[barnstenchfartface]

Did a final push today to finish up a couple of series, Lostorage incited WIXOSS and Shinsekai yori.

Lostorage was...ok? I definitely enjoyed the original WIXOSS more. I don't know, it's like...the twists and turns feel less impactful and more emptily melodramatic this time around, and so many of the new characters are just chronically unlikable. Even the ones designed to be, like the main villain, aren't even that appealing as villains you're meant to hate, just gross and creepy and unpleasant. All words I'd also use to describe the forced attempts at sexual analogies throughout the show. Those words, as well as these other ones: "real fuckin' stupid." And real recurring too, which was a problem.

So, there were some downsides. On the other hand, the system in place for the Selector battles is more rational than the original one, and I actually like the characters I did like more than the original ones. I like Suzuko, and I especially like Hanna, who I found to be a fairly strong character and a much better one to round out the trio of focus characters than Hitoe was. This is something that surprised me, as I find her verbal tic to be terribly annoying. That I still liked her despite that speaks for itself. Sadly, Chinatsu is one of those chronically unlikable characters I mentioned, which is a bit of a shame. She's also like the focal point of all the stupid sexual analogies (Want to do it with me???? Get it because we're talking about card games but somehow we're making that a sex thing???? Gosh our writers sure are clever). Somehow I liked her even less than incest sister from the original.

Speaking of which, last time incest brother was the only male character in the show, more or less. This time we had a lot more, and man do I wish we did not. They all pretty much were total ass.

LRIGs weren't too notable this time around, not even the main ones. Kind of makes the ending less successful but not too much.

Ultimately, I did mostly like the ending. Whole thing was kinda bittersweet, it was alright, and while it wasn't resolved as much, things were wrapped up, at least in regards to the story they were telling. So I was surprised when the title card of the show ended in the very last frame of the show, since compared to the first season this one really wasn't begging for a second season. In fact, I'm not sure how they're really going to make a second season out of this, because at least as far as the main characters are concerned, there's not that much story left to tell.

Maybe they'll make Piruluk the main character. I wouldn't mind that.

So, yeah, hopefully Lostorage conflated WIXOSS is better.

Shinsekai yori I don't have as much, or really much, to say about, if for no other reason than that I'm still thinking about it. Everything aside, it's definitely a show that leaves a lot to think about. It took me a while to really get around to it and see where it was going, but it definitely became engaging and interesting and well, great as it went on. The fact that the last arc was as stressful to sit through as it was really drove that home to me. And I'm glad that I never had anything spoiled to me about the show. It was a very satisfying watch and a satisfying end. I enjoyed it. It'd probably benefit from a rewatch, but well, I'll leave that for another time.

Not a bad way to finish this year of anime watching, anyway. Doubt I'll have time for much else today, so...yeah.