It’s been a great week, and I’m slowly getting back on track!
And speaking of tracks, will Kabaneri’s train be moving again? Will Deku succeed in the race to become the next greatest hero? And can anyone keep track of how many gaming in-jokes Netoge is throwing out?
Boku no Hero Academia
Heroes need pride, but humility as well. U.A. grading the latter in secret is exactly how to observe it. Self-sacrifice may be a common theme of many a shounen hero’s rise to power, but Boku no Hero Academia does it justice.
Deku’s greatest triumph was his inspiration to others. They ran from the ‘pointless’ obstacle, but Deku made it an exhibition of what can hide behind an unassuming surface – just like the exam hid its ‘rescue points’. The world heroes have to save is not an open book; while the rest of the heroes excelled at doing what they were told to do, Deku succeeded once again in following his heroic instinct.
Schools can nurture talent, but they can’t teach it. With the threat of expulsion looming in the next episode preview, perhaps some overly-proud heroes may be destined for the chop.
Kiznaiver
‘Immoral’ is one way of putting it; ‘delinquent’ is the more obvious cliche that completes our cast. If you like Freudian psychology, his sado-masochism should strike you as perfectly normal. Ironic as he’s the weirdest of the bunch so far.
I just hope his ‘blissing out’ over pain won’t be overdone as comic fuel. We had enough of that in KonoSuba’s Darkness. But at least Yoshiharu already has many more angles to his personality. Though the glamorization of his face was lost on me. Is there really anything beautiful about him? I thought we were supposed to be pooh-poohing the cliches, not giving them sparkles.
Still a wild, gleeful ride this week. Keep it up, Kiznaiver.
Flying Witch
A structure is forming: one half sees Makoto see the ‘magic’ in rustic life; the other contrasts it to some real magic wowing or frightening Chinatsu. I’m thrilled that Flying Witch is using its two-part episodic form to speak of the two halves of beauty that make it wholesomely pleasant to behold.
The chasing of the pheasant was a hilarious gag, but it also had some great depth, paralleling Makoto and her uncle with the cat, speaking of instinctive curiosity and its beauty. That curiously then fed into the excitement of learning a new spell, and the wonder at what more complicated incantations could accomplish.
There’s no malice in the magic, even when it summons a murder of crows. Flying Witch is idyllic, like all pastoral tales, and makes me want to see the spectacular in the simple life too.
Netoge
This rather unguessable romance just loves to play around with its central theme. Every scene joyfully questions how separate ‘the game and reality’ really are. The punning on RNG mechanics when talking about reality ups the vitality of both.
Ironic how Rusian shoots down Ako’s illusion of their meeting, while he’s switched to imagining the male avatars as girls in the game and dresses up the whole thing with his own imagination constantly. Also interesting to have their backstory arise only for a new character to start along the exact same path, being taught the basics and seemingly falling in love.
Expertise is treasurable when you’re lost in a new world. Far more than premium items. It’s no surprise that Master seems to be the biggest loner, in the game and in reality.
Kabaneri
The plot slows down, the train to a halt. Ikoma’s past is wonderfully played out as a ‘common’ occurance, and that makes it all the more painful, his character – the Kabaneri, even – an emblem of everyone’s loss.
But the Kabaneri are the ones that don’t run, and this train journey has been all about escape. You can’t keep the Kabaneri in the rear of the train because the Kabane will always find their way in.
Mumei acting cute, and Ikoma acting defiant, were both great demonstrations of the humanity of the Kabaneri, and also how these characters don’t fully play to type. But it turns out they also need blood to survive. Their feral nature gets proven swiftly too.
Short-Cuts
- Space Patrol Luluco. Our hero just wants to connect to Nova, but her work leaves her alone – until we meet her mother!
The Drop Zone
- Haifuri. Nothing too bad about it, but my interest has slowly sunk. My uni workload’s only getting harder, so I think I have to anchor this one here.
That’s it for this week. See you next time!
Unnecessary exclamation mark! 