Y’know, it really undermines the seriousness of the cliffhanger boss fight to title the episode “let’s all have a party”. Anyway, Our Well-Strapped Hero quickly figures out its weakness and we move on to the wrap-up, bouncing from one dangling thread to another with whiplash-inducing speeds, with a large side order of warm-and-fuzzy exposition.

But what’s really important is that Our Big-Heart-And-Bust Receptionist finds a way to keep an eye on her love rivals, and Our High-Level Princess blushingly delivers a memorable confession. Which Ryota naturally assumes is just about the dungeon drops…

Verdict: an absurd premise that treats the overpowered cheat isekai tropes just as seriously as they deserve, without a hint of the dark side of the genre. I could watch more, but they’re pretty much out of source material for now.

A Girl And Her Boxxo, first season final episode

Another day, another Big Bad to fight. Our Gang pulls together for the win, only to find themselves facing a Much Bigger Bad in a fight they can’t win. Even managing to injure him takes all the heart they’ve got, and if it weren’t for the Boxxo transformation they telegraphed last episode, two of those hearts would have been stopped permanently.

It’s a bit sad that the closest they got to real fan-service involved applying an AED to a dying woman, but what’s important is Our Hero’s Reward.

Now for our reward: there will be more. No idea what they’re going to do, since they ran through all three light novels already, but I’m looking forward to it.

Verdict: this was genuinely appealing fluff, start to finish. The only thing missing is more source material. And maybe some Buy-the-Bluray scenes, even though I’ll buy it anyway.

Incoming!

The first watchable of the season will be S-Rank Daddy’s Girl on Thursday the 28th. Then Friday is Frieren, and Sunday is Jailbait Witch & Loli-Mom.

Distilling the isekai genre…

Thanks to Mauser’s suggestion, I’ve read the available translated material (both light novel and manga) of Isekai OP Space Mercenary, in which Our Hero’s video-game skills and paid DLC grant him a Better Life With Hot Chicks.

He doesn’t try to build a harem, but as the Designated Protagonist, it just happens. This also applies to his life outside of bed, to the point that his loving companions become genre-savvy about the inevitability of improbable things happening just after someone says they’re incredibly unlikely.

He’s actually rejected two volunteers for the harem, which is refreshing, but his Very Good Reasons for keeping them out get severely undermined by the events of the latest light novel, so Our Lush Noble Officer Lush and Our Loli Noble That Could are back in the running. Our Repeatedly-Rescued Medical Babe hasn’t been seen recently, but in fairness, he’s probably still a bit traumatized by the anal probe.

Which leads me to think you could achieve success in this world by stripping the isekai genre down to the essentials:

Transported To Another World With An Unlimited Supply Of Mind-Control Collars, I Finally Get To Touch Women!

(Hulemy is more the school-swimsuit type)

“…until I took an artifact to the head.”

Dungeon (No) Drops, episode 11

In which Festivals Are Fun (but show off a ridiculous variety of items from the drop-based economy), Our Lovestruck Fire Mage is dropping hints the size of boulders, and a rampaging Increase Goblin is not nearly the threat it was in the source material; seriously, it just stood quietly on the street waiting for the conversations to end. Fireworks are also fun, but strain credibility as this “rare drop” comes complete with a colorful bag printed in Japanese.

Also, Our Formerly-Suggestive Bunnygirl swallows the meat in a completely literal way, Our Dungeonborn Loli sets up the big two-part finale, Our Guild Sugar Daddy begs for help when the drops stop, and Our Two-Fisted Hero discovers that he can’t do it alone.

Verdict: it kinda says something when you’re watching an already low-budget show and you notice that there’s even less animation than usual. The panned stills are well-drawn, but the money is clearly running out. One more to go!

Dear Bethesda,

So I got Starfield for free through Game Pass, and it actually works pretty well on my multiply-rebuilt gaming machine (bought in 2015 with a Core i7-6700, 16GB RAM, spinning disks, and a GeForce GTX 980; now with 32GB, SSDs, and an RTX 2060, which was the best I could get at the time that fit within the power/cooling budget). Gameplay is pretty familiar for anyone who played hundreds of hours of Skyrim and Fallout 4. Actually, apart from the space travel, it’s basically F4 without the forced whimsy. So, y’know, shootin’ and lootin’ and craftin’.

