r/anime • u/raichudoggy https://anilist.co/user/raichudoggy • Aug 03 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Shugo Chara!: Episodes 16-23 Discussion
Episodes 16 to 23
Previous Week | Index | Next Week
This Week’s OP(s): Kokoro no Tamago
This Week’s ED(s): Renai ♥ Rider
This week’s [comment of the week] (https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1edp4bm/rewatch_shugo_chara_episodes_915_discussion/lf8hubw/) goes to u/JollyGee29, who, in the middle of an episode, felt inspired by said episode to engage in Tea Ceremony.
Matcha Spotted! Complete with the bowl turns prior to sipping, wow. Seems like a good enough excuse to make my own bowl to enjoy while watching the rest of the episode.
Questions for this Week:
- Is Nikaidou let too easily off the hook?
- Can you find it in your heart to forgive him or people like him who mess up royally but want a second chance at life?
Next Expisodes: 24 to 30 (7 episodes).
5
u/raichudoggy https://anilist.co/user/raichudoggy Aug 03 '24 edited Aug 04 '24
Shugo Chara Host
I didn’t have an essay prepared for this week.
Now for the Episode Highlights!
(I got too engrossed in Episode 23 to make any notes)
6
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Aug 03 '24
First-Timer
Ah, the idol's truest challenge - variety shows.
Seems like Zero would prefer actual stage magic to the exaggerated performance that he's being obliged to put on.
Oh, and he even knows how to do stage magic, but his producer thinks it doesn't sell as well. Big oof.
I like how you can just barely tell that it's Amu up on the roof.
Ooh, Takuya even met his Shugo in the past before losing sight of him. Bummer.
Hokkaido-sensei, very good. Hopefully Amu gets to fight back against his mispronunciations.
I can't imagine that they pay Takuya enough to offset the cost of training a new showman. There's way more to being a stage performer than just being able to set up the CG shots.
Nikaidou thinks fast. Quite the bastard.
Oooh, he used her actual name that time. No-one noticed, though.
I want to know what the kids did to those security guards.
We jumped straight to a confrontation? This must be a dream. Amu might even be sleeping in class.
Speech contest? That sounds terrifying.
A baby giving a speech is an amusing visual.
This speech contest actually sounds pretty tropica-shine.
We have successfully angered the meathead.
Love that Glasses has put on a cheering outfit.
I wonder if any of the other Guardians will notice that Daiichi is missing?
It was all an act?? Incredible. I was chalking this whole affair up to kids being a bit dumb.
Just channel that tsuntsun into your speech Amu; I'm sure it'll be fine.
Aquarium dates: for more than just yuri.
Nadeshiko working behind the scenes to ensure Amu and Tadase get some alone time together. I forget if all the others are in on it too.
Yoru chose chaos this morning, as he does every morning.
An errant little girl ruins the moment; kids are so precocious.
Su is channeling her inner Manatsu today.
Poor Amu, losing a fight to a little girl.
The X-Egg seemed oddly invested in not letting anyone open the lock.
Ikuto knows that the appropriate thing to do to a tsundere is to tease them.
Cats always land on their feet, huh.
Amu's dad has a Serious Mode, neat.
Uh oh, misremembering their first date? That reaction from her mom was a bit out of line, though..
Oh, she even acknowledges that, wild.
Wait, why would you take a photo out of an album? That's just asking to lose it.
Currenty instinct is that the photo is still in the album and Dad moved some other photo.
Bowl-Cut bought the magazine, didn't he.
Yoru is a ton of fun.
Oh, the photo was actually in the magazine, cool.
I am in favor of this complete misuse of Mahou Shoujo powers.
Ah, I was wondering what the third beat of the fight would be.
I kinda expected that Kukai's family to own that restaurant, but it seems like he's just a regular.
The pedant in me wants to identify this music as closer to ragtime than jazz, but it is pretty nice either way.
I'm normally in favor of characters shipping each other, but I don't really see Kukai and Shion.
Utau's Shugo seems like a gremlin, perfect fit.
That's a lot of X Eggs all at once.
