random – Anime QandA

The Anime QandA Search Terms of 2018

A look at what search terms led people to find Anime QandA in 2018

So as I’m sure many of you are aware WordPress has this slightly amazing (if not completely flawless) way of detecting the ‘search terms’ which lead the randos of the internet to finding your blog/website. Of course, it doesn’t include ‘Google’ search results because ~reasons~ but it does include every other search engine. And apparently that’s where all their weirdos hang out because I swear the majority of my search terms in 2018 were either specifically perverted or just pervertedly specific! Let’s take a look at some, shall we?! This post was inspired by Irina’s of the same nature, take a look at hers please, it’s substantially more ‘unique’ than mine!

Also, much like Irina’s post I’ll be dividing this up into categories as I see fit! First off:

It’s All About Boobs

Make no mistake, anime and boobs go together like, peanut butter and jam (apparently, I don’t know I’m Australian, we don’t eat those two things together). But yeah, in case you missed it last year I did a post about the 10 Biggest Boobs In Anime and unsurprisingly that was my 2nd most searched for post–Garnering 1,437 views! But all sorts of ways got people to find that post, let’s take a look at a few!

https://animeqanda.com/2018/05/28/10-biggest-boobs-in-anime-listing-compulsive/amp/18 somehow this was my biggest search term of the year, 80(!) of them and its literally just a web address for the post? Do people not know how browser bars work?
biggest boobs in anime yep, that’s what it was called, next!
breasts in anime 2018 yes there were breasts in 2018 anime too, and 2019 I’m guessing too!
biggest boobs in animr I mean the ‘R’ key is very close to the ‘E’ key so I suppose this is forgivable…
big boob anime why do I feel like a caveman wrote this?
biggest breasts manga close but no cigar!
big booby anime school girl I don’t remember the last time someone refereed to them as ‘booby’ but thanks for the nostalgia trip!
largest breast in anime I bet this person was British. #justsayin… (also why singular use of breast, rather than breasts?)
biggest anime boob ever AGAIN why with the singular?!
list of anime big boobs character ‘making a list, checking it twice…’
list of biggest boobs in animes I love me some “animes”
the biggest boobs in anime history well now you’re just making me regret what I called the post with such grandiose language!
monstrous boobs anime I mean “monstrous” is just so evocative
top 10 big tits hentai womens names “I need names, damn it!”
boobs anime yep, that’s the two things!
top 10 biggest tits hentai I’m not covering hentai content… yet…

What Controversy?!

Remember when ‘Goblin Slayer’ was controversial? I sure do, because I managed to rack up 1500+ views on my Episode 1 review in the space of a single week! I doubt I’ll ever see those kind of numbers in such a short time again, but with said numbers came search results!

goblin slayer rape scene this was my number 1 Goblin Slayer search term with 11 hits, succinct and to the point you could say!
goblin slayer sex ummm… not quite
goblin slayer rape correct!
goblin slayer episode 4 elf one eye closed you mean a wink right?! It’s called a wink!
goblin slayer has a rape scene no way!
goblin slayer episode 1 rape? that question mark is triggering me so hard right now…
hentai goblin slasher sounds like a porn parody
qanda qoblin I do like the sound of a ‘qoblin’ its like a goblin with a speech impediment!
goblin slayer episode 1 uncensored excuse me?! What exactly do you want more explicit about that episode? Oh the rape… right…
goblin slayer uncensored ep1 stop

My Sister, My Writer? My God!

So apparently covering ‘My Sister, My Writer’ on a weekly basis was a good idea because I got literally thousands of views for this show each month. And I doubt any of them were searching because of the plot!

https://animeqanda.com/2018/11/09/my-sister-my-writer-episode-5-review/amp/13 with 18 views this was the second highest searched result of the year… and again it’s a literal address as opposed to key words. Wut.
my sister, my writer episode 1 uncensored “down with censorship” is pretty much the theme of this particular category
my sister, my writer fanservice not much of that I’m afraid, the show is kinda dull in that respect!
my sister my writer bad animation but yes, it did have that.
my sister my writer nude wait, you want the whole show nude?
my sister my writer naked again?!
my sister my writer anime nudity gotta get ‘dem nudes!
my sister my writer what is it about incest, next!
my sister my writer anime ahegao double peace well she is the best character!
my sister my writer unscenaord oh, you tried…
my sister my writer be dub lol no, never in a billion years
incest anime gifs I can only assume this is related. Heh! “Related”!
horny+loli sister my writer yep that about sums it up!
my sister – my writer uncensored moments just the moments, you can keep the rest
my sister my writer episode 7 not is that you Borat?
when will my sister my writer be uncensored you just gotta believe! But seriously it’s called the AT-X version and you can get it via torrent. It’s that easy.

