Swamped: Changes, Magical Boys, Kuroko, and Other Thoughts

The Change is here! Last Monday, I started my weekly column at Beneath the Tangles. I can't balance both that and my Rewind posts. In fact, I won't even call these other posts "Swamped" anymore. I might still write the occasional Rewind post, and I have one series I might adapt from an essay, which might work better here than at BtT. But none of that is happening this week.

Instead, a few quick responses to the anime I've been watching lately...

Hakone Yumoto attacks the chikuwabu monster with a loving kick,
soon to be followed by love-powered magic. (ep 1)

I just watched the first episode of Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Love! (aka Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!), because I wanted to laugh. I went to the right anime. It's a parody of magical girl anime, and wow... those magical boys are downright ridiculous. I'm not sure if I'll watch more, but I had fun with the first episode. Their serious discussion about oden reminded me of food discussions in Lucky Star. And the chikuwabu (an oden ingredient) that came to life reminded me a little of the vegetables in Dai Mahou Touge.

It occurs to me that I've watched more magical girl parodies than magical girl anime that take themselves seriously.

Kuroko's Basketball continues to excite me. Also, I am still convinced that Akashi is secretly an alpha dragon. Or a vampire. He has hypnotic cat eyes. That's not natural! Anyway, this dude is scary. I kind of expected him to be a decent fellow, despite the scissors incident in the second season. Kuroko followed him for a long time, after all. But now...

Akashi orders his opponent to lower his head. Look at that shadowed
face and those feline eyes... (ep 5)

Akashi, kiddo, you need an attitude adjustment. For your own good, I hope Kuroko and Kagami manage to defeat you. This whole "emperor" act won't fly in the workplace. Just saying.

I'm trudging through Log Horizon 2. I'm six episodes behind, and it'll be a while before I catch up. I really like the world building and the scenarios. I like learning more about the characters' RL pasts, too. But something about it just doesn't excite me. It's probably the pacing. I mean, one secondary character spent an entire episode reflecting on his past and then giving a speech about it—a long, stereotypical, rally-the-troops and reflect-on-our-friendship speech.

I'm caught up on Daiya no Ace again. My favorite thing about this show is the team and the way they rally together. Not much more for me to say on that front right now.

I just watched the first four episodes of Death Parade so that I could read Japesland's post about it at Beneath the Tangles. So far, I'm not a huge fan. But I'm intrigued by the way they portray human nature. Every episode, people are put into extreme circumstances, and their true nature comes out. The fear, deceit, suspicions, and warped self-images come to the forefront, and it can paint a disgusting picture (the husband in the first episode had a few particularly unflattering close-ups, involving sweat, tears, and saliva, I believe). As I watched, I thought, "Yep. This is what sin looks like."

I finally finished Zankyou no Terror (Terror in Resonance). I went a couple months between the tenth and eleventh episodes. It's a serious, rather dark anime, and I wanted a break from such things. But I still like it. The story and characters are intriguing, and my mind actively works to pull the puzzle pieces together. And the animation is great. If you watch the edges of the screen, you'll realize that "camera" is unsteady... in fact, it seems to be resonating with something, like the air after an explosion.

I'm also watching Shirobako and Durarara x2, but I've written enough for today. What's your favorite anime this season?