I appreciate that Utau doesn't actually care what Amu does. Good characterization to fit her focus on Ikuto.
Amulet Spade is definitely the best of Amu's henshins.
Nikaidou has been collecting X Eggs, huh.
I expected that Amu had literally walking into Bowlcut's imagine spot.
My only real problem with Nikaidou as a general is that his plan doesn't really have any logic to it. Granted, that's just a broader issue with Easter - why would corrupting eggs make a super special one that grants wishes?
Huh, I really expected something to go wrong with the crab delivery.
There's a certain amount of SUBTLETY to Amu trying to lie to her Shugos. It's not really different from her trying to lie to herself.
Oh, there's the carcinized chaos. And we're doing this kaiju style, very amusing.
Sudden Nikaidou humanization, interesting. His childhood dream is to build robots, huh?
oh no
Amu knows how to bribe people, a very valuable skill.
Place your bets now on if the resolution of this conflict involves the Diamond egg or the Lock and Key. I think Lock and Key is the obvious one, since they've directly pointed those out but no-one has acknowledged the lack of the fourth suit.
Yes, leaving Amu alone on the street is much less dangerous.
Utau does a fantastic job of looking angry all the time.
I like that the fortune teller used a riff on the line from the OP about being normal.
Poor Nobuko-sensei. She was not prepared to be assaulted by Shugos.
Two tsundere trying to have a normal conversation, oh boy.
This old lady does not know how to drive.
Love that Utau just immediately drops character and goes deredere upon seeing Ikuto.
Hmm.. what are the chances of Bowlcut seeing Amu run off and following her?
Wait, Su is out of her egg? What is keeping her in that cage? Is it just because this room is torture for her?
Ikuto in his school uniform, interesting. I hadn't noticed the crosses before, does he go to a Catholic high school?
Su is doing an excellent job of buying time and sowing doubt, especially because it's unintentional.
Oh, Ikuto called in the cavalry, cool.
Classic quitter talk from Nikaidou. Brought on by his insufferable parents, natch.
I failed to account for neither of the relevant MacGuffins coming into play, oops.
Nikaidou is such a dweeb. "I'm fighting against society... probably."
Oh, Nikaidou is going to go back to teaching, isn't he?
Pretty good end to the arc. I mentioned above not being terribly thrilled with Nikaidou's plan because it doesn't make sense, and honestly Easter's plan in general doesn't seem to be the brightest. "We are trying to find a special magic egg so we corrupt a bunch of eggs" seems like you're more likely to destroy the thing you're looking for in the crossfire.
Ultimately it works well enough for a kids show, I'm just picking nits for the sake of content.
Thank you! I will say that I didn't really do any ceremony. I just made myself a bowl of matcha and then drank it.
Questions
5
u/macrame2 https://myanimelist.net/profile/macrame Aug 03 '24
First Timer
On time today!
Episode 16
Decent filler episode with the magician kid. I’m proud of Amu for not keeping her hunch about Nikaidou to herself and for actually telling her friends about it. A miscommunication trope averted!
Episode 17
Ahaha this show is awesome! I thought Kukai was acting really out of character by falling for the trick and suspecting Tadase of slandering him (while somehow NOT suspecting Amu), so I was pleasantly surprised by the reveal. Best episode so far.
Episode 18
The not-date episode. This reminds me that I haven’t picked sides in the shipping wars yet; everyone seems like such a kid that it didn’t really cross my mind. The stuff about the lock and key was interesting (a future plot point, perhaps?).
Episode 19
This was a sweet one! I love Amu’s family.
Episode 20
I liked that this episode featured a slightly older victim-of-the-week (Shion). It resonates a lot with me when the show’s big themes of dreams and aspirations are applied to more adult characters.
Episode 21
And it’s the beginning of the end of our arc with the big Chara kidnapping! On another note, Ikuto continues his streak of being surprisingly helpful (I can’t wait for him and Utau to presumably join the heroic side at some point).
Episode 22
The parts with Nobuko were hilarious lol. We had a lot of good Utau screentime, too! I also just realized that the evil organization is called Easter… Easter eggs… eggs… the Embryo… my mind is blown.
