Author: Lenlo

Paranoia Agent – 4 [A Man’s Path] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Paranoia Agent, Throwback Thursday

This week, once again, Paranoia Agent takes another interesting turn. This time we follow the cop who caught Shounen Bat, see a bit into organized crime and watch a man fall apart at the seams. Lets go!

So in general, while this episode was interesting and explored some more aspects of society, I wasn’t big on it. The issue is, I can’t really tell you why either. It just didn’t… click with me? All of the pieces were there. Kon’s unique animation style, societal commentary, interesting direction. Maybe it was Hirukara as a character whom I did not enjoy? However I would find that to be odd, as all of his scenes succeeded at what they set out to do. I was incredibly nervous anytime he was onscreen in the latter half. Objectively, he succeeded at his role in the story. So why didn’t I enjoy it as much as the previous episodes? Well, let’s get into the details, and hopefully by the end I will have figured out an answer.

Continue reading “Paranoia Agent – 4 [A Man’s Path] – Throwback Thursday” →

Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 17 [Searching for the Answer]

by Lenlo, posted in Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru

Welcome to the feel good relaxation week of Kaze Fui! This time the Twins confront Haiji, they see the track and Sakaki continues to be a dick. Lets jump in!

Starting off, this episode was a very subdued one. Similar to Mob, Kaze Fui slowed down this week. Giving the characters room to breathe again and building up for its final arc. Once again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A good series knows when to slow down, to perform a falling action, and let the audience relax. If a series is 100% go from the beginning, not only do the narrative climaxes feel dull, but the audience gets apathetic. If everything is important, nothing is. So while I was not enraptured with this episode, it was necessary and I am glad it exists. For instance, Kaze Fui spent a lot of time with the twins this week. They have, before this point, gotten even less focus than Musa. So they really needed it. As for what their story is specifically? Well, lets chat about that.

Continue reading “Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 17 [Searching for the Answer]” →

Mob Psycho 100 S2 – 6 [Poor, Lonely, Whitey]

by Lenlo, posted in Mob Psycho 100 II

Welcome to a very poignant episode of Mob Psycho 100. This week Mob shows us his growth, Reigen his lack-there-of and things start to fall apart. Lets jump in!

Starting off, almost anything would look inferior when compared to last week. Almost as if knowing this, Mob Psycho decided to be very light on animation this week. Focusing on small character animation and details rather than any big action sequences. This isn’t a bad thing though, as this episode acts as a breather both visually and narratively for the series. Letting our characters spend some time with each other outside of harrowing situations, actually interact. Mob Psycho is very good at this, as the first episode of the season showed. So I think stepping back and flexing its narrative muscles a bit is a perfectly valid thing to do at this point. Plus, who doesn’t love spending time with the Body Improvement Club? Such wholesome boys they are. But now, onto the details.

Continue reading “Mob Psycho 100 S2 – 6 [Poor, Lonely, Whitey]” →

Dororo – 6 [The Story of the Moriko Song, Part 2]

by Lenlo, posted in Dororo

Hello and welcome to Dororo, your weekly dose of suffering for the season. This time Hyakkimaru get’s revenge, Mio proves herself Best Girl and Tahomaru gets some development. Lets dive in!

Starting off, this episode looked fantastic. Dororo is often very subdued with its animation. Either reducing details or going slow. This week however proved, without a doubt, that when Dororo want’s to it can get really smooth. Both the return fight with the Demon and the battle at the house looked fantastic. Not only was the animation beautiful, but Dororo’s muted color palette it had used up until now is starting to pay dividends. Making the bright color of the fire and golden rice incredibly striking on screen. Dororo also seems to know what character moments are important. As the facial detail and subtle character animation really ramp up during certain, emotionally important scenes. Such as when Dororo confronts Mio about her “job”, the focus on Mio’s face and the care put into her lips, hair and shading really make it stand out.

Continue reading “Dororo – 6 [The Story of the Moriko Song, Part 2]” →

Paranoia Agent – 3 [Double Lips] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Paranoia Agent, Throwback Thursday

Welcome to week 3 of Paranoia Agent! Once again, we focus on a new set of characters, new problems, and a new part of society. So lets jump in!

Once again, Kon’s outlandish style shined through this episode. Everything about it was just so… weird and disjointed, but I loved it. First off, Kon introduced the central character last week as Icchi’s tutor, easing us into her place in the story. It makes for a much less abrupt shift in focus. Yet at the beginning Kon fakes us out, by basically hiding her character from view with the makeup and wig. At the very least, it successfully confused me at the beginning. But not in the “I can’t follow whats going on, this is stupid way”. It confused me in the sense that there was a mystery and I wanted to know the answer. Why was she leading a double life? How does this tie into Shounen bat? What societal issue is Kon commenting on this time? And over this episode, I found an answer to each.

