Good thing Snow White has a better sense of direction than Prince Raj does.

There’s an alternate universe where this is a terrible episode of anime, where Raj is an insufferable prig who tears at the comfy sweetness of Snow White like a cheese grater. Fortunately for us, we live in a universe with BONES animators and Fukuyama Jun, who know how to ride the fine line between annoying and hilarious with sympathy and wit. So, while this might not have been the most graceful or subtle of episodes, it still wound up being a pretty entertaining one. Sometimes it’s nice to live in this universe, doncha think?

Obligatory Scenery Porn: “Yup, Tanbarun is Real Perty Too” Edition.

This week in diplomatic relations, Raj struggles to be a good host to his guest and fails miserably. His arrogance and bravado mask a deeply insecure and fearful, even paranoid, young man, and he’s as terrified of Shirayuki’s opinion as he is of how Clarines might react if this week doesn’t go well. Desperate to earn her approval, he offers to take her to the palace greenhouse, but the pair (and Obi) spend most of the episode wandering around lost in Tanbarun’s underground tunnels instead.

Shadowing them are Raj’s younger siblings, the twins Rona and Eugena, who have also inherited the family traits of impulsiveness and aversion to danger, respectively. In terms of plot, they eventually help the group escape, but more importantly they provide a sounding board for Raj to vocalize his (muddled) feelings about Shirayuki. They also give the audience a reference point, as Rona’s surprise at Raj’s apology tells us what we already suspected: It’s a long, slow process, but he really is trying to become a more courteous and empathetic person.

The episode’s central location—the labyrinthine tunnels below Tanbarun Castle, loaded with surprise traps, dead ends, and soggy tunnels—is a clear visual representation of Raj’s own mental state and his relationship with Shirayuki. No matter how many times he snaps confidently and marches forward, it’s obvious he has no idea what he’s doing or where to turn next, and that despite his best efforts to tread carefully he keeps bungling his way into danger.

It’s also here, away from the prying eyes of the public, that these two people of wildly different social standing are able to speak their minds and meet as equals. As amusing as Raj is from an audience perspective, he’d be unbearable if you actually had to spend time to him, so I spent half the episode giggling and the other half begging Shirayuki to yell at him (she has the patience of a freaking saint). And, when Raj admits he’s convinced Shirayuki is just here to rub his incompetence in his face, she finally, finally, does.

Uh, d’you want me to answer that? ‘Cause…

In addition to that saintly patience, Shirayuki’s great strength (or maybe weakness, politically speaking) is that she’s able to meet every person as a person, regardless of their rank, age, or history. She’s been carefully supportive and polite throughout her time in Tanbarun, trying to play the part of the courteous commoner-guest, but when Raj drops his mask she does as well, snapping at him that she wouldn’t be here if she didn’t think there was some chance they could change their relationship.

The blocking here neatly describes the pair’s positions: Raj may technically be elevated above Shirayuki, but that’s just an accident of the landscape; she’s the one standing straight and tall while he’s crouched like a vassal swearing fealty (or someone trying to hide from a threat). Hidden from the public and no longer bound by their expectations, the two are at last able to come to an understanding of sorts. Small wonder that they then immediately find a way out of their gloomy maze and back into the sunlight.

I’m not sure if Raj really does have romantic feelings for Shirayuki, but it’s obvious that her actions—in particular the fact that she’s the only person around him who actually tells him when he’s making an ass of himself—have affected him profoundly, forcing him to reconsider the way he governs and treats others.

By the end of this episode, he may have started moving from fear into respect, which should help him calm that overbearing need to seem “regal” in front of her. Whether that will lead to a proper friendship has yet to be seen, but it should help the two hold an actual conversation over tea, at least.

*facepalms into next week*

On the other side of the story, Zen is trying to balance his search for Kazuki with his princely duties, which leads to both a cameo from Kihal (whose messenger-birds just may come in handy in the coming episodes) and a moment for Mitsuhide to confront Izana when he spots him (as always) watching Zen from above and afar. To Izana’s credit, he readily admits to using this separation as a way to “test” ShiraZen’s bond, although his little “I wonder how they will fall in the future” betrays his own cynicism.

I confessed last week to not liking Izana very much (as explained in the comments, I find his behavior smug and stand-offish, regardless of intentions), but there’s no denying he’s well-written, a clever politician and a forward-thinking ruler. He could stand to be more honest with his brother, but Mitsuhide’s confrontation does highlight a worthwhile counterpoint: Izana may not have explained himself to Zen, but Zen never asked Izana, either. Zen respects (and is intimidated by) his brother to the point where it cripples communication between them. That’s something he’ll need to work on if the two are ever going to meet as true allies and equals.

I think Izana is trying to smile affectionately here. I’m not sure he’s succeeding,but…

In plot-moving news, Kazuki has reached Clarines, and Mihaya has gone after him. Ambitious as ever, Mihaya planned to capture him and earn some accolades/money for his actions, but Kazuki has a better idea: Team up with me to snag Shirayuki and earn your cash that way. And while we not hear Mihaya’s final answer, those moths banging around that lantern are about as unsubtle as foreshadowing can get.

This, That, and the Other

• My notes this week are about 50% me scribbling “DAMMIT RAJ” in the margins. But, like, in an affectionate way.

• While Raj’s movements, expressions, and overblown performance provided a lot of the humor this week (thaaanks, BONES and Fukuyama-san!), Snow White also does a nice job of creating comical surprise via scene jumps, leaving events to the audience’s imagination. The funniest moment of the episode for me was Raj suddenly sitting on Obi’s shoulders, because even though we didn’t see the conversation where he freaked out about getting his fancy boots wet, you just knew it happened.

• Second Biggest Giggle of the Episode: The identical exasperated expressions shared in rapid-fire succession between the royal siblings. BONES faces, FTW.

• I’m not clear on whether Shirayuki’s grandparents are still alive or not, but I really hope they are, and I really hope we get to meet them some day. They sound like awesome people.

• “It’s standard practice to snatch up a princess guarded by a knight.” Aww, Kazuki thinks he’s in a normal fairy tale. It’s cute, really.

I’m not as cold about this winter season as I worried I’d be, but…

You may have noticed the distinct lack of “Rule of Three” posts over the last week, and there’s an odd reason for that. While I’m still watching way too many shows, and still enjoying them for the most part, there’s surprisingly little to actually say about them. With a few exceptions, this is a fluffy (or maybe “trashy”) kind of season, more entertaining than expected but difficult to review because a lot of it boils down to “it’s fun and I kinda like it.”

So rather than force myself to find 2-4 paragraphs worth of things to say about 10 new series (sequels don’t get Rule of Three Reviews), I figured I’d just write 1-2 about each of them. Digest post, go!

Definitely Watching

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju

I actually do have a lot to say about this excellent series, which is why I’m covering it over at Anime Evo. You can go there for general thoughts and some spoilery discussion of the first three episodes.

ERASED (Boku Dake ga Inai Machi)

Like Showa Genroku, ERASED is one of very few series getting across-the-board positive comments from ani-reviewers this season, and I’m right there with them but for a few reservations. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good show, with careful cinematography and shot selection, convincing vocal performances, a smart use of angles and music to create tension and a sense of dread, and a willingness to explore both complex topics (the mistakes of the past) and difficult ones (child abuse).

But it’s also not doing anything particularly new or different (even its splashes of red on the “endangered” characters are, while effective, not exactly novel), and I can’t help but wince at the central conceit of the “boy using special powers to save doomed women.” Right now it’s extremely well-made without being at all surprising. I’ll keep watching regardless, but I do hope it goes in some unexpected directions so I can sing its praises rather than just chat casually about them.

Probably Watching

Dimension W

A sci-fi action series about energy monopolies and reality-warping dimensional coils starring a grumpy Luddite with a war-torn past and a cute robot girl? Yeah, I reckon I can watch that. Like Erased, it’s not so much that DimW is doing anything new so much as it’s crossing well-tread territory with sure footing and a nice sense of style. The world is ripe for commentary about privatization and corporate corruption, and I’d love to see DimW dig into that some. But even if it doesn’t, if it can keep developing its cast while being entertaining, a little funny, and a little sad, there’s a good chance I’ll stick around to enjoy the ride.

Girls Beyond the Wasteland (Shoujo-tachi wa Koya wo Mezasu)

If my Twitter feed is any indication, I’m the only person actually watching GBtW, but light fanservice aside, it’s one of the shows I’m most enjoying right now. I like hanging out with the cast, the humor generally works for me, and I appreciate the way the series balances parody with sincerity, poking affectionate fun at geek culture and dating sims while also applauding fans for their passion and acknowledging the importance of that passion in the creative process. How the series handles its “success” vs. “fun” conflict will have a strong effect on my overall opinions of it, but as long as Andou keeps getting great lines like this, I’m happy to see where it goes.

BBK/BRNK (Bubuki Buranki)

I never look forward to this one but I always enjoy it while it’s happening. It’s a straightforward, almost “family friendly” adventure series about scrappy kids and separated families, and the friction and vinegar between the central cast keeps their interactions from feeling stale. The creators seem to have a good grip on their world and extensive time line, and while I may not be riveted I am curious to see it play out. Clunky CG characters aside, this could be another fun series with a good heart, and sometimes that’s all I need in my anime.

Divine Gate

I would unapologetically love this series if it weren’t for the bursts of melodramatic cornball dialogue (which I’d like to pretend is intentionally bad, but almost certainly isn’t). As it is, I still really like it, but slightly apologetically. It cares about its characters, fighting to give them all back stories and personal conflicts, and when the writer isn’t wallowing in half-baked philosophical musings, the dialogue has an easy flow that establishes relationships and makes me wanna root for the cast. Episodes move quickly, character designs are sharp and recognizable (albeit absurd), and I confess to being curious about the true nature of this  “divine gate” everyone’s after.

Mostly, though, I just can’t shake the sense that there are good-hearted, well-meaning people clumsily but passionately making this sucker. Yes it’s earnest and cheesy and overly complicated, but dangit, I like earnest and cheesy and overly complicated. The charm of its dumb sincerity may wear off, but I suspect I’ll be half-guiltily watching this one to the very end.

On the Fence

Prince of Stride: Alternative

Despite Director Ishizuka’s best attempts to inject this one with bright colors, sharp angles, and a sense of energetic style, the PoSA script is mighty flat, doing little to establish its characters beyond a few broad strokes and laboring painfully through most of its comical beats. I’m still here for two reasons: (1) I love the art design, and (2) the street races are great, freeing Ishizuka and the Madhouse staff from all that lackluster dialogue and allowing them to tell the story solely through visuals. I keep saying “I doubt I’ll watch the next episode,” but hey, I haven’t dropped it yet.

Haruchika (Haruta to Chika wa Seishun Suru)

I so badly want to like Haruchika, but my overall opinion keeps being a resounding “meh.” It hurries through its stories too quickly for them to resonate (although the second episode did a much better job than the third), and while I like Chika’s straightforward personality and her friendly rivalry with Haruta, I’m having a difficult time really caring about her or the rest of the cast. Haruta himself is a particular pain point, as he’s able to solve problems so quickly and neatly that there’s no tension in the conflicts. It’s still in my queue, but if the pace can’t slow and Haruta doesn’t start developing some flaws, my interest will evaporate for good soon.

On Notice

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (Hai to Sensou no Grimgar)

It’s a tale of two shows with this one. Good Grimgar is a quiet, melancholy fantasy slice-of-life. It treats traumatic events (such as taking a life) with the chaos, brutality, and horror they deserve, and has a good eye for the less glamorous aspects of Actually Living in a Video Game, like earning enough money to buy new underwear before your old ones fall off of you. The scenes between its male characters, particularly anything with Manato, carry themselves with intelligence, sympathy, and dignity. Good Grimgar is one of the best shows of the season.

But then there’s Bad Grimgar, which is pretty much anything involving the female characters and/or the misogynist ass, Ranka. The series just can’t seem to overcome its light novel roots, falling back into cheap fanservice, leering camera angles, sexist cliches, and bullshit “boys will be boys” hand-waving to justify attempted assault. There is less of Bad Grimgar than there is of Good Grimgar, and I really, really like Good Grimgar. But Bad Grimgar is just about insufferable, so if this nonsense continues next week, I can’t see me watching past that.

On Hold

Active Raid

Active Raid is mostly fine: a little bit clever, reliably amusing, and willing to take its time establishing characters and building relationships. It’s also not much more than that. I get the feeling its the kind of “popcorn flick” action series that makes for a slow week-to-week watch but could be a fun binge, so I’m setting it aside for now and planning to give it another try at the end of the season. Maybe it will hold my attention more effectively then.

