Finales to shows I didn’t write much about, pt. 1

Though I've been writing about a handful of shows this season, I've been watching a few more. Of the ones I dropped, I'd like to apologize to Silver Spoon. It wasn't bad at all, but I somehow got stuck way back in the pizza-making episode and eventually realized I'd never get around to finishing it. …

Summer 2013 #1: dogs and writers, samurai bros, girl bros, swimming bros

First off we have Iku to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou, about a girl and her dog, or vice versa. Harumi, teen bibliophile, gets killed protecting a girl from a robber with a rifle. He reincarnates as a dog and is lounging around a pet store wishing he had something to read when the girl shows up, …

Episode dump: Chihayafuru, Tomodachi, Working’!!, Tamayura, Horizon

Since Chihayafuru 12 became available to me the moment I had finished with #11, I might as well take care of it now. The prelims are done, the nationals are head, Mizusawa is going to represent all of Tokyo ... and nobody else cares. That's the nice irony that this show gives us, the fact …

Episode dump; iDOLM@STER 23, UN-GO 10, BakumanII 12, Ben-To 11, Tamayura 11

iDOLM@STER 23 continues the Haruka story, rather, it's her turn to wander off in a funk and think things out while everyone else worries about her. It's practically a mirror image of Chihaya's crisis, though this one has no ridiculous bad guys behind it or painful past to overcome (but she does sit around at …

Episode dump: Ben-To 10, Bakuman 11, Tamayura 10, Kimi to Boku 11

Ben-To 10 makes me wonder about the use of magical items found in supermarkets. It's obvious to anyone who's used them that shopping baskets have some sort of fundamental magic to them, something which causes them to knock items off the shelf when you're not looking. But to have the weird black stuff coming out …

Last Exile Fam 8, Tamamura 9, UN-GO 8

And I thought that the last episode of Last Exile - Fam had some exciting scenes. Episode 8 is even better. As you remember, the bad guys, led by a not-impulsive older guy aboard their flagship Anshar, have tailed Fam to the Silvius and are demanding they hand over Millia. There's a brief discussion. Millia …

Last Exile Fam 7, Tamayura 8

Last Exile Fam is living up to the original series. But we start with a lull in the action to get us updated on various people. Little Sara Augusta is despondent because she couldn't protect the nobles who were massacred last episode. She had failed their trust, unlike her wise mother. She comes off as …

Working’!! 7-8, Tamayura 7, Boku wa Tomodachi 7, C3 8

I'm tired for reasons I don't get, too tired to write, but here are some extra-quick thoughts about some shows. Working'!! 7-8 exhibits some of the show's strengths and weaknesses. There's a molester who hangs out on the way Inami goes to work. This alarming news reaches the Wagnaria staff, and is diffused in a …

Horizon, Tomodachi, and more Tamayura, even though I did one yesterday

Tamayura - Hitotose 6 is harmless enough. We go back in time and discover how Maon made friends with Fuu and Norie. Interesting that they chose Maon; they featured her in an episode not long ago. And I don't mind too much as long as she doesn't overdo the whistling. Alas, in the first half, …

Episode dump: Guilty Crown, UN-GO, Kimi to Boku, etc etc etc

Guilty Crown 4-5 brings us Shu's indecision between following a repressive regime who thinks it's saving the world from evil viruses, and the rebels headed by a megamaniacal handsome guy who everyone claims is wonderful. He wonders if he's just jealous because of Gai's charisma and the fact that everyone follows him blindly and tells …