Author: Roderick J "Jay" Friz

LINIA VS PURSENA IN RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE!

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Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation S3 Ep 7 Review

Ahh, graduation day! One of the most important milestones in any young person’s life! Of course, it’s not Rudeus who’s graduating. He’s got years before that actually happens, and since he lives nearby and Roxy works at Ranoa University, it doesn’t really matter. No, this is the graduation for two of his friends who are getting ready for the next stage of their lives: Linia and Pursena. But it’s a reminder of how time continues to move forward!

Place your bets Folks!

So, Linia and Pursena are finally graduating from Ranoa University. Which in and of itself is a pretty big achievement, because from what we’ve heard, they were so bad in their early days that they could’ve gotten expelled. At least losing to Rudeus gave them a lesson in humility, so I guess it worked out. But before they leave school forever, there’s one loose end that they need to tie up: which of them’s the strongest.

The whole point of Linia and Pursena coming to Ranoa University was to prepare one of them to become the next chieftain of the Beastfolk. They wanted to find a strong man to help them, but all their suitors were too weak to meet their expectations. So, in true delinquent fashion, they decide to settle the succession through a 1v1 fight. Winner gets to go home as heir, the loser can live their own life. And to make it even sweeter, they have Rudy, Zanoba, and Nanahoshi come along to witness it. Which is awesome, because this was one rumble that they didn’t want to miss!

This entire fight was like watching two pro wrestlers or boxers square off against each other, with all the implications that go with that. The two start off by throwing insults at each other, and then they go in for that mutual punch to the face. When Rudy used magic to make a bell and hammer and started doing commentary, I almost lost it. The guy just can’t help but be a goofball sometimes, can he?

We’re gonna see them again. I Know it!

In the end, Pursena comes out on top. In the fight between cat and dog, the dog wins! And with that, the two decide to part ways for good, with Pursena heading home, while Linia deciding to travel and try her hand as a merchant. It’s a very tender, bittersweet moment for the two of them…that then gets immediately ruined when they end up leaving from the same way out of the city. Last we see of them, they’re still arguing like cats and dogs.

By the way, as an aside, I thought you guys should know: according to the Man-God, if Rudy hadn’t gone to Begaritt, the two of them would have tried pursuing him next mating season. Which means that this fight could have turned into one over Rudy.

I’m sure we’ll see them again one day.

WATERMELON!

The back half of the episode, though, focuses on soemthing we haven’t covered in a while: Nanahoshi’s experiments to get home. She hasn’t had that many appearances in the first half of the season, and that’s because she keeps getting sick. It’s not that bad, yet, but she’s so focused on getting home that she has tunnel vision. But the results prove to be worthy it when she and Rudy manage to summon something organic from Earth: a watermelon.

The real win, though, is that this means that Nanahoshi can move on to phase four of her experiments. So everyone gets together to celebrate. And from Rudeus has said, these sorts of parties have become fairly regular and helped them all bond. Which is good, because it’s helping them all have the kind of fulfilling school life that they would want to have. Also, seeing drunk Roxy acting possessive of Rudy is adorable.

And then we come to the bombshell. Nanahoshi says that to proceed with phase four of her experiments, she’s going to seek out her mentor in magic, and she offers to introduce him to Rudeus and the gang. This mentor might also know some secret to returning Zenith back to her old self, sweetening the deal. Who is this mentor, you ask? Perugius Dola, the Armored Dragon God.

DRAMATIC BACKSTORY!

A quick lore dump is in order if you haven’t watched the first two seasons. Four hundred ago, the Demon God Laplace was out for world domination and threatening all of mankind. Thanks to the efforts of Perugius and his comrades, Laplace was defeated and sealed away, but it would not last forever. In the next century or so, Laplace will be reborn. Thus, Perugius has spent the last four centuries in his floating castle with his familiars preparing for the day he would come back. He’s a hero respected all over the world and one of the most powerful and influential people alive. So, he’s a big deal.

This marks the start of a new chapter in Rudeus’ life, and one that will not be as peaceful as what we’ve seen thus far. Things are about to get very crazy as we meet new faces, travel to familiar lands, and crazy things will happen.

https://x.com/OtakuSpirited/status/2076364629404426240?s=20

I Give “Phase Four” a 4/5

SMOL NANO AND KUSURIVANIAN FAMILY!

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The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You S3 Ep 7 Review

You know, when this season of 100 Girlfriends is over, I think I’m going to go back and recap all the whacky adventures that the anime doesn’t cover. Why? Because as time passes and more girlfriends join, the time between then becomes longer and I don’t want you guys to miss out on the fun! But at least we got to see one of my favorite stories make it into the anime. And then, we get the setup for yet another soulmate that is going to make people question their sanity.

SMOL NANO IS SO CUTE!

So, the Rentaro Family is hanging out on the rooftop (which I assume is reserved for them) one day, when Nano accidentally drinks one of Kusuri’s drugs. And it’s the craziest one yet: it shrinks her down to the size of Thumbelina, much to everyone’s surprise. And since taking Kusuri’s reversing drug would be fatal, she has no choice but to wait for it to wear off. Which means we get to spend an entire half episode fawning over the absolute gift from the heavens that is Nanobelina!