Luna gives the Star Lights a (Ya)ten out of ten! As for me, well…

I was planning to leave an annoyed bullet point at the bottom of this week’s post demanding to know whur mah Outer Guardians at, but so far Stars has been pretty good about anticipating my impatient grumbles, because Haruka and Michiru made their triumphant (albeit brief) return this week. Huzzah!

And not a moment too soon. While I’m not disliking Stars by any stretch, I haven’t found myself looking forward to new episodes, either. Part of the issue is that sense of “retreading covered ground” I mentioned last week, especially with the Star Lights, who don’t feel like distinct individuals so much as mix-and-match combos of Mamoru and Haruka personality traits. Another part is that the villains are kinda dull. Despite Mouse’s great fashion sense, she’s basically a less-fun Witches 5 member right now. And another part? Honestly? I really miss Tuxedo Doofus. Go figure.

For various reasons, the new faces haven’t really hooked me yet, so maybe adding some familiar ones will do the trick. I sure hope so. I’d much rather race gleefully through my final Sailor Moon season than lope impartially along.

The Recaps

Episode 178 – The Lone Sailor Star Ranger

Luna has been missing for a week, but don’t worry, she’s just been hanging out with Yaten, the least sociable of the Star Lights! (Which, given Taiki’s habit of picking fights with scientists, is really saying something.) Yaten needed an animal for the pet TV show he’s appearing on, and Seiya went and lost his chameleon, so he was all “Hey, I’m famous! I can do whatever I want! Let’s steal that random cat!” and charmed Luna into his arms.

Eventually Luna explains all this to the team, as well as all the baths and naps she’s been taking with the local pop star. Minako and Artemis about lose their minds with jealousy, albeit for very different reasons.

This is the face of one who truly cannot even.

Backstage at the pet show, Okamachi Noriko approaches Yaten and flirts mercilessly (the details of which were lost on me because I couldn’t stop giggling at her derpy cat), but Yaten sees through her overbearing cutesy act and tells her to buzz off. Seiya and Taiki gently scold him for his hostility toward both fans and colleagues, but Yaten doesn’t believe in love at first sight and could care less what strangers think of him.

Then, while Luna SITS ON HIS LAP LISTENING TO EVERYTHING, he talks about only being interested in “that person” who “bears the true Star Light” and how they’ll “save the universe.” But Luna is a cat with a crush, so instead of connecting some dots to form a constellation, she’s just like MM YES SCRATCH MY EARS, GOOD HUMAN, and nothing comes of it.

Later, Yaten takes Luna to get a makeover and runs into Noriko again, who “accuses” him of being gay (oo, sick burn?) and gets a face-full of Luna claws for being a jerk. She also gets Iron Mouse’d, so karma works fast this week. Yaten hears a scream and arrives early enough that he could theoretically stop Mouse from yanking the star seed, but then he sees it’s Noriko and is all:

ICE COLD, SON. Antiheroes gonna antihero.

Luna’s a Proper Hero, though, so she tries to defend Noriko and gets smacked around for her troubles. Yaten is inspired(!) by her altruism and takes her outside before activating his MAX ’80s DANCE PARTY. He transforms into Sailor Star Healer and helps the Moonies take out our phage, Sailor Ojyou, who is significantly less terrible than Noriko. Or maybe I just like her laugh.

Along the way, Yaten hears Sailor Moon refer to his stolen cat as “Luna” and approves of the name. The next day at school he finds out the cat belongs to Usagi, who also calls her Luna. “Gee, now there’s an odd coincidence that’s worth mulling over!” says NO ONE, and there are not enough palms in the world upon which to smack my face.

Episode 179 – Five-Sailor-Star Chef

Usagi’s finally starting to worry about Mamoru’s dead (gulp) silence, but she won’t tell anyone, not even YAY, Haruka and Michiru! I was wondering where you kids had gotten to!

But we’ll get back to them later. For now, the Star Lights are considering how they feel about Sailor Moon. Yaten sees her as an ally, Seiya thinks she might actually be the princess, and Taiki is SO OFFENDED by this suggestion that he has to go brood at a rose bush for a while.

“Bunhead,” roses, poetry… when the Star Lights link up their powers, you reckon they transform into Tuxedo Voltron?

While there, he runs into Makoto and Usagi, who tend to his thorn injury, listen to him recite angsty poetry (he’s in high school, all right), and startle a laugh out of him thanks to an accidental pun. He also asks Mako of Cooking Club fame if she’d like to come on a cooking show with him… and, like, maybe teach him how to cook something, too. Do the Star Lights even look at these TV gigs before they take them, or do they just throw darts at a board and then go “Welp, guess I have to go steal a cat this week!”

Usagi agrees to let Taiki use the Moonie Strawberry Patch to make shortcake on the condition that she gets to hang out at the studio with them. Why he couldn’t buy his own damn strawberries with that sweet pop star money, I do not know, but it ends in Usagi coming to the studio and taking over the show after Mako’s nervousness gets the better of her.

Boy, does she have egg on her face.

She single-handedly destroys Master Chef Yoshinogawa Tetsuro’s entire studio, which is an adorable and funny thing to do according to everyone around her, chef Tetsuro and somber Taiki included. Well, at least Usa makes up for it when Iron Mouse steals Tetsuro’s star seed and turns him into a literal Iron Chef.

The fight is thoroughly amusing in a way I’ve missed: Sailor Chef is too worried about his utensils to fight, then he bribes Usagi with a cake, then Star Maker shows up for all of five seconds to pop off a Gentler Uterus before just calmly strolling off-screen again (YES, more of this, Star Lights, endear me to you with silliness!) and leaving the rest to Sailor Moon. Star Maker’s starting to warm up to the Moon, but more to the point, Taiki is starting to warm up to Usagi. He better not be falling in love with her, though. I do not need me a Miaka Situation up in here.

Elsewhere, Haruka and Michiru stand around looking unreasonably cool (like they do) and figure it’s ’bout time to put on their boots again.

Yes, but you may have to wait, ohhhh… 21 episodes, give or take.

This, That, and the Other

• There were good Luna faces this week. Here, have a few more.

• The casual homophobia in Episode 178 from both Usagi and Noriko was weirdly out-of-character for Sailor Moon. Having HaruMi around turns it more into “character prejudice” rather than “show prejudice,” but it still struck me as an uncharacteristic and off-putting story choice.

• I really dig the spooky vocal music used on the Star Lights’s mystery person. It’s maybe a little too similar to Saturns’ theme (everything this season is “a little too similar” to something that’s happened prior, it seems), but it’s still real pretty.

• Ami “also” has a hard time dealing with love letters? Between this and her Star Lights fangirling, we are learning all kinds of fun things about our li’l water bender this season.

• Hark! A plot point! Iron Mouse isn’t the first minion to act like beleaguered middle-management (Amazon Trio, anyone?), but she talks explicitly about “working overtime” and “being a cog in the corporate wheel,” which suggests that Galaxia might actually be employing her minions. Maybe that doesn’t count as “plot,” exactly, but I find it interesting, at least.

Shh—don’t tell anyone, but I may have dropped another 1500 words on the rakugo anime. Again.

If the past two episodes were about building the bonds and demonstrating the importance of Kikuhiko’s makeshift rakugo family, then this one is about showing how those bonds could one day unravel. Yakumo’s story has always carried a strong undercurrent of longing and melancholy, but this is the first time we’ve really felt a creeping sense of dread, that we’re on the roller coaster ramp climbing to an inevitable fall. We’ve known it was coming since we got in line, but that’s not gonna make the drop any easier.

Click here for the oh-so-full post on Anime Evo!

Being popular isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Shirayuki finds herself at the center of a storm both political and martial this week, as various story lines converge and new ones begin to take shape. Princes in the ball room, kidnappers in the hall, and unwanted ships and ‘ships looming just out of sight. So much for my “sleepy little slice-of-life fairy tale” synopsis.

Obligatory Scenery Porn, My Only Constant

As Shirayuki told us last week and as the episode title reminds us, “change” continues to be the main focus of this cour, and especially the small, subtle shifts occurring within and between individuals. In Tanbarun, Raj takes Shirayuki’s words to heart and seeks to build something more meaningful than the… well, neither of them quite know what their relationship is right now, but Raj wants to be respected by the one person who demands he earn that respect, and so he gets to work proving to her that he’s a capable ruler.

Along the way, he actually starts to become a capable ruler, too, learning more about his kingdom and taking other people’s concerns (such as Shirayuki’s anxieties about the ball) into account. He’s still Raj—still wearing his emotions on his sleeve, still prone to temperamental outbursts and ridiculous poses—but he’s beginning to “acquire what he lacks,” growing into someone worthy of Shirayuki’s esteem.

True to its title, Snow White hasn’t been afraid to play with classic fairy tale arcs and tropes, but outside of the premiere they’ve tended to be fairly indirect or vague, such as “the prince falls for the commoner” or “the girl gets locked in a tall tower” (and then dives out the window like a boss). This week, though, the imagery seems to intentionally and directly allude to Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, particularly with Raj’s expansive library and the rose that symbolizes his hope (and skepticism) for an improved relationship with Shirayuki.

Which is fortunate, as I likely wouldn’t have noticed the parallels otherwise, and they’re mighty fine parallels. Raj may have never been a literal beast, but he was a self-centered ass who acted on his basest impulses with no consideration for others until Shirayuki (and Zen, to a lesser extent) came along and challenged his worldview, pushing him towards respect and responsibility.

As it’s done from the start, Snow White seeks to modernize these fairy tales by adjusting key elements. Where the original Beauty and the Beast is a (not untroubling) tale about “gentle woman civilizing beastly man” and/or “the power of love to change people,” ours really isn’t. While it helps that early-Zen contrasts so strongly with early-Raj and keeps the story from making blanket statements about gender, the central difference is that this isn’t a love story.

As such, it’s about respect instead of romance, and about becoming a good ruler rather than a good husband. (Remember, Shirayuki won’t acknowledge Raj until the people of Tanbarun approve of him first.) Our Beast is learning how to consider a kingdom’s needs by first considering the needs of a single person. Our Beauty changes others because she believes in their ability to change themselves. Removing the romance makes this a much more nuanced story, and in many ways a more inspiring one, too.

Sorry, Rona, but you’ll just have to satiate yourself with fanfiction.

But just as things start going well in Tanbarun, trouble comes roaring out of Clarines. I owe Mihaya an apology, because despite last week’s moth foreshadowing he did in fact turn down Kazuki’s offer and reported to Zen. And the news ain’t good: Team Kazuki learned of Shirayuki’s departure and are on their way to Tanbarun. (So too is a busty lady-pirate, but only the audience knows about her right now.)

This news spurs Zen into all kinds of action and leads to the second major relationship shift of the episode. He approaches Izana for “permission” to go to Tanbarun, but it’s a question asked out of courtesy rather than absolute loyalty; Zen is going to protect Shirayuki whether Izana wants him to or not. And why is that?

*monocle pops out*

Zen’s jumping into this rather quickly, but it’s worth it to finally see a look of unguarded surprise on Izana’s face. He acquiesces, but with a condition: If something happens to Zen and Izana has to get involved, then Shirayuki’s as good as banished from the castle. As with everything that comes out of Izana’s mouth, it’s both said out of concern for Zen (“I don’t want you to get hurt”) and for the kingdom (“I don’t want this turning into an international incident”). Kinda unfair that Shirayuki has to bear the brunt of that, but hey, Izana’s never pretended to like her, either.

And so Zen rushes to Tanbarun—but not before a certain pretty-boy can come in through Snow White‘s favorite piece of architecture.

Windows: The everyman’s door!

So far Snow White has done an excellent job of having a protagonist who isn’t a fighter but also isn’t constantly being rescued by the menfolk. It’s accomplished this largely because Shirayuki (like most people in the real world) is smart enough to avoid physical conflicts and stick to the dangers she can fight (like illnesses), but we’re reaching a point in the story where she can’t simply steer clear of the more violent forces bearing down on her.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a worried about how the series is going to handle this (a lifetime of stories about damsels has jaded me but good), but as I’ve said before, Snow White has earned my trust, as has its level-headed protagonist. This will be a major challenge for her and Zen. I’m nervous for them, but also curious to see how this smart series chooses to play out its tricky little arc.

Keep that up, Snow, and we’ll be just fine.

This, That, and the Other

• Snow White Part 2 has been doing the plot-and-tension thing well, and I’m always excited for the next episode, but… I do miss my weekly ShiraZen warm fuzzies, not gonna lie.

• It’s a testament to this show’s talent that it can include a pushy little sister-type and make her amusing instead of insufferable.

