Slime-Killing Witch 2, episode 11

God Fight Tonight! (as foretold in the prophecy). It’s painfully shouty, with Kikuko Inoue’s Eternally-Young Goddess turning it up to eleven and Our Eternally-Young Witch constantly freaking out. Not their best effort.

Bumpkin & Harem, episode 11

This week, more poorly-integrated CGI swordfighting (with simplified character art that makes Beryl look a lot younger, and there’s an odd texturing effect on everyone’s armor that doesn’t move when they do), as the international incident escalates. Busty Blue-Haired Foreign Knight Gal manages to convince White to warm up to her, but she’s not fooling Our Sword Daddy, who confronts her in the woods.

Verdict: only one more to go, which suggests a rather abrupt wrap-up next week. Can we get another glimpse of Hot Teacher, please, since she’s the only age-appropriate potential partner in this show, and most of the haremettes presented to us turned out to be no such thing?

(hot teacher is unrelated)

The Librarians: The Next Chapter

So far, this is not good. I made it through the clumsily-written first episode, helped by Christian Kane’s guest appearance and Jessica Green’s bouncy running. I couldn’t make it through the second episode, because the Serbian actors that fill out the cast are just not very good, and the core cast are still figuring out their characters.

I hope they can make it work, but that’s not the way to bet.

Dear eBay…

I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that this package will not arrive today in Miamisburg, OH…

(despite the tracking insisting that the package originated in Florida, it was handed off to USPS by “Yun Express”, a company in Shenzen, China…)

Internet Of Kitchen Sinks

I do not need a $650 app-enabled remote-controlled kitchen faucet, because if I’m using the water, I’m guaranteed to be standing right there at the sink. I know some people who like hands-free control, but that just requires a simple sensor on the side.

I also don’t need a “connected” fridge, oven, range, range hood, microwave, garbage disposal, dishwasher, toaster, blender, mixer, coffee maker, can opener, washing machine, dryer, etc. I kind of wish it were still possible to buy a TV that wasn’t tarted up with apps and spyware.

Good news: all the plot threads have come together.

Bad news: next week’s episode has been bumped.

Call Of The Night manga ends

There were some missteps in later volumes, but the end is properly focused on Nazuna and Ko’s relationship.

Restaurant To Another World novels resume

I bought book 5 in 2020. Book 6 comes out in December.

Tell me you haven’t watched Dungeon People…

…without saying you haven’t watched Dungeon People.

Early summer debut: Marry Me, Let’s Have A Baby!

No, I didn’t watch it. First, it’s only streaming on OceanVeil, which wants you to pay a stiff fee for their small collection of hentai and ecchi shows. Second, it sounds really dumb: boy meets girl, boy panics and runs off because he can’t get it up, boy goes to erectile disfunction doctor, doctor is girl, boy gets it up for girl, girl demands babies.

The official promo pic for this 8-short-episode series has her flashing steamed clam in a wedding dress. And the character designs have really wonky eyes in the teaser trailer.

(unrelated cosplayers are more likely to make babies than the couple in this show…)

Youtube clarifies Apple’s new UI

(they’ve “fixed the glitch” since this was screenshotted)

An NFT? In 2025?!?

Coming June 25, Shinsei Galverse is an OVA featuring a number of well-known voice actors shilling for NFTs of the characters. But not just the characters in the OVA; there are 8,888 shiny new NFTs for sale. Y’know, they could have picked up a bunch of Bored Apes at fire-sale prices, but maybe these tokens are somehow special.

…

Nope, just checked. They’re about as original as typing “draw a headshot of an anime girl” into Stable Diffusion, with painfully randomized “character names”. So their only value is based on gullibility, just like every other NFT.

I find it reassuring…

…that ordinary Midwestern Americans (like the gal who just cut my hair) have no idea who Gavin Newsom is, and that they recoil in horror when they find out what he’s done to San Francisco and California.

[Unrelated, anyone playing the current season of Diablo 4? I can't quite hit Pit 55 or take down Belial in Torment 3, either of which will complete the achievements for me so I can get the new cat pet]

[Update: suddenly realized I didn't need to beat Pit 55 before the clock ran out, just eventually; my problem was single-target DPS, not survival, so I just nibbled on the boss until it went down.]

