Well. This has been… a rather diverse week.

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Featured Shows

Kimetsu no Yaiba (Episode 11)

The new guy’s a headache, but everything else about the episode was pretty solid.

(Full Review: Episode 10)

Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai (Episode 11)

The more we get of Kirisu, the more I enjoy her character, especially given the unexpected complexity she brings to this otherwise simple series.

(Full Review: Episode 10)

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Unfeatured Shows

Black Clover (Episode 87)

And so the Royal Knights finally assemble! That’s… really about it. It’s a serviceable episode, but nothing overly special. I really think this should’ve kicked off next season. But that just gets back to the weird pacing of the series, overall. Even so, this episode was Harmless. Nothing more, really.

Fruits Basket (2019) (Episode 11)

Ahem.

*watches latest episode of Fruits Basket* Yo, whoever put *that* in an anthology of "Funny Stories" needs their head checked. That was depressing as hell.

— Voyager (@Voyager_GT) June 18, 2019

I’mma just be honest, here. I didn’t appreciate that one. It bugged the hell out of me. Yes, yes, I got the point that was ultimately being made but damn that was heavyhanded. The rest of the episode was great as usual, though. Super Effective

One-Punch Man II (Episode  9)

And here we get to the meat of what makes Saitama such an awesome character. Showing that just because he’s the strongest guy ever, it doesn’t mean he’s inhuman. He has his problems. And, in his case, it’s very blatantly depression. Yes, the series downplays it with humor. But that’s absolutely what it is. And I like seeing that. And yet, despite that pitfall, he’s still a man of unshakable ideals. Ideals that affect those around him, as shown with Suiryu. He’s a really good example of a character who’s so multidimensional that he manages to have multiple arcs at a time. One unto himself, realizing that he’s essentially wasting his time at the moment, and one unto others, wherein his ideals inspire Suiryu to become a hero. And defeating Goketsu off-screen was actually a brilliant way of punctuating that point. Especially after the fight, where he wonders why he became a hero to begin with since none of this makes him feel anything. Notice how there was only one time during this entire arc that he felt impassioned by anything. It was Suiryu mocking his ideals when they first fought. The action ultimately isn’t the point. The character journey is. And this episode displayed that masterfully. World’s Finest.

Kenja no Mago (Episode 10)

…I’m really struggling to see exactly what the endgame is, now. I mean… I have every expectation this is going to go horribly, later. But, for now, I kinda feel like getting the villain’s dark and tragic backstory came at a very weird time. It wasn’t necessarily bad. Highly predictable, but whatever. This episode wasn’t really as fun as previous ones, especially given how Shin and company took a back seat. Harmless.

Carole & Tuesday (Episode 10)

Things are heating up. Carole and Tuesday are falling “out of sync,” as Tuesday’s feeling guilty about Cybelle’s outburst. What’s more, Tao is making a move make sure Angela succeeds. And this is just a generally pretty great setup for the tournament arc, as a whole. There’s some very real tension, going on here. So it’s likely just one more episode left before we see the end result. My prediction? Carole and Tuesday and Angela lose to Pyotr. But I digress. Super Effective.

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Older Shows

Kotoura-san (Episode 11)

This series’s tonal inconsistency becomes more apparent with every passing episode. It’s just weird how up-and-down it is. And while there’s no shortage of sweet moments, I can’t help but feel like every bit of drama is a curveball. But at least the danger’s now basically over, leaving only one episode left to go out on a high note!

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Achievements

Overall Episode Medalists

Whaaat? no Fruits Basket, this time? Yeah. No. Dug the majority of the episode, but that hard-stop in the middle to tell the world’s most depressing “Funny Story” was nooot something I was okay with. Sadness: The Anime I’m okay with, but that was just shameless. Instead, the Gold Medal of the week goes to One Punch Man for a really nice close to everything revolving around the tournament arc, showcasing more of why Saitama’s such a great character. Silver gets picked up by Bokuben because of how well it explores the complexity of Kirisu as a character, despite also taking a humorous approach to downplaying it. For all of her coldness and pride, she’s very interesting. That leaves Carole & Tuesday with the Bronze because of how well it’s handling its own tournament arc. The tension’s being handled extremely well, the performances are pretty nice, and the characters are being pushed in ways they really haven’t, up until now.

MVP: Saitama

I… don’t really think I need to say anything more about this. It was fairly obvious, this one guy took it for the week.

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Conclusion

I look forward to everyone telling me how wrong I am, upon reading this one. Feel free to sound off in the comments. Meanwhile, someone else had a different take on that episode of One Punch Man. Feel free to check that out. As for me, that’s a wrap. Thanks for reading, as always. Keep up the Awesome!

Take Care,
Voyager