Rule of Three Reviews, Sequel Digest: Yowamushi Pedal, Chaika the Coffin Princess, Psycho-Pass – Episodes 2-3

Nothing like spending Friday with some old friends.

Figured I’d pop in with quickie updates on the sequels I’m watching this season (sans Mushishi, since it’s only on Episode 2), and let everyone know how we’re doing. Mostly positive statements of varying degrees across the board, so we’ll keep this short, since if you’re looking at sequel reviews then you’re probably already invested in these shows (and if you aren’t watching Yowapeda yet, you really should be, as it’s one of the most delightful shows of the year). Hit the jump to check in with autumn’s returning players.

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Rule of Three Review, Flower Digest: Your Lie in April, Yuki Yuna wa Yusha de Aru – Episodes 2-3

I need to have a conversation with the folks in charge of scheduling.

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Thursday is an insane day for me this season (lots of new shows, plus those Sailor Moon Newbie Review posts), so I hope you’ll forgive me for combining these two shows. Your Lie in April certainly deserves its own post, but I ended up not having that much to say about YuAru, so rather than force my fried brain to keep typing, I figured I’d just tag a short review onto the end of a longer one. Hit the jump for a lot of positives, a few negatives, and one lovely new show.

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 47-48

R you ready for a new season?

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A Note on Spoilers: I didn’t really mind spoilers previously, but we’re entering the part of SM of which I know almost nothing, and I now have some other readers who are watching SM for the first time as well. To keep the experience fresh and exciting for both them and me, please avoid posting any future plot points (related to either the anime or the manga) in the comments section. Thanks!

Well’p. The bad news is that everyone has amnesia. The good news is that Sailor Moon’s creative team looked at this whole Sailor Moon Reboot thing and went, “What? Spend a bunch of episodes having the girls slowly regain their memories and powers? PSSSH. Ain’t nobody got time for that! We have magic cats. We can fix this in, like, two episodes, TOPS.”

And so they did!

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Rule of Three Review: Parasyte (Kiseijuu) – Episodes 2-3

The tale of a boy, his hand, and the trouble they get into together.

I worried during my premiere post that I might not be able to stick this one out, not because it wasn’t good (it was), but because it was a horror series that was hitting one of my major Heebie-Jeebie buttons, as I have a deep-seated terror of mind-controlling aliens crawling into people’s ears (thanks for that one, Animorphs!). So how do we stand two episodes later?

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Rule of Three Review, Fantasy Digest: Rage of Bahamut Genesis, Yona of the Dawn – Episodes 2-3

It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad fantasy world.

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If anyone ever grumbles to you that all fantasy is the same, just shove these two shows into their faces, because while they may share a genre label, that’s about all they share right now. Bahamut is a western medieval barnburner full of heavenly forces, historical figures, and larger-than-life personalities, while Yona is an eastern political drama that spends as much time in the past developing its characters’ histories as it does on the dramatic events of the current timeline. Yes, these two are complete opposites – except, of course, for the fact that I’m enjoying the hell out of both. Hit the jump to see just how much.

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Rule of Three Review, Bubble Digest: Laughing Under the Clouds, In Search of the Lost Future – Episodes 2-3

The moment of truth.

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These two shows have a surprising amount in common for me, despite their wildly different settings, casts, and overall tones. Both struggled to get me invested in the characters and the story during the first episode, both had what I saw as some pacing issues where I kept waiting for them to get to the point, and both kept me watching thanks to some late-episode reveals and ongoing mysteries that held enough promise for a three-episode rule. So did they live up to that potential, or did they lose their futures on my watchlist? Hit the jump to see how they look a couple episodes later.

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Panning the Stream: Mushi-shi: The Next Passage (Part 2), Yuki Yuna wa Yusha de Aru, Girlfriend BETA

The stream may have slowed to a trickle, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still find some gold.

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It always feels strange to do a premiere post after doing a Rule of Three Review, but due to licensing issues and delayed release schedules, sometimes it happens. This time we’ve got girls both magical and vanilla (in every since of the word), plus an old friend returns (again!) and I’m very happy to see him. Hit the jump to read what may very well be the last premiere post of the fall season.

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