The Apothecary Diaries 2, episode 21

It is often the case that Maomao solves a problem in a unique way. This may be the most Maomao-ish solution yet. It’s a small moment in an episode packed with dramatic revelations, which makes it all the more precious.

Slime-Killing Witch 2, episode 10

Idol concerts are the Demon Lord’s workshop, and those who do not have fluffy foxgirls are doomed to invent them by slipping some special shrooms into dinner. The chase scene was way too long and shouty, but the episode had enough Best Girl Beelzebub to pacify me.

(Pecora is best consumed in small doses, however)

Bumpkin & Harem, episode 10

Good news, bad news.

Good: a flashback reveals that there were a lot more cute gals in his dojo than we’ve met yet. Busty Blue-Haired Foreign Gal was apparently a much more recent student than the others, so there’s still a few in the pipeline. Not that Beryl’s laying pipe…

Also good: Our Father-Figure Hero is finally developing a danger sense about Thirsty McWhiteHair’s obsession with him.

Still good: more daddy/daughter bonding over dinner, dashing the hopes of certain fan-artists who want to see Mewi as a proper haremette (just saw a set of pics where the entire female cast was about six months pregnant, sigh).

Bad: the big fight scene was entirely CGI, with poor character art. Disappointing, since they’d been doing a good job handling the sword work with mostly 2D.

(nice touch having Mewi reluctantly ask for help reading; it’s a realistic problem for a girl raised on the streets, and it makes sense that she’s afraid her classmates will look down on her if she reveals it)

Getting a piece

…of dinnerware, that is. Years ago, after a visit to my house in Salinas, my sister ordered my mother to go in with her on replacing my dishes. “Oh my god, mom, he’s got Corelle!!!”

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A-Cup Alchemist, the novels

The yuri subtext seen in the anime has finally become straightforward gay-marriage-of-convenience in the recent novels. Not that it will necessarily stay convenience. Most of the cast is clearly open to the idea of sharing a big bed; it’s just not likely to turn into onscreen lesbian porn.

This one needs two cours…

…for its deep, penetrating story, if it ever gets licensed:

That Time A Forty-ish Office Worker Who Reincarnated As The Logistical Genius Who Got Kicked Out Of The Hero’s Party Stumbled Across The Hero’s Mom At A Slave Market, Banged Her Silly And Made Her His Wife, Then Went Back To His Hometown To Wife Up The Moms Of The Other Hero Party Members, Who Despite Having Adult Children All Look Like 23-Year-Old Supermodels And Used To Be S-Rank Adventurers, So Now His Harem Is The New Hero Party.

I might have left a few things out. I’d have to actually read it to be sure.

(hot cosplay teacher is unrelated)

Slime-Killing Witch 2, episode 9

Last week ended with Our Heroines about to brave the depths of a dungeon filled with undead to… convince another undead shut-in to come out. Surprisingly, they didn’t send for Our Busty Undead Catgirl Gamer to join the quest. Fortunately Best Gal Beelzebub is around, and Our Queen Of The Undead turns out to be a nerdy cutie. Second half has Our Legal Loli Plant blossoming; it seems concentrated fertilizer makes everything grow.

Bumpkin & Harem, episode 9

Red seems to have grown out of her crush on Our Daddy Figure, and to signal this, the show went out of its way to avoid some very obvious opportunities for fan-service. She still dresses for it, but despite all the action as she horsed around in the woods, they even skipped showing her heaving bosom when she was sweaty and out of breath.

White, on the other hand, is still easy to rile, such as when a brand-new contender for Most Affectionate Former Student suddenly appears.

Verdict: Beryl is a total dad now, buying school supplies, saving up for Mewi’s future, and even walking her to the school bus carriage on the first day. He even works in a dad joke. The only flaw is that we didn’t get to see hot teacher.

(Mewi’s uniform and bustline are both much more modest than this, but she’s getting good nutrition now…)

The algorithm is learning…

I scrolled my xTwitter “for you” feed all the way to the end, and it filled up with half-nekkid Japanese gals.

Then when I went back to the top, it had more of them. Finally, AI I can live with!

All is revealed, and the players take the field. The most interesting thing to happen, though, is that we get to see things from Shisui’s point of view for once.

