I remember what seasonal anime was like this time last year. I was still buzzing after what I got up to at the Scotland Loves Anime event in Edinburgh the previous month, and was a little annoyed at the fact that the one show I enjoyed in that Fall season immensely (Kandagawa Jet Girls) had to be delayed and carry on into the next year. Oh yeah, and there was that board game show I liked too, where for some reason, I decided to make some long list of all the games that featured in the show. I think the tally for that ended up being around 80-90.
The Fall 2020 season has been pretty similar, in that I can call out one particular show that I’m loving immensely. This whole egg girl arc in Assault Lily: Bouquet has got me very curious now, and I didn’t see it coming at all. More on that later though; in the meantime, let’s start with the slow burner.
Adachi & Shimamura Episode 8
Oh, what are we going to do with these two? Anyone else would have taken the hint, I’m sure. I mean Adachi is just making it too obvious now, especially now as Valentine’s Day approaches, and that she and Shimamura agreed to do something. I’m pretty sure that Shimamura is still mulling over what kind of relationship she truly wants with Adachi, so in the meantime is just letting Adachi act the way she is. True enough, this show has been mostly seen through Adachi’s point-of-view, and every now and then, we get moments where Shimamura gets focused on. Well last week’s main story came back this week, with the return of Shimamura’s old grade school friend Tarumi – the same girl who didn’t return Shimamura’s loyalty when it came to being BFFs. Interestingly, it seems like she has a lot to say now that she’s in high school. Whether she’ll end up becoming a spanner in the works is something we’ll have to wait and see; I personally think that her arrival will be more of a motivation for Shimamura to evaluate how she feels about Adachi.
We’re at this point in the show now where there are only a few episodes left, and so I don’t think Terumi will be that much of a problem. I think Shimamura is too smart to just let someone she hasn’t met in several years just come barging in like a wrecking ball. As I said last week, Shimamura knows full well how Adachi feels, and is only putting on this front because she can’t quite commit to herself how she feels about everyone. She has her mischievous mother and sister, plus Nagafuji and Hino might be girls she hangs out with, but considering what happened with Terumi in elementary school is still something fresh in her mind…
This week’s episode was that filler episode where we get to see Adachi feel even more flustered, and Shimamura made out like she’s oblivious when of course she isn’t. I know people are getting extremely frustrated with this show, and are itching for something…anything…to happen. I think that Adachi & Shimamura represents more of what this kind of high-school relationship is supposed to be like. Both of these girls are full-to-the-brim with teenage hormones, and while Adachi is trying not to go to the next level and confess, Shimamura is too much in self-reflection.
These interactions the two of them seem more and more like dates; they just haven’t quite realized it yet. And as I’m an anime-only person here, I don’t know what’ll happen when/if one of them figures that out.
Assault Lily: Bouquet Episode 8
Now this egg girl arc looks to be the one that’ll close this season. Riri and Yuyu already seem to be filled the shoes of Mama and Papa for little Yuri here, and while some would see this week’s academy exhibition festival as a filler episode, there’s actually more to this week than meets the eye.
Sure, we get the kind of things that we’ve gotten in each episode, but some plot points have emerged this week – some so small that we barely notice them. The major one is that the douchebags outside the academy are closing in to bring Yuri back, but the headmaster and the Student Council have already made their position clear to protect her, especially now she has become a fully-fledged Lily. Another is that some Lilies have noticed that security around the academy has tightened up due to said douchebags, and then Riri’s roommate Shizu goes on a philosophical route, asking what will happen if the Huge is beaten for good.
“Will humanity turn back on each other, like they did in the past?”
It is suggested more now that the writers of Assault Lily: Bouquet are playing out that humanity is more of an antagonist in the show then the Huge themselves. With sinister corporations desperate to get their artificial/synthetic Lily back, along with the academy having to tighten security, who will the Lilies end up having to fight in the final episode? Well we are given one hell of a tease in the epilogue, after the ED.
I won’t say any more on this, but I really don’t think the writers would go in on something as simplistic as making Kaede some insider; she is the daughter of the CEO of the largest CHARM manufacturer after all, and one of the corporations who are itching to get Yuri back. It really cannot be as black and white as we think it is, surely. Makes one think, but this is what good shows are all about – hooking us in to watch what happens in the next episode…
Oh, and one last thing people may not have realized until now. This may be set in the not-too-distant future, but Lilies are still using Nokia 3310 phones apparently. There’s no way SHAFT didn’t add this as a joke.
