#SpyClassroom better not spend the rest of the season on these pre-Impossible Missions shenanigans. There is no tension because we know the team learns to work together, we know no one gets killed/injured and we know they never get the better of Teach because we already saw the conclusion to the Mission. Sure, we’re learning about the characters more but that is possible in the post-Mission timeline. Spending a whole season in an extended flashback is plain grating.

#anime

I think Carol’s fanfare singing while she took her headband back from Tomo in Tomo-Chan is a Girl! ep. 4 may just be my favorite anime moment of the season so far! “It’s back home.”
#anime #tomochanisagirl

It's Back Home - Tomo-Chan is a girl episode 4 - YouTube https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c67GYeePdmg

Finished Valkyrie Elysium for the PS5. Story was a bit predictable but I really enjoyed the combat. The focus on only 4 Einherjar allowed us to get to know each one. Not as much story or personality as previous Valkyrie Profile games though. I really enjoyed it. 8/10

Pros: Fun combat, likable characters
Cons: Few NPCs made the world you’re tasked with saving feel empty, buttons could be finicky.

Now to get the hard difficulty trophy to 100% the game.

#ValkyrieElysium #VideoGames #ps5

#Winter2023Anime First Impressions

Last one.

The Fire Hunter:
The show throws you in the deep end without much explanation. Fire hunters, muku paper, collection trucks. How is Touko related to these people, why can’t she work, why is she so disliked, why was there a fire hunter so far from the capital, what’s in the letter? That said, I am curious and I feel there will be a lot of show don’t tell here. It has an “ugly” aesthetic but that works with the harsh world they inhabit. I’m in for now.

#Winter2023Anime First Impressions

Kaina of the Great Snow Sea:
Not sure how I feel about this one. The world and premise are interesting but 1st episode was a bit of a dull affair. I’m interested in learning more of Ririha’s struggles but Kaina’s situation did not interest me in the slightest. The CG almost looks worse than this studio’s Knights of Sidonia from 10 years ago; why no progress on that front? This will certainly need a few more episodes to determine its worth.

#Winter2023Anime First Impressions

Ippon Again!:

The ANN reviewers were singing this one’s praises so I checked it out. I don’t get it. It’s really cheap animation consisting of still frames and literal talking heads (whose apple-shapes are off-putting). I admit I don’t know judo rules but it feels like face-punching and choking someone out are not ok, and the refs were delayed in making calls, all to the lead’s disadvantage. At that point I was done and couldn’t go on. Hard pass.

I’m not doing first impressions for them, but I am watching several sequels/continuing series this season:

In/Spectre
DanMachi
The Misfit of Demon Academy
Bofuri
Eminence in Shadow
Urusei Yatsura

#Winter2023Anime

#Winter2023Anime First Impressions

Handyman Saitou in Another World:

A preview of this with a healer girl licking a knight girl’s armpit made me think this was going to be fetishistic pandering trash, but I gave it a go based on positive reviews. It’s more short funny sketches than plot-filled show, but it is genuinely funny and good-natured. The cast is fun and it was enjoyable. I’ll cringe when the licking scene happens in the future but given the format it’ll be over and done quickly.