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[medea10]

My Review of Ranma 1/2 (2024)

I think we all know who Rumiko Takahashi is. Right? One of Japan’s finest mangaka’s. Creator of great stories like Maison Ikkoku, InuYasha, Urusei Yatsura, and of course Ranma ½. And…

Ugh…I gotta get this off my chest. Ever since we hit 2020, every time I see news involving one of Rumiko’s stories, it’s been either a sequel or a reboot. And seeing as this is the third one in four years, I’m a little concerned that one reboot might be around the corner that I will dread its arrival. In short, please don’t reboot InuYasha. If you’re going to reboot another classic, go for Maison Ikkoku. I don’t want to go on the defensive again and claim that the older series is not bad and it’s actually quite good. I’ve done it before with other animes like Full Metal Alchemist, Fruits Basket, and Hellsing. The original series to those three mentioned are great and I will not stand for bad-mouthing of any one of them.

But onto Ranma ½! Obviously, InuYasha was my very first Rumiko anime. But Ranma ½ was something I started sometime after InuYasha’s final act finished. The anime was created by the same woman, a lot of the characters felt similar to InuYasha, funny, quirky, many love triangles, and even had some of the same cast. Kappei Yamaguchi played both Ranma and InuYasha. Even in the English dub, Richard Ian Cox played both characters (eventually). Knowing all that, I knew I was going to enjoy myself here. I wasn’t wrong, I did. InuYasha is still my favorite out of the Rumiko universe, but Ranma ½ was definitely #2 for me.

The original Ranma ½ manga began in 1987 and ran for nine years. The television series aired two years later and lasted for 161 episodes, along with several movies and OVA’s. So, much like Urusei Yatsura, it was decided to be given a reboot for this new generation of anime watchers. But unlike Urusei Yatsura, Ranma ½ will be given the same voice cast (for the most part). And where Urusei Yatsura got David Production to animate it, Ranma ½ has studio MAPPA.

You know, the same mother fuckers that gave us Yuri on Ice and snatched it away. I’m not over it and never will be. Yeah, that’s right! I’m gonna be 100% that bitch crying crazy at MAPPA for that one fuck up. The rest of the world will know MAPPA as the ones behind the fourth season of Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Chainsaw Man. Okay, onto the story!

Soun Tendou is the head of the Tendou Martial Arts dojo. He’s also the father of three young daughters, Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane. One day, Soun gets a letter from an old friend (Genma Saotome) saying he and his son are coming and one of Soun’s daughters will be betrothed to his old friend’s son Ranma Saotome. Soun’s hopes are for the family legacy to continue. The day Soun’s friend was to arrive was anything but normal. A giant panda and a young girl named Ranma Saotome arrives. But wait! Isn’t Ranma a boy? Don’t worry, everything will be explained soon and it’s every bit of absurd as you remembered.

Ranma is a boy and a girl. Watch this get canceled by MAGA really quick! Whenever Ranma gets wet with cold water, he turns into a female. Ranma’s father also has a strange anomalies with him as well. When Genma gets wet he turns into a panda. While training in China, both fell in a cursed lake that altered their bodies. However, they can both change back with hot water. And as the story goes on, there will be several characters that have the same problem. But we’ll get there when we get there.

Soun’s youngest daughter Akane is not happy by any of this. First, she’s pissed that she is being pushed onto a boy she just met. Second, she hates boys! And third, this whole situation is just too much for her. Very valid reasons here to be honest. Oh well. Suck it up because Akane and Ranma are going to be in this for the long haul.

THE SUB: Yes, yes, InuYasha and Ranma have the same voice in the Japanese. He also plays Rinne's father too. Moving on!

As I said before, as long as a cast member isn’t dead, retired, or #MeToo they are going to be in this reboot. That and you cannot have this anime without Megumi Hayashibara and Kappei Yamaguchi voicing both Ranmas. But most of the cast has returned like the voices for Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi, Ryoga, and Shampoo. Genma’s original voice actor (Kenichi Ogata) did not come back to voice Genma. However, they got him to voice the Narrator. Oddly enough, the dub did something similar to that. But, we’ll get there. They got the equally talented Cho to play Genma Saotome. And I’m okay with that!

As for newer voice actors, yes, there are a lot of familiar folks. Mamoru Miyano plays that horn-dog ice skater, Mikado. Aoi Yuki plays Mikado’s ice-skating partner, Azusa. Okay, that’s funny having the voices of Cilan and Iris together again. Tomokazu Sugita blesses this anime by playing the abrasive Kuno becoming the third person to play this character as the previous two have passed away. And finally, there is an anime only character here. This is the person you see commentating on any kind of fight that goes down at school. And that honor goes to the greatest seiyuu in the universe, Tomokazu Seki! Perfection right here! Getting the same guy who plays Meito Anizawa is just S-tier greatness.

And you thought I was going to bring up Tracey here. I know I just did. But that’s beside the point. This is a Medea review. You all know I’m bound to do that.

LICENSING AND THE DUB: If you notice a nice pattern here, most of Rumiko Takahashi’s works are licensed by Viz Media and then distributed to the masses. Even the manga to many of them. I had the highest of hopes that Viz would license it, Crunchyroll would stream it, and then Crunchyroll would work with Ocean Group to put out a dub. You know, just like with Yashahime most recently. While most of the cast from Ocean Group hasn’t been heard from in years or died, people like Richard Ian Cox, David Kaye, and Willow Johnson are very much alive and kicking.

But then Netflix…

Yeah, you know how it’s going to go from there. I still haven’t forgiven them for their dub to Evangelion. But I will not write them off with their dubs as they have done some great dubs including Violet Evergarden, Aggretsuko, Carole & Tuesday, Dandadan, and many others. And they got J. Michael Tatum. That’s a big thumbs up there! Yeah, I fold easily once I hear Tatum is in an anime. I am just not used to Ranma’s voice here. I know Richard Ian Cox wasn’t even Ranma until partial-way into the original dub, but that’s what I’ve grown to like. The one person from the original Ranma ½ dub they got was David Kaye. He originally played Soun Tendou, but is now voicing the narrator. At least it gives him some more work outside Sesshomaru and Last Week Tonight w/ John Oliver.

You read right; David Kaye has been on that program for the last 10 years. You’re welcome!

And now, some other stuff. I love the dubs that Ocean Group and their subsidiaries put out. No one is denying that. However, some groups of people have not been happy with how they dub certain characters with thick accents. I think it was Shampoo here and Shenhua from Black Lagoon that got the most complaints. I will admit, Shampoo sounds a lot better here than in the original. And that’s all I’ll say because I try to stay out of the fight of having characters of color played by people of color. As a person of color, I have many thoughts on the matter and let’s leave it at that. On with the review!

Here’s the new English cast.

*Ranma ♂ is played by David Errigo Jr.

*Ranma ♀ is played by Suzie Yeung (known for Makima on Chainsaw Man, Shizuka on Mushoku Tensei, Milize on 86, Sumi on Rent-A-Girlfriend, Ayumu on Love Live Nijigasaki, and Amane on Demon Slayer)

*Akane is played by Valeria Rodriguez

*Genma is played by Fred Tatasciore

*Ryoga is played by Damien Haas (known for Kudou on My Happy Marriage)

*Shampoo is played by Grace Lu (known for Hana on Sakamoto Days)

SHIPPING: It’s a Rumiko classic. Get ready for some love-polygons because there’s going to be many of them.

Akane x Ranma is of course the main ship. They hate each other at the beginning and there’s a lot of bickering for the most part. You know, like another anime couple that debuted a decade after these two. And another anime couple that debuted a few years before these two. Rumiko is formulaic at times, but I ain’t complaining. As I said in the synopsis, Akane has an immense hatred of the opposite sex (with one exception). At school, she is constantly hit on or challenged by boys. And then you add Ranma to this mix and…adding Ranma just gained more trouble. Akane and Ranma both have fathers who want them to hook up. Leaving out my thoughts on arranged marriages, Akane wants nothing to do with this. Then you add Ranma’s condition and that’s all kinds of messed-up troubles. Ranma’s new to this being a girl thing and is fine with walking around naked. Akane is not having this shit! So, in terms of this season…while they do have a few moments here and there, wait a little longer to see this progress.

Tatewaki Kuno: Along with several other rough-tough boys at school, this man has an infatuation with Akane. And Akane has turned him down every single time. His jealousy does get the better of him when Ranma’s around. But when Kuno meets Female Ranma, let’s just say he falls for her too. But he doesn’t give up on Akane knowing that the “pig-tailed girl” is out there.

I don’t know about you, but I support him with Nabiki.

Dr. Tofu: The young doctor that the Tendou family has relied on for many years. And despite being several years older than Akane and being a guy, she likes him. Dr. Tofu doesn’t seem to notice that because there’s another Tendou sister that has his attention. Tofu is definitely crushing on Kasumi Tendou. Speaking of the that, whenever Kasumi is in the room, Dr. Tofu all of a sudden forgets how to do basic shit.

Ryoga: This man has got to have the worst sense of direction of any anime character. Yes, worse than Leon from Pokemon. But when he appears, he comes with a knuckle-sandwich for Ranma. But as for shipping, Ryoga has a bit of a crush on Akane. He’s the only one who has slept with Akane. Oh, let me explain. Much like Ranma, Ryoga suffered a fate in one of those cursed lakes in China. When he gets wet, he turns into a little piggy. Whenever Akane sees the little piggy, she doesn’t put two and two together that this is Ryoga. Ryoga is P-chan and Akane loves P-chan. But not in that sick way like in that Inukai's dog anime.

That anime makes me think again about suicide. Moving on.

Kodachi Kuno: Oh yeah, this crazy bitch. One of Kuno’s crazy family members (yes, they’re all certifiably crazy). This is Kuno’s sister. She’s heavily into rhythm gymnastics. Has an unhealthy passion for stalking her competition. And is crazy in love with Ranma. She even paralyzed him and tried to kiss him on a roof. Now, you would think Kuno would be mad at Ranma for his sister’s infatuation. Quite the opposite, Kuno is fine with it. Less competition for Akane…but he still likes the “pig-tailed girl” too. The Kuno family is nuts.

Sanzenin: I absolutely forgot about this guy and his skating partner’s existence. Not gonna lie! Much like Kuno, he has a softness for pretty girls. But while Kuno will only pull out bouquets of flowers from nowhere and declare his undying love, Sanzenin is more impulsive. This guy kissed Ranma on the lips. Yes, it was the female Ranma. He was not too happy by this. Not including the kiss of death Ranma got from Shampoo, I do believe this was his very first kiss. Again, not happy about any of this.

Shampoo: Oh yeah, shit goes down here. Shampoo is a Chinese amazon where martial arts is high in her family with many traditions. Ranma inadvertently crossed paths with Shampoo while in China and defeated her in combat. Because Ranma was in his female form, Shampoo gave him the kiss of death. Meaning, she will not stop until (female) Ranma is dead. Shampoo even traveled to Japan to kill him, but met with real Ranma and once again accidentally defeated her. Shampoo kisses Ranma, but this time it’s a declaration of love.

CENSORSHIP: Oh yes, there is A LOT censored here. Long-time Rumiko fans know that some of her older works had a lot of risqué things. Lum was everyone’s 80’s waifu with her skimpy outfit. There was one character on Maison Ikkoku who would wear see-through negliges where you could see her nipples like in every scene she was in (including the opening theme). And Ranma was also guilty of giving us a nipple or two every so…well, more often than not. Ranma is a boy and clearly has no shame walking around without a shirt on. When he’s in girl-mode, it’s not so modest.

Plus, most of the time he gets wet, he does have to go into the shower to turn back to normal. Yeah, there’s a lot of bath and shower scenes. Maybe Netflix wasn’t the right choice in the licensing department when you see they were not only going to censor nipples, but also the word “China” and even butt-cracks. Come on now, even Crunchyroll keeps the butt-cracks! They just add unneeded beams of light to that. Honestly, the only ones who would have given us uncensored Ranma ½ would have been Discotek or Sentai Filmworks. Keep in mind, those are the companies that gave us Kiss x Sis and Redo of Healer.

END OF SEASON ONE: Wait, I thought this was going to be a two-cour season. Oh well, they announced a second season shortly after so I shouldn’t complain. Thankfully, we got the introduction of Shampoo before the season ended. Shampoo is one of the biggest love rivals in this anime. She comes in ready to kill female Ranma due to her family tradition and the kiss of death she gave her, but ends up falling in love with male Ranma after losing to him in combat. However, Shampoo was not pleased with Akane’s existence around Ranma and gave her the kiss of death. Shampoo vs. Akane went in a weird direction. Shampoo is a formidable opponent strength wise. But she didn’t use much strength to take out Akane. She used a special shampoo to brainwash Akane into forgetting Ranma’s existence.

They don’t call her Shampoo for nothing.

Thankfully, Akane’s amnesia was broken thanks to Ranma’s insults about Akane. Shampoo however isn’t through here as she is determined to have Ranma all to herself. That’s when Ranma decided to do something bold. In front of Shampoo, Ranma voluntarily poured cold water on himself to reveal to Shampoo that he and female Ranma are one in the same. It’s just that he says the male side is temporary. This kind of broke her heart and she left Ranma. And that’s how the season ended. Ryoga and Ranma discussing what had just happened. And, we’ll get season two whenever we get it.

But don’t worry, that’s not the end of Shampoo. Not by a long-shot! We still haven’t seen her secret nor have met her grandmother.

So, not a bad start. I was hesitant, but I’m enjoying the reboot so far. Of course, I’m looking forward to the upcoming season(s) as there are many other characters not introduced like Cologne, Pantyhose Taro, Mousse, (my personal favorite) Ukyo, and the grand pooba of perverts, Happosai. The dub actually grew on me. I might even say, I like it a bit more than the original. I know it’s blasphemy to say that, but it could be just my rose-colored nostalgia glasses clogging up everything. Although, if we do see Mousse and Ukyo soon, I want them voiced by Brad Swaile and Kelly Sheridan again.

I KNOW IT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! Fine, I fully admit that. But you know you could get them. They are still voice acting. And they are great fucking voice actors!

But I do have to wonder how long this reboot is going to last. Many of Rumiko’s works are lengthy, even when you get rid of the fillers. I’m not even sure the reboot to Urusei Yatsura is even finished with what they attend to animate. The original Ranma ½ manga was over 400 chapters long. If the studios and animators are willing to give the public the full story, I’m all for it and will happily watch it.

Now for recommendations! If you’re a fan of the original Ranma ½, while this story is far from finishing and has a long way to go, it’s a good start. For fans of Rumiko’s other works like InuYasha, Urusei Yatsura, Rinne, and Maison Ikkoku, this is definitely for you especially if you watch these stories for shipping purposes. Rumiko loves the complicated love polygons. If you are a fan of comedy anime, absolutely check this out. And if you wandered over here and just learned about this anime and find it offensive that a boy turns into a girl and jump to every wrong conclusion, go away. FAR away from here. And never return.

This ain’t for you, fool.

In the meantime, you can check out Ranma ½ (2024) on Netflix.

And if you have a lot of time on your hands, there seems to be several outlets streaming the original Ranma ½ series including; Hulu, Peacock, Amazon Prime, and Tubi.

[medea10]

My Review of Love Live Superstar: Season 3

Season 1 & 2 Review Here

Kinda hard to scream out, “I’m in Idol Hell” if the Idol Hell gacha game ended before it could begin again. If you know, you know.

HISTORY: Kanon Shibuya always loved singing. Once she puts on her headphones, she’s on full blast. The only problem is that when she has to perform, like in an audition or solo performance, she freezes up. This caused problems when she was auditioning for an entrance exam into Yuigaoka High School (a school famous for its music program). Kanon was still accepted into the school, it’s just that she’s just a regular student in general studies. Kanon at this point was ready to give up on ever singing again. But on her way to school, she was singing without realizing and caught the attention of another student. Keke Tang was enthralled and wanted to know more about Kanon.

Keke is from Shanghai and came to Japan due to her love of school idols (much like so many other girls from the franchise). The girls decide to start a school idol club. However, they are constantly stopped by a student council member (Ren). She bans their attempts at them starting a school idol club (much like what we’ve seen in previous Love Live stories). Thankfully, the principal had some mercy by allowing Kanon and Keke to start an idol group at school under the condition that they win 1st place in a local competition. While it was damn-near impossible, the girls won a special newcomer award for their performance and the principal caved in on giving Keke and Kanon the opportunity to start a school idol club. This is the story of Liella.

The girls of Liella spend their first year of school trying to make it to the top and while things didn’t go their way, they never gave up and tried again the following year. There, they added four new members (Mei, Natsumi, Hinako, and Shiki) to the group giving Liella the signature 9 members and became winners of the Love Live competition.

THIRD SEASON: As you might remember, Kanon was stuck wondering if she should take on the opportunity of studying at a prominent music school in Vienna, Austria. In the end, she decides to go. And this is where the second season gave us that cliffhanger. That very next minute she gets the news from Margarete that things have changed. Margarete is now to attend Yuigaoka and board at Kanon’s home by orders from her parents. So, the exchange to Vienna is delayed indefinitely. Well, that’s good news for the girls of Liella as they get Kanon back. Or did they?

With Margarete’s arrival, she starts up a rival idol club and intends to win against Liella at all costs. Much like the second season, there really wasn’t anyone willing to jump in and join either idol group. Only two people joined Margarete’s idol group and it came with a lot of pushback and shock. Natsumi’s younger sister (who is now a first year) decided to join an idol group that could rival her older sister’s. The other person to join was none other than Kanon. Kanon’s hope for this little endeavor was to help Tomari and Natsumi patch up their sisterly relationship, get the girls of Liella to grow as a group without her, have Margarete be less salty about working with others, and maybe even turn the two groups into one.

LICENSING: Yes, Crunchyroll has this. They’re just not loud about it. Love Live isn’t a major cash-cow nor is it a new flavor of the month. It’s the third season to the fourth installment of an idol anime. Hell, they didn’t even bother giving the second season an English dub. When it was airing week-to-week, Crunchyroll still waited 36 hours before putting up the new episode. That part I’ve gotten used to. What I don’t like is that there’s usually a minute long MV or some 4-panel short and Crunchyroll doesn’t air that too. They do it for their shounen shows. Then again, Crunchyroll will gladly dick-ride shows like Jujutsu Kaisen and air everything that Studio Mappa farts out with that franchise. I ain’t even sorry for that statement.

NEW CHARACTERS: Just like in the previous season, we are introduced to new girls interested in becoming idols. As Kanon, Keke, Ren, Sumire, and Chisato are now third years, there’s bound to be one or two first years interested in joining Liella. Actually, no! I mean sure, these two girls will eventually become Liella members. But for now, these girls are rogue alongside Kanon.

First, we’ve got the resident pink salt bitch, Margarete. You might recall her leaving a bad taste in everybody’s mouth last season with her outburst during the competition and several other occasions. Her pink saltiness will continue this season as well as she starts up a rival idol group at school.

Next is Tomari. She was curious about the school idol phenomenom as her sister has been consumed by the hell. Her sister is Natsumi and has been a little irritated with Natsumi since joining Liella. But she has a bit of a valid reason as she doesn’t want to see Natsumi have her dreams shattered because she failed.

*Margarete is played by Yuina

*Tomari is played by Sakura Sakakura

…

What the double-take?! That’s gotta be a fake name.

SHIPPING PART II: As I’ve stated before on many of these ships, I am a multi-shipper and a ship-swinger. I will support many ships and will happily ship one character with more than one person. I’m just not as crazy about it like how I was with Love Live Sunshine. This season, let’s just say that…

Mei x Shiki is the best Sumire x Keke is the most amusing Kanon x Margarete is…it’s there.

ENDING: Okay, we’ve watched Kanon, Keke, Rin, Sumire, and Chisato grow throughout these three seasons and they are currently in their third year of high school. So, one of the big things weighing on their minds is the future. Keep in mind that Love Live is only for high school students. Once they graduate, the whole high school idol thing is over and the girls will have to focus on what they want to do in the future. Kanon of course is still set to attend the prestigious school in Vienna as the opportunity opened back up. Ren has set her sights on higher education. Kinako will take over Ren’s duties as student council president. Sumire has been getting offers from everyone in the entertainment industry. Chisato is going to become a professional dancer. Keke went through her own issues by going back home to Shanghai. But it all worked out for the best here as Keke was able to perform in front of her parents, tell them what she really wants to do, and best of all every girl performed together.

Ever since Kanon left Liella to perform with Margarete and Tomari, there’s been a myriad of emotions and opinions with that decision. But as long-time Love Live viewers, we know the time is going to come soon where the other girls are going to join Liella and they’ll be a group of 11 instead of 8. But until that happens, we have to deal with Tomari’s issues involving her older sister and Margarete being the bitchiest hold-out. Natsumi and Tomari were able to patch things up. Margarete is still a hard no on everything. Having two idol groups at the same school has been a bit of a headache. The principal decided to hold a competition. As only one idol group per school can enter Love Live, this has to be done. Look, just join up already and become 11 you salty-pink bi-atch!

The school and everyone else voted unanimously that Liella should be 11, merge the two groups already. Everyone was in agreement…yes, even her. Just because she’s officially a Liella member doesn’t mean she’s going to become like every other girl at this point of the franchise. No, she’s gotta burn down every bridge. I really gotta stop this hate-o-rade I’m showering in here. But I gotta be real, this has to be the very first character in a Love Live franchise that I legitimately hate. I’m sure that’ll change over time, but I seriously don’t recall hating any other character to the degree I do with Margarete.

Despite a few bumps in the road they’ve faced, Liella persevered and managed to make it past the preliminaries and the finals for Love Live and they are ready to hit the big stage once more. Will the group win back-to-back Love Lives? The answer was already given by the end of episode 11 as they totally did. So, I suppose the final episode is graduation, goodbyes, and possible looks into the future.

Episode 12 is…yeah, pretty much what I just said. Except for the future thing. We’ll never see grown-up Love Live idols. Kanon is feeling the severe anxiety of going to Vienna alone. Despite Margarete fulfilling the promise of her family, she decided to stay in Japan, attend Yuigaoka, and be a true member of Liella. Took her a long time to get along with everybody. Along with Kinako’s new position as student council president, the girls decided to promote Mei to president of the school idol club (with Shiki as VP). This is top-tier shipping! Along with Sumire getting job offers from the entertainment industry, Keke is also in the same situation. So, this just means Keke and Sumire are going to be seeing more of each other once high school is over. And I’m all for more Keke x Sumire.

My shipping goals in this series are being check-marked.

Graduation day was emotional as the underclassmen are saying goodbye to their senpais. Kanon is leaving the country. Chisato got accepted to be in a dance troupe. Sumire and Keke are going to be in the entertainment field, but who knows where their new opportunities will take them. And as for Ren, her goal is to one day become the headmistress to Yuigaoka as this was the school that Ren’s mother was working toward before passing away. So, she might still be around. But as of this moment, this is the last time we’ll see these five together. And so, they all sang for one last time for their underclassmen.

I am satisfied with having a Love Live series like Superstar. Mostly for the fact that this is the first series from the franchise to show all 3 years of the high school experience. Yes, we do get the formulaic routine of the school being threatened with possible closure and the usual doubt and rejection from the token student body character plus the other number of tropes you expect from any Love Live anime. But unlike the three series before this, we see the idol group grow from season to season instead of episode to episode in the world’s longest school year.

Okay, I suppose I should lay off Margarete as we see that she grew as a character and an idol eventually. Not all rivals in Love Live are going to be nice like Sunny Passion, encouraging like A-RISE, or helpful like the other school idols in the Nijigasaki series. She had a chip on her shoulder more so than the girls of Saint Snow. I don’t condone having rivals that are stand-offish and inadvertently push the girls to excel. It’s their attitude that irks me is all. Even Pokemon had some of the best rivals for Ash whom I hated with a holy passion. But they did do their job as a rival. That’s usually the job of the rival.

Hmm…now I’m thinking about Paul cross-dressing in Margarete’s solo costume for no reason whatsoever. Don’t mind me. If you know, you know.

Plus, I forgot to mention it when I reviewed the first 2 seasons but the good thing with Margarete is that we get to hear solo songs. Just like how I was when Nijigasaki did the units, I was happy to hear some solos here. There are other songs done by other members from the other Love Live groups that were solos. I’m looking at Nozomi here as she’s still best girl. But I digress.

Well, this Love Live story is over. But mark my words, this franchise is not going anywhere any time soon. There are other characters and groups that have yet to be put to an anime. And as of early 2025, there’s word of a new Love Live anime project. Well, that is just fine. I happily welcome a new one. Just as long as Bushiroad can get their shit together and give us that LLSIF rhythm game everyone is waiting for.

