When Alice to Zouroku first was announced, I recall reading the Japanese information about it and being rather nonplussed. It appeared to just be another one of those “old man is hard-assed but has to help loli and thus his cold heart opens”. And while that theme does exist, the actual story of Alice and Zouroku is so much more than that.

At first we learn that Alice was subject to human experimentation while she was in the lab. Through consuming more calories, she is able to use her power to do just about everything.

After the lab finally secures her and she is being bound, Alice summons Zouroku to save her. Miriam is a nasty, foul woman who has no issue doing what she needs to do to accomplish her goals. She even goes so far as to /shoot/ Alice. This changes everything in this series as anime very very very rarely shows violence against children. I found the moment to be particularly shocking. Though Alice uses her powers to heal herself, the shock is there. The real kicker is here too we find out that Alice is not human, but was rather discovered in a subterranean cavern. I have no idea where the series is going, but it’s certainly got my attention and went from Maybe to Yes!

While anime pretty much invented cat girls, this week’s episode of Sagrada Reset was a bit odd to say the least. The anime reminds me of Shinsekai Yori a lot, so the introduction of a cat girl surprised me. Alright rewind; By cat girl, I mean a girl whose super power revolves around cats. Yup, that is just a tiny bit out of the ordinary. Even for anime. She can literally become one with the senses of the cat. And apparently when there is a cat nearby, she can feel it and hear its voice. Just...what. However, what was the cat’s part in all of this? Well, we have yet to actually find out aside from not dying.

Since I feel like Sagrada Reset is a lot like Shinsekai Yori with some emphasis on the superpowers to tie into the actual plot, I really think something interesting is bound to happen in this anime. We have already seen someone die so what else is bound to happen? At the moment, I am not in love Sagrada Reset, but I think it has some potential. We shall see how Sagrada Reset turns out, I suppose. I just wish I could fall in love with the characters more. Even cat girl seems more or less dul!

This looks like a happy anime, with five girls doing what girls in anime do, but the reality is that this third episode of Sakura Quest was everything but happy or fun. It had nothing to note but a meaningful speech from Manoyama’s queen. Royalty in Sakura Quest is more like a marketing department, so in the end, Yoshino is just what we can call a promo girl.
This week, a few towns are giving a presentation with a speech and a mascot, and as the town is famous for it’s turnips (kabura), Manoyama’s mascot is “the chupakabura”... pun intended. The thing is, because of a lot of stuff going on, the new mascot consists of the chupakabura’s body and Kabura-kun’s —the former mascot— ragged head. With so many things going wrong, Yoshino has to deliver meaningful words to marvel the spectators… and she just tells the truth. The sad, realistic and meaningful truth.

At first sight, you can see this as a boring episode with not enough moe moments but if you think again, you note this episode is very deep. How do you save someone who doesn’t want to be saved? Or most important, how do you save people from something they fail to see as a problem? If this wasn’t hard enough, multiply it by whatever the number of Manoyama’s inhabitants. Say hello to depressing moe anime!

In the 4th episode of Souryo to Majiwaru, Mio is doing Kujo a solid (Ha!) by posing as his fianceé at his parents’ home. Mio struggles with the fact that she truly likes him and is even in love with him but he’s only using her as a front, though he’s more than willing to give her some pleasure for her troubles.
Kujo spends the whole day acting like the most romantic husband-to-be and saying the cheesiest lines to his mom about Mio, which is like torture to the poor girl. This is a Japanese household after all, and PDAs aren’t the most acceptable thing, so she’s incredibly embarrassed the whole time.That evening, all the embarrassment she’s felt through the day is piling up, though it just looks like exhaustion to her “mother-in-law”. Being the sweet (and very open minded!) mother she is, Kujo’s mom tells Mio to go take a bath since Kujo’s already there. This is embarrassing already, especially in her situation with Kujo; but then the cringiest moment comes when, on top of all that poor Mio’s going though, Kujo’s mom says: “Don’t be shy! Go be lovey dovey!”. “Whaaat!?” Is Mio’s understandable reaction!
I don’t know if it’s because I’m a girl, or because I’ve lived in Japan or a combination of both, but that was the cringiest anime situation I saw all week! Poor Mio… I hope she gets what she wants soon!