But there’s something I noticed. Once I finished the tutorial and got off the rails, I explored the first planet a bit, and found an Abandoned Farm full of corpses, monsters, and loot, which was nice. But when I was searching the living quarters of the research scientists, every single one of them had a bottle of hand lotion and a box of tissues next to their bed.

So, it really is lonely out in space…

The one downside of getting a non-Steam version of the game is that the popular script-extender mod will never work, which means mods that depend on it will never work; fortunately it’s not required for the major inventory overhaul mod, StarUI.

And you really want to fix the inventory UI, because Bethesda always designs for console, and loves to make you jump through hoops to see information that would easily fit on a PC screen.

Certified

Wow, CPR training has changed a lot since 1980. Also, AEDs are cool, but still expensive if you don’t have professional connections. Anyway, in addition to my NRA range safety officer certification, I can now add First Aid, CPR, AED, and Bleeding Control.

That last one was highly recommended for range officers, and the doctor who taught it said that if he ever sees us at a range, he’s going to check our bags to make sure we’ve got a tourniquet and chest seals. Because bullets.

In which Our DFC Engineer ruthlessly teases, Our Mighty Heroine faces her fears, Our Vending Hero makes a new friend, Our New Friend doesn’t last long, Our Sexy Sorceress chickens out, Our Communication-Challenged Heroic Swordsman speaks a complete sentence, and our next-to-last episode sets up the final battle.

Verdict: not much animation, as usual, but at least one of the panned stills was of Lammis’ delightful figure, so there’s that. Hulemy’s tough-love big sister scene did a good job of character development for both her and Lammis. Bonus points for not making poor Lammis wet herself in terror; it’s an overused cliché.

(I’d say it was a little early for a Halloween-ish episode, but I just got back from the grocery, and that shit’s everywhere)

In which Lumps Are Exposited At Length, it’s That Time Of The Metaphor, and Remarkably Precise Rewards are earned, giving birth to Another Overpowered Skill that lets Our Family Hero share the wealth.

Speaking of birth, the family grew again when Ryota refused to allow a naive young girl to join That Abusive Party and reeled her into his gang instead. Turns out she has powers that are nearly as broken as his, having been (tada) born in the dungeon. While the anime dialogue does not clarify that her mother was actually pregnant before giving birth, the manga does, so she’s not a loot drop or literal dungeon spawn.

Once again reduced to comic relief, Our Easily-Satisfied Bunnygirl’s likely objection to the presence of Alice Wonderland (sic) is averted by the discovery that she doesn’t like carrots, so we don’t have to go down that rabbit-hole again.

As a side note, Alice’s voice actress has supporting roles in next season’s Tearmoon and S-Rank Daddy’s Girl, and was previously the lead in Novice Alchemist and McPharmacist And Waifu.

Verdict: if this sounds like it was rushed, I’ll point out that Alice first appears in the tenth manga volume, and they’ve flipped the story so she’s there before the big battle that’s probably going to end the season. So, yeah, even though she’s no more equipped to be a proper haremette than Our Perfect Wife Emily, they zipped through content to add another cute loli and her chibi pets.

(cute chibi pet is unrelated)

This week, Enter The Inhaler.

Our Restaurant Illuminati had a good idea: host an eating contest to draw in business, now that the town has been rebuilt. Well, it was a good idea, until they realized that Our Insatiable Pinkette Archer and Our Voracious Tasmanian Devils would be joining the contest. Our Vending Hero suggests one method of reducing the damage, but ends up also serving as the grand prize.

Rather than just stuffing her face for a day, winner Shui instead shows some real depth, taking Boxxo and Lammis to an orphanage to help out the less fortunate. This does lead to a bath scene, but she and Lammis are thoroughly covered with fluffy towels, and the closest we get to fan-service is Lammis taking off her jacket (not that I’m complaining).

