One day, and I hope one day soon, Fire Force will decide whether or not it’s a great anime. Unfortunately, that day is not this week, as “Groping Through The Fire” (pretty sure that’s on purpose), showcases this mixed bag of a series to the fullest extent.
Continue reading “Fire Force S2 – 04 [Groping Through the Fire]”
Welcome all to a very irregular segment for The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. Because of how small this season was, I wanted to fill in our coverage a bit, and thought it was a good opportunity to watch something that’s been on my list for awhile now. And heads up, this series is going to be irregular just as I watch it, so I hope you stick with me, as we watch some Lupin!
Right out the gate, my goodness was that an unexpected amount of titty. I always thought Lupin III was a more… childish show to be frank. An old classic detective show, something more in the Disney style. I assumed things like Goemon’s Spray of Blood being the black sheep of the series. Turns out that was just par for the course, as Fujiko Mine opens with incredible style. Lots of heavy shading and crosshatching, disguising CGI with said shading while at the same time keeping Lupin’s classic character design. The long story short is that Fujiko Mine looks good, like really good. I think Fujiko’s tits are a bit to large myself and show seems to really revel in that sexuality. However overall it visually looked fantastic. I can only hope it keeps this up moving forward because its a nice breath of fresh air in this current season.
Continue reading “Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine – 1 [Master Thief vs. Lady Looter]”
Thus enters one of my top contenders for favorite Re:Zero character, Echidna, the witch of Greed and while she does not fill that Rem shaped hole in my heart, she certainly does make for a scene stealing character. Hopefully not to the extent that she takes Rem’s place in overshadowing the actual main heroine of the series but if we are to get more of her my only response can be “Yes, Please”. When one considers the witches of Re:Zero we can only base it on the only witch we know of, the Witch of Envy Satella, which does paint them in a nefarious light. To this point we have seen them as a calamitous enemy of the people and Echidna certainly does seem to wish to present the character of a wise fearful character. Indeed if that was all she was then that would be a typical if not boring development but instead we have a character who is far more playful and relatable. The best moment of the episode to me was her ready to play the exposition device for Subaru and a normal protagonist would have sat down and let her worldbuild to her heart’s content. Not Subaru, he just brushes her off by asking to go home and causes her to drop any semblance of the persona she put up to complain about how he is declining a meeting that others would kill to have. Showing that it isn’t so much that Subaru needs to talk to her but rather she wants to talk to him.
Continue reading “Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 03 [The Long-Awaited Reunion]”
Another week, another clean hit at bat. Deca-Dence is fast becoming the MVP of the summer season and for good reason. Every new episode connects multiple threads the previous one left hanging, imparts the setting with more painstakingly created detail while disregarding any expectations and doubling down on the established status quo. It does all that as it builds upon the world we know and gives us a whole lot more to ponder about till next week.
This is smart, intellectually challenging storytelling which is unconcerned with alienating mainstream viewers for the sake of the story it wants to tell and I can’t ask for more.
Continue reading “Deca-Dence – 03 [Steering]”
There are shows that remind you of specific phases of your life. Either they resonate with you because of the time you watch – like I first watched Tatami Galaxy when I was in uni just like the characters are, or Monogatari series when I was at the time didn’t really know what to do with my life – so Monogatari series was kind of therapy for me; or the shows remind you of specific places where you watched it – like I rewatched Eccentric Family when I was in Kyoto, thus I experienced the settings on a whole new level of appreciation (it’s magical). OreGairu 2 is another example of this. I watched it when it was airing back in 2015 when I was in Cannes. And throughout the midst of movie frenzy and hours waiting in lines, I still squeezed some time to follow it and boy I felt it. I felt the personal struggles Hachiman and the girls have. I felt the same feeling of Hachiman trying to fix things up by sacrificing himself, doesn’t realizing the fact that he hurts the ones who care deeply for him by doing that.
Continue reading “OreGairu 3 – 02 [That Key Was Never Handled Until Today]”
New characters! Who doesn’t love new characters – and a high school student as well! Actually, how old is the rest of the 8th supposed to be? 20s, right? Anyways, let’s meet our newest antihero and her short lived gang!
Well guess who’s back? That’s right it’s our boy Subaru to continue the Isekai rendition of those hydraulic press compression videos. Let me start the blogging of this season of Re:Zero with a disclaimer and that is that I am approaching this season from a different place than last season. Before when I saw the story unfold it was that of an anime only watcher so the story to come was a complete mystery and gave me much more leeway for speculation. However this time I have read on in the story so I know quite a lot of what is to happen though my experience is with the web novel and the Light novel adaption which this anime is following has cut down the original length of this arc. Make no mistake though that even cut down this Arc is the longest yet and even with a two cour adaption confirmed for this season, we will likely only manage to reach the end of this story Arc and no more. With that said, the fan translations of the web novel only covered up to a certain point before stopping and I do not know how this Arc ends so I certainly look forward to experiencing it as an anime only watcher. Till then I will follow my usual modus operandi where I will act as though I have not read ahead and refrain from “Speculating” story details not hinted or shown in the episode in question. I will only work with information presented anime wise and avoid mentioning spoilers with the best of care, as a solemnly swear.
Continue reading “Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 02 [The Next Location]”
With the final premiere of the season airing yesterday, Anime Summer 2020 has officially kicked into second gear. And with that, I have taken up the duty to bring you weekly coverage of one of its flagbearers: Deca-Dence!
Remember how last week when this show premiered, we got an anime episode equivalent of a head-scratch? Multiple plotlines were introduced one after the other with the bare minimum of possibility for coexistence and many viewers were skeptical as to whether the writing would be able to bring it all together in the coming weeks. Well ((dramatic buildup)) ladies and gentleman, let me present to you the anime episode equivalent of a ~moustache twirl~!
Continue reading “Deca-Dence – 02 [Sprocket]”
We’re back with some hot bois, girls, and demons for another season of Fire Force! So strap in, turn your brainpower down, and enjoy some nice pyrotechnics and spotty plot as we try to uncover the mystery of people randomly combusting!
It’s finally here. After twelve whole weeks, we have reached the end of the journey for Arte, the apprentice who found her true worth. While this week was all about bittersweet goodbyes and characteristically unsentimental reunions, there were a few moments along the way which did offer some welcome surprises and earned payoffs.
Arte finishes all the portraits she was tasked to paint for the Falier family and gets a tsundere-ish compliment of approval from Lord Falier which meant that it was now time for her to head home. If she so desires, of course. Last week, Yuri offered her a full-time job with all expenses paid and he lets her know that that offer is still up for grabs. Katarina however expects that Arte would choose to return back to Florence and is forlorn and heartbroken at the prospect.
Continue reading “Arte – 12 [Apprentice]”