Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Episode 12 – Anime QandA Review

What’s the show? Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online, Episode 12.

Here we are end of Squad Jam 2 and end of Gun Gale Online. It all happened so fast, I don’t know how to feel!

What did, the episode? No, the episode is perfectly paced—I meant the series in general, feels like it was just yesterday we were meeting cute little LLENN-chan!

Right… that’s enough strolling down memory lane, how’s the finale, how much of it is taken up by the conclusion to Squad Jam since the previous episode ended on a cliffhanger? Mercifully little, not to say that I didn’t enjoy Squad Jam 2 but by this point in the series I needed this finale to focus on the scenes set irl and boy oh boy does this episode deliver on that!

Now kiss! (Guess I’ll have to wait for later for that).

I know you’re frothing to talk about the “irl scenes” but please, focus on the episode in chronological order, who wins Squad Jam 2?! Well it’s a tough one-on-one battle between LLENN and Pito, things get dirty, things get violent, there’s neck stabbings and face punching and hands being cut off—it’s positively visceral! But in the end, it’s the power of trust and teamwork that gives LLENN and co the upper hand. With all weapons out of reach, the two are face-to-face and on the ground, both on minimal life, LLENN reminds Pito of her promise, that if she ever won that they’d meet in real life. Pito calms a little and LLENN tears Pito’s throat out, claiming her kill.

Wow… brutal… I’ll say.

So LLENN and Fuka win? Nope, there was a third team on the map that were lying in wait and proceed to mow down LLENN and Fuka in a matter of seconds.

Nobody likes this team… whoever they are…

Oh, kind of anti-climactic, no? Not at all! I would have been annoyed if it had kept going, it was ~just~ the right length for me, besides it was never about winning Squad Jam, it was about LLENN “saving” Pito by killing her in the game—and by that definition, mission accomplished!

Hard to hold hands when you have no hands.

Right, I know you’ve been eagerly waiting to talk about the scenes set outside the game. Go on now, have your fun. Arigato! So it’s kind of hard to put into words how much I prefer the show’s scenes set in real life, first we get to see the adorable team SHINC having their sweets and tea with Karen and it’s exactly the amount of adorable I was craving, like the anime equivalent of a sugar rush! Then Karen and Miyu (the irl Fuka) go to meet with irl M (Goshi) who’s going to take them both to meet the real life Pito—whose identity is still a mystery!

I loved their reactions during this scene, nobody likes a stalker!

If I recall from an earlier review, this ‘Goshi’ character is a little ~obsessed~ with real life Pito, to a troubling degree, do they explain any of that? Yup, and it’s as hilarious and twisted as I was hoping—turns out in his teenage years Goshi was an overweight stalker(!) and one day while following her, she confronts him, invites her back to her hotel room, strips him, beats him and takes incriminating photos basically ensuring that he’ll be her manservant for life.

Eek!

Umm… I don’t know who’s worse him for stalking her or her for treating him like that. An essay could be written about how deeply “problematic” that whole thing is, but the way I see it is that they’re too screwed up people who probably deserve each other—nothing come from trying to dissect and discuss the validity of their “relationship”.

Naww?

I guess that’s your way of saying, ‘we’re moving on’, yeah? Moving on… They arrive at their destination a secret Elsa Kanzaki concert! (Elsa Kanzaki is both Karen and Miyu’s favourite artist) they watch the petite singer’s performance with joyful tears in their eye and then backstage we finally meet the irl Pito… Goshi tries to make out that real life Pito is the owner of the club but Karen’s smart enough to know what’s going on…

Well who is it? Turns out Pito has been Elsa Kanzaki all along, that’s right the bloodthirsty, borderline insane master of GGO was a petite pop-star with a cutesy image! And I love her so much!

Excuse me? Elsa Kanzaki is best girl; also she’s bisexual… which Karen finds out as she plants a big kiss on the lips of the blushing tall-girl!

Swoon!

Sounds like Elsa’s got some issues with consent… Maybe, I don’t care, talk about how it’s problematic that a bisexual character is presented as sexually promiscuous all you want in the comments but right now I’m just content to sit and bask in the afterglow of this season finale that was pretty much everything I love about this show in one 25 minute package! I’m going to miss this show a lot, it was an unexpected treat of the season and even if it never gets a second season I’m incredibly satisfied.