• Raj tells Shirayuki about a bunch of vigilantes fighting bandits in the mountains. Well that doesn’t sound like foreshadowing at all!

• And speaking of foreshadowing, befuddled Obi continues to grapple with his feelings. For Shirayuki and Zen. The poor guy might wanna take some time off from bodyguarding when this is all over.

Like two peas in a space pod.

After hanging out with our cast in entertaining if not exactly novel ways for the past few weeks, we may have finally hit on a new topic for the show to tackle: Xenophobia! And here I thought Sailor Moon had run out of ideas.

It’s no secret that Japan’s position as a fairly secluded and homogeneous(-ish) island nation has led to a long and complicated history with foreigners and foreign influence, from early acculturation with China to an over 200-year-long period of almost total isolationism to post-war pushes for globalization (read: westernization) to contemporary issues with immigration. Not to say that xenophobia is a uniquely Japanese problem because, um, have you read the news recently?; just that it definitely is an issue and one that’s been around for a long time.

So, given Sailor Moon‘s progressive stance with regards to its female and queer characters, perhaps it’s no surprise that they’d decide to use the Star Lights as a way to tackle a different marginalized group. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen aliens on the show, but it is the first time we’ve seen the series directly connect an alien presence with a “fear of the foreign other” prejudice.

And who else to bring it to us but our resident “I want to like you but you are SO FRUSTRATING SOMETIMES” duo, Haruka and Michiru! This is a surprising but ultimately clever decision, I think, given that HaruMi are lesbians and, while the Mooniverse itself seems more ignorant of than actively antagonistic towards LGB couples, we know that in real-world ’90s Japan they’d likely be targets of prejudice themselves. It highlights the important point that marginalized groups are as susceptible to bigotry as the dominant class.

All of which means that as much head-desking as I did about HaruMi this week, I’m also excited to see Sailor Moon beginning to tackle something new and topical again. This Stars season may just hook me yet.

The Recaps

Episode 180 – A Night of Too Many Sailor Stars

The Moonies want themselves some Three Lights concert tickets, but they’re having a bad case of the ’90s courtesy of these things called “land lines” and “busy signals.” (Hey kids, ever tried to buy tickets online and had the website just lag and lag and lag? It’s like that.) They’re SOL, but luckily HaruMi saunter unreasonably coolly into the story arc with tickets for their best gal pals!

And why is that? Because Michiru is testing my ongoing theory that violins improve everything by joining the Three Lights in a joint concert! And my theory continues to hold true, as this is my favorite of their songs by far. Usagi misses the concert because what are bus schedules?, conveniently preventing her from hearing the Three Lights singing out to their princess with all their might.

Seiya and Michiru notice each other’s “star energy” somethin’ fierce, so Seiya decides to investigate with his Super Flirting Powers. Haruka and Usagi bust in to the dressing room before much can come of it, and our resident too-cool-for-schoolers SHAKE FEROCIOUSLY.

“So this is the mook what’s been stealin’ my act, hah…?”

Jealousy reaches max levels from multiple directions until Usagi assures Seiya that Haruka is “just a friend” of hers. They share flirty banter until she trips (with impressive flexibility) down some stairs and gives Famous Composer Albert Pon Garajon a concussion. This, like everything Usagi does, is deemed charming and adorable, which is irking me more this season than in the past probably because she’s in high school now and should be moving past the clueless kid routine.

As recommended by 9 out of 10 doctors, Albert wanders outside alone to walk off his concussion, whereupon Iron Mouse (feeling the pressure from her boss by now) snatches his star seed and turns him into Sailor Conductor. (He does not, much to my punny disappointment, attack with electricity, although he is quite… VIOLINt.) Usagi quickly transforms in time to…get pinned to a wall. Okay, who’s turn is it to bail the Moon out this time?

Yeah, well, Tuxedo Mask posed atop tall structures before it was cool, so THERE.

The Lights actively work together with Sailor Moon so she can cure Albert, and they’re so pumped by all this teamwork that they figure they may as well work together to take down their common enemy. Moon and Fighter are juuuust about to shake hands, when Sailors Uranus and Neptune storm on to the scene to World Shake-up the peace treaty.

Why, you ask? Because the Star Lights are ALIENS and therefore CANNOT BE TRUSTED and it’s THEIR DUTY to protect Usagi from THOSE DIRTY FURRINERS who’re TAKIN OUR JERBS.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a desk that needs my forehead imprinted into it.

The trio claim they’re fine with it either way and vanish, leaving Usagi troubled and uncertain. Out of costume, she mentions her TOTALLY UNRELATED alien friendship quandary to Seiya, LIKE WHY WOULD ANYONE EVEN THINK USAGI’S IDENTICAL PROBLEM WAS RELATED TO SAILOR MOON’S. He shrugs and points out that he’s from a distant school and they’re friends, so maybe it’s possible after all.

It’s an uplifting note to end on and a reminder that Usagi, despite her occasionally painful lack of self-awareness, is an empathetic girl at heart who’s more interested in people’s actions than what planet they were born on. Hopefully she can get HaruMi to come around on this one before long, too.

Episode 181 – Dancing with the Sailor Stars

This episode is super-fun and also absurd and also emotionally confusing! So strap yourselves in, because while our hormone-fueled Minako runs around futilely trying to spend snuggle-time with Taiki and/or Yaten, Usagi stumbles into a date-o with Seiya.

Er, sort of. He kinda just decides that they’re going to hang out on Sunday and Usagi’s free so she figures “what the hey.” Ami’s decided not to stick her nose into it (but what about your Bro Overseas, Ami?! WHAT ABOUT YOUR BROVERSEAS?!), while our local “Adult Relationship,” HaruMi, point out that no one meets in the park unless it’s for a date. Usagi gets a little concerned, but she’s soon enjoying herself too much to really think about it.

“I emptied an entire bottle of volumizer into my hair just for you, babe.”

As much as I like Mamoru at this point and don’t particularly wanna see Chibiusa time-paradoxed into oblivion… I gotta say, Usagi and Seiya are pretty fun together. They’re combative in a way that’s affectionate instead of the pure antagonism we got between UsaMoru in Season One, they’re on the same wavelength more frequently (the scene of them freaking out in the haunted mansion together was golden), and they’re closer in age so their interests/schedules are a little more in-line.

Between the ferris wheel and the dance party at The Bronze (interspersed with an uncomfortable if not all-too-real scene where Usagi worries that Seiya might try to seduce or even force himself on her), Usagi starts to realize this might just be a date after all, and that she might… kinda… be into it? Rut-roh. She’s saved from thinking too hard about it, though, when Iron Mouse decides it’s time to go after some real Star seeds for once.

The overload of whistles and sirens was a fantastic bit of sound direction here, though.

Speaking of Iron Mouse, her scenes are GREAT this week. I was watching this episode with it’s goofy sight gags, absurd teleporting phones, meta-jokes about lengthy superhero speeches, and magnificent music cues (the sudden shifts between Chopin’s “Funeral March” for Galaxia and Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” for the Three Lights is old-school cartoon genius), and thinking two things:

1. None of the regular episode directors are this boldly ridiculous. This has gotta be Sato or Igarashi (and yes, it was Sato).
2. Why couldn’t Iron Mouse have been this much fun from the start?

By the time she fails to collect Seiya’s star seed and Galaxia revokes her bracelets (er, spoiler alert?), I was actually sad to see her go. A shame we couldn’t have gotten more of that anxious insubordination and general silliness for her entire run.

I jumped ahead a little there, but yeah: Iron Mouse tries to steal Seiya’s star seed, he tells Usagi to flee, and while she’s transforming in the hallway he’s transforming right in front of Iron Mouse. Sailor Moon comes in and flips out about Seiya’s bear-pin lying on the ground, which gives Star Fighter paws because THERE’S ONLY ONE PERSON WHO COULD POSSIBLY KNOW THAT, GASP. Your blogger gets excited.

Iron Mouse is about to give away Seiya’s secret identity (your blogger’s excitement builds…!), but then Galaxia appears and straight-up murders her. Alas, poor zoot suit riot. In the immortal words of Team Rocket: I’ll always remember what a wonderful dresser you were.

Also faces. You did make some great faces.

Usagi tries to make nice with the Star Lights again but they’re all “protect your own damn planet,” which is good advice since they clearly suck at protecting planets themselves (ohhhh, sick burn! *self-five*) and saunter out. Later, she meets up with Seiya WHILE CARRYING HIS BEAR PIN

WHILE. CARRYING. HIS. BEAR. PIN.

and Seiya STILL decides she can’t POSSIBLY be Sailor Moon. You know kid, given your total inability to draw lines between two points, I’m amazed you were able to even find Earth, never mind that princess of yours.

This, That, and the Other

• Usagi’s memory of Mamoru involves him sporting romance novel-levels of he-vage. ‘Cause if you’re gonna be nostalgic, you may as well sexy it up along the way.

• The Sensei Next Door, Lingo Edition: Michiru refers to Haruka as her taitsuna na hito, which the subs choose to translate as “dear friend.” A bit more vague than needed, subs—it’s more like “beloved/treasured person,” and is a fairly common way to refer to a significant other. Hence why Seiya so immediately backs off.

• The Sensei Next Door, School Edition: If you were confused about why everyone was in school on a Saturday, it’s because Japanese schools had/have classes on Saturdays. They dropped this practice for most of the ’00s, but some schools have re-implemented the 6-day week in recent years, so it varies nowadays.

• Hark! A plot point! Despite resembling the princess we’ve seen in profile in past episodes, the Star Lights say Galaxia is their “true enemy” and the one who destroyed their home. Looking forward to more on this as it develops, for sure.

Shakespeare may be nations and centuries away, but “all the world’s a stage” has never been a more apt sentiment.

Has there ever been a series with as much unabashed love for performers and performance as this one? From the many rakugo stories to the bursts of shamisen music to this week’s low-budget kabuki play, Showa Genroku depicts Japan’s classic performance arts with a careful attention to detail and a fierce respect for the mediums.

Yet the series never lets itself slip into rose-colored nostalgia; rather, like the rakugo-ka who preserve the tales of Edo (and therefore its lost world and the flawed people who lived in it), Showa Genroku seeks to capture with the same blend of affection and honesty a time, place, and people who no longer exist. And it accomplishes this the same way humanity so often has: Through the telling of stories.

Click here for the full post on Anime Evo!

You know it’s a wild day when even Shirayuki looks overwhelmed.

Has everyone had time to catch their breaths after that whirlwind of an episode? I said last week that our story lines were beginning to converge, and this week we saw them all slam into each other with a tension and force Snow White has never had before, spinning us between locations and characters and surprise twists that leave our normally easy-going cast reeling. I never thought I’d say this, but Monday can’t come fast enough.

We didn’t even have time to linger on any Obligatory Scenery Porn!

Picking up right where we left off, Kazuki and his partner Itoya arrive to take Shirayuki “where she should be.” Shirayuki reacts like a normal person would: By trying to run and screaming for outside aid. Unfortunately, she gets the royal twins, who mostly just distract Obi enough for Itoya to knock him out. Kazuki soon does the same to Shirayuki (who sure as hell wasn’t going gentle into that good night), although not before she can lose Zen’s pocket watch. Damn you, dramatic foreshadowing!

From there, a lot happens very quickly, although kudos to Snow White for keeping it all coherent and from feeling too rushed. Zen arrives in Tanbarun. A scary-mad Obi goes after Shirayuki on his own. Raj joins Team Zen and uses his newfound political knowledge to theorize that “The Claw of the Sea,” a pirate gang known for dealing in both money and people with unique traits, are most likely the ones who took Shirayuki. And they’re sort of right, because shortly thereafter, Shirayuki and Kazuki are kidnapped by none other than THE CLAWWWW.

(Sorry, I couldn’t resist)

Obi finds and captures Itoya, who recognizes The Claw’s calling card, so the two, er, “team up” to get help from the people who hired(?) Kazuki. Elsewhere, Shirayuki and Kazuki both wake up in a windowless room where they are greeted (read: smacked around and threatened) by Umihebi the Claw Queen. Turns out Kazuki was a former Claw himself, and you can’t just walk away from that. Capturing Shirayuki was something of an accident, but now that Umihebi’s got her she intends to keep her, meaning our heroine has just gone from the frying pan into the lobster pot.

…You, uh, got all that, team?

There’s a sketchiness to this shot – the thin lines, the lack of shadows or highlights to convey depth – that grants it a beautiful frailty, and I’m totally in love with it.

We were so busy this week that there wasn’t much room for quiet visual motifs (or at least none that I noticed). What there was room for was great animation and excellent camera work, all of which served to aid the sudden shift in tone from bright, courtly comedy to tense underworld intrigue. Scenes with Shirayuki and/or Obi are full of skewed angles, harsh faces, and close-ups to convey a sense of claustrophobia or entrapment, as well as to keep the audience as off-balance as the characters.