This show just has absolutely zero f’s to give, and I love it! The entire first half is all about jokes about smol Nano. From Rentaro and the other girls fawning over her newfound cuteness to seeing her try and continue her daily routine while smol, it’s so funny. But it also gets pretty harrowing. A gust of wind almost blows Nano away to her death, and if it wasn’t for Rentaro (and Mei’s driving) she wouldn’t have made it. Good thing this anime doesn’t linger on trauma!

The payoff is absolutely amazing, though. When Rentaro wakes up the next morning, Nano is back to normal…and without any clothes. And when Nano kisses him as thanks for the previous day, his poor brain short-circuits!

https://twitter.com/Eternal_Anime22/status/2089052431493554184?s=20

The second half of the episode is even funnier, though.

Wait for it…

So, Kusuri has been telling her parents all about Rentaro and the Rentaro Family at home. So, Kusuri’s dad wants him to come over to their house so he “talk” to him. (He wants to beat him up for fifteen-timing her.) And Rentaro braces for the potential of zinging with Kusuri’s mom…only for it to fall flat. I guess the show draws the line at soulmates with still living partners, though I didn’t like that they took out the joke about calling Hahari the show’s Mother It Loves to Feature (get it?) from the manga.

But it makes up for it with the reveal that her parents are just as tiny as Kusuri! They took her failed immortality drug and are stuck like that. And then their meeting goes awry because this spy poisons the parents and tries to kidnap Kusuri to abuse her powers, and the anime makes it into a joke about it being a whole flashback! It’s just so fun!

Oh, and of course, there’s the part where Kusuri’s dad turns into the Hulk and sends the spy blasting off.

By the way, if you guys want to learn how Kusuri’s parents met and fell in love, there is an ongoing side-manga covering the daily lives of the Rentaro Family’s members. Spoilers since there are more girlfriends, but it’s worth it!

And then, just when we think that everything’s ending on a wholesome note, we get the punchline that was set up earlier. Kusuri’s grandma comes back from whatever it was she was doing, and…ZING!

THE PUNCHLINE!

Yes, ZING! Rentaro just zinged with a grandma. Kusuri’s grandma, the secret girlfriend of the season that I had to keep quiet about for the sake of the joke. If anyone was upset about Hahari or Naddy since they’re adults, this next one is going to drive them up the wall! And we have to wait a whole week in suspense.

I love this show. I really do!

I Give “Thumbelinano and the Kusurivanian Family” a 3.5/5

Momiji Momi, the The Gr***pling, Joins the Family

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The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You S3 Ep 6 Review

Well, at this point, I can safely say that the third season of 100 Girlfriends is speedrunning the manga. Either that, or the studio decided to rearrange all the stories between meeting new girlfriends so they can actually introduce said new girlfriends. If that’s the case, then I’ll likely do a lightning round of all the stories missed, but I’m not complaining. Especially since this means that we get to meet my second-favorite girlfriend of the season. Why? Because I love massages.

I, Momiji, Have Joined

It all starts when Rentaro is looking into this urban legend at school. Word is that this mystery girl is going around giving massages to female athletes that are so good, their brains short-circuit. Wanting to do something nice for his girlfriends, Rentaro tries tracking her down when he hears a scream! And when he gets to the tennis court…ZING!

Meet girlfriend number fifteen, Momiji Momi, a third year in middle school (she sits right next to Kurumi.) I love Momiji. She is one of my favorites of the girlfriends in the series, easily one of my top five personal faves. And it all has to do with the joke about her: she likes groping. A lot.

https://twitter.com/OtakuSpirited/status/2086475552781648371?s=20

Momiji likes touching anything soft and supple, especially women. So much so that she’s dedicated her life to become the worlds best masseuse to ensure that all women grow to be beautiful and soft. Basically, she’s killing two birds with one stone by turning her perverted need for groping into a career. It’s gotten to the point where she can tell when a person needs muscle relief just by looking at them, which is why she takes an interest in Rentaro. His body has gotten so stiff from running everywhere to find dating spots that she compares it directly to Astro Boy!

All of the girlfriends have their own unique quirks that are meant to be used for comedy, but it’s easier to tell jokes for some more than others. In Momiji’s case, she’s a twist on the classic trope of beautiful women in anime getting groped by others. She can get away with it thanks to her masseuse skills and because she’s a girl, which allows for many instances where she creates physical humor for us. For example, in a future chapter, we see get small and proceed to Lupin dive into Hahari’s chest, pose and everything. And im glad that the anime keeps the spirit of this intact, even if it changes the translation a bit.

Also, i loved the joke of Rentaro intentionally getting his body stiff again by becoming the assistant of Nozawa, the illustrator for the 100 Girlfriends manga. Being a mangaka can be agonizingly stressful, and im glad they kept the thank you to her in the anime. What an epic fourth wall joke!!!

And then we get to the introduction on the rooftop. Or massage appointment.

