Welcome everyone! Today we’re continuing with the Winter 2023 episode reviews for 6 selected anime series.
Bungou Stray Dogs Season 4: Episode 5
Wow, this was an intense episode! I enjoyed every bit of it. I especially liked the parts at the end where you hear the dead author’s voice talking about meaning in life. Anyway, to recap what happened, Ranpo successfully deduced that Mushitarou killed the manuscript author. However, the Agency doesn’t have the evidence or power to arrest anyone yet. So Ranpo trapped Mushitarou in the world of Edgar Allen Poe’s mystery ability. While there, Ranpo finally deduced the last piece of the puzzle: that the author ultimately killed himself, and wanted Mushitarou to play the role of his unhinged murderer to create the perfect mystery.
The ending words of the manuscript were blurred by the tears that Mushitarou shed as he strangled his own best friend to death. When Ranpo threatened to go public with this, Mushitarou surrendered and turned himself in. However, on his way to the station with the cops, Mushitarou was murdered by another follower of Fyodor. Before dying, he messaged Ranpo to warn him to stay away from the next big case the Agency gets. Fyodor is behind it, and it will mean the end of the Detective Agency. That’s where things leave off.
Koori Zokusei Danshi to Cool na Douryou Joshi
(Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague): Episode 5
As usual, this episode was very cute. The first half focused on the dynamic between Saejima and Komori, while the second half was about the relationship between Katori and Otonashi. Both little arcs were enjoyable. I really like Otonashi and her character design. Katori isn’t very funny to me, and Saejima is a little too stiff. So the girls definitely seem better than the guys in this anime. (Himuro is great tho.) My favorite is probably Komori the fox girl. She’s so cute!
I have a correction to make on what I wrote for the episode 4 review. The people at the office said that Katori was “like a chick.” I thought they meant “like a girl.” However, this episode, I listened more carefully, and they are literally saying it to mean baby bird. After all, the whole joke is that Katori is like a bird. I feel dumb now. Anyway, good episode!
Mononogatari: Malevolent Spirits: Episode 4
Although it did a decent job keeping me entertained, this episode mostly reminded me that the anime so far is pretty bad. The visuals don’t look detailed enough. The story concept isn’t original at all, and there hasn’t been any genuinely interesting framing of the mythology aspects. As for this episode, the Nagatsuki family revealed that its true purpose in accepting Hyoma was to set him up as a potential husband for Botan. I didn’t like that one bit. I’m not going to enjoy this anime very much if a key part of the plot is to force a girl into an arranged marriage. I’ll still keep watching for now though. Hyoma is fairly interesting and Botan is cute. I also like Yuu.
Nokemono-tachi no Yoru (Tale of Outcasts): Episode 4
Diana and her demon Naberius return in this episode. They take care of Wisteria after she grew sick from the exhaustion of winter travel. But Diana explains that Wisteria can’t stay because the order of Knights Cross is on their way to challenge the Blackbells. The knights attack before long, and their commander is strong enough to almost beat Naberius. However, Marbas joins the fight. The Knights’ commander backed down from beating two demons of this caliber, and instead he opened negotiations with the Blackbell family. Wisteria and Marbas will stay a little longer now that the battle is over. This episode was pretty decent. I loved seeing Naberius again since I find him incredibly sexy.
TenTen Kakumei (Magical Revolution): Episode 5
I absolutely loved this episode, and so far I absolutely love this anime! It’s so delightfully gay. Anis and Euphie might make it onto my list of best anime lesbians at this rate. The relationship they have is so romantic and makes me feel young again.
As for what happened, most of the episode was spent fighting the dragon. Anis and Euphie worked together and did it. However, something worrying happened at the end of the fight, where the dragon passed on a “curse” to Anis before dying. We’ve yet to see how that will affect the future. I also found it cool that Anis used magic drugs to enhance her battle performance. No fair! She gets to be a warrior princess AND get high whenever she wants! Anyway, Euphie and Anis share a dance in the last scene at the victory party for defeating the dragon. It was a beautiful thing to watch.
Vinland Saga Season 2: Episode 4
This was definitely an interesting installment. First, the leader of the hired warriors (Snake) saved Thorfinn from Fox. However, to prove that the young man did indeed want to live, Snake attacked Thorfinn with sudden bloodlust and speed. Thorfinn felt as if he saw Askeladd in Snake’s eyes, so he defended himself. Later, after his wounds were treated, Thorfinn went to cut down trees. In the forest, Einar asked about his past. Thorfinn answered truthfully. The truth enraged Einar, and he nearly killed Thorfinn in his sleep that night. Einar hates warriors and vikings. But he was too good of a man to go through with the murder. Still, things are more strained now between Einar and Thorfinn.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but my favorite moment of this episode was when Einar yelled at Thorfinn over his statement that “Nothing good has ever happened to me.” I liked this because I strongly agree. Yes, Thorfinn has suffered, but good things have happened to him too. His father loved him. His mother and Ylva still love him, and Lief still searches for him everywhere. Also, strictly speaking, some of Thorfinn’s suffering was from his own choice to stubbornly pursue revenge. Thorfinn is being a brat. I’ll just leave it there for today.
Thank you for reading~
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