July 30, 2024
Isekai Skikkaku - Ep. 04
Spoilers
So, Sensei DOES have a power. Fortunately he's not really cognizant of it, and he is so solipsistic that he doesn't care to abuse it. He basically has world-editing powers, whether it's talking Annette out of nominally permanent mind control with a simple statement, or defeating another otherworldly hero by writing his life story as one of his "Novels" and then declaring that it is not his masterpiece. We get to the alternate English title, No Longer Allowed in Another World, and that's what he titles the story of the current antagonist, which teleports him back where he came from.
I guess the cat-girl is stuck with the name Tama now. I do like a much more wild, rough and tumble cat girl more than the mewing kitten type. She kind of got the short end of the stick this episode.
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July 28, 2024
Bye Bye Earth - Ep. 03
Well, that just became a lot less straightforward. The Rabbit transformed into a rabbit boy, he's enigmatic, and I'm not entirely sure if he's malevolent or just cryptic.
Speaking of Cryptic, Belle's former master meets with the creator of his sword to get it repaired, and to exchange crypticness with each other about how Belle is the "Girl of Reason". What this means will be explained later, I guess, but she definitely has some kind of destiny set out for her that she is unaware of. Who will be trying to steer it and who will be trying to thwart it is not yet clear.
What is clear is that this is not just your run of the mill fantasy adventure.
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July 26, 2024
Finally released
Or is that Escaped? (Or did I put it on DA?)
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July 20, 2024
Huh!
Somehow I totally missed that there was a 25 episode, second season of Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu that JUST wrapped up in the spring season. I recall liking the first one in 2021. I only realized this because LiveChart had a notification that season 3 had been added to the database.
Also of interest were announcements for another season of Kaiju #8, Go Go Loser Ranger, and Jobless Reincarnation.
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Substack post: The Importance of Research
Read it here. It's also an excuse to post my second favorite Sam and Max reference.
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July 13, 2024
A Girl and her Sword - Bye Bye Earth - Ep. 01
A small town around a lake is having a problem. A gigantic sea monster (A Fish Flower type called a Negroni) has taken up residence and it's polluting the water in the process, killing off the fish they depend on. The young bulls in town were no match for it, so the mice sent off for a Nomad to help. Well, the nomad sent his apprentice to take care of it, a young human girl named Belle, and there are well, rumors about her. First of all because nobody's ever seen anything like her, she has no fur, or tail or horns or anything, she's so blank it freaks them all out. She also got kicked out of a major city before the Nomad took her in.
She has this gargantuan fantasy sword named Runding. You can be forgiven for thinking it's Erewhon (it says so in old English type right on the side). She agrees to take it on (somewhat scandalizing the assembled townsfolk when she says that Fish Flower meat is her favorite food).
Battle ensues, much collateral damage occurs, but everyone is happy when the beast is vanquished. She takes a chunk of the tentacle, and the promise to deliver the reward to the Nomad's home.
The encounter leaves her feeling philosophical about the meaning of home when she gets back to the Nomad's cottage. Belle is homesick for a place she's never known, with people like her, whom she's never seen. She flashes back on some of her earliest memories, where superstitious townsfolk say she was born from a rock, and everyone is weirded out by her "featurelessness". Although bullies find out the hard way that she is exceptionally strong. A couple had kindly taken her in, but she's very aware of their cat-ears and her lack thereof. One day she felt a strong pull to the city's castle, and manages to walk in undetected, and climbs a tower to a storage room where Runding is suspended from chains. She says it's her friend, and she ALMOST makes it out of the castle with it. Mind you, at this time it's bigger than she is. They lock her up (WITH THE SWORD?!) and then the Nomad comes to take her, saying he will teach her to use the sword. I think the folks in the castle know what's up with the sword more than they let on.
(Also pretty clearly the sword's sharpness is purely magical, given by all the time she handles it by the edge without getting cut)
The next day after her flashback/dream, she announces to Sian, her mentor, the nomad, that she will go and take the trial to become a Nomad herself. They had discussed this before, but she made the decision more quickly then he expected. As his final lesson, he tells her things that probably would have affected her decision. Nomads are driven by a curse, which is passed down by blood. She is undeterred, since the Nomad's life means that she may eventually travel to find people like herself. They do a blood exchange by cutting their thumbs with their swords. He has her declare what her quest is. And then, suddenly she can no longer see his face. To go on, she has to forget him. He is removing himself from her memories, which really pisses her off. She loves him, but he says she will find a much better man.
This is beautifully drawn and animated. It's a straight fantasy, rather than some Isekai. I am a bit leery of the upcoming Trials, but I pray it doesn't degenerate this quickly into a Shonen Tournament arc.
And the funniest thing is that in a world full of catgirls, the most interesting girl is a human....
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July 10, 2024
Isekai Shikoku - Ep. 01
I'll write more later because it's late for me, but I just want to get this out there.