This. THIS IS PEAK

I did like how Karane’s tsundereness released into ecstasy with acupressure, but I think my favorite reaction was Iku’s. It was like using a phoenix down on a zombie!!

How Momiji Met her First Love (Women’s Bodies)

By the way, the anime doesn’t go into it, but there’s a funny story that explains why Momiji is into groping soft things. She’s always liked them, but when she was a toddler, her mom took her to this bounce house. As she was enjoying herself, she bumped into a toddler Hakari and started smooshing her.

It gets crazier. When Hahari comes to pick up her daughter (she should only be 16, but she looks like an adult), Momiji sees her chest, and can’t resist feeling her. Because…evolution! And…ZING!

That’s right. Momiji’s other soulmate is Hahari’s bosom! She doesn’t remember it, but her hands certainly do! The anime takes the joke a step further with that oppai mousepad. In the manga, it’s explicitly Nami, but the anime switches it to Hahari. Either they couldn’t get the rights to do that (which I doubt because they got Rentaro cosplaying as Luffy), or they thought it was funnier. And it was.

I Give “Momiji-chan’s Squishy Festival” a 4/5

Rimuru must have a Nat 20 on Luck

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That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime S4 Ep 18 Review

I’m just going to come out and say it: I think Rimuru got a nat 20 on luck when he reincarnated. Because there is NO FEASIBLE way that what managed to happen in this episode can be explained otherwise. His new subordinates just managed to stop an international incident without him even realizing it!

Guy would have gotten away with it…

After Diablo’s little dust-up with Rain, he is greet by his old frenemy/rival, Guy Crimson, the first Primordial and first Demon Lord. Now, Guy had no idea that Diablo had incarnated until now (I think), nor did he realize that he’s working for Rimuru. But before Diablo can start praising his lord and savior, Guy gives it to him straight: he’s here to cause trouble for humanity. While the incident in Lubelious is taking place, he has his other subordinate, the Primordial Demon Mizeri, agree to help the Rozzo family in their final f you to those they see as betraying mankind. Sure enough, Guy’s minions are currently attacking the other Western Nations, while Granville’s other flunky and their hired mercenary band, Vert, attempt to slaughter the Council. As it turns out, the goddess the mercenaries worship is Mizeri, who they summon with the goal of wiping out Engrassia.

I can’t go into further details about the why, but Guy has his reasons for doing this. Basically, he needs humans to continue to be afraid of monsters and demons as part of this grand plan he’s got going. And when they begin to grow comfortable like they are now, he reminds them of why they shouldn’t be like that!

…is what he should’ve gotten away with, if weren’t for a certain slime ruin his plans without trying.

If it weren’t for that meddling slime

As you recall, Rimuru made Testarossa Tempest’s representative at the Western Council. Which means that she is present when Granville and Vert summon Mizeri for their mass-murder plan. And since Rimuru made it her job to keep the Council safe, she is not going to let Mizeri have her way. After realizing that Testarossa, who is a Primoridal Demon like herself, is not only there, but has fully incarnated, Mizeri takes one look at what’s going on and comes to one conclusion: NOPE.

And so, Testarossa saves the day, while barely lifting a finger. And she and her followers start praising Lord Rimuru for it. They think that he knew that something like this would happen and that he had the foresight to put Testarossa in place to keep it from happening.

RIMURU IS SO LUCKY!

LOL

I was audibly laughing as I watching the Demons praise Rimuru like this. Rimuru may seem like this all-knowing god to his friends and followers, but we know the truth: if he didn’t have Raphael, he wouldn’t be able to pull off half the stuff he does. At this point, I’m pretty sure that he’s the only one who doesn’t know that Diablo and the other Colors are Primordial Demons. Even Guy freaks out when he realizes that Rimuru now has four Primordials working for him and doesn’t know it. He’s going to have to have a talk with him later!

Back in Lubelious, Rimuru and Hinata are still fighting against Granville. And since he stacked the deck against them, he’s lasting a lot longer than he would otherwise. Say what you want about the former hero, but he knows what he’s doing. Rimuru has to pull his punches with the Otherworlders (that was a bluff, though.) so he doesn’t kill them, and that distracts him enough to let him focus on Hinata. And that’s before he pulls out his wildcard in the form of Leon Cromwell.

Just keep up the ruse until you can strike, Rimuru and Leon

We already know beforehand that Leon didn’t come to Lubelious to fight. He just wants to see for himself that Rimuru is looking after his beloved sister, Chloe. But then Granville tells Rimuru how he helped Leon summon Otherworlder kids like Shizu, knowing that Rimuru isn’t happy about what Leon put her through, even if it did help her live to adulthood. Basically, Granville is trying to emotionally manipulate Rimuru into fighting Leon and making things worse. Both of them know this, but since they still don’t know what Granville’s game is, they have to play along. Plus, Rimuru did genuinely want to punch Leon for Shizu’s sake.

Little do they know, but Yuuki has already got what they wanted: Chronoa the Hero. And when she wakes up, things are going to get crazy.

