Author: Lenlo

Kemono no Souja Erin – 37/38/39/40 – Throwback Thursday

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

Welcome all, to another week of Kemono no Souja Erin! This is a good week for me, I quite enjoyed it, it feels like things are finally coming to a head and it’s great. What do I mean by that? Well let’s jump right into the episodes and talk about it.

First up is episode 37, “Birth”. As per the title, this episode see’s the baby Beast-Lord be born! Surprisingly however, that isn’t actually the focus of the episode. Oh the baby being born was nice, it was a good scene. Lots of light rays and well framed shots, some good music, tastefully showing just enough that we have to recognize it’s significance without showing an actual live birth. As far as birth scenes in anime go, and god is that not a larger group then you’d think, I found it decently done. I was able to focus more on what it represented then all the gory details of the process. Like I said though, this was more the culmination of someone else’s arc rather then one of Erin’s It was only relevant in the finale. So the question becomes, who is it that’s so important for Erin to do this?

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Undead Murder Farce – 5/6 [The Undead in London/The Phantom Thief and the Detective]

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

Welcome all, to a special double feature of a week! Apologies for missing last week, Covid and other health problems sort of screwed me and I barely got out the posts that I did. To be frank some are still ongoing, so if I’m late on something that’s why. Getting old sucks yo. Anyways on with the show(s)!

First up we have episode 5, “The Undead in London”. This one was… Odd. And not in a good way. In fact the best way I can put it is that, at 5 episodes in, Undead Murder Farce feels like it’s starting to bloat. What do I mean by that? Well simply that Undead Murder Farce introduced a lot this episode, to the point where it has become very clear to me that the show isn’t going to be able to cover everything and maybe even won’t reach a satisfying stopping point. What does “a lot” mean? Well we’ve got the entire Sherlock Holmes canon, what was once just a cheeky reference are now fully fledge characters involved in the plot, a whole new organization of super powered monster hunters, who probably won’t like Rindo, not to mention our “antagonist” for this arc. It just feels like… a lot.

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Jujutsu Kaisen S2 – 5 [Premature Death]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Jujutsu Kaisen

Welcome all, the the finale of Jujutsu Kaisen’s Hidden Inventory arc! We’ve been talking about what makes Suguru become a villain for a month now, and it’s finally time to see what Jujutsu Kaisen comes up with. Here’s a hint: It’s pretty damn good. So let’s jump in!

Now in case it wasn’t obvious, as an end of an arc I really liked this episode. I think Jujutsu Kaisen wrapped everything up really well, tying up most of the loose threads. There was even a small bit at the end to tie us back into the present-day story, which I appreciated. The production especially was fantastic, with some really evocative shots. I’m not talking about incredible sakuga or anything, I mean that the episode was well shot and well framed. The way Jujutsu Kaisen communicated just how exhausted Suguru is was fantastic. From his tired eyes, posture and unkempt hair to that one scene in the showers. Even before he broke, before that final moment, you could tell how much all of this was weighing on him, driving him closer and closer to that edge. Honestly, just like the rest of the arc, it looked great.

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Kemono no Souja Erin – 33/34/35/36 – Throwback Thursday

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

Welcome all, to another week of Kemono no Souja Erin! Apologies for the lateness on this. Like I said in the Zom 100 post, I actually caught Covid this past week and its kind of fucking me up a bit. Expect things to be delayed. I’ll get them out, but man is it tiring. Anyways, on with the episodes!

First up is episode 33, “Fly”. This one is all about Erin completely ignoring Nasan’s warning deciding to train Lilan to fly on command. And you know what? I’m here for it. Not only for Erin to start proactively forging her own path but also for what it does to Erin and Lilan’s relationship. This idea that Erin lost sight of Lilan a bit, started to view her more as a pet/work animal than a partner, was intriguing. She was more focused on getting her to fly, on getting what she wanted, that she didn’t really consider what Lilan wanted. Not until the end at least, where she noticed and started to play with her again rather then force her out into the fields to work. Erin figured out Lilan needed to want to fly, she couldn’t be made to. And that was sweet.

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Zom 100 Bucket List of the Dead – 4 [Flight Attendant of the Dead]

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

Welcome all, to a tremendously late episode of Zom 100! Sorry for that, turns out I got Covid at Otakon and that’s kinda fucking me up. Don’t expect anything to be on time this week, or even necessarily coherent, cause I’m currently sitting here unable to feel my throat. Enough about me though, let’s shift from talking about one deathly disease to another, zombies!

Starting off, this episode was all about Kencho and Akira really spending some time together. Talking about their dreams, being open and honest with each other, and really just rebuilding their friendship. In that sense, it was quite nice. I like that Zom 100 is giving them time to just hang out and establish their relationship before introducing more characters. There’s no big overarching “save the world” plot nor is some kind of super serious survival thing. Hell the premise of the entire episode was going out to get an 80 in flat-screen TV to play games on! And that’s nice! Zom 100 has this levity to it that, when the serious bits do kick in, you aren’t suffocated by them. It’s a nice dichotomy, and one we see in this very episode.

