Posted on December 30, 2022January 2, 2023 in anime, Anime Orbit Weekly, Misc. Anime

Ranking Every 2022 Anime I Actually Finished from Worst to Best – Part 2

“Ranking Every Anime” is a yearly, multi-part column where I rank every single anime I finished from a given year, from the very worst to the absolute best. Expect spoilers for all anime covered.

You’ve met the bad, and you’ll meet the good starting tomorrow. Meet the ugly. The weird, the flawed, and the under-sung.

Let me give you a peek under the hood, friends. To break this list—the whole thing, I mean—up into manageable chunks, I conceptualized it, as, essentially, four broad categories. The first part of the list was those few shows from this year that I genuinely disliked. This chunk? A motley assortment of the flawed but interesting, the under-loved and underrated, and a handful of things I still more liked than didn’t but was too frustrated with to put higher on the list. (I try not to think too much about this kind of thing when writing these lists, but if there are any truly Controversial picks here, I’m betting two in particular from this chunk of the list will be them.)

Without further ado, let’s get to this particular collection of weirdos.

#30. Miss KUROITSU from the Monster Development Department

It’s janky, it’s obscure, and it occasionally cracks problematic jokes. Nonetheless, Miss KUROITSU From The Monster Development Department is the first entry on the entire list that I can truly say that I like without too much in the way of further qualifiers.

Now, being a doofy comedy anime based on the premise of following a scientist who works for the evil organization in your average toku show, Kuroitsu is also undeniably really niche, at least as far as Anglophone audiences are concerned. But what can I say? I started watching it on a whim and found a lot to love between the deep-cut toku references, the absurd character comedy, and from time to time, some actual no-shit feel-good moments, such as an episode where the titular mad scientist helps one of her creations, a zombie girl, become an idol in spite of the fact that she can’t initially sing (or even speak) at all. Between that and the cameo of a character who is pretty obviously Minky Momo, I can’t help but have a certain only slightly-begrudging affection for this show.

Now, the gags about Wolf Bete, a male wolf monster accidentally put in a cute anime girl body, maybe those I could do without. But, hey, no show is perfect. Next!

#29. My Dress-Up Darling

Ah, young love. It can be sweet to the point of cloying, it can be horny to the point of awkward. In that sense, maybe no anime so far this decade has yet captured the feeling so well as My Dress-Up Darling.

You can distinguish MDUD from the bottom of the barrel romcom by virtue of both of its leads having tangible personalities. Honestly, Gojo and Marin make a pretty sweet (and believable!) couple the vast majority of the time, and it’s easy to intuitively understand how their overlap in interests—making clothes for dolls on his end, cosplay on hers—would push them closer together. On top of that, MDUD has a real love of otaku culture; Dress-Up Darling is almost certainly the anime this year with the most fictional anime, manga, games, etc. within it, and we learn enough about Pretty Cure ersatz Flower Princess Blaze that I was able to wring an entire april fools’ article out of the subject.

So why isn’t it higher on the list? Well, let’s circle back around to that “horny to the point of awkward” point. The series is fairly salacious; I’ve gone back and forth over how much of a flaw I think this really is. One must after all remember that this show is aimed at teenage boys, and teenage boys deserve good anime, too! Still, I think the series’ sometimes overbearing fanservice crosses the line of good taste a bit too often and it unfortunately hurts the show more than it helps. Maybe the inevitable second season will tone that down a little bit? Eh, let’s not ask for miracles. Ultimately, MDUD is an otherwise good show that just needs to learn to keep it in its pants better. Or maybe I’m just a prude, who knows.

#28. TOKYO MEW MEW NEW

The cat came back! 2022 was a great year for anime all around, but I was personally saddened by the lack of much that fits the broad “battle girl” mold. There were a few magical girl anime, but not terribly many that fit the wider idea of the supergenre, with even most of this year’s mahou shoujo being decidedly less fighty than normal. In the broader battle girl field there was of course Lycoris Recoil, but if you weren’t super keen on that show, or just wanted something that involved fewer guns, what exactly did you have to fall back on if you wanted to see a troupe of girls in themed outfits kick some ass?

Well, Pretty Cure. But! If you wanted a second choice, Tokyo Mew Mew New wasn’t a bad one.

Mew Mew New is a pretty naked nostalgia play; it aired in an otaku time slot, so it wasn’t really trying to compete with Pretty Cure or any other kids’ anime. Instead, it aims to be a distilled and concentrated version of the original Tokyo Mew Mew anime. A somewhat breezier adaptation of the manga that the former is based on, perhaps. I can’t say how well it succeeds in that specific regard—being unfamiliar myself with both the original Tokyo Mew Mew anime and the manga source material—but I can say that it’s an enjoyable and, more than anything, just downright fun twelve episodes of classic magical girl silliness. It was beat in even that category this year, as we’ll get to, but that doesn’t make Mew Mew’s attempt not worthwhile.

Speaking of which; of all the anime on this list that have gotten second season announcements, this is probably the one that surprised me most of all. But hey, I’m going to tune in, will you?

#27. Spy x Family

Once upon a Cold War, there lived a man named Twilight who, to fulfill a mission, found himself with a “fake” family consisting of an adopted daughter and a hastily fake-married wife. I think time and the show’s popularity have obscured just how weird Spy x Family’s premise is, but it’s worth bringing up because that strangeness is what makes the show worth following. When SpyFam dials things down into normal “shonen comedy” territory, you get bores like the episode of part two that is entirely about how bad Yor (the wife, if you somehow don’t know) is at cooking. When it remembers that it takes place in what is effectively East Germany during the Cold War, the show suddenly springs to life.

I’ll be honest, I debated long and hard where, precisely, to stick Spy x Family on this list. Because in its best moments it can be ridiculously funny—and it’s not just a parade of strong Anya Reaction Faces that’s making me say that—and even surprisingly heartfelt, but enough of it drags that I don’t really feel comfortable putting it particularly high up, either. I’ve written more about SpyFam than most anime on this list, and yet, I am still thoroughly undecided as to what I actually think of it “on the whole.” Ultimately, though, what I think doesn’t really matter here, SpyFam is easily the most commercially successful new face on this list, with its first season (broken up into two non-consecutive cours. Confusing, I know) raking in a truly rare amount of viewership not just among otaku but among the general public, probably owing to its fairly accessible nature. (There’s not a ton of “anime bullshit” in Spy x Family if that’s something you care about.) With a second proper season and a theatrical film on the way, Spy x Family will probably return for next year’s list. Maybe by then I’ll have a better idea of what the show means to me.

#26. Shinobi no Ittoki

Here’s a hypothetical for you; can you call something “okay” and mean it as a compliment?

No, I’m serious. Shinobi no Ittoki feels like a self-conscious throwback to an older kind of action anime, where The Sakuga™ was not necessarily guaranteed and was more of an intermittent thing when it did show up, where the character designs were mostly interchangeable, and the entire thing was entertaining but not really about much of anything beyond maybe some nebulous spins on big ideas like determinism vs. free will and cycles of violence. The series’ unflashy charm has all but guaranteed that it hasn’t and won’t ever develop a large fanbase (although, I should be careful about saying that ever since The Detective is Already Dead had its second season announced. Maybe you never really know.), but I’d argue it doesn’t really need one. Stuff like this is almost meant to fly under the radar, there was no way that this was going to pick up some huge following in the season that featured both Chainsaw Man and the return of Bleach, but that it has any fans at all is no mean feat, given the circumstances.

As for why it feels like a show out of time, I have a pet theory; a running theme in 2022’s anime was the knowingly retro. Miss KUROITSU is arguably an example as well, and we’ll run into a few more throughout this list. Of these, Shinobi no Ittoki might just be the one that realizes those mid-00s ambitions the most fully. Surprising, for an anime most people probably wrote off from its key visual alone.

Why does it nail that aughts-core authenticity? Well, in of itself, it’s hard to pinpoint anything “special” about Shinobi no Ittoki, but that very semi-anonymity is exactly what makes the show tick, a curious case of something being obviously nondescript but nailing the fundamentals so well that it manages to breathe a bit of new life into some pretty old tropes. The doofy high school protagonist who’s ripped from his ordinary life and inherits a secret legacy, ridiculous gee-wiz techno ninja gadgets, the scheming and sinister Tsuda-voiced villain, the death of the village chief, the final suicide mission, the all-in finale with excellent animation, it’s all here.

For bonus points: The blonde twintail traitor Kirei serves as an outside pick for one of Aoi Yuuki’s stronger—and weirder, dig that scratchy, nervous timbre—roles, if you’re into that sort of thing.

#25. The Demon Girl Next Door Season 2

Returning from way back in 2019, the anime more commonly known as Machikado Mazoku is the other other other magical girl anime on this year’s list. Although you could be forgiven for not really thinking of it that way, given that The Demon Girl Next Door focuses more on charming character-driven antics and general goofiness than it does fighting the forces of evil. (That’s really all in the rearview for co-protagonist Momo anyway. She’s retired.)

To be honest, in terms of “objective” merits and flaws, this is one of the rougher shows on the list. Machikado Mazoku’s second season has a real problem with overdrive pacing; some of the gags aren’t given quite enough room to breathe and it does hurt the show a bit by suffocating some of the more subtle character work. On the other hand, though, when it remembers to slow down there’s a real sense of approachable personality here, one that holds through equally well when the show delves a bit more into its proper plot with elements like journeys into lead Shamiko’s troubled mindscape as when it’s in more lighthearted pure-antics territory, as when she gets a job at a restaurant owned by a baku.

Machikado Mazoku will probably never top popularity polls, but managing to stick the landing on a second season several years later proves that it’s maintained its dedicated fanbase for a reason.

#24. Lycoris Recoil

Oh, LycoReco, what are we ever going to do with you? With the hype cycle some months in the rearview this feels like less of a #HotTake than it did at the time, but to me, what Lycoris Recoil is, before it is anything else, is an illustration of the difference between having good characters and telling a good story.

Here’s what it does get right. An extremely strong cast; not just Chisato and Takina, whose uneasy partnership blossoms into what anyone with eyes will be damn ready to call romance by the end of the show, but also Chisato’s father Mika, Mika’s villainous ex Yoshi, the playful hacker Kurumi, etc. They all feel like real people, and it’s a joy to watch them work through the winding tunnels of espionage that comprise the show’s plot. LycoReco does intuitively understand that a connection between two people, if it’s strong enough, can get anyone through even very dark times. This is a theme that showed up in several anime this year, including a few we’ve yet to get to, and it’s a strong core for something like this to have.

But, the same can’t be said of everything about LycoReco, which is why it’s not higher on this list. Too many of the actual plot points simply don’t survive any scrutiny, and I remain offput by the assumptions the show’s world is built on. Fiction that stars what are essentially cops develops more and more problems the closer it gets to reality. Lycoris Recoil’s galaxy brain spin of “it’s bad that cops shoot people but it would be fine if they used rubber bullets like the protagonist” is so utterly ridiculous that it’s not worth seriously engaging with, despite being a spin on a real thing some people think. The series’ commitment to exploring the idea is so minimal and half-assed that it scans as simply brainless rather than an active defense of the concept. But it is still pretty bad, and the show suffers for it.

