Why should you watch HoriMiya? | Anime Review
By the fourth episode, I clenched my chest and cried out for my heart.
Why should you watch BOFURI…? |(season 1 review)
I found this gem of an anime on Funimation last week. It’s about a girl named Maple, and she wants to max out her defense so that she never takes damage in a virtual reality multiplayer game.
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My Hero Academia: School Festival | 4 x18 – recap
It’s a simple start to this episode of My Hero Academia as class 1-A prepare for the upcoming school festival.
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Bendy returns, My Hero Academia Movie Premiere + Knives Out Sequel Announced
Headlines for the week of February 3, 2020 to February 8, 2020.
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My Hero Academia Season 4 | Official Trailer 2
October 12, 2019 the season begins.
Dr. Stone S1, E8 | Stone Road (recap)
In episode 8, we find out that Kohaku was disowned by her family due to her adventurous side. Even so, she continues to venture out. Rori doesn’t want her sister to be disowned so to divert attention away from her sister’s antics she faints during a town hall discussion. The topic is Kohaku bringing Senku (the outsider) to the gates of the town.
Meanwhile, Chrome, Kohaku and Senku try to figure out how to make an antibiotic for Rori. The goal is to cure her and get Senku accepted into town.
Senku maps out all of the ingredients they need to make the antibiotic and the plan is to gather those things to cure Rori.
Stone Road
In the interim, Senku continues to education Chrome on the workings of the world and space. Chrome tries to impress Senku by showing him how to determine true north ursine a magnet creating a compass, but Senku recognizes the technique. He’s still impressed though.
Kohaku tells Chrome and Senky that the village thinks they are suspicious sorcerers. When a child named Suika shows up and offers to help them and join the Kingdom of Science. Senku says yes and exclaims that the Kingdom of Science doesn’t turn anyone away. Suika is very enamored because of his response to her. She has a watermelon on her head and people usually treat her different, but he didn’t.
Momotaru
Ruri taught Kohaku about the dangers of the woods and educated her as well. Senku is intrigued and wants to talk to her and find out what else she knows. He declares they must save. This causes Chrome to mildly freak out because he has a slight romantic interest in her.
Ginro, a village guard, wants to go help Senku and the others. But is held back because “rules are rules” as stated by Kinro. So they both stay at the gate of the village.
Senku states that manpower is a top priority for the group to be successful in creating the antibiotic. He wants to lure Ginro and the rest of the village to help. Suika says she can disguise herself as a watermelon to hear what people want so they can appeal to them and gain their help.
Food is science
Suika reports that Ruby, Sapphire, and Garnet want boyfriends. They are the town’s prettiest women. One specifically wants a boyfriend to feed her. Ganen, the town glutton, wants food other than fish.
So Senku plans to make a dish every on in the old world can appreciate.
Ramen
He made them ramen. Chrome, Suika, and Kohaku love it, but Senku remembers what it should taste like and isn’t happy. However, he believes it will work in his favor with the village.
They roll the ramen to the village gate with a food cart and the townsfolk start to approach them as the episode ends.
Dr. Stone S1, E7 | Where Two Million Years Have Gone (recap)
Dr. Stone S1, E7 | Where Two Million Years Have Gone (recap)
In this episode, Senku and Kohaku find a hot spring so that Kohaku can take the water to her sick sister, Ruri. Senku is thrown off at first because he believes that she confessed her undying love for him. She denies that she loves him, but confirms she likes his way of life. However, I do think she will fall for him eventually, but she is more concerned about her sister’s health right now.
The jug with the hot spring water in it is too heavy and Senku offers to carry it. He eventually falls over and decides to create a vehicle to help them transport the supplies. Kohaku believes the hot spring has healing properties. Senku knows it will not heal her sister, adding to the primitive origin. They arrive at Kohaku’s village where two guards will not let Senku in because he is an outsider.
Where Two Million Years Have Gone
Senku is excited about finding the village and wonders where all of these people came from. He deduces that they were born post petrification due to their primitive nature and assumes he will be able to take over the village.
He encounters two guards that will not let him pass. So he tests their intelligence by creating bubbles. They don’t know what the bubbles are an immediately take a defensive stance and scream for Chrome, their village sorcerer.
