Finales: Boku Dake ga Inai Machi, Gate

The finale of Boku Dake ga Inai Machi was excellent and emotionally satisfying, and I don't mind that they cheated a bit. I had wondered how Satoru was going to get out of his situation, being trapped in a wheelchair with his would-be murderer, with that gate swinging open. It starts well, with the two …

W 11, Koyomi 10-11, Gate 23, Teekyuu 81

Dimension W 11 starts with the aftermath of the Loser/Chrysler fight, and now Loser has all the numbers and is probably invincible or something. Meanwhile, Lwai fills Kyouma and the rest about how he's actually a robot controlled by what's left of himself back home, and he's fine with that. So is Kyouma, so the …

Boku Dake 10, Gate 22

I should have known better, over a month ago, to use Wikipedia to get names of characters in Boku Dake ga Inai Machi. I learned the murderer's identity then, and every episode since then has been a wait for him to expose himself, which he finally does in episode 10. Still, I'm a little surprised …

Phantom World 9, Gate 21, W and Komugi-chan 9

I probably would have enjoyed Musaigen no Phantom World 9 more if I understood the historical context of the play the gang gets roped into performing, that is, more than a thirty-second peek at "Ikedaya Incident" in Wikipedia. Still, it was fun to watch. I cringe when I see shows that have amateur plays in …

Koyomimonogatari 7, Gate 20, KonoSuba 7, Dimension W 8

Koyomimonogatari 7 starts with "Platinum Disco," so I was in a good mood to enjoy another trivial little episode of this Bakemonogatri-lite series.  As you could guess, the person with a question this time is Tsuhiki, about her tea club-mates' refusal to listen to reason and accept that there is no ghost-kid who signed up …

Gate 19, W 7, Dagashi 6, Teekyuu 77

Gate 19 starts with disturbing plans from the empire, then gets mostly silly. First we have Zorzal pronouncing himself emperor and raising the rabble against the green people, then meeting with his sneaky-looking generals about how to beat them using more underhanded, covert tactics, something they should have been doing long ago. Meanwhile that long-haired …

Catching up with GATE and Komugi-chan

GATE has a satisfying finish to the dragon arc and still has time to get busy with new ones. In fact, it was a let-down when I found episode 16's first bit was a bunny girl singing a happy song before being told to kill Noriko. I wanted to get on with the dragon. But …

2-3’s: Gate, Bubuki, Komugi-chan

I understand the story, or stories, in Gate were going to get more complex, but episode 2 at least is fairly straightforward.  Earthshakes have a way of unifying story elements for a while.  And even after that it stays on one track as we get the satisfaction of Youji and his crew rescuing a Japanese …

New Shows Winter 2016 #4

To start installment #4 I turn to a returning series: GATE.  Back to the fantasy world to wipe out old fantasy tropes with modern-day weaponry! We start with Youji wearing a ridiculous outfit for a formal event, but it gets unpleasant after that as we meet Zozal, Pina's brother and a nasty abuser of women …

Finales: Rokka, Gate, Shimoneta, Teekyuu5

Rokka no Yuusha ends, for now, but not without a big belly laugh at our expense. As for who the fake brave was:  I KNEW IT!  I KNEW IT ALL ALONG!  I KNEW IT EVEN BEFORE THE SHOW HAD STARTED!  I KNEW IT BEFORE THE BOOKS WERE EVEN WRITTEN!  I AM A GENIUS! ...  Okay …