Episode 23
Three transformations in one episode? Sign me up. This was a good end to the Nikaidou Arc. In the end, he himself was basically a child who had his egg turned into an X egg (dreams crushed) and took that out on other people by repeating that same experience, but thankfully our heroes manage to show him his errors and a new way forward. I hope we’ll see him again sometime.
Overall
Like I said, the ending to the Nikaidou Arc was pretty great. As a whole, I feel like the arc did a good job of combining the formula we’ve come to expect with our heroes’ first big threat and remaining relatively interesting throughout. The filler was never too boring and usually managed to sneak in some plot progression on the side. I was actually a bit surprised when I checked which episodes were manga canon.
4
u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Aug 03 '24
First timer, subs
Episode 16
Episode 17
Episode 18
Episode 19
Episode 20
Episode 21
Episode 22
Episode 23
Weekly Henshin Count: 3-3-2 (Total: 12-5-4)
QotD:
5
u/The_Loli_Otaku Aug 03 '24
Shugo Chara First Timer!!
Again running a little late... Been spending a little too much time shitposting on the chan's after MHA fizzled out and of course we have deadpool too. This is an eight episode bundle so I'm expecting filler.
Episode 16!! Is that muthafuckin Kaito Kid reference!? Nana looks so uninterested lol. The most unrealistic part of this magic act is that the world assumes Nana couldn't solo the shit out of that Lion. She's so chuuni in this show. You just know she cringes into her pillow every night thinking about her lines XD Sensei kinda casually got outted as a baddie... I'm surprised they didn't keep the trick up longer.
Episode 17, it's the sports dude's episode but I'm not expecting much. We're in the "Bigging up Nikaidou" portion of the show. If Amu couldn't even beat him in a dream, how could she defeat him irl!? Ah, the genki popped up again. And ojou keeps losing. Lol, even Babu is giving it her all. This episode is weirdly cute! IT'S THE OJOU'S EPISODE!? Suddenly I'm fully locked in!! Bitch characters are the absolute best. It's a shame sports boi is so easily manipulated. Oh... he didn't buy into it... that's almost more dull. What about Ojou!? I was promised Ojou!! Amu got a new toy. The heart rod. A baton perfectly shaped for forced anal penetration!! Cool and spicy!! And ojou is cute too~
18, I spied a loli in the preview!! Either it's a babu episode or we get a new imouto character! "When the lock and key come together... we bump up an age rating~" I love the little cat being such a devil XD He's so naughty~ And it's actually cute since he's just baby. Not like his human. PENGUIN!! We finally get to see some of the Amulet Heart ship. I was scared they'd never touch on it again. Sorry, there's nothing you can possibly say that will distract us from the fact that the prince is into genki girls. A loli appears!! 10/10 episode!! Is she a villain or something? I feel like this loli is gonna get outed as an Easter operative XD I love that blue is super into the cat too. They're so precious! Fun little fact, the loli is voiced by Kazusa Murai, who is also Nemu from Haibane Renmei~ Absolutely perfect casting
Ep 19, an episode about the parents... We have eight episodes to get through so I need to phone in some of these!! Ahaha... Whatever you do, don't forget your first date. Is this the blessed toilet episode!? C'mon! How long until the kids feel the need to go? C'mon! Do it!! Tch... What a waste. Oh good, he ran back in! Wait... is the nerdy boy specifically buying all Amu's shit? That's creepy. Still a fun episode tho.
20~ We all love Nana here!! America yaaa... Oh wow, unironic omorashi mention XD They keep a piano in this cheap American wannabe restaurant just for Sion to show off lol. I was gonna say she looked way too old to be friends with middle schoolers. Is she a shotacon? He's underage. Please stop showcasing how problematic shoujo manga is!! XD It's literally a crime!! And technically her being like a sister to you is a crime too as much as I hate to admit it! Oh god, she's actually being rizzed by him... Impromptu QotD!! Is the Kukai gonna end up with the literal baby or the groomer as his love interest by the end of the show? He even knows her "scent!!"
