It was HUNTER X HUNTER and SPACE BROTHERS' turn to skip a week this time, but as usual I'm pretending that didn't happen, or else my weekly rankings would be full of gaps and inconsistent numbering. At least both episodes were worth the wait, and having two less to watch after a weekend away without internet made catching up that little bit easier.
Attack on Titan's pace might have slowed noticeably, but as long as the thrilling cliffhangers keep coming, it'll keep scoring highly!1 -(1)
2 - ( 1)
3 -
4 - (5)
5 - (2)
6 - ( 1)
7 - ( 3)
8 -(6)
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11 - ( 5)
12 - ( 1)
13 - ( 5)
14 - (2)
15 - (2)
16 - ( 1)
17 - ( 5)
18 - ( 5)All's fair in love and war games.
MOVING UP:
Emerging from the red zone after five long weeks is STELLA JOGAKUIN KOUTOUKA C3-BU! The series is still far from perfect, but the shock ending made episode 8 stand out this week. We've seen Yura's personality change a lot over the course of the series; most recently, following Sonora's injury, she's become a tyrannical leader, forcing the rest of the club to do whatever it takes to win the tournament, even if it means taking all the fun out of it. And they do winthough only because Yura cheated, playing on as a 'zombie' after taking a hit. Worst of all, she even seems to believe that she won fair and square herself!
Also placing higher than it has done all season is SPACE BROTHERS, finally back in the Top 5! I assumed that this episode would centre on Mutta's new job assisting the NASA engineers on designing the perfect buggy, but while he did pick up a good pointer from Hibito about the breaks, it was the younger brother's previously undisclosed issues that were the main focus. Turns out his near-death experience on the moon has left him with a phobia of being in a space suit in zero gravity, and unless he can get over it, he may never be able to go on another lunar mission! Here's hoping the brothers beat the odds, and get a slightly better photo of themselves side by side on the moon than the one taken for that magazine!
Probably of embarrassment, before anything else!
MOVING DOWN:
Things weren't so great for DANGANRONPA this time around, though, which failed to make my Top 10 for the first time. It has been gradually dropping for a while, as the insane cast are rapidly killed off, making the (increasingly bizarre) murder mysteries easier to solve. I wouldn't like to have to vote on Sakura's killer at this point though, I'll admit. The series still has potential to creep back up, though, as there's so much going on behind the scenes that we still don't know about - who's running the survival game, and why? Is there an unknown, sixteenth participant? And what's with all those photos of the supposedly dead players having a good time with each other?!?
Didn't expect this guy to last as long as he hasI'm thinking he and Fukawa/Syo are too obvious to be guilty this time, though.
GENERAL COMMENTS:
KITAKUBU KATSUDOU KIROKU returned with a fantastic episode, and made my Top 10 for the first time! High praise, for what was little more than a game of . Featuring only two of the usual cast of five, standing facing each other for over 10 minutes, playing a word game that doesn't translate well, you'd think the episode would be dire, especially for a non-Japanese speakerbut no. With one new rule and in a style reminiscent of (and likely parodying) , this simple game was transformed into a strategic, psychological battle, with both players trying to back the other into a corner, forcing them to say the word written on the hidden 'taboo' cards. It was as dramatic as it was stupid, always a good combo. As for the final segment, it took a while for the penny to drop and the main gag to become clear (again, shiritori does't translate well), but it was cute even without that.
Lastly, GENSHIKEN NIDAIME seems to be stuck in third place, the season's best comedy offering losing out to shows with action and plot, as is so often the case. Have to admit that this week's episode wasn't as funny as some of the earlier onesbut Hato-kun and Madarame's in-depth discussion of otokonoko games more than made up for that. It's stuff like that which makes me think that I'll miss Genshiken Nidaime more than anything else after it ends - there will always be more action anime, even if they're not as high-budget and thrilling as Shingeki no Kyojin, or as stylish as Gatchaman Crowds, but shows like this are much harder to find.
Hooray for niche anime!
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