There’s also another Love Live Nijigasaki film coming up that coincides with the other film released not too long ago. It would be nice if Crunchyroll would put that up. They probably will in a few years knowing them, but if you’re going to collect anime like this, commit to them.

In the meantime, you can check out all three seasons of Love Live Superstar on Crunchyroll. Only season one is dubbed though.

[medea10]

Medea Hears Some News That Sparked Joy

I gotta tell you, it's getting harder and harder trying to find things that spark joy these days. If you read my 2024 year-in superlative, you knew I had a hard year. It got worse literally the day after I posted that. Ever since, I've been trying to find things to make me feel happy. Recently, it's been video games. And as of recent, it's been Hello Kitty Island Adventure.

Not even five minutes into this game and Badtz-maru made a Snakes on a Plane reference. This game has succeeded.

And for the last two months, this game has been occupying my mind so I can try not to look at the news. Seriously, we're in the stupidest fucking timeline.

Has there been anything else giving me joy? Outside of the cats and this game. No. Even posting reviews isn't sparking that joy right at the moment. Maybe I just need to do one good shit-post to make me feel whole again.

Hahaha...Foreshadowing.

Let's see. An Azumanga Daioh character appearing in a Yotsuba chapter as an adult. Hell yes, that sparks joy.

Yolanda Saldivar got her parole denied again. Fuck yeah, that's a joy sparker. IYKYK

Inappropriately laughing at a Re:Zero spoiler. Sadly, yes, that does spark joy. I have no shame or control.

Anything else?

Oh?

Well, that's lucky. This might be the last crop of games going to the original Nintendo Switch before we all have to make the SWITCH to 2. I have no hopes really. The game I want will never happen. And Pokemon just did it's direct last month. But okay, whatcha got?

Yes!

Okay, I got into this franchise a couple of years ago and been enjoying myself with these games. So I'm going to give this one a shot.

Okay, more details about Pokemon Legends: Z-A. No official date given. Hmph.

I still say it'll be November 14th or 21st. That's my guess.

Anything else?

Medea, rumor has it that there might be a Mega Evolution for Clefable.

Do what now? Yeah, that does gain my attention. I just feel that adding new mega evos over 10 years after the fact kinda feels ruined in a sense.

And the fighting at night has me raising questions as I'm the kind of person that's dead-ass come 7pm. Regardless, that's still a game I'm gonna play regardless.

What else you got?

A farting mii...A FARTING MII?!!!!!!!

IT COULDN'T BE!

IT IS! IT FREAKIN' IS!

THE ULTIMATE JOY-SPARKER!

I am already thinking of what to have my game consist of with mii characters. Will I do all Pokemon characters or just my favs? Maybe the cast of [redacted] 101. The possibilities are endless at the moment.

So, if you've been following me before I became solely for posting anime reviews, you might remember my little infatuation with a little game called Tomodachi LIfe.

If for no other reason in the world but to have my mii date, marry, and have Tracey Sketchit's mutant mii children.

Priorities!

But when you get down to the nitty-gritty of it, this game was just fun.

I could go on with the pictures I have from my 3DS game because let's face it. I spammed everyone with this. Good times.

With that said, here's what I hope Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream will give the masses.

The mii creator from the 2021 Miitopia.

For those asking, no, I did not create that Inosuke mii. It was just too good to pass up when I found it back then. There was only so much one could do with miis during the 3DS days. This was one of the best things to come from the reboot game. I was able to make characters like Washu, Konata Izumi, Grell Sutcliff, Piers and Marnie look much more than what they would look like circa 2017.

I don't care if the characters decide they want to have babies. Just leave me the fuck out of it. I ain't a babysitter. In short, "Fuck them kids".

Let the miis cuss.

One thing I give Miitopia for is that the characters can say just about anything when they say their "war cry". I was able to get away with having Revy scream out, "eat shit, cocksuckers". Because it's Revy. Having her say anything censored would not be Revy. In Tomodachi Life, I couldn't even say the word "fart".

Shit's sake, I came across nearly all the miis farting at one point or another. The point is, lift up the ban on 'fart' and a couple of other naughty words.

Scary mask better return.

...

Hmm...was there anything else I was supposed to remember? I feel like I'm missing an important something.

AH! YES, THAT'S RIGHT.

This was...what, 2014? I honestly doubt they'll remember this and I will have to wait another millennia before I can make Harley and Tucker a match-made in gay heaven without having to make Harley into a woman in the game.

So, when does this game come out?

2026

Hmm...

Move over, FIFA World Cup. I have a new top spot now.

Huh. Talking about Tomodachi Life made me feel happier. Okay, as you were.

[medea10]

My Review of Anne of Green Gables

In 1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery published what was to be her magnum opus, Anne of Green Gables. In a several year span, she wrote about eight novels featuring the titular Anne Shirley. And it was an all-around success. For the next century, there have been plenty of adaptations through film, radio, plays, and yes, television shows. In 1979, Japan’s World Masterpiece Theater came out with Akage no An (or Anne of Green Gables). And now that I’m picking this up, this anime is officially the oldest anime I’ve ever watched, just narrowly beating Rose of Versailles by 10 months.

While my mom has encouraged me to pick this title as this was one of her favorite books growing up as a kid, I wanted to venture onto this due to a few notable people working on this particular title. Believe it or not, this anime was directed by the legendary Isao Takahata. If the name rings a bell, he’s been involved in several Studio Ghibli films including directing Grave of the Fireflies, Only Yesterday, and The Tale of Princess Kaguya. But he’s not the only familiar name attached to this. Hayao Miyazaki is also credited for this anime as well doing setting and layout for the first 15 episodes. Just to think that only a few short years later, those two would go on to bring about Studio Ghibli. And the rest is of course history!

Before we start talking about Anne herself, let’s talk about the Cuthberts. Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert are siblings and entering their golden years. Neither have married nor have had any children. One could place the reason behind the fact that Matthew can’t speak to women (other than his sister). As Matthew and his sister are getting on in years and upkeep around their home is getting harder with each passing year, they decide to adopt a young orphan boy. When Matthew went into town to pick up his new son, he was in for the shock of his life. His son is really going to be his daughter.

Anne Shirley has had a really interesting 11 years on this earth. For starters, both of her parents died when she was a few months old. After that, she was adopted by several different families and spent a little time in an orphanage. You wouldn’t know it by just looking at her from afar, but Anne is a bit of a chatterbox. So, Matthew sure had his hands full when he not only learned he wasn’t getting a boy orphan, but a girl who loves to gab. For you see Matthew is not good at conversation in general. And aside from his sister, he refuses to talk to any other female. Unfortunately, when Matthew brings home a girl, his sister was very upset by the mistake that was made.

Regardless of everyone’s first opinions, the right decision was made. Anne fell in love with the home of Green Gables, but was worried if Matthew and Marilla were going to take to her. Marilla, while stern with her much of the time, grew to love her. And Matthew, who had never taken to talking to other people opened up to Anne and saw her as the daughter he never had. Anne, who had spent her entire life uncertain if she was loved or would even get to stay at this home is finally somewhere she belongs.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Okay, so…I stumbled upon this. Anne of Green Gables is actually on a streaming platform. It’s just one that many might know exist. Much like with the Little Women dub, it is only available dubbed. And not much is known about the cast or even when it was dubbed. My guess is sometime in the 80s. As for this streaming site, it’s called Studio 100. Their Youtube page seems to have the entire series available to watch. So, that’s pretty easy to watch. Turns out this Studio 100 has other older animes including Heidi and Dog of Flanders. Plus, some stuff I watched as a youth like Babar. Phew, for a second I was worried that I was going to have a hard time finding this anime and would have resulted to watching old VHS tapes. But how would I do that?

Here’s me finding a VHS copy from Japan at Sakura Con. Who in their right mind would buy a VHS…?!

*Medea proceeded to buy two Pokemon Orange Island VHS tapes that were at that same booth*

I know my VCR died a year ago and I do not care at all. I see Tracey, I buy it. I regret nothing.

Let’s move on and talk about Eiko Yamada! Yes, she’s totally in this and yes, she plays the titular character. And by the looks of it, this was her first major role. As you can tell, this proved to be very successful as she was asked to come back to voice other characters from some of the other World Masterpiece Theater animes like Princess Sara, Little Women, and Pollyanna. I have to wonder then, does Yamada return to voice Anne in the prequel series? The answer to that is no. Rina Hidaka did Anne Shirley there. No notes, she’s the best at playing little girl characters. With all of that said, here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

*Anne is played by Eiko Yamada (known for Mai on DBZ, Jo on Little Women, Tsubasa on Ranma ½, and Lavinia on Princess Sara)

*Matthew is played by Ryuuji Saikachi (known for Grand Kai on DBZ, Motro on Castle in the Sky, and Silas on Little Women – Jo’s Boys) [R.I.P.]

*Marilla is played by Fumie Kitahara [R.I.P.]

*Diana is played by Gara Takashima (known for Hild on Ah My Goddess and Julia on Cowboy Bebop)

DISLIKED CHARACTER: Let’s just say that there were two characters I disliked. Not dislike them intensely, just my usual, they rub me the wrong way for one reason or another or they’re just a bitch.

Rachel Lynde was the one who rubbed me the wrong way. Not all of the time, but enough for me to bring it up. I think what put me over was when Matthew has a big heart attack and Mrs. Lynde notices he was looking at the news in the paper that proved she was right about something and has the gall to say then and there, “I told you so���. Read the room, lady.

And then there’s Josie Pye. I just don’t like her. She’s a bitch! Every novel and every anime adaptation to that novel had to have some snot-nosed bitch in their story. Princess Sara had Lavinia. Les Mis had Eponine. And Anne of Green Gables had Josie Pye. I’ll give her credit as I don’t hate her as much as I did Lavinia and Eponine. Only because she didn’t physically hurt Anne. Indirectly she did.

SHIPPING: I know that what I’m about to mention is just a platonic friendship and nothing more. But if you watched how these two act for the majority of the series, you would swear these two were an item. I’m of course talking about Anne x Diana. Whenever they have to be apart, whether for a few days or because Diana’s mother refuses it, they act like they’re Romeo and Juliet. Even when they’re older, they still have act like they’re going to be separated forever. But, I shouldn’t be such a jerk about it. It’s good that Diana and Anne have remained the best of friends. Now for the actual ship.

Anne x Gilbert. As children, both have endured some hardship (Anne moreso). As a result, they were both far behind the other children in their studies. But in the next few years, they both worked hard to get to the top of the class and the top of their exams for Queens College. Much in common and yet Anne Shirley hates Gilbert’s freakin’ guts. And it all stemmed from one silly comment about her red hair when Gilbert first met Anne. Anne’s red hair is a bit of a red-button issue. She will give you quite the tongue-lashing. Mrs. Lynde, a full-grown woman was even scolded by Anne. What makes you think a boy like Gilbert would be spared? Ever since then, Anne hasn’t even given Gilbert so much as a “Hello” in all of those years. And when entering the college exams and college, Anne’s drive was to make sure she gets higher marks than Gilbert.

Yeah, these two are going to get married. Don’t blame me, blame the original source!

ACCURATE OR NOT (part 1): Isao Takahata wanted to stay as close to the original source as humanly possible. And by the looks of things, he was pretty damn accurate. There was one thing that was spotted.

*Cherry blossoms! I’m sure there are cherry blossoms everywhere now depending on where you live and the climate of its survival. Cherry blossoms growing on Prince Edward Island, Canada in the 1800’s, not bloody likely.

ENDING: It’s certainly been an eventful 4 years for Matthew and Marilla. Ever since adopting Anne, it’s always something with her, from her crazy imagination to all of the incidents that occurred. Let’s face it, she did a lot. Anne tried to dye her hair black but it came out green. She accidentally got her best friend drunk. She accidentally put cough syrup when baking a cake. She even walked on top of a roof on a dare and broke her leg. Let me add to that last thing, Josie is a bitch, not just for daring Anne, but everything else about her, and no one likes her. Moving on! So, imagine everyone’s shock that by the time she turned 15, Anne Shirley’s completely changed and has become a bit more mature.

It could be because of the college entrance exams she’s been studying for. It feels like eons that Anne has been dedicated fully to her studies. Anne’s studying paid off. Not only was she accepted into Queens College in Charolettestown, but was ranked #1 in the exams. This is just one step closer to Anne’s dream of becoming a teacher. One more piece to this puzzle will to go out for this scholarship that would take her to another college after Queens College for free. However, Anne gets some distressing news while studying for her finals involving Matthew. It’s no secret that Matthew and Marilla are getting on in years. But when it comes to Anne, they tried their best to not worry Anne with certain matters. Unfortunately, Anne stumbled upon the news of Matthew having a heart attack. And this isn’t a solo incident, it has happened at least three times up to this point. It’s just that Anne was hidden to the fact.

Well, the results came in. Both Anne and Gilbert got the highest marks. It’s just that Gilbert got the medal and Anne got the scholarship for the four-year college. This marks an end to the long-time rivalry between Anne and Gilbert. While Anne is making plans to further her study at Redmond, Gilbert cannot afford that college. But Anne starts having second thoughts about continuing her education as she starts to feel guilty. Matthew and Marilla’s health are declining. In Matthew’s case, quite rapidly. Anne starts to consider that maybe she should stay at Green Gables and help them since Marilla’s eyesight is worsening and Matthew has had several heart attacks at this point.

During Anne’s summer break, it was one tragedy after another. Matthew has one last heart attack. After trying to revive him, Marilla and Mrs. Lynde could do nothing more. Matthew was gone. The heart attack was brought on by the news that the bank Matthew had all of his money in went bankrupt. Because of Matthew and Marilla losing their money, the talk of selling Green Gables frequently comes up. Shortly after Matthew’s death, Marilla got the news that her eyesight is getting worse. If she kept up with her usual tasks, she’d go blind within six months. This was the final straw for Anne as she made some crucial decisions about her future. Anne will not attend Redmond College (I know, it’s foolish to turn down free college tuition, but you know how real life can be a bitch). Anne has decided to take up an offer given to her by Diana’s father and become a school teacher in a nearby town.

But then Anne got the shock of a lifetime when she was given the opportunity to teach at her old school in Avonlea. Gilbert gave up his opportunity for Anne after hearing about her recent plight. The two finally spoke to each other after five years of utter silence. There were many in the town that were confused about Anne’s decision to not go to Redmond College after winning the scholarship. And no one really knows that the Cuthberts lost their savings due to the bank going belly-up nor do they know of Marilla’s deteriorating eye sight. Anne knows where she belongs and she will forever be Anne of Green Gables.

This is basically where the first book ends as well. There are several more books published by the author. It’s just that the anime only goes this far.

The first six episodes of Anne of Green Gables was put into a compilation film in 2010. But was there ever a continuation to show Anne Shirley as she gets older? No. You all know by now that the World Masterpiece Theater focuses on children in their stories. But believe it or not there is a manga out there of Anne of Green Gables. These volumes came out between 1997-1998 and consist of the content from Montgomery’s first 3 books (Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and Anne of the Island).

In 2008 it was officially 100 years since Montgomery’s release of Anne of Green Gables. And so, Canadian author Budge Wilson decided to write a prequel, Before Green Gables. This is the story of Anne’s life prior to living with Matthew and Marilla. One year later, Japan’s World Masterpiece Theater released Konnichiwa Anne: Before Green Gables. This was released 30 years after the Anne of Green Gables anime.

PREQUEL: In the original anime, there’s an episode where Anne talks about her life before coming to Green Gables. Her parents died when she was just a baby and was taken in to several different homes and orphanages for the next 10 years of her life. Her life was hard, but it turned her into the girl everyone loves.

After losing both parents, Anne was taken in by the Thomas family. Joanna the mother has her hands full with four children of her own and one more on the way, so she has Anne do a lot of the work. The father Bert is a lazy drunk, quick to anger, and isn’t above letting Anne take the blame for something he did or striking his wife in front of the children. The children blame Anne for everything (except for the eldest daughter Eliza). Despite all of the odds against Anne, she’s an imaginative child who plays in the woods and makes friends with the animals. And I think I speak for everyone here when I say…

For the love of Figaro, don’t let anything bad happen to this cat.

BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS!

What’s this? I didn’t ask for a Breaking News alert in my own written reviews. What’s all this then?

Anne of Green Gables will receive a brand-new anime adaptation in April 2025 under the name of “Anne Shirley”.

Well, raise my rent! I hope we get a U.S. release.

ACCURATE OR NOT (part 2): I’m going to leave the stuff about the first anime and second anime lining up or not. Because obviously it doesn’t and there’s stuff about the two novels where their shit don’t line up either.

First of all, a lot of these stories shown in the anime are true to the original source material. However, a lot of them are told out of order. In the book, Anne doesn’t get the cat until the family was living in Marysville. The anime introduced Lockinvar at the end of episode 1. Miss Henderson and the Egg Man leave town and get married around the same time Anne leaves to live with the Hammond’s. Obviously, those two events were spread out in the anime. Also, the Thomas family apparently had two other daughters in the novel after Eliza. That would make a little sense as the original anime showed a flashback of Anne comforting a girl during Bert’s drunken fits.

ENDING TO THE BEGINNING: Despite my first impressions from the first couple of episodes in this prequel, we see a lot more fleshing out of Anne’s caretakers the Thomas family. Even though the mother Joanna is strict and has Anne do everything around the house, she is happy to have her help around the house. The father, Bert has a lot of demons. He’s prone to alcoholism. And when he succumbs to the bottle, he does become violent and ends up losing more than just his job. But every now and then, we see these moments of clarity with these two when they’re with Anne. Joanna was able to get through childbirth with Anne’s help and Bert was able to see things clearer while thinking back to happier times while talking to Anne.

I’m trying my best to see the best in this really shitty situation. Anne had several opportunities to live a happier life. SEVERAL!!! And every single time Joanna and Bert turned them down and sent the people packing. Joanna can’t see herself surviving without Anne. And Bert sees Anne as someone part of the family. But if you know the early story of Anne of Green Gables, nothing lasts forever.

What would seem like a happy Christmas turned to tragedy. The head of the Thomas family, Bert was struck by a train and perished. In the aftermath to that, Joanna’s parents came down to take care of the situation. They will shoulder the debts left by Bert and take in Joanna and her four kids. And that’s it. Anne will have to go to the orphanage. Thankfully before that could happen, a gentleman passing by town named Mr. Hammond heard about Anne’s plight and was willing to adopt her. She would have to leave the Thomas family immediately and also leave behind her inanimate object she frequently talks to and the cat Lockinvar.

In one difficult home and into another one. The Hammond family has six kids (two sets of twins). And two more on the way. Seriously, three sets of twins in a row. That’s gotta be some kind of record. The Hammond’s just doubled Anne’s workload as she was only taking care of four children with the Thomas family up to this point. Despite all of that, Anne still managed to sneak in some reading and eventually got to go to school. Her teacher inspired her to think that one day she will reach Prince Edward Islands. She even made a friend that happened to be the echo you hear when screaming near a mountain.

God, this poor girl.

Déjà vu hits as Mr. Hammond kicks the bucket a year or so after Anne moved in with the Hammonds. Unlike Anne’s fortune(?) when Mr. Hammond adopted her when Bert Thomas died, she isn’t really going to get that fortune now. Watching the few episodes with the Hammonds and you can tell the matriarch doesn’t really care for Anne. No way in Hell is she going to stay there much longer.

Speaking of this lady, Mrs. Hammond has got to be one of the most depressing characters in this anime. Scratch that, this franchise. No, scratch that again. The entire World Masterpiece Theater collection. And really, who can blame her. Her husband had many, many, many faults. She had to take care of 8 children, nine if you include Anne. She probably has several undiagnosed mental disorders including post-partum. And now, her husband is dead. She is broken. In the end, the family divided up the children for themselves and sent Anne to live in the orphanage. Okay, eight episodes left. The only thing left is for Anne to be in the orphanage before she ends up at Green Gables.

Yeah, the orphanage. Like Annie mixed with Princess Sarah mixed with a prison. In fact, two of these characters look like Miss Amelia and Miss Minchin. Anne was very upset at this point. All of her belongings were taken from her. Nearly every girl there hates her. Anne’s emotions are all over the place due to the sudden change in her life. Add to that, her belongings were taken by some of the girls and were accidentally set on fire. Anne eventually makes some sort of peace at the orphanage even making one friend. But there’s still friction between Anne and all of the other girls. Especially one girl named Edna. It gets worse when someone on PEI wants to adopt an 11-year-old and it’s either going to be Anne or Edna.

Anne learning about Edna’s plight caused her to give up her dreams of going to PEI and leave Nova Scotia. But Edna was just being sneaky and trying to get Anne to give up. This just led to a big fight. But then we learn Edna’s mother didn’t abandon her so much as gave her up while being treated for an unspecified illness. Her mother even returns to see her and there’s hope for the two to one day live together. Edna gives up her spot and Anne is going to be adopted to the sibling pair on PEI.

Meanwhile, Anne gets a lot of better news. Care packages, letters, and a visit from some familiar faces. Anne’s old teacher and her husband visited. The care package was from Joanna. The letters were from Eliza. We get some happy endings as Anne’s teacher is expecting a child. Joanna and the rest of the Thomas children are doing well and miss Anne. And Eliza is doing well in London and named her daughter after Anne. So, Anne bids a fond farewell to the orphanage and her home of 11 years Nova Scotia.

So, there we are. One of the earliest World Masterpiece Theater animes and the very last one together. Yeah, Before Anne of Green Gables was the last anime done for this collection. It’s a shame that this hasn’t continued. It got a whole generation of children interested in literary classics. And I’m sure there are plenty of other untouched literary classics that would have been perfect for an anime adaptation. However, in 2022 Nippon Animation did something nostalgic for the upcoming Resident Evil 4 video game.

I simply have no words for this other than this made me laugh. And that’s very wrong. Then again, I’ve been known to laugh at the most inappropriate of things.

As for the story of Anne Shirley, I’m glad I got to see Anne of before and after Green Gables. Yes, the character Anne is a lot to take in. I honestly felt Marilla’s pain whenever Anne would go on and on about this or that. But when you’re in a situation much like Anne Shirley, you find ways to cope. And seriously, Anne making friends with a reflection in a glass window and the echo through the mountain is as sad as you can get. Unlike how I was with Little Women and its sequel, both Anne of Green Gables animes are not going to give you major whiplash. Both series did it’s job by showcasing Anne Shirley as a youth and a teenager. I might even go so far as to say it’s one of the best of the World Masterpiece Theater collection. I’m just going to put it up there with Les Miserables and Princess Sarah. Those are the ones I will always recommend, and I will do so for Anne of Green Gables. Even the sequel is worth it!

As I mentioned before, this anime is going to get a remake in April 2025. And I suppose, this is the year for 70s anime remakes. Even Rose of Versailles got a remake by ways of a movie. I have a lot of hope for this one as we might see Anne Shirley after making her college decision. I only say that because Gilbert Blythe is getting mentioned in these PV’s. Again, I hope that we do get an English release of this one.

If you would like to watch the first series, the English dub is available on Studio 100 miniKIDS’s Youtube page. Per usual, anything other than that, good luck on your mission finding quality subtitles.

Now then, it’s time I take a small break from the World Masterpiece Theater collection and pick up this weird anime that’s like The Blues Brothers. Yes, there is such a thing as anime Blues Brothers.

[medea10]

My Review of Plastic Memories

I’ve heard a good amount of things said about this particular series. Some loving it, some finding massive flaws with the concept, and others saying "CHOBITS DID IT"! And if I’m seeing stuff with romance and robots, I better queue up my certain Futurama saying here.

In this world, there are highly advanced androids known as “Giftias”. This technology is so advanced it’s nearly impossible to tell the Giftias apart from actual humans. However, Giftias have a short lifeline. To be precise, 81,920 hours (9 years and 4 months). The company that produces these androids is the Sion Artificial Intelligence corporation (SAI corp).

And that’s where our main protagonist Tsukasa Mizugaki comes in. He manages to get a job at SAI Corp in their Terminal Service One sector. The job is to retrieve Giftias before their expiration date. Once a Giftia reaches its expiration, it loses all of its memories and quite possibly becomes hostile. Tsukasa is paired up with a Giftia named Isla. Isla is a little odd in her approach on the job, but she’s said to be one of the best. Throughout these 12 episodes, Tsukasa experiences many different stories with the Giftias he’s retrieving and…

Alright, yes! He does fall in love with the Giftia at his job, Isla. I mean, anyone watching just the first episode could see that shit coming.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: This is one of those Aniplex of America titles and you know what that means. If you want to buy a physical copy, better start breaking out the cash because that shit’s expensive. Now then, this anime came out in 2015. Damn near a decade later and no English dub to be seen. I should probably walk away from the topic as there are a lot of Aniplex titles like this one. Crunchyroll occasionally gets an anime dubbed eons later. But I don’t want to talk about Crunchyroll and dubs at the moment considering they allegedly ripped off a bunch of donors for the kickstarter to Dirty Pair.