Assorted Perverts

I mean what else are people on the internet for other than sex? What other possible use does this technology have?! Please tell!

konosuba boobs gifs Yes I want them too!
shina aki sex not quite, well not yet anyway…
naked women anime when you word it like that it just sounds strange!
christmas shota a shota’s not just for Christmas!
the master of ragnarok & blesser of einherjar twins naked with big ass …excuse me?
the master of ragnarok sex nope, never happened
anime girl bath too many to choose from!
bo y doing each other it’s the unintentional space in the word ‘boy’ that makes this search term a winner
hentai narusawa riyouka now you’ve got me curious…
older sister straight shota this isn’t pornhub!
cattleya boob they are impressive
that time i got reincarnated as a slime girls naked I’d like this too? Where can I get this? Oh right not on my site…
shera greenwood gif boobs it’s the gif that keeps on giving
sexy ogre prior to ‘That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime’ I would have thought this search term silly, now I can only nod agreeing while thinking of Shion.
momen seksi dxd hero I don’t speak Indonesian but I understood that perfectly
anime girl with abs *new fetish acquired*
anime belly button now that’s very specific
anime girl enema this is because I titled a Chio’s School Road ep review ‘Public Enema Number One’ isn’t it?
naked pictures from the master of ragnarok & blesser of einherjar rule 34 didn’t anyone ever tell you to make your search terms short?!
murcielago sex as in the manga? or the sports car?
a loli a day keeps the doctor away?
how not to summon a demon lord fingering ~oof
island anime had sex “and it felt so good!”
chio’s school road nude It’s out there, just not on my site (sorry)
chio’s school road no panties ahem…
chio’s hentai man Chio was popular!
senran kagura shinobi master nipple just the one, that’s all I need!
franxx strelitzia hentai robot porn, sure why not
anime tongue kissing LEWD

Question Time

Sometimes people have very specific questions and I can only hope that my site offers them a degree of enlightenment. If not I will proceed to answer those questions, right now! (Minor spoilers for shows that aired last year)

rascal does not dream of bunny girl senpai age you need to know for “research” purposes I’m sure, she’s a third year in high school so let’s say 17.
island anime did setsuna have sex with rinne well spoilers but yeah. But it’s complicated!
how not to summon a demon lord where does diablo put his fingers in rem you’re really needing me to spell it out? In her vagina. Next!
best ghost waifu now I need to make that into a list! Oh, let’s just say Yuuna for the sake of answering this question.
does ayaka miss caretaker loves akkkun too many ‘k’s in the name but yes she probably does.
serial killer loli anime 2018 that’d no doubt be ‘Happy Sugar Life’ but what a way to describe it…
bang dream vs love live bang dream.
is angel of death really scary anime that’s subjective, but personally I only saw 2 episodes and it wasn’t really.
that time i got reincarnated as a slime will shizu ever return? hey look an actual question mark! I mean it’s a fantasy series so I wouldn’t rule anything out but I’m going to say sadly probably not.
aki shina really a boy I mean I know he’s petite and cute but that’s kind of mean, of course he is!
sunohara-sou are you really a boy yes! Stop asking!
märchen mädchen what happen? a hurried production time, a director quitting and being replaced with an inexperienced one, just basically every bad thing that could happen to an anime production.
how much time passed in darling in the franx a lot.
does yuuna and the haunted hot springs have an uncensored version yes, it’s on blu-ray in Japan.
the master of ragnarok does felicia have sex with someone else umm, she doesn’t have sex with anyone as far as I’m aware!
what anime does a girl like another girl and likes coffins maybe ‘Ms Vampire who lives in my neighbourhood’? But what a strange way to word it…
best waifu to start out with this is the single most perplexing question I got this year. Like is this an alien trying to figure out how to fit in with Earth otaku culture? Or is this someone trying to go undercover as a weeb? Mate, you don’t pick a waifu, there’s no guide, you watch anime… any anime and the waifus will come to you.

Nani?

