Blatch

Before we start this one, a Hifuu Clubdate: so it's been a while since the first part of that show's third episode was released. I had heard something about how the show was being bankrolled by a big Chinese Touhou fan who was also a millionaire, but then they abruptly went missing, presumably throwing plans for the series in jeopardy. Well, if that was the case, it's not anymore, because a crowdfunding campaign to complete the third episode launched and recently ended. The result? More than enough!

Of course, talk is cheap. But you know what's even more expensive than money? Action! Here's a PV:

Lots of good stuff here, including the Scarlet sisters with a nun, The Raven getting another good look at Sakuya, and even Renko as a maid. Do be advised that, although the crowdfund promises the second half of the episode, it'll be released in two parts, the first releasing by the end of the year, the other coming out in the next. Also, a fourth episode is currently in the planning stages. So yeah, it's nice to know that, even after Memories of Phantasm ends, we'll still have more cool Touhou fanime to watch.

Review:

And now, finally, the battle has begun: Reimu vs. Sanae and Kanako. But much of Episode 16 is dedicated to other characters. We see Suwako being lazy, getting drunk, and watching the climactic battle, and then cut to Aya and Hatate trying to get a good scoop regarding the fight. Then a few trees in the woods are brought down by a kappa tank. Marisa is inside, curiosity having gotten the best of her, and then she quickly cranks into battle and effortlessly dodges Sanae's spell card, who gets brought down surprisingly quickly thanks to a Master Spark. Maybe she should've used something more complicated than a generic ring of rainbow bullets (tee-hee)? Reimu is actually smitten by Marisa's good work, which leads to an ad-hoc team-up. But now Suwako has seen enough, and so she decides to join the fight with the upstart mountain god who defeated her many years ago. All the while, Yukari and Ran continue to watch on.

Suwako ends the episode by manifesting a giant rock fist out of the natural retaining wall surrounding the shrine, and it's headed straight for Marisa! Cue the next episode: even though a second one soon breaks out and tries to crush her with the first (like Master and Crazy Hand), she tanks the attack thanks to Reimu casting a shield spell on her. This alone is the reason why Yukari's plan to have Moriya Shrine be the new top shrine in Gensokyo has failed: she didn't account for Marisa helping her. Except... didn't she make them try to fight each other in the Imperishable Night arc? Huh. The two quickly combine their forces to make quick work of Kanako and Suwako; the former gets a Master Spark, and the latter a Fantasy Seal. Bombs sure do seem to solve everything, don't you think? Talk about boiling down to the essentials of battles of bullets.

The rest of the episode features the usual allotment of lore: Kanako had to move the shrine to Gensokyo to gain more faith, and Sanae was going to get it for her. Well, she still can, but Moriya Shrine will be Gensokyo's secondary faith-based hang-out. But then we quickly hop to the more popular one, as Sanae is greeted by Cirno and Daiyousei. The rest of the Mountain of Faith cast is there, and it was here that I wondered if this was the same party from the the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil arc, with the rest of the characters off-screen. Turns out they haven't actually arrived yet; after copious amounts of alcohol are enjoyed by the current partygoers (the Aki sisters are already plastered), they do, introduced one by one. In the midst of all that, Yukari and Reimu have a moment, with the former basically admitting she was just trying to challenge the latter. Humans can't come to overpower youkai, you know. Gotta be perfectly balanced, as all fanime should be... which is why the arc ends with Reimu and Marisa fighting and then the latter gropes the former. Aww.

Good arc? Kind of. I want to watch the complete version of this one at some point, because there's not a lot of meat on this one's bones. Stupid recaps taking up a good chunk of time in what are already shorter episodes. The combined edit of it is only thirty-four minutes long! But I did enjoy this episode. I'm starting to think this show is at its best when it's doing anything except portraying danmaku battles, because the Hakurei vs. Moriya fight in this one was pretty simple. If this show had an actual budget, it'd be able to portray more elaborate spell cards, but instead we get the same radiating circular patterns. I also would've liked to see Reimu and Marisa use more creative strategies to win, although the use of teamwork in this one was appreciated. At the same time, I think the things people have criticized this series for (except for the fanservice) have more to do with the simplistic nature of the Touhou games' plots. I mean, come on, just about every game after the PC-98 era features a linear plot progression where the player always fights the mastermind of the incident. And the Stage 5 boss always ends up being their lackey. If you've been watching this series and think it's just not very creative, well, take it up with ZUN. There's always time for him to innovate.