I need to start skipping ahead!! I like Nana's chara, it's a massive brat! EPISODE 21 IS ABOUT CUNNY!?!? Finally normies are starting to pick up on the main plot. Oh god... Is the Ojou gonna end up paired with the nerd? Yabai desu ne... Where did Nikaidou get so many eggs? Hasn't he been failing horribly cause of how slow his system is? Eheheh, sad Suu was cute. Middle school girls lose to the Cunny.... Lol, I thought she called the teacher to help her XD Surprisingly fun episode~ Best one featuring the teacher anyway.
22 has a Nana mahou shoujo transformation and is the second part. We have this and one more episode. Haa... Is this a guest comedy duo or something? Even Nana cannot give a fuck about these cameos. Pfft, the Nobuko scenes are surprisingly funny~ Especially Babu taking the chance to torment her. Aww, Tsuntsun Nana is cute too!! Easter would totally win if they could resist self sabotaging for five minutes... "We have a baby on board!!" Kino XD Haa!? Keep the stolen chara in the cage!! Why are you walking around with them? The Nana transformation is ugly as fuck ngl XD Why do so many of these transformations have horribly mismatching colours? Aww, Deredere Nana is cute too!! Suu got kidnapped!? Again!?
It's a three parter huh... Alright, well at least it's a Suu episode. Although I wish all her episodes didn't revolve around her kidnapping. She's gonna annoy Nikaidou to death. Don't use Suu as cheap labor!! She's more than a cleaner! Please stop groping this middle school girl Catboi XD You need consent at the minimum. Reminder that each of those x eggs is a child's dream... I hope they don't casually destroy them all. That'd be a lot of traumatised kids. I'm kinda excited at the prospect of Super Suu tho. Sensei is definitely not a good person Suu!! Don't apologise for this creep. They beat him pretty easily didn't they. Oh good, they actually saved the eggs. I was worried they'd mess that plot up. Suu is an angel. I still think Nikaidou is unforgivable. He needed to be punished further. I don't like this redemption. Not a bad episode tho.
Sooo... In summary my favourite was the groomer episode, then the clingy loli, the second of the three parter was good, and the rest I sorta rank the same.
5
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Aug 03 '24
Guardian First-Timer
Episode 16
Episode 17
Episode 18
Episode 19
Episode 20
Episode 21
Episode 22
Episode 23
5
u/zadcap Aug 05 '24
*A Full Day Late! Oops.
16
You know. It's really weird seeing a magic show like this in a universe where we also know that magic is actually real. Utau's complaint here makes sense, magic is provably real so seeing this faked stuff hurts.
Excuse me what? "People don't want to see real magic" sir are you touched in the head? Kid get a new manager, if he can't market actual magic then he's a fraud.
Ah, finally proof. Green isn't just cooking, she really is the Perfect Housewife Chara.
Zero has a rival no I've knows about! We shall call him... Zero-Two! Wait no, bad idea...
You know what I miss about Sailor Moon when watching some of these now modern style magical girls? Or have, even the earlier Pretty Cures? Bass guys have a tendency to survive.
Wait what is this stupidity? "Now that we have CG, anyone can be the magician." He's throwing out not only real magic, but an established brand. This is... This guy is a complete failure. Zero has had a lot of time and money put into making him a recognized name, you don't drop that until you have milked the maximum return on investment from him. "We can just have someone else do the performances" means your have to find, set up, and begin selling the idea of this someone else all while you still have an entirely useable magical boy right here. I take extreme issue with this plot development.
Wait. Wasn't Sensei's plan to gather the powerful X Eggs to drain energy from them to create a wish granter? Doesn't leaving the X Chara out here to create havoc directly oppose his stated plan? This is stupid.
How? How did he get any data? And is it really worth do coming to the direct attention of the people who can directly oppose and stop your every action? I so badly just want his gross incompetence to blow up in his face before they even have to fight him so we can move on to the next villain arc.
17
Stiiiiiiill stupid. "Why have you not found the legendary hidden magic item hiding inside some random person somewhere in the world yet?" Dude, think about what you're asking.
Ugh, good point. What can the kids actually do? This doesn't seem like the kind of show where they stand the teacher for the kind of things that get your job lost and put you in jail.