Science vs. Sorcery
Chrome arrives on the scene and explains away the bubbles while popping them. This surprises Senku and he is excited that another person interested in how the world works is alive.
Chrome tries to amaze Senku by using crystals to create various colors of fire, but Senku can deduce how he achieved the fire. Seeing Chrome’s passion for sorcery makes Senku think of Shishio.
He tells Chrome that Shishio would eventually try to kill him because he too is interested in how the world works and even though he doesn’t understand everything, his existence and abilities would challenge Shishio’s purified world.
Arithmetic
Chrome challenges Senku to a battle of numbers and puts up his entire lab as collateral. Whoever wins takes it all. Senku crushes Chrome easily and takes his lab for his own, but invites Chrome and the two guards to join him and Kohaku in the Kingdom of Science.
Kinro, one of the guards is settled in his ways and tells Senku that he can not come into the villages because “rules are rules”. Kinro does ease up after Senku puts a gold coating over his spear.
While looking through the resources he gained from Chromes inventory, Senku gives shouts out to Dragon Quest and Monster Hunter.
Kohaku heads into town to see her sister, Ruri. Ruri turns out to be the priestess of the town and she is sick. Kohaku and Chrome are trying hard to figure out what can save her.
Senku decides to tell Chrome what happened to the world with petrification over 3700 years. Chrome is overcome with grief and hope and vows to help Senku rebuild.
Senku says he can save Ruri with an antibiotic.
Dr. Stone: Stone World The Beginning (S01, E05) | (recap)
Picking up from the cliff hanger of last week, Shishio prepares to knock Senku unconscious. He remains that he, Senku, Taiju, and Yuzuriha would have been friends if they met before the petrification. However, due to Senku’s obsession with bringing civilization back, Shishio believes he needs to kill him.
Stone World The Beginning
Senku had been regularly cracking his neck and drawing attention to its stiffness. This prompted Shishio to suggest blunt force trauma as the cause of death.
Taiju did not make it in time to stop the blow to Senku’s head, but he and Yuzuriha were able to cause a distraction allowing them to run away with Senku’s limp body.
Taiju would not accept Senku’s death and soon realized that Senku had to have a plan because his main goal was to keep everyone alive. After trying CPR, Yuzuriha and Taiju discovered that Senku still had a stone fragment in the back of his neck.
Using the revival serum, they hoped to heal the damage to Senku’s neck and spine as a result of the stone being removed. This calls back to Yuzuriha getting the leftover stone removed from her foot.
As Yuzuriha and Taiju wait patiently hoping that Senku will regain consciousness, we are shown a flashback of Senku’s preservation through his stone period.
We see Senku will himself awake, examine his stone shell, attempt to create fire, and create a hatchet all while being observed by monkeys. At the end of his preliminary actions, he decides that he is going to help reform civilization.
I’m assuming we’re going to see Senku awakening in the next episode.
Dr. Stone: Fire The Smoke Signal (s01, e04) | (recap)
When we last left our heroes, they were gathering supplies to make gun powder in preparation to shutdown Shishio’s plans to kill off adults still in their petrified state.
Spoilers ahead
Yuzuriha asks Taiju to tell him what he was going to say 3700 years ago before the green light turned everyone into stone. He refused but promised to tell her after they save the world.
Senku finished gathering the materials to create the gun powder. The materials include sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. With all of the ingredients together Senku, Yuzuriha, and Taiju begin the packing process. During the packing process, they create an explosion they send a smoke signal in the sky.
Senku believes that Shishio can be negotiated with. This is a call back to episode 3 when Taiju offered to take hits to stop Shishio from breaking the skulls of petrified adults.
As Shishio is looking for Senku, Taiju, and Yuzuriha he says that he’ll have to kill Senku if he’s already made the gun powder.
Taiju notices another smoke signal in the sky. But, they don’t know if it’s a volcano or actual people trying to reach out. The group opts to build their fire in hopes that they can confirm more people in the world. They run out of materials to keep the fire going, so Taiju goes to find more firewood.