To finish off the episode, another stinger, this time featuring the blue-haired wild child Tenshi descending from her heavens, looking for a fight. Who knows if she'll get one.

Random thoughts:

• Go ahead, meme me!: I'll do another one from Twitxr this time to make it easier to share.

• This week in subtitle jank: Pretty janky. Funnily enough, I looked on Kyoto Fantasy Troupe's YouTube channel, and they have the second and third (part one) episodes of Hifuu Club with the subs in much better quality than what I watched. Guess I'll have to watch these episodes the way Senri intended.
  • My favorite jank (from the Ep. 16 preview): "What is the fate of being in trouble!?"
• These are some great episodes if you're big on smaller character moments. Nitori's dazed eyes and wheel-o-feet as she scurries away from the tank are a nice combination. There are also a few scenes with Reimu that feel like callbacks to earlier in the series, like when she's in awe of Marisa's surprise attack, and then at the end she looks at Marisa in a similar way to the first episode, only she's not nearly as positive.
• On the other hand, a shot of Momiji near the end of Ep. 17 is the first time this series has looked legitimately off-model to me, but it's followed up by a great shot of Kanako making her chug sake.
• Seems like Hina was the only member of the MoF cast not to drink at the party; the grilled lamphrey in her mouth suggests she's trying to avoid a contact high. Those Suika particles are very powerful, you know.
• Eiki already having a menacing look in her eyes is powerful. I'd change my avatar to that if I hadn't already done so to King Gizzard recently.
• Speaking of which, groups for the party: Suika by herself; SDM residents; Alice (w/ Hourai and Shangai Dolls), Yuyuko and Youmu; Kaguya, Eirin, and the two bnuuys; Keine (w/ a box of bamboo) and Mokou, Komachi and Eiki, and Mystia; Wriggle, Rumia, Lily, the Prismrivers, Letty, Yuuka and Medicine.
• Both of these episodes get TV-14s. Not very exciting, but this is going better than most of the Idolm@ster anime. Hey, anyone know how Shiny Colors is going? I've been neglecting to watch thanks to its non-simulcasting status.

Musics of Phantasm: And now, a brief digression...

This is to make up for the fact that I haven't really gone into depth about this series from the perspective of its actual audio. A few more stray observations:

• There's a lot of wind-based music here. I particularly like the use of that flute, maybe a wooden one, which I've found nostalgic at times.
• There are some occasions where the show remixes different themes in different styles. The PoFV arc has a particularly effective moment with Eiki, where the scene where she lectures people at the izakaya features her theme in a low-key electronic style, and then later on the next movement of it is performed by orchestral brass.
• There are sound effects mixed in with the music, which I feel would be distracting if you were watching the episodes that way. (Man, sounds trippy. I should consider doing this at some point.) There are even a few voices here and there, though they're all indistinct (like Eiki's Donald Duck talk and stray visitors at the festival in Episode 7).
• Some scenes have what sounds like cartoon music. I'm getting "Pizzicato Playtime" vibes from when Tewi meets Reimu and Marisa during the IN arc. And right after that, a nice drop to a faster electronic version of "Voyage 1969" (see? I know my song titles) as Eientei drops out into space.
  • Speaking of this arc, Eirin's speech in one scene is to some extent synced to the vocals. Wonder if that was intentional.
  • And on top of that, another insert song or two throughout the show would've been nice.

Part 2 of this short series will come next time. Believe it or not, there is a partial English dub of this series, available on this YouTube channel and nowhere else. Three episodes came out before the pandemic, which then derailed it and the project has been on hold ever since. Just for the hell of it, I'll watch the episodes, comment on the music based on that, and inject a little mini-review of it for the Memories of Phantasm grand finale. Thankfully it won't be the finale for this series as a whole.

Say, speaking of voice acting, I think it'd be cool if Manpaku Jinja were to get an actual seiyuu cast for this series. Maybe they could do a crowdfund of their own for it? I mean, if anything a crowdfund for more episodes would be preferred. I want my Unidentified Fantastic Object arc, damnit! Either that, or Kyoto Fantasy Troupe finally pays off on that OP tease and we get to see the sealed esoteric history of Byakuren...

