Hello! I’m finally roughly caught up on the Summer 2025 anime I chose to watch and write about. It’s a good feeling, especially since spending more time writing means spending less time engaging in addictions and other maladaptive coping behaviors. (I deal with a substance abuse disorder, among other psychological issues.) But anyway, this has been a fun season of anime so far. Here are my episode reviews for week 8.
- City the Animation Episode 8
- Dr. Stone: Science Future Episode 19
- Kaiju No. 8 Episode 18 (S2 Ep 6)
- New Panty and Stocking Episode 7
- Ruri Rocks Episode 8
- Sakamoto Days Episode 18
- The Summer Hikaru Died Episode 8
City the Animation Episode 8
Episode Rating: 7/10
Part of this episode bugged me. Some will doubtlessly think I am taking a comedy anime too seriously, but I can’t exactly stop my mind from telling me when something bothers me. There was a skit where a police officer falls in love with a highschool girl and is praised as a noble man by the narrative for not acting on his crush. Wow, the bare minimum! Not impressive to me. If a cop has a crush on a highschooler, he should submit himself to psychological care right away and never be in a position of authority. Ugh. It was an uncomfortable skit.
I was disappointed that City would include such a problematic bit, so I was tempted to rate this episode 5/10. However, Tekaridake’s theater performance with the animals and Nagumo was amazing. It was so entertaining and funny to me that it brought the rating up again easily. The performance was a spoof of the Momotaro story from Japanese myth. Tekaridake was voiced by Jun Fukuyama and I’m a big fan of his voice whether it’s used in comedic spoken word rhythm or serious acting.
Dr. Stone: Science Future Episode 19
Episode Rating: 8/10
The artificial diamond grains made by Nikki, Minami, and the others were used to make sandpaper for polishing down bigger, natural diamonds, which would be the new Medusa batteries. But that also meant that they had to mine those natural diamonds. Senku’s group was doing the same thing in their location. They headed to where Araxa used to be and built Fort Medusa. Here, they would figure out how to weaponize the Medusa devices in their final showdown against Stanley.
While they were building the fort, Xeno sent some kind of radio signal to Stanley. Senku was eventually going to fight Stanley regardless because he needed to reclaim the Persues. But now, thanks to Xeno, Stanley was headed there much sooner. Senku’s group brainstormed about how to win and eventually settled on a solid plan. But they still haven’t figured out how to power any of the Medusas. The diamonds are not working. The last battle with Stanley is approaching, so I hope they figure it out soon!
Kaiju No. 8 Episode 18 (S2 Ep 6)
Episode Rating: 8/10
Kaiju No. 10 was still able to communicate but unable to be restored due to the damage to his core. He told Hoshina he wanted to be made into a Numbers weapon. He wanted to be wielded and keep fighting forever, basically. In addition, Kaiju No. 10 said he was created by Kaiju No. 9. Armed with this information, Hoshina addressed the leaders of the military. He warned that they could be wiped out by Kaiju No. 9 and his creations.
Until Kaiju 9 attacked again, the Japanese military would need to do as much as possible that was new and different. (Since Kaiju 9 had fused with the Director, he probably knew all the military intel now.) They decided to give the most powerful Numbers Weapon – Number 6 – to someone with the potential to wield it. That someone was Reno Ichikawa. His first attempt to equip the Numbers ended in him passing out. However, he wanted to keep trying, so he was given a 1-month trial period.
This was a good episode, and I’m glad Reno will soon have the opportunity to be close to his Senpai again. There were also some funny moments, like when Narumi and Hoshina fought over their “territory.” My only complaint about this episode is that it skipped right over any discussion about how Kaijus are born. “Something something, tectonic magic under the earth’s crust” isn’t going to cut it. I want to know so much more about this world. I hope this anime steps up its world-building game soon.
New Panty and Stocking Episode 7
Episode Rating: 6/10
As usual, there were two chapters in this installment. The first one was about Garterbelt and Geek Boy going on vacation to escape from the tyranny and abuse of the angels and demons. On their way to gamble at Casino City, Garterbelt and Geek Boy met Polyester and Polyethurane. They all formed a brotherly bond and went to the casino before being attacked by a ghost. Panty and Stocking came to drag the boys back, and the ghost was defeated by the angel brothers.
