Jump to content
UnevenEdge

What Anime Are You Watching Right Now?


BUU8800

Recommended Posts

Last Period: the journey to the end of the despair 3
Touhou Musou Kakyou: A Summer Day's Dream 3
Spy×Family 10
The Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls 14
Birdie Wing -Golf Girl's Story- 1

This thread still needs more people, maybe especially me. Work is picking up, but I'm still trying my hardest to deliver the goods. Kinda like this:

The Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls Episode 14: "Who is that girl in the castle?"

Spoiler

Time for the second half. No dilly-dallying here.

It's been a month since the big summer live for 346pro. The Cinderella Project girls are getting publicity via their units and are starting to get more work. This is a far cry from 765pro's burst in popularity after Miki went ape mode and sang two songs in a row; things are still manageable around this office. And what better way to illustrate this agency's rising stature than with a new character? Her name is Executive Mishiro, and she just got back from a job overseas. Who knew New York City had idols? She makes her entrance by straightening out TakeP's tie. Seems like a pretty nice woman. But there's a bigger problem plaguing 346pro: they now have a stalker! So it's up to the idols to do funny things in an attempt to find him or her.

This is a pretty good episode. While the last one wasn't action-packed enough that you need time to breathe, it's still nice to have some respite. Or maybe it feels that way because there was an unplanned three-month gap in the interim. So anyway, after running around in circles, hiring shaman girls to get rid of ghosts and getting distracted by girls with guitars among various antics, the culprit turns out to be Mayu, that lovable rascal. But while the other girls are wondering if she has a love confession for TakeP, she does... but it turns out it isn't for him! She just wanted to send him a letter wrapped in red lace celebrating his birthday. And yet we don't even know what day it is, because the show never specifies. And TakeP hasn't showed up in any of the games so you don't get the data there. What a troll.

The end of the episode offers a 50-kiloton plot twist, courtesy of Mishiro: she's making an order that all current projects be cancelled. No more units! Long live the units. Talk about a shot to the gut, don't you think? How will the idols react? And will TakeP do anything to stem Mishiro's influence? Find out on the next exciting episode of Girls' High.

This time, I'm going to save the random shit for last, because, hoo boy... get ready for some pure, unadulterated gushing.

Idol roundup:

  • Karin (new voice): 17, Cute-type. The aforementioned shaman girl, a.k.a. a miko, a.a.k.a. (that's "also also known as") a shrine maiden. Also not the girl from Fena: Pirate Princess. I am contractually obligated not to bathe in any other liquid, I mean to support any shrine maiden character in a series. Because I think they're sexy, is all. Even given the "vow of chastity" thing and what have you. Karin is very clumsy, and she often trips on banana peels, sometimes willing them into existence. Despite this, she's pretty good at her job working at the family's shrine, and she works hard to get over her various handicaps, like tripping and occasionally slurring her speech. So yeah, I like her so. She might even be my #2 for this part of the franchise. As for my #1...
  • Karen: No, not her. 17, Cool-type. Had a horrible disease, but then she went to the banker and was prescribed some experimental wook juice. She turned out fine, but she missed a lot of school. She was one of the two girls who attended the idol fest last time, and I'll get to the other in a second. Both of them attended school together with Rin. Karen has a tendency to wear her hair different just about every time she appears; her default hairstyle (portrayed here) makes her look exactly like a character (she being Hikari's sister) from the Demi-chan show. Ostensibly, she's a gyaru, but you maybe wouldn't know it from seeing her in the wild. And some of her SSRs are pretty good-looking.

Okay, thread needs music. And maybe an MV to distract you.

*takes deep breath*

  • Nao Kamiya: The best girl in this franchise bar none, a beacon of shining sunlight, the best mix of funny one-off character gimmicks and completely earned character development Cinderella Girls has, maybe even someone you could slot into the OG iM@S cast and no one would bat an eye, and hands down the most deserving girl in the franchise right now to be the Cinderella Girl. Goddamnit, I love you Nao, and you're the one thing I'll always have in this franchise even if Touhou ends up assimilating all of my other Japanese-y interests and jam bands assimilate everything else. Your hair is so floofy, I love your cool, unvarnished voice, plus the way you're embarrassed seemingly all the time, and on top of that, the way you can slot into cool, cute, and passionate outfits like it's nothing. God, I wish you were real so I could watch lots of anime with you, even though it would be weird since we couldn't watch multiple shows at a time since my high-functioning autism precludes that, even though I've been working hard to change similar habits. You're the only character in this franchise I would unironically use a meme of Ryan Gosling just sitting there looking on and longing to describe. Please, funny green alien dude... let me meet her.

