#i wanted her to get close to nagisa and honoka

[mahou-furbies]

Closing thoughts on Otona Precure

(spoilers)

I've tried to remain optimistic but man I can't find a positive spin on this. I don't think could stand on its own as a magical girl show aimed at adults because the story was kind of childish and a lot of the character stuff requires you to already be familiar with them, but it didn't deliver properly on the "I'm a Precure fan so I'll take anything" side either. Most importantly the show committed the cardinal sin of not only lacking any adult magical girl forms, but then it also didn't bother to include a new powerup look for the aged-down ones. What is this nonsense, everyone knows that your new magical girl season has to include at least one new look! 1/10 rating for that alone! (jokes aside I gave it a 4/10 on mal)

The inclusion of Nagisa and Honoka (and Hikari) was absolutely terrible; I don't mind their characters but their contributions were entirely pointless. Like if you don't know who they are it's just brand new nobodies with no connection to any of the plot and themes of the story who just randomly show up in the grand finale where everything is supposed to wrap up neatly, and if you do know who they are and are willing to accept them being shoehorned in just for the sake of seeing them grown up… we don't get that either. Oh how convenient how Nagisa and Honoka just happen to be missing from our bar meetup today! And they really didn't want to do anything at all with my girl Hikari, it was actually kind of funny how superfluous her appearance was. I guess the Futago Kamikita art is our only saviour here, at least they're included in that. Long hair Nagisa?

(also a nitpick but I really don't like that all the first five seasons apparently got retconned into happening in the same town? Makes the world so much smaller)

The time flower ticking clock also ended up completely wasted, I'm sure nobody expected Nozomi to die, but at least come up with some sort of excuse why everything turned out in the end and don't just say that actually there was never any danger in the first place. I hate to say this but even the light sticks from the movies would have been an improvement, have all the townspeople send encouraging vibes to the Precure which fix the flower issue if you must!

Then there's the visuals which were noticeably bad, ranging from poor cgi, lack of animation and just unappealing colour palette, and also kind of boring civilian clothes for the Cures. So the show doesn't have the excuse that at least it's pretty to look at or fun to draw either.

Then a final complaint that Coco and Nutts' mascot forms kept their shrill nails-on-a-chalkboard voices. Would anyone have complained if their voices had been changed?

Still the parts focusing on the Cures' grown up civilian lives were for the most part alright so I don't think the show was without any value. I liked especially the parts that were about how their problems are now more difficult than when they were younger, but that they'll continue moving forward regardless. But I would probably have liked the show better if it either had a stronger main plot to back it up, or alternatively scrapped the magical side of the story and was just a slice of life story.

Better luck with the MahouTsukai sequel, hopefully having less characters to juggle results in a better story.

[satanicgingermom]

This au is overtaking me. Anyway here’s some extra lore bits that’s didn’t fit in the character sheets:

1. So Smile Precure’s insane growth spurt happens the years that Akane is in the hospital. As Akane is kinda in and out of consciousness that first year, it leads to her having grown like three inches whilst asleep, so her coordination is fucked. When she first starts physical therapy she trips over her own two feet so much that she almost injuries herself again. It was a rough year for the Smile Team. ( poor girls has insane growing pains and a bestie in the hospital. tragic)

2. Honoka and Nozomi actually study together! They’re not as close as Nagisa and Rin, but they are good friends now! Honoka is great at helping Nozomi study, because she’s been helping Nagisa study for years and Nozomi may get distracted easily but at least she actually wants to study.

3. So otona was kinda a mixed bag, but the idea of Saki wanting to study abroad to study baking is kinda everything to me? I’ve also lived in the city she wants to study in, it’s actually the place I watched splash star for the first time. It felt right. That said, fuck her marrying a random man, she and Mai have been together for years and have the healthiest dynamic out of everyone here. Saki’s the only one who will actually tell Mai what goes on in the damn theater.

4. It’s been a hot minute since I watched suite, but in my memory they were all dramatic bitches with crazy pressure on their shoulders and then Kanade. From Kanade’s pov it looks like they’re being shitty, but this is actually just because of some crazy misunderstandings. Hibiki in particular has a lot on her plate, and it’s not her fault Kanade didn’t make any new friends! Kanade smh you’re such an idiot <3

5. Mana still has no idea Rikka has a crush on her. It’s actually becoming painful to witness. Alice is very thankful that Rikka has a new project to keep her distracted.

6. Is the theatre haunted? Yes. Why doesn’t Akane think it’s haunted? The ghosts like her. They’re leaving her to her own devices because this is the most comedy they’ve had in years. The Sunbeam itself is on a magical fault line, so that’s why it’s such a creature hotspot, but there are ghosts sitting in the wings watching all these girls fuck up

7. Anna is a whole mess into herself, but, uh, let’s just say she has a lot of growth to do before she’s actually a good person. Oh she likes Rin a whole lot, but boy howdy does she have some ulterior motives.

[harufallinwonderland]

I’m feeling bored A bit silly so here is my opinion on what your fav precure Main character says about you (disclaimer I am not saying this is 100% true this is stupid fun I got from fun YouTube videos don’t take this to heart and none of them are meant to be insulting)

Nagisa/Cure black: your deffo A tomboy STAN u either are very athletic like her or absolutely HATE sports but u find her interesting and fun and u are A sucker for A good “extrovert that’s A bit shy sometimes” u think precure reached peak Main character back in 2004 and u either think everything else is trash or u still enjoy it as it’s the legacy that Nagisa (and Honoka) created u just still very much prefer the original mains (also high likely hood that Honoka is RIGHT next to Nagisa in your rankings)

Saki/Cure Bloom: your probably A Nagisa lover who turned into A saki lover when u watched Splash star while u prob still love Nagisa u feel like they perfected the sporty girl with Saki which honestly fair you also prob LOVE older shows I don’t have A reason just kinda give off the vibe (also like the Nagisa and Honoka one u prob have Mai right next to Saki in your rankings)

Nozomi/Cure dream: U probably relate to her problems ALOT don’t ya? Horrible at school work?,no idea what you truly want to do with your life? Trying to take other people’s goals as your own to help you feel like you’re doing something with your life? Don’t worry your A mood like her and I wish you luck you got this also your might be the 2% of people (in America let’s ingore the Jp fandom) who genuinely like Nozococo (shame on you) or your like a lot of other people and despise it with your very being.

Love/Cure peach: (tbh I was struggling on this one so it’s kinda me reaching with this) you are the biggest lover of characters who has so much faith in one character and is willing to go through absolute hell for them and Love and Setsuna is your fav duo in precure you think Setsuna’s redemption arc is peak fiction you will vouch for this girl to the end of the world and you will make sure everyone hears

Tsubomi/Cure blossom: you have A anxiety disorder don’t you? You love yourself A good “shy girl become cool as fuck” character arc but you also love how she still keeps her compassion for others but knows when to step her foot to the ground everytime she gets someone to listen to her instead of treating her like A doormat you will go rabid and while the classic energetic spunky girl may be cool you appreciate Precure making A shy girl A main character (u prob feel seen don’t ya?) also you are in the Tsubomi and Miyuki split and I will explain in Miyuki’s portion

Hibiki/Cure Melody: if you hear someone say Splash star is the most forgotten season of precure your prob gonna snap I’m guessing u just want to yap about it but so much of the time someone getting into Precure forget it exists you want them to see how fun the show it but they always find something else to watch and it makes you wanna scream (totally not based on one of my moots who is A suite lover)

Miyuki/Cure Happy: here we encounter the Tsubomi and Miyuki path split where you either are A shy girl who constantly gets spoken over and not acknowledged by people outside of your close friends (Tsubomi path) or u pretend to be confident to mask how your truely feel (aka Miyuki) if you are shy person who loves shy characters u are either one of these two

(Adding another paragraph for Miyuki cause I hardly talked about Miyuki herself) to you she such A silly little gal you are one of the many people who would fist fight for this girl she brings your ultra happy in A way no other character could and you prob rewatch smile like A addict when your even slightly sad

Mana/Cure heart: You will defend her from the Mary sue allegations WITH YOUR LIFE you love yourself A magical girl MC that’s is able to handle herself she is isn’t clumsy if she wants or needs something she gonna get it and you know she will she may be brash but she can back it up with sheer competence and even when she struggles you respect her for being able to pull herself together and say “welp it was nice cry anyway let’s kick his ass!”

Megumi/Cure Lovely; in the trenches defending happiness charge most overhated season by far to you able to see the the gem in this show and Megumi despite being A lead that tends to be on the lower end of people fav mcs you will love till the end of time and you were prob screaming at the top of your lungs with her final transformation in the last episode (another hard one since I don’t have much thoughts on her but genuine respect to people who love her)

Haruka/Cure Flora: First off you had A princess phase where it was wanting to be one who just liking them u had A princess phase anyway you love A girl who runs headfirst into her goals u either relate to her and take her motivation to move forward to your real world studies/work or u wish u could be like her also u just think she is really cool u watched go princess precure and u were changed as A person

Mirai/Cure miracle: obvious guess is obvious your either A witch, gay, or both you just love her and Liko’s adventures of being moms to Moforun and Ha-Chan and you deffo cried on the second to last episode you love A girl who is willing to go through it for her family and also love her curious nature which started the whole plot also u prob wish you could have what she and Liko have (also like the first two precure leads u prob have Liko right with Mirai in your favs list)

Ichika/Cure whip: you have the desire to block people who think Ichika isn’t much of A character and u refuse to touch Precure Reddit cause of how much shit they talk about Kira Kira (honestly u should avoid the precure Reddit for many other reasons too or Reddit in general) she is YOUR silly little guy who you just want to squish cause she is JUST SO CUTE and you either are Great at baking or A sweets lover but suck at baking no in between

Hana/Cure yell (imma admit A BIT of projection from me as she is my fav ngl): the final episode made you cry and you truly love the journey she went through and she has affected you in some way,shape or form you relate to her backstory A concerning amount but seeing her be able to come out of that situation A better person than she was much before always brings A smile to your face (also if she ever cheered for you imma guess u would prob start crying)

Hikaru/Cure Star: Sometimes when A character is so silly they just capture you with A hand gripped around your heart you love seeing her making friends with anything she sees and her imagination captures your love more. you also prob adore her mom and love seeing how every bit of her life truly led to her becoming every bit of accepting,loving, and imaginative person she is also your mentally unwell about Lala as well

Nodoka/Cure Grace: you only want the worse for Daruizan you don’t care if he is not badly written you want him dead, your fav type of healin good fanart is ones where Nodoka kicks the ever living shit out of Daruizan, you have gotten the urge to make some people in your life watch healin good because of the lesson of “don’t help the people who hurt you again and again”, you have blocked someone cause they said Nodoka should have helped Daruizan and said she was in the wrong (mood)

Manatsu/Cure summer: you love how she really seems like she do be on crack and you just love how silly she is pure vibes with her as you just love watching her kinda like Miyuki she just makes you super happy and you truly want to see Manatsu drink coffee just to see what type of shit she would get herself into she could prob best goku

Yui/Cure Precious: A defender till the day you die she just A girl who loves eating food and you will fight to her defense your cuteness aggression makes you want to eat her like A riceball

Sora/Cure sky: your fav color is probably blue, you love yourself A hero who can do cool shit even before becoming A cure, you adore Mashiro A totally not normal amount as well, unhinged for those two if you talk about Sora at some point u will gush bout Mashiro for A bit, she just really good such A true hero

Komugi/Cure Wonderful: dog owner and lover (you probably have attachment and abandonment issues like her don’t you?)