Sometimes people know exactly what they want but that doesn’t help me much. I didn’t get many but these were the more perplexing search terms of the year…

heds cool dxd born animeq I’m sorry you’ll need to repeat yourself?
anime mild born to be mild?
futaba rascal does not “Oh hi Mark!”
manga pony play I don’t even want to know!
kyodan what?
bachelorette blake instagram ~why~
hare bikini fanservice what, as in like a rabbit?
muck definition I don’t even know how you got to my site by searching this…

And that’s it for 2018 search terms, I spent way longer on this than I should have so hopefully it provided some entertainment for you! Feel free to share some of your weirdest/funniest/most random search terms in the comments below!

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Asobi Asobase – Full Season QandA Rundown

What’s the important information? Asobi Asobase is a Summer 2018 comedy anime that aired 12 episodes from July to September. It is based on a Seinen manga series by Rin Suzukawa.

What’s it about? Hanako, Olivia and Kasumi are three second-year students at an all-girl middle school and are the only three members of the ‘past-timers club’. The series follows their antics in and around their school club.

Why did you watch it? The series promised comedy and it delivered it in spades!

Did you enjoy the show? No other show this season made me laugh as consistently and as hard as Asobi Asobase. While an individual’s tolerance for this type of ‘comedy’ may vary, I found the extreme, nonsensical and borderline insane antics of these three girls to be a rare thing—unlike any comedy I’ve ever seen.

What was your favourite episode? It’s almost too hard to pick because any given episode is divided into either 3 or 4 separate segments, and while the quality can vary between segments no one episode had a complete set of flawlessly funny segments. The closest it ever came and probably the episode that made me laugh the most though was Episode 4 which was filled with such bizarre imagery and memorable sight gags that it definitely made an impression!

What were your most favourite things about the show? It’s difficult to quantify specific things about a comedy series like this as being “favourites” as more often that not its individual jokes/set-ups and pay-offs as well as random and insane interactions that stick out in one’s mind as opposed to any ~specific~ reviewable qualities. Though the rapport between the three leads was consistently excellent and the voice actresses exhibited terrific comedic timing.

What were your least favourite things about the show? It’s almost been talked about too much at this point but Episode 5 had a moment that was arguably trans-phobic (and if not then just stupid, tone-deaf and unfunny). I discussed it at length in my individual review for the episode so I won’t go into any more detail than that but it is worth mentioning as something disappointing in an otherwise excellent series.

Who was your favourite character? Hanako is a singular and unique specimen unlike any character in the history of anime, added to that the range and power of her voice actress and the insane things the script has her saying makes her a character for the ages.

Thoughts on the OP (opening) and ED (ending) and the soundtrack in general? The OP “Three Piece” sung by the three main girls is a soft and sweet little song that lulls the viewer into a false sense of security about what madness is about to ensure—it’s the perfect bait and switch and feels more and more sarcastic every time you listen to it. Perfectly contrasting the light OP is the ED, a dark and menacing heavy metal track “Inkya Impulse” also sung featuring Ikepy & KSKN—and as something of a metal head I can appreciate what a legitimately rocking piece of music it is!

What’s something unique about this show? I don’t think I’ve ever seen an anime so preoccupied with penises—but maybe that’s exactly what middle school girls are like nowadays?

Maeda is a close second for favourite character.

What other anime are most like it for the sake of comparison? The sense of freewheeling comedic abandon is reminiscent of Yuruyuri, however the comparisons end there, as the aforementioned is light and laid-back whereas Asobi Asobase is an electric shock to the frontal lobe. I don’t think there’s any show quite like it but I’d be happy to be proven wrong in the comments!

Who would you recommend it to? Anybody who is into loud and aggressive comedies, with an emphasis on ‘reaction’ based humour as well as some occasionally very crude humour all coming from the weirdest group of middle-school girls you’ve ever seen.

Sum up the season in one sentence: ‘I’ve never taken drugs before but Asobi Asobase is what I imagine having a bad acid trip with a group of insane middle schoolers would be like’.

Final score? 90 out of 100.

Previous Asobi Asobase Reviews:

Laid Back Insanity – Episode 1 Review
Scarier Faces Than Any Horror Anime – Episode 2 Review
It’s All Fun and Games Until Somone Gets Compound Fractures Over Their Entire Body – Episode 3 Review
So Much Butt Stuff – Episode 4 Review
Youthful Transgressions – Episode 5 Review
A Boyfriend Built By Grandfather – Episode 6 Review
Getting It Off Your Chest – Episode 7 Review
Like A Batsu Outta Hell – Episode 8 Review
Brother’s Creeper – Episode 9 Review
Cunning Linguists – Episode 10 Review
How The Cookie Crumbles – Episode 11 Review
Making The Breast Out Of A Bra Situation – Episode 12 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!

