episode 10 – Anime QandA

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

An Anime QandA review for Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online Episode 10

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!

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

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!

Steins;Gate 0 Episode 10 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review for Steins;Gate 0 Episode 10

What’s the show? Steins;Gate 0, Episode 10.

And what’s this episode about? The importance of other people in our lives.

That sounds like the title of a self-help essay waiting to happen… well I very well could devolve into full academic deconstruction of the recurrent themes of this episode–of the loving rivalry between Kurisu and Maho and how in the anime it’s deftly compared to that of historical figures Motzart and Salieri and how that relationship shaped her very sense of self. Or the budding and thoroughly complicated relationship of sorts forming between Moeka and Faris-Chan, one that’s very much the definition of external opposites attracting–but that both share a broken backstory. Or Okabe’s overtly protective instincts informing his relationships with women and how–in doing so, creates a further divide to a romantic connection.

Well then… sounds like you’ve got a lot to say… I said I could talk about these things, but let’s face it–by now you’re probably just expecting me to swoon about the sexy sleepover party shenanigans involving Maho, Moeka and Faris.

I never expected that because I didn’t even know and truth be told I’d rather you didn’t I get enough talk of ‘shenanigans’ in your DxD reviews thank you very much… Everything serves a purpose! Even in Steins;Gate 0, something as cliche and ~problematic~ as a breast grope between acquaintances can be extrapolated upon–to discover the deeper meaning therein!

You just want an excuse to talk about boobs in this Steins;Gate review, don’t you? Scoff all you want! Within Moeka’s mighty melons lies the key to all of life’s mysteries! Okay I’m done, but seriously–if nothing else, the scenes existence is wholly justified by the knowledge that Moeka is probably writing Erotica in her spare time. Though the scene immediately following with Maho extolling the virtues of appreciating one’s own self worth and not comparing your life to another’s was pretty much perfect. In fact…

Oh boy, I sense a broad and sweeping statement incoming… This episode is pretty much perfect, I know I’ve never said any previous episode was otherwise–in fact I’ve probably praised this show more than most but there’s a kind of levity here that reminds me just how good the original Steins;Gate was and the fact it so effortlessly slips back into a more affable tone is truly remarkable especially considering the dark place it’s come from and the dark place it’s trying to avoid.

So all these weeks where you were admonishing people who were missing the “old Steins;Gate” and now you’re praising the show for doing just that? Seems kind of hypocritical. The difference is I never didn’t love this show when it was all dark and moody and mournful–I ate that up for breakfast lunch and dinner! I’m simply commending this turn into a more ~familiar~ Steins;Gate because it does it without having to hammer in pointless nostalgia. This is an evolving beast called Steins;Gate 0 and I can’t wait to see what it looks like next week!

That kind of felt like we wrapped things up too early, you got anything else you wanted to talk about? So much Akihabara in this praised I was almost getting teary eyed just by my memories of these locales. Also, I don’t talk about it enough but Maho’s voice actor is just absolutely delivering the goods here–her emotional range in this episode alone is outstanding! Best girl forever!

Previous Steins;Gate 0 Reviews:

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

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!

Caligula Episode 10 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review for Caligula Episode 10

What’s the show? Caligula, Episode 10.

Last week you lamented that the show had it’s “worst episode”, or close to it. Have things picked up this week? In true Caligula anime style, it’s slumps are never longed lived. In fact, nearly everything that I said that I missed in the previous episode has come back (at least in part) and something I said I wished would happen may in-fact have happened!

Hmm, the only thing I remember you saying you wanted to happen that hadn’t happened was a character death… Did a character die? Well, no. At least I’m assuming not, but an attempt was made! But that’s right at the end of the episode—we’re skipping too far ahead…

She’s still best girl, even if her backstory doesn’t paint her character in the best light.

Right, so what happens in this episode that makes it better than the previous? Firstly it’s a lot more introspective than the previous one, which always makes for a good time—at least as far as this show is concerned! 99% of the episode takes place in the ‘Go Home’ club room, where the majority of our ‘good guy’ cast has been trapped by ~unseen forces~. They panic a little, try and get out before starting the blame game and pointing fingers at who could be the possible “spy” among them that sold them out to the ‘Musicians’. Our protagonist Ritsu is still M.I.A. so naturally he’s suspect numero uno.

And in what ways is the episode “introspective”? I was getting to that!

