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:
Otaku Elf
This episode has a somewhat different set up. We start off with Elda and how her normal day goes, which is to say not very productive. From there we got to see a glimpse of the other two elves and their mikos. It was good to give them more time since they haven’t had any appearances other than texts from the episodes they were introduced in. This episode differed from the last few as it didn’t include any moments of something somewhat melancholic. While the series is very much a comedy, it does have some somber moments, especially in the most recent episodes. These times definitely add something to the series, especially with how much of them relate to Elda and the elves seeming immortality. So to me it was a little disappointing that there wasn’t one this week. That being said, with how this episode was set up, it makes sense they wouldn’t include one this time. Getting close to the end of the season, I’d like to see how they will balance these moments. – Walter
— You can watch Otaku Elf on HIDIVE.
My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999
So I made the mistake of starting watching Yamada-kun. I watched all 10 available episodes and literally yelled “Noooo” when there wasn’t another. Ohmygosh this show was made for me. It’s perfect and adorable. Patrick wrote about the first couple episodes and the basic premise a while ago, so I won’t repeat his perfectly good summation, but I will gush about Akane for a while. She is just too cute for words. She feels relatable and understandable, from her mixed emotions at being dumped, to her friendship with Momo, and even how she misinterprets situations, such as logging in when Rurihime and Yamada are alone and chatting. She’s energetic and puts on a brave face, an admittedly overused trope, but those moments of self-doubt and vulnerability help elevate her above just the genki lead. She also has the single most real moment I’ve ever seen in an anime and I died. I also like that she’s the older one in this budding (????) relationship. Watching Yamada slowly start to realize he feels something for Akane, but not entirely sure what it is or how to put it into words, is just a joy. I like mismatched couples, and I think Akane would be good for Yamada to pull out of his shell. Also kudos to the voice cast, they are all stellar, and I won’t lie that I squeed a little bit when Akane and Eika interacted because it was just Letty and Albaird redux from Star Ocean: The Divine Force. I haven’t had this much fun with a new show in a long time and Yamada-kun has been a breath of fresh air in the romcom department. I can’t wait to watch more. – Leah
— You can watch My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 on Crunchyroll.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury
The episodes this season have really been something, and this episode was no different. Guel heads back to the school and against better judgment goes after Shaddiq sooner that he probably should have. While Guel’s character has grown, we see that he still is somewhat hot headed. This event spirals into chaos as Elan, Nika, and Norea are freed, with the latter getting into her Gundam. Suletta has a moment with Petra, which unfortunately is cut shortly from the destruction. Getting to see more Chuchu along with a new mobile suit for her is always going to be a plus. The battle between Guel and Shaddiq was impressive, and seeing Guel back in a fight was great to see. The battle was a big highlight, but to me it was equaled by the moment with Norea and Elan. This Elan is not the one most people like, which is understandable. Regardless, what he does while somewhat out of his particular character made for quite a moment. However, it is important to remember while different, this is still a Gundam series. The episode ends on a pretty solemn note, and personally I think they could have held off on the Shaddiq confrontation a bit longer. Either way it was another strong episode, and I very much want to know how they will keep going on. – Walter
– You can watch Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury on Crunchyroll.
Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts
On the exact opposite spectrum of “I made a mistake watching this” is Sacrificial Princess, a show that has all the trappings of something I should love and yet I couldn’t finish the first episode. The basic premise is that there was a war between humans and beasts and in order to end the conflict, the two sides agreed to never set foot in either’s realm, but humans would send a sacrifice once a year for the King of Beasts to eat in a show that the humans were still the lesser species or something. Our sacrificial princess Sariphi was taken in and raised explicitly to be devoured by the king because her parents didn’t want their real daughter to be chosen. Sari seems perfectly okay with this arrangement, having resigned herself to her fate a long time ago. When she meets the king, she is anything but scared, and remarks that he shouldn’t be so mean to his subordinates. It was at about this time I started to get that “oh no” feeling, and it just got worse the longer the episode went on. Ennui is all well and good, I like a well-written “I give up” character beginning, but Sari is both resigned to being eaten and surprisingly energetic and happy-go-lucky and it’s like, please pick one? They aren’t even mutually exclusive responses, but here they’re just written so badly. Sari is meant to be precocious but slips firmly into annoying territory, and the pacing of the episode leaves no room at all for you to get to know her or the beast characters outside very awkward and forced exposition. You know the kind – where characters who absolutely would know this information sit through a lecture from other characters who absolutely know the other character is well aware of this information and yet they provide it anyway. It is the worst kind. Pair this with less than stellar animation and I was so bored I turned off the episode halfway through.
It wasn’t that the show didn’t have interesting ideas – why is there miasma covering the beast kingdom?; why did they agree to live in a place where nothing can grow in exchange for one measly human sacrifice a year?; why is the king so kind to Sari despite supposedly eating all the previous sacrifices? – but I could not care enough to find out if the show actually answers any of those. And it’s a shame, because the character designs are decent, and I am a sucker for human/monster relationships. The anime’s opening had me seriously hyped for a fun monster fucking time. The premise of this show was so good, and it just feels wasted. I’m genuinely sad, but Sacrificial Princess just got killed on the altar of this season’s anime selection. – Leah
— You can watch Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts on Crunchyroll.
The Ancient Magus’ Bride
Now for a good human/monster show, The Ancient Magus’ Bride finally had what I’d say is its first lackluster episode of Season 2. After the previous episodes dealing with Chise’s practical in the Scottish countryside and learning more about Lucy and the Webster Family tragedy, we had a more action-centric episode this week, but between sort of bad editing and stiff animation, it was more off-putting than exciting. Last episode we learned that the Webster family used spider silk to make magic manuscripts, and that Lucy’s entire family was murdered and their spiders stolen. This episode we get confirmation on who exactly killed them. The wolf couple are relentless at hunting down Lucy and her brother Seth – who cannot use sorcery, and so was expelled from the family to eventually work for the auction house where Chise sold herself. In a bid to protect them, Chise leads the wolves into the inbetween paths, where they’re put upon by the doglike protectors. Feeling pity for their fate, Chise offers to pay for the female wolf to live after the dogs devour her mate. Lucy is understandably appalled by this decision, seeing as the wolves had no compunction about killing all of her relatives. Meanwhile, Elias meets up with Marielle, who confirms some of those at the College who have fallen ill are the unlucky victims of a forbidden book that was stolen from the College’s archives. The version the College owned was a copy created by the Webster spiders, but both copies and the original book have the ability to steal the magical life force from humans. Someone is using the book to evil ends, and it seems like it was used on Lucy during the practical. While we don’t know who is using it, we’ve got several prime suspects. There’s mystery afoot at the College for sorcerers, and I’m excited to see where it leads. I just hope it’s better paced and animated than this episode. – Leah
— You can watch The Ancient Magus’ Bride on Crunchyroll.
What anime are you watching? Let us know in the comments!
You can read previous Week in Anime entries here!
