Welcome! This season, I will write weekly posts containing my notes on the four anime I’ve chosen to cover. It’s time for week 2, so join me for the ride!

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Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry) (2020)

Episode 2: Onidamashi-hen Part 2

Warning: Spoilers for the 2006 and 2008 Higurashi anime series

Ok, so this threw me for a loop. Good old Higurashi always done this to me, and somehow I never tire of it. It seems that this may not be the complete revamp that I thought it was. The very first scene in this second episode was Rika talking with Hanyuu. She is surprised and sobered by being told that she must repeat the events of June 1983 once again. We can assume this is happening after Higurashi Kai, because Rika says they have already won their future before, and they even know who the culprit is behind these events.

For now, though, it looks like Rika has no choice except to play along in this repetitive world until she can think of a plan to break free. In the interim, the story continues. There were a lot of differences from episode 2 of the 2006 version, but the same basic events took place. The festival started and Tomitake went to meet up with Takano. It’s also worth noting that when Keiichi was digging out the Kenta doll, he had a flashback of the world where he beat the girls to death with Satoshi’s bat. If he’s already remembering things from previous worlds, that’s a good sign that everybody can do the same, and once again team up against Takano.

I’ve got just a few other quick things to say. Rika’s dance was beautiful. I can’t deny that even if this art style and animation isn’t really my cup of tea. In addition, I thoroughly enjoyed the new opening and ending songs. I’m looking forward to more good content next week!

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Majo no Tabitabi (The Journey of Elaina)

Episode 2: The Land of Mages

It’s an understatement to say that I’m still thoroughly enjoying this new anime. I love nearly everything about it. There’s magic, traveling to different countries, a rightfully confident and proud lead female character, and wonderful visuals so pristine and colorful I want to drool. The ending song didn’t feel that special to me, but the opening is delightful.

In this episode, the story of Saya and her time with Elaina were quite entertaining and rather touching, too. There is nothing ecchi, cheap, or fanservice-y about this episode, but I’m sorry, for I can’t stop my inner yuri fangirl from dreaming. Saya and Elaina would make the cutest couple! And though Elaina’s attachment is more motherly, Saya’s seems pretty romantic. It was nice to have my yuri sense brought back to life after a vacation, haha!

Now, this episode was lacking a little something more that I would have liked to see. I had hoped to learn about the Land of Mages and its history and customs. Instead, the focus was on Saya’s character arc. But I still enjoyed that more than enough. Journey of Elaina continues to excite and enthrall me, and I can hardly wait for more!

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Kami-sama ni Natte Hi (The Day I Became A God)

Episode 1

The first episode was cute and funny. The art-style looks pretty typical of PA Works, but I like that. Both main characters, Odin and Yota, are played by seiyuu I like. Natsuki Hanae, who famously played Kaneki in Tokyo Ghoul, is the voice of Yota. Ayane Sakura plays Odin, and she also voices Uraraka in My Hero Academia. I’m not sure if the song that played during the ending credits was the OP or the ED, but it didn’t stick out to me as anything special either way.

Hopefully, this is will be a fun, silly comedy with a bit of romance and some supernatural hijinks. It probably won’t be a favorite of mine, but it seems enjoyable enough.

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Ikebukuro West Gate Park

Episode 1

The first episode didn’t impress me much. Everything was just average, from animation to plot. The voice-acting was good in a sense because most of these people are veteran talents (Kouki Uchiyama, Takahiro Sakurai, Junichi Suwabe), but that means there’s a stark lack of fresh talent. After a while, the same seiyuu in the same kind of roles in lower-budget shows gets dull. But perhaps things will improve with new characters. I liked the opening song, though the ending didn’t do much for me.

It’s a pretty straightforward crime and mystery story so far, with the young adult civilian genius who gets to be part of various cases through glorified meddling. There was some action, there was a cute kid, and they caught the “badguy,” etc. Honestly I was bored. The only other thing to note is that I nearly hit my limit for anti-drug propaganda. I lose my respect for a show if it demonizes helpful and non-dangerous drugs like weed. However, in this case, the drug seller was mixing it with stuff that causes brain damage and psychosis, so alright, this was serious.

Anyway, despite my negative view of this first episode, I’ll definitely apply the 3-episode rule and look forward to improvement from here forward.

Thank you so much for reading my work. Come back and visit soon!

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Previous Posts In This Series:

Fall 2020 Episode Impression (Week 1)

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PATREON