Arum Journal

Anyways, the story is about a world that’s constantly in war. A school enrolls orphans aged 10 to 17 to become weapons for these wars. Death is such a common thing that no one gets emotional or concerned about them, aside from Sheena Totsuki who just lost her roommate the other day. After being tasked to clean her stuff out, she decided to eat her dinner late when she meets a girl covered in blood. She is later revealed to be a famous elusive student named Mimi Kagari who is rumored to be a secret weapon trained by secret faculty.

Right off the bat, the world building is great. It does give off ominous vibes because no one knows what sort of war they’re in. Who are the enemy faction? Why is there a war? None of those questions are answered right off the bat, which only accumulates the mysteries. The fact that they have a military academy for superpowered orphans and make them go to the frontlines is insane, but that’s what fantasy dystopia does… Also, the fact that when these orphans die, they disintegrate into light, hence why they have no corpses in their caskets. It does make me wonder if there’s a hidden conspiracy underneath all of this… Maybe the bodies don’t actually disintegrate and are hidden away to be tested on or letting the orphans escape…

I do wonder what Sheena’s deal is. She can’t conjure up her wand, which is a necessity at the school. Does she suck at magic or is she not in a good mood due to the stress of having her roommate die? I do wonder what sort of power she has and if she’ll ever go to the front lines. So far, Sheena has been the weakest character presentation-wise, but I await her growth. Mimi is definitely the most interesting as she’s a famed secret weapon and she has the appearance of a ten-year-old despite being fourteen. Let me guess… she was experimented on and she doesn’t age after she was ten or her aging got slower? I know how these stories work… Seiran and Ari also seem interesting because they’re one of the few instances where same-sex relationships are shown and seems to be allowed as Sheena did witness two girls…*ahem* “using restorative magic” on each other. It all depends on compatibility too, so maybe Seiran and Ari got really good compatibility and now they can’t take their hands off of each other. But it’s kind of bittersweet because what if one of them gets sent to the frontlines and die? Do all these pairs count as doomed yuri or something?

Animation-wise, there isn’t much action. However, there are a lot of small details that are fluid like the teacher summoning a giant book with her wand and how each character move around smoothly. The studio in charge is Roll2, which is a small studio; one of the anime they’ve worked one was Love is Indivisible by Twins which came out backing Summer 2024. The music is alright? Nothing too noteworthy for now.

The cast, though… This yuri anime got a good cast. Sheena is voiced by Rie Takahashi who voiced Hikaru Koragi in Akane-banashi, Ai Hoshino in Oshi no Ko and Megumin in Konosuba. To be honest, I didn’t recognize her voice until I saw the credits. Mimi is voiced by Rina Hidaka who voiced Ririchiyo in Inu x Boku SS, Kaede Kaburagi in Tiger & Bunny and Cure La Mer in Tropical Rouge Precure; she’s also the wife of Yuma Uchida. Seiran is voiced by Asami Seto who voiced Shisui in The Apothecary Diaries and Nobara in Jujutsu Kaisen. Ari is voiced by Yui Ishikawa who voiced Lihua in The Apothecary Diaries, Mikasa Ackerman in Attack on Titan and Shiori in This Monster Wants to Eat Me—is she slowly becoming the yuri queen or something? The teacher Omi is voiced by Ai Kayano who voiced Cure Finale in Delicious Party Precure and Claudia Ashley in Secrets of the Silent Witch, The nurse Fran is voiced by Yumi Uchiyama who voiced another purple-haired doctor in Dr. Sakurazawa in Demons of the Shadow Realm and also voiced Rudeus in Jobless Reincarnation. Sheena’s late roommate Laura is voiced by Sora Amamiya who voiced Aqua in Konosuba, Kasumi Yoshizawa in Persona 5 and Elizabeth in The Seven Deadly Sins.

