Alright, time for the Minori introduction episode aka the so much Yui Horie episode! If you didn’t already know Kana Asumi was my favorite Japanese voice actress, you’d probably be fooled into thinking Hocchan is my favorite and, well…it’s a pretty darn close race. Anyways, Minori really has a lovely personality (and I consider this beyond her simple genki-ness), and getting to see it on full display here is really a treat. Pretty hard to blame Ryuuji for staring, even if he should probably stop.
Episode Write-ups
Toradora!, Episode 2
Alright, main character introductions are over, time to move the plot along a little bit! For me, this was the “Taiga’s such a jerk (or other words)” debunking episode. I don’t know if it’s just the her tsun-ing stands out more, but she has a ton of really vulnerable moments in this episode that I feel get overlooked. And then we just have Ryuuji being heartmeltingly kind and making me want to cry.
Toradora!, Episode 1
Surprise! I’ve been looking for an excuse to re-watch Toradora! for a while now, and the /r/anime Christmas re-watch was just what I needed to motivate me to get back to this show. As you should know, I have Toradora! sitting as my second favorite anime of all time, so I’m pretty darn excited to be watching it again. I don’t really have any worries that it won’t hold up on under more analytical watching—really, I’m just thrilled to have the chance to engage with it on a different level.
Your Lie in April, Episode 9
Well, that was definitely not how I was expecting this to all play out. If I’m being totally honest, I think KimiUso (again, that’s the abbreviation of the Japanese title, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso) overdid it this week in a number of place, but the overall effect was a net positive, if just barely. The thing about going for broke each and every week, regardless of content, is that it means some scenes come off like the show is beating you over the head (sorry for the unfortunate idiom use) rather than just being powerful. There were a lot more of the former this week.
Akatsuki no Yona, Episode 9
I am so fortunate to be watching and writing about this show. It is truly one of the highlights of the season for me at this point: deftly written, funny in its funny moments, and incredibly effective in its serious ones. I was thinking earlier this week that Akatsuki no Yona was probably my pet show for the season, but no. That’s not right. It’s just one of the best shows I’m watching.
Your Lie in April, Episode 8
Emi may have been playing a piece titled “Winter Wind,” but there was an incredible warmth to her performance. Even the chill of loneliness, it seems, can’t overcast the heat of her passion.
Akatsuki no Yona, Episode 8
Well, that was maybe a little more of Yun’s backstory than we needed—but it did a really fine job of setting up a few more contrasts and bringing back the theism-atheism theme that seems like it’s going to be a fundamental part of the show going forward. And man, Yona‘s just so dang good at working the dualisms that we humans live with every day. God or no God? Selflessness or selfishness?
Your Lie in April, Episode 7
Yuki Kaji (eh…) and Saori Hayami (yay!) take the stage this week—as does stage fright for everyone involved in the Maihou Music Competition and one intensely green-eyed cat.
Akatsuki no Yona, Episode 7
We traded out sakuga for great character work and one heckuva a fascinating conflict this week, and I’m totally okay with that.
Inou Battle, Episode 7
I tried to fit this all in a paragraph for my highlights of the week. I couldn’t do it. The pain of watching good cartoons is real, guys. I’ll try and keep it as short as I can.
Mage in a Barrel 
