Author: Lenlo

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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Dr.STONE – 6 [Two Nations of the Stone World]

by Lenlo, posted in Dr.STONE

Welcome one and all to my favorite episode of Dr.STONE yet. This week we finally meet our main character Science, the natives, and Taiju takes a hike. Let’s dive in!

Starting off let’s talk production, specifically I want to talk about the music. You see, I think it safe to say that Dr.STONE has one of the more unique OST’s this season. With a strong focus on rap/hip-hop and mixing in some more “ancient” instruments like woodwinds and drums. It’s not something I normally expect to see in anime, but it’s clearly worked before. Just look at Samurai Champloo for proof of that. I think it’s a good mix to combine the modern day with the “Stone World” of the series. OP and ED aside, both of which I enjoy the actual songs of, this episode had some great pieces. One the stands out to me played during Senku’s scene with Kohaku. It’s short, but something about Japanese Rap makes it a nice change of pace from American rap. But enough of that, onto the meat.

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Mononoke – 1 [Zahikiwarashi Part 1] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Mononoke, Throwback Thursday

Welcome one and all to another season of Throwback Thursday, this time covering the 2007 Horror series Mononoke! There is a lot going on here, so fair warning, this series is going to get weird and probably a bit creepy. But if your ready to come a long for a 12 episode wild ride, then let’s get into it. And remember! This is based off the last arc of Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales, so check that out as well!

Starting off, I think it necessary to explain my mindset going into this series. You see, recently I have been burning my way through the entire Monogatari series. So expect to see a lot of comparisons between the two, with how similar the subject matter is. So much so that I wouldn’t be surprised if this inspired it. You see, Ayakashi came out in early 2006, with the first Monogatari novel releasing later that same year. Then a year later you have the offshoot of Ayakashi’s last arc, Mononoke releasing. With a style very similar to what we would later see in Shaft’s Bakemonogatari adaptation. That series finally starting in 2009. There is plenty of time between each of these for them to inspire each other in a myriad of ways. Which considering their subject matter is very interesting to me. But enough with the history lesson, onto the series.

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Vinland Saga – 5 [The Troll’s Son]

by Lenlo, posted in Vinland Saga

Welcome to a surprising week of Vinland Saga! This was completely unexpected, but it looks like we have a week of anime original content to look over. We get a look into Askeladd, Thorfinn’s first few weeks with them and the life of a viking. Lets jump in!

Starting off, like I said, yes this week and seemingly next week is all anime original content. This was a big, but not unwelcome, surprise to me. If anything, this was the best place for Wit to put it. With how they reordered the manga chapters, this is the perfect place to add original content to fill out series a bit, ensuring they don’t have to stretch other content farther than it needs to be. Most of all though, these two episodes will stand as the first true test of Wit’s understanding of the source material. Normally, anime original content is not… the best. As nothing is allowed to change, so as to not change the main story. In this case though, Wit doesn’t have that issue. As their content is just expanding upon a period of time left a mystery in the original story. So, how does Wit do?

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Kimetsu no Yaiba – 18 [A Forged Bond]

by Lenlo, posted in Kimetsu no Yaiba

Welcome all to another week of Kimetsu no Yaiba! If last week was Zenitsu’s, this is Inosuke’s! As he comes to learn the value of friendship, Tanjiro meets the big bad and the Senpai’s show up to save the day. Let’s dive in!

Starting off, I wanna talk water, because damn did Yaiba’s water look good. I’m not even talking the water sword effects, as those are highly stylized. No no, the actual riverbed that was entirely CGI looked really good. From the splashes to how they layered the 2D characters and environment in with it. A lot of effort and physics simulations clearly went into getting it right just for this scene and it paid off. Really, this arc in general has looked really good. From Zenitsu to Shinobu, the butterfly woman’s entrance, to this water and the demons. Ufotable chose a really good arc to end on and pull out all the stops at, because it’s building up for a better finale than I was expecting for a long running Shounen that’s still in print. Enough vague clues though, onto details!

