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:
Platinum End
So after the really lackluster and, frankly, boring first episode of Platinum End, things picked up a bit in episode two. We’ve met what appears to be our big bad – another chosen human gifted with Wings and Arrows, same as our protagonist Mirai. Unlike Mirai, Metropoliman is using his powers for supposed justice, whereas Mirai just wants a normal life. We’ve got some more world-building with the angels and god, along with some more morally questionable suggestions from Nasse, but the show still lacks a really good pull. I also couldn’t help rolling my eyes when we find out who Metropoliman actually is. There are flashes of brilliance with the animation, and in a better paced and written show, I’d be all over the moral ambiguity of the whole god competition, but it’s just not quite there. I also cannot stress enough how much I do not like the angel designs. I’m willing to give Platinum End one more episode to really grab me, but right now it just doesn’t feel like the show for me. – Leah
– You can watch Platinum End on Crunchyroll.
Sakugan
Oh man, talk about missing the train on this one. On a whim, I gave Sakugan a try to see if it’s something I’d want to write about for these oprainfall anime reviews, and holy crap am I glad I did. It’s two episodes in, but I wish I’d jumped on this last week when it premiered, because it is good. Like really, really good. Not only is the animation expressive and fluid, but the world-building instantly hooked me. Human colonies exist deep underground and are separated by giant walls of rock called the Labyrinth, as well as swarms of kaiju. Select humans called Markers adventure out into the Labyrinth to map paths between the colonies, and our spunky young protagonist Memempu desperately wants to be one, despite the protestations of her father. There’s so much more I want to say about just the first episode, but I feel it’s way better to go in blind like I did to experience this story. I absolutely adored Memempu and Gagumber’s dynamic and desperately want to see more of this father-daughter duo. Absolutely recommend this one, folks. – Leah
– You can watch Sakugan on Crunchyroll.
86 EIGHTY-SIX (2nd Cour)
While last week’s episode showed us civilian life in the Federacy of Giad, this week’s episode brings us back to the battlefield and showcases military life in the Federacy. 86 EIGHTY-SIX once again reminds us that characters can die off at the drop of a hat and to not get too attached. The previous episode did a good job of lulling us into a false sense of security, but this one just brought us right back down to reality. I felt the death flag raised in this episode was way too obvious. It would’ve been better if was more subtle. I found one of the customs the Federacy’s military has to be quite interesting, and a little messed up. So basically, the military would recruit little girls to join the military units as “mascots.” As a “mascot” they would be treated as the unit’s daughter or little sister. The soldiers in the unit would fight harder to protect their “little sister.” At least that’s what I gathered from this episode. That sure is one way to motivate soldiers, but I guess I don’t like the idea of exploiting children for that type of thing. But we get to see more of the adorable Frederica in the series because of it, so I guess I can give it a pass for now. My prayers were answered from last week and things definitely heated up more in this episode. I hope things continue to ramp up more as the weeks go on. – Patrick
– You can watch 86 EIGHTY-SIX on Crunchyroll.
The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated!
This week starts off with a change in opening and ending theme. Both are great but, for me, I think that I still prefer the first ones. The episode starts off with Jahy getting the idea of growing her own food from the manager and attempts to grow some tomatoes to help feed herself. Deciding to change her style of doing things to a more loving way like the manager, we get to see a bit of a different side of Jahy. While in it for the food you can see all her effort at trying to help her tomato plant grow. While successful, it also ends in a type of failure as it usually does for our number two. From there we see Druj make a return and Jahy do her usual antics of trying to hide her setbacks and hurdles. This time though one of her lies seemingly is found by Druj only for Jahy to come up with a bold excuse about the magical girl. The episode finishes up with Jahy dealing with her landlord becoming her roommate for a short time. It once again shows a more caring side of Jahy as she helps the landlord patch things up with her sister. This episode was nice, showing how our denizen of the dark realm is starting to be more caring. Additionally, I look forward to seeing how Druj will interact with the magical girl along with the new character teased at the end. – Walter
– You can watch The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! on Crunchyroll.
What anime are you watching? Let us know in the comments!
