Anime

So first up in my meanderings through past anime last week, since no series grabbed me right off, was a movie - Sakasama no Patema (aka Patema Inverted). It was pretty good all in all. It's a bit too ham-handedly allegorical, and the pseudoscience that provides the basis for everything doesn't hold up to any sort of scrutiny, but it still had some interesting twists and turns, and the two main characters were charming.

Then, not really in the mood for anything specific, I happened on a current release that seemed like it could be worth a shot - I'm Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in my Class. And I made it about halfway through the second episode and I was done. The story is painfully contrived and hackneyed, the MMC is a formless collection of tropes and the FMC is some sort of awful mega-tsundere, alternating between being pathetically weak and needy and being a miserable, pointlessly vicious bitch.

So, still not really in the mood for any specific thing, but inspired by something that could've at least made that last one a bit more tolerable, I ended up going to a genre that I can count on to generally provide something of interest no matter what else it might lack, and that's ecchi. Maken-Ki! (2011) to be specific. And the one thing that can be said about it is that it knew its priorities - the ecchi is top-notch and the characters and story are basically just placeholders. It was a pleasant enough diversion all in all, though notably shallow even by ecchi school harem standards.

It also served a purpose though in that it made me crave something of substance, which led to the gem of the week - 86 (2021).

That's been right near the top of my TBW for a couple of years now, and holy shit was it worth it. The first season was stellar, with great characters and a fascinating and compelling story - and I just devoured it (the first eight episodes in one sitting, interrupted only by the need to sleep, and the rest at the very first opportunity the next day). The only minor criticism I might have is that it could have and arguably should have ended with Lena looking to the horizon, just because that was such a powerful and meaningful moment. Yes, it would've been a very open ending, and there were still a lot of unanswered questions, but it would've been a good stopping place.

Unfortunately, the biggest problem with not ending it there was illustrated in the second season (or I guess technically it's considered the second half of a single season). There was room in there for a much larger story, and notably a story that followed both the 86 and Lena, but that would've required many more episodes, and presumably they just weren't given that many. So instead it just focused on one part of it that could be squeezed into 12 episodes. It was okay, and the addition of Frederica to the cast was a good one, but it was all just a bit contrived and sort of oddly tangential to what should've been a much larger story.

Ah, but then the last five minutes or so of the last episode made the whole damned season worth it - that was one of the most glorious and satisfying moments I've seen in a long, long time.

Remains to be seen if there will be any more - I'd love to see what's going to happen now, but I suspect that for that, I'll have to read the LN, and I already have an overwhelming TBR list for LNs...

And finally, a bit drained from the suspense and drama of 86, I cast about for something comfy, and ended up going with one that's been on my TBW for many years - Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita (aka Humanity Has Declined). And it's every bit as whimsical and charming as I'd hoped. It's essentially an ongoing manzai routine, with the aptly named Watashi serving as a notably wry and low-key tsukkomi to an entire race of bokes, and it's wonderful.