Sparks of Tomorrow

KYOANIIII YESSSS PUMP IT INTO MY VEINS I MISSED YOU SO MUCH. Steam punk Kyoto? Say no more HELL YESSS If theres a studio to believe in KyoAni is the studio. I can already tell this will be the best anime of the season and might be one of the best anime for this year. Let's goo!!!!!

Kihachi proving he did not actually forget his own dream was the highlight for me. After everyone doubted him he strips down to a fundoshi and dives into a pond dragging a glider prototype. The man commits to his bit every single time and that's why I love him

Kihachi and Yosuke officially going their separate ways is the real story here. One is building a flying machine to see clouds with Inako and the other is locked in a basement trying to resurrect his brother with electric math. That contrast is doing more narrative work than the whole romance plot

I do not trust Madame Saki showing up with sake bottles like that. She's been playing the long game all season and now she wants to give Kihachi a lesson about the catalog? That ending shot is setting up something big and I'm nervous about who's side she's actually on

Yosuke sliding down into that steampunk dungeon lair with the candles and glowing pipes was giving full Disney villain entrance and I loved every second of it. Man's literally building a calculator to resurrect his dead brother. That Electric Spark reveal changes everything going forward

I needed this breather episode after the last one wrecked me. Noriko slapping Kengo and calling him a coward hurt more than I expected because she was right but also she was wrong too. She was clinging to Seiroku just as much as he was scared of Seiroku's shadow

Rattata I choose you is now permanently burned into my brain after that Lemon Mouse scene. Still not fully sold on the Kengo redemption though. We barely saw him and Noriko together before this so his whole guilt spiral felt a bit rushed even with those flashbacks

The Lemon Mouse gag had me laughing way too hard at Kihachi throwing it like a Pokemon. That slow crawl when the lemon battery failed was perfect comedy timing. But the real gut punch was Kengo stopping that horse with his bare hands and finally saying it out loud

Amazing episode, the ending ballroom scene was funny and I love the characters and their progression

My heart absolutely broke for Yosuke when he received the news of Seiroku's death and seeing his hair change from the sheer stress of that grief made his descent into madness feel so much more grounded and real to me than just a typical villain origin. I really did not expect this show to go so hard on the psychological trauma aspect but it works so well.

that moment when kihachi told yosuke he would build the future with his own strength instead of just following his brothers catalog was such a huge step for his character and i loved every second of that waltz on the deck

Kihachi crashing the ball in a dress was the highlight I did not know I needed and the way the fireworks looked over Lake Biwa was just stunning animation from start to finish

the new gritty art style during the ship infiltration looked incredible but i am still so confused about why kihachi keeps calling her inago like is it a defense mechanism or is he just that stubborn at this point

seeing yosuke eyes literally turn into stars during that flashback explained everything about his obsession and he is clearly just a man broken by losing the person he loved most in the world and it is tragic

I was actually shouting at the screen during the carriage scene because they both think they are sacrificing everything for each other and it is the most heartbreaking misunderstanding i have seen in a long time

I can see why some people think the guilt stuff is dragging but the flashback where Seiroku hands Noriko half the catalog at the train station and tells her to come back alive really tied this whole love triangle together for me. That's the core of why Kengo felt like second place

The horse scene was the moment. Kengo ripping his shirt off getting scratched up screaming his love while Noriko is on the verge of falling. That's the kind of raw physical commitment you don't see often. Kihachi and Inako cheering from the background made it even better

The guilt reveal is alright, not really too deep. In fact abit too simple. The biometric scanner was interesting too. No too much was actually revealed this episode, most of it seems to be setup for the finale.

Honestly tired of Yosuke showing up every time the story gets good. His steam villain routine is getting really repetitive and drags down all the quiet character work between Kihachi and Inako

Seeing Kihachi use his hand on that glowing circuit plate to play his dead brother pre recorded voice gave me pure goosebumps. What a incredible way to pass the torch