The episode ends with Granville’s plans already starting to come undone without him realizing it, but at the same time, he and Yuuki are about to get what they want. And if the title of the next episode is any indication, then things are about to get pretty heavy. That Nat 20 luck that I think Rimuru has is going to be needed! As for this episode, though, I liked it by sole virtue of it making me laugh at how lucky Rimuru managed to be!

I Give “Turbulence in the West” a 4/5

Did you know that Norn Greyrat has a fan club?

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Something that the Mushoku Tensei Might End up Skipping

Well, I didn’t want to have to go over this. I really didn’t. But given how Mushoku Tensei is trying to make it to a certain point in the story before the first half of the season ends, I don’t blame the anime for skipping over some things from the light novels. Heck, I already have plans to tell you about a few certain events if the anime decides to either gloss over them or save them for an OVA. But for this event in particular, I’m not going to keep quiet. It’s not that important to the overarching story, but it’s a fun little anecdote to Rudy’s life. I call it “That time Rudy wrangled a fan club for his sister Norn.”

Norn takes so much after her Mom

So, at this point, I’m going to assume that we are all familiar with what Rudy and Norn’s mother, Zenith, was like before she ended up the way she is. She was everything you could want in a mother: naturally nurturing and fiercely protective of her family, as well as headstrong and willing to stand up for herself. I’m pretty sure that smirk Rudeus gets when he’s thinking something dirty is the same look his mom gets when she’s smug about something. Not to mention that she is incredibly beautiful, easily one of the most attractive women in the series.

And whether she has realized it or not, Norn has inherited several of these traits from her mother. Which is how this story begins.

So, it all starts after Rudy comes back with news of Paul’s death. After grieving the loss of her beloved dad, Norn asks Rudy for his sword and for him to train her. Now, he’s not that great as a swordsman, no matter how much Paul wanted him to be, but he decides he should help Norn in their dad’s stead. So the two begin training together, with Rudy teaching her the basics while also trying to get her body strong enough to handle the rigors of sword fighting. And that is when the trouble started.

SIMP ALERT!

It happened when they were out training on the grounds of Ranoa University. Norn had just run off to get changed into her regular clothes when Rudy noticed that they were being watched by a decently-sized group of people. All of them young students at Ranoa University.

Remember what I said about Norn naturally inheriting her mom’s looks? She was still in the cute phase of her life, but she would eventually grow to be just as beautiful as Zenith. Between that, her attempts to do her best, and her tendency to be clumsy and trip over herself, she had managed to win over a lot of the boys at school. And they got it into their heads that Rudy was bullying her, not realizing that she was his little sister or that she had asked for this training. And, at first, Rudy thought that they were just worried for her sake.

But then Norn came back, and the boys couldn’t help but reveal their true colors, complimenting her and saying how cute she was. And Rudy realized what he was dealing with. It was something that he knew all too well from his first life:

Putting the Foot Down

When he heard one of them mentioning how they would buy Norn in a heartbeat if she somehow ended up a slave (no joke), Rudy knew he had to put his foot down.

So, in the interest of protecting his little sister from a potential threat in the future, he organized them all into a group. Thus, the Norn Greyrat Official Fan Club was born, with Rudeus as its leader. All so that people could respectfully admire his sister without causing any trouble.

By the way, when the other members found out that Rudeus was taking baths with his sisters, they kicked him out for breaking the rules.

So that’s basically the story of how Norn got her own fan club at Ranoa U. I doubt it will end up being adapted into the anime, so I thought it would be fun to bring up here. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!

Granville is Making his Move!

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That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime S4 Ep 17 Review

Due to some sort of scheduling conflict or error going on in Japan, we didn’t get a new episode of Slime Tensura last week. It’s unfortunate, but given how I was at a convention that day, it worked out for me. But don’t know what isn’t going to work out? Whatever the heck Granville is planning on doing. He and Yuuki have this crazy plan to attack Rimuru and Luminous so they can kill them/steal the body of Luminous’ best friend. And they are going all out on this! And to make matters worse, not one, but two other Demon Lords are getting involved! At least one of them isn’t actually looking for a fight, at least.

Leon Loves his Little Sister!

So, we need to talk about Leon Cromwell. If you recall, he was the one who summoned Shizu to this world and sealed the Fire Demon Ifrit in her. This kept her alive, but it also led to her eventual death as Rimuru had to stop him from rampaging. Naturally, this didn’t leave us or Rimuru with a very good impression of him. But if the last few episodes have shown us anything, it’s that Leon isn’t a jerk. He’s more of a…dork.

Yes, if the last few episodes have shown us anything, it’s that Leon isn’t a bad guy. He’s just incredibly socially awkward. He doesn’t know how to talk to people properly, and since he’s a Demon Lord, people get the wrong idea about him. Since he’s so focused on finding Chloe that he gets tunnel vision and can’t really see how his actions come off towards other. Combine those two, and it explains why he hasn’t found Chloe on his own. In fact, when he finally decides to ask Elmesia for help, she tells him that he could’ve saved himself a lot of trouble if he had asked for help.

No matter, though. He’s off to Lubelius to reunite with his adoptive little sister! And for his sake, I hope he plays nice with Rimuru. If Chloe has her way, the slime could be his brother-in-law in ten years, LOLOLOL!

