Too much stuff in real life has happened in the last 7 days, on both sides of the Atlantic…too much crappy stuff. So we’ll be having none of that here; I’m just completely sick of it all. Anime is meant to be our respite, and I have no intention of stopping that here in this column. Let’s get started with…um…the one show I really do not like anymore.
Wave, Listen to Me! Episode 9
I said in the past that it felt like the show had gone from 10 to 0 in a matter of weeks, and that our main protagonist, Minare, has turned from someone who wants revenge on an ex who treated her poorly, to someone who has a bit of a screw loose. The end of last week’s episode saw the show get back on track on why Minare had become so bitter and jaded in the first place, as she recieves a text from this very same guy who cheated on her.
When we first got a glimpse of this guy, Mitsuo, in episode 2, he came across as a bit of a manipulative and misogynist pig. We get to see Mitsuo for real this episode, as he plans to meet up with Minare for all sorts of reasons but as I watched the two of them spend the entire day taking part in all sorts of activities, from cable car riding to going to the movies, the more you could see Minare being lulled into some false sense of security – the same false sense of security that a con man like Mitsuo would pull off.
This was the first episode in Wave, Listen to Me! that didn’t have any focus on the radio show. Instead we get to what drives Minare to be so angry in the first place, and so watching her being led on here actually made me feel for her. She finally gets to confront the one guy she had been meaning to get revenge on, and yet I still feel unsatisfied. It’s as if the last 3 or 4 episodes I watched here have just made me so frustrated with the show, that any attempt to make it better (like here when she gets her own back on Mitsuo, sort of) doesn’t totally wash for me.
A bit of a petty reason, I know, but now that this segment is dealt with, I’m not really sure if the show will get any better, and so will go back to how it originally was. I suppose I should just enjoy what episodes I did enjoy, I guess…
Tamayomi Episode 9
Enough negativity about shows I’m not liking, though; back to my favorite baseball girls show, Tamayomi. As I thought from last week, this game was a two-parter, with the rival teams’ pitcher getting especially annoyed that the girls from Shin Koshigaya are copying her style of pitching. We saw from last time that this team aren’t really that serious when it comes to playing in a baseball tournament, and only formed the club so they could have some fun playing and later go home. They didn’t actually expect another team to copy their style and force them to take the game more seriously.
Since this was set out to be a two-parter, we can sort of guess what the result is, and who actually wins the match. Now, our baseball girls have to focus on their most serious threat; the one school team that is well known in the area, and wins tournament after tournament. I sense that this upcoming game will end up becoming a two-parter as well, which is not a bad thing of course. I’ve warmed to all of these characters, and so I actually wouldn’t mind if they end up beating this team or not. The journey is more important than the end…or at least that’s what I believe.
There is one thing that is still bugging me when it comes to Tamayomi, and it’s the fact that I still can’t see that much when it comes to the yuribait that we were promised (sort of) at the beginning. Or maybe it’s just me. Right now, I’m seeing this newly-formed team that have become quite chummy already, and want to do their best for this tournament. Some of them have histories together, while others just hang out with each other more than the others. This probably is just me, and perhaps everyone else who is watching this show can see this yuribait as clear as day. One theory I have is that it is precisely this unclear yuribait that is causing these ‘okay-to-mediocre’ reviews I see online, but that’s just a theory. Eh, I’m still enjoying the show as a casual watch, and that’s what matters.
Kaguya-sama: Love is War Season 2 Episode 8
The last two episodes of Kaguya-sama: Love is War season 2 have been real gems, and showed us why this franchise is so great in the first place. Maybe any other production crew would have messed this manga adaptation up, or just not done it as well. The addition of ex-SHAFT staff for this second season has paid off, as we’ve seen in several past episodes with the difference of animation style. Soon enough we’ll see the crew head-tilt.
Well, I am certainly happy to see the crew back to their normal and regular dysfunctional selves, and now with the addition of Miko as financial auditor, we can watch her turn from a pure and innocent first-year who believes in justice and order, into someone just as crazy as they are. This week, however, is just a little different, in that we see a little more in Kaguya.
Sure enough, we get Miko lecturing the others on being lax on school rules, only to set up an Instagram account of her own and make weird selfies with filters, but this week’s episode shows us that Kaguya’s family actually has a long history of preexisting ill health. And so when something happens to her in the Student Council room, she immediately comes under the impression that she has some rare disease or even a hole in the heart…only for her family doctor (which is, of course, one of the best cardiologists in the world) to tell her that she is too lovesick for words.
Towards the end of last season, we began to have an ongoing story of Kaguya’s father banning her from a school event, only for Hayasaka to sneak her out. Now with the upcoming sports event coming up, it looks like we might just have the same kind of thing here. No complaints from me though, and I’m more than certain that it’ll deliver just as last time. Except I have a niggling feeling that the end story for this one might be something far more significant for both Kaguya and Miyuki…unless they want to stretch this out into a third season. Then again, I wouldn’t complain about that either.
Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku Episode 9
Right, so onto this episode of Wotakoi, and a very different one than the others as well. Because this episode didn’t see them at their usual places of work and at the bar (or home either); this episode was set entirely at the theme park where Narumi and Hitotaka are meant to have their ‘normal’ date. And by ‘normal’, they mean a ‘non-otaku’ date, and interestingly, it was this reason precisely that makes episode 9 stand out amongst the others.
Episode 8 had Hirotaka begin to think a lot about how he feels about, and whether Narumi genuinely does feel something for him in the way he is hoping, which is precisely why he proposed this ‘non-otaku’ date in the first place. He even goes as far as bringing a piggy bank with him to the theme park, where both of them have to put in 500 yen every time they mention anything otaku. This would mean the piggy bank ends up pretty heavy by the end of the day, right? Well, unsurprisingly, the two of them encounter Hanako and Kabakura at the park; it turns out that Hanako got curious about how he felt, and so begged Kabakura to take her.
This has actually been the more emotion-based episode I’ve seen so far, beating even the previous one. But the question is: does this show that an ‘non-otaku’ date brings out these thoughts/feelings/emotions more than an ‘otaku’ date? It was definitely something I thought about as I watched this episode; since Narumi and Hirotaka talk about otaku stuff so much, it has been kind of hard to ascertain exactly what is meant to be otaku buddy stuff and what is boyfriend/girlfriend stuff.
In next week’s Otaku Theater post, I’ll be doing a double-episode review of Wotakoi, covering both episodes 10 and 11, since I’ve grown quite curious on the end result of this show suddenly. While I can’t control the rate of episodes for one show I’m disliking this season (Wave, Listen to Me!), I can at least get this out-of-season show, which I have a mixed opinion of, over and done with.
Anime is indeed meant to be a respite, but I suppose it only feels like that when we’re actually enjoying the shows we’re watching in the first place, hence why I always end up having one eye on current affairs. Well, this Spring season will be ending shortly, so what have been the shows that have distracted you from current affairs? And what will be the shows that will do the same to you in the upcoming Summer season? Feel free to hit that like button and air your opinions in the comments below!
Lastly, remember to stay home, wash your hands and keep good hygiene!