Awesome characters 1 Hikigaya Hachiman

Our protagonist

My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU(At least that is what they are calling it on Crunchy roll) is one of my favorite shows in the spring season and unlike Attack on Titan and Gargantia I don't feel that it has been hyped enough. I have found the show's biggest strength is that it takes many of the tropes and characters you see in anime romantic comedies and light novels and deconstructs them. I feel that this is very evident in the main character Hikigaya Hachiman.

I remember a few years ago I was able to greatly alter if not win a debate about feminism and Umineko no Koro ni with the idea that oppresion does not make you a better person. The same principle applies to Hikigaya. All too often in anime we have a main character who is not only dateless but also bereft of friends, yet they suffer no emotional backlash from their sorry state. Hikigaya is not only an interesting twist on the blank anime protagonist his since of bitterness and negativity make him more relatable than your average so called anime nerd protagonist.

Not only is he relatable to darker nature of many of us his attitude is one that is perfect for novels. He has a lot of inner monologue and narration, which is common for novel works. Such works are best served by a main character which a strong voice and Hikigaya's unrelenting pessimism gives us just that voice.

Yet another way Hikigaya makes (title) so even better is the fact that his antisocial nature really does put the brakes on any romance happening in the show. In most romantic shows the main relationship is dragged out so the show can make more money simply by being longer. However with (title) simply not emotionally capable of committing to either Yukino or Yui until he makes some rather drastic personal changes. By the end of he show you she the beginnings of those changes and a slight change in his relationships but that feels natural. In short when it comes to romantic comedy protagonists sometimes bitter is much better taste than bland.

Magic Knight Rayearth Overview part 3,

Where we left off last time our heroines were still questing for the spring of Eterna where they were hoping to find some Escudo. With nothing but a mascot creature who can only say the word Pu to guide them the going has been difficult but they have made it so far. Fortunately unlike real rpgs where if you get stuck you may have to search for hours before finding the correct way Magic Knight Rayearth refuses to be that boring even when it ventures into filler territory which it will do in this volume.

Fuu investigates a blue line

After yet another wandering monster fight this time involving a water monster that made the Magic Knights glow the trio arrives at what appears to be a glowing blue line hanging in mid air. While most people would have no idea what exactly that could mean Mokona climbs on a rock and instructs Hikaru, Umi and Fuu to do the same. From that vantage point they find that the blue line is in fact the spring of Eterna. Mokona then hops in and after some trepidation the girls do so as well.

I guess Cephiro has decorative jewels on everything

The three are separated and each find them facing something they love, Hikaru finds her dog Hikari, Umi finds her parents and Fuu (this is explained not to be extreme narcissism) herself. In each case the object of the Magic Knight's affections attacks their respective protagonist until a message from Princess Emeraude asks them "would those you love wish you harm?". At that point the Magic Knights retaliate with new spells revealing their adversaries to be pieces of Escudo. Since there is a couple of minutes of running time in the episode left Alcione attacks again informing our protagonists that the fight at the beginning of the episode was in fact a plot to poison the Magic Knights and that the poison should be kicking in just about now. Even brought to their knees the Magic Knights refuse to give up which causes their armor to grow which is the first occurrence of a very important principle in this show; character development equals leveling up your equipment. Needless to say the Magic Knights defeat her which is also the end of Zagato's patience with her.

Filler, the real silent killer

With Escudo in hand or rather neatly stored in their glove jewels where they also keep their weapons the Magic Knights return to Presea to have their weapons made. While in the manga (which I have read so I can reference differences between the two) the crafting of the weapons is a pretty minor event it would make for a pretty empty episode if something else wasn't added to it. As is the case when screen time needs to be filled a monster is sent in to do battle with the Magic Knights but this monster is different from those seen so far.

This monster is the summoned monster of Ascot the next in a series of mini-bosses in this show. In true magic girl mini-boss tradition he summons the monster, points in the direction he wants it to go (in this case Presea) and then decides to take a nap. The monster proves to be tougher than the previous ones as the spells and weapons of the Magic Knights do little more than make the thing evolve. The monster heads straight for Presea and when it rams the wall of the room she was in causing parts of the ceiling to fall on her. The rest of the episode is good news and bad news. The good news is that she finished making the weapons that the Magic Knights need not only to defeat this monster but also save Cephiro. The bad news is that she doesn't survive the ceiling collapsing. So with heavy hearts the Magic Knights bury Presea and vow to save Cephiro once again. Ascot also makes a vow of vengeance against the trio of girls that killed his precious friend.