Author: Lenlo

Megalo Box Nomad – 10 [Las derrotas pasadas son acompañadas por señales de buena suerte]

by Lenlo, posted in Megalo Box

Hello all and welcome to another week of Megalo Box Nomad! This is late, I know, but I have a good reason. You see I will be out of the state for work starting Sunday and have been spending the week busily packing and prepping. This also means I will be unable post/writeup Nomad on Sunday as I won’t be able to watch it until Thursday. So yeah, expect this weekend and the week afters to be merged into one post before the final review. Sorry about that. Now on with the show!

And what batter place to begin than with exactly what I wanted to see from Nomad, the family stuff! So much family stuff this week. From Mac to Sachio, Joe to Yuri, the way Nomad managed to tie everything back into the 1st arc. This is exactly what I wanted from the series, up to and including minimal Rosco! While one reader might disagree with me on Rosco’s story overtaking Joe’s, I’m sure we can both agree that this episode benefited a lot from it’s family centric focus. And if I sound like I’m being purposefully vague here that would be because I am. I don’t wanna spoil non-watchers before the break but I also want to give a clear hook to make people read, oh the tightropes we walk. I’m rambling because I’m happy with the episode, I promise.

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86: Eighty Six – 9 [Goodbye]

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six

What an episode. Eighty Six has come a long way from classroom politics and shitty lakeside ecchi. While the other writers on this site might disagree, might thing Eighty Six weak, I can’t help but enjoy what its trying to do. So without further ado how about we dive in to that?

Now in an effort to be fair lets start with the only real negative I have this week: The CGI. Eighty Six tries really had to avoid the showing the CGI. It does everything in it’s power, from clever editing and shot composition to after effects like smoke, to avoid it. And most of the time this works! The Legion looks… fine in motion because the CGI sheen gives them an otherworldly/inhuman feel. That works to their benefit! Meanwhile the 86ers are largely stationary which makes compositing them into the shot much easier. But sometimes a crack slips through and when it does… it doesn’t look good. I’m of course talking about Undertaker’s big fight in the first half of the episode. Narratively I enjoyed it, and we’ll talk about that in a moment, but the mech fight felt like the worst part of the scene.

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Spice and Wolf S2 – 6 [Wolf and the Trustworthy God] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Spice and Wolf, Throwback Thursday

Welcome back to another episode of Spice and Wolf Season 2, this week released on time! In this episode Lawrence and Fermi clash, Holo makes a choice and the arc finally concludes. Who wins? Read on to find out!

Now the question becomes: Where do I start? You see, my feelings on this arc are conflicted. It was a long and overall good ride to get here don’t get me wrong! I like the progress Lawrence made and the new stage his relationship with Holo has entered. But at the same time it feels like everything was resolved to… cleanly. There was no real confrontation with Fermi, no parting words. In fact it was largely skipped over via narration as if he never mattered at all. And in a way I suppose he didn’t. The primary conflict of the arc wasn’t with Fermi but within Lawrence himself and overall I think that’s fine. It does the job it needs to. Personally though I don’t feel wholly satisfied. Allow me to explain after the break.

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Megalo Box: Nomad – 9 [Una sola mano no basta para vivir, pero aun así la forma de vivir prevalece]

by Lenlo, posted in Megalo Box

Welcome back to another episode of Megalo Box: Nomad! This week see’s the family come back together, Yukiko confront her business partner and Mac lay down a challenge. Exciting stuff! So without further ado, lets dive in.

Like the last few episodes Nomad continues to be split between the good, family oriented themes and… Rosco. For every scene of Mac with his family, of Mac realizing what’s happening and coming to terms with his memory loss, we get corporate espionage and military contracts. Every time Yuri or Joe get a heart to heart with their chosen friends it’s followed up with some bit between Sakuma and Yukiko, I just can’t stand it. Everything surrounding Mac is great! The way Joe once again inspired someone to get into the ring. Even Sachio was pushed towards boxing because of Joe, though in a different manner. How their struggles connect back to Joe and the overarching themes of the series. This stuff is all great and I love it when it’s on screen! But I don’t care about the corporate crap and I don’t know anyone who does.

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86: Eighty Six – 8 [Let’s Go]

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six

I’m late I’m late for a very important date, that’s right the Eighty Six post is here! Only… 2 days late but the show must go on. So without further ado lets dive into another episode of Eighty Six!

To start I want to pose to you a question: What the hell was that opening? Did I skip an episode? How much happened off screen between 7 and 8? I understand wanting to start in-media-res but this was to much. The opening felt out of place and I barely understood what they were talking about. It took me rewatching the scene a few time to understand that it was basically a quick time-skip of deaths off-screen, widdling us down to 5. While this was interesting in its brevity I can’t help but feel confused and annoyed as a viewer. It’s not like I don’t understand why they did it either! Without this we would be repeating similar storylines, similar deaths, for the rest of the cour. But Eighty Six took its discontinuous narrative approach that I mentioned last week to far this time.

