We here at oprainfall don’t just love video games: we’re big fans of anime, too. So in celebration of the medium, we’re here to give you our thoughts on what we’ve been watching each week as we watch it. Old, new – anything goes.
Currently Airing:
86 EIGHTY-SIX (2nd Cour)
This week’s episode deals with the aftermath of the large Legion offensive that took place. Even with Lena’s preparations, it appears the Legion thoroughly thrashed the Republic. As for the Federacy, their western frontlines took a massive beating as well. This can be attributed to Kirya’s Legion, now called Morpho. In response to this, the Federacy intends to use the Nordlich squadron (which has Eighty-Six members) as a sacrificial pawn to take out Morpho. For as much as the Federacy likes to brag about being the Republic, when push comes to shove, they have no problems with sending Eighty-Six to their deaths. All because they are the “Republic’s Monsters.” I expected they would do something like this, but it was still sad to see. I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to see the Republic’s defensive through Lena’s eyes, we only got to see short snippets at the beginning of the episode. They do show the aftermath, but it only leaves more questions. We got to see some familiar faces from the first half of the anime, which was a nice touch. I’m looking forward to see what happens during the Morpho operation. Which, unfortunately, won’t be next week, since it looks like they’re doing a commentary episode for next time. This wait will be the end of me. – Patrick
You can watch 86 EIGHTY-SIX on Crunchyroll.
The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated!
This week we start off with where we were left off before with Jahy preparing to confront the magical girl. She reveals that she is from the Dark Realm and Jahy begins the fight using all of the mana crystals she had recently collected. I actually was caught off by the action since I would have guessed that a fight would have been avoided. From there we find out that the magical girl, Kyouko is pretty lonely and thought stopping misfortune was her purpose. The fight ends with Jahy seemingly about to win stopping and saying that she would care about Kyouko, who is touched by this. Unfortunately for Jahy, Kyouko is pretty clingy to her new and only friend. Eventually agreeing to go to her house, Jahy finds a surprise. She discovers that the Dark Lord who she served is there. The Dark Lord is similar to Jahy in that she now has become smaller, she does not speak really and instead appears to spend much of her time just eating. From there Jahy learns of how Kyouko became a magical girl and that there was someone else who directed her to attack the Dark Realm, meaning that her true enemy was never truly the magical girl. This episode shows how Jahy has become more sympathetic such as she talked to Kyouko at the end of their fight. Plus we see how she acts with the Dark Lord, she becoming quite subservient and respectful instead of how she usually acts with others. While she she won Jahy still has it rough with how the Dark Lord consumes food and that she prefers Kyouko due to this at the moment. – Walter
– You can watch The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! on Crunchyroll.
Mieruko-chan
Having caught up with Mieruko-chan, the show continues to be something worth watching. The spirits that Miko encounters continue to be pretty horrific looking and disturbing. The last few episodes have shown more of the other characters such as her family, Hana, and introduces some new characters such as the Godmother (a psychic who does tend to run some scams). Another character who shows up on the side Yulia, finally gets some spotlight in the most recent episode. She can actually see spirits too, but only to a certain extent. She’s a bit of the opposite of Miko as she’s proud of her ability and will let people know. We also see though since she’s been to always been able to do this she is also pretty lonely. The series does a decent job of putting in comedy, fanservice, horror, and not to mention some touching scenes, such as one about a family Miko runs into, and her own story about pudding. The misunderstandings between Miko and Yulia were also great and how they’re first real talk together goes wrong. I also enjoy the somewhat running gag with Miko being into macho man. – Walter
– You can watch Mieruko-chan on Funimation.
Old Shows:
The Vision of Escaflowne
So after last week’s walk down memory lane, I figured I’d keep it going for this week’s oprainfall anime write-up by pulling out my blurays and rewatching my favorite anime of all time: The Vision of Escaflowne. And I gotta say, it still holds up so much. Not only does it boast some gorgeous animation and a stellar score, but I cannot get over my love of the world and characters. (And yes, I’ve long since found my peace with their weird ass noses.) But Van and and Hitomi are such amazing foils for one another, and their stories so engaging. When I first saw this way back in high school, I remember taking so much inspiration from Hitomi’s strength and dedication and watching it now, 25 years later, she’s still inspiring. Watching her grow and learn along the way, you really can’t help but root for her success. On top of our heroes, Dilandau – voiced by the brilliant Minami Takayama – is still probably my favorite anime villain, or at least in my top five. I love how nuanced he ends up being despite his first appearance. Escaflowne is also my favorite mecha design ever, and the fact it comes with its own theme song doesn’t hurt. In this era of isekai over saturation, it’s nice to go back to an earlier version of it, and Escaflowne is better than just about everything else out at the moment. Absolutely check this out if you’ve never seen it, you won’t be disappointed. – Leah
– You can watch The Vision of Escaflowne on Funimation.
What anime are you watching? Let us know in the comments!
