Category: Finished Series: Action

SSSS.Dynazenon – 6-7

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Action, SSSS.Dynazenon

I guess Dynazenon is still airing, huh? Not only that, it’s connected itself to SSSS.Gridman in explicit fashion, with two of that show’s half-kaiju characters appearing as older versions of themselves. Anti and Anosillus II brought new life to the show, I felt, breaking up the Team Dynazenon vs Kaiju Eugenicists stalemate that had formed over the course of several weeks. This series is still operating at a high level, visually speaking, but the story has been in need of new blood, and now it’s got two fresh sources. They even wore spiffy black suits, a la the Neon Genesis Junior High Students from Gridman, indicating that they’ve pledged themselves to the cause of interdimensional justice. I don’t plan to go over all of Anti and Anosillus’s dialogue with a fine-tooth comb and extrapolate Dynazenon’s conclusion (I’d need knowledge of the toku series for that), but there was enough written between the lines to assume that the Hyper Agent himself will appear at some point. I’m already looking forward to it, as the human drama has started to wear on me in spots.

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SSSS.Dynazenon – 05 [What’s Lover-Like Mean?]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Action, SSSS.Dynazenon

Though SSSS.Dynazenon has lifted a number of elements from Gridman thus far, it wasn’t content to recreate that show’s fifth episode this week. Where its parent series put a spin on the stalwart ‘beach episode’ with a river rafting field trip, Dynazenon sent its characters to Tokyo Beach Land, a water park with an underground hot spring. With the power of both pool and onsen tropes at its disposal, you’d think this episode would be a massive hit, but it was my least favorite of the month. Let’s see if I can put into words why that was, exactly.

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SSSS.Dynazenon – 04 [What Is This Thumping Heart?]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Action, SSSS.Dynazenon

Whenever an anime protagonist gets taken out by a Japanese cold, the resulting episode tends to be lower-key than normal, and that’s exactly what happened in “What Is This Thumping Heart?” Yomogi wasn’t taken out of commission entirely, but he spent the bulk of his screen time either zoned out in public, recuperating in bed, or coughing during his last-minute contribution to the fight against Majima. That didn’t stop his preoccupation with Yume from being a central point this week, though, nor did it prevent several other characters from stepping into the space he had vacated. The most notable riser was Chise, who took advantage of his illness to claim the position of Dyna Rex pilot, though she needed to be bailed out during her fight kaiju battle. If she’s indeed more sinister than she lets on, as I (and surely others) am predicting, then she’s adept at playing the long game – the question is, what is she waiting for?

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Jujutsu Kaisen Anime Review 80/100

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Action, Jujutsu Kaisen, Reviews by Lenlo

Recently it feels like there’s a Shonen Jump series in every season. From last years Kimetsu no Yaiba and Haikyu to Dr. STONE S2 this season and even My Hero Academia S5 coming up. Everywhere you go its Jump, Jump, Jump. Sometimes a man wants a break. Oh what’s that? A new cornerstone of Weekly Shonen Jump got an anime adaptation you say? Kohei Horikoshi of My Hero Academia called it the next pillar of the magazine? And Keiichiro Watanabe is animating for it?! Well count me in! Originally created by Gege Akutami, produced by MAPPA and directed by Seong-Hu Park who also recently The God of Highschool, ladies and gentleman I present to you: *Jujutsu Kaisen, the next big thing. So without further ado, lets jump into it.
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Jujutsu Kaisen – 24 [Accomplices]

by Lenlo, posted in Jujutsu Kaisen

This is it, the grand finale, the last episode of Jujutsu Kaisen… And its actually pretty good. We get some sakuga, there’s no cliffhangers and most important of all Nobara finally gets a moment to shine. I can’t believe my wish got fulfilled that quickly. So without further ado lets jump right into it!

And as always the first thing we need to talk about is the production. Some how, some way, MAPPA managed to make it through the season without melting. There were some warning signs in there and even this episode suffers a bit from poorly composited CGI trees. Beyond that ever returning bugbear though? It was pretty damn good. Keiichiro Watanabe makes a return with his cloth and effects animation on Nobara’s final blow. Meanwhile Seong-Hu Park once again proves himself a more proficient animator than he is director in the close quarters Itadori sequence. And it’s not as if the animation was restricted to just the action either. Tomiya’s work on Mahito during the board game was stellar, not to mention a few other scenes as well. As far as ending a season strong I think Jujutsu Kaisen did just that here.

