Five episodes into Season 3 and DanMachi is looking good. Straightforward plot and good execution should be a motto more anime strive for. Straightforward doesn’t mean simple or boring here – DanMachi has managed a nuanced look at politics, diplomacy, and “fog of war”.
Continue reading “DanMachi3 – 4/5 [Aspiration/Ikelos Familia]”
This is a big week for Twelve Kingdoms. We end an arc, get a recap and start a new arc all in 3 episodes. Sadly for all that I usually praise Twelve Kingdoms, this was a freakin mess. So lets just jump right into it!
Starting off, the production. Now you might think we have covered most aspects of Twelve Kingdoms production up until now. Animation, backgrounds, OST etc, what more is there to cover? Well the answer this week is art style, because Twelve Kingdoms couldn’t seem to figure out what the hell it wanted to look like in episode 13. I can’t tell if its because of the shifting lighting based on scenes, diffused lighting etc, or something else entirely. But it’s as if Twelve Kingdoms couldn’t figure out what it wanted to look like. There is the original style that I love, with sharper more angular faces and smaller eyes. But occasionally it would switch to this more… the best way to put it is “anime” style. Larger eyes, sharper faces, with less detail. This isn’t just me being insane, right? This happened? Either way the whole episode just felt… off.
Continue reading “Twelve Kingdoms – 13/14/15 – Throwback Thursday”
I gotta say, I was a little bit worried last week with how Twelve Kingdoms handled a few things. Sugimoto seemed like wasted potential, still might be to be frank, and the pacing was whack. But Twelve Kingdoms isn’t letting that hold it back as it barrels forward into 3 more good episodes! This week we hear the King of En’s backstory, get a lot more information on King/Kirin relations and finally meet Kou face to face. So lets jump right in!
This week on my little pre-spoiler production section I want to take a moment to talk about the OST. While watching, Twelve Kingdoms sounded… fine, but not unique. Like basic background music. However when I went and listened to the full tracks on Youtube, boy was I surprised. Rather than a bunch of smaller one-note pieces, I found a smaller selection of pieces that shifted between these different melodies, each in their own style. Take the piece “Kuni-Touhoureiin“. It starts primarily as a flute piece, really evoking that Mulan, Eastern China vibe, before it shifts into this rolling drum beat before shifting again to let the strings take control. Another piece, “Ifuuoukei” does this as well with low flutes into strings and drums. Or “Getsumeifuuei” with soft vocals. It’s a small sample size for now, but I’m going to keep an ear out for how its used in the future.
Continue reading “Twelve Kingdoms – 10/11/12 – Throwback Thursday”
When you think of a nuanced show, the source of the “Hestia Ribbon” does not nautrally spring to mind. However, this season of DanMachi, for all the previous misfires and service jokes, is setting up a complicated, interesting plot. Whether or not they can pull it off is a whole other thing entirely, but so far – season 3 has been great.
Another week, another three episodes of Twelve Kingdoms. I want to say we are starting to get into a groove, but this week marks Twelve Kingdom’s first stumble for me. Nothing major, certainly nothing that can undo the fantastic time that was its first 6. But a stumble nonetheless. Still, we will get to that in time. For now, lets go ahead and dive into this weeks episodes!
Starting off, this week in our little production section I want to talk about color palettes. Many of you have already noticed via the screenshots how brightly colored Twelve Kingdoms is. It’s impressive, for as war-torn a setting as Kou is, how many colors were worked in. Between the blues of the night shadow, the oranges of the rising or setting sun and browns of midday, Twelve Kingdoms doesn’t lack for color. The background artists have done a fantastic job of incorporating various greens and blues in the plants, water and sky to break up the brownish landscape. Additionally, Twelve Kingdoms has us traveling from town to town to break up the colors as well. With Nakajima’s striking red hair always giving us something bright to look at in the occasionally dark landscape. The series has done a great job bringing tasteful color to an otherwise bleak Kingdom.
Continue reading “Twelve Kingdoms – 7/8/9 – Throwback Thursday”
Welcome to week 2 of Twelve Kingdoms, where we hit episodes 4, 5 and 6! The OG Isekai does it again, with this trio being just as engaging and interesting as the last. We have friendship, betrayal, politics and rebellion, all with a dash of character conflict. So without further ado, lets dive in!
Production wise Twelve Kingdoms managed to impress me once again. While not as consistently sakuga as the first episode, every scene that needs animation gets animation. I am talking fights, emotional character scenes such as Nakajima’s arguments with the sword etc. It isn’t an above average amount of animation like we see in modern works like Mob Psycho 100, but it uses what it has in the best ways possible. Additionally the color design and background work is all really appealing. Twelve Kingdoms is doing a great job of establishing the world, of making it all feel like the same setting while still keeping it visually interesting. The best way I can put it is that Twelve Kingdoms feels… consistent. Consistent in its artistic vision, in how it wants to portray the world and its characters. And that’s one of the best things you can be in my book.
Continue reading “Twelve Kingdoms – 4/5/6 – Throwback Thursday”
Einstein’s oft-quoted definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. On that note, here we are with a new season of DanMachi! This one will be great! And, as Amun doesn’t learn (despite recently dropping Fire Force), I am absolutely pumped and certain that this season will be the one that gets the franchise back on track.
Also, I like how it’s taken 3 seasons for “Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in A Dungeon?” to fulfill its name – that question is actually this season’s entire plot!
Continue reading “DanMachi 3 – 01 [Wiene (Dragon’s Daughter)]”
Originally, I was intending to go to the North American premiere back in April but a certain human malware decided to crash the entire world economy and postpone showings until the fall. Now, with Sentai Filmworks following Disney Plus’s model of limited-timed streaming rentals and Blu-rays being made available, the sequel to 2017’s Made in Abyss is now widely available for viewing. For those who patiently waited for three years to see the sequel, Dawn of Deep Soul is everything that both manga and anime fans have wanted to experience.
Continue reading “Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul (2020) Movie Review – 90/100”
Welcome all to our 8th season of Throwback Thursday, this time watching Twelve Kingdoms! A classic of the Isekai genre adapted in 2002 with the original Light Novel dating all the way back to 1992. It’s a 45 episode episode, so we will be doing 3 a week so we can maybe finish this by next season. Without further ado, lets dive in!
Starting off, how does this series from 2002 actually look? Well it’s a bit soon for anything definitive, but I am noticing some early inconsistencies. The first episode was a clear step up from the 2nd and 3rd, which really shouldn’t surprise anyone. The whole introductory segment at the school, the giant bird, the port, all of that looked pretty good. I particularly liked the shot of the water spirit, Jouyuu I believe it was called, processing our lead Nakajima. It was some surprisingly solid effects for 20 years ago. Sadly nothing the other two episodes had really stacked up to this. They weren’t bad, each had at least one well animated shot in them such as flying through the clouds at the start of episode 2 or some fights in 3. But they definitely had some compositing and detail issues, especially on the wide shots
Continue reading “Twelve Kingdoms – 1/2/3 – Throwback Thursday”
Here’s the thing. At this point, I know that I have slacked off in posting these weekly episodic reviews, you know, weekly. And it has happened so often that it’s basically become normalized. But I PROMISE that I’ll be better next season! So, let’s just pretend that everything’s fine and all is forgiven and bygones are bygones.
Can we do that? Yeah, we can do that.
So, with that public apology and acceptance of guilt out of the way, let’s jump into the review! Continue reading “Deca-Dence – 10+11+12 [Brake System|Engine|Decadence]”