The John Smith Era Ends! Best Episodes of the Week!

Key Points for Best Episodes of the Week – Fall 2023, Week 8

• The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 7 provides a fitting end to the John Smith arc, with miscommunication playing a humorous role in resolving conflicts.
• MF Ghost Episode 8 delivers 20 minutes of pure racing action, reminiscent of Initial D, with Kanata showcasing his racing skills and a cameo from Takahashi Keisuke.
• Dr. Stone: New World Part 2 Episode 6, titled “Joker,” stands out as one of the wildest episodes, featuring unexpected plot twists and thrilling moments that surpass previous episodes in the series.
• Goblin Slayer Season 2 Episode 7 marks a return to the action groove, offering a mix of intense moments, plot development, and character highlights, particularly for the High-Elf Archer.
• Despite controversies surrounding Mappa, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 17 earns respect for its animators, delivering a visually impressive episode with Sukuna’s powerful battles and a dramatic conclusion.

And this week we bid goodbye to Shadow’s John Smith persona. Will we see him again? Well, if our lord and savior, Shadow wishes so, we may. This week’s episode was such a fitting ending to this arc. But this wasn’t the only good episode this week! We had so much cool stuff this week!

Ragna and Frieren are taking a break this week, I have given them the spotlight enough. MF Ghost though had me screaming like a kid this week. Really brought back memories of watching Initial D, as it should. Jujutsu Kaisen, despite all the controversies, gave us another banger of an episode. And Goblin Slayer is slowly settling back into the action grove. Oh and, Dr. Stone: New World Part 2 also had an awesome episode this week!

So welcome back to another edition of our Best Episodes of the Week series! It is the 8th week of the Fall 2023 season and here are my favorite episodes of the week!

Hon Mention: Shield Hero Episode 6

I forgot to include this episode last week, so it gets an honorable mention this week. This week’s episode was nowhere as good as this one, man. Episode 6 was such a cool episode in all sorts of ways.

MF Ghost Episode 8

See, this is exactly what I expect from this series, 20 minutes of pure non-stop racing action with the side characters hyping up the action going on. The soundtracks in this episode were really good as well. Not as good as Initial D’s Eurobeat OSTs, of course. But they got the job done in keeping up the hype and tension throughout the episode. Kanata finally showing off what he is really capable of on the track.

Close to the end of the episode, we also had a cameo from Takahashi Keisuke. The moment I heard his voice, I freaking jumped like a kid. Again, as I said, this episode really brought back my fond memories of watching Initial D when I was younger. And that is exactly what I want from this series going forward!

Dr. Stone: New World Part 2 Episode 6

This episode is titled “Joker” and no kidding, this was one of the wildest episodes of the series. I really could not predict where things were going and it was a complete thrill from start to finish. So many great plot twists and unexpected moments in this episode. Like the last 5 minutes, they’re completely beyond what I had in mind. I think I said for episode 3 or 4 of this season “This is the best episode of the series so far”. I officially move that title to this episode now.

This season is only scheduled for 11 episodes so things should wind up in 2-3 episodes. Then it will be time for some big lore. At least I hope so because the island clearly has something to do with the Why Man. Really excited to where this arc goes from here.

Goblin Slayer Season 2 Episode 7

Goblin Slayer is slowly going back into that action grove with this episode. We had some amazing moments in this episode and Goblin Slayer’s creative mind is back at it again. Not only that but we got some really nice character moments in this episode too! The High-Elf Archer in particular got 2 really good character moments in this episode. I know that this arc is about her and all but it is still nice to see her get moments like these.

I know for a fact that the next episode is going to be a bloodbath. But I appreciate this episode because it had everything from action, to plot development to character moments and that is what made it fun for me!

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 17

Look, man, I don’t like to include this show here because of how Mappa has been treating their employees. But despite all the controversies, huge respect for the animators for still delivering episodes like these. Imagine just how much better this episode would have looked if it got more time and polish. I thought Sukuna vs. Jogo was chaotic and wild, but Sukuna vs. Mahoraga managed to top even that.

Sukuna was out here chopping buildings into small cubes like they were made of butter or something. And Mahoraga tanked it all using its special technique. The Curse did its best but Sukuna once again proved why he is the kind of curses and ended it all using his Domain Expansion. And then the episode ends with Sukuna finally giving back control to Yuuji, letting Yuuji witness the destruction Sukuna caused in both of the fights and the innocents he killed. Amazing episode.

The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 7

What a fitting end to the John Smith arc. I love how miscommunication somehow ends up making things work in this anime. Like, Shadow’s cryptic way of speaking pretty much resolved everything and that was so funny to me. He used his brain and went as far as making this false identity of John Smith but he still didn’t get what he wanted but things ended up working out anyway somehow. Wild but that is exactly how The Eminence in Shadow goes.

And that ending scene was such a tease too. As I said, it was a very fitting ending to this arc and I could not help but smile as the arc came to a close. We got a brief but intense fight between Gettan and John Smith on top of all that as well. A huge win in my book.

That is all for now!!

Those were my favorite episodes of the week! Let me know yours in the comments. I know that this has been a long article, so I thank you for reading it all the way. With that said, I will take my leave here. See ya!

Also, check out details about an upcoming anime called Blue Box here!!