Welcome back to Anime Rants. The Spring 2024 season is underway and I’m enjoying the eary episodes of the ten shows I selected to watch. My very short responses and notes on the recent episodes are below. Please let me know your thoughts on these episodes, too. 🙂

Previous Post in This Series: Spring 2024 Week 1 – Mono’s Extremely Brief Takes

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Train to the End of the World

Episode 2: Suppose, Maybe, Presumably

Episode Rating: 8/10

The second episode kept up the absurdity and goofiness that I loved in the pilot. I was smiling for almost the entire 24 minutes. My favorite part was definitely when they met the old man in the duck boat. He was hilarious. In addition to absurd events like the train outpacing a typhoon-style tidal wave, there were also a few serious moments for the characters. The girls are learning to get along better, and it’s not always easy. Now, whether they like it or not, they’re stuck on this adventure together.

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Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf

Episode 2: Mischievous Wolf and No Laughing Matter

Episode Rating: 8/10

I loved this episode due to the discussion of the church and the character development of Lawrence and Holo as they get used to each other. Holo’s opinion on the relatively new Christian religion was especially interesting because I didn’t recall her saying much about it in the older version of Spice and Wolf. As a Pagan nature god, she rejects the idea of a monotheistic deity, as well as the notion that anything could have created nature. On a less serious note, I loved watching Holo eat the potatoes.

I appreciated learning about Lawrence’s history with wolf attacks and Holo’s implied history of being hunted by humans. It was good character development for them both. However, as a wildlife science major with a special interest in wolves, I feel obligated to say that the wolf behavior in this anime doesn’t match up to reality.

Wolves seldom – if ever – target humans as prey. They typically fear humans and avoid confrontation. If they did attack a traveler’s cart, it would be to get the food on the cart or maybe to kill the horse. The idea that they would specifically target humans and eat them is not something we have observed in real wolves. Just saying.

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Bartender: Glass of God

Episode 2: Old Pal / One for the Road

Episode Rating: 7/10

The first half of the episode focused on Taizo Kurushima, an old man in charge of the hotel. When served by our main character (Ryuu), the elderly fellow rejected every drink, calling them all awful. It took many tries for Ryuu to figure out a drink that made Taizo happy, but he eventually succeeded by using an older recipe. I felt bad for Ryuu having to endure such a rude customer.

The second half of the episode showed a busy career woman – a bad-mouthed lawyer – coming to Edenhall to get out of the rain. Though bitchy at first, she apologized and warmed up after being served a hot alcoholic soup. Also, throughout this second episode, Miwa and Yukari tried to convince Ryuu to come work for their hotel. So far, he refused every offer without giving a real reason.

I enjoyed this episode despite it being corny and sappy. Actually, to be honest, that’s a feature and not a bug. I like the cheesy speeches Ryuu gives at the bar. I like how he brings comfort to his customers. On a separate note, I really want to try a Bull Shot. I love soup and I could totally see vodka being masked well by a savory meat flavor. It sounds absolutely divine.

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That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Season 3

Episode 2: The Saint’s Intentions

Episode Rating: 7/10

This episode wasn’t as entertaining as the first, focusing more on serious discussions between different groups of characters. Frankly, at several points, I was bored. Nevertheless, I still enoyed this episode because it had a lot of information about Hinata, who is my favorite antagonist so far. I feel like it’s only a matter of time before she’s won over to Rimuru’s side, but maybe I’m wrong.

What we learned about Hinata was interesting. Her opinions on the Lubelius empire and the Holy Church evolved over time. She is now single-mindedly serving Lady Luminous Valentine as the ruler of the “utopia” kingdom of Lubelius. Hinata’s motivations seem mostly pure, as expected. In other news, Falmuth gave into Rimuru’s demands, with the king abdicating and taking on the responsibility of paying reparations to Tempest.

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The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master
(AKA The Crow Does Not Choose the Lord)

Episode: N/A

Once again, I was unable to find any uploads of this anime on any sites. I don’t know what’s going on, but for now, I assume it’s going to be released a few episodes at a time. I will monitor and update my findings each week.

