Fruits Basket: Episode 6 – “Perhaps We Should Invite Ourselves Over”

The school festival is underway, and Tohru’s class’ cafe is doing well, thanks in large part to Yuki dressing up as a girl at the upperclassman girls’ insistence. Unfortunately for him, two of the Somas show up uninvited: Momiji and Hattori. The audience had seen Momiji briefly in an earlier episode, but here we finally get a proper introduction for the character. It’s also revealed that Momiji is one of the Zodiac members of the family, with the animal being a rabbit. When it looks like the Somas’ secret may be revealed, Yuki does something that obviously affects his pride… but he knows he has to do it.

This episode is also important, because Torhu accidentally slips and tells Uo and Hana that she’s living with Kyo and Yuki. Since they want to make sure Tohru is in a good environment, they invite themselves over for a sleepover. But this turns out to be a good thing in the end, because through Kyo and Yuki, the two girls come to realize something about Tohru and appreciate her even more than they already do. And during the sleepover, the audience is treated to backstory about the cap that the audience has seen pop up in various shots over the course of the series at this point.

I really appreciated how the title of this episode applied to both storylines in this episode. Momiji and Hattori invited themselves to the cultural festival, and Uo and Hana invited themselves over for the sleepover. Speaking of the sleepover, I’m glad that this version played it straight with how this section was portrayed in the manga. In the original Fruits Basket anime, comedic elements were added in with Uo and Hana almost discovering the Somas’ secret several times.

Between the phone call that Tohru gets at the end of the episode, as well as the title of the next episode, I know exactly what’s coming up. I can’t wait to see how this reboot anime will depict this section of the story.

Case Closed: Episode 940 – “The Missing Girlfriend”

The episode starts with a young woman walking through a park at night, texting somebody. She suddenly stops in her tracks and reacts. After this, a man comes to Kogoro with a picture of the young woman, saying she’s his girlfriend and that she’s been missing for a few days. As Kogoro, Conan, Ran, and the boyfriend start searching the woman’s apartment, the apartment owner rushes in and says the police called to inform her the young woman was dead. The group goes to a bridge, where Inspector Megure and his team are investigating what appears to be a suicide. Two witnesses are brought in, and what they tell the police seem to confirm that this was a suicide. However, over the course of the episode, Conan spends time around the boyfriend and the witnesses, and manages to piece everything together.

For a mystery that only lasts for one episode, it actually managed to build a compelling story with twists and turns that I hadn’t expected. While one of the witnesses came across as suspicious and hiding something, it turned out they were acting suspicious for a reason other than being the guilty party. To be honest, I was leaning toward this person being guilty, so I was glad to see that the suspect wasn’t the person who came across as being the most obvious choice. After the last mystery, this was a relief. In the end, I have to say that this was one of the strongest one-episode mysteries that I’ve seen in Case Closed in quite a while.

Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2: Episode 3 – “Descent”

The episode opens with a flashback of the battle where Marco was killed. Not only do we see how Marco was killed, but some important information is hinted at in the dialogue between Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie. We then see that this flashback comes from Reiner and Bertholdt talking to someone on top of the wall. Basically, this scene shows us what happened right before the start of the first episode of this season, and it ends when Reiner and Bertholdt are getting ready to take their positions.

Then we return to where the previous episode ended. At first, it seems like the Thunder Spears killed Reiner, but alas, that wasn’t the case. Reiner gives a signal for Bertholdt, and most of the rest of the episode focuses on Bertholdt and what he does. A conversation between Bertholdt and Armin gives Bertholdt a scene that allows for some character development, because it shows that Bertholdt isn’t going to be the pushover and easily distracted character that he had been in the past. Bertholdt shows he has resolve, which he demonstrates by transforming near the end of the episode. Unfortunately, this throws a lot of plans off for Armin and the others, and Armin is the one who is supposed to be leading the group. And considering Armin isn’t comfortable with the idea of giving commands, it makes for a lot of tension.

