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The Great Passage ep3-4

Felt that I needed something to fill the gap left by Barakamon, so decided to give this another shot. Maybe I was just in a more receptive frame of mind, but I enjoyed it more than I did with the first two eps. Helps that there was more incident in these ones.
 
Flip Flappers - Episode 12
I was almost 100% positive the series would move towards a great or maybe perfect conclusion. After this episode I'm not so sure any more. This episode was a mixed bag of good and bad.

The most obvious flaw was the directing. Some transitions were truly confusing and suddenly the few still screens in the middle of the episode(?). I hoped we could get some hints as to what Bu-chan actually is, but I'm afraid we will have to settle with the comic relief power-up/transform sequence. Although I was sort of glad to see they didn't try to go full on serious in the last few episodes, but maintain the comedy aspect as well.

The showdown with Mimi has thus far been quite good. The traversal of the various Pure Illusion worlds makes sense given the setting. Ending up on the place where the "real" Mimi resides in order to snap Cocona out of it was expected. Also, Yayaka transforming finally happened :cool:

But that is were the showdown fails. If they wanted to play it safe they should have made Mimi too strong to beat even with Yayaka transforming and both of them falling into despair (the memory alteration was a good moment for that) and end the episode there as cliffhanger. Obviously they would need all three transformed to beat the "bad" Mimi and to achieve that, the external device (Salt and crew) would trigger something inside Pure Illusion.

But no, we simply get Cocona getting a little motivational speech from her "real" mother, Papika getting her memories restored (completely removing the impact of the memory alteration scene) and together defeating the "bad" Mimi. It didn't even require all three of them, making Yayaka only useful for transporting Cocona to Pure Illusion (which arguably was thanks to the "real" Mimi in the shape of a fragment Yayaka carried around).

At this point I fear what the next episode will bring us. Nyunyu and that ELPIS (?) thing have not had any action yet. So I guess this wasn't really the end of the "bad" Mimi and/or Pure Illusion turning against them. The device/thing would probably serve as some 'deus ex machina' and Nyunyu will be nothing more than a plot device for activating the device and/or moving it into Pure Illusion. Let's just hope we get a better conclusion than this, otherwise it would a bit disappointing end to an otherwise great series.

Sound! Euphonium - Episode 12
Did .... did they just lose the competition?:(

I was positively surprised by the episode. When it became clear we didn't get to see the performance, I was a little disappointed. On the other hand it would have been hard to surpass the performance of episode 5. Seeing the club members awaiting the results, I suddenly got the feeling they didn't win. And that turned out to be true, not even silver, but bronze.

Weakest point was the forgetting to come up with something to shout for Taki. I sort of can understand a group forgetting it and Taki not mentioning it as he isn't supposed to come up with it. Given they never performed in a competition where this was custom, it all appeared plausible, were it not that the show points out that Midori is a real competition nerd. No way that she would forget about something like that or keep quiet about it.

Overall really enjoyed the series, sad to see it end.
 
Yuri!!! On Ice - Episode 12 [Final]

That was a predictable ending, I really liked YOI to start with but for me it went off the boil half way through, I won't bother with the second series.
 
Dragonball Super 3-5 good episodes. Nice to see pilaf and co pop up. Love their young designs. Think I'll watch this arc through to completion over next couple of days then start working through shows on crunchyroll!
 
Twin Star Exorcists 1-5

So far its been a typical shounen battle anime. I'm curious to where its going but it isn't bad. Will continue to watch since something that has this many episodes must be worth watching even if its just decent.
 
Flip Flappers-Episode 12

Loved seeing Yayaka have a Flip Flapping transformation. Curious to see how this is all gonna wrap up. Definitely think it'll be one for a rewatch.

Keijo-Episode 12 (Complete)

This wasn't the best show this season, but it was probably one of the most ridiculous and fun. I'm not sure if it's anything I'd ever buy or revisit, but for a bit of a laugh every week, it was worth a watch.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable-Episode 39 (Complete)

How am I going to live without JoJo on a Friday? It's really weird but I've been watching JoJo every Friday for the past half a year! Anyway, I ended up really loving Part 4, but then again, I love all the JoJo parts, so it's no surprise. I am a little conflicted if I like it more than Part 3 or not. I'll admit, I tend to like Part 3 a lot more than a lot of people I talk to, as people seem to think it's overly long and dragged out, but I didn't really think that. Anyway, whilst, on the whole, I think that Part 4 had the better Stands, Part 3 had the more memorable cast, Oldseph, Polneref and Jotoro especially really got a place in my heart, but I just never felt the same attachment to the Part 4 cast. I was also a big fan of the globe trotting aspect of Part 3, but the small town or Morioh also has it's charms, and it actually felt like a real town due to the recurring cast. Probably the biggest disappointment was the final fight with Kira, which paled in comparison to the end of Part 3, in my opinion.

Specifically, the way Kira met his demise was kind of frustrating. Having Jotoro be the one to deliver the crippling blow felt as if Josuke was getting short changed a little. The main JoJo should be the on to defeat the villain, or at least, that's what I think, so I didn't really like how his moment in the sun was kind of snatched away. Kira getting run over by an ambulance also felt a bit weak, but I can see why it happened. Having your characters actually kill a guy, not a vampire, in broad daylight, when no one else knows about Stands, would probably have had the entire main cast arrested. With all that in mind though, Reimi banishing Kira's ghost was intensely satisfying, so no complaints there.

Drifters-Episode 12 (Complete)

I wanted to love this, I really did, but it's definitely the biggest disappointment this season. Between the inconsistent tone, the unfunny gags, the rather slow pacing and sparse action, I just can't help but feel a great premise was somewhat wasted. I'm not gonna say it's a bad show, because when it's good, it's really good, as the action is fantastic, and I actually quite liked the main trio of characters quite a bit, as well as Olminu. It is getting a second season, and I don't think it's beyond saving. This season has pretty much been a slow build up, and the position it is at the end of this initial run certainly leaves it open to much more action going forwards. I just hope they cut back on the gags.
 
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Okusama ga Seitokaichou!+! (Japanese audio) - Episodes 10-12 (Completed)

While the show keeps the same level of ecchi-ness that Season 1 has, it does suffer from going through the harem route rather than a love triangle-esque. I also felt Misumi was more unlikeable in this season than the previous one. Season 1 also had a certain concept that at least made it entertaining which was then put aside in this season (the fact that Ui and Izumi had to keep their relationship a secret is completely left out in this season since everyone now knows).

Season 2 is below average, but fans of the first season may find something here.
 
Sound! Euphonium (Japanese audio) - Episode 14/OVA (Completed)

Since Season 2 is here I didn't start it because I had to go through the OVA first which Crunchyroll has available (it's rare to have OVAs available for streaming btw).

It was a good OVA.
 
Diamond is Unbreakable ep39

Well that was an ending. I liked that Kira pulled out a final flourish, I rather thought it was all over bar the shouting at the end of last week's instalment. I didn't mind his death by ambulance-related misadventure either, although perhaps I got more of a kick out of that because I'd swear blind that Araki pulled that from Profondo Rosso.

Overall, I think this has been David Pro's most successful Jojo adaptation to date in terms of production and pacing, but ultimately I do agree with Lemon and I still don't like DiU more than Stardust Crusaders. Despite its many tangents, I miss SC's more definite structure - it just had a better sense of progression and general purpose.

Biggest disappointment though? No teaser for Part 5 :(
 
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