Can we get a second season that’s just these two please? Oh and the gymnastic girls too.

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Previous Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 5.5 Review
Episode 6 Review
Episode 7 Review
Episode 8 Review
Episode 9 Review
Episode 10 Review
Episode 11 Review

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Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Episode 11 – Anime QandA Review

What’s the show? Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online, Episode 11.

Seems like Squad Jam 2 has been going for an eternity, does it wrap up in this episode? Nope! It’s the Squad Jam that never ends!

Is that a bad thing? Hell no! Especially not here, this episode has probably the best action set piece of the whole series (so far). It’s bold, it’s loud, it’s over-the-top and it’s just so well animated!

Brutal af.

High praise, but haven’t you complained in the past that this series’ action is at times implausible. That’s because early on I was approaching this series like it was a video game—and therefore thinking about the limitations of the current generation of video games. But that’s the absolute wrong way to look at the action in this series—this is more akin to a ludicrous Michael Bay action film, just with cute anime girls in the roles usually reserved for some generic white dude.

Who would have guessed this was based on fan-fiction?

So in changing how you approach the action scenes you’ve appreciated them for what they are rather than what you ~thought~ they should be? Exactly! And at just the right time too, it’s difficult to articulate how terrific the action scene with LLENN on foot versus Pito and M in a military vehicle is!

Well it’s your job to articulate it, so try your best! Right! So it’s one close call after another as LLENN uses her fast and fancy footwork to dodge M’s driving and Pito’s wild firing, until LLENN’s luck looks like it’s about to run out as she’s struck by a bullet and lays bleeding out in a lake. But it ain’t over til it’s over as Fuka has recovered from her previous injuries and comes to rescue LLENN in a military vehicle of her own—accompanied by a couple of cheekily suggestive comments about “not going home tonight” and “love hotels”.

😉

Okay, well explained, but why mention that last part—doesn’t really seem like it has any bearing on the action? In my Episode 9 review I hypothesised that Karen (the irl LLENN) may possibly be queer, or closeted. Maybe this was just a cute little joke, but I like to think that the writer is hinting at something by having Fuka make these suggestive ‘jokes’.

Sounds like ‘head cannon’ to me, but hey this is your review, you can talk about whatever you want. So what happens after Fuka’s rescue of LLENN? More action! Chases, explosions, ramming, running, out of bullets, face-to-face, cliffhanger ending!

Being stepped on by a loli, I know this is someone’s fetish.

So pretty positive all things considered then, anything you didn’t like about the episode? I love how crazy Pito is, and I know this series needs an ‘antagonist’ of sorts, but I don’t get the reaction a lot of other players have towards her—acting like she’s a monster or she’s evil because she’s enjoying killing other players. Last time I checked, it’s a video game; none of the people she’s killing are actually dying in real life. If they all knew the external circumstances around her actions and what her end goal was maybe I could understand their hostility towards her unique brand of crazy but as far as they know she’s just a sadistic player—hardly worthy of such ire.

Well it is a video game, so I’d hope so…

But other than that a great episode? Yup! Maybe a bit lacking in the character development department and I miss not having scenes in the real world as they’re my favourite but being that this is the penultimate episode I’m not going to complain too much about that, it was an action-packed extravaganza and I can’t wait to see the conclusion to that cliffhanger ending!

Me, waiting for the next episode!

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Previous Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 5.5 Review
Episode 6 Review
Episode 7 Review
Episode 8 Review
Episode 9 Review
Episode 10 Review

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Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Episode 10 – Anime QandA Review

What’s the show? Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online, Episode 10.

Squad Jam 2 continues? Of course, though we are fast approaching the final confrontation! And what a terrific episode we’re once again treated to!

What’s so good about this episode then? It’s everything that this show does well–albeit with only a single real world scene–but it’s exactly the kind of real world set scene that makes me low-key adore this show. Without the scenes set in reality I don’t think I’d be nearly as keen on this show. Sure it would have held my attention but I’m straight up in love with Team SHINC’s real life identities–the High School Rhythmic Gymnastics Club! The little scene where they’re discussing military tactics in the real world is just so damn cute and cool!

