Summer 2022 Episode Reviews: Week Three

5 min readJul 24, 2022

Welcome, weebs, to Animated Observations

The summer coverage continues. I was initially pretty surprised at just how much of what I chose to cover this season actually turned out to be pretty good. The sequels were pretty much a “duh” in that regard, but even the originals this season are coming to play. This week was no different in that regard.

Made in Abyss S2 Ep. 3

Made in Abyss had another fantastic week. In this episode, the gang explores the village of the Hollows, but remains on guard against a potential attacker. They do discover the location of Riko’s white whistle but decided to leave it with a craftsman who is working to bring out its “full value,” still uncertain of who might have taken it.

This is by far one of my favorite episodes of the entire series thus far. The setting is masterfully drawn, and each of the hollows is unique enough that they stand out in a crowd, imbuing a real sense of individuals they were before they transformed. On top of that, the weird economic system which exists within the village creates an underground, black market vibe, but somehow both less dangerous and more unsettling. I do hope we get to spend a bit more time in this area, as there seems to be a serious bit of lore associated with it.

Call of the Night Ep. 3

Anyone else getting a bit of Fooly Cooly vibes after this episode?

I do not mean to say that they are going to be of similar quality, far from it. After Wonder Egg Priority, I am pretty much done with making large-scale predictions like that. Rather, it seems there are some immediate parallels between the way that the wild and crazy Nazuna and Haruka fixate on the main characters and attempt to bring them into their world, and how both Kou and Naota willingly go with them to escape some sort of emotional pain. A bit surface level, sure, but something that definitely stands out.

Aside from that comparison, the episode also sees the introduction of Ko’s friend Akira, who not only considers them to be friends but after meeting Nazuna, wants to bring him back to school. It seems the series wants to set up a sort of twilight-esk dynamic, only in this case Kou is choosing between his own humanity and vampirism. It’s a dynamic that I think certain can work as long as Kou ultimately remains the focus

The Devil is a Part-Timer S2 Ep. 2

The gang continues to grapple with the fact that…apparently they have a kid? I mean, not really. It is clear from the bit at the end that there is a bit of allegory being set up, as the series makes sure to remind you that Alas Ramus came out of an Apple. Anyone who knows literally anything about biblical stories should immediately have some bells going off in their head.

The dynamic is also just incredibly funny, though. The more serious plot elements of this season are intriguing, do not get me wrong. However, I am still mostly here for the comedy. This episode was a little lighter in that department, but the moments that were shown were still pretty hilarious.

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer Ep. 3

Well, it is getting better, I think? Honestly, it would be harder to do worse by the series than that first episode which looked pretty horrendous until they bothered to fix it.

This episode was…ok. I am starting to have less and less hope for this adaptation, and given that I have not read beyond the end of this episode in the manga, it will be hard to tell how good of a job it is actually doing. From what I can tell, the fight between Yuuhi and the golem which shows up outside of the hospital is shortened to focus a little more on his internal struggle with his grandpa. Though, that was still somehow less compelling. The series overall still feels fairly stilted in its animation and action. As much as I hate to admit it, anything good that comes out of this adaptation is going to be carried solely by the manga.

Lycoris Recoil Eps. 3–4

Lycoris Recoil continues to both amaze and confuse me. On the one hand, episode three demonstrated very proficiently the series’ great capacity for character writing that is both interesting and compelling. Takina often comes across as cold and uncaring but also wears her heart on her sleeve when it comes to her desire to return to DA proper, although she may deal with some serious self-questioning in the next few episodes.

Chisato meanwhile comes across as aloof but is not only incredibly capable, but also understands what it means to live and work within the DA, and thus wants to do everything she can for Takina. Kind of a shame the series then spend an entire subplot in episode four on two teenage girls buying underwear. Like, are we really still doing this in 2022? Not to say the strong writing elsewhere is negated by this part, but it just feels like such an unnecessary and weird inclusion

How do you feel about this week’s episodes? Let me know in the comments. I am on the verge of dropping Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer at this point and just picking back up the manga in its place, but I will give it another episode or two to redeem itself. Meanwhile, RWBY will be back in our lineup next week, so stay tuned!

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