Speaking of Fran, why does she look like Camilla from Fire Emblem Fates? Anyways, I checked this anime out because my moot on Twitter was raving about it. I’m honestly hooked. I can’t wait for more. Let me know your thoughts on this episode!

The first episode has Kodo Iwamoto, a middle school student on a mission to seek out supernatural occurrences on the behalf of his principal Kirijo. His objective is to seek out rumored black snow in a small village where he meets a rather beautiful but isolated boy named Shizuma Aonuma who is a talented apothecary but lives in seclusion due to grief and other reasons.

First off, I’m surprised that Iwamoto is a middle schooler. Middle schoolers are looking super old in this universe. If he’s in middle school, that would be he’d be around 15 at most. I get that it’s in different times, but come on…does this boy look like he’d be the same age as freaking Tanjiro Kamado from Demon Slayer? Also, to be honest, I mostly tuned in for the femboy Shizuma. However, judging from the opening, he doesn’t seem to have much of a significant role after this one, but I could be wrong.

Another thing that drew me to this anime was the supernatural premise. You know how much I love supernatural stuff… Iwamoto fights using supernatural abilities, which mainly consists of making spider lilies bloom and then explode. There’s also supernatural elements regarding the medicinal stuff that can heal things swiftly and painlessly. Since Shizuma makes them, would he be considered a witch doctor?

The voice cast is pretty good, though. Taito Ban stars as Iwamoto; he voiced characters like Sung Jinwoo from Solo Leveling, Shizusumi Yagi from Given, and Ayukawa from A Star Brighter Than the Sun. Shizuma is voiced by Takuma Nagatsuka who voiced Miya in SK8 and Auch in Unicorn Overlord. I feel like I don’t see Nagatsuka’s name all that much in anime, so I’m glad he was able to get a good role due to how soft and pretty his voice is. The principal Kizujo is voiced by Akira Ishida which feels so fitting due to the white hair and suspicious nature—an Akira Ishida typecast classic.

By the way, this story is written by the same author as Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (Nurarihyon no Mago). It seems to be popular enough as it already has 13 volumes published. I just hope they explain the story in the next episodes because they didn’t do so here… Let me know your thoughts on this episode!

Ivan’s daemons are a pair of swords collectively called Magatsuhi. The shorter one is Shokyo (the sho meaning small) and the longer one is Daikyo (the dai meaning big). Shokyo is more of a yapper as he consistently argues with his Master, calling him monkey and threatening to kill him; Daikyo is a lot quieter. However, as a pair, they both seem to have separate abilities. I think Daikyo has the ability to create the hyperspace teleportation that Ivan does in this episode where he creates a cubic portal and goes inside, exchanging the location of the place he cut. I think Shokyo’s ability is mostly cutting? I don’t know if both can do the hyperspace teleportation or if it’s just Daikyo.

I feel like mysteries of the Higashi Village increase the more is learned about them. The fake Asa is a daemon, but since all daemons must have a pair, her other half has yet to be seen. I think it’s Danji for the sheer fact that he could be a daemon. The fact that he can see Oshira-sama when normal humans can’t does say something. On top of that, daemon pairs have some similarities with each other. Right and Left have similar color schemes from their hair to their clothes. Ai and Makoto are female and male anglerfish. Gabriel are a pair of identical jaws. Yin-yang are color swaps of each other. Danji and the fake Asa both have black hair, so it’s definitely a clue that he’s her other half. Who’s their master? Given that Danji didn’t rush in to save Yamaha despite her being in danger indicates that Kyoka, the kind village lady whom Danji calls mother, might be the true master. Besides, Yamaha did look distraught when the fake Asa decided to go with Ivan instead of staying with her, indicating that Yamaha isn’t her master.

I feel bad for the shaman, though. He had to die like that and get his corpse carved into a letter. I also feel bad for Azami since she’s already traumatized from her mother’s death and is even traumatized more from seeing more deaths. If anyone has a reason to turn into the dark side in the future, it’s definitely her.