Oh wow, I just clumsily stumbled into THAT subject in an anime that has no connection whatsoever. Gee, I hope I don’t do this again in another review. I probably will. And I’m not sorry.

*Tsukasa is played by Yasuaki Takumi

*Isla is played by Sora Amamiya (known for Aqua on Konosuba, Chizuru on Rent a Girlfriend, Touka on Tokyo Ghoul, Miia on Monster Musume, Elizabeth on Seven Deadly Sins, and Elise on Bungo Stray Dogs)

SHIPPING: Of course, Tsukasa was going to fall for Isla. Of course this is not going to work. Of course this is only going to end up in heartbreak. Dummy, you watched in your own job how hard it is to detach yourself away from a Giftia that’s on the brink of expiration and those people have been with that Giftia longer than you’ve been with Isla. But you still have the tenacity to say that you love Isla by the end of episode 8. Who saw this shit coming? Bro, she’s got less than a month left and afterward, she’s not going to know you. Why not just cut your losses and just ask out that fire-crotch tsundere Michiru?

Ever notice how she looks a lot like Asuka from Evangelion?

Actually, a lot of characters here funny enough remind me of Evangelion. Anyone else feel like that?

Wait, what was I talking about? Ah yes, shipping!

The majority of the series is just a game of will they won’t they. They both know what’s going to happen if they allow their emotions get in the way. What will the end result be?

ENDING: By the halfway point of this show, Tsukasa and the others had to deal with a very complicated matter. After a very traumatic experience with a Giftia that went past its expiration, everyone at Terminal Service One took the incident differently. Many of the veteran employees have awful memories from an incident three years prior. Michiru still has trauma as the Giftia she saw lose its sanity and went on a rampage was someone she saw as her father. Kazuki lost her foot during that very struggle. And Isla (while not there), had her partnership ended by Kazuki. This time, while it did end on a…I can’t lie, it was not a happy ending. The stuff that Terminal Service One do in their work is very sad and if it gets to those lengths, it’s very triggering. It was shortly after this incident that Tsukasa learned of what happened three years prior and also learned that his partner Isla only has roughly a month left before expiration. And we all know what happens in a month.

Deactivated. Heartbreak. Possibly see her again with a new name, persona, and no memory of you whatsoever.

How do I know this? SAI Corp is into cost-cutting by recycling Giftia bodies for use at the company. Andie is living proof of that. She was once gone by a different name and has no memories of that time. Absolutely heartbreaking for those who knew that Giftia like Eru. Tsukasa will learn that sting soon enough even if the anime doesn’t show us. I’ll give him credit for having Isla as his partner and continuing to do so after so much doubt prior. But dumbass here has to go and say he loves her by episode 8. We have like what, 5 episodes left here and I’m assuming that’s all the time left for Isla. I’m doing my damndest to not use this but this fool is giving me no other option.

…

Yes, this public service announcement is brought to you by the Space Pope. Now let’s move on.

After Tsukasa revealed his feelings, Isla immediately turned him down. Tsukasa didn’t take the rejection well but wound up getting some support from the members of the office. Despite Michiru’s reaction after learning how much longer Isla has left, she seems willing to help Tsukasa out. But then, Kazuki ends up changing things. She puts an end to Tsukasa and Isla’s partnership. Kazuki has kind of been that one objector to Tsukasa as she was Isla’s previous partner. Kazuki ended up caving in and allowing things to continue between the two. The rest of the office seems on board with this shipping despite knowing that in one month’s time it’s going to get really depressing. They’re all downright encouraging to these two. But before we get to all of that, Isla and Tsukasa have to BE an item.

When Tsukasa revealed his feelings for Isla, she flat-out rejected it. And ever since that time, she’s been avoiding him. But it was mostly to keep from hurting him in the long-run. But she winds up accepting it and the two are now a couple. Awkward AF, but still! For the little time that Isla has left, both her and Tsukasa spent their time enjoying the moments and creating happy memories. And even when Tsukasa got the mission to take on Isla, it was okay. Both of them carried on with doing their job together one last time, enjoying each other’s company, and going to the amusement park again.

And that’s where Isla decided she wanted to be deactivated, at the top of the ferris wheel. This was actually sweet and calm these last two episodes. Neither character went out kicking and screaming about the situation, they both seemed mature. Possibly because they’ve seen first hand what happens to a giftia soon after expiration.

I’m stuck in the middle with this one. For one thing, there were so many moments that I saw coming a mile away. Many things were going to be obvious. The main character falling for the robot that’s just going to leave by the end of the series. And yes, there are those purists that are going to say, “Just watch Chobits, it’s way better than this bargain-bin rom-rom-com”. While, I’m on team Chobits I won’t hate on it. It was okay for the most part. It didn’t break my heart as many things I saw coming a mile away. It’s just one of those animes that are just okay and I’ll probably forget about most of it in a few years anyways. I’m just being honest here. I would say make your own call while just kind of pushing to the side about the faultiness of the technology. It’s a short series so it won’t take up much of your time.

Crunchyroll has the entire series available.

[medea10]

My Review of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation II

Season One Review Here

Alright, my favorite modern Isekai is back! Same cast, same studio, same kinky pervertedness…

Okay, some things aren’t that great when said out loud.

HISTORY: A 34-year-old shut-in is out of the house for the first time in forever. And he’s immediately hit by a truck. This man then wakes up as a baby in another world to parents Paul and Zenith Greyrat. We’re not sure what the man’s name was in his prior life, but he will now be known as Rudeus (or Rudy). His 34-year-old mind is in the body of this child. And this new world Rudeus is in is heavily focused on magic and swords. In the first 5 years as Rudeus, he managed to become well equipped with learning magic incantations, even out-doing his own teacher, Roxy. In his downtime, he ends up making friends with a cute, green-haired girl named Sylph. And when he’s sent away for training, he meets his cousin Eris and becomes her tutor.

Seems easy going at first, but once Rudeus hit 10 his whole world changed. Actually, the entire continent was changed and most of it not for the better. A giant mana disaster hit sending an entire continent of people all over. In Rudeus and Eris’s case, they were able to survive for several years. Others like Rudeus’s family has had it rough.

And I’m going to stop that here because of spoilers. Seriously, just watch and read my previous review.

SYLPH: In season one, we focused a great deal on Eris. Mostly because she’s with Rudeus! Roxy gets some extra screen time despite never being in the same place as Rudeus. But what about Sylph? We don’t see her after the great mana disaster and all we know is that she was marked as safe afterward. Before season two officially started, we were treated to an episode 0 that tells the tale of what happened to Sylph when the big mana disaster hit. Sylph was flying through the air, her hair changed colors, she kills a monster, and saves a princess. It will not sound less weird if I repeated this statement.

Because of unfortunate circumstances regarding where Sylph hails from and what occurred, the princess (Ariel) has Sylph hide her identity for her own safety. Sylph is now known as Fitz and is to be the princess’s bodyguard. Sylph goes above and beyond to protect Princess Ariel that the two of them get closer as friends than just bodyguard and princess. That’s why Sylph goes to the magic academy on her own accord to be with Ariel.

SEASON TWO: Just like with season one, it will be split into two parts. Rudeus is still depressed about Eris leaving him. He still keeps a lock of her hair and strokes it to…you know what, I’m not going to judge him after all he’s been through…Still creepy though! Rudeus ends up joining a new group, but was hesitant due to his closeness with his prior group and again, still sad over Eris. Things worked out well at first. That is until Rudeus had bedroom problems and took his frustration out at his new crew.

OH! Now I get why my friend called it the limp biscuit arc!

Soon after these setbacks hit Rudeus, he got word that a school wants him as a student. There he meets an old ally, new friends, new foes, and…SYLPH?! Nope, sorry, after the events of Episode 0, she is Fitz, the silent, mysterious bodyguard to the princess. It isn’t just “Fitz” as Rudeus meets several other people from season one who are attending this academy. Here, Rudeus makes new connections and indiscreetly gets help with curing his erectile dysfunction.

LICENSING: As usual, Crunchyroll is the one dishing it out. They dubbed it too and…that’s all I’ve got for this category.

NEW CHARACTERS: Some of these characters were technically introduced in the first season. It’s just that their characters are a little more fleshed out and they were featured more often than prior.

Let’s start with Rudeus’s sisters Norn and Aisha. In the first season, Rudeus only spent a small amount of time with his sisters before their father Paul sent Rudeus away. And they were infants at that time. The next time they met was years later and under other circumstances. Norn had an intense hatred for her brother due to him punching their father. Aisha respects and idolizes her brother because Rudeus saved Aisha and her mother. In this season, Paul sent Norn and Aisha to stay with Rudeus while he went on a search for Zenith. Aisha forgoed school to just stay at Rudeus’s home and become a maid like her mother. Norn enrolled in the same academy as Rudeus. Despite a rocky start, Norn got the hang of her new settings and even has a little more respect for her elder brother.

Princess Ariel is the daughter of King Triton. She lives under the sea, goes out searching on her own, and sings about wanting more. I had to do it. Because Ariel is third in line to the throne, her life is constantly in danger. Coming upon Sylph back during the great mana disaster was a bit of luck on her part as she saw her potential. While shielding her real identity, Ariel essentially saved Sylph and protected her. Once Rudeus came into the picture, Ariel loosened Sylph’s restraints and became a supporter to this romance.

Shizuka…Where do I even begin with this one? First of all, Shizuka came from Rudeus’s original world. Unlike being reincarnated like Rudeus, Shizuka was teleported. Add to that, Shizuka was the girl Rudeus saved when he got struck by that truck and was reincarnated. In the first season, she’s seen with Orsted (the Dragon God that scared everyone except Rudeus). Shizuka hates being in this world and wants to go back to her original world. While Rudeus likes his life here and won’t join Shizuka in returning, he does help her with teleportation circles.

Zanoba. Yeah, I’ll add him too. In season one, we see him and Rudeus bond over figures Rudeus crafts. This continues throughout this season. Let’s just say Zanoba is a lot better than what he used to be. When you kill your brother (at age 3 no less) and later down the line, kill your fiancé, him working with dolls with a slave is a lot better.

Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Norn is played by Saya Aizawa (known for Yuzu on Taisho Maiden Fairy Tale and Ayano on Alya-san)

*Aisha is played by Yukari Takada (known for Elma on Miss Kobayashi, Yuu on Bloom Into You, and Lessar on Index)

*Ariel is played by Reina Ueda (known for Mallow on Pokemon SM, Kisa on Fruits Basket 2019, Kanao on Demon Slayer, Lemon on Mashle, Miyo on My Happy Marriage, and Jiro on Tokyo Ghoul)

*Shizuka is played by Shion Wakayama (known for Takina on Lycoris Recoil)

*Zanoba is played by Satoshi Tsuruoka (known for Caster on Fate/Zero)

ENGLISH CAST: *Norn is played by Bryn Apprill (known for Historia on Attack on Titan, Mimosa on Black Clover, Ai on Zombieland Saga, Ritsu on Assassination Classroom, and Nagisa on Kaguya-sama)

*Aisha is played by Meg McClain (known for Rachel on Angels of Death)

*Ariel is played by Sarah Wiedenheft (known for Tohru on Miss Kobayashi, Power on Chainsaw Man, Zeno on DB Super, Charmy on Black Clover, Lily on Zombieland Saga, and Ruby on Love Live Sunshine)

*Shizuka is played by Suzie Yeung (known for Makima on Chainsaw Man, Shizuka on Mushoku Tensei, Milize on 86, Sumi on Rent-A-Girlfriend, Ayumu on Love Live Nijigasaki, and Amane on Demon Slayer)

*Zanoba is played by Ian Sinclair (known for Space Dandy, Whis on DB Super, Kureno on Fruits Basket, Baldroy on Black Butler, Sousuke on Free!, Brook on One Piece, and Azami on Food Wars)

SHIPPING PART DEUX: It’s obvious that going into this season that Rudeus was not over the whole Eris thing. He’s tried to move on by burning the piece of hair he kept. But the crowning moment in this sob moment was when temporary new mate Sara goes on a date with Rudeus as a thank you for saving her. Oh, the date and dinner were no problem at all. It’s what happened afterward in the bedroom.

Rudeus Greyrat has officially become Broke-dick Bob.

Now, during this limp biscuit arc, he does get a baby inkling from his johnson. Problem is that it was inkling when in the company of another male. Or so Rudeus thinks! He got into a very sweet friendship with the mysterious classmate known as Fitz. But as we all know FITZ IS SYLPH! It’s just Rudeus doesn’t know until he literally sees Fitz’s exposed body. After that moment, things between Rudeus and Sylph actually turned for the better. She helped Rudeus cure his E.D., he took Sylph’s virginity, and got a nice bloody keepsake of the sheet they slept on that night. It’s going in his collection next to Roxy’s panties.

He still has Roxy’s panties. He prays to them. And now he’s keeping the bedsheet with the shattered remains of Sylph’s hymen. This show is still all kinds of canceled.

In that aftermath, Rudeus gets engaged and later marries Sylph. And even better, he knocks her up. Yeah, this is turning into a Tomodachi Life happy ending scenario here. Let’s see what happens when we take Rudeus and put him on another continent with Roxy.

Roxy has not seen Rudeus since he was a little child. So, their first meeting in over 10 years did not go over well for Rudeus as she didn’t even recognize him. Water under the bridge actually. Rudeus is really grateful and happy to be with his master again and Roxy is actually all blushy. Funny how no one tells her that Rudeus is married with a baby on the way. I sense Rudeus walking down the same path his father did. He does and thensome! I’ll delve into it a bit deeper when I get into spoilers about the ending to the season, but Rudeus is definitely Paul’s boy.

UH-OH, THIS TOPIC: Slavery!

Yes children, Mushoku Tensei is going to get into slavery. Halfway into the first part, Rudeus gets the notion that if he purchases a slave, it’ll apparently help his friend Zanoba create sexy figures? I don’t know, just go with it! Rudeus buys a slave. It appears that the character Rudeus isn’t outraged about slavery. Insert Twitter losing it’s shit.

Rising of the Shield Hero had way too much slavery topics and people choose to lose their collective shit-bricks on this?! Even the creator had to come out and clear the air on the subject.

END OF PART ONE: Rudeus’s adventures in school take a turn when he runs into a familiar someone in more than one way. Near the end of season one, Rudeus had a run-in with the man known as the Dragon God (or Orsted). Alongside him was a masked woman. Rudeus met up with this masked woman. Things are about to go crazy. This girl (named Shizuka) was originally from Japan much like Rudeus. Rudeus does recognize her as the girl he saved from getting hit by a truck when his previous life ended. Though, he keeps it to himself along with his real name before being reborn as Rudeus Greyrat. Apparently Shizuka did not die and come to this world. She was teleported and it happened when the big mana disaster struck. Unlike Rudeus, Shizuka wants to go back to her life in modern Japan. For the time, Rudeus and Shizuka seem to want to use one another.

Meanwhile, I’m groaning impatiently with the development of Fitz and Rudeus. Like, when the hell is Rudy-boy going to realize that Fitz is really Sylph? He’s realizing that he has feelings for Fitz and making this whole E.D. storyline something else. Rudeus is concerned that Fitz is a male. Everyone says so. But an accidental trip had Rudeus confused further. He clearly felt female parts on Fitz and a partial erection. Fitz denies being female and runs off. I have no words here. I think Fitz has permission to at least let Rudeus know the truth. Especially since Fitz told a bunch of embarrassing stories from their youth to Ariel and about her feelings now. We finally get the moment we’ve been waiting for as Rudeus and Fitz are warming up in a cave and Rudeus forces Fitz to undress so that they don’t catch a cold.

Where have I seen this before? Oh, that’s right! When they were kids, Rudeus didn’t know that Sylph was a girl yet and forced her to take off her clothes so she doesn’t catch a cold. She slowly takes off her clothes, including her sunblockers. There she is, standing in front of her long-time friend and crush, partially naked and exposed. What does Rudy do? He smiles and asks if Fitz’s real name is Sylphette. FINALLY! GOD, YES! They’re going to fuck! AW, FUCK YEAH!

Oh wait, we’re still in Limp Bizkit arc. Nope, no. Broke-dick Bob ain’t getting any nookie tonight.

Despite that epic fail, Rudeus and Sylph were able to reconnect without connecting sexually…For now! After Sylph discussed the events of that night to Luke and Princess Ariel, these three went into scheme mode. Luke managed to dig up an aphrodisiac to help Rudeus with his impotency. This potion might not be the most romantic methods for Sylph’s first time, but it’ll help a fella who has been impotent for 3 years. As much as I revel in Rudeus’s E.D., that is quite a long time and I do feel somewhat sorry for his little fella.

The end result of this aphrodisiac…Mission accomplished! Rudy did the deed. Not sure what the mystery stain on the bed sheets was. Spilled wine or a broken hymen! But the bigger question looms. Does Sylph stay with Rudy or does she ditch him like Eris? SHE STAYED! Better, Rudeus is cured. And even better than that, Sylph and Rudeus are engaged!

PART TWO: Rudeus no longer has E.D. and is currently engaged to Sylph. Now what? I guess the custom in this world if you’re in this situation is that you have enough money to get a house for him and Sylph. It seems as though all of Rudeus’s friends at the school are happy about the occasion and same goes for Sylph’s side. In fact, Princess Ariel is giving her blessings and not having Sylph try and come back as her bodyguard. And then we learn Elinalise is Sylph’s grandmother.

Do what now?

Yeah, that’s a spoiler I did not stumble upon nor was expecting. That kind of slammed me into a wall. We learn a little bit about Elinalise in the first season. We know that she used to travel with Paul and Zenith. But what most people remember about her is that she sleeps with every living man she can find. Roxy was scarred watching all of that. But there’s much more to that come season two. During this season, Elinalise enters the academy alongside Rudeus. There, she meets another student named Cliff who has the hots for her. But unlike every other guy she’s been with, this guy seems genuine. It’s just that Elinalise is cursed and will die if she doesn’t continue to sleep with other men. Seriously, weird curse. Regardless, Cliff still loves Elinalise. I don’t even think Cliff is bothered by the fact that she’s a grandmother.

Aside from this, we are getting some early season one vibes as Rudeus’s family comes to live with him in his new abode. Paul got a hot tip on where Zenith was and wants Aisha and Norn to stay with Rudeus. I’m glad Rudeus is getting the opportunity to be with his baby sisters. He’s only had a few encounters with them since they were babies when Rudeus was sent away. And even after that, Aisha was saved by him (which was good in his favor), but Norn is still sour because Rudeus punched Paul in the face a few years ago.

END OF PART TWO: Things were actually looking up for Rudeus. His sister Norn was finally opening up to him. Paul’s crew is on the right track to finding Zenith. And the best news yet, Sylph is pregnant. With that news, the good came crashing down. Rudeus got word from Paul’s crew in search of Zenith. Things were not looking positive and urged Rudeus to send help.

Rudeus comes to the conundrum of leaving his pregnant wife to go on a two-year trek to search and save his mother or stay with Sylph at least until she gives birth. Oof. No one had a right answer for that one. Norn was ready to leave home and go on the mission herself. Even that Man-God Rudeus still talks to in his dreams advised against going to that other continent to save Zenith. In the end, Rudeus is going on this trek with Elinalise. This is the first time Rudeus went against the Man-God’s advice. Thanks to a teleportation circle, that cut down on travel by at least a year. But, this is very taboo and could land Rudeus in extreme trouble. But we’ll probably worry about that on a later story.

Elinalise and Rudeus made it to the desert continent and met up with Paul and his crew. And unlike their previous meeting, Paul and Rudeus were able to get along quite well. Elinalise was even able to put her hatred for Paul to the side. Better do it now since you both are technically related. Paul’s group have hit a lot of snags in searching for Zenith. More recently, it’s been a whole month and Roxy was lost in the labyrinth. This labyrinth is complex with many formidable monsters and teleportation circles. Luckily, the group was able to save Roxy just in the nick of time. Now as for Zenith…

Zenith has been encased in an ice crystal for…honestly, I forget how long. This is surrounded by an over-powered hydra. Paul went in head-first and was quite hard to reason with as he was literally out for blood. That’s his wife up there! It was a very complicated and hard-fought battle as this hydra had nine heads and was able to heal itself fast. This battle pushed everyone to their limits, but they were successful in defeating the hydra. Unscathed…not at all. Rudeus ended up losing his left hand. And Paul split in half.

This episode aired on Father’s Day and we watched Paul die.

I can’t begin to tell you how sick that is…that I snorted at the fact that this aired on Father’s Day.

But, they managed to achieve their main objective. They saved Zenith. There should be solace in that fact, right? Well…

Zenith waking four days after Paul’s death brought back a lot of Berserk memories and what happened to the character Casca. No speech, no memories, nothing! Maybe Rudeus should rethink what he thought about his mother before this revelation. It’s not just Zenith that Rudeus had that mindset with, but Paul too. Rudeus thinks back to his parents from his own time and how there’s so much left unsaid. His original parents died and due to being a shut-in, didn’t claim their bodies, see them one last time, or go to the funeral. This time, he witnesses Paul’s dead body and see that Zenith is going to remain this way permanently.

Before Rudeus goes into full depression mode, that is railroaded by Roxy who comes in, talks to him, and proceeds to have sex with him. Yeah, we’re going down that route. Roxy is not his first true love, but his first bit of lust and perversion. And of course, on the list of people Rudeus has slept with, um, I think Roxy’s the fourth if I remember correctly. I still count Sara. Let’s just say that the apple doesn’t fall far from the Greyrat tree. Now, we’ve come to the conundrum of the moment. Roxy sleeps with Rudeus to help him in his time of need after losing his father, his mother’s memories, and his left hand. It helped that situation, but a bigger problem grows. He’s always loved Roxy, but knows damn-well he has a pregnant wife at home. What will Rudeus do?

Despite Elinalise being Sylph’s grandmother, she’s rooting for the best-case scenario. And what might that be? Rudeus returns home, be’s honest with his wife about what transpired, and ask for Roxy to be his second wife. And it looks like I’m going to have to do a lot of back-tracking on some shit I said in my season one review.

PAUL AND RUDY: As you can see, history is repeating itself. Paul managed to knock-up, not only his wife, but his live-in maid. I screamed holy hell when that happened. Probably because I was jumping in this blind-folded not knowing the whole story between Paul and Lilia. Though, it is still pretty fucked up. Rudeus getting a second wife…I was aware of it due to reading spoilers. And I know more than you would think for someone not reading the light novel. I probably shouldn’t have jumped the gun about having a harem as in this world, as long as you’re not part of a certain religion, it’s okay to take on a second and even third wife. Now, Zenith came from a family that was under that certain religion. But more on all of that possibly in the next season. I am still a little irritated at Paul’s circumstance. Less so now. Rudeus and Roxy…I’m in the middle. I’m just going to sit back and watch what comes of it.

BACK TO THE ENDING: Thanks to the teleportation circles, Rudeus was able to cut this trip to save his mother and Roxy shorter than what was expected. And he was able to return home to find Sylph still pregnant and everything well on her end. Rudeus dropped the news to everyone that while they were able to rescue Zenith, she’s permanently altered and Paul was killed in action. Norn took this harder than anyone else. And then Rudeus decides to talk to his sisters and Sylph about the matter about having a second wife. His sister Norn harshly rejected it and verbally attacked Roxy in the process. Despite the mindset of monogamy, Norn almost forgot the fact that her own father took on two wives. Sylph was actually understanding and was more than willing to accept this change of events.

Life starts to get a little better. Norn started to learn how to handle a sword after given Paul’s sword. Sylph gave birth to her daughter, Lucie. Rudeus was able to give Paul a final resting place. And we are getting a third season!

I’m going to be honest, I think after watching the second half of this season, I forgot a good chunk of what happened at the beginning of this season. Funny how when they split a two-cour series, this sort of thing happens. It just felt like I was watching a totally different thing from a totally different time. Probably because most everything else took place at the school Rudeus attended. I can’t even remember the crew Rudeus was with after he split from Eris. And I bet you can’t either.

The animation is still magnificent. I mean, yes, you can tell there’s a major difference between last and this season. There are different people working on the product, but at least it’s the same studio. And of course, the subject matters that come up that makes it hard to recommend to certain groups of people. Like with season one, there’s still a lot of canceling of Rudeus and Mushoku Tensei as a whole. That’s your call to make. Yes, there’s still a lot of healthy libidos flaunting about (not so much for Rudy in the first 12 episodes). Yes, there’s that thing with slavery. Again, it’s in nearly every Isekai and just not at the degree that it’s at like with Shield Hero.