The Obi-Itoya fight scenes are particularly effective, using sketchy black lines and smears in a way that’s a trademark of Studio BONES’s… well, BONESier shows like Blood Blockade or ConRevo, but haven’t been seen much (if at all?) in Snow White before now. Even last season’s sporadic action scenes were smooth and clean, which gave them a sense of control, maybe even civility, that’s totally absent now. Obi and Itoya’s battles are brief, chaotic, and brutal, much like the episode itself, and both the cramped shots and intentionally messy animation help convey that.

(You can click on each of the gifs above to go to the full photosets on Tumblr)

In contrast, the majority of the Zen and/or Raj scenes use more typical Snow White shot selection and animation: Mid-range, straight-on, with more restrained (or comical) facial expressions. Zen and Raj are worried about Shirayuki, absolutely, but they have the support of others and complete control over their own actions, at least. As such, the camera provides a measure of stability to their scenes that is utterly lacking in the ones with Shirayuki or Obi.

It’s strange to call Raj of all people a steadying presence, but he shows that his growth is significant and real this week, first when he and Zen both take responsibility for the current situation and later when he insists on joining the rescue party. This is also thanks to loyal retainer Sakaki, who helps Raj maintain his own composure when he echoes one of Snow White‘s most enduring themes: That there is “something only you can do,” and it’s important to focus on that rather than the things that are out of your control.

It was Shirayuki’s mantra before coming to Tanbarun (“what I can do right now”), and one that’s kept her focused and steady throughout much of the series. And understandably so: As a commoner, there’s always been a great deal that’s been out of her control. Yet by focusing on her own strengths and skills, she’s still been able to exercise agency and wield her own kind of power, allowing her to “walk her own path,” which has been her driving motivator from the start.

By the end of this episode, though, that sense of control has been entirely stripped from her. She has no idea where she is, why she’s there, or if she can even trust her fellow captor. She’s not even wearing her own clothes, and her last piece of home (Zen’s pocket watch) is gone. With no ground to stand on and no earthly idea “what I can do right now,” it’s no wonder it’s all she can do not to break down.

That said, Shirayuki isn’t the type to sit idly by and wait for an abductor to decide her fate. Her grief and panic make her human, not weak. I fully expect her to regroup and work with Kazuki (the lesser of two evils and a potential future ally, one suspects) in the coming weeks. Between the perpetually hard-working triangle that is Shirayuki, Zen, and Obi, maybe Tanbarun will be able to reschedule that ball after all.

This, That, and the Other

• The pirate queen’s name is almost certainly a title, as “Umihebi” literally means “The Sea Snake.” Still, given that the show (wisely) chose to keep Shirayuki untranslated, it makes sense that they’d leave this name as-is, too.

• The King of Tanbarun appears just long enough to tell Zen he can do whatever he wants as long as he doesn’t shout “by order of the Prince of Clarines!” while he does it. Given how involved he is in his own son’s life, this seems about par for the course for this guy.

• Not a lot of humor this week, but I about died at the sight of Raj trying not to wet himself when he greeted Zen.

• H’OKAY. SO. Shirayuki was born in the mountains. Kazuki is working for a community in the mountains. We know there are vigilantes in the mountains. IS SHIRAYUKI THE LONG-LOST VIGILANTE MOUNTAIN PRINCESS?
  …All right, maybe that’s a stretch, but it’s pretty darn likely that Kazuki is trying to take her to the place she was born, and that this “Pops” of his is related to Shirayuki in some fashion. You know, dude, if you wanted her to visit, you could’ve just sent a letter or something.

Usagi’s Rolodex grows ever thicker.

When one minion falls, two shall rise up to take her place! Not too unexpected for Sailor Moon, and mostly a welcome change. Somewhat less expected is the arrival of another protagonist(?) in the wake of those minions, and just one more name to add to our already stuffed Stars cast. I am… less than thrilled about this new development, although taken as  a whole these are still fun, solid episodes. Hit the jump to get acquainted.

The Recaps

Episode 182 – Sailor Starship Troopers

Galaxia may have 80% of the Milky Way under her control, but she ain’t satisfied with no B-. No, it’s an A+ or nothin’ for her! So she sends her next “Anima Mate” (heh), Sailor Aluminum Siren, to take over Iron Mouse’s duties on Earth. Sailor Lead Crow swiftly follows on the pretense of watching her “rival” struggle, but her relationship with the perpetually peckish Siren is more of the #NoticeMeSenpai variety. I look forward to ‘shipping them.

Adorkable.

On the Sailor side of the story, Usagi’s sharing intel with the other scouts, who are also wary of aliens, even the ones who’ve helped them on multiple occasions and explicitly said they’re fighting the same enemy. I sort of get it given Juuban’s track record with outsider invaders, but I also don’t, especially when Luna says they’re just worried because “Usagi is so trusting.” You know, that “weakness” of Usagi’s that has LITERALLY SAVED THE WORLD, like, three times. At LEAST.

Now would have been a swell time for Hotaru (or Ail and An or, like, any of the many former villains currently chilling in Japan), to show up and be all “Yo, person Usagi trusted over here, what’s shakin’?” but instead Doctor Puu crashes the party to agree with everyone but Usagi. Then she eats a Popsicle all cool-like and I kinda forgive her.

I just can’t stay mad at anyone on this darn show.

Another thing that’s happening during this rather busy episode: A bunhead toddler with the anatomic proportions of a starving Nendoroid shows up, follows Usagi around, then proceeds to mind-wipe the Tsukino family like a certain other bunhead we know, taking up residence in Usagi’s home as her “little sister.” Because if there’s one thing Sailor Moon‘s final season needed 18 episodes from the end, it’s more new characters!

The kid’s name is Chibi-Chibi, but I’m going to call her C.C. because her full name is a mouthful and we already have a “Chibs.” Also, have I mentioned that her proportions creep me the eff out? Because. They creep me. The eff out.

The fans were all “Hey, Hotaru’s cool, can we hang out with her again?” and Sailor Moon was all “Fuck you, now here’s a child we can’t draw.”

No one (including Doctor Puu) knows who she is, but that’s fine, because other than getting lost and leading Usagi to first Seiya (serving as “Police Chief for the Day”) and then the police station, where we’ll meet this week’s star seed target, C.C. serves zero purpose to the story this week. But at least that means I don’t have to think about her creepy dead eyes as much!

As for that star seed, it belongs to the police chief, who gets attacked and turned into Sailor (Robo)Cop. Usagi officially meets her new enemies (Siren is so polite), then she, Pluto, and the Star Lights cure the phage. Usagi’s feeling a bit overwhelmed (yeah, same), but she figures C.C. is all right because “she’s adorable.” You know, maybe the other Moonies do have a point about how quickly Usagi trusts people…

Episode 183 – Sailor Stella Cotta

Changing up our weekly pattern, Siren spends the first few minutes yanking the star seed out of a bearded cabin-dweller who’s really into smashing clay jars. He’s a dud, and Siren won’t appear again, but this sets us up to have a phage running around in the wilderness.

Reckon that means it’s time for the seasonal Summer Vacation episode! The Moonies (and C.C., who does nothing this episode except prove the animators still aren’t sure how to draw her) head to a mountain lake to hang out with Rei’s cousin, Ibuki Kengo, a perfectionist ceramics artist with a violent streak.

I haven’t met a Potter this angry since I read The Order of the Phoenix.

Rei remembers him fondly because he didn’t smash the pendant she begged him to spare (and has never worn until this episode!), and looks forward to seeing him again. But the situation starts to turn grim when a postal worker cheerfully tells them about “someone terrorizing campers.” It gets even grimmer when Rei goes to Kengo’s cabin and finds it deserted. I think we all know where this is going.

Not that the rest of the Moonies are even slightly worried, because SWIMMIN’ TIME! They run into the Three Lights, who’re there filming a Power Rangers-esque superhero show. When the Lights hear about the “threat” in the woods, they decide to swipe their set’s monster costume and mess with the Moonies a bit.

And they would’ve been, except that the real monster (read: Kengo the Phage) shows up halfway through their joke and attacks the Moonies. While the Three Lights puzzle out where their prank went awry, Usagi and Rei lure the phage away and transform. Rei recognizes Kengo’s rage-filled “FAILURE” cries and he recognizes the pendant. He hesitates, and, much like the first season’s Seven Youma arc, it’s both surprising and oddly moving to see a monster show a flicker of its former humanity.

It also gives Rei an opening to shoot him in the gut (hoo-wah!), blocking his clay-flinging powers long enough for Usagi to save him. The Star Lights look on with nothing to do, so they wander back to camp in time to meet up with the girls and join Kengo in his cabin for a pottery lesson. Also, MOAR shenanigans!

Everybody mark you anime bingo cards!

Overused anime trope endings aside, this episode did a nice job showing that the Lights are settling into their lives on earth and feeling comfortable enough to goof around, which goes a long way in distinguishing them from Haruka and Mamoru (a critique I made a couple weeks back) and endearing them to me as individuals. Plus poor Rei finally got some meaningful screen time, showcasing the way her compassion combines with her obstinacy to make her one of the team’s most dependable guardians. (Also, the slightly sloppy art style led to some super-cute expressions.)

This might be “filler,” but it’s the kind that gives a little extra depth to our characters, and that goes a long way. If it can get me to have fun with the Star Lights some more, I definitely wouldn’t say no to a few more shenanigans episodes.

This, That, and the Other

• …Okay, the new opening theme is growing on me.

• Usagi has sent Mamoru 30 letters. Given that it’s summer break (late July-ish) and Mamoru left shortly after she entered high school (early April), that’s roughly two letters a week. So imagine sending several texts a day to someone and NEVER HEARING BACK, and that’s about where Usagi is right now.

• Usagi and Seiya talk all casual-like about the “one or two secrets” they’re keeping from each other, because Stars is just determined to play up how obvious their alter-egos are at every opportunity.

• “Usa” or “U.S.A.”? The world may never know.

• Hark! A plot point! Doctor Puu warns us that “evil energy” is “sucking light from the stars.” Galaxia, you rascal, you.

They say you should spend this day with a loved one, so…

Seeing as how it’s Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d begin this post by saying something I’ve neglected to mention throughout these many words of character analysis and directorial discussion: I am completely, utterly, over-the-moon in love with Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju. I give myself a couple of days to write these commentaries because my hot takes would just be several paragraphs of caps-lock gushing and a bunch of sparkly-eyed, flailing reaction gifs. Every week I think I’ll get used to how good this show is, and every week I am once again floored by the sheer amount of thought and artistry that goes into this production.

Click here for the full post on Anime Evo!

Getting by with a little help from your friends.

We’re still ratcheting up the intrigue and plot points, but even so, this week felt more Snow White-like than the past two, as everyone managed to take a breath and remember who they were: Smart, skilled adults able to deal rationally with their problems and—most importantly—work together to do it. There may be “many different resolves” here, but they’re starting to cooperate both practically and emotionally. And if this show has taught me anything, it’s that focusing on what you can do while also trusting others to do the same is pretty much always a good thing.

Obligatory Scenery Porn was in short supply this week, so here’s a shot of Zen bein’ all princely ‘n’ stuff.

Can I just say, because I haven’t in a while, how happy I am to be watching a show about smart adults doing smart things? And a creator who understands that people can make mistakes, take risks, or let their emotions get the better of them without having to swallow stupid pills to create extra (forced) drama along the way? Because I am really so glad for that. Even better, when they do make mistakes or let their emotions get the better of them, they have people around to remind them of The Hitchhiker’s first rule: Don’t Panic.

Our main trio were about to do just that last week: Shirayuki on the edge of a breakdown, Zen with bottled-up terror and rage, and Obi on a rampage. Understandable responses, but worrying ones nonetheless. Fortunately they all have someone nearby to help them focus, as Kazuki’s voice (“can you move?”) cuts through Shirayuki’s fear, Mitsuhide and Kiki tamp down the fire building in Zen, and Zen passes along the favor to Obi. Things are still plenty dire, but our cast is in control of themselves again, and that gives them a measure of power they didn’t have before.

We see similar forward-thinking and cooperation on the plot-side, too. Despite his Rage Eyes, Obi agrees to work with the Lions of the Mountain to find Kazuki and Shirayuki. Similarly, when Zen finds them (thanks to Obi wisely taking the bell-whistle and leaving Zen a note so he’d know to track him via messenger-bird), he puts aside his personal issues to cooperate as well. Raj will later do the same after Mihaya offers to take them to the Claws’ secret base (HOW TERRIBLY CONVENIENT) in exchange for his reinstated nobility. Compromise! The U.S. Congress could learn something from these guys.

