As I write this, Tampa Bay ended up winning the Super Bowl. A pretty big thing over in the US, but we still get to see it on this side of the Atlantic in all its glory. Maybe one day, someone will think that an anime devoted to American Football would be a good idea…and then realize after a few episodes in, how wrong they were. Also, the winter has finally kicked in here in the UK, and we have actual snow and considering nearly all of our weather consists of gray, gray, and more gray, this is a big deal. Oh well, all the more reason for me to stay inside and watch some shows, I guess.
Otherside Picnic Episode 6
This week’s Otherside Picnic continues directly from last week, where the two are found by US troops stuck in the Otherside, trying to survive from a group of large monsters and a ‘meat train’. Having been there for so long, you can understand how they’re slowly losing their sanity. And of course, you can understand the terrible Engrish here. What I don’t understand is the constant switch from Engrish to Japanese, and back to Engrish. I get that senior officers that are stationed in Okinawa would have a decent grasp at Japanese, but the other soldiers keep on alternating between languages for no reason. I’m really nitpicking there, besides it really doesn’t matter.
Oh, and it turns out that I’ve been saying Sorawo’s name wrong all this time; I originally thought it was Sorao. Some writer I am. Anyway, both Sorawo and Toriko decide not to take all of the soldier’s advice seriously, and decide to call home (how I don’t know), steal an assault rifle and find their own way back, leaving the soldiers behind. I don’t know how this was all told in the manga, but this somehow felt a little off. Like these soldiers were just forgettable fodder in the show. Saying that though, a good part of me is glad that this wasn’t some long-running arc or story in the show. Just as we forgot about other regular people seen in the Otherside, these same soldiers will be people we forget about in due course. I guess we’ll just assume that they were consumed and taken in by whatever lurks in the Otherside. Sad but true. Otherside Picnic revolves around Sorawo and Toriko, and only them. Soon enough, we’ll be seeing Sorawo and Toriko get into more trouble in the Otherside, Kozakura yelling at them for being idiots, and maybe Toriko getting more drunk. These are all things I’m enjoying pretty much though, and even if these weird things like forgettable people and complex dialogue, I can still sit through these 25 minutes or so every week.
Yuru Camp Season 2 Episode 5
Just as last week’s episode of Yuru Camp focused on Nadeshiko, this week’s is focused almost entirely on Chiaki, Aoi and Ena, as they go on their camping trip over the school break at Lake Yamanaka together. And just as I enjoyed last week’s switch to Nadeshiko, I’m liking this switch to other characters in the show, especially since we already have a bit of an attachment to Chiaki, Aoi and Ena.
This trip of theirs doesn’t go perfectly though; no trip does, of course. And it’s these little hiccups that are the core part of this episode. Chiaki slipping on ice, the Caribou bear, and so on. It’s stuff like this that I really like in the many slice-of-life shows I’ve seen…and there’ve been so many. It is a literal slice of life, and considering our lives suck, we watch these shows to make us feel better about ourselves. Sounds a little dark, I know, and so I apologize for that. Heck, I shouldn’t be saying anything dark here; Yuru Camp remains an amazing show, and has so far given us an excellent second season that we can enjoy just as watch as the first season. And as the first season gave us talking pine cones…
…this week’s episode introduces Nabeshiko. I’m really surprised that they didn’t think to bring this joke in sooner, say in the first season or something. Sadly, I don’t think this will be some long-running joke. As much as I want it to, this won’t be something that Chiaki, Aoi and Ena will return home to. Calling her ‘Nabeshiko’ at school or in a text message will be funny once, and would end up getting boring afterwards maybe.
Their trip doesn’t end though, and we’ll be seeing more of them next week. They set up camp, and now they have all this time to have a camping trip of their own. No doubt, the end of this season will see everyone (including Sensei) on another massive camping trip, just as season 1 ended. That would still be great to watch. Even though we see a lot of second-hand jokes from season 1 here, they never ever get dull to watch. So it’s quite remarkable how a show like Yuru Camp have been able to pull this off. Just a shame that I can’t say the same thing about The Promised Neverland.
The Promised Neverland Season 2 Episode 5
I’m going to be writing a lot about this week’s The Promised Neverland, so be warned.