Chio’s School Road – Full Season QandA Rundown

What’s the important information? Chio’s School Road is a Summer 2018 comedy anime that aired 12 episodes from July to September. It is a partial adaptation of a 9 volume Seinen manga series by Tadataka Kawasaki.

What’s it about? Very simply, it’s about Chio Miyamo a below average high-school girl and avid video gamer and the various antics she gets up to on her daily commute from her house to her school. The shenanigans range from strange conversations with her friend Manana to things absurd as encounters with biker gangs, risky parkour and run-ins with a butt-poking elementary schooler.

Why did you watch it? The series sold itself as an ‘absurd comedy’ and I’m all about that!

Did you enjoy the show? Absolutely, it delivered on the absurdity and also solidified it with a truly great cast of characters and a seemingly expanding world of quirky characters that inhabited the series. Even the weakest of episodes had laugh-out-loud moments and imagery worthy of surreal screen caps.

What was your favourite episode? While every episode had a worthwhile and hilarious segment (each episode of the show is divided into either 2 or 3 ‘segments’), Episode 7 which concerned Chio discovering the “joys” of BL (Boys Love) games and trying to buy a magazine about it and then following that up with the first appearance of the butt-poking elementary schooler had me in tears of laughter from beginning to end! Not to mention all the references to the differences between Western and Japanese video games.

What were your most favourite things about the show? Aside from the comedy—which ran the gamut from slapstick, to wordplay, to non-sequiturs, to cringe, to character driven. Chio herself was an absolute joy to behold, the way her mind works was not only frequently hilarious but also surprisingly relatable—especially as a gamer myself.

Wbat were your least favourite things about the show? There were a couple of repeat characters that Chio encountered that weren’t perhaps as funny as the show thought they were, the pervert homeless man especially was a character whose appearance only cheapened the overall quality of the show.

Who was your favourite character? I want Chio to be my girlfriend. Is that weird? That’s probably weird… But seriously, I really love Chio’s general outlook on life—even if it is striving for mediocrity for the sake of living life unnoticed. Plus she’s just cute in that nerdy kind of way!

What’s something unique about this show? Episode 2 just straight up dropped the c-word and I still can’t get over that fact! Yes it was just in text and yes the c-word doesn’t really have the same vulgar/taboo connotations in Japan as it does in the west but I was still flabbergasted to see it on-screen! Amazing and hilarious.

What other anime are most like it for the sake of comparison? For some reason I’m reminded of Yuruyuri, though moreso the later half of the season where the comedy gets more character driven as opposed to absurd ‘sketch’ style. Also, if you want a Western sitcom comparison, it definitely at times reminded me of Seinfeld, in that these people are all kind of dysfunctional jerks, but they’re absolutely relatable.

Who would you recommend it to? Anybody who likes their comedy on the more ~absurd~ end of the spectrum, obviously not Pop Team Epic levels of absurdity but still grounded in reality. Also, there’s a lot of references to Western video games which even if you’re not a fan of them there’s a lot of fun to be gained to just see the Japanese perspective on something that’s apparently very unusual to them that a lot of us probably take for granted as being ‘normal’.

Sum up the season in one sentence: ‘The road ahead is twisted and filled with obstacles but they’re all a part of silly and strange journey that I’m glad to have taken!’

Final score? 88 out of 100.

Previous Chio’s School Road Reviews:

Otaku’s Creed – Episode 1 Review
The Actual C-Word – Episode 2 Review
Full Contact Perineum – Episode 3 Review
Stupid Sexy Smoking – Episode 4 Review
Urine Trouble – Episode 5 Review
The Art of Butt Groping – Episode 6 Review
Public Enema Number One – Episode 7 Review
Sprinter Belle – Episode 8 Review
Pipe Dreams – Episode 9 Review
The Sweeter Life – Episode 10 Review
Sleeping On The Bank Job – Episode 11 Review
No Panties, No Problems! – Episode 12 Review

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Making The Breast Out Of A Bra Situation – ‘Asobi Asobase’ Episode 12 (Finale) Review

Making The Breast Out Of A Bra Situation – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Asobi Asobase’ Episode 12

What’s the show? Asobi Asobase, Episode 12.

Another season finale, huh? How’s this episode? You may recall me ‘lightly complaining’ about how I wasn’t too keen on the continuity that this show had been injecting into the series—specifically Episodes 10 and 11 which had sort of a lead up to the cultural festival loose plot thread.

