Author: SuperWooper

Fall 2021 Summary – Week 8

by SuperWooper, posted in Weekly Summary

Super Crooks – 1-2

Wooper: I went into Super Crooks completely blind, so I had no idea it was a superhero – or more accurately, supervillain – series. Turns out it’s a “mature” take on the genre in the same vein as The Boys or Invincible, which in this case means comically large-scale violence and implied sex. The violence showed up in episode 1, a high school origin story for newbie hero Johnny “Electro Boy” Bolt, with all the Spiderman theft that entails (the “hero” even has a crush on his bully’s girlfriend). Compulsory scenes of Johnny confiding in his nerdy best friend and trying on his first costume had my eyelids drooping, but the over-the-top carnage of his superhero debut (which ended with a bunch of dead pigs in a public swimming pool) managed to wake me up. Cut to episode 2, set in the present day, where an adult Johnny is released from prison and the exposition begins to flow. Tales of powerful enemies and a shadowy villain organization were all over the second script, but they were neither illuminating nor tantalizing enough to hook me. For all the show’s clunkiness, it’s amusing to see Bones tackle this material, even if its stiff visuals tell us it was hardly a priority. The substudio that produced it is also working on Mob Psycho 100’s upcoming third season, but hey, I doubt anyone would protest that Super Crooks was sacrificed at the altar of Mob’s wondrous animation.

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Fall 2021 Summary – Weeks 6-7

by SuperWooper, posted in Weekly Summary

Blade Runner: Black Lotus – 1-2

Wooper: Black Lotus is yet another of Sola Digital Arts’ CG reimaginings of classic sci-fi properties. Kenji Kamiyama (who also directed the Star Wars: Visions episode discussed below) and Shinji Aramaki have been pumping these out for a few years, and now it’s Blade Runner’s turn to get the Barbie treatment. So what’s the verdict, setting aside my distaste for the primitive 3D art style? After two episodes, I’d call it a passable replication; the rainy neon streets, murky lighting, and Vangelis-inspired soundtrack evoke the original film, but only superficially. (I haven’t seen 2049, so it may be that Black Lotus’s vacant streets are a more accurate reflection of Villeneuve’s sequel, but they certainly can’t hold a candle to the bustling exteriors of Ridley Scott’s version.) The story is a wisp of a thing with an amnesiac protagonist (Elle) and a handful of fight scenes to mask the absence of atmosphere. Most of the characters lean too far in one direction or another – the friendly black market trader is too helpful, while the corrupt senator is too evil. Episode 2’s final moments served as a pretty good hook, though – the show skillfully cut between Elle being hunted in both the past and the present, leading to a cliffhanger that honestly surprised me. I wouldn’t recommend this series to many people, but Blade Runner superfans can rest easy knowing it’s got a shade of promise.

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Heike Monogatari – 09

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama, Heike Monogatari

The year is 1184. Having fled Fukuhara to escape Genji troops, the Heike are forced to undergo several further relocations in order to avoid their pursuers. In the meantime, Go-Shirakawa returns to the capital and crowns a new Emperor in Antoku’s absence, thus undermining the Heike’s plan to return to their former influence. Go-Shirakawa is not without opposition in Kyoto, however; the Genji general Yoshinaka captures him in a bid to strengthen his control of the capital. Yoshinaka plans to launch an attack on his cousin Yoritomo and make himself head of the Genji, but Go-Shirakawa sends a messenger to alert his would-be victim of the plot. With this warning in mind, Yoritomo assigns his calculating half-brother Yoshitsune to attack the capital, resulting in Yoshinaka’s death. As this Genji infighting plays out, the Heike return to Fukuhara and make a stand at the Battle of Ichi-no-tani, but are outmaneuvered and forced to flee once more, their troops having been reduced to a mere 3000.

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Fall 2021 Summary – Week 5

by SuperWooper, posted in Weekly Summary

Wooper: Just me again this week. Our State of the Season post will replace this column next Tuesday, and it’s looking like a heated one – lots of conflicting opinions on the fall’s anime so far. I’ll be back on the 23rd with impressions of one or two new things, hopefully with a friend or two in tow.

PokeToon – 6-7

PokeToon is an anthology project consisting of short pieces set within different regions in the Pokemon universe. There’s tremendous variety between each episode’s art and animation styles, which is the sort of thing I love – all the more so when the perennially underrated Studio Colorido is involved. Their work on last year’s Twilight Wings established them as the go-to group for vignettes in this world, and they’ve only improved their batting average here, handling four of PokeToon’s seven episodes thus far. That includes episode 6, an adorably spooky tale about a girl who turns into a Gengar while exploring her school after dark. I found the story’s climax to be genuinely suspenseful, and then surprisingly emotional once the tension had been resolved, thanks to the age-old ‘character steps from darkness into light’ trick (bolstered by Colorido’s standout lighting, which is second only to KyoAni’s). Here’s a link to [I Became a Gengar?!] as part of a playlist with the earlier episodes. Be advised that it doesn’t contain the most recent one, a less impactful but still attractive story about a trio of boys who rescue an abandoned Snorunt. Its shorter runtime and limited animation make it one of the series’ minor offerings, but its art design, which borrows from felt and paper cutout animation, is worth seeking out if you like those styles.

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Heike Monogatari – 08

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama, Heike Monogatari

Biwa’s role in Heike Monogatari is a strange thing. Despite having been introduced as our main character, she’s operated mostly as an observer since the third episode, and with her recent banishment from the Taira clan, she’s less connected to the main story than ever. It seems clear that screenwriter Yoshida intends her to be the Tale of the Heike’s author, hence all the parallels to the white-haired lute priest, who has recited snippets of the poem as though it were already written. Divorced from the action as Biwa is, she’ll need to rely on her supernatural eyesight to compile the tale, which explains its inclusion as a character trait. Yoshida has all her bases covered, then, but it still feels odd for our one-time lead character to be such a tagalong. Biwa bookended this week’s episode in the first and last scenes, but apart from those appearances, she showed up just twice. I’d be quicker to criticize the show for this issue if its plot didn’t span 15 years of Japanese history (wherein most potential protagonists died partway through).

