, Roy and Solty couldn’t believe their eyes Rose is standing before them. Uh oh. This feels weird.

Episode 19
I guess with Roy in shock, Rose has no time to talk as she picks up Celica’s body and leaves. I hope Roy doesn’t have another round of depression because it’ll be so annoying. Ashley takes Rose to a secret room underneath RUC. Too dark to see but I guess this Yorishiro is some huge thingy that Ashley is putting his faith on to make their dreams come true. Luckily for Accela who is wasting herself in the alley, had not Solty pass by and pick her up, she could’ve rotted there. Thanks to that, Accela probably knows where Integra is hiding and has Yuto and Andy to get her. With everyone assembled at Roy’s place, they need info from Integra and Accela of Ashley’s plan. However they don’t know anything and it is them who needs info to clear their name. So I guess the plan now is to ask Rose herself at RUC. And for now, everybody staying here? Wow. Roy’s place is sure one big slumber party. Sure RUC won’t find the fugitives here? More drama to ramp up as Kasha reminisces about Silvia as well as a video from Celica for Integra and Accela that really makes it sound like her last words to them. Yeah, Accela can’t stop crying. What luck for Roy because as he waits at RUC base, he spots Rose passing by. He tries to harass her for answers but she is in no talking mood and reminds him that he told her she can do anything as long as she’s alive. Remember that? Ashley cuts them off and talks to Roy privately. Of course he can’t just give Rose to Roy like that even if he is his daughter. Father’s knows best that Rose will never choose a man like him. At least both are honest to admit they hate each other. Such gentlemanliness. Of course Ashley warns him that if he talks more than he should, those around him might suffer. It seems Joseph can’t remain a bystander anymore. He makes his move. Just in time before the RUC storm and turn his place upside down. He sends a message to Roy’s phone. Integra somewhat recognizes this voice. That man who was against Ashley in some children experiment. Yeah, still remember him. By the time she picks up the phone, too late. 12 years is a long time but Ashley is going to come get Illumina. Who?!

Episode 20
Miranda now goes to see Rose. So Rose is more open to her? But they can’t talk for long as Rose passes a secret warning to her that her entire gang is being monitored. Is this Roy’s fault? Even if there are RUC personnel watching over Roy’s place, Larry suggests they continue living life as normal to avoid suspicions that they are hiding Integra and Accela. However they notice Integra missing and it is deduced she went to find Joseph. More mind boggling, Integra intercepts the package Joseph sent for Roy. How can the postal service just give Integra a package that doesn’t belong without proper identification! Our trust in the post has eroded… Anyway, this leads her to an abandoned facility and now she clearly remembers she and the other kids were experimented on here. Meanwhile as Solty is out on errands, she stumbles into Ashley who identify her as Dike. Miranda and Kasha subsequently are shocked to find Solty’s body in the garbage dump! Is she dead? Is there a reset button?! Too bad Yuto is away so who’s going to fix her? Ah, how convenient Joseph is here. Due to lack of spare parts, he can’t fix her properly here. At this point Joseph is the only observant one because he realizes Accela is gone. You mean the rest didn’t notice???!!! I think she went back to their former secret base. She thinks Integra is plotting something and something indeed. As she doesn’t want Accela involved, she knocks her out. When Roy and co find Accela, time for Joseph to shed some light because he knows these girls. He was part of the team that modified their bodies. Such kids who underwent such experiments are known as Proceeds. Nanomachines were injected into their bodies so when they grow up, they’ll have enhanced abilities. But as this is very risky, they have to be constantly monitored and maintained. He also reveals the Aurora Shell, a thin layer that holds the atmosphere for this planet is starting to thin out. This planet normally had no atmosphere and the original humans migrated here! Integra crashes into RUC’s base. Gee, no guards can stop her? She stumbles into the secret room but Ashley is waiting for her. From what he says, looks like he is the one who caused the Blast Fall. So he is trying to leave this planet with this vessel? Integra fights him for revenge but too bad she passes her limit and then freezes. Ashley won’t kill her yet and will use her to bait Accela.

Episode 21
RUC men trying to sneak in and apprehend Roy and co. But they do it so obvious and that’s why Roy can see them and take action. Dumb guys. Yeah, they checked everywhere but apparently they didn’t check the underground in which they fled to. So we’ve got some history lessons from Joseph. Although schools do teach children that people settled here are migrants, they are never further taught why. When migrants first settled here, the atmosphere was unstable. Over time when it stabilized, humans began to move out and abandoned this place that is now a place for unregistered civilians. In fact this underground is where the landing craft is located. Because Solty is built from the same technology, hence Joseph knows she can get repaired here. Gee, everything still in good working order?! Joseph further elaborates on the truth (at the same time, Ashley also telling this to Rose) that the source controlling the city is a super computer known as Eunomia. Brought over by the migrants, its job is to supervise humans and supply all water and electricity. But as the population grew, Eunomia found it harder to supervise and hence it created RUC. Wait. A computer can’t handle humans and created an organization?! And what is this using human’s superiority complex to oppress the unregistered civilians?! I don’t get it! Unknown to everyone, all those with Resemble parts are unconsciously linked to Eunomia.

But how does Ashley know? He is the last original migrant and an agent of Eunomia. That was 200 years ago! Ashley also had a hand in creating the citizen registration system. Regretting that, he now wants to destroy Eunomia because he doesn’t want humans to rely on it. However this would mean stopping the supply and causing many others to suffer. Roy still doesn’t understand how Rose is connected to all this. Accela thinks she knows why. Because Rose is now part of the programme that she was in. A programme to use the inherent Proceed skills to link it with a computer. Now Rose enters a pod created by Ashley that is not linked to Eunomia in any way to try and hack into the system. At the same time, Solty wakes up but she has no memories as Solty. First thing she did is to warn everyone to get out. Because Eunomia is trying to take action as it mind controls those with Resemble parts to become mindless zombies and kill everybody?! Yeah, just shoot off those Resemble parts! But our heroes can’t be doing this forever and the only other way is to enter RUC base and destroy the transmitter. That is where Accela comes in. Gee, no guards this time to stop them? Infiltrating RUC is so easy. Accela is at her limit and probably she might die the further she plugs herself to the system. However revenge is greater on her mind. Then it’s like she got possessed by Eunomia so she turns into some crazed killer as she pilots the giant Hilga from RUC base and fires a devastating blast! HAHAHA!!! Die everybody!

Episode 22
Previously, Roy and co needed a plan rather than barging blindly into RUC. That’s when Accela suggested she could become the decoy. Since it’s too dangerous for a young girl to be a decoy herself (more like they don’t trust her?), Solty volunteers to go with her. When they reach RUC’s base, Accela tricked Solty and went off on her own to pilot Hilga. She is going to avenge her buddies’ death by killing everybody?! Cue evil maniacal laughter. The whole place is in chaos with Resembles now turning into zombies to stop our heroes. Because Miranda is so badass with her guns, Kasha also wants to have some fun and fires a net bazooka?! It worked?! Roy and the brothers barge into RUC, fighting wave after wave of Resemble zombies trying to reach the centre. Apparently the thing Joseph sent to Roy was some key that allows him to bypass RUC’s main system and shut down Eunomia. That easy, huh? More drama as Larry gets injured and stays back to keep those pests away and let his brother and Roy move forward. When Solty who somehow can fly now tries to stop Accela, she fails and is saved by Rose. When Rose tries to attack Accela, Solty stops her. So it’s like a 3 way fight now? So we hear Rose’s reason of joining Ashley and RUC because of some whatever ideals. It’s not the perfect route but it’s certainly the best. Whatever. I just don’t care. Of course Solty calls her out on this because if it’s really that ideal, why is she crying? More twisted kawaii girl logic so that Solty’s simplicity of wanting everyone to be happy together like they used to will look like the best ideal after all. You know it is when Rose cries f*cking hard. Accela almost too. But the best is that she lost her murder intent. But guess what? Hilga forces her to set coordinates to fire. Despite Accela trying to cancel the command, the robot’s like saying f*ck you I’m going to just shoot it myself! And with that, Hilga explodes from all the beams?! WTF???!!! WHO MADE THIS STUPID TECHNOLOGY???!!! Everyone can breathe easy when all the Resemble zombies drop dead. Looks like Roy manage to insert the key in time (I felt pulling the plug would’ve been the better solution-cum-joke!). But it’s not over because they have to face off with Ashley. He is grateful to Joseph for having a tool to stop Eunomia. So grateful he wants to kill that dude.

Episode 23
Accela still lives. So they just bring her out and put her on the ground? I guess going to defeat Ashley is more pressing. Flashback shows Ashley and Illumina as lovers. As Ashley was chosen to be the leader of the first engineers to create home on this new planet, he promised to come back to her after his work is done. But one day he lost contact with her ship and then an accident almost killed him but was revived by Eunomia and fitted with Resemble parts, hence becoming the first Resemble and also ageless. His goal is always to return to the skies and 12 years ago he somewhat managed to disable Eunomia to achieve that dream. Of course it went wrong and hence Blast Fall. Once again almost at death’s door, Eunomia once again saved him and more of his body replaced with Resemble parts. Roy tries to fight off Ashley but here comes Solty and Rose. I take it that Rose resigns from RUC. WTF did they come here just to embarrass Roy by calling him papa? Even Ashley can’t stand this lame comedy so he is going to put up a better show. He captures the girls and forces Roy to kill one of them. Obviously Roy shoots Ashley. Wrong choice. Now Ashley controls him to either shoot Solty or Rose. What’s it going to be? Roy pulls out the other gun and shoots off his hand! Ashley stabs through Roy. Thankfully not enough to kill him. Conveniently, the key malfunctions so Eunomia is back as it tries to control Ashley. Ashley tries to fight back but Eunomia kills him. But leaves him alive enough to say his last words. He knows that all those up there waiting for him are dead. But what can he do? He just wanted to return. He believes Roy is the same for him. Remember that feeling of despair when he lost his daughter? Yeah, it took 12 years for Roy but 200 years for Ashley. Roy admits he was once like that but now he has changed thanks to the people around him. Ashley should have too as he got Silvia and co but I guess he was blinded by his ambitions. And what do you know? Solty has a final message from Illumina to him before she died! And so he hears Illumina’s confession she loves him, blah, blah, blah. With that, Ashley dies in peace. Best part, Solty shuts down Eunomia who is her other part. Damn, Solty is God!!! In the aftermath, RUC helps in the reconstruction of the city. Eunomia isn’t completely shut down as it is kept running enough to facilitate water and electricity. Joseph and Yuto putting their expertise to help assist this. Man, there are lots of servers hooking up to Eunomia! As Solty communicates with Eunomia, it seems she learns a disaster is about to befall on the city. Some spaceship is going to destroy the city?!

Episode 24
So this spaceship, Helen is going to crash into the city to obliterate all humans?! Can’t it just blast away the city with its lasers?! Even dumber when Joseph explains Helen is 1 of the 3 super computers like Eunomia who is supposed to guide humanity. And you’ve guessed the other: Solty FKA Dike. Hence Solty will fly up tomorrow to stop Helen. Gee, how kind of Helen to give a single day of reprieve. Yeah, everybody now evacuating underground. Wouldn’t that cram up the place? Couldn’t they just go to other places over the planet? It’s not like Helen is bigger or even half the size of the planet, right? More mind boggling, Solty has dinner with her family?! Last supper? I can understand why Roy isn’t having any appetite. And what’s this Miranda talks about planning a birthday party for Solty?! I can understand why Kasha isn’t too happy and is complaining-cum-crying she doesn’t want Solty to die. Man, I wonder if those tears add seasoning to her soup! And of course we have Roy and Miranda talking about how Solty has suddenly become part of the family. Next day, RUC has finished preparing the ship to launch Solty into space. Gee, can’t Solty fly? Or is this ship immune to Aurora Shell? Everybody says their goodbye and of course Roy being the last one, suddenly he changes his mind. Please don’t go. Stay here. If Solty dies, everyone also dies. But if Solty saves the die, the debris will kill everyone. So it’s the same. Let’s go have fun! As sad this scene is, I can’t help feel cringe. Damn, Roy even playing the parent card to listen to him! Solty of course still has to go because protecting everyone makes her happy. Yeah, here are some real tears as appreciation for calling her his daughter. And off she goes.

Upon reaching space, Helen instantly shoots Solty! Okay, so just her ship destroyed. Damn Helen has like unlimited missiles and lasers to try and take down Solty but of course you know she misses. See what I mean when I said Helen should’ve blasted the city instead of just falling?! Anyway, Helen thinks Solty has gone crazy like Eunomia, the reason she is attacking her. It is revealed that Helen was also the one causing Blast Fall 12 years ago as she shot down Ashley trying to escape. Also, over a year ago when they sensed Eunomia might be going crazy, Solty went down to investigate. Solty disagrees with Helen’s thinking that people are data (the reason she collects it in hopes of recreating AKA cloning them in the future). Time to end this so Solty breaks into the core and goes full Super Saiyan to take out Helen, which is also part of her. Parts of Helen fall onto the planet like shooting stars. Thank goodness it all missed the city, eh? Fast forward 5 years later, Rose and Kasha are now grown up. With Roy and Miranda, they patiently wait for Solty’s return. After all, Roy waited 12 years for his daughter so what is a mere 5 years for now, right? Fast forward many years later. Not sure if Aurora Shell got disabled or nobody thought of it until now because Yuto and Roy are up in space to look for Solty among the debris. Yeah, daughter taking too long so papa going to come bring her back. He finds her among the wreckage in suspended animation because of the familiar song but HOW CAN THERE BE SOUND IN SPACE????!!!! Anyway, the moment he hugs her, she comes back to life!!! OMFG! It’s a miracle. Should have just done this earlier and they could’ve waited forever… Anyway, welcome back, Solty.

Special 1
Taking place when Rose just moved into Roy’s place, it’s Appreciation Day whereby you decorate your home like Christmas and appreciate anybody you can think of! Sighs. Is this the best holiday they can come up on this planet? Miranda, Kasha and Solty are visited by a hunter named Amu Tranfa. She is here to ask Kasha if she is happy. Little brat jokingly claims she is not. So after Amu leaves, Miranda feels sad but of course Kasha reveals it was just a joke. So it’s trendy to say that as a kid? Meanwhile Roy meets a customer. Because she looks like Sara, I guess he can’t say no about helping her out with some family matters regarding her daughter. Also, Rose seeks Solty’s help as she has brought back a girl who has problems with her mom and they need to help her. Later, a lawyer comes knocking on Miranda’s door looking for Kasha. Because of Amu’s report that she isn’t happy here, a lawyer is hired to help put her in a better family. You see, Kasha and Miranda aren’t blood related. Kasha’s biological mother was an unregistered civilian and she can’t stay in the family and was casted away. Mom died. Then dad died. Recently her grandparents also died. Hence her father’s brother remembered about their forgotten child and thought of adopting her. Instantly Kasha shoots down this offer. She has never seen those people before so there is no chance she’ll accept this! Get out! Woah. You go, Kasha! Miranda so happy she’s crying fake tears? So Rose and Solty are trying to get the Anderson brothers to pretend to be the daughter’s boyfriend just to prove to mom that she is independent? I guess Yuto isn’t her type and Larry is too hot that she might fall for him for real (is that a bad thing?!) so she settles for Andy. Is that an insult? And you’ve guessed it, the Sara lookalike is also planning to have Roy act as her boyfriend just to prove to her daughter she is okay. So when both parties meet, you bet it’s going to get crazy. Weird acting, bad acting, slip ups that almost give away their lies… Damn, this is just hilarious. No wonder Yuto is enjoying this. Then Solty starts crying?! Daughter thinks Roy is only playing on mom’s feelings and will dump her as she also accidentally reveals the pretend game she is with Andy. In the end, mother and daughter end up arguing but they realize they only want each other to be happy. And just like that this silly episode is resolved. Yeah, no wonder Roy and co head back looking so tired. And confused Solty posting a what-is-happiness question to a befuddled Miranda. But who’s at the door now looking for Kasha? Silvia and Celica?

Special 2
Apparently Celica is the adopted daughter of the couple who wants to adopt Kasha. According to the law, a couple can only have 1 adopted unregistered citizen, which was Celica. Because of that, they couldn’t adopt her right away. Now Kasha has acquired her citizenship and that law doesn’t apply. Kasha still cannot accept this because even if Celica is doing this to make her parents happy, are they not considering Kasha’s feelings too? Talk is over. Kasha still says no. As Kasha ponders deep about it, Celica falls into depression. Silvia tells the rest so their only way is to throw her a party to cheer her up. Solty asks Rose about the meaning of happiness. It’s money! Well, she’s realistic but Solty isn’t impressed. Not the answer she’s looking for. But a more pressing issue: They see Roy again on a date with that mom?! Her daughter dating Larry now?! What’s going on? While Rose tails Roy, Solty is forced to accompany Kasha. OMFG. She has Solty break into her uncle’s place! That’s private property damage and trespassing, WTF???!!! Such a big mansion and no security? Oh well, Celica’s home. Yeah, it rendered that break in useless. Anyway, Celica talks about Kasha’s real father and will always welcome her here. Kasha doesn’t want it and leaves, promising she’ll never be back here again. So this loli was just putting up a brave front and she’s beating up herself because she felt happy about that?! What’s wrong with that?! Busy day for Solty as now Rose pulls her in to spy on Roy. When they talk about remarriage, that is when Solty pops up to oppose! The gig’s up. Even more protest by the daughter. Yeah, everybody was spying?! The adults clear the air that they were just consulting each other to buy gifts for their kids. You know, it’s Appreciation Day, right? Kasha comes home crying but luckily there’s Miranda for her. Yeah, more Miranda-Kasha moments to hit the feels if all that sappy drama wasn’t enough. Everyone enjoys their Appreciation Day. Solty and Rose got wristwatches from Roy. Yeah, pretty proud of himself, huh? Solty now thinks she knows the meaning of happiness and tries to scream out loud she loves everybody! How embarrassing.

Salty Rei-tard FKA Dickhead…
Well, at this point I don’t even know how I am supposed to feel. Definitely this isn’t a good anime because of the weird and dumb stuffs that I have come across watching it. But at the same time this isn’t entirely bad anime. And not because this is retro anime from 2005. Sure, it has some good points but mostly bad points. So that’s why I can’t really say it is one of those animes that would end up as the top 10 worst animes I have seen in my life. Anyway, the ending of the TV series was just freaking weird. They wanted to give some sort of bittersweet happy ending with Roy reuniting with Solty (in space!) and that is ultimate proof that Roy has wholesomely accepted Solty as his (other) daughter. Or even if Solty failed and the entire world gets decimated, everyone can still reunite in heaven, right?! Either way it’s a win-win in terms of reunion, right?! Why can’t sci-fi stories not have heaven and the after-life???!!!