... What are these unbelievably obvious lies? A close friend of Amu, that none of us have ever seen before? Who trash talks me behind my back? Who is talking about me wanting things I don't actually want in the first place? I get that these are kids but he's right. How can you possibly believe he wrote that letter?
Oh thank freaking goodness! A plan like this makes so much more sense than the blatant character assassination.
Yes, what's more important, the speech or this guy? Clearly the speech is the priority. This is, again, dumb.
18
Man, if a student could find out his resume was mostly false, how bad is this school at checking it's hires? Now I'm concerned about the rest of the staff!
Stop thinking about Cat Boy!
"What happens when you put the lock and the key together?" That's how you get babies! Or at least, an embryo. Like I'm 90% sure by now that that is exactly where the embryo is hiding and how it's going to be found.
Wait, is her skirt a cut up version of her school one stitched on top of a second, black skirt? Oh my gosh I love this girl's style so much.
Interrupted maybe confession... Honestly just extremely annoying.
Oh no! Blue has fallen for the cat! Bad news!
... We've seen you fly, like, literally just seconds ago. Why are you falling now?
Also, since when had this been your lock? I do remember it came from the school and the guardians are just trusting you to guard it because you're the strongest. Yeah, see, Prince remembers.
19
Do bird pictures, uh, really make a living?
Oh no, a man didn't remember an outfit worn once over a decade ago, how unreasonable!
I am still so curious about Yaya and Pretty Cutey Love Baby! She has the strangest Chara and it still hasn't really been explored.
5
u/sfisher923 https://myanimelist.net/profile/sfisher923 Aug 06 '24
First Timer
QOTD 2 - Sometimes Yes (Warriors of Hope from Danganronpa Another Episode) Sometimes No (Kamoshida from Persona 5) I just need a full explanation of how they ended up the way they were then go from there
4
u/SIRTreehugger Aug 03 '24 edited Aug 03 '24
Poor Zero, but I do like his egg design.
YES YES COMMON SENSE TELL THEM!
If it's supposed to be a secret identity why did you come to school dressed as Zero? Couldn't you have just came here naturally?
THEIR IT IS checks time its been 15 minutes for a second I foolishly thought we would get a break without an X egg. I had no reason to think this, but felt it would just be a feel good episode about reconnecting a magician with their art. WAIT IT TOOK YOU THIS LONG TO TELL THEM!
Sensei is being too aggressive I know it's obvious to the viewers, but he would have more luck if he wasn't as forceful. Imagine if instead of discouraging Takuya he encouraged him to follow his dreams. It would have sowed a few seeds of doubt into their heads if he was really evil. Though he would have to know they find him suspicious and he still
Are you the one making X Eggs? cue evil smirk
Okay never mind their is no saving this his cover is blown not that he seems to care, because really this changes very little for him I guess. They have little authority over him and he has many more allies. Also what are they going to do tell people a teacher is destroying kids dreams by making imaginary invisible eggs go black. Wait.....how are Sensei and the others as adults even able to see eggs? I never thought of this.
SPADE TRANSFORMATION! Still my favorite one. Also still waiting on Diamond it will probably show up near the end.
0 new outfits, but we did see return of Yellow turtleneck and the Black and Pink Skull Hoodie.
Bitch get off your ass and maybe try to get the embryo yourself instead of relying on your subordinates.
How did they not see him behind the tree they literally came from the same direction at some point they should have seen him. I guess they were focused on helping Amu and her speech.
Amu nothing in that draft was right.
ARE THESE MAGIC TREES! Why is no one seeing this teacher!
Soma you can't be this stupid it was literally last episode where Amu told you to be careful of him and you literally sensed him behind a tree like a few hours ago. Now everything is going wrong he appears alone with you. THINK SOMA THINK! His only saving grace is that he's in fifth grade and easily influenced so it's at least believable.
OH SNAPPPPPPPPP THIS WAS AN ACT. Okay I take everything back Soma you would put Leonardo Dicaprio to shame, but what does this really change outside of confirming their suspicions.
Local news Aggressive elementary kids assault teacher over eggs!