I know, I just thought that paragraph was getting a bit long… Right, so Musician defector and all around suspicious guy Kagi-P probes into each character’s back story, as they go around the room and explain what kind of people they were in the real world and what sought them to come to Mobius to escape their real life lives. As far as character exposition dumps go it’s about as overloaded as it gets, literally going from one character to the next as they give their backstories. I admit it’s not the most nuanced or subtle way of giving character development but it gets the job done. I thought Shougo’s tale was quite haunting and I like that despite the fact he’s the suavest, tallest and most adept fighter among them he’s the one who seems more emotionally broken up by recent events than any of them. I’m glad they didn’t go the tired cliche route and make all the girls emotionally weaker to the surroundings.

Wait, so is it good or bad, you just complained that it was too much character backstory all at once? It is, but it’s at least better than incomprehensible action and poor dialogue like we saw last episode. Plus there’s a great quote in the episode that especially resonated with me.

Do tell. It’s a simple one, after learning Kagi-P’s rather low-key real life troubles Kotarou complains to which Kagi-P says “Your hell and my hell are different types”. Which is a nice succinct way of saying just because you’re suffering doesn’t seem equal to another person’s doesn’t mean it’s any less significant to the individual that’s suffering it—a sentiment I can especially relate to.

Fair enough. So what was this potential ‘death’ you teased at the start of the episode? Well Marie comes a knocking and manages to open the door to the club room, except she’s not their to rescue them, she’s there to kill them and throws in a grenade. Turns out she’s actually a ‘Musician’, the one referred to as ‘Wicked’, with barely enough time for the smoke to clear and her school-uniform torn off to reveal her battle form she throws two more grenades into the smouldering chaos at which point it cuts away, and we’re left wondering who—if anyone—survived!

Those are grenades, not Princess Leia buns.

Dramatic. Except you’re already sure no one died, right? Yeah, I don’t hold it hopes that this show will do anything so dramatic as actually killing one of the main cast, even if so many of them are dispensable. After that scene it cuts to Ritsu, who is looking a bit different than normal and just relaxing on a sofa before the episode just ends.

I assume that’s significant? Well I guess the conclusion that could be drawn is that Ritsu’s back in the real world now. Which if that’s the case he’ll either have to save the ‘friends’ he left behind from the outside, or go back in to save them. Or just abandon them—but again—I don’t think this show would do something that dark. Only time will tell what will happen, and whether this show will end on a ‘good’ episode, or a ‘bad’ episode.

Previous Caligula Reviews:

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

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!

My Hero Academia 3rd Season Episode 10 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review for My Hero Academia 3rd Season Episode 10

What’s the show? My Hero Academia 3rd Season, Episode 10.

So, ‘shit got real’ as you so eloquently put it last week. How do things fair this week? Shit continues to get real.

Very succinct. Care to elaborate? Well we finally get a better look at All For One’s face(?) and he’s just as intimidating in the light as he was in the shadows. Of course some of that intimidation comes from the fact he basically punches a hole through Best Jeanist leaving him bloody, unconscious and near death. Of course All Might isn’t too far behind, arriving on the scene to try and rescue Bakugo (again) while laying the smackdown on All For One. The rest of the episode is pretty much just the two monologuing at each other while throwing the occasional building destroying punch, while Deku and his four rescue buddies cower in fear behind a wall—just outside the action.

Is it good? It’s great. You wouldn’t think that all the action centered on one location—a crater that once was a Nomu factory—could not only hold an audience’s attention but be utterly riveting throughout but My Hero Academia proves itself more than capable at such a feat.

How? Well, it helps having so many great characters in one location—though it’s a bit of a sausage fest. The only women in the episode are Yaoyorozu who does her best ‘I’m holding in the urge to vomit’ face, Himiko who whines a little, and Mount Lady who takes a villain to the face. I kinda hate that this show has so many good female characters yet routinely underutilises them, but that’s a topic for another day…

Himiko is boring now. I hope they do something more interesting with her character later.

Right… so with All Might battling the big bad who ends up rescuing Bakugo? Well, thankfully Deku and co being there didn’t end up just being an excuse to have them in close proximity to the action because Deku devises a plan to rescue Bakugo and while stylistically and visually it looked great, it ~kind of~ stretched believability for me—if I’m being picky.

Well that is your job—to be picky. True. So with the help of an ice ramp created by Todoroki, Deku, Iida and Kirishima propel themselves high above the villains, Kirishima calls out for Bakugo and Bakugo basically rockets himself into the sky to grab onto them as they fly past.