Anyway, let me begin with the story and while it tries to be sound edgy like Blade Runner and those dated Hollywood sci-fi movies, that’s as far as it goes. Everything else feels like it didn’t live up to that standard. Maybe I’m just imposing that standard but I was hoping it was at least close to it even if this is last decade’s material. But I have to be fair too and also if you wonder if some of the stories and plots feel awkward, weird and half baked, it is because this anime is actually an original one and not based off any manga. There was a spinoff manga shortly after the TV aired but it is not directly related to this anime. It feels like some of the stuffs aren’t properly thought out and was just simply written on the go for plot convenience. And some felt like it didn’t make sense or inconsistence or rather it raises more questions than answers when you think deeply about it. For instance Ashley being the last original member. He created RUC and you mean nobody actually got curious this guy has been in this organization since its inception?! Do they have no history or records of its past leaders? And they make it sound like Joseph was there too about 200 years ago with Ashley because it’s like as though he knows this guy in and out and his plans but actually It’s not. So it’s pretty confusing if you don’t have enough info and start wondering if Joseph is as old as Ashley or he’s like Roy’s age.

The initial episodes feel very much like standalone filler episodes. Some are borderline silly (like the obligatory pool amusement episode) while others are just dumbfounding silly (like the bomb diffusing game episode) and a few that are absolutely utter nonsense (that Rose hijacking antibodies episode) and my guess that such episodes are to showcase and bond Roy’s relationship with Solty. I mean, this pesky Resemble girl kept following Roy around and so we need some time to see them do things together so that in the end, we can all accept that they are father and daughter in the end (or along the way) without a doubt. So while bits and pieces of the mystery is peppered throughout the series, it isn’t only until after Rose’s fake death that the series ramps it up as it reaches the finish line. And that’s why also in these later parts towards the end I find that some of the stuffs are just weird.

Like I said, like as though they were just winging it and trying to give us the answer to the biggest mystery and possible the most shocking revelation of it all. I mean, I have to admit that I didn’t guess Solty is one of the 3 super computers (good retard acting led me to believe otherwise) but when this revelation was revealed, I wasn’t surprised at all. After all, I knew Solty had some sort of secret but never gave much thought to it even as the series reaches its final episodes. Oh, Solty is like Eunomia and Helen? Pretty convenient for a super computer to lose its memories and not have a backup or reboot function!!! And the way Helen wanted to destroy the city? That really killed it for me. I didn’t mind if they really ended the series with the whole planet being wiped out. Stupid humans I understand but stupid super computers too? Oh well, AI is only as smart as the humans who programmed them. And they try to sound all too futuristic with terms like Competenters (say it 10 times fast!) and Incompetenters (are you trying to test my tongue twisting skills?)! and Newlight (what’s this again?) but I guess they don’t stick well in the head and we mostly reverted back to our simple barbaric descriptions of them.

And talking about being futuristic and all, I guess it still makes me laugh when I see landline phones all over the place! OMFG! Fixed landline phones!!! Oh dear. That’s so futuristic we can get back in 2005! Yeah, nobody could tell the advent of Smartphones like we use to have now! We’ve got holographic monitors and screens, robots and robotic parts but still this important line of communication is still as ancient as ever. So that’s why nowadays when I see such retro shows that is set in the future, if they have this landline phone, I’m really going to be flabbergasted. Hey, at least I didn’t see any diskette or floppy disks anywhere. Just to be fair, probably Roy has some lovely sweet memories of his wife and that’s why he still has that ancient vinyl record player back home.

Oh, what can I say about the characters. Pretty much meh and nothing really special. Especially Solty as the titular and leading character, for her to be a retard for a big part of the series, I’m guessing they made her in such a way so that with all the experiences she went through with the rest of the other characters, it could help in showcasing her ‘growth’ and understanding about human beings. I don’t know. I just find main characters who are this retard to be annoying rather than cute. She’s no Naruto or Luffy and it’s even more so she possesses menacing brute strength while her mind is that of a retarded child. On a personal level, I didn’t like her character very much. But who am I to judge a computer, right? As for Roy, to show us that he isn’t some tough cookie hard boiled guy, he puts up with all the shenanigans the characters have to offer because it’s just Roy being Roy. To some guys, I guess this is what manliness is all about. He sounds like he doesn’t care but he does. He acts like he doesn’t care but he does. After all, this is the image of Roy we have and as much as I hate to admit it, this version of Roy is the one I ‘prefer’ the most. See Roy when he smiles (after accepting Rose as his daughter)? THAT’S JUST F*CKING HELL OF A CREEPY! It’s like this old dude has got a pervy rape face!!! Serious! And the time Roy becomes depressed because Rose is dead? Just f*cking annoying. I don’t know. My guts tell me it’s to help build his character. You know, main characters have to somewhat go through this trial of being at their lowest point so they could find and pick themselves up and return changed and with a bang.

Remember what I said about the story and plot being written on the go and not thought out properly? Perhaps it is just to throw us off the course because a very good example is the part of Rose being Roy’s actual daughter. So while it is good Roy never gave up hope looking for his missing daughter, the revelation of Rose being his real actual daughter is like a curveball hitting us in the crotch! And the excuse they gave to justify this is the unknown alteration of DNAs???!!! WTF THIS LAZY WRITING???!!! That’s why we can never guess at first that Rose is Rita. Doesn’t look like her. Doesn’t sound like her. And perhaps doesn’t act like her (behaviour thingy may change over the years but whatever). Definitely it isn’t her. F*ck, for all you know she could be the reincarnation of Britney Spears Thank heavens it’s not. Then, surprise motherf*cker! Rose is Rita! I AM YOUR DAUGHTER!

And how convenient the Anderson brothers kept her original belongings!!! Wow. Such good brothers. Hey, I thought Roy saw her daughter disintegrated during Blast Fall?! That’s why he is led to believe she is somewhat dead but not, right?! Really confusing. Because Blast Fall happened so fast and mysteriously, the producers can use this as an excuse to cover up whatever inconsistent sh*t they have for the series. Yeah, it killed a lot of people, lots of people went missing, changed lots of people. Be prepared for some twisted revelation and the culprit is Blast Fall! Sheesh. Yeah, Blast Fall really had families ‘relocated’, huh? People adopting lost children. Bet they could do the same for those unregistered ones… So good for Roy since he has 2 daughters now! Thank goodness they bring Rose back to life because it will be just a bummer if she actually stayed dead. Somehow I feel like singing “Rose, Rose I love you with an aching heart. What is your future, now we have to part” for Roy then… So yeah, Rose being the spunky self, then the clichéd pseudo death before temporarily returning as RUC’s b*tch because this is the best way to achieve her dreams of equality before being talked down and changing her mind by Solty, you do what you want if it makes you happy, girl.

The other supporting characters also feel pretty meh. Miranda and Kasha feel like they needed to add more feminine touch to the group because Roy is so tough cookie that having retarded Solty won’t seem like it can do the job. Not like they do anything important either. So they had to link Roy and Miranda’s dead spouses who are best friends with each other, the only reason why they have this good friendly relationship and staying in the same place. There’s your Blast Fall culprit again. Because Roy is such a loyal lover boy to Sara, thoughts of never remarrying Miranda never cropped up in his mind. Same case for Miranda. At this point, aren’t they all just one big happy family even if they’re not related by blood? Yeah, what is happiness anyway? And yeah, Blast Fall culprit again that Miranda and Kasha aren’t even blood related! So we have a cool young mother and a bratty pushy loli brat just for some variety. So I suppose that’s why the double special feature to have something about them. So we get the point. The real parent refers to the one who does the role and responsibilities and not necessarily be related by blood. Rest assured Kasha won’t ever leave Miranda for the dumbest reasons like blood is thicker than water, am I right?

Then there is Yuto who at first is nuts over Solty but as the season progresses, he feels more and more unimportant. Not even worth it as a comic relief character. I mean, do we even see him do any big time hacking that was integral to the story? Besides hooking up servers to Eunomia which is AFTER the whole threat ended? Joseph being brought in late to the group so that we can have a smooth flow of revelations because he is someone who worked with RUC and knows its inside. What again about his bystander policy? F*ck that. Better make this old black man do something useful. On a trivial and unrelated note, in the later episodes towards the end, they seem to have a short focus on this odd couple. Remember the child whom Rose arrested for stealing? Apparently she became close with the fruits stall owner whom she stole from. Is this to show that registered and unregistered people can live together in harmony despite the authorities trying to divide both classes? Maybe. But the thing I want to point out is that, doesn’t the fruit seller look like Luigi???!!! As in Mario’s brother, LUIGI???!!! OMFG…

And then there’s this bunch of RUC Proceed loser girls. Sighs… I thought they’re pretty useless from the start and I still think they are. Just like how Ashley properly used them, I think they are also used as stepping stones for plot convenience. The initial episodes show them trying to do stuffs in missions but often fail. Later on I only guessed that it’s because they’re not really compatible in whatever programme Ashley had for them but whatever. Just like the sometimes dumb plot that made no sense, these girls were tasked to capture Solty and eliminate her under Ashley’s orders. They failed and it led to the development of Roy and Solty’s family relationship. Did they forget about this? At this point I’m also thinking that Ashley didn’t even realize this until much later? No wonder he cuts the RUC girls off! He’s just a lost guy who can only do what he needs to do but too bad he turned into some one-dimensional antagonist. He gets his redemption with Illumina in the end but do we care at this point? Sadly for the RUC Proceeds, half of them didn’t make it back alive like Rose. So they leave Accela and Integra alive so that they have each other, huh? Okay. Whatever. Better than having Silvia who is obsessing over Ashley while Celica being the worst employee who only obsesses about her salary (despite her adopted family looking filthy rich). I’m sure she understood she can’t take all that money with her to the grave and went splashing on weapons. Going out with a bang? Unlike most of the other characters, they lack a back story so I guess that’s why we don’t really care for them.

Action bits are rather okay. The flashy parts are necessary to show Solty possessing immense power and with that retard face, it’s like they’re making a joke whenever she unwittingly uses such big force to subdue her targets, she draws out that innocent looking face that might scream she’s not aware of what the f*ck she’s doing. Since Solty does most of the fist fighting, Roy uses his gun but compared to Solty’s super power, which do you think looks more exciting? And who could forget the final episode’s Solty vs Helen as the latter keeps unloading unlimited missiles and lasers but still misses! Oh yeah. We just needed to see some fireworks. That’s all.

Art and animation also nothing to shout about. It reeks of 2005 era of animation so it is pretty much expected. After all, Gonzo animated this. You know, the studio who brought to us Full Metal Panic, NHK Ni Youkoso, Gantz, Rosario To Vampire, Seto No Hanayome, Chrno Crusade, Trinity Blood, Black Cat and many more. Though, sometimes I get confused with Rose and Silvia because they look pretty similar. Yeah, all blondes look the same. And of course Roy looking like Bruce Willis makes me wonder if this was supposed to be Die Hard x Blade Runner, Japanese version. And Kasha looks like Penguin Girl… Solty’s outfit is just f*cking terrible. I know Roy has bad taste but don’t blame it on him, blame it on the producers who designed this atrocious sh*t! Especially her ‘side flaps’. What are those, her head dicks?! HAHAHA!!! Just kidding. Maybe. I sometimes thought it would be her reset button since she gets uncomfortable when they’re touched. But nope. Then some characters I wonder if they were inspiration for future anime characters like Will could be the template for Shokugeki No Souma’s Isshiki and Celica could be the base for Yesterday Wo Utatte’s Haru. Might be a long shot and just coincidence but you never know. There is some CGI employed here but they aren’t as jarring and tolerable. Yeah, the Aurora Shell so colourful, trying to show how cool the effects, huh?

It’s nice to hear some of familiar seiyuus lending their talents. ESPECIALLY MAMIKO NOTO AS ACCELA! I’m glad they didn’t kill off her character!!! Boy, I don’t know if I would lose my sh*t again and they almost had me when they trolled me, almost making it look like it. The other recognizable seiyuus include Jouji Nakata as Roy, Sayaka Ohara as Miranda, Tatsuhisa Suzuki as Andy, Hiro Shimono as Yuto, Fumihiko Tachiki as Joseph, Yukari Tamura as Celica, Shizuka Itou as Silvia, Rikiya Koyama as Vincent, Sho Hayami as Kimberlin and Houchu Ohtsuka as Ho. The other casts are Momoko Saito as Solty (Choco in Chokotto Sister – now I can see why the cutie retard voice sounded so familar), Masumi Asano as Rose (Hakufu in Ikkitousen series), Hideki Tasaka as Larry (Duero in Vandread), Ryou Hirohashi as Integra (Alice in Aria The Animation), Natsuko Kuwatani as Kasha (Suisei Seki in Rozen Maiden), Nobuo Tobita as Ashley (Gettemhult in Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode Oracle), Ryoko Nagata as Jeremy (Éclair in Kiddy Grade) and Takeshi Kusao as Will (Trunks in Dragonball series).

The opening theme is Clover by Meg Rock. Somehow I didn’t really like this rock piece although it somewhat reminded me of Girl’s High’s opening theme song that they also sang. The slow piece of Float ~Sora No Kanata E~ by Tomoe Oumi sounds better although I somehow feel it is a bit out of place at least for a genre like this. She also sings another slow and lovely ballad, Return To Love which is the special ending theme for episode 12. Then there’s the slow rock of Pieces by R.O.N featuring Junko, the special insert song for the final TV episode that sounds like one of those American band groups of the 2000s. There’s also another insert song, Wish by Meg Rock but too bad, didn’t like this one either.

Overall, is just mediocre but if you don’t put your standards too high, you can still find it enjoyable (in the loosest sense) and funny (because like the aforementioned dumb plots, you can’t help break a smile and go WTF at the same time). Mediocre characters and action to complete the package too. They try to mix in sci-fi with some human relationships to give us some food for thought but it eventually ends up as cliché as it can get because after all, we humans are still superior to super computers no matter what because we are unpredictable. Heh. We have hope and faith that are inbuilt in his, something that super computers never had any such software installed inside. And even if they evolved into having feelings like us humans, that only makes them humans like us. So humans are the best, right? Yeah, so complicated that the best super computers can’t figure out the perfect way to handle us. It just makes me feel sad and conflicted. Now I understand why Solty asked what’s the meaning of happiness. She got hers but for me, I know this anime isn’t the answer… :-).

Boku No Hero Academia S4 OVA

While we wait for the fifth season to grace our screens, here, have a couple Boku No Hero Academia S4 OVA episodes first. So is this appetizers for the fifth season or desserts for the fourth? Anyway, it doesn’t hurt to see our young budding heroes in more training and friendship-cum-teamwork building before the next big crisis hits, right? After all, a hero’s training never really ends.

Part 1
To help them prepare for the provisional licence exam, Class 1A is split into 2 teams to conduct a training rescue mission. In this training ground, our ‘favourite’ half of the class are conveniently placed in one team as their mission is to rescue a person (a dummy of course) trapped deep inside the mall in the aftermath of a fire. While it is logical to split into smaller groups and make use of their Quirks for the rescue, it seems impatient Bakugou still isn’t the team player and goes off himself to find the survivor. A short while after the rest head in to begin their search, the floor caves in. Midoriya, Ochako and Tsuyu find themselves together as they realize they’ve been trapped by the surrounded debris. But they could hear the faint cries of Yaoyorozu on the other side of the debris. She claims Iida has been injured. Meanwhile Todoroki and Tokoyami are resting together. They must not carelessly use their powers so as to diminish the limited oxygen in their trapped space. They wonder if the teachers will come to rescue them if they wait and if the floor collapse was part of the training. Kaminari and Kirishima are together with Bakugou. The hot tempered one doesn’t intend to sit around and will continue to look for the survivor. Because he knows All Might would still do it no matter what. After Midoriya’s side manage to get to the other side of the debris, they hear from Yaoyorozu how Iida saved her from falling debris and in the process injured himself badly. So now this has turned into a real rescue mission for them as their priority is to clear the debris and send Iida up to the surface for treatment. Bakugou’s side has reach the bottom of the complex. First thing, he finds the power room and has Kaminari use his Quirk to help inject some emergency power into the batteries to power up the complex. Wow. Who would’ve thought this guy so thoughtful to make it easier for others to escape. The power comes back on. Just in time before Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow goes on a rampage. Midoriya’s side has managed to clear the debris and make some progress in rescuing Iida.

Part 2
At the elevator shaft, Iida can now be elevated up to the surface via Ochako’s Quirk. However Midoriya wants to stay behind and go look for the rest as he fears they might be injured like Iida. Bakugou has found the dummy but it is trapped under rubbles. Kaminari is being pessimistic of their chances since removing it on this unstable grounds will cause more collapsing. Of course Bakugou doesn’t care and will blast away everything! If this was real life, time won’t wait for you! So the plan is the blast the entire rubble, Kirishima then grabs the survivor and if more debris come collapsing, the rest will blast them away. The plan works like a charm but now here comes the real problem: Underground water is flooding the place fast. Yaoyorozu’s side reports to Aizawa about this but it is hinted that this ‘accident’ is within the scope of the training. If they fail here, then surely they are not ready for the provisional licence exam. And if they are injured like Iida, they are no longer heroes but will be the one who needs rescuing. The girls then head back to try and rescue the others. Tokoyami and Todoroki manage to break a hole in the floors to reach Bakugou. Wow. It’s a good thing the whole complex didn’t collapse. Todoroki wants the rest to escape. He knows he can’t freeze a large area of water but this will buy enough time for them to do so. However Bakugou stays back with him. Can’t let him hog the spotlight? The rest on their way out bump into Midoriya and tell what’s happening. Bakugou knows Todoroki’s freezing will fail. When pressure builds up, the water will pierce through and be more dangerous since it will also shoot debris. Bakugou’s idea is that he will make a hole in the ice with an explosion. The force will propel them upwards like a geyser. Bakugou will continue to use his Quirk to blow holes in the floors. But since his blast cannot be accurate enough, this is where Midoriya’s Quirk comes in. The plan works like a charm too. But oh well, they just manage to get a few floors up. Iida wakes up and learns what happens. Now they’re going to be the rescue team to rescue them. And of course, believe in them that they’re still okay! While Midoriya and Todoroki are okay, Bakugou is obviously injured. At least his leg. Still the stubborn and prideful bastard, he refuses help from the duo. Even with Midoriya’s begging that he wants to help him whatsoever. After all the excuses, I guess Bakugou finally relents. Yeah, Midoriya can be his cane to help him walk out! And they do so and hence the newly made rescue team’s role is just enough to greet them out. Yay! Everybody’s saved!