“I don’t mind getting my hands dirty to stop that.” – Shishio
Shishio arrives moments later and swiftly takes Yuzuriha hostage by knife-point. He claims that making weapons of science and reviving older generations will allow them to fight over their own established interests.
Shishio will accept being the bad guy if it means stopping old reality from resurfacing. He threatens to take Yuzuriha’s life if Senku doesn’t give him the recipe to the revival serum.
Senku bluffs that he doesn’t care about her, but Shishio slices Yuzuriha’s hair off without hesitation leaving both Senku and Yuzuriha stunned.
“I know longer have a reason to let you live.” – Shishio
Shishio then gives a long speech about how he never had anyone to care for and that is why he will always win. He blames Taiju and Yuzuriha for Senku’s lack of leverage.
But, Yuzuriha is prepared to give her life to save the world. But he gives up the revival recipe anyway.
Shishio drops Yuzuriha in favor of Senku. Claiming that they could have been friends under different circumstances, Shishio give Senku an ultimatum.
Abandon Science or Die
There’s a cute flashback of Senku’s life. We see his father’s sacrifice to get him supplies. We see his research and experimentation. And most of all we see his love of science.
Yuzuriha whispers out to Taiju. Somehow, they have a psychic connection because he suddenly runs toward his two friends after witnessing several more smoke signals in the sky.
We’re left with a cliffhanger as Senku accepts his fate because he will not abandon science.
Did Taiju make it in time?
Does he Taiju take the dagger for Senku?
Does someone else show up to help?
Dr. Stone S1 E3 | Weapons of Science (recap)
Why should you watch BEM (2019)?
Have you ever had a moment where you stumble upon something and you have a moment of total satisfaction?
That’s what happened to me when I happened to find BEM on Hulu a few days ago. Right away I thought it reminded me of Juni Taisen: Zodiac War.
The artistic decisions, the dark scenery, and the misdirection are all there. Plus, the soundtrack is amazing! It’s smooth jazz during most times. Then when the action picks up, the jazz is energetic and fast-paced. It’s so attractive.
Of course, I decided to google BEM to find out more about it. By doing so I realized there have been a few iterations of BEM and this 2019 version is just the latest with the original work being titled ‘Humanoid Monster Bem”.
Please forgive me for not knowing in advance.
“You thought you could trust her?” – Bela
Beginning of the story:
You are introduced to a female police officer (Sonia Summers) that arrives in a new town just in time to witness a purse snatching. She begins to chase the thief down and in the process almost gets run over by a car. Luckily a mysterious man in the night, we find out his name is Bem, saves her life.
They both catch up with the thief, but he is dead by way of drowning. With no water to be found in the area, the police begin an actual investigation.
What’s scarier than being haunted by something that you can’t see coming?
Within moments of meeting her new co-workers, it’s clear that Sonia has a code and her partners are a bit more lackadaisical.
The water monster used to be a human, but after drowning he decided to become a “serial drowner of humans”.
In her efforts to find out how the purse snatcher was drowned, she runs into Bem again as he fights the monster in water form.
When back-up arrives, the water monster massacres most of them causing Bem to take action and transform into a monster as well.
After defeating the water monster, Bem runs from Sonia who is chasing him down. He ends up phasing into the wall to escape.
She sits stunned in terror and disbelief.
Why should you watch Bem?
Sonia gives me Akane Tsunemori (Psycho-Pass) vibes. She’s a rookie cop with a clear code, respect for the law, and she’s getting caught up in a situation where the lines are being blurred.
Bem and his two comrades Belo and Bela just want to be humans and think that by doing good deeds and believing in their humanity, they can become humans.
I’ve never watched any of the older renditions, so I enjoyed going through this anime with brand new eyes. I’m expecting this story to be a struggle for Bem, Belo, and Bela to completely turn away from their nature. Plus, Sonia will probably form an alliance with them at some point.
But it looks good in this modern format, so I’m very interested.
Dr. Stone: Weapons of Science (s01, e03) | (recap)
Previously on Dr. Stone, Senku and Taiju faced a ravaging pack of lions during their attempt to revive Yuzuriha. In a panic, they revived the strongest human from their school named Shishio.