He “rockets himself”? Yeah, he uses his explosive sweat ability to basically fly like a fighter jet into the sky and it was kinda silly looking. Like I’m thinking, “geez that’s convenient that he can do that when I’ve never seen him do that before” and also “why didn’t he just escape like that ~without~ the help of the others”. But you know what, I’m willing to let it slide just this once, the rest of the episode made up for it! Now we just have to wait ’til next week to see the fallout from One For All’s attack and who’s made it out alive and who wasn’t so lucky!

Previous My Hero Academia Reviews:

Season 1 (20 Question) Review
Season 3, Episode 1 & 2 Review
Season 3, Episode 3 Review
Season 3, Episode 4 Review
Season 3, Episode 5 Review
Season 3, Episode 6 Review
Season 3, Episode 7 Review
Season 3, Episode 8 Review
Season 3, Episode 9 Review

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!

Comic Girls Episode 10 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review of Comic Girls Episode 10

What’s the show? Comic Girls, Episode 10.

How are the things in the dorm this week? About the same as last week quality wise. Albeit with an unexpected bit of character development on the part of one character.

So not peak ‘Comic Girls’ but not a slouch of an episode either? Pretty much.

So what’s the episode about then? Well it’s Christmas! And everyone’s excited—well everyone but Ruki—see she hates Christmas because in Japan Christmas is a holiday for couples to do lovey-dovey things and Ruki wants in on that romance, but alas because she’s in a CGDCT show she’s destined to be forever single. So she wallows in her own love-less life for a bit, the others attempt to console her until Kaos manages to cheer her up with a somewhat inappropriate Birthday gift—oh and her Birthday is on Christmas Eve.

And everything’s back to normal after that? More or less, this first segment kind of felt a bit more filler-y than the average episode but it was still very funny. The second segment though amped up the character development, even if it was a bit of a rushed reveal.

What’s the second segment of the episode about? Well, after Kaos’ plans to return home for New Years are scuppered by her parents winning a trip to Hawaii, Kaos—after much cajoling—tags along with Tsubasa to visit her parents. Except Tsubasa’s whole tomboyish aesthetic and mangaka ways are something of a secret to Tsubasa’s family—namely because they’re crazy wealthy and live in a mansion and expect their daughter to be a ‘proper lady’.

Ah that old chestnut. Normally I don’t go in for these kinds of character revelations but I think it was done well, if slightly rushed. The idea of going back home and feeling your own sense of self disappear as you revert back to how your parents want you to act is perfectly captured here. (Also Kaos not knowing how to be in any way ‘fancy’ was consistently hilarious) And though it’s rather quickly resolved, I get the feeling that it’s because they wanted a third segment at the end of the episode, but then again maybe it’s exactly like this in the manga too?

A third segment? That’s unusual isn’t it? Some episodes have them but they’re usually a lot shorter than this. After returning from Tsubasa’s we get a shrine visit where Kaos-chan’s luck takes a beating followed by a ceremonial ‘cooking of sweet potato on an open fire made up of failed manuscripts’ ritual back at the dorm. It’s actually a really great and kind of touching scene that makes me forgive them for short-changing the second segment.

Right. So still standing by the claim that this is one of the best CGDCT shows out there? Absolutely. At this point, nothing short of a catastrophic failure in the last three episodes would change that, hopefully I’ve got better luck than Kaos-chan and didn’t jinx it!

Previous Comic Girls Reviews:

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

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!

Tokyo Ghoul:re Episode 10 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review for Tokyo Ghoul:re Episode 10

What’s the show? Tokyo Ghoul:re, Episode 10.

And how’s the show this week? Top quality entertainment with a minimal of confusion—which is always a plus!

So no ~new~ characters introduced then? Come now, this is Tokyo Ghoul:re we’re talking about! Of course they introduced a “new” character, by which I mean an awesomely creepy girl who is probably someone I should know but because this show has like a thousand characters and I’ve only seen the first season of course I don’t know who she is. But I’m glad whoever she is is here, her scene at the start of the episode would have been the highlight were this episode not packed to the brim with great scenes!

I’ve heard about ‘strangers with candy’ but loli’s with apples is a new one…

So what happened this episode? A lot, and seemingly a lot of important stuff too! To succinctly surmise it, Kanae wants to kill Haisie, Haisie and his team play dress-up as ‘masked’ ghouls, Haisie has more ~flashbacks~ about what he was like in his past life, The Gourmet struggles with his feelings for Haisie while Haisie presses him for information. The CCG authorises an attack on The Gourmet’s estate and are ruthless about it, while The Gourmet is saved by his father’s sacrifice and he retreats to a hideout.