Boku No Survival Academia
Yawn… Oh damn. That was kinda boring! Somehow I was misled to think that our heroes were trapped in some real dire life or death situation and that they needed to fight their way out. Oh, I don’t know. Say, trapped on an island filled with man-eating giant mutant insects! Hence they have to fight for their lives for survival if they’re going to get off the island! Hah. I only have myself to blame for actually thinking so. After all, when the title is worded that way, that was the first impression that came to my mind. And after watching the couple of episodes here, it was way off than what I expected and hence the disappointment. Damn. So boring… Yawn…

Sure, these OVA episodes feel like they do not have any bearings at all on the full story and even if they do, it didn’t matter. It’s just to showcase more of their friendship and teamwork, which should be pretty much obvious right now. I mean, we already have 4 seasons and if they aren’t working together, then something is very wrong! Of course I understand Bakugou’s pride but you do notice that he too wants to help others and it is just that his stupid pride gets in the way of being honest with his feelings. Oh well. That’s Bakugou for you. In that sense he doesn’t change. And the other ‘mini running joke’ is about Tsuyu who keeps reminding others to call her by her first name. Okay, okay. We get it. Thus the OVA episodes for this season are just pretty average and nothing special. They make it sound like the danger is oh so real and true, if they didn’t take this seriously the damage could have been much worse. But at the end of the day, it is still training and it’s not like they’re facing off in a life or death situation with say, the League of Villains, right? So yeah. A pretty much standard (and boring) affair to begin with.

The only ‘good’ thing that I somewhat appreciate is that those annoying captions that introduces the character’s names and Quirks are not shown here at all! WHAT A RELIEF!!! You know, after 4 seasons and they still do this for all the main characters FOR EVERY EPISODE! So it’s somewhat a big relief that I didn’t see it here because that will be such a big pain in the ass. Phew. That is the biggest rescue of this OVA. Though, they did summarize some of Class 1A’s Quirks here via Midoriya’s thoughts. It might be in a different format but at least it isn’t those annoying captions.

And of course with the ‘favourite’ half of Class 1A being featured here, I guess this somewhat sets the threshold that these 10 are the ‘top tier’ and favourites and the rest are, uhm, not so favourite. I mean, really guys, how many people of you out there would like to Satou in action? Or even Kouda? Or Sero? Or Jirou? Or Hagakure? (Heck, you can’t even see her, HAHAHA!!!). Thank goodness no Mineta perversion here. Or Aoyama’s gayness. Don’t need these jokers here. Yeah, Kaminari felt like the better joker to make the cut into this team in this case… I’m sure Mina is also cool too but not as cool as our featured girls here so too bad she got ‘pushed’ into the lower half of Class 1A’s ‘favourite’ girls. Heh. I just made that up but that’s what my guts tell me.

Overall, this OVA is pretty forgettable and quite random if you ask me. Like as though they needed to have more of this series just to fill things up for 2020. You know, the series has been releasing a season yearly ever since its debut in 2016 so I guess with the fourth one releasing late in 2019 and spilling over into early 2020, oh boy, how are we going get through the very awful year that shall not be further named without our young superhero series? At this point in time, no official release date has been set but it is estimated to be around mid-2021. So perhaps while we sit here crying for rescue, the fifth season will then come swooping down to rescue and save us from this mediocre OVA and of course the fourth season. Gotta have faith in the Plus Ultra, right?!

Princess Connect! Re:Dive

From the producers of Cygames who made the epic Shingeki No Bahamut, the adventure filled Granblue Fantasy as well as the cutie Uma Musume games. Now, Princess Connect! Re:Dive is their latest game to be given the anime treatment. The synopsis didn’t reveal much. Main character given the cliché treatment of being amnesiac. So he and his harem guild members go on an adventure to reveal the truth about this world. I guess sometimes you can’t reveal too much to keep the mystery and the hype to find out what the series is really all about. Okay then. Let’s dive into this and see what comes.

Episode 1
Ameth repairs Yuuki and laments she can’t be with him after this. Hence after she sends him down to the continent of Astraea, she will send a guide to him. That guide is this elf girl, Kokkoro. Better hurry go get him before the wolves do. After feeding him, the wolves return. Kokkoro thinks it is a good time to level up. Too bad Yuuki goes down easily! Wolf chowder! Kokkoro is ashamed of letting this happened so Yuuki tries to cheer her up by hinting he is okay before passing out. Meanwhile Pecorine tries to help a bunch of brothers by getting their medicine. Definitely this is a trick to steal her sword. Even as she chases them, it is so as to give their medicine! Yeah, she’s damn persistent. Kokkoro brings Yuuki to the capital, Landosol. Apparently Yuuki is still a retard and doesn’t know about money. Let’s start from the basics… Because they have no money for lodging, I guess camping is fun. Until the wolves try to snag Yuuki! Oh dear! Not sure how Kokkoro got Yuuki back but she feels the need to earn money. Retard Yuuki at least understands he can’t let her do this alone and wants to help. So at the guild, Karin the administrator helps look for a quest for them. Aha. An easy one: Mushroom picking. As they do so, they encounter Pecorine. Yeah, she passed out from starvation. After feeding her, she joins them in mushroom hunting but somebody casts a spell to turn mushroom into giant enemies. While Pecorine is cool with her kung fu fighting, once again Yuuki goes down despite being boosted by Kokkoro. But when Kokkoro is about to be killed, this triggers some trauma, a familiar scene. Yuuki powers up to kick ass, proof that he is the Princess Knight. His ability also boosts the ladies as they kick wild mushrooms’ ass. In the end, they got a huge haul and Yuuki hopes he can count on Kokkoro from now on. You bet. Ameth narrates about his journey that has begun in this world. He must find the truth and meet many people and that bond he forms with others will become the power to save them all. Only he can do that for he is the Princess Knight.

Episode 2
Yuuki and Kokkoro see Pecorine just fresh winning a breakfast eating contest. Really, it’s no contest. So those brothers are still in town? Pecorine spots them and still wants to give their medicine! But they bump into the monster outside the city. With Pecorine at full strength, she punches it away but it lands on Karyl. Though they help her back up, she refuses their kindness and goes away. We hear that Karyl’s target is actually Pecorine and it’s natural she is pretty sore she got saved by her. Looks like she has this ulterior motive to bring her down. Then she sees a dragon snatching away those silly bros (got attracted to the shiny sword). Hence she goes to tell the trio about its whereabouts. At the rocky mountains, the dragon sleeps with the sword tightly clenched in its mouth. Yuuki has this idea to become the matador. Instantly he gets eaten! This distraction allows Pecorine to jump on the dragon to try retrieve her sword. The dragon takes to the skies as Karyl is trying to use her magic to give Pecorine a rough ride. When Yuuki uses his cape to block the dragon’s view, it crashes near Karyl. She thought she is done for when the dragon is about to attack her but lucky Karyl, Pecorine has got her sword back and she is more power than ever. One strike to destroy the dragon! Boom! So I guess after settling with the silly bros (finally here’s your medicine), I hope that’s the last we see of them. Pecorine thanks Karyl a bunch but the latter refuses to be acknowledged. Only, her stomach growls so she has to stay and eat with them. Pecorine gets this idea to form their own gourmet guild where they work together to find the most delicious foods. More like glutton guild… While Yuuki and Kokkoro are all for it, as usual Karyl says no. Not one of you guys! Hmph! Who needs friends, huh? Yeah, let’s see how long you can keep up this tsundere attitude…

Episode 3
Karyl needs to find Pecorine’s weakness. So yeah, she’s waiting outside the restaurant the whole morning only to watch Pecorine chow down food after food! Where’s the weakness?! Busted by Kokkoro and Yuuki who invite her to join Pecorine for breakfast. Well, her stomach’s growling… They order their food and since it’s not to Karyl’s liking, she orders hers. Too bad out of ingredients! Pecorine finished it earlier! Karyl blows her top! But don’t worry, this place has a secret menu. That’s why she came here as recommended by Ikacchi and Charlie (those brothers, looks like they’ve become her lackey and we won’t be hearing the last of them). So the secret menu is bugs?! You bet Karyl going to complain but after Pecorine shoves one down her throat, wow, tastes good! Kokkoro then shows them the guild application form and hopes they could join. Of course our tsundere declines. She didn’t come here to join them. Hmph! Well, her mission is to defeat Pecorine and it will be ironic to join her, right? As Pecorine has run out of money, she works in the restaurant. I’m sure customers are going to increase with this new cute waitress. Meanwhile Karyl ponders about her master’s change in mission. Some assassination mission called off and since Karyl hasn’t accustomed herself as a Princess Knight, she will be shown that path. A big fat ugly unruly customer comes in and throws his weight around. His goal is to shut down this place as he is being paid by a rival. After hurting Master, he has Pecorine cook for him. Don’t worry, Pecorine’s travels and stomach encyclopaedia means she can cook better than we think she can. With Karyl adding the finishing touch, fat guy can’t resist as he can’t stop eating the bug dish. Yeah, Shokugeki No Souma worthy reactions. When that is over, he throws a tantrum and lies everything tastes bad. Because he wasted food, Pecorine will not forgive him and super punches him out of the restaurant. In the aftermath, Karyl joins the group because she thinks they can’t be trusted on their own. Yeah, right. Folks, watch out for Gourmet Guild! Coming to taste every cuisine and ingredient the world has to offer!

Episode 4
Now that they’ve got their own guild house… Damn it’s rundown and dirty! Karin apologizes since they are short of guild houses so this will have to make do. So if you don’t want to eat with bugs, snakes and ghosts (yikes!), better start cleaning. But as they clean, Pecorine realizes something grave. There is no dinner table! You mean they can’t just go buy one in town because they have to eat together? Wow. So deep. And so Pecorine starts by cutting down a tree… This is going to take a while… Meanwhile Kokkoro goes to town to run some errands. She stumbles into Saren of Sarendia who runs an orphanage as well as her maid, Suzume. Kokkoro and Suzume talk about stuffs like how Saren was part of the palace knights but now dedicates her time to helping children with no families. They are so engrossed in their talk that they got lost in the woods?! Don’t panic! Okay. Maybe a little. Then they stumble into this, uhm, talking llama, Rima. Don’t call her some animal or monster because she’s wearing a fancy girl dress! Back at the cleaning, as Karyl has Yuuki clean the high spots, a bug crawls up her thigh and this causes him to fall and knock his head. So he goes back to Ameth? She tells him about the curious companions he made and they’re all connected with the world’s mysteries. Something about what everyone accepts of the truth isn’t actually the truth. All the girls have their own mission and problems. Especially Karyl who is in most precarious position. Seeing that telling him everything will not solve anything, she warns him to be careful as the enemy knows his existence. The bonds with the girls will be important for his growth. Yuuki returns to consciousness and Karyl is so relieved there won’t be a ghost… Pecorine has finished the table. Only, it cannot fit through the front door! Oh dear. Back to the drawing board. Elsewhere, the lost girls stumble into bandits. Because they mock Rima and want to sell her off to the circus, she gets mad and beats the hell out of them. And when she eats an apple, she temporarily transforms into her cute bishoujo form! At the end of the day, Gourmet Guild members return home to have a nice meal together. Yeah, it’s a smaller table. And the house is also cleaned. Well done. You guys deserve it.

Episode 5
Yuuki is sick and since treating him themselves won’t help, they take him to see a doctor. Well, Doctor Mitsuki and Nurse Nanaka. Are these really doctors? They look like crazy sexy cosplay women… After examining Yuuki, Mitsuki thinks something is wrong and quickly sends him to the surgery room. Oh my. Is this room where they create Frankenstein?! This is serious! Kokkoro trying to calm herself by making some voodoo concoction?! Remember that fat rude customer a couple of episodes back? He is now skinny and trying to run away while the doctors are in surgery. Why? Because this isn’t a hospital but a prison! Too bad he gets owned by Eriko who drags him back. Because she must find her soulmate. Yikes. Before the ladies could ask more about Yuuki, they are sent home. Meanwhile Eriko continues to look for her soulmate who is no other than Yuuki (because he fed her a few episodes ago). She stumbles into Shinobu a fortune teller who tells her that soulmate will be the one appearing with a warm sigh. So goes through a shady part of town and owns all the bandits. Her soulmate isn’t here. But when she gets back, she sees Yuuki recuperating in a room. You bet Yuuki is going to have the fright of his life seeing this yandere’s face so close to him! Next day, the bandits come looking for revenge but gets owned by Eriko and co. It is only then they realize they are the new guild that has taken over this place, Twilight Caravan. Mitsuki is delighted to have new patients AKA guinea pigs for her test treatment. Meanwhile Kokkoro and co also realize the true identities of the quack doctors. They rush over to rescue Yuuki. Thankfully Mitsuki and Nanaka are distracted treating their guinea pigs so they get to sneak in. But the real last boss is Eriko. She’s going to put this cursed engagement ring on Yuuki. To stop this, Kokkoro makes her voodoo concoction as distraction. The rest then get Yuuki out. However taking too long, they are at risk of being cornered by Mitsuki and Eriko from both directions. The only escape is the window. To buy time, Karyl sacrifices herself with some illness. The escape works but Karyl is now captured as their test subject. Yuuki is brought to a real doctor who is glad his sickness has been treated well. Mitsuki may be weird but her skills are real. So I guess they’re hoping for Karyl to be discharged by Mitsuki? Hopefully…

Episode 6
Karyl returns! Looking all genki, huh? Just don’t remind her about that clinic… Pecorine has Gourmet Guild’s first adventure that will take them to Targum Village where they are recruiting to help harvest raw spices. They make their journey and because it is quite far, they have to make camp. Thank goodness Pecorine found some bird meat or else Karyl will be complaining her ass off about the vegetables and frogs the rest caught. After the delicious bird meat, they eat some weird fruit that makes them act all drunk. Kokkoro is the only one who didn’t eat so she has to put up with all the shenanigans but she’s glad to have joined this guild. Morning comes and as they are ready to head off, now only they realize Yuuki is being taken away by some wolf monster?! Too late! Luckily archer girl Aoi saves him. Because she is shy and has no human friends, we see her talking to her wood doll as her friend. She thinks Yuuki can become her friend and join her team. Yeah, Yuuki cringing at it all. Then she freezes up when Gourmet Guild is here. Back to shy girl. Since she is from Targum, she leads them there where they meet Misato of Forestier who has hired them and many others to help with the harvesting. Among the guilds that are helping is Elizabeth Park (in which Rima is part of along with Rin, Mahiru and Shiori). Speaking of them, they are happily making their way to Targum through the forest but they encounter strange shadow clones. They manage to fight them on par until Christina destroys them. Then she wants to fight with them. Gourmet Guild meets this sleeping girl, Hatsune. She wakes up after crashing into a bell. As they get acquainted with her, she tells them she is happy to meet her sister, Shiori in ages. She was born with a weak body and is recovering from an illness. Confined all the time, she likes reading. Meanwhile we see Shiori being confronted by her own shadow clone. Before she knows it, she gets consumed.

Episode 7
Gourmet Guild is shocked to hear Hatsune’s magic isn’t magic but a superpower. Harvest put on hold when they hear Elizabeth Park’s woes. Some villagers begin to think the clone rumours are true. Worried Hatsune peaks into Rima’s mind and fears the worst when she sees what happened to Shiori. Christina doesn’t know what that person is thinking by unleashing those Shadows around. But either way, she’s going to have her fun. Hatsune, Rima, Aoi, Yuuki and Kokkoro go look for Shiori. As Hatsune flies up to get a better view, she is shot down by Shiori. At least a palette swap of her. She is further attacked before leaving. While everyone is shocked to hear this, no time to mope because they need to find Shiori and confirm themselves if that was really her. Meanwhile Karyl is afraid and in a dilemma. She remembers her mission to observe Pecorine but didn’t hear anything about Shadows getting involved. She is snapped out when Pecorine calls for her. But no time to play the straight man because Shadows are attacking the village! Don’t worry. Pecorine will take care of them. Hatsune’s group stumbles into Christina who wants to fight them. Clearly she is faster and stronger. Yuuki gets taken out and the next thing he knows, Ameth is next to him. It seems she knows Christina but the latter doesn’t remember her. She warns Yuuki that his girls have no chance in beating her and because Ameth herself cannot go down there yet, Yuuki is the only one who can save the day. Yeah, remember his bonds and this Princess Knight power. Yuuki returns and powers up the girls. Though they can fight on par, but Yuuki eventually runs out of steam. Christina had her fun so she admits her loss. She also hints about Shiori being swallowed by the Shadow. After Karyl gets over her depression to help Pecorine, Hatsune returns too and enters Shadow Shiori’s mind. She manages to drag her out and with both sisters loving each other and promising to protect each other, it is easy to blow away the Shadow. The day is saved and everyone is happy everyone is back to normal. Shiori being Shiori, Pecorine hungry and Hatsune fast asleep. Normalcy the best!

Episode 8
Gourmet Guild has had lots of successful quests thereafter. And right now they’re planting rice? So the reward is the food, huh? No wonder Karyl blowing her top for Pecorine to choose a quest that actually pays off. While trying to get another quest from the guild, they notice one about to become a teacher and teach the workings of a guild. Karin finds it odd because she keeps taking down this requests but a new one always pops up. It is safe to say that request is posted by the loli trio of Little Lyrical (Mimi, Misogi and Kyouka). Bad loli acting and persistence manage to make the Gourmet Guild listen to their request of them wanting to find a teacher to teach them to become better adventurers. They’re not playing around either. So I guess with Yuuki saying okay, the girls start making plans. As you can see, the mission starts off on the wrong foot simply because Yuuki who is supposed to guide them, takes the wrong path. Yeah, see lolis panic over little spiders! Then see lolis fight back in a cute way. Yeah. They can do this. Trying to bring them back to the right path, Pecorine dons her monster costume to scare them. Instead they beat the crap out of her! Continuing the wrong path, the other girls have to secretly use their magic to save them whenever in a pinch. It doesn’t help with Yuuki always getting owned! Real sh*t hits the fan when Yuuki gets kidnapped by a giant monster bird to its nest. I don’t think their loli power is enough this time. The Gourmet Guild ladies to the rescue. But fighting monsters all day, they have run out of magic. And Pecorine hasn’t had lunch after being stuck in the costume. But luckily the lolis’ lunch is nearby so after eating it, Pecorine is back to her ridiculous strength to defeat the bird. The lolis think they somehow did it so looks like our Gourmet Guild girls have got to pass them. There is nothing more we can teach you. Thank goodness. An egg hatches and a cute little monster chick pops up. Kawaii!!! That’s your treasure. Kyouka knows they are all acting but promises to keep a secret. But she also thinks Yuuki purposely get captured. Uhm, I think that one’s real… So Gourmet Guild’s next mission: Continuing to plant more rice!

Episode 9
Kokkoro wins first prize at the raffles so Gourmet Guild is going to the beach! Beach episode, yay! That night, Kokkoro comes to Yuuki’s room just to show her swimsuit. You know he is going to give the thumbs up, right? And they practice swimming. Uhm, air swimming?! So Gourmet Guild is having fun at the beach when they spot Suzume in trouble with her donkey. Then she brings them to the beach house run by Saren. Yeah, Pecorine orders everything from the menu. Is it on the house? Oh well, as long as everyone enjoys their food. Noticing there are no other customers, Saren points out a rival beach house is raking in the customers. Tamaki is selling her taiyaki like hot cakes. Then here comes the prideful Akino of Mercurius Foundation to show off but her ultimate goal is to make Saren work for her. Of course Saren refuses. They make Akino fluster because this business move means Akino acknowledges and accepts Saren as an equal partner. Akino still won’t give up, though. Karyl is most affected since she was being labelled as a novice. So you bet she is going to lead the Gourmet Guild to come up with something new on the menu to attract customers. What kind of dish can they make with all the fish they caught? As Tamaki is on break, Yukari comes by to complain about being single. Worse, she’s drunk. So to cool her off, Tamaki throws her into the sea. Oh, here comes Kraken. It takes Yukari hostage. I think it’s gay because no tentacle rape… Anyway, cue for Gourmet Guild to come help so with Pecorine’s immense strength and Karyl’s magic to toss it to land, Saren then finishes it. With this Kraken meat attracting the customers, Akino admits defeat and will listen to Saren. Saren is glad because she always wanted to be equal footing with her. Now they can make business decisions together. As for Gourmet Guild, they have a wonderful time exploring the ocean floor and also hear one of Kokkoro’s grateful rants of being in this guild.