Shirayuki and Kazuki are working together in a similar fashion, albeit with less successful results. Still, Shirayuki is captured but never damseled: She uses her own particular set of skills to devise an escape attempt, grants Kazuki medical aid and limited trust, and while it’s all she can do to keep from bursting into tears in private, in public she never flinches, staring down Umihebi and promising that she’ll never stop fighting for her freedom. Yup. I love this gal.

“I know ALL the poisons and every single one of them is going in your wine tonight.”

In addition to lots of exciting plot points and encouraging character beats, a few of the ideas that have been swirling around the edges of the series are coming to the forefront again. A lot of it boils down to the difference between a nation with good rulers focused on helping the people and a nation with bad ones focused on helping themselves, and we’re really seeing it in just how messed-up Tanbarun is in comparison to Clarines.

Both the Lions and the Claws are direct, contrasting responses to the exploitative power structure present in this world, and in particular the rampant corruption in Tanbarun. The Lions are composed of people who’ve been routinely screwed by crooked nobles and chose to create their own pocket-nation rather than bend the knee to someone who doesn’t deserve it. Conversely, the Claws take full advantage of the broken system, profiting off those same crooked nobles via human trafficking and “decorative tools” (which sounds a whole lot like sex slavery to me).

Neither group would wield the kind of power they do (or even exist at all) in a more equitable society. Clarines is by no means a perfect nation, but it’s telling that, when someone (like Kihal’s tribe) has a problem with a local noble, their first response is to petition the royalty, not throw a coup and run off into the mountains to govern themselves.

As much as I’m hoping for that first one, Raj may want to prioritize that second one more.

Another point of contrast: The treatment of women. While the premiere (set in Tanbarun) dealt specifically with female agency and Shirayuki’s fight for freedom, we really haven’t seen much of that particular struggle since then. Shirayuki has had to battle for respect as a commoner, yes, but with the presence of a female Chief Herbalist, royal bodyguard, and tribal liaison, gender has been a refreshing non-factor in Clarines.

Not so in Tanbarun, it seems. Outside of Princess Rona (a direct blood-relation to the king), we haven’t seen any women in positions of political or military power within the palace itself. Kazuki’s understated but horrific backstory comes largely out of his status as a “pretty boy,” meaning he’s devalued because of his traditionally feminine appearance. Kiki even cites her gender as the reason she should be the one “sold” to the Claws, suggesting that (at best) a woman wouldn’t be seen as a threat or (at worst) women are more likely to be sold into slavery here.

As serious as this is, can we all take a moment to admire Mitsuhide’s perfect expression? Because it is perfect.

Of course there is one interesting (and clever) exception to all this: Umihebi herself, leader of the Claws and instigator of this slave trade. As mustache-twirlingly awful as she is this week, happily torturing and brutalizing even her own people, based on what we’ve seen of Tanbarun, it’s not too difficult to draw the causality lines and see how a young person constantly denied any power (and maybe actively abused) within the confines of the system could simultaneously internalize that prejudice while also rebelling against it, choosing to become the predator so as to avoid being the prey.

I don’t know if Snow White intends to develop Umihebi, making her more than a cartoonish Big Bad, but even as a 2-D villain she’s still very much a product of her society. Something is seriously rotten in the state of Tanbarun. It’s a good thing Shirayuki got out when she did—and an equally good thing Raj is seeing all this firsthand, so maybe he can finally start doing something to correct it.

Series Finale Town Date or GTFO.

This, That, and the Other

• I try to keep my in-post commentary calm and professional, but I AM SO EXCITE FOR A SHIRAYUKI/KIKI TEAM-UP, LIKE YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW. Do not. Even. Know.

• Snarky parenthetical aside, while it is all-too-convenient that Mihaya knows where the Claws keep their hidden mansion, based on what we already knew about both his family and the Claws’ business, it isn’t a totally implausible ass-pull, at least.

• I’m digging the way the show pits what Kazuki has told us against the explanation the Lions give for why he tried to kidnap Shirayuki. The stories don’t match up, and not knowing where the lies end and the truth begins creates a nice level of uncertainty… and gives us something to theorize wildly about, too. VIGILANTE MOUNTAIN PRINCESS IT IS!

• I’m not one to crush on 2-D characters or take “husbandos,” but I would straight-up marry Zen Wistaria.

Aaaand *swoon*

The party is shrinking faster than expected.

While it’s not unheard-of for me to drop shows between the third and sixth episode, my retention rate is something like 80 percent. Basically, if you can hook me after three, I’m usually invested enough to stick around through the whole cour even if I wind up with a negative opinion of the show.

This season, though? This season there was enough mildly entertaining mid-range stuff that I threw it all at the wall and waited to see what would stick. Not much of it did, and some of the results surprised even me. Hit the jump to see where we stand halfway through this chilly season.

Back for Seconds

Snow White with the Red Hair (Akagami no Shirayuki-hime)

Grade: A-

I’m covering this in detail each week, but the long-and-short of it is that Part 2 has been such a contrast to Part 1 that sometimes it feels like a different show entirely. That’s not praise or criticism, just a statement of fact: The series has shifted from a cozy, low-stakes fairy tale to a plot-driven political fantasy. While I do miss the graceful artistry of Part 1, I’m still fully invested in Part 2, and it’s done good work expanding the world and challenging our protagonists. If you already liked Snow White, you still will; if you were lukewarm about it because of the lack of conflict, give it another try. You may enjoy it a lot more now.

Mr. Osomatsu (Osomatsu-san)

Grade: B+

What other show can give you sibling shenanigans, a Mad Max parody, dick jokes, heartache over a flower, and an apocalyptic MarioKart race all in half a season? Only this one. It’s also become a surprise smash hit in Japan. If that means we’ll be getting more seasons (and a dating sim, WUT) of this ridiculous, pop-culture-savvy, occasionally insightful, occasionally moving, occasionally brilliant sketch comedy, then I’m all for it.

Haikyuu!! Season 2

Grade: B

Haikyuu is doing that thing a lot of longer-running, premise-based anime do: Struggling to maintain momentum due to a lack of fresh conflicts or a clear end-game. It’s smartly chosen to focus on some of its more minor teammates in recent weeks, which has given us new character arcs to help the current tournament carry more weight. Hopefully that continues. And hey, it’s still dynamically animated and full of great comedy, and I’m still liking it just fine—it’s just hard to find new things to talk about since it hasn’t done much new stuff as of late.

Lupin III (2015)

Grade: B

I’m not fully caught up, but I figured I’d pop in anyway. Every once in a while Lupin does some really good character work, musing on Fujiko’s motives or the relationship between Zenigata and Lupin, but most of the time it’s a romp, gleefully blending noir with caper with classic cartoon zaniness. The art and music are great, too. Check your disbelief and cynicism at the door, then strap in for a fun, increasingly far-fetched ride.

Cream of the Crop

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju

Grade: A+

So good it gets its own category! I’ve been talking a whole lot about SGRS every week at Anime Evo, but have a little more: This is a graceful and complex character study with a focus on performances, gender role expectations, and a lot of fascinatingly open-for-interpretation subtext; a historical setting so well-realized you can practically feel the road beneath your own feet; and an artful blend of shot and music selection to create an atmosphere of understated emotional resonance. It regularly knocks me off my feet. I sincerely hope it can keep doing so for seven more weeks.

Hot ‘n’ Cold

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (Hai to Gensou no Grimgar)

Grade: Fluctuates from an A- to a C- at any given moment

If it weren’t for the leering camera and occasional bursts of tired tropes—the two people caught in an unintentionally suggestive pose, the girl belittled for her chest size, the peeping attempt—Grimgar would easily make my Top Three of the season. There’s a sharp tonal dissonance between the melancholy, character-driven fantasy the anime wants to be and the loud, cliche-riddled slice-of-life it feels it has to be (and, from what I’ve heard, that the source material actually is) in order to sell discs.

There’s been more of the former than the latter as of late, and when the series is focusing on the psychological ramifications of its real-life video game world—on trauma or grief or even just conversations at a pub between friends—it’s restrained, real, and remarkably affecting. That said, how well you can handle the jarring shift to the noisy banal bits (and the antsy camera that defaults to long pans and butt-shots when it doesn’t know what else to do) will likely determine whether you stick around or bail.

ERASED (Boku Dake ga Inai Machi)

Grade: B-

Erased has been slowly losing me, largely for the same reasons I covered in my Rule of Three: The production values are generally great, with some clever visual or directorial touches, but the tension this “mystery thriller” is trying to build isn’t working because it’s not doing anything new or unexpected, and the well-tread ground it’s covering—lots of women (and only women) in mortal danger and the one man who can save them, thereby righting his own directionless life and saving himself—is not a path I’m all that keen to walk.

When it was focused on the past story line, showing a child’s world through an adult’s eyes, depicting the destructive nature of the “look-the-other-way” mentality, and emotionally grounding its story in the sweet, painful relationship developing between Satoru and Kayo, it didn’t matter if it was predictable because (occasional melodrama aside) it was warm and immediate and about something. But when it’s just a mystery, it’s all style and no heart. It’s still good enough that I’m going to finish it, and it may wind up surprising me, but at this point I’m underwhelmed, and pretty bummed about that.

Guilty Pleasures

Prince of Stride: Alternative

Grade: My brain says C+… but my heart says B+…

I was on the fence about PoSA a few weeks ago, and then it immediately hit its stride (ba-dum tish) from Episode 4 onwards, providing a fun and occasionally exciting sports series with a playful splash of manservice and innuendo. The speeches about “connecting emotions” are overused and cheesy, and the characters range from being reasonably layered to one-note, but they also don’t slot into easy archetypes, and when they aren’t trying too hard to be funny (with limited returns) there’s a nice rhythm to their interactions. Also, the races continue to be a stylish, well-directed blast. It’s nothing special, but that doesn’t stop it from being one of the shows I most look forward to each week.

Divine Gate

Grade: Uhhh…

I. Okay. Look. I’m not going to tell you Divine Gate is worth watching, because I’m not sure it is. In fact, it’s probably bad. The thing is, it’s bad in none of the ways that bother me, bad in some ways that entertain me, and good in a lot of ways that matter to me. It treats its characters with affection and is more-or-less void of fanservice. It’s interested in abuse/healing narratives and the importance of found families and community. It has stylish (and ridiculous) character designs and a weird sense of humor.

It also has an unnecessarily convoluted plot, rushes through it’s mini-arcs too quickly, contains way too many minor characters, and features the best worst monologues I’ve seen in a long, long time. So, yeah. It’s not good. Except actually it is? Except actually it isn’t? Except actually, who cares. Bad, good, or so-bad-it’s-good, I want to see where it takes me.

On Hold

Durarara!!x2, as I’ve mentioned ad nauseam by now, will be binge-watched at the end of the season. I may also go back to Active Raid, though that’s looking less likely now.

Dropped

I don’t usually do this section, but given that the dropped list is so much longer than usual, I thought I’d talk briefly about why these shows lost me.

• BBK/BRNK: The battle-focused character-a-week story that Bubuki Buranki is selling is perfectly fine, but I find myself less willing to buy it each week. It’s not so much that I’m dropping it so much as I just don’t have the energy to come back. I wish it the best.

• Dimension W: Three weeks ago I’d have told you this was a lock for the season. What a difference a two-parter makes. After a reasonably fun start, DimW went and exploded incomprehensible plots, dull characters, and crass sexualization all over my TV. I can forgive a show for getting dumb, but not for getting dumb and boring. Unless I start hearing glowing reviews, I won’t be back.

• Girls Beyond the Wasteland (Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu): GBtW had a silly charm to it when it was focusing on game creation and poking fun at geek culture and writer egos. Its shine wore off when it shifted focus to more rote, dating sim-esque character interactions, then vanished altogether after a pompously self-aware fanservice episode. Pointing out tropes is only clever if you actually do something new with them, and this show is not.

• Haruchika: This isn’t a bad show in theory. If you’re willing to overlook its rushed “puzzle-of-the-week” narrative style, clumsy attempts at emotional resonance, and unattractive art, it’s not a bad show in practice, either. But I can’t.

• Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans: I fell behind during my hectic January, continued to hear a consistent “meh” from other people watching it, and realized that, yeah, I’m done here. I discussed my issues with it in my Fall Retrospective, so you can read that for details.

Monster-of-the-week? More like monster-of-the-minute.