[paulisliveblogs]

Hit the nail in the head.

If that doesn't fully count as a fight to her, what does?

Like, do you have physically fight someone?

Maybe it's because Honoka didn't shout back and just agreed with you?

She's holding back tears.

Can't say everything's alright, you messed up but you can apologize. Make things right again, be honest.

Anger. We all say things we immediately regret some time in our lives.

There's the added kick that Honoka agreed. Of course she agreed, what else was there to do? She wasn't fully convinced of it herself and to fight her on that while Nagisa was angry wouldn't have been a very good decision, she might've been further hurt. Even a "is that how you really feel" is way too much of a risk. Insisting is annoying to the other person and feels too pathetic.

Unfortunately, a degree of vulnerability is needed when you want to be a fairly important part of a person's life. Either Nagisa will have to admit she really didn't mean it and she does want to be/regards her as a friend first (and risking Honoka saying that she never considered her a friend, not that she would actually think that) or Honoka has to reach out again and ask if she really meant that because she didn't (and risk getting crushed, again).

It's probably more adequate and probable that Nagisa approaches Honoka with the intention to be friends? Honoka apologized and after getting told that I doubt she's gonna insist with the friend thing because she won't want to bother Nagisa unless it's Pretty Cure business.

Ah, memories. When it's close to winter solstice and you're in an after school activity, you see the sunset in school when you're done.

In middle school I felt this very anxiety inducing.

Please make up.

[xbuster]

ODAJIMA YUKA RETURNS NEXT EPISODE! She was only in one episode before this. Episode 15... 18 episodes ago.

[arienai]

I genuinely love Nagisa's arc with regard to her relationship with Honoka so much. The way in the first episode she hardly knows Honoka at all. In the next few episodes, she does get to know Honoka but she realizes that Honoka is extremely weird and probably not the type of person she'd normally want to hang out with.

But then the show continues. They become friends, on a first name basis. Nagisa begins to accept Honoka's weirdness as a part of who she is. She tells her one night that she'll always be with her, in a stumbling sort of "I'm not sure what I'm saying yet" way. She fights alone through an army of Zakenna to get her back when she's taken away.

This whole time, of course, she's crushing on FujiP. This culminates in her screaming "I love you" out into the ether when thinking of him one night. She then apparently decides is pretty much the end of that matter because what comes after is Max Heart movie 2, which is about her coming to the realization that Honoka is actually the one person who matters the most to her (they both even ski off together, away from FujiP, in the closing shot) and finally in her next important role several years later she declares her love for Honoka and calls her "my most important person in the world" in All Stars Memories.

Her arc literally spans 15 years and all of it is wonderful.

[scarlet-paperbag]

6, Nagihono

"I'm sorry" kiss (I'll do my best writing in english xD sorry in advance for any error) The fight is getting more complicated than expected. Both legendary warriors are lying injured on the ground and struggling to get up once more. They will not be defeated, not on that day. Suddenly, the dark creature attacked them with a huge beam of energy. White closes her eyes and is ready to resist the attack, but said attack does not hit her, instead, Honoka feels something wet against her face. Something warm. When White opens her eyes, she discovers that her dear Black covered her by using her own body as a shield... And what had splashed on her face was her friend's blood. Honoka feels how her soul leaves her body as she watches Black fall to her knees on the floor. Her fury just explodes. Her body moves on its own and with a powerful kick White pushes the monster several meters away. White runs to her friend as her heart pounds with fear. She takes Nagisa in her arms, Honoka feels her eyes moisten with her tears. "Nagisa, you idiot! Why did you do that?" "I didn't want them to hurt you. I'm sorry for scaring you." "What am I going to do if I lose you?" "I'm sorry, Honoka." Nagisa's only reaction is to kiss her softly on the lips. Honoka reciprocates the kiss immediately. A kiss that tells her that Nagisa is still there, with her. A short and sweet kiss. "Let's destroy that monster and go home, okay?" Nagisa's question is accompanied by her fiercest smile and flushed cheeks. Honoka can only nod, relieved, happy and ready to win and go home together.

[vulpiximisa]

my yearly precure ranking because tierlist just isnt enough

futari wa precure - love honoka and nagisa’s dynamic, though i started with later seasons so its really hard for me to watch series where its just two cures. yes they started the series but i really just left the episodes in the backgrounds while doing things instead of watching them (6.5/10)

futari wa maxheart - i had saw a few eps so i didnt finish this so i cant talk about it (-/10)

futari wa splash star - i said that two cure series get kind of boring, and they are when they dont get anything new. i automatically loved saki and mai’s dynamic from the beginning. theyre not clashing or awkward, setting them apart from nagihono but theyre still tight and great partners. they have enough power ups and side characters to keep them going (the kiryuus) and i really loved the finale. splash star is so good and underrated. ngl i did just zone out their cour 2 henshin and power ups because i didn’t like the music or sequences. (8/10)

yes precure 5  - i saw the first few episodes, the character intros and skipped a lot of the in between and only watched the “important” episodes and rin and komachi eps. which is a real shame because i probably missed out on a lot but i didnt like the coconozo and noah fence the transformation and attacks were boring to me (6.8/10)

yes precure 5 gogo - why did i skim past yes5 but watch through all of gogo? simple, Syrup. (simple syrup lmaaao) he was a great addition to the cast, of course i love his dynamic with nozomi and the inclusion of Kurumi was also fantastic because it made Milk more bearable. i also liked the henshins a lot more. a lot of in between episodes are passable but i love the overarching story of getting Syrup to Cure Rose Gard and Eternal’s whole thing and Flora (9.2/10)

fresh precure - wasnt a huge fan of the style but the plot twists with Passion (and the red herring) and Chiffon left a huge impression on me. it was one of my first precure series and im glad it was. i liked the dance themes and the henshins were pretty cool. (8.2/10)

heartcatch precure - ngl i left this for the near end after watching the other series just because of how everyone hyped it up. everything that ppl like? tsubomi being the first not energetic pink lead, erika actually being really cool, the first of itsuki type, an older cure (cure flower, cure moonlight), really cool. i didnt grow up with ojamajo so the art style wasnt bonus points for me. the single episodes of them solving their classmates problems are kind of boring and i usually dont care, unless it was really touching (the one ep of the sister having to be her sisters mother). i also dont like yuri, i know shes troubled and angsty but she was so standoff ish and she didnt even get a good resolution. and whatever the hell dark precure was. (7.8/10)

suite precure - already the music theme and the setting was really nice. (i forgot to mention i liked yes5′s french town setting too) having it be very close to the futari formula where its a duo that need to transform together, also i loved their outfit design, henshins, attack sequences and their power ups. it paced very well. not to mention ellen/seiren turning into cure beat, cure muse being a total fake out, mephisto actualy not being the total bad. the way it ended where its not all black and white, where joy comes sorrow and its a never ending cycle. (8.5/10)

smile precure - this was one of my earlier series, i watched it after finishing gogo, which might have been a mistake because i wanted more of the yes girls and i thought they were the next closest thing since toshie kawamura. which is a big rip because i kept comparing them and it made me not see the smile girls as they were. i didnt think smile had too much of a coherent theme. the oufits and henshin and attacks were great, the singles episodes were entertaining but the overall season and plot, nothing really stood out to me. (7.8/10)

dokidoki precure - i liked the art style for this but i actually hate the cure forms. it started off pretty different, cure sword coming from the other world, and i think she made a better purple/cool/loner character then moonlight. the addition of regina was also fantastic. i came in knowing she wasnt going to be precure, and it was a little disappointing, but i didnt mind aguri/ace and even if she did come out of nowhere, it added to the mystery of where marie ange was and what actually happened to her. how being selfish wasnt just an evil entity but actually part of us. i liked the card suite/royal knights theme here, so thats why i liked it more than the fan favorites (8.1/10)

happiness charge precure - this is the first precure season i watched weekly so i have a soft spot for it. not a fan of the fashion/clothes change but it never bothered me too much. i later realize they were trying to cram too much into hime as a character but i liked the development of the girls as a group. THE SEASON HAD SEIJI. the love triangles were messy as hell but ionas issues were resolved better and she had time to be part of the group, one of the better loner characters. i liked the henshins a lot but the attacks/form changes i didnt care for and certain episodes really dropped in animation quality. (7.6/10)

go princess precure - i originally wasnt a fan of the premise but there was something magical and fairy tale about the asethetic. i really liked the flower doilies reminiscent of revolutionary girl utena (still havent seen it lol) and the “strong gentle beautiful” felt really empowering. i loved the main 3 and how they grew as characters and friends and the inclusion of towa was a plus. kanata, even though he didnt do much was a fun addtion and WE ALSO HAD YUI. (clearly any season with a precure “helper” is good). the animations went hard this season, i think due to independent animators, but i liked the henshin sequences a lot. the ending was also fantastic, again, hope and despair come hand in hand. (9.5/10)

