Beyond the Boundary - Episode 6

Mirai has her youmu hunting license back, and with most of her money spent on bonsai trees boy does she need it.  Then again, given her opponent in this week's Beyond the Boundary, perhaps there's more to life than money after all...

Such thoughts are far from Mirai's mind as she's offered the chance to defeat a youmu worth half a million Yen however, and what's more it's a fruit-based creature that resides on the school roof (conveniently)  and has no history of directly attacking humans.  What Mirai doesn't wait to hear, of course, is the catch - that this youmu will flood the area with liquid which gives off an ungodly stench if it feels threatens, and Mirai waving her blood sword around most certainly counts as a threat in it's eyes.  Well, eye, singular.

Still, learning that this youmu has a bit of a thing for the ladies seems like it could make life easier, and before she knows it Mitsuki is dragged into this whole state of affairs - however, she ultimately comes off worse as even this two-pronged attempt fails.  Maybe setting up some kind of impromptu idol unit to catch the youmu's eye is the answer?

If ever a reminder were needed as to why Kyoto Animation has stuck largely with creating comedy-centric shows in recent years, this is it - this week's episode of Beyond the Boundary is as cynical a play on otaku proclivities as anything this series has offered up so far, but it carries it off to a certain extent purely on the back of some smart (if easy to read) gags and an impeccable sense of comic time.  It's utterly daft, yes, but it was rather a lot of fun too, and I can't begrudge it that despite a slightly unsatisfying ending to the episode.  You two, dance like you want to not stink!

Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Ars Nova - Episode 5

Haruna and Kirishima may have been defeated in last week's episode of Arpeggio of Blue Steel, but they haven't been entirely destroyed, which proves to be an important development in events this week.

Having been discovered unconscious (can an AI be unconscious?), Haruna finds herself in the care of an impressively large and lavish house which seems to be mostly empty but for a made and a young girl named Makie, who instantly takes to Haruna (or Haruharu as she becomes known), dressing her up, messing with her hair and generally treating her like the friend she's never had.  With nothing left of Kirishima but her core, her comrade instead finds herself occupying the body of a stuffed toy, which only further increases Makie's love her these new acquaintances.

Of course, there's more to Makie than just a friendly little kid, and Kirishima is quick to note that the home they're currently residing in is also noted as the base of development for a prototype human weapon, the vibration torpedo (no, I refuse to make any jokes about putting a vibration torpedo into Iona) - a weapon whose gestation is publicly attributed to Makie's deceased father, only this story is anything but true on a couple of counts.  With events unfolding quickly, these two Mental Models are going to have to choose their allegiances, and fast...

As I suspected, this was another episode largely shorn of any naval action (aside from a brief cameo from Takao, which seemed to exist almost as acknowledgment that they hadn't forgotten about "the boat bits"), but on the plus side it did have some surprisingly strong moments of comedy as it brought AI and human child together in an amusing way.  Putting that to one side, the rest of the episode's plot is daft and just begging to have holes picked in it, but I'm not going to do that because I think it's already patently obvious that I'm not watching this show for the plot.  Thus, having enjoyed a few laughs at the hands of this week's instalment, I'm hoping we can get back to blowing up big boats again next Monday.

Monogatari Second Season - Episode 18

Settle down and make yourself comfortable, as it's story time with Shinobu in this week's episode of Monogatari Second Season.

In short, this instalment is all about Shinobu's past as Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade, and more specifically her previous visit to Japan.  Having arrived from the Antarctic via a single, mighty leap, her landing in a lake near an area of drought saw her feted as a deity thanks to the rainfall she'd inadvertently caused - a position that she decided to take up for a period of time.

With even an apparition hunter befriending her, it seemed that all was well with Kiss-shot living the life of a god, until the area around her became racked with strange disappearances.  Although there were no signs of apparitions or anything out of the norm in the vicinity, these disappearances accelerated until the entire area under Kiss-shot's influence was wiped out; a point at which the dark nothingness responsible came to take the lives of both this vampire and the apparition hunter.  Having just enough of her wits about her to escape, Kiss-shot reformed the apparition hunter as her first ever minion, only to see him later kill himself.  The darkness which attacked her never appeared to torment her again... until now, it seems.

Well, this was certainly a pretty unique episode of Monogatari, that was nothing more than Shinobu's monologue for the most part.  Yet, somehow, it was still pretty compelling, connecting Kiss-shot's mysterious past to the present in a way that had just enough visual panache and interesting content to keep its head above water.  Whether all of this will prove worthwhile depends upon how the rest of this story arc pans out, of course, making next week's episode all-important in validating the content of this one.

White Album 2 - Episode 5

Just when everything was going so well, all it takes is a pesky toothbrush to get in the way...

It's this toothbrush which tells Ogiso that Haruki hasn't been entirely forthcoming about his recent movements, and more specifically that he's been staying at Touma's house despite having never mentioned it to her.  Seething with jealousy and a more simple disappointment that she was kept out of the loop, Setsuna is something of a mess mentally as a result - thankfully, given a few hours and some time to calm down, followed by a hearty apology and long chat with Kitahara, all is well again.

Indeed, if anything Setsuna and Haruki's relationship is now a little closer than ever, and Setsuna's magnetic personality also seems to be working its charm when it comes to getting Touma on-board as her friend too.  Not that this can really help Kazusa's lack of interest in schoolwork, which continues to get her into trouble, not helped by her possessive nature when it comes to a certain notebook that she's caught using when she should be completing a test in class.  Even this moment of disobedience in the face of her teacher seems to blow over quickly enough with the help of her friends, but there are still more serious problems attend with the school festival now only a few days away.

