Author: SuperWooper

State of the Season – Summer 2020

by SuperWooper, posted in State of the Season

Armitage: With the entire world slowly returning to order after being kicked in the shin and knocked around in 19 ways, it’s only fitting that we check-in to see that everyone is getting back to their normal lives. Now, since this is an anime blog, our normal is basically watching a crap-ton of anime every season! And even though this summer we got far fewer shows than ever, the dark horses delivered, the sleepers packed a punch and the heavy hitter(s) really knocked the living hell out of a recently married high-school girl wielding a wooden sword. cough cough

But of course, since we’re all different people, we’re bound to have different tastes! Did we too like that one show you feel guilty about watching every week or are most of us not fans of your favorite anime this season?

Read on to find out!

What show are you enjoying that you’re not reviewing?

Wooper: Though I give Houkago Teibou Nisshi shoutouts in our weekly summary posts, it isn’t getting the full blogging treatment, so it gets my vote. If you like cute girls, fishing, relaxing ambiance, or reaction faces, this show may be for you. If you like at least three of those four, this show is definitely for you. It’s one of the better high school club shows I’ve seen recently, and though it won’t go down as many viewers’ favorite anime of the year, it’ll make your Tuesdays a bit happier each week.

Amun: I’d normally say Re:Zero, but since it’s a given that most anime fans are watching that this season – Misfit of Demon King School. It’s so bad. It’s so bad that I’m not even sure I have the name right. But if you enjoyed the sage of technological One True Tatsuya a few seasons back – this kind of (over) power fantasy is right up your alley.

Lenlo: Fujiko Mine, Deca-Dence and Great Pretender.

Armitage: Re:Zero is back and great as ever! So, obviously I have to watch it because you can never have too much death and suffering in life. I am also watching God of Highschool week in, week out. It’s amazing how relaxing this show is for me. I just have to turn off my brain and just like that, half an hour has passed. Take that, lockdowns.

Mario: Deca-Dence and Great Pretender. Since we’re going to talk in detail about the former at the end of this post, I want to give a special mention to Great Pretender. It’s a show that if you think too deeply about some plot twist or plot development then all the pieces can fall apart (like the explosion that kills no one in the first case, yeah!), but its main appeal lies in how entertaining it is. From the fun and smart stories to the bouncing off between the cast to the drop dead gorgeous visual designs, it knows and embodies the “cool” factor. It also gives our cast some outstanding character development; Cynthia’s fierce bids in that auction wouldn’t be that rewarding without knowing her backstory and how she became who she is now. In other words, Great Pretender is cool as fuck.

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The God of High School – 06 [fear/SIX]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Action, The God of High School

The God of High School? More like The God of High Speed. This installment introduced so many new stories and characters that I’d need five hands to count them all. The unmasking of the religious cult from several weeks back has begun, plus we were treated to reveals of “The Six,” a group of elite martial artists, one of whom became integral to the plot merely by implication. And hey, we’re already moving on to the next phase of the GOH tournament, so we got to meet a bunch of the high schoolers from other Korean cities who will be taking part. Oh, it’s also a team tournament now. And the pointy-nosed announcer from the previous phase? He was blind. I say “was” because he’s dead, as is the green-haired tournament organizer with the scythe-wielding spirit fighter. They were both killed by the same guy, a fire user from the cult I mentioned previously, and –

Is this sounding like too much material for one episode yet?

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The God of High School – 05 [ronde/hound]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Action, The God of High School

Now that the Bride of High School arc has ended, we’re back to business with the GOH finals between Mori and Daewi. Their fight is flashy, fun, and brings the three main characters back together after a phase of bitter enmity – but it’s only a success if you willfully ignore episode 4’s nonsensical detours of plot and character. So that’s exactly what I’m going to do! No talk of Mira’s nanomachine-enhanced recovery, or the baffling encouragement she gave to Daewi just days after he beat her to a pulp. No dwelling on the disappointingly brief fight between Mori and Jaehee, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu user whose name we’d all forgotten before reading this sentence. No thinking about the fruit that Mori ate two weeks ago, which really should have taken effect by now, given how critical its framing was to that episode. It’s time to “get hype,” as the kids say, for some noncritical combat animation appreciation.

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Great Pretender – 09-10 [Singapore Sky]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense, Great Pretender

We’ve reached the conclusion to Singapore Sky, my least favorite of Great Pretender’s three cases thus far. I love origin stories, so Los Angeles Connection’s task of integrating Makoto into Laurent’s gang of crooks was right up my alley, and the upcoming Snow of London is a breezy revenge tale with some nice Cynthia focus. ‘Singapore,’ by contrast, is the darkest of the three arcs, with war-torn backstories and active death drives, yet it also uses more narrative cogs than its cousins. Watching these last two episodes, I felt that Luis’s involvement pushed the story beyond its carrying capacity – but that doesn’t mean there weren’t a lot of great moments in episodes 9 and 10. Let’s run them down (along with the not-so-great stuff) after the jump.