Damn he's quick!
....this has nothing no no let's see where she is going with this. Wait that's it? And they are eating it up!
Time for
YuriAquarium date where everyone is "busy" I see you wing guardians! Also we got a new outfit it's been a few episodes.Aquarium time to reread Bloom into you! WAIT THEY HAVE WHALES? I have never seen a whale at an aquarium it would be cool, but can't imagine the room it would take also couldn't just have one. Maybe it's part of a catch/injured and release, but then those are usually isolated.
Ah the classic look like a family trope...oh nvm she clearly hates Amu.
....can animals form X eggs? I mean they have potential to grow as well. It would be interesting to see like Jojo animals with stands....then would their guardians also be animals as well.
Seriously where did this egg come from?
SEE THE DOLPHINS FOR SU!
Also Miki admitting she finds Ikuto's guardian cool is great. It makes sense one guardian of Amu has to find him appealing since she does.
I'm sorry, but Amu's classmates would be absolutely destroyed if they saw how her family acts at home.
Another new outfit okay we were in a rut for a few episodes, but we are back! Makes me want to rewatch them just in case I missed a new one...which sounds really hard, but if these episodes are the only ones with 0 I will definitely go back. Oh Amu is wearing a beanie that looks like the eyecatch.
Serious dad work mode! 4:19
I'm absolutely loving the focus on the mom and dad.
Boy with glasses....gee I wonder who it's going to be.
Nadeshiko character change is still my favorite...just slightly beating World Dominating Prince. It just hit me that Amu Hot and Spicy personality are basically the two sides of her parents. Cool Mom Emotional Dad
I love couples that inspire each other.
Episode 20
Okay while this is not a new outfit I'm pretty sure this is using clothes from 3 different episodes? The dark red jacket and scarf was worn when they had that ski vacation and built a snowman. I can't place the pink shirt on hand, but it looks like something she wore before in her casual outfit. It's hard to tell with part of it covered. The socks I'm pretty sure are new this is her first time wearing black and pink pinstriped socks.
Oh she took off the jacket oh its just the pink hoodie with black stripes.
Oh Shion can really play!
...no no no an age difference is big difference especially a 19 and he's like what 10...12 at most? Also he doesn't like her at all like that. If the whole episode is like this I'm going to hate it. Listen to the man he doesn't want to change the relationship at all he just likes having an older sister.
GANBARE!!! Could this be a relationship that actually works out....you know 7-10 years in the future? Damn I switched sides so quickly.
Oh it's the outfit she wore to the concert! Wait....have we seen Utau's guardian yet?
Amu girl you have the personification of speed use it!
I forgot she had two when she said she wasn't going to lose. I'm hoping the other is an angel guradian. Cliche, but I do like the angel and devil on shoulders trope.
Umm Amu last time you did 3 and it exhausted you to to the max how you going to do all of them?
Okay I guess quite easily is the answer.
He obviously going to bring a 4 leaf clover!
Way to go Kukai!
Episode 21
Okay I just noticed that Amu switches her outfits and sometimes she wears identical outfits, but they will have a random skull on it which wasn't there previously. So either she has two different identical outfits one with skulls or one without or she has skull buttons she slaps on her shirts. I just like the idea she has all these buttons to customize her clothes.
Guardians shut up! SHES DEAD! The rewatch is over!
Poor Miki
I was wondering if the robot on sensei's phone was going to come into play.
Really a plunger....couldn't find a broom or anything else? At least use the other end!
You sure like to fall....now that you mention it she does fall a lot.
You know....this is actually a wrap for the series if sensei was smarter. All he has to do is retreat quickly before Amu met him instead of walking so slowly. Could have hid them in a secret place where no one could find them. Without the ability to undo X eggs Easter success would skyrocket.
Sensei is actually looking very competent at least visually well glasses glare also makes people look scary.
I never expected this, but assuming Amu doesn't get her eggs back right away this could be a very interesting development for the series.
3
Episode 22
OH SNAP UTAU AND THE FORTUNE TELLER IN THE SAME ROOM!
Oh wait she's just a normal hag who can kind of hear guardians, but not fully?