Perhaps this is something I’ve only noticed until now, but this new season hasn’t won everyone over. I actually haven’t read the original manga, but I only found out recently that an entire arc had been cut; an arc that contained a significant character with significant plot, and not just this either. The original mangaka, Kaiu Shirai, is also on the series composition team for this season. Not uncommon for shows, sure, but it seems that Shirai wants to create a whole new and original story for the anime. An extremely risky decision, I think, as this has the potential of failing miserably, making this season a flop.
Right now, us anime-only folk are really starting to worry, and this week’s episode only proves us right. Here this week, we are brought to a demon town, where the children are avoiding detection in an abandoned temple, looking to survive on meager rations of things stolen from markets at the town. Considering we had an interesting mini-arc where we met Sonju and Mujita who taught the children survival techniques, and a part where they found a human shelter, I start to scratch my head a bit, and not really in a good way.
As we watch, we ask ourselves all sorts of questions all at once, like how they arrived there, and why they came, as well as how much time passed since the last episode. We’re dropped into this part of the ‘new and original’ story without establishing that much of a backstory. Also, it’s like some parts of what we’ve seen in past episodes never even happened, like that ‘Help’ message written in blood at the shelter, or the gigantic demon that killed the soldiers last week. The contrast of seasons couldn’t be more plain to see here. Season 1 gave us this real sense of urgency; if the children didn’t hatch a plan to escape Gracefield Manor, then it’s game over. We weren’t given any fillers whatsoever, and every episode left us on the edge of our seats, hoping that Emma, Norman and Ray weren’t found out. Here in season 2, we don’t really get any of that. No urgency, and with very little suspense and tension. Sure we know that they have a mission to find this William Minerva guy, to rescue the remaining children, and to reach the human side of the world, but the journey there right now has just felt so lackluster compared to everything we saw in season 1.
Okay, so I might be jumping to some really quick conclusions here; the second half might bring us a lot lot more. Heck, we even have another big spoiler this week…that we kind of knew was coming anyway; it was more a matter of when, and not if. I just do not understand why Kaiu Shirai decided to write this ‘new and original’ story for the anime, when the story that they wrote and was established well in the manga was fine enough. Big and important arcs from the manga needn’t have been cut, and if the rest of this second season is going to have stuff like this, then I’ll have lost faith almost entirely, and I know other The Promised Neverland fans will feel just as disappointed (if not more) and lose faith too.
So you think I’m throwing shade at the characters, I’m not in any way; all of the children are wonderful to see and to cheer for, like they always have been. What I’m throwing shade at here is this bizarre change to the story. This really was unnecessary and I don’t understand why it was needed.
A Lull In The Sea Episode 5
So big disappointment in this second season of The Promised Neverland. Maybe time for some melodrama, and well…A Lull In The Sea never seems to stop giving us enough of it.
While we’d love to see more emotions on the part of the foursome, this is the Akari and Miuna show. It begins with Akari determined to break up with Itaru, but not for the sake of Shioshishio. Instead, she chooses to break up for the sake of Miuna, and for something that she only notices until at this point: she has been so desperate to become replacement mothers (both to Miuna and Hikari), that she doesn’t stop to think about how others feel about it.
As much as I’m enjoying the antics that the four children (plus Tsumugu) are having, I’m really enjoying how this show is deviating and having a good focus on secondary characters like Akari, Miuna and Itaru. We get a happy ending, of course, but even with all of this, I worry that the excessive melodrama so far has only just gotten started, and we’ll be getting even more in future episodes – more than necessary, perhaps. Some shows can be too melodramatic for their own good, which is why I’m not all for every single Studio Key show. A Lull In The Sea may not be one (it is, in fact, an original show), but P.A Works always have loved making weepy shows.
Almost halfway through now, and I’m already looking at my Spring shows. And I’m already slinging mud at a popular franchise. At least I have the upcoming Precure show to fall back on, as well as that so-bad-its-good EX-ARM show. What about you though? If you’re watching this season of The Promised Neverland, what do you think of these sudden changes? Feel free to hit that like button and air your opinions in the comments below!