maho tsukai precure -  i was initially very mean to the series, because i didnt care for the witch theme, and it felt kind of messy. i didnt like the cure outfits, or how they felt removed from mirai and riko as characters but ive come to terms with it. the strongest thing about this season was mirai and riko’s bond, and with ha-chan too. i will NEVER get over the last episode. (not counting the send off ep) i dont think ive cried harder from a precure. (8.0/10)

kira kira precure a la mode - i also shot myself in the foot because i had expectations and the season let me down. the lack of hand to hand combat was actually one of them, sorry. i loved precure because we got to see strong girls in cute outfits beating the shit out of stuff. im not going to say this season was childish, its precure. i just thought the theme of sweets didnt mesh too well with emotions? the characters were fine and the sweets are a good selling (literally) points but over all nothing stood out to me other than me being disappointed. sorry i actually reeally dislike yukari, so the akira/yukari did nothing for me. oh, julio/rio/pikario was a lot of fun. rip to anyone who hates ciel because she took the job of befriending the baddie (bibury). the aesthetics were all there, the season just didnt do it for me (6.5/10)

hugtto precure - the theme was more coherent and broad enough but it felt a little wasted when they spent a few episodes and the movie making it a precure anniversary instead of its own thing. you can say the romance was messy but whatever. emiru/lulu was a great change in cast (duo precure thats not the main) and WE CANT IGNORE WAKAMIYA HENRI/CURE INFINI. i wish the outfits themselves were more uniform so they look like a team, cure etoille still has me baffled but i like hana, and a lot of the supporting cast is fun. (8/10)

star twinkle precure - i was never a fan of space but i was hoping the drawing aspect was more prominent. it wasnt but the idea of traveling to different planets really does stretch the imagination. rip me because i didnt care for lala ( thought she was a bit overrated) or yuni (standoffish/tsundre) and madoka was kind of boring (felt like reika/saaya/minami). elena was my favorite but i have to admit that she didnt even get that much developement as a character. the ending was very bittersweet, not to mention the reveal of who they were fighting was really good. really thought the pens were a missed opportunity for form changes that they only used in the movie. movie was gorgeous by the way, but once again im not huge on lala. oh, banging soundtrack though, thank you tachibana asami (7.9/10)

healin good precure - great themes, heal yourself and the earth. love how they did the animal partners, the mascots actually felt like characters. the henshin and outfits were fine too. great growth and character arc for nodoka. the rona cut out a few episodes but i dont think it impacted the series too much. ngl the outfits are fine but after coming from startwinkle it felt a bit plain and i didnt like how the healing stick was both henshin and attack.  (7.2/10)

tropical rouge precure - i was very skeptical about the tropical theme but it turned out just to be there for the energy. i reallyy dislike how theyre trying to sell makeup to middle school/elementary girls. the message of “it gives me a boost” is fine, and “find your own cute”, also fine, but mmmmmmm. ngl i still hate the outfit design. i see what they were doing (sailor collars) but the gloves make it not as cute and flamingo’s fishnet stocking are so mmmmmmm........ thats why la mer and oasis have superior designs. rip to anyone who doesnt like laura because she really was 3/4 of the show. (7.9/10)

so the ranking looks like

gopri (9.5)

yes5 gogo (9.2)

suite (8.5)

fresh (8.2)

doki (8.1) 

splash star / maho / hugtto (8)

tropicure / star twinkle (7.9)

heartcatch / smile (7.8)

doki / hapicha (7.6)

healing (7.2)

yes 5 (6.8)

futari wa/ kira ala mode (6.5)

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 191

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 42 - “Rin and Karen’s Secret Promise” Date watched: 1 June 2020 Original air date: 2 December 2007 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/FiOgssJ Transformation Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/6k6SzS0 Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

Just a couple of gals being pals: part 2

Karen and Rin seem like an odd pair of friends. This has been pointed out before by me, and by the show itself. In a way, they resemble Nagisa and Honoka from the first series, so while they don’t share as tight of a bond as the original duo, they do have a unique closeness in that “opposites attract” kind of way. Today we’re going to explore that a little more!

The Plot

It’s now December so the girls get to decorating Natts House for the Christmas season sale. Everyone contributes in their way to make sure it looks immaculate, but they forgot to get flowers, so Nozomi voluntells resident flower experts Rin and Karen to go get some.

In Nightmare, Hadenya mocks Bunbee for his constant failure and reminds him that failures usually get the Black Paper. (remember this for next episode)

Rin and Karen arrive at Fleuriste Natsuki, only for Rin’s mom to ask Rin to tend to the shop so she can pick up the twins. Since Rin is stuck, she suggests Karen take the flowers back to Natts House by herself, but Karen offers to stay and help as well. Rin doesn’t think she’s up to the task, but Karen proves her capacity when she helps some customers while Rin is tied up with a phone order. Karen impresses Rin with her knowledge, and Rin impresses Karen with her people skills. Since they’ve been gone a while, Komachi begins to worry about them back at Natts House, and Urara fears they may have gotten into another fight over flowers. Nozomi, however, has full confidence in her decision to send both of them together and tells the others not to worry. Rin and Karen continue to work side by side, and at the end of the shift, Karen observes that Rin is really passionate about flowers, in a more tender way than herself, and tells Rin she could do this for a career. Rin admits that while she certainly enjoys helping out at the shop and playing sports, she doesn’t see them as future careers, and she has no real dream for the future. Karen admits to Rin that she’s in the same boat, even though she’s able to apply herself fully to any task, she struggles with identifying an actual long-term goal for the future. They each compliment Nozomi, Urara, and Komachi in their ability to find and work towards a dream so steadfastly. Then, Rin proposes that they make a promise: whenever one of them finds a dream, they’ll tell the other first. Karen agrees and they share a smile. Unknown to them, Bunbee is around the corner and overhears their conversation, silently mocking their shared goal.

A little later, the pair are on the way back to Natts House, each with flowers in tow, when Bunbee intercepts them, turning some falling leaves into a giant leaf Kowaina. Rin and Karen quickly transform into Cures Rouge and Aqua and start to battle the Kowaina but it overpowers them. Bunbee suggests that, since they have no dreams, they are in despair and should join Nightmare to gain more power. They rebuke him and vow to find their dreams someday. They argue back and forth with Bunbee about the validity and importance of hopes and dreams, similar to Nozomi’s fight with Despariah in episode 39, but he manages to kick them around. Nozomi, Urara, and Komachi arrive in time to tell him that their friends would NEVER fall to despair, and they transform into Precure. They kick the Kowaina a few times, but despite being a leaf, it’s very sturdy. They then turn back to the ideological debate with Bunbee, speaking of the important things they’ve learned from their friends Rin and Karen. Mint recalls the tiara that Rin made for the wedding (ep 32) and Milk remembers how Karen took care of her when she was sick (ep 34). Both instances displayed some true passion and sincerity, and it fosters a realization in Rouge and Aqua. They stand back up, newly energized by the amount of appreciation and support that their friends hold for them, and together they perform Rouge Burning and Aqua Tornado, destroying the Kowaina. Bunbee flees.

Back at Natts House, everyone admires the flowers Rin and Karen brought, but there is some latent curiosity about why they brought two different types: cyclamen and cattleya. Rin explains that they both felt two types would be better than just one, and Nozomi is happy about their choice. While the other three are busy, Karen confides in Rin that she may have found her dream, and Rin admits the same. They dance around admitting that it was the others’ strong words that made them realize how happy they felt working for others in the ways they did, and the audience is left to try to piece together exactly what their newfound dreams are for themselves. (don’t worry, we’ll get find out soon enough.) The episode closes on a shot of the flower arrangements.

The Analysis

Rin and Karen are a really fun duo to watch. I honestly do think it’s because they remind me of Nagisa and Honoka a lot. One is a short-haired working class sporty tomboy with feminine interests, the other is a long-haired intellectual from a wealthy family with absentee parents, and both are well-respected by other students. Before becoming Precure, they had little reason to interact, but now they’re friends. Obviously, the team dynamic means their friendships are different, but out of all the pairs of friends in this series, Rin and Karen bear the strongest resemblance to the originals. Regardless, I genuinely enjoy seeing them come closer, admiring and complimenting each other’s work, and opening up to admit that they don’t have dreams yet (another trait they share with their predecessors). Their promise to tell each other first if they find a dream is really sweet, and even Nozomi and Rin don’t have that kind of a friendship. I just love seeing their bond deepen here.

Unfortunately, the villain plot of this episode doesn’t do a whole lot to help, not in my view. I will always stand up for the girls standing up for the importance of hopes and dreams, which is what they’re doing here, but it just comes down to the same argument they had with Despariah a few episodes ago, or with Bloody the last episode: “Dreams are important!” “No they’re not, I’ll beat you!” until the girls prove that their friendship is actually more powerful. The kowaina is quite strange. It’s a giant leaf, but it’s as sturdy as a brick wall, but Bunbee does most of the fighting while the kowaina just stands around. To his credit, Bunbee is a pretty good fighter, with a devastating dropkick that incapacitates both clusters of girls, but fortunately everybody’s support for Rouge and Aqua inspires them to stand back up and finish off the monster. However, this episode also reinforces a running trend that’s been developing over the series, since the reform of Nightmare’s Dream Collet division: their opinion of Bunbee is in the toilet, and his constant losses do nothing to change this. In fact, this is the last time Bunbee will see the battlefield this season, as the next couple episodes will be fought by Hadenya and Bloody, and then Kawarino during the endgame. It was an alright final fight, but he didn’t use the full range of his abilities, particularly his projectiles, which would have been nice to see.

The best aspect to come out of this is that the Rin and Karen do finally start to realize their future dreams. They’re not expressed out loud quite yet, but this is also a 13 year-old series so I’m going to go ahead and reveal that Rin decides to pursue making jewelry and Karen wants to be a doctor. When you look at their past, it becomes pretty clear. Rin has had a penchant for it since she showed off the bracelet maker way back when, while Karen took her first steps way back in episode 6, when she was able to transform by realizing she wanted to help everyone. That’s the spirit she’s carried all season, and now she’s figured out how she can translate that into her goals for the future. I think it’s particularly great how it was choice words from their friends that made them realize what they love doing. Sometimes it takes that external push, people appreciating your passion when you don’t recognize it about yourself. I struggled with that for a long time, and while I knew kind of where I wanted to end up, a friend’s words definitely helped point me in the right direction. It’s good to see Precure do this, and it will be enjoyable to see how these characters grow and develop their dreams from here, over the rest of this season and the next one.

