recaps

My Love Story!! – Episode 11: “My Ocean”

Beach Episode! Everyone mark your anime bingo cards!

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It’s a week full of equal-opportunity fanservice, as the gang heads to the beach and both Takeo and Yamato get to ogle one another SO HARD they’re lusty teenage hearts nearly explode from the experience. Fun (and funny) times are had by all, Takeo’s more popular than he’s ever been (even with some of the ladies!), and our young couple very nearly level up their relationship under another trademark Madhouse sunset.

Yet for all the silly rom-com shenanigans, this week is once again filled with crossed signals and miscommunication, and the series itself at last acknowledges (via our beautiful, ever-observant Suna-min Roll) that trouble may be brewing in paradise.

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 112-113

InfoDump? More like InfoAvalanche.

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We’re jumping into a new mini-arc this week, which means new characters, plot points, and major reveals. In other words, lots of stuff for me to write about and a super-sized recap to match. So let’s get right to it. Go-Go Gadget Synopsis!

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 110-111

I hope none of you got whiplash from all those twists and turns we just took.

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We found the plot! We found ALL of the plot! Or, to be more accurate, a certain someone jumped out of their time machine and threw the plot down at our feet. Honestly, the more I think about these two episodes, the messi(ah?)er they are in terms of coherent writing and execution, but as far as emotional reaction and pure entertainment value go, they were pretty dang exciting and did a whole lot to forward the overall story line. So, all in all, I’d call them a success, even if I am going to mock them a little mercilessly along the way. Hey, it’s part of the job description.

Hop in and strap on those seatbelts, gang. Eudial’s takin’ us for a Sailor Moon Spin.

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My Love Story!! – Episode 9: “My Friend and I”

Caution, Web Surfers: Big Raves Ahead.

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We pick up right where we left off, as The Important Day arrives for all of our characters. The episode is neatly divided into two halves, as the mid-episode eyecatch tells us: The “life” half and the “death” half, with Yamato’s BirthDate dominating the first part and Suna’s father’s surgery taking center stage in the second. And, as wonderful and charming and hilarious as the first half is, it’s the second half where the episode makes good on all the connections its built between the characters (and the audience) over the past nine episodes and proves itself as skilled at emotionally affecting drama as it is at romantic comedy.

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My Love Story!! – Episode 8: “My Friend”

Are we sure this series isn’t listed as a bromantic comedy?

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This episode began with me squealing about Suna earning a spot on the cake, and it just went downhill (uphill?) from there. I can chat all calm and measured-like about what happened this week in terms of plot points and character growth and thematic development—and, I mean, I will—but at its heart, OreMono is a sitcom, which means it isn’t about movement as much as it is about getting you to like its characters and want to spend more time with them and root your heart out for their happiness. And if there was any doubt that OreMono had succeeded at that, boy howdy, this episode sealed it.

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My Love Story!! – Episode 7: “My Strength”

Turns out the phrase “flat as an ironing board” isn’t hyperbole after all.

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My Love Story!! took a week to be a sports anime—er, kinda—as the high school judo clubs begs Takeo (on hands and knees!) to join for a month and help them defeat long-time rival Bianka High School in the 19th Annual Shuu-Bi Match. Takeo responds like Takeo—with an immediate and resounding “OKAY!”—but his resolve wavers when Suna points out this means he won’t be able to see Yamato very much for a while.

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 104-105

This may come as a surprise to you, but Sailor Moon takes place in Japan.

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Sailor Moon has its roots deep in the shoujo genre, which historically tends to draw on European fairy tales and romances, so most of the time there’s a universal (or at least “Euro-friendly”) quality to its characters and stories that makes it easily accessible to a western audience. But this week saw us diving deep into Japanese historical and cultural practices, to the point where I was half-tempted to turn my end-of-post bullet points into one big “Sensei Next Door” section.

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