Well, we’ve got a third season on the horizon to look forward to. Will we see Eris again? Is there a way to help Zenith? Will Rudeus get a fake arm like most of the other anime characters who lost an arm in battle? Don’t look at me, I don’t have the answers.

Mushoku Tensei is available to watch on Crunchyroll in several languages. It’s also currently available on Hulu, Sling TV, and Amazon Prime Video.

[medea10]

The Year was 2024 and Oh What Fresh Hell Am I Living In?!

I know this is my yearly post where I’m supposed to be upbeat. But this year was such a pile of shit, I don’t think I can be upbeat. I never thought a year could possibly rival that of the devil’s butt-hole of 2005. I still can’t say it. 2005 is still a year I will despise from the depths of my soul due to the gravity of the situations I was in. But 2024 was just awful. And no, this has nothing to do with Trump being re-elected. That happened in November and I had a whole 10 months of other shit before that. Although that did not help. And yes, I will be waiting in the wings to give the biggest and smuggest “I told you so” when the time comes.

In 2024, sickness, depression, and death has plagued my inner circle for the majority of the year. I know one of those deaths I was expecting so I was prepared for it mentally. What I wasn’t prepared for was the sudden death of my youngest cat and the sudden death to a friend of over 30 years.

If I had a nickel for every time this year someone close to me died of Cardiac Arrest, I would have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.

Not to mention the surgeries, the sinus infections, the endo pain…All of this and more has really taken a toll on what I love to do. There were a lot of anime that I watched this year and a lot that I didn’t have the energy to write about. I just absolutely gave up on writing. I watched shows like Bungo Stray Dogs, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Dandadan, and I am not writing a single review for those and more. Does this mean I’m going to stop writing reviews forever? Probably not. I’m just slowly trying to get back to normality. Okay, I think that’s enough kvetching from me.

If you’re unfamiliar with this post, every year I do my (so, so outdated) list of the anime and games I watched and played this year. And I’m very inclusive to everything I’ve watched. So, if I watched an anime and it came out seven years before I was even born, it counts. Okay, let’s hit it!

First Fandom of 2024: The Apothecary Diaries

I know this came out in Fall 2023, but I picked up the series at the beginning of the year while it was still airing. And from the very beginning, I couldn’t turn it off as I was captivated by Maomao’s tale. I’ll be honest, up until I watched this, I had no idea what an apothecary was. I’m dumb. Well, I certainly don’t have any more questions after watching this anime. It was fun watching Maomao progress throughout the series in her many roles she served in the palace. And I’m going to get a lot of hate when I say this. I liked the Apothecary Diaries better than Frieren. I am not even sorry.

Favorite Main Character of 2024: Hitori "Bocchi" Gotou from Bocchi the Rock

While I was close to choosing Maomao for this category, I did watch Bocchi the Rock this year and I can’t resist putting up another introvert who has a hard time communicating. Yeah, I can connect with Bocchi and understand how her mind works. I’ve been there. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I over-analyzed a situation involving communicating with friends or scenarios.

Favorite Villain of 2024: Galaxia from Sailor Moon Cosmos

I know I’m reliving watching Makoto Shishio on Rurouni Kenshin, but I cannot in good conscience sleep on Galaxia’s reign during the two-part Sailor Moon movies. There is no comparison between the Cosmos and Stars adaptation, Cosmos wins. Galaxia killed off Mamoru in front of Usagi. Not just him, but all of her friends and this girl is just wrecked. Galaxia is the strongest foe in the Sailor Moon universe. This woman can destroy single planets in no-time flat. She can zap anyone out of existence like they were nothing. Galaxia went to the trouble to mentally hurt Usagi by having her loved ones turn against her.

Favorite Video Game Character of 2024: Vivian from Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door

As I did not have a Nintendo Gamecube, I never played this game or had any idea of its existence. It came out when I was in college and the only console I had was the GBA SP. So, I never knew of this precious cinnamon roll. I want to protect them like they protected me. Vivian doesn’t deserve hate. In fact, next to baby Yoshi, I used Vivian the most out of all the other partners.

Favorite Video Game of 2024: …

Much like last year, I had an interesting time reliving old classics on the DS and 3DS. Had to play it while I could online. But then we had quite the influx of Mario games within the last 12 months. There was a Luigi game, a Peach game, another Mario/Luigi RPG, another Mario Party, and a remake to a fan favorite. I wound up playing three of these and even older versions of those three. The video games really helped me through this year. As with the previous entry, I gotta give it to…

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

Okay you Gamecubers, you were right. This was fun. I had fun.

Favorite Het Couple of 2024: Itsuomi Nagi x Yuki Itose from A Sign of Affection

Yuki is a precious cinnamon roll and I want nothing but the best for her. Itsuomi better treat her well. And that’s what we get with this series. A deaf girl meets a multi-lingual boy and the two hit it off. Itsuomi is always up for a challenge to learn a new language and culture, but has never learned sign language before. And Yuki, she just wants to expand her world as it just felt like it was mostly restraint.

Favorite Yuri Couple of 2024: Diana Barry x Anne Shirley from Akage no Anne (Anne of Green Gables)

Yeah, that’s the anime that I nodded at being seven years older than me. Now, I know this isn’t an actual ship, but please do bear with me with this. If you watched the original 1979 anime, you know why I would put this on the list. And for those waiting until April 2025 to see the new adaptation, you’ll see. Anne and Diana became fast friends and if they are ever apart, they are the most dramatic characters you will ever see. If their parents or guardians forbid them from seeing each other again, you would have thought they were going to go Romeo and Juliet on us.

Favorite Yaoi Couple of 2024: Adachi Kiyoshi x Yuuichi Kurosawa from Cherry Magic

Like there was any other Yaoi couple this year that could compete with this one. I mean, sure there could be others, but from what I watched, no way. You cannot compete with the ending we got from this. I was worried about this becoming another toxic relationship like some other yaoi ships I support. While this one was…borderline that, I give credit to Kurosawa for not doing what I thought he was going to do. His jealousy is another subject. But overall, seeing an office crush evolve into sudden romance and eventually marriage, it chokes you up inside a little.

Fandom That You Didn’t Expect to Get Into: Dragon Ball Daima

I will admit that the second it was announced we were getting another Dragon Ball series where Goku and the rest of the cast are turned into little children, my first thought was, “Fuck you! We’ve been through this before with Dragon Ball GT. No! Go back in the dumpster fire where you came from”. That was until I heard Akira Toriyama was actually involved unlike with GT. I unfortunately don’t know how it’ll go as Toriyama passed away earlier this year, but for now let’s just enjoy Daima for what it is. It wasn’t just Goku becoming a child, but everyone involved in the Majin Buu incident that’s turned into children. The characters Goku is traveling with, they’re a lot better than Pan and an essentially neutered Trunks.

Fandom That Made an Unexpected Comeback: Black Butler

All of my favorite Aniplex animes made a return this year. Hell, there were a lot of comebacks this year. But Black Butler was still my go-to for the year (along with Spice and Wolf). While I was hella skeptical when it came to the studio at the helm for this arc, they pulled it off. Despite the seven-year wait since the last project, it felt like less time once I started watching. Probably because Book of the Atlantic and Public School arc kinda dealing with the same thing.

Fandom That Inspired the Most Crack: Dandadan

I was this close to putting Mashle in this category, but a certain anime where a spirit known as “Turbo Granny” is after this kid’s nutsack. This anime is batshit and I love it. I’m going in thinking this is some wacky-ass shit that was conceived by Studio Trigger. On the contrary, it was done by Science SARU. That makes sense as Ayase looks like Tsubame from Keep Your Hands Off Eizoken. Same studio for both. Every episode I’m going through the motions. Mostly it’s, “What the fuck am I watching” or “Am I high” or “this is awesome, but totally fucked in the membrane”.

Last Fandom of 2024: Dandadan

Ranma ½ was almost going to get this spot due to my nostalgia for everything Rumic World. But, Dandadan is just too addicting let’s give it the final two spots on my usual list. I wasn’t sure what I was hopping into when I picked this up at the very last second, but I’m glad I did it. Who knew watching an anime about ghosts, aliens, demons, and the contents inside some kid’s boxers was going to get me to watch. Who are we kidding? I’m surprised I didn’t jump on this shit sooner. Also, episode 7 is a treasure. It didn’t kill me like everyone else, but it was a really good episode. Another also, the English dub is superb.

Okay, I’m going to take a page from my 2022 superlative and do some silly honors here. It’s only to lift up my spirits.

Best (real life) Cinnamon Roll of 2024: Jasmine Paolini

This girl is just the best. She’s black and Italian (like me). She’s 5’ 4” (like me). And she plays tennis…I don’t play tennis, but I’ll watch. She won the tennis doubles finals at the Olympics. She made it to the single finals at Wimbledon and Roland Garros. And you know what, she’s an all-around good sport and just the sweetest thing to come from Italy since gelato.

Video Game That Didn’t Deserve a 5/10: Mario and Luigi Brothership

It’s a plumber brother RPG game. You’ve played them before. You should know how the mechanics are going to be by now. And you should know how insane it is. Although, I feel like the conception of the game came from game designers staring at a wall for 9 days straight.

Funny NFL Moment: Andy Reid’s Mustache

I know everyone still memes Andy Reid and Travis Kelce at the Super Bowl. But I’m still going with the game a couple of weeks before that when Reid’s mustache formed icicles. I know it was a very chilly game and I got worried about the players on the field. That weather was dangerous. However, frozen snot-bubbles on Reid’s mustache is what I’m going to chuckle at. As if I needed any more reason to compare Andy Reid to The Walrus. Look at those two and tell me they aren’t identical.

A Song Everyone Should Stop Singing: Defying Gravity

I love the song, but it’s not for everyone. Stop trying. The song is out of your range.

Oh Just DIE Already of 2024: Velma

Uuuuugggggggghhhhhhhh.

A Pokemon Ship I Miss Gushing About: Contestshipping

You notice how I didn’t mention Pokemon in the list this year. Yeah, me neither. While I like Pokemon Horizons just fine, I don’t find myself being a total dork-a-doofus over every little thing like with the original Pokemon anime. And for no reason whatsoever, here’s Drew x May. I miss it. You miss it. We all miss it. It was totally canon. And if you haven’t watched Pokemon Advanced Generation to know what I’m talking about. Fuck you doing here? It’s been around for 20 years now. GO!

Best Dance Scene: Abbott Teachers Dancing to Will Smith

Holo’s dance from Spice and Wolf was a close one. But the teachers of Abbott dancing to Will Smith’s Wild Wild West just wins hands down.

Something That Sparks Joy: MeTV Toons

Thank you for existing.

Best Day of 2024: May 30th, 2024

If you know, you know. I also liked it because I ate some damn good pizza.

[medea10]

My Review of Plus-Sized Elf

I really gotta stop picking up animes that get a lot of traction on the Anime News Network.

I knew from the get-go that this was going to gain a certain kind of following from certain weirdos with weird kinks. Where I’m going with this is, watch the inflation porn art explode for this series.

Tomoatsu Naoe is a massage therapist. One night, he gets a bit of a strange patient come in. She needs help losing weight. Naoe noticed that this strange patient happens to be an elf. This elf’s name is Elfuda and yes, elves are real here. There’s an entrance in a forest on the outskirts of town. Problem for Elfuda is that in order to return to her homeland, she has to weigh exactly the same as she did when she left. And she has gained a considerable amount of weight since coming to the human side. Elfuda’s weakness is French fries.

I can understand as potatoes are my weakness as well. I can’t help but think if this girl visited the city I grew up in, she would be hooked on green chile and cheese potatoes. If you know, you know.

In one month’s time, Naoe was able to help Elfuda shed those unwanted pounds and she was able to go back to her homeland. But she came back soon after and gained all of that weight back again. Those fries are just too addicting. It’s not just Elfuda trying to lose weight as there are a myriad of other-worldly entities. This includes dark-elves, pig-humans, werewolves, plant-human hybrids, ogres, and others. So, if you have a kink for furries, chubby stomachs, fat asses, or some other interest in weird shit, I’m sure this anime has it.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: This is licensed by Sentai Filmworks and probably for the best if we’re going to see a massive amount of elf titties. They’re not shy about airing uncensored anime. While I’m not too familiar with the main cast, I did find a few surprising seiyuus in the supporting cast like Yuka Iguchi. As of this moment, there doesn’t seem to be a dub to this, but I’m sure that Sentai might do one in the future. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

*Elfuda is played by Ayasa Itou (known for Kotori on Taisho Maiden Fairy Tale)

*Naoe is played by Takahide Ishii

SHIPPING: Don’t really think any character here has an attachment to Naoe. They don’t even call him by his first name. They just call him “Human”. I know that in a lot of anime where the one male character is outnumbered 10-1 by lucious women, the male is not the main attraction and barely even gets his name said. Give some of those other animes some credit as they do call their male “Darling” or something to that nature. I don’t consider “Human” a term of endearment. At least Elfuda calls Naoe by his first name in the final episode.

I don’t consider that a ship of any sort. There’s nothing here.

Still though…Naoe still has a better chance with one of these chunky beauties than Kazuya in Rent-A-Girlfriend. Still not through grilling this bi-atch.

ENDING: Elfuda’s diet in these last 10 episodes have not been the most positive. A few set-backs have occurred. She will do all of her exercises with Naoe and the other girls, but her bad vices keep her from shedding the unwanted weight. Mainly, every time she exercises she always wants to treat herself with French fries. There were times when it wasn’t her fault as a satyr named Satero caused trouble for not only Elfuda but the other girls looking to lose weight. No matter to Ooeda as she has seen Elfuda is lazing about in the human world.

Who is Ooeda? She is Elfuda’s strict aunt. Ooeda says her sister is worried about her daughter and wants Elfuda back. Of course, Elfuda is unable to return to her home world. The portal to the elf world only opens if Elfuda is the same weight she was when she first entered the human world. So, Ooeda has decided to take things into her own hands. She finds Naoe’s regiment is weak and not worthy of her niece. Ooeda ends up doing things her own way including starving Elfuda, limiting what she eats, and do endless exhausting exercise. And that’s definitely a no-no when you’re trying to lose weight! I’ve been there, man!

Naoe watched all that he could and put an end to the strenuous exercises. He stood up to Ooeda and eventually, so did Elfuda. She put the blame on herself and promises to work hard with the human to lose the weight. Ooeda reluctantly allows this relationship to continue. Soon enough, Elfuda was able to lose a lot of weight. Not enough to return home, but noticeable. Baby steps, Elfuda. Ooeda sees this progress and heads home. Unfortunately (and as if we all didn’t see this coming), Ooeda cannot return home as she has gained a lot of weight due to the amount of ice cream she’s been eating. Looks like Naoe has another body to work out.

THAT’S NOT ALL, TIME FOR OVAS: About a month or so after the series had it’s run, there were two special episodes that came out. And yes, they’re both 12 minutes long. The first one was a beach episode. Can’t believe we didn’t get one of those in the main series. Then again, OVA’s are notorious for spicy beach episodes. And the second episode was like one of those school harem games, except it’s with BBW’s. This was all the doing of Satero causing trouble for Elfuda and Naoe once more.

What else can I say that everyone else has? This anime is for people with certain fetishes. It’s ecchi. Even my ex likes it! Then again, bro’s not that picky about his ecchi. Let’s just say it checks off all the boxes for your average perverted bruh man. This is just another version of How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift. I haven’t even seen that anime and even I know it is. It’s just not my cup of tea. I like ecchi and all the tits you can flash on the screen. It’s just not for me. Well, if you’re serious about this anime, at least it’s short. Each episode is 12 minutes long.

Hidive has the entire series available for streaming.

[medea10]

My Review of Hokkaido Girls Are Super Adorable

Just a random pick. Roll it!

Tsubasa Shiki has just moved from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo to the northernest and chilliest part of Japan, Hokkaido…well, Kitami City if you want to get technical. His first day there, he meets a young girl waiting at a bus stop and was just amazed at her. Minami Fuyuki has blonde hair, flashy nails, makeup, and has the leg strength to withstand frigid cold temperatures without the need of knee-high socks. They seem to hit it off. As Tsubasa is new to this area, Minami seems to have her priorities all settled in terms of everyday life. So, she has no problem helping out the new guy.

And that’s essentially it for the story! There are Hokkaido girls Tsubasa hangs out with. He hangs out with the extrovert Fuyuki, the gamer Sayuri and the odd-ball senpai Rena.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: I guess I must have slept on the dub for the last couple of months because up until doing the finishing touches on the review, I didn’t know of its existence. Like nearly every other anime that is coming out nowadays it was licensed and dubbed by Crunchyroll. The sub has a lot of recognizable names and all do a great job. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Tsubasa is played by Nobunaga Shimazaki (known for Yuki on Fruits Basket 2019, Haru on Free!, Eugeo on SAO: Alicization, Sunakawa on Ore Monogatari, Shinichi on Parasyte, Yuno on Black Clover, and Izana on Tokyo Revengers)

*Minami is played by Ayane Sakura (known for Orla on Pokemon Horizons, Uraraka on My Hero Academia, Gabi on Attack on Titan, Nero on Black Clover, Fiona on Spy x Family, Gasper on High School DxD, and Saki on Girlfriend Girlfriend)

*Sayuri is played by Yumiri Hanamori (known for Nadeshiko on Laid-Back Camp, Hayasaka on Kaguya-sama, Evileye on Overlord, Ryuuji on Blue Period, Asahi on Happy Sugar Life, and Doumeki on Eizouken)

*Rena is played by Reina Ueda (known for Mallow on Pokemon SM, Kisa on Fruits Basket 2019, Kanao on Demon Slayer, Ariel on Mushoku Tensei, Miyo on My Happy Marriage, and Jiro on Tokyo Ghoul)

ENGLISH CAST: *Tsubasa is played by Matt Shipman (known for Floch on Attack on Titan, Cavendish on One Piece, Inasa on My Hero Academia, Sogiita on Railgun, and Chrome on Dr. Stone)

*Minami is played by Mikaela Krantz (known for Momiji on Fruits Basket 2019, Clementine on Overlord, Misaki on Railgun, Ai on Wonder Egg Priority, Doll on Black Butler, and Hyouka on Shimoneta)

*Sayuri is played by Brittany Lauda (known for Riko on Made in Abyss, F.F. on Jojo’s Pt. 6, Satoko on Higurashi Gou, Mai on Nichijou, and Saki on Girlfriend Girlfriend)

*Rena is played by Jill Harris (known for Noelle on Black Clover, Fern on Frieren, Aura on Overlord, Hiiragi on Natsume’s Book of Friends, and Shizuku on Love Live Nijigasaki)

SHIPPING: Hmm…three Hokkaido girls. All of them are attracted to this kid (kinda not really in a love way). Tsubasa’s a shy boy and new to the concept of…well, everything involving the opposite sex. I think I’ve seen this set up before. The only difference here is that Tsubasa has a very strict grandmother that’ll stop any of these clumsy girls falling on him. But you have to admit that Minami, Sayuri, and Rena are at play here. Rena is actually on good terms with Tsubasa’s grandmother and loves all the traditional things Tsubasa is accustomed to. Sayuri and Tsubasa had a lot of great moments together whether gaming or just opening up. And as for Minami, well, she’s first girl.

Honestly, I think that Tsubasa will get with one of these three before Kazuya gets with Chizuru on Rent-A-Girlfriend at this point.

BURRRRRRN!

And my take on the matter, I kinda became a Minami x Tsubasa shipper when Tsubasa played the piano for Minami.

RANDOM NOTE: I can’t be the only person who thinks this.

Agree or disagree? The opening theme sounds a little too similar to Uptown Funk.

In episode 11, you can see the singer of the opening theme playing the song. This experience felt like watching the Love Rollercoaster scene from Beavis and Butt-head Do America. If you know, you know.

ENDING: Kind of a weird time for this to happen, but Tsubasa is now entering his second year of high school. Yeah, we don’t see that until the end of or beginning of a season. Whatever! We are in the spring season, but you wouldn’t know that since Hokkaido is much like the town of South Park. Snow is going to be on the ground regardless of what your calender says. There’s a lot of talk and thinking about the growth of these characters over the past few months. Since Tsubasa transferred, a lot of these characters have changed. Sayuri was able to kinda come out of her shell and do things with classmates she normally wouldn’t do. Rena was able to see the impact of what she does. And Matsuo…

Wait, who’s Matsuo again?

I guess this random guy, Matsuo is part of the crew now. I noticed it subtly when he was featured with the rest of the main cast at the end of the opening theme. I didn’t even realize that he was the guy that made that comment about not getting homemade chocolates from Minami during the Valentine’s episode. Whatever!

One little comment from Tsubasa about wishing to see cherry blossoms in Hokkaido prompted Minami to set up a surprise trip for him several hours from where they live. She wanted to have Tsubasa go out with her for one day and because she has something important to say. A myriad of possibilities pop up in our brains when Minami wants to discuss with Tsubasa. When it comes to this girl, it can be anything. While she is a flirt, we are approaching the season finale and this could be something serious. For now, let’s enjoy these two enjoying the spring weather, good food, music, and all that fun stuff. So, of course Minami is going to drop a bombshell at the end of this particular episode. And give Tsubasa some credit as he thought that Minami was going to reveal personal feelings for him. I’m glad his character isn’t that freakin’ oblivious. Actually, Minami is leaving as she’s going to study abroad. Tsubasa hugs her and next thing you know, they’re both in a hotel room together.

Yeah, they both missed the bus from their current location and Tsubasa’s father (whom we haven’t seen up until these last two episodes) hooks his son up. Being alone in a hotel room with a pretty girl gave Tsubasa quite the vivid images in his mind. Fortunately, nothing came of that as he fell asleep while she was taking a shower and then she left immediately after.

In that aftermath, Tsubasa was quiet and kept himself inside, not even talking to Rena or Sayuri. Well, this is the day that Minami was going to leave. Minami reveals to Sayuri that it was because of people like her, Tsubasa, and Rena that she came to this decision about her future. Tsubasa eventually gets off his ass to go to the airport in one last romantic gesture you’ve seen in God-knows how many romcoms.

And as we all know, Tsubasa would never have the clearance to make it to the boarding area if this is any program after September 11th, 2001. But logic be damned as he came in to see Minami off and give her a hairpin that was left behind. And then she drops a big ol’ bombshell of a facepalm. Minami will only be gone for 2 weeks. The time passed by like that and we’re back to the status quo. The end!

I honestly didn’t know what to expect watching this week-by-week. What I was given was not bad. Yes, there’s going to be some fan-service when you have a character like Minami. Hell, there was an episode where she was talking to Tsubasa on the phone while naked in the bathtub. Girl’s a freak! I guess what I got from this is that we all need a close-knit group of friends that’ll be there to encourage you.

And that Hokkaido girls are super adorable!

Hence the title of the anime.

If you want a short, fluffy high school story, give this a try. Crunchyroll has every episode available.

[medea10]

My Review of Masamune-kun's Revenge: R

Uhhhhhh…Do I even remember this series? I know I reviewed it…I think?

Season One Review Here

Um, yep! I definitely did. But do I remember anything about this series? Let me think…Narcissist main character with body issues. I remember hating him. Icy-queen girl that the main character tries to get revenge on for fat comment when they were kids. Girly best friend. Lots of girls interested in main character. Lolita mother.

Ah yes, now I remember now! That mother!

HISTORY: Masamune Makabe is a high-school teen, heavily focused on his looks. Fatty foods and slothfulness are not in this guy’s diet. But this wasn’t how it always was. When he was younger, he was a chubby child and would occasionally be the subject of torment. What changed him from chunk to hunk? When he was younger, he had a crush on a young girl named Aki Adagaki. But she broke his heart and cruelly nicknamed him “Pig’s Foot”. This moment stuck with him and it changed Masamune.

Fast-forward to the present, Masamune is a high school student and manages to attend the same high school as the girl who insulted him as a child. So, Masamune wanted to plot a revenge plan to break Aki’s heart the way she once did to him. Easier said than done! Aki is known as the “Cruel Princess” where she is asked out by numerous boys. But she shuts them down and gives them all cruel nicknames (much like what Masamune got when he was younger). So, can Masamune win this cruel princess’s heart and then break it?

