Author: SuperWooper

State of the Season – Spring 2020

by SuperWooper, posted in State of the Season

Amun: Welcome to this lost spring of anime 2020. I hope everyone is staying safe and watching this B-team of a season. While we didn’t get the heavy hitters of Yahari Season 3 or Re:Zero, there are still some bright spots – Kaguya-sama S2 and the surprise newcomer isekai: Hamefura. Despite my early criticisms, Tower of God has gained some traction – fellow writers seem fairly positive on Yesterday wo Utatte. So this season isn’t a complete wash! We have turtles, villainesses, crows, books, and zodiac animals! Join us humble Star Crossed writers as we take a look at the good, the bad, and the funny of Spring 2020 anime. (But seriously, Hamefura is really good, go watch it).

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

Amun: I’m liking Tower of God quite a bit. Feels like every episode fleshes out the world, develops the characters, and pulls you deeper into the tower. Animation is hit or miss, but the story’s moving along nicely now. Little concerned about character creep, but that’s a minor gripe.

Mario: I’m going with Yesterday wo Utatte. Sure, there are other two shows that are equally impressive (Kaguya-sama 2 and the other one down the list), but Yesterday wo Utatte keeps surprising me every week. 4-way star-crossed romance isn’t normally my thing, but so far the show hasn’t put any wrong step, and the characterization for the main cast is off the chart. There’s a lot of details put into their mannerism, figure of speech and their movements. Hopefully the main relationship doesn’t get too convoluted for the sake of drama.

Lenlo: I’m not actually watching much this season. The only non-cancelled seasonal I still keep up with is Kaguya, and BNA I suppose, but I haven’t been enjoying that. Regardless, it is a decent enough rom-com, and I hope that we will actually get to the point where they make some actual progress in a relationship. Rom-coms are only good if you actually include the romance.

Armitage: I love grounded character dramas more than any other genre in anime. Though, such shows have gotten ever so rare these days. That’s why, to see Yesterday wo Utatte do what it does week-in, week-out gives me hope that more such series can be produced down the line. It’s a mature show which cares for its characters and that, in turn, instills a sense of sincerity to the story it’s telling. More importantly, even if it doesn’t stick the landing by the end of its 18-episode run, it might end up paving the way for the adaptations of the many other stellar seinen manga just begging for an anime.

Wooper: Kakushigoto. The show’s absurd flavor of comedy is nicely balanced by its familial themes, and that combination makes it a pleasant weekly watch. Its sixth episode is what really sold me on the series, though, telling one connected story instead of splitting itself into chapters, and really getting to the heart of Goto’s relationship with his work. I’d say it’s the show that has improved the most since its premiere.

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Kaguya-sama S2 – 03-04

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

In opting to cover three series this spring, it seems my eyes were bigger than my stomach. The whole self-quarantine thing increases free time, but it also decreases motivation, at least in my case. In order to get back in the saddle, I’m going to start with some low-hanging fruit and make a list post, ranking the six segments in these two Kaguya-sama episodes from worst to best. It’s very possible that my ordering is just the inverse of the conventional one (since I’m indifferent to, or simply dislike, the parts of the show for which others go gaga). If you’re prepared for Wooper’s Kaguya-sama Catch-up Session, hit the jump and get to readin’.

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Yesterday wo Utatte – 03 [What Is Love?]

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

If Rikuo and Shinako were the main characters of episodes 1 and 2, respectively, then it’s only right that Haru got her turn with episode 3. I’d say this installment was the most laser focused so far, with Crow Girl being present in nearly every scene. Only the Rikuo and Shinako ‘sick with a cold’ bits distracted from Haru’s story this week, and they still fed into her failed movie date later in the episode. Honestly, those back-to-back colds gave me the impression that distant chapters were combined in order to achieve this timeline, but maybe late 90s manga just leaned on illness for everything. Either way, the show pulled it off thanks to its measured, dialogic storytelling – in Yesterday wo Utatte, everything falls into place if you put the characters’ conversations at the front of your mind.

