The ‘We Watched Just About Nothing We Set Out to’ Edition
Welcome, friends, to another quarterly recap. It was the Summer time and living was easy. Easy enough because instead of watching four series that were pretty dumbed down, I watched just two. And a couple of movies.
I guess we’ll count those to make this far less sparse than the amount of content would normally dictate.
Aired series
Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu
The first of two isekai series I consumed this past season, if you’ve seen or are a fan of That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime you’ll probably feel right at home in this series.
Most of the time it’s a lighthearted comedy romp with the funny being broken up by scenes of ‘realistic’ violence. A couple of frames after the scene chosen at the image header for this very section, those men reduced to a pile of meat after their bodies catch up to the fact they’ve already been sliced in half. Limbs and ripped off and appendages severed before we slip right back into the next slapstick setup.
The adaptation’s pacing was a bit perplexing though, especially given that they were green lit for a second season next year as the credits for the final episode of the first finished up. A fair chunk of the first season was spent gathering our main cast of characters and introducing the mechanics of the world and the base of operations for this outcasts of the Goddesses’ perfect world. And then, randomly, we’re dropped into a battle at the end of episode 11 as we lead into the finish. This battle, and the stakes, were hinted at during the progression of the second arc of the season but lots of details were left out.
The manga, on the other hand, handled this by switching over to the a new point of view and spending some chapters setting up the events that were about to play out and the ones that our hero would unintentionally have a hand in. I’m purposefully being vague at this point just in-case you feel like watching the series and don’t want to have future plot points spoiled, but, the way they’ve managed to set themselves up going into the second season feels more like we’re going to get more ‘human’ episodes from So I’m a Spider, So What?, something that roughly 0.1% of viewers of that show enjoyed. (Granted, that may have also had to do with the drop in quality, animation and otherwise, compared to the previous episodes but who knows)
Though, right now, that’s all for the future viewer to be concerned with. Where we stand right now is a pretty generic isekai comedy-action series that’s a lot less heavy on the politics of the world our main character has found themselves dumped into (at least for now) with a cast of goofballs that you may enjoy.
Verdict: It’s fine. Your mileage may, and probably will, vary though
Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki
Where do we start with How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom? I guess the best place is with a short summary of the series: What if you transplanted an average Japanese high school student that really loved Civics class, and had the dream occupation of being a public servant after graduation from said high school/college, into a world of swords and sorcery ruled by monarchs? The answer, I guess, one of the most lopsided games of Civilization you’ve seen.
JC Staff comes through with their normal stamp of quality where most of the time things look fine and then suddenly faces get real wonky near the end of the season like we’ve run out of budget, time, or both. It’s nothing too distracting but you can tell where it happens. It doesn’t take much away from the series as it’s not set up to be a visual feast anyways. We’re dealing with peasant food and dry politics, we can save the budget for other things.
Another thing about the adaptation, and not so much in the source, is the heavier emphasis on trying to make this into another isekai harem romcom instead of the nation builder story line that takes a front seat in the manga. That’s not to say it isn’t mentioned at all there, but, it’s like episode four of the series where we already get the drop of “hey man, you know, in this world it’s actually acceptable to have multiple wives. All the royal families do it. Except for that weirdo that was in-charge before you showed up…by the way, you banging his daughter yet?” (This is not a direct quote but you probably already knew that though. I hope) while our main character is simply just trying to solve how to get rid of corrupt nobles in the country so he can make the deadline on payments so he doesn’t get sent off to the front lines of the demon war.
Oh yeah, did we mention that was happening? It is. It’s barely touched upon in the series, however, as this has the opposite problem of TSUKIMICHI -Moonlit Fantasy- mentioned above. Whereas that show moved way too fast, seemingly, to set up important elements of the plot just so it could finish off the first season on a fight scene, Realist Hero moves at a glacial pace with its first season with a vast majority of the the runtime being taken up resolving a problem that began emerging in first quarter of the series. Much like Moonlit, though, the show was already announced for a second season so maybe that lead them to that decision.
