anime – NMarfoBlogs

Rambling about Dragon Maid: A Lonely Dragon Wants to Be Loved

Posted on March 5, 2026March 31, 2026 by Nmarfo

So I’m gonna keep this as short as possible for me, because this is not a full review of the film, that will come once it comes out on Blue-Ray and streaming, but more about my experience seeing the film and the problems I had trying to see it, because I did something unlike me and went to a cinema to see this one. In fact I’m writing this like 2 hours after seeing it, and it’s spoiler free since I know people will probably be seeing this going to watch it!

I’ll also just take my time to say Rest in Peace to Hideaki Hatta, the now former president of Kyoto Animation, who of course made this wonderful series, and send my regards to his family, and KyoAni staff. As I have said often in matters regarding KyoAni, thank you for your services to Japanese animation.

To start off with my very quick thoughts on the film, I loved it. Dragon Maid apparently gets to a point where they stop focusing as much on the slice of life parts, and start really getting into the fantasy elements and fighting between Dragons, and this feels like a step in that direction. The slice of life is still at the core of the story of course, but there’s a lot more of the fantasy elements and story in this one, so I think it’s gonna serve as a transition point for sure. I liked the villains, one of them is Kanna’s dad of course, and the other is just a dude who has very good reason for what his does in the film. I also really liked Kobayashi’s arc in this.

If you want a quick watch list of stuff to get you up to speed I would say for the 1st season, watch the 1st, 2nd and 11th episode, then watch episode 10 and 11 of the second “S” season, and if you can, the 2nd season OVA. Those will at least get you up to speed enough that you should be able to understand what’s going on, and honestly, 10 and 11 of the 2nd season is enough.

I’m skimming over a lot of stuff of course, but I really enjoyed this film, if you have the time, you should go check it out, and I would say it was worth the trip into East London.

Please keep that last part in mind, because I need to go on a rant.

So this film had VERY limited availability in more ways than one. The film came out in June 2025 for Japan, and was screened in America for Crunchyroll Anime Nights from October to December of 2025. Austraila got it in January of 2025, and France and the UK in March of 2025. THAT’S NINE MONTHS OF WAITING. And the even worse part about this was that it was 2 days only and on weekdays. The 2 days only thing is fine, because that was what happened when My Hero Academia:The Two Heroes came here, but that came out December in the UK, 4 months after the Japanese release. And that least got more screenings. Here? I’m very unsure if it will because there aren’t many to begin with, about 2-3 per day with one Screen.

Speaking of which, here’s the story of me trying to get tickets. Now I’m not gonna say where I live in London, but I live within walking distance of 2 cinemas, both are bit smaller in size, neither of them have it. Okay, that’s fine, I honestly didn’t expect them to have it anyways because they didn’t have a lot of anime films when they came over here. I decide to try the BFI Cinemas in Waterloo since they are a ways out from me, both of them don’t have it. Cool, I’ll look elsewhere. I look up the nearest Odeon Cinema, which if you’re American, is our equivalent to AMC. I’ll have to take a train or a really long bus ride, but this is Dragon Maid, one of my favourite animes, so I can go out of my way for it. They also don’t have it .

Reminder, I live in London. How are they not showing this in like every cinema here? If you live up North, or hell, even in the South outside London, you probably to drive through several cities just to see this film, and I feel sorry for you. Eventually, I find an Odeon Cinema that’s showing it in Greenwich, but there’s another problem, the showings are only in the evening, and I can’t do that for reasons I can’t get into here. I then checked Vue, a European Cinema chain, and while the location is more favourable to me(it’s in Leicester Square), they also only have evening showings. Oh God, I might not be able to see this movie.

Thankfully, Cineworld, a UK based chain, that does actually have some theatres in the US, had a showing in the O2 for 1:50pm, which I was able to get to. Thank god the Tube and Overground were working, because without it, I probably wouldn’t have been able to see this movie without taking the LONGEST bus ride, which would have been a shame, cause I’m excited to watch it again when it comes to streaming now. I know Cinema negotiations are the 10th circle of hell, and it’s probably harder because this film was rated 15 for some reason(the usual Dragon Maid ecchi jokes aren’t in this film, so outside of Lucoa’s Boobs IDK why it’s rated that high), but maybe pay a little more for some more showings, please?

Besides that though, everything at the cinema was fine. They showed some cool trailers. The Bride, which looks neat, Ready or Not 2, which was bit odd, an animated film I don’t remember the name of, and Scarlet, the newest film by Mamoru Hosoda, thought after doing some research, it seems to be his worst one. I had a nice Pepsi Max, and some Nachos with Cheese Sauce instead of the Toffee Popcorn I usually get because I’m trying to eat less sugar this month. And they were nice, but I wish the Nachos had meat on them TBH. Would make the Jalapenos easier to eat…

But yea, that’s my experience seeing the Dragon Maid Movie. Just wanted to do something fun for this, since it was my 1st time seeing an anime film in the cinemas, and honestly, it was one of the greatest experiences of my life, and tell that story because… yea it was a time. If something like this happens again while I’m seeing something like The Mario Galaxy Movie, I’ll write something like this again.

Anyways I’m gonna go work on Nod-Krai Pt.3 now. See ya.

anime, My Dress-Up Darling, Reviews

My Dress-Up Darling Season 2: Review

Posted on October 29, 2025November 26, 2025 by Nmarfo

Marin’s sequel story has finally concluded. and so have all the fan service discussions around this series, even though fan service happened like 3 times, and even then one of those times was more to show that modelling agents kinda suck. I though those discussions would be more focused on Dan Da Dan(2nd season of that is really good BTW), but that showed tone that down, plus narratives must be maintained. God, I hate this. Asgy, if you see this, you are this show’s strongest soldier.

Anyways, we’re not here to talk about that, we’re here to talk about Marin! And cosplay. And a lot of stuff actually. Dress-Up Darling was something I really enjoyed the 1st season of, and the 2nd one was something I was really looking forward to. So, could the 2nd Season build on what made the 1st great? Let’s find out.

Surprisingly, there’s actually a good amount of story for this. Things are still very character-driven, of course, but the cosplay arcs feel like they weave much better to create a good narrative. After the 1st episode, and a very good character moment for Gojo I’ll talk about later, Marin and Gojo end up using the Shizuku-tan cosplay for a convention where Marin and Gojo meet Amane Himeno, a notable crossdresser who’s cosplaying as a character he loves, and the 2 spend a good chunk of the day learning about how Amane does his cosplays. This ends up being very useful for them, as they end up having to use these techniques at school, since the culture festival is happening, and Marin has to dress as a boy since the rules state that entrants must dress the opposite gender, and Marin chooses Rei from a popular TV Drama called PrezHost, which I’m pretty sure is a thinly veiled reference to Oeran High School Host Club, given that’s it’s premise is pretty simular.

While they do run into some problems, mainly the fact that Gojo, as usual, feels a bit compelled to overwork himself, as he wants to help with the main culture festival stuff as well as do the cosplay, things mostly go off without a hitch, and I will say right now, this is my favourite arc of the season, since we actually get to see Marin and Gojo interact with their class quite a bit, something that I felt was missing in the 1st season.

After an episode where Marin goes on some modelling sidequests and Gojo learns about cameras, during a convention in Ikebukuro, Gojo meets Akira Ogata, a master prop maker to learn about prop making from her, and Marin actually also meets her because she was at the same convention meeting up with her friends Suzuka Itou and Miyako Honda, the latter cosplay Rindo from Double Clutch, a very clear Slam Dunk reference because this Fukuda wears the references like a badge of honor in this series.