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Kaguya-sama S2 – 02

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

Kaguya-sama’s second season is off to a good start after two episodes, but of all the positive signs we’ve gotten thus far, my favorite is that Masayuki Suzuki returned to sing the OP. The man’s voice has a magical quality to it, to the point that even a brassy opening theme like “Daddy! Daddy! Do!” sounds as smooth as silk when he’s on the track. Suzuki is known as the King of Love Songs in Japan, so when each episode of Kaguya-sama opens with his voice, it’s a reminder that underneath all its exaggerated antics, the show has a romantic heart. That’s a reminder I sorely needed this week, since a lot of this episode’s caricaturish behavior rustled my jimmies (I’ll try to dedicate no more than a paragraph to explaining why). On the whole, though, I’m very glad that the show is back, and looking as fresh as ever – hopefully it survives the current wave of TV anime delays and finishes in June as scheduled.

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Yesterday wo Utatte – 02 [A Blind Alley]

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

Ah, this episode hit the spot. Lots of good character animation, a strong introduction for the fourth member of the love rectangle, a tragic flashback, and plenty of interplay between past and present events. What I appreciated most about this one was the focal shift from Rikuo to Shinako – both episodes have had an ensemble feeling to them, but Rikuo was clearly The Protagonist of the premiere. A second, slightly tweaked version of “convenience store worker waffles between two women” would have felt terribly self-indulgent, but pivoting to Shinako’s point of view made that a non-issue. There’s so much to process regarding her character, from the death of her teenage love, to her regret over Haru’s suspension, to her real feelings for Rikuo. Most crucially of all, though, we must ask ourselves: what’s the deep meaning behind her new haircut?

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Some Quick First Impressions: Kaguya-sama S2, Argonavis from BanG Dream!, Kitsutsuki Tantei Dokoro

by SuperWooper, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai 2

Short Synopsis: You already know what this show is about.

Lenlo: What is there to really say here? It’s Kaguya Season 2, if you have seen the first, you know exactly what to expect and what you are getting here. There will be gags, romantic comedy, Chika will be an idiot and along the way we may get to the point where actual romantic developments occur. The only real difference is the production, which was without a doubt stepped up here. I have no idea if they can carry this through the rest of the season, but its animation was definitely a contender for best of these first impressions. As far as criticisms… Only one I really have is that it felt rushed in places, pacing wise, since it covered 4 chapters and that the animation was actually rather distracting in some places. I don’t expect either of those to keep up though, so ultimately, it’s a pretty easy recommendation.

Potential: 80%

Mario: This premiere does a decent job of reminding us why we love Kaguya-sama in the first place. It has this ridiculously high stake mind game between Kaguya and Shirogane (and other cast members, as the show playfully reminds us in the first segment). In fact, each segment establishes many groundworks that played as the series’s strengths, and ones I expect them to follow up for the rest of the season. We have a couple of supporting casts who receive their spotlight (segment 1 & 2), we have fun games when the core cast spend time together where Chika’s unpredictability drives our main duo insane (segment 3), and we have their usual mind game that ends in an unexpected way. The production is a clear step up as well, with great building up and the narration is pretty sharp. My minor complaint (AKA not really complaining but bragging) is that the show tends to go overboard with Chika’s cartoonish expressions. I know it’s purely fan-service but… I need to find these gifs asap.

Potential: 75%

Argonavis from BanG Dream!

Short Synopsis: Aspiring singer joins bishie band in 3DCG hell.

Mario: Haizz Sanzigen. I remember liking their early efforts including BBK/BRK, ID-0 and Arslan Senki (they just partly produced the latter but still…), but recently they followed the golden prospect of idol anime and they went completely off the mark. Argonavis is in the same universe with their BanG Dream (well, you can see it in the title), and the first episode is a fairly standard story of how the members form a band together. It’s filled with cliche plots, underwritten characters and really really bad CG production. I do think that the studio is in a dire situation, given that the production looks cheap. It’s nothing offensive in its story but it’s the kind of story that I’d forget as soon as the ED hits.

Potential: the worst premiere

Wooper: “I aM fOnD oF sAnZiGeN gIvEn HoW tHeIr ChArAcTeR dEsIgNs ArE aTtRaCtIvE aNd ThE cG lOoKs RaThEr DeCeNt”

Potential: lol

Kitsutsuki Tantei Dokoro

Short Synopsis: A genius poet opens a detective agency to help pay the bills.

