Thanks for visiting Anime Rants. A quick tangent before I get to the episode reviews. With free speech in the US being dead, we’re reminded again how this once promising country has become a pathetic mockery of democracy. It’s easy to get discouraged if you’re in the US or otherwise affected by that country’s rapdily spreading political dumpster fires. I’ve been struggling more than usual with despair and helplessness this week, so I was especially pleased with the overall hopeful episode of Dr. Stone.
The fascists in charge right now constantly target science and progress in their laws, but not even they can kill the spirit of human inquiry. All that to say, if you live in the US and you’re suffering from the fascist regime, don’t give up. Even if you feel as alone as Suika in this episode, there are still people who care. Especially if you’re a trans person or a person of color, keep yourself safe and alive. Like Suika, let’s live on and fight for science and a better world.
- City the Animation Episode 12
- Dr. Stone: Science Future Episode 23
- Kaiju No. 8 Episode 22 (S2 Ep 10)
- New Panty and Stocking Episode 11
- Ruri Rocks Episode 12
- Sakamoto Days Ep 22 (Season Finale)
- The Summer Hikaru Died Episode 11
City the Animation Episode 12
Episode Rating: 7/10
The penultimate episode of City The Animation made me chuckle and smile at a few different points, but overall, it felt less funny than usual. I’m not sure why. Anyway, the three best moments for me in this episode were the following. 1) When Nagumo won the photo competition. 2) When the three dads got and Nagumo got drunk on delicous sake. 3) When Niikura ran into an unidentified creature and proceeded to punch its elongated nose until she literally passed out.
When she woke up, Niikura continued punching it. The standoff lasted for what seemed like two days. That creature was very tolerant and sweet for not hitting her back. In the end, the cute creature even left behind Niikura’s locket for her to find. That means it’s finally the end of the lost locket saga. As usual, this episode was weird, absurd, and entertaining. In Niikura’s words, “This is life!”
Dr. Stone: Science Future Episode 23
Episode Rating: 10/10
This episode showed us the first year or so of Suika’s seven-year time alone. After gathering the statues and not finding any revival fluid, she figured out that Senku had written instructions for creating the revival fluid. Thus began Suika’s long quest to make the revival fluid herself, starting with a nitric acid farm. (That involved gathering a lot of poop.) Seven years after the world was re-petrified, Suika finally completed the revival fluid and woke up Senku. She was now about 18 years old.
This episode nearly brought me to tears at several points as I empathized with Suika and her struggle to stay hopeful while alone. I’m not surprised that it took seven years to get the chemical balance exactly right. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this season of Dr. Stone and look forward to the last episode next week. With Senku awake again, it’s only a matter of time before humanity gets back on the path to revival.
Kaiju No. 8 Episode 22 (S2 Ep 10)
Episode Rating: 8/10
The battle with No. 9’s kaiju forces began. Out of nowhere, numerous kaiju appeared across the country. They manifested only in big cities and targeted important buildings and infrastructure in a way never seen before. Every single division was swamped, so nobody could send reinforcements to Tokyo where the main attack was happening. To help combat the threat, Kikoru went out wearing her mother’s Numbers 4 kaiju suit for the first time in real battle. She can fly when using the activated suit. So cool!
Kikoru quickly engaged and took down some targets, impressing everyone with her strength. Meanwhile, Hoshina went into battle wearing the new Weapon Numbers 10 suit – which was sentient and could talk. Kaiju 10 (the suit) refused to follow Hoshina’s orders. Hoshina had to cooperate and compromise to get anywhere with the stubborn weapon. Eventually, they synced up and got to a high power level, but they never stopped arguing. I suspect some fans are already shipping Kaiju 10 and Hoshina. XD
Anyway, Captain Shinonome (who is voiced by Kana Hanazawa, arguably my favorite female seiyuu ever) was in trouble. Her division was about to be overwhelmed by six giant kaiju. Kafka expressed his wish to come fight, but he was told to wait until Kaiju 9 appears. Luckily, Mina Ashiro was there to save the day with a gigantic gun. This is awesome. To be continued.
New Panty and Stocking Episode 11
Episode Rating: 5/10
The first of three mini episodes was about Chuck and Brief. They had some adventures together underground after Brief fell into a hole. I think this was a movie reference, as almost every skit in this anime feels like a film parody lately. It’s slightly annoying to me because I understand so few of the references. It also feels like it’s a cop-out so the creators didn’t have to come up with ideas of their own.
