Welcome back to Anime Rants with Mono. I’m sorry that this post is several days late. I was distracted with other hobbies. Anyway, this post covers the anime episodes released approximately between April 19th and April 25th. Also, as many of you have probably heard already, big companies are currently cracking down hard on free streaming websites, leading to the shut-down of the site I rely mostly on. As a result, getting high-quality screenshots has been impossible lately. Apologies for the watermarks and unremovable subtitles. Anyway, here are my notes for this week.
- Re: Zero Season 4
- Dr. Stone: Science Future Part 3
- Go For It! Nakamura!!
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4
- The Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 4
Re: Zero Season 4
Episode 3 (AKA 69): The Keeper of the Watchtower
Subaru, Ram, and “Anastasia” (Echidna) were separated from the rest of the group, finding themselves in a series of tunnels under the sand dunes. Unfortunately, though the tunnels seemed free of mabeasts, they were heavily covered in evil miasma. Until now, we’ve heard many times about the Witch’s Miasma, but it never seemed to have any effect on the people detecting it. In this episode, however, the fog drove the group out of their minds. Subaru especially was infected with violent urges and ended up trying to kill Ram. Echidna then stabbed Ram, only to be torn in half by Subaru’s Invisible Providence. Patrasche the dragon finished off both Ram and Subaru by eating their heads. The episode was super dark at this point and tried to be as horrifying as possible, as is typical for Re: Zero. Although I disliked seeing Ram suffer and die, it’s not outside the scope of what I expected from this dark, violent fantasy. At least she’s alive again after the reset.
Once the reset happened, Subaru was sick from thinking of his own actions. He quickly realized that the miasma was the cause. This time, he tried harder to be patient and took a different set of tunnels compared to last time. Eventually, Subaru stumbled into a huge chamber where a terrifying mabeast was waiting. Ram tried to protect Subaru, but she probably would have died in short order if not for the sudden appearance of the Keeper of the Watchtower. She was a mostly naked young woman with a mischievous smile and a cloak of black and orange. Whoever she was, she dispatched the mabeast immediately. Ram and Subaru then fainted from the heat and miasma. To be continued.
Dr. Stone: Science Future Part 3
Episode 4: Dawn of the Computer
The first half of the episode showed Taiju and company arriving in Corn City and reviving Yuzuriha’s group as well as the Americans. Meanwhile, Senku and Sai’s team in India worked on building the computer. Dr. Stone often has educational value, and in this episode, I appreciated the demonstration of the 1-0 circuit. It’s cool that there’s a way to make an adder circuit out of not much more than copper wire and metal donuts. In the second half of the episode, the young scientists made a fax machine for sending photos between them. In addition, we had some character development for Ryusui and Sai. Ryusui wanted Sai to come with his group, but Sai wanted to stay in India and complete the computer there by himself. He also didn’t want to always be bossed around by Ryusui, who he thought only wanted to use him as a tool.
The matter was resolved after Sai talked to Gen and Chelsea. Gen pointed out that Ryusui really did want everything – and that included a true brother. Both young men had been somewhat mistreated by the Nanami family, even being excluded from family photos. This helped them bond. In reality, Ryusui loved Sai and wanted to be closer to him. Realizing this, Sai changed his mind and agreed to accompany Ryusui and Senku on the New Perseus. I guess that means the computer will also be on board the ship? Or will they wait till they’re back in Japan to actually construct it? Anyway, this episode was entertaining and I enjoyed seeing more of Sai’s character.
Go For It! Nakamura!!
Episode 4: The Miraculous Magical Holy Water!!
This episode was more absurdly comedic than I was expecting at a few different points. (For example, look at the highschoolers who grabbed Hirose.) The first part of the episode introduced Hirose’s childhood friend, Tsukasa Ohmori. Of course, Nakamura was intensely jealous. On the way to school, Ohmori, Hirose, and Nakamura saw some fish and an octopus in a window aquarium. When Hirose asked why Nakamura liked octopus so much, Nakamura remembered the last time he rambled passionately about his favorite animals. It was back in grade school, and the other kids called him weird and creepy. So, Nakamura lied and said he wasn’t all that interested in octopus. This was a very relatable moment.
At school, Nakamura met a strange girl named Reiko Aokiyama who tried to trick him into joining the Occult Club. Before going her own way, Aokiyama gave Nakamura a strange vial of red liquid, calling it lucky holy water. The vial really did seem like it gave good luck. As a result, that day, Nakamura got to share many cute, random moments with Hirose. They even walked home together. On the way home, Hirose was accosted by some bullies from another highschool. They thought he was cute and wanted to force him to be their model for the photography club. Nakamura ended up saving Hirose, breaking the vial of “holy water” in the process. He did so by crawling ominously out of the sewers after falling in. The only problem? Hirose and everyone at school now think Nakamura looks like a scary zombie. On the bright side, at least Nakamura and Hirose got to spend a lot of time together in this episode. It was a fun installment.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4
Episode 4: Invitation
Rimuru, Milim, Veldora, and Ramiris continued using their monster avatars in the dungeon. They made sure the dungeon wasn’t too easy, stopping adventurers from progressing too far too fast. But in addition to this being “work” for the betterment of Tempest, fighting in the dungeon was also great fun for Rimuru and company. The slime was later scolded by Shuna, who found out he had been “horsing around in the dungeon” and neglecting his other duties. Milim also got dragged away for her work with Frey. It was good to see Frey again. Elsewhere, the Council of the West agreed to accept Tempest into their midst. They sent him an official invitation to the Council.
I was very happy to see Hinata, my favorite character, getting some screen-time in this episode. She attended the council meeting and turned down a job of being a young Prince’s bodyguard. She refused it because the Prince was clearly against Rimuru, while Hinata now had mutual trust with the Slime Demon Lord. Maribel of Greed continued to plan and scheme in the background. At the end of the episode, Rimuru went with Shuna, Benimaru, and Souhei and warped to the council. Shion stayed behind because Rimuru didn’t think she was calm and diplomatic enough to handle a huge human city. This episode bored me at several points with its long meeting scenes, but I’m willing to stomach some of that for the cuteness and personality of Rimuru and other characters, such as Hinata. That’s all for episode 4.
The Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 4
Episode 4: How to Collect Donations
I had trouble paying attention when I watched this episode, so I don’t have as many notes. But in this episode, Rosemyne had the wild idea of making Ferdinand into an idol-like attraction from which she could make money. Soliciting donations at teaparties was not going well due to Rosemyne’s tendency to faint. So, she thought through several ideas and decided on a concert to raise money. Ferdinand would play the harspiel and his image would be printed and advertised on paper. Rosemyne’s plan was to make a mimeograph and use ink and wax paper for this. She also managed to get Lutz and Benno on board with her plan at the end of the episode. At one point, Rosemyne and Ferdinand also began the magical process of creating a new Highbeast out of a fey crystal. The bits of magic lore in this show are sometimes interesting.
~Thanks for reading~
Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants
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