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Dr.STONE – 5 [Stone World The Beginning]

by Lenlo, posted in Dr.STONE

Welcome one and all to the ending of Dr.STONE’s first arc. This week we have some BS plot armor, some questionable morals and a vision of what could have been for the series. Lets jump in!

With this episode, we have completed Dr.STONE’s first arc. One widely considered, at least by those I talk to, to be the series weakest arcs. As a manga, Dr.STONE was never particularly good at setting up its premise. It just kind of throws you in there, and then ignores the greater mystery for an immediate threat. But then, that immediate threat disappears for a few dozen chapters, before finally returning for the conclusion. None of this is to mention that the actual conclusion to this introductory arc sort of ends on a rather annoying note. I will get into specifics after the break, but suffice to say, for this ending to occur everyone had to be stupid. It’s one of my biggest bugbears with the series, this section right here. And I think reveals the weakness of this adaptation. We will get to that though. For now, onto the episode!

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Serial Experiments Lain Anime Review – 78/100

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews by Lenlo, Serial Experiments Lain, Throwback Thursday

Serial Experiments Lain is weird. It is a series unlike any other, wholly unique in anime, both modern and historical. Every aspect of it, from presentation to narrative, is best described as an experience. It is because of this that I believe Lain is a must watch, if only to experience a piece of anime history. That said, Serial Experiments Lain can hardly be said to be an “enjoyable” series. It is certainly evocative, Serial Experiments Lain will bring about emotions and force you to confront reality in a unique way. But I at least did not end the series thinking I would watch it again anytime soon, and this density will no doubt be off putting for many. However while these may keep it out of my favorites, it is without a doubt worth your time. Lets go.

(Disclaimer: I am working to make 50 the new “average”. 70 is not an average score people. 70 is above average. Carry on.)

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Vinland Saga – 4 [A True Warrior]

by Lenlo, posted in Vinland Saga

Welcome all, to the grand return of Vinland Saga! It’s been 3 weeks since it first aired and we finally get more, so allow me a moment of release before we start. Ahem, VINLAAAAAAAAND HYYYYYYYPE. Thank you. Let’s jump in.

Starting off, as much as I love Vinland, production wasn’t perfect. Part of this has to do with the fact that a vast majority of this episode was a single scene in the same location. There was very little variance or interesting switchups on screen. And the CGI water also suffered a bit this week. Seemingly passing through the boats at the end. However, there was still plenty to love in Vinland this week. Now I could talk about the artstyle, or the dynamic faces of Askeladd or Thors. However, I want to focus on something Wit does very well. The action. In particular, Askeladd and Thors fight was small scale and beautiful. Wit focused a lot on their swords, full body movements and the tactics, just like the manga, and I loved it. So basically, if Vinland stays the course, I’ll be happy.

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Kimetsu no Yaiba – 17 [You Must Master a Single Thing]

by Lenlo, posted in Kimetsu no Yaiba

Welcome to Zenitsu week on Kimetsu no Yaiba! This week we get a flashback, Zenitsu goes super saiyan and we meet 3 more of the demon family. Lets jump in!

Now, I could talk about a lot of things here in production. I could mention the hit or miss CGI spiders, and how the quality varies by scene. I could talk about the comedic faces and what not. But no one cares about that. Infact, people only care about one thing in particular this week, and thats Zenitsu. Because the simple fact is that even if he hadn’t gotten a decent backstory this week, I wouldn’t care. I want Yaiba to keep him around, hell show more of him, just so Nozomu Abe can do more of what he did today. With an entire episode building up to a single cut, the man and by extension Yaiba knocked it out the park. I just… I can’t explain how beautiful this scene is. Sound, animation, pacing. Screw Tanjiro’s water effects, make this the Zenitsu show just for more lightning!

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