Yup, enough with the creepy cute girl worship–can we talk about the actual episode for a moment? Spoil sport. So basically LLENN and Fuka team up with SHINC to take down Pito’s team–with the one stipulation that LLENN gets the kill shot on Pito. With the help of an anti-tank rifle(!) the girls get the upper hand on M the sniper by busting his otherwise impervious sniper shield and his 50. Cal rifle, but not without taking a few casualties. Meanwhile, LLENN has flanked their position with the intention of confronting Pito–but she’s not quick enough as an enemy sniper takes out Pito from a distance!

A random sniper? No, there’s a small scene at the start of the episode that shows another team wanting to team up with Pito, but Pito being Pito not only does she refuse their terms she also shoots them in the back as they’re leaving–albeit leaving the teams ‘conscientious objector’ alive… evidentially a mistake as she’s enraged by Pito’s actions and vows revenge on behalf of her fallen squad mates!

That seems… kind of tacked on, no? It is a little bit, it’s pretty contrived and honestly the worst thing about the episode–they didn’t need to give the “random sniper” role a motivation, they could have had any number of ~random encounters~ be the thing that almost takes out Pito but I guess the writer wanted to give a face and voice to the instigator.

“Almost”? She doesn’t die? A quick thinking M uses a medkit as she’s bleeding out that stops her on a ~slither~ of health. Which also leads to one of the big “revelations” of the episode–Pito is using ‘nervegear’ which if my Googling is correct is the thing that made the original SAO players die in real life if they died in the game.

So she wasn’t bluffing then. What happens after that? M takes the unconscious Pito to a nearby house to hold out while she heals up to full and regains consciousness. Meanwhile another squad–MMTM crashes the party and breaks into the house, while nearby LLENN can only hope and pray Pito survives long enough so that she can kill her herself. Inside the bedroom, M offers Pito a tender kiss before priming a plasma grenade–intending for them to go out together on his terms, but at the last minute she stops him and from the darkness emerges Dark Side Pito complete with totally not a knock-off light saber to completely devastate MMTM!

A new ability for Pito at the 11th hour… sounds convenient. I’d be more annoyed if it wasn’t so damn cool–which is this episode in a nutshell really. The action if not the best or most inventive it’s been is still consistently very good, plus there’s a real sense of honestly scary determination from LLENN that rivals even Pito’s performance–which is something I never thought would be possible with her pint-sized pink avatar. It’s just enjoyable all the way through and I’m immensely looking forward to the final confrontation between these two very scary women!

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Previous Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 5.5 Review
Episode 6 Review
Episode 7 Review
Episode 8 Review
Episode 9 Review

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If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Episode 9 – Anime QandA Review

What’s the show? Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online, Episode 9.

Squad Jam 2 continues? Yup and will do so for a couple more episodes yet.

So is it good? It’s great—but unusual—but great!

Pink mist.

“Unusual”? How so? Well… the action in the Squad Jam is among the best this show has done. Pito’s ’10 minute massacre’ of the episode’s title is unbelievably cool as well as terrifying and hilarious in equal measure. I could watch a full season of Pito killing people in GGO and I’m not sure what that says about me. The “unusual” part was how there seemed to be a recurrent theme through this episode of random men saying and doing ‘inappropriate’, ‘sexist’ and downright ‘rape-y’ things to and about LLENN and Fuka.

He’s talking about what he could do to her dead body in game.

And I’m guessing that’s “unusual” because the show hasn’t done that before? It was vaguely hinted at in a couple of very fleeting moments in a couple of previous episodes but having the moments more ‘in your face’ and having multiple of them in a single episode means they were obviously wanting to highlight something.

And what’s that? That even in an online VR shooter, women have to deal with creeps. Not a revelatory thing for sure but I’m glad the show decided to address the issue, and that Fuka got to beat her would-be molester to death with a machine-gun—I enjoyed that.

You show that perv who’s boss, Fuka!

Wow. Brutal. So, uh, what happens in the episode? Well aside from the centrepiece ’10 minute massacre’ I mentioned earlier, LLENN has something of her own massacre in the savannah dome. I love the contrast between the exuberant and flashy—almost god-like powers that Pito exhibits compared to the raw practicality and strategy that LLENN employs to despatch 17 people. Now that I think of it the episode title probably refers to both massacre’s and now I feel silly for not having come to that conclusion ’til now.

Don’t worry, I forgive you. Tch.

Pito. Is. Crazy.