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Spice and Wolf S2 – 5 [Wolf, Hope and Despair] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Spice and Wolf, Throwback Thursday

Welcome to the penultimate episode of this first arc of Spice and Wolf Season 2! Or at least I think it’s the penultimate episode. I actually expected it to resolve this week but Spice and Wolf surprised me with another Lawrence focused episode. Was it any good? Well let’s dive in and find out!

This week I want to start with a character close to my heart and who has quickly become a favorite: Mark. I love Mark, I love everything about him. The way he acts as a connection to Lawrence’s life before Holo. Contrasting Lawrence with his old self and showing us how far Lawrence has come. How he pushes and supports Lawrence towards the answers he wants without trying to force him into anything. And especially how he draws boundaries while still maintaining the friendship. Mark is neither a doormat for Lawrence to walk over nor a “power of friendship” plot device. Instead he is what Lawrence is turning into. More than just a merchant, he is a family man. A member of the community and a romantic at heart. And I love everything that he has brought to this arc and what he has contributed to Lawrence as a character.

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Megalo Box Nomad – 8 [Al principio del fin, la trayectoria del arcoíris dibuja un soportal]

by Lenlo, posted in Megalo Box

That’s right, I’m late on this weeks Nomad. But you know what? I’m still weeks ahead of some other writers on this site so I think I get some leeway. Burning my fellow authors aside, how about we get started?

The best place to begin is with my feelings on Nomad as a whole right now, because they are conflicted. You see I’m concerned with where Nomad is going. On the surface everything is… fine? The fights are fun and I do like Mac. But it feels like Nomad has lost sight of the themes and messaging of the first half. That it in it’s efforts to raise the stakes it has gotten lost in this larger than life story. Do we really need to be involved with Megalonia again? Does Nomad need another rich tech giant sticking their nose into the story? What do these things contribute to Joe’s journey to become a better person and to reestablish his connections with those he loves? I can see a possible future where all of these fit together. But I can’t help but be disappointed after the stellar first half.

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86 Eighty Six – 7 [Will You Remember Me?]

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six

Welcome back to another episode of Eighty Six, now with 100% more tragic revelations! Is that statistic legitimate? Probably not but you’ll have to read on to find out. So without further ado lets dive into this weeks episode!

And what do you know, Eighty Six is once again one of the best edited/directed show of the season. Tomohiko Ito, the man behind some of the best episodes of their respective shows, did great work this week. The way the fireworks were intercut between the mortar shells, Lena’s balcony shots, Shuga’s speech, it all looked good! And you know that. So instead I want to take a moment to talk about the one thing that’s bothered me with them: Continuity. Eighty Six has this obsession with shifting around shots so that they are discontinuous. Showing scenes earlier in the episode that happen later in the timespan. Sometimes this works to great effect! But I’ve found it can also be very confusing as to the order of events. Especially without proper indication of the order between the two main areas, the 86ers and the Albas.

Still my production gripes aside, however minor they are, lets talk narrative below the break!

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Spice and Wolf S2 – 4 [Wolf and the Consequences of Shallow Cleverness]

by Lenlo, posted in Spice and Wolf, Throwback Thursday

Alright everyone I have no excuse for how late this post was, I just forgot. Not to watch the show of course, Spice and Wolf is good shit! But it completely slipped my mind to do the writeup. Personally I blame the Government. Why? Because I can. Anyways without further ado, lets dive in to this weeks episode!

And what better place to start than with the pacing! Seriously its ridiculous. When I went to start the episode I saw “#4” and couldn’t believe we were only a 3rd of the way through. This season of Spice and Wolf feels so much denser than the last and this episode is a perfect example of that. The whole thing takes place in the span of just a few hours in the night as Lawrence mulls over the recent argument. Yet in it he confronts and accepts his feelings, strikes a deal, plots Fermi’s downfall, has a heart to heart with a friend and prepares to crash the economy of an entire town. Does that sounds like a lot? Good, because it was. Yet Spice and Wolf made it all feel natural and snappy. I was really impressed with how it handled the pacing this week.

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Megalo Box Nomad – 7 [El tonto que muestra su carta no es un payaso estúpido]

by Lenlo, posted in Megalo Box

Rwaaaarg I’m back with another episode of Megalo Box: Nomad! I know it’s late, blame the State of the Season and work for being busy. Do you know how annoying interfacing with a dying protocol like XMPP is? Anyways without further ado lets dive in!

And like usual what better place to start than with production? Except this week we actually have something cool to talk about! That’s right Nomad actually gave us a well animated fight for once and I loved it. It shouldn’t be, it makes perfect sense why, but it’s incredible how much good animation can elevate a sports series. Seeing Liu and Joe go at with such clarity and speed really sells how far above the rest of the competition they are. Whether it be Chief’s fights or Joe’s underground matches, all of those look like child’s play compared to this. Just look at the way Joe’s hair moves in the clip below the break as he ducks and waves through punches. It’s a very different presentation of Boxing to Hajime no Ippo’s jet engines and explosive power. I hope Nomad can keep it up, I would love to see more.

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