Episode 10
All refreshed after that vacation. While Karyl watches the place, the rest go to town to do errands. Yuuki and Kokkoro stumble into Master who is being possessed by a ghost who is forcing him to make pudding. Oddly, only Yuuki can see her, Miyako. When Shinobu comes by to explain, Miyako makes herself visible. Shinobu takes this chance to bring them to her guild (Diabolos) seeing that Yuuki may possess the power to make their wish come true. Inside, they are greeted by the legendary vampire, Illya Ornstein. She sounds all high and mighty until she lives her coffin. Yeah, she reverts into a small loli brat! Long ago, she led the demon race against the other races but lost against the gods. Hence she was cursed and sealed here. Hence Yuuki may have the power to resurrect her and grant her underlings’ wishes true. When minions start to attack her, Yuuki saves her. Because of the contact, she reverts to her majestic mature self. With the terrifying aura resonating throughout the kingdom, all life forms now pay heed to their legendary queen of darkness. But of course that power soon runs out and Illya reverts to her chibi form. However the only one not pleased is Miyako. As Yuuki was holding her basket of pudding, when he rescued Illya, he dropped that basket. Now she’s mad and wants her pudding or she’ll curse them all! So yeah, they brought Miyako back home only for Karyl to freak the hell out. Make my pudding now!!! Yeah, they all suck. I wonder if the pudding they make can kill a ghost! Kokkoro tries to reason to wait for Pecorine to return but she isn’t waiting anymore. Where is Pecorine? Yeah, she became a poster girl for Charlie and Ikacchi’s mom to help sell vegetables. She heads back in time because Miyako has turned her comrades into pudding and is going to eat them!!! OMFG!!! Pecorine manages to convince her to try the pudding she’ll make. And as you can see, it’s the best pudding she has ever tasted. So good that she is going to pass on! Finally. Until she realizes bugs were used as one of the ingredients. Oh sh*t. Did that just kill a ghost???!!! Oh well, at least Shinobu can bring her back without any fussy tantrums.

Episode 11
Karyl wanted to sleep in and ignores Pecorine’s call that breakfast is ready. Thus Pecorine fears she might be dead and barges in from the window! Definitely a wakeup call. And I thought breaking down the door was the norm… Unfortunately that reckless stunt also means Karyl’s favourite doll is a wreck. What are they going to do about it! Hence the rest go to town to get materials to repair it. Karyl takes this chance to report to the queen about her observation but witnesses her tinkering with newly upgraded and terrifying Shadows. Yuuki spots a man being attacked by a Shadow. He goes to fight it and losses! Could’ve been done for had not Shizuru come to his aid. Apparently she is his older sister and would’ve loved to stay and chat more if not for younger sister Rino taking her away and reminding her their mission is to silently watch over their brother. Rino gets jealous seeing how close Kokkoro is to Yuuki. Even learning she serves Yuuki, she throws a tantrum. Nothing like Shizuru’s headbutt to calm her down, eh? However they realize Yuuki is missing. The sisters fear it could be the work of Shadows as they have spotted some in Landosol. Kokkoro meets up with Pecorine to tell her Yuuki is missing. From witnesses, they end up in the base of some ruffians. Too bad it is not Yuuki who is captive. It’s Charlie! That rude ugly guy is the boss but upon seeing Pecorine, I guess he lets Charlie go. Yeah, what was that all about? Returning to the sisters, they try to ask Karin about Yuuki but she notes he was here this morning. Speaking of him, he returns with a nice rainbow silkworm. This should help repair Karyl’s doll. The story goes was that Yuuki saw Eriko. Instantly he ran away! Then he spotted a quest flyer and that’s when he got this idea to do this quest. We’re so proud he did a dangerous quest by himself. Yeah, almost died… Karyl returns depressed but lights up upon seeing her friends repaired her doll. Meanwhile Queen Labyrista talks to Metamorregnant about looking into Omniscient Kaiser. But the latter doesn’t trust her despite the former bearing no ill will against her. Metamorregnant is not interested in teaming up with her.

Episode 12
Pecorine dreams of trying to call out her parents. But they don’t remember her. Karyl is fussy as she points out today’s breakfast is missing bread?! Pecorine reveals that when she went to the market, they told her stocks couldn’t be delivered since a monster made a home underneath the bridge. Since the royal palace didn’t even bother to take action, Pecorine went to the guild to take up this quest. Well, it’s so high level. Can they handle it? With Karyl being used as the bait (she’s complaining despite offering herself), they manage to take it down. And without destroying the bridge too. Damn, they make it look so easy. With this, Pecorine’s reputation enhances as the people are grateful for her taking the monster down. Then as Pecorine takes her comrades to her favourite crepe stall, it is run by Shizuru and Rino. Boy, the sisters look shock in seeing them. I hope they didn’t regret it when they offer all you can eat crepes on the house. Yeah, their cooking can’t keep up with Pecorine’s appetite! But I guess it is worth Yuuki’s smile. Later, it seems Yuuki has a devastating dream about her comrades dead. As Ameth puts it, his bonds with many may have awakened those memories. It could be the past he relived many times or the future. But it is both a dream and reality. So when he wakes up, Yuuki continues to practice his swordsmanship. As they eat at the tavern, they overheard others talking about Princess Eustiana. The royalty don’t come out often so they didn’t really get a good glimpse at her. When a Shadow attacks Landosol, Pecorine immediately goes to deal with it. Karyl is reluctant to act seeing she saw this upgraded Shadow from the palace. So much so that Pecorine had to save Karyl and continue protecting her while taking damage from the Shadow’s attack. Pecorine singlehandedly manages to use a powerful attack to damage the Shadow. Karyl becomes distraught. She’s complaining about doing this stupid thing of protecting the weak. Because Karyl was prepared to abandon Pecorine then. With the Shadow regenerating, time for Yuuki to rise up. Or not. Not sure what happened, some earth power engulfs them all. Yuuki wakes up in some alien place. Labyrista is before him as she assures she put his friends safely elsewhere. Meanwhile Kokkoro finds herself in a palace. Before her is a giant painting of the royalty with Pecorine as the princess.

Episode 13
Pecorine reveals she is the real Eustiana but it seems everyone including her parents have forgotten about her. She begins telling her story that her parents, the king and queen of Landosol sent her on a journey to hear the voices of the people of the land. They gave her a tiara that has powers but it makes her hungry all the time! Yeah, she loves to eat but I think I know where all the fats went… So she began her journey and gained lots of experience. When she completed it, she returned to Landosol. To her horror, nobody recognized her and the guards thought she was an imposter. Shocked Pecorine snuck inside only to be more heartbroken as none of the servants even knew who she was. The ultimate misery is when before her parents, they too do not know who she is. In fact they call their ‘Eustiana’ out to rid of this imposter. Oh, an imposter ridding an ‘imposter’? Pecorine managed to get away and shortly that’s when she stumbled into Yuuki and co. She had lots of fun with them but the thought that they would distance themselves the happier she felt. Isn’t that why Karyl somewhat left? That’s why she lied and hid about her origins because she feared they too would leave her. Of course Kokkoro assures that it doesn’t matter who she is. She will always be their Pecorine. So while they stay hugged like this for a while, looks like Karyl heard the whole story and goes to fight off the Shadow. She sure powered up but thoughts of conflicted feelings that she served the imposter the whole time has made her indecisive. Just when Karyl thought of giving up, here comes Pecorine and Kokkoro to help. She’s fully recharged and back.

Labyrista assures Yuuki she is on his side and that Ameth is trying to help him and slowly recovering his memories. It is still unclear whether he lost them during the Re:Dive so she gives him some power that will help his friends but be careful, it might also destroy him. She continues about Shadows taking people’s souls and they’ll continue to search for more powerful souls. As Shadows don’t show up by accident, they are moved by someone’s will (clearly it’s that Eustiana imposter). Hence as long as they are trapped in this world, it is a battle against wills. Nightmare (what a name for the elite royal guards) led by Jun is investigating the damage caused by the Shadow. As Tomo and Matsuri reports, Christina who is the vice captain finds it strange that they did not know all about this until it is over. Like as though the king is hiding something. She also notes that despite Landosol being primarily a human kingdom, it is ruled by a beast. Labyrista thought she has shocked Yuuki with too much info. But looks like he is bent on protecting his friends. Yes, he is okay. Now that he is ready to fight, Labyrista sends him to his comrades. His power enhances theirs and they ultimately defeat this big mother Shadow. Then they pop back out in Landosol. Now Ikacchi and Charlie can stop being the biggest cry-babies. Oh wait. They’re crying even harder! Welcome back! And also, Pecorine-Karyl reconciliation, more tears to flow! And life returns to normal in Landosol with Gourmet Guild as usual going on new adventures to find the next delicious food.

All You Can Adventure Buffet: Can’t Adventure On An Empty Stomach
So are you full yet? Don’t worry because there is another season announced! So if you’re like me who is pretty stumped on what is going on right till the very end, hopefully the next season will provide those much needed answers. I mean, after the very serious and heavy final episode that sheds some light on things and casted away the series’ trademark silliness, I guess we all need a break and go hunting for some nice foods to eat. Fill our stomachs to give our brains the nutrients so that we can be ready the next time Gourmet Guild is prepared to take on a whole new food culture and unmask the mysteries of the world! Yeah, gonna need that extra set meal for the road. Enjoy.

To be honest, I didn’t play the game so I didn’t put high expectations on what all this is going to be about. Perhaps it could be just a cuter RPG adventure version of Granblue Fantasy. However as far as I can see, the big majority of this season’s adventures feel like standalone fillers. The Gourmet Guild quartet going about their normal adventures around the land while meeting many other members of other guilds. In between, they throw us with snippets of something sinister about the plot and the background of some of the characters. Unfortunately it is too vague to deduce anything from this point of view. So for now, the fun (mis)adventures could all be just introductory before the real serious stuffs hit come the next season. When the plot itself isn’t serious in the first place, what else can you expect? Of course the final episode has a bigger reveal but still nothing that tells us the truth about this world.

But spoiler alert! Trying to gather more info about this world’s setting had me stumble into what could be the real story and setting of this entire series. Maybe gamers would have already known about this but like I said, I didn’t play the game at all and didn’t know of its existence until the anime turned up. From what I read, the whole thing is actually a VR game. When the developer went rouge and crazy, he trapped all the players inside the game and erased their memories. Hence all the players who are trapped continue to play and live their lives in the game, thinking this world is actually real! Thinking back in retrospect, this quite fits the bill and makes a lot of sense as the few riddles spouted by Ameth may have hinted something about the truth of this world. Everything is not what it seems to be. So yeah, not sure if that spoiler did a disservice to me but at least when the time comes to reveal the shocking truth, I wouldn’t be surprised. I hope. And assuming that this is the real story and not an alternative setting.

So yeah, the adventures are mostly fun while it may not be the most exciting of adventures I have seen. Aside the Shadows and the mysteries surrounding it, personally I see that the adventures and quests of taking down monsters look quite easy. I mean, there is never a chance that I see Gourmet Guild in danger. Everything just feels fun and easy going. Even if there was, it was all just to ramp up the excitement and drama effect. As predictable as it is, Gourmet Guild always comes up tops at the end of the mission. They don’t really lose in that sense and that’s why watching them go on an adventure feels so leisurely. Like as though they’re going on some short vacation AKA quests to rid of monsters before returning to their sweet guild abode. Ironically, Gourmet Guild being filled with mostly idiots and they can still go on a decent adventure. Boy, I’m sure I would fit in and pull off successful quests too if I were part of this guild. Of course the final episode casted away all that silliness in place for some serious revelations. Uh huh. No joke when the king and queen literally forgets about your own real daughter! Mind manipulation definitely.

Character wise, they aren’t anything much to shout about. Because of the main focus on the random adventures in each episode, it is just mainly to showcase the bonds the quartet of Gourmet Guild develops over time. They don’t really delve heavily into the past aspects of the main characters and just scatter them occasionally throughout the season. Of course with the final revelation of Pecorine’s true identity at the end, somehow it doesn’t come to a surprise to me. This girl definitely reeks princess material. At least from the way she dresses. So it’s like her being a glutton and a retard just to purposely hide her identity? Also, from the start I had this feeling Pecorine wasn’t her real name and just a nickname everyone just came to accept because of her gluttony. After all, Pecorine doesn’t mind being called that so what’s the issue?

Next retard, uhm, I mean main character is Yuuki. It is quite rare for a series to have a main character as retarded as him. Yes, lots of animes have their main characters as idiots (One Piece’s Luffy, Naruto, Urusei Yatsura’s Ataru, should I go on?), but none as annoyingly retarded as Yuuki. But of course I have to remember that he is missing his memories and because of his amnesiac state, being a retard is the only way he could function normally. He feels secondary in this season and they make a running joke out of him in a few ways like always being kidnapped by hungry wolf-like monsters. The next idiot, uhm, I mean member is Kokkoro. Soft spoken elven girl is mostly a Yuuki loyalist so whatever her master does, she will psycho herself that she will do it because it is what Yuuki wants. The interesting one is the liveliest imbecile, uhm, I mean cat girl Karyl. Annoying as she is but at least she’s funny. Being of a tsundere personality, she has a pride that contrasts her words and actions. She says arrogant stuffs and sounds like she doesn’t care. Complain, complain, complain. But when it comes down to it, she will definitely pull it off just for the sake of her comrades. Or at least most of the time. Obviously she is conflicted with her original mission to observe Gourmet Guild and the more she joins them in their adventures, the more she begins to get closer to them. Naturally. I’m glad she made up with Pecorine in the end. Well, at least it looked like it to me. So there you have it about Gourmet Guild. A group of retards, oops, I mean, group of fun loving adventurers trying to discover the taste of the world.

There are also a hell lot of other characters in this anime. But as I have said, it might all be just introductory. So you’re not going to get much details about them and they’re just popping up here this season just to show their faces. So like Shizuru and Rino who could be Yuuki’s sisters in real life or perhaps childhood friends who prefer to call him that way. That’s all we get to know for now. As well as the other guilds like Sarendia, Elizabeth Park, Forestier and Little Lyrical are just pretty basic. Some like Mercurius Foundation, their cameo so short that their presence might be just forgettable. The most interesting one is Twilight Caravan. Yeah, that quack doctor episode was really a funny one. A guild with a few psychotic girls especially Eriko who is just a freaking psycho and yandere for Yuuki. In the event if Yuuki forgets everything again, I’m sure his body will not forget and it will be instant reaction to get the hell away from this nut! There are more guilds out there as I have checked online that haven’t appeared yet. Oh boy. Maybe next season. And is Yuuki the only guy who joins a guild?! Everyone else are females! I find it hard to be just a coincidence… So is this the privilege of being a Princess Knight? I guess better than being eternally comic relief dorks like Ikacchi and Charlie. Yeah, even their tough mama got more balls than them!

This isn’t a cooking show but food somewhat plays a subtle theme here. After all, that is what the name of our main guild means, right? Even the titles are somewhat food related. So while it may not be on the levels of Shokugeki No Souma or other food focused animes, it’s nice to at least see what kind of food is featured in the episode. Okay, many of them may not look appetizing (yeah, the secret bug menu didn’t quite cut it for me) and it’s not like it made me salivate or want to take a chomp out of my screen. After all, it doesn’t matter what you have in your meal because food tastes better if you enjoy them with your favourite friends, right? Oh yeah. Power of friendship is the best seasoning and spice!

The action parts are mostly very flashy and exaggerated. It adds to the fun and enjoyment in seeing them taking down giant monsters. After all, in this world where you have magic and other stuffs, what is the use of not making use of it? Might as well go all out with what you’ve got. Though, I really wish to see Gourmet Guild fighting as a whole because from what I see now, Pecorine does all the offensive and hard hitting and Karyl only sometimes supports her with her magic. Kokkoro is just a healer so she can’t do much. And here’s another Yuuki running joke because each time he tries to help, because of his retard character, he fails! Yeah, this guy can’t do much either. Except for the last episode of course. No more jokes already. Time to give this guy some credit and ramp him up with some awesome power. Uh huh. This is what they can do if these jokers put all their mind and feelings into it. So with all the different characters having at least their own unique set of skills and magic, it’s time to go all out and flashy with their attack moves. And oh, don’t forget the turn the volume down because the effects from the blast could really be quite loud and deafening.

Art and animation are quite good quality and mostly smooth. Being the fantasy adventure world we’re in, there are lots of very colourful stuffs and the hues are quite vibrant. Basically, eye candy. Of course the character designs have the characters looking cute and kawaii, sometimes making me think that this mobile game is targeted for younger audiences. After all, I saw screenshots of the game and the characters mostly have chibi look in gameplay sequences. Sometimes it bugs me that the Gourmet Guild characters may look like from Sword Art Online! Discount versions of them! At least when I first saw Yuuki, I thought this is what retarded Kirito looks like. And if Asuna had more bust and is a princess of glutton, she’d be Pecorine. Sinon is Kokkoro and Alice/Leafa = Karyl? Could be just me overthinking. I guess with Cygames making their money from their games, they now form their own studio to animate, Cygames Pictures. Aside Manaria Friends and that unheard off Blade Runner movie back in 2017, this is their only other work. I guess they’re doing what Marvel is doing. Tired of lending their assets to other studios to produce, they’ve got enough resources to do their own now.

Considering the huge amount of characters here, it is no surprise that I would encounter a few recognizable seiyuus. It’s once again nice to hear the voices of Yui Horie as Saren, Kana Hanazawa as Aoi, Aoi Yuuki as Suzume, Kana Asumi is Rino, Ami Koshimizu as Shiori, Sora Amamiya as Miyako, Miyuki Sawashiro as Labyrista, Yui Ogura as Kyouka, Rina Hidaka as Mimi, Kenjiro Tsuda as Master, Shigeru Chiba as that fat rude ugly guy and Ayako Kawasumi as Jun, Kikuko Inoue as Pecorine’s mother and Minori Chihahra as Tomo (barely).