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Tadaima, Okaeri

Episode 1: It’s Nice to Meet You

Episode Rating: 8/10

The first episode of Tadaima, Okaeri was highly enjoyable. It was sweet, wholesome, and very gay. Since I wasn’t originally planning on watching this one, I wrote a post about this series’ pilot in particular. To read my thoughts, see the following article: Spring 2024 Update: Adding “Tadaima, Okaeri.”

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Mysterious Disappearances

Episode 1: The Cursed Book, the Maiden, and the Birthday

Episode Rating: 6/10

The pilot for Mysterious Disappearances wasn’t actually what I was expecting. When I saw the trailer, I got really excited about this anime for its distinct art style, quirky female protagonist, and the promise of supernatural mysteries. Well, the first episode did contain those elements, but it also contained other elements that threw me off.

The main thing that got me off-kilter was the fanservice and excessive focus on Sumireko’s chest and bottom. Normally, anime series with unique art-styles minimize the fanservice common to other types of anime. Not so in this case. The sexualization of Sumireko is not a deal-breaker for me, but it’s not optimal, either.

I was also annoyed when Ren teased Sumireko about her virginity. It’s none of his business. My last complaint is that the larger, overarching mystery of this series was not well-established in the pilot. It obviously has to do with Ren and that dark-haired girl with purple eyes. But other than that, we have very little to go on. The pilot was like a one-shot and I was hoping it would be the start of a smoothly-flowing story.

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Black Butler: Public School Arc

Episode 1: His Butler, at School

Episode Rating: 8/10

With excellent visuals, memorable voice-acting, and several funny moments, the first episode of the new Black Butler season was a success (in my book, at least). Ciel begins attending Weston College, getting to know the four boarding houses and their prefects. Sebastion is masquerading as the Head of Sapphire Owl House, Master Michaelis. The two are there to investigate the school and its mysterious Headmaster, as ordered by the Queen of England.

It’s fun to see Sebastian and Ciel interacting. As for the other characters, Violet seems like the type I would be most interested in. However, I also really like the character design of Herman Greenhill from Green Lion. Lastly, I’m very interested in the man who officially accepted Ciel into the academy – you know, the one who fell down the stairs and ended up with a bloody head. That was absolutely hilarious for some reason. I can’t wait to see more of that guy.

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Kaiju No. 8

Episode 1: The Man Who Became a Kaiju

Episode Rating: 9/10

This first installment was high-quality and entertaining. I enjoyed the visuals with their smooth, semi-cartoonish art style. I see a lot of surface-level similarities to AOT and Chainsaw Man, just as the description from Crunchyroll foretold. Let’s hope that description is also correct in its promise that Kaiju No. 8 will have enough unique elements to make it stand out.

The kaiju monsters didn’t look scary, especially when compared to AOT’s titans or some of the Devils in Chainsaw Man. However, the kaiju’s guts all over the city were distinct enough. In addition, the scale of the kaijus was well-executed in animation. They seem impossibly huge. In other notes, it’s nice to have an adult cast, with a main character around my age. The female captain, Mina Ashido, is extremely bad-ass.

My final observation is that the ending of the episode was surprisingly comical. It reminded me of a parody of Parasyte: The Maxim where Shinichi gets attacked by the larval stage of Migi. By putting a humorous spin on things, Kaiju No. 8 is already starting to stand out from other classic monster anime.

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Whisper Me a Love Song

Episode 1: The Rooftop, a Guitar, and Senpai

Episode Rating: 10/10

I like Girls Love if it’s not too sexual. Whisper Me a Love Song is a well-respected GL series for which my standards are high. But as you can see from the 10/10 rating, this first episode thoroughly impressed me. I love the art-style and visuals, aside from crappy CGI sakura petals. I love the voice-acting so far as well, recognizing several of the seiyuus from other roles in the past. The song that Yori sung was also amazing.

In terms of personality, I love Yori and Himari. They’re so different but both so cute and interesting. The other members of the Light Music Club are equally entertaining. It was refreshing that the supporting cast was not homophobic. In fact, nothing in the narrative felt anti-queer to me. I do like it when a GL setting is realistic, but I can also appreciate it if a feel-good romance anime doesn’t want to go that route. Either way, this was a great episode.

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~Thanks for reading~

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