I went into this anime thinking it was going to be another CGDCT anime with narrative themes similar to K-ON! and Hitori Bocchi. It turned out to be that and more, having good animation, music, humor and a good lead with character development. Despite being a SoL CGDCT anime, Bocchi the Rock’s animation goes a step beyond simply adding colour and movement to the source 4-koma. It goes a step beyond, with backgrounds which set its locations apart from the usual classroom/ clubrooms and a mixture of unique and dynamic framings.

This was a tough volume to get through. The death flags kept me on the edge of my seat as events unfolded, just waiting for something to go wrong, and when they finally did, knowing they were coming didn’t do anything to lessen the blow. Paul’s death was really painful for a lot of reasons. To me, the worst part was how important he was to Norn. Just thinking about how she would react knowing that he didn’t make it back safely broke my heart a little.

I played the first half hour or so of this game but walking simulators are not really my thing, so I ended up watching Bae and Fauna’s playthrough of it. Given the linear nature of the story, I think it was a fitting method of consuming it. What I liked about the story were the foreshadowing and logical explanations for the whimsical nature of the deaths attributed to the curse. What I didn’t like about it were the inconsistencies with this theme, especially with regards to Milton and how its basically canon that magic exists.

Slyphy is such a nice girl. While it might have been cliched how dense Rudeus was for not noticing that Fitz was Slyphy, there are decent reasons why he did not realize it and I think their relationship is better with Rudeus being kept in the dark for a whole year. I think its fair that Rudeus never realized that Fitz was Slyphiette because of their different supposed genders, hair colours, the fact that he never saw Fitz’s face and also that he hadn’t seen Slyphy for almost a decade.

Being Rudeus is suffering. The volume starts off with him beginning his solo journey with Eris having run off on her journey of self-improvement. While I do emphasize with Eris, having lost her entire family and almost losing Rudeus, wanting to improve herself was a good idea, especially given that shes a kid with a lot of potential. But leaving the unaware Rudeus with nothing but a note is pain. Rudeus is really strong to have made a move forwards after being left alone in the world, all the more so because of his previous memories.

Goodbye Eri was the first of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s works that I had read and it was a surreal yet touching experience. It had a unique style and knew how to appeal to my emotions. Yet at the same time it was an absurd story with twists that betrayed my expectations as it likely intended. Till now I still don’t know what it was about but I did get a feel as to why people talk about Tatsuki Fujimoto the way they do.

Having watched more of the anime it really gives off Monogatari series and Shaft feels. The Monogatari series also had a few locations they commonly used as backdrops with no other characters except the relevant ones in the scene. It also had a mixture of comedy and supernatural elements, with the supernatural elements often being dangerous. The exorcists in that show also aren’t all powerful but do have some ability to help the protagonist with their supernatural woes.

I chanced upon Itookashi some time ago, a one-shot about a genius mangaka who could do nothing but draw. After realizing that she did not have her life together, her editor told her to get her life in order and return to school instead of drawing manga because it was the only thing she was capable of doing. Years later, she returns looking much brighter than before, apparently having found something she wanted to do (from what I gather from her synopsis in Dagashi Kashi).

Spy x Family returns with its second cour, and a new family member! I really enjoyed the first cour of the anime with its mixture of cute family fluff, humor and overall great production. Episode 15 marks the end of the first arc of the new cour in which Bond was introduced and the gravity of tensions between the East and West were fleshed out. Bond is introduced as a subject of Project Apple with future sight, leading to Anya taking an interest in him.

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer is a manga that is close to my heart because it was introduced to me by a friend a long time ago. It was for this reason that I was really excited when I saw that it was getting an anime adaptation. Watching it now I can really understand how childish the desire to destroy the world is and how it is a coming of age story for the protagonist.