This season is over. It’s finally over. This definitely hasn’t been the worst one I’ve been a part of here at The OASG, but considering what we had in the Winter with season 2 of The Promised Neverland, 2021 is still not looking that hot for me. That’s not to say that there have not been some outstanding shows released this year; Wonder Egg Priority, Yuru Camp season 2, and To Your Eternity that is still going strong (despite me dropping it). Apparently a lot of people are calling shows like Don’t Toy With Me, Nagatoro! good; I am not sure why myself. Eh, maybe I’m just complaining too much again. I only get to choose 3 shows each season, and I wish I was capable of watching 6 or 7 (or more). I will eventually find time to watch other shows, but right now, 2021 has been a little hit and miss.
We also had the news that there’ll be no more ‘Crunchyroll Originals’, as they have decided to shut the project down. Funny how when it closes down, I finally discover what the term actually means; it was a generalized term to describe shows that are meant to be shown on Crunchyroll – shows that their rivals (Funimation/HIDIVE/Netflix) can’t bag for themselves. Shows like The Rising of The Shield Hero and Tonikawa were labelled ‘Crunchyroll Originals’…oh, and everyone’s favorite show of the year, EX-ARM, was one too. Now I know we’d all like to think that EX-ARM was the reason it shut down, but it seems like the real reason is that it was all down to poor in-house management and communication with the staff. There’s more on it all here.
Crunchyroll won’t disappear any time soon of course; I’ll be watching some of their licensed shows in the Summer season. But what about this Spring season? Has it really been all that bad for me?
SSSS.Dynazenon
So it was Sizumu all along…or was it? This final episode really left me scratching my head. The sudden unexpected reveal of Sizumu being a kaiju himself was a little disappointing; almost like they never even bothered to give a backstory to how he ended up being the big bad in the show. At least in SSSS.Gridman, we had the character Alexis Kerub who, as we learn as the show goes on, is a virus who feeds off of Akane’s unstable emotions. The Kaiju Eugenicists here seem to be emboldened again by the fact that a Kaiju has returned, but I can’t help but feel that this is some kind of copout, and that this finale could have ended up being so much better. The Eugenicists were humanized in this show, and for them to come back like this just doesn’t sit right with me at all. Sure we got the final epic battle we were expecting (and it was an epic one), with us seeing how the main characters’ lives had changed being a part of the Dynazenon crew.
I remember a lot from SSSS.Gridman‘s final episode, and I still stand by my opinion that there was so much stuff squeezed into it that it became a bit of a letdown. Here in this final episode of SSSS.Dynazenon, I’m kind of feeling the same thing. Sizumu turning out to be the big bad was a real disappointment, and I still think that more real-life backstory would have been cool for the main cast.
As for the show’s own epilogue? Well it went on for far longer than it needed to be. I do think that we got the ending we were all hoping for, with the Dynazenon crew moving on with their lives now that they don’t have kaiju to fight anymore, and with Knight and Second moving on to another dimension to carry on the work they started. Even with this nice ending, I still felt that there needed to be some more closure in other characters, and I’m hoping that Trigger’s future Gridman Universe projects will get to that. If I decide to commit myself to this, I wouldn’t mind knowing some lore.
Pretty Boy Detective Club
The final arc of Pretty Boy Detective Club (the adaptation – the show decided to skip some arcs from the light novel) started in episode 10. One of the candidates, vice president Wana Naganawa, got involved in a mysterious hit-and-run incident, and so to solve this mystery, Mayumi decides to enter the elections herself. As time goes on, and Mayumi ends up being one of the favorites to win (somehow…), Michiru puts out the idea that the hit-and-run was actually arranged, and targeted towards the vice president. Seems like a very logical thing to happen, but who would go and do such a thing? Especially here in what is supposed to be middle school…yeah remember, these are all middle school students, which makes the weird massage scene at the beginning of episode 11 even weirder, and more out-of-place compared to not just episode 11, but the rest of the show.