So anything else of note happen? Actually yes, LLENN and Fuka have an ~odd~ encounter with an androgynous woman named Clarence in the dome. They have her dead to rights, but LLENN notices they carry the same ammo and having used much of hers in the previous battle she instructs her to hand it over. Clarence, being bi-sexual and a fan of cute-girls, requests that in exchange for the ammo she receives a kiss. Surprisingly LLENN obliges and gives her a peck on the cheek, much to the odd woman’s joy.

Right on, girl!

Right… and so what purpose did the scene serve? It’s a very odd scene, though it comes after an intense battle so it’s comedic sensibilities and lightheartedness are appreciated even if Clarence is a very strange character. But I did like the fact that there’s a bi-sexual character in this show, and it’s interesting that she mentioned “wanting to meet up in real life” after the Squad Jam. If that does come to pass makes me wonder if it’ll be a way of Karen (the real life LLENN) in exploring her own sexuality as her in real life persona strikes me as possibly being queer.

Yes.

Sure, why not. So how’s this episode fare among the others? Probably my second favourite after Episode 7, the action is pretty much flawless in this episode and it had a great current of humour throughout, while also exploring some of the darker personality traits of their fellow online gamers. Recently, after every episode I’m just left feeling like I want to watch more and more so that’s high praise if I do say so myself!

I just love this image so much!

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Previous Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 5.5 Review
Episode 6 Review
Episode 7 Review
Episode 8 Review

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If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Episode 8 – Anime QandA Review

What’s the show? Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online, Episode 8.

Last week ended just as the second Squad Jam was about to begin, how’s this one compared to the first Squad Jam? Much improved.

Good to hear, how so exactly? Having LLENN as the vocal leader type almost immediately improves things, as interesting as M’s stern and stoic character was (at least initially) his personality was lacking entirely. So with him relegated to an opposing team with crazy death-obsessed Pito ~feels~ like a better fit, they kind of balance each other out. LLENN being paired with the comedic stylings of Fuka works well too as LLENN makes for a great ‘straight-man’ against her silliness.

Goin’ for the dick stab!

So this new girl, Fuka, she’s comic relief then? Not exactly. Her comedic side is in character and while she obviously plays up to it while in VR she still pulls her own weight on their two-person team. Even though she gets her legs blown off by a trap early on you never get the sense that she’s weighing LLENN down.

Excuse me? Her legs get blown off! That kind of seems like an important thing to lose—even in a video game? Don’t worry, non-fatal injuries can be healed with med-kits, and losing limbs regrow (or would that be respawn?) after a couple of minutes.

My legs! I can’t feel my legs!

Right. That’s convenient. So what happens in the game? Not a lot to be honest, we’re following five or six different teams throughout the episode—though the focus is moreso on LLENN and Fuka, Pito and M and team SHINC. And due to the material being spread out across more characters it limits how much the story can actually progress. Which I’m kind of okay with, I kind of resigned myself to the fact that the Squad Jam 2 arc would take up the rest of the season.

Is that a grenade launcher between your legs or are you just happy to see me?

Fair enough, so what does happen in the episode? Pito and M’s team are on the top of a mountain on the opposite side of the map to LLENN and Fuka, so they have to work their way there, in the process they eliminate two teams. M is instructing Pito to keep her position on the mountain as they wait for the enemy to come to them, which is not to her liking one bit. She’s getting restless and she wants in on the action. Meanwhile seven other teams decide to join forces to take down Pito and M, obviously fearing their prowess. The episode ends with these seven teams approaching the mountain, a digital bloodbath no doubt to ensue next episode!

Pito wants death.

So in other words it’s a set up episode? Well there’s still some great action in this episode, the scene where Fuka gets to show off her grenade launcher skills was great and weirdly hot. Also the small scene with one member of team SHINC telling off their leader for using “unlady-like language”—despite their in-game avatars being buff and square jawed toughs was pretty adorable. But yeah, the best is yet to come, that much is for damn sure!

“Have you no testicles?!”

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Previous Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 5.5 Review
Episode 6 Review
Episode 7 Review

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If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Episode 7 – Anime QandA Review

What’s the show? Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online, Episode 7.

