Stop me if you've heard this one before:

Two female roommates, newly arrived at college, develop such intense feelings for each other that they sing songs and act impulsively toward each other?

No, it's not the hit musical Wicked, and it's not Loathing™...

It's Manaria Friends, and it's....erm....borderline embarrassing how hot and bothered the two leads are toward each other™.

Yet at the same time, it's a really sweet and cute show, very short, with a decent amount of world-building.



This is Princess Anne. The human princess from [mumblemumbleplace] and a magical prodigy. She's a natural at studying magic, learning magic, and she's capable of casting spells that no one in [magicalacademyplace] can even understand. But she's no wild talent...she's gained her knowledge by studying, she just has that much more magical ability than anyone else.

She's also very interested in getting some tail.



This is Grea. She's a dragonborn princess from wherever the dragonborn princess comes from, presumably a place with other dragonborn. While her magical ability is bog standard with other other non-princess-anne students, she's a powerful fighter. She's also a talented musician and is very shy around the other students.

She also has a tail.

Manaria Friends is comprised of 1 part lore, 4 parts sweetness, including the yuri romance, and 5 parts the two leads thinking about...well, getting really nasty with each other. The show is NOT explicit...it's not hentai, it barely has any ecchi content at all. At the same time, it is made perfectly clear that both characters have their mind on what comes AFTER their first kiss...the kiss is merely a formality at this point. In the final episode, Anne takes the initiative and gets approval for the two to room together next year, which is followed by Grea and Anne...taking a nap together, I'm sure that's what happened.



But don't get me wrong! This series is so much more than LEWD CONTENT.



It's very pretty, the music is great, and the episodes are short. It's an incredibly relaxing (except for the LEWD bits) time-waster.

The series (only ten short episodes) is based on the Rage of Bahamut game; specifically one event called Rage of Bahamut: Manaria Friends. Yes, this ENTIRE series is based on an EVENT in a social game. It was announced in 2016, had the entire staff removed a year later, was re-announced with a new staff, then had it's production and debut pushed back to late 2018/early 2019. The show is certainly a 1 1/2 trick pony, with a few hints at something deeper. Although I guess you'll have to get into Rage of Bahamut to see any of that.

Recommended. Dress casually. Take breaks every three episode to prevent overheating.

I haven't been this effing excited for a movie in YEARS.

So, the premise is this:

In all four original shows (Overlord, KonoSuba, Re:Zero, The Saga of Tanya the Evil); the protagonists are "normal humans" magically transported to another world where they must use their skills and intellect and/or phenomenal cosmic powers to assume another identity or perform some service. Now in Isekai Quartet, all of those characters and their acquired minions/companions are re-magically transported back to modern-day Earth, or something that resembles it, AND THEY'RE ALL IN HIGH SCHOOL!!!

This show just might be intended to be somewhat absurd.

I've never watched Re:Zero or KonoSuba, but Wonderduck informed me that the crew from KonoSuba were not...talented or particularly gifted in any way. And in the opening episode they were strongly considering attacking the undead Supreme Overlord and Guardians of Nazerick, all of whom know one or more instadeath spells. Ainz literally has a unique spell called "Everything DIES". Everything in a 1 mile radius DIES. No saving throw.

So, yeah...this looks like fun.

Finished deck, with a few of the strips used to shape the hull on the starboard side. Deck is sanded pretty good. The parts underneath are a false keel that defines the side profile of the ship, crossmembers that define the rough shape of the hull, a stern plate that defines the shape of the stern, and some bolsters at the bow on the false keel that broaden the bow a bit so you have a better surface to form the bow shape.



Getting these side strakes on is HARD. Or rather, doing it WELL is HARD. The port side is better, but you're not supposed to be looking at the port side right now. As far as I can tell, once you have some experience, this goes easier. But, this DOES form the shape of the hull.



This is the complete (base) port hull. It's white because I coated it with wood putty and sanded it down three times. The starboard side will take more work than this, because there are more, bigger holes and rougher fits. Once the starboard hull matches the port hull, the gunwale pieces will be installed and matched to the hull, and then there are a few places where I'll use the base strakes to fill some gaps or thicken some things up. Then the actual hull will be applied with mahogany strips the same thickness as the base hull strips. Supposedly, having the hull fully shaped will allow the mahogany strakes to be fitted to the hull with proper fit and finish. BUT, the good news is I'll be painting this model anyway, rather than leaving it raw wood and staining it. I've already got a paint kit for 19th Century United States Revenue Service cutters. Although honestly, it's basically the same paint scheme as U.S. warships: black with a white stripe just below the gunwales.

One of my favorite singe moments in any anime ever...



This is right at the end of the last episode. It's a good show, but the final half of the last episode is heart-breaking, while the final minute pays for all. This moment starts the final minute.

This is the official 10 Year Anniversary version:

Going from 40 to 50 seems to be the worst philosophically, to me...although I get the feeling Wonderduck may argue that everything bad really starts at 50.

But I can most certainly assure you that the personal decade that started in 2013 has been by far the worst decade of the five I've been involved in. (Yes, I know that actually started a year before I turned 40. It probably adds up somewhere depending on how you look at the math.)

I spent my birthday's eve at the hospital, scared to death that my wife was in the middle of a stroke or a fit triggered by a heart attack (she's at risk, as am I.) Halfway to the hospital her symptoms evolved and it started sounding more like a sudden-onset severe migraine that had triggered some other symptoms. When the Dr. saw her in the ER, he zeroed in on her neck pain and asked if she had experienced any sudden trauma recently, at which point we both remembered she was in a near-wreck on Friday. It's easy to forget stuff like that when you AVOID the collision, but she hit the brakes so hard she hit her head on the steering wheel. One muscle-relaxer later and she's fine.

Fun times. Could have been so much worse.

All the kids showed up at the hospital. The two biological ones and the three emotionally adopted ones. That was nice. I mean, they live 5 minutes away, but they get so busy so fast when they move out on their own. The youngest is still at home, on her way to 19 this year, and she had to deal with the initial stages of what looked like a stroke while my wife was driving home. I'm sure that was scary as hell. I tend to be a problem solver and get overrun by math and strategy when problems occur.

So I guess this is my emotional release.

Go buy Wonderduck some good ramen. He needs to eat.

There is nudity. Below the fold.