Author: Lenlo

Paranoia Agent – 8 [Happy Family Planning] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Paranoia Agent, Throwback Thursday

Hello and welcome to another weird week of Paranoia Agent! This time we have suicide pacts, gallows humor and some interesting filler content. Lets jump in!

As always, lets start with production. Paranoia Agent was… acceptable, is the best I can say. It was expressive when it wanted to be. But it simply doesn’t match up with some of the previous episodes. It used a lot still shots, which had some interesting direction, but didn’t wow me at all. Not a bad showing for a glorified filler episode, but that’s all this week was. A filler episode, with loose ties to the central plot. It was interesting, as we will dive into later, but at the moment it feels inconsequential. As if were the episode removed, the overarching plot would be the same. For such a plot driven, thematic series, that leaves me a little disappointed. After all, the only character really connected to the main series here is Kozuma, and even then only loosely. Yet still, this filler was richer than most other series.

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Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 21 [Goodbye, Beautiful World]

by Lenlo, posted in Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru

Another week, another set of Kaze Fui boys run the Ekiden. Today we have Yuki and Nico, from the older half of our group, running their hearts out. There’s family drama, crushed dreams and more emotions than I can handle. Lets jump in!

Sticking with my stereotypes, let’s start with production. There was some reused footage this week when Yuki was running down the hill. Taking some bends, as he swayed right and left, with only the backgrounds being different. I actually didn’t notice this at first, because of how engrossing the narrative is, and so I can’t dock it to much for it, but it is there. We also saw the return of the CGI that, when placed up against Yuki’s leg muscles flexing as he runs, only become more worthy of criticism. All that said though, direction continues to be Kaze Fui’s strong point. With multiple wide shots of the landscape, our characters small against the mountains of Hakone, drawing the eye. There was also some fantastic, expressive, facial animation on Jota with Kurahara. So all things considered, it wasn’t a bad week for Kaze Fui. Now, onto spoiler territory.

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Mob Psycho 100 S2 – 10 [Collision ~Power Type~]

by Lenlo, posted in Mob Psycho 100 II

Hello and welcome once more to Mob Psycho 100, the premier animation destination of the Winter 2019 season. This week we have some fantastic highs, questionable lows and a show of brotherly love to rival Run with the Wind. Lets jump in!

As always, let’s start with production. After some discussion on last episode in the comments, I resolved to try and look a bit more closely at some of Mob Psycho’s stills and group shots. From what I saw, I can understand the opinion that it doesn’t look great. However, in my personal opinion, I think it comes down to the style. BONES purposely chose to mimic ONE’s simple style, to allow for more consistent and expressive animation. Yes, some of the stills come off as iffy. However I think this one comes down to personal preference. As Mob Psycho looks like nothing else airing right now, and stands out from the pack because of it. It’s willing to go wildly off model for the sake of effect, putting the strengths of the medium first. Whatever costs it has, I am willing to pay them. Now onto spoilers!

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Dororo – 10 [The story of Tahomaru]

by Lenlo, posted in Dororo

Welcome to Dororo’s week of brotherly love! This episode, if the title wasn’t obvious, we look at Tahomaru and his relationship with various characters. Lets dive in!

Production wise, Dororo stepped it up a bit this week. As always, the direction and shot composition is it’s strong point. Doing a great job of conveying emotion. The surprise for me was the animation department, as Dororo really wanted to make a good impression for Tahomaru. His battle with the demon, along with the flowing of the water as it came down on them, was visually interesting. Take for instance the scene of Hyogo throwing the villagers to safety. It wasn’t huge, like Mob Psycho always goes, but it fit Dororo’s subtler style and stood out in the moment. Sure, it rarely wow’s me, but the landscapes are beautiful and do a good job of building up the world. Still, enough about Dororo’s animation, I talk on that every week. Onto the spoilers!

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Paranoia Agent – 6/7 [Fear of a Direct Hit/MHz] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Paranoia Agent, Throwback Thursday

Hello everyone to the catch up Paranoia Agent! First off, apologies for being late. Work was killer Thursday and really impacted writing this. No excuses though, on to the show! This week Paranoia Agent might as well have slipped LSD into my drink, because we get weird. Lets jump in!

Right off the bat, Paranoia Agent gets weird with these two episodes. Even from a production standpoint, there are a lot of interesting decisions made. For instance the use of the fish-eye lense when talking to Kozuka, even though its an animation, really nailed the tension for his character. There were also a number of message-filled decisions with some character actions. Such as when Maniwa and the Chief were discussing having run out of ideas, and it being time for new ones. The Chief’s box of matches is empty, while Maniwa’s modern lighter was filled up and ready to go. A clear symbolic message of who has good, right ideas, and a differing method. On top of all of this, Paranoia Agent got weird near the end of episode 7 with the Old Mans sequence. Painting a very clear picture of Maniwa’s degrading mental health. Fantastic stuff all around, really.

