Natsunagi (ep 9 ver.):

As part of my 'rewatch all key anime' project, I rewatched Kamisama ni Natta Hi.  I noticed within the anime a great song I hadn't entered into my hall of fame yet, 'Natsunagi (ep 9 ver.)'.  Honestly it's 5-star worthy, but I'll rate it as 4-star to be on the prudent side.  I also made it Sana's theme song, it's such a hauntingly beautiful love song, fitting her sad but pure love perfectly.  To make room I had to kick Luca out of the theme song business, at least until I fish up a new wonderful character.

I also had to demote Tower of Zot from 4-star to 3-star, 'the settlement is where the sand goes' from 3-star to 2-star, 'Dance of the knights' from 2-star to 1-star, and 'committed spinning thoughts' from 1-star to nothing.  But it's well worth it to have Natsunagi in my collection.  Jun Maeda is such a boundless talent.

Meanwhile, I wanted to know what happened after the Cinderella Gray anime ended, so I read the rest of the manga.  There's some excellent content the anime doesn't cover, especially the second Japan Cup.  The manga actually ends this month, so now is the perfect time to start reading it.

I also got to read the conclusion of Akatsuki no Yona.  The ending is fitting, with Yona finally being crowned King, and at least setting up marriage plans with Hak.  Soo-Won will continue on as one of Yona's trusted advisors.  Everyone lives happily ever after.  Yona is getting a sequel season after all these years, I suppose in celebration of the end of the manga.  But a single extra season won't be nearly enough to cover this epic tale, so my enthusiasm is tempered.  If the extra season covers the same material as the Zeno oav's the actual new content of the anime will be even less. . .  Well, new Akatsuki is always welcome however little it turns out to be.

I finished Senmomo's side stories, which means I finished the entire visual novel.  It ended up being my 14th favorite visual novel in value-added terms, behind Riddle Joker but ahead of Limelight Lemonade Jam.

Sumomo's event was an awesome story about her tragic past as an assassin who lost her best friend due to a muck-up during her job.  Sumomo feared she was a 'natural-born killer,' someone prone to going berserk and killing friends and foes alike, and preferred death to any more such misfortunes, but her older sister Ichigo talked her out of that nonsense.  She explained to Sumomo that she was the gentlest and most compassionate girl in the world, the least likely person to hurt others, and got her heart back on track.  But boy, when Sumomo goes full slayer mode, she really does fight like a different person.  That much was true.  It was incredible watching her slay legions of Cancers in the blink of an eye.

As expected of a Heaven Burns Red event, and as expected of Sumomo, one of the best girls in the game, I loved every moment.  This is why every dollar I spend on the game is well worth it.

This also marks the conclusion of Hero Academy.  There's still the vigilante anime coming out next month but it isn't very important.  What is important is that everyone read the manga chapter after the ending of the anime, where Izuku and Ochaco finally become a couple.  Without that chapter the story really sucks.  I really wish they'd animated that part too, but oh well.  It worked in manga form.

I don't have much to say about Hero Academy, since I only felt season 4 was truly great.  The rest was just acceptable.  But I'm glad (almost) the entire story was animated without much filler, a drastic improvement compared to what happened to Dragon Ball, Bleach, Naruto and One Piece.  The 'Hero Academy adaption Method' might be the more important legacy of this work compared to the actual story.  (Though it is the 68th best anime, so it's hardly chopped liver as a story.)  From here on One Piece is going to be adapted like Hero Academy, which shows the industry is learning from it.

Coming up next is bowl season and the college football playoff.  This is basically the last slow day before the storm breaks.  Starting tomorrow football will be playing every day until January 3rd.  The end of the year is always the best part of the year.