SEASONAL PRATTLE
This felt like a return to form for Horimiya – decisive in the bigger picture with what it wants to accomplish and competent in executing its moment to moment to ideas, while most importantly, not coming across as glaringly ill-paced like certain previous showings. As far as this episode’s content actually goes, six is good. The choice to let Hori and Miyamura’s relationship breathe, allowing them to just bounce off each other for ample time with limited cutaways or sideline interference from the secondary cast was healthy, not only for their joint development but also for this episode’s overall focus. And that decision lent itself nicely in getting Sawada situated in the second half. There’s enough space dedicated to her where her introduction doesn’t feel tacked on, but also enough direct attention for our leading pair where her particular intrusion is immediately impactful and entertaining. It’s a better harmony than it appears on paper and one that I especially appreciate given the show’s previous attempts in balancing storylines.
Wonder Egg Priority (5)
“Still has plenty of thematic bite and value”
Wonder Egg Priority is still going strong, prioritizing a heap of structural quirks that are sneakily loyal to keeping certain regions of its storytelling aloof without sacrificing its world’s magnetism, and eventually using that as a bridge to further progress the lessons and ideas alluded to in earlier episodes. Our content in Five is more grounded than anything that came before it, boasting a high concentration of mundane group sequences and passive beats, however, it still has plenty of thematic bite and value. Neiru’s scattered dream vignettes are excellent – all played with the show’s usual craft gloss in compelling ways, allowing its riffs on beauty and finance to ring effectively as defining extensions of her character. And that’s surrounded by a variety of insightful conversational quips, headlined by a hearty confrontation from Rikka on the group’s motives. I don’t anticipate every episode to be a commendable treatise, but it’s very nice to have a series this season with the talent to travel these heavier topics smoothly, and always marry it to its well produced dreamy events.
Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun (6)
“Isn’t naturally as active in furthering his character or charming as previous showings”
Lastly, this was an okay sixth showing from Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun which more or less went through the opening motions of its election-centered premise and called it a day. Mechanically, there’s just not a lot to appreciate here. Much of six’s content is Aoi-less, and thus, largely skips out on this series’ primary vehicle and gimmick in teaching Tomozaki that life doesn’t suck – resulting in twenty-something minutes of content that isn’t naturally as active in furthering his character or charming as previous showings. As far as what our content does offer, it’s fundamentally just a bunch of positioning and checkbox crossing for Minami’s campaign tossed in with some 11th hour, light characterization for her. A needed episode to continue the narrative but middling nonetheless
