We’re on the verge of season finales, so you know what that means…!
It’s time to skimp on animation quality so we can put all the budget into the last episode! Oh gawd, the pain… my eyes…
1. Boku no Hero Academia
This episode was outstanding. A LOT of students got to show off what they were capable of, there was constant tension in the air, and there was plenty of character development to go around.
“Wrong answer.”
In the middle of the episode, things take a turn when Eraserhead is on the receiving end of a brutal beatdown. It’s waaaaay gorier than the manga version, and a little hard to watch. And that just adds to the tense atmosphere when the episode gets closer to the end, only to turn things around with the glorious entrance of All Might.
I just can’t help but be in awe at how perfectly done this anime is, but this episode was especially great. We need three more seasons. It needs to happen.
2. Ushio to Tora
To be honest, not a lot happened, but what did happen was presented epically. The overall theme of the episode seemed to be humans and demons helping each other for everyone’s sake. And it starts off well enough with Mayuko saving Tora.
Raishin and Kagari actually get some action in for once this season, the HAMMR scientists die, and the human/demon alliance successfully pushes Hakumen into the Oyakume barrier for the final showdown while epic violin plays in the background. For a final episode setup, you really can’t ask for much more.
3. Sailor Moon Crystal Infinity
Worth it.
Sailor Moon Crystal brings the feels once again with Hotaru in spirit form pretty much carrying EVERYONE throughout the episode. Inners get rekt, Outers spend the entire episode maintaining a barrier, and Chibi-Usa… wait, Pink Sugar Heart Attack actually ACCOMPLISHED something?
Oh, and Mamo-chan was present.
Episode ends in rather cheesy way, but it’s kind of important that we get it out of the way sooner rather than later… Sailor Moon is Jesus.
4. Ace Attorney
This episode delved more into the past, delving into the connection between Phoenix, Edgey and Maya: the DL-6 Incident. It actually does a pretty damned good job of streamlining the case, bringing in Grossberg to testify about the DL-6 Incident and ignoring the whole part where Wright figures out who the mastermind is and giftwraps decisive evidence to him before getting tasered. Not to mention the fact that the evidence in the safe is successfully retrieved and presented in court.
But above all else, it retains the most important thing of all:
To be honest, as iconic a moment as this was, it was ever so slightly mishandled. The court pretty much instantly agrees to calling the parrot to the stand, whereas in the game, the only reason they could call Polly to the stand was because they took advantage of Von Karma sarcastically suggesting that they do so – since it was the prosecution’s idea, they have the right to follow through with it.
Overall, pretty damned good episode. It just needed better animation. Oh, and it’s hilariously bad how the kid voices for Phoenix, Larry and Edgey in the flashback were just less deep versions of their adult voices.
5. Kuma Miko
Wait, we’re still on the idol thing? This series decides to follow through on the weirdest things.
So, apparently Yoshio sent an application for Machi to enter an idol contest. Naturally, Machi wants no part of it. In a sad coincidence, Hibiki manages to finally get it through to Yoshio that Machi legitimately doesn’t want to be an idol, while Natsu pretty much manipulates Machi into agreeing into being an idol. Hibiki gets pissed off but ultimately decides that if Machi is going to go through with it, she might as well go through some intense idol training.
Machi actually gets excited after seeing Sendai and feels good about competing… until the competition part starts and her doubts start crashing down upon her all at once. So, she panics, misses her cue, flubs her words, and faceplants on stage. The episodes with her running away in embarrassment / panic.
Honestly, Machi’s extreme social anxiety has been physically exhausting to watch for at least the past month now. It literally is almost painful to watch at times, and not in a way that makes Machi endearing. It’s more of a “Really, Machi? Really? REALLY? You’re freaking out over THIS?!” She actually hallucinates people judging and mocking her when they’re actually showing concern for her. I’m fairly certain I said it before, but at her worst, Fluttershy never had it this bad.
So… yeah, looks like this is a two-parter. Imagine that.
6. Sousei no Onmyouji
Oh gawd, how did things get this bad so quickly?
The entire episode is a long game of hide and seek where Subaru does a hidden lesson sort of thing with our two heroes. It’s… pretty awful and just an excuse to shiptease for no particular reason. It’s one thing to have an episode focus on developing their relationship, and quite another to utterly regress the progress they made just to artificially develop it, and that’s exactly what these last two episodes have done. The lack of the rest of the cast really hurts these episodes as well. Despite the claims that the heroes have become closer as a couple, the fact is that these two episodes could have been cut out completely and nothing would have changed.
It’s sad, but there’s no contest here. Easily the worst episode of the week, even following an especially weak Kuma Miko episode. When Sousei no Onmyouji is good, it can be really good, but when it’s bad, it can be really fucking awful.