Yeah… that is a lot of stuff. Indeed, and you’d think with so much going on it would feel confusing or rushed but I found it to be perfectly paced throughout. I got a sense of everything they wanted to say and there was even time for more contemplative character moments like with Ginshi reminiscing about his poor sister and her ‘medical condition’ and how that ties to his apprehension about using Nutcracker’s Quinque.

And what else? This episode also perfectly highlights the divide between the ruthless CCG—who if you’d not been paying attention you might mistake for the ‘good guys’—and the ghouls. But it’s abundantly clear here from the actions of some of them—especially the lunatic Kijima—that just being on the side of ‘the law’ doesn’t make a person in any way ‘good’ or ‘right’. This is Tokyo Ghoul firing on all cylinders; when it’s emotional and complicated and visceral.

“Visceral”? Poor ghoul girl gets chopped in half with a chainsaw by Kijima, that bastard! Also the episode is perfectly bookended by having the creepy bandage girl from the beginning doing a number on Kanae’s everything, she’s one twisted little girl…

Yikes! So uh, a very good episode then, all things considered? Probably among the best Tokyo Ghoul:re episodes this season, though it goes without saying… still needs more Saiko!

Previous Tokyo Ghoul:re Episodes:
Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 6 Review
Episode 7 Review
Episode 8 Review

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!

Uma Musume: Pretty Derby! Episode 10 – Anime QandA Review (With Irina)

An Anime QandA review of Uma Musume: Pretty Derby! Episode 10 (With Irina)

Uma Musume: Pretty Derby! Episode 10 Collaboration featuring Irina (in bold) from I Drink And Watch Anime.

I learned my lesson last time! I just finished watching this week’s episode of Pretty Derby and I’m ready to ask some pertinent pertinent questions… Yup these are gonna be awesome interesting questions…yeah… Calling it now! Worst review ever! (I think I’ve made that joke before—we’re off to a good start!)

In all honesty I quite liked the opening tag. Training montages are my thing but some people consider them cheap, where do you fall Matt? Well this episode had three montages in all! Which I’d say is overkill, but I mean it is a sports anime so it comes with the territory. Though the pre-credit stuff was all top quality, it succinctly got us up to speed with Spe-chan, showing how hard she trained only to end up coming 7th!

I really liked how big a fail Spe’s first race was. Sports anime are basically just a series of defeats that lead up to one big win (or one small one). But, I do think the impact was lessened by the title of the episode. Maybe, but by the time the last race of the episode came up there was no doubt in my mind she was going to come first. I feel like it was a well-earned one too.

The little slice of life opening following the random girls around was really boring to me. Did you enjoy it? Lol, of course I did, it was like some wonderful drug.

To me, the show hasn’t really given me any reason to care about the supporting characters. (Sure Gold Ship is really fun but she’s more of a running gag than a character and when she’s not doing something super weird and silly, she’s not that interesting). But you get attached to cute anime girls much more quickly than me, is Gold still your favorite? It doesn’t take much for me to get attached to a character in a cute girl show, but at the same time it takes a long time for me to warm to a character I wasn’t particularly fond of from the start. Yes, Gold Ship is still my favourite and likewise Suzuka is probably my least favourite. But I do agree they’ve kind of short-changed every other character’s development in favour of Spe-chan, but I guess that’s what happens when they’ve got so many side-characters, like they introduced at least 5 more horse-girls in this episode and they had all of one-line each! Why couldn’t that time be spent developing existing side-characters! (I have a soft spot for Suzu – probably cause she’s the one I relate to the most…)

To be fair, that’s a good way of getting Spe-chan to do *anything*. Food incentives!

Did you enjoy the homecoming? It was fine, if a little oddly paced. The fact it’s just her and her mother made it feel a lot slower than the rest of the episode, especially since there were so many montages elsewhere. I guess that’s what they were going for with the relaxed vibe, but otherwise I didn’t have any issues with it, nor did I think it was particularly ‘great’ either.

I didn’t really like the horseshoe scene either. Usually I’m all about these sappy moments but when the show really insists on the “horse” elements it makes me feel like I’m watching a thinly veiled fetish show that simply doesn’t speak to any of my particular kinks, you know? The only thing that scene made me wonder was whether actual horses exist in this universe and then whether horse girls were made by having a woman and a horse and I’ll stop now because I’m pretty sure that’s not what you asked! Or maybe it was? I swear I’m not into horses! Only anime girls!