He proved to be helpful with necessary tasks like hunting and protecting. However, Senku soon realized that Shishio’s motives were skewed from the goal of reviving all of civilization.
Shishio’s main goal was to resurrect a purified society. His answer to making sure only young people were resurrected included crushing the stones of all of the adults so that they can not corrupt society again.
Spoilers ahead
Senku is playing it cool for the most part around Shishio despite knowing his actual goals to kill every adult so that they can not revive.
Operation: Save Every Last Human Being
In the meantime, Taiju is gathering the resources needed to create the revival serum. Senku plans to keep the ingredients of the serum a secret from Shishio, however, Taiju is very oblivious and blurts out that he’s acquired everything.
Shishio is instantly intrigued, and Senku knowns that if he finds out the recipe, he’ll dispose of them. So to continue Operation: Let’s save every last human being, Senku sends Shishio to get the nitric acid (one of the ingredients).
While Shishio went to look for the nitric acid, Senku and Taiju revived Yuzuriha. Senku reveals to them that Shishio is a straight murderer and they could either run away and live life together or fight with him against the murders.
Yuzuriha is down to stay with the group and fight with them right away, which is great. I like that about her.
“Advance civilization and make better weapons of science.” – Senku
When Shishio gets back, a standoff occurs between the two groups. Shishio knocks Taiju out after he threats to kill Yuzuriha and tells them to stay out of his way or get killed.
Senku decides they need to create weapons of science to take Shishio down. They reach a Buddha statue where Senku harvests bronze and then they go to Mount Fuji to get resources to make gun powder.
Shishio is smart as well as athletic because he figures this out right away. As a result, he plans to stop them before Senku can create gun powder and stop him for good.
Fire Force: S01, E01 | Shinra Kusakabe Enlists (recap)
Starting up a new anime is always a little shifty. You don’t know what to expect, you’re not sure if you’ll like the concept, and you’re not sure if you’ll like the opening song.
Okay, maybe that last part is just a ME thing. But, never the less when I found out the creator of Soul Eater was making another anime I decided to throw myself into Fire Force for this weekly episodic adventure to see what it brings.
Season 1, Episode 1 – Shinra Kusakabe Enlists
We meet Shinra Kusakabe, a third generation manipulator of fire. He has enlisted into Special Fire Force Company 8 with goals to be a hero. He’s the clear focal point of the story.
“Sir, honestly I just want to be a hero” – Shinra
He joins the Fire Force during a time when random spontaneous human combustion is striking citizens with no warning. Akitaru, the leader of the unit, mentions that there are no signs of when the combustion will happen and no clear reason for the combustion either.
Shinra has a history with human spontaneous combustion. His mother was a victim of spontaneous combustion when he was a child. As a result, she and Shinra’s little brother died. Shinra earned the nickname Devil’s Foot during that time because no one believed that he didn’t cause the fire, not even his own grandmother.
“I want to become a hero. No, I have to become one!” – Shinra
From his flashbacks, we can deduce that Shinra and his mother had a good relationship. He made two promises as a child. He promised to become a hero and to protect his family. Unfortunately, he could not protect his family. So now his goal is to become a hero to fulfill one promise.
During his first mission, Shinra freezes up in the line of duty and Akitaru helps to snap him back to reality. Shinra, remembering his goals, marches into the flames to put the Inferno (also known as a human who has spontaneously combusted) to rest.
It is during this mission that he reveals he saw something else besides his brother and mother in the flames the day they died. Shinra vows to find out who or what it was.
Why should you watch Kakegurui?(Netflix)
Last season, Yumeko Jabami broke the wheel on the limits of gambling at Hyakkaou Private Academy. In the process of getting her gambling freak on, she empowered Ryouta Suzui with passion eliminating his destiny of mediocrity and broke Meari out of her pretentious shell using the power of friendship. She even pumped Itsuki Sumeragi up to high that she bit all of her nails off during an all in bet with Kaede Manyuda!
But most importantly, Yumeko reinvigorated Kirari Momobami (President of Student Council). The renewed excitement that Yumeko and Kirari shared set up season two for Kakegurui.
