Well, it finally happened. To be honest, it wasn’t a question of if, but when:
The hammer ended up going down at $1.18 billion. So what exactly will this mean for streaming anime in 2021 and beyond? Well, we’ll see one big monopoly, that’s for sure. Neither Crunchyroll or Funimation have released that much details yet when it comes to licenses, but I’m especially concerned at something my UK colleagues brought up: what will happen outside of North America? Sony also own Manga UK, the longest-running anime distributor here (since 1987 in fact!), and with some shows already having different regional licenses, I for one would really love to know more details. It will affect me and this column after all, if I’m unable to legally watch some shows.
But no more depressing news; let’s get to this week.
Tonikawa: Over The Moon For You Episode 11
A part of me is thinking that Nasa and Tsukasa won’t be moving into their new place anytime soon, and besides, they really are having too much fun living at the back of Kaname and Aya’s bathhouse. That wasn’t meant to be a joke, by the way; it’s just that there’s no need to rush.
This week’s Tonikawa shows us that Tsukasa still has plenty more people to please, and to acknowledge her marriage. The incredibly ditzy Aya is still having trouble grasping with the idea that her long-lasting crush got married before she could make her move, and Chitose is still being Chitose, and while she turned into an ongoing joke long ago, she still has to decide whether Nasa is suitable enough for her onee-sama.
A takoyaki party is set up for all of them to mingle, with video games and all. And as this episode was sponsored by Capcom, Street Fighter V just had to appear. And to no-one’s surprise, we see that Tsukasa can’t just be an amazing cook and movie buff; she can also hand you your ass in Street Fighter.
This all had a happy ending, naturally, with no one winning. It wouldn’t have been fair for Tsukasa to completely demolish the others, so Aya had to come in and be on an equal level, even when Tsukasa gets out a copy of the original Street Fighter (for the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16). I’m no follower of the FGC scene, and I don’t really play any, but I thought it was still fun to see this week’s episode pay some homage to past consoles. Oh yeah, and it is called the Mega Drive, not the Genesis…
Adachi & Shimamura Episode 10
This week’s episode of Adachi & Shimamura was built around Shimamura once again; a refreshing change from the giddy lovesick Adachi. Their second year begins, and the two of them end up in the same class again. But this time, Shimamura is approached by some other schoolgirls who are just harmlessly looking for new people to add to their little posse. Shimamura knows they mean well, but it isn’t long before she turns her self-reflection switch back on.
As I looked at this, I was reminded of one classic show: 2006’s Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl. Another yuri show with a pinch of sci-fi, one of the main characters, Yasuna, has a rare condition where she is physically unable to see any males. Sounds preposterous, I know; instead of faces, all she can see are hazy blurs. Now Shimamura has nothing like this whatsoever of course, but it’s definitely interesting to see the show really emphasize the fact that she can only really see shadows in other people, or the people she doesn’t know. When I began watching, I was very skeptical of all the metaphors that featured, but now as the show is approaching its end, I can see why they are needed. We needed to know how alone both Adachi and Shimamura are, and how they can find solace when they are together.
When I thought we saw the last of Terumi…yep, she comes back this week, and we see her doubling down on her attempts to pick up Shimamura. I have varying opinions of third wheel characters in yuri shows; while there are some I really dislike, there’s an equal amount that I wished had won over the main lead instead. I don’t dislike Terumi in the slightest, and it’s rather sweet to see her try so hard to rebuild the bridges. But I’m not really sure if Shimamura would feel guilty or rotten for having to feel awkward in this (not) date again. Perhaps. As I’ve said one time, Terumi is too focused on the past, while Shimamura wants to live in the present. She’s a sweet girl without any malice; she doesn’t even know Adachi exists, so we can’t call her someone trying to shoehorn in or to fight for Shimamura’s affection. If I were Shimamura, I think I’d do the same thing she did this week; we might inadvertently make Terumi think she has a chance in winning her heart, but we wouldn’t want to just let her go either, or go back to being strangers.