Continue reading “Paranoia Agent – 3 [Double Lips] – Throwback Thursday” →

Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 16 [Dreams and Reality]

by Lenlo, posted in Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru

Welcome to another week of Kaze Fui, as we come right back to Haiji’s dangerous dilemma! This week our boys finish the qualifier, Kurahara earns a runners respect and the twins begin to question things.

The first I noticed about this week, simply because of how many there were, was the CGI. Normally I don’t mind it much. CGI can really help with crowds or larger setpieces. But this episode was an emotional high point for the series and while it worked, the CGI was nothing but a hindrance. There were so many characters on screen, that you couldn’t help but notice it. And with the 2D models of our lead cast at the forefront, it became even more obvious. I want to like it, I want to be able to look past, but I just can’t. Not when there are dozens of them on the screen at the same time. At least the 2D animation we got was nice, and the direction saved a number of scenes. But overall, the CGI just kills a lot of the hype.

Continue reading “Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 16 [Dreams and Reality]” →

Dororo – 5 [The Story of the Moriko Song]

by Lenlo, posted in Dororo

This week Dororo is simultaneously at its brightest, yet possibly lowest, point so far. With Hyakkimaru adjusting to his new senses, a new character joining the cast and the Priest wandering back in, lets jump into the details!

Dororo was pretty good this week, all things considered. It went a direction I wasn’t expecting, and is starting to weave more anime original content in, but I enjoyed it. Before getting into spoilers though, there were some snafus I saw. Namely, animation and model issues. Take for instance the old mans re-entrance, cutting down the bird. In the moment, in motion, it looks great. But when you really look at the scene the old mans model after the cut is just… very blobby. There are no details and all the colors and lines sort of bleed together. Like the man isn’t entirely solid. There is a similar issue in regards to the characters feet. Where toes are all but non- existent. Considering the shots of feet, and how no one apparently wears shoes, this is a big issue for me. I just hope this is the worst we see.

Continue reading “Dororo – 5 [The Story of the Moriko Song]” →

Mob Psycho 100 S2 – 5 [Discord ~Choices~]

by Lenlo, posted in Mob Psycho 100 II

Screw the intro, forget being clever, Mob Psycho just dropped an episode so well animated, you could piece together the entire thing with nothing but Sakugabooru clips. Lets go!

I will get to the actual narrative pacing and adaptation discussion later. For now, I just need to gush for a bit. Mob Psycho look good. Like, real *good*. As in, 23 minutes of Sakuga good. Everything from the character and facial animations to the psychedelic, bombastic ending 12 minute fight scene. I loved it so much I had to find a good way to shove more screenshots into this post, so enjoy like… 4 slideshows below the break. Sadly static pictures don’t do it justice. Hakuyu GO did a fantastic job directing this episode and I can’t imagine how many animators they had working on this. We aren’t even halfway through the first season and Mob Psycho already has Best Animation for the year locked down. It’s insane. My gushing aside though, how about we actually, objectively, look over it a bit hmm?

Continue reading “Mob Psycho 100 S2 – 5 [Discord ~Choices~]” →

Paranoia Agent – 2 [The Golden Shoes] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Paranoia Agent, Throwback Thursday

Hello to week 2 of Paranoia Agent, now with an extra dose of weird! This week we focus on some new characters, the cruelty of children and the supernatural presence of Lil Slugger. Lets jump in!

In general, this was an odd week of Paranoia Agent. Only 2 episodes in and I expect to see myself saying that often. It started off very subdued with its animation. Lots of nice details, but nothing like Kawazu’s beautifully creep fluidity. It did have some awesome direction though. Showing how Icchi views himself and his growing paranoia and solitude. A lot of the shots were very evocative, and really sold the growing dread, even if the animation was more subdued. That isn’t to say Paranoia Agent didn’t have its moments of Kon greatness though. It just reserved it. Every time Icchi started to freak out, the art changed to a more simplistic but exaggerated style. Really playing with the camera angles and stretching the models. I think reserving the fun animation for these moments was a great idea, as it made them really stand out from everything else.

Continue reading “Paranoia Agent – 2 [The Golden Shoes] – Throwback Thursday” →

Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 15 [Place of Destiny]

by Lenlo, posted in Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru

Welcome back to running made interesting, Kaze Fui! This week the team makes it to the qualifiers, Hana teases some twins and Haiji finds a cliffhanger! Let’s start runnin!

Starting off, I am surprised we made it to the qualifier so quickly. Sure, we just had a training arc, but I figured we would get another episode of buildup. It’s a good thing, really, because we have 8 episodes left and I expect the Ekiden to take up probably half of those. As for the team, it was nice seeing them come together, again. I really should stop enjoying it, it’s happened so much, but I just can’t stop. It’s nice seeing them all prepare in their own ways. King memorizing the route, Yuki relaxing with his music, Musa in the bath, Kurahara going for more runs. Its all these little personality quirks, the in between moments, that make each of these characters feel equally important. Each of them have, or will soon have, their own stories that all tie together, and I love it.

Continue reading “Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 15 [Place of Destiny]” →