Rottcodd

Hanasaku Iroha is wonderful.

Surprisingly low key episode, and I was okay with that. I've never been much of a fan of weddings, either real or fictional - they're sort of boring for anyone who's not directly involved. But it was just nice to watch Bertia's dreams come true.

I really enjoyed this overall. It didn't push any boundaries or anything, but it was solidly entertaining all the way through, and Cecil and Bertia (and especially Bertia) were charming characters.

And I'm still vaguely hoping to see an account of Heronia in exile, redeeming herself and reuniting with Pii-chan.

It's almost as if there's been too much progress lately, so the entire main cast took a giant step back.

Is this...? (off to do a web search...)

Yes! It's the one with Remilia and Emi. Oh I'm looking forward to this one.

I think I see a promising hint of a good ending in that other character's (whose name I forget) bland assumption that they're doppelgangers, and his seeming willingness to reveal what he knows, but only later, apparently when they have an opportunity to give it full attention. Particularly in light of the fact that Ryo's grandparents knew that she was a replica.

And Sunao coming out of her shell is potentially good news not just for her, but for Nao.

There might just be a way for replicas to live their own lives...

I still don't know where this is headed, but it's more clear than ever that it's headed somewhere, and that it's likely going to somehow be truly monumental and ridiculously silly at the same time.

That aside, I could've watched this episode just for the Goddess's reaction to the harem alone.

It kept striking me reading it that Agents is much like Violet Evergarden, except that it just doesn't work as well. VE was a sort of unusual genre mix too, but because it was slower paced overall, the melodrama fit in fine, and the whole thing came together well.

There are other books in the overall series - another duology that follows the agent(s) of summer and a separate story of the agents of dawn and twilight, and I'll undoubtedly read them sooner or later, just to see if they work better. The author has obviously shown that she can tell a good story, and particularly a melodramatic one, and Dance of Spring does have some great moments to it (for example - after Hinagiku - the Agent of Spring - returns after being held captive by insurgents for eight years, she speaks slowly and awkwardly and refers to herself in the third person. That's not an affectation - it's extremely plot-relevant). It's just that, with this one, she apparently reached to create an unusual genre combination, and unfortunately it just didn't work out. Sort of like the cookies I made last week - I'm still convinced that I'm on to something, but they just... weren't good.

But meanwhile, So I'm a Spider is already sucking me in, as I was sure it would - I loved the anime, and was only disappointed that it ended so soon.

Poem the transdimensional tsukkomi...

And Mama Po was awesome as always. It's like her superpower is embarrassing Poem, and she does it with pinpoint accuracy.

Looks like we're setting up for huge events at the prom, and I'm looking forward to it.

Chokki-chan's rival is here.

I was thinking while her sentence was being decided that I'd really like to see an account of Heronia's (ultimately successful) efforts to reunite with Pii-chan.

I remain convinced that she's not a bad person. At some base level, she's actually the same as Bertia - she thought, just as Bertia did, that Cecil was destined to be with the heroine, and all it would take is just arranging for something resembling the right flags being tripped at the right moments. It's just that in both of them following pretty much the same strategy, Bertia came out the "winner" and Heronia the "loser." And she didn't deal with it very well.

Now granted, Bertia really is a better person than Heronia, but that's not really a fair comparison, since Bertia is a better person than virtually everyone, likely even including Cecil. How can anyone compare with her superhuman combination of genuine concern for other people, relentless optimism, and adorkable charm?

But still I think Heronia is decent at heart and I agree - I'd like to see more of her.

As has happened before, I found myself picking up more and more series over the past half dozen or so seasons, until it reached the point that I was invested in too many of them, and disappointed by too many of them this past season, and ended up dropping most of them (though I'm still planning on binging some of those sooner or later).

So this coming season?

The only thing I plan on definitely watching from week 1 is You and I Are Polar Opposites S2. Season 1 was brilliant, and (I already read the manga) season 2 might just be even better.

I'm sorely tempted to follow S3 of Mushoku Tensei - I really enjoyed the first two seasons, in spite of Rudeus, and there have been enough broad hints of things to come that I'm looking forward to seeing it. But even if I wasn't facing burnout, that's the sort of thing I'd tend to prefer to binge, so probably not.

Ghost in the Shell. I mean - a GitS reboot by Science SARU? That's like a dream come true. But again, it's the sort of thing I likely would've preferred to binge anyway, so...

Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia - Science SARU historical epic equals absolute must watch - yet again, the only question is whether I'll try to follow it or wait and binge it, and yet again, it's the sort of thing I likely would've preferred to binge anyway.

Possibly Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You. I mostly enjoyed the mini-episodes (Sasaki's recurring blithering panic got a bit tedious), and it's relatively low key, so I'll undoubtedly try the first episode and see.

Things I'll at least sample:

I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day - I can't deny the appeal of what looks to basically be Gunslinger Girls plus mystery plus GL.

Sparks of Tomorrow - the broad plot outline only seems somewhat interesting, but I'm intrigued by the idea of a KyoAni historical epic set in the middle of the Meiji era.

World is Dancing - fictionalized 14th century history of the creation of Noh? I love that idea. Depends on the execution.

Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. S2 - actually, I'll have to go back to season 1, since I didn't see it, but I'm intrigued. I might just do that this afternoon in fact.

And... that's about it. If this goes anything like past seasons, I'll stumble across things as the season goes on, or notice that something that didn't look promising is getting much more attention than it seems it should deserve, and at least watch the first episodes of those, but for now...

Vol. 1&2 - It took me entirely too long to wade through the first volume, but the second one went much faster.

They were... okay.

I started reading them in the first place because I was watching the anime, and it was intriguing but unfulfilling - it felt like there should be more there. But though there was more detail and more context in the novels, they still failed to entirely come together.

The problem is that the author tried to meld two distinct genres that just didn't work well together. The story is part action thriller and part weepy melodrama, so it kept shifting back and forth between car chases and shootouts and such, and teary-eyed, deeply emotional conversations and longing recollections.

Beyond the mood whiplash, the two different genres are paced entirely differently. It was sort of like riding one of those slow, romantic amusement park swan boat rides - drifting lazily along and enjoying the scenery - then it turns a corner and suddenly becomes a log flume, hurtling down a steep slope and whipping around a corner into... a slow, lazy swan boat ride. So pretty much just the time that I was entirely into the story and the pacing, it would change, then just about the time I had shifted to that, it would change back.

The two halves were both pretty good in their own right - the action/thriller parts were engaging and interesting, and the melodrama was thoughtful and included some really impressive revelations and insights. But all in all, it felt like what that meant is that there was potential there for two entirely different but more or less equally good duologies, instead of one that was only okay. I enjoyed the books all in all, but that was in spite of their flaws.

Then I went back to where I'd left off to read these, and finished Vol. 5, which was quite good, and ended on a really striking cliffhanger, which leaves me looking forward to the sixth volume, due to be released in English in a bit less than three months.

And I think I'm going to dive into <So I'm a Spider, So What?>. I loved the anime, and it was obvious that it only scratched the surface of a much larger story, so...