The Weekend Anime Round-up Presents: We Were Special

Hello there, fellow anime enthusiasts. I hope you all had a lovely week-WTF IS GOING ON WITH SK8?!

I actually mean that in a good way, I just… lemme explain with a tweet:

And now I’ll explain with an in-depth, cohesive write-up of my feelings… peppered in all caps because WTF. IS. GOING. ON. WITH. SK8?!

Friday, March 5

Jujutsu Kaisen episode 21

Where to watch: Crunchyroll

Let me address the elephant in the room: yes, Hanami survived that massive attack from Gojo.

Oh, you thought I was gonna talk about baseball? LOL that’d be a random segway for a dark shonen anime, huh?

But yes, Hanami is alive, and Mahito comes to help him get back home (after stopping the newest addition to their team from putting Hanami out of his misery). We find out that Mahito managed to get Sukuna’s six fingers from Jujutsu Tech (crap) along with something called “Cursed Wombs: Death Paintings” one through three (double, triple, and quadruple crap). A flashback on the beaches of Animal Crossing: New Horizons reveals how Geto came up with this plan, but we also get new information about how Jujutsu Tech works.

Most of the temples we’ve seen are fake as Tengen’s barrier keeps changing their position daily. There are at least a thousand doors with only one of them leading to the storeroom where Sukuna’s fingers would’ve been. Tengen is an immortal jujutsu sorcerer, but they’re only there to maintain the barrier (that’s all we learn about Tengen, for now). The way Mahito ended up being able to locate the storeroom goes back to the incident with Junpei’s mom. It turns out Geto left Sukuna’s finger there on purpose and placed a charm that contained Mahito’s cursed energy on it so that when it was taken to Jujutsu Tech, Mahito would be able to find it.

What’s really interesting to me (after Geto explains why the veil worked the way it did) was that Geto advised everyone to NOT kill any of the students. This is because he thinks that one of the students is a “land mine” for Sukuna (isn’t Megumi so lucky?). Basically, Geto suspects that there’s a reason why Sukuna hasn’t done any real damage to the folks at Jujutsu High and reasons that it’s because there’s someone there who interests him. Since Geto doesn’t know who that person is, it stands to reason that if they kill any of the students, it could potentially unleash Sukuna’s fury.

The extent in Geto’s planning is impressive, and frightening, at least for our main characters. Also, he’s planning something for October 31st in Shibuya so… save the date?

Meanwhile, the faculty try and accesses the situation. They decide to not tell the students the full extent of what happened which I’m sure won’t come back to bite them in the ass later (dear anime adults: PLEASE talk to your KIDS!). They also decide to cancel the Goodwill Event… until Gojo speaks up. See, Gojo thinks the kids should be the ones to decide whether or not the Goodwill Event is canceled. After an impassioned speech by Aoi, they decide they should continue, but instead of having grand scale battles, everyone ends up playing baseball.

It’s the competition method that was picked out of the box.

Um… you had to be there?

This leads to the rest of the episode being way more hilarious than it has any right to be. Everyone’s stats are so bonkers, my favorite being Panda who wants to punch a zebra someday? Follow your dreams, buddy! Interspliced with the comedy are some key moments, like Kokichi understanding Yuji’s motivations a bit more, and the two principals talking about Yuji’s fate, but overall it’s a cute follow-up after the adrenaline rush of the second half of this season.

Also it, somehow, is the perfect way to show how the kids would approach a battle? Like Megumi holding himself back by bunting the ball compared to Yuji going for that homerun.

Saturday, March 6

SK8 the Infinity episode 9

Where to watch: Funimation

THIS SERIES HAD NO RIGHT!

WHERE DO I EVEN START?!

First and foremost, let me just say that as a sports anime watcher I expect the mid-season angst, but honestly? I didn’t expect Adam to be SUCH an antagonist, you know? Not to the point where he slams a skateboard like a baseball bat into one of his old friends (boyfriend, totally a boyfriend, omg they’re such ex-boyfriends I WAS JOKING WHEN I MADE UP THAT HEADCANON WEEKS AGO).

Lemme go ahead and recap this episode.

Joe and Langa are in the middle of their beef, but Langa just isn’t into it. Even if it’s a good match, he just doesn’t feel the excitement he usually feels (because he needs Reki he needs Reki HE NEEDS REKI). Meanwhile, Reki is watching the match, still feeling some kind of way about everything, but as he watches Langa fall behind he decides to cheer for him. We get the soulmate eye for the second time in this anime (you know, when the character is inspired by a person they see, their image reflected in their eye), Langa getting the boost he needs to do ridiculous stunts like “use a swinging steel frame as momentum to push you ahead.”

I just … I love this anime so much, y’all.

Langa ends up winning his match, but his skateboard breaks. He’s so distracted by this (because Reki made the skateboard, and as established in the last episode, Langa is in love with Reki, no I won’t be taking questions at this time) that he doesn’t even seem to realize that he won. Joe tells him the board can be fixed (a metaphor for Langa and Reki’s relationship, I’m sure) and encourages Langa to run after Reki.

I get the feeling that Joe is reliving some past “I didn’t run after Cherry” stuff, or something. You’ll see what I mean with the second half of this episode recap.

Langa legit spends the rest of the episode trying to find Reki, not even watching the match of Adam vs Cherry. He just… really doesn’t care much about anything, not until he can talk to Reki again. Meanwhile, Reki realizes that what he wants is to skate with everyone, not just offer support, but since he still feels that he’s not good enough to do that he leaves, going so far as to turn in his S pin. I swear to Christ if the next episode (after the recap, UGH ANOTHER RECAP) isn’t Langa catching up to Reki, slamming him against a wall, and telling him he’s good enough imma cancel my Funimation subscription.