It’s getting harder for me to say too terribly much, because I know what’s coming from reading the manga and I don’t want to provide spoilers. However, I am willing to state that the opening flashback in this episode is hinting at some important information about certain characters in the series. All I will say beyond this is that the story is going to get… quite interesting the further in the anime goes.

Fruits Basket: Episode 5 – “I’ve Been Fooling Myself”

This was an emotional episode of Fruits Basket, and Tohru was the main emphasis. She gets a call from her grandfather, saying that the house renovations are at a point where they can live in it again. Tohru realizes that while this was always supposed to be the case, this was coming much sooner than she anticipated. She also comes to realize how much she enjoys being with Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure. Unfortunately, she feels she has to be with her biological family and isn’t allowing herself to even think of staying with the Somas. When she leaves, she makes sure that the Somas have her grandfather’s address, just in case.

We see Tohru going back to the house, where her grandfather has been joined by some of their other relatives. Tohru’s grandfather is a cool guy, but the rest of the family is a real piece of work. Honestly, the male relative (who I think is one of her cousins) is a real creeper. But it turns out that Yuki and Kyo are concerned about Tohru, and use the address she left behind to look for her. They come upon the house as a conversation takes place, and overhear her say that she wants to go back home… to the Somas. Yuki and Kyo barge in, and in the end, Tohru returns to the Somas.

This episode also shows us where the title of Fruits Basket comes from through a flashback that Tohru has. We also get to see a flashback of a younger Tohru with her mother. I love how this series utilizes Kyoko from flashbacks and through Tohru remembering things that her mother said to her (and seeing how these sayings fit with things that other characters are saying).

From the title of the next episode, I’m pretty sure I know what’s coming. And if I’m right, it’s going to provide some much needed comic relief after the seriousness and emotions of this episode.

Case Closed: Episode 939 – “The Dangerous Fossil Finding Trip”

This story sees the owner of a fossil museum and the mayor of a town behind a hoax about the origin of a rare fossil, with the mayor using this hoax as a way to rebrand the city. A journalist is suspicious of their claim, and comes to interview them about it. At the same time, Agasa and the Detective Boys are at the fossil museum for a tour. The fossil museum owner is murdered, and it’s up to Conan and the others to try to solve the crime. While a police detective shows up, it’s not Megure. Instead, it’s the idiotic and cocky one who shows up every now and then (I can never remember his name). This particular police detective almost makes Kogoro look like a genius. LOL!

It was pretty obvious who the culprit was, so the main mystery for the audience was how the victim was killed. But even then, there was one visual clue that made part of how the murder happened obvious to figure out. It was some of the more minor details that Conan needed to reveal in order to finish solving the case. Stories like this one are a little frustrating to me, because I enjoy having the challenge of trying to figure out the who and the how before they’re revealed. Oh well. Perhaps the next mystery will take a little more effort for the audience to figure out the truth of what happened.

Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2: Episode 2 – “Thunder Spears”

The main part of this story is a battle between Eren and Reiner in their Titan forms. There’s also a second storyline of some of the Scouts trying to protect the horses, since it’s obvious to Erwin early on that the Titans’ plan is to kill their horses and prevent them from leaving. Erwin also has a flashback in this episode that helps to show his mindset at this stage of the story.

The fight against Eren and Reiner is pretty intense, and it ties in with the title of the episode. “Thunder Spears” refers to a new weapon designed to take on the Armored Titan, since conventional weapons don’t work on him. While the weapon is used right at the end of the episode, the audience won’t see how or if this was effective until the next episode.

Even with Erwin’s flashback, this episode still moved at a good pace because the action outweighed any slowness caused by the flashback. In fact, the flashback provided a chance for the audience to catch its breath during a more action heavy episode. The pacing was just right in this episode, and the ending makes the audience want to come back for more.

It’s hard for me to go into too much more right now, since I know what’s going to happen from reading this part of the story in the manga. But it’s going to be interesting to see where the anime decides to pause the story when these 10 episodes end.

