Welcome to Anime Rants! Here are my thoughts on the latest episodes of the four seasonal anime I chose to cover in fall 2020. Enjoy!
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni GOU
Episode 10
In this episode of Higurashi Gou, we saw that Satoko’s uncle, Teppei Hojo, moved in with her. He had a history of beating her. Keiichi and the other club members do some digging around and with the help of Chie-sensei and Dr. Irie, a lot of information is uncovered. For example, there had been three reports of child abuse with Satoko involved, and one of them was a lie. This means the social services are reluctant to believe anything without hard evidence.
So far, this is all quite similar to the way Satoko’s arc played out in the original Higurashi. And just as with the other version, the episode ends with Satoko having a complete mental breakdown after being triggered by Keiichi raising his hand to her (even though he was patting her head gently). It’s painful to watch this every time in either version. Higurashi depicts child abuse as the horrible thing it truly is, and how cornered it makes everyone feel who is involved. We’ll see next time if the story branches off or follows the old arc.
Majo no Tabitabi (The Journey of Elaina)
Episode 10
Episode 10 showed the story of young Fran and Sheila as they trained as apprentice witches together. Their teacher was the witch who looked just like Elaina, who is most likely Nike, the author of Elaina’s favorite book. It was a good episode with some cool moments, like when Fran and Sheila fight the Curio Group. I like the way the eyes look in this anime, as well as the colors used. And as I’ve mentioned before, I love hearing Kana Hanazawa playing Fran.
Kamisama ni Natte Hi (The Day I Became A God)
Episode 9
The mysteries were finally resolved in this latest episode of Kamisama ni Natte Hi. We now know the truth about Hina and her powers. It’s a fairly creative explanation that went sci-fi instead of classical fantasy, though I think everyone knew that would be the case. This episode also showed a lot about Hiroto and made him into a sympathetic character, though it was rather rushed. The whole episode was too hasty. As for what will happen to Hina next, it’s as predictable as I was expecting, but the good news is we still have a few episodes left. There may be a way to creatively and impressively resolve the story. I’m not holding my breath, but you never know.
Ikebukuro West Gate Park
Episode 9
This episode was a bit boring, at least during the middle, but it was alright overall. It was about three or four different groups, such as a xenophobic organization and an anti-discrimination advocacy group. Their clashes were complicated when a Chinese immigrant restaurant was set on fire. It took a while to get to the root of things, but Makoto found the one leading the violent harassment group. There was a nice action scene where Shadow returned and subdued the aggressors with his impressive skills.
It was revealed that those people were being backed by an organization from Kansai which has been behind many of the incidents so far in this series. It will be interesting to see how Makoto and the gangs in Ikebukuro handle this new information. On another note, it was great to see Guo again. She’s very cute.
Thank you for reading! I really do appreciate it. Stay safe and well!
Anime Rants 