SECOND SEASON: Lordy, we waited a long time for this sequel. We last left off on Masamune’s class going on a field trip of some sort. Turns out, it’s a trip to freakin’ Paris, France. Usual shenanigans happen. Koiwai is still a shit-starter. Gasou still pisses off Masamune and at the same time is losing face with Aki. Fujinomiya is still a flirt. And Masamune x Aki is still a thing in the eye of strangers. A young, French artist named Muriel thought they would make a perfect inspiration for the manga she’s creating. And because this girl has a mafia-ish type brother, Masamune and Aki have no choice but to oblige this girl.

This class trip was about the length of two episodes, but it was enough for Masamune and Aki to have a moment and not a good one. We finally see these two (or the other Masamune) interact with each other as kids. Apparently, Aki enjoyed that time with Masamune as she was going through a tumultuous time at home with her parents separating. But she apparently doesn’t say anything about calling Masamune “Pig’s Foot”. That pissed Masamune off and he told her off for that.

As it turns out, it was Koiwai all along. I gotta say, I thought something like this was going to happen. Aki’s a bitch, but I don’t think she called Masamune that name when they were kids. Koiwai got jealous that this chubby kid was getting attention from Aki. One night while Aki was in bed sick, Koiwai dressed in disguise as Aki and called Masamune “Pig’s Foot”. Koiwai is the one that started it all. Because of her, Aki never saw Masamune again and had to suffer her parents divorcing on her own. Because of her, the chubby doppelganger with Masamune’s name is inching closer to Aki. Because of her, Masamune dropped the weight. In one way that’s a good thing, but then you remember what a complete narcicist this guy is as a result.

LICENSE: If I remember correctly, Masamune-kun was property of Crunchyroll all those years ago and they did give it an English dub eventually with people like Josh Grelle and Morgan Garrett. Fast-forward to six years later and we get same-day dubs and the entire English cast returning to voice these categories. Okay, bravo Crunchyroll. You did not fuck around and change the cast with your weird union-hating shit-fits you guys have been having.

UMM…HOW DO I TALK ABOUT THIS?!: Gasou being female. I seriously can’t remember if this was known when the first season aired. Was this revealed? Did the manga reveal this back in 2017 or did it come later? And they even kept the same person to voice Gasou in the dub, even after knowing this fact. Remind me again, who voices Gasou in Japane…Mitsuki Saiga, never mind! That woman can voice anything. The point of this babbling is that this came out of left-field and smacked me in the face.

SHIPPING PART II: Before we hit the halfway point, Masamune got a resolution from the past. Aki never once called Masamune “Pig’s Foot”. The boy that Aki was fond about when she was younger was Masamune. The two wound up a couple, I guess. But is it enough for Masamune? His several-year plan of revenge has crumbled suddenly. He has no reason to hold a grudge against Aki now. Masamune could set his anger out on Koiwai, but she probably suffered enough trouble as it is. And as it stands, Gasou is no longer a candidate after it was revealed she was a female posing as a chubby boy. Again, I seriously did not see that coming. All of this might seem overwhelming to Masamune. So much so that he started developing hives shortly after dating Aki.

But then we’ve got Fujinomiya butting in. You remember her, the one that occasionally goes commando. Surprise, she also has a past experience with young (fat) Masamune. I seriously don’t even remember this in the previous season. Despite Masamune being off the market, it really doesn’t stop her (or many other girls at school) from hitting on Masamune. But give Fujinomiya some credit as she does confront Aki and asks her to drop Masamune.

And that’s where we are at. Does Masamune stay with Aki? Does he dump Aki like he originally had it planned? Will he end up with Fujinomiya? Does Koiwai have a shot?

ENDING: Soooo…is the Masamune x Aki thing going to last? Aki’s attachment to Masamune stems from childhood, but didn’t connect the dots that Masamune was that chubby kid she used to play with. Masamune was ready to make Aki taste his revenge and didn’t care if it was going to hurt her, but changed his tune when he realized that Aki was not at fault for what happened between them. Like immediately after Masamune told Aki that he was that chubby kid, they were a couple.

It's been a couple of months now. They spent Christmas together. Aki finds out that Masamune wanted revenge against her and Masamune develops a case of hives. They spent Valentine’s Day together. And then came White Day. Koiwai ends up telling Aki the truth about everything with Masamune and “Pig’s Foot”. Aki takes Masamune to a drug store to confront an old bully of Masamune’s. Then came Masamune to give his White Day present to Aki…and she declines it. This one decline led to Aki to break things off from Masamune. The aftermath of the breakup went as follows.

Masamune ditches school and essentially leaves his mother and sister to take refuge at his grandfather’s. This of course, shattered Masamune’s loli momma. At school, his friends were concerned as they were led to believe that Masamune was sick. It wasn’t until the fourth day of his absence where Aki reveals that they broke up. Koiwai wasn’t even told about this, that’s how that went. Koiwai went after Fujinomiya as she thinks it was her interfering that caused something between the couple. It seems like Aki has put a lot of thought into her decision. She confronted Koiwai and yeah, Koiwai likes Masamune.

So, Koiwai took the trip to the countryside to meet up with Masamune. She greeted him with a kiss on the lips. So…I guess that means these two are a couple.

The final episode begins with the new school year. Aki’s decision to let Masamune go and Koiwai to have him was starting to come with a lot of regret. Even seeing him in class and lunchtime was starting to wane on her nerves. Aki’s next move came with chopping off her long hair. Yeah, whether heartbreak, a massive defeat, or an unexplainable accident, these things happen in anime. After this impulsive move, Koiwai sends Aki to their homeroom class to meet Masamune. There, she sees a letter addressed to her. Masamune met up with Aki and we learn that Masamune turned down Koiwai when she came all that way to release her feelings. Now that some time has passed and both know the truth behind everything, Masamune thinks it’s the best time to ask Aki out.

He kisses her. She slaps him. They’re a couple again.

We end the episode with the culture festival. The end of the festival anyways with the Bon dance.

Okay, after my disinterest of the first couple of episodes waned, I think I’m satisfied with what went down this season. I actually have a much bigger gripe. It’s just that I really hate it when I watch an anime over 5 years ago that really didn’t leave that big of an impression on me and then it all of a sudden comes back for a new season and I gotta remember every freakin’ detail from this. And that’s been happening a lot lately as I had to remember Black Butler stuff from over 10 years ago, Kimi ni Todoke stuff from 13 years ago, and Spice and Wolf stuff that happened 15 years ago. Help, I’m drowning!

As for this story, it was fine. Even though I didn’t read ahead about the whole Pig’s Foot debacle, I had a feeling that Koiwai was behind it all. I don’t know why, maybe because of her relationship with Masamune in the first season where she would continuously call him “Pig’s Foot” that I felt it. I guess I’m just relieved that this whole matter got settled halfway into the second season and we can actually see Masamune be with the woman he thought he hated and see if this relationship is going to last or fall apart. Oh well, alls well that ends well.

If you want to see a revenge to romance story, Redo of Healer is available on…Oops, let’s start that again.

If you would like to see a faux-harem, check out Alya Sometimes Hides her…Oops, what the hell am I reviewing again?

Masamune-kun’s Revenge is available on Crunchyroll.

[medea10]

My Review of Black Butler: Public School Arc

I’ve made no secret about my love for Black Butler. It has everything I could ask for. Sexy butler, cheeky brat, flaming gay reaper, stoic sexy reaper, J. Michael Tatum’s sexy voice for the sexy butler, Junichi Suwabe’s sexy voice for a sexy undertaker…Ahem, so yeah. It checks off a lot of boxes. And looking at my calendar, it has only been a mere 10 years since the last Black Butler season.

I thought I was needlessly cruel to Blue Exorcist for being away for only 7 years. To be fair, Black Butler did have a few things after the Book of Circus arc in 2014. Book of Murder came out in 2015 and Book of the Atlantic came out in 2017. Still, a long time without this story. Thankfully, at the Aniplex special in 2023, they gave us the return of several shows produced by Aniplex including Madoka Magica, Blue Exorcist, and of course, Black Butler. And the next story in this tale would be the Public-School arc where Ciel goes undercover once more for the queen to uncover a massive spoiler alert.

Now, let me try and remember things correctly as it has definitely been a minute since I read this in the manga. If I remember correctly, no we do not see Grell and William in this arc. If we do, it’s probably a flashback of some sort. I also don’t think we’ll see Sebastian’s love of felines this season. And if I also remember correctly, there’s a term used. A certain three-lettered “F” word that was used. And I’m wondering if Crunchyroll would be fool enough to use that word.

AND WE DODGED A BULLET!

Also, Black Butler will now be animated by Cloverworks.

Shit! Look, I know nearly every anime I’m watching now is going through the change. Konosuba, Blue Exorcist, Spice and Wolf, all of those changed studio hands. But I still have a severe distrust of Cloverworks. I know they’ve done some really good gems like My Dress-up Darling and Bocchi the Rock. But then you remember what they did not too long ago with some other animes. Wonder Egg Priority and the second season to The Promised Neverland comes to mind. I really don’t want any more fuck-ups here. Black Butler already suffered enough with creative differences when we got season two.

HISTORY: After a family tragedy that claimed the lives of his parents, Ciel Phantomhive was in a terrible situation that seemed to get worse and worse. At his lowest low, he makes a contract with a demon named Sebastian. Ciel sells his soul to the demon in favor of revenge on those who have wronged him. After fulfilling most of that, Ciel and Sebastian live in Ciel’s family home where Sebastian is now his butler.

Despite his young age, Ciel has not only the family business to attend to, but duty to the queen of England. His title is known as the “Queen’s Guard Dog”. Sebastian aids young Ciel in many situations for his job. From solving a Jack the Ripper case to infiltrating a circus, to solving a case involving zombies on a luxury liner.

PUBLIC SCHOOL: Once again, Queen Victoria has asked for Ciel’s help. This time it’s to get some insight on a member of the royal family (Derrick Arden) who appears to have gone missing from a prestigious school he was attending. Much like with Book of Circus, Ciel is in unknown territory and must put on an act to survive his new settings. This time, Ciel must become a student at the illustrious Weston College. Unfortunately, Ciel must start at the bottom and do as he is told by his senpais, headmasters, and the schools P4.

The Prefect Four (P4) are these four special lads that are head of certain households. Edgar Redmond, Herman Greenhill, Lawrence Bluewer, and Gregory Violet are the four that head up each special house. Each student is assigned a house and currently, it looks as though Ciel is in the Sapphire Owl dorm headed up by Bluewer due to Ciel’s earldom and family status. To add to Ciel’s plate, getting into any other dorm is troublesome as there’s bad blood between the four houses. Not to mention, snot-nosed little shits deceiving Ciel for petty reasons. And of course, going to school with his betrothed’s brother as well as a certain loud-mouth friend.

LICENSING: Black Butler has had an interesting time in the licensing arena. A couple of years after debuting in Japan, FUNimation licensed, dubbed, and released it. Hell, they were nice enough to license Book of Circus, Book of Murder, ye who shall not be named, and even have the movie Book of the Atlantic released on the big screen. During this time, FUNimation did drop Black Butler from its category. To be fair, they did the same thing to Full Metal Alchemist. A big fuck-up if I’ve ever seen one. But it gained it back. And now, Crunchyroll has it. With the death of the FUNimation website, Crunchyroll has every piece of Black Butler (anime) media.

Mm-hmm, y’all better have Brina Palencia and J. Michael Tatum coming back.

Well, shut my mouth! Okay, I’m fine by this. I love how they sound exactly the same as they did all these years ago.

Actually, they managed to get everybody to their original roles. Todd Haberkorn, Jerry Jewell, Cherami Leigh, Ian Sinclair, Monica Rial, John Swasey, Justin Briner, and many others came back to voice their respected characters. Not so sure about Patrick Seitz voicing Agni just yet. And as for Prince Soma…Um, next category please!

SADLY, THIS CHANGE: A couple of years ago, voice actor Christopher Ayres went through hell with lung cancer, COPD, and massive surgery. However, his long fight came to an end in October 2021 as he passed away. I haven’t gotten a chance to talk about Chris Ayres as I seem to have stopped writing DBZ reviews, but since he plays a key character on Black Butler, might as well do it here. There are several characters he still played up until his sickness and death, so it’s sad to see their character when they come on screen. I am definitely going to miss him as Frieza as he is best villain of that show. But, I did like his Prince Soma. Thanks for the memories!

With. That. Said…

*Soma is now played by Abi Kumar

NEW CHARACTERS: Being in a prestigious all-boys school, there’s bound to be a lot of interesting new characters. Oh-ho-ho, you have no idea. There’s the fake femme boy with the worst name possible. Lizzie’s older brother is there and is a drudge to a prefect. And then there’s the boy who shit his britches. It was more tragic than…whatever that scene in Prison School was. For this category, I’ll focus on the Prefect 4. These four play a bigger role as the arc delves further in plot wise.

First, there’s Edgar Redmond (the one in red), the head of the Scarlet Fox dorm. He has this charm that can woo the panties off ladies. It gets worse I’m afraid. Because it has been several years since reading this arc that I have forgotten completely that Viscount Idiot Druitt is his uncle. Forgotten the relationship, never forget what he did to Ciel.

Lawrence Bluewer (the one in blue) is head of the Sapphire Owl dorm (the dorm Ciel is in). He, along with everybody else in the dorm is more on the strategian spectrum than anything else. While good for grades, it’s not really good for competitions like you’ll see halfway into this arc.

Herman Greenhill (the one in green) is the head of the Green Lions and I’m pretty sure Erwin Smith’s doppelganger. Their dorm, pure strength. Just don’t get caught on the wrong side of this guy’s cricket bat. Hahaha, foreshadowing!

And finally, Gregory Violet (the one in purple) head of the Violet Wolf dorm. His dorm is full of those artistically inclined. This guy is crazy talented with his art. But, he does come into some suspicion as the missing person Queen Victoria asked Ciel to look into was actually in the Violet Wolf dorm.

JAPANESE CAST: *Redmond is played by Toshiki Watanabe

*Bluewer is played by Junya Enoki (known for Yuuji on Jujutsu Kaisen, Nasa on Tonikawa, Inui on Tokyo Revengers, Red Blood Cell on Cells at Work: Code Black, Naoya on Girlfriend Girlfriend, and Jack on Beastars)

*Greenhill is played by Shunsuke Takeuchi (known for Takeda on My Senpai is Annoying, Varis on YGO Vrains, and Askin on Bleach: Thousand Year Blood)

*Violet is played by Tatsumaru Tachibana

ENGLISH CAST: *Redmond is played by Reagan Murdock (known for Hayakawa on Chainsaw Man and Itsuomi on A Sign of Affection)

*Bluewer is played by Brandon McInnis (known for Sir Nighteye on My Hero Academia, Hitogami on Mushoku Tensei, Finral on Black Clover, Gyuutarou on Demon Slayer, and Mafuyu on Given)

*Greenhill is played by Jonah Scott (known for Legoshi on Beastars, Tatsu on Way of the House-husband, Raiden on 86, and Akihiko on Given)

*Violet is played by Kieran Flitton

ENDING: Ciel is making his long journey into finding Derrick Arden and the other missing boys for Queen Victoria. It’s just long and tedious. Ciel already made waves with the P4 by becoming a drudge’s drudge. But then, he managed to calculate a win in an annual cricket tournament. Something that Ciel’s dorm has been unable to do since his father Vincent Phantomhive attended the school. All of this is to meet with the school’s headmaster. This guy is elusive and is rarely seen, and yet his rule is absolute and must not go against his word. How elusive is elusive? A demon like Sebastian couldn’t even get his hands on him. That should tell you something.

Ciel will actually meet this mystery man as Ciel was invited to have midnight tea with the headmaster, the prefects, and their drudges. There, Ciel decided to get right to the point and start asking some questions, mostly about the disappearance of Derrick. Ciel is then one-upped as the missing person the queen asked to look into is staring at him right in the face. Why all the secrecy? Derrick is really dead. Not just that, but now part of the undead. Not just that, he was murdered and used as a zombie puppet by the headmaster.

Hmm…why does this have a whiff of the movie Book of the Atlantic? Because the headmaster is none other than Undertaker himself. Mmm and Junichi Suwabe is still voicing Undertaker in Japanese. Ugh, John Swasey is still voicing Undertaker in English. Continuing.

It was then that we got a couple of flashback scenes that explain to people who have forgotten Undertaker’s role as it’s been so long since Black Butler has been on. Now, do keep in mind that Clover Works is in charge for this one season. And we get a retelling with the new animation. And we see one second of Grell! I am fine with this. Undertaker’s appearance was because Redmond’s disgusting uncle had him come to take care of a problem. And that problem?

The prefects killed Derrick. Yeah, he wound up on the wrong side of Greenhill’s cricket bat. I told you not to get on this man’s wrong side. Things between Derrick and the prefects were fine at first. Derrick was Redmond’s drudge and I gotta say, Redmond has the worst judgement of character as we see several of his own drudges doing shady things behind his back. In Derrick’s case, it was hazing. Not just that! He beat the shit out of the students with the most talent and potential, to take it as his own to impress the prefects. But wait, there’s more. He’s got not only certain students, but one of the higher-up faculty members wrapped around his finger. Weston is corrupt and the prefects are quite disgusted by this turn of events. The only way to fix the problem is to murder them all. Murder Derrick, his cohorts, and even the teacher. While Derrick and his friends were kinda failed zombies, the teacher seemed to pass off as normal.

…I mean close to normal as zombiely possible.

Now that everything is out in the open, it’s time for a fight against the supernatural. Eh, not really. Yeah, Sebastian played it out in his head how his fight with Undertaker would go down. It would have ended with Ciel being kidnapped by the laughing reaper. Undertaker escapes, he lives to laugh another day. Sebastian and Ciel are left with taking care of the zombie boys and then having to report back to the queen about this wild predicament.

In the aftermath, Ciel reported everything he learned back to Queen Victoria. Her fascination with the undead raises eyebrows from the audience, but Ciel will find out when he finds out. In the meantime, the public will be given a false story about Derrick and the other missing boys deaths. Clumsy zombie professor as well! Redmond, Greenhill, Bluewer, and Violet are all expelled from Weston. Their drudges have been promoted to prefect. But no one is happy by this. Those drudges were there that night and learned everything. Like a British P.I.F. or Princess Margaret’s love life, there is no happy ending here.

Okay, one episode left. Now what? It’s like a normal episode of Black Butler. Normal in the sense that the episode revolves around Ciel, Sebastian, the crew that runs the household, a few particular run-ins, business talk, and loud hijinks. But during the episode, Sebastian and Ciel come across a little something. As Sebastian got a hold of a certain trinket of Undertaker’s, he was able to do some research and learn that there’s some special people’s names on it. One name in particular caught Ciel’s eye as it’s his late grandmother. So, Undertaker has been doing stuff with and to the Phantomhive family longer than anyone could think.

We end this season with…oh, let’s just say the beginning to the next arc. Get ready for some wolves…whenever this season comes to existence. In the meantime, just watch Spice and Wolf. It’s not Black Butler, but it has J. Michael Tatum and Brina Palencia as the main cast. Let’s just hope that we don’t have to wait another Goddamn 7 years to see Sullivan and Wolfram. Actually, we’re getting the next arc in 2025. Well, that’s lucky!

Okay Cloverworks, I’ve pre-judged you too hastily. You did a great job with Bocchi the Rock and My Dress-up Darling. And you exceeded my expectations here with the Public School arc of Black Butler. Good job!

Now that you’ve reached this portion of my review, you’re probably wondering if you should hop onto Crunchyroll and watch this season despite several other seasons existing and you never seeing. Hold up, Buttercup! Do not do that! I highly recommend at least watching the first half of season one and the movie Book of the Atlantic. Those two things should keep you not so confused. Book of Circus and Book of Murder arcs are semi-recommendations for this case. Mostly due to the fact that there are a couple of characters shown this season that you might be lost if you suddenly see these people.

But if you’re like me and you love to watch things in chronological order, it should go as this…

*Black Butler (season 1) *Black Butler OVA’s (season 1 OVA, season 2 OVA eps: 1, 2, 4, 6) *Black Butler: Book of Circus *Black Butler: Book of Murder *Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic *Black Butler: Public School Arc *Black Butler II NEVER WATCH THIS!

Okay, enough time has passed and I’m sure everyone has eventually made peace with what Black Butler tried to do with season two. You’ll either meet people who thinks we made a mistake in judging it so hastily and those who will never speak of it again. I am in the category of people who never want to see this again. But will happily watch the OVA’s that came from that season. I’m a Grell fangirl and will happily watch anything with him in it. Even if that thing features Alois or Claude.

Back to the matter at hand. I liked how they handled this season for the anime. Never mind the fact that I love Black Butler to the point where I would even gather up the courage and enter a contest to win more Black Butler stuff. I never do that and yet when FUNimation put this out years ago, I gathered up my courage and did so. Got me some nice swag including a notebook. I still have to this day and have Yuya Matsushita (live-action musical Sebastian) and Patrick Seitz’s (eng dub for Agni) autograph. I’m digressing again.

Cloverworks kept things legit. One thing I will always applaud Cloverworks for is their animation. It’s great! I mean, compared to some of the other animes that changed studios, this is one of the better outcomes. One thing that also seems on-brand for Cloverworks is recaps. Thankfully, they kept it to a minimum at the first part of the episodes. But then, we get a bigger (but slightly necessary one) when Undertaker is revealed at the climax. The reason I say that is because A LOT OF TIME HAS PASSED for people watching this. And yes, we’ve got a new studio at the helm. Plus, I get to see Grell for one second.

Did I mention that I like Grell? Because I do like him! But just like some of the Black Butler sequels from the past, I found myself enjoying every moment of it.

If you would like to watch Black Butler in (almost) it’s entirety, Crunchyroll has quite the line-up. Unfortunately, the hour-long Book of Murder is for some reason not on their site. Black Butler’s first and second season are also available on Hulu.

FINAL NOTE(S): A few quickies!

It still makes me hot whenever Sebastian says “Yes, my Lord” in any language. Violet is best boy in the P4 category. The OP theme is a banger despite my prejudice against any Black Butler opening theme not sung by SID.

[medea10]

My Review of Cherry Magic

(short for: Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!)

Note from the reviewer: Hi everyone! Sorry it's been several months since I last posted a review. It has been a hard and stressful time for me. I've had to endure a surgery, two infections, my younger cat having a heart attack and dying, a family member have her cancer come back, and this one condition of mine where I had symptoms plague me for an entire month. As you can see, I had no interest in writing reviews. Now that a lot of this turbulence has passed, I'm ready to get back into the swing of things. With all of that unpleasantness out of the way, let's get at it.

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When looking at this title, your first thought is this is an Isekai, a BL, and has a run-time of 5 minutes per episode.

As it turns out, this is a work-place comedy and has a normal running time of 22+ minutes. But it’s still a BL. That’s good enough for me!

Kiyoshi Adachi is 30 years old and still a virgin. Apparently, Adachi has acquired some weird power upon turning 30. Whenever he touches someone, he can hear the thoughts in their head. Adachi actually finds this power lame and also annoying in cramped places like crowded trains. One morning at his job, he accidentally brushed up against the handsome and charismatic employee, Yuuichi Kurosawa. Turns out, Kurosawa has a crush on Adachi.

Despite having some perverted thoughts about Adachi, Kurosawa really doesn’t act upon them. Yes, he invites Adachi over and yes, it’s a little odd that he has an extra pair of pajamas that are his exact size. But at least Kurosawa doesn’t do things to his crush that would chase him away. As for Adachi, this must be a big shock. But is he seeing this workmate in a new light? Could you even say that he may like Kurosawa?

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: The sucky thing about BL animes is that the licensing company usually never dubs it. I know there are dubbed ones out there, but it sometimes feels like a why even bother looking. And I was ready to write this off as yet another BL anime that’s to be left alone. Crunchyroll released an English dub to this several months after the anime’s premier. When it comes to the sub, I’m glad I’m getting the opportunity to hear some of these men again. I only know the two main cast members for one big recent role and almost nothing else. So, this always helps me. Plus, this cast also has Makoto Furukawa and Ami Koshimizu. You cannot go wrong here!

Yes, there’s an actual female in the show. She was seen as a possible rival of love, but it just turns out she’s just a big shipper of Adachi and Kurosawa. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Adachi is played by Chiaki Kobayashi (known for Stark on Frieren and Yuu on Sing Yesterday for Me)

*Kurosawa is played by Ryouta Suzuki (Ishigami on Kaguya-sama and Ryouhei on Tsurune)

ENGLISH CAST: *Adachi is played by Daman Mills (known for Amethio on Pokemon Horizons, Monaka on DB Super, Yakov on Yuri on Ice, Osamu on Haikyuu, Shin on Misfit of Demon Academy, and Ginshi on Tokyo Ghoul :re)

*Kurosawa is played by Dio Garner

SHIPPING: I have to wonder about Adachi for a moment. I know it’s clear that he’s a 30-year-old virgin. But not every relationship is built around sex. My question is, has Adachi ever been in a romantic relationship prior to meeting Kurosawa? By the looks of it, he really didn’t show much interest in hanging around other people. Even a small group of coworkers make him a little tense. It might have to do with this recent power that he has. There was also a flashback of something that happened to Adachi. It didn’t end well obviously. But I digress.