After this, the group goes to the bar where Marin and Gojo learn that Suzuka and Miyako are planning a group cosplay, that Marin is instantly down for, and that Akira is also dragged into, and she’s not happy about for reasons we’ll get into later. They’re still 2 people short, so Marin calls up Juju, who initially rejects, but later accepts once she sees how happy her sister would be to do the group cosplay. Gojo has agreed to help out with the photography, so he decides to play the game, which involves staying at Marin’s place due to a train crash on his usual route. Gojo, being the man that he is, decides that he needs to stay up the whole night and finish the game that the cosplay is based on, Coffin. Marin interprets this as him deciding to have sex with her, because her brain saw the Viagra instead of the Energy Drinks Gojo was buying. It’s kinda of a pattern with Marin, honestly, wanting to Gojo to finally make his move.

The day of the photoshoot arrives, and things go smoothly for the most part, though Juju did need some convincing, and Akira didn’t want to work with Marin, who does kinda interpret this as Akira hating her quite a bit. When Inui, Juju’s sister, wants to take a picture with Marin and Akira, Marin tries to explain the situation… but it turns out that she’s wrong, and that Akira is a huge fan of Marin’s modelling work! All goes well; they take some more photos, say their farewells, and Gojo and Marin take a picture to celebrate the occasion when they meet outside Marin’s house.

The story overall is much better than the last season, as again, it feels like everything weaves together into a nice little package, helped by the growing romance between Marin and Gojo, and the fact that them going to events will lead to them having ideas for what they want to cosplay next, and how their skill are going to grow. Most of the characters have some sorta of arc, though not for Suzuka and Miyako, who are kinda just there to bring the support and Hype. However, they are both pretty cool in their own right, and their worth is shown in the episode where they help Juju gain more confidence in her cosplay ahead of the coffin group shoot.

I agree with this solely because I can actually buy games and anime and manga, and stuff.

Akira and Akane are 2 sides of the same coin for me, especially given how they were shunned for their interests. Akira was constantly told by her parents to give up her interests, only really getting to enjoy her interests when she went to college, while Akane wanted to crossdress from a young age, but got shunned for it by his girlfriend at the time, and then dumped her for it. It’s an interesting parallel, as Akira had no strength to reject what her parents were saying and had to learn to open up to people, even being surprised that Suzuka and Miyako weren’t shunning her when they found out her interests. Akira, who has been crossdressing his whole life because he wanted to become his favourite virtual idol, was easily able to cut out a part of his life that while important to him, he had to let go of because she didn’t respect her interests. It’s really well done and well written, honestly.

“I got it from another Gojo. He was kind of a show-off”

Gojo is very interesting this season, since he wants to become more all-rounded, and it shows in his commitment in reaching out to people more to try and improve his skills, and I do love up to the task he is on it, from photography to propmaking to set design. I think part of is because I feel like he’s less afraid now, thanks to not just meeting Marin, but also being praised for his ability during and after the school festival, and meeting friends probably also changed his perspective on things as well, and while he doesn’t realise it, he want to improve because of Marin, it’s why didn’t want to sleep at Marin’s place, he respects her quite a bit as a person, even if the romantic feeling are there and he doesn’t realised.

Speaking of Marin, MAN, she got a lot of character growth.

In the 1st season, while Marin had moments of being flustered by Gojo, she was all in all confident in herself, who she was, and the fact that she loved Gojo. This season, there’s a bit more of a mix of that personality and her inscurities, starting with a small incident where Gojo ends up taking photos with his classmates instead of her by complete accident. This is then followed by Marin feeling really bad that cosplays don’t fit anymore since she’s gained weight, in a bit that people say is fan service, but I think is just used to show that modelling can suck sometimes, and she expected Gojo to be mad, but of course he wasn’t. During and after the sleepover, Marin is constantly thinking about confessing her love to Gojo, and I want to say part of it desperation for feeling that she’s going to be alone.

You have to remember, despite her being a school kid, Marin basically lives as an adult, as her father is always travelling, and she has no mother or mother figure that we know of. Yes, she does have friends, like Nowa, but no one has shown as much care (arguably excessive care) as Gojo, and no one has been around her as much as Gojo is. I feel like she’s clinging on to him and her chance at love, not just because Gojo is always around and said that she’s beautiful, but also because she’s a bit scared that no one like this will come around again, and she’ll be left all alone. And while conventionally attractive, Marin being as big of a nerd as she is a turn off to a lot of people, as evidenced by Amane and Akira, and the kinda love Marin craves is very hard to come by.

There were fears that anime was going to look worse due to Cloverworks’ focus being split between this and other anime(mainly Kaoru Hana), but I would say everything is animated pretty well, honestly. The ending is done by PIKI, called Kawaii Kawaii, and it’s a pretty good track, accompanied by some amazing animation.

Dress-Up Darling Season 2 is a masterpiece, a combination of a moving and wonderful story, characters that have moving backstories and amazing growth, and 2 leads that are far and away some of the best in the romance anime genre. There’s doubts if this will get a season 3(and if it doesn’t, Cloverworks, what are you doing?), but what we have here is more than enough to take your breath away. If you haven’t watched yet, you should! It’s a wonderful experience and I can’t recommend it enough.

So this is late as hell, and I apologise for that, but my month got hijacked by an event I was working towards… and then that got cancelled. I did end up attending EGX/MCM Comic Con, and I was on a panel, which is still a bit crazy to me, honestly. Thank you, Pete of Rapid Reviews, for inviting me to it, and thanks to all the Cosplayers I met; you guys were great.

That’s all I have for now! Next time I’ll finally be looking at the 1st Part Nod-Krai in Genshin Impact. But for now, thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time.

anime, First Impression, Other

My Dress-Up Darling 2nd Season: First Impressions

Posted on July 9, 2025July 9, 2025 by Nmarfo

So, time for the summer of anime. It legit feels like FOREVER since Season 1 came out, in fact, it’s been so long that the manga has already ended! That’s a shame, but I do wish Shinichi Fukuda the best in whatever she decides to do next. However, a new season is in front of us, and god, I hope it’s not the last one. Where we last left off, Marin and Wakana had just gone to a Festival. But what new cosplays will they make? Who will we meet? Can Marin continue to show her love to Gojo-kun? Let’s find out.

We start off with Gojo watching a show about 3 bunny girls who try to take down the Yakuza called “We’re the Tsukiyono Company”, however, he seems to be enjoying himself with. Marin wants him to make the costume of Arisa, a kinda typical bunny girl who Marin is infactuated with because Marin is just any normal nerd when she sees her favourites, she can’t stop talking about them and remembers everything about them.

Marin then lectures Gojo on the history of bunny suits, and how sometimes they are just used for merch, because everyone loves bunnies. I would argue adults also love men and women in swimsuits and fishnets, but hey, that might just be me. Gojo agrees to start working on the designs, since he’s more used to making outfits now, and after some more Marin teasing involving Pocky, she departs to go hang with Nowa, her friend that’s brought up everyone once in a while(I don’t think I mentioned her in the blog post I did a while back), and calms her down by giving her the afformentioned Pocky.

I haven’t talked about the opening yet, mainly because I haven’t had a chance to at a point where it feels natural, but it’s done by Spira Spica again! Although this time, it’s just Mikiha, as the other 2 band members, gitarists Yuuji Teranishi and bassist Masuda were removed as the band got convered to a solo project, but it’s working more in this case, unlike Pelican Fanclub, as her songs are still really good, and this is no exception, as feels very fun and suitable for a charicter such as Marin. The visuals are also really great, though I can’t show them yet, because the Intro played with the credits at the bottom.

Anyways, we cut to Saturday, where Marin is on a train going to see Gojo at his request. Marin thinks that she is about to have a house date, but Gojo just called to ask for help with the bunny suit, since while he has the shape, he can’t stop it from falling down at the front, and he wants to keep the silhouette, so he can’t add straps. Marin and Gojo decide to head to a sewing shop where after a pretty fun bit of the old man who owns the place thinks Gojo is making the bunny suit for himself, he learns that he needs to add “boning” to the jumpsuit and make it a corset, mean no accidents can happen, much to Marin’s gradual dissapointment.