Wooper: This show isn’t on the same level as Rakugo Shinjuu, but it’s clearly inspired by it. Both are historical pieces that involve a specific artform; both begin in the present before embarking on a serialized flashback; and both focus on the friendship between two men, one of whom has died and left the other alone in the world. Kitsutsuki Tantei Dokoro is less elegant and more matter-of-fact than its predecessor, throwing Ishikawa into his new detective gig by the end of episode 1, but it’s admirably directed. It focuses on small details, like hanging nails or stuffed bookshelves, that gain new meaning once they reappear in a later scene, having changed in some small way. The backgrounds are strikingly geometric, creating an attractive picture of Tokyo City as it existed in the late 19th century. I really like the show’s use of color, too – the palette is muted, with lavenders and olive greens giving it a vaguely romantic air. The contrast between the city’s orderly layout and earthy appearance results in a nice atmosphere, which helps counteract the sting of the series’ lackluster animation. The characters haven’t sold me yet, but they’re based on novelized versions of real life tanka poets, which sounds neat. And they’re going to solve mysteries, too? Count me in for another couple episodes, at least.

Potential: 60%

Mario: Another stylish detective anime of this Spring season, it’s a style-over-substance show where it has “cool” factor written all over it. While Fugou Keiji rocks you hard on characters’ over-the-top traits and its crazy, wild ride, Kitsutsuki is more concerned with refreshing background arts, the blue character outline and how the main character trolls everyone around him. The show’s style is pleasing with attractive character designs and a nice soundtrack. The actual case is passable with some leaps of logic but at least the plot constantly moves forward. It’s the characters that I am most worried about. Main guy is fine and indeed he carries the whole show so far, given that the other characters are pretty unmemorable at the moment, especially Watson-kun. Because of that I don’t find any chemistry whatsoever between these two so the ending doesn’t work for me. In addition, comparing detective work with poetry is interesting, but frankly I don’t see the links between these and this is more about my lack of class when it comes to poetry but the poems the main character often recites fall flat for me. Still, I can see the appeal of watching this and Fugou Keiji back to back every week to see which one tops the other in terms of stylish ridiculousness.

Potential: 30%

BNA – 02 [Rabbit Town]

by SuperWooper, posted in BNA, Series which were Dropped

Trigger’s latest attempt to Save Anime has arrived, complete with a two-tone color scheme and an unorthodox release schedule. While it was still one of spring’s most anticipated shows (placing second in our season preview poll), the half-cour Netflix rollout and resulting lack of official subs has reduced awareness of the series in broader circles. That didn’t stop me with Dorohedoro, though, and it won’t stop me now. I’m not a big Trigger fan, but my favorite work of theirs was created by Yoh Yoshinari, who’s also directing BNA, so I’ve got a reason to be optimistic here. The show isn’t blowing me away yet – in fact, I have a fair number of criticisms, which we’ll get to in a bit – but since we’re just two episodes in, my patience is still intact. And hey, being so short and so grounded in its own alternate reality, the series probably won’t have time for a groan-worthy trip to space just before the end. Amen to that, eh?

(Note: I’m following Asenshi’s weekly releases, not the batch of six episodes that are already making the rounds online. Don’t expect to see a flurry of BNA posts any time soon.)

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Some Quick First Impressions: Yesterday wo Utatte, Bungou to Alchemist, Gal to Kyouryuu

by SuperWooper, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Yesterday wo Utatte

Short Synopsis: A recent college graduate who lacks any real ambition in life gets stalked by a high-school girl and her pet crow.

Armitage: Oh, boy. This is a tricky one. Don’t get me wrong now. There are a lot of positives here. Be it the refreshing choice of a college graduate for a protagonist in Rikuo, the complicated nature of the relationship between him and Shinako (it falls somewhere in between one-sided crush and mutual fondness) or the general tone of the series which seems wholly drenched in nostalgia (the sombre OST has to be credited for that) while feeling very realistic. Plus, the ED song is definitely my favorite for any series this spring. It’s evident that there’s a lot to love. But my main qualm with it comes back to Haru, who is a walking red flag. Her behavior so far in the series just comes off as a bit obsessive and from what we got to know about her in the premiere, I couldn’t really justify her actions. Though it’s still early days and as more layers of the characters’ lives get peeled in the coming weeks, my opinions may change completely. Unfortunately, Doga Kobo has a track record of ending their one-cour series with big flashing ‘GO READ THE MANGA!’ signs and considering that the source material is over a 100 chapters long, I can see this series succumbing to the same fate. What I can say for sure is that I do find myself interested in knowing where this story is headed and will be following it to the end, even if it crashes and burns by then.