The timing couldn’t be worse, though. Granville and Yuuki are on the march.

Granville is on the Warpath

So, Rimuru and Hinata are just enjoying a relaxing get-together as platonic friends, sipping tea and enjoying their morning. Then all of a sudden, they learn that Lubelius is under attack by an army of warriors! And at the head of them is Granville Rozzo.

Granville has assembled a small army and marched them on Lubelius, all with the goals of stealing Luminous’ most prized possession and killing her and Rimuru. At least Granville is being smart about this. He knows he can’t face Rimuru in a fair fight, so he’s rigged it in his favor. Using an army of mind-controlled Otherworlders knowing full well that Rimuru wouldn’t harm them is a good handicap. And the Harlequin Alliance is currently keeping Luminous and her guards busy. He even resorted to using necromancy on his wife’s body to have her fight Luminous. But we know that this is only a stalling tactic. Granville couldn’t beat Luminous in his prime, so there’s no way that he can beat Rimuru. And if anything, seeing someone that she knew and likely called her friend at one point being revived as a puppet is only going to enrage Luminous rather than shock her.

But that’s the whole point of the plan. The bad guys are distracting our heroes so that they can steal the body of Chronoa, wake her up, and have her kill them. As far as plans go, it’s decent.

But that’s not the real highlight of the episode. It’s what Diablo gets up to.

Diablo Takes Care of Business

So, while Shion and Diablo are fighting this giant bug…thing, Diablo gets distracted. And it’s soon clear why: someone is lurking nearby, waiting for him. So, at Shion’s behest, he decides to go take care of this problem.

Also, note how Diablo and Shion addressed each other by their names. That’s a first!

The person that Diablo sensed is none other than Rain, the personal maid of Guy Crimson, the first and strongest of the Demon Lords, as well as the first of the Primordials. And Rain is also one of the Primordials like Guy and Diablo. So, she’s crazy strong. But she’s also not on the same level as Diablo. Even before he got his name, Diablo was able to fight Guy to a standstill. And then, Rain commits the ultimate sin in front of Diablo: she calls Rimuru trash.

What happens next is on her!

The episode ends with Guy Crimson himself showing up in the aftermath. I don’t know why he’s there, but this might have just added another wrinkle to this brewing crisis. Rimuru can handle himself just fine, but Guy Crimson? The OG Demon Lord? Yeah, he’d lose. Please don’t let this end badly for him!

I’m still looking forward to seeing how this all turns out, though.

I Give “Lubelius, the Point of Convergence” a 3/5

The Pikachu has Returned!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , , ,

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation S3 Ep 6 Review

Did you guys know that Mushoku Tensei fans have a nickname for the main girls based on their hair colors? Sylphie is the Bulbasaur for her originally green hair. Roxy is Squirtle, since she’s a blunette and specializes in water magic. And lastly, Eris is Charmander, both because of her red hair and how dangerous she can be when angry. But what about Pikachu? That would be Sara, the one that got away. Now, I’ve made my feelings about Sara pretty clear: I think she was a poor man’s substitute for Eris and a means to show us how badly the latter’s leaving hurt Rudy. I would’ve been fine if we never saw her again, but Rifujin decided to give us some closure with an entire chapter being dedicated to her reunion with Rudy. And that entire chapter just managed to get adapted into an entire episode of the anime.

Sara’s Back! *Gulp*

So the first thing that stuck out for me about this episode was how it managed to cover something that I thought the anime had chosen to skip over: the return of Suzanne, the old leader of Counter Arrow. In the light novels, it’s revealed far earlier that after Counter Arrow had disbanded, Suzanne and Timothy had moved to Sharia, married, and started their own family. And Rudeus hired her to be Lucie’s wet nurse, leading them to reunite. This actually took place much earlier in the novels while what happens in this episode takes place later. That left me genuinely convinced that the anime was going to skip over it, and thus left me pleasantly surprised.

In hindsight, though, it makes sense that the anime moved the order of events, considering how this entire episode is dedicated to Sara.

The main plot of the episode is about Rudy and Roxy helping to escort this Ranoan princess on her coming-of-age pilgrimage to some shrines. Since Ariel wants to build connections, she tags along with Luke and Sylphie, meaning most of the gang is present. But they’re not the only ones guarding the princesses. The Ranoan Princess hired this party of all-female adventurers to escort her. And guess who’s joined them since Counter Arrow split up?

I know we can technically hear what Rudy’s thinking thanks to his internal monologue, but the moment he sees Sara, I can imagine him completely freaking out.

Sylphie, you are a Saint!

So, Rudeus spends a good chunk of the job (when he’s not simping for his wives) doing his absolute best to avoid Sara. And frankly, I don’t think most guys can blame him. He thought he burned all his bridges with Sara, and so wanted to give her the space he thought she’d want. But Sylphie, who knows her husband so well (bless her heart) sees this and realizes “my man can’t keep doing this forever. He’s gotta rip the band-aid off or else someone could end up dead.” So Ariel, being the chess master she is, has Rudy and Sara go look for some fruit as an excuse for them to face each other.

