Happy Friday, fellow anime enthusiasts! It’s time to recap this week’s share of anime. I already said last week that we’re nearing the end of the season, but this week we’ve reached the point where some pretty big moments have happened in these series. Intense matches are in their final seconds, protagonists are storming the main headquarters of their adversaries, and things that we thought we knew are being morphed into scythe-wielding butterflies.
Yeah, Wonder Egg Priority was a LOT this week.
Tuesday, March 16
Wonder Egg Priority episode 10
Where to watch: Funimation
CW: Misgendering, rape (teacher and student – it’s not fully shown, but heavily implied), mentions of suicide
I wanna go ahead and say that I fully believe that Momoe is trans, especially after this episode. This is because of who she ends up rescuing and the conversation they have. I know it could be entirely possible that Momoe is an anime character who is a girl who looks like a boy, so she’s mistaken as a boy all the time (which is something that happens in anime), but after this episode, I think it’s something more.
That being said HOLY SHIT THIS EPISODE!
After Momoe has a wonderful dream about going on a date with a boy who asked her out (she’s used to being asked out by girls because they all think she’s a boy), Rika, Ai, and Neiru confront Acca and Ura-Acca about what they overheard them talking about with Misaki. I’m glad this is brought up so quickly and surprised that it didn’t lead to some sort of cataclysmic reaction from Acca and Ura-Acca. It turns out the two of them founded the Japan division of Plati and have abandoned their bodies to keep their brains. Before more questions can be asked, including the new one I have about Neiru knowing who Acca and Ura-Acca are, the girls get a text from Momoe, who reveals that she was asked out on a date with a boy. The girls immediately leave in favor of checking on Momoe.
It turns out Momoe’s date didn’t go so well as the boy who asked her out thought she was a boy, completely shocked when she showed up in a dress. While she tries to act like she isn’t bothered, she’s clearly upset as she goes into the dream world. Here, she meets Kaoru Kurita, and as they talk Kaoru reveals that they are a boy on the inside. Momoe initially assumed that Kaoru was like Haruka (the girl who fell in love with her/the girl she’s trying to bring back to life) but Kaoru says they aren’t a lesbian because they’re a boy.
Momoe immediately starts using he/him pronouns for Kaoru (yay!), but the monster they both face delights in addressing Kaoru as a girl (ugh). The monster is Kaoru’s old kendo club advisor and goes on a misgendering spree (the worst amount of it that’s been in the series). Kaoru went to his advisor for advice, presumably about his gender, and we find out that Kaoru was raped AND got pregnant as a result, leading to Kaoru killing himself. As to be expected, this pisses Momoe off, who kills the monster and saves Kaoru.
Kaoru and Momoe sit together at the train station afterward and Kaoru kisses Momoe. This is the first time we’ve seen Momoe get kissed (even if girls have tried before) and this is the first time Momoe has actually responded positively to it, happy to be recognized as a girl by a boy. Sadly, Kaoru disappears, as all the eggs do, but Momoe, at least, finally gets what she’s been wanting.
And then? Haruka comes back.
No longer a statue, Haruka runs toward Momoe but disappears. Acca and Ura-Acca reveal that Momoe won’t be coming to the dream world anymore and that she’s cleared the game.
While that’s going on Ai finds out that Mr. Sawaki is going to quit teaching and focus on his art. He currently has an art exhibition and she goes to it to look at the painting he did. The painting is of an older version of Ai, and Mr. Sawaki tells her that, someday, she’ll be a wonderful adult like her mother. As they talk, Ai gets the courage to ask him why Koito died.
I still don’t trust this man I STILL DON’T TRUST THIS MAN!