I do like this part for another reason as it shows Gojo’s growing confidence/overconfidence, as usually he looks up how to do things, but this time he felt confident enough to do it himself, which shows his growth as a seamstress, even if that wasn’t the main intention. Marin is able to try the suit on no problem, even though there are some problems. Marin figures them out in time for the photoshoot in a casino… or rather, a studio that has casino-like objects.

While Marin is changing, Gojo thinks about how cosplayers are picky with their sets as they help bring out the charaicters natural charm, which he understands to an extent, since he feels the same way about his Hina Dolls, which I really love because it shows that Gojo makes for a really good behind the scenes person for cosplay given his skill set, even if he doesn’t know it. The photoshoot goes well, though it’s most Gojo trying to keep himself together while Marin does Marin things because she has unwavering trust in Gojo, even telling him about the different types of stockings there are for bunny girls.

Marin invites Gojo to a Halloween Party once the subject comes up, and Gojo heads there with Marin and some of her friends, although Gojo is naturally a bit apprehensive about being around them, even wearing a bunny suit. Marin gets a lot of compliments from her friends, and while most of them are positive, one of them, Morisa Kensei, asks Gojo how he knows how to do makeup, since he’s a guy, but Kashigawa Shiki says that’s totally normal. Marin reveals he’s a Hina Doll artist by day, Morisa actually admires his work, saying that whoever made Hina Dolls is a “genius”.

As Gojo reflects on his life, realising that the now named “Non-chan” is the only person who called him creepy, Nowa, who has been singing her heart on Karaoke the whole time, asks if Gojo and Marin are dating to end the episode. That to be the craziest last minute in an anime episode because dude is just reflecting on things happening and the girl asks if you’re dating someone who seemingly just began talking to you about cosplays.

Overall, this 1st episode was VERY enjoyable, although I will say, I did not expect this cosplay to be done in one episode, I figured it would take a little longer, but it was still very fun, and I can’t wait to see the journey this anime takes us on!

So yea, that was fun. This anime will always have a special place in my heart after the 1st season, which is why I’m writing about it now!

Next time we meet, we’ll be talking about Grapple Dog! That game is a lot of fun. But for now, thank for reading and I’ll see you next time.

anime, Rambles, Red Ranger Isekai, Toku

Ramblelling about The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in another World

Posted on June 27, 2025June 25, 2025 by Nmarfo

Alright, time to finally write about this! I was very excited the moment I learned about this anime, as there was a lot to look forward to! Who is this Red Ranger? Why does it feel like for an isekai plot, he fits this world really well? It felt like there was a lot to look forward to. I tweeted a LOT about his anime when it was airing, so let’s see if it managed to live up to the hype that it got from me and a lot of people.

We start with some chaos and destruction as the Break Up King and his foot soldiers begin to invade the City. However, fear not, as the Adhesive Sentai Kizuna Five are here to save the day! Using their mecha, Maximum Kizuna Kaizer, they manage to get close to the Break Up King’s fortress, but when they can’t get close, KizunaRed, real name, Asagi Togo, goes alone to fight the Break Up King, and while he succeeds, the cost is his life. He reminisces about the life that he had, but instead of dying completely, he ends up landing somewhere very unfamiliar.

Six Months Later, Arvoln Yihdra is holding adventure tryouts to join her guild and is fed up with the people that she’s met, but when Red arrives, he transforms and takes the Golem down without breaking a sweat. Red later in the episode explains that he’s spent the past 6 months helping people, thinking that there’s a reason why he was sent to this world, though Yihdra seems very wowed by his technology, given how advanced it appears to be, and how it causes explosions everywhere.

After an episode where Red teaches Yihdra and 2 other adventurers to channel the power of Friendship using his giant cannon, they meet Avallost Liz Wargray Teltina, the Princess and Mist Lowji, her overbearing protector. While Teltina is more trusting of Red and Yihdria, Lowji isn’t, since Red is being what he perceives as overfriendly to Teltina and challenges him to fight, which Red wins easily thanks to Kizuna Kaizer.

One thing I do want to bring up is that despite the series being a bit of a parody of Tokusatsu, mainly Super Sentai series, the powers in the series honestly work like a Tokusatsu, since people turn into monsters using mana seeds which prey on their desires, and that Teltina has to purify, which is simular to how in some Toku shows, some sorta device to turn people into monsters has been common since I want to say Kamen Rider W, and Lowji in particular has a bunch of different swords that can take on different forms, sorta simular to how Kamen Riders can take on different forms. I know it probably means nothing, but it’s kinda cool.

As for Lowji and Teltina themselves, they’re okay, though Lowji kinda doesn’t really get much shine outside of just being Teltina’s overbearing protector, though his dynamic with Red is interesting in a “I don’t like you, but sure as hell respect you” type thing. Teltina has a bit more going for her, since there’s some trauma involving her brother, though after they go and visit the king, it’s not brought up again. She also likes teasing people, as she’s responsible for a lot of the Awkward situations that happen between Red and Yidria, and can also become a Catgirl?

Even in context, this makes no damn sense.

Anyways, the story after this is split into 2 parts. The 1st part involves them liberating the town of Akalina from the control of a corrupt overlord, who’s been controlled by the Mana seed, and after Lowji being a douchbag and introducing the concept of Other Space to fantasy people, that’s dealt with, Teltin expelling the Mana Seed with the power of Vrykolakas, her giant dog that is mainly used for this purpose. However, before they can rest, they meet one of the Royal Demons, the ever-laughing AbuDabi.

Things get dire with Red even having to channel some of his negative energy just to hold them off, but they are saved by Shau’ha, the Royal Sceptre, and someone whom Yihdria has a lot of contempt for.

Yihdria’s story involves her wanting to get back to the position of Royal Sceptre, since she her father was kicked out of the position, and also researching Red, where we learn his biggest weakness is needles, which is kinda funny. There’s not a lot made of her persut of the Royal Sceptre outside a few interations with Shau’ha, but most of her time is spent learning about Red, the world he comes from and just in general forming a bond with Togo, and generally just learning to accpect a very different source of power in a typical case of “Magic VS. Technology” shenanigans.

Bro she’s ALL up in there, you’re in for a rough ride.

After a stopover at the Royal House, they head to the Sun Forest when they meet Ranya, the latest user in a Long line of Warriors who can use the belt known as Amen, who’s kinda like a Kamen Rider tribute for this season. If you know me, you will know this makes me really happy. Her and Lowji have a good fight too, and while she’s all business in battle, she’s much softer when you actually meet her in person.

The story revolves around her and her bond with Azir, who’s working with the Queen’s Demons to gain absolute power over the Sun Forest. While Ranya tries her best to deal with Azir, it’s not enough, leading to Red having to take up the slack as Azir uses the Amen powers. While he’s more successful, the Mana Seed still makes him Berzerk and endangers the Sun Forest. Still, with the help of Ranya and Azir’s bond, Yidra’s magic and Red’s Determination, they unlock a new form for Kizuna Kaizer, and are able to save Azir.

Things seem to be sorted, but then AbuDabi shows up with Vidan the Ultimate Lover… who has a literal Odapius complex as he wants to marry the Demon Queen. who is also his mother. EWWWWW!

Everyone who can fight, tries to fight, but it’s simpliy too much, and Red decides to use his power up, KizunaBlack what is essentially I would call a Berzerker Form in shows like Kamen Rider, like Primitive Dragon or Hazard Bulid(the normal one), since it possess the trait of overwhelming strength, but is hard for the user to control by themselves, as in this case because it taps into Red’s fear of being alone.

Red has had a harder upbringing than his upbeat demeanour implies, having lost his parents at a very young age and being adopted. His last name, Togo, can be split into 2 characters: “To” meaning a light for people to gather around, and “Go” for the wisdom to understand those people. Honestly, those 2 qualities really sound like the mark of a hero, or at least 2 required traits of a hero, so good on the parents for the name, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to say he felt a LOT of pressure to live up that given the amount he’s willing to sacifice for the people he meets, and even his adoptive family as seen in Episode 7. where he has to fight off his brother after he turns into a BondKiller.

