手札が多めのビクトリア

Simbiat

Episode 2:

Healing anime of the season. And I thought it's going to be SpyXFamily knock-off based on the opening. I mean, if SpyXFamily was not a comedy. Maybe.

Like, I do not know what to say about it. I just... Get Chloe. Just drop everything and try to have a quite life instead of trying to be perfect in everything, because some losers are demanding it from you. She is clearly on a healing journey. Or maybe a journey of reclaiming herself? I guess it makes sense, why I am getting Frieren vibes, too (the show, not the character). Similar way of finding beauty and joy in mundane things, despite a sense of danger "from the outside".

Simbiat

Episode 4:

What the heck was that? Episode 3 already felt kind of "meh" compared to the first 2, but this... It felt disjointed, rushed, unnatural. Portions felt as if written by AI, because humans do not interact like that. Very rough cuts and transitions, abysmal animation throughout. Almost like a fever dream. If next episode will be like that, too, I will have to drop it, because it was painful to watch this.

Simbiat

Episode 5:

I do not like the direction the show went. Feels like it "lost the plot".

It started grounded, melancholic, but somehow sweet, wholesome. But all of that was uprooted and abandoned. With signs of that in episode 3, then a fever-dream of episode 4, and now episode 5. Victoria is now a super-human with keen hearing and giga-brain, not just skills. We spent a lot of time focused on that part, which in the end did not move neither her character, nor the plot.

If we were just told that she saved the guy (through the mouths of others) or maybe shown in a brief super-cut how she did that - that would be fine. It would have been "yup, she can do that, she is OP, but she has a different focus now". Possibly a bit of a cliche, since there are lots of isekais with "OP building a peaceful life" trope, but the grounded approach still would have make it stand out.

At the same the the language learning was boring and uninspiring. Yes, they showed some little interactions between Vicky and Nonna, but that's it. Those scenes could have been something to show Nonna's growth through interaction with that boy. Not saying it should be romantic, and it probably should not be, but even just focusing more on preparation for presenting the play before the audience would have been more interesting and would have given opportunity for the characters to spread their wings.

The "romance" side of the show also feels completely dead. Interactions with Jeff were "as a matter of fact". That may seem a bit more natural or realistic even, but... It just does not fit whatever the narrative in first 2 episodes was building towards. It was not building towards highschool romcom, of course, but it would have been nice to see a more adult relationship budding with all that suggested "healing" vibes.

My point is that I am disappointed. I feel like I was lied to. Subverting expectations can be a good strategy in some story-building, for sure, but not when it subverts them into almost "girl-boss" story. Maybe I misinterpreted something, but even if the show has not lost the plot, it certainly has lost me.