This week’s Jigoku Shoujo really walked the fine line of morality, what it means to be alive, and what it means to go to hell. This had to have been the darkest moment I have ever seen the series touch on. Jigoku Shoujo is usually something that talks about being wronged in some way or another, but abuse and neglectful households is something that no one ever wants to talk about. When neglect shows up in anime, the parent is just not present which is essentially how they mask the neglect by making it seem as if the parent is busy. Anyway, in this episode, you have two children, Akira and Arina who live with a grandmother who has some sort of abusive mental issues, a husband and wife who are cheating on each other and dislike each other, and a sister, and then eventually cousin, who are aggressive teenage bullies. Pushed to their extremes, Akira decides to consult with Jigoku Shoujo after seeing his mother send their grandmother to hell.

However, he is conflicted. He lives in hell, but could eternal hell be any better? Akria tries to enlist people hurt by his parents and sister, but it does not work. Their cousin moves in and then the violence explodes. Eventually it culminates with Akira, brokenhearted at seeing his sister who has just been assaulted by the cousin, that his resolve is steeled. Meeting up with a high school student who is tormented by his older sister, they send the older sister and the cousin to hell. That should have been the end of the series, but then the series goes even darker by showing that the boy and Akira have now teamed up and are killers. Dismembering bad people in a sort of false-hope attempt to either redeem themselves, or in a rather twisted manner, under the guise of making a more peaceful world for Arina.

Not saying that this is some world-changing discussion, but getting it out there is something that is seriously dark. This was a particularly dark episode that was so disturbing, I had to go do something else to distract myself after watching it. Though I have to say, if something does horror right, it is Jigoku Shoujo. There is no happiness here, only despair. I have a theory though that since this season has been getting progressively darker, that this season will take things to the extreme in order to stand out. It has been 10 years since the release of the third season, Mitsuganae. I cannot wait for more.

Ah, Tsurezure Children has been so interesting and while I can’t say that this series has me invested at all--what with the cliche moments and extremely boring scenarios that you can only find in a shoujo manga--I did find this week’s episode to be quite enjoyable. There were even a few moments that I cracked up, which I didn’t think was possible with Tsurezure Children.

My favorite moment came when the couple who were dating forever and hadn’t even kissed attempted to have sex. First off, I was wondering how you could include that type of situation in an anime like Tsurezure Children. Despite that one student body president forcing himself on the smoker, I did not think anything adult would occur! And yet, here we have two kids who are awkwardly trying to have their first time together even when they get nervous just trying to have their first kiss. And just when the two are about to kiss with the girl in her underwear under the covers, BAM! Mom walks in with snacks. Heck, she puts the snacks down, laughs to herself, and urges them to go on as she leaves. Haha! How many parents would do the same? Gotta love those awkward teenage moments.

So… do you like gyaru? This anime is full of them! We met the beautiful Yame, but we also have seen a glimpse of the kawaii loli Nene, the smart princess Yui, and Yame’s closest friend, Ranko. However, this third episode is where we get a better look at her and what she’s capable of. Junichi’s first encounter with this ganguro is so hot and laughable, and his reaction is just priceless. Okay, receiving a love letter could be a surprise when you’re not the handsome and popular guy, but a girl flirting to have sex with you at the back of the school —and let’s not forget Junichi’s still a virgin— is definitely on another level. For a moment, and in a show full of dream scenes and sex jokes, we don’t really know what is going on and if this is actually real… but yes, Ranko is very real!

Hajimete no Gal is fun to see, and you can feel exactly what’s going on in Junichi’s head every time a girl is involved. There, laying in the ground with a hot and apparently horny girl on top of him, he still thinks about what her newly girlfriend could think, and when she casually bumps into them the struggle is real. Lucky for our boy, Yume and Ranko are BFFs and she was just joking… right? Yeah, we know these kinds of shows and that anything could happen. Do you think this will end well? Just wait until we get to know the rest of the girls a little better...

In the 30th episode of Boku no Hero Academia, Midoriya and company are still stuck in an alley fighting for their lives against the Hero Killer, Stain. While Todoroki and Midoriya are tag-teaming Stain, Tenya is still lying immobilized on the ground, watching them “bleed for him” and feeling sorry for himself and as a total failure for using his brother’s name to teach Stain a lesson; and yet, there he lies, helpless.

But then, a flashback. Tenya is taken back to a moment in his childhood when he asked his brother Tensei, a.k.a. Ingenium, why he continued to work as a hero. Tensei’s answer is pretty standard and unimaginative, everyone in the family was a hero so he was expected to become one as well. But then he continues to say that he thinks people who take the time to take a lost child to the service counter for lost children are the coolest, thus showing his innate heroic personality. Young Tenya takes it literally and asks Ingenium why he doesn’t just work at the service counter instead.
Tensei laughs it off and tells Tenya that he’s much smarter and more athletic than he was at his age. And then, Tensei pauses to think for a second and says with a smile: ‘Then that means, if you admire me, I must be an amazing hero!’.

And at that moment, Tenya realizes what a little stubborn brat he’s being and that he needs to man up if he wants to catch up to the brother who clearly believes in him. If that touching moment wasn’t enough, right as Tenya is having his aha moment, Todoroki is a hair away from having his arm sliced clean off by Stain. As the new Ingenium, Tenya musters up strength and motivation and runs his quick little butt to save Todoroki and finally joins the fight!

This was the most exciting episode of Boku no Hero Academia so far this season! It was nice to see Tenya put an end to his pity party and actually fight for the right reasons and with the right mentality. Definitely my favorite moment of the week!