“Let’s get our gambling freak on!” – Yumeko Jabami
Story
A compulsive gambler, Yumeko Jambi, turned the status quo on its head at Hyakkaou Private Academy last season when she transferred in. As a result, the student council president was inspired to hold a gambling democratic election to potentially seat a new president.
The election included transferring all of the heirs to the high seats in the Bami clan so that they could try to dethrone her as the future leader of their clan. And the twist is that no matter who ends up on top, be it Kirari herself or someone outside the clan, they will be the undisputed president of Hyakkaou Private Academy.
Why should you watch Kakegurui?
Every episode is unpredictable. The gambles that the students take part in sometimes make no sense and are clearly cheating traps. Then again, most of the gambling encounters in this series are full of deception, wit, and at all times crazy.
There’s one game where the participants are poisoned. Tell me how that is even okay.
You’ll find yourself asking, why a character would even accept the terms of certain gambles. Or you may ask my favorite question of the entire series.
WHERE ARE THE ADULTS?
Good luck figuring that out. That question is answered, so good luck catching the explanation.
I’d say more than anything, Kakegurui is a battle of the wits between the strongest characters in the show with a little bit (at times a lot) of insane sprinkled on top. Plus you never really know if Yumeko has an end game or if she is strictly motivated by her gambling compulsion like the narrative would lead you to believe.
Review: Chivalry of a Failed Knight
I found Chivalry of a Failed Knight while aimlessly searching for an anime to watch. Sometimes I have a routine and other times I scan for descriptions I like and then chose one.
And to my satisfaction, I enjoyed my time watching all 12 of the episodes available. If you’ve never given this anime a chance and you’re looking for something low key to watch. This is an older anime released in the last 5 years, but think this could be an option.
Story:
We meet a protagonist named Ikki. He’s an F-ranked Blazer in an academy full of skilled students. He’s thought to be the “worst one” because his talent set cannot be measured by the criteria of the academy. But, his fate changes when he inadvertently walks in on a powerful prodigy named Stella while she’s half-dressed. Apparently, they’ve been assigned the same room.
She threatens to eliminate him and challenges him to a duel. The loser will serve a life of servitude to the winner. However, Stella quickly figures out the academy has Ikki all wrong when she loses to him in their fight.
Ikki and Stella end up staying roommates after the fight and also develop feelings for each other. There’s also this weird interaction with his sister, but that gets stomped out pretty quickly when the two (Ikki and Stella) fall in love. They then vowed to meet each other in the final stage of the schools Seven Star Sword Art Festival to determine the strongest knight.
Why you should watch this:
This anime has some interesting character dynamics in it. Ikki’s sister, Shizuku is kind of annoying, but she eases up by the end of the story. Ikki is definitely the glue that holds the story together. His redemption arc is inspiring and truthfully his character going through a lot to stay true to himself and to Stella.
Stella isn’t the most interesting character, but she’s a great support to Ikki when the moment calls for it. There are a bunch of other characters that get involved in Ikki’s development but he mostly makes them better which adds to his appeal.
Overall, the Chivalry of a Failed Knight is a good watch. Ikki’s redemption is great to follow. I actually did some research after I watched it to find out if there was another season coming.
I couldn’t find anything. But, the fact that I even wanted to watch more of Ikki and Stella’s story says a lot. So I suggest you give Chivalry of a Failed Knight a try.
Review: The Promised Neverland after 7 episodes
I am really intrigued by The Promised Neverland series. It took me a while to sit down and watch it. Initially, I was disappointed in myself because I was instantly hooked and knew that I should have watched it sooner. But, I quickly got over it because I was able to binge seven episodes to catch up. So that was a plus!
Story:
The Promised Neverland revolves around a group of orphaned children who live carefree in an orphanage being loved, fed, and educated by their house mother, Isabella. Emma, Norman, and Ray are some of the oldest children at the orphanage and they are also the smartest. All of the children dream of getting adopted into loving families. And their house mother assumingly makes that happen for them.
All is well until it is time for the adoption of a six-year-old girl, Conny. Conny always carries a bunny. When that bunny is left behind, it sparks concern for Emma and Norman. They run after Isabella and Conny to return the forgotten bunny. However, they find out that Conny has been murdered and put on ice to be sold to monsters. Monsters who want human flesh and brains to eat. What’s worse is that Isabella is involved with this horror. She is raising them like cattle to be harvested and eaten by monsters.
