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:
Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting
Kirishima finally gets a day off from watching the little lady, but that doesn’t mean he’s off the hook from having to work. Yanagi, a punk from another family, is out to push Kirishima’s buttons and prove the Demon of the Sakuragi Family isn’t all he’s cracked up to be. Unfortunately for him, Kirishima remains in fighting form and puts the kibash on Yanagi’s plans. As much as I love seeing Kirishima’s soft side around Yaeka, getting these snippets of his more brutal self are interesting and make for a nice foil to his more laid-back attitude. This episode also introduces us to one of the Demon’s high school buddies, Rei Hojo, and builds up on the yakuza in white we met in a previous episode. His name is Mashiro, and he clearly has some history with Kirishima. He’s also very much not a good guy, and I’m curious to see where they go with him as the show progresses. – Leah
– You can watch The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting on Crunchyroll.
Yurei Deco
We continue exploring the way information control affects reality in this newest episode when the Yurei Detectives are asked to “save” a professor’s nue. The creator of the Neo Animal Museum is distraught that the official Decopedia page for his beloved nue has incorrect information, and it’s up to Berry and Hack to break into the Customer Center and edit the nue’s data so it’s correct. There’s just one problem: Nue are a fictional species, and the Neo Animal Museum only shows real animals. If the professor learns the nue is fake, he’ll be forced to delete it. But according to the Customer Center, Berry and Hack are also dead, so what determines “reality” from “fiction?” Where do you draw the line? And is the truth worth losing something you love? – Leah
– You can watch Yurei Deco on Crunchyroll.
Anime of the Past:
Fushigi Yuugi
I’ve been on a massive shoujo kick this week, and Fushigi Yuugi was my jam when I was in middle school, so I figured a revisit was in order. I have a lot of fond memories of both the manga and the anime, but watching it again, I find a newfound appreciation for main character Miaka. She’s still dumb as bricks, but she’s charming in her own way, and honestly has way more growth than I ever gave her credit for back when I watched it as a teenager. I think it’s far too easy to downplay the fact she’s a 15-year-old thrust into a completely new environment and saddled with incredible responsibility, and that early on she reacts pretty normally for a teenager. Her food gag is tiresome, and I do admittedly still find the constant melodrama around her and Tamahome getting together exhausting, but it’s also very par for the course for that era of shoujo, so I give it some slack. I also find some of the jokes at Nuriko’s expense a bit dated, though he’s still one of my favorite characters and I appreciate that he was pretty progressive for the time period. The animation is hit and miss, though there’s a marked increase in quality as the show progresses, and the music is that perfect blend of jazzy, electronic and romantic that really typified the ’90s. More anime needs blaring trumpets and Casio keyboards. I’m also a sucker for the character designs. Yuu Watase has like four faces she’s really good at, but they’re all beautiful, so I’ll take it. For being 25 years old, Fushigi Yuugi still holds up pretty well, honestly, even if some of the melodramatic hallmarks of this era of shoujo irk me just as much now as they did before. It’s also a great example of an isekai from before the modern boom, back when they were almost all romantic wish fulfillment for girls and there was nary a video game world in sight (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Also, it’s worth it for Tasuki alone. I love him. – Leah
– You can watch Fushigi Yuugi on Crunchyroll and Amazon Prime Video.
What anime are you watching? Let us know in the comments!
You can read previous Week in Anime entries here!