This is hilarious. From the way they hang a big freaking lampshade on the Truck-Kun thing and lampoon heroes with cheat skills, to the way the bodacious cat girl keeps getting cut off before she can say her name. There are probably a bunch of Japanese literature references I'm missing, but in any case, this is funny shit!
This is hilarious. From the way they hang a big freaking lampshade on the Truck-Kun thing and lampoon heroes with cheat skills, to the way the bodacious cat girl keeps getting cut off before she can say her name. There are probably a bunch of Japanese literature references I'm missing, but in any case, this is funny shit!
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July 06, 2024
2.5-jigen no Ririsa
I first learned the word jigen to be a counter for dimensions from the ED of Space Dandy (You know, the one that starts "Hey Everett!". Weird song by a weird girl, but it has that breathy delivery that I've come to like.) I'm not sure when exactly the terminology for 2D girl (drawn or animated) vs. 3D girl (live) came into being, but that distinction has brought about the term 2.5D girl to refer to cosplayers (i.e. a 3D girl portraying a 2D girl.).
And of course, in Otaku culture, 2D girls are considered superior to 3D girls because they are perfect, beautiful, and demand nothing of you (except all your money for their collectable merch). Being the debased lowest members of society, Otakus resent 3D girls because in spite of sometimes desiring them, real women look at them with disgust and derision, so eventually they turn their backs on real women and become near hermits, in love with their 2D "Waifu"
Yeah, all two of you who read this already know this.
Okumura is a second-year and the only member of the school's Manga club, because his three seniors graduated, and he's turned the room into his personal hangout where nobody bothers him, especially not girls, and made it a shrine to Liliel, his favorite character from The Ashford Chronicles. On this day, while he's enjoying the finest Ashford Chronicles OVA, the worst possible thing happens. There's a knock at the door, and it's a girl asking to join the club.
It's Ririsa Amano, a first year who really loves Manga. She has pink hair and full rim red framed glasses (SO close.) Now, Livechart spells her name Lilysa, but the subs are Ririsa. But they have the title as Ririsa. Okay, so allowing for the typical R/L confusion, there's a pun in the title, because if you plug 2.5-jigen no Ririsa into DEEPL, it comes out as 2.5 Dimension Seduction. Or it could just mean 2.5D [the girl's name]. I mean, you'd probably have to dig deeper into the Kana to see if she really was named Seduction....
Okumura's only hope is that the Liliel Shrine nature of his private man-cave will scare her off. She gets to the shelf full of figures and accidentally touches the "Cast Off" figure, and the clothing parts practically spring off at her touch. Instead of being appalled, she starts going into a technical discussion about the white panties the figure is wearing, and how it really isn't shown in the program, but that she thinks the character would actually be rocking black lace, and she shows a depth of knowledge not only about the show, but even about the Hentai Dojinshi that particular figure is based on.
Okumura is impressed by her knowledge, and silently agrees with her, but he's still desperate to find a way to drive her off. In the meantime, she has an attack of embarrassment for talking about how sexy the character would be. They then launch into impassioned explanations about why they love the character, and Okumura is taken aback that anyone could love Liliel as much as he does, let alone a girl, but she caps it off by saying she wants to BE Liliel.
They gush over the old OVA, both screaming over what appears to be Liliel's death (it's only temporary, she comes back as an angel). Then Ririsa confides in him, asking if he could help with a weird hobby she has (wait, she's got one weirder than this?). She opens her backpack and pulls out a collection of CosRoms, Cosplay ROMs (DVDs full of pictures and video). She confesses that she wants to make one. She has always loved sexy costumes and imagined herself wearing them. She never told anyone until she wandered into her first convention and saw so many cosplayers, and women loving them too. (Until she got kicked out for being underaged). She asks him if he'll be the photographer - since she doesn't trust the usual photographers you'd find online - and says she wants to make a CosRom of Liliel.
So he relents. He allows her to join the club, and says that Cosplay is part of Manga Fandom, and swears that she doesn't have to worry about him because he has no interest in 3D girls, and Liliel is his Waifu. He realizes that gender aside, she's a true Otaku, and they have plenty in common.
And then... she starts stripping right there in the club room. Mind you, the room is on the first floor, and has a giant window looking out into the commons, which has no curtains (that's how she saw the Liliel posters on the wall when she was there to take her entrance exam). Thinking fast, Okumura drags a freestanding whiteboard in front of the window. She changes, and tells him it's okay to look. The music surges, he turns around, and is literally blown away by the sight of his dream girl given form.
And then, just as he manages to calm himself down, she shows off how accurate her costume is by showing off her panties... totally obliviously....
When he comes to, she's holding a cold cloth to his head while giving him a thigh pillow, still in costume. He then concludes that 2.5D Girls are worth giving a try.
The next day he gets to educate her about a rare OVA that she was never able to get, and play the game together, and he realizes it's great to have a friend to share his passion with, even if she is a filthy girl.
