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:
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel – Northern War
In this week’s episode, Lavi and crew are on their way back to Bareahard when the train they’re riding is stopped due to rubble blocking the tracks. When they are about to start clearing the way, a tremor occurs, and Lavi saves a nobleman from falling down the fissure that’s created. Unfortunately for Lavi, she takes the noble’s place, plummeting into the underground waterway. Here, Lavi has a run in with a terrifying monster before being rescued by Rean and Altina. That’s right, the mean Rean fighting machine is back. The trio work together as they attempt to escape the waterway, taking down baddies, and even fishing, along the way. As they near the exit, the trio hear the screams of the monster that attacked them earlier. Rean gives a nice, cheesy speech, as Rean does, before rushing off to take care of the beast. Lavi, conflicted on whether to escape the waterway or help, ends up going to help Rean and Altina. The trio defeat the beast and escape the waterway, and Rean and Lavi meet up with Iseria, Marty, and Tally. More beasts attack the train passengers, and Rean calls on Valimar to take out the fiends. Lavi looks on in shock as she finds out Rean is the Ashen Chevalier she’s been looking for. A conflicted Lavi returns to North Ambria with her mission completed. Lavi resolves to protect the North Ambrian citizens no matter what.
After much waiting, we finally get to see the return of our boy Rean. It was nice to see he’s as good hearted and cheesy as I remember. I enjoyed seeing Rean interact with Lavi. Lavi was very guarded at first, but she slowly opened up as they traversed the waterway. It was hilarious how Rean suddenly took out his fishing gear to catch some grub. It was quite a callback, since you could fish in dungeons in the games too. I felt it was out of character for Lavi to be conflicted on whether or not to help Rean defeat the monster. She had no problem stopping a terrorist attack in Ordis, but now she questioned Rean’s desire to kill a monster to defend the Erebonian citizens? It just seemed weird to me. I understood the shock Lavi went through when Rean’s identity was revealed. She was told that Erebonia’s hero would destroy North Ambria, yet Rean seemed the complete opposite of a destroyer. Such is the power of Rean’s cheesy speeches, he can make his enemies have second thoughts. I’m interested in seeing what actions North Ambria takes now that they know the identity of Erebonia’s hero, maybe we’ll see next week. Other than that, the animation was hit and miss for me. There were some shots that looked great, but others, like during fights, that looked less than stellar. Here’s hoping they clean that up a little for the next episode. – Patrick
— You can watch The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel – Northern War on Crunchyroll.
Tomo-chan is a Girl!
The main focus this episode is on home visits. Tomo and Misuzu visit Carol’s house, where they meet her mother. It’s easy to tell how the two are alike. We see that the two are good counters for Misuzu’s serious and scheming personality. We also see them going to Misuzu’s home, where we also get introduced to her mother. Once again we can see the similarities of the two, with of course the shared suspicion of Carol. The final visit comes with Jun inviting Tomo over for the night to play video games. While this happens, it shouldn’t be a surprise that other situations also arise. Overall, it was a good episode with some new characters and developments. I still think the best parts of the series are with Carol, Tomo, and Misuzu. That enough will keep me interested. – Walter
— You can watch Tomo-chan is a Girl! on Crunchyroll.
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale
After the events of the previous episode, Anne, having not gained the Royal Medal nor the Silver Sugar Master title, decides that she would have a better chance peddling her craft in Westol. Before leaving Lewiston, she decides to visit the different sugar confection artisans in town. Her last stop is a confectionary run by Kat and his fairy, Benjamin. Unfortunately, Anne’s visit is a disastrous one, as a thief tries to steal one of Kat’s confections and ends up smashing it. Kat believes Anne to be the perpetrator since the assailant escaped, and he has Anne work for him until the smashed confection is remade. After a ton of hard work, Anne and Kat finish the confection, and are able to trap the thief who makes a reappearance near the end. Kat gives Anne his winter cloak as thanks before she goes to Westol. In Westol, Anne doesn’t have much luck finding a client for her confections.
This was a cute episode. I loved seeing Challe rush to Anne’s aid when Kat accused her of smashing the confection. He was ready to cut down Kat to protect her. Most of the interactions between Challe and Anne were heartwarming this episode. From the protection scene to the part where Challe warms Anne’s hands. It was just so good! Kat is a good guy too, though he can be harsh with his words. He gave Anne some good advice before they parted ways. Anne is such a sweetheart too. She knew she didn’t smash the confection, but she was completely fine with helping Kat with his work. She even went the extra mile when she refined even more silver sugar for him. I can’t say anything bad about her. This was just a nice episode, one without as much drama as the previous two. I’m very much looking forward to next week’s episode. – Patrick
— You can watch Sugar Apple Fairy Tale on Crunchyroll.
Trigun Stampede
Now with Wolfwood in tow, our group make their way across a blood-red and windless stretch of desert as they continue their trek toward Knives in July. Along the way they stumble across a decrepit town where the windmills no longer work. Vash clearly knows this place and makes his way toward it. It’s been abandoned for some time, it seems, but that doesn’t mean it’s empty. While exploring, Vash is attacked by a hulking man with guns on his arms and a skeletal face mask. He obviously knows who Vash is, as it’s the only thing he yells while chasing our hero through the streets. Wolfwood comes to help, but neither of them are a match for the brute, and they eventually flee to safety to regroup. At the same time, we learn about a young boy named Rollo, who was born on a windless day in this town of windmills and is set to be sacrificed to God. After running away from home, Vash finds Rollo out in the desert and brings him home. He promises to save Rollo if God won’t, but as we learn, he never made it back in time with medicine before the boy was sacrificed. What that sacrifice ended up being becomes fairly obvious fairly fast, but it still came across as an emotional gut punch thanks to Vash’s reactions. We also have a bit more mystery as to how Vash knew Rollo and the other folks in this town. Compared to last week’s episode, this one was a lot more subdued but with a heavier focus on Vash. I’m really curious about the hints we’ve gotten into Vash’s past, as well as Wolfwood’s. This continues to be my show to watch this season. I can’t wait for next week. – Leah
— You can watch Trigun Stampede on Crunchyroll.
What anime are you watching? Let us know in the comments!
You can read previous Week in Anime entries here!
