Last week I said I was unable to watch episode 4 of Kemono Friends on Crunchyroll due to an error on the site. Well it seemed that I wasn’t alone in this, as Crunchyroll’s site went down over this week (and has only recently got working again).
Beginning with The Magnificent Kotobuki this week, and we got some world-building at last. Going by the script in this episode, it talks about how oceans and seas were something that dried up a long time ago; this would likely explain why we see so many canyons and barren landscapes in this show. Most of this episode centers around a popular yet extremely annoying politician, Isao, making waves in the town the Kotobuki corps are currently in right now. We also see a totally different side to Reona this week as well, as it seems that she had her own history with Isao when he was a flying ace back in the day. Of course, if you become a renowned flying ace, you’re bound to make a few enemies.
The script this week went at Monogatari speed, so I don’t really understood all of the whats and whys behind this massive air assault on the town…other than they came here for Isao…maybe? You see that’s one issue I have with this show: while the character design is good and the world-building is spectacular, you can’t help but feel lost in the script sometimes after each episode, and I can’t only blame all the fast speaking. Despite my complaining, Julia (who returns this week) is being portrayed more of an anti-hero, wanting individual freedom for the citizens, while this Isao guy favors strong-handed and totalitarian-like governments.
I admit that I’m chuckling a little at all the theories going around on the /r/anime discussion thread, especially concerning how the fact that no oceans could potentially kill life on Earth. With oceans evaporating, it would generate water vapor, a greenhouse gas with enough effectiveness to turn Earth into something like Venus. Yep, gotta love Reddit…The show has hiccups here and there, but it really has become like Those Magnificent Girls In Their Flying Machines (Tell the truth, I always did hate that musical…).
Now if only these JDSF androids (or…whatever they are) in Girly Air Force were just as magnificent. Still waiting for Minghua to turn into a magical girl and kill all the Xi just so she can finally get Kei’s attention; she’s become so irrelevant and pointless in this show that she is literally just a text message now.
The final Anima arrives at the base this week, and of course has a totally contrasting personality than the other two. While Gripen is just helpless and clueless, and Eagle is just an annoying little brat, Phantom is the most mature…and also the most cunning and manipulative. I suppose this just makes Kei’s job of harem-handler more of a big deal. Now Minghua doesn’t even get screen time anymore, he has only 3 personalities to control. Is this a good thing in the show though? Well, Phantom is already one of those love/hate kind of characters; someone who is willing to use any trick in the book to beat their opponents, as shown in this week’s training exercise. Not sure where I stand with Phantom though, since overall, Girly Air Force isn’t doing that much for me, and bringing in someone with a character design that I could really really like makes it awkward. Despite how much I complain though, I do genuinely want to like this show – I only wish it wasn’t so formulaic and cringe-worthy.
Another way of looking at this new addition is that the cast needs some kind of balance; Kei’s harem can’t all be clueless children. Speaking of new girls who are cunning and such, our favorite trashy romance show has a new one too. Then again, what kind of show would Domestic Girlfriend be if it didn’t have at least one character like Momo? Then again, is she really that kind of person?
We learn this week that Momo has a reputation of dating a lot of men, with the boys at school calling her easy, and the other girls at school treating her like trash. It’s only much later in this week’s episode that there is a lot more to her than what all the classroom rumors say. Natsuo jumps to the chance to have some kind of relationship with her, because despite all of these rumors about her, this relationship could be seen as the most normal. With his crush on Hina still firmly there, Natsuo could well be possibly thinking that dating someone unrelated will help him get over it all. As an anime-only person, I don’t know what happens next when it comes to the Natsuo x Momo ship, as this week’s episode ended rather abruptly, although I applaud this guy totally for doing the right thing at the end…I mean, making delicious yakisoba for a girl to cheer her up? A nice guy like that would be a catch, and both Rui and Momo should be so lucky.
I don’t even care about the show’s borderline trashiness; I really do look forward to each week’s episode of Domestic Girlfriend, but there is one thing that has recently started to bother me. I discovered that a lot of things are being censored or cut entirely; the suppository scene this week is a notable example (watch and see for yourself). Understandable perhaps, but it begs the question: are diomedea (the animation studio) trying to make this a serious show or a deliberately trashy show? It’s becoming hard to tell. Should I just be quiet and wait until the next significant thing happens before I make a final decision on that…or should I just read the manga and find out for myself here and now?
Even still, this adaptation of Domestic Girlfriend has gotten a bit of a frosty reception from others. Those who loved the manga are complaining that key scenes are being cut and the more comedic scenes have been written out entirely. People like me, though, are finding themselves quite entertained with the show. I’m enjoying this mixture of serious drama and trash. I will remain on the Rui ship until the very end, Natsuo has turned into a really nice guy, and I’m starting to sympathize with new girl Momo now a little. My opinion on Hina, though, has not changed.
Now that this, along with The Magnificent Kotobuki is on Crunchyroll, should we all celebrate? I mean we were all either despairing or annoyed when the site went down. Maybe that just goes to show how much the anime streaming community can be affected when the internet decides not to work. Oh well, I finally managed to catch up on Kemono Friends this week, by watching both episodes 4 and 5.
From my research, I understand that it was at this point in the show that ratings and opinion in Japan shot up completely. The Japanese anime fans were starting to warm to the kind-hearted characters and cared less about the animation quality. Episode 4 brings the gang to the desert area of Japari Park, and onto a hidden abandoned part of the park, meant solely for entertaining park guests. This episode also decides to give the viewers some more lore, feeding us some theories as to who ran the park before it was abandoned…or whatever happened to cause humans to no longer be there, and for the park’s animals to change into Friends. Oh, and Tsuchinoko is the best Friend so far in the show.
That was what I would have watched last week, and so moving onto the episode I’d be watching this week: episode 5. Back on the road after last week, the tour bus accidentally runs into Beaver’s new house, and so feeling pretty crappy for it, Serval and Kaban decide to help her rebuild it.
But Kaban was actually pretty priceless this episode.
It certainly is curious to hear how the show wasn’t received too well when it first began (both in Japan and in the West). Was it the opening episode that threw people off? Were the viewers just not expecting a show with poor animation like this in 2017? I guess it shows how the anime fans can be so easily swayed by studios who love to splash the cash on their shows.
So far this season, the show I’m enjoying the most is Domestic Girlfriend, with The Magnificent Kotobuki being a very close second. I know someday I’ll get around to watching some of the others this season, like The Promised Neverland, or Kaguya-sama: Love is War, or Kemurikusa, or even this bizarre mermaid idol show Bermuda Triangle.
Well, if you’re watching shows with runaway kids, or adulterous teachers, or mercenary girls in ancient aircraft, or even mermaid idols underwater, how has your Winter season been? Has it rocked? Has it sucked? Have you picked your Spring season shows already (like…umm…I sorta have…)? Feel free to hit that like button and air your opinions in the comments below…