Acca and Ura-Acca have a conversation about their plans potentially going off course. They talk about having to confront Thanatos and needing the warriors of Eros to do it. I’m assuming the girls are the warriors, but I have no clue who Thanatos is. Acca and Ura-Acca wonder if Momoe will return now that she knows the fear of death, and we find out that after she ran into Haruka, she met… someone? Whoever it was, they congratulated her on completing her mission, and even said “that girl came back to life.” The person, well, it’d be easier if I showed some pics:
So this person, who refers to someone named Frill, says that they want to let Momoe go, but can’t because Frill would be mad. Momoe sends Panic (her crocodile) after them, but Panic is killed, then eaten, the person saying Panic will do instead of Momoe. The episode ends with Momoe chanting that she can’t go to sleep because then she’d end up back in the dream world.
Oh.
And it’s implied that she was forced to eat Panic.
J E S U S what even is Wonder Egg?!
As a side note, it’s kinda sad that Kaoru was so misgendered that he ended up in the dream world with the girls, as we’ve been told that there is a separate dream world for boys. I don’t think that’s an oversight of the series, I think it’s a commentary on how severe the misgendering was.
Thursday, March 18
The Promised Neverland season 2 episode 10
Where to watch: Funimation
You know what?
I think I’m in the “acceptance” phase of this series.
This is just gonna be the version of The Promised Neverland we get in season 2 and if I want a less rushed, more fleshed-out story, I’m gonna have to read the manga. In just one episode we get:
-Vincent not actually being a traitor.
-The kids going after Peter Ratri via hot air balloons.
-The kids saving Phil and all the children.
-The Grace Field group coming face to face with Isabelle.
-Isabelle betraying Peter to help the kids.
-The lower class demons staging an uprising against the farm system.
-Emma telling Peter to “be free” with them.
Everything is being wrapped in a neat little bow with none of the nuance that made the series so good to begin with. That whole conversation with Norman about whether or not anyone would be willing to give up their favorite food, or the reveal that demons AND humans would purposely create a class system that put them above others is just tossed aside, I guess. Even Emma agreed that Norman’s logic made sense, and yet, all the demons now have Mujika’s blood. Problem solved. Just like Emma said it would be.
We get a glimpse of Phil being on a farm, the only kid who knows the truth, and honestly, that could be an entire psychologically traumatic episode but… nope. Time to save him and everyone else, and no, the kids from his farm have zero reaction to finding out that, hey, there’s a world full of demons who wanna eat you.
Oh, and did you think that the reunion with Isabelle would be this intense, heart-pounding moment? Ha! She betrays Peter faster than the time it takes to microwave a Hot Pocket. What, you thought it’d take longer for Emma and the others to trust her? You thought we’d get to see an in-depth reaction from Norman? Or Ray who, at the end of season 1, we learn is her son because he was humming the song she’d sing while she was pregnant with him?
Ha. I say, HA!
Wonder how the kids were suddenly able to make hot air balloons? Too bad. We gotta keep our fingers pressed down on that fast-forward button. Wanna see more of the relationship with Vincent and the Lambda kids so his “betrayal” would hit harder? So you’d breathe a sigh of relief when it was revealed that he didn’t turn on them? Want more time for him to BE a traitor? LOL, naw, that’s one of the first things revealed in the episode.
I’m gonna finish the series because I’ve come this far, but wow, this is worse than bad, it’s disappointing.
2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team episode 11
Where to watch: Funimation
I know I’ve commented on how dramatic this series is. Everything’s fine, then suddenly, someone’s going to the hospital after a snowball fight, or someone finds out that the traumatic experience they went through in middle school was a lie.
That being said, this is the first time I’ve felt that drama because of the sport in question.
The final matches between Seiin and Fukuho are very much that moment in sports anime where you might not be the biggest sports fan, but wow, you’re REALLY invested in every bump, set, and spike. After Subaru talks with Yuni and Chika, Yuni’s ready to go back on the court. Looks like Subaru pulled that “I wanna win against you at your best” card. Mitsuomi also returns in time to see the end of the fourth match, which Seiin wins, bringing the game to a tie.
I’m not surprised by the tie, by the way, but the final match is REAL intense.