Hana’s job is revealed to be a grave digger—well, it was already revealed back in a previous episode. She’s finally seen doing her job on-screen now. It must be a hectic job as she has to be sworn into secrecy from her associates and from Dera regarding his location. Will she tell about the message to Yuru? I think she will?

Despite the episode mostly consisting of tragedy, I did like the light hearted moments like Yuru and Ken bonding over making weapons and Dera getting a television in the apartment! I always enjoy seeing Right’s reaction to technology. By the way, I saw a manga panel that this episode adapts from and they actually play an episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood in the background—mostly the Sho Tucker episode.

And speaking of FMAB, Shokyo and Daikyo’s voice actors were a part of the cast there! Shokyo is voiced by Hiroyuki Yoshino who voiced Kimblee and Daikyo is voiced by Misato Fukuen, who voiced Elicia, Hughes’ daughter. In FMAB terms, Colonel Mustang is wielding Kimblee and Elicia. It makes for a funny imagery. Oshira-sama’s Master is voiced by Sakiko Tamagawa who has been in FMA media—she voiced Velza in Fullmetal Alchemist 3: The Girl who Succeeds God, which is a game. Some of her other roles include Emiko Niwa in DN Angel and Mineko Kazama from Crayon Shin-chan. 

With Ivan taking the fake Asa and Azami hostage, who knows how long it’ll take for Yuru to get the memo. I do wonder how long the battle between him and Ivan will take in terms of the two meeting and then duking it out. Oh, since this is the second half, there are new opening and ending songs! Both sound nice, but I like the ending song a bit more while the new opening is a little weaker in terms of song power. However, I do wonder why Akio doesn’t show up in the opening despite being a part of the Kagemori family…hm… Let me know your thoughts on this episode!

The way the family she built up with Fatima just came crumbling down after eight years really is tragic. I think what hurt the most was seeing all the family members die one by one until Sitara is the only one remaining. I think that hurts the most because I’d keep thinking that Sitara would maybe live together with Zumurrud and Anis in the nomad’s town despite the circumstances, but, nope, all hope that she clings onto dies like a candle fire. It’s just sad to see that Sitara could’ve had a future where she married Muhammad and officially became Fatima’s daughter, but that is all but a dream. The fact that Fatima called her her daughter before passing really showcased how close they were… I feel bad that she couldn’t get a proper burial. Though, I do feel like Muhammad might be alive, not only because the historical figure he was based on did live on until old age, but it’s because the boy himself is very intuitive and wise—his intelligence might have helped him escape. By the way, if you think Anis’s sudden death was abrupt, it’s not. She has always been the one to tell Sitara about what slaves can get to decide and she chose her path to die as herself and not as a prisoner to the Mongolians. Yes, it was cruel to leave Sitara all alone after losing Zumurrud a moment ago, but it is what it is.

The Mongolians really are cruel with how they just conquer and pillage. All the history books that detailed it feels very historically accurate. It just makes one hate Genghis Khan and his brethren even more. Though, I do wonder about that Persian boy that was with the Mongolian army. His shoes are similar to Sitara’s, making him Middle Eastern as well. However, he’s fluent in Mongolian and can speak Arabic/Farsi like Sitara (Yes, they’re speaking Japanese because this is a Japanese anime, but they’re technically speaking Arabic/Farsi because of the setting). I wonder what his deal is and why he’s working for them—I’m guessing he’s a hostage or a slave as well? I also wonder about the importance of Euclid’s Elements. Why did the Mongolian soldier seek it out when it’s in a language he can’t read?

Anyways, fun fact of the day: Tolui and some of the Mongolian soldiers are speaking actual Mongolian! The production staff casted Mongolian sumo wrestlers for the Mongolian speaking dialogue. Meanwhile, the Mongolian spoken by the boy Shira is done by Miyu Irino himself. I’m not sure if he can speak Mongolian, but he did take a hiatus a few years ago to study abroad, so he probably studied languages at the time. If you’re not familiar with Miyu Irino, he voiced characters like Tomoro Tenma in Digimon Beatbreak, Sora in Kingdom Hearts and Sugawara in Haikyuu. He’s one of my favorite voice actors, so to hear him in this episode was a real surprise; I did that Leonardo Dicaprio pointing meme when I heard his voice.

