NORA’S WEEKLY ANIME DIGEST — WINTER 2022, WEEK 5

Greetings everyone! Glad you accepted your first mission to read this week’s hot takes. I’m greatly enjoying this season and the series I’m keeping up with always bring me joy. I feel blessed that there are people out there who continue to create despite everything and I have things that I look forward to. I didn’t expect myself to get sappy all of a sudden. Anyways, enough of that and more of fun stuff in this week’s episodes. Enjoy ~

Akebi’s Sailor Uniform Episode 5

Scratch my friend-of-the-week comment, Akebi is literally building her harem of cute young girls. I thought it started after her introductions in the class but no! She was working her way up right from the entrance exams! I’m totally here for that but at the same time, I wonder if we’re going in a direction where Akebi’s positivity will be inflating like a giant balloon that leaves no room for anything else, and that she’s becoming this perfect entity who embraces anyone and everyone. Not that I want drama between the girls, but it’s hard to love a spotless character who’s equally interested and equally talented in everyone else’s distinct hobbies. This would stick out less if Akebi was less central to the friend circle and we could see more interactions between the friends themselves rather than having them interact through Akebi. 

Still, the episode was fun as always. My favorite moments were when Akebi approached Hotaru Hiraiwa to help. She had trouble reaching for the button due to her height and instead of pushing the button for her, Akebi hugged her by the waist and lifted her up. I honestly didn’t see that coming, and it was an adorable moment where Akebi was being her different self. The other would be meeting Ayumi Togeguchi, who was venting her frustrations into a bucket on the rooftop. Her problem? She thought both being from the ‘boonies’, Akebi and Ayumi would stick together, not mingling with the rest of the popular, pretty city girls but no! Akebi had to go around and make everyone fall for her in the span of a week. 

Life With an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated Into a Total Fantasy Knockout Episode 4

Jinguuji is tired of the consequences of Tachibana’s cuteness. So he finds the solution in a paper bag. Tachibana is not happy with having to walk around in town that way, but she can’t reason with Jinguuji either. They come across an enchanted hair ornament that forces other people to avert their eyes, but the price is too high. Tachibana is aware of her pretty privilege, so she tries to bargain, but her charms make the situation worse and Jinguuji has to spend the coins they got as an offer from the village on this hair ornament. Luckily, it works! Spending time around the town has Jinguuji cross paths with another Japanese who’s been isekai’d into this world, Schwartz von Lichtenstein Lohengramm (phew). As always, shenanigans ensue. 

I wonder how many people are watching this series currently. I still think it’s a really fun and neat show but maybe because it caters to my sense of humor. Anyways, this new acquaintance, Schwartz in short, is very enthusiastic about being a hero in this new world compared to our duo and seems to be enjoying his time. He is what anime fans would call a chuunibyou and the misunderstandings he gets himself to believe are as grandiose as his delusio- *coughs* aspirations. Schwartz would make a marvelous fanfiction writer because all it took my boy was a glance to write a whole novel on the go. 

While it eventually depends on the execution, I generally enjoy chuunibyou characters as they make a good comedic relief. Schwartz won’t stay with us for long, I presume, but at the end of the episode, we learn that there’s a development that’s similar to mission-based quests in video games. I can’t wait to see what kind of misadventure this overly-eager hero will get himself and of course, drag Tachibana and Jinguuji into. 

My Dress-up Darling Episode 5

Marin is ecstatic with joy because her most important dream of becoming Shizuku-tan has finally happened. As social media-savvy people do, she immediately asks Gojo to take her photographs so she can create her cosplay account and let the world know that she’s here to grace us! They manage to get Marin in front of a white background and do a small-scale photoshoot, which gives the encouragement Marin needs to actually attend the cosplay event she didn’t seriously consider before. Gojo is more than glad to accompany her, realizing halfway that Marin is now probably over with him since their arrangement seems to come to an end. Although they have to cut the day short due to unforeseen circumstances because Marin is inexperienced, their way back home has a tiny surprise for Gojo in store.

You know, a part of me is glad that I went for the short format because if I were to choose My Dress-up Darling as my weekly review series, the posts would consist only of incoherent screeches, ugly sobs, and too many gifs that the page wouldn’t load. And that would be bad, but man, I’m enamored with Marin and Gojo, and every other detail that surrounds them. As always there’s a LOT to love in today’s episode, but for me, one of the two highlights was the sincere smile Marin returned after receiving one from Gojo. Compared to him, a smile rarely leaves Marin’s face and she’s very animated. However, the one she was sending Gojo’s way even though she was dizzy, is quite different. Gojo is aware as well.