As a quick aside, it’s so great to see how well Ariel knows Sylphie so well. It’s a good she’s her best friend, because I don’t think that the Greyrats could handle being on her bad side!

The next sequence is nothing short of cathartic, as it isn’t Rudy who ends up apologizing first; it’s Sara.

Sara Apologizes First

So, shortly after Sara had angrily slapped Rudy for badmouthing her and thinking he was just looking to get laid, the woman Soldat took him to came and told her everything. So Sara immediately realized that she had made a huge mistake, especially when she found out that Rudeus briefly tried to off himself. Remember that? Rudeus was so overcome by despair that he might have killed himself if Soldat hadn’t been there, and it would have been all her fault (and Eris’)! So she ran all over town trying to find him and apologize, but he was long gone by then.

Now, Rudy was not entirely blameless. He should have at least tried to explain his problems at the time. But given his mental state back then, I don’t think any of us can fault him for not thinking things through. I don’t think that I would have been thinking straight either.

At any rate, Rudy and Sara have their little heart-to-heart and apologize for how things ended. But you know what the most important part of this was? It’s them acknowledging that any romantic relationship between wouldn’t have worked out. I already knew it. I even acknowledged that Sara being too similar to Eris was going to cause problems and just make her Rudy’s rebound girl. That’s not a healthy foundation for romance, and I’m glad that they acknowledge that in-universe. Pikachu was not meant to be.

Friendship!

In the end, the job goes off without incident, and Rudy and Sara part ways, the two mutually deciding to stay in the friend zone. The most important aspect of this, though, was that it helped Rudy figure out for sure what type of woman is his type. Well, he is already married to Sylphie and Roxy, but reuniting with Sara made him realize why he fell for them, despite the Greyrat family being notoriously attracted to well-endowed women. It was because they had both saved him when he was at extremely low points in his life. Roxy helped him overcome his fear of the outside world that had kept him shut inside in his first life, and then helped him when Paul died. Sylphie became his first friend and helped him get his confidence back as a man. So, where does that leave Eris?

What’s Eris up to?

Look, Eris is going to come back into Rudy’s life. I know it; he knows it; even Sylphie knows it, and she’s never even met the redhead! The question isn’t if Eris will come back, but whether Rudy will be willing to let her back into his life. She was indirectly responsible for the ordeal that Rudy and Sara went through, and she has to answer for that.

Speaking of Eris, the end of the episode is dedicated to another part of the Mad Dog’s training arc. She, Nina, and Gino have been training for years now, and the Sword God is ready to elevate one of them to Sword King, the third highest rank a swordsman can have. Eris and Nina duel over it, and, predictably, Eris wins. The irony is that she doesn’t care about ranks like that. Such titles are meaningless when wanting to fight someone like Orsted, but it’s still impressive.

We are nearing the tail-end of Rudeus’ slice of life at Ranoa University, sadly. Which is a shame because I was hoping that the show would focus more on this part of his life. But if the show is trying to get to where I think it is before the first half of the season ends, they can’t afford to wait around. Heck, I’m not even sure they can make it to that point before time runs out! No spoilers, but let’s just say that things are going to get crazy.

I Give “Another Domestic Disaster” a 4.3/5

Rentaro’s New Girlfriend is Mother Nature Incarnate!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , , ,

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You S3 Ep 5 Review

ZING! KRRACK!! The newest episode of 100 Girlfriends only just started, and Rentaro has already met his fourteenth soulmate! And yes, it happens just as fast in the manga, something that gets lampshaded. Buh golly, meet our goddess of nature, our very own Nausicaa, Yamame Yasashiki!

Let’s back up a quick second. So, Rentaro decided that his girlfriends would look adorable if they were wearing crowns made out of flowers, and Iku suggested he go see the head of the school gardening club. And that’s where we start the episode.

Yamame Yasashiki, Mother Nature Herself

Meet Yamame Yasashiki, or as I like to call her, the living incarnation of Mother Nature. Standing at over 200 cm, she is taller than even Jotaro Kujo, and, according to the wiki, beats even Karane in strength. Not that she would ever use it to harm anyone. For Yamame is a gentle giant, who loves nature more than anything in the world, and has dedicated her life to helping nature grow and thrive. She’s so kindhearted that she even has a separate garden for weeds. She’s so kindhearted that when butterflies started hanging around the flowers in her hair, she let them stay. And over the years, she has used her size to help her protect any plants or animals that are in trouble. She loves nature, and nature loves her back.

So, she’s basically every nature goddess rolled into one. Or Nausicaa, if you’re an anime fan. By the way, if you didn’t know, there is a Nausicaa manga series that I recommend you check out!

Yamame is the incarnation of Mother Nature, no doubt about it. But she has a troubled past. When she was little, her size made her the target for a lot of bullying. It wasn’t until she realized she could use that to help the plants and animals that she started to love herself. Also, she wasn’t joking about walking with stilts around nature. In a bonus chapter of the manga from when she was little, she stepped on a bug by accident. She was so traumatized by it that she almost gave up on going outside. Her pa had to hypnotize her into thinking the bug was visiting her to tell her to forgive herself, and somehow that escalated into her using stilts. The point is, she’s pure enough to ride Goku’s Nimbus!

