reviews

My Love Story!! – Episode 12: “My Grades”

Takeo takes on his most formidable foe yet: Math I.

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As the title suggests, this is the week when Takeo’s poor grades threaten to catch up to him, but it’s less about Takeo’s school work and more about his future plans, and how those plans mesh (or clash) with those around him. As a result, it’s full of college talk, hilariously overbearing and eager-to-please parents practically proposing to Yamato, and a lingering question of where everyone sees themselves after high school. Oh, and it all basically turns out to be Suna trolling Takeo for a solid 20 minutes. Now that’s future planning for you!

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 114-115

The Side-Eye is strong with this one.

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We’ve been in High Octane Plot Mode for a while, but we take Episode 114 off this week to spend some time with the charmingly psychotic Mimete and attend (another) creeper-tastic Sailor Moon casting call. It had its moments, but felt almost out of place given the amount of linear storytelling that happened both before and immediately after it.

I like silly Sailor Moon, but at this point I’m so invested in what’s going on with Hotaru and the Death Busters that any breaks from it feel like time-wasting. The series seems to agree with me, because we went right back to the central story in Episode 115, with backstories told and alter egos unveiled. And at this point, that’s very much as it should be.

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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 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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