The thing that I think makes him very adamant on sacrificing himself for others is the death of one of his fellow rangers, Tenri Nikaido or Kizuna Sliver. During his time with the KizunaFive, Tenri arrives, although she says she likes to work alone, with Red instantly beginning to have a crush on her.

Can’t really blame him, that’s also my type, honestly.

The reason why Tenri would rather work alone is because she has visions, with one of them being that she will die; however, she relents once Red convinces her to come around, but also that kinda seals her fate. What makes things worse is that she says she was not only fated to die, but also to save Red.

Ever since then, Red seems to hide his sorrow of this event by making new friends and his passionate personality, but using the KizunaBlack powers seems to remind him of it constantly, even saying that he can’t seem to patch the sorrow in his heart with bonds. It’s the cruel reality of his life, but maybe friends can help with the healing in the meantime.

Red is able to fend off Abudabi and Vidan, and with some help from the others, particularly Lowji, break out of the KizunaBlack form, after it takes control even with the 2 Demons gone. Red wakes up after a while, and reflects on his life now, as Ranya is allowed to join the team, and he wishes that he could tell his team about his new friends, but that might not be out of the question, after the credits, we find out his brother has joined the team as the white ranger, and are wondering where he went, and also that the Royal Demons aren’t done just yet.

I really enjoyed the story, they did a job of mixing Isekai and Tokusatsu elements, though I would personally argue that is just a Tokusatsu in an Isekai form, because it takes itself mostly seriously without trying to subvert the viewer’s expectations, which is something I appricate because well… the other Tokusatsu series we is compared with “The Boys” and I’m not a fan of that conspect honestly.

The animation is really well, and it also helps that this series is done by Satelight, who made the Symphogear series, and also has a lot of different Tokusatsu-related staff on it, including Teruaki Ogawa, who was named as the “Chief Transformation Officer” since he starred as Ninja Red in Kakuranger, and has been a mocap actor for games such as the original Resident Evil 4 and Final Fantasy XV. They even got Toshiki Inoue to write an episode(or at least help them write an episode) that basically is a love letter to Tokusatsu and their older shows. How wonderful is that?!

So yeah, I love this anime. It does pretty much everything right from a story perspective, the characters are great, visuals are amazing, comedy is done right, it’s just a joy to watch, honestly. And I will say if you’re not in shows like Power Rangers, Kamen Rider, Beetleborgs, I don’t know if this will appeal to you, but it sure as hell appealed to me! It’s wonderful, and I hope it gets a 2nd season at some point.

And with that, I’ve written about the winter anime I watched! Well, I didn’t write about Momentary Lilly, but I didn’t enjoy it that much. But even so, why does it look like there’s more on the horizon?

Well, Kyoto Animation have some stuff to give this summer, and it looks like Marin’s Story is finally about to continue. Guess I gotta start writing again, cause those are gonna be great.

But for now, thanks for reading, and I will see you next time.

anime, Other, Rambles

Rambelling about Welcome to Japan, Ms Elf!

Posted on April 23, 2025April 21, 2025 by Nmarfo

So, what anime have you guys been watching this season? Have you been watching an older anime of a legendary franchise like Transformers: Car Robots? That’s been pretty good. Have you been watching an anime that is a refreshing take on a genre, while being made by a studio that has a lot of passion for the other medium it draws from? I’m writing about that one too, should be a good one! Have you been watching Momentary Lily? It’s a GoHands show. Not too awful, but honestly, for a Cute Girls action show, it could have been a lot better, especially in the 1st half. Or have you been watching something popular like Solo Levelling, the new Season of DR. STONE (I need to catch up on that, I’m at the Ryusei Arc currently) or Medalist?

All of those are valid answers, but I’ve also been watching something very cute and sweet(and also something I learned about thanks to milkynoe over on Twitter. You should follow her, she tweets a lot about anime, but mainly Dress-Up Darling), and I loved it so much, I figured, that yea, I should write about it, you know how things go over here. Let’s just get into Welcome to Japan, Ms Elf!

So the story basically amounts to this: Kazuhiro Kitase is a salaryman who goes to work during, but at night dreams about travelling in another world and goes on adventures with his elf companion, Mariebelle. While he is fluent in many different languages and can fight, he’s not overwhelmingly powerful, and this is shown when one day he goes to fight an arkdragon, and he and Mariebelle get killed. As he returns to the real world, however, he notices that someone is there that shouldn’t be…

I feel we can add “most precious” to this, for reasons we can get into later.

Yeah, Mariebelle ended up travelling to the real world with him, and she spent the day with him before sleeping to travel back to the other world, where they actually managed to tame the dragon with meals from the real world! She transforms into a really good-looking human design, and calls herself Wridia.

And from there, the story is kinda split into 2 parts, the weaker side for me absolutely being the Isekai side, if only because, well, it’s very basic, and to an extent, doesn’t really go anywhere. They save a small catboy with special powers to read stones called Mewi, they find a high-level dungeon they can go and visit, but before that, they have to level up a bit, and earn the permission of Mariebelle’s guild. I don’t think that the plot here is bad, but the problems really come at the end, where after they earn the permission of the guild, Wrida begins to take revenge for something I’ll get into in a little bit… and that’s about it. Wouldn’t be surprised if this got cut due to the episode count, but it does leave things a little flat.

I mean if Tohru can go outside with horns on her head…

The real-world plot is more interesting since it basically revolves around Mariebelle introducing herself to the real-world, including meeting one of Kazuhiro’s neighbours, Ichijou Kaoruko, learning Japanese, eating the food, and experiencing an earthquake while in the shower. Wait what?

Mariebelle, if this freaks you, don’t live outside Japan for a bit.

This scene is actually really funny though, because you have both Mariebelle and Kazuhiro freaking out for different reasons, and then Kaoruko and her husband, Tohru(good name BTW) are just “is it over already? We’re trying to eat here.”

Anyways, this all concludes with a trip to Kazuhiro’s hometown of Aomori in the Aomori prefecture. They also take a Shinkansen train, which Wrida wanted to go on and she was mad about, thus the revenge she wanted, though she does use a cat familiar to at least feel the experiences over there.

The trip it is used to meet Kazuhiro’s Grandfather, who raised him, and does know about the dream world, but Kazuhiro doesn’t know that, leading to him making some tongue-in-cheek references about it.

Man, if you’re gonna say that, just tell him already.

The trip is also used to show Mariebelle around Aomori and develop the romance that’s been brewing, which Wrida has been helping with, telling Mariebelle to take more initiative, because Kazuhiro doesn’t want to ruin his image of her in the dream world. There’s some cute stuff between them, Mariebelle correcting herself when she realises that Kazuhiro is actually called Kazuhiro and not Kazuhiho, foreheard kisses, hugs, it’s all very sweet, though I’ve seen his before, this isn’t Ore Monogatari, so it’s not like their gonna kiss each other and…

Oh. Well… I’m glad it didn’t take long this time.

Anyways, the two are nervous afterwards, but Grandad talks to Marie afterwards, saying that he knows who she really is, and is thankful for the happiness that she’s brought to Kazuhiro’s life, as he used to be very lonely before. So yeah, a pretty sweet story with a lot of cute and heartwarming moments.

The characters themselves are all interesting in their own right, while there’s not a lot of story for them to go through, they are all quite pleasant in their own right, most notably Wrida. We know stuff about her. She has a husband and kids, she knows how to change clothes by herself thanks to her dragon magic, she really, REALLY enjoys the food Kazuhiro brings, and that’s about it. However, I did enjoy her presence, she’s very similar to Elma from Dragon Maid in that she loves to eat and pout, though you can tell she does care about the 2.

Kazuhiro talks about the dream world a lot, and I think that’s because of the situation that he was put in. It’s not known what happened to his parents, but he mentions that he’s been living with Granddad since 5th grade, and barely remembers what his mother looks like, and doesn’t even remember his father. Combined with the dream world stuff, it does make me wonder if he’s okay with his life because the dream world allows him to escape all his problems over there while he’s just hanging with Mariebelle. His powers in the Dream World involve teleportation and warping over short distances, and while he’s not super effective at close range, he can at least fight, which is something.