I recall, yes. So is this episode all about said cultural festival? Nope! It was never mentioned again and I couldn’t be more glad! This show is so much better when every aspect of any-given segment is completely unpredictable and that’s more or less what we get in episode 12 a glorious and insane return to form!

Uh-huh, well that’s good I guess. Does that mean all the segments are good this time? I said a return to form not the best episode ever… two of the segments—the first two—are among the funniest the show has ever produce, the last two are slightly weaker though I really did appreciate the final segment for being somehow even more inane than anything else the show has done and ending on such a meta-joke.

We’ll get to that, what about the first two segments? More detail please. Well the first segment involves a baby—one of Sensei’s friends has brought their baby on a visit to the school and for plot conveniences the teacher has to leave the baby with our 3 girls and uh… well let’s just say this baby may or may not be a reincarnated pervert mafia don because the things this baby says and does and the girls reaction to them is truly priceless!

Bet you’d never expect a baby to say that!

Right? And the next one? After a particularly sweaty P.E. class the girls are changing and the flat and ever sports-bra wearing Hanako gets a bad case of bra-envy when she sees Kasumi’s cute bra and this could possibly be Hanako at her most lunatic and it’s absolutely glorious. Later Hanako’s looking on a bra site for something pretty with the intent on making her “bra-debut” only to discover that due to the way chest sizes are measured, she’s not an A-cup like she presumed but the smaller AA-cup, suffice to say that doesn’t sit well with the poor girl…

This whole scene was magic as Hanako went more and more insane.

I see, and the third segment? I couldn’t even remember the third one until I looked it up, which should speak of its memorability. It’s not a bad segment it’s just a joke that’s kind of been done before by other shows (and I couldn’t possibly think of an actual example so take my word for it) where Olivia is playing a new mobile game and it looks all cutesy on the surface but it’s actually a super violent and sadistic shooting game. It did bring back a character we hadn’t seen since Episode 3, the president of the Shoji club who ended up getting compound fractures over her entire body—and that was a fun reference if kinda pointless. Though it’s worth mentioning the segment itself is called ‘Fairy Tale Battle Royale’ and I can’t help but think someone naming the segments was just trying to cash in on some of that sweet SEO with ‘Battle Royale’ games being all the rage at the moment.

At least they didn’t get called the c-word by their fellow online gamers like Chio did!

Aren’t you doing that too by even mentioning it? …so what if I am! Jeez! I’ve got to make a living somehow!

And the final segment? We’re introduced to a hand-drawn 2v2 game called ‘Paper Wars’ in which players take turns drawing something to try and defeat what the previous team has drawn—oh and Maeda’s there because we need that Maeda fix in our finale! It’s a short segment with a bunch of silly images and accompanying “powers” that they describe each character having with each character becoming more and more overpowered in increasingly ridiculous ways than Hanako observes “how do we make this end?” and then the show cuts to the end-credits. Absolute perfection! I couldn’t think of a better way to end this series, it’s dumb, it’s over-the-top, it’s meta, it’s Asobi Asobase!

The perfect image to leave this review of this absurd series finale on.

Previous Asobi Asobase Reviews:

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No Panties, No Problems! – ‘Chio’s School Road’ Episode 12 (Finale) Review

No Panties, No Problems! – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Chio’s School Road’ Episode 12

What’s the show? Chio’s School Road, Episode 12.

The season finale! What’s this episode about? Something revelatory happened at the end of this episode!

Uh-huh, why do I get the feeling this is going to be something actually not revelatory… or knowing you something perverted… How dare you! No, what happened was we found out the ~truth~ about this series—turns out this is a TV show!

…Um, hate to break it to you but that’s not news… of course it’s a TV show, what else do you think you’ve been watching?! No you don’t understand, I mean there’s bloopers at the end of the episode that reveal this show is a TV show like a scene will play, somebody will flub a line and then the director yells cut and we see the camera crew bustle around to reset the scene as the cast laughs off the mistake.

Wait, so in the context of the anime it’s a TV show? Actually probably not, I think they were just having a bit of fun since this was the last episode, I don’t actually think this is a TV show—still bloopers in an anime is pretty unique, yeah?

I don’t know… I don’t watch anime… Right, sorry.

So you gonna say what the episode is actually about or just waste my time? Geez! Alright then, so the first segment is about Andou’s kid-sister Chiharu asking Chio for help with a school project—a social studies question asking “How You Could Earn 500 Yen with your current abilities”. Immediately Chio’s mind goes to the X-rated which was particularly funny but from there the segment more or less meanders with only a few chuckles in-between.