Fan-service rocks!

Another announcement for the summer season establishes the “cute girls finding cute rocks” genre, with a teacher whose boulders bounce. Cast and crew are mostly inexperienced, with one true first-timer counterbalanced by Raphtalia.

Not going on my list unless something goes really wrong with the three (sigh) shows already there.

Unrelated, I would support this adventuring party

It might surpass the limits of my carry weight, but somehow I think I can keep up.

The Apothecary Diaries 2, episode 19

This week, Shisui is looking particularly foxy. Pity I can’t say any more than that without massive spoilers. Fortunately, this show is still carrying the entire season.

Slime-Killing Witch 2, episode 8

This week, a swimsuit episode. Next week, an Egyptian pyramid filled with undead. I know this because they uploaded next week’s subtitles. I think it improved the experience.

(don’t know that I’ll bother rewatching the fixed version later; the bikinis are the best part, and they don’t need translation)

Bumpkin & Harem, episode 8

This week, Thirsty McWhitehair takes Our Oblivious Sensei on a date, using shopping for court-friendly clothing as an excuse to spend the entire day with him. Then she challenges him to a duel, planning to confess her feelings if she wins. Despite stacking the deck with well-displayed cleavage and a thong, she ends up on her back, but not in the way she wants.

Verdict: if the Sweet Young Thing Brigade aren’t going to be proper haremettes, we need more screen time for Hot Teacher.

(hot teacher is unrelated but all grown up)

Please wait until it’s signed…

There’s a whole lot of cheerleading going on about Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. Yes, it’s very nice that the House actually passed a budget, but it still has to survive being molested by the Senate before reaching Trump’s desk.

“Why don’t Senators use bookmarks? Because they like their pages bent over.”

(ironically, you actually could bend over someone dressed in this costume…)

(bundling the Hearing Protection Act into it sure sounds nice, and it would definitely boost American manufacturing, but you know there are squishy RINOs in the Senate who’ll fold under the pressure of a light breeze)

Slime-Killing Witch 2, episode 7

In the least-plausible setup of the season, Our Busty Guild Gal In Red Underrim Glasses is unable to find a man, and drags Our Ever-17 Witch and company to a find-a-mate party as her wingwomen. We haven’t seen this character much this season, so her presence is welcome, even if Her Cunning Plan is a bust. Anyway, the local wedding spirit talks Azusa into buying a sister-bonding package for Our Slime Twins. This gets Best Gal Beelzebub into more clothing than we’ve ever seen her wear. But in a good way.

I wouldn’t have minded some more footage of Our Busty Undead Catgirl and her distracting casino-dealer outfit, though. Maybe she’ll make it into a LoRA.

This might have worked as a half-length sketch, but padding it out to an entire episode dragged.

Bumpkin & Harem, episode 7

This week, Our Sword Dad adjusts to life with a house and a daughter, getting through years of “am I a good dad?” in a few hours. It happens so fast that White and Red barely have time to be jealous that they don’t live under his… roof.

Verdict: a bit slow, but they compensated by giving Daddy his first encounter with an age-appropriate hottie who he has an excuse to spend some time with. Go, teacher!

(Guest Lecturer Zelda is unrelated)

A-Rank Adventure Harem, episode 18

I just fast-forwarded through this because last week’s preview promised that Our Little Blonde Titty-Witch would finally be back, and she is, but fully dressed in street clothes. Other than that, it looks like it was a whole lot of talking and setup for the final story arc.

(spies are completely unrelated, and I just wanted to use this picture)

Traeger Update Update

I hadn’t fired up the smoker yet this year, so I went out to clean it and replace the ash bucket while it ran through the firmware updates. Apparently I’d left it uncovered for one of the bigger storms late last year, because the rain has to be basically horizontal to somehow get inside. That is, rain got inside.

It drained into the ash bucket and overflowed into the cabinet. The pellets were in sealed bins, so nothing was damaged, but soaking the mix of ash and rendered fat in the bucket made for a pretty nasty smell.

End-of-season note to self: thoroughly clean everything before the first snowfall, then leave the cover on all winter, even if you think you might have a chance to get out there and use it…

(maid is unrelated, welcome to drop by and do some cleaning)