The other highlight is, as you can guess, is the moment where Gojo hazily calls Marin “beautiful” and remembering their conversation after their shopping spree, Marin sporting a very cute shade of pink on her face. Too bad that Gojo is already in the warm embrace of sleep to see Marin’s surprised expression because that was a sight to behold. Or maybe not that bad because even I got teary-eyed, Gojo would surely d-word at the sight of her. Congrats Gojo, for you will live to see another episode ~

Sabikui Bisco Episode 4

The warmth of the honeymoon phase fizzles out too quickly for our tag-team as they start having different opinions on the directions they are supposed to follow or Milo proves that he’s not in the best shape to travel on foot as he is usually holed up in his clinic. Bisco contributes his fair share to the disagreement by not properly communicating since he’s used to traveling alone. They soon join their third companion, Actagawa, and a new challenge of getting along with this doctor-hating crab awaits Milo. The episode ends with unexpected action for our team, but will this bring the two closer to their destination? Or will it be a string of bad luck?

Is it just me or is Sabikui Bisco‘s highly dynamic and chunk full of flying sea creatures opening is a BLAST? It’s definitely one of my no-skip openings this season. What to say about this specific episode… Even though I’m not an outdoor type of person, the gorgeous panels with lush greenery and the bright blue sky honestly made me want to be there! I still think Sabikui Bisco does a fantastic job of fleshing out its intriguing world. Even when all else fails, it’s pretty to look at.

Episode 4 was more or less about Milo and Bisco gradually getting used to each other so it was a rather chill 15 minutes with occasional funny moments sprinkled around. At the place they take shelter, they encounter the young mercenary with pink hair and braids. I don’t exactly know what purpose she serves in the narrative so rather than fitting in with the rest, she sticks out for me as of now. In the end, right when we think her mistake might result in something for Milo and Bisco’s benefit, we are left with a problem the two have to deal with in the next episode. We have a saying for people like Bisco who always speculate the worst and they even manage to speak it into existence. I’m gonna need him to think thrice before opening that mouth of his in the following episodes.

Salaryman’s Club Episode 2

This week, we learn the deepest, the most important secrets of Badaryman-ship from the very best, Miyazumi. As he and Shiratori do their daily rounds together, Shiratori learns the ropes while we get to learn about their characteristics and how they fare together. The team also has a practice match with a well-known company team Unisics where Shiratori and Miyazumi try being a pair in a match for the first time. Although he doesn’t look it most of the time, Miyazumi activates his adult skills and doesn’t beat around the bush or wait until the season finale to ask why Shiratori has trouble jumping backward. We’ll hopefully find out in the next episode.

I know you know (or should I say, I hope you know?) that when I call fictional characters dumb, I do it in the most affectionate way. It goes both ways; I love calling the characters I adore ‘dumb’, but at the same time, I adore dumb characters. And the cast of Salaryman’s Club, not only the Sunlight Beverage members, but the Unisics team we’ve met as well, are all adorable goofballs.

In sports anime’s Kageyamaverse, the talented yet traumatized one of the main duo almost always tend to be very reserved, particular about the tiniest details, and slow to adapt to the rest. Sure, Shiratori has his troubles or questions the way Miyazumi does things when they are out and about during the day. However, there isn’t a big resilience against Miyazumi apart from agreeing to become a pair. Even that front, something that’s been weighing on Shiratori for years, starts crumbling at the end of episode 2. We also get to see him listening to upbeat rock music in the morning, getting comfortable bickering with Miyazumi very quickly despite their age gap, or making random comments on cars or buildings. These details give off a less “genius and above everyone else” and more “some random dude who’s good at the sport” vibe.

Since most of the Sunlight team are still young adults who are barely 20, it’s possible to catch glimpses of level-headedness and cooperation/adaptation skills that being in the workforce brings, yet they are still dorks who enjoy fooling around after clocking out. Both in their body language and in the voice acting, they all have great chemistry -Shiratori included- and that adds to my overall enjoyment. This was one of the many strong points of Haikyuu: warm and relatable friendships and Salaryman’s Club is off to a good start in my opinion. I also hope you look forward to the gallery post tomorrow!

Sasaki and Miyano Episode 5

For some time now, because of a BL manhwa I’m reading, I’m somewhat preoccupied with what repetitive reading can do to your mind and how it can affect your perception of different series. What I mean by repetitive reading is consuming works that have very similar narrative patterns or structures. That one CEO of a huge company who’s cold, distant, and feared by everyone locks eyes with his new secretary. And BAM! Cold CEO heart: melted. If their romance intake reiterates this very same structure with only slight variations, then I’m assuming the same reader would be confused when there are different or nuanced depictions. Don’t quote me on this, but it seems very plausible.

Why did I ramble a whole paragraph about it? Because I certainly didn’t expect Sasaki to confess this early in the story. I was so surprised that I expected him to joke around it again, but that “SIKE!” didn’t come. And this was certainly on me, because a confession early on in a romance series usually means there’s a triangle involved and that pairing won’t be the end game, or rejection is due. With the volume count, I expected Sasaki and Miyano‘s focus to be their established relationship but still! Loved how tender the moment was, neither rushed nor overly emphasized. It was just Sasaki looking at his cute friend thinking he’s adorable and maybe he wouldn’t be so averse to them dating, so he asks. As we all know, Miyano was already trying to untangle the feelings he has for his cool senpai, and Sasaki finally putting his feelings out there will help him seriously consider dating him. Congrats on taking the first step!

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