Author: Lenlo

Banana Fish – 23 [For Whom the Bell Tolls]

by Lenlo, posted in Banana Fish, Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama

Welcome one and all penultimate episode of Banana Fish! This week we lose 2 antagonists, Blanca gets a history and Ash asks for help for the first time. Lets go!

Opening, I have to say, a lot happened this week and Banana Fish just nailed it. No part of it felt particularly rushed or cut. Sure, parts came as a surprise, such as Dino’s fate, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t work. If anything, the surprise of who are final villain is made it work even more. I was not expecting the episode to go down how it did. Of course, I am talking about Foxx and Dino, which I will get into deeper in just a moment. Now, I suppose this justifies Foxx’s introduction so late in the series a bit. I still think that compared to say Arthur or Yut, he is a much weaker villain. I wish he had more time to build his character and threat. But for a narrative surprise? Good enough. Now, onto the meat!

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Planetes – 17 & 18 [His Reasons/Debris Sections Last Day] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Planetes, Throwback Thursday

Hello and welcome to another week of Throwback Thursday, with Planetes! This time Planetes drops it’s greater themes for some character drama, but brings it back with one big hurrah for our team. Lets jump in!

In general, I wasn’t particularly impressed by this week. Every week I am waiting for something definitive to happen. For the series to kick into some final arc. And every week it gives us another character focused piece. Yeah, we moved forward a bit this week, but it just feels slow. The cast at this point is huge, and I just don’t understand why Planetes is still introducing new characters. I feel like it would be better spent focusing on the ones we have. There were glimpses of that, Gigalt has become an important recurring character, and the Ninja’s showed up for a brief moment. We even saw the return of the 3rd Division Chief, who I was sure would be a one off villain. When these instances happen, I love it. I love the callbacks and consistency. But the stream of weekly new characters concerns me.

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Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 11 [Overflowing Drops]

by Lenlo, posted in Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru

Hello and welcome to the last week of Kaze Fui for 2018! This time Shindo gets dumped, the team rallies behind him and Kurahara catches an older mans eye. Lets jump in!

First off, lets get the elephant out of the room. That’s right folks, no Kaze Fui until January 8th. Looks like they are taking a break between seasons. It’s not unusual for the Holidays, but it does mean less pretentious blog posts from yours truly. That out of the way, onto the actual anime. This was the first week Kaze Fui failed to ‘WOW’ me. It’s not bad by any stretch, I still love it. But it feels like the series knows about the 3 week break and is choosing to calm down for a moment before the Holidays. We got some development of Shindo, and it was good. We also get to see our team come together, even Kurahara joining in, to comfort him. But there were no big revelations or big paradigm shifts like the last few episodes. Maybe that’s for the best though.

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Banana Fish – 22 [As I Lay Dying]

by Lenlo, posted in Banana Fish, Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama

Welcome to what is, to me, a very contentious episode of Banana Fish. This time Blanca gets sentimental, Ash learns Japanese, and Eiji sets Ash on a Warpath through no fault of his own. Let’s dive in!

Overall, this was a good episode. It flipped everything on its head and, assuming Banana Fish doesn’t backpedal on it next week, really committed to it. With what has happened to Max and Eiji this week, it goes without saying that stake’s haven’t been higher than when Shorter was done in. Banana Fish also really slowed itself down pacing wise this week as well. For the past few episodes, we have burned through content at a breakneck pace. Freeing Ash, right into another gun-fight, into being captured again. This episode Banana Fish freed Ash and then gave the characters some much needed downtime. Establishing the final stakes and their relationships. With 2 episodes left, to clean up the series and give us some kind of epilogue with the double length finale, this is a good thing. Now, onto specifics!

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Planetes – 15 & 16 [In Her Case…/Ignition] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Planetes, Throwback Thursday

Hello and welcome to perhaps the most intense week of Planetes yet. This time our Temp Worker gets some history and Hachimaki develops space PTSD. Let’s dive in!

Off the bat, I want to apologize again for this being late. Work and doing 4 shows at once has slowed me down a bit. That said, for these episodes, I thought one was fantastic and the other serviceable. It should be rather obvious which is which. When Planetes focuses on its bigger themes, of borders and space, it’s fantastic. But this week the focus on a side character with barely 2 lines an episode, while not bad, simply wasn’t up to snuff. I will get into more detail in just a moment, but the fact is, it was simply too little to late for her character. We are more than half-way in now, we have a strong and fleshed out cast. Why are we introducing the backstory of a character who has done basically nothing until now? It boggles the mind.