This is one of those weeks where I wish Sailor Moon didn’t feel like it had to fit a battle into every episode. There are a lot of interesting (or at least potentially interesting) out-of-costume conflicts and interactions swirling around right now, but we don’t get nearly enough time to explore them because they have to share 20-odd minutes with Seed Targets the series is clearly phoning in at this point. I love my goofy monsters and clever fights, but I’d much rather the show skip them entirely than half-heartedly cram them into a few obligatory minutes.

On that note, I’m beginning to realize why Stars feels just a little off compared to past seasons: Where Sato and especially Ikuhara embraced the absurd, magical weirdness of the premise, Igarashi is trying for a more grounded narrative, silly and supernatural without going full-on surreal. But he’s building atop a whole lot of episodes and established patterns, and it’s led to a season that feels very much like a YA sitcom trapped inside a magical girl sitcom’s body.

I liked that magical girl show an awful lot, but I think I could really like this YA one, too. Right now, though, it’s still struggling to balance what Igarashi wants it to do with what past seasons (and, admittedly, fans like yours truly) expect it to do. Until it does, even if I’m still basically enjoying it, something about it is always going to feel just a little bit out of sorts to me.

The Recaps

Episode 184 – The Sailor Star ‘Ship Enterprise

Continuing with last week’s theme, we’re in for even MOAR shenanigans! Albeit with some unpleasantness to temper the silly mood. Our troubles begin when Usagi hears tell of a burglar prowling the neighborhood on the a night she’s home alone, so Seiya offers to come over and be her “bodyguard.” Usagi is once again warned (this time by Luna) that even the seemingly nicest “guard dogs” could actually be “wolves,” which is… and I just… I have so many great guy friends and I hate stereotyping and generalizations, but I also hate that we live in a world where these warnings are necessary and relevant to help girls protect themselves. So I’m layers of conflictedly unhappy right from the get-go today.

Not that it ever comes up because Seiya actually is a pretty good dude. He does get up-close-and-personal at one point, but only because he’s (I think) trying to tell Usagi about his princess. It ends with cake in the face, courtesy of C.C. Cue bath towel silliness as the rest of the Moonies come over and have a lot of wild ideas about the mostly-naked boy in Usagi’s house.

So THAT’S what the kids are calling it these days!

In an unexpectedly tense moment, Ami grinds a carrot down to nothing as she struggles with the mounting evidence that her best gal pal might be cheating on her best bro. She tries to be loyal and offers to give Usa the benefit of the doubt, but it ends in a muttered “fuketsu” (dirty/filthy, what the subs translate as “sleazy”) that’s easily the most vitriolic thing our faithful Ami has ever said about one of her friends.

I want Sailor Moon to dig into this SO MUCH, but instead the show switches to a lame joke about all the girls freaking out over a cockroach (Seiya is of course unaffected because WOMEN, AMIRITE). Then Taiki and Yaten show up and it turns into a fun night of card games instead, and THEN HaruMi show up and things get a little tense again, especially when Haruka refers to “people like you” and Seiya is all:

Sailor Moon would be able to make a much stronger case for the “you shouldn’t stereotype people based on their (perceived) gender” message it seems to be circling around if it hadn’t just made a lame cockroach joke, but again, we don’t really have time for that, because some rando with a TV show just arrived to film the household eating dinner. This is somehow less plausible to me than time travel, SENTIENT UNIVERSES, and unicorn boys.

Worried about a scandal, the Three Lights frantically try to hide and for some reason all the girls except Minako and HaruMi decide to hide, too? Yeah, check your logic at the door for this farce. Of course TV Rando is there because he’s an awkwardly inserted monster-of-the-week, so he gets his star seed harvested (Starvested?) by the local Starvesters (aaaand nicknamed!). Everyone has to swiftly run away from each other, transform, and crowd into the kitchen.

Is this a meta-joke? Kinda feels like a meta-joke.

Once TV Rando is cured, HaruMi peace out (they’re kind of giant assholes this week, sigh), leaving the Moonies and the Lights (or at least Seiya) to deal with the post-battle mess. As the cats point out, it’s a night “so wholesome it’s scary,” which speaks to me on a deep, personal level because it’s exactly how high school parties with my mixed-gender friend group went, too (sans DDR and energy drinks, anyway).

So, annoying hiccups aside, if the point of the episode was that guys and girls can in fact hang out unchaperoned as friends, then I guess that’s a pretty decent message for a shenanigans episode to have.

Episode 185 – The Fault in Our Sailor Stars

Strap yourselves in so you don’t get tonal whiplash, ’cause we’re about to move from a silly house party to a story about doubt and a dying child. Never let it be said that Sailor Moon doesn’t run the emotional gamut, that’s for darn sure.

Said dying child is Misa, a girl at Ami’s mom’s hospital who’s got an American doctor flying out to perform a (presumably) life-saving surgery in the next few days, and is feeling both frightened and pessimistic about it. She’s also a huge Three Lights fan, so when Ami tells the Moonies she wants to give Misa a present to “give her courage,” it takes Usagi all of zero seconds to go:

She manages to wrangle Taiki (whose exasperation at squealing fans who just DON’T GET OUR MUSIC, MAAAAN, looks particularly petty compared to, you know, DYING CHILDREN) for a hospital visit, hilariously gift-wrapping him for the occasion. Even so, he insists he’s coming as “an ordinary guy” and not as a pop star and takes TERRIBLE OFFENSE that Usagi would think otherwise. (I actually think Taiki might be the best-written of the Three Lights, but man is he a big ol’ angst ball.)

While your blogger mutters “Taiki, you cynical bastard, don’t you DARE screw this up” from her couch, he’s actually very nice to Misa, encouraging her to get better and offering to see the picture she’s been drawing while listening to his music. Except it isn’t finished yet, and… ohhh, no:

Dammit, man, do they not have Death Flags on your home world?!

Taiki’s frustrations continue to the point where he’s starting to think their princess either isn’t listening or just doesn’t care. The passion leaves his music, much to Seiya’s chagrin and Misa’s, er, rapidly approaching mortality. When Taiki rushes back to the hospital at Usagi’s behest, Misa shows him her half-finished picture, the one that “always comes to mind” when she hears them sing, and it is in fact a spitting image of his princess. Their music was reaching people after all!

Taiki swears she’ll be able to finish her picture, because dude doesn’t understand how death flags work AT ALL, and rushes off to perform the concert he’d threatened to skip out on. This means he and the Lights are destind to be absent for Siren’s attack on the incoming Doctor America, but no worries, ’cause Sailors Moon and Mercury are on the case, and they ain’t about to let some AGGGGH NO SYRINGES AGAIN WHY.

Fortunately Ami is far braver than I in the face of true evil, and she knocks this phage down to size. The Moonies take care of their business, Taiki takes care of his, and everyone rendezvous outside the operating room in time for patient and surgeon to take care of theirs, too. Misa’s gonna be okay! And it was all thanks to modern medicine her strong will to live!

Taiki and Misa have a little Circle O’ Encouragement moment where both admit the other inspired them not to lose hope. And, despite Taiki’s best efforts to flag this girl to an early demise, she’s on the path to recovery and was even able to finish her picture. Snarking aside, it really is a sweet, uplifting little episode about the importance of faith and the two-way relationship between artists and their fans. Consider my heart properly warmed.

This, That, and the Other

• “You know, Mamoru used to kind of suck, but he’s been a loyal boyfriend and stalwart fellow crime-fighter for a long while now. Don’t you think it’s odd he hasn’t contacted Usagi at all? Maybe we should pool our money and try calling the university where he’s staying to make sure he’s okay and, like, that his plane didn’t explode in a ball of magic light or something,” suggests absolutely nobody. Is there anybody it sucks to be more than this guy?

• Moon Flatbread Action is officially my favorite Sailor Moon attack, even if it is a tragic waste of a good pizza.

• Recently the fights have been causing collateral damage (an exploded police car last week, Usagi’s kitchen this week), which is amusing, but also (I think) part of Igarashi’s attempt to ground the series more in reality by taking into account the impact supernatural battles (or pointless costume wings) would have on their surroundings.

• So did Mako travel back in time to give birth to a sickly child, or did SM‘s character designer just finally run out of ideas?

• Hark! A plot point! Despite Seiya’s tentative hopes, other than the sparkly eyes full of wonder and joy, their princess bears little resemblance to Usagi. The tide of new characters truly cannot be stemmed.

Showa Genroku: A classic love story of boy-meets-rakugo.

Having at last found his voice, Kikuhiko’s star rises swiftly, as his performances earn him accolades from audiences and masters alike. But one person’s success can sometimes be another person’s loss, and the rapid changes occurring this week are as much about unraveling personal connections as they are about tightening professional ones.

Click here for the full post on Anime Evo!

The gang makes like McGruff and takes a bite outta crime.

The Pirates of the Tanbarun comes to its thrilling(?) conclusion this week, perhaps proving more than anything that Snow White is a much better character drama and cozy fairy tale than it is a rip-roaring adventure series. This might be the show’s weakest outing since it’s second episode (meaning it was still “pretty good” by most standards, mind you), but it still had plenty of standout moments, and its ending opened the door to what could be a major paradigm shift.

Now that the danger is past, the Obligatory Scenery Porn can return!

It’s not uncommon with fiction, particularly stories we really love, that we start to write our own arcs and conclusions, coming up with ways we want it to play out. I confess that part of my lukewarm reaction to this episode comes from that, because I wanted a lot more out of Shirayuki and Kiki and I didn’t get it. They weren’t helpless or anything—in fact they were both smart and patient, biding their time and waiting on the other pieces of this large, teamwork-based plan to fall into place before they made their moves—but that doesn’t keep me from wishing for a little more even so.

But as much as I’d love some Kiki-centric episodes, that’s not what this mini-story was about. It wasn’t even about Shirayuki, not really. No, this arc has been about Tanbarun, Prince Raj, and his attempt to become a better person and ruler, and the first half of this episode was meant to be a culmination of all those little changes we’ve seen up till now. So I want to focus on the episode from that angle—on what it wanted to do rather than what I wanted it to do—and talk about how it succeeded or failed in that respect.

Raj has two defining moments this week: First, when he stands before the merchant captains and issues direct commands (because he’s so poorly regarded they won’t take an indirect one seriously), and then when he decides to brave the minefield of maelstroms to give chase and ensure Umihebi can’t escape when the other side of their pincer movement reaches her. The first moment is rushed and the second hampered by questionable physics, but I still appreciate the intent, particularly in how the maelstroms parallel the underground labyrinth from Episode 15.

Once again Raj finds himself needing to navigate a maze he doesn’t know full of traps he can’t see. One wrong move could lead to serious injury, even death. But where he froze up and cowered in the labyrinth, relying on others to protect him and help him find a way out, here he moves boldly forward, struggling through the dangers and risking his life (and his naval crew’s, yes, but importantly not the conscripted merchants, who are really just there to provide a show of force) to find a way to fulfill his role in this mission.

We see almost nothing of Raj after he cripples Umihebi’s ship, but we also don’t need to: With this moment, he’s completed his growth from bumbling, cowardly, insecure putz to bumbling, courageous, decisive leader, and it’s time to move on to other characters and events. And while Shirayuki may not have had much to do this week personally, her interactions with Raj were a huge factor in instigating this change. So maybe she was more involved in this climax than it initially seemed.

Raj Faces™ never change, though, and thank goodness for that.

Still, though, despite its character arcs and… other wonderful things which I will mention last because I want to end on a positive note… I still see this episode one of the show’s weakest, and I think that comes from a significant lack of tension. Once we know the plan, we know our team is skilled enough to pull it off (Raj being the one question mark, perhaps), so there’s little uncertainty or concern during all the chases and battles. Which wouldn’t be a negative in and of itself, but Snow White really struggles with the execution this week, and I think a lot of it comes down to its usually great production values taking a noticeable dip.

There’s a flatness to the naval pursuit that dominates the first half of the episode—the ships glide stiffly through the water with no movement in their sails or ropes, and a few times the “rocking boats” are just a still frame getting jerked around—and while the land battle has its bursts of fluid animation and exciting swordplay, it relies on a lot of still frames and pans, many of which linger too long to properly convey motion. Even the music feels halfhearted. Episode Director Ohta Tomoaki has done some lovely work for Snow White in the past, but he and his team struggle with the action this week, and it made the story drag in a way it never has before.

Fortunately though, Ohta does excel at quiet, understated emotional moments, and he brings his A-game for the episode’s best scene: Shirayuki and Zen’s reunion. Granted a sudden moment alone, the two cling to each other in the soft light of the stairwell, their fears falling away with their tears, just flat-out relieved to be with the other again.

It’s a beautiful, cathartic moment made all the more emotional because it’s so quiet and simple and understated and real. There’s no wailing, no lengthy professions or admissions about how frightened they’ve been. There’s no need. They both know perfectly well how much the other means to them, and how important it is that they’re together once more.