On the other hand I did really enjoy the wrap up. It was a fun race, I got some feels at it. Was it too sappy for you? I didn’t get any significant feels but it was very well put together, having Spe and Suzuka “race” each other, despite not being on the same track was very well animated, it kinda felt a bit more ‘cinematic’ than previous episodes, though I’m not exactly sure what I mean by that.

They’ll always be together, even if they’re apart.

A new record is pretty impressive, do you think she’ll be able to maintain the momentum? It was indeed impressive, I’m not really sure, I’m terrible at predicting things in sports anime. What do you think?

One thing I did notice is that while Spe is still thinking of Suzu and even changed up her big dream to include Suzuha in it, Suzu’s own dream will eventually separate the two. This is starting to look like a romance anime, your favorite genre right? You joke but I do like yuri anime and female x female romance, but I don’t see anything coming from it. This series is too chaste for that kind of thing.

“I want to be *inside* you” That’s NOT the actual next-line, but can you imagine?!

See I thought you had mentioned romance not being a genre you were interested in and now I look stupid. I guess it’s back to just me in the romantically challenged camp. You were half right, I just don’t like heterosexual romances in anime because I find them so ~mainstream~.

So Trainer is pretty neat, isn’t he. Have you forgiven him yet? Eh, he’s fine. More importantly, have you forgiven him?

I sort of forgave him episode 2. I kinda like the character and I find it weird that he gets quite so much hate. I know there’s this whole thing about never including male charas in CGDCT shows but it really doesn’t bother me. I like the diversity. Oh I don’t have a problem with men in CGDCT shows, just not a great look when the first man in this show is grabbing at an underage stranger. But yeah, I’m over it now, he has a proper purpose in this show and I don’t hold the harassment against him.

All those lollies are going to rot your teeth.

I mean Gold Ship has done her share of harassment as well so… Yeah but that’s different, they’re teammates, teammates always raz on each other, yeah? You’re the sports expert after all!

Yeah – not that much random unwelcome groping usually… or at all. Unless you count doujin… Now you got me thinking about the Uma Musume doujin I saw the other day… Ahem…

My face when seeing the Uma Musume doujin…

Overall rating for this episode? What we’re rating individual episodes now? If you want me to rate it against other episodes, it’s better than an average episode but not as good as the best. What about you, sounds like you had more issues with this episode than the last couple? It’s a sum zero I guess. Half of it was pretty boring and it didn’t seem to add much, I guess filler. The other half was cute and balanced enough to keep me interested. Although, if we are to be honest, if I didn’t write these, I would probably forget about the episodes pretty instantly. I have to really dig to find anything to say about them at all….

We are in the homestretch – anything left you absolutely want to see before they wrap things up? Jell-O wrestling? But seriously, I’m happy for the show to just keep doing what it’s doing is there anything you’re particularly wanting from this show? Yeah – I want the one not super nice character to come back. I miss her. I’m not sure she had a name…

Thank you for joining us in our continued collaboration! We’ll see you on Irina’s blog for Episode 11 next week!

Previous Uma Musume: Pretty Derby! Reviews:

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

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!

Citrus Episode Ten – 20 Question Anime Review (Spoilers)

A 20 Question Anime Review for Episode 10 of Citrus.

What’s the show? It’s episode 10 of ‘Citrus’ (2018).

Single episode review, huh? We haven’t covered the other 9 episodes though, so how about a quick run down? Yuzu’s mother has married a new man in a new city, and so Yuzu’s now attending a prim and proper private school, which doesn’t jell with her individualistic persona. She’s also got a new step-sister, Mei, the ‘by the books’ student council president! But when Miss prim and proper plants a kiss on Yuzu to get her to shut up, all sorts of strange feelings begin to stir inside Yuzu, not the least because that was her first kiss!

So we’re doubling down on the forbidden romance, huh? Well if you want to put it like that…

What do you mean? Calling lesbianism ‘forbidden romance’ is part of the problem that so many young girls have to fight against, especially in Japan, where there’s not nearly enough representation of same-sex couples in the media outside of content produced for men (i.e. fetishising it).