I feel like I’m kind of glad that the art style is very cutesy and whimsical because it’d be gorier if it didn’t have that art style. According to a merch picture, Sitara in this episode is around 13 years old. Since there was an eight year time skip back in Episode 1, that would mean Sitara was around 5 in the earlier parts of the first episode. Muhammad was 12 before the time skip, meaning he’d be 20 if he is alive. Anyways, I do wonder where the story will go from here. How will Sitara get the book back and what will her next objective be before she infiltrates the Mongolian Empire? Let me know your thoughts on this episode.

The story is basically about Sitara, a slave girl, who gets employed into a scholarly family and later becomes a successful woman in Mongolia due to her desire to overthrow the nation for losing everything she held dear by them. From the research I’ve done, Sitara is based on a real person named Fatima who was a successful woman in the Mongol Empire due to her intelligence. As you can tell from the names and setting, Sitara’s land is based on Persia which did get invaded by the Mongol Empire back in the 13th century.

Honestly, seeing a Japanese mangaka write a story about Islam and not have it be over exaggerated or romanticized is honestly amazing. Tomato Soup could’ve just used it as a backdrop and concocted some crazy orientalist story, but they didn’t. I’m not Middle Eastern myself, but I can see how much love and care the backdrop is put into the storytelling. The clothes and nuances feel so vibrant. Nothing feels offensive. It’s like a regular story that’s set in Persia. I feel like that’s the ultimate form of respect.

Anyways, onto the characters, the main character Sitara seems like a very witty girl. She has a rebellious side to her as she’s prone to running away from slavers, but ultimately develops a sense of loyalty towards the people who bought her as she understands the importance of knowledge. In a way, this is basically a story of an illiterate girl who later grows into one of the most intelligent women in the century. Still, I do love her wit as she likes to tease Muhammad for his shyness around her, mostly when it comes to her without her hijab.

The people who bought her and the other slave girl Anis are all very good people too. Fatima basically becomes something like a mother figure to her. Zumurrud is like an auntie. Anis is like an older sister and Muhammad is something like a mix of possible brother and possible romantic interest (too bad it’s not going to happen given the narration). The uncle also seems to be a good person too despite his exasperation with Sitara’s reluctance to learn earlier. I do like that they’re all intelligent people, so they don’t treat her like an idiot, but also makes sure she can read. Anis makes a good point about the live of a slave. While she’s being treated kindly by her mistress, freedom could be hard to earn despite pledging for it. Regardless, I do like that they all prioritize Sitara getting education as much as she can in order for her to get more opportunities. They’re all her guides in a way.

The voice cast is also pretty great! Akira Sekine voices Sitara; some of her roles include Sora Harewataru/Cure Sky in Hirogaru Sky Precure, Saki Aoi in Senpai is an Otokonoko and Moonlight Lunacy in Umamusume. Her mistress Fatima is voiced by Houko Kuwashima who is a prolific veteran voice actress; she voiced characters like Sango in Inuyasha, Kie Kamado in Demon Slayer and Presea Combat in Tales of Symphonia. The uncle is voiced by Tsuguo Mogami who voiced Keith Shadis in Attack on Titan. Anis is voiced by Mariya Ise who is also a prolific voice actress; she voiced Killua in Hunter x Hunter, Ray in The Promised Neverland and is going to reprise her role as Mitsuki Koga in the Green Yuri anime.