Terrified at what they’ve found out, Emma and Norman hatch a plan to escape from the orphanage and bring the rest of the children with them to an unknown world that is full of unknown horrors.
Using the help of Ray and two other children, Don and Gilda, they plan an escape. But, they are thwarted by Isabella from the shadows as she bides her time until the next big harvest of children to offer up to ‘The One’.
Why you should watch this:
This anime is insane. In the first three episodes, I was so uneasy. As if selling children isn’t bad enough, we meet a character named Krone who clearly has some sort of personality disorder. She wants to be a “mother” on the farm orphanage and is willing to do anything to get it, including selling these children after using them as allies. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve referred to her as nuts while watching this anime.
The coolest thing about this anime is the main characters ability to strategize and plan their escape while gathering information. Norman is the most level headed protagonist I’ve encountered while watching anime. He constantly finds out negative information and is able to use it to his advantage for the betterment of the escape plan.
Emma is so naive, poor girl. She wants to save every child. I sympathize with her the most. I really do not want to see her soul get crushed if they can’t save everyone.
Ray disappointed me the most. I won’t spoil it, but I haven’t been able to trust him. Even though Norman is still able to make the most out of the situation, Ray is still the wildest card they need to deal with.
Expectations:
I honestly don’t know what to expect. There is still so much information that hasn’t been explained. And this is a 12 episode season and even though season 2 has been announced, I’m going to need some resolution! I suspect we will find out actual information about ‘The One’. The only thing I gathered so far is he/she/it runs the children harvest operation.
I also would like to see how Krone’s help, if she is able to help, comes in to play while Emma, Ray, and Norman attempt to escape. But for some reason, I get the feeling this isn’t a happy ending kind of anime. Then again, there is time for everything to work out.
It’s available on Crunchy Roll, Hulu, Funimatio, and Toonami (weekly) if you want catch up on this show and share your opinion with me.
Review: RobiHachi after 5 episodes
While so far it hasn’t captivated me, I did want to give it a chance because it was listed on Funimation’s “Things to Watch” reel. Usually, when something is listed at the top of the Funimation list, it’s pretty good. However, I’m finding it hard to stay engaged in this one.
Story:
We’re introduced to Robby, a man who ran away from his wealthy family and stole his fathers’ space ship. He wants to be rich without working and borrows money from loan sharks because he wants to invest in business’ that all seem to be scams.
Eventually, he consolidates his loans with one loan shark named, Yang, but because he borrows more money after the consolidation Yang sends a debt collector after him.
The debt collector turns out to be Hatchi. We meet Hatchi briefly after he recovers a bag of money that was stolen from Robby right after he borrowed it. He ends up being the person who is hired to recover that money for Yang from Robby.
While running away from Yang and his “Henchmen” (if you can even call them that) Robby, Hatchi, and Ikki escape into space. Hatchi stays with the group because he’s excited about the unpredictable nature of the journey and Robby just wants to get away from his debtors by reaching Isakandar.
Cool Aspects:
Space Odyessy adventures are always fun. Robby and Hachi seem to find themselves visiting planets around the solar system and inadvertently helping the natives of that planet discover their identity. They also have a bunch of fun and goofy encounters with each other and supporting characters.
Also whenever there is a Mega Zord involved, it’s always a good time. The Zord is introduced as the cosmic entity only to find out that it’s hollow inside and at one point they almost drown inside of it because it isn’t able to adapt.
Expectations:
I have seven episodes left to watch. I’m expecting to find out more about Hachi. He is the mysterious character in the group and has a hidden past that hasn’t been revealed yet. He did mention that he couldn’t or wouldn’t go back home. I’m hoping there is more about that exposed.
At the end of episode five, a group of unknown people are concerned that Robby and Hachi left the solar system. I wonder if they are involved in Hachi’s past or if they are involved in something less interesting like Robby’s debt collectors.
We’ll see.
It’s available on Amazon, Hulu, and Funimation if you want catch up on this show and share your opinion with me.