Faced with such a barrage of Snowmance, I naturally lost all ability to speak, think, or hold a solid form, never mind maintain a critical distance from the material, so please enjoy these screenshots as I melt slowly to the ground:

The moment doesn’t last long, though, because our couple knows there’s still work to do. So Zen goes back to “wreak havoc” below and Shirayuki wisely keeps her distance from the battle, trusting the fighters to return safely. (Slightly bummed no one was injured enough to require Shirayuki’s life-saving herbalist skills, but I’m sure she’ll have plenty of time to be awesome later.)

The battle is over quickly: Umihebi is cruel but not stupid, and she surrenders when it becomes clear she can’t win. Obi’s still too ashamed to meet Shirayuki (expect that to be a conversation next week), so he stays below to help the Lions and Raj’s forces while the rest of Team Zen meets her at the castle gates for an adorable, tearful reunion. And speaking of reunions, here’s one I saw coming roughly three miles away:

Daddy’s little Vigilante Mountain Princess is all grown up! Now to see how she reacts to this unexpected familial face and the complications that are sure to come with it.

This, That, and the Other

• Please enjoy this reaction image of Zen putting on his skepticals.

• I’m no oceanographer, but I suspect giant whirlpools casually changing rotation direction every 10 seconds is not an actual thing. But then again, neither are most of the plants Shirayuki uses for medicine, so… fairy tales!

• So often I watch a show about a “normal” girl in peril and find myself, as a fellow “normal girl,” shouting at her to do this or that. I never have that moment with Shirayuki. She’s not a fighter and she’s not reckless, but she knows how to find an opening and act on it, using it to escape or chomp down on somebody’s arm. I so appreciate that about her.

• “Shirayuki’s dad runs the Lions. He’s the Lion King! That makes her Simbayuki-hime!” These are the thoughts that run through my head in the shower.

Fighting evil by moonlight, stalking toddlers by daylight…

We’re inching ever-so-gradually toward some kind of final confrontation, given the dropped plot crumbs and Galaxia’s increasing impatience. With just a single cour left I’m a little concerned we’ll be burning through story lines instead of stopping to smell the (probably literal) roses from time to time, but given all the new characters and murky motivations, I suspect it won’t be a boring final cour, at least.

For now, though, it’s one-part silly adventures, one-part power-ups, and all of it centers around The Littlest Bunhead. Chibi-Chibi is either going to be an impressive Mooniverse reveal or the convenient plot device that puts all other convenient plot devices to shame. Either way, I sure can’t call her inconsequential anymore.

The Recaps

Episode 186 – Team Sailor Starkid

Usagi’s HANGRY, but her mom didn’t leave out any snacks and I guess padlocked the fridge and cupboards?, so Usa’s SOL until C.C. decides to share her own snacks. But wait! Mama Tsukino didn’t put out those doughnuts and candies! C.C., have you been posing as an Oompa-Loompa and stealing from the Wonka factory again?

Hoping to solve the puzzle that is Chibi Squared, Usagi tails C.C. to see where the toddler goes when she’s left to wander the city alone all day (like toddlers do). C.C. frolics through traffic, meets strangers who tip their hats to her as if she’s the baker with her tray like always instead of an unattended toddler with the verbal skills of a Pokemon, and charms a dog who appears to have wandered out of a Looney Tunes short.

First the Moonies and then the Star Lights join Usagi on her quest. The gals do a real bad job of remembering that C.C. is supposed to be Usagi’s little sister (“Chibi-who-sa, now?” wonders Seiya), but those conversations will have to wait, because we’ve finally arrived at the fabled Candy Kingdom!

Actually it’s a giant mansion full of antiques run by an old man who lures children into his home with dolls and candy, OH GOOD THAT IS NOT CREEPY AT ALL. Instead of grabbing C.C. and running far away, the UsaGang sit down to drink tea out of mega-expensive cups (according to Local Appraiser Yaten) and marvel at the fact that an old businessman doesn’t know anything about a trio of teen idols. Yes. Because THAT is the weird thing about this guy.

After they leave, the AniMates attack, snagging the old guy’s star seed. Through a sequence of convenient backtracks courtesy of C.C., Usagi shows up in time to transform and deal with Sailor Antique, by far one of our silliest monsters.

Less creepy as a phage, TBH.

C.C. “helps,” but Sailor Moon’s too worried about the priceless antiques to do much fighting, at least until the Star Lights (who are just willfully ignorant about Sailor Moon’s true identity at this point, I mean C.C. is RIGHT THERE and you KNOW Usagi went back for her, so WHERE IS SHE IF NOT IN THE WINGED COSTUME) arrive to assist and provide the somewhat melancholy moral of the episode: “All things eventually break.”

Although let’s not kid ourselves: The real moral of the story is clearly that no one in Juuban should be allowed to raise a child.

Episode 187 – Hey Now, You’re an All-Sailor Star

Sailor Moon has been a magical girl drama, a superhero caper, a YA rom-com, an absurdist farce, and a surreal mystery. But you know what it hasn’t been yet? A SPORTS SERIES.

Enter the school Sports Festival, where everyone’s expected to sign up and compete in an event. Minako and Taiki have volleyball, Makoto and Yaten have basketball, and our unathletic protagonist gets roped into joining the softball tournament with Seiya. Sadly we will see none of the other events, not even in still frames, but this is has more to do with Plot than Shenanigans. Although there are of course plenty of those, too.

NO ONE is having more fun this season than the Inner Guardians.

Our central conflict comes from Ijyuin Sonoko, softball star and leader of the area’s Three Lights fan club, who Doth Not Approve of Seiya’s romance with the clumsy first-year (Usagi replies: “We’re not a couple!”). So she offers Seiya a challenge: Beat me in the softball tournament and I’ll acknowledge your relationship (Usagi replies: “WE’RE NOT A COUPLE!”). But if you lose, you must cut ties with her… FOREVER!

Competitive as ever, Seiya accepts, and the two glare meaningfully at each other. Usagi replies:

But Usagi doesn’t like to lose, either, so she practices hard anyway. The two have a little bonding moment where they sit under the stars and talk about how there’s “the light of a star in everyone” and Seiya tells Usagi hers is extra-bright. Oh, pshaw. I bet you say that to all the girls you think are your princess.

We only have 23 minutes and a monster’s gotta show up at some point, so we skip the tournament and head straight for the championship game: Team Seiya Vs. Team Sonoko! It’s a defensive game with neither pitcher giving an inch despite Usagi’s right-field fumbles (bah, now I’ve got the Peter Paul and Mary song stuck in my head), but a sudden rainstorm forces them to take a break.

Sonoko runs into Usagi (who’s taking Helpful Plot Device C.C. to the restroom) and has a whole “oh-ho-ho-ho, I’m gonna hit the ball straight at you and win the game” gloat planned out. Usagi (awesomely) replies: “Yeah, I kinda suck at this game so I might not catch it, but I’m still going to try my damnedest, for both Seiya and myself.” Respected Rival: Achieved.

Meanwhile over in the Battlestar Galaxia, Siren’s taking heat for not finding the true star seed. Concerned for her own “rival,” Crow takes point on this mission, going after Sonoko and leaving Siren to follow a few steps back, which gives her time to see the tail end of the Sailor Moon transformation and realize that, WHAAAT, the magical superhero lady might have a true star seed? WHO’DA THUNK IT.

Usagi gets hit from both sides—Siren and the unintentionally punny “Sailor Leaguer”—until C.C. stumbles onto the field, touches the Moon Rod, and uses her magical plot device powers to not only don her own sailor suit, but also give Usagi one last Level Up before the series finale.

“Time to Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss your ass goodbye, punk!”

Siren’s still pretty sold on this whole attacking-Sailor-Moon thing, but when the Star Lights show up she realizes she’s outnumbered and retreats. And with that out of the way, it’s back to the really challenging stuff: Catching. A. POP. FLY.

And Usagi does! Her team wins the game, she’s the hero of the game, and absolutely everybody in school will soon be convinced that she and Seiya are dating. And if telling Mamoru that last part doesn’t get him to write you back, kid, then nothing will!

This, That, and the Other

• TuxedoWatch: Still exploded.

• I’ve not been quite as high on this season as I’d hoped, but it does do a really fun job of incorporating the supporting cast in small, clever ways, like Minako and Rei hijacking the announcer’s booth at the sports festival.

• Heehee, I keep writing “star sheed” because that’s how I hear it in my head.

• Seiya calls Chibi-Chibi “Chibisuke” (what the subs translate as “little one”). I find this adorable.

• Hark! A plot point! Antiques Man says that Usagi and C.C. “seem to be more than sisters”—that they share a “warm air” that’s almost identical. Did…did Sailor Moon just throw clones into the mix? Am I gonna have to brush up on my Orphan Black references now?

The light at the end of this tunnel is looking more like a speeding train with each passing week.

Due to a series of unexpected and slightly ridiculous events, I wound up handwriting this in the back of a car between bouts of motion sickness (#XtremeBlogging!), then quickly typing it up and posting it via shaky hot-spot WiFi. As such, it’s a bit scattershot and currently lacking in screenshots. I promise to add lots of images later this week just as soon as I can. For now, let’s talk relationships.

Click here for the full post on Anime Evo!

Dust settles gently around here.

The past few episodes tricked me into thinking Snow White was a more conventional (albeit still quite good) shoujo fantasy, but this one was quick to remind me in no uncertain terms that it is, for better or for worse, very much its own story: A relaxed, low-key fairy tale about personal choice and defining oneself. As I said in the first cour, that’s not going to work for everyone, but love it or bored by it, I think you’d be hard-pressed to argue that Snow White isn’t doing exactly what it wants to do, audience expectations be damned. And, for me at least, that’s definitely “for better.”

Obligatory Scenery Porn: “I’m So in Love with the Lion Village Architecture” Edition

Sometimes I think the driving tension here isn’t between characters or social classes, but between expectations and reality. Snow White delights in driving down a road we recognize only to turn onto a side street at the last moment. After a heavily foreshadowed build-up, Shirayuki and her father’s reunion winds up pleasant but distant. There are no tearful embraces, no explosions of anger, no painful choices about whether Shirayuki will stay or leave.

But, really, why would there be? Snow White doesn’t believe anything is determined by the accident of one’s birth. To Shirayuki, people are defined by their lives, not their roles. Princes aren’t guaranteed respect and fealty, and commoners have as much right as royalty to pursue and even demand happiness. Similarly, family is about shared experiences and affection, and home is the place where one feels safe and comfortable. It has nothing to do with blood or birth. So of course Shirayuki would immediately turn down Kazuki’s offer to stay with the Lions. Clarines is her home. She made that clear a long time ago.

Babyuki-hime!

That isn’t to say Shirayuki hates her father or that Mufasakaze is a Jerk Dad. He’s actually a pretty great twist on the standard anime parent, best shown when he snaps at Zen like a stereotypical controlling father and then goes “Nah, I’m just screwing with you, Shirayuki’s free to make her own choices” (summing up Snow White‘s central theme rather succinctly, in fact).

He’s also proof that you can be an absent parent without necessarily being a selfish or cruel one: He left his daughter for her own safety and made sure she was raised by people who loved her; he worried when she left Tanbarun and was prepared to help her if needed (not realizing Kazuki would be as forceful as he was about it); and now that he knows she’s safe and happy he’s content to let her lead the life she wants. A parent should act in a way that’s best for their child. Present or no, I think Mukaze tried to do just that, which is why Shirayuki has no hard feelings even if she doesn’t have particularly warm ones, either.

With that non-confrontation out of the way with hilariously unexpected ease, the rest of the episode is loosely divided into three parts as Shirayuki interacts with the main relationships of this arc: Obi, Zen, and Raj. This season could have easily spiraled into a convoluted mess of a love quadrangle, but Snow White forgoes a standard harem-style romance to instead portray three intimate, important, but very different relationships.

As I gushed about on Twitter, I spent a lot of this week salivating over background art and color palettes, because in addition to looking absolutely freaking gorgeous, they set and change the tone from one scene to the next, informing these relationships as much visually as they do verbally.

To start, Shirayuki and Obi meet, head-on and face-to-face, outside of town in a murky forest that matches Obi’s dark, earthy color scheme. It reflects on his own wilder, more aggressive nature, and perhaps suggests that their relationship is harder to define than the “official” ones with Zen and Raj that we later see in towns and palaces (or just reflects their “down-to-earth” status as commoners). It’s also rather gloomy, like Obi himself, who apologizes to Shirayuki for failing to protect her.