And now, onto Mariebelle, whose arc in the story is what I would argue is the main focus of the show. She’s essentially a woman who’s come to experience a new world, similar to an outsider having to learn a new culture when they move overseas, and it works! We constantly see her learning Japanese, trying to cook, and being stunned by the advancements in technology compared to her world. It’s something that I always enjoy, and it’s made the focus here, which I think works because they show unfamiler with the conspects she is, and that’s she working through them all the time, compared to something like Dragon Maid, where I feel the focus on is more on them being a family rather than them being unfamiler with the modern world.

Visually, the anime is kinda standard, but I do love that they put a lot more effort lighting-wise into the real world visuals, and it helps us establish the idea that this world is mysterious to Mariebelle, even if it wasn’t the intention. The opening theme is “Pallette Days” by Rico Sasaki, which is nice, but I do really love the ending, Yummy Yummy by Higuchi Kaede and Kanae of Nijisanji, especially since it gives us Marie, Kazuhiro and Wridria in a bunch of different costumes!

Yea I’m glad I watched this anime, it’s exactly everything I love in anime done pretty well, the stories are nice, the characters are amazing, and you should check this out if you haven’t already, it’s awesome, and awesome is the highest praise I can give a series like this.

Yeah that was fun! I’m glad I got to write about anime again, and this time I even used my old writing format! There’ll be more anime stuff this year for sure, especially given how much is coming up that I want to watch.

Before I go, I wanted to promote a few things related to me. 1st, the site that I write for, Rapid Reviews, actually got to preview the Switch 2 and Crimson Desert, coming this year! Both of those can be found on the Rapid Reviews YouTube, or the website. I actually make the thumbnails over there and edit the Highlights from the streams, so go support them!

Secondly, Kim and Pete of Later Levels are doing the #Gameblast24 streams this weekend. They were meant to do it in February, but their cat, Zelda, got sick, and they couldn’t continue for her safety. They want to raise a lot of good money for SpecialEffect, so go support them here, and if you do, say Nana sent you.

But yea, that’s all I got for now. Thanks for reading, and I will see you next time.

anime, Reviews, SpyXFamily

SPYXFAMILY Part 1: Review

Posted on November 20, 2024November 20, 2024 by Nmarfo

So! I finished this. Family is a precious thing that a lot of us have. Love is a thing that runs through most of those families. But for those who haven’t been cared for and had to push their emotions down, those who are looking for love from anyone for the 1st time, and those who feel they are unloveable because of their past and present actions, family can be hard. So what happens when you put those 3 variables into a family that could explode like a powder keg? Let’s find out.

So, the story after episode one is kind of basic, honestly. Loid and Anya need to find a mother figure, and one comes about in the form of Yor Briar, a woman who works as an office clerk at Berlint City Hall and seems to care for her brother, Yuri, a lot. She also harbours a dark secret: she is the assassin known as the Thorn Princess.

Yor however, is suspected at her day job for not having a husband, because this is set in the Cold War(if the mentions of East and West didn’t tell you that already) and social norms were stricter than even back then. She meets Loid and Anya while having to get her dress repaired and they agree to help each other out Loid and Anya need a mother for the interview, and Yor needs a husband for a party with friends, but Yor and Loid during a wild goose chase during one of Loid’s missions gone wrong, decide to actually get married until Loid’s mission is over, or until Yor’s killing ends. Whichever comes 1st.

From there, after the Interview, which goes badly, though one of the teachers, Swan Murdoch is clearly trying to provoke them into getting a bad reaction, and another one, Henry Henderson can clearly see that, Anya gets into the school and the mission is to get on terms with Damian Desmond so that they can visit Donovon Desmond, Damian’s father and get intel, but naturally, it will take a while to do and it’s not help by Anya punching Damian on the 1st day, and Damian being a Tsundere.

Anya’s whole story at the moment revolves around her getting used to having a family, and not doing anything to sabotage Loid’s mission, Operation Strix. This does involve her sucking up to Desmond quite a bit, something that one of her friends, Becky Blackbell, doesn’t like. There’s an episode where Anya has to apologize for punching Desmond(the plan can also be sped up by Anya becoming friends with Desmond). While she seems intent on doing that(with a lot of pressure from Loid), Becky stops her given that Desmond is the prep arrogant school type. Eventually, she does but, it’s unclear how much that affected their relationship, though Damien, does acknowledge her efforts for saving a drowning boy

While Anya isn’t good at much, she at least means well and tries to use her powers for good. On 2 occasions she ends up indirectly helping Loid and Yor with their missions and helps them to work together like a good family should. Something that Loid, our main character doesn’t have experience with.

His backstory involves nobody being there for him, meaning that to be there for others, felt he had to let his emotions go. Towards the end of the series, you see him constantly try to balance his spy duties alongside being a family man, and it’s charming and heartwarming to see him come into contact with his emotions more and more in the series. I can’t wait to see how his relationships with his family evolve over time, because I think he has never let go of the want of a family being there for him. It also helps that his wife is pretty loyal by the sounds of things.

Yes you are, Yor. So let’s talk about you for a bit.

Yor is probably my favourite character, as she’s learning about 2 things, the 1st of which is being a good wife and mother. She does have some experience in that 2nd part because she took care of her younger brother, Yuri, who I kinda don’t like because he has very big siscon vibes, it’s weird. He also works for State Security because we need to plie on a whole another layer of everything between this family is going to explode.

I know I risk getting taken apart, but I’m gonna need you to shut up.

Anyways, while she has experience with taking of others, she seems very hesitant on how good can be, and is always second-guessing herself. A good example of this is when Yuri comes to visit, and while things seem to go well, Yor is still a bit apprehensive about the whole fake marriage thing, though Loid, using his own questionable tactics, puts everyone’s mind at ease about the whole thing.

The 2nd thing I would personally argue is that Yor is learning to receive love from people, given that her she basically was always the one caring for her brother, she’s a very ruthless killer, and relationship with her co-workers is kinda fractious given that they are kinda jerks to her, particularly about not having a partner for a while. Towards the end of episode 2, Yor basically almost gives up on the whole fake boyfriend thing, due to Loid not showing up because he had to take on a mission last-minute. Yor, through everything going on, reflects on how she’s not normal, and maybe in her mind… unloveable.

However, in all the mess, Loid actually manages to show up, even accidentally saying that he’s Loid’s husband, though that was him mixing both their missions up. And from there, a path has been laid, one that is up to all 3 of them to follow through with. Become a family, and learn to love each other.

The series has a pretty striking look overall, a more muted colour pallet compared to most anime really helps with the idea that this is a Cold War setting, faces are drawn sometimes to look very cartoonish(partially when Anya is around) and things tend to stand out pretty well. The opening theme, MIXED NUTS, is what hooked me onto Official Hige DANDISM, as both the lyrics and melody are perfect to get me excited for the show. The ending theme, Comedy by Gen Hoshino, is just as good in my eyes and really proves that Gen is at his best when making songs about the simple things in life.

Overall, I would say that this is probably already the beginning of my favourite Shonen Jump anime ever. While it’s definitely a foundation, the foundation is very solid so far, and I can’t wait to see where it goes.

So I’ll apologize for this taking a bit longer than it should have… and it not being very good, particularly for an anime that really do love. I probably could have written all of this last week, but then the election happened, and then some personal life stuff I don’t want to get into, and I’m honestly still not fully recovered from that mentally, but I figured I was at least well enough to write the last part I hadn’t written yet.

Also please don’t worry too much about me, even with what I said there. Writing on this blog is kinda a therapy for me.