Time to open up a bag of cheesy popcorn and talk about these two boys.

Kurosawa’s mind is essentially an open book for Adachi. He knows Kurosawa has a burning passion for him. But Kurosawa doesn’t try to act upon his biggest urges. He gets an opportunity to kiss Adachi, but just does a safe kiss on the forehead. Modesty or just trying to not to be so obvious. Halfway into the series, there’s a confession and an acceptance. Seeing them move fast even for a 12-episode series makes me wonder if this relationship is going to go further like them sleeping together. And with that said, what would happen if Adachi loses his virginity? Will he lose his power? Oh, but I’m over-thinking things here. I’ve got another ship to discuss here.

Wait, what?! Are we going down the Junjou-Sekaiichi route?

Tsuge is Adachi’s long-time friend. He’s a writer and surprise, surprise a virgin like his friend. And just like Adachi, Tsuge got hit with the supernatural as whoever he has skin contact with, he can read their minds. Tsuge winds up making friends with a delivery boy, Minato. I know the boy is only coming back to see the kitty Tsuge recently adopted, but we all know what’s up. Unlike Adachi and Kurosawa, these two had no interest whatsoever at the beginning. It felt like Minato didn’t really see Tsuge as a friend until it was close to the end of the series. And Tsuge was a bit quicker with his feelings.

ENDING: By the halfway point, Adachi and Kurosawa are an item and went on their first awkward date. What comes next? Total honesty! Yeah, Adachi has been holding a pretty big secret from Kurosawa and that’s him being able to read thoughts when there’s skin-to-skin contact. Adachi almost let the secret out on accident once or twice, but could pass it off as one of them being too drunk. On Kurosawa’s birthday, there was an event for work. Adachi invited his friend Tsuge and Tsuge invited his friend Minato. This is when Adachi learns that Tsuge recently got the same power as Adachi.

Okay, so I guess that means it’s just the same power of being able to read minds. That just means Japan’s got a mass horde of 30-year-old virgins reading people’s thoughts. But of course, it can only work if there’s skin-to-skin contact. Depending on your life, you could go your whole life without noticing you have this power. But I digress.

Another effect to the power is that Adachi and Tsuge are able to communicate telepathically. The boys learn that this power led them to someone they have feelings for. Of course, Adachi can’t enjoy this moment of clarity. Kurosawa sees the two boys standing together and got jealous. Jealousy is Kurosawa’s ugliest trait. He is jealous of nearly every person Adachi talks to. After Tsuge leaves, Adachi reveals to Kurosawa that he has the mind-reading power and has had it for a while now. Thankfully, it didn’t cause a rift in the relationship. Both boys seem to love each other just the same if not more so. Although, Kurosawa is a bit embarrassed knowing that Adachi has kinda been prying in his mind for a while now.

Okay, the big reveal for Adachi is already out in the open and there’s three or four episodes left. What now? Something kinda huge! Work life kinda comes in and sticks a wrench in things. The higher-ups noticed how much Adachi has improved as of recent. You can chalk that up to Adachi now being able to read minds and the side-help he’s been getting from Kurosawa. But the big bosses wanted to give Adachi an opportunity at one of their other branches in Nagasaki. And currently, they are in a different city. I honestly forget where. It really felt like Adachi had no interest in doing this and not just because of Kurosawa. So, he tip-toes around the idea by speaking to another colleague about taking up the opportunity or not. This did not sit well with Kurosawa when he learned about what Adachi did. Kurosawa was not only mad that he didn’t discuss this situation with him, but that he spoke with another coworker about it.

Meanwhile, let’s look at Tsuge’s situation. Unlike his friend, Tsuge is not in a relationship with Minato and there’s an air of uncertainty of whether Minato feels the same way as Tsuge. Plus, Minato has got other things on his mind like dancing. He has the chance to go professional and be in a dance troupe. Tsuge has been a real big supporter of Minato. He even got him to an important performance when his bike ran out of gas. This looks like things are going to end nicely. Ehhh…that was until Tsuge reveals to Minato that he had a bit of an ulterior motive for doing so much to help him.

This is where we’re at. Adachi and Tsuge have not spoken to the guys they like for a couple of days. Both for different reasons, but both for stuff they said and did. The Minato situation is that Minato couldn’t talk about joining this dance troupe as it was sudden and secret until the reveal, so boy’s been busy. Tsuge showed up at the debut with a gift of new sneakers and hell yeah, Minato wanted to see Tsuge. Both boys reveal how they feel about each other currently. It’s looking good.

As for Adachi and Kurosawa, Adachi is on the 10-day business trip to Nagasaki and Kurosawa is just miserable. Actually, both boys are miserable! They both said and did things that they regret over a work issue. It looked as though Adachi was ghosting Kurosawa until Kurosawa got a hand-written letter from Adachi. More can be said in a letter than in a text message. Kurosawa winds up making the long trip to Nagasaki and waited for Adachi outside his hotel. Not only are they made up, they look like they’re about to fuck. Did they?

Oh, yes ma’am these boys fucked. Huh? I wonder if Adachi or Tsuge have sex if their mind-reading powers will disappear. Oop, right on cue! Yeah, Adachi lost it. It’s a weird feeling, but I think most of his thoughts are of trying to open this new location in Nagasaki and wanting to be with Kurosawa. And…ooh, I’m too excited because the end result made me very happy.

Rings. Vows. FUCKING WEDDING WITH EVERYONE THERE! Happy ending!

Sorry, after watching Yuri on Ice all those years ago, I’m still going to lose my shizzle when I see two boys who love each other exchange rings. God, I miss the fuck out of that show. Oh well, at least I know that we will one day get the Yuri on Ice movie that has been promised to us that is on its way since 2017.

I am now receiving word from some random place that the Yuri on Ice movie has been dropped by Studio Mappa. FUUUUUUUUUUU-

But as for this series, I liked it. I might even pick up the manga to quench this thirst of mine. I’m wondering how a story like this continues as both of these boys are now happily married. Unless the story decides to cover more with Tsuge and Minato. I think I’ll just check out the live-action drama that aired in 2023. Yeah, believe it or not, the live-action came out before the anime. I see a lot of hype surrounding this particular title. It’s no surprise that a compilation film was announced immediately after the season ended. That’s sometimes a good sign that more content is on the way. I think those who are into BL anime, this might be a good watch. And for those long-time Yuri on Ice holdouts…I’m pissed off too. But maybe, take your mind off the anger and check this puppy out.

If you would like to watch Cherry Magic, Crunchyroll not only has the anime, but also the live-action drama as well.

[medea10]

Medea Rants - CARTOONS!!!

I’m taking a break from writing up anime reviews to talk about some news that dropped a few weeks ago that has my mind swarming with so much thought.

A few weeks ago, I’m scrolling through Twitter…I’m still not calling it by its other name and randomly came across this news about a new television channel coming. MeTV Toons. The minute-long video teased all of the old cartoons I used to love watching and still love watching.

The Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Top Cat, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Underdog, Wally Gator, 2 Stupid Dogs, Johnny Quest, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Magilla Gorilla, Speed Racer, Freakazoid, Snagglepuss, Looney Tunes, Popeye, Droopy, Betty Boop, and so, so, so, so, SOOOOOO MUCH MORE!

HISTORY ABOUT METV: Depending on where you live, you might get a combination of different channels in your cable package. MeTV, Antenna TV, Cozi, Catchy Comedy, Get TV, Rewind, etc. Ever since their existence I’ve been drawn to both MeTV and Catchy Comedy (formerly known as Decades). MeTV has been known to play programming ranging from the 1940s to the 1980s give-or-take. It’s like what TV Land used to be like before becoming the MASH and Raymond network. Me personally, I’m usually watching The Three Stooges or All in the Family.

In recent years, MeTV has decided to play cartoons. Not a lot, but enough to gain attention. Ever since they started this, every Saturday morning I’m up watching the cartoons. Because I’m still used to the Saturday morning cartoon setup before it died. Mostly, this consists of Popeye, Tom & Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, and Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes. On Sundays, they play The Flintstones and Jetsons. During the week, they also aired a show called, “Toon In With ME”. This was an hour-long program where the hosts would play the short cartoons I just mentioned above. I actually only watch this on rare occasions since it always airs when I’m heading off to work. Believe it or not, this program has been a huge hit. So, it’s no surprise that the hosts announced MeTV Toons on their program.

THE CONCEPT OF A 24/7 CARTOON CHANNEL: Cartoon Network and Boomerang. Y’all remember this, right? Back when Cartoon Network first started, it had all of the old cartoons from back in the day. But then, they started doing their own original programming. And that was okay, because we got Cartoon Planet and Space Ghost Coast to Coast out of the deal. Then we got original programming from the Cartoon, Cartoon era. And that was okay, because we got shows like Courage, Billy and Mandy, Powerpuff Girls, and Dexter out of the deal. But then, all of the older cartoons started disappearing and we get some mediocre cartoons out of the deal. Not okay! But also, we got things like Toonami and Adult Swim. So…I’m stuck here.

That’s when Boomerang came in! And that’s all I can tell you because I never got Boomerang in my cable package. BECAUSE XFINITY SUCKS! Apparently, in the early 2000s, all of those older cartoons I’ve mentioned before migrated to the Boomerang channel. It so would have been nice to watch that. I’m still disgruntled about that whole thing. Time passes and both of these channels are unrecognizable. Fast-forward to the 2010’s, Cartoon Network is playing some garbage called Teen Titans GO and Boomerang mostly plays…I don’t know. I just know it wasn’t the old cartoons. Just rehashes. I only came across it if it was playing in the breakroom at work since we had Dish there. Not going to complain that they were playing Pokemon and it just happened to have Tracey on that day.

YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE SAFE FROM MY TRACEY OBSESSION HERE! Think again.

Mwahahahaha!

Both channels have become shells of their former selves. And if you want to know the truth, I only watch Cartoon Network for Adult Swim and Toonami. That’s it!

Now that MeTV is doing its own 24/7 cartoon channel, I have so many thoughts in my head. Hopes and dreams, crushing reality thoughts, worry, and so much more. Most of all, I just want to actually see it with my own eyes. I don’t want to relive being 12 years old and seeing my favorite shows plucked off the air and put on a channel that I don’t even get. That’s not cool. I’m too old to be going through emotions I felt at the start of puberty. So, Xfinity! Do a sister a favor and hand over the goods. And MeTV, learn from the past mistakes of Boomerang and Cartoon Network. No original programming! Unless it’s something like Toon in With ME, none of that! Leave that shit to Cartoon Network and Max. And Teen Titans in any capacity must be BANNED! It’s for the greater good.

With that said, here are some scattered thoughts I have with the upcoming MeTV Toons channel.

UNDERDOG: I want to see Underdog. Plain and simple. Not that shitty-ass, bull-shit, pile of Taco Bell toilet leave-behinds movie that Disney made back in 2007. I. WANT. UNDERDOG. The show! Wally Cox saying, “There’s no need to fear, Underdog is here”. THAT! I WANT THAT! I want to see Underdog, Sweet Polly Purebread, Riff Raff, Mooch, Tap-Tap the Chisler, Batty Man, O.J. Squeeze, Rudy Guiliani’s doppleganger Simon Barsinister, Cad, I want to see everyone!

…

I ain’t fucking around here. Put Underdog on and LEAVE IT THERE ON THE SCHEDULE. Don’t be fucking with me and having it on for one day and then I never see it again. PLAY IT!

Sorry to get so postal here. But Underdog is my all-time favorite older cartoon. And as you can see by my collection of goodies here, I am a fan.

TIME-STAMP: Seeing all of these old cartoons finally getting a home, you have to ask what’s the cut off of how old the cartoon must be? I seriously would have been fine with them cutting things off at 1989. But then I see surprising entries like 2 Stupid Dogs, Freakazoid, and the cartoon series based off the movie that was based off the comic, The Mask. Wow, that certainly takes me back. Okay, perfect! All of the cartoons played here don’t go past the millennium threshold. This, I can live with. But then…

Xiaolin Showdown too?! Okay, this one was obviously not made in the 90s as it ran on KidsWB from 2003 to 2006. I’m a little excited as it does make me optimistic for more KidsWB programs. But it does make me a little suspicious seeing this one red herring. Nothing against the show at all, I just don’t trust any program after 1999 when you’re seeing the line-up I’m seeing. If it were me, the cut-off time should be this.

This is Christopher Walken dancing in the Fatboy Slim video Weapon of Choice. When this came out should be the cut-off point for any cartoon made to be put on this channel. With Xiaolin Showdown being the exception.

MOVIES: A good idea that Cartoon Network used to do on Saturday nights was play movies. Believe it or not, there are good cartoon movies that were made by people not affiliated with the Disney corporation. Why not do so here? A lot of Don Bluth’s movies used to play like An American Tail, Thumbalina, and Secret of NIHM used to play. Let’s do it here! How about some trippy-ass 60s and 70s movies like Gay Pur-ree and Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure?! A Boy Named Charlie Brown! Yes, do it! MeTV plays that one and Snoopy Come Home during Christmas time, this would be perfect. Hell, add the other two Charlie Brown movies here too. The Chipmunk Adventure! Yes, please!

A lot of the cartoons already on the docket for MeTV Toons have movies. The Jetsons have their own movie. Just stop before you see The Jetsons with the WWE. Tom and Jerry had a movie come out in the 90s. It was weird, but it was at least original. Just stop before you see Tom and Jerry crashing movie classics. Scooby Doo has a plethora of movies. I know the Boo Brothers and the Ghoul School movie has Scrappy Doo, but those were still solid features. Just stop when you see any movie that aired after Y2K. The Flintstones had many that have been made between the 60s and the 90s. This includes a musical, a cross-over, a wedding, and even Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm becoming parents. Seeing all the pictures on the MeTV Toons website put up Fred and Bamm-Bamm from the Christmas Carol movie. So, that gives me hope. Again, just don’t play anything made after 2000.

While you’re at it, try and see if you can get the rights to play The Brave Little Toaster. I promised I wouldn’t bring up anything Disney here, but this movie is very much a Disney film and yet, five years later is still not on Disney+. That’s a fucking crime. Somebody needs to play that classic.

ANIME ON METV TOONS: With this announcement, we saw one of the characters prominently featured in the teasers was Speed Racer. That is definitely an anime despite what we all thought back in the day when we first saw it. Should MeTV stop right there and just keep it with Speed Racer? Believe it or not, I say yes. Shocking, yes. There are so many anime series that could be added to MeTV Toons to bring back other kinds of nostalgia. MeTV Toons is playing shows that came from the KidsWB time. What played back then? Pokemon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Yu-Gi-Oh! There are shows from FOX Kids time too. What was a show that played there? Digimon! And let’s not forget the Toonami classics like Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Gundam, and Tenchi Muyo. Would love the fuck out of that, but would also feel like it’d be too much and also hard to get as some of the anime companies are hard to negotiate with. Plus, Cartoon Network is actually bringing DBZ and Sailor Moon back.

But if they do put Pokemon on the schedule, I won’t be mad about that.

ADULT PROGRAMMING: I’m not saying to go full-on Adult Swim. Also, no on Squidbillies. I just like this picture. But some adult programming wouldn’t hurt. Excluded would have to be anything owned by Disney/FOX or Paramount. So, as much as I love shows like Daria and The Simpsons, NO! With that said, there are several shows worthy enough to be given a new home. Let’s start with Duckman! No? How about The Critic? If not that, how about Bob and Margaret? Nobody has seen this show for 20 years. Let’s make this happen. How about the short-lived cartoons that aired in the late 90s/early 2000s? The Oblongs, Baby Blues, Mission Hill, and…I hesitate even saying this one, Dilbert. Hesitation because the creator of Dilbert is a bit of a fuck-hole. But the show is okay! Let’s not go too far with adult animation. Fritz the Cat would be too far. And don’t even think about Ren & Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon. That’s a war crime in and of itself!

CONTROVERSIAL CARTOONS: Make no mistake about it, there are some cartoons that if made today would be cancelled by all kinds of groups. I’m kind of standing in this fork in the road wondering if it should air or not. Obviously the infamous “Banned Eleven” from Looney Tunes should remain that way and for good reason. But…two cartoons do come to mind and why people would find issue with it. First, is Johnny Bravo. You realize that Cartoon Network is doing it’s Checkered Past block and not once did it put Johnny Bravo on there. I think it’s the fact that he’s a womanizer. Like a human Pepe Le Pew! I can see MeTV Toons carrying Johnny Bravo as their parent channel does play Pepe Le Pew cartoons. The other cartoon I’ll mention might not get a warm welcome.

And it’s Batfink! The superhero bat with wings of steel. He’s Batfink! I can’t even begin to tell you how much I loved watching Batfink when it used to air on the short-lived Nickelodeon show, Weinerville. There’s just one itty-bitty, little, tiny thing…okay, it’s a fucking big crater. Batfink’s assistant, Karate. Yeah, that’s a collar-tug. Just look at him. Just listen to him. I can hear every anus clamp shut with this. The good thing about channels like Catchy and MeTV, they do put up disclaimers if they’re about to play something that could be seen as offensive.

HOPES FOR THE LOST MEDIA: I know I have a lot of treasured classics on VHS. Damn shame my old TV/VCR died last year. If you’re wondering how old I am, I’m this old.

I am (this) Disney Black-Diamond logo old. Moving on!

Seeing that this channel is actually bringing The Mask to it’s line-up gives me hope for other pieces of lost media from back in the day. Shows that aren’t on a streaming service, shows that never got a DVD release, and shows you can only find through old VHS copies. From Cartoon Network, there’s Cartoon Planet and all of the cartoons played on O Canada and What A Cartoon Show. From KidsWB, it would be a lot of the short-lived series like Detention, Histeria, and Generation O. And as for FOX Kids, there’s Life With Louie, Peter Pan & the Pirates, and Eek! The Cat.

Hey Medea, aren’t you forgetting the bad side to this? Angela Anaconda ring a bell?

Oh shit. That’s right. We also do run the risk of seeing things like Mega Babies and Angela Anaconda again. I guess this is a take the good with the bad.

AND FINALLY, SHOWS THAT WOULD BE AWESOME TO SEE AGAIN: Yes, what the website has given us has so many twists and surprises. So, I’m going to list off all the cartoons I didn’t see on the teaser and website. Here’s hoping they’ll get another chance to be seen.

The Tick Batman Beyond Time Squad Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law Count Duckula Gerald McBoing-Boing Dudley Do-Right The Banana Splits Bobby’s World Madeline Pee Wee’s Playhouse Camp Candy Static Shock Tennessee Tuxedo Earthworm Jim The Addams Family Hong Kong Phooey The Littles Space Ghost Coast to Coast/Cartoon Planet Life With Louie Alvin and the Chipmunks Sabrina the Animated Series Every property of Charlie Brown and Snoopy (fuck Apple TV+) Gumby Inch High Private Eye The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog/Sonic Underground Commander McBragg

I think I got everything out of my system. Will all of my hopes and wishes come true with the upcoming MeTV Toons. Hell no! But it’ll be nice if one or two of these happen.

[medea10]

My Review of Tales of Little Women

Do I want more World Masterpiece Theater? Yes, please. Okay, let’s watch the one story that is a world-renown novel that’s been adapted over and over for the past 100 years.

Even if you have never read the Louisa May Alcott novel, there’s a good chance you have at least heard about the story. It has been adapted many times with stage productions, TV mini-series, musicals, and yes, the movie adaptations. There are four prominent movie adaptations that are well-known and three of those were either nominated or won an Academy Award. One with Katherine Hepburn, one with Elizabeth Taylor, one with Winona Ryder, and a more recent one with Emma Watson. Everyone has their go-to version or they just stick to the novel and fuck off with them movies.

Asking my mother, she told me that she prefers the novel, but thought the 1994 version was fine by her book. Me, I have never been able to get my hands on any film version prior to watching this anime. I didn’t go see the 1994 version with my mother. I was 8 and my attention was squarely on The Lion King and Clueless. And as for reading the novel. Um, mumble, mumble, insert something about my Autism as an excuse why I never read this…You know, some shit like that. But I digress.

There were a few anime adaptations of Little Women. There’s the first one from 1981 animated by Toei. Then, there’s the 1987 adaptation done by Nippon animation. And finally, the sequel to the Nippon version in 1993. For this review, I will start with Nippon Animation’s version due to availability’s sake. Yeah, I said the word “availability”. This series made it to the U.S. If I’m able to get my paws on the Toei version of Little Women, I might review it one day. That version is unrelated to the Nippon version. Same story, different rollout. Okay, let’s get started!

This story follows the March sisters in their daily lives living in the time of the Civil War. These little women live at home with their mother, Mary March while their father is off fighting for the Union in the war. First, there’s the eldest daughter Meg. She is coming of age where she’s close to making important decisions for her life. Next is Jo, she’s spunky and a tomboy who has ambitions of becoming a great novelist one day. After that is Beth, who is shy and timid but won’t hesitate helping anyone or anything in need. And then, the baby of the family Amy. I know in most versions, Amy is more fleshed-out with a love for art. Here, she loves art…she’s just a very precocious brat.

Trouble arises fast as the battle between the union and the confederacy was getting closer to where the March family lives. Before they knew it, they left everything they knew behind to go north to Newcord. Not before the confederates set the town of York on fire! After leaving their old life behind, the March family made their way to the new town up north where they meet new friends and connections. The March sisters are doing the best they can in their day-to-day lives and shooting for their own personal goals.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: I never thought that I would ever see a legitimate dub for a World Masterpiece Theater anime. But here we are! This anime was licensed and dubbed by Saban Entertainment back in the day. Does that name ring a bell? Think of Digimon Adventures, Samurai Pizza Cats, and so many Power Rangers. This even landed a spot on HBO in the late 80s and early 90s. And yet somehow, I never ran into this series growing up and we had HBO. I only remember watching Little Lulu and Lifestories: Families in Crisis. Yeah, I’m a complicated batch of a person. Today, it is available to watch on Amazon’s Freevee. However, and I cannot believe this has to be said about something not Pokemon related, only the English dub is available for streaming. Keep in mind that this only applies to the 48-episode series. The 1993 sequel was never licensed or dubbed.

As usual, the Japanese cast had many veterans from other World Masterpiece Theater classics like Eiko Yamada. As for the English dub…ooh boy, you can tell that this is early, early, back in the day, cringe AF, stiff as a board English dubbed. Add to that, they redubbed the opening and ending themes.

Yeah, I don’t think the west was willing to have the original opening theme as 10 seconds of it had Amy getting spanked by her father.

Instead, you get an English dub 45 second song of the synopsis. While it was easy for me to watch this dubbed, it was difficult to find who voiced who. Even the credits at the end of the episode show me nothing. Granted, there are a lot of familiar anime voice actors like Wendee Lee, Richard Epcar, Dave Mallow, Barbara Goodson, and Rebecca Forstadt.

If you’re anything like me, you can recognize Forstadt’s voice in nearly everything she’s in. She’s usually found playing little girl characters. And she continued doing that for the next 30 years after playing Amy here. I’m not joking, she did that up until her retirement. Seriously, all her characters sound the same! Amy March is just Suiseiseki, who is just Mihoshi, who is just Rika Furude. That’s not something I want to say in a review. I wish I could list out the English cast here, but only Jo and Amy’s voice actors are known and the others are a mystery. Instead…can I go off on Hannah’s voice for a quick sec? I love Barbara Goodson so much. This role…NOOOO.

JAPANESE CAST: *Meg is played by Keiko Han (known for Prof. Ivy on Pokemon, Luna/Queen Beryl on Sailor Moon, and Mito on Hunter x Hunter)

*Jo is played by Eiko Yamada (known for Mai on DBZ, Anne from Anne of Green Gables, Tsubasa on Ranma ½, Lavinia on Princess Sara, and Yvonne on Trapp Family Story)

*Beth is played by Mayumi Shou (known for Young Chi-Chi on Dragon Ball)

*Amy is played by Rei Sakuma (known for Daisy on Pokemon, Jiji on Kiki’s Delivery Service, Shampoo on Ranma ½, Funaho on Tenchi Muyo, and Peorth on Ah My Goddess)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: Hands down, Beth wins me over from episode 2 when she saves Milky Ann. She gets an automatic pearl point.