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Jujutsu Kaisen – 23 [The Origin of Blind Obedience 2]

by Lenlo, posted in Jujutsu Kaisen

Welcome everyone to the penultimate episode of Jujutsu Kaisen! And this week I present to you: Megumi Fushiguro. That’s it. I don’t have anything clever here, this is Fushiguro’s episode and its pretty damn good. So lets dive into it.

As always lets start by first bitching about Jujutsu Kaisen’s production. Or at least that’s what I would say if it didn’t do a great job this week. Everything from the composite and choreography to even the CGI tracking shots were good. Whether it be the intensity of Gojo’s stare during Fushiguro’s flashback or Itadori running and spinning through the domain. It’s frankly amazing how much of a difference changing the environment you are tracking in can help. I’m sure you remember the forests of the tournament arc and just how… bad that looked. Of course part of that comes down to this room being a flat plane compared to complex foliage. But it’s not as if Park didn’t know what the environment would be like in each of these shots before planning them out. So let this be a lesson on using the right tool for the right scene.

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Jujutsu Kaisen – 22 [The Origin of Blind Obedience]

by Lenlo, posted in Jujutsu Kaisen

Welcome back to Jujutsu Kaisen! Last week was a contentious one going by the comments. And by contentious I mean people thought I was a tad harsh and may have missed the point of the episode. Well for those people I have good news, because I actually quite enjoyed this one! Surprising considering its 90% setup but it’s setup done well. So without further ado lets jump into Jujutsu Kaisen!

Like I said, this week is primarily setup for what is to come. It’s a lot of talking, wandering around and basically no fighting until the very last second. So the question becomes: Why do I think this is good setup compared to most anime? And the answer I have come up with is this: We still had interesting and meaningful character interaction, with history about Fushiguro specifically, that made it worth our time. Whether it be Fushiguro’s time in middle school or his more serious inner conflict about his sister, we learned more about who Fushiguro is. And these weren’t just random tidbits, info dumping his backstory for us. They were directly involved in the random B-plot of the episode and that made them feel… important. Even if they probably aren’t in the long run. It’s this sense of importance that makes this episode work for me.

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Jujutsu Kaisen – 21 [Jujutsu Koshien]

by Lenlo, posted in Jujutsu Kaisen

I can’t lie, this was a weird week for Jujutsu Kaisen. Between the baseball, the comedy and the serious plot I had no idea what it was trying to accomplish. I don’t think Jujutsu Kaisen knows either to be frank. So without further ado lets dive in to the wacky world of cursed baseball.

As I said, this is tonally a very weird episode. Large portions of Jujutsu Kaisen were very comedy focused this week, and to great success I would say. Toudou getting hit in the face with a baseball and then the follow up gag of it being completely on purpose was hilarious. It was hands down the best joke not only of the episode but of the series as a whole. But interspersed between those jokes, between the baseball stat cards and fun scenes, we got… serious character flashbacks about abandonment? And philosophical talks between headmasters about whether or not Itadori should get to live? What? It felt like Jujutsu Kaisen didn’t have enough baseball content to fill a full episode with. That makes sense, no doubt the baseball was a single chapter in the manga. With an anime’s pacing though it makes for an awkward episode.

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Jujutsu Kaisen – 20 [Nonstandard]

by Lenlo, posted in Jujutsu Kaisen

Welcome back to another episode of Jujutsu Kaisen! I hope you’re ready to boogie woogie till the sun goes down, because this week danced right back into my good graces. Toudou proves why he’s the best character in this entire arc, Gojo goes ham on a forest and Itadori sets a record. So without further ado lets dive in!

Right off the bat I think this episode worked much better than the last. Everything about the production, from the music to the animation to the sheer fun of it, is just better. It feels like there was a clear vision on how to present Toudou and his ability. Especially when compared to the inconsistencies in Hanami’s branches last week and my general dislike for Park’s style. This week definitely wasn’t perfect of course. Some of the early cuts, particularly the first Boogie Woogie, felt… slow and oddly paced. As if they were animated on 4’s instead of 2’s or 1’s. The composition of these shots worked but I don’t think the animation was able to keep up. After that though the episode just improved as it went. Things sped up, Toudou took control of the scenes and Jujutsu Kaisen just became a blast to watch. Gimme more of this.

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