And now, some bullet points:

• Shion is Best Girl, or at least the VTuber I most wish existed in real life.
• Near the end of Episode 2, I was lamenting the fact that the show portrayed a karaoke scene without having any of the characters actually sing, because that sort of thing wouldn't be feasible given the budget... and then the show features Getting Over It, one of the ragebait stream games, immediately after. Touché, although I assume the creators of all these IRL games are either cool with the exposure or even wanted the series to feature them. And at least the EDs with different characters singing songs in Live2D is a nice touch.
• In a similar vein, a nice WTF for me was when the show revealed that Live-On! exists in tandem with IRL VTuber agencies within the show, so you get a cameo from Sora Hololive, plus somebody from Animare I didn't recognize. (Wasn't the one who was streamin' with Inuyama Tamaki, that's for sure...)
• Too bad Awayuki couldn't switch into Shuwa-chan mode for that strenuous exercise, but on the other hand, she was basically cosplaying Aoi Birdie Wing back there, which gets my utmost approval.

#24: One use of "hell", Aoi facetiously talking about how she could die, Eve talking about how her golf "shoots [her] through", and then the big one: Aoi's disease-induced collapse at the episode's end, which she prays to God won't kill her dream to golf with Eve.

#25: Two "bullshit"s, both from Eve before the OP. Aaaaaand that's it.

Ratings recap (second half): PGSV (14), PG (15, 19/20, 24), PGS (16, 23), PGD (17), PGL (18), PGV (21, 22), 14L (25)
Blanket rating: 14L

Overall blanket rating: Still 14LS
Most common rating: PG (five eps)

This show's ratings went down as it shifted from deadly underground mafia golf to actual golf, though these things might not be directly related. Maybe the scriptwriter and/or translator decided to stop using it as much? Anyway, fare thee well, Birdie Wing. It'd be cool to have a second season of you, maybe one that raises the stakes by having actual worldly affairs decided by golf? That's what I'd go with, anyway. And Ichina would be the main character.

#16: More danmaku violence, this time with clothing damage for Sanae, but the notable descriptor is Kanako's fat fucking tits.

For the clip: recap part 1,885, and then Reimu acts all gay toward Marisa as Sanae tries (and fails) to get up.

 #17: This time around, the nudity is a mix of puffy tits and more clothing damage. In one shot, Kanako's dress is ripped to the point where you can almost see to the nipple. Unlike OniMai, this time there's definitely a shadow there.

Second (or third, depending on how you count it) clip: recap part infinity, and more clothing damage amid the incident's aftermath, this time with bonus subtitle jank.

Again, this show has a built-in swear filter, which is used twice in this episode (although Bubble gets a longer bleep; might've been something in there), so Jax saying "sucks" makes for an easy call. This episode's action setpiece is vehicular and Mad Max-ian in origin (fitting, as Gooseworx does hail from Australia): Jax points a (waffle cone) gun at Gangle while they're driving, and Ragatha is briefly (and non-lethally, not that anyone dies in the Circus) impaled as two trucks smash into each other.

From idols to youkai to VTubers, I'm covering all of Japan's sultry pleasures with my content ratings clips series. Hopefully I can keep the pace with this one, unlike Cinderella Girls U149.

Suggestive Dialogue: This is a show that I think goes a little too far with self-censorship. It's hard to justify a lot of what's being done here, unless it's for comedic purposes. This includes four uses of the word "gooning", very likely the first appearance of it in an anime sub, one commenter on a stream having the username "C0urtJizzter", Awayuki talking about rubbing one out, and even references to sex. However, there's also an uncensored reference to premarital sex, plus one of Awayuki's agency-mates Sei asks her what her favorite lesbian porn scenario is.

Coarse Language: One use each of "piss" and "shit" from Awayuki.

Honorable mentions: Another member of LiveOn, Hikari, streams the fictional Sausage Legend, a cavalcade of phallic references (with the word even being used uncensored) that I'd describe in detail if this episode was PG-level, or maybe a 14 straight. And yes, this is where C0urtJizzter shows up. There's also a shot of Awayuki naked, censored with StroZero cans, that features discussion of her *****nous zones.

And now for the first clip: this show's lore made me unsure if the VTubers were actually streaming from their own fantasy world, but it turns out it's the same as ours, with the Internet acting merely as a vessel. Still, enjoy the way Awayuki links up with our world. (And BTW, this is all the content before the OP. Very elegant.) Then the way the first clip slams into the second offers some humor. Didn't take long for things to go off the rails, but then again there wouldn't be much of a show otherwise. Either way, enjoy Awayuki getting all flustered.

BTW, something I just realized: they'll definitely make an AnimeFesta about VTubers at one point. I mean, maybe they have already, but I don't remember seeing one. I look forward to it being just a little better than Sweet Punishment.