I’ll say that this arc, The Pretty Boy on D Hill, is a very ‘Nisioisin’ one. It makes very good use of music and abstract shots to show us who the real culprit is, and what they really want. For the sake of those who haven’t watched this show or read the light novels, I’ll say no more, but it’s an ending that makes perfect sense, and isn’t one that is too off-beat.
I’ll also say that it’s good to see that the other boys in the club genuinely care about Mayumi, and don’t really see her as the pretty princess that needed to be protected – the one we saw all the way back in episode 1. She almost ends up becoming a victim of the same hit-and-run that the vice president had, and Manabu puts out the idea of closing the case; Mayumi’s life is infinitely more important than solving a case that they refer to as “child’s play”.
The arc closes on what is essentially a recap of what Mayumi has had to go through while putting up with these weird boys that call themselves detectives. Them helping her find a star, becoming a member herself, finding counterfeit money, and confronting Nagahiro’s viper-tongued fiancée. Some might call a recap like this a bit of a copout; maybe because so much has happened in this show (visual-wise, especially), we needed a bit of a reminder.
A Lull In The Sea
For this season review post, I’ve had to squeeze in a lot of A Lull In The Sea episodes. After, where we left off in the last post, quite a few significant things had happened. Miuna discovered she has ena and can breathe underwater, Manaka is rescued by Hikari from a long sleep only to wake up later without her ena, and Tsumugu reveals to the others that he has feelings for Chisaki. Hikari remains on his mission to find Uroko-sama and demand answers from him, with the hope of the rest of Shioshishio waking up too. Manaka can’t remember anything from that day she took Akari’s place as the ‘sacrifice’ to the Sea God in the Sending ceremony, but it’s later revealed that her ‘sacrifice’ and her own hibernation is more serious than we thought. Manaka’s ‘sacrifice’ was to prevent (or slow) the planet from cooling down and creating a perpetual winter, but now she’s awake again, this cooling has resumed. Just like the original Ojoshi, Manaka seems to have lost her memories not just of that day of The Sending, but also her ability to love.
There’s everyone else as well, though. Some viewers have well have been put off by the fact that there were so many pairings here. The seven of them all felt for one another in some way. Hikari’s own feelings for Manaka is something the show liked to make central, but the rest end up developing feelings for the other. Towards the end of A Lull In The Sea, we get to see more of Tsumugu’s feelings for Chisaki, as well as as Sayu’s own long-standing crush on Kaname which she never really told anyone about until now. It can feel a little overwhelming, I admit, but because the seven of them ended up becoming so likeable and relatable, it was that much easier to follow.
And speaking of ‘overwhelming’, I’ll admit that the show’s ending was indeed that. We as the viewer get to know a lot more about what really happened in the tale of the Sea God and the Ojoshi, and not the version that Uroko-sama knows – the Ojoshi never stopped loving the Sea God and the people of the sea despite going to her surface lover. The residents of Shioshishio begin to wake up again, and our gang-of-seven find resolution and happiness with each other, in the relationships that they wanted and that they felt destined to be in. I’d talk about the craziness that happens in the final two episodes, but that really is something you need to see for yourself. I’ll just say that involves another Sending ceremony and Miuna getting in too much trouble than she can handle.
This really has been the best P.A Works show I’ve seen in a long time. I know that it received criticism when it originally came out because of its overbearing melodrama. And yes, I agree that melodrama can take over a lot of the episodes. But while in other shows they have been deemed unnecessary, here the melodrama is needed for the show to progress. The love heptagon (seven sides) that begins in the first cour and develops into much greater detail later on becomes central to the show, and the fantasy parts (the sea village, ena, The Sea God, The Sending, etc.) end up becoming the sideshow. Maybe any other studio would have handled this differently, and put fantasy front and center; doing that may not have made the seven characters as relatable and likeable as they are here, though. Each of the seven main characters mature in their own unique and different way. While Chisaki, Tsumugu, Miuna and Sayu all mature with age, Hikari, Manaka and Kaname mature by reevaluating their lives after being in hibernation for so long, and realizing what they value the most.
