In Kekkai Sensen, we finally learn that White, not to mention Black, is up to. It really comes down to one line.
Okay, I should have figured it out already, that whatever story arc they come up with will be some baddie or other going for Leo’s eyes. Maybe because others had already made the attempt (and failed) that I stopped thinking about it and figured it would be something bigger, like the destruction of NYC or Hellzapoppin or whatever they call it now. Well getting the eyes could lead to that. It’s a good setup because White is conflicted about it. She’s devoted to her brother (with good reason), but she likes Leo, and there’s her father’s line about stopping Leo when he does something bad. So I guess there’s the second side to the story, driving the demon out of Black. And also taking care of White. Why did she collapse in the station, anyway?
That happens later. First off we get another confusing but fun battle to deal with, and the introduction of a new character, Zed, shoved into Libra’s ranks by that old master like the old guy was tired of him. This time Libra battles another of those supreme vampires or whatever they are, winning after some effort but not as much as you’d expect, because they’ve become a good team, as the master says before fobbing Zed off on them. Still, I think the monsters ought to be a bit more formidable sometimes. But who cares? It looks great.
For Nisekoi 2 8, at least the first half, it looks like Shaft got tired of the main story and decided to have a little fun.
Mind you, this isn’t a straight up Madoka parody, though it has it’s moment, like Rurin (who doesn’t actually look like Kubey at all) explaining the negative parts of magicalgirlness (girlity?) after Madok–, er, Onodera signs the contract, and her frilly undergarments.
Rather, they’re just having a little fun at the genre’s expense. There are plenty of MG parodies out there but this one holds up pretty well. I especially liked Chitoge’s reaction to her transformed outfit, compared to Tsumugi’s. Of course, this being Shaft, there’s transformation fanservice (and the enemy’s clothes-rending attack) every few seconds. But being Shaft also has advantages. The scenes’ visuals are incredible, and they have Madoka overtones throughout. So it had a visual resonance for most of us. Some of the jokes are good, too.
Alas, it was only half of the episode. In the second half, Raku goes to help Onodera’s mom at their sweet shop again and is stuck in the kitchen with Haru for most of the scene, leading to the inevitable “I hate him … oh, he’s kind of nice in some ways … what am I saying? I HATE HIM!” bits. Though, perhaps inspired by their work in the first half, Shaft’s visuals seemed even more wild and vivid. Or maybe it’s just me. Anyway, it rescued the scene, as Shaft’s production work so often has with this series.
Judging from Knights of Sidonia‘s teaser last week, I thought for sure we were in for a return of the good Sidonia, with intrigue and thrilling battles, and not the harem antics we’ve had for the previous two episodes.
The closest thing we get to intrigue is Yure talking to Sasaki about the explosion and how it’s was her fault (debatable), and there was a movie-within-a-show scene that was supposed to fool us, but instead winding up frustrating me because it looked more fun than what the episode actually gave us, which was Yuhata adding to the harem by moving in unannounced, Yure forcing Izana to wear a sexy outfit then stranding her so she could naturally run into poor, oblivious Nagate, and then Yuhata spotting them and following them to figure out who that tramp was walking around with Nagate. And there was Yure conning Nagate (and this bit was actually funny, though I can’t believe Nagate is stupid enough to believe it) to go investigate an old park, basically set them up on a date, while Yuhata and Tsumugi’s tentacle listen in, and … Damn it, how long until Sidonia reaches that solar system anyway?
Too Old for Anime 