You know… if only every show could be animated to the level of last week’s Mob Psycho 100 or possess the storytelling chops of last week’s Date A Live.
ANIME TKO REVIEWS
Mob Psycho 100 II (Episode 11)
…Okay, no flair, here. This episode was not only visually incredible, but the emotional core and character development sides of things were downright stellar. World’s Finest
NON-TKO REVIEWS
Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (Episode 11)
This was an admittedly fun episode, yet I continually found myself fighting back the urge to tell literally everyone not named Naofumi to shut the hell up. Super Effective
Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen (Episode 11)
See, this was probably the weakest episode of the show, overall, and while I still had a reasonably good time with it, it’s very clear they were just filling space until that last skit, which was cute if surprisingly emotional. The post-credits bit, tho! Junk Food
Date A Live Ⅲ (Episode 11)
This was, by far, the best non-Mob Psycho 100 episode of the week. Emotional, filled to the brim with character growth, and concluding an arc that spanned three whole seasons of the show. Fantastic work. The only thing that’d make it better is if the animation was honestly up to snuff, but it’s fine because it wasn’t just Origami. Even Yoshino got a shining moment. Ironically, the only one not especially afforded such a standout moment was Tohka. Also. I’m glad Shido believed Kurumi was dead about as much as the rest of us did. Which is to say, not at all. But I’ve still got to ask exactly how they intend to end this, now that the actual climax of the arc is over.
Also, if I’m honest, I think I may well have preferred new Origami with some old Origami tendencies over old Origami with slightly more evident emotions. Also, also, it just occurred to me that – Miku notwithstanding, because she’s a shameless flirt towards everyone, as is – Origami is the first one to throw the word “love” Shido’s way in any serious capacity. That is quite the statement. And I hope this gets a season 4 so we can explore Tohka’s assessment of her own emotions and whatnot. They’ve been hinting at it, all season long. But nothing’s really come of it because of all the Origami stuff. Even so, this season has been mostly a delight and this episode was great. Super Effective.
Black Clover (Episode 75)
Nice to see more development out of Finral, as well as the setup for his brother, who’s probably the main “antagonist” of this whole thing. Honestly, this may well be the first time I’ve seen a tournament arc where you’re meant to be so invested in multiple different members and not really have a specific combatant or squad to root for. Asta, Noelle, and Finral are all on different teams, after all. I don’t know the exact details of this arc, from here on out (though I do know about an arc or two after it), so I can’t really predict how this is supposed to go. But it’s marginally interesting, if a bit boring on the visual side. Date A Live, while not putting out excellent animation, did go for some more interesting visual ideas whereas this is going for slightly better animation on rather visually unimpressive ideas. It’s a taste thing, I suppose. Also. Not gonna lie. I completely forgot Mimosa’s brother was a thing until gathering the pictures for this article, so… take that however you like. Junk Food
Toaru Majutsu no Index III (Episode 24)
Oh. Hey. Touma gets to be awesome again and Psycho Mugino is now cured of her crazy after Hamazura’s show of mercy or whatever. But the hell with that. Touma being awesome is back! So, you know. That’s cool. Junk Food
OLDER ANIME REVIEWS
Noragami Aragoto (Episode 11)
HYPE! Bishamon in knightly armor! Yukine and Hiyori fighting Kugaha! A rescue mission to save Yato! I can’t even, it’s so good! Also. Hiyori to the rescue!
ACHIEVEMENTS
Overall Episode Medalists
Well… as you can probably guess from the above, Date A Live III easily clenches the Gold Medal, this week. Just good old fashioned storytelling. It’s not trying to go for anything especially deep or whatever, but it tells a good story in an effective manner, and I deeply appreciate that. The Silver is going to Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari, which was fairly entertaining. That third spot was the tough one because everything else last week was pretty evenly mediocre. I want to give it to Kaguya-sama because that last skit and the post-credits snippet were great emotional hooks that really show where the pair’s wound up in their “relationship” (though I fully expect that this series is going to have a “Status Quo is God” resolution, at least in this season). And, frankly, I think I will. I respect Hamazura, but I don’t like Mugino enough to care about that resolution (actually, I don’t like her at all, so…) and Accelerator isn’t too prominent in that episode. Black Clover just didn’t do anything particularly impressive. So that leaves Kaguya-sama, which had two strong bits, even amidst two rather lackluster ones.
MVP: Origami
She returns! And this time she has a somewhat bashful new form! Kinda! Honestly, “New Origami” just made this episode for me. I loved that whole dynamic of the old version kinda seeping through despite the new one being dominant. And as endearing as it was, and as much as I’d have honestly preferred she stay that way (or at least come to some sort of 50/50 split, rather than the seeming 90/10 in favor of “Old Origami” that we got), I still very much appreciated her role in this episode, right down to the climax and her reconciling between the two versions of her. Origami doesn’t just make the episode, she sells the entire arc. So perhaps I can finally call myself a fan of hers and say she definitely deserves the MVP honor, this time.
Unique Achievement: Irritants Shut Down
Shut up, Malty.
Unique Achievement: WTF Points Earned
The entire first two-thirds of last week’s Kaguya-sama just seemed wildly out of place.
CONCLUSION
And that’s that. What’d you think of last week? Let me know, down below! Thanks for reading, as always. Keep up the Awesome!
Take Care,
Voyager