In the second episode, Panty and Stocking were sent to prison for various crimes. Eventually, the prison was destroyed by a ghost that fed off the bitchiness of bitches being bitchy to each other. Panty and Stocking dispatched the threat by working together with the demon sisters. This mini-episode wasn’t terribly funny, but it had some good moments, like when Panty kept saying “Fuck or Bitch” in English. Random English words in Japanese anime will never not be funny to me.
Ruri Rocks Episode 8
Episode Rating: 8/10
Shoko and Ruri became better friends when they started working on a science project together. It was about water quality. When they were done with their project, they did some panning in the river, and Shoko found a strange orange rock. Unfortunately, Shoko dropped it back into the river and lost it. It was clear that she was disappointed. Ruri knew this, so she asked Nagi and Imari to take her and Shoko on a trip to hunt minerals and solve the mystery of the orange rock.
Eventually, the mineralogist explorers found an abandoned factory. Zinc and other minerals were leaking out of it and getting into the stream system. Within the crumbling old factory, they found a large pipe full of zincite deposits. It’s a beautiful orange crystal and almost certainly the same as the orange rock Shoko found. Shoko crawled into the pipe and took her first sample, bringing home a chunk of brilliant zincite. This was a solid, feel-good episode with lots of adventure. 🙂
Sakamoto Days Episode 18
Episode Rating: 7/10
The transfer exam for the JCC assassin academy continued in this chaotic, bloody episode. Sakamoto helped the blue-haired assassin candidate, whose name is Akira, while Shin was fighting the germaphobe teenager. His name is Mafuyu and he’s honestly a pretty funny character so far. Anyway, one of the examiners was a deadler hitman, JCC examiner, and moviemaker named Kanaguri. He blew a hole in the plane, causing everyone to fall out of the wreckage toward the ocean below.
The new task became surviving the fall. Thanks to Akira’s sowing skills, Sakamoto, Shin, and a handful of others used a makeshift parachute and survived. They also each had a JCC bullet, which was required to pass the second stage of the exam. The episode ends with a mysterious someone approaching. I suspect this someone is the blue-haired woman who fought alongside Sakamoto and Nagumo. She also seems to be the mother of Akira. Speaking of Akira, I wonder why she wants to become an assassin? We’ll probably learn more about her in later episodes.
The Summer Hikaru Died Episode 8
Episode Rating: 9/10
This was an amazing episode with tons of unsettling visuals, moments of horror and expressions of emotional anguish. Asako retained hearing damage from being touched by Hikaru. I felt really bad for Yoshiki as he felt guilty for what happened to Asako. He shouldn’t feel guilty, but that’s Yoshiki for you. Is this The Summer Hikaru Died or The Summer This Emo Kid Suffered Immensely for No Reason? I still love this anime, but man, does it love to torment Yoshiki! When he smiled and told Asako he was joking, he looked dead inside. Poor kid.
The scene with the intruder at the school was eerie. He was probably possessed by an impurity, and killed himself while standing naked on school grounds. Some time after that incident, Yoshiki and Hikaru went to the library to research their village and try to find out more about “Nonuki-sama.” They learned some interesting stuff – including how the five villages are named after body parts – and were then approached by the librarian, who turned out to be from the same village.
The librarian was the daughter of the old lady, Matsuura, who was killed by Hikaru. She told them that Nonuki was a mountain god who became a curse god after a historic famine. In addition, she suggested they talk to an old man named Takeda for more information. The gravity of the old lady’s death weighed heavily on Yoshiki as the boys biked home. Hikaru was apologetic, but also couldn’t fully comprehend. Yoshiki said that even if Hikaru did kill someone else, they would shoulder that crime together.
Yoshiki briefly encountered Tanaka and they bonded over the cuteness of the hamster, which is an anomaly that lives longer than other hamsters and can track down spirits. Tanaka was interesting and funny as usual. The last scene showed Yoshiki and Hikaru chilling in a café, when suddenly a supernatural impurity attacked. Weakened, Hikaru was unable to consume the threatening monster. Yoshiki couldn’t run away. The thing was about to kill him when he was abruptly woken up like he’d been dreaming. Ms. Kurebayashi was there, telling him it was okay.
I don’t know what happened exactly, but I suspect Yoshiki was almost possessed while napping at the coffee shop. At some point, he drifted off and the nightmare began. Anyway, I’ve already rambled about this episode for 4 paragraphs, so it’s time to go for today. The Summer Hikaru Died continues to be captivating!
~Thanks for Reading~
Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants
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