I said last week that I thought it was too early to compile a list of shows to watch for the Winter 2020 season, well take a wild guess on what I did this week…
Whatever. I’ll get started on the ‘most important’ show of this season.
Kandagawa Jet Girls Episode 5
Yes, episode 5! Every other show I’m watching is at ep 7, yet this poor show is all the way back here. Is this a sign of trouble in production, or is this all part of some big plan? Well either way, I’ve missed this stupid show.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s missed this ridiculously trash show. Does it still feel wrong that I’m pouring hate on something like Azur Lane, and yet pouring love on a show like this? Well, I guess I’m thankful that episode 7 of Azur Lane has been delayed until November 21, so Kandagawa Jet Girls isn’t the only one this season that could be having issues when it comes to production.
In regards to the ecchi jet girls show we all love to hate, this week we get back to not having recap episodes, and introduce our next duo of Jet Racers: twin sisters Dina and Ziyu, who are a little…too close for comfort. Emily and Jennifer have become the buddies-that-are-also-rivals in this show; kind of reminiscent of Claire and Emily from another recent ecchi sports show I praised for its silliness (Harukana Receive), and we’ll be seeing all the other duos in future episodes, no doubt…but it’s clear to see the main rivals/antagonists are Kaguya and Manpuku.
Rin was someone who used to annoy the heck out of me when I first began this show. I was irritated by her airheadedness and her willingness right from the very start to get very close to Misa this one girl – this one stranger to her – who already has an unfavorable history in Jet Racing. Since then, it’s something that has just come in its stride, and firmly become a part of the show. Plus it’s actually rather entertaining to watch Emily and Jennifer and their mixture of slow-speaking broken Japanese and English…but that’s not nearly as entertaining as watching Misa get super jealous when any other girl gets too close to Rin, like what we see a lot in this week’s episode. She’s turning into quite the disaster lesbian.
Aside from all that, this week’s episode is interesting, as we see the contrast between Diya/Ziyu and Rin/Misa. One duo are so close that they can read each others’ minds, while the other just isn’t. The others in their house have already called Misa ‘too cool’, which can be both a compliment and something of a negative, as we see this week that Rin and Misa need to be reading each others’ minds in order to succeed in Jet Racing.
Houkago Saikoro Club Episode 7
While next week saw us thinking that Midori’s game, One Room, might become an arc of its own, we see this week that something more…grounded might end up taking up the rest of the show: a board game cafe at the upcoming school festival. Initially rejected by Ren (because she’s too tsundere to let Midori have her way), the student committee president arrives at the store in crutches to play this week’s game of choice: The Island (also called Survive: Escape from Atlantis!). This one is rather self-explanatory: players have to move pieces off of a sinking Atlantis, and transfer them to a nearby island, while escaping hazards like sharks, sea serpents and volcanoes.
This week also tries to bring us a more out-going Miki in an arc where she goes on a ride with Mad Dog Kyoko from episode 3, but it only shows us more how little self-confidence she has. I see the building of Miki from a socially awkward character into something more in this show, with Mad Dog Kyoko as a secondary, meant to give her morale boosts every now and then.
Oh, but in other news, I learned this week that an actual board game shop like the one we see here in Houkago Saikoro Club is opening near where I live, which is a total coincidence, I’m sure. Whether it’ll actually last more than a year or not remains to be seen, as you don’t need me to tell you that video gaming has completely saturated the gaming industry, and has done for more than a decade now, leaving ‘analog’ games in the shadows with their niche fan base.
It is this feeling of having ‘analog’ games in the shadows which I believe makes a lot of viewers think that all of this – having ‘analog’ games be a central point in this show – is nothing more than a gimmick. Viewers may well forget about these games once this show is over, and go back to their PCs and their consoles and their mobile devices. But is this a good thing or a bad thing? I mean the niche fan base are comfortable sticking to themselves, and any mass amount of coverage could damage what fan base they have built up over the years. The plot thickens…
We Never Learn s2 Episode 7
But board games comes back up in this week’s episode of We Never Learn; not sure if it’s a total coincidence, or even a nod to Houkago Saikoro Club. I mean Rizu Ogata and Midori Ono share the same seiyuu (Miyu Tomita)…
This is Rizu’s episode. After an open campus visit with Nariyuki and Sekijou, Rizu learns about a board game event that Asumi’s maid cafe is running. If you’re unfamiliar with the We Never Learn franchise, one of Rizu’s main motives in turning to psychology is so she can read people’s thoughts in one of her passions: gaming. Despite being a math genius, Rizu has picked up the hobby of board and card games, but is unable to win at any game she plays. So she jumps at the chance to be a part of this event and put what she has learned so far to the test…mostly to impress Nariyuki of course…
This week, we also see how much Rizu is willing to break out of her shell. Emotions are something she is still not very good at expressing, but we see here that she cares deeply for both Nariyuki and Sekijou. It is moments like these that make me come back to this franchise, and not dismiss it so much as a braindead harem mess like some might do.
Girls’ Last Tour Episode 7
After what I saw last week, I honestly wasn’t expecting another major plot twist in the following episode, and I didn’t get one. Episode 7 is instead more of a filler, in that Chito and Yuuri look for the food stash that Ishii spoke about. Only issue is that this food stash is deep in the center of a labyrinth of pipes and ladders, meaning they have to find it on foot. And with Chito still being afraid of heights, this episode becomes more of a trial for her…to see how much she is willing to trust her companion.
I should add that Yuuri has no real loyalty towards Chito; she can easily leave her and traverse the urban apocalypse all by herself. Having said that, we can see why the two girls stick together: because they have skills that the other doesn’t. Chito can read and write and knows how to drive the Kettenkrad, but is terrible at defending herself. Yuuri is a good shot, but has no interest in reading or writing. So this story of the two of them finding the food stash, a industrial oven, and making their own rations show why they rely on each other in this hellscape.
So while Kandagawa Jet Girls came back from the dead, that other show that frustrates me crawls back to the coffin using the excuse of delays. This plays in my favor since I don’t have to watch it for a while. Ehh, how has your season been? Should shows have had delays and recap episodes and all that jazz at this stage in the season? Feel free to hit that like button, and air your opinions in the comments below!
Maybe I should compile that Winter 2020 list early after all…