I like to think that, just seconds after the final scene, Eve was gunned down by a member of the mafia for some reason and it caused a huge scandal. Her friends and (adopted) family had to go into witness protection. That might not be the preferred ending for most, but I had a feeling that at least one of Eve or Aoi would end up fucking up their body beyond repair and wouldn't be able to play golf again. But it's alright, because things went in the opposite direction and Aoi is partially cured! May their golf rivalry spring eternal.

10/10 show, but I don't think you needed me to tell you that.

This is the OVA I was talking about: basically a glorified PV, lasting all of five minutes and lacking even an OP or ED. I took interest to this show because the titular character is voiced by the same actress as an Idolm@ster character I was once crazy for. I figured this could be a precursor to a full-length series, but given that the manga is over now, I doubt it's going to happen. Perversely, I should be happy that this series even got this treatment, even if it's a tease, and I wish more shows that aren't cut out for TV anime could get this treatment.

Now, this series involves a cute little succubus who tries (and fails) to charm people, even though this world is casually horny, with random girls' boobs bouncing like crazy. Hyouta, our protagonist, wants to get the attention of Anzu, the girl he likes, but a scheme on Memumemu's part causes a misunderstanding and Anzu thinks he's a pedo, reinforced by "Child Pornography Protection Act" appearing in a corner of the screen as Anzu accuses him of making it.

I originally pushed for a 14DS, but that was more out of habit. Having thought about it, the bouncing boobs are all clothed, and really just an extension of shinigami-jugs-a-poppin (love Poke's turn of phrase back there).

The thumbnail for this one on my computer is Anzu's boobs. It'd be cool if videos on here also had that, but instead I've gotten a blank screen most of the time.

#21: Aisha Khambatta, Eve's next opponent (in professional golf), has a style that consists of wildly running to the pin and then firing a blue bullet, which is represented by a cannon firing at the time of the shot. This happens a few times throughout the episode. Also, one "kiss my ass" from Eve.

#22: The episode starts with Leo [Millafoden] firing his own bullet shot, Explosion, which is represented by him loading a revolver, firing it, and a toku explosion happening behind him when he makes it. Eve's new Rainbow Bullet Burst shot is revealed to be destroying her with every use, and if you're like me, you got squeamish when Alan [Harvey] deployed acupuncture to help her heal quicker. Aisha's cannon rounds are repeated, this time actually showing the ball as one. Also, before Eve makes her final epic shot, she says her arms hurt so much she could die... and then said shot, Over the Rainbow, punctuated with a primal scream, leaves her struggling to stay upright afterward. So goddamn hype.

#23: More golf soap opera...-ness, now augmented by the fact that Aoi now has her father's disease and could potentially meet the same deadly fate if she keeps golfing. We learn this through a scene where she's in a shower and abruptly falls backwards, showing some sideboob on her way down amidst the tasteful piles of steam. But on the golfing side, this was a tame episode.

#11: Just a shot of flashback shot of Kaguya in the bath.

Clip #1: this time, you get a taste of maybe the jankiest subtitles of all, with yet another gratuitous recap followed by some action on Youkai Mountain, with the crow tengu tending to Momiji (notice the clothing damage; this will happen again in the show soon), Yuyuko being a fat fuck again, and Yukari getting ready to terraform the mountaintop to bring Moriya Shrine in.

#12: Nothing particularly interesting here, just generic danmaku violence.

Clip #2: This time around I intentionally kept the opening recap as short as possible; I think you get the gist of things at this point. After the break, we have Remilia getting reverse-"Hey mister"-ed by Mokou.

#13: One use of "bullshitting" from Mokou, which feels in-character for her, but you never know with Touhou fan works.

Clip #3: And what do you know, it's in the clip! This time around I also kept the opening recap as short, but I went extra-long for the post-break scene, which features lots of Kaguya-Mokou hate sex bickering.

#14: More danmaku violence, this time featuring Reimu making quick work of some minor bosses.

Clip #4: A rare one (for this show) that has action on both sides, starting off with Sanae confronting Reimu and a dazed Suika at the shrine, and then progressing into Yukari looking on at the action from her private gap dimension. Fun fact: I originally had the second clip go longer, but then I realized I could include it in the recap for the next one. After some wonkiness with the files, I recreated them and even redid the error in the process, not that you'd ever notice.

#15: This time around, the return of puffy nipples. Yuyuko's Perfect Cherry Blossoms (uh, bosoms?) have them, and so do Kanako's Mountains of Faith.

Clip #5: A bit of an extension from the last clip, showing Reimu's roaring rampage of revenge against the poor gods of the mountain, plus Momiji falls in the lake in a sexy way. Coming out of the break, the sky turns foreboding as Reimu makes her approach toward the shrine, eventually met by Sanae and the god she serves, the latter of which totally isn't a human trafficker.

