The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady

I was underwhelmed a bit by Witch Watch so I picked up another new one: The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady. It's an isekai.

It is not, however, exactly how it is billed: "Noblewoman Euphyllia loses her title as heir to the throne. Silly Princess Anisphia secretly plots to restore Euphyllia's honor."

Euphyllia is, indeed, a noblewoman who was on track to become the next queen -- by marrying the Prince (who's name starts with A, though I've forgotten what it was, but you can just think of him as "Asshole"). She is the Genius Young Lady of the title. The Prince cancels their betrothal in a very public setting, pushing her aside for another Baron's daughter and claiming that she bullied the other girl (who's name I also have no idea what it is). It's obviously either fabricated or the machinations of someone. 

Anisphia or Anis is, also, indeed a princess. She renounced her claim to the throne because she has no magic. She's the isekai'd one and regains her memories at the magical age of 5, when it usually seems to manifest. She is an inventor and is working on "magicology" -- harnessing spirit stones that hold magic to make magical inventions so that potentially anyone could use magic. She's not really silly, though she is highly energetic and unorthodox.

When the Prince rejects Euphie, Anis immediately takes over and whisks her away and asks the King to "give" Euphie to her -- for an assistant. Though she apparently also has a crush. Not sure yet if the Yuri stuff here will be fully developed, but it is strongly suggested.

Interestingly, they are spending a fair bit of time on Euphie's transition from Queen to Be to Anis' assistant. I'm finding it interesting and engaging so far. Kinda glad that Anis isn't just "silly".  Will update once I've watched more.

Witch Watch

So...this one sounded interesting and I sort of like it, but am also having reservations. Witch Watch features a young witch returning back after time away studying and she takes her former childhood friend (?) as her familiar, as he's an oni. What she doesn't know, but the dude and her mom and the guy's dad know, is that there's a prophecy that she's going to have some doom befall her in the next year and this is possibly the only way to combat it. 

I do like Morihito Otogi, the ogre guy. He's deadpan, loyal, responsible, hard working, a bit lonely. The set up is okay, though the whole forced proximity living together without parental supervision is overdone (and given that they KNOW something bad is supposed to happen, seems kinda dumb -- the mom is back trying to get more power to prophesize some more and the dad is away in a foreign country for business).

But the witch girl, Nico, is painfully clueless, irresponsible, and mostly annoying. And in episode 3 they just introduced another childhood friend to be jealous of ogre boy. And she's got delusions of love but Moi boy is just trying to keep her in one piece. I'm sure they are an endgame couple, but so far I honestly want him to just do his duty and then be shut of her. The glimpses into their childhood show her to have been pretty much just as bad before. 

So...I dunno. I'll give it a couple more but if she doesn't gain at least half a clue, I may have to drop it. I think she's supposed to be endearing, but I'm old and she's just annoying.

Aharen-san wa Hakarenai

Just finished the second (and final) season of  Aharen-san wa Hakarenai (aka Aharen-san is Indecipherable) and thought I'd already written about it, but apparently I haven't.

It's a charming little rom-com about two poker-faced, slightly awkward people. There's the super tall Raido and the itty-bitty Aharen, who barely speaks above a whisper. What makes it stand out, perhaps, as that's a common enough thing (Komi Can't Communicate, etc. etc.) is the wild flights of fantasy that Raido comes up with. He's got a bizarre imagination.

I don't actually want to re-hash it all as I'm feel very blech today as I fell on the treadmill and messed myself up and have taken cocodamol. That's actually why I finished it today when I should be working. Let's just say that it was a nice watch, very comforting, a bit bizarre, and definitely full of charm.

Am I glad I watched it? Yes. Would I watch it again? Hmmmmmm maybe? Not sure the bizarro jokes would land as well a second time, but maybe.

Betrothed to My Sister's Ex

Even though Betrothed to My Sister's Ex isn't fully released, I decided to dive in. Following in the footsteps of many other Cinderella-esque takes, Marie is the younger daughter (not stepdaughter) of an impoverished baron. Her older sister, Anastasia, is the "beautiful" blonde one while she's supposed to be the "ugly" redhead and she's relegated to cleaning and tattered rags.

On Marie's birthday, she thinks she'll get a chance to celebrate but it turns out it's just a party to promote her sister to potential marriage prospects. She flees into the gardens and has a chance encounter with a charming and rich Count who's origins are from another land (that gets generally looked down upon as they are more swarthy skinned, etc, etc. racism, hello). He is immediately smitten but not imagining that the girl he met could possibly be the birthday girl, he sends a letter of proposal for Anastasia.

Here's one thing that I think was refreshing -- the parents are absolutely horrid BUT Anastasia (the perfect, blonde older sister) is actually very nice. There's a brief scene where you see her talking about her dreams with Marie; she would really love to open a tailoring shop in the capital and she's kind to her sister. 

Anyway -- Anastasia is supposedly packed off to go marry the Count...but suffers a carriage accident on the way. I am 99% sure that she's not actually dead and just ran off and staged it because she wants to follow her own dreams.