Some minor aspects I enjoyed were in the opening sequence, when they’re all decorating Natts House. Urara is trying to get position some spotlights just right on a display, because as a performer she knows how the right lighting can influence opinion. Komachi sets out a poem of hers intended to greet guests, and she gets flustered when Karen reads it. It goes:

“A holy day, a holy night. What sort of sky lies above you---... Once again, I wander in search Of you in the sea of stars this night...”

translation not guaranteed to be perfect

Also, Nuts is a total Scrooge, grumbling about how he doesn’t see the point of Christmas. Coco says the girls are enjoying it so it can’t be all bad, and Nozomi informs him that it’s a really important holiday for young girls. (Christmas in Japan is a big night for couples to spend time together.)

And the last bit is a little continuity, they use a Pinky named Clearkuman to copy fliers advertising their Christmas sale. This might be the only Pinky to recur, as it was seen doing the same task way back in episode 10. Also, I don’t think I’ve commented on the cards before that they use to summon Pinkies out of the Dream Collet, so here’s a look:

It’s just so transparently a toy, with the barcode and CARD IN on it. This is about the last chance they have to get kids to ask their parents for this big ticket item before Christmas, and then in 2 months the Rose Pact will be the hot new toy to have instead. So it goes.

All jokes aside, this was a solid episode with some characters I love spending time with and seeing grow, both because they remind me of the original pair and because they’re great in their own right. Next time, we turn our focus back to Komachi and her struggles with authorship. Look forward to it, it’s going to hurt.

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 3 kettei!

[aikatsuandprecureconfessions]

I’ve finished futari wa and am only a bit into max heart but I’m becoming so conflicted. I’m starting to dislike Honoka and I genuinely don’t want to. It’s just that I relate to Nagisa so much and it feels like the show is constantly out to humiliate her and some of her struggles hit too close to home for me. Meanwhile Honoka snaps at her sometimes and it’s hard to watch. Honoka gets her moments to be angry while Nagisa doesn’t and plus the fact she’s very rich makes it hard to relate to her.

Submitted by: Anon

[starlight-ascension]

Rollercoasters

Nagisa freaks out and goes on every rollercoaster she sees, especially the REALLY wild ones. She gets on enthusiatically, but when she’s actually on, she proceeds to regret every life choice she ever made. Honoka, meanwhile, is a little more cautious and hesitant, but she goes on every coaster Nagisa drags her to. She also tells Nagisa facts about rollercoasters during the pause right before the big drop, to either make her less scared or way more scared depending on the day/minute. They end up clinging to each other during the whole drop and/or the whole ride whenever the restraints make it possible. 

ミ☆

Karen refuses to go on tame coasters, but also refuses the massive, incredibly crazy ones. Kurumi then proceeds to grin and drag her by her wrists to the biggest coaster in the park. Kurumi does have standards, though (only one upside-down loop, any more and she won’t go on.) By the time they’re at the top of the drop, both are really excited- which quickly turns to terror and regret when they see how far the drop actually is. Screaming the whole way down. 

ミ☆

Love and Setsuna both get incredibly excited over thrill rides. Love points out every ride and enthusiastically runs up to it while Setsuna would probably eventually wind up not being able to find her if they weren’t holding hands. It starts with Love getting her onto crazier and crazier rides, until she sees something MASSIVE and super-crazy and wild and she’s like “nope. Nuh-uh. No way no how. Not doing that.” At which point Setsuna’s like “oh, you chicken! You’re going on it with me, no questions! I triple dog dare you!” and somehow now SHE’S the one dragging Love to every ride in sight. 

ミ☆

Tsubomi and Itsuki are both scared of the big ones (although Itsuki is more willing to go on them than Tsubomi, who runs and hides when she sees a thrill ride) and they would both avoid the massive rollercoasters if it weren’t for a third party with them: Erika. Erika drags them and Yuri to every single ride and forces them to go on the biggest coasters in the park. Itsuki eventually gets into it, and she starts daring Tsubomi to go on the rides with her. Tsubomi is terrified, and screams until she loses her voice and closes her eyes on the whole ride. Then when it slows down before a drop, she opens her eyes thinking it’s over... at which point she sees Itsuki, smiling right next to her, and suddenly she’s not as scared. She starts clinging to Itsuki on every ride. Eventually, when they get off something INSANE and Tsubomi either faints or loses her lunch, Itsuki suggests they take a break from the roller coasters. 

ミ☆

Hibiki was the one who suggested going to the amusement park, and she gets hyped about the rollercoasters- but then she forfeits them in favor of eating everything in sight. It takes Kanade to drag her away from the 10th food place, and she suggests that they go on rides. Kanade wants to start small, but Hibiki runs up to the first ride she sees, which is big and has upside down loops and round and round-type parts and massive drops. After a long wait in line, they finally make it on, and both get REALLY psyched up. They absolutely LOVE the whole ride, whooping and putting their hands up and screaming about how awesome this is. After the ride, they’re both jumping up and down with excitement- and then Hibiki promptly barfs all over the ground. 

ミ☆

Nao is TERRIFIED of the rollercoasters- she sees anything bigger than the kiddie rides and looks like she’s already going to lose her lunch. But the other girls are forcing her onto it, so she has no choice but to go on the rollercoasters, while repeating that she’s going to die during the entire time she’s standing in line. On the rides, she screams until she loses her voice and her teammates think they’re going to go deaf. Reika, meanwhile, is super enthusiastic, and after a few coasters, she drags the team to the biggest one in the park, with upside-down loops and a massive near-vertical freefall drop. Nao sees the coaster and pees her pants a little, before trying to hide. Reika finds her, and tells her not to be scared, it’s just a ride, and rides are fun! Nao says fine, but only if she can hold Reika’s hand. Reika agrees. On the actual ride, they go from holding hands to Nao clinging tightly to Reika. After the ride, Nao says it wasn’t actually as bad as she thought it would be. The girls all look at each other and smile, knowing that Reika being close to her was the reason Nao wasn’t anywhere near as scared as usual. 

ミ☆

Megumi, Hime, and Iona are all hyped over the rollercoasters. They decide to start on the smaller ones and work their way up. Then when they get to the big ones, Hime tries to chicken out, deciding to go get some food along with Yuko, who has been buying from every food stand she can and sharing with the team. Iona tells her there’s plenty of time for food after the rollercoasters, and besides, why would she eat right before going on the Zipper? Hime sighs and admits that she was just scared. The girls end up enjoying the ride without regretting their life decisions. Then, when they get to the REALLY big and scary ones, Iona starts having doubts. Megumi admits she’s scared too, but she’s not suggesting they take a break from the rollercoasters, and besides, Hime got scared but the ride ended up being worth it, right? This motivates Iona to go on the ride, and finally, when the girls go to the biggest ride of them all, it’s Megumi who’s nervous enough to lag behind and quake in fear. At which point Hime drags her. But at the end of the day, the three can all agree that this was the most epic day at the amusement park any of them have ever had. They laugh and high five and congratulate each other on going on every ride without chickening out. Then they finally head to the table where Yuko has been waiting with enough food for everyone. 

[curewhimsy]

I’m gonna start writing my fanfic about my Animal Crossing island 🤔

Here’s the summary I have

———

—PREMISE AND PLOT—

Moondrop Island is a tiny uncharted island somewhere in the northern Caribbean Sea, originally inhabited by only furries—two-legged talking animal creatures! Furries are not found anywhere else on Earth, aside from tiny uncharted islands. A long time ago, furries and humans coexisted. But furries eventually were mistreated. An elder furry with magical powers erased all humans’ memory of them, and they all fled to small uncharted islands, hidden by mystic forces. There were no humans who knew of the existence of these furries, or of these seemingly mystical islands, until a small boat sailing from an island in the Bahamas in got into a shipwreck during what was supposed to be a three-hour whale-watching tour. Everyone on the boat survived, and miraculously washed up on the gently moonlit shores of Moondrop Island 2:00 that morning. Tom Nook takes in the castaways, gives them homes on the island, and lets them pay with a spontaneous form of currency he comes up with—Nook Miles. He offers the Nook Miles as a reward for improving the island. In the meantime, he and everyone else are putting together all their knowledge and trying to build a GPS that can track the island’s location in the world to lead the castaways back home. However, since the furries cannot go back to the human world and show themselves to people, that would mean... they’d have to say goodbye forever...

