foxinthestars

Brief interim reports:

Creamy Mami: After several episodes to settle into its formula, it does get fun. Still not something I would buy, tho.

Devil Survivor 2:
Last week (ep 10): "OMG OMG OMG!!!"
This week (ep 11): "::nod:: That's fair."

Gargantia: Chamber was as unimpressed as I was, although I'm not sure I buy his reasoning. I'm also not impressed when an episode ends on a note of "Wait, what? Cultists!? And where the hell are these objects in relation to each other??" (I called this development early on, BTW, although I didn't know what it would look like.)

I also didn't notice my love for Chihayafuru deepening, but I guess it did since I actually put a set of karuta cards on my wishlist and started trying to memorize the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (up to 14 now! I can understand enough of the words to make it easier!). Really hoping they get another season.

And the first Spring show to actually end:
Watching Red Data Girl in previews made it the first Spring show I got to see the end of, and the end was pretty much like the rest of it: neat to watch (especially being actively interested in this sort of thing), but I wish it hadn't kept me at such a distance. (I actually would be interested to read the books; they stuffed like 5 of them into 12 episodes, so I think compressing the material was part of the problem.) The end of the next-to-last episode was very satisfying in seeing Izumiko assert herself, but the ostensibly larger issue that came to a head (the distinction or lack thereof between Izumiko and the Goddess) just never made any impression on me. I also kind of like that the most dangerous character in this thing is also perhaps the most genuinely likeable, in a way that defies the usual "beware the nice ones" and "innocent monster" tropes and is very appropriate to the character's nature. Still, I do wish I'd been able to get close with this show and I never really could.

(I had to laugh, we saw so little of Hodaka after he was introduced that I flat out forgot Ishida Akira was in this show, so when we panned across him expositing into a cell phone at the end with his light-ish brown hair and glasses and that voice I was like "::double-take:: Natori-san!?" It didn't help that had they wanted to do an homage cameo, a walk-on role as an observer of their clandestine supernatural Olympics would have made perfect sense. Perfect enough that I suddenly want crossover fic...)

I still need to post about my last couple of back-catalog indulgences. I did get through Legend of the Galactic Heroes to my satisfaction (I finished the main series, decided enough was enough, and left the Gaiden stuff for another time), and went on to watch Mushi-Shi, so maybe I'll do that later. I've actually been taking some extra dips on the pretext of researching things nominated for