Shameful Otaku Secret!

FIGHT!

I see that I wasn’t the only one with this idea. Can’t seem to find the link to who else did it, but they used a buttsecks series for their third party… anyway. Resolved! it was CCY, much love and I hope you’re ok after the experience. On to round 2 of this abomination!

In the near corner, hailing from Xebec, it’s the returning champ Kanokon! This week the Wolf Girl Panty Brigade is so confident, they’re taking on a tag team. In the far corner, contender one also from Xebec, back for more abuse, it’s To Love-Ru aka Trouble — alongside newcomer from the manga of the same name, with a budget weight of the change found in Madhouse’s sofa, Kamen No Maid Guy! As always, this post is broken with a “More” link because it’s very pic-heavy and … dirty. (more…)

The cruelest month begins

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire

Et cetera, et cetera. TS Eliot’s poem The Waste Land gives us a dark and surreal glimpse into a post-apocalyptic nightmare world. But can Eliot’s harrowing vision compare with what I have seen this particular April? I don’t know about memory, but it must be desire time, because Production IG subsidiary Xebec gives us not one but two seemingly over-the-top service-heavy/ecchi-lite comedy series this spring. The first to be subbed is Kanokon.

OK, before the recap, I’m gonna break the post, just so you can avoid these screencaps if you’re working or something. If you’re already on the permalink and don’t see the “more” link, for the love of baby Jesus do not scroll down.

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Wolf and Swirling Conspiracy

[Spicy Info here as always]

After a bit of a delay in translation for episode 9, #10 came out soon on its heels, complete with my own delay in viewing. And as I suspected, things really started moving this week. Mind you, not in a good direction for our heroes, but good for story.

Recap of Doom

Turns out Rubinhagen’s yearly romp to the north to kill heathens has been cancelled this year (hence the mercenaries running rampant on the roads), and the value of armor has plummeted. Uh oh. Last week’s ingenious discovery of the Polson merchant’s attempt to screw Lawrence netted him twice the value of armor than he normally would have gotten — and that means he’s now at twice the debt since no one wants to buy.

The merchant guild can’t help him, so he goes to all his connections, who turn him away without a second thought. Now he’s starting to get worried, and we end with him shoving Horo away in frustration, and she goes back to their inn without him.

Now he has no business connections to help him, he’s on shaky ground with his traveling partner, and he has two days to come up with repayment before they shave him, pull out his teeth, and send him to his death in some horrific mines somewhere.

What We’ve Learned

Lawrence is obviously not flawless in his skills, and everyone who lambasted him for not diversifying last week is vindicated. He put all his eggs in the armor basket and now he’s double-screwed. Seems the crooked Polson merchant most likely knew about the armor crash, and ended up jacking Lawrence in the end anyway.

On the Lawrence and Horo front, we swapped out the clever teasing for some sincere cuteness this week, and I found it really fun. Of course, that was before everything went to shit.

Thoughts

The title of next week’s episode implies a crazy scheme — probably Horo’s — that will work if all goes well, but Lawrence is going to have to apologize bigtime. That means more potential for character development and the furthering of their relationship. So far the interaction between them hasn’t gone the cliché route, so hopefully they’ll continue to stay away from that.

Either way, Episode 10 is usually when things start getting hopelessly dark for protagonists, so that’s about right and I’m eagerly awaiting how they’re going to get out of this.