Frieren, fin

Half the episode was wasted trying to make more of the dull mages retroactively interesting, but the rest was fine. Bonus points for Fern picking a Very Practical Spell for a traveling mage.

Verdict: the tournament arc did its best to suck the life out of the show, but only managed to half-suck.

(okay, it was mildly amusing that psycho chick spent half the season hitting on a guy who wasn’t even there; it didn’t improve either character, but it helped make up for their presence in the show)

The Last Pon-Fighter, fin

Okay, this one was bullshit. My expectations after last week’s fake cliffhanger were low, but they failed to meet them anyway. Even the brief plug for Mahjong Soul was half-assed.

Why not use one of the other tables when Janta-kun broke? Because Girl#2 threw a tantrum and Girl#4 seconded the motion: it would be a betrayal of the broken inanimate object. So half of the episode is like a post-graduation “our club broke up, but we still meet as friends sometimes” downer epilogue.

And then they finally decide to call for service, and discover it will cost about $150 for the repair, which Girl#1 can’t afford, and she’s surprised that they all want to pitch in. Never mind the solid-gold mahjong set on the counter and Our Poor Little Riiche Girl who could buy the service company with her allowance.

Waiting three months to make a service call was apparently to force enough time to pass for the show to end with cherry blossoms and a very-short-but-qualified newcomer.

Verdict: Our Pon Gals might be naturally padded, but this episode was strictly artificial stuffing all the way. Hell, even the repair took too long because they had to order the part, instead of taking it out of one of the other machines they weren’t using anyway. Having the barely-used magic bird write out “the end?” was more of an insult than a promise. The only reason to Buy The Blurays is if they promise to hire animators to replace all the non-panned stills and cardboard-cutout “animation”, and cut the volume on the music.

(y’know, usually when women get this attached to an appliance, it’s got “massage” features…)

Solo Ragdolling, episode 11

The prestige-class fight cheated on the animation in several places, but it at least made Our Hero look like the underdog again after wiping the floor with his opponents for the last few weeks.

But they took plenty of time to set up the still-unannounced next season’s events, which kind of negates any built-up drama. As did the lite-cheesecake shots of his little sister. And of course the drama of having him lose the easy-out option was undercut by telegraphing the stunt he’ll pull next episode.

Verdict: everyone else announced second seasons at the big anime show this weekend; why wait?

(“gosh that defensive item really came in handy!”)

The Apothecary Diaries, fin

And so the Daddy Issues arc is resolved. Maomao’s months-old leg injury, not so much. How many times has she reopened it off-camera? Bonus points for finally tying the first OP’s dancing into the show.

Verdict: with the second season not coming until 2025, I’m going to have to break down and read at least the two novels that have been covered up to now. How much I read past that, I don’t know yet.

Spice & Wolf: The Remake

…will be two cours; please don’t suck, so I have something to watch for six months.

(unrelated spicy wolf)

July: Cat Food Porn Girl

Not food for cats, or porn catgirls, but food porn by cats, with a girl. I’m not recommending it, just noting its existence…

[Update: I rewatched this trailer because I thought some of the voices were familiar. Turns out, almost all of them are; the human girl is a kitten among tigers.]

Less exciting than cat food porn: Shy 2 teaser

Yeah, whatever; the endless Russian invasion overflowing with Kufufu ruined the first season for me.

(nothing relevant left in my collection, so I’ll start using up some of my spare Frieren pics)

Next year: Beelzebub returns!

Oh, also the rest of the Slime-Killing Witch characters.

Oopsie!

Someone pasted in the wrong blurb, making Rerun’s Special Magic considerably more entertaining:

“What happens when you put one down-on-his-luck amateur novelist and one amnesiac ghost girl in one bargain-basement haunted apartment?”

Unrelated, Blue Archive shooting blanks

I have questions, but on the other hand, I’m a bit afraid of the answers…

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