Fair enough, and the second segment? A much funnier one, thankfully, especially as it’s more or less the final segment of the show (if you don’t count the “next season preview” and “bloopers”). Basically we get to know a little bit more about Yuki—we already knew she was a bit of an exhibitionist but it turns out she’s also a nudist at home and has a secret desire to streak (which makes sense as it combines her two passions; running and being looked at while nude).

And how’s that come into Chio’s walk to school? Well, Manana ends up trying to “tease” Yuki about being a nudist which ends up biting her in the bare-ass as Yuki straight-up confronts her about her comments and says she’ll fight anyone who talks badly of her lifestyle choices. This ends up with Manana backing down and then trying to fix things by suggesting they “go commando” for the rest of the day—an idea that Yuki is very excited about. One quick visit to the restrooms later and both Manana and Yuki are sans-underpants!

No wonder you like this segment… Hey, don’t kink shame! Besides it’s fun seeing Yuki and Manana get so into it, while Chio just watches from the sidelines, getting more and more jealous of how “Manana hasn’t laughed like that with me in a long-time”. This segment does double duty, catering to my desire to see panty-less school girls frolicking and setting up that ‘ship I so long for.

You’re the worst, just thought I’d remind you of that in case I hadn’t said so today. Thanks. Also just for the record, you don’t see anything—this isn’t an ecchi after all, everything is more-or-less eluded to or carefully framed out. Though I do wonder if there will be an uncensored version one day…

Enough! And what was this about a “next season preview”? It’s not getting a second season is it? Not at this stage, but much like the bloopers I have to assume this “preview” is entirely jokey—and kudos because it works. It teases at some things that were brought up in earlier episodes (like being proposed to on the water pipe Chio likes), as well as setting up some wholly ridiculous and over-the-top elementary school butt poking gang that Chiharu is the leader of—it’s all pretty great!

Can we get a spin-off of the butt-poking series please? No reason…

So I take it you enjoyed this finale? For sure—certainly the show is quite a bit different from when it started (as I discussed in my Episode 11 review), but it’s still consistently entertaining and frequently hilarious and this final episode is no different. Plus for those who truly miss the way the show was in the first half of the season the “next season preview” and “bloopers” are very much a reminder of that particular brand of madness—oh and Chio and Manana finally kiss, but it happens in the “blooper” section, so probably not canon, right? Right?!

Previous Chio’s School Road Reviews:

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How The Cookie Crumbles – ‘Asobi Asobase’ Episode 11 Review

How The Cookie Crumbles – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Asobi Asobase’ Episode 11

What’s the show? Asobi Asobase, Episode 11.

So what happens in this episode? Remember how in my last couple of reviews for Chio’s School Road, specifically Episode 10 and Episode 11 I mentioned that the show was getting a more cohesive, character driven feel about it and the world was expanding and feeling more like a show rather than a series of random sketches and how that was absolutely a good thing?

Yes, I probably recall that, why? Because the same thing is kinda happening to Asobi Asobase except it’s kinda not a good thing…

Oh dear. So what exactly is happening then? Basically this entire episode, all three segments within in it follow on from the final segment from last week—that being the girls working on a film for the school’s cultural fest. And that segment wasn’t the best to begin with but now we’ve got a segment dealing with them trying to get the school council president to approve their movie, as well as the school council president trying to deal with the vice president, a slutty girl who’s dating six members of boy’s school’s school council across the road and also what the Occult club is doing for their display.

So in other words it’s all about the school festival or things adjacent it? Which would be fine if it didn’t feel so samesy, like it feels like they dragged out what would have been enough content for maybe two segments and put it into four. It’s not that the jokes aren’t funny it’s that they don’t have the same breakneck intensity and insanity that previous episodes had. Plus it falls victim to something I was afraid would happen and mentioned in a previous review.

I want to hear more about the “bloodshed” that results from her dating six-guys that the narrator hints at.

What’s that? It overuses its one-note characters—specifically Maeda and Olivia’s otaku brother. While Maeda’s often a highlight, here he’s just dragged out to do a kind of funny joke with his butt laser, while Olivia’s brother just has a pretentious speech then drools over middle-schoolers having a physical altercation. And, I can’t believe I’m saying this but it just didn’t feel very smart.

No need to call the police, it’s just Maeda.

Oh? You’re looking for “smart”… in this show?! Be snide all you want there is intelligence in good comedy, even in dumb, shouty comedies—it’s all about timing and spacing to deliver perfect reactions at the perfect time but this episode felt way off the mark more often than not. That’s not to say there weren’t some great jokes and one-liners, the stuff with the witches of the Occult club was pretty funny but this was by far the weakest episode of the series—and the fact that we haven’t even gotten to the cultural festival makes my expectations lowered for next week. Hopefully though the comedy will be more consistent and the pacing will be better!