Verdict: Man, I’m just trying to improve my infrastructure
(It’s fine, nothing to write home about)
Movies
SHIROBAKO
I hadn’t been to a screening at a movie theater since watching Split when it came out in 2016. For my first trip back in almost half a decade (beating the five year mark by a couple of months) there’s very few things that could’ve supplied a more enjoyable experience into enemy territory.
SHIROBAKO is the ying to Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na!‘s yang in the world of looks inside the world of anime production. SHIROBAKO provides a sobering, but also heartwarming, look into what it’d be like if you were part of a production team at an anime studio. All of your favorite characters from the series are back, in vary amounts of screen time, as our heroes and heroines attempt to do the impossible, see the invisible, row row fight the deadline. If you enjoyed any part of the series up to this point, you really should go out of your way to see the movie. If you haven’t seen the series at all, this actually doesn’t serve as a poor jumping off point as characters are introduced to the audience in such a way that, even if you’ve never seen the series, you won’t find yourself lost trying to figure out why these people are doing what they’re doing. (Also manages to do this without spending half of the runtime going over flashback after flashback either)
Verdict: Recommended
EVANGELION:3.0+1.01 THRICE UPON A TIME
I’m going to make this short, real short: The fourth rebuild of Eva was everything that I could’ve ever have wanted for, what is likely to be, the final act of the long running series. Stop whatever you’re doing and go and watch it. You’ll thank yourself for it. Any minor issues I have with the film (of which there’s like one very small nitpick but I think I’ve convinced myself it was all just part of a bigger picture and now I like it) are meaningless to discuss.
Verdict: 10/10, go out of your way to watch this
2021 Q4 Preview
I did this early so I can say I’m ahead for at least one day going into a new season.
Mieruko-chan
I was pleasantly surprised when this got announced for an anime adaptation. A jerma985 ‘No Reaction For 10 Minutes’ bit where the punishment for messing up in this situation isn’t receiving a -2 from some stoners in chat but a, more than likely, gruesome death at the hands of some maligned spirit. It should be a fun ride and, of course, fits the spooky season quite nicely. This should be one to check out.
Saihate no Paladin
Another series I had picked up last year on a whim (I see the Undead in a main role, I click) that I was happy to see get an adaptation. Being handled by a studio that has a grand total of four series to its name, I’m not sure what kind of quality I should be expecting going in but hope it does the source material well.
Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu.
Why, yes, we are going to have a romcom where half of our main leads can’t/doesn’t speak, how did you know? I think regardless of what happens with the adaptation of the series, someone somewhere is going to be disappointed with what we get. I just hope that person isn’t me.
Senpai ga Uzai Kouhai no Hanashi
Speaking of impossible things, I would’ve never have expected to see this series got an anime adaptation that wasn’t just going to be an OVA/ONA. But, here it is an actual full series for My Senpai is Annoying, God bless. It’s also in the capable hands of Doga Kobo so, if nothing else, it’s going to be cute and relaxing.
takt op.Destiny
I know absolutely nothing about this series. But, it’s MAPPA and MADHOUSE joining forces in an anime about music. I can’t, for sure say though, that there won’t be any kind of vampire car. I can still hold out for that though.
Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai!
Jahy is so good she gets to be in back to back seasons. This is your reminder to thank the Great Lord and encourage her to continue to try her best. We all need that boost from positive reinforcement from time to time.
Closing
Well, time certainly does continue to pass. I spent much, much, much more time catching up on all of the manga I missed a the start of the year than watching anything anime related the last season. Which, to be honest, probably wasn’t a bad thing as there wasn’t a lot of stuff that interested me during the Summer. However, I still am never getting any closer to finishing the gaping maw that is the backlog. That’ll be a problem for future me. (Who will continue to also do nothing about it)
Until next time.