Because of all this; how much of LycoReco’s downsides someone is going to be willing to forgive because of how charming the characters as written actually are, not to mention the show’s rock solid action anime fundamentals, is going to vary wildly. Especially because how good the show is at a given moment tends to be tied pretty directly to how much it’s focusing on its characters vs. how much it’s focusing on its boneheaded central narrative. I feel like an indecisive centrist putting LycoReco in this spot, of all places on the list, but as summer changes to autumn and autumn to winter, and LycoReco moves further and further into the past, I find myself totally torn between appreciating LycoReco for what it is and being disappointed in what it isn’t. There are worse ways to end your series than a sunny sky and crystal blue waters, so I can’t dislike the show and indeed, I don’t. The “retired in Hawai’i” ending doesn’t even entirely feel unearned. Even so, it still feels like something is fundamentally missing. So, when you get down to it, do I actually like-o ‘Reco? Well, at the end of the day, yes, but with a fucking lot of caveats. Hence its appearance here rather than a fair bit farther up. There’s only so many ways I can say that I love the characters but am not crazy about how they’re handled. It is what it is.

(And if you’re a super-fan and it makes you feel any better, this is another case where maybe you shouldn’t care what I specifically think. The show did just top a popularity poll over in Japan.)

#23. Fuuto PI

Every year, I watch a few shows that are solidly quite good, but have a few central flaws, or even just don’t hit quite enough high notes to make it into my personal best-of’s. 2022 was a damn good year for anime, so even the stuff that is merely decent, is, in a vacuum pretty good. Fuuto P.I. is one of those, combining a novel premise (transforming hero shenanigans + a somewhat silly pastiche of ‘gritty detective’-type stuff) with an impressive pedigree (it’s a sequel to 2009’s Kamen Rider W, which, full disclosure, I haven’t seen), and an unusual production team from Studio KAI, who are not really known for punchy action anime like this.

Upgrading to an older audience (remember; W is over a decade old. All those 8 and 9 year olds who watched it when it was new are adults by now) means that Fuuto P.I. acquires a bit of a sleazy streak, and while this feels like a flaw I should be nailing the series for, I found it hard to be seriously upset by the show’s more openly leery tendencies. Mostly because of the fact that it has a shameless amount of camp that really makes the jump from live-action tokusatsu to an adult-aimed action anime feel totally natural.

Because of where it lands in terms of character building, our heroes—Shotaro and Phillip—have already had their long journey wherein they learned to trust each other long ago. Here, they’re just two cogs in a well-oiled machine, with newcomer Tokime, the female lead and the focus of much of the fanservice, providing a twist on what is presumably the old formula. The result? A solid six hours of lightly trashy fun, combining action anime flash, the particular campy sensibility that only toku can deliver, and a few interesting, meatier points to chew on by its conclusion. And hey, the ending strongly suggests more on the way in the future. (Which makes sense, given that it’s an adaptation of an ongoing manga.) I’d watch it.

#22. The Executioner and Her Way of Life

The year is 2022, and isekai has reached a point of true saturation. Every single season, we are inundated with new tales of featureless potato-boys being whisked away to generic JRPG-style fantasy worlds and given heaps upon heaps of special powers which they use to fulfill idle fantasies of banging as many dubiously-drawn Hot Anime Women ™ as they can find while lazily hacking up goblins. The Executioner & Her Way of Life sees all of this, and it is not impressed. But to avoid going too far down the path of “this anime isn’t like other girls,” it should be noted that the main reason that Executioner is, shockingly good, is what it does with the basic conceit of an isekai in the first place. It doesn’t stand out because it rejects the premise, it stands out because it does something interesting with it.

To wit; our protagonist is not the otherworlder—isekaijin, as said in the show, which I don’t think is a term unique to Executioner but is one I am very fond of—Akari, who serves as more of a secondary lead. Instead, it’s Menou, an assassin employed by the local church whose whole job is finding these crazy-powerful elseworld drop-ins and killing them before they can cause too many problems. There’s just one issue; Akari is way more powerful than even she realizes, and Menou quickly develops a hard-to-place liking for the girl. I won’t spoil too much, but suffice it to say that what’s going on here is a lot more interesting than the stereotypical “guy gets a huge harem and looks at stat screens” plots that litter this format. (In fact, there isn’t a single stat screen at all, so far as I can recall, which is kind of amazing in its own right at this point.)

What this boils down to is that Executioner’s main strength lies in its ability to pull its parent genre apart into its constituent building blocks and then reassemble them into an intriguing new shape. Not just in its core narrative but also interesting worldbuilding details that show us just how the isekaijin have shaped Menou’s world. (Note, for instance, that literally everyone seems to speak only one language; Japanese. And yes, that detail is intentional. It’s pointed out explicitly at one point.)

It was not the only surprisingly good isekai anime this year (aside from another which will appear farther up on this list, there’s Reincarnated as a Sword, which apparently got quite good only a few episodes after I wrote it off. You can take my mentioning it here as an apology), but it was the only true anti-isekai this year. A story stitched together from the ripped-up shreds of a genre that many people, myself included, are very tired of by now. The show isn’t perfect, of course. Its flaws are few but fairly obvious; it ends in a noncommittal “go read the books, stupid” kind of shrug, it’s maybe occasionally a bit too edgy for its own good. That kind of thing. Still, all in all, in a year that had fewer “lesbians kicking ass” anime than I might have liked, you really do have to hand it to Executioner for holding it down.

#21. Delicious Party♡Precure

Ah, here it is. The exception, the thing I carved out a specific little niche of its own for. Delicious Party Precure—DePaPre, for short—isn’t actually finished airing, which on its own, makes scoring it a different, and much more difficult, prospect than ranking anything else here.

Yet, the fact remains that I really just utterly fucking love Pretty Cure. Delicious Party feels like it’s already being written off as a “weaker” season of the series before it even ends, and while that might be true in some grand rank-your-faves sense, it’s awfully rude to the show itself, which has maintained an effortless charm from its premiere up to present while dodging production issues and the deeply unfortunate Toei database breach earlier this year.

Certainly, that resilience shows itself off better in some corners than others. Amane, alias Cure Finale, is almost inarguably the character who’s most developed. Seeing her face turn is one thing, but the real meat is in how she copes with feeling like she isn’t quite a good enough person to be a Pretty Cure. Even that aside; there are all sorts of fun little details that only an anime afforded a full four cours—rare in this day and age—could indulge in. The gentle light that is the grandmother of Yui, the lead Cure, the quiet-girl introspection that Kokone is prone to, the zany antics of Ran (who, as Cure Yum-Yum, might hold the record for the silliest Pretty Cure alias), and even the ever-present B-plot about Mary, the girls’ mentor figure, and his disappeared former partner. This thing’s even got a time travel episode. Really, can you complain when even a “weak” Pretty Cure season is this good? I certainly can’t.

#20. The Ranking of Kings

You may be a touch surprised to see this here! Ranking of Kings (Ousama Ranking at home in Japan) started airing late last year, but only finished up back in the ‘22 winter season. The entire way, it forged a strong visual identity that looks like absolutely nothing else that aired this year and spun that visual charm into a fully realized fairytale world of princes, knights, and monsters.

Our heroes? Bojji the little mute prince and his roguish blob of a best friend, Kage. Together they set out on a truly classic adventurous tale, the kind that makes you wish that this sort of thing got such lavish treatment more often. Really, it’’s one of Wit Studio’s best-ever anime from a purely visual standpoint, with enough characterful sakuga to bring a smile to even the most cynical animation enthusiast’s face.

Ranking of Kings’ ending sees Bojji spurn his original goal, only to set out on a brand-new adventure, so it seems likely that we’ll return to this fairytale someday in the not-too-distant future. (A spinoff is definitively in the works. I wouldn’t be shocked to see a second season greenlit.) Like many anime on this list, I’d happily watch that second season, and I doubt I’m alone.

#19. TEPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Laughing ’til You Cry

Comedy anime get no respect. Whether classics like Nichijou or Azumanga Daioh or modern offerings like TEPPEN!!!!! here, pure comedy anime just never seem to quite pick up the followings that their more dramatic compatriots do over here in the Anglosphere. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that comedy is fairly cultural. Maybe people just don’t respect the power of a hearty chuckle enough. Whatever the reason; TEPPEN!!!! Deserves more credit than what little it got. If absolutely nothing else, it’s the only anime on this list whose air schedule was directly impacted by the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. That’s weird and notable enough to stand out all on its own; it helps that the show’s pretty good, too, featuring bizarre, absurdist shaggy dog tales concocted around everything from haunted inns to Bitcoin schemes.

At the end of the day that is why Teppen is higher on this list than a number of things I have “more to say about.” It was just fucking fun! Deriving a wide variety of zany slapstick from its central conceit of a group of teams competing to be the best comedy group in Japan (the titular Teppen competition) is in some ways the obvious route, but it worked for Teppen, and I can really only dock points for a couple off-color jokes I didn’t really like. Two sets of bonus points for you: along the way it found the time to squeeze in probably the year’s single best time travel-related episode (its fifth) and engineered an insanely catchy rapped OP theme. Put some respect on its name.

#18. Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story Final Season -Dawn of a Shallow Dream-

I have to confess; I develop a not-entirely-logical attachment to anything I cover for long enough. I have written about Magia Record in various places a number of times since it originally premiered back in 2020. It is, as of this entry, the only anime that’s showed up here, on my 2020 year-end list, and on my truncated top 5 last year. There is an admirable strength to that persistence, even as I have to admit that what MagiReco tried to do as it closed out its final season, Dawn of a Shallow Dream, is a pretty niche thing. I’m actually not sure between this and RWBY: Ice Queendom, which was the more-watched SHAFT battle girl show of the year. This was certainly the better of the two, but anecdotally, I saw almost no discussion about it at all. Have people really written the Madoka Magica extended universe off that hard?

If so, that’s sad, but all too apropos. This particular corner of the dark magical girl subgenre pulls off an interesting trick of thriving best when ignored, and Magia Record itself ends with the white-gloved hand of Madokami herself shutting the book tightly on this particular story, as its protagonists lament that no one will ever know what they did here. Will it even remotely shock you, coming from a woman who’s eagerly defended both Day Break Illusion and Blue Reflection Ray, that I thought this was pretty good? It’s not just the metatextual angle, but that does help.

Now that’s not to say it’s a perfect finale, not by any means. For one thing, it’s really more of a movie, with any notion of it being a “season” being put to a serious test by the fact that it dropped all at once. (Not that this is inherently a problem, but it does suggest some behind-the-scenes issues.) For another, it is visually all over the place. It never gets as unsightly as the ugliest parts of Ice Queendom, but there is some pretty wonky character art in spots, here. But, by contrast, there’s also a lot that’s really lovely to look at, and in general the ‘season’ has a mesmerizingly surreal look to it that, in its best moments, does ably recall the heights of The Rebellion Story, still the strongest single articulation of Madoka’s core themes and aesthetic concerns. I am also still a little sad that they felt the need to kill b-character Kuroe, who took an unexpected leap from being totally off my personal radar to one of my favorites in the second season last year.

