In this week’s installment…

Tis the season for zombies, vampires, blood, and vomiting or at least that’s what this week’s Roundup episodes would have you believe.

The Roundup is a weekly guide to all the “other” shows we’re watching this season. Check out our full coverage of: 
Noragami Aragoto | One Punch Man | Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans | Comet Lucifer | The Perfect Insider

Mr. Osomatsu Episode 11 Mondays 1:45 pm EST on Crunchyroll

Artemis: This was a fun episode – not one of the absolute best of the series to date, but plenty amusing nonetheless. It seemed very fitting to have all the characters, from the parents down to the ESP cat, make at least one appearance somewhere among the Christmas… er, festivities, and while some of the skits were better than others, the reappearance of the triplets as otome game-style idols was fantastic. I probably could have watched their increasingly ridiculous attempts at winning Totoko’s heart for the entire episode; with each brother trying to one-up the last, even Totoko was getting a little freaked out at certain points. I’m hoping we get to see a New Year’s themed episode as well at some point, if only because I think it’d be pretty funny to see the triplets sending everyone awful postcards and bickering over otoshidama money.

Jel: Loved the zombie cold opening and the return of the modern day character designs, the harping on the “I don’t have a girlfriend for Christmas” angle not so much. That said, I would like to point out the brilliant contrast between the pretty versions of the boys literally flying through the air to please Totoko versus the final scene of the episode where they are pathetically laying face down on the floor pleading for a date. For that moment at least they were so pathetic I felt kind of bad for them as opposed to annoyed like the earlier scenes. You could kind of sense Totoko was just as lonely and starved for attention but couldn’t possibly stoop THAT low… what a wonderful way to remind everyone to enjoy the holidays!

Dance with Devils Episode 11 Wednesdays 12:00 pm EST on Funimation

Artemis: A much better episode than the previous week’s, mostly because a) things actually happened beyond Ritsuka and her terrible decision-making, and b) Rem is no longer an emo liar. If anything, Ritsuka is the only one now refusing to acknowledge her true feelings, but I don’t much care either way about that – as far as I’m concerned, the boys are where the comedy value of this series truly lies. As always, the highlight of the episode was the musical number, and this one was a real goodie; a sing-off between the whole student council (plus Lindo and the Pomeranian) and the vampire crew, complete with wardrobe change. Admittedly the latter guys seem to go in more for ominous chanting than any actual singing, which is probably why they’re going to come out on the losing side of the upcoming battle.

Jel: I don’t have much else to add this week other than I am genuinely, unironically excited about the last episode. I hope they go all out and just make it a 20 minute long music video.

Miss Monochrome – I’d play it.

Miss Monochrome – The Animation Season 3 Episode 12 Fridays 11:40 am EST on Crunchyroll

Jel: I know I keep saying this show is at it’s best when it gets weird and totally absurd but episodes like this keep proving it. Why was Monochrome wearing her Monochrome-dayo suit this entire episode? Why does no one question her wearing it when they are all now apparently aware it is her inside the costume? Why is there a coal mine in the Hokkaido mountains that has batteries in it? These are questions I cannot answer and I love it. I’m not even phased by Monochrome and Ru-chan’s unlimited cosmic powers at this point, so I’m not even questioning that. In the bigger picture, as we near the final episode, I am disturbed at Monochrome’s growing popularity. Clearly, something has to go wrong soon, but that almost seems too obvious and this show does not like to do the obvious. We shall soon see.

Owarimonogatari Episode 11 Saturdays 12:30 pm EST on Crunchyroll

Jel: Ignoring the fact that I hate this new character, Gaen brought back some guy we’re supposed to know but has never been explained to us, and drawing the parallel between the current situation and the one with Kanbaru and Senjougahara is kind of dumb I… OK that is a lot of bad things to ignore. I do want to bring out it’s cool to see Kanbaru used for something beyond sex appeal or Arararagi’s bodyguard. It makes me think about the beginning of Nisemonogatari or later in her own story in Hanamonogatari where we see she’s actually quite perceptive. While she does talk about throwing out logic she knows what she’s doing, unlike, for example, the utterly clueless Karen Ararararagi. I’m assuming that’s what Gaen was talking about when saying her talent was going to waste. That one neat little angle is not really enough to save this episode though, nor is it probably going to be enough to save this arc. Once again, I’m ready to just move on.