This season I am starting off with a show that I originally had dismissed as being Chuunibyou. While this one isn’t, chuunibyou has been dissected to hell and back here and over the internet and you should know that it’s the worst kind of humor since it’s preying on mental illness. ANYWAY, this week though, I am all about this anime with a main character with extreme quirks and it’s hilarious.

The show opens with a pilot in a robot who just wants to have a snack before he launches. However, as he goes to dip it in sauce, it breaks off the breading sending it everywhere in the lack of gravity. He’s hilariously launched into space with the crumbs everywhere and has to kick ass while obsessing over the crumbs.

Later we learn his nipples face strange directions, I cannot wait for the reveal, and we check out him naked and showering which leads him to feel threatened and dress rapidly. When launching for a sortie, he realizes that his clothes are on inside out and backwards. He panics and realizes that he needs to right this wrong…. In the middle of battle. I died laughing as he manages to kick ass while ripping his shirt off. The problem rectified, he returns home to the ship as his ripped shirt floats in space.

With Sora yori mo Tooi Basho ending, many people were probably taking a guess about what events might happen. Many people probably thought that Shirase would find her mother, even though the chances were slim, which would very much match many other anime. Who doesn’t want an ideal ending like that? Well, we’re actually happy to say that Sora yori mo Tooi Basho did not actually do that and focused on a more realistic ending. Heck, the entirety of this last episode felt like a better ending than anything I could have imagined.

I was glad to see the girls wanting to stay but deciding to go back. It’s so easy to say no to real life and continue on an adventure without thinking about real life issues like graduation or exams. The girls dream about staying, but they know they cannot just abandon all of their problems at home. Then Shirase, who is a student who worked hard to get to Antarctica, decides to leave a million yen behind for the next adventurer. It shows you how much this adventure meant to her and how fulfilling it was, even if she did not find her mother. Shirase got what she needed and so, she didn’t need to hang onto things, like the money she got to find her mother. I think overall, this ending was really satisfying. So often, anime start off really well and end terribly. Sora yori mo Tooi Basho was so much better than I could have imagined.

In a way, racehorses are like idols: they train a lot, they have strict schedules, they battle each other to be at the top, and people like to cheer them. Also, some idols have stupid but cool-sounding stage names… like racehorses do. But what if I told you there’s a funny anime about cute horse-girls (umamimi?) being in a horse academy and trying to be the very best racehorse? Wait. What if this said horse-girls are also aspiring idols?! Yeah, this anime totally exists, and it’s called Uma Musume: Pretty Derby. Well, it’s probably not the best anime ever, but it just works in a way that only anime can make it work.

Special Week is the protagonist, a gender bent based in a very famous champion stallion from around 1998. She’s presented in a stereotypical way, being new at something but finally arriving to the academy to learn stuff and befriend and rival the best student, Silence Suzuka; however, winning races is just a part of it, because the winners get to sing and dance in something they call “winning rave”… because, why not? Oh, and other thing that works are the double meaning jokes, with a man obsessed with Spe-chan’s legs, but I guess that’s normal for someone who’s always looking for the best racehorses, right? Ok, this anime may or may not flop, but at least it caused a good first impression on me. And what’s with this El Condor Pasa girl? The original horse was born in the USA and trained in Japan, but being south american myself I can’t help laughing at this peruvian name popping in an anime. And to top it all, El Condor Pasa is always wearing a mask! Hey, do you still need more reasons to check this episode?