The second mini episode was a spoof of an Indiana Jones movie. The artifact they were after was a sacred stone shaped like a penis. It ended up being possessed by a scorpion ghost made of the resentments of angry men. Eventually, Panty and Stocking defeated the penis/scorpion ghost and went home. It wasn’t a particularly entertaining episode, but it was funny to hear Panty shout, “My dick!” several times while trying to acquire the sacred stone. As for the third mini episode, it was about time travel. It was fairly funny, but too rushed and chaotic. All three mini episodes were “meh” this week.
Ruri Rocks Episode 12
Episode Rating: 9/10
This episode departed from the usual formula of field trips and geology to show Ruri and Shoko working a personal project in their neighborhood. Ruri found something belonging to her grandfather. There were a few rocks and a strange, crude gadget in a wooden box. Aoi joined Ruri and Seto in trying to figure out what the device was for, after she accidentally broke the box. According to Nagi, the gadget was a crystal radio, but it needed to be fixed and used with a different rock as a converter. Ruri, Seto, and Aoi got to work at once fixing the radio and trying different crystals.
If you don’t know, a crystal radio is a small, weak radio that can be made at home. A rock crystal like zincite serves as the receiver for radio waves. It was really cool to learn about crystal radios, as I had never heard of them before. Anyway, Ruri and company got the radio working and listened to it at a place called Suoh Shrine. Nagi and Imari were there with them. Ruri’s grandfather used to visit the Suoh Shrine and had a friend who now ran the shrine. Thanks to the crystal radio, Ruri connected with her deceased grandfather in a special way. What a beautiful episode!
Sakamoto Days Ep 22 (Season Finale)
Episode Rating: 6/10
Thanks to Sakamoto, Shinaya was defeated. Shin, Sakamoto, Mafuyu, Toramaru, Kaji, Akira, and Kill Baby were told they passed the exam. Shin even got first place among the test-takers. But later, Sakamoto learned that he actually failed the test because the JCC could not admit students with a bounty on their head. To solve this problem, Nagumo told Sakamoto to enter the JCC in disguise as an assistant teacher. Remember how Nagumo can look like anyone? Well, he used his disguise magic on Sakamoto, making him look just like his wife Aoi.
Sakamoto, now looking like a beautiful woman, began attending JCC. Shin and Akira also started classes as students. Akira was nervous, but Shin was thrilled. None of them knew that Mafuyu and Toramaru had been kidnapped by Kanaguri and another dangerous killer named Carolina Reaper. They took the weakened hostages to Slur’s warehouse. Slur told them their help was needed to bring down the JAA. Mafuyu and Toramaru will probably never help Slur, so their lives are now in danger. TBC.
Note: I could have done without hearing the inner monologue of Toramaru when she discovered Sakamoto was overweight. We made it for so long without anyone being fat-phobic, but she had to ruin it. What a shallow character.
Apparently, this was the last episode of part 2, which means there will be at least three short seasons of Sakamoto Days total. I see some issues with the anime’s quality and how it compares to what manga lovers claim is in the original, far superior work. However, I’m enjoying Sakamoto Days as a casual action anime with cute and cool – though not especially deep – characters. In fact, I think Part 2 was a little better than Part 1. I’ll probably still watch Part 3 when it is released. I also hold that the voice-acting and music in this anime are top-notch.
My preliminary series rating for Sakamoto Days Part 2 is about 7/10. This is may change when I get around to writing a full review.
The Summer Hikaru Died Episode 11
Episode Rating: 9/10
As usual, there’s a lot to be said about this episode, but I don’t have the time or energy to lay it all out in a way that makes sense. Instead of trying to hit every single discussion point, I will just mention three highlights from this episode. Firstly, we saw Yoshiki talking to his dad about the Indo family sin. It was an interesting discussion that revealed a lot about Yoshiki, his father, and the story of Kubitachi. We also learned the origin of the human head artifact, Hichi-san.
Secondly, we saw the scene where Nonuki lost control at school and tried to consume Yoshiki’s soul. That was intense as fuck. The visuals, music, and voice-acting were spectacular. Thirdly, Kurebayashi chose not to try to exorcise Nonuki from Hikaru’s body. I felt so relieved. I really love Kurebayashi now. She’s so sweet she can’t stand to let the young creature’s life end so soon. As for Nonuki, he’s deeply troubled by his monster nature and is probably planning on leaving town by himself. To be continued.
~Thanks for Reading~
Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants
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