Shirayuki doesn’t blame him, but when he insists on holding himself accountable, she wisely doesn’t fight it. Sometimes forgiveness isn’t about the “wronged” party, but about the guilt of the one who thinks they’ve done wrong. By accepting his apology and giving him a second chance (“come with me next time”), she acknowledges his feelings as valid even if she doesn’t agree or fully understand them. Shirayuki gives Obi what he needs, allowing him to feel that he can stand beside her again.

Then we have Shirayuki and Zen, cloaked in Zen’s own cool color palette of soft blues and whites. They meet in town, but in a private, closed-off room rather than out in the open, granting them a cozy space that belongs only to them. Their presence is a comfort to the other, and their scenes have an almost ethereal quality, as if they really are transported to their own separate world when they’re together.

This is also the only relationship where Shirayuki not only considers her own needs, but lets them take precedence. Still rattled by recent events and comfortable with Zen in a way she isn’t with others (even if she still can’t quite bring herself to drop that “L”-bomb like he did), she lets herself be a little vulnerable and selfish, leaning on him for support. It’s also a lovely parallel of the last late-night bedroom scene they had, only this time it’s Shirayuki embracing Zen rather than vice versa.

Welp, that song’s gonna be in my head all night now. (Also, yes, I melted again. Obviously.)

Finally, we have the real star of this arc: Prince Raj, who wraps up his transformation from beast to man by meeting Shirayuki on the dance floor, person to person, and moving with her rather than trying to control her. Their scenes are characterized by cheerful pinks and golds and occur in public spaces, surrounded by others and marked by social ceremony.

There’s a lot of optimism here, but also less intimacy than Obi or Zen were given. Despite Rona’s assumptions and Zen’s low-key jealousy (although he’s still happy to see Shirayuki happy, the little darling), the visual cues all point to a relationship of colleagues or new friends rather than a budding romance, one-sided or otherwise.

Her special attack is the Expecting Better Of You Stare. It’s a one-hit KO.

And that’s fantastic, particularly given where Raj was when we first met him, treating his subjects like toys. Having him fall in love with Shirayuki would have been boring, not to mention undercut the entire point of his arc. This needed to be the story of a self-centered prig learning how to respect and listen to others, not “so a woman will like me back” but because he comes to realize it’s the right thing to do. And, thanks to Shirayuki holding him accountable for his actions rather than acquiescing because of his noble birth, Raj steps up to her challenge and does just that.

The prince (and man) who once tried to force his will onto a commoner (and woman) now not only accepts Shirayuki’s agency but actively encourages it, saying that it would be “boring” otherwise, and his request to see her long hair if/when she grows it out again serves as a direct parallel of his original demand that she be presented to him like an object instead of a person. Shirayuki acknowledges his growth by inviting him to visit Clarines “as a friend” (much to Raj’s adorable delight), and the curtain officially closes on our Tanbarun tale.

So what’s next? With just four episodes left, one would suspect a concluding arc with our Final Boss, Izana. Will he say Shirayuki passed or failed this test? How will ShiraZen react to his judgment? And in a story about the importance of fighting for one’s right to choose, do they really need Izana’s “blessing” at all?

But, hey, this is all just speculation based on preconceived narrative expectations. And if Snow White has taught me anything, it’s that expectations are meant to be thwarted.

This, That, and the Other

• Dangit, Shirayuki, stop falling asleep right when Zen is about to tell you something important!

• I have a long, eyebrow-twitchy relationship with the “romantic” trope of the unconscious (read: non-consensual) kiss, and I’d have much preferred it if Zen had gone for the forehead instead of the lips, but… well, this one didn’t aggravate me as much as usual, I suppose because it struck me as a comforting good-night kiss in the way a parent might peck you on the cheek rather than someone taking advantage of another person to serve themselves. I’ll very much understand if it bothered others more than it did me, though.

• Also great this week: The blocking. Obi and Raj both face Shirayuki head-on, highlighting the confrontational/challenging nature of these interactions, while she and Zen are frequently facing the same direction, side-by-side as cooperative partners.

• Every time a Raj snaps, an angel gets its wings.

The moon and stars aren’t breaking up–they just need a little space.

Nothing like secret identities to throw a wrench into the beginnings of bee-yoo-ti-ful friendships. We’re making the shift from magical girl sitcom to superhero drama this week, as is our seasonal tradition, which means big reveals and even bigger angst. Although really, when it comes to end-of-season hardships, the heroes got nothin’ on the villains. If you thought maintaining a personal relationship was tough as a good guy, try being a minion. Crow’ll tell ya. It is rough.

The Recaps

Episode 188 – Sailor Startling Revelations

The gals think C.C. might be an actual plot device and Galaxia is breathing down Siren’s very confident neck. But c’mon, none of that is nearly as important as the special fan club members-only Three Lights event that’s taking place ON AN AIRPLANE?! And all the Moonies EXCEPT USAGI are gonna be on it?!

WELP.

DON’T DO IT, MOONIES! They’ll blow you up and then write you out of the show and grow new protagonists in your place!

(…Oh my God, Tuxedo Mask is a hydra.)

Usagi can’t go because she isn’t in the fan club and the tickets are sold out–but what’s this? An invitation? From Siren? So saw Usagi’s entire transformation sequence last week and knows her secret identity?!

Frightened for her friends and the other passengers, Usa rushes to the airport to warn them, but since she can’t very well say “An alien is going to attack because Sailor Moon is on board and also that is me,” the flight attendant just gives her a sideways glance and she gets hustled to her VIP seat with the Star Lights.

Seiya mistakes her concern for a fear of flying (airplanes ARE a snake’s natural habitat, after all), and tries to get her to calm her nerves.

Well, actually he tries to get his mack on. (Okay, that’s unfair of me, he’s probably just worried and wants to comfort her, but c’mon dude, could you have been more flirty about it?) But anyway, we’ve got bigger, literal fish to fry, because Siren has phaged the flight attendants and is out for Usagi’s star seed!

Downstairs, the passengers have been hit with sleeping gas and the Moonies (save one adorable Ami) are bored with the Star Lights’s superhero flick (continuity!), so they head upstairs to hang out… only to be stopped by the phage army! Unwilling to transform in front of the Lights, they get to kick ass the old-fashioned way.

They’re actually holding their own, but fighting isn’t Usagi’s strong suit out of uniform, so she’s in a pickle. And Siren went and called her “Sailor Moon” right in front of the Lights (RUDE), too! (Seiya: “This answers sooo many questions.”) Something has to give, and it turns out it’s Seiya–unwilling to see Usagi starvested, he transforms into Star Fighter in front of everyone. (Usagi: “This…raises more questions than it answers, actually.”)

Well, we certainly can’t leave Seiya to battle the Starvesters all on his lonesome! Usagi, the other Lights, and then ALL the Moonies join the transformation party, and right in front of each other, too. Moon and Star Power, Make Up!

Siren unleashes a juice-flinging attack that allows her to escape, but without the true star seed she’s at the mercy of her evil boss. Despite Crow’s desperate pleas, Galaxia tears off Siren’s bracelets as well (RIP my villain ‘ship), turning collection duties over to Crow and the newest AniMate, Sailor Tin Nyanko. Also losing a metric ton of vital information about her enemies and the true star seed in the process. Galaxia is a fitting book-end to the show’s villains, seeing as how she reminds me of Beryl more and more each week.

The bummers continue as our Moonies and Stars separate from each other, feeling rull awkward about the whole alter-ego thing, and for once our heroes and villains can all agree on the state of the Moonion:

Episode 189 – Video Killed the Radio Sailor Star

The dust may have settled but the Moonies are still shaken, Usagi much more so than the others. I kinda love how chill everyone is about the fact that their friends sometimes have boobs–Mina seems to have decided this means they’re “actually women” and her romantic aspirations are over, but Mako figures they’re still the same people on the inside so, like, it’s all good, right?–while Usagi’s just bummed they were keeping secrets at all. Can they really call themselves “friends” when they know so little about each other, she wonders?

The other Moonies point out that they were keeping secrets, too, and Usagi grapples with the difficulties of leading a double life. I feel like now would be a good time to point out that all our fun recurring side characters have vanished from this season, even the stalwart Narumino and (sob!) Teddy. I am frequently bummed about this, but it may also speak to the increasingly isolating nature of life as a vigilante.

And speaking of isolated vigilantes, the Stars have taken to their Broodin’ Corner, too.

Despite recently warming up to both Usagi and Sailor Moon, finding out they’re the same person has emptied Taiki and Yaten’s damns tank and they have no more to give, so they’re back to wanting to use her or ignore her altogether. Seiya’s having none of it, though. He’s sick of their disdain for the resident heroes, and they’re sick of him projecting his feelings for the princess on to Usagi.

Yeah, Seiya! Stop getting distracted by other super-powered crime-fighters who clearly like you and would probably help you find your princess and defeat the woman who destroyed your home planet! You should be focusing on important stuff instead! Like performing on radio shows!

Oh–but before that, Seiya and Usagi need to spill their guts to the local fortuneteller.

Psychic Help 5¢

These scenes are pretty cute, mostly because Rei is awesome in them, encouraging the pair to be courageous enough to face the other and be sincere. They clearly care about each other, so just explain that to the other and it should be all right, she says. Rei’s done a lot of growing since Season One, and it’s lovely to see her straightforwardness maturing into such clear, focused honesty.

She’s also a great friend, taking Usagi to said radio show (“Jack’s Evening Guest”) so she and Seiya can stare meaningfully at each other. They feel feelings at each other SUPER HARD over a bubbly pop song (because ’90s shoujo), and it’s silly, but also kind of sweet. Seiya “says” that he can’t tell her any details yet (there are still 11 episodes left, after all), but the two promise to keep trying to understand one another.

The DJ’s not quite sure what’s going on here, but eh, probably not the weirdest thing that’s ever happened on his show. Heck, it’s not even the weirdest thing that will happen that night, seeing as how Crow quickly rips out his star seed and turns him into Sailor DJ.

“BEATS 99.7, GIVING YOU NOTHING BUT HITS!”

Sailor Moon quickly arrives, and even though it was totally her jerk boss’s fault, Kunzite Crow blames Sailor Moon for Zoisite’s Siren’s death and is ready to take her down… until Nyanko (much to Crow’s chagrin) has to go and fire a cannon at her back. Usagi, quick! Use your special ability to throw the nearest X chromosome in front of you as a human shield!

Except… wait a minute, Tuxedo Mask isn’t around, so then… aww, poor Seiya. I hope you like getting stabbed, pal! And also, ouch.

The rest of the Moonies proceed to storm the scene, Crow and Nyanko proceed to retreat, and the remaining Star Lights proceed to lose their shit.

“That toe I stubbed the other day? That pet fish that died when I was a kid? ALL YOU, YOU ASS.”

They storm off carrying the unconscious Seiya, and I… I’m sorry, but I’m not really feeling it. I really liked the conflict between Usagi and Seiya as they grappled with hurt and guilt and struggled to balance their secret jobs with their personal lives. All of that was, as Rei would say, sincere–emotionally grounded and true to their characters.

But having Taiki and Yaten suddenly regress to super-callous(fragilisticexpialidocious~) antiheroes after weeks of showing they were having fun with the Moonies, too? It doesn’t make sense to me, especially given that they’re on the same freaking side. I’d totally get it if the Stars were fighting different enemies or if they had different methods the way HaruMi did, but they don’t, so… what exactly is the problem here, again?

This, That, and the Other

• TuxedoWatch: Still exploded.

• It took me longer to find all those Airplane! gifs than it did to write the actual post. WORTH IT.

• As bad of a week as everyone is having, I feel worst for this poor flight attendant who’s going to wake up with her legs crushed beneath a drink cart and NO IDEA how she got there.

• Heehee, Sailor Nyanko uses a literal cat’s paw to fight.

• The Sensei Next Door: “Nyanko” is an affectionately diminutive and somewhat childish way of referring to a cat, roughly equivalent to the English “kitty-cat.” I’ll be curious to see if Viz translates her name for the dub to better match with the other AniMate’s names, or if they leave it as-is.

Showa Genroku is the Crocodile Dundee of winter anime. “You call that art? Now THIS is art!”

I had a moment after this week’s episode where all I could do was stare at the end credits while making little half-articulated “wow” noises. That was a beautiful, haunting, painful, stunning 22 minutes, so riveting that I straight-up forgot to take notes my first time through. Regardless of how the next few weeks pan out, after an episode like that I feel confident in saying that SGRS has already established itself as something truly special, an achievement in character writing and visual direction, using its art and music and phenomenal vocal performances to create a whole even greater than the sum of its fantastic parts. Two days later and I’m still trying to lift my jaw up off the floor.

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