And then she shows off more costumes for him....
And you know, even though this is never going to stand up to My Dress-up Darling, it's actually not bad.
Even if it does get a little shouty in spots. Something you have to accept in anime, I guess.
Even if it does get a little shouty in spots. Something you have to accept in anime, I guess.
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July 04, 2024
Mid-life Adventuring Crisis
Continuing the trend of stealing short titles from .clue. Because we ain't got time to keep typing Shinmai Ossan Boukensha, Saikyou Party ni Shinu hodo Kitaerarete Muteki ni Naru or "The Ossan Newbie Adventurer, Trained to Death by the Most Powerful Party, Became Invincible".
My god, that is the WORST OP song I have ever heard fifteen seconds of. Even muted, there were at least three WTF reactions elicited from me.... Fantasy world building, with RPGs, missile launchers, and a rocket powered scooter? I'm not sure a busty dark elf maid with really stickin'-out ears can redeem this.... But let's continue.
I'm sure the loli demon/succubus is going to annoy the fuck out of me.
Guild headquarters... that's a LOT of alcohol on the wall. Our Hero Rick is there to take his E-rank test, and look, it's his old co-worker, Nami from One-Piece! And a drunken adventurer is hitting on her! Oh No! And... nothing of note happens. He passes out before he gets a well-deserved beating from either of them. (Only it turns out later he laid a hurt on the guy without anyone noticing.)
But just as well, Reanette, the busty dark elf maid is outside waiting for him. We can tell because it takes quite a while for the camera to move up and show her face, concentrating on her more distinctive features instead.
Don't worry, he doesn't linger on it long before he stares at her tits again, and she calls him on it. I'm sure this is the start of a running gag. Or limping. There isn't any budget for Gainaxing, alas.
So, Testing sequence. Hey, it's the magic measuring crystal ball from the last show making another appearance. And the same gag about it cracking. Although our hero Rick measures an F-. Clearly there's something afoot magically.
At the punching bag test, enter antagonist #1, the Duke's 11 year old son who is tremendously full of himself. He casts a fireball that is barely a damp fizzle, and everyone's impressed. Then we cut to a flashback of Rick getting chased down by a bus-sized fireball the loli shoots at him for training.
The gimmick should be pretty obvious at this point. His trainers were so over the top that while he thinks he barely measures up to them, he's light years past everyone else. So when he goes to punch the green slime bag, after training fifty-thousand punches on a GOLD slime bag, he annihilates it, and the wall, and covers every horrified person in the room with slime. Same kind of thing with defensive magic. And then he aces a written test because he was a Guild Receptionist.
When Antagonist #1 finds him outside on a bench with Reanette, he starts crying about how he was supposed to make a fantastic debut and Rick ruined it by outshining him. Enter Antagonist #2, his big sister Angelica, who blames him for making Freed cry. (The smirk on his face when she turns on him makes it look like it was an act.) She challenges Rick to a duel. You can guess where this is going.
Yeah, she's overconfident, being the Royal Knights equivalent of a B-rank adventurer. She proposes that the loser be the other's slave for life. Rick is intimidated, still not believing in his own strength. Her skill is super speed, which seems molasses slow to him. He keeps dodging her attack until she trips on a rock and stumbles, and her spinning "attack" as she tumbles impresses him, although he still dodges it. The next time she trips and slides at his feet, he punches the ground and leaves a substantial crater. She realizes that if that had connected, it would be game over, so she surrenders. And then backs out of her promise by running away, at speed.
Okay, hopefully they've used up this joke by the end of this episode. We get it, he thinks he's e-rank, but he's actually a monster. Enough already.
Reanette is basically a piece of furniture, delivering supporting lines and has the camera focused on her bust about as much as her face is shown. She's busty, sure, but there's not enough there there to make her a character worth following. She's barely animated at all. But then, nobody seems to be. She doesn't move enough to dislodge a single hair, let alone jiggle.
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Isekai Cheat Yada-Yada
I think J. Greely's short title is a worthwhile substitution for Hazurewaku no "Joutai Ijou Skill" de Saikyou ni Natta Ore ga Subete wo Juurin suru made. AKA "Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells" That shit's just WAY too long.
It might have some interesting secondary characters joining the Protagonist's party. We've already seen a preview of a big tiddy elf with slightly less ridiculous elf ears (Nice change). But the first episode is there just to make you hate everything and everyone in the show. It's a bold strategy Cotton, lets see if it pays off for 'em.
I wasn't sure what to say about it until I just had a revelation:
This is a grown up version of Shinka no Mi: Shiranai Uchi ni Kachigumi Jinsei, AKA "The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made". You know, with the fat kid who gets no powers when the whole class is abducted to be heroes (And then they get fucked over by the king). Hopefully the elf is smarter than the pink gorilla who turns into a girl. We'll probably have to wait for the second episode to see if there is a plot to abuse the rest of the class.
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