Hey, I'm getting better at using Movavi! Too bad there are probably other, better video editors out there, and I bet you can get them for free.

#3: This episode starts to flesh out the cast with the introduction of Kaede, Mihari's menhera-colored gyaru friend, who wastes little time giving Mahiro a makeover that looks... rather unwanted. She calls it a "demonstration". And her boobs also hang out throughout the episode, being invoked later on when she and the Oyama siblings go shopping for swimsuits.

#4: This time it's Kaede's friend Momiji (yeesh, there are three of them now?) who has some fun with Mahiro, though it's mostly on his end. See, Mahiro has a lot of erotic manga in his room, and Momiji gets a good look at it after his closet bursts open and they spill out. They feature prominent cleavage and/or suggestive fluids, and one of them (called "Making This Sassy Babe Mine") features a girl with a poorly-fitting bra where it seems her nipple is fully visible. I can't quite make it out, but the lighting on the manga cover suggests it's there. It's an edge case, but given that I tend to underrate as opposed to taking the over, I figure I'll roll with the top rating again. And then Momiji accidentally gropes Mahiro near the episode's end.

I'm typing this straight into the post box as opposed to using a file. Hopefully I don't fuck up.

#24: One "bastard" from Yuri and one "god damn" from a plastered Yor, who unintentionally kicks Loid in the face and sends him flying across the bar. Also, someone who lives in the Forgers' neighborhood wonders if Loid cheated on Yor.

Trying to take a screenshot of this in Firefox revealed a nasty surprise: Crunchyroll has added DRM to their online player, blanking the screen on an attempt... or so I thought. Turns out it works fine on Edge, so I can afford to not have to use torrent sources. Yay! So here's the long-awaited image, w/ Damian and his two snooty friends finding out about the social gathering at Eden College.

#25: And so we finally, finally end the first season by dropping back to the minimum, the sets coming from mentions of assassinating Donovan and Loid's desire to stop him before he can wage war. Also, minor swearing ("hell" and "damn") courtesy of Damian.

One more for the road? Yup. Have a close-up of the tangled web Donovan weaves, w/ the cosmonaut Yachayka beside him.

Ratings recap (for the second half): 14LV (13/14), PGLV (15, 17, 24), PGDL (16), 14L (18/19, 22), 14 (20), PG (21, 25), PGV (23)
Practical blanket: 14DLSV (still)
Actual blanket: 14 (again, no subratings)

Character tally, part 2:

• Loid: 9 + 4 (15B, 21B [several disguises], 22A, 23 [disguised])
• Anya: 5 + 5 (14B, 15B, 19 [pointed in the direction of the rating, but her eyes are closed], 22A/B)
• Yor: 5 + 4 (14A [leg only], 17A [OP], 22A/B)
• Henry: 2 + 1 (18A)
• Donovan Desmond: 1 + 1 (25)
• Damian Desmond: 1 + 1 (24)
• Helper Handler: 1 + 2 (17B, 21A)
• Bond: 2 (14B, 22A/B)
• Franky: 1 (16B)
• Fiona: 4 (20B, 21B [eye only], 22A, 23 [disguised])
• Other: 13B (violent punks), 14A (another one!), 14B (random people on the street), 15A (dog show crowd), 18A (Eden students), 18B (Eden teachers), 20A (Westalis spy; could be Loid), 25 (Yachayka and a tiny piece of another of Donovan's contacts, maybe Prosecutor Farnham, or even Yachayka's husband [since they overlap], unnamed if so)
• No one: (13A [map of Westalis and Ostania], 16A [Forger family phone])
• Notable loser: Yuri (currently at 1)

Loid is now up to 13 appearances and still has a nice lead. It'll be interesting to see if Anya gets more of these as the show goes on, as she's ostensibly the main focus.

Dialogue tally, part 1:

• Screenshots with dialogue vs. without: 15/5
  • Text special cases: 8 (text on the top and bottom)
• Screenshots without: 2A (OP), 5A, 7A, 10A, 11

Dialogue tally, part 2:

• Screenshots with dialogue vs. without: 15 + 14/5 + 8
  • Text special cases: 17A (subbed OP; interestingly, the first one wasn't like that), 17B (blacking out Handler's age like she's an SCP), 18A (episode title, plus text on top), 18B (text on top),
• Screenshots without: 13B, 14A, 15A, 16B, 17A [OP], 19, 21B, 22B

On to Season 2!