Shin Samurai-den Yaiba – 02

Until coverage gets sorted out the whole Saturday-Monday (Japan time) period is looking absolutely crazy this season, so there are going to be some short check-ins. As to Yaiba, the second episode was… interesting. It went a good deal darker than I was expecting frankly, bearing in mind that I knew almost nothing about the story going in. I won’t say I loved it, but unpredictable is a positive at this point in a series.

My first thought, actually, is that Yaiba is kind of an A-hole. I mean he shoots an arrow at Onimaru’s face, tried to crush him under a pile of lockers, and eventually bites him on the head. That was a little off-putting,  but then when Grandma scolded him over cheating at least you see that this behavior isn’t totally being encouraged. Onimaru was pretty much the victim here, but events at the end of the episode obviously change his role in the story pretty significantly.

I was getting Ranma vibes after the premiere, but – not that Ranma can’t go sort of dark – Yaiba definitely took things in a different direction. You have to figure a guy named Onimaru in this sort of story will have some oni connections, but that all happened a lot faster than I expected. I thought we might get more of a shounen fated rival frenemy thing, but I’m not so sure on that now. Of course oni aren’t evil in every story, and I’m not convinced that’s where things are headed with Onimaru. I’m curious enough to stick for a while I think, especially with Wit’s production underpinning everything.

Witch Watch – 02

Two eps in, and I’m still liking Witch Watch. More than the manga, anyway. You know Enzo’s Hippocratic Oath of comedy – first, be funny. And so far this show is funny. It’s nothing particularly deep or substantial, but the gags are mostly working and the characters are pretty likeable. Given where my expectations were going in, it’s an overperformance so far.

Little stuff is making me giggle. Like Moi having an “ONIons” mug. The big set pieces are making me LOL, like the whole sequence with the closeted otaku teacher and Nico’s disastrous homeroom spell run. That sensei got off a bunch of good one-liners, but the Gon-san bit (where the two gags converged) was the pinnacle. Especially when she said “Never mind, I like Kurapika the best anyway” (she worked in a Kimetsu line when another spell went awry). And then we had poor Moi pretending to be a chuuni because that was (in his mind) less of a social disaster than revealing that Nico was a witch.

Notable in character terms is that no matter how much she embarrasses or inconveniences him, Moi is always putting Nico first. He’s almost too perfect, this guy. It’s understandable that he has a dim view of society given his childhood, but the joke is kind of on Moi. Turns out his classmates are pretty much cool with everything. And that’s very much a Shinohara Kenta thing. There are jerks out there, but for the most part people in his series are basically good – as long as they’re kids. It’s the adults you need to watch out for.

So yeah, so far this is definitely fun. There are so many bubble babies out there this season that I can’t commit to covering anything but the core four at this point, but Witch Watch is certainly in the mix. It won’t be hard coming up with choices for the Patron Pick ballot, that’s for sure.

Shoushimin Series 2nd Season – 02

It’s not the highest bar ever, but I think the first two eps of Shoushimin Series 2 would rank among the top quarter or so of the first season. Pretty decent in other words – a little more interesting anyway, and less sleep-inducing. Also, the new OP kind of slaps – I really like it. Is that enough to blog on? Again, with half the schedule seemingly headed for the bubble, who knows.

This arson thing is sort of interesting in its own right. Hiya-kun is certainly the logical suspect, or at least is being pushed as such. He’s leading Urino-kun by the nose, and he has a motive – to give his bestie something interesting to write about. But that doesn’t tell us how Osanai-san is involved, as she clearly is in some way. I don’t discount her as a dangerous person – anyone who’d casually engage in entrapment (not to mention get herself kidnapped) to settle a grudge clearly has issues. But arson just seems too broad for her.

The shift in focus off the two mains from S1 has probably been a positive, on the whole. They’re not bad characters but we have a little more tonal variety with Takahiko’s involvement, as he’s a very different sort of person. Again Yuki’s role here is a puzzle. Is she actually interested in Takahiko? Testing his mettle with the whole arson thing, or maybe she’s using him to try and make Jougarou jealous? As for Nakamaru-san she’s not made much of an impression yet – and as such, neither has her relationship with Jougarou.