(Note: she is, in fact, lying).

Adam is up against Cherry, and this is the first time we’ve actually seen Adam look so serious when skating. There’s not a lot of that over-the-top dancing. It does happen, don’t get me wrong, but for the most part, Adam is stoic when up against Cherry. Joe rushes over to say something before the match starts, but Cherry interrupts to start up their bickering routine, which is starting to feel more and more like an act. It feels like a way to not get too swept up in the fact that the friend they once had is now an unsettling, abusive asshole, a way to not admit how much that hurts, and to maybe even hold onto the fun times they had before Adam became, well, ADAM. There’s no indication that Joe and Cherry know how Adam was raised, but since we (and Tadashi) know about him being brought up to think that abuse is a sign of love, that adds a new layer to Adam’s actions.

Through flashbacks, we see how Cherry and Joe met Adam (mostly Cherry, though, since it’s his skateboard match and since he was so enamored with him). There are a LOT of similarities between past Adam and Cherry and present-day Langa and Reki, so much so that Cherry even slipped off his skateboard once and Adam caught him, holding him close the way Langa did with Reki back in episode 6.

This is why Cherry hopes that he can reach the Adam he used to know, and Adam? Um. Yeah, the whole skateboard baseball bat thing.

After the credits, Cherry shows up at Joe’s restaurant, having snuck out of the hospital to visit. After a small bit of bickering, Cherry falls asleep at the bar, Joe pouring them each a glass of wine and silently toasting the fact that the two of them aren’t alone.

As if Joe and Cherry addressing each other by their real names throughout the episode wasn’t enough (Joe is Kojiro and Cherry is Kaoru, btw), we get this ending to the episode.

THIS IS THE FACE OF A MAN IN LOVE OKAY?!

I’m soft.

I’m also angry at Adam.

I’m angry at this anime I’m too emotionally invested HELP!

Horimiya episode 9

Where to watch: Funimation

In news that we all saw coming, Hori is still salty about girls being interested in Miya since his haircut. There’s no time for this, though, since Miya suddenly runs into some boys from his middle school who used to bully him. Hori watches quietly as the boys continue to harass Miya, going so far as to ask her if she realizes how he was back in middle school in an attempt to push her away from him.

Hori responds by beating the shit out of her boyfriend’s bullies.

One thing I really appreciate about this series is that once Hori and Miya started dating, Hori hasn’t hesitated AT ALL about them being together. When she’s asked if Miya is really her boyfriend she confirms that he is, going so far as to defend him from bullies. The smile on his face afterward says it all.

One of the bullies (Makio Tanihara) is a central focus of the episode. He’s friends with resident good boy (but oddly flavored candy provider) Kouichi Shindo, the one friend Miya had back in middle school. Makio is harboring some major guilt for what he did to Miya, particularly an incident involving rabbits. Before the episode delves deeper into that, we continue our exploration of Hori’s kinks and how Miya is trying his best to upgrade his soft goth boy status to “mean goth boy who slaps his girlfriend (with consent, because Hori likes it).” Miya can’t figure out if Hori is legitimately into that sort of thing, or if it’s as her father says, and that she’s into it because it’s the polar opposite of who Miya is.

Oddly enough, it ends up working in Miya’s favor in two ways. 1) It makes his middles school bullies fear him because if he’s able to dominate Hori (who beat them up earlier), that must mean he’s REALLY scary. And 2) It gets one of Hori’s many admirers, Taiki Mizouchi, to realize he has no chance with her because he’d never be willing to hit Hori.

Let me just say that seeing the phrase kink-shaming is not something I expected to see in a slice-of-life anime, yet here we are.

The rest of the episode focuses on Makio and his guilt about his actions toward Miya. It’s illustrated in a really cool dream sequence where both boys are in a locker together, Miya explaining how this trapped space is “outside” and how Makio has always been on the “inside,” therefore, he’s never known how this feels. Miya reveals that Makio doesn’t actually care whether or not he’s outside or inside as long as he has people on his side, alluding to the fact that Makio bullied Miya because, well, everyone else did. We learn at the end of the episode why the rabbits are so significant. Back in middle school, Makio was supposed to feed them, but forgot to, so they all died. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he blamed Miya, letting the outcast take the fall for something he didn’t do.

Miya and Makio slowly (like, very slowly) begin to talk to each other. It’s realistic in its awkwardness, and also realistic in Hori being suspicious because this is someone who hurt Miya so much back in the day. But Miya says that he doesn’t think there isn’t a person in the world who you can’t be friends with. It’s an extremely optimistic viewpoint, one that I hope doesn’t get him hurt in the future (which tends to happen, because, well, not everyone is out to be your friend), but if it DOES happen in the future I hope that the genuine friends he has made continue to be a source of comfort.

Sunday, March 7

Theatre of Darkness: Yamishibai 8 episode 9

Where to watch: Crunchyroll

Note to self: don’t work yourself to death.

Literally.

Rumor around the office is that one of the employees has been a no-call, no-show for the past week. A woman overhears all of this and clocks out very late at night, exhausted because of all the hours she’s putting in, and suddenly finds herself in a park that leads to a dessert where the ants (wait, those are people?!) encourage her to finally rest.

–

That’s all for the weekend round-up! See everyone on Friday for the weekday version!

(Image: Funimation)

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Briana Lawrence

Briana (she/her - bisexual) is trying her best to cosplay as a responsible adult. Her writing tends to focus on the importance of representation, whether it’s through her multiple book series or the pieces she writes. After de-transforming from her magical girl state, she indulges in an ever-growing pile of manga, marathons too much anime, and dedicates an embarrassing amount of time to her Animal Crossing pumpkin patch (it's Halloween forever, deal with it Nook)

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