anime

Kaiju No. 8 ep 11-12: I came to bury this show, not to praise it

Kaiju No. 8 episodes 11 and 12 review

A weird thing happened when I came to place the body of the show Kaiju No. 8 in its casket – the corpse came back to life. Strangely enough, the botched reveal didn’t completely kill the show, although it certainly wounded it. But the final two episodes of season 1 actually made it so that I may yet watch season 2 after all.

While I didn’t pay much attention to the wild action and battling, as I find that stuff to be quite boring, I did like the way each of the characters got their necessary development in order for me to be able to say that they aren’t just all cliche. Even the guy whose only word is “Sir” seemed to improve. Mina might be the only one who’s not growing, partially because she’s been placed in the Levi role of this series. But I finally feel like this show has come together in a way that makes it worthy of another season.

The question might be, where does it go from here? The obvious answer is, Kaiju No. 8 fights Kaiju No. 9. It’s what happens in between there that determines whether this show goes from good to great. And yes, I am calling it “good” for now. Not great, but at least “good.” And that’s how much the final two episodes managed to sa-a-a-ave this show, because it had gone cold.

Best girl of the episodes: The girl with the glasses

Episode 11 rating: 8/10

Episode 12 rating: 8/10

anime

Konosuba S3 Ep 11: Turn out the lights

Konosuba season 3 episode 11 review

… the party’s over. They say all good things must end, and that includes this season of Konosuba, which wasn’t quite up to par compared to the first two seasons. But it was still Konosuba, and it was still high quality.

What stopped this season from reaching the heights of the first two? The Iris arc was funny at times, but it also took Kazuma away from the characters who make this show so great. The wedding arc took Darkness away from the gang, which also hurt. But the main problem was Aqua, as in, the lack of Aqua.

Aqua can be absolutely hilarious, so the idea to make her a one-trick pony this season (I’m protecting my egg) was a bad one. Now, I get it, they’re trying to set up this whole ridiculous Kazuma-Megumin romance, and that involves taking out Aqua from competition. But come on. We need Aqua to be at her best to keep this show at its best. Oh, and I ship Kazuma x Aqua. Just saying.

Now, as it comes to the season, it was the third best out of the three seasons, but I wouldn’t call it the “worst.” I’d call it mildly disappointing, but still better humor than you’ll get from most other comedy series. Please make a fourth season. Although I probably don’t have to beg for it.

Best girl of the episode: Darkness

Episode rating: 7/10

anime

S&W 4: Princess Peach

Spice & Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf episode 4 review

So, Holo gets captured and Lawrence has to save her. This means that Holo is officially a damsel-in-distress, like Princess Peach. And that leads me to my tangent.

Peach was the damsel-in-distress, while Daisy was the athletic, outgoing one. But sometime recently, probably in 2020, Nintendo completely reversed course on Peach. Now Peach was the athletic, outgoing one, filling the role of Daisy in the Super Mario Bros. Movie as well as in her own Switch game. That’s all well and good, but imagine Rei Ayanami becoming a fast-food worker and taking people’s orders. (Oh, wait, she did do that. Another tangent.)

Anyway, if Holo is going to be like pre-2020 Peach, then this show is in some serious trouble. But if she comes out swinging like post-2020 Peach or any-time Daisy, the show will be in better fortunes.

Best girl of the episode: Come on. Holo.

Episode rating: 7/10

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Kaiju No. 8 ep 10: A stupid sundae

Kaiju No. 8 episode 10 review

This was by far the worst episode of this show, so I’ll just cut to the chase instead of recapping the episode. There were so many stupid/ridiculous things that happened in this episode, so let’s go through them.

  • Vice-Captain wins the battle, and everyone starts joking and laughing and talking about needing a rest. Somehow no one notices an enormous Kaiju hovering overhead which literally is bigger than skyscrapers. Everyone’s shocked when it appears, yet unless that thing came out of thin air in a moment’s notice, they should have seen it while they were yukking it up.
  • The big reveal of Kafka being Kaiju No. 8 was completely botched. Instead of it happening at a big moment when the gravity of the situation could set in, “Sir” just ignores his pals and charges right in and gives away his secret. You could not have possibly picked a more anticlimactic way of pulling off the reveal.
  • Worse, everyone isn’t even surprised. They’re kind of like, “yeah I thought there was something weird about him.” So, the big reveal was already anticlimactic enough, and the other characters’ response just made it more so.
  • Finally, after “Sir” defeats the enemy, Mina puts a gun to his head and says she’s taking him into custody. Because saving all of his friends is something worthy of him being threatened to be killed. What a nonsensical moment! It was the cherry on top of a stupid sundae.

I feel stupider just from watching this episode. There is little chance this show will recover from this. Why? Because the big reveal was botched. It’s bad enough that all of the characters acted completely oblivious to common sense, but now that the biggest moment of the show has come and gone in the most ineffective fashion, it’s all over. I will watch until the end of the season and then drop the show for good.

Best girl of the episode: I guess Mina

Episode rating: 3/10