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The God of High School – 03 [wisdom/kingdom]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Action, The God of High School

After three episodes, The God of High School still has no intention of explaining why its martial arts tournament is of such earth-shattering consequence. Top Korean politicians are involved in its operation, the Pentagon is monitoring its progress, and now a religious cult is planning to hijack the tourney for its own gain. In all three of these opening scenes, the links between those organizations and the tournament itself have been purposefully vague, which has surely frustrated a portion of the series’ audience. Personally, though, I’m not sweating the details at this stage. The fights are still fun, the tone is still dumb, and the story is moving at a faster-than-average clip. That narrative speed may be pushing us toward the threshold of Big Reveals, or it might blow past the governments and cults without a reason for their appearance. Either way, GoH is the kind of show that doesn’t need to justify its detours – just its developments. And boy, were there a ton of the latter in this episode.

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Great Pretender – 07-08 [Singapore Sky]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense, Great Pretender

This was a tale of two episodes for me. Number 7 was an excellent stage-setter for both the upcoming con on the Ibrahim brothers and Abby’s deteriorating psychology; number 8 was a jumble of confused dialogue and crossed wires. On the one hand, it’s awesome that I didn’t find significant fault with this series until its eighth installment (and that fault is subjective to begin with). On the other, I’d have loved for the show to fly high for its entire run, especially since one of summer’s other top prospects, Japan Sinks, just pooped its pants in spectacular fashion. It’s not like Great Pretender’s flirtation with mediocrity puts it in the same league, but a spotless track record would have been neat. But what made episode 8 so spotty? For that matter, what made number 7 so good? Let’s get into it.

Continue reading “Great Pretender – 07-08 [Singapore Sky]” →

The God of High School – 02 [renewal/soul]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Action, The God of High School

The God of High School is far from my usual blogging fare. I’m not averse to action series by any means (Dorohedoro is one of my favorite anime of 2020 so far), but something so brashly combat-driven would usually fall outside my strike zone. And yet, I can’t deny the raw energy on display here, which stems mainly from the fight animation. After just two episodes, the list of ADs and studios providing 2nd key animation already spans plenty of virtual parchment, and it’s easy to see where their efforts are going. GoH’s lawless brawls are fast and furious, accounting for 90% of the show’s highlights thus far – but there’s a bit more to the show’s structure than endless martial arts matchups.

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Some Quick First Impressions: OreGairu S3, Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai, Kanojo Okarishimasu

by SuperWooper, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Oregairu S3

Short Synopsis: Antisocial antihero manages to give all nearby girls/guys feelings. And doesn’t eat his cookies.

Amun’s review:

Five years after the 8-man rode the wave of adolescent antisocial nostalgia, our awkward triangle/trio returns – exactly where we left them. Now – first of all, anyone who says they remember who Saki was either a) just rewatched the series in preparation or b) is lying and just looked it up. It’s been a while. My feeling is this season will be a farewell tour – saying goodbye to characters one by one until the final trio is resolved; we already saw this with Saki and the little sisters. I’m curious what’s going on with the Western formal wear in the OP – there tends to be a main event each season, so that’s probably related. I guess the biggest point of speculation is the ending of the obvious final ship; Yahari, for all its sneering, is too vanilla for a yuri ending, but I could see some BS throple avoidance of a real answer. The just-friends route is still an option too, but that would be lame. I mean, last season’s 8th son managed a proper harem, so maybe this season’s 8-man will do the same.

And so help me, if Hachiman doesn’t eat his damn cookies, I will knock the stupid out of him, making him 4-man.

Potential: 88.888888%

Mario’s review:

It feels rather nostalgic to see OreGairu back on screen, on that very day, as the characters look the same and we’re now 5 years older and wiser. For me, while this premiere doesn’t really establish the arc to come as it concerns more about Hachiman’s everyday life, it displays many of the show’s core qualities, for better or for worse. There’s a mix between light comic moments where the characters make “smart remarks” about the LN tropes – they fire imouto tropes in all cylinders here and overblown drama that grabs your heartstrings – sister takes a bow to send her gratitude to her brother. Really? Individually each part can be grating but OreGairu has that quality of making them affecting nonetheless. The thing I like most about the series, its attention and love to the characters’ little gestures and movements are still there. Hachiman and his little sister has always been one of my favorites so every moment they are together is just gold to me, but I can’t say the same with the Saki and Hachiman’s pair – Saki remains the least memorable character out of this entire cast. It’s lovely to see our awkward boy back with all the girls (and boys), that’s for sure, and I’m in for the ride, wherever it leads me.

