Kakegurui started off with a bang this season and as creepy at this week’s episode was, I was thrilled the whole time I was watching it. Now, as we all know, Yumeko has transferred into the school and, while playing the role of the fool, she ended up crushing one of the champions in class and putting her in debt to the tune of about 8.8 million yen. This week, she goes after the first of the student council members who actually bought her way in because her family is filthy rich.

Yumeko goes up against Itsuki who specializes in Memory match games but with a twist; they use two decks to play and when you match two cards, they have to be the same color and type. So a four of clubs and a four a spades do not make a match. It has to be a black four of clubs and black four of clubs to be a match. Yumeko puts on an unknowing front and declares she is having fun. Itsuki lends her 20 million yen to play. At the end of the game, Yumeko has lost! Acting innocent and lost, she begs Itsuki for another round to which Itsuki agrees under one condition. You see, Itsuki has a rather strange hobby. She really really REALLY likes nails. Not just the press on or art kind, Itsuki actually /collects/ nails. Like rips them off of people and paints them to make them one of a kind. Ew. I was having Higurashi flashbacks with the twins. Yumeko agrees and she gets 20 million yen if she wins. The game begins!

This time though, Yumeko has seen through Itsuki’s cheating ways and knows that the cards are not your average deck. She explains how she will win and crushes Itsuki while doing so. The problem being too is now, not only is Itsuki defeated for the first time and in a massive amount of debt, her father’s reputation has been destroyed as a toy maker! Poetic justice at its finest as again, like the saying goes, “Cheaters never win.” You may win short term, but long term, you will lose. Kakegurui is going the Kill la Kill route in that Yumeko needs to beat the student council and defeat the evil that is reigning on high. I cannot wait to see what she does! My three theories are that either:

1. She is some sort of gambling demon.
2. She is actually just a dream who teaches Ryouta about gambling in order to get himself out of debt and right the wrongs in the school.
3. Or she is someone who is cheating her way to win the school.

Either way, it’s going to be a fantastic ride and I cannot wait to see what is going to happen next!

I’ve been looking forward to Konbini Kareshi coming this season, and now it’s finally here! It’s safe to say I’m definitely not disappointed, either. Cute characters, cute almost-romance, and so many BL flags I might as well be reading a yaoi manga about two best friends in high school.

Don’t get me wrong, I know they’re not really gay for each other (or so the anime would have you believe! Mwahaha) but Towa and Mishima tick so many BL trope boxes. Best friends? Check. Getting nowhere with girls? Check. Spending every night in the same room? Check. I mean, seriously?

Then there was my favourite moment of the episode, when Mishima and Towa are fighting (on the BED of all places) and Mishima’s little brother walks in to find them in a rather compromising position - entangled and super close. And so, the young man yells to his parents what we were all thinking: “Haruki’s gayyyyy!”

Well, Ballroom e Youkoso has been full of surprises this season for this little otaku. I thought the anime would be like Free! Or this season’s Dive, but alas, it’s actually not. Starting this week’s episode with a lady’s bouncing boobs, visible even under a fluffy sweater, and then showing a dressing room scene with a sound similar to Fairy Tail’s fanservice cries, Ballroom e Youkoso has surprisingly been a bit ecchi. That and there’s a focus on comedy starting from the coach’s ridiculous personality and reactions to Kiyoharu’s laughter inducing yawns, this anime is quickly changing my opinion on its initial premise.

Ballroom e Youkoso has been a surprising source of laughter so far this season and although I’m sure it’s inadvertent, the animation is a crack up. The incredibly long limbs and giraffe necks are, I’m sure, supposed to create emphasis on the movements for ballroom dancing, but I just laugh thinking of this being the modern day mimicry of CLAMP’s xxxHolic. Seriously, why are their necks a foot long?! And with Kiyoharu’s expressions while dancing, it’s all freaking scary. Also, the ballroom dancing coach reminds me of the coach from Yakitate Japan. He’s hilarious! Gotta love his expressions and how it changes as he witnesses Tatara’s terrible dancing skills.

Oh! Intion that Tatara’s rivalry with Kiyoharu was interesting as he quickly realized just how much work Kiyoharu actually puts into his training. What is with people thinking that their rivals are incredibly gifted? It’s hard work! I think that was really mature and definitely nailed in the idea that this is a shounen anime.

Netsuzou TRap is one of the most controversial stories this season, not only because it’s yuri (more like shoujo-ai, actually), but also because we have NTR stuff. In the first episode we saw the girls kissing and “playing”, but now sex is involved… kind of? See, we all know how this could end—as in sex, probably— so the most important thing here is the build up. This second episode is all about messing with us, showing this ladies together again, but giving the spectator a sneak peek on the boys, Takeda and Fujiwara.

Yuma’s boyfriend, Takeda, looks like your typical nice guy, while Fujiwara, Hotaru’s boyfriend is a little bit darker. The important thing here is how they all think about sex and the relationship between them. Hotaru is such a teaser, but what does her boyfriend have to do with all this? According to last episode, he is impulsive and manipulative, a perfect fit for Hotaru! However, let’s not judge the book by it’s cover, because this is anime and we all know that looks are deceiving, especially when the author wants us to think just that. Should we take Fujiwara as the “bad guy”? Is Hotaru’s fixation the way she deals with that? And more importantly, does Fujiwara know or suspect the girls are more than friends?? Episodes are short, but we’re sure this is going to get dirty soon… very soon.

First of all, I consider the entire first episode of Gamers! to be the hot moment of the week. No other show made me cringe and laugh nearly as much! So here are my 3 favorite moments!

Amano is a somewhat socially inept high school boy who loves video games (especially dating sims). In the 1st episode we get to meet Amano and, as he’s looking at a blondes-only dating sim at the store, the cutest and most popular girl in school (who happens to be blonde, of course… awkward!) happens to strike up a conversation with him. This girl is Tendou and she wants Amano to join the gaming club she started!
After completely geeking out and making a fool of himself in front of Tendou at the store, they hit it off and spend the afternoon talking. That night, while Amano plays his games, we see a shot of his room: School bag and games on the floor along with… a box of tissues? Ha! I wonder what those were for? Certainly not related to the dating sims he just bought… 😉 I thought it was pretty clever of the creators to add that in there, and I consider it one of the best moments... but there’s more!

So the episode continues and lol moment #2 happens when Amano is invited to visit the gaming club with Tendou. On their way to the club, she introduces him to another nerdy recruit. That’s right sweet angel, you’re not special, you weren’t the only one. Amano’s shocked face when he realizes he wasn’t “chosen by the dating sim gods” is priceless!

But that’s not all! Misumi, the other “chosen one”, only plays puzzle games, but when challenged to play a FPS game with the club senpai, he does pretty well, while our poor Amano, well… sucks. And senpai doesn’t sugar coat it either.

Just when it seems like Amano can’t possibly be any more humiliated, comes moment #3: Tendou asks the two n00bs why they started gaming and Amano just says “I kind of just like games”... and then, an awkward silence… [lame!]. Trying to make him feel better, Tendou says that’s a valid reason too and asks Misumi his reason, to which he replies: “I don’t have a very good reason either”. Amano gives a sigh of relief, thinking Misumi is his kindred spirit -if only in this respect- until Misumi completes his answer: “I lost all my memories and the only thing I was good at was that block puzzle game”... [wah wah wahhh...]

Amano spits out his soda in shock and feels completely betrayed. Once again, his spirits were lifted only to bring him crashing down, giving us all a pretty good laugh. There are still a couple more of these moments in the episode, but you’ll just have to watch it yourself!
I don’t know about you, but I think Gamers is one of my favorite shows of the season so far!