Still, despite its shortcomings, I find it hard to argue that this isn’t a solid end to an intriguingly strange alternate take on the Madoka story. I’m glad we got to take this particular ride.

And that’s all for today’s chunk of the list. See y’all tomorrow.

Like what you’re reading? Consider following Magic Planet Anime to get notified when new articles go live. If you’d like to talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers, consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter, Mastodon, Cohost, Anilist, or Tumblr and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

All views expressed on Magic Planet Anime are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text, excepting direct quotations, is owned by Magic Planet Anime. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.

Posted on June 19, 2022June 19, 2022 in anime, Anime Orbit Weekly

Anime Orbit Weekly [6/19/22]

Hi folks. A bit low on energy as I write this, so I’ll just cut right to the chase for you. That’s the important part anyway, right?

Seasonal Anime

Birdie Wing

The news felt tragic when it was handed down. “Birdie Wing will have only 13 episodes.” These days, single cour anime are by far the norm, so it wasn’t too surprising to learn that Birdie Wing would have only a single episode more than the standard twelve. Still, for a show that seemed to be pivoting into ever-more absurd iterations on its central sport, it cannot help but be the tiniest bit disappointing. Part of me wanted Birdie Wing to run for dozens and dozens of episodes just to see how out there it could get.

On the other hand, this is the proverbial fire under Birdie Wing‘s ass. This week’s episode was the eleventh, putting the series just two away from completion. Every minute counts in a single cour anime, and never more so than in its final few episodes.

The question, then, that Birdie Wing asks you as it enters its finale, is how much can you care about golf? Not how much you do care about golf, mind you. I care about the actual sport very little and I’m sure the same is true of a fair number of people who are watching it. But like anything, Birdie Wing‘s first major obstacle to overcome as a story and a piece of entertainment is to make you care about it. It has a lot of tricks up its sleeve in that regard; Eve’s rainbow bullets, its plethora of absurd courses, the ludicrously high stakes involved in many of these matches, its once-present class commentary that seems to have largely just faded into the ether, etc. But at the end of the day, a key part of forcing your suspension of disbelief is to make you care about this thing you might otherwise not give a damn about. Birdie Wing, in what I think is probably its greatest overall strength, is really good at that. This time it uses a more conventional, though no less effective approach; a compelling but brief arc for a side character.

Part of this episode stars Kinue Jinguuji (Mai Nakahara). Jinguuji is the president of Eve’s adopted high school’s golf club, and over the course of the episode she puts Eve through some pretty intense training. (Yes, this episode is a Golf Training Arc. No one should be surprised by that at this point.)

One would correctly guess, then, that she’s a strong golfer herself. Over the course of this episode, Coach Amuro sets upon her the task of “polishing” Eve, who he describes as a diamond in the rough.

But, Birdie Wing makes a key distinction here. Jinguuji is a very good golfer; she has technique and intuitive course knowledge and all the sorts of things that make one actually good at the sport both within Birdie Wing and in real life. If this were Sorairo Utility, 2022’s other anime about girls golfing, she’d be the strongest player on the course by a mile.

But this is not that particular short, and it is also not real life. Jinguuji being a very good golfer is not enough to elevate her to main character status, something she is keenly aware of.

Instead, Jinguuji falls into the old archetype of someone who is deeply passionate about something, and is even quite skilled at it, but cannot compete with natural talent. This is a character type that has recurred many times throughout the course of the medium, usually in contexts far more “obviously” dramatic than this one. But Birdie Wing playing the trope completely straight, and managing to actually do so fairly successfully, is amazing. If it winked for even a moment, the illusion would collapse in a heap.

There is a real case to be made for Birdie Wing as a truly effective piece of camp theater, and arcs like Jinguuji’s (or earlier in the show; Rose Aleone’s) are great supporting arguments. Is it actually all that funny that Kinue literally breaks down and cries during her flashback because she can’t play golf anymore?

As a non-golfer, sure, it can seem silly. But in her own mind—and that of a sufficiently attuned viewer—it’s genuinely tragic that her dreams are forever beyond her reach. The episode’s very title is “No Matter How Tall a Weed Grows, It Will Never Reach the Sun”, a hard-truth proverb that some people are simply better than others at things for reasons well beyond anyone’s control. Wanting to do something is not the same as being good at it. It’s a tough lesson, and it’s not one everyone handles with terribly much grace.

Kinue at least, has found her answer. Unable to compete in the tournament (or by the sounds of it, much of any golf, at least for now), she passes her dream on to Eve and Aoi. I will fully admit that it’s strange to say this, but, as someone for whom criticism was perhaps a third or fourth-chosen life path, I actually related to this super hard, and I think Kinue might be my favorite member of Birdie Wing‘s secondary cast. In my mind, there is validity in seeking to uplift others’ dreams if you can’t truly attain your own.

Eve and Aoi have no such problems, of course, and inevitably, it’s them who are chosen to represent their high school in the doubles tournament. This, presumably, will form the show’s final arc.

Birdie Wing will not appear in this column again. I intend to review the series, and at this point I should focus as much on the big picture as I do individual episodes. But single cour though it is relegated to, Birdie Wing has been, and continues to be, an incredible ride, and I am happy to have gone on it with all of you.

Summer Time Rendering

There are a lot of things that are surprising about Summer Time Rendering. One is simply how popular it’s been despite the fact that a certain streaming service is still holding its English release in proverbial prison. Unofficial releases float around anyway, of course, and via a heavily-dialectical fansub (based on the manga’s translation), many people have found one of their Spring favorites regardless.

For me, Summer Time Rendering—unusually spelled name and all, it’s a pun—is a peculiar beast. Another, at least to me, is just how well-made it is. Maybe I’m just out of touch with the genre, but I feel like there aren’t many supernatural thrillers getting made anymore. Summer Time Render does not redefine the genre, but it’s a great take on it thusfar, leaning into the genre’s strong points and mostly (though not entirely) avoiding its pitfalls.

Since a fair chunk of people are waiting for the official release, I’m loathe to spoil too much about the series, even though certain aspects of it practically beg discussion (for example, walking “wow, that’s gender” tweet Ryuunosuke). The core point is that over the course of its run so far, Summer Time Render has managed to be both hair-stands-on-end spooky and one of the best action anime airing right now. That’s pretty impressive, although OLM rarely deliver anything but top-notch productions, so maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised.

The Executioner & Her Way of Life

I have to admit, I fell behind on The Executioner & Her Way of Life for a while, which is why it’s been a bit since it showed up here. I’m glad I caught up this week in time for the finale, though. (Which will have already aired by the time you read this, although I won’t be covering it, if I do, until next week. Lead times and all.)

Since we last spoke, Executioner has turned into a full-on horror film. That’s not to say that its isekai (and more generally, fantasy) trappings have gone anywhere, but it’s rapidly become clear that the world Executioner takes place in is, if anything, even more fucked up than we thought. For its tenth episode, Executioner gave a sensible motive to arc villain Manon Libelle (Manaka Iwami, just in case I forgot to credit her before). There, we learned that Flare killed her mother before telling her that she was not worth killing. Why? Well, despite her mother being a Lost One, Manon herself is just an ordinary girl, and there’s nothing taboo or forbidden about ordinary girls, no matter who their parents are. Quite rightly, this fucked Manon up—something she actually acknowledges, in what is either the show being a bit too clever or the character herself gussying up her own backstory—and her whole plot over the show’s second half has been driven by a desire to attract Menou’s attention so the executioner will kill her as well.

We’re not actually really here to talk about Manon, though. She dies in the second half of episode 10, and the mysterious mute girl we’ve been seeing occasionally for a while now (Anzu Haruno) formally takes over as the show’s main baddie. Her name is Pandaemonium, and she is fucking scary.

Not just because of the full-on gnarly body horror the show starts deploying as soon as she shows up, although that certainly helps. There’s some arcanobabble in here about how she can’t die because she uses herself as a sacrifice to resurrect herself, a sort of Magic The Gathering infinite loop combo as applied to some truly grisly storytelling. The real reason she’s frightening—at least to me—is her cavalier attitude toward all this. She cheerily introduces herself to Menou and starts announcing her summoning a horde of demons like she’s hosting a B-Movie marathon (a term she actually uses, which raises questions of its own). All the while twisting her own head off in a way that is, sincerely, super fucking grotesque.

But of course being introduced to this total horror villain who spouts blood and cheeky metatext in equal measure is just step one. Menou has to actually fight her, too. Episode 11 only deals in part, though, with that particular fateful encounter, because there are quite a few other things going on as well. As Menou—and eventually, Princess Ashuna, as well—fight off Pandaemonium, Akari encounters her, too. There is a lot of exposition, here. The key point is the revelation that, at least if Pandaemonium is to be believed, Akari cannot actually meaningfully change her fate. Even when Akari declares that she has no desire to return to Japan, Pandaemonium taunts that she’s failed to have Menou kill her every time so far for a reason. Someone, possibly Flare herself, is interfering.

Other things Pandaemonium says about her are similarly upsetting. Perhaps the most so is the notion that Akari’s lack of desire to return to Japan stems firstly from the fact that she can barely remember it anymore—using one’s Pure Concept powers erodes their soul, including their memories—and secondly from the fact that she wasn’t treated well there. (We see only a brief flash of her being bullied, but that’s really all the context we need.)

In a way, this is both a literal advancement of the plot, but also a step backward for Executioner. As a social outcast using the other world as a way to escape the life she once lead in her own, this recontextualizes Akari as very much a typical isekai protagonist, even if the specifics are different. I’m unwilling to call this a letdown, because it’s likely that this is on purpose on Executioner‘s part. And indeed, part of the point Pandaemonium makes—and she isn’t wrong, exactly, even if she’s only saying it to get under Akari’s skin—is that Akari’s actions are inherently selfish. No world, after all, exists for one person alone. But all this is a bit of a curveball as the show heads into its finale. I do wonder if it might end up with a pretty common fate for anime that adapt still-ongoing works; ending without resolving much of anything at all.

Still, there is only one way to find out. The finale awaits.

Elsewhere on MPA

https://magicplanetanime.design.blog/2022/06/14/first-impressions-ruri-dragon/

https://magicplanetanime.design.blog/2022/06/11/so-oshi-no-ko-is-getting-an-anime-lets-talk-about-that/

https://magicplanetanime.design.blog/2022/06/18/lets-watch-kaguya-sama-love-is-war-ultra-romantic-episode-11/

https://magicplanetanime.design.blog/2022/06/18/lets-watch-spy-x-family-episode-11-stella/

Like what you’re reading? Consider following Magic Planet Anime to get notified when new articles go live. If you’d like to talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers, consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

Posted on May 15, 2022May 15, 2022 in anime, Anime Orbit Weekly

Anime Orbit Weekly [5/15/22]

Anime Orbit Weekly is a weekly column where I summarize my journey through anime, manga, and the related spheres of popular culture over the past week. Expect spoilers for covered material.