Tonikawa: Over The Moon For You Episode 9
So…previously on Tonikawa, Nasa and Tsukasa not only got their blessing from Nasa’s parents, but Father ended up pleading to Tsukasa to take good care of her. An extremely heartwarming episode last week…and so of course it all had to come crashing down when the two of them returned home to see their apartment building burnt down. With nowhere to go for the foreseeable future, the two end up taking a detached unit in the back garden of Kaname and Aya’s bathhouse. Considering the big plot point thing happening last week, I had worried that this week would be more of a filler episode. Just as the last episodes of Adachi & Shimamura and Assault Lily: Bouquet each had big moments followed by episodes a lot of people would see as filler, this was no different. Just like the other shows’ episodes of this week, this new episode of Tonikawa has a lot of little things that have made me realize how much I enjoy the show deep down.
And here was me thinking that Aya having this crush on Nasa, and her not realizing he is married, was going to be some long running gag in the show, but Mom shot this straight down straightaway. She wouldn’t even let her have her ‘when-I-was-a-little-girl’ flashback either! Being Aya is clearly suffering, but it’s this whole affair is just one thing that has made this week’s episode good. The writers stopped caring about rom-com anime traits long ago and went straight to the point here.
The other half of the show focuses on the two replacing any clothes that went up in smoke, including some things that Tsukasa would rather Nasa didn’t see. Of course things turn out alright, but I think it’s the way that it’s told that I enjoyed the most. Think back to the very first episode; these two were pretty much total strangers, and then suddenly Tsukasa comes in like some Princess Kaguya and says she’ll only go out with him if they agree to marry. It’s taken 9 episodes, and now these two legitimately feel like a couple. No more of Nasa being in total shock that he’s now suddenly married, and no more of Tsukasa doing her best to fit into an unfamiliar home. Not knowing the manga, I don’t really know where the final episodes will end up going. I’d think that focus would shift to the two of them building a new home, and for Nasa to finally convince Chitose that he is a worthy husband for her onee-sama.
The end is nigh here, but just like the other seasonal shows I’m watching, I’m very much looking forward to what the final episodes will bring us.
BNA – Brand New Animal Episode 9
The way I see it, each episode of BNA so far is trying to bring some real progress to the main story, leaving no room for only ‘filler episodes’, so to speak. So when it came to episode 9, I wasn’t really sure what to think. Considering that past episodes frequently give us little tid-bits when it comes to things like Sylvasta Pharmaceutics, the Silver Wolf cult, Michiru vs. Nazuna, and now Shirou being the host to Ginrou, this episode felt a little lackluster in comparison. Funny me saying that huh, considering how much I’m not enjoying this.
In episode 9, Michiru is still itching to build back bridges with Nazuna, only to witness her being taken by Sylvasta, but when she breaks into their medical facility, she sees that Nazuna is only there for an MRI scan. Alan then goes on to tell the both of them that they both had blood transfusions that went wrong, explaining how their strange beastmen powers came to be, and is actually working with Nazuna to develop a cure. Now, considering how shady Alan already makes out to be, we’re left wondering if anything he says is actually true, considering his existing ties to the Anima City underground. It was only when he then revealed that it was his idea all along to make Nazuna out to be some figurehead for the Silver Wolf cult when I almost had had enough.
Perhaps my dislike of the show is down to the fact that I’ve been too quick to compare the show to past Trigger shows I’ve enjoyed immensely, like Kill La Kill, Little Witch Academia and SSSS Gridman. They may have entirely different stories, but they all seem linked somehow. BNA, on the other hand, feels like another level, and I can’t quite put my finger on why exactly. I may have started to give up on trying to figure out the answer to this, considering there aren’t many episodes left now, and so I’m at that point where I just count down the time until this story ends.
I don’t often say a lot of good things when it comes to filler episodes, but episodes this week have really delivered in their own ways, and have left me really wanting to know a lot more, and how the shows will eventually end. On another note, it won’t be long until the very last season of Attack on Titan starts, so will you be tuning in to that? Or will you be like me, and avoid the franchise entirely? To be honest, I really do not care on what the end result will be in that, and I never have. Nonetheless, Attack on Titan has been a 2010s show that has made a massive impact in the anime scene, so I wonder what all these people will tune into when it ends. I suppose we’ll just wait and see.
The holidays are looming, the Fall season is reaching its end, and the Winter 2021 season is fast approaching. Have you made your plans on what to watch, or are you just waiting until shows begin to make your mind up? Feel free to hit that like button and air your opinions in the comments below!