Your Week in Anime (Week 125)

Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru:

  • Episode 4: It's the Madoka K-ON! Madoka of magical girl anime
  • Itsuki too kawaii. Can't sing in front of others. Aww. Wait, this is a magical girl anime, let's not get too caught up on cutesy stuff...
  • The club is still looking for owners for some kittens. Fu is wracking her brains trying to find a proper story for the play. Karin is hanging out there like she's a club member, which she is. Though she doesn't do anything. Except, not really, she actually created a poster! GJ, Karin-chan. That is one badly-drawn kitten. Tougou's smug comic face is just great. Itsuki, though, isn't laughing. Her singing test is boding poorly.
  • Itsuki has strangely bad luck with tarot. Hey, I didn't notice the tarot before. This show is thankfully not tarot-themed like that one lousy original magical girl anime from 2013.
  • Fu decides to make the Hero Club help Itsuki study for her music test. Tougou tries to bullshit Itsuki with something about alpha waves. Tougou, are you secretly a jerk? They go to karaoke, which is the appropriate place to study this. Fu is pretty good, and Yuna tries to force a duet with Karin (that's typical). They're getting placed as a pairing of some kind, and if you go by the "YuYuYu = K-ON!" theory that makes sense, because Yuna and Karin are about the Yui and Azusa of the five-girl-band. Itsuki's turn comes up, and she flubs the song again. Need a new strategy.
  • Not before Tougou gets her song. Tougou has been reinvented into a comedy character now. That was a bit surreal. Tougou is definitely the Mugi of YuYuYu.
  • They pick this moment to turn the mood on its head. A mail from Taisha to Fu. Fu and Karin are in the bathroom together, and Karin starts tearing in to Fu. Karin is still sore about having to be part of this group and she thinks she could do better than Fu. Well, maybe she's right. Fu isn't the best leader they could hope for so far. But Fu must be leader. She tells Karin to stay in line behind her. Karin will stay behind her, for now.
  • Now back to lighthearted stuff. Karin is hoist on her own petard with health foods. The health foods don't seem to work for Itsuki either. Oh well, find some other way.
  • Itsuki flashes back to something rather depressing...hearing the news of the death of her parents, from strange masked people. Fu has been strong for Itsuki for a while. This is some heavier stuff than expected. Itsuki has been depending on her sister for so long. She wants to be someone who can stand on her own, by her sister's side.
  • Fu's faery is pretty convenient, eating dry dog food like that.
  • The incident with the kitten provides an interesting scene for Fu to apologize to Itsuki for dragging her into the whole hero business. Itsuki tells her sister that it was the right thing to do, and she's happy.
  • Why does all this feel like some kind of death flag? Oooooh, it'd be so clever of them to not actually kill off Itsuki.
  • Itsuki tries to sing and succeeds this time, thanks to the support of her friends through that letter. Good job, Itsuki! Itsuki has a dream now, apparently. A singer?
  • Then that Death card shows up again. Nooooooooooooo. The death flag. I don't like this
  • Fu tells us why she volunteered to fight the Vertex. And on cue, the Vertex come again. It's the "worst-case scenario", whatever that really means. Somehow I think next episode is going to be heavy.

Aria the Origination: Like I said I would, I'm starting Aria the Origination so that I can have a cozy length of time to finish it before Avvenire comes. This would be that final thrust, to the end of the story. Oh, oh, oh, what a journey it has been.

  • Episode 1: Let's keep moving forward!
  • The widescreen could have been surprising, but it's not because we already saw the OVA in widescreen. Funny how much crisper and nicer things look compared to Aria the Animation three years earlier.
  • Akari is feeling like her skills aren't up to par after Carnivale. Ai says that she should not worry, that Akari might be a Prima before the next time Ai drops to Neo-Venezia. Is that a prediction, maybe?
  • The Origination OP is great. Great. I've heard the instrumental of it already because it was on an Aria piano soundtrack. Hearing it with lyrics is a nice change.
  • The trio is lazing about on a gondola, in a sort of way. They run into Al and Akatsuki in a cafe. Those two are working hard too.
  • Lunch at Aria Company, Alicia has brought some roll-shaped sandwiches. Cute. Also Alicia received a gift of fancy jam from a customer from Carnivale. This situation is too convenient for them not to invite everyone over for tea and cookies.
  • Akari and Alicia come up with a nice way to describe Neo-Venezia as it is now...Neo-Venezia with its mask removed. This episode seems to be about that, that cozy quiet after a big party, where people take off their masks and get informal.
  • Having a party like this with all six of the kouhai and senpai would be a good example of that kind of thing.
  • Alicia and Akari recount the woman and her daughter that gave them the jam, their trip. Alicia shows off some high-level gondola trick. Snow! Damn, it almost makes me happy about the six inches of snow outside my window.
  • Aika relates a less heartwarming story of Akira being a very good undine in the face of some boisterous customers. Akira is very cool.
  • Alice relates a much less heartwarming story of Athena being a very good (?) undine in the face of a whining kid customer. Funny faces! It's not clear if that was some smooth thinking. Alice is impressed though she won't show it when Athena finally arrives.
  • But the senpai, they won't be satisfied. They have a long road ahead of them too.
  • This is a good way to start off the final season...they have a long way ahead, they have to face forward. The season will have a lot of progressing to do on that "become Prima" angle, that is for sure.
  • Good luck, you three!
  • The ED is a bit surprising. Has a veeeeeery bright feel, almost hurts the eyes.
  • Next episode: We get episode previews now?! Oh wow, we're living in the future, man! Akari has her first real gondola reservation! A great first. Who is it?
/r/TrueAnime Thread