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Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 19/20 [The Moment of Release/Even If I Break]

by Lenlo, posted in Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru

Another day, another double feature catch up from my vacation, this time on Kaze Fui. This week we watch 5 of our 10 boys run the Ekiden, in one of the most emotional jogs I have ever witnessed. Lets jump in!

Right off the bat, I have to say, Kaze Fui made me tear up. I can’t say I outright cried, because I am emotionally dead. But Kaze Fui made a fantastic try and busting through that, in both episodes. Prince, Musa, Jota, Joji and Shindo all hit me in different ways, and really showed my earlier concerns were misplaced. I made mention in earlier posts that I had concerns about pacing, about how a single race could take up 4-5 episodes. I now see how. Each section has become a deeply personal exploration of a character who has been built up over 2 cours. This legwork, this built up story, is a rock solid foundation for this finale I find. I only have a single complaint of both episodes, which we will get to later. For now though, let’s dive into the episodes themselves.

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Dororo – 8/9 [The story of Saru/The story of the Mercilessness]

by Lenlo, posted in Dororo

Hello everyone, welcome back to Dororo! Thanks again for understanding about my vacation, as we head into this weeks double feature. This time Dororo makes a friend, we get their backstory and a ‘he’ turns out to be a ‘she’. Lets jump in!

As always, lets start off with the animation and actual production of these two episodes. Animation wise Dororo continues to be a series of highs and lows. Often during its fights, like with the giant centipede, it can look great. Smooth motion and clear choreography. Other times though, outside of these fights, it can be very limited and often just unappealing. This isn’t to say Dororo looks bad though, as its direction at least is always very good. It has a clear focus on its cinematography. This can be seen most obviously in this weeks episode 9, with little actual animation, but fantastic coloring and camera-work. It engages the eye in a very different way from say, Mob Psycho 100’s bombastic animation and almost blinding rainbow of colors. As I have described in previous posts, Dororo is an exercise in minimalism I feel. But now, onto actual spoilers!

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Mob Psycho 100 S2 – 8/9 [Even Then ~Continue Forward~/Show Me What You’ve Got ~Band Together~]

by Lenlo, posted in Mob Psycho 100 II

Hello everyone to a double feature of Mob Psycho 100 this week! I have returned from my vacation and its time for some catch-up. This time Mob Psycho goes from 0 to ??? faster than a bullet and we meet our big bad. Lets jump in!

Starting off, as always, lets talk animation and visuals. Mob Psycho is without a doubt one of the best looking series of the season, and probably the year. It’s all so expressive, from the faces to the wild activity on screen. I find it almost impossible to look away while Mob Psycho is on screen. Combine that with it’s willingness to dive into completely different mediums and styles, and its a feast for the eyes. Always changing for whatever works best for the scene instead of feeling constricted by its art style. Simply put, Mob Psycho looks fantastic. As far as the actual story goes, I am going to tackle this two-parter one episode at a time. Delving into 8 and then 9. Really, I think I got lucky with the vacation, as it meant I didn’t have to wait on that cliffhanger. And remember, spoilers after the break!

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Paranoia Agent – 5 [The Holy Warrior] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Paranoia Agent, Throwback Thursday

Welcome to another week of Paranoia Agent! This week Kon explores different generations, Shounen Bat gets caught and the Old Lady becomes relevant. Lets dive in!

After the bumpy reception I had towards last week’s episode, Paranoia Agent bounced back to wow me this week. Production wise, it was incredibly expressive this week. With the character animation exaggerating to go with the fantasy backdrops. The chief especially, with his expressive face and body language, really made a lot of its scenes. Bringing a lot of situational comedy without detracting from the story, as it fit his character well. The backgrounds were also varied and unique. Making every scene stand out, compared to the otherwise standard cityscape backdrops we normally get. Combine this with Kon’s directorial style, and Paranoia Agent was a treat to watch this week. With visuals out of the way, now let’s get into the story itself. Remember, spoilers after the break!

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Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 18 [And Then, Morning]

by Lenlo, posted in Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru

Welcome to the big one, the start, the opening moments of Kaze Fui’s Hakone Ekiden! This week Fujioka drops some wisdom, the team learns their sections and Yuki gets some time with Kurahara. Lets jump in!

This week was Kaze Fui’s big setup, along with some drops on Haiji’s background. Before we get to either of those though, how did Kaze Fui do on the production department? Like always, the backgrounds were beautiful. The shot near the end of Mt.Fuji was simply stunning, similarly with Haiji and Fujioka’s walking rice fields. We didn’t get to see much animation this week sadly, but with the Ekiden starting next week, hopefully it will show up in full force. That isn’t to say it was non-existent though. During Fujioka’s flashback there was some great running/shoe animation near the end, and I quite enjoyed the character acting we got during the sections explanation. However, unlike Mob Psycho, animation isn’t one of Kaze Fui’s focal point’s. That dubious honor goes to the story and characters, and my goodness, is what good as always.

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