Hello all! Apologies for any delay, both from this and anything else this weekend. I’m flying home to visit family and that’s not leaving me much time to finish all of these up. Should be back to our normal schedule by Monday!
Frieren – 7 [Like a Fairy Tale]
First up we have Frieren. Unsurprisingly, Frieren is still going strong. It wasn’t an action packed episode or anything, but it gave us another look back into her time with Himmel and, more specifically, her interactions with Demons. I thought this was really interesting. When it started, I expected it to be about Frieren being an old conservative grandma who couldn’t accept that times were changing. That, like how magic passed by the Demon Qual, society was progressing and passing by her. That these Demons did legitimately want piece, resulting in a Tiefling like scenario. I would have been cool with that, show us some flaws! It’s the pretty standard route to go after all, the world becoming more peaceful and such. Really progressive. Instead though Frieren doubles down. Yes Demons do suck, yes they are monsters that operate on a completely different value scale than us. That whole thing in the flashback? With the Demon child wanting to trade one child for another? Of only using the words “Mother” and “Father” because they know humans are emotional and won’t kill them if they do? Or what about Lugner blatantly looking around Graf’s son’s room to build a believable story about his own father being killed by humans to keep the negotiations going? It was all just presented so well, for an episode of basically nothing but talking it was some really good talking. Plus we have the promise of Frieren just going off in the next episode or two, so it’s not like the action isn’t coming up. So yeah. Shocker, another good Frieren episode.
Undead Unluck – 4 [Do You Love the Change In Me?]
I just need to make one thing clear before we get into this: We stan Gina in this household. Always have, always will. Now that you know what you’re in for I can say that I absolutely loved this episode. The only thing keeping Frieren above it is the small amount of ecchi bullshit that I know starts to go away after this episode. Everything else? Just… God damn. It was so good. Gina, the idea of change vs unchange and Andy’s desire for death, the animation, the animation. Undead Unluck does not deserve what it’s getting, not this early at least. But it’s getting it anyways and it’s great. From Itano Circus aerial battles to all these closeups and the emphasis on the eyes and faces… Oh I loved it so much. I love this series. And I’m looking forward to what is to come. About… 2 or 3 episodes from here? Maybe 4? Expect me to put this above Frieren. Probably.
Some more of my favorite shots from this weeks episode
Overtake – 4 [The Past and Regrets]
This was a step back up for Overtake. It cut down on the reporter being a moron, deftly handled the fallout from the crying photo and got us back on track with his own personal issues. And while all of these are nice, plus some decent expressions/animation this episode, it’s the last one that got my attention the most. Overtake started on his issues taking pictures of people, and it’s something we haven’t really gotten any more information on despite it being his primary reason to get involved with the racing team at all. To learn that it’s because he was covering a disaster, that his last photo was of a woman being swallowed by the sea and all the internet hate that comes from people acting like he overstepped his bounds? That’s compelling! That’s a good reason for his trauma! And now Overtake gets to actually explore it in conjunction with the racers own issues over his dad. Good stuff! Feels like Overtake is getting back on the right track.
Shangri-La Frontier – 4 [A Trash Game Realignment of Elevated Tastes]
Shangri-la meanwhile is sort of just holding steady for me. I’m not a big fan of all these unique Sunraku keeps getting, discovering stuff no one else apparently has despite only being in the game for like… 3 days? It feels like we’re edging closer and closer to OP MC territory. We aren’t there yet! But it’s getting there. Outside that, I’m keen on these new characters it’s adding. Introducing us to some of Sunraku’s trash game buddies is a good idea, especially when one takes the form of a hot spear girl. Hopefully they are able to shake things up a bit, keep Sunraku on his toes. Otherwise I fear Shangri-la might keep falling until its just a fun MMO romp rather than something actually memorable.
SpyXFamily S2 – 3 [Mission and Family/The Elegant Bondman]
SpyXFamily was so so very close to being good this week. The first half with Yuri, showing us his job, his dedication and skill, that more serious side to him, that was all good. Great even, as we see he isn’t without compassion or understanding for those he brings in, he simply doesn’t let that stop him. I really thought we had left his siscon bullshit behind. But then SpyXFamily decided prove me wrong, undoing a lot of that good work right at the end by bringing the siscon back in full force. That was… disappointing. As for the other half? This was just omakes, a bunch of small one off shorts. They were cute I guess, but that’s really it. And in the case of the Bondman short it wasn’t even that. All in all it started as a decent episode that wasn’t able to seal the deal, winding up as one of the more lackluster ones the show has ever produced.
