Summer 2022 Episode Reviews: Week Eight

5 min readAug 30, 2022

Welcome, weebs, to Animated Observations

Apologies again for the delay folks. Sometimes you just get tired, crack open a couple of drinks and then decide it is a bit too late to finish a post. It has certainly been a week for me, but it is also been a week for summer 2022. With that being said, let us get started.

RWBY: Ice Queendom Eps. 8–9

My opinion on RWBY has gone up and down quite a bit, but these last couple of episodes have been all around really good. The rest of the gang plus Jaune are still fighting, but once again fail to destroy the nightmare. Still trapped inside the dream, Ruby is forced to deal with her own nightmare while Blake and Yang are banished from inside the city to someplace much darker.

The scenes that involve Ruby’s dream within a dream are a real awakening into her character. They visualize her worst insecurities in a way that almost feels genuinely horrifying in a way that feels similar, but maybe slightly more hopeless than even “Congratulations, Shinji” did for Evangelion. Even more central, though, is Weiss’ internal struggle, which is also well done. Even in this dreamt-up city, there is a visible sense of collapse and decay which furthers episode to episode. Still a lot of potential, but I will wait to hand out any more praise.

The Devil is a Part-Timer S2 Ep. 7

While I certainly understand and agree with some of the criticisms surrounding this show’s second season, there is still a good bit of fun to be had with The Devil is a Part-Timer, and this episode shows that its focus on narrative doesn’t have to be boring. Maou and friends fight off a demon army only to find out from its commander that Olba has been working with Hell, after which Maou and the others promptly send them back alongside birdman, but not before finding out their temporary boss is incredibly powerful. She then disappears in order to protect the ghosts which inhabit the beach, leaving everyone incredibly confused.

How does Amane have a sword made of Maou’s missing horn? Why is it suddenly canon that their landlord knows about Maou literally being the devil? IDK. Is it possible I am forgetting something incredibly important? Possibly. Again, a more narratively focused season is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean the show has to operate at a much faster pace if it wants to maintain any forward momentum.

Lycoris Recoil Ep. 9

I really wanted to say that this show was bad, or maybe even just “mid,” as the kids say. Much like Ice Queedom, though, it has enough good moments through all of its confusing sub-plots to warrant sticking around, even if its just to see how this weird mess unfolds. We get a pretty emotional episode, however, as an attack from an Alan Institute “nurse” leaves Chisato’s artificial heart unable to be recharged, meaning she only has two months left of her already likely short lifespan.

I could tell from episode one that, despite a strange setup, Chisato’s and Takina’s chemistry would go beyond a simple “cute girls doing cute things dynamic,” in part due to the nature of said story, but also because of their constant working together allows them to see things about each other even her teacher (father) might not. Takina’s attempt to put Chisato’s mind at ease before heading off to fight Majima shows growth both in her character and her relationship with Chisato.

Call of the Night Ep. 8

Speaking of good character dynamics…

Call of the Night is so damn fun. I know I have been saying some iteration of that for the past month and a half now, but it becomes no less true with each passing week. This episode is a bit more serious, however, as we get the revelations that Kou must become a vampire within the year or he will be unable to, and thus will likely be killed by the others. In light of this information, he turns to Akira, and the newly introduced Mahiru, another person that Kou decidedly considers his friend, but one who is revealed to also potentially be involved with a vampire.

This was a much more reflective episode, and rightly so given recent events. Still, rather than spiraling into a moody atmosphere, it takes the occasion to make fun of Kou’s middle school attempts at romance, which Nazuna initially rejects before ultimately deciding to save his ego. Also, I have no idea what is going to become of Kou and Mahiru’s relationship, but the show isn’t shy about poking fun at how obviously obsessed Kou is with his approval, so I guess we will see.

Made in Abyss Ep. 8

Every time I think this show can’t get more disturbing, it says “hold my beer” and horribly mutilates a child. In all seriousness though, the golden city arc has been one of the most endlessly fascinating pieces of media I have seen this year. We get the rest of the island’s origin story from the perspective of Vueko, who, even in the present, shows great concern for Irumyuui, with her only wish being that she remembers her. Importantly, we also find out that Faputa is Irumyuui’s last living daughter.

Wazukyan has become a complicated figure over the course of these last few episodes, and the characterization of him and the rest of the original crew has been genuinely fascinating. Vueko, while being largely shrouded in mystery up until this point, is equally so, though arguably a bit less morally reprehensible. At the end of the day, though, it perfectly encapsulates Made in Abyss: a story about adventure and finding hope even in the most brutal of environments.

How did you all feel about this weeks episodes? Let me know in the comments below.

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