Fruits Basket: Episode 4 – “What Year Is She?”

This episode introduces the audience to Kagura Soma, and she’s the first female of the clan to be introduced. Like Shigure, Yuki, and Kyo, she also has the Soma curse. The animal she changes into isn’t revealed until the end of the episode, but her behavior and attitude give a hint as to which one she is. When we first meet Kagura, she comes across as shy and demure, but once she sees Kyo, she suddenly turns violent. We learn that she’s in love with Kyo and has been since they were young. Unfortunately, her “love” is more possessive than anything else. At first, Kagura sees Tohru as a rival for Kyo’s affection, but there’s a great scene later in the episode between these two characters which helps the girls to form a bond of friendship. Tohru also starts getting a little closer to Kyo after having a conversation with him on the roof of Shigure’s house. It’s kind of adorable to see Kyo act like an excited little kid when he talks about how much he likes martial arts. But I do feel sorry for Shigure, because of how often his house ends up getting damaged in this episode.

Speaking of Shigure, I like how his depiction in this reboot shows that there’s more to him than just a comic relief lecher. This depiction is much truer to his depiction in the original manga. Yes, he can have some lecherous tendencies, but he also provides a voice of reason for Tohru and the younger Somas. I love just how much more rounded of a character he is here.

Case Closed: Episode 938 – “The Killer Fist of Talos (Part Two)”

After a semi-lengthy recap, since a lot had to be explained again to get the audience up to speed, the mystery continues. It became pretty clear by the end of the first half of the episode that the person most likely to have committed the crime was the one responsible. Although what happened wasn’t the guilty party’s intention… they were intending for something else to happen. Sigh. In the end, the most likely culprit was the guilty party, and the twist of the crime not being committed quite how they wanted wasn’t enough of a twist to make up for the disappointment of being able to easily guess the culprit and their motive.

Oh well. Hopefully the next mystery will be a lot harder to guess the truth behind it.

Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2: Episode 1 – “The Town Where Everything Began”

The episode opens with a roughly minute-and-a-half recap to remind viewers of the premise of the series, and ending with the Erwin and his troops heading out on a mission to retake Wall Maria.

As Eren and his group travel along, Eren starts having doubts about whether or not he can succeed in his mission. Luckily, he has Mikasa and Armin to help calm him down. As part of this, there are a couple of flashbacks of previous scenes from the series. I really hope this episode doesn’t end up relying on flashbacks and not progressing the plot. Yes, the flashbacks do help the audience remember some of these scenes from earlier in the series and provides a refresher, but I hope the whole episode isn’t made up of this.

Hooray! Right after this scene, Erwin and his troops launch their mission at Wall Maria. At first, it seems to be going pretty smoothly, but Armin finds evidence that certain parties somehow had advance notice of their pending arrival. With what information Armin has gleaned, as well as his proven track record for using his brain, Armin is given the opportunity to command a group of scouts to try to find the enemy. Poor Armin. He’s not used to being in command, and it shows. Fortunately, he has an eager crew under his command! But seeing Armin being uncomfortable at giving orders was kind of amusing. At one point, Armin starts freaking out because Eren is coming to plug the inner wall and they haven’t seen any sign of the enemy. But then, he uses his brain and realizes something… and this causes Erwin to halt the mission.

Thanks to Armin’s hunch, they find something… and it’s Reiner! Reiner transforms into a Titan, and then his backup arrives. Yikes, what an arrival! Oh, boy, it’s the Beast Titan and his cronies!

At first, this episode seemed like it was going to be slow in the way of pacing, but the action picked up pretty quickly and became intense. I admit that with the title of this episode, I was almost afraid that it was going to basically be one that focused on using recaps to remind the audience of various things before launching the mission at Wall Maria. I’m glad to see that I was wrong about this.

And the stage is now set for a major fight between the Titans and humanity. Who will prevail? While I know what’s going to happen from reading the manga, but anime only viewers will have to wait and find out what happens next.