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Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteru – 10 [Our Speed]

by Lenlo, posted in Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru

Welcome one and all, to the most wholesome episode of Kaze Fui yet. This week Prince and Kurahara finally connect, Hana cooks dinner and a track meet comes to a curious end. Lets jump in!

Kaze Fui continues strong this week, not content to sit back and simply milk Haiji’s condition. No, instead of spending an entire episode hemming and hawing about it, Kaze Fui focuses instead on its consequences. We see how Kurahara does truly step up to lead, and learns in the process. The rest of the dorm also got to see just how much Haiji did for them. From the twins and Hana cooking, to Shindo and Yuki with leading their exercises. I liked how Kaze Fui spread out the effect of Haiji’s sickness to hit each of them. Yes, Kurahara and Prince are the central figures of the episode, but Kaze Fui didn’t forget the rest of the cast. And its details like that which make me love each and every member of the cast.

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Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-San – 9 [A Book about Life, Death, and Rebirth]

by Lenlo, posted in Finished Series: Comedy, Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-San

Hello and welcome to perhaps the best week of Honda-San yet. This time we get one long skit, clever writing and well mixed in education. All in a 10 minute package! Lets jump in.

To me, this was the best episode of Honda-San since the first. The gags were clever and the single topic allowed for them to build on each other. For instance the topic of the week was the Life Cycle of a Book. Had this been a normal 5 minute segment, we would have gotten maybe a single joke on each part of the cycle. Surface level at best. Instead, this longer time span let Honda-San hit each from both the comedy and educational sides. For instance I had no idea about “dead books”, that got eventually removed from the shelves. I just assumed they sat there are got sent to the back, until they sold. But that it is actually a struggle, and someone is in charge of making that decisions? And that it was presented in such a funny way? Fantastic.

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Banana Fish – 20 & 21 [The Unvanquished/The Undefeated]

by Lenlo, posted in Banana Fish, Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama

Hello and welcome to Banana Fish! Apologies for missing last week, but the call of Thanksgiving Turkey could not be denied. This time Eiji fires a gun, Max gets groped, and Ash gets captured. Again. Lets jump in!

To start off, I have to mention it, the elephant in the room, the pacing. My god was the pacing fast. Early on in the series, this was a plus. It never felt like nothing was happening. But the pacing has only increased since then, as we burn through more and more volumes. Episode 20 alone we went from Ballroom Infiltration, to Sewer Chase, to Museum Fight, to prepping a new villain. At the least this should have been split into 2 episodes, so the leads could have time to cooldown between these set pieces. For me, this really hurt these two episodes. Banana Fish was jumping from cut to cut, scene to scene, without any artistry put into it. The tone broke down because of this and became a jumbled mess. Fast is good Banana Fish, but only if you stay in control. And in control, it was not.

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Planetes – 13 & 14 [Scenery with a Rocket/Turning Point] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Planetes, Throwback Thursday

Welcome everyone to another, rather late, week of Planetes! Apologies for that, work has been busy this week. This time we get to meet everyone’s families, Hachimaki makes a move and Fee gets a new ship. Lets jump in!

So in general, I thought these two episodes were well put together. Nothing phenomenal, I didn’t break down weeping at any point. But it looked good, and the characters were used well. A perfect example of both for me is Hachimaki’s little brother, Kyuutarou. Animation wise, his time in the shed looked great. After the break you will find an image of him testing his rocket that I think stood out. The contrasting blacks, to make the shot look brighter than it is, all worked. As a character he also provided us a look into Hachimaki and a continuation of Yuri. Both of which I was glad for. Did it make me question things like Hachi’s time on the moon, or tear up like Yuri mourning his wife? No. But it was good nonetheless.

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Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 9 [Mismatched Runners]

by Lenlo, posted in Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru

Welcome one and all to another week of Kaze Fui! This week Haiji takes care of his team, the twin’s can’t keep a secret and Kurahara shows more growth sitting on the sidelines than some MC’s do in their pivotal moments. Lets jump in!

To start off, let this episode be proof of Kaze Fui’s Director’s skill. So much was conveyed purely through shot composition and framing. The entire track meet, with the angles, the focus on their expressions while running. Kurahara’s slow realization, showing us what he sees. I loved it. Definitely these details earn the Director a pat on the back. But to me, it also reflects well on Kaze Fui’s source material. To give the Director this much to work with. There is a clear difference in quality of writing it seems, between lite-novels and legitimate Novels. It helps that this is the same author who wrote Fune wo Amu, a personal favorite of mine the year it aired. She has a talent for writing realistic characters, who are more than just a bundle of personality traits slapped together. As proof, let’s look into some of those characters.

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