Author: SuperWooper

Great Pretender – 01-05 [Los Angeles Connection]

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

In the realm of “Netflix Original” anime, my favorite remains 2019’s Rilakkuma and Kaoru (a stop motion ode to kindness and carefree living), but the much wilder and more subversive Great Pretender is currently giving it a run for its money. 14 of its projected 23 episodes were made available for Japanese viewers at the start of this month, and all 14 have been fansubbed in English since that time. The script is smart and snappy, too, which makes it a perfect fit for this ultra-polished effort from Hiro Kaburagi and Wit Studio. Kaburagi’s previous series was 91 Days, a mafia-themed revenge drama set in Prohibition-era America. Given that he chose to follow that up with a globe-hopping caper series inspired by Hollywood heist films, it’s clear that the man is something of a westaboo. But hey, that’s the kind of nerdiness you need to pull off a project this ambitious – well, that and a killer creative team – and luckily for fans of great anime, Great Pretender checks both boxes.

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Yesterday wo Utatte Review – 72/100

by SuperWooper, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Romance, Reviews by SuperWooper, Yesterday wo Utatte

How much weight should a poor conclusion have in the final analysis of an otherwise well-executed series? Should you take a mathematical approach, calculating which percentage of its episodes didn’t meet an average standard of goodness? Or should you work based on feelings – the degree to which your memory of the show is stained by a lousy ending? Personally, I’d say that either method is fine, so long as you factor in the strength of the series before its implosion. In Yesterday wo Utatte’s case, its first 11 episodes were better than its finale was bad. That schizophrenic bus monologue and badly-timed confession can’t erase the heartache of Shinako’s backstory, or the show’s excellent supporting character work, or its vivid sense of nostalgia. This is an anime that stood atop the spring season for most of its run, then punted its crown in week 12. That doesn’t mean it joins Shachou, Battle no Jikan desu! and Shadowverse at the bottom of the seasonal barrel; it just moves down a couple spots on the winner’s podium.

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Yesterday wo Utatte – 11-12

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Romance, Yesterday wo Utatte

You’ve already heard the news by now, I’m sure, but the idea of this series getting an 18-episode order was a faulty bit of reporting by The Internet’s Most Trusted Anime News Source. Those six phantom episodes, once thought to be full-length TV offerings, actually referred to the short webisodes that followed half of the show’s regular installments. The last of those webisodes is available here, but you’d be forgiven for regarding it as insufficient closure; I doubt there’s a universe where a two-minute animated postmortem could fix what went down in episode 12 of Yesterday wo Utatte. Even as somebody who fully expected a Rikuo/Haru endgame, the conclusion I saw last Saturday was pretty damaging to the show’s overall reputation. But the final episode shouldn’t bear all the blame here – 11’s handling of the Rikuo/Shinako relationship set the stage for its sequel’s failure. If you’re wondering how that could be, hit the jump to see what I mean.

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Summer 2020 Season Preview

by SuperWooper, posted in Seasonal Previews

Lenlo: Time passes, leaves grow, allergy season fades and first world nations descend into civil war. Yet still my barber is closed due to COVID-19. Hard times, huh? He isn’t the only thing closed though, as studios continue to postpone series, with only 19 new anime airing this season, 6 of which are sequels. But oh, what big sequels they are. We have two of the biggest Isekai currently on the market, the return of literal fire fighters, and everyone’s favorite high school based romantic drama. Needless to say, just because there aren’t many series airing doesn’t mean we will be lacking for good choices. So strap in, as we here at Star Crossed Anime break down the 2020 Summer Season.

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ALREADY AIRED

Great Pretender

Studio: Wit
Director: Hiro Kaburagi
Series composition: Ryouta Kosawa
Source: Original

Wooper: What if I told you that fansubbing isn’t dead? This Netflix Japan series made its way online at the start of June, and a whopping 10 episodes have been translated at the time of this writing. I’ve seen only two of them, but they were good enough to make me optimistic about the show’s expected run of 23 episodes. Actually, “good enough” is doing this thing a disservice, so let me rephrase; Great Pretender’s first pair of episodes was an unqualified success. From the hard bop jazz score to the multiple layers of its con artist-centered story, this is a series that never takes its foot off the “style” pedal. Director Hiro Kaburagi has attracted a bunch of the industry’s top talent to the project, including Yuusuke Takeda (of Eccentric Family fame) as art director and Gainax legend Yoshiyuki Sadamoto on character designs. This thing looks and sounds like an absolute dream, and the characters are all career criminals whose banter and one-upmanship give them undeniable personality. Honestly, Great Pretender is the whole package. It’s ten whole packages. And if you’re still on the fence about watching it for some reason, look for its OP and ED on YouTube (the latter of which is performed by Freddie fuckin’ Mercury), and prepare to groove harder than you’ve ever grooved before.

