Author: Lenlo

Kemono no Souja Erin Review – 71/100 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama, Kemono no Souja Erin, Reviews by Lenlo, Throwback Thursday

Seirei no Moribito has always been one of my favorite anime. Oh times change, I grow older, new shows come out or I find old ones I had never seen. Slowly it moves down the list, falling to newcomers like Ping Pong the Animation, Mob Psycho 100 and Keep Your Hands off Eizouken. But it never really left my mind, I always end up revisiting it every few months, either looking it up on YouTube or listening to its OST. So imagine how pleasantly surprised I was to learn that Moribito’s author, Nahoko Uehashi, had gotten another adaptation, animated once again by studio Production I.G. It is that show, Kemono no Souja Erin, directed by Takayuki Hamana and with music by Masayuki Sakamoto, a story about a young girl struggling to survive and keep to her ideals in a country at war with itself, that we’ll be talking about today.

Be warned, this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Kemono no Souja Erin. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents. Continue reading “Kemono no Souja Erin Review – 71/100 – Throwback Thursday” →

Jujutsu Kaisen S2 – 8 [The Shibuya Incident]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Jujutsu Kaisen

Welcome all, to another episode of Jujutsu Kaisen! This week sees the villains show up, gives us our first fight of the arc, and lets Itadori show off a bit. Plenty to talk about, so lets jump right in!

Starting off, production wise this week wasn’t anything to great. It wasn’t bad, but it’s obvious Jujutsu Kaisen is saving the big stuff for later. Instead this week was mostly a rather standard display of Gojo’s power and a weird hallway CGI scene with Itadori. As awkward as it was at times though, I would still call it an improvement from Season 1’s poorly composited sewers and forests. Part of that is probably that the environment was a lot less ambitious, really just being two rectangular hallways side-by-side. But I think they’ve also just legitimately improved at it, full stop. The textures were better, they slowed the camera down and let the animation do most of the work. If anything the complexity of the Curse’s design was what held them back the most. Hopefully it continues to improve as we get further and further into the arc.

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Undead Murder Farce – 11 [Where the Wolves Dwell]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Undead Murder Farce

Welcome all, to another week of Undead Murder Farce! This week adds another layer to the murder mystery, we meet a bunch of werewolves, and Shizuku gets an actual episode all to herself. It’s good stuff! So lets dive in to it shall we?

Starting off lets get the obvious out of the way. The night time scenes still look like shit. This sucks. Especially when Undead Murder Farce actually had some decent nocturnal lighting near the end during Shizuku’s little investigation. It’s like the show is learning, just not fast enough to really matter. Putting that dead horse aside though, the most important thing about this episode to me was that it was all Shizuku. Tsuguru and Aya make small appearances, mostly to push them towards a reunion, but Shizuku gets the majority of the screen and it’s great. She’s really needed something separate form Tsuguru and Aya, some time to away to come into her own as a character, and that’s what we got here. Not only in terms of her limitations, she isn’t the brains of their group, but also in how she treats people outside of our main squad.

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Zom 100 Bucket List of the Dead – 7 [Truck Stop of the Dead]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead

Welcome all, to another episode of Zom 100! Enjoy it, because it’s two weeks before our next, and then another three after that I think. Man the production behind this show must be falling apart. That or they are putting a lot of care into it. Still, this is anime production, which do we really think it is? Enough with that though, on with the show!

So to be frank, part of what made this post take so long was just how dull I found this episode. As a metaphor for how soul crushing and downright abusive corporate life can be, how modern corporate values affect families, how many in positions of power do not actually deserve to be there, just the whole package about how corporate culture has sucked the joy out of life, it worked. That was all successful. No question. But as a piece of entertainment, as something that was meant to be enjoyable to watch and make me feel something? It just didn’t. There was some disgust, sure. And some small vindication at the end. But as a 23 minute experience? It was more depressing and unsatisfying than anything else. At least for me.

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Jujutsu Kaisen S2 – 7 [Evening Festival]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Jujutsu Kaisen

It’s here everyone, Jujutsu Kaisen’s Shibuya is beginning. The event that’s going to be talked about for the rest of the year, and will inevitably get me yelled at. Before we dive into that though we need to finish up with Mechamaru. Does he survive his meeting with Mahito? Or is he the first victim of this coming war? Let’s jump in and find out!

Starting off, at it’s core this episode looked good. We had a nice fight in the first half, filled with Evangelion references, an Itano Circus and lots of just really cool moments. It’s a shame about the dimming though. And the after-images that almost ruined a number of scenes, like Mahito running through the trees in various forms. I get it, the anti-seizure law is important and exists for a reason. But part of me wishes these studios would animate within the confines they know they will be able to air, so that edits after the fact don’t ruin it. Another part though doesn’t want to restrict them, so we can get the wildest shit imaginable. Either way though, I know one thing for sure: The Jujutsu Kaisen Blu-ray is going to be well worth it when it comes out. Get rid of aaaall that dimming.

