Anime

Picked up and caught up on two more current series last week - Roll Over and Die and Shiboyugi: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table

Roll Over and Die ("Omae Gotoki ga Maou ni Kateru to Omou na" to Yuusha Party wo Tsuihou Sareta node, Outo de Kimama ni Kurashitai) looks at first glance as if it'll be a revenge-focused action series, but it's really nothing of the sort. The protagonist - Flum - has virtually no combat skill - she just has enormous and ever-growing stats and a whomping big sword, so most of her battles consist either of her curbstomping the enemy or her failing to curbstomp the enemy and having to run away. And though she's been horribly wronged by her former party, she's not out for revenge - she's focused elsewhere.

It's actually mostly political intrigue and a growing yuri romance, and both are done if not brilliantly then at least well enough to be entertaining. I'm enjoying the characters and watching both the mystery and the romance unfold.

Shiboyugi (Shibou Yuugi de Meshi wo Kuu) is an oddly unsettling... something. It should be a sort of horror suspense thriller, very much in the vein of Squid Game, but it has an oddly serene atmosphere to it that takes a lot of the edge off of the horror and suspense. It's no less horrifying for that - in fact, one of the main plot points is the protagonist's memories of horrible things she's seen and done (and one in particular that caps off the first episode) and violence and death are constants. But still, between the art style and the presentation and some of the details of the games, the violence seems a bit muted, which is sort of creepy in and of itself. I don't know where it's headed, but it's intriguing.

The only old thing I watched last week was the second Love, Chuunibyou and Other Delusions movie - Take On Me - which was okay all in all I guess. Tohka was even more of a heartless, self-centered bitch than in the past, only to do a completely unbelievable heel/face turn at the end, but at least Yuuta and Rikka mostly got themselves sorted out, and the supporting cast had some good moments. After the terrific first season, I actually considered just stopping there and not watching any of the rest of it, and in retrospect, that's what I should've done.

As far as other current series go:

MF Ghost - I just want them to get back in the cars. Kanata out of the car is such a child-like suck-up that it sort of creeps me out.

Trigun Stargaze was decent. Vash's attitudes are starting to infect Wolfwood, much to his chagrin. The battle with Midvalley played out interestingly if not terribly excitingly. And Legato really drove home the point that he's not even vaguely sane.

Scum of the Brave was pretty good. We've gotten focus episodes with each of the three girls now, and have gotten enough hints of the deeper plot that I expect we're going to dive into it with the entire ensemble, and that should be the bulk of the series. I'm looking forward to it.

You and I Are Polar Opposites was terrific again, and we finally got to meet Nisshi, who was easily my favorite character in the manga. It's following the manga closely enough that there haven't been any surprises for me, but the whole thing is so well done that I'm thoroughly enjoying it anyway.

And Journal With Witch was terrific. This episode was actually a bit light on profound moments - it seemed to be mostly laying the groundwork for future stuff - but then it made up for all of that by throwing in a surprising development with Makio and Shingo that likely won't renew their romance but at least should take down some of their walls.