Me, when there’s cookies. And I want the cookies.

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Sleeping On The Bank Job – ‘Chio’s School Road’ Episode 11 Review

Sleeping On The Bank Job – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Chio’s School Road’ Episode 11

What’s the show? Chio’s School Road, Episode 11.

So what happens in this episode? In the previous episode I made an observation that the show was turning away from the broader ‘random’ style of comedy that it first sold itself as and was moving into more focused character driven comedy and this episode pretty much confirms that!

We’re approaching Asobi Asobase levels of reaction faces here!

Okay, we get it, you’re clever and pick up on things—so what actually happens here then? Basically we’ve got two segments, one where Chio has an awkward night of not being able to sleep after a particularly exciting online video-game victory (it’s during a bank heist in a Payday-esque game) and the other where Manana is worried about her body odour. On paper, neither segment seems like it would elicit large amount of laughs and you know what, compared to earlier episodes they don’t, but the character stuff is so good it doesn’t really matter all that much. This is a very different show then the one we started with!

Uh-huh… you know glossing over what happens in the episode in the space of a paragraph and not having much to follow it up with isn’t really conducive to a riveting review… It’s the penultimate episode of a comedy series with next to zero actual plot—you should be surprised I made it this far and managed to make entertaining weekly reviews!

Well that’s debatable… Tch!

I think this is the first time we’ve seen Manana in plain clothes, they really suit her! Better than that school outfit!

So at the risk of this becoming your shortest review ever is there anything you want to talk about? There were some really impressive close-up’s of faces and really detailed animations in this episode–along with some expectedly weaker ones, and it almost felt like some of this episode was handled by a different animation studio? Anyone else get that feeling, or am I just imagining things?

Please answer in the comments below, ahem, anything else? Also, there were so many Chio-chan panty shots this week—not that I’m complaining! I mean she was one of my 10 Best Waifu’s Of Summer 2018 Anime after all!\

Trust you to be commending the quality of panty-shots belonging to an anime high-school girl… I don’t know why I continue to be surprised at your perverseness. One day I’ll be gone and you’ll miss it.

And to think people on Twitter were actually complaining about *this* kind of fan-service, like really?!

Don’t count on it. So overall thoughts on the episode? It was fun—I liked the added character trait they gave to Yuki about her being some absolutely brutal truth-teller even at the expense of seeming completely and utterly callous. But the way she does it in such a smiley way that makes her impossible to hate for it—the “smiling reaper” I think Manana called her. And as I said last week but will reiterate this show works on a different level now that the comedy is more character focused—it’s certainly an adjustment and for some it will be too much of a change but for me I’m very happy with this shows course correction.

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Cunning Linguists – ‘Asobi Asobase’ Episode 10 Review

Cunning Linguists – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Asobi Asobase’ Episode 10

What’s the show? Asobi Asobase, Episode 10.

And what’s this episode about? Don’t you hate it when a show does something that’s so good but you can’t adequately put it into words, or screencaps or even gifs because the humour is completely in the line delivery?

I wouldn’t know, I don’t watch anything, but I’ll take your word for it. So I take it there’s something like that in this episode? Yes! As a perfect contrast to Olivia—the blonde-haired Western looking girl who pretends to be foreign but actually can’t speak a word of English—we have Fujiwara a ~very~ Japanese looking girl, who everyone presumes is great at classical Japanese literature but who in-fact speaks in the most broken Japanese I’ve ever heard. And it’s absolutely amazing. I was laughing so hard the whole time she was on-screen. Also, I don’t often look into the background of voice actresses, but it turns out Fujiwara’s Seiyuu was born in Australia and lived there for 17 years before moving to Japan.

So pretty authentic then? Indeed! And this is only the first segment and I was already in hysterics, thankfully the other 3 segments contain their fair share of laughs too—though with a brief detour to the potentially problematic if you really want to be pedantic about it.

I haven’t even watched Monty Python and I got the reference!

Okay, explain. Right, so Fujiwara overhears that Olivia can’t speak English and tries to blackmail Kasumi into going on a date with her(!) but before she can give an answer she’s ‘rescued’ by Tsugumi (the one who was rumoured to be a “boy in drag” from Episode 5) and by “rescued” I mean Tsugumi kisses Kasumi square on the lips! There’s a brief inquisition (didn’t expect that—but then again, nobody does!), Kasumi has a dream about Tsugumi’s penis and can’t get it out of her head. So the three girls rally together to find out whether or not she does have one in a bunch of roundabout and completely unsuccessful ways.