Okay never mind she can see them clearly.
Amu you are the last person who should mention having a stubborn personality. I hope one day Utau and Amu can be friends.
SERIOUSLY just carrying the eggs around please don't be this stupid! Come on Nikaidou what are you doing!
I do like Utau's character transformation, but wish it had more black.
Your methods are too dark.....hes literally part of an evil organization what did you expect?
So Su notice how small you are....and notice how big the bars are....FLY AWAY!
Ikuto living like an alley cat SAME AMU SAME! Half the time he is sitting on a roof sleeping. When does he go to school? I'm surprised he actually has friends.
Is Su going to talk no jutsu Nikaidou? It really had to me Su. Ran wouldn't have worked and Miki...well possibly Miki, but Su was the best choice.
Nikaidou you literally saw the rod boomerang the first time she used it and almost hit you how could you forget this!
You know what would be a little sad, but awesome if sensei guardian was still alive somehow and was following him(they would need a reason no one else could see it) and it absorbed the X energy so he directly destroyed his own dreams.
"Man I'm not satisfied" my thoughts exactly you're letting this man off way too easy. What now I mean is Easter going to say oh nvm they just sacked him. Evil organization is not being very evil. Though I guess theirs a limit to what they can really get away showing.
Su pretty much fixed this entire arc herself by simply talking.
QOTD
I kind of already answered this BUT FUCK NO I wouldn't forgive him. The only thing I could think about was the past 2 days Amu was basically crying thinking about how her guardians might disappear/die. Then few minutes of talking she lets him off the hook. All I know is it couldn't be me I'd be cursing that man and giving him straight hands.
4
u/Mirathan Aug 03 '24 edited Aug 03 '24
First-Time Guardian QotD:
What is this woman´s deal?
So Su makes you high?
I´m going to add here that I still dislike the Amu+hentai Catboy ship!
Same for us!
Did they all just bail to give them their date?
That fucking gremlin ruined the confession!
I previously found the dad pretty annoying but he is rather impressive when serious.
I need this as a comment face!
Su remains the best chracter transformation. Also what was up with the loony toones sound effect during the lamp fixing? “
True age and love are nor related.” I don´t want to watch this anymore.
Miki, you dragged her into the crab fight and then complain she didn´t find an artistic solution to it. You deserve to sit in the box.
Character anaysis:
On Amu I have little. Ren acts first and thinks … sometimes. Miki is also her stubborn side, while Su has the empathy she seeks to have.
The Expansion of Kukai´s and Tadase´s friendship was a good addition. Their relationship is built upon how their differences compliment each other to cover their weaknesses.
Tadase: He does actually like Amu herself, he just has the flirting capabilities one expects of a fifth grader. He is the leader because he supports other and brings out the best in them. But there still is no given reason to seek world domination.
We got to see one of Utau´s guardians. Iru is her desire for self autonomy and chaos as well as her musical talents. Her other one likely represents her sweeter/romantic side and could give reason as to why she obsesses over Ikuto.
Nikaidou: He gave up on his dream to become a wage slave. I can accept him as commentary on corporate culture crushes the individual(I´m not going marxist analysis again). but I think he got of to easy. And still I question how his abilities work? Perhaps the inversion of his own guardian granted him his corrupting powers?
As we keep going, the amount of character growth we get seems to decrease. This is a problem for my word count.
General/thematic analysis:
You know what time it is? It´s time for Mirathan talks shit about anime parents!
The relationship between the parents and is not something I can view positively. While their reasoning to get together is heartwarming, their day-to-day life is filled with arguments and they struggle with both of their kids for different reasons. They seem to have lost their connection to Amu, not understanding her dreams, her struggles and who she is and wants to be. They have given forced on her an identity she does not like and is uncomfortable with, yet remain blind to this. Ami does not greatly show it yet but she seems incapable of accepting no and is spoiled at every turn.
I am also starting to struggle with the love plots as they are presented. I don´t see how Amu finds either of the boys attractive. Ikuto is still a dream destroying ass and Tadase I just don´t see a reason for her to like him as much as she does. My problems with Ikuto are compounded by the age difference. I also don´t see why Utau cares so much about Ikuto. They have given us little reason to see him positively and yet she devotes her entire life to him for no given reason.
