Spring 2024 – Mono’s Extremely Brief Takes – Week 11

Thanks for visiting Anime Rants on this warm June day (or whenever you are reading in the future). I chose ten anime series to watch and review for the Spring 2024 season, and I’m enjoying all of them to some degree. It’s a really good season, if you ask me. The following notes and responses are for the episodes that were released the week of June 10th to June 16th. I hope you, my readers, are enjoying some awesome anime lately, too. 🙂

Train to the End of the World

Episode 11: Maybe She’s a Lost Cause…

Episode Rating: 8/10

This fast-paced episode did a great job of keeping me entertained. Shizuru and her friends crashed into Ikebukuro and found Pochi and Yoka almost immediately. Yoka didn’t remember them. It was like she had a mental defense mechanism linked to the 7G button. When Yoka tried to remember Shizuru, the 7G waves activated and everything became distorted. Pochi was able to calm Yoka while Shizuru and company retreated from Pontaro and his soldiers.

After running into Kuroki and her hoard of zombies, the girls decided to try again to meet Yoka. They also got the news from Makoto-sensei that they need to press the 7G Button to turn it off. Pochi fought and defeated Shizuru, but Akira managed to press the button. Unfortunately, it didn’t undo 7G. The real key to controlling and potentially undoing 7G was never the button. Yoka herself is the key. Pontaro knows this and is trying to move Yoka to another location. To be continued.

Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf

Episode 11: Forest of Wolves and Frigid Rain

Episode Rating: 8/10

The dangerous journey to Lamtra and back begins. Lawrence, Holo, Nora, and Enek set out with a man from the Remerio Trading Company named Liebert. The first part of the journey is relatively uneventful, and the group secures the gold from Lamtra. But on the way back, in the rainy forest, they are surrounded by wolves. Holo realizes that there is a young Wolf God among them who wants to pick a fight. So, she stays behind the group to negotiate (and potentially battle) with the enormous Wolf God.

Lawrence ends up alone in the woods, waiting for Holo to return. Unfortunately, he is then attacked by three men from Remerio, who are trying to eliminate witnesses to the gold smuggling deal. The men are reluctant to kill, but leave Lawrence beaten and bound in the mud. They figure that the wolves will finish him off. They are also planning to kill Nora when they catch her. As he lies there helplessly, Lawrence weeps. It was a really depressing end of the episode.

Bartender: Glass of God

Episode 11: Bar Kaze – A Heartfelt Recipe

Episode Rating: 8/10

This episode had me teary-eyed at a few different points. I’m still surprised that a Slice-of-Life anime that’s 50% product placement can manage to make me so emotional. The first section of the episode was about Mr. Kase, who was being allowed out of the hospital – probably for the last time in his life. Ryuu and Kitakata spent the day with their old mentor and helped him bartend one last time at North Wind. It was truly heartwarming to see the old man live his dream again.

During the second part of the episode, Ryuu helped Miwa find a certain type of bottled liquor to give to her grandfather. It was an important thing to Miwa and it involved the story of her father – Kurushima’s son – and how he died in a car accident. Ryuu managed to find the right item, which was whiskey bottled in a Japanese style. Miwa and her grandfather both grieved what they lost. This half-episode event served as decent character development for Miwa, Kurushima, and Ryuu.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Season 3

Episode 11: Reconciliation and Agreement

Episode Rating: 7/10

The episode began with the eastern merchants lamenting their failed plans. Afterward, we saw the meeting between Rimuru and the forces of Luminous (Hinata and the Holy Knights). There is now peace between the nations and Lubelius agreed to open official diplomatic relations with Tempest. During the discussion, Hinata also revealed that the eastern merchants were behind much of the recent chaos. With the matter settled, everyone had a sukiyaki party.

Rimuru mentioned that Yuuki Kagurazaka seemed suspicious to him. It’s still possible that Yuuki is the mastermind. The last scene strongly suggested that he was indeed involved. It showed Yuuki receiving the report about Rimuru’s victory from the same man who was talking to the merchants earlier (I didn’t catch his name). I don’t know if Yuuki is evil, but I think he’s up to something.

Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master

Episode 11: The Loyal Retainer

Episode Rating: 8/10

Knowing that the Prince was using him for his Northern blood all along, Yukiya was hurt and angry. Rokon appeared and took Yukiya to meet with the prisoner Atsufusa. The conversation was fascinating, but it was mildly disturbing for Yukiya to see a man so deluded with his own dreams. Later on, the Prince told Yukiya he was aware there was no trust between them. But nevertheless, he still wants Yukiya for his aide. Yukiya agrees to give a final decision in the spring.