I mean it’s happened to all of us, right?

Are we invoking that this segment is “transphobic” again? Nah, I mean it’s borderline—if anything it’s just mildly creepy that Kasumi is so intent on looking up Tsugumi’s dress to see “what’s there” but they don’t actually say anything that I’d say qualifies as transphobic this episode, they’re just being silly girls. And by the way, all this happens over three of the four segments and I’m really glad for the continuity here. It really helps the show feel more connected rather than disparate randomness.

And the last segment? Probably the weakest of the four—it’s basically about Kasumi directing a short film for the ‘Pastimers Club’ to be presented at the school’s cultural festival. And there’s a few laughs here and there—especially when they break the forth-wall about “announcing a second season”—only to dash all our hopes by saying “that’ll never happen”. We can still dream, can’t we?

I think Disney’s lawyers are on the phone.

So opinion on the episode? Overwhelmingly positive… maybe my favourite episode of the season but to be honest that’s ~mostly~ to do with Fujiyama—I don’t know what it is, but hearing such a distinctive broken Japanese/Australian accent in an anime and coming from a girl like her was pure comedy gold plus the mere hint of this series going even a bit ‘yuri’ is quite promising!

I know she’s meant to be playing an alien, but all I can think of is Shera!

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The Sweeter Life – ‘Chio’s School Road’ Episode 10 Review

The Sweeter Life – An Anime QandA Review of ‘Chio’s School Road’ Episode 10

What’s the show? Chio’s School Road, Episode 10.

So what happened in this episode? There’s been a subtle, but nonetheless noticeable change happening to this show the past three or so episodes and now, with episode 10—the transition is more or less complete.

What are you talking about? From where this show was in the first few episodes; that is to say a gag-driven, almost sketch type comedy show. To where it is now, a character-driven comedy show, it may not seem like a big change but it’s kind of important to note.

Can you give some specific examples of this change? Of course. So, side-characters like Momo are being integrated more heavily into the narrative, expanding Chio’s circle of friends—the antics they get up to feel less over the top and outlandish and the comedy is driven from character interactions and knowing their personalities rather than outright ‘gags’. That’s not to say that things aren’t still silly and random, it’s just there’s less of a reliance on that.

And is that a good thing? Depends. I’ve seen a few comments complaining the show isn’t as funny as it once was and that’s a fair observation—it’s not as directly and immediately laugh-out-loud funny anymore. However the refocussing of this show on character development, world building and an overall more cohesive narrative experience ~feels~ like the right approach going forward, although…

Although? It’s the right approach for an ongoing series—for the manga for example, but this show’s about to end and presumably won’t be getting a second season so whether it needed to change is probably more the appropriate question. But if it happened in the manga then it’s only fair it happened in the manga—even if it feels late.

So what’s this episode about? Well Chio and Manana run across Momo the head of their school’s morals committee and she’s got a problem—she wants to buy some sweets and eat them immediately before school rather than saving them for later—something apparently rebellious. They stop into a small sweets store and it turns out that Momo is a completely different person under the influence of sweets. Basically it’s just a silly and cute segment of girls on a sugar high.

Momo’s version of “cutting loose” is adorably quaint.

And the other segments? In another segment that ties some previously disparate characters together—Chio comes across the butt-poking girl from Episode 7 and she discovers that she’s actually Ando’s little sister! And she’s on a mission—to find the girl who made her once tough big brother quit his motorcycle gang… and kill her! There’s a fun misunderstanding where little sister Chiharu thinks that the reason he quit the gang is because the girl was so good at “the sex”. And I mean what’s more interesting is the idea that they’re leaning into the possibility of the relationship between Chio and Ando—which I’m more and more okay with despite their age difference. (Turns out he’s only in his early 20’s…not that that’s legal, but it’s a bit better than I previously thought.)

I love how this anime censored the word ‘sex’ but didn’t censor the c-word back in Episode 2.

Right… so final word on the episode and how the show is progressing on the whole? I’ve already said a lot on it but I will add that I’m not ~quite~ as enthusiastic about the show as I was previously, while I’m more than happy with the character development and world building I think it’s sacrificed a little of what made it unique in the first place, which was this feeling that anything could happen. I’m still happy and enjoy this show every episode—just maybe not as much as I had been previously.

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