Goblin Slayer S2 – 4 [Onward To Adventure]
Goblin Slayer was fine this week I suppose. Fights weren’t that great, just across the board. No good animation, pretty low on the tactical side to. I’d say what made the episode work was more the growth everyone seemed to experience. Priestess got to lead and save people, Wizard kid learned to think outside the box with his magic, even Goblin Slayer started to open up a bit with a full bellied laugh as he saw himself in the little red haired Wizard. A tad disappointed this is the big climax we got for his stuff, but hey. Maybe there’s still more to come.
MF Ghost – 4 [Tire Management]
MF Ghost continues the trend of hype races and mediocre characters. I’ll say it, Kanata has the charisma of a wet paper bag. His interactions with the sister, hanging out, talking about his past, exploring his character? By all rights this should be good, it’s exactly what I want. I should be into it. But the presentation of it, how the VAs sell it… I’m just not. It ends up feelings long and purposeless. Especially once we enter the racing, which actually is fun. Suffice to say, I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to keep checking MF Ghost out.
If you haven’t watched it yet, I recommend giving Scavengers Reign a try. It’s a HBO (or I guess it’s MAX now) animated series about a crew that crashes on an alien planet, and then has to find a way to survive and escape. The animation and overall atmosphere are very good, and the alien world is really fascinating: it’s super weird, with lots of imaginative alien designs and abilities, and there’s danger everywhere, making the series feel like a kind of sci-fi version of Primal. If you’re into adult animation and sci-fi, it’s very much worth watching imo.
By the way, about Shangri-la Frontier: it’s a shounen series in the end, so the whole “MC doing unique things no one else has / being very strong for his level” thing isn’t going to change. So … I’m not sure what you mean by “something memorable”, but I would say going into the series with the expectation of it being just a fun MMO romp, as you put it, seems fair enough. It’s not particularly deep or realistic (a real MMORPG shouldn’t allow world quests to be dominated by a handful of players, or allow unique perks that make you super OP), but it’s pretty good for what it is, especially with its surprisingly strong animation.
By “Unique” I mean something like Log Horizon. To me, that was a memorable take on the MMO genre that didn’t rely on the MC being a singularly OP individual. It still had some bullshit in it, don’t get me wrong. But I think the way to got to said bullshit was memorable, at least for me.
And like I said, it’s fine as just a shounen romp. I’m still having fun with it. Just my interest since the premier has waned abit as its settled into its formula.
If you want something more exciting I suggest Pluto. It is a anime adaptation of a manga based on astro boy. It was written and drawn by the msn who created monster. It is a science fiction murder mystery and it is very intense but engaging. And sorry about my earlier comments.
It’s ok, I appreciate the apology, it takes a big person to come back and give one, we can move forward as if it never happened.
I have Pluto on my list actually! I love Urasawa’s other works and its on my list, I’m just to busy to get to it right now sadly.
I’d say the MC in Log Horizon was still very much OP, just in a different way: his strength lies in outsmarting everyone and figuring out ways to manipulate the world in his favor instead of combat strength. And the MC did many unique things to revolutionize the world, from inventing a new type of magic to introducing democracy and laws to protect citizens (including NPCs) to a fantasy world. I see your point, though: as a MMORPG world, the world in Log Horizon is much more believable, not to mention interesting. In Shangri-la Frontier, on the other hand, the world mostly seems to be governed by the ‘rule of cool’: that is, it exists to make the MC and his friends look good, and allow them to go on fun adventures. I still think the focus on just having fun in a game is quite refreshing, but that aside I agree the world and plot are rather shallow.
Oh I want to be very clear, I’m having fun with Shangri-la! As you say, the focus is about having fun, and I’m having that. Its a positive experience. I’m just not sure it will be a memorable one just yet if that makes sense. Like, in 5 years when I think of “MMORPG Anime” will I think of Shangri-La? I dunno yet. But I’m having fun right now, this season, in the moment.