DISLIKED CHARACTER: You know what? It would be so easy to put up the easy answer here like Aunt March’s weaselly nephew David. I agree, he is detestable. And there are several instances where I wish Jo would have just slugged him in the face. But one, nagging, pesty, sneaky little brat kept creeping up on my annoyance meter.

Amy March, the youngest of the March sisters. When I saw that an episode was going to be titled “Amy’s Revenge”, I thought that she was going to take revenge on that snot-nosed classmate of hers that tattled and got Amy in trouble. This happened the episode before this one and I was ever-so curious to see what was going to happen. Much to my dismay, it was not that. This revenge came at the end of the particular episode and it wasn’t to someone who deserved it, it was to her own sister.

Because Amy was getting over a sickness, her sisters Meg and Jo forbad Amy from going to a play they were invited to. It was absolutely reasonable. Amy wasn’t over her sickness and they only had the two tickets for the elder siblings. I know I shouldn’t hate on Amy because she’s a little kid. But speaking as a late-30’s, single lady with no babies, fuck them kids and that brat needs a spankin’! Because Amy was told to stay home and wait another day, Amy gets angry at her sister Jo. So much that she goes up to her room and burns her entire story that Jo wrote in the fireplace.

This here is the moment where all my sense and reason for Amy went right the fuck out the window. I know I’ve been mean to little children in shows of the past and should rethink my logic because they’re kids and don’t know any better. I know that Jo and Amy were able to mend their relationship after Amy almost drowned, but that was just wrong of Amy. That action alone sky-rocketed Amy to the top of the “I fucking hate you” mountain. Before, I was just annoyed by her because Amy’s a little kid. This, did not help her win any points with me.

SHIPPING: Going into this, I’m curious to see if Jo winds up with Anthony of the newspaper or the boy next door Laurie. I’m leaning on Laurie heavily since I think Anthony is an anime-only character. So, I hope nothing changes…

Medea reads what really happens with Jo x Laurie

I really should start the original source material before jumping into the anime. Silly Medea, when will you ever learn your lesson? Never. I never learn. At least I was right about who Meg was going to end up with. I actually saw that coming a mile away. But the Jo x Laurie thing…I’m not going to be over this for a while. Jesus “Tap Dancing” Christ, they better not show…Laurie marrying HER. I know it works in the novel, just not in the anime. As it turns out, readers were also not digging Jo’s decision of turning down Laurie and then marrying this new guy. I guess Alcott saw Jo and Laurie as nothing more than friends.

Let’s talk about Meg now. Meg has been constantly reminded from several people throughout the series to marry a rich man. Mr. Brook is a kind man, but not one of wealth. And suddenly, I’m reminded of the daughters from Fiddler on the Roof in this instance. Tevye wants his eldest to marry the butcher, but she listens to her heart and marries Motel the tailor. But I digress.

Remind me if I ever talk about Fiddler again to make sure I have a shot of hard liquor in my system.

Well, time to drop the 150-year-old spoiler here. Jo meets and marries a fella while in New York. Fritz doesn’t even appear in the first series. Despite many objections and everyone’s opinion on the matter, Meg and Mr. Brook are engaged at the end of the first series and eventually married. Laurie is turned down by Jo, but still winds up with one of the March sisters. He marries Amy. And as for Beth…she’s in the loving comfort of Sem E. Terry.

Medea, that’s morbid even for you.

ACCURATE OR NOT: Ooh boy, let’s see if I can keep my uncomfortable faces and collar tugs out of this conversation.

*The ages. I can’t recall how old Meg and Jo are in the anime, but I figure they are around the age of 16 and 15 like in the book. Can’t say the same for Beth and Amy. There’s no way that their anime counterparts are 13 and 12. Beth, maybe! Amy in the anime is definitely elementary school-aged. And this here is the reason why I will never accept Laurie hooking up with HER in this anime. I’ll accept it in nearly every other media. Just not in this adaptation.

*There were several name changes between here and the novel. Most notably are the March parents, Richard and Margaret. In the anime, they are renamed to Frederic and Mary. But only people outside the family call her Mary March. She’s still called Marmee by the girls. While I’m still on the subject of name changes, John Brook’s name was different in the Japanese version. They changed his name to Carl Brook. But then, his name turns back to John in the sequel. Okay, give a point to the Americans here.

*Hannah the maid…I knew something was going to make me tug on my collar. Okay, let’s rip off this bandaid. In the novel Hannah was really Irish and Caucasian. I’m raising my eyebrow at this fact here. I know sites say the change could have been made to show the audience the plight of African Americans during the time. So, I’ll calm down for now. But then I see Asia the cook in the sequel…I got nothing. Really couldn’t find anything on her. I’ll still stay calm, but my eyebrow is going to stay up for a while.

*There of course is no town named Newcord. That was for some reason changed from the novel. It’s Concord! The name of the town is Concord! Don’t ask me why they changed it to Newcord in the anime. And don’t ask me why it suddenly changed back to the name of Concord in the sequel.

*There are several characters not in the novel. Yes, that includes Milky Ann. It’s always the animals. To be fair, several adaptations did have cats. There were several anime-only characters like John, the runaway slave and several people in Newcord like Anthony and Mr. Murdoch. Most notably would have to be Aunt March’s nephew, David. Thank God, because I don’t think I can go through watching all four movie adaptations knowing this chizzler is in it.

*Amy was not yanked out of school after her teacher punished her. In the novel, after that incident with the treats and the scolding, Marmee took her daughter out of school to be home-schooled. Here, it seems that Amy stayed in school.

ENDING TO THE FIRST SERIES: If you watch the series on Amazon’s Freevee, you’ll notice that they split the series into four parts. Each part has 12 episodes. I know this isn’t Amazon’s doing, but each part starts and ends with something big happening that I just find that fascinating. Anyways, the start of the final 12 episodes came with some unfortunate news. The patriarch of the March family has fallen ill. Since the beginning, it’s been well-established that Frederic March was fighting in the Civil War. At this point in the story, he was injured and developed an illness on top of that. Marmee ends up going to Washington D.C. to be by her husband’s side, leaving the girls on their own. During this time an unfortunate incident occurred.

The girls took over the responsibilities their mother usually does. One of those tasks was looking after a poor family known as the Hummels. The quiet child Beth took on that job. As a result, she witnessed the death of a child due to Scarlet Fever. And then, Beth contracts it. This illness really took its toll here. Amy was sent away to stay with Aunt March since she’s young and never had the virus before. In a week’s time, Beth was severely ill. Marmee braved a snow storm to take the train to go back home. Even the doctor was pessimistic about Beth surviving. Luckily, Beth’s fever broke. Beth gets to live and none of her belongings were thrown in the fireplace because she infected the entire house.

And I thought the “Sem E. Terry” joke was too much. Medea, it is never okay to bring up Time’s Arrow from Bojack Horseman.

I apologize for nothing.

Meanwhile, there’s a lot of talk surrounding Mr. Brook and Meg. It was clear from the halfway point of the series that Mr. Brook had his eye on Meg. While Mr. Brook escorted Marmee to Washington to be with her husband, he would send notes back to the family and also special notes just for Meg. Unfortunately, Laurie decided to speed up the process as he’s in favor of them getting together. This did not go well. Meg could tell that Mr. Brook didn’t write a certain letter and got horribly upset by the ordeal. Jo and Marmee were also agitated by what had happened. Let the two love-birds figure out what to do. And that’s what they did! When Mr. Brook returned to Newcord, he told Meg he loved her and they end up engaged.

Meanwhile, Jo was asked by Anthony from the newspaper to go to New York with him. Keep in mind, Jo does go to New York later on, just not with Anthony because Anthony doesn’t exist in any other media. By the end of the final episode, Jo does go off to New York. Through some connections, she’s able to stay with a family friend and earn money by looking after their kids. This news seemed to go over well with the family. The only objectors were Aunt March and Laurie. Aunt March because she’s always going to find fault with everything. She highly objected to Meg marrying Mr. Brook. But Laurie, we know how he felt. It’s just that this series never had neither Laurie or Jo say anything romantic wise to the other.

So, we’ve got Meg engaged to Mr. Brook and Jo going to New York. Anything else? Beth is getting stronger every day after her bout with Scarlet Fever. Frederic March returns from war. Frederic also makes amends with Aunt March after many decades. And the Civil War is finally over. Merry 1865 everybody!

Okay, so this first series gave us a happy ending. Let’s see how the sequel shits on that!

JO’S BOYS: Several years after the release of the first series, Nippon does a sequel to Little Women. For the literary buffs, it’s not what you’re thinking. The original 48-episode series mostly covered everything from Alcott’s first book to Little Women. Yeah, there’s a second book to Little Women that covers what happens to Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy after the end of the Civil War. Jo’s Boys is more of Alcott’s book that came after that, “Little Men”. If you start this series immediately after watching the original series, you might get whiplash.

You turn on the first episode and you see a bunch of kids that don’t look familiar to you. Except for maybe one. One of the kids is definitely Meg’s child. There’s this guy who is definitely not Laure Lawrence with Jo. The town all of a sudden has the right name of Concord. And you’re wondering where Laurie, Marmee, Meg, Amy, and Beth are the whole time. Again, second novel! Why is Japan skipping over some major plot points from the second book?

Okay, time to drop some 150-year-old spoilers again. If this series isn’t going to cover it, then I will.

*Jo and Laurie never hook up. Jo meets a gentleman by the name of Fritz Bhaer while in New York. There was some back and forth if Jo and Fritz actually wind up together. They do. They marry and have two sons.

*Meg and Mr. Brook do marry each other and have twins, Demi and Daisy, as well as a baby named Josie.

*Laurie was of course friend-zoned by Jo. But he does end up getting together with Amy. They marry and have a child as well. Laurie for some reason his complexion seems lighter in his series compared to the first one. Also, don’t expect to see Amy nor this child of theirs in this series.

*Despite the sunny optimism we’re filled with near the end of the first series about Beth, that bout with Scarlet Fever really took a toll on her body. She dies a few years later.

*When Aunt March passed away, she left Jo her old home (which is known as Plumfield). This is when Jo and her husband Fritz turned Plumfield into a school and become the teachers. Plumfield is the main setting to this story.

THERE! Was that so hard to put these stories to ink and paper? If you are wondering if there are other adaptations to Little Men, there seem to be a couple of them. They’re just not as popular as the Little Women movies.

Jo March is now a teacher to a special school known as Plumfield along with her husband Fritz. Most of her students are either family members (like her sons, niece, and nephew), orphans, or special recommendations. One of those special students is a girl named Annie (Nan) Harding. Nan is a tomboy, possibly even more so than Jo was back in her younger days. Jo’s lessons are a little unorthodox when compared to other schools, but gives the students important life lessons and special responsibilities.

Aside from Nan, there are of course Jo’s two sons, Robb and Teddy. There’s also Jo’s niece and nephew, Daisy and Demi (Meg’s children). Fritz also has two of his own nephews there, Franz and Emil. There’s a kid named Tommy who’s a bit of a shit-starter and has a crush on Nan. A fat kid with some kind of stupid name like Georgie-Porgie or Double-Stuff Oreo. Ah well, it don’t matter. Some other boys that if you blink, you’ll forget them like Ned and Jack. Later in this series, we are introduced to two orphaned children, Nat and Dan. Nat was a meek boy with an ear for music. And as for Dan, he’s more of what you would call a “Prodigal Son”.

For accuracy notes, I only have one. It looks as though Nat and Dan came to Plumfield before Nan in the novel. In the anime, Nan is introduced first as she arrives to Plumfield in the first episode. Nat comes a few episodes later and Dan doesn’t get introduced until about 10 episodes in.

DO WE SEE THE ORIGINAL CAST HERE: Short answer, kinda. Obviously, any elders in the original series are dead and gone by now. Aunt March is definitely gone by this point. Laurie’s grandfather should be, but then I saw someone who looked like him at a funeral scene. I’ll leave it at that. At the beginning of this sequel series, we get an introduction kinda reminding us of the March family where we see Jo, her sisters, and her parents. In an early episode, Jo talks to Nan about her youth and mentions a moment when she worried Marmee. That’s all we get of Marmee. Every so often, there’s a visit from Laurie. He continues to be helpful to Jo as well as to the children at Plumfield.

Now for the March sisters. We do not see a single sister until 33 episodes in (of a 40-episode series). Meg and John Brook finally appear to see their kids, Demi and Daisy. Beth gets no mention except for one sentence spoken by Jo near the end of the series. And as for Amy, one shot of her at a funeral and that’s that. After all the narrating she did in the first series and it amounts to just one second of screen time at a damn funeral. I know, I hated her in the first series, but give us a chance to see if she’s still a pain in the ass.

ENDING: Future choices. Jo has been giving these children every opportunity in the world to persue nearly any dream they chose to follow. These kids have learned and done so much. Nan decides she wants to become a doctor when she grows up. Although, throughout the series, she’s seen wanting to become different things. Just a few episodes prior, she wanted to be an engineer for a train. Let’s pause this dream for a second and see some familiar faces.

As it is Daisy and Demi’s birthday, Jo takes some of the kids over to her sister Meg’s home for a birthday party. Normally, it would be a big blowout with all of the kids from Plumfield. But due to Meg’s husband’s health, it’s best to keep it small. While watching this cutesy party, I can’t help but think during this episode that John Brook is going to die soon. By that episode’s end, he has a heart attack and during the following episode he passes away. Of course, everyone has taken the news differently. It’s just that it seemed to affect Nan more than one would think. As it turns out, John Brook had the same heart condition that took away Nan’s mother. With this, Nan came to kind of detest doctors overall and souring her outlook on becoming a doctor now.

Also, after John Brook’s death, Jo reveals what novel readers have known all along, that Beth died, Amy married Laurie, and Meg happily married John Brook despite him not being a well-off man. Yeah, thanks for just dropping those facts like they were nothing. But because of this sad moment, some of the kids are preparing for their own future. Daisy and Demi are ready to take on more responsibilities in the family now that their father passed away. One of Fritz’s nephews is ready to leave and go off to college. Tommy’s father has made plans to have his son study in Boston. And Dan is getting the opportunity to travel to Brazil. All of these sudden and upcoming changes really put Nan in a real depressive mood. But, she was able to shake it off after hearing everyone’s dreams for their future. Despite being sour about doctors after John Brook’s death, she decided to stick with that future plan. But there is a pretty big roadblock in the way of that dream.

Keep in mind that this is the late 1800s. The idea of there being a girl as a doctor is considered absurd and unheard of. A scholarship was put up with thanks to the late John Brook to help aspiring young students wanting to become a doctor. Unfortunately for Nan, she’s far too young and even if she was of age, her gender comes into question. She even confronted the mayor of the town about this and was laughed off. Jo knows first hand about this kind of unfair treatment of young women, especially in the first series when she was putting out the short stories in the paper. What do they do?

Jo learns to ride a bike.

Mmkay…I guess that’s sticking it to the mayor because he made a crack about girls riding bikes too. I don’t expect much to change in the gender gap situation as there’s only one episode left and we’re a good couple of decades before women could even vote. Hell, it’s 2024 and there’s still no equal pay and old white men have more say about my cooch than I do. But I digress! The final episode was focused on the final day of Dan being at Plumfield. Besides Ann, Dan was a really big character due to his rough debut, all the bad vices he came to the school with, his fall from grace, his redemption, and now he’s going to travel around the world. I know this series showed so much of Tommy liking Nan, but I’m seeing more Nan x Dan.

Spoiler alert, I think the only ship that came to be in this series was Nat and Daisy.

But Nan chasing down Dan to give him a ring before shouting goodbyes to him was a notable moment. In the final moment, we get to see all of these children grown up and doing what they want to do. Happily enough, Nan was able to become a doctor. I only say that because she’s wearing the lab coat to prove it. She stops by Plumfield after several years and meets with Jo. Also, we see adult Nan in the first episode too and…oh, that’s the end!

Okay, I was fine with both series by themselves. Yeah, it’s weird. After a while, I just came to accept Jo’s Boys to be its own separate story. And I guess that’s how the author and even the World Masterpiece Theater people wanted it. First, I’ll discuss the first series. I was curious to see what was going to happen next. It was a cute story that I just couldn’t stop watching it. Despite some of the lows the March family dealt with throughout the story, I’m satisfied that they ended things on a happy note. I know most of the film adaptations go further past where the anime left off, but I have a theory. Most of the World Masterpiece Theater animes try to end their animes on a happy note. We end with Jo starting a new life in New York, Meg engaged, Beth survived her bout with scarlet fever, and the patriarch to the March family home from war. I know, I constantly complain about so much being left out of Jo’s Boys, but I saw the first series ending fine the way it did. And now for the sequel…

I’m a little upset by the lack of time spent on certain characters. There were some children that really weren’t focused on as much. But the biggest disappointment would be Jo’s husband Fritz. We see him in nearly every episode and I just feel like there’s not much we know about him. I just saw this man as nothing more than a man with a bible in his hand and a beard on his chin.

If you understood this last sentence, you’re awesome.

They could have at least had one episode dedicated to learning about how Jo met Fritz. A love story episode would have been perfect for Daisy as she’s the one who’s more domesticated and romantic than all the other students. There was an episode where the kids saw a picture of Jo and Fritz on their wedding day. How disappointed was I when I realized that this episode wasn’t going to consist a flashback of that? VERY! In that process, we could have learned more about Fritz’s two nephews who also have less done with them than Fritz. Be honest, does anyone even remember Fritz’s two nephews? The answer is no.

And yes, I was kinda annoyed at the fact that there was a major brush-off of all the characters from the original series. Amy only got one scene where we see her for one second at a funeral. Barely any mention about her being married to Laurie (whom we see every now and then). Meg has a happy ending in the first series only for shit to get real in the second series where we only see her worried for her ailing husband and becoming a widow seconds later. Only one mention of Beth is just unacceptable. Beth is best girl and I will fight anyone about that. And now, let me lay on Jo for a bit. There’s a giant leap in her character between 16-year-old Jo and 30’s Jo. Mainly, the sequel didn’t discuss Jo’s writings and we just leap into Jo being a teacher at Plumfield.

Okay, how about something nice? I really enjoyed all of the development of Dan. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the kids did a lot to make me forget my unresolved gripes. It’s just that Dan pretty much carried this show. Dan was a bit of a jerk when entering Plumfield. He was living on the streets of Boston prior to this and had to steal in order to survive. Unfortunately, he didn’t soften up until doing some terrible things like give the other boys booze, cigars, and a hook for gambling. Oh, and almost setting the house on fire. After being sent away for a time, he does turn around for the better.

My advice is to treat both Little Women and Jo’s Boys as two separate shows, if possible. And if you want to watch the first Little Women series, Freevee through Amazon Prime has all 48 episodes available for streaming. You might have to do some digging around for Jo’s Boys.

Next anime…will NOT be chosen by me. This time, I went to a higher authority. I asked my mom which story should I choose, Heidi or Ann of Green Gables. Didn’t even need to think about it, she said Ann of Green Gables. This is the first time I ever asked my mom’s input in an anime. So, I hope she steers me right.

FINAL THOUGHT: My favorite of the four live-action films? Well, I was only able to get my hands on one of them. So, the 1994 version it is! It gets an extra point with me for having Mary Wickes.

[medea10]

My Review of Yuri is My Job!

Random pick. That’s all!

Hime Shiraki seems to be the fan-favorite at school. Her cute looks and good grades are a target for the males at her school. Hime doesn’t want to waste her time with those scrubs. Actually, her goal in life is to be some millionaire’s trophy wife. No lie, she’s a gold digger. Things take a sharp-left turn into WTF territory when she ends up in a bit of an accident with another young girl (named Mai Koshiba) and winds up working at a café because this girl broke her arm due to this accident.

Well, that escalated quickly.

This place is known as Café Liebe and it has an all-girl school theme to it. By that I mean the girls who work there lay it on thick with the acting. Watching these girls felt like I was watching an over-the-top lesbian sim trying to be like Ouran High School Host Club. No lie! The girl Hime accidently hurt in the trip and fall is the manager for the café. So, I guess Hime is obligated to take over some duties here. Thankfully, the staff accepted the addition of a new member. Except for one girl (Mitsuki Yano). Apparently in their first act, Hime called Mitsuki “Onee-sama”. It did not go over well. Never call Mitsuki “Onee-sama”.

Mitsuki is quite the actress as she puts on a sweet persona for the customers, but is very strict and to the point when it comes to Hime. Go back several years ago and you’ll find that these two were quite different. Yeah, these two share a colorful past. Back in elementary school, they wound up best friends. While Mitsuki was timid, she was able to hang out with someone as popular and outgoing as Hime. Unfortunately, a misunderstanding and a few too many little white lies ended this friendship. This ends with Hime being shunned by all of her classmates and Mitsuki transferring to a different school.

Neither girl forgot this moment in time. Now that several years have passed, are these two girls going to get along like they used to?

BETWEEN THE SUB: This of course is streaming only on Crunchyroll. It has nearly been a year since this first came out and there’s still no sign of an English dub. I swear, I find it funny when there are those seiyuus you can spot exactly who they are within a few seconds. Yukari Tamura is one of those people. Either that or after 15 years of watching Higurashi, her cutesy voice is permanently drilled into my brain. Speaking of Higurashi, do those café uniforms remind you of Satoko Hojo’s dress a little bit? Whatever! Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

*Hime is played by Yui Ogura (known for Marnie on Pokemon Journeys, Vanica on Black Clover, Futaba on Magia Record, Sumika on Yuri Kuma Arashi, and Rinne on Vivid Strike)

*Mitsuki is played by Sumire Uesaka (known for Nagatoro on Miss Nagatoro, Shalltear on Overlord, Dekomori on Chunibyo, Angela on Carole & Tuesday, Chloe on Miss Kobayashi, and Aya on Tonikawa)

*Kanoko is played by Minami Tanaka (Lily on Zombieland Saga, Mary on Kakegurui, Nako on Hitoribocchi, and Hinata on Assassination Classroom)

*Sumika is played by Makoto Koicihi (known for Elza on Interspecies Reviewers and Young Jun on Tomo-chan is a Girl)

SHIPPING: Hmm…oh, this definitely is a Yuri anime. It’s in the fucking title! But I can’t snuff out anything canon-y. Hime and Mitsuki are frenemies borderlining on reconciled friends. Yes, I realize I gave this particular ship a nod in my 2023 superlative list. If there’s more to go on like with more content, maybe I can get behind this. And no, the show they put on at the café is not a selling point just yet. It’s like watching all the flirting in Ouran, you just take the cheesy bait, sisterhood charms and all. For the time being, I’m just happy that these two are slowly on the mend after the fallout that happened years prior. But if I can’t go on about Hime and Mitsuki, what can I…?!

Wait a minute! Hime’s friend, Kanoko. She always seems to be latched onto Hime. OH! She has a rolodex of pictures on her phone. I think we have a winner. I’m quite frightened by Kanoko as the series goes on. She’s giving off these crazy yandere eyes when she’s being asked about Hime. She wants Hime all to herself. She wants to be her one-and-only best friend and for Hime not to be involved in a love interest. And yet, she doesn’t want to step forward and go further by starting one with Hime.

And that’s when Sumika gets involved. So, here I am wondering if Sumika is going to get romantically involved in this. She’s already had her heart broken prior to these juniors joining the café. But then I see Sumika with Kanoko a lot nearing the end of the series and wondering if she’s into her. Or if it’s just this kin-ship because both girls like someone who is definitely not into them.

ENDING: The café is now doing this weird election called the blume. Or something like that! Customers and the staff vote for who they want as Blume-sama. As per usual, Mitsuki seems to be the popular one to win. During this time, we start to see the anger arise from the soft-spoken Kanoko. It is quite clear she loves Hime as more than just a friend. Hime has helped Kanoko so much after meeting in middle school. Kanoko refuses to lose Hime to anyone, especially the one who hurt Hime all those years ago.

This is when we see Sumika get involved with Kanoko. Usually, we don’t see Sumika get involved in anything. But due to these yandere-in-the-making circumstances, Sumika is ready to shed some light on her on past at the café. Sumika and this other girl named Nene at the café were “sisters” much like Hime and Mitsuki are currently. But then, Nene winds up being taken away by another employee in a romantic way and their sisterhood ended. If Sumika winds up Blume-sama, she’s going to make sure that everyone’s sisterhood will stick and not break off like what happened to her. And just as I thought, Sumika wound up the Blume-sama and it seemed like she issued what she wants to see at the café for the next year. Everyone seems satisfied with the results and Kanoko is finally calm and not teetering over the edge of no return. Sumika then has Kanoko become her sister at the café.

