Author: Lenlo

Vinland Saga – 8 [Beyond the Edge of the Sea]

by Lenlo, posted in Vinland Saga

I hope everyone had a better weekend than Thorfinn, because Vinland Saga was not kind to him. This week he gets his duel with Askeladd, a peek into Askeladd’s worldview and finally Thorkell makes his anime debut. Let’s dive in!

Starting off, let’s take a look at the major themes of Vinland Saga this week. Thors’ philosophy of nonviolence has permeated the series since he was first introduced. It is something Vinland will be revisiting time and again. This week though we see it contrasted with what Thorfinn has become and how conflicted he is because of it. Wishing to live up to his father’s ideals, but also his own desires. This of course ties in to another theme of the episode from Askeladd, IE Freedom. The idea that no man is truly free, that everyone is a slave to something. We will focus on this the specifics of this later. For now though, it’s important to note that Thorfinn is currently caught between two competing ideals, those mentioned prior. And this idea of peace and violence for personal satisfaction is something every character will explore in a different way.

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Kimetsu no Yaiba – 21 [Against Corps Rules]

by Lenlo, posted in Kimetsu no Yaiba

This week in Kimetsu no Yaiba is, for the most part, a calm one. As we wind down this arc Yaiba shows us the cracks in the Demon Slayers, Rui’s backstory and more of Muzan’s manipulative side. Let’s dive in!

Starting off, the flashback opening. As much as I was dreading the possible empathization of Rui, I think this was actually pretty good. As it focused more on Muzan than many of the previous flashbacks, mostly likely because Rui was a Moon. I will admit it was rather confusing to open an episode with it, as I was lost for a moment. But once everything was established the content managed to stand on its own. I am still not the largest fan of these, as using them to bookend every single arc has started to get old. I felt it could have been delivered as we went through Rui’s family. But getting Muzan in this one burst really helped it. Splitting the focus from an already defeated foe with our ultimate big bad, continuing to build him up. Sadly, with the manga still ongoing, we probably won’t get him though.

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Dr.STONE – 8 [Stone Road]

by Lenlo, posted in Dr.STONE

Everyone, this week is a big week for Dr.STONE. A lot of important things happen. We meet Suika, Senku creates Ramen and most important of all, Dr.STONE gives us our first major roadmap. Let’s jump in!

Starting off, let’s talk about the ever so important roadmap. We will be getting a few of these as we go through the series, and they act as arcs of sorts. Detailing our end goal and what Senku has to accomplish to get there. I have always enjoyed these roadmaps myself. Showing a bunch of the little details involved, yet never really downplaying how difficult these steps will be. While I can’t speak for the validity/exactness of the science, the general idea behind it seems sound enough as well. It would be very interesting to get an actual scientists interpretation of it all. Overall though I think it’s a novel idea on how to structure an arc. Not around a villain, but a goal with a clear end and pathway. The only question being how the characters will accomplish each goal.

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Mononoke -3 [Sea Bishop Part 1] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Mononoke, Throwback Thursday

Ah, another week, another terrifying horror arc from Mononoke. This week we meet a character who is both new and old, get to take a ride on a ship, and see some of the Medicine Seller’s hidden personality. Let’s jump in!

Starting off, lets go over the setup and premise for this arc. Instead of a brothel, it looks like Mononoke is going for more of a naval story this time. Though not without its own continued flare. Turning the entire ship into a sort of mobile aquarium, covering it with flags and such. There are no attempts to stick to reality here, because the whole thing is presented as a stage play still. The dramatization allowing it to sell everything while still keeping the horror I feel. Mononoke also setup the mystery this week rather quickly. Immediately going to the compass and the magnetic bar. No questions as to what happened, just who. What I liked about this though is that Mononoke took the time to give each character motivations. Reasons for doing so, even our lead. It’s the sort of thing a mystery thrives on.

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Vinland Saga – 7 [Normanni]

by Lenlo, posted in Vinland Saga

Welcome to the true start of Vinland Saga, as this week adapts what was originally the 1st Chapter of the manga. This week Thorfinn hits puberty, Askeladd makes bank and the French get laughed at. Lets jump in!

Starting off, this week was a series of highs and lows for Vinland’s production. I said it before, but the CGI is really starting to stand out. You need only look at the ending shots of the ships sailing down river to see that. With how beautiful the backgrounds are, the CGI ships just don’t fit. Alternatively look at the CGI soldiers on the battlefield. There are splashes of good there, and it cuts to 2D when it matters. But it’s very noticeable and doesn’t fit the rest of the art style. That said, Vinland did have some good CGI this week. The first person cut of Thorfinn fighting his way through the soldiers looked great. They kept the detail on the planks and decided to make the soldiers in the first person shot 2D. So as critical as I am of CGI, its very much a mixed bag.

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Kimetsu no Yaiba – 20 [Pretend Family]

by Lenlo, posted in Kimetsu no Yaiba

After last week’s episode, I had high hopes for Kimetsu no Yaiba this week. Sadly, I think I came away from it with more criticisms than complements. Perhaps natural, since living up to last week was nigh impossible. But I wasn’t prepared for Yaiba to undercut its best episode either. Welcome to Yaiba, episode 20, lets jump in.