But there are also names I’m not too familiar with like Jun Saito who voiced Muhammad. He’s mostly an actor and his most notable role is playing Satomi in the live action movie adaptation of Let’s Go Karaoke. Zumurrud is voiced by Farahnaz Nikray who is actually a Persian voice actress and stage play actress based in Japan! I’m honestly surprised with the diverse casting from a Japanese anime in general.

By the way, Jaadugar means Magician in Persian. There are also sources saying that it’s also that meaning in other languages like Hindi, etc. This is also another piece of evidence showcasing how much Tomato Soup did their research. Anyways, the anime has a two episode premiere and I’ll be back to review Episode 2 later. Let me know your first impressions about this anime!

If I were to paraphrase this arc now that it ended, it’s basically Miharu throwing a tantrum over Chifuyu’s death and decided to play chunnibyou edgelord to get her revenge. I get that she’s a teenager, but it just makes the pay off a bit silly overall. She caused a lot of deaths and harm towards the people and only now she realized it after Tomoro put some sense into her about how her actions isn’t what her sister wanted. I do think they did a good job incorporating how Miharu is a shadow archetype of Tomoro in a way that he could’ve been like her if he didn’t have Glowing Dawn, but it did feel like the revelation came a bit too late.

The whole final fight with Mephismon was also lackluster in that it did look like they were going to evolve into its Mega form, but it didn’t. Man, what a cop out. It would’ve been so cool if they had to go against Gulfmon and since the power levels in this universe mostly relies on e-pulse power, it would’ve been cool to see the kids get a legitimate win against a Mega, even if it’s not stable like Pyramidimon.

I think the best parts of the fight are the smaller details like Lilamon poisoning Mephismon and how Tomoro’s e-pulse caused a reaction in both Mephismon and Chairman Wong. His e-pulse has been stated to be unusual, so, hopefully, it’ll be explained later on since Wong is acquainted with Dr. Tenma. While Rose and her goons aren’t as important in this arc, I do commend Rose’s intelligence on how she was able to find GIFT’s base; not having a Reina vs Rose rematch was also wasted opportunity.

I think the one thing I’m most curious about is what happened to Kishiwada. He wasn’t there when Miharu decided to turn herself into the ministry. Heck, he doesn’t even show up at the end. Just who is he? What was his connection to Miharu? He’s truly a man of mystery, for sure. Maybe it’ll be explained in the next mini-arc which will revolve around Kyo’s past. The former Water star also has been revealed, so maybe he’ll have some connections with him as both the Kishi in Kishiwada and the Shio in the newly revealed Souji Kuroshio’s names mean tide. Maybe Kishiwada is a Digimon? Who knows? I’m honestly more excited about the mini-arc than I am about how this arc ended up overall. Let me know your thoughts on this episode and the arc as a whole.

I’m honestly impressed with the fight scenes! Sakura may have hesitated to unsheathe her sword at first due to her insecurities, but seeing Hinagiku almost in danger caused her to draw her blade, showcasing how much her lady means to her. While she didn’t kill the insurgent, she did show mercy by knocking him unconscious, showcasing that she’s a lot nicer than she appears, something Hinagiku even mentions later in the episode. I’m also impressed with how Ayame fights because she mostly uses a dagger and martial arts. The fact that she’s elegant and graceful like a secretary but can give mean kicks in a pencil skirt and strategic swipes in the dark showcases that these guards go through insane training. On top of that, the insurgents use guns while the guards use blades, meaning that their training was definitely crazy; bringing a knife to a gun fight indeed…

After the battle is where the group lays low as the Summer estate still has no power and there could be insurgents outside of the area. Seeing Ruri’s powers is honestly cool because she can use them both as reconnaissance and combat. Speaking of Ruri, I honestly love her personality. She’s a lot more outgoing and clingier compared to the more subdued and calmer Ayame; she has prime little sister energy.