—CHARACTERS—

Pastell Sugar (Original character (self-insert) Age- 22 Birthday- February 4 Favorite song- My Place Very naive and expressive, animated, eccentric. Can be quite moody. Some may say Pastell is annoying. Pastell’s moods can come in as many “colors” as the rainbow. Pastell is creative and likes to make the mundane things exciting. She also likes to exaggerate things. Pastell likes to create things such as art or decorations, and pretend she’s doing magic in the process. Pastell gets along well with Haku, and Pekoe. Rodeo is her snack buddy. Haku Yowane (Vocaloid) Age- 24 Birthday- November 21 Favorite song- Stale Cupcakes Haku is wistful and emotional, and at times dreary. A bit of a crybaby. Likes music, but is too shy to perform in front of others. She has a plush cat named Snowbell that she carries around everywhere. She gets along quite well with Pastell and Goldie. Haku is a very caring person who likes to help with her friends’ problems. However, she can be hard on herself a lot. She also likes writing stories and poems. Before ending up on Moondrop, Haku’s friends back at home were Miku, Neru, Luka, Kaito, Akaito, and her older brother Dell. Rhona Aequor (Original character) Age- 24 Birthday- March 10 Favorite song- K.K. Bossa Stoic and mysterious. Appears strict, but is misunderstood. Actually a very kind person. A lover of all things related to water and the ocean. A marine biologist. Loves fish and marine creatures. She is very fascinated with Flo and Sly, who are both marine creatures... but as furries. Rhona loves to swim, and is a free-diver. Rhona is calm and collected... usually. She can go nuts about fish and can spend hours at the museum, either looking at fish exhibits, or chattering with Blathers. Back at home, she has a girlfriend, Nagisa. Rhona often thinks and worries about Nagisa, longing to see her again and to let her know she’s safe. Nico Yazawa (Love Live!) Age- 22 Birthday- July 22 Favorite song- K.K. Bubblegum Nico is a dweeb. But she still thinks she’s better than you. Nico is quite self-centered and troublesome. She’s usually the one causing the most drama out of the group. She especially doesn’t get along with Luana... at first, anyway. Nico wants to be the biggest pop-star on the island! (Sorry, Audie.) And soon, the world! But Nico has very bad luck and things keep on getting in her way! Such as tarantulas! Nico actually gets along well with Vladimir, because they’re both too short to be taken seriously. She ends up keeping a talking pet tarantula in her house named Terry. Back at home, Nico’s friends are Maki, Eli, and Nozomi. Rin Hoshizora (Love Live!) Age- 20 Birthday- November 1 Favorite song- Rockin’ K.K. Rin is cheerful, energetic, and the life of the party. She is spontaneous and likes animals a lot. She even has her own catchphrase, much like a furry... it’s “nya!” When Rin discovers furries, and the fact humans mistreated them, she feels angry at humanity. Rin gets along great with Audie. Rin is usually the one throwing all the parties on the island, and organizing the fun sport and game events. She is usually filled with energy. But deep inside, she can be quite emotional. Back at home, Rin’s best friend is Hanayo. Her other friends are Kotori, Umi, and Honoka. Luana Kai (Original character) Age- 23 Birthday- July 7 Favorite song- K.K. Adventure Luana is a fearless, impulsive daredevil. She leaps before she looks, and she’s brave to a fault. She can be obnoxiously brash. She’s also the one who got everyone into this mess... Luana was the captain of the small boat, When the storm came, she refused to turn the boat back. Luana is a huge tomboy and has always dreamed of being a pirate. She likes the ocean as well, and has a intriguing fascination with geography and geology. She doesn’t know a thing about technology, but her knowledge goes to good use with making the GPS. Nico and Luana are rivals. Back at home, her friends she left behind are Umiko, and her older sister Oliana. Teto Kasane (Vocaloid) Age- 21 Birthday- April 1 Favorite song- K.K. Stroll Teto comes off as weird and hyperactive. She likes memes and uses them a lot in conversation. She is often called annoying. However, Teto is an awkward and modest girl who just isn’t that good at making friends. She is often cheerful and likes to help people. She can be clumsy and sometimes doesn’t know what to say and is awkward. Teto has a big appetite and likes to bake and cook, especially sweets. Teto gets along well with Bettina, who understands her well. Back at home, her friends were Gumi, Gakupo, Meiko, Rin, and Len. Octavia Scherzando (Original character) Age- 25 Birthday- October 30 Favorite song- K.K. Fusion Outgoing and charismatic, yet sentimental. The most mature one of the human group. Also the responsible one. The fun “mom friend.” Her hobby is music. She plays the electric bass and piano. She also dances. Rumor has it that she once was a school idol back in high school, but she won’t talk about it. Apparently she also used to sing. But something must have happened, because nobody has really heard her sing either. Can her mysterious past ever be revealed? Octavia gets along well with Shep. She keeps a talking black bass in her house. The fish, not the instrument. Back at home, she leaves behind her close friend Aria, and friends from high school, Hibiki, Ursula, Santana, and Ruya. Animal Residents Furries have the same lifespans as humans, meaning they age the same in years. 18 in human years is 18 in furry years, regardless of the species of the furry. Flo the penguin Age- 23 Birthday- September 2 Flo is a mostly laid-back penguin, though she can have quite a temper when it comes to people being unfair. Her hobby is music, and her style is mostly punk. Pekoe the cub Age- 19 Birthday- May 18 Pekoe is a very kind and sweet bear. She can be a bit timid, and sometimes worries she isn’t that interesting. She is a great listener and sometimes can be quirky. Audie the wolf Age- 26 Birthday- August 31 Audie is a very outgoing and expressive wolf. She can be excitable, and uses a lot of language like “fabulous.” She is unexpectedly very tough and can be a “mama bear,” fiercely protecting her friends in need. Shep the sheepdog Age- 24 Birthday- November 24 Shep is a fashionista, and a bit of a hipster. He’s always on top of what’s cool and unique. He talks in a way that’s almost hard to decipher for people who are unfamiliar to his “brand” of “lingo.” Portia the dalmatian Age- 25 Birthday- October 25 Portia is a glamorous and stylish young lady who loves fashion, and may seem a little self-absorbed at times. She doesn’t judge other people based on looks, however, Sly the alligator Age- 20 Birthday- November 15 Sly is an alligator who loves to play and work out. His favorite sport is football (the kind where you throw the ball and tackle.) He also likes to swim. He is always enthusiastic and raring to go, but is very patient and understanding towards those who can’t keep up with him. Vladimir the cub Age- 28 Birthday- August 2 Vladimir is a grumpy little bubblegum pink bear who is never taken seriously because he is small and cute. He is therefore always angry and annoyed with people. He gets along with Nico because of similar problems. He can be kind when not angered... just don’t call him adorable. Goldie the golden retriever Age- 21 Birthday- December 27 Goldie loves flowers and nature, and loves to be outdoors. She is calm, humble, and polite, but can be angered easily by people who think they’re better than others. She doesn’t really get along well with Shep... Rodeo the bull Age- 22 Birthday- October 29 Rodeo is a laid-back, gentle bull who loves things like flowers, snacks, watching the clouds drift by, and taking naps. He gets along well with Pastell for these reasons. He is very relaxed, but sometimes he likes to work out, at the prompt of Audie. Bettina the mouse Age- 20 Birthday- June 12 Bettina is a chipper, kind mouse who likes cooking. Her favorite foods are pasta dishes with cheese in them. She likes to read books, and her favorites are usually mystery novels or classic children’s literature.

—CHAPTERS AND SUMMARIES— (so far)

Pilot Episode- Luana, working part time as a resort in the Bahamas, was the captain of a small tour boat. Rhona was the assistant captain and tour guide for what was supposed to only be a three-hour whale-watching tour... When they headed for a storm out in the open sea, Luana was reckless and refused to turn back, even though Rhona warily advised her to retreat. All the passengers had a bad feeling about it. Pastell was sitting next to Haku, whom she had just met, and had been having a conversation with her. Nico and Rin had just met, and were sitting next to each other as well. Teto was meanwhile trying to make friends with Octavia, the “mysterious pretty lady” sitting in the shade. Her bouncy and hyper personality repelled most people, but Octavia found it endearing... Now everyone was panicking. The intense storm grew stronger, and eventually flipped over and wrecked the boat once it was out in the open sea. The strong current swept away the parts and passengers to a nearby mysterious island… Looking for Snowbell Shortly after everyone is conscious and brought to safety, there is relief that everyone on the boat had survived. However, thoughts in Haku’s mind are racing, and she’s too ashamed to tell the others why. Haku’s plush cat, Snowbell, which she took everywhere, is missing. When Haku came to, Snowbell was nowhere to be found. Snowbell is extremely precious to Haku, and she cannot be without her. Haku breaks down and tells everyone that she is missing her plush cat, and surprisingly, the she is responded to nicely and is offered help. However, Luana thinks Haku is being a crybaby. At one point Haku is about to give up, crying as she imagines Snowbell floating all alone in the ocean, lost forever. But Luana, who initially said Haku was overreacting, spots Snowbell behind some rocks on the beach. Just then, the tide begins to carry Snowbell away. Luana jumps straight into the rough tide and retrieves Snowbell for Haku, even getting scraped knees in the process. Haku concludes that Luana isn’t so harsh after all. Island Improvement and Nook Miles Tom Nook feels there is a predicament, there are 8 new members of the island ad they have nowhere to go, and they need housing, at least temporarily. They have no money to offer, so as leader of the island, he decides to make up a brand-new system of currency on the spot—Nook Miles. They will be rewarded for decorating and improving the island. In the meanwhile, Nook and everyone have to work hard building houses for the castaways. Meeting Everyone An episode where everyone interacts with each other, and everyone gets to know each other. The story of Furries An episode that tells the backstory of the furries, and lore of the furries. Pastell and Haku’s Mystery Island Tour Pastell and Haku win a Tour on a Mystery Island, and meet Audie, a stray wolf furry alone on an island. Pastell and Haku decide to invite Audie to Moondrop Island. Blathers and the Museum Blathers opens up his museum. Rhona’s marine life account of the island The chapter is told by Rhona’s point of view, as she converses with Blathers, dives in the ocean, fishes, is curious about Sly and Flo (an alligator and penguin furry respectively), and observes the rest of the characters going about their day. Luana’s chaotic account of the island Luana and Rhona decide to hang out. Rhona is down-to-earth and calm and collected. Luana is chaotic, wild, and a loose cannon. Luana always runs and scares the fish when Rhona is trying to catch it. Every. Single. Time. The Mysterious Mia Okuda Nico is a fan of Mia Okuda, the mysterious retired school idol with a frilly-gothic image, long black hair, and a deep, velvety voice. When Octavia first comes into Nico’s room, she sees a poster of Mia Okuda hanging on the wall. (Don’t ask why that was being sold in Nook’s Cranny. I know it makes no sense.) “This is one of my favorite idols.” Nico says. “She’s pretty obscure. You probably don’t know of her.” But what Nico doesn’t know that Mia Okuda is actually Octavia back in high school! Nico and drama Nico causes some drama. Teto thinks Octavia is a vampire Self-explanatory title. Bettina and Rodeo’s cooking show Bettina tries to put on a cooking show. Rodeo eats the ingredients. Shooting Stars There is a meteor shower one night. Everyone meets Celeste and watches shooting stars with her. The next morning, mysterious star fragments wash up on the beach. One fragment starts glowing and goes inside of Snowbell, Haku’s plush cat. Snowbell then comes to life, as a real cat. This is because Haku had wished that Snowbell could come alive. From then on, Snowbell is Haku’s pet. Teto’s birthday Teto celebrates her birthday on the island. The Tarantula Incident Nico is terrified of tarantulas. However, tarantulas unfortunately love her. Nico Yazawa has a huge cult following of tarantulas, as she is the most popular school idol in tarantula society... Nico and Luana also don’t get along at all at first. Nico is a total diva, and Luana is a total slob. Nico uses her Nook Mikes ticket at the same time as Luana, and they have to go to the same island. The island is infested with tarantulas everywhere. (Also, please don’t ask how they can do mystery island tours without a GPS, lol) Nico is terrified. The tarantulas however, adore Nico and want to get her autograph, so they climb on her. Nico screams for Luana to help her. Luana fearlessly pulls out her net and attempts to rescue Nico from the tarantulas by just catching all of them. However, the tarantulas see Luana as a threat and run up to her, biting her simultaneously and knocking her out with their poison. Nico faints from the shock (again), leaving her terrrifying tarantula fans to climb over her and steal her belongings as souvenirs. Nico and Luana are rescued and they go back home. Nico apologizes to Luana and thanks her for trying to save her, and they form a friendship from them on. However, Nico accidentally takes one tarantula back with her. She eventually ends up keeping him as a pet. His name is Terry and he can talk. He becomes like Nico’s sidekick and partner in crime. Nico looks to Terry for advice. Bunny Day Madness Zipper T. Bunny comes to the island and hides eggs everywhere. Madness ensues. Grumpy Vladimir Vladimir is grumpy because he’s small, cute, and pink, and nobody takes him seriously. Dreams of home Everyone becomes wistful and starts dreaming and reminiscing of home during a slow, rainy day. A somber, psychological episode to break the pace. Also we get to see Rhona cry. But not Luana, because she (allegedly) never cries. Octavia goes fishing Octavia is taken fishing by Rhona. Octavia only catches bass. (Gee, wonder why.) Wisp the ghost Everyone is doing a test of courage, when they stumble across a real ghost! However, the ghost is much more afraid of them than they are of it... The town tune panic Everyone fights over what the town tune should be. To compromise, everyone puts two notes of their favorite song and make a brand new song out of all their songs altogether. The end result song ends up sounding like a disaster. It gets stuck in the heads of everyone on the island and drives the population crazy. Bonus: Octavia’s backstory The first of the Bonus backstory chapters. We get to see Octavia in high school as Mia Okuda, and finally find out what event made her stop singing... (SPOILERS: It was because she was publically criticized and humiliated because “her voice was too deep for a teen idol’s.” Then she saw all the memes people made about her voice and became too ashamed to sing, or even listen to herself again for a long time.) Finding my voice again The black bass Octavia keeps in her house begins to talk one morning. It tells Octavia that it’s time. With a little help and guidance, the fish is determined to help Octavia find her voice and start singing again. Octavia is a mess at first, and at one point she becomes even more discouraged than before she started, convinced she lost the ability to sing forever, and now there’s even proof. She runs out of her house and sits on a bench, distraught. Flo comes up to her, in a good mood, offering half of her corn dog. Octavia can no longer hide her emotions and starts sobbing. When Flo asks what’s wrong, Octavia tells her everything. Flo ends up giving Octavia sage advice. “Each song is kinda like a journey. When you sing, just pretend you’re the heroine.” Octavia returns to her house, with a new determination inside her. She starts singing again, for the first time in eight years. Nico is walking outside. She’s feeling glum because her ice cream dropped in the pond, when she hears a powerful singing voice that’s undeniably the voice of one of her favorite idols... She runs straight into Octavia’s nearby house to tell her, “Oh my gosh! Mia Okuda is on the island! I hear her singing!” When Nico realizes Octavia was singing, the pieces finally click... Octavia was Mia Okuda all along! Nico faints dramatically and theatrically. Idol Madness With Nico realizing one of her favorite idols was on the island, she feels so tingly, but also overshadowed. Audie also wants to be an idol, so Nico already has competition. Not only that, but Haku is aiming to be some sort of musician of some kind. But she’s so shy that she doesn’t show her face much anyway. But with all the talent on the island, Tom Nook suggests everyone should share their talents in an upcoming talent show and dance party night! The Island’s Talent Show Dance Party Night! All day, everyone is getting ready and looking forward to the island’s big shiny event. Haku’s stage fright Haku has stage fright about performing her music. What is Pastell’s talent? Everyone on the island has such talent. Everyone has their music, Bettina can cook, and Sly can lift weights. Even Rodeo can eat five ice cream cones in under a minute... without getting brain freeze! It seems everyone on the island has some sort of talent... except for Pastell. Just what is Pastell’s hidden talent? Moondrop Fame With all the talent and recent development on Moondrop, word got out to K.K. Slider that the island was one to look out for... to the point where he called, scheduling an appearance! K.K. Slider’s Grand Appearance! K.K. Slider finally appears and gives a performance. Goodbye, Pekoe? Pekoe plans to move away from the island, back to her home with her old family...