This was a really great episode, and I think Adachi & Shimamura is really making some headway. Too late for some, perhaps, but I never ever objected to the slow burn this had – on the contrary, in fact. A slow burn was the best way this story could really be told.
And because of course no yuribait show can have just one pairing. Nagafuji and Hino are two girls I keep forgetting to bring up every week, but they both deserve some attention. They had a lot more screen time this week, and we get to see how much of a borderline tsundere Hino is to her extremely protective Nagafuji. At the very least, they both look so incredibly adorable together, and it’s a bit of a shame that we won’t really get any more than these small moments in occasional episodes.
Assault Lily: Bouquet Episode 10
Now Assault Lily: Bouquet has gone to and fro with action-packed episodes and some more light-hearted ones full of gags. This week’s one was much different, though. Leading directly from the end of last week, we see Yuri being given a military funeral, or whatever a fallen Lily would have, but because Riri still disobeyed orders regardless of what happened, she has to be put in a week-long solitary confinement. A small dark room is the perfect place for bad feelings to stew, after all…
Outside of those walls, the rest of the Legion think about what to do when she is eventually released, and bring up Riri’s four-leaf clover hairpin that fell off last week. We really do see that Assault Lily: Bouquet revolves a lot around Riri, and only Riri. Characters like Yuyu, Kaede, Yuri and rest of the Legion are people we consider ‘supporting’, but Riri is the core. With her being in solitary confinement, this week’s episode has these ‘supporting’ character taking center stage, and though their plan to recover Riri’s hairpin is well-meaning, it just feels a little weird. I guess we’re all just too used to Riri being the same old naive and cheerful Riri she has always been.
This episode really was something that would pull at your heart strings, and now with Yuri gone, we’re left wondering how the show will end. Well this week wasn’t all about Riri and her losing her adopted daughter. While all the major corporations back off now that they’ve lost their test subject and a suitable punishment was delivered, the student council were able to recover a damaged CHARM this week, found inside a fallen Huge. And we don’t just get teased with that either. If you stick around in the epilogue, you’ll see someone make a comeback in the show.
I have my own theory on why Misuzu has decided to return; won’t go into them though, but it would definitely make a cool ending to this already high-quality show that really ought to have had a lot more coverage and attention than it is getting right now.
BNA – Brand New Animal Episode 11
Some more quality episodes in the seasonal shows I’m watching, but I guess there’s only one positive thing I can say about BNA: it ends next week.
I really am so so sorry for being such a sourpuss when it comes to my coverage of this show. As I have often said, this was a show that I really did want to like. Finally, with this penultimate episode, things started to pick up a little. Yes, there was a lot of things that I didn’t really have an opinion on, but somehow episode 11 felt a little more…mellow compared to the others. Here, Nazuna plans to confess to being originally human to her beastmen cult members; something that everyone else knows will be a terrible mistake, and could well trigger the Nirvasyl syndrome in them all. Michiru is able to talk her out of it, only for Alan to suddenly arrive and tell the beastmen instead. As you’d expect, this new news causes a massive uproar, with some beastmen losing control, but to our surprise, the news hits Shirou the most. You see, Shirou has long believed that it was humans who destroyed the village he was born and raised in, but with some new memories arriving (thanks to the Nirvasyl syndrome), he realizes that it was in fact beastmen who did it instead.
Episode 11 has been the first episode for a long while that has actually made me want to know what happens in the following episode. This could be in part due to the fact that it’ll be the final episode, and that we’ll see what happens to everyone – Michiru, Nazuna, Shirou, Sylvasta Pharmaceuticals, Anima City, everyone. But ultimately will it be something I’ll miss when the next season starts, and I’ll be watching A Lull In The Sea instead? Sorry, but no.
So what are your holiday plans? They are looming, and so will you be like everyone else and just carry on watching anime? There are a couple of anime movies I still have not seen yet, and I’m earmarking them for the holidays. But feel free to hit that like button and air your opinions in the comments below!