I’ll be frank with you all, anime fans. This week’s AOW is heavy on discussing the actual shows I watched and light on intro’s and outro’s. Hopefully that’s how you like it! Enjoy.

Birdie Wing

Is it completely wack to say that Birdie Wing clearly cares a lot about class? I was hesitant in making that claim strongly when the series started, but as it’s gone on, it’s become very clear that that coding is intentional. God bless it, Birdie Wing thinks it has things to say. Even wilder; it actually might?

Consider this; this episode features absolutely zero golf at all. Instead, it’s about the fact that the shop Eve and her, basically, family are living out of is getting bulldozed. The slum—the show’s word, not mine—is being forcibly redeveloped by a construction company with mob ties. Our protagonists can’t simply move, either, because the three orphans they’re looking after are illegal immigrants. They’d get deported.

There’s also the implication that Klein (the woman who owns said shop, if you’ve forgotten) and Lily might have to resort to prostitution to get by, something the episode also later implies that they’ve done before. It is an ugly, ugly thing for a show as high camp as Birdie Wing to get into, and by all rights the series should absolutely fall flat on its face here. Maybe if it had brought this up earlier, it would have, but Birdie Wing so clearly believes its own hype that it somehow works. Because of course, the only hope they have of getting out of this awful, awful situation is for Eve to golf them out of it.

This involves pitting Eve against Rose, the lesbian golf mob boss who served as her employer a scant two episodes back. What wasn’t obvious at the time is that the casino deed on-bet there included the land that Klein’s shop is built on. Effectively, this entire mess is Eve’s own fault, even if she couldn’t have known that at the time. She confronts Rose about this and the latter simply blows her off, I suspect this will prove to be a mistake for the golf capo, but time will tell.

Eve spends the rest of the episode training, with the help of none other than Viper, who also lost all her money on that same match two episodes back.

I have to admit, I didn’t really expect to see Viper again at all, but being demoted to comedy relief serves her well. (And even then, she’s able to seduce a rival mobster’s henchman into putting a good word in for Eve.) And somewhere in here we also learn that Eve has amnesia and doesn’t remember anything from before about four years ago. Also that her name is short for “Evangeline”, which, knowing this show, will be relevant somehow.

The whole casino situation will, of course, be eventually settled with ball chess, the sport of queens, with insanely high stakes. How else does anyone solve anything in the world of Birdie Wing?

I wonder how Aoi will eventually factor in here. She has plenty of time to show up, as we are, somehow, only six episodes into Birdie Wing. There is an entire second side of the mountain we haven’t seen here yet, and I cannot wait to take a tour of it.

Estab-Life

By their ninth episode, most single-cour anime are setting up their finale. That might be true of Estab-Life, but as always, the show is so deadpan that it’s a bit hard to tell. Nonetheless, this episode does give us probably the most information we’ve ever directly gotten about how the show’s weird world actually works.

The gist here is simple; the Extractors have to bust out the inmates of a cluster that serves as a massive super-prison. (In fact, it seems to be where all the criminals from all the clusters go, which is curious.)

The main obstacle their goal? The prison’s vastly unpleasant warden, a hulking cyborg-woman who is obsessed with using her inmates to build up power to confront “The Manager,” allegedly the name of the being who controls the Moderators and, thus, indirectly, all of the clusters themselves. She’s no match for the Extractors, though. Equa and co. undo her systemic oppression in the span of what seems like a single afternoon, in a scheme that involves Equa entering the horse race(?!) the cluster hosts and Martes swiping the warden’s key. When they finally break all the inmates out, the warden seemingly outright dies, a very literal case of an oppressor not outliving the system they’ve made.

In lieu of much closure, we get the notion that the Extractors are going to be “busy” from now on—fair, given the sheer amount of inmates our girls now have to escort to new clusters—and also this.

Your guess is as good as mine. I cannot wait to see where this goes.

The Executioner & Her Way of Life

It’s been a while since we last checked in on Executioner, and in that time the show has gotten very weird. Here’s the very short Cliff’s Notes version: Akari has, as we’ve long suspected, used her time travel powers to rewind time to the start of her and Menou’s journey at least a few times, possibly quite a few. A side effect of this is that there are now, essentially, two Akaris. There’s our Akari, who we’ve been following for the bulk of the show so far, and there’s Future Akari, a distant version of herself with immense accumulated knowledge from the repeated time loops and all sorts of traps and contingencies set up in case things go pear-shaped for her “normal” self (who we’ll here call Present Akari for simplicity’s sake.) She is entirely on board for having Menou kill her, but it has to be Menou specifically, and it has to be done properly. In however many loops she’s been through, that hasn’t happened.

Last week, Menou took down Archbishop Orwell, whose corrupt machinations form an entire subplot that the series has since largely left behind. What’s important to know is that she’s dead, and will (presumably) not be coming back.

In the two in-show weeks since then, Menou and Akari have set out on a pilgrimage to somewhere called The Sanctuary. Akari is under the impression that this place will take her in. It’s probably more likely that they’ll try to kill her in some inventive fashion, given that Menou is the one taking her there.

Along the way to this place, they stop at the Mediterranean-esque town of Libelle, which rests on the coast of a massive ocean dominated by one of the frequently-alluded-to Human Errors, a huge magical fogbank called The Pandemonium. The Pandemonium, we’re told, is a place you can easily enter but only leave with immense difficulty. If you’re here thinking that there must be something pretty deadly in there, and that this would be an ideal place for Menou to try killing Akari, you’re more on the ball than Menou herself is, as the idea doesn’t occur to her until Momo explicitly points it out. In general, this episode circles back several times to the idea that Menou isn’t as focused on killing Akari as she “should” be, and she herself starts to question if she’s hesitating or not.

But hold that thought, we’ll come back to it momentarily.

It is also worth explaining that Libelle is the home of a resistance movement of sorts called the Fourth, who at some point a few years ago openly rebelled against the three-caste system that defines much of Executioner’s world. They were beaten (by none other than Flare, of course), but the town remains a hotbed of these particular folks. Their acting leader, Manon (Manaka Iwami), is the daughter of the Count who originally led this movement in the first place, but its current leaders don’t really think of her as much but a naive child. She’s only about Akari and Menou’s own age, after all.

At the end of the episode, she’s shown luring a mute girl into an iron maiden and closing it. I frankly have no idea what that’s about, and it’s more than a little tasteless, but it does at least serve as a pretty stark demonstration that, yeah, this girl is scary in her own way.

As for Menou and Akari? Well, Menou does try ditching her in the Pandemonium—not before a fairly long, relaxed sequence where they go about town and take a bath together, but, you know, eventually. Perhaps predictably, it doesn’t work, and despite Future Akari’s cryptic comments during our brief time following her as she’s within the Pandemonium, something kills her (we don’t see what) and she immediately resurrects next to Menou like nothing ever happened.

I think it is fair to ask where exactly Executioner is going from here, and whether the show’s remaining 6 episodes are enough space to make the journey it wants to. But, Executioner has already changed quite a lot from its showstopping debut, so who’s really to say. The series itself seems dissatisfied with the natural conclusion of its storyline—Menou somehow successfully killing Akari—and I have the feeling that things are only going to get thornier from here on out.

Love Live Nijigasaki High School Idol Club – Season 2

This will already be officially “last week’s episode” by the time you’re reading this, but I wanted to talk about the brilliant little conclusion to Setsuna’s arc in episode six of this season. One of the things I really like about what I’ve seen of Love Live—and especially Nijigasaki—is that it imagines a world where ordinary high schoolers are actually rewarded for pursuing their interests. (I’ve made this observation in pithy tweet form before.) Real high school clubs are mostly things of dry obligation. There are people who enjoy them, but that’s not really the point of them. They’re extensions of a school system that is designed to create good workers, not reward students for the things they love that are not “practical.” In the utopian Love Live universe, they’re the result of pure creative drive and passion. It is very much a fantasy, but it’s one that exists for a reason, and it’s not hard to figure out why it has such broad appeal. (Love Live of course is also popular for a plethora of other reasons, but we’re not talking about those here today.)

Setsuna has always been interesting to me within this context, because her central character conflict is that she feels caught between her love for the school idol club and her responsibility to the student council. Both of these are very important to her, and there have been several times throughout the series where the stress of having a full-on secret identity wears on her. Setsuna, the idol, has never been anything less than a magnetic presence. Nana Nakagawa, her “civilian” identity, is a different story. Nana the straightlaced student council president and Setsuna the school idol come into conflict here, as part of the ongoing storyline about setting up Nijigasaki’s cultural festival.

The short version is that scheduling conflicts lead to the possibility of having to push back the idol club’s activities, and this obviously causes her no small amount of distress. She blames herself, even when no one else does, and is fully willing to just cancel the whole thing. It takes some encouragement from the rest of the Idol Club for her to reconsider. (A solution is eventually found, and it involves teaming up with the school idol clubs of several other nearby schools, but no one said any of this would be simple.)

All this leads to the episode’s linchpin moment; Setsuna’s abandonment of her dual identity entirely. On-screen, in front of the whole school, she ditches her glasses and puts her hair up, a full Clark Kent-to-Superman transformation taking place in front of their very eyes. The shockwave of astonishment that reverberates throughout the school is palpable, and contagious. I have to give a special nod to Nana’s vice president here, who I like to think has a gay awakening in between her reaction to the reveal of Setsuna’s identity….

….and the end of the episode’s insert song a few minutes later, where the camera cuts to her again and she’s crying happy tears.

This week’s episode, on the other hand, centers around Shioriko Mifune. You probably know her as “the one with the little fang.”

Shioriko’s story is simpler than Setsuna’s but also a lot more grounded. Her older sister—Kaoruko Mifune, the very same ‘Mifune-sensei’ who’s now a student teacher in Yu’s music program—was part of her own school’s idol club. But, when the time came to aim for the Love Live that gives the franchise its name, her group couldn’t cut it. This has given Shioriko a pretty limited view of her own capabilities. The broad implication here is that Shioriko wants to be an idol, but doesn’t think she’d be any good at it, and thus limits herself to supporting roles.

To be honest, as someone who maintains a blog where I write about anime as an, oh, third or fourth passion in life following giving up on music and several other things, this actually cuts a little too close to home. So, I certainly sympathize with her, including her mild annoyance when the members of the idol club continue to push the issue.

^{Scroll down to find out how long this particular statement holds true.}

But the fact remains that, throughout the episode, they do eventually manage to convince her to give this whole idol thing an earnest try. It would come across as a little hollow were it not for the fact that one of the people pushing her is her own older sister. Failing at something, she explains, is not the same as regretting it. Kaoruko was sad, certainly, to not be able to make it to the Love Live itself, but she doesn’t regret her time with the idol club. To be honest, and at the risk of embarrassing myself, it is the kind of thing that always hits me right in the heart. Simple, shining emotional messages like that are why Nijigasaki High School Idol Club is good in the first place.