The evil parents send off Marie as a substitute, assuming the Count will just take her for "one night of comfort" and then send her back where she can be a drudge again. Seriously, they are terrible. 

So, Marie arrives and the Count is in a horrible funk because he thinks the woman he fell in love with is dead...but then the Maid Mio (who is the one with all the brains in this show) immediately figures out that he basically made a grave error in assuming Marie was the older sister. So he's now overjoyed but of course poor Marie who has no self worth at all has taken all of the things her parents did to her to heart and thinks she's worthless. She can't even begin to comprehend that he actually does want to marry her.

I've watched the 4 released episodes so far and I'm enjoying it though it's not surprising at all. The two main characters are both sweetly charming. She's (very) slowly gaining some confidence. Mio is great. The two bitchy maids got sacked (courtesy Mio) and I look forward to seeing Marie's glow up. If I were a betting person, the biggest conflict is likely to be that the sister's deception is discovered and Marie will try to give up the Count because of it, but will finally realise that it's her he has loved all along. Or the horrid parents will try some ploy to gain prestige.

Joy Ride

I was curious to see this one because of the Asian-American thing going on in it (a whole exploration of not feeling "white" enough or "Chinese" enough) even though you could tell from the trailer that it was going to be quite over the top raunchy. That's not really my thing. Anyway, Joy Ride. 

So. Yes. It was actually even rauncier and more debauched than I thought it was going to be. However, it also had a lot of heart and exploration of family and friendship and of feeling lost and out of place. Am I glad I watched it? Yes. Would I watch it again? Probably not. Once was kinda enough. I thought, for me personally, that the over the top stuff made plot sense only about half the time and the rest was more for shock value. But it had a lot of heart.

Anyway, a brief summary. An adoptee from China grows up in middle America, with a best friend who was the only other Asian girl in town. Oh, yeah, I felt that one except I was the ONLY Asian in town for half of high school. To combat the feelings of "less than" and the "ching chong" jokes, she over excels in everything (again, yeah, I feel that). Her friend, meanwhile, is more artistic and truly does not GaF.

Years later, over-achiever is a lawyer being sent to China to close some deal. What kind? Who knows. Just know that it's a bunch of white dudes sending her over. Her best friend is going with (she actually speaks Chinese) and they also meet up with the over-achiever's best friend from Uni who is now a Chinese drama actress and the eccentric cousin of hometown best friend, who is called Deadeye. 

Hm. Honestly, Deadeye is the only one I really got the name of. The rest are kind of archetypes. 

Nothing goes to plan. The deal is gonna fall through because she "doesn't know her family" and they go on a trip to try and locate birth mom. They run into a white girl drug dealer and wind up out of their heads and kicked off a train, passport-less (but at least not in jail). They meet up with a basketball team. Have so much crazy sex stuff happen that they take out half the team. Um, yeah. Meet up with some family of best friend girl, who makes uptight girl feel welcome for the first time and accepting of her Chinese-ness...but then they discover that her birth mom was actually a Korean...so then a crazy-ass sidetrip to Seoul (sans passports) and a really kind weird subplot about an unfortunate devil/oni tattoo and the actress girl's Jesus-loving boyfriend, and then lawyer girl gets fired, they have the big falling out where they all still love each other, yadda yadda. 

It's a feel-good movie with heart but too much shmexy and gross stuff, but overall I enjoyed it.

Tastefully Yours

So, I have finally picked up a new Kdrama...or, at least, I've watched enough of it to justify writing a post. Tastefully Yours has Kang Ha-Neul as jerky chaebol Han Beom-Woo who is competing with his (even more) jerky brother for control of a food empire. They both want to be the heir apparent and their (really really jerky) mother is dangling the carrot in front of them.

The brother, in fact, gets him ousted from his directorship and, desperate to get a three star rating and into his mother's good graces, he finds himself way off in some podunk town with a very talented chef (who's restaurant is kinda going under): Mo Yeon-Joo ( played by Go Min-Si). I'd weirdly wanted to try something with her in it because I've seen all these clips of her in another new show (something about a woman who dies and goes to heaven?) where she's a human cat. It makes more sense than that, but there it is.

Anyway, they are like oil and water but will, of course, find their way to true love. I've seen 4 episodes now, I think, and overall I am enjoying it. He's a true ass to start with and, honestly, hasn't really redeemed himself yet. It's kinda startling as the last thing I watched him in he was such a green flag (When the Camellia Blooms).  

It doesn't feel like this one is going to have any surprises, but that's okay.

Natsume's Book of Friends

A long, long time ago I watched an episode of Natsume's Book of Friends. Years and years ago. I don't know why I stopped...maybe I was saving it to watch with little dude? 

At any rate, I recently started it over again. I'm just about 6 episodes in, but I am enjoying it. Natsume the orphan can see yokai which has made him, similarly to all other characters in every other show who can see them, a bit of an outcast. They chase him, many thinking he is Reiko, his grandmother, who also had the gift. 

She's long gone now, but she left behind the Book of Friends, which has the names of all the yokai that she "defeated". Natsume has, by default, inherited it. And now, the yokai that come across him are of two kinds--those that want to take the book from him to have power over the yokai named within or those who want to get their names back.