The final episode we take a break from the drama of the Blume election and lesbian drama to notice that Mitsuki got a big rack. Yeah, that’s the dilemma of the last episode! First of all, how did nobody know that she’s got a big rack? I noticed it from minute-one! The summer uniform kinda drew attention to it that it was noticeable to the rest of the coworkers. This whole thing was settled by the halfway point and then we refocus on Hime’s ignorance at work. She’s not well familiar with everything on the menu yet and it still frustrates Mitsuki. So, Hime is still pretty bad at her job 12 episodes later.

By the end of the final episode, is there finally some Yuri development between Hime and Mitsuki? I still don’t see it when it comes to Hime. Mitsuki on the other hand, we started to see some blushing. But by then, there was only two minutes left in the season finale and it’s like, what’s the point! I’m going to give this anime some credit here. At least the story didn’t drag on and on with this Hime vs. Mitsuki stuff and we got their backstory early on in the season.

Other than that, I feel like this series was a bit of a miss than a hit. I wasn’t expecting a full-on lesbian romance like Sakura Kiss and the concept of this café has its good moments. It’s just the whole Blume-sama situation fell flat for me and I’m just blah to everything. And I feel like many others are a little underwhelmed with this series as well. Saying that leaves me a little pessimistic about there being a continuation despite the manga still in publication and a lot of open opportunities for characters.

For example, there’s still a chance we could see more from Sumika and Nene. Nene still works there, but she’s in the kitchen. Nene isn’t with that other girl anymore. Could there possibly be something more between her and Sumika? I know we had that exchange between the two near the end of the series, but still… Aside from that, Mitsuki opening up more about how she feels involving Hime could be something to come in the future. But that’s if we get a future to this. Eh, make up your own mind about this one. If you’re looking for a good Yuri to watch, Bloom Into You and Aoi Hana are still my go-tos.

Crunchyroll has the whole series available for streaming.

[medea10]

My Review of The Rising of the Shield Hero: 3rd Season

Seriously, I forgot this was coming back for the fall season. But there was no way I was going to forget that season three was coming. Crunchyroll jumped several guns to not only announce a second season to The Rising of the Shield Hero, but announce a third season in the same breath. This was in 2019. Do you know how long ago 2019 was? What could have caused my blah attitude and pessimism to come up here? Season two happened.

Oh, but Medea, Myne wasn’t involved in season two. How could it be that bad?

Okay, Myne had her bitchy hands all over season one and I loved that season. Season two was rushed to a point where I need ten volumes of the light novel to get the jist of what the fuck just happened. Me not seeing Myne was a treat and if she was involved in season two, my opinion would still stand.

HISTORY: Isekai. Shield. Outcast. Blah, blah, blah! Here’s season one and season two.

SEASON THREE: Shit, the bitch is in the OP theme. I’m going to lose my shizzle on this review, aren’t I?

In the aftermath of the tortoise arc, there’s a glitch that seems to be affecting how Naofumi sees stats and part of his shield. Then, we’ve got the queen relying on Naofumi once more as it seems that the other three heroes are missing in action. Bitch is too. Normally, I would say good riddance on everybody disappearing, I hope they get eaten by a giant chicken. But that’s just my anger popping up again. I have leftover resentment from season one where I just want retribution for Naofumi. I know they’re technically heroes, but they’re shit-heroes. And as for bitch, I hope that she’s not only eaten by a giant chicken and shit out off of a cliff. She must be up to no good knowing her. And then there’s a little something that really grinded Naofumi and Raphtalia’s gears. Demi-humans and slavery!

Yeah, it’s not a modern Isekai without slave-trades.

Naofumi and his team wind up competing in an underground fight club. Save some twin tiger demi-humans. Don’t get too excited, this tournament arc was only the span of 1 or 2 episodes. They do go back to the underground fight club near the end of the season, but it’s not worth mentioning. Naofumi is staying true to saving previously enslaved demi-humans. Meanwhile, we’ve got a phoenix-sized wave about to occur in a couple of months and no one knows where the other heroes are. This season, we get to know more about the other three heroes; Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki. Not only what happened to them during the tortoise arc, but before they were sent to this world.

Motoyasu was ditched by his entire team when he couldn’t even make a dent in the tortoise from last season. Itsuki went full-on Judge Claude Frollo. And Ren’s entire team was slaughtered. But a certain someone came in and toyed with each and every one of these boys.

…

AND NOW, MEDEA IS ABOUT TO MAKE NO SENSE: I truly apologize for the raving I am about to unleash.

AAAAAHHHHH! OOGA BOOGA! OOGA BOOGA! ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAWWWWR! KILL THE BITCH! KILL THE BITCH! REN, YOU FUCKING IDIOT! YOU SAW THE TRIAL! YOU WERE THERE! YOU SAW HER FIGHT AGAINST THE SLAVE CREST! ITSUKI TOO! WHERE IS THE CREST ON THE BITCH’S CHEST?! WHAT WITCH-FUCKARY SAUCE IS THIS?! SOMEBODY! MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!

My anger is warranted. In the span of a single episode, Myne claimed infamous status in the anime community as the worst thing since Shou Tucker. Let’s not go too ahead of ourselves. I’d say she’s just between Griffith and Shinji Matou. I’m just glad Motoyasu saw Myne’s true colors (AGAIN) as she lied AGAIN about him raping her. Lying about being raped seems to be her ace in the hole time and again. This woman is worse than tumors on your uterus.

Not even Filo doing an idol performance in the same episode could calm me down. Nice try, anime!

NEW CHARACTERS: Quite a bit more girls added to the roster. We got the drunk orca, the glitch in human form, and the tiger twins. They are all orphaned demi-humans. Give Naofumi some credit as we finally got one male teammate.

Sadina is a human and orca, I guess. She has a lot of history with Raphtalia and that’s the end of that tale. Spoilers.

Then, there’ S’yne. She’s the girl who sounds glitchy every time she speaks. S’yne is at first not trusted by Naofumi due to an earlier reputation. But she sticks around.

And then there’s the tiger twins, Fohl and Atla. Naofumi saved them from that underground fight club. Before, Fohl was barely scraping by and earning whatever he could to help his ailing sister. Now, the twins are thriving (despite Atla being blind and sometimes has trouble walking). Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Sadina is played by Ami Koshimizu (known for Makoto/Jupiter on Sailor Moon Crystal, Kallen on Code Geass, Ryuuko on Kill la Kill, Holo on Spice & Wolf, Rosa on Umineko, and Anemone on Eureka Seven)

*S’yne is played by Maria Naganawa (known for Kanna on Miss Kobayashi, Platelets on Cells at Work, and Komekko on Konosuba)

*Fohl is played by Kouhei Amasaki (known for Otto on Re:Zero, Kousuke on Tomo-chan is a Girl, and Monoma on My Hero Academia)

*Atla is played by Konomi Kohara (known for Chika on Kaguya-sama, Roxy on Mushoku Tensei, Miu on Domestic Girlfriend, Chitose on Tonikawa, and Kai on Hitoribocchi)

ENGLISH CAST: *Sadina is played by Alice Himora

*S’yne is played by Lisa Reimold

*Fohl is played by Kieran Regan

*Atla’s voice actress is unknown at this date and time

SHIPPING: Rishia really, for real, truly needs to give up on Itsuki. And if the slap in the face he gave her wasn’t enough of a big indicator…no, it truly needs to be one. I’m glad she stepped up to try and reason with him. But…eh, I got nothing else for this. I’m just annoyed by Itsuki dropping Rishia for being weak and Rishia still devoted to him.

And Raphtalia still loves Naofumi. It’s still unrequited. And she will still get jealous of anyone hugging, rubbing on, or sleeping with Naofumi.

ENDING: It’s obvious that Bitch has been poisoning the minds of every, single one of the four heroes. While Naofumi’s interaction at the beginning of the series was bad enough, Bitch took advantage of the other three during really rough moments of their journey. And all I can say is, Naofumi was wrong to keep her alive for this long. He should have just allowed the queen to have her daughter’s head chopped off. Motoyasu was dropped once it was shown that he could not make a dent in the tortoise from last season. In Bitch fashion, she claimed Motoyasu raped her making him out to be the town Harvey Weinstein. With Ren, Bitch manipulated him after losing his teammates in a gruesome way. But she ditched him soon after Naofumi got involved and helped him out. Finally, there’s Itsuki.

Itsuki wound up with a cursed item given to him by Bitch. These cursed items have not done anyone any good during this season and caused a lot of damage for the heroes who had them and Naofumi having to clean up the mess afterwards. When Ren was possessed, it caused a lot of trouble for innocent bystanders. Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu are all terrible and made terrible messes throughout the majority of this series. They should be licking Naofumi’s boot every morning when they wake up. Sorry, leftover hatred again. However, Itsuki’s sense of justice pissed me off further down the series. Itsuki pulls off his stupid justice kick by attacking Naofumi’s crew and innocent bystanders with his bow and arrows. Hell, he was going to kill Rishia because she didn’t believe in his “justice”. Thankfully, she and Naofumi were able to end Itsuki’s cursed justice. Itsuki is just mentally broken, but is cared for by Rishia.

Hmph. He should have just been left to rot in a wheelchair like Kirito in SAO. Not even sorry for that!

Okay, we’re at the final episode. Not sure when we’re going to see this wave attack with a giant phoenix. In two months is what Naofumi says but who the hell knows! And Bitch is still on the loose. She did drop Itsuki pretty fast, leaving him broke and broken. I know everyone wants Naofumi and the other three heroes together. I’ve been against that from the beginning. Sorry, last time! As of this moment, Itsuki and Ren are with Naofumi and his crew. Motoyasu…everyone still seems to avoid him like the plague. Yeah, he’s annoying. But mostly it’s because he wants to lewd Filo and now calls Naofumi, “Father” because, yeah, he technically did hatch Filo. Who wants to tell Motoyasu that Filo is technically a couple of months old? Okay, final episode. What’s in store?

Raphtalia is royalty!

Do what now?

Naofumi gave Raphtalia some priestess garb. Sadina got scared and warned her to remove the clothes immediately. Just then, Naofumi’s area is attacked (AGAIN). Usually, it’s slave poachers or someone under Bitch’s control. These new guys are different entirely. This time they want to kill Raphtalia. Why? Because she’s really the heir of this place called Q’ten Lo. Raphtalia’s father was the original ruler but abdicated and started a family. Sadina has been watching this family from the very beginning. So, there’s much more to Raphtalia’s family than just what we learned in season one. Naofumi is understandably pissed that these spies from Q’ten Lo are after Raphtalia and have been watching her pretty much her entire life. So, I guess we’re going to Q’ten Lo now.

Okay anime, that’s fine. But a few things. Phoenix wave is going to hit in less than two months. Filo still needs to up her stats after the whole dragon incident. Bitch is still on the loose. Itsuki is on par with a roasted parsnip. We don’t know where Motoyasu is nor do we care. Still in the dark about the tiger twins and that guy at the palace who hates Naofumi. Naofumi is about to drop everything to prepare for the biggest wave to date to go to this place we only learned about five seconds ago. And most importantly, THE ANIME IS OVER!

Yes, this does set us up for a possible fourth season or movie. As of now, we have a fourth season in the works. But I just have to ask myself this. Do I even want it? Okay, stupid question. I do want to see it for what happens. It’s just that I’m kinda in a slump when it comes to this anime. Most of that blame does stem from the previous season. This season wasn’t as bad, but it’s a far cry from where things were in the first season. I’ll give the anime this, it spiked my blood pressure on my day off from work. That’s not a good thing!

So, I guess we’re going to this Q’ten Lo place, meet new characters, and take a total detour from where this story was going with fighting the waves. Then again, this season had absolutely no wave-fighting. And I’m sure we’re not going to get much clarity of any other character that gets introduced and is a “insert-something-here” hero. I’ll give season four a fighting chance if someone throws a Molotov cocktail at Bitch’s face. For those looking for an improvement to season two’s disappointments…I can’t lie. You would probably only like half of the series. Anything involving Wyndia, dragons, and the whole lot of demi-humans might lose your interest.

For now, every season of Rising of the Shield Hero is on Crunchyroll.

[medea10]

My Review of Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead

Ooh yeah, I’ve heard about this one. Prior to the announcement of this anime, I heard Gigguk (from Youtube) mention this manga. And here’s me thinking, this is the same guy that praised Oshi no Ko and Frieren before they got anime adaptations. As for when this got the anime adaptation, Viz Media was excited to release this one that there was even an exclusive screening at Anime Expo.

Akira Tendou was a bright-eyed optimist going into his new job fresh out of college. Everyone seemed nice. He had great benefits. There was a chance at meeting famous people in this line of work. And there might have been an opening with a love interest at the office. This enjoyment lasted…8 hours, give or take?!

In reality, this job was hell. Sometimes, you can’t go home for days and work at your desk. The benefits you get…you probably will never use them. The only people you’re in contact with are screaming bosses. And as for that love interest, she’s having an affair with the boss…right in his office. Akira Tendou is so numb to everything now. It’s been three years of this endless hell. Then suddenly…and I do mean really suddenly…

A zombie apocalypse!

Yep, we’re officially in Highschool of the Dead territory. Only difference is that this is with adults, the blood is replaced with vibrant colors, no Matrix boobies, and the author to Zom 100 is still alive here.

Too soon, Medea.

Tendou watched a zombie movie literally the night before this all happened and thought that if he was living through a zombie apocalypse, he wouldn’t have to go to work anymore. And that’s his first thought here. No more work! He gets a day off! First thing he does, he goes to his crush’s home to reveal that he loves her. There, he sees his boss (now zombie-fied). Tendou gives his resignation followed by shoving him out the window. Then he sees his crush (also zombie-fied) and tells her that he loves her. Then bolts the fuck out of there! Now that Tendou is living in a zombie apocalypse, he’s wondering what he should do with his free time. That’s when he goes to a corner store and gets a notebook to make a bucket list. 100 things to do before becoming a zombie. Hence the title of this anime!

Tendou is not alone in this. Along the way, he meets up with his old college friend (Ryuuzaki) who is also trying to live his life for the best during the zombie apocalypse. He meets a girl named Mikazuki who has a bucket list of her own. Only hers is the best way to survive. And near episode 8, we are introduced to Beatrix. She’s a German who has had a fascination with Japanese culture. She’s also the token big-breasted girl that slices up the zombies with a blade. It’s an anime involving zombies, OF COURSE THIS GIRL IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE THAT!

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Viz Media wasted no time assembling together an English dub for this. And several streaming sites got dibs on playing it on a weekly basis including Crunchyroll, Hulu, and even Netflix. And if there weren’t so many damn hiatuses, this anime would have had a spot on Toonami. It will eventually. March 2024 is still better than nothing. I will discuss the several hiatuses that persisted throughout this anime’s run down this review. I’m enjoying hearing both of Tendou’s voice actors getting more roles in the last couple of years. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Tendou is played by Shuuichirou Umeda (known for Izumi on Shikimori Isn’t Just a Cutie)

*Mikazuki is played by Tomori Kusunoki (known for Makima on Chainsaw Man, Neiru on Wonder Egg Priority, LLENN on SAO: GGO, Setsuna on Love Live Nijigasaki, and Misha on Misfit of Demon Academy)

*Ryuuzaki is played by Makoto Furukawa (known for Saitama on One Punch Man, Haru on Fruits Basket 2019, Miyuki on Kaguya-sama, Shorter on Banana Fish, and Shourei on 86)

*Bea is played by Minami Takahashi (known for Lucoa on Miss Kobayashi, Megumi on Food Wars, Grey on Black Clover, and Yamada on Eromanga Sensei)

ENGLISH CAST: *Tendou is played by Zeno Robinson (known for Goh on Pokemon Journeys, Hawks on My Hero Academia, Genya on Demon Slayer, Shuuji on Tokyo Revengers, Tooru on Horimiya, and Garfiel on Re:Zero)

*Mikazuki is played by Abby Trott (known for Nezuko on Demon Slayer, Machi on Hunter x Hunter, and Eleanor on Misfit of Demon Academy)

*Ryuuzaki is played by Xander Mobus (known for Motoyasu on Shield Hero, Ren on Persona 5, Juuzou on Blue Exorcist, Benno on Ascendance of a Bookworm, and Momoshiki on Boruto)

*Bea is played by Laura Post (known for Ragyo on Kill la Kill, Nozomi on Love Live, Isabella on The Promised Neverland, Akari on March Comes in…, Diana on Little Witch Academia, and Macrophage on Cells at Work)

SHIPPING: Am I sensing something between Tendou and Mikazuki?

No. Focus on surviving the zombie apocalypse first. Once the zombies are eradicated, then I’ll let my mind swirl around in the shipping category.

DELAY, DELAY, DELAY: Is this the new normal? I’m not going to sit here and pretend I know a thing about getting an anime to air because we all know I don’t. But I still raise my eyebrow when currently airing animes take several weeks off at a time. Normally, when an anime is postponed, it is usually because of a sporting event, a giant news story hits, and the subject matter might be difficult if something tragic just occurred. That was something we went along with and accepted. After the Fukushima disaster in 2011, many animes were postponed. Madoka Magica’s final episodes were supposed to air around that time. But due to the sensitive subject matter, it was postponed for three months. Meanwhile, Pokemon was scheduled to air a two-parter, Team Rocket/Team Plasma special around that time as well. It was postponed. And we never heard from it again. Once again, there were special circumstances.

Moving forward to the 2020’s, Covid affected many animes and their airdates. All through the year 2020, nearly every anime was delayed by one week, several weeks, or would just stop airing for the entire season and start over the following anime season. A Certain Scientific Railgun T had to take several weeks off every now and then during the run. Black Clover and Pokemon took a several-week hiatus. And the fifth season of Food Wars aired a couple of episodes, stopped, and aired again three months later. AGAIN, there were special circumstances.

What the hell happened with Zom 100? I don’t see Covid as a reason and nothing upsetting the Japanese audience. Is this a case where they didn’t finish production on time and the staff was overworked to the point of breaking? Because that’s what it looks to me. I’m not complaining at all. I’m concerned that this is a new normal for staff members for anime. And it’s a shame that this had to happen to the studio and the good people behind it. This is a fairly new studio where this is the only anime to their credit. And suddenly I’m hit with a giant sense of irony with this situation and the first episode.

ANIME CAMEO: Did you catch the voice actors from Zombieland Saga in episode 6? It wasn’t the characters. It was just their voice actors grunting as zombies. Well, it happened. Rewind and listen closely.

ENDING: Just like the end of Highschool of the Dead, this crew goes to familiar territory by stopping in on Tendou’s family. My guess is that there’s going to be a big zombie showdown featuring Tendou, his friends and family, and the townspeople versus the zombies. Will that be the end of the season? Moving right along, they make it to Tendou’s home village. The good news is that his parents are safe as well as some of the villagers. There are even some city folks that escaped the hell going on in bigger cities. The bad news is there are some disgustos in that city folk crowd that have their own ideas for surviving the zombie apocalypse. If Tendou’s list was full of childish dreams and Mikazuki’s list is full of realistic goals, these guys…um…well, there are dark forces that work inside them.

And while the zombies are trapped inside a tunnel away from the surviving humans, one person here doesn’t have that much time left. That person is Tendou’s father. Tendou and his father have never seen eye-to-eye. Will they be able to say their peace before the worst happens? Let’s wait another couple of weeks and months to find out this answer.

CHRISTMAS DAY 2023: Okay, I watched my annual anime movie this year. This year it was Suzume. Ate cookies. Opened presents. Jammed out to some tunes. And crashed. Am I missing anything? Oh wow, Zom 100 came back for a three-episode finale!

Tendou and the gang were getting along with many in the village. Tendou got to know some of the city girls who traveled to the village for safety. Mikazuki got along with the elders of the village as she helped them with some of their ailments. Bea learned a lot about the area. And Ryuuzaki got a little girl traumatized by the recent pandemic to smile for the first time in a while. I’ll be honest, when I saw this little girl with her dog I kept thinking if she was going to go with Tendou and the rest and be that gang’s Alice and Zeke like in Highschool of the Dead. Again, I will keep mentioning that. All of this peace is about to be shattered by those disgustos I mentioned prior to the three-month hiatus. There are four of them; one divorcee, one anal-retentive chick, one forever fat bastard virgin, and the obviously voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto psychopath. The final guy I mentioned (named Higurashi) actually knew Tendou and Ryuuzaki as they all went to the same college.

Higurashi and the others have their chaos book. They removed the barriers blocking the zombies from entering the village and set everything around it on fire. The four main characters were dealing with each of the chaos agents on their own. Ryuuzaki, Bea, and Mikazuki were able to get past the chaos people. Unfortunately, two of those people wound up dying. One by the zombies and the other got electrocuted. The forever fat bastard virgin was still around by episode 12’s end. As for Higurashi, he brought the zombies to Tendou and told him he yearns to watch him become a zombie. This guy was so amped on wanting to fuck things up that he threatened to have Tendou’s ailing father eaten by the zombies.

Tendou does another impulsive thing. You’ve seen him do crazy shit the last 11 episodes, why stop now?! Tendou turned into a zombie courtesy of one of the hideaways who was a make-up stylist and tricked Higurashi. Unfortunately, things do not end well for Higurashi as he is bitten. Before time was up, Tendou was able to get through to him when learning what he really wanted to do. To be fair, any one of us could have wound up like this guy. Introverts have such the hardest times adapting to “normal” society. And I guess Higurashi envied Tendou and Ryuuzaki during college because they had friends and he was alone. Surprisingly, back then Tendou did make an effort to reach out to Higurashi, but dude ran away from them. Tendou and Higurashi do have this sweet moment before he’s turned into a zombie. Higurashi though ends up drowning in the river as he was turning into a zombie.

Tendou, his friends, and the survivors of the village survived just barely. They went to a suspension bridge that was unfortunately missing. But then, this old guy the group met prior to making it to the village made a collapsible bridge for everyone to get across and prevent the zombies from trailing them. In the aftermath, everyone was able to rebuild the village after that night from hell. Now as for Tendou’s father. I thought for months that this guy got bitten by a zombie. And as I’m watching the final 3 episodes I’m thinking, if he got bitten, it’s taking him a long time to turn into a zombie. But then it sounded like he might have a terminal illness.

Turns out dude has hemorrhoids.

Look, I know hemorrhoids are painful but…yeah, I have nothing to follow up on that. But if it gets so bad that it could be life-threatening, it might be difficult for a doctor to do anything when you’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. But, it did spark some ideas for what else to write in Tendou’s bucket list. Next stop for the crew…I guess northern Japan or Hokkaido.

Oh shit, I forgot to mention the shit. Ryuuzaki jumped in the cesspool of shit. He was covered in shit for an entire episode.

Despite the long waits in between episodes, this was a very good story. I’m just really concerned if a season two comes will the audience be subjected to long waits and will the crew be subjected to horrible working conditions? Again, seeing the irony! I think it was that first episode that seemed to strike a chord with a lot of viewers. I think at one point or another, we all find ourselves in a situation much like Tendou. I know it doesn’t have to be a job, but let’s face it, we’ve all had those jobs that tried to break us to the point of no return and you really do wish that some sort of apocalypse hits so you don’t have to go into work the next day. I really hope the anime studios kinda take a hint from this. Looking at you OLM, MAPPA, and BUG FILMS!

While I’m still on the topic of the first episode, I’m not going to lie, I honestly thought the whole zombie apocalypse was going to be a dream of Tendou’s. I can’t be the only person who thought this. He falls asleep watching a zombie movie, wakes up in total chaos, we’re treated to a splish-splash of every color on the spectrum, and Tendou is doing stunts like knock his boss out a several-story window and climbing drain-pipes. I will get a lot of push-back from manga readers for my out-loud comments here, but that’s what I originally thought. With that said, I really hope that this isn’t the intended ending for this story.

Now then, would I happily welcome a second season? Yes. Believe it or not, the several-month hiatus didn’t impact how I felt about this anime. Sometimes it does, but not here. When it returned on Christmas, it almost felt like not much time has passed since the last installment. And just because of this sloppy roll out, it doesn’t necessarily mean that any future seasons will be affected the same way the first season did. It will if the studio doesn’t take a freakin’ lesson from the anime they just put out. It seems like a couple of new characters are introduced after where this season leaves off. So, I’m looking forward to a second season. Thankfully, the manga is still in publication and the creator is alive and well. Sorry, after what happened to the creator of Highschool of the Dead, I am not taking any chances.

Enough from me! Zombie-show fans, you know who you are and we know your fandom isn’t dying off any time soon. Probably check this one out. It’s on Netflix, Hulu, and Crunchyroll, so you have your pick of sites to watch it on. Starting March 30th, 2024, the show will also air on Toonami. And if live-action is more of your thing, Netflix has got that adaptation too.