Verdict: gosh, I wonder why the audience at the contest was so excited to see Our Health And Safety Officer’s swallowing technique…

Dungeon Drops, episode 9

The most important part of this episode was The Secret History Of Our Carrot-Addicted Comic-Relief Bunny, especially the part where it’s revealed that bowtie-bunny outfits are standard gear for the Hot Bunnygirl race, even the chibis. In other news, Our Eye-Catching Firestarter nearly starts a riot just by walking through town, and does incite a panic when Our Busty Receptionist With A Crush finds out she’s moving in with Our Quick-Shooting Hero. Also, Our Mighty Perfect Wife becomes the poster girl for Ridiculously Oversized Hammers, Inc.

Did I miss anything? Say, who was that little boy…

Verdict: expanding Eve’s backstory was a good choice.

(unrelated bunnygirl would fit right into chibi-Eve’s first party)

Re: Cutie Honey

Bluray now available. For those who missed this, back in 2004 they made a live-action Cutie Honey movie that was notable primarily for its opening credits animation, produced by Gainax (starts 1 minute in).

Which was promptly expanded into a three-episode OAV that was far better than the movie, and which featured Yui Horie as Honey.

(the live-action series was notable only for giving tasty model Mikie Hara her debut acting role)

Never let your domains expire!

Especially when you print them on the side of a product intended for children.

Guilty pleasures: pizza logs

Long ago when the world was young, Buffalo Wild Wings and Weck not only sold cheap hot wings to students at Ohio State, they also sold deep-fried pizza rolls that were simply awesome. You can find a number of recipes online that attempt to recreate that treat, but I never found anything sold commercially that worked. Until I stumbled on Pizza Logs at Meijer last week; they’re basically egg-roll wrappers stuffed with pizza fillings, so they’re longer and narrower than the old BW3 variety, but they’re darn tasty.

They apparently also come in taco, hot-wing, and apple-pie variations, which are probably equally addictive.

(in my nine years at OSU, I had many wings and pizza rolls, but never have I ever eaten weck; I don’t think anyone ate the stuff)

Boxxo’s Rival Can’t Communicate Either, episode 9

Unlike Our Vending Hero’s limited vocabulary, Our Special Guest Good-looking Cool Hero’s problem is the classic Komi. Note that his story is tamed down from the source material, where his magic sword was of the cursed and bloody type. It was a nice touch to show Lammis’ absolute confidence that no matter how powerful he was, he couldn’t possibly break Boxxo’s shield.

While they’re on the road together, Boxxo shows off new forms convenient for that time of the month, thanks to helpful exposition provided by the female tasmanian devil. Once the word spreads about 21st century feminine hygiene products, he’ll be more popular in town than ever.

There’s also an amusing post-credits vignette where the earlier chain-restaurant villains take advantage of Boxxo’s absence and the villagers’ gullibility.

Verdict: good clean fun, with both a washing machine and a car wash.

Gate manga, volumes 4-6

English translations released (4, 5, 6), one month after 1-3, which I kind of expected. The publisher hasn’t used Amazon’s metadata system to link them into a series, so you have to search by author.

The Demon King in the Back Row: Down In Flames

I always felt the anime (which covered the first five novels) was so rushed that it was basically a highlight reel, but I liked the characters. So, since the 13 light novels are on Kindle, I just read them.

TL/DR: the anime stopped at the correct point. There’s some Wacky Hijinks™️ in books 6-10, but not much in the way of interesting story arcs, and in the last three books the author ended up killing everyone off and destroying the entire universe, effectively making it all “just a dream”. He did allow Akuto to finally boink three of his haremettes (Junko, Fujiko, and one who wasn’t in the anime), but only in the afterlife, and then he wiped that out, too. (and, yes, the sex scenes were awkwardly-written tab-a-in-slot-b)

(unicorn chaser supplied by Rory Mercury)

The less you’re injured, the more it helps

When I was looking at first aid kits on Amazon, I found this nonsense: