Seasonal Reviews: Winter 2015 Pt.4

This is it, the last regular set of reviews for the season! We'll be back around the end of March or the start of April to wrap up the season, but there's still quite a bit to talk about before that. And yes, shows are being dropped!

Heads up: Only episode four of ISUCA will be covered due to technical issues.

Dropped Shows

• Samurai Warriors (David O'Neil)

Absolute Duo
Walter Holleger

Last time, there was a large lack of action to this action harem show, well, this time tried to make up for it with mercenaries and ninja's!

With the entire second year class defeated at Lilith's hands, she takes their place in the battle against her first year class. This, naturally, leads to Tor, Julie, and the rest of their friends going all out to take her down. They're interrupted, however, when a group of armored men with guns crash the fight to take Lilith away, so Tor and friends go after to save her. The fights themselves are fine, with some good moments for the main characters, but nothing of any great note. The biggest part of this episode might be that we might have established an actual force that stands against Koryo Academy, so an ok episode.

This next episode bugged me for a couple reasons. The episode focuses on the first year class traveling to an island for some remote training, and as part of the training, they need to venture the ocean and jungle to reach camp. The first thing that bugs me about this is the character Hotaka, the shy girl that we talked about a while back. Her deal then was she felt like a let down and a hinderance to her duo, Tachibana. Now that mentality is back again, but the problem is we've already solved this. Hotaka got over this by doing what no one was else to do, forcing Tor back while he used his shield, and proved that she had one talent that no one else could top her in, raw destructive power, and that's what happens here as well. She realizes she has a power just like everyone else, and she uses it. It feels completely redundant after what we've seen of her. The other thing that bugged me was the horrible sexual comedy styling of the girls of Absolute Duo, cause it's hot and funny to watch girls craving meat and saying suggestive things, and that's just a tip of that iceberg.

Weak Recommendation

Assassination Classroom
David O'Neil

Assassination Classroom is one of the most consistent shows I've seen in a while, continuing to be one of the most fun anime of the season. The sixth episode has the students of Class E facing difficult exams, with all the teachers of the main campus believing E student's failures are all but assured. In response, KoroSensei teaches vigorously in an attempt to help the students overcome the tragic fate that they believe is chained to them, and demonstrate that their futures may not be as set in stone as they believe. It's a good episode about up to par with the rest of the series. It's still pretty ridiculous how over the top the cruelty enacted by the main campus staff towards Class E is, but it is vital to the story and themes put forth. The episode ends on a bittersweet note, but makes for another great example of just how well developed KoroSensei's relationship with his students is.

The seventh episode follows Class E going on a school trip to Kyoto, and while this is a pretty typical school anime episode setup, it hardly follows the usual blueprint for such an episode. Instead of sightseeing, the students are encouraged to use this trip for creative new assassination attempts (we even get some fun facts about famous assassinations in Kyoto!) and it's always fun and weird seeing the student's ordinary student activities being mixed with planning violent attempts at KoroSensei's life. Though the main focus of the episode was less on killing KoroSensei, as around the midpoint of the episode they get into skirmish with students from another school, and end up having to chase them down to save two of their fellow students. The set up could have proven too forced, as girls are carried off by stereotypical delinquent boys like something out of an 80s beat-em-up, but the execution really shines through making for a great episode. The way they work out the situation is really clever, and there's even what I believe is the first instance of KoroSensei really fighting (rather than just dodging and messing with his opponents), and it's a pretty cool sight to behold.

The last two episodes of Assassination Classroom have been at the same level of quality of all the others. As I mentioned before, it's a very consistent show, which is both a blessing and (to a lesser extent) a curse. The show has stayed an entertaining ride through and through, but I feel like it hasn't quite improved much as the show's gone on either. I've really been hoping for it to take it's story to take the next step, to really dig deeper into the emotional aspects of the story and conflicts, but it has all stayed at pretty surface level, simple stuff. The show is fine for what it is as of now, but I do hope at some point it rises above just being a fun romp with a decent amount of depth. But still, it continues to be worth watching.

Solid Recommendation

Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!
Thom "Tama" Langley

Another two weeks, another two episodes of fabulous boys being fabulous; and, as we're now reaching the half-way point of this series, it's only right that the focus of the series is beginning to shift from monster of the week to a showdown between our heroes and villains. Episode 6 begins with just this, with the school council (also the Conquest Club), being snobby and deciding to pay for fingerbowls by dissolving the Earth Defense Club if they don't pass their exams. Diabolic indeed, Wombat promptly orders them to study hard; problematic given Yumoto is...academically interesting (well, that's one way to put it). We're introduced to patsy of the week Itsumo Ichiban (always #1 in tests), and his creepy way of talking. Meanwhile, Akoya attempts to lure Io (the group's best academic) away by creating a tailor-made role for a treasurer on the school council, which Io surprisingly...agrees to. This enrages Ichiban, who ends up second again; unfortunately, it's now test time..and...Ichiban is not #1. Zundar promptly locates his despair. Meanwhile, our quartet are not in great shakes themselves, despite pulling above grade average, due to Io quitting. Ryuu promptly chases after him, and...completely fails to win him back.

Fortunately, a distraction! Ichiban is now a screw...tank...monster...thing. One transformation later, (including a gap for the missing Io), and the tank...screw monster is being...amusingly appropriate. Via tickling. Speaking of Io, he promptly turns up, to rescue his boyfriend. Ichiban is returned to his true form via the power of FRIENDSHIP, and finally, our heroes and villains see each other face to face. Well, kinda. The Conquest Club introduce themselves, fabulously, and then make their escape. Episode 7, and we're on a trip to the ocean, Yumoto is being inappropriate as ever. By a coincidence, so are the Conquest Club, whilst our heroes seem to have found themselves on a...male only beach. Awkward. Next beach over, the Conquest Club relax...mostly by reading. Yumoto meanwhile, finds himself talking to...an interestingly designed bishounen (who seems to have wandered out of an entirely different (and probably NSFW) show). The Defense club find an open aired bath at their hotel, and...someone HAS USED IO'S TOOTHBRUSH. Deliberately.

During their discussion, Io and Ryuu may have accidently confessed to each other, Wombat denies everything, and the fabulousness continues, with our quintet deciding to go on a scavenger hunt. The BL quotient promptly jumps up a notch, with our duos promptly getting rather too close to each other. Meanwhile, the Conquest club themselves get lost, and Wombat loses Tawarayama, who awakens and wanders around for a bit. The awkwardness only increases between Io and Ryuu, and in an attempt to take Wombat to task, they promptly tackle...the Conquest Club. The BL meter creeps up a little more...and Wombat locates the monster of the week, which turns out to be...Mr Tawarayama, and...er, not a monster. Our heroes wander home, and it's revealed that Yumoto (who else?) used Io's toothbrush.

Another two solid episodes, and it's somewhat refreshing to see the Conquest Club take a more central role, and thus move away from merely being a monster of the week show, with Akoya in particular developed via these two episodes. Equally refreshing is the increased boy's love element, and the increasingly adorable relationship between Io and Ryuu. If the series keeps up with episodes and development this good, this show will have a hell of a finale.
 
Solid Recommendation

Death Parade
Joe Straatmann

Oh, hi, plot twist. Literally, an episode starts on one character going through a fairly innocuous activity, and then they blurt out a rather vital piece of information about the arbiters that hasn't been revealed before. That's one way of catching the audience completely off guard. Anyway, the series has gotten into the rhythm of having one episode about the newly deceased and then one episode about the world between life and death in which the arbiters live. The judging of the afterlife is much more labor-intensive task, as indicated by the introduction of Quin, the woman who ran the Quindecim bar before Decim came along (For the people who notice the obvious word play, Quindecim is latin for fifteen. Quin is five, Decim is ten. Unsurprisingly, the bar is on the 15th floor). She now works at the memory factory, literally sorting out the important parts of people's memories before they're passed along and then somehow beamed to the arbiters during their judgment process. Since people die at a rather fast clip, this is arduous work. It seems to me the afterlife should think about digitizing the process, but I'm just a corporal being, so what do I know?

I'm starting to like the episodes where they explore the world more than the death games themselves. Maybe it's because the current death game is a two-parter and the reveal hasn't been made yet, but how the afterlife works has always been fascinating to me, and it looks like they thought it out a decent amount. As I've noted, the logistics seem insane since people die at a rate of two per second and the arbiters get information from memories that are literally sorted through by people. It reminds me of the conveyor belts in Dark City where the Strangers create and organize the objects that make up the residents of the town's new lives every day, and the whole affair seems wildly inefficient for the one hour they get to do it. A 90-floor building with an arbiter's bar on almost every floor seems a bit inefficient. It's likely one of many many buildings, I imagine. But see, this generates a lot of fun discussion you don't get with a lot of other stories.

The dip in quality from the bowling episode has completely righted itself, thankfully. It wasn't terrible, but still very noticeable. The new games have wonderfully stylish trimmings such as an air hockey table with skulls on them I want for my game room should I ever have enough money to afford such things. During the episode focusing on the arbiters, there's a flashback to a billiards game (A nod to the short "Death Billiards" this show is based on) where the 8 ball is the infinity sign. Nice touch. I can't say too much about the current story since it's on-going other than it deals with at least one person who is a murderer and one of the players is a detective who is trying to figure out what the deal with this place is before completing the game. So far, it's not as gripping as the other stories, but there's plenty of time for it to get there. The series may not be the strongest of the season, but it's still the one I most eagerly wait for every week and goes by way too quickly once it gets here. The addition of Quin-a gabby alcoholic-adds plenty of fun to the proceedings in a series that already had a surprising amount of it for being to focused on death. Then again, my dad is a mortician and if there's one thing I've learned, you don't get that job and not have some sort of weird sense of humor about it to get through the day.

Strong Recommendation

Fafner - EXODUS-
Joe Straatmann

In a very strange coincidence, Fafner -EXODUS- and Unlimited Fafnir are dealing with a similar crisis. The enemy has suddenly teleported right on top of the main forces, catching our heroes completely off guard. Whereas Unlimited Fafnir is completely incompetent and bereft of any kind of drama or emotional engagement, this one comes away significantly better, though curiously during the epic battle that acts as a turning point for the series, one of the episodes is one of the most talky and laid back in the series. The episode itself is just fine, but it does create a weird break in the action that seems to imply that combat has subsided when it's quite the opposite. There's a cut late in the running time that goes back to a major part of the coalition forces getting wrecked.

The series is getting deeper into its mythology, so summing up what's going on might be a touch confusing. The Festum have appeared at both the site of the Mir communication device and the main island. The alien collective seemed to have learned from their last battle and are taking the human forces down a peg, including the new Fafner pilots whose fancy moves get brushed off rather easily. The blitz forces the island to unleash its forbidden Fafners whose cores are inhabited by the ghost of the tens of pilots who tried to pilot them and got assimilated, and only Kazuki and Soushi have any hope of being able to pilot them with joining the collective. On top of everything, the body of Tsubaki, the little girl who assimilated herself with alien technology to become the island's soul and power source, is walking around as an entirely new creation much to the surprise of everyone including her mother. Meanwhile with the coalition forces, whatever Festum collective is doing this REALLY doesn't want them talking to other collectives, so they're doing their best to target and destroy the children able to speak to them.

It all sound pretty intense, and for awhile, it is. The action is fairly vanilla in comparison to the first fight of the new teen Fafner pilots, but it's absolutely competent. As I've said earlier,  it reaches a point in which it stops. The island takes care of its business and then they go about figuring out how they're going to support the coalition army who are still getting pounded and then they have plenty of somewhat relaxed conversations and even a subplot on what they're going to name Tsubaki now that she's not Tsubaki anymore. The pieces it lays out are important because the island essentially like a large family, and the latest episode occasionally keys in on the island residents who don't get a lot of screen time or do smaller jobs that are still essential so you might know who they are later. Why this was done here is a bit of a head scratcher.

In all other categories, Fafner is the epitome of consistency.  The work is being put in on every aspect of the visuals to the point where the texture of the digital readouts looks gorgeous in HD. New symphonic music cues are slowly becoming more apparent than the recycled London Symphony Orchestra tracks from the first series, though there is a cue or two that sound a lot more rushed and seem like the composer wrote a couple demo tracks for their new synthesizer. The only thing keeping it from hitting the top echelon of this season's shows is lacks a certain emotional punch. When little children are being hunted by huge monsters, it should be more terrifying than it's portrayed here, which keeps all of the action on a generally even keel. Perhaps this is nitpicking a good show too much, but it's kind of my job to point to point out the reason why it hasn't felt like it's crossed the threshold to great just yet.

Solid Recommendation

Gourmet Girl Graffiti
Megan R

The weeks pass, but my feelings on the show remain the same. Once again, it demonstrates that it knows how to make this slice-of-life thing work and how to fuse the foodie element with it, but then it derails everything with awkward fanservice. I just wish this show would decide on one approach or the other, as this constant back and forth means that the show can never find a consistent tone.

Episode five was probably the most pleasant and easy-to-watch episode since episode three. The set up was simple – the girls want to do all those stereotypically summer events that people in anime do, and they get their chance when Shiina invites them over to her family’s huge old estate. What made it work is that it eschewed all the Shinbo-isms and fanservice for an episode and was content to just be a slice of life series.  It was content to have the viewer follow along as the girls wandered around the estate, talk with Shiina’s mother and housemaid, and (of course) make some food. They had to all work together to create nagashi soumen, doing everything from picking good bamboo to make the slide to Ryou making good dipping sauces for the noodles. It even had a decent running gag thanks to Kirin’s personal summer activity checklist. Everything just fit together in a way that made the episode a genuine, unironic pleasure from beginning to end.  

Then I watched episode six, and all those good feelings I had towards the show and SHAFT disappeared. Like clockwork, the focus shifted from ‘friendship’ to ‘fanservice,’ and this time they decided to get REALLY shameless with it. It wasn’t enough just to have all the usual lovingly rendered shots of eating, oh no. This time they upped the ante by spending a third of the episode in the bath. The plot tries to justify this with a combination of a heat wave and a broken AC, but we all know the real reason this show spends EIGHT WHOLE MINUTES watching underage girls bathe each other and lick melting popsicles. The show is straight up ogling the girls at this point and it’s more than happy to wallow in shameless smut while the world watches.  

I just want this show to take a solid stance on whether it wants to be sweet or smutty instead of switching back and forth from each episode. I don’t think that a little tone consistency is too much to ask from a show that’s midway through its run. That’s more than enough time for the show makers to figure out what direction they want to take their work. Until they get that figured out, my rating for this show will remain the same.

No Recommendation

THE IDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls
Jonathan Kaharl

Thanks to a small delay, I won't be able to cover two episodes this installment, but there's plenty to talk about from just one, so whatever. After episode six gave Mio a meltdown, things are looking bleak as Rin starts to lose trust in the producer, while Mio is depressed and trying to close herself off. The producer is trying to fix things, but it becomes obvious that he doesn't fully know what to do rather fast. As we find out from a higher up at the agency, the producer once looked after another group of idols, but his methods ended up driving them away in a similar manner to Mio and Rin. He became cowardly and closed himself off, thus why he acts so strangely through most of the show.

I really like this idea. The producer from the original series was a solid character in his own right, but we never found out much about his back story. His conflict was solely in the present, but this producer's conflict is in the past. It gives him an interesting layer to his character, and seeing him finally overcome his fears is powerful. The bonds between the producer, Mio, Rin and Uzuki really do make sense here, as all of them have incredible faith in one another, and the relationship makes sense. They're all very different and have barely known each other, but they all share similar goals and connect through that. It also gives Mio's issues more weight than the rather sudden dissatisfaction of her group's debut concert. This episode also cements the whole dynamic with the bunch, with Uzuki as the innocent soul trying to help those close to her, Mio as the ego that sometimes needs to be brought down to Earth, Rin as the sensitive one who really wants the best for her friends, and the producer as the guardian. It works surprisingly well, and how they end up splitting shortly is due to the producer failing to live up to his role and not truly realizing the feelings of the others.

New Generations is back together, thankfully, and things will be getting happier as the series continues on for the Winter season. This has been the constant bright spot in my pile of assigned reviews, and while I wouldn't call it one of the best of the season, it's definitely one of the stronger releases from this season. It really differentiates itself from the original series well, and it may just end up matching that series' later greatness.

Solid Recommendation

ISUCA
Jonathan Kaharl

I'd complain about not being able to see one episode of this show in time, but hey, maybe that's just god trying to tell me something. ISUCA's forth episode is mostly just spinning the wheels, while revealing the show's first major villain and that the writer only took the cliff notes version of world mythology class. A golem is the monster of the week this time, and by "golem," I mean a spiritually possessed suit of samurai armor and not an actual clay golem used by the Jews to get revenge on their enemies. A plot point is made out of the spelling of a Hebrew word to give the monster a weakness, but it serves no real purpose because it comes down to just hitting the paper stuck to the helmet. This shit happens all the time in Japanese fantasy shows. It also highlights just how inept these monster hunters really are. The Shimazu retainers only purpose is to be slaughtered by monsters, and the monster this week wasn't even particularly dangerous. It's samurai armor with a sword, just run away from it. They show absolutely no skill or understanding, and it makes me wonder why these people were even hired in the first place.

Both Sakuya and Suseri are equally terrible as sisters. The two are constantly fighting to gain control over Asano, and Suseri is willing to sacrifice her servants for her own selfish goals. She's morally vile, while Sakuya is just an obnoxious tsundere who's always complaining about something. They're also both unable to do anything at random times for the sake of the plot, robbing them of any agency they had. Everything comes back to how special the normal guy Asano is, and it's just gag inducing. At least Tamako is here. She's not a particularly original character, but she has a lively personality and openly cares about people besides herself, so that's something. There's a lot of backstabbing and plays for power among all sides, but it's impossible to care because of how awful everyone generally is to each other already.

And the comedy ...GAH. It's lazy and cliched, right down to all the boys lusting after Suseri's ginormous tits and Sakuya insulting Asano because her pride won't let her just thank him for help. The series is still as tone deaf as always, and while the animation is starting to improve, it can no longer distract from just how bad everything else is. Thank god this is only ten episodes.

No Recommendation

KanColle
David O'Neil

From the beginning, Kancolle has fluctuated between mediocrity, and flat out garbage, and at the least I'm happy to say the last two episodes have been more of the former rather than the latter. The seventh episode sees the Assault Group 5 finally starting to work together as a team, but also nearly losing one of their members when Kaga is nearly sunk protecting Zuikaku from an attack. It's not a very memorable episode, but a solid one. It presents some decent character interaction, action, and even character development that made it an okay episode.

The show continued this trend, as the eighth episode a decent episode as well. With one of their Fleet Girls damaged, they head to one of the Fleet's secondary bases on a tropical island where they're introduced to a new ship character, Yamato, who's a ship so powerful that she's kept hidden on the island and not allowed to go out to battle. It's hardly the most engaging story, but it's a pretty noticeable step above a lot of the usual tonally inconsistent, uninspired story beats most of the show's episodes have followed. In addition, it expanded on a few of the characters, including some scenes involving the stern leader of the Fleet Girls, Nagato, that made for one of the most genuinely funny comedic scenes the series has had so far. The episode is still hampered by some dumber moments though. It should come as no surprise they couldn't help but use the tropical location to have a semi-swimsuit episode (but honestly, I was expecting much worse than what we got), and also the episode boasts the most use of that horrible "Poi" catchphrase in the series so far, which is a massive strike against the it by itself.

Yet, I didn't loathe the last two episodes of Kancolle like I did many others, to be honest they were competently structured stories with some of the best characterization the series has ever had, which isn't saying a whole lot, but it is something. In addition, the show's done a better job balancing its tone, for the first time it I felt the comedic scenes weren't at odds with the serious scenes, they actually transitioned well. As a whole the show is still fairly unremarkable, but it has begun a trend of improvement.

Weak Recommendation

Maria the Virgin Witch
Joe Straatmann

As much as everybody having discussions on what they believe and how it effects other parties involved are fairly engaging as far as these things go, it's about time for something to really happen here, and boy, does it ever! After mercenary Galfa's victorious duel, he is sought after by the count of the land as well as the local bishop Bernard to stop Maria from intervening in the next battle that could end the war even if that means killing her. Her love interest Joseph has the unfortunate task of being the go-between in negotiations since he's the count's vassal. Ezekiel receives a warning from Archangel Michael that the next interference from Maria will be her last and Ezekiel will literally act as his spear to end her. Everyone is at a crossroad and must decide what they truly want and what they're willing to sacrifice to get it.

I dare not spoil anything that happens afterwards, but the re-upped animation budget is only a hint of the gifts to come. Episode seven is one of those times where a show leaves you saying, "Whoa!" every few minutes. Heady analysis, I know. By being forced to take drastic action, many little cracks of weakness within the characters begin to expand, and in the field of what could be the decisive battle of the war, circumstances get irreversibly messy. Bernard shows his hand as a masterful tactician and manipulator who might be a bit mad in his duties as representative of the divine. Galfa's desperation to become a respected man turns into something else entirely. As for Maria, this is moment where nothing can ever go back to the way it was again. It's that kind of turning point and this show nails it. Well, except for slightly waving away an explanation on how a battle that seemed well in hand gets completely turned around in a matter of seconds just because of one interruption.  Nothing a beautiful insert song can't fix!

Maria is getting to the same point I was with on Production I.G.'s other historical France series Le Chevalier D'Eon before the quality of the story started going south. The first half of that one was absolutely fantastic, and I was a bit surprised about how the series got so bogged down in the reincarnation storyline that I didn't get to the finish. Hopefully, the same fate doesn't befall Maria. It's based on an already-existing manga so there's some decent direction on where to go from here, and the script is by Hideyuki Kurata. While his career hasn't been bulletproof, if there's one thing I've learned from the endings to Now and Then, Here and There and Read or Die -The TV-, it's that he can make a helluva ending. But enough talking about what could happen. Right now, if you're not watching Maria the Virgin Witch, you're missing out on a quality show.

Strong Recommendation

Military!
Jonathan Kaharl

I think I'm done bothering with Military. These past two episodes have only helped to cement how bad this series is, as they have the assassin girl gain a masochist partner used for awful sex gags, then takes things to the beach for a series of lame jokes and bad pandering. Military is seriously one of the least sexy shows ever produced, and seeing it try to titillate through big breasts and revealing swimsuits is just sad.

The series is significantly less gross and obnoxious, but all that leaves is misery. It now grates at me instead of igniting any anger, so I don't see anymore point in following it. At least ISUCA is interesting in the many, many ways it doesn't work, but this is just a waste of time. It's a waste for those who made it, those who distributed it, and those who watched it. There is seriously nothing positive I can say, because even the jokes that almost work somehow fall apart at the end.

No Recoomendation, Dropped at episode seven

Rolling Girls
Stephanie Getchell

Things are just rolling along for the Rolling Girls! This week we finish up our second two part arc as Nozomi and the girls help Hime and Tomoki rediscover their passion for both sachihoko and motorcycle racing after the race between rival vigilante groups is tricked into occurring. As for the next set of episodes in our semi episodic series, the girls make their way to Kyoto for another request. This time it's to help prevent anything from going wrong at an upcoming Rock Festival. However, things aren't that easy as the captain of one of the two local vigilante groups is kidnapped by a rouge group just for fun. The captain is released by the end of the episode after our rouge leader has killed some time. However, there seems to be something else going on between our rocker and geisha groups because the story is the geisha group doesn't like the rocker one. Although, the captain of this group seems to have a fondness for rock music, by the looks of it. Meanwhile, Momiyama has made his way to Kyoto to find Chiaya and figure out why she had disappeared from home in the first place.

Since Rolling Girls is one of.... well.... a lot of Broadcast Dubs FUNimation is cranking out this season, and two of those belong to me, I figured I talk about them briefly this week as well since this as well as Rolling Girls have premiered by the time this seasonal report comes out. It may take some time to get adjusted to Felecia Angelle's Nozomi and Monica Rial's Yukina, but they aren't that bad as of right now. As for Ai and Chiaya, we haven't heard much from them so I can't judge how Jad Saxton or Leah Clark just yet. But, the stand outs for this dub, so far, are Colleen Clinkenbeard's Masami and Jamie Marchi's Shigyo. Marchi's is a good fit since Shigyo is a bit tough and can be hardcore at times, while Clinkenbeard makes sense since Macha Green is a thing. So far so good, I suppose.

The story pattern is very clear, at this point, it's these two episode arcs where the girls reach new areas in order to complete requests. This is a good way to go, making sure not to rush the plot of these arcs and giving them proper conclusions by the end of them. As for our main group of girls, not much can really be said here as they haven't really developed any. If anything, Chiaya, in particular, is even more mysterious than ever which is both odd and interesting at the same time. Considering what happened in the first half of the previous arc, you would understand why I say this. While the series seems to appear as something rather formulaic, the situations Nozomi and the girls get into are what keep this from getting way too formulaic. And then when you add in our mysterious blond quiet girl, viola! You have the makings of something rather interesting. Rolling Girls has remained rather consistent since the start and I can't fault it for that. I would just love some more development for our leads is all. That would make everything even more interesting.

Solid Recommendation

Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend
David O'Neil

I've begun to grow weary of Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend. The show hasn't gotten significantly worse or anything, the visuals and story remain as solid as they had been prior (well, for the most part of the story, I'll get to that later) it's just a few flaws are starting to get more prominent and I'm getting more and more tired of those flaws constantly standing in the way of the show's strengths.

It was during the sixth episode I first started to notice this. From a story and character standpoint it's probably the best episode of the series so far. It focuses almost entirely on Tomoya and Utaha spending a night together, and does a great job expanding on their motivations and relationship. A lot of the episode felt very genuine and even heartwarming, as the two just talked and shared their thoughts and feelings to each other. But, that's only about fifty percent of the episode. The other fifty percent, was lazy, dumb, and often very out of place sexual humor and fanservice. For a while fanservice in the show had actually been near nonexistent, but lately it's made somewhat of a comeback. It's still pretty tame, and nowhere near as bad as the atrocious episode zero fanservice but it's still more noticeable than it had been in a while and it constantly got in the way of me enjoying the episode. And the sex jokes are just as bad, with both episode six and seven doing the "it sounds like their talking about sex when they really aren't" bit multiple times. It gets old really quick.

Also, while the sixth episode was close to being a highpoint for the show, the sixth was something more like a lowpoint. Basically nothing happens for the first three fourths of the episode. It introduces a new character, but she doesn't really do anything to further the story (though she did do a solid job making me feel creeped out, being a middle school girl with some of the most jiggly boob animation I've seen all season). When it nears the end, something of importance finally happens: The show introduces a villain. Yes, as it turns out there's an anti-Tomoya, a handsome popular otaku boy who was once friends with Tomoya, until their different viewpoints on making a name for themselves in the otaku world caused them to grow apart. As a villain he's akin to the Sword Art Online Fairy Dance Arc villain, which isn't a compliment by the way. While he isn't quite that over the top, his slimy, overly smug personality reminds me of that sort of "hey you're supposed to hate me look how much of a jerk I am" character. He's really boring and just seems like a forced way to raise the stakes, after all it's implied he's making a game to rival Tomoya's (but he's not doing it for the love of the sport like Tomoya because he's the bad guy grrrr). So yeah, for now, I'm less than thrilled towards Saekano. It's still fairly entertaining, but it feels like there's a better show trying to get out, being held back by stupid and lazy aspects.

Weak Recommendation

The Testament of Sister New Devil
Jonathan Kaharl

Things are starting to work here. We're not on the path of Sister New Devil being good, that would be insane, but it's becoming competent in a lot of ways ...while growing weaker in others. The hero village drama comes to a head here, as two childhood friends of Basara come around to execute Mio, but decide to have a proper fight for some reasons that actually make sense. Basara is also their target, and they both have some grudges against him for his powers killing several other village children several years ago. However, his power of the void could envelop the entire city (he destroyed an entire mountain and all), so they need time to set up a proper spirit field that will contain everyone's powers. Basara and gang also know they can't run, because the third hero brought along outmatches everyone else and is hinted to be some sort of great criminal, meaning the village means business. They also have Yuki on their side at the moment, so playing their cards wrong means Yuki will end up as an enemy for sure.

People actually act logically in this show, and that is so rare. Even that villain tag-along threatens Basara in a way that makes sense, as he needs to get Mio back to the demon world, but he also wants to kill the hero clan members if they pose a threat to her, so he'll jump in if Basara doesn't get things under control himself. That's a really clever idea! The multiple factions thing is being used and used well here, and that keeps the plot engaging. Basara's and Mio's relationship also grows significantly through a surprisingly effective scene where Maria tricks the two into admitting their true feelings and giving Mio a chance to let her guard down. The three are still pretending to be a family, which is obnoxious, but their relationship is absolutely nothing like that. The foreplay Basara and Mio take part in serves purpose in the plot, as the two bonding and gaining more trust in each other increases their powers, and while it's not particularly interesting smut, it works well enough based on their relationship. Actual character development!

All of this works really well, but the show doesn't really have a moment that makes it special, just better than its very low initial expectations. There are still quite a few problems. We don't really see how much Mio or Basara improved during the hero clan fight, and while the action is well thought out and makes good use of the setting, it suffers from some lackluster animation that drags things down. The demons also get nerfed, as one of their stronger warriors gets one-shotted by the hero clan to show how strong they are compared to Basara's group. It's like the story is too scared to let its set-up really take off and build. Yuki's sister also falls for Basara too easily, and while there is history there, it's such a sudden turn that it's difficult to believe. But, for once, most of what I have to say is positive. My god, what have I become.

Weak Recommendation

Unlimited Fafnir
Joe Straatmann

I once went on for five minutes about how terrible Maburabo was to a friend. They later called me to tell me they'd tried to watch it and it almost literally hurt to get through the first few episodes. I asked them why in the world they tried to watch it when I implicitly told them it was horrible, and they responded, "You told me it was bad. You didn't tell me it was BAD!" So let there be no miscommunication here: Unlimited Fafnir is BAD. Very little effort was made from top-to-bottom to make it a watchable product from any possible angle, even at the level of the lowest, cheapest pandering to pervs (Its fetish is rustling skirts. That's it). I'm saying this so you understand that no matter how much of a massive interstate pileup this sounds like from my description of events, do not make any effort to rubberneck and try to check it out. This show makes underwater basket weaving seem like a rollicking hobby.

The Midgar academy is simultaneously under attack from the dragon Hecatoncheir-a lazy knockoff of an Evangelion angel-and the leader of a deadly dragon cult named Kili. Both are after the facility's newest student Tear, a former kidnapping victim of Kili's who was indoctrinated enough to believe she's a dragon. Kili has an array of deadly D powers including being able to melt bullets right after they're fired, creating shields, and turning entire rooms to ash within seconds. It makes one wonder how Yuu was able to rescue Tear the first time where he was untouched by any member of the cult and strolled casually right into the unguarded, unlocked room she was held. Kili would be a very threatening villain if she didn't adhere to the downfalls of both Jason Voorhies and almost every Bond villain. When an individual gives up on trying to harm her, they just run off to another room with Tear, and Kili lets them, following at the pace of a morning constitution. Look, I know you need the extra inches to look super menacing, but maybe leave the high-heel platform shoes home during the next infiltration. Once she does get Tear cornered, she feels the need to have in-depth conversations, because she can't simply take Tear and hand her off to Hecantoncheir to be transmogrified into a dragon. Why achieve your ultimate goal when you can have the same conversation you had five minutes ago? By the way, what's the dragon doing all this time? After shockingly teleporting right over the academy, the dragon spends most of the attack JUST STANDING THERE.

Now I know this is going to surprise you, but our heroes find a way out of this. Not only that, but the two-episode arc is so stuffed with action and excitement that it has an entire ten minutes to fill after the chaos had subsided. Whatever can they do to make it to 24 minutes? Well, since many of the rooms were destroyed in the attack, Yuu needs new residential facilities and the girls argue over who he should live with. Tear, who looks twelve by the way, argues that since Yuu's eventually going to be her bride and that the fact that she kissed him proves it, he should live with her. Iris, the generic initial girl, argues that she kissed him first and on the lips, so he should live with her. Then Yuu's sister Mitsuki takes command and says he's living next to her and that being his sister and all, she kissed him first. That's one way to win an argument, I suppose. Don't watch this show. Please don't watch this show.

No Recommendation

World Break: Aria of Curse for a Holy Swordsman
Stephanie Getchell

INCOMING: OBLIGATORY BEACH/TRAINING CAMP EPISODE!! I had a feeling one of these would happen eventually, but I did not expect the biggest and strangest thing to come out of it would be Kanzaki, the Vice-Captain of the Strikers, because she is, for lack of better phrasing, horny as hell! Let's just say that she's a bit grabby as well as likes to shove corn where it should never belong... As for the second episode I got to watch this week, the training camp turns into a big monster battle as the Strikers take down a metaphysical. That's the basic plot of these two episodes, but there are a few big pieces to know going forward. One is that Satsuki seems to have this intuition as to the appearance of metaphysicals as she does sense our large turtle shaped friend during the fifth episode. The second is that, while the training camp was going on, the Head Six were meeting to discuss whether or not to promote Moroha to Rank S. The result, after using the metaphysical as a test, is that Moroha will be promoted, however he won't become a full fledged one until he graduates. "A three year probation" as one of the Head Six called it. Third, the head of the Russian branch isn't too keen on Moroha becoming Rank S for.... Some reason, I don't know, she is sending someone in to take him out.

This is the second out of my three to have a Broadcast Dub as well as the fourth out of the Rainy Day Seasonal Report to gain one (although Kamisama Kiss 2 and Tokyo Ghoul Root A also have Broadcast Dubs as of this report's release, and another four series will get theirs in the coming weeks). I did get to see the first episode of World Break's dub and it looks to be a rather solid one so far. Clifford Chapin's Moroha and Jad Saxton's Shizuno are the stand outs for me here, while Felecia Angelle's Satsuki keeps the level of annoyance that I've come to expect from the character. Then there's some of the writing and lines from this episode such as using homewrecker a few times as well as me laughing at the "itty bitty titty committee" line. As dumb as this series is, I'll admit, it's at least good to know that the dub is going to be a decent one. I'm pretty sure Chapin will be able to carry the series and do this rather well. Though, it does make me wonder, how that whole training camp episode I just watched will play out.... Mostly cause Kanzaki exists.

There's not a lot of new stuff to talk about here, as the story seems to be progressing naturally even if there are points where it gets out of hand or really really weird. Seeing as how this is the obligatory beach/training camp episode, you will expect to see some cliched gags in there along with our really really horny Vice-Captain; which is probably the only real different part about these stereotypical episodes because her personality is just out there. Our three major characters, Moroha, Satsuki, and Shizuno seem to be developing rather decently, with Satsuki taking on the most out of the three this time around. This is good because she is beginning to go from annoying to capable, making my ears last a little bit longer. Seeing as how this is the last week for Seasonal Reports until the finale, and it is the last chance I have to drop it, World Break has been a big iffy one for me. While it does have some interesting ideas and plot points, it's terribly cliched and even throws some of those plot devices out the window, making me scratch my head and ask what the point of it was. It then becomes the question as to whether or not I plan on dropping it now or just sucking it up and riding this mess out until the very end. I'll admit, I planned on dropping it before watching this week, and I have decided that that is what I plan to do here. HOWEVER, this is more because of the slue of review work I have going on as well as personal things to sort out. This way, I can save myself even a little bit of time. I would like to go back to this show once the Broadcast Dub is done because that first episode, alone, has me wanting to continue watching the dub, at the very least. Gotta have my silly trash once in a while, ya know!

Weak Recommendation, Dropped at episode six

Yatterman Night
Stephanie Getchell

It's been a good while since we've broken the fun and silly times mold this series has been throwing at us these past several weeks, and I am glad we return to a much darker tone. With General Goro's persistent attacks against Leopard and the others waring them out, Voltkatze and Elephantus suggest that they give up on giving a good old forehead flicking to Yatterman. Discouraged, Leopard takes off on her own with the intention of forcing them to follow her. However, when the rest of the group does finally follow them, they are once again attacked by Goro and his men with Leopard still separated from the group and Galina captured. As a way to draw them out, Goro decides to use Galina as bait, and announces to the local villagers that the rebels will be executed at dawn. Leopard goes to save Galina after struggling with the realization that she can't accomplish her dream on her own, and the rest of the group appears to help Leopard and rescue Galina. As for the other episode, I won't go too into detail, but it pretty much involves a trap set by Goro while taking advantage of the group's big hunger problem. Also a rather odd fisherman who finds them erotic.... I guess.... But there is one more slight detail I want to mention. Beginning with episode six, it seems that Goro has some kind of connection to Galina and Ally. His pet dog seemed to know who Galina was when he was captured, and Goro keeps seeing Ally as if he knows her from somewhere and can't place his finger on it.

As I just said, these episodes have a nice break from the silly and light hearted moments we'd been seeing these past few weeks along with some new bits of plot development in the way of General Goro and his possible connection to Galina and Ally. Episode six gives much more focus on Leopard's flaws, particularly that she's a small innocent child who is throwing herself into danger as well as seeing how weak she really is on her own. It's a wonderful piece of character development for her as we haven't seen too much in terms of weakness from Leopard since the first couple of episodes. We also get to see how Voltkatze and Elephantus view her, since both of them loved her mother, Dorothy, and made promises to themselves to watch over Leopard. Throughout the episode, they begin to feel encouraged that Leopard may actually be able to change how the world is, referring to Ally's belief that Leopard is, in fact, an angel sent to save them. This episode is very well written and incorporates so much development for several characters rather well, along with beginning this interesting mystery surrounding Goro. As for episode seven, there isn't too much put in there, like I mentioned. But I do want to say two things. One, the animation quality did take a slight dip so, there's that. More importantly, this is the episode where we see Galina growing and becoming a more well rounded character. Because of the time he's been spending with Leopard and the others, his mind set has changed since the first time we've met him. We see this a little bit in episode six, but it's more or less outright stated in episode seven which makes me rather happy. Seeing as how Galina is a decent sized character in this series, it makes me happy to know that he's progressing nicely.

Reaching this half way mark for Yatterman Night is rather wonderful because there has been so much that has happened and yet there is still some mystery in it as well as questions still floating around. We've gone from a small group of people trying to punish supposed heroes for being absolute jerks, to a mission to free the world from their corrupted rule. Along the way, we're meeting characters who either remain rather consistent or actually grow and change in the series, as well as have a recurring villain who is just as much a mystery as the Yatterman. The show has been balancing itself out with light hearted and dark and somber episodes really well giving us both fun and serious. The progression is there and it is strong! .....Even if some moments aren't explained all that well.... Seriously, when the heck did you dig that trench?!

Strong Recommendation

Yurikuma Arashi
Thomas Zoth

We're already halfway through Ikuhara's newest series, and all of the show's mysteries seem about ready to burst forth to the surface. Reality seems to be blurring into stories and fairy tales, and I can't help but feel disappointed this series really has no time to breathe. I disagree with those who say the characters are just cardboard cutouts: By this time in the series, they're all unique and welcome members of the Ikuhara canon. I just wish Ginko's backstory had gotten a full episode, or maybe two. With thirty nine episodes Yurikuma could have been another expansive tapesty, though what we're getting is fine enough.

Ginko now has a fever from jumping into the fire to rescue Sumika's letter for poor Tsubaki. Despite Lulu surrounding her with shaved ice desserts, she doesn't seem to be getting any better. Until Tsubaki visits her, and with a yuri amour, Ginko appears to spring to life. It turns out to be just a dream, or a memory of Tsubaki's, but it gets her to wonder why Ginko has shown such an interest in her, and slowly she begins to remember a friend she had when she was small. When Lulu makes some Honey Ginger Milk to cement the ties of love between Tsubaki and Ginko, Tsubaki finally remembers the truth of her long lost love for Ginko.

The forces of exclusion remain on the march, most centrally Tsubaki's teacher, Mrs. Yuriika. She's long been a suspect based on clues in the series, and I'm happy Ikuhara doesn't drag out the mystery longer than necessary. Yuriika is also a bear, and dispatches poor evil Kaoru, who thought she'd finally found a way to keep from being excluded. Alas, Yuriika apparently trusts no one, and for good reason: It's clear she's the bear killer of Tsubaki's mom, Reia, although Yuriika is clear to place the blame on the bear with the star pendant: Ginko.

When Tsubaki sees the pendant on Ginko's chest, she is horrified. She appears to have found her mother's killer at last. The Judgmens of the Wall of Severance call for a confrontation between Ginko and Tsubaki, with Yuriika egging Tsubaki on to shoot Ginko. Tsubaki refuses, until Lulu reveals the horrible crime that Ginko committed, conveniently and cruelly omitted in the last scene because the thunder is too loud for viewers to hear. As the episode closes, Tsubaki appears fully ready to murder Ginko for what she has done.

Ikuhara's stellar direction, and eye for picking out collaborators, really help to bring this episodes to life. Much like the illustrations in the storybook, colorful stained glass windows illustrate the majesty of the goddess Kumaria, and a silhouetted war montage makes the cruel war between humanity and bears seem surreal and disturbing. Another interesting character is Yuriika's father figure, a very feminine man with high heels and an obsession with purity. Is this a commentary on the yuri genre itself, or more thematic exploration of the idea of exclusion? Although the series has been far from a horror one, all of the horror references make sense, because behind every horror story is a tale of tragedy. Hopefully our yuri bears will be able to turn their story into one of triumph.

Solid Recommendation

Second Opinions

Assassination Classroom

Jonathan: The director did not disappoint. This show is really making the most out of the visuals, and it's truly stunning at times, especially during the math test. The show knows its focus and works with it perfectly, and that amazing mixture of lighting, shadow and color makes for some truly memorable settings and scenes. How in the world did Seiji Kishi get so good at directing? Who did he sacrifice!? Strong Recommendation

Stephanie: It's very clear, this week, that killing their teacher isn't the only thing the E-Class has to deal with, because the school's principal looks to restore the status quo after Nagisa cause a small incident after the school assembly. However, Korosensei is just even more motivated to see his students succeed, which is really wonderful. Then there's the school trip to Kyoto where high schoolers decide to kidnap the girls from Nagisa's group. Episode one we had to keep Korosensei from hurting anyone, but this is probably a good exception as we see him really take on a group of people for the first time who know nothing about him. I also find it nice that we're getting a more regular group of students to follow alongside Nagisa; those being Karma Kaede, Sugino, and Okuda, as well as adding Kanzaki into the mix. As for my thoughts on the Broadcast Dub for Assassination Classroom, believe it or not, but trying to peg down a Korosensei was a challenge! However, I will say that Sonny Strait is a wonderful choice to take this role on! Lindsay Seidel's Nagisa is great so far, and, despite having previous hesitations, I am sold on Austin Tindle's Karma! And he only had a short scene so far! All in all, this week has been fantastic for A-Class, and it makes me giddy to know it will only get even more crazy in the coming weeks! Strong Recommendation

Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!

Stephanie: If you never thought we would get so much shipping in this series before, well then watch these two episodes because there are ships sailing all over the darn place! What makes it even more silly and wonderful is that it happens through situations that can't 100% be controlled. Then there's the sudden shout out to Detective Conan during episode seven that was the most random shout out, to me, in history! It hasn't tried to do anything too outstanding save for parodying the crap out of magical girl shows as well as giving us some clever writing and ideas, but that's fine by me because laughing is just wonderful either way! I just. I just can't even deal with this series right now because I am laughing like a nut case! Great way to start off my seasonal report this week! Strong Recommendation

Death Parade

Stephanie: These two episodes, for this week bring two different things that I feel are rather important. The first is we see how Decim and Ginty started out at arbiters, as well as see Nona having ulterior motives in regards to Decim. The second is, by the looks of it, a two part arc involving Decim and the Woman's first time handling a case involving a murderer. This will certainly be one that will end badly for someone. Frankly, I'm glad we're getting more characters thrown in as well as see an underlying plot taking shape. We finally get to meet Quin, Mayu is still around (though I was confused as to why for a bit), Ginty is involved in a different manner, Oculus looks to be a foal to Nona since she is plotting something, and then there's Decim and the Woman who are, basically, at the center of it all. Things are beginning to get intense here! In terms of this show's Broadcast Dub, Alex Organ's Decim is magnificent while Eric Vale's short stint as Takashi was just insane! The man is a trooper since he confessed that he was sick during the second half of his recording session for these two episodes! As for Jad Saxton's Nona and Jamie Marchi's mystery Woman, I think they're rather solid! Strong Recommendation

Walt: Death Parade still manages to hook me in each week with more surprises. Episode 7 features some of Decim's past as we see his first reaction to a judging, along with some everyday life with Onna, and is an overall lighthearted venture. There's also some hints that Nona has a odder connection to Decim than just manager and employee. Episode eight returns us to the dark and gritty judgement that hooked us in at the beginning, with a game of air hockey between two men, one of whom has killed. It's as intense as ever with new memories coming back to each player as the score goes higher, placing more and more stakes on the table. Strong Recommendation

Gourmet Girl Graffiti

Stephanie: After watching episode five, this week, I really began debating on whether or not I want to keep watching this series. Aside from World Break, Gourmet Girl is among the weakest that I've been following this season. It has it's charm and rather silly moments, however it's very copy paste for each episode and nothing really new or exciting has come in since I started watching it over a month ago now. Considering the amount of work I have in the coming month or so, both blog related and personal, I'm fine with dropping Gourmet Girl. The charm has died down and it's just gotten plain old boring. Weak Recommendation

Maria the Virgin Witch

Jonathan: I'm really enjoying this one. The humor is great, and the plot is twisting and turning in interesting ways. Characters are all likable or understandable, and even the most simplistic have some unexpected depth (even that dick mercenary!). It's just very well written, and the animation and art is constantly lovely to look at. I've never seen a show do so much right so often, and I'm glad it exists in this slog of a premier season. Strong Recommendation

Stephanie: This is the first time where we really see Maria's actions have consequences and I think it was wonderfully written! We also have more development for characters like Ezekiel and Viv as well as integrating Maria in with other witches to give us a little more breathing room and a slightly more relaxed Maria compared to what we have seen up until this point. And, I will say this again, Maria and Joseph are way too adorable when they are together with that little stint involving Galfa making it even more wonderful. Speaking of Galfa, it also looks like the story is about to work itself into a rather dark turn. All in all, we're doing really great with Maria now that I've reached the half way point! Strong Recommendation

Rolling Girls

Joe: I've drifted away from following this series. The race a couple episodes ago was actually a really nice way of wrapping up that particular arc, but I have absolutely no interest in the main characters which  is kind of important even in a show where they're only slightly more than portals to a crazy world. I garner no dislike of it, and it has plenty of energy and imagination even if it's used on throwaway moments (So one character just has a device that visualizes other people's memories and it's used once as a way lead into a flashback and never mentioned again). It simply feels like I'm wasting too much effort trying to like this series when I should just let it go. Weak Recommendation

Jonathan: The more I see of this show, the less I feel while watching it. The first two episodes sell a completely different show, and there's very little development for the main cast, and we're currently halfway through the series now. It has a great sense of humor and all, but I don't get what it's trying to say beyond "don't give up!" Give up on what? The supporting characters get goals to work towards and learn lessons, but our main girls haven't changed at all since the first episode. I think they're meant to be supporting cast in other stories, but then why did we have those first two episodes? If the series doesn't come together in the second half, all that I'll remember this one for is the pretty visuals. Weak Recommendation

Yatterman Night

Jonathan: Tatsunoko really needs to do re-imaginings like this far more often, because they keep producing gold. No other show this season has had the sheer amount of heart as this one, and it somehow manages that with toilet humor. That alone is an incredible accomplishment. The sheer spectacle of it all is just icing on the rich, flavorful cake. Strong Recommendation

Tom: Yatterman is still one of the strongest contenders for anime of the season, but the last episode didn't help its reputation any. While there was some great thematic material on the weaknesses and naivete of idealism, and development for Galina, most people will remember this for the character with a fish fetish. I love Kazuyuki Fudeyasu, but this is as close as he's come to putting Milky Holmes' Twenty in Yatterman Night. Some skeevy shots of Leopard don't help, either. Last week's episode was an absolute triumph, and if the pattern of funny episode/ tragic episode continues, next week's will be something to write home about. Solid Recommendation

Yurikuma Arashi

Joe: I'm glad this show gets to the meat of the story quickly. I may sound too overcritical of Utena than I mean to, but the first half was tedious repetition getting to an obvious mid-series ending point spent waiting for it to get to what it was really about. There were a few hints of the same process here, but after a few episodes of setting up the world, it's dived head-first into the wonderful world of fairy tales mixed with melodrama that both understands how cheesy it is and knows how to ring the most emotion out of it. Oh, and of course plenty of abstract symbolism. These are all the things Ikuhara fans live for and they're delivered in record time. Strong Recommendation

Jonathan: And now there's commentary on religion. Is there anything this show about gay bears can't handle? There was no contest with this series, so many of us knew this would be the season best, and unless something goes horribly wrong in the finale, that prediction seems to be locked. Strong Recommendation

Stephanie: So during the last report, I mentioned that I didn't have a clear idea as to what Yurikuma was really about except the heavy homosexuality idea. After some reading and some discussing with friends, I have a slightly better understanding of this show's ideas which makes me enjoy it a bit more. But, really, these last couple of episode are what helped my enjoyment a lot as we are really starting to see the pieces fall into place including what happened to Kureha's mother long ago before the start of the series. With everything coming together, and the awareness that Yurikuma is set for twelve episodes now, that means things will get very intense and crazy with these last four episodes. Then there's the upcoming Broadcast Dub set for mid March alongside Maria, Absoulte Duo, and the second half of Yona of the Dawn which has my interest. Seeing as how dubs for most of Ikuhara's work tend not to come out all that well.... Strong Recommendation