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Fall 2021 Summary – Week 4

by SuperWooper, posted in Weekly Summary

Wooper: It’s a solo recap post for your boy this week, which I’m fearing may happen more than once this season (despite my practice of pestering my co-writers). I’m trying to give my impressions on at least one unique anime each week, so titles like PokeToon, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, Super Crooks, and Aggretsuko S4 will likely appear in this column as the fall season stretches on. Even if there’s something new to talk about every Tuesday, though, it helps to have some-one new to talk with me. Know what I’m saying, fellow authors?

Deji Meets Girl – 1-5

There are dozens of full-length anime series, particularly comedies, whose airy senses of humor would work better in short form. On the other hand, most shorts wouldn’t benefit from longer runtimes, as their premises are bite-sized to begin with. Deji Meets Girl is a notable exception to that second rule, because it’s trying to build a legitimate relationship between its main characters – an Okinawan part-time worker and a teen idol on vacation – but it keeps running up against the restrictions of its format. It’s unfortunate that this clash keeps occurring, because I like a lot of things about this show. The thick linework grounds the characters in reality even as they experience supernatural happenings (plus it reminds me of Gal & Dino, which I love to the moon and back). The animation is strong (especially in the premiere), the color palette shifts to match the new phenomena introduced in each episode, and all the teasing in the script is executed in good fun. At just 90 seconds per episode, though, it’s too chopped up to build anything substantial between its two leads. That’s too bad, because if Deji had gotten five minutes to work with each week, it could have fought for a spot on my year-end list.

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Heike Monogatari – 07

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama, Heike Monogatari

The year is 1181. Not long after achieving political dominance in western Japan, the Taira clan’s power has already begun to fade. Their move to Fukuhara is short-lived, and the capital returns to Kyoto a mere six months after its relocation. Interpreting this return as a sign of aggression, the warrior monks of Nara engage the Heike in combat, but suffer a great loss when their temples (as well as a massive Buddha statue) are burned in the course of the Heike’s retaliation. Kiyomori, who gleefully welcomes news of the burning, is struck with karmic payback in the form of an unquenchable fever, which ultimately leads to his death (and condemnation to the lowest level of hell). His son Munemori, by the anime’s account a rat-faced sycophant, intends to succeed his father and honor his dying wish: to have the head of enemy commander Yoritomo hung before his grave. But provinces to the north, east and west are all allying themselves with Genji forces, painting a bleak picture of the Heike’s military prospects, and indeed, their continued survival.

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Fall 2021 Summary – Week 3

by SuperWooper, posted in Weekly Summary

Lupin III Part 6 – 2

Mario: Sherlock goes full Kingsman mode in this second episode (they missed their chance of using an umbrella instead of Sherlock’s walking stick but that’s just me) and yes, he manages to kick all the Lupin team’s asses. This episode is light on plot as it concentrates heavily on action set pieces. Lily is indeed the daughter of poor dead Watson and the last thing she remembers is that Lupin killed her father. Of course this is a red-herring but that is enough for Sherlock to confront Lupin and get his former partner’s daughter out of danger for good. The set pieces are fun and awesome and for that I’m looking forward to more Lupin to come.

Kaguya-sama S3 – PV

Wooper: Most anime PVs are pretty barebones, featuring a few bits of animation and a bunch of character intro stills matched with voicework from their respective seiyuu. A handful of PVs each season are fully-fledged trailers, pulling impressive cuts from a show’s first few episodes and smartly stringing them together to create a picture of how the anime will look and feel. And then there’s Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai, which just dropped an entire ten-minute episode to promote its upcoming third season. As if that weren’t enough, its story revolved around Ishigami and Shirogane’s excitement at their favorite manga adaptation getting a third season; I don’t know what the most self-referential anime comedy of all time is (Gintama? Osomatsu-san?), but Kaguya-sama just gave it a run for its money. This PV was a big surprise, and a very welcome one, given its hilariously authentic look at concealing your love of anime to escape the judgment of your non-otaku friends. The resolution, in which Shirogane proclaimed all people who have ever seen a single anime to be otaku, had a great handle on the sort of comedic hyperbole necessary to sell that sort of breakdown. Kaguya even made a reference to the classic WMT series Anne of Green Gables, confirming her Best Girl status once and for all. Great stuff all around – looking forward to season 3 in April of next year!

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Heike Monogatari – 06

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama, Heike Monogatari

Heike Monogatari returned this week to the more character-oriented stories of its first two episodes. The renewed focus on Shigemori’s children saw Biwa come back in a major way, and the introduction of Atsumori’s naïve character was handled with detail, giving the show a strong symbol of innocence that it can corrupt at its leisure. Kiyomori’s hoarding of wealth and power was contextualized by his abhorrence of aristocratic decadence, and his grandson’s continued military struggles received further consideration. (I’m still not totally happy with Koremori’s arc – why does the show continue to limit his screen time outside of military settings? – but I won’t spend a second post lamenting Heike’s shortcomings here.) Even retired emperor Takakura (now on his sickbed) got to share a tender moment with Tokuko, framing their relationship in a much warmer light than previous interactions. Much darker was the revelation that their son, the newly crowned Emperor Antoku, “starts crying when he hears the waves.” How’s that for foreshadowing the fate of a future drowning victim?

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