NORA’S WEEKLY ANIME DIGEST — WINTER 2022, WEEK 8

Hello friends! Not to dampen the mood right from the first paragraph, but I haven’t been my best these days. I didn’t even have the energy to watch the new weekly anime over the weekend. Can you believe it? During times like these silly romantic comedies help elevate my mood, so I decided to read & watch Love and Leashes, a very kink-positive romantic comedy webtoon that recently got a 2-hour movie adaptation. If you’re interested in the premise, you can read it on Webtoon or watch it on Netflix. Highly recommended if you’re up for something light and sweet!

Hence, I hope you still manage to enjoy my haphazard and short digest this week. As Snoop Dog -probably- once said, a short blog post is better than no blog post. Enjoy ~

Akebi’s Sailor Uniform Episode

Summer’s approaching in this week’s series and that seasonal change shows itself in school festivals or uniform changes. The Athletics festival is drawing near and Akebi’s class is deciding on who’s going to participate in which sports team. Since Erika has witnessed firsthand that Akebi can swim really fast when they went fishing together, she recommends her for the swimming team, which ends up with a bet between her and Riki, who’s been to the nationals as a freestyle swimmer. Both are going to swim 100 meters and if Riki wins, Akebi has to let her wear her sailor uniform. It turns out she was just trying to get Akebi to swim against her for real instead of giving up after the mention of Nationals but as we are left with four episodes to wrap the season up, I had a sudden question popping up in my head: what’s with Akebi and her love for the uniform?

Don’t laugh at me, but I thought her adoration for the sailor uniform was kind of a plot tool to underline her quirkiness, maybe set her apart from the rest of the class, and from there on we’d focus on her friend conquests. But seeing her being so possessive over the uniform made me wonder whether there’s something more than a preference, or more than just looking up to her mother as there aren’t any other real-life role models in her environment.

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

This series gets harder and harder to review each passing week because it’s laid-back and weird. A good kind of weird, but still. Maybe there’s not much of a point in me telling how funny it was when they tried to catch the local deity-slash-squid using the elf they became enemies with in the 3rd episode because this deity-slash-squid had very specific tastes when it came to the offerings- unless you see it yourself. Let’s also not forget that they were on bad terms with the elf exactly because Tachibana and Jinguuji killed their forest’s deity. These two are like walking accidental deity hunters. Fantasy Knockout is totally watchable in between whatever else you’re keeping up with without commitment and as always, highly recommended!

My Dress-up Darling Episode

We had two focal points this week; the first was Marin and Gojo accompanying Juju-sama and her sister to their photoshoot in the abandoned hospital and the second was Marin inviting Gojo for an excursion at the beach because they are young and it’s almost summer that’s what young people do when the weather’s turning for the better. And emotions are hard because it was a splendid episode, especially the second half and I have the vocabulary of a toddler.

There’s so much bliss to be found in people being comfortable in their own skin and being next to people they enjoy spending time with. This comment may sound like a no-brainer, but for someone like me whose knee-jerk reaction is to fight or question every little detail there is to interactions, it was an extremely moving 10 minutes. Gojo could feel embarrassment in admitting he’s never been to the sea before and act differently or Marin could feel the rush of awkwardness in their close proximity, but no. They just enjoyed each other’s company as they are. Their uninhibited joy, them being in that moment comfortably and enjoying the simple pleasure of dipping your feet into the sea touched me. And maybe got me a tiiiiny bit jealous. Tiny, I tell you. Sometimes happiness is you, your cosplaying, cute classmate and the random bird that steals your burger.

Sabikui Bisco Episode

After last week’s confusion, I had to give this episode another go. The Pipe Snake, a divine beast they’ve seen in a book last episode, appears before them along with Pawoo. Through hunting the beast, Milo finds out that Mushroom Keepers’ blood might have the power to activate the Rust Eater on the snake. Things, as they always do in anime, aren’t smooth sailing so when they think they’ve managed to catch their breaths, the Imahama governor not only captures the snake but also shoots Bisco with a rust bullet. His injuries and rusting do not stop the urgency Bisco’s feeling but Milo has other plans for the team. And they duke their feelings out.

Don’t get me wrong I still find Bisco adorable, although I did hope for a line or two in today’s episode as to why he so recklessly throws himself into the next battle without a minute’s rest. Is it because Jabi doesn’t have much time? But Bisco is still like that even after they send the medication to Jabi through Pawoo. Nothing huge, but I personally think reasons clashing is more interesting and provides better contrast than just personalities clashing. Still, the part where Milo had to resort to knocking Bisco unconscious so he can lie down quietly and recuperate was one of the greatest moments yet in the series.

Salaryman’s Club Episode

Revisiting his high school trauma on the court and disappointing his ex-partner-now-rival Azuma, Miyazumi had to resort to simpler methods in the book, and when that wasn’t enough, some old school head-butting. The duo manages to win the match and Team Sunrise becomes the company that’ll advance to the next round. Since some of the older members who’ve competed before are practically friends, the episode comes to a close with moments that are bittersweet, but the real banger is saved after the ending credits.

What was that final comment from Miyazumi about playing for one last time? I had a couple of guesses but the one that made the most sense among them is the rotation system in corporations in Japan. Why do I know so much random trivia about company workers in Japan, I wonder… Anyways, companies, for various reasons, can transfer their employees between branches in different prefectures, or given that the company is a universal brand, in different countries or even change what they do. They may do this periodically, say every 5 years, so that the employees don’t get too comfortable working in the same position and in the same branch for years to no end. And I feel like Miyazumi’s time for transfer may be closing in. A wild guess appears!

And I wonder when was the first time he noticed Shiratori was THE Shiratori he was teaching badminton to in the local playground. What’s more… Is it possible that Miyazumi was the one who wanted to scout Shiratori in the first place?? He didn’t do anything worth canceling him over… right? Fingers crossed.

Sasaki and Miyano Episode

I think Sasaki and Miyano was the winner in the “Which series will feel the most spring-y?” contest this week. So many shots of flower beds, warm colors, cats hazily napping in the schoolyard, buds blooming into full flowers. Wait, that last one symbolized something other than spring itself. Still, super sweet and warm. I also somehow felt the heaviness of third years graduating as if I was one of the students who had to say goodbye.

There were a lot of small things that made this episode one of my favorites. Like Sasaki lightly tugging on Miyano’s bag to be in physical contact with him. Or Miyano touching the window with his fingertips to empathize with Sasaki’s nervousness. Then, Sasaki’s light touch to Miyano’s bangs. Or Sasaki loving Miyano the way he always is and taking his wig off when he hugs him in the classroom. Or Miyano nervously rubbing the back of his hand when he’s talking about love with the chairman. I should stop before I talk about the whole episode scene by scene, but something had to be done because I wanted to gif all of these!! The emotional build-up to the last hug happened not only towards the end of the episode but throughout it and I thought the scene brought the frustration Miyano has been feeling to a completion nicely.

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