So how are things this episode? In previous episodes the action has either been entirely confined to the virtual world or entirely set in the real world, and while I didn’t necessarily had a problem with this at the time—this episode, that cuts frequently between the real world and the virtual world—is so much better because of it.

How so? It benefits the show by never getting boring, never spending too much time on one individual scene and varying the characters we get to see. In fact I think every character with a spoken line in the previous six episodes gets at least a line if not more in this episode and it just goes to show the sheer quality of the characters here that all there’s not a dull moment throughout!

Dual wielding grenade launchers? Sure, why not.

Alright, so what exactly happens in the episode? Well if it wasn’t abundantly obvious, a lot. Specifically though Miyu, Karen’s irl best friend comes into GGO and what are the odds but she spawns in the game as a tiny cute loli too! I’d quibble over how implausible this is, but I don’t really care, she’s just such a great character both the irl Miyu and her in-game persona Fukaziroh!

TMI… hilarious moment though.

Best girl? Absolutely, err, actually no, maybe not…

Huh? What happened? Oh, well I almost forgot about SHINC, the group of ruthless “Amazonians” that came 2nd in the first Squad Jam. Their virtual avatars are great, but I absolutely adore them irl, because as you may or may not remember they’re actually a group of petite high-schoolers in the Rhythmic Gymnastics club.

SHINC’s leader, irl.

Multiple girls can’t be ‘best girl’. I, err… whatever!

Uh-huh, moving on… So aside from our protagonist getting to play with her bestie in VR, what is this episode actually about? Well it’s the preparation for Squad Jam 2, and what’s surprising is that usually these ‘setting the stage’ episodes can be quite dull but this is quite the opposite for all the reasons I mentioned above. I’ve always enjoyed the show, even when it ‘jumped the shark’ last week what with the whole “death game” stakes that seemed shoehorned in. But this was just about the best this show has been so far and makes me hope this show can continue along with the impeccable quality.

Pito is crazy.

Specifically? The character comedy was on-point, Fukaziroh commenting on how many male avatars were around and that she could start a ‘reverse-harem’ goes to show why she’s best a really great girl. The action—while mostly limited to training exercises between LLENN and Fukaziroh—is purposeful as it shows that there is a level of teamwork and synergy between their chosen combat styles. And I was particularly happy about the character development they’ve given to LLENN who seems exceedingly confident in her leadership abilities and tactics, especially when compared to how she was in Episode 1. All of this, plus a bunch of other little moments, equals an overall terrific episode.

I’d watch that show.

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Previous Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 5.5 Review
Episode 6 Review

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If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Killing Bites Episode 1-6 – 20 Question Anime Review (Spoilers)

What’s the show? Killing Bites, Episode 1 to 6 (2018).

And what’s it about? “The one with the sharpest fangs will win. That’s what Killing Bites is!”

Huh? It’s just something that our protagonist Hitomi says in every episode. It’s kind of become a meme, at least in my household.

Expect to hear this a lot.

Okay, so what is it really about? Surface level synopsis, it’s about a bunch genetically engineered humans called ‘Therianthropes’ who fight to the death for their wealthy investors.

Aha… and what’s a ‘therianthrope’? Basically a furry. Okay, that’s not true at all, yes some of the girls grow tails and cute ears relevant to the animal that they have been genetically engineered with but they also grow claws and sharp teeth too. Also there’s men, but a lot of them are more ‘full body’ or ‘full head’ transformations rather than just sprouting animal parts.

Sexy tiger abs tho.

And who are our main characters. Well the series starts with a high school girl getting kidnapped by a group of rapists in a van, the college student driving the van, Yuya Nomoto, didn’t realise when the ‘cool kids’ asked him along to “pick up chicks”, that they meant “kidnap and assault”, mortified by the situation he finds himself in he tries to help her only to find that the high school girl was very capable of handling the situation herself and has ripped the men limb from limb. Her name is Hitomi and she has the ferocious abilities of the Rattel.

She’s got this handled, no worries!

Rattel? Yeah I didn’t know what it was either, it’s another name for the honey badger.

Honey badger?! Not exactly an apex predator. You’d be surprised, the show does a very good job dolling out information (courtesy of a sporadic narrator) on the various Therianthrope abilities as they become relevant throughout fights.

Honey badger doesn’t give a shit.