Normally I start this off with production stuff, but at this point you know what I think about Yaiba. It’s a good looking series, the OST is great, nothing to complain about there. Instead I want to get right into the meat, start with my concerns. The first one being, I don’t like the return of Rui. I feel like his revival completely undercuts the fantastic emotional highpoint of the last episode. There are arguments that Tanjiro shouldn’t be able to defeat a Moon this early, and they are valid. The Moon’s are supposed to be the big bads right below Muzan. However, that doesn’t change how Yaiba presented these last two episodes. If Tanjiro isn’t supposed to defeat a Moon, then don’t make their confrontation so final. With all the fanfare and emotion of a series finale. Basically, don’t break your series only rule for no good reason. Continue reading “Kimetsu no Yaiba – 20 [Pretend Family]” →

Dr.STONE – 7 [Where Two Million Years Have Gone]

by Lenlo, posted in Dr.STONE

Ah today is a good day. The day where Dr.STONE reinforces what I loved about it when I first read it. You see this week Science takes center stage, we meet the ancient sorcerer Chrome, and the legendary Kinro gets his fabled weapon. Enough with the preamble though, welcome to this weeks Dr.STONE and lets get into it.

Starting off, I want to talk about the fun presentation of the episode. From the OST to the sound effects, Dr.STONE did a good job of accentuating the animation. Take for instance the segment of Senku dropping mathematics on Chrome. With the sound of everything and the kitchen sink falling with it. Or the music during Senku and Chrome’s final conversation. I don’t want to be presumptuous, but I am pretty sure I heard bagpipes in there. The last anime I remember using bagpipes was Fairy Tail, and even then the OST was never Fairy Tail’s issue. In Dr.STONE though it expertly brings out this sort of terrifying whimsy. Getting across the scale and destruction of what has happened, while still having the whimsy of Senku and his science. To put it simply, I could listen to those bagpipes all day. Love the instrument.

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Mononoke – 2 [Zashikiwarashi – Part 2] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Mononoke, Throwback Thursday

There really isn’t a good way to introduce this episode. Nothing is really going to soften the madness of what I just watched. As this week Mononoke has given us one of the darkest/creepiest yet most endearing episodes I have seen in a long time. So let’s just get on with it.

Starting off, a quick look into the production of this week. Once again, Mononoke didn’t really “wow” in terms of straight animation, but rather with it’s style. The most obvious example of this would be the “flip book” presentation of a number of scenes. Looking at it cynically, you could argue this is to save on the animation budget. A simple paper flip effect and 4 frames. For me though, with the overlaid paper effect permeating every frame, I thought it rather clever. That’s not even mentioning the actual subject matter that was displayed. This was… incredibly evocative. I thought a lot of the presentation was clever and clear. Such as the red cloth from the babies, to the urns in which they were stored. Or what body the Proprietress had during different tellings of the story. While it may have only taken place in one room, I was impressed.

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Vinland Saga – 6 [The Journey Begins]

by Lenlo, posted in Vinland Saga

Another week, another dose of Viking murder, courtesy of Vinland Saga. This week we watch our baby boy grow up, learn a bit about Viking history, and get into the series proper. Let’s dive in!

Starting off, as always, the production aspect. This week showed us some of the cracks in Vinland’s production. For while the backgrounds still looked great, and I enjoy the lighting, the CGI was… obvious. It’s not unexpected, large battle scenes in anime like this seem to always get relegated to CGI. However it really stands out amongst the beautiful backgrounds and character work. With a horde of CGI vikings in the background walking around or fighting. Still, it could be a lot worse. None of the CGI was in the foreground, we didn’t have CGI Thorfinn fighting CGI goons. Wit only used it for background work, so as ugly as it looked, it was never really the focus. Except for maybe one shot of them all walking through the forest at least. Sadly its just something we will have to accept moving forward, because the cast isn’t getting any smaller.

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Kimetsu no Yaiba – 19 [Hinokami]

by Lenlo, posted in Kimetsu no Yaiba

With this episode, Kimetsu no Yaiba has cemented this as the best arc of its run. For those that don’t want to read 1,000 words: It was great. I loved it. I’m going to gush about animation for the next 10 minutes. Let’s freakin go.

Right off the bat, be prepared for 3 paragraph or so of this, Yaiba looked phenomenal. Eat your heart out Fire Force, because you no longer have the best animated fire of the season. Now for the sake of coherency, let’s break this up into 3 sections. Pre-dance, mid dance and money shot. Pre-dance, Rui’s threads were fantastic. I loved the impact of these tiny little flashes of light, really selling the power. The best shot pre-dance for me is no doubt Rui just obliterating his “sister” and the effects behind it. This isn’t to say the rest were bad, it just had the most “weight” to it. Also managing to sell Rui’s mental issues with the scenes before and after it. His emotional distress and such. Enough about all this though, you want to talk about that. Head below the break, and we will do just that.

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