I honestly feel bad for the sisters in that they’ve been together all their life, but since Ruri was chosen to be the Agent of Summer, her life changed a lot; her parents seemed to have separated and Ayame decided to dedicate her life to becoming her guard so that she can still have family with her. It’s because of this that Ruri has become very codependent on Ayame; in a way, she’s a siscon. I honestly like their complex sisterly love because Ruri was given these powers without her consent and she’s only stable since Ayame’s around. Meanwhile, Ayame understands Ruri’s burdens and wished that she could do something to uplift them like wishing she’d be chosen instead of her. Regardless, I do like that despite the twins being codependent, they still have their own identities and love interests; Ruri also has a fiancé!

Though, there are some ominous foreshadowings like Ayame wishing she could be the Summer Agent and how Hinagiku tells Ruri to be kind to Ayame and not take her devotion for granted. Hinagiku once did that and it almost caused her to be separated from Sakura as the Spring Village’s higher ups found her worthless. It definitely showcases that Hinagiku’s trauma was very bad and that something bad could happen to the twins.

So yeah, expect to see slow uploads of these reviews due to the Summer seasonals taking some priority and that I just like to take my time with reviews. Let me know your thoughts on the episode!

I think what surprised me about this episode is how fast Navi is integrated into the story. While she doesn’t interact with Liko and Dot as much in this episode, she still has good interactions with Ult and Roy, especially with the former. Given how slow it took for Ult to integrate into the story, I feel like the writers understand the criticism of the slow pacing, hence why Navi is introduced and integrated fast.

Navi, as a character, is great! She has the youthful vigor that Liko and Roy had in the earlier Horizons days. I like her interactions with Ult as they act like antagonistic siblings, which is obvious since Ult is skittish towards new people and Emma technically adopted her while he was away; in a way, he’s like jealous sibling fighting for affection. The Dream Ball that is associated with her character is actually empty! It does make me wonder if Ditto will be caught in it. Regarding Ditto, its desire to help others is shown as it tried to apologize for spilling Navi’s favorite coffee milk and it also picked up her Dream Ball.

In order to promote Z-A, Ivor makes his debut. He’s a tall and bulky young man who walks around in martial arts clothes and also has monstrous strength as he destroyed his Rotom Phone and boulders. His signature Pokemon is Falinks that can evolve in Mega Falinks; the fact that he carries around a Falinks pouch is adorable. Anyways, Ivor recognizes Roy’s Lucario as the Yellow Blast, which is nice that it’s being respected. The battle does feel like it’s mostly there to show off Mega Falinks, which I honestly find cool as it’s basically a combined form. The way that it’s weakness is the poor struggling middle one and Roy aiming for it really hones in on his strategic sense of battling. While the rules are a little wacky, I do like that the fight isn’t dragged out too long and that the loss is reasonable. Also, Ivor’s sister Gwynn also makes a mention as she’s the one who found the missing Carbink that the group was looking for and that Ivor was trying to find its Trainer.

My only gripe with the episode is the lack of Liko and Dot screen time as they take a backseat as they’re visiting Lumiose for the first time and that Ult and Roy are of more importance here in terms of interaction and plot progression. I just hope Navi gets to interact with the girls later on. The only thing Liko and Dot do is accompany Emma on the search for the Carbink, which prompts the appearance of Emma’s running animation.

Navi is voiced by Yu Serizawa who is the current voice actress of Gardenia in Pokemon Masters as her first voice actress has retired. Outside of Pokemon media, she’s known for voicing Mona Kawai from Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms, Kotoko Ijichi from Gals Can’t Be Kind To Otaku and Nicole Demara from Zenless Zone Zero. Honestly, her voice does make Navi sound a little older than her appearance, but I like it. Ivor is voiced by Kazuki Ura who makes his Pokemon anime debut. Some of the anime he’s in are Isagi from Blue Lock, Shiki Ichinose from Tougen Anki and Haruo Kuroya from Daemons of the Shadow Realm. I think this is the deepest voice I’ve heard from Ura so far, yet his voice is still recognizable.