The rest of the other casts are Atsushi Abe as Yuuki (Touma in To Aru Majutsu No Index), Mao Ichimichi as Pecorine (Bada in ClassicaLoid), Miku Itou as Kokkoro (Maple in Nekopara), Rika Tachibana as Karyl (Reiko in Shomin Sample), Rie Takahashi as Ameth (Megumin in KonoSuba), Hitomi Nabatame as Shizuru (Margery Daw in Shakugan No Shana), Ayaka Ohashi as Hatsune (Saaya in BanG Dream), Chinami Hashimoto as Eriko (Chiyo in Prison School), Kotono Mitsushi as Mitsuki (titular character in Excel Saga), Haruka Yoshimura as Nanaka (Koharu in Sora No Method), Mariko Kouda as Misato (Miki in Marmalade Boy), Sora Tokui as Rima (Nero in Tantei Opera Milky Holmes), Rei Matsuzaki as Akino (Nina in Citrus), Yuka Ootsubo as Shinobu (Kyouko in YuruYuri), Sakura Tange as Illya (titular character of Cardcaptor Sakura), Chiaki Takahashi as Christina (Nanami in School Days), Aya Suzaki as Karin (Mako in Kill La Kill), Tetsu Inada as Ikacchi (Gamagoori in Kill La Kill) and Jun Fukushima as Charlie (Kazuma in KonoSuba). Phew. That’s quite a lot…

The opening theme, Lost Princess by the female trio of Gourmet Guild, I thought the opening tune of this song reminds me a lot like the iconic one in Sakura Taisen. Did they draw some inspiration from it? Other than that, it’s your typical anime pop that fits the pacing of this series well enough. The same trio sing the ending theme, Soredemo Tomo Ni Aruite Iku, a slow and lovely rock ballad. Personally, I prefer this to the opener.

Overall, this anime isn’t bad. It is quite comedic in nature and many compared this series to KonoSuba although it isn’t necessarily on its same ‘epic’ level. Generally speaking, a group of idiots, uhm, I mean, goofballs, uhm, I mean retards, oops, oh what the heck. A group of fun loving adventurers having fun finding their next meal. The plot isn’t important for now and the characters might not be deep but you can enjoy the great visuals as well as the flashy power battles. That should be good enough or at least satisfactory, right? This season might not be the best dish served but it gives us hope that they will serve us a better and tastier one next season. So I guess that itself isn’t a bad thing. Because it’s a good thing we weren’t made full for this season so we can have more room for the next one. Yeah, this season is just the appetizer and the main course will be next. Hopefully it will come with some soup. Yum.

Tokyo Underground

It was one of those shows that I picked to watch during the Corona virus pandemic. However with the growing list and other pressing animes to watch, somehow I forgotten all about Tokyo Underground until recently. Uh huh. How the heck could I have forgotten?! I don’t know how it even fell off the pecking order and my radar but I’m glad I finally remembered it. With all the other selected anime series checked off my (mental) list, this is perhaps why I started to remember this one. Uh huh. Felt like I was missing an anime… Buried right beneath my nose all along. Oh anyway, this anime is your typical retro shonen anime. Typical cliché teenager guy going on a mission to save his kidnapped princess in an underground world. Doesn’t sound so fascinating when I put it that way. Maybe that’s why I forgot…

Episode 1
Chelsea Rorec takes Ruri Sarasa to run up to the surface. However Seki and his men are hunting them down. Cornered, Chelsea uses her gravity power to burst a hole right up till the surface. Uh, they gonna watch her do her stuff or are they gonna try and catch her? Rumina Asagi finally has a girlfriend! Too bad, just a dream. Yeah, dreams are better because in reality, he has to dodge traps the moment he wakes up! His entire house is filled with traps! Is he a ninja wannabe?! He wants to get back at grandpa for it all but he left for the hotsprings to celebrate Rumina’s first day of high school. WTF logic is this?! On the way to school, he beats up delinquents trying to bully a couple. His friend, Ginnosuke Isuzu warns and reminds him of using violence. You see, Rumina has always been into fights and never lost. He swore to leave this life and live a rose tinted life in high school. Too bad the delinquents attack and he instinctively beats them up. Oh well. Maybe girls like strong guys. In the end, the bullies are no match for him but this plan backfires because the girls thinks he is a violent jerk and will stay as far away from him. There goes his rose coloured life. When he returns home, he thought there is a thief in his house. Nope. Just Chelsea. Being wounded, she collapses. What’s this about Underground? Yeah, there’s a huge hole in his courtyard! When Ruri’s screams are heard (because Ginnosuke ‘caught the thief’), Chelsea attacks him but is blocked by Rumina. Since Chelsea is weakened and injured, she passes out. After putting her to bed, Ruri talks about how she likes the surface. First time she could feel the nice breeze and can see far in the distance. She pleads to him that they have no one to rely on here and to help them. Chelsea must have got some sort of Ruri-in-danger sensor because when Ruri holds Rumina’s hands, she wakes up thinking Rumina is assaulting her and starts getting violent. And it goes without saying that Seki and his men have chased the traitors up to the surface too.

Episode 2
Ginnosuke is impressed as Chelsea explains briefly about Underground. Apparently Chelsea asked if Ruri wanted to see a real bed of flowers. And that’s the reason she decided to bring her up! And now, Rumina is showing Ruri the real bed of flowers and thinks this is where his rose coloured life will begin. If only no violent blonde could come between them. This spat is put on hold as Seki and his men are here. Chelsea goes to fight the soldiers and easily defeats them. But it is just a ploy to tire out Chelsea as she has expended much of her power. Seki steps in and uses his fire power to fight her. However she surprises him by moving faster and since she excels in close quarter combat, she gives him no space to fight back. She could have won had not she ran out of power in the last minute. I guess we need some sort of drama. Too early to end the episode. Seki then torments her by entrapping in his flame circle. Cue for Rumina to step in because he can’t stand seeing a hot chick getting bullied. As he brags about being the undefeated king and has got this in the bag, suddenly Seki kills him! OMFG!!! IS THIS A JOKE?! Nope. Rumina dead. Damn, we have time for a tearjerker to cry to over a dying guy? Oh man, Rumina blaming himself for making a girl cry? Ruri after slapping Seki, blames herself for getting everyone involved in this. Hence she uses her powerful but unstable spiritual summoning ability to bring Rumina back to life. Complete with a kiss. But of course. Seki witnesses this incredible phenomenon and now realizes why the Company wants Ruri the shrine maiden of life so badly. A revived Rumina now has the ability to control wind as he blows away Seki. Seki is smart not to engage with Rumina. He escapes for now but warns others will be back for them soon. Rumina and Ginnosuke are relieved Ruri is just asleep after using her powers but Chelsea reminds them the wind Rumina blew away from her entrapment is now burning his house down!

Episode 3
Rumina trying to set traps all over his house. If only he doesn’t set them off himself. Chelsea has her hands full watching Ruri who has been sleeping for 3 days. Now she has to go yell at Rumina and train his powers. Yup, he can’t make that wind power again. Who made Chelsea the boss anyway? Rumina manages to escape so Chelsea blows her top. Why take it out on Ginnosuke? Sure, she told him to watch Rumina but if you want something done, do it yourself! At this point, Ruri wakes up. First thing she asks is to find Rumina because she senses he is in danger. As Rumina idles around at the park, this bratty twintail loli, Shieru Messiah comes to challenge him. You know she is bad news when electricity current runs through her body. He tries to escape but she covered the entire park with her electricity barrier. She wants him to display his wind power but obviously nothing happens. The rest come by. Can’t miss this place. The biggest electric discharge that’s happening around. They can’t get into the barrier and Chelsea knows the Company sent an assassin to test out Rumina’s power. Ruri feels guilty for getting Rumina involved with this. Rumina then throws trash at Shieru as distraction. When he pulls off her ribbon, that is her device to control her electric power so now her power is going berserk. A powerful blast threatens to strike Ruri so Rumina got the time to even remember Chelsea’s teachings? Thank goodness for plot convenience because his wind ability is now here and blows away the blast. Damn, big wind can blow away a huge electricity current?! Shieru realizes there is no point in risking her life anymore since the job to test Rumina is done. She escapes while Rumina and Ruri are happy to see each other. Chelsea ponders that nobody in Underground has such wind power and the first person to use it is a surface dweller. This means the Company will not only target Ruri but Rumina too.

Episode 4
Rumina and Ginnosuke head to school and this piques Ruri’s interest on what school is. I suppose they don’t have the same school system in Underground, eh? Her interests piquing more when that delinquent comes by to get revenge but got smitten by Ruri’s cuteness. So he wanna rape her now?! Thank goodness for Chelsea. So when Ruri asks Rumina about school, he offers to take her to his school. Chelsea is against this seeing this will make her an easy target. But Ruri admitting she is selfish, still wants to go. And so Rumina sneaks her into his school at night. Isn’t this illegal? Whatever. Ruri having fun is all that matters. Then Ruri asks about the moon (because she has never seen one before, duh) so I suppose Rumina’s studies isn’t that good as he asks his nerdy friend to explain. Hope she isn’t bored. The frolicking ends when Ruri is captured by a water cage. Yeah, you guys really let your guard down. Chelsea realizes this could only be the doing of Taylor Ashford, a water user. Taylor challenges them to come save Ruri. While Rumina makes haste, Chelsea can’t since she is forced to fight Pairon, another water user. Chelsea has a tough time fighting him. No surprise since Pairon is the second ranked fighter in Underground. He is disappointed that Seki lost to her. Uhm, didn’t Seki lost to Rumina? Meanwhile Rumina has to fight off water clones made by Taylor. Suddenly Rumina feels the power in his body gone so Taylor explains he used them all up. Learn the hard way that everyone has got their limits. So how is Rumina going to save Ruri in her water crucifixion?

Episode 5
Rumina rushes in to save her but gets owned. Because Taylor brags how this is Ruri’s fault, blah, blah, blah, enough time for Rumina to revive and own him. They fight again and… Rumina loses! Seeing Rumina in a tortured state, sad Ruri decides to go back Underground. Thanks for all the good times. Man, the flashback showed like as though they’ve been together for a long time. Of course Taylor will not let Rumina off the hook easily since he scarred his face. With Rumina taking another beating, devastated Ruri somewhat unleashes some power in him. This might be premature but I think Rumina will get more powerful the more Ruri cries… With that, Rumina’s wind power returns. Powerful enough to become a tornado and defeat Taylor. Meanwhile Chelsea has no chance against Pairon. Could have actually lost had not Pairon sensed Taylor’s defeat. He goes to collect Chelsea and reminds Taylor to stop playing around because their mission is to retrieve Ruri. Now that they’ve got her, let’s go. I guess Rumina has used up all his powers and can’t move. Can only watch Ruri go away. Besides, Ruri believes that as long as they’re alive, they’ll see each other again. Rumina’s scream of despair as her farewell gift? Oops! Back home, an impatient Rumina wants to go save Ruri but Ginnosuke is more level headed as he nurses his wounds and wants Chelsea to explain to them about Underground. As Ruri’s life is important, her safety is guaranteed so all they have to do is go rescue her. Yeah, at least this guy is thinking. Chelsea starts about Underground’s past. There is also a place called Tokyo there. But scientists used it to experiment on elemental users. One day they stumbled into a powerful monster called Ron. Fearing the chaos it would wreak, the scientists were forcefully sealed there along with the sleeping Ron. Hence the Company who rules Underground wants Ruri’s power to revive Ron to gain revenge on surface dwellers who abandoned them. Ruri is unaware of this plan as she is the only one who has this ability to manipulate life. Rumina should know as he experienced it. Meanwhile, I didn’t know some secret passageway underneath the bridge is a link to Underground! Is this Harry Potter fantasy stuff or something?

Episode 6
Grandpa’s back. After a month at the hotsprings. Had fun, eh? I guess seeing Chelsea around and his house wrecked, he needs to know what’s going on. So grandpa understands Rumina needs to get stronger to save the girl he loves after losing pathetically. That’s the truth, right? Yeah. Training episode! First he assesses them and as expected, none of them can touch this old fart despite ganging up on him. Since they are determined to save Ruri, grandpa will personally see through their training. And hence the beginning of that. This is not Karate Kid but whatever. I hope Ginnosuke can keep up with it all. Grandpa then teaches Rumina to cut a leaf without touching it and also he swipes Chelsea’s ass and molest her as part of the training. Gotta react faster than that if she doesn’t want this old lecher to continue touching her. And Ginnosuke has to run more to build stamina. All that training just the first day???!!! Holy sh*t. After 8 days of training, looks like they’re ready for the final test. They are to retrieve a treasure in this old cave. Not going to be a stroll in the park since it is laden with typical grandpa traps. In the end, the treasure is a sword. Once Rumina picks it up, the cave starts to crumble. Time to show the fruits of his training by slashing it in half! Yay! But I don’t think he is stupid trying to slash all the crumbling rocks. The cave is caving in. Run! Once out, grandpa confirms the sword as Kogarasumaru. Grandpa has been tasked by generations to keep it as he tells them about a wind user who used the sword to defeat 100 people at once. I guess Rumina gets to continue that legacy. Rumina and Chelsea talk about their resolve to go save Ruri. Hey, at this point, no turning back. Savour the nice view of the moon while they have the chance.

Episode 7
Shieru is Ruri’s new bodyguard. Oh Ruri, you mean to look that surprised? But Ruri starts by becoming Shieru’s friend. Meanwhile Chelsea leads the guys to an abandoned train tunnel that leads to Underground. I’m sure there’s some Harry Potter reference here somewhere… After a long walk, they arrive at a huge gate. Don’t want to barge in and alert the Company. So there’s a working terminal that needs a password to open, huh? Only a few higher ups in the Company knows, huh? Chelsea is one of them but looks like they changed the password. Don’t get brute now. Thanks to Ginnosuke’s hacking skills, the gate is open. But at the price of frying his laptop. I really want to know what programme he used to hack this sophisticated metal gate!!! Damn, Pairon and his computer programmers already notice this. Yeah, those guys should’ve barged in anyway. Pairon then authorizes the release of a beast named Cerberus to attack them even if this puts the nearby village at risk. As the Underground is an ever changing maze, Chelsea herself can’t pinpoint the exact location. So it’s up to luck, huh? Then they’re attacked by Cerberus. More like a sabre tooth tiger. The enclosed space doesn’t allow Rumina to use his new ability so Chelsea manages to use her gravity to drop slabs on it. That easy, huh? They arrive in the nearby settlement. It’s not the sun. Powerful lights acting as sun and its energy supplied by the Company. Yeah, electricity bill is going to skyrocket but hey, the Company owns it, right? While little kids think surface dwellers are the baddies, some adults are more rational. They don’t blame outsiders but cannot disobey the Company’s orders. And then big kitty comes in. Yeah, you think a few slabs were enough to kill Cerberus. Time for Rumina to show off his new skill and cut it into half. That easy, huh? However it’s a thankless job since the kids blame Rumina for bringing this monster here. Why those little brats. He just saved your asses!

Episode 8
While an old lady is kind enough to house them when the place turns into artificial night, we see Ruri having a meal with Shieru. She’s talking all the good times she had with Rumina. So good that she misses them and cries! This is weird. Please don’t spoil dinner. While the kids are ‘bullying’ Rumina, looks like they also steal Kogarasumaru. So when he notices it is gone, he goes out to look for it. Of course this is part of the ploy of Rou to get him out of the picture so that he could target Chelsea and throw all his metal beams at her. In the darkness, Chelsea cannot see him and so far she is lucky dodging it all. The kids are devastated because this wasn’t part of the deal. Apparently Rou told them to steal the sword so as to aid him in getting rid of the surface dwellers. Ginnosuke realizes about the artificial day and night so he traces the cables to bring back the light to the place. Damn, this kid isn’t only a hacker but an electrician?! Anyway, the lights are back and Chelsea is able to see and fight Rou. The kids go find Rumina so as to return Kogarasumaru. Damn, I wonder how far he went looking for it since he didn’t hear the ruckus of the battle. Chelsea is able to defeat Rou but this guy plays dirty by taking a villager hostage. Cue for Rumina to return and show off his new skill and send this guy to his defeat. All is well as Chelsea gets her deserved rest. Meanwhile Ginnosuke gets lost. He has the misfortune to stumble into Rou who fled the scene. This guy is going to take out his loss on him however is warned by Sui in bullying the weak. Rou flees seeing Sui threatens to use his fire gun on him.

Episode 9
WTF?! Ginnosuke tailing Sui and he’s not even hiding it?! No wonder Sui feels freaked out. Turns out that Ginnosuke is interested with his unusual gun. Sui explains it is left behind by the scientists and its parts are quite rare. He is still doing some experiment on it to make it optimum. Apparently it can also shoot other elements like turning water into ice. It seems Sui is trying to rebel against the Company. Ginnosuke is interested to have one since he wants to fight along with his friends. So Sui gives him a list of parts to find. Good luck finding them at the junkyard pile. Meanwhile Ruri continues to talk to Shieru how wonderful the surface is. She taken the bait? Hasn’t she forgotten she been up there once? Or was she too engrossed in her mission to even notice that? Seeing Ginnosuke working hard and not giving up to find the parts, this reminds him of a certain person’s resolve. Long ago he lived a peaceful life with his girlfriend until the Company’s soldiers took her and other elemental users away. Regretting he was powerless to do anything, he searched for a way to gain power. That’s how he got this gun but soon realized even with such power, fighting against the Company himself is futile. Sui helps Ginnosuke find the parts. Oh man, they find them all in record time! That fast?! And also create a better one too! OMFG! Is this plot convenience too convenient?! Too fast, dude!!! Ginnosuke tries it out and you can tell it is super incredible and more powerful! Meanwhile Rumina who was trying to look for his best friend has been stumbling into other villagers who sought his help for odd jobs. Yeah, no one as useful as him around to do errands. So when he finally starts looking, he finds Ginnosuke’s glasses at the rubble. Oh, don’t go assuming he is dead! So why the heck does he have to argue with Chelsea about this? And then Ginnosuke just pops back. Just like that! Of course everyone couldn’t recognize him without his glasses. Speaking of which, so this guy’s vision is quite good without glasses? Why wear them other than to hide his beautiful eyes anyway? With the team as a whole, they resume their mission to rescue Ruri.

