reviews

Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 21-22

So when do Zoisite and his boyfriend get to take over as the Bad Guys, exactly?

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While there have been a few high points this arc, I noticed that I’ve enjoyed the last nine episodes quite a bit less than the first thirteen. There are some (pretty glaring) issues with the growing romance between Moonsagi and Tuxedo Mamoru that play into this, but I think the main problem here is that Nephertiti Nephrite is just so…

Well, if you’ve been reading my recaps (or if you read the ones in this post), you have a pretty good idea how I feel about him. I know Jadeite didn’t have much in the way of a personality, but his schemes were so elaborate (pet shops! amusement parks! buses to Hell!) that it made the story a lot more fun and the plots seem much less formulaic. I’d give Beryl’s right arm for a good old fashioned Love Boat of Death right about now.

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Rule of Three Review, Ladies’ Digest: Blue Spring Ride, HaNaYaMaTa – Episodes 2-3

Sometimes you don’t have to do anything new as long as you’re doing it well.

I don’t have a ton to say about either of these shows (although most of what I do have to say is positive), so it made sense to roll them into a digest. Hit the jump to spend some time with our lady-led Monday series.

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Rule of Three Review, Digest Edition: Space Dandy 2, Akame ga Kill!, Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun – Episodes 2-3

“Easy like Sunday morning,” my ass.

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In addition to our many new shows, I’ve also got my sports show carryovers to watch (Baby Steps and Haikyuu!!), plus Sundays are usually my translation days, to say nothing of the cleaning and grocery shopping and annoying Adult Stuff I should be doing, so… Yeah, there’s a lot happening. You’ll have to forgive me if I cluster these, but sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures. And so…

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Panning the Stream: Nobunaga Concerto, Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance

The stream is running a bit on the dry side.

I was really hoping to get a third show to go with these (which is to say I was hoping Funimation would finally get around to streaming Barakamon seeing as how they LICENSED it I mean what are you WAITING for, an INVITATION, because HERE’S YOUR INVITATION STREAM BARAKAMON ALREADY RAWR), but it looks like we’ve run out of licenses for the moment.

So then, here’s the final pair of shows to trickle down the stream: one mixed bag followed by a big bag of awful. I’ve also included the shortlist of summer shows airing but not (legally) streaming, which I’m still waiting to review. Enjoy!

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 19-20

Yep. Sailor Moon definitely works better as an ensemble show.

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Man, but I like this series so much more when it shifts the focus even just a little bit away from Usagi. When it comes to favorite episodes, they all seem to be the ones where she helps other people out (both episodes with her brother have been great), or the rare times when the show becomes a true ensemble, either balancing the screen time for the scouts equally or focusing on a different Moonie altogether. Usagi’s good qualities are easier to see when we aren’t also constantly seeing her falling down, crying, getting scared, or mooning over Tuxedo Mask. (And yes, pun intended. Pun ALWAYS intended.)

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