I really thought that this week's White Album 2 was going to start doing some deep digging into the relationships between its main trio of characters, but ultimately this was glossed over somewhat as something to worry about some more another day - this isn't a bad thing in itself, but the trouble is that there isn't anything particularly interesting offered up in its wake.  Now that we're heading into a boringly typical "sudden illness" scenario, it certainly looks like originality isn't going to be one of White Album 2's strong points - ironically, it is starting to feel like a cover version of other, better, visual novel adaptations.

Little Busters! Refrain - Episode 5

All that purportedly now sits between Rin, Riki and the secret of the world is a spot of volunteering at school - what could possibly go wrong here?

So, with this final task delivered by Lennon at hand, this new couple steps up to the plate and volunteers when required of them by their homeroom teacher.  It turns out that what they're volunteering for is the duty of escorting an inspector and his colleagues around the school - something which proves a little tricky for Rin given a combination of her shy nature and her tendency to be rather blunt.  Still, everything seems to go smoothly, and even Rin's happiness shines through her dour exterior sufficiently for the inspector to take note of it.

Unfortunately perhaps, Rin's personality proved to be a little too noticeable, as the next thing we know she's been selected to take part in a student exchange programme with a school currently reeling from a bus crash which killed a number of its pupils.  Although Rin has agreed to think the prospect of taking part in this exchange programme over, Naoe is dead set against it and initially gets Rin's agreement that it isn't a good idea.  However, racked by guilt that he's simply press-ganged Rin into her answer, Riki ends up shifting his stance and insists that Rin should go, making a mess of their relationship in the process.  With Rin all set to leave, Naoe starts to piece together the true purpose behinds all of the tasks brought by Lennon, and it leads to only one conclusion as to who was responsible... Kyousuke.

As keen as I am to get more purchase on Kyousuke's character as he moves slowly but surely towards becoming a focal point of this second season of Little Busters, the way this week's episode panned out with a view towards that goal isn't one that I can ignore... and by that I mean that it was almost willfully bad.  Having already felt like the sudden blossoming of Rin and Riki's relationship seemed forced, it was as of nothing compared to the story's attempts to force them apart - the whole "let's set up an exchange programme to cheer up the students of a school where a lot of pupils died" thing I can give a free pass to, but Naoe's monumentally stupid behaviour in trying to persuade Rin to go felt totally out of character.  Having said that he wants to let her make her own decision, why did he then go and effectively force her to made the decision to leave?  It makes no sense aside from as a necessity to progress the plot, and that really isn't good news for a series where creating believable characters and interactions between them should be the key.  Perhaps it can lead on to better things in the long-term, but boy was this a bad way of going about it.

Space Brothers - Episode 80

Returning home early from his rehabilitation in Russia at NASA's behest, it seems as if Hibito's career is at a low ebb at just the moment that Mutta's own ambitions are about to receive a major boost.

With the first prototype of the new lunar buggy he helped to design now ready to roll, Mutta gets the call that he really wasn't expecting at this point in time - the call to join a team of a dozen people to being training for a lunar mission.  Saying some quick goodbyes, there's no need to express Mutta's sense of excitement, as he prepares for several weeks of undersea NEEMO training (insert your own Finding NEEMO joke here) to give the prospective astronauts some time in conditions somewhat closer to those of space.

Alongside Mutta for this training are both Kenji, who is trying to juggle these responsibilities with his growing daughter and another child on the way, and Nitta, bringing both himself and us some familiar faces for this particular leg of his journey.  Meanwhile, Hibito finds himself with a room and desk of his own at NASA, but is he going to be able to continue his rehabilitation alone?  Ivan back in Russia clearly wants to ensure that he does, and he might just have found the person he needs to help him along in his efforts.

Having been sidetracked in some shape or form for a little while now, I'm excited to see Space Brothers getting back into the thick of Mutta's progress as he moves a step closer to the moon - these segments of the show have frequently been amongst the most satisfying, and I have no reason to believe that this story arc should be any different.  Who knows, maybe they can figure out some kind of Nagi no Asukara tie-in while Mutta and company spend a few weeks under the sea...

Samurai Flamenco - Episode 4

From his humble beginnings, it seems that Samurai Flamenco is moving up in the world as he starts dealing with purse-snatchers and "proper" crimes instead of harassing people for putting out the trash too early.

With his training at the hands of Joji Kaname, Hazama certainly seems to be getting the hang of the whole hero thing, leading him to go on patrol in a particularly seedy and dangerous part of town.  When he isn't being chased aorund by adoring fans, it quickly becomes clear that Hazama is out of his depth here, and before he knows it he's been captured by a group of ne'er-do-wells.  Luckily, it seems that Samurai Flamenco has a new partner in crime-fighting - enter Flamenco Girl, who sports a Humvee, a magical girl outfit, a staff that doubles as a Taser and a decidedly "memorable" signature move.

Unsurprisingly, this new heroine turns out to be idol Mari Maya, but any thoughts of a crime-fighting duo with Samurai Flamenco and Flamenco Girl on equal footing are soon dashed.  In short, Maya is rather irrirtated that Hazama has beaten her to the punch as she'd planned to become a hero herself anyway, and thus she demands that he work as her fall guy so that she can do all the real work of beating up bad guys for herself.  Needless to say, this new heroine is an instant overnight sensation, but her more flamboyant style of crime-fighting quickly ensures that she also builds up a reputation with the police...

Although my concerns about the series' ultimate direction continues, I'm not going to deny that Samurai Flamenco remains a lot of fun at this point - its sense of entertainment, comedy and character interaction is simple and effortless in its execution, but undeniably rewarding, and the introduction of Maya has freshened up the show at exactly the right time where its core premise was otherwise threatening to look a little stale.  Where things go from here I couldn't even begin to imagine, but as long as I'm enjoying the journey at this point (which I most certainly am) I'm happy to come along for the ride.