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Kaguya-sama S2 – 09-10

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Comedy, Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai

Two weeks ago, I wrote that Kaguya-sama’s second season was stuck in an alternating pattern of great and mediocre episodes. Among the mediocre ones, there was a tendency to create five-minute plots to push the cast into strange modes of behavior (Shirogane’s glare disappearing), or repeatedly underline a character’s most obvious trait (Iino’s conservatism). Those trends were largely absent from episodes 9-10, however, having been replaced by a dedication to backstory and self-commentary that made this the series’ best one-two punch since the first season. Honestly, I enjoyed every one of the show’s seven most recent chapters, and “enjoy” is not a word I use lightly when discussing TV anime (most of which I watch out of obligation). So instead of ranking them in order of subjective excellence, I’m going to run them down in airing order, because I’ve got something complimentary to say about each one!

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Yesterday wo Utatte – 09-10

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Romance, Yesterday wo Utatte

I’m not the sort of person who chooses #teams while watching love triangle plots, but after this pair of episodes, if you put a gun to my head, I’d pick Haru. She’s received much less screen time than Shinako, but that only makes scenes like her hug with Rikuo on the apartment landing more rewarding. Their contrasting heights and levels of enthusiasm made for a great shot, and their follow-up conversation was one of the best the show has orchestrated in weeks. Even if we still don’t really understand why Haru likes this dude so much, she’s straightforward about her feelings! She keeps stopping by his apartment because, in her words, it’s “more fun than waiting” for him to contact her or reciprocate her crush. She’s clingy, but she’s also way more honest than either Rikuo or Shinako, who keep dancing around each other like teenagers (ironically, Haru is the only teenager among the three of them).

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Kaguya-sama S2 – 07-08

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Comedy, Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai

I might just do two more of these doubleheader posts to close out the season. The recent trend among Kaguya-sama episodes has been to combine three or four segments of similar enjoyability, whether they’re all great or all mediocre. When we hit one of the mediocre combinations, it leaves me with little to write about, so packaging my thoughts in bulk safeguards against weak standalone posts. That’s my justification for my forthcoming June laziness, anyway. Read on to see which chapter was my favorite during the second half of May (plus thoughts on all the other losers).

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BNA – 04-06 [Dropped]

by SuperWooper, posted in BNA, Series which were Dropped

It’s been nearly a week since Asenshi released episode 6 of BNA, but I’ve delayed in writing this post because I wasn’t sure how to approach it. If you’ve read the title, you know I’m dropping the series – but I wondered about my lead-in paragraph. Should I beat the dead horse-shaped argument of completing anime versus dropping it? Should I caution against studio worship, given that Trigger’s reputation caused many viewers (myself included) to set their expectations for the show too high? Or should I lay into the series for being a disappointment on its own terms, which would demand a more thorough breakdown of each episode?

As the week dragged on, I realized that it didn’t really matter what I led with. Most people won’t remember this show in three years, and they’ll certainly have forgotten my posts about it long before then. I haven’t enjoyed the series since its second episode, and I don’t want to watch it or talk about it anymore. This post just needs to be farted out so I can forget about BNA, and continue enjoying the few solid anime this virus-stricken spring season has to offer. So, in the spirit of abandonment, here are my brief thoughts about episodes 4-6.

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Yesterday wo Utatte – 08 [Innocent Blue]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Romance, Yesterday wo Utatte

How could you screw up this badly, Rikuo? Shinako just got finished telling you to be more assertive in episode 7, and now you bail at the first sign of hesitation after she’s invited you up to her apartment? I know you’re both awkward as hell, but all the situation called for was a reminder of her earlier request. Just teasingly say, “You’re the one who said I ought to be pushy,” give her a smile, and you’re probably golden. Even if you can’t manage that kind of line, at least generate some conversation as she’s leading you upstairs. For Pete’s sake, do *anything* other than what you did at the start of this episode!

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Yesterday wo Utatte – 04-07

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Romance, Yesterday wo Utatte

Yesterday wo Utatte is my favorite spring anime, so please don’t take my delay in covering it as a sign of disinterest. It’s one of only two shows that I watch on the day it releases (the other being Kaguya-sama). Its ability to introduce new characters and immediately dimensionalize them is exceptional, as it demonstrated in two of these four episodes. It also has a keen sense of where to aim its lens each week, using individual spotlights or telling stories in parallel to get the most from its cast of characters. Yesterday wo Utatte deserves better than this post (and this author), but here we are, a month behind due to self-quarantine blues, and I’ve got to publish something or I’ll never escape this rut. If you’re digging this show as much as I am, hit the jump for abbreviated thoughts on episodes 4-7, in that order (no lazy list post this time).

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