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Undead Murder Farce – 10 [Misty Hollow]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Undead Murder Farce

Welcome all, to another episode of Undead Murder Farce! This week we discover who the werewolf is, get in a tussle and maybe just maybe suffer the consequences of our actions. What does that mean? Well read on and find out!

Starting off, this week we get some actually decent animation for the first time in a while! Now it’s not like Undead Murder Farce is some kind of mess, aside from the poor lighting it’s fine. But even during the climax of the Lupin arc there wasn’t much in the way of dynamic, interestin animation. This week however we got a whole sequence as Tsugaru and Shizuku chase after the werewolf, the fist fight, Shizuku trying to stab/shoot it, the waterfall. It felt like things were really starting to ramp up leading into the finale. Undead Murder Farce isn’t an action show, it doesn’t need to be action that gets animated. I’ll take basically anything. Action is just a straightforward easy thing to point at and go “Caveman brain see flashing colors!”. So yeah, that was nice!

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Fall 2023 Season Preview

by Lenlo, posted in Seasonal Previews

Lenlo: It’s time for another season folks! A bit of a more relaxed one I think, no huge returns like Jujutsu Kaisen, Bleach or Mushoku Tensei to take up everyone’s time. More like a bunch of small things for everyone to pick and choose their favorites and just relax, with a few sequels and standouts to spark some conversation. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some worth keeping an eye on however. Dr. STONE and Mahoutsukai no Yome both return to finish off their most recent arcs, while newcomers like Apothecary Diaries and Undead Unluck arrive to try and steal the show. Will they pull it off? We have no way to know just yet. One things for certain though, I’m going to be keeping an eye on them. Curious about what else is airing? Then read on, and see what else caught my eye this season! And if you think there’s something I missed? Make sure to put it in the poll below so everyone can know what you’re watching!

What will you be watching this Fall?
VoteResults

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Undead Murder Farce – 9 [Werewolf]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Undead Murder Farce

Welcome all, to another late episode of Undead Murder Farce! I’ll admit, I just sort of forgot that this episode aired. I just watched it last night, that’s how hectic things have been. Apologies for all the delays, life is busy at the moment, and I appreciate y’all sticking around. Now pity party aside, on with the episode!

Right off the bat, and I know I’ve been harping on this a lot but I swear to god it just keeps coming up, Undead Murder Farce has no idea how to handle darkness. That whole opening scene with the mob chasing someone through the night? You could barely tell what was going on half the time. When the lighting was good, whether from torchlight or burning buildings, the sequence looked good. Just skip to the end as the windmill burns down, there’s some great contrast in there. But the rest of the time? Good luck picking out details. It’s a shame, because Undead Murder Farce has the answer to these problems. Use dark blues instead of blacks, let the torch or moonlight extend farther, go for a more stylize/high contrast lighting. Any of these would help! But the show just refuses to use them.

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Jujutsu Kaisen S2 – 6 [It’s Like That]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Jujutsu Kaisen

Welcome back to Jujutsu Kaisen everyone! After almost a months break the premier shounen of the series returns! After that absolutely fantastic first arc, I’m excited to see what Jujutsu Kaisen has up its sleeve. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Right away I want to say that Jujutsu Kaisen looked great this week, unsurprising considering that first arc. Everything was just so… snappy. From character reactions and the way they transitioned between faces/poses/scenes to just the energy within the scenes themselves. Everything just felt so… good. And I don’t just mean the animation, though that was obviously great. I also mean the direction, scenes like the Toudo v Mei ping pong and the way ball often became our point of view, or the shots of Nobara pouring herself a cup of soda right after the OP. Even if the actual content ended up being boring, and trust me it wasn’t, the way it was communicated visually was interesting. I really hope Jujutsu Kaisen can keep it up, because so far it’s 6 for 6 on visually engaging episodes.

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Kemono no Souja Erin – 48/49/50 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Kemono no Souja Erin, Throwback Thursday

Welcome all, to the grand finale of Kemono no Souja Erin! This is it, this is what 50 episodes have been building up towards. Was it good? Does everyone get a happy ending? Do any of you care or are you just waiting to vote on the poll? Well that’s at the end, so you might as well read through to get there. Now lets jump in!

Starting off, as far as production goes this finale was a bit of a let down. With copious flashbacks and generally lackluster movement, it didn’t really feel any different from the rest of the series. Now I’m not asking for some kind of sakuga fest, Erin isn’t that kind of show, it never has been. Action simply isn’t what it cares about. But I would have liked a bit more… pizazz? Use that eye-catch artstyle a bit more, cut down on the CGI Touda, less flashbacks. It’s not like Erin can’t do it, stuff like Lilan’s roar and Nugan falling off the Touda looked good. But those were about the only “memorable” visual moments. Not even Lilan’s flight or Damiya’s last scene were really all that visually interesting. It just feels like a missed opportunity to me.

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