In this week’s episode, the girls end up in a weird Western-themed version of reality. No, they haven’t been sent back in time. Rather, their new reality is a strange amalgamation of technology and cowboys. For instance, horses have to share the road with motorcycles. Disputes, both minor and major, are settled through brutal duels to the death in a massive arena outfitted with a big screen TV. Everyone’s dressed from head to toe in Western-themed clothing… but they still have cellphones. It’s just odd. After four episodes, I feel as thoughAkanesasu Shoujo is more like a light-hearted play, and we’re just watching a series of zany skits.
Well, the show never takes itself too seriously, so in a way, these wacky scenarios are just various ways for our four heroines to hang out and play pretend. And sometimes when you play with your friends, you don’t always end up on the same side. This week, Mia gets to live out her dreams of being a law-enforcing deputy. But the fun and games aren’t just limited to her and her alone. Western Asuka is a bounty hunter, and she’s on the prowl for Western Nana and Western Chloe. Why? ‘Cause those two are wanted for robbing a bank! Because the girls and their interactions are so silly, I can easily overlook the show’s overall weak plot.
I also like that Asuka and her friends pretty much stopped trying to hide themselves from their counterparts. In this week’s episode, Asuka just flat out tells Western Nana and Western Chloe that she’s from a different world. Not only that, the latter two take our heroine’s claim at face value! Oh, you have the ability to jump from one parallel world to another? Cool… hey, wanna go rob a bank with us? It’s for the orphans! Anyways, it’s the same way none of the people in this world seem to care that four teenagers are dressed in strange school uniforms. Even the show doesn’t really take itself seriously, so there’s little reason for me to get too nitpicky.
Golden Kamuy 2 Ep. 3
Hijikata and Ogata try to look for clues in the dead taxidermist’s house. They’re hoping to find something that will help them tell if they have a fake prisoner’s tattoo in their possession. Unfortunately, Tsurumi’s men torch the entire place during the search. All of the important characters survive, so yeah, nothing game-changing ever seems to happens in any of these episodes. The most that you can really say here is that the surviving twin got one of his foot chopped off, but I mean, who cares about that guy? Oh wait, how could I forget! The cat survived!
After that, nothing really happens again. Everyone agrees that they just have to go and see Nopperabo, which was the original plan to begin with. In other words, we’re back to square one. I’m also a bit dismayed by Asirpa’s strange fondness for Dick-sensei. Oh well. Here are some amusing moments, I guess:
Ken En Ken: Aoki Kagayaki Ep. 4
Yin and Ning bump into a pair of rebels, and they would love for her to join their forces. But of course, every protagonist in this type of stories starts out as a pacifist. As a result, our girl does the all-too-familiar “I don’t want to kill for peace” song and dance number. She even tries to give up her power (don’t worry because she can’t)! Well, if you’re okay with the empire murdering children, go ahead and do whatever you want. But as soon as a bunch of Taibai soldiers threaten to murder Ning, Yin quickly abandons her previous position and bloodies her hands once more. I just find it funny that the empire sent foot soldiers against the two sisters when they’ve been told that she can literally destroy a construct all by her lonesome. I know, I know, they don’t believe the stories. Still, I think they should’ve taken greater precautions. Anyways, it looks as though Yin will begrudgingly join the rebel forces in next week’s episode.
As for Empress Long Cheng, she’s too young to rule. She clearly tires of this endless, pointless war, but she isn’t strong enough to assert her own beliefs. Her advisers tell her that conquering the world is her duty, and she can’t mount much of a counterargument. Also, she feels sadness over the death of her own soldiers, but she seems blissfully apathetic to the fact that her empire have murdered and enslaved a countless number of people. Hell, her favorite toy Zhao was a former slave, so she can’t even plead ignorance. It’s doubly funny, because she sends Zhao away at one point in order to gain military experience and “see the world.” Sounds to me like she needs to follow her own advice. Oh yeah, Long Cheng got all pissy when people started to doubt Zhao’s prowess. She goes from wanting to end the war to crush all rebels to prove that my oniichan is the best in a single snap of the fingers. It’s quite hilarious.
Last but not least, we have Zhao. I mentioned up above that Long Cheng had sent him away to see the world, but that didn’t last very long. He scores one extremely short and easy victory over a few rebels, and then all of a sudden, the dude returns home to a new title. I guess it helps to be the empress’s latest boy toy. As for his constructs getting wrecked by Yin, people just have to realize that she’s the chosen one! In the meantime, however, Zhao continues to desperately search for a way to harness the power of the black flame or whatever it’s called. It will allow the empire to crush their enemies once and for all! Too bad his former master is after the same goal, but all this means is that we have a race on our hands. My point from last week still stands, though: I can’t believe that this guy would abandon his morals and serve the Taibai Empire. Dude’s got no shame at all. I still can’t wait for the he and the two sisters to cross paths. Again, I still hope that they kick his ass, but considering Yin’s temperament, she’ll probably just cry or something.
I was gonna give Ingress a shot, but it’s been a long day. I’m ready to just publish this post and go watch some sports.