Oh, and she’s also deathly afraid of fire, as we see when the Vice Principal comes running after her hair catches fire.

It’s this moment that seals the deal for Yamame, as she becomes his fourteenth girlfriend.

GARDENING PARTY

And now, we get the traditional introduction to the Rentaro Family, brought to you by the Gardening Club!

In case you guys haven’t noticed at this point, this show is very open when it comes to referencing other anime. Especially if it’s an anime based on manga published by Shueshia, the company that owns Shonen Jump. In this episode alone, we get multiple references to Yu-Gi-Oh!, which I loved. What I loved almost as much though was seeing the Rentaro Family dressing like nature goddesses and tending to Yamame’s garden. Especially the way that Kurumi was shoveling down those strawberries like there was no tomorrow. I love strawberries, so I get why she’s so into them.

But what I loved even more was how Rentaro made Yamame feel less insecure about the height difference. I know that in real life, not a lot of guys would want to date a girl who’s taller than them. I think it’s because it makes us feel insecure about our manliness. But you have to remember this: in nature, there are plenty of examples where the female is bigger than the male. That, and Rentaro doesn’t discriminate. Kisses for all!

By the way, that ending gag is meant to be a parody of Attack on Titan. It’s way more obvious in the manga.

I Give “Yasashiki-San’s Gardening Club Tour” a 4/5

The God’s Knights are Here and They Suck!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

One Piece Ep 1172 Review

And so it begins. The chaos that I have spent the past year or so becoming intimately familiar with in the land of Elbaph. I hope that you guys had your fill of the quieter moments of the Elbaph Arc, and yes, I know how that sounds. In the short time since the Straw Hats came to Elbaph, they’ve escaped a giant, traversed the Underworld, reunited with old friends, AND fought a living legend of a pirate. But that was just a warm-up. From here on out, Elbaph is at war, and the God’s Knights are delivering the opening salvoes.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: if the big bad Imu (the monster running the World Government) wanted to conquer Elbaph, why would he only send three people? Shouldn’t he send his strongest fighters to make the giants submit? Plus, there’s no way that the God’s Knights could be so strong as to be able to conquer the strongest country in the world. I think that even I was a little skeptical about the feasibility of this at first. But as Oda soon proved to us, this was wrong. Terrifyingly, nightmarishly wrong. In fact, these three MONSTERS are probably the strongest enemies the Straw Hat pirates have faced to date!

The God’s Knights Strike

The episode opens on a very ominous note at the Walrus School. We see the kids enjoying recess, playing and having fun, doing normal kids’ stuff. It’s what every parent wants to see their kids doing. But the red flags are already there. The shots of Gunko, Qillingham, and Sommers walking towards the school was giving me goosebumps in the worst way possible. In fact, part of me even thought, “Did Toei set this scene up to feel like the prelude to an attack on a school on purpose?“It sounds paranoid, but considering how many schools in America have been victims of violent acts in my lifetime alone, I think the fear is justified.

The first attack comes in the form of a GIANT SERPENT. The students are sent running for their lives as the teachers do what teachers are supposed to do in a crisis: kick ass and protect their students.

It helps that Saul is an ex-Vice Admiral. And the Principal is a retired member of the Giant Pirates. Both of those titles makes them strong by default, and they deal with the serpent. But there’s still the question as to how it showed up. And why it looks like something that was drawn by a kid.

This is Just EVIL!

But that’s not the worst of it. That serpent was just a distraction. While everyone was panicking, the God’s Knights snuck in and put a bunch of kids from Colon’s class to sleep, before leading them away from the school Pied-Piper style. With Gunko’s arrows guiding them, they’re sleepwalking straight for the beach, where they will board a ship to take them to Mariejois as hostages. And when the adults try to stop them, they collapse to the ground in pain from touching something invisible.

Oh, and to matters worse, more monsters show up. And they all look like something a kid would draw because they were, in fact, drawn by kids. It was a class activity where the kids had to draw what they were afraid of the most.

I don’t want to wait for the anime to explain it, so I’m just going to spoil it: this is all the doing of the God’s Knights. Specifically, their Devil Fruits. We already know that Gunko can create things out of arrows, but then we have the other two. Sommers can create vines covered in thorns, while Qillingham, besides turning into a mythical beast called a Kirin, can put people to sleep AND manifest anything from their dreams. The former is ensuring that none of the adults can save the kids, while the latter is using their nightmares to create an army of monsters to rampage across Elbaph.

WHY ARE THEY SO EVIL!?!?

Okay, three things. Firstly, a part of me has to respect the bad guy’s plan for how foolproof they’ve made it. The God’s Knights summoned an army of monsters (who are incredibly well-animated, I might add) to keep all the grown-ups busy. And they made sure that even if the adults try to free the kids, they will get badly hurt in the process. It’s a pretty well-thought-out plan, and I gotta respect that. Secondly, though, it is also pure evil. To this day, Sommers ranks at the top five list of One Piece villains I wanna see get fed their own teeth. Because as you will come to learn, he is a sick, depraved sadist. The man is laughing at the despair he wants to put those parents through like he’s the Joker!

