Greetings, dear readers. Thanks for visiting Anime Rants. This week’s episodes were mostly excellent. It’s been a great summer for anime. As usual, my favorite installment was The Summer Hikaru Died episode 9. Anyway, here are my notes and thoughts on the episodes from week 10.
- City the Animation Episode 10
- Dr. Stone: Science Future Episode 21
- Kaiju No. 8 Episode 20 (S2 Ep 8)
- New Panty and Stocking Episode 9
- Ruri Rocks Episode 10
- Sakamoto Days Episode 20
- The Summer Hikaru Died Episode 9
City the Animation Episode 10
Episode Rating: 7/10
I’ve been enjoying City so much, but overall, I don’t think it’s quite as good as Nichijou (My Ordinary Life). That’s ok though. This episode had a lot of good and funny skits and bits as usual. It was cute and amusing to see Nagumo wearing a fox tail and ears. I also loved seeing the three dads and their attempt at a fun summer vacation. There was also another Tekaridake theater performance which was cute and humorous. I loved the sulking echidna and all the other animals.
The only thing I didn’t like about this episode was the skit about Riko Izumi’s fan-club. I think it’s creepy for a bunch of guys to do this about a highschool girl. Among them are a police officer and a monk who owns the local shrine. That sets off all sorts of red flags, especially since they are trying to interfere with her dating life out of a sense of possessiveness. It was unfunny as hell. I felt disgusted. But one bad skit among a handful of very good ones still didn’t completely ruin the episode for me.
Dr. Stone: Science Future Episode 21
Episode Rating: 8/10
This was an intense episode that managed to keep me very engaged and excited. It’s the episode where Stanley attacks Fort Medusa without any mercy. (Meanwhile, the others at the White Castle fight Brody over the newly completed petrification device.) Some would say it was less powerful to see the characters dying when you know they will be revived in perfect condition in the future. On the other hand, they had absolutely no guarantee of revival, and were fighting for their lives genuinely. So, it was still powerful and saddening as Taiju, Ryusui, and others got slaughtered.
Joel was amazing in this episode. Not only did he complete the petrification device, but when the fighting over it started, he went through immense pain in a last effort to activate it. His arm was crushed by the safe Brody was using to secure the Medusa. At first, I had no idea at first how the plan could work. I honestly forgot all about Why-Man. It was a clever way to reset everything: have Why-Man petrify the entire Earth once more. There’s just one problem: how will Luna and Suika avoid being petrified?
I did have one complaint about this episode. Until now, I liked the character of Brody. Ever since he saved Xeno from the cave-in in Science Future Part 1, Brody seemed like a man who prioritized human life. However, in this episode, he resorted to ordering the killing of all the hostages. Yes, the hostages were fighting back, and Brody shed tears over the carnage, but so what? Don’t show me crocodile tears after you murdered a group of teenagers who were morally superior. I am keenly disappointed that Brody turned out to be a senseless, violent person.
Kaiju No. 8 Episode 20 (S2 Ep 8)
Episode Rating: 8/10
Iharu was able to expose the kaiju’s core and Reno finished it with a killing shot. Now, Reno was the official user of Numbers 6. It was discovered during the battle that Reno’s unleashed combat power is not a stagnant 24%, but jumps around up to 44% depending on focus level. This is the same type of fighter as Ogata, who supervised the mission. Ogata was also a survivor of the battle with Kaiju Number 6 that killed Hikari Shinomiya. He believes it’s his destiny to train Reno and Iharu. This is the reason he survived.
Meanwhile, as dusk fell, Kafka met with Hoshina. After a serious talk, the Vice-Captain decided to teach Kafka the martial arts style he learned from Isao Shinomiya. It’s important for Kafka to get as strong as he can without resorting to transformation. So, Hoshina began training Kafka at an old temple. It was cool to watch them sparring. Right before returning to base, Kafka saw a ghostly figure in what looked like Samurai armor standing by the shrine. I wonder if ghosts exist in this anime.
This was a great episode for a number of reasons, but for me, the most exciting thing was the mural on the shrine and Hoshina’s accompanying words. The mural showed samurai from long ago fighting a giant kaiju with swords and spears. We now know for certain that, at least in Japan, kaiju have existed for centuries. I imagine they’ve been appearing for thousands of years if not more. This bit of information was nice. There’s still a lot we don’t know, though, so I hope the world-building continues.