[venus-says]

Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart Movies

Am I too late for the Oscars?

And we close the Futari wa rewatch with the movies for Max Heart. I wanted to post about these movies on my posts for Max Heart but for logistic reasons I couldn't, but I'm glad I watched these after the fact because it felt like a sweet treat after wrapping up the TV show. Also, it turns out I had more things to say about these movies than I thought I'd have so it's good that it happened like this.

Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart: The Movie

So, our first-ever Precure movie is... pretty damn bland. I'm not sure if it is because it's the first precure movie and they didn't really know what to do with it but was very boring at times. The plot wasn't good, the movie exclusive characters were completely uninteresting, and the performances of some of their VA's were doing a pretty bad job. I know I'm no one to judge but like, the queen of the Garden of Hope sounded robotic as hell, it was pretty uncomfortable to listen to her speak.

I think the only thing this movie has going for it is the action that it's pretty damn good throughout the entire movie, even in that super short first fight right at the beginning it was very cool to watch. My problem here comes from the fact that the power level felt really unbalanced, the Dark Witch felt way overpowered for them since the beginning they fought her or her minions around 4 times and the only time the precure had a victory was in the final battle so that felt really not well planned.

Another thing that shows a lack of planning is the fact that Luminous was completely shafted during this movie, and I get that by the time the movie was released only 10 episodes of the anime were out and Hikari was a part of the team for only 5 episodes or so, she was still very new and the crew could be reluctant of what to do with her, but still, she shouldn't have been left behind like that.

This was a very subpar movie and, aside from the girls' very pretty party dresses and the ending song, I didn't get a lot of enjoyment out of this movie. Thankfully this isn't the only movie under Max Heart's belt.

Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart The Movie 2: Friends of the Snow Sky

THIS MOVIE. IS ONE OF THE BEST PRECURE MOVIES OUT THERE. FOR SURE.

I know it's a bold statement to make, especially considering how early in this series I am, but honestly, this movie is just amazing. I watched it twice before writing this and I was a crying mess after both times. They probably learned from the first movie because they changed pretty much everything for this time around. You can say that the plot that makes this movie possible is just a copy and paste from Nagisa and Honoka's fight from Season 1, and despite hating seeing Nagisa being jealous of Honoka with Fujipi because that makes no fucking sense, I don't really mind that this is a reheated plot because what they do with it it's pretty damn awesome.

And I think here is where this movie completely overshadows the first one, because on top of having a good plot, and great animation and fighting scenes, this movie also has a theme and it works with this theme in both sides of the story. Both in Nagisa and Honoka's path and Hikari and Hinata's path the theme of friendship is touched and developed upon, and the culmination of it at the end is two great messages that I wish other shows focused on friendship would pass on more often, the first one is the message that friends can have fights and arguments aren't the end of a true friendship, and the second one is the fact that you can be friends with someone even if you're not together all the time. I feel like every time when I talk about something where the main focus is friendship I always have to bring up these two points up and y'all are probably tired of reading me say this, but there are points I really believe in and I feel like more often than not shows aimed at kids will go with the easy route and don't touch on these elements that to me are crucial.

Another great thing about this movie is the villains. Freeze and Frozen by themselves are whatever, you know? There's nothing much special about them, what makes their presence be so great is the fact that they're a duo that is in complete synchrony that is going head-on-head against another duo that is going through a hard time to keep their combo as strong. Again, it's not a completely new concept, but in this situation, it is done so well that it doesn't matter if it's a somewhat overused trope because what we get from it is a very strong and emotional conflict for these two characters that we love and hold dear.

This leads me to my next point, the Black vs White fighting scene. This was just as cool as I remembered, we have a lot of AMVs of this fight for a reason, but the scene wasn't just that, it also was VERY EMOTIONAL. Seeing these characters that I really love, that have a very good friendship, going against each other so aggressively and not holding back, and on top of that doing it not because they were being controlled but because that was a feeling that they already had in their hearts it's very strong, and it hits very hard. Seeing Black's efforts to not hurt White and a few moments later see her heart being "frozen" just as White's start to melt it's an image that's still encrusted in my mind and it'll probably stay here for quite a while. And especially when you consider their reconciliation scene that happens right after it, seeing them being honest with each other and literally raising from the bottom of a cave to above the clouds it made me realize just how much I care for them and I want them to be well and happy forever because they deserve it. It was truly special.

Another thing that this movie excels over the previous one is in how they use Hikari, she still doesn't appear as much as Nagisa and Honoka, but she has an actual journey in this movie. She starts meeting up with Hinata and she follows this path actively through-out the movie, even in situations where she knows she's she wouldn't succeed in combat she still was brave enough to go there and be an active part in this story. And this culminates with her, still in her indecisiveness about who she really is, giving a speech that makes her look like a true Queen and also serving as the sound of the reason that gives the message about friendship for both Pollun and Hinata on a very emotional scene that hit really hard in my heart.

Speaking of Hinata, she and the crew from the Garden of Clouds were way better characters than the guardians and the royal family from the Garden of Hope. I love how from her connection with Hikari she kinda sacrifices herself for the sake of saving Black and White despite having her bickerings with Nagisa because she wanted to name her something stupid. I also like that the "let's all give our power" moment wasn't used to help the precure but to bring Hinata's powers back and with Luminous' aid help her fully grow to the magical phoenix she was meant to be, I think they should've done more of this for the movies rather than Miracle Lights that grant new powers in a pinch.

And to conclude this review let me talk about the Phoenix forms. They are amazing, they look beautiful and very powerful, the way they fight while on it is very graceful, and its a way better power-up than the lazy gold forms they got on the other movie, and again the reason for this particular power-up happening is also very meaningful and it helps to have a way more memorability.

Putting it short, skip the first movie, watch the second one. Friends of the Snow Sky is a true masterpiece and a great movie that makes justice to the season it belongs to. So, what are your thoughts on the Max Heart Movies? Have you watched them recently? Let me know in the comments. Thank you so much for reading till this far, I really appreciate it. I'll see ya folks later, bye~

[entamewitchlulu]

cure black and cure white 19 ?