And three, and I need you to pay attention to this one: the Straw Hats have a no-tolerance policy for child abuse. Hurting kids in their vicinity is basically signing your own death warrant, because they will show you no mercy. And when they find out about what’s going on, they are going to drop everything and fight. But the scary thing is that they may not be able to do much with who they have right now. They need the Monster Trio if they wanna win this, and they’ve got their own problems. Or so they think.

Yeah, I’m Calling Loki’s Bluff on this

So, Loki is free, as you might recall. However, Luffy and Zoro aren’t complete idiots, so they made sure to keep one of the cuffs made out of sea stone (it suppresses Devil Fruit powers) attached to his leg. So he can’t use his powers. But Devil Fruit or not, he’s still terrifying. Even though he’s sporting some serious injuries from Shamrock and Gunko, he’s still aura farming. And then he grabs that GIGANTIC HAMMER he calls Ragnir, and threatens to use it to set fire to the giant tree that makes up Elbaph. He’s willing to burn his own country to the ground to get his point across!

I know that this makes Loki seem like an irrefutable villain, but if you’ve read the manga, trust me, this is nothing. Plus, he’s bluffing. Regardless of how much trouble he’s caused for his country, Loki does care about Elbaph. Plus, he hates the Celestial Dragons more than anything in existence. He’s not going to let them run roughshod over his home.

Well, I hope you guys are happy now. The chaos has begun and it’s not going to stop! WE WILL CRUSH THE KNIGHTS FOR THEIR CRIMES!!

I Give “Monsters Appear in Elbaph – ‘What I Fear Most'” a 4/5

The Rentaro Family Idol Arc!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Crunchyroll , , , , , , ,

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You S3 Ep 4

Idols are huge in Japan. J-pop may not have the same reach as K-Pop, but it’s got its fair share of fans, especially among us weebs. But it’s also a grueling and unforgiving environment that will set you alive! But as long as you have a good support system, then it can be just fine, as the Rentaro Family finds for themselves!

It all starts with Hahari being inspired by this insurance commercial about how you only live once. So on a whim, she decides to throw a spring festival (it’s forever spring!) Unfortunately, the week before the festival, the idol group she hired gets injured while rehearsing, so she asks the Family to cover. It’s the start of the idol arc!

https://twitter.com/LoKoKaBoosTeR69/status/2081531157850595631?s=20

Idol Life Sucks

First rule about being an idol, though: it sucks. The coach Hahari hired is brutal, pointing out how only half of them (Nano, Mei, Mimimi, Iku, and Karane) are able to perform. Hahari, Hakari, and Meme are weighed down by their boobs (two words: sports bras)! Kurumi keeps getting hungry! Shizuka, Chiyo and Kusuri are just bad at dancing, and that’s not even getting into the singing. So the coach is at the end of her rope, and resorts to the cutthroat nature of the idol industry.

I haven’t watched Oshi No Ko in its entirety, and I have no real interest in doing so. But if some of the things that they show about how cutthroat showbiz is in Japan, then this is the norm. Hell, the coach experienced that herself when she had to leave her friend in the lurch. But this is a romcom, not whatever genre Oshi No Ko is. So when the good half is asked to bail on their friends, they all refuse and tell her to get lost. So, Rentaro becomes their coach because he’s such a CHAD!

And then comes the day of the festival when the family is supposed to perform. They sing and dance their hearts out for their boyfriend, but it turns out that idol coach decided to get even. She brought that injured idol group to the festival to sign autographs just to spite them all, which is a horrible thing to do. Good thing Rentaro and Uncle Hiro came prepared with dummies of themselves. And Rentaro sent out flyers that brought a bunch of supporting characters there to watch.

Full disclosure: I have no idea what separates a good idol performance from a bad one. I don’t really care that much as long as the songs are good. But even so, I’m glad that Rentaro got all those people there to watch them perform. Even the idol coach is moved by how hard they’re trying to perform, and in the end, the performance is a huge success.

So much so that the Rentaro Family is actually scouted by a famous music producer who thinks they’ve got the gift and wants to turn them into an actual idol group. And the anime makes it seem like there’s going to be this big arc ahead of us…but it doesn’t happen.

I Think the ‘No Romance’ Thing is Real

The second rule of being an idol: no romance allowed. And this is actually a real thing. The idol business in Japan and Korea insists on their idols being relationship-free to maintain an image of purity and…oh, who am I kidding. They do it because they know that more people will be fans if they can hold onto the fantasy of dating them.

They don’t even hesitate to walk away, LOL. Besides, a ton of them are probably going to be famous anyway one day.

By the way, it should be noted that the anime has skipped over a bunch of manga chapters about one-off misadventures the Rentaro Family gets up to. So I’d recommend that you go give it a read. Plus, there’s also a spin-off about their actual families.   

I Give “The Rentaro Family Idol Legend” a 5/5. And that’s definitely not because Rentaro is threatening me or anything!