Catch the other episode reviews here

Last episode, I completely forgot to post the review, but it was basically the halfway point. Haruna got a role in Bloom Ball. Good stuff.

My Thoughts

As the episode implies with “Season 2 Confirmed,” this very much feels like a continuation. It’s new but familiar. For instance, it seems like the characters actually get some new clothes. Haruna and Rie do at least, which is nice. Variety is always good. We also got a new opening!

As for the actual episode, we start off with Rie getting to do some VA stuff for an anime finally, and besides the fact I couldn’t tell it was meant to be an anime since it’s already within an anime, it was cool. Nice to see the groups starting to mix. And it does seem like the clothing is an everyone thing, which is a little jarring, I admit. Imagine if everyone just went, “today, I will change clothes!” all at once.

This episode does very much feel like an introduction so far, the main difference being that we actually know who a lot of these characters are now, rather than introducing us to a bunch of strangers, so, in a way, it’s kind of nice. Also harkening back to the days of old, Bloom Ball officially gets a second season, meaning more work for our VAs.

Specifically, group work. The different teams in Bloom Ball are going to be cast based on the different groups within AiRBLUE. How well they work with each other, how they fit the characters, etc. There’s even an adlib portion of the audition where they need to figure out how the characters interact, which, in my opinion, is just the casting people being lazy. A VA shouldn’t have to figure out the characters. That’s not their job, but what do I know? I have a bit of a habit of leaving a lot of details to artists I hire, so maybe I’m also part of the problem. In my mind, that’s easier for them, though.

Anyway, everyone gives it their all. As expected, they’re all in their normal groups, the main main girls, radio show, Vogel, and leftovers. Nothing new. Leftovers end up fighting for their free portion that was apparently an act. Vogel sang. Radio show did a…radio show. Yeah, I can’t help but think they aren’t the best actors, so it’s good that their voices are their selling points. Well, except for leftovers. They at least had me fooled too. 

I really do think it’s cute that Rie has become the unofficial leader of their group. I didn’t expect it, but she’s becoming one of the better characters. And as you probably expected, their little argument performance won them the audition, so at the very least, they’re cast. Now everyone has a job, but they’re still the leftovers in my heart, ok?

I’m looking forward to the second half. The characters are far more established than they were at the beginning, or at least we have more of an understanding of them. Cue has been very good at tackling the world of voice actors and actresses from many different angles I would have never even thought about, and now that we don’t have to watch them get their jobs and can see them work those jobs, I’m hoping it continues to show me even more.

The most generic-looking anime that isn’t actually that generic, yet somehow is, is still going very strong in this new second half, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all goes. These are the types of series that get away from you. They’re not great, and they’re not bad. They’re just good and surprisingly fascinating. This feels like something I would have found doing random anime, for instance.

Get out there and watch more, people. You never know what you’ll find.

Thank you very much for reading

Join me next time, where I won’t forget to upload the post.