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Jujutsu Kaisen S2 – 4 [Hidden Inventory 4]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Jujutsu Kaisen

Welcome all, to the climax of Jujutsu Kaisen’s Hidden Inventory arc! Much like Undead Murder Farce, I apologize for this being so late. I was attending Otakon this past weekend and while it was a great time, I’m behind on… literally everything. So enough lollygagging, lets dive into the episode!

Starting off, while this episode wasn’t as visually as impressive I was hoping it would be, thematically I think it was fantastic. Yeah, there wasn’t the same degree of spectacle as say… the ending of Season 1, or Mahito vs Itadori. But in place of that Jujutsu Kaisen managed to tell a story with its fights. The way Fushiguro played with Suguru, explaining himself in such a way as to purposefully mislead him while at the same time powering himself up as per his pact. Or how it communicated Gojo’s mentality in the second half. And none of that is to say it looked bad, it obviously looked great. It was just more… subdued then I was expecting, in a good way. They didn’t go over the top and ruin it with poorly composited CGI backgrounds like the previous seasons forests for instance. Overall I’d say it was… Just right.

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Undead Murder Farce – 4 [The Headliner Appears]

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

Welcome all, to another episode of Undead Murder Farce! This is a late one, apologies for that. I was attending Otakon this weekend and that took up a whole lot of my time. Was fun though, and I can’t wait to go back next year! Bought some nice merch. My weekend adventures aside, on with the episode!

First up lets talk about the production, because Undead Murder Farce kind of disappointed me this week. There’s the obvious, such as the really bad greenscreen effect that we’ve seen before. I still don’t understand why the show is doing this, it doesn’t look good, it doesn’t add to the aesthetic, it just looks like they were to lazy to do it right. There’s just nothing good about it. The less obvious issue though is Tsugaru’s fight. Now this isn’t meant to be some kind of big set piece, I get that. Undead Murder Farce isn’t that kind of show. But even with that in mind, the choreography and lighting of the whole thing just felt… bad. It wasn’t engaging in the slightest outside of Tsugaru’s dialogue, which isn’t how you want a fight to be. It feels like, visually, we’re just getting weaker and weaker as time goes on.

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Kemono no Souja Erin – 29/30/31/32 – Throwback Thursday

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

Welcome all, to another week of Kemono no Souja Erin! We are safely in the 2nd half now, and speeding towards the end. Only… 4 more weeks left really. Time flies. You know what that means though, soon you’re going to be voting for a new series, so make sure to keep that in mind over the next few weeks! Selling future seasons aside, lets dive into the episodes!

Starting off we have episode 29, “Beast’s Fang”. This one centers around another moment of doubt for Erin, a confrontation with the fact that even with the best of intentions Beast-Lords are still large, wild animals with the power to kill you. On an individual, single episode basis, I found it pretty good. Erin was forced to, once again, recognize how dangerous what she is doing is and the risks associated with that. But that “once again” bit is my primary issue with the episode. Simply put, it feels like we’ve been here before. Like this isn’t the first time Erin has had this exact realization. While nice and affirming of her decision, I can’t help but feel like we’ve beaten this horse a bit to much at this point. Like it wasn’t particularly necessary, you know? Luckily this seems like the last time Erin will have to do it.

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Zom 100 Bucket List of the Dead – 3 [Best Friend of the Dead]

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

Welcome all, to episode 3 of Zom 100! This week introduces a new cast member and devotes its entire run time to his relationship with our lead, Akira. All things considered it was pretty good! So without further ado, lets dive in.

Early on I was actually a little concerned about this episode. I was afraid that Zom 100 was starting to take itself a tad to seriously, that it was leaning to much into the serious zombie stuff. Like it would transition into a legitimate horror, or that it would let Akira’s friend die and use it as a “Shock” wakeup moment for him to take the whole thing more seriously. To my pleasant surprise though, neither of these things happened. Instead it turned out the “Serious” stuff was just a background plot of an actual zombie movie, used as a joke more then anything else. And as for the friend? He survived, reborn, and is now joining Akira! It’s funny how much a change of hair color does, because I actually didn’t recognize him from the OP/ED, so this was nice.

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Undead Murder Farce – 3 [Immortality and Demons]

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

Welcome all, to episode 3 of Undead Murder Farce! Apologies for the delay on this. Much like with Jujutsu Kaisen I was out at a concert until 4am and just wasn’t able to get this out on table. On a side note though, you all should go and check out Ok Goodnight and Challenger Deep. My music tastes aside though, lets dive into the episode!

Starting off, the most off-putting part of the episode was the start. Undead Murder Farce just completely ignores the cliffhanger we ended last episode on and skips us forward to a pleasant lunch with the family. And while the lunch was nice, once again Undead Murder Farce has some great direction and shot composition, it made for a very jarring introduction to the episode. I actually stopped and wondered where the hell we were, what about the scene we were just in prior, the half-finished conversation. It’s very similar to how jarring the ending of the last episode was as well, and leaves me wondering if this is going to be the norm for the series. I sincerely hope not, I think they are rough at best, and it’s not like they can’t give us good endings like they did this week. Only time will tell there I suppose.

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