Episode 10
Wandering long enough, our heroic trio arrive at a decimated spot. What seems to be rubbles and a huge cavity turn out to be what is called Underglobe as explained by Chelsea. This was the spot where Ron first unleashed its power before escaping. No time to admire because here comes Sharma Rufus to take on her old pal Chelsea. Rumina can’t aid her since Taylor is also here for revenge. Geez, just mention a bit about Ruri and Rumina’s blood boil? Oh well, let’s see how these guys have improved. Meanwhile Shieru tells Ruri that her friends are here to rescue her. Wow. Ruri so happy that she cries? I don’t even know why Shieru is doing such service to her and if she thinks she can demoralize her by saying her friends stand no chance, she didn’t watch enough anime to know how it often turns out! Haha! Ginnosuke tries to help Chelsea by pointing his gun and Sharma. I think he wants to show off his new power that’s why he purposely brags about it. But when he pulls the trigger, only duds fired? Then a note by Sui saying he swapped his with a dud since he felt Ginnosuke wasn’t ready to handle a powerful weapon yet. Yeah… I guess he has to sit out this fight. The ladies duke it out and with Chelsea showing the fruits of her labour from grandpa’s training, Sharma casts away her whip and starts using her ice powers now. Yeah, she’s making a few special moves and this makes Chelsea sweat and worried? Damn, I think she needs more training… When Rumina tries to use his technique, the ground collapses and he falls through. This guy also needs more training…

Episode 11
Don’t worry. Rumina still lives. Because he has powered to the next level and using the wind to float himself! So he can fly now?! Yeah, now he understands grandpa’s teachings so much so giving Taylor a run for his money, surprising this cocky brat with new moves against his. Back to Chelsea x Sharma fight, you mean Chelsea now only realize why the place is slippery and frosting? Was she even aware she was fighting an ice user? Anyway, Chelsea deduces Sharma’s tricks. Yeah, good job. So what? Sharma is confident in finishing her off with the next move but Chelsea tricks her by using Sharma’s own ice move to create an illusion of herself. So when Sharma shatters the ice illusion instead, Chelsea lands a good punch right in her face. KO! Taylor is further shocked seeing Rumina is able to dispel all his water needles that is faster than the eye. Yeah, finally thought he actually controlled the wind to sense those water needles, huh? Rumina lands the finishing move. Well, if Taylor says he has lost, so be it. And then he tries a sneaky attack but still fails. In shock, he almost falls to his death but Rumina catches his hand. Wow. Is this the part where Taylor is going to be his ally? Not yet. Because Taylor tells him the cruel truth of why underground people hate surface dwellers. Relating his own past, Taylor came from some poor snowy village. Scientists then took him away to Underground for experiments and nobody stopped them. This is the same for all Underground residents like Chelsea and Seki. All of them were abandoned. They have nowhere else to go. As the years passed, Taylor couldn’t care less about revenge and all. As long as he keeps winning, he can forget those bad memories. Of course until he met Rumina. Taylor escapes and being the bad loser he is, he will get his revenge one day. He won’t die till he defeats him. Ginnosuke comes to pick up Rumina. Uhm, couldn’t Rumina use his wind power to fly back up? Why the roundabout way? Unless he is out of power. But not as empty as Chelsea. But enough energy to still argue, though. Yeah, they’re so loud and worried they could wake up Sharma, why didn’t they at least tie her up???!!! Chelsea falls asleep as Rumina carries her on his back. Some flashback memories… Meanwhile the big boss of Company, Lord Kasshin meets up with his executives. So just to announce the seal of Ron is weakening and they’ll soon conquer the surface? Okay. Motivations are needed from time to time.

Episode 12
Shieru is hiding in the ventilation to eavesdrop the report regarding Taylor currently missing and the troops recovering Sharma from the battlefield. Since she still doubts Rumina, Ruri hugs her and wants to be her onee-sama because she was once alone like her. Oh damn. Looks like Shieru has been bought by her. You can see her happy looks. So much so more ventilation sneaking until she hears reports to Pairon how Ruri’s life will be used to revive Ron. Gasp! Oh no. Onee-sama in danger! As Chelsea is still out cold, Rumina and Ginnosuke have to run from soldiers chasing after them. Surprisingly they are saved by Jilherts “Jill” Micheat and Emily Ronolf. Although they are the Company’s elite guards, they are more of Chelsea’s fanclub girls. The duo help hide the guys and bring them to their town where they take refuge in a hotel. The guys learn that their job is not to catch the criminals but to retrieve Sharma who is surprisingly the biggest fanclub girl of Chelsea! Shieru returns to take Ruri to Rumina. She beats up the only guard stationed there. And to think Ruri is such an important factor, they’d put more guards outside her room. Yeah… However thankfully the other guards outside could see through Ruri’s flimsy disguise. The alert is sounded and the entire place is put on lockdown. Shieru fights her way through those lowly guards to take Ruri out. Just when she thought they are home free, before them is Pairon.

Episode 13
Pairon warns Ruri to return and he’ll spare Shieru’s life. But Shieru is relishing for a fight. Okay. If that’s what you want. Meanwhile Rumina tells Jill all that has happened but she doesn’t trust him. She goes berserk seeing how casual he calls Chelsea. Had not Emily restrain her, another bloodshed might have happened. Anyway, even if Rumina is speaking the truth, Jill’s trust pecking order is like this: Chelsea > Company > Rumina. Since he is being impatient, she tells him off their only option is to wait for Chelsea to heal and wake up to plan their next move. I mean, Rumina isn’t all that powerful himself and it’s not like he got here by his own power, right? Yeah. So shut up and wait! Returning to Pairon’s fight with Shieru, Pairon now plays psychology with Ruri. The more this fight prolongs, the person she loves will get hurt. Just like the last time, remember? Wow. This works so well. Shieru has to slap some senses to her to believe in her. Because she wants her to run away by herself while she takes care of Pairon. To promise she’ll come after her, Shieru gives Ruri her ribbon. So Ruri has to brush away her trauma and escape herself. Now Shieru can fight Pairon in peace. Knowing she is no match for him, she’s trying to play science? I mean, what happens when water and electricity mix, right? But Pairon f*cks science and defeats her with his ultimate power move! Before you science purists disregard this, Pairon explains the science behind this. Apparently he removes all the impurities and that is how his very pure water defeated her electricity. But now f*ck science and return to more epic power shonen style fight! Pairon should’ve controlled the water in her body to kill her. But I guess that wasn’t part of the script so he is just making her suffer. After forcing her out why she did this, he brushes off that stupid revenge plot. His goal to use Ruri’s life is much higher than that. With that out of the way, Pairon is going to kill her.

Episode 14
Too bad the script says no deaths today yet. So Seki intervenes and reminds Pairon about some protocol thingy. Whatever. Pairon gives up and did Seki just fire Shieru? At least she can rest for now. Rumina is not pleased that Emily will be taking the guys on a sightseeing trip. Jill mocks him that he is afraid to know about the Company’s technologies because if he does, he will get weak. Can prideful Rumina refuse after hearing all that? As Ruri continues to run, she stumbles into a weird group of elite guards who serve directly under Pairon. You can tell that they want to toy with her as they ‘chase’ while she runs. Yeah, no point getting their mission done so quick. Might as well have some fun. Underground must be really a boring place. As Ruri has reached the tower gate, an explosion occurs. This wakes up Chelsea so she too has a bad feeling of this. Emily is glad to see her up and running but unfortunately Chelsea doesn’t recognize her. Ah well. Just be glad you’re her fan girl. Rumina goes off himself to the explosion but finds himself fighting off with Kemuri. This violent guy just swinging his freaking huge sword around. As Jill carries Chelsea over to the tower gate, she learns the truth from Chelsea and still finds it hard that the Company isn’t the kind of organization she thought it was. That couldn’t be further than the truth when they are confronted by Netsu. The fight brings Rumina to the top arch of the tower gate. He sees Ruri across. Don’t get distracted now because Kemuri is going to chop off his head from behind! Watch out!

Episode 15
Don’t worry. Rumina blocks the attack but Kemuri drags him to another place to fight. Yeah, can’t let the fight be distracted by a maiden, right? Kemuri shows off his powers by using smoke to hide his presence and then attack Rumina. Uhm, is it a good time for Rumina to use his wind power to blow it away? Meanwhile Netsu fights Chelsea. And after a while, Netsu loses! Man, this fight was damn fast!!! So this Netsu guy was just all talk, huh? Chelsea not even warmed up and the fight ended… Elsewhere, Ginnosuke was tasked by Emily to go get Jill. However he stumbled into Kage. She keeps disappearing and seeing his stumped face, I guess Kage had to even explain her shadow powers and how it works. Yeah, how can Ginnosuke hit a shadow anyway? But don’t worry. Here conveniently comes Sui! He’s back! Do we even have time for a cheesy reunion and Ginnosuke getting mad at him for the embarrassment he went without his gun? Yeah, don’t worry now. Sui gives it back after doing some modifications. Now they can fight together as Sui reveals Kage’s actual use of her shadow powers. Some nerve gas she used, that’s why Ginnosuke can’t pinpoint her location. Oto comes by to mock Kage is losing. But don’t worry. He will send his puppet to help. The puppet beats up Sui who then recognizes her as his girlfriend, Hekisa. Sui explains to Ginnosuke about the secret that not many Underground people know: They kidnap people from the surface with elemental powers and kill off the rest. Those who disobey will also die. Oto claims that those who have been kidnapped are brainwashed and their past memories erased. So no use trying to call out the old Hekisa and bring her to her senses. Wow, Sui you mean you’re in despair now? Is that all to your confidence?

Episode 16
A little more elaboration on Sui’s flashback. Not sure what he is running away from but he stumbled into Hekisa. Despite being a stranger, she treated him well. They lived a happy life together until those damn soldiers came to attack the village. You can guess what happened from there. Oto leaves them to fight so he could go play with Chelsea. Weak Ginnosuke keeps running away from Kage, making it one of the weirdest tag chases ever. Sui can’t believe Hekisa forgot all her memories. He can’t fight back. So will this harmonica he often played to her do the trick? Nope. Still got beaten up. Rumina thinks a lot about Ruri. You think that would be the catalyst for him to power up and fight back with victory in tow but not just yet. That’s just another of Kemuri’s illusions. Oto thinks he outsmarted Chelsea since he can detect the faintest noise and come up with a counterattack using sound waves. Too bad he didn’t expect Chelsea to break the ground so that the underground water would gush all over, making the whole place as noisy as f*ck and he can’t hear where she’s coming from. Ginnosuke is cornered. So now he is only going to use the gun? Too bad without his glasses he can’t see and aim well. Oh well, Kage does him a favour by charging straight at him. At point blank range, Ginnosuke shoots and freezes her body all over with ice. Easy. More despair for Sui because Hekisa steps and breaks the harmonica. Sad.

Episode 17
Rumina in a pinch. Oh damn, he dropped his sword too?! Oto is pretty dumb because he tells how his mind control tricks work. Oh Chelsea, you don’t mean to look so surprised? But she finds it odd. If Oto can control the minds of others, why is he still taking orders from Pairon? Sui continues to get beat down by Hekisa. But as she is about to finish him off, the look in Sui’s eyes look familiar. Oh no. Yes, this is when Hekisa starts to remember bits of her memories. It confuses the hell out of her at first so mind all the screaming and hostility. Until finally both of them pass out. Yeah, it’s been a tiring fight. Safe to say, Hekisa’s memories have fully returned and isn’t Sui glad he didn’t lay a finger on her? Glad to have her back. All Chelsea needs to do is cover her ears and negate Oto’s mind control flute! Haha! Beat your stupid system! But wait. Jill is now under his control! Oh no! Oto then orders her to kill Chelsea. Obviously Jill was just pretending so she beats him up and Chelsea destroying his flute. So how did Jill negate his effects? Simple. She was wearing earplugs, silly!!! Yeah, but how did she hear his orders then? Can she read lips? Anyway, they abuse this kid to make him spill the beans about Ruri’s whereabouts. Ginnosuke reunites with Sui. However I’m sure Sui wants to spend time catching up with Hekisa so if Ginnosuke ever gets into trouble in the future and needs his help, call him with this device. It’s just a f*cking handphone… Ciao. Gotta spend time with my lost love. I guess we’re running out of time so Rumina defeats Kemuri with his wind move. Basically, his ambition of spending time with a cute girl > whatever Kemuri’s ambitions. There. End of fight. Ruri feels so demoralized that the ghost of Shieru had to come and motivate her that she isn’t alone?! You bet it is going to work because Ruri psychos herself that. And what do you know? Rumina finishing his fight and appearing across her. You got to love happy endings…

Episode 18
Seki and the guards surround the base of the tower gate. They can’t see that it is Pairon coming out from it and thought he was a suspicious person?! Are they blind?! Anyway, he claims he is here to investigate so I guess you buggers can go investigate elsewhere. Awkward for Rumina and Ruri. So they’re talking about how Rumina’s hair has grown? Oh well. Better than awkward silence. So as he goes to get her (how the f*ck does he know how to activate the switch to connect the bridge?!), of course she is captured by the one and only Pairon. Remember the guy who made Ruri cry? Yeah. More flashback about their fun days on the surface. I’m sure this will have Rumina power up. Even more so when Ruri realizes this means Shieru is defeated. Pairon is here to take Ruri back and not interested to fight him. However Rumina doesn’t care all that. He has a promise to keep with Ruri. Pairon attacks him but as you can see from Rumina’s training, he blocks off his water attack. Pairon tries to talk about how all elements belong the maiden, blah, blah, blah. I don’t get it. So? Yeah. Rumina thinks so too. Like gives a sh*t about it. Just give back Ruri, damn it! Meanwhile guards spot Chelsea and start firing! Man, aren’t they worried they hit each other? Oh, no worries. They’re such bad shots! Chelsea’s path to Ruri is stopped since Seki is here. This time the guards aim right. She gets shot many times! Oh, so those are rubber bullets? Because Rumina is able to somehow bypass Pairon’s water barrier and put a scratch on his face, you bet this guy is mad. Nobody has done this to him for a long. So mad that he doesn’t care about Ruri, tosses her away so as to teach that brat a lesson. Ruri abuse is sure to work up more Rumina’s rage. But the fight is interrupted because only now Emily reaches the top and she’s like calling out everyone’s name. Like, WTF?! Can’t you see the battle is raging on???!!! Cue for Pairon to play dirty as he targets Emily. Rumina is forced to protect her and takes the damage. Oh sh*t. He fell off?! That’s a long way down! And poor Ruri. Today must be a traumatic day.

Episode 19
So traumatic that Ruri unleashes her light power to cushion Rumina’s fall and also heal his wounds. Oh Rumina, what’s this about complaining you failed your promise? So why sit there and sulk?! Go do something! Next thing we know, Ruri is back in her room. I guess she learnt her lesson because the maid who comes in to serve her, she doesn’t even talk to her. After what happened to Chelsea and then Shieru, you think she’d think twice in converting this one too! So much so she starts thinking if it is always so, might as well never leave this room in the first place. However she sees visions of her friends who in turn give her words of motivation. Yeah. That should do the trick. And then she thought Chelsea is at the door. Wow. You’re really hoping it’s her, huh? Nope. It’s Kasshin. He tries to assure her this and that with his nice voice but I believe Ruri wised up as she just sits there and acts like a stone. Kasshin promises to protect her. By killing those who does cruel things to her! Yeah, pretty smooth there. Flashback shows a young Kasshin looking for his sister. He found her in some incubation tube. She wanted to him to kill her but he couldn’t. So is Ruri some sort of replacement for his sister because she looks like her? As he leaves, he confronts Pairon who might be the next Taylor since he is sulking over Rumina scratching his face. Because Ruri’s face has a wound, he slaps Pairon who is trying to give excuses about it. He warns him he’ll put a scar on the other side of his face. Yeah. So that’s where the other scar comes from. I can’t believe Rumina has time moping around and complaining how useless he is. Here comes Chelsea to beat him up for not saving Ruri. Like she’s any better herself! So as they beat each other up, they realize how useless they are for not being able to save Ruri. Hey, it’s not game over. Can try again, right?! Eventually when they both hit each other, I guess that means they feel a lot better. Weird people. But whatever. Next day they continue their mission but this time Jill and Emily will follow them. Got to keep an eye on Chelsea, right? Meanwhile Pairon talks to Kourin and has high expectations of him to eliminate all those that Ruri doesn’t need.

Episode 20
Chelsea takes her team on a long detour in order to reach the palace where Ruri is held. She expects places near the tower gate will be strengthened and focused hence this is their only way of sneaking in. Sharma has been following the team ever since and when she is about to pound on Chelsea, she falls through the vulnerable ground! How the f*ck could she miss???!!! Anyway, the gang continues their journey but is fascinated with some strange guy selling accessories to them. Heck, he gives them for free. They’ll learn the hard way there’s no free lunch because this guy turns out to be Rou in disguise. Because of the metal accessories, he pins them to the wall. As Rumina is the only one who didn’t buy into them, before he could attack Rou, he is intercepted by Kourin and his yoyos. As Kourin is Rou’s brother, he too has magnetism. The brothers gang up on him but the moment Rumina hears Pairon is behind this, he gets mad. Yeah, what will that do? Flashback shows Pairon promised the highest ranking seat if he completes this mission. Kourin is indebted to him and will stake his life on it. Eventually Rumina figures out Kourin’s pattern. In fact, there is no pattern unlike Taylor’s. It is so random and this could mean he can’t control them well. So he tries to freak the brat out by coming closer to him. In trying to control the situation, Rumina lands a big punch in Kourin’s face. No iron in his fist? I guess he got no iron in his blood… Kourin becomes desperate he goes all out but got taken out by his own yoyo. And somehow Chelsea broke free and knock out Rou. We see more of Kourin’s flashbacks. His village despise him for having such powers and only Rou stood up for him. Of course Underground soldiers came and Pairon personally saved him from this hell. But too bad Pairon being the baddie he is, now that the brothers have lost, he gives the orders to destroy that place. Since his underlings won’t do it, he presses it himself! Wait. They have a self-destruct button?! And everyone falls in deeper. Poor Sharma. She thought she had recovered and was going in for the strike again, only to fall with everybody else. Uh huh. That sinking feeling again…

Episode 21
Wow. Pairon over the PA just to tell them they’re falling to the depths of hell. Chelsea understands what that means because they’re going to fall into the worst part of Underground known as the slums. As usual, Rumina needs to think about Ruri before he could do something. His wind power might cushion the fall but I guess it separates everyone and they still got a hard landing. No wonder everyone screaming like this is some sort of roller coaster ride. Unfortunately Rumina only has Kourin and Chelsea by his side. The rest are missing so you bet they have to find them before resuming their mission. So their first stop is the artificial bathhouse? Better than nothing. Meanwhile Sharma has turned into a joke. She is found by Shieru who is now living here after being banished from the Company. Shieru agrees to take her around in exchange to being treated. Sharma now such a bad luck girl. Chelsea explains this lawless place. All those whom the Company find troublesome are tossed into this area where there is no way back up. Technically, an abandoned place that the Company doesn’t even care. Buy hey, at least they have no influence here. Oddly for some reason, Rumina buys Chelsea a pair of earrings. She needs to act more feminine to blend in?! What kind of stupid logic is that?! Don’t troll us with some pseudo romance since Rumina eking out something about Chelsea being cute! WTF?! In an instant, a few baddies want to toy with them. Rumina easily defeats them and here comes the big boss who has sulphuric acid as his power. Meh. Another pushover. Just look intimidating. While staying at a hotel as Chelsea tries to plan their next move, suddenly out of the blue Kourin asks if they are lovers! No, right?! Good. Because she wants Chelsea to marry his brother and become his sister-in-law. WTF???!!! Do we have time for this?! Go to bed! Gee, Chelsea goes to bed with those earrings too? Late that night, an assailant drops a smoke bomb and attacks. Can’t just Rumina blow away the smoke? Anyway, why look so shock when she turns out to be a girl?

