Hello all! Apologies for any delay, both from this and anything else this weekend. I’m flying home to visit family and that’s not leaving me much time to finish all of these up. Should be back to our normal schedule by Monday!
Frieren – 7 [Like a Fairy Tale]
First up we have Frieren. Unsurprisingly, Frieren is still going strong. It wasn’t an action packed episode or anything, but it gave us another look back into her time with Himmel and, more specifically, her interactions with Demons. I thought this was really interesting. When it started, I expected it to be about Frieren being an old conservative grandma who couldn’t accept that times were changing. That, like how magic passed by the Demon Qual, society was progressing and passing by her. That these Demons did legitimately want piece, resulting in a Tiefling like scenario. I would have been cool with that, show us some flaws! It’s the pretty standard route to go after all, the world becoming more peaceful and such. Really progressive. Instead though Frieren doubles down. Yes Demons do suck, yes they are monsters that operate on a completely different value scale than us. That whole thing in the flashback? With the Demon child wanting to trade one child for another? Of only using the words “Mother” and “Father” because they know humans are emotional and won’t kill them if they do? Or what about Lugner blatantly looking around Graf’s son’s room to build a believable story about his own father being killed by humans to keep the negotiations going? It was all just presented so well, for an episode of basically nothing but talking it was some really good talking. Plus we have the promise of Frieren just going off in the next episode or two, so it’s not like the action isn’t coming up. So yeah. Shocker, another good Frieren episode.
Undead Unluck – 4 [Do You Love the Change In Me?]
I just need to make one thing clear before we get into this: We stan Gina in this household. Always have, always will. Now that you know what you’re in for I can say that I absolutely loved this episode. The only thing keeping Frieren above it is the small amount of ecchi bullshit that I know starts to go away after this episode. Everything else? Just… God damn. It was so good. Gina, the idea of change vs unchange and Andy’s desire for death, the animation, the animation. Undead Unluck does not deserve what it’s getting, not this early at least. But it’s getting it anyways and it’s great. From Itano Circus aerial battles to all these closeups and the emphasis on the eyes and faces… Oh I loved it so much. I love this series. And I’m looking forward to what is to come. About… 2 or 3 episodes from here? Maybe 4? Expect me to put this above Frieren. Probably.
Some more of my favorite shots from this weeks episode
Overtake – 4 [The Past and Regrets]
This was a step back up for Overtake. It cut down on the reporter being a moron, deftly handled the fallout from the crying photo and got us back on track with his own personal issues. And while all of these are nice, plus some decent expressions/animation this episode, it’s the last one that got my attention the most. Overtake started on his issues taking pictures of people, and it’s something we haven’t really gotten any more information on despite it being his primary reason to get involved with the racing team at all. To learn that it’s because he was covering a disaster, that his last photo was of a woman being swallowed by the sea and all the internet hate that comes from people acting like he overstepped his bounds? That’s compelling! That’s a good reason for his trauma! And now Overtake gets to actually explore it in conjunction with the racers own issues over his dad. Good stuff! Feels like Overtake is getting back on the right track.
Shangri-La Frontier – 4 [A Trash Game Realignment of Elevated Tastes]
Shangri-la meanwhile is sort of just holding steady for me. I’m not a big fan of all these unique Sunraku keeps getting, discovering stuff no one else apparently has despite only being in the game for like… 3 days? It feels like we’re edging closer and closer to OP MC territory. We aren’t there yet! But it’s getting there. Outside that, I’m keen on these new characters it’s adding. Introducing us to some of Sunraku’s trash game buddies is a good idea, especially when one takes the form of a hot spear girl. Hopefully they are able to shake things up a bit, keep Sunraku on his toes. Otherwise I fear Shangri-la might keep falling until its just a fun MMO romp rather than something actually memorable.
SpyXFamily S2 – 3 [Mission and Family/The Elegant Bondman]
SpyXFamily was so so very close to being good this week. The first half with Yuri, showing us his job, his dedication and skill, that more serious side to him, that was all good. Great even, as we see he isn’t without compassion or understanding for those he brings in, he simply doesn’t let that stop him. I really thought we had left his siscon bullshit behind. But then SpyXFamily decided prove me wrong, undoing a lot of that good work right at the end by bringing the siscon back in full force. That was… disappointing. As for the other half? This was just omakes, a bunch of small one off shorts. They were cute I guess, but that’s really it. And in the case of the Bondman short it wasn’t even that. All in all it started as a decent episode that wasn’t able to seal the deal, winding up as one of the more lackluster ones the show has ever produced.
Goblin Slayer S2 – 4 [Onward To Adventure]
Goblin Slayer was fine this week I suppose. Fights weren’t that great, just across the board. No good animation, pretty low on the tactical side to. I’d say what made the episode work was more the growth everyone seemed to experience. Priestess got to lead and save people, Wizard kid learned to think outside the box with his magic, even Goblin Slayer started to open up a bit with a full bellied laugh as he saw himself in the little red haired Wizard. A tad disappointed this is the big climax we got for his stuff, but hey. Maybe there’s still more to come.
MF Ghost – 4 [Tire Management]
MF Ghost continues the trend of hype races and mediocre characters. I’ll say it, Kanata has the charisma of a wet paper bag. His interactions with the sister, hanging out, talking about his past, exploring his character? By all rights this should be good, it’s exactly what I want. I should be into it. But the presentation of it, how the VAs sell it… I’m just not. It ends up feelings long and purposeless. Especially once we enter the racing, which actually is fun. Suffice to say, I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to keep checking MF Ghost out.
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