Unlike other shows I’m watching, Fire Force seems to be hitting stride right at the end of the season. I still argue this show is best in episodes like this one – minimal fight scenes, which they struggle with, and limited catgirl.
Continue reading “Fire Force – 11 [Formation of Company 8 / The Mightiest Hikeshi]”
DanMachi is sliding down a muddy hill. That’s both a summary of what happened this episode and the state of this season’s quality in general.
Continue reading “DanMachi2 – Army’s Advance (Rakia)”
As I have speculated in the past couple of weeks, the culprit behind all the crime is Dr. Heartless. What did surprise me was him being a Caules impostor the entire time he was on the train. Lord El-Melloi II isn’t a show about the audience solves the mystery for themselves but there was still a lot of missing context especially when the reason that Waver knew from the beginning was that such medical treatment would not be possible from the real Caules. It was nice of the staff to tie in the original content of the first six episodes where Dr. Heartless was financing all the weird experiment into the leylines around England even if was a little janky in execution. I get the how and the who behind the creation of a fake Holy Grail and the summoning of a fake Heroic spirit but I don’t know why Dr. Heartless would go through all that effort to obtain Faker. Maybe he needs her for protection in his future schemes but that remains a mystery for now as noble phantasms are getting casted left, right and center.
Contrary to last episode’s ending scene of Gray and Hephaestion charging into each other, it winds up being something very reminiscent of the that entire banquet of kings episode from Fate/zero. Although fewer in participants, less epic and far shorter than its predecessor, it’s filled with substantial dialogue between these two warriors about their own nature and desire. Gray, raised to having the body of King Arthur, doesn’t have any desires of her own like saving her people or world domination. Being the protector of Waver seems to be the only thing going for her with a hint or two of developing romantic feelings for him. On the other hand, Hephaestion resents Iskander for never letting go of his dream to see Okeanus which wasn’t achievable. In the end, it’s about the possibility of Grey having a part of King Arthur channeling through her, coming to understand what makes Hephaestion tick and the reveal of her mystic eyes. For the lack of action this episode, having a Mystic Code for a Divine Construct like the Rhongomyniad be reduced down to a snowboard for Gray to escape the forest more than makes it up. Continue reading “Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note – 10-11”
This was a pretty insightful week for Vinland Saga. As we get a deeper look into Askeladd’s character, Thorkell goes on the move and Thorfinn continues to question his place in the band. Lets dive in!
Starting off, like always, the productions. This week was, to use a dirty word, pretty damn cinematic. Vinland continues to rely heavily on its backgrounds and framing from the manga. Which are great, I like those! It’s just not an animation powerhouse of a season just yet. A few scenes here and there that are nice, such as last episode with Thorfinn and Thorkell. It just doesn’t match up to Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2 (Say that five times fast) or Mob Psycho Season 2. Not a big deal of course, but worth mentioning knowing what is coming in the series. On a smaller note before the meat though, Vinland did do a bit of a timeskip this week. Only a few months, but we are now entering a new winter. A little jarring since we just left winter earlier, but it’s important for what is to come.
Fire Force is an anime that shows more than it tells. For that reason, I’ve saved up two episodes to have something more to talk about than a simple recap. Let’s go!
Continue reading “Fire Force – 9/10 [Spreading Malice/Promise]”
DanMachi, you’re making this hard.
Overall, this season has been incredibly disjointed…the latest episode (10) is a perfect example of that. It’s like half the animation team is working on one fight, while the interns get the other (and debatably more important one!) In the same episode!
Continue reading “DanMachi2 – Episodes 9/10 (Berbera/Argonaut)”
I hope you watched the episode before reading this review because there’s heaps of spoilers below.
Kanata no Astra’s plot sure gets thicken quickly, as this week it drops two Earth-shattering (pun-intended) twists: the first being the disparity between Astra’s history and the Earth’s, and the second being the revelation of the traitor. Again, fair shares of great and not-so-great developments towards the Earth/ Astra plot. On one hand, I just love how the reveal doesn’t betray anything the show has built up so far. In fact, when the kids (and we) realize that the dead planet they tumbled right at the start was indeed the Earth, it all adds up in terms of significance. The journey has always been the journey from Earth to Astra, from one civilization to the next. If we’re talking about the leaf from ancient to new society, our kids walk that very step. Function-wise, this new flush of information makes sense how the kids came across the ship in the first place. On the other hand, Polina’s reaction to all that is just… so self-serious and I’m not sold one bit of that. Yeah, the Earth as she knows it might be destroyed, but if she aware about the comet hitting the Earth, she can figure out that they could’ve come from the new planet, right?
Until the end of the season, Lord El-Melloi II will be adapting its fourth and fifth volume of Rail Zeppelin storyline. I can see why the director went with an anime original content for the first half as the first three volume would have worked better as movies rather than weekly episodes. It’s all builds up to a magical train where are Mystic Eyes up for auction, murders and Gray not backing down from a servant fight.
Continue reading “Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note – 07-09”
While I am all for show that moves at its own pace – thus having the length as they see fit, Cop Craft would benefit better if it fits the whole body-swap affair into one single episode in my opinion. I know it sounds contradicting to my usual complain of Cop Craft (too rush), but looking back to this case I realize that the plot isn’t at all dense to merit that much length. I don’t necessarily think of it as a flaw, either, just to say that the whole decision-making regarding which chapters to adapt and how long for each case have been… weird. Still, our Tilarna’s desperation to take the crossbow back, and the realization when she wakes up to find a guy seeing her butt-naked (no sexual tension, but still… HAHA), are all hilarious moments. Even more hilarious when you realize that if they have done nothing, the result would be the same anyways (the crossbow being destroyed negates the effect it had). While this case might appear to be slight, imagine what devilish things could have happened if this magical bow falls to the wrong hand. As for me, the body-swap story is still a delight.