I’m not going to sugar-coat it, this week things have been tough for me in the real world and I know that is affecting my viewing because I’m fairly emotionally numb at the moment. That said, there was still plenty to enjoy in anime this week and I’m once again reminded that my love of stories can get me through pretty much anything. Besides, it isn’t as though I’m tasked with bringing down the mafia, or dealing with dehydration, or even battling childhood friends, so maybe things aren’t so bad after all. As always, I’d love to know your thoughts on the shows as we see most of them go into their final week.
And a reminder that if you have a moment, be sure to jump over to my poll where voting has commenced for the best and worst of Summer 2018.
What I watched
100 Sleeping Princes and the Kingdom of Dreams (Episode 11)
And the drag continues with this story but at least it does look like they will resolve at least the one plot point I’ve been interested in. The fact that the whole anime remains strictly average is neither here nor there really. Part of me wishes this had been more fun and that any of the characters felt real, but ultimately it is what it is.
Angolmois: Record of Mongol Invasion (Episode 11)
One Episode to go and Angolmois is building to a pretty decent climax. It is marred by my general lack of care for these characters because despite spending 11 episodes with them they are all mostly still relatively indistinguishable. Still, for a historical kind of thing, I’m still enjoying it enough even if I’m not shouting its praises from the roof.
Attack on Titan Season 3 (Episode 9)
Attack on Titan season 3 continues to be fairly impressive as it builds on the characters and actually seems to drive the plot forward. There is very little to complain about in this episode. While the fight against Rod Reiss’ titan ended up not being overly spectacular, it did its job and the characters more than made up for a lack of action.
Banana Fish (Episode 12 – Not Reviewed)
Ash’s gang war is escalating and he shows the audience just how ruthlessly efficient he can be when he’s put his mind to something. In the background he has made a plan to get Eiji out of the situation though I suspect that it isn’t going to end well. Still, there were some really nice touches this week with some of the character interactions and Ash is definitely a fun character to spend time with.
Cells at Work (Episode 11)
This week the body is coping with heat stroke and the end result is actually a return to that balance between educational and entertaining. There’s a lot of explanations of systems and their effects this week but the characters step up and keep the show cute and fun. This was a really fun little episode and of course we got some more platelets.
Frankenstein Family (Episode 4)
Episodes 3 and 4 of this are very much dealing with the fallout from the parents being arrested as Tanisu continues to look for help and for ways his family can continue to live in the outside world. While this show isn’t exactly striking or memorable, each episode is good light entertainment and it hasn’t made many mis-steps making it fun so far.
How Not To Summon a Demon Lord (Episode 12)
Well this one is done and I’ll be writing up my final review later in the week. I’m going to be honest, the final episode works but isn’t exactly elevating this show. It concludes what it needs to, throws what it needs to at the audience, and it is definitely a decent ending. Still, given how the anime managed to defy expectations at every other point, I kind of wanted more.
Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi (Episode 25 – Reviewed for Patrons)
This was a pretty standard step for this anime. It did attempt to throw in one final interference before the ceremony began but it came to so little it isn’t really worth anything. But finally the ceremony and of course things don’t go smoothly leaving us on a cliff-hanger before the final episode. It’s about as thrilling as you could expect given what it is building from.
Phantom in the Twilight (Episode 11)
Compelling set up, questionable execution. For a second last episode it did what it needed to do but didn’t really capitalise on some of the great opportunities the setting and characters have given it. Basically, it was good enough but not exactly a note worthy episode. Points though for Van Helsing’s return because that was kind of cool.
Steins;Gate 0 (Episode 22)
Another fairly solid episode in the run up to the season final. There’s little action in this episode but the show makes up for it by pulling out some solid emotional punches. Definitely have to respect how they have brought things together for these final episodes and I’m eagerly looking forward to the final episode.
The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einhenjer (Episode 11)
The fight between the Wolf Clan and the combined Lightning and Panther Clans continues and there’s a lot of plot armour in this story. No one with a name ever seems to die, yet they are mowing down the grey clad unnamed soldiers seemingly without a care in the world. That said, potentially interesting developments going on here.
My Hero Academia Season 3 (Episode 23)
I’m pretty sure most viewers were very excited to see this match up between Midoriya and Bakugo. It has been a long time coming and to be honest it was probably overdue. And My Hero Academia did not disappoint using this conflict as a pivotal character moment for both of the boys. While I still have misgivings about the season, this episode was amazing.
Episode of the Week
Character of the Week
Dropped or On Hold
- Angels of Death (Episode 4)
- GeGeGe no Kitaro (Episode 19)
- Hanebado (Episode 1)
- Harukana Receive (Episode 1)
- Holmes of Kyoto (Episode 9)
- Island (Episode 4)
- Lord of Vermilion: The Crimson King (Episode 4)
- Planet With (Episode 1)
- The Thousand Muskateers (Episode 1)
- Yuna and the Haunted Hotsprings (Episode 1)
If you want to join in the conversation on Twitter be sure to follow along: Summer Anime 2018
Thanks for reading.
Karandi James
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