Just a reminder: The future of LiA is very much in doubt, and it’s up to you to decide what happens next.  Thank you for all your support!

Shadows House 2nd Season – 10

One of the great bugaboos of Shadows House is exposition by explanation.  Why does John have to explain a plan to Kate that Kate came up with in the first place?  Why, to explain it to the audience of course.  That’s what writers do when they can’t figure out a logical way to get that information across organically.  It happens so often with this series that you’d think the irritation would wear off, but it never does.  It’s a shame, because in some respects I think the writing in this arc has been a modest step up for the series.

I like these four characters about as well as any in this cast – Shaun and Kate more than John and Emilico, but they’re all watchable (and a package deal).  John’s relentless bakayarocity has grown on me and Emilico is actually kind of clever in her own way, and the two couples have a cute chemistry to them.  Kate is the little cat smart enough to get this little group into trouble over and over, but needing help to get down out of the tree afterwards.  John’s raw power, Shaun’s composed deduction, and Emilico’s instinctive street smarts are a pretty complementary package for Kate’s junior detective team.

The matter of what to do with Maryrose and Rosemary (after defeating them of course) was rather a weighty moment in the story.  Ultimately they and Team Kate have the same goal, but Maryrose’s actions have made their paths mutually exclusive.  Turning them over to the Star Bearers was the right thing to do but I wasn’t sure Kate would have the steel to go through with it.  This will buy Kate some breathing time to consider next steps (for Master Robe it’s presumably the bad end) but there’s no obvious path forward yet.  Not one that can play out in two episodes, anyway.

Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru – 10

Admittedly, if Ikari Gendou is the baseline you’re starting from, it’s not hard to look like a good father.  Altogether though it’s kind of a mixed bag for Urushi’s dad, as Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru gives us its first episode focused only on the main couple (with a side of Rin).  After a puddle mishap Urushi invites Ayumu over to her place to change clothes – her father’s clothes, fortunately.  He’s an author as it happens, but once was an aspiring pro shogi player.  And his failure to make it as a pro (feck me, “author” is one hell of a consolation prize) has him forbidding all talk of shogi in the house.  Or so Urushi has convinced herself, anyway.

That belief leads her to call Ayumu her boyfriend before running off to the okonomiyaki shop, where Dad follows a few moments later.  In the first place it’s not hard to figure out that he doesn’t even really care about her being in the Shogi Club.  As it turns out he was just sulking because she beat him when she was three years old (though it was her grandfather making the moves).  More importantly he’s convinced himself that the big coverup is that the two of them are planning to get married, which makes “shogi club” pretty small potatoes by comparison.  Mom (played by Ohara Sayaka, naturally) clears things up, and apart from Dad’s ego no one is the worse for wear.

As for Rin, there’s no question she’s still carrying a torch for Ayumu – hell, she could be marching off looking for Frankenstein’s monster.  She’s playing the role of good friend and I think she means it, but more than anything the fringe benefit is being alongside the boy she loves.  This can’t end happily for her, surely, but she has her moment in the sun with Urushi off on the school trip for four days (with new underwear), leaving Rin basically in pole position.  Despite the title of the series, what this puts in mind for me is “When Will Rin Make Her Move?”  If she plans to, this would be the logical time.

Lastly – I hope Ayumu has a pretty big room, because he’s accumulating enough shogi books to fill a library.  They aren’t helping, but hey – hope springs eternal.  Is this poor guy basically the worst shogi player ever?  The problem is obvious, and Otou-san points it out – everything he does is straightforward, both on the board and off.  The essence of any game of strategy is fooling your opponent, and Ayumu doesn’t have the deception gene in any form.  He picked the wrong game but then, he didn’t pick it because he wanted to play it…