New Panty and Stocking Episode 9
Episode Rating: 6/10
This installment was split into three mini-episodes, which were each moderately entertaining. The first one was about Stocking and her quest to win a rare, sweet treat called the Ohagi Unicorn. Gunsmith Bitch made a quick appearance, which was nice. I like her a lot. In the second episode, the angel brothers (“Poly peeps”) tried to find the weaknesses of Panty and Stocking. In the end, they ended up having dinner with Garterbelt, Brief, and the demon sisters.
The final episode was the best and most wholesome, as it was about Kneesocks celebrating her birthday. Panty took her to a prom date and danced with her since Scanty wasn’t around to spoil her like usual. After Panty defeated a ghost at the prom, Scanty returned with a present for her little sister. It was almost too wholesome for an episode of Panty and Stocking, but I love the demon sisters, so it was great.
Ruri Rocks Episode 10
Episode Rating: 8/10
Nagi and Imari planned to search for an old manganese mine with Shoko and Ruri. However, at the last second, Nagi had something else come up. Now it was Imari’s responsiblity to supervise and lead the teenagers by herself. It was a bit challenging for the nervous young geologist, but she did fine. She even caught Ruri at one point when she almost fell off a rock wall. The way to the mine was blocked, so the group looked for manganese ore along the old train-tracks.
Thanks to Imari’s perseverance and some luck, the trio found a large supply of manganese ores among the ballast. Manganese is black on the outside, but if you crack it open, it’s bright pink. In addition to regular pink ores, Ruri and Shoko also found some higher quality reddish-pink crystals. At the end of the day, Imari was glad she went on the mineral hunt. Ruri and Shoko also enjoyed themselves. I appreciated this episode a lot since I love Imari. It’s great that she got so much screen-time.
Sakamoto Days Episode 20
Episode Rating: 7/10
Toramaru attacked Shin’s group, but Shin defeated her. He ended up saving her when she was drowning under a waterfall. Toramaru started admiring Shin as a fellow Sakamoto fan, when suddenly she was knocked senseless by Shinaya. He was being controlled by Gaku using some kind of virtual reality system. Now Slur will be able to recruit from the test-takers. The teachers disqualified Shiaya for rule violations, but he fought back, killing several of them. Now he’s up against the last of the teachers plus Shin, Mafuyu, and Toramaru.
It was a good episode with high action content. But after I just re-watched some of Jujutsu Kaisen, I must say, by comparison, the visuals in Sakamoto Days are subpar. However, the music is excellent. I can’t wait to add the OST to my anime playlists. In other notes, we found out that Akira is the niece of Rion Akao. This bad-ass female assassin was so cool! I hope she’s still alive somewhere.
The Summer Hikaru Died Episode 9
Episode Rating: 9/10
Hikaru and Yoshiki were attacked by an impurity in the café. Thankfully, Ms. Kurebayashi saved them. The three of them talked about impurities and what they wanted to do now that the town was being engulfed by supernatural terrors. Hikaru said he wanted to protect his new home and Yoshiki also didn’t want to just abandon his hometown. They don’t have a plan yet, but Yoshiki and Hikaru want to trap the impurities up in the mountain somehow. This would save the village from disaster.
After talking with Kurebayashi, the boys went to see Takeda, an old man who doesn’t leave his home these days. He wouldn’t see them until they mentioned the name Kurebayashi. Once Yoshiki and Hikaru were in front of him, Takeda demanded to see Kurebayashi. He somehow knows she is a medium and wants her protection from monsters. The old man became furious over Hikaru’s lack of knowledge of the Indo family, who apparently did something horrible in the distant past.
As his sanity crumbled, Takeda was possessed by an impurity. He took an old katana and tried to attack Hikaru. Out of nowhere, Tanaka appeared and kicked the possessed person away. He said it was nice to finally meet Hikaru before brandishing the sword and cleanly decapitating his new acquaintance. I think “Hikaru” (Nonuki-sama) will be alright, since he is an immortal entity. But I hope he can repair Hikaru’s body.
There was also an interesting scene earlier in the episode that I wanted to comment on. Nonuki asked if Yoshiki had “liked” Hikaru. Though Yoshiki said he preferred not to say, it’s obvious that he had romantic feelings for his childhood friend. Yoshiki continued to bullshit, grabbing Hikaru’s collar to prove that Hikaru’s body had no effect on him. To me, that sounds like nothing more than denial mixed with an excuse to expose Hikaru’s skin. Anyway, amazing episode.
~Thanks for Reading~
Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants
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