What amazed me the most is the fact that Navi’s pockets most likely contain a hyperspace dimension due to the sheer amount of stuff she carries in them like a notebook, telescope and a Unown F shaped magnifying glass. I wonder what else she’s holding in those pockets of hers. Let me know your thoughts on this episode!

I think the craziest part about Hana-Kimi is how casual love between men is mentioned. Kinuko doesn’t know that Mizuki is a girl yet thinks there’s something going on between her and Sano in the form of a young man in love with another. Sano even tells Kinuko that he returned to high-jumping in order to keep Mizuki close. Honestly, I don’t mind that! I’m glad that Kinuko is not homophobic. There’s also the “supposed” romantic love Nakatsu has for Mizuki in that he thinks he could be gay but doesn’t seem to mind now that he finally figured out his feelings. The way everyone just screamed in confusion when Nakatsu confessed was hilarious; I just hope that none of this sours the relationship between Mizuki, Sano and Nakatsu.

The other part of this episode focuses on Mizuki wanting to become stronger, so she requests that Kujo trains her in karate. While she’s not an official member of the team, she does train with the others. She does seem to be enjoying the practice despite how rigorous it is. Also, I do wonder if Kujo has a thing for Umeda since he goes to him for massages—sorry for looking at it through a BL lens; it can’t be helped in a story like this. 

Speaking of Umeda, I do like that he’s used as comedy throughout the episode. Kinuko is absolutely terrified of him as she was his junior back in college. The fact that Umeda gives Mizuki one of his nudes as a form of a repellent does make me wonder what sort of crazy life Umeda had as a college student. Why do you carry around naked pictures of yourself and why do you think it’s appropriate to give a girl one of them?

Other than that, I do feel bad for Komari as she seemed like a really sweet girl; she just met the wrong man. I hope she’ll find a better one! The preview for next week’s episode seems to indicate that Julia might be studying abroad in Japan at Nao’s school, so I can’t wait to see the circumstances about that. And before I end the review, I just want to say that Kinuko’s last name isn’t Karashima, but Karasuma. Let me know your thoughts on this episode!

But with the misunderstanding stuff between Sano and Mizuki finally over and done with, we get to see them becoming closer than ever, but where does that leave poor Nakatsu who has a crush on the latter and is also best friends with the former? Nakatsu is having a hard time accepting that he likes Mizuki, but there’s a girl who’s interested in him and even confessed! Yet, Nakatsu is still distracted by his feelings for Mizuki. I get that Mizuki is still considered a boy in the perspective of everyone except for Sano and Dr. Umeda, but I want to say: Nakatsu, pride month ended yesterday!

For Mizuki, her relationship with Sano has gotten better, but she’s still down bad for him to the point that the sports reporter Kinuko Karashima seems to be intrigued by her. While Mizuki is still on her guard around her, it turns out that all of the Sano articles that Mizuki read while she was in America were written by her! While her passionate love for Sano might be challenged by her, she’s still not backing down from a fight.

There might be some foreshadowing regarding Mizuki joining karate given how Kujo thinks she has potential; remember that Episode 12 stated how he only smiles towards those he thinks have good potential at karate. I wonder how that’s going to play out given that Mizuki has to change into karate clothes and it can get a bit handsy…

Anyways, I’m convinced that someone in the production staff is a fan of The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity, because what do you mean Komari is voiced by Honoka Inoue? If you don’t know, Honoka Inoue is the voice actress of Kaoruko Waguri. This makes her the fourth voice actress to pop up in this anime; other Kaoru Hana VAs are Nakatsu (Shohei), Kayashima (Saku), and Mizuki (Subaru). So, when will Rintaro and Yorita’s VAs show up in this anime? In addition to Honoka Inoue, Kinuko is voiced by the one and only Nana Mizuki. Hana-Kimi staff sure is flexing their casting budget because you seriously got THE Nana Mizuki for this anime? Nana Mizuki voiced Seiko Ayase in Dandadan, Hinata Hyuga in Naruto and Anne Takamaki in Persona 5. I mean, given that there are other prolific voice actors and actresses in this anime, I shouldn’t be surprised, but I still am.

