Chronos Ruler #8 – Victor, as he is now known after the person responsible for the subtitles has straightened out something with the production crew, has been holding out on how much he knows about Couljours. Not only is it half a day’s drive from anywhere (just as well they left mid-flight, as Blaze says), it’s his hometown. And it was the site of his last mission before the Horologue attack on his family.
All of which pales nearly to insignificance in comparison with the shock he receives after returning. The entire town is traveling back in time, to the extent that it now contains living copies of his parents. And him. And, good grief, he was a world-class jerk at the age of 5, wasn’t he? But underneath that annoying, devil-may-care exterior, even 15-year-old Victor understands what a terrible person he was and truly regrets it.
Looking at the timeline as we know it now reveals a suspicious coincidence:
- 1975: Victor born
- 1987: Victor, age 12, leaves Couljours
- 1990: Limit of what Victor can directly remember in the present day
- 1997: Inflection point from which Couljours started moving backward in time. Also Kiri’s birth. Hmmmm.
- 2002: Attack on Victor and his wife
- 2014: Present day
There is no way Kiri just happens to have been born at the same time as something weird happening in Couljours. He’s not just being dragged into his father’s mess, he’s part of the mystery himself.
(Crunchyroll — Hulu — FUNimation)
18if #8 – Haruto and Kanzaki are each pulled into the experience of the deaf in their respective worlds. For Kanzaki it’s seeing a performance by a deaf idol, and for Haruto it’s experiencing the idol’s dream world after she’s been trapped in the rubble of a disaster. Or is it? The end-credits sequence shows an alternate version where she’s helped by a hearing-ear dog. So perhaps the alien attack is just a nightmare about what would happen if she were truly on her own?
This is the second time ever that I can recall seeing deafness being portrayed in anime, and the first where the story wasn’t about trying to fix it. Instead, the idol sees a metaphorical deafness in Haruto that needs addressing. He’s eager to fix other people’s problems in order to run away from his own; he’s got raging impostor syndrome and an unhappy home life. But at the end of the story, it’s Kanzaki, whose avatar wasn’t even present for the diagnosis, who gets a little more in touch with himself. I’m getting more certain that Haruto really is another piece of Kanzaki.
If captions are really that unusual in Japan, then it was a nice touch for this episode to bring its own.
(Crunchyroll — VVVVID — bilibili — FUNimation)
Made in Abyss #8 – Made in Abyss gets as close to being a fun little junior survivalist show as it’s ever been for a while, as Riko and Reg face up to the challenge of surviving ten days on their own in the Second Layer. With Riko’s knowledge and Reg’s strength, it’s no time at all before they’re living in their own cozy shelter and enjoying delicious meals of stewed hippo-thing.
Their reward is Lyza’s old weapon and a trove of secrets about the deeper layers before Ōzen sends them on their way down. Ōzen also reminisces to herself about Lyza, who was such a serious loner that it came as a total surprise that she was going to get married. (Actually, I’m not sure if Ōzen’s shocked reaction meant “I can’t believe you made that kind of connection with another human being” or “Wait, I was planning to marry you sometime.”)
Lyza said she left Riko alone so as not to interfere with Riko’s chance at adventure– but also she feared that motherhood would make her lose her connection to the Abyss. Was she also born in the Abyss?
(Anime Strike/Amazon Video — HIDIVE — Wakanim — VVVVID)
Magical Circle Guru-Guru #8 – Returning characters and developing running gags are the order of the day as Nike and Kukuri look for the next dungeon they have to conquer. One of the budding adventurers from North Village joins the party (I’m now assuming they all will eventually), Ineffective Dark Mage Raid is looking for a rematch, Nike adds a new entry to his series of disappointing swords, and, somewhere out there, the dance trophy from Yondor Village is still on the trail of our heroes.
Crafting makes a brief appearance with Toma and his gadgets. Guru-Guru predates the appearance of complicated crafting systems in computer RPGs, as far as I know, so its role here is likely to remain confined to Toma whipping up ridiculous new one-off machines whenever the plot calls for it.
Katsugeki Touken Ranbu #9 – The Second Unit pops back to the eve of the Meiji Restoration, where they need to prevent the premature death of Ryōma Sakamoto. Sakamoto was a leading figure in the movement for modernization and the restoration of imperial power; he created Japan’s first modern navy with Kaishū Katsu (yes the same guy who negotiated the surrender of Edo in 1868), and is credited with sketching out the general form of the constitutional monarchy that would follow the end of the shogunate. Unfortunately, a more successful group of assassins would get to him in 1867.
After all the time spent establishing that Mutsunokami wanted to avoid his former wielder only for personal reasons, and that there would be no timey-wimey physics-breaking consequences, it was inevitable that they would be forced together. Everybody kicks butt, Sakamoto is duly delivered to the Satsuma manor, and once again history is seemingly bent somewhat out of shape but it turns out to be okay somehow. It’s hard to feel any suspense about it anymore.
(Anime Strike/Amazon Video — Crunchyroll — Wakanim — Aniplus — bilibili)
