The Girl in Twilight #8 – This episode should be an excursion to a new alternate world, so The Girl in Twilight breaks expectations again and focuses on Asuka in our world. Unlike the other girls, she’s already pushing back at expectations and doing what she wants to do— follow the family tradition and take over the miso business. She’s got the personality and knowledge to run a shop, as she demonstrates, so why is her father so against it? Regretting his own choices, or is there some kind of trouble he isn’t telling her about?
It’s when serious trouble strikes Serious Asuka’s own world that the stage is set for Yū to take her turn as the link, and there are even logical reasons for it. In the run-up to it, we learn a couple more things about Yū: the social pressure she’s under is to succeed academically, and she’s able to tell one identically dressed Asuka from another at a glance. That last part may tie into the feelings she’s implied to have for Asuka.
The biggest question for next week is, is the solo dimension-hopping Yū from the same timeline as the solo Asuka? If not, where is she from?
(HIDIVE)
Double Decker! Doug & Kirill #9 – We start this week with a reminder(?) that Seven-O is a paramilitary unit, by meeting its boss form the military side of the org chart, who dresses like he has a self-esteem problem big enough for a Third World dictator. The trouble that brings him in is a high-profile kidnapping, which turns out to be a corrupt deal between Esperanza and a major politician, which then turns into an excuse for Esperanza to snatch someone to interrogate about the magic antidote-making system, but it all winds up as one great big team rescue effort with Kirill doing his goofy best.
The key reasons for this episode become clear late in the game: to make Seven-O aware that Zabel is the real boss, to reveal that Kirill has a connection to someone or something important, and with it to hint at how this story relates to Tiger & Bunny. (Okay, and also maybe to shore up certain viewer demographics by parading Doug around shirtless.)
Kronos Foods, the name on the van, is the name of one of the powerful conglomerates running things in Stern Bild, the setting of Tiger & Bunny. Another is Titan Industry, the name seen on the gun a couple episodes ago, and another is Apollon Media, from the news broadcasts in the first two episodes. Many other references to Greek myth were worked into character designs, names, and scenery, with some of the superhero characters in particular made into parallels with Olympian gods. But there were never any direct callouts to the Greek legends in the story— until now, with a mention of Prometheus.
The best candidate for “Prometheus’s fire” right now is Anthem, or Anthem could be an attempt to recreate whatever it is. This also brings a new spin to what the drunk was saying a few episodes back, about powers watching from high up.
It increasingly looks like this is going to be a prequel to Tiger & Bunny, but to get from a world with two suns and no superheroes to one with only one sun and organized superhero competition is going to take a whole lot more explanation.
(Crunchyroll — bilibili — Funimation)
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind #7 – Some of the young toughs exact revenge on their near-killer, starting with the time-honored method of simple beating, escalating to torture and finally, a music video. Meanwhile, Abbacchio chooses to do something more constructive with his time and uncovers the clues that point to another enemy waiting on the island to intercept the yacht.
All this is really just setup to put Guido Mista in the spotlight and introduce his Stand, which has a lot more personality than average. Not only does it comprise six different personas, they’re all in line with the stereotype of the Italian workmen who aren’t going to do anything unless they get a proper lunch break first. Once that’s taken care of, though, the little guys are an engaging bunch to watch in action.
At this rate, it could take the entire season to get a closeup look at everyone in Bruno’s group, and maybe that’s the plan. With a planned run of 9 months, it doesn’t have to hurry too much, and for now it doesn’t feel too slow.
(Crunchyroll — ADN — bilibili)
Zombie Land Saga #7 – In the lead-up to Saga Rock (once again, a real event), Junko hides herself in the attic until Kōtarō is forced to break down the door and reveal that he does in fact have some decency and actually knows what he’s doing. This is a disappointing turn. The Kōtarō who runs over her with a van and then shouts that this shouldn’t slow her down at all is the one that keeps this show moving.
That accident mimics Sakura’s death so perfectly that there’s no doubt Kōtarō was driving the truck that took her down. It suggests that the reason she’s in the group despite not being a legendary anything is that he needed to cover up a mistake. Perhaps he noticed what she was about to mail and decided that was enough justification for it.
That plus a chance to see Iron Frill in person seems to be getting close to restoring Sakura’s memory. (Is it a little weird that Iron Frill has supposedly been performing for a decade, and they all still look like teenagers?)
So in the end, Junko is okay with being allowed to cultivate a standoffish public persona, Ai is okay with being struck by lightning now that it gives her a cool new power, the group is all together and finally nailing their act. Having run out of intra-band problems, the only problem now is the guy who seems to recognize one of them.
(Crunchyroll — bilibili — Funimation)
SSSS.Gridman #7 – Rikka and Shō have seen Yūta sucked into an ancient computer and turned into Gridman, weapons that also manifest as people, monsters towering over their city that no one else can see, and classmates retroactively erased from reality, but the idea that someone partially responsible for all this is masquerading as a high school student is too utterly preposterous for them to even consider. It isn’t until Gridman takes flight and finds something which is definitely not part of a normal stratosphere that they’re willing to believe it.
Meanwhile, we finally learn a little more about Akane’s mysterious partner Alexis, but only as he appears to be lining up a new partner. The stronger the hate, the stronger the monster, he says, and Akane just doesn’t seem to hate Gridman enough. Anti looks like a better prospect for now, but this also opens up the possibility that if someone else could be convinced to hate Gridman even more, Alexis would be happy to team up with them. For instance, if a member of the Gridman Alliance could somehow be turned against him…
Now that everyone accepts that they’re in some kind of manufactured reality, the question is, what is its nature and how do they escape? Are they inside a computer on contemporary Earth? Kidnapped by Alexis and trapped in some alien device?