But isn’t this for a male audience? I don’t think so, I mean, I wouldn’t put in the same category as something like Sakura Trick, (which is a subject for another day). The fan-service is turned all the way down, it’s just kissing and the occasional grope, but it’s always presented as a big deal, for either one or both of them when it happens. Besides, I doubt there are many people sitting through 20+ minutes of talking and plot and character development per episode just to get a single kiss.

But this is based on a manga? *brain explodes*

I think you underestimate perverts. I speak for the perverts!

Was that a fucking Lorax reference? I don’t know, but I’ve got wood.

*facepalm* And here I thought we were getting somewhere serious with this. We are, I just felt like making a dumb joke.

At least I know how to say ‘crap’ in Japanese!

Right, so why now are we talking about Citrus, and not after any of the other episodes? Because Episode 10 of Citrus just played it’s strongest card yet, also it introduced two characters who are just all kinds of great, but let’s start with the moment that made me punch the sky in jubilation.

Go on. So, some serious stuff went down between Yuzu and Mei at the start of the episode, which ends in the two not talking to each other for some months. Yuzu wakes up late on the day of their year levels excursion to Kyoto and has to hurry there, meanwhile at the train station we meet two white haired twin-sisters, the older (but shorter) one, Sara gushes about a beautiful and kind person she just met. Some stuff happens, and Sara runs into Yuzu at the station gift shop, they’ve both missed their train to Kyoto, so they decide to go together. They get talking on the train and Sara begins telling her about this ‘wonderful encounter’ she had. Yuzu’s surprised to discover the person she is smitten for is a girl when Sara comes out with this simple, but obvious to everyone with a sense of empathy, statement. “If I decide I like someone, it doesn’t matter if they’re a boy or a girl.”

Yes, all of the yes. Why can’t this girl be the protagonist?

True. It might seem obvious, but this whole season Yuzu, despite being a kind and caring individual has constantly been throwing up the whole, ‘I can’t love Mei, she’s a girl and I’m a girl, that doesn’t work’ shtick. But in one simple sentence, everything the audience has (hopefully) been screaming at the screen is put so succinctly to Yuzu, Loving someone the same sex as you shouldn’t be a taboo, love is love.

Even if she is her stepsister? Listen, I admit, the whole stepsister thing is probably the most unnecessarily ‘drama for the sake of drama’ thing about this show, it would have been pretty much the same show if they weren’t ‘suddenly siblings’. But they’d been stepsister’s for literally less than a day before something happened between them, it’s not like they grew up together, it’s only taboo on paper… and to sell more books.

So what happens with the rest of the episode? Yuzu and Sara have a heart to heart discussion on a park bench in Kyoto on their way to find their respective school groups. We learn the nitty gritty about what caused the recent fight between Yuzu and Mei, even though Mei was willing to take the next step forward in their relationship, Yuzu wasn’t ready and pulled away, which hurt Mei.

Fair enough, and then? And then they make it back to the hotel their classmates are staying at; Sara reunites with her younger (much taller) sister Nina and later Yuzu tries to reconnect with Mei, only things aren’t going to be that simple.

Anyone else *obsessed* with the way Yuzu says Mei’s name? Like she somehow makes it sound like a two syllable word, I love it!

Oh, how so? Well aside from the fact that Mei’s obviously been hurt by someone she confided and relied upon so deeply, a challenger appears.

A challenger for Mei’s affections? Perhaps, see it turns out the girl that Sara was smitten with at the train station, the one she’s fallen head over hells for, is actually Mei!

*gasp!* Yeah I admit I saw it coming a mile away but it does add some more drama to the show, which is fun!

In my personal experience, everyone in Tokyo is wonderful.

So I take it since you decided to review it this is your favourite episode so far? Yeah of course! It showed a kind of maturity that the tone often alluded to, but the dialogue failed to back up throughout.

And does that mean you’d recommend it to people who dropped or doubted the show’s intentions. I mean, it’s hard, this kind of subject matter is sensitive to a lot of people, and those who might thought it was pandering or fetishist at the start are welcome to that opinion but I think it’s deeper than that. It’s no work of art by any means but I think it has some important things to say about same sex relations and how they’re perceived, especially in Japan, although the fact it’s taken ten whole episodes to get to a quote worth quoting in favour of the show’s portrayal of same-sex relationships is a little damning. I don’t think this will change many people’s minds but it’s worth bringing up at least.

Oh and why’s it called ‘citrus’? I don’t know, because Yuzu is also a type of Japanese citrus fruit? Because love is sweet and sour? Who cares, it’s a good, short, evocative name, it suits the show well.