Now that the team’s “goddess” has returned (Subaru’s words, not mine) Fukuho is more fired up than ever. Seiin is just as determined to win, Yuni so focused that he manages to pull off moves he hadn’t been able to do before. The score is neck and neck throughout the entirety of the match, everyone giving it their all, so much so that there are a couple of plays made off the court to keep the ball in play. There are a lot of introspective moments from the characters, mainly, Subaru and Chika, the aces from both teams.
However.
Seiin has more than one ace.
Mitsuomi also points out that the other Seiin players are improving as they play. Team members like Naoyasu (who’d been hesitant about being put in the game) get a chance to shine, and the quiet, freckled-faced Akito manages to take Fukuho off guard. Basically, everyone gets a moment in the spotlight, right up to the last play.
And Chika? Well, Chika realizes that he doesn’t want this game to end.
We don’t get to see who wins. Subaru goes for a spike, and Shinichiro, the captain, and our certified Short King, goes for the block.
Heaven’s Design Team episode 11
Where to watch: Crunchyroll
Do not watch this episode if you aren’t ready to adopt an anime child.
The designers have been turned into children and are now wandering through a jungle-themed Galapagos. Shimoda sets off to find them before anyone can be hurt. As to be expected from this series, any tool used to find the team is based on the abilities of an animal or insect. For instance, did you know that lima beans emit an odor when they’re beating eaten?
You might be asking yourself, “Bri WTF how is that gonna help Shimoda find them kids?” Simple! The insect department made a carnivorous bug that eats the bugs that eat lima beans. This means that when a bean is being eaten and releases the smell, the carnivorous bug knows that its dinner is nearby. Since Jupiter, in the last episode, pocketed some of the buns Shimoda made, and everyone was regressed back to younger stages of their lives, that would also mean that the buns would’ve been regressed to lima beans since the bean paste inside was made out of lima beans.
Jupiter, for sure, would be eating the lima beans right now since he’s a glutton, so Mars and the guy from the insect department make a device that can detect the lima bean odor.
Bless this series and how absurdly convoluted it is.
Jupiter is found, but now the group has to rush to save the other kids, who are trapped in a body of water full of the piranhas Pluto was creating. It’s fine, because this kind of piranha is a vegetarian, and apparently, carnivorous piranhas aren’t nearly as threatening as they’ve been made out to be. In fact, they generally only bite the fin of their prey, choosing to keep it alive as a constant resource since the fin regenerates.
That won’t save them from Mercury’s crocodile, though, but a combination of Mercury imitating the cry of a baby crock, Venus throwing cassava root (the source of the tapioca that had been in her bubble tea), and Neptune making, believe it or not, a NOT cute otter (the Giant Otter), the kids manage to survive. Eventually, everyone is brought back to their original ages, though Neptune and Shimoda are distressed about the ugly otter. I don’t think it looks that bad…
Oh! And they do explain what happened to the creature that was stuck in the summoning circle. To my delight, this isn’t the only time we see Hell’s Yokota in this episode since the second half has the designers going to Hell for a party. Neptune says he can’t go because he’s in a slump and behind on a deadline, but his team encourages him to call in sick and relax, after all, you need to relax in order to be able to create to the best of your ability. Everyone is all dressed up and armed with plenty of gifts for Yokota – skulls of various animals. This leads Yokota to making a request, but he assures them that they don’t have to do it now since they’re at a party. The team doesn’t mind, everyone pleasantly buzzed from the party atmosphere.
Except Neptune, who’s still frustrated about his slump.
Yokota says he can just make something fun and encourages him to create because he wants to, not because he has to. And lord, I feel like this series is speaking directly to me and how, lately, I’ve been wanting to create just cuz and not for any sort of monetary gain. It’s HARD though, especially since a lot of things I’ve created over the years served a purpose, but it’s easy to forget that creating for yourself is also creating for a purpose.
This inspires Neptune to create an adorable rabbit, which may actually be perfect for God’s earlier request… except they totally told God that Neptune was sick. And, oh no, it looks like God’s on His way to Hell right now because He was invited to the party!!!
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That’s all for this week! See everyone on Monday for the Weekend Round-up!
(Image: Funimation)
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