Potential: 60%

Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai!

Short Synopsis: Girl manipulates her lazy senpai into having fun.

Armitage’s review:

Let’s just talk about the elephant in the room. YES. THOSE BREASTS ARE UNREALISTICALLY HUGE. Moving on.
I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did. If there was a section in our first impressions for ‘most charming anime of the season’, this would undoubtedly take the cake. Although, it’s facing almost no competition, but still. We have a cheery female MC with a great pair personality and her lazy-ass senpai who just wants to be left alone so he can have his chicken karaage in peace after watching a movie by himself. The chemistry between the two is what instills the charm in this story. It’s a loud, slapstick comedy with plenty of moments capable of earning laughs from the viewers. The production quality is satisfactory and the soundtrack is serviceable. The only caveat I have is the slight over-reliance on well, the boob jokes. But I guess one would know that’d be the case even before pressing play on an episode. If the show can tone those down going forward, then this can easily be a sleeper hit for the season.

Potential: 70%

Wooper’s review:

Here are the two conversation loops that power this dumbass premiere.

#1:
Sakurai: I regret having to spend time with you, but I guess it’s happening anyway.
Uzaki: Yay! By the way, aren’t you, like, kind of a loser? LOL
Sakurai: [visibly frustrated] Listen here, you little shit. My lifestyle is totally normal, and here are some Facts and Logic to prove it.
Uzaki: Naruhodou! You really are the coolest and most logical spiky-haired anime protag in recent times. But for real though, aren’t you still kind of a nerd? XD
Sakurai: [suppresses the hilarious urge to hit a woman]

#2:
Sakurai: I guess spending time with Uzaki isn’t so bad, after all.
Uzaki: [draws attention to herself]
Sakurai: Why are you so annoying?
Uzaki: [has large breasts]
Sakurai: Why are your titties so sugoi dekai? [TL note: “sugoi dekai” means ‘big plan’]

Rinse and repeat.

Potential: 0%

Kanojo, Okarishimasu

Short Synopsis: Loser MC wants to get laid, no matter the cost. Literally.

Armitage’s review:

Now I’ll be honest, I am not a fan of the bland-male-protagonist-hitting-it-up-with-the-gorgeously-perfect-girl-who-is-way-out-of-his-league subgenre of romantic comedies because well, when I am rooting for the guy to get the girl, I want to at least like the guy. Which, in such stories, is rarely the case. Does Ren-Kano fall under the same category? Most definitely it does. The male lead is highly unlikeable, the female MC has the overdone twin-personality trait and if the premiere would have only involved the two of them, I’d have passed on it instantly. But thankfully, this story or at least the premiere does have one saving grace: the supporting cast. Generic loser MC’s parents and grandmother fare much better in terms of likeability and the comedic moments the show churned out of their reactions did genuinely make me laugh. Of course, that by itself is no reason to watch this week by week. None of them may feature extensively in the coming episodes. But still, I’ll give it a couple of episodes to give me something or someone to root for before giving up on it entirely, even though now I don’t think this will become an in-depth look into the escort industry which is kind of what I was hoping for.

Potential: 55%

Lenlo’s review:

Surprisingly wholesome for what is effectively a soft-core escort service. Armitage basically hit the nail on the head, our leading pair are actually the worst, dullest part of the show. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before in rom-coms, and Ren-Kano doesn’t seem to be doing anything different to change it up either. The supporting cast, and all the gags they are involved in, are really the best part. Playing up the grandparents, the father and mother, all of that was the best the episode had to offer. Sadly unlike Armitage, I didn’t enjoy it near as much. My brand of comedy leans more towards gallows humor than this “Your grand-daughter is my fake girlfriend because it keeps you out of the hospital” shtick. Still credit where it’s due, Ren-Kano was actually not mediocre for around 10 minutes of its runtime. So if this is your wheelhouse, I figure you’ll be able to find something to enjoy here.

Potential: 30%

Great Pretender – 06 [Singapore Sky, Part 1]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense, Great Pretender

After concluding its first case on such an odd and intriguing note, my big fear for Great Pretender was that Edamura’s character reboot would alter the show’s DNA somehow. “Main character attempts genuine reform by turning himself in to the cops” isn’t a common path for heist stories, after all. A two year time skip is one thing, but using that time to rehabilitate a con man before throwing him back into a den of crooks? I can only speculate as to the purpose of such a decision – but hey, the show pulled it off with only a hiccup or two. From finding comfort in his prison routine to the somber mood surrounding his release, Great Pretender molded Edamura into a man looking for peace. And he found it, for a while, before getting dragged into the world of high stakes thievery once again.

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