I know P.A Works is better known for Angel Beats!, Charlotte and Shirobako, but A Lull In The Sea is something I really recommend checking out, to all anime followers…whether you like melodrama, romance or fantasy. The show combines all three and makes something that really is a treat to watch.
Season Review
This season has been very different from my past ones, and for the wrong reasons. It did suck that real-life issues had to take priority, and that I didn’t enjoy To Your Eternity as much as I was hoping. What about the other shows that I stuck with? Well I think that to those who were following SSSS.Dynazenon, we can agree that it didn’t have as much substance as its predecessor. Once again, I loved seeing the same traits (real-life story taking priority over the mecha action, character design, use of silence to create mood, etc.). I also loved watching these antagonists in action; the Kaiju Eugenicists were humanized as much as Akane Shinjou was. Saying that though, I thought that if they had some kind of backstory, then we would have understood them better; instead they are just…there.
Out of all the characters, Yume was by far my favorite. She has a complicated story of her own, and she just takes on the role of mecha pilot in the Dynazenon without question. We see her a lot more concerned with finding out how her sister died, and when she discovers the real reason, she begins to enjoy life more. Her backstory dominated the show more though; I wish we got to see more on how Yomogi felt about having a new stepdad he didn’t want, or how Koyomi became a NEET. Calling SSSS.Dynazenon a weak show would be wrong, but there is so much that it could have had that just wasn’t there. We could connect with the main characters, but that’s as far as it went, really. It’ll end up becoming a key part of this Gridman Universe that Trigger are planning, that’s for sure, which leaves us wondering what else they have in store.
I was hoping Pretty Boy Detective Club would reignite the old passion I had as a SHAFT fan, but after finishing it, I’m really not so sure anymore. It has all the trademarks for a Nisioisin x SHAFT show (Monogatari series, Zaregoto): colorful artwork, short and sharp editing, complicated plot. It could just be me though; I haven’t seen an Nisioisin adaptation in a while, and I’m just complaining for little reason. Yeah, I know that there’s so much that pleased the Nisioisin fans, and I’m sure all of them flocked to watching the show. And then there’s someone like me who thinks that this might put me off SHAFT shows for good.
The arcs in the show have been pretty darn decent, with only the one involving Nagahiro’s fiancée being the weakest, so why am I complaining? As a longtime SHAFT fan, what right do I even have to complain? The Monogatari series finished long ago, Katanagatari was done by studio White Fox instead, and the Zaregoto episodes (which still aren’t available to watch in the West) seemed to disappear into obscurity. Fans needed their Nisioisin fix, and they definitely got that in Pretty Boy Detective Club, there’s even room for a sequel season so this franchise won’t disappear anytime soon I think.
I just was not able to warm to this Nisioisin adaptation like I did with the others. The Monogatari series got complicated over time but put out some very solid stories, and Katanagatari was a really quirky historical action show with hour-long episodes airing every month, meaning it went on for a whole year. Pretty Boy Detective Club is a show that I will likely check out again, maybe to help me warm to it. It is definitely not a terrible show, but I think it needs a second watch for me to really enjoy it in the way I know so many other people have.
I will find a way to watch Tropical-Rouge! Precure (there’s no license for it here in the UK), as I’ve been told it’s the best Precure generation in a long while. There’s actual fighting in the show, and the magical mermaid Laura is apparently a real brat, in a good way. This sounds awesome, so I just think it’s a shame that the Pretty Cure franchise doesn’t get as much coverage in the West as it deserves. There’s Netflix’s Glimmer Force (a watered-down dubbed version of Smile! Precure), but that’s about it. I just hope that Crunchyroll will let us Brits see this Laura character be the brat that I think she is.
My Summer preview post is coming soon as well, where I’ll be talking about the shows I have in mind for the next 3 months. I’ve been more careful this time, and picked more ‘jovial’ ones. There’s a lot to choose from, so what do you have in mind? And as for the Spring season, was it really as mediocre as I am kind of making it out to be? Or am I just exaggerating…again? Feel free to hit that like button and air your opinions in the comments below!