    Anyway. 17, Cool-type. Tries to act tough, but is a secret otaku. She was wearing a shirt in her initial card that had to be changed because it violated copyright. She has a motif involving rain and rainbows; in particular, her first SSR shows her putting away her umbrella because the storm has parted. Maybe she can be the light of your life, too. Oh, and there's this Halloween SSR she has where she dresses like a slut.
  • Natsuki (new voice): 17, Passion-type. Lady looks like a dude, but this isn't Waai!, so zip up your pants. She plays the guitar real good, much like certain other idols from other franchises, maybe even this one. Sadly, I don't think her seiyuu can do it.

Music spotlight:

  • "Yumeiro Harmony": The ostensible ED for the second half of this fine product. It... will, it's good, but I maybe don't like it as much as the first closer.

Stray observations:

  • Clockwatch: The episode starts out with the clock a little past 11:45, which then marches towards midnight as the girls prepare, and maybe have energy drinks. Later on it's at 3:46, representing the agency. But after the ending credits, it suddenly turns to midnight. Looks like a child is born, the dream is gone, and the carriage will soon turn back into a pumpkin.
  • Neat trivia: Mishiro's name (which has already appeared in the show proper) corresponds to 346's phonetic spelling. In fact, 765 was chosen as the representative number for the OG series because it's smilar in pronounciation to Namco.
  • There are so many idols I haven't gotten the chance to call by name! Even if, at this point, it would feel gratuitous. So here are a few attempts: Ranko has really dialed in the chunni talk, even if I don't know for sure because she hasn't been in focus; Anzu seems to be putting in slightly more effort than usual; and the NG girls look fine in their school uniforms. Again, I love Uzuki's blue blazer.
  • On idol voices: right after the scene where Karin is called in for an exorcism, which also includes Koume, Sanae shows up again, and she brings along Miyako, an unvoiced detective idol, at least for now. (Again, no relation. Now that I think of it, this is a funny coincidence, as the green miko is playable in Ten Desires.) But despite the scene being framed exactly the same (which apparently some people don't like... but they're probably just trolling), you don't get a surprise voice for her.
  • The portrayal of another Producer in this show is a fun twist. It makes me wonder how much narrative twisting would be needed to make some of these spin-off mangas canon to this show, not that it matters. Some disclosure: U149 does not have TakeP in it.
  • Rated TV-PG.
  • And we're done, right? Oh, I... totally didn't forget, and am instead saving this for last. Meme time!

    Tell your friends.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey now, at least I'm here.

Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie 9

Spoiler

Based on prior experience, you'd think the one episode where Izumi is gone for most of it would be the best, and I'll confess, I got plenty of laughs out of it. (Though you could easily blame that on me being into my second glass of wine of the night while watching it.) But those damn basketball gyarus had to ruin it. They're the type of duo where if it was just one of them, I'd be peachy keen with their presence, but together as a package deal they're just unbearable because of how samey their attitudes are towards the protagonists no matter how different the rest of their individual personalities are. Like Scanty & Kneesocks over a decade before them, or Gamo and Yoshii a year before them, they'd be better if they never interacted with one another as often as they do. The fact that each of them ended every single goddamn sentence of theirs with a verbal tic made it worse, and are making the idea of rewatching it via the dub once I finish Nagatoro's even more of a guarantee than Bakugo's English VA voicing his infinitely nicer doppelganger already was.

[desukedo, deshii, let's call the whole thing off]

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spy×Family 11/12
Birdie Wing -Golf Girl's Story- 2/3
Touhou Musou Kakyou: A Summer Day's Dream 4
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! 1 (dubbed)

Some comings and goings here, even if one's a repeat. I actually watched it on Catarina's birthday, and it made for a welcome respite from da newz.

SpyFam is a really good show, but honestly, after the first few episodes I feel like I trailed off very slightly. The stuff at Eden College wasn't as compelling (with the focus on kid characters, I feel like it has shades of arcs from Log Horizon and To Your Eternity), though maybe I'm just saying that because it didn't feel like a Jump show after that, with muted violence, which also made for lamer content ratings. (Rather ironic, given that this was the big caveat for me going in.) But there were some real funny episodes stashed in there, like the one about dodgeball, even if it had little in the way of sports action. Looking forward to the second cours; seems like this season is going to be a lot less exciting than the last, but I'm glad the staff is taking time off to make sure this series remains polished.

Expect the next ratings omnibus by the end of the month. Work has been taking up a lot of my time lately, but I'm still watching shows at a good pace. 😉

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...