More importantly for our heroines, it seems to be that revelation that gets Shioriko to swing the proverbial bat. The episode climaxes with her stepping alone onto a quiet stage and singing for an audience of no more than a dozen of her fellow idols. Nijigasaki, as always, takes the opportunity to bring her performance to life, her insert song “EMOTION” is a shining pop jewel of whirligig synth-flutes and reverbed finger snaps, the video a hushed collection of library rooms and clock motifs. (The latter may recall, for some viewers, Moeka Koizumi‘s other most famous role; Revue Starlight‘s Daiba Nana.)

The episode ends with her confirmation that after the festival, she’ll join the school idol club. But that feels almost like a formality, more than anything. For the few minutes she fills that empty stage with light, she’s as much an idol as anyone’s ever been.

The final shots of the episode are the rest of the idol club giving her a massive group hug as they welcome her aboard…while a certain someone looks on with what looks an awful lot to me like envy.

But I suppose that is a topic to be discussed next week.

Until then, that’s all for this one. This article is already running well late, so I hope you’ll forgive me if I just drop the embeds in the Elsewhere on MPA section below with no real elaboration.

Elsewhere on MPA

Let’s Watch HEALER GIRL Episode 6 – Become My Servant! Russian Food and Sweet Dreams

5 Underrated Magical Girls I Think Would Be Fun Hangouts, Based on Nothing but Their Vibes

Let’s Watch KAGUYA-SAMA: LOVE IS WAR -ULTRA ROMANTIC- Episode 6

Let’s Watch SPY X FAMILY Episode 6 – The Friendship Scheme

Like what you’re reading? Consider following Magic Planet Anime to get notified when new articles go live. If you’d like to talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers, consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

Posted on May 1, 2022May 1, 2022 in anime, Anime Orbit Weekly

Anime Orbit Weekly [5/1/22]

Anime Orbit Weekly is a weekly column where I summarize my journey through anime, manga, and the related spheres of popular culture over the past week. Expect spoilers for covered material.

Hello, anime fans. I don’t have much to say to you this week. I hope you enjoy the writeups below. I had a lot of fun writing about Birdie Wing this week in particular.

Seasonal Anime

Birdie Wing -Golf Girls Story-

If you’re anything like me, you started watching Birdie Wing not because it’s particularly good, but because it’s fucking ridiculous. I am pleased to report that, after a somewhat disappointingly tame (but admirably lesbian) past two episodes, Birdie Wing not only gotten its groove back, it’s also reached utterly stunning new heights of absurdity.

The episode begins with Aoi’s tournament-winning putt being interrupted by a laser pointer to the eye from one of Rose’s lackies. On its own, this is a mildly amusing Dick Dastardly-esque turn. To say things escalate does not do justice to what eventually transpires here.

Post-tournament, Rose immediately calls in the favor she used to get Eve into the tournament in the first place. That favor? She has to win another underground golf game. But not just any underground golf game. Oh no, not just any by a long shot.

This episode’s plot goes so far into pure ridiculousness that I feel tired just typing about it. Things start at, for Birdie Wing at least, normal. The job Eve is called into handle is merely the way that a brewing mob war between Rose’s “patron” Catherine and one of her rivals is being resolved. When one realizes that the term “underground golf” is here meant literally—as in, the golf course is subterranean—they might think “wow, this is pretty absurd. Definitely more so than anything that’s happened in Birdie Wing so far.”

They might have a few seconds to hold on to that thought before Catherine pushes a button and the entire course begins transforming like Autobot City into Metroplex.

They have a “randomize golf course” button! A button to randomize the physical golf course! Like it’s Pokémon and they’re loading in a ROMHack! The terrain is ripped apart, a random little lake is drained, and it reconfigures into a new and novel shape. I am so utterly thrilled to live on the same planet as the person who dreamed up this beautiful spot of true-blue total nonsense. It’s awesome.

And we haven’t even gotten to discuss Eve’s actual opponent yet. Meet Viper, or “Vipère” (Kaori Nazuka) as I will not be calling her because I don’t feel like pasting that accented E every time. Now, every important character in Birdie Wing is two things; one, obsessed with golf, and two, a lesbian. Viper adds a twist on the formula by being an evil golf lesbian, meaning that she’s uncomfortably pushy, wears a ton of perfume, and has a skimpy outfit. In any other show, I’d probably find this character, and her relentless advances on Eve (down to a wager wherein whoever loses has to do what the winner says for a whole day. Yikes.) rather off-putting.

^Golfing!

I still kind of do, but it’s hard to entertain any thought of reality when the character in question is named Viper the Reaper. (Yes, she needs two menacing nicknames apparently.) And that she’s playing against our hero on a mighty morphin’ golf course that can bend into any shape its owner wants. I’m not a big advocate of the “turn your brain off” philosophy for campy bullshit—it’s not hard for something to be both entertainingly silly and meaningful—but in this particular case, it might help. If only to save yourself from psychic damage.

Oh, and I should also show you all her golf ball.

^{Of course there’s a two-headed snake stamped on it. Did you think there wouldn’t be? Have a little faith.}

Viper cheats, of course. She’s the villain! Obviously, she cheats! But Eve is able to sniff out her strategy pretty quickly. Literally, because she cheats by having a perfume-scented tattoo that throws people off-balance just enough to disrupt their swings. She gets the perfume to diffuse by unzipping her top, which “explains” why she does that several times over the course of the episode. I want to really, really strongly stress that I am not making a word of this up. This happens. This is real. This is the actual plot of Birdie Wing.

The truly absurd thing is that there actually is a trickle of a genuine theme in here. Eve’s distaste for the bourgeois, despite playing perhaps the most rich-folk-only sport in the world, has become consistent enough that I’m convinced it’s part of the central point of the show. I sincerely hope that the series finale somehow involves Eve destroying golf as a concept and replacing it with something far better, more egalitarian, radical, and lesbian.

In any case, Eve wins after figuring Viper’s trick out, naturally, and her one order to Viper is for the evil snake golf lesbian to drive her to Nafrece Golf Course by 5am. So that she can meet Aoi for a final game before the latter goes back to Japan. (I neglected to mention that that’s a running B-plot throughout this episode. Can you blame me? There’s a lot going on.) She just barely misses Aoi, who is straight-up heartbroken. How do we know that? Well, Eve finds something on the golf course. I’ll let the series speak for itself here.

Golfing!

Even when Eve tries to prove that she got there by shooting golf balls at Aoi’s plane as it takes off, Aoi still screams and cries that she’s a liar. End episode, roll credits.

I’m tired of beating around the bush. There’s a lot of good to great stuff airing this season, but Birdie Wing might be the best. If it’s not, it’s at least in the conversation. What else is going this hard for so little reason right now? Nothing, and that’s why Birdie Wing can’t be beat.

The Executioner and Her Way of Life

Some anime’s strengths are subtle; their merits only become obvious either upon repeat viewings or prolonged contemplation. And then, on the other end of the scale, are those where just watching them can feel like repeated kicks to the ribs. Guess where The Executioner and Her Way of Life falls?

That breath-snatching immediacy is a very subjective thing, of course. But I feel it in a real and present way with Executioner. The most recent episode is, from start to finish, a slow-churning nausea in the stomach, the knowledge that something is about to go very awry, and then a chop to the throat when it finally does. Menou loses everything she’s held important, both new and old, in an instant, and the episode stops dead at the end of its run on what might be one of the most evil cliffhangers I’ve ever seen.

I don’t actually feel comfortable detailing the episode at length. I intend to cover the fallout of all this in more detail next week. For now, take this fiery impression as yet another recommendation to watch Executioner if you aren’t already.

Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club – Season 2

In which Karin and Ai try in vain to comfort a depressed girl.

I’m being flippant, but that really is what the plot of last week’s Nijigaskai High School Idol Club boils down to. One of Ai’s friends, recently recovered from some nonspecific long-term illness, is out and enjoying her freedom again. But oh, she’s sad because Ai’s become a successful singer while she was gone, and she feels left behind. Look: I’m sympathetic, I’m a blogger, I do not have an exciting life and I sometimes envy people who do more outwardly interesting things. That’s a valid feeling, and as a base for creating an interesting character, you could do some strong things with it.

The question is whether it works in the context of this show, as a mostly self-contained story that takes up the better part of its fourth episode. And the answer is no, because what this plays out as is everybody involved—Karin, Ai, Ai’s friend, whose name I have already forgotten—just kind of being a downer to each other for about 12 minutes. I could recap the specifics for you, but there’s really no point. None of this seems like it’s going to have a big impact on the series, none of it reveals anything new about Karin or Ai, and the girl in question is certainly not an interesting character on her own.

^{You have depression.}

There’s also a bizarre B-plot wherein Ai tries to get Karin to form a group with her, which Karin initially doesn’t want to do. That seems like it might have lasting implications, and perhaps draws a parallel between Karin and Lanzhu. But it’s made a moot point at the end of the episode when they decide to group up anyway, under the pretense that they’re “rivals” on-stage, “competing with the same song.” That does not make any sense. You don’t need me to tell you that. It’s also totally unimpactful, since we only have known Karin feels this way for about half an episode by the time she changes her tune. Also; at one point, Karin tries to comfort Ai when her friend’s being down makes her consider quitting being an idol at all. Her approach here is hilariously dickish, and completely whiffs as an intended emotional moment.

^{Immediately after this scene Karin says that if Ai quits being an idol, she’ll steal all her fans, including her friend. This, somehow, is what gets Ai out of her funk. In a better context this could actually work. Here it mostly just seems like someone remembered they had to get these two on stage together by the end of the episode.}

The good news is that the music itself is still there. The duo of Ai and Karin (yes, they team up anyway, despite all the talk. They even get some very sharp matching outfits) perform the insert song “Eternal Light” for the music video portion of the episode, under the name DiverDiva, and instantly it becomes pretty easy to forgive any missteps the show might be making. These, at least, are still consistent highlights, even if none have quite reached the highs of Setsuna’s total fucking barn-burner from season one yet.

For my money, if we want to indulge their “idol duo who are rivals” bit, Karin absolutely smokes Ai on the song. She just has the more powerful voice by a good margin and Ai’s admittedly dexterous rapping doesn’t really make up for that. But hey, I may be biased.

Eventually it all turns out fine, and Ai’s friend officially declares herself to be Ai’s fan also (which is a fucking weird thing to do, but whatever, it’s an idol series.) She redoubles her commitment to working overseas (in what capacity, we never learn), and says something about how Ai inspires her. That’s all fair enough, but we again run up against the problem of none of this seeming to much mean anything. Are we ever going to see this girl again? The last thing this show needs is more characters, especially if they’re totally extraneous.

After the credits roll, we’re quickly introduced to another new character who will presumably make her proper debut next week. She, though, is an actual idol—that’s not pointed out explicitly and, frankly, it doesn’t need to be, you can just tell from her two-tone hair and cocky attitude—and I feel like her contribution to the show will, by its end, massively dwarf that of Ai’s little friend here. (This is without mentioning other far more interesting running plot threads. Lanzhu’s inevitable upcoming face turn, Shioriko Mifune (Moeka Koizumi)’s likely eventually becoming an idol. ETC.)

