Dog Days” – 09
The sudden, but inevitable, return of Sharu!
Welcome back to Flonyard. The weather calls for clear starry skies with chances of mischief, demons, and freaking’ huge floating airborne cetacean. So get on-board an epic mount and get ready to explore a weird dungeon level…..
The Star Whale in the Sky Sea
Funny, it doesn’t look like trouble…..(click for full image)
Well just when you think they sent her out on a one way bus trip, Sharu gets her return ticket back to the action. I have to admit, in a cast that is already pretty darn large, and has grown by one more since Sharu’s original arc, she’s a welcome sight. I love her independent streak, and her power set, and the design for her character is lithe and dangerous, but cute. But dammit, is anyone else getting peckish for an Eclair?
But Sharu, unlike seemingly every other character in this franchise, isn’t on here from a friendly little tea and chit chat visit, nor an impromptu bit of fighting. Nope the Dragon Priestess is here on official business. For whatever reason the skies above the peaceful continent are troubled (even thou they look quite nice).
You were taking notes, right?
I have to admit, I have a penchant for the romantic notions. So even though it makes for little sense, the Sky Sea is a sweet idea, as is the Star Sea, but perhaps more on that later. We saw in the last arc that the Heroes and Rulers of old have had adventures up there, and have sealed away some demons in those fights. So everything that’s old is new again, as our current crop have to invest themselves in the ongoing battle. This is one of my favorite charm points of the series, and though it might get repetitive, the grand fantasy romantic ideal is preserved.
So with little to any further ado, aside from leaving the countries rulers behind to do….stuff…ruler stuff. When have these three ever been that busy? Ah well, it’s three less characters in a roster of a million…..so without much more ado the team of the Three Heroes, the Three Demon Hunters, The Yuki, The Ricotta, The Bunny Boy, and just cause The Cat Guy (for reasons that we will see later, but not at all a good reason to not include Eclair!) join with The Horse on the quest.
Yuki: What’s in the Box?
It takes them little time to ascend the Sky Sea and get right down to adventuring. When all else fails, if they cannot get to the dungeon, the dungeon will get to them. Glad to see the writers split the difference in this case. Hey! How we gonna talk to the Sky Priestess? Where is she? Oh, in the whale? How do we get in……….SUCKING SOUNDS…
♬♭ The magical mystery tour is dying to take you away ♫♮
OK, now for a nitpick. When you go through the effort of taking the heroes to the destination on the back of a Fire Dragon to meet the Sky Priestess to fight demons….why do you make the inside of the Star Whale Dungeon so terribly predictable, boring, and unimaginative. Yeah, I know, budget, lack of time….things. But blah! Stand up and make that stuff wild! This thing isn’t playing by any rules, and even though I loves me some old school fantasy….this was just way to typical. “Hey, what does the inside of the floating whale look like? Damp Cave? Got it! I think there’s some stock image of that stuff everywhere!” Blah Blah Blah.
This is compounded by some fairly straightforward storytelling as well. Yeah, it’s classic, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any room for some innovation. It looks like the Star Whale is possessed by some demons. Same as the Dragons, same as the Frog, same as….well poor Fi from Ye Olde Story. And all this without the shows patented fanservice/clothing damage. I’m hoping they pull out some stops next episode, cause this was just fair typical. Get me excited with a Star Whale and drop the ball….
Gaul was overdue for some story, but he’s no Eclair….
Extra Whale Tails
Well, this was a mixed bag for me. It had it’s share of ups and downs, but overall it was the beginning of a pretty good arc all things considered. If they follow how most one cour shows end a run, this one should spill over into the finale, so hopefully they got some big world changing exposition waiting to happen. They’ve been slowly hinting at it over the life of the franchise. As we go along, I will be wondering about the fate of the current Heroes in Flonyard. Will they grow out of their youthful adventures, or is there something more this world has to offer? An Eclair perhaps…..
About skylion
All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
There be bacon!
Also the lack of torn clothing displeases the Gods.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
….most displeasing….
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
Muchly. They seem to have actually demoted her to extra in this season in favor of focusing on the new people, which defies comprehension. Yes, with the exception of the bunny boy the new people are actually interesting, but that doesn’t mean one of the three girls who has been outright stated to be in love with the protagonist should be shafted because of it. The Wanderer Does Not Approve.
Ahem. Putting that aside, I am glad to see Sharu return, and am intruiged by Aria. I have a theory (shared by a few people) that Aria is actually the consciousness of the whale somehow split out of its body and manifested in a human form, but if true that would mean she’s likely to go away once this is resolved, which would also be a shame.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
That would be a shame. It might even break Gaul’s heart!
That is a very esoteric angle on Aria, not sure if I can get into that. But it’s an interesting take on why she only communicates via telepathy, and haltingly so.
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
I’m afraid there is at least one clue that Aria isn’t meant to be a long-lasting character. Sharu, Leaf, and even the Priestess Farinne all appear in the OP. Aria does not.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Info for all those who are interested: Yuruyuri TV Anime Gets 3rd Season
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Rejoice! Yuri-lolicons!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I knew you would rejoice!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yay for Tomato!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
As I thought: Hook, line and sinker. 😉
POWUH: iLurker with 9 comments
Kinda’ amusing how the heroes was more like: “There seems to be trouble in the Skies, don’t care about the details, WHOOO! Adventure!”. Also can’t help but feel like Sharu needs better priestess clothes (it’s like one of those one piece slave clothing).
Eclairs’ focused episode last season was just painfully & unnecessarily angsty (well, she was being bullied in earlier between-episode eyecatches this season) so I’ll take what Gaul’s getting so far compared to that. Also Aria’s a cute mystery.
P.S. Mermaid Val was funny as heck (+ that few second flying spiked flail heading towards him).
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Hey, adventure calls, and exposition goes on hold….
I almost included the Val eyecatch, but since I’ve not included an eyecatch in any other review, I decided not too.
POWUH: iLurker with 12 comments
One speculation is that Aria (the new girl) is a mermaid, and that’s why they had Valerie dressed up like that. Aria would be next episode’s eyecatch…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Oh….my…