Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time

Type: I don’t know how to say no to this.

Synopsis: That right, I also saw Hamilton. But I knew about it before it was cool. That is to say, I saw a random Youtube video where pre-crisis Lin-Manuel Miranda rapped a geeky song about Alaxander Hamilton to president Obama. And yes, I did create an mp3 file from the video and uploaded it to my Creative ZEN mp3 player.

Pros: Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time (I have no idea why it’s called that) is about an adventurer named Peter Grill, the strongest man in the continent. Peter earned that title in order to get engaged with his sweetheart, the innocent Lady Luvelia. Everything was about to work out until Peter ran into the Ogre sisters, who used their womanly womaness to “seduce” him into cheating on his fiance. This happens many times throughout the series with several other womenly women. The running joke is that no matter how much Peter protests mentally, his lust overtakes him and he ends up sleeping with someone other that his fiance. It’s a funny enough premise, at least initially.

Cons: The problem is that that joke losses steam after a while, and the original premise contrasts with the protagonists motivation. Oh, and everyone is awful. The first episode has the best “explanation” for Peter’s infidelity. It’s stated that Peter and Luvelia have only ever held hands due to her father’s protectiveness. Luvelia doesn’t even understand how babies are made, so she and Peter have only had a chaste courtship. It makes sense that Peter would give into temptation, at least at first. It’s still scummy, but you get it. What doesn’t make sense is that Peter keeps cheating on Luvelia over and over again, and with different women! He may feel guilty about it, but he still does it. I get that the we’re suppose to laugh at his lack of will, but he just comes off as unlikable. Ditto with the girls. Mimi and Lisa are essentially blackmailing him, Vegan forces herself on him with a curse, and Piglette uses him despite feigning sympathy. Each of these people know Peter has a fiance, know he doesn’t want to cheat on her, and have little regard for his feeling. And possibly have little regard for his consent. In at least one scene, Peter does say no multiple times, but is ignored. Again, I know it’s played for laughs, but that’s not cool. A person has the right to say no to sex, be they man, woman, or other.

Watch it: The joke loses it’s appeal (2/5)

MVP: Luvelia

She’s going to need so much therapy after this.

Best Episode: Ep.08 “Peter Grill and the Secret Treaty” (In some ways, Peter is living his own personal hell)

Tonikawa: Over the Moon for You

Type: Aw, it’s cute

Synopsis: One day, a boy named Nasa falls head over heals for a girl names Tsukasa Tsukuyomi. By which I mean literally. The boy literally walked into the street to try to get her attention, and was hit by a truck. This is why you should never literally chase after a someone. Anyway, afterwards the boy named Nasa marries the girl named after the moon god. Because Nasa’s idiotic gesture worked. But I guess stranger things have happened. I asked my wife to marry me after vomiting in an Olive Garden restaurant.

Pros: I made that last part up. It was actually a Chili’s restaurant. I just wanted to seem fancy. Anyway, this anime is largely about the cute and humorous circumstances that surround a young married couple. For example, they have to live in a small apartment because they can’t afford a larger one, but that leads them to become more intimate in their little place. They have to buy cheap wedding bands, but the entire experience of shopping for rings together made their ultimate choice priceless. It’s these little rites of passage that makes this show very cute and nice to watch. But the show really hits it’s strive when Tsukasa becomes more of an active character. The start of the story is mostly from Nasa’s perspective, and he mostly reacts to Tsukasa. And while we’ve all asked ourselves how women can feel so soft (short answer: estrogen), it does get old. Having Tsukasa react more to Nasa makes the show feel more balanced, as does learning more about Tsukasa’s hobbies and personal quirks. In essence, the show about a married couple becomes better when both members of the couple are involved equally.

Cons: This anime feels old. As in, the story pacing and characters feels like they belong to a previous generation of storytelling. It’s a little slower, it has slightly more gags, and the character designs are just a bit cartoonish. And a lot of segments are basically Nasa  going “wow, my wife is cute, I wish we could go to second base.” Looking it up, this story was written by Kenjiro Hata, the write of Hayate the Combat Butler. In hindsight, this does kind of feel like “What if Hayate and Hinagiku got together?” The show starts a little slow, especially because Tsukasa acts slightly more domestic and mysterious in the beginning. Again, the show gets better as Tsukasa becomes less idealized and more fleshed out. You will also notice that most of the supporting cast is female. Apart from Nasa and his father, the show is entirely female characters. I wish Nasa has another man to talk to, at the very least to get some advice on being a husband. I should also mention that there’s an implied mystery surrounding Tsukasa which is a lot more obvious to me know than it was when reading the manga. This anime doesn’t really resolve that, so it might annoy you. Production wise, the show is surprisingly empty. Despite going to a lot of shopping malls, stores, and a public bathhouse, Nasa and Tsukasa as usually the only people there. On the one hand, it does make the show feel more intimate, on the other, it also makes it feel more isolated.

Watch it: Although slightly shallow, it’s still very cute (4/5)

MVP: Tsukasa

Fun fact: An avid Street Fighter 5 player.

Best Episode: Ep.5 “Rings” (By this episode, the right dynamics were getting worked out)