Plot detours are normal for seasonal anime, so none of this spells the end for Nijigasaki as a series or even for this season of it specifically. I intend to find out today if this is merely a rough patch or the start of a recurring problem. (Nijigasaki actually airs on Saturdays, but, because of my schedule, I can rarely get to it earlier than Sunday evenings.)

Shikimori Isn’t Just a Cutie!

I won’t pretend I have a ton of value to say about Shikimori Isn’t Just a Cutie!, my obligatory after-the-season-starts pickup. It’s an entrant into the growing “romcom about a valid straight couple” genre, and one I like. It is, admittedly, a series of extremely limited ambitions. (Which only makes sense, given that it got its start as four-panel gimmick strips on Twitter.) But that actually works in Shikimori‘s favor, a lot of the time. The series is relentlessly pleasant enough that it almost operates on the same wavelength as an iyashikei anime. You turn it on, you enjoy the lovey-dovey vibes between main characters Izumi (Shuichirou Umeda) and the titular Shikimori (Saori Oonishi) for about 22 minutes, including whatever particular antics they get into this week (and there are certainly antics to be had), and then you turn it off. It’s not a particularly complicated show.

I mostly wanted to shout it out here for the most recent episode, which showcases two things I really like. One, and the more low-key of the two, is the show’s smart eye for set design. All of the places about town that our cast end up in feel tangible, yet nostalgic. The mall in particular is sure to trigger nostalgia for a lot of people.

Secondly, I really like the fact that every member of the cast seems to be casually bi. Izumi himself has mulled over the idea of his girlfriend as a boyfriend before, but this episode spotlights said bi vibes more directly with Nekozaki (Misato Matsuoka), who spends much of the flashback sequence she stars in freaking out over how hot she thinks Shikimori is.

And there’s a post-credits scene where Shikimori herself gets flustered by Izumi’s mom. (They take a cooking class together. It’s a long story.)

It’s very easy to be unkind to a romcom, as a queer critic. Especially one where the main couple are straight. And I have definitely seen my fair share that just make me want to puke. (An impression you could be forgiven for not getting from this blog, given that I don’t tend to write about anime I dislike and never finish.) But I do think that for what it’s trying to do—which is admittedly not much!—Shikimori is pretty good. My hope is that I can provide a bit of a counterbalance to the show’s small but definitely present antifandom. And if you’re not watching Shikimori, well, it’s a busy season so I certainly understand, but consider penciling it in if you want something to help you unwind.

^Subarashii

Elsewhere on MPA

https://magicplanetanime.design.blog/2022/04/25/lets-watch-healer-girl-episode-4-first-steps-horror-and-a-first-job/

Healer Girl really went into overdrive this week, huh? Not that I’m complaining, it’s a good series and it remains such.

https://magicplanetanime.design.blog/2022/04/30/lets-watch-kaguya-sama-love-is-war-ultra-romantic-episode-4/

Poor Ishigami can never seem to catch a break. I feel bad for the guy a lot of the time. Oh yeah; and the last part of the episode with Chika sleeping over at Kaguya’s place is great, too.

https://magicplanetanime.design.blog/2022/05/01/lets-watch-spy-x-family-episode-4-the-prestigious-schools-interview/

You’re a louse, Mr. Swan! I hope Anya gets into Eden Academy. (Oh who am I kidding, we all know she will, right?)

https://magicplanetanime.design.blog/2022/04/26/the-manga-shelf-the-magical-revolution-of-the-reincarnated-princess-and-the-genius-young-lady/

Fun fact: I believe this is the longest article title anything on this site has ever had. It’ll probably be a long while until something else breaks that record. Anyway, yeah, this manga is great. It’s got lesbians, cool fantasy nonsense, and swords. What else do you need?

And that’s all for this week, folks. See you tomorrow for the Healer Girl recap.

Like what you’re reading? Consider following Magic Planet Anime to get notified when new articles go live. If you’d like to talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers, consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

Posted on April 17, 2022April 17, 2022 in anime, Anime Orbit Weekly

Anime Orbit Weekly [4/17/22]

Anime Orbit Weekly is a weekly column where I summarize my journey through anime, manga, and the related spheres of popular culture over the past week. Expect spoilers for covered material.

New title, same old format. I don’t have too much to say, this week, despite the title change. I’ve been going through some medical stuff (which I’ll not bother to recount in detail here) over the past two weeks, so I’ve been a bit tight on time. Nonetheless, I hope the below writeups will slake some of your curiosity as to the current goings-on in the more esoteric corners of the seasonal anime universe. And beyond, as you’ll see.

Weekly Anime

Birdie Wing

Birdie Wing‘s second episode is surprisingly, almost disappointingly, tame compared to its utterly ridiculous first. Expecting it to top its premiere would’ve been unreasonable, but I don’t think the same is true of hoping it’d keep that same energy up throughout the course of its run. The second episode, unfortunately–and to paraphrase a friend–is just golf. The presentation still leans into the absurd and showy, but the actual shots here are not anything that defies description. They are just golf shots; very good golf shots, golf shots that would be notable if they were pulled off by a real person. But there’s no passing betwixt train cars or bouncing off of rakes here. Most of the episode takes place on a regular green course. (Albeit, one with an admittedly nasty L-shaped design.)

^{Fly true, Pac-Man.}

Instead, Birdie Wing makes the puzzling decision to get a bit more psychological. This isn’t an idea wholly devoid of merit; throughout the episode, our protagonists Eve and Aoi are contrasted in numerous ways. In their literal playstyles, yes, but also their entire personalities. Eve is cynical and mercenary, her only real motivators are money or the rare thrill of a genuine challenge. Aoi is studied, formal, and has a genuine love of the game. (Tellingly, her mother is a CEO.) The two are total opposites. Consequently, they fascinate each other, and that is what Birdie Wing‘s second episode chooses to focus on, not the theatrics of its first.

We do still get a lot of shonen-y, sports anime-adjacent guff here about how Aoi is an “innocent tyrant” who “crushes people with her smile.” Read: people find her sincerity disarming. Most of this comes from her manager. (If Aoi herself is even aware that she has this effect on people, she doesn’t really show any sign of it.) But the thing is this; all this stuff is kinda funny. It’s not actually interesting. Those are different things, and I think Birdie Wing may be confusing the two. It might become genuinely interesting later on, but Birdie Wing hasn’t earned this kind of self-indulgent character study yet, there are a lot more basics to be snapped together about what this show is even about, and frankly Aoi isn’t a complicated enough character to warrant all this. It really feels like the series is getting ahead of itself. Although, it should be said that Aoi’s fangirling is at least cute.

In its final third or so, after Aoi and Eve’s match, things take a turn back toward the more pleasantly ridiculous. Eve busts up a rigged trick golf game (sure) and then confronts another wonderfully absurd character; new addition Rose Aleon (Toa Yukinari). Rose is….a golf mob boss? I guess? Continuing the show’s already-a-tradition of affixing “golf” to the start of various professions and pretending that that’s a thing. Rose and Eve’s banter is fun, but the end result is that she sets Eve up in a tournament where she can play against Aoi. In my view, this makes Rose something of a golf lesbian wingman.

My hope is that when we get to the actual tournament(s?), the show will regain some of its visual oomph. Until then, this is a decent but only marginally compelling episode to bridge two parts of the story. Hopefully, Eve and Aoi can bring each other happiness. You know, through golf.

^Golfing!

Estab-Life: Great Escape

One show that has not had any issue keeping up the WTF factor is Estab-Life. The peculiar Polygon Pictures product premiered and then released two more episodes almost immediately. It’s been two weeks since then, and as such, we’re already up to episode 5, almost halfway through the run of what is easily the season’s weirdest show. Previous episodes have involved yakuza bosses with dreams of magical girldom, KGB penguins, and a whole lot of lesbianism on the part of little Martese. This week’s episode continues the tradition of being unmistakable for any other show airing right now.

Unfortunately, this is probably also the weakest episode of the series so far. It’s the farthest Estab-Life has ever leaned into comedy, which feels odd to say, because the entire show sometimes feels like a prank being played on the viewer. If it is, this week is a bit of a mean turn. Have you ever wanted to watch an entire 22-minute episode of TV based around the fact that some people think the word “pantsu” is really funny? I haven’t either, but apparently one of Estab-Life‘s writers did.

Most of the episode is frankly not worth recapping, at least not in detail. The gist is that the undergarments-forbidding cluster is the location of their new client; a priestess in the religion of “the Goddess” who rules over the cluster. That goddess? The Statue of Liberty in a bath towel. Obviously.

Unfortunately, a lot of this just gets put toward the end of making Feres uncomfortable because she doesn’t want to go commando in public. At one point she is publicly shamed for this, at another she is felt up by robots. It’s not great!

^{Me too, girl.}

The episode is home to some solid action scenes though (where Feres is at her best), and we find out upon the episode’s conclusion that the cluster administrator changed their mind about the “no underwear” rule. This is absurd, of course, but the idea that administrators even can change their minds is a new one to our cast. Including to Equa, who’s otherwise seemed to know just about everything. Things like this save the episode from being truly inessential, and I doubt this marks any kind of serious downturn, but it’s definitely the least fun of Estab-Life‘s episodes so far.

The Executioner & Her Way of Life

Executioner remains one of the most purely compelling shows of the year so far. For an action anime, its production values lean more toward “solid” than groundbreaking, but Executioner’s real appeal is in its intrigue-laden story. Since we last spoke about Menou and her way of life, she’s picked up a co-protagonist, the otherworlder Akari Tokitou (Moe Kahara). Akari’s “pure concept”—the show’s name for the magical superpowers every otherworlder has—is time manipulation, although as far as we know, she doesn’t actually know that, believing that her powers relate to healing.

There’s reason to be suspect of that assumption, but before we get to that, it’s worth mentioning this episode’s actual plot. In concept it’s not anything new; terrorists intercept a train for dubious reasons, are killed by the heroes in the process. The execution is fairly interesting, though. In particular, the show sidesteps having to show any actual terrorist tactics by giving the terrorists….poison gems in their stomach that merge them all into a blood monster when they die. That’s a new one to me.

The train is nearly crashed by the terrorists’ plot, and a mysterious ripple of magic ends up helping Menou out. She later openly muses on the possibility that she actually failed to stop the train and Akari rewound time. I found the direct pointing of this out a little on the nose, but the idea itself is interesting. Akari in general is a bit of a riddle; she seems too genuinely cheerful to be out-and-out manipulative, but her body language—particularly a tendency toward owl-eyed, watchful stares—and some of the things she says hints that there is more to her going on than simply being a naive new arrival in the show’s world. I look forward to learning what, precisely, is going on with her.

The bloodthirsty princess Ashuna (Mao Ichimichi), introduced last episode but given more of a spotlight here, is also worth highlighting. She and Momo end up squaring off atop the roof of the train and eventually fall off it entirely. Executioner is perhaps not an amazing-looking anime, but the action setpieces are solid, and in particular the magic effects look quite nice. Momo manages to make a, I suppose, chainsaw-dagger? Out of a length of metal chain.

That’s pretty rad, and it’s hard to too harshly criticize a show that’s willing to go that ridiculous in spite of being otherwise pretty serious in tone.