Episode 22
Reiyon is actually a Hanjuujin (half beast). Long ago, scientists also tinkered with injecting animal DNA into humans. But one day the project was suddenly scrapped and the Hanjuujin were sent somewhere. I guess it was the slums. Reiyon was just testing Rumina to see his strength because she is recruiting members for the underground tournament. Winners can get whatever they want. Like leaving this place? Gee, I don’t see anybody enthusiastically trying to participate. As this is a team tournament, she is scouting for members. While doing so, a group of baddies pop up. I suppose this is to showcase that Chelsea and Kourin are badass themselves so Reiyon can see for herself they are useful teammates. Yup, they’re in. As they need at least 5 members, they also need a substitute just in case. Meanwhile Ginnosuke, Jill and Emily are working in some restaurant. This place isn’t so bad. They also hear about the tournament and try to recruit. Nobody is buying the bait until Emily and Ginnosuke says Jill will give them a hot kiss if they win. Like anybody would buy that! Oh, but a guy did! Isn’t this Rou in disguise?! Meanwhile Sui is investigating the big hole when soldiers recognize this rebel and attack him. He jumps down! Thankfully, thruster boots! As he lands in the slums, Kourin attacks him and tries to steal his boots to get out. Of course this guy is cool and fights him long enough to escape. Reiyon could’ve joined in too but it looks like she is somewhat sick. It is hinted she is having some illness and hence her wish to join the tournament to win is to see the maiden. Speaking of her, Ruri hasn’t smiled ever since… Oh boy… Sui’s boots run out of fuel and he falls directly at Ginnosuke. Yeah, they’ve got themselves another member. Sharma is also trying to recruit. Then Shieru spots Chelsea and Rumina. Hostility put aside because both sides update each other what happened. Yeah, feeling bad their efforts to save Ruri is wasted? Don’t cry now! Why not join them and win this tournament?

Episode 23
So I guess Sharma is part of Reiyon’s team too, huh? After that sophisticated register, you mean there are sophisticated rules too? Isn’t this a no holds barred tournament? Whatever. Our heroes just need to win, right? Their first round opponents are macho men. Yeah, Rumina just blows them all away in this battle royale for their first win! This also pisses of his teammates because they want a piece of the action. Meanwhile we see Ginnosuke fighting his opponent. At first looks he is going to lose. But then he realizes that perhaps he needs to take off his glasses like the last time. And so he did. Nothing happens. Until last minute he fires when the dumb opponent is at point blank range. Damn lucky fella. Elsewhere, Pairon receives report that Ruri’s unstable state of mind and depression, at this rate Ron will not be awakened. Therefore he goes to tell her that her pals are still alive in the slums. Oh well. Tears of happiness. I guess seeing Rumina cry is way better than seeing her as a gloomy lifeless zombie. The highlight of Team Reiyon’s fifth match is their fight against a team of Hanjuujin. But don’t worry. Shieru makes it look easy with her effortless win. Then Sharma might be clumsy at first but she too eventually gets the better of her opponent. Reiyon then seals the win by making his opponent submit. This tough guy afraid of death?! Whatever. And they make a joke about Kourin being unable to fight because his teammates were faster into the ring before he does. And so Team Reiyon makes their way to the finals. Maybe Kourin can see some action now, huh? Maybe.

Episode 24
Oh no. More Ruri tears. Kasshin learns that her friends might be the root of her ‘illness’ so he tries to play the nice guy by offering he’ll give her anything she wants. Really? Ruri wants to go outside. Uhm… Anything but that! He tries to give excuse she is safe within the Company and then he gets psychological with her. If she continues to be in this state, imagine what will Rumina’s reaction will be. Oh yeah. Don’t mope anymore. Meanwhile the tournament final pits Team Reiyon and… Who the f*ck is Team Rei???!!! So I suppose Ginnosuke and co didn’t make it, huh? Chelsea wants to go first seeing the opponent’s first combatant is familiar. Indeed. He is Reisho the flame user and they have a little history together. No, they weren’t dating, mind you! Long ago when Chelsea was still Ruri’s bodyguard, while she was away on a secret mission to take out rebels, she learnt to late that was a diversion as the real rebels snuck into the palace to kidnap Ruri. This was only possible because Reisho used to be one of the Company’s elites but was fired for whatever reasons. Reisho felt bitter and highly thought of himself having far more superior skills include that of those like Seki. Anyway, the rebels wanted to use Ruri as a bait to destroy the Company for their suffering. Sure, but to take it out on a defenceless maiden who doesn’t even know the Company’s plan to begin with? Despicable. So when Chelsea returned, she fought Reisho and won. Yeah, she kept her promise to Ruri. Now, as they fight, Reisho thinks since their goals are aligned, they should join forces against the Company. Of course Chelsea declines. Unlike him, she wasn’t fired but abandoned the Company at her own accord. Also, her loyalty is with Ruri all along and not the Company. With that, Reisho loses again. Meanwhile Kasshin agrees to take Ruri outside. If this is what his sister wants, he’ll do it (some flashback about him being powerless then but now he has to power to do it but whatever). Oh dear. Look at that angry face. But not just any outside. He is going to connect Underground to the slums. So before the second match of the tournament final can begin, the place loses power and a video of Kasshin’s face pops up. Hey you lowlifes. It’s me, your supreme ruler. Of course Rumina and Chelsea are further shocked to see Ruri behind him.

Episode 25
Flashback shows a teenage Kasshin shows Seki the ideal place he wants Underground to be. A place where there will be equality and everyone will be happy. Hence this was the start of the Company to realize the dreams they couldn’t get on the surface. Oddly, the pioneers included them, Chelsea, Taylor and Sui? Now Seki thinks back and wonders where Kasshin has gone wrong. Back to Kasshin’s transmission, he starts off by claiming he was kind to let the people of the slums to live. Then he admits his mistake. In other words, they are to bring him Chelsea and Rumina otherwise he’ll destroy the entire place! Hence the mob is going to gang up on them for their own survival. Ginnosuke reunites with Rumina as well as Chelsea with Sui. But the latter duo still don’t trust each other. Anyway, as Shieru tries to explain the oppression of the Company and that they’ll use anybody for their own gains, I guess the mob isn’t going to believe a bunch of kids. Which sounds more plausible? Their promise to defeat the Company or Kasshin’s word to destroy the slums? So everyone fights off the mob just to let Chelsea and Rumina go to Kasshin. Kasshin is bent on destroying those enemies so I guess by now Ruri knows how to play his game. By giving that sad face and claiming she isn’t his sister, damn Kasshin is crying! Sappy drama interrupted with Seki trying to convince Kasshin to give up this plan. However Kasshin doesn’t see it this way and thinks Seki wants to betray him. Just in time for Chelsea and Rumina to barge in. Uhm, there no guards in this place? Pairon takes Ruri and run while Kasshin fights the duo. Final boss fight. Yeah, big boss claims Ruri is his property!!! So Kasshin has lightning and water power combo? Whatever. Chelsea could’ve been done for had not Seki steps in. Kasshin takes it as he has betrayed him. Poor guy cries again thinking everyone is always leaving him. Yeah, he is going to fire them and by that he means their death. Seki and Chelsea fight Kasshin so that Rumina can go after Ruri. Speaking of which, Pairon is taking her to Underglobe and is going to revive Ron by sacrificing her. I know this is old news but I thought Chelsea and Rumina already knew this?! So why look so surprised hearing this? Eventually Seki and Chelsea are no match for Kasshin. He then activates the destruction of everything. There’s a button for that?! Yeah, sad mad guy going to destroy the slums and crumble Underworld too. Let’s die together, everybody! I wonder if the surface will also crumble and cave in, killing all the surface dwellers too. Oh yeah, Japan one big sinkhole!

Episode 26
With the place crumbling down, how can everybody in the slums survive? Sui believes that the arena dome has the strongest structure around. Even if the chances of surviving increases by a slim margin, better than nothing. So gather up everyone here! Kasshin is about to own Chelsea and Seki but I guess they need to make use Ginnosuke so he fires his gun to freeze Kasshin and save the duo. Rumina catches up with Pairon. They fight but because Rumina breaks through all his attacks, Pairon gets scared. Wait. Really???!!! And because of that he loses! Cheesy Rumina-Ruri reunion put on hold because here comes Kasshin. Meanwhile we see the rest of the other characters making themselves useful by shooting down the debris that get too close to the dome. Can they do this like forever? Whatever. Rumina fights the final boss and blows him away. Not even his double elemental combo power can defeat Rumina. Now Kasshin is scared he is strong?! Wait. Really???!!! At this point I don’t think they even bother to hide it. Because Rumina admits his power up is due to him being the hero of justice and a cute girl is before him! Oh yeah! Desperate Kasshin then opens the door that seals Ron. Destroy everything! HAHAHA!!! As Ron tries to absorb Ruri’s life, it is Ruri’s turn to have Rumina put his faith in her. Ruri’s power exceeds all expectations as her gentle light envelops the entire slums and Underground. This means we’re safe, right? Then it is the weirdest reunion with Rumina in some light dimension. Before we know it, we see Rumina, Ruri, Chelsea and Ginnosuke on the surface. Oh my. Real bed of beautiful flowers. It’s the free sky! OMG! Wait. What?! Really?! What the f*ck happened to everyone else???!!!

Buried & Forgotten…
Oh wow. I didn’t think they would really rush the ending like that. Because here I thought the anime will conclude on a cliff-hanger and no real conclusion in sight. You know, Ruri remains in the hands of the Company as Rumina and his group of ragtag rescuers continue to soldier on. You know what? Maybe that kind of cliff-hanger ending would be worse. But heck, this rushed ending raised even more questions than answers. They wanted to give us a happy ending and we got that. However with the way the main quartet were shown as the only ‘survivors’, it makes you wonder what happened to everybody else. What happened to Underground? Is Kasshin dead? Is the Company no more? And all this has nothing to do with the surface dwellers AKA Japan. Yeah, we people on the surface continue to live our normal lives and not give a f*cks about the great Underground incident that could’ve destroyed the world.

The story is pretty ordinary and filled with clichés. But I forgive it because it is retro anime back in 2002. Heh. But still, I think this has been the longest ever rescue mission and could have been a lot shorter had they cut out some of the drama that happened in between. The typical introductory arc and even a training arc before the long rescue journey underground. Worse, they put in that redundant mini tournament arc to waste more time that would eventually lead to the rushed final battle. In that arc, they introduced a few more characters and a few more side plots that don’t actually matter. Like this Reiyon Hanjuujin girl as well as the rebel Reisho who had a brush with Chelsea. I mean, what the heck is that really for?! Without them and even this arc itself, the story would have proceeded anyway. Perhaps they wanted to mix things up because you know, it would be so boring if everything is just Underground this and Underground that. Oh yeah. But the slums are different. Still Underground but not really Underground. Geddit? Filled with so many such clichés already, I guess they didn’t want the final fight to be typically at the main palace where Ruri is held. Storming the final palace! Group fights with all the executives in other floors! Fight the final boss in his throne room! The damsel is rescued. We return to the surface. Everyone happy. The end. Oh yeah, I can see why they went for the other cliché of desperate unredeemable villain trying to destroy everything. And as cliché as it could get, he couldn’t of course. Sheesh.

There are a lot of things that bugged me about the setting of Underground. Because of all the side plots and distractions that were never fleshed out, like I have said, it only raises more questions than answers. I wonder if they threw out logic when they wrote this. First thing, I wonder how long has Underground has been of existence. I was under the impression that it was there for decades. Okay, fair enough. The high-tech facilities that is nowhere seen in the surface may explain Underground dwellers have been there for a long time. This brings to the question about the Company’s existence. From what I understand, if Kasshin created the Company when he was a teen and right now he looks like a young adult, so it’s like the Company has only been dominating Underground by a few years, no? And here I was under the impression they’ve been there for a long time! And to think that I thought Kasshin was some old grandpa geezer! Because the adult dwellers sure look like they’ve been there for a long time. And to learn that Chelsea and Taylor were one of the few pioneers of the Company’s incorporation?! Damn, how old are they?! Unless you tell me people age differently underground. Damn it, we’re on the same planet, aren’t we?!

The plot to use Ruri’s life as the catalyst to revive Ron, it just felt strange. I don’t know how long they’ve plotted this but considering my last paragraph stating that it felt like not a long time the Company had been around, so how the f*ck did Kasshin changed from one who had ideals of justice and equality into one of that to get revenge on the surface dwellers?! I mean, those ideals were when he was a teen. His sister who could’ve been mistreated by former scientists was when he was a kid. Am I missing something here?! If it was that easy to awaken Ron, why didn’t they just use Ruri when she was confirmed to be the maiden of life? What were they waiting for? Oh, she needs to be in the right state of mind? I don’t know. She looked pretty happy when Chelsea was with her? So why not dupe the duo, bring them to Underglobe and let Ron revive?! Even more silly when you think about this current rescue mission, Ruri’s state of mind is already unstable because she’s sad about not knowing Rumina’s fate. And to think the Company wants those intruders dead instead of pulling off some sneaky move like at least make them reunite under a false pretence and then bam! Fell for the stupid trick, now you gonna revive Ron! So it just makes me think they don’t want vengeance on the surface dwellers in the first place. And to think I was thinking Ron will make a short cameo by breaking free from its slumber and then sealed back quickly by main character Rumina because clichés. Did. Not Happen. Nobody knows how a monster Ron actually looks then…

And Underground being such a huge and complex maze, it was mind boggling at first there was this huge entrance at the end of the long abandoned railway tracks. Like, nobody in Japan ever bothered to even do something about this? Man, Japan must have lots of issues to be dealing about Underground. And seeing there is a big gate that can be opened from the inside albeit only a few in the top echelons of the Company, it just feels like they could’ve just gone in and out any time they want. Instead, they hole up underneath the surface and trying to hatch this complicated plot of reviving Ron. WTF? You people are elemental users! You can use them to defeat all the normal people in Japan who are without any powers! Don’t make sense. And yeah, Underground so vast and wide, I wonder if it is just under Japan or the whole wide world. Not like any governments on the surface are claiming underground territory, are they? Who is footing the electricity bill anyway? Such huge energy is needed to make lights play the part of the sun! Which government doesn’t want to monopolize such resources?! And if Company soldiers kidnapped kids for their powers to be experimented on, are those villages on the surface? So this means it is surface dwellers who have powers, right?! Oh right, Underground denizens were once surface dwellers too. Oh God. Getting headache now thinking too much about all these inconsistencies.

Talking about the characters, they’re just pretty meh. Littered with clichés and stereotypes. There are quite a number of them and many just felt redundant. For example, Ginnosuke. I don’t even know why this guy even exists. Just to show Rumina has a friend? I mean, Ginnosuke can’t even fight decently and even with his new gun, he doesn’t use it often unless the plot commands him to. Heck, Ginnosuke can’t even be considered as Rumina sidekick because it’s not like I see him do anything to assist Rumina who can stand on his own. Even if he needs backup, most of them comes from Chelsea. So why does Ginnosuke even exist? Comic relief? Heck, many characters here are. So apart from the initial episodes showing him as an amazing hacker (because nerds with such nerdy glasses are always one) and then a genius electrician, all these are quickly forgotten as the series progresses.

Then they had to pick more ‘useless’ allies along the way. They don’t even amount to anything much. Like Sui. He is a rebel. So what? Don’t see him doing anything. I believe there is a resistance group but I am not sure if he is part of it or acting by himself. This guy exists so that Ginnosuke could have a ‘teacher’ to look up to. Oddly, this guy got Hekisa back and she is never seen nor heard again. I guess the catching up was pretty quick, huh? So the plot forced him to get involved with this slums thingy while Hekisa has been conveniently forgotten. I don’t even know why I’m overthinking this… Also, Sui might look like a genius but I feel he is more of an idiot. Especially the way he tries to cheer on Ginnosuke, I’m not sure with that joker tone he is trying to mock him and having fun while doing that. It’s like a running joke that it means serious time when Ginnosuke casts off his nerdy glasses and shows his beautiful eyes. It doesn’t matter. He isn’t the main character. And because of that, I understand why he whines a lot. The other character who often ‘cries’ other than Ruri!

Then there is Shieru. Once an enemy now turned ally. Too bad they forgot to settle the promise she made with Ruri. Uh huh. I don’t see her giving back the ribbon so I guess the producers have all but forgotten about this mini plot. Sorry Shieru, you not so important. Same thing with Kourin. Like we need another enemy turned ally. Seriously? This guy hardly does anything but what is this I suspect some weird romance that didn’t even matter happening between him and Reiyon?! Like what the heck was that supposed to be?! I don’t think it’s romance but they sure showed it like that. I mean, Kourin being all concerned about Reiyon because she looks sick whatever. Yeah, useless side plot that only serve to go nowhere and drag the story by a few seconds.

Sharma. Ever since her defeat to Chelsea, her return only signalled her as a comic relief character because she gets into bad luck and other misfortune. I don’t know if she is being tsundere because she is Chelsea’s biggest fan and she’s like using the excuse to keep her alive so that one day when they have their rematch, she’ll whoop her ass. Well, dream on. Same for Jill and Emily. Good thing they’re small fries so the Company doesn’t even suspect them of aiding the traitor. After all, being fan girls of Chelsea gives them the right to follow her wherever she goes. Jill may be shameless in drooling over Chelsea but Emily, she’s just plain. I guess that doesn’t make her as annoying and funny as Jill, huh? However I’ll always remember Emily as the one who almost got Rumina killed with that stupid distraction! And she continued to live without even repenting it!!! Oh man. Yeah. Moving on… It’s a good thing in a way they didn’t bring back Taylor. Because this guy could be an overlapping character like Sharma is for Chelsea. Uh huh. Male version. That guy went missing ever since and since they didn’t kill him off (nobody dies in this anime anyway), so now I’m left to wonder what the heck happened to this character. Did he escape to the surface and live a normal life? Yeah, we really forgot about him, didn’t we?

Rumina as the main protagonist, he is pretty, wait for it, typical and cliché. I’m sure I don’t want to repeat myself here. His promise to Ruri about taking her to the surface is what keeps this guy going. So from time to time when he is going to sink and wallow in the depths of depression over his minor failure, just remember the promise and Ruri’s smile and tears. Yeah, bound to get him back on his feet. Works all the time. And Chelsea. Strong female lead character already exists back then but I guess they need another brute character to match Rumina’s recklessness. Because Rumina and Chelsea technically spent more time together, later it is hinted something between them but it is just totally red herring. Yeah, remember the time Rumina bought her earrings? What was that all about?! Were they trying to make us doubt Rumina’s feelings for Ruri? Not that they confessed to each other but it’s obvious they like each other. Anyway thank goodness it didn’t amount to anything and they could’ve forgotten about it because it would be weird Chelsea and Ruri fight over Rumina. It would’ve been really the end of the world! Are you disappointed that they didn’t even show a speck of romance between the main characters? Aside the forced part of Ruri kissing Rumina. That’s just for revival purpose, right? What are the odds Rumina x Chelsea because one so childish and the other a hot headed idiot? Speaking of Ruri, she’s really a typical damsel in distress. The slightest negative remark about her friends will make her worry like hell. But I can’t totally blame her. She’s been holed up most of her life and the only hope that she has for nice things, something bad happens to them, it’s only natural to feel concern. But this dramatic? Oh well, that’s Ruri for you.