BUT ANYWAYS, we have one more thing I want to look at this year and that’s Zenless Zone Zero! Should be a fun thing to write about. So, thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time.

anime, Other, Reviews

Rinkai: Review

Posted on July 3, 2024September 20, 2024 by Nmarfo

Hello again! Rinkai was something I knew nothing about before writing about the 1st impressions. I did enjoy that 1st episode, but from there, how did things go? Can Ito survive in this world of professional cycling? Let’s find out.

So the story is once, again very simple when it comes down to it, and things are more on the characters. After the 1st episode, Ito consults her grandma about things, and after some soul searching, she decides that she wants to be a cyclist, which is good for her because Grandma, Sono and her Uncle Tsubo, are also pretty famous cyclists. It’s also helpful that Kurume was actually Sono’s student. From there, training camp starts after a few months and they meet Nana, who instantly locks eyes on Ito to signal they are kinda rivals now.

However, Kuma doesn’t want to be left out, and that’s oddly enough the 1st story arc. The way Rinkai works is as such, things don’t really happen to Ito, things happen around her, and those events in turn affect her, it’s an interesting story format that works, but it does feel like the show is leaving its main character behind at times. Regarding the 1st story arc, she sits back and doubts if she really belongs here given that Kuma is excelling, and Nana is a once-in-a-lifetime prodigy. They end up having a race, also including Midori, the daughter of another famous cyclist, and a few others from the camp, but Kuma fails to beat Nana despite leading for most of the way. After the race when Ito attempts to congratulate her, she says something interesting.

That’s not something you say normally, Nana.

Ok, I guess now’s a good time to address the elephant in the room, the subs. They are horrendous. Apparently, they are just done by a company that is known for not doing very good English subs Called Ani-One Asia, but apparently, they are the only ones doing this show as Crunchyroll and HiDIVE didn’t pick this up. Hopefully, we can get fans subs for this, but outside of that, we are kinda stuck with these subs, where riders are referred to as players for some reason.

Anyways, after the race, Kuma begins overtraining so that she can try to beat Nana in an assessment at summer break, even fainting at one point, however, she learns the consequences of “F**k around, Find out” and ends up getting kicked out of camp. However, this leads to a new door opening for her, as despite being rejected by Tachikawa earlier, Kuma ends up becoming her student so that she’s better prepared next time, and it seems to light a spark in the camp, especially Ito who seems more and more determined to do well and succeed in cycling, especially after Nana also leaves camp to train with the Olympic team.

Nana is interesting in that she’s kinda the benchmark for everyone else, but also kinda shows her love in weird ways, such as giving everyone notes before she leaves camp early. She doesn’t do much else outside of being a bit antisocial, but I like the friendly rivalry between her and Ito. At 1st, she finds it a bit too friendly and instead delegates her rivalry to Kuma, but of course, that doesn’t work out, so it’s back to Ito once again. It’s pretty neat stuff, especially since she doesn’t give her advice and just says “Bonne Chance!” in her letter to Ito, because any advantage given to her is a bad one. That advice doesn’t really work out, as in a race to celebrate graduation, Ito beats Nana, though she was pretty tired from travelling, so there are some question marks there.

Actually, she kinda is, but I get your point.

After that, the 2nd half is where we get more focus on the other characters, sans Kuma who kinda just disappears for the rest of the story besides cameo’s, which is disappointing considering she was the most interesting character up to this point. The 2nd half is where they want to enter the rookie league final, which is basically like the Rising Stars challenge in the NBA, and their struggles to get there. Miko has to deal with the fact that she can’t be the centre of attention all the time, Takamatsu is worried that she might get cut from the league entirely, and Nagoya, due to her unique family situation has to convince her parents that she can make herself a profitable business, it’s interesting stuff. Meanwhile, Ito with a newfound determination, and Nana, being… herself, are winning pretty frequently alongside Midori.

Also a secondary called Hiroshima has a crash, but it’s not really important outside she can’t make the rookie final.

Anyways, the rookie final is set, Takamatsu, Nana, Itou, Miko, Nagoya, the aforementioned Midori, who also has Olympic asperations, and Shizouka, a women who’s been a lower league compared to the others, and is kinda frustrated about. The penulitament episode is about everyone preparing for the last race, but after some interviews, Ito’s indecisiveness returns as she’s not sure she can do well, plus some negative social media comments, but Kurume takes her back to her local velodrome for some reassurance.

While it does help, it’s not enough as Nana is able to take her win back from Ito, and returns the favour in what she said to her before.

But she is that great if she can keep with y- whatever, friendly rivalry and all.

Kuma begins her training anew, and Ito can now proudly declare she’s a cyclist in what is a pretty ok character arc. Again it doesn’t feel like things happen to her, more things happen around her that affect her, but it’s nice to see her destination build and build until she feels that yes, she is worthy to ride alongside this once in generation talent, and can even keep up with her.

I know that visuals are something that people bring up as a negative towards this series, but I found them fine honestly, thought there are some good shots here, especially with Ito and her bike. What is great though is the ending theme, Override, sung by all of the main cast members, and it has no reason to be as good as it is honestly, it’s really cool, especially with the great visuals it has.

Ito’s actress, Kawamura Umino, who is also voicing her 1st ever role, also did a cover of a song that translates to “Poem of 3 Rollers” or at least I think so. I don’t know about the backstory(I sure tried to find some backstory for it, trust me) behind this song, but it’s pretty good honestly.

Overall, I enjoyed Rinkai, there’s a few problems with the show, such as dropping the Kuma subplot halfway, not really expanding on Midori even though she’s kinda always there or there when it comes to races with the group and sometimes not focusing on it’s main character enough. However, I did enjoy a lot such as the focus episodes in the 2nd half, and Ito’s overall arc despite its shortcomings, and while I usually don’t say this, I hope this gets a season 2, or at least an OVA to conclude Kuma’s story.

So I apologise for this being a bit late, it’s mainly because after I did the Highspeed Etoile review, I got slammed with work, in fact, I’m writing basically in between the days I have not working currently but hey, I got it done which I’m glad about considering this anime got little to no attention due to not being available in the west.

Will be taking a small break again, but next time will, I’ll be looking at something cool. What is it? You’ll have to wait to find out.

But for now, thanks for reading, and I will see you next time.

anime, Other, Reviews

HighSpeed Etoile: Review

Posted on June 26, 2024July 17, 2024 by Nmarfo

This just finished up, so it’s time to write about it! In the 1st episode, we got introduced to a lot of things about the series, but now the championship starts. So, how does this year’s NEX-Race series play out? Can Rin find success in this series? How will the two rookies do? Can Alice overhaul Lorenzo to win the big prize?

Let’s find out.

So to start off, the story is actually surprisingly simple when comes down to too it, but that’s what you get when you have a series completely focused on racing. It pretty much focused solely on Rin trying to get her 1st win, which doesn’t start out well. After taking a picture with fellow rookies Kanata and Towa, Rin starts her in 1st race… and spins almost instantly. To add to that, her pace is not very good, as she basically lasts the entire race, and she gets DQ’d for not following race protocol regarding blue flags.

I know she’s a hologram, but Hikari’s braver than me, that’s for sure.

From there Rin ends up meeting Alice in an episode, and it kinda highlights a problem in the early going; Rin is TOO much of a dork. I expected her to be somewhat of a dork because Alice is kinda a badass. at least when it comes to a series like this, but good Lord, her not recognizing Alice at all was frustrating, to say the least.

Anyway, after that episode and meeting Lorenzo in an episode that was similar to the Alice episode, but better because he disguised himself, so Rin’s dorkyness was at least excusable, we end up racing in Monaco. Rin begins to prove herself a bit, though she did get a lot of help from a tuned-up Ami, her tuned-up A.I assistant thanks to Chitose wanting to impress the Owner of the team. However, she did seem a lot better here all things considered, and almost got a podium, but had to settle for 5th in the end.

Actually, that’s one thing I’ll fully defend this series for, the animation is amazing and makes better use of it being fully CGI than most other anime I’ve seen. There are some really good camera shots with the cars here that had me very excited to watch each racing-based episode. And there are some cool moments with the characters, like Rin’s head bouncing when she doesn’t want to finish last and the summer break episode where the characters all get put in the spinning G-Force machine of death.