This is very much a minor episode for Executioner, but I wouldn’t be surprised if much of what’s brought up here comes back around eventually. So far, the writing has been tight enough that I’d be more surprised if it didn’t. If you’re not watching this one, I’d really recommend picking it up.

Non-Weekly Anime

Wow, there’s a heading I haven’t broken out for a very long time. In fact, I think I’ve only ever used it once before? In any case, I do occasionally find it pertinent to write about a show I’m watching “on my own time,” at least a little bit, in spite of its marginal or nonexistant relevance to the seasonal hype cycle.

Witch Craft Works

A romance-action-comedy-drama anime apparently originally salvaged out of a rejected yuri manga pitch, Witch Craft Works is really something else. It’s an interesting illustration of how much the anime zeitgeist has changed in just the short time since it originally aired (the show is from 2014, so it’s not quite yet 10 years old.) It’s also noteworthy for being helmed by a true puzzle-box of a director; Tsutomu Mizushima. The man’s works are frequently separated by light-years in terms of genre, theme, and even just quality. Some of which is explained by most of his stuff being adaptions, but still, his credits include everything from Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan to ANOTHER, CLAMP adaptions Blood-C and xxxHOLIC, modern ecchi landmark (for better or worse) Prison School, banner “girls and military hardware” show Girl und Panzer, even also-ran early ’10s slice of life hit Squid Girl….the guy’s an enigma, a sort of curious anti-auteur. I find him interesting, even if he seems to bat 50/50 on whether or not the stuff he adapts is actually good.

As for Witch Craft Works itself, the premise is a light novel-esque unfolding origami box of absurdity. Our main character, Honoka Takamiya (Yuusuke Kobayashi) may be a meek and average high school boy, at least at first, but his love interest, the high school “princess” Ayaka Kagari (Asami Seto), is anything but. What starts as a fairly simple “how did she fall for him” premise, a la this current season’s Shikimori Isn’t Just a Cutie, quickly reveals itself to be something way weirder when we learn that Ayaka is a witch embroiled in a simmering war between two factions–her own Workshop Witches and their rival Tower Witches. Full disclosure; it’s actually a manga adaption, but I associate this sort of rapid-fire proper noun machine gun approach more with light novel adaptions. Perhaps just a personal bias.

The witch factions are where the action element kicks in, and the show is excellent at this. Every episode crackles with energy, and the magic is made to look truly wild and dangerous, backed up with the sort of super blown-out, loud-as-fuck, almost dubstep-ish sound design that I sorely miss from this era of anime. Ayaka’s magic in particular is given a lot of attention, which makes sense, she’s a fire witch, and fire is an ideal showcase for flashy visual effects.

Eventually, Honoka takes a more proactive role in his own defense—oh yeah, that war between the witch factions is over him, we only know the vague reasons as to why at the point I’m at in the series—and dons a witch outfit as well. In general, Honoka and Ayaka have an absolutely great dynamic, and it really feels like almost nothing has been changed from the pre-draft lesbian versions of the characters, down to Ayaka calling Honoka her “bride,” “princess,” and a number of other pretty explicitly feminine terms, with Honoka only occasionally and wealky protesting. Ayaka herself makes the icy-cool kuudere archetype seem fresh again. She also gets a lot of funny lines, delivered in total, profound deadpan.

In general, Witch Craft Works is great at pulling off character concepts that sound middling or even outright bad on paper. Even the annoying brocon character—a trope I normally cannot stand—is pretty good here. It’s hard to hate someone who’s as much of a loopy firecracker as Kasumi Takamiya (Ai Kayano), and her crazy magic (she can summon giant teddy bears, what’s not to love?) helps too. In general, the costuming is also excellent, with almost every important character—and many non-important characters, like the Tower Witch quartet who serve as the show’s Team Rocket analogue—having absolutely ridiculous fits that perfectly telegraph their personalities..

All in all, the show is a ton of fun. I don’t know if it’s going to keep that up as it heads into its more serious second half (I’m at the exact midway point, having watched episode six previously), but even if it doesn’t, it’s worth recommending off the strength of its truly outrageous opening half alone.

Elsewhere on MPA

Let’s Watch KAGUYA-SAMA: LOVE IS WAR -ULTRA ROMANTIC- Episode 2

I spend a lot of time thinking about Kaguya-sama: Love is War! in basically any season it airs in. Maybe overthinking it. The result is rather wordy columns like these where I often spend as much time on individual episode chunks as I do on whole episodes of other shows. Still, I hope y’all appreciate the writeups. I enjoyed this episode a good deal, and I’m interested in the long-term implications of its character development for Kaguya and Hayasaka.

Let’s Watch SPY X FAMILY Episode 2 – “Secure a Wife”

This is a weird comparison that I doubt anyone else has ever made, but Spy x Family actually reminds me a tiny bit of the aforementioned Witch Craft Works. Mostly just in the fact that both are action-comedies with a romance angle that are tons of fun and deliver a steady stream of thrilling absurdities every episode. The styles are different—Spy x Family is a lot slicker and is comparatively more subdued than WCW—but I feel like the similarity is there. I love covering this show and I hope to continue to for quite some time. Also; the OP, formally introduced this week, absolutely rules. I link it in the article above, clearly you should go read it just for that reason alone. 😉

That’s about it for this week, everybody. I can’t promise what the size or distribution of next week will look like, given that I’m still going through the aforementioned health stuff. Still, I hope you enjoyed this week’s AOW. See ya starside.

Like what you’re reading? Consider following Magic Planet Anime to get notified when new articles go live. If you’d like to talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers, consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

Posted on April 2, 2022April 2, 2022 in anime, Weekly Writing Roundups

The Frontline Report [4/2/22]

The Frontline Report is a weekly column where I summarize my journey through anime, manga, and the related spheres of popular culture over the past week. Expect spoilers for covered material.

Hi folks! I’ve been crazy busy this week with impressions articles (a trend that will likely continue at least somewhat into next week and possibly even the week after), so I haven’t had a ton of time to write much else. (Especially considering that for administrative reasons, it’s arriving a day early.) Still, I hope you appreciate the Priconne writeup below.

Before that, though! The Community Choice Poll has concluded, and in hindsight the victor was perhaps a bit obvious. Still, I didn’t expect it to absolutely crush its competition in the way that it did.

So! Our previous community choice winner–My Dress-Up Darling–was a CloverWorks-animated romcom. Congratulations to our new community choice winner. SPY X FAMILY, a CloverWorks-animated romcom.

Jokes aside, I hope you look forward to my covering the series. I’m sure you’re all as excited to see Yor animated on the silver screen as I am. And I’m sure the rest of the show will be pretty good, too. Best of luck next time to the runners-up Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Season 2, The Demon Girl Next Door Season 2, and BIRDIE WING.

Wait, really, BIRDIE WING? Huh.

In any case, you can look forward to seeing those shows covered here on MPA as well to at least some extent.

Not on the Frontline Report though, because this is the last edition of this column.

By which I mean, I am changing the name. The column will be on hiatus next week, since I have more premieres to cover and some real-life stuff to get done. (Taxes, ahoy!) When it returns, it will be under the name Anime Orbit Weekly, a name that better fits my site’s loose “planet” theming and….frankly is just better in every way. I’ve never really liked “Frontline Report” and have largely stuck with it out of inertia. The new name is catchier and also easier to Google.

Anyway, on with the column!

Weekly Anime

Princess Connect! Re:Dive

They really didn’t have to go this hard. That’s what I kept thinking as I finished up the second season of Princess Connect! Re:Dive. This episode is a finale, so it should look good, but the fact that they were able to do this without visibly sapping resources from elsewhere in the production–aside from maybe a single filler episode near the middle?–is astounding. Shows just being produced this cleanly is a rarity in of itself. Add to that the following; Princess Connect‘s season finale is a symphony of magic fireworks; magical-digital floating spell circles, fuckoff-huge sword beams, gloopy swarms of shadowy darkness, CGI metallic projectiles, pick a favorite visual trope that a fantasy-action anime of the past 10 years has come up with, it’s in here somewhere.

But I fear that in my coverage of Priconne I’ve maybe over-emphasized the production merits and made it seem like that’s the show’s only strength. So, all I’ll say further on this front is that I wouldn’t be shocked if this whole damn episode was on Sakugabooru.

Fundamentally, the finale is a huge tug-of-war between the Gourmet Guild and Omniscient Kaiser. It is, in a lot of ways, super basic. The heroes triumph over the big evil villain via (spoiler) the power of friendship. But if, in a meta sense, Princess Connect has any core thesis, it’s that you can build a perfect machine from imperfect parts. There is not a wasted moment in the whole episode; every line sharpens the show’s emotional core just a little bit more. You’d have to be a real stone-face to not grin while watching this, its sheer enthusiasm for its own genre, its strength of belief that this is an impactful story that will light a fire in your heart, is infectious.

Kaiser even gets a somewhat sympathetic backstory squeezed in here, where the sheer ennui of being a tyrant in the name of a failed utopia quite literally consumes her alive; she’s eaten by the mostly-dead shadow clone we thought died last episode, in an honestly pretty damn gruesome bit of body horror for something that’s generally been pretty conservative with even showing blood.

In the last raising-of-stakes available to a VRMMO series, it’s made clear that if Kaiser dies while under the Shadows’ influence that she’ll be gone for good. And that’s just not allowed, of course. So the show’s big final act is our heroes venturing inside this giant End of Eva shadow lady to bust Kaiser’s soul out like this was the world’s most high-stakes heist movie. Karyl does most of the actual convincing Kaiser not totally give in to nihilistic solipsism, but Pecorine performs well throughout the episode, too. Throughout the whole series, Pecorine has felt like the “real” hero, and it’s cool that she mostly gets to ride that status out here as her kingdom is finally restored to her at episode’s end.

Yuuki gets a great showing here as well, and honestly, this is probably the most he’s ever felt like the protagonist he ostensibly is. But even with all he gets done over the course of the finale, he still only gets eight total lines–I counted–and two of them are just “Go!” and “Nice.”

Still, it’s worth noting that the final battle does technically ride on him–he refuses another pass through the time loop from Ameth, choosing to live or die by the bonds he’s formed with his friends. That faith in them pays off, and all present are, in fact, able to defeat Omniscient Kaiser, who is returned to her normal state.

It’s Labyrista who sums up the episode’s–and really, whole show’s–theme best.

It’s simple, but simple works for Princess Connect, a series that–despite its ostensibly complicated “lore”–is very much focused on the fundamentals. The show’s very few problems; Said lore’s complexity, Kokkoro not getting much of a role in the finale, and arguably the oddly showy outfits, do not really ding it at all. At the end of the day, Princess Connect is just a really damn good fantasy anime. When the Gourmet Guild officially reforms and the World is Once Again Saved, it feels like the most logical ending possible for such a pure, warm series. Even here, there’s one last fun little character detail; Karyl is the one who cooks the Gourmet Guild’s first meal back home after their big adventure, and we see the scrapes and burns on her hands from prepping the food.