Some are nice. Some aren't. A dodgy fellow that seems quite powerful and takes the shape of a cat extracts a promise from Natsume to protect him in exchange for inheriting the book once he dies. He's a bit self serving and I don't trust him (think Moggett), but there you go.

Each episode mostly focuses on a particular spirit, but there's also Natsume slowly interacting with other people. I don't think there's going to be any romance in this one, but that's okay. Maybe more of a found family kind of thing? The episodes are almost all bittersweet so far, so I feel like I have to watch them in small doses. Will post more after I'm farther along.

The Morose Mononokean

I've actually only watched 2 episodes of this so far, but I'm trying to get up to date. There are two seasons of The Morose Monokean, I just realised, which is promising.

Ashiya, the black haired boy, can see yokai (though it's actually been a few months since I watched the first episode so now I don't remember if he's always been that way or if it is recent). On the way to his first day of high school, he gets glommed onto by a fluffy white yokai critter that drains him so horribly that he collapses and falls ill. This continues, day after day, until he's desperate to somehow experience high school life. That's when he stumbles on an advert for someone who can exorcise ghosts.

Through reasons and mishaps, he winds up in debt to the fellow (the somewhat grumpy blonde haired guy) and begins working with him. He soon learns (albeit, this is me in the second episode, so I'm sure there's more to it than that) that not all yokai are bad or evil -- the one that had "possessed him" just wanted to play.

It appears to lean more towards comedic situations than outright drama and I should get back to it at some point. I'm honestly not sure why I haven't watched another episode yet. Maybe I wanted little dude to try it?

Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four!

So...I've watched three episodes of this one: Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! but I haven't watched a new one in over a month now. Maybe two.

It's very classic middle aged man isekai. And there wasn't anything in particular wrong with it, but it also didn't grab me (and it's building up to be an obvious harem show). The thing I did like was that he was unappreciated in real life but the Demon King saw his potential and encourages him to get the job done and he uses the skills he learned from his previous job and applies them to these new, weird situations...showing that everything really is the same everywhere.

The other of the "Big Four" are his likely harem (he wins over the red-haired one in the first couple of episodes) and I'm guessing whoever's hidden in the weird suit is also female. He also looks like every other middle aged guy in one of these shows, but at least he's not as skeevy as some.

So, I dunno if I'll finish it. Maybe. I'm ambivalent but not annoyed.

Bogus Skill Fruitmaster ~About that time I became able to eat unlimited numbers of Skill Fruits (that kill you)~

 I've actually watched 9 episodes of this 12 episode show: Bogus Skill Fruitmaster ~About that time I became able to eat unlimited numbers of Skill Fruits (that kill you)~

Er, so, at first I expected not much out of it. Then, for a few episodes I was pleasantly surprised. Then I was increasingly disappointed and now...well, I think I've given up as it's been a couple of months since I watched it.

In this world, you eat a skill fruit--only one; the next will kill you--and get skills. Light (the dude's name) gets a "bogus" skill of Fruitmaster, which means he can grow great fruit AND he soon discovers he can eat MORE fruit and gain MORE skills. See, that was kind of interesting. 

His best friend, who's a girl, gets a super combat skill and goes off adventuring, even though it was him that had always wanted to do that. Her team, however, are all assholes. He winds up saving her from it and getting her to join him and his little sidekick. Even though the (obviously evil) guild or whatever leader doesn't want that.

So, all this part is fairly okay. And there's bits with a big fight and he gains more skills, etc. and also saves this blacksmith-y talented girl. All interesting.

Then they make the classic mistake and split the party. And the original plot thread goes out the window and suddenly we're following a new thread (that we don't, honestly, care about as much and doesn't make as much sense). 

That's where I bunked off. 

Maybe at some point I'll finish those last three episodes but I dunno. It felt like a bait and switch.

Tying the Knot with an Anagami Sister

Ok. So. I watched one episode of this and I haven't watched another yet. 

I honestly am not sure if I'll go on with it or not. Uryu Kamihate, an orphan and medical/uni student, gets taken in by a shrine as a kind of foster student. The old man (grandfather?) of the three shrine maidens basically says he can inherit the shrine (and a placed to live as he goes to school) if he marries one of the three sisters. He doesn't want to, but he also wants a place to live, this poor unfortunate foster student.

The girls all have distinct personalities -- i.e. the standard harem types -- the lolita youngest, the she-doth-protest-too-much middle, and the oldest sweeter-than-though sorta naive one. And he, of course, is the 'he-who-must-protest-loudly' and get caught in accidentally compromising situations through no fault of his own and wilful misunderstandings. 

Urgh. Actually, now that I'm writing it up, I feel like I probably won't pick this up again. I'm really not a big fan of harem stuff so there has to be something about a show that has that which pulls me in and looking back, there wasn't anything in the first episode which made me think, yah, I'll do this despite the obvious harem. I didn't even particularly like any of the sisters OR the guy.

I know it definitely has its fans and that's totally ok. If I were hard up for a show, I'd probably watch it. But, instead, I'm summing it up here so I remember when next I am looking for something to watch and think, huh, didn't I start that one?