19. for luck

Nagisa stumbled to a stop at the buzzer — she wanted to drop to the ground, but she couldn’t do that, the captain couldn’t show just how upset she was!  Groaning, she wiped at the sweat on her face with the hem of her sleeve, shaking out her sweaty hair as she shifted her lacrosse stick to the other hand.  Her eyes tried not to catch on the scoreboard, but she already knew what it said — one half down, and they were already down by five points.  Could they even bring it back this time?

“Nagisa!”

One of the underclassmen ran up to her, looking worried.

“Nagisa-senpai, I’m so sorry, if I hadn’t missed that pass...”

Nagisa felt sick to her stomach.  But she smiled anyway, gripping the girl’s shoulder.

“Hey, don’t look so glum!” she said.  “We just have to work a little harder.  We’ll get them in the second half!”

The other girls were jogging over to them now.  Shiho looked particularly upset, gripping her lacrosse stick so tightly Nagisa thought she might break it.

“What should we do, Nagisa?” Rina asked, looking concerned.  “They’re really good.”

Nagisa’s throat tightened, and she grit her teeth.  She couldn’t quite meet anyone’s gaze — that was a great question, because what should they do??  Oh, she was the absolute worst captain!  All she could think of to say was to keep their spirits up and keep trying...she couldn’t think of anything specific...

“Nagisa!”

The voice didn’t come from her team, so Nagisa blinked, turning around to find where it was coming from.  Her heart jumped a little when she saw Honoka in the stands, waving her arms back and forth.

“I’ll be right back!  Hang tight and get some water!” Nagisa said.

She hurried over to the edge of the railing before anyone could protest.  Honoka leaned down over the railing towards her — she was a little high up, but not too far that Nagisa couldn’t reach her.

“What’s up?” she asked, panting.  “Do you have any secret strategies to share?”

“No,” Honoka said, leaning lower and gripping the railing so that she wouldn’t slip over the edge.  “I just thought maybe you needed a good luck charm.”

Nagisa flushed.  They were right in front of everyone!  But...

She smiled, and reached up on her tip toes.  Honoka leaned down even further.

Briefly, their lips touched, and Nagisa closed her eyes a moment, sighing.  She felt her heart rate drop all at once, calm washing through her.  Honoka beamed at her when Nagisa popped back down.

“Thanks, Honoka!” Nagisa said.  “I’m all charged up!”

“Good luck!” Honoka called, as Nagisa bolted back to her team.

[paulisliveblogs]

She was. I like Honoka and know that she's not the best at socializing but she fucked up.

Her exposing Nagisa's desire to talk with Fujipi was mortifying for her. She didn't think about what Nagisa would feel if she revealed that, because otherwise she wouldn't have said it because Honoka is fond of Nagisa and wants her to be happy. She's not malicious but it seems that she's not very sensitive to what people would prefer to not share either.

Wrong move, she won't be receptive to you right now.

Best thing is to apologize, get out of her sight for now and talk later.

Now that's a lie, I saw how happy you were initially when Honoka told you she would go to your matches.

People will say things that they don't really mean when they're angry.

A worse thing one can do is to say awful but true things when angry. You regret it later but can't truly take it back.

Poor Honoka, she was hoping in spite herself and gets crushed like this. Two people close to her, the only ones close to her, who she trusts, were saying Nagisa was her friend. Honoka doubted this, but she was really happy about the idea of getting another friend, she enjoys Nagisa's company.

The deafening sound of the train, then silence.

She'll agree with this, easily, after all she really unsure about this herself.

Doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt.

No, she's not, he's just angry, give her time and space.

[miyoron]

Miyo’s Anime of the Decade though Actually Just 2019

***Before I start this list, I would like to continue to send out good vibes and hope to all those affected by the Kyoto Animation arson attacks this past summer. It still hurts and I hope things can get better for everyone affected by it, even though I'm sure some things will take a long time to heal, if they ever will. Just know that you will always have me wishing you the best I can and sending out hope for you to recover at your own pace.***

I like writing these things every year. Whether it lets me know if my tastes are changing or staying the same, or if I'm just sentimental, writing about things I like is fun. Anime is good and I like watching it. I watched a good amount of stuff this year even if some seasons I couldn't find anything I say would fit this list.

For example, I started watching the Symphogear series and it's fun but I wouldn't say I liked it as much as any of these shows. Anima Yell is a very cute show but I didn’t have much to say about it, same for Aggretsuko again. I liked the main characters of JoJo part 5, but I wouldn't say I liked watching that, especially as the villain was revealed more and more. Fire Force was fun for me for like 5 episodes or so but then I bailed so take that as you will.

But I don't want to sound too mean here. No, this is for stuff I liked a lot and I wanted to write about things I enjoyed. This year I actually kept track of shows I liked as opposed to figuring out what I'd go on this list at the last moment. Crazy, I know, but this could be a good idea. Don't worry, I didn't take TOO many notes so this will be pretty off the cuff of my head like normal though I'm sure. As always, I will be using whatever title is easier for me to write/preference.

With this bit of text out of the way, let's la GO!  In no particular order (as always)...

Mob Psycho 100

This entry counts for both season 1 and season 2. I kind of sped through the first one a little so I could catch up in time for the second one. I feel it stuck with me just as much though. Mob Psycho is a solid action series with very silly things going on in the background of it...and foreground honestly). I suspect ONE is very good at making this sort of series. Honestly though, every character in this show is great and there's so many feel good moments. Mob  himself is a wonderful character. The most powerful psychic force in the universe but he just wants to get buff to go out with his crush.

There's a lot to like about this series. The humor is on point and anything with Reigen is going to be hilarious, especially if it takes a while. Animation is consistently top notch, especially in season 2, and I love the psychic effects. They end up looking like an old 90's video filter or trapper keeper or something. However, the most impressive thing this series does is show that maybe fighting isn't the way to do things all the time and that the most important thing you can show isn't just sympathy, but empathy.

Mob is a really good show and both of the OVAs are fun as heck. I dunno why I originally slept on Season 1, but I'm glad I came aboard.

Kaguyasama: Love is War

You probably know this one from that one ending with the pink haired girl dancing, that was going around for a while even though it was only for one episode. This series actually took me a little bit to get into mainly due to being WAY too tired to keep up with it. The set up being that the smartest boy and girl in the most elite high school both want to ask the other out. However, being the one to ask the other out would be to give up all power and admitting defeat. Basically it's a battle of two love struck idiots trying to get the other to ask them out.

As dumb as that sounds, the setups are often hilarious. Seeing the main characters trying to out scheme each other and keep a straight face while watching is a challenge in itself. It's like that 4th dimensional chess but the end result is seeing who will hold the other's hand first. Then throw in the wild card of Chika who seems to both not know what's going on while understanding how easy it is to end up on top in these battles and...look it's very funny ok? Even if sometimes the joke is just "weiner".

Shows that made me tear up count: 1

Kemurikusa

Similar to the Kemono Friends and its big gold star award, I felt like Kemurikusa deserved a shoutout this year. It's still janky like Kemono Friends before it, but after everything that went down with that series, it was definitely telling when this was the better of the two. This is a weird series and only some of that is due to the animation. The studio does a wonderful job of making a world that's both interesting and haunting at the same time. Everything that happens all ties to a big mystery that isn't revealed for quite a while.

The characters are fun enough. From the serious Rin to the caring Ritsu. From the voracious Rinas to the dweeby Wakaba. It's a fun cast going on a road trip throughout the apocalypse as they try to find good water for their big plant friend that drives around their husk of a bus. It can get pretty dark at times even with the neon bright colors the titular kemurikusa shimmering softly in the background. Oh also there's a roomba friend and a girl with sharp teeth so I mean, it's got something for everybody.

Hitoribocchi

This series is a cute little show with a setup which is potentially mean if you think about it. Bocchi's best friend is afraid she won't ever be able to make any other friends since they're going to different middle schools. Because of this, she says they can't be friends again until she befriends everyone in her class. The biggest hurdle to this challenge being Bocchi is horribly shy and socially awkward which just makes things seemingly impossible for her to overcome. Luckily, this is a cute comedy series.

The show is basically about Bocchi trying to make new friends so she can hopefully one day reunite with her bestie from the past. As I said before though, she's kind of bad with knowing how to communicate with people so she has a bad habit of say following friend making tips she read in books or online to a t and not deviating from them. Thankfully she is able to meet with lovable weirdos like blunt Nako, pitiful Aru and ninja girl Sotoka. It's a cute little series that also has a lot of heart, especially if you've ever had to overcome your own social anxieties to interact with others before. It's also funny too so there's a bonus even.

Shows that made me tear up count: 2

Carole and Tuesday

Shhhh. Don't let Netflix know I finished this before they did. Carole and Tuesday is a fun show from the creator of Cowboy Bebop, as evidenced in the fact it takes place on Mars and uses the same currency. It's a fairly simple plot, two girls meet up one day on the streets and start playing music together. One's an orphan who's basically lived alone for most of her life, the other is a rich girl running away from her politician mother (whose politics are a little too close for comfort these days). They just wanna make music man, and with a former big time agent with them, how can they lose!

Carole and Tuesday are fun characters and the show has a fun future sci fi vibe while still being grounded in reality. One of the biggest highlights is definitely the music though with lots of new songs in every episode and a good number of them being certifiable bangers. There's an overarching plot that also hits too close to home at times but the big finale at the end made it all worth it in the end really. This is an easy show to recommend and I am doing so to you right now. Go see these girls trying to make it to the big time!

Shows that made me tear up count: 3

Fruits Basket (2019)

I skipped out on Fruits Basket the first time around. I always told myself I'd go back and check it out but, knowing how I do things, this never actually happened. Part of me is kind of glad I waited to check it out though since I really like the style of the new show compared to the one from the early 00s. What I'm saying is I should have checked this out a lot earlier than I did but I don't feel visually bad for doing so.

Fruits Basket is a show featuring Tohru, the most helpful lovable girl, and a cast of characters who all start to love her because she is the most helpful lovable girl. This might sound like a bad thing but it's not. All of the characters are really fun, save one who I don't know WHY they don't just beat up, and I love seeing all their interactions. I just grew really invested in all of them and keep hoping everything will end up ok for them in the end, while in some cases waiting for a really big shoe to drop and biting my nails in the process.