Everyone settles in for some good, hearty food, and the credits roll. Will we meet the Gourmet Guild again? It’s not impossible, but if this truly is the last episode ever of Princess Connect, it’d be hard to complain. What else could you ask for? Everyone lives happily ever after.

This section is pretty long this week.

Seasonal First Impressions: Get Away from It All with ESTAB-LIFE: GREAT ESCAPE

ESTAB-LIFE isn’t the best thing airing right now, but it might be the weirdest, as the two episodes since that have involved a mob boss who wants to be a magical girl and KGB penguins have proven.

Seasonal First Impressions: Conquering the Pop World with YA BOY KONGMING!

Ya Boy Kongming! is a weird one, a solo-focus idol series with the bizarre high premise of said idol’s manager being Chinese military genius Zhuge Kongming, who was brought to the present….eh, somehow. It doesn’t really matter. The first episode of this was surprisingly affecting, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.

Seasonal First Impressions: THE EXECUTIONER AND HER WAY OF LIFE is a Knife in Isekai’s Heart

The Executioner and Her Way of Life is what we call a “banger,” friends. God knows if it’ll keep up the impressive visual quality and interesting–if a bit edgy!–storytelling throughout this whole season, but I certainly hope it will.

Seasonal First Impressions: AHAREN-SAN WA HAKARENAI is a Sleep Aid in Anime Form

I don’t get it.

Seasonal First Impressions: The Dream Lives On in LOVE LIVE! NIJIGASAKI HIGH SCHOOL IDOL CLUB SEASON 2

The first season of Nijigasaki High School Idol Club was one of my favorites when it aired back in 2020. This first episode of the second season doesn’t quite match up to some of season one’s highs, but I have confidence that it’ll get there. Plus; the new girl introduced in this episode is just a deliciously excellent heel. Girlboss fans everywhere, eat your heart out.

(REVIEW) The Lost Legacy of FLOWER PRINCESS BLAZE!!: How a Forgotten Toei Series Shaped 15 Years of Magical Girl Anime [April Fools’]

Finally, there’s this. As I’ve now indicated in the article name, this was just an April Fools’ prank. One I inexplicably decided to spend like 2 months working on. It’s a review of the fake magical girl anime from My Dress-Up Darling. Except, given that that show doesn’t exist, most of it is just made up. This was a fun creative writing exercise but also a huge amount of work, surprisingly. So, I doubt I’ll be doing it again. Enjoy this odd-man-out of my website; file it next to the Mao Mao review and the ENA writeup. Huge thank you to commenter momomanamu for playing along in the comments, it made my day.

And that’s about all for this week. There may or may not be articles tomorrow and Monday (my schedule is a little off, right now, as I’m sure you’ve noticed by the fact that I put up three articles today. Something I almost never do.) But articles should resume on Tuesday at the latest, where I plan to cover the BIRDIE WING premiere.

Until then, anime fans!

Like what you’re reading? Consider following Magic Planet Anime to get notified when new articles go live. If you’d like to talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers, consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

Posted on April 1, 2022April 1, 2022 in anime, Seasonal Impression Roundups

Seasonal First Impressions: THE EXECUTIONER AND HER WAY OF LIFE is a Knife in Isekai’s Heart

Seasonal First Impressions is a column where I detail my thoughts, however brief or long, about a currently-airing anime’s first episode or so.

Try to count them and their numbers are endless. Their visages form a parade of baby faces and expressions of bitter smarm; Kazuto “Kirito” Kirigaya, Naofumi Iwatani, Rudeus Greyrat, Takuma “Diablo” Sakamoto. They are ordinary until they aren’t. They are you, dear viewer, and all the strengths and flaws they think you have. They are everyone and no one. For a while, starting up The Executioner and Her Way of Life, it seemed as though we might be able to add a new face to that list.

But looks can be deceiving, and those paying attention will note there is no mention of a “His” anywhere the title. If our little friend there is the main character of some story, it isn’t this one. The show’s opening episode takes just enough time to lead anyone going in blind (like say, yours truly) on that I imagine not everyone will get through it. The ingredients of a deeply generic series are here; That Guy is summoned to another world, ends up in a rough situation, and is pitied and taken care of by an attractive female lead who seems destined to play second-fiddle to him.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, a general thought. It is perhaps no surprise that there are few genres of modern anime–few genres of mainstream television period–more maligned than the isekai series. And while any genre so large is bound to produce works that strike outside of the established mold, we have been living in the middle of our own Isekai World for a solid decade now. It’s not just that people are tired of the genre–although that certainly is part of it–it is that they are tired of what the genre represents. The all-shortcuts worldbuilding, the ambient misogyny, the imperialistic undertone of an average Japanese teenager being teleported to an unsullied world only to inevitably dominate it through (depending on the series) some combination of “modern knowledge” and sheer Main Character Status. The problem is far worse the lower the barrier to entry, but plenty of these have seeped into the anime mainstream for years now. Speaking personally, I ignore the vast majority of them unless I’m given good reason to not. Because of that, I’m content to generally not speak on them at all.

But I sort of have to here, because while I myself am pretty down on the genre, I don’t think I hate it nearly as much as whoever wrote Executioner does.

Credit should be given here. Having a bone to pick with something does not mean you understand it, necessarily. But in Executioner‘s opening minutes we get some expository worldbuilding that is displays an intuitive understanding with all the unfortunate implications built into your ISO Standard Isekai Story. The world of the series is frequently visited by “Lost Ones”, people who come from a mysterious otherworld called–you may have heard of it–Japan. Lost Ones are summoned via various means (a scheming king is how our Potato-kun friend ends up here), and inevitably end up bringing knowledge to the world. Our nominal protagonist assumes he can contribute to this tradition, mentioning the wonders of mayonnaise (seriously), to which his tour guide, the aforementioned female co-protagonist Menou (Iori Saeki), replies that it’s “pretty tasty.” Banter of this nature continues; he naturally assumes he will be given free shelter and money since Menou is a priestess (he’s right on the first count, wrong on the second), he idly remarks that another Lost One he saw be summoned “had big boobs”, etc.

^{Can’t you just feel her enthusiasm?}

All the while, Menou patiently explains to him that the world is divided into three classes–Commons (ordinary people), Noblesse (nobles and kings), and Fausts (the clergy, the only one with a slightly odd name) –and it becomes rather difficult for the viewer to not notice that whatever language(s) may have once been spoken in this world, they’ve all been supplanted by Japanese.

So, you have an arrogant asshole of a protagonist who thinks he’s god’s blessing upon this wonderful world despite all evidence to the contrary, and the broad implication that at some point at least some former Lost Ones may have Done An Imperialism with the help of their powers. (Of course they gain magic powers upon being summoned to the new world. This is still an isekai we’re talking about.) But if Executioner stopped there we’d merely be in vaguely ReZero-ish territory. Instead, when Menou helps this guy figure out that his magical power is “Null,” the ability to straight-up erase anything he’d like from existence, she does this.

Again, no “His” in the title.

The lead-on is a touch obvious, maybe. I could tell even from the first few scenes that this wasn’t going to be a straightforward isekai power fantasy, but I was legitimately surprised to see our heroine–our actual protagonist, mind you–straight-up stab someone in the damn head. Really, I shouldn’t have been. It’s right there in the name; she’s an executioner.

If all Executioner had up its sleeve was this single twist, though, I wouldn’t be writing about it at this much length. The fact of the matter is that the series immediately tosses a wrench into its own assumptions as soon as she does the deed. She spares a prayer for him, proving the priestess thing as no ruse, and says that in truth, at least by her own reckoning, he did nothing wrong.

Over the remaining half of the episode, we get a good amount of insight into Menou’s character. She has dreams that imply that she herself might be from another world; a world where she’s an ordinary high school girl and has a best friend who she misses dearly. Her religious devoutness is sincere, and she chastises her clingy lesbian cohort Momo (Hisako Kanemoto) for casual blasphemy. And she has a casual, friendly relationship with one of said religion’s archbishops. (In general, this religion seems awfully Christianity-ish. But whether that’s foreshadowing or just a straight use of a pretty typical fantasy trope is hard to say at this early juncture.) All this works to establish her as someone who grits her teeth and plays this role because she thinks it’s the right thing to do, not necessarily because she finds it pleasant.

In flashback, we learn how she was brought into the fold of “the church”‘s executioners; by being the only survivor of a Lost One accidentally destroying a whole town.

There is some pretty wild imagery in here; the Lost One in question transforming into a huge giant made of white ash after being killed by a different executioner. That’d be the vindictive Flare (Yuuko Kaida), who at the conclusion of the flashback becomes Menou’s mentor.

By now, you get the idea. This is a series that wants to very seriously examine the underlying assumptions of the isekai power fantasy. But the question naturally becomes; once it breaks the genre down, what does it intend to rebuild it into? And in the answer to that question we will find Executioner’s long-term success or failure.

There is always a temptation to refer to things like this as “deconstructions” of the genres they, at least in part, are built to criticize the foundations of. I do not use that word in my writing–not without heavy couching, at the very least–but to me this series does seem to aspire to a certain casual definition of the term. I said before that Executioner feels like it was written by someone who hates isekai, but it’s totally possible that the very opposite is true. Rarely is it easier to see the faults within a genre than when you’re a huge fan of it, and lest we forget, it absolutely is possible to still use this story format for interesting, compelling ends. (Not for nothing was Princess Connect! Re:Dive my favorite anime of last season.)

At the very least, Executioner seems allergic to easy outs. In addition to our protagonist’s own judgment of her morality, the task she’s sent upon at episode’s end involves seeking out another Lost One, who seems suspiciously evocative of the girl from her dreams. (And who herself dreamed of the other world before arriving there.) The question then becomes, obviously, how hardline she’s willing to be, and what Executioner can do with whatever the result is. The episode ends on this cold confrontation, questions hanging in the air with answers far off and out of sight.

Personally, I’m absolutely fascinated by this series. (Its devastatingly kickass OP helps, too.) But I will admit that I’m something of a genre outsider. So for any true isekai fans who happen to read this, I’d be interested to see what such might think of it.

As for everyone else? It’s been a strong season already, but there’s something special about this one, I can feel it.

The Takeaway: Unless you’re simply averse to the very premise, I’d give Executioner at least a few episodes. For some of you, the mere fact of seeing Cute Anime Girls go all stone-cold killer might be enough of a draw. And hey, if that’s so, no judgment from me.

Like what you’re reading? Consider following Magic Planet Anime to get notified when new articles go live. If you’d like to talk to other Magic Planet Anime readers, consider joining my Discord server! Also consider following me on Twitter and supporting me on Ko-Fi or Patreon. If you want to read more of my work, consider heading over to the Directory to browse by category.

The Magic Planet

Tag: The Executioner and Her Way of Life

Ranking Every 2022 Anime I Actually Finished from Worst to Best – Part 2

Anime Orbit Weekly [6/19/22]

Anime Orbit Weekly [5/15/22]

Anime Orbit Weekly [5/1/22]

Anime Orbit Weekly [4/17/22]

The Frontline Report [4/2/22]

Seasonal First Impressions: THE EXECUTIONER AND HER WAY OF LIFE is a Knife in Isekai’s Heart