天下制覇

My creative titling has run dry.

Impressions:

The short version is that it’s the same as it was before, right down to the BGM and oculofetishism. Maybe this episode was slightly better made than is usual for a Shaft show lately, but not much, and they’re still using their quick blurs to cover up a lack of animation in ‘action’ scenes. It’s clever from a direction standpoint, mind you, but it’s also obvious when abused this hard. Shaft’s weird OPs continue to be the main thing of note, and while this one isn’t as badly sung as the first season’s, it’s going to win awards for being weird, not for its sonorific merits.

There’s not a whole ton more to say outside of summarizing the episode. Nino and Kou traded homes for the first half and then all the men had a race in the second. The former just an excuse for people to come to Nino’s house expecting her and yell when it was Kou, the latter for people to do weird things during the race and Kou to yell. I’m not sure Arakawa would even exist if you took out the screaming and people making faces. The Mario bit made me chuckle, but most was the same old same old. If you enjoyed the first season, you’ll probably enjoy this. If not, or if you were tired of it by the end, then this is not going to change your mind.

I’m more inclined to stick with either Star Driver or Oreimo in hopes of improvement than to give this a fifth or sixth chance. Thankfully, Samurai Girls is the final Sunday show (episode 1 repeats this week). I’d like to pick up something else because it’s the weekend and I’ve got time to spare, but frankly, I can’t say that I’m particularly excited about any of the rest.

Preview:

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