Honestly, I just don’t feel like writing much of an intro right now. But I’m gonna do it anyways, because if I just spend this space talking about how I don’t want to write an intro, I’ll just end up with an intro anyways of me talking about just that. So, here’s handful of random stuff—that counts, right?

1. Look at my beautiful screencaps from WIXOSS this week!
2. Three weeks late, I’m finally as excited about Bahamaut as everyone else is.
3. I can’t stop thinking about how much better Your Lie in April would be if Kaori was a violist instead of a violinist.
4. Something something Chaiiiiiikaaaaaaa
5. In case you missed it, the blog hit 100k view this week!

Shirobako, Episode 3: Can you even handle how real Shirobako is? It’s almost like a parody/reference anime where ever few shots you’re going, “Oh! I know what that’s referencing!” Except Shirobako just references real life. It’s really just an endless parade of “Yup, seen/done that before,” moments set in the anime industry instead of our own office jobs. The fact that Shirobako can do that and still be entertaining is, frankly, marvelous. For some reason, my work never seems as interesting as the people in Shirobako‘s work…maybe our office just needs more moegirls and guys? (Side note: actually, the last office I worked in had quite a number of good looking people of both genders.)

Amagi Brilliant Park, Episode 4: It’s really interesting to me that both Sento and Kanie are dealing with the same issues of insecurity born of failing to meet expectations they’ve placed on themselves in order to please others. It’s also notable that Sento already knows she’s failed, but she’s too stuck in her ways to make a change in her behavior. Fortunately, it turns out that her talents are useful in other capacities. She just doesn’t have the charisma Kanie does to manage people as people, but can definitely manage a team in action. Speaking of Kanie’s charisma, his flair for the dramatic popped up again in his little speech to Sento at the bottom of the stairs. For me, this was the most interesting part of the episode—there seemed to be more than a little hint of desperation/over-compensation in how wildly he oscillated from calmly talking into preaching back into calmness. I’m interested to see where, if anywhere, that particular facet of her personality crops up again.

Your Lie in April, Episode 3: I was thinking about writing up a full first impressions post after this episode, which I generally liked while also finding it somewhat troubling. I wasn’t quite as upset about it as E Minor was, but the elements he discusses in his post more or less tackle the same stuff that made me uneasy. This was by far the most “anime” episode of Your Lie in April, which was supposed to be so much more. It’s not right now, and while I’m still kind of halfway sold on it and don’t really see it as a drop…this is a very inconsistent show and it’s got problems.

Rage of Bahamut: Genesis, Episode 4: Fantastic episode from start to finish. Whether it was Amira’s amazing facial expressions and constant whining about being hungry, only to be disappointed by the crab at the end or the well-executed, compelling twist (Farvaro and Rita together in a party is going to be AMAZING), this was one of my favorite episodes of the season. Plus, we got zombies fighting lizard men, sword duels in the rigging, a moment of honesty from Rita about why she’s following Kaiser, and a bit of very interesting information about Kaiser and Farvaro’s backstory. It now makes sense why Kaiser hates Farvaro so much and Farvaro seems to be so apathetic about it—Farvaro didn’t do what Kaiser thought he did. Instead, someone else was manipulating things from behind the scenes. Now we’re spinning into a new story and things look like they’re just going to get better from here.

selector spread WIXOSS, Episode 4: I was going to write a full episodic post for this episode, but then AKB0048 happened and that went down the drain. I had so many screenshots, though! We finally got to see Tama again (she got the bulk of the best screencaps), a lot of Chiyori squeaking, not enough of Ulith being nasty, and too much of Akira slobbering tears. Plus, Ruko, et al. finally contact Futase Fumio, who is probably a girl but looks like a boy, which means the clues that will lead us to the end of the story are on their way. Iona’s perpetual distaste for friendship continues to be one of the more interesting elements of the show for me, although WIXOSS doesn’t seem to be interested in doing much with it right now.

YuYuYu, Episode 3: A chill episode, with a lot less action and a lot more moe girls doing moe girl things—which was pretty okay by me. The new girl (err, what was her name again?) is slightly grating, but her extreme bossiness constantly getting undercut by the obviously more mature Itsuki and Yuuna’s persistent friendliness makes it a bit more bearable. The scene with the phone chat at the end was pretty nice. I also think new girl has the most death flags around her, if YuYuYu ends up diving into death and despair.

In a Sentence

• RWBY, Episode 11: Not that great action-wise by RWBY standards, but the final episode next week should be a fun slugfest.
• Akame ga Kill, Episode 10-16: Chelsea is going to die and I’m going to be sad.
• Argevollen, Episode 16: Still uncommonly good at these interlude episodes.
• Twintails, Episode 3: Tailblue arrives on the scene with a might wave of tsun!
• Garo, Episode 4: Man, the little boy pounding Leòn’s back was the most devastating thing I saw in this week’s episodes.

• Log Horizon, Episode 4: It’d be really great if they let Akatsuki’s soul searching be more than just the same 4 thoughts paraphrased over and over and over again.
• Sora no Method, Episode 4: The longer they hold back the reveal of what happened when the saucer came down, the less I believe everything that is happening in the show’s present.
• Inou Battle, Episode 4: This show is a bad at being funny, and pretty darn good at human relationships, which is kind of a weird combination to have.
• Akatsuki no Yona, Episode 4: The shoujo comedy moments are still working for me, but please won’t someone turn down the music!
• Hitsugi no Chaika, Episode 4: Not much new information today, but there are a lot of cool elements coming together for one heck of a fighting finish.