it's like Akira / RahXephon and I'm onboard with this 110%

waiting for cocona to fuck everything up

Although the snow world in Ep 1 is still the best.

6 is, like, by far the best episode. Totally realized something was up once Cocona referred to her parents in the present-tense, but nearly every scene with her and the grandmother was amazing. They work so well together.

Episode 5 was pretty neat. The looping school was a cool idea, and I got a kick out of how Cocona and Papika started to just settle in and assimilate for a while there. I think the realization could've been a bit more gradual, but that's a case where I'm wrong and the show is right. The pacing is great and I should learn from this. But, as in most cases, it mostly lost me when Yayaka's team got involved and the super saiyan transformations started happening.

Papika sux

EDIT: Oh wait, they were in that artist girl's psyche the whole time and not some variation of Cocona's own? Hm. That actually kind of dulls the impact for me, even if I get what they were trying to do.

Actually I'm not going to talk about 7 because I don't recall too much from it outside of the Papika variations. I found myself kind of frustrated by the whole thing, but maybe that means I need to rewatch it? My gut feeling is that this is the kind of episode that would've benefited from a stronger relationship between Cocona and Papika.

But 8 made me realize that, after being indifferent toward her, I like Yayaka and the core cast dynamic works better in the form of a trio rather than just Cocona+Papika. Maybe all this needed was a dose of tsundere? Maybe Cocona/Yayaka is the true ship?

Actually, despite how overtly the show's been framing Cocona/Papika as a thing, I don't really see a whole lot of romantic tension between them that isn't just Papika having no sense of personal space (and Cocona, conversely, having a strong sense). This gives it a bit of a Saturday-morning-cartoon feel, which I do like, but I feel like there's either some missed potential here or I'm just not seeing it.

I don't think I'm understanding Papika's behavior at all. As in, why she sometimes acts like an infant. I think that uncertainty is probably the point, but I'm not sure if that's what they're going for or if this is just an exaggeration of anime tropes I'm not familiar with.

Small touches - like the scientist dude being tiny and the nonchalance with which Cocona handles the Papika variations - continue to be one of the show's strengths. Soundtrack continues to rule and the silver-haired twins are funny. Cocona continues to be an excellent character.