So it’s a fighting/action anime? It’s a lot of things, it’s pretty ecchi at times but the only actual nudity so far is in the first three episodes, after that it kind of focuses a bit more and concentrates on the plot.

Oh so it’s got a plot? Don’t sound so surprised just because I said the e-word, it’s got a very, um… ‘interesting’ plot.

Uh-oh, what do you mean by ‘interesting’? Well it’s got one; I just don’t know how many other shows and movies it stole it from.

He doesn’t even need to fully transform into a Hippopotamus to be a total tank.

So it’s derivative? Well, okay I’ll hash out the basics, so there’s four Zaibatsu Conglomerates in Japan that host underground death matches on an uninhabited island in the Philippine sea. Each of the investors from said conglomerate has a team of three ‘brutes’ that they move around the board like chess pieces, when two or more brutes come into contact on a space they battle each other to the death, if they fail to listen to the instructions given by their investor or are somehow unable to move, a collar around the brutes’ neck will explode in three minutes.

So it’s bit Hunger Games-y? I don’t know what that is; I was going to say it’s like Btooom!

I don’t know what that is. Anyway, despite its derivative plot elements I think what really shines here is the characterisation and the writer’s willingness to let the women be in control. Like so often the show looks like it’s about to have the male be the one in control of the situation, or let the male save the day, and then the show upends those antiquated gendered expectations and has the women be the ones in control.

These kind of cliches are pretty much done away with by the time the plot kicks in around episode 4.

How do you mean? Well aside from the fact that Hitomi is always saving Yuwa’s ass from danger since he is pretty much a useless protagonist (he’s a nervous, nerdy college student, but is kind and naïve to a fault). There’s a scene in Episode 4, where we are first introduced to the island fighting game, and how the investors (of which Yuwa is cajoled into becoming) must ‘control’ their ‘pieces’ on the board. And immediately I was like, “oh good, the show’s going to go all ‘Metroid: Other M’ on us and have a powerful female character be subservient to a man who’s calling the shots from above”. But like the cool show that this is, it’s quickly revealed that Hitomi is actually giving him hand signals to Yuwa via the video feed, telling him where she wants to move!

Well that’s good to hear. Also this show loves killing rapists, spoiler alert, well more of a spoiler than the above stuff, but one of the other teams has a rapist cobra and he tries to rape Hitomi with his twin barbed penis and she just straight up chops it off, it’s so cool!

That kind of talk’s liable to get a snake castrated.

Trigger warning rape then, huh? Big time, like it’s not just all used for the sake of shock value, it is explained in the context of the show that many of the ‘brutes’ who have undergone the Therianthrope conversion used to be horrible criminals so it stands to reason. Occasionally it feels exploitative, through only due to ‘male gaze’ and all that, but it’s always presented like it’s the worst crime, and anyone who does it is also the worst, so no mixed morals here, which is something to be thankful for.

And the other characters before we wrap up? Well there’s a lot of them so I’ll just name the more prominently featured ones. There’s Eruza, a frisky cheetah hybrid from a rival Zaibatsu. There’s Ichinosuke, a burly hippopotamus hybrid with a heart of gold who joins Hitomi’s team. And there’s Ui, an adorable Rabbit hybrid who has never even won a fight and who ends up becoming the reluctant final member of their team.

The calm before the storm.

So final rec— Oh! And stay past the end credits of every episode because there’s a hilarious and adorable comic relief character who only features in these post credit scenes, her name’s Oshie and she’s a classmate of Hitomi’s and well these scenes are just the best.

R—Right, so verdict for the first half of the season? I don’t see a lot of people talking about this show, and what I do isn’t positive which is a shame because it’s a show that while derivative in some respects is one that could inspire conversations, not just about its content but about its plot and characters, the latter of whom run the gamut of entertainingly likeable to detestable as intended. It’s no masterpiece, and it’s probably not going to be remembered, but while I’m watching it it’s entertaining, action-packed, violent and yes, fan-servicey. The shows knows what it is and it never takes itself too seriously, tonally and aesthetically in some ways it reminds me of High School of the Dead (2010), but it’s a lot better than that show. At the end of the day though I would recommend it for fans of the genre, as long as you don’t go in expecting anything revolutionary. “That’s what Killing Bites is!” (Trust me if you watch it, you’ll be quoting that line too!)

Sleeping in the same bed as Hitomi is a liability.