I do hope that Studio A-Cat, and King’s Creative make a slice-of-life anime with these animations, it would be a delight to see.

Speaking of the summer break episode, Rin uses it as a chance to hang out with Kanata and Towa, who I haven’t mentioned much outside of the picture because sadly they get no development in the show which is a shame because character-wise and design-wise I love them, they are basically polar opposites, Kanata the one with overflowing passion and Towa the one with the more methodical touch. And yes, I am aware there they have a spinoff manga that talks about their time in racing school, no I have not been able to find translations. It sucks for me, because the summer break episode talks about them needing to find their driving style, and Kanata felt like the closest to it. She’s the definition of “checkers or wreckers”. She always goes for the gap if it increases her chances of winning, and of course, it ends up going badly for her quite a lot of the time. She’s the most fun driver to watch in this show for me. Towa doesn’t talk much, but she consistently finishes races in the top half of the field, which ends up netting her some top 5 finishes which is good to see.

Anyways, after an episode where Sophia takes centerstage, we get a nice episode where they pay tribute to the Toyota 2000GT where it’s shown that Rin’s driving style is more akin to manual style, as she gets to grips with the 2000GT, while while ami and Gen make some adjustments to the setup. Sadly, Rin doesn’t get to try it out as the setup suggested by ami is quite extreme, and her car shuts down as the next race starts in Shanghai. This gives us time to focus on Youran who’s a bit more interesting than Sophia, whose episode is nice, but it amounts to the idea she’s blessed by luck and that’s the beginning and end of it. Youran’s episode actually goes a bit into how she was one of the best prospects from China but has been unable to live up to that for the time being, at the end she manages to take a win from Alice, but Lorenzo did retire from the race, as he is not really good at night racing. Every king has their weakness I guess.

In any case, the last 3 episodes focus on an original track in Osaka, where N.E.X Race was born. After some bonding between ami and Rin due to ami setting a time for her in qualifying, the final race begins with Rin towards the back, but she works her way upwards towards the front and even passes Alice for the lead, who is 3 points off the championship. However, Lorenzo after an awful start begins to work his way up the field, and ends up battling Rin… only for a lightning strike to happen, taking out the AI in the cars… including ami.

The race eventually restarts and after a pitstop goes wrong for Lorenzo, he has to catch up to Rin, but Alice refuses to give up, until her tyre blows up, putting her out of the race. What doesn’t make sense is that she pulls over instead of just going back to the pits despite there being only 3 points in it. Though that kinda sums up the 2nd storyline of this show being the whole Alice VS Lorenzo thing, which I kinda wish was the main story, given how nice the friendly rivalry is, but it’s a case of Alice is trying to get to where Lorenzo’s skill level is… but isn’t still quite there, and honestly, it’s just one of those things that needs more time than these shows have to develop that sort of arc.

Speaking of which Alice and Lorenzo are fine character-wise. Alice’s character is that she’s very American… and that’s the beginning and end of her, but she’s at least a fun presence, and Nana Mizuki’s voice acting really helps in this regard. Lorenzo has bit more going for him the fact that he’s the best driver in the series, but he also kinda is tired of not being challenged. I do wonder how much of him wants to be beaten by the rest of the field on a consistent basis, as he does really want to spend more time with his son by the sounds of things.

Plus he likes Kaiju monsters, which is pretty nice to see.

Back to the episode, Rin is trying to fight Lorenzo with everything she’s got but it seems to be not enough… until ami is finally successfully rebooted, and the 2 of them work together in the last corner, and Rin is able to just beat Lorenzo for her 1st win, and keep herself in the series, though the owner of the team wants them to go for the drivers’ championship next.

The ending theme for the show is Fanfare by SCANDAL, which is ok, but visuals really help here, as they change things up depending on the episode. For example in the episode where they do the 2000GT tribute, they have Rin chase that car instead of her race car, it’s neat details like that I can appreciate.

Believe it or not, this is actually a variation.

After the credits of the last episode, Rin discusses with Hikari what her nickname should be… settling on HighSpeed Etoile, due to her past as a ballerina. Also yea, despite being a Primastella, Hikari is still part of the team Rin is on, it’s never explained, but she does give some… interesting motivation to Rin in the last episode.

That’s sure is something to say to you’re driver in a heated battle.

As for Rin herself, while her dorkyness is a bit annoying, as it got toned down more and more, I found her pretty likeable. She’s clearly a bit insecure due to her past, which sadly isn’t brought up much outside of the 2nd episode, but I at least enjoyed every time she was on screen, she’s pretty fun to be around.

In fact, that’s how I would describe HighSpeed Etoile in general. An anime is just very fun to watch. It’s not perfect for sure, there are a lot of characters that are just there because they needed someone to fill that role, the commentators don’t sound excited at all, and some things are just left unexplained. And I do admit, I have a love of racing which probably helps me in liking this anime more, but there’s a lot of good racing animation, the voice acting is really good, particularly for Alice like I mentioned before, but Izumi Fuuka does a great job in her 1st lead role as Rin, you can tell when she happy and sad easily, and the character dynamics are fun to watch on screen. It’s a fun show that I’m sure will leave you smiling.

And that’s that! Good time watching a seasonal, but that’s not the only seasonal we have to talk about, because next time here, I’ll be talking about Rinkai! Should be a good one.

But for now, thanks for reading and I will see you next time.

anime, First Impression, Other, Series

RINKAI! : First Impression

Posted on April 15, 2024April 14, 2024 by Nmarfo

So, spring anime and the Cycling Spring Classics have sprung. And in that spirit, we are going to be looking at a cycling anime! I don’t know much about this, but when I saw it was gonna get an airing slot alongside HighSpeed Etolle in what is already a very stacked Spring Season of anime, I decided, to give this a look, cause I like both anime and cycling. I don’t know much about this, so let’s just dive into this. As always spoilers are abounding, and I’m watching the sub version.

We begin watching a Keiran race with a few girls, who are fans of Kurume Tsutsuji and Tashikawa Remu, and while the two trade the lead for a good chunk of the race, the winner ends up being Mukomachi Miyako. The girls all seem very caught up in the thrill of a bike race, but they decide to meet up at a local hot spring afterwards, with the brown haired girl, named Ito Izumi to take her bike to it. While the others take the taxi.

It’s here where we get our Opening, and it’s ok. Windshifter is a nice song, but the visuals do a leave bit desired in my opinion. After this, the girls arrive at the hot spring, which is actually Ito’s home, and despite riding her bike compared to her getting a taxi, she gets there pretty close to the time when they get there.

Ah, that explains it. She tries to convince her sister to not apologize with a soda, but it doesn’t work.

Ito then narrates that she met these girls online, in a form for fans of Kurume and Tashikawa. Kuma, full name Kumamoto Ai, is the redhead, 17 years old and is in high school, just like Ito. Nago, full name Nagoya Sachi, is a rich 20-year-old, and daughter of the Nagoya Saibazu. Yahiko Miko is the admin of the form and apparently used to be an idol. Takamatsu Kinusa, also known as Takama is the oldest among them all at 26, and is seems to be very reliable.

One thing of note the last names of each character are associated with a certain city that has a velodrome in it. For example, the main character, Ito her name comes from the Ito Keiran Stadium. Kuma’s comes from Kumamoto Keiran Stadium and so on.

After Ito goes to clean her bike, she’s informed that the race actually ended up on the news, which is shown in a room with Kurume, Tachikawa and Mukomachi, who have a talk about how the sport of women’s cycling has struggled, and it’s only thanks to the Rinkai league they are able to compete. Getting on the news is a big deal for them, even though Mukomachi wasn’t mentioned. I do like this aspect, them trying to build something that’s been already dismissed is hard, and they want to use their newfound popularity to build it. The scene in general is also a nice bonding experience.