Given the opening, I wonder if the second season will be focused on Nakatsu’s feelings towards Mizuki. I know that Nakatsu and Mizuki won’t end up together given how smitten she is towards Sano, but I do wish it has a good conclusion at the end. Other than that, I do wonder what sort of shenanigans Mizuki and the others will get themselves into now that it’s still around Autumn as the Cultural Festival ended. It’s also a two-episode premiere, so I’ll be back later to review Episode 2! Let me know your thoughts on this episode!

While I’m mostly rooting for Gero and Kinosaki to get together, I honestly don’t mind if Kimie becomes end game. I feel like, out of the marriage candidates, she has the highest chance due to being interested in Gero AND confessing to him; however, she’s just not ready to get hitched yet, which makes sense because they only met again as adults formally and she still has a lot to do like looking for her brother and finding herself. I feel like that’s most important before choosing to settle down. So, I like her answer! I also like Ushio, so she and Himekawa would be tied for second and then Shiori—I don’t dislike Shiori, but I just think that she’s a bit too young for Gero despite her being a great character. Also, the part where Tonako suggested to be a marriage candidate for Gero is not to be taken seriously; she doesn’t look like she was serious about it and only suggested it out of a whim. While she’s beautiful herself, there’s something ominous about her.

I think the best part about the search for marriage candidates is that their stories help inspire Gero to become more charming so that he can become worthy of them. I honestly like that. He’s not afraid to let women be an influence in his life. In a way, Gero is a male feminist. I think the part where he and Kinosaki help with love advice was honestly cute. It was nice seeing the ups and downs of romantic relationships from third parties. The fact that some of the people who sought them out are connected to one another was cute! I think the girl who was lamenting over her live-in partner not proposing to her and the guitarist are together. The Spanish cooking class teacher and her male student seeking out advice separately was cute! Though, I guess my only gripe is that the people who sought out for love advice are only in heterosexual relationships. It would’ve been nice to have some homosexual relationships in the fray.

I also like that the Dogo Animal Kingdom arc also helped Piichi create some friendships as he seemed like a guy with zero friends and only a girlfriend. Marin seemed happy that he found some friends. This indicates that Piichi will show up again in the future as an ally. I like how Gero sees Piichi on a high pedestal due to him having a girl AND a satisfying life altogether. He’s basically a complete version of Gero in a way.

But yeah, the ending of the episode indicates that Teruaki is on the move. If you didn’t know, Teruaki is the adult version of the little boy that was with Akari and Gero during the flashback where the siblings went to see the Human Zoo. I thought he was their little brother at first, but given the context of the premise, he’s not a sibling, but a cousin. Given how Akari was warning about him being on the move, he does seem to be dangerous; heck, the fact that he was locked in a cage and was submerged in a vat of poisonous bugs indicates how much of a potential threat he is—no ordinary man would do that. He’s voiced by Yuto Uemura, who voiced Hotaru Yuyami in Kinokoinu, Phil in Moonrise, and Hiro in Darling in the Franxx. I honestly think this is a good casting primarily because this anime mostly casts voice actors who aren’t too popular but still has a good repertoire.

Overall, this was a fun anime! It’s a lot more entertaining than I expected it to be. The premise is zany, but I do like that it showcases that even stories that revolve around adults can be fun; it also shows that adults can go through growth. The battles are fun, even if they do get a little ridiculous at times. The animation quality never staggered. I like a lot of characters as they’re super unique; I just hope Naruko shows up again in Season 2 as he’s my favorite. It’s a solid 8/10 anime and I can’t wait for Season 2! I think I’m going to miss the opening song the most. While Marriagetoxin itself isn’t my top anime of the season, the opening is. Let me know your thoughts on the anime and the finale!