Another point to ponder: It has been days and nights ever since Rumina and Ginnosuke ventured to Underground for this long rescue mission. I think they have missed school. Uh huh. Since we do not see whatever happens to life on the surface, I am boldly assuming that nobody cares that a couple of high school guys are missing. I don’t know about Rumina’s parents or even Ginnosuke but I’m also assuming that Tokyo isn’t looking for a couple of missing high school kids. Heck, they just started high school so no worries of leaving behind any new friends they made! It is safe to say I think they got expelled anyway. Yeah, I just wonder how will Underground people adapt and survive, assuming Underground is destroyed. Oh boy. A whole new wave of prejudice and biasness. I guess back to living Underground, huh? They can join up with the Hanjuujin and become the new mole people! HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

The antagonists here are just one dimensional and shallow. I thought Kasshin was better than that but he turns out to be swallowed by his own twisted delusions so whatever flashbacks about his sister don’t even matter anymore. Pairon being the despicable baddie that they paint him to be, I’m sure they really want us to hate him for his sneaky and underhanded ways. But the way they make this guy who has been tops on his game, lose to Rumina in the final battle was just really bizarre. Like as though they were disrespecting his villainy. Yeah, so Rumina powered up just a bit. AND HE GOT ALL SCARED!!! I thought he has seen worse atrocities than this but yeah, this one really takes the cake. I guess with Kasshin and Pairon being the top 2 of the Company, they think nobody else could be more powerful than them. That could have contributed to their downfall. And it makes whatever their animosity they had together redundant. Something happened between them, right?! Oh right. We don’t care. Seki, this guy ever since his lost to Rumina, this guy has been slowly changing his views. You can tell that he has been starting to doubt the authorities running the Company and like as though he is on the wrong side of the divide. Took him a little while to realize but at least better than never. Too bad that didn’t change Kasshin at all.

The action scenes are just passable. It’s the only reason why the setting of some characters have elemental powers so that we can see some (passable) power fights. It isn’t anything much but it just check the boxes of giving us some action sequence. Yeah, it’s like Avatar having elemental benders but with much inferior quality. Is gravity even a type of element?! While they have a few variety of moves (that are unmemorable anyway), it feels weird that Rumina’s only skill is to keep swinging his sword and let the wind finish off the opponent. Pretty boring. For some strange reason, he is the only one with the wind power so that his ability doesn’t overlap with others. So that enemies can underestimate him since they never seen such power before. Yeah, everybody so dumb not to think that air is a vital ingredient for wind. And for Rumina not using this to his advantage shows that he probably hasn’t mastered his power entirely. And to check off the box of a character holding a sword (only used to block or initiate his wind power), I guess it makes him look better swinging it rather than doing some weird Hadouken signal with his bare hands.

As I have mentioned, Rumina’s groupie slowly gaining allies on his side feels wasted. Because it could have at least been some sort of group fight between the sides. But instead we see mostly either Rumina or Chelsea doing the fighting. In terms of this, it was just disappointing. Like the redundant tournament arc, they zoom pass it in a flash just as to give us our fight scene of the episode. Or the time when Pairon’s personal soldiers went to intercept Rumina’s side. They aren’t the most exciting and usually end in a predictable and unfashionable way.

Art and animation are pretty passable too. Despite reeking early 2000’s animation style, there are times where I find some of the animation is really weird and inconsistent. For example, the constant flashbacks of Ruri crying and Ruri having that happy blushful smile. It makes Ruri look quite weird. Not cute. Just weird. And also, part of why this rescue mission is dragged out for 2 cours is the use of recycled animation. Now you know why this anime has quite a few flashback and reminiscent scenes. For the umpteenth time, Ruri thinking back about her short fun time on the surface was starting to get annoying. Oh yeah, I forgot. She’s been locked up underground and only has those short wonderful memories to let her go on living. Damn, Underground life so boring.

I think I have some issues with the voice acting. Not to say it is bad but since this is a retro anime, it could be that the sound quality isn’t up to par. Yeah, now you know I didn’t watch this on some remastered Blu-ray DVD! Is there actually one?! Anyway, because of that, I couldn’t identify right away some of the seiyuus I am supposed to be familiar by now. For instance, Takahiro Sakurai as Sui, I thought the character was voiced by Jun Fukuyama. Only until much later I discovered that. Takahiro Sakurai doesn’t sound like Takahiro Sakurai? Weird. Early voice acting days or is it my sound hardware? Then there is Ikue Ootani who will always be forever associated as Pikachu or Chopper. She didn’t sound like that at all as Shieru. At least not during her initial appearances. Only when she is casted down in the slums and she began to show more of that trademark vigour, only then it dawned to me it was her. Of course it’s a pleasant hearing Ayako Kawasumi as Jill and Shinichiro Miki as Seki.

Tomokazu Seki as Rumina, somehow I just find him voicing this character to be weird. I don’t know, each time his character gets loud, it’s like as though he makes his character sound like a joker. Just weird to me. I know his character is a bit brash and reckless but hearing his voice like somewhat just sounds joke-ish. I mean, Souichiro Hoshi as Ginnosuke (Kaoru in Ai Yori Aoshi) pretty much sounds like a weakling and gay joker because his character is somewhat written to be that way. Yeah. And the other one is Showtaro Morikubo as Kasshin. I feel his voice is unsuitable for his character. It doesn’t give his character that menacing feel and a villain that I couldn’t take seriously. Seriously. So bad casting or my sound hardware? The other casts are Kaoru Morota as Chelsea (Weda in Hare+Guu), Haruhi Terada as Ruri (Emi in Tenjou Tenge), Masaki Terasoma as Pairon (Kiroranke in Golden Kamuy), Junko Noda as Sharma (Joshua in Gun x Sword), Naoko Takano as Emily (Ruby in Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya), Akiko Kimura as Kourin (Sarasa in Legend Of Basara), Mayumi Iizuka as Reiyon (Rena in Star Ocean Ex) and Kahoru Sasajima as Taylor (Satsuki in Happy Lesson).

Jounetsu by Iksi:D is your typical rock outfit as the series’ first opener. Nothing really special and although it is quite suitable for the series’ genre, personally I think the singer is out of tune. Is she a little tone deaf? Because I sampled the full length version of the song and found it worse than the anime version! Plus, it made me think the song would have been better without the singing! But heck, it is still way better than the second opener, Hey You! Ushinatte Wa Naranaimono which sung by the same group too. It’s like they’re trying to be edgy with this energetic rock piece but it turned out to be some hectic frenzy mess. Kakusei Toshi by Akino Arai as the ending theme sounds weird. I don’t know, personally it feels like an alien singing this piece. Yes, weird singer voice. I think the background effects at the start was just deafening and bland. Not sure if there’s some subliminal mind control message thingy. Hopefully not. The song I prefer most is Eternal Flower by Haruhi Terada, the special ending theme for the last episode. A slow and lovely ballad to mark the end of the series. Too bad it’s played at the end of everything instead of being the main ending theme.

Overall, the show is just pretty passable and mediocre if you compare it by today’s standards. So if you don’t put this series up to high or even moderate expectations, you will still find this enjoyable and entertaining in its own right. With all the typical shonen clichés, pacing problem, dumb plots and stuffs that don’t make sense, draggy melodrama scenes, power fights for the sake of having action sequences, mediocre characters and retro early 2000’s animation and jokes, it’s like a plethora of one big mess that messes with your feelings. It’s bad but not that bad. It’s not that good but it doesn’t suck. It’s strangely enjoyable and yet mind boggling. You laugh but also cringe at the same time. Perhaps the lack of air and sunshine prevented the creators from coming up with better creativities. Says the person who holes himself in his room and watch animes all the time.

Ore Wo Suki Nano Wa Omae Dake Ka Yo OVA

As if the end of the TV series wasn’t bad enough to kill us with its cliff-hanger tension, then the damn Corona virus had to delay Ore Wo Suki Nano Wa Omae Dake Ka Yo OVA for a few months! Oh yeah. Aren’t we just dying to see the conclusion of the TV series already? Although I’m pretty much confident of how things will end up, we’d love to see how the main character who claims himself as not the main character makes a comeback, right? We all love underdog stories. That’s why they had to split the OVA into 3 long episodes. However I saw it as one long movie and broke my own curse of not watching anime movies! OMG. This is such a milestone! Yeah, the tension really literally made me do it!

Oretachi No Game Set
Time for a little flashback and elaboration when Joro was waiting outside the stadium for Sun. It was then Pansy came to talk to him and wanted to be friends. No matter how sexy and beautiful she is, thankfully power of friendship > power of boners so he has to put off their conversation to some other time. Now we delve further into Sun’s past. Being a reserved guy, he found it hard to make friends and was a loner. The only person, Shiba whom he thought was his only friend betrayed him. Eventually he found out he was talking behind his back all the time and was like the rest who hoped he was never around. Instead of being angry, he was scared since his fear was being hated by others. Ever since, Sun decided to adopt his nickname and new sunshiny persona. On the outside he is a cheery and popular guy but on the inside he is still the same gloomy guy. Now we return to reality as we resume where we left off. As we all know, each girl received a hairclip and will give it to the guy they love. The one with the most hairclip at the end wins. But as we have seen, Cosmos, Himawari and Asunaro already gave theirs to Hose. Making it even worse, the girls make clear rules that all seem to go against Joro’s favour! On the day of the game, Himawari calls Joro to go to the game together. But he can clearly hear a conspiracy behind this because with Cosmos and Asunaro, they’re going to call the rest of the girls and get them to give their hairclips to Hose (part of the rules state when a girl hands her hairclip, both guys must be present). Hence Joro for pretty much of the day tries to avoid these girls. Yeah, the rules are so damn complicated that we need another round of explanation! Hey. At least this time they’re better presented.

Joro spots Pansy at the stands and tries to secretly go talk to her to convince her to give her hairclip to him. But first she asks what she thinks of him. He can’t answer right now. He also has to leave since Hose is seen nearby. After Joro helps a lost girl find her sister, he hopes this magnanimous act would convince Cherry who is watching him to give her hairclip. He even tries convincing her that he’ll help to get her and Hose together. Nope. She’d rather play the supporting role. As she is about to call Hose, Joro then gropes her boobs! Cherry beats him up but makes a mess out of the place. While she is forced to clean up, this enables Joro to escape. Later Joro stumbles into Hose. The former pointing out he saw him talking to Pansy. But Hose notes that one hairclip isn’t that important since he is just 1 hairclip away from clinching victory. He tries to call the other girls but this place has no reception. Joro then helps a girl finds her keys but luckily he has help from Sasanqua. I guess he has to promise to reward her afterwards. Of course this is part of the act to convince Tsukimi who is watching him. Instantly she shoots down his proposal to give her hairclip. Nothing can convince her not to support Hose. Before Joro can run away, Himawari and Asunaro grab hold of him! Time to call Hose. But first, more Sun flashbacks. After he made friends with Joro, he thought he was the same kind of person. The kind of guy who has something to hide and put on a façade. But one day he realized his mistake. As usual, Shiba was badmouthing Sun behind his back. That was when Joro came up to him to defend Sun. He will not forgive anyone who tries to sabotage his friend with lies. After the confrontation, Joro reverted to his timid ways. It was then Sun realized the kind of person Joro is. Unlike him who did things to be liked, Joro did things to protect others.

A private meeting between Joro and Hose reveals the latter wants to amend the rules. The loser now cannot associate himself with Pansy’s friends too. Uhm, can they just amend the rules like that without consent from other girls? Oh well, if Joro agrees, he must be pretty confident, right? Joro knows Hose is a totally different person and true enough, he shows his true colours. Hose’s intention is to rid every last atom of Joro’s existence from Pansy’s life so as to claim her for his. He also knows the different layers of masks he puts on for others as well those he hides. Before the big final game, looks like more Sun flashback. To sum up this flashback, we see Pansy talking to Sun as she confided in him about the person she likes. Turns out to be Joro. During the game, Shiba tries to apologize to Sun for all that he has done but Sun doesn’t think he should because he himself is no better. Relating about a certain someone he wanted to beat so badly that he resorted to underhanded ways, no matter how much he tried, he could never beat him or be at his level. In the end, he realized he can just be himself.

Before Cherry and Tsukimi could give their hairclip to Hose, Cosmos and Himawari stop them and try to convince them not to give up their own love and use Pansy as an excuse. Both relate their own feelings and experience because they know they’re lying about their own feelings and acting so the person they love wouldn’t hate them. They admit so but they still blame Pansy for it. But with more words of motivation and how their bonds were there, Cherry and Tsukimi confess their feelings to Hose but of course he apologizes. As expected, right? Cherry gives her hairclip to Joro but Tsukimi give hers to Hose. Now, you would think that Hose with 4 clips out of 6, he is the winner, right? But Joro is not scared. This is where his real tactic comes to play. Remember those girls he helped? Along with Tsubaki and Sasanqua, he has now 10 hairclips! I mean, the rules did not state he can only receive from the 6 girls, right? Oh yeah. Joro winning. But guess what? Hose also had the same idea! He has tons of his fan girls to come give him their hairclips! OMG! He has amassed 98 hairclips!!! Hose figured out his plan as he observed Joro sneaking about in the stadium and knew something was up. The other girls get desperate and want to change but looks like it is obvious some rules they want to change, they can’t because it was clearly stated down already. Can’t change your vote or give multiple hairclips from the same girl. Hose brags on his win and reveals the rule adjustment of those friends with Pansy will also have to stop talking to Joro. But of course there is a way out of this: Stop being friends with Pansy. Immediately they shoot down this idea since they will not stop being friends with her.

Before Hose could claim ultimate victory by asking Pansy’s hairclip, here comes Sun and Tanpopo. Looks like Sun has gathered his ton of fan girls to give their hairclips to Joro! Hose is shocked because he didn’t see Joro talk to Sun at all. Joro hints this plan was initiated from the very start and because of their deep bonds, I guess they understood each other. Also, as the rules state, the game ends when all the original 6 girls hand over their hairclips. It is the same reason why Joro somewhat had Pansy delayed giving hers. So as long as the game doesn’t end, he can still get hairclips from other girls. With the Joro’s new tally, he now has caught up to the same total as Hose. Hose is now desperate. What about the outcome of the baseball game? To ramp up the drama, we see Sun losing faith and about to give up. But seeing Joro’s written motivation underneath his cap, yeah, that should do to trick. In other words, Sun’s team wins! Sun then confronts Pansy about their promise to become his girlfriend if his team wins. He wants to call that promise off. Hose is now freaking desperate. He tries resorting to stealing and the likes but remember, the rules. Not even Cherry and Tsukimi are willing to obey his command to convince Pansy to give her hairclip. While Hose wants Pansy to give it to him, Joro tells her to do what she wants. And with that, she hands the hairclip to Joro because she is in love with him. With that, Joro wins 100-98! Hose resorts to name calling like Joro being a nobody. He admits it but at the same time he is nobody’s pawn. Because he is an ordinary guy, he knows he can’t fight alone and has friends. Hose faints from the shock as his girls take him away. I suppose that’s his cue to exit the stage. Bye. Forever. And Joro revels in his victory. Correction. Make that their victory!

Now the toughest part is here. Joro is going to confess to which girl he likes. He faces Pansy and confesses to her. So that makes Pansy the winner, right? Well, then he also does the same for the rest of the girls. He’s going for a harem? Yeah, one girl a day. Apparently the girls don’t like this harem idea and leave this jerk alone. So as Joro has only Tsubaki to confide in, she knows that Joro made such decision so as not to ruin their friendship. Had he chose one, this would fracture their relationship and the ultimate goal was to give Pansy best friends. Of course Joro denies this since he is not one to choose and just reports. Joro then gets all the skewers to go to his best friend, the other person he loves. Gosh. So he’s gay?! Nah. Just kidding. So the guys have their time together as they reminisce things. Sun especially realizing that the girls eventually reject him. So is Joro the only one who is in love with him? We can only take that as a (gay) joke. Of course we can’t end this with a seemingly gay scene so we have a very beautiful Pansy in her true form accompanying Joro for a walk as she thanks him for keeping his promise. It makes her very happy and yeah, once more another confession she loves him.

We Will Always Love You!
That was a nice conclusion to it all. Everything ends beautifully and whatever the friends protected from the start to finish, they did it with perseverance thanks to the power of bonds. That bond is put to the ultimate test in revealing Hose as the series’ antagonist. Well, if you look it from that perspective. So I guess it’s bittersweet memories, that is all he’s taking with him, so goodbye, please don’t cry, we all know that’s what he needed. Heh. I just somewhat butchered Whitney’s Houston’s hit… So Hose is just like everybody else having his own façade for others and the hidden side. Now I understand perhaps why Pansy wanted to get away from him. But I hope he honours the deal since being the guy he is, he might not want to give up on Pansy after losing in such a sore manner. But that’s another possible story for another time. In the meantime, you can count on Joro will forever be Joro. After all, he is eventually the chosen main character. The question now is how to get his harem dream come true if he is to take his main character role to the next cliché step… Hmmm… I wonder if masking it under the guise of friendship will count. But I believe Joro wanting to truly be friends with everyone, that’s no mask. That’s his real side.

The game to outwit each other and get more hairclips looks quite interesting and clever. Though, I did predict this in my previous blog, I didn’t go further like these guys. So I guess I wasn’t as smart at them if I were to be put in the same challenge :’(. It isn’t the case of rules exist to be broken, but how one interprets them. This is how the law works. But I’m not going there. Many of the main girls didn’t get much an important role here because of the seemingly mind game between Joro and Hose as well as the flashbacks of Sun trying to reconcile with himself about his own worth and what’s important to him. Just a little bit displeased that Tsubaki feels more like an extra here. Like she didn’t matter except when the plot commands her to show up. And Sasanqua the eternal tsundere. It’s not that she wants to do this, you know! Although they seem minimal, but for a ‘normal’ guy like Joro, these little sum of its parts prove the greatest. The bench didn’t get played as a running joke here but the harbinger of doom seems to have its roots way back to Sun’s confession for Pansy. Thankfully, the final scene of Joro and Sun together on the bench, no break ups were initiated. I guess it only works between a boy and girl, huh?

Overall, this OVA is an enjoyable conclusion to those who have been waiting for one since the TV series ended even if it is still filled with its typical anime clichés. You know, main guy somewhat gets the girl in the end and the main villain is forever vanquished?! Not sure if there would be another season since I just found out the manga ended a month before this OVA was released! Only time will tell if Joro will add more ‘flower girls’ to his harem. In a huge garden filled with a variety of flowers, a watering can can continue to keep this floral garden beautiful because it allows you to be up personal with the flower you’re watering rather than the superior hose that can spray and reach a wide area. That’s why this series bloomed so beautifully. But it won’t be the only series that I’ll always love :-).