Erm… you sure those are the right foods, Tashikawa? Even Mukomachi says she bought those in Japan.

We then cut to Ito and her friends relaxing in a hot spring, Kuma goes deeper into her feelings about the race they watched when she suddenly declares that she wants to be a cyclist. Everyone else is on board with the idea for the five of them to become track cyclists, especially Nago, who later to Ito explains that she has to build her own name outside of the Nagoya Zaibau, and feels that this is the best way to do it. However, Ito herself is a little hesitant, despite having the most experience with biking out of the five of them due to how much hard work she feels it would take. However, Kurume is in the bath next to them and says that she races just rides her bike every day, so it was kinda of a natural next step for her, and if she can, do it so can they, hoping to even see them on the track.

This was a good establishment of character dynamics, especially after the convocation between the three seniors, but the way they did the scene is a bit odd to me, Kurume just waking out of the hot spring while they just look on. I get that they are probably just in awe of seeing her, but seeing my idol naked might be one of those experiences that I would want to forget TBH.

She is very pretty though, I can’t lie about that.

Anyways, later that night Kurume leaves, noticing something about Ito’s bike that she wants to tell the others about, while the 5 look into how to become a track cyclist, as they need to pass an exam in October, giving them about a year to train for it. While Ito is still indecisive the next morning, she at least leads the cheer for them all to become cyclists.

While the others all begin their training in the next half year, with Kuma particularly excelling, becoming the prefectural champion, Ito remains indecisive, as she has many choices, one of which is taking over her family shop from her grandmother, while the other is taking the entrance exam, going to University in Tokyo, and a more certain path towards a future. She figures that if she can’t decide, Kurume should decide for her, and write a letter to her about it. Meanwhile, in a Velodrome, a racer named Hiratsuka Nana is riding, with 2 supposedly American scouts describing her as “overwhelming”.

The episode ends with Kurume replying… asking if she likes Dagashi snacks.

The visuals I found pretty good, even if they not anything standout, and honestly, whenever Ito was on her bike, I barely noticed that it was CGI. The music was nothing to write home in the anime, it was kinda just fine.

Overall, this was a pretty good 1st episode. It was, once again, pretty setup-heavy, but context and having some knowledge of the sport did allow me to enjoy this more I think.

So yeah, another anime that I’m writing about this season. I’m gonna try and cover this one cause well, I like anime. In fact, I think I’m the only one who likes the 2 anime I’m currently writing about cause looking in the forms… yea, the reactions aren’t great. Granted I do think my love of both sports gives me some more to work with in terms of making the show interesting, so that just might be me.

Next time, I’ll be looking into a certain Japanese artist’s life and the founding of a new Studio. But for now, thanks for reading, and I will see you next time.

anime, First Impression, Other, Series

HIGHSPEED Étoile: First Impressions

Posted on April 10, 2024June 22, 2024 by Nmarfo

So, I probably should have written about this beforehand but, eh, it can be hard to get English-subbed trailers for anime sometimes. I’ve been following this since it was announced, and every trailer I’ve seen has looked pretty good honestly, With this being an anime that has the backing of Super Formula, Japan’s premiere racing series, and also racing on real tracks that are used in F1 such as Monaco and Bahrain, my excitement was through the roof. But, does it deliver on said excitement? Let’s find out.

We begin at the Osaka Expo, a place where we see a pink-haired girl looking at something called the Hybrid Performance Exceed Reactor, also known as HyPER. This system gave birth to cars that can drive at speeds of up to 500 km/h safely and began a series called the NEX Race series, in which the last race of the season is about to take place.

They then introduced us to the track with the Primastellas, Akari and Hikari, and I was impressed with this, as something like this really helps the presentation value, things acknowledging the track temperature and wind really help with that. What’s interesting is this track is Fuji Speedway(named in the anime as Neo Fuji Speedway), and it seems to be using the old NASCAR Turn 1 that was changed for safety reasons in the 1970s.

We then get an introduction to the 2 main drivers saying that currently, the biggest star of the NEX series is Lorinezo M. Salvatore, also known as “The King” who has won 8 races and the series title before this last race at Neo Fuji Speedway. He’s also the defending series champion currently, having won it for the last 5 years in a row. Oh boy, I can see where this might be going.

However, The “Queen”, Alice Summerwood is slowly closing the gap to her, having won 2 races this season. If she can get a win here, it would serve as a great springboard for next season’s race, especially since she’s been in their series for 2 years now, and has been a constant challenger. She’s also voiced by Nana Mizuki, which is great and also gives me an excuse to talk about the Opening early, which once again, plays at the end.

It’s pretty good! I like how fast-paced the song is and her voice really suits it. The visual do leave a bit to be desired, but there are some good shots once the chorus kicks in, especially towards the end with a nice Akira homage.

Some minor challenges are constantly mentioned during the race, such as Lui Youran, Richard Parker, loyal teammate to Alice, Sophia B. Tokitou and Falk Ogura, who’s retiring after this race. There’s also a good amount of automated A.I racers to fill out the field.

We then get into the majority of what takes up the episode. A 50-lap race, which is nice to see, though the commentators could sound a bit more enthusiastic. The racing is mostly good, and they do some pretty nice shots with the camera, which is something I’m happy about since I felt Overtake was a bit lacking in that department.

In terms of extra power modes, the only thing they really have is Revol Burst, which gives them an extra boost of power for a few seconds, This was an effect I was really impressed seeing, as it looks like the cars are launching into Hyperspace honestly.

During the race, a few things of note are mentioned, mainly that Falk is retiring something 2 blue haired girls Kanata Asakawa and Towa Komachi thing is suspicious of, and Lorinezo feels that Alice is the thing that prevents him from getting bored in this series. Towards the end, Falk ends up catching up to the leaders, but he ends up falling behind and is unable to keep pace, leaving Alice and Lorinezo to battle it out, with Lorinezo taking the last win of the season.

All this time, however, a woman and a man, who was speaking to the owner of the series before, have been talking and watching from the stands, saying a lot of things, including that the team has one year to show results, and that may quit after their 1st year because of how dominant Lorinezo is. The woman, named Kagura wonders if that will be the same for “her”, though the man, named Takasegawa, is hopeful she will turn out like Alice. After this, Falk says farewell to the 2 rookies who have been watching from the garage, handing over the torch to them.

We then cut to round one of the new season, taking place in Bahrain it seems, as the 2 rookies are putting in decent times. We then cut to Rindou Rin, a grown-up version of the pink-haired girl from before, who seems to be preparing to drive for the 1st time, but is a little nervous and has flashbacks to her previous life as a ballet dancer. However, she conquers her nerves, and takes to the track for the 1st time, ending episode 1. After the OP and the preview, we get a small tribute to our retiring friend, and a really nice end card, which I haven’t watched an anime with end cards since… I think GAMERS and that was 6 years ago.

Also fun fact, the person who drew this also did the character designs for the series.

I talked a little about certain parts of the animation before, but it’s honestly pretty good even for CG, and the cars look amazing honestly, helped out on track buy once again some impressive camerawork. It also help that the music is pretty good.

Overall, this 1st episode was very setup heavy for sure, introducing us to all the key elements, though there are some mysteries, but I think the idea the main charaicter is being brought into to kinda save… I don’t want to say a dying series, since they don’t say that but they don’t need to show results soon. But yea, this seems like a fun trip! I’m just here for the ride at this point.

FINALLY, HIGHSPEED ETOLLE IS UPON US. I’ve been excited to write about this for a while. I’m writing this on Sunday when I thought Rinkai would have aired, but it has not aired yet sadly. I’ll be watching that as well, and maybe checking out some other stuff on my list, so yeah, should be a fun season of anime.

Before I go, the London Marathon is in a few weeks, and Kim of Later Levels is running it for SpeicalEffect. Please give her your support if you can! She’s been documenting her progress since she did the ASICS 10K last year.

And that’s all I got! Thanks for reading, and I will see you next time.