Whoops, pruning a bunch of shows again. This doesn’t mean I won’t cover these shows in the future, but ah… I just don’t feel like watching them right now. While I’m not as burnt out as I was last week, just looking at certain shows is enough to leave me exasperated. Having said that, I’m not exasperated by all of them. I think Kindaichi Case Files is an okay show even if its mystery elements aren’t quite as good as I had hoped for. Nevertheless, I want to wait until the latest case is wrapped up before I digest it. Anyway, onto the rest of the post…

Nobunaga the Fool Ep. 17 & 18

So stupid…

The 17th episode was a bit of a clunker. You go into it with the hopes of seeing what will happen to Caesar and Mitsuhide, but surprise! — the episode is mostly about Himiko. I guess the writer was like, “Oh shit, nobody knows shit about Himiko or why she’s so in love with Nobunaga, so let’s devoted the majority of the episode to her!” They even drag in the stupid love triangle between Nobunaga, Himiko and Jeanne, ’cause boy, when people watch a story about the war between the two stars, they really want a half-assed conflict between a creepy midget and an oblivious blonde girl. Yeah, as you can tell, Himiko’s my least favorite character on the show. I hate her character simply because she looks like a creepy midget. No, I don’t care if it’s fair or not. Everyone’s always trying to open-minded and fair, but honestly, who gives a shit? I’m tired of the creepy loli nonsense anime. It doesn’t deserve a second chance.

Then in the latest episode, Alexander finally shows up to wreck some faces. Actually, he seems utterly overpowered. You really have to wonder how goddamn strong King Arthur would have to be for all of these big Western names to be subservient to him. After all, Alexander and Caesar are no slouches in the history of Western civilization, but somehow, Arthur is the final boss? Plus, it’s too bad this is a Japanese-centric storyline, ’cause if we’re really going to play it that way, Genghis Khan should be the guy to go toe-to-toe with all these badasses from the West. But it’s anime, so it’s always Nobunaga this and Nobunaga that. Anyway, Monkey gets beaten pretty bad, but oh well. I’m not sure if he died or not, but even if he did, it’s not like I’ve grown attached to him or anything.

selector infected WIXOSS Ep. 6

Some pretty silly shit goes down in this week’s episode.

First, the much-hyped battle between Ruuko and Akira is over in just five measly minutes. Talk about a letdown. For once, it seems like something remotely serious is at stake. After all, Hitoe kept battling people in order to make friends, but that’s just plain stupid. Why? C’mon, need I remind you that you can just make friends on your own? As for Yazuki, she battles in order to bang her brother. Yeah, no thanks. Granted, Ruuko only wants Akira to apologize to Hitoe, but meh, at least it’s something. At least some justice would be served had Akira actually lived up to her own word. To top it off, there is hardly any gameplay in this week’s battle. Ruuko sort of just wins because she’s stronger, which is silly because card games are usually about strategy.

Second, the show is still trying to make a big deal out of the fact that Ruuko doesn’t have a wish. So what, though? Ruuko’s standing there, looking all distraught and shit, but the story has only told me that having no wish is bad. It has hardly shown me why it’s so goddamn wrong to not have a wish. Ruuko then goes and frets over the fact that she loves battling even though it leads to negative consequences. Well, here’s an idea: DON’T BATTLE. It’s not as if you couldn’t play the game normally. Nevertheless, Ruuko ends up being bedridden because she just feels so bad, guys. We then learn that her mother had abandoned her because the mother could never tell what Ruuko was thinking, and therefore, Ruuko was scary to her. Uh, okay. I guess the story is trying to make you wonder whether or not Ruuko is potentially a sociopath. After all, she doesn’t have a wish! After all, she only beat Akira to make the mean girl grovel! After all, even her own mother couldn’t understand her! But just one look at Ruuko is enough to show you that the idea of Ruuko potentially being a psychopath is patently ridiculous.

Third, remember how Hitoe is no longer able to make friends anymore? Well, what about her journal! Can’t she take a look at what she’s written and thus remember who her friends are? Nope! When she tries to read her journal, the words literally fly off the page! When WIXOSS says you’re going to lose your friends, WIXOSS means business!

Fourth, some girls at school take Yuzuki aside and tell her that she’s totally being creepy about her brother Kazuki. Boy, those girls are mean! Then again, Yuzuki isn’t going to get any sympathy from me because SHE WANTS TO BANG HER BROTHER. Like c’mon, you really expect me to feel sorry about a girl and her unrealized incest dreams? Nope, not gonna happen. The best part is when the girl goes, “What’s wrong with everyone? They’re the creeps…” Uh, you’re the one who wants to make your own brother fall in love with you through a card game. If that’s not creepy, I don’t know what it is. Just reverse the genders. Now, it’s a story about a brother who desperately wants to win a card game so that some magical entity will force his sister to fall in love with him. That’s fucked up, man. But uguu, Yazuki’s such a cute girl with a hime haircut so I guess I should give a shit.

Yes, please, just go away.

Oh man, I can’t believe people actually think this show has elements of being a psychological thriller. Give me a break. I’ve seen my fair share of Okada Mari works, and while she can have a decent show or two every now and then, most of the time, she’s just a fucking hack.

Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii Ep. 6

Well, since our couple is now destined to be married and everything, it’s only fitting that we introduce a potential rival to the mix. After all, if Nike isn’t going to be all lovey-dovey with Livius, she might risk losing him!

Yawn… So you get the typical bullshit that you’d find in every other lame-ass anime romance. First, Luna, the new girl, is a childhood friend. They’re always childhood friends! This forces Nike to take her princess training seriously. After all, childhood friends are serious business, man. If you want to beat out a childhood friend, you really have to prove yourself as a woman! Now, ballroom dancing time!

Secondly, Luna is jealous of the fact that Nike has bigger breasts:

And yes, she gropes them too. It doesn’t matter if you’re a harem or a shoujo, expect to get groped.

Third, Luna challenges Nike to a contest like they always do. In this story, it’s a horse-racing duel:

But it doesn’t really matter what the contest is. After all, it’s just plain ridiculous that romantic matters are even settled this way. Heh, whoever gets the highest score on a DDR song gets to walk home from the arcade with the gamer girl. It’s even sillier when Nike explains why she just has to agree to the duel: “Luna’s serious. I can’t turn her down.” Good stuff.

But y’see, Nike likes everything about Livius. Even the negative things about him! This totally beats Luna, who had naturally distanced herself from Livius when he became all scary and shit. Yep, what Nike and Livius have is totally true love. It’s such true love that Livius has to trick Nike into kissing him at the end of the episode. Hey, I too force my girlfriend to kiss me all the time! What of it?!

In the end, Luna is forced to admit defeat and thus take her leave of the Sun Kingdom. Ah, but not before she has a good crying session about it. Nevertheless, she doesn’t want Livius to see her cry, so she requests that Nike call forth the rain. Alright, we can’t use this rain summoning power for anything frivolous, but if it’s to conceal a haughty princess’s tears, it’s okay!