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Fate/Zero ep9-10

Giving Rin a mini-mission felt a bit like blatant fanservice, but Waver/Iskandar's Scooby Doo style hunt for Caster was entertaining at least. I like this show a lot, but it still blows my mind that at episode ten of a one cour series, no-one has been killed off yet.
Am I missing something? (probably tbh...) but isn't Fate/Zero 2 cour? Maybe I just dunno what cour means lol.
 
Am I missing something? (probably tbh...) but isn't Fate/Zero 2 cour? Maybe I just dunno what cour means lol.

Technically it's two seasons of a single cour each since they had a break in between the first 13 episodes and the last 13 episodes. I assume he's talking about just the first season.

Fate/Apocraphya-Episode 17

Wow, nothing happened in this episode until the last scene.

Eureka Seven-Episodes 18-21

The further I get into this, the more I see the Evangelion influence slipping through. I have zero objections.
 
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 31

Avatar: The Last Airbender Book Three: Fire (Rewatch)
episodes 1, 4, 6-17
 
You're Under Arrest TV Somewhere near the end - The end

Starring Yoshiko Sakakibara as Shinobu Nagumo Inspector Kinoshita Yoshiko Sakakibara
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Honestly the first season of YUA does kinda feel like a cut-price Patlabor on TV in a few places. Not to do YUA a disservice because it's good at the things it does well, and like Patlabor it strikes a nice balance between high-stakes action episodes and slower, more focused and thoughtful character episodes. And the characters all play off each other nicely most of the time. However, it does have me sighing often because there's things it just doesn't do very well.

Natsumi can casually tip over cars and support falling reinforced concrete ceilings, Miyuki can add nitrous oxide to the fuel mixture of a 545cc two-cylinder Honda Today engine without blowing it to pieces and Strike Man exists, but the idea that two people would be fine carrying around torches of an unspoken and unfulfilled strong love for each other for literal in-universe years (work colleagues who see each other every day no less) and remain perfectly happy friends and not become severely emotionally traumatised is still the most unbelievable thing in YUA. It's pointed out to be dragging on forever even by the characters in the show, and watching it feels like a drag. From promising roots at the start, things just don't go anywhere for them. Despite their not-relationship being stuck in a boot loop though, I do appreciate Nakajima as a character - YUA does have some pleasingly archetype defying characters, and Nakajima isn't just a generic joke of a shy and naive guy - He's a caring person who's shown to have particularly protective instincts of kids but go into super-serious mode with people who risk the lives of others, occasionally to the point of recklessness risking himself. He seems like a believable good cop, and it's easy to understand why someone like Miyuki would fall for him.

The same cannot be said for Shoji-effing-Toukairin. Hey, rather than advancing Ken and Miyuki's long-standing relationship naturally, why don't we just keep going through the same tired motions with them while we spend a dozen episodes giving Natsumi an out of the blue love interest who just so happens to be a male version of her - But far less interesting and better at everything? The number of overused clichés and tropes we could tick off the list watching Toukairin "develop" is depressing. It doesn't help that his character design is so jarringly different from the original cast he looks like he ended up in Bokuto Precinct after his Wing Gundam crashed. This is not how you write compelling characters or relationships, it just seems so amateurishly handled. But I will give the poor guy a bit of a break and admit it's not as though they give him or him and Natsumi's relationship much chance to develop, since whenever he's done his duty of being a plot device or helped advance Natsumi's character in lieu of his own, he immediately gets put on a bus somewhere far away.

These issues are made all the more baffling by the fact YUA is able to handle the personal relationships of secondary characters thoughtfully even when they would be played for laughs in a lot of other shows - Aoi's heart-wrenching struggle with admitting to a male actor who's become infatuated with her that she's biologically male (which ends in... oh, mutual respect and friendship but agreement a romantic relationship won't work out, not comical disgust or a fairytale ending, huh) and Ken's ultimate acceptance of his father's marriage to a much younger woman because despite what the characters initially think, she's not a gold digger and he's not a dirty old man, they are actually right for and genuinely in love with each other. So why oh why are the main characters relationships so utterly one-note?

These gripes aside, YUA is by and large an enjoyable show. The highlight here being the final three-parter where Sylia Stingray Haman Karn Inspector Kinoshita is introduced, which leads to our duo being assigned to work separately for the first time in a long time, and sees them facing new challenges while having to do without their partner's complementary skills. The show is at its absolute best here with high drama from both the dangerous situations and the character relationships on show. Natsumi grates against Kinoshita but soon comes to respect her, while Miyuki dutifully follows orders but starts to doubt her own abilities by herself and they both come out of the situation with a new perspective on their work and their relationship to each other. The other major highlight is Kachou giving Toukairin a spanking at Kendo.

On to S2/Fast & Furious, which I don't think I ever got all the way through. Something got in the way last time, either moving house or a mental breakdown, possibly both. Hopefully it wasn't caused by watching it.
 
Your Name. (rewatch)
Went to see Your name. for a second time. Last time I saw it was a year ago at SLA.
Enjoyed it as much, if not more, as the first time around. Visually stunning and just fun to watch, though I still feel that there are a few parts where it drags on a bit and IMO the story is the weakest part. Nevertheless, can't wait for AL's Deluxe Edition :D

Also, probably due to the venue I went to, the audience consisted mostly of moviegoers who had never seen an anime film (or 'manga film' as some called it :confused:). Was really interesting to hear their (unbiased) opinions about the movie afterwards.
 
Ah, my bad. The way the episodes are divided up in the CR app, I thought F/Z was just 13 eps, not 26.

That explains a lot.
Damn, no wonder you were a bit surprised if you thought the story had to be wrapped up in a couple of episodes :p On the plus side, thinking you are nearly done with with Fate/Zero only to find out you aren't even halfway through must be a great feeling, I mean if you like it anyway (I love it, so I'd have been pretty thrilled...).
 
Psycho Pass season 2 complete
Seemed to be pretty much the same plot as the first season, but different enough to be enjoyable. Because it was shorter there wasn't enough time to build suspense though.
One thing that had me puzzled was, if it was Togane that killed Akanes grandmother why was it that Kamuis man had her ear as they were enemies? Most of the other confusions were answered by the show in the end.

Juni Taisen: Zodiac War ep 5
Another backstory heavy episode, this time for Ram. Tiger finally shows up.
 
Inuyashiki-Episode 5

I do have to wonder if/when this gets a UK release what the BBFC will make of it. Between the multiple violent deaths of innocents, including but not limited to children, then this week's rather explicit sexual assault with accompanying dialogue, I wonder if it'd be enough to warrant a rare 18 rating.

Eureka Seven-Episodes 22-24
 
Inuyashiki-Episode 5

I do have to wonder if/when this gets a UK release what the BBFC will make of it. Between the multiple violent deaths of innocents, including but not limited to children, then this week's rather explicit sexual assault with accompanying dialogue, I wonder if it'd be enough to warrant a rare 18 rating.

Any overt, non-discrete depiction of sexual violence automatically gets an 18. So, it would be more of a surprise if it didn't...

Also, I might be wrong, but I think at the 15 and 18 categories, the innocence of victims is irrelevant, only detail.
 
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