There is a time-skip of several seasons. We don’t know Yukiya’s decision yet, but it’s now spring. The Prince finally went to the Cherry Blossom Palace to choose a consort, and that’s where the episode leaves off. Honestly, this episode impressed me even more than the previous one, despite the lack of action. Yukiya’s frustration with the Prince and the Court as a whole was very understandable. I’m interested in the theme of “choosing your own lord” in a world where choice has little meaning for the majority of people.

Tadaima, Okaeri

Episode 10: Love

Episode Rating: 8/10

Yuta and Shuta are the younger twin brothers of Matsuo. Like most twins in BL (and anime in general) they are both handsome and mischievous. Because of their prankster natures, it took some time for Hikari to warm up to them. Michiru helped by befriending the twins first and encouraging Hikari. After playing with the babies, Yuta and Shuta cornered Yuki to ask about his relationship with Matsuo. The older brother caught them and made them leave Yuki alone.

Later, Matsuo told the twins and Hiro to stop bothering him and Yuki. It’s not like Matsuo has any intention of dating him. Hiro pointed out that it’s remarkable to see Matsuo so interested in someone. These conversations made both Yuki and Matsuo think about their friendship. That night, Yuki stayed over. Matsuo was sleeping on the couch nearby, but Yuki invited him into the bed. Scandalous! I think we can safely conclude the two men are experiencing sexual attraction toward each other.

Mysterious Disappearances

Episode 10: A Live Performance, A Curse, and the Person Inside

Episode Rating: 8/10

The mermaid spirit Yorumun began hijacking popular streams all over the internet. Ren, Sumireko, and Oto tried to convince Nodoka to let them seal the spirit in her tablet, but she refused. Uname-sensei then showed up with a girl named Mikamo, who is the “person inside” Yorumun. She has a terminal disease and wants to make sure Yorumun stops causing trouble before she dies. Nodoka finally agrees, and Ren sets up a live-stream/ ritual to send off the spirit of Yorumun. Mikamo succeeds in explaining the situation to her creation, who agrees to stop the chaos and fade away.

This episode might be another case like the 8th episode where it deserves an entire article on its own. It was a great episode. The mythology – including the new spin on spirits born from digital images – was fascinating. In addition, I became emotionally invested in the story of Mikamo, her disease, and how she created Yorumun. The end of the episode almost made me cry with Yorumun’s heart-wrenching send-off and the reveal that she used her powers to heal Mikamo. Beautiful.

Black Butler: Public School Arc

Episode 10: His Butler, Assenting

Episode Rating: 9/10

I had doubts – especially during the previous episode – that this arc would make sense and bring up any interesting points. However, this episode succeeded in wrapping the story up in a satisfying way. I like the theme that the prefects were brainwashed by the system of Weston, caring more about “tradition” than human life. There’s no question in my mind that murdering Derrick was wrong, even if he was scum who the world didn’t need. We can’t have a bunch of schoolboys trying to enforce justice without the law.

In addition to exploring those themes with the prefects, episode 10 provided some interesting Black Butler world lore. Undertaker explained the method he was using to create more advanced zombies. Once they have been instilled with enough false memories, the “zombies” will be indistinguishable from humans. That’s a fascinating concept that raises a lot of ethical questions. Ciel is probably right to hate and fear such an idea. I have more thoughts on this episode, but I will include them in a later post.

Kaiju No. 8

Episode 10: Secret Revealed

Episode Rating: 9/10

This episode was action-packed, with exciting visuals and good music. Vice Captain Hoshina gave it his all in the fight against the giant red Kaiju. He managed to survive and keep the monster busy until Captain Mina Ashiro arrived to help. She shot it and exposed its core. Hoshina got some help from Kikoru to keep the enemy Kaiju less mobile. Then Mina fired the final shot and killed the enormous monster.

It should have ended there, but all the wyvern yoju combined together into a lumpy, fleshy bomb. If it explodes, it will be as powerful as a nuke. Kafka sees there is really no other choice but for him to intervene. In front of everyone, he transforms into Kaiju No. 8 and punches the monster-bomb high into the sky. It still explodes, and the damage is immense, but the people in the military base all survive. Kafka is exhausted and grim as Mina holds him at gunpoint and takes him into official custody.

Whisper Me A Love Song

Episode 9 was delayed and will be released on June 22nd

~Thanks for reading~

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