Potential: 75%

Wooper: For a story about a mellow convenience store worker, life sure comes at the viewer fast in Yesterday wo Utatte. We’re barely given a chance to understand who the main character is before his meet-cute with a crow-taming girl, who then appears four or five more times throughout the episode. His recent graduation is mentioned only minutes before his college crush waltzes back into his life, and his confession/her rejection happen shortly thereafter. In fact, all the show’s cards seem to be on the table as of the premiere’s end. We know about Rikou’s past with Crow Girl, her personal history and lack of family, the link between the two female love interests, etc. So why am I looking forward to the next episode? Well, it’s got a male protagonist who doesn’t trip over his own tongue at the mere sight of a woman, which is a welcome surprise in anime land. Plus there’s a melancholic atmosphere to it that I like, even if the show ventured into navel-gazing territory with Crow Girl’s monologue at the end. Rikou’s interest in photography could take the story to some interesting places, as well. That’s a strong enough toolkit for me to pick up this series, at least temporarily.

Potential: 60%

Bungou to Alchemist: Shinpan no Haguruma

Short Synopsis: Historical authors enter stories gone wrong to set them back on the right track.

Lenlo: What the hell even is this? Are we in stories? A fantasy world? The modern world? What is with Japan’s obsession with putting novelists in anime, as if just throwing names in there adds depth? Everything about this just reeks of mediocrity and it doesn’t even have the good will of a decent production. I grew bored and wanted to turn it off by the time the OP rolled, to say nothing of the ED. Long story short, skip this. Even Bungou Stray Dogs does a better job with the “Authors as heroes” concept, and I don’t even like that show.

Potential: 0%

Mario: It’s a pretty bad idea to throw us in the middle of the story without any context and then introduce the twist. It’s like they pull the rug out when we haven’t even put our feet on it. Dazai and Akutagawa are interesting historical figures, but that doesn’t necessarily make them an engaging anime leads to follow. The core concept is easy enough to follow, these writers serve as heroes going inside the fictions to destroy “Taints”, who want to corrupt the story, but it’s not a fresh idea by any measure, and the show loses me hard once Akutagawa’s character enters the story. Our mains are over-designed, loud and thinly written and I find it hard to have any kind of investment in them. An easy skip.

Potential: 0%

Gal to Kyouryuu

Short Synopsis: A fashionable young woman starts living with a dinosaur after drunkenly inviting it home one night.

Wooper: Having read a few chapters of the manga before this episode dropped, I have to say I prefer Gal and Dino in book form. The dinosaur is cute in both versions, but having the freedom to drink in its various facial expressions at your own pace works much better than the TV version. There were many spots in the anime, especially during the Dino Channel segments, where the show held too long on a shot of its mascot, which brought some scenes to a screeching halt. The live action segments suffered from a separate problem, stemming from the cartoon sound effects that accompanied the dino’s movements. I’ll admit to chuckling the first time I heard the airhorn and raising an eyebrow at the lightsaber sounds, but the more ordinary squeaks and boings were applied far too liberally. Despite my nitpicks, the series did have a trump card that entertained me, and that was the recreation of its first chapter with human actors, where a middle-aged man played the role of Kaede. I got a big laugh from this gimmick at first, but I doubt it’ll be enough to keep the show fresh for 12 episodes – Pop Team Epic this ain’t.

Potential: mlg_airhorn.mp3/10

Amun: Uh, this isn’t entirely animation. I mean, there was an animated short for about 5 minutes, followed by some claymation…and then some live action? With an old dude? Who had a heart attack? Like – what is going on? The anime bit was fine, I guess (not a huge fan of dino’s design), but there’s just so much more to this show. I guess I’m extremely curious not where this goes plot wise, but what the actual media is…?

Potential: 5% (Just because I’m curious if this is an actual anime)