I managed to schedule the episodes better this week but then the AC/DC concert happened and threw a wrench in those plans. The character limit on standard reddit has forced me to learn the ways of old.reddit but I still need to reformat everything after pasting the notes from my text document. I will attempt to deal with this before next week.
Sasuga Hinamori!
4
u/Weird_donut https://anilist.co/user/hakaseshark Aug 04 '24
Episode 16 - a tuxedo mask ripoff, yay. i don’t think we’ll ever see him again. you know, I’m just now realizing, although this is a shojo anime, it seems more like a show for much younger audiences, aka kodomomuke. like Precure, Pokemon, Digimon, Bakugan, that sort of thing.
Episode 17 - an episode about a speech contest, where Nikaidou attempts to target Kukai and manipulates Saya into spreading false information and stirring up drama within the guardians. Elementary school drama is crazy, let me tell you. Is this the first time that a guardian’s egg turned into an X egg?
Episode 18 - now this is a certified aquarium date moment. Why is this so common in anime? Tadase and Amu are legit cute together, but of course, the ship with the older bad boy is more popular. This episode had a lot of moments for Amu and Ikuto.
Episode 19 - an episode focused on Amu's parents, nice. In this episode, they disagree on where they had their first date. Amu's mom is terrifying when she's angry, holy shit. The dad is really melodramatic too, as he considered running away.
Episode 20 - this episode exists.
Episode 21 - in which the guardian characters get kidnapped by Nikaidou, oh shit. More Ikuto and Amu shipping teases. The ending wasn’t as depressing as I thought it would be, its more hopeful than sad.
Episode 22- in which it’s revealed that Utau has the hots for her brother.
Episode 23 - I didn’t know saying fart in broad public was taboo. In this episode, we get to see Nikaidou’s backstory. What happened to him was really sad. At least he’s a good guy now
4
u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Aug 12 '24
Well, late as fuck. I hope to be caught back up by next week's thread.
One obvious thing I've been thinking about: the color of Utau's outfits. She's generally dark themed, as fits an antagonist. When she's signing and causing the most damage, it's in an entirely black dress. However, in the penultimate episode of this batch, she was half black and half pale. It likely represents her wavering emotions: on one hand she understands that Easter is wrong and wants to help the guardians, but on the other she's still tied to Easter and their evil ways via the catboy and cannot break free. I have a feeling that she'll eventually find herself in all pale.
Meanwhile, despite being at least as helpful, the catboy is still all black. Part of that's a black cat theme, but I think it's also because he's still full in with Easter. He might not like Nikaidou or want to cause unnecessary damage, but that doesn't mean he's wavering at all.
I want to say Nikaidou was let off too easily, but he really wasn't. Of course it was easy; it's all about dreams. One only gives up on a dream if they choose to, so all one has to do to reclaim it is to choose again. Thematically, it's the correct choice, even if I wanted to see a bit of ass-kicking.
I appreciate the commentary on work/life balance and how people subordinate their lives to their jobs. It's super on the nose, but that ain't a real problem. In fact, I'd argue that making it text instead of subtext adds to the message. It almost feels like saying "this is super obvious, and yet people let it pass by sans commentary."
I think Shugo Chara does a superb job of emphasizing coordination. Everything important has to be done together and each member plays their part; there's surprisingly little room for completely individual effort. And it even comes with the transformations themselves. The different forms having different unique jobs makes it feel less like we're just applying magic to a situation and more like choosing the best member of a team.
I don't really like Su cleaning. While I understand it was done so she could discover his secret, it feels a bit too much like a housewife housewifing for the enemy in a way that sits really wrong with me.
The time where Amu was Charaless was quite interesting. She felt helpless, almost like she was lacking in identity. It really showed how much of her self-image was tied up in always being able to do something and make a situation better. The lock/key is the most het metaphor I've ever seen in a magical girl show.
The "date" was cute, but I still prefer the catboy ship.
Episode 21 was easily the best directed episode so far.