Well, I’ve been later, at least.

All right. The new year and the developments around our first (announced) big project threw me off a bit, so now it’s time to play catch-up. Let’s see what the offerings from the non-TKO roster decided to give us over the past couple weeks!

Black Clover (Episode 65 – 67)

See, these are the kinds of episodes I find myself just not caring about, in this series. Episode 65 was basically just the cooldown from the events of 64. Everyone reunites and everything’s cool now. There’s not much else to talk about, aside from the resolution of Vanessa’s character arc. Well… this one, anyway. It was just Harmless. Nothing special, overall. Then there was Episode 66, which was just a recap and easily qualifies for a Pass.

But the episode that had maybe the most potential to be at least slightly more interesting was 67. And, to its credit, it pulled it off. Using a magical deus ex machina, Asta cures Kahono and Kiato of their injuries from the battle with Vetto after inviting them to a festival. And then what? Well, they go on a “double date,” which is just Kahono secretly trying to play matchmaker and… I’m gonna be completely honest? I… don’t find any of it funny. Not offensive or anything. It just didn’t make me laugh. A mild chuckle at certain shots, here and there, but that was really it. “Well, you’re not the audience for this. Shounen’s meant for kids!” Except there are several Shounen titles out there that make me laugh aloud constantly. This series’ sense of humor is just… meh. It’s overly simplistic, I guess. I like cleverness and/or unexpected gags. Sue me. So yeah, this episode was just… Harmless as well. But the bit at the end with the little girl was really sweet and I enjoyed it. Until they had Noelle’s tsundere side take over for a cheap gag, as if the episode needed more of them.

Toaru Majutsu no Index III (Episodes (Episode 14 – 16)

Hoo boy. All right, so one arc ends and it’s right into the next one. But before we can follow up what’s happening with Touma, we jump back over to the other best thing about this series – Accelerator. Technically there’s also a major feature on Hamazura, but Accelerator’s where it’s at. Again, I could forgive people for having issues with the pacing. There’s absolutely no rest between these things happening. It made even me a bit dizzy. But I’m also really enjoying the ride, admittedly.

Episode 14 was a pretty solid Junk Food conclusion to the arc, which delivered pretty much everything one might’ve come to expect from this series. But there’s no space at all before it just drops you into Accelerator and Hamazura’s arcs. Episodes 15 and 16 feature so many moving parts, it can be easy to wonder What The Heck Did I Just Watch? Especially without any breaks to recap or anything.

Noragami Aragoto (Episodes 1 – 2)

This is a carry-over from my previous coverage of Noragami which was one of the series that got me to actually start paying attention to BONES more closely. I’m sure you can guess what the other one is. That being said, I never actually watched the second season and looking at the first two episodes of this, it looks like it’s continuing the stuff I really enjoy about the first. It’s plenty light and humorous, but actually deals really well with deep, existential issues that get to the core of the human experience and a lot of the things that we take for granted. This is made especially apparent through Yukine with a really heartbreaking series of events revolving around a friend he makes. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds, really.

CONCLUSION

This was a rapidfire thing, so I’ll be skipping the Achievements for this round. But it’ll be back next time! What’d you guys think of any of these? What are your thoughts on Noragami Aragoto? Think I’ll enjoy the rest of it? Let me know, down below. Thanks for reading, as always. Keep up the Awesome and Take Care.

-Voyager