Nanana’s Buried Treasure #4 – Well, hey, Jūgo’s developed a personality! And more than that, he gets to be the badguy. That speech that Isshin got about sticking to your dreams usually comes from the hero, doesn’t it?
Now we know that he’s the heir to the Matsuri operation, and the estrangement from his father was due to him being insufficiently kindhearted, because they see themselves as Robin Hoods or somesuch. And apprently he knew about the theft that was going to happen– but it’s clear from the first episode that he didn’t know Nanana was still around, or all of the backstory behind the treasure. So how much of it did the head of Matsuri already know?
Meanwhile, Tensai turns out to have friends in high places too, and the governor (mayor? CEO?) of Nanae Island has a surprisingly substantial militia at their beck and call for someone who’s just in charge of a gigantic school campus. Makes you wonder what other sorts of major artifacts they’re prepared to see unearthed.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders #5 – Believe it or not, this surreal dreamscape of seemingly random statuary is a real place in Hong Kong. It and a similar garden in Singapore were the creation of brothers Aw Boon Par and Aw Boon Haw, partly to promote their Tiger Balm line of products. The Hong Kong gardens are much reduced from their 1930s form, as this map will show you.
After Kakyōin had a turn to be the hero last episode, now it’s Avdol’s chance to shine (literally). But he can see that his opponent is a truly worthy and chivalrous man, because he’s taking the time to explain his attacks, and the first rule of Shōnen Fight Club is that you do talk about it, as often and in as much detail as possible.
If the rest of the show is our heroes fighting through the Major Arcana one card at a time on their way to Egypt, that gives us 22 episodes not counting the probable recap episode, making this a nice tidy 2-season show. But if it stays as goofy and inventive as it’s been so far, a predictable structure isn’t going to be a big handicap.
Brynhildr in the Darkness #5 – The first few minutes went a bit like this: boobs, boobs, boobs, break for the opening sequence to remind you that this was off to an exciting, dark, intelligent start at one point, and then boobs.
But then things pick up with the arrival of a new and scarier witch and the death of another of the escapees. The lab has reached the point where discretion no longer trumps getting the others back. (Or the author has reached the point where having the lab’s actions make sense no longer trumps the desire to blow some stuff up.) Now that the entire club as featured in the opening and closing sequences has been brought together, perhaps it’ll stay in this mode for a while.
Intelligence is dropping off on all sides now, as Kana has only seen images of Neko and Ryōta with blood on them, and both Kana and Ryōta have jumped to the conclusion that the visions are of Kotori having killed them. A good bet for next time is that Ryōta is going to wind up covered in someone else’s blood.
Mushishi #5 – Is there any mythology in which the appearance of a spectral twin isn’t a sign that something bad is about to happen? Or where the mirror isn’t a means of revealing the truth of an illusion?
Here, though, it’s explained as an evolved survival mechanism, where a mushi has developed a form of spiritual mimicry in order to find its way to food. We also get to see the less-explored side of the mushi master’s practice here– Ginko isn’t just out to save humans from mushi, but also to see that the mushi are able to carry on their lives as well as possible.