I dunno if I have a super bunch to say about it other than my favorites are Uo-chan and Hana-chan and I can't wait until part 2 shows up. I am ready to see more of these Zodiac weirdos get hugged by Tohru and become animals and have her solve their problems in that order.

Shows that made me tear up count: 4

....Now, as usual, I will take a break to talk about the Precures I watched this year...

Futari wa Precure

This year, my friend Cheapsteaks and I decided to go after the OG Precure scene by watching the series that started it all. School girls run into fairies being pursued by weird monsters from another dimension/world/whatever and have to become legendary warriors to help them out. It's a story we all know well, just with lots of dropkicks and judo tosses.

As much as I like Honoka and Nagisa, and the opening theme...Futari wa has a lot of growing pains which is to be expected. Being the first one, it feels more like other magical girl series of the time compared to the style of later Pretty Cure series. From the rather uninspired villains, including one named Pissard, to the bland crush of Fuji P-senpai, and especially the obnoxious fairies, this is definitely one of the weaker series in my eyes. Again, it's probably not fair to judge it though since they didn't know what they were doing yet with this series.

That being said, there is a dumb fun to watching the Crunchyroll subs for a nostalgic taste of hard yellow subs and often not great audio. Again, the best parts of this are Honoka and Nagisa and I can see why they still get to be super popular today.

Smile Precure!

The other older series we checked out this year was Smile Precure which is much more my speed. The characters are all really good and they're all super good friends and it just makes me feel good. Like just in general they'rea really good and strong cast and I love all of them. Reika/Cure Beauty is the secret funniest character just by being the straight man on a team of doofuses and it works so well.

Miyuki's desire to make everything around her "Ultra Happy" just makes you feel good seeing a character who just wants others around her to be as happy as she is. All she needs is a smile and that makes me also smile. Akane is fiery and powerful, Yayoi is a big sweetie whose artistic trials and tribulations I SUPER identify with, Nao is a super cool big sister and I already brought up Reika being great. This is really one of my favorite Precures I've watched so far and I'm going to be sad to see it go in a few weeks.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention that I love the stupid villain trio. Especially Akaoni. I love you big red oni doofus. (Please see oni times in the link below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXA5jfSJz_c&feature=youtu.be

Shows that made me tear up count: 5 (ANY NAO EPISODE AAAA)

Star Twinkle Precure

The newest Precure series! One we also dragged fellow anime friend Metalray into and I feel like it was a fun enough one. Cute alien encounters trying to help space zodiac princesses with a fluff unicorn and a tentacalien? Sign me up my dudes. Star Twinkle is a fun series and has a lot of things going for it, while also having weird similarities to Smile sometimes like soccer related attacks from good big sisters and prim and proper arrow girls.

The characters as always really make the show I feel when it comes to Precure and Lala is adorable enough to carry it entirely herself? But the enthusiasm of Hikaru is always fun because it usually just involves her being really into outer space and everything in it. Hey there's even Elena who is Mexican-Japanese and the show even explores a bit of her growing up being different from others so like, that's pretty cool I think? If it helps little kids learn to accept others and be cool through lil hermit crabs and dog space police officers, I think that's a real good thing.

...Now Precure time is over but I'm looking forward to next year's offering and seeing what old ones we go after next. (Spoilers, we will probably do Max Heart and Fresh!)...

How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift?

So this series has some problems in that like...wow sometimes during the exercise segments of the show, it just gets way too horny like...I dunno if I needed to see sensei in nothing but a bedsheet to show off how she worked her lats fellas. But I digress.

The main reason this show is on here is because it affected me enough to actually look at myself and start wanting to become healthier? Like the show is just a framing device for jokes and showing off exercise routines but the characters are all really sincere and the translation of the opening is even moreso? Like I feel this show helped me out a lot and I'm gonna let you all know about it cuz maybe it can help you out too if you need it.

I don't have a whole lot more to say but I will leave you with the opening I mentioned. Turn on the captions for this banger and remember that you can do it too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxi2Y4-NNXY

Wasteful Days of High School Girl

Hey, so can I say something amazing? Much like Asobi Asobase last year, this series was a very weird comedy that I absolutely ended up loving a lot in the end. The cast is full of delightful idiots, one aptly named Baka by her friends being the standout moron of the cast. The title pretty much says it all but you will find all sorts of high school girls here just wasting their youth away in their favorite ways.

You want a girl who draws BL doujin while listening to vocaloid tracks? We gotchu. What about a girl who is more invested in micro organisms in Petri dishes than her friends? Yo, we're set. A dipshit chuuni who climbs on top of absolutely anything tall and regularly needs to be rescued/leap out of trees because of it? Yea, that's here too. The show is not afraid to be weird any chance it gets and there's something I can respect about that. This series also had one of my number one laughs in an anime this year in one of the last episodes too and it still makes me laugh as I recall it right now.

Also like Asobi Asobase, it has the plus of having a lovable witch girl who is as pure as she is into weird occult shit. Majo you're a sweetie. Even if your room is creepy.

The Demon Girl Next Door

This show feels like something that should have come out about 5 years ago in terms of animation style, story set up, characters and even the jokes. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing though because not only is it pleasant and cute, it also knows when to step back from teasing its unfortunate main character. Shamiko, the demon girl formerly known as Yuko by everyone who isn't her family, is a kind of pitiful character and this series could easily just make jokes that punch down and humiliate her way more than it did.

Thankfully, the show actually does it's best to show that she is comic relief but also that she is genuinely a good person. She's not very good at being a demon as she is still learning so maybe she gets easily tricked by resident blase magical girl Momo more than she should. However, she will go out of her way to make sure her rival is eating more than the crappy instant food she frequently microwaves. Like I said, it's ultimately a silly, kind of dated feeling series but the character interactions are nice and it's just genuinely good

hearted to see these girls become friends, even if sometimes it's due to trickier. The show makes sure not to be mean at all times to Shamiko compared to say Satania in Gabriel Dropout's treatment, or the snake girl in that Dropkick show I dropped after one episode. Shamiko is good and hopefully one day she will be able to use her demon powers to rule the world so her family can have a bigger, non cursed, budget to live on.

O Maidens in Your Savage Season

Puberty is hard. Puberty is also maddening, wanting to drive you up the wall with new urges you are not used to. Simple joys like trains are replaced with weird videos you order off websites or somehow get from the back of a video store. Puberty is an inherently frantic time but it's also kind of funny if you think about it enough.

Maidens explores the tales of the Literature Club members as they go through this important stage of life and that's the fun of this series. All of the girls are each trying to find out exactly what it is they want out of a relationship. Is it just friendship? Is it Ess Ee Ecks? There's a lot of fun to be had as the series goes on. Whether it be Kazusa trying to get a bit further with a childhood friend, President Rika questioning her stance on relationships being even proper to have in high school or the writing adventures of HItoha going to sex chatrooms, there is a lot of different things going on in this show.

It's got a very good sense of drama as well; there were more than a few episodes where I found myself worried about what would happen next and hoping things would be ok. Niina's arc is very intense and gave me creeper vibes any time her old mentor appeared. The show is very good in general at just showing emotions and none of it felt like it was shoehorned or phony. The writing is top notch and I love all these girls. Puberty is a weird time but...they got this I'm sure.

Here are a couple of other shows I watched that didn't come out this year but enjoyed a lot!

SSSS.Gridman

Thank God Trigger was able to come back from its previous offering to give us Gridman. At first I was afraid that all of its Transformers color scheme easter eggs were just trying to lure me in with a mediocre show. This was not the case because Gridman just rules hard. A sequel/spinoff to the old 90's series, localized here as Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad, this show was a love letter from the creators to the show and other tokusatsu shows in general.

Kaiju appear to devastate the city, shown from low angles that just make it seem even more like you're watching an old toku show. The toyetic nature of Gridman's various powerups and the design of Gridman himself just further pay homage to this. There was one Kaiju for a moment I swear you could see a string operating it (for the record, it was not a string but was in fact part of the Kaiju). It's not just a cheap nostalgic trap though because the animation is superb, the action is top notch and the main theme song just kicks ass. This is a really cool series and if you have any passing interest in toku shows, are a Trigger fan, or like seeing Actionmaster Thundercracker's color scheme, go and check this thing out!

Other highlights include another version of Inferno Cop and Rikka's mom who is always fun and good.

Dirty Pair (TV series)

Dirty Pair is a series I watched a good chunk of before but never actually finished. Thanks to the #DirtyDecempair hashtag though, I finally went and did it and well...Dirty Pair is still really good y'all. It's got space babes who kick ass and are not afraid to go after hunks along the way. Seriously, it's great when you watch a show older than you and it lives up to its hype.

Kei and Yuri are really good characters because they will snipe at each other but in the end, they are still besties and will mess up anything that gets in their way. I appreciate that they always try to get more PTO and pay out of their boss. Even more, I appreciate that the chief will put up with all their shit, whether it be the aforementioned blackmailing for vacation or the sheer amount of destruction they leave in their wake,  and still is 100% behind them. He knows they're the best he has and nothing will get in their way.

So yea, Dirty Pair. Still a good show over 30 years later. You should check it out next December! Or sooner, whatever!

That abut wraps up my list of anime I watched this year, but I'm also gonna throw a little bonus round on you! Some anime movies I watched and liked! Lightning round go!

Promare Good fucking movie, good fucking soundtrack. Good Trigger things this year. It lives up to its hype for sure. Go see this when it is out on DVD and Bluray!

Sound Euphonium - Our Promise: A Brand New Day This was a nice movie that felt like a good third season condensed into about 2ish hours.

Love Live! Sunshine!! The School Idol Movie: Over the Rainbow I actually like the music from this one more than the movie itself but seeing Ruby's arc gaining confidence is good and I love it.

Bonus Saint Snow Track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUNNWxK2Dfs

Redline A movie I kept meaning to see and finally did thanks. Stylish and cool as hell, and the dub is really good too.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly They made Broly a compelling character finally, holy shit. Also some good Frieza comedy.

KonoSuba! Legend of Crimson Imagine a village full of dipshit chuuni wizards. This movie was fun and funny as shit. Warning: It does have one awkward joke related to gender but it thankfully passes by it real quick.

So I think this is my list. I hope you enjoy it. The next time you'll see one from me will be in the distant future of 2020! Hopefully things will be cool by that point to go with the good anime.